Solinus crawls out of the open window, talons piercing through the side of the house to keep him from falling. His slitted opal eyes glow beneath the full moon, watching the house's surroundings.
Masaki has given him a mission; he needs to find Ichigo and Uryū and either make sure they stay safe or bring them home. He's most definitely going to bring them home.
This night feels wrong, which is the reason why Masaki is wanting him to go find Ichigo and Uryū in the first place. Though, Solinus was already preparing himself to sneak out of the house and find his favorite human.
Solinus scrambles down the side of the house and crawls into one of the hedge bushes. He breathes out a stream of smoke before closing his eyes.
To find Ichigo, he needs to find and follow his scent. Fortunately, Ichigo's scent is so unique and encompasses Ichigo himself that Solinus is capable of finding him within a stadium full of lookalikes and doppelgangers. Even without the scent, Solinus can always find Ichigo. Always.
Moon-soaked nights and petrichor hiding blood. Solinus opens his eyes with another huff. He found him. Solinus sits back onto his hind legs, getting ready to pounce into the air.
mhrrgh
Solinus blinks before turning his head. Three sets of eyes stared at him. Solinus narrows his eyes and growls. This was his mission!
Hamlet cackles before sitting up fully to mock the oldest dragon. Cleopatra turns her head up before flapping her wings, slapping Hamlet back against the house wall while Ophelia simply bends her head to avoid the feathered wing.
Cleopatra stands to her full height and glares down at Solinus, daring him to talk back at her. The ryu dragon growls again, but turns to face forward. Whatever. It might be better to have some help in case Ichigo and Uryū are in need of help.
HOLLOWHOLLOWDEATHSHINIGAMIQUINCYDEATHSHINIGAMIHUMAN—
Solinus screeches loudly, followed by a growl from Cleopatra. All three take to the sky with Hamlet wrapped around Solinus, heading straight for the awful spike in Ichigo's scent.
None of them pay attention to the scent of burning wood and fireworks coming from the second-story window.
Worry and fear settled quietly, getting louder and more painful with every bad thought and horrible scenario that pops up. Ukitake Jūshirō, Captain of the 13th Division, forces his body to walk up the steep steps towards the Senkaimon.
While his illness is mostly a hindrance and a nuisance, Jūshirō is glad it decided to flare up tonight and keep him from sleeping. If he had been asleep, and the hell butterfly didn't report Kuchiki Rukia's dire status, he would never forgive himself.
Jūshirō reaches the top of the stairs and is about to walk towards the activated Senkaimon when there is a soft cough from behind. He turns around and stares at the deceptively soft expression of worry staring back at him.
"Unohana-taichō! Oh—good evening." Jūshirō quickly snaps out of his stupor and respectfully greets the 4th Division Captain. "What are you doing here?"
"I am going to the World of the Living to help your subordinate. Having three Adjuchas-level Hollows attack an unseated Shinigami unprompted is unheard of. And your illness had been triggered a few days ago, Ukitake-taichō," Unohana Retsu speaks concisely, walking up to the white haired captain's side. Jūshirō laughs sheepishly, but his shoulders sag in relief.
The Third Seat of the 12th Division had said Rukia is still alive, even if she was severely injured and taken somewhere else by an unknown reiatsu signature. With Jūshirō going to investigate there are no other Hollows at Level Adjuchas and higher, having Retsu there to heal and keep Rukia alive will allow him to focus on the task at hand.
"Do you know what could cause three Adjuchas to attack Kuchiki-san? Or why there were three Adjuchas in the World of the Living?" Retsu asks curiously as they both begin to walk towards the Senkaimon.
Jūshirō frowns darkly before taking a deep breath to calm himself. "No. I have Kiyone and Sentarō combing through all of the information the 12th Division received from Rukia's mission."
"Then let us go immediately, Ukitake-taichō. It is likely weaker Hollows will take the chance to attack Kuchiki-san while she is injured," Retsu speaks firmly.
"Yes, Unohana-taichō."
Patience is something most Quincy prize and adhere to. Patience to wait out a Hollow and kill it before it can spot the Quincy. Patience to wait out the Shinigami and hide in plain sight for years, even decades.
Uryū snaps apart his sixth sewing needle. His eyebrow twitches, but he only reaches over from his tactical sewing kit and grabs another needle.
Patience is not something Uryū has. At all. Truth be told, Ichigo has more patience than he does.
Uryū snaps the seventh sewing needle before he could even thread it at the thought of his brother. He takes a slow, deep breath before he grabs his eighth sewing needle.
He was sitting next to the unconscious Shinigami. The scientist has yet to come out with any sort of news about Ichigo, only ordering him to stay by the Shinigami's side in case something goes wrong. Fucking asshole.
Urahara came back with Ichigo in his arms, unconscious, nearly covered head to toe with blood, and his hair haphazardly ripped out of their braids. His physical body was being dragged behind by some kind of kidō spell, but Uryū knows Ichigo deserves the bruises he'll wake up with for his idiocy.
But, he could also sense Ichigo's unstable soul. His reiraku, normally a beautiful silver lined in blood red and dipped in a decaying grey, now looks almost frayed with the blood red bleeding through the silver and the decaying grey corrupting the luster the ribbon once held.
It looked ill, like it was dying.
Uryū clenches his hand around the white silk he was embroidering, wrinkling it. He takes in a deep breath to calm himself, relaxing his hand and smoothing out the silk over his thigh.
Or, it could mean Ichigo's reiraku is changing. Yes. It's probably only changing not—
"Mother will be so upset with you. So don't die, you idiot," Uryū hisses quietly to himself. He smooths the white fabric over one more time. Ichigo will wear nothing less than perfection and the shihakushō is nowhere near perfection.
Uryū sighs quietly and begins to thread the sewing needle. The air leaves his lungs as a sudden pressure bears down on him, making him shatter the needle to pieces.
SHINIGAMISHINIGAMISHINIGAMISHINIGAMISHINIGAMI
Ocean blue eyes go wide at the nearly overwhelming pressure before they narrow dangerously. Uryū growls and turns around, activating his Heilig Bogen. He stares out of the window before glancing towards the unconscious Shinigami.
Shit. They're likely here for her.
The black-haired teenager reaches his senses out and feels the kidō barriers surrounding Urahara's laboratory still holding strong.
Shit shit. He's still trying to keep Ichigo alive and stable.
He glances down at himself, staring at his Heilig Bogen and his bloodstained Quincy uniform.
Shit shit shit. He's the only one who can do anything. For fucks sake.
Uryū sighs heavily before he stands up. He's got to call Mother... after he deals with the Shinigami. Fuck, she's not going to be happy at all about any of this
He leaps towards the window, landing one foot on the windowsill before he jumps into the air.
SCREEECH!
Uryū yelps loudly as he's slammed into a telephone pole. His stomach drops when gravity takes a hold on him, but he quickly forms a reiatsu platform below him to fall on instead. The object that slammed against him falls right on top of his chest, punching the air out of his lungs.
"God—get—can't—breathe!" Uryū wheezes with a harsh shove at whatever was on him. He looks down and blinks at the watery green eyes. He scowls before shoving at the dragon again. "Get—off! Fuck, I don't—have time!"
Uryū takes a deep breath of air once he manages to shove off the diabolical wyrm. He leans back on his elbows before he hears the flap of wings and looks up. Cleopatra hovered above the telephone pole before wrapping her tail around it and resting on top of the pole. Solinus hovered in the air, the moonlight making his lilac scales seemingly glow. Ophelia curled around Uryū in a loose protective hold, purring softly.
"What the hell are you four doing here?" He asks with a glare. All of the dragons know not to be outside past midnight, save for the baby dragons, but they're learning.
Solinus hisses loudly before landing on the roof of Urahara's shop. Uryū narrows his eyes before huffing quietly.
"We'll talk later. I don't have time for this. Hide somewhere, and I mean it," He says with a small look before he takes off towards the Shinigami reiatsu. Ophelia cries dramatically, trying to reach out and grab her favorite human.
Hopefully he can make it before Mother wakes up because of the dense reiatsu. Clearly it's higher than an unseated Shinigami since it's about seven times denser than the injured Shinigami had. It has to be a lieutenant or maybe even a captain.
Uryū should probably wait for Masaki... but with Ichigo's soul unstable and Urahara currently trying to stabilize it, the injured Shinigami unconscious in the manipulator's shop, and Uryū dressed in Quincy garb, he doesn't think they should mix in the dragons into this clusterfuck.
Urahara said the East Branch of the Soul Society doesn't have dragons. Not in any recorded history at least. Hollows have been alive as long as humans and Shinigami; since before history had been recorded by either species. Or, that is the most accepted theory around how Hollows came into existence.
Dragons are a newer development. They appeared centuries ago, somewhere before or during the 13th century. Even in the West Branch, there isn't a lot of information on how exactly the dragons came to be or where they came from, but the West Branch thinks dragons and Hollows are the same.
Urahara thinks the dragons are likely an off-shoot from Hollows. A pack of Hollows who likely stayed more in the Living World than in Hueco Mundo and quickly evolved into a completely different species of Hollow.
Uryū agrees with what Ichigo believes. That dragons are simply a new spiritual species created to help combat the fraying balance of the universe. Battling the Quincy for almost a millennium and nearly killing them all only two centuries ago has many consequences, all of them deadly. There had to be something done to keep the worlds from collapsing on one another.
"You owe me so much for this, Nīsan," Uryū mutters under his breath. "You better stay alive to deal with the aftermath."
He disappears in a blur of white and red, small platforms of reishi forming beneath his feet with each step. Hopefully, these Shinigami won't attack him on sight. Or better yet, they're more Shinigami who don't know about the Quincy.
Uryū breathes in deeply before he stops sprinting through the air. He hovers just over a rooftop, letting the unfamiliar reiatsu wash over him. Crimson red ribbons reach high into the sky before being tugged directly into his chest.
Standing in the middle of the street, full of cracks and still covered in blood, are two Shinigami. Both are wearing white haori over their shihakushō. Captains.
Their reiraku is clearly old. Nearly ancient in Uryū's eyes. The black-haired woman's still held strong and glimmered sharply beneath the full moonlight, but the white-haired man's is ill. Severely ill. It appeared frail and somewhat frayed at the edges.
Uryū jumps quietly off of his reishi platform and lands on the rooftop. He leans forward, intent to watch the Shinigami for a few more minutes.
"Kuchiki-san has lost quite a bit of blood. This puddle here is hers," The black-haired woman speaks quietly before she crouches down to brush her fingers against the darkest spot of blood. She pauses as her fingers twitch at the smallest hint of an unfamiliar reiatsu.
"Someone had used kaidō. It had been interrupted."
"Likely the other Adjuchas ambushing them," The white-haired man comments while he traces the absolute bloodbath around them. "There aren't any Shinigami stationed within seven Ri of Karakura Town. Who killed the Adjuchas?"
Impressive. The Soul Society aren't as stupid as Uryū believed.
The teenager stands up straight and taps his finger against the roof ledge. A pulse of his reiatsu fills the air for only a moment before he pulls it back under. It does its job as both captains are already staring up at him.
"My brother killed them," Uryū answers the Shinigami's question, his blank mask perfectly in place.
Uryū refrains from tensing when both Shinigami narrow their eyes. Ah. They know who the Quincy are.
"Makes sense given how old their reiraku looks..." Uryū thinks to himself before sighing quietly. What a fantastic night.
"A Quincy killed three Adjuchas-level Hollows by himself?" The white-haired Shinigami questions with raised eyebrows.
Uryū frowns before pushing up his glasses with a huff. "Please save your morality arguments for later. Preferably tomorrow. Your Shinigami was bleeding out and my brother tasked me with taking her to safety. There wasn't much time for anything else."
"Is she healed? How are her vitals?" The black-haired Shinigami asks somewhat sternly. Uryū refrains from swallowing visibly when her stern glare makes alarm bells ring loudly in his head.
She is the most dangerous out of the two.
"She is in stable condition, but unconscious," Uryū answers shortly. He actually has no idea if the Shinigami is in stable condition, but Tsukabishi-san is watching over her, so she is in good hands. Hopefully the Shinigami will think so too... after Uryū distracts them long enough to allow Urahara enough time to finish whatever he was doing to keep Ichigo stable.
"Thank you. I will still need to check her myself, if you don't mind, Quincy," The black-haired woman states, leaving no room for argument. Uryū wonders if anyone has ever been stupid enough to not follow what she says.
"No, I don't. But, I'm sure you have an investigation to do, Shinigami," The teenager speaks after a short moment. He needs just a few more minutes, but he doubts he can distract them any more than this.
"I came here to treat Kuchiki-san, so Ukitake-taichō could investigate without external distractions. Please take me to my patient, Quincy."
"The name is Ishida Uryū. Please use it or shut up," Uryū states somewhat coldly. Honestly. Are all Shinigami this rude?
"...forgive me, Ishida-san. We don't necessarily have time for introductions... but, I suppose it is quite rude not to," The black-haired woman says politely. "I am Unohana Retsu, Captain of the 4th Division."
"I am Rukia's—the injured Shinigami's—captain, UkitakeJūshirō, Captain of the 13th Division." The white-haired Shinigami speaks next.
Uryū narrows his eyes before he huffs quietly. Healing and tracking/information gathering. Fantastic.Uryū turns around and steps off the rooftop ledge, forming a reishi platform beneath his feet once more.
He glances over his shoulder to glare down at the captains. "No other Hollows should attack here tonight. Follow and don't cause any problems. You're lucky they helped heal your seated officer. She would have bled out if they didn't."
Uryū disappears in a blur, going in the opposite direction of the Urahara Shōten. He'll take the circular route and make sure everyone at home is safe—and let Mother and Isshin know Karakura Town has company. Hopefully, Isshin won't do any of his usual stupidity and stay hidden.Uryū highly doubts it, but he can dream.
There's a moment or two where he doesn't sense anything, but then he feels the swell of reiatsu and two signatures are suddenly right behind him. Muted and stifled, likely from a seal or from reiatsu control, but still dense. Blood and medicine and a Japanese maple tree dying of illness.
Alright then. Let's get this shitshow of a night done and over with.
The air felt cold without any breeze. Without seeing, the clouds moved down in lazy swirls, bringing a spotty warmth every couple of minutes when holes appear through the overcast. Crimson light sear behind closed eyelids before going pitch-black from the clouds.
Ichigo breathes in deeply, relaxing into the bed of needles digging into his back. Two fingers, warm and soft like bone, caress his cheek before turning. A sharp talon breaks skin before a hand completely encompasses Ichigo's cheek. The talon digs right up into his cheekbone, making him sigh quietly.
"Ya certainly know how t' scare the shit outta us, King." Another hand, just as warm and soft, grabs the other side of Ichigo's face before forcefully tilting his head back. Ichigo slowly opens his eyes and stares up into matching gold against black, bright with insanity. "Don' ya ever do it again, 'r I'll make sure ya regret it."
Ichigo purrs from deep within his chest, shutting his eyes closed to press his head into the hands still holding each side. Zangetsu leans closer with a small hiss, but softens his grip while his long white hair falls over his shoulders. He presses his teeth against Ichigo's cheek and bites hard. Ichigo doesn't even flinch.
Zangetsu lifts himself up, licking the blood from his teeth before he sits back on his toes. Ichigo opens his eyes again when the hands disappear from his cheeks and sits up. The needles slip out from his back before slowly sinking into the unmarred glass below like it was a still body of water.
Burning rays of the crimson sunset pierce through the thin holes of the swirling black clouds. The black glass of the skyscrapers consume the light without a glint across and gnarled trees sprouting thin silver needles, turned crimson from the light, forcefully push themselves out from the cracks.
Ichigo watches the clouds fall into the endless sky below the skyscraper he sat against. He tilts his head to the side before his wide eyes flick towards one third of his soul. Zangetsu stares at him with wide eyes of his own, nearly touching noses.
"Tensa," Ichigo hums quietly. Where is his Quincy counterpart?
Zangetsu's eyelids relax before his third eyelids blink beneath them. He hums back before tilting his head back to look directly behind himself.
"Yer a fuckin' idiot. He's checkin' out the shit ya fucked up," The zanpakutō grumbles with a dark edge to his tone. He hisses, but doesn't voice anymore of his anger.
"Broken?" Ichigo asks in concern. He hopes trying to save that Shinigami didn't permanently maim his own soul. If he wasn't ready to be pushed out of his body, then they will likely die.
"Cracked, but fixable. If it'd been a couple months earlier, we woulda died." Zangetsu shrugs nonchalantly. They weren't dead now, so he's got nothing to worry about.
Ichigo turns his head and resumes watching the clouds fall. "Ambush."
"Yes. While we expected one, this came by much too soon." Numbing shadows wash over Ichigo before ice-cold fingers brush through his hair. "Urahara seems to have miscalculated his enemy's patience."
A purr escapes Ichigo's throat before he presses his head up against the calloused hand. Thin fingernails scratch his scalp, brushing through tangles and dried blood.
"Tensa..." Ichigo greets quietly, his eyes drooping closed as he wholeheartedly accepts the comforting numbness from Tensa's shadows.
"It has been a while since you've been this content after eating. This will help Ohime-sama fix the cracks," Tensa comments warmly, happy to see the orange-haired teenager full for once in his life.
Ichigo hums before he twists himself to face the man of shadows. He raises his arms and wraps them around Tensa's neck, pressing his bitten cheek against his collarbone.
"Okay?"
Tensa huffs out a chuckle before he easily lifts Ichigo up into his arms. The shadows cover him like an armored blanket.
"No harm has been done to our soul, Ichigo. You did well to follow your instincts," Tensa reassures the teenager. Ichigo hums again, deep from his chest, before he nuzzles his nose into the crook of Tensa's neck.
"Tired."
"Ya've got one more thing t' do before ya can rest, King. Shinigami have come t' find the one ya risked yer ass for. The creepy chess master can't handle it alone," Zangetsu sneers before huffing loudly.
Ichigo lifts his head and stares at his color opposite. He blinks slowly before scowling.
"Idiot," He sighs quietly to himself before he rests his head on Tensa's shoulder.
"Pot meet fuckin' kettle!" Zangetsu snarls before he turns around. "Gonna make sure the Crimson Lady don't get carried away. Leave and fix yer damn problem, King."
Ichigo just hugs Tensa tighter with a small whine. Can't he deal with this tomorrow? After he's healed?
"Uryū will be here soon with the Shinigami in tow. They will wonder why two undocumented Quincy helped a Shinigami," Tensa adds, making Ichigo pause. He groans quietly before tilting his head back.
Uryū is such an idiot. Ichigo still doesn't know how he has survived this long.
Ichigo sighs before he nods his head. He closes his eyes without another word and allows the shadows to drown him in their depths. His body becomes nothing before he rises up into consciousness.
Black hair fell down around him as black eyes stared at him through long eyelashes. Long fingers card through his hair and slice through his scalp. Blood falls freely before crimson threads pull back the blood and stitches the wounds closed. They glow red before dying black and finally fading away.
Benihime croons softly before she leans closer. Her pale lips press against Ichigo's forehead before she melts away into the shadows and disappears.
"My, my, what an amazing recovery. As always," Geta-bōshi says brightly, leaning back from the medical table Ichigo was laying on. Ichigo blinks before he slowly sits up, wincing with a hiss when his entire spine spasms.
"Now, now, Ichigo-kun. Your physical body was nearly bisected. You shouldn't be moving around so much," The exiled Shinigami hums brightly, but his hand pressed against Ichigo's shoulder doesn't budge. Ichigo gives him a narrowed glare before turning slowly to hang his feet over the table.
"Shinigami—" Ichigo clears his hoarse throat "—following Uryū here. For the injured one."
Geta-bōshi opens his fan and hides his crooked smile, his silver eyes shining brightly. "How hurtful Ichigo-kun! I felt them the moment they entered the Living World. Do you not trust me to handle them?"
"You're exiled, shitty geta-bōshi, and the Shinigami just met an undocumented Quincy. I don't even trust you to handle your own customers," Ichigo grumbles grouchily. Having creepy geta-bōshi deal with this will only make it more complicated. Ichigo wants to sleep the moment he at least can make sure the Shinigami won't try to kill him and Uryū on sight.
"Well, Masaki-san won't be happy to see you talking with Shinigami captains while covered in your own blood. She's already sent your dragons to come check on you," Geta-bōshi states with a lazy wave of his fan. Ichigo tenses at the mention of his mother, snapping his head up with wide eyes.
"She sent the dragons?!" Oh fuck, he's so dead!
"Yes. Four of them this time. I suggest trying to get them to calm down before the Shinigami get here... in about two minutes."
Ichigo bolts off of the medical table, ignoring how his spine spasms, and races out of the laboratory.
"I'll be waiting with the injured Shinigami! Don't be too late~!" Geta-bōshi shouts after the orange-haired teenager.
"Fucking creepy geta-bōshi!" Ichigo huffs with a snarl, bounding up the stairs two-three steps at a time.
"I thought I told you all that you can't be out past midnight!!" Ichigo shouts loudly. There is silence for a beat before a loud crash echoes through the shop.
Ichigo braces his legs before a blur of purple explodes out of a wall and barrels right into him. He hisses in pain when the dragon wraps his body tightly around Ichigo's entire torso. Of course Mom had Solinus come find him.
His eyes widen when he stumbles back, his foot missing the step. Ichigo flails his arms as opal eyes stare up at him.
"Stop! Wait! Solinus—" Ichigo falls back down the stairs with a loud yelp.
The sigh of relief that leaves Uryū's mouth is one he will refuse to admit. But, he couldn't help it when he sensed a spike in Ichigo's reiatsu before it nearly disappeared. He's awake and he's coherent enough to hide his reiatsu.
Uryū pivots in the air and starts to head towards the shop. He sends a small flare of reiatsu before he gets out of range from his home. Two ribbons fly across his sight, nearly identical with only the color schemes opposite. Crimson red lined with silver and silver lined with crimson red, both with specks of decaying grey. Yuzu and Karin; they're both safe, but... Mother isn't home. Neither is Isshin.
Uryū tosses the thought out of his head and focuses on his trek towards Urahara's shop. If Mother is already at the Shōten, then hopefully she'll murder him after this whole mess is resolved. Or maybe she'll hunt down Ichigo first, give Uryū enough time to get a head start.
Instead of making another reishi platform,Uryū falls towards the street, landing gracefully on the balls of his feet. The Shōten lights glow warmly behind the shoji doors, eerily welcoming. The black-haired teenager turns around when he hears a whoosh of air.
Unohana and Ukitake stand next to each other, both inspecting their surroundings.Uryū's mouth twitches when he watches both of their eyes widen once they notice the sign hanging above the Shōten.
Urahara Shōten
He turns back around and walks towards the shop. He pushes up his glasses with a deep breath before he slides open the door.
"I've brought the Shinigami. There better not be—" All he sees is red and orange before his entire face is covered in fire.
WHOOSH! BOOOM!
"All four of you need to calm the fuck down or I'm gonna tie you all into a giant fuckin' knot!" Ichigo's voice booms loudly
Uryū stands completely still, his hand still gripping the door. He coughs once, a cloud of black smoke escaping his mouth, before he slowly raises his other hand to take off his glasses. He breathes out a heavy sigh and opens his eyes to take in the scene in front of him.
Solinus, Hamlet, Ophelia, and Cleopatra had completely entangled themselves around Ichigo, probably in an attempt to either keep him still or take him back home. The entire shopping area of the Shōten was charred, on fire, or completely destroyed. Ichigo, unfortunately, only had small smudges of ash on his face and arms.
"Are those—"
"Dragons?!" The utter shock makes Uryū sigh heavily before he closes his eyes. He pinches his nose and ignores how close another stream of fire passes by him, almost hitting one of the Shinigami behind him.
He wasted so much time to give both Urahara and Ichigo enough time to keep the dragons hidden and to get their stories straight. Why does he do anything for them? It always ends up like this.
"Stop it! I said stop it! Solinus, you'll burn down the damn Shōten!" Ichigo scolds sternly, only for Solinus to cry loudly before he blows out more fire, nearly catching Ichigo's hair on fire.
"Kaien?!" The whisper leaves Ukitake's mouth in a gasp.
Uryū takes in a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm. "It's fine. It's alright. We can still make this work. They only know we're Quincy. Nothing else."
"My, my~! It seems you and Uryū-kun have to do some rebuilding for my shop," Urahara states from where he stood leaning against the door towards the back of his shop. He opens his fan and hides his wide smile while his eyes stay hidden by his bucket hat.
"And maybe some renovations. I think I'd like a bit more of a classy look."
"Creepy geta-bōshi, if you aren't gonna fucking help, go watch over—Hamlet! I won't give you anymore treats for a month if you try to choke me one more time!" Ichigo wraps his hand around Hamlet's neck and pulls him away before he could constrict his body around Ichigo's neck.
Urahara only chuckles and continues to relax against the doorway. He uses his fan to wave at the black-haired teenager and the two Shinigami captains still standing outside.Uryū feels his eyebrow twitch before he begins to wipe away the soot and ash covering his glasses. He slides them back onto his face and coughs loudly into his other fist.
No one hears him. If anything, the dragons get louder. Uryū breathes out slowly, trying to keep his cool. Alright then.
Uryū brings two of his fingers up to his mouth as he takes a deep breath. Urahara's smile becomes obviously wider before he brings his hands up to cover his ears.
PHHUUWEEET!!
"FUCKING—" Ichigo's shout is interrupted by Hamlet wrapping his serpentine body around his neck, constricting him.
"Now, then. Shinigami captains, I would appreciate it if any questions will be saved for tomorrow—or after you check over the injured one." Uryū pushes up his glasses with a dark glare pointed at the turning purple Ichigo. "And while you four should be hiding like I told you to, thank you for treating Ichigo like the idiot he is."
"You're—the—idiot!" Ichigo hisses through the asphyxiation. He manages to wrench his hand free from Ophelia's hold and forces it behind Hamlet's body, pushing him away from his neck.
"What do you think Mom'll fucking do when she finds out you went to confront powerful Shinigami without telling her?! She'll kill you, and then she'll come after me because I wasn't able to stop you! The biggest idiot I know!" Ichigo scolds loudly, making Uryū's eyebrow twitch.
"Well, someone had to distract them for a moment to give you and Urahara enough time. It didn't matter anyway. You didn't use the time I gave you," Uryū states with a dark scowl.
"Oh?! Sorry for not trying hard enough to get these spoiled brats to hide! I was a bit too busy trying to keep them from burning down the Shōten!" Ichigo says sarcastically with an eye roll.
"Now, now. Let's all calm down!" Urahara intervenes with a swirl of his closed fan.
Both teenagers glare at him, promising murder. "You're part of the problem, so shut up or we'll tell Mom/Mother!"
Uryū sighs heavily and pinches the bridge of his nose again. He takes a deep breath before slowly releasing it.
"Shinigami, this is my brother, Kurosaki Ichigo. The one who saved your injured officer. Ichigo, these two are the Captains of the 4th and 13th Divisions respectively. Unohana Retsu and Ukitake Jūshirō," He changes the subject by introducing the three parties.
They don't need to fight right now. The faster the Shinigami can be satisfied with their investigation and leave, the better. It was inevitable for them to find out about Urahara helping keep the injured Shinigami alive, and it was unfortunate the dragons decided to be the spoiled brats they are in this current moment, but the Shinigami can't find out about Mother. And Gods forbid they find out about Isshin.
He cannot be revealed to be alive. Not yet. They all know this, including Isshin. Whoever the enemy is the adults are preparing to fight against, if they don't believe he's dead, they at least have to think he's simply enjoying a retirement as a human.
"Creepy geta-bōshi, which room did you put the Shinigami in?" Ichigo asks, also putting off the fight with Uryū for another time. At least he can use his last remaining brain cells.
"Right this way, please," Urahara says politely before he turns towards the back of the Shōten.
"I do hope we retrieve Kuchiki-san in one piece and without any additional parts, Urahara Kisuke-san," Unohana states calmly, making the exiled Shinigami freeze. It was only for a miniscule moment, something the captains didn't notice, but Ichigo and Uryū did.
They both keep up a blank mask. Isshin and Masaki had told them when they were younger that the Soul Society thinks Urahara Kisuke is an unethical monster who experiments on his friends and on innocents. While he did experiment on those around him, psychologically and physically—the latter achieved only when he is given consent—Urahara never went out of his way to harm or maim.
Urahara opens his fan with a sharper flick than necessary and hides his smile. "I would never do such a thing to such a young soul like her! What do you take me for? Mayuri-kun?"
The silence answers his forced taunting. Urahara simply turns back around and walks into the back of his shop. Ichigo follows next, easily carrying the weight of all four dragons who have thankfully calmed down. Uryū is third, but he keeps his senses alert as the captains follow last, both incredibly hesitant and weary.
Before any of them could reach the room where the injured Shinigami rested, there's a large spike of reiatsu. Exploding like tiny fireworks and warm like burning wood.
No fucking way. He isn't that—
CRASH! BOOM!
"ICHIGO! URYŪ! What the hell did you do? Your mother is certainly not happy with—" Uryū whirls around with wide eyes as Isshin of all fucking people cuts himself off with a choke.
"Captain Shiba?!" Ukitake exclaims in immediate recognition.
"You stupid fool," Uryū insults monotonously.
"Hamlet, Ophelia," Ichigo calls blankly before he points a finger towards his father. "Attack Oyaji."
Hamlet screeches out a war cry before pouncing off of Ichigo's body, flying through the air towards the supposed-to-be-dead Shinigami. Isshin screams and scrambles back, tripping over his own feet. He turns around and begins to haul his ass out of the Shōten.
There is silence for a beat before Ukitake turns towards the orange-haired teenager. "I'm sorry... did you just say Oyaji? As in—"
"Can we please focus on checking the injured Shinigami?" Uryū interrupts with a snappish tone. "We'll deal with everything else tomorrow."
He turns around and marches past Ichigo and Urahara. He just wants to get this over with and sleep. Or, Mother could come by and finally put him out of his misery.
Hey! I hope you all like the new chapter! It's been almost three months, but I finally have the chapter out! I got a bit stuck at the beginning, but once I got past that, everything else went smoothly. For the most part.
I hope the ending isn't as rushed as I feel like it is, but oh well. Hopefully the next chapter will come out sooner than this one!
I hope you all are enjoying the story so far! Bye!
WhovianWhoudini