Author's Note: Wow, I realize this update is a long time coming and I apologize. I was finishing up my microeconomics course and during the last week there were literally three tests (a make-up one; a regular test, and the final exam) and then I started two more online courses a week later. Anyway, in light of some recent events I have a lot of plot twisting to do in order to keep things fresh. It was my intention to write this story for the enjoyment of others and myself. I now see that I'll have to do an overhaul on ideas to keep this story different. Also in response to people's concerns about Orihime healing Hitsugaya's eyes – it's not going to happen for a while. Healing Hitsugaya = leaking reiatsu and the current group of shinigami/humans won't be willing to do that so soon after the battle they just encountered. I'm not saying there's no hope for Hitsugaya's sight! Cause there definitely is! Just not now. Anyway, that being said….enjoy the next chapter!
Also – just as a side note – I did NOT check this chapter for any spelling errors, so I apologize profusely if there are any errors in names, general grammatical errors, etc.
Chapter 8: The Big Bang Theory
"You realize moping around won't save them, right?" Shinji questioned as he watched Ichigo pace the room with a scowl on his face for the hundredth time.
"Then what will?" Ichigo shot back. After he had been 'informed' by Urahara that the Royal Guard had landed an attack on three captains, he had been worried sick. It didn't help that there was no way he could do anything about his injured friends.
"They have to save themselves. And they will," Shinji said a bit too optimistically, "That group is a lot more capable than you give them credit for."
"Toshiro got his vision burned out, Byakuya pretty much lost his left arm, and don't even get me started on Kenpachi," Ichigo's glare was now burning holes through Shinji's skull, "I think their capabilities are dwindling a bit."
"When they think it's safe again, Orihime can heal them," Shinji replied a bit uncertainly.
"It will never be safe again," Ichigo snapped and looked away. Shinji didn't have to see his face to know that the pained expression lied there.
"I don't know what you want me to say, Ichigo. We all feel the same way. It's not just you in this, you know. We all chose to be here."
Ichigo turned around slowly and nodded. Although he still couldn't help but feel like the whole situation was his fault, he knew that all of his friends and family had chosen to help him. They could have easily avoided execution by helping out Yamamoto in his quest for revenge, but they hadn't. And the vizards, his new family, could have completely left him to fend for himself. But they hadn't either.
"How long has it been?" Ichigo asked quietly.
"Since we left? About a month," Shinji replied and then smiled grimly, "My birthday's next week."
"Really? How old will you be?" Ichigo asked curiously and Shinji shot him a bewildered look.
"Let's not go there," Shinji said seriously, "Let's just say I'm old."
"You'll have to go there considering Lisa somehow managed to land a VIP spot at some club downtown for that night," Kensei interrupted as he entered through the front door with the morning's newspaper.
"Excuse me?" Shinji's eyes widened and then narrowed, "How the hell did she manage to do that?"
"I had sex with the club owner," Lisa said nonchalantly as she waved a hand through the air while reading one of her porn magazines.
"EXCUSE ME!?!" Shinji shouted even more bewilderedly. Hiyori had choked on her water at the remark, Mashiro was giggling, and Love actually took off his signature glasses to stare in astonishment at Lisa.
"It was a joke, guys, get over it," she stated looking up from her magazine, "I can't believe you would fall for that. I met the guy during my daily dog-walking routine," Lisa replied.
Ichigo sighed heavily. They had bought a golden retriever because while Kensei, Shinji, and Mashiro were out she had seen one in the window of an pet shop and had caused an outrageous scene on the streets of New York until they were forced to buy it to both A) shut her up and B) attempt to protect themselves if the Royal Guard had heard the disturbance.
Naturally, the minute the animal had gotten home, Mashiro refused to take care of it so the task was left to Lisa, who had taken a liking to the dog. Lisa had named the dog Queen because at times it could be just as stubborn as Mashiro, who frequently acted like a queen.
"The guy you've been walking the dog with is a bar owner?" Shinji asked, being the first to recover.
"Yes, a very successful one. Anyway, I figured celebrating your birthday would take some stress off after the current events."
Shinji looked at Lisa and sighed, "Well if we're going to do it, then we'll have to be careful."
"Should we really be partying right now?" Ichigo asked in an irritated manner.
"Why not? What is there that you can do, Ichigo?" Kensei asked as he sat himself next to Shinji and opened the newspaper.
"Berry-tan, calm down. We'll take care of things here, and they can take care of things wherever they are," Mashiro stated as she dug into a pint of Ben & Jerry's.
Kensei shot her an irritated glare from over the newspaper, "Right. You'll take care of things, just like you're taking care of that dog."
A spoon suddenly attacked Kensei's head, and Ichigo and Shinji both had to restrain him from viciously attacking the small girl.
"Anyway, I can't help but agree with Ichigo, slightly," Shinji added with a pointed look, "As much as I love the idea of celebrating my way-too-old age, it really isn't a good time," everyone started to protest Shinji's words but he held up a hand, "But I am aware that we all need some outlet to release our tension. That being said, we can have this celebration, but we need to be extremely cautious. And when I say extremely, I mean we have to map out a plan detailing an hour by hour analysis of how things will proceed."
"Not a problem," Lisa said nodding, "Besides Hiyori and Mashiro are going to be here anyway, they can take base-control."
Shinji nodded in agreement and Hiyori let out a frustrated shriek, "What do you MEAN Mashiro and I are going to be here?"
"Be serious, Hiyori, you and Mashiro don't even come close to looking 18, let alone 21. None of these bars will let you in, VIP connections or not," Love stated and watched as Hiyori glared around the room, waiting for someone to crack a smile or make any sudden gesture so that she had an excuse to beat the shit out of them.
"It's not fair! We want to party too!" Mashiro whined and flew across the room. She landed in front of Shinji's lap and she began pounding her fists on his knees in a childish manner.
"Alright, Alright, geez. We can have a small party here too," Shinji grunted as he removed Mashiro's bruising fists from his knees and watched as she perked up and suddenly bolted upstairs to her room. Hiyori only crossed her arms over her chest, still looking extremely pissed off, before she followed Mashiro up the staircase.
"So how about it Ichigo? Would you agree to letting off some steam at least?" Shinji inquired as he glanced at the younger man out of the corner of his eye.
"Yeah, alright. As long as we're doing what you suggested and mapping everything out extensively. I want to make sure we'll be able to contact the others if we need to."
Shinji nodded and a full grin lit up his face, "Will do."
"I'm sorry, Matsumoto, but we can't heal his vision right now. It's far too risky. I already leaked a small bit of reiatsu getting us here," Yoruichi stated for literally the tenth time since they arrived at their new home in Houston, Texas. During their short stay in California, they had rented several homes across the country for the summer so that they could hop from house to house if need be. Kisuke was already online making arrangements to get their money back from their apartments in California.
"I'm sorry, Rangiku-san," Orihime said sadly as she glanced over at Toshiro Hitsugaya for the hundredth time, "Sorry, Hitsugaya-taichou."
"It's fine," Hitsugaya grunted, "Matsumoto, stop making a big deal out of it. Nothing will be fixed by whining. We need to focus on our next course of action," he added.
Toshiro stood, and immediately dropped back onto the couch at the bout of dizziness that suddenly overwhelmed him. Along with losing his sight, he had almost forgotten that he had lost a great deal of blood from other wounds on his body as well.
"Taichou, please don't strain yourself," Matsumoto said sadly and placed a hand on her captain's shoulder. He shrugged her hand off and stood from the couch again before walking out of the house and stumbling onto the back porch. His hands groped around the porch until he came across a wooden chair with a soft cushion attached to it. He sat himself on the chair and folded his arms across his chest before letting out a heavy sigh.
He heard the door creak open somewhere to his right and he furrowed his eye brows in frustration, "Matsumoto, I said I was –,"
"It's not Matsumoto," Karin Kurosaki stated as she took the seat next to the tiny captain, "It's Karin. I just wanted to know how you were feeling."
"I'm fine. These wounds shouldn't take too long to heal. That seems to be everyone's favorite question lately," Toshiro responded and moved his head away from her.
"That's not what I meant, Toshiro. I want to know how you're feeling. I don't need a status report. You just burned out your own vision, that has to come with a psychological impact," Karin stated knowledgeably and with little regards as to how her words might affect him.
Hitsugaya gasped in mild shock at her words, as the reality of them sunk in. Although he knew what had happened and was more than aware that he had ruined his own vision, hearing it from someone else was extremely startling.
Defenseless, Hitsugaya let a rush of pained words escape his lips, "I feel empty. I feel like I crawled into the darkness and cannot hope to find light again."
Karin also let out a gasp, mostly in shock that Toshiro had actually admitted his true feelings. Reaching out, she placed a hand on his arm, and was even more surprised when he didn't pull away.
"You can't keep pushing people away, Toshiro. If you do, you'll guarantee an absence of light in your future," She paused and watched as a frown appeared across his face, "Matsumoto is only worried about you. Sometimes you have to let others take care of you. Especially when it's hard to take care of yourself."
Hitsugaya moved his head in the direction of Karin and mulled over her words. Maybe if he shared his burdens, they wouldn't weigh so heavily on his soul. Hitsugaya moved his right hand over Karin's, which was still resting on his arm.
He flashed her a small smile, "Thanks, Karin. That was exactly what I needed to hear."
Taken aback, Karin gasped again and then also smiled, "No problem. That's what friends are for. Anyway, Toshiro, I'm going to go back into the house and help Tessai and Yuzu with dinner."
She stood up and was suddenly stopped by Toshiro's hand on her arm, "Would you mind asking Matsumoto to come out here on your way in?"
"Of course not," Karin replied and walked back inside the house, "Hey, Rangiku! Your captain wants to talk to you," before Karin even finished her statement, Matsumoto was thanking her and rushing out to the porch.
"Nii-sama," Rukia breathed as she and Renji uncovered Byakuya's arm in order to treat it.
Basically, from where Byakuya's wrist ended and all the way to his elbow, there was no skin covering his arm. What was even more startling was that Rukia could clearly see holes in the bone, where the maggots had been able to eat away parts of it.
Renji had to turn his head to keep from vomiting all over the carpet. Not only was the sight disturbing, but the stench of rotted flesh was almost too much. Not to mention, a large chunk of flesh had fallen off Byakuya's arm as Rukia further peeled the bandage back.
"There are only two people who could heal a wound like this. Unfortunately one is the enemy, and the other could alert our enemies to our presence if she tried," Byakuya stated in a monotone voice.
"Taichou, what will you do about fighting?" Renji asked nervously.
"I can certainly fight with my other arm, Abarai," Byakuya stated almost icily, "I have the least serious injury out of the three of us."
"And that is an extremely scary thought," Rukia stated as she and Renji worked as a team to treat and redress Byakuya's various wounds.
Renji looked towards the opposite couch, where Kenpachi was currently sprawled out. The previously white couch was now a dark shade of maroon. Yoruichi, Kisuke, Isshin, Madarame, Yumichika, and Orihime were all working endlessly to clean Kenpachi's various wounds, all of which were critical.
There were a few times where Yachiru would scream at Isshin as he announced that Kenpachi's heart had stopped beating for a few seconds. Eventually, it took ten bags of candy and a kid's show on tv in the next room, to occupy her so that she wouldn't disturb the make-shift medical team as they attempted to save her beloved Ken-chan.
"How can they be this powerful?" Ishida questioned as he returned to the family room with a fresh pitcher of water and rags, which were promptly taken from him by Isshin.
"The royal guard – especially the execution sector – is comprised of captains that have been captains for hundreds of years. They've had a lot of time to train themselves to become masters at not only basic sword-fighting techniques, but of their bankais and reiatsu as well," Yoruichi stated as she dropped four blood-soaked rags into the trash can at her side.
"The king wouldn't have chosen them if he didn't think they couldn't kill everything and anything in order to protect him," Yoruichi frowned and went back to cleaning the wounds on Kenpachi's chest.
"But three of them were defeated. That has to stand for something, right?" Chad asked as he brought in various medications and dumped them into Isshin's waiting hands.
"Not exactly. We got extremely lucky in our battles," Kenpachi muttered as he slowly came to consciousness.
"Taichou!" Madarame and Yumichika stated simultaneously as their captain attempted to sit up with their help.
"What do you mean?" Chad questioned and watched as Kenpachi popped a few painkillers that Isshin had dumped into his hands.
"I mean," Kenpachi grinned slightly, "That if I had been fighting Kuchiki's or Hitsugaya's kidou-based opponents, I probably would have been down and out a while back."
"Only' reason I'm still here is because I got lucky with a few meat-clever types of opponents," Kenpachi stated seriously, "And even then look at me now."
Chad nodded in understanding. It would seem that Kenpachi had gotten lucky. He knew the older man sucked at kidou. But the others?
"Sebonzakura is extremely effective in the eradication of bankais that can break up into smaller substances. In this case, maggots," Byakuya answered Chad's silent question.
"And Captain Hitsugaya?" Rukia asked.
"Not luck. More like dire strategizing," Hitsugaya replied as he and Matsumoto reentered the room.
"But at least you're still alive, Taichou," Matsumoto said in relief. She was feeling infinitely better now that she and her captain had talked. He had apologized to her for his behavior and had thanked her for offering her support. He had also successfully reassured her things would be alright.
"At least I'm still alive," he agreed and with Matsumoto's help, sat down next to Byakuya on the couch opposite of Kenpachi.
"So what's for dinner?" Kenpachi grunted and knocked several people out of the way as he stood up, "I'm starving."
Everyone stared at him in amazement before Yoruichi and Isshin simultaneously shouted for him to sit back down so that they could finish treating him.
"Nah, that's enough for today, a good rest later will take care of things. Now, like I said, what's for dinner?"
"Dinner is ready. We will be having lots of American dishes," Tessai stated from the doorway. Kenpachi grinned at him and suddenly Tessai became Kenpachi's new best friend as he followed the slightly shorter man into the dining room.
"Excellent," the commander of the Gotei 13 stated as he read the execution sector's report from the real world. According to said report, three of his former captains were severely injured. Although none of them had received the ultimate punishment of death, this would certainly make the renegade group aware of just exactly what they were dealing with.
"Excellent for whom, might I inquire?" Hikifune said sharply from his right, "Three of my soldiers have died."
"Which is a terrible loss. I am truly sorry, however, your soldiers' sacrifices have made quite the advancement in our own motives," Yamamoto stated almost too gleefully.
"Which are?" Hikifune asked with the same venom lacing her words.
"Well it obviously settles a deep rooted fear within their group," Yamamoto snapped, "If they were injured this badly, they may surrender soon."
"I doubt it," Hikifune interjected, "The willpower of these people is stronger than you think. Besides, I doubt they would surrender just for a cleaner death."
Yamamoto grumbled a string of curses at Hikifune before Soi Fon burst through the doors to his office, "And just who gave you permission to enter unannounced, Captain Soi Fon?"
"Me, myself, and my fists," Soi Fon replied icily. Both Hikifune and Yamamoto looked at Soi Fon in surprise at her bitter remarks.
"What is the meaning of this?" Yamamoto demanded.
"You tell me," Soi Fon countered while holding up the bloodied shinigami robes of her former lieutenant.
"Omaeda paid the consequences of betraying soul society. That is all. Surely you would agree with this," Yamamoto stated smugly.
"No, I would not. No one is betraying soul society. It is clear that you have some personal vendetta you are seeking to unleash, though on who is not exactly as clear. It is extremely unnecessary to kill off people left and right, especially for making proclamations. You and I both know that Omaeda was too much of a lazy fat ass to actually act on his spoken intentions."
"Enough," Yamamoto shouted over Soi Fon's angry rant, "What is done is done. My agenda is only to protect soul society from threats both outside and inside. If you have an issue with it, go cry to someone else. I do not have time for childish rants," Yamamoto finished and banged his cane on the ground.
"You and that damn cane can rot in hell for all I care," Soi Fon spat bitterly and stomped out of the office.
Yamamoto let a twisted smile grace his features at her last comment, but it went unnoticed by Hikifune. Instead the leader of the execution sector turned towards him and sighed.
"Is all of this really necessary Yamamoto? It seems things are being taken a bit too far."
"How far would you go to protect that which is most important to you?" Yamamoto countered and Hikifune was immediately at a loss for words.
The 8th division captain and his lieutenant were enjoying some tea in their office when the door was forcefully swung open and just as forcefully slammed shut and locked. Captain Soi Fon of the second division stood before them, resting against the door frame and looking worse for the wear. Bruises covered her face and arms and she had a bloodied lip and several visible gashes across her stomach. This was extremely startling considering only an hour earlier Shunsui had greeted a very healthy-looking Soi Fon outside of her own division.
"Ah, Captain Soi Fon, what happened?" Shusui inquired and was taken aback when Soi Fon's piercing gaze met his and revealed deep pools of pain, that were unnatural for her.
"Yamamoto had my lieutenant killed. Killed," She emphasized as her voice cracked. Letting out a strangled sob, she collapsed against the doorway. Nanao moved towards her, but she held up a hand to stop her.
"I'm sorry, Soi Fon, I guess, well I didn't know you were so close. More importantly, however, is why would Yama-jii issue such an order?" Shunsui asked quietly in bewilderment.
"We weren't that close. At all. You know that I like to keep my distance from my squad. Still, somehow I feel an overwhelming sense of loss," Soi Fon responded quietly while reflecting on the various times that Omaeda would gush endlessly to her about his loving family.
"Yamamoto is crazy. He's not to be trusted anymore," Soi Fon suddenly stated darkly.
"Captain Soi Fon, you shouldn't say such things!" Nanao said in a horrified manner.
When Shunsui didn't say anything, however, Nanao turned on him, "Taichou, you can't possibly agree with her!"
"I have my doubts, Nanao-chan. Besides, how else do you think Captain Soi Fon received all those wounds?" Shunsui retorted.
"I….I don't know," Nanao responded defeatedly. Her captain had a point.
"But there is hope Nanao-chan. I've sensed some changes in Yama-jii's reiatsu in the past few months. I don't think it's him making these decisions, I think it's something inside of him."
Both Soi Fon and Nanao looked up at Shunsui in surprise, "What do you mean?" Soi Fon questioned sharply.
"I think something, or someone has taken control of him. I had my suspicions before, but these events definitely confirmed it."
"Then what do we do?" Nanao asked, almost in hysterics.
"We wake Ukitake up, grab Unohana-chan and regroup with the others back on earth. If we're too close to Yamamoto, we can't work efficiently on whatever is possessing him. Especially considering his reiatsu has more than doubled since previous times. It's likely that he could take us all out in an instant."
Nanao's eyes widened in surprise, "And just how exactly do you plan on waking Ukitake up?"
"Ah, Nanao-chan, you would pick that out of all the information I gave you. Well, the way I see it, Yamamoto's reiatsu has been poisoning Ukitake. If you've noticed, Yama-jii has been visiting Ukitake at least once a day if not twice. While it might appear like Yama-jii is grieving over Ukitake's comatose state, that's not the case. In reality, his heavy reiatsu has been keeping Ukitake in a comatose state. Whatever is possessing Yama-jii needs Ukitake's injury as an excuse to wreck havoc from within and outside of soul society."
Nanao stood with her jaw hanging open, "Taichou! If you knew all of this why did you wait until now to mention it? It could have saved us a lot of time!"
"Well you see, Nanao-chan, it's because I just figured it out now!" Shunsui grinned broadly and was smacked upside the head by both Nanao and Soi Fon.
"So then, how do we get the Captain Commander away from Ukitake for a day?" Soi Fon asked, crossing her arms over her chest sternly.
"Easy. I'm going to fight him."
An uproar was caused between the two women at Shunsui's comment. Shouts of 'You'll die' and 'There's no way you could defeat that asshole' were thrown his way.
Shunsui simply smiled, "Look, I will just do it as a distraction until you can inform Unohana-taichou of the situation and attempt to revive Ukitake. Then you'll all meet me at the Kuchiki manor and we'll use that senkai gate to escape to the real world. With Unohana-taichou with us, we'll be able to finish healing Ukitake and the others once we find all of them."
"That sounds like a smart plan and all, but you're forgetting that the Kuchiki's senkai gate has been blocked off," Soi Fon responded.
"Only by guards. We remove them from the equation and Unohana-taichou and I can use our kidou to break through the spells binding the senkai gate from the real world."
Nanao looked at her captain worriedly, "When will we initiate these plans, Taichou?"
"Now. The sooner, the better. I expect to meet the both of you at the Kuchiki manor in no more than an hour. That being said, let's get going," and before anyone could protest Kyoraku had disappeared from his own office in the blink of an eye. Following suit, Soi Fon nodded at Nanao and the both of them were off towards the 4th division.
Unohana was receiving startling reports every so often about Yamamato initating orders to kill ranked officers. She was starting to get worried because her own lieutenant had expressed that she did not think the entire incident was Ichigo's fault. If anyone other than herself had overheard Isane, then Unohana's lieutenant would be next on Yamamoto's hit list. Shaking these somber thoughts out of her head, she walked back into Ukitake's room to check up on him. She thought for sure he would have been out of his coma by now, but he was still unconscious.
Looking at the clock, Unohana did a double take. It was 3:30 in the afternoon. Yamamoto usually came at precisely 3:15 to visit Ukitake. She vaguely wondered what was keeping him. It was making her nervous.
"Isane?" she called out loudly. A crash of a medical cart was heard, followed by hurried footsteps as her lieutenant rushed into view.
"Unohana-taichou, what's wrong?"
"Nothing Isane, I just wanted some company," she smiled and then added lowly, "And to make sure you were still alive," but Isane was too thrilled about her captain's request that she didn't hear the second part.
Both women were suddenly interrupted in their thoughts as they heard several more crashes and a shout of, "Fuck off!" echo down the hallway. Unohana was about to investigate when someone flash-stepped into the room. Before her, captain Soi Fon was standing with her arms crossed and a dark scowl covering her features.
"Soi Fon, taichou!" Isane shouted in surprise, "What was that all about?"
"There's a warrant out for my arrest, but what else is new?" Soi Fon stated and turned her head slightly as Ise Nanao appeared behind her.
"It's hard to keep up when you leave such messes," she muttered darkly from behind the shorter woman.
Soi Fon raised an annoyed hand and motioned as if to wave her comments away, "There's no time. We need to revive Ukitake and leave, otherwise we'll get caught in a cross fire that will definitely kill us all."
Unohana's eyes widened in surprise, "Are you referring to Captain Commander? Do you really think he would go to such lengths?"
"I absolutely do," Soi Fon replied and then bent over Ukitake's bed, "The only reason he isn't here right now suffocating Ukitake is because Kyoraku is distracting him. But I'll explain all of that later, right now we need to resuscitate Ukitake."
"It isn't possible!" Isane shouted at Soi Fon but Unohana held up a hand to silence her.
"It actually might be possible, Isane. I think Yamamato's reiatsu was keeping Ukitake's unconscious before, we just didn't notice it. Probably because he has figured out a way to use it in a harmful manner but without it being recognized."
While she was giving this explanation, Unohana had moved over Ukitake's bed and had placed her hands over his prone figure. This was mostly due to Soi Fon's impatient glare. All four women watched as a soft glow emitted from Unohana's hands and traveled over Ukitake's body. Several coughs were heard around the room, followed by surprised gasps, and then Ukitake's eyes snapped open.
"Unohana-chan!" Ukitake proclaimed and then looked around the room at the almost all surprised faces. Soi Fon, however, still had an impatient look on her face.
"What's going on?" he questioned.
"We don't have time for this," Soi Fon said impatiently, "Ukitake, just to clear matters up. Was Kurosaki, Ichigo the one that gave you these injuries?"
Ukitake's eyes widened in surprise, "What? Not at all! Kurosaki-kun was trying to protect me if anything. There was an espada-level…"
"That's all I need to hear," Soi Fon stated and cut him off abruptly. She then started to pull various IVs out of Ukitake's arms, much at the protest of Unohana and Ukitake himself.
"Please slow down, Soi Fon! You could end up injuring him further!" Unohana stated in an authoritative manner.
"There's no time, Unohana. There is a very good chance that Kyoraku could die if we don't hurry."
Ukitake's eyes widened again and Soi Fon held up a hand, "Later," she stated again and waited as Unohana took out the last of Ukitake's IVs. Not even waiting until he sat up, Soi Fon tossed the frail, older man over her shoulder and commanded the others in the room to follow, even though they were all protesting at the sight of one of the elder captains being thrown over Soi Fon's shoulder.
Soi Fon flash-stepped out of the fourth division and Nanao was just about to follow suit when Unohana's voice interrupted her, "Wait, Ise, where are we going?"
"Ah, right, sorry taichou. We'll be heading for the Kuchiki's manor. Please follow me!" With that, Nanao flash-stepped out, the other two women following closely behind.
Kyoraku grunted in pain as he was slammed against the concrete wall of the first division. The attack had only been Yama-jii exposing his full reiatsu as well. Yamamato stood before him with a twisted smile on his face, nothing like the Yama-jii that Shunsui had once known.
"You really think you can defeat me, Shunsui?" Yamamato stated darkly, "While I admire your courage, you are a fool."
"Am I? I'm not the one issuing orders to kill everyone within soul society," Shunsui retorted angrily.
"These are all necessary processes, Shunsui. Surely you could understand. In order to build a strong soul society, we must weed out the weak. That is precisely what I plan to do now," he stated and pointed his cane forward.
Before Kyoraku could even react, he felt his shoulder dislocate abruptly. Letting out a grunt of pain, he smiled lightly, "Yama-jii, this really isn't like you."
"As if there's any point in hiding it anymore," Yamamoto answered his silent question, "This isn't your world anymore. The world you knew, is over."
"It hasn't been our world in many months. I suppose you initiated the attack on Ukitake as well?" Kyoraku raised an eyebrow.
"That was nothing. The harder part was getting everyone to turn on each other. You shinigami have stronger loyalties to that boy than I originally thought."
"He's done a lot for us, and I'm sure he will again," Kyoraku retorted.
"Don't be so certain. As far as he sees it, you've still betrayed him." Yamamoto smiled again and raised his cane.
"What's going on here?" A voice interrupted.
Kyoraku and Yamamato turned their heads to see Hikifune enter the first division with a confused expression on her face.
"Yamamoto? Explain yourself. There's no reason that there should be fifteen orders sent out for the arrest of ranked officers. And now, to find you attacking someone you once considered your son? What is this?"
Yamamoto turned towards her and sighed, "Well Hikifune, it would appear that you finally figured something out for once. Unfortunately for you, you are a bit too late."
With that, all three of them were suddenly thrown from their feet as an explosion, followed by an earth quake, shook soul society's foundation.
"A bit earlier than I expected," Yamamoto said in a semi-annoyed manner, "Well, I guess it is finally time."
Hikifune and Kyoraku both rose to their feet as well and turned towards him, "Time for what?" they asked simultaneously.
Yamamoto let out an abrupt laugh, "Time for hell to reign over soul society."
With that, a violet burst of energy shot forth from his cane and sailed towards Kyoraku. Kyoraku braced himself for the impact, but it never came. Looking down, he was horrified to see a gaping hole in Hikifune's tiny frame that stretched from her collar bone down to her hips.
"Get. Out. Of. Here." She gasped before she collapsed onto the ground, dead.
Kyoraku flash-stepped towards the exit, but Yamamoto was quicker with his new found power. Blocking his exit, Yamamoto made to raise his cane again when the group of the royal guard stationed in soul society suddenly burst through the door and grabbed a hold of Yamamoto.
"Shunsui, please leave now!" One of them shouted, and Kyoraku watched as a smirk lit up Yamamoto's face. Kyoraku flash-stepped out of the division as fast as he could, and almost missed the horrified screams of the royal guard being slaughtered. Almost.
"Kurosaki, Ichigo," a monotone voice said as a figure stepped out of the shadows.
A week had passed since the discussion of Shinji's birthday, and now it was actually the night of Shinji's birthday. The vizards had followed their cautious plans meticulously, however, that had not stopped someone from grabbing the youngest vizard and flash-stepping away. Ichigo wasn't certain how it had actually happened, but he knew Shinji was probably in an uproar. However, that wasn't the pressing issue at hand.
The pressing issue was that the reincarnation of Ulquiorra Schiffer had just stepped into his line of vision. Gasping in surprise, Ichigo pulled out his zanpakuto, however, Ulquiorra held up a hand.
"I am not here to fight. I am not an Espada anymore, nor do I have any association with the plot to overthrow soul society," he stated quietly.
"What? Who is overthrowing soul society?" Ichigo asked in confusion, but did not lower his zanpakuto.
"You were not informed?" at Ichigo's annoyed glare, he continued, "The leader of the Shinigami has been possessed by a thousand-year-old demon. That demon is attempting to house demons even far more dangerous than itself in soul society so that they have better access in order to destroy this world. So far the demon is succeeding in his plot."
"What?!?!" Ichigo shouted again, "Yamamato's possessed? What the hell is going on?"
"Exactly that. Hell is what's going on. Demons from hell with use soul society as their headquarters in order to destroy this planet."
"How do you know all of this? And what are you even doing here?" Ichigo asked the man before him, while noticing that some of his trade-mark features were now gone. Ulquiorra's eyes were normal, and no longer had the tear-stained tattoos down his cheeks. His skin was not nearly as pale as it had been, and his hair had grown a little longer since Ichigo had last seen him.
"According to the leader of the Imperial Magi, they saw potential in me and decided that I could become a member of their order, in order to prove that I could contribute something to this war, and redeem myself. Also, they sent me to help you because they thought if you knew someone familiar…"
"So they send an ex-enemy of mine?" Ichigo interrupted in a loud and angry manner.
"Ah, there you are Ichigo, thank God you make a shit load of noise. Otherwise we would have never found ya," Shinji announced as he, Kensei, and Hiyori all arrived behind him.
"Who is this?" Hiyori demanded as she gestured towards the pale man in front of Ichigo.
"Apparently I am an ex-enemy," Ulquiorra said with a small smirk and Ichigo scowled.
"Don't get all high and mighty just because I said that. If you so much swing a fist in any of our direction, we will kill you," Ichigo stated coldly.
"Understood," Ulqiorra replied with a small smile and Ichigo shuddered. He was so used to the monotone, didn't-know-what-a-smile-was-to-save-his-life Ulqiorra. This would have to take some time to get used to.
"So I guess he'll have to come with us," Shinji stated slowly.
"We don't have any room. Besides, he's our enemy." Hiyori said blankly.
"Ex-enemy," Ulquiorra reminded her and Hiyori growled.
"If we leave him out here, Hiyori, then he'll just call for back up and we'll all die," Shinji retorted. Ulquiorra was about to interrupt him and state that the royal guard was no longer his enemy when the angry voice of Hiyori broke through once more.
"FINE! I don't give a flying shit! Take him hostage and let's get the hell out of here!" With that, she stomped off in the direction of the nearest cab.
"Geez, some birthday," Shinji muttered and walked off after her.
Ichigo rolled his eyes and sighed. As he and Ulquiorra followed them, only one thought passed through his mind.
How the hell did I get myself involved in this?