Preparations begin.
Part I
The two Shinigami squatters were missing most of yesterday, only stumbling into Keigo's home well past midnight. They were louder than they really should have been at that hour, grumbling to each other in the dark. Keigo was surprised that Paku could stay dead asleep next to him through the whole thing.
(They had only cuddled, had maybe made out a bit, and Keigo couldn't bring himself to be disappointed about it. It felt nice, even. Besides, with her having such a tenuous grasp on what sex even was [and with him being more intimidated by the concept than he'd ever admit] it was for the best.)
Careful not to jostle her he crawled out of bed, tiptoeing to the door. Just as he heard steps coming near through the hall, he pressed his ear against it, keeping his breath steady and low.
"…probably getting overtime for this," he heard Yumichika groan.
"Screw overtime," Ikakku bit out. "She was a fighter. This doesn't make any gods damned sense."
Yumichika let out a sigh. "These things rarely do… Come on. Let's get cleaned up. Whatever's going to happen, we'll know in the morning."
Their voices faded away after that as they disappeared through the creaky bathroom door, and Keigo was left to stew over what the heck that all meant. The next morning, he and Paku parted ways. He headed to school, last night's events weighing on his mind.
He arrived to see all the new "transfer students" missing, which was pretty typical of them. They all had spotty attendance at best, not that any of the teachers seemed to notice. Then and again he'd catch one or two of them at the beginning of the day (it was usually Ikkaku, fresh out of morning practice for the kendo club he'd gotten roped into joining somehow) but that was usually it.
Even less strange was seeing Ishida and Renji whispering to each other conspiratorially before the bell rang. Most of the class had become desensitized to that particular friend group's antics a while ago. The fact that Keigo knew why they acted the way the did made him all but blind to it.
Perhaps the least strange of all was not seeing Rukia in class that day. She didn't even burst in through the door at the last minute, some excuse on her tongue. It seemed like everyone was off on crazy training trips nowadays.
(Keigo's senses may have been shit, but he could tell that Renji and Ishida were different after their absences.)
She was probably just following suit with her friends. It made sense considering whatever happened yesterday. He wasn't there to see it, thank god, but according to Paku something big had gone down, big enough that even with her wounds mostly healed she wanted nothing to do with it.
So, yeah, there was nothing to worry about. Rukia had probably just gotten a little banged up, had her pride bruised, and needed somewhere to cool off and power up for a bit. With that in mind he settled into his seat and tried not to fall asleep as the lecture began.
He was the only one who noticed Ichigo appearing through the window two minutes before lunch, tapping on the glass to get Renji and Ishida's attention. He was also the only one to notice that after lunch the two didn't come back to class.
Part II
When Ichigo told Renji and Ishida that they're all meeting at Kukaku's, something curled in Renji's stomach, bitter and cold. He'd been expecting it, but still… it felt familiar, and not in a good way. He was already anticipating whatever crazy twist the woman would have up her sleeve before they even left the school grounds.
Ishida ran beside him, saying nothing, but looking more alert than he had in over a day. Ahead of them ran Ichigo, explaining what he could, fists clenched.
"Yoruichi said everything's finally in," he called back.
"They know what happened?" asked Renji.
Ichigo paused, and Renji could just imagine the scowl that was on his face. "Well, they've got some theories. Hopefully we can go through all of them and figure out what the hell we're going to do next."
"What to–" Renji sputtered. "I could tell you what to do next. We're going to Hueco Mundo and kicking Aizen's ass."
Suddenly, Ichigo ground to a halt. Just a block away Renji could see the rooftop of the Shiba Shop.
"It's not that simple," the Shinigami bit out. "We've got procedures."
"What like the ones that almost got you killed?" Renji snapped.
The stare that Ichigo sent him was withering. "I get it," he said in a low voice. "You're pissed off. I am, too. So, you better get it all out of your system now, because if you bring it in there both our asses are on the chopping block.
"Then more than the usual group will be there," Ishida observed.
"Yeah," Ichigo answered, "the Captain Commander's presiding. They're taking the incident pretty seriously, and honestly, they'd rather you two weren't there. I insisted otherwise. So, play nice, got it?"
Renji closed his eyes, inhaling slowly, trying to calm his own anger. He replayed Captain Ukitake's words in his mind.
"She won't be short of protection, I assure you."
He'd better have meant it.
Renji opened his eyes, feeling a bit steadier. "Okay. I get it."
"Good."
The three walked the rest of the way to the meeting place ignoring the "closed" sign and walking right past the store front. Ichigo lead them to the dining room, already occupied by waiting Shinigami and something on the far wall that Renji had a hard time comprehending for a moment.
It looked like a giant TV screen picking up static, but instead of a normal plastic body there was a frame of what disgustingly looked like flesh. He tried to hold down whatever had bubbled up in his throat, instead turning his focus to the one person in the room that he hadn't been expecting.
Tatsuki Arisawa stood near the screen, a heavy frown on her face the moment the three walked in. The pitying look she shot Renji made him feel uncomfortable.
"Really, Ichigo?" she sighed out. "I'm gone for like two weeks and this manages to happen?"
"Guess I'm just a magnet for trouble, huh?" He said it in a way that was clearly meant to be joking, but the way it came out was almost… sad. Next to her Orihime looked ready to say something in response, but she was interrupted.
"The connection's set," Matsumoto said from her crouched position at the screen's corner. "Starting the transmission in three… two…"
The screen blinked to life, still fuzzy and full of interference, but Renji could make out the old man's long beard as well as the disapproving stare he sent first to him and then to Ichigo, a look that Ichigo carefully ignored.
His voice deep and gravelly he said, "Lieutenant Arisawa, if you will."
The girl cleared her throat, straightening out her back. "It has been found that Substitute Shinigami Rukia Orikasa was with an Arrancar at the moment of her disappearance. Evidence points towards this Hollow being one of Aizen's soldiers."
"Are you sure?" Orihime asked with a frown. "I've fought with those Arrancar. They were always very easy to find, and when she was taken… we didn't sense anything."
"We're positive," she answered with a grimace. "This one seems to be able to slip in and out of places unnoticed. Traces of him were found all over the town by Captain Urahara's machines. They're thinking he's the same one that appeared during the first invasion."
"So, Orikasa would have interacted with this Arrancar multiple times," Hitsugaya pointed out.
"There was one she'd talk about," Ichigo said. "A specific Arrancar was giving her a hard time, for some reason."
"That's the theory we're acting by," the Captain Commander said, "but the implications are troubling."
"Don't tell me…" Hitsugaya went pale. "You think it's possible she went willingly?"
Tatsuki sighed out, "Without any signs of a struggle, we have to at least consider it."
"That's bullshit!" Ichigo and Renji yelled out in unison. They shared a surprised glance. Ichigo was the first to recover.
"Did you even hear what I said?" he asked. "She wanted to kick that Arrancar's ass, not make friends with him."
"It's just a theory!" Tatsuki yelled back. "Even Urahara thinks that idea is bullshit."
"Yes," the Captain Commander said with a deep frown. "Captain Urahara leans more towards the idea that she may have been coerced in some way, though the possibility still remains that she could have been killed."
"No," Renji said firmly. "Rukia wouldn't go down that easy. There's no way she's dead."
"Captain Yamamoto," Hitsugaya said diplomatically, "I believe it'd be best to treat things as if she were still alive, until we receive evidence to the contrary, at least."
"In most circumstances I would agree, but…"
"…But?" Orihime repeated softly.
"These are hardly normal circumstances. You came here for orders on your next course of action. So, here are your orders. You are all to remain at your posts for the foreseeable future. There will be no rescue mission."
The shock that went through Renji's stomach felt like a lightning bolt. The way that Tatsuki solemnly closed her eyes made him think that she had been expecting this all along.
"You're kidding me…" Ichigo gaped. He, apparently, had not.
"No, I am not… Lieutenant Arisawa."
"He's…" she let out a sigh. "We've learned a lot about Arrancar in the last few days, but the only thing we know about Aizen's base in Hueco Mundo is the name, Las Noches. Staging a rescue mission now…"
"It'd be suicide," Matsumoto said plainly. "We'd be going in blind, and the second we'd land they'd know we were there."
"Perhaps with enough forces it could safely be done," Hitsugaya said, "but by then it'd just be an invasion."
"Are you serious?!" Renji yelled. "Did you already forget that we literally just did that?"
"You had an insider, a few, actually," Ayasegawa pointed out, "and from what I understand, no one was really trying to kill you, save for maybe our Captain. These Arrancar won't be so kind."
"Procedures… remember?" Ichigo said this through teeth grit so hard Renji thought they might break.
"Captain Commander," Orihime tried. "If you could please reconsider–"
"I have," he cut off. "I'm not invading Las Noches over a single Substitute, and I'm not sending any of you away for a suicide mission, no matter how badly you want it."
"Don't give me that!" Renji bellowed. "The only reason she's even there is because one of yours went psycho, and now all of a sudden your hands are tied?!"
Renji felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder and turned to see Ichigo, his gaze dark.
"I'm sorry sir," he said, "but there's no way we're just gonna sit back and do nothing. We're going after her."
"I…" Orihime squeaked, "I'm with him on this one. It'd be wrong to just leave her there, no matter how small our chances."
"Suicide mission or not," Tatsuki said, glancing between them, "we're doing it."
The Captain Commander closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. "I had expected as much. It is a good thing I had prepared this."
With that the line died, the screen going back to static. With a faint glow and a buzz of energy the wall beside them opened up, a Senkaimon appearing. Out of it stepped Captain Shiba and a lady Captain that Renji didn't recognize.
"Captain Unohana," Orihime gasped out.
"Dad…" Ichigo muttered.
"It'd be best if you came quietly," the man said, scratching the back of his neck. "Don't worry, we'll… we'll figure this out."
"We've been permitted to use force if necessary," Unohana said in a gentle voice. "Please, do not make it come to that."
For a moment the three defiant Shinigami had a standoff with their mentors. This ended when Orihime took a hesitant step forward, her Captain's hand settling on her back.
"You've gotta be shitting me," Tatsuki grumbled. She followed quietly.
Ichigo didn't say anything at all when he came in behind her, his dad's hand patting his shoulder. He just looked back at Renji, fire in his eyes.
This wasn't over yet.
The room awkwardly cleared out after that, everyone heading off to places that, honestly, Renji didn't give a damn about. Eventually, all that was left was him, Ishida, and that big ugly screen, display gone black a while ago.
Ishida let out a quiet laugh. "I don't know why I'm surprised."
"I am," Renji hissed out. "I'm fucking angry, too. You'd think they'd lift even one finger after all we did for them, but no…"
"In the old man's defense, she did try to kill him," the Quincy grumbled. Renji sent him a harsh glare. Ishida just rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. Of course, they were never going to help us. What we need to do is help ourselves."
"Storm Hueco Mundo, you mean."
"It wouldn't be the first time."
"I assume you'll need some help with that," a new voice called. In the doorway stood Kukaku Shiba, leaning casually, a humorless smile on her face.
Renji growled. "I'm pretty sure we don't need your kind of–"
"You can get us into Hueco Mundo?" Ishida interrupted.
Kukaku looked at Renji carefully, a frown on her face. "I can," she said, closing the door behind her. "No tricks, no angles, no agendas, not this time."
"Like we should believe you," Renji hissed.
"It doesn't matter if you believe me," the woman said harshly. "I'm your only ticket in. Now are you doing this, or not?"
Ishida sent Renji a look, one that Renji wouldn't meet, eyes instead glued to the ground. "We're doing this," the Quincy answered for the both of them. "I'm going to assume you have a plan?"
"Eh, kinda," the woman admitted. "Urahara ain't running this one, I am, and I've got a different philosophy when it comes to this sort of thing."
"…And that would be?"
"Go by your gut," she said with a grin. "You won't have any contacts or guides this time. Yoruichi can't help you, here, and I've made the executive decision to keep Ganju and Paku out of this one."
"What?!" someone yelled from the other side of the door. Renji could hear Ganju making pleas for Paku to stay quiet, dammit! Before he could even finish, the door was being flung open, Paku angrily marching in. The big guy stood behind her, hand to his face in exasperation.
"One of those Arrancar nearly killed you!" Kukaku yelled, not seeming nearly surprised as she probably should have been. Her brother opened his mouth to protest, but she wouldn't even let him get a word out. "And you don't even have any powers! You got lucky last time, but I'm not risking it again, got it?"
Ganju crossed his arms, back against the wall, Paku silently fuming. The words had Renji feeling a little uneasy, though. They really had no support here, did they? It'd just be the two of them.
"We can do it," Renji insisted. "We'll do it alone if we have to."
Kukaku grimaced. "I'll send you support as soon as I can, but right now…"
"With the Shinigami so against this, we just don't have any options," Ishida said for her.
"Then alone it is," Renji said with a nod.
"We'd better prepare, then," Ishida muttered. It'd be a trick getting them both out of school for this one, but it'd be worth it, Renji thought. "I would like to know, though, what are we to expect when we arrive?"
Kukaku grinned. "In a word: hell. Hueco Mundo ain't like the Soul Society, kids. It's a desert wasteland just filled to the brim with things that want to kill you. That's nothing compared to Las Noches, though.
"Aizen's fortress. No one knows what's inside, but it's easy to imagine. There'll be nothing but Arrancar, there. Even your average foot soldier can be pretty tough, but those aren't the ones you have to watch out for. No, those are the Espada, ten of Aizen's elite. It was one of them that took Rukia, from what I gather. Honestly, I'm not sure if you two could take one, but it seems you're going to have to try."
Ishida frowned. Renji just rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, we get it," he said. "It's gonna be tough. We knew that part, already. Now, can we go?" He had a mom to placate back at home.
Kukaku shrugged her shoulders. "It's not like I'm holding you here."
Renji didn't waste much time after that. He left, Ishida right behind him. On his way out he gave Ganju a solid pat on the shoulder. The responded with a crooked grin.
"Don't die on us, now," Ganju said.
Sending him his own shark like grin Renji left the shop, parting ways with Ishida at the door. They didn't say anything to each other when they left. They both knew what had to be done.
Part III
It wasn't as hard as Kukaku thought it would be, convincing her two charges that going to Hueco Mundo was the worst possible idea. What was much more expected: the sheer distrust shown by the two she was sending there.
Renji pulled no punches, as was his nature, and Ishida, he could barely look her in the eye. This was probably the first time the Quincy had even spoken to her since they'd gotten back. Still, though he was the more civil of the two, every look he did send her had ranged from mistrust to full on hostility. Still, they were willing to cooperate. She didn't need them to like her, as long as she had that.
Only after everyone cleared out did exhaustion really hit Kukaku. In that moment her thousand years or so of life weighed on her in a way that it never had before. She'd get a stiff drink and promptly collapse in bed if she could, but that wasn't an option, right now. So, instead she ambled out to the front porch, waiting for Yoruichi to come with news.
(If recent trends meant anything, it wouldn't be good.)
She waited for maybe a minute or so before a presence neared, though it wasn't the one she was expecting.
"I thought you were dragged off by your dad," she said, not turning.
Behind her Ichigo settled against the wall, hands in his sleeves. "I came back," he said. "Something was bothering me."
She smiled, hand propping her up. "And what would that be, oh nephew o' mine?"
He smiled back. "I don't care what you told the others. I think you're up to something."
Her smile quirked downwards. The little shit was eavesdropping, wasn't he? "What, you don't trust me?"
"Of course, I don't. you raised me better than that."
Dang, if that didn't make a part of her feel proud. Another part felt completely heartbroken. She wasn't sure which side she should listen to.
"I don't have any grand plan, if that's what you're wondering," she said instead. "There's no conspiracy to uncover, here. The closest thing I have to an agenda is a mission to relieve a guilty conscience."
"…What?" Ichigo seemed genuinely confused, here.
"I have a lot of regrets in this life but putting Rukia on Aizen's radar is right near the top. The mission was never meant to go that way."
"I… put that much together," he grumbled. "I guess we don't always get what we want, huh?"
"Ha! You're learning," she laughed.
She could hear Ichigo shuffling for a moment, unsure. Eventually, he got the words out.
"I get what you were trying to do," he said. "It took me some time to come to terms with it, but sealing the Hōgyoku in me, you were just trying to protect me. If all had gone well, I'd probably still just be here, fighting Hollows with the others. It would have gotten rid of the Hōgyoku and kept me out of the war all in one go."
She shrugged, unable to face him.
"The part I don't get is why you didn't just tell us, all of us. You almost sent them to their deaths, and you won't even explain yourself… Well, now I'm asking you. Explain yourself."
She glanced back, catching a glimpse of his black uniform before staring back at her feet.
"I… I really thought I could do it," she said. "I thought I could protect everyone, make everyone happy. Well, look where that got me. Just about everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, and now that rotten son of a bitch…"
She could practically feel herself shaking, anger coursing through her.
Aizen just had to take everything from her, didn't he? And no matter what he always left her just a half step behind.
"No," she said shakily. "No secrets, this time. We work together, like we always should have. We get her back and we show Aizen why you don't mess with the Shiba."
"Okay," Ichigo stressed. "We will, for Rukia…"
For Kaien.
Part IV
Uryuu watched as Abarai trudged off to his apartment, head down, and for once he really felt bad for his classmate. He could imagine what was going through that head of his right then, not that Uryuu felt equipped to comfort him about it.
He was pretty sure there was only one thing that would make Abarai feel better and standing on the sidewalk wasn't going to get that done. He had some arrangements to make. With that thought, he began his brisk walk, mind working.
Now, Uryuu was at the top of his class. However long it took to get Rukia back, he was sure his grades could handle it. Besides, regular people had a funny way of temporarily "forgetting" those that did a bit of dimension hopping.
(Orikasa's name not even being called at roll did not escape his notice.)
There was no point in calling the school, he figured. He'd just get whatever he needed and go. He could stop by the hideout to grab some useful things, pack whatever food was nonperishable back at the apartment, and finally take all of tomorrow to sew his new uniform. All of that would take a while, but he could get it done, no problem.
You should tell him.
Uryuu stiffened, scolding himself for that thought. He shook his head furiously. He hadn't told his dad about going to the Soul Society. Why would he tell him this?
Maybe because he worries?
Uryuu scoffed at that. His dad wasn't really the worrying type. Had their recent meeting revealed some things about Ryuuken that he hadn't considered before? Perhaps, but that didn't mean… that…
Letting out a deep sigh, Uryuu changed directions, heading to the hospital. Gods permitting, the man would be too busy to see him.
It took maybe three minutes for Uryuu to reach the main lobby, and another five to explain to the receptionist that no, he wasn't sick, but yes, he wanted to speak with the head surgeon. When she finally made the call, he decided that if it took more than half an hour, he'd call the whole thing off.
He was brought up to his dad's office in less than ten minutes. Dammit.
"Was it a slow day or something?" Uryuu asked sardonically.
Ryuuken raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to see me."
Uryuu's shoulders stiffened, an eye going back to the small window right at the door. The spying nurse drew back quickly, her faint Reiatsu signature moving away.
"Rukia was captured," he said point-blank. "Abarai and I are going after her."
Ryuuken's eyes widened, his fingers twitching like he was itching for a cigarette suddenly. Funny, there wasn't even an ashtray in the room. At home the man smoked like a chimney.
"I… see," the man said. "This is worse than I thought, then."
"You're not going to tell me not to go… are you?" Uryuu asked quietly.
"Would you listen if I did?"
Uryuu's chin jutted out defiantly. That was answer enough.
"No, I don't think I will," his father continued. "I also doubt that I have to stress the dangers of this to you, not if you've gotten this far."
"Kukaku Shiba gave me quite the run down," Uryuu said. "We have our work cut out for us it seems."
The deadpan look Ryuuken gave him told Uryuu plenty about what the man thought of his phrasing. Uryuu nearly winced. He probably couldn't get away with trying to let his dad down easy, could he. He needed the direct approach, here.
Uryuu cleared his throat. "I've decided that I'm coming back from the rescue mission."
Ryuuken blinked, expression unreadable. "That's not really something you get to decide."
"I just did," he said firmly. "I'm coming back alive and proving to you once and for all that being a Quincy isn't marking yourself for death, and once I do, you're reconsidering everything. I'll get you to be a Quincy again."
For a moment his father stared at him, and then the man did something that Uryuu hadn't seen him do in many, many years. He burst out into laughter.
"Y-you're more…" he wheezed through it, "…more naïve than I thought!" More laughter came through him. His office chair creaked as he leaned back into it, hands grasping his stomach.
It took a good few seconds for it to die down, and it left Uryuu feeling insulted. He may have stormed out had the man not finally answered him the in the next moment.
"Okay," Ryuuken said suddenly. "I agree to your terms."
"Are… are you serious?" Uryuu asked incredulously. The man nodded.
"I am."
Uryuu had to admit, he didn't think he'd get this far. "I'll hold you to it. We leave in two days, so, I'll see you… after."
"After," his father agreed.
Feeling the awkwardness rise, Uryuu began to take his leave, fingers dancing across the strap of his bag.
"You're more like your mother than you now," his father said suddenly. Uryuu stopped right before the door, eyes wide. "We should talk about her… when you return."
"I'd… like that."
Uryuu left the hospital feeling like he wanted to laugh, even though he was doing what some would consider the exact opposite, then. For once his father had him crying and it was a good thing. Wiping away everything as best as he could, he marched forward.
I'm weirdly fond of this chapter. Though we technically hit the midpoint of this story a while ago, this feels like the start of the second act to me. Characters be getting development, and a new quest with so many twists and turns will begin… in a few chapters… after a break. Two chapters to go! (Your reviews give me life…)
