SailorStar9: This is Chapter 3 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?

Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny. Heck, even the pairings aren't mine.

Ichigo: (Bites forkful of cake) Huh? Ishida, you're not going to eat cake?

Uryū: Like I'd eat something that sweet.

Ichigo: (Bites into some more cake) I'll give you some.

Uryū: (Twitches) I don't need it.

Ichigo: (Holds out plate of cake) Here, here.

Uryū: (Explodes) I don't need it!

Ichigo: (Gets blown off seat, Kon flies in and swallows cake)

Chapter 3: Assemble! The 13 Divisions


"Fireworks maker?" Ichigo echoed.

"That's right." Kūkaku smirked. "Koganehiko, Shiroganehiko! Raise it up!"


Up top...

Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko started to rotate two strange cranks.


Below...

The ground under Ichigo's group began to rise up, and the ceiling opened.


Up top...

"Wet your pants, kiddies?" Kūkaku joked. "This is Shiba Kūkaku's own personal giant fireworks platform:..."

"The Kakaku Cannon!" Ganju cut in.

"Don't say it before me!" Kūkaku gave her brother a kick on the head. "Speechless, huh?"

"How can you joke at a time like this?" Ishida chided. "I don't know if you're a fireworks maker or what, but shooting us up with that thing is ins..." he was cut off by a sphere thrown into his face. The said orb then landed squarely in Hasu's hands.

"It's a Spirit Orb." Kūkaku explained. "Try touching your palm to it and putting in some Spirit Power."

"Like this?" Ichigo took the orb and tried to force his Spirit Power in. "How do you put in Spirit Power?"

"Huh?" Kūkaku blinked. "What're talking about? You go like this..." she demonstrated. "If you're a Shinigami, you can use Kidō, right?"

"Well..." Yoruichi started. "As I told you earlier, he suddenly became a Shinigami. So he can't use Kidō at all."

"Say what?" Kūkaku echoed. "Freaking useless... Ganju, show them how. Quit that!" she slammed two fists on the warring pair's heads.

Ganju took the orb and channeled his Spirit Power into the sphere.

"This is the cannon ball." Kūkaku knocked on the sphere Ganju was now encased in. "Okay, listen up. You kiddies might think that wall's the only thing guarding the Court of Pure Souls, but you're wrong. That wall is made from a mineral called Bloodthirst Stone, that's rare even in Soul Society. This is a piece of it." she placed a pebble on the floor. "As you can see, it completely blocks out Spirit Power." she added, slammed her palm on the stone, the pebble remaining intact. "So, opening a hole in the wall with Spirit Power is impossible. On top of that, it puts out waves that dissolve spirit power from its severed edges. In other words the Court of Pure Souls has a spherical barrier around it from up in the sky to below the ground. And so, that's where this thing steps in. This is the special spirit-barrier-generating device I developed. In other words, if you all put Spirit Power into this Spirit Orb, you can create a cannonball that can momentarily punch through the barrier. We'll take that and fire up my Kakaku Cannon and drop inside the wall in one stroke, simple as that. Any questions? Okay then, you're dismissed." she cut Ichigo off. "Go to the underground practice hall and practice how to concentrate your Spirit Power. Take them away. Listen," she added when Koganehiko grabbed Orihime and Ishida and Shiroganehiko took Ichigo. "If even one of you breaks concentration, you'll go boom on the spot. Practice hard." she called as Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko took the group off. "Go help them practice." she told her Ganju.

"You know, Sis..." Ganju started. "Are you really going to help them?

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kūkaku asked.

"I'm against it." Ganju insisted. "Helping Shinigamis... I... wouldn't know what to say to our brother. Sis, I..."

"Ganju!" Kūkaku snapped. "I told you not to ever talk about that again."

"Sis..." Ganju muttered.

"If you got it, get your ass moving." Kūkaku barked. "Listen, you better not show that pitiful expression in front of them. You should've sensed it too, that immense yet forgiving Spirit Power yesterday."

"Sis, you don't mean..." Ganju gasped.

"The one we've been waiting for has returned." Kūkaku confirmed.


In Soul Society...

"This is the first time, you know,I've had to wear the Lieutenant badge." Renji remarked.

"Of course it is." Iba Tetsuzaemon remarked. "It's my first time, too, since it was made mandatory."

"Abarai." Hinamori Momo looked at the new arrivals. "Iba."

"Hinamori?" Renji blinked. "No one but you here yet?"

"Looks that way." Momo replied.

"It's because lieutenants are always scattered all over Soul Society like busy little bees." Matsumoto Rangiku explained. "It'll probably take at least half a day for them all to gather. I couldn't reach our Captain at all either."

"Abarai, have you seen Captain Aizen?" Momo inquired.

"No, I haven't." Renji replied.

"He's been acting strange for a while now." Momo confessed. "He was weird this whole morning too. But when I asked, he wouldn't tell me anything. I just don't know what to do."

"Don't worry." Renji assured. "Nothing's wrong. This summons be rescinded soon, too, I'm sure of it."


In the underground practice hall...

"That is wrong, Ichigo-dono!" Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko chorused.

"Kurosaki..." Orihime muttered.

'Ah' is it?" Ishida blinked.

"Here, Orihime-dono." Koganehiko gestured after a while. "You're quite talented." he noted when Orihime succeeded in creating a sphere barrier.

"Ishida-dono." it was Ishida's turn. "It's extremely narrow, but it does have shape. Next, Sado-dono. Oh my!" he exclaimed. "A bit unstable but powerful. Next, Hasu-dono. Oh my!" his eyes bulged. "Very powerful and steady. Then lastly, Ichigo-dono. No talent!" he droned after Ichigo's orb refused to light up.


That night...

"Erm, bro, dinner is ready, at least." Miyamoto Taichi informed.

"Hey, you guys." Ganju told the group. "Dinner's ready. You're hungry, ain't you?"

"Now that you mention it." Uryū remarked.

"You didn't get food in Rukongai, did you?" Ganju reminded. "The people there can't use Spirit Power, so they don't get hungry. Go eat."

"But he's still..." Hasu looked at her brother.

"Never mind me." Ichigo assured. "Go ahead and eat. As soon as I do this, I'll come, too."

"Okay then," Hasu sighed, knowing his temperament. "We'll go ahead."

"Damn." Ichigo cursed, failing once again.

"Is she that important?" Ganju asked. "That Shinigami you're about to go save."

"Not really." Ichigo replied. "I own her. She saved my life. I still haven't paid back that debt. In order to save me and my family, people she'd just met, she gave me her powers. Because of that, she got arrested and she's about to be executed. I'm not going to be the kind of worthless guy who'd sit by and let her die."

"Give it here!" Ganju snatched the orb. "Imagine. Draw a circle in your mind. As dark as you can, as heavy a color as you can, that's the best. Then imagine yourself throwing your whole body in towards the center. This is the basic image that applies to all Kidō." he explained, forming the shield. Recalling the sphere, he tossed the orb back to Ichigo.

With Ganju out of earshot, Ichigo tried again.


Up top in the dining room...

"It's Kurosaki." Orihime looked up from her rice bowl as the building shook.

"Let's go check." Hasu got to her feet.


In the training hall...

"What happened?" Kūkaku came running. "Hey, Ganju!"

"Sorry sis." a stunned Ganju stammered. "I just showed him how to do it once, I didn't think this would happen.

"You idiot!" Kūkaku barked. "Solidify your Spirit Power already!"

"I did it!" Ichigo looked at the sphere he was encased in.

"Idiot!" Kūkaku shouted a warning. "Don't lose your concentration!"

"Huh?" Ichigo blinked when the sphere cracked, leaving a scotched Ichigo in its wake.

"This... is going to take a while." Hasu sighed as Kūkaku hammered Ichigo and Ganju on the head.


In Soul Society...

"You've come." Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto remarked as the door opened to reveal Ichimaru. "Captain 3rd Squad, Ichimaru Gin."

"I don't see the 13th Squad Captain." Ichimaru entered the room. "Did something happen?"

"He's on sick leave." Tōsen Kaname replied.

"Again?" Ichimaru echoed. "I hope he gets well."

"Quit joking around." Zaraki snapped. "You think that's why you've been called here? You bastard, I hear that you went off on your own to play with some Ryoka. Not to mention the fact you failed to finish them off. The hell's wrong with you? Someone with your skills wouldn't break a sweat over four of five Ryoka."

"Oh?" Ichimaru inquired. "They ain't dead? Well, I was sure they were dead."

"Cut the act." Kurotsuchi Mayuri chuckled. "There's no way someone of Captain class wouldn't be able to sense if an opponent's pulse has disappeared."

"Here we go again." Hitsugaya Tōshirō sighed. "Another stupid fight between stupid old guys."

"That ain't nice." Ichimaru chided. "It's like you're saying I let them go on purpose."

"That is what I am saying." Kurotsuchi replied.

"Shut up, Kurotsuchi." Zaraki snapped. "I'm talking to him right now."

"How absurd." Suì-Fēng snorted.

"My, oh my." Kyōraku Shunsui muttered. "So hot-blooded."

"Stop that!" Yamamoto barked. "How shameful. But I suppose the exchange explains the reason you've been called here. Your recent independent actions and letting the targets escape... how about it? Have you any explanation, Ichimaru?"

"I do not." Ichimaru replied.

"What was that?" Yamamoto glared.

"I don't got no explanation." Ichimaru confessed. "It was my absent-minded mistake. I got not excuse. I'll take any puni..."

"Wait a moment, Ichimaru." Aizen cut him off. "Before that, I want to ask you something." when the intruder alarms went off.


SailorStar9: In the next chapter, before the group launches into Soul Society, Ganju reveals that the reason he hates Shinigamis is because his brother was killed by one. In Soul Society, 11th division captain Kenpachi Zaraki sets out to hunt Ichigo, believing him to be a worthy opponent. Captain Aizen Sōsuke confronts Ichimaru in front of the 10th division captain Hitsugaya Tōshirō about his flimsy excuse for allowing the invaders to escape. As the crew passes through the shield surrounding Soul Society, Ichigo's inability to control his spiritual energy results in the shell exploding, separating the group. Now that's done, read and review.