Hey my readers, it's Unknown entity328 with a new chapter! First of all, I just wanted to let you all know that the reason I've been MIA the last couple of months is because I got into an accident. I was driving on the highway when a truck decided to make a turn into the lane I was in. This resulted in me being in a coma. I just woke up a week ago, and the doctor said that I was lucky I wasn't badly injured and that I'm alive. I just recently got discharged from the hospital. But enough about that, it's time for me to give myself a breather and let you get to reading, I hope that you enjoy it!
Chapter Thirteen: Ryoka Invasion
Toya stood at the center of the squad thirteen training grounds, which was now full of craters and scorch marks. The squad thirteen lieutenant was breathing heavily, his shihakusho torn to shreds. His body was littered with cuts, bruises, and burn marks while his right arm hung limply to his side. Raijinmaru was gripped tightly in his left hand as he tried to sheath it despite his protesting body. Once sheathed, Toya clutched his right arm and gramiced when pain shot up it. It was clear to him that his arm was broken in at least five different areas.
'I guess I overdid it.' Toya thought, taking a deep breath as he began to cast Kaido on his arm. He gently lowered himself into a sitting position as he waited for his arm to heal. 'This pain is worth it, though.'
He's been training for several days now, he honestly lost track of how many days have passed. What he did know is he was starving now that he stopped for a moment. Toya barely even has enough strength to cast Kaido as he is now. If Rukia wasn't imprisoned, she'd probably scold him about skipping meals. On top of that, Renji would take it as a challenge and wind up worse than him, which would anger Rukia even more.
Toya gave a small chuckle at the thought before sighing sadly as he looked up at the sky. No matter what, a time like that will never happen again, especially when Rukia gets executed. No more hearing Rukia and Renji arguing, no more Rukia talking about Chappy, nothing. Toya never had a family, none that he remembers, anyway. So the thought of losing someone like a sister to him weighed heavily on his heart.
'Renji must be feeling worse.' Toya lowered his left arm and raised his right to test it out and nodded when he felt no pain. 'He may deny it, but I know he has a thing for Rukia.'
"There he is!"
Toya looked over his shoulder and was surprised to see Sakuya and Mahiru approaching him. Five years after Toya joined squad thirteen, Sakuya and Mahiru quickly followed and graduated. Sakuya ended up in squad eight while Mahiru got assigned to squad seven. Sakuya got along well with his captain, which was not much of a surprise to Toya. Mahiru enjoys working under captain Komamura, despite never seeing his face before.
"Told ya he'd be training." Sakuya said, grinning as he placed his hands behind his head.
"And nearly killing himself in the process, it seems." Mahiru commented, getting a good look at their friend's condition. He frowned, crossing his arms as he gave his white haired friend a scolding look. "You always take your training too far, Toya."
"I'm fine, guys." Toya said reassuringly, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. "I just finished for the day."
"Say that after captain Unohana looks at you." Mahiru said, getting behind Toya and pushing him out of the training grounds. "You haven't changed a bit since the academy."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Toya questioned, looking over his shoulder to see Mahiru giving him a deadpan stare.
"You're smart, figure it out." Mahiru replied, getting a snicker from Sakuya who walked behind them.
"By the way, you probably haven't heard, but…" Sakuya said, getting Toya's attention as they walked through the seireitei. Sakuya looked around for a moment before holding up a finger as he inched closer to Toya. "A group of ryoka tried to enter the seireitei a couple days ago."
"What?" Toya's eyes widened in shock at the news, having a hard time believing it.
"It's true, I was there." Mahiru nodded in confirmation, crossing his arms as he recalled the event. "This one ryoka was actually able to block Jidanbo's Jidan Ten Strike Festival."
"Okay, now I know you guys are pulling my leg." Toya raised a disbelieving eyebrow, knowing for a fact how powerful Jidanbo is being the guardian of the Hakuto Gate. "No one can survive against Jidanbo's attacks."
"This one did." Mahiru asserted, looking up to the sky as they rounded a corner. "What's even more shocking is that he destroyed Jidanbo's axes."
"While doing his Jidan Banzai Strike Festival at that." Sakuya added, shaking his head with a mild grin on his face. "That orange haired kid was terrifying."
"Wait, did you say orange hair?" Toya suddenly asked, a feeling of dread welling up within him as he only knew one person with orange hair. 'That idiot! I told him not to come!'
"Yeah." Sakuya replied, oblivious to his friend's inner turmoil. "He was even dressed as a soul reaper."
"And his zanpakuto was as long as his body." Mahiru said, shrugging his shoulders at the memory of the orange haired soul reaper. "But captain Ichimaru dealt with him pretty quickly."
While his two friends conversed, Toya was lost in his own thoughts about what he just learned. The ryoka that Jidanbo fought is no doubt the teenage boy he healed in the world of the living, Ichigo, if he remembered correctly. In hindsight, Toya should've known that he would come to rescue Rukia. The problem is that he's raiding a place filled with soul reapers that can easily overwhelm him, reinforcements or not. All that boy was going to do is waste the life Rukia tried to save!
However, with the walls of the seireitei active, being made of sekkiseki, it will be impossible for them to get in. From his studies, Toya knows that Sekkiseki is an extremely rare mineral that projects a unique wave of spiritual energy from its cut surfaces. This wave of spiritual energy envelopes the seireitei with a spherical barrier called the Shakonmaku. Because of the stone's properties, any reishi that passes through the barrier is instantly vaporized.
However, it is possible for reishi of sufficient density to pass through, albeit with difficulty. As far as Toya knows, there's no reishi that would be dense enough to pass through the Shakonmaku. If there were such a thing, then the thirteen court guard squads would've developed countermeasures years ago.
'Unless…' Toya frowned, knowing at least one way to break through the Shakonmaku, albeit risky. 'That might work, but who would have the means to pull it off?'
"Lieutenant Toya!" The three friends stopped walking and turned to see Kiyone running towards them. Once she caught up to them, she hunched over, hands on her knees as she breathed heavily. "I've been looking all over for you!"
"What's up, Kiyone?" Toya asked, surprised to not see Sentaro with her since those two are always together.
"All the lieutenants have been called for a meeting." Kiyone explained once she caught her breath and stood straight. "All lieutenants are to wear their badges and report to conference room two!"
"A lieutenants meeting?" Toya's eyes widened, not expecting to attend his first lieutenants meeting so soon. "Is it because of the ryoka?"
"I think so." Kiyone nodded, looking Toya from head to toe when she finally realized his condition. Her eyes widened and gasped in shock as she took a step back. "What happened to you?!"
"I kinda overdid it with training the past few days." Toya laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
"No wonder I couldn't find you." Kiyone sighed, getting behind Toya and pushing him in the direction of the squad thirteen barracks. "Hurry and get changed, you can't be late to this meeting!"
"Alright, alright." Toya looked over his shoulder to Mahiru and Sakuya. "Sorry guys, I'll stop by squad four once the meeting's over!"
Once Toya took a bath, ate his fill, and put on a new shihakusho, he was on his way to the lieutenants meeting. He was honestly nervous, despite personally knowing all the lieutenants, this is his first meeting. He would have to make sure he didn't make a fool of himself and pay close attention to the meeting. Knowing Renji, he probably wouldn't be nervous at all, which Toya envied at the moment.
Once he arrived at the conference room, Toya saw that the door was open and stepped inside. He saw that Renji, Momo, and Rangiku had already arrived along with Tetsuzaemon. Off in the corner Toya also saw Nemu Kurotsuchi, the lieutenant of squad twelve sitting in a chair.
Toya honestly didn't know what to make of her, having the least amount of contact with the squad twelve lieutenant. She's always quiet, not talking to anyone and rarely speaks when spoken to. Even if she did talk, it was always short and soft to the point you would miss what she said. Occasionally, Toya would mistake her for a doll with how little she moves when she sits still.
"Glad to see you made it, Toya." Rangiku, being the first to notice his entrance, waved over at the white haired lieutenant. "How have you been?"
"I'm fine, Rangiku." Toya nodded in greeting, approaching the squad ten lieutenant and raising an eyebrow. "And what about you, still ditching your paperwork?"
"What, of course not." Rangiku said, averting her eyes and smiling nervously at her fellow lieutenant's accusation. "What makes you think I would do such a thing?"
"You're a horrible actress, Rangiku." Toya deadpanned, hands on his hips as he gave her a half-lidded stare. He sighed and shook his head in disappointment at his fellow lieutenant. "I feel sorry for Toshiro."
"You and the captain need to lighten up." Rangiku said, holding up a finger with an easygoing smile. "You two should get out more and have some fun!"
"And you should take your work more seriously." Toya scolded, lightly flicking Rangiku in the forehead, causing the squad ten lieutenant to pout. "If you did, Toshiro might have some free time to visit his grandma."
"Toya seems awfully familiar with Rangiku and Captain Hitsugaya." Tetsuzaemon said softly to Renji, watching the squad thirteen lieutenant converse with the squad ten lieutenant.
"Well, he often pays squad ten a visit to help with paperwork." Renji explained, rubbing the back of his neck as he watched his friend scold Rangiku. "That, and Momo introduced Toya to Captain Hitsugaya thirty years ago and they've been friends ever since."
"Is that so?" Tetsuzaemon muttered, rubbing his chin when he noticed something about Toya. "And you're sure they're not related?"
"As far as we know." Renji shrugged, raising an eyebrow at the squad seven lieutenant's question. "Why do you ask?"
"RANGIKU!"
All eyes turned to Toya to see that he was standing over a prostrated Rangiku with his arms crossed. If they looked close enough, they could see a throbbing vein on his forehead and his eyebrow twitching. Most present were surprised by the squad thirteen lieutenant's outburst except for Renji. The red head has seen Toya like this a few times during his arguments with Rukia. He only gets like this when his patience has reached its breaking point.
"I can't believe you ditched work so you can go out drinking, again!" Toya shouted, sparks dancing around his body as his spiritual pressure flared. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "I sometimes can't believe we're the same rank."
"The way he yells at Rangiku is almost exactly like Captain Hitsugaya's." Testsuzaemon said, remembering the times he witnessed Rangiku getting scolded by the squad ten captain.
Before more can be said, the clacking of the alarm went off, gaining the attention of all the present lieutenants. It was a red alert announcing intruders within the seireitei and that all squads get into position. Renji and Toya were the first ones to leave the conference room to their respective barracks. In order to save time, Toya flash stepped along the top of the walls and buildings. Once he reached the squad thirteen barracks, he saw that Kiyone and Sentaro already had the squad members mobilized.
Moving to the front of the pack, Toya began to lead the squad members through the twists and turns of the seireitei. Despite memorizing the layout, Toya still finds the streets of the seireitei ridiculous. That being said, it's effective as a maze trap should any ryoka get past the gates.
He suddenly sensed a sudden spike in spiritual pressure from above and stopped. Confused, the rest of the squad members also stopped as Toya looked up to the sky. They followed his gaze in time to see something collide with the Shakonmaku. They were shocked to see that despite hitting the Shakonmaku, whatever hit it remained intact.
"Lieutenant!" Toya looked over his shoulder to Kiyone and Sentaro standing in front of their squad members. "Your orders, sir!"
Toya said nothing as he turned his attention back to the sky as the object pierced through the Shakonmaku. However, his eyes narrowed as the object split into four and scattered through the air. Thinking quickly, Toya snapped his fingers and a swarm of hell butterflies fluttered around him.
"The ryoka got in!" Toya called out, turning to face the squad members present. "Split into groups of five and cast a wide net around the seireitei!" He looked around as they began to form groups each with a hell butterfly. "When you find the ryoka, do not engage for we do not know what they're capable of!" He received looks of confusion at his order, but none protested. "Simply monitor them until reinforcements arrive, capture them alive if possible so we can learn their objective!"
"Yes sir!" The squad members shouted, scattering throughout the seireitei.
"Now then." Toya muttered to himself, looking back up to the sky at the four streaks. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the spiritual pressure of the ryoka. 'Who are we dealing with?'
Out of the four streaks, Toya sensed six different spiritual pressures, one of which he recognized. He didn't know how, but it seems Ichigo regained his soul reaper powers. The squad thirteen lieutenant had to admit he was impressed the human pulled it off. Normally, it's impossible to regain soul reaper powers after they have been lost.
However, he had no time to ponder how Ichigo got his powers back. Right now, he needed to gather information and plan accordingly. Out of the six he sensed, Toya felt one that was old, but powerful.
'There!' Opening his eyes, Toya flash stepped in the direction of one of the streaks.
As he got closer, he rested a hand on Raijinmaru's hilt, prepared to draw it at a moment's notice. He knew that he was in for a tough battle, meaning he'll need the element of surprise. With that in mind, Toya lowered his spirit energy to that of an unseated officer. It was rather difficult, but he managed to do it.
When he arrived, Toya saw other soul reapers were already where he estimated the streak would land. He wasn't disappointed as he saw it coming right towards them. Just before the streak hit the ground, there was a blinding light. Once he regained his vision, the cause of the light was gone. Looking around, he spotted a black cat with golden eyes looking down at the confused soul reapers.
Frowning, Toya narrowed his eyes at the sight of the feline. He wondered why there was a cat in the seireitei. From what he could tell, the spiritual pressure he sensed was coming from the cat. The cat then looked in his direction, surprising the lieutenant. Knowing he lost the element of surprise, Toya flash stepped over to the cat.
"I'm impressed you found me so quickly." The cat said, further surprising Toya as he didn't expect the feline to talk.
"You're no ordinary cat, are you." Toya stated, tightening his grip on his zanpakuto's hilt.
"Did the fact I can talk give it away?" The cat gave an amused chuckle, not even the least bit intimidated.
"There's that." Toya admitted, further narrowing his eyes as his body tensed. "Then there's your spiritual pressure, it's too old and strong for a normal cat."
"Hoh, so you can tell that much." The cat looked genuinely impressed, its tail swaying back and forth. "Impressive for someone so young."
"Save the compliments." Toya drew his zanpakuto, gripping the hilt with both hands as his spiritual pressure increased slightly. "Why did you come to the seireitei?"
"That would be telling." The cat smirked, suddenly appearing on Toya's shoulder. "But if you catch me, I might be willing to share."
"How did-" Toya looked at his shoulder, eyes wide with shock as the cat was already gone. 'So fast, I didn't even see them move!'
"Tag, you're it." Toya looked behind him to see the cat jumping from one rooftop to another at tremendous speed.
"You're not getting away!" Toya quickly ran after the cat, holding up his left hand as Reishi began circling around it. "Bakudo #4: Hainawa!"
Toya thrusted his hand forward, generating a crackling yellow energy rope and throwing it toward the cat. The feline looked over its shoulder before effortlessly dodging the energy rope. Toya waved his hand around, utilizing the energy rope like a whip in order to capture the cat. The black feline simply continued to dodge the rope as the gap between them grew. Deciding to change tactics, Toya transferred the energy rope to his right hand and wrapped it around his zanpakuto's blade. The cat watched curiously as Toya held his zanpakuto to the side.
"Strike down from the heavens, Raijinmaru!" Toya called out as his zanpakuto changed into its shikai form.
'Interesting, he's up to something.' The cat thought, eyeing how the energy rope was engulfed in electricity.
Toya swung his zanpakuto, releasing the energy rope in the shape of a thin lightning dragon. The dragon sliced through the air at great speed, inches from connecting with the cat. The feline's eyes widened in momentary surprise before jumping out of the way. Not willing to let it get away, Toya swung Raijinmaru, making the dragon chase after the feline.
When the lightning dragon finally wrapped around the cat's tail, Toya smirked. His smirk dropped, however, when the cat suddenly vanished into thin air. Seeing movement to his left, Toya saw the cat and directed the dragon towards it. The feline simply flipped over the dragon so it crashed into a wall and dispersed. Toya gritted his teeth as he once again chased after the cat.
Meanwhile, the soul reapers in the surrounding area looked on in confusion. They had no idea why the lieutenant of squad thirteen was chasing a cat. They were in the middle of tracking the ryoka and he was chasing cats. They expected this from the squad eleven lieutenant, but never Toya. They watched as the cat effortlessly evaded every attempt Toya made to capture it. While known for being a great tactician, Toya was still having trouble outsmarting the black feline. They had to hold in a laugh when Toya was inches from catching the feline, only to slam into the side of a building.
"No doubt, that's no ordinary cat." Toya grumbled, pulling himself from the side of the building. He looked around and nodded when he saw no sign of the cat or any soul reaper anywhere in the vicinity. "Good."
Sealing and sheathing Raijinmaru, Toya flash stepped his way back to the squad thirteen barracks. Ever since learning about Rukia's execution, Toya has been devising a plan. A plan that would more than likely brand him a traitor. The squad thirteen lieutenant knew that traitors were killed on the spot, no questions asked.
In Toya's eyes, however, it was a risk worth taking if it meant Rukia lives. He simply had to wait for the perfect opportunity to arise, which it did in the form of the ryoka invasion. Luckily, he did more than train in the squad thirteen training grounds. He was making preparations for everything he might need.
Once he arrived at the barracks, Toya flash stepped towards the squad thirteen training grounds. Upon his arrival, he jumped down a cliff and looked around the area. Nodding to see he was alone, Toya lifted a hand in preparation to cast kido.
"Toya!" The squad thirteen lieutenant jumped at the voice and turned around to see it was Mahiru approaching him. "What are you doing back here, there's a ryoka invasion happening right now!"
Toya laughed nervously, looking around the area for a believable excuse as to why he was back in the training grounds. "I was, uh, seeing if the ryoka managed to sneak in."
"Seriously?" Mahiru gave his friend a deadpan stare, hands on his hips. "The ryoka would be stupid to come to a squad's training grounds."
"You never know." Toya shrugged, trying to play it cool as he walked past Mahiru. "They could be hiding in plain sight." He then stopped as he processed his words. "Hiding in plain sight…"
"What's up?" Mahiru asked, staring curiously at Toya.
"Mahiru, I have a favor to ask." Toya turned to face Mahiru, a look of seriousness which didn't go unnoticed. "Have all squads question every member they run into." He then started pacing, cupping his chin. "Name, squad, rank, captain, lieutenant, and historical fact of the soul society."
"Why would we do that?" Mahiru asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow at the favor being asked of him.
"There's a possibility the ryoka might pose as a soul reaper." Toya replied, causing Mahiru's eyes to widen in realization. He lowered his hand as he ran through his head how many squad members there are as a whole. "With everyone scattered like they are, it'll be easy for them to blend in once they get a few shihakusho."
"But if their answer is incorrect or overlaps, then we'll have our suspects." Mahiru summarized, nodding along as he finally started to understand.
"Right." Toya nodded, holding out a hand as a hell butterfly fluttered over and perched on his finger. "I'll inform the other lieutenants, can you spread the word to the other squad members?"
"Leave it to me." Mahiru nodded, impressed with Toya's strategy. 'The ryoka invasion just started and Toya's already devised a plan to flush them out.' He smirked as he watched the hell butterfly leave Toya's finger and fluttered away. 'No wonder they made him a lieutenant.'
Toya remained where he stood as he heard Mahiru flash step away and waited. Once he was sure that there was no one else around, he let out a sigh of relief.
Toya was once again out in search of the ryoka, one in particular. He needed to find and detain Ichigo above all else. While only having met briefly, Toya got the sense that the substitute is the reckless hothead type. If it were anyone else, they would've tried to sneak in unnoticed. Admittedly, such a feat would be difficult all things considered.
Nonetheless, Toya had to find Ichigo and do some damage control. While the chaos he's causing is helpful, it also makes it difficult for Toya to move freely. As lieutenant, it'll be suspicious if he wasn't out searching for the ryoka. In all honesty, he should just scrap any plans he's made.
'How did Rukia handle someone like him?' Toya wondered, remembering how his friend barked orders to the teenager fighting the hollow he lured.
He stopped when he heard the sound of someone screaming nearby. Wasting no time, Toya flash stepped towards the source of the scream. When he arrived, Toya was surprised at what he saw. Laying on the ground was squad seven's fourth seat, Jirobo Ikkanzaka, also known as the Wind Scythe. Standing nearby were Uryu Ishida and Orihime Inoue, who were now staring at him. Toya noted the white glove with blue lines Uryu was wearing on his right hand.
"Wait, is that Toya?!" Orihime gasped, a hand over her mouth while the other pointed at the squad thirteen lieutenant. She smiled brightly and ran towards him, waving excitedly. "Hey Toya, how have you been?!"
"Wait, Orihime." Uryu got in front of Orihime, surprising the girl as he formed a bow from his glove and drew it back. "He's our enemy."
"He got you involved?" Toya groaned, facepalming as he felt the start of a headache. Inhaling deeply through his nose, Toya reached for Raijinmaru, causing Uryu and Orihime to tense up. "There can only be one reason you guys are here." He then removed Raijinmaru from his waist and set it down, much to the twos surprise. "Then that means we have a common goal."
"You're trying to save Rukia too?" Orihime asked, a hand over her mouth in surprise while the other pointed at Toya.
"Why should we believe you?" Uryu questioned, his arrow still aimed at the squad thirteen lieutenant. "If you recall, you were one of the people who took her."
"Did you think I wanted to do that?" Toya retorted, moving away from Raijinmaru to further prove he wasn't lying. "I couldn't do anything except follow my orders because Captain Kuchiki was there."
"Are the captains really that powerful?" Orihime asked, noticing that Toya had his hands balled into tight fists.
"If I was to compare you to them," Toya looked at Orihime and Uryu with appraising eyes as he gauged their strength. "Then you two might as well be ants trying to catch a falling mountain."
"That's quite the analogy." Uryu muttered, his eyes narrowed as he also appraised Toya. "So what you're saying is we'd be dead if we ran into a captain."
"Precisely." Toya nodded, looking around to ensure that no one was listening in on their conversation. His eyes narrowed when he sensed someone approaching before facing the two. "This isn't a good place for a conversation, come with me."
"And how do we know this isn't a trap?" Uryu asks warily, tightening his grip on his bow.
Toya lets out a sigh, approaching his zanpakuto and picks it up. He then tossed it over to Orihime who clumsily caught it. The two looked at the squad thirteen lieutenant in surprise. He handed over his only means of fighting without a second thought. From what they know, soul reapers rely on their zanpakuto to fight. The fact Toya disarmed himself with no hesitation was a bit disconcerting.
"Will that suffice?" Toya asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms. "I'll let you hold on to my zanpakuto, and I doubt I'll be fast enough to cast kido." He gave a side glance to Jirobo and noticed the two holes in his shihakusho. "Judging by the state of Jirobo here, I'll be riddled with holes before I even think about it."
Uryu remained silent, his arrow still ready to fire at a moment's notice should Toya make any sudden moves. It's true that he can fire arrows faster than Toya could even mutter a word. The way he gave up his zanpakuto and kept his hands in sight were both signs of surrender. That's what's bothering the Quincy, why would a lieutenant give himself a disadvantage? Unless, he was being sincere, but it's too soon to be certain.
After considering it for a moment longer, Uryu retracted his bow into his glove and lowered his arm. "Lead the way, then."
Now unto Review Corner, where I reply to your reviews and answer any questions you may have. Keep in mind, any questions involving what happens next will be answered vaguely or in riddles to avoid spoilers.
Iria Stars: I am too, but I'm saving Ichigo for something that I hope will be worth the wait.
BuddhaBuddha: I assure you, there will be some originality in future chapters. All I ask is that you bear with me for the time being.
And that's it for Review Corner, I look forward to hearing from you again my precious readers!