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Rayne and the others venture into Soul Society in the next chapter!!!


Rayne leaned her chin onto her palm as she surveyed the scene below her, strands of her hair had escaped her silver pins and now fell into her eyes. She flicked a finger across the disobedient strands and tucked them behind her ear, twirling the ends with her fingers.

A few minutes a before a huge man with tanned skin had arrived and was now sitting on a box in front of the shop. Urahara was also standing outside, waiting for the others to come.

'His spirit energy…it feels strange…somewhat like a hollow's but not…' Rayne peered down at Sado with a slight frown, she tugged at the black fingerless gloves she wore as she sank into deep thought.

"Oh, Kurosaki san. You're right on time. Good, good." Urahara called out in a sing song voice, snapping Rayne out of her thoughts and making Sado stand up silently.

"Chad?! Why are you here?" Ichigo asked, Rayne let out an exasperated sigh and thought to herself.

'Obviously to go to Soul Society with you to save Rukia.'

"Kuchiki Rukia…saved me once. I'm going as well." Chap replied, his voice firm as Ichigo stared at him.

"Huh? Wait…what?!" The orange haired boy spluttered and backed away slightly in surprise.

"What? They didn't tell you?" Another voice suddenly joined into the conversation, onyx grey eyes travelled to another person who wore glasses and was dressed in white.

Her eyebrows arched up in surprise as she studied the person, her eyes tracing the blue streaks that lined his pure white clothes.

'A Quincy…judging from the clothes he's wearing…I thought they had been exterminated a while ago…' Rayne thought as she placed her thumb on her bottom lip.

"Ishida?!"

"I can't let it end with me losing to those Death gods. I'll go too." Ishida replied as Rayne sweat dropped.

'I can tell he's got an insane amount of pride, as all Quincys have, but…' She smiled lightly in amusement.

'It feels like he's making an excuse to come with them to Soul Society to save Rukia.'

"Now we're all here." A bright, cheerful voice made itself known.

Ichigo gave a start at the familiar voice and spun around to see Inoue walking towards them with a smile, her long orange hair swishing out behind her.

"Inoue?!"

"Pleased to be working with you." Inoue bowed politely, Rayne stifled a chuckle as she watched Ichigo become even more flustered by the second.

"Huh? Wai…hold on, wha-wha-what?! What is all this?!" He stammered as he glanced around at each of his friends that had gathered around him.

"They haven't noticed us yet…" Arashiei commented as Rayne continued to study each of them carefully, also memorizing of each of their reiatsu.

"He's pretty slow, isn't he?" Yoruichi padded elegantly towards them, as Rayne nodded in agreement at Yoruichi's words.

"Yoruichi san!" Inoue exclaimed.

"Boy! You can't say that you haven't noticed the bubbling of power within these individuals. While you were training to regain your Death god powers, they were each training on their own as well." Yoriuchi paused slightly and then continued on in a strict tone as Ichigo gaped in dumbstruck down at the black cat.

"Stop with the questions and bow your head to thank them." Once again Rayne nodded in complete agreement at Yoruichi's words.

"A…A CAT TALKED!!" Ichigo burst out as he tried to process that a cat had just given him a lecture.

"It's not a cat, it's Yoruichi san." Inoue corrected him as she held the black cat in her arms while Ishida said.

"I guess it is surprising."

"This is their first meeting…" Sado added as Ichigo continued to stutter brokenly about cats.

'You've got some good friends…Ichigo…' Rayne smiled lightly as she stretched out her slightly cramped legs.

Unbuttoning her coat further so that it revealed the purple tank top she wore, the outline of a giant crimson butterfly was printed on the left collar of her shirt, trailing down from the seemingly fluttering butterfly were silver vines that spun and weaved elegantly down the side.

Rayne tugged slightly at her black pants that reached the top of her boots, pockets lined the sides as did miniscule silver buckles. She tucked her zanpakutou into the belt that hung slanted around her hip and prepared to jump down from the roof.

"Okay, okay enough of that!" Urahara clapped his hands to gain their attention, he smiled lightly and then stated.

"There will also be another person who will be accompanying you to Soul Society." Rayne stepped off from the edge, the ends of her scarf fluttered out behind her like black ribbons as she plummeted down.

The tips of her toes touched the ground softly and soundlessly, Rayne landed lightly beside Urahara, bending her knees slightly to absorb the impact, the hem of her coat fluttered wildly and the ends of her scarf settled down across her shoulder. Rayne smiled lightly as she straightened and gave them a wave.

"Ichigo you already know me, so to those who don't…" Rayne bowed slightly and introduced herself.

"My name's Rayne, pleased to meet you all." Ichigo's mouth fell open as he pointed at her rudely and demanded.

"Since when have you been here?! And you're coming as well?!" Rayne glanced at him and placed her hands on her hips before replying.

"I was here since the very beginning, you just didn't notice me." Rayne replied with a smug grin, making Ichigo mutter darkly to himself.

'He's still bad at sensing other people's spiritual energy, nor can he really control the insane amount he has…' Rayne thought to herself and then answered his second question.

"And yes, I am going with you guys to Soul Society." Urahara's eyebrows raised slightly as he studied Rayne's clothing, he eyed the numerous pockets on her pants and then the silver pins in her hair.

'Those pins…they can be used as a weapon to be thrown…' He placed a hand on his chin in rubbed it thoughtfully.

'I bet she had her own store of artillery and medical kit concealed in her clothes.' Urahara lowered his hand, smirking as he imagined all the things she must be carrying.

Rayne's eyes slid to Urahara she was studying her intently, a mirthless smile tugged at her lips as she flipped her coat further open to reveal several hidden daggers strapped to her thigh. Urahara gulped, as Inoue quickly rushed forwards and grasped Rayne's hand while exclaiming enthusiastically.

"I'm Inoue Orihime, pleased to meet you as well!" Rayne smiled, her expression a little surprised at the girl's enthusiasm and nodded politely as she introduced her to the Ishida and Sado.

Ishida eyed the katana that was half concealed under the coat she wore, the end of the white sheath jutted from under the hem of her night black coat.

"Are you a shinigami?" Rayne turned to look at him, her eyes narrowing a fraction at the topic he had decided to bring up.

"Me being a shinigami or not really any of your business."

"He's treading on thin ice here." Arashiei murmured softly as his wielder let out a growl of annoyance in her mind.

Ishida frowned and then stated blandly whilst pointing at the katana that was tucked loosely in Rayne's belt, not noticing the further narrowing of Rayne's now glinting eyes.

"That is a zanpakutou." Rayne twitched slightly, Urahara saw this and quickly tried to think of something to break the icy tension that was swiftly forming between them.

'Curse his persistence.' Rayne mumbled in her mind, earning a soft chuckle from her partner.

"And your point is?" Rayne retorted, her tone darkening as the reiatsu she emitted flared slightly in warning.

The Quincy noticed the disruption in Rayne's spirit pressure but he decided to ignore it as he continued to say.

"That means you must be a shini-" Ishida was cut off me Urahara who abruptly called out loudly while pointing towards the open door of his shop.

"It's not good to stand around talking outside so let's go inside first." Rayne smiled gratefully at Urahara who tugged his hat further down and gestured for them to come into the shop.

'That boy's too curious for his own good…' Rayne complained to Arashiei who laughed lightly and murmured back.

"I agree." They made their way down to the underground basement beneath Urahara Shouten.

"W-Wow!" Inoue clapped her hands together as she peered around in amazement.

"Such a huge space under the store, it's so cool! It's like a secret base!" She exclaimed.

"Really?" Ichigo asked and stared at her weirdly.

"What a magnificent reaction. I, Tessai, am deeply moved." Rayne sweat dropped as Tessai grasped Inoue's hand and wiped at his tears with a tissue.

"It was nothing." Inoue replied as she scratched the back of her head and smiled.

"Okay, okay, your attention once again." Urahara called out and clapped his hands together, Rayne turned towards him as he clicked his fingers.

"Now, here we go." A gateway appeared from this air beside Urahara.

"All right, this is the gate that leads to Soul Society. It's called the Senkai Gate and it means 'realm-penetrating'." He declared excitedly as everyone turned to look at it.

"Ready? Please listen very closely. But first…" Urahara trailed off as he lifted his cane and jabbed the end into the back of Ichigo's neck, making his spirit come out of his body.

Everyone let out shocked gasps and immediately crowded around Ichigo's body, Inoue, Chad and Ishida knelt beside Ichigo's body and examined it with mild interest.

'Is it really that interesting?' Rayne thought as she stared at Ichigo's limp body.

"It would be if it is the first time they had seen it…" Arashiei replied, Rayne tilted her head as she tried to think of the first time she had seen a soul get pushed out of a body forcefully.

"Dammit, tell me when you're gonna do that!" Ichigo complained to the man who was swinging his cane around like a child and grinning goofily.

"It just comes out clean, huh?" Ishida stated as he observed the now soulless body.

"Hey, hey, so there's no Kurasaki kun in this Kurosaki kun?" Inoue asked, pointing to Ichigo's body, her eyes wide in excitement and curiosity.

"Of course not!" Ichigo replied while looking down at his friends who were still crowded around his body.

"Don't talk about me like some jar of candy!" Ichigo muttered as Urahara laughed lightly, holding his fan up against his face.

"Let's continue." He announced and began to explain how that gate worked.

"This gate is made by piling spirit exchangers atop the normal Senkai Gate."

"Spirit exchangers?" Ichigo repeated.

"That's right. As you know, Soul Society is a world of souls. Entering it is impossible unless you're in soul form."

"However, the only one of you who can move around in soul form is Death god Kurosaki san. So we use exchanges to turn you into spirits and send you there." Urahara ended as Rayne fingered the hilt of her zanpakutou whilst listening to his words.

"Beasically, even without pulling out our souls if we go through this gate…" Ishida trailed off.

"Yes, you can enter Soul Society in your current state." Urahara confirmed as he waved a finger.

"Alright, we got it. Now, let's get sta-" Ichigo stepped towards the gate only to be prodded hard in his side by Urahara's cane.

Rayne stifled a laugh as Ichigo stumbled to the side, rubbing his side and letting out pained moans as Inoue looked at him worriedly, a sweat drop on her head,

"However, the amount of time we can open this ate and stay connected to Soul Society is at most 4 minutes." Urahara ended, his tone turning from its usually goofiness to dangerously seriously in a split second.

"Can we even make it in that time?" Ichigo asked.

'I don't think that's possible, but if our wills become one, we will be able to get through in time.' Rayne thought to herself as Urahara answered his question in an obvious tone.

"Normally it's impossible."

"Huuh?!" Ichigo exclaimed, his cheek twitched in annoyance.

"This is an unreasonable endeavour to begin with the most we can stretch it is 4 minutes. If you can't reach the other side in that time you kids will be permanently imprisoned in the space between Soul Society and the Living World." Inoue's expression became worried, her voice wavered as she asked quietly.

"What should we do?" Rayne glanced at her and then answered her question, her voice firm and held unbreakable resolve.

"Go forwards and never let your heart waver." Inoue gazed at Rayne and then at Yoruichi nodded in agreement and padded up towards the gate.

"I had already told you before that your heart and soul are connected." Her topaz eyes slid to Inoue as she continued.

"The important thing is the state of your heart. The will to move forwards. Rayne and I will be your guide. Move forwards, that and that alone. Only those who can do that will come with us." Yoruichi turned to the young people that stood together, ready to venture into unknown danger to save their friend.

Ichigo stepped forwards.

"What are you sleep talking about. That's the reason we gathered here." Ichigo stepped forwards and stated out loud for his friends.

"You understand, don't you, boy? If you lose, you'll never be able to return here." Yoruichi gazed back at Ichigo.

"All I have to do is win, right?" Ichigo simply replied back, making Rayne smirk and close her eyes.

"Exactly." Yoruichi looked back.

"Everyone ready?" Urahara and Tessia knelt at the sides of the gates, their hand planted to the ground and emitting a furious blue glow, making the gate shine.

"Please jump in simultaneously as it opens." He instructed.

"Yeah!" Ichigo grunted.

"The calm before a storm falls upon the silent skies…" Arashiei and Rayne whispered softly, their voice joining as one and echoing as one.

"Here it goes!" Blinding light flooded the basement as they all jumped into the gateway, disappearing through its doorway and onto the path to Soul Society.


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