Author's Note: So, um, here I am again. It's been six months, I know. Seven months actually. Let me tell you the history of this draft. It's not an excuse, just a history. I had a draft of chapter seven 90 percent finished on December 25, 2009. So why didn't I just finish it and publish it? It was trash. It was complete and utter trash. It was so bad that I didn't know if I had a grip of where I was going with this. I took a break. It wasn't intended on being a seven month break, but that's what ended up happening. Homework piled up and I just couldn't focus on redoing this chapter while the assignments kept on coming. As a reward to any readers who have stuck by, this chapter is longer than my first three combined. Ironically enough once I got down to it, it only took three days to write all this.
In terms of actual plot, note that Ryuken's part takes place on Tuesday, Chad's on Wednesday, and Uryu's starts Tuesday and keeps going. All the gaps will be filled in next chapter, which I hope to have by July 5th. Oh, and yes, Chad's in this , and I might be um...resubmitting some earlier chapters again, so if your alerts go crazy, sorry, no updates till July 5th.
TL;DR Here's Chapter 7, no more excuses, enjoy.
Chapter 7: My Most Serene Nightmare
It was unbelievable, Ryuken thought. It was completely ridiculous. He was in his living room, five kilometres from where he should have been, the hospital. His eyes were stuck. Tired, they lingered on an item he had received in person, with the advice that he open it immediately. Instead, he had thrown it nonchalantly on his coffee table, situated nicely in the middle of his living room. The package was, as far as he knew, only that, a package. It was a brown envelope and had a message scribbled on the front of it.
Ryuken, this is for your eyes only.
From your pal, Urahara
Ryuken sat behind it in his recliner, crossed his legs, and lit a cigarette. Despite complaints from the neighbours that were sure to come later, he was beyond caring. The sun was heading towards the horizon and it had been days since he had gotten a full night's rest. Plus, with the day he'd had so far Ryuken needed something to take the edge off.
It had started at work. His employees had come to him in droves. By 9:30AM the surgeons, the janitors, the specialists, and their assistants swarmed him with requests the moment he left his office. He had been hoping that he merely needed to deal with some paperwork, as his job usually implied. Instead, he had to deal with a flock of negotiations, making one deal after the next. The head janitor wanted him to instigate a budgetary review of the cleaning supplies. The surgeons needed him to give the final say on a patient's kidney transplant, while the specialists had brought their assistants to see they could bargain for better pay.
Usually, he would have ordered them to approach him one by one, however he had been disoriented from the chaos and lack of sleep. With those two factors bearing down on him, it had been difficult to understand what was going on in the sea of their requests. Ryuken had tried to get them to stop, slamming his hand on the nearby wall. They had all gone quiet. Getting their attention had been the easier half. When he actually needed to say words, all that had come out of his mouth was a loose affiliation of syllables, each one more mumbled than the last.
They had looked at him quizzically. Ryuken was furious at their ignorance. What he had said was perfectly intelligible to him. One of the interns had stepped forward and asked "What did you say?"
Ryuken had repeated the collection of mumbles before promptly fainting. It was nothing dramatic. His body leaned against the wall until he slid onto the tiled floor. His eyes had fluttered briefly, catching the eyes of the doctors surrounding their boss, who had peered at him as if Ryuken had lost his mind.
When Ryuken had awoken he had felt nothing but embarrassment. A few of the doctors had come by to check on him and issued a notice that he was deemed unfit to resume work for three days. Apparently some of the senior doctors had asked his secretary about his recent work habits. It didn't take her long before she had given them a full history of his late night ventures, even noting unnecessary details, like how he appeared tired all the time and easily agitated. Worse still, there was a good chance that word would get to the review board at the local prefecture that the hospital's director wasn't healthy. There would be no greater humiliation than a personal inspection with the board, only to have them discover that he was an avid smoker and workaholic.
The doctors had said as much in their glances between each other and Ryuken. It only added to the embarrassment that the doctors patronized him, treating him as if he didn't recognize the ailment, as if he hadn't spent ten years studying to get into his occupation, and another ten years of experience in the field to get where he was today. Ryuken kept his composure; there was no sense adding aggravation to the list of faults for the board's review.
Twenty minutes later Ryuken had left. He had told his nurse that he was checking himself out, and that he wouldn't be back for another week. In his wake, he had escaped behind a spurring collection of rumours, all asking the same thing: whether Ryuken would be coming back any time soon. Ryuken had been thinking of something else entirely. How much of this was his own fault for bothering to train his ungrateful son?
He had taken the bus home. Ryuken didn't want to risk making any mistakes while driving, and the bus came by often enough that it didn't make any significant difference in time. He had greeted the driver with a half nod, before moving to the back of the bus. The Karakura bus system was new, but unorganized. Stops were spread out sporadically across the city and the routes between them awkward. In all fairness, the town had only recently become big enough to merit a transportation system aside from the bullet trains.
This had been fine with Ryuken. Sporadic stops meant that the bus stopped less, which moved even faster thanks to the dearth of people around in the early afternoon. Everyone except housewives and delinquents were at work or school. Ryuken hadn't wanted to be seen by too many people anyway. If the medical director of Karakura hospital were seen blank-eyed and tired, on the afternoon bus of all things, gossip would spread from the hospital like wild fire.
One kilometre before reaching his home, the bus had made one stop, much to Ryuken's disappointment. He was only disappointed further when he realized that the new passenger wasn't anyone human. It was Urahara, peculiarly without his typical hat and sandals, wearing a formal black suit with his hair slicked back instead. It was at least amusing to have see Urahara dressed in such a get up. Even in the he had walked, he was clearly out of his element.
"Fancy meeting you here, Ryuken!" He had said, laughter ringing in his voice. Ryuken had hardly believed this was a coincidence, but didn't jump to any conclusions. He had responded with the most obvious answer.
"I didn't know we were on a first name basis."
Urahara had looked dissatisfied, nevertheless had continued with his game anyway. Wrapping his arm around Ryuken's shoulder, Urahara dropped down in the seat beside him.
"You could have fooled me. Hey, but don't look so glum! I've got a package for you, just to show my gratitude for teaching Isshin nicely. It's nothing big, but I thought I'd hand-deliver it to drive the point home." Urahara had reached into his blazer and pulled out a brown parcel slightly larger than an 8 by 12 sheet of paper. Ryuken had refused to take it, attempting to ignore Urahara's existence all together. Again, Urahara had looked dissatisfied.
"Come on, Ryuken, take it. It's not going to eat you. Some of the other stuff I had prepared might, but I made sure this one was clean of any ravenous creatures," Urahara had insisted.
"The contents aren't of any interest to me."
"How'd you figure that? You haven't even opened it yet."
"It hardly takes a genius to realize this is some mediocre attempt to get me to join the juvenile rescue team you're putting together," Ryuken had said, throwing off Urahara's arm.
"Ah," Urahara replied. "So, Isshin already told you."
"Yes, he called me on his way home, though I imagined you would do this regardless. Chances are you were moments away from creating a team for that Orihime girl had you not anticipated this recent kidnapping."
Urahara had then paused. It was another quirk Ryuken had noticed. It was as if he was second guessing himself, or trying to think of ways he could modify his approach. Something must have happened to him in between the time that Isshin had left and Urahara's appearance then.
"Right," Urahara had said finally. He sunk into his seat before turning back to Ryuken. "Is there anything I can say that will convince you to come along? You know, it wouldn't be right for a father to leave his son stranded like that."
"Had he not been kidnapped, he would have gone after that girl on his own," Ryuken had sighed inaudibly. "Furthermore, I don't appreciate the constant parental criticism you've been giving me. You don't have a child of your own, nor are you responsible enough to keep track of one. You hardly have any right to comment on how I treat my son."
"Leaving your son in the hands of a murderer is more irresponsible than anything I could have come up with."
Ryuken had given him a sharp look.
"Fine, do what you like. There's no point arguing." Urahara had conceded and had pushed the button alerting the driver to stop at the next station. Two minutes later, the bus had arrived at its stop and Urahara had gotten off without a hitch. The man hadn't even bothered to wave facetiously goodbye as he had left.
As Ryuken had prepared to leave for his own stop, he had realized that Urahara had left the parcel in the chair beside his. Ryuken had picked up and subsequently hadn't been able to let go of it until he had entered his apartment some fifteen minutes later.
For most of the day, he had ignored it, idling his time by calling the high school to inform them that Uryu was 'sick' and would be 'sick' for quite some time. He also fulfilled some of the chores he still had yet to complete. Hours later, when he felt like there was nothing else to be done, he had sat down in his recliner and looked at the package again.
His curiosity stemmed less from the nature of package itself, and more on the manner in which it was given to him. Urahara had gone through a lot of effort to make it appear like he had been defeated. The 'defeat' was perhaps the most perverse moment of the day. Everyone, not only Ryuken, was used to seeing Urahara dance around his opponents both mentally and physically. Today it was as if he hadn't even bothered to exert himself. Ryuken wondered if that was a part of the game he was playing. Make it appear as if the parcel was the centre of something insignificant, and leave it behind, just to see if he picked it up.
That had to be it. It was all a part of Urahara's contrived plan to get him to join their rescue mission. Though, Ryuken had to admit, Urahara had succeeded in piquing his interest.
The rational choice would be to throw it out. Yes, he should pick it up from the coffee table and toss it in the trash. Ryuken was a man of his word, even to himself. He had broken a promise once in the last few weeks, and he didn't want to have the opportunity to break another one. He would not rescue his son from Uryu's own mistakes, and he would not play into Urahara's hand. He would throw it out.
But much to his annoyance he didn't. He looked at the packet, studying it up and down. He tried again to make good on his threat. He stood up and grabbed the envelope before wandering towards the nearest dustbin. His hand hovered over the rough brown paper wrapping, occasionally moving closer or farther away based on what his current inclinations were.
Eventually he gave up, and dropped it on his kitchen table. As long as he didn't change his mind, it wouldn't be a problem to open it. He made it another promise. Regardless of what he saw inside, he would not join up with Urahara's band of merry men. From his cupboard, he drew a small knife, and cut along the right edge of the package. Carefully out he slid a white folder, with another note of the front that read:
Memento Mori
Ryuken didn't recognize the handwriting, but suspected it was from one of Urahara's lackeys. On second glance the folder was clearly a police file. The tab was marked with a sticker entailing the date and case number, though everything except the date was scribbled out. According to the sticker, the case was from fifteen years ago, on March 19.
Ryuken paused. The date was familiar. Fifteen years ago, on March 19th he had been…
Urahara, you couldn't have. You didn't.
He opened up the folder. He immediately recognized the first image, a pool of blood on the sidewalk surrounding a man who had his limbs hacked off systematically. Chances are he had been at the scene before the police had. Ryuken hesitantly pushed the picture, only to reveal a more graphic one underneath. Where did you get this, Urahara? Beneath the images was a missing person's report for a fifteen year old girl from West Germany, named Nadia Adler. Her picture lay in the middle of the page, smiling from a time long before she had ever come to Japan.
Ryuken quickly spread the remaining pages across the table. The last four were images of a separate crime scene. Together, they revealed a shadowy, claustrophobic room which was covered in a thick layer of blood. The amount of blood was astounding, especially considering its source: a girl with a mask was half formed over her face. The exposed half grinned madly, her lips curling at the end. Below her was a Celtic cross just visible above the sheet of blood. The second one showed a close up of the girl's head, which had been cut at the neck.
The rest of the body was marked with drops of blood running down from neck, like a red veil formed over her skin. Even in her most grotesque form Nadia still appeared delicate somehow. Ryuken remembered standing above the girl, before the blood. He still remembered he mask, and the white spikes which seemed to emanate from every joint in her body.
And then it came back to him, the point he tried to repress the most. Ryuken had been the one who killed her.
He nearly smashed his fist into the counter in frustration.
It was something he had tried to ignore for years. He had founded his moral sense on the basis that March 19th had never happened. On the nights that he remembered, he would tell himself that her death was a mercy killing. She had been crying underneath the mask. She had asked him to –
On the last page of the folder, after all the papers and images had been pulled out, lay a note, personally written by Urahara and taped to the back: SHE WAS THE FIRST TEST. URYU WILL BE THE FINISHED PRODUCT.
They want to turn him into an arrancar. His thoughts spun about his brain, spiralling in multiple directions, but all arriving at the same conclusion.
Uryu is going to become an arrancar.
Ryuken nearly fell on the wall behind him. He was tired, and had been since he had gotten home, however, his shock catalyzed it. It took all of his strength to keep his body up and to keep himself awake. Remembering the pack of cigarettes he had left on the counter, Ryuken took a long drag. The act was so much more relaxing than watching the leftover smoke rise to the ceiling. His legs buckled a little bit with each breath and before long he was halfway to the ground. A couple times he nearly fell, but he reasserted himself and pushed back up.
Still, he didn't sleep, at least not immediately. Ryuken leaned there, his legs bunched together against the wall and went on smoking. His thoughts revolved around the questions of morality and keeping his word. He had promised himself that he wouldn't change his mind. One little note from Urahara wasn't going to change that. Until he knew more, his inaction would remain. And even then, it had always been Uryu's decision. Ryuken had given warnings throughout Uryu's life that he was playing with things beyond him, that he should be practical.
In the off chance Urahara was telling the truth – Ryuken honestly didn't know what he should do.
Wednesday morning, Chad awoke to one of the quietest days of his life. He didn't expect it. Most mornings were chaotic so long as Ichigo, Orihime and Uryu were around. Ichigo would make some fuss in class. Uryu would call Ichigo an idiot in the halls. Orihime would be plagued by Chizuru, while Tatsuki did her best to defend her. Keigo would bother everyone and Mizuiro would bother Keigo. It made high school noisy, hectic and out of control, which to be honest was how Chad liked his mornings. Sure there were times that he enjoyed some peace but he had enough of that at home.
However, this Wednesday morning didn't have Ichigo, Orihime or Uryu. Chad assumed that they were off training or in Ichigo's case, recovering from the battle with that arrancar invasion. Where ever they were, they hadn't told him. That was fine. He knew his friends could take care of themselves. Orihime had told her teachers that she would be on vacation for a couple days but was due back yesterday. Ichigo would called in sick for weeks at a time, so it didn't surprise Chad that he was gone again. Uryu came to school sporadically (his excuse was helping with his dad's hospital), though he did his best not to miss more than one day of school at a time. Chad had had his fair share of absences too, so it was nothing he had any right to complain about. Regardless, it worried him that they were all missing on the same day. The teachers had no idea where they were, aside from Uryu.
Apparently his father called in…
Unfortunately their combined absence meant fewer outbursts from Chizuru and less reason for Tatsuki to defend anyone. Everyone Chad spent time with was either gone or keeping to themselves. It was like a depression had set in now that class had become less interesting.
The single exception to the rule was Keigo. He was still all for causing a ruckus, regardless of the fact that there was no one there who wanted to tolerate him. Then, when questioning why everyone was being so neglectful, he made a brash comment which earned him a punch in the face from Tatsuki, the first real conflict of the day. After that Keigo stayed quiet, like everyone else. Chad never said much to begin with, but as the day progressed he felt especially silent. Excluding the regular high school tasks of answering questions and exchanging short pleasantries, Chad didn't say anything for most of the day.
Six unrelenting hours after the day had begun, Chad found himself picking up his things to go home again. His plan was to go see Urahara. Urahara had promised to let Renji and Chad spar for training purposes, although, Tessai had refused to let him the day before and had said that Renji had left for Soul Society. Chad felt completely out of the loop, and intended to ask Urahara for some answers.
Before he could leave, Tatsuki wandered up to him, blocking his exit through the door.
"Hey, Chad," She began. She looked at him weirdly, unsure of how to continue. "I've looked everywhere for Orihime. She's not at home. She said she'd be back, but she's nowhere. It's like her presence is completely gone."
Chad waited for her to go on, surprised as well that Orihime could just disappear. She glanced at him again. There were signs of anger and hopelessness in her eyes, however Chad didn't think she would hit him. It was her usual way of dealing with problems like this but Chad was too big, too strong and not a close enough friend that she would take it all out on him. He was thankful Ichigo wasn't here. She would have punched him the moment she saw him.
Given a minute, Tatsuki started to calm down.
"I thought you might know something, but hah, I guess not." She laughed the awkwardness off, putting a hand behind her head. "You know I was meaning to ask Ichigo, but he hasn't been to school for a while. He's probably gone off and done something stupid again. You're the only person I know who hangs out with Ichigo with any lick of sense in them. "
"Yeah, thanks," Chad smiled and made a small laugh. That seemed to put Tatsuki a little more at ease. "If you want to know where he is, his family should know."
Chad felt bad for leading her on a wild goose chase, yet it was the only answer he could give her.
"Thanks." She smiled and then paused again, looking thoughtful. "Do you know what Ichigo's doing outside of school?"
Chad shrugged.
"Like, have you seen him in a black kimono?" She asked, almost pleading with him for an answer.
"No, I don't think I've seen Ichigo doing that," Chad replied. Who Ichigo chose to tell his secret to was his business. Chad wasn't about reveal his secret without Ichigo's permission. Tatsuki looked disappointed at the response. Still, she did her best to keep a cheerful face. "Sorry."
"Oh, don't worry about it! Thanks anyway Chad."
With that she sauntered out the door. Chad walked out behind her, leaving the school grounds to catch a bus. He needed to see Urahara soon.
Twenty minutes later and Chad was knocking on the shōji doors to Urahara's shop. It took another ten minutes for Tessai to answer the door and attempt to shoo him away.
"I'm sorry, but the shop is closed today. Come back tomorrow we can accommodate you fully."
"That's what you told me yesterday."
"Mr. Yasutora, I apologize, but you will have to come back tomorrow." Tessai insisted. He moved to slide the door closed. Chad put his foot in the way and tried to push the door back open.
"Let me speak with Mr. Urahara."
"If you don't leave now, you will be trespassing. I don't deal well with trespassers. " Tessai threatened and pulled the door away from Chad, sliding it shut on Chad's foot. Chad didn't show any sign of pain and fought to keep the door open.
"A girl came to me and asked me where Miss Inoue was, and I had no idea. " Chad yelled into the shop, finally angry at Urahara's refusal to come out. "I was her last resort. Mr. Urahara where are my friends!"
"It is time for you to leave!" Tessai opened the door just enough that he could kick Chad into the air, sending him flying ten feet back. Chad got back up and ran back to the door. Tessai shut it before he could get close. Chad hammered his fist into the paper wall only to have it bounce back.
A barrier?
Chad drew strength into his right arm and tried again and again, eventually changing it into the right arm of the giant. He pounded into the barrier, though it was clear he wasn't damaging it. He relented, drawing strength in his right arm again. The spike on his right shoulder split into three and then lit up as he prepared for the attack. He took a stance and then charged at the door fist first.
"Oh, ho ho," Chad heard a cackle come from inside the shop. "If you wanted to see me why didn't you just ask?"
Chad stopped his charge and groaned. He wasn't used to that ability yet, nor his new arm.
"I'm a bit busy today I'm afraid, so you'll have to be quick," Urahara opened the door in his normal mismatched clothing, wearing a sly grin and beating the air with a fan. Chad advanced towards the door once more.
"Where is Orihime?" Chad asked.
"Aizen kidnapped her when she was coming home from Soul Society three nights ago." Urahara replied, decidedly keeping his smile.
"What about Ichigo?"
"Also kidnapped by Aizen," Urahara said and leaned on the door's wooden frame so that his fan could catch more of the moving air. "That one was two nights ago."
"Is Uryu okay?" Chad shuffled in closer.
"Kidnapped."
"When?" Chad demanded. The facetious act was really starting to get to him.
"That was the same night Ichigo was kidnapped." Urahara opened up his shirt and started to fan his chest. Chad shook his head. Three of his friends had been stolen from him. The arrancar had managed to capture Ichigo of all people. If they could take him, they could take any one of them. Chad had made leaps and bounds with his own ability, but he knew Ichigo was still stronger than him. Thinking about it made Aizen's creatures suddenly seem a lot more powerful than he had envisioned.
"Oh, and Mr. Freeloader's doing fine. I'll tell him you asked about him." Urahara interjected.
"Yeah, what did happen to Renji?"
"He, and all the other shinigami, went home to prepare for Aizen's assault. Kidnapping one unit under their command and two civilians is a serious offense in the game of war. Don't be surprised if you see more than a couple explosions in the sky soon."
"They're not going to help bring them back?" It seemed unfair that Soul Society just abandoned his friends when they needed their help the most, especially Orihime, who was taken while under their care.
"Nah, they have more important things to do, like coordinating a defense strategy to defend the town. Top command is making sure that anyone who leaves Soul Society or lets someone leave loses their rank. Sorry, but you won't be seeing Renji or Rukia for a while."
Chad could hardly believe it. He never expected Karakura Town to be a full-on battlefield. There had been skirmishes in the past, however Chad never anticipated it would grow any larger than that. He was used to fighting small groups of almost equal numbers. A war. Things were unquestionably getting out of hand. There had to be some way he could help control this, at least recover his friends before life became completely out of the ordinary.
"Urahara, let me into Hueco Mundo. I'll bring Orihime, Ichigo and Uryu back." Chad declared. He meant what he said. Even if no one could help him, he was determined to return his friends before any further harm could be done to them. He had made a promise to them the first time they entered, that they would do their best to protect each other.
"Out-of-the-question," Urahara said, pronouncing the words slowly. He didn't try to look at Chad and continued fanning himself. "Chad, going into Aizen's domain on your own is complete suicide, and not the kind that'll land you Soul Society either."
Chad just moved in closer. Urahara laughed.
"How about this, come back, say, Thursday 7:00AM?" Urahara offered, creeping slowly back into his shop. "I'll have a plan ready for you then." Urahara glanced at his wrist, though there was nothing actually there. "Unfortunately this is all the time I have for the day. See you tomorrow!" Urahara waved and then slammed the door shut in Chad face.
Chad didn't try to break through, instead turning around to take another bus home. He'd come back tomorrow, early, and wait for whatever nightmares Urahara and Hueco Mundo had in store for him. He just hoped that Uryu, Ichigo and Orihime would be safe until then.
Uryu awoke in a heap of dirt, his face covered in mud. Wiping the muck from his eyes and then his glasses, he looked up. His surroundings weren't anything like where he remembered being. There were no operation tables, no vials, no mad scientist, and no girl dangling from the ceiling. Instead, there was an undulating hill, rising until just beyond his vision.
Where am I?
Beside him was a rushing stream, which led to a bridge overhead. The bridge looked a little old, and was only big enough for one car to pass through on either side. Rocks paved the other side of the stream, piling up to what looked like buildings, though it was difficult to see beyond the immense fog. It was a nice scene, quiet aside from a few birds and a little wind. It was also very familiar. Perhaps he was being optimistic, but the environment reminded him of Karakura Town. Only thing that made him think otherwise was the fog, which loomed far behind him and mildly across the stream.
The fog was a prominent feature down the stream, opposite of the bridge. It billowed and foamed over the landscape like it was a liquid instead of a gas. Uryu walked towards it until he realized that there was a distinct barrier between the areas that were covered in the thick fog and those that weren't. He could place his hand on the exact point where they separated and view them as almost two different worlds. After a few minutes, he decided that if Szayel had danger prepared for him, it would be through the fog.
He attempted to walk into it, but the fog soon became too thick and found himself wandering back to the spot from which he had entered. He came out feeling damp and cold, as if he had just wandered out of a cave. Uryu wasn't discouraged, braving a second round with the fog. Again, it brought him back to the same point. He speculated whether if he went straight, without changing direction or position, he should avoid confusing himself back to the starting point. He took a step back, then walked directly into the mist. Despite his attempts to head in one direction, within minutes he was stumbling back to where he had started.
Uryu didn't bother with it a fourth time. He turned around and walked along the stream. There had to be a constructed path for him to follow and security measures in place to make sure he did so. It made sense. If Szayel wanted him to go in a certain direction, why not eliminate his capacity to veer elsewhere? The stream appeared like a good thing to follow. It had the sun hanging over it with few clouds, and as Uryu walked, he could see a paved road leading under the bridge. Everything was laid out for him. He felt like he was in a video game and that fog was the boundary line. Although, Uryu had to admit, that if this was Hueco Mundo he didn't mind being there, creepy fog aside.
Further along the path Uryu saw, of all things, a cemetery on the other side of the bridge. His mind returned to Karakura Town, and suddenly realized why it was all so familiar. The stream, the bridge and the cemetery were taken exactly from his beloved home. Uryu remembered taking the same path under the bridge when he was a child. Though, at the time he had been running away from the cemetery, not towards it. This led to a second important realization, after which he felt the sudden urge to run again. Uryu ran back under the bridge and went to see if the path that went up to the main road was there. It was, and he used it to climb to the top of the bridge. From there he could see the entire landscape.
The scene almost made him laugh. He was in the middle of Karakura Town, pristine and laid out exactly like he remembered, except now there were small clouds of fog forming on buildings and in the middle of roads, sometimes encompassing an entire block. It couldn't be so easy that Szayel had already performed all his insane tests and left him behind, could it? No. That fog was too glaring an anomaly. He couldn't reason it out as just an odd meteorological glitch. Plus, if Szayel had finished with him, it would have been more efficient to kill him so he couldn't come back later.
Unless, he rendered that impossible. By instinct, Uryu formed a bow using nearby spirit particles. He shot one arrow, then twenty, increasing the numbers of arrows proportionally to his previous limits. Reaching one thousand arrows at once, his hands dropped to his knees in exhaustion. His bow, Lone Sparrow was fine as were his Quincy abilities. But still, this wasn't his home, so his keeping his powers must be part of a test.
Wondering where to go next, Uryu looked back at the cemetery. A quiet ringing emanated from within. Uryu raised his hand to his ear to see if he could get a better listen. It was sobbing. Someone or something in the cemetery was crying. There's someone else here? Uryu crouched and walked down the side of the hill back into the cemetery, searching for the voice's source. He made sure he was ready to retrieve his bow at any sign of attack.
A part of him regretted not walking through the main gate as part of tradition, but he figured that since it was a fake town, tradition didn't mean much. The thought blew away once the crying began to sound like a child's, though Uryu wasn't entirely sure. It was difficult to see if there was anyone actually there. The lines of gravestones heading at least five hundred meters along the banks of the stream created a labyrinth that made things easy to miss. After a few minutes of fruitless surveillance, decided to just focus in on the sound.
"Hello?" The crying turned into howling, but Uryu still couldn't hone in on where it was coming from. He'd be walking towards it one moment, and the next he would be hearing it far behind him. "Hello!" He called again, cupping a hand around his mouth to see if his voice would be amplified. "Anyone? If you're here it's okay to come out! I'm another prisoner! "
The voice didn't respond, only increasing the volume at which they bawled. Its elusiveness started to try Uryu's nerves.
"I'm a friend, I won't hurt you!" Uryu yelled a second time.
"Leave me alone!" The child replied, choking on his own tears. It came from beside him. Uryu shifted his weight and slowly turned his head. A boy was a few stones down, hunched over the Ishida family's grave site. Suddenly the scene looked a lot more like a trap. What were the chances that a boy would be drooped on top of his family's grave. Uryu backed off and tried to get a better look at the kid. Carefully, he strafed around the cemetery until he was crouched down in the same row as the boy. While he didn't see the child's face, Uryu could tell that he was lanky with perfect black hair and was wearing a suit, though his tie had been thrown on the ground beside him.
It was eerie watching the child there cry endlessly. Uryu crept a few steps forward. The boy didn't seem to notice him, his face buried deep between his arms. The scene brought up this nagging feeling up from within Uryu. It pecked at him, telling him that he was missing something. Uryu rattled his brain but couldn't put his finger on it.
Despite his concern, the closer he got the less it seemed like a trap. There were no immediate changes in the environment, and Uryu could sense no reiatsu coming from the boy or anything else for that matter. The kid just kept crying. Feeling ridiculous, Uryu stood up and walked the last steps over to where the boy was kneeling.
"Hey, are you okay?" Uryu asked in a quiet voice.
"I said I want to be alone!" The boy cried out, coughing a little as he said it. Uryu reached out and put a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Don't worry you-"
"Don't touch me!" The boy turned to him, his face a wreck, tears dripping from his eyes and his nose. Uryu immediately pulled back. Not because the boy told to, but because the boy was him. The tearful mess screaming and yelling above his grandfather's and mother's final resting place was himself, as an seven year old child.
Uryu watched as the boy went back to sobbing with a morbid curiosity. The child Uryu had to be from the day of his grandfather's funeral. He could remember the day almost exactly as it was. He and his father were the only ones who had come as his grandfather had outlived all of his other relatives and friends. Uryu cried throughout the ceremony and was thanked by Ryuken's scoldings, looking upon him as if he was being some kind of nuisance. When the ritual was complete, they had gone to say their final goodbyes. They both knelt down in respect bowing their heads. Uryu had hoped to see his father cry alongside him. Instead he gave the rock one meaningful look and left. I'll be waiting for you in the car. Uryu had stayed there for hours, refusing to leave despite what others had said.
While no human could have driven him away, Uryu had been quick to run when once he had heard the cry of a hollow coming nearby. Unconfident in his own abilities without his grandfather, Uryu hadn't even attempted to fight the monster back on his own. His father had been waiting for him by the car, as he had promised, smoking a cigarette. Ryuken had frowned as the weepy and panicking Uryu drew near. It seems you're crying for everything today. Stop it. The hollow will be taken care of. As Ryuken had pushed Uryu into the car, Uryu had seen an arrow fly out and kill the hollow with a single shot. Before, Uryu had held some hope that it was his grandfather's ghost, somehow protecting him from beyond the grave. He knew better now.
It took a few minutes but eventually his seven year old self quieted down. Wiping the excess liquid from his eyes, he propped up his knees and wrapped himself into a ball. Uryu was deciding between comforting his younger self or simply leaving him be, when the boy turned to him. His face was still red, occasionally making a sniffling noise.
"Do you know where my daddy is?" He asked softly. "I know he said he was waiting for me, but I thought he might come to get me. D-do you know if he's coming?"
Uryu could only shake his head. If this recreation of his childhood was supposed to be accurate, Ryuken wouldn't be showing up any time soon. Little Uryu sadly nodded before looking back at the gravestone.
Whatever this was, it scared the life out Uryu. How could Szayel make a precise re-enactment of his grandfather's funeral? The child had just said the exact line he had told a priest, who had approached him wondering why a child was alone in the middle of a cemetery. And, why would he do it? Uryu could see little gain in having him watch his younger self cry.
"Hey, you look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?" The boy looked at him curiously. This was new.
" I'm- I mean my name is…" Uryu struggled for a response, but stopped when he saw the kid was no longer paying attention. His eyes focused on something above and behind him. Uryu glanced around, almost certain of what he might see. A rather plain looking hollow stood 20 feet tall, its arms spread out, ready to grab the smaller Uryu. After a moment, it made its warring cry and jumped on its prey. The boy erupted into tears and burst out of the cemetery. Uryu of now knew that if he waited a moment he would see an arrow shoot from beyond the bridge and obliterate the hollow. Uryu didn't want to wait.
He pulled out his bow and shot the hollow right through the neck. The hollow began to evaporate almost instantly. Ryuken, I can take care of myself.
Uryu paid his respects to his grandfather and then climbed onto the road through the gates. Not sure where to go, he decided to head towards his apartment near the school. His impression of the town was exactly as he remembered, although, it changed the more he delved into the streets. There were significant peculiarities with this Karakura's appearance. Fog covered much of the buildings' sides and entire blocks were impossible to see through or enter. This became more apparent in certain parts of the city. When he ventured into an area he never been before, the houses and flora seemed to disappear into the mist. Yet, in the more memorable parts the world was exact, the landscape almost glowing from the sun's rays.
What was odder was that Uryu could have sworn that he saw himself on multiple occasions. There was the twelve year old him exiting the fabric store for the first time, and the ten year old him coming out of the elementary school. These illusions all vanished within a couple seconds and left Uryu feeling disturbed. It was like Szayel had taken his memories and dumping them out on this world for his own amusement.
Uryu neared the park in between the school, his apartment and the local convenience store. In the past he had used it as a shortcut. What changed his mind was being attacked by an incomplete arrancar while he was unable to access most of his Quincy abilities. He had recovered since then, but it didn't seem like a good idea to return somewhere he had been attacked. In spite of this, Uryu wondered if he would be able to see it replayed again. Sure enough, the closer he came the sun began to disappear as day turned to night. Soon the grotesque hollow formed out the air, and there was him, locked in battle with it. 1
Watching the fight again he realized how little of a struggle he had put up without his Quincy abilities, especially up against the dipartite hollow's instant regeneration. Within a minute, his plans had failed and this other Uryu was tied up and ready to be eaten. The hollow's tongue sagged towards him.
Before it could touch him, an arrow shot into the frey, cutting the tongue off near its teeth.
"That was unsightly of you," Even in this dream world the voice spoke with a callous amount of dissatisfaction, "Uryu."
Uryu saw that that his other was stunned, however he was expecting this moment. His father came out from beneath trees, a cigarette in one hand and a bow in another.
"You- You're Ryuken." His other said, exasperated. Ryuken took a breath of his cigarette, looking at Uryu's past self head on.
"Using your father's first name again," Ryuken shook his head. "You never change, do you, Uryu?"
In the background the hollow vomited blood. Ryuken shot another arrow into the hollow's mouth.
"You're too noisy."
Uryu couldn't restrain himself and interrupted the memory by shooting six arrows towards the hollow's weak spots. The monster collapsed, its body too damaged to regenerate. Uryu walked through the park to where the monster had been. By the time he arrived, the memory seemed to end itself now that it had been disrupted, except that once the hollow and Uryu's other disappeared, the Ryuken lingered behind.
"You're such a fool. This spectacle proved nothing." Ryuken said, turning away to take another drag of his cigarette. "You have no talent."
Uryu was genuinely shocked this time. This Ryuken seemed to be respond to his actions. Uryu waved a hand in front of his father's face.
"Stop that! Don't act like an idiot." Ryuken spat. Uryu took a step back. He summoned his bow and raised it towards Ryuken's head.
"Szayel, stop pretending to be my father. This world and your theatrics are only beginning to try my nerves."
"Try your nerves?" This other Ryuken scoffed. "Do you remember the promise you made me?"
Uryu raised an eyebrow. "I don't see how that has anything to do with you, Szayel."
"You said you wouldn't get involved with the Shinigami anymore. Our agreement was that you would keep yourself out of harms way if I helped you recover your abilities." Ryuken proposed, giving Uryu a peculiar look. "Where are you now, Uryu?"
"I was kidnapped."
"You were kidnapped because you were too weak to take care of yourself and too headstrong to pay attention." Ryuken said, turning his back to Uryu. "Sometimes I wonder if I managed to teach you anything."
"That's absurd; this was completely out of my control. I did not choose to come here." Uryu said his voice stoic. He refused to become enraged by these accusations. Besides, he had been mentally preparing for a conversation like this since they attacked him. If Szayel had something right, it was that Ryuken would always find a reason to insult him.
"You would have left anyway." Ryuken said, tossing his cigarette to the ground and then stomping on it with his heel. "What was the name of your friend? Inoue, was it?"
"What does she have to with this?"
"She was kidnapped, the night before you were. Didn't you notice her reiatsu vanished? Or were you too busy 'wallowing in your own bile'?"
Uryu stayed silent. Whoever he was, he was right. Uryu hadn't been paying attention to anyone else's reiatsu since his training started. He assumed she was still training in Soul Society. He cautioned himself. This could all be provocation. Uryu may not have been paying attention to Orihime's spirit energy, but that didn't imply she was missing.
"The minute you discovered that, I imagine you'd be high tailing it for Urahara's, with Ichigo Kurosaki no less."
"Don't assume things about me. You have no idea how I would respond."
"It's easy to predict how a no talent hack like you will react. It's because you never think. Sometimes I wonder what Soken saw in you. "
Uryu fired an arrow one centimetre away from 'Ryuken's' head. "Szayel, your insane plans have nothing to do with my grandfather. Stop pretending to be my father and do something rational for a change."
"He was my father before he was your grandfather." Ryuken lit another cigarette and toyed with it with his fingers. "He probably chose you because he was growing senile. I wouldn't doubt that's how he was killed in the first place. He grew so fragile he couldn't even hold his bow properly. "
Uryu shot another arrow, this one aimed right between the faux-Ryuken's eyes. The body stumbled over, and Uryu wondered whether he had shot something real for a change. He kneeled down to see this Ryuken almost smiling, a look of contentment upon his face. Then it disappeared like every other memory he had encountered. Uryu got up and left. Despite the lengths Szayel had gone to recreate his father, he had clearly gotten something wrong. Uryu had never seen his father even come close to smiling.
By the time Uryu had left the park and approached the replica of his home it was daytime again. To his surprise his apartment was more or less how he left it. The environment was as colourful as before (maybe more so), ringing with the sound of cicadas from outside. The food was in the fridge. His sewing kit was on the table. His computer functioned at the usual pace, though the Internet refused to work. The phone also seemed to have power coming to it much the same way, his home was otherwise perfect with not a detail out of place.
Uryu walked to his bed, and dropped. His bed was welcoming and warm, more so than the cot his father had provided him. And being home for a change did help his nerves. If he ignored previous conflicts Szayel's test had become oddly comfy.
Uryu closed his eyes and tried to think his situation out rationally.
What did Szayel have to gain by doing this? Congratulations, he had made an unfinished replica of Karakura Town. That seemed about as effective test as taking mice from their cage, and then placing them in a labyrinth which looked just like it. The point of this had to be something to do with the way it was built. The parts of the city which he could explore were practically glowing. Of course there were also parts of the city that were impenetrable and covered in fog. On top that, Szayel had sprinkled Uryu's memories all over the city. Uryu expected to see a couple hundred of him if he ever went by the high school.
Uryu thought about that for a moment. Hundreds of my memories…What if everything here is just a memory? That would explain why the parts of the town that he'd never entered were cover by fog. His mind wouldn't know what was there, and so would need to cover it up. Then when it pieced it all together it brought some of his past with it. After all, the whole thing was a collection of what he remembered, it would make sense if the emotional memories were dragged also.
Am I crazy? The last solid thing he remembered was…
Flashes came to him, moments where he had been awake, moments when he hadn't been in immense pain, only recovering from it on a large metal table. There was every so often the sound of a metal drill and feeling of his flesh rippling, being cut apart. A very sickly looking Ichigo had been beside him, while some girl hung just out of his grasp. He had been tortured? Maybe dissected, Uryu didn't put it past Szayel. Uryu went to bathroom to get a better look of his body in mirror. For whatever reason, there were still bruises from the series of fights he had with his father and then the arrancars, but no scars. There was no sign that Szayel had done anything to him. He front and back were clear. Either Szayel had managed to do whatever he did without ever touching him, or this body wasn't real.
He was probably on the metal table still. His mind had locked himself up in his brain to avoid whatever was going on in reality. Perhaps this was a quincy version of the zanpakutou world shinigamis had. Damn, he was going crazy.
Uryu paused and took a deep breath. There was no reason to come up with theories that he was insane just yet. Plus, he had almost forgotten about Ryuken. He doubted his subconscious would take the effort to make a replica of his father who only existed to infuriate him. Szayel definitely had some influence, even if it didn't seem immediately obvious. The fake Ryuken's smile gave him confidence. Uryu was sure he had never seen his father make that face. Doubtless, Ryuken must have smiled at one point while Uryu was alive, but it certainly wasn't like that.
Once he had calmed down, Uryu went to get a change of clothes. The ones he was wearing now were a little muddy and more than a little sweaty. His closet only had two things, his school uniform and his Quincy outfit. That's all his mind had chosen to remember. He went with the Quincy outfit, figuring that it was comfortable and durable when the evitable fight came round. As put on his shirt, he noticed an odd noise coming from the main room. It sounded like static. Uryu put on the rest of his clothes and peeked into the room. The television was on. He tried to turn it off.
"Don't touch that dial! We have special news coming live from Karakura Town General Hospital." Szayel's voice boomed out of the television's speakers. Uryu recoiled against Szayel's voice pounding in his ear. Moving farther away from the screen, Uryu watched as a camera went on; revealing Szayel in what looked like his father's training facility. Szayel walked along one of the platform to sit down in a corner. He cross his legs and pouted as if he was about to teach a schoolboy.
"Uryu, I hope you've given some thought on what's going on here. I gave you half an hour to think so it's within our mutual interest that you have some understanding of tonight's events, on a simple level anyway." Szayel made a deprecating grin. "Yes, don't fret, you aren't any more crazy than you were before. This is a little thing I've managed to cook up with the help of Enire. One of his many poisons locks you up in your own mind, with little more to assist you than your own memories. Fortunately I've discovered a much broader and more useful application."
"I added some of my own hard work, and now I have some control of what goes this mess you call a brain. I can make perfect tests without physically harming the patient. Unless I kill them. Or they kill themselves. It's happened before. "
Szayel paused for a moment, contemplating something.
"I think its best we start the trials now. Playing with you has definitely been fun, but we need to get some work done." Szayel pulled himself out of his seat and then began to walk further into the facility. The camera followed him. "Pay attention to your boob tube, Uryu."
Szayel climbed up a set of stairs that momentarily went upside. Attached to the ceiling was a chair, which held Ryuken in a series of straps. Ryuken's hair was pulled back, glasses forcibly tied to his face and his mouth duct taped shut. He also appeared to be bleeding from his neck. In one hand Szayel held a Seele Schneider, coated with some of Ryuken's dripping blood. He slid the sword right next to his father's throat. Szayel looked directly at Uryu.
"Get here in five minutes or I'll kill him, and then I'll kill you." A timer appeared in the top right corner of the screen. "See you soon! If you need to find me I'll be on all the major news channels." With that the TV turned itself off. The room went silent.
Uryu was flabbergasted. He was so outraged that he had yet to make a decision. It was a trap. Of course it was a trap! The point was to get him into a secluded place so that he'd be much easier to control. Yet, the threat was very real. Uryu was sure that Szayel would kill him if he didn't make the time, regardless of whether that was his actual father or not! That was a different matter entirely. How could Ryuken possibly end up here? It was his mind! On the other hand, Szayel proved to have moderate control of this world, so it was feasible that Ryuken was dragged in with him.
That didn't matter. He had to make a decision. His own life was in danger as well. Uryu looked at a clock on his petit wooden dining table. 4:30 And counting down…
He didn't have any more time to spare. Uryu burst out of his apartment window at half speed. To save energy he wrapped the spirit particles in air around his legs, using their force rather than his own. A useful side effect was that it made Hirenkyaku painless, though it did slow him down. Had he gone at full force the pain from sustaining the technique on his battered leg muscles would have brought him to his knees. The hospital was roughly six kilometers from his home. If he kept a constant speed, Uryu calculated he could be there in three and a half minutes.
As before the streets were barren and gave him no trouble simply breezing through the air. It wasn't as fast, but the controls were tighter and stopped him from moving in an uncontrollable mad dash from one point to another.
Uryu bounced from intersection to intersection, silence greeting him with every step. There were no signs of the end, laughter to mark his ultimate doom. No, he had five minutes left till some elaborate death and the world was fine. While he enjoyed the hush nature of the world, it seemed against Szayel's code not to put some mark of destruction as Uryu went. He considered the chance that the stillness was supposed to be the torment. If so, Szayel had misjudged him. It was less than four months prior that he had chose to make friends with Orihime, Chad and even Ichigo. Until then he had spent the time alone, in a world much like the one around him. In fact, the quiet reminded him of how peaceful Karakura Town had been before Rukia arrived.
Approaching at their heel, the front doors of Karakura General Hospital seemed intimidating now that his, and possibly his father's life depended on them. Their arguments now seemed vaguely inconsequential. No matter how much he felt begrudged against Ryuken, if his father was in need of help then he deserved it as much as anyone else. Uryu opened the door, went inside and started to look for the entrance to the basement.
Uryu didn't think many people knew about the underground training facility aside from him and Ryuken. From what he was told, Ryuken had had the basement level built during one of the hospital's renovations. He had kept the addition off the blueprints also, preventing any inspectors or police from wondering what might be down there. The employees didn't know about it, and the walls were lined to prevent anyone from sensing any spirit energy inside it. The only person who might its existence was Urahara. Szayel must have literally picked through Uryu's brain to find out this information.
Uryu grabbed the handle the one doorway that led to the lower level, hidden near Ryuken's office. He flashed down the stairs, into the center of the training room. Immediately, he heard clapping coming from above him. Standing on a high ledge was Szayel. He jumped down to where Uryu was situated and placed his hand on his shoulder. Uryu tried to nudge it off but Szayel gripped tighter. His hand was colder than Uryu expected, sending shivers down his back.
"Good job, boy. You made it here in exactly four minutes and eight seconds. Didn't even leave it close, did he, eh Ryuken?"
Ryuken dropped from the ceiling, accompanied by an arrow heading right for Uryu's head. Uryu leaped back, pushing aside Szayel tight grip.
"As you probably suspected, this isn't your real father. It's another memory, though a memory that can and wants to hurt you." Szayel said pointing out the stoic looking Ryuken standing beside him.
"Stop these insane tests!" Uryu threaten. He revealed his bow and aimed one hundred arrows, fifty to each of his enemies. "You'll find that my head can't be so easily gamed."
"Oh, this test isn't mine. It's his." Szayel laughed. He backed off to let the other Ryuken take it from here.
"Uryu, despite your continuing failures, I've decided to give you some remedial training. We'll fight until only one of us can stand. In the poor chance you succeed, I'll admit that you're a lot luckier than I believed. " Ryuken's other shot a single arrow, faster than Uryu could anticipate. It landed on his knee, causing him to stumble over. "I'll give you a fifteen second head start. " Ryuken prepared three more arrows.
"I suggest you start running."
To be continued.
NOTE: If you want a better context for what's happening in the first conversation Uryu has with Ryuken, read the Bleach Manga chapters 185-189