It happened while he was at work. That perhaps wasn't an odd thing - running a clinic was not exactly a nine to five office job - but the fact it happened was definitely noteworthy. He had been making an inventarisation of their stock on medicines and other supplies while his girls were tending to the few bedridden patients.

It was as if his senses had exploded. From the silent world he had gotten used to there was suddenly a cacophony of sounds - if you could compare it to that. He hadn't forgotten how full of spirits the World of the Living had been - of course not. But memories were just that, memories, and they couldn't have prepared him for the unexpected wave of spirits, their presence, and spiritual power everywhere. They weren't overwhelming an sich - they were overwhelming because for him, they hadn't existed for twenty years.

He quickly reeled in his own spiritual pressure, completely forgetting that he didn't have to.

"Dad? Is everything okay?"

One of his daughters peeked inside his office. Yuzu sounded worried.

He looked at the books he had knocked over.

"Nothing the matter, Yuzu!" He put up a huge grin.

His other daughter, Karin, had looked weirdly at him. Almost as if she was sizing him up. But it had quickly made place for a look of irritation, accompanied with an eyeroll.

"You heard the old man, he's just making a ruckus for no reason." She turned around. Yuzu ran after her.

"Karin! He could have gotten hurt!"

He was relieved his daughters left him alone and closed the door behind them. He wasn't entirely sure what this meant; he hadn't spoken to Urahara in a long while and the possibility of his powers returning had not come up in conversation. At least… not after Masaki passed away. They had both been sure that if anything, that would be the reason for his reiatsu to return. That, or Masaki would be overwhelmed by the Hollow anyway; but that had been extremely unlikely.

Neither possibility hadn't happened, and he had assumed that that was it. His reiatsu was lost. It hadn't mattered, though. He had been without them for quite a while now and he had a family to look after. All in all it was a nice life.

So the Hollow passed on to Ichigo instead. According to Yoruichi, that was the newest theory. But that - that didn't mean anything good.

He opened the window; he really needed some fresh air. And perhaps a smoke.


"This is no time to be sleeping, Hiyori. Get up, lazy bum."

Hiyori lied flat on her back. She had just received a serious beating from two of her friends who had attacked her out of nowhere, at the same time. It had been Shinji's idea, something that must've crossed her mind as soon as he spoke. She sprung up despite her cuts and Hachi's protests and pointed her zanpakuto at him.

"It's your fault! Sending Rose and Lisa after me like they're dogs! I was having breakfast! Breakfast!"

"I object to being called a dog," murmured Lisa, a blackhaired woman resting on a folding chair, thoroughly inspecting her glasses. "And you owe me. You broke these."

"That's your own fault for attacking me, Lisa! I owe you nothing!"

Lisa shrugged and pushed herself up. Between the three of them she had come out relatively unscathed. Her hair got singed and she had a minor cut on her arm, but that was nothing that couldn't be healed within a few seconds. It certainly made life easier if you were living with a kido master.

Rose on the other hand had gotten deeper cuts in both his arms, but not after he delivered a well aimed slash across Hiyori's torso. It had been unintentional, but it had still nicked her more than he would have liked. It had taken a few minutes before that had been healed. And Hiyori seemed to be a little pissed off about it.

Shinji pushed the sword away with his hand.

"Did it surprise ya?"

"What do you think?!"

"Good."

Hiyori spluttered. "Rose and I cut each other up! We never went that far unless it was for - you know."

He steered Hiyori towards the chair Lisa had left empty and sank down on the ground besides her.

"This is about Aizen, isn't it?" she asked, calmer than before.

He tipped his head back slightly. "Yes. When it comes to Aizen, we cannot be too careful. I don't think Kisuke can keep the hougyoku out of his hands. The guy's playing a long and patient game, but I think the bomb will drop soon. So we need to be ready. Just sparring won't be enough."

Hiyori stared moodily at her knees.

"I told them not to hold back. Aizen won't hold back, either."

She elbowed him in the face.

"Hiyori!" He tenderly touched his nose with his fingers. Her swing had not been hard enough to break it, but it hurt nevertheless.

"I hate it when you do things like this. You could've at least explained your plan beforehand. I didn't even have my zanpakuto when they suddenly came onto me!"

"Well, that's your own fault for not having it with you."

"My fault? How about your fault!"

A clapping noise interrupted them; Hiyori's head snapped into the direction of the noise.

"What is it, Rose?"

"Mashiro and Kensei came back with lunch. You must be hungry after all that fighting."

"And they both came back in one piece? Admirable."

But it was true; they both were hungry, even if Shinji hadn't actually taken part in the fight. The fight had lasted a good few hours after Rose finally called it quits. The three of them had been quite tired after that, not used to such a prolonged fight. Sure, they had been sparring regularly, but that was to keep themselves from rusty. They didn't exactly give it all they had, until now.

Their group had the same training ground as Urahara Kisuke had underneath his store, albeit a little smaller. Not that one would notice it; both training grounds were rather empty and the fields looked as if they were stretched into infinity. The sky was bright above them. In a way, Shinji preferred to be here rather than in the warehouse itself.

Hiyori left, grumbling and possibly plotting her revenge.

"Do you know more?" Rose asked, handing over an apple.

Shinji peeled off the sticker and stuck it on the chair.

"No. Kisuke says they can come back any moment, though. He'd contact me when that happens. Maybe they did succeed in securing the hougyoku. But it's been about a hundred years. Even if they do manage, maybe Aizen is close to figure it out himself without needing Kisuke's hougyoku."

Rose sank into the chair. "I do wonder how Urahara knows about all that. About Aizen, I mean. And his plans."

Shinji shrugged and bit into the apple. "Who knows. It's Kisuke."

"Fair point."

They really were indebted to Kisuke. If not for him they were dead. The man had explained what the hougyoku was in the first place and what kind of role it had played in securing and stabilising his souls. It was sheer luck that Kisuke had been there and was able to help them; none other in the Gotei 13 would have managed, he was sure of that.

But he did wonder why Kisuke had held onto the hougyoku for decades after that.

"It wasn't very nice to surprise Hiyori like that," Rose suddenly said. "Why'd you choose her to be first?"

Shinji sighed. "'Cause Aizen isn't very nice, either. And you know her. Out of all of us, she is the one who has her emotions least under control. Aizen likes to play with that. That's the kind of guy he is. So she has to realise that she'll have to face him rationally, when we get the chance."

"Do you think attacking her randomly would help? She didn't seem very rational this morning. With good reason, I might add."

He finished the apple and tossed the remainders of it into the barren field.

"Not sure. Don't know what else would help."

He saw Rose watching him skeptically, before switching over to a bored expression. "Try talking to her."

"Yeah, right," Shinji scoffed. "I'd get a slipper to my head before I even get the word emotions or feelings out of my throat."

"Not that that stops you from anything."

"True," he had to admit. He pulled himself up. "Fine, I'll talk to her. Although I think I'll wait until tomorrow. She doesn't seem to be too happy with me right now."

Rose smiled a bit. "When does she ever?"

"Eh. That's just how it works."

Perhaps his relationship with Hiyori was a little strange. They didn't really act like friends as friends usually would. But there was a lot of history between them and a lot of trust. Trusting one another was not an easy task, especially not after everything they had been through. He stopped trusting a lot of people; or rather, he never truly trusted them to begin with. But Hiyori was an exception. The rest of the group he trusted as well - it was only natural, after being exiled and hunted down and having no one but each other. But it started with Hiyori.

Urahara Kisuke however was another story. He had done a lot for them, sure. He was grateful for that. If anything, that was probably the man he should trust the most. But Shinji couldn't. Not entirely; there were just things he didn't understand about that man. He considered him a friend and would discuss delicate subjects and even do things for him, but trust was just a bit too much to ask for.


Isshin found his son's reiatsu to be oddly disturbing. Almost as if it was familiar, although it couldn't be. Maybe it just took a while to get used to it. Ichigo's spiritual pressure was a lot higher than both of his daughters combined; and it seemed Karin had better control over her powers than hid his smile behind the book he was reading. Son thought he could sneak inside without saying hello, huh?

If he thought he had fooled everyone with that mod soul in his body, he was wrong. He suspected that even Yuzu and Karin were aware that their brother wasn't entirely being himself. The mod soul had done his best to pretend to be Ichigo, he had given him that, but it was still rather obvious.

So Ichigo was back. Whatever happened with the Hollow, it seemed it wasn't giving him any trouble. He put his book aside and got up; it was time to welcome Ichigo properly.


For the Visored it had been a few tiring days. After the initial shock Hiyori got when two of her friends suddenly attacked her, she took Shinji's plan to heart. Little alliances were formed and all of them tried to attack each other when the other was off guard. It was exhausting. However, and none of them could deny that, it was a good way to get back into a regular rhythm of fighting and honing their skills. They hadn't been as alert as they had been and their reaction skills weren't as great either.

Within two days, all of them started to carry their zanpakuto everywhere, just in case.

It lasted about a week before Lisa asked for a time-out; her reserve pair of glasses had also met an untimely death and she wasn't about to spend all her money on buying new ones.

Upon Shinji's comment that Aizen wouldn't wait either until she came back from the opticien she had just nudged Hiyori, who never let an opportunity pass to hit Shinji in the face.

Nevertheless, Shinji agreed with the time-out and Kensei offered to make time-tables instead. All of them were on edge, now; it was good for a short duration of time, but it wouldn't have to continue much longer. Shinji secretly suspected it was because he had grown tired of Mashiro's rather impressive kicks.

They agreed on a time-table, though and peace settled once again in the warehouse. (As far as peace went in that place. No matter how close they had become, there were still personalities that clashed and comfortable silence was not something you'd find, unless it was late at night.)

It was night, in fact. They were all fast asleep, even if Shinji had fallen asleep on a sofa instead of his own bed.

The sofa wasn't very comfortable however and he suddenly got aware of himself, waking up for no reason. He kept his eyes closed however, for he was still tired, and completely prepared to doze off again. That was, until the weight on his stomach began to move. He blearily opened his eyes.

The cushions on the sofa had fallen on the ground; instead he was looking at two yellow eyes, staring solemnly at him - and way too close for comfort.

"Don't you dare yell," the yellow eyes told him.

He took a breath, managed to keep himself from making a sound and shooed the cat away.

"Get out, Yoruichi. I'm sleepin'."

He grabbed a cushion from the ground, put it under his head and closed his eyes again, half and half thinking he was dreaming in the first place. The cat scratched him.

Okay. Okay. Not a dream.

He sat upright and stared at her.

"What?" he hissed, keeping his voice down. He glanced at his watch. "It's three in the morning, can't it wait?"

"Do you think I was here if it could wait?" was Yoruichi's answer. "Come with me. Quietly."

Shinji massaged his stiff neck.

"But maybe put on some other clothes first. You reek."

He threw the cushion at the cat, but obliged and briefly disappeared to change his shirt.

Shinji could be incredibly quiet if he wanted to. So after ensuring the rest was sleeping still, he grabbed his coat and his shoes, put it on and followed Yoruichi outside. His zanpakuto came along as well; just in case. He wasn't completely defenseless without it, but the reason for Yoruichi visiting him in the middle of the night couldn't be a happy one.

"Urahara's store?" he asked.

"Yes. Immediately, please. I'll lift along."

They arrived about five minutes later, without any interferences of patrolling shinigami or Hollows on the loose. Tessai led them inside.

"What's this about, Kisuke?" he questioned once he got to the living room. Kisuke had completely shed his cheery façade for now and looked almost remorseful, if Shinji had to give it a name. Yoruichi looked tired but determined, and Tessai was as unreadable as ever, and promptly left to prepare them some tea.

"It's as I feared," Urahara said. "Aizen took the hougyoku."

"So the plan completely failed?"

"They did rescue the girl," Yoruichi said.

Shinji made a noise of disapproval. "I can't really make myself to care about some girl. What about Aizen?"

Tessai entered the room as well. Yoruichi reached out to snag a cup from the tray Tessai was carrying and closed her eyes.

"He openly betrayed the Gotei 13 along with two other captains," she replied. "You know them well. Ichimaru Gin and Tousen Kaname."

"Wouldn't say well. But I know their names. Of course. I'm not surprised… so where'd they go?"

Tessai handed out the rest of the cups and took a seat himself. "Hueco Mundo."

"Ah. Figures."

This wasn't good news. Then again, it rarely was when Aizen was involved. He hadn't dared hoping that everything would go according to Kisuke's plan. It again begged the question why Kisuke hadn't tried to get rid of that hougyoku earlier; in a less risky way. He didn't know about the details, but hiding the thing in a shinigami's soul didn't sound like Kisuke's most genius ideas.

Not for the first time this summer he had wished Kisuke had served him something stronger than tea.

Shinji looked up; something in the shadows had caught his attention. Kisuke noticed his movements and looked also.

"Oh, right. I thought it was best not to mention… I don't think you would have come otherwise. Sorry, Hirako-san."

He clenched his teeth. He had recognised them; hell butterflies.

"You're not sorry at all, are you?"

"No."

He downed the rest of his tea. He had a feeling he wasn't going to get any more sleep for the rest of the night.