Chapter 7
"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Ichigo exclaimed from inside the barrier. "Let me get this straight. You want me to exert a large amount of Reiatsu inside this barrier to test if Inoue would be able to withstand it?!" Ichigo gestured as a blue-tinged cube barrier.
When Uryuu and Chad nodded, Ichigo lost it. "Are you out of your goddamn minds?!"
Ichigo continued to shoot daggers at his two friends. 'How on earth were they able to come up with such a convoluted idea?! This is definitely the machinations of that four-eyed bastard.'
They were now in one of the empty clearing within the Kuchiki Estate, away from the residential areas. Apparently, they have a theory as to why Inoue was not waking up. That is to say, her Reiatsu continuously rejects foreign Spiritual Pressure including Healing Kido. They wanted to test the upper limit of this ability by using Ichigo's high amounts of Reiatsu as a meter to determine how much Reiryoku would be needed to bypass her strange ability. After that, they will use this information to concoct a Kaido potent enough to heal Inoue.
To go back, they are gathered here in a wide open space. It was a good thing that Byakuya had the uncharacteristic generosity to lend them one part of the Kuchiki Ancestral Lands. Because, holy shit! This barrier that the Ishidas - Uryuu, Ryuken and Kanae - and his mother Masaki created is massive. Inside the barrier was Inoue still soundly asleep in her bed.
"This is nuts, Ishida," Ichigo snapped at the bespectacled teenager. "We'd be putting Inoue in danger with this method."
"Wait," Rukia stepped forward, as Uryuu made a series of gestures that opened one wall of the barrier. "Let me do something first." The 13th Division Lieutenant walked towards Inoue. Rukia's hands glowed a faint green light. She rested her open palm against Inoue's forehead. "Ishida…errrr…Uryuu-san, would you scan the flow of this healing Kido?"
The youngest Ishida's eyes glowed blue for a moment before he shook his head. "The reishi disappeared as soon as it touched Inoue."
"Oh," Rukia stopped healing Inoue and stared at her hand. "How is that possible? I remember healing Inoue when Ichigo and Renji left to fight against Yhwach."
Urahara stepped forward, looking intently on Rukia's glowing hand. "Well, Reiatsu responds to the consciousness of a person. If a person - in this case, Inoue - wants to be healed, then her Reiatsu will respond and recede itself. However, in the event that a person becomes unconscious, Reiatsu would behave involuntarily."
"It does that?" Ichigo raised a questioning eyebrow.
"So, Urahara-san," Uryuu began. "You're telling us that Inoue's Reiatsu right now is on auto-pilot, and that it functions like a human immune system? Can Reiatsu and, by extenseion, Reishi even do that?"
Urahara paused for a moment. Looking at the human occupants within the room. "Theoretically, the spiritual particles that we call Reishi and the particles that make up the objects in the World of the Living, Kishi, are just two sides of the same coin. If one has a particular function, I can't see any reason to suspect that they'd have that large of a difference. That also includes regular biological function."
"It's like Inoue's own immune system is working against her," Chad observed.
"Which actually happens more often than not…at least in terms of human bodies such as in Organ Transplant Rejection. A strong immune system can reject a transplanted organ, seeing it as foreign and attacking it despite its life-saving purpose. Replace the word Organ with Kaido, a healing Kido, then that explains why Inoue's body continues to reject Rukia's healing art."
Ichigo considered everything for a moment. Aside from the effect of the passage of time on a regular human body, there was minimal difference between Reishi and Kishi. However, if that was the case, then Inoue has a very strong immune system right now because of her improved Reiatsu, and that they would need something stronger to circumvent that immune system. Belatedly, Ichigo realized the need for him to be here. He was the one with the Reiatsu powerful enough to overcome Inoue's defenses. "Let's do it," he said as he readied himself.
"Okay," Uryuu agreed, calling all the attention of the other Quincies. "Ryuken, Mom, and Kurosaki Masaki-san…Please reinforce the barrier as much as you can."
"Hai!" came their resounding response.
"Who would be our control variable?" Chad called out. "It has to be a person with a Reiatsu comparable to a Captain."
"I'll d-" Rukia raised her hand but she was cut off.
"No, I'll do it!" Renji volunteered.
"Why?" Rukia asked.
"I don't have much knowledge about Kaido. You do." Renji smirked. "This is the only thing that I could do. You can heal us. I can't."
"Be careful," Rukia sighed, gazing meaningfully at Renji's eyes.
"Yes, Dear," Renji grinned before he entered and joined Ichigo and Inoue within the barrier.
"Yoruichi-san, Urahara-san," Uryuu called once again. "Please use the Reiatsu Reading Device to map out Ichigo's total Reiatsu output…at least until Inoue's body responds. We'll use that as basis on how much Spiritual Pressure is needed to heal Inoue."
"Ready, everyone," Uryuu called out. "1, 2, 3. Go!"
A great force exploded from which Ichigo stood, shaking the very foundations of the barrier.
"F-FUCKKK!" Renji curses out as Ichigo releases his Spiritual Pressure, his knee slamming against the dirt with a sickening crunch.
"You okay there, Renji?!" Ichigo exclaimed.
"Ya think, asshole?!" Renji grinds out, his hands firmly gripping the hilt of his Zanpakutou puncturing the ground.
Creak.
Creak.
Creak.
Cracks began to appear on the surface of the barrier.
"How's the output?" Rukia asked Yoruichi-san and Urahara-san.
"We're at 64% Output," Urahara-san confirmed.
"64!" Renji exclaimed incredulously.
"Kurosaki!" Uryuu shouted with a grimace from outside the barrier. "Is Inoue's Reiatsu responding?"
Ichigo surveyed the sleeping woman, finding that the space in her immediate vicinity is untouched by his turbulent Spiritual Pressure. 'Uryuu was right,' Ichigo wanted to say but decided to focus on the task.
"Higher!" Uryuu shouted.
"AAARGHHH!" Ichigo exerted more Reiatsu.
"AAARGHHH!" Renji shouted as well.
"71%" Yoruichi-san confirmed.
"Nothing's still happening!" Chad said.
Creak.
Creak.
Creak.
"The barrier will break!" Isshin warned.
"Stop!" Rukia interrupted. "At this rate, Renji's going to suffer casualties."
"But-" Ichigo protested but still acquiesced.
"I think that's enough," Urahara-san spoke, moving forward. "Inoue's defenses are far too powerful. It seems that we cannot rely on brute force."
"Renji," Rukia ran towards the man as the barrier dissipated. Her hand glowed green, healing the red-haired Shinigami. "How are you?"
Renji coughed before he tentatively stood up. "I'll live," he chuckled.
"What about Hanataro…or…or Squad 4. If all of them combined their Kaido, maybe we would have a chance of waking Inoue up," Ichigo suggested.
"That would be impossible. They are all deployed in the retrieval and healing of the wounded. Besides, I doubt that their total combined Reiatsu is higher than yours to begin with," Rukia elaborated.
"What then?" Ichigo directed the questions towards Urahara-san.
"If brute force is out, perhaps we need a Reiatsu signature similar to Inoue," Urahara-sananswered, his attention elsewhere.
"I'll arrange a meeting with the Fullbringers," Chad offered. "Ginjo and the others probably have some explanation."
"I'll research with the Quincies. There's probably something that we could find," Uryuu supplied, nodding to the people that were now walking away from their position after they removed the barrier.
"Ichigo," Yoruichi's voice called out to him.
"Yes?" Ichigo replied, finding his voice lacking their usual bite.
"Clear your head. Take a walk."
"Okay."
Ichigo kicked a lone pebble on the ground as he watched the total wreckage laid bare around him. The normally-pristine streets of Soul Society are now littered with parts of destroyed buildings and various other infrastructure.
Crunch. The rubble seemed to creak against the weight of his step. Ichigo tried to maintain balance as the pavement - if it is, in fact, pavement - is blanketed by an uneven combination of stones, dust, tiles and other elements.
The air pulsates, fluctuating as if the Reishi struggles to maintain its form. Perhaps the Reishi intends to reconstruct Soul Society, but the very atmosphere is too unstable to even allow a big change in the flow of Spiritual Particles.
The smell of rotting meat with fruity undertones wafted against his nose. Ichigo's nostrils flared. His father, as a doctor, taught him that these are clear indications of decaying bodies. Maybe, some are still buried beneath the debris. The airflow changed, and he sniffed a combination of iron and something bitter. Blood and antiseptic.
The wind picked up, howling and drowning the lugubrious wails of the people that busied themselves among the rubble. Some Shinigami officers were carrying bodies using stretcher beds. The bodies were covered with white sheets. Some Shinigami officers were carrying bloodied bodies on their backs.
Some bodies were missing parts. An arm. Both arms. A leg. Both legs. The upper part. The lower part.
Some bodies were beaten black and blue.
Some…are not even bodies; just parts.
Some are alive…faces and appendages wrapped in bandages. Some are in crutches. Some are laid in beds, some in cots. Some are attached to IV drips, some are attached to a machine.
Some were tended to by Healing Kido. Some are operated upon. There were squelching and cracking sounds as body, bones and blood were pronged and prodded upon.
Ichigo covered his eyes with his left hand momentarily. Still, his eyes stung, and a lone tear threatened to streak down his cheek. He did not know if it was because of the dust carried on by the gust, or if it was the hopelessness that permeated everything.
He felt the lone sword strapped on his back gain more gravity. The blade manifestation of the Old Man Zangetsu has yet to materialize. The remainder of his powers are yet to return. He felt his throat constrict as if a childlike whimper were to escape his dry chapped lips.
He exhaled, perhaps a little too exaggerated…in hopes of shaking the sensation of weariness that crept and burrowed itself in his raw skin. He looked upwards toward the dreary graying skies. The clouds gathered and moved about, unconcerned with the machinations of their world below. They shifted, from shadows to bits of pallid light streaks barely reaching the ruins from where they all stood.
Rumble. The wind howled louder and stronger, carrying flecks of embers and ashes towards the sky. The clouds began to swirl together and everything seemed to have become much grayer.
A drop fell on Ichigo's hair.
Rain is upon them.
Ichigo jogged towards a nearby building. Apart from a destroyed part of its roof, it is still relatively put together. There were no doors, and the occupants seemed to be some civilians dressed in simple yukata robes roaming and busying about. One Shinigami officer seems to be giving out instructions as to how to properly tend to the patients laid out in emergency cots. The wooden floor is littered with tiny bricks and pieces, but seemed to have been swept to just one side furthest away from the patients.
"Excuse me," Ichigo began. "May I take cover from the rain?"
"Kurosaki Ichigo?" A familiar voice inquired.
Ichigo immediately spun. He was greeted by a person he did not expect he would see again. "Wait. You're Inoue's big brother."
Pitter-patter. The rain intensified and showered the open area, and Ichigo heard the hustling and bustling commotion of the people racing to shelter themselves.
Ichigo observed the man before him. The last time they met was on less than favorable terms. Inoue Sora had been a Hollow at that time…Acidwire. His will had been twisted into a murderous urge towards his very own sister. After Inoue - Inoue Orihime - intervened, their fight ended with Sora plunging the sealed Zangetsu towards his own body.
Rukia said that the blade of a Zanpakutou purifies the sins of a soul when they were a Hollow, simultaneously reverting them to their original Plus forms. This act also sends them to Soul Society.
'Thank God,' Ichigo remarked…if there even is a god to begin with, what with the knowledge that there is nothing but the Squad Zero and the desecrated body of the Yhwach up there.
"Kurosaki-san?" Sora's voice interrupted him from his thoughts.
"Hah?"
"Do you need help?" Sora's head cocked to the side, curiosity obvious from his expression.
'They really are brother-and-sister,' he remarked, remembering that Inoue also does the same expression: eyebrows furrowed together and mouth slightly agape.
The man still sports chin-length brown hair. He was also wearing a faded blue yukata.
"N-No," Ichigo stuttered. Why on earth did he stutter? "Just want to avoid getting drenched."
Inoue Sora continued to offer him a gentle smile. Ichigo guessed that the man was waiting for him to finish his sentence.
Ichigo also waited. Although he can say that he has changed over the years, he still finds it difficult to adjust the way he talks to people who are genuinely not out to challenge him in a snark-to-snark contest. Inoue Sora, like his sister Inoue Orihime - is a gentle soul. They are both honest and genuine people that went out of their ways to be kind, considerate and altruistic, even to undeserving jerks. And such pure actions deserve the same kind of responses. They must be protected at all costs.
And so…Ichigo began to talk in his most earnest voice to this Big Brother. "Uhmmm…Inoue-niisan….Inoue Orihime is uhmmm…your sister is…" He wanted to tell him about Orihime, but cannot find the words yet.
"Oh," came the reply of Sora, and Ichigo looked to see that man scrutinizing him with an odd yet serious expression.
It took him half a second to realize what he had just called the other man, and Ichigo felt a different kind of heat rapidly climbing from his neck to his face. Did he just call Inoue Sora, niisan?