Here it is, the start of a whole new arc after a short little break. Updates will be every Wednesday, now, and I hope you can all enjoy.

I should preface this by saying that Bleach has a massive amount of characters with countless subplots and backstories. I will not get to all of them for the sake of time and for the sake of not retreading old ground. I kind of assume you all have a decent knowledge of the series, and that if you ever feel lost you can all go and take a refresher by looking over some of Kubo's lovely work.

If something is glossed over or skipped entirely and never contradicted, assume it happened just like it did in the manga/anime. In case y'all forgot: SPOILER WARNING.

With that, we can continue.


Part I

Rukia wasn't a terribly heavy sleeper, and honestly, she didn't quite know why. All she knew was that from the time she was a little kid she could always get woken up by the tiniest of noises. She supposed this had its benefits. For example, getting up in the morning was usually pretty easy for her, even if her wakeup calls often included Paku's whining and the mutterings of the dead.

This meant that the second Yoruichi slunk into her temporary room, her eyes snapped open, sleep leaving them in a matter of seconds.

"Rise and shine," Yoruichi said with a smirk. Rukia let out a sound halfway between a sigh and a groan.

"Morning," she said, shoving off her covers, and without a second thought, she grabbed Sode no Shirayuki form the side of her cot, dragged herself to a standing position, and slid the sealed Zanpakuto into her obi belt. This new form provided a different sort of weight, but it was no less comforting.

"Look at you," Yoruichi commented with a laugh. "Ready to go in a snap. You've become a real Shinigami, haven't you?"

"I'm not sure if I'd go that far," Rukia said with her own weak smile. "I guess you could say I'm a little nervous." Yoruichi nodded firmly in response.

"That's not a bad thing to be feeling. This mission won't be easy, and in my opinion, a bit of fear would do you all some good."

Rukia took in the words, making sure to commit them to memory. She'd been doing a lot of that, lately.

"Breakfast has started already," Yoruichi continued. "Come down as quickly as you can. We'll be departing immediately after." At those words, the cat departed the same way he came.

Watching as the door closed in front of her, Rukia stayed behind a second. She brought a hand to her Zanpakuto's hilt, squeezing tightly. The girl took a deep breath, counting the seconds it took, and once she fully exhaled, once she released her grip, she followed.

The dining room was much more full than usual, and if Rukia had been feeling any traces of anxiety before, it all vanished at the sight of everyone.

Kukaku was there at the head, as always, having some boisterous one-sided conversation with Tessai, Ganju listening intently and laughing along. Yoruichi was by the side looking at her with knowing eyes, sitting right in front of a saucer of milk.

There was also Renji, a mostly eated breakfast lying in front of him, the only thing keeping him from the rest of it being a Paku that refused to detach herself from him. Right beside him was Ishida silently drinking a cup of tea and gazing around the room aloofly, acting as if he were far too cool for this odd rag-tag group. He was wearing an odd white outfit that Rukia tried not to comment on.

She sat down with a quiet "good morning" receiving a few answers back, as well as one relieved look from Renji. Tessai gave his "good morning" in the form of an amazing looking plate of grilled fish and miso. She dug in immediately.

Kukaku cleared her throat loudly, catching the attention of everyone in the room.

"Well," she started, "now that the kid's up, I say we get this show on the road."

"I suppose we'll be discussing plans," Ishida said, carefully placing his ceramic cup on the table.

"Not exactly," Yoruichi interjected. "We have a plan, but only to a point."

Kukaku continued, "We're gonna get you kids through the Senkaimon and to one of the old Shiba houses. There's a machine there that should get you into the Seireitei no problem. After that Yoruichi's gonna lead the way to a, uh… 'Secret Contact,' and after that, well, we're not entirely sure." She finished off the statement with a shrug, one that didn't sit well with Rukia, or with Ishida either, based on his sudden frown.

"Secret Contact?" Ishida asked incredulously. "You mean you can't even tell us who we're meeting?"

"Yeah, shouldn't we know who this whole mission's going to be hinging on?" asked Rukia, arms crossed.

"I'm afraid not," Yoruichi answered. "If this person were discovered it would be disastrous for all of us."

Kukaku continued, "That actually brings me to my next point: stick together. The Soul Society is huge, huge enough that if you were to get lost, even Yoruichi would have a hard time finding you. So, I don't recommend it."

The statement settled over the room after that, and it took a second for anyone to speak up.

Renji finally said, with a raised eyebrow. "So, go through the 'Sen-whatzit,' make it to one of your old houses, get launched head first into where they're keeping Ichigo, meet some mystery-man, stick together, don't get caught, and eventually rescue Ichigo. Is that about right?"

"Got it in one," Kukaku said with a grin.

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Rukia.

With a scoff Renji added, "The sonner we leave, the sooner we get him back right? So, let's get going." Even Ishida was nodding quietly beside him, taking another long sip of his tea.

Kukaku looked a little taken aback by this sentiment. Maybe she hadn't expected them to be so eager, so gung-ho about running off to another realm to complete a dangerous mission, but really what had she expected. They were all here for one reason, after all.

"Okay, okay," Kukaku said with a raised hand, and with a smirk she got up with all her usual swagger and stood before them, eyes blazing. "Let's go."

Abandoning their plates everyone followed her into the same training area that Rukia had spent over a week in. (She spent a short moment feeling smug at her friend's awed reactions at the strange reality bending place, even though Ishida did a fair job at hiding his.)

"Tessai, would you do the honors?" asked Kukaku.

The man gave a single curt nod before lifting a hand in front of him, making an unfamiliar motion in the air. It didn't appear to be a Kidō Spell, but it had a similar effect.

A looming archway came together in front of them, large pillars that appeared to be made of paper-mache impacting together and holding fast.

"So, this is a Senkaimon," Ishida said, studying the arch with a careful eye.

"Yep!" Kukaku said. "This is a special one, too. With this one you living folk should be able to pass through no problem. I'm not really sure how it works, but feel free to ask the guy who invented it if you manage to get out alive."

Well, isn't that encouraging… Rukia thought with a frown.

"This…thing is up, so let's just get going," Renji said. He made for the archway but was stopped by Kukaku. She had a firm grip on his arm and an exasperated look on her face. Rukia thought she saw Yoruichi give the woman a knowing look. The cat was probably used to this by now, having trained him for so long.

"Hold your horses, big guy," she said. "The thing isn't even activated yet, and I still have a lot more to explain." She let him go at that moment with a nervous smile.

She continued, "We made this thing specifically so we could send all of you through successfully, and without getting caught. Because of that, this Senkaimon is a little…glitchy."

"Define glitchy," Rukia deadpanned.

"There's one glitch in particular," Kukaku explained. "It's the Kouryuu, a special current that flows through the passageway, or Dangai specifically to keep people like us out of it. We managed to slow it down, at least, but that still only gives you four minutes to run through, and if you're caught, the mission's over before it even began."

"Then we just have to be quick about it," Renji said offhandedly.

"That's one way of putting it," Ganju said with a shaky smile.

Beside him Paku was nearly shaking. Her face was turning from pink to red, her mouth set in a deep frown and suddenly–

"Oh, come on!" Paku burst out. "Why can't I go with them? I'd be perfect for this!"

Kukaku let out a long sigh before saying, "I already told you why. We need you here to take care of Hollows in Karakura while everyone else is gone and as a cover. You're the only one who can body-hop, here, and if one of their guardians decides they don't buy the Summer Camp excuse…" She let out another sigh, this one much shorter and filled with much more frustration.

"But–!" Paku started.

"No buts!"

"Even Ganju gets to go!"

Ganju scoffed, "That's because I actually know a thing or two about the Soul Society." Rukia frowned.

"Really?" she asked him quietly.

He whispered back, "Not really but don't tell her that."

"Hey!" Paku bit out.

With a frown that quickly developed into a full-on scowl, Kukaku said, "My brother can go and help save his nephew if he wants. Now, I don't want any more lip from any of you, got it!"

Everyone shut up immediately. Kukaku's scowl softened.

The woman stood by the side of the yet to be activated portal, laying a hand on it and looking at the group before her. In this moment, Rukia truly felt it. Their journey was going to begin.

"I guess now's about the time I give you all some grand speech about how you may die if you go in," Kukaku said to them all. "I should probably tell you that if your 'spirit wavers' you should turn back while you still have the chance, but I'm not going to give that speech. You all know what you got yourselves into, so I implore you:

"Shut up and do what you came here for! You go in there. You succeed. That's the only option you got, understood?"

A wave of "Understood!" answered her, and with a grin, she took that moment to raise her hand like someone about to call the start of a race. Rukia, Renji, Ishida, and Ganju were all gathered in formation before the portal, Yoruichi leading the charge.

"Tessai, activate the Senkaimon!" Kukaku called out.

The man raised his hand yet again, and making another motion, not unlike the last, the portal came sparking to life, the empty space being taken up by a wall of murky dark… Well, Rukia wasn't sure what was there. She ran in before she had the time to get a good look, hot on Yoruichi's heels, and before she knew it the artificial sun of the training area had disappeared.

Part II

Rukia never had time to get a good look at the Dangai. All she saw were pulpy walls rushing by in the corener of her eye as her feet continued to hit uneven ground. She kept her vision firmly on both Yoruichi and Ganju right ahead of her and kept her mind on Renji and Ishida behin her.

For a while the strange passage was quiet. Even their footsteps were severely muffled by these slimy walls.

The first sound that Rukia heard in here, aside from her own quiet breathing, was a low sickly churning that sent a shiver down her spine. Moments after she heard a loud rumble.

"Shit," she heard Renji curse.

"Shit" was right. They had barely been traveling a minute.

"That's the Koryuu! Just keep moving!" Yoruichi commanded.

They all ran a little bit faster, the tension raising with their speed. Rukia struggled to not look back at whatever was chasing them. In a way she didn't have to. She could feel it, this huge presence coming behind them like a train, maw wide open.

For a while, Rukia just ran, pushing herself ever faster to escape it, listening for any signs of distress from her two friends behind her. Eventually she heard one.

"Ishida!" cried out Renji, and without even thinking about it, Rukia was already reaching for Sode no Shirayuki, getting ready to attack. She was positive she could freeze this…whatever it was, or at least she was until she saw it.

Over her shoulder she saw the wall, closing behind them, collapsing everything in its path and leaving the corridor a few meters shorter than it was before with every second. How did someone freeze something like that? How did she stop something like that?

None of these questions helped Ishida, at the very back of their group, the tip of his ridiculous new white cape grabbed by the current. She probably wouldn't even be able to reach him in time.

Luckily, she didn't have to. Renji was there, powers activated as he quickly sliced through Ishida's costume, and dragged him forward and out of harms way. For a moment Ishida looked dazed, but he was being willingly pulled by the arm. Within seconds he was going at full speed again, pulling Renji along behind him.

"Are you two alright?" Rukia called back.

Through harsh pants, Renji said back, "Yeah, Ishida's costume may be ruined, but we're fine."

"'Costume?!' This is traditional Quincy garb, Abarai!" Ishida snapped.

"Oh, that's what its supposed to be?" Rukia joked. She could almost feel Ishida silently fuming behind her as Ganju chuckled just ahead.

The jokes helped lift their spirits for a moment, but it didn't slow down the current. If anything it was getting faster, forcing the boys forward and leaving Rukia's muscles burning from the strain. Yoruichi wasn't showing any signs of distress but having to run on the tiny legs of a cat couldn't have been easy.

It was then that Rukia realized she could see it, the "light at the end of the tunnel." It was tiny, distant, but visible, and that was enough to spur her on further. The current only seemed to get faster.

With every step the light became larger, closer, and the corridor became smaller and smaller.

"We're almost there!" yelled Yoruichi. Even he sounded off balance, though not nearly as much as what Rukia felt.

She was still moving forward, getting so very close. Just as she touched the light…

Rukia took her first step onto real solid ground and within moments she was knocked into from behind. She quickly found herself facedown in the dirt, the weight of what felt suspiciously like two teenage boys right on top of her.

"Crushing…me," she muttered out.

It took a moment, but eventually everyone had dragged themselves out of the pile and upright. Great, she could breathe again. Her legs were aching (and now her back was too), but she at least they were all alive.

"Um… Yoruichi?" she could hear Ganju ask hesitantly. Everyone's eyes went to him, and the first thing Rukia noticed was that he was holding a very dazed looking cat.

"Ganju what did you do?" Rukia asked, horrified. Ganju looked back at her, eyes wide and sweating bullets. What he said next was all spoken in a single breath.

"I kind of landed on Yoruichi."

Renji groaned. Ishida brought a hand up to his temple muttering something along the lines of, "Oh, great." Rukia was right there with them.

"Hey, it wasn't like your landing was any better!" Ganju yelled. Rukia ignored it.

"Now what are we going to do?" she groaned.

"Uhh, guys?" Renji asked quietly. He was pointing right behind them, Ishida already looking intently at whatever it was with a deep frown. "I think we have company."

Rukia turned and just then fully registered where they were.

They had landed in the middle of a small town, but not one that Rukia had ever seen, at least anywhere but in a history book. Every building was made in a style that was probably very popular a few centuries ago and every town person was dressed fully in old-style yukata. Every one of their eyes were trained on this odd little group.

The Soul Society. They really were in the Soul Society. Rukia almost couldn't believe it. She almost wanted to jump up in the air and cheer, but there were more pressing matters ahead.

Everyone that was staring at them seemed incredibly weary. They were whispering and pointing, the word "Shinigami" coming up quite a lot. Rukia was unsure herself. She didn't know if they'd pose a threat, if they'd possibly tell someone in the Seireitei that they were here in the first place. She didn't want to pull Sode no Shirayuki on a group of random townspeople, but at the moment, she was a bit on edge.

Their guide was unconscious, they were still recovering from their earlier experience, and they were all, in general, very tightly wound up. This could turn bad fast.

"Wait!" a high-pitched voice rang out from the crowd. "Wait, I know them! Mister Renji! Mister Renji!"

A few people were moving aside, some of them startled away, and the crowd parted for a cherub faced little boy. It took Rukia a moment to remember who it was, but Renji knew instantly.

"Yūichi!" One of the biggest smiles she'd seen in a while broke out on Renji's face, and with that the boy ran forward, tackling him in a hug hard enough to make him stumble back a step or two. Renji didn't complain, though. He just scooped Yuichi up, saying, "You're a lot bigger than when I last saw you, huh, Yūichi?"

The child giggled, "That's just because I'm not a bird anymore."

"No, no, I think you've gotten bigger," Renji insisted.

It was almost magic the way the crowd's hearts melted before Rukia's very eyes. Everyone was immediately put at ease, quite a few deciding to go back to whatever they were doing before. Rukia couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief as the crowd dissipated.

Rukia took that moment to quietly slip next to Ganju. She grimaced at the sight that greeted her. Yoruichi's definitely seen better days.

"Is he alright?" Rukia asked.

"Yeah," Ganju answered with a frown. "This might be a setback, though. We can't get the machine running without Yoruichi."

Glancing back at Renji she commented, "At least we're not in any rush."

"No kidding," Ganju said with some humor. "I never would have guessed Renji was so good with kids."

Rukia answered honestly, "Neither did I. I mean, I knew he did some babysitting, but…"

In a word, the sight of Renji happily holding this poor kid she had to exorcise some weeks ago was "adorable." (She could already imagine how Renji would bristle at the word.) It was moments like these that Rukia would remember what Renji was at his core, a sensitive and sweet guy that she's been friends with for so long for a reason.

"Ruk, you're staring," Ganju said with an odd smile.

"What?" Rukia startled. "…Was I?"

"Just a little." That smile on his was still there.

"Hey," Ishida interrupted, "are we or are we not going to the old Shiba house?" He looked annoyed, tapping his foot in an impatient manner. If Rukia knew him, it probably had a lot to do with his torn cape, and the way he kept throwing glances at it in despair every once in a while only proved it.

"We'll head off in just a second," Ganju assured. "Hey, Renji! You coming?"

"I'll catch up in a bit," he said, waving a hand. Ganju shrugged.

"Just get back to us in one piece, eh?"

"Got it."

Rukia bit her lip, wanting to say something to Renji. Maybe she'd say "Take your time" or "Tell me all about it later" or, more embarrassingly, "You two look adorable." Instead, she just waved him goodbye, watching as he waved back with enthusiasm.

"Let's see if I can remember where this place is…" Ganju trailed off. He began to lead the way to some destination that he'd probably not been to in, well, Rukia didn't know how long. She followed, and while they began to move into the tree line, she glanced back over her shoulder one last time. With a smile she looked back to Ganju and walked forward.

Part III

Renji didn't really mind being dragged around by an eight-year-old, or at least not as much as he should have. Yūichi was just so happy showing him around and telling him all about his new friends and this new place. Apparently, this was the nicest district in the entire Soul Society, which was good. The poor boy deserved as much after all he'd been through.

"So, you and your mom have it pretty good, huh?" Renji asked with a smile. He was hoping that this would send Yūichi on another happy rant, that he would go on about all the wonderful things they'd been doing together, but instead the boy's face fell

"I haven't found her," he mumbled, but through it, he tried to force a smile. It didn't really work. "I've been staying with this other family, though. They're super nice so it's fine. Actually…" He stopped in his tracks using his free hand to point to a fairly large house on the corner of the street. "I live right over there. Wanna see?"

Renji nodded and smiled back, even though he didn't feel like smiling.

Shouldn't he say something? He felt like he should, but he just wasn't sure what. Damn, he just wasn't good at these types of things. All he really knew was that if he were in Yūichi's position he'd be throwing a fit, screaming and crying about how he wanted his mom. He'd probably feel better if Yūichi was throwing a fit. At least then he'd know how to react.

He was led by tiny hands tugging on his long sleeve, dragging him toward the house. Just like everything else in this place it looked like it belonged in a museum, but unlike a dusty artifact, it seemed alive. He could see flowers growing and two kids playing ball in the front yard.

"Kenichi! Satoshi! This is the person I was talking about!" Yūichi yelled out.

"We did believe you, ya know. You didn't have to drag him down here," one drawled. The other just playfully stuck out his tongue.
"Yeah, yeah," Yūichi answered back before sliding open the door. The inside of the house was much less active. A few sounds could be heard, but it was pretty obvious that most of the others that lived in this big place were out to enjoy what seemed to be a nice sunny afternoon.

"Mr. and Mrs. Orimo I brought a guest!" Yūichi called into the house.

For a second no one responded, but eventually Renji was able to hear a distant feminine voice say, "I'm in the back!"

Renji took in the house as they sauntered though. It was pretty open and looked like there were a lot of rooms. It seemed tidy enough, even though there was the occasional toy lying around. He was led all the way to the back to see a woman taking yukata of varying sizes from a clothesline.

She was a rather tiny and sweet looking woman, her dark hair being pulled back from her face in a twisted bun. She was probably only a little younger than his mom. Renji squirmed under her intent gaze, but this expression softened the moment Yūichi launched into his explanation of who he was and what exactly he was doing here.

When the boy finished, she dusted her hands off on the front of her light blue yukata and said with a smile, "Well, a dear friend of Yūichi's is always welcome in this house."

Renji gave a shallow bow, saying, "Thank you ma'am."

"Hey!" one of the kids from before called, peaking right around the edge of the wall. "We were gonna play soccer, remember?"

"Aww, but…" Yūichi stammered for a moment looking from his friends and then at Renji and back again.

"You go along and play," Mrs. Orimo eventually decided. "I want to talk to… Renji, was it?"

"Well, yeah, but –"

"He'll still be here when you come back," she assured. "I promise."

Yūichi still didn't look so sure. He looked longingly at his friends, but still stubbornly looked at the two that were probably going to have an "adult conversation" without him. In a split second, though, he made his decision. He ran towards his friends, and waved back at Renji with a, "See you later, kay?"

"Cross my heart," promised Renji, and he watched as Yūichi ran off, the picture of bliss.

"Isn't seeing them like that great?" asked Mrs. Orimo. She was looking at the now empty space by the wall with a gentle smile on her face, and something odd in her eyes.

"Huh? Uh, yeah," stammered Renji. "They look… happy."

"It's just so sad," she said quietly. "They were just kids when they died. They had to go through that pain before they were even old enough to understand it. My husband and I were lucky, we at least…" She shook her head, gripping her laundry a little tighter. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I? I'm Yui Orimo."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Orimo," he said automatically. "I'm well…" He couldn't very well introduce himself back when she already knew his name could he?

She let out a laugh. "I already know all about you, Renji," she said. He felt himself blush.

"Yūichi sure did talk about me a lot, didn't he?" he said sheepishly.

"That he did," she said, "and I would like to thank you for all you did for him." As she finished this statement she bent down into a low bow. Renji turned an even brighter red.

"You don't have to do that!"

"What you did was worthy of praise," she insisted. "You helped him in his time of need."

"I'm sure he exaggerated," Renji explained away. "Rukia honestly did a lot of the work." Mrs. Orimo shook her head, bringing herself back up.

"If you did even half the things he said, you're still a hero."

A hero, huh? Renji dind't think he'd ever been called that one, before.

"I'm… honored, ma'am."

"You should be," she teased. "It's no small matter for a child to consider you a hero. You have a lot to live up to now, young man."

Renji gulped. "I guess I'll have to try my best then."

"That's all one can do."

After this the woman glanced back up at her work with a pensive frown before turning to him.

"Would you mind helping me with this?" she asked. "I usually ask one of the older kids, but…"

"No problem. What do you want me to do?"

"Ah, just take these off the pins and fold them into that basket over there." It didn't look to hard, even if it was a little strange to him. He only ever used a modern dryer. They started the work, and after a moment, Renji noticed exactly how many clothes they had.

"You keep a lot of kids here, don't you?" he asked. Wait, maybe that was a rude thing to mention? He almost regretted saying it, but Mrs. Orimo answered anyway.

"As many as we can." With a laugh she added, "My husband and I always wanted kids and look, now we have thirteen!" Renji whistled in appreciation.

"I'm an only child. I couldn't even imagine."

"I'm not saying its easy, but at least here in the Soul Society you never get hungry, so money's not much of a problem."

"It still is amazing." To come here and make a family with every orphaned kid you could find was amazing.

"Just about every family here's like this," she continued. "Ours may be a bit bigger than average, but it's hardly unusual."

"So, it's common, then, to lose track of your birth family."

With pursed lips, she lamented, "It happens just about every time. If you manage to cross over at the same time and place, there's a chance. Me and my husband were lucky enough to have been like that, but it's a rarity."

With those words she folded up the very last yukata and put it in the basket with a satisfied smile.

"Thanks for the help," she said. "I'd imagine you'd want to move along by now. It's not every day a living person and his Shinigami friend stop by; so, I assume you're here for a reason. Yūichi should be by the field at the edge of town, down west, if you'd like to see him."

Renji's eyes darted to the sky. It was getting late, he could tell. It wasn't quite evening, but he had been out for a while, already.

"Yeah, I should probably get going," he admitted. "Thank you for having me."

She saw him off with a smile and a wave as he went around the house, headed in the general direction Mrs. Orimo had given.

It wasn't very exact as directions went, but this place was pretty small, only about as big as a single district in Karakura Town. Then again, old villages were like that, weren't they? It didn't take him too long to reach a grassy clearing, just before some tall trees where a group of boys and girls were kicking around an old ball. It looked like they had made some makeshift field lines out of sticks.

He spotted Yūichi on the far side playing the Goal Keeper and looking very focused. He didn't want to stop the game just to say a few words, but it turned out he didn't have to.

"Hey, Yūichi! That weird looking guy is here!" one of the boys from earlier called, stopping the ball under his foot.

"What did you just call me you little brat?" Renji seethed. The kid didn't even flinch, just gave him a smug look.

"He's not weird looking, Kenichi," Yūichi defended.

Sending one last quick glare at "Kenichi," Renji's eyes settled on Yūichi. The kid was looking up at him, expectantly. Renji almost felt nervous.

"I've gotta go," he finally said. "I just wanted to say goodbye, for now at least." God, he hoped that Yūichi wouldn't get sad at this. He doubted he could handle that.

Of course, he didn't do that. This kid seemed hell bent on surprising Renji at weird moments, so he instead smiled big and wide.

"Are you going to do more hero stuff?" he asked, awe in his voice. Renji tried really, really hard to not blush again.

"Well," he stuttered out, "Yeah? Remember that orange haired guy?" The boy nodded intently. "We kind of have to rescue him." This caught the interest of a couple other kids, too, even Kenichi.

"Where are you going?" Yūichi asked.

"I'm not sure. Our guide was knocked out, but I think I have to get to somewhere called the Shiba House." A few of the kids ooed and awed.

"I know where that is!" one of the little girls exclaimed, hands clasped. "There's this weird house in the forest with a banner that says Shiba on it." A few of the kids nodded in agreement. "No one's ever there, and we climb on the weird statues all the time."

"How do I get there?"

One of the other boys from before, Satoshi, pointed into the forest saying, "There should be a path that way. Follow it and you'll be there in no time."

"Thanks kid," Renji said. "And Yūichi?" The boy looked right up at him with anticipation. "I'll be back soon, okay."

"Okay!" he answered back, "but you need to tell me everything that happened when you're done."

Renji grinned. "Will do."

Part IV

The house looked normal enough, being no bigger than Yūichi's.

Well, it might have been normal if it weren't for the impossibly tall pillar behind it and the two giant stone arms in front of it that held up a bright red banner that read "Kukaku Shiba" in messy black Kanji. That was pretty damn weird.

Yeah, this was definitely the right place.

Renji slid open the front doors. He was immediately greeted with a tiny Yoruichi staring right up at him with an intense expression.

"Where were you?" the cat lead with.

"I just ran into an old friend," Renji defended. "Did I hold us up?"

The cat huffed, saying, "Not horribly, no. Ganju is still getting supplies, so I suppose you're off the hook, for now."

The cat turned, motioning Renji forward with a jerk of its head, leading him deeper into the house.

"What kind of supplies?" he eventually asked.

"Bandages, food, help, the like."

"Wait, I thought we couldn't get hungry here?" He swore he just heard Mrs. Orimo say exactly that.

"Only weak Souls don't get hungry. Are you done asking stupid questions?"

"Hey, I just wanted to know…" He muttered. By then they had already reached a wide open door.

"Look who finally decided to show up," a voice from the other side said sardonically.

Renji was very glad that Ishida had decided to ditch his already torn cape, because if he hadn't Renji would have strangled him with it. He instead plopped down right next to Rukia, cross legged.

"At least I wasn't the one that got almost killed by a shitty costume cape."

"For the fifth time, this is–!"

"Would you both shut up!" Rukia yelled. "Yoruichi, please tell us why you brought us here!"

The two boys silenced, but it didn't stop them from glaring at each other above Rukia's head.

The cat rolled his eyes, and then, clearing his throat he said, "The Seireitei isn't far from here, but as we already explained, we can't just walk through the front doors. So, a while back Kukaku made a device that should send us all over the wall and right through the barrier. It's a bit… unorthodox, but it should do."

"That still doesn't explain why we're here," Ishida pointed out. "You couldn't have just brought us here to repeat yourself."

"Of course, I didn't," the cat said with a smirk. "In order for this plan to work you all need to learn how to form a barrier of your own so we don't splatter upon impact."

Renji blanched.

"I'm back!" was heard from the door. Ganju was there, flanked by two mysterious men wearing official looking robes and matching moustaches. He was carrying sacks of what were probably the supplies Yoruichi mentioned and was holding a strange looking orb.

"I see you brought the Reisyukaku," Yoruichi said.

Ganju tossed the orb up and down in his hand. "Course I did."

"Would you mind demonstrating it for us?"

"Huh? Okay."

The man had a look of concentration on his face for a moment, and around him the pressure in the room grew. Light gathered at the center of the orb, and in an instant expanded out. Suddenly he was surrounded by a barrier, clear like glass, but resonating with a kind of power that could be more felt than seen. Soon after, he released it. The large men behind him clapped enthusiastically.

"I want all of you here to be able to do that by sunrise," Yoruichi said with finality. "Dinner will be at sunset." On that, he waltzed out.

A beat later, Ganju asked, "So, who wants to try first?"

After a moment of waiting, Rukia was the first one to stand up, and said, "I guess I will."

The mechanics were smiple enough. Pump a good amount of spiritual pressure in there and the orb does the rest for you. Rukia was able to produce a weak looking barrier on just her first try, the two big guys behind Ganju alternating between cheering and instructing. Quite a few corrections later and she was able to get one that was apparently good enough for her to pass.

Ishida was next. He was able to grasp it faster, but it ended up being a weird ellipse shape first, like a very large version of his bow. It only took a few tweaks for him to be able to pull it off.

Renji was where the troubles started.

"You need to put more into it than that," said Thing 1.

"Maybe he's just no good?" wondered Thing 2.

"You're not helping!" yelled Renji.

He had been at it for a while, now, and couldn't even get a weak barrier going, just mangled energy that burned whenever he brushed against it. Dinner time rolled around before they even knew it.

"Maybe we should stop for now," Ganju said. "We can get back to it later."

"Wait, wait. I think I can get it this time!" Renji assured.

He tried again. He gathered all the energy he could muster into his hands and released it in a single burst.

It exploded in his face, literally. He was knocked back on his ass.

"Goddammit!" he yelled. That one really freaking hurt!

Rukia crouched down next to him, a careful frown on her face. "You can't do this on an empty stomach," she said. "We should take a break."

Letting out a long sigh, Renji put downt he orb.

"Maybe you're right," he said. She smiled, relieved.

Part V

Not long after dinner everyone had decided it was a good time to go to bed. They had an early morning, after all. Dressed in an old yukata, Rukia dragged a comb through her hair and wondered if Renji was doing alright.

He was still up working on his barrier, and though he was having trouble, Rukia had no doubts that he could do it. He just hadn't gotten the right kind of help, yet.

The only reason she was able to figure out all this was because of her work with her Zanpakuto and the ribbon metaphor that Ishida had given her way back when. The metaphor may not have applied in all contexts, but the visual certainly did help.

Ishida? He'd been making bows his whole life. This probably wasn't much of a stretch for him.

What did Renji have? He had powers of his own, sure, but they didn't really work in the same way, or at least from how she understood it. It was no wonder he was struggling.

Someone had to teach him, help him. Rukia got up from her cot, slid open the door to the hallway resolutely, and came face to face with Renji, holding the orb in his hand.

"I, uh, wanted help with this," he said quietly.

Sitting back on her heels, she chuckled. He turned red for a moment.

"Come on in," she said. For some reason she wasn't surprised that they were thinking the exact same thing at a time like this. "Sit down over here." She motioned towards her cot. He sat down with a heavy sigh.

"Thanks," he said. "I really don't get this stuff, but you seem to, so…"

"Well, I did have practice. You've never done something like this before, so, I get it." The relief on his face was palpable. He held up the orb with a quirked eyebrow.

"How does this thing work, anyway?"

She didn't grab it from him, just reached over to place her own hand over it.

"Let's start with the basics."


Thanks for coming back to this (or for reading for the first time), and I hope you all know how much your views, and especially reviews mean to me. They brighten my day and get me through both long days of classes and any self-doubt I have while working on this. I may not respond directly all the time, but know that I read just about every review over and over again until I could just about recite them.

To Summarize: Your reviews do indeed give me life.