I Wouldn't If Was You
The three teens and Lisa gathered in the alley behind the restaurant. It looked ordinary, but even a person a trace spiritual awareness would feel the strangeness in the atmosphere.
The server, Antonio and his wife Kiara were already there. The Arrancar turned away from them. He reached out to the air before him and seemed to grip it vertically. The space in front of him ripped like it was made of cloth. Behind the opening was a void of deep grey, nearly black.
"It is believed there are infinite planes of realities, with infinite spaces bridging between those spaces," the waiter offered, "The pathway the Garganta opens, though, is certain to reach Hueco Mundo. The expanse between it and Earth holds nothing but wild reishi particles. You must use them to make a road to the Hollows' world.
Ichigo face contorted in worry. He suddenly realized after all his travails just finding a way to get to Hueco Mundo, he had forgotten an important detail.
"No means to separate into your spirit body?" asked the chef Kiara.
"Uh, yes..." he admitted.
"Don't feat child, I will help," she suddenly placed one arm around his shoulders and her other around his waist, embracing him. There was a sudden white glow. Ichigo could feel the Indian woman stepping away from him, but also dragging him with her. It was a warmer, more peaceful feeling than he was use to in this process. The glow then receded around them.
Behind him Chad had instinctively moved in to catch his unconscious mortal body.
Ichigo, now in his Shinigami body, blushed as he also found himself in the woman's arms.
"While I have, unpleasant history, with those in this garb," she said lightly touching his chest, "I have heard the stories of what you've done under this uniform. Take this with you as a wish for success for you and your friends."
She kissed him on the cheek. As opposed to his typical overreactions to most women, Ichigo seemed unusually calm, even serene at her affectionate gesture. She left him rubbing his face lightly and walked to her husband.
"I shall take of the other matters now, darling," she said pausing by Antonio. He took her hand and tenderly kissed it as she passed by. She then slipped back inside their restaurant.
"That was, a lot gentler than Rukia ever did that," said a still dazed Substitute Shinigami. Uryu adjusted his glasses to hide his reaction. Lisa suppressed laughter with a snort. Chad merely smiled.
The Arrancar stepped forward. He held out small sphere of of a dully shining material. Suspended within it appeared to be a smaller version of the tear he'd just made. He handed it over to Ichigo.
"This will open a new portal to get you back to Earth," he said. The light in the alleyway framed the Arrancar's face in shadows, "I have heard what you managed in the Soul Society. Do not think you can achieve the same in Hueco Mundo."
Ichigo accepted the sphere. His expression remained determined. Chad wondered just how deep the brave face his friend put truly went.
"You're eyes," the Arrancar responded to his silence, "They still show defiance of the things that lay before you. You think can overcome them. You cannot."
Ichigo still stared intently. Antonio exhaled, like he relented to the boy.
"I would advise abandoning this if you learn the girl has already been taken to the castle at the center of the land. I know you will not listen," he said less ominously, "At least try not catch the attention of the things there. Not just in the castle, there is much more. Be careful where you go in the caverns below it. Avoid, if you can, the Earthmover."
"You, you believe in the Earthmover?" Lisa suddenly interrupted, her voice was a mix of shock, and disbelief, with even a hint of incredulous, "That just doesn't seem possible."
"Who, what is this Earthmover?" Chad asked.
"He's just a myth, a crazy fairy tale story," she shook her head in denial, "He's supposed to be some kind of ancient, insanely dangerous Arrancar."
"The Quincy have stories of him too," Uryu added, "Some are more benign, but they are just as outlandish. Things like he built the Pyramids of Egypt or he was the inspiration for Shakespeare's characters."
"Wow, really Shakespeare?" Ichigo replied suddenly with surprising euphemism.
Uryu gave him a look of more confusion and disbelief than Lisa had just shown about the possibly of some fablled horror from old stories being real.
"What? I've had his collected works since I was twelve," Ichigo responded to the Quincy's doubting expression, "I read them twice a year."
Uryu still looked unconvinced.
"I do," the orange-haired boy now mumbled, turning away dejected.
"Ishida, that was kind of mean, don't you think?" Chad responded to the still dumbstruck dark-haired teen.
"Huh, well…" Uryu trailed off on any further response, not able to defend his behavior.
"I admit, I have never seen the Earthmover in person. And that, you should know, is only the name the Shinigami have given him. We Arrancars do not speak his true name," Antonio said recapturing their attention, "I have though seen the ruins and scars on the land attributed to him. It is still best you avoid him and all others I have warned you of. As to where you might find your friend, or this Aizen, I'm afraid I don't have any clues. If Hueco Mundo offers any certainty, it is a wealth of places to hide. Like my dear Kiara, I do pray you succeed."
The three youths looked to each other, silently affirming to one another they were prepared. Lisa cleaned her glasses in contemplation. She readied to ask to them a final time if to be sure of what they were about to commit to do.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing Lisa!?" came a familiar shout.
A silhouette in pigtails entered the far side of the alley. "Did you just lose your mind?" Hiyori asked, moving into view. "Or did ya just get sentimental about baldy there not getting to save that girl he's got a hard-on for?"
"I never checked that, Hiyori," Lisa said as she stepped between the blond Vizard and the three boys. The dark-haired woman's tone again shifted to academic inquiry, "Could it be you're jealous you'll never get that reaction from him in that child body you're cursed with?"
They could hear a vein popping in rage from Hiyori, "Why you!"
Hiyori summoned her mask and began forming a trio of linked Ceros. Lisa charged at the other Vizard, releasing her Zanpakto.
Ichigo turned paler than Uryu's clothes, "Could you both stop talking about my-"
The rest of his comment was cut off by Lisa denoting the Ceros with a horizontal slash of her spear.
"Lisa!" Chad called in concern as the two Vizards disappeared in the resulting explosion. Lisa leapt out of the smoke and landed in a crouching battle stance, facing the clearing cloud. Her clothes were scuffed and she was coughing, but not injured.
"Stupid Hiyori," Lisa declared, followed by more coughs, "She completely out of control."
"Gee, I wonder why?" Ichigo spat out sardonically, although no one paid attention.
"Chop Cleanly, Kubikiri Orochi!" Hiyori again shouted as she leapt out the dissipating smoke at Lisa. The blond girl's katana transformed into giant serrated blade a bigger than herself. Lisa drove her own weapon into the ground and swung on it like a pole toward the smaller girl. She planted a deep kick into Hiyori's midsection and sent her flying away. Lisa turned back to the boys.
"Go!" she commanded, but immediately added, "Despite all Antonio-san's warnings, I really wanted to join you and see Hueco Mundo. But now I better calm Hiyori down. Maybe I can even convince Shinji and the others to come back you up."
Uryu looked nonplussed. Chad and Ichigo did show some disappointment at suddenly losing their new companion.
"Ishida Uryu," she addressed the Quincy, "You probably don't want a compliment from a Shinigami, even as an ex-Gotei member, but you have a truly sharp mind and a keen ability to observe. I know that will serve you well."
The two both adjusted their glasses, which served as a gesture of mutual respect. Uryu turned away and headed to the waiting portal.
"Sado-kun," Lisa walked up the tallest teen and placed a hand on his chest, above his heart. Chad held her hand there, "I know you're straining keeping these two moving forward. I admire that, but have faith in them and yourself. Perhaps instead, just be the strength they can fall back on."
Chad gently squeezed her hand and then headed over to join Uryu.
"Ichigo," she looked down briefly, gathering her thoughts, "I know you'll save that girl. Please, don't tear yourself apart to do it."
Lisa then leapt away to engage Hiyori. Ichigo was stuck where he stood, absorbing her words.
"Let's go, Kurosaki," Uryu now commanded, "We're out of time to think about this anymore."
In the past, Chad may have physically hoisted the hesitating Ichigo onward. This time though, he opted for a softer approach. He merely lead his friend with an arm around his shoulders. Ichigo followed, and the three disappeared into the Garganta.
Antonio closed the portal. He stared for a few moments at the empty space, then towards the two Vizards as they passed above, still battling each other.
"I've packed everything," Kiara announced as she rejoined him. She was no longer in a cook's uniform and now dressed in a long coat. The Arrancar continued to stare into the distance. She approached and gently placed her hand upon his arm. She gave him a trench coat and hat of his own. After tossing away his apron and donning them, they embraced silently.
"You two are leaving Karakura?" came another voice from shadows at the opposite end of the alley.
"Yes, who are you? Are you the one who contacted us earlier?" asked the Arrancar back, "The one who threatened us into sending children to that place?"
The figure in shadow sighed, "I was just checking on Yadomaru-san for Urahara. I'm Kurosaki, Kurosaki Isshin," Ichiigo's bearded dark-haired father said as he stepped into the light.
"Kurosaki?" noted Kiara.
"Are you that boy's father?" Antonio asked, mistrust and caution apparent in his voice.
"Eh, yeah," Isshin replied, sounding puzzled at their suspicion.
"And you're another Shinigami," Kiara said. She produced a sphere of golden fire that hovered above her right hand and emitted a spire of white light surrounded by lightning from her left, "Was that some set-up to come after us? To separate us? Maybe send me back to rot in the Rukongai?"
"Whoa, no," Isshin said holding up his hands in a show of non-aggression, "Urahara Kisuke and I are both exiles from the Soul Society. He told me there some restaurant run by an Arrancar and a lady who knows Kido. That's you two, right?"
"Yes, that is us," the Arrancar replied.
"Though those don't look like any regular Kido," Isshin noted of the attacks Kiara was still brandishing.
She extinguished them, "Those kids might have greater raw strength than us, but we both have picked up some skills over the decades."
"We have provided them a way to Hueco Mundo, and a way to return," Antonio explained, "As for Yadomaru-san, she wanted accompany them, but well..."
"And you ain't brave enough to do any of that shit you read all day!" Hiyori shouted as she and Lisa passed by again, still fighting.
"I see, " Isshin commented on two battling Vizards.
After a short silence, Antonio asked, "You don't object to your son going to Hueco Mundo?"
"If I could have come up some way to stop him without breaking his spirit, I would have," Isshin said more thoughtfully.
"Well, he did seem to be in a terrible angst over that Inoue," said Kiara, "She must be very special to him."
"Inoue Orihime?" Isshin wondered, "Huh, only seen her by our place now and then, usually with his other friend, Tatsuki. Can't really say I've ever noticed."
"At his age, maybe he hasn't realized himself," replied Kiara, her tone then suddenly shifted, full of sorrow, "For either of them to have to endure that place. It's too cruel."
"Well, despite what I said about stopping him. I trust Ichigo," Isshin declared, "I have to let him stand on his own two feet."
Isshin was surprised the couple seemed unmoved by his statement. In fact, they both looked more fearful.
"Lisa is a sweet girl, but after a thousand years, you Shinigami just refuse to get it," Kiara said shaking her head, "It's like you all think you're the center of the universe."
"Huh? What are you-" Isshin started to respond.
"Tell me, Kurosaki Isshin, do you have other children besides that boy?" the Arrancar asked.
"Hmm, two daughters, why?" Isshin answered, slowly taking on some of the concern of the two.
"We can never have children of our own," Kiara commented.
"I would advise you go and make the best of this time with them as you can," Antonio warned, "We are not merely leaving this town. We are fleeing this country, this half of the world. However, if things go as badly as it is possible they could in Hueco Mundo, there will be nowhere anyone can run."
The couple disappeared into the night. Isshin was left miring over what had been said. He looked briefly to the two female Vizards' fight in the sky above, but that had moved a block away. He then sighed, collected the unconscious body of Ichigo and left, his mood still troubled over the dire words of the Arrancar.
Further away on another rooftop, the Kido Captain had observed the Substitute Shinigami and his friends' departure. Behind him, a portal, more cleanly formed than the Garganta materialized. Inside it were the sands of Hueco Mundo.
"Ah, they say I'm the one treating this as a game, and yet time and time again, it's always the same moves" he noted as he slowly floated back into the Hollows' desert, "Well, it's the little details that keep it interesting. Let's see what they have this time."
Unseen by any, his portal closed and another night continued in Karakura.