Chapter 41

When Tessai told him that Eriko and Kazui were waiting for him, he sighed. Loudly. He looked at the black cat with his mouth set in a thin line. "They're here for information," he muttered.

"Hi Urahara-san, guess what?" Kazui asked with a wide grin.

Immediately the man's face brightened up. "Hello Eri-chan! Hello Kazui! What a surprise that you two are here! Such a treat," he said. Urahara was totally faking it, but those kids could be the future of the Shinigami one of these days.

"Yeah, well, maybe not. I wanna know about Arrancars. Eri thinks she knows everything about them since she is one, but I remember my dad and Uncle Renji bragging about how they fought them and how powerful they were and the Italian words they had for everything, like Sonico and Giganti," Kazui boasted.

Urahara raised an eyebrow and looked at Eriko. She looked smug. "You mean Sonido and Garganta?" the blond man asked.

"Whatever," Kazui said, eyes sparkling and thirsty for knowledge. "So is it true that Sonido is like flash step? Because Eri says it's the same but I think it's different."

"It's the Hollow version of a flash step. I could not say if it's exactly the same. Yoruichi, would you say it's about the same? I never asked Nel or Grimmjow what it was like when they did it," Urahara said.

A scoff. "Oh, come on. You can't tell me you haven't researched it. My dad told me you made a, Garganta? All by yourself. And Hiyori told me about how the hogyokus made her and Arrancars like they are. She never stops bragging."

A heavy sigh left him and he glared at the cat who was just sleeping away and ignoring him. It was wonderful how his partner in crime could just employ a cat tactic of ignoring him whenever it suited her whims. "Fine, yes they're exactly the same. With practice, you get better and faster at it. You really have to visualize where you're going when you do it."

"Is that how a Garganta works? Because Riruka said it was kind of like a black hole and could lead to anywhere, but that doesn't make sense."

"No, you have to visualize where you want to go, but it does take a massive amount of spiritual pressure to traverse it. Your dad knows how to open one. I'm not going to open it so you can play around and get yourself killed, Kazui. You need to stop talking to Hiyori and Riruka," the man replied. "You two should hurry to the cafe and meet your parents."

They boy sighed, seemingly put out. "Fine. See you around," he said, hanging his head slightly as he turned toward the exit.

Eriko was even more distressed by all this. She looked at Kazui. "You know how I asked Dad a couple weeks ago what my version of flash step was?"

"Yeah," he replied, the false melancholy he had donned for Urahara had evaporated, and now he was only mildly worried about his de facto sister's mood.

"I think he gave me the information because he was tired. It was the day after his birthday when I asked. He looked about fed up and exhausted," Eriko said. She chewed on her lip for a moment. "Maybe he'll tell you something. You can't open one, so he might give you more information if you ask when he's tired."

The boy nodded. "Tomorrow. Friday is always busy and it's the end of the week and Mom is crabbier because she's been alone all week. After he gets home and while he's working at the kitchen counter, I'll ask him. You distract Mom, though."

Eriko scowled. "How am I supposed to do that? Ask her about baby stuff?"

"Yeah! Have you felt the baby kick yet?" he asked, offering her a small smile.

She shook her head. "No. It looks like an alien when it moves."

Kazui chuckled and shook his head. "You're a weird girl. It's our brother. He can hear you in there, you know. You should ask to introduce yourself."

"Wait a minute! Have you felt him move? Have you introduced yourself to the alien baby?"

Kazui straightened up and lifted his chin. "His name is Shinzo, and he's not an alien! Of course I've felt him move and introduced myself. I tell him about my day every night while you take a bath."

Oh, that's why she hadn't seen him do that. Eriko sighed. "Babies are… weird. I mean, I've not been around a lot of them, but I don't see the appeal of them. Sato-san bought me a doll but I never really played with it. And I know what Shinzo's name is," she argued. "I kind of feel sorry for Dad. He does too much and I know he doesn't get much sleep. I wish we could fix this. We will fix his. I want to see our parents happy again and in love, not bickering about little things."

Kazui sighed and nodded. "We will fix this. Ask Mom about the baby tomorrow and I'll talk to Dad. We'll get this straightened out. And I can't blame you for not playing with the doll; they are like gigai with no souls in them. Totally creepy."

Kazui smiled at Eriko and added, "I've been around my baby cousins, and they can be totally annoying, but they are also sometimes really cute. I want like a million kids when I grow up."

"Well you can count me out of that. I don't want any," Eriko replied. "I don't want to pass down this thing, nor do I want to deal with wiping butts. Kids take money and time."

"That's the truth, lots of butts and poop and money. That's why I'm going to be a famous action movie actor." Kazui nodded like it was a foregone conclusion.

"You're insane," Eriko said as if that was the truth.

He flashed his brows at her. "Maybe," he said with a grin and then took off. "Last one there is a rotten egg!"

"You're already rotten, Kaz!"

The next day, Kazui went home directly after school. He talked to his mom. He talked to Shinzo. He did his homework. He nodded knowingly at Eriko when she got home a bit later. Then he waited. And waited. And waited.

Usually Kazui wasn't good at waiting, but today he knew it was in his favor. The more tired and irritated Ulquiorra was, the more likely he would be to just tell the boy anything he wanted to know to placate him and get him off of his back.

It was almost nine o'clock that evening when Ulquiorra walked through the door. He was exhausted as usual. Orihime didn't sleep well last night. He kept waking up or tossing and turning. He was frustrated and had been that way since his birthday. It was irritating to get up in the morning to go teach kids and then go to the cafe to wait tables, make cookies, and clean. Usually the kids had things under control at home, but he just sighed louder when he walked into a somewhat messy kitchen. Eriko was standing at the sink trying to scrub something from a pan. "What is this?"

"I accidentally burned dessert. I was trying a recipe," she answered, turning her head towards her father. "Caramel is hard."

Shaking his head, Ulquiorra went into the living room and kissed the top of his girlfriend's head. "Hello," he said.

"Hello my love," she said after she looked at his face and saw how tired he looked. He had been a youthful-looking mid-thirties when they first got together, but his never-ending work schedule and lack of sleep was showing. His eyes were sunken and dark and there was a permanent-looking divot in his forehead. "Why don't you have a seat and put your feet up on my lap for a bit? You look wiped out."

"I can't; the kitchen is a mess and I have papers to grade and look over. I'll rest when that's done," Ulquiorra stated. He smiled at her though, before giving her a kiss. "I appreciate the offer though. Maybe on Sunday we can relax. Is there any dinner leftover?"

"There should be. Eri put it away, I think."

With a nod and turning back to the kitchen, Ulquiorra found his offspring still scrubbing at the dish. "Have you finished your homework?"

"No, I'm almost done with it."

"Go do it and I'll finish cleaning up in here," Ulquiorra said. He watched his daughter practically run out of the room and head for the stairs. He was trying to maintain a sense of calm, but it only went so far when he had very little sleep since Eriko was taken by Yuko. First he needed food, and then he would clean up the kitchen. As he rummaged through the refrigerator, he heard footsteps behind him.

"Hey! Hey!" an insistent voice whispered behind him.

"Yes, Kazui? What is it?" Ulquiorra asked, as he pulled out some grilled fish and rice.

Kazui looked at the man with a wary expression and walked around the side of him so they could make eye contact, then said in low tones so that Orihime wouldn't hear, "I overheard Grandpa and Urahara-san talking. They said a, um, I think they called it a Gigantaur, opened up in Karakura last night. I asked them to tell me what it is, but they won't!" The boy was doing a decent job laying on the terrified child act.

Hearing the boy talk about Urahara did nothing to quell his irritation. Ulquiorra turned and looked at Kazui before he got a plate down from a cabinet to put his food on. "The only thing I know that shinigami would say that opened and starts with a g is a Garganta. Do you mean Garganta? Why are you eavesdropping on adults?"

"They were just talking about it right behind me while I was watching TV at Grandpa's," Kazui answered with a huff, as if to agree with Ulquiorra's assessment that the information was not for his ears. "So, what's a Garganta? How does it open? What happens when you open it?"

So many questions!

Ulquiorra scowled for a moment as he thought about it. It wouldn't hurt to inform Kazui about this stuff. He was a shinigami, not a hollow. No one else was putting forth the effort to teach the boy about these things. "It's a portal between realms, mainly for hollows and dark creatures." He paused for a moment. "Most Arrancars and higher forms of Hollows can just rip open space and walk through. Most of them like appearing in the sky for intimidation effects."

Kazui's eyes widened, apparently in fear. "So if I was just walking past, they could grab me and throw me into one? What would happen then?"

"If you're walking in the sky and they grab you, then you'd be screwed, but you mostly stay on the ground so you'd be okay. But, if that were to happen, you just fall through a void. It's never ending. If that were to happen, you'd have to gather your spiritual pressure to act like a platform or a bridge to make a path through it."

The boy nodded in dim understanding. "Okay, so just make a path. Through it? To where? How do I decide where to go?"

Ulquiorra sighed. He was tired and he wanted to eat. While he loved Kazui, the kid would be persistent until he got his answers. "You have to visualize where to go. If you want to go to Hueco Mundo you need to focus on that being your destination. Since I was an Arrancar, I used Descorrer and walked through. It didn't take me long to reach where I wanted to go."

Kazui was going to ignore that new word, but figured he better ask. "Descorrer? What's that?"

"It's a more stable way to open a Garganta; reishi isn't so frantic inside of it."

"How do you do that? I mean, if I saw an Arrancar doing that, what would it look like?"

He shut his eyes for a moment, thinking back to when he was an Espada. Could he still make one? Ulquiorra then opened his eyes, lifted his right arm, with a finger extended before he brought the finger down like he was tapping something. Of course nothing happened. "It's a simple gesture. That's what I used to do. Just touch the place where I wanted to open it."

The boy scowled deeply. It was too easy. "So you just tapped the air like you were ringing a bell and space ripped open for you? Did you have to say a magic word or do some kind of visualization or something?"

"Well, of course, but all Arrancar have the ability to perform Descorrer." The man sighed. "Its a visualization of where you want to go. Can I eat now? Have I satisfied your curiosity?"

Kazui smiled at Ulquiorra sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm sorry to bother you. Thanks, Dad," he murmured before turning toward the stairs.

"You're not a bother Kaz. I'm just hungry, kiddo."

"You are not going to BELIEVE this!" Kazui hissed after Eriko slipped into his room later that night.

The girl looked at her best friend and rolled her eyes. She never got a chance to talk to Orihime, because the woman had fallen asleep on the couch soon after Kazui went downstairs. "What is it? Also, maybe if Mom didn't sleep during the day, she'd sleep at night."

Kazui rolled his eyes. It was a chicken and egg argument he didn't feel like having. "Anyway, get this, all you have to do to open a Garganta is do like this," he said, repeating the gesture Ulquiorra had made, "and it just happens. All Arrancar can do it. You just have to visualize where to go."

Eriko's brows knitted together as she stared at the boy. "That's it? That's all we have to do?"

"Well, yeah, and gather your spiritual energy to make a path so you don't fall into an endless void, but that's it. The only missing piece for us to get to Soul Society now is to find a way to visualize it, and I think I know how to get the information we need for that." Kazui smiled at her, excited that they were getting closer to their goal.

"And how do you plan to do that? Also where are we supposed to open this thing? Will Hiyori let us do it there?" Eriko asked. "Are you going to ask Hiyori?"

"Something Ichika once told me, which I have found to be true, is that it's better to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission. We'll do it at Hiyori's," Kazui said.

Eriko raised her eyebrows. "How are you going to get the information, though? What if you ask Hiyori and she refuses to tell you anything?"

"I'm not going to ask Hiyori. Tomorrow we have to go to Grandpa's and we'll go through my dad's stuff. My aunt Rukia used to be quite the illustrator. She drew all kinds of diagrams of Soul Society. My aunt put them all in a binder for him. We can swipe it and bring it home," he announced, crossing his arms over his chest victoriously.

"Nice, so we just leave the adults and run off to Grandpa's? There has to be something in there that will point us in the right direction." Eriko finally smiled at Kazui. "Brilliant plan!"

"Mom! We're going to Grandpa's!" Kazui shouted as he trounced down the steps. "Want us to get anything on our way back home?"

It was Saturday, so Ulquiorra was at Halcyon. Saturdays weren't the worst day for him there; the staff was all there and he could bring work from school along and just be in the office if any help was required, but the day started relatively early. He was already out of the house. If Orihime needed something before he came back, she had to rely on the kids.

"Um, if you could pick up some milk and eggs on your way back, I think that's all we need."

"Got it! Milk and eggs! I'll just grab a thousand yen out of your purse?"

"Yep! Be careful and give Grandpa a hug for me!"

"Will do! Get some rest!" Eriko shouted as she ran down the hall for the genkan. It was easy to slip her boots on and get her coat. She waited for Kazui outside, hopping around in the chilly air.

He came out the door a minute later, blowing out a relieved breath that curled into steam in the chilly December air. "It's cold today!" he announced, rubbing his hands together and nodding before walking down the drive.

"It's always cold this time of year. People expect it to be different, but it won't be," Eriko said. She was kind of nervous about today. If they were to get caught, it'd be bad. But… "What are you going to tell Grandpa? You want to look through your dad's things?"

"Yeah. He'll give me that… what's the word? Wistful? Yeah, wistful. That's what Mom says, anyway. He'll give me that wistful smile and ruffle my hair and tell me to "scram". He likes it when I remember my dad. He'll like it even more that I want to share his memory with you."

Eriko almost rolled her eyes but refrained. The head of the Kurosaki family was a sentimental and emotional mess at times. She kind of wished her dad was like that, but then again… He kind of was like that with Orihime. The girl could tell that her father loved the redhead a lot. "Do you think we'll get to see your dad when we go to the soul society?"

"Uh… Maybe? Hopefully not, though… I don't know. Like, I want to see him, but…" Kazui bit his lip and his expression grew dark. He had avoided the idea of running into Ichigo until now.

"Sorry. I didn't mean anything bad by it."

He spared her a glance and shook his head. "I know. It's not that, it's just hard to imagine. He's dead. It's been two and a half years and I feel like I'm okay with it now. I'm afraid if I see him again I'll get sad." He looked at Eriko and added, "What if everyone is right, and he doesn't recognize me? It will be so weird!"

The boy stopped walking after he had another realization. He looked to the side and his cheeks colored as he struggled with the thought.

"What?" Eriko was confused. Why would Kazui be blushing? "Its okay to be sad… sometimes."

"It's just… If he does recognize me…" Kazui sighed. "It might make me feel really guilty for, um, moving on."

It was on the tip of Eriko's tongue to tell him it was his dad's fault he was dead and it was okay to move on. She reached out and put a hand on Kazui's shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. Stuff like this happens. It's life."

The boy sniffed and nodded. His best friend wasn't usually very supportive, but she was coming through today. "Thanks. Let's get going."

"For some reason I remember these drawings being much more… Um, much more realistic?" Kazui said, scratching the back of his head as he looked down at the diagram made up of bunnies dressed as shinigami on a map of Soul Society that he had spread out on his bed. "Think these will help at all?"

Eriko looked at the drawings before she put her hand over her mouth to suppress the laughter that was building. "Um, uh, ah," she waffled as she snorted out tiny giggles. Finally she couldn't stand it and laughed, throwing her head back. "Oh god! Who drew these? A five year old?"

Kazui's lips pulled back and he snorted a laugh before falling into a fit of chuckles, despite himself. "Um, no, actually," he laughed a bit hard and then bit his lip and looked at Eri with pink, appley cheeks, just like his mother would do. His eyes sparkled before admitting, "It was my Aunt Rukia." He snickered and looked back down at the paper. "She, uh, she thinks she's really good."

"I thought your mom didn't have any siblings and there was just Aunt Yuzu and Karin. Who is this Rukia?" Eriko asked. She was still smiling as she shuffled through the drawings.

"Uh, she's not really my aunt, not like Yuzu and Karin. She was one of my parents really good friends. She and her husband fought with them in all the wars."

It was a found family thing, not a blood relation. Eriko nodded. She understood that. "She must be really young to draw like this. What is she about your mom's age?"

"No, she's gotta be close to two hundred years old, at least. That's what Ichika told me, anyway."

The laughter quickly stopped and Eriko looked very confused. "Two-hundred years old? She's gotta be ancient looking, then!"

"No, not really. She looks younger than my mom does now."

Woah. That made Eriko surprised. "Oh. Well, I'm hoping we don't run into any trouble or people when we go. Just get in and get out with this Tsukishima guy."

Kazui agreed and nodded his head. "So, do you think you can visualize Soul Society with these drawings, or do we need something better?"

Eriko looked over the number of drawings in front of her and then picked out a spot. "We could go for that big rock in the middle of the map."

Kazui sighed. "Maybe I should ask Urahara if he has something better. Pictures or schematics… I could tell him I miss my dad and want to be able to imagine where he is now."

"What about Hiyori's boyfriend or whatever… Shithead or, oh, what's his name? Baldy?" Eriko's face scrunched up as she tried to remember.

"His name's Shinji, and I don't know what we could have him do. We only have four days till Mom and Dad go on their trip. Besides, he's in Soul Society."

"We could ask Hiyori to describe this place. We could ask her where this mad scientist is in Soul Society. She might tell us. We could bribe her."

Kazui chuckled. "With what? Go ahead and ask if you want. It might be convenient. It would be fresh in your mind and you could rip open the Garganta right after she explains, that is, if she explains."

Eriko stood up and grabbed the drawings. "Let's go then!"

"Now?"

"You want to wait until Mom and Dad leave?" Eriko asked. This would be the perfect time to ask.

"Yeah. The last thing we need is them jumping into a Senkaimon behind us and Dad getting taken into Soul Society custody. We have to make sure they won't know we're gone. If we can get in and get out before they get to where they are going, it should be no problem."

Eriko pouted for a moment. "What if I can't do it? What if I can't open the Garganta?"

Kazui sighed. "Then we beg Urahara. He has a senkaimon. I don't know. I just know that if we get Dad in trouble, then all this will be for nothing. We're trying to save our family, not make things worse. Besides, I believe in you, Eri. I know you can do it. Look how far you've come in less than two months of training!"

The girl knew her best friend wasn't saying that just to appease her. He really believed it. "Okay, I'll try my best."

Having the hearing he did, Ulquiorra sighed as he heard the children whispering in Kazui's room.

"So I'm just going to rip it open and we're gonna run..."

Eriko.

"...I wonder what Soul Society is like."

Kazui.

Another sigh went through him. He was going to have to cancel this trip with Orihime. Those two sounded like they were planning on a very frowned upon trip of their own. He looked at Orihime, who was laying beside him in bed. "What do you remember of Tsukishima?"

"Hmm? Tsukishima?" She blinked a few times as she tried to recall, and also wondered why Ulquiorra was asking. "He was tall and thin and had a creepy smile he always wore? What do you want to know?"

"Do you remember where he lived in Soul Society? Do you have a photograph of him?"

"No photos. Urahara might have one, or I can sketch him for you. I think he lived somewhere in Rukongai. Why do you ask?"

Ulquiorra looked at her and frowned. "Our kids are planning on breaking into Soul Society while we're gone. If I can get there first, I can save us a lot of headaches," he said. "I can get Tsukishima and come back. That's why I need to know what he looks like. I need a detailed photo or image of him."

Orihime's eyes pinched. A long sigh followed. "What are they thinking," she muttered, sitting up. "How are you going to get there and come back to me safely? I can't lose you," she said, her mouth in a firm line as she looked at her boyfriend.

"The bracelet. I'm sure Urahara-Wait… The kids said something about a soul pass or badge. I can go to Urahara's, get out of my gigai, and then open a Garganta." Ulquiorra looked at his lap. "Orihime, something needs to be done. You're not getting better. I'm tired of living like this."

She didn't want to accept that he was right, but she knew that he was. Now that the kids were trying to involve themselves, it was more urgent. "I don't like it. Test the bracelet first," she said softly, lifting worried eyes back to his. "Ichigo's battle pass is at the apartment in his shrine."

Ulquiorra's brow lifted. "Are you sure? Kazui! Get in here!"

The boy sat up where he was and froze, wide eyes slowly sliding towards Eriko's. "What did I do?" he whispered.

"I don't know," Eriko said.

Ulquiorra's voice boomed through the upper floor of the house. "KAZUI! BRING THAT SOUL REAPER THING!"

The boy's face grew hot and he grabbed the badge off of the desk in the room and shuffled quickly down the hall to the adults' room. He knocked.

"Come in, Monkey," Orihime's voice was tense as she welcomed him.

The green-eyed man was standing up and pacing the floor when the door opened. As soon as Kazui was inside, Ulquiorra grabbed the soul reaper badge and held it up by one finger. "This? This is not on your late husband's shrine. It hasn't been for weeks now, Orihime. Kazui, do you realize what could have happened to you two if you had gone through with this?"

"I— We—" Kazui looked from Ulquiorra to his mother with a pleading expression. "We just wanted to help."

"Help? Help? By how? Getting yourselves killed? Getting detained by the Gotei 13? By never coming home? Think!" Ulquiorra snapped. "Eriko!"

The girl had followed Kazui down to the room and was standing out in the hall. "Yes?" she asked as she came into view. They were in trouble. She had forgotten that her dad had some sort of super sensitive hearing and they had been jabbering about their plans since they hatched the idea.

Ulquiorra scoffed and folded his arms across his chest. "Are you serious? You think you can navigate a Garganta? You think you could take on a captain class soul reaper?"

"Hiyori-"

"I don't give a damn who Hiyori is or what she says. You two were planning a suicide mission!"

Orihime looked at the children with a mix of pity and disappointment. "I appreciate the sentiment, but you two are just kids. This is more dangerous than you can possibly imagine. And if we lost you…" she sighed. "We would not… We can't lose you."

"You two are to stay here with your mother. I'm cancelling our trip. I'm going to Urahara's now." Ulquiorra said as he got some socks out of the dresser. "I want you two to cater to Orihime's wishes."

"But what are you going to do?" Kazui asked, nibbling in his lip.

"I'm going to get Tsukishima."

A/N: Here we go! Thanks for reading, what do you think about Kaz + Eri's plans being thwarted?