Author's Notes:
I can't think of anything to say here right now. I suppose I'll just add in some actual notes here once I can think of some. . .
Uryu dug through the cupboard. When Urahara had told them that they would need to make their final preparations, Uryu realized that if he wanted to stand a chance against the shinigami of the Gotei Thirteen, he would need to take one of his grandfather's old Quincy artifacts with him – so here he was, in a dead man's room, searching for something that might be of use of him.
His grandfather's room was full of these artifacts: Things created long ago by the Quincy to make them more efficient when fighting hollows... or shinigami. Uryu still remembered his grandfather's explanation on every object... most of them were inefficient or dangerous, and only few of them were actually practical enough to potentially give Uryu an advantage of battle. But these advantages were minor... if he wanted a significant boost, he'd have to use something quite of the ordinary.
Only after several minutes of searching, he found something that came close to what he had envisioned... a lengthy, wooden box, containing a white glove. By wearing it, Uryu recalled, his ability to control reishi, spirit particles, would reach levels which he could not even imagine... and by taking it off, he would reach an even higher level of power – for a short time, at least. After a surge of great power, Uryu would lose his Quincy abilities altogether, with no method of recovering them, as far as he knew.
Incredible power at a high price... Uryu held the box in his hands for a several minutes, thinking hardly about whether or not this would be worth it – but ultimately threw the box away into a corner, with the other artifacts that he would not be using. The price that he would have to pay for this power was too high. With a sigh, Uryu continued his search through the cupboard.
Quickly, he found something else that took his interest: Another wooden box, much smaller than the previous one, and in the shape of a cube. Within it, lying on a bit of black cloth was what looked like a crimson gemstone, in just the right shape to fit in the palm of his hand. Uryu still remembered his grandfather's explanation on what the stone was, and what dangers its usage brought... like the glove, it would bring a great increase in his strength, easily enough to allow him to fight strong shinigami – but just like with the glove, the power would come at a great price.
A price which Uryu was quite willing to pay, should the need to use the stone arise.
He took the stone out of the box, put it in his pocket, and closed the cupboard. His preparations were made.
Uryu was already about to turn around and leave the room, when a voice coming from the doorway stopped him dead in his tracks. "May I ask what exactly this is about?"
And there he was: His father, suddenly standing in the doorway, giving him the kind of disapproving look that he was so used to. Caught completely off-guard, Uryu stepped back, unsure of what to say, staring at his father with wide eyes.
Of course, it just couldn't have gone smoothly... of course, his father had to show up, and demand the kind of conversation that Uryu had been avoiding. What should he tell him? That he would just go out for a few weeks to do some training? That he had made some friends, whom he would go a holiday with, and that he just wanted to make sure that hollows would not be a problem during that time? At least a dozen lies to tell his father flashed through his mind, one more detailed than the other – and yet, Uryu was certain that no matter which one he would tell his father, he would not believe him. So instead, Uryu decided to go with what was probably the worst thing to do at this point: Telling his father the truth.
"I am going to the Soul Society." Uryu said, deciding to simply be blunt.
For an instance, he thought he saw something different in his face, something besides the apathetic glare he was used to- something like shock, surprise, maybe even concern?
The look was over in an instant, though, Ryuken forming the same expression once again.
"Well?" Uryu insisted. "Don't you have anything to say- some lecture about how interfering with the spiritual is pointless?"
Ryuken slowly shook his head. "This is Quincy business." He said, his voice carrying the verbal equivalent of a shrug.
"And you make a point to stay out of that." Uryu almost sneered.
Ryuken took a few steps forward. "You're almost grown up, Uryu. You're allowed to make your own decisions- you have always been better at that."
Better than who? Himself? Was- was he trying to say something?
"That's it?"
"That's it." Ryuken nodded. "If you want to throw your life away, it's your choice- but there's one thing I think your grandfather would have to say about that red stone."
"And what would that be?"
"Your grandfather- father- forged that stone to be a last resort. Power, when all options had run out. It was the result of some ancient, almost forgotten Quincy arts- and it didn't seem like he thought it was a good idea to even make it."
Uryu was mildly surprised, curious- his father almost never talked about Quincy history.
"It is that dangerous?"
"It's dangerous- but that didn't concern him. He was confident in his control. What troubled him was that this horrid little thing was, to him, distilled evil." Ryuken took up a cigarette, lighting it. "I may be sounding a bit dramatic, but he thought of it as… highly unethical, just for existing."
"But he made it."
Ryuken nodded.
"So what would grandfather have to say?"
Ryuken blew out some smoke. "I don't know. But if I had to guess, he would probably say something like 'Uryu, my boy, this stone'-" he took another puff on his cigarette, and there was a strange look in his eyes that Uryu couldn't remember he had ever seen before, "If you ever use this stone, you will have crossed a line. You will have gained power, but at the expense of others. It exists; it has already been made and can't be undone, but to use it is an act of desperation. It isn't something anybody should have to use.' That is something he might have said."
"You sound pretty elaborate for something he only might have said."
Ryuken shrugged. "It's what he told me. Now have fun storming the castle- if you're lucky, father won't be turning in his grave."
oOo
"Y'know..." Ichigo said, breaking the silence that had been following them like a hungry and optimistic stray dog ever since they had left their corner, "in comparison to how this all went yesterday and the day before that, today is really easy so far."
"Yeah, now that you mention it... there really don't seem to be any other shinigami around here." Tatsuki agreed, turning around to Hanataro, who was quietly following them with a distance of a few feet, in the hope that keeping the attention of himself would also allow him to stay out of trouble. "You got any ideas why that is, Hamtaro?"
Hanataro frowned – or rather, drew down the corners of his mouth some more, as he had already been frowning the entire time, since it was the best thing that he could do to cope with the situation. "That might be because we're still in the general area of the Squad Eleven barracks. All the other Squads aren't exactly keen on venturing into these parts when that Squad is feeling violent... I think if anyone from a Squad that's not the Eleventh would attack us here, they'd protest and call it kill stealing."
"Haven't we gone past the divisions by now, though?" Ichigo asked. "I mean, their reputation can only reach so far, right?"
"…I guess you're right." Hanataro murmured.
"...That Squad is messed up." Tatsuki noted, after silently staring at Hanataro for a few more seconds, thinking that he had been joking. "I mean, I get that you're a military organization and all, but why would you let a bunch of psychopathic murderers like them walk around freely, and even work for you?"
"They're efficient. I think that's all that the bosses of the Central Forty-Six really seem to care about." Hanataro said bluntly, hoping that it would end the conversation. In a way, it seemed to work, too: Neither Ichigo nor Tatsuki said anything in response. At the same time however, Tatsuki also stopped dead in her tracks, and stared into Hanataro's general direction.
"I said something wrong, didn't I?" Hanataro asked, sighing and also stopping.
"Hey, Ichigo..." Tatsuki said, after silently staring in Hanataro's direction some more, ignoring his question. "Have you also been feeling that something like a faint reiatsu has been following us for a while now?"
Ichigo turned around, also staring in the same direction that Tatsuki was looking at (where a rather confused Hanataro was standing). "Well, now that you mention it... there was something, though I thought it was just my imagination."
Tatsuki nodded in agreement. "Yeah, same here. But you know, I kinda think that this fatass trying to hide behind that corner there is not our imagination."
Only now, Hanataro turned around as well – just in time to see said "fatass", whom he instantly recognized to be the vice-captain of Squad Two, Omaeda Marechiyo, to jump out of his hiding spot behind the corner, shouting loudly as he did so. "Aha, just as planned! My strategy to unnerve you ryoka has worked perfectly!"
He was greeted with a flat, highly unimpressed stare from the two aforementioned ryoka, their faces expressing emotions in between mild surprise and disbelief.
"You know, Ichigo, we fought a pretty tough-looking third seat on our way here, didn't we?" Tatsuki said.
"We sure did." Ichigo said flatly.
"Almost died, didn't we?"
"Just about."
"And do you think this… walrus of a man will be even close to that?"
"You know, I have this feeling that he won't."
"Don't you ignore me, you shameless intruders!" Omaeda bellowed. "You have fallen right into my trap! I, Omaeda Marechiyo-sama, fukutaicho to the elite second division, specialized in stealth and assassination, will personally bring you before my captain-" His long, self-aggrandizing rant was interrupted by Tatsuki's fist, almost slamming into his face. He only narrowly blocked it, taking a step back to keep his footing.
Tatsuki stepped back. "Hey, Ichigo."
"Yeah?"
"Let me try this by myself for a bit."
"We don't have time to dawdle, you know."
"It won't take long."
"STOP IGNORING ME!" Omaeda roared, lashing out with a fist. Tatsuki calmly deflected the blow, grabbed him by the wrist, and lifted herself up, beautifully delivering a sideways kick into his face. Gracefully, she landed on her feet, lashing out with a series of punches and kicks. Omaeda was hardly outclassed- he blocked, counterattacked, and finally managed to slam a fist into her gut. Tatsuki let out a gurgle, sliding backwards.
"You need any help?"
Tatsuki shook her head. "It's like I thought- he's strong, kind of fast… but compared to that Ikkaku guy, he's nothing."
"How dare you compare me with a simple commoner like that?" Omaeda snapped.
"That's funny, fatso," Ichigo said. "How about we tell him you said that about him?"
"No-no need for that!" Omaeda exclaimed. "He wouldn't believe your lies anyway!"
"Either you're the best actor the shinigami corps has, or you're really not that impressive, fatso." Tatsuki said flatly.
"I'm not fat! And that's Omaeda-sama to you, commoner!"
"Sorry, fatso-sama." Tatsuki grinned.
"You insolent little bugs- I'll show you!" Omaeda shouted, drawing his zanpakutou. "I'm not a fukutaicho for nothing- crush, Gegetsuburi!"
The sword transformed, becoming a length of chain, ending in a very nasty-looking iron ball, with several large spikes jutting out of it.
"Take this!" Omaeda shouted, sending the ball and chain flying towards Tatsuki. Tatsuki simply sidestepped, letting the chain pass right by her.
"This is too easy." She said, grinning. Omaeda grinned back, pulling the chain inwards.
"Shit!" Ichigo shouted, hopping forward, knocking Tatsuki's feet out from under her. She fell flat on the floor- and instantly, the iron ball passed over her, where her head had been less than a second ago.
"I told you, you're getting too confident." Ichigo said, getting up and unsheathing his zanpakutou.
"Hey!" Tatsuki said, getting to her feet. "I…" She looked at Omaeda, now grinning maliciously. "I guess you're right."
"Oy, don't forget who you're fighting!" Omaeda shouted, sending the ball flying. The two of them jumped back, pulling out their swords.
"Destroy them, Zangetsu!" Ichigo cried, as his sword grew to a iron-slab oriented size.
"Strike, Raitora!" Tatsuki shouted, and around her hands, the brass knuckles formed. Immediately, their reiatsu surged.
Again, Omaeda lashed out, sending his chain flying. Ichigo raised his Zangetsu.
"Getsuga Tensho!" The blue arc of light shot out, slamming into the ball mid-air, both attacks cancelling each other out.
"What was that?" Omaeda grunted, raising a hand to his brow; there was some dust knocked up by the clash-
And there was Tatsuki, landing at his feet, punching upwards, her fist connecting solidly with his chin. Omaeda grunted, staggering backwards.
"Charge!" She cried, exhilarated. Not stopping there, she used shunpo, reappearing behind him. Omaeda swirled around to face her, lashing out with an arm- but Tatsuki caught it, dodged beneath it, and slammed a knee into his gut. Quickly, she slammed a fist into his face, hopping back before he could recover long enough to hit her.
Letting out an angry cry, Omaeda dragged at his chain- only to find that it was stuck, pinned to the ground in one of its links by Zangetsu. Ichigo almost grinned when he saw Omaeda's face.
Seeing an opening, with Omaeda distracted by Ichigo's move, Tatsuki let her reiatsu build up, and,
"Raiendan!" She shouted, slamming a roundhouse kick into Omaeda's side. The fukutaicho let out a sound as if all air had been knocked out of him, sinking down to one knee. Tatsuki followed up with a punch to his throat, and he fell over, gargling. Quickly, she put a foot on his chest, readying herself for another blow, and another, and another-
And then Ichigo took her by the hand, gently but firmly.
"That's enough. He's down for the count."
"But…" She stopped herself, fighting the urge to keep going, to just fight and fight, till there was nothing left of the enemy... "Uh, yeah. Thanks."
There was a moment of something like awkwardness, then Ichigo said,
"Well, that was easy."
"Too easy, I think." Tatsuki said, looking around. And no sooner had she said that before a troupe of what looked like genuine ninjas dropped down from the walls- five, six, seven of them, all carrying swords, and looking very much like Ichigo and Tatsuki would expect ninjas to look: Entirely black clothing, faces concealed in black masks, carrying sheathed swords with them, and most of all – looking very serious.
"Ah, crap…" Ichigo grunted. "Let me guess- you're the reason it was so quiet so far, right?"
"Astute." Said the ninja to the front, apparently the leader. He shot a quick glance at Omaeda, who seemed to be unconscious. "Our fukutaicho may be an idiotic noble hell-bent on personal glory, but we do not have such simple-minded goals blinding our judgment. It's time to-"
And then he put a hand to the side of his head, and Ichigo noticed he was wearing a headset, or something like it. The imagery was bizarre to him. Ninjas with electronic equipment?
"…I see." The head ninja said. "Understood. Yes. Yes." Quickly, he waved with his fingers, and his fellow ninja stepped aside, standing to attention at the wall. "I've been given the order to let you continue, ryoka."
"Wait, just like that?" Tatsuki said, sounding confused.
"It's never that easy." Ichigo agreed.
"Rest assured, whatever comes next will be far worse than the seven of us." The ninja replied calmly. "For now, though, the road is clear."
With that, just as sudden as they had appeared, the ninjas jumped back onto the walls, and were out of sight before Ichigo or Tatsuki could even say anything. Within seconds, their reiatsus – which were barely noticeable to begin with – vanished entirely, leaving Ichigo, Tatsuki, Hanataro, and the quite ignored Omaeda on their own.
"...So what the hell was that all about?" Ichigo wondered aloud, scratching his head.
"Guess we'll find out soon enough..." Tatsuki mumbled, while Hanataro put his best efforts into being as unnoticeable as possible, figuring that whatever was coming towards them was more likely to notice him if he were to use this opportunity to run away.
And then they felt it.
A reiatsu approached them – one stronger than anything else that they had ever felt until that point. It was if they were slowly approaching a big fire: It started out as slightly irksome, but got more unpleasant the closer it got, until it was almost too much to bear. Before long, the crushing pressure of whom- or whatever was approaching them made it hard to even stand upright.
Hanataro, unable to bear that much, simply collapsed. Neither Ichigo nor Tatsuki noticed it, though: Both of them were already giving it their all to keep standing.
"What... is... that?!" Ichigo managed to get out, just as something like the sound of many small approaching bells could be heard. Tatsuki meanwhile only managed to get out a grunting noise, just as the source of it all came around the corner.
Running towards them was an enormous man, standing at least two meters tall. He had exactly the kind of face that you might expect from a violence-obsessed mercenary: Wild, long, stringy black hair which seemed to have the bells in it, an eye patch, and, more notably, something that looked like a captain's run-down haori. Both Ichigo and Tatsuki swallowed – from a guy like that they'd run away any day, absurdly powerful shinigami or not.
The man meanwhile, having noticed them standing there, slowed down to the point where he stopped running, and started simply walking towards them. As he got closer, Ichigo noticed that over there was a small, pink-haired girl hanging over the man's shoulder giving them a curious look – and seemingly not being in the slightest bothered by his crushing power.
"Let's see..." The man said, his voice is a low growl. "Tall, muscular, ginger guy and black-haired tomboy girl, that's what the description said, right Yachiru?"
The girl on his shoulder nodded. "That's right, Ken-chan! These must be them!"
"Keh." "Ken-chan" spat. "Don't look like much, do they? They just stand there and stare!"
"Who- who are you?" Tatsuki asked, having finally at least somewhat adjusted herself to the man's crushing power.
Raising his eyebrow, the man focused his look on Tatsuki, walking slowly closer to her. "Would ya look at that- ya can actually talk. Seems like I'll need to have a word with Ikkaku when I get back – not mentioning me, that punk. I am the captain of the Eleventh Squad, Zaraki Kenpachi." He pulled a wide, fiendish grin. "And I've come here to have some fun with you."
Tatsuki could feel cold sweat running down her face. In comparison to being near Gin, this was infinitely worse – and this guy hadn't even used his Shikai yet. If this man wanted them dead, they were just about done for... but then again, for most of the time of their fight, Ikkaku had kept underestimating them... if this guy was even slightly similar, they might have a chance to at least knock him out before he went all out. She exchanged a quick glance with Ichigo, who gave her a small nod, having most likely had the same thought.
"Fine then." Ichigo said, trying his best not to make his fear obvious. "We'll fight you, boss."
Kenpachi turned towards Ichigo, his grin growing wider. "Good... searching for you punks won't have been entirely pointless then. Yachiru, get that fatass and the wimp over there out of here. They'll just be in the way."
"Ehh?! But I wanna watch you fight, Ken-chan!" The little girl complained loudly.
"Do it quickly, then. Just get these two to the barracks, and then get back here."
Yachiru pouted. "But what if you're already done by then? I don't wanna miss everything!"
"I'll just take my time with this punks, then." Kenpachi said, scratching his head. "Just do it, or we'll never started."
Giving Kenpachi and unhappy glare, the girl jumped over to Hanataro and Omaeda - and, much to Tatsuki's and Ichigo's amazement, lifted them both, running off with them.
Ichigo swallowed, holding his sword up. There was a slight tremble in his arms- just what the hell kind of guy was this? This… was beyond anything he had ever expected to face. He knew they would be strong, but this giant man before him made him feel like he was standing at the edge of an abyss, staring down into maddening infinity.
Tatsuki, for her part, felt no better. The oppressive reiatsu bearing down on her made it hard to breathe, move, talk- it felt absurd that they should fight this, this… monster of a man.
"What's takin' ya so long?" Kenpachi grunted, casually scratching an ear with his finger. "Tell you what- I'll give ya a handicap, to make it fair." Slowly, he grabbed the rim of his uniform, and parted it to reveal a very muscular chest, covered in old scars.
"Wh-what?" Ichigo mumbled.
"I ain't got all day- come on and cut me. Ya get one free hit each."
Confused, Ichigo looked to Tatsuki. "What- what do we do?" He sounded almost panicked; this was unlike anything they'd faced before.
"Well, we can't really run- so we fight. Let's take his offer." Tatsuki said, swallowing her fear.
"Good girl!" Kenpachi said, grinning, and the two of them were eerily reminded of a shark. A shark that had just eaten two grizzly bears, and was looking for dessert.
"Shit…" Ichigo grumbled, raising his reiatsu as much as he could.
"They did tell us we could die." Tatsuki said, her teeth gritted. "I just… hoped we wouldn't." She said weakly.
"Let's go." Ichigo said, charging reiatsu into his sword. "I'll go high, you'll go low."
Clanking her brass knuckles together in acknowledgment, Tatsuki hopped forwards as Ichigo charged. Ichigo gritted his teeth so hard he felt they ought to break- he had to do some damage, do some damage here and now…
"Zangetsu, can you hear me?" He said, and time seemed to slow down a little. "I'm sorry if I end up getting us killed."
"Do not let yourself falter." Was the spirit's response. "Believe that you can win, and believe in me. If you do that, whatever comes next is unimportant."
And Ichigo sprung forward.
"This was a bad idea, wasn't it?" Tatsuki said to herself, and to Raitora.
"Is that hesitation?" Raitora said, sounding strict.
"No. I can't run or give up- it's do or die. But this is a bad situation."
"Never turn your back on the enemy." Raitora replied. It seemed it was as much as she wanted to share- and thus, Tatsuki sprang forward.
"GETSUGA TENSHO!"
"RAIENDAN!"
An observer would have been hard pressed to see what happened- two reiatsu clashing with a much greater one, dust rising…
And there was Kenpachi, standing up and still grinning, and the two teenagers fallen to the ground.
"Son of a bitch!" Ichigo swore, getting up to his feet, barely holding on to his sword. There was blood leaking from his hands.
"It felt like punching a cement wall." Tatsuki said, shaking her fist. "God damn…"
Kenpachi chuckled, rubbing his chest. "Not bad- I think you drew blood." And right they were- a small cut bled little droplets of blood where Ichigo had hit. "I guess that means you're good enough for some fun."
And then he raised his sword.
oOo
"Is there any new data on the whereabouts of the second ryoka group?"
"No, taichou. So far, our surveillance systems have not picked up anything that would suggest that they have entered the area of our squad."
"Keep your eyes open. I want these ryoka to be captured by our Squad before they fall into the hands of these cretins of the Second Squad. They will hardly be useful as test subjects once their captain is through with them..."
Kurotsuchi Mayuri, captain of Squad Twelve, grit his teeth. Ever since the news of what had happened to the vice-captain of Squad Six, Abarai Renji, had reached him, Mayuri had been redirecting his Squad's entire efforts from their usual research to trying to find the ryoka that had defeated Abarai.
Before the incident, the entire deal with ryoka having made their way into the Seireitei had barely interested Mayuri. After all, the focus of his Squad was research and development – why should he bother himself with an issue that was the Second division's responsibility to take care of? As a matter of fact, even more drastic recent events such as Abarai's defeat, and the unexpected death of his fellow captain Aizen Sosuke had under normal circumstances barely bothered Mayuri... if it weren't for the apparent identity of the ryoka that had defeated Abarai, and the possibility that they could be behind Aizen's death.
While the news of two ryoka shinigami in the Seireitei had barely been able to catch Mayuri's attention, the information of there being another ryoka group consisting of a Quincy and a human with powers was more than enough to get his interest. Being the head of research and development, it was his duty, among other things, to analyze the enemies of the Gotei, be they Hollows, Quincy, or another threat altogether... and an empowered human and a Quincy would be quite the prize indeed.
The Gotei had put on a formal rejection to his hunt for Quincies, in the decades past- a few of them had called the systematic hunting, capture and experimentation "unethical", whatever relevance that had to science- but it had been approved by the central Forty-Six covertly, under the condition that his work be kept secret. He had collected a wealth of data from dozens and dozens of now dead Quincies, particularly from the last one- an old man, who Mayuri had captured after he had defended a small city in the world of the living against an unnaturally big hollow attack until his strength was drained.
And just as Mayuri had hoped, the old man had provided him with excellent data. Keeping him alive throughout the experiments that he had conducted on him back in Soul Society had been quite a hassle, and his mental state had been nothing short of an annoyance, but in the end, it still had been possible to let him live long enough for the research to be finished. The data had been gathered, an enemy of the Gotei had died, and Mayuri was quite satisfied with his work.
And now, not only another Quincy- there was always new data to process, new hypotheses to falsify or confirm- but a human with considerable power. While he had heard of "Fullbringers", living human beings with basic powers vaguely similar to that of a shinigami before, he had never actually managed to get his hands on a specimen to conduct experiments on... simply finding them was harder than finding Quincy had ever been. In fact, in all the years that he had worked in the Gotei, Mayuri had only heard once or twice of a group of "Fullbringers" being sighted in the world of the living. As far as he knew though, this group was being searched for by other Squads of the Gotei, making his actual chances of getting a specimen from this group almost non-existent. No, if he wanted to get a Fullbringer to do his experiments on, it would have to be this ryoka...
"Taichou!" The voice of his vice-captain and artificial daughter, Kurotsuchi Nemu, interrupted his thoughts.
"What is it?!" Mayuri snapped, not appreciating being interrupted in the slightest.
"Our sensors have picked up two reiatsus that have entered our area. Chances are high that they are those of the ryoka that have defeated Abarai Renji." Nemu answered stoically.
Mayuri let a smile cross his ghostly face. Time to get himself some new test subjects.
oOo
Momo was sitting in the arrest, her knees up against her chest, her head hung low. Her mind was empty, still processing the unthinkable- that Aizen Sousuke, the man she valued more than anything, was… gone.
"Are you all right?"
The door to her cell had opened, and in the opening stood Rangiku. She looked troubled- sympathetic, but uncertain.
"I guess that's a stupid question." She continued. "But… I have something for you." She reached into her sleeve, and produced a letter. "This was addressed to you, by Aizen-taicho. I really shouldn't- technically it counts as evidence… but you of all people deserve to know what he had to say to you."
Momo didn't respond.
"…I'll just leave it here." Rangiku said, walking forward, placing the letter on the floor, next to Momo, and then walked out. "You take care, all right?" She said, her face all concern. Then, she closed the door and walked out.
Instantly, Momo grabbed at the letter, ripping it open, her hands trembling with excitement. She almost dropped it, taking a second to steady her hands. This… this was Aizen-taichou's words to her, his final words- what he had to say to her, what he knew about his investigation, maybe even who had… killed him. She swallowed, and opened the letter.
Dear Hinamori-kun- no, Momo-kun- I go tonight to face what may be my end, but I do so because it must be done. My investigation, which has uncovered corruption deep inside the Gotei Thirteen, has necessitated the deepest secrecy, but to you and you alone I can reveal all I know about this conspiracy, at the center of which not only the ryoka stand, but also the third seat of Squad Ten…
Momo read the letter, clasping a hand over her mouth in shock as she did, trembling, emotions of all kinds flowing through her mind.
Then, after she had read the letter top to bottom three times- and a fourth, just to be sure- she stood up, and mumbled a simple incantation. Instantly, the wall behind her dissolved, and she hopped out into the night in the pursuit of justice.
oOo
Renji stared up to the ceiling above him. He had been brought to the barracks of Squad Four, where he was now lying on a bed in one of the Squad's multiple sickrooms. When he had woken up about an hour ago, he was being told that while his injuries were severe, he still would be able to get out in another day or two. While his initial reaction to this news had been not exactly positive, he was able to accept it rather quickly... just lying down for a bit, and thinking about things was probably good.
He still could hardly believe that he had actually lost the battle... him, a vice captain of the Gotei Thirteen, defeat by a Quincy and a -whatever the hell that girl was. He should be upset, should be ashamed, should swear revenge for this humiliation... but somehow, the only thing that Renji did feel was that he deserved it. That Quincy and that... girl had both been fighting to rescue Rukia from her execution. If anything, Renji should've joined them, helped them, or just let them pass – but instead he had attacked and almost killed them several times, and all that in the name of the very organization that was responsible for sentencing Rukia to death in the first place, as if he actually wanted to ensure that she would die.
Maybe this was also the reason why he had lost, he thought... maybe he just couldn't bring himself to stop the people who did what he wanted to do. Maybe he had held back without realizing it, given those two more than enough chances to defeat him... he just didn't know any more. How could he still lie around, and follow the Gotei's order, if they went against everything that meant something to him?
Renji sighed quietly. In any case, the outcome was the same: He had lost, and the Quincy and that girl had moved on... which was honestly for the better. If they got lucky, these two and that other ryoka group might have an actual chance to save Rukia... all he could do in the meantime was wait and hope that they made it to the Senzaikyu where Rukia was being held.
"You know very well how high the chances are that they make it, Renji." He heard the voice of his Zanpakutou, Zabimaru, in his head. "The closer they get to the prison, the more likely they are to be found – not to mention them getting into the prison. It is only a matter of time before they are caught, and then there is nothing that will prevent Rukia's death."
"Oh, shaddup." Renji murmured irritably. His Zanpakutou was right, he knew – but right now, he did not want to hear anything like this. Not with him having been in that fight earlier, not with Rukia's execution approaching slowly but steadily...
"You know that there is something you can do about that." Zabimaru continued, entirely ignoring Renji telling the spirit to shut up. "It would be easy for you to do, if only you finally stopped hesitating..."
"I can't do this!" Renji shot back. "It'd just go wrong, and in the end, I'd be up for execution, just like Rukia."
"And yet, you'd never be able to forgive yourself you didn't do it. I would never be able to forgive you." Zabimaru remarked cryptically. Renji said nothing in response, waiting for the spirit to add anything to that, but nothing came. He was alone with his thoughts again.
Renji sighed again. Once again, his Zanpakutou was right... he'd never be able to stand sitting around here, hoping that maybe some kids who'd never stand a chance against a captain would free Rukia for him. He had known Rukia since they both had been children, living far out in a dangerous district of the Rukongai. Life in these parts had been like balancing on the edge of a knife. More than once, they had to bury their friends, other children that had become family to them... until only Rukia and Renji had remained. In a last attempt to get a chance of a better life, the two of them had decided to make their way to the Seireitei, and try to enroll into Shin'ō Academy, the place where souls with potential were trained to become shinigami. To their surprise, both of them were accepted – and thus they became shinigami.
For a while all seemed well: They both were trained at the academy (with varying success), made friends, moved up in the world... until one day, Rukia received a visit from the head of the Kuchiki clan, Kuchiki Byakuya. For whatever reason, the man had heard of Rukia, and taken an interest in her; he ended up adopting Rukia, making her nobility, and at the same time, making spending time with her more than just a little inconvenient. However, reaching the conclusion that in the end, this did allow Rukia to live a better life, Renji endured it, and joined Squad Six upon graduation – Kuchiki Byakuya's Squad. Doing so made it at least somewhat acceptable for him to spend time with Rukia again. All in all, joining the Gotei had made their lives a lot better...
...and now the Gotei wanted her dead.
Renji had never really thought that much about the laws and inner workings of the Gotei. Sure, he knew they existed, acted according to them, and made sure that they were kept up – but it never really mattered to him why they were made, or what purpose they served. He was always under the impression that the Central Forty-Six had very good reasons for making these laws (not that he'd ever understand them), but this... this was beyond insane. Whatever the reasoning of the Central Forty-Six was, he'd never be able to accept it.
Which meant that there was only one thing that he could do. Of course, doing it would be just about suicide... but that was still better than having to watch Rukia get executed.
He had made his mind up.
Slowly Renji got out of his bed and stood up – only to be greeted by an significant amount of pain surging through his entire body. That Quincy and that girl sure had been efficient in beating him up... he still almost collapsed from just standing up. Reaching his goal would be a chore like this – but he'd not turn back. Hobbling over to one of the room's corner, Renji took a crutch, and made his way out into the hall.
For whatever reason, the entire place seemed to be empty... as if something else had happened, which required the entire attention of Squad Four. Not that it mattered – in fact, this would only make things easier for him. The less people there were around, the less likely it would be for him to get caught out of bed. That in turn of course also meant that him having to face Unohana's wrath was less likely, but he'd rather not think about that to begin with.
Slowly but steadily, Renji made his way out of the Squad Four barracks, and towards the Senzaikyu, which was luckily enough rather close. Despite his current state, the guards let him in without much trouble; just insisting that he had permission from his Captain to enter the prison was already enough. Of course, if said captain were to somehow find out that Renji had done something like this, the situation would be more than just a little unfavourable for him – but at this point, that hardly mattered.
And then, only a few more minutes after he had entered the prison, he was finally there again: Rukia's cell. As he hobbled towards it, his friend noticed him before he stood in front of it.
"What happened to you?" Rukia asked, her tone a mix of melancholy and concern.
Renji however remained silent, and continued to make his way to the cell, until he was right in front of it. Letting go of his crutch, he sat down on the floor, leaning his back against the bars. "...There's ryoka in the seireitei." He then said, after another moment of silence. "Two groups of 'em: Some black-haired four-eyes Quincy, and a redhead girl... I fought them yesterday and lost."
He didn't even need to turn around to know that Rukia's eyes were growing wider. "Haven't actually seen the other group myself, but from what I hear, it consists of a black-haired tomboy, and some tall, muscular redheaded guy. They're here to save you."
Renji chuckled quietly. "It's really kinda stupid, isn't it? These guys are here to make sure you live, and what do I do? Fight them, and try to stop them." He turned around, looking right into Rukia's shock stunned face. "Well, no more. I've had enough of being stupid. You know what I'm gonna do, Rukia? As soon as I'm back at full health, I'll come to get you out of here, even if I have to fight every last stinkin' captain!"
oOo
It was like living a nightmare. The despair, the hopelessness, the overwhelming force, and the madman laughing like a daemon; it was in so bad a way that Ichigo expected, no, hoped that any moment now he'd wake up, Tatsuki chiding him for oversleeping…
But Tatsuki was up against a wall, barely standing and bleeding profusely from several cuts- and the bastard hadn't even been trying when he landed those hits. They were, simply put, outmatched.
"Good- but this ain't the time to be resting!" Kenpachi cheered happily, stabbing forward with his sword, aiming for Tatsuki. Ichigo surged forward, just barely managing to parry the strike; it felt like a truck hitting him.
"Oh no you don't!" He snarled defiantly, pushing back, just barely pushing back against the man's brute strength.
"Good lad." Kenpachi said, pushing back. His reiatsu kept rising, as if reflecting his mood- or an erection; it might as well be with this kind of enthusiasm.
And suddenly Tatsuki had flashed behind him, electricity gathering in her hands.
"Denjiho!" She cried, letting a ball of electricity loose, slamming into Kenpachi's back. The man flinched involuntarily, for a moment letting his grip on the sword loosen. Ichigo took the opportunity, and pushed Kenpachi's sword aside, swinging his own blade into the man's side, as hard as he could. It felt like chipping away at a rock, but he did draw blood, and when Kenpachi counterattacked, he could just barely dodge. As frightening as this was, as little damage as they were doing, they were moving better, a bit faster than the captain. Maybe, just maybe…
"Tatsuki, can ya keep him occupied for a couple seconds?"
"It damn well better be just a few seconds!" Tatsuki shot out, narrowly sidestepping what might have been a Tatsuki-flavoured shishkebab.
"Oi, you think I'll let any one of you rest?" Kenpachi said. "You better both fight, or," he lashed out at Tatsuki time and again, the girl taking several small hits, "or you'll just die, and that's no fun."
"Talk is cheap!" Tatsuki cried, and shunpoed behind him. He hadn't once used shunpo, she noticed- either he wouldn't do it, or he couldn't. They had no real edges in this fight, but this was… something.
Quickly, coming from the side, she slammed a knee into his kidneys. "Raiendan!"
Once again, it did little to nothing, but she managed not to get her head lopped off, and that was what mattered. Somersaulting backwards, she landed on her feet, clacking her brass knuckles together, ready to face him. Kenpachi, wearing that shark's grin, came at her again.
Then, reiatsu surging from Ichigo almost explosively, the ground around him cracking, she could hear it,
"Tsuki no kizu!"
Five blue lines shot out, immediately followed by five arcs of immense power. She just barely managed to jump out of its way. It had hit; it was a solid hit, he hadn't even tried to dodge…
Kenpachi was down on one knee, a gaping flesh wound across his chest, a large cut across his cheek as well. He was bleeding heavily. Ichigo, for his part, sunk to his knees as well- the attack had all but consumed his supply of reiatsu.
Had they done it? He was bleeding, bleeding, holding himself upright with his sword…
"Well," Kenpachi said, still grinning, getting up from his knees, "I had almost fallen asleep there. Good waking-up move there, kid- and you even got a good hit in. I guess I can take the both of ya seriously, then."
And he reached for his eye patch, and then he took it off. His power surged, surged like an atomic bomb extending its mushroom cloud across a hapless city, and she could swear she saw a skull fluttering behind him, its mocking grin illustrated in black and yellow, like a ghast come to claim her life.
"See, I had the boys at twelfth make me this, since if I go all out, things just die immediately." Kenpachi said, tossing the patch aside. "I need a seal so as to make the fight longer and more fun." He chuckled, and ran his sword through the air, against the closest wall- and the entirety of the wall, the tower it was part of, sliced clean in two, collapsing.
"Holy shit…" Tatsuki mumbled. She felt an emptiness- before this power, she couldn't even feel fear; she was beyond that now. Despair.
And Kenpachi charged forward, towards Ichigo. He brought his sword up to try and parry, but Kenpachi simply cut the greatsword clean in half as if though it were made of wet tissue paper, cutting Ichigo hard across the chest. He groaned, and collapsed.
Tatsuki raised her fists, ready to try and fight- what else was there to do; oh god, what else could she do?
But Kenpachi charged at her, and like a locomotive running over a twig, he cut into her, cutting downwards from shoulder to hip. Before she had even had the chance to let out a cry of pain, Tatsuki collapsed, unconscious before she even hit the ground.
The dust settled, and Kenpachi looked at the two ryoka he had just destroyed.
"Well, balls." He said grumpily. "And here I thought I could go all out, and they just go down in one hit each… che."
Muttering, he grabbed his eye patch, putting it back on. He'd need to see to his wound; it was bleeding badly- but it could wait till he'd had some sake.
"Ken-chan!" It was Yachiru, only just returning. "Aww, you had all your fun without me. Stupid Ken-chan!"
"They was nothin' special." Kenpachi said, shrugging. "Decent for some human kids, I guess, but they didn't even last fifteen minutes. Less than one when I went all out."
"Ken-chan, you destroyed a tower again!" Yachiru cheered happily. "Uno-chan is going to be mad at you!"
"Shaddup!" Kenpachi said, putting the little girl on his shoulder and walking away. "Let's just get back to the division."
From a nearby tower, far from the rampages of the fearsome captain of eleventh, Tatsujima Katsuro, Fourth seat of division two and leader of one of the onmitsukidou's elite teams- usually commanded by their half-wit of a fukutaicho, but currently, thankfully, led by himself- stood, awaiting the captain's leave. As he was gone from the field of battle, he said,
"Secure the two ryoka. Prepare to administer first aid- we don't want them to die just yet. Soifon-taicho will want to talk to them."
Five of his fellow officers nodded, but the sixth one just said,
"Yes, I imagine she would."
"Soichiro?" He said. Wait- you're not-"
And then Soichiro- not Soichiro, no- had slammed a fist into his solar plexus, moving faster than anyone had though possible, knocking out the entire squad in seconds.
"No, I'm not Soichiro." Yoruichi mumbled, as she took her agent's mask off, knocking Tatsujima out cold. "Soifon…" She sighed. The onmitsukidou was really on point; they hadn't slacked off in her absence. Still, knocking one out and stealing his uniform and then infiltrating his unit hadn't been too hard…
Quickly she jumped down- she had to act quickly if she wanted the two teenagers to survive.
oOo
Within the very center of the Seireitei, right next to the barracks of Squad One, but still a good bit away from the Senzaikyu, lay the parliament building of the Central Forty-Six – the government of all of Soul Society. Consisting of representatives of all the major noble families, as well as some select wise residents from all over the Rukongai, the men of the government were divided into two groups: Forty wise men- and the occasional woman- whose responsibility was to govern, and six judges, whose duty it was to enforce the law. Together, these sages ruled over the entire Soul Society as well as the Gotei Thirteen, all in the name of the Soul King, the true and rightful leader of the afterlife, who, along with his guard, resided within his own dimension, and rarely made his presence known to those in the Soul Society.
But of course, this all was easier said than done.
With them being situated within the very center of the Seireitei, and consisting almost entirely of nobles, who, in most cases, hadn't left the walls of the Seireitei in their entire life, very little was done to change the conditions out in the Rukongai. They were not unaware of the plight commoners faced- but it was all too easy to accept that 'it's just the way of things', and they had received no command to improve the soul society, only to keep it in order. The commoners out in the Rukongai could all just look after themselves, or be ruled by one of the warlords that lived far out. As long as they posed no threat to the central power of the Gotei Juusantai and its ruling elite, it was a matter of small consequence to them.
Of course, many of the commoners were not too happy with that – but with nobility being protected by the walls of the Seireitei as well as the shinigami of the Gotei Thirteen, there was nothing that they could do about it. The buildings of the Central Forty-Six were in all likelihood the single most well-protected place in Soul Society.
They ought to fear the Gotei, Aizen thought. It was, of course, unthinkable to those so bred on privilege that the divisions would even think about deposing them. Yamamoto was well known for his loyalty, for his strict adherence to order and the authority of the soul king, that it would never be an issue- yet, this collection of callous sages would be so easy to kill for so small a force of shinigami. A squad of low ranked officers could get rid of them in an hour. Yet there they were, confident in their power, when their power was so illusory, resting on the very real power of the Gotei itself.
It was not as if they were incompetent- they knew how to preserve and how to rule; nobody was let in without the permission of the Soul King, and he did not play favours- but they were cold and callous. Their crime was not corruption- corruption would imply that once, they had been pure- but indifference, indifference to suffering beyond the scope of any decent contemplation. They knew, and they did nothing.
But even so, even by the standards of the inner Seireitei, parliament of the Central Forty-Six had an absurd level of security. While the men and women guarding the complex were all obviously shinigami, they didn't belong to any of the Gotei's Thirteen Squads, and were all recruited and trained from noble families and their servants, forming a force that only followed the orders of the Central Forty-Six. While none of its members had a level of power that could compare to one of the thirteen captains, most of them were still strong enough to easily keep up the security – without the explicit permission of the Central Forty-Six and the guard force, absolutely no one, not even the captains, were allowed on the grounds of the parliament.
Which just made it all the more odd when just a day after the death of Squad Five's captain, Aizen Sosuke, two captains walked on the grounds of the parliament, completely ignored by the guards, who did not even seem to realize that they were there. Entirely undisturbed, the two made their way towards the parliament building – or rather, towards a tree standing right in front of it.
Obviously, the tree itself was hardly the captain's goal – it was rather the man standing under it. A man that the entire Gotei Thirteen believed to be dead, and yet was perfectly alive: Aizen Sosuke.
"The two of you are late." Aizen chided the captains, Ichimaru Gin and Tosen Kaname, bemusedly.
"I apologize, Aizen-sama." Tosen said, a blind, dark-skinned man with black hair. "It was rather difficult for us to leave our squads without causing too much suspicion. According to some recent reports, the captain of the Eleventh seems to have found and fought the two shinigami ryoka. Leaving in the wake of that fuss was simply not that easy."
Aizen waved his hand dismissively. Of course, Kaname would apologize for this... the man's genuine loyalty simply made him an excellent subordinate. Getting him to join his cause had been an easy thing to do, and an excellent decision on top of that. "Unsurprising. It was only a matter of time before they came across someone capable of overpowering them... but regardless. Gin, I hope that everything went according to plan?"
"You betcha, Aizen-sama. Yer fukutaichou did make more of a ruckus than I thought she would, but nothin' too unexpected. T'was quite fun, really." Gin said, smiling his usual smile.
"Very good..." Aizen said coolly. Sometimes, he marveled at the sick mind of Gin's. Sadism really was a thing to behold, and a good reminder that he needed to be wary even of his allies.
"Well then... it is about time that we begin." Aizen noted, walking slowly into the parliament of the central Forty-Six. Even now, as no less than three captains walked right past them, none of the guards paid the slightest bit of attention to them. Aizen could not help but smile, inwardly at least – the power of his zanpakutou's Shikai made this all too easy. Perfect illusions, tricking the target's vision, hearing, and even perception of reiatsu... none of the guards even realized that any of them were there. True, the more people were being affected, and the stronger the targets were, the more the use of his power exhausted Aizen – but people with strength as trivial as that of these guards were hardly an issue.
Before long, Aizen, Gin and Tosen had reached the parliament's central chamber, where its members were busy in counsel. Stopping at the middle of the floor, right before the circular assortment of benches serving as seating for the sages, he waited, and deactivated the illusions of his Zanpakutou. It took nearly a full minute before his presence was acknowledged. Slowly, the mumblings of the old men and women in the room died down, and each pair of eyes turned their direction, looking down on them sternly with the authoritative glare of a parent about to discipline a rambunctious child.
"Aizen Sousuke, captain of Squad Five." The man who spoke up was the most senior of the six judges, the De Facto leader of the conversation. He had some long, very elegant name- Aizen didn't even remember it, nor did he care. "This is most irregular. Though you have been given the authority of a captain as result of your hard work and dedication, interrupting a session held by us, the governing body, is a not a right you possess. Explain yourself."
Aizen let out a small chuckle. For some reason, the complete and utter authority in his voice, the absolute certainty of his power, amused him enough to crack his carefully held mask. "It truly is amazing..." Aizen said. He had spoken quietly, barely louder than one would be if they were to say something under their breath, and yet, he could easily tell that everybody in the room had heard him. "Even as you are about to face your doom, you continue to look down on it, as if you really consider the power of the Gotei to be your own."
"How dare you speak to us like that! Explain yourself!" The man repeated, his voice a mite stricter. "You will-"
"Gin." Aizen said.
Gin only raised a sleeve, and through it he let his Shinso extend. The blade ran right through the senior judge's skull, blood and brains sullying his seat as he fell over.
"You- you killed him! How dare you!" The judge next to him cried, his voice pitched high enough to be called a squeal- but not for fear, but disbelief and anger. "You will be hanged for this- arrested, executed, tried, tortured-"
"Killed him?" Aizen asked in played surprise. "You are mistaken in referring to this as murder, my dear members of the Central Forty-Six. This wasn't murder - this was only the first act to the execution of each and every single one of you. And not only that... this is the beginning of a new order for all of Soul Society."
As if to punctuate his words, Shinso had run the other judge through the heart as well. It occurred to Aizen that the smile on Gin's face wasn't just the unnerving mask he had cultivated ever since he was a child, but now a genuine expression of joy. There were tells, and they were subtle- but he had known Gin for a long time, and as he was now, taking lives, he was enjoying himself. Ichimaru Gin was a sadist and a homicidal sociopath, and it was exactly why Aizen had handpicked him. His cause required many deaths, and through him, Gin's killings would be given a purpose. The thought was soothing.
"Kaname." Aizen said.
Tosen nodded, stepping forward, activating his shikai. Being the man of ethics- in the warped fashion he was- he let his shikai loose, stunning and disabling a dozen of the council members, before neatly giving each one a fatal cut.
The remaining sages were now in uproar, screaming with fear, running away from their seats, aiming for the exits- but they had all been sealed before they had entered the hall. Letting a slight smile pass over his lips, Aizen slowly and deliberately fired one kido after another, each one killing a councilman. It felt good. Where is that authority now? He felt like saying. Where is that arrogance that let you treat the rest of the world like flies?
But he didn't, because Aizen Sosuke had self-restraint.
Ichimaru Gin did not.
Soon, pools of blood were forming at the floor where Aizen stood, running down from the seats above, dying his sandals and socks red. It was, if not a pleasurable experience, then at least satisfying.
oOo
"She's gone again, isn't she?" Uryu asked, as he was hurrying through the streets of the Seireitei.
"Sure seems like it..." Orihime asked, running only a bit behind him.
Uryu grunted. "I swear, I'll never understand how she works out this timing of hers..."
It was the day after Uryu and Orihime had encountered and defeated Renji – and once again, Yoruichi had left them without as much as a word of advice or anything similar. True, right now they were not exactly in danger (the only reason they were running was because they were finally getting closer to the Senzaikyu), but... he still would have very much preferred it to actually know if Yoruichi was still with them or not.
After they had left the place where they fought Renji, it had not taken long for Yoruichi to lead them to the next safe place to stay the night, an abandoned warehouse. Luckily enough, the patrol that had approached apparently did not follow them, most likely because they were treating Renji. Whatever the case, Uryu and Orihime got to spend the night relatively safe, and, thanks to Yoruichi going out once more, with a full stomach. She had even been kind enough to provide them with two shinigami uniforms, no doubt stolen from some barracks.
Wearing their disguises, the duo headed deeper into the seireitei, ever with Rukia in their sights. Before long, though, they were approached by a patrol. Keeping calm, they walked onwards- but then one of the passing shinigami called out to them.
"Hey there!" It was a jolly sort of call, coming from somebody friendly- or somebody trying to seem friendly. "We couldn't help but notice- the two of you are new here, aren't you?" There were four shinigami- lower ranks, Uryu assumed, not too hard to fight- but if they called their friends, it might be another issue.
"Yes, yes we are!" Orihime cheered. Her acting was pretty decent, even though it mainly consisted of her being herself. "Our boss sent us with some… stuff for the twelfth division." Orihime lied quickly, and it was almost convincing.
"Well, it's your lucky day- we're twelfth division." The leading shinigami, a young-looking man with brown hair said.
"Oh…" Orihime said.
"We were given strict instructions to deliver it to the third seat of division twelve or better." Uryu cut in hastily. "As easy as it would be to hand it to you, protocol must be observed. I am sure you are trustworthy-"
The man chuckled. "A stickler for rules, eh? Then let us escort you there- it's close." He took a step forward, gently putting a hand on Orihime's shoulder-
And acting instinctively, Uryu put himself between the man and Orihime, shoving him backwards.
"Hey, friend, that was uncalled for." The man said. "Is she your girlfriend? I didn't mean to step on any toes."
Uryu didn't reply, simply grabbing Orihime, flashing back twenty yards, and behind him, the man turned purple, his skin bulging and expanding, before exploding into a fine gas, blood spraying where he had stood just seconds before.
"That was close." Uryu said sharply. "Pretty nasty strategy- using decoys as bombs."
But given the shocked looks of the three remaining men, the all too human screams as their skin too began to bulge, within seconds exploding, made him realize- these weren't decoys, dolls, or artificial creations. They were shinigami, and somebody was using them as living bombs.
"Oh… my god." Orihime said quietly, sounding as if though she was going to vomit.
"Keep it together." Uryu snapped. "Something is coming."
He could feel it now, a strong reiatsu approaching theirs, blazing away freely- it had to have been masking itself before, or he would have sensed it.
"My, my," came a callous, dismissive voice, "and here I hoped my subordinates would be able to restrain you- then again, taking the two of you unharmed is even better for testing, if a bit more tedious."
The man speaking, they saw as the gas cleared, was like something out of a bizarre nightmare- his face was black, not black as in a deep brown, but painted black. He had the most wicked grin, his white teeth standing in contrast to his face, which was framed by just a little white on the edges. He wore a strange, white hat, and he seemed to have no ears- in their place, there were two brass circles of some kind. He wore a captain's haori, and his hands were white- pure white, and one of his nails was freakishly long.
Accompanying him was a positively normal-looking woman- she might have seemed odd, with her emotionless demeanour, but compared to this man, she was normality incarnate- wearing a custom version of the shinigami uniform, one that for some reason involved a miniskirt.
"Who are you?" Uryu demanded, holding Orihime by the arm.
"Test subjects have no right to ask questions." The man hissed dismissively. "But since I am feeling generous, I will enlighten you: I am Kurotsuchi Mayuri, captain of Squad Twelve - and you are my new research subjects."
A captain. Oh, damn.
"Don't try to run- you would not come far." The man warned in a casual tone. "Come quietly, and I will treat you fairly- I might even let you keep your tongues."
"Orihime, be ready." Uryu said through his teeth. A captain. He didn't seem overwhelmingly strong, but Uryu knew better than to let appearances fool him- this man bore the aura of somebody truly frightening.
Orihime nodded. Then, the man pulled out his sword- a curious variety, its sheath being laced with spikes- and charged, slicing at Uryu. Orihime jumped to the side, and Uryu jumped back, his bow forming. He shot as he dodged, firing arrow after arrow.
"Excellent speed." Mayuri commented, as if he was already writing a report on his experiment. "Capable of firing up to one point five arrows per second - most likely of the type Heiliger Vernichtungspfeil - possibly more. Physical prime for a human being, although preliminary data suggests the subject has yet to reach maturity with regards to Quincy powers."
"Tsubaki!" Orihime cried, sending the sprite towards him. Curious, the captain caught it in his hand. "Interesting. Weak offensive capabilities- either the subject is a poor fighter, or the subject has geared its capabilities towards other areas to compensate." He grinned, and there was something nightmarish about his joy. "There is so much to learn, my little subjects... though I do suggest that you at the very least show me something more interesting, if you are already going to fight."
Uryu swallowed. So this was it – a captain. Just the kind of person that they under no circumstances should have engaged... and they had to fight him. Him, and his vice-captain (if that what the woman accompanying him was). There simply was no way that they would be able to defeat him.
Unless he used that thing.
When they had been fighting Renji earlier, there simply never was the time to actually use it... the vice-captain had been attacking too furiously for Uryu to get the time that he would need, nor was the situation ever desperate enough to justify using it. This man, however, was not even taking them seriously yet... the perfect opportunity to use it.
And, of course, their only chance of defeating him.
His hand trembling, Uryu discarded his bow and slowly reached into his pocket. As he dug through it, Mayuri simply watched curiously – so at least this part worked out. Before long, he had found what he was looking for: A small, cool stone with a smooth surface. Uryu still clearly remembered the words his grandfather had told him... the incantation necessary to make use of the stone. Ever since he had been carrying the stone with him, the words had been stuck in his head. He had hoped that he'd never have to use them... but now it had come to this.
There was no point in hesitating any further. Closing his hand around the stone, Uryu closed his eyes and began.
"Den Leidenden die Erlösung." He quietly said, pulling his hand out of his pocket.
"Oh, this is something new..." Mayuri said, a wide grin appearing in his face. "Yes, this is new... seems like I'll be getting an entirely new kind of data from you, too!"
Ignoring him, Uryu held the hand with the stone out in front of him, and formed his energy bow again. "Den Toten das Leben." He continued, his voice growing louder. Instantly, his bow changed colour, from its normal bright blue to a dark shade of red, at points even dark enough to be considered black.
"Ishida-kun, what are you doing?!" Orihime shouted, giving Uryu an alarmed expression – but he ignored her, too. "Im Kampf den Sieg!"
Without a warning, his reiatsu began to increase at an extreme rate – quick enough for Orihime and the woman besides Mayuri to almost stumble. The captain meanwhile only continued to stare at Uryu, his grin growing even wider. "Dies ist es, was der blutrote Stein verheißt!"
By now, Uryu's voice was loud enough for him to almost be roaring. His hand was no longer trembling, and he could feel the power at his disposal – but there was also something else... in his head. He opened his eyes, which had changed from their former dark blue to an almost golden yellow.
When he spoke the final line of the incantation, it was if there were was another person speaking at the same time as him. "Hermetis Vöglein ist mein Nahm, verlaß meine Flügel und werde zahm!"
Author's Notes:
My only regret is that we didn't think to actually foreshadow this thing earlier.
Anywho - here's the obligatory translations for the foreign stuff of the chapter.
Tatsuki's new attack:
Denjiho - Electromagnetic cannon.
I might add in that this name - and the way the move is executed - is more or less taken from another series, and a quite popular one at that. I do however doubt that anybody will be able to figure that out, considering that this is the Japanese name of said move - so, yay for creative unoriginality?
Uryu's incantation:
Den Leidenden die Erlösung - Joy to the suffering
Im Kampf den Sieg - Victory in battle
Den Toten das Leben - Life to the dead
Dies ist es, was der blutrote Stein verheißt - For this is what the blood red stone grants (some liberties taken with this line)
Stein der Weisen - Philosopher's Stone
Hermetis Vöglein ist mein Nahm, Verlaß meine Flügel und werde zahm - The bird of Hermes is my name, eating my wings to make me tame
And now because nobody asked for it: The entirely unnecessary sequel to a small typo during the writing of the last chapter, taken to its logical conclusion.
"...but regardless. Gin, I hope that everything went according to plan?"
"You betcha, Aizen-sama. Yer fukutaichou did make more of a ruckus than I thought she would, though – she even went as far as releasing her other Zanpakutou to fight my vice-captain over which one of these two Harry Potter characters deserves Lily more, Severus or James... it was rather stupid, really." Gin said, letting out a disappointed sigh.
Aizen let out a maniacal laughter entirely befitting of an evil overlord such as him. "Gnyeheharghl! Those simplistic fools! Once my final plan starts, they will be having other worries than which of their OTPs is the superior one!"
Gin nodded. "I agree, Aizen-sama. With what we are going to do, something as trivial as whether or not fictional character are in love with each other will have lost all impor-"
"Because then EVERYBODY shall realize that James and Severus are in fact meant for each other!"
Gin opened his eyes. By keeping them shut, he had missed one important little detail about his boss: He was in fact sitting under the tree with a laptop on his lap, browsing through what seemed to be a website with a blue background, and a lot of pictures – most of which seemed to depict the two men that Momo and Kira had summoned earlier doing imaginative things with each other. "...What?"
In the hopes of finding some last bits of sanity, Gin turned around to Tosen – who however positively beamed at Aizen, giving him a thumbs up. "Aww yeah, man! You've got it!"
"Yes! Now come Kaname, Gin, let us show this ignorant world the resolve of our feels!"