Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!
Clarent excalibur; Thanks very much! Glad that you're enjoying the story~ Nemu was yeah grateful, but she also understood what he was doing was wrong. That does sound pretty cool to me, thanks for the suggestions!
ShadowUzumaki55; She did yeah, don't mess with Giselle, she'll come at you with all sorts of powers~ It was yeah, Giselle's ability came in useful that time. Yeah, it explains a good bit about his fighting style, he's been in a number of Squads in the past. She did yeah, Giselle might be goofy at times, but she also is able to handle herself, and use her smarts to overcome an enemy. Nemu showed that she's not merely a puppet anymore, and is growing into her own person. Mayuri's gonna be up to something's~
Skull Flame; Haha, he surely does yeah, don't mess with the Zombies. He might end up trying to do that, it is Mayuri after all. Thanks very much!
Andrew123456; Yeah, that sounds like a cool Black Clover idea, thanks for the suggestions!
Dzerx; Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far~
Silver crow; Thanks very much! Momo's conflicted yeah. Giselle is able to mess with her opponents huh. Haha, it surely will. People will and have addressed it. Giselle finds it rather disgusting for a number of reasons, one it just being his sword, two it being poison based, and as for killing others, she wouldn't mind that much, but the fact that they're his subordinates, she isn't thrilled about that. Innocent probably not, but they're still her blood so she'd be pissed about it. Yeah, it did confirm a few things huh. Nanao and Takumi seemed to have a good relationship back in the day. Aah, that's a secret for now~ Giselle managed to truly come at Mayuri and force his hands to extreme lengths. Yeah, Shuhei got the short straw huh~? Nemu showed that she can't be controlled like she was before, and now she's beginning to understand herself as a person. We'll see what, if anything, he creates. Eeh, no I can't think of anyone. It makes sense considering what we know about the guy, wish there was a scene in the manga/anime about it. Maybe he could do that yeah. Maybe he will. Yeah, he could be made into one~ Oh happy late birthday~ That's good, glad she's still living. I figured it would be something like that with Bambi. Yeah, it was pretty clear from the manga/anime he did that, good to know that it was confirmed.
guest; She could appear before the Fullbring arc. Those would be cool girls. Eeh, from the top of my head, I like Jugram and Bazz B, mostly for their extended backstory and how they became friends, and the betrayal and showing at the end that Jugo still cared about Bazz B with the button embedded into the hilt of his sword that he got from Bazz B in his youth, plus Bazz B did make me smile in the scenes he was in. Other than that, I'd have to reread the arc before saying if I had any other favourite male sternritter. Yeah, he'll probably have them with him. I don't know about that yet, he might do. I could see her going up against Robert, and yeah they didn't get a great ending, or many cool moments, I liked Roberts casual design, and Nanana's powers were cool, it could be fun to do a fight with that.
Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!
Momo's confliction
Running through the night, Momo clutched the letter that was in her hand.
She knew exactly where she was supposed to go, thanks to the letter.
Revealing everything about what had 'happened' only caused her convictions to grow stronger.
She had to confront him.
She had to understand why Captain Aizen died.
What possessed this person to take his life.
"Captain...I don't know if I can do this...but, I will do my best..."
Momo said it deep within her heart.
She knew exactly what she needed to do right now.
She needed to go and confront, Takumi Urahara.
Sleeping within her office, Rangiku was dreaming of a time when she had met a certain someone. Dreaming about how that person had helped her in the past, dreaming about something of a better time…
But when her eyes shot open, she rubbed under said eyes, and let out a small groaning sound.
"So, you're awake."
Rangiku gasps, turning to the voice, and saw that Toshiro was sat there.
"Ca-Captain, why are you in my room?"
"This isn't your room Matsumoto, this is your office."
Rangiku looks around, and sees in fact, she was laying down on a couch within her office. She didn't think that she would have fallen asleep. What was more surprising was that Toshiro seemed to be doing her work for her, which was confusing.
"Captain, did you do my work for me?"
"Don't make it a big deal, I've done the majority of it, you just need to finish them off. I've got other things to do anyway."
Despite the tone suggesting she didn't care, she could see that she did in fact care since she did her work for her, and didn't even bother to wake her up either.
"Captain...thank you. But, how long have I been asleep?"
"That doesn't matter, what does is that you're awake now. As I said, I've got things I need to do-"
"Captain, can I ask you a question?" Toshiro paused, and simply nodded. "Then Captain, this entire business with Takumi Urahara, it seems to be running out of control."
"More than you know. It seems that a number of Shinigami have been defeated. A good chunk of the Second Division have been defeated by Takumi Urahara, even the Captain seems to have been bested by him."
"He beat Captain Soi Fon?"
Rangiku didn't quite believe it, but Toshiro shook her head.
"When I say bested, I meant that he got away from her."
Rangiku fully understood now.
But even then, it was a feat that she found to be scary.
"Even then...it's hard to believe. I also heard that he had a clash with Kenpachi Zaraki...it seems that he's either lucky or very skilled...or even both. They're strong and fast people, it's amazingly scary to think that he's managed to defeat them or get away from them. It makes me wonder what kind of decisions are going to be made now. If the Head Captain is going to be showing up..."
"Mere speculation isn't going to get you anywhere." Toshiro interrupted, then bit her lower lip. "Although, I must confess...I also am wondering a number of things myself. With this Takumi Urahara...I have been questioning the motives behind Captain Aizen's murder...and why he'd go and do that. According to Hinamori, he didn't have any objective to kill anyone, and was merely here to..."
While Toshiro spoke, Rangiku had a feeling running through her.
A feeling that she had to express.
"Captain, you couldn't possibly think that he isn't involved…?"
Toshiro shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know about that, all I do know is that he is here for a reason. It's a coincidence that he died here and now. When there's always..."
"...Gin, that's who you're going to mention, aren't you?"
Toshiro didn't deny it, and went to explain herself, when they were interrupted, by a member of their Squad. He seemed to be carrying some information with him, so Toshiro allowed him to proceed.
"Captain, Lieutenant's Abarai, Hinamori, and Kira have escaped their cells."
The news hit Rangiku and Toshiro like a train, surprising the pair of them, and they both didn't know what to say as a result.
Meanwhile, travelling back to the hideout, Takumi, with Kenpachi on his back, Nemu carrying Orihime, Giselle and Yachiru jumping beside them, travelled in a good sized group, it wasn't ideal Takumi thought due to others being able to detect them, but they had to do this to get back, since it was too dangerous to split up right now.
"Taku-chan, I hope that we get back soon...I'm getting worried about the others."
Orihime expressed her concerns, Takumi could understand it, while Yachiru looked at Kenpachi with her worries displayed fully.
"Ken-chan...I'm worried about Ken-chan, Taku-chan is he going to be okay?"
"He will be when we get a chance to cure him Yachiru-chan, I promise."
Yachiru smiled at the sight, Takumi saw Nemu seemed to be unusually quiet.
Deciding to ask her openly, since she had just done something she probably thought she'd not do, he wanted to make sure that she was okay.
"Nemu-san, is something going on? How are you feeling?"
"Takumi-sama...I feel...I feel." Takumi and the others smiled at her answer. It meant that she was truly feeling which was good. "Takumi-sama, the next course of action would be to rendezvous with the others, correct?"
"Yes, why?"
Nemu cocked her head backwards.
"Because, I feel some people attempting to approach our current location. Though they are hiding rather well, my sensors detect them. I cannot be mistaken either." Takumi blinked at Nemu's assertive tone. "The people that are coming are Gin Ichimaru, and his Lieutenant."
"Gin..."
"Takumi-sama fought him at the gates."
Takumi recalled that, he wasn't thrilled to be fighting Gin again.
"Oh yeah...sounds wonderful. But if he's coming here, then he knows how to track us down..."
"We can't even move faster with Kenpachi-chan here~"
Giselle laughed out, Takumi nodded in agreement.
"You're right, if we run then we're going to be caught. The best option would be for someone to stay behind, and since I've already dealt with him before-"
"Taku-chan, you can't do it on your own! It would be too dangerous!"
Orihime cried out, but Nemu shook her head.
"Takumi-sama would not be alone. I will also stay beside Takumi-sama."
Giselle looked between them all, and couldn't help but agree, despite not wanting to.
"...She's right Orihime-chan, you're needed in case Kenpachi-chan's condition changes, I've wasted a good deal of power in that fight with Mayuri-chan, and Yachiru-chan can defend us if something was to happen."
"But even then..."
Nemu raised her head.
"Orihime-sama, do not worry about Takumi-sama. By my calculations on the current Takumi-sama, he has the spiritual pressure of a Captain. Though there is the worry of Bankai being released by Captain Ichimaru, Takumi-sama already has a plan, am I correct in assuming this Takumi-sama?"
Takumi lightly smiled.
It seemed that Nemu was picking up on the slightest of movements.
From facial expressions.
It seems Nemu was growing and learning more about people.
"Yes, I think that I could distract Gin long enough for you guys to get away, then I could show him why my mind is very dangerous. I managed to collect some of the stuff that infected Kenpachi-san here. If I could get that on Gin, or at least with the threat of it blocking his path, we could get away ourselves." His eyes turned to Nemu. "Nemu-san, are you sure? If you're spotted with me then..."
"I made my decision Takumi-sama when I came up against Mayuri-sam...Mayuri." Noticing the change, it was good to see Nemu was beginning to grow even more. "I have decided to stay with Takumi-sama, and live with him from now on."
Orihime shot a slightly jealous look towards Nemu.
"L-Live with him?"
"Yes, I fully intend to live with Takumi-sama, and have decided to be beside Takumi-sama always. If it wasn't for Takumi-sama, I might have still been where I was with Mayuri...I am grateful to Takumi-sama, and I cannot see Takumi-sama going into battle alone once more. Takumi-sama does so much for everyone, he sacrifices a lot to protect others. I shall follow in Takumi-sama's example, and be beside Takumi-sama always."
Takumi felt oddly touched by her words.
It did sound like Nemu was alright with it.
"Nemu-san...then, we'll stay behind." Takumi gave Kenpachi to Yachiru. "Yachiru-chan, remember as my Lieutenant of the Taku Squad, you've got to make sure that these people are safe okay? I'm leaving them in your hands."
"T-Taku-chan….y-yes! I will as your Lieutenant! I'm sure Ken-chan wouldn't mind sharing me as your Lieutenant as well as-"
"Can I be Takumi-sama's Lieutenant as well?"
Nemu interrupted, surprising Yachiru.
But then she grinned.
"We can be joint Lieutenant's!"
"Thank you, Lieutenant of Taku Squad."
Takumi showed a light hearted smile, before Orihime smiled towards Takumi.
"Taku-chan, I'll make sure that Kenpachi-san stays alive if something would go wrong, and use my powers to defend the others."
"Right, I'll leave it to you."
Takumi and Nemu stopped on a certain roof, which was rather large. They turned back towards where Gin and Izuru would be coming in. Orihime and the others weren't happy about it, but to keep the others safe, they had to split up once more, and hope that they would be alright.
Waiting for a minute or so, Takumi felt the presence of the snake himself. It was clear he was there, Takumi felt the chills down his spine. He felt the coldness filling the area, the feeling of dread coming over Takumi.
Directing his head upwards into the air, he baited Gin into revealing himself.
"Why hello Gin, been a while."
A small laughing could be heard surrounding them both.
Takumi's eyes darted right, and saw that Gin was stood there, waving his hand.
"Why hello, it seems that we've run into each other. What are you doing here on this fine day? Or should I say, this fine night? Since the suns gone away, it seems that the darkness has come out to play."
Takumi sharpened his eyes.
"Cut the crap Gin, I know why you're here."
Gin showed his everlasting scary smile.
"And why would that be?"
Takumi's hand went to his sword, as Izuru appeared beside Gin. Takumi's eyes went to Nemu who looked composed as she stared towards Izuru.
"Lieutenant of Squad 12? What is she doing here?"
Izuru's question was met with a laugh from Gin.
"She's defected to that side it seems."
Izuru looked shocked. Seeing someone like Nemu betraying the Soul Society was something he hadn't ever expected to see. Honestly, he thought that he might have been seeing things, but Nemu made a face that while it was her normal face, also showed a hint of defiance, and how she was standing close by to Takumi, she wasn't about to give up now.
Izuru couldn't fathom what Nemu was thinking about doing this, and he was worried about Takumi.
Sensing his pressure, it was above Lieutenants level of power now. He wouldn't be able to help Gin out in a fight against him, he knew that.
"But Captain, that's...Takumi Urahara, and she's working for him? His power has increased...before, when he was fighting, it felt like it was weaker...but it seems to have grown...Captain, I'm sure that you can defeat him, but even then, allow me to make the first-"
Gin stopped Izuru with a wave of his hand.
"It's alright, Izuru. You can't become involved in our fight, he's grown to a place a normal Lieutenant wouldn't be able to fight him on his or her own, so allow me to handle this. Besides, we can kill two birds with one stone this way." His near closed eyes went towards Takumi who stayed calm under pressure. "I don't mind dealing with this boy on my own. In fact, I've been dying to have a rematch with this boy. His blonde hair covered in blood, it would be rather wonderful to see. I'm sure he feels the same way, that's why that girl there isn't making a move, she knows she can't interfere in this battle either."
Takumi let out a small laugh.
"Naturally, you're saying these things in an attempt to intimidate me. But you can't intimidate me."
Gin wagged his finger.
"Well, that's not good..." Suddenly, Gin's smile turned cold, and quickly flashed towards him, Takumi withdrawing his Zanpakuto and parried Gin just in time, sending him a good distance away from him. "...how about now Takumi-kun? Do you feel scared right now?"
Takumi glared on while Nemu looked towards Izuru.
They both knew that this could be a dangerous situation, but neither seemed to care as they had to stall and possibly beat, in the attempt for their comrades to get away and make sure nothing would happen with them.
Meanwhile, Toshiro and Rangiku began searching for Momo specifically. They received the reports about Renji, and Izuru having escaped their cells, and had seen exactly what had happened for themselves.
First of all, they went towards the cell that she was in, and saw the giant hole that was in the middle of the wall, and the grates as well. The guard that was supposed to be watching over Momo kept apologizing.
Toshiro dismissed him, folding her arms.
"If we were serious about containing her, then we should have locked her up with something that stopped the usage of Kido. She is an expert when it comes to Kido, this wasn't going to stop her if she was serious about breaking out."
Rangiku listened to her Captain's words, trying to take in everything that she could see.
It seemed insane for someone like her.
Momo wouldn't do this, not usually anyway.
She was doing something so abnormal that she had to question herself what was Momo thinking about, and voiced her thoughts to her Captain.
"She broke out of her cell? But why would she do that? Doesn't she know that she will be punished?"
Rangiku spoke up, confusion on her face.
But Toshiro believed it was something else all together.
"...Matsumoto, I believe you should go back to your residence. I'll deal with this."
"But Captain..."
"I gave you an order Matsumoto, follow what I say."
Rangiku could hear the seriousness in her voice.
She wasn't messing around.
This was very serious and whatever it was that Toshiro had seemingly figured out, was worrying Rangiku.
Toshiro then turned around and began walking away at a quickened pace.
"Captain..." Rangiku called, pausing Toshiro's movements. "...This couldn't be anything to do with Takumi Urahara, could it?"
"...Just go back to your residence, and be careful."
That, while not explaining it directly, basically told her everything that she needed to know. Toshiro did believe that Takumi was behind this, and if that was the case, then it was going to be a very dangerous night for her.
Back with Gin and Takumi, Gin took his sword, and made a stance with it. Takumi saw that he wasn't even making an attempt to release his Shikai. It was as if Gin was simply toying with him all of a sudden.
His eyes went towards Izuru who held his sword tightly in his hand.
"Nemu-san, can you do as we discussed beforehand?"
Nemu didn't have a problem with it, and simply bowed her head.
He then turned to Gin once more with his sword stretched outwards.
"Then I'll start with this."
Wanting to finish it quickly, Takumi moved at a high speed for Gin. Gin glanced left, swinging his sword for the young man, only for his sword to go through the air, with Takumi not appearing there at all.
Grimacing, he turned right to see that Takumi had appeared there, his sword coming down, so Gin blocked with his sword, creating a good deal of sparks between their clashing blades, dousing the area in said sparks.
But while Gin was focused in on that, Takumi rallied back his other hand, and sent it sharply for Gin's gut, almost landing a direct hit on him but Gin moved his free hand and caught Takumi's hand, giving off a graceful smile.
"You have to be quicker than that if you wish to catch me off guard~ But I don't know if you want to fight me seriously. You haven't even released your Shikai yet. Are you worried about those two behind us?"
Takumi shook his head.
"Nemu-san can handle herself, I don't know about that guy there. He seems depressed to me."
Gin gave a genuine chortle.
"He always is."
Izuru, having heard that, dipped his head.
"Even then, you're not releasing your own."
Takumi noted, jumping back, as he sent a number of energy blasts with Kido energy at Gin.
Gin didn't even bat an eyelid as he simply swung his katana out, cleaving through the energy instantly.
"I choose to not do that, that's all. Don't worry about my Zanpakuto."
Takumi wasn't sure if Gin was taking this seriously.
Even then, Takumi didn't mind if he was going to take it lightly, it allowed Takumi to surprise Gin in this fight.
But he knew he couldn't prolong this fight. With fighting Unohana, then fighting Soi Fon and her group, using so much spiritual energy was draining for him. Takumi knew that Gin was at full peak power, so if he was going to get off a good attack, then he would have to do his best.
Jumping back a good distance, Takumi twirled his blade around, and summoned some energy from his Zanpakuto. But it was laced with a paralyzing agent, something Takumi thought would be best to end the fight quickly.
"Bakudo 4, Hainawa!"
Releasing yellow energy ropes from his blade, laced with the agent, he attempted to bind Gin in place.
Gin merely took out his blade, and went to cut down the ropes, when he suddenly felt something coming from beside him...no, it felt as if it was coming from his hand.
Looking down, he saw that his hand was beginning to freeze up.
"W-What the hell?"
Gin looked shocked, seeing that the ice was growing.
He tried to figure out how, or when that could have happened…
Then he recalled when their fists connected.
He didn't notice it at the time, but it seemed as if Takumi had used some kind of liquid that was slowly freezing his hand and travelling up his arm.
"Shit!"
Seeing the ropes coming in, he tried to move, when Takumi flicked his hand downwards, seeing that wires had been attached to Takumi's hand, connecting it to Gin's hand, and forced the ice to grow into the ground, trapping him there all together.
"Don't underestimate me Gin!"
Gin began to genuinely panic a little bit.
He had been playing with Takumi, but now it seemed as if Takumi had come up with a plan to stop him in one fell swoop. Gin genuinely hadn't seen this coming, he thought due to the current power Takumi had, he'd not have the ability to fight that well, and he had used all the gadgets he had...but he should have known Takumi had one last thing up his sleeve, so he wasn't going to underestimate him again.
Izuru, seeing his Captain in danger, withdrew his Zanpakuto, and jumped down.
But anticipating this, Nemu leapt up at him at the same time. Izuru turned to Nemu, and yelled "Don't!" but Nemu merely replied with "I'm sorry." and used her incredible physical ability to leap over Izuru's blade that he swung for her, using it as a stepping stone, and got behind his body.
Turning his neck, he felt Nemu's knees pressed against Izuru's back.
"L-Lieutenant, why are you doing this!?"
"Because, I am aiming to become a better person, and you currently do not follow a better person. Gin Ichimaru is something called, a snake, and he is in the wrong. I shall defend Takumi-sama who has given me a new lease on life, and I have decided to be beside Takumi-sama always."
With that, Nemu sent her strength into her legs, and forced Izuru's body downwards.
Gin sharpened his eyes, cutting off the ice freezing him to the ground, sacrificing the usage of his hand for the moment, allowing him to dodge out of the way just in time, so Takumi used the ropes to bind Izuru, so he couldn't fight anymore in the battle.
"Sorry about that blonde haired guy."
Takumi apologized while Nemu landed on the roof near Takumi.
Gin looked down at his hand, seeing that the ice had stopped just short of his elbow. It wasn't his entire arm, but the hand was frozen in a way where he wouldn't be able to use that hand, which did anger him greatly.
But he showed a composed face.
"This arm of mine, it seems to be frozen right down."
"It isn't permanently if treated soon. That one wasn't designed to kill my opponents. If I wished to do that then I'd use my Zanpakuto's power itself. That is a mere distraction technique after all, but you didn't even seem all that bothered with your hand being like that. Being shocked sure, but seeing your face not change. I can't tell if you're able to suppress your emotions, or you're truly that cold of a person."
Gin let out a small laugh.
"Who knows what I am right now, maybe I'm a cold hearted guy."
"Your Lieutenant was taken out, and you didn't even bat an eyelid. Aren't you bothered?"
"Not really, if he got caught so easily, then why should it matter to me?"
Takumi couldn't figure Gin out at all.
He was able to stay calm and collected, yet he had his hand frozen, and his Lieutenant taken down.
Takumi just couldn't figure this man out at all.
"Then lets finish this quickly. My hand feels numb now."
Gin quickly used his flash step to disappear. Nemu couldn't see the opponent, but Takumi could, seeing him coming in right, and saw that the blade was heading for his upper body, using his blade to clash with Gin.
But Gin then disappeared to the right hand side, and slashed at him multiple times, Takumi deflected with his blade, pushing it away from his body, but Gin was faster than Takumi had thought, being able to put more pressure into his attacks.
"You've gotten better since the gates. Are you the type to grow stronger from each battle experience? You're rather a genius, aren't you Takumi-kun? I was also considered a genius, once in a generation."
"Then genius, show me why you're called that!"
Takumi increased his power, and swung it downwards, unleashing a strong sword slash that cut deep into the ground, Gin was forced backwards, but it seemed that rather than struggling, he was having the time of his life with the fight.
"Alright then."
Gin showed a sinister smile, moving at a higher speed than before. Getting before Takumi, he stabbed forward a number of times, forcing Takumi to block with his blade, then disappear from sight all together.
Nemu tried to follow with her eyes, but she couldn't see them.
Sparks from their swords could be seen lighting up the area, but Nemu couldn't get the location of them down.
Not until they appeared at a good distance from her, locked in a clashing of blades, pushing against one another's swords. She noticed that Takumi had a small gash on his arm, and on his leg as well.
She could see that Gin had managed to cause this kind of damage to the young boy.
But even then, Takumi hadn't given up, and was holding his own.
"Takumi-sama's energies already were drained a good deal during the beginning of this fight. He can't fight another Captain in a long battle like this. If Captain Ichimaru decides to activate his Shikai, or worse, his Bankai, then Takumi-sama might end up dying here. Takumi-sama...should I try and interfere? Or would I be in Takumi-sama's way? But, I also wish to help Takumi-sama, somehow..."
As she was thinking about it, she felt a new presence being very close.
She hadn't noticed it until this point, so she was figured that the person approaching had made it that way, but no longer could hide their presence, and was heading very close.
Takumi and Gin pulled back a number of inches, the pair glaring hard for the other. Though Gin had his eyes mostly closed, Takumi could see that the slits for his eyes, were solely focused on the young man, and was ready to strike him down at any moment.
"Impressive Takumi-kun, I'm seriously enjoying myself now."
"Yeah...and you'll-"
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
However, at the moment they were about to clash with their swords, Momo suddenly leaps out of the air, and swings down her katana between both of them. Her eyes looked between them, it seemed that she had been crying, and Takumi wasn't exactly sure why that was.
Takumi went to pull back, when seeing that Gin had his sword heading right for her chest, as if he was going to kill her.
"Watch out!"
Takumi got before her, blocking off Gin's katana.
But Momo didn't seem to notice it, believing that Takumi was attempting to attack or defend against her, and swung down her own sword for his body, so he released a Kido barrier, blocking off Momo's katana, then unleashed a burst of spiritual energy and knocked her back a small distance, so she didn't get hurt by Gin's blade.
"Attacking her, isn't she supposed to be apart of the Gotei 13?"
Gin smirked, leaned forward, and whispered.
"To be honest, I couldn't give a crap about that waste of space."
The cold callous words he used, caused Takumi to hate Gin.
He was even smiling through that.
Showing his snake like nature, very cold blooded.
Takumi turned to Momo, seeing that her sword was pointed towards him.
"...It's you again, Hinamori-san, right? It's dangerous around here, you have to run away before..."
"I...I need you to confess!"
She snapped at him, Takumi's eyebrows lifting up curiously.
"Confess, to what?"
Genuine confusion filled the young man's face.
Though for Momo, that just fuelled the fires that were burning inside of her mind.
"You...You killed Captain Aizen, didn't you?!"
At that, Takumi looked visibly stunned, as Gin showed a wicked smile on his face.
Takumi believed he knew what this meant.
Gin...he wasn't even hiding it.
Gin...wanted this to happen.
While waiting for the others to come back, Yoruichi was getting more anxious.
She thought for sure that they'd at least be close by now, but she couldn't even feel any of them getting closer at all. They were far away right now. She also knew that she couldn't leave here, just in case something was to happen.
Though she did believe that Takumi and the others would come back, it didn't stop her from feeling worried about the entire situation that was going on.
Yuzu looked towards Karin who was sleeping on the ground.
But just then, Shunsui suddenly appeared beside Yuzu, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'm sure she's going to wake up soon."
"I hope so...ever since her battle with that Byakuya-san guy..."
"According to Yoruichi-san, it seems that she used a good deal of power, and fighting against Byakuya-san, she's lucky to have survived as long as she did. Many can't say the same thing, your sister has a good degree of talent to live this long."
"...I know you're right, but I'm still worried about her. Karin usually is the tough one, and now that she's like this..."
Shunsui gently petted Yuzu's head.
"Well, I've heard stories that if a Prince kisses a Princess, then she awakens from her slumber."
Yuzu gave a baffled face.
"But, Takumi-kun isn't even here."
Shunsui face faulted, while Yoruichi snickered.
"Not him! I was talking about me!"
"But, you're not a Prince..."
"And Takumi is?!"
Yuzu cupped her hands together, showcasing a grin on her face.
"At school, people call him a Prince. We had this theory that he secretly was apart of some royalty, and he's a Prince from a far away land...I suppose we got the far away part right, he really was from a far away land~ It's like a dream really, I'm sure if the girls at school knew about this, they'd go nuts~"
Yuzu countered, surprising Shunsui for a few moments before letting out a small breath.
"O-Oh...but, I was thinking more of a ruggedly handsome man that could help her wake up."
"But, we don't have any of them here."
Shunsui once more face faulted, while Ganju pointed to himself. Yuzu mouthed "Sorry." and turned to Shunsui, who was twitching on the ground, while Ganju went towards a nearby rock, and just huddled against it.
"T-This can't be happening. Even this girl doesn't think that I am ruggedly handsome...am I a joke or something…?"
"But, you've got that Dad like vibe to you. I wouldn't consider anyone that age like ruggedly handsome. I suppose others in your age would consider that, but for someone like me, I just can't see it...sorry if I have offended you."
Shunsui held his head own, seeing that Yuzu was giving an apologetic look to her face.
Shunsui then pushed out his lips, and showed a grin on his face.
"Then perhaps the fair maiden needs a kiss to wake up~ Don't worry Karin-chan, I'm-" Karin's eyes shot open, and glared for Shunsui. "H-How long have you been awake?!"
"Ruggedly handsome man waking me up with a kiss? A Prince kisses the Princess, am I right Shunsui?" Shunsui shed a few tears as Karin showed a superior smirk on her face. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
Yuzu let out a cry "Karin!" and hugged her sister tightly.
Karin placed a hand on the back of her head and stroked her hair gently.
"I'm sorry for worrying you Yuzu, it wasn't my intention at all."
"N-No, don't worry Karin, I'm alright. I'm just glad that you're alright. You're really awake...I'm so happy about that."
Karin pulled her hand to the back of her head, and stroked lightly.
"Y-Yeah, it was the weirdest thing. I was fighting that Byakuya guy...but then something took over me...and I was lost in some kind of darkness...it was that thing again, wasn't it? The Hollow inside of me."
Yoruichi confirmed it with a nod.
"Yes, we managed to subdue it though."
"Shit...I feel as if I'm a liability with this thing inside of me. This Hollow could take control...but, I need to learn how to get a grip on myself. I can't become a liability in battle. Alright, where are the others?"
Yoruichi shrugged her shoulders.
"They haven't come back yet."
"Then...why are we waiting? Shouldn't we go out and help find them?"
Yoruichi, as much as it pained her, had to shake her head.
"We should wait for them to arrive. It would be too dangerous to go and see them now. If we're caught, then it would be over. Takumi and the others know what they're doing, I have every confidence that they're alright."
Yoruichi wished she could believe the words that she was saying right now.
She honestly didn't know if she could.
She just had to believe in Takumi and the others and hope they'd make it back to them.
Back with Takumi and the others, Momo's sword pointed squarely at Takumi.
Her face was filled with regret, sadness, anger, and many emotions Takumi couldn't identify. She was going through something very powerful, and real.
"Hinamori-san..."
"Why...Why did you do it Urahara-san?"
Takumi's face scrunched up, while Gin laughed in the background.
Takumi glanced at him, seeing Gin enjoying every moment of it.
"Listen, Hinamori-san, I didn't kill Captain Aizen...I wouldn't have any reason to kill him. I hardly knew the guy-"
"You're lying!" She snapped, Nemu went to move to stop Momo, but Takumi stopped her with his arm. "I read it, in his letter!" She took the letter from her outfit, and showed it Takumi. "He told me...you, you're the one who was his friend, the friend that had been together with Captain Aizen for a long time...and you betrayed his trust! He wanted to save you Urahara-san! He went to meet you to try and convince you to give up, so he could help you! And you went behind his back, and...y-you pinned him to that wall...you killed my Captain..."
Seeing Momo's heart breaking, truly was a sad event.
Takumi could barely stand seeing her like this.
Takumi shook his head at the lies on the letter.
"I never met him that night you're talking about."
"Then how did he die?!"
Momo cried out, Takumi glanced at Gin who waved cheerfully.
"One explanation would be..."
Before he could continue, Momo rushed forward and attempted to slash him with her sword, but he parried her away, never going back to strike her.
Nemu, looking on, began moving forward.
"Takumi-sama, she is currently in an unstable state. Her emotions are filling her being, and she can't keep going like this...I think it would be best for myself to make sure that she is able to be calm and collected. I could disable her without harming her."
Nemu tried to get involved, but Takumi felt as if this was something he had to personally deal with.
"Nemu-san, don't worry, I can handle her. Thank you for your concern. But this is something that I should handle." Takumi turned back to Momo who was breathing hard. "Hinamori-san, I know what you've read...what you think is true, but it isn't true. I wouldn't kill him. I didn't come here to kill anyone. I came here to clear my name and rescue Rukia-chan, that's all..."
Momo's tears rained off her face, her body was tensing up, her face was becoming more and more red as she cried.
"You're lying! I saw it in this letter! You want...you want the power of the Sokyoku, right? It's said to have the power of a million Zanpakuto, and...from the past, you did experiments to gain power, and if fell into your hands...that's why Rukia-sans death keeps moving up, you're somehow influencing the Central 46, and if he couldn't stop you, then I should...Captain Aizen said it in his letter, it has to be true...but if it is...why would you...I don't know what to think..."
"A million Zanpakuto? Really?" Takumi murmured. "Even then, I wouldn't kill anyone for that kind of power. And Rukia-chan is my friend, I wouldn't want to sacrifice her for power. I came to save her. She's really important to me."
Takumi tried to convey his thoughts to her directly, Momo wasn't sure what to think at this point.
"B-But, why is he dead? If that's true...then why did he die…? You had opportunity, and motive...right? Who else here would want him gone?"
Takumi wished that he could answer that, but until knowing the full truth, he couldn't reveal what he thought was true, as if it wasn't true, he didn't want to give the girl any kind of false hope.
"I...I don't know why, but I didn't do anything to him. We might have been friends in the past, I don't know because I can't remember. Even if I did or didn't know that, I'd still have no reason to kill him. I promise you, I did not meet Aizen that night of his supposed death. The only time I ever met Aizen, wasn't even me. It was a Gigai of mine, during the Captains meeting. Beyond that, I've never met him since coming back here."
Momo didn't know what to believe.
Her head and heart were in conflict with one another.
Her head wanted to believe the letter was true, but her heart just couldn't accept it.
Tears began flowing from her eyes, Takumi's face softened at the sight.
He truly felt sorry for her.
He wished he could take the hurt and confusion away from her, so she didn't have to suffer anymore.
"Hinamori-san, I know that to you, I'm some stranger, and Aizen was your Captain...but, you have to believe me...I didn't do this, maybe someone forged that letter, I don't know without examining it. But why would he tell you to kill me if he wanted to help me? And if he was going to finish me off...he was your Captain, did your Captain want you to throw your life away like this? Logically, if I could kill your Captain, couldn't I kill you? This Aizen is supposed to be smart...wouldn't he want you to bring him justice some other way?"
Momo's eyes continued to shed tears, her sword shaking due to her entire body shaking.
"I...I don't know, but that's what he wrote, it was his hand writing...and if that's what he wanted...then I should...as his Lieutenant..."
Momo, with unsure eyes, rushed for Takumi.
She hadn't even released her Zanpakuto, is what Takumi noticed.
As the blade came closer, he simply parried it right, as she jumped up. She attempted to come up high with her blade, but Takumi stopped it with his own blade, pushing back the young woman, yet never laid a single finger on her.
He couldn't.
No matter what she did.
If she slashed left, or right.
He simply wouldn't attack her.
He couldn't do that.
"Please...Please tell me what you've done! I...I can't do this anymore...so many thoughts are going on in my head...Captain Aizen's smile...his kindness...I'll never see that ever again...I'll never see him...I'll never get his advice ever again...and that's because of you!"
Momo changing tactics, summoned some Kido energy, and shot off a Shakkaho for Takumi.
But he erected a barrier, blocking off the Kido energy blast, and stopped her from hurting him.
Using that distraction, Takumi flashed behind her, and got in close towards her.
"Ooh my, are you going to kill her?"
Gin seemed interested in that.
Momo turned to see Takumi very close to her.
She thought for sure that she was about to be hit by either Kido or his hand, or maybe even stabbed by his sword…
But he stopped when he reached her.
In the end, though he thought about knocking her out…
This girl had been through too much already, and he simply couldn't do that.
"W-What…? Why…?"
Momo begged for an answer.
She just couldn't understand what had happened.
He had the chance to take her down, but he didn't.
He stopped himself, and didn't lay even a finger on her.
"I don't wanna hurt you Hinamori-san. I'm sorry about what happened to your Captain, but you could ask me a thousand times...a million times, even if I was being tortured, I'd never admit to a crime I didn't commit. Because I didn't do this. I didn't have any reason to harm Aizen, I didn't meet him that night. Look at me...look into my eyes...did I kill Aizen?"
Momo's crying eyes peered into Takumi's own.
Nemu didn't quite understand what Momo was supposed to be looking for.
In her eyes, it wasn't as if Takumi could give her any information from his eyes.
But to Momo, she could see…
She could definitely see it.
Continuing to cry, her sword dropped down to the ground, placing a hand over her mouth, small sobs escaping her mouth.
"...What am I doing…?"
"You haven't done anything wrong...you're upset, you're scary. I understand, and I don't hold it against you. Don't worry about it, Hinamori-san. I'll help you find out what happened to Aizen, but please just think about what Aizen wrote in his letter. If Aizen is as great as you think he is...why would he place you in unnecessary danger?"
Momo looked at her sword on the ground.
Then she looked towards Takumi, and began crying, collapsing to her knees.
Takumi budged closer, bending down towards her, and placed a hand on top of her head.
She flinched at first.
But when she saw the kind expression on her face, it almost overloaded her mind.
It was so much that she didn't know what to think about this.
However, she merely cried as she collapsed into his chest, and cried hard on said chest.
"Takumi-sama's kindness and logic reached her. He told her something that she already knew. He simply reminded her of facts, and logic. But did it in the kindest way. Never striking, never harming her. Only looking to reveal the truth. This is why I wish to be with Takumi-sama. Mayuri-sam...Mayuri, and Takumi-sama are both highly intelligent beings, but Takumi-sama is a man with a good heart, his nature couldn't ever allow him to be as despicable as Mayuri was. He would have killed Hinamori-san without remorse, but Takumi-sama decided to go for the hard approach, but the kindest approach also, an approach that I truly do believe sets Mayuri apart from Takumi-sama, who is the kindest Shinigami."
Nemu's mouth curled upwards ever so slightly, she didn't even notice it.
Takumi gently petted the back of Momo's head.
"I'm so sorry that you've suffered. I promise to try and make that suffering go away, to find out what really happened to Captain Aizen. Just trust in me a little longer."
Momo just cried, but felt thankful that Takumi had said that.
In some odd way, it felt like Captain Aizen saying it…
No, it was different, but the same kindness was there within his voice.
Takumi looked at her hands, and cupped them.
Momo's cheeks turned red at the touch he was giving her, while his smile surrounded his face.
"You gripped your sword so tight your hands were bleeding."
"Y-Yes..."
"Then, we should get these looked at."
Momo didn't know what to think, but being this close to Takumi…
It felt good.
It felt right.
It felt like he was a good person after all.
He wasn't evil, he wasn't out to kill anyone.
He just wanted to clear his name.
That's what she believed now.
She felt skeptical of the letter to begin with.
But now this just confirmed it for her.
He could kill her and get away with it.
But, he clearly didn't seem to have any intention of doing that to her.
He wasn't going to harm her at all.
Gin gave an impatient look towards them both, and hid his sword under his robes.
"Well, I thought that he might have finished her off. Wasn't that supposed to be the plan? I suppose that he isn't anymore ruthless than in the past. But Aizen wishes for her to be gone, and since he's here...I can get two birds with one stone. He wouldn't let this little girl die, so he'll have to defend her, and with the condition that he's in..."
Gin thought to himself, activating his Shikai with a quiet voice.
Nemu noticed that something seemed to be heading for Takumi and Momo, ready to pierce them both.
"Takumi-sama! Behind you!"
Nemu yelled, letting out her emotions.
Takumi turned to see the blade just in time…
Rather, just in time to protect Momo.
The sword didn't pierce his chest, but it did pierce his abdomen, and kept going for Momo right through his body.
But Takumi grabbed the blade just in time before it could reach her body, cutting his hand at the same time as stopping the blade from touching her.
Momo looked down at the blade, then up at Takumi who despite bleeding and coughing out some blood, gave her a smile.
"B-But why…?"
"Because...you're an innocent girl...and you've been through too much..."
Momo clutched her hands, her mind flashing to moments she had with Aizen.
But then she flashed to the time that she had met Takumi.
How he had been kind to her, how he had simply asked questions.
And just then, when he didn't even strike her.
Not a single time.
All he did was deflect her blows, even when she tried to seriously kill him.
Now, he had protected her once more, and was still giving a smile towards her.
Her eyes turned to Gin, and angrily went to pick up her sword, but Takumi stopped her.
"...Don't fight him, it's too dangerous..."
Momo knew he was right, but this situation called for something…
Someone to come and help out.
Takumi peeled the blade out of his stomach, as he fell down to his right knee, with Gin's sword returning to its sealed state.
Momo bent down towards him as Nemu rushed over.
"Oops, did I just stab you? I'm really clumsy aren't I?"
Takumi glared at Gin who was smiling his creepy dangerous smile that could go through the skin easily.
"Takumi-sama, your injury..."
"I've suffered worse than a stab wound, I'll be fine." Takumi replied, placing a hand to his stomach and began using healing Kido, something Momo noticed. "Seriously Gin, attempting to stab an innocent girl."
"She was being swayed, as a member of the Gotei 13, I had to interfere."
Takumi shook his head at his carefree answer.
"Are you behind Aizen, Gin? Because don't snakes like devouring their prey when they least suspect it?"
At that, Gin showed the smallest hint of a smirk on his face, something Momo took to say that basically he had done it. Nemu looked between Takumi and Gin, and wondered if they'd be able to fight Gin off.
But then, as they were staring off against one another, Toshiro came down, and got between them.
"Shiro-chan..."
Momo muttered, Toshiro's eyes going between Gin, the downed Izuru, Nemu, Momo and Takumi.
"...Is someone going to tell me what's going on here?"
At that, the group all looked on with, wondering what was going to happen next. Toshiro's eyes went towards every person in that area. Momo, Takumi, Nemu, and Gin as well. Whatever was going to happen next, Takumi was sure it could be dangerous if Toshiro turned on him as well.
He might be able to just keep up with Gin, but with two Captains, he knew he'd not win in the condition he was in.
Back with Yoruichi and the others, Karin kept pacing up and down, hoping that the others would come back. Yuzu kept her hands on the ground as she sat down, seemingly concentrating, with Ganju following in Karin's pacing.
Shunsui also had his eyes closed, hoping that they would be alright and make sure that nothing bad would happen. He also thought about what Nanao was doing at that moment, and when Unohana and the others were going to appear.
"Karin, you don't have to worry about Takumi, and the others-"
"I'm not worried about them. It just makes me anxious that I'm sat here, and doing nothing while the others are fighting."
"You're still recovering from your battle with Byakuya, even if you went now..."
"I know...I know that I'd not be a help...but it would be better than just sitting here...damn it..."
Yoruichi could understand Karin's frustrations.
She truly did.
She went to speak, when she felt something approaching.
"It seems that the group is back."
"Takumi-kun and the others?"
Yuzu said with some hope in her.
Yoruichi went to comment, but Shunsui spoke up.
"Apart from Takumi and Nemu, the rest are back….no, Nanao-chan isn't there either."
Shunsui expressed a worried look.
Though he was sure that Takumi wouldn't allow Nanao to become hurt.
They waited for a few minutes before Orihime and the others came back. They laid down Kenpachi on the ground, while Yoruichi raised an eyebrow.
"What's happened? With Takumi, and..."
Giselle pulled at her cheeks, and stuck out her tongue.
"Takumi-kun stayed behind with Nemu-chan to deal with a new threat."
"What about Nanao-chan? Where is she?"
Shunsui spoke up, with Orihime showing a kind face.
"Nanao-san is fine, she stayed behind to cover our tracks when a man with 69 tattooed on his face attacked us."
"Ooh, Ken-chan swatted him away easily~"
Yachiru sang, with Orihime continuing to Shunsui.
"No one will suspect her of anything, she said she'd join us as soon as she could. But if you're worried, then you should go to her side."
"Naah, Nanao-chan would be angry if I went to her now. I'm sure that she'll be fine."
Though he said that, he did feel worried for his Lieutenant and hoped that she was alright.
Karin expressed a worried face.
"Should we go to help him? He's been fighting a lot today, right?"
Yoruichi pursed her lips, but Orihime ultimately shook her head.
"Taku-chan said he'd come back, we should focus on making sure that Kenpachi-san is able to survive. We need to heal Kenpachi-san."
The inner strength of Orihime was dazzling to see.
She truly was showcasing a strong face right now.
"You're right. We don't know where he is, and by the time we get there...I believe in Takumi, and Nemu. We should begin making plans about what we're going to do next. Though we'll also have to wait until we have all of the information at our disposal."
Karin wasn't sure if she liked it or not.
But it was true that they didn't know where Takumi was, even if they were told by Orihime and the others, from the way they looked it seemed to have taken them a good deal of time to get back, so it would take a good deal of time to get there, even for someone like Yoruichi.
So they had to wait for any news updates, placing their trust in Takumi and Nemu for the moment.
Back with Toshiro, and the others, her eyes went between Gin and Takumi's group. Momo called "Shiro-chan..." but she was cut off by Gin who showed his frozen hand towards the snow white haired girl.
"Look at this Captain, that dangerous Takumi did this to me as I was attempting to take him in."
"You came here with the intention of killing Takumi-sama."
Nemu countered, but Gin merely smiled.
"A traitor would say that, wouldn't they?"
Gin's blade turned towards Nemu, but Takumi stood before her, protecting her. Momo also noticed that he had pushed her behind him as well. Whatever was going to happen, it seemed as if he was going to shield them both with his body.
"Yo, little Captain-chan." Toshiro's eyebrows twitched. "I don't know what's going on with...whatever you're doing, but Gin attempted to-"
"I didn't come for your opinion Urahara, you're still a criminal of the Soul Society."
Takumi let out a breath.
"Fine, ask the others that are apart of the Gotei 13. I can tell you right now though that Gin is the one responsible for this. We were merely defending ourselves. True, I did freeze his hand, but that was only after he made the first move against myself, and Nemu-san here. Ooh, if you can, don't involve Nemu-san, she's a really good girl, okay?"
Toshiro gave a baffled look to Takumi who put his hands together in a kind of prayer like stance.
She didn't even know what to think about that.
But she could easily see Gin doing something like he said.
She always had her own suspicions about him, and this could confirm it as well.
She casually glanced towards Gin, seeing his everlasting creepy smile that could even cause the most battle hardened ready people to not attempt anything least they would be killed by the snake like enemy.
Toshiro looked towards Momo.
She saw her hands were bleeding.
But apart from that, she didn't have any injuries.
She questioned if Takumi had done the damage, but the way that Momo made no effort to move from behind him, told her that she wasn't about to trust someone that had caused an injury like that, so she came to the conclusion that it was either Gin who had done that, or it was self inflicted.
"Hinamori, you broke out of your cell. Why did you do that?"
"Shiro-chan...I-I came here to kill Takumi Urahara-san...b-but, as we talked...I understood something...something is wrong here. The Gotei 13, there's something happening, and it isn't Urahara-san at all...he saved my life...from Captain Ichimaru. He tried to stab me, but Urahara-san got in the way...he saved me. I don't know what to think...this letter from Captain Aizen told me that Urahara-san was his killer, and I should go and kill him...but, Urahara-san allowed me to understand something..."
"What's that?"
"Captain Aizen wouldn't want me to kill anyone. He wasn't that kind of man...I thought that because it was his handwriting, that it had to be true...but, I don't know what to think anymore Shiro-chan, I'm so confused..."
Toshiro's eyes shot angrily for Gin who smirked.
"You tried to kill Hinamori?"
Gin shrugged his shoulders, seemingly looking as if he didn't care all that much.
"She betrayed the Soul Society, I didn't have a choice. Aiding a known criminal, warrants a punishment like no other. I had to do something-"
"I told you to never target Hinamori! You dared to try that?!"
Gin snickered ever so slightly.
"Of course, the ice Princess would defend a traitor as well. Geez, feels like I'm gonna have to become involved as well."
"Traitor? You're the one who opened up Izuru Kira's cell. It was the only one that was opened from the outside. While Hinamori and Abarai broke out on their own."
"Ooh Renji, not seen him in a while. I wonder how he's doing?"
Takumi murmured, genuinely curious about what was going on with him.
Toshiro glanced at Takumi who gave a slightly sheepish expression on his face.
"It was careless Gin, if you wanted to be painted in a better light then..."
"How do you know that I wasn't being careless? Perhaps I wanted you to know what I've done."
Toshiro just glared hard at the man.
Her eyes then went towards Takumi.
"Can you still fight?"
"I believe so, why?"
Toshiro placed a hand on her sword, and began increasing her spiritual pressure.
"Because Gin's a dangerous man, and he's highly skilled. I don't know if I can take him on my own. But if we team up, then he wont be able to take both of us down."
Takumi smiled lightly, stepping forward.
"Nemu-san, take care of Hinamori-san here."
"Understood, Takumi-sama."
Takumi smiled at Nemu, as he moved forward.
"Then, I've got a date with an ice girl-"
Toshiro thrusted her blade at Takumi, stopping inches at his neck.
"Do not misunderstand, this is merely me requesting your assistance. It doesn't mean I believe or don't believe you're involved with any of this, is that clear? I still want answers about, everything you know."
"Aah, I see. Then reluctant ally I suppose. We could still do a devastating team up together."
Toshiro just accepted that, while Gin grit his teeth.
"Seems a bit unfair, having two geniuses against one."
"Geniuses. I suppose I've been called that in the past. But you Gin, all you are is a snake, a snake that I intend to stop tonight. The letter that Hinamori has...did you forge it? Because I heard the conversation you had with Captain Aizen, he also had suspicions of you, so did you kill him, framing Takumi Urahara who was a convenient person to blame? It would have been a good plan, if it hadn't been for the fact that Takumi Urahara didn't end up killing Hinamori."
Gin mockingly wagged his finger at Toshiro.
"You're so serious Captain, but if you wished to become someone that dies in a fight, all you had to do was ask."
Toshiro sharpened her eyes, as Takumi did the same thing, getting to the side of the white haired Shinigami. He quickly whispered to her, something she approved of, and stuck out their swords at the same time.
"Ravage, Kinhime!"
"Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens, Hyorinmaru!"
Activating their Shikai's, Takumi leapt into battle first, unleashing a hailstorm of lightning blasts. Gin smirked, and went to activate his own Shikai, when he saw that Toshiro released an ice Dragon from her sword, which shot through the lightning blasts, mixing together with the lightning itself, then Takumi split the ice Dragon into several different Dragons made up of lightning and ice, all of them swirling around Gin as if they were about to destroy their prey.
"Damn, look at all of that ice and lightning. It's even effecting the weather above us right now. Creating a thunderstorm with hail. Hahaha, that's quite the impressive powers, I don't have anything so flashy like that."
Gin uses his quick feet to leap around, as the first lightning ice Dragon slams into the part of the roof that Gin was standing on, obliterating it out of existence. Even Gin had to be surprised about seeing something like that.
While in the air, Takumi and Toshiro swing their blades in tandem, controlling the beasts of ice and lightning together, allowing a number of them to head for the airborne Gin, who quickly points his sword forward.
"Shoot to kill, Shinso!"
Using his Zanpakuto, the sword extended at a great length. It shot like a bullet, and pierced through one of the ice lightning Dragons, but said Dragon began to split apart, and travel up the blade, sending lightning and ice to freeze the blade, and shock Gin at the same time.
Nemu watched on, and saw that Gin looked slightly nervous.
She hadn't ever seen him have a demeanour such as that.
But it showed that together, Toshiro, and Takumi could use their powers to devastating effects.
Momo was also blown away by the amount of power that Toshiro and Takumi could unleash together at the same time.
"Amazing...though they have only just come together, they've been perfectly able to combine their powers together. Captain Ichimaru was right, they are geniuses in the way they fight together. Shiro-chan..."
Seeing the ice and lightning coming up the blade, Gin merely coughed into his hand, before the blade retracted, with Gin unleashing some kind of barrier Kido as the ice and lightning drew close, deflecting the power all together, but the barrier was destroyed, along with a large shock wave forcing Gin backwards a good distance due to him already being in the air.
"Lets get him!"
Toshiro advised, Takumi inclined his neck in agreement.
"Right!"
Sending him down into the roof, the ground below him cracked with the heavy pressure, but Takumi and Toshiro didn't stop their assault, sending off ice and lightning Dragons towards the downed Gin, who looked to be annoyed by such a sight.
"You're seriously attempting to destroy me with overwhelming force."
But he didn't stop with his Shikai, unleashing it like a bullet, but this time did a large swing of his sword, cleaving right through the ice and lightning Dragons as if they weren't even their, however it seemed that something was happening.
Gin felt his hand was becoming more numb. The ice and lightning seemed to be travelling up the blade quicker than he could dispel it off his sword. He also saw that after the fifth ice and lightning Dragon that he had cut in half, his blade received a noticeable crack within its center.
"So that's your plan, you're attempting to destroy my Zanpakuto with your combined powers. I must admit that it is a rather impressive movement. But I still wont give up either. I would be a shame to the Gotei 13 if I-"
"Shut up Gin!"
Toshiro charged forward, and got in close with her sword. She attempted to do a stab with ice shooting off in a number of shards, but Gin merely sliced them apart with his smaller sword, before extending it outwards, to pierce Toshiro's upper body.
However, the moment the blade began to grow, Gin saw that Takumi had come in from the side that his hand had been frozen on, forcing Gin to use his blade to block Takumi's lightning enhanced sword swing with his Zanpakuto, releasing an eruption of powerful lightning that doused the area, creating an explosion of power.
Gin was forced backwards but Toshiro had used that chance to get behind Gin, and stab forward to freeze Gin's body. Gin tried to move his sword in the way, but Takumi got on the other side of Gin, and came down at him with his sword filled with electricity.
Both sides of him were caught, and despite that…
He was laughing.
It didn't make sense to either Takumi or Toshiro why he was laughing.
But they didn't allow it to deter them, and continued on with their assault.
Gin smiled lightly, and took out what seemed to be some kind of capsule, something Takumi didn't like the look of, and quickly, he grabbed Toshiro, who snapped "What are you doing?" but Takumi continued dragging her backwards as the capsule was released, letting out some kind of impressive spiritual energy which collapsed the area around them, it simply was destroying it, as if it was pure energy focused on destruction.
Toshiro looked at Takumi with gratitude, albeit reluctant gratitude.
"...You saved me..."
"Ah, it's nothing at all. Don't worry about it."
He replied, as Toshiro noticed his side was bleeding.
She realized that he had been bleeding this entire time.
Despite healing it a little, Takumi was no expert in healing Kido, and still could suffer this amount of damage.
Yet he was still fighting as well as he was, she was rather impressed to say the least.
However, Nemu and Momo suddenly were bound with a strong Kido spell. It looked to be Rikujokoro, a Kido spell that came from all six sides of them, binding them at the waist, but stopped their entire bodies from moving.
"A-Aaaaah! Shiro-chan!"
"Takumi-sama, I am unable to move."
Momo panicked, while Nemu spoke with a composed voice.
"Shit, Gin is-"
Before he could finish, Toshiro saw that out of the energy, a sword was shooting out.
But it wasn't going for them.
No, it was going for Nemu and Momo.
"He's going to kill them!"
Takumi went to move, when he felt a new presence coming.
Standing before Nemu and Momo, was Rangiku, who held the blade out before her, and stopped the progression of the extending sword. The energy began dying down around Gin, who stepped out of it unharmed.
"That capsule, it wasn't normal. If anything, it felt like something Mayuri might have invented...so, does that mean Mayuri and this bastard Gin are working together? Great, just what we need, crazy scientist, with a crazy snake...just a wonderful team, a match made in Hell."
As he thought about it, Toshiro turned to Rangiku with confusion.
"Matsumoto, what are you doing here?"
"C-Captain, I sensed the release of your Zanpakuto, along with the presence of a fight between Captain Ichimaru, and this boy, Takumi Urahara, I had to come and see what was going on, and stop it if I could."
As she said it, Takumi went towards Nemu, and Toshiro went towards Momo, slashing through the Kido spells, destroying and freezing it respectably, releasing the girls, with Nemu landing beside Takumi, and Momo falling into Toshiro's extended arm.
Takumi notices that Rangiku's sword was beginning to gain a crack in it, so he went to move when Rangiku spoke up.
"C-Captain Ichimaru, if you don't put your sword away, I will also be your opponent together with my Captain!"
Gin simply smiles at this, as his sword begins going back into its normal form.
"My, with these many opponents, there's no way that I could handle it all. A lightning, ice, and ash user. Along with a fire girl, and a girl with...whatever Kurotsuchi does." Takumi glanced at Nemu, who showed her fists with her blank expression, earning a bemused look from Takumi, before turning back towards Gin who was waving with his free hand. "But, it seems that I have to go now. I seriously am worried what will happen if we all engage in a fight."
Despite saying that, Takumi sensed that Gin didn't even care at all.
He was simply having a fun time with them all.
But he could also see the hint of annoyance that had worked itself onto Gin's face, he couldn't hide that at all.
Toshiro, seeing that he was going to make an escape, went to give chase, when Gin revealed another small capsule. That stopped Toshiro, who glared while Gin laughed.
"Good ice Queen, don't worry I didn't come to kill you this day. I just wanted to catch up with an old friend."
When he said that, his eyes were on Takumi for unknown reasons.
Takumi then saw Gin merely flash out of the area, leaving them alone.
Once he was gone, Takumi fell onto his butt, and sighed.
"Damn, too many Captain's today..." Toshiro moved closer, Takumi sighed even more. "...please don't attack me, I've already fought...what three Captain's today? Plus Kenpachi the other day...God, so many strong people in this damn place... I don't need to fight another Captain..."
Rangiku held bemusement in her eyes while Momo cocked an eyebrow up.
Seeing how he just went from serious to a more relaxed demeanour, it was amazing and also weird at the same time to see.
Toshiro shook her head.
"No, that's not it. You protected Hinamori, and you also saved my life. I would have stayed to take down Gin, but you pulled me out of the way. Thank you."
"Awww, you are my fav Captain after all, you're just so darn cute, and not trying to murder me like most of the others~"
Hearing that, Takumi lightly petted her head, causing a blush along with an annoyed look to appear on her cute face.
Rangiku noticed it, and budged closer with a teasing look on her face.
"Captain, it seems that your cuteness is showing right now. Are you perhaps..." Toshiro shot a glare for Rangiku who pulled back, and held her hands up. "Never mind, I'm just seeing things after all. Don't worry about me."
Toshiro sighed, as Momo bent down towards Takumi, and offered a sad smile.
"Urahara-san, can you...I mean, do you know what's truly happening here?"
Toshiro keenly moved closer.
"I'd also like to know. There's things going on here I don't like. Fighting, and enemies that are turning against us. Captain's that are choosing to do things against the Soul Societies orders, I want to know what you know."
Takumi looked between the pair of them.
Seeing their serious expressions, he bowed his head.
"If I told you, it will be dangerous. Even then, you want to know?"
Momo didn't hesitate to nod.
"Yes...I'd also like to know, because of what happened to Captain Aizen...do you know who his killer is?"
Takumi exhaled slowly, before standing up, with help from Nemu.
But then he winced as he clutched his stomach.
"...Hinamori-san, Shiro-chan..." Toshiro looked bewildered that he called her that, she didn't recall when she said that he could call her that. "...eeeh, erm..."
He looked to Rangiku questioningly who let out a small laugh.
"Rangiku Matsumoto, call me Rangiku~"
Takumi nodded, and then let out a breath.
"Then, Rangiku-san, call me Takumi...so yeah, everyone. Most likely, Captain Aizen, isn't dead." The news surprised the trio, with Nemu already knowing the situation. "If you want to know more, you gotta promise not to attack me if you hear something you don't like."
"...Alright fine, but not here."
Toshiro agreed, Takumi nodded, gently petting her head once more, something that she felt conflicted about. Rangiku placed a hand over her mouth, and went to let out a cute noise, but she stopped when seeing Toshiro's glare upon her.
"Then, lets get going before we're attacked again. I don't think that we could handle another assault."
Toshiro, Rangiku, and Momo nodded their heads, agreeing with what Takumi had said.
With that, they took off together, heading for the base of operations. Though Takumi made sure that the place would still be hidden and had made sure of that with some technology and Kido mixed together.
Until he could trust them fully, he had to make sure that the others were safe.
Though he was sure that he was just being overly cautious.
End chapter!
So we got the confrontation with Gin, and Takumi this chapter. Takumi didn't pull any punches, knowing that he was already low on power, and managed to play on Gin's expectations to slow him down like freeze his hand, but then Momo appeared.
With her confusion and anger outright, he managed to calm her down with logic, among other things that he spoke to her, and she was able to relax enough, allowing him to convince her to not do anything, but then protected her from being stabbed by Gin, then later on protected Toshiro who he teamed up with to fight Gin and combined their powers together.
Then at the end, they decided to speak about what's happening in the Soul Society.
Meanwhile, Karin's awake from her fight with Byakuya, and is ready to become stronger, Shunsui also arrived with the others, and Giselle got back with Orihime, Kenpachi, and Yachiru, having decided to wait for Takumi to come back with Nemu.
Well, until next chapter, thanks for reading!
Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Momo, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.