Chapter 10

When we arrived at a house of some sort, there was a huge sign floating above the house that read "House Of The Shiba Family". As we entered the gates of the house, Atrian cried out, "Who would live in a place like this?"

"Shiba family," Chad told him. "Only they change how they're going to put up the sign to show that they are the ones who live here."

Out of nowhere, I got kicked on the side of my face and I went off flying to my right, causing me to land hard and skid across the ground. Getting up, I yelled, "What's the big idea? I come here to save my dad and this is the treatment I get when I'm not even completely done getting my training on bankai with Takikanto?" When I turned to look who kicked me, there was a guy who looked a little younger than Chad. This guy had black hair and clothes from the past that could have been considered as gangster's clothes. I yelled at him as I pointed at him in the face, "What's the big idea, ugly?"

"Who are you calling ugly? Who are you, any way?" he yelled back.

"Ichisan Kurosaki! Daughter of Ichigo Kurosaki! That's who!" I yelled at top of my lungs.

As I lunged foward to fight him, Chad took a quick hold of me as he yelled, "Ichigo's kid! Calm down! Ganju is always like this! He even did this to your dad when your dad and I were your age! Calm down!"

That guy named Ganju started to smile as he asked, "Chad? Orihime? Uryu? That you guys? Never did I think I would ever see you three again!"

"Don't forget about me, idiot," Youriochi quickly said. When Ganju made a face, Youriochi quickly said, "We're here because on Ichigo's behalf. We need to save his life before his execution day arrives. We have less than 30 days. Around 25 days left, if I'm not mistaken."

Ganju's smiled turned into a frown in matter of seconds as he asked with shock, "What? Ichigo can't be executed! As much as I hate Soul Reapers, he's one of the weirdest Soul Reapers I've ever met that I became close friends with!"

I snapped, "Are we going to keep yammering or you guys going to train me to summon Takikanto easily so I could use bankai easily? I want to get my dad out of this mess as soon as possible, you know!"

Ganju suddenly looked confident as he said in demanding tone, "Let's go inside!" He yelled as loud as he could, "Shiroganehiko! Koganehiko! Get your behinds out here!" When two men in some sort of Indian clothes came out, Ganju ordered, "Take our guests to the room where Ichigo Kurosaki first trained to used the cannonball! I have one other thing to do before I go there!"

The one with the narrow chin and longer face cried, "Sir, yes, sir, Ganju sir, sir!"

I leaned to Uryu as I asked, "Who are these two jokers?"

He whispered back, "You do not want to know. Trust me."

The one with rounder face told us in loud voice as Ganju walked away, "Follow us, please! We'll first have to get you all ready to make cannonball!"

Uryu quickly responded as we followed the two guys in Indian clothes, "What's the big deal? We already learned it, so we need to re-train ourselves?" He glanced at Atrian and me as he added, "Except for my son and Ichigo's daughter. They never learned these before. As for the rest of us, we already been here, so we should have a clear memory of how to do this."

As we went underground, I started to think of upper floors, especially since the stairs at the entrance only led to downstairs. While passing by some of the rooms when we finally arrived the basement, I asked, "How do you get upstairs to second and third floor?"

When neither Shiroganehiko nor Koganehiko responded, Orihime told me, "It's no use asking them that. Last time we were here with Ichigo, they didn't even tell us."

"And how do you tell who's who?" I whispered back.

The only response I got was, "No clue. They're practically identical twins."

When we finally got to a room, Youriochi asked, "Shiroganehiko, do you know when Ganju will be joining us?"

"Hopefully, soon, ma'am!" the one with the round face responded. The way Shiroganehiko and Koganehiko responded when they were told to do something or asked something were just plain weird. It was almost as though they were soldiers instead of normal people.

Sure enough, Ganju came running in with a woman right behind him. She had black hair and had on clothes that showed maybe a little too much. She demanded, "Who's the kid of Ichigo Kurosaki here?"

When everyone pointed their fingers at me, I cried out, "Pointing your fingers at someone is rude, thank you very much!" I quickly muttered to myself, "And so is torturing people."

The woman quickly told me, "I am Ganju's older sister, Kukaku Shiba. So, what's that about Ichigo getting executed, child?"

"One, I'm not a child. My name is Ichisan Kurosaki. Two, my dad is getting executed in less than 30 days just because he gave me all his powers to protect my classmates when my class was attacked by a hollow in middle of the day," I informed her.

Uryu quickly added, "We need to use cannonball again to get in the Soul Society, Kukaku. Do you still have that sphere thing?"

Nodding, she responded, "I made one more. Ichisan and that boy could use the original. That will be better. As for the rest of you, you guys can practice on the new one. Will see if that one will actually work." When Chad, Orihime and Uryu managed to get it done and over with in matter of seconds, Kukaku told them as though she was impressed, "I'm surprised you three still remember to bring your spiritual energy foward in order to make cannonball. After all, it's been quite some time since you guys used it." As she turned to me and Atrian, she asked us, "Lets see if you two are able to do this in your first shot, kids."

Atrian smirked as he said, "This ought to be easy! My dad taught me everything I know, even learning to do cannonball!"

Kukaku asked, "Then what happens if you break your focus?"

"Everything goes boom," Atrian responded.

"Who does this kid belong to?" Kukaku asked as though she was impressed. When Uryu raised his hand slowly, Kukaku told him, "You taught your son well, but let's see if he's good enough to summon it."

Atrian managed to use the cannonball thing in one shot and when he was done, I snatched it away as I snapped, "Give me that! I didn't try yet! If my dad can do this as well, why wouldn't I be able to? This should be real simple!"

When I tried, nothing happened. For nearly an hour, I struggled and no matter what Shirognehiko and Koganehiko said, nothing helped, because all they yelled was, "No! It's more like this!" And they would make a certain sound, but never would tell me how it was supposed to be done. Around at evening, everyone but Ganju left and I was sweating like a pig.

After one more hour of trying to get it done, I asked him, "Why are you still here?"

"You know what?" he said. "I'll teach you a trick that I taught Ichigo. But careful. When I taught him, his was at least three-fourths of this room." When I glared at him, he said, "You a real Soul Reaper or just part Soul Reaper like your father?"

"Part," I told him. "I'm still a high school student in real life, you know."

"Okay, then. Imagine that there's a big black hole and you're jumping into it," Ganju told me as he closed his eyes. Next thing I knew, there was a cannonball surrounding him. He opened his eyes and added with a smile, "And with just that, you have your cannon ball, kid."

When I did just as he told me, I was surrounded by a huge sphere that filled up at least half of the room. I didn't notice much, but it looked as though the ground had shook and Ganju had a look on his face that had read that he was in a huge panic. It wasn't long before I heard Kukaku's voice yelling, "Kurosaki! What the bloody hell is going on? Keep your spiritual energy focused and centered! Now!" When I did, the cannonball was big enough for me and not for at least a hundred people, which was how it seemed when I first made it.

"Ichisan! You did it! You made the cannonball!" Orihime cried out.

Smiling and laughing, I cried out with excitement, "I did it! I can't believe it! I actually made a cannonball!" Soon, the ground shook violently and my cannon ball cracked with a loud booming sound that sounded as though a bomb going off.

Kukaku kicked me in the face as she snapped, "Did you not hear that boy saying that if you lose your focus, then everything is going to go boom?"

I responded, "Yes. Yes I did. And I also think you're trying to scare me at the same time."

As she stepped on my face, she told me, "First off, that's one of the last things you would want to say to me. Second off, why did you do what you were not supposed to do?"

Youriochi snapped, "That's asides the point! I need to train her to use bankai, which means we would need to get into the Soul Society as soon as possible! There's only one place I can train her safely!"

Ganju suddenly blurted out, "I'm coming along then!" When we all turned to him, he whispered, "Kukaku, remember that a Soul Reaper killed our brother? That Soul Reaper was Rukia Kuchiki. If Ichigo means a lot to her and if Rukia means a lot to him, then I really have no choice. Well, technically I do, but that's not the point." He cried out, "He even had my back last time he was here! He made me think in some ways like a Soul Reaper and he was one of my closest friends! You know me, sis! You know how much I hate the Soul Reapers! But this guy is different! He always has been! If I can't pay him back for not having his back now, I will never have my chance of repaying him!"

She nodded as she told us, "Be prepared, then. Tomorrow morning, you'll all be leaving for the Soul Society using the cannonball." Kukaku gave Ganju a hug as she said, "We lost our brother, Ganju, and if I lose you, I just want you to know that no matter how many times I badger you and yell at you to do things right for a change, I'll always love you." She left the room as she snapped, "Koganehiko! Shirognehiko! Let's go! I need both of your help in order to get the launching machine ready!" She left the room with two two weird Indian dudes. Before I knew it, I was asleep.