White Sun Rising: Ultimate Rewrite Edition
Chapter 4: Now You've Done It
Recap: In May 2002, Ichigo Kurosaki gained the powers of a shinigami from Rukia Kuchiki, and he performed her duties while she recovered from her injuries. In July, Ichigo performed the impossible: using the shikai of Sode no Shirayuki, Rukia's zanpakutō. Three days later, Jushiro Ukitake went to Karakura in order to recover Ichigo and bring him back to testify in Rukia's defense. Urahara, meanwhile, began training Ichigo's comrades in order to rescue both him and Rukia. Now, one week later, the Rescue Team is ready for the journey through the Dangai.
They just don't know what they're about to run into...
Urahara Shoten, Karakura Town, Japan, August 1st, 2002, 1:00 am local time
The team was ready as they could be.
They were missing the heaviest hitter (that being Ichigo) but Tatsuki, Shinji and Hiyori could easily make up for the difference.
Tatsuki now matched Chad in terms of overall spiritual power, but other then her ability to channel reiatsu into her body, akin to Yoruichi's shunko, which would allow her to deflect zanpakutō strikes to a point, she had no actual powers. Thankfully, she COULD perform kido, thanks to Urahara: she had hado spells one, four, eleven, thirty-one and thirty-three and bakudo spells one, four, nine and thirty in her new arsenal. The thirties-level spells were a bit harder to use at the moment, but she had them regardless.
Uryū's speed had doubled, and since he didn't put on the Senrei glove, the chances of him losing his powers in the Soul Society were non-existent. Chad was also more then capable of handling himself against at least a third seat level shinigami, although Urahara assumed he could fight half the lieutenants in the Gotai 13 to a standstill.
Orihime, meanwhile, while improving her defensive abilities and her reiatsu reserve, had done little in the way of offensive training. However, she did learn a few kido techniques from Tessai when he discovered that her sole offensive attack was dependent on willpower, and Orihime was not an actual fighter.
Indirect ranged attacks with hado spells would work best with her.
All of them were ready, and so was their way in.
They all stood in Urahara's training area, with the man himself standing in front of a massive wooden structure. "Welcome, everyone! It's been a hard road for all of you this past week, but I can easily say this!" He whipped out the fan, fanning himself like an idiot. "You all won't die immediately!"
Tatsuki facefaulted at Urahara's comment.
The shopkeeper then got serious. "I would put you up against the best of my old division, and my bets would be on all of you winning."
Uryū looked around, looking for the only adult female member of what he had privately coined the 'Urahara Torture Squad'. "Where is Yoruichi?"
"Right here."
He looked down, finding a black cat sitting in front of him. Shinji and Hiyori were snickering their asses off.
"...You're a cat." "Nothing escapes you, do they, Uryu-bo?"
Like Byakuya before him, Uryū had been given Yoruichi's nickname for her formal male students. (In the Soul Society, Byakuya felt pity for a moment for reasons he could not comprehend and Suì-Fēng's anger began to perk up to the surface as she snapped a pen in two while doing her paperwork) And like Byakuya, Uryū (unwillingly) went along with it. She was a good teacher when it came to shunpo, which meant she helped refine his Hirenkyaku to the point it was at now. "Now, since most of you are humans, I had to build this thing behind me." Urahara gestured to the device behind him. "This is a matter/reishi converter. Normally, only non-corporeal beings like shinigami and Hollows can move freely between this world and the next."
Uryū finished it for him, albeit more like a question then anything. "This will turn us into reishi so we can get into the Soul Society without needing Ichigo or you to konso us?"
The bucket man fanned himself, nodding. "Yup! Now, I'm going to hijack the Soul Society's connection to open a Senkaimon, which will allow you to enter the Dangai and get to the Soul Society." His eyes were narrowed at this point. "You've got five minutes to get through. Otherwise, you're dead."
And he wasn't going to be killing four humans if he had any say in the matter.
Tessai began channeling power into the converter while Urahara opened the Senkaimon.
"Go! And I'd better not see you until you bring Ichigo back here!"
The team ran through, and Urahara then remembered a major problem. "Oh, fuckberries. The Kōtotsu makes its' pass today."
The Dangai
Shinji knew the Dangai better then most, but he still had the urge to say it.
"This place is fucking creepy."
Tatsuki had to agree. "Yeah, and we have to go through this place?"
Yoruichi decided to explain a bit about the Dangai. "This place was once a penal colony. The walls are encompassed by the Kōryū, or Wresting Flow. Do not touch them, or you will be trapped and will eventually be killed."
Uryū got the point, as he was about to examine the Koryu. "Noted. Now, we have less then five minutes to reach the-"
A rather ominous sound reached their ears. Shinji narrowed his eyes. "Son of a bitch."
What appeared to be a bullet train with an eye was charging at them. "It's the Kōtotsu! Run!" No one needed to be told twice as they began running like the Grim Reaper was after them. Tatsuki glanced at Yoruichi. "What the fuck is that thing?!"
"Remember when I said this was once a penal colony? THAT was to make sure no one loitered outside the safety of their cells!" The bullet train from hell (not literally) was catching up, and there was no way they could outrun the damn thing.
Cue Orihime's brass balls in using the Shun Shun Rikka.
She deployed the three primary shield spirits, causing Yoruichi to panic. "Orihime, NO!" "Santen Kesshun, I reject!"
The shield deployed, but this minor mistake was about to have severe consequences for all.
Interlude/Explanation
(Image of a blackened stage)
Voice of the Author: Ok, I know what you're saying.
(A spotlight turns on, revealing the Author in a shihakushō with a sheathed kilj on his left hip)
Author: 'What the hell is he doing making an author's note in the middle of the story?' Well, this couldn't wait for the end of the chapter. (Turns head to left) URAHARA, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE! (Faces camera) It's extremely important.
(Kisuke Urahara, now wearing a shihakushō, walks onto the stage)
Urahara: Yare, yare, what is it, Author-san?
Author: We're explaining the Dangai at the moment.
Urahara: Ah, and with it the unique power that it has!
(A chart appears behind the two)
Urahara: As all Bleach readers with basic knowledge know, the Dangai is the only way to get through to either the world of the living or the Soul Society without using a Hell Butterfly to guide you past it. What you do NOT know is that time itself is highly fluxed there!
Author: (Shakes head at Urahara's antics) During the Ryōka Invasion Arc in canon, the Rescue team ran into the Kōtotsu. When Orihime's brass balls decided to drop and she used her Santen Kesshun to save their asses, she inadvertently created a temporal event, sending them back in time approximately one week.
(Author evilly smirks, and Urahara begins to fear for his life)
Urahara: Uh, Author-san?
Author: Relax. I just plan to send them back a LOT further then a week. Besides, they'll rescue Ichigo and Rukia. They'll just have more help then they thought.
Urahara: Ah, you're sending them back in time to...when?
Author: That's for me to reveal. Now, time for you to suffer for putting that orb of death in Rukia.
(Snaps fingers and Kratos from God of War appears stage right a'la Q)
Kratos: What is this sorcery?!
Author: (Points at Urahara) He did it! (Dives offstage as Kratos begins his assault)
(End interlude)
Unknown location within the Soul Society, unknown time
A Senkaimon opened in the middle of a forest, spewing out seven figures, the largest of which performed a perfect three-point landing. The rest either hit the ground or the trees, which is exactly what happened to Shinji Hirako, who screamed upon impact.
Yoruichi impacted on his crotch, resulting in another one.
"Damn it, Orihime, what the FUCK were you thinking?!"
Orihime, half buried in a crater, gave Yoruichi a heated glare. Uncharacteristic, yes, but really, could you blame her?
"It was either that or we all died."
Yoruichi had to concede the point to Orihime: she was right. Thankfully, Tatsuki got herself out of the ground, and asked the obvious question.
"So, this is the Soul Society?" She looked upwards, noticing something wrong. "Yoruichi, are the stars supposed to be like that?"
Yoruichi got off of Shinji, then looked upwards.
The stars looked...off.
Despite being in different dimensional plains, the stars were the same in each world. Hence, stellar drift occurred at the same rate in each one. And most souls were good at tracking how far the stars drifted over their long lives.
"No, they aren't. In fact, they look like the stars from around 50 years ago."
Yoruichi was tempted to hit Orihime. "You sent us five decades into the past, you fool!"
They were lucky that her reality-bending powers could get them back into the Dangai, otherwise they would be stuck there for five decades hiding from the Gotai 13.
Not something they wanted nor needed.
"So, Orihime, since you seem to be the only one-"
"MIYAKO! STOP!"
Yoruichi would have paled if she weren't a cat at the moment.
'This is NOT possible.'
In the distance, a woman shunpo'ed from tree to tree before landing in their clearing.
Yoruichi KNEW her. It was Miyako Shiba, Kukaku's sister-in-law. They were sent back in time to the night Miyako and Kaien Shiba died.
It was a good thing Kisuke had packed a Kikanshinki into Shinji's rucksack before sending them off. It was a precaution if they accidentally ended up in Rukongai and in the middle of a shinigami patrol. If it was charged with enough reiatsu, the damn thing could erase or alter anyone's memories.
Even the Captain-General could be affected if enough was poured in. Another shinigami entered the clearing, and all but the shinigami were surprised to see that he was practically a clone of Ichigo, sans black hair. And a royal-blue hilted katana rather then either then the massive sword he was known to wield or Rukia's Sode no Shirayuki.
"Uh...what the fuck?"
The woman glanced at the newcomers, and Tatsuki was ready for a fight if need be as she channeled reiryoku into her body.
A wise choice as the woman charged at her, sword drawn. "Son of a bitch!" Tatsuki caught the blade, but the raw force sent both of them flying in the other direction.
"Follow them!" The Rescue Team ignored Kaien, but he was doing anything but ignoring them.
"GET BACK HERE!"
Tatsuki, meanwhile, was barely fending off Miyako's attacks, and the shinigami was looking more and more dead as time went on. The body was beginning to degrade rapidly before Tatsuki's sickened eyes.
"That's just fucking wrong." She kneed Miyako in the gut, then wrenched her zanpakutō out of her hand before delivering a powerful strike to her head, knocking her five meters to the left before both impacted the ground. Tatsuki was thankful that she was now armed, because that woman was about to counterattack, even though her body was almost liquified and...
"What. The. FUCK?" Something had devoured the woman from the inside out. And judging from the mask, it was a Hollow.
To quote a certain action movie... "You are one UGLY motherfucker."
Kaien arrived seconds later, followed by the rescue team. The Ichigo lookalike glared at Tatsuki. "What the hell did you do?!"
Tatsuki shook her head. "Buddy, I think you should be looking at the thing that ATE her from the inside out."
Kaien stepped back for a moment, then glared at the Hollow, which was fucking UGLY. And was now laughing.
"Ah, another shinigami! I will enjoy devouring you as well!" Kaien started twirling his zanpakutō in his hand. Tatsuki wondered what the hell he was doing when Kaien spoke again. "Rankle the seas and the skies, Nejibana!" The sword transformed into a hybrid trident with a blue tassel hanging from it, and he charged in, screaming bloody murder. Of course, the second he struck, the blade disintegrated. "What the hell?!" It cackled, almost amused. "Once every night, I can destroy and absorb a zanpakutō!"
"Destroy THIS, asshole! Hado 1: Sho!" The Hollow was pushed back before it could strike Kaien and, according to history, possess him.
Kaien glared at Tatsuki. "What the fuck are you doing?! This is my fight!"
"A fight you're losing, jackass! At least take some fucking help!"
Kaien was clearly not ready to handle someone like Tatsuki. Then he felt her reiatsu: strong, but definitely human.
"How the hell did you learn the shinigami arts? Better yet, how the hell did you GET here? You're human."
"One, the name's Tatsuki. Tatsuki Arisawa. And two-"
The Hollow got back onto its' feet, clearly pissed off. "We've got bigger problems." She twirled her newly acquired sword around once or twice, not sure if she should really be using it.
"So, any plans other then not getting eaten?" Kaien scoffed. "No. I'm not exactly used to being disarmed: it's...never happened." That settled that.
"Here." She tossed Miyako's zanpakutō into his hands. "You need it more then I do." The rescue team arrived less then 15 seconds later. "Well, this complicates matters."
If Kaien lived, the timeline would be massively screwed over. Ichigo might not even exist. On the other hand, Yoruichi had seen Kukaku and Ganju after he died.
Preserving history and personal interests: not a good combination. 'Now I know why everyone hates temporal mechanics.'
Kaien looked at Shinji and Hiyori, still wearing those cloaks. "Uh, what the hell's going on?"
Shinji cast him a glance. "Long story, not enough time to tell it."
The Hollow launched its' tentacles at them, forcing all of them to either shunpo or dodge via other means. "Don't touch the tentacles! If that happens, you're as good as dead!" It was a good thing Yoruichi read the reports on this thing: she knew how to fight it.
Chad deployed his armor, firing an El Directo at the Hollow's center right leg, breaking it. "Damn you!" "Hey, fuckface!" The Hollow looked at Tatsuki. Big mistake.
"Hado 4: Byakurai!" A bolt of lightning exited her palm, burning off several of the tentacles. "Oi, neko lady! Is this thing like a hydra or what?!"
Yoruichi shook her head in the negative. "No, but burning the tentacles off from a distance may make this easier." Uryū formed his bow and began firing at it, but the Hollow, despite being so large and unwieldy looking, dodged most of the arrows.
"A Quincy?! Interesting: I'd like to know what you taste like!" Uryū scoffed. "A twisted monster like you doesn't deserve to reincarnate."
"Twisted monster?! How dare you! I have a heart, you know!" Uryū fired off two more shots, blasting off a pair of tentacles. "Really? Hollows are heartless monsters, mindless to the point that you don't know anything but hunger."
The Hollow laughed at Uryū's taunt. "Ah, but I have a name: Metastacia! And I regret many things I've done. Like that shinigami girl: I regret not having the time to properly devour her!"
Tatsuki snarled. That was it. This thing died NOW. "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hadō 31: Shakkahō!" A red ball of fiery energy formed in Tatsuki's hand before she fired it. It wasn't as powerful as one fired from a shinigami third seat or a lieutenant, but it was enough to fry all but three of the tentacles off its' back.
"YOU BITCH!" At this point, another shinigami had shunpo'ed into the clearing. This one wore a white haori and had white hair, and had a pair of swords connected by a rope with several charms hanging from it.
Yoruichi remembered Jushiro Ukitake, and to be frank, she REALLY didn't want him here. The confused captain blinked as he saw all of the people there, but at the moment, he had a Hollow to kill and a third seat to avenge. Asking just what the hell was going on could wait.
Of course, he wasn't getting the chance, as that damned illness of his made an unwelcome return and he began having a coughing fit. Metastacia cackled. "And I get a captain, instead!"
"Tsugi no Mai: Hakuren!"
A blast of snow hit Metastacia in the side and back, freezing the tentacles in place before a VERY angry looking Rukia Kuchiki charged at the Hollow, Sode no Shirayuki in shikai form in hand. She struck twice, once destroying the tentacles before striking the Hollow's mask, killing it. "NO! I CAN'T-" Metastacia fell silent as he disintegrated into reishi, and all three 13th Division shinigami started looking at their unknowing allies. "Shinji Hirako? What are you-"
Shinji pulled out the overcharged memory modifier. "Sorry, but we can't exactly talk right now."
Yoruichi hit Kaien in the back of the head, knocking him out. "Grab him and run!" Tatsuki didn't ask any questions and just did as she was told.
"Wait just a mom-" Shinji triggered the device, and they remembered nothing.
Except, of course, Kaien's death.
About 800 meters away, 15 minutes later
The rescue team had hidden themselves inside a cave, and Tatsuki was wondering just what the hell was going on.
"So, neko lady, care to explain who this guy is and why he looks like Ichigo?" Yoruichi would have pinched her nose had she been able. "His name is Kaien Shiba. And his relationship with Ichigo is...complicated."
"Then uncomplicate it, because I want to know why we had to drag him along!" Shinji had enough.
"Because he was supposed to die today." Yoruichi was tempted to claw Shinji's eyes out for being so blunt.
Tatsuki, meanwhile, was thankful for clear-cut explanations for once. But that begged a question. "Wait, supposed to?" Yoruichi took over at this point.
"Yes. That Hollow from earlier, Metastacia, possessed his body and tried to kill Rukia. But it appears we have changed history."
Hiyori snorted. "Yeah, right." She hooked a thumb at Shinji. "That Kikanshinki the dickhead used screwed with their memories: they'll remember him dying."
Orihime pointed at herself. "But it didn't work on me."
Shinji explained that part away easily. "That was the standard model. This thing's only got enough power enough for one use, but it's powerful enough to make the Captain-General think he was a six year old girl if we wanted to."
All of them gave a chuckle at that.
"Well, now that that's out of the way, why the hell does he look like Ichigo?" Yoruichi debated not telling them, but Shinji would do it anyways, so she decided to do it. "He's Ichigo's cousin."
The look of 'WTF' on their faces was more then enough to make Hiyori laugh her ass off. "H-How the fuck is he Ichigo's cousin?! He's, well, dead!"
"I hope you remember Isshin Kurosaki, Arisawa, because Isshin is Kaien's uncle." Chad and Uryū were shocked into silence. Orihime, ditz that she was, hummed in deep thought, trying to connect the dots.
Tatsuki, on the other hand... "Isshin's a fucking shinigami?!" Kaien groaned as he woke up. "Stop screaming, girl: you're loud enough to wake the dead."
Ironic as that was, Kaien had no time to appreciate it as he remembered what happened. "What the hell?! Where-" "Lieutenant."
Kaien slowly looked at the cat that was Yoruichi. "Shut up and listen very closely, because I am not going to repeat myself."
Yes, I just saved Kaien Shiba. Deal with it.
This won't create a temporal paradox, as Metastacia did absorb some of Kaien's soul when he destroyed Nejibana.
Meaning Aaroniero will still have Kaien's appearance and a copy of Nejibana when the time comes, so don't worry about that.
(Looks off into distance)
Author: Speaking of worrying-
(CRASH!)
(Urahara flies overhead, bloodied, brushed and Wilhelm screaming)
Author: Looks like Kratos is enjoying himself.
(Kratos jumps out, Blade of Olympus in hand, going after Urahara)
Wilhelm Scream count: 7 (8 if you include the AN Urahara one, which we won't)
Next Time on WSR URE: The Rescue Team, plus an unwilling Kaien, force their way back into the Dangai and back to 2002, and the real rescue mission begins!
Ja Ne!