Toshiro sensed his Lieutenant return and set down his pen, standing from his desk to greet his new guests. He had been trying to get as much paperwork done as possible, but had only managed a quarter of the stack in the twenty minutes Rangiku had been gone. He placed Hyorinmaru on his back as he passed his leaning place against the wall. Hyorinmaru rumbled happily; he still spoke a lot to Toshiro, much to the others surprise. During battle it was common for zanpaktou to offer hints or comfort, but they didn't participate in idle chat. Perhaps it was due to Hyorinmaru being a Weapon.
Once outside he noticed the eight people with his Lieutenant, latching onto one of them quickly. The silver haired man, who he guessed was Kadaj, stared back with less intensity but just as defiant. He had to push the thought of how similar they were from his mind before returning his gaze to the others.
"Welcome to the Soul Society." He greeted them with a small nod. "It looks like the Spirit Energy of this world is already affecting you."
They did seem rather strained at the moment, especially the Remnant and Cloud. Vincent seemed the only one least affected and Toshiro put it down to him playing host to a Weapon. Even if Chaos had returned to Gaia, the effects of his powers seemed to have remained.
"I'll lead you to the Head Captain's office; he'll want to speak with you." Teal eyes snapped over to Rangiku. "You need to get back to your paperwork."
"Aw, Captain." The blonde woman whined.
"No excuses. Back to work." They felt the temperature decrease as a warning and Rangiku solemnly walked inside. "With my luck she won't have done a thing when I get back."
The wolf creature, Red XIII, walked towards the tiny Captain.
"Is there a chance we can meet the other Captains and Lieutenants?"
"Some of them may pass us on our way to the barracks." Toshiro replied, unfazed by a talking animal. "They've surely noticed you by now."
With that he turned and led them away from his own barracks and through twisting halls towards the center of the Court of Pure Souls.
"This kind of reminds me of Wutai." Yuffie commented, speaking of her hometown.
"I did see the resemblance when I visited Wutai myself. We're Japanese, and Wutai seems to be very similar in culture." Toshiro replied.
"What's that hill in the middle?" She asked next, pointing up to the towering rock feature.
"The Sokyoku Hill. It used to be where we held executions, but ever since the Sokyoku was destroyed, it's been more of a sacred sight."
Yuffie blanched at the thought of executions, but Tifa decided to question further.
"The Sokyoku?"
"A large blade with the power of a million zanpaktous. It's only used on those who have committed severe crimes and looks similar to the summon you call Phoenix when released; only, it vaporizes instead of revives."
"Harsh." Kadaj mumbled. Toshiro raised an eyebrow at him but did not comment.
"So how was it destroyed?"
"That's a long story…" Toshiro sighed. "To be honest, I wasn't there to see it, but from what I heard, Ichigo Kurosaki, the Substitute Soul Reaper, managed to stop it with his own zanpaktou, which should have been impossible. Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku then used an item called the Shihon Shield to destroy it while Kurosaki had it distracted."
"Why would Ichigo need to stop it?" Yuffie ventured.
"A false execution was set up by Aizen to kill Rukia Kuchiki, who had an artifact called the Hogyoku imbedded in her spirit. We had no idea it was Aizen at the time, but thanks to Kurosaki, Kuchiki survived and is still alive, and Aizen is imprisoned for the next twenty thousand years."
"Whoa whoa whoa." Cid waved his hands out front. "From what you told us, Aizen was some sort of evil mastermind who attempted to destroy you."
"Yes." Toshiro replied simply, unconcerned, though his hand ventured to the jagged scar running from shoulder to hip.
"Why don't you kill him then?"
"The Hogyoku is a powerful item that transcends all natural laws. He merged his spirit with it and is now quite literally immortal. We can't kill him, but we can imprison him. He has thousands of Kido restraints placed on him both physically and mentally, he's never escaping."
"How can you be sure?" Cloud questioned.
"The Kido Corps keeps a constant watch on him. They're a group of highly skilled Kido users and can sense the slightest shift. They'll be able to adjust the restraints accordingly."
Toshiro sensed a fellow Captain and Lieutenant approaching, quickly recognizing them as the Squad Six duo. Remembering how similar Reno had been to Renji, he thought he might enjoy the Gaians reactions to the latter.
He slowed as they came to the crossroad where Byakuya Kuchiki and Renji Abarai would cross paths with them. Sure enough they came into view and both groups paused to examine the other.
"Hitsugaya." Byakuya greeted the tiny Captain with a small nod.
"Kuchiki." Toshiro replied the same way. They never called the other Captain when greeting each other, but they at least acknowledged them respectfully.
"Whoa, he looks like Reno!" Yuffie pointed to the tattoo covered red-head.
Renji tilted his head in confusion at the shout, not having been told about any specific people besides the Jenova War Heroes.
"One of the Turks is strikingly similar to you." Toshiro explained. "Minus the tattoos of course, I doubt anyone else would have so many."
"Hey! I like my tattoos, thank you!" Renji scowled while Toshiro simply raised an eyebrow. "They show my uniqueness."
"If you say so." Toshiro looked off to the side while Renji silently fumed. Yuffie giggled and drew the Lieutenant's attention to her.
"What are you laughing at, skimpy?!"
"Abarai." Byakuya sighed. Renji tensed before bowing quickly in apology to his Captain. "Are these all who wanted to come, Hitsugaya?"
"Seems so. I was on my way to the Head Captain."
"Then it's best we go our separate ways." Byakuya glided past with all the grace of the noble he was.
After glaring at Yuffie once more, Renji followed him. Toshiro realized they were heading towards the Squad Thirteen barracks, no doubt to visit Rukia. The adopted noble had gotten sick, same as Renji, from something in her food a few weeks back but had gotten a lot better since. Needless to say, the person who made the food had met an unfortunate punishment when Byakuya 'visited' them.
"Come on then, before anyone else finds us." Toshiro began walking again.
With the eight Gaians managing a fairly fast pace, they arrived to the Squad One barracks in good time, crossing the covered walkway and through the large doors. They each gazed around the spacious meeting room in wonder before eventually all resting on the aging man with only a right arm in his seat across the room.
"Glad you could make it, Gaians." Yamamoto spoke huskily. He nodded to Toshiro who bowed and took a stand next to the old man. As Gaia's protector he was to be a part of this conversation. "I assume we're all on the same page at this point?"
"We understand that Sephiroth has found his way here." Shelke replied with a bow, seeing as that seemed to be the proper way of greeting. Yuffie did as well, since she was used to such things in Wutai, with Tifa and Red not far behind. The other four boys hesitated, but to earn respect quickly bowed as well. Yamamoto seemed to smile at their awkwardness, though only Toshiro heard him chuckle.
"And that you need us to help you fight him." Cloud added on to Shelke's statement.
"Indeed. However, there is the problem of your power. Only Valentine seems to be relatively unaffected."
"That's probably due to him playing host to a Weapon." Toshiro responded and Vincent nodded.
Yamamoto seemed to think things over for a moment, leading the Gaians to grow rather nervous. Toshiro didn't shift position, accustomed to waiting on the old man.
"Perhaps we have no choice." Yamamoto spoke up, looking sternly at the eight before him.
They gained confused expressions, some of them looking between each other. Toshiro raised an eyebrow as well.
"What was done before can be done again. You shall have to gain Soul Reaper powers to fight effectively."
Here's the next chapter where the Gains get a slight overview of the Soul Society and past events ^^ Then they meet the famous Head Captain and get told to become Soul Reapers! Enjoy!