This time on TWiBaW: Tidying up some loose ends before EPIC FIGHT x4 COMBO (sort of).
A/N: This chapter took a surprisingly long time to write.
I have now completed the entirety of the Dawn of Souls campaign, including slaughtering Omega and Shinryu (which took a while), genoiciding Captains, maxing out Toad and putting double Masamunes on every single character, turning Minwu into a tank, turning the Emperor into a toad, and Soul of Rebirth. There were lots of amphibians involved in this process, just in case you couldn't tell.
As a result, I am now back to writing a lot faster again. We apologise for the delay in your regular service update.
Also, canon!Ganju doesn't actually have a zanpakuto, but it fits better for the purpose of this story.
"…you look distracted, Renji."
Renji glanced up from his position leaning against the wall, only to meet Rangiku Matsumoto's impressive bust.
He hastily dragged his gaze upwards to her face. "I'm fine. Seriously!"
She gave him a sympathetic look, before enfolding him in one of her infamous hugs and patting him on the back.
"Matsu-" he managed to gasp, before being released from the death grip.
"Sorry… it was just you looked so depressed and I thought, what better way to cheer him up than to give him a welcoming – " She cut herself off at the expression on his face.
"It's just… Rukia." He gestured hopelessly, as if to express his emotions right now.
"What the hell should I even be doing? Even though I'm a fukutaichou now, it's not as if I can just barge into the Central 46 and say 'Hello, could you let her go please because she's not guilty of anything except bad drawing'! It's exactly the same as last time, I'm still useless to stop them!"
Except he didn't actually say this, not in a meeting of fukutaichous in front of a lot of people who had served the Gotei 13 faithfully all their lives. After all, if I said I was gonna go against direct orders and break her out, I'd probably land myself a place right next to her if they caught me, he thought gloomily.
Rangiku patted him on the back in a comforting manner. "Cheer up… I'm sure it'll get sorted out. It's not as if they can just – "
And then Isane Kotetsu entered, followed by Momo Hinamori.
"Abarai-kun!" The fukutaichou of the 5th Division waved cheerily to him, smiling despite everything. Isane, though, looked harassed, if anything. Probably she's been dealing with all the guys from Eleventh who got their asses beat. Given the way that guy Ichigo acted –
He froze as a thought struck him.
"Sorry, I won't be able to stick around for long… we're all swept off our feet dealing with all the injured shinigami, not to mention someone said something about a thing in the sewers again – " Isane stopped. "Abarai-san? Are you alright?"
"I… there's something I have to – " No, I can't say anything. If they're really going after Rukia, there's only one bottleneck they can go through in order to get up to the Penitence Shrine. They'll be going through there at some point, no matter what!
He dashed through the door, narrowly missing Kira on the way out.
"Renji? Renji!"
"Cover for me, okay?" he called back to Kira, as he slipped into shunpou, already racing across the rooftops.
I just hope I can get there in time… before someone else figures it out.
Mayuri stared at the surveillance squad.
"…someone hacked into our systems for a second time, and then decided to inform us of their present location," he said finally. "Is that what you were trying to say?"
The idea of such a thing is patently absurd… unless the sole purpose of this visit was to insult the abilities of the Scientific Research Bureau. What kind of fool would go out of their way to mock me… at any rate, it doesn't matter. The response will still be the same.
The members shuffled nervously from foot to foot, awaiting his response.
"Send out… yes, send out dispatch team #4 to retrieve them. There will be no failure this time."
The iron manhole cover scraped slightly as it rose off the ground. Plush paws clung to the edge as Kai peered through the narrow gap.
"All clear," he hissed down to the people below.
Ganju pushed, causing the manhole cover to slide onto the pavement with a clatter. The three adventurers emerged, blinking, into the sunlight.
"Man that place sucked," said Kai with feeling, brushing himself down. "I don't know if the smell's ever gonna get out of my stuffing… uh, guys? Guys?" He trailed off, realizing that nobody was paying attention to him.
The shinigami standing on the roof leapt down from his vantage point.
"I thought you'd be coming this way… since it's pretty much the only ground route to the Penitence Shrine."
Ganju cursed silently, before drawing his zanpakuto. The shinigami, though, didn't seem to have any intention of fighting. He didn't even touch the hilt of his own weapon.
Where the hell is Ichigo when you need him?
"Hey… sorry I'm late, there was some stuff I needed to sort out." There was a scraping sound as Ganju spun round; Ichigo replaced the manhole cover, before giving a cheery wave to the unknown shinigami. "Yo, Renji!"
"Shit!" shrieked Kai. "Don't sneak up on me like that… wait, you know this guy?" An accusatory paw pointed at Ichigo. "Why the hell didn't you tell us?!"
"I did… besides, he came round to the apartment. I guess you didn't see him at the time."
Huh… so they met each other before. Maybe he's a friend of this Rukia's as well…
Renji stared.
"You're with these guys?"
"Yes."
The shinigami scowled. "…there's a private rest station nearby. We can talk properly there."
Mizuiro groaned, propping himself up using his elbows, before being pinned back down again.
"Miz… dammit, why'd you have to go scare me like that?"
He tentatively patted Keigo on the back as his friend continued to weep into his shirt.
Okay, I think my top's damp enough now.
"Where are we?" he asked, pushing Keigo gently off as he sat up.
I'm on a bed… this looks like someone's bedroom, not the laundry room we were in earlier. Did he move us or something like that?
"Well, I heard some people coming, so then I thought it would be best if we got moving before they arrived because I didn't know how long they would stay here for… then I had a look at your phone because I thought I might be able to use it. It had a map app, and it said there are loads of mini rest stations around this place, so I just picked one of them and locked it up for now." Keigo paused. "Was that okay?"
Mizuiro realized his mouth was hanging wide open at his friend's sudden burst of ingenuity.
He shut it again. "You managed to get it to work?"
Keigo shrugged. "Sure, it wasn't that hard. I couldn't get it to do any advanced stuff like you do, but I think it saved the map to its memory, so it wasn't as if it was only available to you or something like that." He coughed. "Uh… was that wrong or something? I mean, I know it's your private stuff but it was pretty urgent – "
"…It's fine. Thanks," he added as an afterthought, before looking around properly.
The room wasn't large enough to classify as a broom closet by his mother's standards. The bunk bed he was lying on was close enough to both walls that he could touch them at the same time, without moving. There was a small cupboard in the corner of the room, but that was about it as far as furniture was concerned.
"He left fingerprints all over my touchscreen. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?"
Mizuiro winced inwardly at the sound of the manifestation of his ability.
Why couldn't it be trainers or something? At least Keigo's trainers don't talk back. And they don't drain his energy to the point where he blacks out…
"I could clean it off for you – "
"With your shirt, I'm sure. I feel cleaner already."
Keigo got up, before fumbling the object on top of the cupboard as it burred indignantly.
"That wasn't an invitation to make everything dirtier."
Mizuiro intervened by picking up the phone, wiping the camera lens off with a cloth before GLaDOS could insult Keigo further.
"…so," said Keigo, breaking the awkward silence. "Where next?"
"Penitence Shrine. It'll be shortest if we take the north-west route from here." He glanced around; there were a couple of the black ninja uniforms at the end of the bed. "Hopefully, they won't spot us…"
(Ten minutes later, nobody batted an eyelid when the 'In Use' sign on the door slid to 'Free', and two indistinguishable black-clad ninjas slipped out of the rest room.)
Uryuu Ishida scowled at his new attire. The uniform had a little flower symbol stitched into it, something slightly spiky-looking that Orihime said was a thistle. Apparently, that indicated that it had originally belonged to a 12th Division member.
This did not help to improve his mood.
Why couldn't I have had something different? he wondered, as he 'helped' Orihime carry Tatsuki.
"Remember," Orihime had told him, "if anyone asks, you're helping me, the fourth Division member, with Tatsuki, the injured eleventh Division member, get to the hospital. Okay? It's a perfect disguise!"
Well, it seems as if our first test will be coming shortly, he thought as a shinigami approached. He was heavily-built, and didn't have the appearance of a medic or a scientist. Maybe he's from the Eleventh Division, though… that would be problematic.
To Uryuu's dismay, the shinigami slowed down.
"Hey! What're you doing?"
Great, he smells drunk as well.
"Ah…" Orihime smiled weakly. "That is to say, we're helping Tats-chan get to the medics, because she's injured."
The shinigami's eyes narrowed at this. "Huh? What division're you from?"
He's asking too many questions… this could be problematic. "Twelfth."
"Fourth…"
"Eleventh." Tatsuki glared at the man, daring him to say more.
"Never seen you before… hah! You don't have a zanpakuto, and besides, ev'ryone knows there's only one girl in Eleventh. A pansy like you couldn' even – "
That was as far as the shinigami got, before Tatsuki's fist swung into his face.
"I'm sorry, what were you saying again? I didn't quite hear you," she said, in a falsely sweet tone.
The man shifted into a crouch, pinching his bloody nose. "Ow… damn, okay, I admit you're from Eleventh, alright? You can have my seat already! I, Makizou Aramaki, officially hand over – "
"There you are!"
There were more shinigami hurrying down the street now, with friendly smiles, waving. A dozen alarm bells started ringing in Uryuu's head.
Why would anyone be looking for us?
"We saw you got lost, but it's best not to be going alone right now – especially with all those ryoka about… not to mention the eleventh guys are spoiling for a fight – "
"Hey… she's the tenth seat of Eleventh, don't diss her!" Makizou managed, fingers still pinched onto his nose to stop the bleeding.
" – we should get back to the quarters, there are lots of fights going on – "
Uryuu glanced at Tatsuki. It looks like I'm not the only person who doesn't buy this.
"Oh, no, it's absolutely fine, you don't have to help me, I'm from fourth – "
Orihime backed off slightly, as the group leader's facial expression became slightly desperate.
He reached out towards her. "You have to – "
And then they all exploded.
Messily.
Uryuu threw himself to the ground. Tatsuki had done likewise, bringing Makizou down with her; Orihime, however, had remained standing, as a shimmering, three-point golden shield stood, keeping away the brunt of the force.
"How terribly irritating… evidently I will need to get the design changed again." There was a sigh as the smoke dissipated slightly. "I suppose that would be one thing to integrate into your body to start with... Nemu? Make a note of that."
A white-coated man walked towards them, avoiding the worst of the viscera now decorating the pavement as Uryuu's breath caught in his throat. Despite everything, the man's face – or, rather, what was covering the man's face – was something that featured frequently in his nightmares.
That mask… I still remember. It's the same person…