Well, here's the next part. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Bleach is not mine, but at least I can pretend...

Getting Along

His body flew through the air. He never experienced such weightlessness - until now. "SSSSSSTTTTTTTTTOOOOPPPPPPPP!!!" Kon yelled at Ururu and Jinta while they playfully tossed his plush body back and forth.

"What's the matter, tough guy? This is fun!" Jinta chided as he sent Kon flying with a powerful swing from his bat. Ururu caught him skillfully and repelled him with a spinning roundhouse towards Jinta. Kon's head was spinning, tears streaming out of the corners of his eyes. Through the air again, he rocketed towards Jinta. "SUPER GROUNDER ATTACK! HAI!"

"WWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Just you wait, you little brats!" he responded. "I'm gonna –"

With a snap of two fingers, the commotion suddenly ended. Kon waited for the room to stop spinning; a few seconds had passed before he realized that he was no longer being tossed about. Carefully, his eyes popped open and he noticed the two children were suspended by Tessai, a miraculous event in itself. Kon was in the unrelenting hand of Urahara, and while that wasn't the most pleasant idea it was better than being target practice.

"We need to talk." He gazed at the mod-soul from under the wide brim of his hat. He sat the stuffed animal across from him, and continued his amused stare. The little lion was starting to wonder what was safer, the two brats that were trying to kill him, or the guy who had tried to kill him once already. One thing for certain, the smirk on Urahara's face was very unnerving. "About the battle."

"Look, I don't know what happened." Kon pouted. "All I know is that I thought I could increase Uryuu's power by lending him some of my own, I swear!" Kon danced around in place, flailing his arms. "I didn't know it was going to hurt him!" collapsing to the mat, he sighed.

"Actually, I already knew what happened. I have my sources." Urahara suddenly smiled. "I wanted to congratulate you. What you did back there was pretty quick thinking that saved a lot of innocent lives." Grey eyes sparkled back at Kon as his fan snapped up and waved lazily.

Kon was stunned. "Huh?"

"Look, I'm saying that whatever took place between you and Uryuu is not the reason that Uryuu is injured. So don't worry about it. You did a good job." He firmly stated as he rose back to his feet.

"Really?" Kon's eyes welled with joy. Was he finally getting the recognition he deserved? Was he finally going to be treated better, as an equal among colleagues? Was this an apology for trying to sell him out to the Soul Society as a renegade mod-soul? All of his hopes and dreams may finally be coming to fruition! He fantasized about a non-plushy body and hot babes, surrounded by his faithful companion sidekicks who would do anything for him. Stars were dancing wildly about his head.

"As you were!" Urahara shouted as he left the room, throwing a nonchalant wave over his shoulder.

"NNNNNNNNOOOOOOO!" Kon could be heard for several miles outside of the shop.

Tessai followed Urahara. If anything that he had gathered about him in their time working together, he knew when something was going on. It was either Urahara's cheerful disposition or the smile on his face. Whichever it was, he could tell his true feelings were hidden; that was a reason for concern. As they rounded the corner into his office, his suspicions were confirmed.

"Sometimes I think you know me all too well, old friend." A smile cleverly constructed on his face fell away as Urahara settled onto the small pillow in the middle of the hollowed chamber. His office consisted of a very empty, very large area. It seemed more like a quiet place to reflect than do business in.

"You know what I'm going to ask, then." His gruff voice became surprisingly quiet and thoughtful.

"Yup. I guess there's no avoiding it." He sighed. "Ichigo's condition has stumped me, but I believe he'll be alright." His eyes shifted to the tatami mats below him, looking at the intersecting lines between them. He seemed to be stalling the point.

"Then…what?" Tessai sat opposite to Urahara, sitting straight and at attention.

"It's Ishida there."

Tessai's brows furrowed as he tried to read his colleague. The silence indicated that the shop owner should elaborate.

Urahara removed his hat, a rare event in itself. He ran a hand through his tousled blond hair, but it was in no attempt to fix or straighten it. Reapplying the classic fixture, he at last spoke. "I've never really experimented on mod-souls…at least as far as I've told you. I actually did a lot of research on them…back then. Not exactly proud of it now, especially when I've seen what they can accomplish in the place of soul reapers."

He shifted uncomfortably in the glare of Tessai, but when he looked at the older man, there was no harshness in his gaze. At first it caught him by surprise; then he realized that Tessai had never judged him for his past. That attitude provided an outlet, and he often confided personal issues to him. Sometimes the man knew him better than he thought, surmised Urahara.

"Back then we did an experiment to find the most suitable host for mod soul assignment. It sounds kind of strange, doesn't it – but I bet that you didn't know that each human body is comprised of its own composition of statistics. Say you have Kon here, and his ability is his leg strength. If you take the mod soul and place it into a paraplegic, the body will walk, jump, and function like normal. Now let's say you put that same mod soul into a marathon runner, the results will be entirely different. You know what I'm saying?"

Tessai tried not to reveal the small sweat drop escaping from his forehead. Where the big picture is concerned he understood, but the details were reeling.

Trying to keep it simple, Urahara continued. "Bet you're wondering what that has to do with Ishida. Well, the experiment evolved into people with supernatural abilities, most notably humans touched by a shinigami's power…or the Quincy." There was a flinch as he finished the statement. "Don't get me wrong, live subjects in experiments can be excellent because you can learn a lot in a short amount of time. It's when the results end in a painful death…" he trailed off, leaving Tessai to his imagination.

Urahara hopped up, wiping the emotion from his face. "Ishida is like an experiment that's already running, and I don't know the variables. The last Quincy that we studied using mod souls wound up not looking very pretty." He swished to his quarters and slid the partition to his room open. "I'm just hoping that the mod soul wasn't engaged long enough to -"

He was cut off by an irregular beeping sound coming from down the hall. Urahara's eyes grew wide, and before the command was called out, Tessai was already well on his way to the destination.

Uryuu Ishida was crashing.