Author's Notes:
You know, by now I am mildly surprised that no one has ever commented on the admittedly fairly weird chapter titles. I know that I myself sure would have.
The next day, they were all woken up early, gently but very firmly by Kukaku's hulking manservants. After a quick breakfast, the four of them were ushered out to the front of the main house, where Kukaku and Yoruichi were waiting. The sun was up, and the place was bustling with activity. Kukaku was out, shouting orders, giving instructions to the servants. She was wearing something slightly more dignified-clan-leader-looking, although not without cleavage, Ichigo noticed.
"There you lot are!" She said enthusiastically when she finally saw them. "Come on, this way- no time to lose!" She marched on, and the four of them straggled after her, barely awake as they were. She led them to a small barracks at the side of the house; a storage area, judging by its appearance. Kukaku rummaged through some crates- noticeably efficient rummaging for a person with only one arm- muttering and pulling out clothing here and there, occasionally flinging some undesirable garment aside. Finally, she had produced a pile of garishly colourful clothes.
"You," she said, pointing to Uryu, "you wear this." She handed him a stiff brown kimono, practical but well made. "You'll pass as my, whatsitcalled, accountant. I'm here on business, so having somebody along to keep score'll make sense. You look like a real egghead, too- you'll do fine."
"….thanks." Uryu said, inspecting the kimono.
"Here, take this ledger too, just to make it convincing." Kukaku chucked a heavy tome at him, and he just barely caught it, nearly toppling under its weight. This might be frustrating…
"You, hime girl." She said, pointing to Orihime. "You'll wear this." She handed her a colourful kimono, using the white and red patterns of the Shiba clan, with a bit of yellow lining thrown in.
"It's so cute!" Orihime cheered, inspecting the kimono, spinning it around.
"You'll be acting like my maidservant. Think you can do that?"
"But of course, Kukaku-sama," Orihime said gently, curtseying. "Whatever mistress requires."
Kukaku gave a whistle. "Looks like we got ourselves an actor. Good."
"Now let's hope the rest of you can act." Yoruichi cut in. "This plan must not fail- so listen closely to what she has to say. If you fail here, we will have to use plan B, and that… is the giant cannon."
"I don't mind that idea at all," Kukaku said, grinning, "but playing dress-up was more fun than I thought. "You two." She pointed at Ichigo and Tatsuki, "you look kind of suspicious, so I'm just going to have you wear these." She handed them large, brown, hooded kimono, with stripes of white woven into the fabric. "It's usually worn by the servants of nobles who want extra carrying power- swords, books, or just shopping. It's the kind of dress that's meant to be anonymous- like you don't even exist. It's dehumanizing and I don't like to use it, but it's perfect for the two of you. All the two of you have to do is stay dead quiet and carry my stuff. Can you try and do that?"
"What, you think we can't act?" Tatsuki grumbled.
"Yeah, that's… I mean, you haven't even seen us try." Ichigo said.
"Dearies, the two of you are about as subtle as a thunderbolt. You both look like you want to punch something, all the time, and that's no good. Ichigo, did you know your face is stuck in a permanent frown?"
"…it's not permanent." Ichigo mumbled.
"We don't have time for a crash course in acting, so faceless carriers it is. Do you know how to suppress your reiatsu some?"
"We learned enough from Urahara-san." Tatsuki confirmed.
"Good. Try not to exude that killer intent, and you should be good."
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Yoruichi remarked, sounding smug.
"It's like when I was a little girl, playing with dolls." Kukaku grinned.
Uryu grimaced. This would be a long trek… "So what exactly is our plan now?" He asked, trying to distract himself from the Shiba clan head's madness.
"Oh yes, good thing that you mention that, four-eyes."
"I told you to not call me that..." Uryu grumbled, which however was lost on Kukaku.
"The plan is really quite simple." She began to explain, grinning. "We just walk into the center of Soul Society, the seireitei, get you as close to the place where they are keeping Rukia. Then we make sure that no one is around, and then you all go the rest of the way by yourselves."
"So you're not coming with us." Ichigo stated more than he asked.
"'Course not!" Kukaku exclaimed with exaggerated surprise. "You lot are the daring heroes that rescue the poor maiden from certain death, not me! I'm just the awesome person that helps you a bit along the way. That I put my own life into danger never was a part of the job description."
"Well, that much was to be expected." Uryu noted dryly.
"Whatever, four-eyes. So, do any of the heroes have any more questions?" She looked around, only to be met with silence from Ichigo, Tatsuki, Uryu and Orihime. "Good! Then I say you go and put your disguises on, and then we'll get going! We have quite a way to go before we even get to the seireitei!"
One after another, the four of them entered the barracks to change their clothes, until all of them were in their disguises. While Uryu and Orihime barely had any problems with their disguises, the disguises for Ichigo and Tatsuki turned out to be every bit as uncomfortable and impractical as they seemed to be, though neither of them voiced their concerns out of fear that Kukaku might dig up something even worse instead.
"Ha, seems like I have made the right choices with your costumes – these things fit you all perfectly! Maybe I really should hire you as servants in the case that you live through all of this!" Kukaku laughed once all of them were disguised and lined up.
"Don't even think about it..." Tatsuki said under her breath, just now noticing an advantage of her disguise's hood- Kukaku couldn't see the glares Tatsuki gave her.
"Kukaku..." Yoruichi spoke up, sitting down next to her "Didn't you say that we should get going now?"
The Shiba clan head sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Well then you lot, let's get going! Off to the seireitei."
And so, the merry band- not so merry in the case of Ichigo and Tatsuki- set out a-walking across the countryside, headed towards the Gotei thirteen. Kukaku, in a display of excessive nobility, had decided to eschew walking in favour of a horse-drawn carriage- apparently there were horses in the afterlife too, and two of them were pulling her luxurious cart, filled with cushions, and even a simple roof. Orihime had gotten a seat, since she was supposed to be Kukaku's aide, but the rest of them had to walk alongside them. There was something infuriating about this woman, Ichigo concluded, but he couldn't quite make himself feel angry. She was helping them, after all, and for no apparent cost.
As the landscape passed by them, slowly changing from wood, fields and hills to plains as they came closer to the seireitei, Ichigo began thinking about what was ahead of them. What would they face? Would all of them be as frighteningly strong as Rukia's brother? Feeling worried, he voiced his concerns.
"You know… we don't actually know much about the Gotei thirteen. Shouldn't somebody have told us more by now?"
"Good of you to ask." Kukaku said, lying back, smoking her pipe. "Yoruichi, this is all yours."
"Fine." She said, once again in cat form, comfortably riding the carriage. "You'll be entering a military complex. There are ways around it, but chances are that out of disguise, there will be a trained soldier watching you and making questions- and they're the kind to stab first and ask questions later."
"How strong are they?" Tatsuki asked.
"The lot of you, not counting Orihime, will most definitely be stronger than the average soldier- but those are the least of your worries." Yoruichi said, sounding hesitant. "Whatever their capabilities and organization, the greatest assets they have are and will always be their thirteen captains."
"Are they all as bad as that Byakuya guy?" Ichigo wondered.
"You saw only a fraction of his power," Yoruichi said, her tone sharp, "and yes, most of them are about that level. If you encounter a captain, run. No questions, no objections- run away. You cannot under any circumstances fight them. You might as well try to turn back the tides, topple a mountain or make water run uphill. It's out of your league."
"…they're really that monstrous?" Tatsuki said, looking almost… anxious.
"To make it simple, imagine that each captain is a walking nuke." Yoruichi said flatly. "And you are Hiroshima."
That got the message across fairly well.
"So… we must avoid them, then." Uryu said quietly.
"Yes. We need to infiltrate carefully, and avoid them as long as possible. If you are discovered, run. If you cannot run, fight until you can. Understood?"
"…yes, ma'am." Ichigo said at last. What had they gotten themselves into?
Their journey from that point on was mostly a silent one. As they got closer to the seireitei, the villages and settlements that they passed through or by became progressively more organized and, from the looks of it, more wealthy- so at the very least, there really were places where the conditions seemed to be better than the village that they first passed through...
The various settlements were all full of activity, and people going after their own business – as it seemed, even in the afterlife, people were not safe from having to work for a living (if their existence in the afterlife could even be called living). Even so, none of the people that they passed by seemed to really be bothered or surprised by them: They all moved out of the way whenever they were standing in it, gave Kukaku, and sometimes Ichigo and the others some quick looks, but nothing more. The people seemed to be completely subservient to nobility... or anything that even seemed a little noble.
After they passed through at least the tenth settlement that they came across, Ichigo began to wonder about something else. "Say, how exactly is this entire Rukongai structured? It seems like the closer we get to the seireitei, the more organized everything seems to get here."
"This one's yours, Kukaku." Yoruichi noted, lying down next to Orihime, who was stroking her.
"Argh, jeez... you'd think that the big, good hero would be a bit too nervous than to ask his benefactor annoying questions." Kukaku let out a playfully annoyed sigh. "But yeah, you're actually not too far off from how this all really is. The seireitei is basically the big center, where all the big shots like the shinigami and their thirteen squads and all the big important noble houses are. Everything around the seireitei is the Rukongai, where the normal civilians and the less important noble houses are. The Rukongai is divided into four big main parts, north, east, south and west, based on which side of the seireitei they lie. These four parts in turn are divided into eighty numbered districts each. Basically, the higher-ranking the number, the better the conditions, and the closer to the center the district. We started from about district seventeen in the west Rukongai, and are by now in about the area of ten. That good enough for ya, hero?"
"Uh, yeah. I think." Ichigo said, kind of reluctantly, given the unexpectedly detailed information he received.
"Good. Just so you know, I'd like it if you kept your mouth shut now. We're gonna be there soon, and I want to enjoy the weather some more while I still can."
"...Understood."
Just as he had been asked to, Ichigo remained silent from that point on, and instead looked around his surroundings some more, hoping to get his first look at the seireitei soon. And sure enough, just a few minutes after the Shiba clan head had finished her explanation, their path took them to the top of a hill, from where they could finally see the seireitei.
From the looks of it, the seireitei was an enormous, traditional Japanese castle. While they were still a good bit away from it, Ichigo could already see that it was bigger than any city that he had ever seen with his own eyes, stretching well beyond the horizon, and far to the left and right of his view field. In what seemed to be the very center of the seireitei, there stood a large wide tower surrounded by a few smaller towers, and standing next to a hill that might as well have been big enough to be called a small mountain. Surrounding the entire complex was a seemingly circular, white wall, taller than most of the buildings inside.
Ichigo, Tatsuki and Uryu stopped in their tracks, staring in awe at the view. This was the enemy's base?
"Hey you three! We got no time for standing around to enjoy the view!" Kukaku's voice snapped them out of their thoughts.
"So, this is the seireitei?" Tatsuki asked as they hurried after the carriage.
"What else should it be? Candy mountain?" Kukaku asked, rolling her eyes. "Seriously, grumpy girl, this could hardly be more obvious. Though it is kinda surprising that they're having the walls down..."
"What do you mean by that?" Uryu asked, readjusting his glasses.
Kukaku cupped her chin. "Usually, they're keeping the walls up – don't ask me how – and only bring them down if there's any sort of danger or crisis. If they're having the walls down, it must mean that they're worried about something... and it also means that we'll have to pass through one of the gates."
"And that's not good?" Orihime asked curiously.
"Eh, it's not that bad. My status as noble should be more than enough to get us past the morons that they're having guard the gates." Kukaku dismissed Orihime's question. "Though it is kinda inconvenient, yeah... but whatever, we'll manage."
About another hour (which felt like an eternity to Ichigo) later, they finally got close to the west gate of the seireitei. From up close, the walls were even more impressive to look at than they were from off in the distance: The walls were at least sixty feet high, and seemed to be built absolutely seamless.
And that wasn't even mentioning the guardian.
"Wooow... this guy is huge! Is he even human?" Orihime asked under her breath as they approached the gate, where an extremely large and muscular man stood – and he wasn't just large by normal human standards. The man stood at least thirty feet in height, almost ten meters.
"That's Jidanbo, one of the four gatekeepers." Yoruichi quietly explained, being the only one that heard Orihime's remark. "He's a splatter – a little like a bouncer in the world of the living, except that Jidanbo uses more force."
Tatsuki swallowed. "Giants? They have giants?"
"Only four." Kukaku said dismissively, as they began approaching the gargantuan man.
"He looks kind of cool, you know," Orihime said cheerily, "just look at his axe!"
"Axes that size aren't cool!" Ichigo said. "They're instruments of murdering the hell out of you!"
"Shut it, you lot." Kukaku said, keeping calm. "Oy, Jidanbo!" She called, loudly and cheerfully, "let us through, ya big dumb ape!" She grinned. Ichigo felt a sinking feeling- she was insulting him? Really?
"Shiba-sama." The giant rumbled. "What's yer business?"
"My own." Kukaku said. "What, did this 'clan head' thing pass you by? Let me in already."
"Special orders." Jidanbo rumbled. "There's a drill on- can't let outsiders through right now."
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!" Kukaku shot back loudly. "I get up early, endure this horrible carriage ride here-" Ichigo grumbled; she wasn't the one walking- "and you tell me I have to go back?"
"Well…" Jidanbo said, "what you here for?"
Kukaku snapped her fingers. "Tsuhabi, step up." She pointed at Uryu. "This is my accountant- we're here to do some boring trades negotiations. Tell 'em all about it, boy."
Uryu, looking befuddled, stepped up. He held up the ledger, opened his mouth, and… kept quiet.
"Well?" The giant rumbled.
"Well!" Uryu snapped, improvising, "as I have told Shiba Kukaku-sama a million times by now, growing rice is simply not feasible in these times, with the economy as unstable as it is."
Ichigo felt baffled. Uryu had put on a nasal, entirely obnoxious voice, managing to sound grating and dry at the same time.
"The economy?" Jidanbo said.
"Oh, I wouldn't expect the soldiery to understand the subtlety of how trade flows and its effects on society," Uryu said, condescendingly, "but we are here to discuss the purchase of a small lot of land for the experimental growing of grain. As I have told oyakata-sama a million times, grain is more nutritious and cost efficient than rice-"
"And as I told you a million times, our ground ain't good for grain!" Kukaku shot back, sounding angry, but Ichigo could see a glimmer in her eye.
"Please, oyakata-sama," Uryu said, "I am trying to explain our business. Now, as I was saying, we will need to buy at least two acres of land, along with five sacks of grain, and we will also have to hire a greater work force-" it was amazing how he could drone on, Ichigo thought, sounding exactly like he could talk for hours about the most boring stuff imaginable, "-and this, you see, will require extensive negotiations with several noble clans, and this of course will take up a lot of our time. Of course, rice does supply us with the food we need, but in these times grain is the future and-"
"All right, all right." Jidanbo said, sounding bewildered. "Trade, was it? I'll open the gate for you." Slowly, the giant turned around, and lifted a part of the giant wall, his muscles flexing and straining under its massive weight. "You may pass, Shiba-sama," he managed, his voice strained.
"Good sport, Jidanbo," Kukaku said. "You lot, keep up." The horses moved forward, and so did Ichigo, Uryu, Tatsuki and Orihime. The Gotei Thirtenn was just before them.
And just as they passed the gate, they felt it- even Orihime, whose sensing was the weakest. Power. Overwhelming power, restrained but present.
"Shit." Kukaku muttered. "Let me handle this one. You four, keep your mouth shut."
For a moment, they headed onwards as if there was nothing wrong – though that was easier said than done, with this almost choking power approaching them. Then, after another few seconds, which felt longer to Ichigo than their entire trip here, a man came around a nearby corner.
The man was wearing the exact same uniform as Kuchiki Byakuya had: The black shinigami robes, coupled with a white haori, making it clear that they were dealing with another captain. He had silver white hair, and was, for whatever reason, keeping his eyes narrowed to the point of them being slits. From the looks of it, he was much leaner built than Byakuya. It was quite obvious that this man was the source of this crushing feeling of power... which wasn't the main reason as to why the man's appearance unsettled Ichigo and the others so much. No, what really moved this guy out of the 'dangerous' territory and right into the 'why aren't we already running away' territory was his expression: A simple smile. A simple, mocking, and creepily unsettling smile.
"Yo, Gin-san! What brings you here?" Kukaku asked, seemingly not disturbed in the slightest by the man's – well, everything.
"Oh, nothing in particular, Shiba Kukaku... I was just out to get myself some strawberry milk, y'see." The man – Gin replied, with a cheerfulness that was reminiscent of Urahara, but at the same time, more off-putting than Urahara could ever hope to be. "I should be askin' you the same thing, though-what brings ya here, with servants and a carriage, no less?"
"Eh, just some trade negotiations with some other noble houses, that sorta boring stuff. I figured that I might as well go out a little once I'm already at this, so I brought a few of my servants with me." She pointed to Ichigo and Tatsuki – which accomplished the one thing that Ichigo and Tatsuki wanted to avoid the most right now: Attracting Gin's attention. Mockingly slow, the captain walked over to Ichigo and Tatsuki. For the first time since putting their disguises on, Ichigo and Tatsuki were outright glad to be wearing them. Their hoods perfectly obscured them almost losing their composure, quite unlike Uryu and Orihime, who put on an excellent act.
"Didn't know that ya actually had servants around that ya forced into this kinda outfit. I thought ya disliked these things?" Gin asked, once he stood right in front of Ichigo and Tatsuki – way closer than what was comfortable.
"Believe me, these ugly mugs deserve to be hidden, you snake." Kukaku remarked nonchalantly. "Is that all that you want to know, then? We're kinda in a hurry, y'see."
"A hurry, huh?" Gin wondered, finally averting his gaze from them. "Well, then I suppose I shouldn't be wasting more of yer time. A captain really shouldn't be wasting his time, either... I will see ya around, Shiba-san."
He casually walked off, and the carriage continued its way. The further they got away from the captain, the weaker the pressure that they felt got, until it was ultimately barely notable.
"Gah, what the hell was up with that guy?!" Tatsuki burst out after a short while. "That absurd amount of power, and this constant grinning! Urgh!"
"That was Ichimaru Gin, one of the thirteen captains." Kukaku said calmly. "That guy's just a big creep... we can count ourselves lucky that he bought our excuse. Just so you know, ol' Gin's far from the strongest captain of the Gotei – that should really give you a good idea of what you're in for."
Ichigo felt chilled to the spine, like something had reached into his very bones and gleefully molested them without so much as using a condom. This was one of their lesser fighters? This man, who had looked so creepy- no, creepy would be the understatement of the century. He had felt like a malicious monster, ready to pounce whenever he felt like it, only putting on a show of civility.
"That guy…" he mumbled.
"Gin's a right bastard," Kukaku said, "and everyone knows it. The little fucker is a hell of a killer, and that's really all the Gotei looks for in a captain. They talk about duty, honour and protection, but if they were really decent people, they wouldn't be employing people like him."
"So the shinigami forces have people like him in charge." Uryu said in a neutral tone. "Somehow, I find myself unsurprised."
"Don't go making conclusions." Kukaku said, parking the carriage near somebody's barracks. "Orihime, tie the horses up. We're heading in."
"Yes, Kukaku-sama!" Orihime cheered. She tied up the horses to a pole, and picked up Yoruichi, before joining up with the rest of them.
"Are they all like him?" Tatsuki asked, sounding nervous. "I felt… wrong when he looked at me."
"They got their fair share of killers, all right. The chief of intelligence for one, and let's not even talk about the captain of the eleventh division." She took a puff on her pipe, and began heading further into the Gotei, the five of them trailing after her. "Don't get me wrong, though- not all of them are monsters. Gin's probably the worst of the lot- except maybe for one of them. Some of them are good people, too."
"I knew they couldn't all be bad." Orihime said happily. "They're just really serious-minded and believe in their laws a lot. Which we are technically breaking, I guess."
"That's enough chatter." Yoruichi said, from her spot in Orihime's arms. "We can only go so far before Kukaku has to explain herself- even a clan leader isn't free to walk around here without question. We need a plan for moving on after that."
"I'll be able to take you a couple miles in," Kukaku said reassuringly, "but yeah, after that you're on your own. I need to take care of business on my own, and that includes covering my tracks. But we'll get to that when we get to that... now let's go."
Silently, they marched on, leaving the carriage behind. Once again, Ichigo found himself to be quite glad that they actually had Kukaku and Yoruichi to rely on as guides – without them, they probably would get lost within only a few minutes. Judging by their current surroundings, and what Ichigo had seen from the hill earlier, the seireitei was a lot like a maze. Around them, there were nothing but white buildings and walls, all with orange tiled roofs and an occasional tree in between it all. While this all certainly was rather beautiful to look at, it did not help orientation. In fact, the only thing that they really could rely on to not get completely lost was the big hill in the center, and another wall which apparently protected the very center of the seireitei.
The streets were not all crowded, but there were constant signs of activity- cleaners sweeping the streets, shinigami out marching en masse, on patrol or on drills. Officials walking about, carrying paperwork, more shinigami… in just half an hour, he had seen hundreds of them, and that was not even an exaggeration. This really was a hub of military activity, the very heart of shinigami power, and there were many strong people too- every now and then, he'd sense reiatsu at his own level, or occasionally even greater. It was a little like a scene from a movie set in the middle ages- everything looked archaic, even though there was the occasional sign of more modern technology. Almost every street was flanked by walls, walls or building walls- there were few open spaces.
"So where exactly is our goal now, anyway?" Ichigo asked, as they walked slowly, as to not raise unnecessary suspicion.
"The very center." Yoruichi replied, having just left Orihime's arms to walk in front of him.
Tatsuki stopped dead in her tracks. "You mean that huge-ass tower is a prison?!"
"Keep moving!" Yoruichi hissed. "But yeah, you're right. That tower is the senzaikyu, the "Palace of Remorseful Sin", and the hill next to it is sokyoku hill, the place where Rukia's execution is set to take place."
"Geez... why would they even need a prison this big?" Tatsuki asked, quickly hurrying after them as to not get too far behind.
"The Soul Society is a big place, grumpy girl." Kukaku retorted, not even bothering to look back from her place at the front of their group. "There is a lot of people here, so it's only a given that there's also a lot of criminals, and a lot of criminals means that a big prison is needed. But seriously, can't you just cut out the chit-chat once and for all now? I already told you several times that you need to shut your mouths. The more you talk here, the sooner our cover will get blown. If that's what you want, you might as well turn yourselves in right away. So do you?"
"No, ma'am." Ichigo and Tatsuki replied simultaneously.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Kukaku snorted.
From there on, the rest of their journey was entirely silent – and unlike the way to the seireitei, the silence was at no point interrupted this time around. More than just a few times, they passed by more shinigami, though none of them paid any attention to them, and luckily enough, they came across no more captains. With the confidence of a person that has been walking around the seireitei for decades now, Kukaku brought them closer and closer to the center, until at long last, they were only a few blocks away from the inner wall – which was, however, still a good distance away from sokyoku hill.
"This is a good place." Kukaku suddenly said, stopping. "This is as far as I'll be able to take you in. From here on out, you lot are on your own."
"Let's step in somewhere undisturbed for a couple of minutes." Yoruichi said, calmly walking through a doorway in a wall, leading into a small, empty courtyard next to a barracks. Kukaku followed, and the four of them followed.
"Well, this is it." Kukaku said, smiling slightly. "Good luck, kids." She took a seat on a nearby bench, resting.
"…thanks." Ichigo said. She was a strange character, but she had been a great help. Feeling relieved, he let down his hood, and Tatsuki followed suit.
"From here, there are two direct routes to the prison," Yoruichi said, "one going through the streets, straight forward- but there will be heavy patrols that way. The second is… special."
"Special?" Uryu asked, frowning a little.
"It's a mixture of dashing over rooftops and through alleyways. I devised it myself, when I was still part of the Gotei."
Ichigo frowned- he hadn't known Yoruichi had once worked here, although given her familiarity with the place, it shouldn't surprise him. "So which one do we take?"
"You split up." Yoruichi replied.
"…is that a good idea?" Orihime said. "I mean, we're just… we barely know what we're doing. You know about this place, Yoruichi-san, but we don't. And if we run into trouble, isn't it better to be together?"
"The idea is that you will avoid 'trouble' at any cost." Yoruichi said. "Run if you can."
"Still, Inoue-san makes a good point." Uryu said. "We're in enemy territory, and ill equipped to handle a larger amount of enemies."
"And if you run into a captain, it's probably all over. No escaping, no fighting." Yoruichi said calmly. "Two teams will mean an increased chance that at least one team will make it. It's a risk- but this is already a risky enterprise."
"…I guess I understand." Tatsuki said, nodding. "Yeah, we can do that- right, Ichigo?"
"I guess." Ichigo said, feeling uneasy. "So what teams?"
"I wanna go with Tatsuki!" Orihime cheered.
"Orihime goes with Uryu, and Tatsuki and Ichigo forms a team of their own." Yoruichi said.
"Aww…" Orihime said, sounding disappointed.
"Ichigo and Tatsuki, who aren't that subtle-"
"Hey!" Ichigo shot back.
"-Who aren't that subtle," Yoruichi continued, "will take the direct route. You will strip out of your disguises and pose as new recruits of division eight. If anyone asks, you got lost- division eight is roughly in that direction, so you could still continue."
Losing no time, the two of them took their disguises off, standing in their normal shihakusho again.
"And if they ask us about division eight?" Tatsuki said.
"The captain's name is Kyoraku Shunsui. The vice-captain is Ise Nanao. Memorize this."
Quickly, the two of them repeated the names to themselves, trying to put it into their memory.
"I take it that means we will be going by roof?" Uryu said.
"Correct. You and Orihime will be moving over this building- just avoid rooftop guards, and use alleyways when you need to."
"Why can't I go with Tatsuki?" Orihime said. "I don't hate Ishida-kun, but…"
"You will go with him because he is a human being. His skills are the best out of the four of you, but he doesn't have a shinigami's fortitude. You have healing abilities."
"I see…" Orihime said, sounding disappointed still. "But I can't climb roofs."
"I could carry the both of us." Uryu said, clearing his throat awkwardly.
"You will." Yoruichi said. "I will be going over the roofs, watching the both of you. Nobody notices a stray cat."
"Got it." Ichigo said. "So let's go, then."
The four of them were just about ready to move- but then, somebody stepped into the empty courtyard. He had glasses, light, long hair and the typical shinigami uniform.
"Shit…" Yoruichi muttered.
"Who are you people?" He demanded.
"Hiya, bub." Kukaku said, standing up.
"Ah, Shiba Kukaku-sama!" The man said, bowing quickly. "Who are these people?"
"My servants." Kukaku said. "You lot, go on ahead- I'll settle this."
"I don't quite understand, Shiba-sama," the man said, looking confused as Ichigo and Tatsuki walked out. That alone might not have been so suspicious, but when Uryu, looking still like the harmless scribe, picked up Orihime and flashed away up to the rooftop, suspicion was certainly raised.
"What's going on?"
"I know you, kid," Kukaku said. "You're Hidetomo, right? From division thirteen?"
"I am honoured that a clan head remembers me." Hidetomo said. "But still…
"Oh, I remember most officers who worked under my brother." Kukaku said dismissively.
"Still, this is quite irregular." Hidetomo continued. "Are these people really authorized to be here? Even a noble entourage shouldn't be going this far, this is division grounds and, uh…"
"There's no way you could just forget this, is there?" Kukaku said, sounding disappointed.
"I am obligated to report irregularities to the concerned division."
"I figured."
"So if you'll excuse me-" He began stepping towards the doorway, but Kukaku blocked his path. "Sorry about this, kid," she said, taking her sword out.
"What is the meaning of this, Shiba-sama?" He said, reaching for his own sword. "Guards! Guards!"
"That won't help you." Kukaku said. "I placed a sound-killing kido around this place as soon as you entered. I'm bad at a lot of things, but not kido."
Hidetomo drew his zanpakutou. "You leave me no choice, Shiba-sama," he said, taking a stance. "I must report-"
Suddenly, Kukaku moved her hand quickly, throwing what to the ignorant observer would have looked like fireworks at the man. It was, in fact, a bound spell, constructed to blind anyone it hit. Hidetomo blinked, and stepped back-
And in an instance, Kukaku had stepped forward, in one motion lashing out with her sword and raking it across Hidetomo's neck. He didn't even have time to react- letting out a slight gurgling sound, he sunk to the ground, dying quickly.
"Will you need help hiding the body?" Yoruichi said.
"You catch up with the kids." Kukaku muttered. "Poor bastard… wrong place at the wrong time, I guess."
"I am sorry, Kukaku."
"I know what I signed up for." Kukaku grumbled. "You worry about your part- I know how to make this hard to discover."
Yoruichi nodded, and swiftly jumped up to the rooftop.
oOo
Time had lost all meaning. Ever since the sentence had been decided on, ever since it had been clear that Rukia was going to be executed, the days just seemed to fly by for her. It still felt like it was just earlier today that she had been told the sentence, by none other than her own brother no less, when in fact, it was already two weeks ago. It had been obvious to Rukia that she would receive a punishment for the crime of creating a substitute shinigami, but never would she have thought that the sentence would be her death. Several months, maybe even years of prison, maybe, but an execution?
Obviously, when Rukia had been told about the punishment, she was in denial at first. Surely, this was a weird kind of joke, a prank, a bizarre dream? There simply was no way that this could be a punishment. There had to be a mistake of sorts which she would be told about soon enough, or maybe she would just be waking up, to find that the past few months never happened.
But nothing like that happened. Time went on. Her execution was decided to take place one month after her retrieval. She didn't wake up. No mistakes were made.
Sitting around in her prison cell in the senzaikyu all by herself, with nothing but a few visits by some of her colleagues to disturb her solitude, after a while Rukia reached the point where she simply accepted her punishment. Looking back on it all, with everything that happened, Rukia was just about certain that Ichigo wouldn't even mind if he were to somehow learn about her execution. After all, it was she who had just busted into his life, putting him into mortal peril multiple times... and worst of all, put him through the pain of knowing that he would have to be the one that would have to perform the konso for his sister.
Having no memory of how her life was before her own death in the world of the living, Rukia couldn't even begin to understand how Ichigo must have felt, having just lost his sister, and then being told that he needs to make her pass on... so who was Rukia to pressure him into doing it? No... Ichigo willingly giving up his powers, and letting her go was just about the best thing that he could have done. She couldn't blame him for it.
And of course, this was not the first time that Rukia had made the life of other people worse.
She was responsible for the death of Shiba Kaien, one of the finest men the soul society had seen, and with him the Shiba had, if not fallen, then stumbled from grace. All because of her own weakness, her own incompetence. And now Ichigo had been dragged into her world- she only hoped he stayed out of it entirely.
Was this karma, she wondered? Was this the universe's way of meting out justice, having her finally pay the price for the damage she had done, for her irresponsibility, for her unprofessional behaviour, for the shame she had brought her nii-sama?
"Hey, Rukia." A rough, familiar voice interrupted her brooding.
She turned away from the window that she had been silently staring out of for hours now, towards her visitor – who turned out to be... "Renji. What do you want?"
"Nothin'." Renji said. "Do I need a reason to come down here?"
He honestly didn't know himself what to say- what could you say to your best and oldest friend when you knew she was going to die, when she didn't even deserve it?
"You never change, do you, Renji?" She said, and there was a shadow of a smile on her face. "How did they even let you come see me here? This is maximum security."
"Ain't a big time fukutaicho for nothing." Renji said. "You know me- all I had to do was put my foot down, and the guards just let me in nice and easy if I promised to behave." He grinned cockily.
"You begged nii-sama for help, didn't you?"
Renji flinched. "As if!"
Actually, that had been almost exactly what happened- and it seemed that beneath all that ice, his captain had enough of a heart to understand.
"Renji, how is he coping?" Rukia asked, solemnly. "No- does he even care?"
"Idiot!" Renji barked. "Why wouldn't he care? He's your brother!"
"I don't even know why he took me in, adopted me like he did in the first place. I always thought he was a wonderful, charitable person- but I was never very successful, and with how I disgraced his name, I don't even see why he would care. Has he disowned me?"
"Shut up!" Renji shouted. "That's enough doom and gloom, Rukia- he cares, and I know it!"
"How would you know?"
"I served under him for a long time now. I can read him, just a little- and he isn't happy, Rukia. He's not happy at all."
"Says you."
"I ain't wrong." Renji insisted. "Just this morning, I saw a big stack of paperwork on his desk. From yesterday. Not done. He never neglects work, and you know it."
"It doesn't matter." Rukia said, but her tone had shifted a little. "I'm still doing to be executed. And… it could be worse, really."
"Worse?" Renji exploded. "How could it be worse?!"
"I've had a good life. I'm over a hundred and fifty years old now. I've made friends and lost friends, and I still have loved ones. People like you, Renji. I had a long career, doing my best to make nii-sama proud. I pulled my weight. And I also hurt people along the way, really badly and without even realizing it. I… I'm fine with this. If I am to die, I can accept that."
"BULLSHIT!" Renji snapped. "What the hell kinda defeatist shit talk is that? Do you even believe that yourself?"
"It's reality." She said with an infuriating calmness. "There's nothing you or I can do to change it."
"You really think so?" Renji said, his voice trembling, "You really think it's all over? That there's no reason to fight?"
"Yes." She said, plain and simple.
"To hell with you, then!" Renji shot back. "I got better things to do than to babysit a defeatist!" Angrily, he stormed out.
He regretted his words before he had even taken five steps. Rukia had been there from the very beginning, back when the both of them were just helpless street rats in the Rukongai, little children doing everything and anything they could to survive- was that any way to speak to her?
But part of him was too angry to care. How could she just… give up? What was the matter with her?
Still fuming, he began heading back.
oOo
Climbing roofs and jumping from one of them to another turned out to be every bit as uncomfortable as Uryu had feared that it would be. Carrying Orihime was already awkward enough (if not necessarily bad) by itself, but doing so while trying to jump was, to put it lightly, tricky. After trying to stay strictly on the roofs for a while, both of them agreed to only get on roofs on which they could actually walk ahead for a while, and walk down on the streets on all other occasions. While walking down in the streets did mean risking that they would be more likely to be seen by randomly patrolling shinigami, it did at the same time draw less attention to them than just walking on the roofs – if someone saw them walking on those, they'd be just about done for, anyway.
Luckily for Uryu and Orihime, though, right now, there were no shinigami in sight, and no nearby reiatsu to be felt, either, which meant that for the time being, they could advance quickly... in theory. In practice, things were a little different; none of the streets nearby seemed to lead them to the inner wall of the seireitei, and the roofs of the closest houses weren't all that suited for walking on them, either.
More than once, they had to completely change the way in which they were going, since they simply couldn't progress with it. At one point, they even came close to the inner wall... only to find out that there was no gate nearby. And of course, despite what she had said, Yoruichi was nowhere to be seen, leaving them completely without guidance.
"Again?!" Uryu asked, frustrated, as they once more got to a point where they could not progress.
"Stay calm, Ishida-kun. We can't let this get to us! We have to keep moving!" Orihime reminded him, in an oddly determined tone.
Uryu blinked. "Uhh... yeah. You're right, Inoue-san. C'mon, let's go back to the last turn, and see if we can find a better way from there..."
"Hey, you two!" A voice came from behind them. Uryu quickly turned around, to see that two shinigami had walked up to them – and unless he was completely mistaken, they both had reiatsu that denoted considerable strength, too. Well, fuck.
One of the two shinigami was a short, petite girl with dark blonde hair and gray eyes, while the other one was a fairly tall, dark-haired man with a goatee. Both of them gave Uryu and Orihime skeptical looks. "What are you two doing here?"
"Errr..." Uryu began. The two shinigami didn't necessarily seem hostile... if he were to come up with a good enough excuse, it should actually be possible to resolve this situation without having to attack them. It really seemed like a good possibility... if it weren't for the fact that Uryu had absolutely no idea what to say.
And apparently, he didn't have to, either. "Ahh, finally someone to ask for directions! You there! What are your names and ranks?" Orihime exclaimed, speaking in a surprisingly bossy tone. Uryu was surprised- she had somehow put on a distinctly un-Orihime tone and manner of speech, sounding almost like she considered everyone and everything beneath her.
"Uhh... Kotsubaki Sentaro, third seat of the thirteenth division?" The male shinigami (who apparently was the same person that had called them out earlier) said in an uncertain tone.
"Kotetsu Kiyone, also third seat of the thirteenth division." The female shinigami introduced herself, sounding no less confused than her partner – and Uryu could not exactly blame them, especially when he himself wasn't sure where Orihime was going with this.
"Third seats, eh? I was hoping that at the very least a vice captain would be helping us out here, but I suppose the two of you will suffice. Do tell me, Kotsubaki-kun and Kotetsu-chan, where exactly is the nearest gate to the inner part of the seireitei?" Orihime continued, speaking in such a prideful tone that at first, Uryu didn't even realize that she had just called the female shinigami 'chan' – which generally was in incredibly informal honorific to use.
Luckily though, neither of the two shinigami seemed to have noticed, either. "Now hold on for just a second here!" The male shinigami, Sentaro, shouted. "Who are you to ask for something like that of us?! You two look just like two servants to nobles."
"Servants?! How dare you!" Orihime cried out in an almost obviously exaggerated outrage. "Are you aware of whom exactly I am? I am Shiba Nami, first cousin of the head of the Shiba clan, Shiba Kukaku! I will not stand for this undignified treatment of my person!"
"Oh, err, I'm sorry for my partner, Shiba-dono. He just got a little ahead of himself!" The female shinigami, Kiyone, stuttered, while Sentaro bowed down in apology. Uryu's jaw fell open. They actually bought this act?
He had to struggle to hold his bafflement back. This was actually working? Sure, she was wearing Shiba colours… but he had never imagined they'd believe it without question. Nobility counted for a lot, it seemed.
"Uh, may I ask why you are wearing a maid outfit, Shiba-dono?" Sentaro asked, sounding very much sheepish.
"Hmpf. Of course, a cretin such as you has no understanding of the current latest fashion among the noble houses." Orihime dismissed the question haughtily. "But, enough of this. I shall overlook this improper treatment of nobility for just this once, if you give us the directions, like I asked you to."
"Thank you, Shiba-dono!" Kiyone shouted, now also kneeling down. "Please do excuse my inappropriate curiosity though, but what exact business do you have in the inner seireitei?"
Orihime looked down at the two, haughty expression on her face, as if she were thinking about whether or not she should deem the two worthy to be told why she was here. "After your inappropriate behaviour, are hardly deserving of this, but very well. I am here to take care of my cousin's business in her stead. We need to hold negotiations with several other noble clans, since our clan plans to purchase a small lot of land. I have brought our clan's accountant along with me for that very reason. That is all that you need to know."
It was a gamble, Uryu noticed. They didn't know for sure if there were even noble clans that lived in the inner part of the seireitei – if Orihime was wrong about this, the two might get suspicious. Once more however, it seemed like Orihime got lucky. "Understood, Shiba-dono. The nearest gate to the inner seireitei is just a bit north of here. Shall we accompany to your goal?"
"That will not be necessary, Sentaro-san. I will be able to find the way by myself. Now begone from my sight!" Orihime ordered.
Sentaro and Kiyone exchanged a quick glance, before getting up, and hurrying off. Uryu just stared after them, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that all of this actually just happened. Orihime, on the other hand, just giggled.
"Inoue-san..." Uryu said, finally managing to regain his speech "that was amazing! How did you get the idea to do that?"
"It really was just a random thought that occurred to me, and I wanted to try out if it worked!" Orihime explained, giggling again. "I mean, when Kukaku-san and you acted like this against this splatter guy earlier, it worked, so I thought that this might be worth a try, too!"
"It was really impressive. You even had a fake name prepared?"
"Oh, that." Orihime smiled, scratching her head. "That was just from this character in a manga I'm reading. First thing that popped into my head."
Uryu nodded, and went silent. It was one thing to just play tricks on a random guard who they probably could easily just defeat in a battle was one thing, but attempting to trick two third-seats into thinking that one was nobility was something else entirely – and Uryu highly doubted that he himself would have had the courage to even try it. It really began to seem to Uryu that were was a lot more to Orihime than her just being an airhead...
"Can we go now, Ishida-san?" Orihime's voice snapped him from his wandering thoughts.
"Oh, yes. You're right." He nodded. "We should get moving again."
oOo
Ichigo and Tatsuki were heading down the streets, dodging patrols when they could. The odd shinigami looked their way, but didn't question them. Ichigo just barely controlled the butterflies in his stomach- it was really working; they were blending in so long as they didn't stick around or stick out.
"I can't believe it…" Tatsuki mumbled. "It feels too easy."
"Just keep your reiatsu down and keep walking." Ichigo muttered. "We'll be fine."
"For how long?"
"Hopefully enough that if they do call our bluff, we're close enough to make a dash for the tower."
"…right." Tatsuki said.
"Getting nervous?"
"Like hell." She growled. "Well, uh, yeah. I'm not chickening out, but… this mission is just…"
"It just sunk in how big this place is, and how high the stakes are, isn't that it?"
"And how would you know that, Mr. Sage-and-Seer?" She said, shooting a glance down the street. Nothing bad- just a couple of passing shinigami. The two of them kept walking, keeping a slow, leisurely pace.
"I know," Ichigo said once the shinigami had passed, "because that's just what it did for me. Ever since we walked through the gates. I knew it'd be dangerous, lots of strong people… but knowing it and really realizing it isn't the same, now is it?"
"Yeah…" Tatsuki said uneasily. "I- I don't want to die. And we could. And I'm not even sure why I'm doing this."
"Why do you think you're doing it, Tatsuki?"
"…fucked if I really know." She shrugged. "I guess it's because well, I got all these powers and I might as well use them and now I realize how dumb that kind of thinking really is." She shook her head. "And there's also how you'd do something really reckless and stupid if there wasn't somebody to hold you back. Somebody needs to make sure you come back in one piece, yeah?"
"Noble." Ichigo said dryly.
"So what about you? I mean, you knew her for like a month, and… I guess I believe you now when you say you really weren't dating. You weren't, right?"
"No!" Ichigo grunted. "But still…"
"Is she really worth all this?"
"I don't even know." He mumbled. "But I- I gotta try. I owe her. Without her, all of us could be dead- me, Yuzu, mom, Karin… all of them. I don't know… maybe under their laws she really deserves it, but she's a good person. I don't know if I should be doing this, or if she'll really be worth all this trouble- but I know that if I don't even try, I'll regret it forever."
"You know, that actually didn't sound too cheesy." Tatsuki said. "You're really growing into the whole hero shtick."
"Shut up." Ichigo grumbled. "She matters. And she shouldn't die. And I have to give it all I've got, trying to save her, okay? This really is a lot like some stupid romance novel- charging into the tallest tower to save the girl and all that, but still…"
"I understand." She smiled. "She's a friend. That's all you need to say, really."
"Sheesh, this is cheesy…" He muttered.
But before the moment was allowed to get obnoxiously cheesy, they were interrupted. Round the corner came a blond woman with long hair, with a noticeable cleavage and an even more noticeable bust- but most noticeably of all, reiatsu greater than their own. She wore the shihakusho, and on her arm there was a badge of some sort.
Instantly, they tensed up.
"Act normal." Tatsuki hissed.
The woman walked up to them, and it looked like she was going to walk past them- but then she stopped.
"Aren't you two going to salute a superior? Honestly, kids these days…"
Ichigo froze up. Luckily, Tatsuki didn't.
"Our most sincere apologies!" She barked. "We're new recruits- we were just assigned to division eight. We were heading there now- there's some drill or something, and…"
"Fresh out of school, then?" The woman said, smiling, and it occurred to Ichigo that it really took very little for her to look seductive.
"Yeah. Uh. School." He managed.
"Look her in the eyes, you idiot!" Tatsuki said, and Ichigo wasn't sure how much of it was acting. "I'm so sorry- he's an idiot. Retarded, actually."
"Hey!" Ichigo shot back.
"Oh, I get that all the time." The woman laughed, and inspected them closer. "Your names, please."
"Uchiwa Yasako." Tatsuki said, and Ichigo marveled at the speed with which she thought of a fake name.
"Uh, Asano." He said. "Asano Keigo." Not too imaginative, but it would have to do.
"And your ranks? No, you wouldn't have any… so how do you kids like Ukitake-taicho? He's real friendly with recruits."
"Our taicho is Kyoraku Shunsui." Tatsuki said, not missing a beat. "We don't know the others too well- you hear a lot about them, of course, but we're… well, new to this."
"Oh right, silly me." She laughed. "So you don't know who I am?"
"No ma'am! Sorry ma'am!" Tatsuki shot back, and Ichigo decided that perhaps he should leave the talking to her.
"I'm Matsumoto Rangiku, fukutaicho of the tenth division."
"Glad to meet you, ma'am!" Tatsuki said, bowing and grabbing Ichigo's head, forcing him into a bow. "Now, we really should hurry-"
"Just one thing," Rangiku said, inspecting Ichigo closer. She made a face of sorts, and Ichigo tensed. Was this when they had to fight?
"I just have one question. What's the flower of division eight?"
Shit. Shit shit shit. Fuck.
"…flower?" he said, trying to stall for time.
"Don't mind him, he's an idiot." Tatsuki said, "the flower is… a lily, of course. Yeah."
God, let this work…
"Oh right, that's true!" Rangiku cheered. "Sorry to hassle you kids- you go on to your drill."
"Y-yes, Matsumoto-sama!" Ichigo said, and walked- almost sprinted- away with Tatsuki.
Rangiku looked as they ran. Yeah, there was no way those two were who they said they were… and the guy had looked impossibly familiar. She could chase them down, of course- but then again, she just got off work and had some drinking to do with Hisagi and Kira. Not really worth the trouble…
She would have to report it, though. She sighed. Why did this always have to happen to her?
Author's Notes:Readers that are at least a bit familiar with One Piece might recognize the fake name that Orihime chose to be from the series. In case anyone is wondering why I picked that name in particular: Orihime's reasoning is the same as mine. It was the first thing that came to mind.