Given the urgency of Ukitake's request, Byakuya wastes no time in preparing for his trip. Within the next hour, he's standing over Karakura Town, Senbonzakura secured at his waist.
As Ukitake had said, his sudden disappearances were nothing new, and while his mission was very different this time, part of him did feel some unease at how quickly he was accommodated—how little protest there was that he would leave at such short notice.
His Third Seat - who was functionally acting as his lieutenant now - took the news without as much as a blink and only inquired as to when he thought he might return. His servants, similarly, showed no surprise when he arrived home and asked that supplies be gathered for his trip.
As he waited, a sealed envelope arrived bearing his name and no other information. Upon opening it, Byakuya found the coordinates for a Karakura Town, the place where Ukitake's Third Seat had last been seen, and Ukitake's best rendering of his Third Seat.
The portrait - though perhaps sketch was the more accurate word - showed a petite woman (marked by Ukitake's scribbled note—Very short!) with black hair of roughly shoulder length. This was annotated with Black hair!, while an additional line, attached to her face, indicated Dark eyes!
Below the drawing were several other notes, which Byakuya only briefly skimmed—a few words about her zanpakuto and her skill with kido.
It had clearly been prepared in haste, though given how unlikely it was that he would come across any other shinigami Karakura Town, Byakuya assumed he would have no trouble finding and confirming the identity of Ukitake's Third Seat.
Still, he tucked the portrait into his haori, on the off chance that the reference proved useful.
Soon after, he used the senkaimon to travel to the World of the Living, before gradually making his way to Karakura Town, under the assumption that traveling directly to the lieutenant's last known location would be a red flag.
Now, Byakuya surveys the town with a cool eye, finding little of it to be notable. It's an average seeming town with modern buildings and an active, though not particularly large, population.
By his best recollection, it's not a town he's visited before, though that in itself isn't particularly notable. He's kept his searches close to larger metropolitan areas, where he'll have the ability to meet as many individuals as possible.
Apart from that general preference, though, his searches have been largely uncoordinated. There's no way for a Captain to predict or track where a soul goes after they pass from Soul Society.
He only has the certainty that a soul must go somewhere, and that Hisana's sister is alive, somewhere.
Byakuya has spent many long years that way—looking for her dark, amethyst eyes, the curious, almost mischievous lilt of her mouth when she'd laugh. He has no guarantee that her sister will bear any of these traits, though he has little else to reassure him.
But still—that is a matter for another time. Now, at least, he has the ability to help someone who he has a very good chance of finding, if he is quick about it.
With a sigh, Byakuya heads closer towards the town, surveying the areas beneath him for potential signs of another shinigami. From the sky, he notes a nearby forest, with several bald areas where numerous trees had been felled.
Byakuya scrunches his nose. Likely Ichimaru's handiwork, given the nature of his zanpakuto.
The traces of his reiatsu linger there, though there is very little else. He drifts closer but finds little else of note. There are other signatures, though Ichimaru's predominates. None are recent, meaning Ukitake's Third Seat has likely moved on.
Curiously, the town itself is not bereft of other signatures, not all of which resemble shinigami. As Byakuya wanders over the town, looking down at its people, he notices another presence not far from him, one that moves quickly through the town, as if moved by some kind of urgency.
Finding that a promising sign, Byakuya quickly heads over to where the person is darting around, pushing through crowds with several bags looped around his arms.
And it is a he—a man with shockingly bright orange hair, who appears to be a young human. It's definitely odd; his signature is not wholly overwhelming, but it is unnaturally high, arguably the level of a lower seated officer.
On an otherwise unassuming human, it's nearly unprecedented.
Byakuya instantly makes the connection between this unusual human, and the charges that were brought against Ukitake's lieutenant. Concealing his own reiatsu, Byakuya follows the man through the rest of the town, watching as he impatiently - and quite rudely - pushes through more crowds of people in his haste.
His urgency is palpable, and significantly more suspicious.
Finally, the man's haste appears to slow, and he stops at an old, somewhat worn-down looking building—Urahara Shop.
Refusing to believe the name is mere coincidence, Byakuya immediately draws Senbonzakura.
It isn't entirely clear to him how each of these elements - a dishonored Captain, a human with supernatural reiatsu, and a defecting lieutenant - might fit together, but the likelihood of these events occurring independently of one another seems impossible.
The human, in all his rushing, is unaware of Byakuya tailing so close behind him. When the man tosses his shoes aside and hurries into the shop, Byakuya is only seconds behind him, his robes swishing silently in his wake.
He follows the man down the hall, into what appears to be a guest room. There is a pile of blankets on the floor, but no signs of Ukitake's Third Seat.
And there, sitting against the wall—
"Ah, well hello there, Captain Kuchiki!"
Kisuke Urahara leans back casually in his chair, a fan dangling from one hand. From the look on his face, Byakuya's arrival is no surprise.
The human, however, jumps and whirls around, eyes wide. This close, Byakuya can see that the man - boy, perhaps? - is indeed young, in his late teenage years at least. A bandage is visible just below his neckline.
The young man's eyes immediately turn serious, and he glowers at Byakuya. "Another Captain, huh?" he asks, confirming his connection to Ukitake's lieutenant. "Here to finish the job, are you?"
"Kisuke Urahara," Byakuya announces. "I shouldn't be so surprised to find you so closely tied to these suspicious circumstances."
The old Captain fans himself coquettishly, nonplussed. "It really has been some time, hasn't it? How is dear old Ginrei doing? Still so uptight?"
The mention of his grandfather - and indirectly, of Urahara's own abandoned seniority - is nothing short of irritating.
Still, Byakuya has seen enough. He raises Senbonzakura towards the former Captain. "I am here to retrieve the Third Seat from Squad Thirteen, Rukia. Tell me what you have done with her."
The boy grits his teeth. "Just another bastard who could care less about anyone else, huh?"
Byakuya raises a fine eyebrow at the boy. "If you do not wish to talk like men, that is acceptable as well."
Against the boy, Byakuya would win easily and with little fuss. He has no concerns about that.
Urahara, however, will be much more of a challenge.
Given that the life of a young woman is potentially at stake, Byakuya turns his sword downwards. He will take no risks here—a smooth, decisive victory.
Kisuke Urahara, rather than drawing a weapon himself, only angles his head to the side, as if he were watching some amusing show. "So soon, Captain Kuchiki? Well, you were never one for small talk, were you?"
"Tell me where Rukia of Squad Thirteen is, or prepare to meet your end," he tells them. "You have seconds."
The boy turns back to Urahara, anger bright in his eyes, but the other man only holds up a gentle hand, as if telling the boy to wait.
Just Byakuya is about to summon his bankai, there is a rush of heavy, staggered footsteps from down the hallway, before the door behind him crashes open.
There's a gasp, before a woman's voice cries out, "Captain Kuchiki, please stop!"
Byakuya turns towards the woman, and—
And Senbonzakura slips right from his hand.
The metal clangs against the ground, useless, bouncing dully off the wooden floors.
The sound of it rings in his ears, barely audible over the sudden rush of blood through his head. All thoughts immediately clear from his mind, leaving him with only a haunted, pounding ache in his chest.
Hisana?