Pre-Note
This is going to be short and sweet because unfortunately I'm running out of time to get ready for New Years and I'm sick. So to start off, Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Years to everyone! It's currently 5:08 PM here so I still have a while to go.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, Kubo Tite does but I do own this plot
Note: There are Images for this Chapter.
Reminder: Mature-rating. Mystery-themed. Light sexual content. Crucial to remain attentive to detail. This is for Rukia and her relationships.
Scattering Stars Like Dust
"I remember."
"Remember what?"
"I..."
"Remember..."
Her brows furrowed in knots and her eyes stared down in deep thought—contemplating whether she should say anything or not.
It no longer felt like anything new after a few recaps of the story. It was real—it was history. To think that she had been so forgetful of it all hurt her inside to think that she had forgotten her human life.
She opened her mouth and looked up into his eyes but as soon as her eyes met his, she realized talking about it now was more than irrelevant. After all, it had absolutely nothing to do with what was going on now. It was just something she had remembered from those morbid memories of hers—it was nothing, at least...not anymore.
Didn't he already know? Mentioning her name was like standing on the tip of a slippery edge. It was useless to dwell on the fact all over again.
"Rukia, open your goddamn mouth—what the fuck is it?"
"Nothing." She quickly said.
"The fuck, Ru—"
"It's nothing, really—It's just a thought." A memory.
"What thought?"
"It's nothing, I said..." It doesn't matter anymore."….now where's the portal?" She asked to change the topic as she looked down at the frozen Seireitei.
"What portal?"
Rukia looked at him. "What do you mean 'what portal?'—aren't we returning to Sensei Okasake?"
"The fuck, no. As long as you look like that I ain't carrying you nowhere." And Rukia wanted to ask what was wrong with how she looked, but her mind had instantly refreshed her brain to remember two key facts; one, Raiden was a quincy and two, she looked like a soul reaper.
"Then where are we going?" It's not that she minded. A large part of her was still scared to see him.
"You'll see. We have to get you underground—no one obviously knows that you're coming back and I'm pretty sure those half-assed shinigami don't either."
"Raiden." She warned but he ignored it.
"And don't tell me you actually fucking forgot, Rukia." He said. "Your..." He gestured towards her chest and she timidly looked down and raised her hand to it.
"Right..." She responded. "I completely forgot."
"We gotta deal with that first before we can do anything else. I wonder how long it's going to take that fucking Captain to get it done already."
"Be patient—the last time he did it, it worked but who knows if it'll ever work again."
"You got your ass saved, didn't you?" Raiden asked. "Why didn't you do it then?"
And by 'ass saved', Raiden meant her execution.
"I didn't want to..."
"Well look where the fuck we are now, Rukia. If you had done it then it would've been a hell lot easier to escape from those fucking dipshits down there."
"Are you admitting you were challenged?" She asked with a smirk.
"No! What the fuck? Challenged by who? Them? Your ol'Oky I understand but those fucking things down there? Nahhh."
"Right." Rukia slurred. "But that's far from the point. He understood my reasoning and decided that he'd rather take the chance."
"But what if he can't come back? What the fuck are we gonna do then?"
She didn't want to think of that possibility.
"You'll do it without me."
"We'll do nothing without fucking you. You should've gotten it done then so we wouldn't have to worry about it now."
Yes, she should've. But it was too hard.
"Captain Kurotsuchi may be psychopathic in some ways, but I wouldn't doubt his intelligence in science. He'll be able to do it and if he can't, well then I'll stay underground." Or...
"I prefer Urahara."
"Urahara-san is a bit more reliable, but he did put the hōgyoku within me fully aware that I—"
"His main objective for that thing wasn't to destroy it in the first place ya know. Although originally, his plan was to eliminate it with the help of you, it wasn't his first intention and neither was it yours."
"It was my conscience." She answered. "But still...why didn't I know it was within me even if my conscience was aware? If his motive wasn't to destroy it in the first place then why did he put it into me?"
"You're smart as fuck, Rukia. You'll figure it out."
"But I want to know now. I don't have time to figure out the way Urahara-san's mind works. The hōgyoku was put into me with the intention of the creator wanting it destroyed—what purpose could my body serve to it in my state?"
"You fucking know it but you believe it's fake."
"I don't."
"You do." Raiden urged. "This isn't fucking rocket science, you know the reason why it was put there."
"No amount of power my body could produce in its artificial state could ever generate enough power to preserve it."
"That's what you think." Raiden finished before he came to a halt in the night sky.
Her breathing summoned fog to escape her lips every second she tried. The numbness of her skin had leisurely disappeared after she closed off her reiatsu and depended on the cloak to preserve her warmth.
Pale-like fingers were clenched in a fist as she stared at the open space. "Where are we going?"
Underground wasn't a sufficient enough answer. If they remained underground in the tunnels beneath the Seireitei, they'd surely be found and frankly, Rukia didn't want to stay in the Seireitei any longer if her 'abduction' or 'treachery' was already breaking news.
"You'll see." He said before his hand reached behind his back—beneath his cloak—and pulled out something that was known as a sai—a very particular type of dagger that looked like it was dipped into the thickest and blackest of ink.
The metal baton was slick with two curved prongs that resembled bull horns and a handle wrapped with black leather. It was small in size, perhaps the length of the size of a large computer screen and was usually seen attached to someone's back.
Although small, the sai blade could extend in length when necessary however, it was only seeable to the person using it that could adjust and witness it's extension of length. The person standing on the opposing side would only see the blade as the size it appeared as but not the extended one.
It had many purposes, but fighting was the important one out of all of them.
Rukia watched as he retrieved the sai and moved it around in specific ways—almost like a sword dance. From left to right, he slashed it on both sides in the air before twirling it around from right to left by the flick of his index finger.
Doing it once more, he suddenly flipped the blade in the air just by a catch with his index finger and grabbed it fully with his right hand. Turning around, he circled to do a 360 however, before he reached the full degrees, his eyes narrowed straight at the target and threw the sai in that direction before he completed the full turn.
Once he stepped on the 360 mark and the blade was seen flying in a perfect line in the air, Raiden formed an electrifying blue bow and arrow before aiming an arrow in less than ½ a second that perfectly hit the back of the sai blade and hit something within the air to form a portal.
The portal appeared like the first raindrop splashing a pool of water before having several circles form after the drop. Rukia watched as the portal was filled on the inside with colour before portraying where they were going to next.
"Is this..."
"The unused dimension? Fuck, yeah. It's been empty for years."
"How do you even have access to this place? We never used this – not even once."
"Keh, If I'm being honest I think they ran outta favorites."
"Sensei Okasake must've cried knowing he had to entrust it to you." She laughed.
"He was actually fine, thank you very much."
"I guess the Sensei Okasake I knew in the past isn't the same as the Sensei Okasake that exists now. For all I know, he could be a whole different person."
"As if he could ever change. He looks the same way he did fifty years ago. "
"Really?" Rukia asked.
"Haven't you seen him?"
"No. What gave you the impression that I've seen him?" She had only seen him once and that was on his birthday from a distance but even then...
"Rukia, you guys practically live right beside each other minusing the fucking land both of your clans own. The only fucking difference is that one is east and one is west—it's not that hard to see each other minusing the wall."
"I stayed away from the Okasake Manor."
"Man, you've really fucking isolated yourself, haven't you? Do you even know what's going on besides your ol'Oky's situation?"
"Of course not, I already told you—I have no right to consider their problems as my concern anymore."
"Well to update you a bit on life, Sensei Okasake—"
"Shouldn't we enter the portal before you update me on what I've missed?" Rukia asked. "If the Gotei 13 already knows about my betrayal, they could show up any second and ridding me of this place could be even harder."
"Fine, fine. Let's move."
They began to walk inside.
"Wait." Rukia stopped midway.
"What the fuck is it now?" Raiden asked as he turned ½ way to see her face as the image of the icy Seireitei was beginning to fade away.
"How's Renji going to escape?"
But by then, it was already gone.
"Well hello, Kuchiki-san."
"Imagine, meeting face to face like this Ol'Genryūsai. It's been quite awhile."
"Do not try to coax me, Okasake Jushirmai—I could care less of what you intend on informing me.
"Is that so?" Jushirmai asked. "It seems that I've misunderstood your intention, but as yourself, I could care less, Ol'Genryūsai. So tell me, how has the last fifty years been without me in the Seireitei?"
"It has been peaceful and undisturbed. Which is why I've come to ask you why you have disturbed our peace and swallowed the Soul Society with your father's zanpakutō?"
"You already know the answer." Jushirmai smirked. "I've come for our precious Rukia."
"She is not here."
"I can tell. But coming here, I've realized she is not the only thing I want from you."
"I suggest you flee before your thirst for reprisal fails you."
"You are made of nothing, Ol'Genryūsai, nothing. All your assets are nothing more than an illusion you've put up to convince yourself that you are worth more than any person within the Soul Society when you're not – my father is."
"The same father you refused to acknowledge and tarnished his clan's name?" Genryūsai asked and Jushirmai glared. "Hiroshima was indeed that of a superior to me as well Hirosuke from the Okasake clan however, there has never been any mistrust between us to guide me into believing that I am the Soul Society's almighty superior. Your assumption is just as much as the illusion you believe that accurately describes me."
"I should commend you, your acting capabilities have improved Ol'Genryūsai but unfortunately, they are worthy enough to fool me. You have always had a grudge against Hiroshima and Hirosuke for surpassing your soul reaper abilities—as you choose to call them—and succeeding in the recruitment of the assassins. There has never been peace between the two – there has always been war."
"And is that what you've come here for? That war between the two that so strongly guides your conscience?"
"Discussing it with someone like yourself is unseemly. Someone like yourself would never be able to comprehend the true desire of every assassin who was ever forced out of their territory for something like them—those things with swords known as zanpakutōs behind you. Those things that are so shallow and oblivious believing that you are some almighty God they can trust." Jushirmai said. "When the truth is, you are made out of nothing with no chance of surpassing anyone."
"How many Rukongai children will have to beg for a living until you spare them even a decent breath of attention? How many soul reapers will have to be killed until you realize your so-called academy and Captains are incapable of executing a proper procedure? How many soul reapers will have to come and go until you realize that the Seireitei has always been secondary rather than primary? The truth is, there will never be enough to open those eyes of yours Ol'Genryūsai, the blind can't see colour if all they've been seeing is pitch darkness for years."
"If that saying is what you believe then I can assume that your perception of colour is war, hatred, riots—the destruction of the Soul Society is what you please."
"The destruction of the Soul Society began the day you divided it and allowed the Rukongai to be divided into social economic classes. The destruction of the Soul Society began the day you rejected noble influences and allowed your instinct to develop what you call today, the Seireitei. The destruction of the Soul Society began the day you left soul reapers in control of forging their own power for their zanpakutōs. The destruction of the Soul Society began the day you terminated the Sensei rule and took on the almighty power yourself with no prior experience to handle something you were unaware of to control."
"The fate of the Soul Society will end in your demise rather than your succession if you continue to believe that you're the sole superior of the Soul Society. Given the fact you are aware of our current standing, you should know that you are in no better place than I am." Genryūsai said.
"Is that so?"
"That arrogance you use in your tone will soon be replaced with regret if you continue to believe you have even a ¼ of the Soul Society's power within your hands."
"I find it amusing how you soul reapers act so aristocratic when you all are nothing. I have more than just ¼ of the Soul Society's power as of right now, you seem to be forgetting that I am the son of Okasake Hiroshima and nephew of Okasake Hirosuke. I have all the power in the world to consume the World of the Living and Hueco Mundo."
"What do you mean by consume?" Ichigo asked.
"Consume as in devour, ryoka boy—the World of the Living, Hueco Mundo, any dimension you can think of and at last the Soul Society."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Your level of understanding baffles me however, it is not surprising coming from a mere mortal boy such as yourself. This action of consuming I allude to is my ability to swallow these dimensions up to occupy my own—a dimension completely created by the will and stamina of my zanpakutō."
"Are you trying to say that you've swallowed up the Soul Society?" Uryū asked in disbelief.
"I've done much more than that, quincy. The Soul Society is merely a land occupied by souls, there is much more I can attain rather than swallowing it whole."
"That would mean that we're in your territory."
"Precisely, but not quite. I could swallow up a dimension like this if I wanted to anytime I please but the Soul Society has souls I do not want–souls such as yourself that I need to get rid of."
"Does that mean you can manipulate us from your dimension? Have you been manipulating us from there this entire time with your zanpakutō?"
"I do not need to be there to manipulate you without you detecting me. The reason why you haven't been able to find me is as Captain Suì-Fēng said, I do not use weak pressures such as reiatsu. I am not just born from strong spiritual power but rather, a physical one. But I'm sure Ol'Genryūsai will explain this to you all sooner or later. Won't you, Genryūsai?"
"I'm afraid if you don't leave the Seireitei I will have to expel you by force."
"How amusing, am I supposed to be threatened?"
"Take it as you will, but I will not allow you to step onto the grounds of the Soul Society and dispute such nonsense."
"Nonsense?" Jushirmai half-heartedly laughed. "It seems that my definition of nonsense varies from yours, Genryūsai. However, you should heed my warning that your past cannot be denied. The Gotei 13 and you are capable of nothing, Genryūsai, nothing. If you were, perhaps you wouldn't so arrogantly claim that you are the superiors."
"For the years I've known you, it seems that your own internal desire hasn't changed. It's a shame not even she has the patience to deal with you anymore."
Jushirmai smirked. "Are we talking about Rukia? Hmph, shouldn't we wait for your partner before we discuss her?"
"What do you want with her?" Ichigo asked.
"Nothing you could comprehend, ryoka boy." Jushirmai answered. "Perhaps if you were able to understand it, she would've told you."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"You're insignificant—useless. If you were of any aid to her she would've told you but it seems that she hasn't told anyone ever since the incident."
"What incident?"
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Unfortunately the reason for my visit isn't to cure you of your oblivion, ryoka boy but rather show you, Genryūsai the past you put a law against to protect the so-called destruction of the Soul Society."
"The zanpakutō prototypes." Captain Hitsugaya finished.
"The Seavens." Jushirmai informed. "The gems that stem the element based zanpakutōs that you restricted soul reapers with those abilities to reduce."
"Silence."
"Allow me to introduce," Jushirmai began as six people appeared in the horizon—cloaked black."…. the very people you foolishly attempted to slaughter to achieve the superiority you attain today."
"Rise, my holders of the Seavens."
And suddenly, six people altogether entered the light—black masks covering their faces, they could barely make their descriptions out.
The first woman to appear had eyes that were the colour mahogany.
The second person was a man with loose, black hair to his neck and a silver band enclosing his neck for a necklace.
The third person had midnight blue hair tied into a ponytail with three yellow dots forming beneath her right eyes.
The fourth person was recognizable through Unohana Retsu's eyes. Yamada Seinosuke, brother of Yamada Hanatarō appeared with a black tangzhuang as he stared down at the group with a smirk. He was supposed to be dead.
Captain Hitsugaya's eyes widened as Kusaka Sōjirō also appeared in the light with a smile as he stared down at his former friend and rival.
The fourth man to appear had dark red hair that was long and tied to the back with eyes that were golden yellow and a large tattoo of tree branches on his right cheek along with a velvet red cloth wrapped around his wrists.
Last but not least, the woman known as Mizuri Naohira—Jushirmai's strategist and loyal devotee—appeared a few steps behind him wearing her standard uniform with a white haori draped on top.
"Are you surprised, Genryūsai? With the power of my own father's gem I was able to create exact replicas of what you know as the Seavens for your zanpakutōs."
"You seem to misunderstand the concept of replicas. It doesn't matter what you create, if it is a copy, it is useless."
"So what does that make the shinigami, Genryūsai?" Jushirmai questioned with a smirk but the Head Captain refused to voice a reply. In the meanwhile, it seemed that the rest of the Gotei 13 were too caught up in his newly arrived subordinates—one being Yamada Seinosuke, the brother Yamada Hanatarō never got to meet and Kusaka Sōjirō, the friend and rival of Hitsugaya Tōshirō who had once made trouble within the Soul Society grounds.
Captain Hitsugaya's turquoise eyes never seemed to lessen in entirety even if this was his third time seeing his former friend. The idea of him being back once again and his silenced trouble with Hyōrinmaru and the ice seemed to cause shivers to crawl up his spine while Captain Ukitake and Kyōraku's eyes remained fixed on Yamada Hanataro's brother. As a man himself he was dreadful, but it always seemed that because of his respect for Unohana Retsu he was able to pull through as a Lieutenant of the Gotei 13. Still, it wasn't exactly settling knowing that he was now with the other side given his reputation and in the past, Unohana's.
"Who the hell are they supposed to be?" Ichigo questioned as a familiar voice called his name from far. Jushirmai momentarily brought his attention to the tiny figure calling the substitute soul reaper's name from far with a grin before returning his attention to the frustrated and rather impatient Ichigo.
"Guess you will have to wait and see."
"Don't feed me this crap again." Ichigo said.
"Regardless of what it might seem to you, it seems that I will have to re-visit the Seireitei once more if I intend on finishing this thoroughly." Jushirmai said in disgust.
"You kidding me?"
"I agree. The thought repulses me as well but it seems that the Gotei 13 already has enough things weighing on their hands now with the absence of her."
"ICHIGO!"
"ICHIGO!"
"Absence? What the hell do you mean by absent? Rukia's here."
"It seems like you're always the one left out of things, it's unfortunate really but truly laughable as an ally of the Gotei 13. But for now, you should be more concerned about where the Kuchiki Rukia you know is now." Jūshirmai said with a laugh that could turn stars into dust.
"Wait, what do you—" But before Ichigo could say anything else, that same reiatsu—or rather, sheatsu— immediately appeared and swallowed them into a thick fog of miasma.
The winds blew strongly and a variety of excess ice danced in the air—blinding the sight of the Gotei 13 as they tried to see the ryoka in the faint light the moonlight provided them during the night. But before the wind could disappear and the dust was all gone, Mizuri Jūshirmai and his acquaintances were already gone.
"Why did you retreat?" Naohira questioned as she flew a few metres back behind Jushirmai in an underground portal to his dimension. From the moment Jushirmai had succeeded in the escape of Kuchiki Rukia, he had immediately left the Gotei 13 in the exact moment when they were all ready to finish the Gotei 13 for once and for all in that moment, space, and time. However, Naohira remained oblivious to Jushirmai's true intention.
"That is none of your concern. You should be grateful I allowed you to even show your face rather than questioning my intentions." Jushirmai responded nonchalantly as he led the group.
"That's understandable, Commander given my position however, you should've at least had one of them display their acts of—"
"No, Naohira." He cut her off. "If we followed those standards, we'd appear more ignorant than we are superior."
"Then what do you…"
"We will wait." He said. "They are clueless—so lost in oblivion that I could laugh. The least I can do before this war begins is allow Genryūsai to inform them all they were hidden from after all these years."
"But—"
"If you continue to interfere with my decisions Naohira, the next person on my list to kill will be you."
"My apologies, Commander."
"Which reminds me, that member of the 10th Division…."
"Amori?"
"Correct. If he is done showing the Head Captain the USB stick I offered him, find him and kill him."
"And his family, sir?"
"Make them watch."
"Ichigoooooo!" Kon yelled as he ran. "Ichigo! Wait! Hold on!"
"Kon?" Ichigo acknowledged as he clutched the hilt of his zanpakutō. The remaining Captains, Lieutenants, and the Karakura gang turned their attention to the stuffed animal as he breathed heavily and landed near Ichigo's feet.
"Kon, what the hell is wrong with you?" Ichigo asked as the mod soul took a few steps back so they were at talking distance.
"Ichigo! I have horrible news!" Tears brimmed near the edge of his eyes.
"What is it?' Ichigo inquired.
"Nee-san..." The stuffed animal said but he couldn't control his tears. "Nee-san was..."
"Kon, what is it?" Ichigo asked in frustration.
"Nee-san is..."
"Dammit, Kon—what happened to Rukia?!"
"Nee-san is gone! She's not at her house! She's gone, forever! Gone like the wind!"
Ichigo's eyes widened along with the Karakura gang and remaining. "What?! What do you mean by Rukia's gone?"
"SHE RAN AWAY! SHE LEFT US ALL!"
"Kuchiki-san ran away?" Orihime asked in shock. "But why?"
"I don't know. But I'm guessing it has to do with the ryoka as expected." Uryu said.
"Kuchiki left?" Captain Hitsugaya inquired.
"SHE'S GONE! COMPLETELY GONE!"
Rukia left. And as hard as it was to comprehend, for Ichigo, it couldn't be anymore harder.
And as the remaining people tried to sink the new information in with shock, a division member from the 1st Division appeared with more news. "The Head Captain has called an emergency Captain meeting with all Captains including Kurosaki Ichigo and his human friends."
"Us?" Orihime asked in surprise.
"You are to report there immediately—it's urgent." The division member said before flash-stepping away.
"Yama-jii's probably getting impatient with all the surprises we've been getting tonight." Captain Kyōraku said.
"I suppose." Captain Hitsugaya said. "We should get going."
Orihime turned to face Ichigo. "Kurosaki-kun—"
"You guys go ahead." Ichigo said with his eyes narrowing in a further direction.
"Huh?"
"I'm going to find Rukia."
"But—"
"Kon, let's go." Ichigo said before the plushie jumped on his shoulder and they flash-stepped away.
"Hey!" Ichigo called at the meek maid who was walking towards Rukia's bedroom in worry.
She looked up and Kon spoke on behalf of Ichigo. "Do you know where Rukia is?"
The maid gasped and shook her head shamefully. She was trembling and yet, she continued to remain outside. "N-No. Rukia-sama ran away."
"Where did she go?" Ichigo questioned in frustration. "How did she leave?"
"It's all my fault!" She collapsed on the floor and suddenly, Ichigo felt bad for raising his voice on her.
"Rukia-sama was resting in her room and I..." She was rambling as she spoke but it was clear that it was the frustration.
"What happened?" Ichigo inquired.
"W-Well...Kuchiki-sama told me to watch over her since she was ill and that she could not leave her room under any circumstances. I agreed to watch over her and attend to all her needs but she did not accept my help."
"What do you mean by she didn't accept your help?" He asked.
"S-She kept making excuses to leave her room but everything she asked for I had already brought in the room and even then she didn't accept them." She took a deep breath. "After that, she said she was hungry and that she wanted some soup to drink but I couldn't make the soup without leaving her but after her illness, I decided that I would."
"You left Nee-san! How dare you leave her alone I—"
"Shut up, you idiot—let her explain."
"When I came back, she was completely gone! Her futon was left neatly and her soul reaper uniform and zanpakutō were gone as well. I tried going out to look for her but she was already too far—I couldn't make it and I...was afraid to tell Kuchiki-sama."
"In which direction did you see her going to?"
"Straight ahead, into the forest." Chiyo informed him.
"Alright." He said. "Thanks, you've been a lot of help. I'm sure Byakuya won't go too hard on you."
"I hope." She bowed her head.
"What are you waiting for?! We have to go find Nee-san!"
"I know that." Ichigo said. "Thanks again." He said before he flash-stepped away into the wilderness where Rukia was hidden.
"The Lieutenant of the 13th Division, Kuchiki Rukia has committed treason and under the law issued by Central 46, she will be sentenced to death for her treachery." The Head Captain's hoarse and gruff voice spoke loudly as the Captains of the Gotei 13 looked down.
"Genryūsai-sensei..." Captain Ukitake was the first to speak out. "There has been some misunderstanding."
"Jūshiro's right, you might be taking this a bit too far, Yama-jii. I suppose if we had some type of evidence then my answer would be different but—" Captain Kyōraku was cut off.
"We do not have the proper evidence to make such claims." Captain Kuchiki, surprisingly finished for Captain Kyōraku.
"Kuchiki's right." Captain Hitsugaya pitched in. "Without proper evidence, it isn't safe to assume that Kuchiki's gone to join the ryoka."
"You are wrong." Captain Suì-Fēng replied. "The mere fact that she ran away proves that she has something to hide. That should be more than enough to prove she is guilty."
"Eh, we shouldn't jump to conclusions." Captain Hirako said.
"We are not jumping to conclusions, we're stating facts. Lieutenant Kuchiki ran away and if that isn't enough proof, you need to get your eyes checked."
"I do not think Lieutenant Kuchiki has committed treason, Head Captain. As Captain Hirako previously said, we should not jump to conclusions but rather question Lieutenant Kuchiki's motives." Captain Unohana intervened.
"Look, I don't really give a fuck whether Lieutenant Kuchiki committed treason or not. I'm more interested in that ryoka outside who's been fucking with this place." Captain Zaraki said. "Call me when you're ready to deal with him."
"We are in the middle of a Captain's meeting—you aren't permitted to leave." Captain Sui-Feng said.
"Yeah, yeah whatever." Captain Zaraki said in response.
"Why don't we just leave her to do her thing? After all, doesn't she know the ryoka?" Captain Hirako said.
"Knowing and joining are two different things." Captain Suì-Fēng replied.
"When Kuchiki discovered the ryoka's true form, she was too startled to even look him in the eyes. For her to join him would not make any sense." Captain Hitsugaya reasoned.
"And what about his entourage or whatever the fuck those shitheads are suppose to be?"
"I don't think she's seen them."
"Yet." Captain Suì-Fēng said. "But when she does, she will consider them allies."
"We cannot be sure of that." Captain Unohana insisted. "Unless we have evidence or some type of security footage, I don't believe Lieutenant Kuchiki would know either."
"So what do you suggest we do then?" Kensei asked.
"Withdraw the sentence until Lieutenant Kuchiki is found guilty."
"My decision is final." The Head Captain spoke.
"I'm afraid Ichigo-san isn't going to take this sentence lightly." Captain Ukitake said.
"I will deal with Kurosaki Ichigo on my own." He responded.
"What are you gonna do? Are you going to tell the boy he can't save her this time? In my opinion, that'll only prompt him to do it even more." Captain Kyōraku said.
"Shunsui is right. We've dealt with Ichigo-san before, we know he will stop at nothing but to save her."
"He may proceed." The Head Captain said. "However, this time I intend on fighting the boy himself if he is reluctant to follow orders. Kuchiki Rukia has committed treason with a common known enemy—a quincy—and I will not allow any soul reaper to interfere with this judicial process. That being said, Captain Ukitake, Kyōraku, Unohana, and Hitsugaya, I expect you all to refrain from getting involved and most importantly, help aid Kuchiki Rukia."
"They remain unfaithful to you—even after all those fifty years." Jushirmai said to himself as he stared down at the image his sheatsu created of the Gotei 13 discussing Rukia's punishment as he sat in his chair.
"It's a shame you didn't heed my warning when I told you soul reapers were nothing more but pitiless beings. You don't belong there." He said before he smeared the image by the swift of his hand, allowing his sheatsu to smear the image and turn to Naohira who had just entered the room.
"Why did you save her?" She asked coldly. "I thought you said you would wait until she came to beg you."
"And she did."
"When? And how? I was with you the entire time."
"Her soul did it for her—there was no need for a physical display of her desperation."
He didn't need to get into the details with her of all people.
"Nonsense, I thought that was what you wanted. For the desperation of that woman to finally manifest into reality."
"No." Jushirmai said sternly. "I do not need to see her desperation, physically. I want to feel it, taste it—seeing it could just be another one of her relentless acts."
"I suspect it will happen very soon. After all, I heard she's been having some difficulty with the revival of her powers."
"Is that so?"
"It seems that everyone that was present during it's imprisonment are the only ones that can release it." Naohira informed. "But I'm afraid I do not know who."
He smirked. "It's simple."
"If you are aware, then tell me. I shall redirect them to her location immediately."
"You will never be able to do it."
"Why not?" She questioned immediately.
"The dead can't be revived, Naohira." Jushirmai said. "Faulty kido will never be enough to revive one's soul from the dead. Nonetheless..."
"What is it?"
"The possibilities were bound to be endless the moment he came back."
"Who is it?"
"Gin..."
"Kisuke, Yoruichi, Yūshirō-chan."
"Well, well, well it took you quite awhile Kuchiki-san, I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up." Kisuke said.
"Like she'd forget." Raiden responded.
"Nice to see you too, Arigawa-san."
"How's the Seireitei?" Yoruichi questioned.
"Dire, but the Gotei 13 is handling it just fine." Rukia informed. "It's that which concerns me. I have no idea what he has in store for them except the Seavens and his desire for them to fight—against him. "
"I see."
"Rukia-san!" Yūshirō greeted alongside his sister.
"Yūshirō-chan, it's been quite awhile. How are you upholding as the 23rd Head of the Shihōin clan?"
"Great, Rukia-san. But I miss Nee-san, it's been awhile since we last saw each other too."
"Oh, I see. I'm guessing you've been informed about—"
"You leaving the Gotei 13? Yes, I'm all ready Rukia-san!"
"The question is, how?" Rukia asked. "There are too many complications. Day by day, the Gotei 13 have been inquiring about Jushirmai's past. They are already aware of the Okasake twins and their specialty."
"And I'm afraid they'll only discover more, Kuchiki-san since Lieutenant Ise has already discovered the gems of the Seavens."
"The fuck? How did she find out about that?"
"I don't know." Rukia said. "But we have no other reason to be surprised. I just figured that it would be a lot sooner until they actually found out about them."
"And now, our only option is to stay underground." Yoruichi said. "If they find us, Rukia will be taken into prison for treason and there will be no other way to communicate with each other or the Capital."
"So what do we do?"
"Stay here." Rukia said. "But what about the Gotei 13? What if they go searching for Jushirmai and discover the Capital?"
"I don't believe he has control over the Capital as of yet, Kuchiki-san." Kisuke said.
"Right, and besides, he ain't getting' to the fucking Capital because he's made a fucking dimension of his own."
"What?" Rukia asked. "How did he..."
"It's his fucking zanpakutō. Since Sensei Okasake is stemmed from the gem, it shouldn't be a surprise that he was able to form one."
"The gems of the Seavens are indeed powerful, but that doesn't mean they would be able to form an entire dimension like Hueco Mundo or the World of the Living even though they can destroy one. To create a whole new dimension would require more than a single gem—it would require something more." Rukia informed, trying not to think of what was creeping up at the back of her mind.
"But what else could he have fucking used? His natural sheatsu is not even purple, it's white and his reiatsu, alone isn't all that powerful—just look at the soul reapers and you'll be able to tell."
"I don't know. It's hard to understand—the only real confirmation we have of his power is his father's gem and Judan and those are the things we already know."
"If Okasake Jushirmai has his own dimension, I highly doubt he would go to scientific means to create one." Kisuke said. "The most we can assume is that he's in alliance with something else."
"But what?"
"It's hard to say. If he wasn't so interested in receiving that thing in Hell, I would've assumed he'd be using it to his advantage in some form. The most I can assume is that he's trying to get rid of the Soul Society and World of the Living to migrate those into his world." Rukia said.
"If that's really his intention, then what does he make of the Senseis?"
"He wouldn't destroy them. If anything, he'd try to fuck with them constantly—it's the reapers he's after, not them."
"It's hard to believe that he was once the Okasake clan's heir. If he had taken authority over the Soul Society, we would've all been dead." Yoruichi said.
"Except Kuchiki-san of course." Kisuke said with a wink.
"No. My death would've been much, much worse because I'd live."
"To spend the rest of your life with your—"
"No one wants to fuck with Ol'Oky, I can assure you that." Raiden said. "And besides, we're talking as if we're actually going to allow him to swallow the Soul Society and the human world, whole."
"I'm pretty sure Kuchiki-san has already gotten that covered." He winked while Rukia gave him a look.
"There's still so much we don't know yet. He disappeared from our radius and now we have to determine our next move." Rukia said.
"So what do you got in mind, Yoruichi-san?" Raiden asked. "And I mean after we deal with Rukia."
"By then, we'd have everyone here so we'd regroup in the 78th District of the Rukongai." Yoruichi said.
"And then what?"
"We find Jushirmai." Rukia finished.
"And what about the reapers? I don't think they'll be able to mind their own fucking business until then."
"I've already spoken to the Head Captain and it appears he already has a plan." Kisuke said.
"What plan?'
"I don't know, he wouldn't say. But I doubt he'll be able to stop Kurosaki-san from reaching Jushirmai's dimension."
"Ichigo will stop at nothing but to destroy him and that's the problem—his desire to protect will endanger him physically if he continues to pursue Jushirmai." Rukia said. "And it seems, I've only made matters worse by disappearing."
"We can't change anything now. He'll just have to move the fuck on."
"It's nothing like that!" Rukia said immediately. "If you knew Ichigo, you'd understand."
"We'll have some trouble dealing with him." Yoruichi said. "Our only option is to prevent him from getting that far."
"But where's the dimension, Nee-san?"
"I don't know—Raiden, are you aware?"
"Yeah, it's located on the darker side of the moon."
"What? How did he form a dimension up there?" Rukia asked in bewilderment.
"How the fuck should I know? Cang Du sensed it a few days ago when you ol'Oky first started showing his sheatsu back again."
"But...how was he able to create another dimension on the darker side of the moon?" Rukia asked. "The moon resides in space."
"That is of course if he hasn't swallowed it yet. If he was somehow able to swallow the moon, the very moon we see in the sky could be projecting itself from his dimension, alone." Kisuke said.
"That would mean that we were already engulfed by his dimension." Rukia said. "Or rather, it'd be surrounding us."
"But how? Wouldn't we have felt some kind of big ass shift or earthquake or something?"
"Not necessarily—it could've been a subtle shift."
"If that's true, that means space is no longer what controls the sun and the moon, or anything for that matter. Everything above and beyond us is nothing more but past elements of space now altered to customize with his dimension of space." Rukia said in disbelief.
"We're at a bigger disadvantage than I first thought." Yoruichi said.
"If that's the case then the war has already started and if the war has already started, it won't be long until the Gotei 13 discovers the truth even if they don't understand it." Kisuke said.
"That also means they'll feel more obligated to get involved."
"Which is another disadvantage we can't work with." Rukia replied and Raiden grumbled at the situation.
"Everyone hates those fucking reapers, if they continue to fucking meddle what do you think is going to happen when they clash?"
"Riots, war, death—everything Jushirmai wants to happen as he drinks from his chalice." Rukia said.
"That drink being you." Raiden mentioned.
"That drink being my blood." Rukia corrected.
"For all we know, we could be the demise of the Soul Society if we don't act accordingly." Rukia warned. "To avoid that, every step we take must be taken into precaution and over-analyze to avoid mistakes. If the Gotei 13 get involved, chaos could dispute everywhere around the Soul Society—we can't afford to destroy ourselves in the process if our main target is Jushirmai."
"We'll stay underground then. Renji'll meet up with us soon and from there we can deal with your situation and hopefully, find a way to keep those reapers away from you."
"Kurosaki-san is the one we have to watch out for." Kisuke said.
"And Byakuya-bo as well." Yoruichi winked.
"He was never supposed to know about this in the first place." Rukia said and covered her forehead in distress. "If Nii-sama finds out, that'll only—"
"No worries, Kuchiki-san." Kisuke said.
"Byakuya-bo won't get that far." Yoruichi said. "Trust me."
"Can we deal with Rukia first before we get outta hand?" Raiden asked
"No, first we should determine if Jushirmai's dimension has indeed swallowed up space before we focus on anything beyond that." Rukia suggested.
"And how da'fuck are we gonna figure that out?" Raiden asked.
"Shoot an arrow." Rukia responded.
"The fuck?"
"Shoot an arrow into the sky—towards the stars or moon to determine whether he is our space or not. If your attack freezes before it can pierce it, we can confirm that he's already swallowed most of space—leaving us and the Soul Society aside. If it doesn't, that means he hasn't consumed it yet and therefore, we're not in his territory—yet."
"The fuck, why don't you shoot it?" Raiden asked.
"Do I look like I'm in any position to shoot it?"
"Well you damn well know how to shoot one, don't you?" Raiden asked. "Don't tell me that fucked up reaper nonsense has already fucked with your head?! It's a damn arrow."
"An arrow you can shoot!"
"An arrow I want you to shoot. Have you fucking forgotten your place?!"
"I tried to and look where I am now!" Rukia said.
"Arigawa-san, if you return to the Rukongai you can get a pretty decent shot towards a star. The sooner we know, the better." Kisuke said.
"I'll be back." Raiden assured after he finally gave in and turned around. "At least I know how to."
Rukia stared.
"What the fuck do you mean by execution?" Ichigo asked in frustration with Kon resting on his shoulder in dread.
"Not again." Kon whined. "Nee-san would never commit treason—it isn't that hard to understand!"
"They're after her—the Head Captain has already issued his order." Renji informed.
"What the fuc—she ran away, that doesn't mean she's siding with the enemy!"
"Try telling the Head Captain that, Ichigo. He was overruled during the Captain's meeting and he still continued to pursue the execution."
"But she didn't do anything wrong."
"I know that, you dumbass! But I have no say in what the fuck goes on around here and I'm suppose to be interrogated in two hours."
"Dammit, how the hell are we going to make them realize that she's innocent?" Ichigo asked.
"I have an idea, but you'll have to gather up a few members of the Gotei 13." Renji said.
"What do you plan on doing?"
"Just shut up and do your job, Ichigo! You'll see."
"I'm counting on you, Renji."
"Yeah, yeah now hurry the fuck up before Captain Sui-Fong comes with her division to fetch me." Renji said and with that last sentence, Ichigo flash-stepped away—leaving Renji to think about what exactly he was doing.
She was gone.
He was aware of the fact that she had already left the Seireitei but a bad thought seemed to always linger in his mind about leaving her as a deceiver.
He knew what he was supposed to do. Whether it be treason or abduction, he wasn't supposed to stay in the Seireitei any longer than he was now. But something held him back—it was Rukia's reputation that did.
As of now, everyone thought she was an enemy of the Gotei 13—wrong, but that was what they thought. And for a fact, Renji didn't feel too comfortable leaving the Gotei 13 with such a negative influence—he rather leave them with something good before he left.
He knew it was going against their original plan. But he realized, the more the Gotei 13 viewed Rukia's runaway scheme as an act of treason, the more they'd feel against her rather than with her if they were to meet again. And for a fact, Ichigo would never stop persisting until Rukia was proven innocent and by all means, he'd search for her and one of her worst fears, was for him to find her.
She was underground—safe, secluded from the outside world whether it be the World of the Living or the Soul Society. There was nothing down there but an endless maze—made up of red rocks and empty tunnels. For the Gotei 13 to find her there would be something beyond knowledge, itself because it was impossible unless someone told.
Heading towards the direction of the Kuchiki Manor, he figured Ichigo would sense his reiatsu and send everyone there. He wasn't sure if this was going to necessarily work, but it would in fact change their minds.
At least, that's what he hoped it would do.
Looking up towards the sky, he saw the sparkling stars and the circular moon—gleaming like a taken picture as he positioned his electrifying blue arrow towards a specific star in the sky.
He followed the constellation of the archer and set his eyes towards that one star in the whole sky that the constellation of the archer pointed towards before he scrunched his eyes.
It would pierce it perfectly.
He predicted his aim was accurate enough to reach it and hoped that the arrow wouldn't crumble before it hit it. His left foot was placed a foot further from his right foot that was left behind. His posture was straight and his body was turned to a specific side.
Taking ahold of the bow string, he yanked it back as the arrow formed—holding a stiff grip on the street before he prepared himself to let it go.
If the Soul Society was being consumed by Jushirmai's dimension, his arrow wouldn't make it; it would collapse—in the form of crumbling ice dust that would become Jushirmai's ice once again. If it was not, on the other hand, his arrow would make it; puncture the star and there would still be hope.
He didn't want to think about it—the fact that they were already among Jushirmai's territory. It would only make matters worse since they were already so disorganized. And if the consumption was being done faster than they could see, they were already in a bigger amount of trouble than they thought.
Raiden didn't know what his motive was or even if he had any motive at all besides greed. But there was always a story supporting something however, Jushirmai's version just so happened to be unknown.
It was Rukia who knew.
He was curious to know, but it seemed that Jushirmai's story would always remain unknown. But by all means, if it meant preventing him from destroying the world, Rukia would have to tell the story one way or another.
Focusing on one point, Raiden let the arrow go to soar in the air like a flying star—aiming towards the star-like shape still twinkling near the arrow. Coldness captured the warmth in his skin and he became convinced that if he stayed out any longer in the cold, he'd surely face hypothermia, again—not that he planned to admit it.
If only the stars were located any closer to the ground, he wouldn't have to watch his own arrow rapidly decrease in size before it was equivalent to that of an atom or particle that made up everything we knew.
His eyes momentarily turned to the empty passages of the 54th District of the Rukongai. He didn't want to think of all those suffering through the cold, but it couldn't be helped after he, himself was trembling even with a coat. To ask soul reapers to pay attention to them for less than three seconds would be an impossible request—mainly because they didn't care.
Their neglection of the Rukongai District was one of the many reasons Raiden despised them the most. They were safe—separated from what they referred to as the lower class by a wall that held their safe zone; the Seireitei. While others, millions were suffering under this cold and wintry storm.
Raiden turned.
He looked back up in the sky to find that he couldn't see his arrow from the distance he placed himself in – prompting him to use flash-step to appear closer to his fired mark.
In ½ a second, he disappeared into the night—following his arrow as it was still yet to reach the star in the sky. Raiden was quickly growing impatient—his hands were rather numb and he was positive that his legs would crumble beneath him after various pinches of frostbite.
He couldn't wait any longer. And to come back unaccomplished would only leave a longer list of unanswered questions. So to speed things up, he used the one thing he knew to use best—the kind of element that set a flame to a rocket to storm off into the sky, the kind of element that sent explosions ary, the kind of element that could spread like wildfire; it was fire that he could master.
Using his sternritter ability, he set the end of his arrow with a flame—igniting its speed like a match before it soared faster.
He stopped midway in the sky to watch the burning entity hit the mark—he had almost lost hope as the point of the arrow touched what appeared to be the twinkling touch of the star; indicating that they were free. They were free from Jushirmai's grasp—there was still hope to continue on without having his eyes on each and every one of their moves; most of all, away from the Soul Society for good.
He felt a weight lift off his shoulders once his suspicions were no longer confirmed. Rukia could feel a bit more safe and the reapers would have no immediate reason to get involved as of yet.
There was still time for everything; nothing had to be rushed, nothing had to be overanalyzed. As long as the Soul Society's territory remained in their hands, the war could end sooner than he thought.
Returning back to the ground, his trembling hand reached out beneath his trench coat to receive a sai to open the portal. But with his back faced to the arrow and hands shaking to open the portal, it only took one sound to capture his attention completely and perhaps, even shatter his bones.
Crack.
He turned around and never once had he felt such dread in his body as his eyes met the sight of his arrow completely, frozen into dust.
"Why are we in Kuchiki-san's room, Abarai-kun?" Orihime asked as the gang alongside Captain Hitsugaya, Captain Ukitake, Captain Kuchiki, Lieutenant Matsumoto, and Kiyone and Sentarō stood in Rukia's large room.
"The maid already told us, she took everything and left." Uryū added. "Standing here and trying to figure things out won't solve anything as long as Kuchiki-san is still within the Seireitei."
"Kuchiki's still out there." Captain Hitsugaya commented. "She couldn't have gotten too far with her illness."
"Then what the hell are we waiting here for?! Ichigo! Let's go find Nee-san!"
"Wait." Ichigo said sternly. "I want to hear what Renji's got to say."
"Finally! So, the reason why I brought you all here is because I wanted to show you something that could change your mind about Rukia's treason. I know it's not much—it isn't even evidence or approval – but it's something I thought you guys woulda wanted to see if you ever decided to change your mind."
"What is it?"
"Wait for it." Renji said before he turned around and outstretched his hand into the air. The gang was silent but were rather confused as Renji's air movements appeared as a person turning a lock with a key. "Now, Captain, you don't really know about this and I'm pretty sure Rukia never really wanted to tell you either but a couple of years ago, Rukia had Kisuke make her something that would kinda fill up the big space of her empty room with her personal belongings; they were things we got from the Rukongai that I guess she assumed you would want to throw out. Anyways, Kisuke ended up making her something from interioreum technology that basically helped her keep those personal belongings in her presence but invisible to anyone's eye."
"Invisible?" Byakuya asked.
"Yeah, I guess she didn't want anyone to know that she had them."
"I see. And where would these personal belongings happen to be located?"
"Whadaya mean, Captain? They're right here." Renji said. "Look."
And suddenly, what had seemed as just an empty space to the gang was then separated by a shōji that Renji quickly parted to unveil a black piano and a set of picture frames, all that were filled with a series of individual pictures per set.
"I told you, what I'm showing you is pretty useless for evidence, but it sure as hell proves her dedication to you all and if that ain't something to consider, I don't know what is."
And the gang stared; admiring the pictures framed with wood resting upon the slick piano depicting years of friendship and memories. There weren't much—only around five resided on the top of the piano, while the biggest and most eye catching of them all was hung up on the wall.
Ichigo analyzed each picture he spotted in order from the left side of the piano to the right.
The first picture depicted a younger version of Rukia and Renji with a couple of other kids around their age. Renji had his arm around her in a choking position while Rukia smiled and the three other kids sat down in front of them with their arms around each other's necks. The second picture beside it depicted a more recent picture of them together with Rukia's smile more gentle and her newly short hair shaped perfectly along the sides. The third picture depicted the Shinigami Women Association that Rukia had once told him she never really attended with a forced smile and a sense of uneasiness as she tilted her head to the side next to Momo. The fourth picture had to be taken years ago because oddly enough, it was a picture of a smiling Captain Ukitake with his hair pulled back into a ponytail and a man with spiky black hair (similar to himself) and basil irises leaning towards Captain Ukitake's side and a shorter Rukia on the other side of a seated Ukitake leaning as well.
But the picture that seemed to capture the most attention in his eyes was the large picture binded to the wall that depicted a picture of everybody in the World of the Living; Rukia, Renji, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Inoue, Ishida, Chad, Kon, Tessai etc that was taken in Urahara's Shōten on the day Rukia had finally marked her return and restored his powers.
He was in the middle, Kurōdo, Noba, and Ririn were mounted on his lap with an angry Kon pushing Ririn away. Inoue's hand touched his shoulder with a smile while Uryū's hand touched her shoulder with Tessai behind. Yoruichi and Kisuke were placed in the middle with Jinta and Ururu on the sides. Rukia's gloved hand touched his shoulder as Renji's touched hers as they bent down.
"These are all pictures from her quotebook, aren't they?" Ichigo asked.
"Quote-what?" Uryū asked.
"It sounds familiar." Chad said.
"Hmmm, are you talking about that book Kuchiki-san always carries around with her in class?" Orihime asked.
"Yeah, it's her quotebook; a thing she keeps around to write in and keep her belongings. Rukia takes that thing everywhere but she never allows anybody to touch it." Ichigo explained.
"This is the first time I'm hearing this." Rangiku said.
"Yeah, me too! I've never seen her write in anything like a journal before." Kiyone said.
"She always has it, but she never shows it." Ichigo explained. "It's a personal thing."
"Right, she writes everything in there." Renji continued. "That's why she doesn't like people knowing she has it or it could be used against her."
"The pictures in her book are supposed to signify the people close to her and in the event she ever dies without them surrounding her, she knows she's not dying alone." Ichigo explained earning a subtle glance from Byakuya who analyzed the pictures carefully with a hint of discontent. "My question is, how do these pictures prove her innocence?" Ichigo asked.
"They don't, but they tell you all something you didn't know." Renji said. "I know the appearance of that bastard and her disappearance seem faulty but I don't think you should all lose hope on her so easily."
They didn't know it, but Renji was preparing them for the future before anyone else. In the event the truth came out sooner than expected, they would be reassured—even if it was something as small as this.
"I didn't know Kuchiki-san had this." Rangiku said as she stared at an older photo of the Shinigami Women Association. "It's been awhile since she last came to one of our meetings too."
"M-Maybe she was just busy." Momo intervened.
"Maybe…" Rangiku said as Captain Ukitake stared wistfully at the photo of him with his emerald eyes softening at the sight.
"I thought I lost that photo years ago." Captain Ukitake commented as he stared at the photo of him, Kaien, and Rukia.
"It seems that Kuchiki, despite that video, still holds the Gotei 13 dear to her." Captain Hitsugaya said.
"Video? What video?" Ichigo asked Captain Hitsugaya.
"I'm afraid the reason Kuchiki was convicted for treason was because of a video depicting her runaway with a quincy." He informed.
"Quincy? How is that even possible?" Uryu asked.
"Ishida! Didn't you say you were the last quincy alive?" Ichigo asked.
"I am!"
"Hold up, a quincy? What did he look like?" Renji asked with curiosity in his tone.
"Red hair, mohawk, white cape. Unfortunately, the video wasn't very clear." Captain Hitsugaya explained.
Renji's eyes dilated for a mere second but it was out of complete and sheer shock because he couldn't believe that Raiden was actually here. He was even more surprised to find out that he played a role in helping Rukia escape—considering the events that had happened before. If he helped Rukia escape, that meant he was with her right now underground, and if he was with her underground, that meant Kisuke and Yoruichi were already down there as well.
They were expecting him.
"So much for being the last quincy, Ishida. " Ichigo said.
"I am the last quincy! " Uryū argued.
"Then who the fuck is he?" Ichigo asked as Renji looked down in deep thought. He would've never thought Raiden out of all people would be the one to help Rukia in their current situation but it was better she was out now rather than trying and getting caught by the shinigami.
"We don't know yet. For a fact, we didn't know there were anymore alive." Captain Hitsugaya explained.
"Well whomever he is, he sure looks pretty hot. Especially with all those tattoos." Rangiku said.
"You think every guy you meet is hot." Captain Hitsugaya replied with annoyance. "The point is, although Kuchiki may be dedicated to us, it still doesn't make up for why she would run away. If she has nothing to do with this she should've run, unless…."
"Unless what, Tōshirō? You can't actually believe that Rukia's involved with this guy." Ichigo said.
"It's Captain Hitsugaya to you." Tōshirō reminded. "And no, I'm not suggesting that Kuchiki is guilty nor am I suggesting she's innocent. It's the lack of evidence that concerns me."
"She has problems opening up to people and that can often burden her mind more than she thinks. I'm not too fond of her being convicted again, but it is this problem that must've caused her to run." Captain Ukitake predicted.
"You think she ran because she was afraid to talk?" Tōshirō questioned.
"It's a possibility. Captain Suì-Fēng and the Onmitsukidō are not a group of people she'd like to be interrogated with."
"I-I wouldn't be surprised." Momo spoke up.
"Hinamori…"
"E-Even in the Shin'ō Academy, she never really liked talking to people. I tried talking to her a few times but she never opened up about anything, almost as if she was hiding something…." Lieutenant Hinamori explained.
"It was the same thing when Kuchiki-san first came to the World of the Living. Even with Tatsuki-chan and the other girls, she never really talked to us about certain things." Orihime said.
"I don't believe the Head Captain's going to buy that story either way." Captain Hitsugaya. "What do you suggest Abarai?
Renji looked up in confusion. "Who? Me?"
"Yes you, what the hell Renji?" Ichigo asked but Renji was too occupied staring onto the ground thinking of his friend and Raiden.
"I don't know but, I'll talk to you later." Renji said before passing them in a rush.
"Wha—Renji! Get the hell back in here." Ichigo said but Renji was already ½ way out the shoji.
"I'll be back." He reassured and then he was gone.
"Renji, wait up!" Ichigo hollered.
"He must be trying to find the other quincy." Uryū said.
"If Abarai leaves, the Head Captain will convict both of them of treason." Captain Hitsugaya said. "Matsumoto."
"Yes."
"Find Abarai and don't let him leave the Seireitei. It doesn't matter what he does now, he leaves and the Head Captain will go after them both." Captain Hitsugaya ordered.
"Ishida, Chad, Inoue, let's go." Ichigo said before they all left the room in a hurry, leaving one person left to stand in the room; eyes staring at what used to be an empty space.
"Ishikawa-kun, where is all the data we collected for the revival project?"
"The revival project? Oh, right." He replied. "Chiba-san had them removed on Captain Kurotsuchi's orders for gestation."
"Gestation? Does that mean the revival will happen soon, Ishikawa-kun?"
"Most likely, but it hasn't happened ever since the execution."
"What's the reason behind it ya think? The revival only happened once and that was for Lieutenant Kuchiki." She said before popping another sweet into her mouth.
"Did you see who it was?"
"No, but I wish I had. However, I remember hearing Captain Kurotsuchi talking to a man who was insulting him when it happened." She explained. "Nobody came in and nobody came out that day, but they were talking about the Head Captain."
"What would the Head Captain and Lieutenant Kuchiki have in common to talk about them?"
"I don't know, but the man sounded very strict. He must be old."
"If Captain Kurotsuchi is going to operate the revival project again, doesn't that mean he's going to stop all entrances and dismissals from the senkaimon if he's using the time warp?"
"I wouldn't know. I know nothing of this project—nobody does. On that day, I had fallen asleep under your desk and when I woke up, I overheard Captain Kurotsuchi call it the revival project and after that, I found out via Lieutenant Kurotsuchi that it was a special task ordered by the Head Captain."
"The only reason I know about it is because I found a report on it about two years ago with graveyard soil." He explained.
"Graveyard soil? Why would anyone want to touch that?! I thought this project was about him reviving time we lost after the war with Aizen."
"Idiot, if that was the case then why would Lieutenant Kuchiki be involved? And what man would he have been talking to alter the time?"
"Well, she did have the hōgyoku inside of her. If Urahara Kisuke put it inside her then she must've had something in her to protect it."
"As far as I'm concerned, Urahara wanted it to be destroyed and since Lieutenant Kuchiki at the time was facing a death sentence, he thought putting it within her was the best way to destroy it."
"I don't know…"
"You don't believe it?"
"It's not that I don't believe it but, why her? It just doesn't make any sense to me why he would put it in her for the sake of destroying it."
"You're overthinking it."
"I'm not!" She protested. "It's just…the hōgyoku is exceptionally powerful. Holding the object itself could kill you because of its capabilities. What I don't understand is how did the hōgyoku not destroy Lieutenant Kuchiki from the inside? How was it even able to stay inside her body without releasing any sort of power? Isn't the hōgyoku supposed to materialize its holder's desires?"
"Maybe she didn't have any."
"But what about being saved? Didn't she want to be saved from the execution? Didn't she want anything? It was within her soul and anything she could've wanted in that moment could've materialized to what she wanted. But why?"
"Maybe she didn't want to be saved."
"But who wouldn't want to be saved? Is she really not afraid of death?"
"Urahara deactivated the hōgyoku before he put it inside of her, it only makes sense that her wish of being saved couldn't materialize because her strength wasn't enough to carry it out. And besides, maybe her soul was already turning human."
"Deactivating something like that couldn't have possibly been the reason. Lieutenant Kuchiki was already qualified to be a Lieutenant around that time anyways. Have you ever wondered if that activation process Aizen had to go through was something else preventing it rather than Urahara Kisuke's deactivation?"
"That would imply that Lieutenant Kuchiki did something to it prior to it being released. But she didn't even know it was within her body so how could she have done something to it?"
"Or maybe she did, but she didn't know it."
"That's doesn't make any sense."
"What if something like her conscience was aware of it but instinctively she didn't know she possessed it? That would mean that the hōgyoku and Lieutenant Kuchiki were temporarily connected while it was hidden in her body and if that's the case, perhaps Lieutenant Kuchiki did have a wish that couldn't be materialized because her will to carry it out wasn't connected with her instinct."
"You're implying that her instinct had a different wish."
"It could be. What if internally she was fighting between two different desires that conflicted the hōgyoku's guidance in the first place?"
"If that's the case, then that would mean the hōgyoku's deactivation was just a phase of conflict within the orb rather than Urahara's neutralization process."
"She couldn't make up her mind."
"And because of that, the hōgyoku fighting between those two desires fell into a state that reflected its dormancy over the years because finding her deepest desires were conflicted between two."
"But…we all have different desires, but there's always one stronger than the other even when we don't realize it. I wonder what she wanted so deeply that she couldn't choose between the two."
"Whatever it was, it was powerful enough to put the hōgyoku into a dormancy state which means, it must've been something not even the hōgyoku could control."
"But what?"
"Stop being such a loud mouth and get back to work." A voice belonging to their Captain said, causing the two scientists to immediately bow.
"Captain Kurotsuchi." They acknowledged in unison.
"You're alright."
"I thought they were still searching for your body."
"Well of course I'm fine. Don't believe Nemu and her sob story, before we initiated the procedure I made sure to wear a replica of my own body anyhow the process failed."
"But the Gotei 13 is still looking for you, sir."
"Come again?" Mayuri questioned. "The Gotei 13 could care any less about me now that Lieutenant Kuchiki has ran away."
"Lieutenant Kuchiki what?!"
"My goodness, both of you are good for nothing—do you not listen to anything? She's been missing for the past hour or so after that explosion malfunction. On the contrary, I could care less if they actually find me as I have something very important to do."
"Why did she leave?"
"I don't care and I don't know. The most obvious assumption is the ryoka."
"What about that reiatsu you were analyzing?"
"Stolen, now leave."
"Who stole it?"
"It appears that Nemu has once again proved her unworthiness. She was attacked by one of those fools siding with the ryoka and lost it to her hands. Now if you two don't mind, leave."
"Is that…Is that graveyard soil in your hands?"
"I don't see how that is of any concern to you. Go ahead and find Nemu for me."
"But Captain Kurotsuchi—"
"Go." He ordered before the two scientists looked at each other as they resigned from trying and walked away.
"Such pests." Captain Kurotsuchi said to himself as he passed by their work stations and entered his private laboratory underground.
It was true that he suffered some damage from the explosion but he had predicted the possible chance of a malfunction prior to the bombing procedure. It just so happened that both the reiatsu he had contained and the bomb were stolen and replaced by two different people at the same time. He didn't care much for who did it as of right now because his mind was focused on one particular order and project directly; revival.
It was true that what he contained in his hand was indeed graveyard soil however, admitting that to his subordinates was not something he planned on doing. Taking the graveyard soil, he replaced the empty cylindrical cup he had placed on the generator with the soil and allowed the generator to familiarize itself with its components before proceeding.
In the meanwhile, he deactivated all senkaimons that could be used to enter any dimension, including the World of the Living to prevent any time stream from being affected before he started his process.
He had done this once before.
A while back, around the time of Kuchiki Rukia's execution, he had used the revival project and trifled with certain time streams to have the process occur during the right moment however, although he had reassured that the process could work again, a small part of him held doubt in the revival ever occurring once again. If the project had not been planned over a century ago, Mayuri wouldn't have paid much attention to it, let alone the person involved with it. But he was well aware why this was happening and who this was going to benefit, but as a Captain, he felt no obligation to inform the Gotei 13 of his knowledge—mimicking Kuchiki Rukia's intentions before she had disappeared.
All time streams in the last three centuries suddenly appeared in thin, but parallel lines in the colour of purple and marked Mayuri's lab like lasers. It was hard to predict which was which, but Mayuri already knew which time stream he would be playing with for sure. He plucked one of the streams like guitar strings before heading to his computer to begin the process.
Suddenly, the cylindrical tube began to twirl in its place with the graveyard soil turning into minuscule particles after each turn. Soon, the particles resembled that of the colour of reishi as the glowing particles continued to spin within the cylindrical cup. Light flashed from each particle and connected with each part of Mayuri's lab—most shooting in between the streams of time to create a checkered pattern of glowing blue and purple. Each light that intersected with a stream portrayed a different aspect of time, but the flashy green light shining upon them could only target one.
The shining green light of reiatsu shot in the form of a laser to target one specific time stream and thus created a perfect L shape with different colours. Holding that in place, a few machines came from above and destroyed all the time streams like a stamp pounding down on paper as the L connected shape elevated in the air and sparked a few times to merge and create a perfect circle of a mystical purple.
Dismissing the rest of the machinery, the circular flash of the time warp slowly descended near the ground and shifted past Mayuri and into another room of his laboratory.
This portion of his laboratory was illuminated by a golden-yellow light and contained a large cylinder in which the circular flash permitted itself into and suddenly, a foot from the circle stepped onto the grey platform inside the cylinder and permitted its full body out of it as the circle behind them minimized.
Mayuri entered the room and looked towards the cylinder to see the new, yet familiar Gotei 13 member who had finally been revived.
"It seems once again, I've entered this world too little, too late to stop this destruction beforehand."
End Note
TIM is divided into two parts: The Interioreum World being Part I and The Iced Moon being Part II. We are currently still in the stages of Part I being The Interioreum World in which the major focus will be Jushirmai and Rukia.
These aren't all of his subordinates by the way. They won't play a proper role until Part II.
01/01/17: It's New Years and as I said, I have all the Images For this Chapter ready so here it goes (in no particular order)
Sai Blade: It's suppose to be shorter, but this was the only decent one I could find
Tangzhuang: For the men of Jushirmai's subordinates
Jushirmai's CURRENT Subordinates: Yamada Seinosuke, Kusaka Sojiro, the third man's tattoo and hair
Contact 🌙
byaruki / tumblr