Author's Notes:
I give to you: The weirdest chapter title yet. Have fun.
"...no, Ichigo does not have his cellphone with him. Yes Asano-san, I will tell you when Ichigo is home again. Yes. Goodbye." Masaki hung up the phone, and let out a sigh.
It was only a day now since Ichigo left, off to go to the Soul Society with that infuriating shopkeeper's help, all to rescue Rukia... and of course, he had not bothered to come up with any excuses to tell his friends, leaving them to call her, in worry about his sudden absence. Unable to come with an elaborate excuse on the spot, Masaki had simply told Keigo that he, Tatsuki, Uryu and Orihime (Ichigo still having told her who else was going with him) had all together left for a three-week trip to Europe to visit Rukia. It was a very thin excuse, Masaki knew, but luckily enough, Keigo accepted it after some initial criticism.
Whether or not Ichigo's friends here actually bought her excuse or not was currently the least of her concerns, though- her son was in the afterlife on a reckless rescue mission, with nobody with him other than some of his friends... which also included the son of her cousin Ryuken, Uryu. When Masaki heard that Ryuken's son was involved in this, too, she somehow found herself to be less surprised than she probably should have been... sure, whenever her cousin and she did talk, he mentioned how his son kept meddling in the affairs of the dead, but that alone was no guarantee that Uryu and Ichigo would do the same stupid thing together.
But they did. And now they were both in a place where almost everyone they met would have a good reason for killing them... all while Masaki had absolutely no way of knowing what was happening in Soul Society. The only way she would be able to get at least a vague idea of what was going on would be to contact that shopkeeper... but she would never resort to that, not when it was this man's fault that all of this happened in the first place. Not when he was the reason for being absolutely sick with worry, to the point where she barely managed to sleep last night...
"Y'know, kaa-san..." Karin's voice interrupted her thoughts "that's actually a good question that Keigo was asking there. Where is Ichigo?"
Masaki turned around. After hanging up, she had just silently stared at the phone for a moment, lost in thought. She had not noticed her daughter walking up to her. "Didn't you hear what I said, Karin?" She asked quietly. "He's on a trip with some of his friends, to visit Rukia. He'll be back in a couple of weeks."
"Bullshit!" Karin shouted angrily. "I'm not a small child, kaa-san! Don't you think that I won't notice an obvious lie like that? If Ichigo was going on a trip, he'd have already been talking about this for ages now! And besides, why would he even go with this Ishida guy? He barely even knows him!"
"Ichigo isn't here anymore..." Yuzu said, floating down through the roof.
"I know he isn't! That's the problem!" Karin said, jerking at Yuzu's sudden appearance. It was weird how quickly they had adjusted- Yuzu was still there, she was a ghost, but... she was still Yuzu.
"No, you don't understand." Yuzu shook her head. "He's not here anymore. As in... not... I don't know how to explain it, but he isn't here on earth anymore. I would feel him if he was."
"That's ridiculous!" Karin shot back. "Kaa-san, what-"
"She's right." Masaki said wearily. "He's... elsewhere. Elsewhere in reality."
"What does that even mean?"
Masaki sighed. "Afterlife." She said, looking tired. "Karin, sweetie, there're some things you shouldn't have to know at your age- so just let it go for now."
"But we don't even know where he is? How can we not worry?"
"Ichigo will come back." Masaki said firmly. "He will- and when he does, I'll tell you everything I know. Now go play some football."
"As if..." Karin grumbled. This was freaking weird.
oOo
The dark meeting hall of the first division's main house was lit up, at least metaphorically, by the gloriously radiant reiatsu of eleven captains. The spiritual pressure would have killed a lesser soul quite easily; this was a meeting hall of giants. Not in the literal sense- the chief of intelligence stood about five feet tall- but in terms of power, the vast majority of souls were like ants in comparison to they, the captains of the Gotei Thirteen.
Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryuusai surveyed the scene, looking almost as if his eyes were closed (his enormous eyebrows- each of which were the size of a decent mustache- coupled with sagging skin gave the impression that his eyes were constantly narrowed). The venerable commander was anything but asleep, though- he had been around since the very foundation of the Gotei, and had seen its darkest moments of crisis as well as its brightest moments of glory, and had never lost his composure in leading it.
"Captains," he began, "are you all present?"
"It seems Jushiro is absent due to health reasons, soutaichou." said Unohana Retsu, the ever gentle captain of the fourth division, chief medic and the second eldest shinigami in existence after himself. "And Zaraki-taicho appears to be absent, too."
"Such disrespect." The chief of intelligence murmured, frowning. Not that she didn't usually frown; it just became more accentuated.
"More likely he just got lost." Unohana replied. "He has a terrible sense of direction, as you know."
"The meeting will open without them. Zaraki will be reprimanded." Nobody really said it, but a reprimand would probably be the most pointless thing imaginable, but unprofessional behaviour had to at least formally be protested. "My captains, do you know why you have been summoned?" Yamamoto grumbled. He had a very imposing way of grumbling, one perfected over centuries, the perfect mix of authority and slight intimidation.
Nobody answered- as was expected.
"Earlier today, first division received a report, relayed from a lower ranked officer in sixth, given by the vice-captain of the tenth division, of grave importance." There was perhaps a hint of annoyance in the old man's voice. "The report, and I quote, says, 'I saw two shinigami, this tall muscled guy with orange hair and some tomboy with black hair who were really suspicious, because they said they were with division eight and didn't even know what flower the division had, and they seemed pretty strong too, almost as much as me, but that's not really my business because I'm going off duty'." The ancient captain commander raised an eyebrow, which would probably be considered a Herculean effort for any man his physical age if not for that he was, in fact, the captain commander. "Captain of sixth division, Kuchiki Byakuya?"
"I am aware of the report. We deployed two officers specialized in reiatsu sensing, and checked for individuals heading in the direction that Matsumoto-fukutaicho had left." His face as controlled and emotionless as always, he continued after a slight pause. "There are two individuals matching the description, of considerable reiatsu- considerable in the sense that they are at least at the level of power expected of a third seat- headed inwards, toward the center of the Gotei Thirteen. It is my conclusion that we are dealing with ryoka- intruders. I recommend a general alert."
"There was a report the other day about a senkaimon opening in the Rukongai." Yamamoto said. "I dismissed it as a minor matter- but it seems more than likely now that it would be what carried these invaders here."
"Aww man, that's all we were called all the way out here for?" The complainer was Kyoraku Shunsui, whose flamboyant choice of clothing and mannerisms would fool the typical observer into thinking that he was some spoiled, dandyman casanova- which was more than likely the idea. "Seems like kind of an overreaction, don'tcha think? I'd rather be back at the division, drinking."
"There's no underestimating any invader." The speaker was Kaname Tosen, the quiet, black captain of the ninth division. "We did not grow this strong by underestimating our enemies. They could be terrorists, criminals, deserters- they must be hunted down."
"Quiet!" Yamamoto said, making it clear who was leading the discussion. "I want all divisions on alert, and the intruders caught, then handed over to the onmitsukidou for interrogation."
"What should be done if we do come across the invaders?" Komamaru Sajin- an enormous man, wearing a mask helmet and other concealing accessories that made sure that not the slightest bit of his skin could be seen- asked. Out of all the captains, he was easily the one most loyal to the head captain, on account of Yamamoto having at one point, many years ago, saved his life.
"Keep them as unharmed as possible. Killing them is only an absolute last resort, and if you do have to do it, keep at least one of them alive. Our highest priority is to find how they have been able to infiltrate the seireitei, so that we can make sure that such an incident never occurs again." He looked around, giving each of the assembled captains an authoritarian stare. "Are there any more questions?"
The response he received was, as to be expected, a collective silence. Only a few of the captains shook their heads. "Good. You are all dismissed, then."
Dismissed as they were, the captains all began to head back to their own divisions, with varying urgency. While some of them, as Kuchiki Byakuya, walked at a fast pace, others simply took their time, walking slowly, such as Kyoraku Shunsui.
Among this latter group was also Unohana Retsu, the gentle yet universally feared captain of division four, instantly noticeable with her black hair in a double braid across her ample chest. While she fully realized the importance of acting quickly and catching the intruders as soon possible, there was not much that her division could do about it, being specialized in only medical support. That was, however, not her reason for staying behind a little longer. No, the reason for that her desire to speak to one of the other captains...
"Sosuke-kun, may I have a word?" The captain of the fifth division, Aizen Sosuke turned around, a bespectacled, calm man with brown hair.
"Huh? What is it, Unohana-taicho?" He asked in a confused tone.
"Oh, nothing in particular, Sosuke-kun. I just wanted to hear what your thoughts on this situation are."
The man gave her a calculating look. "You mean my thoughts about the invaders."
"Quite." Unohana said, smiling the calm, serene smile that she knew struck terror in the hearts of men everywhere (and women too; the terror was very much up to date with gender equality).
"Well, it is certainly distressing." Aizen said, smiling back. "I am not concerned for myself- but who knows what a bunch of renegades might do? If they are strong, they could probably kill many of our squad members as we bring them down."
"And that would mean even more work for me." Unohana said, sounding as deviously gentle as ever. "Why, rebellious elements might even use this as a distraction to try and accomplish their own nefarious goals."
"Surely you aren't suggesting this was orchestrated by some power hungry noble, Unohana-taicho?" Aizen said, chuckling lightly.
"Oh, you read far too much into my concern- but I've seen this happen before. Kaname-taicho was right that we need to be vigilant... although I suppose it's probably just me fussing over nothing."
"As expected from a senior like yourself, you know anything there is to fuss about in the right way."
"Oh, you flatter me, Sousuke-kun." Unohana giggled, waving her hand lightly. "Even though the nobility is sometimes corrupt, I doubt any of them would risk their station for some wild scheme."
"You are quite right, senpai." Aizen smiled again, and moved to walk past her.
"Then again, history has taught us that not only nobility tries its hands on rebellion."
"Senpai?"
"Good day, Aizen-taicho. I fear that my division needs me- and undoubtedly, so does yours."
"Oh, quite." The bespectacled captain said, walking past her. "Have a good day, Unohana-taicho."
With that, Unohana headed back to the fourth division- there were always wounded to tend to.
oOo
Meanwhile, far away from the seireitei, out in the western districts of the Rukongai, Shiba Kukaku had finally arrived back at her estate. By now, it had already been several hours since she had left Ichigo and the others on their own, and with no way of knowing what was going on, she could only hope that they were doing fine.
Kukaku was only barely worried, though- at least Uryu and Orihime had shown themselves to be perfectly capable of keeping up their disguises, and even in the case that Ichigo and Tatsuki messed up, Yoruichi was still following them. No, with Yoruichi around, there was little to worry about... especially when Urahara, of all people, put his trust into these kids. After all, the shopkeeper would not have picked them if he wasn't absolutely certain that they would help him accomplish his goals...
Getting out of the seireitei by herself had ultimately been easier than Kukaku had expected. One of the biggest issues had of course been getting rid of Hidetomo's corpse, which she had resolved with the use of an intricate kido spell and a bag, put together. The spell compressed anything inside the bag to a neat, non-conspicuous size… but the weight was the same, though, and it hadn't exactly been easy to carry it with her one arm.
Convincing Jidanbo to let her get out of the seireitei on the other hand had been even easier than getting in, since the guard just believed her lie that her servants where taking care of her business, while she already went home. Without any further questions, the guardian simply opened the gate, and let her pass.
On her way through the Rukongai, Kukaku pushed the horses to run as fast as they could, so that she would get back home as soon possible. She had already wasted enough of her time trying to figure out how to handle Hidetomo's corpse... and then there was the fact that if investigations were made, she could easily be implicated. They would ask what particular nobles she were going to see, what deals were made… a tenacious investigator would soon realize she was hiding something. Being a clan head only went so far- treason was enough to get you killed, nobility or not, and they didn't really have to bother with hard evidence; the onmitsukidou had supreme power over all it saw fit to incriminate.
Then again, intruders in the seireitei would cause a big stir- hopefully enough that investigators wouldn't come looking her way before she had a chance to prepare.
When she finally did make it back home, the first thing that the Shiba clan head did was ordering her servants to give Hidetomo a proper burial. The only reason she had to kill the kid was because he had the worst luck in coming across her at the wrong time, and the very least that she could do was to give him a burial. She took only her manservants, Ginkaku and Kinkaku, who she knew would neither talk to anybody about this, nor even think about betraying her.
Once she was certain that everything would be taken care of properly, Kukaku headed to her own rooms, and made sure that nobody would interrupt her. There was still someone that she needed to contact.
She turned on the huge video screen she had purchased last year, an ultimate luxury of communication- bloody good technology, although it was sometimes hard to handle. Fiddling with the remote, she managed to finally send out a signal. Before long, it was answered.
"Ah, Kukaku-san! It has been too long since I had the pleasure of talking to you." Urahara greeted her, his face appearing on the enormous screen.
"Cut out the chit-chat, Urahara." Kukaku said, sitting down on the floor in front of the monitor. "We both know that unless you completely changed over the past one hundred years, you want to hear about something else entirely, don't ya?"
The shopkeeper gave her a mischievous grin. "You know me too well, Kukaku-san. Do tell me, then: How did it go so far?"
"I've gotten the kids into the seireitei. They were disguised as my servants, and I was able to take them several miles in without getting detected. We've split them up into two groups: One group consisting of the two kids with the shinigami powers, and one group with the other two kids. Yoruichi is watching over them." Kukaku explained, lighting her pipe.
Urahara made an approving nod. "Very good... yes, very good indeed. From now on, everything should proceed as I planned it. I have to thank you for your help, Kukaku-san... you shall receive a token of my gratitude very soon."
"A token of your gratitude, huh..." Kukaku repeated quietly, blowing out some smoke from her mouth. "This better be good, Kisuke. I had to kill someone to make sure that these kids don't get discovered before they are even on their own – this 'token', as you call it, better be worth it."
"Oh, in my opinion, said token really should be quite handy to you... but I suppose in the end, the decision on whether it is useful or not lies in your hand." He said, grinning.
"Bah, we'll have to see about that." Kukaku said dismissively. "There's one more thing that I gotta ask you, though: Why the Kurosaki boy? Why did you pick him, of all people, Kisuke?"
"Are you not happy to see your second cousin?"
"That's beside the point here!"
Urahara gave her a look. "How secure is this line?"
"You tell me." Kukaku snorted. "Pretty much all the noble households have a line like this, screen and all, and they're mostly not spied on, 'cause it's considered 'rude'. I contacted you just now, and it's the first time that's worked in a long time- I'm pretty sure nobody's listening; how about you?"
"Very well." Urahara said, nodding. "Ichigo is not the only one of interest to me-"
"He's the most important one, ain't he? The queen of your chess board."
Urahara gave a long, hearty laugh. "My queen? Yes, for that particular group- although I've got far more valuable pieces in play. Like the Shiba, for instance."
"I ain't sure if I should be flattered or insulted." Kukaku said, frowning, not quite comfortable with the idea of being somebody's 'piece'. But then again, it had been her who started the chess analogy.
"Feel whatever way you like." Urahara said. "Ichigo- well, there's a number of reasons. First and foremost, he's strong and has lots of room to grow. Potential- and speaking as a scientist, potential is one of the most exciting things in the universe."
"He's the son of Isshin." Kukaku said. "This wasn't an accident, was it?"
"Believe what you will, but I did not engineer his becoming a shinigami. I did have plans for him, but not before he had had more time to mature. What Kuchiki Rukia did was a fluke, a desperate gamble that worked out quite well." He tapped his chin. "I guess it seems like he's my tool, but I prefer to look at it as a mutual usage. I've given him power and tutelage that money simply cannot buy, and in fifty years or so he might almost rival a captain. He'll have a good life, and an even better afterlife. Right now, he does my bidding, which I consider adequate pay for my investment."
"Right." Kukaku said, taking a puff on her pipe. She was not quite convinced- he seemed sincere, but he was good at seeming sincere. She knew enough about his former subordinate, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, to shudder at the thought of him- and in his own way, Urahara Kisuke could be a lot more intimidating. "So what'd you be doin' if it wasn't Ichigo?"
"Let's just say that this group saves me having to reveal another ace in the hole."
"So it was all an accident, eh?"
"One that I salvaged to its fullest."
"And if I don't believe you?"
"Does that matter? You've no conceivable reason to turn against me. You know my goals, and they are the same as before."
"Yeah, I do." Kukaku said, sounding more aggressive, "But sometimes, I gotta wonder if you're the right choice. You're as slippery as an eel soaked in oil." Urahara only laughed at the comparison. "Yoruichi pops up here after a hundred years of silence, and suddenly she tells me that 'it's time', soundin' like she's from some bad mystery novel. And now I'm a killer again, all 'cause I trust you both, and my second cousin- who I don't even know- is risking his neck for you, and he don't even know what he's doin'."
"Kukaku," Urahara said, his voice softer, "you know I'd never do something genuinely destructive, unless it was to make something infinitely more constructive. You've known me since I was an awkward teenager. You said you trust me- so let me assure you that you're making the right choice. I've accounted for every possibility I could think of, and when we're done, the Soul Society won't be the same. People will die on the way, but when we're done, the Shiba will stand high- and your cousin will be both alive and well to see it."
"All right, all right," Kukaku grumbled. "no need to try an' seduce me with pretty words of glory- I just needed to know you're still the Kisuke I used to know."
"It'd be strange if I hadn't changed in the time I was away, after what was done to me- but I do not hate the Gotei Thirteen -not anymore-, and the plans I have will work out well. I'd love to give you the details, but... well, I think a dab of paranoia is justified here. Not that I don't trust you, but I might not trust this line entirely."
"So didja count on, say, cousin Ichigo runnin' into somebody like Kenpachi, or Soifon?"
"All accounted for." Urahara smiled. "Don't you worry. Now, if you'll excuse me-"
"I ran into Ichimaru Gin on my way in." Kukaku said. "Talked to us for a couple minutes, then went on his business. Didn't seem to raise no alarms, but..."
"...oh." Urahara said. "Yes, I see what you mean. Thank you for mentioning that."
"No problem."
"Well, goodbye. I'll stay in touch- I'll need you to move into the seireitei at some point; I'll let you know."
"Sure-" Kukaku said, but the screen had already flickered to black.
Sitting quietly by herself, Kukaku puffed on her pipe and wondered if she really knew what she was doing.
oOo
Slowly but steadily, dusk was falling over the seireitei. The sun had already set a short while ago, so that now, it was only a matter of a few more minutes before it would be night. For most of the shinigami working under the Gotei Thirteen, this meant the end of their work for the day, with the exception of those that were assigned to patrols at night, or were doing overtime.
And of course, it meant absolutely nothing for shinigami not working under the Gotei Thirteen.
Among this scarcely represented group was Shihoin Yoruichi, who was currently dashing over the roofs of the seireitei, searching for Ichigo and Tatsuki. Just earlier, she had led Uryu and Orihime to a big garden of a noble house, where they would be able to stay the night undetected. Since noble families living the seireitei (especially in the inner part) considered themselves to be absolutely untouchable, none of them really cared about how safe their homes where – after all, what kind of burglar would be dumb enough to break into a house that was surrounded by the Gotei Thirteen's divisions?
For Uryu and Orihime, this meant that they could spend the night relatively safe, though Yoruichi had still advised them not to sleep both at the same time. Enemy territory was enemy territory, after all.
The last thing that Yoruichi herself would be doing today would be finding Ichigo and Tatsuki, and leading them to a safe place to stay the night, and then get herself something to eat (and preferably something that was not cat food). So far, with the exception of the incident with the squad thirteen kid, everything had gone surprisingly smoothly – almost too smooth.
While even Yoruichi wasn't fully aware of Urahara's plans, she knew enough to know that him making his move was pretty much essential to it. But there was no telling when that would happen, and until then, all that she could do was helping Ichigo, Tatsuki, Uryu and Orihime on their foolish mission to rescue Rukia. So far, the four of them had some good luck, but that could just as well end at any second. And of course, sooner or later, their getting discovered would be inevitable...
Yoruichi could only hope that once the inevitable did happen, none of the four actually did come across a captain. If they did, it would mean that she herself might have to step in, to assure that the group in question would not be taken out... and even then, there was no guarantee that she would be able to actually defeat a captain. In fact, going by the information Urahara had provided her with about the current captains, at least five of them (aside from of course the four oldest captains- Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryuusai, Unohana Retsu, Ukitake Jushiro and Kyoraku Shunsui, against whom she didn't stand a chance in any case)- might be very problematic to fight, even for her. It certainly didn't help that she had been inactive for almost a hundred years now...
Out of those five, one specific captain worried her in particular... the captain of the second squad, Soifon. The reason that encountering the woman worried Yoruichi was not just her skill as fighter, too, but moreso what she would have to say to her, should they meet...
But that was only a worst-case scenario. Yes, if everything went according to how Kisuke had planned it, she might not even come across Soifon, or any of the other captains...
Though the more she thought about it, the more uncertain Yoruichi was as to whether she did want to see them – her again or not.
Thankfully though, before she could think about any more of that, she started to feel two particular reiatsus... the ones that she was looking for. Yoruichi followed the weak, but definitely noticeable presences, and could soon enough see both Ichigo and Tatsuki trying to hurry from house corner to house corner, in an attempt to remain as unseen as possible.
Speeding up her pace, Yoruichi made her way towards the two, and finally jumped down from a roof near the two. "Are the two of you playing ninja?"
Ichigo and Tatsuki cringed at unexpected noise, and turned around to Yoruichi with amusingly shocked faces. "Yoruichi? Why do you have to surprise us like that?!" Ichigo loudly hissed.
"Because for one thing, there's no one nearby, and for another thing, it amused me." Yoruichi replied bluntly. She wasn't even lying about that – there really was no one nearby, with the closest patrol that she had been able to detect being several streets away.
"What do you want? Did something happen to Orihime and Ishida?" Tatsuki asked, clearly worried that about the two being harmed (though she was probably moreso worried about Orihime).
Yoruichi shook her head. "No, those two are fine. I already led them to a relatively safe place where they can stay the night, and now I'll help you find one, too."
"You mean we shouldn't continue towards the center?" Ichigo asked, scratching his head.
"Of course not. You still have a long way to go before you actually reach sokyuko hill – it is just about impossible for you to reach that place in one day. You haven't even reached the inner seireitei yet. For the time being, you're better of resting." Yoruichi explained, shaking her head once more.
"So resting it is then, huh..." Tatsuki noted. "Do you know any nearby places where we could spend the night?"
"Oh, don't you worry..." Yoruichi said, grinning (as possible as that was in her cat form). "I already have something in mind."
oOo
Soifon- whose name extended only to those two syllables, as she had no family name as a token to her sworn servitude to the Gotei Juusantai- sat up late, reviewing paperwork- particularly, cadet performance reviews. Most people would have considered late night paperwork a little overkill, but to her, it was almost soothing after the busy work hours she kept.
She found that her mind wandered- the idea that the seireitei, her seireitei whose security she was responsible for, had been infiltrated was… distracting. The general alert had gone out just before sundown, but no progress had been made. She had wanted to send out her militia, specifically the trackers, but the intruders had last been seen near division six, and Kuchiki Byakuya was as proud as he was zealously devoted to the law. It was a sentiment she could understand and perhaps even admire, if she had taken the habit of admiring her peers. Right now, it seemed more of a nuisance than anything else- division six had found nothing, and now it was dark- if the intruders were still there, they were hiding. Tomorrow, she was sending the onmitsukidou out, inter-division politics be damned.
She frowned to herself. The intruders really were hidden right now- and that wasn't an easy feat to accomplish in a place this full of identifiable reiatsu signatures. A tracker specialist could sense an odd signature easily- probably, they were hiding not only their bodies, but their reiatsu too.
This was troubling. That was a higher level of infiltration skill seldom seen outside her own second division- there had been a few rebellious organizations in the seventy or so years she had been in charge that could manage that, but she had purged them all. What could this mean?
Well, her investigator's mind began, either they are skilled rebel infiltrators come here to steal something- or they have accomplices who are good enough. Perhaps even an inside source. Could it be nobility? No, they usually knew better than to let their petty plots interfere with how the Gotei Thirteen ran. The last time that had happened, she had executed a Shihoin- no, it was possible, but unlikely.
Absent-mindedly, she wondered how she would make them talk once she had caught them. If they were powerful, it was more than likely she would have to attend the interrogation, or even hold it herself. It had been some time since she had had to torture somebody. Not something she particularly enjoyed, but she knew how to break a man's will- she just hadn't had much occasion to do so in over forty years now; the Gotei was at such a pinnacle of power that nobody could really challenge them. There were little fiefdoms out in the rukon, but none that really compared, or could challenge them.
Knives, perhaps? Too crude; only if they were pressed for time. Electricity?
She yawned. It really was late, and it was no time to fuss about how to interrogate prisoners. If she was lucky, she could just scare them into submission- she knew how to do that, and it was a lot less messy. Finishing up the performance reviews, she climbed into her futon and fell asleep.
oOo
Uryu looked around. There were trees all around them, just as if they were in actual forest. The actual noble house that this garden that they were in belonged to was nowhere to be seen... Yoruichi definitely had not been exaggerating when she had called this garden enormous. He let out a sigh.
"I suppose this place here is as good as anywhere else in this garden... let's just stay here for the night, Inoue-san." Uryu said, to Orihime, who was curiously examining one of the trees around them.
"Oh, alright!" She replied, seemingly not in the least uncomfortable with the thought of having to sleep under a tree.
"You can already go to sleep for now, Inoue-san. I will take the first shift." He explained, looking further around to see if there actually were any buildings or anything that he had missed. When Yoruichi had shown them this place, she had made it rather clear that just because nobody seemed to be around, they still could not be careless – noble houses had many servants, and there was no telling if some of them were actually assigned to patrols or not.
Of course, Yoruichi telling them to do this had been, as far as Uryu was concerned, hardly necessary: He knew better than to just let his guard down in a place where he was completely surrounded by hostile shinigami... especially after his loss to that red-headed asshole that had come with his captain to retrieve Rukia.
Before she had left them for good, Yoruichi had still managed to somehow find something to eat and to drink for them – though, she had been able to get them little more than just a few rice balls, and some bottles of water. It was still better than nothing, and so Uryu didn't complain. In their situation, they could hardly be picky, anyway.
"Mhh... I don't think I'll be able to sleep yet, Ishida-kun." Orihime said, sitting down under a tree.
Uryu turned around. "It would be better if you did. We are going to need every bit of sleep that we can get... I doubt that we'll be able to keep up our disguises for much longer tomorrow."
"I know, it's just... I think I have too much on my mind right now to be able to fall asleep. I'm just, I don't know..." Orihime scratched her head, at loss words.
"Anxious?" Uryu asked, trying to help out.
Orihime considered the word for a moment, and then gave him a determined nod. "Yeah, anxious... I mean, it's like... it all depends on us whether or not Kuchiki-san lives or not. And then there's dozens of strong people here, who'll be searching for us sooner or later... it really is kinda overwhelming. And... I'm still hoping that I might find my brother somewhere here... he was always protecting me, so I'm certain that he'd try to become a shinigami!"
Her brother... yeah, Uryu remembered that incident. On that particular day, he himself had first become aware of Ichigo being a shinigami. Uryu had already been on his way to destroy the hollow that once had been Orihime's brother – not that he knew or cared who that hollow once was at that time – when he could feel how its reiatsu had vanished. When he himself actually arrived on the scene, everything was already over, and Ichigo was about to leave. Uryu had been able to catch a bit of his conversation with Rukia, enough to figure out who the hollow was, and of course enough to learn that Ichigo really had become a shinigami. In retrospect, it probably really was for the better that on that day, Ichigo had been faster than him... in any other case, talking to Orihime would have been rather awkward, to say the least.
But regardless of that, her thinking that her brother had already somehow made it to the seireitei was nothing more than overly optimistic thinking. In all likelihood, Orihime's brother was somewhere far out in the Rukongai, with no memory of his life, and no intention to ever become a shinigami... but Uryu realized that he couldn't just say this out loud, and thus only nodded.
"Say, Inoue-san..." he began, trying to think of a way to change the topic "I hope you don't mind me asking, but... why are you doing all this? In a fight, you would stand even less of a chance than me, Kurosaki-san or Arisawa-san. I can understand that you would want to search for your brother, but why go on this mission to save Kuchiki-san? Unless I'm mistaken, you barely knew her – why risk your own life for her?"
Even as he was still talking, Uryu already felt like what he was saying was not that much better than just bluntly telling Orihime how likely her brother being in the seireitei was, but it was already too late to take back any of it.
"Hmm... well, at first, I only really got into this all because Tatsuki-chan was doing these things..." Orihime said, seemingly not minding his question in the least (at least Uryu hoped so) "...but when I heard that Kuchiki-san was going to be executed, I just... felt that I had to do something. You're right, I barely knew her, but I always liked it when she was around at school, and... I just wouldn't be able to stand the thought of knowing that she is dead, and I could have done something to change it. I know that I'm not as strong as Tatsuki-chan, you, or Kurosaki-san, but I know that I'm not useless! If I can make even a slight difference, then I'll gladly do it." Uryu smiled weakly, still remembering that he told Ichigo something very similar when he had let Rukia go. "And what about you, Ishida-san?"
Uryu blinked a few times in confusion, not having expected Orihime to actually ask him the same in return.
"…I don't actually know." He said. "Urahara-san contacted me, and I didn't say no. I guess I want to know, about the shinigami."
"Because they killed your people?"
"How-"
"I asked Urahara-san, and I listened carefully. I know they killed most of the Quincies, and that they were involved with… well, your grandfather's death." She looked away. "I'm sorry- that's none of my business."
"No, no," he said, shaking his head, "it's quite all right. They killed most Quincies alive- but they brought it on themselves. I don't hate them for something that happened before I was born, but I don't have any love for them either. I want to know if they're really as sinister as you could imagine, or if they're really good people who had to do a dirty job out of desperation."
"I see."
"It's probably neither- the world isn't black or white. I wish it was, but from what I see so far, it doesn't seem like they're cruel or particularly destructive."
"They seem like humans." Orihime said. "Just like you and me, but with more power. Not some kind of mystical gods or spirits- people who do a job, for money, who look forward to the end of a work shift."
"Yes…" Uryu mumbled. "They're people. It was easier back when I just thought they were merciless killers, I guess."
"It was Kurosaki-kun, wasn't it?"
Blast this girl and her surprisingly accurate assumptions. "Yes… I guess it was. Even when I beat him bloody, he kept going. You can't tell him this, but… I suppose I grew attached to him. And the rest of you. I don't have any friends- I know we're just on a mission, but somehow… I feel like I belong." Abruptly, Uryu cut himself off. He had spoken carelessly, said a little more than he had wanted to admit, because somehow this girl was the kind of person who made you feel accepted, like she'd accept anybody who let her.
"We're friends now, Ishida-kun." She said, before an awkward silence had time to occur. "It's silly to think we need to be alone- we're strongest when we're together." She looked deep in thought. "And that's scientifically true too, you know. So you better not object."
"Or I suppose Isaac Newton will come haunt me for ignoring the values of camaraderie?" Uryu said dryly, but behind his tone he felt oddly moved.
"How did you know?" Orihime said, and he wasn't sure if she was joking or not.
oOo
Ichigo looked around. They were under a bridge, on the bank of a small river. Not too far away from them, he could see a pipe, which presumably led to some sort of sewers, and was easily big enough for a person to walk in. When Yoruichi had said that she knew a place where they could stay the night, this definitely was not what he had expected.
"You're really telling us to sleep here?" Ichigo asked, giving Yoruichi a glare.
"Well, if you want, you can as well go into the sewers to find a place that is more to your liking. Both places should be more or less equally secure." Yoruichi noted dryly.
Ichigo was already about to voice his dislike for her being sarcastic about something like this, when Tatsuki spoke up. "Why does it even have to be near the water? If we sleep here, we'll be frozen to near-death by tomorrow morning!"
"Why, you ask?" Yoruichi said, sitting down on the ground "Because getting to the next remotely secure place would take the two of you at least another two hours, which I doubt that you will want to continue for today. It's either this, the sewers, or turning yourselves in. So what will it be?"
Ichigo and Tatsuki exchanged a glance, came to a silent agreement, and then both said "We will stay here..." in an unhappy tone.
Yoruichi nodded. "Thought so. If you're really so concerned about a cold night, I could as well transform back into my human form, and cuddle with the two of you, to keep warm..." Ichigo and Tatsuki exchanged another quick look, agreeing to immediately reject the offer "...or I could go out once more, and try to find you something to use as sheets."
"Best not risk it, I guess." Ichigo said.
"It's no risk when I am involved." Yoruichi said, and Ichigo detected what almost sounded like cockiness. "I am pretty good at the art of not being seen." And she headed off into the night, probably to keep watch.
Ichigo sat down, leaning himself against a rock. He sighed; this wasn't what he had imagined when he thought of invading the Seireitei. Then again, it couldn't all be dashing dashingly from street to street, heroically evading all shinigami they could find, he supposed.
Tatsuki yawned. She looked tired, and to be truthful, he was tired too.
"You know, we're doing pretty good so far." He said.
"Don't jinx us."
"Yeah, yeah…" he mumbled. "I've been thinking, though…"
"This ought to be good."
"No jokes." Ichigo said, shaking his head. "Before we left home, I confronted my mother... y'see, she can actually see spirits. Karin, too. So I called her out on making me think for years of my life that I was insane or something."
"Did you now?" Tatsuki questioned, giving him a scrutinizing look. "Well... maybe your mother had a good reason for doing that? I mean, look at where we are now... right in the afterlife, trying to save the person that got us into this entire mess to begin with."
"Yeah, yeah, I know! But that's not my point here." Ichigo said dismissively.
"And what is your point?" Tatsuki asked, her tone already mildly annoyed.
He hesitated for a moment. "...she told me that my father was a shinigami, too."
Tatsuki gave him a bewildered stare. "Ehh? You mean... he was like us? Living humans, turned into shinigami?"
...That was a valid question. While Masaki had told Ichigo that his father was a shinigami, she hadn't said anything else about the matter. Ichigo had no idea whether or not his father had started out as a substitute, like him, or if he had been a shinigami stranded in the human world, like Rukia. When he had last talked to his mother, he obviously wasn't going to cause her more pain by asking for details... and so, his father remained just as much of a stranger to him as he always had been to Ichigo. "...I don't know, actually. All my mother told me that he was a shinigami... nothing more. No details or anything... but honestly, I don't regret not asking her for details."
"Hmm... so, you think that maybe we are going to come across your father here?" Tatsuki asked, after remaining quiet for a moment.
"I suppose I really am hoping for that, yeah..." Ichigo admitted reluctantly. "It is probably really unlikely that we'll find him here – I mean, I don't even know if he's actually really dead or alive right now – but... yeah, I'd really like to find him here. And not just him, too... I want to try and find Chad. He must be out there somewhere."
"Ah, yeah..." Tatsuki scratched her head. "Y'know, I sort of keep forgetting that this all – that it's really the afterlife. It's just kinda hard to really understand that it's so much like the world of the living..."
Ichigo chuckled quietly. "Oh, I know what you mean... I never would've expected the afterlife to be some place like this." For a moment he remained silent, considering something that just came to his mind. Then- "Say... does this whole thing seem… I don't know, kind of haphazard to you?"
"The sleeping place? Yeah, I guess we could do better-"
"No, the whole operation. Think about it- Urahara-san trains us for two weeks, and we're sent into this huge place… and we still don't really know what we're doing."
"Well yeah, we're new at this. We didn't have a lot of time."
"No, not that." Ichigo shook his head. "We're sent in here, and they didn't even bother to try to educate us about this place, about who to look out for… you know, learning more about how this place works. Doesn't that sound weird to you? I mean, it's not like they didn't have the time- and he'd want us to know, wouldn't he?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Do you think Urahara-san even expects us to succeed?"
"I…" Tatsuki said, looking as if though she had a rebuttal, but quieting herself. "Sure he would. I mean, he put this much into it, right?"
"That, or something else is up."
"You know what? Yeah. Something else probably is up." Tatsuki said, looking him in the eye. "I don't think he just wants us to save her. He's getting something out of this that we don't see- but that's not exactly news, is it? And it doesn't change what we're going to do, or how we do it."
"I just don't like the idea of being somebody's pawn."
"Neither do I. But thinking too hard about it isn't going to help. Now let's go to sleep, and think more about how untrustworthy the people we work with are tomorrow."
Ichigo shut his mouth. She was right- this didn't change much of anything.
"Right. Sleeping. So uh, I guess I'll just take this patch of dirt, then…"
"We could just sleep together." Tatsuki said.
"I- uh- sleep- uh uhm-" Ichigo said, trying to process a train of thought that was, sadly, not too familiar to his teenage brain.
"You know, like they do in the army when it's cold. Huddle up together for heat. Our robes are fairly warm, and if we're cuddled- huddled up, then we should keep warm pretty well."
"Yes. That is exactly what I thought you meant." Ichigo said, managing to sound not at all convincing.
Tatsuki chuckled. "Look at you, all awkward." She grinned. "Don't worry- I won't molest you."
"Really freaking funny…" Ichigo grumbled. Finding the least uncomfortable-looking spot of dirt he could see, he lay down. Facing away from him, Tatsuki lay next to him in a spoon. Pulling her in close, they lay there, trying to sleep. It really did solve the warmth problem rather adequately, although Ichigo felt… strange, being in this position.
By the time that Yoruichi returned with improvised sheets, the two of them were already asleep.
oOo
Sitting by the candlelight, Aizen Sosuke pondered the future. His fukutaicho, dependable as she was, had fallen asleep on his couch, and he was left alone to think. These ryoka were… not unexpected, although he hadn't expected them to get so far in before detection- they had to be getting help from the inside. He smirked to himself. He shouldn't be surprised- undoubtedly, the person behind this was the only man who could possibly rival him as a plan maker.
This would delay his schedule up by a day or so, though. The news wouldn't really spread through the seireitei until the next day, and he needed people to know- he needed that sort of chaos as cover. He rubbed his chin, deep in thought- he'd have to ask his seconds to make sure they weren't found too quickly. They needed to create enough of a diversion before it was time to make his move.
His thoughts trailed back to Unohana, the gentle killer of the fourth division. If he had been sure she knew something, her comments would have- in its own subtle way- been a declaration of war. But did she know anything? Even assuming that she did, she couldn't possibly know enough to even hope to thwart him. No, only one person knew enough- and he was considered a criminal, huddling in the world of the living, using a ludicrously limited amount of resources to move against him. A group of teenagers, with some meager amounts of power? The man was brilliant, but this had to be considered a weak move. Desperation, naturally- he had to do something, even if the advantage was clearly not in his favour.
Yawning, Aizen turned towards his bed. There was plenty of time still, and he would win- there was no doubt. Neither the chief of intelligence, Urahara Kisuke or even Yamamoto himself could foil his plans; all would go as he wanted it to. It was a reassuring thought to fall asleep on.