Chapter 21: Anticipation for Soul Society
Opening Song: *~Asterisk~
A few weeks after Kisuke gave Rukia the Gigai, Yui received a call from Yoruichi.
"Hello?"
'Yui? I need your help."
"What for? Is Kisuke harassing you?"
"No, no. This has nothing to with Kisuke. At least, not really."
"Okay. What is it?"
"You know that Shinigami that Kisuke gave a Gigai to a few weeks ago?"
"Kuchiki Rukia?"
"Yeah, her. Well, a few days ago, Soul Society sent two Shinigami to take her back. They succeeded."
"So the Hogyoku is in Soul Society right now?" Yui gasped, tightening her grip on the phone slightly.
"Unfortunately. Now listen, we've got a group of fighters who's willing to break into Soul Society to get the Hogyoku back, but they're under the impression that we're going to save Rukia from execution, which is essentially the same as retrieving the Hogyoku."
"Who's part of the group?"
"Two humans, Inoue Orihime and Yasutora Sado. Maybe a Quincy called Ishida Uryuu, and a Shinigami called Kurosaki Ichigo."
"What an interesting group."
"Yeah, but right now, Ichigo is being trained by Kisuke to hone his powers, and I'm in charge of training the humans. I want you to come."
"What about the Quincy? And why do you need my help?"
"The Quincy is training by himself, and I want you to fight Orihime and Sado to help them gain gain experience. I don't feel like revealing my true form to them yet."
"Sure, I'll help. Kisuke isn't sending the four of them alone, is he?"
"Nope. I'm going as a guide."
"That's good. The four of them won't last five minutes by themselves."
"Agreed. Now come to this place for the training session..."
When Yui arrived at the abandoned warehouse, Yoruichi and the two humans, Orihime and Sado, were already there.
Orihime was a young woman of average height with brown eyes and waist-length burnt orange hair. Yui could immediately tell that this girl probably couldn't kill anyone, enemy or no. She just looked too kind, and her reiatsu had no intention of hurting anyone.
Sado, also known as Chad, was a dark-skinned, Mexican teenager with pronounced cheekbones and wavy brown hair that covered his eyes. He was tall, muscular, and looked much older than he actually was.
"You two, this is Kamikaze Yui. She will be helping you hone your skills as well," Yoruichi announced in her cat form.
"Nice to meet you," Yui said, smiling at the two.
"Nice to meet you," Chad and Orihime echoed, the latter a little more energetically than the former. They introduced themselves and Yoruichi went on to explain what they were going to be doing.
"Orihime and Sado, you two will attack Yui. Try to land a hit on her. If you succeed, good. If you fail..."
"I'll kill you," Yui said with a small smile. Orihime and Cha visibly paled.
"Yui won't be using any of her Shinigami powers except for Hakuda. Meanwhile, you two are allowed to use your powers to their fullest extent. Hopefully, you won't fail miserably. Good luck." With that , Yoruichi curled up on a wooden crate nearby, signaling that they should begin.
On the night of August 8th, at 1 in the morning, Kisuke stood in front of his shop, waiting for the Soul Society infiltration party to show up. Chad arrived first, and the two of them greeted each other. Chad sat down on a nearby crate as the two of them waited for Ichigo, Orihime, Uryuu, Yoruichi, and Yui.
Ichigo arrived next. "Oh, Kurosaki-san!" Kisuke said in greeting, "You're right on time! Good, good."
"Chad!" Ichigo exclaimed, "Why're you here?"
"Kuchiki Rukia," Chad explained, "...saved me once. I'm going too."
"Huh?" Ichigo took a step back in surprise, "Wait...what?"
"What? They didn't tell you?" Uryuu asked from behind Ichigo, having just arrived.
"Ishida!" Ichigo was getting more and more surprises as the night went on.
"I can't let it end with me losing to those Shinigami," the Quincy declared, "I'll go, too."
"Now we're all here," Orihime chimed in, arriving from Ichigo's right.
"Inoue?"
"Pleased to be working with you," Orihime said, bowing to Ichigo.
"Huh? Wai...hold on! Wha-wha-what? What is all this?" Ichigo stammered.
"He's pretty slow, isn't he?" Yoruichi said in her cat form.
"Yoruichi-san!" Orihime smiled at the black cat.
"Boy!" Yoruichi addressed Ichigo, "You can't say you haven't noticed the bubbling of power within these individuals. While you were training to regain your Shinigami powers, they were each training on their own, as well. Stop with the questions and bow your head to thank them."
"A...A cat talked!" Ichigo cried, pointing at Yoruichi in shock.
"Hey, now, Ichigo. Keep your voice down. You'll wake the neighbors," Yui chided gently as she came out from Urahara's Shop.
"Good morning, Yui-san!" Orihime said.
"Good morning, Orihime," Yui replied with a smile.
"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" Ichigo asked none-too-politely.
"Ah, my apologies. My name is Kamikaze Yui and Kisuke told me your name," Yui explained as she took Kisuke's cane and jabbed herself in the chest with it. Her soul immediately left the Gigai. She now wore a Shihakusho with her aikuchi tied to her waist. Her long, red hair was in its signature loose ponytail, slung over her left shoulder. Kisuke handed her a black overcoat, which she put on to mask her reiatsu..
"She's going with you, too, Kurosaki-san," Kisuke told Ichigo, "Anyway, let's go inside and talk."
Everyone followed the shop owner down into the underground training room of the store.
"W-Wow!" Orihime exclaimed, clapping her hands together, "Such a huge space under the store, it's so cool! It's like a secret base!"
"Really?" Ichigo asked nonchalantly.
Tessai popped out of nowhere and grabbed Orihime's hands with one hand. He used to the other hand to wipe away his tears of happiness. "What a magnificent reaction!" he said, "I, Tessai, am deeply moved!"
"It was nothing," Orihime laughed as Ichigo sweatdropped.
"Okay, okay, your attention once again!" Kisuke called. Once he had everyone's attention, he said, "Here we go!" and snapped his fingers.
Four stone pillars appeared immediately, forming a rectangle in the space next to Kisuke. "All right, this is the gate that leads to Soul Society," he explained, "It is called the Senkaimon, and it means 'realm-penetrating.' Ready? Please listen very closely. But first..." He raised his cane and practically stabbed Ichigo in the back of the latter's neck. Ichigo's soul came out, similar to how Yui's did when she used the same method to exit her Gigai.
"Anyway," Kisuke continued, "This gate is made by piling spirit exchangers on top of the normal Senkaimon."
"Spirit exchangers?" Ichigo repeated.
"That's right," Kisuke confirmed, "As you know, Soul Society is a world of souls. Entering it is impossible unless you're in soul form. However, the only one of you who can move around in soul form is Shinigami Kurosaki-san. So we use an exchanger to turn you into spirits and send you there."
"Basically, even without pulling out our souls, if we go through this gate..." Uryuu said.
"Yes," Kisuke said, "You can enter Soul Society in your current state."
"Alright, we got it!" Ichigo said, walking forward, "Now, let's get sta...!"
"However," Kisuke interrupted, jabbing Ichigo in the side with his cane, "the amount of time we can open this gate and stay connected to Soul Society is at most four minutes."
"Can we even make it in that time?" Ichigo snapped, recovering from the pain in his waist.
"Normally, it's impossible."
"Huh?!"
"This is an unreasonable endeavor to begin with. The most we can stretch it is four minutes. If you can't reach the other side in that time, you kids will be permanently imprisoned in the space between Soul Society and the real world."
"What should we do?" Orihime asked nervously.
"Go forward," Yoruichi said, "I told you you heart and your soul are connected. The most important thing is the state of your heart. The will to move forward. Yui and I will be your guide. Move forward. That and that alone. Only those who can do that will come with us."
There was a short pause before Ichigo stepped forward. "Quit yer sleeptalkin'," he said, "That's the reason we gathered here."
"You understand, don't you, boy?" Yoruichi asked, "If you lose, you'll never be able to return here."
"All I have to do is win, right?"
"...Exactly."
The Senkaimon began to glow. "Everyone ready?" Kisuke asked, "Please jump in simultaneously when it opens."
The group of six prepared themselves to jump.
"Here it goes!" As soon as Kisuke finished speaking, the light from the Senkaimon became unbearably bright. When it dimmed, the six were gone.
Ending Song: Thank You!