A quick note: In the Author's Note on the group page, I mentioned that some of the original characters in this story are not mine. Aki Wanatabe is one of them. Since Quizilla does not exist anymore, I can't link to her story or author's page, and I don't remember the author's name. (insert polite bow) Author-san, if you are reading this, I am sorry for forgetting you. Your story was awesome.
Shane followed Urahara back to his store. As they passed through the entrance, Shane noticed a sign in the window.
"Since when do you close the store?" Shane asked.
"Oh, everyone needs a day off now and then right?" Urahara replied and Shane let the subject drop. In the back of the store, one of the floor panels was missing. Shane leaned over and looked down the hole. He noticed a ladder led down into what seemed like infinite darkness.
"What's down there?" Shane asked.
"Why not follow the white rabbit down the hole and find out?" Urahara asked with a sly grin. Shane rolled his eyes and jumped down the hole. At first, all he could see was darkness, but a light appeared at the bottom and quickly became bigger. Shane landed lightly on his feet and stepped aside. He looked around and was stunned at the sheer size of the room he was in. Since the ceiling and walls were painted to look like sky, it gave the illusion that Shane was still outside.
Shane looked back up the ladder and saw a small speck quickly grow into the shape of Urahara dropping to the ground. Shane panicked and ran away, right when Urahara landed with a loud CRASH, sending dust and chunks of rock flying everywhere. When the dust cleared, Urahara saw the stupid expression on Shane's face.
"Well, wasn't that exciting?" Urahara asked. He began walking and Shane followed close behind, taking every detail of his surroundings. No doubt this was an extremely large underground cavern of some type, but it didn't seem natural. Everywhere he looked, Shane saw small rocks and large boulders with the occasional shrub. The room reminded Shane of a desert.
Urahara led Shane to a group of boulders where several people were gathered. Shane saw a small boy with red hair, a girl with black pigtails, a tall muscular man wearing an apron, and another girl he didn't know.
"Hey, the owner's back!" the young boy replied.
"So, how did things go while I was out?" Urahara asked.
Shane ignored Urahara and instead concentrated on the girl. She had her back to him, but Shane could see she was wearing a Shinigami uniform.
"Hey," Shane called out, "Who are you?"
The girl turned around and said, "My name is Aki Wanatabe."
Shane frowned. "I don't think I've ever seen you before. What squad are you with?"
"Well, um, technically, I'm with the 11th squad," Aki replied. She took a closer look at Shane. "Perhaps I should ask you who you are and what squad you're in,"
"Shane Akiyama, Squad 13," Shane introduced himself. Aki squinted and carefully looked Shane up and down. "Let's see," she thought outloud, "Tall and kinda skinny, dark hair, glasses." She looked to Shane's waist and saw his twin swords. "And a double Soul Slayer?" A light clicked on and she jumped back a few feet. Her face contorted with anger and she reached for her Soul Slayer.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Shane protested and put his hands up. "What's going on here?"
"Shut up you jerk!" Aki screamed, "No one makes 11th Squad look like fools and gets away with it!" She unsheathed her Soul Slayer and called out, "Outshine the stars, Rai-Kumo!"
There was a burst of light and Shane shielded his eyes from the dirt that was kicked up from the sudden release of soul power. He quickly jumped aside as a bolt of lightning made a crater where he had just been standing.
"What are you doing?" Shane yelled, using flash steps to dodge the lighting attacks.
"I've heard about you!" Aki called out. Shane looked above him and saw Aki leaping through the air and coming straight for him. "You think you can waltz into 11th Squad barracks and do as you like?"
"Huh?" Shane was still confused. He jumped and landed on top of a large rock, far above the ground.
"You went in there and beat up all of 11th Squad, then trashed the place!" Aki was standing at the base of the rock and staring up at Shane. Even from that height, he could see the fire in her eyes.
Shane thought for a moment. "Oh, you mean that?" he called out, "That was nothing. I was pretty mad and I had to blow off some steam." Shane became exasperated and shouted, "Besides, I thought you guys liked to do nothing but fight! I figured you all would appreciate my willingness to fight you all!"
"Shut up! I'm done talking!" Aki shouted. She clutched her Soul Slayer tightly in both hands. Shane could see sparks of electricity coming from her feet. Then Aki began to run up the rock, speeding toward Shane.
Interesting, Shane thought. She builds up massive amounts of static electricity in her feet to cling to vertical surfaces. "I'm quite impressed with your ability," Shane called out.
Aki was slightly taken aback by his comment. When she reached the top, Aki jumped high in the air and held her Soul Slayer above her head, intending to slice Shane in half.
"Now watch my ability," Shane stared up at her. Aki paused a split second and watched as Shane put his hands together in front of his face. "Tsukuyomi New Moon Technique," Shane called out. Aki was close enough now that she swung Rai-Kumo as hard as she could, intending to slice Shane right in half...
...and hit only air.
Aki was stunned as she landed. "What happened?" she wondered. Aki looked around, but saw no trace of Shane. She scratched her head, clearly confused.
"You are well trained, have excellent sword skills, and have good stamina," Shane whispered in her ear. Aki whirled around, but saw no one.
"The only thing you lack is combat experience," Shane said in her other ear. Aki quickly turned the other way, but still saw nothing.
"Alright already!" Aki called out. Her knuckles turned white from the death grip she had on her Soul Slayer. "Come out from where ever you are hiding!" She looked around and saw Shane materialize out of thin air, a few feet in front of her. Aki blinked a few times and her mouth fell open. "How did you do that?" she asked.
"That's just one of the abilities my Soul Slayer has," Shane explained. He walked to the edge of the rock with Aki watching him closely. He looked down and saw Urahara wave to him.
"Come on, Urahara wants to see us," Shane said. He turned back to Aki and waved her over. Reluctantly, Aki returned Rai-Kumo to its sealed state and sheathed her Soul Slayer. Together, they jumped down from the rock.