Chapter Fifty-Six
It was strange, meeting people he had simultaneously never seen before, known by face and barely interacted with, and conspired with to escape death in three separate lifetimes. They were not friends, but at the same time, Urai felt like he knew everyone in this Division better then he knew the other members of his own Division.
Old Division. There were people in the Thirteenth who wouldn't be happy with his sudden promotion, but then, they wouldn't miss him either. He had always been an outsider; now he was an officer among outsiders.
He barely knew where to start with these people. Ishida Dikayumi looked baffled, but not particularly shocked... he could wait. Hirama Charles just sat with his face in one hand, rubbing the bridge of his nose with a thumb, smiling and shaking his head. He'd be fine. Herald... Urai knew he would have to talk to the previous lieutenant at some point, but they had exchanged a few words when Ukitaki Taichou first nominated Urai to take over, and he had had time to get used to the idea. No, Urai was torn between Erina and Yylfordt.
The former looked like she had seen a ghost (well, technically, she had), and her expression was frozen between a delighted smile and pure bewilderment. She clearly wanted to talk, and the way she held herself suggested she was a push away from hugging him in front of everyone. And Yylfordt... Urai had read up on what the Fourteenth Division had been through, and Yylfordt made no effort to hide his thoughts. The moment he realized who Urai was, who he had been, ideas began racing through his mind. His dark expression had visibly lightened. He kept his eyes fixed on Urai, tense from an abundance of questions he did not want to ask in front of everyone.
Of course, some of those questions were already starting to drop from the lips of his unit-mates.
"How in the world did you become a Shinigami?"
"... is it really you?"
"It's been barely more then a year; how did you get to officer-level that quickly?"
He put a hand on Erina's shoulder and shot her another smile (hoping her stunned conversational backtracking wasn't to cover up the fact that she had not, in fact, saved his fish), then held up his palm to stem the now-overlapping voices.
"We've got a lot of talking to do, I know, and I owe you guys a lot of explanations, but we have to get a few things out of the way, first. I read that the Fourteenth Division lost two members before you even arrived in Seireitei in a possibly-unstable Senkaimon." He glanced sidelong at Herald, then added, "I have a new acquaintance in the Twelfth Division who may know a thing or two about how that could have happened, and I will make every effort to get him to launch an investigation. Wherever I have to go, whatever I have to do, if it is possible then we will bring Ryohime and Vance back home."
Herald nodded solemnly, but his gaze pierced Urai like ceros. He suspected something, but Urai was not going to risk a hasty word and betray his ghosts. Not yet.
"Yylfordt," he continued, looking away from the old lieutenant to meet the eager blonde's set gaze. "I don't remember everything from that other life, but I do remember your brother, and I did get access to... to his files." Even that much almost made him choke on his sentence. "He was searching Rukongai district by district to try and find me. I intend to do the same for him, as often as work will allow... but I could use your help."
The glow of hope in Yylfordt's eyes cemented into determination. "And what about Grimmjow?"
Urai hesitated. "I... think we had better find your mutual brother, first."
Yylfordt considered for a moment, then nodded sharply in agreement and understanding.
"All that, and my explanations, will have to wait a bit longer, though." Urai gestured around at their ruined barracks. "Our captain is going to be out of commission for a while, but I would like to have his buildings back in working order by the time he gets back on his feet. Erina, Kitsune, you are excused from this to continue your efforts with the Fourth Division, but the rest of you, let's get started clearing out the courtyard. We will need the room when we finally get a turn at building supplies."
Despite some moaning and groaning (mostly from a specific former-lieutenant), the Fourteenth Division began to obey. Urai did not immediately join them, though he fully intended to. The moment Kitsune turned away to flop back over his napping-crates, Urai caught Erina's arm.
She still looked stunned, but there was that gleam in her eyes again, that look of excited anticipation he seemed to vaguely remember from days gone by.
"Did you get to Hikaribo in time?" She looked confused, so he clarified, "My fish. I mean, it's alright if you didn't, I know a lot happened all at once, but..."
Realization came like a light-switch being flicked on and she laughed, a sound that almost automatically made Urai grin a bit. "I did," she replied, then her smile twisted painfully. "I did, but... well, he died anyway, a few months ago. I don't really know why, but I must have made a mistake in his water or temperature or something... I'm not exactly an expert in taking care of fish. I'm sorry."
Urai shrugged, his smile fading with disappointment but not surprise. "Then... thanks for making sure he didn't die alone."
"Hey," she hastily added, "we can get another one. You are going to supervise from the World of the Living, right? Since your fish died in my possession, I really owe you a Hikaribo the Second."
She looked so hopeful, Urai couldn't turn her down. "I'd like that. We have a lot of work to do before any of us can afford a fish, though. It will have to be something to look forward to."
She smiled again, and then went to follow Kitsune into the relative darkness and quiet of their crowded barracks to rest. Urai watched her go for just a moment, but the sounds of shifting rock behind him forced him to turn away.
They did have a lot of work to do.
...
The Fourteenth Division grounds were not large, and their backyard Senkaimon followed the same trend as everything else in the Division; small and easily-missed until it started acting up.
Herald had taken it upon himself, while their new Ulquiorra-Lieutenant wasn't looking, to take the initiative, find a broom, and start cleaning up the back porch on the other side of the general barracks. It was a job someone would have to do eventually, he rationalized, so he was saving someone the effort by doing it now himself.
It was this job that put him within sight of their tiny, double-door sized Senkaimon when it began to glow. His already-lazy broom slowed, then stopped, as he watched the gateway open.
A black butterfly fluttered out of the light, followed a moment later by two distinct figures. One, a tall, slim man all in white, his eyes hidden behind severe lenses. The other, a smaller figure wearing all black, a Zanpakuto slung across her back, her orange hair tied back in a shoulder-length ponytail.
Herald's broom fell to the floor. With speed to rival his fastest sonido, he had Ryohime in his arms, had her lifted off the ground and crushed to his chest.
"Woah, H-"
"Don't talk," he interrupted, not even looking. "Just... not yet."
She complied, silently returning his hug. There was something... just slightly different about her reiatsu, but Herald ignored it. He didn't care. Ryohime was alive, she was well, and she was here.
Finally he pulled away. Lilynette was yammering in his head, but he let her voice become background sound. "I was afraid that something had, you know, happened to you," he managed, trying to hide the anxiety behind that statement with a casual run of fingers through his hair. "Where is Vance?"
Ryohime's shoulders drooped, just slightly. "I... looked everywhere." His smile began to crack. "To be honest, Herald... I'm not sure what happened to him. I barely know what happened to me."
