Chapter 32

Reunions

For someone who had been willing to take his imprisonment lying down, Ichigo (with Shirosaki along as shotgun) was doing a hell of a job plowing through the palace and taking down foot soldiers as they came.

"Orihime!" he shouted as he glanced around a hallway he stumbled upon. "Orihime?"

"Honestly, King," Shirosaki said to him in his head. "Shouting: not the best idea right now."

When did you get to be the cautious one?

"Since you decided that screaming at the top of your fucking lungs in Guard infested territory was a great idea."

Ichigo decided to ignore him for now, although he did wisely stop yelling as he searched through the rooms, looking for any signs of Orihime or his friends. I felt them split up when they came. I should have run into someone by now.

"The Guard would have been deterring them from getting near our cell. Get to the other side of the palace and we might start runnin' into them. But we're looking for the Queen, first."

Ichigo agreed; while he was worried about the others, Orihime was his first concern. If he could find her and make sure she was safe, then he could breathe easier and begin rounding up the others with her.

A part of him wondered if there was something else he could have done to prevent this. Should he have said no to Kurou when he threatened to kill his friends or else? Yet if he had, there would have been a horrible fight, and in the human world with its lack of reishi, there was no telling how well it would have gone.

"King, stay in the present here!"

Ichigo's head snapped up, and he was faced with several foot soldiers charging at him. He pulled back Zangetsu and let out a quick Tenshou, weak enough to knock them back but not enough to kill. He sidestepped around them and hurried off, heading for a staircase at the far end of the hall.

He realized just then why Orihime had wanted Shirosaki to help him: because she knew that as long as his Hollow was with him and keeping watch, he would be safer. She was protecting him without needing to be right at his side.

"Like I keep sayin', she's way too fuckin' smart."

Orihime woke up on top of a pile of rubble, wincing as she slowly stood up. Her upper back and shoulders hurt considerably from the fall. As she slid down the pile of rubble, she turned and looked up at it, frowning in worry as she saw the entrance to the stairway had caved in.

"Shinji-kun?" she called out, hoping to hear the Vizard answer. She waited a full minute before sighing in resignation. They had been separated during the blast, and now she was on her own. Which was something she very much was not supposed to be.

"I'll be okay," she murmured to herself as she began walking. "There has to be another staircase somewhere."

Where the upper floors of the palace were pristine and covered in expensive materials and stone, down there it was cold and dirty, with natural rocks to uphold the foundation. She found her feet walking down an extremely worn pathway. It was obvious many people had been treading on it over many, many years. As she glanced around, she could see items laying around, shoved down there in storage and forgotten about. There was a tapestry that hung on the stone wall that was literally decaying.

"Shinji-kun was right; this place is really old." Some of the stuff was literally covered in cobwebs and obviously hadn't been touched in the last millennium.

The ceiling above shook slightly, and dust and small pebbles fell down to the floor. Orihime stepped off to the side, watching the ceiling cautiously. "They must be battling right above here. I hope everyone's still all right."

She hoped Ichigo was all right.

"I need to hurry." Once the shaking stopped, she ran down the corridor, checking doors to see if they hid a stairwell that led up. Mostly all she found were rickety old pieces of furniture and unfamiliar equipment. Most of it looked unusable, but it did make her wonder just what their function was.

What a strange place. The basement was like a maze, with hallways and rooms jutting out into all different directions. Orihime had no idea which way to go.

Voices drifted from down one of the hallways. Gasping, Orihime quickly ducked behind a machine (it looked like an old furnace) and lowered her reiatsu as much as she could.

Within minutes two foot soldiers ran past her hiding spot. Surprisingly, they didn't seem to be looking for her or anyone in particular. Rather, they seemed intent on a destination.

They weren't in earshot long, but Orihime did overhear a snippet of their conversation:

"What did Captain Nori say?"

"Head to the fifth floor and start searching. The prisoner broke out within the last twenty minutes; he couldn't have gotten too far."

"Unless he was released by the intruders. Then he…"

Although the rest of the conversation was a mystery, it was plenty for Orihime. Once they were gone, she quickly followed them, although she made sure to stay behind and keep her reiatsu level down.

Ichigo-kun is free. A part of her was relieved he wasn't imprisoned anymore. However, she also knew it would make finding him that much more difficult.

She peered around the corner where the soldiers had disappeared to, and saw them head through a door. Before it closed, she could hear the distinct sound of footsteps hurrying up a flight of stairs.

That's the way up. Following them was risky, but Orihime knew she didn't have the time to look for another way up. It was either follow them or waste time searching for another stairwell. With Ichigo on the loose, the choice was obvious.

She took a deep breath, bracing herself before she ran for the same stairwell and began to climb her way back up.

Hiyori was in a similar situation as Orihime's. When she, Renji, Rukia, and Rose were attacked, the opposing party had been great enough to separate them and drive them apart. While Hiyori had managed to escape her pursuers, now she was hopelessly lost.

"Damn it," she muttered as she sprinted down a corridor. The further she traveled, the more dimly lit and uninviting the hallways became. Carpets had long given way to stone floors. If Hiyori had been the more imaginative sort, she would have fancied herself heading down into a dungeon.

She skidded around a corner, and found herself staring down two unsuspecting mooks. Growling, she charged at them and drew out her zanpakutou.

Once the two soldiers realized what was happening, one ran to confront Hiyori while the other turned to go get help. Hiyori leapt and quickly cut down her opponent, barely breaking stride as she landed and went after the other one.

"Pisshead, I'm not letting you tattle on me!" Hiyori burst into a full out sprint, barely gaining ground on the soldier as he plowed ahead.

When she couldn't catch up, she cursed and added, "No choice." It had been awhile since she had used it, but kidou was too handy in this situation. "Hadou number 33: Soukatsui!"

The spell shot out from the palm of her hand and crashed into the retreating soldier's back. The force knocked him to the ground, long enough for Hiyori to catch up to him.

He struggled to his feet and spun around, his sword lashing out when Hiyori came close enough. She parried, knocking him back and giving her an opening. She struck quickly, slicing through his midsection. After he collapsed, she inhaled deeply and sheathed her sword.

She was about to step over him and continue on when she noticed something on his belt. Curious, she bent down and picked it up. It was a key, an old-fashioned one that was rusty and worn.

"The hell is this for?" she murmured as she looked around.

A few doors down, she spotted a keyhole, one that looked like it matched the key she held. Curious, she walked up to the door and unlocked it, shoving it aside with her forearm as she cautiously poked her head inside.

Imagine her surprise when she found a large closet full of zanpakutou, all hung neat on the walls. "Back up weapons?" she wondered out loud.

Upon closer inspection, however, that didn't seem to be the case. All the zanpakutou handles were unique. These belonged to specific shinigami – or more likely Royal Guard. That's weird. Why are they-

Then, she found one that was eerily familiar. It took Hiyori a moment to register where she had last seen that zanpakutou, but when it dawned on her, she stumbled back in shock.

"Hikifune-taichou." It had been over a century since she had last seen it, but she knew it was hers without a doubt. Now that she was thinking about it, it made sense. Hikifune had left to join the Royal Guard over 110 years ago. She would be here in the Palace.

"Why is it hung up?" Without thinking she took it down and held onto it as she stepped out of the closet.

Further down the same hallway, there was a large cast iron door with bars in the tiny window frame. Eyes narrowing, Hiyori trekked down the hall and gave the door a shove. When it didn't budge, she tried using the same key to open it. She hadn't expected it to work, but she was pleased when it did.

"Looks like these guys take an efficient approach."

The door creaked open, and Hiyori slid into the room, keeping her back pressed to the wall as the light from the hallway spilled into the otherwise dark room. "Hey, is anyone in here?" She paused, and then said, "Hikifune-taichou?"

A beat passed, and then another. Suddenly, she felt small glimmers of reiatsu, and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could begin to make out a long row of prison cells that lined the opposite wall.

"Hiyori…?"

Her heart squeezed in her chest. She knew that voice. It was that voice that had helped guide her and encourage her during her early days in the 12th division. It belonged to the woman she had considered a mother, and whose absence had wounded her in more ways than she ever imagined.

"Yeah, it's me." It was a wonder Hiyori's voice didn't shake as she stepped further into the darkness.

It was still tough to make out, but she could faintly see the vibrant red hair and the sturdy arms that rested on the bars. She couldn't see Hikifune's smile, but she could hear it in her voice. "I can't believe it. You're really here. But why…"

"I'm here for Bald – er, Ichigo. The jackasses kidnapped him."

To Hiyori's surprise, she heard Hikifune swear softly. "So they did bring him here. Kurou is a fool."

"Didn't you know that?"

"They were talking about it. The Princess and I had attempted to put a stop to it, but we were…"

Hiyori's brow furrowed in confusion. "Wait. So you aren't in on this?"

"Of course not," another voice snapped. A busty woman walked up next to Hikifune. "We're not in here for the hell of it."

"Mara." Hikifune's tone was warning enough. She turned back to Hiyori and shook her head. "No. Everyone in here was imprisoned for trying to stop them. Kurou found out and took us into custody."

"You were nearly killed," a second voice said, much more softly than the first.

Hiyori tensed, her fists gripped hard at her sides. "What?"

"I'm fine," Hikifune insisted. "El's exaggerating. I was wounded is all."

Wounded wasn't much better in Hiyori's book. A part of her was still loyal to Hikifune, and her instincts as a former vice-captain were to hunt down who did this. "Those bastards. If I find this Reiou – I don't care who the hell he is, I'll-"

"The Reiou didn't order this, Hiyori."

"He better-" Hiyori paused when Hikifune's words registered. Her eyes bulged in surprise. "Wait, what do you mean he didn't order this? Those Guard people said they were acting on his orders."

The woman named Mara snorted softly. "Hardly. He's been in deep meditation for years. Kurou cooked up this plot all by himself."

And just when Hiyori thought this whole situation couldn't get any worse, it just did. Her reiatsu flared in anger as she screeched, "What?"

"Hiyori!" Hikifune snapped. "Calm down! Listen to me, I need your help in getting us out of here. The cells here are covered in a kidou barrier. The seal is on the wall behind you. If you can break that seal, then the barrier will drop."

It's an odd place for a seal, admittedly, but Hiyori was hardly worried about that as she turned around and searched for it. It was smaller than she expected, and she almost missed it. In one fluid motion she drew out her sword and smashed it against the seal, but to no avail. It bounced off the wall with a loud clang, ringing inside her eyes and nearly making her eyes cross.

Okay, so not the brightest idea, but it was a start.

"She might not be strong enough to break it, Captain." Mara sighed in defeat, her hope seemingly squashed. "We need a Plan B."

Whatever Mara's intentions were, whether she was being sincere or trying to rile up Hiyori, they didn't matter. The tiny Vizard's reiatsu spiked as she leapt back as far from the wall as she could. She pulled on her Hollow mask, and with a yell, tore Kubikiri through the seal, breaking it apart and destroying it.

Of course, she also destroyed half the wall while she was at it, but it was inconsequential. Even as the wall crumbled and made a ruckus, Hiyori couldn't hide her satisfied smirk as she pulled off her mask. "There, you idiot," she said to Mara.

Cheers broke out as some of the Guard members broke open the prison gate and poured out from their cell.

"Yer weapons are down that way, door's still open," Hiyori said, pointing the way with Kubikiri.

As the now free Guard members ran for their weapons, Hikifune hung back, walking up next to Hiyori. The look she gave her old vice-captain was part curiosity and part confusion. Her question didn't surprise Hiyori in the least: "Was that a Hollow mask?"

This wasn't the time for that story. Hiyori nodded before sheathing her sword. "Don't have the time to explain. We gotta get Baldy out of here."

"Right. When this is over, though, it seems we both have a lot of catching up to do."

Hiyori gave the older women a rare smile before handing Hikifune's weapon over to her. "There are a bunch of us running around. Everyone's getting split up."

"Then we'll focus on regrouping before we deal with Kurou." Hikifune took her sword and put it back in her belt sash. "This'll be just like old times." A pause, and then, "Thank you, Hiyori. I'm really glad to see you, and I don't mean that just because you broke me out of prison."

"Sentimental sap," Hiyori muttered. "You never change."

"Neither do you."

On the other side of the palace, coming straight from the underground entrance was Tatsuki. She knocked open the door from the path, and without caution ran straight into the room. She blinked when she found herself standing in the main hall, open and exposed. "Oh."

"Arisawa!" Keigo burst in just seconds later, panting and heaving as he stumbled towards her. "Why don't … you ever… wait… just for once?"

Mizuiro came in shortly after Keigo, breathing heavily as well. Any comments he had for Tatsuki were withheld once he got a good look at the main hall. "Wow. We really made it."

But Tatsuki said nothing in reply. Brow furrowed, she was listening intently to something else. She took a step towards the stairs, but made no other movements otherwise for a long moment.

"…Arisawa?"

"Shh," She waved a hand at Keigo, "quiet. Can you hear that?"

Mizuiro looked towards the same direction Tatsuki was, and tried to listen as well. "I hear … something."

"It's fighting. I can kind of… feel it, too. Like the energy you feel during a storm."

Just as she went to take another step, Hitsugaya appeared before her in a flash. She yelped and stumbled back, still not used to having friends that can appear in a blink of an eye.

"Not another step, any of you," he said, his tone stern and leaving no room for argument.

One by one, the other shinigami flooded into the main hall from the same entrance Tatsuki had come from. Most of them – especially the vice-captains – stared at the room in awe. The captains for the most part were much less enthusiastic, instead following Tatsuki's lead and listening closely.

Momo and Rangiku came over to the humans, unconcerned about their situation for the moment and more focused on the fact that three teenagers had just walked into a war zone.

"Why did you guys come here?" Rangiku demanded, arms crossed and in full blown scolding mode. "Have you any idea how dangerous it is right now?"

"We're not dumb!" Tatsuki snapped back. "Of course we do! But my friends are here, and I want to help."

"You already have," Momo said. "You've done more than enough. Your part in this is over. You need to-"

Suddenly there were shouts from up above. A few floors up, some Royal Guard members had spotted them from the passageway that crossed over the main hall.

"That didn't take long," Iba said.

Hitsugaya turned to Tatsuki and the boys and said, "Listen to me. Run and hide! Don't fight, don't try to play hero, just run. These people will kill you given the chance. This isn't a request, so go!"

Not letting Tatsuki drag them off into danger this time, Mizuiro grabbed her hand and they ran for the entrance they had just come through. However, just feet short of it, a Guardsman from up above fired off a kidou. Keigo screamed as the spell narrowly missed them and collided with the door, destroying it and the wall.

"Jerk!" Rangiku snapped before she fired one back at him.

"This way, let's go!" Tatsuki quickly reassumed leadership and ran for another door near the stairwell. They narrowly dodged another spell before they ducked through the doorway.

Momo watched them leave, and as soon as she lifted her eyes, she gasped. "Hitsugaya-kun…"

Surrounding the captains from up above, Nori and several of the men and women under his captaincy were lined up on the floor above, just past the main staircase. A few more were on the passageway above. They easily outnumbered the captains and vice-captains.

"I take it Ryou messed up," Nori said as he began walking down the stairs. "All of you were supposed to be detained."

"You don't take over someone's turf and not expect something to go wrong," Kenpachi said, with Yachiru nodding in accord. "Taking over a place that's booby-trapped ain't a smart idea, either."

"They worked far better than even I anticipated," Mayuri said with glee. He turned to Nemu and sharply said, "I'll want those results once we return."

Nori narrowed his eyes, barely masking his disgust. "What did you do with our soldiers?"

"What did you do with Kurosaki Ichigo?" Hitsugaya countered. "We're here to take him back."

"Quite an effort just to bring back a substitute shinigami," Nori commented, crossing his arms casually as he regarded the small captain. "Or is that really why you've come for him?"

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, is his value to you beyond just being a substitute shinigami. With the powers he has, he'd be quite the weapon. I wonder-"

There was a flare of reiatsu, but it didn't come from Hitsugaya. Rather, it was Momo who had to restrain herself from doing anything brash. "Stop it!" she snapped at Nori, surprising both him and her fellow shinigami with her outburst. "He's a child, not a weapon!"

"And yet you allowed him to become a substitute-"

"He had a choice!" she fired back. "We didn't kidnap him and force him to become one, at the very least! You had no right dragging him from his home."

There was a pause, a tense stretch of silence between the two. Nori stared down at Momo, his face hardened as he began to walk down the steps, once again.

"A child, is he? Just a substitute shinigami? I beg to differ, Hinamori-fukutaichou. What we 'kidnapped' was a monster in disguise. A potent one, easily weaponized if given enough time and after considerable effort to break him in, but a monster all the same. There's no need to be defensive," he added when he saw the looks of shock and anger cross over the faces of some of the shinigami. "He is what he is. We merely seek to bring out his potential and see it put to good use. Isn't that what all his 'training' he was undergoing was for? That is all we're doing."

Something in Hinamori suddenly snapped into place, a realization – a truth – she'd been struggling to understand ever since Aizen defected. It had taken the errors of her own misguided judgment and Nori's words to clarify it for her, but now she understood.

Her voice was low, but more firm and sure than it had been in a long time when she spoke to Nori, "Kurosaki Ichigo is not a monster. He was not being trained to become a weapon and to utilize his potential. You were not 'training' him, and you don't know the first thing about him or what he was going through.

"Ichigo-chan is not a monster, but a student, a friend, a fighter, and a boyfriend. He was training in order to get his powers under control, for both his and his girlfriend's sake. You were torturing him, and nothing you can say will justify that."

Nori's eyes widened at her assertion. "You can think-"

"I don't think that, I know that. You're no different than Aizen!" She surprised herself with that statement, and those around her, but it didn't keep her from continuing, as vehement as ever, "You hide behind a mask and pretend to be someone who's in the right, someone who thinks their actions are justified because their logic dictates it. You don't take into account the feelings of others, and you don't care about who you hurt in the process! As long as it fulfills your goals and desires, you can rationalize anything you do, thinking that because of this perceived superiority you have that you can get away with it!"

Her fists tightened at her side. "But you're wrong. You're just as wrong as Aizen was. Ichigo-chan may look scary sometimes, and his powers are frightening, but I learned from him and Orihime-chan that that doesn't matter! His mask might be terrifying but underneath he's anything but that! A mask is just a mask; it says nothing about the person under it. Just because someone has a Hollow mask doesn't make them a monster, either. I've met Arrancar who have more compassion than you and your entire Guard combined!"

The silence that followed was punctuated by Momo's inhale as she forced herself to keep calm. "So, no, Ichigo-chan is not a monster. If anyone is, it's you."

The only one who wasn't left in shock after Momo's speech was Nori. His anger colored his cheeks and contorted his expression into hate as he drew his sword. "Bold words, vice-captain."

Momo drew out Tobiume, meeting Nori's hard stare with her own. "And I stand by them."

The good news: Orihime had made it to the upper levels of the Palace. The bad news: she had been spotted just as she reached the third floor.

So now she was in a full out sprint as she tore through the main dining hall. She knew there were at least three chasing her, one definitely being a Royal Guard. She heard him shout at the other two to break off and pursue her from both sides.

They're gonna surround me. She had to make it out of the hall quickly before they could catch up with her. Spinning around, she kicked a chair towards the Guard still following from behind, hoping to at least trip him and make him fall behind. She could handle the two foot soldiers on her own; it was just him she was worried about.

Orihime took off again, her only reassurance being the cursing and the sound of chair crashing against other chairs. She nearly skidded as she swerved around tables and chairs, and her heart began to race even faster when she saw the two soldiers in her peripheral.

One of them let off a kidou spell, knocking it into one of the tables. The table flipped over just a few feet in front of her. Orihime yelled as she had to slide to a stop, making her slip and fall before crashing into the table.

"I got her!" one of the soldiers said as he approached Orihime.

"We need her alive! The prisoner's escaped," the Guard said as he got to his feet. "He'll likely come back into custody if we have her."

Just as one soldier bent down to grab her, Orihime threw up her shield and repelled him backwards. Using the opening she created, Orihime scrambled back over the ruined chairs and table, trying to escape. She managed to climb over the table and slide her way down when the Guard suddenly flash-stepped in front of her, sword drawn and pointed at her.

"Move another muscle and this sword goes through that muscle. Alive doesn't necessarily mean unharmed."

She froze in place, her mind desperately struggling to come up with a way to get out of this mess. She quickly eyed the exit, and heard the Guard 'tsk' at her.

"I wouldn't. Now, come with us and maybe you'll get to see your-"

The doors suddenly slammed open. Without knowing how or why, Orihime quickly dove off of the table, just seconds before a Getsuga Tenshou came streaking across the room and slamming into the Guard.

The other two soldiers quickly drew their swords and charged, but for the brief time Orihime was on the floor and covering her head, all she heard were the sounds of a short scuffle before two bodies hit the floor.

When it fell quiet, she quickly got to her feet and turned around.

And there Ichigo was, standing with Zangetsu in his hand.

It was purely instinct that had her scrambling to get to him and throwing her arms around him when she reached him. It had all happened so fast, but when her brain caught up with her actions, her face was buried in his shoulder, and she noticed he had set his sword against a table to return the embrace.

"You're here," she said, almost as if she couldn't believe it. It didn't seem real; she had been so afraid she wouldn't be able to find him, or that one or both of them would get captured. But he was right there, right in front of her. "You're really here."

He held her tighter, and she could feel his head lean against hers. "I'm sorry, Orihime."

She wanted to ask just what he was sorry about – after all, what had happened wasn't really his fault – but something in his voice made her lean back and look at him.

That's when she realized what, or more correctly whom, she had heard: Shirosaki. One of Ichigo's eyes was his normal brown, but the other one was black and yellow. Blinking in confusion, she looked back and forth between each eye, trying to make sense of it.

"We're both here, so to speak," Ichigo said. "Sharing the same body and mind, but two people paying attention and working together to get through this place is better than one."

"I guess you two managed to talk things out, then." Or something like that. The fact that they were working together was a good sign. Orihime smiled as she lifted her hand and placed it on Ichigo's cheek. Likely this was the closest those two would ever come to partnership. Once this crisis passed and things went back to normal, hopefully, then they would likely resume their usual antics. But for now, she would just be glad Ichigo was out and here with her.

"Thank you, Shirosaki-kun. I knew you could do it."

After a moment of struggle, it was Ichigo's voice that came through, albeit slightly annoyed. "He says thanks, and a myriad of other things I'm not going to repeat. I know we have a lot to talk about – all three of us – but we need to get out of here, first. Somehow we have to round everyone up, too."

As he took her hand and grabbed his sword, Orihime nodded, glancing over at where he had come from. "I guess we'll go back the way I came. I was with Shinji-kun, but we got separated when they took out the stairwell. When I-"

"Queen." Shirosaki's voice cut her off. Ichigo's eyes were narrowed and he had come to an abrupt halt. Something was wrong.

"What-"

Without warning, Ichigo scooped her up and flash-stepped away. Before he even managed to get them to the other side of the hall, the area where they had been standing and where the unconscious soldiers had been lit up before a deafening explosion ripped it apart. Ichigo had gotten them behind an upturned table, shielding her body with his.

Once the ruckus was over, they both lifted their heads and looked around. Ichigo's eyes fell toward where he had come in from, and his grip on Orihime tightened.

In the entryway was Commander Kurou, standing there with his sword drawn. He glanced over at the two teenagers, and smiled thinly. "Kurosaki-san. I was wondering where you had gone off to."

Orihime gasped sharply as Ichigo stood up, keeping himself firmly between her and Kurou. "Fuck off," Shirosaki snapped. "We're leaving this shithole."

"Is that your Hollow talking?" Kurou seemed intrigued as he slowly began walking towards them. "Interesting. For something that had been so uncooperative before, it seems to be willing to be a team player now."

"Team player my ass." Shirosaki snorted contemptuously. "Only reason I'm working with King here is so we can get ourselves, Queen and the rest of her merry fucking band out of this place. Your hospitality's lacking, and I don't like the view, either."

Kurou shook his head, like a parent would at a naughty child. "Come now, what good would that do? You'd be such a good asset to us, and if you would have just done as asked, the hospitality and accommodations would have become much more suitable."

To that, Shirosaki's answer was to burst out into laughter. "Oh, man. King, Queen, are you two hearing this guy? What a dumbass. He stands there thinking he's got all the cards in his hands, but he doesn't know shit."

"I beg your pardon?"

Now it was Ichigo's turn to speak. Although he was much less amused than Shirosaki was, there was a hint of condescension in his tone as he said, "If you had known everything about my Hollow form and bringing it out, you would have taken Orihime, too. But you didn't, and that says you got some of your wires crossed."

"Say, King," Shirosaki was back at the helm, so to speak, sneering at Kurou. "While we're here, and the Queen, why don't we give the Commander a demonstration? Since he's been whining for it like a baby since we got here, we might as well give him what he asked for."

Even as Kurou stopped in his steps and immediately shifted into a defensive position, Ichigo paid him no mind for the moment, instead turning his head to look over his shoulder. "Orihime…"

"It's okay," she said, knowing what he was worried about. "I'll be fine. You two need to do this, I know. I'll be here."

"No matter what, don't let us get too out of hand, okay?" Ichigo said as he lifted his hand to his face. "I'll finish this quickly so we can get home."

When she nodded, he turned back to Kurou and said, "Hollow's got a point. You want it so bad, you can come get it."

"Time to test this out," Shirosaki said in Ichigo's head.

Together this time. And with that, Ichigo followed Shirosaki's lead. His reiatsu spiked, and as the Hollow mask began to form over his face, he felt his heart leaving, and in place of it the hole opening up in his chest.

Meanwhile, back downstairs and way on the other side of the palace, the Royal Gate was opening. From it emerged three figures. They stepped forward into the Royal Realm. For two of them, it was their first time there. For the other, though, it was a return twenty years in the making.

"We made it," Urahara said as he watched the door shut behind them.

Yoruichi remained silent, her eyes fixed on their companion.

With a sigh, Isshin ran a hand over his hair. "Can't believe I'm actually back here."

"It's certainly been awhile, yes," Urahara agreed, turning to face him. "Are you ready? Kurou won't be happy to see you."

"He asked for it." Isshin approached a seemingly innocuous brick along the side of the passageway. He unsheathed his zanpakutou and butted the end against the brick. After a few seconds of nothing, the brick shifted back before the whole wall slid open. "Still here, I see."

Urahara raised his brow. "Impressive. I was wondering how you planned to go in without detection."

"You two should go help the others. I'm going for Ichigo and Orihime-chan. I'm sure Kurou's found them by now." Isshin stepped through the opening, but not before looking back at Urahara. "Twenty years. Even for those of us who live for centuries, that's a long time to hold onto a grudge, especially a pointless one."

"Don't underestimate a man scorned," Yoruichi said. "Or one who feels he was betrayed."

Isshin nodded, his shoulders stiff as he thought back to that time. "I should have talked to him back then, settled things. Now my son's gotten dragged into this. Time to end it."

With that, he disappeared down the dark passageway, leaving Urahara and Yoruichi to head up to the main hall, where a battle was about to start.