Renraku-gakari.
Hearing the name, Uryu narrows his eyes as he thought back to the second time he saw the traitor with the out-of-place complexion. "You've met him, i take it, former quincy?" Pendleton asks the quincy.
"Yes, twice." Uryu replies, and explains what happened to him before passing out and waking up in a cell with Chado-kun and Shiba-san.
"You're fortunate, then." Pendleton says as he folded his arms behind his back. "Or perhaps not... for you have crossed paths with one of the more dubious of the shinigami."
Uryu starts to ask what that meant just as one of the shinigami from the meeting earlier approaches. "Excuse me, Ogidō-hachiseki told me he saw you. Have you been waiting long, sir?" She says to Pendleton, who pulls his hood back to show short hair and a faded scar on the left side of his jaw.
"Not at all, i was just speaking with your guests here." He tells her while giving a western bow, which she returns. "How many were you working on?"
"I was mending fractures on seki's san through juni from hachiban-tai,-" She says, causing Chado to tense up in the background. "-a few internal bruises on the sanban-tai juseki, checking Kuchiki-Taichō's bandages, and stopping him from bothering the nurses." She finishes as she points to Ganju, who is covered in a light-blue substance.
"Ew, what is that stuff?" Orihime asks as she hides behind Chado.
"That is from a kido spell. Tsuriboshi." Pendleton explains.
"Anyway, you mean to tell us that you did all that inbetween the time that meeting ended, and just now?" Uryu asks the fukutaichō as Ganju shouts at him to not sound so unconcerned.
"It's easier than you'd think for the second best healer in the goteijusantai." Pendleton tells them as she nods while gushing until he spoke again. "Although it's a bit hard to think that due to how impulsive she can be."
"Impulsive?!"
"You did charge at two Taichōs, one of whom tore up four bankai-capable shinigami without even needing his own."
"Well, i couldn't just let them get away. Besides, one of them didn't actually get to summon his, and the other was only at half strength."
"Whatever. The point is they did get away; plus Aizen could have not only vaporized you like he did with my Lt., but Unohana's zanpakutou, which would put her out of the fight."
"...Boasting aside, I was also the one who helped your friend here after Kyōraku-taichō incapacitated him." She says as she turns away from him before realizing something. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm yonban-tai fukutaichō, Kotetsu Isane; the same one who sent that warning about the traitors earlier."
"Right, you're the one who said you were married to him at some point. That and divorce are allowed here?" Uryu asks them.
"Yes, though up until an incident after we were made official shinigami, that was only allowed for nobles." Isane explains, and blinks when she notices Orihime looking at her. "Is there a problem, Inoue-san?"
"No, i was just thinking what Kurosaki-kun would look like with beads in his hair." She wondered while pointing them out, which made Pendleton think of an event a long time ago.
Flashback.
An unscarred Pendleton is leaning forward in his seat at the shin'o. "Is it over yet?" He asked aloud, which a classmate with black hair responds to.
"It's our first day here and you just sat down five minutes ago." The classmate replied in a flat tone.
At that, he turned to a second classmate. "Five minutes? Did you hear what he just said? That's practically forever!" He complained while tugging his sleeve.
"Stop pulling on my clothes!" The other one shouted.
Pendleton did as requested and slumped forward again, only to hear two students to their right talking. "-st where did you get those beads from?"
He glanced over to see the speaker was a blond girl speaking, but couldn't see the other one from his angle. "These; i had them made by a neighbor of mine." The unseen person said.
He then got an odd feeling. "Each one is for a certain event that happened to me." He stated after standing up to see a familiar patch of silver hair on a girl saying the same thing infront of the blond, who both glance at him. "You made it out of there after all, Isane... san."
"Is this a friend of yours?" The blond girl asked her mischievously.
The other girl looked at him before gasping. "Ye-well, i wouldn't say friend, Matsumoto-san. He's the one my fourth bead represents after i taught him our language." She said while holding the two strands, and explained that the others represent her first words, her little sister's birth, the first shinigami she saw, and the day she was accepted into this school.
"Huh, if that's so, i guess you can consider him a friend now." The blond girl replied, having silently added the word "boy".
"He-he is not my boyfriend! That was eight years ago. I haven't seen him again since the village we were at was attacked by hollows!" Isane stammered frantically which the nearby students laughed at up until the last part. "And what was your name again, Byu..." She asked him as she sat back down.
"Byufodo Penderuton. It's hardly as long as his name." He said as he pointed to the boy next to him.
"Which is?"
"I'm Kurumadani Zennosuke-sama, and that's Kotsubaki Sentarou." The other bragged before leaning forward. "He's a fukutaichō's kid, you know."
"Hey, i was gonna say that, fish-breath; and whaddya mean sama?!" The third one shouted while shoving him down. "And you two are?"
The two girls nodded and replied. "I'm Kotetsu Isane, an-"/"And I'm future Taichō extraordinaire, Matsumoto Rangiku. Feel free to ask me if you need an~y~les~sons." The latter said along with a wink, making the three boys gulp.
End flashback.
"Speaking of which, why did that elderlyy shinigami-san take him and Yoruichi-san, and why did she seem so hesitant?" Orihime then asks.
"Yoruichi-san?" Isane wonders, only for Buford to remind her of an event a hundred years ago. "And what about an elderly person?"
"That must be one of the Sōtaichō's men. No other shinigami outside Ichiban-tai looks older than forty." Isane informs them.
"Oh. Do you think it'd be bad for us to go there, Captain-san?" Orihime asked next.
Buford thinks for a moment before replying. "I don't know; for someone like Shihōin to look so timid means... but if you must, be on your best behavior in there."
The four huddle again before agreeing, and leave.
"What do you think of them, Isane?" Buford asks as he follows her to the barracks.
"I'd say they'd all make good additions to our ranks someday." She replies. "Although, Iemura-sanseki did mention being suspicious about her." She says next, and relays what he claims to have seen.
"Down to his spine?"
"That's what he and Taichō said, and that he was back on his feet faster than either he or i could have gotten him."
"What do you think it was she used?"
"Neither of us is sure; he said it both did and didn't feel like kaido." She says while shaking her head before switching topics. "I'm sorry."
"About what?"
"When i got upset before. I just-" She's saying when he turns toward her.
"I don't mind; not like i didn't earn it. The last half-century must not have been easy for you either. I'm sorry i didn't say goodbye." He says as he places a hand on her cheek for a moment until she forces herself to embrace him. After a peck to her forehead, the two wipe their eyes. "How about Kiyone? You still haven't told her about..." He asks next, recalling how she wouldn't even look at him back at the ichiban-tai, only for Isane to stop. "Should i not have asked?"
"No, it's... after the execution was stopped, something happened to her and Kotsubaki-kun."
"Like what?" He replied before she shut her eyes and scowled.
"Probably because Taichō asked him not to speak of what happened while i was unconscious; but i just know Suì-Fēng-taichō hurt her."
As that is going on, the trio are on the way back the the Ichiban-tai, only pausing for a meal at a place called Fune kaju de.* "That sure was good, wasn't it?" Orihime says.
"Though the names on the menu were a bit much." Uryu tells her. "Seriously, "hou-sukiyaki-maru?"
Once they arrived, a shinigami with hair that reminded them of their principal back home appears from out of nowhere. "Ryoka-tachi, state your business."
"We're here for Ichigo." Chado says, and the two stare each other down.
"I have been commanded by the Sōtaichō not to let anyone pass."
"We arrived with him, and we leave with him." Chado tells him, and it continues for a few more seconds until they all hear a noise above them, that of wood hitting stone.
The four look up to see a familiar figure, to whom the sentry kneels. "Sōtaichō-dono!"
"Fujiwara-yonseki**, i permit these children to enter." Yamamoto tells him, and the trio watch as the subordinate shunpo's off. "You are undoubtedly here for your compatriot." He says aloud.
"Are he and Yoruichi-san alright? We thought the whole "crush the humans" thing was over?" Orihime asks him as she steps forward.
"To come here unescorted... very well; i will lead you personally. Come." He tells them, and once they reach the top of the stairs, they see Yoruichi leaning against a wall.
"Hey there, took ya long enough." She says as she pushes herself off.
"Why did the soutaichou order you here, exactly?" Uryu asks her as they follow him inside. "And why drag Kurosaki with?"
"The first part is something none of you need to know." She replies with a serious glance. "The second part, though... well, let's put it this way; what are your grades in history class?"
The three look and shrug at each other before Yamamoto stops at one door and opens it to show Kurosaki surrounded by books and scrolls while he and Sasakibe look at them, the former in a near-zombiefied state. "Huuh? Hey guys; did you know there were ten other Kenpachi's, and that the Onmitsukidō was..."
"Sheesh, what the hell happened to him?" Ganju asks outloud before Ichigo lunges forward, making him stumble back. "Ahh, quit it, leggo'a me!"/"You got to get me out of here! I have to go through 2000 years of this place's backstory, and we've only covered the first 80 so far, and everyone here smells like expired sushi!" Ganju and Ichigo both shout as the latter latches on to the former's ankle while the other three and Yoruichi gain sweatdrops.
While Chado starts to remove Ichigo, Uryu looks over at the fukutaichō. "Is something the matter?"
"I've been wondering; your fashion-sense doesn't fit with the rest of this place." Uryu tells him, causing Yamamoto to groan as Sasakibe tugs at his jinbaori.
"Oh~ho; this, young quincy, is a sign of my devotion to English culture. The food & drink, the fashion, the theatricals..." He says, causing Ichigo to let go and rush toward him.
"Theatricals? As in "Much Ado About Nothing"?" He asks with an out-of-character expression on his face.
"You know of William Shakespeare's work?" Sasakibe asks him with the same look.
"Do i ever! You have copies of them, right?"
"Absolutely! I even have some that haven't physically survived to the modern day! But should i really show them to the boy who struck me not long ago, i wonder?"
"You can return the favor a hundred times, just lead the way, Sasakibe-sama!" Ichigo says, shocking his companions by performing a dogeza.
"Consider it done, fine fellow. To my personal library, post haste!" The fukutaichō replies, and both take off while shouting lines from various plays.
"Uh, did that just happen?" Ganju asked as the four of them turn super-deformed. "And who's this seikusupeya guy?"
"He was a playwright in our world a few centuries ago." Chado explains. "Which reminds me, Ichigo was in the drama club back at our old school***."
"... I think I'm going to be sick." Uryu said aloud.
Meanwhile, Suì-Fēng is exiting the kyuban-tai with a random shinigami when she notices Buford. "I have no time to speak with you, Captain Pendleton." She tells him.
"Is that so, Ja-chan. Do you plan to stomp all over me if i don't move?" He asks while tilting his head a bit, having gotten the full story from Unohana.
"If you have nothing important to say, don't hinder my duty." She says while glaring at him.
While the bystander glanced between them, Pendleton backed down. "Fine. Just remember, a royal decree is inescapable." He warned, and was gone before Suì-Fēng could look back.
Shinigami Zukan
After Ichigo and Sasakibe have left, Orihime asks what happened, which Yoruichi answers. "A long time ago, he seems to have seen a bunch of black ships in your world while he was having free time."
"Oh; that must have been the Perry expedition." She replies, imagining the fukutaichō looking at the five ships entering the Uraga channel before Yamamoto mumbles.
"It's but another phase he's going through."
"A phase?" Orihime, Chado, and Ishida each ask.
Thinking of Sasakibe always running around in Ainu, Korean, Chinese, Mongolian, and Portuguese clothing, he nodded. "A phase."
Chapter three.
* By The Boatload, since the second kanji of Hikifune's name means ship.
** Made up character.
*** Also made up.