AN: Thanks again to all of my reviewers! You guys are wonderful and enormously helpful. Hope you all enjoy this – here things start getting really interesting.
The scrap of cloth is pressed against his wrist the next day, tucked inside his sleeve by Orihime's fingers. It feels like a weight as he returns to the cell, waiting, uncertain, for the doors to close to look at it.
I can deal with my guard
The letters are sloppy and smudged, a dark russet brown that makes him think they were written in blood. The scrap of cloth they are on he recognizes as a fragment of the Quincy uniform - a fragment of the flower Uryu had made for her, he realizes.
"Kurosaki?" Uryu isn't looking at him, he is sitting in the corner, face in shadow. "What is it?"
He offers the cloth to him gingerly, as though he was approaching a wounded animal. Uryu leans over very cautiously and picks it out of his fingers. He scans it, his eyes flickering - first wide with shock, then, so quickly he could have mistaken it in the shadows, a flash of narrowed eyes. Then he pulls his shoulders back and adjusts his glasses.
"Well. This changes things."
Ichigo feels himself settling back into grooves of conversation."You don't need to tell me that, idiot."
Ishida glances over disdainfully out of the corner of his eyes, but they don't quite meet his. "It doesn't solve everything, obviously. Whatever forces we still have to get through will probably be more than Inoue-san can handle alone, which means we'll need to be able to break our spiritual binders. And," he continues, speaking faster as he gets into his explanatory mode. "The more we have to fight through to get out, the more risk there is of one of us being recaptured, so we should probably disable the surveillance system, so they -"
"Wait, surveillance system?" Ichigo glances around the cell, expecting to see tiny cameras watching their conversation. "Since when is there a surveillance system?"
The Quincy shoots him his typical you're so dense I don't know why I even bother look, which is so familiar it makes Ichigo's mouth twitch into an almost-grin. (He can almost forget what he's done.) "There are hollowified lizards at regular intervals along the corridors. They've remained in roughly the same positions since I've been observing them, therefore it's logical to suppose they're connected back to some other central hollow."
"Okay, so Orihime takes out her guard, breaks our binders, we take out surveillance, then what? We just walk out?"
"Of course not, Kurosaki. We'll still have to -" Was it his imagination, or had a shadow just swept across Uryu's face? " - fight through whatever arrancar come across in Las Noches, and then getting out of Hueco Mundo is an entirely different question -"
He cuts across the thought. "So what's the deal? What do we tell Orihime?"
Ishida adjusts his glasses. "We need to find out whether she can break our bindings, and if she knows where the surveillance center is. And -" He pauses, tilts his head, and frowns, and Ichigo has to take a moment to furiously squash the thought of how endearing the expression is. " - probably a good idea to find out if she knows which Espada is currently on duty. Just in case."
"That's -" But Ishida is already rifling through his belt, pulling out thread and studying it.
"Sleeve." He says, other hand outstretched, eyes down.
"What the hell, Ish-"
"Do I have to explain everything, Kurosaki?" He holds up the spool. "White thread." He lifts up his other arm. "White cloth." He pauses for breath. "Now, admittedly, the thread is two shades off, which is -"
"Alright, whatever," Ichigo interrupts him before Ishida can impart any more 'expertise'. "White thread, black cloth, I get it."
Ishida glares at him for a fraction of a second, but takes the scrap of fabric that he rips from his sleeve without comment, bending over it, needle and thread in hand. His hands flicker, the cloth twitching through the air, the thread moving so quickly it was almost blurred. Then he sits up, handing the cloth back to Ichigo.
He reads it, his eyebrows moving further and further up his forehead.
Dear Inoue-san,
Thank you for your message. With regard to such plans, would you be able to break and/or disable the spiritual binders currently being used on me and Kurosaki-san? In addition, are you aware/ could you ascertain where the surveillance center is located in Las Noches? Lastly, do you know which, if any, of the Espada are currently present in Las Noches?
Thank you. We will update you on any upcoming plans.
Hoping you are well.
Yours sincerely,
Ishida Uryu
P.S. Please destroy this message as soon as is convenient.
Ichigo looks up at him. Uryu's fingers are twitching a little. "Ishida..."
"Look. I know that the question marks are a little sloppy, and -"
"You know you could have just written something simple."
"What?" Ishida looks confused. "That was perfectly simple. I just hope it doesn't come across as discourteous..."
"You headed it. And signed it. I don't even think normal people still do that anymore. Much less when they're sewing an escape plan."
The Quincy puffs up. "Just because we're imprisoned isn't a reason to abandon common politeness and decency. I can understand if you haven't seen the need for those values, Kurosaki, but some of us -"
"Who else could it possibly be from but us?"
"Well -" Ishida starts, a little flustered, and Ichigo grins, but then they both hear footsteps. Ichigo tucks the messages into his sleeve, and they both prepare to digest whatever slop they are to be fed tonight.
Ichigo spends the next two nights worrying about what will happen to Orihime if she is caught with their message. Finally, he hears a voice in his ear as he lies back on the cot in the lab. He stops himself from twitching from the shock of the sudden whisper from so close. As he spots the wing at the corner of his vision, he realizes it is one of Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka.
"Kurosaki Ichigo."
He coughs to cover his reply. "Yeah?"
"Orihime asked us to tell you," It continues, softly, and his eyes flicker up to the girl's face. Her eyes briefly touch on his, and then look away. "She will be able to break your binders, and she has found out where the surveillance is. She also wanted me to tell you that the only Espada in Las Noches is Grimmjow."
"Okay. Tell her thanks." He glances at the fairy again. "And, um, thank you?"
He thinks it might be smiling, but he cannot see clearly. "You are welcome, Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Grimmjow." Ishida repeats, when he relays the information, back in their cell. "That's...good."
"Good?"
"Well, you beat him once already, didn't you?" he replies dismissively. "So if you're unlucky enough to have to come across him, it won't be as problematic. Now, if it had been the Primera Espada, I would have suggested we wait, but -"
"So what's your point?" he asks "You don't think he'll be able to find us anyway, once we wreck the surveillance."
"About that," Ishida says, looking suddenly nervous. "I don't think that'll be enough. Most of the arrancar have decent detection capabilities, they'd be able to follow a ridiculously large spiritual pressure like yours easily enough, and in any case it's possible to distinguish between hollow spiritual pressure and ours, so if they have anyone who's even remotely competent -"
"What are you saying? That we just sit here and rot?" He starts angrily. "I can handle the arrancar, I can handle Grimmjow -"
"If you'll let me finish, Kurosaki, I do have a plan. Unlike you, I use my brain, rather than just using my head to beat against every problem I-"
"Oh, shut up," He says without real feeling, and Ishida continues.
"First of all, though I don't doubt you'd be able to smash your way through any number of arrancar, it would cost you time and unnecessary risk. It only takes one of us being incapacitated to put us back in the same situation." Ichigo thinks of bruises on Orihime's face and the shadow of her guard behind her. "The longer we're here, the more arrancar will show up, which will cost us more time, or worse, if they call in reinforcements from the field. Besides," Ishida adds, pushing up his glasses. "there's a decent chance that if we do manage to get back out, back to Soul Society or a the living world, we'll be heading into a war zone. For all we know -"
Trying not to think of the battle that was bound to be raging Rukia Chad Renji he interjects. "You said you had a plan?"
"Yes," Ishida snaps, sitting up straighter. "First, we need to keep your ridiculous reiatsu levels under control, so you aren't like a giant beacon for all of the arrancar. This means we'll probably have to keep your spiritual binders on for a while, at least until you have to fight." Ichigo is starting to form the word But- when Ishida overrides him. "If you do need to fight, Inoue-san will be able to break them." He pauses, hands beginning to twitch, his eyes hidden in shadow. "Secondly, you'll need a diversion. Inoue-san has much better control of her reiatsu than you do, but her spiritual signature is still unique enough that it might be picked up on, unless," He goes on, the last edges of light flashing off of his glasses, "I give the arrancar something else to worry about."
"Wait a minute," Ichigo jumps in, feeling his insides begin to churn. "If I'm the one with the huge reiatsu signature, shouldn't I be the one who goes off as the distraction?"
Uryu closes his eyes for something that was too long to be a blink, his mouth tight for a fraction of a second, but when he opens his eyes his face is typical Ishida. "Because then when you come back you're reiatsu will lead them right to us. I can control mine so that I'm largely undetectable. Besides," He continues, "My arrows can create a wide swath of destruction much more easily, since Hueco Mundo has a higher concentration of -"
"Yeah, yeah, okay," he cuts across him. "So Orihime takes out the guard, breaks your spiritual binders, you run one way, we run the other, you smash things up, then catch up with us?"
Uryu ducks his head, adjusting his glasses. "Essentially, yes."
"Alright!" He exclaims, feeling the familiar determination to go forward stirring. "So we just have to tell Orihime."
"Yes," Uryu says, sounding a little more subdued. "We'll let her know tomorrow, then you'll escape the day after that."
"Awesome!" He reaches over and claps Uryu on the shoulder. The Quincy looks startled, almost jumping, fingers clenching on his knees. "You're a genius, Uryu!"
He fiddles with his glasses again, resettling himself from his surprise. "It's not hard to be, in comparison to you. Anyway," He says, red still visible around the edges of his cheeks. "it's really Orihime that's done the work. She..." He trails off, his face tense, like he has tasted something bitter.
"Yeah," Ichigo replies, Uryu's discomfort tempering his excitement. "I wonder how she's going to do it. Her - the attack one - they destroyed it, didn't they?"
"Yes," Uryu's voice is a little crisper. "The last time that happened, the others weren't able to repair him. But I don't know..." He closes his eyes for a moment. "She's always been willing to work herself to the ground. I thought she was going to make herself sick in Soul Society, training herself to summon them without speaking."
Ichigo feels a little squirm of something rise at the familiarity in Uryu's voice, which he immediately quashes. "Yeah," He says nonchalantly.
Uryu shakes his head slightly in the silence that falls. "I should sew that message."
"Right."
AN: Sorry to any of you who were waiting for catharsis/resolution after last chapter. Right now they're just shutting things down (feelings? What feelings?) especially given that there are things they have to get done. More next chapter, though. It's going to be a long road.