Shane sighed used flash steps to appear behind Urahara.
"Oh, what do we have here?" Urahara asked, turning around. Shane pulled back his mask to reveal his face.
"Nice to see you again," Urahara said.
"I wish it were under better circumstances," Shane admitted. Yoruichi smiled when she saw him. "I hope your hand to hand is better than last time," she said.
"Not to sound rude, but I think you should rest and recover after your fight here before we go for round two," Shane said. Yoruichi narrowed her eyes.
"You were here?" Ichigo called out. Shane frowned. "That's right," he said, dreading where this conversation was going.
"And you did nothing to help us?" Ichigo asked, his voice rising.
"It seemed to me that the situation was under control," Shane said evenly.
"Shut up!" Ichigo screamed. "How could you sit there in your little hiding place and watch?"
"And end up like you? No thanks," Shane retorted. "I've been called many things, but stupid isn't one of them. I saw what they did you, Chad, Orihime and Yoruichi. What makes you think I could have done any better?"
"But you didn't even try to do anything!" Ichigo shouted. Shane suddenly appeared behind Ichigo and gave him a quick blow to the base of the skull, knocking Ichigo unconscious.
"You don't know when to quit, do you?" Shane said sadly. Shane helped carry the injured back to Urahara's shop. Shane stepped outside and made a phone call. He told everything he had seen to Captain Ukitake and added his own observations and thoughts. "I think we could be in big trouble," Shane said, finishing his report.
Ukitake sighed. "Be on the look out for anymore Arrancar activity. We'll be sending you some reinforcements shortly."
"Who should I expect?" Shane asked.
"I would expect Rukia and Lieutenant Abari to join you in the Real World," Ukitake said. "Rukia has experience in the Real World, Renji is very reliable, and they both are familiar with Ichigo Kurosaki." Shane hung up and walked back inside. Tatsuki had been taken home and Chad, Orihime and Ichigo were in the back resting. Yoruichi's arm and leg were bandaged and she was eating everything she could get her hands on.
"Would it help if I went and got you some milk?" Shane asked jokingly.
"Oh, could you? That would be great!" Yoruichi said. Rather, tried to say. With her mouth full of food, it sounded more like "mmdmmmmghhghmhmhfgph!"
"Sorry, I don't speak the Mouth-Full-of-Food dialect," Shane said. He stepped outside for some fresh air and looked up at the moon. It was bright and full, no clouds in the sky with a light breeze. "A beautiful evening," Shane remarked. He took several deep breaths and went back inside.
"So what brings you back here?" Urahara asked.
"Well, the short answer is I was ordered here," Shane replied.
Urahara stared over the top of his fan. "And the long answer?"
Shane shrugged. "I'm not even sure I understand the long answer."
"Well, I'll settle for the medium answer then," Urahara said and sat down at the table next to Yoruichi. Shane joined them.
"Since Aizen left for Hueco Mundo, there are those in Soul Society who are content to just monitor him there. But there are also those, my captain included, who believe in taking a more pro active approach," Shane said. "It is likely that Aizen will use the Hougyoku to raise an army to destroy Soul Society. How he will do that, I'm not sure. But from what I saw today, it would appear that Aizen is using the power of the Hougyoku to artificially create Arrancar."
Urahara nodded in agreement. "Although it is possible for a Hollow to become an Arrancar though natural process, it takes a long time and the result is often less than desirable."
Shane put his hand to his chin and thought. Urahara noticed and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
"Something Aizen reportedly said when he was taken to Hueco Mundo," Shane said.
"You mean about stepping up to Heaven to take God's place?" Urahara replied. Shane smiled and said, "I'm not going to ask how you know that."
"The how is not important. What is important is what's going to be done now that Aizen has made the first move." Urahara said. "But I am a little surprised at the timing."
"What do you mean?" Shane asked.
"As it is now, the Hougyoku is in a weakened state. A Captain-level Death God might be able to raise the power level of the Hougyoku, but only briefly. Using this method, Aizen can't have created more than a handful of Arrancar," Urahara explained.
"You seem to know quite a bit about the Hougyoku," Shane said suspiciously.
"I would know, since I created it," Urahara said.
Shane was taken aback. "But why?"
"Why not?" Urahara said. He waved his hand to dismiss the thought. "Anyway, things have begun moving faster than anyone anticipated. I'm sure Soul Society thought they had more time to make preparations. It seems that we are all dancing to Aizen's tune."
Shane put his arms behind his head and was lost in thought. "How long will it take for everyone to heal from their injuries?" he asked while staring at the ceiling.
"I'll keep them here for the rest of this week. Ichigo can probably go home tomorrow," Urahara replied. Shane stood up and made his way to the door. "Leaving already?" Urahara asked.
"I'll be back," Shane replied. "I need to run a quick errand for someone."
"Two percent milk please! I'm trying to watch my figure!" Yoruichi called out. Shane waved and walked out the door. "He's something else, isn't he?" Yoruichi said with a smile.
"Yes he is," Urahara said, suddenly serious. Yoruichi scowled. "Why do you always have to ruin my good mood?" she pouted.
"If you like, you can fight him when he comes back," Urahara offered and Yoruichi grinned. "He's right. I had no idea Arrancar skin was that tough. The next time will be different," she said.
Shane returned from his errand and gave the milk to Yoruichi, then headed for the roof of the store. He leaned back and watched the stars for a while, then closed his eyes.
"Wake up," a voice said.
Shane opened his eyes and saw he was back in the endless field. Light and Dark Tsukuyomi were standing over him. Shane blinked and sat up. "I haven't been here in a while," he said.
"I'm surprised you even remember what this place is," Dark Tsukuyomi said.
"It has been a while," Shane admitted and stood up. "Why did you bring me here?"
"We brought you here to talk," Light Tsukuyomi said. "Since you became a Lieutenant, you feel slightly inferior to the others since you just received your position and are not as strong as they are. You still feel like and outsider, that you don't belong."
"Yeah, something like that," Shane admitted.
"Well, you got one thing going for you," Dark Tsukuyomi said.
"What's that?" Shane asked.
"You talk to us quite often," Dark Tsukuyomi said and grabbed Shane around the neck.
"Yeah, that's nice," Shane said and pushed Dark Tsukuyomi away.
"Why do you still doubt yourself?" Light Tsukuyomi asked.
"I never asked for this," Shane said. "Never in a million years would I have thought I'd be a Lieutenant. Now I have all this responsibility and people are looking up to me to make the right decisions. I don't know what to do! Having all this responsibility suddenly thrust upon me is like a giant weight is crushing me into the ground." Shane blew out a long breath and seemed to deflate a little.
"Hello, what's wrong with you?" Dark Tsukuyomi said and shook Shane. "Pull yourself together!" slapping Shane across the face with each word. "When did you become such a wuss?"
"Maybe I've always been this way," Shane thought.
"You are hopeless!" Dark Tsukuyomi roared and stepped back. Shane cast his gaze to Light Tsukuyomi, who said nothing.
"Well, if that's the way you feel, I'll be taking this," Dark Tsukuyomi said and pulled the sword off Shane's left side.
"Hey! What-" Shane protested, then noticed Light Tsukuyomi was also holding a sword.
"We have no time for one who drowns in his own sorrows and self pity," Light Tsukuyomi said. Both turned around and disappeared.
"Great," Shane mumbled. "I'm the only Death God in history to have his Soul Slayer taken away by his own Soul Slayer. I'm an idiot."
Shane woke up and sat upright. He was back in the Real World, sitting on top of the Urahara Shop. He looked down and saw two plain swords in his sash. It wasn't Tsukuyomi.
"I'm an idiot," he repeated softly.