YS GOH I accidentally marked your review as spam and just for that I'm dedicating this chapter to you. I hope you enjoy it and I hope it's the setup that you craved. (Everyone else also enjoy please.)
Part I
Walking into the classroom, Rukia kept her eyes firmly on the ground, not that it mattered.
Everyone could see her, and without even raising her head she could tell everyone was looking. She struggled to remind herself that fixating on these sort of things would get her nowhere.
Rukia knew she looked stare-worthy and in general bad because, well, she looked at herself in the mirror this morning. Her arm was in a sling. An entire side of her face was a bruise, and as a little cherry on top she had big old plaster on her forehead protecting a jagged gash. Was it the worst she'd ever looked after a fight? No, not by a long short, but this was the first time she'd had to go to school right after.
Shrugging her bag off her shoulder she sank into her seat shrinking into herself as she kept her eyes pasted firmly on the black board in front of her.
These efforts were quickly foiled by a foot kicking roughly at a leg of her chair, the sound of someone clearing their throat coming loudly and quickly after. Already dreading this conversation Rukia turned to Renji.
"What the hell?" he stage-whispered.
She groaned out, "It's really n–" She cut herself off, considering. It wasn't "nothing," not really. Agents of Aizen invading the World of the Living was the exact opposite of "nothing." She mentally pivoted. "There was a situation yesterday," she said carefully, mindful of how pretty much the entire class was listening in. "My club helped me take care of it. I'll tell you more later."
"Lemme guess," Renji said with a frown, "that 'situation' has a little something to do with Keigo not even being here."
The whispers increased a notch or two. Rukia closed her eyes against the noise, refusing to answer. Letting out a quiet curse Renji leaned back in his seat.
Allowing herself a silent sigh Rukia resisted the urge to just let her head fall against the desk. Really, the only thing stopping her was the fact that it wouldn't gel well with her recently healed concussion. She instead tapped her foot, eyes going to the classroom clock.
It was one minute before class started and a few good hours before she needed to have her thoughts collected enough to explain everything to Renji.
(It struck her that in order to explain something, someone had to understand it at least a little. She had her work cut out for her, here.)
It was with that thought that five huge presences tore through the air. Rukia's head snapped up in alarm. Ishida paused in his note taking.
Then she heard voices through the hall, voices that she recognized. She relaxed, but only slightly.
"Where was it again?"
"I'm not sure..."
"Weren't you supposed to have the class number in your instructions?"
"Ah, I lost it!"
"You lost it?!"
"It's fine, everyone! We can just find the room based off their Reiatsu. Easy peasy!"
"Ha! Maybe for you. Gods, I hate this body. I still can't get a handle on my Reiryoku, and this uniform! The shirt's so goddamn tight!"
"Then just untuck it, idiot."
"Don't call me an idiot! And if I do that I won't be able to tuck my wooden bokken into my belt!"
"...The bokken that you aren't supposed to have..."
"Why you–!"
The footsteps stopped abruptly right in front of the door, the one that people both inside and outside of the class had taken to staring at.
"Quiet all of you!" a young sounding voice yelled. "We aren't supposed to draw attention to ourselves." The door was roughly shoved open.
In the hall stood a group of Shinigami, and suddenly Rukia felt a deep appreciation for how well Ichigo was able to blend into his role as a high schooler.
In the front stood Captain Hitsugaya looking far too young to be in high school. He was followed by Ayasegawa, Madarame, and a woman that Rukia didn't quite recognize, all of which looked far too old to be in high school.
(The smile that Madarame gave Rukia upon spotting her sent a shiver down her spine. "Rematch" it said. She'd need to avoid him in the near future.)
The only one that looked somewhat normal was Orihime who gave Rukia a friendly wave from her position in the rear. Rukia waved back idly wondering how long it would be before they were caught.
"What are you guys doing here?!" Renji yelled. The murmur that went over the class was loud enough that it sent Rukia curling into her seat in embarrassment.
Two seconds. They lasted two seconds.
"W-we're just normal transfer students," Orihime tried with the sweetest smile she could muster. Then, quieter (as if literally everyone couldn't hear her) she added, "It's nice to see you, Renji."
The chatter increased so much that Rukia barely even heard the morning bell.
"Alright everyone!" the teacher boomed. "I know these new students are very exciting, but you'll all have to settle down. Class is starting."
Her interjection barely made a difference, though at the very least everyone finally sat down. The woman didn't wait for the room to silence before taking out her new roll sheet. She adjusted her glasses.
"Okay," she said, clearing her throat, "joining us today will be… T̄ōshiro Hitsugaya. I'm to understand that you skipped a few grades?"
He stepped forward, cheeks tinged pink as he nodded silently, taking his seat.
She continued, "Then we have Ikkaku Madarame… Uh… You do know you can't have that bokken in class, right?"
"C'mon!" he burst out. "You people won't let me keep a real sword, and now you wanna take this away, too?!"
The teacher blinked for a moment of so, completely stunned. Rukia didn't blame her. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to put it away before next period."
He grumbled, taking his seat and not offering any confirmation or denial.
"Next is Yumichika Ayasegawa."
Ayasegawa stepped to the front, bowed, and with a charming smile took his seat. Rukia was almost floored by how normal it was. The teacher didn't miss a beat.
"Orihime Inoue," she said.
It took a moment for the girl to even realize she'd been called. She let out a quiet squeak scrambling up to the front.
"It's nice to meet you all!" the Shinigami said with a smile. "I hope we have a wonderful year."
It sounded a little canned to Rukia, almost rehearsed, but it was no less enthusiastic. It helped distract from the love struck looks many of the boys immediately had on their faces. (Chizuru looked like she was going to have a stroke.)
The teacher took it in stride, simply sending a look at the offending students. "Rangiku Matsumoto," she continued.
This was the one Shinigami here that Rukia had never met. It struck Rukia that the woman must have had some decent power to be included amongst this group. What rank she was, though, Rukia couldn't guess.
The woman herself was striking to say the least. She was about as pretty as your average movie actress, and carried herself with a confidence told everyone she knew that. She walked up to the front of the class tossing a lock of curly orange hair over her shoulder, further revealing the cleavage exposed by her partially unbuttoned uniform top.
"Glad to be here," she said pleasantly.
The response from the guys in the class was immediate and visible. The teacher rolled her eyes, and Matsumoto took her seat.
"And finally..." the teacher trailed off, brows wrinkling in confusion. She looked around the room, a deep frown on her face.
It was then that Rukia heard the sound of someone running through the hall, shoes squeaking against the flooring. They skidded to a stop right outside of the door, and with a sudden burst it was slammed open.
In the doorway stood Ichigo, hands on his knees and gasping out, "Sorry, I'm late!"
The teacher clicked her tongue, marking a check next to his name. "Just don't let it happen again. It's good to have you back, Shiba."
He straightened up, sending Rukia a wide grin. "It's good to be back."
The chattering didn't go away for nearly the entire first half of the day despite teachers' many many attempts. Their poor Japanese teacher could barely wait for class to be over. He seemed to just about collapse when lunch came around.
Thinking time was over. It was time to talk.
It didn't take much to gather all the Shinigami, just a jerk of her head towards the door and Ichigo was quietly but quickly gathering the others. He was the only one that was trying to be quiet, though.
"Just put away the bokken, you can get it again after classes," Ayasegawa hissed out.
"It's about my pride as a warrior, Yumichika!" Madarame argued. "I don't care what some teacher says, I'm keeping it!"
With a frown, Hitsugaya tried, "If it's necessary for the mission, I'll have to ask you as your Cap–"
"Does dealing with human law enforcement do anything for your pride?" Yumichika asked flatly. Hitsugaya seemed too shocked to remember to be angry at the interruption.
"Let 'em try!" Madarame growled.
On the side, Matsumoto nudged Orihime. "Hey, where are we headed?" she asked.
"Oh! I bet we're going to the back of the school by the tree. Ichigo said they'd always go there to talk over things!" the girl explained with a excited look in her eye. Glancing over her shoulder she asked, "Uryuu, you're coming too, right?"
The Quincy glanced up from his notes. "It's alright," he said. "I'm sure you can catch me up later."
Orihime let out a hum walking over to him and grabbing him by the wrist. "Don't be silly," she said, dragging him up. "You need to hear this, too."
Momentarily his eyes widened as he quickly realized her grip was much stronger than first anticipated. (Rukia knew first hand.) In a mad scramble he grabbed his lunch and whatever pages of his notes that he could reach before he was manhandled to the door. Rukia followed, Renji at her side. He shook his head, an exasperated look on his face like he already knew this was going to be bad.
They did in fact meet in the back of the school, Renji glaring off any people that tried to not so sneakily follow them there. The trip took way longer than it should have, but eventually they managed to sit down in peace.
"…So," Rukia started awkwardly. "What are you guys doing here?"
"We were stationed here by the Gotei Thirteen," Hitsugaya said professionally.
"Yeah, no shit," Renji scoffed. This earned him a glare from the small Captain.
Ichigo rushed to smooth things over. "What Tōshiro means is–"
"Captain Hitsugaya," the boy hissed.
Ichigo let out a groan.
"Here we go again," Ayasegawa chirped.
"Tōshiro–"
"Captain Hitsugaya!"
"Come on!" Ichigo yelled. "I've known you since you were my sisters' age! Cut me some slack!"
"I'm the leader of this mission. You should show me some respect!"
"The Captain Commander wanted us here to deal with the Arrancar," Orihime said pleasantly over their arguing, even as it escalated. "We're very sorry, by the way. We would have been here sooner had we known they would attack so soon."
Rukia gulped heavily. "'Arrancar.' So, that's what they're called."
"Oh my," Matsumoto said. "You really have been in the dark, haven't you?"
"Only 'cuz you guys haven't been telling us anything," Renji said, annoyance clear in his voice. Ishida leveled a look at him.
"We know that Aizen has been sending Hollows here, but we aren't sure why," the Quincy said. "We're barely even sure of what an 'Arrancar' is."
"Hollow-Shinigami hybrids," Rukia answered. This triggered a brief look of shock in Renji. Ishida's frown soured further. "I wasn't sure until now, but one of them from yesterday had a Zanpakuto. Aizen made them, right?"
"We have reason to believe Aizen has some natural Arrancar amongst his ranks," Ayasegawa corrected, "but you're basically correct."
"However," Hitsugaya grunted out, exerted from the merciless headlock he had Ichigo in, the orange-head silently choking, "We're much less worried about that than we are the types of Hollows he has in his ranks. Captain Urahara estimates that much of Aizen's upper ranks are made of Adujchas and Vasto Lorde level Hollows.
"And… that's bad," Renji said carefully.
"That's very bad," Ishida stressed.
Matsumoto let out a tired sigh. "If that bastard has more than ten Vasto Lorde we can kiss victory goodbye."
"Our numbers are already depleted," Orihime said sadly. In the next moment, though, her eyes gained a hard look, her lips set into a firm line. "That's why we have to act fast! We're going to put a stop to C-Aizen before he even knows what hit him."
Tearing Hitsugaya's arms from his throat Ichigo let out a loud cough. "Eventually, anyway," the croaked out. "Right now, we're just here to stop him as comes. Tatsuki's the one working on those 'preventative measures.' It's actually why she's not here with us."
"And she wanted to be so badly," Orihime said with a sigh. "I feel bad for her…"
"All things permitting, my Lieutenant should be joining us soon," Hitsugaya said. "For now, we should focus on setting up a proper base of operations as well as finding lodging for the night."
"Can't we do that after lunch?" Madarame asked. He was leaned against the tree, bokken on his shoulder and a checked out look in his eye. "I thought it was supposed to be lunch hour or something."
Orihime let out a happy squeal reaching for a large cooler bag behind her. "I was so excited about the mission this morning! I made sure to pack lunches for everyone."
A look of fear went over almost all the Shinigami, Orihime seemingly oblivious as she began unpacking the meals.
"I would have made the food myself, but…" the Shinigami immediately let out a sigh of relief, "there just wasn't enough time."
"That's too bad," Matsumoto said genuinely, odd one out. "A few of your special rice balls would have been the perfect pick-me-up."
Orihime beamed. "Then I guess I'll just have to find more time later." The oppressive atmosphere returned.
(Rukia made a mental note to avoid any food that Orihime or Matsumoto might make in the future.)
With lunches coming out, the group relaxed, and Rukia found herself relaxing along with them. Something about seeing Ichigo's fond smirk, Orihime's bright smile, seeing Ishida actually with them for once, it all made her feel better. As weird as this little group was, they helped make things feel normal again.
Part II
Last Night
Ulquiorra stepped towards the light drawing close to Aizen's throne. His companion had enough sense to stifle his whimpers as they went into practiced deep bows.
"We've returned, Lord Aizen," Ulquiorra said evenly.
"Welcome back," Aizen answered with a smile. In it was something akin to mirth, perhaps even pleasure. Then again, Ulquiorra could never be sure when it came to him. "Please, share your findings with us."
Murmurs broke out in the throne room, certain Hollows being much louder than others. Ulquiorra ignored them all.
He reached up to his face digging his fingers into his left eye, the very one Aizen had implanted, seemingly on a whim a week ago. He plucked it out, presenting it to the audience.
"As you wish," he said right before he crushed it in his palm.
The dust spread throughout the room and with it what he saw mere hours ago was disseminated throughout the crowd.
"…I see," Aizen said, relaxing back into his throne. "How… enlightening."
"I understand your orders were to kill the Substitute excepting certain circumstances. I believe I have followed those orders. However, to my eyes the girl was nothing special," Ulquiorra reported.
"Pathetic," someone scoffed. It was just the person Ulquiorra did not want to hear. Biting back a sigh he glanced down at Grimmjow Jagerjaquez and his… cohorts. "If it were me, I would have killed them all in one attack."
Ulquiorra sincerely doubted that.
"If your order is to 'kill her,'" Grimmjow continued, "then maybe you should try to do your fucking job and kill her." He said this all with a grin, one clearly meant to intimidate.
Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow in response. He was pretty sure Grimmjow had never followed orders in his life.
"I agree," Shawlong said next to Grimmjow. "She's an enemy. What value could there possibly be to let her live?"
Ulquiorra glanced up at Aizen only to see the man smiling down at them, not saying so much as a word. He shouldn't have been surprised.
"And look at Yammy!" Grimmjow added. "With how beaten up he is I bet it wasn't that you were 'following orders.' You probably couldn't even kill the kid if you tried."
This had Yammy tensing in anger. "Hey, Grimmjow," he ground out. "You saw the recording, didn't you? I got beaten up by blondie, not the girl. If we wanted her dead, she'd be dead."
"You stupid or something?" Grimmjow challenged. "I said I would kill them all in one attack."
"What?!" Ulquiorra had to hold Yammy back, grabbing him by his bloodied sleeve. The larger Hollow panted in place, rage in his eyes.
"Enough," Ulquiorra finally said. "Grimmjow, my orders were to kill her if her rate of growth was not adequate for Aizen's plans. It was. I let her live."
"That's my problem!" Grimmjow yelled. "If you really think she's going to be a threat or something, kill her now!"
"If she becomes a threat, I will kill her then."
Grimmjow said nothing at this. He just stared Ulquiorra down looking like he wanted to do something but not having the courage to do it. Typical.
Aizen cleared his throat, recapturing the attention of the room.
"Putting aside what your brothers may say, I'm impressed with your work, Ulquiorra." The compliment was ripe with condescension and mirth.
"I am very grateful, Lord Aizen," Ulquiorra said with a bow.
He could feel Grimmjow glaring at his back.
Part III
Rukia wasn't sure how she got stuck walking home with the one Shinigami she didn't know.
(Oh yeah, it had gone a little something like this.)
"Hey, Rukia!" Matsumoto exclaimed. "I should stay with you!"
Paku, finally standing on her own power again let out a sound somewhere between a scoff and a chuckle. "I wouldn't recommend it. Her house sucks ass. The only good thing about it is her cute older brother."
Matsumoto let out a loud scandalized gasp. "You have a cute older brother?!"
Rukia froze right in the middle of testing her freshly healed shoulder. "What?" She'd never thought of him like that. (Why the hell would she want to?!) "Well, I guess we have room, but… Hey! You can't just invite yourself to somebody's house!"
"Pleaaaaase Rukia!" Matsumoto whined. "The shop's already going to be so crowded." She almost collapsed on the smaller girl, puppy dog eyes in full force. Rukia had literally no idea what to do.
"She's got a point," Paku said with a shrug. "In between Ichigo, Orihime, the tiny Captain, Tessai, Kukaku, and Ganju this place has more people in it than it has rooms."
"I notice you didn't include yourself in that list," Rukia said flatly.
"That's because I'm staying with Keigo tonight," she said with a shit eating grin. "His parents and his sister are out this week."
Rukia stared at her with narrowed eyes while simultaneously trying to banish the gross mental images conjured by Keigo and Paku alone in a house.
"Then it's a deal!" Matsumoto said resolutely.
Rukia let out a sigh of exasperation. She really didn't have a choice in this matter, did she?
"What am I even going to tell him?" she asked herself aloud.
"Hm?" Matsumoto sounded. "Tell who?"
"My brother," Rukia said, then with a pause corrected, using the same spiel that she gave most people she had to explain this to, "Well, he's not really my brother. On paper he's technically my adoptive dad, but I've always called him brother, I guess."
"Weird family situation, huh?" Matsumoto said with a crooked smile. It was maybe one of the chiller responses that Rukia had gotten, one that seemed to come from a place of understanding.
Rukia relaxed a bit. "Tell me about it."
Matsumoto grinned. "Trust me, you don't want me to."
Rukia's eyes shifted away, a bit uncomfortable. "So, uh, what's taken you here? I kind of understand the others well enough to know why they're here, but… If you don't mind me asking, that is."
"No, it's fine," Matsumoto waved off. "I've got a couple reasons, really. Main one's because I overheard Ikkaku talking about this mission at the bar. I thought it might be a decent chance to get away from Captain Shiba. The guy's a handful sometimes, you know?"
Rukia had met the guy, so yes she knew.
"Then, I guess there's…" Matsumoto trailed off for a moment before shaking herself out of her daze. "I've got some personal business with Aizen's lackey, Gin. 'Weird family situation stuff,' you know?"
That didn't really sound like a secondary reason to Rukia, but she nodded along anyway.
"Enough about all that, though," Matsumoto said casually. "I wanna talk more about that brother–"
She might have continued into that incredibly awkward topic had a huge wave of pressure not washed over them right then.
"Again?!" Rukia yelled.
"Oh great," Matsumoto groaned. "We're dealing with these guys already?"
Tearing through her bag Rukia reached for her Soul Candy quickly popping one into her mouth.
"Hey," Matsumoto warned, "you were just injured. You need to take it easy."
"I'm healed," Rukia said confidently. All that was left from her last fight was a small pink scar at her temple. "Besides, I need to check on Ishida and Renji. They're still out there."
Matsumoto let out a groan, something unintelligible about "hero types" before finally saying, "Okay, but be quick about it."
Rukia nodded, barely sticking around long enough to see Matsumoto change into her own Shinigami form revealing a Lieutenant's badge on her arm. She ran just as the woman stopped a heavy looking Arrancar with a bowl cut and half mask in his tracks.
She moved quickly, attempting to channel both Mashiro and Yoruichi to mixed effect. She actually knew where Renji lived, so with a quick decision she headed there.
Barely at the halfway point a form appeared in her way, moving to cut her off when she tried to dodge left. She skidded to a stop, feet planted firmly on the nearest rooftop. In less than a second he attacked, forcing Sode no Shirayuki out to block.
Their blades met, the man leaning over her with satisfaction in his eyes.
He spoke in a low voice, "I am the Undecimo Arrancar, Shawlong Koufang… and I know who you are, Rukia Orikasa."
Rukia moved back to the edge of the roof, in a defensive position. The Arrancar knowing her name shouldn't have thrown her off, but still… She shook herself trying to readjust her focus.
She was up against a rather tall and lanky man, one that likely had a lot of reach. That title of his probably meant something, maybe a rank of some sort, she wasn't quite sure.
Arrancar. Unknown Power. What do I do?
Whatever. She needed to finish this quickly. Raising a hand she prepared to summon her mask.
"Don't waste your time with him," a voice said from behind.
Rukia turned, and what she saw just about blew her away.
It was Ichigo, in uniform, his Lieutenant's badge proudly displayed. His Zanpakuto was unsealed, now resembling a Khyber blade larger than Rukia.
"You wanna find Renji and Uryuu, right?" he asked. Rukia nodded once, eyes still on the enemy. "Then go. I'll take care of this clown."
She looked up at Ichigo, at the confidence in his eyes and then back at Shawlong and the apprehension in his.
"I'll meet you as soon as I can," he assured.
That was enough for Rukia. She ran off from the two going faster than ever. She just had to trust Ichigo could handle this, that everyone could, because even with her unrefined senses Rukia could tell there were plenty more Arrancar down in Karakura Town today.
Unbeknownst to her one of them was watching her at that very moment, grinning from the shadows.
I felt a little cruel putting this chapter here, mostly because next chapter is an interlude so fights won't be happening for at least another two weeks. I imagine this next interlude will be a ton of fun, though. It's the rare "not a flashback" interlude and has some spicy plot stuff that should make it well worth a read.
(And lore checkers. I love you so [because sometimes you know more than me], but I'm checking myself here. I know that Ulquiorra's eye is just an ability he has in the manga. This is a conscious change.)
(Want to fight me about it anyway? Send me a review. They give me life.)
