Disclaimer: Look elsewhere to steal Bleach. I don't own it.
Ichigo's thoughts: Hi
Shiro: Hi
Zangetsu: /Hi/
Chapter 23 – Contact
Sakanade crashed into the Arrancar's zanpakuto while Kinshara collided with a hierro-enforced hand. Out of the corner of Shinji's eye, the small Shinigami fell to the earth, blood gushing from a critical injury.
Shinji nodded to Rosé, who shunpoed to Orihime. Shinji then focused his attention on the Arrancar before him, who was studying Shinji with indifference.
"Who are you?" the Arrancar asked in a monotone.
"No one of importance. Just tell your master that his old captain says hello." The Arrancar's eyes widened. "Good luck living long enough to tell him, though." Shinji pulled on his mask and the Arrancar's eyes shot even wider than they already were.
The masked one's zanpakuto crashed into Ulquiorra's with amazing force, pushing him back a few yards. The reiatsu that flowed around Ulquiorra felt exactly like an Arrancar's: a perfect blend of hollow and Shinigami.
A red ball suddenly formed in front of the masked one's extended fist. The masked one could use Cero!
The red beam of destruction sped toward Ulquiorra. He sheathed his zanpakuto and halted the Cero's advance with a single outstretched hand. Ulquiorra was shocked when the Cero still pressed forward, and he slammed his other hand into the crimson energy. Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed in concentration as his overpowered the Cero's reiatsu and deflected the crimson beam into a nearby building. Only after the smoke cleared did Ulquiorra realize that the human girl he was supposed to abduct and her three protectors had vanished, and their reiatsu was untraceable.
Aizen-sama would not be happy.
Rosé shunpoed to Orihime while Shinji ran interference with the Arrancar, and he inwardly groaned when he saw her healing the downed Shinigami. She wouldn't heal anyone but a friend, and she wasn't the type to leave behind a comrade, no matter the situation. She also looked very worried; the Shinigami's injury had to have been really bad.
"Please, Rosé-san, please rescue Hitsugaya-san," she pleaded, confirming Rosé's suspicions.
Rosé glanced up at the battle between Shinji and the Arrancar and saw that Shinji was firing a Cero – probably to keep the Arrancar occupied so that they could make their getaway. Rosé ordered Orihime to climb on his back, waving off her thank-yous and apologies and focusing on the wounded Shinigami. The Shinigami was in danger of dying, due to the hideous hole in his chest, but Rosé figured that the Shinigami could probably withstand transport. After determining that the Shinigami could be moved and grabbing the Shinigami bridal style, Rosé began to shunpo back to the warehouse, aware of Shinji on his heels. Rosé glanced down at the Shinigami he wasn't supposed to save.
Hiyori would not be happy.
Urahara stared as smoke drifted from the large crater in front of his partially demolished store. The damages from the fight with the Arrancar were going to cost a fortune…
A Garganta had opened up right above the Shoten and four Arrancar had begun attacking the store. Rangiku, Ikkaku, and Yumichika had immediately rushed out and had begun defending the store, while Urahara had to prevent the exhausted Renji and Chad from doing the same. After it became clear that the Shinigami were vastly outmatched, Yoruichi, Urahara, Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu joined the fray. To Urahara's annoyance, Renji and Chad joined in too, using long-range attacks that kept the Arrancar on their toes. After one of the Arrancar, Luppi, had almost gotten killed with Yoruichi's shunko, the Arrancar retreated to Hueco Mundo. No one had been fatally wounded, and the worst damage had been done to the surrounding area. The most destruction had been dealt by a blue-haired Arrancar with a missing arm, since he had been infuriated when he discovered that Ichigo was not available "for a sound thrashing".
"Where's Captain Hitsugaya?!" Rangiku gasped. "I can't feel his reiatsu!" She looked utterly panicked, but she was in no condition to search for her captain – small rivulets of blood still dripped down her face, the pupils of her eyes were dilated (she had a concussion or worse, since Luppi's blow to her head sent her face first into two feet of concrete), and one of her legs was bent at an unnatural angle.
"I'll go find him. You're in no condition to go looking for him," Yoruichi ordered. Rangiku's shoulders slumped.
"Yoruichi, look for Orihime-san, as well. I have some theories about the reasons behind this attack, and I dearly hope that they are wrong," Urahara added darkly.
Yoruichi gave a single sharp nod and blurred from view. Urahara rubbed his temples. He'd taken Orihime off of the front lines to prevent her unique powers from attracting Aizen's attention, but if this attack had indeed been a diversion to allow another Arrancar to capture Orihime, then it had been a grave mistake on Urahara's part to forbid Orihime from being on the front lines – the Shinigami there would have been able to effectively protect her.
Urahara trudged back into the remains of his store and sat down on a relatively flat piece of rubble, sighing. At the very least, his underground training room was untouched… which was a very good thing, considering that the only means of retrieving Kurosaki from the past were stored within.
Shinji, Rosé, and Orihime entered the warehouse warily (Toshiro was still held in Rosé's arms) and one of Hachi's multilayered barriers snapped up behind them, effectively cloaking their location from wandering Arrancar.
"Did you get her?" Love asked, approaching the three. Eyeing Rosé's cargo, he added, "And an injured guest. Hiyori won't take this too well, you know."
"I wasn't about to leave him behind!" Orihime defended.
Love held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Just as long as you're aware of the consequences…"
The group ventured further into the shadowy hideout. Rosé carefully set Toshiro on the ground just as an incensed female voice screeched, "BAKAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" Something slammed Shinji into the opposite wall of the warehouse while introducing Rosé to the pain of the sandal-slap. Orihime paled and erected the Santen Kesshun in front of herself and Toshiro, as well as enveloping Toshiro in the Soten Kisshun. Just in time, too; a flying sandal impacted with the glowing yellow shield with incredible force before its owner retrieved it and used it to knock Shinji senseless.
"AND YOU!" the she-demon whirled on Orihime. Before the blonde girl could move, however, five iron pillars crashed down on her, effectively pinning her. "HACHI!! LET ME UP!!!!"
"Not until you've regained your senses," the pink-haired giant responded calmly.
The rest of the Vizards (sans the still unconscious Shinji and the incensed Hiyori) huddled behind Orihime's glowing shield in front of the golden blob that had enveloped the 10th squad captain. They tuned out Hiyori's furious screaming and began to debate about what the Shinigami's fate would be.
"So… What do we do with him?" Love began.
"After Orihime's done fixing him, we could take him back to Urahara's," Lisa suggested.
Hachi vetoed, "There are more Shinigami there that we won't want to get tangled with."
"Then we could just dump him in any random part of the city," Kensei proposed.
"The Arrancar attacked when they thought that Orihime-chan was defenseless. What's to say that they won't do it again?" Rosé objected.
Orihime took no notice of the remainder of the argument in favor of concentrating on healing Toshiro's wound. The damage done to his chest was severe. A dense reiatsu had enshrouded the wound, and if Orihime couldn't get rid of it, then there was a good chance that Toshiro could die… Orihime bit her lip. If it hadn't been for her, Toshiro wouldn't have been injured…
Shun'ou and Ayame pulsed gently, informing Orihime that the immense reiatsu saturating the injury had finally been removed. Orihime breathed a soft sigh of relief. Now that horrid hole in Toshiro's chest could begin to close… Soon after, a low groan unheard by everyone but Orihime signified that the captain had returned to consciousness.
Toshiro groaned. His chest ached abominably, though the pain was gradually dwindling with each passing moment. A soft yellow glow penetrated his eyelids, and loud arguing voices stabbed at his eardrums. As the pain in his chest lessened, Toshiro was able to concentrate clearly and began to piece together his hazy, fragmented memories. Orihime had been confronted with that Arrancar. Toshiro had rushed to her defense. The Arrancar had been extremely strong and had inflicted heavy damage upon Toshiro, even with his bankai. And then… hadn't Toshiro been stabbed in the chest? It would explain why his chest hurt so much... Toshiro vaguely remembered two figures assaulting the Arrancar before his memory went blank. Hopefully he was back at the Urahara Shoten, and the yellow glow was Orihime's Soten Kisshun. But what had happened to the Arrancar?
Toshiro's eyes snapped open, eliciting several startled oaths. Toshiro ignored them and focused on clearing his vision; his surroundings were nothing but a yellow blur. After a couple of blinks, Toshiro could make out a well-endowed female hovering at his side and several figures farther off. A couple more blinks brought the girl into sharp focus. It was Orihime. She had escaped the Arrancar unscathed. But why was she holding Hyourinmaru?
Toshiro sat up, ignoring the protests from his chest. "What happened? Where am I?"
"You were stabbed through the chest by an Arrancar. Some friends rescued us and took us to their home," Orihime explained. "I'm so sorry about your injury. If I hadn't have been there, you wouldn't have been-"
"Stop. My injuries weren't your fault." Toshiro squinted past the yellow glow of the Soten Kisshun and was barely able to make out the similar light of the Santen Kesshun. "Why is your shield activated? I thought that we were with allies."
"We are, but-"
"DAMMIT, WHY DID YOU LET HIM WAKE UP?!?"
"That's why," Orihime sighed.
"Be glad that Hiyori is pinned under bakudo 75, otherwise you would be dead by now. She really didn't want you to be here," a black-haired girl wearing a sailor fuku commented.
Toshiro turned to Orihime for confirmation. "Hiyori?"
"One of the people that live here. She doesn't like Shinigami." Toshiro raised an eyebrow at the understatement.
"SHUT UP, HIYORI!!"
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO, DICKHEAD!!!"
"I guess Shinji returned to the land of the living," the same girl remarked.
"Sorry for the rude first impression. We're not all as violent as Hiyori," a man with long, wavy, blond hair belatedly apologized.
"DON'T TALK TO HIM!! KNOCK HIM OUT AGAIN!!!"
The golden hemisphere surrounding Toshiro abruptly subsided. "You're completely healed now," Orihime smiled with some relief, ignoring the screaming from beyond the Santen Kesshun.
There was a sudden thud and a male voice called, "It's safe now, Orihime-chan!" The triangle-shaped shield shattered, revealing a rather annoyed blonde, many-toothed man and an unconscious, dirty-blonde child pinned under bakudo 75.
"Che." The man sauntered up to Toshiro. "A captain, huh?"
Toshiro stiffened as his rank was correctly identified. This group either had some sort of interest in the Gotei 13 or had once been involved with/a part of the Gotei 13. Neither boded too well for Toshiro. The last groups that had been interested in the Soul Society had tried to destroy it and rogue Shinigami were known to be vicious and violent toward enlisted Shinigami.
"Who are you?" the man asked, though Toshiro couldn't tell if the question was asked out of simple curiosity or not.
"Toshiro Hitsugaya, 10th squad captain of the Gotei 13," Toshiro replied warily.
The man peered at Toshiro. "A bit young to be a captain, aren't you?..."
Toshiro flushed in embarrassment and annoyance. "Sh-shut up! I have the qualifications to be a captain!"
The man held his hands up in a peace gesture. "Calm down. I'm just makin' a statement…"
"He acts a lot like Berry-tan, doesn't he?" a green-haired girl noted absentmindedly.
Toshiro raised an eyebrow. "Berry-tan?..."
"Oh, right! We haven't introduced ourselves, have we?" the wavy-haired blonde said, oblivious to the multiple glares from his other comrades.
"It's only polite," a man with a star-shaped afro shrugged, earning several glares of his own. "Love Aikawa. Nice to meet you."
"Rosé Otoribashi."
After a few seconds of silence, the sailor fuku girl sighed and introduced herself and the rest of her comrades. "I'm Lisa Yadomaru. The crabby silver-haired guy is Kensei Muguruma, the hyper green-haired girl is Mashiro Kuno, the pink-haired giant is Hachi Ushoda, the one who was screaming at you earlier is Hiyori Sarugaki, and the blonde idiot over there is Shinji Hirako." Hirako looked rather annoyed and glared at Yadomaru, but she was apparently oblivious to Hirako's irritation. There were a few more seconds of awkward silence filled with anxious fidgeting and darting eyes, when-
"DAMMIT, SHINJI!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!! AND THAT STUPID SHINIGAMI, TOO!!!" Sarugaki seemed to be in an apoplectic rage. She took advantage of Ushoda's surprise from her sudden awakening and broke out of the bakudo that was holding her down. She activated some sort of mechanism that lifted up a section of the floor before dashing down the now-exposed stairs.
"Wait – her zanpakuto's down there isn't it?" Hirako groaned before tearing after Sarugaki. Toshiro was mildly surprised – only Shinigami or former Shinigami used zanpakuto, so this group had probably been a part of the Gotei 13. Perhaps some of the senior captains knew them.
Toshiro followed the rest of the former Shinigami as they vanished down the staircase. He was dumbfounded when he reached the bottom of the staircase. These people had an underground training room like Urahara?!
A furious scream distracted Toshiro from his survey of the room, directing his attention on a livid Sarugaki. Toshiro began to panic a bit when he reached for his zanpakuto and only grabbed empty air. Belatedly, Toshiro remembered that Orihime had been holding Hyourinmaru when she'd been healing him, and she probably still had his zanpakuto. Had years of experience taught him nothing? He should have never left his zanpakuto out of reach in a place filled with potential enemies! At least Hirako had the sense to block the blow…
Lisa watched with mild horror as Hiyori gave a feral roar and launched herself at the unarmed captain (who really should have known better than to simply leave his zanpakuto with Orihime) and was thankfully blocked by Shinji. The two catapulted through the air and crashed through one of the protruding rock spires. Lisa glanced behind her when she heard Mashiro's gasp and Kensei's annoyed grunt and saw that, unsurprisingly, Mashiro was clinging to Kensei and the silver-haired man was trying to shake her off. Nothing unusual. Lisa turned back to Hiyori and Shinji and winced as a particularly strong blow sent Shinji into one of the boulders littering the landscape. Hiyori hadn't been this mad in a long time. It was probably best to let Hiyori's temper burn out on its own. She'd eventually come to her senses. Hopefully.
After retrieving Hyourinmaru from Orihime, a small flicker of lingering reiatsu caught Toshiro's attention. It was barely noticeable, but Toshiro could have sworn that it felt like Ichigo's. Perhaps…
What was the name of the green-haired girl again? "Ah… Mashiro Kuna?"
The bubbly girl turned toward Toshiro and bent to his eye-level. "Yes, Whitey-chan?"
Toshiro bit the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from losing his temper and exploding at Kuna. It wouldn't help him at all to snap at her. He settled with, "Does the name Ichigo Kurosaki mean anything to you?"
Kuna brightened. "You know Berry-tan?" A small part of Toshiro snickered at the name Kuna had given Ichigo, but he was alarmed when she grabbed the rough, gray-haired man's arm (Muguruma?). This apparently happened often, because he immediately started protesting and trying to shake her off. Before he could do anything more than shake his arm back and forth a couple of times, Kuna innocently exclaimed, "Hey, Kensei, Whitey-chan knows Berry-tan!"
Muguruma stopped struggling and eyed Toshiro coolly. Toshiro kept his expression neutral as he asked, "Are you the ones who have been training Ichigo for the past month?"
Muguruma's expression became frosty. "And if we have?"
A particularly loud crash reverberated throughout the room and Hirako emerged from a cloud of dust. Sarugaki was slung over his shoulder, unconscious. "What now?" he complained, noticing the tension between Toshiro and Muguruma.
"Why are you so interested with our involvement with Ichigo?" Muguruma asked Toshiro sharply.
"The Soul Society has ordered me to contact Ichigo's teachers and request for help for the upcoming war," Toshiro said stiffly.
Hirako's gaze became deadly serious, but Toshiro could also see a well-hidden glint of sadness in his eyes. "The Soul Society won't want anything to do with us."
"You don't know that," Toshiro shot back.
"Yes, I do. Trust me, I do."
"You'll at least need to tell the Soul Society 'no' directly."
Hirako gave a bitter bark of laughter. "You're stubborn, I'll give you that. Tell you what, put me through to Soul Society." There were several protests, which were silenced with, "They'll need to know of our involvement, anyway."
Toshiro extracted his Soul Pager from his shihakusho; most of the people in the training ground looked at the phone as if it would suddenly come to life and attack them. He dialed the number to Soul Society, and after a single ring, Toshiro was answered by one of the 12th squad members. He requested for either Shunsui Kyoraku or Jushiro Ukitake. Hirako looked alarmed by the names, but didn't have time to object. Apparently Ukitake had been hanging around the 12th squad a lot in the past few days and had been available immediately.
"Are they willing to talk, Captain Hitsugaya?"
"Yes. I'll let you speak their apparent leader now." Toshiro held the phone out and Hirako snatched it up.
The young captain held the Soul Pager out, unsure of whom the 'apparent leader' was. Shinji grabbed it before one of the less polite Vizards could get their hands on it.
"Hello?" So it was Jushiro on the phone. At least it wasn't Yamamoto; he wouldn't have listened to a word Shinji would have said.
"Yo. It's been a while, Jushiro-san."
Shinji could swear he heard Jushiro's jaw hit the floor. "SHINJI HIRAKO?!"
I know that a lot of you have asked why there seems to be a lack of differences in the canon time period, other than Ichigo's absence. That will be explained by the end of the fic, I guarantee it. Stop asking me that question, because I'm not answering it now. I've had to have had at least twenty people ask variations of that question, maybe more.
We'll get back to Ichigo in the next chapter, okay? … … That's rather evil of me, promising more Ichigo when I've left you guys with a really bad cliffhanger, isn't it?
I really didn't like how this chapter turned out. It's quite choppy, but that's because so much is happening in such a short amount of time. I still don't like writing choppily, though…
Yay!! A quick update!! And on midterm week, too. Odd…
I finally got through my writing notebook. It was one of those thick ones with high-quality paper from B&N. It was black and had the word 'write' all over it. Now I get to start a new notebook. It's one from my friend. I CAN'T BELIEVE I FINISHED MY NOTEBOOK!!
Don't forget to push the little button below!
-HM