A/N: Once more, Bleach is sadly not mine. If it was, we'd have Turn Back the Pendulum: The Series.
Chapter title notes: The Antidote appears on Story of the Year's album The Black Swan. (Lots of these are coming from The Black Swan. Hmmmm…)
The only antidote consists of blood, sweat, and hope
And a blueprint to save us from all that we've become
Yoruichi knocked on Kisuke's door. Soifon stood behind her, quite closely, as though she didn't want to have to talk to him by herself. "You're sure the theory exists already?" she whispered towards Yoruichi's ear, not being quite tall enough to reach.
"Yes, it's very common in science fiction," the purple-haired woman answered quietly. "I'm sure once he understands that it's actually possible, he'll want to figure out how it works. Hopefully his energy-meter things will have enough of the right kind of information to help him put it all together." A few moments passed and she knocked again, a little louder. She didn't hear anything from inside, but figured he might have his headphones on. Sure enough, the door opened and he did have headphones on, huge ones with foam cushions all the way around his ears, not like the chat headset Soifon had seen him wearing earlier. It made his hair stick out in an even more unruly way than normal. Soifon recalled Urahara's younger days when he had been third-seat under Yoruichi-sama, having to look at his goofy mop of hair every day, and she missed seeing his counterpart's trademark green and white striped bucket hat.
"Sorry, I hope you weren't waiting too long," he apologized. "So lovely to see both of you again, what brings you to my humble lair?" He gestured for them to enter his room, pulling one ear free of the soft earphones. Pin-ups of girls adorned the walls, among diagrams of electromagnetic waves traveling, the solar system, and a large copy of the Periodic Table of Elements. It seemed like an odd juxtaposition, but it suited his personality. The computer was pretty much the room's focal point, but circuit boards and all manner of wires and odd devices whose purpose Soifon could only guess at were in transparent boxes everywhere. The floor in this room was hardwood, unlike most the rest of the house.
"You said to come let you know if we thought of anything unusual since last night," Yoruichi explained. "So we came to let you know something."
Soifon stood as tall as her 4'11" frame allowed. "Please don't freak out too much! We don't want Kuukaku-san waking up yet!"
His eyebrows jumped up excitedly, hiding under shaggy bangs. "All right, this should be good if you think I'll wake Kuukaku!" He finished removing his headphones and placed them on his desk. "Please, sit down!"
Soifon peered around, only seeing one chair. Where did he intend for them to sit? Yoruichi took a seat on his bed, cross-legged. Soifon was taken aback for a moment, then sat stiffly on the very edge of the bed, not wishing to turn down his dubious hospitability.
"Does this have to do with why Shaolin-san is acting so weird?" he asked frankly, looking at Soifon curiously.
"She isn't weird," Yoruichi said a bit defensively. "But this … this isn't our Shaolin."
Soifon leaned towards Yoruichi and kept her voice low. "Does he normally call her 'Shaolin-san,' or is it 'Soi-chan?'"
Yoruichi never got a chance to answer. "Not our Shaolin, you say? How could she not be? Are you saying … she's from another world?" Soifon nodded in confirmation. "Really! If she isn't our Shaolin, then whose is she? An alien, or a parallel dimension?" Urahara asked, though he didn't seem to expect an answer. He looked at Yoruichi and then back at Soifon as a look passed between the pair. "Parallel dimension!? And what triggered a doorway between our worlds? Is that what the spike was about!"
"First, stop trying to detach yourself from her. She isn't an experiment. She's a person," Yoruichi reprimanded him. "Because she is someone's Soi-chan, and we need your help to make sure she can get back where she belongs. So we can get our Soi back home."
Soifon smiled at Yoruichi thankfully. "And if you'd like to know what it is you're measuring, you'll want to call me Soifon, please," she added to Kisuke.
"Oooh, you know what it is?" he practically squealed, forgetting momentarily about measuring Soifon. Her name was Soifon..? "Oh. Sorry. Soifon, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Urahara Kisuke."
Soifon raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Ah, Urahara-san, it's good to meet you. This one didn't properly introduce herself when we first met," she remarked, poking Yoruichi's arm.
Yoruichi frowned. "Because you were busy being an imposter. Plus, you said my name. It was evident that you knew who I was." She folded her arms, confident she had successfully defended herself.
"Well, you two certainly act like you know one another. May I ask how-"
"No," they answered in unison.
"Well then," he said, feeling a bit left out of something he didn't want to be left out of. "I'm guessing there is another Yoru-chan over wherever you came from, and that you're … quite close. I like that!" He looked at her for confirmation that he had been right, but Soifon's face remained impassive. Finally he gave up. "Soifon-san, you were going to let me know what it is that I'm measuring, correct?" He eagerly reached for a handheld device with a gauge on it.
Yoruichi looked appraisingly at the device. "Is that your most sensitive one?" she asked.
"What?" Kisuke asked, fiddling with a knob on it. "Oh, yeah, I just finished calibrating it a couple minutes ago. It barely got cool enough. Stuff like this takes a while to reset, it's better for measuring highs then fluctuations, but it's pretty sensitive. Look, a digital readout, no needles!" He held it up proudly, obviously pleased with his new toy.
Soifon grinned. "I don't think you will want that one on if you want to be able to use it again. If I'm right, you're measuring reiatsu, and I will probably break it."
"Oh, I don't think that's possible," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "Watch this, it can handle your … reiatsu." He flicked it on and the gauge lit up. "What's a reiatsu, exactly?"
"Reiatsu is spiritual energy. And your little machine can handle me when I'm not doing anything with my reiatsu. That's like me being able to find someone who isn't hiding. Speaking of hiding, watch this." Soifon didn't seem to do anything out of the ordinary, but the lights on the gauge slowly blinked off one by one.
"Wow, you broke it already?" Yoruichi asked, standing and leaning over the device. Kisuke shooed her away.
Soifon laughed. "No, I'm masking my reiatsu. It still works just fine. It's just detecting that I'm undetectable. I'm the commander of the Onmitsukido, so this is a necessary skill." She didn't do anything noticeable, but the lights came back on at a moderate level. "Everyone's reiatsu feels different. If you know someone well enough, you can find them by feeling for their reiatsu. If one doesn't want to be found, they learn to do this."
Kisuke looked thrilled at this. "So you can control how much of this energy, reiatsu, that you put out?"
Soifon simply nodded. "This is your last chance to get a device you are less attached to, because I'm going to turn it up. When you're ready."
The blonde man waved her on. "Oh, Soifon-san, please go ahead. I have all confidence in my equipment."
"Because a senkai gate and me sleeping didn't break it." She shook her head, her braids swishing around her. "Please use something else, we still have to figure out how to make a senkai gate to get me back home, and your own Soi back."
Urahara ran a hand through his hair, hesitating, then flicked the power off on the handheld. "You better break something, though, you've got me all excited to see it." He got what looked like an older design of the same type of device, this one with a slender red needle on it. "Man, the needle was really a pain to set. Here goes." He pressed the switch and the needle sprang to life, hovering around the midway point of the gauge. "When you're ready, I'm waiting to be impressed."
Since she didn't have a zanpaku-to to release, she simply spoke the words of releasing her shikai. It was odd to have Suzumebachi silent all this time. In theory this should still work, even without a physical zanpaku-to. "Jinteki shakusetsu, Suzumebachi!" She could feel the increase in her reiatsu, but still couldn't hear Suzumebachi. It was eerie. She looked down at her hand as if expecting to see the stinger extending from her middle finger or the bracer on her forearm.
"Whoa," Kisuke breathed, watching the needle flick rapidly to the right in response to the energy surge.
"Yeah!" Yoruichi cheered, once again looking at the screen. Neither of them noticed Soifon's uneasy expression. "Go higher, Soifon, it isn't broken yet."
Soifon stood and nodded, rolling her shoulders back once and channeling kido for shunko. She could again feel the energy increase, but there were no physical effects. Her back and shoulders felt a little warmer, but thankfully she hadn't ripped Shaolin's shirt to shreds or totaled Urahara's room. Or the house, for that matter.
"My needle," Kisuke lamented. He looked up from the now-useless device and met Soifon's eyes. She dropped her energy level back to normal and sat once again. "You still could have done more, couldn't you?"
"Yes. The next power level would have been roughly five times higher than my shunko, the last one I did." She looked a little pale. "I'm sorry to impose, but I need some food. Using reiatsu like that reminds me that I haven't eaten in a while." She really worried about Suzumebachi now. What had happened once she had gone through to this place? Was Suzumebachi stuck inside the gate? Was it a normal gate? She had gone to bed and left her zanpaku-to near her futon on a stand designed for it. Suzumebachi, though, was a part of her. Could passing through to this world have disconnected them, or were her spiritual abilities simply inaccessible? If she ever got back home, would she be the same?
Yoruichi set one knee on the bed beside Soifon and leaned over the smaller woman, concerned. "Do you feel weak? Do you need to lie down?" She felt Soifon's forehead with the back of her hand. "Your temperature feels maybe a little high."
Soifon smiled weakly. "That's probably from shunko. The kido just made me warm instead of destroying the room. I think I'll be okay if I can just get some food though."
The young scientist placed the ruined detector on his side table. "Well, as thanks for the demonstration, I'm told I make a mean omelet. Do you want sausage or bacon?" he asked, standing in the doorway looking ready to cook.
The Chinese woman involuntarily wrinkled her nose in distaste. "No, thank you, I don't like meat. If you have vegetables?" Kisuke was already out the door.
Yoruichi laughed. "We do. Do you want to eat in my room or in the kitchen?" she inquired.
"I thought you owe me a lesson in this 'Rock Band' of yours," Soifon reminded her.
The dark-skinned girl looked a little surprised. "You're right, I do. Are you sure you're up for it?"
"Yes, just let me eat first. My reiatsu will recover quickly enough."
She found herself being swept up in Yoruichi's arms and carried out of the room. "Kisuke, just bring it to my room!" Yoruichi called towards the kitchen.
"Remeeeeeemberrrr, she isn't yooooours!" he answered loudly in a song-song voice.
"WILL BOTH OF YA SHUT UP!!" Kuukaku bellowed. "Kisuke! Bring me some asprin right now!"
They heard a "Yes ma'am!" before the door shut.