Gotei 13 watches anime – Pendulum Cast
Chapter 5: Episode 6-7
The Shinigami found a meal settled for them in the dining area. It was traditional Japanese one and… frankly quite fancy too. Asagi and Kanzo-iro let it be understood that it wouldn't be as extravagant every day. But as it was the first day, the meal was a peace offering of sorts for the kidnapping.
During the meal, the officers continued talking, partly what they'd seen, partly what had been going on at the divisions before the kidnapping and naturally speculation about the future events too.
It was towards the end of the meal when the conversation was about to turn to their hosts, that the topics of the discussion interrupted it and ushered them verbally back to the viewing area.
The episode began with Rukia on a rooftop and inspecting the kikashinki which was blinking the last light of the row of four. Next she inspected her own hand, twisting it and leaving it shaking.
"There is something wrong with her gigai…" Urahara muttered.
"Maybe we'll get to see now her mysterious benefactor in the world of living." Ukitake suggested.
The scene changed to Kurosaki clinic and Ichigo carrying a plate of food to Rukia, only to find out that the girl was gone.
Down in the kitchen, Yuzu and Karin were eating.
"Don't you think onii-chan is acting weird lately? He eats so much more now. And he always rushes back to his room." Yuzu pondered.
To which Isshin suggested girl problems and got kicked in the face by Ichigo.
"…And quit analyzing me, dirty old man!"
"What are you saying?! It's because I'm your father! Why don't you understand?!"
"Who'd understand such a thing?!" The males yelled at each other while brawling.
Kaien sighed in attempt of being serious and disappointed but inwardly he was chuckling in glee at the antics of father and son. Very Shiba-like despite being in the world of living.
"Your breakfast will get cold." Yuzu told the males then.
"How peaceful." Karin stated in the midst of eating before the setting changed again. This time it showed a location not appeared before. A little shop between taller buildings.
"Clean-up batter, Hanakari Jinta. Here's the wind up and the pitch!" A boy swung around a broom whilst announcing. "With a perfect back swing, he lets it go!"
"Wait a second! What did that shopfront say?" Yoruichi perked up suddenly. While the shop front hadn't flashed briefly, not all of them had paid attention to it enough to actually read the words.
"I think it was… Urahara… Shoten?" Mashiro mused. Heads turned to the direction of the Twelfth Division Captain who gave a bewildered look at the screen whilst scratching the back of his head.
"Oh my… I wonder what has happened." The blond said.
"Does that mean the faulty gigai is your design then?" Hiyori asked.
"Well, better not speculate just yet."
"Jinta-kun, you'd better get to work or Tessai-san will scold you." The black-haired girl with sad eyes told her companion.
"Tessai is there too?!" Yoruichi exclaimed. "What an earth has happened? Or will happen in the next hundred years?"
"Hmm… And how many others will be in the world of living too?" Tessai thought aloud.
"And how much of the current captain line-up will change overall between now and that time. Excluding Urahara's and Otoribashi's appointments and the pending appointment for the Tenth Division captain, usually the captains are one of the longest standing members of divisions." Kyoraku added.
"Why do I get the feeling that considering the timing of our gathering here, yet these events so far in the future, whatever drastic that will happen, is going to be in a few years at most…" Love frowned.
"Shut up, Ururu." Jinta pointed the broom at the girl. On the background the store front and the shop's name were not clearly seen. "I'm not cleaning up out of fear of Tessai."
"Huh? Aren't you sweeping because you're scared?"
"I'm not scared! Besides, you're too cocky!" Cue a bullying scene during which Rukia interfered.
"You never change, do you, chibi-suke? Is the manager in?" The Shinigami girl asked.
"Proves that Rukia has visited before." Mashiro nodded.
"No one really doubted it anymore." Lisa muttered.
"I'm not that scary, am I?" Tessai frowned.
"Well, you do have that intimidating stature…" Yoruichi mused.
Jinta opened the door an intimidating man carrying boxes and dressed in apron appeared. The light glinted from his glasses ominously.
"Hey Jinta… It's too early to open up shop. Huh? Kuchiki-dono! One moment, please. I'll wake tenchou up."
"Sorry, but I'm already up today."
Yoruichi burst out laughing.
"What the hell is that outfit Kisuke?! Bwahahahaa! You look like a loon! Not that you usually look that bright either but…."
"It's certainly… green." Kyoraku chuckled.
"And pink is that much better?" Urahara smiled placidly while on screen his future-self yawned.
"Good morning, Tessai, Jinta, Ururu… And welcome, Kuchiki-san." Kisuke smiled, dipping his hat. "I just received a delivery yesterday. What would you like today?"
The scene changed. Kisuke's voice was heard as he went through Rukia's order and put them into cashing machine. On the background, jars of candy and other snacks were seen.
"Why is she taking the cheapest kikashinki fuel?" Hiyori frowned.
"Maybe she figured that the cases they're running into are simple enough, especially considering the way Kurosaki-kun has grown as a shinigami in such a short time." Chikane guessed.
"Or then she simply doesn't have much money with her." Rojuro pointed out. "Since this is her first time in the world of living she wouldn't know to take some with her and the trouble she got into was quite unexpected too."
"If bounty money is the only currency she has, she won't have much choices. Especially if she needs to buy something else too." Love added.
"Like those Soumafixers…" Hachigen frowned. "Like Urahara-taichou's future self says there too, the amount she is buying is quite alarming."
"Considering the faulty gigai she has, it is no surprise though." Byakuya glared at the division twelve captain.
"Hey, hey, please don't point fingers until we know what's really going on?" Urahara sweat dropped. This was worse than what Isshin was getting for his actions!
And when the on-screen Kisuke made his offer to check-out Rukia's gigai… The combined glares from the ladies and the Kuchiki's made his sweat even more.
"By the way, has the thing I ordered been delivered?" Rukia asked.
"Oh, yes it's here. Ururu, get it from the storehouse."
"Hai!"
"It says 'new items' on the box."
The scene went to Ururu in the storeroom as she looked for the item.
"Considering the structure of the stories this far, would it be reasonable to assume that the root of the new conflict would happen here?" Gin asked then.
"Shh! Don't spoil!" Rangiku shushed her friend. "Even if you are wrong I don't need spoilers!"
Ururu brought the item back to the shop and Rukia…
"Is this the only kind you could get?"
"Don't say that. That one's the second most popular and was hard to get. But… You can't fake it forever."
"I know that."
"Accomplices the two of them…" Kaien mused as the scene changed to the school. And Rukia's fine lady act.
She dragged Ichigo out of the classroom after hitting him into stomach.
"Well, one can do it that way too…" Shinji chuckled.
"Here." Rukia tossed an item to Ichigo.
"Hm, what is it?"
"Gikongan, Substitute Soul Pills. It's a capsule that will force a soul out of the body. When one swallows that, a substitute soul will enter and the real soul can leave the body."
"They act like Gokon Tekkou then, but won't leave the body empty." Ukitake mused. "Useful."
"I assume those were made so empty gigais wouldn't alarm humans and so the gigai's can get into safety if the hollow is causing widespread damage." Unohana reasoned.
"If there's ever a time when I'm not here and you confront a Hollow, use that and transform into a Shinigami."
"It's says 'Soul Candy'." Ichigo remarked.
"That's because the Shinigami Women's Association complained that Gikongan didn't sound nice, so it was changed."
"…What is Shinigami Women's Association?" Sojun blinked.
"And how much influence do they have…" Kensei frowned.
"Why is it a duck?"
"Shut up! I personally wanted the rabbit-shaped contained, Chappy!"
"I see… You wanted a rabbit, huh?"
"Why're you looking at me like that?! Are you belittling me?"
"Is that what she was complaining to Urahara-taichou then?" Nanao asked. "Because it was the duck and not the rabbit?"
"Probably." Lisa answered. "I guess the rabbit is the most popular one if she didn't get it."
Ichigo ate the candy and his Shinigami form was expelled out of the back of his own body. The boy was surprised, Rukia was smug and the substitute soul in Ichigo's body…
"Nice to meet you. My name is Kurosaki Ichigo. My favourite phrase is 'Early to bed, early to rise'."
"It's nothing at all like Ichigo." Kaien laughed, agreeing with his on-screen cousin. But as Rukia received an order for a hollow extermination, they left the body to its own devices.
"Idiots, you do a test run before the real deal. What if it's faulty too…" Hiyori muttered.
"Trial by fire seems to be their favored modus operandi." Seinosuke sighed.
"Modus what?!"
"Hey you! Make sure to attend the next class!" Ichigo yelled at the substitute soul while Rukia once again dragged him away.
"Leave it to me, master!" The soul waved before his expression changed. "Take your time."
Heads turned to Urahara and Tessai's direction.
"Why won't we watch and see? The order of goods came from elsewhere after all." The scientist smiled.
And right on cue the scene changed to future Kisuke in the storeroom and noticing the box Ururu had opened earlier. 'Poor Merchandise' read on the side.
"Look closely. What does it say?" Jinta's voice came, with Ururu's eye on the screen mirroring the text.
"Poh… mah… chan…" The girl spelled slowly.
"Poor merchandise! Defective! You sold a customer damaged goods!" The boy raged. "Get your act together! You and your stupid bangs!"
"Itaiiii…"
"Hora, hora… No fighting." Kisuke 'interfered'.
"But this Gikongan is going to be trouble." Tessai said, reading the list of goods arrived in that batch.
"I know. We'd better take care of this right away. Otherwise, who knows what he'll do?"
"Quite serious situation… I wonder what exactly is with that gikongan then to be deemed a danger." Urahara frowned, picking a notebook from the table and starting a list of inventions presented at the story and probable uses for them.
On the schoolyard, the gikongan was stretching and testing the body he was inhabiting. He kicked through a low metal fence.
"Yeah, feels great. I finally found a mobile body. Now I'm free."
"Not ominous at all…" Gin muttered, miffed that Rangiku forbid him from speculating the story more.
A janitor noticed the gikongan then and confronted him but the soul just jumped over and past him and jumped then on the roof like it was nothing.
"Good leg strength. Is it modified somehow, because Ichigo and human bodies in general don't have capabilities like that." Isane asked.
"Maybe." Seinosuke hummed thoughtfully. "At least… we can assume so."
Over at Ichigo's classroom, lunchtime was beginning. Orihime had a whole bread and sweet bean jam with her. Chills went down Rojuro's spine again.
And the Gikongan jumped all the way up to the third floor, to the shock and astonishment of the girls inside while by the river Ichigo slayed to hollow and stated having a bad feeling.
"Y-You! How did you get up here?" Tatsuki shouted, pointing at the orange head.
"How? You saw, didn't you? I jumped. Well, wasn't that amazing? Are you surprised?"
The people in the classroom began gushing about the feat with the substitute soul preening and basking in the attention. Until he noticed the girls and their busts that was…
"Men…" Sui-Feng scoffed. "Disgusting."
The substitute soul's advances towards Orihime then would've been almost smooth if it wasn't for the fact that he had only moments before remarked her as 'super-sized'. Thankfully there was Tatsuki to the rescue. If Sui-Feng silently cheered on the karateka, it wasn't anyone's business.
Ichigo and Rukia were running.
"Why are you hurrying back to the classroom?"
"I'm worried… if he's doing okay."
"You don't have to worry, he'll be fine."
"While I'm glad that Rukia has faith in Soul Society's inventions, I'm worried if it's a bit too blind here." Ukitake thought.
"I don't know about that. I've been getting bad vibes." And screams from the classroom reached them. And desk flew through a window.
"They are going to have a bit more damage control to do this time than normal." Jin'emon stated.
In the classroom it was revealed that Tatsuki was the one throwing desks after the substitute soul had kissed her cheek.
"Stop right there!" Rukia interfered, coming through the door. And when the substitute soul tried to run to the window, Ichigo was there, blocking the exit.
"Now, there's nowhere to run."
"I wouldn't be saying so just yet…" Shinji muttered.
The substitute soul tried to attack Ichigo with kicks…
"You, I mean, me… Augh!"
"That's got to be confusing…" Rangiku frowned. To the rest of the class it looked like Ichigo was kicking the air. Confusing indeed.
The kicking continued, with Ichigo just taking on the hits. And then the substitute soul fled, jumping through the window to the third floor. He landed cleanly before dashing away.
"What?" Isshin exclaimed. "How did he survive from that?"
"He could jump all the way there so he could also jump all the way down?" Kaien suggested.
"What's going on with him?" Ichigo asked.
"He can't be…" Rukia muttered. "No, there's so mistake… he's a… Kaizou konpaku!"
"Kaizou konpaku? What is that?" Isane asked.
"Probably a version of a konpaku that was developed in the future." Nanao replied and frowned then. "But according to Rukia-san's reaction, they are not… expected."
Ichigo followed through the window while Rukia ran out of the classroom, leaving their classmates in the confusion and Tatsuki still stewing in rage.
"That wasn't Kurosaki-kun." Orihime stated then.
"She did seem to pay attention to the space where Ichigo was after being kicked away by his body… Maybe she was sensing something." Yoruichi suggested.
Ichigo and Rukia were looking for the boy's body.
"Dammit! We lost him! Lost me!"
"It's a moratorium."
"What?! This is no time for your mumbo-jumbo talk! I have to capture me, no, him! You saw it, too! The riot he caused in class. I, I mean, he used my body and took advantage of Inoue and Tatsuki and k-k-k…"
"Kissed them." Rukia supplied.
"Quita weird wording…" Mashiro snickered with Hiyori.
"And the deal he is making about kissing… What a brat." The blonde scoffed.
After Ichigo was done with his melt-down he finally asked about the Kaizou konpaku. Everyone sharpened up to hear the explanation.
"Once, a project called 'Spearhead' was begun in the Soul Society."
"Spearhead?"
"Yes. A soul that has been modified for combat was placed into a person who had died and whose soul had left its body. They were to be used to fight Hollows. It was a despicable plan. These souls that were transformed for this project once placed into a body, they could make one part of the body super-human… An Artificial Soul made for fighting. That is a Kaizou Konpaku, Mod Soul." Rukia explained. "But the Spearhead Project was cancelled because it would force corpses to fight."
"Horrible plan." Unohana said. "Disgracing the bodies of the deceased."
"If they had made bodies for the Mod Souls, the project might've had merit." Kyoraku thought aloud. "But I doubt gigais would be durable enough and making bodies specifically for them wouldn't be economically reasonable."
"It always comes down to money." Urahara nodded.
"But why is there a Mod Soul then? If the project was cancelled?" Rojuro asked.
"Maybe the project did start originally and first versions of the mod souls were made before the cancellation order." Sasakibe suggested.
"Perhaps." Ginrei agreed.
"Furthermore, all the Kaizou Konpaku, Mod or Modified Souls that were in the development stage, were ordered destroyed. But to think, some are still around…"
"Does that mean…" Ichigo began. "That guy was created for the convenience of Soul Society and rejected at the whim of the Soul Society?!"
"Sad but nonetheless true." Ukitake sighed. "Such decisions just have to be made.
"Exactly that." Rukia replied to the orange-head.
"And you accept that?!"
"It's not a matter of accepting or not. Mod Souls must be destroyed. That's the order of Soul Society. Do not forget that the laws of Soul Society are made for the purpose of protecting human souls!"
"I don't see how Mod Souls could be a threat to human souls if they are only used to fight hollows. I mean, even Shinigami can misfire while in battle." Gin stated.
"Yeah, and when they are not in use, they are in pill form anyways." Rangiku agreed.
"And considering their artificial nature, they wouldn't go intentionally harming people either. Scientist wouldn't give them personalities like that, right?" Isane added.
Youngsters… Many of the older Shinigami in the room though. So naïve and optimistic…
"I wonder how he feels in my body." Ichigo's thoughts echoed on the screen. "They were created thoughtlessly and condemned thoughtlessly. But he survived somehow and found a body… Yet he has to keep running. I wonder what he's feeling?"
Well, the Mod Soul was having fun and bouncing around. Experiencing the joy of having a body and moving freely. He landed near some boys playing a game.
"Darn! Lost again! Fight! Who do you think created you?"
"Kill him off!"
"Yeah, those who don't obey their masters… die!"
"You really deleted him!"
"So what? I'll make a better one."
"He's going to snap…" Kaien muttered.
But before the Mod Soul managed to attack the kids, Ichigo interfered. The episode ended in a stand-off.
"Phew that was intense!" Asagi sighed.
"Kurosaki got quite the beating in the classroom." Kanzo-iro added. "I'm glad I avoided that."
"And at our world, I was there doing damage control."
"Through having Tatsuki distract the entire class. And then manipulating teacher with your model-student act."
"Of course! And I got Shinbashi-san to keep an eye on your body so you reached him faster."
"Overall, we handled the thing much more efficiently."
"And let's play the next episode!"
The crew of Urahara Shoten were prepared to battle.
"Well, I guess that's it." Kisuke stated about a bandage wrapped thing. Ururu approached him.
"Ano… Kisuke-san… I'm sorry… This is all my fault…"
Some women aww'ed at the little girl.
"You're angry… aren't you?"
"Kisuke… You better not…" Yoruichi warned.
"Of course I'm not angry at her! It was an honest mistake and my future self should've placed damaged goods out of reach so they wouldn't be even accidentally sold to customers!" Urahara exclaimed in indignation.
On screen, Kisuke smiled and reached to pat Ururu's head. The girl flinched, the timid thing she was, but looked up at him them.
"Not at all. Why are you getting so scared? We're in this together, aren't we? Don't worry. I'll take care of everything." Kisuke reassured the girl and comforted the girl when she began crying.
"Tenchou, everything is ready." Tessai announced.
"All right. Shall we go to collect our merchandise then?"
"Yes." Tessai nodded.
"Okay!" Jinta declared, hefting up his heavy bat. Ururu in the other hand took the bandaged thing, seemingly easily lifting it up.
At the yard of the middle school, Ichigo and Mod Soul were having a stand-off as Rukia arrived to the scene. Mod Soul attacked Ichigo again with kicks but the Shinigami substitute dodged them.
"If I stay calm, I can easily read your moves!" They continued fighting until the Mod Soul fled. Ichigo was about the follow him but Rukia informed the boy about a new hollow.
"Dammit. That Shinigami and those kids ruined my good mood…" The Mod Soul thought while running. He paused then. "A Hollow! I sense a hollow… It's around where I was… Is it going to attack those kids?"
"He actually cares?" Byakuya asked. "But wasn't he just going to attack them himself?"
The kids from before were cleaning up after being caught cutting class. The hollow approached them. Meanwhile Rukia's Denreishinki was malfunctioning.
"Just what is with the stuff from your shop and not working?" Yoruichi asked Urahara.
"Umm… I think that denreishinki was actually assigned to Kuchiki-san before she left for the world of living."
The hollow attacked the kids but the Mod Soul interfered. And then attacked the hollow he'd downed with one kick.
"If it wasn't obvious before, then now it is clear to see where the strength of this Mod Soul is." Jin'emon said.
The kids ran away and the Mod Soul baited the hollow to follow him. Ichigo and Rukia spotted him landing on a roof of one of the buildings.
Up on the roof, the hollow began attacking the Mod Soul in earnest, the other just barely dodging. Until Ichigo came to his help.
"Y-You… Why… are you helping me-…?" But Ichigo interrupted the questioning by grabbing the front of his shirt.
"You! You're hurt! Whose body do you think this is?! If a two-bit one like this can bloody you up this bad, don't even think about fighting!"
"What do you mean?! I had to fight it because you took so long getting here!"
"Shut up! You're supposed to be a battle-ready Mod Soul!" They argued while the hollow geared up for an attack.
"Idiots, eyes on the enemy." Sui-Feng hissed. The hollow charged.
"Shut up!" The two shouted whilst attacking back with a slice of a sword and kick in the mask.
"They could become quite the team…" Love mused. "They already have the synchronization in place."
The hollow squirmed and began falling off the roof. The Mod Soul ran after it. The orange-headed body kicked it upwards in order to dissolve and was then falling down himself but Ichigo caught him by the ankle.
"You idiot! How reckless can you be?! Once you crack its head, the Hollow will disappear on its own! And you had to go kick it again…" Ichigo lectured but then the voices of the trio of boys and their teacher reached them.
"Why does he care?" Byakuya frowned. He couldn't understand it. That Mod Soul was made for battle. It was an artificial being. Why did he care?
"Didn't you hate them?" Ichigo asked the Mod Soul when they were both safely on the roof.
"So what? If I didn't help then, they would've been killed." Came the answer. "And I won't let anyone get killed. Soon after I was created, Soul Society ordered all Mod Souls to be destroyed. In other words, my date of death was determined the day after I was created. I… I trembled in fear everyday, inside that pill as I watched the others around me disappear, day by day."
On the background green pills were floating through orange liquid.
"Even though I was able to slip out of the warehouse by hiding among other pills, I was always afraid that I would someday be discovered and destroyed. All the while, I wondered: Why should others determine my fate? Why? Why can't I decide for myself?! Isn't it up to me whether I live or die?!"
"If you are in the service of Gotei 13, then your life and death both belong to Soul Society." Chikane stated somberly. "While the Mod Soul's view is understandable, it doesn't change that fact."
"But there is a difference between a soldier and a tool." Sojun noted. "We are soldiers and we follow orders. But Mod Souls were created to be tools, to be disposed of when they are of no use anymore or to be stored for later use. They weren't created to have life outside battlefield and that's what makes his desperation more understandable and real."
Urahara glanced at the noble but remained quiet as his thoughts wandered to the Maggots Nest and people there who's fate had been decided by Soul Society even before they had a chance to do anything to warrant persecution. It wasn't fair. A lot of things in Soul Society were wrong.
"That's why… That's why I… won't kill anyone… And I don't want to see anyone killed."
"It is a good creed. For a civilian." Seinosuke remarked.
"Oh my… Here I finally found you and you're all battered up." Kisuke spoke up behind the two. "Looks like all the equipment we prepared was for nothing." Then he proceeded to poke through the head of Ichigo's body with his cane.
"Brutal…" Lisa hummed. "If it weren't for that symbol from Gokon Tekkou."
"What's with the cane?" Hiyori sneered.
"Hmm… We shall see, won't we?" Urahara hummed, tapping his chin with a finger. He had a good idea what the cane actually was, considering the cut near the handle. But he wouldn't say. Concealed weapons were such a handy thing.
On screen the green pill containing the Mod Soul came out at the back of Ichigo's body's head and rolled on the roof. The body fell on the ground, eye empty.
"Head damage…" Unohana tutted. Urahara sweated. Isshin chuckled.
"Collection completed. Let's go home everyone." Kisuke hummed, picking up the pill. The rest of Shoten crew were on the background.
"What?!" Jinta protested. "But I thought I'd finally be able to fight it out, after all this time."
"Definitely division Eleven material…" Shinji deadpanned.
"Wait a minute! What are you going to do with that?" Ichigo asked then.
"Do with it?" Kisuke questioned. "Destroy it."
There were some raised eyebrows at the statement but no one commented.
"Y-You can see me? Who are you guys?"
"Well, how can I answer that?" Kisuke mused, tossing the pill up and down. Rukia caught it.
"A greedy merchant." She answered Ichigo.
"Hey, you can't take that!"
"What's this, Urahara? Do you take back goods you've sold to people without giving them a refund?"
"Oh, well, I guess I'll refund you then."
"That's not necessary. I'm satisfied with this item. Besides, you guys work outside the laws of Soul Society. You're not really obligated to collect these things, are you?"
"I don't know if I should be impressed by her ability to exploit a loophole like that or dismayed that she is disregarding the orders concerning Mod Souls." Sojun sighed.
"I'm more interested to find out why the hell Kisuke and Tessai are working outside the laws of Soul Society." Yoruichi growled. "They are obviously still in contact with us since they get deliveries for Shinigami but why are they practically outlaws there?"
"Maa, Yoruichi-san, I think 'outlaw' is a bit of a stretch at this point…" Urahara pointed out but got a glare as a thanks.
"Don't give me that, Kisuke. Something in the future is obviously going wrong and badly. Isshin is there, playing human, you and Tessai are there, known but not required to obey laws anymore. Do you know what that means? Exile! You two have been exiled for a reason or other so don't tell me to calm down!"
"Don't blame me if you run into trouble. We're going to be hiding out." Kisuke replied to Rukia. Yoruichi's 'like I just said'-glare didn't help the situation.
"Don't worry. I've gotten used to trouble lately." And she and Ichigo left the roof.
Ichigo and Rukia were wandering about streets. Sun was setting. Ichigo cringed at the wound on his shoulder.
"Hm? What's the matter Ichigo?"
"Man… Abusing my body, knowing it wasn't his…" The boy dug out the green pill from his pocket. "Hey, I'm talking to you! Are you listening?!"
"You must look very strange to outsiders." Rukia sighed.
"I don't like it! Rukia, what do I do to complain to him directly?"
"Hm? Well, you'd need to insert it into a body without a soul – in other words, a dead body."
And they began looking for a dead body.
"Technically, it wouldn't need to be a dead body…" Urahara mused. "A gigai or otherwise movable container would suffice as well…"
"The konpaku testing is done with reigai, right? Those are the spiritual equivalent of a gigai but don't classify as 'dead' either." Yoruichi added. Her former subordinate nodded.
After sitting by a road and stalking for a hit-and-run cat or something similar, Ichigo happened to spot a lion plushie thrown away.
"This is… Hey, in other word, all I need is a receptacle, right?" Ichigo asked.
"Huh? Yes, but that's not…" Rukia began but paused. "Oh, but this body I'm in isn't a real body either."
"Rukia!"
"O-Okay, let's give it a try."
And the lion plushie came to life.
"That's so bizarre." Lisa remarked.
"It moves. How can it move if it's only stuffing?" Nanao wondered. "No muscles or bones…"
"And the expressions." Rangiku continued.
"You! Kurosaki Ichigo! I challenge you again!" The plushie postured. "Huh, what? Y-You're huge! No, I'm small! What's going on?!"
"Hey, you Mod Soul. I don't think our discussion was over. I'm going to take real good care of you! Prepare yourself!"
"He's pissed." Gin said flatly before grinning. "I wonder how Ichi-kun will make the Mod Soul suffer."
"You are being creepy again, Gin." Rangiku told him.
Next day dawned. The Mod Soul woke Ichigo up. And was being extremelly irritating.
"No different than some unseated officers. Equally irritating." Jin'emon observed.
Ichigo tossed the plushie away.
"Yammering away first thing in the morning… I told you to shut up and act like a stuffed animal, didn't I, Kon?!"
"Why the heck are you calling me Kon?!"
"You don't think…" Love snickered behind his hand.
"Oh, yes he did…" Shinji grinned.
"It's hard to call you Kaizou Konpaku. Kon's good enough for you."
"That's no reason for you to call me Kon! Doesn't it sound sort of silly? I know! Why don't you call me Kai instead? I like Kai. Call me Kai."
"Please don't!" Kaien moaned to the amusement of his captain.
"No way."
"Why not?!"
"Because Kai sounds kinda cool. I wouldn't like it."
"Thank you…"
"What's all this racket so early in the morning? I can't even take my time to change clothes…" Rukia interrupted, stepping out of the closet she resided in. And stepped on Kon who had now the direct view to her panties.
"N-Nice angle… I'm glad I'm a stuffed animal…"
This time both Byakuya and Sui-Feng were steaming in anger towards the plushie with the rest of the ladies (bar Yoruichi) not far behind.
Rukia proceeded on stomping on the plushie much to his protests but it all ended when Yuzu stepped into the room with next to no warning. And found Ichigo awkwardly holding the door of his closet close.
"I wonder how many close calls they had." Rojuro chuckled.
"What are you doing so early in the morning?" Ichigo asked his little sister.
"It's not early anymore. Kojima-kun and Asano-kun are waiting for you." Yuzu pointed out.
Noting the time, Ichigo began hastily change clothes. As he did so, he noted that no one for his class remembered the events of the previous day.
"Say… You erased the memories of my classmates again, didn't you?" He asked Rukia once Yuzu had left.
"Of course. You wouldn't want them to remember what happened yesterday, would you? Urahara helped. He owed for the Mod Soul anyways and Kon's actions had quite the few witnesses."
"I see." Ichigo went to put on his watch but noticed the date in it. June 16th.
"Ichigo, I'm going on ahead." Rukia announced, about to exit through the window.
"Weren't those two boys just outside his window?" Seinosuke asked. "Did they leave?"
"Doesn't matter if they were or weren't, it's in broad daylight. Anyone can see Kuchiki exiting." Lisa stated. "I'm surprised there aren't more rumours about them going around their school."
"Ichigo? What's wrong?"
"Nothing…"
"Something is definitely at his mind. I wonder if this is the prelude to the next case." Kaien observed.
"Maybe. It would certainly break the routine of the cases shown thus far." Ukitake agreed.
"Which means we are probably getting a cliffhanger at the end of this episode!" Kyoraku declared.
The scene was at school now. The girls discussing art projects. 'Me in the Future'
"Tatsuki-chan is quite talented."
"Orihime-chan is certainly unique."
"But went off completely of the given topic." Mashiro drew Isane into the conversation.
On the background, a black-haired boy was embroidering some flowers to a cloth. Ichigo came to the classroom.
"Good morning, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime greeted the boy.
"Huh? Oh… Good morning, Inoue!" Ichigo greeted back with a forced smile. Tatsuki blinked at the action.
"That was fake." Kaien said flatly. "I wonder what's going on with him."
"Maybe it had something to do with the date on his watch." Kyoraku suggested. "He became oddly quiet after seeing it."
"What's with him? Kurosaki-kun sure is in a good mood today." Ogawa Michiru asked. "Isn't he, Orihime? Huh? Orihime?"
"Mmm… But…" The busty girl nodded.
"Michiru, what's the date today?" Tatsuki asked.
"Huh? It's June 16th…"
"I see… He's not in a good mood. He acts like that when he's really tense." The karateka explained.
"So we were right…" Kaien muttered. "Now we only need to know the reason…"
"Tatsuki-chan…"
"Don't worry. I know the reason why. Tomorrow, he's going to skip school."
Night-time. Kurosaki clinic. Family meeting in the kitchen. Isshin messing around, Karin complaining, Yuzu going along with the silliness, Ichigo just watching with a smile.
"That shirt is ridiculous." Sui-Feng muttered at the pink monstrosity that Isshin was wearing on-screen.
"It was surprisingly like Shiba family meetings." Isshin just grinned. "A bit tamer. Must be the calming temperament of beautiful Masaki."
"You haven't even met her yet!" Kaien tossed a pillow at the man.
Up in Ichigo's room, Rukia questioned the boy.
"It looked like fun."
"What was?"
"What? The family meeting you had, of course. So, what? Are you playing hooky from school and going on a picnic tomorrow?" She asked in excitement.
Kon's interference was minimal and once he was shut up, the gathered Shinigami waited patiently for an explanation.
"Say, Rukia… About my work as a shinigami… Can I take the day off tomorrow?" Ichigo asked, gaining some raised eyebrows.
"Wha… What are you saying?! Of course you can't! What's going on with you?!" Rukia shouted, getting approving nods in turn. "You've been acting strange since this morning."
"It's the day she died… Tomorrow's the anniversary of the day my mother died." Ichigo said, looking out of the window. "That's not quite right… To be precise, it's not the day she died… It's the day she was killed."
"That's…" Rangiku whispered.
"That's so sad…" Nanao mumbled.
"Do you think it was a hollow?" Isane asked Mashiro who shrugged.
"Maybe. I could be the center of the next case." The green-haired lieutenant said.
Clouds moved to cover the moon. Water droplets fell to the concrete. Karakura's lights shone in the night. Orihime was going through the previous day in her mind.
"If… If I were the rain, would I be able to connect with someone's heart, the way the rain connects the never intersecting sky and earth?"
"Beautiful thought." Unohana said as the scene turned back to Ichigo who was now lying on his bed. The scene zoomed in on his face until the scene changed again. This time to a fuzzy image of a rainy riverside.
Young Ichigo was walking with a woman, presumably his mother and noticed someone standing by the river. The girl by the river seemed to lean in. Ichigo began running.
The scene flashed to teenage Ichigo, unrestful for witnessing the memory.
Young Ichigo was running. Masaki – for her face was finally seen – shouted something after him. The girl was still there until everything blurred and Masaki was on the ground with Ichigo trying to make her wake up.
"There is a blank spot." Love said. "Anything could've happened between those to scenes."
"A hollow is likely." Jin'emon agreed.
On screen Rukia listened to Ichigo until the scene changed to something in Soul Society. Children were playing with tops in a bowl with a Shinigami being into the game too. Apparently, he was the competing against the children with his own top. Small scale gambling. The shinigami's top lost.
"Aww, shucks… Okay, one more time. I won't lose this time." He smiled to the kids but noticed then a black-clad figure in the alleyway.
"Onmitsukidou? Don't tell me they're sending one after Rukia!" Kaien stared.
"If she is breaking orders, it is possible. Kisuke did warn the girl." Yoruichi pointed out.
"What's the matter, ojisan?" One of the children asked.
"Sorry, something just came up."
"Aww, no…"
But the man gave some candy for the kids who left laughing. He in the other hand met the shadowy figure in a shadowy alley.
"So, who is it today?"
"Kuchiki Rukia of the Division Thirteen."
"So she is my subordinate then." Ukitake said. "She seemed like competent girl."
"Kuchiki?" The Shinigami asked. "And what has that young lady done?"
"She has stayed too long in the human world."
"Is that all?"
"We wouldn't call you out if that were all. There's something behind it. Find out what it is."
"I can be a little rough, I take it?"
"Leave at once." And the Onmi messenger left.
"That Kuchiki Rukia…"
The episode ended.
"The consequences have started to appear then." Kyoraku mused.
"I hope that Shinigami won't hurt Rukia-san too badly." Kaien said. "I'd hate for my subordinate to get hurt."
"Isn't it strange though that she didn't note Ichigo's similarity to you then?" Ukitake said. "If she were in other division, she might not know what you look like but since is in the Thirteeth…"
"True… But if she thinks Ichigo as a mere human and he is mainly scowls all the time, she might be ignoring it."
"It's late." Yamamoto announced then, getting on his feet. "Considering the excitement we have had today and the revelations presented to us in such a short time, I think it is prudent for us to turn in for now and process everything."
Some Shinigami jolted.
"Damn, he was so quiet the entire time I forgot he even was here…" Hiyori muttered quietly, her voice getting drowned under the noise of people getting up and leaving the room.
"Men's quarters are on the left and women's on the right. There are different sized rooms in there with futons stacked." Asagi began explaining. "Rooms are soundproofed so no snores will disturb your neighbours."
"Good night. Some evening snack in prepared in the dinner hall." Kanzo-iro added.
A/N: I really need a cohesive way of calling the audience... Especially when in the future there will be both on-screen versions of them too.
Once again, I've added some manga parts in this and... wow, the first confrontation between Ichigo and the Mod Soul in the classroom was dragged out in the anime. Seriously, in the manga the Mod Soul just escaped through the window past Ichigo.
By the way, I made a miscalculation in how far in the past the audience is from. It's hundred and four years, not ninety-four like I stated in a previous chapter. My apologies.
Replies to reviews (and damn, there is a lot of them here):
-BichinhodeGoiab:
Umm... Thank you very much for your review but unfortunately I have no idea what you are saying.
-ultima-owner:
Ah, yes, you're right! Why didn't I remember this?
-Rayvanhur:
True. When I was writing this chapter, it was sometimes very tiring to write. So if I can spare myself a bit while getting to write interesting parts, I'm pretty likely to just skip stuff.
The first shock of Urahara is over, the chain of fate int he other hand... Hoo boy.
Umm... Not really. I have to get there first. And considering the amount of chapters... 300+ well. This is sort of eternity project.
-Guest:
Thank you.
-Mirae:
Thank you! I'll try to update as often as possible but I have school and other projects too.
-Bleach power:
Yeah. I think a lot of shit is going to hit the fan eventually. Especially with the more impressionable younger generation there too.
Uryu isn't quite yet even though he made an appearance in the episode here.
-Morrowing:
I haven't found any others either. Like I said in an early author's note. Hyogoku ex Machina comes close but that's more of a time-travel fix it than anything else.
I understand that you don't care much for Asagi and Kanzo-iro. I just rather have interracting hosts than 'mysterious invisible force' to organize this thing.
I'm glad to hear that everyone have stayed in character. I mostly write without thinking much and when I happen to read meta other people have written, I start wondering if my characterations are working.
-animeloverhomura:
Thank you very much! I try my best on continuing this.
I won't be adding the Quincy Arc. It's too far away. I will, howerer, somehow find a way to include Anything But The Rain (i.e. Masaki and Isshin meeting). Not for a while though.
I will have zanpakuto, shunsuke amagai and reigai fillers eventually but for now we'll have this arc and SS arc for a long time. :)
Urahara is amazing. And the betrayal scene will be interesting considering all the plot twists leading up to it.
-DullReign82:
Thank you, glad to have you here.
-Bleaguest:
Yes, I'm constantly struggling with it, you can clearly see here how much I skipped or glossed over of the filling stuff in these two episodes.
Well, I thought about it. But in the end I decided that the shinigami are more interested in the story itself. And the technology in Seireitei is a bit mix and match of different era's so there must be things that already exist for the shinigami. Additionally there is the Shinigami arrogance that is not interested in what human's are up to. I just decided to highlight the straw thing because it is in a after-episode omake too.
-vanillaemo:
Thank you!
Probably something like that will happen indeed. She will most likely be gushing about him even before discovering her own lieutenant status.
()
Next is the June 17th mess. *groan* This will take a while.