"Ah, that's what I get for running a shop. An innocent shopkeeper like me has customers popping in and out at the most inconvenient times," Urahara said, waving his fan, his relaxed pose giving the impression that he was simply commenting casually. The effect was ruined only by his eyes, shadowed by the brim of his floppy green and white bucket hat and the slight tap of his foot as he spoke.

Orihime's mouth creased in a slight frown, her eyebrows nearly touching as she watched the scene in front of her. It was unlike the normally laid back shopkeeper who had helped her and Sado-kun and Ishida-kun become strong enough to help Kurosaki-kun rescue Kuchiki-san. She looked, carefully not turning her head, at where Renji and Rukia both were standing on the other side of Kurosaki Ichigo. The vice-captain's expression was completely unreadable, but she had seen the expression that Rukia was wearing when she had begun to pull away from them, trying to protect them and keep them from following her back to Soul Society. She had hated seeing that look, and still hated it because of how clearly it showed that one of her friends was hurting. Almost as if her thought had triggered it, Matsumoto turned slightly, just enough that Orihime could get a glimpse of the side of her profile as she talked with Urahara and both of the shinigami captains. Enough that she could see the painful anger that was still barely contained towards the darker shinigami who still stood across from her even as the Soifon began to veer the conversation towards the details of the mission and what needed to be done. A lot of the mission seemed to hinge on the ability of the three new shinigami to be strong enough working both together and separately with the arrankar. None of the three seemed to doubt their own abilities and the dark look that Matsumoto was wearing began to lighten until, while certainly more tired and cynical, it was almost the face that Orihime had gotten used to seeing with the normally gregarious woman who she had begun to like since she had moved in a month or so before.

"Shouldn't we test their abilities to see if they are as strong enough?"

It might have been the most reasonable thing that Matsumoto had said since the other woman's arrival. Urahara-san gave Ichigo all sort of tests when he was training him, and so had the other people who she had seen training Ichigo when he had been missing for so long. For that matter, Yourichi had insisted on training both Sado-kun and her when they had gone to rescue Rukia, and Soul Society had given her permission to go there with Kuchiki Rukia to continue training, so that she would be strong enough to fight with her ability. But the brown haired shinigami woman began to laugh, a soft almost deep chuckle that had a sharp bitterness, as soon as she said that. Although there was something about it that made it hard to tell what it was she was laughing it, whether it was Matsumoto or herself or something about what was said.

"Very well, feel free then. Test us all you want. Why not make sure everyone is captain strength and not just vice-captain strength while you're at it. That should leave no doubt, now should it?" The statement was a challenge, a very clear one, and there was a sort of smugness and arrogance to it which made Orihime wonder if some of Tatsuki's defensive nature was beginning to wear off on her as she felt her back stiffening and hands clenching a little, even though she wasn't quite sure why. The other shinigami hadn't sounded threatening or arrogant, only matter-of-fact, as if she were sure enough that her unit would pass any test without a problem.

Maybe she could too, Orihime thought, suddenly realizing just how unlike her it was to be this angry over something so small. Maybe it was how sure she sounded, so much like Kuchiki-san and Rangiku-san who sounded so much more confident than her. It was more like Tatsuki or Ichigo. Ichigo caught her eye from where he was standing, listening to the shinigami deciding that Ikkaku should be the one to test the shorter of the two Fifth Unit subordinates, a thin man with shortly cropped hair that was a soft gold color that somehow seemed to be far lighter in streaks than either Urahara-san's or Hitsugaya-teicho's. She had thought that Ichigo would be angry, considering how much that he hated bullies like the sort who had used to pick on her before Tatsuki had decided to defend her, the ones who tormented him for his orange hair. And that meant hating the sort of bragging the other woman had just done as much as he hated them. He looked relaxed though, maybe even impressed as he stood, completely at ease while he leaned against the wall, listening while Abarai-fuiteicho volunteered to fight the other man, who was quite nearly as dark as Yourichi-san, except for the reddish purple mark which ran in a hook shape from the center of his forehead to under his left eye. If Ichigo wasn't angry at her for, then maybe she actually was okay. But even as Orihime tried to reassure herself thinking that, her head swam with confused images trying to reconcile how Ichigo's calmness with how Rangiku-san and her odd behavior, but she could not even begin to picture what the more petite shinigami could have done to cause such a scene. And, Inoue realized with a start, she did not want to know either. It was hard enough to see Matsumoto this upset not knowing what had caused this.

"Well, it seems that all that is left is to decide who tests...her." Matsumoto said with a sigh. Her voice was still more snippy than it normally was, but she did appear to be trying to be professional about this, for her captain's sake and not her own.

Soifon shook her head firmly. "You know Suzumebachi is not the sort of zanpakuto with a release appropriate for me to fight anyone except an enemy with."

Orihime had never seen the captain's sword released, but the other shinigami apparently felt the same way about the weapon that Soifon did, and it was quite clear that Soifon would not be the one to test her.

Ichigo moved to open his mouth and Renji interrupted before he even had the first word out.

"No, Kurosaki. It has to be someone who has been tested in fighting for that level of mastery. Not the captain's test, but they would pass that part of the test. You aren't officially from Soul Society, so you can't." Ichigo grumbled a bit, but he resettled a little more sullenly in his corner.

Hitsugaya breathed in, "If I do not release bankai, I should be able to test her strength, since there is no one else who can."

"Really, Hitsugaya-teicho. I think that I could manage under the same conditions."

Urahara-san sounded like he might have been teasing, but one look at his face dismissed that idea. He was deadly serious. He glanced towards where Matsumoto stood. "I take it that her testing against Yourichi-san and myself is acceptable, isn't it Matsumoto-fuiteicho?"

The vice captain tilted her head to the side, not listening to the disbelieving gasps at the thought of anyone standing against Urahara and Yourichi fighting in tandem. She nodded and extended her hand then in the western gesture of acceptance.

"Fair enough. Should we head down to the basement then?"

"Not yet,"

The head of the Fifth unit looked at her subordinates severely. "Nodaikka, Muhicchi, do you want me to see your training?"

The shorter one, who she had called Muhicchi reached out and began to pat her head the way you would a small child or a dog.

"And risk fighting under par while you are watching, senpai? We've been around you long enough to know just how much of a cold hearted bitch you really are. I would fall on my sword first."

In spite of the teasing gestures and the overdramatized patronizing in the other man's voice, there was a wistful note that was too serious to ignore. Almost as if the joke was that everything that he said was true. If the officer heard it though, she seemed to ignore it as she smiled at the man patting her head, nodding to him and his friend.

"Of course, I expected no less. I trust that you will stay alive and send someone up here for me when it is time for my testing then?"

They both nodded and she turned to speak with the other captains, as if nothing was wrong, as if the beaten expression on their faces were so habitual as to be familiar. Strong or not, shinigami or not, that was something that Orihime knew she couldn't allow. Even if she could not stop it, she would not let anyone make others as weak as she had once been. As weak as she still was compared with the others.

"What did you do to your people?" she shouted, angry at seeing these two men who clearly adored her acting like kicked puppies.

"On second thought, I will wait on the roof."

The woman was gone. Before Orihime could say anything, she was gone, the window shut behind her.

The look on Urahara's face when she turned was almost pained, as if she had hurt him by yelling at the girl, before he turned and went into the back room of the shop.

"I think it is time we get started. We only have until dark before the arrankar get here." Soifon said, with a pointed glance towards the entrance to the basement.

They went down, Yourichi following behind Orihime, everyone staying quiet as they did so, only the quiet voice of Orihime's own mind chiding her for her words. Even if she did not understand what it was about the woman on the roof that seemed to hurt everyone around her.