Not long after Kisuke had left, Barrett and Yuffie were told they could stop their training. They really weren't any closer to finding their zanpaktou than three hours ago except for soft whispers, so Soi Fon had stopped them and had them join the others. Cloud, Tifa, Shelke and Kadaj had changed into the Soul Reaper garb, and Red had been given a black bandana to tie around his neck as a sign that he was at least accepted by the Soul Reapers.
"Man, this is hard!" Yuffie whined as she lay against the ground, panting heavily. Over the course of her practice Soi Fon had hit her three times in different spots, but the black butterfly marks were gone now.
"I worry about this one." The assassin Captain said flatly, raising an eyebrow when Yuffie scowled at her.
"Looks like we're the last damn ones." Cid groaned, better rested than earlier and managing to sit up. Next to him, Barrett nodded sadly. The three of them had only whispers to go off of.
Several of the Soul Reapers around them turned towards the direction of the Senkaimon at the same time, alerting the Gains to the fact that someone must have come through.
"Hitsugaya is back." Retsu was the first to comment. "And Valentine is with him."
"Is he okay?" Yuffie asked, knowing they could tell someone's general health by the way their Spiritual Pressure fluctuated.
"Exhausted but fine." The healer replied with a smile. "It seems his training was a success as well."
Tseng, the only non-Soul Reaper Gaian-for which the Captains were trying to find a name for-waited for the gunman's arrival. He'd been watching the training carefully, but when he had asked Kisuke to see Vincent's, the man cleverly skidded around the subject and prevented the Turk from going. He wanted to know what he'd been put through and if it was a concern. Allies or no, the Soul Reapers were completely foreign and Rufus wanted to make sure there wouldn't be another Sephiroth loose. Learning about Aizen was worrisome enough.
It took half an hour but eventually the two of them made it and the Gaians greeted their friend cheerfully, taking note of how he was also in the Soul Reaper garb.
"Everyone's doing really well." Momo reported to Toshiro.
"That's good; Urahara's method seems to be working." Toshiro nodded his thanks to the girl. "So only three of them have yet to find their zanpaktou?"
"Yuffie Kisaragi, Barrett Wallace and Cid Highwind still have not managed to communicate with them. Miss Lockhart says she would help them try Blade Zen later when they're better rested."
"That might help them a little, if they can manage it."
"Maybe you can help them? You were always really fast at it."
"It's one thing to teach it and another to do it. Everyone has their own subtle differences. It's better if one of their own teaches it to them."
Nodding in understanding, Momo got quiet and looked over the group of Gaians, eyes resting on Tseng.
"I wonder what he's still doing here." She mused aloud and Toshiro locked onto the Turk as well.
"No doubt on the president's orders." He replied. "I'm sure Shin-Ra wants to be aware of everything going on. I'm worried he might try to create his own Soul Reaper, and obviously Urahara shares in the concern since he hasn't told the man much."
"They would try that?" Momo looked a little worried about that fact.
"The Shin-Ra company was trying to make super soldiers before and they got Sephiroth. We all see how well that turned out, and even now their mistake is causing everyone trouble. It's in our best interest to keep them from trying anything else like that, especially since Spirit Energy will explode when coming into contact with the Lifestream unless Gainsborough is there, and she can't constantly watch over hundreds of people to keep that from happening."
"Right."
Leaving his 'sister' to Shelke, who had approached her, Toshiro went over to Kadaj and Cloud instead.
"You know, in a certain light, you really do look alike." Cloud spoke first as the Captain joined them.
Realizing he meant the similarities between himself and Kadaj, Toshiro narrowed his eyes threateningly but otherwise did nothing against it. He couldn't really argue against it, since those same similarities had caused him so many problems when he had first gone to Gaia.
"I never got to ask about Soi Fon's interrogation with you." Toshiro said to the Remnant.
"Well, it was really more of a Question and Answer session," Kadaj frowned as Toshiro sighed, "but I gave as much information as I could. I don't really want to repeat it all though."
"I'm sure she has it written down in a report somewhere, but since she seems to be training Kisaragi she hasn't had the time to make copies for the other Captains." Toshiro then turned to Cloud. "And did you manage to learn anything from Ukitake?"
"Quite a bit." The swordsman nodded. "I don't really understand it all, but I've got the basics."
"That's fine; we can worry about details later. For now we need you and the others to at least be battle ready if Sephiroth tries anything. The way you were when you arrived here wouldn't even match up to the weakest Soul Reaper and without knowing your zanpaktou you probably wouldn't even be a match for a low ranking seated officer."
"There are twenty seated positions right?" Cloud questioned and Kadaj looked at him incredulously; not because Cloud knew something like that but because there were so many seated positions and that meant the lowest one must have been pretty weak.
"Right." Toshiro was slightly impressed that Cloud managed to remember that, as it was a detail most people overlooked. Ichigo still couldn't get the right number, usually, though Toshiro debated on whether or not the Substitute was just being an ass or serious.
By that time, Kisuke and his charges had arrived through the Senkaimon, Toshiro's eyes widening as he recognized the black haired Kurosaki sister's Spiritual Pressure among the three. He at first wondered how the girl had gotten to the Soul society, before remembering she was a Soul Reaper now and instead wondering why she had decided to come.
"Excuse me." He said to the two curious faced Gaians in front of him before he turned and walked away to the entrance of the arena. Karin surely couldn't Flash Step yet, so he tried to make a guess on how long it would take them to get there.
That guess was quickly smashed as they arrived in a matter of moments, Ichigo carrying his miffed sister on his back before setting her down. Toshiro noticed the look in Kisuke's eyes and, after seeing Karin glance his way with frustration, quickly realized what it meant. The surprise earlier was Karin's arrival, and instead of waiting he had left.
Oh this was going to be fun.
"Haven't seen you in months and the first thing you do is leave?" The teen girl snapped at him, stomping right over.
"I've been busy, in case you haven't noticed." Toshiro replied, keeping his face impassive.
"You could have at least hung around long enough to say 'hello' back there instead of leaving first chance you got."
"I didn't realize you were coming."
Toshiro noticed with some frustration that some of the others were watching them argue. He glared at them to try and back them off but while some looked away, others just snickered.
"You can usually sense someone coming from pretty far off, why suddenly not?" Karin cornered him.
"I had no need to therefore I wasn't paying attention." Toshiro countered. "Don't you have school?"
"Don't change the subject! And besides, school has been out for several hours now. I wanted to see why Ichi up and left two days ago."
"Well now you know." Pivoting sharply on his heel, Toshiro walked away and Karin fumed. "Seeing as Matsumoto is here and not in the office I can safely assume I have a lot of paperwork to do. I'll be there if you need anything important."
He then quickly vanished from the crowd and towards his barracks. The numbers were dwindling as Soul Reapers left for their squad duties as well.
"Oi, Vincent." Shinji called out to the gunman. "Don't think you're done yet, thanks to those demons you have to work three times as hard as the others."
Vincent frowned but nodded in agreement. He'd been warned about that.
"Urahara was supposed to call in Hiyori but apparently that didn't cross his mind." The Visored Captain continued. "She'll have a fit when she realizes she wasn't informed. Just my luck, that damned Kisuke."
Several yards away and out of hearing range, Kisuke sneezed, startling Tseng who was next to him.
"We should probably get to the Squad Ten barracks too." Cloud said to the others with him.
"I'm going with you." Karin called out, rushing over to them. "Toshiro isn't getting away from me that easily, I still have an earful for him."
"Should you be bothering him, he has a lot of work to do?" Shelke seemed curious about the Kurosaki sister.
"Tch, he's always got work, but it never stopped him from talking before." She replied. "Yeah, he gets annoyed sometimes, but Rangiku does it to him all the time. At least I'm not drunk when I complain to him."
The Gaians found Karin rather daring for a teenager in the presence of Soul Reapers. Then again, she was Ichigo's sister, and he always seemed to purposefully annoy the tiny Captain as well, acting like they were good friends when Toshiro was obviously trying to keep a strictly business persona.
"Alright then." Vincent said to the teen. "Shall we go?"
Rangiku led the way, not seeming to have taken any notice at all to Toshiro's jab at her laziness and just as cheery as ever. Left behind in the arena were Kisuke, Tseng, and Shinji.
"I have a few questions for you." Tseng asked the two blondes.
"If it's about Valentine's training I'm afraid I can't answer, since I myself don't know much about what happened." Kisuke hid a frown behind his fan. "Toshiro was the one watching him the whole time."
"But it was your method of training."
"Yes, but what happens differs per person."
Tseng looked ready to try and coax some kind of answer out of the man until Shinji blocked his view and got very close to his face.
"How about you keep your nose out of it?" He scowled. "We do what we do and it's none of your business what happens. Normally we would never allow this, since it's technically illegal here, but we're making an exception due to the circumstances. Be happy you're still here at all and we haven't kicked you out yet, though we should anyway with your snooping."
Shocked, Tseng couldn't reply before the Visored stomped away and Flash Stepped to his barracks after reaching the entry door.
"My my, perhaps you should consider leaving after all." Kisuke waved his fan slowly and had a childish grin on his face. "You seem to have upset the Captains and considering their power compared to yours…well, perhaps we won't mention that."
Fear lit up in Tseng's eyes before he controlled his emotions and glared, turning to walk away with Kisuke following him. While walking, the shopkeeper absentmindedly wondered what Sephiroth was waiting for. He'd memorized Kadaj's energy, both Lifeforce and Spiritual Pressure, knowing Sephiroth's wouldn't be all that different, but he hadn't sensed a thing. Soi Fon had her Stealth Squad keeping a look out but they had yet to see anything suspicious either.
So where had the Nightmare vanished to?
So yeah, bringing Karin into the story. I think I mentioned the pairing of her and Shiro at the beginning, so yeah...anyway, she'll be important. For now, it's time for the Gaian Reapers to relax ^^ Not an interesting chapter, I know, and I didn't post yesterday cuz it was the Fourth of July. Enjoy!