#TediousButNecessaryFillerChapter

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The Striking Snake

Ch13

Shiba Clan Hospitality

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"This captains' meeting is called to order!" Boomed the voice of Captain-Commander Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto. "Kurosaki-taicho, battlefield witnesses indicate you engaged the ryoka at the white road gate. Report!"

"Sure thing, Yama-jii," replied Ichigo lazily. "The gatekeeper told me that one of the ryoka - a girl, probably around 15 years old - defeated him in a duel, so he felt honor-bound to let them in. I forced them back out the gate."

"And in doing so, not only crippled Jidanbõ, but also attacked with every intention of killing him along with the ryoka," retorted the youngest of the captains, Tõshirõ Hitsugaya. "You used blatantly unnecessary force. I am given to understand that if it hadn't been for one of the ryoka casting a hasty Bakudõ barrier, we'd be short one gatekeeper."

"Kurosaki-taicho, did you even manage to kill the invaders with your overkill attack?" A mousey-looking brown-haired man with glasses spoke up. "I also find myself suspicious of your actions. Almost as if you weren't really trying to stop them."

"Forget that; one of them was strong enough to land a cut in against Ichigo!" Kenpachi pointed to the bandage tape on Ichigo's brow and ear. "Which one was it? I gotta fight this kid!"

Ichigo huffed. "Two of them - the girl I mentioned, and a skinny boy with silver hair - had Shinigami powers and zanpakutõ. Neither of them had reiatsu much above a middle-level officer, but the boy's clever. He got the drop on me while I was distracted with the girl." He rolled his eyes. "He's probably the strongest of them, but none of them would have much of a chance against any competent third seat."

"And yet, they landed a hit on you," replied the brown-haired one persistently. "I still feel you are not telling us everything."

Ichigo looked him dead in the eyes. "Well, I am," he smirked. "So you can just shut it, Aizen."

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The souls that populated west Rukongai were famously suspicious of Shinigami, though rarely outright hostile. Yoruichi had told the teenagers not to expect a warm welcome from them. However, it seemed that Jidanbõ was something of their local hero, and by healing his injury, Orihime had won their enduring good graces. The news that they were a party of rogues, and not actually affiliated with the Gotei Juusan-Tai, had done the rest.

Thus it was that the six humans and the cat were eating in one of the guest rooms of a not-too-shabby inn. Gin idly wondered why the populace were so attached to Jidanbõ, given that they were not overly taken with Shinigami. Perhaps he had somehow defended them from the actions of corrupt Shinigami at some point in the past...

Gin's ruminations were interrupted by a rude rumbling noise from outside. He cocked his head. "Horses?"

"Doubt it. They're almost unheard-of in Rukongai - only a few of the far west soul cities have stables," said Yoruichi. "But you're right, it sounds a lot like hooves..."

Then the wall burst inwards.

The group was, as one, high-strung after the events of the day. The sight of what appeared to be a raging boar with a human strapped to the top was not one that anyone would have expected them to react well to.

"So I hear there's low-ranking Shinigami that dare defile this district by staying the night!" The boar rider bellowed, apparently oblivious to the four lethal spirit weapons which stood primed to attack. "I, Shiba Ganju, self-proclaimed number one protector of the west Rukongai districts, hereby order these filth to show themselves!"

Gin put on a comical frown of consternation. "I beg your pardon? Please, do take off your shoes when yer' in another's house, it's rude. Won't ch'ya try some of the tea?"

Ganju's bulging eyes focused on Gin. "You! You wear the shihakusõ, and though I don't see a zanpakutõ... I can feel the reiatsu of a Shinigami coming off you!" His eyes narrowed. "You're the strongest of the group, aren't you?"

Gin huffed. "And here I thought I was doing well with the whole reiatsu hiding thing." He stood up. "I wasn't kidding about yer manners earlier. Shall we, at least, take this fight outside?"

Ganju glared, but pulled on the reins, awkwardly turning the huge boar around.

"Shoot him, Shinsõ."

The hissing bolt of glowing steel sliced through the side of Ganju's bandana, leaving half of it hanging off his head. As fast as it had shot, the bladed spear whistled back down to the size of a knife.

Ganju slowly turned his head, showing just how pale his face was. His wide, terrified eyes met with a pair of demon-like slits and a truly menacing grin.

Gin stood up, holding Shinsõ carelessly in his right hand. "Now," he said sweetly, "let's try this again. Hello, I am Ichimaru Gin, rogue Shinigami and enemy of the Seireitei. What's your name?"

"G- Ganju," said the terrified man. "Shiba Ganju."

"Ganju? Lil' Ganju?" Yoruichi chuckled. "You were a baby last I saw you. I don't suppose your older sister's around, is she?"

Ganju blinked. "Who are you? How do you know my sister?"

"Yoruichi. Shihõin Yoruichi. That should tell you all you need to know."

Ganju's eyes widened again. "I- of course, Shihõin-san."

Gin raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment at the name-dropping. "Now! Since it's established that nobody 'round here has any great love for the Gotei, why don't we all sit down and discuss things like normal people?"

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After finally reaching a common ground with the excitable man, it turned out that Yoruichi had been right: he was this Kukaku character's younger brother. Upon establishing that this was the case, Ganju finally agreed to bring them to where Kukaku currently lived - although Gin had to wonder why the word 'currently' was used. Did the Shiba clan move around a lot?

By the by, the journey had brought them out into the far reaches of the 79th district of Rukongai, the Kusajishi ring - the western area of which was only urban in the loosest sense, being mostly thick forests peppered here and there with small farms and bandit camps.

It was quite late in the evening, and the forest was dark, damp, and decidedly creepy.

In fact, it was the sort of place where Gin felt right at home, confident that nothing nearby was scarier than he could be.

His less serpentine companions were not as comfortable.

"Okay, I swear I saw a pair of eyes in the bushes just now." Tatsuki bit back a growl. "Why are we out here, anyway?"

"I told you," said Ganju, "It's cause our house is currently out here in Kusajishi. We're not far, as it is."

"Okay, I think I've got that," said Tatsuki, her eyes narrowing. "Now why is your house out here?"

"Because we had to move it after the last... uh, incident. Happens all the time."

Tatsuki's eyes narrowed. "Incident? What kind of incident?"

"Oh, it's his sister," Yoruichi said with an audible grin. "Kukaku can be a bit... eccentric at the best of times. Her favorite toys are all violently explosive, and sometimes she ain't too careful with them. I don't think she's ever managed to stay ten years in the same place, unless things have changed since I was last in the afterlife."

"Aha! Here we are now!" Announced Ganju, as the party entered a large clearing in the trees.

Gin's eyebrows rose to maximum elevation. The rest of the party sported wide eyes at the significant weirdness of the house.

It was not so much the house itself - that seemed fairly ordinary, although its construction and state of repair loudly declared that its owner was richer than any of Kusajishi's usual shack-dwellers. No, the true oddities were the huge, sculpted pair of human arms, reaching up out of the ground on either side of the house. Between their clenched fists they held a huge banner over the house itself, which read "Shiba House" in bold kanji.

Stranger still, there was an immense pillar behind the house. It was at least three meters wide, and far taller than any of the nearby trees; its top was covered by a large tarpaulin. The arms could have been, at a stretch, passed off as eccentric ornamentation - but that pillar had to have a use of some kind.

As the party approached, two apparently identical men rushed out of the house. Their scarves, hats, pants, even mustaches were exactly the same; the only discernible difference between the two was that one wore a white shirt while the other wore a pale yellow one.

Gin turned to Ganju. "Who're these characters?"

"I am Koganehiko!" Declared White Shirt. "And I am Shiroganehiko!" Shouted his yellow counterpart, in much the same voice.

"They are - "

"We are the Shiba house guards!" The pair declared in perfect unison.

"Yeah, that." Ganju rolled his eyes. "Guys, this lot want to talk to sis. Can you show them in?"

The pair eyed the group. "You shall not pass!" They said. "The lady Shiba has made it clear that she will not speak with Gotei Shinigami! The only exception she has stated is most certainly not either of you!"

"She will speak with me."

The twins' eyes widened at the gravelly voice, and looked down.

"Well, boys?" Said Yoruichi. "I'm waiting..."

The pair went pale. "Y- yes, Shihõin-san!" The almost yelled. "Please forgive us! We did not know they were with you!"

"Yeah, yeah," the cat huffed. "Get on with it. Time isn't on our side with this endeavor."

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"Ayo, Yoruichi. Good to see you again."

The Shiba clan head was not what most would expect from a lady of nobility.

She was not dressed in expensive clothing. In fact, her fairly minimal clothes seemed rather cheap - and given the scorch marks on the edge of her shirt, Gin had an idea why. She also sported a large white bandana around her hair, not unlike Ganju's green one.

Most distinctive, however, was the fact that her left arm was missing, terminating in a bandaged stump just below the shoulder.

"Kukaku!" Yoruichi said excitedly. "I haven't seen you in - damn, must be more than a hundred years! How've you been keeping?"

Kukaku grinned. "Oh, well enough. I mostly sell fireworks in the richer districts - you'd be surprised how much money I make, actually." He smile faded slightly. "It... well, it does get kinda quiet around here without Kaien. But I get by."

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow, which was quite an interesting spectacle on a cat's face. "I'm kind of surprised you didn't join the Gotei after he passed away. The Sõtaicho had to have offered you a position - it's practically a rule that the tenth is captained by the Shiba leader."

Kukaku rolled her eyes. "Yeah, the old man offered me the tenth. Wasn't interested, though. He might have been a little crazy, but my uncle left some big shoes to fill when he disappeared - from what I hear, the current kid worries about that a lot." Her expression suddenly darkened. "And besides, if I took the captaincy, I'd have to deal with him."

Yoruichi's eyes narrowed. "Who? You mean your - "

"He's not part of the clan anymore." Kukaku harshly cut of Yoruichi's words. "He is no longer related to the Shiba line. If such a thing were possible, they'd even have altered his zanpakutõ so that there were no links left at all. He is not one of us."

Yoruichi's head lowered. "I understand. Sorry for bringing him up."

Kukaku's mood lightened. "Ah, think no more of it," she replied. "Now, what's this you said about breaking into the Seireitei?"

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Gin eyed the thing dubiously.

"Sure looks like it's just a glass ball," he said at last. "I can't see nothin' about it that says otherwise."

"Indeed." Kukaku smirked. "That's because it doesn't have the slightest trace of its own power in it. If it had a spiritual presence of its own, you would feel it, but it does not. It is... a catalyst, of sorts."

Uryuu looked skeptical. "And this will get us over the wall?" He said. "How?"

Kukaku's smile widened. "When given power by its holder, it generates a spherical energy shield." She gestured to the strange device. "In this case, I modified it to sharply cut off the barrier at a certain power threshold, which - if I'm right - should render the field impermeable to the nullifying effect of the deathstone. Depending on how well that works, the resistance of the barrier should be lowered to at least a manageable level."

Gin raised an eyebrow. "Manageable's a tricky word. What's doing the managing?"

"Oh, you'll see. For now, try activating that thing."

Gin focused on the ball in his hand, willing the power of his spirit to flow into it and give it the energy it needed.

A huge blue bubble sprang to life, swelling to several meters in radius. Gin concentrated, chilling any erratic emotion and focusing his mind.

The bubble shrank down to just over two meters in radius - enough to fit them all, if they were a little cuddly.

"Huh. You're powerful, kid, but you keep quite a lid on it," observed Kukaku. "I would have pegged Arisawa-san as the most powerful at a glance... she's got a lot of raw drive, if not experience. You've got power too, but you're all creepy and taciturn. What's up with that?"

Gin's smile radiated false sincerity. "Just how I roll, I guess," he lied. "Fights are easier if your enemy underestimates you, right? Might as well hide as many tricks as you can."

Kukaku gave him a sideways glance. "Yeah, I suppose so," she said in a strange tone. "Anyway, between you, Arisawa-san and Ishida-san, I think we can assume the shield will hold. Come on - let's get you lot into the Seireitei!"

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