Author's Note: It's been quite a while hasn't it? Yeah, life happens and stuff. I've been seriously busy with irl shenanigans - mostly good. But this also means I will likely be posting even less frequently then before. Of course, once I finish this arc, you will see how it lines up neatly with Arc Three (currently partially posted).
Anyway, this is a fairly long chapter with bits and pieces kind of out of order. I'm pretty sure many of you can figure out the final directions, I am going for this part of the story. That's the thing about the Soul Society arc... so many moving pieces. But I think I have a good grasp of those pieces and where I want to fit them.
Time's Up -The Execution, Pt2.
Retsu Unohana was a pragmatic woman. Calm, measured and rarely overcome with any undue, emotion. Yet the last days events worried her greatly. She (of course) never let such things show on her face, but for those who truly knew her...
"Captain Unohana? You seem troubled."
"...as usual Isane, you see right through me."
She smiled.
Her Lieutenant was like a daughter to her. And while she had had many different subordinates over her many years, Isane was special. The girl reminded the older Soul Reaper about a fleeting moment so long ago, during a pivotal point in her life. One where she chose a certain path and did not look back.
Looking back at a few hours prior...
"You... you're all...!"
"Momo! What's wrong!?" Lieutenant Kira was one of the first to arrive on the scene. Following him were a few other officers, Captain of Squad Three, Gin Ichimaru and of course... Retsu Unohana who had a few of her own healing officers with her.
Before them was Lieutenant Hinamori, clearly in a disoriented state, accusing them all of something. And behind her was...
Ah, now I see.
It had been quite a while since the Captain of Squad Four had seen a gruesome sight like this. Not since the old days she thought.
Retsu Unohana felt something was off. The sight was gore incarnate. Muscle, sinew, organs and blood painted a brutal canvas. Yet...something felt off
(All the while fellow Captain, Gin Ichimaru merely grinned)
This feeling was only intensified as Lieutenant Hinamori (sweet, but wildly naive) attacked Lieutenant Kira (weirdly depressed young man) and other soul reapers at the scene.
Both children unleashed their shikai (which they could, given the wartime measures now in place) and brandished their zanpakutō against one another.
Other soul reapers created a sort of holding pattern to encircle the young girl. However, this merely had the effect of making her feel like a caged and cornered animal. Funnily (or maybe not so? Her sense of humour has been know to be quite morbid), the girl started to growl like an enclosed animal. Rather cute but a little unpredictable. As such...
"That's enough."
Unohana directed her immense reiatsu at all the children in her vicinity. Paralysed, she calmly walked up to the young Hinamori and induced sleep using a wordless kidō. Then she looked back at young Kira, and ordered her Lieutenant to arrest him for brandishing his weapon at a fellow officer.
"Apologies, Captain Unohana. I should have kept better watch of my Lieutenant."
The older woman merely glanced at the snake-like man. She knew a liar when she saw one. And this associate of hers was clearly lying. About what? She wasn't sure.
Then there was the slightest shift in his micro expressions. Almost like he wanted to say something. Specifically to her. Even his reiatsu wavered ever so slightly.
However, she'd play coy for now.
"Hmmm, see that you do Captain Ichimaru. Come along Isane."
The man nodded and headed off, making small talk to the seated officers arresting his Lieutenant, and scolding his subordinate for his behaviour.
Strange.
And here she was now. With her Lieutenant in tow, she was making her way to the moratorium. To examine the remains of one Sōsuke Aizen.
This is...!
Senzaikyū – Tower of Repentance
Rukia awoke on the stone floor of the bottom floor of the Tower of Penitence. She felt...groggy and sore. Her head felt fuzzy too.
What...?
Then she recalled what had transpired not too long ago.
Ichigo...
Indeed, her young charge. Her mentee (unwitting as he was), had not only survived (thank Reiō for that!), but had gained incredible new power and sought to rescue her.
He's such a fool.
A small tear escaped her right eye.
I don't... deserve such sentiments... Ichigo.
[The criminal, Rukia Kuchiki's execution date, has been moved to tomorrow morning. This verdict is final as per the orders of Central 46]
Ice Captain vs Quincy
Masaki was amazed at the raw power and skill of this boy. And she knew (at least in part) who to thank for that.
'Dammit Isshin, you trained him a little too well!'
She could tell that some of her husband's techniques were ingrained into the young man. Yet, she also saw some very unique manoeuvres – especially with his zanpakutō!
A sword that also held a sickle and chain within the pommel.
This made fighting the silver haired Captain, rather tricky.
"You move well, Quincy!"
"Same to you, Captain. I'm surprised you can dodge my arrows at point blank."
"Hmph!"
The Ice Captain then unleashed what could only be described as "Ice Darts" at Masaki. The wide arc meant that Masaki had to use hirenkyakū to move above the arc and come down. However...
"Got you!"
Coming in for a helm breaker, Tōshiro thought he caught the Quincy off guard. Instead he saw her smile, as she reached for her belt disappearing in a blur and in one swift motion, come in and slash at him with a horizontal strike – using an energy sword (of some kind).
"Gh!"
While Masaki had aimed to incapacitate him, the boy's reflexes were sharp and he used ice as well as his speed to dodge and buffer a brutal blow.
A deep gash cut into Hitsugaya's arm. Blood dripping down his arm.
"Hmm, nice reflexes. If you didn't do that, I would've cleanly cut your arm off."
Masaki nonchalantly exclaimed.
'This woman is dangerous.'
The young Captain grit his teeth and clenched his sword. He breathed in deeply. He thought this Quincy woman would be easier to take care of given the clear fatigue on her face. But she was tenacious. And smart. And there was something else, too.
'No matter. I must defeat her. The sooner the better.'
At the same time Masaki's own inner thoughts kicked into overdrive. She analysed every which way this battle could go, given what she knew about this Captain, her current condition, and the reiatsu she was feeling from Uryu
'Even out of breath a little, I can't hold back against a former student of my husband!'
Just as she thought this, the boyish Captain flash stepped in front on her, ready to bifurcate her with his powerful Ice type zanpakutō.
Meanwhile…
Uryū was amazed at the variety of powers these Soul Reaper's possessed. While the Lieutenant was not on the same level as her Captain (strange as that is, seeing she was clearly older), she was a solid match for the younger Quincy.
Especially when she unleashed her zanpakutō's true power.
A deadly mist (ash if he heard the woman correctly), both acted as a decent defence and a wily offence. It kept him on his toes as he tried to manoeuvre around her to land blows with his arrows. He knew a distance battle would be likely, given both their main weapons were long range. Her mist-blade seemed to be able to adjust to almost any distance, and could sometimes be difficult to see.
"Pretty good kid. I gotta say, if you weren't an enemy, you'd have great potential as an ally!"
"Hmph. I don't ally with you Soul Reaper's!" And with that Uryū launched licht regen at the female reaper.
She dodged to the side, as Uryū brought the barrage around in a twisting arc, angling around to his opponent.
"Prejudice much!" The older woman huffed. This kid… he's hot-headed like the Captain. Must be a teenager thing.
"Your people were responsible for the near eradication of the Quincy. You have no right to fantasize about possible… alliances!" He used hirenkyakū to bridge the distance and close-in for a strike with Seele Schneider – the only blade-like weapon of a Quincy. However, due to his…immature skill with the weapon, the older Soul Reaper dodged and almost had Uryū with a face full of ash!
"Dammit!"
The boy quickly slid out for a retreat, but found the woman was also using what he assumed to be some sort of low level projectile kidō spell. One that looked to be as effective as a regular heilig bogen.
I guess I'll have to use… them.
Uryū knew against an opponent with near equal skill and power, he'd have to use his other tools. It just so happened that he rather favoured the Ishida family's usage of Quincy spells.
If I time these right, I will be able to incapacitate her.
Rangiku's eyes narrowed. She knew the boy had a plan, and unlike him, this was her first battle against a Quincy. So a lot of her go-to tactics gave way to a more cautious approach.
While I don't want to kill the kid, disabling him without committing serious injury, will be tricky. But, if I utilise haineko's ash to entrap and then use kidō to close the distance, this should settle this battle.
Both the boy and woman knew these were the final moments of the battle. One, where a simple misstep will end in their defeat.
Back to Masaki and Tōshiro…
The two combatants charged their reiatsu, steely white vs brilliant blue.
Their energies making the very air howl with fury, and the ground to shake and crumble.
"ARRGH, RYŪSENKA!"
"[Activate, Blut Arterie] Heiliger SCHLAG!"
The two powerful warriors flew at each other in a final clash of incredible power.
Tōshiro Hitsugaya, utilising a special zanpakutō technique that creates a powerful ice-powered thrust.
Masaki Kurosaki activating her attack based Blut, using her Seele Schneider to deliver one powerful strike to her opponent.
Anyone within a mile of them, would've been blown away from the bursts of energy.
..
..
Both combatants were injured and exhausted.
"Tell me, Quincy, your moves… they're… familiar… almost like I was fighting against an old… friend of mine."
The boy's mind wandered to a seemingly simpler time. When he was but a Third Seat, and his Captain; a charismatic but goofy guy, who both annoyed and inspired him.
"I could say the same to you, kid. You remind me of a certain brash man who boasts a passionate demeanour."
"What?!" The boy Captain uttered in disbelief.
"I think you know who I mean." Masaki's eyes narrowed.
Tōshiro's eyes narrowed, and then widened at the realisation. No… it can't be! He's not… but…
"Hmph, if we ever meet again kid, I'll tell you more. For now, I leave you with a warning: don't trust Sōsuke Aizen."
On those words, Uryū came to the aid of his Aunt, having subdued the Lieutenant – with some difficulty (his words).
"Come Aunt Masaki, we must move."
The older Quincy nodded, as both utilised hirenkyakū to get out of there.
Captain Histugaya went to his Lieutenant.
[The criminal, Rukia Kuchiki's execution date, has been moved to tomorrow morning. This verdict is final as per the orders of Central 46]
Rapid Plans
Ichigo's heart momentarily stopped, and then rapidly sped up as a cold dread enveloped him.
No…
He clenched his fists…
"Dammit! We're not-"
"Of course not little cousin. We'll complete our mission. Us Shiba, NEVER back down!" Ganju grinned.
He looked over to his other friends, Chad, Orihime and Yoruichi. They all either smiled or nodded. All except Renji, whose eyes were wide open from some fairly shocking news!
"Wait… WHAT!?"
Ichigo bonked Renji on the head for being such a loud mouth, and then asked him quietly what he was so shocked about.
"I… uh…"
"Spit it out Renji!"
"Alright! OK! Er… so that rough looking guy-" he pointed to Ganju, "-is your cousin?"
Ichigo nodded slowly, not sure what the red-head was getting at.
"And he just said Shiba – that's one of the Great Noble Families!"
Both Ganju and Ichigo nodded this time.
"So all this time… we all thought you were some random kid who stole Rukia's powers, but you're actually…"
"A Shiba? Yeah. But I go under my mom's name."
What little cogs were active in the hyper-active red-heads brain, were spinning in over-drive now.
So all this time…
All our encounters…
The fact that he had such monstrous power…
And grew faster than anyone I've ever seen…
Was because…
[A flash of an image – that of Byakuya Kuchiki, blazed in his mind.]
"So… you're actually of a Noble Clan of Soul Society? No wonder you're so powerful. And here I thought me and you were alike…"
"Eh? Does that matter? Sure I am a noble but that doesn't change who I am. I'm still a highschool kid – a human – who has come here to save his friend."
"But… perhaps we can use this as some sort of leverage to get the rest of the Squads to understand?"
Silence befell the group, as Yoruichi spoke up again, "Central 46 is the controlling judicial power here in Soul Society. It doesn't even matter that any of us have Noble blood in us. They deemed Rukia's execution as a forgone conclusion. So our best, and only option is to rescue her and bring her back to the Human World."
Renji deflated a little, heeding the wisdom from Yoruichi's words.
"Though, some of the Squad members might be willing to help as well. When I fought the Squad 8 Captain, he was willing to vouch for me and Orihime's safety. Perhaps we could ally with people like him?"
"Hmm…" Yoruichi had actually discussed these points with both Masaki and Kūkaku. She knew two Captain's that would likely side with them, due to their sense of honour and justice. Namely Kyōraku (Squad 8 Captain) and Ukitake (Squad 13 Captain, and Rukia's superior).
And if Byakuya wasn't such a stickler for rules, he'd be a powerful ally too. Alas, that foolish boy must stick to his traditions.
"That… might be a plan, Mr. Sado. But one where we won't have much time to prepare for. I say…"
And so the group of five discussed their final tactics and strategies for the upcoming battles.
A certain snake-like man was making his way to the Repentance Cell. At this time he was unsure what he would do exactly. Save the girl? Condemn her? Toy with her feelings? All of the above?
What made that decision even more difficult, was how well the Ryōka were doing with this whole situation. And, he suspects a certain Quincy woman, was a major catalyst for this new predicament.
He knew, that no matter what he did, he needed to make a choice. One he would always make if it meant…
"Soon I will stand at the top!"