so, the final chapter of the celebration, and the raid. after this, we go back to day-by-day type stuff.
While Yuyu was expecting that her captain was going to partake in drinking, she wasn't expecting her to be drunk off of her ass after having drunk several lieutenants under the table. In some cases literally.
"You know… I think you'd look good if you bleach your hair," the loose speech of the only other person conscious outside of Yuyu and Lisa spoke up. That being of one Rangiku Matsumoto.
"Uh…" Yuyu didn't know how to react to that. She had considered changing her style on several occasions, but there was an anxiety about how it would be taken. She had already been reprimanded for how her zanjutsu training started to form calluses on her hands. Something that her father said was unbecoming of a lady like herself.
If she suddenly came home blond? Oh, the explosion would be massive.
And hilarious.
"You know… I might just consider that," a mischievous grin showed itself on Yuyu's face.
"You did it now Rangiku. She's going to be turning her quarters into a laboratory now," Her captain's own speech was slurred, but it was clear she wasn't as flirty as Rangiku. "You know… I think there are some styles you may be able to pull off," oh boy. Something told her that this was either going to go horribly wrong, or oh so horribly right. "You can borrow any of the magazines I brought with me from the living world if you want, and I can get some more through some… connections I have."
Yuyu stoped for a moment. She always had a fascination with the living world. Ichigo doing what he did only served to strengthen that interest as it was clear there was a massive cultural divergence as shown in his interview with Hisagi.
She was just going to ignore the fact that she may have gotten her hands on one of the first copies of that issue to come off the presses.
"I think she's interested~" Rangiku's sing-song voice couldn't be more accurate.
—
Ichigo was walking back to his little corner in the courtyard, again, to actually spend time with his friends and family.
"Oi, Ichigo," Or at least he was trying before Renji called out to him.
"What is it?" Ichigo turned to look over at the red-haired lieutenant and once rival of his.
"Just wanted to chat," Renji pointed along to show that they could continue moving to where he was going.
Ichigo nodded. Moving to his friends again.
"How are you adjusting?" Renji asked a question that he had been dancing around for the times they had hung out together.
"As well as I think I can be," Ichigo's answer was not the most comforting to him. Sure they weren't exactly friends really, but Renji had grown to respect him over the years.
He also knew that any pain he felt would be felt by Rukia just as much. The level of concern they had for each other, it was what inspired him to save her as well.
"If you need any help, just let me know," he also knew Ichigo needed a friend group up here. Sure he had Rukia, but outside of her, he didn't really have anyone. "If you want, you could join the-"
"ICHIGO!" the voice of Keigo Asano preluded the attempted tackle-hug by Ichigo's 'friend'.
Of course, Ichigo just used shunpo to doge him on instinct. This caused Keigo to fly into a fountain that they had just passed.
"So cruel," Keigo was soaking wet now in the surprisingly durable fountain.
"Sorry, he tends to do that a lot," Renji chuckled at Ichigo's apology. Ikkaku had told him stories of the shenanigans that happened at the Asano household, and how he never wanted to go there again.
"I can see they're both a bit too enthusiastic for their own good," Renji's response caught Ichigo off guard.
"Huh?"
"Ikkaku told me about how his sister has a thing for shaved men," Renji's answer put a shockingly amusing image in Ichigo's mind of Ikkaku being chased around by Keigo's sister.
"You know what, yeah that checks out," Ichigo then remembered something. "Wait, where's the eleventh? Weren't they invited?"
"They mostly opted out, Kenpachi and Ikkaku cited how getting a bunch of members of the eleventh in the same area as alcohol is not exactly a good idea," Renji wasn't wrong either. The idea of a belligerently drunk Kenpachi made Ichigo shudder.
"Honestly… good call…" he did not want to have to run from Zaraki for the entire night. "By the way, weren't you going to ask me something?"
Renji sat there for a few moments, trying to remember why he wanted to speak with him in the first place.
"I forget…" Renji's response elicited a groan from Ichigo.
"Forget it. I'll be with my friends if you want to hang out," Unless Kukaku wanted him to do some more noble meetups that is.
—
Karin was sitting on a rooftop overlooking the courtyard. The star-filled night was stunning. With no light pollution, she could see all of the stars. She couldn't even make out any constellations. Though she wasn't sure if they would be the same or not. Her father had decided to mellow out, so she could actually go and enjoy the party. Then she realized she didn't know anyone save her bother, Rukia, and Chad. she had no rapport with anyone, and so she found herself enjoying a night sky that she wouldn't be able to see unless she went out into the ocean.
"There you are," the voice of Toshiro Hitsuguya appeared next to her with the telltale swish of shunpo.
"And why did you follow me?" Karin was more curious than anything. He had peers and friends. Hell, she had been introduced to Lieutenant Hinamori who was a childhood friend of his, and Lieutenant Matsumoto, who was her father's lieutenant and the one who recruited Toshiro.
"If I know Isshin as well as I think I do, he would probably want someone to look after you," Toshiro being that person seemed natural to him. Sure, he was representing the tenth, but parties weren't really his forte. The only reason he even came was that it would be the first time he had propperly seen his former captain in twenty years, well, officially. He had fully planed to catch up, then fade into the outskirts. The fact Karin gave him a convenient excuse to do so was something he took full advantage of.
"Yeesh, just say you wanted to get away from the crowds," Karin saw through all of that. It was likely that Ginjo had kept tabs on her from a distance. So there was no reason her father or Toshiro couldn't do the same.
"A coincidental benefit," Toshiro then sat down on the roof next to her, careful to not let his haori get dirty.
They then sat there in silence, looking at the sky.
"One of the benefits of not having modern technology," Karin pointed to the sky. "You can actually see the sky properly."
Toshiro chuckled. She had a point. It was one of the issues he had with his long-term deployment to Karakura in the lead-up to the winter war. The lights of the Tokyo metro area drowned out all but the brightest stars, leaving only an inky blackness in the sky.
"I understand, I missed this when I was stationed in the living world," Toshiro closed his eyes as he let himself relax, letting out a deep breath.
"So that was you back then. I thought you looked familiar," Karin had remembered seeing someone who vaguely looked like Toshiro around the house back before winter break a few years ago.
"Yes, I was in charge of protecting Karakura from any potential incursion by Aizen's forces before we were ready to confront him," the fact that such an incursion happened was not something he liked to think about.
"Ah, take any opportunities to catch up with dad back then?" the fact that he recognized him was safely assumed.
"Yes, though not often. I had a task force to be responsible for," the complication brought on by the fact that he was still wanted by Soul Society at the time and it being found out he was Ichigo's father was something he didn't want to see play out.
"That's a lot of responsibility," she didn't comment about it being such for someone his age. She was certain she may be potentially an order of magnitude younger than him, so she'd be one to talk in that situation.
"It's what happens when you are the youngest shinigami to have attained bankai until a few years ago," the fact that Ichigo smashed both the record for the fastest time for attaining bankai, and the youngest to ever do so was unsaid.
"Yeah, don't need to tell me who took that trophy from you," her brother's strength kind of scared her. He could just flatten her by accident if he wasn't careful. Granted her father and every other captain present, including the one seated next to her, could probably do the same.
"Indeed, though finding out he's a Shiba does diminish the achievement for some," not for those who have actually attained it, however. Many think Bankai is simply a matter of strength. In reality, it is a matter of self. One materializes their zanpakuto, who presents them with a test that is representative of their largest grievance with their master. Only by overcoming that test can one attain bankai.
"I assume that means you're not one of them?" Karin was interested. Here she was at the beginning of her journey as a shinigami, talking to someone who stood atop that very mountain.
"Not one person who has actually attained bankai would dare diminish the gravity of attaining it. Let alone doing so at his age or the speed at which he did it," He knew the cultural impact of it, but he really didn't care about that. It was the single hardest technique to attain, and mastering it was even harder.
"You have any pointers for me," Karin spoke half-sarcastically, she didn't know if what he was going to say was actually going to help or not.
"When your zanpakuto speaks, listen," Toshiro spoke those words with grave seriousness. His close relationship with Hiyorinmaru was the true source of his strength.
Karin was silent as she contemplated the captain's words, looking into the night sky as though it held further answers.
—
Uryu and Sui-Feng were in the now abandoned Xcution base. It was clear they were able to pack up quickly and efficiently. How they were able to do so stumped Sui-Feng. Even if they had help from a splinter faction from within the Visuals Department such a feat would have taken hours, not minutes.
"Do you have any ideas on how they were able to do this?" she spoke curtly to the quincy leader. She hadn't revealed who she was to him, nor had he acted in any way that indicated him realized it. Granted with how Aura had behaved, it was possible she was able to put everything together. Why else would quincy act against her?
Granted that all ran on the assumption that she was properly informed and wasn't simply a catspaw for some larger operation. It wasn't exactly an assumption she couldn't afford to not at least respect. If whoever she was working with was aware of the executive militia being involved, things could go in a whole manner of ways.
"My only guess is that Michibane has managed to recruit Yukio Hans Vorarlberna or someone with a similar fullbring," Uryu's guess did check out with the information Uryu's tracker gave.
"I see, what about how Michibane escaped?" the fact that she was able to do so was a sign of both tactical acumen and a potential confirmation of her being backed by someone.
"My only guess is a gate able to transform keishi into reishi and vice versa," Uryu knew of only one person who had that technology. But Urahara didn't claim to have invented it, and such technology was key to the Gate of the Sun, both the one in Silbern, and the one now in the basement of his own home.
"That confirms outside support," Sui-Feng's subordinates had reported no stragglers, and Domino had yet to begin his own search for the bug-out location. Sui-Feng had to consider recommendations to the head captain.
"I know the nature of the mission remains sensitive, but who are we suspecting of backing her?" Uryu found the whole thing weird. Who would back a cult aimed at revealing the truth about the afterlife to the world?
"I am not a liberty to discuss that," the ninja's response killed that thread of conversation immediately.
"I see," Uryu figured that he would get that as an answer. Information security was going to be a big deal here. If they were going to the lengths of using him and his quincy as what was in effect fall men, he wasn't going to expect them to trust him with that information. Though that didn't mean he was going to be untrusting toward her.
"I would like to inform soul society beforehand that I was asked by the Queen of Hueco Mundo to help her deal with the Jagdarmees still there. You may receive intelligence about my forces acting there. I simply wish to inform you beforehand to prevent an incident," Sui-Feng raised an eyebrow.
"Why are you telling me?" Sui-feng was a ninja, not a diplomat. Uryu could probably just have contacted the head captain directly with this information.
"Because I am mobilizing those assets tomorrow, there may not be time to formally contact the head captain beforehand," Uryu also didn't want to risk whoever they were hunting down finding out and taking the opportunity to hit him while in a relatively weakened state.
"Noted, your intent?" Sui-Feng then turned to the quincy and looked at her with ice cold glare.
"I hope to dissuade them from continuing the war," Uryu knew that that was a slim hope. But he truly wanted to end this situation without bloodshed.
"And if they refuse?" Sui-Feng however knew what this actually was. The Jagdarmees were the most radical forces of the Wandenreich. Ichigo's account of their commanding officer, sternritter Quilge Olpie, indicated as much.
"Then they must be annihilated," Uryu's answer was what Sui-Feng expected. To do any less would risk invoking the wrath of the Gotei. While they may be weakened, the quincy were worse off, having lost a majority of their captain-class combatants, and those that remained losing the one thing they could use to match bankai.
"I will inform my superiors upon debriefing," Sui-Feng kept up the mask of simply being a member of the Onmitsukido, not the one in command of it. After all, to do any less would be an unnecessary risk.
I hoped you enjoyed, and remember to to leave feedback if you have any.