A/N: In my master file for this story, including page breaks and author's notes, this chapter begins on page 600. 0.79" margins, single spaced, 12pt Times New Roman. I have never had a file this long. I created a monster and y'all just keep feeding the beast.
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ACHTUNDFÜNFZIG
TIMELINE X + N + 1
Tōshirō ate slowly while seated on a veranda facing the property's inner courtyard, koi pond, and pigeon coop. Akemi hadn't been in the shop. Whether or not it was consciously done, they had felt Akemi pull her reiatsu into herself and conceal her existence with the skill of an experienced lieutenant before she stormed off. Finding her manually would be a pain. Urahara had said to leave her to cool down for an hour while he tried to track her between phone calls. He didn't say what kind of calls, just whisked away into his labs. Great.
So Tōshirō bided his time and watched the moon. He reflected that things had gone better than expected— well, mostly— until Akemi got surprised— spooked— by protectiveness for a magical girl she'd never met before and Miki opened her damn fool mouth and said the absolute worst thing she could possibly say in the company of Tomoe. He had thought the upset magical girl they might have to hunt down would be Tomoe, not Akemi.
Not that he could blame Akemi. His breath still hitched sometimes if he approached his sister from behind at a certain angle, briefly reminding him of how he had been tricked into stabbing her in the back during the Winter War. There had been a lot of running off to his training cave to gather his wits after a flashback in the first several months after Aizen's defeat, especially if he encountered the word backstabber. So Tōshirō didn't begrudge Akemi her retreat. But Hyōrinmaru had been with him to help him work out the mental knots when he had been in the same place. Akemi didn't have that. It worried him.
Urahara clattered out onto the veranda in his geta an hour or so later. He stood solemnly as Tōshirō tilted his head and eyed him.
"I've tracked her down."
"How far?"
"Surprisingly, just downtown. At an altitude that matches the tallest building for kilometers."
Tōshirō turned to look south, but the wall of the compound blocked any view. "Tch. So she likes high spaces, huh?" he mused.
"So it seems," Urahara agreed. "Go talk her into coming back here. I have a plan."
Raising a brow, Tōshirō said, "Me?"
With a self-deprecating smile, Urahara drily said, "I don't know if you noticed, but to put it plainly: She doesn't trust me right now."
Tōshirō rolled his eyes, looked away, and said, "I can't imagine why."
"I am quite aware it's because I unexpectedly invaded her space and am vague with her about my plans and actions." Urahara looked up at the moon pensively. "I wonder if she has worked out that I'm being as cautious with information with her as she has been with Miss Tomoe."
"Maybe," Tōshirō said. "Even so, she'll probably still hate it."
"Indeed." Urahara laughed lightly; fondly, he added, "She's quite the fierce little spitfire under the surface, isn't she? Fights to the death to keep control."
"Reminds me of you," Yoruichi Shihoin's human female voice said smugly.
"Pardon?" Urahara said as he and Tōshirō both turned to see her pad out of the dark of a hall, barefoot.
And naked.
Tōshirō screeched and whirled away, face aflame.
"Why the hell are you naked when you transform?!"
"Because it's funny," Shihoin said with a smirk in her voice.
He twitched in outrage. "Do you mean to say you don't have to be naked when you transform?!"
Shihoin laughed. "Nope. It's just fun this way." She tried to step within his line of sight. Tōshirō reeled away and covered his eyes, making her laugh more. "Ahahaha, such a modest boy!"
"He was quite modest when the girls were admiring his figure earlier, too," Urahara trilled like an old gossip.
Tōshirō squawked his outrage. "They weren't admiring—!"
"I saw, I saw! Adorable! Is it on the surveillance tape?"
Urahara giggled behind his fan. That meant yes.
"You're worse than Matsumoto!" Tōshirō hissed.
Shihoin and Urahara merrily laughed like the trickster devils they were.
"Gimme your haori, Kisuke. Before we have to haul Captain Hitsugaya to Tessai to be revived."
Tōshirō shuddered. He had heard stories.
"The girls?" Urahara asked over the rustling of cloth.
"Asleep. Passed right out, poor kids." Her voice mockingly high, she sang, "I'm decent now, Caaaptain!"
Tōshirō swore to God Matsumoto must have taught her that shameless crow of triumph-masquerading-as-innocence. It was pitch perfect. He shuddered again. And here he thought this mission would be a break from Matsumoto's antics.
"Now, don't play ignorant and try to divert me, Kisuke," Shihoin drawled. She crossed her arms but lifted one hand to lazily point at Urahara. "You and Akemi are locking horns because neither of you likes being out of control of a situation. You both hate being out of the loop. You both want to know everydamnthing, but you both hoard knowledge like magpies with shiny objects. Neither of you likes sharing your toys."
"Guilty as charged, I suppose," Urahara said wryly.
Tōshirō kneaded the space above his eyes, trying to stave off a headache. "She's young and hurt and not as cooperative as we really need her to be, but she is a vital ally. You need to include her more if you don't want her to completely ignore us if she turns time back again."
"When."
"What?"
"Not if," Urahara said. "When."
Tōshirō eyed him suspiciously. "All told, so far this time around has been... wild, but generally better than previous times she's described. Kaname is horrified by the prospect of contracting and with all of us around, seems likely to survive past the turnback point. Miki isn't... self-destructive this time. Seems very sharp, actually. Tomoe hasn't lost her mind. Yet."
"Yes."
"And you still think she'll go back?"
"Yes."
"Based on what?"
"Oh, a variety of things," Urahara said vaguely, waving his fan. He yelped as Shihoin kicked his shin.
"You're doing it again, jackass," the woman snapped.
"Does it matter, though?" When they glared at him, Urahara sighed and said, "Various character assessments and observations. Interactions. Reactions. Since last time's apocalypse, I think Akemi understands that the only way Kaname will be safe is if we completely eliminate the Incubator. There's no way we can learn enough to accomplish that in the next three weeks. If she stays beyond the turnback point, we have no idea whether we'll lose the strategic advantage of her time travel. Akemi just hasn't acknowledged it yet."
"Knowing her, she'll fight it to the end," Shihoin muttered. "Especially with how she's let herself get attached to Miki again. Ugh, and I pushed her toward that." She rubbed her face and heavily said, "I'm concerned for her mental health. Now, let alone if she erases all of this and goes back. She already has, what, at least four extra years of the same set of things happening behind her? And this loop has been so different that it's rocking her world. Strange as it seems, the sheer sameness could have become a kind of safety— stability. We've helped her shatter that without really thinking of the effect it would have on her. It worries me."
Urahara plopped down on the edge of the veranda with a gusty sigh of his own and swung his legs. "I wouldn't say I hadn't thought of how it would affect her. Our original plans were moving nicely before the Sōju factor. But we got lulled into trusting the sameness that Miss Akemi had grown accustomed to and it bit us." He rubbed his face and sounded frustrated. "As useful as the items recovered from Sōju will be for my research, I'm quite furious with her for appearing. Given the little psychopath's newness, I'm making an educated guess that the Incubator aimed Sōju at Akemi somehow. As a bonus, this all stalled my research for days." His mouth turned down sourly. "Akemi was progressing so well until that spanner got tossed in the works. That brat took a hammer to so many of Akemi's vulnerabilities that I lost count. And we probably don't know the full extent. So much progress—" he gestured with his hand as though scattering smoke— "and back almost to where we started in the last timeline."
"No taser this time," Shihoin said with dark humor.
Urahara barked out a laugh. They were quiet for a time, absorbing moonlight and considering their own thoughts.
"So what's your idea for evening her keel again, Mr. Know-it-all?" Shihoin finally drawled.
Urahara flopped on his back on the wooden slats, folded his hands behind his head, and smiled up at them. "The same thing that broke the ice last time, of course: The Kurosaki Effect."
§ x § x §
Tōshirō did find Akemi perched atop the tallest tower in the city, which was a pain to access in gigai. The tower was ridiculously and pointlessly tall, really, but humans were the sort to build something ridiculous just to prove they could. When Akemi was in sight, Tōshirō loosed his control on his reiatsu as a warning he was coming. She didn't react. At least she didn't stop time and disappear.
He dropped to the metal catwalks beneath radio dishes and antennas, tucked his hands in his pockets, and carefully approached the girl. She was sitting with her back to a thick column, legs held tightly against her chest with her arms curled around her shins, chin neatly tucked into the space between her knees. The wind whipped her hair around, but she didn't seem to care. He had expected tears or tear tracks, but Akemi's face was dry and her face stony. She didn't react to his presence.
Tōshirō looked out at the twinkling fairy lights of the city. "Nice view."
Nothing. Long silence.
He looked up at the spire that continued far above them. "The living build the strangest tall things."
Nothing. Long silence.
"From this high up, the city lights kind of look like stars."
"Stars are better." Dull and barely audible. Well, it was something.
"You like stars?"
"Yes."
"So do I. Though I prefer the moon."
"Mm."
More silence. Tōshirō shifted uncomfortably. "Mind if I sit with you?"
Akemi just shrugged, so Tōshirō sat beside her and inspected stars and city lights. He waited her out.
"They hate me now," Akemi said dully to the open air in front of her.
Not a question. Stated as fact. She expected nothing else.
"They do not," Tōshirō said without looking at her. If she could speak better without making eye contact, he wasn't going to spoil it.
"I am strange, angry, and do not act their age."
He didn't bother arguing that, because it was obviously true. Denying it would insult her intelligence. "They're understanding why, though. We're helping them understand why, as much as we can without giving everything away. So they're far more worried for you than angry."
"Hmm." Doubtful.
"I won't lie and say you didn't hurt Momoe, because you did. But she understands the intent behind it. More than I would expect of someone so young, actually. Forgives it."
"That does not erase what I said."
Tōshirō was glad that she understood that. Too many people did not understand that good intentions and forgiveness were not a free pass from consequences. He hadn't particularly expected petulance from her in the first place, though. "No, it doesn't. But it tempers the blow. They're better prepared to call you out more productively. You recognize that you were in the wrong. And you'll rein yourself in better next time."
"Will I?" Akemi asked darkly.
He tilted his head back and looked for the North Star. "I have faith that you will."
Akemi snorted derisively. "Faith."
"You could use some."
"Faith in what?" Her voice dripped with scorn. "Some kind of god?"
"Yourself, for starters. Your allies, for another."
Silence.
Tōshirō wondered if Venus was visible at that hour and let his gaze idly wander the sky looking for it while Akemi mulled that over.
"How am I to have faith in myself or my allies if those allies treat me like a child?"
Tōshirō laughed, low and bitter. He couldn't help it even though he could sense the cooled embers of her anger warming again. It seemed they had more in common than he had realized. "Have you seen what I look like lately? I still get treated like a child at times. By my fellow captains, even. My equals. I finally had a bit of a growth spurt in the last two years so I don't look like an elementary-schooler anymore, but I still don't look like a forty-seven-year veteran shinigami twenty-six years into his captaincy over a division of soldiers. I look like a fourteen-year-old captain of a soccer team. And a lot of people look at me and treat me that way when they know better."
Movement. He had actually surprised her into turning to look at him. He kept his eyes on the sky. Hyōrinmaru helped him order his thoughts. Getting deeply personal was something he usually had to be dragged into kicking and screaming, but if there was anything he could contribute to Homura Akemi's strategically crucial stability, he'd gladly give it. No matter how uncomfortable it made him.
"My lieutenant had faith in me long before I had faith in myself," Tōshirō said slowly, turning the words in his mouth as he turned them in his thoughts. "The circumstances under which I took the haori were... distressing and unconventional. I was very young, especially for a shinigami. The responsibility may have crushed me without my lieutenant. Matsumoto is terrible at paperwork and an unrepentant slacker but she is frighteningly motivational, protective, and loyal. Having someone that cheerful and enthusiastic pour endless faith in you... it goes a long way. Then when they finally kick some sense into you and demand you have faith in yourself... well." A nostalgic smile curled his lips as he remembered a day some twenty-four years back that involved an after-action debriefing gone miserable and Matsumoto with her hands on her hips, yelling at him in the same tone she had the day she found him in the market near his childhood home and scolded him for not standing up for himself.
Tōshirō turned to look at Akemi directly. She was looking at him like he was a puzzle. He gave her a wry smirk. "I'm not cheerful or enthusiastic like my lieutenant. But I have faith in you. That you will do everything in your power to improve, to study yourself, to be more stable. To protect Kaname. And I demand that you have faith in yourself."
She stared at him, lips parted in surprise. Completely still.
"For what it's worth, Shihoin and I are getting on Urahara's case about making you a more equal partner," Tōshirō went on. "But you also have to realize that people like you and I— people who have more life experience than we appear to have— also do have some tie to the age of our bodies. Our physical brains and their structure match our physical bodies, even though the demands we make of them are far more... mature. People like you and I constantly perform a mental balancing act. It helps to understand what you're balancing instead of denying it. That way, you can work with it enough for it to turn into an advantage. Even if it's just an avenue to release your stress. Getting over myself enough to stop denying that part of me was hard. Still can be. The more you learn how to do so, the more productive you'll be."
Akemi tilted her head and looked at him speculatively for a long while, frowning in distaste. She turned her face back to the sky, so he did as well.
"A powerful shinigami captain whose life is composed of responsibilities deliberately acts like a child?"
"Indulges the childlike side, I guess," Tōshirō said thoughtfully. He was uncomfortable talking like this with anyone but Karin, but... well, Akemi seemed to be in a similar place as he used to be. "I walk around the office in just my tabi sometimes. Sit on rooftops to watch the sky and sunset like I did with my sister when we were little. Get into watermelon seed spitting contests with her. I make time to visit Karin and play soccer or video games. That... outlet has actually proven to be vital in the last couple years." He scrubbed at his hair and considered his point. "I have to behave more seriously than many of my colleagues to counter my young appearance and cultivate a professional reputation. It works. But I was also more uptight about it before I befriended Karin. I would, frankly, overreact to perceived slights to my capability to lead, fight, strategize. I still struggle with it. Karin says Yuzu is the people person but she zeroed right in on that and addressed it with as little tact as Miki used tonight." He did not elaborate that Karin had broached the subject by declaring out of the blue that we really need to talk about this stick up your ass, Tōsh.
"I do not understand Miki this time," Akemi said.
Tōshirō decided not to call her out for diverting the conversation. Let her think on it. "How so?"
"I always knew she was perceptive before she contracted and she usually is suspicious of me from an early point. I was used to that attention. Yet she seems to pay more attention to me when she is not suspicious."
"Less initial bias," Tōshirō said. "I think she admires you this time. It's making her reason you out and actively try to see your actions positively. So maybe a kind of confirmation bias, as before, but for good instead of ill this time."
"Hmm."
After an easy silence between them, Tōshirō said, "Come back to the shop with me? Urahara has a surprise for you."
"I have had enough of Urahara's surprises to last me a lifetime," Akemi grumbled.
Tōshirō snorted. "I completely understand. But I promise this one should be pleasant."
Akemi eyed him suspiciously, then slowly climbed to her feet. "I will hold you to that." Then she stepped off the edge of the catwalk and fell.
Tōshirō rose and watched her, curious about her method of movement from so high. Interestingly, she was moving down at an angle in broad jumps off nothing, violet reiatsu flashing at her feet with each leap. It was similar to several flash stepping techniques he had seen, but especially Bringer Light. Urahara would probably like to know.
Taking a deep breath, Tōshirō forced his gigai into shunpo to catch up with her and bound across the rooftops toward Asunaro.
§ x § x §
Ichigo leaned against Urahara's giant reishi henkan-ki, which he still insisted looked like a stone window frame covered in haphazardly placed newspapers. He had his arms crossed and was drumming the fingers of one hand against his bicep, forcibly restraining his instinct to charge outside Urahara's freaky duplicate of the training room under his original shop and find Homura himself. Urahara, Yoruichi, and Tessai would probably bind him with ten kinds of kidō if he tried, though, citing not wanting to let the goddamn Incubator sense his reiatsu.
Fucking monster. Ichigo would gladly turn his Hollow loose on the thing. Things. Whatever.
Yesssss, please, the Hollow hissed eagerly as a child wanting to play with a toy. It was probably the first time Ichigo had ever heard him use the word please. Without sarcasm, anyway.
Eventually, Ichigo thought at him. Hold your horses.
The Hollow projected frustrated, bloodthirsty impatience, but Zangetsu touched his presence and he settled back, purring and fantasizing about extreme violence. Ichigo left him to it and wondered what was taking Tōshirō so damn long to bring Homura back.
"You're really worried about this girl, aren't you?"
Ichigo glanced over at Rangiku Matsumoto, who was leaning on the other column of the reishi henkan-ki in a far more relaxed pose. One hand idly twirled a strand of strawberry blond hair around and between fingers, pale blue-gray eyes solemn despite her teasing tone. She hadn't been fully briefed, but had apparently been told enough to take the whole thing seriously.
"She's been through hell this week. Nearly died. I need to take her home," Ichigo said in a clipped tone.
"Oooh, home?" Matsumoto looked curious as a cat, her lips curled in the satisfied smile of a busybody encountering juicy gossip. Those eyes were calculating, though. "Not your house, just home?"
He looked away from her, reminding himself that she was sharper and more observant than she presented herself. Like his father. Birds of a feather, these Tenth Division officers. "Well, my old man has declared her an honorary Kurosaki. She's like Karin and Yuzu. I need to protect her." He scowled. "Urahara's not letting me though. Pisses me off."
"Big~ brother~ com~ plex~," Rangiku sang.
Ichigo rolled his eyes.
Any retort was cut off by the arrival of Tōshirō and Homura's reiatsu. They descended into the training room behind Urahara. Homura moved warily, but Tōshirō briskly strode up and nodded greetings at them. "Matsumoto. Kurosaki."
"I missed you, Caaaptaaain!" Rangiku said loudly, clutching her hands in a dramatic pose next to one cheek. Ichigo had expected her to make one of her sudden rushes to hug her captain, but she kept to her place with an eye on Homura's suspicion.
"It hasn't even been a week, Matsumoto."
"But do you know how much paperwork builds up in a week?"
"Yes. I do," Tōshirō said flatly. "You've been doing it, have you not?"
Rangiku laughed nervously. Tōshirō's brow twitched in anger.
"Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto, I'd like to introduce you to Miss Homura Akemi," Urahara interrupted loudly before the officers of the Tenth Division could get into one of their signature screaming matches.
Rangiku leapt on the change of subject and happily waved at Homura, who was hanging back by a boulder, watching them intensely. The lieutenant waved cheerfully. "Hello, Homura! Nice t—"
"Akemi," Homura said coldly.
Rangiku, not missing a beat, laughed and looked at Tōshirō. "Is she your long-lost sister, Captain?" She giggled at the pained look on Tōshirō's face and turned back to the magical girl. "Okay A~ke~mi~! You can just call me Rangiku, though! Don't bother with the rank— I'm not stuffy like Captain!"
Ichigo gave a short laugh at Tōshirō's expense, remembering the months of It's Captain Hitsugaya to you! before the guy had mostly given up on him, but he kept his eyes on Homura. She was distant, somehow not present even though she was standing in the same room. Her expression was shuttered and unreadable. Considering the sobbing description Inoue had given of her Soul Gem and injuries when she had returned from her healing trip and Urahara's extensive reports about the events since, the term that kept crossing Ichigo's mind was shell shock.
Note to self: Tōshirō owed him for marching out of the senkaimon in their apartment on Wednesday night and nailing him with that trippy sedation kidō to knock him out before he could even ask what had happened.
"Hey, Stopwatch," Ichigo said gently.
Homura blinked owlishly at him.
"Come on, Homura." He held out a hand. "Let's go home."
She tilted her head and continued to stare at him, but did not correct his use of her name. That was a good sign. He hoped. Her eyes wandered to the gate behind him without returning the greeting.
Ichigo gestured at the weird thing with a casual wave. "This is a gate between worlds. Gramps gave special permission for you to use it to come to Karakura instead of taking the train."
"Gramps?!" Tōshirō looked scandalized. "You refer to Captain-Commander Yamamoto as Gramps?!"
"Yeah. So?"
Tōshirō was going to have an aneurysm one of these days.
Homura moved closer, watching the gate as though something might pop out from the bright cloudiness within and grab her. "How does it work?"
Urahara looked at Ichigo, not moving any closer than he had been at his introduction. Ichigo wondered why he was staying the hell out of things. The scientist was usually in his element explaining things like this. He'd have to text Tōshirō later; for now, Urahara seemed to want Ichigo to do the talking.
Ichigo scratched his temple. "I dunno the technical sciencey stuff, but it's a door to a path through an in-between dimension from the World of the Living to Soul Society. Usually, it's just called a senkaimon and only spirits go through it, but this big ugly thing called a reishi henkan-ki lets living bodies like ours make the trip. Somehow. With magic spirit science."
Urahara had specifically told him to come in his human body in casual clothes instead of spirit form in his shihakusho. Ichigo had an inkling of why when he caught Homura repeatedly eyeing Rangiku's uniform and the Tenth Division insignia on the lieutenant badge at its waist: They were cutting through the land of the shinigami full of people in shinigami uniforms and Ichigo would bet his badge that Urahara wanted to symbolically ram home that Ichigo Kurosaki is not part of the military structure in Seireitei, just an ally with comparable powers and irreverence for their formalities.
It pissed Ichigo off that he had to figure it out himself on the fly, but he could play that role.
"Anyway, we're going to Soul Society from here, then we'll turn right around and make a path to Karakura. It's faster than the train," Ichigo finished as though the idea of dimension-hopping was boring.
"It also implies the Captain-Commander acknowledges your high value as an ally," Tōshirō added gravely. When Homura turned to him with one brow raised, he added, "The Captain-Commander did not give permission for this convenience lightly. Travel to and from Soul Society by the living through an officially sanctioned gate into the heart of Seireitei is extremely rare. Kurosaki and his friends were the first people in ninety-seven years to be allowed such travel."
Ichigo blinked in surprise. "What? Who came ninety-seven years ago?"
Tōshirō stonewalled him. "Classified."
"You're no fun."
"I'm professional."
"Like I said: No fun," Ichigo teased.
Tōshirō rolled his eyes, but looked like he understood Ichigo wasn't serious.
Homura watched their interactions solemnly, then turned back to Urahara. "Why are you sending me to Karakura?"
Urahara smiled slightly. "After the traumatic week you've had, you need rest. Calm. Where you don't have to worry about the Incubator stalking you. With people you don't have to hide your time travel or extensive knowledge from. A small vacation. I suggest you stay not just through Sunday, but Monday as well. You need to reset, so to speak. Start fresh."
The magical girl scowled. "We do not have time for vacations."
"We do, actually. Or, to be more precise, you do." Urahara held up his folded fan and counted off points on the fingers of his other hand with small taps. "The other girls will be hunkered down at home tomorrow. We will escort them safely. Hitsugaya will be their guard and escort at school. Tessai is making a protective charm for Miss Momoe, since her grasp of defense is far weaker than Miss Tomoe's. I plan to propose Miss Tomoe stay at the shop until you return so the Incubator can't get her alone. Or perhaps I will assign Yoruichi to stay with her. I'll wait to see what her mental state is before deciding on a course of action for her. I need to finish up my surveillance system for penetrating the barrier around Asunaro to collect data from within, then I have the Soul Gems and imitation Grief Seeds to study. Your presence is not strictly necessary for the next two days. Possibly three." Urahara smiled more kindly. "Allow your allies to share your burden, Miss Akemi."
"My allies need to share more with me," Homura retorted immediately.
And damn if Ichigo didn't empathize with that from the depths of his soul. He glared at Urahara in a gesture of support for the complaint. It was fucking valid. Playing the game was hard when someone hogged all the cards. Ichigo was spitefully pleased to note that even Tōshirō was giving Urahara the side-eye of judgment.
Rangiku remained pleasant-faced and silent, eyes darting from person to person as she drank in every detail of the encounter. Ichigo would also bet his badge Tōshirō would be receiving a report of some kind with her outsider observations of the scene and the relationships implied therein. Despite their frequent bickering, they were a frightfully effective team.
Urahara's face sobered. He removed his hat and held it to his chest, then bowed slightly in implied apology. "So I have had it made clear to me by Yoruichi and Captain Hitsugaya. I will endeavor to be more open with you if you try to reciprocate with more cooperation yourself— or at least actually share your objections to methods so we may negotiate in good faith."
Homura's mouth twisted unhappily, but she glanced at Tōshirō and turned back to the reishi henkan-ki.
Returning his hat to his head, Urahara lowly said, "You could probably use a break from me, as well. Let us start over on Tuesday."
In reply, he received a haughty glare over the magical girl's shoulder. Ichigo interpreted it as Damn right I need a break from you, you shady bastard. Well, Homura was far too prim to have those exact thoughts. But Ichigo got the gist of it. He understood why Sandal-Hat was keeping his distance now.
"Are we ready to go?" Rangiku asked with a bubbly smile, as though oblivious to everything that had just happened.
Homura looked at Ichigo. "You trust this thing?"
His real answer would be complicated so he just waved and said, "I've been through them lots of times."
Her eyes narrowed. She noticed but didn't call him out on the dodge.
"All right! Here we go!" Rangiku cheered. Just before she stepped into the portal, she waved at Tōshirō and sang, "Bye, Captain! I'll forward you all the paperwork!" She slipped through the portal, laughing innocently as Tōshirō roared her name like he always did when she did something outrageous.
Laughing at Tōshirō, Ichigo turned to Homura with a smile. "Ready to go, Stopwatch?"
Homura straightened proudly, tossed her hair over her shoulder, and marched into the portal as though she'd done it a million times. Ichigo gave Urahara and Tōshirō a wry grin and followed her.
As usual, the Precipice World was creepy as hell. It was a dark, dank square hallway whose walls oozed with thick purple fluid. The defensive flow was frozen, however— courtesy of special permission and preparations by Yamamoto's orders.
"Miss Akemi? Are you all right?" Rangiku asked.
Ichigo looked at Homura. She was standing rigidly with the strangest look on her face as she eyed her surroundings. Ignoring Rangiku's question, she lifted an arm in front of her and stared intensely at her hand. She flexed it several times, then turned it over and flexed it more. Like she was testing it.
"Miss Akemi?" Rangiku asked again.
No response. Homura looked down and flexed an ankle. Ichigo wondered if she was wiggling her toes inside her shoes.
Worried, Ichigo said, "Hey, Stopwatch. Talk to us."
Homura looked up at him with a frown. "What did that do to my body?"
"Oh. Damn. I should have explained that better," Ichigo said, abashed. "That big square frame converts our living bodies into reishi— uh, spiritual energy or particles or something— so we can pass into Soul Society— a spirit place— without separating from our bodies." At her deepened frown, he said, "I've never really noticed anything. You feel different?"
"Yes." Homura rolled her shoulders uncomfortably. "It is... not unpleasant. But it is very strange. Like... wearing new clothes." She looked around. "This place feels very strange."
"Let's walk and talk," Rangiku said. "Captain Ukitake is stabilizing the passageway at the other end and we shouldn't keep him waiting."
Ichigo waved for Homura to walk with him as Rangiku led them. Homura hesitantly matched his steps and kept looking from him to Rangiku, who was swinging her arms and humming cheerfully— faking airheaded obliviousness again. Ichigo casually strolled with his hands in his pockets. "So yeah, this place is really damn strange. A couple years back, my old man explained it's a bunch of spacetime mashed together and time passes like two thousand times faster in here than in any of the worlds outside." An idea struck him. "I wonder if you actually notice the time difference because of your time magic?"
Homura looked surprised, then thoughtful. "I wonder."
"I'd say to ask Urahara, but you seem to be on the outs with him."
Her little huff of annoyance amused him. "He keeps things from me and has too many methods that involve surprising me."
Ichigo laughed wryly. "Yeah, he's an ass like that. You know, back when he first became my mentor, he sent me a message summoning me to his shop by having some invention of his write the message on my wall in... well, it looked like blood. Thought I'd jump out of my body without any assistance that time. Did it to the others, too."
Homura gave him a look that somehow conveyed incredulous and complete lack of surprise at the same time. "Did Karin and Yuzu tell you about Mr. Monk?"
"Did they ever," Ichigo said with a snort.
Frustrated, Homura growled, "Why is he like this?"
Ichigo scratched his temple. "I don't really know. Some kind of mild sadism? Whatever it is, at least he focuses it on pranks instead of conquering all the worlds and mentally wrecking people like Aizen did." He saw her curiosity and decided to elaborate, remembering what others had said and what he had sensed during single combat with the narcissistic sociopath. "Aizen was a brilliant man, but so smart and so powerful and so alone— by his own fault, I think, but no one noticed and derailed it— that he killed his ability to relate to others. It... what's the phrase... withered on the vine. It twisted him until he thought his way was the only way and if the world didn't cooperate, he'd just have to rewrite the world from the top. He didn't have cooperation with valued allies, he had subordinates who were disposable trash. He may have started out with a noble goal— who knows, at this point?— but he got so arrogantly twisted up in himself that he thought himself a god and the world his to play with as he willed." Ichigo scrubbed his hand through his hair and struggled with words. "People with a lot of power, like me and the shinigami captains... we need allies to relate to so we don't lose touch with reality and humanity, you know? Going it alone because you think you know everything and your way is best... it can mess with your head. I kinda think Urahara still wrestles with that. Yoruichi and Tessai notice and derail those moods, though. And at least Urahara is able to admit he has faults once they're thrown in his face."
Homura frowned and turned away, her face looking like her thoughts were flashing through her mind at the speed of light. Ichigo decided to be quiet and let her think. He faced forward again and caught Rangiku peeking back over her shoulder at them just before she turned away.
A few minutes later, they saw a dull light in the distance. When they neared it, they saw Captain Ukitake standing in the middle of the passageway just inside a portal. He was tethered to the walls with four cords connecting his wrists to four forked blades in the walls. The white-haired shinigami smiled broadly. "I'm glad to see you made it back safely." He nodded amiably at Homura. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Akemi. I am Jūshirō Ukitake, Thirteenth Division Captain. Mitakihara is my division's jurisdiction. I have been fully briefed."
Homura eyed him warily, but gave him a polite nod.
The fatherly shinigami smiled even more warmly. "Come, go through the door. I'll drop this after you get out and exit behind you."
Rangiku cheerfully bounced through the gateway. Homura eyed Ichigo with trepidation. "Is there anything I need to know about what is on the other side?"
Ichigo grinned, noticing in his peripheral vision that Ukitake also displayed amused interest before turning his head so his long hair disguised the curve of his mouth. "Nah, Stopwatch," Ichigo said with a casual wave of his hand. "It's just a big white old-fashioned city."
"There are four hooded guards, as usual," Ukitake volunteered kindly. "They have orders to not approach you unless you try to go beyond the senkaimon platform."
Homura eyed Ichigo in disapproval, obviously wondering if he had lied. He laughed nervously and said, "Sorry, I forgot. Those guys are like background scenery to me. Never heard them speak a word and they all look alike with their uniforms."
The girl still looked wary, glancing between the captain and the gate as though gauging which was the larger risk.
Ichigo lay a hand on her shoulder. "C'mon, we'll go through together."
He made a point of watching her face when they passed through the gate. Once through, she took a few steps and stopped. After looking at each of the four hooded guards with narrowed eyes, she visibly dismissed their presence like a queen ignoring servants. She swept her eyes around the courtyard they found themselves in, taking in the path of pale jade through the wide circle of gray marble that made the central senkaimon platform. Pairs of tall white obelisks with pyramidal tops were evenly spaced along the path's length. The round courtyard was encircled by a ring of shadowed sandstone arches. Every vertical surface hosted some kind of will-o'-th'-wisp kidō lanterns Ichigo never saw fixtures for in daylight. Everything was bathed in moonlight. Homura looked up at the night sky above with interest.
"There are stars in... Soul Society?" she asked quietly.
"Yep," Ichigo said, enjoying her curiosity. "Dunno how that works, but it's pretty."
"Hmm."
"Welcome to Seireitei, Miss Akemi!" Rangiku chirped.
"Ah."
The atmosphere shifted as the senkaimon closed behind them. Homura turned to look as Ukitake readjusted the four blades tethered to his wrists, preparing to redeploy them. He smiled up at Homura, who was now staring up at the gate they had come from. It was ridiculously tall, a roofed lintel atop two more white pillars. Deactivated, they could see through to the arches on the far side of the courtyard.
Ukitake smiled at Homura. "What do you think, Miss Akemi?"
The girl tilted her head and blinked at him, then looked around again. "It is very... geometrical."
The captain laughed brightly. "And overly ceremonial and grandiose, my friend Shunsui would say."
"As you say," Homura murmured. Ichigo snickered at the girl's implied damn right it is and watched her try to peer past the arches. She looked at Ukitake over her shoulder and politely asked, "May I look?"
"Of course. Just don't leave the platform," Ukitake answered. He waved some kind of command to the guards, who stood down. Probably because an alert captain and lieutenant were present to subdue the girl if she made a break for it, Ichigo thought.
Their eyes followed her closely as she took measured steps across the tiles. Ichigo and Rangiku went with her. When they reached the edge, Homura was visibly stunned by how high they were. The tiny tile roofs of Seireitei were whitewashed by moonlight far below them.
"So, yeeeeeah, the old shinigami liked to build big-n-tall," Ichigo drawled. "I don't even know why they decided this thing had to be up so high."
"Hmph. And Hitsugaya said it is the living who are strange for building such tall things."
Surprised laughter burst from Rangiku's mouth. Ichigo grinned and fondly said, "As if that brat isn't always perching on the highest thing in sight."
Homura frowned at him in disapproval. "Hitsugaya is not a brat. Considering him such is an insult to his character."
Rangiku and Ichigo both blinked at her, nonplussed. They traded thoughtful glances. Ran looked like she sensed gossip. Ichigo suddenly wanted to ask Tōshirō a lot of questions. He was guessing Ran would be bombarding the guy with texts after her escort duty was complete. But what the hell was he supposed to say now? Did Homura not understand affectionate teasing?
...Actually, that might be it. Maybe?
"Everyone's a brat sometimes," Ichigo ventured. "Even adults. I didn't mean it as an insult. Kind of a... term of endearment." When she raised a judgey eyebrow at him, he held his hands up defensively and said, "Karin sometimes calls me Jerkface in a very loving way. Dad knows something's wrong if she doesn't call him Goat Face. And aren't you nicknamed Stranger Danger?"
"She's what?!" Rangiku gasped delightedly as Homura's cheeks colored.
"Where did you hear that?" she growled.
Ichigo grinned. "Karin."
Homura's breath hissed through her teeth. Ichigo did not envy Karin.
"Excuuuse meee!" Ukitake called. When they turned back, he waved at them. "Terribly sorry, but we need to get going!"
Homura took one more long look at the city below, spun on her heel, and marched back to the senkaimon. When they met back up with Ukitake, Homura gave him a very formal if shallow bow and thanked him for allowing her to look.
"You are quite welcome, Miss Akemi," the captain said with a smile. He looked to Rangiku and nodded at the empty gate. "Will you do the honors, Lieutenant Matsumoto?"
Rangiku cooed and hopped up to the gate, drew her zanpakutō, and stabbed it into the empty air. A swirl of light manifested, then flashed out to fill the entire doorway. She withdrew her sword and winked. "All ready!"
"I'll stabilize the path," Ukitake said, approaching the gate. "Just a moment."
Rangiku stepped forward immediately. Homura said, "Wait—"
Ichigo ruffled her hair. "Time's like two thousand times faster in there, remember? One second out here is two thousand seconds in there. So now he's been in there for like half an hour from his perspective."
"Probably a couple hours now," Ran chirped. "Come on!"
When they entered, Ukitake was humming cheerfully, utterly serene while tethered to the solid gloom. He smiled at them and nodded. "It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Akemi. I hope to see you again soon."
Homura paused, eyed him carefully, then offered him another shallow bow. Respectful, but not fawning or submissive. "Likewise."
The rest of their journey was quiet save for Rangiku singing under her breath as though bored. This time, Ichigo watched Homura inspecting the walls, ceiling, and floor as they walked. She was obviously deep in thought and fascinated. He'd have to text Urahara and get the dick to find a reason to give her information about the Precipice World as a peace offering or something.
And then they were at the end doorway, walking through another portal into the identical Karakura original of the Mitakihara training room. This one hosted Ichigo's family, Isshin standing behind the girls with his hands on their shoulders as they anxiously waited for Homura's arrival. Rangiku closed the reishi henkan-ki behind them as Yuzu cried out and ran forward.
"Homura! You're all right!" Yuzu cried as she hugged Homura fiercely. "We were so worried!"
Homura initially showed no reaction to the hug, but one hand came up to rest on Yuzu's back as Ichigo's sister continued to sob her relief into Homura's shoulder. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it again, looking at a loss for what to say.
Isshin and Karin approached more slowly. Karin looked at Homura up and down as though checking for injuries, then stepped closer and croaked, "Hey, Yuz, my turn."
Yuzu pulled back and wiped her face on her sleeves repeatedly as Karin leaned in for a brief but tight hug and weakly joked, "Tales of your badassery are going to give me a heart attack one of these days."
Ichigo thought back to the morning a pale-faced and shaken Inoue had shuffled out of the miniature reishi henkan-ki Urahara had installed in their apartment, taken one look at Ichigo, and started bawling. He remembered his mounting horror as Inoue recounted what she had seen; remembered the additional horror of Urahara's update later in the day, which included something akin to a coroner's report diagramming Homura's wounds with far too many of the injuries on the attached list followed by (fatal); thought of the new report they had received just before Rangiku showed up to ferry him to Mitakihara...
Yeeeaaahhh, he agreed with Karin. He glanced at his father and found silent agreement.
Isshin was watching Homura, face lined with regret and worry. When Karin stepped back, he held out a hand in invitation. "Come on, Homura. Let's go home."
Homura hesitated, face conflicted, then gave a tentative nod. Isshin smiled broadly. After watching him for a moment, she did an about-face and looked at Rangiku, who was leaning on the reishi henkan-ki and twirling her hair through her fingers again while smiling at Homura. The magical girl gave her the same shallow bow she had given Ukitake and politely said, "Thank you for escorting us, Lieutenant Matsumoto."
Rangiku's smile widened. "You're welcome!" Pushing off from the column, she said, "I'll get going and let you all go home." She briefly glanced at Ichigo with a twinkle in her eye, then looked away, stepped to one side of the giant frame, and stabbed her zanpakutō into the empty air. When she turned it like a key, the air swirled and a pair of shoji panels appeared inside a circular hole in reality. The doors slid open. Across an undefinable space like a waiting room, a second set of shoji panels slid open to bright light. A black butterfly darted out and danced around Rangiku's head.
Homura blinked surprise. "A butterfly?"
Rangiku lifted a hand and offered a finger as a perch for the delicate creature. "This is a Hell Butterfly!"
Homura stared flatly. "...Hell."
Rangiku laughed. "They got that name thousands of years ago when not even shinigami knew much about anything and it just kinda stuck. They just carry messages and guide spirits from one world to the other without getting lost in the Precipice World. Shinigami traveling without non-shinigami guests don't have to worry about the Precipice World. Our little buddies and our fancy gate let us skip all that."
"But... how do butterflies do that?"
Ichigo grinned. Her confusion was adorable."I dunno, Stopwatch. The spirit world is really damn weird sometimes."
Homura's frown and knit brows spoke volumes about the hurricane of questions she had. Something else for Ichigo to text to Urahara. He got the impression she was as endlessly curious and detail-obsessed as the scientist. Maybe she just didn't get many opportunities to show it or indulge it. Or maybe it was some kind of coping thing.
"It's been lovely, cuties!" Rangiku trilled as she wiggled her fingers at them all in a little wave. She looked at Homura and winked. "You need to give me gossip about my captain sometime!" She was through the door and gone before Homura could react.
Yuzu hooked an arm around Homura's elbow and smiled through her tears as the girl glanced at her. "Come on. Let's go."
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A/N: Dorky note: Mitakihara's architecture is cobbled together from the most impressive buildings in the world. Including the damn Burj Khalifa. Because SHAFT was like, "why not?"
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.