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Chapter two: The gate appears
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The preceding night, a shy Modsoul left to search for his friend…
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Thirty-seven times.
Tufts of cherry-colored hair pasted onto the young man's forehead as he supported himself on his knees, his breath wafting against the zipper mask in short, jagged exhales. His body was shivering uncontrollably, aching in muscles and joints like he had just run a marathon.
Nova's hands clenched. Thirty-seven times had he teleported himself to places where he felt Sado's reiatsu, but for all his effort, the tall teenager was nowhere to be found. What in the world was wrong with his spiritual sense, sending him off on such a wild goose hunt like that? Was he starting to malfunction?
This could mean that Sado wasn't really in danger after all. That he was just imagining things.
Nova resisted the urge to wipe a droplet of sweat that was irritatingly dancing on his upper lip and erected himself to his full height.
Sado is safe, then.
He couldn't help but feel a little relaxed at that thought.
But why is –
"Nova."
The voice spoke from somewhere behind him and he knew even before turning who it belonged to.
"Sado."
"What's wrong?"
Nob's left set of fingers fumbled the zipper of his mask uncomfortably as Sado approached him. How embarrassing. "Nothing."
If the human teen was feeling worried or surprised, it was well hidden by his usual deadpan facade. "You're wearing your gigai," he observed.
"Yes."
"Then what's wrong?"
Few things escaped his vigilance, Nova noted with some admiration, though some of this could possibly be credited their sameness in nature. "My Bount sensor is reacting." A truthful explanation, though only half of it. "But it's not Bount reiatsu I'm sensing; it's yours."
Sado's only visible eyebrow perked up.
"I thought it meant that you were in danger," Nova finished weakly.
None of them spoke. A pair of fallen leaves was ruffled by a gust of wind before it carried them with it, scraping sporadically against the pavement. The light of the upcoming dawn crept slowly across the pitch-black firmament.
A chilly draft made Noba knot his arms over his chest. He coughed.
Sado blinked.
Nova blinked.
The former gave vent to a thoughtful "hm", before glancing up at the sky. "What a coincidence," he said eventually. "I felt something similar."
Politeness, or perhaps a dazed surprise, left Nova in silence, waiting for him to carry on. "I couldn't sleep," he then continued. "So I decided to just go on a walk instead. Maybe you could join me, since you're already here?"
The red-headed young man started a little at the suggestion. "Okay," is what he would have responded had he not suddenly been struck with a shockwave of spiritual energy.
Sado's eyes widened.
"What -?"
Another shockwave, stronger this time, made them both reel backwards, creating a ripple of airborne dust along its impact area. It took only a moment for Sado to recover before he summoned his armored arm and ordered Nova to stand back. Their bodies tensed into battle stances – to their best ability at least, Yoruichi would pull her hair out had she seen them – and they waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
The intensity of which they stared into the spot they suspected was guilty of the commotion could rip a hole through space, but whatever life it had so suddenly discharged seemed to have been brief; it was now just a still, boring patch of the parking lot. Their shoulders descended as the battle resolve they had amassed withered away, the creases between their eyebrows vanished and they exchanged the kind of nervous glances that would have made them giggle had they been prone to nervous giggling.
"I wonder what that was," Sado murmured, apprehensively, as if he worried it would come back if he talked too loudly. "Be careful."
His partner gave quick nod. "No problem."
Despite their currently agitated mindset, the next moments proved to be rather mundane. The parking lot basked in the orange luminosity of street lights lined up along the highway, something Nova found to be a deeply disconcerting sight, since it reminded him of a horror movie he had watched together with Claude as the latter hadn't dared to see it on his own.
Sado breathed a comforted sigh and turned his arm back to its tanned, muscular glory. "Whatever it was, I think it's gone now," he merely stated.
Nova relaxed. "I agree."
"I don't really feel like continuing the walk. Maybe we should both go h -"
The sentence ended in a surprised wheeze as the anticipated third shockwave unexpectedly slammed them off their feet. They spent the next few moments blinking stupidly at each other in befuddlement over suddenly lying horizontally on the ground before their attention latched to the parking lot, and they discovered, to their horror, that a monumental rectangular area above the pavement had begun emanating a thick, black haze. It lingered quietly in the chill air for a brief moment before taking the form of a great gate, its surface titivated by grinning, skeletal figures. Cold realization dawned upon Sado and his jaw dropped.
"… No… is this…?"
The gate flung open. Neither had the chance to react or even cry out before the gate had reached out and pulled them into it. Nova's vision blackened and he slipped into unconsciousness.
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"… Okay, what do you want?"
"I told you, didn't I?"
"… You want to come with me to Thread World?"
"Yeah."
"Really?"
"Yeah! That's what friends are for, right?"
"We are not friends. I doubt we would have been even if you hadn't been a shinigami."
Renji gave vent to a loud, displeased 'tsk'. "You're so cold, Ishida."
The aforementioned Quincy pushed his glasses up in display of his irritation. "I don't know what you're after, but I can assure you that if what you want from me is so dubious that you can't even be straightforward about it, sweet talking me won't help. I'm smarter than that. Why don't you go back to Urahara Shop?"
The strangled cough Ishida was sent in reply only made his suspicion, along with his eyebrows, rise significantly. "What? Did something happen?"
Renji coughed again, cheeks glowing pink. "… Uhm…"
"You aren't dodging chores, are you?"
"No!" The shinigami's voice flared with indignation over such an insolent suggestion. "That's not it. I think…" Dark solemnity fell over his features, and Ishida was immediately intrigued. "I think… that they might be trying to poison me."
Ishida deflated in shock. Abarai didn't seem like the paranoid type. "Poison you? What makes you think that?"
"I don't know what it is, but… the breakfast they gave me this morning looked really strange. I mean, really strange. But that's not the strangest part; they said they'd spare it for me until I got back from school." Renji tinged the word 'spare' heavily with disbelief to indicate just how incredulous that offer truly sounded. "They deny me food at every opportunity they get, and now they're suddenly sparing some for me? Something is definitely going on here."
"Hm. Well. Maybe." The Quincy adjusted his glasses, a sudden smugness lacing his voice. "But to run away like this is kind of… pathetic, isn't it?"
"Shut up! I didn't ask for your advice! Besides…" Renji's eyes closed shut as he stuck his nose up. "… You should be grateful that I'm tagging along in the first place."
"Excuse me?"
"Not in a million years are you going to find another guy who has such an interest in sewing as you do. Now that you've got me, you should exploit this opportunity for what it's worth."
Ishida spluttered something rude in angered offense, and Renji was pleased to see that he had hit a soft spot. Insults were tossed back and forth, until both of them emitted a loud 'hmph!' and looked away from each other.
Renji soon discovered that the trek to Thread World was a long one, and awkward silence did little to make it entertaining. In an attempt at amusing himself, he started counting the passersby wearing scarves. It turned out to be quite many.
There, a couple eating at the café, two young women by the grocery store, a teenager typing on her cell phone to his left, and in front of him, a tall, dark- haired man donning a Captain's haori –
Realization struck Renji like lightning, making him jump several feet back with a scream of utter shock. "C-c-captain Kuchiki…!?"
The Captain fixed him with a silently reprimanding glare for his sudden outburst. Onlookers shot curious glances in the direction of the weird, red-headed man who, in their eyes, had suddenly yelled and leaped backwards for no apparent reason. Renji blushed. Ishida stared dumbly at the newcomer, mouth agape. Byakuya had to take some blame for their strong reactions, as he had flash stepped from a place beyond their view to directly in front of them in the sake of making an impressive entrance.
"Renji," he said sternly, closing his eyes. "There has been… a situation. Take your gigai off and come back with me to Seireitei."
Renji paled. His gaze lingered by a long, clean gash in the Captain's cheek before he swallowed nervously. "… Captain… how'd you get that cut…?"
Byakuya opened his eyes, pencil-thin brows knotting tightly above them. The silently repressed fury radiating from behind his stone cold facial expression made Renji immediately regret his question and he cringed under the Caprain's hard, unrelenting stare. Eventually, Buyakuya's eyes closed again and he turned around and began walking away without saying a word.
Renji blinked.
He and Ishida exchanged worried glances.
For a Captain to personally come to the living world, whatever had happened in Seireitei must have been very, very serious.
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