Chapter Fifty-One
When Kaba opened his eyes, light stabbed all the way into his brain like actual knives, so he closed them again. It struck him immediately that, since he could still remember his name and that of his Zanpakuto, he must not have actually died in Caro's office, but by the Soul King it felt like he had.
"Oh, you're awake. Good, but don't try to move just yet." He did not recognize the voice, but he recognized the tone. Fourth Division? "Can you tell me your name? What Division are you from?"
His mouth tasted like carbon and dirt. He licked his dry lips, but it didn't help. "Kaba Naoko, Twelfth Division Fifth Seat, though for my heroics today and the unfortunate loss of Fourth Seat Tadataka, I'm sure that will be changing soon."
"Do you know where you are, then?"
Adult woman's voice. Fourth Division had a female captain... didn't it? Kaba had enough on his plate managing the politics of his own Division to bother sparing memory on the others.
"First Division Captain's office, and before you ask, yes, I do remember what happened." He tried opening his eyes again, just a little, but sunlight still hated him so he aborted that plan. "I came to single-handedly defeat Caro. That may have been a bad idea, in retrospect, but at least now I know that Caro's defeat was my doing."
He could feel the shift in mood at his claim. Not surprising.
"You were unconscious and bleeding to death when we arrived," the healer-woman replied, a little sternly. Kaba smiled faintly, though his head still felt like nails were being driven through it from the inside.
"Yes. Let my captain know... I redeemed the Twelfth Division."
Ryohime cast a sleeping kido on the injured officer, again thinking fondly of the Fourth Division instructors who had unknowingly taught her so much. Her concern over her patient's mental state satisfactorily answered, she much preferred to finish healing him without talking. It wouldn't be terribly effective against a fifth seat, but a little peace was better then nothing.
The smoke was beginning to fade, blown away from Seireitei by winds natural or manufactured. It was good to see sunlight again... it felt like a reassurance from the rest of the world that it really was over.
She sensed Urai coming back and looked up, over her shoulder.
"Caro?"
"I let him go." His tone clearly refused to apologize for it. "He can't cause any more damage now."
Ryohime turned back to her patients, eyeing the one who hadn't bragged about defeating Caro alone. "I think you're right. Mura- Kudoko cut him off from every hint of Hollow power he had, and unlike this one, Arrarrico Caro was not a Shinigami beneath the mask."
Urai glanced down at his 'ghost', patched up but still unconscious. "Why... don't you ever use his name? When you talk to one another, when you talk about him, you sound like you can barely stand one another, but then you slip and manage to fight alongside one another like two sides of a blade."
Ryohime did not even try to explain. Memories flashed through her mind that she knew there was no way to verbalize, not in a way anyone but she, and him, would understand. Instead, she simplified.
"We destroyed one another, and then realized we didn't have anyone else. In the end, using our names was torture, reminders of something old that we'd ruined." Her kido flickered; she stopped for a moment and rubbed her arms, tracing scars beneath her sleeves. "But that's all over now. I can... I have to be Kurosaki Ryohime again. Somewhere out there are people who I need to see again."
"And him?"
She took a brisk breath and reactivated her healing kido, a general one she could use in both hands, one for each patient.
"I don't know. Only he can decide that."
Urai took the hint. "I'll go scouting for a bit," he suggested, and when she nodded he flashed away (rather slowly) to do just that.
He found a relatively stable First Division building to perch on and climbed to the roof to scan the city. There was very little movement... far off, he spotted one dark figure running along a wall and someone was clearly putting out fires, but the Shinigami seemed to be keeping their heads down. Perhaps they suspected some trick, or maybe...
No. There have to be more survivors.
"Attention, Shinigami."
Urai nearly fell off his rooftop in surprise. The voice spoke almost right in his ear, but also far away... a bakudo.
"This is Isane Taichou of the Fourth Division. We have set up field stations in four locations throughout Seireitei for those in need of healing. Any survivors who do not need immediate medical attention, please check in with a Fourth Division officer at the following locations. We will need everyone's help to find and transport the wounded."
A series of images flashed through Urai's mind, then the communication ended. He closed his eyes, committing them to memory, then jumped off his perch.
"Ryohime!"
She whirled on him in alarm, Zanpakuto drawn, when he flashed back into camp, but quickly relaxed. "Don't startle me," she scolded, then sheathed her sword. "What is it?"
"Isane Taichou is still alive and organizing the survivors. I don't know if they know Caro has been defeated - we need to go report in."
Her reaction was not what he had expected - she flinched, then looked away. "Not yet. You go ahead, but I'm not done with these two."
Urai stepped closer, frowning slightly. "What's the matter? The Fourth Division can take over now. You have to be exhausted... using your bankai to destroy an Arrancar, and then healing three people? I'm surprised you're still on your feet."
She looked back at him and he caught a flicker of actual panic in her eyes. "Urai... I can't."
"Why?"
She did not reply for a long moment, and when she did her voice was subdued. "You are a special case, you know. We were friends before, but not anymore. We trained together for a year and you never saw us. In truth, you barely know me, but I know I can trust you. Them? They know... her."
Realization hit. Urai oohed silently. "What did happen to you and him?" he asked finally. He had put off thinking about it, but what hints they had dropped seemed to make no sense with the reality he knew. "Are you the real Kurosaki Ryohime? The one that comes to Seireitei every week to visit the Fourteenth Division Captain...?"
How can that even be?
But she nodded, trying and failing to concentrate on healing some minor bruising on the other ghost. "None of them would understand, yet." She let out a breath of humorless laughter. "I barely understand myself. Just... go on, tell them what we did, but don't tell them about us. If they insist, tell them... tell them Kaba Goseki helped you defeat Caro. I need to... think."
She looked so miserable. Urai hesitated, wishing he could think of something to say, but then turned away.
"I'll come back to help you as soon as I can," he promised, then steeled himself and flashed away towards the nearest Fourth Division officer.
...
It was Lilynette who found them, hiding beneath the street where some absurd attack had smashed through to the sewers. How she found them, Kitsune couldn't guess; his bakudo was supposed to keep those within completely undetectable, but the spirit wolf looked straight through it at them as if it didn't exist.
"I think that means the worst is over," the artificial soul declared, poking Dikayumi in the side. The Quincy kid had practically broken down when the captains started attacking, but his assigned partner hadn't noticed. In fact, all the powerful of their little group had ended up running off with their own opponents, leaving Kitsune alone. In a veritable whirlwind of death. With a Quincy possibly battling a terrifying dark side right next to him.
But it was all fine. He was just the mod soul, which meant he also wasn't responsible for saving the worlds. All in all, he was pretty happy with his part in this whole affair.
"Come on, Glasses-kun," he said, slipping Dikayumi's arm around his narrow shoulders. It was a good thing the team-archer was so young and little... if he had been forced to look after, say, Edward, then there was no way he would have been able to drag him into the cover of a sewer, or get him back on his feet afterwards. "I bet the others are waiting for us."
"I almost hate you, 'Sune," muttered Dikayumi, but he managed to get his feet under him and stand without Kitsune's help. "I should have stayed home..."
"Me too, buddy, me too. In fact, I think we all should have stayed at home, but then we wouldn't be the Special Units Division, would we?"
Lilynette turned and leapt back up through the hole to the street, where she turned and stared at them. Come on, it's easy, she seemed to be saying, though she had never deigned to speak to Kitsune directly.
"Easy for you, puppy!" he called up at her. "There is no ladder, and I can't just throw the Quincy over my shoulder and leap around like your master could."
"'The Quincy'?" The Quincy sounded insulted. "Alright, mod soul, that's enough of your help."
The arm that had, a moment ago, been pressing down against Kitsune's shoulders for support suddenly tightened into a backwards throttle, and with a neat little kick-to-the-knees Dikayumi knocked Kitsune off balance and scooped him up. With a sharp breath, he leapt up and hopped up through the air as though there was an invisible staircase just for him.
"Show off," grumbled Kitsune, slipping out of the human's arms the moment they reached the street. "Some day, I will figure out a way for mod souls to run on air like everyone else can, and then you will be trying to keep up with my fleet feet."
Dream on, Lilynette's gleaming blue eyes seemed to say, then she turned away with a flick of her long, majestic, half-transparent tail and began running off down the street. Kitsune and Dikayumi hurried to follow.
She seemed to be leading them specifically to avoid the Shinigami of Seireitei. Kitsune could sense spirits every now and then just on the edge of his internal radar, but Lilynette took long cuts around them to avoid being seen. (Kitsune was just as glad; he still wasn't quite sure how the official Soul Society police would take his existence, so he would rather keep a low profile.) Even with her diversions, though, it did not take Lilynette long to reach her destination, her two followers far from her heels but well within eyesight.
It was just another wrecked street now, but after a minute Kitsune recognized it as the place where they had split off with Erina and Edward. Herald was already there, of course, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed and eyes closed in a concerned scowl, and Charles stood casually in the air above them, one hand shading his eyes as he examined the city around them.
"I found them, Starrka," Lilynette declared. Herald's eyes snapped open and he almost smiled when he caught sight of them alive and, mostly, well.
"You are brilliant, my good girl," he said, making Lilynette's tail wag, then added, "Yylfordt is on his way already, according to Charles, so can you find Edward and Erina? He shouldn't be hard to find..."
"Alright, but then you owe me a chin-scratch," she replied, and in a flash she was gone.
"What's going on?" Dikayumi asked, putting a hand to his head as though he was getting a headache. "I haven't heard any fighting for a while. Did someone beat Caro?"
"I hope so, because otherwise things are going to get much worse before they get better," replied Herald grimly. "If they get better at all. Charles said his opponent just stopped fighting and then left, which matches up with the actions of the pack of ninjas I accidentally stumbled into, so either Caro's mind-control is gone or he's recalled everyone for some new evil scheme."
Charles dropped down next to Herald, broken and useless chain-links clinking on his belt. "Here comes Yylfordt. I think he saw my signal. Good to see you're still alive, Dikayumi."
"You too." Dikayumi leaned against Herald's wall, then slid down to rest his head against his knees. "I can't wait for this to be done so I can go back home."
Herald gave Kitsune a questioning look, but Kitsune could only shrug helplessly. "Hey, you did a good job," the co-lieutenant insisted in his own lack-luster way, then sat down next to Dikayumi. "Just look at what Charles had to go through - what he still has to deal with - in trying to control Nnoitra. Considering the situation, simply keeping that black Hollow of yours on the inside was probably more then we could have hoped for."
"If I had an inner Hollow, I bet I'd be horrible at talking to it," Kitsune suggested, trying to be encouraging, but then immediately got distracted by the idea. "Or maybe we would be best friends, like Herald and Lily-sama. Or... maybe it would erase my entire identity!"
"We could only wish," came a new voice, and they all looked up to see Yylfordt climbing over the wall. The blonde stopped on the top and glanced over them, then raised his head to frown into the distance.
"I am way more useful then another crazy Hollow would be," Kitsune insisted, just to fill the lifeless air. "I can do bakudo and healing kido - Oh! Does anyone need any healing? Starrk-sama? Yylfordt?"
"Grimmjow needed help..." murmured Yylfordt, ignoring Kitsune's kind offer completely. "Does anyone know who he was fighting? I could feel the sparks even from my fight with the lieutenant."
Charles sighed in poorly-suppressed irritation. "Steve ran off around that same time, but I wasn't in any position to ask why or pursue the matter. The... Third Division Captain, I think it was... was trying to kill me at the time, so all I know is that he didn't come to back me up or kill Kurotsuchi like he promised."
"I don't sense anything," Herald commented, though his troubled frown was slowly coming back. "Knowing that one, he probably joined forces with Edward and Erina and stormed Caro's base of operations without us."
"Someone has to have taken out Caro," agreed Yylfordt, sitting down on the ridge of the wall. "Though... it would be nice to meet some other Arrancar again. Not that there is anything wrong with humans," he added hastily, "but the World of the Living does get boring sometimes."
"You could have tried not killing off your human identity and breaking the hearts of your family," Herald retorted. "I'm sure you would have gotten used to playing human eventually."
Yylfordt didn't even bother replying; he laughed the notion away and went back to scanning the horizon, one leg dangling over the wall and the other serving as an elbow-rest.
He was the first to spot Lilynette, though Herald must have sensed her coming. "Looks like she found someone," he commented, then his eyes narrowed again. A moment later Lilynette bounded over the wall and went straight for Herald, jumping up to shove her nose in his face and lick his ear.
"Woah! What's up with you?" he asked, ruffling her spectral fur with both hands. Then his fond look turned to worry. "Are you alright?"
If the wolf replied, she did it so no one but Herald could hear. Everyone else's attention was drawn to the battered, bloody figure who landed on the roof of the building across the street, then slowly slipped off it to the ground.
"Oh, good!" declared Yylfordt, following Erina's example and landing next to where Dikayumi was still sitting with his head in his hands. "Though it looks like the fighting on your side was pretty intense... did Szayel make it to you guys alright? Where is Grimmjow?"
Even Kitsune, with his less-then-perfect artificial senses, could feel the sudden change in atmosphere. With a single look and no words, Erina communicated something no one wanted to hear.
Yylfordt's expression turned to stone.
"Erina... where are my brothers?"
