Author's Note: I don't own Bleach.

Chapter 17: Ready to...launch?

/Shiba Estate – Main Meeting Hall

Masaki could feel that her son's spiritual pressure felt different since she trained him. It was...calmer, and far stronger. It felt closer to that time she felt Isshin's own spiritual pressure. Meaning...

"So Ichigo...did you attain your bankai?" She knew the answer already, but wanted to hear her son explain (and describe in detail) his progress. He always used to report his progress (on anything), back when he was a child.

"I did mom! Thanks to Yoruichi and...Zangetsu." Ichigo was so happy he acquired the power to rival Captains – and to save Rukia without fail! He clenched his fists in triumph.

"Who's Zangetsu? Is that the name of your zanpakutō?" She remembered that Isshin used to talk about his own zanpakutō, Engetsu, and postulated that if their children ever inherited Soul Reaper powers...they'd likely have a similar naming scheme to his. 'Well...looks like you were right darling – at least with regards to Ichigo.'

"Um...yeah, he's a pretty serious guy. He's tall, has long wavy hair, wears a visor and a dark, flowing coat. He was the one who helped me back when I was training with Kisuke." His zanpakutō spirit whom he referred to as 'Old Man' was...an enigma. According to Yoruichi, the zanpakutō take after their master...'so if that's the case, I must be a brooding mess...!' He slumped a little at that revelation.

/Somewhere Else...

A landscape of side-on skyscrapers as far as the eye could see. All of which were endlessly reaching for the sky.

Curiously on one of the buildings, there were two beings near each other. One was clad in white and looks curiously like an inversion of Ichigo. The other is a black-clothed man, whom we know as Ichigo's zanpakutō spirit – Zangetsu. The aforementioned spirit was standing on top of a black protrusion from the building – perfectly balanced, mysterious and brooding.

"Hahahahaha...HAHAHAHA!" White Ichigo bellowed. Rolling around on the – side of a building(?) - in a mad fit of laughter. The subject of said entertainment was a certain 'zanpakutō' spirit, whom was getting a little agitated with its 'partner.' Of course, being the serious fellow he is, Old Man Zangetsu refused to show it. Instead Ichigo's zanpakutō spirit was fixated on those last words from his master...

'brooding...mess...'

The black clad spirit looked downcast and all that could be heard was the roiling laughter of 'White Ichigo'.

/Back to Shiba Estate

Kūkaku walked up to the group – an air of authority and determination in her step. Stopping a few metres or so away from them, she looked over everyone. Using her spirit sense she could tell her cousin had gained even greater powers. Unlike his initial arrival to the mansion, he seemed to have better control over his spirit energy and spiritual pressure.

'Brother...you'd be proud of our cousin for becoming so strong. Pro'bly wanna try and fight him too!' She chuckled which raised a few brows in the group. Masaki – on the other hand – smiled.

She looked at her Aunt's nephew and could tell he was more 'equipped' for the role of a proper invasion of the Seireitei. He looked less cocky (which was very good), and was less stern looking and more calm – though he did look a little tired too.

'Aunty must've worked him to the bone...poor kid.'

Eyes glancing by Masaki – Kūkaku could tell she was absolutely determined, to keep everyone here safe. Kūkaku worried for her safety, not wanting to lose another member of the family. Ganju, Masaki, her Uncle Isshin and their children - Ichigo, Yuzu and Karin were the last of her family. For the Shiba; family meant everything. She didn't want to think about the possibility of Ichigo or Masaki dying. Her Aunt knew what she was thinking, and nodded her affirmation, 'we'll be okay, I'll make sure of it.' This alleviated most of her worries, so she instead focused on the task at hand.

"Listen up everyone! I probably didn't mention this before, but without permission to enter through the gates there's no real alternative to entering the Seireitei. You can't use brute force to break in since the entire area is covered with a protective barrier of sekkiseki rock – a type of material that repels spirit particles and energy." Kūkaku held up a piece of said rock; for all to examine.

Orihime shot her hand up, itching to ask a question. Kūkaku pointed to Orihime:

"Yes Orihime. What is it?"

"Lady Shiba, erm, ma'am...what's a sekkiseki rock?"

"I was just about to give a demonstration...here!"

Kūkaku set the stone down and charged her spirit energy into her palm. Just as she was about to strike the rock (and surrounding flooring), her little brother Ganju piped up; obviously alarmed at the damage she could cause.

"W-Wait sis!" Ganju scrambled over to his elder sibling, dropped to his knees and bowed. Kūkaku was annoyed at this and she was about to instead use her energy infused palm to strike her idiot little brother for disturbing her!

"What's the meaning of this Ganju...can't you see I'm busy demonstrating what happens with this here rock!?" Kūkaku's eyes narrowed and a vein in her forehead popped in anger.

"My apologies sister. But...if you did that here, the flooring would be severely damaged...and that would make more work for our retainers."

"And?"

"Well what would Aunt Masaki say about that?"

[Gulp]"Y-You're right...she doesn't take kindly to property damage...guess you're right little brother..."

'Phew glad that worked'

Ganju wiped his brow in relief, and slightly turned his head to see his Aunt. She was smiling of course...but there was a hint of agitation from her. He knew what that meant. 'Guess I helped sis avoid an even bigger mess.'

Kūkaku; having relented from her explosive demonstration, decided instead to explain the properties of the rock.

"Well – ahem – yes! Instead of a demonstration, I'll just explain what this material actually is. Sekkiseki rock is only found in Soul Society, and is used to repel spirit energy. It creates a repelling force that dispels any and all spirit energy. I was going to demonstrate by striking the thing, but now that I think about it, that would cause a mess so...yeah. Sekkiseki – repels spirit energy. The whole of the Seireitei is coated in it, and that place therefore has a full spherical dome to protect it."

Ichigo started to protest, thinking that it would be impossible to break into the place to save Rukia, but Uryū hushed his irate cousin, asking the relevant question: "Okay, so how are we going to get in then?"

"Glad you asked specs – we're going to launch you all using the Shiba family's Flower Crane Cannon and reishūkaku cannon ball. Ganju – grab the sphere!"

"Y-Yes. Sis!" He scooted off to parts unknown then returned with a translucent – with a tinge of blue – sphere, with a red crane symbol etched on the surface. He handed the item to his sister.

"This here is the reishūkaku – if you concentrate your spirit energy here, you can generate a protective barrier around you. Ganju. Demonstrate for them!" She tossed him the sphere. He caught it; surprised his sister wanted him to demonstrate the process. 'Does that mean...she has faith in me?' He decided he'd go with the positive implication and confidently demonstrated how to use the sphere.

Ganju placed his hands on the top and bottom of the sphere, and began to concentrate his spirit energy into the translucent orb.

"Hooooooo-ah!" Ganju's hair stood up for a moment as his spiritual aura became somewhat visible. Then in a shout, a sphere was generated around his body – similar in colour to the glass-like sphere he was holding. Of course he looked triumphant and smiled knowingly at the group. His Aunt gave him a thumbs up – which nearly reduced him to tears. He then looked at everyone else. They were mostly impressed by the display, besides Ichigo who looked incredulous and Uryū whom was more intrigued by the device itself – rather than Ganju's display of skill.

Kūkaku continued her explanation. "You see here-" she knocked her right index finger on the sphere "-is a barrier made completely out of the reishi you give it. Remember: you must keep your output stable and steady for it to work..."

Ganju was looking back at his sister for confirmation on when he could release the barrier. Even with his improved spiritual reserves he was starting to feel the strain of a constant output of energy.

"Um...sis, can I please lower the barrier now...?"

She glared at him, again annoyed at his interruptions, "sure...go ahead." She couldn't help but roll her eyes. 'He might look more like a man now but he's still brat at heart.'

"Anyway...I'll have each of you – besides Aunt Masaki and Yoruichi – practice with making your own spiritual barrier. This will be crucial for the rest of the plan to work."

"Wait...why does mom and Yoruichi get a pass on this?" He thought it was a little unfair, seeing as the rest of them needed to do it.

"Ichigo...sweetie...that's because me and Ms. Yoruichi are guaranteed to be able to do this. You're all children who may need some guidance and...that's what we'll offer you. Isn't that right Ms. Yoruichi?"

"Yes, that's right. We're veterans in the field of spiritual control, while...youarenot."

Ichigo huffed at that statement, more determined to succeed and show Yoruichi he can do what needed to be done. Masaki on the other hand was a little worried, about Ichigo's spiritual control.

'I've taught him as best as I could...it's up to him now.'

/A few moments later

In earnest and with little time to waste, they each took turns to generate a strong and stable barrier, using the item in question.

First, Chad had a go. The giant of a teen struggled a little, with his sphere being a little fuzzy from an uneven amount of spirit energy. It took around 10 or so minutes of instruction from Yoruichi and Masaki for the young man to get the right balance.

"Phew, that was tougher than I thought..."

Next was Orihime. Her first few tries were okay, but lacked the necessary spirit energy for the barrier to be strong enough.

Masaki saw this and went over to help the young lady with her task. "Orihime, you have to put a little more effort into this. Don't be afraid. Just relax, and...focus." This seemingly gave the young girl greater confidence. With her next attempt, she succeeded with generating a solid barrier, around her person.

"Yay I did it! What do ya think everyone?" Everyone gave her a smile and/or nod of approval.

Uryū was next up and...he did make a strong enough barrier, but for some reason it was narrow and seed shaped...?

'W-what the? What even is this...am I some kind of torpedo!?'

He was disappointed with his performance, clearly thinking that his greater spiritual control should've afforded him an instant success. Ichigo however thought it was hilarious and poked as much fun as he could, at his uptight cousin.

"Wow Uryu, you look ridiculous! Wh-what even IS that!?"

"Be quiet Ichigo! I know what it looks like already!" Ichigo's outburst made Uryū even more embarrassed then he already was; his face turning cherry red as a result.

Having enough Uryū was about to walk away when...

"Nephew, calm down. Don't let your emotions get the best of you. You almost had it...just focus a little more okay!" Masaki gave her nephew a much needed pep talk – finishing off her encouraging words, with a wink. This made Uryū turn a different shade of red. Reassured (flustered also); Uryū focused his spiritual senses, and tried again.

Ichigo saw this and smiled. He knew what affect his mother had on his household, but he didn't expect her to have such a positive impact on his dour cousin too. 'Mom, always did light up the room.'

"Hrrrmph!" With a grunt Uryū made his second attempt. This time a sphere surrounded him – a perfect result.

Uryū inspected his work, 'there...that's more like it.'

"Okay so next up is...Ichigo. Have at it little cousin!" Kūkaku received the orb from Uryū and promptly tossed it towards her orange headed cousin.

Ichigo, being...well Ichigo caught the sphere awkwardly – as he wasn't expecting it. Then he immediately started glaring at Kūkaku and launched into a heated tirade about how he wasn't 'little.' After his childish fuming, he decided to take this task seriously. He closed his eyes.

'If it wasn't for mom teaching me better spiritual control, I doubt I could do something this...delicate.'

Breathing in he concentrated on pouring his spirit energy into the orb. His body glowed a bright blue, as his power started to radiate around the environment. It was a calm wave that washed around the small room. Calm but powerful. Then with a grunt of his own, Ichigo was able to make a...rather large barrier around himself.

"Ichigo, sweetie. Focus on making it a little smaller. Put less energy into it. Remember, that is the basis for spiritual control."

Ichigo heard his mother's advice and nodded his affirmation. Then he closed his eyes again, took some slow, deep breaths and was eventually able to get it down to a reasonable size. It was however still a little bigger than everyone else's.

"I guess...that will do. Good work little cousin. Good job everyone!" Kūkaku then turned on her heels, and walked down the hallway. "Follow me everyone – next stop: the Flower Crane Cannon!"

End of Chapter Notes: Nearly time for blast off.