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"Rukia" – Normal Speech
'Ichigo' – Thoughts
*Kaien-dono* - Zanpakutō speech/thoughts
"Bankai!" – Spiritual Technique
Chapter 10: Ryoka vs. Baboon
With Renji
Abarai Renji stiffened as he heard the echoes of explosions – Kidō explosions - coming from behind him, which was odd. The only thing behind him was the Repentance Cell where Rukia was being held and it was being guarded by Lieutenant Hinamori and Lieutenant Hisagi. No way could the Ryoka handle one Lieutenant, let alone two.
'Especially since the unruly mass of Reiatsu unleashed by that human boy is coming right this way, from the front.' He thought derisively.
All Soul Reapers were taught at the Academy to curtail and restrict their Reiryoku, only condensing and unleashing it as Reiatsu during a serious fight. To not do so was the equivalent of throwing a gauntlet down and shouting 'Who wants some!?' at the top of your voice. The fact this kid hadn't graduated from the Shinōreijutsuin was something that Renji conveniently skipped over in his ire at Ichigo.
Kurosaki Ichigo. The boy's name writhed and gnawed at Renji's mind, had done ever since he visited Rukia in the cells in the Squad Six barracks. She had lambasted him angrily for trying to kill the boy, as if he, her oldest friend, meant less to her than some human brat who had stolen her powers!
Deep down, in a place he didn't acknowledge, a dark voice whispered that he wasn't really her friend. Soul Reapers may live for centuries, but even then, they didn't stop talking to their friends for forty years and expect to still be friends when they arrest her and try to kill someone who is obviously a friend of hers.
He ignored that voice.
Renji started down the stairs and raised his visor. Standing at the bottom of the steps was the Ryoka boy, hair as gaudily coloured as ever. Standing with him were some odd people. One was dressed in bright white clothes that make him want to wince just from looking at them. Ah, the Quincy boy.
Standing at the rear was a chick with strawberry-blond hair ample assets. Renji automatically compared her to Matsumoto and shuddered before moving on. Standing next to her was a giant of a man, although not as big as Captain Komamura. The last two were less odd than the rest. One wore some kind of funky green outfit and looked as if he was about to piss himself, while the other was a wimpy-looking Soul Reaper from the Fourth Division that Renji recalled from the Sixth Division barracks.
Why was he with the Ryoka? Was he a prisoner? Renji observed the group dynamic and concluded that no, he was not. They were not wary of him at all. Even a member of the Fourth Division would be looked upon with suspicion and wariness by his or her captors.
'A traitor then.' Renji thought, a flicker of anger rushing through his veins. He despised those who betrayed others, like what had happened a couple of times back in Inuzuri. Those who betrayed the Seireitei, betrayed the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, deserved even less mercy than the first sort of betrayers.
His left hand rested on the hilt of his Zanpakutō as he reached the bottom of the stairs and pushed his visor up with his other hand.
"Long time no see, human boy!" he greeted the carrot-top.
Ichigo POV
Ichigo glared at the man who had almost killed him and Ishida back in Karakura Town. Rukia's…what, friend? She had spoken to him with a great deal of familiarity, tinged with fear, when she had been taken.
"Stand aside…Abarai Renji, isn't it?" Ichigo barked, his hand gripping the hilt of the Zanpakutō slung over his shoulder, "We're here to save Rukia!"
"Arrogant much, brat?" the red-haired Lieutenant scoffed, "You're up against the full strength of the Goteijūsantai, stupid human. You don't stand a chance!"
"Izzat so?" the orange-haired boy said cockily, "Then why is it that we've curb-stomped everyone we've faced so far? Half of...who were they again? Ah, right. Squad Eleven. Half of them are embedded in the walls and floor of this oversized playpen of yours."
"Idiot!" Ganju whisper-screamed in his ear, "This is a Lieutenant! A Lieutenant! We can't win against him!"
"YOU can't win." Ichigo corrected him, "I can win and I intend to win."
Pulling his sword from his back, Ichigo pointed his cleaver-like blade at Renji.
"Last chance Renji. Stand aside or I'll make you get out of the way!" Ichigo told him unrelentingly.
Uryū adjusted his glasses with one thin finger. "WE will make him stand aside, Kurosaki. I have an axe to grind against this Soul Reaper as well, if you will recall?"
"Tch. One or both of you, it's irrelevant." Renji sneered as he drew his own sword, "That thuggish idiot speaks the truth. A Lieutenant like me is in a completely different class than the Unseated Soul Reapers or even the Seated Officers that you cut through on your way here."
"He's right, Ichigo." Chad rumbled, "Kokken-sensei told Orihime and me that Lieutenants are at least twice as strong as a 3rd Seat. Let me help you as well."
"The more the merrier!" Ichigo grinned savagely. Chad nodded and his armour appeared on his arm. The Mexican youth took a ready stance next to his friend.
"'Kokken-sensei'?" Renji scoffed, "I dunno who that masked woman is, but she got that slightly wrong. For an average Lieutenant, it would be the case, but I'm not an average Lieutenant! I'm the second strongest Lieutenant in the entire Seireitei! You don't stand a chance!"
"Orihime, take Ganju and Hanatarō and put up your Santen Kesshun." Ichigo told the pacifistic girl, "We'll handle Pineapple Head here."
The ditsy girl nodded and backed up, dragging the other two with her before silently putting up her triangular shield.
'What the heck? Is that some kind of Kidō?' Renji thought in astonishment as he saw this, 'Not only have I never seen it before, she performed it Eishōhaki!'
Being able to perform the spells of the demon way without chanting their incantations AND without a loss in power was a major thing in the Goteijūsantai. Most of the savvy and intuitive kidō users were usually snatched up immediately after graduation by the Kidō Corps. A few slipped through into the squads, such as Hinamori Momo, but they were few and far between, most preferring to use the abilities of their Zanpakutō to the long and unwieldy chants of kidō.
"Eye forward, Renji!" Ichigo shouted as he charged forward and cut at the redhead vertically. Renji's reflexes as a swordsman moved his body automatically, parrying the blow with ease.
A burst of Reiatsu exploded off the clashing blades as their wielders fought each other blade to blade and face to face. Renji was taken aback by the difference in Ichigo from the last time they had crossed blades. Last time, the human boy had spewed Reiatsu all over the place when he attacked, but now most of it was loaded into his sword, an amount that Renji was too surprised to match!
With a wordless roar, the redhead drove Renji back, still locked blade to blade with him, and slammed him into the wall with a loud 'crack' as the stone shattered from the impact.
"He…he pushed back a Lieutenant!" Ganju exclaimed in shock.
"Heh…not bad, kid." Renji snarked, "My turn now!"
The Reiatsu from Renji jumped up tremendously and Ichigo's eyes widened as he was forced back.
"What? Did you think what I faced you with in the World of the Living was all I had?" sneered the Lieutenant as he threw Ichigo back about a meter, "I had seventy percent of my Reiryoku sealed while there! Here, in the Soul Society, I'm at full power…and as far beyond you as you are to an ordinary Hollow! Now…Hoero, Zabimaru! (Howl, Snake Tail!)"
With those last two words, the blade of the Lieutenant's Zanpakutō glowed bright red and shifted form into a large blade, segmented into six sections. Ichigo grimaced as he remembered the last time he felt the bite of that blade.
"So he's using his Shikai, is he?" Ishida muttered, "It appears quite unwieldy."
"It isn't. Trust me on that." Ichigo said grimly, "It's a chain-whip sword that can extend pretty far and the blades on it can cause some pretty severe damage. I know from experience."
"Caution? From you, Kurosaki?" the Quincy scoffed, "Miracles will never cease to amaze."
The bespectacled boy flourished his right arm and activated the Sanrei Glove, the top and bottom protrusions extending up into a bow.
"Ohhh, that looks intimidating…not!" Renji sneered, "Eat this! Hoero!"
The redhead lashed out with Zabimaru, the multi-sectioned blade-whip scything out to strike out at the three Ryoka. Both Chad and Ishida vanished using Paso del Viento and Hirenkyaku, with Ichigo blocking with his own blade.
"El Directo!" Chad shouted from his new position in the air, sending a blast of spiritual energy at the Lieutenant, who hastily retracted Zabimaru and vanished in a Shunpo in order to avoid the blast.
Ishida snorted and turned to a seemingly random direction and fired five arrows in rapid succession. The look of astonishment, swiftly followed by pain, on Renji's face as all five Reishi arrows slammed into his off-arm as soon as he appeared.
"Your Shunpo is an impressive technique, but for a Quincy, it is obvious that you rarely use it in combat or even practice it." The boy stated with a superior smirk, "This is proven by how easy it was for me to track you. Of course, we Quincy have far superior Reiryoku sensing abilities than you Soul Reapers have, so I had the advantage the entire time."
Renji flexed his arm with a wince. The arrows had done some damage because he hadn't been focussed on protecting his body with his Reiatsu as he had used his Shunpo. Not a mistake he'd be making again. Still, the wounds already present would limit him somewhat and make attacking slightly more awkward.
"Lucky shot Quincy." He sneered, "I'll just keep my Reiatsu up so you can't hurt me anymore with your little arrows!"
Ishida merely arced an eyebrow at him. "Do you believe you are the only one who can use their Reiatsu to improve their abilities? Don't be naïve."
Before Renji could retort, Ichigo charged in again and started attacking him with his Zanpakutō.
"How the hell did you keep Rukia's powers, boy?!" Renji shouted as they locked blades yet again, "Kuchiki-taichō's Senka should have removed them and sealed your powers!"
"Yeah, they did and it did!" Ichigo grunted as he parried a blow from the blade-whip before stabbing out with his own weapon, "Turns out I have Soul Reaper powers of my own! These are MY powers now, not Rukia's!"
"Just how stupid do you think I am, kid?!" Renji jeered as he lashed out a third time with his whip-sword, "A human born with the power of a Soul Reaper? Pull the other one, it has bells on it!"
Before Ichigo or anyone else could say anything, a scream was heard…from above them. All the combatants involuntarily looked up and their jaws dropped as Kokken Asa and Kuchiki Rukia dropped from the top of a golden cloud. Rukia was screaming as she was thrown over the masked Soul Reaper's shoulder and was still utterly powerless.
Quite nonchalantly, Kokken landed elegantly and easily before putting the petite ravenette on her own two feet.
"What the hell were you thinking, jumping off a Kinto'un from that height?!" Rukia yelled angrily, "Were you trying to kill us?!"
"Keep it down, Kuchiki-san." Kokken replied, clearly sounding amused, "I believe some people wish to say hello to you."
Turning around, Rukia froze as she saw Ichigo and the rest. Renji was frozen with disbelief at the sight of her as well. It wasn't possible!
"Rukia!" Ichigo breathed, "You're…OK?"
"Y…yeah." The girl nodded meekly before recovering from her shock and scowling at him, "Why are you here, Ichigo? Why are all of you here?!"
"You saved my sisters and got into trouble because you did." Ichigo informed her with a scowl of his own, "Like hell I'm -we're- going to let you be executed!"
When she saw the firm and unyielding expressions on the rest of her friends from the World of the Living, Rukia's eyes filled with tears before she quickly dashed them away.
Renji, at this point, exploded.
"How the hell did you beat Lieutenant Hinamori and Lieutenant Hisagi?!" he roared, pointing Zabimaru at Kokken, who looked unperturbed.
"I didn't. They simply weren't there until after I beat up the guards and got Kuchiki-san out of the Senzaikyū." Kokken shrugged indifferently, "Stealing a Kinto'un from a Shihōin Warehouse has its advantages. Nobody expects it. Anyway, we have Kuchiki-san now, so we will take our leave once Kurosaki-san, Chad-kun and Ishida-san beat you unconscious."
"Tch. What's up? Too scared to step up and do your own dirty work?" Renji taunted her, brandishing his sword threateningly.
"No, I merely have no prior grudge against you like Kurosaki-san and his friends do." Kokken replied with a shake of her head, "I don't particularly like you but nor do I have the inclination to fight you either. Wasting my strength against a Lieutenant that has a losing hand isn't a wise use of resources."
"Why you-!" Renji growled, but was cut off by Chad charging in and slamming a solid punch to his gut, sending the redhead sailing through the air and through a nearby wall.
"Focus on us instead of Kokken-sensei, Soul Reaper." Chad informed him calmly.
The Lieutenant of Squad Six spat out some blood and snarled, "Hoero!" as he lashed out with his Zanpakutō. The battle was renewed with greater vigor than before.
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Same Time
Captain's Office, Squad Five Barracks, Seireitei
Aizen Sōsuke, current captain of Squad Five, was working through the paperwork that his lofty (but not lofty enough for his desires) position entailed before pausing.
"That faint Reiryoku…" he muttered with a slight frown.
It was Kuchiki Rukia's Reiryoku…which should be impossible, as she was supposed to be locked up in the Senzaikyū until her execution via Sōkyoku. That was how his plans had been laid out, at least.
Now, it would seem, someone had quite thoroughly interfered with his plans. This was not a familiar experience for Aizen, as the Soul Society was a prime example of an ossified society, changing only when given an exceedingly strong reason to, and rarely even then. He had accounted for the personalities and habits of all the high-ranking Soul Reapers. He had recruited Ichimaru and Tōsen to his side, geniuses the pair of them. He had even slaughtered that bunch of senile reactionary old fossils that made up the Central 46.
He had watched Kurosaki Ichigo, from a distance, his entire life. The boy had no sense of tact or strategy and cared far too much for his three sisters. There was no way that he could have gotten to the Senzaikyū if he had followed his usual bullheaded and straightforward methodology.
'Could it be Shihōin Yoruichi…no.' Aizen thought as he laid his brush down on its rest, 'She and Urahara Kisuke wish to train Kurosaki Ichigo into a weapon to use against me, so she's undoubtedly waiting for the boy's Reiryoku to be stimulated by combat and the spiritually rich environment into being Captain-class so his bond with his Zanpakutō can reach the level necessary for Bankai training. Who then? Inoue Orihime, Yasutora Sado, Shiba Ganju and Ishida Uryū are all too weak and unfamiliar with the layout of the Seireitei to have broken Kuchiki out already.'
The scheming Captain paused as he recalled Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Byakuya's report about a mysterious black-masked Soul Reaper who had intervened to save Kurosaki from being killed by Abarai, a Kokken Asa if memory served.
So Urahara had introduced an unknown element into their little game, had he? Aizen knew for a fact that no Soul Reaper who had been exiled in the past three-hundred years had such a name. One of the weaker female Visored, perhaps? Not Kuna Mashiro or Sarugaki Hiyori. Yadōmaru Lisa? No, she would go and see her former captain and protégé first and there was no report of him getting beaten up by anyone but his current Lieutenant.
Not a Visored then. This left the identity of this 'Kokken Asa' person a mystery to him. Aizen felt the unfamiliar feeling of frustration boiling up inside him before he calmed down. It didn't matter who she was, only that she was mucking up his plans, which would have to be rectified.
He doubted she was someone he had met before, so it was unlikely that she was under the hypnotic effect of his Kyōka Suigetsu, which meant that if she continued to interfere, he would actually have to go out there and break the little pest himself, which he deemed beneath him.
'Time to organise my 'death' so I can move more freely.' The brown-haired man thought as he stood up and left his office, a hidden purpose in his steps.
Back with the Ryoka
Abarai Renji panted heavily, blood seeping from dozens of wounds all over his body as he faced the three Ryoka he had been fighting for the last who-knows-how-long. They were wounded in places and tired also, but he was far worse off by far.
'The Quincy has speed and accuracy with that Shunpo-like maneuver of his, the big guy has brute force and maneuverability with that odd arm and blasting ability while the kid has a shit-load of power and the willingness to use it.' He thought as he fended off another flurry of arrows, 'This is not looking good. What should I do? Retreat seems the best idea, but Kuchiki-taichō will be pissed if I come back with a bunch of wounds and no results.'
Quickly, he decided on using Shunpo to make a grab at Rukia before fleeing. While the Quincy had the irritating ability to track him, he wouldn't risk firing arrows and hitting friendlies. The big guy wasn't fast enough, though not by much and Ichigo couldn't use Shunpo at all from what he could tell.
'Now!' he thought as he vanished into the Flash Step and appeared in front of Rukia, reaching for her.
Suddenly, the sky and ground flew past him and pain blossomed on the side of his face before he crashed through another wall.
'That Kokken bitch just kicked me in the face!' he realise dimly as he smacked into another wall, cracking it, but not going through it, 'She intercepted me almost as soon as I came out of my Shunpo and hit me with a flying kick! What is she, ex-Onmitsukidō?! Still…'
As he landed on his feet, he espied the masked Soul Reaper kneeling on the ground, clutching her right foot in pain, blood seeping from her tabi socks. The difference between their Reiatsu had inflicted injury upon her…which was odd, now he came to think about it. If she was bleeding, he shouldn't have been sent flying. Had she, in the middle of kicking him, felt the first sensation of pain and automatically raised her Reiatsu to a high enough level to allow her to hurt him?!
Impossible. Simply impossible. That would mean that she was at least Lieutenant-level! The carrot-top was, but then again he was floating on a boatload of Reiryoku. He literally couldn't feel her Reiryoku or Reiatsu. It was as if she wasn't even there!
Then the top-heavy strawberry blonde gestured at Kokken and another shield appeared on the leg of the wounded woman and it was healed in a trice!
'A funky shield and now a weird healing technique?! Who is this girl?!' Renji thought in astonishment, before he felt a rising spiritual pressure appear. He looked around to see Ichigo holing his blade up, the Zanpakutō radiating an unmistakable amount of killing intent.
"ZANGETSU! (Cutting Moon!)" Ichigo roared, slicing his giant blade down and unleashing a wave of blue spiritual energy right at Renji! He raised Zabimaru to block and loaded his blade with as much Reiatsu as he dared put in just in time for the attack to strike his blade.
Zabimaru shattered into fragments so small that Renji couldn't even use them for his last ditch Higa Zekkō technique. He gaped for an instant before the attack struck him. The front of his Shihakushō was shredded, a massive wound carved onto his chest and a massive amount of blood falling to the ground.
Renji, hazy from the blood loss, dimly heard Rukia screaming his name. He looked over and saw her eyes on him, wide and afraid for him.
'Heh…as always…you care too much…Rukia…' he thought with a wet chuckle before starting forward, step by tortuous step, towards Ichigo.
"He's still able to walk after that?!" Uryū exclaimed in disbelief.
"Stand down, Renji!" Rukia begged her oldest friend, tears falling from her eyes as he stumbled forward.
"Y…You…" the redhead rasped at Ichigo, "You wanna…save her…right…? Then…" he grabbed a fistful of Ichigo's robes and thrust his face in the startled carrot topped boy's own, "Then make sure she is saved! I can't do anything to help her, not if my Captain won't help! So you make sure you save...her…"
Renji, tired and badly wounded, lost consciousness. The last thing he heard before the blackness took him was Rukia screaming his name again.
Kirika POV
She caught Renji before he could hit the ground, laid him out and started using kaidō to staunch his blood flow.
'So Abarai Renji…you and I are similar in that we couldn't go against Captain-class Soul Reapers.' Kirika thought sadly.
After a few minutes of healing she stepped back and said, "He shouldn't die from his wounds now. We must move quickly as all this combat will have drawn the attention of the Soul Reapers."
"But Renji-!" Rukia protested.
"He'll be fine." Kirika assured her, "He'll be carted off to the Fourth Squad Barracks as soon as he's found. Despite the ferocity of Kurosaki-san's attack, Abarai-san was able to reduce its effectiveness to the point that it didn't cut him in half. As was your intent, correct Kurosaki-san?"
"Uh…yeah. Sorta." Ichigo shrugged, "Figured he'd pull something outta his ass to survive and I DID throttle Zangetsu's attack so it wasn't as strong as it could have been."
"How amusing that you have a kidō-type Zanpakutō, Kurosaki-san." Kirika said in amusement, "That to one-side, let's go! To the sewers!"
Scant Minutes Later
Kira Izuru stood in shocked disbelief as medics from the Fourth Division swarmed over the beaten and bloody body of one of his fellow Lieutenants. Renji had been beaten…badly. There was a huge diagonal scar across his chest, his visor and Zanpakutō's blade had been utterly shattered and his Shihakushō was in tatters.
"Abarai-san…!" he said in almost mute horror, "Is he going to be OK?"
This last he addressed to one of the medics.
"He'll be laid up for a day or two, but he'll be fine." The man stated bracingly, "Someone, presumably one of the Ryoka, used healing kidō on him to stabilise his condition, partially sealing the wounds. It was done very well, actually."
'A Ryoka, healing someone they've just defeated?' Kira thought doubtfully, 'Was it because Renji is an old friend of Kuchiki's? Or for another reason entirely?'
"Kira-kun!" a familiar voice called out to him from behind and the blond Lieutenant turned to see Hinamori Momo coming up. She went white when she saw Renji being stretchered away.
"What happened to Renji-kun?!" she cried in distress.
"He was defeated by at least one, possibly more, of the Ryoka." Kira said with a sigh, "These people can take out one of us now? Man, this is getting strange. Why would they not try and run?"
"A masked Soul Reaper escaped with Kuchiki Rukia from the Senzaikyū not long ago." Momo said softly, "If she was right here in front of him, Renji might have pushed them to do this, but…whoever attacked him almost killed him! Do you think it was this 'Kokken Asa' person that Renji talked about?"
"The wound Renji received was from a highly concentrated and condensed burst of Reiryoku shaped into a blade, consistent with a Melee-Kidō-type Zanpakutō technique." Kira replied with a frown, "If she had skill with Kidō as he suggested, then it's possible that is reflected in her Zanpakutō. There's no proof of it though. It could just as easily been one of the other Ryoka."
Momo's face took on a determined and stubborn set. "I'm going to find the person who did this and introduce them to Tobiume!" she said tightly before vanishing in a Shunpo before Kira could stop her.
"Momo…!" Kira groaned in frustration. For someone usually so timid and submissive, Hinamori Momo could be the most headstrong, impulsive and stubborn woman in the Seireitei when her dander was up, as it evidently was. Just about the only people who could rein her in when she was in this state were Captain Aizen and Captain Hitsugaya.
"They're going to scold me for not stopping her when I could!" he moaned before his shoulders slumped.
Time to go face the music.
Chamber, Sewers, Seireitei
"So lemme get this straight," Kirika said, voice full of disbelief, "You picked up Hanatarō-san here when you tried to hold him hostage when you were being chased by Squad Eleven and that fell in because neither of you knew that those thugs in Squad Eleven hate Squad Four because none of their Zanpakutō are suitable for combat and are generally not suited for combat themselves. Things turned for the better when Chad-kun showed up and blasted them, then you decided to bring Hanatarō-san along with you and joined up with Ishida-san and Orihime-san shortly before confronting Abarai-san. Is that the gist of the situation?"
Ganju and Ichigo exchanged a look before nodding.
Kirika facepalmed. How the hell does her brother get into these messes?!
"I am speechless, Kurosaki-san." She said after a moment, "You do realise that you have placed Hanatarō-san in quite the amount of trouble? He's likely to be condemned to the Maggot's Nest after this unless Captain Unohana intercedes on his behalf."
"I-I asked to come along." The weedy-looking Soul Reaper protested, "I wanted to help Kuchiki-san."
"Hanatarō-san…" Rukia said softly, surprise in her eyes.
Kirika sighed. "Very well. May I ask what position you hold in Squad Four?"
"I'm the Co-Third Seat." He replied.
Ichigo spluttered, obviously unaware of this information. "You're the same rank as Madarame Ikkaku?!"
Rukia was equally astonished. "They make a Third Seat do custodial duties?!"
"Squad Four Really gets the shaft." Ganju said, surprisingly sympathetic for a self-proclaimed Soul Reaper Hater.
"It balances out, really." Hanatarō said with a shrug, "No one knows the Seireitei, especially the sewers, as well as Squad Four does. We also have access to almost every building in the Seireitei because we have to clean them."
"How likely is it that the other Squads will think to include members of Squad Four as guides if they come down here?" Kirika asked.
"Not going to happen." The Third Seat stated firmly with a shake of his head, "For one, Unohana-taichō would never let us do it and no one wants to be on her bad side. For another, it wouldn't occur to the other Squads to ask us for help. We're viewed as being useless for anything but healing, cleaning and repairing, so the possibility of us being useful elsewhere is nigh-zero to the rest of the Goteijūsantai."
Kirika nodded with a grimace. Kaien had made Unohana irked with him once and the memory of her mild disapproval gave her severe chills. That woman scared the crap out of her!
"All to the good. How close to the gates do the sewers go?" she asked him.
"Not very close, I'm afraid." Hanatarō replied apologetically, "The outer area of the Seireitei closest to the wall is made up of sacrificial buildings that are quick and east to turn into death traps and bunkers in case of a mass assault."
"I am rather surprised to hear that the Seireitei doesn't rely solely on the walls and barrier for protection." Kirika commented.
"The Captain-Commander has had two millennia to design and build the Seireitei to resist external assault." Yoruichi's male voice said as the werecat trotted up, surprising the group, especially Rukia and Hanatarō.
"Yoruichi-sensei. What's the situation on the surface?" Kirika asked as the two new members of the group gaped at the talking cat.
"Well, you've certainly kicked over a hornet's nest." Her favourite sensei replied in a drawl, "From what I hear, the Captain-Commander has authorised the Onmitsukidō to locate us and pass that information to the other Squads. Kuchiki Byakuya is also storming around in irritation as well."
Rukia flinched at that.
"Sensei, I believe that the time for your current form is at an end." Kirika said solemnly.
"I agree." Yoruichi nodded, "See you in a bit."
She and Kirika went off for a moment and when they came back, they were all astonished to see Yoruichi's true form as a woman, wearing her usual clothes.
"You're a girl?!" Ichigo yelped in shock.
"I'll let that one pass as I do have a fairly deep voice in my cat form." The Shihōin Princess said flatly, giving Ichigo a look, "The name's Shihōin Yoruichi, Kokken Asa's teacher. Nice to meet you for real this time."
"Y-You were exiled a hundred years ago!" Rukia squeaked, eyes wide.
"Yeah, but that isn't important right now." The exiled Soul Reaper flapped a hand at the girl they had come to save impatiently, "What is important is getting you out of the Seireitei. Ideas?"
"Divide to conquer." Kirika suggested, "Chad-kun, Kurosaki-san and myself go out and cause havoc in the Seireitei while Ishida-san, Orihime-san, Ganju and Hanatarō-san get Kuchiki-san out of here."
"Needs some work, Asa-chan." Yoruichi said, "We can't just charge at the gates and open them up. Only the Gatekeepers have the physical strength to open them and they are made of Sekkiseki, so using kidō is out."
"Shame Jidanbō-san had to go into hiding or we could have left via the Hakutōmon." Orihime remarked.
"Shouldn't we move somewhere else?" Ishida asked, "Kurosaki's uncontrolled Reiryoku must be like a beacon."
"Not really." Yoruichi disagreed, "A little-known side-effect of the barrier around the Seireitei is that below ground, the spiritual emanations of Reiryoku and Reiatsu are almost impossible to track unless you're within a few meters of each other. Captain Kyōraku sometimes comes down here to hide from his Lieutenant and have some sake."
Kirika stiffened and held her hand up, gesturing for silence. The sound of echoing steps came in the lull. Soundlessly, the masked girl drew her sword and moved in between the group and the direction of the footsteps. Feeling for the approaching target's Reiryoku, she smiled.
"Hello there, Peach-chan." She greeted the petite Lieutenant of Squad Five, "Nice to see you again."
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Next Chapter: Hajike, Tobiume!
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