Ten minutes ago, the girls had been confused by the fact that they were apparently dead. That, and a talking cat, Takuya fighting a monster called a Hollow, a basement that was as big as a football stadium, and Takuya having his Z-form wings somehow manifested on his normal body, which had a gaping shoe-sized yet perfectly round hole in his chest. But that was ten minutes ago. Right now, the three heroines of Tokyo City where wishing that there was a way for their heads to not hurt so much from the confusion of all that was being explained.
They'd learned about the four different classes of Hollows, the normal ones that just ate the souls of the dead, the skyscraper-sized Gillian-class Hollows called Menos Grande, the Adjuchas-class Hollows, like Lepodalia, and the most powerful of them all, the Vasto Lorde-class. They'd even learned that there were some Hollows that had removed their masks in order to gain powers like those that Takuya had shown. Those ones were called Arrancar, and were apparently the primary force of a traitor to the Soul Reaper world named Sosuke Aizen.
Sosuke Aizen. That solitary name is what perked their interest.
"Wait a second." Momoko said, subconsciously placing a hand on her stomach. "Did you say that traitor's name was Sosuke Aizen?"
"I did." Urahara said, his voice sounding a bit less serious now than when he'd been explaining. "Do you recognize that name?"
"I think so." the redhead chimed.
"Momoko, are you really that dense?" Kaoru asked, lightly bonking Momoko on the forehead. "Of course we know that name, Mr. Hat-n-Clogs."
"Really now?" he asked, chuckling since he'd not been called 'Mr. Hat-n-Clogs' by anyone other than Ichigo Kurosaki. "And just how's that?"
"He...we fought against him." Miyako said.
"You fought against Aizen?" Yoruichi chimed from her spot on Kisuke Urahara's lap. "You're rather fortunate to be alive."
"Or at least as alive as one can be after being caught in an explosion of White-Light energy and whatever energy it was that this Aizen guy had pumped Kare up with." Kaoru said.
"Would you elaborate for us?" Yoruichi asked as a raven-hared girl with an expressionless look set a bowl of milk down for her. "Thank you, Ururu. I was beginning to get thirsty."
"...your welcome, Yoruichi." the girl, Ururu, said, her voice matching her face.
"Well, it's really crazy." Momoko said as Urahara asked Ururu to bring some tea for the group. "You see, Kare's a really big jerkwad who looks like a cross between a crab, a mime, and a gay clown."
"Whatever that Aizen prick juiced him with gave him a whole new look." Kaoru said, clenching her fists. "He got bigger, his skin turned red, and he got this weird bone-like mask that looked like a jawbone, and a hole looked like it punched through his neck."
"And when we launched our strongest attacks, Kare moved so fast that there was thunder when he moved." Miyako said. "He also countered our attacks with this weird red beam that sounded like it burned the air and said 'doom' when it fired. Kare called a...a...sear?...Zero?..."
"A cero." Takuya said. "Also called a 'doom blast' in some areas. It's the signature attack of Hollows."
"Really?" Miyako asked.
"Yep. It sounds like Aizen Hollowfied Kare." Takuya said. "Something that we have to deal with appro-"
The boy suddenly silenced himself, sensing a surge of panicking energy. Not a second later, Urahara and Yoruichi picked it up as well.
"Well, it's about time he got here." Yoruichi said. "Momoko, you may want to calm your boyfriend."
"What do you mean, calm Ri-Kun?"
"MOMOKO!" came the answer. Riku burst through the door, his left arm actually going through the rice paper from sheer momentum.
"I think," Ururu said, seeing Riku for the first time in his civilian clothing. "that I need to go."
When Urahara opened his mouth to ask why, Takuya spoke up first.
"I understand, Ururu-Chan." the silver-haired winged boy said. "Riku has that effect when girls see him."
"Shut it, hawk-boy!"
"They're falcon wings, Riku." Miyako said. "Hawk wings are a bit more rough."
"I hate to interrupt such a heart-warming meeting," Urahara said, casually getting their attention. "But I do believe we need to get these girls back into their bodies, or else the little ones will be lost."
"What do you mean, 'little ones'?" Takuya asked as he arched a brow.
"Well...how about I tell you once we finish the job?" Urahara said, nonchalantly waving his fan at the winged boy. "There's not much time left."
Takuya nodded, then asked the girls to sit next to their bodies, which Urahara's assistant Tessai, a giant of a man in his own right, had brought upon learning the location of their deaths. Once they were in their places, Urahara released the Rikujokouro that bound them, Yoruichi (still in cat form) leapt into Riku's arms to keep him calm, and Takuya began to run through the handsigns of his clan's dojo, chanting a spell as he did. However, the spell was not in Japanese or English, the two languages the girls understood, but in a mix of Korean and ancient Celtic. Urahara ran through the Japanese counterpart to the spell, and from her spot in Riku's arms, Yoruichi gave the English annotation (which is the one that shall be listed here due to author's lack of fluency in Japanese, Korean, and Celtic).
"The ties that bind are forever sealing. The passage of time, steady as the cycle of Sun and Moon, can be reversed. Heart of the Soul, hear our cry." Yoruichi chanted. "These innocent souls, and those that they carry, must return to their vessels. Their time is not yet upon us. The Clock of Fate shall be reversed. Exit, O call of death. Enter, O Night of Fire. Revive their bodies, revitalize their souls. Synchronize time and space with the Heart of the Soul. Bakudo number 99: Chain of Life. Hado number 99: Continuum Restitching."
As the spells were being chanted, the girls noticed that the chains coming from their chests had begun to glow a metallic shade of their respective colors. But that wasn't the only thing they noticed. They had begun to become progressively more transparent as the spell progressed onwards, culminating with them losing sight of one another completely. Finally, as the names of the two maximum level forbidden kido that one of the recent Captains in the Seireitei had created were announced, the girls lost all consciousness.
Once the spells were finished, the three casters had no option but to sit down, or in Yoruichi's case, slide to the floor and then sit down, because of the immense toll the kido had taken on them. Riku glared at Takuya and Urahara, thinking the spells had failed, but a nip on the ankle from Yoruichi snapped him out of it.
"They're not lost, Riku." she said. "It'll take some time before the girls are able to open their eyes, due to the rigormortis, but they'll be just fine."
Miyako opened her eyes after she'd lost consciousness, but the first thing she noticed was that she wasn't in Urahara-San's shop anymore. Instead, she was lying on a soft bed in a room that looked like it was carved out of coral. She began to panic, but then remembered what Takuya had said about the first time he'd learned of his sword's soul.
"It's different than how Ta-Kun described." she muttered aloud. "Besides, I don't even own a sword."
She walked over to the window and looked outside. What she saw made her jaw drop and she held her breath on instinct. She was underwater! And not just anywhere, either. She was on the ocean's floor, and yet she could still see sunlight streaming through the water. Just as she needed to take a breath, she was startled by a man's voice, slightly warbled by the water.
"I was waiting for you, Hime-Sama."
Miyako spun around and was greeted by a man with a shark-toothed grin and ocean blue hair.
"Who...who are you?" she asked, pressing herself closer to the coral wall.
"Do not fear, Hime-Sama." the man said, bowing politely in the manner of an ancient samurai. "And please, allow yourself to breathe. Here, the water is as air."
Taking a second, good look at the man, it seemed as though he was in his mid-to-late twenties, and his eyes were a soft sea-blue. His skin was finely tanned, and his build was that of a professional surfer. He wore only four garments, simple ones, yet elegant. He wore an open short-sleeved haori that was tailored to show off his midriff, and underneath the haori was a series of bandages that resembled how Takuya wore his. For leggings, he wore a pair of ice-colored shorts that extended to his knees, but no further. The man wore no shoes, but his feet were bandaged similarly to the ones wrapped around his chest, and his forearms had sharkskin bracers with the kanji of 'Ocean' emblazoned on them. His hair was shoulder length, but it was spiked back in a way that left his bangs spiked slightly forward.
"You...remind me of Ta-Kun." Miyako said, deciding to trust the man. "Might I ask your name?"
"My name is..."
Miyako saw his mouth move, but she couldn't hear his name. She apologized as she mentioned this, but he seemed to be fully understanding. He smiled as he leaned over the railing next to the window.
"Perhaps it is not yet time for you to hear my name." he said. "However, I believe there is a way around it. The former Captain can explain further. For now, let us talk."
As Miyako was talking with the ocean-haired man with a shark's grin in a coral palace underwater, Kaoru was in the middle of a city built of nothing but skyscrapers. There was, however, a lush forest filled with all sorts of flora and fauna that surrounded the city, and she was currently engaged in a staredown with a large black tiger with silver stripes and gleaming emerald eyes.
"Come on, ya overgrown housecat!" she taunted. "I ain't scared of you!"
"Really now?" the tiger asked, its voice distinctly feminine and of nobility. "Then why do your knees shake and your heart race? Come now, Matsubara Kaoru. I can smell the fear. It simply melts off of your body."
"Alright, that makes two talking cats I've met today." Kaoru muttered. She raised her voice a bit and asked, "Just who the hell are you, anyway? And how the hell did I even get here?"
"If you would allow me to approach, I would be more than willing to explain."
"Alright." Kaoru said. "But, if you try to eat me, I'll gut ya, skin ya, cook ya, and eat ya. Got it?"
Momoko was in her own little conundrum. It looked like she was stranded in a desert, and yet she wasn't too hot, and she didn't feel she was going to have any 'stuck in the desert' symptoms for a good long while. However, surrounding her were a pack of wolf-like creatures that eyed her as a potential meal, or so she thought. There was one amongst the pack that had five tails, each one having a manifestation of five different elements at the tip. From left to right, in her eyes of course, the tips of the tails appeared to be a miniature sand twister, a crackling bolt of lightning, a flickering black flame, a small cyclone with the small end aimed away from the main body, and a crystal clear tail-shaped formation of water that the sunlight somehow didn't reflect off of and blind her. No need to say she was scared senseless.
"Finally, the master has arrived." the five-tailed beast said. "Welcome to our desert, Mistress."
In a quick burst of light, the beast that had spoken vanished, leaving in its place a very beautiful woman. She wore an attire similar to any desert-dwelling tribe, but she retained the five elemental tails. On her face just below her right eye was a shimmering ruby-colored runic symbol that Momoko had seen in her dreams recently.
"Who are you?" She asked, still sounding panicked. "D-d-don't eat me!"
"Mistress, please." the woman said, sounding a bit childish for a second. "We're here because you've heard our call. At least hear us out!"
Some of the other wolf-like beasts nodded, others laid down and gave her the dreaded puppy-dog eyes. She cracked.
"That is sooo CUUTE!" she cried, grabbing one of the smaller wolves. "I wish I could take you with me when I get back home."
After huggling the poor wolf for about what seemed like ten minutes, the woman tapped her shoulder.
"Mistress, may we speak?" she asked, her wolf-like ears that replaced the human ones she should have laying back in sadness.
"Um...sure." Momoko said. "By the way, you don't have to keep calling me mistress. My name's Momoko. What's yours?"
"My name is Okami." The woman smiled. "I'm glad to finally meet you."
"Okami? That's a pretty name." Momoko said. "So, just who are you, anyway? And how did I get stuck in the middle of a desert?"
"That's simple!" Okami said, her ears perking back up as she smiled like a kid with candy. "This place is the inner sanctuary of your soul, and we, myself included, are your special gift."
"And what kind of gift is that?" Momoko asked, holding the wolf closer, which then licked her cheek a couple times.
"A Zanpakutou." Okami said. "A soul-cutting sword to fight off Hollows."
"Why won't they wake up?" Riku asked, panicking again. "Damn it, Urahara! If I lose Momoko AND our baby, I'm gonna fucking kill you so thoroughly that Kurotsuchi himself couldn't piece you back together!"
"I know that look." Takuya said as he noticed Miyako's sudden half-smile and blush. "It looks like they've found their Inner Sanctum."
"So that's it." Yoruichi said, shifting back to her human form and quickly throwing on some clothes so the boys wouldn't die of bloodloss. "I bet they're chatting with their Zanpakutou Souls right now."
Riku's jaw dropped. He'd sensed a Soul Reaper's energy coming off of Momoko and Miyako sometimes, but he thought it was just him and Takuya rubbing off on them. Urahara and Tessai began whispering between themselves about the girls, the word 'training' being heard clearly. Ururu, however, simply left the room to fetch another pot of tea, and by the time she'd returned, Takuya was gently propping the girls up on the couch.
"Shimabara-Kun..." Ururu said, catching the winged boy's attention. "I want to speak to you alone for a moment."
Takuya watched as she left the room again, then asked Riku to keep an eye on the girls. Once that was taken care of, he followed after Ururu, a single black feather slipping from his wings and landing in Miyako's open palm. When he reached the raven-haired girl, he didn't bother to ask what was on her mind. She was already turning red.
"Let me guess." he said softly. "The wings, coupled with me being topless, is getting you turned on?"
When she nodded, Takuya sighed. He put a hand on her shoulder and knelt down to be eye level with her. Then, he stretched his wings out fully and smiled.
"Tell you what." he said. "I'll get ahold of Koichi-San and have him come over. I know you want him more than anyone else on the planet. How does that sound, Ururu-Chan?"
"..." Ururu didn't say anything, only turned deeper shades of crimson. Then she leaned up against Takuya, unintentionally trapping his hand between his stomach and her inner thigh, dangerously close to her groin. "I'd...I'd like that, very much. Th-thank you."
She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then turned and sped towards her room, dodging the red-haired kid, Jinta, who was the third helper at Urahara's shop, after turning the corner. Takuya, however, re-entered the room to find that Riku was pacing so much that he was actually beginning to wear the floorboards down.
"Oi, Riku." Takuya said. "How about taking out some of that anxiety in a battle against me? Good practice for the Captaincy testing."
"Fine." Riku said. "But no using Bankai. I don't wanna destroy the girls' minds after what they're going through."
"Deal. Let's go."
Miyako was soaking up as much information as she could from this shark-like man. So far, she'd learned that the trident that she'd made appear during the fight with Kare was the same weapon that this man wielded. As of right now, until she felt like waking up, he'd train her in proper usage of the weapon itself. She had learned what was different from her bubble wand in her Z-form, and what was similar. She'd also learned that she could go outside the palace and breathe the water with no problems whatsoever, and that all the animal life in the water would heed her call and could carry on some interesting conversations. But this man, although she couldn't hear him when he said his name, she felt like there was something she should know, already know...
"Hime-Sama, focus!" the man called out.
"Sorry!" Miyako said, her mind snapping back to her first attempt at the manifestation of the lightning.
"I think that's enough for now." he said. "You've been lost in thought for the better half of an hour now. What's on your mind?"
"I keep trying to think of what your name is." Miyako said, blushing a bit. "I can't hear it yet, but Ta-Kun has taught me a bit about reading lips, and I think your name might be something like Mijumaru."
"Heh heh." he chuckled, revealing his shark-like grin once more. "You'll have to thank this 'Ta-Kun' person. My name is close to that. Mizubara."
"I heard it!" Miyako said, smiling happily. "I heard it that time! Mizubara-Kun, such a pretty name!"
"Good. Now it's time for you to wake up." he said. "And remember, if you ever need to talk about something, anything, just give me a holler. I'll be here, in your soul's Inner Sanctum whenever you need me."
Kaoru had listened to the tiger speak, and it'd taken on a woman's form, leaving the ears and tail visible to anyone at anytime. She'd even heard the name, even if it was just now.
"So you're telling me your name is Lycoris, and that this place is some sort of Inner Sanctum within my soul?" Kaoru asked, attempting to summarize. "You're also saying that you are a sword called a Zanpakutou, like the blade Shimabara-Kun keeps on him at all times. Is that about right?"
"Yes, that's it in a nutshell." Lycoris said, her charcoal hair swaying in the jungle breeze that was conveyed everywhere in the city.
"Alright, so how the hell do I make ya appear once I wake up?" Kaoru asked. "And please tell me I don't have to be in a skirt when I do call ya!"
"I believe that once you awaken, you'll have your answer. And as for the skirt," Lycoris said. "That is entirely up to where you first manage to summon me. Even I can't tell you what places will wind up with a skirt, and which ones won't."
"God I hope I don't end up with a skirt." Kaoru said, subconsciously flinching. "I hate that I have to wear one as Powered Buttercup."
"I don't really like skirts all that much either." Lycoris said. "But that's because I don't want people seeing my panties. It's embarrassing beyond reason."
"I know, right? A dress would be fine, since it goes past the knees, but that's still a bit girly for my tastes."
"I'm glad I could speak with you, Kaoru." Lycoris said. "However, its now time for you to awaken. If you ever need to talk, or if you want to spar, come find me here within your soul."
"Sparring? Girl, you just said the magic word!" Kaoru said, smiling. "I'll definitely return to spar! I love fighting!"
"Okami, I wish I didn't have to go right now." Momoko said, handing the wolf she'd been huggling the whole time back to the woman. "Can I really come back whenever I want to?"
"Yes, you can." Okami said, giggling a bit, letting her childish nature show through again. "I'll always be here, and so will they."
"Alright then. I'll see you again later!" Momoko called.
The boys felt the tremendous amount of energy spiking from the girls, so they stopped fighting, sheathed their weapons, and proceeded to return. Rku took the ladder and sped up as fast as his legs would carry him. Takuya, though, chose to simply fly up, testing his wings in sustained flight. They arrived not a moment too soon. As soon as they entered the room where the girls had been resting, Momoko softly called out Riku's name as she woke. Kaoru simply snapped wide awake, as she always did. Miyako, though, opened her eyes slowly, comically mistaking Takuya, who stood before her with his wings outstretched, for an angel from heaven.
"Ri-Kun?"
"That..was interesting." Kaoru muttered.
"Please, Mister Angel. I don't want to go to heaven just yet." Miyako whispered.
"Miyako-Chama, it's me." Takuya said as Riku gave his girl a big kiss. "I'm not going to take you to Heaven, because you are my heaven."
"Please, don't be so mushy without getting a room, Shimabara-Kun!"
"Alrighty then." Urahara's voice called from the doorway. "Now that they're awake, we can begin training. When you're ready, please lead them into the basement and over to the Shattered Shaft."
"The Shaft?" Now it was Takuya's turn to begin panicking. "Taichou, are you serious? I barely managed to survive that when you threw me down there. Hell, Kurosaki-San barely survived by the skin of his teeth!"
"Don't worry, Shimabara-Taichou." Tessai said, his enormous body being an unintended source of intimidation to the girls. "They'll be in good hands."
With that said, the girls quickly gave their respective boyfriends a kiss, with Kaoru only bumping fists with them instead, then followed Urahara. Although they were nervous, the girls' curiosity was getting the better of them. What was this 'Shattered Shaft' that they were being brought to, and why did Takuya seem to be so opposed to a form of training when at his own home his parents had the house practically booby-trapped everywhere, and him taking enjoyment in disarming said traps?
Riku silently followed the girls, wondering much the same questions, but also wondering why Takuya said he'd trained in the Shattered Shaft. Something didn't add up, and Riku would be damned if he didn't believe that Takuya was hiding something besides the hole in his chest.
He was going to find out what.