And we're back. Enjoy this next chapter.
Hollow speaking or thinking
Zanpakuto Spirit speaking or thinking
Normal speaking or thinking
"Well, are you two going to answer me or not? And while you're at it, you can also explain why the tall funky-haired guy, blond, and Carrot Top look like Kaien so much!" shouted an irate Kukaku Shiba while shaking a clenched fist at Yoruichi's cat form and the three Kurosakis.
"Kukaku, just calm down a little." the werecat placated her old drinking buddy. The Shiba Clan Head breathed out slowly to release some of her anger. "Better?" The one-armed woman glared at Yoruichi but nodded anyway.
"Now will you explain why these three's appearances make me want to believe they could be reincarnations of my dead brother?" The Shihoin princess confirmed her agreement with a small nod.
"The blond is Randi Kurosaki, the ginger next to me is his twin brother Ichigo, and the teen with the mohawk is their other twin brother Benetto." Each of the boys gave their cousin a small wave. "They're your cousins."
Kukaku widened her eyes considerably and nearly dropped her pipe, and her brother, who had somehow stayed conscious the entire time after she punched him, shot up from his position on the floor and dropped his jaw, unable to form any words at the shock of the revelation. "H-how? There are very few members of the Shiba family left so who are they related to me through?" Her voice wavered a bit and dropped in volume, showing how uneasy she felt at the moment.
"Your uncle Isshin, who's been alive and residing in the World of the Living, is their father. They have two younger twin sisters there as well." Yoruichi revealed to her.
"Uncle Isshin's... alive? Yoruichi, just what happened and why has he been there for this long? Please, I need to know!" Unable to control herself any longer, the strong-willed female began softly crying from being told she and Ganju were no longer alone.
"Okay, I'll tell you."
In the Kurosaki residence, the scruffy older Isshin sneezed out of the blue while he was reading the morning newspaper at the kitchen table, causing his light-haired daughter to look at him in curiosity. "Are you getting allergies, Dad?" Yuzu asked.
Isshin shook his head negatively, then a perverted grin appeared on his face. "No, Yuzu. Some pretty girl must be talking about me. Ha, your old man's still got it!" Unfortunately for him, Karin decked him in the family jewels, forcing him to drop the paper and fall to the floor in pain.
"Dirty old man! How Mom ever fell for you, I'll never understand!" she berated him in a harsh manner, then walked off to another part of the house.
"Karin, that wasn't nice!" her sister scolded her. Stopping her preparations for breakfast momentarily, the innocent young girl proceeded to grab an ice pack from the freezer and give it to her father "Here, Dad."
He groaned, "Thanks, Yuzu." 'God, she hits like her mother! Ouch!' He winced in pain as he tenderly put the ice pack on his gonads. 'She is gonna be a real handful to anyone wanting to date her when she's older. That much is for sure.'
Meanwhile, Tia and Nel were not doing a whole lot other than being a little lazy and chatting with each other in Randy and Nel's room. The conversation didn't really start out as much, but quickly turned to a subject they were both excited about.
"Did Isshin tell Kisuke what our idea was?" the bubbly greenette wondered.
Her tanned friend smiled when she remembered what Nel was talking about. "Yes, Isshin said he called the loon and explained it. Urahara's already getting the paperwork and other other things required done. I'd wager Yoruichi and Mila Rose will definitely enjoy this a lot, I know I will. Plus, I want to see the look on our boyfriends' faces when we show them our surprise we came up with." Both of them giggled when they visualized the image of the boys' faces lighting up like a Christmas tree.
However, Nel had a small frown on her face when she realized something that worried her a bit. "I'm a little concerned, Tia."
"About what?"
"We know that Aizen had a hand in Randy, Ichigo, and Bennett's heritage, right?" Tia nodded. Nel continued, "But we never found out what he stood to gain from it or why he wanted it in the first place. And that's what scares me. Why would someone as powerful as him want three unique beings born that have the potential to become as strong as him, if not stronger, to exist? If Aizen decides he no longer needs them as his 'experiment', then he definitely won't keep them alive any longer."
"I actually have the same concern. As strong as they are, Aizen is on another level entirely. They need to get stronger and so do we if any of us are to stand some form of a chance fighting him. But as much as I want to worry about that right now, it won't do us any good to do so. All we can do as of now is hope for the best while they are in the Soul Society."
"Tia, Nel, breakfast is ready!" Yuzu's voice called out from downstairs.
"You're right, you're right. Let's go eat, I really want to see what Yuzu made today. Thank god we don't have to eat Orihime's bizarre food concoctions, I don't think my stomach could handle it." Nel said while shivering at the mere mention of the "food" the auburn-haired girl consumed all the time.
Tia shot her a look. "How do you think Sung-Sun and Apacci feel? They live with her now and have most likely eaten some of the meals she cooks."
The green-haired ex-Arrancar gave her a shit-eating grin. "Better them than us." she giggled.
Rolling her eyes and sighing as both of them walked down the stairs, Tia replied, "Sometimes I wonder if you're more devious than you let on, Nel."
"And that's everything. Now you know why we're here." finished Yoruichi. Kukaku and Ganju could not form any words to convey how they felt now that they knew everything. How could they? Finding out their uncle was not dead like they had thought and they had five new family members was a shock to them.
Setting her pipe down, Kukaku thanked her longtime friend and confidante for telling her the truth. "I'll help you guys, how can I not, you're family. Plus, the Kuchiki girl, I know of her from the incident with Kaien as well as what Captain Ukitake has told me. I don't blame her at all for what she did, she did the right thing that night. She was close to my brother and I think helping you three might have been her trying to repent for what she thinks is her fault. You definitely remind her of him, hell, it's the same with me."
"Thank you, Kukaku." The cat looked with her golden eyes at the rest of the teenagers. "It's getting late, let's get some rest and continue in the morning. We won't be able to rest at all in the Seireitei, so we need as much energy as possible." They nodded and the two identical men, Shiroganehiko and Koganehiko, showed them to a few spare rooms in the house where they could sleep.
But Yoruichi, Ichigo, Randy, and Bennett stayed in the room with the boys' cousins, wanting to chat a little bit. The mocha-skinned woman transformed back into her human form, Kukaku not batting an eye at her friend's naked body, much to the surprise of the three Kurosaki teenagers. They just chalked it up to Ichigo's soulmate doing this plenty of times before in front of their female cousin and paid no more attention to the thought.
However, the Shiba Clan Head was just as surprised at their lack of reaction to Yoruichi's form. "Hold up, how are you three not blushing up a storm from Yoruichi having no clothes on? You're teenagers, shouldn't you be wanting to look at her 'assets'?" she asked.
They shrugged. "Actually, she's flashed us quite a bit while we were training with her, especially Ichigo, and we were raised to respect women. Plus, each of us have a girlfriend/soulmate of our own, so the shock of her flashing us has kind of worn off." commented Bennett.
"Huh. Did not expect that." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her brother have a massive nosebleed and perverted expression on his face from seeing Yoruichi nude. "GANJU! Stop being a damn pervert, you idiot!" She then punched him straight on the crown of his head to teach him a lesson and sent him crashing to the floor in a heap and groaning in agony.
Yoruichi got a sneaky idea in her head to pull one over on Kukaku. "Ichigo, thanks for keeping me calm while we were walking past the Seireitei." She gave him a kiss on his lips which he eagerly returned. Her friend's eyes went to the size of golf balls and she could not keep a hold on her pipe and actually dropped it this time around.
"You're dating each other?! Wait, that means... you're soulmates!" she struggled to say.
Both of the lovers grinned and said at the same time, "Yep."
The well-endowed Shiba woman sighed in resignation. "This shit is getting to be too much, I'm going to need some damn sake."
They decided to stop giving Kukaku so many heart attacks and chatted with both Shibas for half an hour about their family and life in the World of the Living. The four of them went to bed after the chat with Kukaku giving the ex-Shihoin Clan Head a spare set of night clothes to sleep in. Seeing as the rest of their friends were sound asleep, Bennett and Randy took a different room while Ichigo and Yoruichi took another one to not disturb any of them.
Lying down on the bed, the two soulmates sat there quietly talking with each other about the day and enjoying the other's presence. Yoruichi may have grown up in her clan's compound and been treated like she was royalty, but she relished the little things like this. Even talking with the one she loved made her happy and it was the same for him. Things like that brought them closer and made them all the more happy to have each other in their lives.
Ichigo turned out the light and they settled in for the night. "Good night, Yoruichi."
"Good night, Ichigo."
The next day brought a surprise for the group. Kukaku explained to them how she was going to launch them through the barrier surrounding the Seireitei with her fireworks cannon, which freaked them out somewhat. She then demonstrated that they needed to create an orb of spirit energy around them all together to bypass the barrier by using a spherical device and her own spirit energy to do so. Each of the group practiced the task and was successful, with Randy, Ichigo, and Bennett getting down within the first few handfuls of attempts due to the intensive training Kisuke and Yoruichi put the three of them through and Ury, Tatsuki, Orihime, and Chad doing moderately well in their own attempts.
Ganju would be going with the group to "oversee the operation", as Kukaku put it, though the teenagers had the feeling she just didn't want to deal with his idiocy for a bit, which was perfectly understandable to her cousins as he definitely got their nerves much of the time they had known him (however, they could tell he deeply cared for his sister and deceased brother and gave him some respect in that regard). The woman told her two servants to begin the preparations for firing the cannon and they soon finished the task quickly.
"Alright, be on your guard, everyone. We are going into highly dangerous territory, so don't do anything stupid." Yoruichi said to the group in her cat form as they entered the base of the cannon. They nodded and situated themselves in the cannon.
Kukaku called out to the group, "There is no turning back now. I'm starting the sequence, good luck." She chanted an incantation which allowed a burst of fire to race along her good arm and in a circle she had painted onto the platform of the launcher. The cannon began to rumble slightly and a large sphere of spirit energy containing the group blasted out of the opening into the sky soon after, leaving Kukaku and her servants behind. 'Stay safe, everyone.'
"Keep your spirit energy flowing evenly and your hands on the device, this part is where it gets tricky. Doing so will steer the orb into the Seireitei and a good position to start from." explained Ganju. As they did so, the sphere continued to fly through the air without impediment. Eventually, it stopped climbing and kept traveling through the air at a constant height.
Unfortunately, Orihime was having trouble keeping her output at the same level as the rest of the and Randy noticed this. "Orihime, you need to raise the amount of spirit energy you're putting out."
"I'm trying." She made an effort to do so, but the small influx of energy did very little to change anything.
"You've got to make it higher. Nothing's changed."
"I know, I know."
Still, it made no difference. Slowly, the ex-captain came to a grim conclusion that she didn't want to come to. 'She doesn't have the necessary reserves. If she goes into a battle with this amount of spirit energy as well as her naivety, unwillingness to fight anyone, and limited scale of abilities she can use, Orihime won't be able to come out of any combat situation alive. I hate to say it, but if we have to attempt something like what we're about to do again, she cannot join us under any circumstances. I don't want Ichigo and the others having to worry about her safety while in enemy territory, that would be a disaster waiting to happen. I need to talk to Kisuke and Tatsuki about this. But that will have to wait.'
"Hime! Stop goofing off and increase your output!" exclaimed Ichigo. The lack of energy on Orihime's side was beginning to affect their travel path, the orb surrounding them was slowly starting to dip in altitude.
"I'm doing the best I can, Ichigo!"
"Forget it, bro. Even with all her spirit energy, it won't make a difference. I'll pick up the slack, I have more than enough to spare." said Bennett as he increased his own output of spirit energy. The sphere stabilized after he did so, much to the rest's relief.
Below in the Seireitei, the 13 Court Guards Squads went about their daily business without interruptions. That is, until a lowly unseated officer noticed the sphere in the sky and pointed it out. "What's that in the sky?"
The circular object started to quickly descend and head straight for the barrier, startling the hordes of Soul Reapers in the area and forcing them to start running to escape the area. "Shit, it's coming straight for us! RUN!"
In the prison tower overlooking Sokyoku Hill, Rukia quickly noticed the orb but couldn't figure out what was. "What the—?" she said in confusion of what she was looking at. "What could that be?"
The group in the orb braced themselves for impact...
BOOM!
The sphere had broken straight through the barrier and dissolved immediately after breaking through, sending the group smashing into an unpopulated part of the Seireitei where no Soul Reapers were currently at. A lot of dust kicked up from the crater their bodies had created and caused the invaders to cough a bit. "Everyone good?" asked Yoruichi.
"Yeah, we're fine."
"Okay, normally this wouldn't be something I would recommend, but since the 13 Court Guard Squads don't know how many of us there are, we need to split up to keep that advantage. I'll go with Ichigo, Chad will go with Uryu and Orihime, Tatsuki is with Randy, and Bennett's with Ganju. Bennett, Randy, I'll come find the two of you at a later time by tracking your spirit energy and spiritual pressure. I'll show three of you where the Head Captain's office is so you can talk with him. You'll need the training I'm planning to give you while we're here."
"Sounds reasonable," said Tatsuki.
"Let's get moving, I can already hear the alarm sounding out. It's highly plausible that many of the Soul Reapers here have already sensed our presence, so there's no reason for everyone to stay here, we'll just get caught if we do." The rest nodded and everyone ran off to escape the Soul Reapers that were most likely already beginning to search for them.
A banging of a heavy wooden cane silenced the mumbling in Squad 1's Captains' Assembly Hall. The fact that a group of intruders had actually broken into the Seireitei was shocking to much of the captains present, save for a handful who knew who the intruders were.
They had all heard the alarm going off and the subsequent Hell Butterfly calling for a captains meeting. They dropped what they were doing and headed straight for Squad 1's barracks. Once they got there, some of them began muttering speculations to themselves and the captains next to them on how exactly these people had broken into the Seireitei.
"Silence! I'm sure you're aware of why I called this captains meeting. An hour ago, a group of Ryoka broke into the Seireitei and disappeared. The reports indicate they came from the sky, nobody has reported seeing them since." boomed Head Captain Yamamoto.
"Why didn't we hear about these Ryoka before? Wouldn't it have been easier for them to go through the gates?" asked a very tall male with a helmet hiding his face.
"They were careful, Captain Komamura. They most likely believed they would be captured if they went that way, making it so we didn't have any knowledge of their presence before they did enter successfully." said Captain Soifon, one of the only two female captains currently in the 13 Court Guard Squads.
Captain Kenpachi Zaraki scoffed, "So they are sneaky, who cares? All I want to know is if they are strong." He had a crazed grin on his face at the thought of fighting these new opponents.
"A brute as always, Zaraki. You sicken me." said the blind Captain Tosen. The dark-skinned man always hated the battle-crazy captain because to him, the captain of Squad 11 was nothing more than a savage who fought to only enjoy himself.
"Sounds like the sightless man is a weakling who's afraid of these Ryoka." Kenpachi goaded his fellow captain.
"A weakling, no. Just someone who doesn't like bloodshed without purpose, something you know much about."
"What do we know about these Ryoka?" questioned Captain Unohana, cutting off the argument between the two men.
"The crash site my men found shows no evidence of where they went after they entered or what their objective may be. In addition to that, no signs were discovered that could give us clues as who they were or what they looked like." Soifon narrowed her eyes when she recalled the report some of the Stealth Force operatives she dispatched to the area gave to her.
"Are your men incompetent or are they just idiots, Captain Soifon? They should have found some form of evidence pertaining to these Ryoka, which leads me to wonder about how well they are actually trained in the first place." sneered the psychotic Captain Kurotsuchi.
In response to the blatant insult toward her training methods, the twin-braided woman snarled, "Are you insulting my training methods, Captain Kurotsuchi? Your men would probably muck up the investigation regardless of how simple your orders are. Shows how much of a fool you are when it comes to trusting them to do their jobs right."
"You little—"
"Enough! I will not have my subordinates bickering like children!" Yamamoto roared at the arguing captains. "I am authorizing full use of captains and lieutenants' Zanpakutos, we cannot allow these intruders to do as they please in the Seireitei. Carry out your duties. Dismissed."
The captains strolled out of the Assembly Hall and left Yamamoto alone in the barracks. 'All there is left is to wait.' the wizened Soul Reaper said to himself.
Uryu, Chad, and Orihime ran through the Seireitei, attempting to draw as little attention as possible from the Soul Reapers. Unfortunately, they ran into a bunch of regular grunts, none of them able to access their Shikai, though they made quick work of the men and women in Shihakusho.
After that, nothing seemed to stop them until they ran into a short Soul Reaper who was slowly trudging through the street with a depressed and meek expression on his face. They had literally ran into him, both parties hitting their heads and crashing to the dirt.
The Soul Reaper rubbed his forehead and said, "Ouch! That hurt." He looked up and noticed the very tall Japanese-Mexican teenager standing up, immediately paling and cowering in fear. "Ah! Please don't hurt me! I'll give everything I have, just don't hurt me!"
Uryu took note of the small Soul Reaper's actions and facial expression. 'He's not like other Soul Reapers. This guy seems afraid of everything, even his own shadow. Probably from others abusing his kindness.' "We're sorry that we ran into you, but we're not going to hurt you. I'm Uryu Ishida, the girl is Orihime Inoue, and the other boy is Yasutora Sado. What's your name?" the Quincy said to him, deciding to take a chance on the kid due to what he could surmise about him.
"I'm Hanataro Yamada, 7th Seat of Squad 4. Thank you for being so kind to me, very little do so." Hanataro said politely. Upon hearing their names, he remembered what a certain petite prisoner had talked with him about when he was assigned to the area containing the holding cells. "Your names, Rukia Kuchiki told me that you were friends with her in the World of the Living."
"You know Rukia?" inquired Orihime.
"I do, I was assigned to the area she was being held in after she was arrested. She was so nice to me, she talked to me about who she met, what she experienced, and what life was like there. But Rukia seemed so sad when she talked about three brothers she had become friends with there, like they were no longer around."
"We're trying to save her from being executed, she shouldn't have to die for simply helping someone in need." Chad said.
Just then, they heard voices coming towards them from a few directions. "I heard something over this way! It has to be the Ryoka!"
Uryu took action right away. He asked the Squad 4 member, "Hanataro, do you know any place that we can hide quickly?"
He nodded. "Actually, I do. The underground passageways that run throughout the Seireitei, they're rarely used by anyone. I'll show you." He led them to a large cobblestone and told them the entrance was under it, prompting Yasutora to lift the block of stone and reveal an opening in the street.
"You might want to follow us and keep out of sight. If other Soul Reapers see you helping us, they will not be pleased with your actions."
Hanataro nodded and began to follow Uryu and Orihime down the ladder, leaving Chad to pick up the stone and pull it over his head and back into place as he climbed down after them, with all of the Soul Reapers in the street rushing over their heads none the wiser.
Meanwhile, Ganju and Bennett kept to the alleyways to avoid detection. It was relatively easy to do so, though they did have one or two close calls with Soul Reapers coming too close to their position. Suddenly, Bennett stopped by the edge of an alleyway and held his arm out in front of his cousin.
"Ganju, hold up."
"What is it?" the man replied.
"It is starting to become quiet, that's not a good sign. Something's wrong, very wrong. Can you sense anyone around the area?"
Ganju then searched the area for any signatures. "Just one, coming down in our direction on the street to the right. It's easily the level of a lieutenant, possible chance of being in the range of a less powerful captain."
Soon enough, a lone Soul Reaper with a badge on his arm walked into their vision. What caught their attention was the guy's similar appearance, both in looks and possible age, to Bennett, something they immediately took note of.
The Shiba man quickly rubbed his eyes to make sure he was not hallucinating. "Cuz, you see what I'm seeing, right?"
"If I'm looking at this person right, he looks very much like me and my brothers, and my dad has said that we do share a striking resemblance to your late brother. Could he be a relative of ours?"
"Maybe." whispered Ganju.
The teen's doppelganger looked towards the alley they were hiding in. "Alright, why don't you come out and show yourselves?" said the Soul Reaper as he placed a hand on his weapon, ready to draw it if necessary.
Bennett cursed in a hushed voice, "Shit, how did he find us? I'm masking my spirit energy as best as I can." He frowned. "Damn it, we might as well stop hiding. Ganju, don't interfere unless someone else shows up. If that does happen, we need to fight them separately and one-on-one." he told his partner, who nodded in response.
Both of them walked out of the shadows and stood in front of the guy with their muscles tensed for a fight. As the Substitute took a closer look at him, a smirk appeared underneath his bandages. "Well, well, well. Looks like we were right, Ganju. Man, it's like looking at another version of me and my brothers." Bennett said, which confused his look-a-like quite a bit.
"Speak for yourself, I thought I was looking at a scarred, younger version of my own brother." Ganju scoffed.
"I don't understand. Younger version? Brother? What are you talking about?" asked the unidentified Soul Reaper.
The older man asked, "What's your name?"
"Shuhei Hisagi, Lieutenant of Squad 9." Bennett narrowed his eyes. Squad 9... Tosen's squad. This guy most likely had no clue what his captain was really up to.
"You wouldn't happen to be related to the Shiba Clan, would you?" said Ganju.
Shuhei looked lost. "I'm from the Rukon District, how could I be related to them?" He shook his head. "That's not important. Now, tell me your names."
"Benetto 'Bennett' Kurosaki."
"Ganju Shiba."
The lieutenant frowned in response. Drawing his Zanpakuto, he then pointed at the two intruders. "You must be the Ryoka. Why are you here?"
Though it could not be seen, another smirk appeared on Bennett's face. "That's not important."
This did not please his opponent as he gave a scowl practically identical to the one the Kurosaki boys usually had. "Very funny. How come you hide your face then? Why don't you take those bandages off so I can see the face of my opponent?"
The amused glint in the tallest Kurosaki's eyes spoke of how much fun he would have giving the guy a heart attack. "Since you asked, okay." He began to slowly unwrap the wrappings around his face. Once he had finished, he looked up and straight at Shuhei's flabbergasted face, smiling like he had just discovered the juiciest secret in the world.
"Y-you look—"
"Like you, Shuhei?"
"Hey, what's on your mind?" asked a curious Ichigo to his soulmate. "You've been quiet ever since we split up, is there something wrong?"
Yoruichi sighed. Of course there was something wrong, it was the thoughts she had in her head regarding Orihime's safety in the future. "Yeah, there is. You remember the little hiccup Orihime had while we were flying through the air?" she explained to him.
"How could I not? That was a bit of a scare to have happen right then and there, but what about it?" Ichigo asked.
"She did not have the spirit energy reserves necessary to have her output the same as the rest of us. If Bennett hadn't helped out when he did, it could have possibly led to some unfavorable consequences," Yoruichi said. "Simply put, that, combined with her unwillingness to hurt or fight anyone, her innocence, and the few number of abilities that she has, will undoubtedly get her seriously hurt or even killed. I can't in good conscience allow her to accompany us on future endeavors like this if that might happen. It would cause a lot of problems that would snowball into a catastrophic situation."
"I see what you mean. To be honest, I think the only reason she came along was because we asked her to and Tatsuki was coming with us as well. Otherwise, she probably would not have joined us at all. She seems to have this 'fascination' with me, if you could call it that, which dictates her entire life. It's a little worrying what she would do if I was no longer around or she could no longer obsess over me anymore like she does now."
'He's right, Orihime may just do something drastic if that were the case. I know she's completely infatuated with him, but that obsession drives everything she does and will ever do. Someone with that mindset is unpredictable and can end up doing a lot of emotional damage to others if the problem is not dealt with.' she thought to herself.
They continued running down the streets of the Seireitei, having enough luck not to run into any captains on the way. Eventually, they came to an intersection and stopped in the middle of it. Both could sense a large number of weaker spiritual pressures heading in their direction from all three ways leading to their position. Ichigo growled, "Shit, there's a bunch of grunts closing in on us. I need to clear them out for us to keep moving. How much further do we need to go to get to Yamamoto's office?"
Yoruichi looked around. "We're getting there." Then the large number of unseated officers appeared and quickly surrounded them, leaving no exit to escape.
"Stop right there, Ryoka!" a random Soul Reaper yelled at the soulmates.
"We weren't even moving. I mean, really, how do you expect us to go anywhere when you've got us surrounded? Do any of you dumbasses think before you open your pie holes?" the Strawberry chuckled as he insulted the Soul Reapers.
Some of the grunts got mad at him for his taunt and grew a little red in the face, though there was one arrogant fool who decided to open his mouth and run it. "Insults won't help you, commoner scum. I shall cut you down like the mighty warrior I am, then you will learn where your place is, groveling at my feet! Then I'll find your friends, kill them next, and skin that cat on your shoulders!" the guy said with a haughty and prideful voice.
Inside his opponent's head, Zangetsu was in an absolute rage. "I'LL KILL THAT BASTARD! NOBODY TALKS ABOUT KING, HIS FRIENDS, OR THE QUEEN LIKE THAT! HIS HEAD IS MINE!"
Hearing that little tidbit got Ichigo extremely pissed at the guy since he apparently thought he would bow down to just anyone. His spiritual pressure skyrocketed to monstrous levels, causing almost every single Soul Reaper that surrounded him and his disguised girlfriend to foam at the mouth, crumple to their knees, and pass out, except for the one that opened his trap and spouted off, who lost all color in his face and fell back on his ass. The Substitute said in a sinister, warbled tone, "Running your mouth will get you killed, you scumbag. You should feel lucky that I have no need to slaughter someone as arrogant and idiotic as you since it would just cause problems for reaching my goal." The fool's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he too passed out.
The orange-haired Kurosaki let out a shaky breath that he was holding in. "Ichigo, it's okay. He was just running his mouth." his love soothed his nerves. She was worried that Soul Reaper had caused him to lose it. However, she was angry as well that the moron was badmouthing her soulmate and his friends. It was completely uncalled for and despicable for a person to do.
"I know, but nobody talks about you or my friends like that. He deserved that." he said as his voice slowly returned to normal. His girlfriend smiled, his protective nature was one of the things she loved most about him. It was sweet of him to think of her safety like that, just because she was a badass of a former captain didn't mean she never wanted to have someone protect her at times.
They continued moving without delay and quickly arrived at a large cluster of tall white buildings. "This is it, the Squad 1 Barracks and Headquarters. I'll go find your brothers, find a place to keep hidden for the time being. If what I sensed was correct, they shouldn't be too far away. I'll see you later." The golden-eyed cat jumped off Ichigo's shoulders and onto the roof and began to run along them into the distance.
"Stay safe, my love." the hybrid whispered before he went into an unused warehouse, not knowing she could hear him in her cat form.
As she ran off, Yoruichi allowed a happy smile to come to her face when she heard his words. 'And you as well, Ichi.'
"God, you are just pitiful, you know that?" Tatsuki taunted as she brutally gave a beatdown to the unfortunate Lieutenant Omaeda who had been stupid enough to openly insult her abilities as a fighter and say that he would take her down without any effort. The girl's eye twitched at the jab to her combat prowess and she immediately coated her hands and feet in electricity and began knocking the stuffing out of him while using her newly-combined style of Hakuda and karate to wreak havoc on his entire body.
"Ahh! You'll pay for this!" whined the fat Soul Reaper pathetically as he continued to be on the receiving end of dozens of lightning-enhanced kicks and punches, a lot of them ending up hitting him in the gut and face and leaving noticeable bruises on both areas. It was quite therapeutic to Tatsuki and she took great pleasure in showing the bastard how to fight, seeing as the guy could barely leave a scratch on her since he was slow, uncoordinated, and sloppy in his combat techniques.
"Honestly, you claim to be the Lieutenant of Squad 2 and one of the top men in the Stealth Force, the black ops and special forces of the Soul Society... and yet, you are pathetic at hand-to-hand combat, especially against someone who's smaller than you and does not have the strength that you do. I'm kicking your ass thoroughly and you're not even putting up a fight."
Randy and Tatsuki had ran into Omaeda by accident, who was out snacking on his treats when he should have been on patrol for the Ryoka. When he noticed them, the first thing he did was insult the karate user, making her very pissed. She then told Randy to go on ahead and she would deal with Omaeda personally. From just the look of the overweight man and knowing Tatsuki would completely annihilate him, the blond agreed and rushed past the guy, leaving him to deal with her wrath. From there, she proceeded with the beatdown, no part of his body spared from her furious assault.
While the Arisawa girl kicked the crap out of Omaeda, an impressed Captain Soifon watched the one-sided brawl closely from another area and liked what she saw. 'Not bad, I like this girl. She has a lot of talent for close quarters combat, and she's been trained as well. Unfortunately, though I really don't want to, I have stop this fight and save Marechiyo's ass from becoming permanently crippled.' "Marechiyo, you're pathetic. You get your ass kicked by a human girl who's much smaller than you, and on top of that, she is so much better at hand-to-hand combat than you." she admonished her lieutenant as she jumped down from a ledge and landed in front of the two fighters.
"B-but Captain—" he stuttered.
"Get out of here and go back to the barracks. And no stopping for your stupid snacks!" she roared at him.
"Yes, Captain." The idiot scurried away, embarrassed that he had his ass completely handed to him.
"Now, while I am assuming you must be one of the Ryoka, I am also thoroughly impressed with the skill you have shown so far. Show me just how skilled you are. No powers, just pure hand-to-hand combat." Soifon said, taking a stance with Tatsuki doing the same.
The spiky-haired tomboy grinned in excitement. "I like the sound of that."
As the blond Kurosaki sprinted through the streets, he was interrupted by a certain black cat calling out his name. "Randy, it's Yoruichi."
Randy stopped and looked up. "What is it?"
Her golden eyes bore into his own. "Ichigo's waiting for you and Bennett by Squad 1's Headquarters. We're going to talk with the Head Captain. Just follow me while I find your brother."
"Alright, I'm coming."
Shuhei was in a state of shock. He had been soundly defeated by this kid who looked like him. The Lieutenant of Squad 9 had always believed he was strong, but now? He got thrashed pretty badly no matter how one looked at it. He could not land a clean hit against the kid, even in Shikai. Every time Shuhei launched his scythe-like blades at him, he just knocked it away and swooped in afterwards to cut him cleanly. He just couldn't beat him, and the scarred Soul Reaper figured that out soon enough.
As he laid against the wall that bordered the street, he looked up at Bennett's form in front of him, the guy having rewrapped the bandages around his lower face and currently holding a Zanpakuto blade in each hand. Nobody but Captain Ukitake and Kyoraku had a Dual Zanpakuto! Who was this kid? "You're an interesting guy, Bennett. You fight for the people you care about, and I admire that a lot." He winced at the moderately deep cut on his chest. "Are you going to kill me?"
"No, you're a good person, Shuhei, I won't do that to you. Plus, I just want to save Rukia Kuchiki from execution and we may be connected through the Shiba Clan. That's all I want, to save Rukia. Do you know where she is being held?"
"Yeah, she's being held in the large white tower overlooking that big hill. If you're going to save her, you need to get moving." he said while pointing to the center of the Seireitei.
"Thanks, man. When all of this is over, I'll come find you and we'll talk. Count on it." Bennett smiled at Shuhei and sealed his Shikai.
"Bennett." said the former Squad 2 Captain who was perched on a roof of a nearby building.
"What's up, Yoruichi?"
"We're ready to talk to Yamamoto. Come on." The mohawked teen began to follow the cat, both making their way to the other Kurosakis.
"Well, are we ready, guys?" said Ichigo to his brothers and soulmate. They stood in front of the doors to the Head Captain's office, having quietly snuck into the barracks without being caught.
"Yep." chimed in Bennett.
"Ditto." Randy said. Yoruichi gave her confirmation by silently nodding.
The ginger-haired teen rapped the door a few times and a powerful voice bellowed, "You may enter."
The four intruders pushed the doors open and walked inside. Turning to the side, they saw an old man in black robes and a Captain's haori. They could feel the power flowing off the man and it was damn impressive.
"You Ryoka have caused quite a commotion as well as a lot of trouble for my subordinates. I am Head Captain Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto of Squad 1. Now, what is it you three wanted to discuss with me?" Yamamoto boomed from his desk.
The collective thought going through the three Substitutes was, 'Let's hope we don't screw this up.'
And done. As always, read and review. And no flaming please.
Well, that's another chapter done. Starting to get on a roll, though I am going to attempt to write more words every day I work on a new chapter just to see if it goes faster.
Crash, out.