A/N: *heart* I broke 100k words. I am stunned. I didn't know I was capable of writing this much.
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SECHSUNDZWANZIG
TIMELINE X + N
"It's not like Shiro-chan to be late to anything. Especially something this important," Lieutenant Momo Hinamori murmured to her captain with a worried frown. They stood in the First Division meeting hall with the other captains and lieutenants, the meeting having been escalated to a joint gathering of commanding officers.
Shinji Hirako, reinstated captain of Fifth Division, made a small hrm of unhappy agreement. "I don't like it." The past few years had led to him developing more than a passing acquaintance with the young captain through the boy's sibling relationship with his lieutenant. Knowing the obsessively responsible kid, Shinji thought Momo's concern valid. He glanced down the line to the contingent from Twelfth, which included its third seat for the special occasion. "Oy, what'd the kid actually say when you called him?"
Akon bowed his head in respect. "Sir. That there was an ongoing incident in Karakura, that the 'things' from Mitakihara are also in Karakura, and that he has identified a lead for the investigation."
Rangiku Matsumoto, lieutenant of Tenth Division, frowned at her captain's empty spot. She was about to comment when the meeting hall's doors swung open and admitted her young superior. "Captain!" she called out in relief.
Hitsugaya stopped at the foot of the two rows of officers and bowed shortly. "My apologies for my tardiness."
Captain-Commander Yamamoto grunted neutrally. "I trust you have information to make up for it?"
Hitsugaya straightened. "Yes, sir."
Yamamoto silently gestured to the empty space in the rows. Hitsugaya strode over to his place. It was obvious to everyone that something had gone very wrong— the boy looked haggard and tense, holding himself too rigidly. No one commented, though, and the meeting commenced with a firm stamp of Yamamoto's staff.
Akon stepped forward and reported the chain of events that had led to the initial survey party and their disappearance. Next, Ukitake reported the batshit crazy events his party had experienced in Mitakihara. By this time, all officers save for those from Eleventh were disturbed to varying levels. Then Captain Kurotsuchi took over.
"I have completed an initial examination of the recovered object," the mad scientist announced. "Testing of energy characteristics most closely aligns with those of an Adjuchas-class Hollow soul, but is not an exact match. Its material structure is of crystallized reishi. Further testing is necessary. I have yet to determine its origin or function."
"I can answer that," Hitsugaya said heavily.
All eyes turned to him. "How so?" Yamamoto asked with narrowed eyes.
"The girl who fled from Mitakihara to seek shelter with the Kurosaki family explained the basics after the incident this afternoon," Hitsugaya explained. "If she is to be believed, I think we've stumbled upon a long-term atrocity that has escaped our notice for far too long."
Shinji did not like the kid's use of that word. Brat had too big a vocabulary and too much sense to use "atrocity" lightly.
"'Atrocity' is a strong word," Third Division Captain Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi commented warily. Count on good ol' Rose to notice that, too.
Hitsugaya took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "According to Homura Akemi, that jewel you found is called a Grief Seed. It is the end stage of a predatory process by which an entity she calls the Incubator tricks girls on the verge of spiritual maturity into selling their souls in exchange for a wish. When they make a wish and agree to the contract, the Incubator tears their souls from their bodies and somehow condenses and crystallizes them in a way that grants girls imperfect access to the zanpakutō they would have if they became shinigami after death. This item is called a Soul Gem. Girls who complete this contract are then called magical girls."
"Magical girls. You're kidding," Hirako said flatly, disturbed.
Hitsugaya glanced at him but otherwise ignored his outburst. "In exchange for their wishes, the Incubator obligates magical girls to use their power to fight dangerous, soul-eating entities called Witches. The creature Captain Ukitake's party fought was a Witch."
The officers in the room made faces in a wide array of disgust and anger. "Making little girls fight? That's sick," interrupted Renji Abarai, lieutenant of Sixth Division.
Hitsugaya slid his eyes to him. "It gets worse."
Dread began to creep through Shinji's veins. Momo's brother was not one to exaggerate.
Hitsugaya continued. "Witches hide within pocket dimensions called labyrinths. When they are defeated, the Witch condenses into a Grief Seed, as Captain Ukitake witnessed. When magical girls fight within labyrinths, the... darkness and madness of the dimension, I think, taints their Soul Gems. This manifests as cloudiness or darkness of the Gem. Magical girls use Grief Seeds to draw off this taint. The Incubator instructs them thus far. However, what the Incubator fails to tell potential contractees is that should their Soul Gems become too tainted or should they fall into despair, their Soul Gems will turn into Grief Seeds and the girls will become Witches themselves. It is a process that seems to be similar to Hollowfication. Magical girls are unaware of a method to purify Grief Seeds. The Incubator tells the girls to surrender Grief Seeds to it for 'safe disposal,' but Akemi somehow got it to admit that it consumes Grief Seeds— souls— to convert into raw energy."
Well, fuck.
"Fascinating," Captain Kurotsuchi said gleefully.
"Vile," Captain Ukitake snapped with a sharp glare at the scientist, who ignored him.
"I'll have to experiment... perhaps...? Yes, yes—"
Yamamoto thumped his staff once again to draw everyone's attention. His eyes were opened into angry slits. He glared at Kurotsuchi then turned back to Hitsugaya. "That certainly qualifies as an atrocity, if it is true," the old man rumbled. "What convinced you of the authenticity of the girl's claims?"
Hitsugaya swallowed and looked angry. "Today we discovered that Karin and Yuzu Kurosaki contracted with the Incubator shortly before the Xcution plot last year."
"Kurosaki?!" several voices muttered.
Shinji pressed his lips together so hard they hurt. If Ichigo's family was involved—
"What?!" Rukia Kuchiki gasped. Shinji remembered that she had bonded with the girls when she stayed at the Kurosaki residence during the war.
"We discovered this when Karin, in some kind of costume, brought Yuzu's body to Urahara Shop for help. Yuzu was dead— Akemi says she saw her Soul Gem be destroyed by the Witch they had been fighting. Karin... couldn't take it. She went mad in despair and turned into a Witch in front of us. We... we had to go through her labyrinth and..." he took a steadying breath, "put her out of her misery."
Sounds of shock, dismay, angry muttering, and horror echoed through the hall once more.
"Oh, Captain," Matsumoto murmured sympathetically behind Hitsugaya. The boy stoically didn't acknowledge her.
Poor kid, Shinji thought to his zanpakutō, Sakanade. He knew of the world-crossing friendship from his lieutenant's teasing of her brother— and knew how happy Momo had been that the boy had actually managed to make a friend at all. What concerned Shinji more, though, was what this was doing to Ichigo. Both as a friend who gave a damn and as a fellow Visored who knew that such a brutal blow could affect the kid's control of his Inner Hollow.
"You witnessed it?" Kurotsuchi asked delightedly. "You must come to my lab and tell me everything. What it looked like, what it felt like— I simply must know! Did you bring it with you?"
"Silence!" Yamamoto roared over Kurotsuchi's morbid curiosity and the noise of the room in general. Everyone shut up, though Kurotsuchi didn't look happy about it.
Hitsugaya swallowed and worked his jaw. "Urahara is compiling a report and studying the Grief Seeds Akemi gave him in hope of salvaging Karin's soul. He requested that I be stationed there as our official liaison because Akemi seems to have accepted my presence. She is skittish around shinigami because Karin and Yuzu told her shinigami used to execute magical girls."
"How can that be?" Captain Retsu Unohana of Fourth Division asked with her brows furrowed. "Several of us have been with the Thirteen Divisions since its inception, myself among them. This is the first time I've heard anything about this cycle or... 'magical girls'."
Hitsugaya glanced at her, then the room at large. "Apparently, the powers and weapons granted to magical girls enable them to perform certain shinigami tasks such as Soul Burial and cleansing Hollows. Akemi claims the Incubator told the Kurosaki girls that in the past, shinigami have reacted poorly to the living having such powers and moved to execute them without full investigation. The Incubator claimed to have seen the Quincy genocide firsthand through contracting Quincy girls and said all of this in a way to convince the twins to not tell any shinigami about their contracts. Whether or not it's entirely true, I do not know."
The four oldest captains remained expressionless. "I see," Unohana said neutrally for them all, neither admitting or denying anything from the dusty past.
It wouldn't surprise Shinji if it was true. At all. He glanced at his fellow Visored and knew they agreed. They had seen that knee-jerk rejection up close and personal a century back.
He had precious little information, but Shinji couldn't deny he wanted to take the side of the "magical girls" on principle alone.
"The Kurosaki girls did counter that narrative with their own disagreement about the current state of affairs," Hitsugaya said uncomfortably, "so Akemi does seem to at least partially trust myself and the shinigami in Karakura. Urahara thinks that if he can reverse the damage to Karin's soul, Akemi will solidly align herself with at least those at Urahara Shop. And she is very interested in seeking and destroying this Incubator she speaks of. That will work in our favor."
The Captain-Commander sat back and thought. "Captain Ukitake, Mitakihara is your jurisdiction, correct?"
"Yes, sir."
The old man tapped a finger against his staff for awhile before focusing again. "Captain Kurotsuchi, you will continue to study the Grief Seed in your possession and confer with Kisuke Urahara about the progress you each make. Choose five subordinates who are versed in the use of the sensors to go investigate Mitakihara and its surroundings. Captain Ukitake, design a search pattern for the area. You will be in charge of five reconnaissance teams. Each team is to be headed by a lieutenant and the officers of their choice. Lieutenants Kuchiki, Abarai, Hisagi, Kira, Hinamori, assemble and brief squadrons to be deployed as soon as Captain Ukitake's plan is sent to you."
"Ah, sir," Hitsugaya interrupted.
The old man raised one brow at him. "Yes?"
"The recon teams need to know that the Witches can have mental effects on people both within and outside their labyrinths. They are the origin of the strange suicides reported in Mitakihara. According to Akemi, their madness and despair is... contagious, in a way," Hitsugaya said with a frown. "The less powerful the soul, the more powerful a Witch's influence is. At its worst, a Witch can inflict something called a Witch's Kiss— an apparent tattoo on the neck that indicates the Witch has taken total control of a subject and intends to compel them to kill themselves and expose their souls to easier consumption. The binding can be removed by putting a hand on one and flaring your reiatsu as though breaking a binding kidō. Or so Akemi said Karin told her. I would suggest that recon teams include only seated officers."
Shinji's skin crawled. This was Aizen levels of slimy evil.
The Captain-Commander's other brow rose to join the first. "Duly noted." He glanced around the room. "Your teams will consist of highly seated officers. No one who goes on this mission is to wear anything that would obscure the neck. Be alert." The lieutenants chorused their understanding. Yamamoto turned to Hitsugaya once more. "You are to be stationed with Kisuke Urahara and Homura Akemi. Learn as much as you can and convince her to keep cooperating. Pursue her if she attempts to flee."
"Captain-Commander," Second Division Captain Soi Fon said curtly. "Should we not take this girl into custody and interrogate her rather than coddle her?"
Shinji managed not to roll his eyes, but did curl his lip in disgust. Soi Fon had no goddamn idea how kids worked. Especially powerful brat teenagers who had been fighting without assistance from anyone worthwhile. He'd never met this Akemi kid but he'd bet his hair that she was stubborn as a mule and would rather die than talk in Soi Fon's care. Kid had to be Ichigo-levels of stubborn to survive.
Yamamoto glanced Soi Fon's way. "I would prefer to save that for a last resort. As long as she is cooperating, I see no reason to give her cause to believe the narrative this Incubator has given her about us. Besides, Urahara and Shihoin are with her. They will shift tactics if necessary."
Meaning that the two former Second Division officers would know when to switch from sweet talk to thumb screws, so to speak. Accurate.
Soi Fon made a sour face but said no more.
Yamamoto looked around the room, then slammed his staff on the floor. "You will deploy tomorrow. Dismissed!"
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Isshin woke groggily on Saturday morning, uncertain of how he came to be on a futon in a way that his experience pinged as someone having knocked him out. Probably with kidō, since he felt no pain. Then the horror of the day before descended on him. He rolled upright and desperately looked for his daughters.
His girls lay side-by-side on a futon in the middle of the room, slightly glowing with the energy of Tessai's stasis kidō. Faces relaxed, bodies and hair neatly arranged, they looked like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty indulging in a shared nap. But they were too still, too breathless— too dead.
Isshin choked on a sob and held his head in his hands, forcing himself to breathe normally. Kisuke would help them. Patience. He needed to be strong for his family no matter how crushed his heart was.
Isshin dragged himself into a sitting position and glanced to his side. Seeing his son mercifully sleeping, he looked around the room. Homura was also asleep, but she had propped herself into a sitting position in the corner. Her arms hugged her legs, her chin resting between her raised knees. She looked melancholy even in sleep. Isshin wearily rubbed his face and pinched the bridge of his nose while he tried to sort his thoughts.
He thought of the testimony Ichigo and Kisuke had relayed to him earlier in the week and combined it with what he had learned since his girls—. It made him sick. He wondered what other horrors Homura had seen— what horrors his daughters had seen. What horrors other people's daughters had seen.
Isshin had hated Ichigo's involvement with the Winter War despite understanding its necessity; Aizen considered his son an experiment and absolutely would not have left him alone. Isshin had grinned and borne it to the end, then sworn he would at least protect his younger children from such traumatic and demanding experiences. The failure was a pervasive ache throughout his being. The thought of his girls secretly running around fighting for their souls both broke and burned his heart. His bitterness and rage— at the mysterious Incubator, at the world, at himself— was held in check only by the hope of reversing the damage to his girls' souls. He could remain nominally calm as long as the option of saving his daughters was still on the table.
Still, Isshin dearly wanted to know what this Incubator looked like so he could accurately imagine his options for revenge.
Isshin looked up when there was a light tapping at the doorway. Yoruichi leaned against the frame, face neutral. "Hey," she said quietly. "Time to get up and eat."
"I'm not really in the mood."
"You didn't eat last night. You need something." She spoke more loudly. "Hey, kids, wake up. You need to eat."
Homura startled awake and looked surprised that she had fallen asleep. Ichigo groaned, looked around, choked on a mournful sound, and lurched upright as he realized the previous day had really happened. Ichigo's breath caught in his throat. He moved to do something, to yell something, to do anything but sit idly by as his sisters lay dead. His motion was halted by his father's heavy hand on his shoulder. Ichigo looked at him quickly. "Dad—!"
Isshin gripped his son's shoulder harder, trying to ground him. "We have to be strong and rational. We need to keep it together so we can help however Kisuke needs us. For the girls. Do you understand?"
Ichigo took several ragged breaths, tipped his head back to face the ceiling, and gulped. "Yeah," he breathed. "Yeah. For the girls."
After a minute of inaction, Yoruichi prodded them to leave to get breakfast. Homura looked unhappy and the Kurosaki men looked torn.
"We can't— We can't just leave the girls all alone...," Isshin said in a voice that became small and trailed off.
"I'll watch them," a voice said heavily.
The newly awake people looked around and found Kon in the lion plushie he usually possessed when visiting the Kurosaki house. Homura looked confused as the men frowned harder.
"I'll be fine," Ichigo said stubbornly.
Kon heaved an irritated sigh and brandished one paw at the young man. "Get your ass out there and eat something. You won't do Karin and Yuzu any good if you pass out from hunger, idiot. So go eat and drag some answers out of that damn mad scientist buddy of yours."
Ichigo gaped silently. Isshin took a deep breath with closed eyes then patted his son's shoulder and murmured, "He's right. Come on. Kon will take care of them. They're like his own little sisters, too, now."
"Shut up," Kon growled without any real heat.
The entire assembly of employees and guests formed a miserable breakfast party. Tōshirō fit right in when he showed up and gloomily sat near his former captain without saying a word. They were nearly done when Kisuke shuffled into the room. He blinked owlishly at them all and blurted, "Oh. Breakfast. Morning. Right."
No one commented on what an exhausted mess he looked. The scientist was disheveled and missing his hat. There were dark circles under his eyes and he had yet to shave. His body was unhappy about his all-nighter, but his eyes were still sharp. Everyone perked up in hope.
"Got anything, Sandal-Hat?" Ichigo asked.
"I just might," Kisuke answered. "Clear the table."
"Shouldn't you eat, too, Mr. Urahara?" Orihime asked.
Kisuke waved her off. "Tessai's been forcing me to eat every few hours. I'm good." He put a briefcase down and settled at the table as the shop's employees scrambled to clean up. Kisuke took a deep breath and clapped once. "Okay! I don't think any of you care about the sciencey particulars just now, correct?"
"Get on with it," Jinta snapped.
"Right." Kisuke opened the briefcase and pulled out something that looked like a smart phone and three glass cylinders that each contained a Grief Seed. "I've studied all three Grief Seeds. I think I understand their basic structure. I'd like to ask you some questions, though, Miss Akemi. Perhaps ask for some demonstrations."
Homura nodded, face blank. "All right," she said cautiously.
"Good." Kisuke fiddled with the smart phone-like sensor device. "Would you mind transforming for me? I'd like to record the energy readings."
Homura narrowed her eyes and agreed. Orihime gasped, "Eh?! But if it's like in anime, she'll be naked and sparkly! You shouldn't see her naked!"
Everyone blinked and stared at her. Some of the boys blushed. Homura blandly said, "It does not really work that way."
"Oh."
Homura remained seated and brandished her left hand. Her ring burst into violet light and reformed as an egg-shaped jewel. Isshin swallowed hard— it was notably dull.
"I'm ready."
Kisuke frowned. "Your Gem is sullied. Perhaps this should wait until after—"
"It is fine," Homura interrupted. "It would have to be much darker than this for me to turn."
Isshin wasn't sure he wanted to know how familiar she was with a Soul Gem's limits. Or how she came by that knowledge.
"If you say so," Kisuke said doubtfully. He pressed a button. "Whenever you like."
Violet light flashed along Homura's body and uniform like fluid fire, leaving behind a clean copy of the battle costume the party had seen the day before. The shield materialized on her forearm at the end. Homura looked at Kisuke with a businesslike frown while the other occupants of the room reacted in various ways. "Are you satisfied?"
"Hmm? Yes, yes, quite." Kisuke tapped the screen for several minutes, apparently playing with the new data. Everyone sat still and watched him until he finally looked up. "Last night you explained about how this Incubator separates girls' souls from their bodies and a sufficient distance between the body and the Soul Gem could temporarily sever the soul's connection to the body, which can be restored via physical contact between the two. Correct?"
"Yes," Homura said edgily as the others looked uncertain and troubled. The magical girl tilted her head and tensely asked, "Do you mean to ask for a demonstration of that?"
"I understand it's a heavy thing to ask of you, Miss Akemi," Kisuke answered soberly. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't have an idea I wanted to test before doing anything to Karin's Grief Seed." He watched her chew her lip and look at him with suspicious eyes. "I propose that you give your Soul Gem to someone you trust to return it so they can move the appropriate distance."
Everyone could feel an edge of anxiety in the magical girl's reiatsu. She pursed her lips and practically clawed the table as she stared down and thought. Finally, she lifted her arm and willed the diamond on the back of her hand to turn into its egg form. Homura held it up to Ichigo, face tight in a way that suggested suppressed fear. Still confused, Ichigo delicately took it into his hands and looked between the girl and the scientist. Homura scooted back from the table and tried to sit still, but was betrayed by pallor and a slight tremor.
Isshin felt sick. She was submitting to experiments on her soul despite obvious fear. It made him sick.
Kisuke leaned forward and gave Ichigo two smart phone-like devices. "Give one to Miss Akemi. Take the other yourself." He pointed out the back door, which had been restored by Orihime's power. "Slowly walk away. Aim to go at least..." he trailed off and looked at Homura.
"One hundred meters," she finished curtly.
"Oh... kayyyy...?" Ichigo said uncertainly.
Isshin tried to keep his breath even. His son wasn't getting what was going on. Wasn't picking up on the risk Homura was trying to downplay. And Isshin couldn't bring himself to speak lest he be ill. He wanted to stop them. But he wanted the information. But he didn't want to harm Homura. But he wanted to save his girls. But Homura was one of hi—
Homura solemnly looked up at Ichigo as he stood. "Just put it in my hand after."
"Right. I guess." Ichigo looked at Kisuke. "Should I start?"
Kisuke nodded. Still confused but at least understanding he had been entrusted with something incredibly precious, Ichigo left the building and moved out of sight. Everyone silently watched the nervous magical girl as she knelt rigidly. Isshin wanted to scream. A few minutes later, Homura's costume glowed with violet light and burst away, leaving her school uniform. The smart phone slipped out of her hands with a clatter and she slumped to one side.
Isshin reacted the quickest, scrambling to her side and rolling her to face upright. The sight of her vacant eyes and slack face hit him like a ton of bricks. It was the third time in less than a day that he had seen one of his gir—
"Isshin. Calm down," Kisuke said, looking at his sensor screen with interest instead of minding the girl.
"Calm?!" Isshin shouted. "She's not breathing!" He moved to start chest compressions, the thought of losing another girl unbearable. "Homura!" He never ever ever ever ever should have allowed this. Never. He was a monster. He couldn't lose ano—
"Tessai, restrain him before he breaks her ribs," Kisuke said distractedly. "Jinta, go yell for Ichigo to come back."
Tessai had Isshin pinned to the floor when Ichigo rushed in, took one look, and shouted, "What did you do to her?!"
"She was right. Distance did sever the connection between her crystallized soul and her body." Kisuke chewed on a pen while looking at energy readings with fascination. Damn him. "Go ahead and put the Soul Gem in her hand like she told you."
Ichigo hurried to kneel and gently lay the amethyst in Homura's slack hand. The magical girl immediately resumed breathing with a little gasp and a flutter of her eyes. She levered herself upright with a huff and immediately found herself crushed in a desperate hug by Isshin. Before she could react, he shoved her back at arm's length and scrutinized her. "Are you okay?!"
Blinking owlishly at the concerned faces around her, Homura said, "Yes, I'm fine."
Isshin wilted in relief and shakily smoothed her hair back. "Good. Good. I'm sorry. Good. You're okay. It's okay. Good. I'm so sorry." He wasn't even sure what he was saying.
"Were you aware of your surroundings?" Kisuke asked. He ignored the frustrated looks sent his way.
"No. That is how it works," Homura said, pulling away from Isshin and reaching for her teacup with a tremble. "I hope you got the information you needed, Mr. Urahara. I do not want to repeat that anytime soon."
Isshin glared daggers at Kisuke, willing him to back down.
"Of course, of course. That was more than adequate," Kisuke replied. "How interesting." He set his device down and looked at her curiously. "Your Soul Gem seems to behave in a manner similar to Soul Candy— no, a Mod Soul. The main functional difference is that skin contact is enough for the soul to assume control of the body. Soul Candy and Mod Souls require actual consumption."
Homura tilted her head in confusion. Others made faces of varying levels of understanding and interest.
Kisuke noted her confusion and explained. "Soul Candy and Mod Souls are artificial souls invented by shinigami to possess empty bodies, be they natural or artificial. Soul Candy is generally used by shinigami who have been assigned to blend into the World of the Living while in a false body called a gigai. Its function is to eject the shinigami from the false body and assume control of it while the shinigami attends to business so there is no panic about mysterious dead bodies coming back to life." He raised a brow in inquiry; she nodded her understanding. "Mod Souls are similar, but they were specifically designed for combat while in human bodies. You met Kon yesterday— he is a Mod Soul with enhanced leg strength and speed. All artificial souls generally assume the form of a capsule when not in use. Your Soul Gem seems to approximate that pill state, but is far more sophisticated."
Homura stared at him for a moment. "Is that a good thing?"
"As it happens, yes," Kisuke said with a small grin. "Theoretically, if I succeed at purifying Karin's Soul Gem, I should only have to put the Gem in her hands to revive her." Hope colored everyone's faces at the pronouncement. "I do have one more test I want to do. More like an observation. And I would like Miss Inoue to participate."
Orihime threw her hand skyward as though volunteering in school, eyes shining in eagerness. "Yes! I'll help!"
"Good!" Kisuke chirped. He waved a hand at the three cylinders containing Grief Seeds. "All right, this one is Sayaka's, correct?" Homura nodded. "And it is 'full' or 'spent,' as you and the twins used it to cleanse your Gems as much as possible." Homura nodded again. "And this is the Grief Seed you acquired yesterday, yes?" Homura nodded. Kisuke's eyes wandered to Homura's Soul Gem and back to her eyes. "No one has used it, so you should be able to draw off the taint in your Gem, correct?"
Homura hummed and held out a hand for the Grief Seed, understanding what he wanted to observe. "Do you want me to use the smart phone again?"
"If you would," Kisuke said politely as he gingerly placed the Grief Seed in her hands. "Lay the phone on the table and your Gem on the phone. Miss Inoue—"
"Yes?!"
"—Have your Shun Shun Rikka watch what happens when the taint is drawn off of Miss Akemi's Soul Gem. I want you to understand the process. My hope is that observing how the contamination is removed naturally will assist your fairies enough to be able to amplify the process to reject all the contamination from a Grief Seed and turn it back into a Soul Gem."
Orihime's eyes went wide in hopeful understanding. "Oh! I get it!" She gestured at her hairpins. "Ayame, Shun'ō, come out and watch!"
The hairpins flared gold and two small figures darted out from the ornaments. Their appearance and language were indistinct to the others at the table, but they hovered near the Soul Gem as directed.
Homura tipped the Grief Seed against her cloudy Soul Gem with a little clink. Everyone watched as darkness gathered and seeped out of the amethyst like iron filings drawn to a magnet. Soon, the Soul Gem was a more brilliant purple than it had been. Homura withdrew the Grief Seed, going still when the two fairies darted after her hand. She held the Grief Seed rigidly as the fairies flitted around and chattered, then swooped back to the Soul Gem. After a few cycles, they zoomed back to their mistress and fluttered around her head.
Orihime clapped delightedly. "They think they can do it!"
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This chapter was replaced with an edited version on November 1, 2019. Reviews with timestamps before that date refer to a slightly different version of the chapter.