Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach
Arc Two: Chapter 19 - Break In and Separation, Part One
/The skies over the Rukon District
Masaki's brows furrowed. A serious expression coloured her face.
It was time to coordinate this invasion, of the Seireitei. She was not going to let these children go in, without some kind of plan!
What kind of adult would that make her? She looked over to Yoruichi (in cat form), and the two adults gave each other a look. Masaki knew that Yoruichi, would help to protect these kids.
\\
The day before – during breakfast...
The group were busy eating their respective meals. Ichigo and Ganju were getting into an eating contest, and...funnily enough Uryū was (silently) joining in. Chad happily had his fill (if you could see behind the hair shading his eyes), and of course...Orihime was chowing down, mixing and matching a slew of food stuffs; to the dismay of her friends.
Masaki tapped on the dining table wood, to get everyone's attention.
"Listen everyone, we need to go over the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. The military force of Soul Society."
The group stopped eating and started to listen intently...
/
"Since Ganju has successfully navigated the second part of this launch, it's about time we talk some basic strategy."
She looked over the group and they all nodded in agreement.
Ichigo was a little worried by his mother's change in demeanour. Nonetheless he kept quiet and listened intently to her directions.
"We'll only have a brief time before their forces come after us. The sphere breaking in will give us some leeway, so we must use that time to get into groups and fan out."
Uryu chimed in, "but Aunt Masaki. Wouldn't it be better for all of us to stick together?"
The rest of the group, minus Yoruichi agreed.
"We don't know where Rukia is being held, so even if we are strongest as a combined unit, we won't be able to search quickly enough to rescue her." Masaki knew this was a little risky, but time was of the essence. Speaking of time...
The sphere was fast approaching the Seireitei barrier! She had less than a minute to get everyone ready.
Breathing in and out, she steadied her voice: "listen up everyone! We'll divide into three groups:
Group 1 – Ichigo and Ganju.
Group 2 – Chad and Orihime, with help from Yoruichi.
Group 3 – myself and Uryu.
Go straight into these groups when we land!"
She had actually mulled over these groupings, for a few days before the launch. Knowing that they needed to be as balanced as possible, she decided this was the best course of action.
Ichigo however wasn't happy about who he was paired off with!
"W-WHAT!? Why am I lumped in with Ganju!?" It wasn't that he disliked Ganju (he actually liked his gruff cousin), it was just that he wanted to be with his mom!
From Ganju's perspective, he was pretty happy with the pairing. He knew if his Aunt was serious about this, then it was for the best. Though he was ticked off at Ichigo's outburst.
"Cannit Ichigo! If Aunt Masaki says those are the groups, then those are the groups!"
"B-But..." Ichigo looked sadly over to his right, and Masaki knew that he wanted to be with her.
Yoruichi interjected, "I agree with these pairings. It's probably the best balance, for the groups to be strong and efficient - especially given who we have here." The cat lady eyed the whole group, from her central perch, atop the sphere.
Masaki felt validated by the comment. She knew less than 30 seconds remained, so she gave some final words of encouragement:
"Everyone...our mission is to rescue your friend, Rukia from her unjust imprisonment and execution. However, our enemies within the Seireitei will be fierce and numerous. Just because most of you are children, do not expect any quarter from them. Use all you've learned to quickly navigate this centralised maze. Find Rukia, break her out and get out of there in one piece!"
"Yeah!" The group collectively bellowed.
And so, their rescue mission commenced.
/The Seireitei
Sirens were blaring, gongs were pounding, resonating with the flustered steps of Soul Reaper's scurrying along wooden floors and pavement. To any Soul Reaper, this meant only one thing: an invasion.
Soul Reaper's congregated outside, in shock and awe of the sight before them. For, hundreds of metres above their heads, a sphere of some sort was sailing across the sky - threatening to strike the invisible barrier that protected their domain.
An officer shouted: "Look at that! It's going to hit the barrier!"
Soul Reaper's from different Squads, including an assortment of Captain's, collectively looked on. Then in a matter of seconds, the object struck the barrier!
However, what shocked them the most, was that the object wasn't disintegrated on contact. As even novice Soul Reaper's know: the Seireitei's barrier can repel and disintegrate any object, that comes into contact with it.
Some officers cheered, as the barrier was holding up the foreign object. However, anyone with a discerning eye, could see that the barrier was struggling to repel the sphere.
Energy pulsed around the contact area, creating an audible crackle, like a lighting based kidō spell, or just plain lightning. It was here that one of the Captain's spoke up:
"H-How can that object survive contact with the barrier? How can it still be struggling, to penetrate through the membrane?" The bespectacled Captain had a look of awe. For it was not every day, that one could see a phenomenon like this.
Captains spread around the Seireitei all looked on. Some worried, others intrigued.
A white haired, child-looking Captain, along with his Lieutenant looked on with worry.
A Captain who wore face paint and strange ornamentations, cackled with glee. Hoping that maybe he'd get some new research specimens from this. His dutiful Lieutenant (and daughter) looked on.
Another Captain was excited to fight these intruders – particularly the strong ones. This Captain was the infamous Kenpachi Zaraki. A towering man, with an imposing figure, having spiky black hair (with bells at the end), and wearing a black eye patch. His Lieutenant, a pink haired, child like girl – giggled at her Captain.
"Which one is he?! Which is the strongest!?" Zaraki was itching for a good fight.
"I don't know Kenny, but we'll find out!" His Lieutenant squeaked in response. She knew her 'Kenny' was itching to fight. She too was pretty excited.
Suddenly, the sphere then punched through the membrane, rocketing towards a distant location. The Soul Reaper's mobilised in response.
/Within the reishūkaku barrier
"This is going to be bumpy!" Ganju yelped.
"Everyone! Strengthen the barrier, pour everything you've got, into it!"
Yoruichi commanded.
The group focused greater amounts of spirit energy into the sphere, and the barrier glowed with energy. Ichigo felt a little freer to flex his power, so was able to loosen up a little. However, he still made sure to keep it even with everyone else.
Then...their cannonball struck the Seireitei's barrier! The larger barrier held up their sphere as energy pulsed, electric around the contact zone. As the group focused more energy, the sphere glowed brighter, stronger.
After what seemed like an eternity, a final crack was heard. Their sphere punched a hole through the barrier, and they rocketed towards a distant corner of the Seireitei.
End of Chapter Notes: So the rescue arc starts in earnest - or Art Two for this story. Things have changed dramatically here since Ganju's spell actually worked! I did always wonder what would happen if his spell worked, and so...I present my version of that little scenario - feat. Masaki Kurosaki.