Chapter: 14
"Now are you sure this is how you want to spend your day with me?" Urahara asked as he paused next to a sliding door located behind a false wall. Yukiko would have never noticed it was there if he hadn't shown her.
"Yes," she answered in determination. "I want to help with preparations for the upcoming war, and this might be the only way I can."
"Alright," Urahara sighed as he opened the door and stepped inside.
Yukiko followed him in, breathing deeply as her nerves grew more on edge with every step. The moment she stepped inside she froze, her eyes scanning the room with frightening speed. The room was filled with large machines and tanks filled with water. Suddenly she was strapped to a table with Urahara standing over her, a scalpel in hand. She could feel the blade pierce her skin over and over, her warm blood drenching her skin.
She couldn't hear anything aside from her own screams echoing in her head. Then a hand touched her shoulder and she jerked away, stumbling and falling to the ground. She gripped her head tightly and curled up against the wall as close as she could and shook. "Stop it..." she whimpered as the screams continued unencumbered. She could feel each and every cut and her body nearly convulsed as she tried to fight it off.
"Yukiko, snap out of it!" Soyokaze called out.
Yukiko didn't respond as she panted heavily, the terrible memories filling every corner of her mind. She could see the acidic liquid hitting her skin and eating right through her, feel the pain of having a limb slowly removed, and hear the heartless laughter and chatter coming from the blonde scientist. She was drowning in the memories and even with Soyokaze's attempts she couldn't see any way out.
"...Ume..."
Then, a soothing voice pierced through the shrill screams in her mind and the pain began to dim. Where was it coming from?
"Ume, look at me."
The command was so gentle that she was able to realize she wasn't really being restrained and in her mind she saw the ex-captain of squad 2 bending down to gently wipe the tears away. "Y-Youruichi.."
Slowly, the memory faded away as she opened her eyes to see that the feline woman was indeed kneeling before her, and a warm hand was gently stroking her head. "Come on, Ume. I think it's time you head home."
Yukiko blinked a few times and mentally shook the cobwebs out of her head. She was going to be sent home, and it was only halfway through her day with Urahara. She knew collapsing in on herself was a possibility, she needed to push through it.
"N-no, I'm fine," she stuttered forcing herself to her feet. She took a glance around the lab once more and instantly those memories tried to return. However, having Youruichi right there helped keep her grounded. "I need to do this."
Urahara and Youruichi exchanged looks before reluctantly agreeing. "Alright, but I'm staying right here just in case," the feline soul reaper insisted.
"That's fine," she murmured, lightly rubbing her head. "Please, Kisuke, let us continue."
"So that's him is it?" Kensei muttered to himself from his place on the second level of the Vizard hideout. He was sitting cross-legged across from Hiyori, watching the teen they were trying to recruit enter.
The boy was rather scrawny, though the Vizard could tell he had some decent muscles beneath his jacket. He seemed like the type that was a lot stronger than he appeared. Still, physical strength wasn't really what they were looking for. If he didn't have enough power to make it worth it, they planned on abandoning the child.
He watched in interest as the boy challenged Shinji and a fight broke out. After a few seconds of battle, he saw his comrade knock the boy to the ground, shattering several boxes upon impact. At this point he joined the rest of the Vizard in getting a better view, jumping down to the ground floor and following the battle's progress.
"Well, this is surprising," he heard Rose murmur. The guy sounded impressed, though the silver haired Vizard couldn't see what of. "The boy turns out to be a good fighter. He seems to be holding off Shinji."
"Idiot. You'd better get your eyes checked," Lisa shot back angrily. She sounded appalled he'd even suggested the boy could be strong enough to fight on par with the ex-captain. "Can't you see Shinji's only playing out there. He's not even breaking a sweat."
"To be honest, it doesn't look like Ichigo's bringing everything he's got to the fight either," Hachi pointed out lightly. It was clear he was just trying to level the playing field between the two. He always was trying to keep the rest from fighting with each other. "He seems to be holding back."
"Yeah," Love agreed, though he sounded far more amused. "I figure that the guy's gotta be freaked out."
"You really think so?" Mashiro asked in confusion. The little idiot was still clueless, figures. "Over what?"
"It must be his hollow," Kensei muttered. He was irritated at the mere thought of it. "Little punk's scared that every time he fights he's gonna release that inner hollow. That he won't be able to control it. That's why he wants it suppressed. That makes him damaged goods in my book. Why are we trying so hard to recruit this guy anyway?"
"Heh, that's surprising coming from you," Rose teased. "Is that what you thought of Yukiko all those years ago?"
Kensei chose to ignore the comment, though he couldn't shake the memory. No, Yukiko was different. Yes she was terrified of her own power, but she was constantly working to fix it, even when no one else was willing to help her. This brat, however, was too scared to even try. He was avoiding the power. Someone who couldn't fight despite the fear was damaged goods, plain and simple.
At this point, Hiyori sighed and started approached the battling pair before ordering Hachi to add a few more layers to the barrier. Then she smacked Shinji out the window with her sandal. Then she moved on to explaining to Ichigo that he had no choice in whether he would be joining their group or not; that their group would only help him if he was strong, otherwise he'd be left to turn into a hollow.
"Don't be impulsive!" Love yelled at her, as she pulled her own mask over her face.
"Think about what you're doing!" Rose added with a sigh.
"Hiyori!" Mashiro called worriedly.
Frankly, Kensei didn't care what the shrimp did. If she thought she'd be able to draw the kid's power out faster, that was fine with him. All that mattered was they were able to discern his level of power. The sooner that happened the better. He didn't feel like wasting all day on it after all.
The group continued to watch the fight before them progress. With Hiyori's hollowfication, Ichigo couldn't even touch her. She tried to force him to finally release his bankai, but the stubborn moron kept pushing it, refusing to do anything that would release the inner hollow. Pathetic.
Then, all at once, Hiyori cut halfway through the boy's sword and knocked him to the ground, followed almost immediately by him leaping back up with half his face covered in a hollow mask and slamming her against a pillar by the throat. The boy's hand clenched tighter around the small Vizard's neck, causing her power to disappear.
This came to a quick end, however, as every member of the Vizards, aside from Hiyori, forced the boy to the ground with their swords surrounding him. Then Shinji used his own blade, to break the mask off the kid's face and turned to see how the smallest member was doing.
Kensei glanced up at the woman himself, seeing her shivering in fear as she stared back at the boy. The ex-captain stood nearby in case anything more happened, but he figured it was over so he put his sword away. Shinji took this time to explain to Ichigo he had no chance of controlling his power by force of will alone before alerting him that he'd passed their little test.
After that things got a little boring for his taste, so Kensei returned to his room. He knew the first step of training wouldn't happen until the next day so he decided to get some sleep, maybe he'd run through some drills later on.
A few hours later, when night had fully fallen, he left his room and went looking for something to eat. Along the way, he spotted Shinji reclining on the couch while Ichigo sat nearby, staring at the floor. He was about to move on when he heard the blonde ask a question that caught his attention.
"So, Ichigo, what made you finally decide to come here for our help?" he asked curiously. "I could have sworn you were completely against the idea."
"I was," Ichigo grumbled. "But, someone told me something that made me realize I was being an idiot refusing the help."
"Oh, who was that?"
"Ume."
Shinji stilled for several moments before sitting up on the couch and looked him over. Kensei watched the pair as well, waiting to see what she'd said to the boy. Perhaps, this story would ease his growing worry.
"What exactly did she say?" Shinji asked seriously.
Ichigo lifted his head just enough to look the Vizard in the eye. "What do you know about her?"
"That's none of your business," Shinji grumbled. At the glare he was given he rolled his eyes and sighed. "Look, suffice it to say we knew each other a long time ago. So, what'd she tell you?"
Ichigo frowned, but he looked as if he was resigning himself to not getting anything new from the blonde. "She told me a story...you might know about it. She explained about her time at an academy, how she didn't have any control. Did she really? Was she almost arrested for it?"
Shinji looked up at the ceiling for a few moments and Kensei was certain he knew what the man was thinking. He himself could remember all the trouble the girl had to suffer through all because of her lack of control. He could even remember the long meetings that decided her fate.
"Yeah, I remember that. She had almost everyone scared of her power," Shinji laughed after a time. "So, is that it?"
"No. She also told me about her first captain," Ichigo answered slowly. "She told me about her first mission he'd saved her from. Then she told me even though I lost against Grimmjow I didn't fail. She said she got this whole thing from her captain, about what it really means to fail. Then she basically told me I was an idiot for refusing help with my problem. That gaining control and getting stronger were more important than my pride. She was right...I hate the idea of asking you bastards for help...but if that's my only option I can't exactly turn my back on it. Not if I want to keep fighting anyway."
Kensei waited until Ichigo finished explaining before moving on, hearing the blonde's laugh behind him. He couldn't believe the boy had been convinced to find them by the timid soul reaper. But, it was even more unbelievable that she'd used the very pep talk he'd given her after her first mission, to help him get back on his feet.
It was clear she hadn't used any names in her explanation, but the fact she used her past at all to help the teen out made him smile to himself. She was still in there; the girl he'd helped so many times and even began to feel drawn toward remained despite everything Aizen had done to her. He thought about the plan Yukiko had expressed to Urahara and wondered how far along in it she'd come. So long as she succeeded with the three from the Urahara shop he knew she'd be along to visit. Today would have been the end of day two...now he just had to wait one or two more days. He hated waiting...
Shippoman: Ichigo's finally put aside his pride and gone to the Vizard for help. His training will soon begin, sending him on the long process of controlling his mask. At the same time, Yukiko finishes her second test day. After her momentary collapse, how did it go? Did she succeed? If so, will she succeed on the third day? And will she ever be ready to face her ex-captains again? Stay tuned to find out. And please remember to R&R.
Real quick, I want to give a shout out to all of you who are continuing to read this story as well as to all the new comers. Thank you for taking the time to read and especially provide feedback. I appreciate all you've said regarding my work so far. I'm grateful to the advice given by "TR4PP3R" and for the words of encouragement from "MYMYTHEGREAT". It's good to know you think my story's worth waiting for. I'll do my best not to disappoint any of you. Please continue to read and enjoy my vision with me.