Chapter 28: Inter-dimensional Man of Mystery

An emergency captains meeting had been called to discuss all that Captain Yorumoto had learned. Everyone present felt the effects of the missing person. While Captain Senjin was not one to be revered, or even respected among his fellows, the loss of one of their number still laced a cold chill in the air. Head-captain Kyoraku stepped forward at the head of the group. "I have called you all together to discuss what to do with our captives, and what will be done to apprehend the remaining fugitives." he announced.

"They haven't all been captured yet?" Kurotsuchi scoffed. "Give me some good news at least, tell me one of the anomalies was captured."

"I'm afraid not." Kyoraku sighed. "The two non-shinigami are still at large."

"Pah, this is a waste of my time." Kurotsuchi muttered. "I've already discovered all I can about shinigami."

"What about vizards?" Yorumoto asked. That got the attention of most of the room.

"Vizards? Seriously?" Rose asked. "I thought Kensei and I..."

"...were the last of them, yes." Yorumoto finished. "It appears we have been mistaken."

"If they really are vizards, then they must be connected to Kisuke." Rose muttered, thinking out loud.

"That is exactly what I'm worried about." Yorumoto said.

"I was told by the one I fought, Nick, that he knew Kisuke. That Kisuke had even told him stories about me and the rest of Seireitei." Ichigo said. "They know him, were probably trained by him. I don't know about the rest, but Nick was skilled enough with his mask to force me into bankai."

The news unsettled the gathered captains. "If they were trained by Urahara and told about Seireitei, why have they attacked us? Why kill members of squad 2?" Ukitake asked. Yorumoto squirmed uncomfortably.

"That's precisely why I'm concerned." Kyoraku agreed. "We have had no contact with Kisuke Urahara for some time now, ever since the end of the Quincy Blood War. In that time, he seems to have created another batch of vizards and trained them on his own. For what purpose, we don't know."

"Why do you sound like you're considering Kisuke an enemy?" Ichigo asked. Kensei and Rose stiffened, tension filling the air.

"Now now Kurosaki-kun, don't get ahead of me." Kyoraku consoled, waving the orange-haired captain down. "I haven't said anything about Kisuke being an enemy. I'm just preparing for the worst. To many times has Seireitei been caught off guard by our enemies. I just wish we could find him, talk to him. Get him to explain what's going on." Ichigo hesitated slightly before taking his place in line grudgingly.

Yorumoto cleared his throat. "That being said, we still have to decide what to do with them." He stated. "We can't keep them imprisoned the same way, they'll just break out again. And we can't let them go," he added, holding up a hand to stop Ichigo mid-speech. "we have no idea where they'll go. They may have lied about Urahara, we can't tell."

"What about Triana?" Ukitake asked suddenly. "My lieutenant is being held with them, being branded a traitor. If they are imprisoned, what will happen to her?"

Kyoraku sighed. "She attacked a superior officer in plain view and aided the fugitives. I'm sorry Juushiro, she will probably be put to death."

Ukitake stared helplessly at his long-time friend. Knowing there was nothing he could do at the time, he dropped the subject, silently brooding.

"The question remains, what to do with the prisoners." Yorumoto said again.

"Captain Kurotsuchi." Orihime asked suddenly. "Would you be able to create a prison cell that negates a vizards power? Make it so that they can't escape again with their abilities?"

"Of course I can, who do you think I am?" he snapped. "It would take some time, but if I worked solely on that project I could get it done in a day."

"Then why don't we put them back in a cell and try to contact Urahara-san." Orihime asked. "That way, we prevent them from causing trouble and if it turns out they're lying, we have them contained."

"An excellent idea Inoue." Kyoraku praised. "In the meantime, squads 2, 5 and 6 will focus on capturing the remaining fugitives. We will discover what they are and detain them in the same way. I want squads 10 and 13 focusing on contacting Kisuke Urahara. Dismissed."

The captains began to leave, filing out of the large hall. "Excuse me Head-captain." Miko said suddenly. Everyone stopped, looking back at the female captain, still standing in her spot. "May I ask what is to be done about or vacant position? After all, we are hardly the Thirteen Squads without thirteen captains."

Kyoraku smiled softly. "Right you are Miko-chan. Fortunately for me, I already have a candidate lined up. I have sent a messenger to his hut in the Rukongai."

"Rukongai? Who could possibly fit a position as captain from the outside like that?" Yorumoto asked roughly. "There is no one out there capable of bankai, and certainly no one that I would approve of."

"It is fortunate then that I know at least 4 of the captains here would appoint him in a heartbeat." Kyoraku stated. "Oh, and you may want to double check your intel Yorumoto-san, because he is capable of bankai."


It was the middle of the day at the fourth squad barracks and Shauna was taking a break, walking around the grounds without any real destination. She did this often, simply thinking about different things that interested her, such as the human world. She mostly ignored the world around his while she thought, but a sharp "pst" noise caught her attention. Roused from her thoughts, she glanced around, trying to locate the source of the noise. "Pst. Over here." the noise said, now transforming into a mans voice. She peeked down a nearby alley.

"Hello. Did you want something?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah." David said, emerging from behind a cart. The cart jolted sharply as someone else moved behind it.

"Jeez man, don't just walk out like that!" Squire hissed. "It's like you've never been a wanted criminal before!"

"I haven't!" David snapped back. "Wait, you have?"

"Hello David. Squire." Shauna said, stepping closer. "I wondered when you two would turn up. The rest of you are back in the medical ward getting healed up."

"Yeah, we know, that's why we're here." David explained. "We need you to help us get inside so we can break them out." The cart rattled again.

"Dude! What did I just say!?" Squire groaned.

"You can come out too Squire, I already know you're there." Shauna chuckled.

"I don't wanna. I'm...watching out backs." Squire muttered.

"Fair enough. So, you guys want me to sneak you into a classified area, set free four people that are wanted for murder, walk you all out of said restricted area past multiple lieutenants and possibly captains, before helping you escape, which all adds up to about 5 different kinds of treason. That sum it up?" she asked.

David scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well when you put it like that..." he said.

"Don't worry, I'll do it." she said cheerfully.

"Seriously!?" Squire yelped, jumping up from behind the cart finally. "Just like that?"

"Not entirely." she corrected. "You all have to take me with you back to the human world."

David and Squire stared at her. "Really? That's all you want?" David asked. "Sure, we'll take you back, no problem!"

"Excellent." she said. "In that case, meet me back here tonight and we'll leave." She started to walk away.

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute." Squire said speedily, stepping forward. "How do we know you're not going to turn us in? Why can't we go now?"

Shauna wheeled around, her brown hair flying back behind her. "One, you can't trust me entirely, but unless you have another option you're going to have to. Two, before I leave for the human world indefinitely I'm going to need to pack my things. And three, it's the middle of the day, there are guards everywhere, and only the three of us. Wait till night, I'll be back for you then." She turned around and stalked off, leaving two very startled humans in her wake.

"Well alright, I guess we're waiting." David said.


Ichigo paced back and forth in his quarters, something not seen very often. Usually the young captain was seen training, or visiting one of his many friends around Seireitei. There was too much on his mind, however, for him to do much of anything. The door to his room swung open, as Rukia stepped in. Ichigo barely broke his stride. "How was the captains meeting?" Rukia asked, watching him move. He grunted curtly and kept moving. "That bad huh?"

He stopped and collapsed down on his bed. "It's all so confusing." he groaned. "Just when I felt like everything in Seireitei was becoming clear, I end up finding more smoke and mirrors. I'm a captain for kami's sake, doesn't that mean anything?"

Rukia stepped into the room, sitting down in a chair on the opposite wall. "What do you mean by smoke and mirrors?" she asked.

"It's Kyoraku. He's keeping secrets, I know it." Ichigo explained. "He says that we haven't had any contact with Kisuke since the war, but he accepted the fact that Nick and the others knew him without any fuss. All the other captains, even Ukitake doubted it a bit, but not Kyoraku. I tried to get a straight answer out of him but he kept dodging the question. I feel like the only one who hasn't lied to me is the prisoner I was told to capture." Ichigo buried his face in his hands. "I wish I knew what was going on." he said. "Everything was so much simpler when I just had to hit the bad guy."

"Welcome to being a captain." Rukia chuckled. "That's just the way Seireitei is Ichigo. There's parts of it that even the captains don't know about, look at the Zero Squad. I'm sure they have secrets of their own, maybe the Head-captain does too."

"Maybe back in old man Yamamoto's day but Kyoraku isn't like that. Is he?" Ichigo groaned, staring up at the ceiling. "Maybe I should talk with that masked guy again. Nick."

Later that evening, Nick was back in the interrogation room, only this time there was a much more agreeable captain sitting across from him. "What's going on Captain Kurosaki, what can I do you for?" he asked cheerfully as the captain sat down. Ichigo motioned to the guards behind him to leave and they did, closing the door behind them.

"I want to know about your connection with Kisuke." Ichigo said seriously.

Nick sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Man, and here I thought you just wanted to talk. I thought that other captain was doing the questioning, the one with an anger problem."

"Captain Yorumoto is busy with other work. I'm here to fill in for him." Ichigo replied.

Nick chuckled. "You're a bad liar." he said. "So, you're here unofficially, huh? I can do unofficial, I've been doing that most of my afterlife."

"What do you mean by that?" Ichigo asked.

"What, afterlife? Well, you see, when someone dies in the human world-"

"Not what I meant." Ichigo muttered.

Nick grinned again. "See, that's why I like you, you've got your anger in check. By now, the other guy would've threatened to cut my head off again." He leaned forward seriously. "I'm not at liberty to discuss anything about what I may, or may not have done unofficially." he said flatly.

Ichigos eyes narrowed. "What do you think this is, some kind of spy thriller?" he asked.

Nick snapped his fingers. "Ding ding ding! Give the lucky captain a prize, he's guessed it!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "So you're a spy?" he asked.

"I never said that." Nick grinned. "See, I'm not allowed to say anything. Part of the deal. Undying loyalty to land and country, all that bullshit. So even if I wanted to say anything, I couldn't. It'd put a lot of people at risk."

"This isn't a game." Ichigo snapped. "Seireitei is now looking for Kisuke, they think he might have become an enemy of the spirit world. He's my friend, I can't accept that."

Nicks expression suddenly became very serious. "They're going after Kisuke? Really?" Ichigo nodded. "You didn't listen to a single thing I've said, have you? What did I just tell you? That I can't say anything about where I'm from, or who I work for. So why, of all people, would you go after Kisuke Urahara just because I said I know him?"

"You said he trained you!" Ichigo barked.

"Yeah, and I also told you what country he was in. Wonder why someone would want to keep that information secret?" Nick asked. "Do I have to spell it out for you? I don't work for Kisuke! None of us do!"

"Then tell me who you do work for!" Ichigo roared. "Tell me, and I can save our friend!"

"Let me ask you something Ichigo." Nick said, leaning in as far as the restraints would let him. "Do you think, honestly, that they are going to let me, or any of my friends live? Knowing what we are, and what we've done here." Ichigo stared at the bespectacled captive for a long time before shaking his head. "I thought so. You know why? Because it's rule one. You get captured, you die. End of story." Nick said, leaning back.

"We can protect you." Ichigo insisted. "Whatever group you're working for, whoever they are, we can hide you from them. You just need to tell us. If you won't do it for yourself or your friends, do it for Kisuke's sake!"

Nick chuckled darkly. "God, I've given you all the clues you need and you still aren't getting it." he muttered. "If you can't figure it out on your own by now, I can't help you. All I can say is think about everything I've said to you. Everything. I hope for Kisuke's sake that you figure it out."


That night, Squire and David were hidden in the alley, waiting impatiently for Shauna to show up. Squire leaned against one of the walls, tapping his foot against the ground. "This is a set-up man, I'm telling you." he muttered.

"You've told me this fifty times since she left, would you drop it?" David hissed. "She's the only chance we've got, especially if what she said about there being captains in there is true." He looked back down the alley, searching for any sign of their accomplice.

"Still think it's a set-up." Squire said, falling silent. They waited a bit longer, watching the barracks. When they were just about to give up and leave, they heard footsteps. The two humans jumped to cover, keeping themselves out of view of the main road. The steps got closer, finally stopping at the entrance to the alley.

"Ready to go?" Shauna asked. David and Squire came out of hiding, stepping forward.

"Seriously, how does she know we're here?" Squire asked.

"Well, you're not exactly hard to find once we know what you're after." Captain Yorumoto said form the rooftop next to them. Quincy, fullbringer and shinigami all looked on in horror as he drew his sword.

"I fucking told you it was a set-up." Squire hissed.