Blackout2010: Yo all. Been a helluva long time. I'll be up front and honest here reason it took me so long as is...well a lot of factors. But the main one is this is a bunch of interlocking events. Still gotta work on the final chapter but I think I got everything leading up to it straight. I thank you all for your patience. Unfortunately, no levity of pre-fic BS that I like to do. Gonna just release these over the next couple days. After looking over them of course. With all that said: Here's the next chapter.
Chapter 48: Jail Bird Blues: To kill a mockingbird.
Woom! Woom! Woom!
Ichigo's eyes burst open as a loud red alert siren echoed through the early morning air of Seireitei. Pushing the covers off him, he looked to his side see Shaolin just as dazed and confused as he was. "I-ichigo!" she labored, slowly trying to get up.
Motioning for her to stay, he rolled out of bed and went to the balcony window. Throwing open the door, he ignored the urge to shiver as the cool air blasted his skin, "Nothing…?" he whispered, as he looked over the perfectly normal scene of Seireitei, 'But what the hell is the alarm going off for?'
Hearing a door slam open and thumping of feet behind him, the captain turned and ran back into the room. Grabbing Zangetsu off the wall, he settled into a combat stance waiting for whatever was heading their way, as the door to Shaolin's private quarters opened. The aggressive snarl on his face fell away when Senna burst through the door looking confused and worried.
"Ichigo, Shaolin, what's going on!?" she shouted over the still blaring alarm.
"I don't know." Shaolin told the bra and sweatpants clad reaper, as she got out of bed.
Almost on cue, the voice of Kido Commander Nozomi Kujo rang over the wailing alarm, "Per order of the Sotaichō Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryusai: Seireitei is under emergency lockdown. Will all Captains and special guests please make their way to the Captain's hall, all lieutenants and adjunct lieutenants will have acting power of captainship and are ordered to keep everyone in doors until their respective superiors have returned. That is all."
With that the alarm ceased, leaving the trio in the dark, minds running wild at what could have happened. Setting Zangetsu down for a minute, Ichigo grabbed his old pants and put them on, "Shaolin, alert the Onimitsukido to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. We'll inform them with more details later."
The woman silently nodded, as she got off the bed, grabbing Suzumebachi from her nightstand, before making her way to the balcony to call any nearby soldiers to her side. "What should I do?" Senna asked, as the other woman left the room, "Should I go see Yoruichi for orders or…?"
"No, it's probably best if you come with us."
Turning to the door, they saw Yoruichi in her transformed state, slink into the room, "I already contacted the 4th seat, so that's covered."
"Yoruichi…"
The golden-eyed cat closed her eyes and was engulfed in a white light, before expanding into the mocha woman clad in her usual orange battle jacket. Opening her eyes, the fierce woman scanned the dark room, before jutting her thumb over her shoulder, "We should hurry to the captain's hall." Casting a glance at Senna, she continued, "Senna, I give you permission to release Shikai. Just get over there as soon as you can, if anyone give you lip, I'll deal with them."
Nodding her head, she headed towards the balcony as Soifon stepped into back in, sword in hand. The woman was momentarily bewildered by the girl brushing by until she saw her sensei in the room.
"Yoruichi-sama." The ex-captain whispered with audible relief, as she sheathed her blade. "What's going on?"
"I don't know. I came to get you, but it looks like Ichigo beat me to it."
"And Senna?" she asked looking back towards the balcony, where the girl's form was shrinking in the distance.
"A head start. I don't think she'd be able to keep up on the ground with her heart condition." Surmised Ichigo, as he moved towards his wife to carry her.
"Exactly." Confirmed Yoruichi, as she made her way towards the balcony. "You ready?"
Once Shaolin was safely cradled, the pair nodded resolutely. The ebon woman fully pushed open the door, before breaking into a run and leaping over the ledge, the Kurosakis hot on her heels. The moment the reaper's feet touched the grass, they blitzed forward, leaping casually over the back wall, taking the shingled path and ignoring the time-consuming labyrinth below.
Within five minutes, the three reapers reached the bottom of the stairwell that led to the plateau the captain's hall rested on. Looking ahead, the point woman saw Senna waiting for them at the top, hand waving to flag them down.
Turning to check on her fellow captain's carrying an extra weight, the woman spied another emerging from the connecting corridor. "Byakuya-chan."
Looking back, the pair saw the nobleman striding towards them in a lavish sleep wear kimono. His hair fell loose around his handsome face, as he eyed them, hand on his blade relaxing after recognizing the group. "I see I'm not the only one under dressed."
While the goddess of flash did appreciate his attempt at levity, she simply nudged her head forward, "Let's hurry."
Climbing up the rest of the way, the silence between them was only broken when Senna spoke up upon reaching the top. "Are you guys okay?" she asked worriedly.
"Don't worry." Shaolin replied as she got down, "We didn't run into any trouble."
"Lieutenant, have you spoken to the Sotaichō yet?" Byakuya inquired, cutting to the heart of the matter.
The girl shook her head, as she glanced at the grim captain standing at the entrance of the captain's hall. "Not yet. I got worried and decided to wait when Unohana asked me if I was injured.
Stepping forward, Ichigo furrowed his brow, "What do you mean?"
"I…I don't know." She forced out, arms shaking as she pointed to one of the cliff edges. "When I got here, Unohana-san was landing with Minazuki. I think she had that girl from the 11th with her. A-anyway, she had a really serious look on her face!"
The color drained from the group's face at the implication. "Someone was attacked?" Ichigo whispered in disbelief.
"I'm going to see what's going on." Byakuya said, stepping around the group to head to the captain's hall.
Ignoring Byakuya-chan, Yoruichi looked back at Senna, "Is Kisuke here yet?"
"No. It's just you guys and Unohana. I haven't seen anyone else."
"I'm here too little lady."
Turning around the young girl nearly jumped when Kyoraku emerged from the shadows of the hall like a nightmarish shade. His dual scimitar bladed Katen Kyokotsu released and at his side.
"Kyoraku-Taichō." Ichigo greeted calmly the hatless pink kimono clad man.
"Trouble first thing in the morning, huh?" the rugged man mused to himself with a lazy yawn. Stroking his beard after flipping his blades over to sheath them, it's transportive kageoni services completed. "People should really give peace a chance." He turned and started walking towards the entrance, when he paused, giving a sideways look to the group. "Urahara-Taichō should be along shortly. I saw him flying through the air with Hirako-Taichō while I was shadow hopping."
"Flying?"
"Probably his 'magic' carpet." Yoruichi explained away.
"No, it looked more like a winged cape to me. I saw their feet dangling."
"Cape…?" the woman paused to think on it. The answer came to her almost as soon as she started to tank on it. "The Tentōken."
Senna tilted her head quizzically, "The what?"
"It's a sacred treasure of the Shihoin family. It grants its wearer the ability to fly and leap great distances." Shaolin explained.
Pleased with her student's due diligence, the mocha woman nodded, as she looked to Ichigo. "Yeah, remember when I loaned it you during the invasion, so you and Renji could get to Sokyoku hill?"
"Oh yeah." He recalled the device, after the much-needed prompting.
"But *why* would he have it of all things." Soifon couldn't help but ask, clearly troubled that that good for nothing had his hands on such a prized possession.
Yoruichi shrugged, "He always takes things without asking. It's part of his creative mojo, I kind of stopped bothering after years of dealing with it."
As silence fell over the group at the implication that the eccentric scientist likely did who know what with revered pieces of equipment and tools, Senna took the initiative and motioned limply to the entrance hall, "M-maybe we should head inside…?"
Letting the issue drop, Ichigo nodded, "Good idea. We need to know what we're dealing with."
Leading the group to the hall, Ichigo pushed open the door for them. The light of the morning dawn filled the hall as they entered. True to Senna's word Unohana was at the far end of the hall in her captain's attire, hair fell loose in an unkempt mess, speaking quite seriously with Sotaichō Yamamoto.
Off to the side leaning against a column was the eleventh's representative Yachiru, an irritated look on her face, as she glared at the ground. Not too far off was Kyoraku and Byakuya speaking to Nozomi Kujo, also in her full formal regalia. The woman was floating several feet off the ground, half focused on the men in front of her and the glowing orb held in her hand.
Dismissing the spell, she glided over to the head captain and Retsu.
'Not good.' The group thought to themselves, after eyeing the scene.
"Sorry we're late!" the voice of Urahara shouted from behind, catching up with the group, "Had to pick-up some stragglers!"
In walked a pajama clad Shinji Hirako with a wobble, looking paler than usual, as he leaned against the door, "I was fine walking!"
"I have to agree…" said Hisagi, as he walked in as well covered in sweat, wearing only sweatpants and his captain jacket. "I'd like to keep my feet on the ground…"
"Ingrates." The whimsical scientist said flippantly, before turning a serious eye to the front. "Better shape up, this looks serious."
The pair nodded, as they caught their breath quickly, before falling in with the others.
Looking over the collected company, the old man ignored their varying stages of undress, taking solace in the fact that they gathered quickly, to this current state of emergency. Stepping up the stairs, he raised his hand to gain their undivided attention. "Commanders of the Seireitei, I bear grave news: Less than an hour ago, the Shinigami guarding the Arrancar at the penance tower was found unconscious and locked inside the tower by the oncoming guard set to relieve the other of their duty this morning."
A deathly silence fell over the group, the implication of what he was saying all to visceral. "And the Arrancar, sir?" Kisuke dared ask.
"Missing." Answered Nozomi, "Captains Hitsugaya and Komamura were contacted separately to secure the scene once I was informed of the situation."
"A-and the guard? Is he okay?" Senna asked worriedly.
"His condition is stable. I transferred him over to Fukutaichō Kotetsu's care before coming here." Retsu replied sharply, "From what I could tell he had some light bruising on his face, shoulder and back, but there doesn't appear to be signs of a struggle."
"From what we could see, it doesn't appear a struggle took place at this time." Continued Nozomi
"The guard was ambushed?" questioned Byakuya.
The kido commander nodded sadly, "We're currently working under that assumption."
"But that isn't the major issue." Redirected the Sotaichō, "The issue is the Arrancar."
"Umm, you said they were missing." Spoke up Senna, "How do you know? I mean, couldn't some have…you know…"
The old man shook his head as he looked at the young girl. "Most likely not. If a battle were to have ensued, the guard would most likely have been caught in the crossfire. Not to mention fighting such monsters would have required considerable spiritual energy to be released. We all would have been alerted to such an event."
"Not to mention we found no blood inside the tower after a preliminary look." Nozomi added to further solidify things.
Stepping forward, Shaolin bowed her head obediently, "Sotaichō, they couldn't have gotten far, allow me to convene the Onimitsukido at once."
"You will do no such thing." Belayed the old man.
"Sir…?" the woman raised her head, just as confused as everyone else.
"Due to the nature of this event." Cut in Nozomi, eyeing everyone critically, "It would suggest that the Arrancar was our assailant's goal."
Kisuke narrowed his eyes, "You suspect one of us broke them out."
"We wish to hear everyone's alibi." The spell master insisted.
"Well, that's not accusative…" Ichigo snorted.
The woman merely turned a cold glare to the squad three captain, "If you wish to volunteer Kurosaki-Taichō, you only need ask. I'm sure it'll serve as a good example for you pro-hollow types…."
The man shrugged, clearly seeing how she wanted to play it. "Maybe the guard got beat cause he's all talk like his leader."
"Impudent little brat!" the green haired woman snarled, kido spell crackling to life in her hand.
"Enough!" Yelled the Sotaichō, spiritual pressure falling over them. While Nozomi was greatly affected, her spell dissipating instantly, Ichigo barely flinched, "Kurosaki:" the gruff man bellowed, "Answer the question. Where have you been in the last 12 hours?"
"Sleeping obviously." He snapped, waving a hand up and down his half-dressed form.
"And before that? Minus the sass." Instructed Nozomi
"I was assisting commander Soifon in completing our respective paperwork and reports."
The woman's eyes narrowed, "My, how convenient that you can cover for each other…"
"Since you're so eager to push investigating, why don't you tell us what you were doing?" Soifon pushed oh so softly, turning the tables on the presumptuous green haired woman.
The kido commander glanced at the ex-captain, who returned her glare with an even colder one. "I was assisting pending-captain Shusuke Amagi in his training for the kido portion of the captain's proficiency exam."
"A captain showing explicit favoritism. Is that ethical?" Senna asked, rather perplexed.
Nozomi tilted her head back as she eyed the ex-human, "I am not a captain." She stated flatly, "I belong to a separate entity within the forces of Soul Society: The kido corps. I am its commander, it's 'Sotaichō', if you would, much in the same way as Soifon-san is 'Sotaichō' of the Onimitsukido."
"In other words," interjected the pregnant woman, "Much as I have no prevalence in what the Shinigami do due to my suspension as a Shinigami, the Sotaichō has no say in what I do as an investigative entity or covert operations leader."
"Caveat of dual membership or suggestive advisory aside." Ichigo said as an aside to the girl, "The only reason Nozomi and Soifon are involved in the Arrancar situation is because it affects all of Soul Society."
The woman flipped her hair, as she turned away, "Yes, well, I'd like to think the main forces would involve the other two factions that make up the entirety of the Seireitei's forces for a disaster of this magnitude."
"Wishful thinking aside, I find it hard to believe the greatest authority on kido spent her whole evening training one person." Instigated Yoruichi, "There's only so much reiatsu a person has after all."
As the woman silently glared at the goddess of flash, said woman gave a Cheshire smile, "Cat got your tongue?"
"I…" her voice grew softer, a conflicted look flickered across her eyes, "I was visiting…" the scrawny woman exhaled heavily, "I was visiting the memorial cemetery." In almost an instant, she snapped a heated glare back at them; melancholy cloaked by fervor, "I trust that satisfies inquiring minds?"
"It does." Replied reticently, as she broke eye contact with the woman, more understanding than she knew. "But may I say, you aren't the only one to lose people in the war, Kujo-san."
"…"
"Please keep it in mind, before slinging zealous accusations."
The woman's stern look turned introspective for a second time, recalling the Special Forces leader's own personal losses in the war. Slowly, Nozomi shifted away, "I'm only trying to further avoid adding to those losses. That's the most important thing I…we can do. But…I will try to be less adversarial."
"I suppose that's the best we can hope for…" Ichigo admitted reluctantly, unsure if maybe they'd ever see eye to eye, but willing to take what he could get.
"In either circumstance," Byakuya spoke up, "Shall we continue?" when he got no rebuke, he pressed on, "Since we are giving alibis, I was attending affairs with the Kuchiki family. I can provide a list of witnesses up to and including my fiancé."
"Kukaku-chan, huh?" mused Urahara, "Things must be serious to use the term 'fiancé'."
The man shrugged nonchalantly, "You and Yoruichi-san should know best. That woman doesn't do things in half-measures. It's all in or nothing at all…it's charming…in its own way."
From her spot the red-haired woman of the eleventh scratched the side of her head irritably, "Well, if we're swapping stories. I was passed out drunk after taking the kiddo to a festival. I only got up because of captain braids."
"I was looking over some data regarding the Hogyoku." Kisuke announced unprompted, "And working on a little side project regarding the missing Arrancar. But I can assure you, I didn't do it." When he felt suspicious eyes fall on him, he added, "Last time I got accused, you were wrong, and it nearly caused the downfall of Soul Society. Anybody want to roll that dice again?"
Predictable silence ensued.
Retsu was about to open her mouth when-
PiPiPiPi!
"Excuse me for a moment, everyone." Nozomi requested, as she pulled out her soul pager from her pocket. Looking over the screen, she pressed a few buttons to see what the message was. As her eyes traced over it, a gasp escaped her throat.
"Is something wrong, Commander Kujo?" Yamamoto asked.
"I just received word from Captain Komamura. Apparently in the logs of the officer posted prior: there was sighting of a Shinigami visiting the penance tower." She then turned her gaze over to a very pale Senna, "One Senna Takamiko of the second division."
As the words left her lips, a stifling weight of spiritual energy fell unto the accused girl's body, "So Takamiko-Fukutaichō, you were last seen at the scene of the incident care to explain?" The Sotaichō spoke increasing his pressure on her with each syllable.
"I…I was just visiting her!" her body started to falter forward, as she began to hyperventilate. "I had free time after doing my laundry."
The hard man's eyes narrowed further, "And during this 'visit,' I presume you were detailing-"
The head captain's words ceased when Ichigo stepped in between the aged captain and the gasping girl. The group was deathly silent, as the young captain glared at his leader, normal brown eyes flickering blood-moon red, as part of his arm was engulfed in black flame.
Still, the old man would not back down. "Stand down, Kurosaki." He warned, foregoing the formality of calling him by his proper title.
"I'm gonna have to disobey that order." He spat back, adrenaline pumping in his ear, as he took a single innocent yet menacing step forward. "Because: this looks more like an inquisitor's witch hunt to me."
"For the good of Soul Society, the greater good, I will take whatever steps are necessary to protect it." The scarred captain retorted, before leaning his cane towards the girl he protected, "That girl happens to be at the penance towers the day before they go missing and not only possess the power of Hollows but has ties to one of them? How curious, that she found the time to do so—by ignoring her duties and doing her laundry."
"Senna requested the time-off to do that. I cleared her myself." Yoruichi informed him.
"And checking in on the Arrancar isn't an illegal action, nor is visiting the penance tower." Shaolin added coolly, "I do believe Kuchiki-Taichō and Abarai-Fukutaichō may have paid a visit to the late Rukia Kuchiki when she was residing in the tower. There was no uproar then."
"I do agree that it isn't illegal…" Nozomi admitted, seemingly taking a neutral leaning on the matter, "But certainly, you must admit it's a suspicious chain of events." She said with a shake.
"Like hell! It'd be more suspicious if she didn't go!" snapped Ichigo, before returning his glare back to Yamamoto. "If you really wanna know, Senna was feeling depressed about her powerlessness and decided to try and visit Cirucci because she thought she was scared and needed a friend. So that she'd think things would be okay-"
"And how would she know that?" barked Yamamoto, "Or you for that matter? You simply take the girl at her word? Were you there, Kurosaki-Taichō?"
"It's true." Senna wheezed out, looking rather faint, as her eyes flickered rapidly. "Couldn't…a…abandon…"
Falling to her knees, the woman started to shiver as she clutched her hand against her chest, teeth chattering.
"Senna!" shouted Shaolin, rushing to the girl's side.
"Allow me." Said Retsu, moving purposefully to begin her diagnosis.
"Let me help." Offered Yoruichi, as Kisuke observed the precarious situation, critical look on his face, as his eyes flickered between the look on Senna's face and the powder keg lit in front of him.
"Ya that desperate to railroad an execution old man!?" shouted Ichigo, positively livid, by blackening of hair and crimson hue of his eyes. "Justice my ass! I bet you moved them yourself just so you'd have an excuse to kill them!"
"Outrageous!" Snapped the head captain, room starting shake from the rapid coalescing of dueling titanic spiritual pressures. "You think to accuse me, boy!?"
"What's wrong? Ya seem a little defensive." He taunted hotly, all too ready to rumble. "You got something to hide, like the truth!?"
"Abominations run amok Soul Society, Kurosaki! They are an unchecked unrestrained danger!" Roared the old man, "Yet all you see is what's in front of you; instead of looking ahead, thinking of the resulting consequences. You're no different than Masaki!"
"Fuck this!" the man's temper finally boiled over, right arm engulfing completely in black flames, dark reiatsu forming burned bandages over his mouth. Taking a hard step forward, he brought the engulfed arm back to punch a hole straight through this bastard's head, when it got caught and pulled back.
Looking back to bitch out whoever thought they could stop him, he paused seeing Kisuke clutching the appendage, wincing from the embers burning his hand. "Kisuke…!"
"Everybody, calm the fuck down!"
"You can't be serious!"
The hard look he gave him told him he meant it. The two younger men stared each other down, until Kisuke nudged his head over to the side. Following the gesture, he saw the girls including Nozomi pouring healing kido into Senna's body trying to stabilize her. But what really stopped his heart was the horrified look on her face, as if the realization that all of this was her fault had fallen over her, and all she could do was sit and watch, lips whispering desperate pleadings 'no's.'
"What's really important here, kid?" Kisuke asked him, a deathly calmness in his tone, as he slowly released his grip on his forearm.
The once raging death god watched the scientist step back trying to grin and bear the pain, as he healed the scorching burns on his hand. Looking back ahead, he saw Byakuya and Hisagi standing a few feet in front of him, the Sotaichō pulled away a small distance further courtesy of Kyoraku.
Exhaling slowly, the man felt the energy of Mugetsu refracting, strands of black hair changing color as the flames dimmed, replaced by a light sea-green aura. "Alright…" he muttered resignedly through the fading bandages, reaching out with his regular hand to help heal the burns on the scientist's hand, burns HE had inflicted.
Giving a boyishly appreciative smile of the kind gesture, Urahara gave a small pat on his shoulder and nod, before stepping forward to return order to the proceedings. "Alright, everybody, listen up: Soul Society has a got a bag of questions with no answers. So here is what I propose we do: Nozomi."
"Yes?" the green haired woman looked up at the blonde man.
"I want you to compile a list of the Arrancar that we've confirmed are missing. We can use that to narrow down the Zanpaktou we need to begin a spiritual signal trace to find out where they are."
"I understand."
"Yamamoto-Sotaichō. I need you to give the go ahead to lift the lockdown order and return everything to code green."
"What are you planning Urahara?" he asked, not sure what it is the genius had in mind.
"If the Arrancar are roaming the streets, we need as many eyes and ears as possible. By having the captain assure their troops that this was a false alarm, the Shinigami won't panic and will go about their duties normally."
A hum escaped Kyoraku's throat, catching on to where he was going with it. "If the Shinigami do that, they'll flood the streets and the Arrancar can't possibly avoid all of them."
"Which would mean those not readily caught will be pinned down in whatever hiding spots they are at." Kuchiki continued, seeing the plan. "And the trace Urahara-Taichō proposes will find them for us."
Kisuke nodded, glad to see everyone was keeping up with him so far. "The false alarm clearance will also relax the Arrancar's guard, since they'll assume it's not about them." He then turned to Senna, "I'll need you to give an aerial perimeter sweep." Like he expected, the girl frowned, "You wanna find that Cirucci girl, right? Well, there's a chance another factor might be involved…"
"Another factor?" questioned Ichigo.
The man smiled knowingly, "You said it yourself, Ichigo, during the captain's meeting: that there might be more forces at work that we aren't aware of. Let's not just assume the Arrancar left the penance tower willingly." Glancing back at the now hope filled girl, he said, "I just need a single sweep, just to see if anyone is running around. After that you're free to go rest up."
The girl nodded, "Mm."
"Now with that said, we need to act normally. Senna's orders aside, hold off on executing them. If you have personal business of some kind, attend to it; whatever, you have to do to make things look like business as usual. At 1100, 4-and-a-half hours from now, I want all the captains to do a roll call assembly; to audit."
"You think the Arrancar might be trying to hide amongst us." Hisagi asked concernedly.
The man shrugged, "Some of them might try to get cute, so I want to cover my bases." Looking to Ichigo's group, he then said, "I have an order to discuss with the secret police, Unohana it'll require your assistance as well."
"Just tell us Kisuke." Urged Ichigo, completely willing to forego the usual secrecy happenings in this instance."
Kisuke paused, as he glanced away with a frown, trying to find the right words. After a second, he looked back and said, "I appreciate your initiative, but it has something to do with the on-duty operatives last night. may have seen or done things that night, without letting their leaders know. We might also need to do a secondary sweep throughout Seireitei."
"…I understand."
"I'll do it, Urahara-san."
Waving it off, the man tried downplaying things, "It's fine. No need to be grave about it. Senna, Sotaichō, go ahead and start your tasks, everyone else can head out too. Except Unohana-Taichō and the Kurosaki's, I need to talk with you for a sec."
"What about?" asked Retsu.
Kisuke nudged his head to Senna, "Her condition."
"I…I'm fine!" she stated adamantly.
"And I believe you." Came his laissez-faire reply, as he shrugged nonchalantly, "But I need to science talk with her, to know if any repercussion may have been incurred just now."
The girl looked down remorsefully, putting her hands behind her back like a chided child as she tapped the ground with her sandal, "…oh."
Ignoring her sulking, he looked to the husband-and-wife pair, "As her host family, I trust you'll be interested to listen as well."
Once the pair gave an acknowledging nod, the Sotaichō banged his cane to call everyone's attention, "Very well. Everyone has their respective orders. Carry them out faithfully. Dismissed."
As everyone began to disperse out of the halls save Ichigo's group and Unohana, Kisuke remained silent and stock still until the very last person exited the area. As his expectant audience motioned for him to speak, he instead held up a finger and walked towards the exits, beckoning them to follow. Once they were outside at the landing, the scientist let out a heavy sigh, "That was close."
Looking out over the horizon, he saw Senna's barely visible figure heading in the direction of the second. Turning around towards the trio, he was about to speak when Ichigo beat him to the punch.
"Thanks, Kisuke." Ichigo admitted gratefully, "You really saved the situation there."
Smiling ruefully, the captain hated what he was about to do. "You might wanna hold off on that, kid."
"…what do you mean?" Shaolin asked, frown lines deepening.
"Unohana-san." Kisuke spoke up, seemingly ignoring the question. "How bad was the attack on Senna-chan just now?"
Her own frown forming, the doctor looked at him quizzically, before deciding to go along with the question. Thinking back to the situation with the girl's collapse from the Sotaichō's spiritual pressure and their immediate response, she gave her best professional answer. "Well, with the combined help Soifon-san, Kujo-san and Shihoin-san, I managed to contain the damage quickly."
She then shook her head quietly, "Although, I'm not sure for your reason for asking, Urahara-Taichō. You were observing her as I did, I believe. If you felt there was an issue with my healing, I doubt you would have consented to have Senna go and scan the skies."
Bobbing his head, consolidating what he was thinking to himself, he then said, "So in your professional opinion: Do you believe that Senna was fully healed and able-bodied just now?"
"…yes?"
Casting a sideways glance at Kisuke, Ichigo succumbed to his nagging curiosity. "Is Senna okay Kisuke?" he asked cautiously, "I don't like to hear all these ominous questions about a person's health."
Glancing away, the genius tapped his fingers against his thigh, weighting the possibility of out comes across his mind. Finally, his fingers came to a stop, "I did observe her and yes, I can say she's in perfectly good health."
He paused, before looking back at them and shaking his head, "And that's exactly the problem." Looking back in the direction Senna flew off, he pointed, "Senna just HAD a 'heart attack,' but for some strange reason she's ready to get up and exert herself in a matter of minutes? She should be needing one of us to help her get home and rest, not jumping on the balls of her heels ready for action."
As the man anticipated, Ichigo stepped towards him, heavy scowl on his face. "What the hell are you trying to say Kisuke?" he said in a low menacing tone, "That she was faking it!?"
Stepping towards him as well, the scientist said with a lethargic look, "Considering Healing kido doesn't work like that, then, yes, Ichigo. That is what I'm saying."
As Ichigo's façade fell away from both the genuine remorse and sincerity in his tone, he looked back at the two girls' hoping for some reassurance, but all he got was equally lost looks. 'Kisuke…'
"Why…?" he asked in a small desperate tone, almost pleading for the eccentric genius to pull a fast one and say it was just a joke.
A sad, terribly unfunny joke.
"Because:" he said further crushing his hopes, "Senna's a terrible liar." He rolled his shoulder, giving it better consideration, "Or rather everyone present would have seen through it, if she verbalized it."
"What are you getting at Urahara?" Shaolin questioned, as she crossed her arms, much like her husband, irritated at the accusation, but willing to temper herself to hear him out.
"I'm saying that all of her words and actions have been giving me warning flags recently; and that this is just the culmination of it all."
"Explain it." Ichigo said quickly.
"All right, we'll start with a simple one." He replied, taking a small step around him. Raising a hand up, he looked towards the captain's hall, "In the meeting Kido Commander Kujo mentioned one of her guards being injured during the events of last night."
"Okay." Prodded Shaolin, still listening.
"Unohana, you tended to the guard, correct?"
"Yes, I did. I transferred him over to the fourth division after arriving at the scene."
Kisuke nodded to himself, before looking back at Ichigo briefly, indicating he was about to bring up his point. "Soifon-chan?"
"Yes?"
"Do you recall any details being mentioned of the guard?"
The pregnant woman raised a brow, "Other than being attacked, tied up or thrown in the penance tower?" The man gave a nod for posterity, "No, and I still don't understand your line of questioning."
Smiling to himself, the man clapped his hands together. "So, if someone as observant and studious as you can recall that about the guard, why is it that Senna knew that the guard was male?"
"What?"
The man explained, "When Kujo-san was detailing the unfortunate events that befell the guard, do you remember what Senna said? She said: 'How was he doing,' in reference to the guard." Turning back to Ichigo, he lifted his hand towards the girls, "Until now, no one aside from Kujo, Unohana, Yamamoto, and Hitsugaya and Komamura knew that the guard was male. So why would she ask that specific question? I lived in the human world; they speak plainly. She would have just said 'is the guard okay'?" he let his hand drop down, "Unless of course, she knew better and would correct herself."
Scrunching up his face, the leader of the third held his hands up in disbelief, "So she made a lucky guess, Kisuke. I mean, it's fifty-fifty whether the guard was a boy or girl. Are we seriously gonna try and accuse her of something this serious all because of an improper pronoun or grammar mistake?"
"I must agree with Ichigo. That's not exactly convincing, Urahara." Chimed Shaolin, garnering a heavy sign from the genius.
Unohana however remained quiet on her thoughts though.
Gauging the situation, Kisuke rubbed his temple irritably, he expected skepticism, but he could already see he underestimated the amount of blinding trust the pair had. He has hoped to get a better more open-minded reception. Deciding to pull out all the stops, he continued, "Fine. Then how about her alibi. Wouldn't you say that not only was it convenient, but the timing for it was too perfect? It's been the biggest thing nagging at me, since I heard it." The man full faced the accused's brother, "Wouldn't you agree that the way she's acting seems off?"
Ichigo visibly groaned, "Ugh, don't tell me you agree with that old bastard too."
"Am I really the only here to notice all these odd happenings!?" he snapped suddenly, head swiveling between the trio, "Think about it. Think about it really hard." He then held up his hand, and rattled things off with his fingers, "Day after Cirucci's taken what does she do? She requests time off because she's depressed about the decision. Okay, understandable. We have a strategy meeting to discuss how to help the situation: She doesn't show up! Then she tells you: 'she's going to see Kukaku-san' and is 'going to spend time trying to convince her to talk to Byakuya', and spends all day doing her laundry instead of MOPING AROUND AND BEING DEPRESSED. Then, immediately afterwards, all the Arrancar go missing, precisely after she visited them earlier that day. You'd need blinders on not to see, she's acting odd. And that's only the stuff, that I've seen. Seriously you two, think about how she's been acting."
Retsu watched as Ichigo moved to speak, clearly to rebuff or correct him but stopped, when he saw Shaolin look away, reminiscing something. The woman tapped her fingers against her bicep, as her lips pushed further to one side. "Well…" her voice broke, as she lifted her gaze back towards her husband, who stood uneasily now that she seemed to reconsider things. "She was in my office, the day my folder went missing. I didn't think much of it at the time since I saw her earlier that morning and asked her to come back after seeing her so sad."
"But Shaolin," stepped in Kurosaki, "we already know what happened to the folder. We misplaced it, remember? We found it in my office."
"And did Senna-chan point you in the right direction for that discovery?" Urahara asked, clearly already knowing the answer.
They'd been gaslit, had their perception of reality manipulated against them.
"…" the man's frown deepened, as his hands fell to his side; his silence all the answer anyone needed now. "Senna also said she gave it to me because Shaolin asked…"
"…but the folder didn't relate to you at all…" continued Shaolin, also putting together some of the pieces. "And supposedly it was a memory nobody but her remembered and she reminded us…"
Glancing at his wife, the worried man was left clinging to another damning piece of information now that he thought about it, "Shaolin…" he muttered worriedly, teeth threatening to chatter.
Seeing her husband's trepidation, the woman's face began to pale, "Y-yes." She quivered, trying, and failing to control her tone.
"You said she was in your office and that you invited her to come see you. Did you invite her in?"
Slowly she shook her head, "No. She was…already waiting for me."
"Why is this important?" Retsu asked, clearly seeing that there was a deeper connection of some kind, but unable to find aside from the obvious.
"Because she went into my room too, when I wasn't there."
The woman recoiled, face growing equally as pale, as the pieces started aligning with one another. "Senna cancels an appointment with me and requests time off claiming depression."
"Then all of the Captains head towards the Captain's meeting. Senna doesn't go because she's a lieutenant." Kisuke added to the timeline.
"Then she appears in my office, before I arrive, where a folder about the stationing and timing of Onimitsukido operatives goes missing." Shaolin continued, as she looked to her husband realization dawning over all of them.
"Only for her to show in my room, claiming she was doing laundry. Where lo and behold, the folder turns up."
"Then when you two and Yoruichi are with me discussing what to do, Senna stays behind because she's doing laundry for an outing and visits the penance tower…where the Arrancar that went missing were housed." Kisuke bridged to the possible ensuing events.
While it certainly held up in the right light, the moment Unohana spoke up, Urahara knew that while he may have convinced a part of them of his idea, now he had to defend it.
"While you make an interesting case and it does eliminate a lot of possible suspects save her, I don't see how she could have done it." Chimed Unohana, "Even including the facilitating circumstances, there are too many hows left unexplained."
Cupping his chin, Kisuke fell silent as he tried to put the pieces together. The answer was very clearly in front of them, the details locked away innocuously between everyone, he just needed to ask the right questions to coax it out. "Ichigo."
"Yeah."
"Senna was adamant about the claim that she was doing laundry, right?"
"Yeah. She handed me a basket and everything."
Raising a finger, he pointed at Soifon, "And this happened after seeing her?"
The pair nodded, "She mentioned having sat down and talked with her when I saw her. That's how I learned she was depressed."
Kisuke paused, contemplating his thoughts. "Ichigo, are you missing any of your uniforms?"
Caught off guard, as the implication sank in, the man shook his head, "No, I didn't really check. But the basket was full of-"
"Shinigami uniforms. But I mean are you missing any Onimitsukido." Kisuke corrected, as he looked back to the other stealth force member, "Soifon-chan are you missing any uniforms?"
"Not that I know of, no. Although, I don't see how disguising them as Onimitsukido would help. Even avoiding the placement of my soldiers, surely someone would have noticed a crowd of Shinigami moving around last night."
"The sewers." Spoke Ichigo, "Cirucci and her have used the sewer system to wait things out until we arrived when tensions got heated. They'd suppressing their Hollow energy to avoid being detected by people looking for them."
Retsu nodded, "Yes, but then where are the Arrancar? Even if they were suppressing their reiatsu, waiting that long in one area with such a large group would have saturated the atmosphere. We would have felt the strange power beneath our feet by now."
"Some place the sewers connect to and can shield their reiatsu, does such a place exist?" Shaolin asked, at a loss of what could fit such strict criteria.
As the group fell silent, Ichigo reflected on his memories and his time spent with his younger sister. 'I know she accompanied me during the summer, before the Arrancar showed up. And I did show the two of them around Seireitei when they were going to be living here. So, unless, someone that I don't know showed them a new place, everywhere they know, I know.'
'Or you are forgetting something.' Added Zangetsu
'Forgetting…? But what?'
'Senna is hiding, correct? Put yourself in her shoes.' The old man advised. 'Hasn't there been a time you needed to hide yourself? Where did you go?'
'A need to hide…'
Thinking harder on it, he tried to recall such a situation. Every challenge, he'd met or encountered he hit it head-on. Every challenge.
'…except…'
The image of Shaolin standing atop a tree bridge staring down at him hatefully flickered in his mind.
'…except…'
He recalled the parting smiles of Hanataro and Ganju as they separated at a sewer junction.
'When we invaded…'
Suddenly a hodgepodge of memories assaulted him. He saw Shinjiro and Subaru conversing quietly on a barren plain, Renji smashing a large stalagmite as Yoruichi watched in cat form, Kisuke standing over a table giving orders to the various rebels, both Zangetsu slamming their blades against his under the moonlight's glow…
…and…
He saw Senna. One second caressing him in the waters of the hot springs, the next taking him by the hand to a spot to rest up at with a smile.
'That's it. That's where she is.'
"The training ground." Ichigo announced. As everyone turned to him, the man spoke up, "Kisuke, they have to be at your underground training area. Where we did Bankai training."
"Wait. You mean that one place near the second? That cave in the forest?" Shaolin asked for clarification.
"Bingo. That's the only place." Kisuke agreed, reaching the same conclusion, "Come on, we've got to go."
Grabbing hold of Shaolin, the group headed off. Kisuke leading the way, followed by Ichigo and Unohana bringing up the rear having never been there before. Knowing a bunch of captains travelling as a group at highspeed would garner attention, they moved at a reluctantly slower than desired pace at Kisuke's discretion. But the moment they hit squad two's domain; they took off flying through greenery to the secluded cave.
Reaching the hidden cave, the team entered the shadowy passage led by the scientist until they came to the illuminated interior, their eyes tracing over the barren rocky expanse dotted with hot spring pools. But what caught their immediate attention, before the sights was the unmistakable Hollow energy pervading the air.
"It's thick." Noted Kisuke with uneasy twinge in his voice.
Setting his wife down, Ichigo turned to the healer, "Unohana- "
The woman held up a hand stopping the youth, "I already know." She anticipated, stepping closer to Shaolin, "We'll wait by the entrance way."
Though unhappy, Shaolin complied, "Be careful Aìrén." She whispered, before giving him a kiss on the cheek. "You too Urahara."
Both men offered smiles, as the girls disappeared back into the entrance's shadow. Once out of sight, the vizard turned to his partner, "Alright Kisuke, I'm guessing they haven't sensed us."
"The Seki Seki layer is a double-edged sword." He said offhandedly, "They may not be here, but the walls kept the energy trapped in until it eventually dissipates."
"So, we don't know." He muttered, turning to the rocky canyon ahead, hands readying for hand-to-hand.
"We do know Senna's been here." Kisuke affirmed the unsaid suspicion, as he drew Benihime from her sheath. "Her Shinigami energy sticks out like a sore thumb amidst the Hollows."
"…" the man exhaled deeply, "I know…"
"Let's try not to escalate things. Investigate and track down Senna, if they trusted her to come here, they'll trust us if she says so."
"I'll go first and take them out quietly." Ichigo stepped forwards cautiously, "We'll head to the clearing."
After getting a nod, the pair treaded carefully along the rocky outskirts, sticking close to the large boulders for cover, as they listened and scanned for a movement, before proceeding closer to the bottom clearing where they once held war councils. Reaching the nerve-wracking destination, they held still listening quietly.
As they scanned the area in two different directions, the captain of the third stopped when his fellow Taichō tapped his shoulder. Turning to Kisuke, he saw his finger-raised to his lips, before pointing to the left, where a series of white objects lay on the floor partially submerged. Approaching quietly, they made their way, coming up to a steamy hot spring beside the clothes. Ducking behind the large rock, Ichigo kneeled down and inspected the waterlogged articles as Kisuke kept an eye-out over the water to see if anyone was bathing.
"These are definitely the prison uniforms." He muttered to his partner, fishing out soaked attire. Raising the shirt to his nose, he sniffed it, recoiling slightly at the strong scent. "Guess they were wearing these not too long ago, still sweaty."
Instead of an answer, the sound of water splashing greeted the man's ears. Turning to Kisuke, he saw the man kneeling, hand partially submerged in the pool. Just as Ichigo was about to ask, the man pulled his arm out, as he did, the captain saw a ring of silver keys clutched between his fingers.
Likely the one and only penance tower keys.
"Damn it, Senna…"
"A little bit faster than I expected. I suppose, I miscalculated." Mused Kisuke, as he stood up.
"What do you mean?"
Beckoning for him to follow back to the entrance, he explained, "The reason I sent Senna to scout the sky was to give us time to get over here, so we could ambush her either on arrival or before they left."
"I guess she came straight here then?"
The man nodded, "Likely she panicked when I mentioned the scanning. I thought she would have thought it too risky to move them."
"Can't really predict scared people Kisuke…"
The man nodded concurring with the truth of the matter, "Let's get back to the entrance."
Picking up the pace, the pair hurried back to the waiting ladies to share their finding. As they got closer to the passage, the women stepped out. "Did you find anything?" Shaolin asked, concerned with the men's sharp expressions.
"Senna moved them." Ichigo forced, clearly unhappy as she was at the admittance of her guilt. "We found the Arrancar's discarded clothes."
"Odds are she's using her and Ichigo's stolen gear to get them to one of the gates." Interjected Urahara
Unohana's furrowed her brow, "With the lockdown lifted, they could escape."
"It was a fail-safe contingency plan on my part. If a battle happened, I'd prefer it in a place where we could minimize the damage, that is if she weren't able to smuggle them out with us none the wiser." Kisuke admitted, "But the situation's changed."
"How so?" Retsu pressed.
"Her haphazard plan doesn't have an emergency escape plan and she's panicking. We need to get to her, before she gets cornered." He then turned to the Kurosaki's, "Alright, you two. Think. She must have taken them somewhere. Somewhere she thinks she is safe. All the information to track her has been in front of us this entire time. Has she said anything about locations recently?"
"Kukaku-san." Shaolin mentioned quietly, arms crossed uncomfortably.
"Shiba Kukaku?"
Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, she said she was gonna talk to her, but I think it's because she needed a reason to get to Rukongai."
"If they get there, we might lose them." Retsu said, seeing that if they reached such an out of reach location, it'd be nigh impossible to track them down. "Do you know where Kukaku-san is at?"
"I remember her being to the south…" Ichigo replied, "But that was about a couple of months ago."
"Alright, here's what we're gonna do." Kisuke pointed at Ichigo and Shaolin, "I want you two and Unohana to go to Jidanbo's and get to Rukongai. I'll get in touch with Yoruichi since she'll probably know where she is."
"And you want me to open a lane of communication, Urahara-Taichō." Retsu deduced, since, unlike the other two, she was quite skilled in all manner of kido, and her healing kido likely wasn't the reason she was being sent.
The man nodded, "Exactly. I'll get Yoruichi to send a hell butterfly to your lieutenant, while I start on the scanning process like I'm 'supposed' to be. The less suspicious we act, the more time you get to catch back up."
The trio nodded grimly. 11:00 am was the absolute deadline, but any unusual activities would draw the Shinigami's full attention to them and from them to Senna. They needed to diffuse things, before it spiraled beyond their ability to control it.
With the gravity of the situation having finally sunk in, the grim company exited the cave, before separating to enact their parts. As Shaolin climbed into Ichigo's arms, she gave a quiet tug on her husband's collar.
"It'll be okay." She whispered, trying to assuage the worries in her lover's mind.
Tightening the lock on his jaw, he tried to ignore her words, but the soft caress of her fingers drew his eyes to her soft expectant gaze. Sighing heavily, he looked back ahead and muttered desperately, "I hope so too, Shaolin."
Without another word, the trio took off mindful of their pace since speeding through Seireitei would call the attention of everyone. The trip while mercifully short thanks to the second division proximity to the south gate felt like a nerve-racking eternity, the sheer pounding of each second's 'what-if' all too real for the couple.
As they exited out of the last corridor that opened to the gate's standby area, a disheartened grunt escaped Ichigo's throat at the sight of Jidanbo casually sitting down beside the entrance to his gate.
Obliviously, the mountain of a man saw the approaching Shinigami and waved amicably, "My gates popular today. Lots of visitors." the giant smiled exuberantly, "How are you doing, captains?"
"We're fine." Answered Ichigo, mentally perturbed by the giant's casual mentioning of visitors. "Got a question for you though big guy."
Shifting his body, Jidanbo got off his rump and leaned in close to the tiny group, "Of course, Ichigo-san. Happy to help."
Steeling himself for this decisive moment, he asked, "By chance, have you seen Senna today?"
Pulling away, the giant let out a throat hum as he thought about it. "Senna." He grumbled trying to remember who that was. It didn't take more than a second's worth of casual pondering for him to look back at them, beaming smile on his face, "Ah, yes, the girl. I remember her. I think she was the first one to use my gate today." Turning around slightly, the beefy man jutted his thumb towards his gate, "She came through here with some Special Forces members not too long ago." Looking back at the group, he continued, "She said something about a special mission from Soifon-tai…er…commander Soifon."
"So that's how she got out." Ichigo muttered beneath his breath.
"Makes sense. Cover them up and say you're on a mission from me, and no one would question it."
"I take it this is in relation to that lockdown from earlier." Jidanbo continued blithely.
Not wanting to break character from the story concocted, Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, we sent her ahead to provide support for the team. But some new information has come to light, we're heading out to oversee things."
The jovial smile on the giant's face morphed into surprise, "Oh, that doesn't sound good. Should I pass on the message that it might be too dangerous to exit out this way?"
"No, that won't be necessary." Shaolin intervened, already knowing what action that would. "It's a precautionary scouting mission. We just want to make sure we won't get caught off guard again, by securing the immediate perimeter."
"Oh, well I appreciate that." The giant answered, relaxing quite a bit since it would help ensure his and the other gate guard's safety if they sent to the other side of the wall. Now knowing their intention, he looked towards the last person there, "Are you going out as well or are you seeing them off, Captain?"
"Accompanying." Retsu said with a bow, "I need to see if Senna-chan's body is adjusting to outside conditions."
"Mmm. I understand. I heard she was hurt badly in the war. I hope she makes a full recovery." The giant well-wished, before turning to his gate. "Well, then, I won't delay you any further. Good luck on this mission."
Waiting patiently, the three captains watched as the mountain of muscle slipped his fingers under the massive wood and Seki Seki stone gate. With a guttural growl, Jidanbo slowly lifted the gate up a good 20 feet of the ground, well enough for them to pass through.
With a focused gaze, Ichigo sprinted forward, barely giving a thanks in time, as he and Retsu crossed the expanse. As soon as they reached the other side into Rukongai the gate closed behind them with a bone-shaking thud. However, they barely registered the sound as the overwhelming sensation of spiritual energy was practically drawing all of their attention.
"That power…" Retsu mouthed.
A terrified expression ran across Ichigo's face as he recognized it instantly. "Kuchiki!"
Following his train of thought and the implication of him releasing this much power, Shaolin gripped Ichigo hakama tightly, "Ichigo, go Bankai! We need to hurry!"
"I know!"
Closing his eyes, he concentrated his spiritual energy, as he mouthed the words of full release. A blackish-red cloud of power enveloped his body, changing his uniform into a sleek stylized Gi while his mammoth sized butcher knife burned down into a manageable black katana with glowing gem wreathed in chains. "Get Minazuki ready." The man ordered, before taking off in a shockwave of speed.
Pulling out her own Zanpaktou, Unohana looked at her free hand and muttered a small chant, as her blade dissolved into a malleable mist. "Urahara."
A pause.
"Yeah?" came his garbled reply, Yoruichi's voice asking in the background if it was Retsu.
"We have a problem." The woman replied grimly, shadows looming across her face.
(Ichigo and Soifon)
Practically flying through the better off districts of Rukongai, it took less than a minute for the speeding Shinigami to reach the dusty older parts and start making their way into woodland and grassy knolls of the midlevel districts.
Entering into the undergrowth at high speed, Ichigo tried to keep his mind focused on his footing as Shaolin guided them, but neither could fight the growing apprehension they felt as the grew closer to the looming battle.
"There." Pointed the woman pinpointing the exact direction with her sensory abilities.
Nodding to himself, Ichigo turned just enough to change his trajectory and speed off without losing velocity. As the sight of Byakuya and his Shikai came into view from the clearing ahead, the third division captain gave a quick glance above him, "This is your stop."
The woman nodded, having only the briefest of seconds to ready herself as she carrier suddenly jumped up into the air, removing the hand supporting her legs to grab hold of the outstretching tree branch.
As his body swung forward through sheer momentum, carrying him full circle over the branch, he removed his other hand from his wife's back, as she turned to the branch, holding herself still with her left hand and leg. Once the package was dropped off for her own safety, the man swung back around and released his grip, catapulting himself forward.
Balancing herself to return to a vertical base, the ex-captain watched as her husband jettisoned himself to a lower branch, snapping it clean off the tree, as he lunged forward to the clearing.
"Be safe, Ichigo." She muttered worriedly, praying for his success in deescalating things, before looking towards the forest floor, hoping to catch up. 'I need to hurry.'
(Field: Byakuya)
Having sensed the approach of Ichigo Kurosaki for a good while, the regal captain took his eyes off his opponents briefly and back behind him towards his only perceivable threat. Sure enough, bursting from the dense foliage was the orange-haired captain himself entering in dramatic fashion. 'How quaint.' The man thought to himself, always showing up to battle when a lady was in danger. Still the captain kept his Shikai up just in case he was not here in a friendly capacity, like those two.
As his feet hit the earth tearing it up to slow his approach, the man's eyes scanned over the area, as he swung his blade into the dirt to assist his stopping. When he halted some three feet later, he popped his weapon out and looked past Byakuya. It took only a moment for his expression to warp into agonized frustration, when he saw the last thing he ever wanted to lay eyes upon.
Standing some thirty feet away surrounded by Senbonzakura's petals were Senna and Cirucci. However, unlike the immaculately pristine form of Kuchiki, the girls looked as if they'd seen better days, particularly Cirucci. The Hollowfied servant was covered in blood from the various cuts riddling her body, the remnants of her black Shinigami uniform were reduced to tatters, barely covering her own modesty, likely Ichigo noted at Byakuya's discretion rather than her own dodging prowess. The dirt splotched woman was breathing heavily, as she held a defensive posture, trying it seemed to protect the girl behind her.
Sanderwhicc grimaced, as she spotted her battle-ready master, and stepped a little more in front of Senna in a futile attempt to hide her.
But Senna knew just as well as everyone else that she was visible. A dismal grunt escaped her throat, as she lowered her gaze, clutching tight her supporting Shakujo. After a moment, she touched a hand against her protector's arm, a sign of resigned surrender.
Ichigo watched as Cirucci glanced to Senna, and, after receiving a slow sad shake of her head, reluctantly eased her posture, knowing that the jig was up.
"Greetings, Kurosaki-Taichō." Kuchiki finally spoke up, garnering the man's attention.
Looking over, the man saw the smooth faced nobleman crowded protectively with his pink sakura petals, as he stared at him disaffectedly trying to gauge his involvement in the situation.
Standing up straight, he flicked his arm, allowing Tensa Zangetsu to touch the ground, "Kuchiki." He replied evenly, unthreateningly.
"I'm surprised to see you here." Turning a little further, he saw Soifon emerging from the trees. "And you brought others?"
"Unohana should be coming too." As Byakuya's eyes narrowed, he decided to set the record straight. "We aren't here to fight; we just sensed your spiritual energy and came to investigate as quickly as we could."
The nobleman turned away, "After seeing Soifon-san, I figured as much. I know someone like you wouldn't intentionally put someone you care about in danger. She's in no condition to fight."
"We presumed you'd understand." Shaolin spoke up coming into earshot, looking a little relieved, "But we wanted to play it safe, nonetheless."
"So, you know about this?" he asked gesturing to the two fugitives.
"No, we only followed a hunch and ran into this." Ichigo half-lied, trying not to make the situation worse.
"What about you? What are you doing all the way out here?" Shaolin inquired, wondering how he had known to be here without any clues.
"…I was coming to get my fiancé." He replied simply, "With the knowledge that there were Arrancar possibly wandering about…" a pang of hurt flickered across his eyes, as if recalling a terrible memory, "I felt she should take residence in the Kuchiki estate for safety until we could locate the creatures."
"I see…" replied Ichigo, as he glanced to the girls, "So what happened here?"
"I was on my way to Kukaku's…'home' when we happen to run into each other. Given who's with her, I take it she wasn't expecting to run into someone else. Naturally, seeing Senna this far outside of Seireitei after the fiasco that happened earlier and sensing a great deal of Hollow energy in the atmosphere, I made an educated guess, who was under the disguise."
"Disguise?"
The man pointed to the remnants of black on the scantily clad woman, "She was wearing a plain Shinigami uniform, but had a face cover. All I could see were her eyes and the two-purple marking below her eyes."
'Face coverings are Onimitsukido equipment. So that's what she nabbed.' Ichigo and Shaolin immediately concluded.
"Judging by your general demeanor, I take it you truly weren't aware of the situation before hand." The longhaired man perceptively concluded, before sheathing his blade, dissipating the sakura petals. "And judging by theirs, they have accepted defeat."
"…" Ichigo closed his eyes and sheathed Tensa Zangetsu, "One last question."
"Yes?"
"Did you give them a chance to surrender?"
"Passively." He answered, "I made it clear of my intention to detain them. As you can see, they resisted."
"Is it a 'yes' or a 'no'?" he reiterated more forcefully.
"Kurosaki, if I wanted them dead, they would be dead." He replied grimly, "I merely wounded them enough to capture them for interrogation. I took that precaution in case one of them succumbed to their wounds."
"…" Closing his eyes, he envisioned the same scenario that befell Hanataro and Ganju playing out. Only this time instead of two men trying to save an innocent woman from execution, he saw two wounded unable to resist girl watching in terror as the wall of cherry blossom blades mercilessly descended upon them. Opening his eyes, as a chilling shudder went down his spine, he stepped towards the girls. He took two steps, before pausing, "Thanks Kuchiki." He whispered.
Byakuya merely turned to the ex-captain beside him, "The Sotaichō needs to be informed of this situation and their capture." He turned around and started walking towards Seireitei, postponing his personal business for the moment. "I leave that task to you two."
As the man sauntered off leaving the quartet to their bittersweet reunion, Ichigo glanced at his equally stony-faced wife. Wordlessly, they walked over to the girls, each step furthering Senna's shame, furthering Cirucci's resignation…
Furthering the cruel undeniable truth of the world…
Coming to a halt directly in front of them, the patriarch of the family looked over his servant with anguish, before shifting his gaze to the girl she feebly protected. The priestess kept her head down outright refusing to meet his eyes. As much as he wanted to say something-demand of them, any kind of emote, nothing came to him.
Only chocked disbelief.
Knowing the struggle to process and pain he was feeling firsthand, Shaolin moved to help shoulder her partner's silent burden, "Heal them until Unohana arrives, Ichigo."
As the man slowly turned to her, she simply pressed a hand against his arm, and shook her head, unwilling to entertain any discussion that might be had. She knew he needed to be guided, overthinking would trigger a reaction that would make things worse.
Senna watched her brother's hand trace over the Arrancar beside her, a semblance of a smile flickering across her lips, unspoken gratitude for her senpai. It went unnoticed to all save her senpai-in-love, as she stepped around her friend and guardian, and limply held out her hands in front of her, head bowed down.
Pulling a pair of restraining cuffs, Soifon took hold of Senna's wrists, "Senna…" she muttered to the girl. The silent girl raised her head up, locking eyes for a moment, before lowering her eyes back to the dirt.
Receiving her silent answer, the leader of the punishment force cuffed her other hand, "You have the right to remain silent until interrogation has begun. Provided you do not resist, you will be given a hearing to explain your actions. Any resistance will be met with force up to and including deadly force. You have the…"
As his wife continued to rattle of her 'rights', Ichigo tore his eyes away from the Arrancar girl, and over to the sullen girl shaking with quiet fear, "Senna…"