Saturday again, and along with it comes a new chapter. Been a quiet week, yard work, cleaning our fish pond, just normal stuff. Got hit with writer's block again, so I've spent the past two days looking back a few chapters and trying to find a route. But, I find my way again, just gotta be patient.
Well, Spades came back and has decided to torture me with his normal random questions. Considering he's asked questions for the past four chapters, I'll answer two for each; otherwise, we'd be here all day and I know you all are waiting for the story.
Spades231: Thanks for your scores, always helpful. And welcome back to my domain. We already spoke via PM, so I'll head right to your questions.
1: (Chpt 13) One and two are the same answer, he's from Texas, so yes to both.
2: (Chpt 13) No, he was never in the military.
3: (Chpt 14) I can assure you that there will be a 'power ceiling'. Tim's not going to become a god-like character to can defeat Aizen by just being near him, lol.
4: (Chpt 14) You know, that thought had crossed my mind in the past, but no matter where I looked, I couldn't get any information on what soul reapers were paid. So I am unfortunately left with guessing in that regard.
5: (Chpt 16) Yes, but he's just like me. I pull the stickers off and put them back in order, lol.
Anyway, with that out of the way, I'll let you all get to the story now. See you afterwards.
(I DO NOT OWN BLEACH; ITS CHARACTORS, NAMES, LOCATIONS, OR STORY! THAT HONOR BELONGS SOLELY TO TITE KUBO AND HIS TEAM! ONLY THE OC, AND RANDOM NAMES NOT MENTIONED IN THE BOOKS OR ANIME ARE MY OWN!)
Chapter 17
(Remember the Past, Accept the Present)
Las Noches Throne Room, Hueco Mundo, Present
Ulquiorra, with Grimmjow and Yammy at his sides, walked calmly through the halls of Aizen's throne room while the other Espada and their fracción watched. The trio continued until they came to the top of the stairs to stand in front of Aizen; Grimmjow and Yammy taking a knee while Ulquiorra gave a low bow with an arm across the chest.
"We have returned, Lord Aizen. I regret to inform you that we have failed in our mission to eliminate the target." He said in his usual tone.
Aizen watched him closely with barely opened eyes, a small grin on his face. Yammy and Grimmjow expected to be punished for not succeeding in their mission, and the observers surrounding the group mainly expected the same.
"It is alright, Ulquiorra. The mission had a very slim chance of success in the first place." Aizen said calmly.
Grimmjow raised his head to him with anger. "You knew we were going to fail, and you still sent us? What the…" he stopped the second Aizen's eyes made contact with him. He mentally growled. "Forgive me." He said as he dropped his head back down.
Aizen didn't answer him, but instead returned to Ulquiorra. "As I was saying, I had actually expected you to fail in that regard. I must offer my apologies, but the deception was necessary for the next phase of my plan. So, tell me, did you succeed in the second part of your mission?" he inquired.
Ulquiorra nodded. "Yes, Lord Aizen; but it was Grimmjow who had fought Ichigo Kurosaki. The information you require would be best received from him." He advised.
Aizen glanced over to the Sexta Espada. "You may speak, Grimmjow. So please, tell us what you have learned."
Grimmjow raised his head back and scoffed. "What 'can' I say? The guy was a wuss. I didn't even have to draw my zanpakutō. I was about to kill him when that…" he was silenced when he was assaulted with a monstrous spiritual pressure.
He looked back at Aizen as he struggled to breath, seeing that he now had a cold and deathly look in his eyes.
"Was it your mission to kill him, Grimmjow?" Aizen asked in a calm, yet stern tone.
More pressure was forced on the blue-haired Espada as he was now forced to the ground; Ulquiorra and Yammy next to him completely unfazed and not paying him any mind. Grimmjow could feel the life draining from his body as he began to choke from the suffocating pressure on him.
"The next time you are given a mission, Grimmjow, I expect you to follow its parameters with no mistakes. Do not let this happen again." He warned, then dropped the pressure off the man.
Grimmjow gasped for breath, then after a few seconds returned to his knee, his breathing fast and shallow. Aizen watched him for a moment more, then turned to Yammy.
"Yammy, I understand you fought against the man we had discussed in a previous meeting, Timothy Durn, correct?" Aizen inquired.
The large man answered without moving. "Yes, Lord Aizen. He was nothing more than a bug. Pissed me off, but I about got em; until that witch showed up." He answered.
Aizen rose a brow a fraction. "So, she was helping them?"
"That's what it looked like. Ulquiorra said we had to leave before I could get to her." Yammy informed.
The ex-Captain's brow dropped. "I see. Well, considering the circumstances, I would say that he had indeed made the correct choice. Had you have remained there, all three of you would have undoubtably lost. That is all I require of you. You are all dismissed." He concluded.
Ulquiorra gave him one of his bows while the other two dropped their heads lower. All three then stood straight, turned, and walked back down the stairs; then leaving the room. Aizen turned to the other Arrancar who had been watching.
"I have nothing further for all of you as well; you may all go now."
Every one of them stood and gave him a brief bow before leaving the room themselves. After a few moments of silence, it was again broken by the light footsteps of a man behind Aizen.
"Well, that was quite exciting. Eh, Captain Aizen?" Gin said as he came to a stop right next to Aizen's chair.
"Yes, it was very interesting, Gin." Aizen answered in an amused tone.
"I guess Nelliel decided to jump the fence afterall. What ever shall you do, Captain Aizen?" the silver haired man asked mockingly.
Aizen smiled at his comment. "For right now, nothing. We will continue to observe her and see what she does."
Gin looked closely at the man. "Oh? Do you have something planned you're not telling me, Captain Aizen?" he inquired.
The man chuckled lightly. "You shall see soon enough, Gin."
World of the Living, Urahara Shop, 20 Minutes Later
The three ex-Captains, Timothy (after finding and getting back into his gigai), Ichigo, and Nel sat at the dining room table drinking some tea, while Orihime sat behind Timothy healing him with her Shun Shun Rikka. At first, Timothy was a bit startled when her barrier had surrounded him, but that turned to amazement when he saw he his injuries slowly vanishing.
Within a matter of a few minutes, he was shocked to see that all of his injuries had been healed; even his clothes had been repaired. What he found even more amazing was that she had replenished nearly all of his spirit energy.
Her barrier dropped away, and the two pieces of her hairpins returned to their places. He flexed his shoulder a few times, feeling no pain or tightness, then turned and smiled at her.
"Thank you. Nice ability you got." He said kindly.
She smiled back as she waved her arms shyly. "Oh no, it's fine; I'm happy to help." She said quickly.
He nodded, then turned back to the group. "So, where do we start with this?" he asked.
Kisuke turned to Nel. "Well, it's obvious that they were here to eliminate miss Nel. You would think that it was to prevent her from revealing information about Aizen and his plans; but considering that they waited for almost an entire day to come for her, I doubt that's the case." He observed.
Nel glanced to him. "I'm wondering if they believe that I would side with you against Aizen." She offered.
The shop owner snapped his fan open and waved it at himself. "That definitely seems to be the case. If Aizen was truly fearful of you giving away information on him, I highly doubt you would have ever made it out of Hueco Mundo; and even if you did, they would have sent somebody right behind you to finish you off right then. Now, with that in mind, how about you tell us your true intentions, Nel. Are you looking to join with us?" he asked.
"I believe we've already discussed this, mister Urahara." She pointed out.
"No, we discussed 'cooperation' as an ally, I'm talking about if you're intending to be a part of the group." The hatted man clarified.
She looked at him for a moment, then each person at the table to judge their looks; seeing that none of them seemed bothered by his question. She sighed heavily as she closed her eyes.
"I see. And you think that would be wise? After Ulquiorra and the others came here, even I am aware that the soul society will likely be sending more soul reapers here for added protection. And when I helped Timothy earlier, I was likely also detected. It won't be long before I'm discovered now." She reminded.
Kisuke nodded. "That's true, but I've been hiding from the soul society for over a hundred years, and they never once found me. So, hiding you won't be a problem at all. So, now we return to my previous question; are you willing to join our group as a companion?" he offered again.
Nel thought the offer over hard, looking for anything that could go against her if she accepted his offer. She was currently on her own; for the exception of the little bit of assistance that her and Timothy offered each other. She didn't want to be alone.
It reminded her of her years as an Adjuchas. She was always alone, trying to survive. It wasn't until she had finally evolved into a Vasto Lorde that she had met Pesche and Dondochakka, who were Adjuchas.
They quickly got along, and became very close. She protected them, and they helped her with anything she needed. They were always together, never going anywhere without the other.
But when she inadvertently killed her two best friends because of Aizen's cruel hallucinations, her world suddenly became an empty void. And now, she was being given a chance to fill that void with new friends.
She opened her eyes and looked back at the group in front of her; again, seeing that they were not against his request. She briefly looked at Timothy who gave her a quick and shallow nod. She turned back to Kisuke and gave him a weak smile.
"I'd like that." She answered lowly.
She was amazed to see that everyone now had smirks on their faces. Yoruichi, who was sitting next to her, slapped a hand on her shoulder with her cat-like grin.
"Welcome to the club, girl!" she said happily.
Ichigo scoffed at her. "Just don't let her seduce you with that smile." He moaned lowly.
The golden eyed woman turned to him with a suggestive grin. "Oh? Are you getting a bit jealous there, Ichigo?~" she asked.
He turned to her with anger. "No, I'm not! I just don't want you teaching her your tricks! Just one seductive demon is enough!" he yelled.
Timothy turned to him with a raised brow. "Seductive? Her? Hah, you should meet my zanpakutō. She'll put her to shame." He stated, now hearing Kitsune cackling in his head.
"Oh, come on. I'm not 'that' bad." She stated.
"The fuck you ain't!" he returned in anger.
The teen quickly slapped a hand over his mouth to shut him up, but it was already too late. Yoruichi turned to the young Lieutenant with a raised brow.
"Oh ho! Is that so? I should definitely meet her then; I welcome a challenge." She said, now leaning on the table.
"Oh! I 'like' her! Pleeaasse let me out!" she begged.
"Maybe later, 'if' you behave, and 'if' you promise not to use 'me' as your seduction target."
"I won't. Promise. Besides, I think Ichigo would make the better target." She pointed out.
Timothy almost snorted trying to hold back from laughing. "I don't think Yoruichi would have a problem with that."
Timothy slapped Ichigo's hand away and faced her. "Really? I doubt there's anything you could do that she hasn't already tried." He returned.
Ichigo gave him a serious stare. "I'd shut up right now, if I were you." He advised, but Timothy turned back to him.
"I ain't scared of her, Ichigo. I'll admit that I might get a bit skittish around women sometimes, but at least I'm not a prude, like you are." The Lieutenant shot back.
Kisuke snorted while trying to hold back a laugh while Yoruichi was laughing up a storm. Ichigo meanwhile glared at him in anger.
"What the hell did you say!?" he growled.
"What? You're a prude. Besides…" Timothy paused to face a still laughing Yoruichi. "…after having to listen to my own seductive vixen in my head for twelve years, I'm used to it."
The golden eyed woman finally calmed down and gave him a wide grin. "Oh, we'll see about that. I think I'm starting to like her." She stated.
He grinned back, but Ichigo gave him a look of remorse. "You have no idea of the hell you just unleashed."
"Oh, 'you' do, 'he' don't! That poor boy don't know what's coming!" Kitsune stated.
Timothy rose a brow at him in confusion, and was about to ask what he meant when Kisuke cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.
"Anyway, with all of the…pleasantries out of the way, now we need to discuss the possibilities of the soul society sending more soul reapers here. I'm sure we can all agree that it's going to happen within the next couple of days, so we should prepare for it." Kisuke stated, then turned to Nel.
"Miss Nel, I'll be making you a gigai that can suppress spiritual pressure. As long as you are in it, they won't be able to tell what you are. Unless it's an emergency, or if we send you downstairs to train, you must stay in it; no matter what. I'll have you pose as a shop helper that just happens to live here to act as cover."
She nodded at him before he returned to Timothy. "I think you should stay here with us as well, Tim. I would also recommend that you get as much training in as you can. After what you told me this morning about your…connection with your zanpakutō, you'll need to improve your abilities. Meanwhile, I'll do some research on miss Nel's zanpakutō and see if there's a way to re-establish her connection with her powers. During that time, it might be a good idea if you conduct some training sessions with miss Nel on occasion."
Timothy looked at her and nodded. "Be happy to." He said, then turned back to Kisuke with a concerned stare. "What about the way they took down your barrier? You got a plan on that?" he asked.
Kisuke sighed as he fanned himself. "The device the Espada used seemed to be a prototype, and really wasn't that powerful. The barrier that Tessai had set up was not that strong to begin with; merely just to prevent miss Nel from going anywhere. While it was strong from within, it was quite weak against outside attacks. But that's what I had my counter barrier for, to repel any attacks against it. But the device somehow got past it and attacked the inside barrier itself. But don't worry; I'll be looking into that as well."
He snapped his fan closed and dropped his hand to his lap. "For now, we should be prepared for the soul reapers that the soul society sends here. So, the plan for now is to simply continue on with our daily lives and pretend that you've never met miss Nel. Yoruichi, if you don't mind, I'd like you to go to the soul society and see if there's any news floating around about our new friend here. As I said, it's likely they detected her spiritual pressure when she fought with Tim; so, it would be nice to know if they suspect that she's still here." He stated, now looking at the golden eyed woman.
"Got it. I'll check with Suí-Fēng and see if she knows anything. I'll be sure not to mention about Nel directly." She answered firmly.
The shop owner nodded. "Sounds good. That should be everything; so, Ichigo and Orihime, you two go ahead and head home. I'll be sure to let you know if something comes up."
"Alright. Come on, Orihime." The teen said as he stood up.
"Ok." She responded, standing up next to him and bowing to the group. "Thanks, mister Urahara. Bye Yoruichi." She said, then waved as the pair walked out of the room and left the shop.
Yoruichi got up and began stretching her arms out. "Well, I should get going as well." She stated.
"Right, I'll meet you downstairs in just a minute, Yoruichi." Kisuke responded.
The flash-goddess walked out of the room the go down to the underground training area and wait for the shop owner to open a senkaimon for her; followed closely by Tessai as his help would be needed for it.
Waiting a few seconds until the two of them were gone, Kisuke turned back to Timothy. "Now that we have a moment Tim, what was it you wanted to talk about?" he inquired.
Timothy rose a brow. "Do I even want to know how you knew I wanted to talk to you?" he deadpanned.
The shop owner replied by giving him a knowing smirk. The Lieutenant scoffed, then turned to Nel.
"I actually wanted to ask 'you' something, Nel." He stated, getting her attention.
"Yes?" she responded.
"In the past day, you've saved my ass twice. The second time, I can understand; but the first time, I can't figure out. That hollow was about to kill me, no doubt about it. I was an enemy to you, one that you should have known would have killed you without a second thought. So, my question is, why? Why would you take a hit, that 'should' have killed you, to save someone who would kill you and allow that person to kill one of your own? Why not let the hollow kill me, or do the job yourself?" Timothy asked sternly; Kisuke turning to her in wonder about the answer himself.
She dropped her head and took a deep breath before answering. "I…I was about to. I was hidden behind the trees not far from where you were, watching you fight. I was waiting for the right time to finish you off, but…" she paused and turned her head away.
"But?" Timothy pressed.
She took another breath, then turned back to him with sorrowful eyes. "I couldn't. My mind kept going back to what Aizen had done to you, and…I felt guilty. I felt that…after everything that you've been put through, you didn't deserve it."
Her explanation confused him. "And why would you feel that way? Kisuke told me that when a hollow becomes an Arrancar, they regain their emotions; but are you saying that you actually felt sorry for me?" Timothy asked skeptically.
Nel nodded. "I can't really tell you how I did, but I felt really bad about what you went through because of him; and that you didn't deserve to die." She answered.
"I see…well, either way, thanks for saving me, twice. Now let me ask you something else; what are your feelings about working against your former comrades? You have to be somewhat hesitant, right?" he asked next.
She deeply sighed as she closed her eyes. "I…really don't know. I can't really explain how I feel about that. A part of me doesn't want to fight against those who I used to be a part of; but another part keeps telling me that…" she sighed again and dropped her head with now open eyes. "…I don't know…it's like…I've been fighting for…the wrong side. Aizen's intentions had always been against my morals. I never really approved of…not really us fighting against the soul reapers, but rather 'how' he was doing it. I've always believed that if you had to fight someone, even a mortal enemy, you should do so with honor and humility. Aizen has neither of those; and as time went on since he took over Las Noches, I grew more and more…resentful towards him. And when he had told the Espada what he…did to you, I just…I couldn't do it anymore. I didn't want to be a part of his cruelty anymore."
Timothy's eyes widened a bit when he saw a stray tear run down her cheek, and he suddenly started to feel guilty for causing her to feel the way she was. He had misjudged her, thinking that she was just like the rest of the hollows; a cold and heartless being.
Instead, what he was seeing sitting in front of him was a woman with the body of a darker species, but with the heart and soul of a human. He then remembered that Hetoku had told him that hollows were human souls that had not been saved in time; souls that had been 'forced' to become these evil beings. She was obviously one of these souls, so it really wasn't 'her' fault that she was an Arrancar.
He closed his eyes with a painful sigh. "I understand." He said quietly. "Let me ask you one last thing, Nel."
She raised her head just enough to look at him. "Yes?" she responded in a chocked voice.
He opened his eyes back to her, but with a calmer and kinder face. "After we defeat Aizen…what will you do? By then, if not sooner, the soul society will be aware of you; may try to hunt you down. Are you gonna return to Hueco Mundo and go back to killing soul reapers; or do you plan to just…disappear? What are your intentions for when this is all over?" he asked with hesitation in his voice.
Nel closed her eyes and gently shook her head. "I don't know. At that point, I doubt I would care what happened to me. Like you, Aizen took everything from me; I really have nothing to go back to Hueco Mundo for. I'd probably…just let the soul society do whatever they want with me." She relented.
Kisuke, who had remained silent through the conversation, chose to speak up here. "I wouldn't be so quick to give up just yet, miss Nel. Like Tim here said, it's possible that the soul society may forgive you for any past crimes." He tried to reassure.
She turned to him in doubtfulness. "Even 'if' they did, mister Urahara, what then? You have no idea how lonely Hueco Mundo can be; and where else could I go that would accept something like me? I'm an Arrancar; nothing more."
"Yes, you are…" Timothy said, getting her attention. "…but only because you choose to see yourself as such. I admit, I judged you too quickly at first, because of your appearance and where you came from. When I was alive, a hobby of mine was studying world history; and one of the things I learned is that not all good 'is' good, and not 'all' bad is bad. There can be some bad people on the good side, but there can also be some good people on the bad side. You and Aizen are the perfect examples of this fact. Aizen was once on the good side, but now look where he's at; and you were on the bad side, and now here you are, showing us that you're not the evil being that everyone thought you were."
She lowered her head, but when Timothy knocked on the table with his knuckle, she looked back at him to see him pointing at her. "You're the one who needs to choose what kind of person you are, no one else. All you can hope for is that others won't be too stupid and blind to see that." He assured.
Nel dropped her gaze to the floor in confusion and shock. She was exactly what she said she was; an Arrancar. Yet, here were two people that were supposed to view her as evil, but instead were sitting here and telling her that she wasn't; that she was actually a good person.
She found herself hating what she was, hating the constant feeling of something missing inside her. Hollows were supposed to have lost their hearts, their souls when they became such. Yet, she couldn't understand why she was feeling a pain in her chest. She knew that something was missing from her soul, but she could still feel the pain from it.
"Hey, dum dum." Timothy called out, getting her to look back at him. "Quit worrying about where you were, and plan for where you wanna go instead. If you wanna be the good person that I think you are, then 'be' that person." He offered, then stood up and raised his arms high, stretching his back. "Well, I'm gonna go back out and look around some more. Care for a drink later, Kisuke?" he asked.
The man grinned with a hum. "Sure, we'll see ya later, Tim." he returned. Timothy nodded and walked out of the shop, when Kisuke turned to Nel. "What he said is true, miss Nel. I don't see you as a bad person either; just a good person with a rough past. Just keep your head up." He advised, then stood up himself and left the room to help Tessai open the senkaimon for Yoruichi.
Nel was now left in the room by herself to her thoughts. The more she thought about it, the more she came to realize that it really wasn't the fact that she was lonely, but rather that she had nothing to fight for, live for.
When she was a Vasto Lorde, she had Pesche and Dondochakka to fight for. When she had become an Espada, even though she hated Aizen's morals, she still had something to be a part of. But now that Pesche and Dondochakka were gone, and being forced to leave the Espada, she had nothing but her hatred towards Aizen; and that wasn't enough.
She wanted more, to again be a part of something that she could give herself to. When she had accepted Timothy's and the other's offer to join them, she felt a weight lifted off of her. But after hearing what Timothy and Kisuke told her, it felt different…familiar. It somehow felt the same as when she had her two fracción; like a close bond between them.
With a deep breath, she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind and stood up. After a brief stretch of her arms and neck, she gingerly walked back to her assigned room to lay down for a nap.
She was still a bit tired and recovering from Nnoitra's and the Adjuchas's attacks that nearly killed her. As see laid down on her side, she was finding it difficult to fall asleep; her thoughts from earlier were still plaguing her mind. She gently shook her head and took another deep breath, again pushing the thoughts away as she closed her eyes; sleep slowly taking her away.
Karakura Town City Center, 2 Hours Later
Timothy was sitting down at an outdoor patio to a coffee and pastry shop, enjoying an iced coffee and reading a book on world history that he had bought from the store he was in before the Espada attacked. He figured a good way to spend some down time would be to get caught up on important things that have happened since he died.
As he picked his disposable cup up to take a sip, he heard a familiar voice call out to him. "Yo, Tim!"
He looked over the top of his book to see Ichigo, Orihime, and a large brown skinned man walking towards him. He set the cup down and waved at the group as they walked up.
"Hey, Ichigo, Orihime. Feeling alright?" he greeted.
The group walked around to the small gate that led from the walkway to the patio and stopped at his table.
"Yeah, a bit sore, but I'm fine. You?" the teen asked in return.
Timothy shrugged his shoulder. "About the same. Who's this?" he asked, pointing at the large man.
"Oh, this is Chad. He's one of my best friends." Ichigo answered.
"Hey." Chad greeted in a low and monotone voice.
"Hey, nice to meet ya. I'm Tim." the Lieutenant returned.
The large teen simply nodded, not saying a word. Timothy rose a brow at him.
"Quiet type?" he inquired.
"Yeah, Chad don't say much unless he needs to. But don't let his size fool you, he's as kind as they come." Orihime stated.
Timothy scoffed. "That's the problem with the world, people are always too quick to judge others. It's sickening." He said in a growl.
Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean." He said as he rubbed the back of his head.
The Lieutenant used his foot to push a chair out from the table, gesturing with his hand towards it.
"Plenty of room, care to join me?" he offered.
Ichigo nodded and the three of them all took seats around the table as Timothy gestured for a waiter. The female staff came out with a pen and paper, where the three teens placed their orders for drinks. The woman nodded, then left to get their orders.
"So, anything new happen after I left?" Ichigo questioned.
Timothy closed his book and set it on the table. "Not really. Yoruichi left for the soul society, Kisuke is looking into Nel's zanpakutō problem, Tessai…who knows, and Nel's…I guess you could say 'having a hard time'." He answered, then took a drink of his coffee.
"What do you mean, sir?" Orihime asked.
"It's Tim, and…how can I explain this…I guess she's feeling insecure about her current situation. From what she's told me and Kisuke, she's lost everything important to her; so now she's lost on what to do after we're done with Aizen." Timothy explained.
"You mean she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life after Aizen is defeated?" Chad asked in his low tone.
Timothy nodded. "Essentially. I can tell that she's not a bad person, just a person with a bad life. She's really kind, and I'd like to help her, but considering her…situation, I'm at a loss." He said with a shoulder shrug.
"You really seem to like her." Orihime pointed out with a smile.
"I wouldn't say that, exactly; but after spending twelve years avoiding people and turning a blind eye, I grew sick of what I became. So now I try to help people out where I can. I had a friend of mine and my Captain to help me; but Nel, she's got no one but us. And we can all agree that Nel is someone who really needs help right now. I know from experience how it feels to have lost everything and feel all alone; and I can tell you, it's a horrible thing to live through. I wouldn't wish it on anyone." The Lieutenant stated firmly.
The waiter then came back to the table with the teens' drinks, where Timothy paid for them.
"Oh, you didn't have to do that!" Orihime stated.
Timothy waved her off. "Nah, it's fine. You fixed me up earlier, so this is the least I can do for ya." He returned.
Ichigo took a sip of his drink, then turned to Timothy. "So, what have you got planned for later?"
The older man shrugged his shoulders. "Depends on how much longer I stay around here before heading back to the shop. I might swing back the bar and have a couple drinks, but I did offer to have a few with Kisuke. So, I might just get a bottle of my own and take it back with me. Besides that, not much except wander around and see the sites. I was catching up on my history when you guys came by."
"Do you wanna do something with us this weekend, si…I mean Tim?" Orihime inquired.
"Depends on what goes on when those other soul reapers get here. For all I know, I might be running around like crazy. I'll let you guys know something by Friday. It might be interesting to see what there is to do around here. Who knows, it might be possible to bring Nel along." Timothy answered.
The girl nodded. "Yeah, she looks like she could use some cheering up." She agreed.
Ichigo then stood up and finished his drink. "Well, we need to get going. We were on our way to catch a movie when we saw you. Wanna join us?" he offered.
"Nah, thanks though. I'm just gonna wander around for a bit. Nice to meet you, Chad." The Lieutenant said with a smile.
The large teen nodded. "You too, Tim." he returned as he stood.
Orihime stood as well and waved. "Bye, Tim. See you later."
"Later." He returned again, then picked up his book as the three teens left.
Urahara Shop, 3 Hours Later
Timothy walked out the front door of the shop, followed by Urahara, where they both sat down next to each other on the front deck. He had a bottle of Jameson whiskey, and a couple shot glasses that he had bought earlier, plus a small bowl of ice, while Kisuke had a bottle of sake with a couple saucers.
Grabbing one of the glasses and filling it with ice, he poured himself two shots worth of his chosen spirit while Urahara poured himself some sake. Touching their containers together, they both took a sip and exhaled.
"So, tell me Tim, when do you intend to start training with your zanpakutō?" he inquired.
He took another sip, then answered. "Tomorrow. I might do a round with Nel, if she's up for it. I really need to get my spiritual pressure up, so I can unlock my Bankai. Kinda interested what the new look is about."
"Hey Tim, let me out for a bit." Kitsune asked.
He let out a sigh and turned to Kisuke. "Mind if Kit joins us for a bit?"
The shop owner took another sip and shook his head with a grin. "Not at all. I'd actually like to meet her." He admitted.
He nodded back. "So…how do I let you out?"
"Just relax your mind and imagine me coming out." She instructed.
He took a deep breath and let his mind relax, picturing her standing in front of him. Kisuke rose a brow when Timothy's zanpakutō started to emit steam, before fire shot out from the hilt and gathered together in the lot in front of them.
After a few seconds, Kitsune's body was standing in front of the two men. Timothy opened his eyes and was surprised to see that the flames that normally surrounded her body were no longer there.
"Uh, what happened to the fire that covered you?" Timothy asked.
She smiled at him warmly. "You've never released me when we weren't fighting, Tim. The flames only come out when I fight." She then got into a fighting pose, and the orange flames surrounded her body again. "See?" she said, then relaxed; the flames turning blue and slowly dissipating.
"That's pretty interesting." Kisuke stated.
She turned to him with a kind smile. "Thanks. I'm Moeru Kitsune, by the way. But, you can just call me Kit for short."
"Kisuke." The shop owner returned the greeting.
"I can't stay out long though; maybe fifteen to twenty minutes. Being materialized like this wears me out. Still trying to recover from being placed in Tim's inner world." She informed, then sat down next to Timothy. "So, don't be stingy, pour me one." She demanded.
Timothy rose a brow at her. "You can drink while materialized?" he asked in surprise.
"Oh course, stupid. Now hand me that other glass." She insisted.
He shrugged his shoulders and prepped a glass for her while Kisuke chuckled. Timothy handed her the glass, then took a sip as she did. She let out a relaxing breath and closed her eyes.
"Now I know how you felt earlier; I also missed this taste." She admitted.
Timothy chuckled and finished his own drink before pouring another; Kisuke did the same. After taking another sip, the shop owner turned to her.
"So, care to tell me about Tim's Bankai? Clearly, he's already acquired it, but you chose to keep it from him because of his current spiritual pressure." Kisuke inquired.
She snorted at him. "Really? Do you really think that I would tell you without telling him? Come on, Kisuke." She said in a slightly annoyed tone.
"Ok, that's fair. Well then, care to tell me more about yourself?" he pressed.
Kitsune looked at him. "You mean before I became Tim's zanpakutō?" she asked in a depressed tone, getting a nod from the man. "Well, it's simple, I used to be Tim's wife; until Aizen did this to me. So now, I'm his zanpakutō…or at least one of them. There's really nothing more to it than that." She answered in a lower voice with sadness.
They were interrupted by footsteps coming towards them from inside. Kisuke twisted around to see Yoruichi walking out and sitting down in the doorway behind him.
"Well, the soul society 'is' sending a team here; they'll be here tomorrow. The only thing I know so far about who's in it is Captain Hitsugaya from Squad 10, Rukia, and because you're already here, you, Tim." she informed.
Timothy turned and rose a brow at her. "So…I'm staying here then?" he asked.
She nodded and took the saucer that Kisuke had filled and handed to her. She took a sip and rested the hand in her lap before looking past Timothy to just now notice the weird being sitting next to him.
"Who are you?" she asked.
Kitsune chuckled. "Moeru Kitsune, but call me Kit. I'm Tim's zanpakutō spirit. Nice to finally meet you, Yoruichi." She greeted.
The woman grinned at her. "Oh? So, are you the 'seductive one'?" she asked in amusement.
Timothy moaned as he dropped and shook his head while Kitsune grinned back, exposing her pointed canines. "That's me. Why? You wanna back out?" she inquired playfully.
Yoruichi widened her eyes with a wide smile. "Oh, I'm not backing out, Kit. If you think you can do better than me when it comes to seducing a man, you've another thing coming." She shot back.
The spirit cackled. "Oh please…you may have the body, but you ain't got the moves." She returned.
Kisuke snorted from trying to hold back his laugh. Yoruichi turned and gave the man a hand chop to the top of his skull. The unfortunate shop keeper hunched over and moaned in pain with his hands cradling his head.
"Just what's so funny, Kisuke?" she asked in a stern and temperamental tone.
He quickly turned around and wave her off with one of his hands. "Nothing, my dear Yoruichi! Nothing at all!" he placated.
Kitsune laughed at the poor man, then finished her drink. "What's wrong, Yoruichi? Is it really true?" she teased.
The woman turned back to her with a death glare. "I'm starting to not like you very much." She stated.
Timothy jumped in and held up a hand. "Hey, she's just messing with you, Yoruichi." He said, then turned to the spirit. "And you, knock it off and be nice." He demanded.
She nodded and looked at the woman. "Sorry, I went too far. But I still say that I'm better at seduction than you. And to prove it, I'm willing to put in a wager."
Yoruichi rose a brow with a grin. "Oh? I'm listening." She said, now very interested.
Timothy snorted and shook his head while Kitsune grinned widely. "Simple; whoever can be more seductive towards a certain person, wins. If you win, I'll let you seduce Tim here."
He quickly turned to her. "Nuh uh! Ain't happening! You keep me outta this, or this will be the 'last' time I 'ever' let you out! And you 'know' I mean it!" he growled.
She growled back, but knew he had her there. "Killjoy." She moaned, then turned back to her new friend. "Fine…then how about an IOU?" she tried.
Yoruichi touched a finger to her cheek in thought. "Hm…how about we just skip the wager and go with bragging rights?"
Kitsune nodded. "Sounds good to me."
The golden eyed woman dropped her hand to her lap. "So…who's this 'certain person' that's going to be our victim?" she asked.
Timothy snorted and shook his head. "God help him." He whispered, peaking Yoruichi's curiosity.
The woman looked back at the spirit to see the widest, most bestial grin she had ever seen. "Who?!" she demanded.
Kitsune cackled at her. "Ichigo." She answered.
Yoruichi's eyes widened, then narrowed as she smiled seductively and purred. "I take back what I said earlier…" she started, getting the spirit to raise a brow. "…I don't like you, I 'love' you!" she stated in a purr.
Both woman and spirit raised their glasses to each other, then dropped them back, finishing theirs drinks. Kitsune cackled again before turning back to her new 'best friend'.
"Well, I'm outta time here, so I'll catch you guys later, Yoruichi, Kisuke." She said.
The woman nodded. "Don't be a stranger now."
Kitsune nodded, then closed her eyes and allowed her body to dissipate into flames that then returned back into the zanpakutō at Timothy's side.
Kisuke chuckled, then finished his drink and shook his head. "Ichigo…if only you knew the torture you're about to face.
Urahara Shop Underground Training Area, The Next Morning
A medium-sized rock in the distance shattered as a blast of blue, electrical energy impacted it, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris. Timothy was inwardly pleased, but pushed the thought aside as he used Kitsune's abilities to transit to another location.
He had woken up a bit early that morning and felt like getting some early training in. Over the past half hour, he continuously shifted from place to place, casting a random, medium-level kidō at a nearby boulder each time; all while keeping three clones up.
His breathing was slightly elevated, but still under control. Kitsune had advised him before he started that the best way to increase his spiritual pressure, besides actual combat, would be to keep his soul under a constant state of stress. What better way than to transport over and over while using kidō?
While he wanted to practice with higher level kidōs, his zanpakutō spirits both suggested that by staying below the forties level, he could use his spirit energy as he recovered it; albeit at a slower rate.
"Spawn…another clone…Timothy." The male spirit instructed.
He appeared at his next location, sending a Shakkahō at a large boulder, before doing as instructed. He mentally observed that his spirits were having him add another clone roughly every ten minutes. Three or four were no problem, but when it came to using six or more at his current level, then it became one.
He continued his assaults with fierce determination, never noticing that he now had an observer.
Nel walked up to a distant boulder in her new gigai, being sure to keep her distance. She was impressed that he hadn't noticed her yet; complements of Kisuke's gigai that completely hid her spiritual pressure. Even Timothy made a comment on it last night when she had first got into it, saying that she felt like a regular human.
As with Timothy's gigai, her body features were the same, for the exception of her face. Her hollow mask and the pinkish line that ran over her nose were no longer there. And rather than her hair being a teal color, it was now a light brown.
She came to a stop and crossed her arms under her breasts, looking on with interest. She had seen him use his odd teleporting technique before, but seeing it used in this manner, by producing clones of himself, actually impressed her.
And just like when she had watched him when he fought against the Adjuchas, she couldn't sense his spiritual pressure when he was moving from one spot to another. It felt like that, for that brief instant that he was transporting, he no longer existed; not even her pesquisa could pick him up.
Even though she had only seen his abilities three times now, she could ascertain that his teleporting ability was limited to only where his flames were; making this one of the technique's weak points.
But even though she could see the places where he could appear from, she was still unable to determine exactly which flame he would appear at. Add in his cloning technique, and it could very easily confuse most opponents.
Speaking of his clones, she also noticed that none of them were giving off any spiritual pressure; unlike Zommari's sonído clones that gave off a bit of spiritual pressure from each one while active.
She continued to watch Timothy as he teleported a few more times, using a random kidō each time he appeared before vanishing immediately afterwards. But it surprised her when he didn't reappear this time.
His clones were still in their respective spots, but Timothy himself was gone. She again tried to reach out and detect his spiritual pressure, but was again unsuccessful. She rose a brow as she started looking around for where he might be.
"Ain't it a little impolite to snoop on others?" a familiar voice spoke from behind her.
"Eep!" she yelled as she jumped a few feet in the air from shock.
She landed on her feet and quickly turned around to see Timothy now standing behind her with his zanpakutō at his side tapping his right leg with the blunt side. She placed a hand on her chest as her breathing and heartrate steadily came back down.
She then noticed that one of his flames were now right behind where she was just standing only seconds ago.
'When the hell…?!'
Nel looked back at him to see that he had a slight grin of amusement on his face. Her cheeks turned red from embarrassment as she narrowed her gaze at him in anger.
"You idiot! Don't sneak up on me like that! And how the hell did you get one of your stupid flames so close to me without me noticing it?!" she demanded.
Timothy lightly snorted from trying not to laugh at her. "It's all about the timing. It takes a second for my flames to fully light up. During that time, and for a split second afterwards, they don't emit any spiritual pressure; not like they release that much anyway. I used that brief instant from the time that it became fully lit, to the time before it started giving off spiritual pressure to teleport. Pretty handy when I want to surprise an enemy who is focused on something else; like you were, no offense." He educated.
She took a deep breath to calm down with a loud exhale as she dropped her hand to her hip with a fist. "If that's the case, where were you for the few seconds before that? You were gone for nearly ten seconds before you surprised me." She inquired further.
He pointed behind her towards his still present clones, mimicking his movements. "I'll tell ya a little secret, Nel; those aren't really clones. Those 'are' me. But I move so fast that it leaves after-images of me behind." He said, then dropped his hand and causing the clones to do the same before they disappeared, along with the flames. "My teleporting, or whatever you wanna call it, is much faster than shunpo; so fast in fact, I don't think anyone can keep up with me while I'm moving from one spot to another. That's how I spawn my clones, by moving from one flame to another in very rapid succession. If you had paid close attention to the exact moment when I used a kidō, you would've noticed my clones vanish for just an instant while I was casting it."
He paused to sheath his zanpakutō and sit down on the boulder next to them with a relaxed breath. "That's the downfall of my cloning technique. While using it, my movement is restricted. I can move my body, but I can't move from that spot. Doing so would disrupt the synchronization and cause the clones to vanish. I also can't attack while using the clones. Again, it's all about the timing; Moeru Kitsune is heavily reliant on my timing. One misstep, and the technique will fail."
She dropped her hip hand and sat down next to him, looking at him with a curious stare. "That still doesn't answer my question about why I couldn't sense you before you appeared behind me." She informed.
"Actually, it does. Like I said, my flames take a split second after appearing before they can be sensed; when I teleport, my body acts in the same manner. For a brief instant after I appear at a location, I'm undetectable. It's only for an instant, barely even noticeable; but because I'm transitioning between the flames so fast, you can't detect me because I'm not in one spot long enough for you to detect me." He clarified.
Nel crossed her arms and raised her head to think about it, but nodded a few seconds later in understanding. "I think I've got it. So, you said your zanpakutō's abilities are based on timing?"
The young Lieutenant nodded. "Yeah. So, let me ask you something."
She turned back to look at him with a raised brow. "Yes?"
"That double cero ability of yours…"
"Cero Doble." She interrupted for clarification.
He nodded again. "Cero Doble, sorry bout that. Anyway, this ability of yours, does it only work on ceros, or can you use other energy attacks, like kidō?" he asked.
The former Espada shook her head slowly. "No, it only works on an incoming cero. However, I can hold onto the absorbed cero for a short time, that way I can send it back with my own at a later time. I can also absorb more than a single cero, provided that the combined energy is not too much, and send everything out at once. But doing so is risky, as holding on to too much for too long can cause me to lose control of the energy and cause me harm."
Timothy leaned back to recline against the boulder and folded his hands over his stomach. "Is that your only ability?" he inquired.
She reclined as well will a sigh. "No, I also have a special sonído that is quite fast. It's called Super Acceleration. While Zommari's sonído is fast enough for him to make sonído clones, mine is by far much faster. The only downside is that I can't change direction; I can only go in the direction I was facing when I used it. Also, I can only take a single step, meaning that I can't go far by using it. Another ability I have is that I can use my saliva to heal minor injuries."
Timothy turned to her with a puzzled look. "Are you telling me that you can heal people with your spit?" he asked in a deadpanned manner.
Nel lightly chuckled at his face and tone. "Yes, I guess you could put it that way. But like I said, it can only heal minor injuries, or to help stop bleeding in an emergency. Think of it like medical care while fighting. In fact, it's thanks to this ability that I'm even alive right now." She finished in a low tone.
The Lieutenant's look turned a bit sorrowful. "You were hurt that bad, huh?"
She sighed heavily. "Yes, I'm actually amazed I didn't die while still in the garganta. I managed to stop most of the bleeding, but the wound was too severe to stop all of it. That attack from Nnoitra should have killed me on the spot to be honest." She admitted.
Taking a deep breath, Timothy decided to take a chance at a sore question. "Mind if I ask what happened over there to cause you to leave?"
Nel flinched at the question, then leaned forward and stood up, taking a few steps away before stopping. Silence stood between the two warriors for a moment before Nel took a deep breath.
"Aizen…tricked me." She said in a low voice; so low that Timothy barely caught her words.
"Why does that not surprise me?" he asked to the air.
He let out a heavy sigh and looked back to Nel to see her fists clenched and shaking with her shoulders. He slightly narrowed his gaze at her as she turned her head to face him. His eyes widened a bit when he saw a tear run down her cheek and rage in her eyes.
"He made me kill my friends." She said in a deep hiss of anger.
"…What?" Timothy asked in stupor.
She turned to fully face him. "He tricked me into thinking that 'he' killed my friends! I attacked him and Nnoitra in rage, killing the both of them! But…" she choked up and dropped her head, unable to finish.
"It was all an illusion, right? Captain Komamura once told me about how his zanpakutō works. He fooled you into thinking that it was him you were attacking, but it turned out to be your friends?" he asked in shame.
She gritted her teeth, but nodded. "I…I killed them…they died…by 'my' hands." She stated in a breaking voice.
More tears ran down her face as memories of the event came rushing back into her head. Her two closest friends had been killed because of her blind rage. The memories continued to torture her, until a set of hands rested on her shoulders and broke her from her thoughts.
She raised her head to see Timothy standing in front of her, resting his hands on her shoulders and giving her a stern look.
"That…was 'not' your fault. He tricked you, made you believe that he had killed your friends, forcing you to attack him; to attack your friends. It is not your fault, it is 'his'. Not yours, 'his'! It was nothing more than one of his sick games that he's been playing with you. If you want to get back at him, I'm all for that, as I owe him a piece of my mind as well; but don't let him beat you by blaming yourself for what 'he' did." He said in a growl.
She flinched, then dropped her head again. Giving a heavy sigh, Timothy released her shoulders and crossed his arms.
"Did Kisuke give you some of that soul pill stuff?" he inquired, getting a nod back. "Good. Get out of that body and start tearing that boulder apart with some Ceros." He demanded as he pointed at a very large boulder in the distance.
She looked at him with a tearful and confused look. "What?"
He shook his head at her. "Dummy, I said to get out of your body and start tearing that boulder apart with your Ceros. Quit screwing around and just do it." He demanded again.
With a defeated sigh, she did as instructed, pulling out a soul pill dispenser and swallowing one of the mod soul pills. Her Arrancar body was ejected from the gigai, where the supplemented soul then jogged away to sit on a faraway boulder to watch.
Facing the large boulder that Timothy had pointed out earlier, she raised her hand and charged a violet colored cero in her palm. Her thoughts drifted once again to her two fallen friends, causing her anger to flare up, along with her spiritual pressure and energy.
Timothy backed up a few steps and held a hand close to his eyes as the force from her spiritual pressure started to cause the air around them to swirl and pick up dust from the ground. He watched as she clenched her teeth and narrowed her gaze at her target, her Cero steadily increasing in strength until the mass of energy was slightly bigger than her hand.
"Cero." She said in a hissing tone.
The violet mass of energy shot forth from her hand and sailed towards the boulder; pushing the air around it away as it flew. The Cero impacted the stone target and exploded in a massive burst of power; kicking up dust and throwing chunks of the target in multiple directions.
Timothy and Nel were pelted with small, random pieces of the boulder, but neither moved from there spots. The dust cleared enough for them to see that the boulder was, for the most part, still there. Albeit, it was now rather quite damaged.
"Cero." Nel said, quickly charging and shooting another one of her hollow attacks at the same target.
The attack again struck the target, sending even more dust and chucks of debris into the air.
"Cero!" she called again, sending yet another mass of energy at the boulder.
Before the previous attack even made it to the target, she swiftly charged and sent another Cero out at the rocky surface. Over and over, she sent Cero after Cero at the boulder, neither of them even caring that the large boulder more than likely no longer even existed.
After about her eighth, or ninth cero, she swiftly turned and started attacking a different large boulder to their right.
For the next three minutes, she continuously sent an endless series of Ceros out at random boulders. Timothy turned his head to see that her eyes, filled with anger and rage, were also flooded with tears that kept running down her cheeks.
A few seconds later, she finally stopped her constant barrage with her left hand clenched in a tight fist and her right hand still extended from just firing one of her attacks. She was panting heavily from exhaustion; her exhales being a deep and throaty growl.
She continued her heavy breathing for a few moments, then dropped her right hand in a tight fist. Her arms and shoulders shaking from anger, she took a deep breath before lifting her head and yelling up into the air.
Running out of breath, she took a final deep one and yelled again as she thrusted her right hand out; quickly charging a powerful Cero, slightly larger than her first one, and sent it out towards a mountain sized rock formation far out into the distance.
The force from the mass of energy, from the time she charged it, to the time it left her hand, threatened to push Timothy away. He could actually see the air around the Cero get pushed away as it flew through the air towards its unfortunate, rocky victim.
The Cero collided with the small mountain in silence, due to the distance it was from the two of them. The sound of the collision, along with the shockwave from it, came to them only a split second later.
Timothy held his arm up to shield his eyes as dust and debris sailed past the two of them; Nel simply lowered her head to the barrage. After a few seconds of being nearly forced back, the shockwave passed them, and the dust began to settle.
The Lieutenant turned to the mountain that fell prey to her onslaught to see that a decent sized chunk of it was broken away. His eyes slightly widened at the sight, not believing the sheer amount of power that her attack had. If he had to guess, it looked to be more powerful than a Raikōhō.
He dropped his arm and turned to Nel to see her drop to her knees and clutch her head in her hands tightly, starting to sob. He let out a heavy sigh, then began walking over to her, stopping and crouching down next to her. He rested a hand on her shoulder and started squeezing and releasing it gently to try and sooth her.
Pushing her legs out a bit, she leaned back to where she was now sitting down fully and pulled her hands back further along the sides of her head as she dropped it down to grip her hair at the back of it.
Her sobbing continued as Timothy released her shoulder to place his hand onto her back and start rubbing it in large circles.
"Tim, let me out for a minute." Kitsune said in a low tone.
Taking a deep breath as he closed his eyes, he then nodded and relaxed his mind. His zanpakutō started glowing, where a stream of flames poured out to collect together a few feet to his right. After a few seconds, Kitsune was now standing next to him.
She walked up to him and Nel, stopping in front of her and using her hand to raise the Arrancar's head to face her. Nel lightly gasped as her eyes widened when she saw the spiritual, anthropomorphic fox standing in front of her with a hint of a small smile.
"Hey, cheer up Nel." Kitsune said in a calm and kind tone.
"Who…are you?" Nel asked in surprise.
The spirit chuckled and released her face. "I'm Tim's zanpakutō spirit, Moeru Kitsune; but you can just call me Kit." She greeted.
Nel's eyes widened even more when reality dawned on her. "You're…you're the spirit of his wife?!" she said in shock.
Kit held up a finger to her. "Former' wife. My old life is gone now, has been since this happened to me. Now, I'm simply the spirit of his zanpakutō." The spirit clarified.
"But…aren't you the same person?" Nel inquired.
Kitsune gave a heavy sigh. "I may still have my memories from my previous life, but I'm not the same person. It was hard to accept at first, not being Susan Durn anymore, but I eventually accepted it; we both have. If anything, it was much harder on Tim than it was me." She informed, causing Timothy to turn away from her in sorrow.
Nel noticed this, and turned to him. "I'm…so sorry Tim." she said in a breaking voice.
Timothy gave a heavy sigh and waved her off. "It's fine, Nel. We both have our own troubled pasts. There's nothing we can do to change them, so all we can do is accept them." He stated, then turned to her. "Your friend's deaths were not your fault. As I said, they died because of that madman's antics. You can't change what happened to them, just like I can't change what happened to Kit here. I've chosen to accept what happened and live with it. Do you think your friends would want you to sit here and blame yourself for what happened?"
After hesitantly shaking her head, he continued. "Thought not. So, you need to accept what happened, that their deaths were not your fault, and go on with your life. Kit here might not be my wife anymore, but we've both chosen to accept it and move on. It may hurt inside, but it's what you're gonna have to do."
Kit nodded in agreeance. "Yeah, you don't have to forget them, but you don't need to tear yourself apart about what happened. Don't think about what your life 'could have been', but instead, think about what it 'can be'." She added.
Dropping her head a moment to wipe away the tears from her eyes, Nel then raised her head back to face Timothy with a light smile.
"Thank you…both of you." She finished, now looking at the spirit.
Kitsune smiled more and nodded. "Sure. And it's nice to finally meet you face to face."
Nel sniffed, then nodded back. "Nice to meet you as well." She returned.
The spirit then stood up and sighed. "Well, I'm heading out. Keep an eye on him for me, please." She said as she gestured to Timothy with her thumb. "He has a tendency to start trouble sometimes." She added with a grin.
Timothy quickly turned to her with a growl. "I do not! Quit spreading your damn lies, you stupid, seductive vixen!" he hissed.
She glanced at him with a skeptical face. "It's not a lie, you really 'do' have a tendency to get into trouble. Remember that guy, Zaraki?"
He then stood up and glared at her. "He' started that! He came to me 'looking' for a fight!" he yelled.
She closed her eyes and scratched her cheek. "Ok, I'll give you that one; that brute really did have it out for you. But still, trouble does somehow keep finding you." She pointed out.
"But I'm 'not' the one who starts it." He stated.
Kit simply waved him off. "Yeah yeah, whatever you say, Mr. big guy."
Timothy growled at her with clenched fists. "I 'really' wanna smack you right now." He hissed.
She rose a brow at him and grinned. "Oh, I'm sure you do." She said as she flashed her brows in a suggestive manner.
The young Lieutenant slapped a hand to his face with a moan. "Damn seductive, hormonal demon. I'm really starting to feel bad for 'Johnny' for having to be stuck with you in my inner world." He said, his voice muffled by his hand.
Kit chuckled and patted his shoulder. "There there, Tim. It'll be ok. At least you have someone inside to keep me busy most of the time."
He lowered his hand a bit to look at her. "Why do I not feel any better?" he inquired to no one in particular.
She chuckled at him one last time before dissipating and returning to his inner world, leaving the Lieutenant and Arrancar alone. Running his hand down his face with a moan, he finally returned his gaze to a still sitting Nel.
"Well, I'm getting a bit hungry. Ready to head upstairs for breakfast?" he asked as he held a hand out to her.
Nel smiled and nodded as she accepted the hand and let him help her to her feet. "Yes, I'm a bit hungry myself." She admitted.
After returning to her faux body, the two of them walked back to the ladder that led back up to the shop. Timothy grabbed the ladder and was about to start climbing, when Nel spoke up.
"Tim…"
He stopped and turned back to her to see her head lowered. "Yeah?"
She raised her head back to him with tearful eyes and a smile. "Thank you."
He smiled back and nodded. "Not a problem, happy to help." He replied, then continued climbing.
Nel watched as he climbed up the ladder, then followed suit when there was a little distance between them.
'He truly does care about me…even though I was once his enemy. I never thought a soul reaper could be so caring, and not like the heartless warriors that I always thought them to be. After everything he's been through, he still cares about others. I really do admire him.'
The pair continued their ascension back to the shop while a grateful smile remained on Nel's face.
Squad 7 Headquarters, Seireitei, 2 Hours Later
Minato ran his finger across and down the form he was looking at, ensuring that the information entered was correct before being turned in to the Captain. It was one of the morning forms from the stack he had retrieved from Squad 1 earlier that morning.
Once he confirmed everything was correct, he signed his name towards the bottom and set it aside. As he grabbed the next form, the sound of footsteps drew his attention towards the door to the office he was in.
"Morning, Hinata." He greeted as she walked up to the table.
"Morning." She replied and joined him sitting down at the table. "This the morning paperwork?" she inquired with a sigh.
"Yes. Thankfully, it's not that much today. Should be done in about an hour and a half between the two of us." He answered, then returned to his form.
She let out a deep breath and grabbed one of the forms as well. "That's good."
He noted her low tone and glanced at her. "Something wrong?" he asked in a bit of worry.
She stopped working on the form and sighed heavily. "For the most part." She half answered.
Minato put his pen down and leaned back into the chair. "Thinking about Tim?" he inquired.
The woman closed her eyes and nodded. "Among a few other things, yeah."
The officer crossed his arms over his chest. "Wanna talk about it?"
Hinata dropped her hands to her lap and interlaced her fingers with a heavy sigh. "The Captain offered me the 7th seat position."
His eyes widened in surprise. "Really?! Congratulations!" he said happily.
She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I turned him down."
Now he was confused. "Why? I think you'd be good as our 7th seat. Sure, you still need some practice with some things, but for the most part you know what you're doing."
The young woman leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table while resting her head in her hands. "I'm just not ready for it yet. After what happened with those hollows, and losing one of my friends and another member, I'm don't feel like I'm ready to take on that responsibility yet. I want to get some more training first before I take on that responsibility." She admitted.
Minato let out a breath and nodded. "Yeah, I see what you mean. How did the Captain take it?"
She lifted her head and crossed her arms on the table. "At first, I thought he was gonna force it on me, like he did with Tim. I was…a little bit relieved when he simply accepted it. Actually, he seemed a bit impressed when I told him why I didn't want to be an officer yet. He said that he was impressed that I was willing to realize that I wasn't ready for the position."
He nodded in agreeance. "He would be. A lot of other people would have likely taken the offer because they would be a seated officer. But you, you understood that you might not have been ready and declined the offer. I'm sure that he's actually proud of you, and so would Tim for that matter."
At the mention of his name, Hinata looked at the officer. "I wonder when he's coming back." She stated with concern.
Minato dropped his arms and got back to the form in front of him. "Not for a while, more than likely. Tim's been reassigned to Captain Hitsugaya's team in the world of the living. Could be a few days, could be a few months."
She widened her eyes a bit. "Tim's been assigned to Captain Hitsugaya's team? Why?" she inquired.
The officer signed his form and set it aside. "Because he's already there, I guess the Head Captain thought it would be best to simply keep him there as a part of the team. Last I heard, his team leaves in a few hours." He said as he grabbed the next form.
"Do you know who else is on the team?"
Minato lifted his head to think. "Lieutenants Matsumoto and Abarai, and the 3rd and 5th seats of Squad 11 I believe. Why do you ask?" he inquired glancing at her.
"Do you think…you could ask Lieutenant Matsumoto if she could give Tim a message? I feel that…he should know about…about Junya. I'll write it up for her." She said with a sorrowful tone.
The officer matched her look, but nodded. "Yeah, I'll ask her if she can deliver your message."
She nodded at him and bowed her head. "Thank you, sir."
He waved her off. "It's fine, Hinata. He should know what happened, and a message from you would likely be the best way to let him know. Just do me a favor…" He paused for a second, getting her to look back at him. "…Don't blame yourself for what happened. Considering your opponent, you were lucky that the team didn't end up with more than two deaths. These things happen Hinata, and what did happen wasn't your fault." He assured.
Hinata nodded and sighed. "I know…but it still doesn't make me feel any better. I'm far more worried about Yuka. Junya was her brother, and it took almost an hour to calm her down when I told her. The Captain gave her some time off to recover, and I've been helping her as well. She's recovering, but…it's a slow process." She finished with her head down.
"I'm sure. The loss of a loved one is always the hardest. Just give her time and keep on helping her as much as possible; she'll eventually get better. Here…" he paused again and grabbed the complete stack of forms. "Can you run this to the Captain's office?" he asked.
"Sure." She answered as she stood up, grabbing the stack from the officer and turning to leave.
"Also, I'm gonna have some things to take care of this afternoon, so I'll be leaving the afternoon training to you." He added.
She glanced over her shoulder and nodded. "Yes sir." she replied, then turned back and left the office.
Minato returned to the form he was working on, but then sighed and set his pen down. Bringing his hands up to his face, he massaged the front and sides of his face as he exhaled deeply. Dropping his hands back down to his lap and tilting his head back to the ceiling with another sigh, he took a few deep breaths to calm his mind.
"I wonder how Tim's gonna take the news of his friend's death…if Hetoku's death was anything to go by…" he mumbled to himself.
Taking a last, deep breath, he dropped his head back down and returned to his work.
Urahara Shop Underground Training Area, World of the Living, Present
With a loud screech, a medium sized wave of deep red energy sailed through the air, its intended target vanishing a brief instant before it made contact. The energy wave continued on its course until it collided with a large boulder.
Timothy reappeared far to the attacker's left, the palm of his off-hand raised and pointing at the man. Small orbs of orange energy began charging at the end of each finger.
"Hado #45, Amegafuru!" the Lieutenant yelled.
The five masses of energy shot forth from his fingers towards his target at different angles. His opponent got ready to move away, but was just a bit too late. The orbs of energy landed on the ground all around the target, each one exploding in a large burst of fire and consuming the target.
Timothy lowered his hand and remained in a ready stance, waiting for the kidō to dissipate. One thing he learned 'really quickly' was that this opponent was not someone to take lightly.
His eyes suddenly widened, and he immediately transitioned over to a flame over at his front right. He reappeared, but quickly grabbed the forearm of his main arm, hissing in pain. His opponent had surprised him, yet again.
"I told you not to take me lightly, Tim." his opponent stated.
Timothy looked down at his arm to see that it was bleeding; not profusely or life threatening, but not really a scratch either.
'Damn…If I was just a fraction of a second later, he would have easily rendered my arm useless.' He mentally observed, then turned back to the man to see his opponent standing where he was just seconds ago.
"I wasn't taking you lightly, Kisuke; I just never expected you to be so damn fast." Timothy returned.
After breakfast, Timothy had asked Urahara if he wouldn't mind sparring with him for a while. The man gladly accepted, first starting out with simple swordsmanship skills, then elevating to kidō, then to releasing their zanpakutōs. So far, they were only five minutes into the fight after release.
The shop owner smiled and placed a hand on top of his striped hat, tilting it down just enough to conceal his eyes.
"Now now Tim, nothing's changed since we started; I'm just as fast now as I was when we began." He lifted his head enough to look at the younger man. "You simply need to be more aware of your surroundings." The man stated in a joyous tone.
"Tsk…alright, you wanna play that way Kisuke, fine by me." Timothy returned.
Using Kitsune's abilities, he then spawned five clones surrounding the shop owner. Kisuke glanced briefly at each one, determining where each one was. When he returned to where Timothy was, he saw that he was now gone.
Kisuke rose a brow in surprise as he looked back at each clone. He couldn't detect Timothy's spiritual pressure. For the past hour while they were sparring, he could always detect the younger man's pressure; but now he was sensing nothing.
Then it clicked in his head and he smiled with a hum. "Oh, I see now…" he started, then looked at a clone in front of him. "…You're moving from one place to another so quickly, so that you're not in one place long enough for your spiritual pressure to be detected. Am I right?"
All of the clones rose a brow with widened eyes at the same time. "How the fuck did you pick that up so fast?! This is the first time your seen this!" the voice of Timothy said from each clone.
Kisuke held the hand from his hat in front of him with his index finger extended and pointing up; grinning madly.
"Simple: I noticed from the moment that you first used your zanpakutō's ability to move from one place to another, that for a very brief moment, your spiritual pressure can't be detected. I will grant you that it is something that is very easy to miss; most opponents would never catch it. But 'I' did. I'll admit that at first, I really didn't think much of it; but when you created your clones, I put it all together." He then dropped his hand and grinned more.
"Let me guess, you were hoping to keep yourself undetectable; let the lull of battle weigh on my mind and make me panic?" he inquired.
Timothy stopped his rapid movement, appearing in front of him and causing his clones to disperse.
"You scare me." He said with a raised brow.
Kisuke's hand returned to his hat as he chuckled. "My dear friend, you should know not to try and play with the mind of a scientist. Your method of attacking the mind is actually quite impressive, something that most would not expect. But when it comes to someone like me, who has spent centuries working his mind over numerous, tedious projects and experiments, a test of the mind is child's play. So then…"
He dropped his hand back down to grab the hilt of his zanpakutō in a two-handed grip. "…Shall we continue?"
Timothy returned to his fighting stance, recreating his clones before vanishing. Kisuke watched with knowing eyes and waited for the Lieutenant to make his move. But he didn't have to wait long.
The younger man did the same as he did with Nelliel earlier that morning, spawning a flame right behind the scientist and appearing a split second before it could be detected. He had his zanpakutō held low and to the side for an uppercut to the man's back.
Kisuke, being the man that he was, expected this, and quickly turned to block the attack. The two blades collided, surprising Timothy. But what surprised him the most was that Kisuke was holding the index and middle finger of his offhand pointing directly at Timothy's chest.
"Bakudō #61, Sajō Sabaku." He chanted with a wide and pleased grin.
Timothy's eyes widened in shock as he realized that the shop owner was fully prepared for his attack. The yellow mass of energy collected and immediately shot out of the man's finger tips, reforming into a yellowish chain of energy that began wrapping around Timothy's torso.
Kisuke smiled more when he saw that he had the young Lieutenant, but rose a brow when Timothy simply grinned back at him.
"Got ya."
A barely visible field surrounding Timothy's body suddenly shattered, taking the shop owner's kidō along with it. Kisuke's eyes looked down and widened when he saw the palm off the young man's offhand held right up and only inches from his sternum.
"Hadō #33, Sōkatsui." Timothy said with a toothy grin.
A blue mass of electrical energy erupted from the man's hand. With nowhere near enough time for Kisuke to react, the kidō struck the shop owner in the chest, sending him back several feet to land on the ground.
Timothy used one of his clones to end up near where Urahara had landed, his clothes slightly charred and a few singe marks on his arms from being so close to the point of impact from the kidō and only just making it out in time to avoid serious damage from the explosion.
The Lieutenant got into a two-handed ready stance to wait for his opponent to get back up, who remained lying on the ground.
He knew once the shop owner told him that he knew about his ability to hide his spiritual pressure, that he would use that ability to try and catch the man off guard. That was why he appeared behind him, knowing that the scientist would likely expect it.
Considering how close he would have been to the man to surprise him, he figured that the man would block his attack, then use a kidō while he was 'shocked' from his quick reflexes. He then used his thin, protective barrier to shield him from that kidō and send another one back in the man's own shock.
"Scream Benihime." A familiar voice spoke from behind, followed by an all too familiar screeching sound.
Timothy gasped as he glanced over his shoulder to see the red wave of spirit energy sailing right at his exposed back.
'What?!'
The wave crashed into the man's back before he had time to turn or use his teleporting ability. His body was thrown from the ground and sent flying through the air to collide with a boulder in the distance.
He crashed into the rock with his back and facing upside down, creating a body-sized crater on the side of the rock formation. With a low moan, his body slid out of the crater and down the side of the boulder until it landed on the ground with a dull thud.
Kisuke shunpoed to be right in front of the now prone body of the Lieutenant, pointing his zanpakutō at him while resting his offhand on the top of his hat with a serious face.
"How many times must I tell you 'not' to take me lightly?" Kisuke asked in a deathly tone.
Timothy slowly raised his aching, blood covered head to look at the man. "H…how…did you…" he tried to ask, his voice strained and scratchy. The flames around them suddenly faded away and his zanpakutō returned to its sealed state.
"Sorry Tim, but you're done for now." Kitsune stated in reluctance.
Kisuke rose a brow at him. "How did I attack you from behind when I was 'clearly' down on the ground in front of you from your kidō? Why don't you look again?" he said.
The Lieutenant turned his head to see the man's body still lying on the ground where it was at before. After looking at it for a moment, the realization then dawned on him.
"A…gigai…?"
"In case you're wondering: yes, I switched myself out with a gigai at the last second. If you had taken the split second to reach out with your senses, you would have been able to determine that that body was a fake, and that I was already behind you to attack. You let your guard down when you thought that you had defeated me. If this had been a true battle, you would be dead right now." He paused to let it sink in as Timothy returned his gaze to him.
Urahara's face then slowly morphed into a small grin. "You covered your body with a barrier so thin that it couldn't be seen or detected. By appearing right behind me, you expected me to immediately counter you and try to bind you with a kidō. You then dropped that barrier right as I sent the kidō, disrupting it; then you sent your own kidō right back at me when I was caught off guard. I'll admit that I'm impressed with your tactic; you actually managed to catch me off guard for a moment there. To be honest, I've actually never seen a barrier used in that manner before. Quite innovative I must say." He finished.
Timothy grunted in pain as he slowly tried to get back up to his feet, using his zanpakutō as a brace. When he finally made it to a crouching position, he looked down to see that he was in a really rough shape, telling him that the shop owner hadn't held back in his last attack.
Pulling his fan out from under his top, Kisuke opened it and started lightly fanning himself with a small smile as he let Benihime return to her sealed state as well. He watched the Lieutenant as the man got up to a slouched standing position.
"You zanpakutō's ability is quite unique, Tim; but, you rely too heavily on it and not your own skills. A good warrior uses the perfect balance between his zanpakutō's abilities, 'and' his own." He gave a brief pause before continuing.
"According to Yoruichi, the word in the soul society is that you managed to defeat Captain Komamura in a duel, and you also managed to hold your own against Captain Zaraki. Although that is quite impressive, it is also due to your zanpakutō's unique abilities that are difficult to fight against, rather than your own skills. There is still plenty of room for improvement, Tim; with both your basic skills in swordsmanship, as well as using your zanpakutō's abilities."
He was stopped when Tessai walked up and nodded at the shop owner. "Excuse me boss, but it would seem that the team from the soul society has just arrived here in the world of the living and are on their way here." He informed.
Kisuke turned to him and nodded back. "Thank you Tessai, we'll be right there." He returned. The man nodded again and left the two alone. Kisuke looked back at Timothy. "We'll conduct more training at a later time, Tim. For now, let's head back upstairs and greet our guests. I'll have Tessai heal you up while we talk with them."
Timothy stood up straight and returned his zanpakutō back to its sheath. "Alright. Thanks for the 'lessons', Kisuke." He answered with a light bow of the head.
Urahara simply waved him off with his fan. "No need to thank me, Tim. Always happy to help." He said, then returned his fan to cover his mouth. "By the way, don't forget that miss Nel is a new assistant of mine for the shop; just in case anyone asks. I've already reminded her, so as long as neither of you two say anything, they shouldn't suspect anything." He warned.
The Lieutenant nodded, then held a hand out to the side; gesturing towards the ladder to the shop. "Shall we?" he insisted.
Kisuke closed his fan and nodded back. "After you."
Well, another 'filler' chapter. I tried to give you fellas some humor, especially with Kitsune's 'unique' personality. I wonder what's gonna happen with 'two' seductresses in the story? The answer: lots and lots of pain and agony for everyone.
So Nel is now an official part of the 'Urahara Team', and is recovering from the loss of her 'brothers'. As far as Kisuke, I hope that I'm getting his personality right, he's a bit tricky for me to mimic.
Leave a comment or review, and please let me know if I'm depicting our favorite, tricky scientist/humble shop owner right. For now, I'll see you all next week. Laters.
