Disclaimer-I don't own Bleach
Chapter Ten
Haruhi relaxed on the couch playing paddle ball with a stolen set. "What are you doing?" Ulquiorra asked from behind her, where the others were playing poker.
"Trying to figure out why people would think this is entertaining." She said, effortlessly bouncing the ball off the paddle. The others looked at each other.
"Wow, you're really bad at your job." Grimmjow told Cirucci, looking down at his cards.
"My job?" Cirucci asked, giving him a suspicious look.
"Being Haruhi's girlfriend."
"When did that become a job?" Haruhi asked, frowning in confusion, but still bouncing the ball.
"If it's a job, why would you do it?" Starrk asked, folding.
"It's not a job!" Cirucci snapped. "And will you stop bouncing that stupid ball?"
"Not until I answer the eternal question." Haruhi said, frowning intently at the ball and the paddle.
"It's not entertaining to you because you're good at it." Nelliel told her. "The point is that it's supposed to be hard to accomplish, a sort of physical puzzle."
"Ah. Well in that case-" Haruhi incinerated the paddle ball with a small cero, then got up and walked over to the fridge, grabbing a piece of chicken and popping it in her mouth. She swallowed and opened her mouth to say something, then stiffened. The others felt it a second later, and looked around. It was the reiatsu of a Captain class Shinigami and his Vice-Captain, and it was close. They weren't concerned by the presence of the two though, not really. Every one of them except Lilynette could take the two Shinigami out by themselves, so they didn't really pose a threat in the traditional sense. What concerned them was the fact that two high ranked Shinigami were in Karakura Town.
"It's only to be expected after what happened yesterday." Ulquiorra said calmly, gathering the cards up. "Between the sheer number of Hollows that arrived, that Gillian, and the amount of reiatsu we were throwing around, it's not surprising that Soul Society decided to investigate."
"It'd be pretty sad if they didn't, really." Nelliel said, nodding. Haruhi nodded, then groaned as she sensed them heading for Rukia's minuscule reiatsu, which was fortunately pretty far from the Kurosaki home.
"No, damn it!" She groaned. "Why are they going after her?" She grabbed the glove and hit herself with it, leaving the gigai, and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" Cirucci asked, confused.
"They're going towards a friend of Ichigo's. You don't send Captains and Vice Captains to ask questions, that's what mooks are for. Whatever they want, it's not nearly as simple as that. And since Rukia left the house, that means she knew who was coming, so she probably left without telling Ichigo, who's probably going to leave and go after her any second now…and there he goes." Haruhi sighed. "As the oldest sibling, it's my job to make sure that my younger siblings don't die." She opened the door, only to find Urahara already there.
"Please move." Haruhi said politely, distracted by keeping an 'eye' on the events that were rapidly unfolding around her.
"I'm afraid I can't do that." Urahara said, equally polite. "You see, what's about to happen needs to happen."
"My brother needs to die?" Haruhi growled, glaring at him.
"My my, do you really have so little faith in Ichigo?" Urahara asked, smiling.
"Huh, let's think, a Captain and a Vice Captain vs. a Substitute Shinigami who's only been doing this for two months. What do you think?" Haruhi demanded, placing a hand on the hilt of her zanpakuto. Urahara looked serious.
"Look, I don't like this anymore than you do, but the fact of the matter is that Ichigo needs this. You can't fight his battles for him."
"I have not been fighting his battles for him!" Haruhi yelled angrily, glaring at the man in front of her. "The only fight I've stepped in on was against Shrieker, and that was for directly ignoring my orders. If anything, I've made him stronger. I'm the one who made you teach him about Shikai, remember?"
"Perhaps that wasn't the best choice of words." Urahara said, backpedaling. "What I meant was this-in order to get stronger, Ichigo must lose this fight. You see," He said quickly, preventing Haruhi from asking the obvious question. "The reason those two are here is because Rukia gave her powers to Ichigo, which is against the laws of Soul Society. They'll take her back to be executed, but they'll also remove her powers from Ichigo, turning him back into a normal human, albeit one that can see Pluses and Hollows. As he is now, using powers that aren't fully his own, he'll never reach his full strength. If what's about to happen doesn't happen, he'll be killed by Aizen. He may even be killed by the first captain he comes across."
"What if you're wrong and they just kill him now?" Haruhi asked softly. Urahara put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, his face softening.
"That won't happen. And if it does, Yoruichi and Tessai are standing watch right now, and I will be as well once I leave here. But I won't leave until I have your word that you will not interfere." Haruhi looked at him, and then sighed.
"Very well, I won't step in now. But when Ichigo goes off to Soul Society to save Rukia, I'm coming too." Urahara smiled.
"I wouldn't expect anything less." He said shunpoing away. Haruhi stared after him, and then turned around, shutting the door behind herself.
"I'm going to bed." She told the others, taking her hat off and tossing it on the couch. "If I don't fall asleep, I'll probably break my promise."
Urahara's Shop-Twenty Hours Later
"How's Ichigo's training going?" Haruhi asked Urahara.
"It's actually going great." Urahara told her. He completed the first stage surprisingly quickly, and because you insisted that I train him in Shikai the third stage should be a breeze. It's actually given me time to prepare some tools for your upcoming field trip."
"Is anyone else coming?" Haruhi asked.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, four people have decided to join you. Sado Yasutora, Inoue Orihime, Ishida Uryū, and Yoruichi."
"So, we're going to invade Soul Society with a force consisting of one Shinigami, two humans, a Quincy, a Hollow, and a cat. Are you sure I didn't come up with this plan?" Haruhi asked.
"Nope." Urahara said happily. "Now come along, I want to show you the second stage of Ichigo's training, we've just begun." Haruhi followed him down the ladder to the hidden training ground. "Well, what do you think?" He asked. Haruhi looked around.
"It looks like Los Noches, if Los Noches had the Grand Canyon in it." She said finally. Urahara frowned, annoyed to have something of his compared to something of Aizen's, then sighed and decided to move on. Before he could say anything though, Haruhi noticed Ichigo's body, and the fact that there wasn't a Chain of Fate connecting the body to wherever Ichigo's soul was. She glared at him, and Urahara shuddered, realizing that showing this stage of the process to Ichigo's protective Hollow sister might not have been the best plan. "I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and beat the crap out of you right now. So, explain."
"The only way for Ichigo to regain his Shinigami powers in time to save Rukia is to do this." Urahara quickly explained. "All powers are unlocked best when it's done under the threat of death."
"What'll we do if he actually becomes a Hollow?" Haruhi demanded.
"We'll purify him, and I'll temporarily give him my powers so that he can continue on." Urahara said simply.
"And how do we explain this to my parents? Cause it's not like I can tell them, they know I'm dead." Urahara paused. He really should have thought about that earlier. Isshin and Masaki would kill him. Then he brightened.
"I'll just make him a gigai. After all, it's not like we'll be able to leave him in Soul Society." Haruhi gave him a hard look.
"You just came up with that plan on the spot, didn't you?" She said accusingly.
"Maybe." Urahara said, walking towards the Shattered Shaft. Haruhi sighed and followed him, resolving to let Cirucci eat him if this went wrong, though not until after Ichigo had gotten his gigai.
Haruhi's Warehouse Home-Eleven days later
Haruhi looked around the training room under the warehouse she and her friends lived in. Apparently all of the buildings Urahara owned came with their own massive underground rooms. Everything was going fine. After threatening Urahara repeatedly, she'd talked to her neighbors, the Visoreds, and explained the situation. They'd been wary of working with a group of Hollows, but once it'd been made clear that they shared a common enemy in Aizen they agreed to help train Ichigo and his friends. She'd then tracked down Yoruichi, Orihime, and Chad. Yoruichi had agreed to hand her two students over, figuring that Hachi would do a better job at training Orihime than she could, and that she'd have time to get back in shape after not fighting for a hundred years. Ishida, agreed to come once he'd finished his training. Then she'd gotten Ichigo from Urahara and brought him along too.
Ichigo was currently sparring with Shinji, Grimmjow, and Cirucci. Shinji was there to show him the basic sword style of the Gotei 13; Cirucci was there to show him how to fight against a whip sword like Renji's, and Grimmjow was just there to keep Ichigo on his toes and make sure Ichigo could handle fighting multiple people at once. Lisa, Hiyori, Mashiro, and Kinsei were training Ishida and Chad to teach them how to handle multiple enemies, zanpakutos and when a shinigami would suddenly switch to Shikai in the middle of a fight, and mid ranged combat. Hachi was the only one training with Orihime due to being the only one with abilities similar to hers and she had the most to learn, though Nelliel had occasionally shown up to teach her how to fight against someone with a Zanpakuto. The other Visoreds and Hollows had spent the time swapping out if one of the teachers got to tired, killing any Hollows that showed up, and playing poker.
"Well, things certainly seem to be going well." Urahara said happily, walking up from behind. Haruhi nodded.
"How are things going on your end?" She asked.
"Ready to go when they are." Urahara told her.
"Tomorrow then?"
"Tomorrow." He said, nodding and walking back out to make sure everything was ready.
"What did Hat and Clogs want?" Ichigo asked. Haruhi held up a hand, and then flared her reiatsu, alerting everyone.
"Okay guys, Urahara just showed up. He said that everything is ready from his end, which means that, barring unexpected deaths or drunkenness, we'll be going tomorrow night. Chad, Ishida, Orihime, and Ichigo, go home, spend time with your families, get some sleep, and eat a banana. The rest of you, thank you for your help these past eleven days, we'll be playing poker upstairs once the kids leave."
"You're the same age as me!" Ichigo protested.
"Nope, I'm five minutes older and dead. That makes me older than all four of you, and therefore not a kid."
"And yet you're the least mature of all of them." Hiyori muttered. Haruhi just smiled and walked out of the room, heading upstairs.
Urahara Shop-Twenty hours later
"Alright then, before we get going, a quick who's who of Soul Society." Urahara said happily, handing out a modified Denreishinki to five people and one cat in front of him. Ichigo's eye twitched.
"You're just now going to tell us who to watch out for?" He growled.
"Hey, it's been a hundred years since I was in Soul Society, I can't be sure of who or where everyone is. Heck, when I was there Byakuya wasn't even in a division yet, he was a little kid. The only two I can confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that you should be scared of are Kurotsuchi Mayuri, and Commander Yamamoto. If you see a guy who looks like a clown, that's Mayuri and you should run like hell unless you're with Haruhi because he's rather fond of poison. If you are with Haruhi, then you can calm down a little, but get far enough away that he can't turn you into a bomb or poison you. And if you see an old bald man with a huge white beard, kiss your butts goodbye because out of all of you, Haruhi is the only one who has even a slight chance of surviving a fight with him, even if you all gang up on him. And if you see a motherly looking woman with long black hair, that's Unohana Retsu. Whatever you do, do not piss her off."
"Why are the motherly ones always the scariest?" Haruhi asked, confused.
"I have no idea." Urahara admitted, stepping to the side and activating the portal. "Now, it's time for you to go." The six looked at each other, nodded, and ran into the portal. Urahara paused, pressed his hand against the portal, and winced as it burned him. He sighed, looking at it sadly.
Author's Notes
Okay, some of you may be wondering why Haruhi didn't just open a garganta to Soul Society. Simply put, they're going for stealth at this point in time, and I think the Gotei 13 would probably notice a garganta being opened up directly into Soul Society.
Thanks for reading guys! See you next time!