The coast was clear. There was no one along the corridor, and Kurotsuchi Mayuri gave himself a rare smile. Heh. Damn medical team. He could do all the things they could do much faster and more efficiently. And now that they were keeping him bedridden, it was almost more than he could take.
Which was why he was currently attempting to wheel himself out of the room by sheer willpower. His fingers were moving now, and his wrists were on the way. He could twist his neck and rotate his ankles. All weeks before they had said he would be able to even talk.
Oddly enough, he missed his lab, and even his lab assistant. There was just something about metal instruments and tools that he loved. He had no idea why. He was definitely getting out of this place.
Looking very much like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, he almost jumped when a voice sounded from behind him.
"Now, now, Mayu-chan, you should be in that room, ne?"
He would know that voice from anywhere. Damn Urahara.
The currently handicapped scientist whirled around in his wheelchair. (Ah, good, his spine was beginning to regain motion, though most of it was still because he had rotated the wheelchair with the motorized controls.)
Glaring at the blond sitting on the bed and who was grinning goofily at him, he snapped angrily, "What are you doing here, Urahara?" Damn meddling… genius. He had been so close. So close to the tantalizing freedom that was his own lab. Damn it. He could almost feel the… Damn Urahara.
"Eh? I need a reason to visit my darling Mayu-chan?" An eyebrow rose almost comically as Urahara's eyes widened dramatically. Mayuri was no amused at all, and he was pretty sure that it showed in his facial expression. He felt oddly naked under that ridiculously scrutinizing gaze of his superior, and he hated that.
"Don't call me that! It's disturbing, Urahara! And I'm not yours."
"Oya, oya, Mayu-kun. Are you not in my division?"
"There's a difference and you know it!"
"And you, Mayu-kun, know perfectly well that you should not be out of bed."
"Hmph." Mayuri openly glared at Urahara. He hated it when he was wrong, or when Urahara was right. (It was pretty much the same thing anyway. He could not quite remember the last time they had agreed on anything.)
"Attention all personnel…" Mayuri scowled, and he could see the beginnings of a frown forming on Urahara's face. This was not good.
"What? We're being issued a challenge by them? That is impossible! They cannot already have taken the choke point! Impossible!" Kensei's eyes widened as he stood up, slamming a fist on the table.
"But how else would they dare challenge us?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because they have fucking three-quarters of Japan on their side?"
"Language, Madarame. Language." Ukitake-san frowned from his corner of the room as he beckoned for Kisuke to move over.
"Is this authentic, Kisuke?" The parchment was waved in the scientist's face, before it was grabbed out of the air quickly, sharp eyes taking in every inch of the paper.
A shrug. "Sure looks like to me. Looks hastily done though. Wonder what could have gotten them so antsy. It's unlike Sousuke-kun to do something like this. Could be anyone's work, really, though I do swear I've seen this handwriting before. I wonder where."
The paper was snatched out of his hands, Kisuke's eyes widening comically as Hirako Shinji read it aloud from the other side of the room.
"Dear," The blond grinning whale paused for a moment. "Hey, Kyouraku, looks like Aizen old buddy still remembers how to write your name the wrong way," he smirked before picking up where he left off.
"Here at Hueco Mundo, we would like to extend a warm," a finger prodded at the paper, "warm welcome my ass," a group of people watched on agitatedly, before the paper was snatched away once more, this time by the effeminate member of Hirako's team, Rose.
"We would like to extend a warm welcome to you, our friends, to Karakura Town. We have heard many wonderful things about the talents which you possess, and would love to have a chance to meet, experience and challenge them. Yours Sincerely, Ulquiorra Schiffer, on behalf of Hueco Mundo."
The room was momentarily silent, stunned as they processed the implications of the letter, the silence only interrupted by a light hacking cough from Ukitake's corner.
Kyouraku leapt into action. "Kurotsuchi! Contact Ayasegawa and Madarame immediately!"
"Already on it." Fingers flew over keyboards as the wheelchair bound man's head flicked between numerous screens, headphones perched on his head for communication purposes.
"Check for irregularities, have them send reports back at once. Full scout reports, manpower allocations, everything."
"Retsu, do me a favor, get Kotetsu and her squad ready?"
"As you wish."
"Kisuke! Shinji! Byakuya! Get your guys ready!"
"Hai, haaaaiiiii!"
"Finally. I was gettin' kinda bored."
"Toshiro, get me Kuu-chan on the line?" Now that the first orders were out, and the situation seemed to be more under control, the top two relaxed a little, and so did the entire room. The tenseness of a few seconds ago was gone, replaced by a determined air.
"Oi, oi, Kyouraku. Only I get to call Kuu-chan Kuu-chan."
"Yes, yes, Kaien-kun. Get me Genryuusai-sensei on the line, Rangiku-san, if you please."
"Right away, Ukitake-san."
The two leaders exchanged a slight smile. Both had climbed their way up in the same dojo, and had started off their yakuza business from scratch. The pre-battle tenseness was something that they had not had for a long time, but were getting used to again. This was a big venture, which would explain the slightly larger reactions. (Technically, to refer to this as merely big was an understatement. It was large, mind-blowingly critical to the survival of both the organization and themselves.)
"Ise-san…"
"Nanao-chan?"
The room fell oddly silent as the occupants looked at each other.
Now, this was odd. This was very, very odd. The PA system was impossibly loud. And unless Nanao was currently blanketed under a few meters of water and wearing earplugs, chances were, if she was in the compound, she would have heard it.
(Most had assumed that the announcement had been made by her in the first place.)
"She's probably out, Kyouraku-san." Matsumoto grinned at the two bosses from behind a stack of digital equipment, headphones perched on her head.
"Ah, Genryuusai-sensei seems to be on the line." A finger came up, a sign for the room to keep quiet for a moment as she turned back to the screen before passing the headphones to Ukitake. "There you go."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY YOU NEED MY HELP, YOU UNGRATEFUL WRETCH!?" The room collectively winced, Rangiku amongst them as Kyouraku Shunsui held his set of headphones as far away from his ears as his hands could reach.
Shiba Kaien sniggered.
"IS THAT YOU, ANIKI? YOU GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW IF YOU THINK IT'S SO FUNNY!"
The sniggering stopped abruptly.
"Maa, Kuu-chan…"
"I SAID DON'T CALL ME KUU-CHAN!"
Matsumoto sighed, leaning back in her chair. Oh, what she would do for a cup of sake now. She did understand exactly how Nanao felt. (Except that Nanao was not quite so addicted to coffee.)
And speaking of Nanao, what did she think she was doing, taking so long at the coffee place? Tsk, tsk.
Matsumoto sneaked out of the room as quietly and as unnoticed as she could manage.
Which wasn't much, to say the least, as a pair of green eyes and a creased brow followed her movement, and a fluff of white hair scowled.
Goddamnit. Where did she think she was going?
Matsumoto grinned happily as she eased the back door shut behind her. She had escaped! She had seen Toshiro-kun hanging around the lobby, looking like he was looking for someone, which was probably her, and had decided to sneak out the back door instead. It was much easier, security was no less lax here, but it was easier to explain herself to biometric systems than it was to real people and this was how Nanao did it, anyway.
Clutching her bag to her chest, she twirled her pink scarf around her neck before stepping out of the compound in high spirits. Winter was just about the corner, and there was a lot she would give for a nice warm beverage. Coffee was not as good as sake, but Nanao's intelligent company would more than make up for it.
"Matsumoto." A very familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.
Crap. So it was too good to be true. Damn, why did the little prodigy have to be so observant? Too smart for his own good eh, little Toshiro-kun. Matsumoto pretended to be deaf, something which worked very well for her. She picked up her pace.
"Matsumoto! Where are you going?" Not getting a visible reaction, Hitsugaya scowled as he noticed her walking slightly faster than usual. "Oi! Matsumoto! Answer me! You shouldn't ignore your captain like that!"
"And you shouldn't run off on your own like that either," he growled to himself, stomping towards her. Just because he was short did not mean he was easily bullied. Where did she think she was going anyway? They were all moving out in two hours, and old man Kyouraku wanted to take a head count.
Geez, to call it a head count of all things. Talk about inauspicious.
He caught up to her outside a coffee place, where she had just placed an order for what seemed to be latte. He, well, he was a cappuccino person, when he felt like coffee, but that was not often at all.
Tapping her on the shoulder lightly, Hitsugaya smoothly moved his cardboard cup of cappuccino out of the way as she whirled around sharply. "T-Toshiro-kun! What are you doing here?"
"It's Hitsugaya-taicho to you, or at least, Hitsugaya." He rolled his eyes and slid onto the cushion seat opposite her, taking a sip of the coffee. "And I could ask the same of you, Matsumoto. What are you doing here?"
"Eh, taicho, what makes you think I'm doing something?" She was trying to play ignorant. But this was Matsumoto. Ignorant was about as appropriate for her as warm was for Kuchiki. It just didn't work.
"Matsumoto," he sighed, "I'm not stupid. I can tell when you're up to something. So spill. Why are we in a coffee place?"
"Nanao frequents this place."
"And? How is that relevant?" He took another sip from the cardboard cup. This stuff was not bad.
"Well… I thought that…"
"You thought that you would come here to see if she was here just to make sure that she was safe because it is very unlike Ise-san to be late for anything?"
There was a short silence as they both looked around the shop. What he saw, or rather, what he did not see, only confirmed Hitsugaya's suspicions. "She's not here, is she?"
"I-I don't think so," Hitsugaya could hear the slight tinge of worry in her voice. She was rightfully worried, he mused.
"We should head back," his eyes hardened slightly as inclined his head in the direction of the door, taking another sip. He knew what was going on.
"Now? But what if Nanao…"
"We should head back, Matsumoto. They will be calling us if they need manpower for the new mission." His tone gentled a little, eyes softening.
"New mission? The reinforcement of Karakura?"
He downed the rest of the coffee in one gulp.
"The hostage rescue mission, Matsumoto. The hostage rescue mission."
I cannot apologize more for the long wait I have subjected my readers to. I can just hope that this chapter makes up for it.
Cheers,
Tan