"Stay together." Yoruichi ordered the group as she ran into the senkaimon. Kisuke and Tessai together would hold it long enough for their passage, and the tickets they carried guaranteed that they wouldn't be forced out of the dangai, but the group was so excited that they were ready to run off on their own. She almost had to laugh. It had been many years since she had led so many people at once into the dangai. They were just a group of excited kids on a field trip after all. Behind her was Uryu, the fastest in the group aside from her. She made that call figuring if something did go against their plans he could assist her. Behind him was Yuzu and Karin, then Orihime and Tatsuki. A few steps behind the girls was Keigo and Mizuiro, and Sado brought up the rear. That was another decision Yoruichi made. It was best to have Sado in the back where he can keep the stragglers moving.
"Are you going to Kukaku's first?" Orihime asked excitedly. She liked Kukaku and it would be rude to go and not visit someone who they owed a lot. Most of the others looked confused, but Uryu and Sado both looked like they really did not want to. Yoruichi smiled.
"We are expected there for dinner tonight. For now we should just go straight to the new soutaichou." she said over her shoulder. Before they had left, Kisuke gave the others in the group a small lesson of who is who, what the Seireitei is composed of, and a quick history of what was going on. They were really only interested in seeing Ichigo though. At least the group that didn't know who the shinigami were. Orihime was chattering away about how she couldn't wait to introduce Tatsuki to the other women shinigami, and even Sado and Uryu had a few others they had grown fond of.
"So is that bald guy and the feathered one going to be there?" Keigo asked.
"Madarame and Ayasegawa? Yes. It I remember correctly they have been promoted. Madarame is now a fukutaichou and Ayasegawa a third seat." Uryu said. Keigo turned pale. He remembered the two of them well from them crashing at his place two years ago. Yoruichi just turned her focus back to running. She looked down at the papers in her hand and sighed.
She hadn't been surprised that Isshin wasn't coming. When he came to bring the girls, he made a big show of saying that he couldn't make it due to an emergency and would have to take a rain check. Yoruichi, Kisuke, Uryu, Orihime, Sado, and Tessai were not fooled. They knew Isshin couldn't go back to the Seiretei without publicly announcing that he deserted them. He had slipped Yoruichi three letters though. The first was meant for his son, the most obvious ones. Probably just a 'hey how you doing?' type of letter. The second was for his niece and nephew, Kukaku and Ganju. Probably just to tell them sorry for all the trouble they caused them. Either that or yell at them for sending Ichigo to the Soul King's home. Maybe both if she had to be honest. The last one was to his former subordinates Toshiro and Rangiku. It most likely told the two what they already knew. That he was alive and sorry for leaving them with no notice.
"Yoruichi, we're almost there." Uryu's voice brought her back to reality. She nodded her thanks and continued to run.
xxx
The group crashed into the Seiretei. Yoruichi, Uryu, Orihime, and Sado were the only ones who stayed on their feet. The rest had to get up from the pile they found themselves in. Yoruichi chuckled. The new arrivals looked around in amazement. Uryu, Orihime, and Sado out of how impressed they were with the amount of rebuilding that occurred since they left. The others with how awe inspiring the place looked. Even with most of it in ruins, the white tower next to Sokyoku Hill towered over them, showing the strength of the Soul Society as a whole.
Yoruichi had come to inform them of their arrival, so she had a better idea of the state things were in. The divisions were completely rebuilt and running again. The noble's homes were also fully restored. Many other public buildings however were in the process of being rebuilt. Roads were still destroyed but no one used them enough to make them a main priority. "We should go now." Yoruichi said. The sooner they informed Shunsui of their arrival, the sooner they could be released to go have fun.
xxx
"Whoa! This place is incredible!" Keigo gasped as they stood outside the Soutaichou's office. Yoruichi smirked and knocked at the door.
"Come in." Shunsui called, sounding really excited. Yoruichi wondered if he could sense who was outside the door and was happy to see them, or if he hadn't even checked but was just welcoming a distraction from work. She opened the door to see he was already standing away from his desk. She shook her head.
"That's not a proper example to set for the younger officers." she playfully scolded. Shunsui sighed, but it wasn't annoyed or tired, more like he was about to play along with her.
"You should have more respect for the pace of this old man." he said. She smiled and nodded.
"I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, we're here for a week vacation to visit Ichigo and the others." she said. He nodded. Shunsui knew Old Man Yamamoto would never just approve of something like this, but he wasn't the old man. He needed to do what was best for his men, and right now seeing Orihime, Uryu, Sado, and Yoruichi would improve their moral by a load. The three didn't know it, but the Shinigami loved them just as much as they loved Ichgio. Even the Quincy. They risked so much and went so far against enemies that they never should have had to face. To the entirety of the Soul Society, they were just as much of heroes as Ichigo.
"Have fun, just don't keep my people away from work too much." he said with a smile. Yoruichi smiled sweetly that Shunsui knew that promise would be broken as soon as they left the room.
"Where is Ichigo?" she asked. Shunsui thought for a second.
"Since he is part of the thirteenth division he should be around there somewhere. I would say wherever Rukia is." he mused. Orihime looked a little at the ground. Yoruichi nodded and turned to the others.
"You heard him." she said. The others nodded and headed out, Uryu and Orihime leading the way. Meanwhile Yoruichi stayed behind.
"Not going with them?" Shunsui asked. She shook her head.
"No, I have letters to deliver and then I'm going to check in on Soi Fon." she said. Shunsui nodded.
"You can tell Isshin that he can come back to see his son. The Central Forty-six that knew him is gone. He shouldn't let some empty threat keep him from visiting his son and his former subordinates." Shunsui said. Yoruichi nodded and left.
xxx
Ichigo moved the last stack of papers into the 'done' pile when a knock came at his door. Lamenting the idea of more work being heaped on him, he went to the door. When he opened it however he was stunned. "Y...you guys!?" he gasped. He hand't been expecting them, although in hindsight he knew he probably should have. He hadn't seen them since he remained in the Soul Society and he knew if he had been paying attention he would know it was winter brake.
"Good to see you're still in one piece." Uryu remarked.
"ICHIGO!" Keigo and Yuzu yelled as both of them leaped onto the orange haired male in a hug. Ichigo stepped back a bit to keep from falling on the ground. Mizuiro, Tatsuki, Karin, Sado, Orihime, and Uryu all just smiled. Uryu then glanced over at Orihime before turning back to Ichigo.
"Well, I guess I'll be going then." the raven said, turning to leave.
"WAIT! You're leaving!? You just got here!" Ichigo yelled in protest. The Quincy paused to face him.
"You have your sisters here, you should catch up with them first. We're here for a week, so we have plenty of time to see you. We'll even all have dinner at Shiba's tonight." Uryu offered. Ichigo then nodded, seeing the sound logic in that. Orihime then turned to leave too.
"We'll see you at Kukaku's then!" she called, running after Uryu. Sado turned and left as well. After all, the three of them were the last ones to see Ichigo. They wanted to give the others a chance.
"Hey, wait up!" Tatsuki decided, and ran after Orihime. She could see the point in leaving Ichigo some time to see his sisters, and she wanted to meet Orihime's other friends too. Ichigo sighed as he watched them leave, then moved aside so his sisters, Keigo, and Mizuiro could better enter his office.
xxx
Orihime and Tatsuki entered the tenth division. "So, who is here?" Tatsuki asked, curious. Orihime smiled.
"Well this is where Hitsugaya Toshiro and Matsumoto Rangiku are. When they came to Karakura town they both stayed at my place, so I wanted to come say hi." Orihime said. Tatsuki nodded and followed her to the main office door. Orihime knocked at the door then waited. Rangiku was the one who opened it.
"Orihime!" she squealed in greeting, hugging the younger girl. She then looked over at Tatsuki. She knew the girl looked familiar from her time at the High School, but she never officially met her. "And who is this?" she asked. Tatsuki smiled.
"Arisawa Tatsuki. I am a long time friend of Ichigo and Orihime's." Tatsuki introduced herself. Rangiku smiled.
"It's nice to meet you, come on in, taichou is still here." Rangiku said, pulling open the door. They could see Toshiro sitting behind his desk.
"He's a taichou? But he looks like a little kid." Tatsuki whispered. Toshiro looked up, having heard the comment, but then just turned back to his paperwork. Honestly, he didn't care too much for the comments anymore. Not since he found that he could grow up into an adult when he used his bankai. Truthfully he liked his real self much better, so the comments didn't have so much of a bite to them anymore. He even made jokes himself once in a while.
"Hello Inoue-san, I see you're looking well." he said without looking aback up. Orihime smiled.
"We came to see Ichigo, but we thought he would like to spend some time with his sisters." She explained. Rangiku clapped as if an idea had just come to her.
"If that's the case, then let's go see the other females. We can have an emergency meeting." Rangiku decided. She grabbed Orihime and Tatsuki's arms.
"Matsumoto, don't even think ab...MATSUMOTO!" they could hear Toshiro shout as Rangiku shunpoed out of the room, dragging the girls with her.
xxx
Sado and Uryu arrived at the sixth division main office. Uryu knocked and they immediately received the formal 'enter' from Byakuya. They opened the door and went in. "Chad! Ishida! What brings you guys here?!" Renji called from his desk, looking happy and excited. Uryu shrugged.
"We came to see Kurosaki, but I figured he wanted to see his sisters. So we came to see you." he said. Renji didn't look dismayed at all that he was their second choice. In fact he looked thrilled.
"That's great, so how long are you all here?" he asked. Byakuya scowled however.
"Renji, the office is no place to be hanging out with your friends. Why don't you take the rest of the day and go somewhere else." the taichou said. Uryu and Sado looked surprised, but Renji looked overly excited.
"Yes Taichou, come on!" he said, and led the two teens away.