The Taichous Invade
Title: The Taichous Invade
Rating: pg-13 for violence
Pairings: Shunsui/Ukitake, Isshin/Ryuuken, Gin/Rangiku
Spoilers: Everywhere. Seriously. Liek woah.
First chapter can be found at: http://nadat.livejournal.com/47532.html
~*~
Tousen walked through the halls with Wonderwiess trailing along behind him. He could feel the reiatsu of his former comrades. “They know not what they do,” he said. Wonderwiess didn’t answer; the Arrancar rarely did. That was part of why Tousen didn’t mind Wonderwiess. This Arrancar wasn’t arrogant or proud, didn’t go around trying to kill for the sake of killing.
Wonderwiess skipped on ahead to a window. “Hat.”
“Hm?” Tousen joined Wonderwiess, unsure of what the Arrancar was seeing.
“Want the hat.”
Well, that was unhelpful. Tousen could sense several Taichou-level reiatsus in the general area, as well as fukataichou and weaker. He knew that Kyoraku wore a hat, but could also tell that Kyoraku was not in the area Wonderwiess was viewing.
“He wants Kisuke’s hat,” Ichimaru said from behind them.
Tousen hated everything about Gin, including the way Ichimaru always suppressed his reiatsu so he could sneak up on everyone.
“I wasn’t aware that Kisuke wore a hat.”
“Floppy thing. Green an’ white. But then, ya wouldn’t know what green or white was, would ya.”
Tousen ignored Ichimaru. “Don’t try to take it. It’s not worth the possible bloodshed.”
“Bloodshed this, bloodshed that. Ya know that Komamura’s here? He wants ta kill you. So does Shuuhei. And I can feel Zaraki runnin’ around in circles. Good thing Yachiru’s not on our side. Ya think he’s angry that ya ran from the battle last time?”
“Come along, Wonderwiess.” Tousen walked away from Ichimaru. It would not do to continue this conversation.
Ichimaru watched him go, grinning the whole time. Messing with Tousen was one of his favorite games. He peered out the window and spotted Ukitake with a little girl. “Wonder if ya feed her candy too,” Gin said. He considered the different groups moving around, trying to decide who he wanted to mess with. “Ran and little Shiro are for later. Maybe Kira-kun.” He remembered Aizen telling him to wait a bit longer and sighed. “Maybe I’ll ‘accidently’ run into a couple o’ healers.” He wandered off.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Byakuya kept counting to ten in his head, slowly. It wasn’t helping. They’d dealt with three weaker Arrancar, and the boy kept jabbering on about his prowess. Shoving the boy at an Arrancar hadn’t helped, either. The boy killed it.
“And that was when we untangled freeloader-san. But Urahara-san won’t let him forget it. Think we’ll run into him here? I know he’s here somewhere.”
“Of course Urahara is here somewhere. You were with him five hours ago. Have you already forgotten?” And I wish you’d stayed with him, he added mentally.
“Not him. Freeloader-san.”
“I have no idea.”
“Do you know him? I mean, you’re all Shinigami, right?”
“I have no idea.”
“You have to know him. He’s awesome when he’s not being an idiot.”
“I have no idea.”
“Is that all you can say?”
“I have no idea.”
“You’re the worst person to be paired with. At least freeloader-san tries to be funny when he’s not scrubbing down the shop.”
“Does he.” Byakuya paused at a fork in the path, and then chose the left-hand one. He wanted nothing more than to throw the boy at Aizen and see what happened next. Unfortunately, Aizen was suppressing his reiatsu. Byakuya had no idea where the man was. Ichimaru, though… Byakuya backtracked and took the right-hand path instead. Gin might just stab the boy, but that was fine with Byakuya.
“You probably do know him.”
“Do I.”
“Yeah. He said his taichou was a snob with dark hair.”
“Did he.”
“And he said his taichou was a pansy.”
“Then he wasn’t talking about me.”
“I think he was.”
“Kuchiki.”
Byakuya glanced up, seeing the Kurotsuchis. He’d sensed them along this path, but hadn’t taken much notice of it. The Arrancar with them surprised him, though he didn’t show it. “Kurotsuchi. Do you plan to kill that?”
“No.”
“Shall I?”
“I think the plan is that he kills you, actually.” Mayuri tilted his head and smiled. Byakuya had looked down on him for far too long.
“Is it.” Byakuya was moving before the second word was out, using kidou to keep Nemu out of the battle and pin her to a wall. She was simply a doll, and he remembered Kyoraku’s hunch that if Mayuri was dead, Nemu would cease functioning. Ukitake had a feeling Nemu would go insanely homicidal, but Ukitake read too many suspense manga when he was sick in bed.
Byakuya was pleasantly surprised to see the boy, Jinta, was it? slamming that oversized bat into a minor Arrancar that had slipped up behind Mayuri and the pink-haired one. The plushie jumped from Byakuya’s shoulder and took up a fighting pose. Byakuya hid his amusement. Weak as they were, at least he had allies this time around.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Yachiru. Is this the way or is it not?”
“Ken-chan is lost again?”
“Only because I keep listening to you!”
“Then why are you listening to me?”
Zaraki thought for a minute, still backtracking from the most recent dead-end. He wondered why there were so many dead-ends. An image crossed his mind, that of Gin grinning, and suddenly he wondered if he was meant to be on this path. Gin had teased him often about getting lost…
“Ken-chan is ignoring me!”
“Che. I never ignore you. I was thinking. Can you sense anyone’s reiatsu?” That was one skill Zaraki wished he’d spent more time working on.
“Drunkie-taichou and Librarian are close!”
“How about Aizen?”
“Not yet. But there’s an Arrancar down that way!”
That would do for now. Zaraki followed the direction Yachiru pointed.
“Freaky-taichou and snob-taichou are fighting,” she reported. “So is angry-taichou. She’s already using Bankai.”
“Everyone else gets all the fun. This better be the way.”
“It is!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hitsugaya could sense the enemy up ahead, and pulled out Hyorinmaru. He could feel Matsumoto preparing as well before they turned the corner. A tall Arrancar stood there, apparently waiting.
“I wanted someone I could fight,” he said.
Hitsugaya drew himself up. “I’m Tai-“
“I know who you are. Short, with white and spiky hair, wearing Taichou robes and glaring as if it would accomplish anything. And she’s… yeah. She fits Aizen-sama’s description. Ichimaru-sama gave a more detailed description, but we’re not supposed to check quite so thoroughly.”
Matsumoto turned bright red. She was very glad Hitsugaya hadn’t turned around.
“And they told you we couldn’t fight?”
“No, not at all. But Aizen-sama said we weren’t to kill you. Ichimaru-sama wants to play with you. We’ve all learned not to get between Ichimaru-sama and his toys.”
“Toys?”
Matsumoto would describe that as growling, she decided. “You may take it easy on us, then. But we won’t take it easy on you.”
The Arrancar laughed. “You should at least know the name of the one who is going to beat you into tomorrow. I’m Noitora.” He drew out his Zanpakutou, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
“I believe Gin’s request was that there not even be bruises.”
Noitora froze. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto stared.
Aizen smiled. “Sorry to surprise you like this, but sitting and waiting was getting tiresome. Welcome to my fortress. You’ll be enjoying it much longer than most here.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I’d illustrate the battle for you, but my hands are chained to the wall.”
“Ichigo has told me about your drawings,” said Ishida. “I’ll pass, thanks.”
The noise of something cracking drew their attention.
“One hand free,” said Chad.
“Wait. You’re breaking free with muscles only?” Renji found himself wondering if the shopkeeper had ulterior motives for asking Renji to train Chad, like Renji’s death.
“The handcuffs block my reiatsu. Have to.”
“You’re gonna make me look bad,” Renji said. “We came to help you guys out…”
“Never send a Shinigami to do a Quincy’s job. They’ll botch it every time.”
“No one sent us! We-wait. Hey! We didn’t botch it!”
Ishida snickered and waited. Chad would finish breaking free; nothing could dissuade him when he was determined. In the meantime, he’d keep teasing Renji. The fukataichou made an excellent target.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I love bouncing.”
“I’ve noticed. You resemble your maker in that.” Yoruichi eyed the now-decimated room. As she’d told Kisuke, she’d be fine on her own. She’d only met one Arrancar so far, and he’d been easy to put down. She could feel reiatsu raging around the building, but unfortunately her path had yet to branch. She wanted a chance to meet up with allies; fighting was more fun when you had friends on your side.
“You stopped moving.”
“And yet your ears didn’t.”
“Heehee.”
“We shouldn’t have split up. We’re isolated now.”
“You have me…”
“That’s not what I meant. I mean it will be easier to kill us off if we’re alone. No use sitting and fretting, though.” Yoruichi broke into a run again. This path had to meet up with another sometime soon.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Nanao was bleeding. It was a small cut, from a piece of flying debris, but Kyoraku was being overdramatic, as always.
“And now the pale beauty of your hand is marred forever! What cruel tragedy!”
“It’s a scratch. It will heal.”
“But if it leaves a mark I will never be able to forgive myself.”
“You didn’t destroy that pillar. That creature did.”
“But I failed to shield my lovely-“
“Taichou. This is battle. I will get injured.”
Shunsui pouted. “At least let me wrap it with my sash.”
“It’s the only thing holding your hakama up, as you’ve illustrated many times to Ukitake-taichou.”
“But-“
“Please, Taichou. It’s fine.”
He sniffed, but glanced to the far end of the room. “Very well, Nanao-chan. But later I shall make sure it is properly attended to.”
“Of that I have no doubt.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Four dead. And you haven’t touched one.”
“I don’t need to, when you’re here, Taichou…”
SoiFon turned her back to Omaeda. “This way.”
He followed at a distance, not sure why she angrier than normal today. He wasn’t going to ask, either. Omaeda knew he wasn’t the smartest Shinigami, but he was far from the most stupid. Current opinion said Ichigo would fall into that category.
SoiFon knew exactly why she was angry. She’d been left behind like Kira, Hinamori, and Hisagi. This battle was going to be a mess for them. She couldn’t bring herself to hurt Yoruichi, no matter how hard she’d tried. At the end all she’d wanted was her Taichou’s approval once more.
At least she could make Sousuke, Gin, and Kaname pay. Maybe that would help the fukataichous. She couldn’t sense Sousuke’s reiatsu, though.
“Omaeda. Shall we go for Gin or Kaname?”
“Komamura-taichou wants Tousen.”
“Gin it is, then.”
SoiFon lead the way, stalking through the halls.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“And now another left…” Kisuke shifted his ‘compass,’ picking another path.
“Kisuke-kun!” Isshin slammed into other former Captain.
“Oh about time. Here. You take him. I’ll take the guy with you.” Ryuuken did not sound happy.
Kisuke managed to get out from under a smirking Isshin. “I don’t need distractions when I’m working.”
“Nobody loves me.”
“You lost the two little ones?” Ryuuken glanced around.
“Handed them off. Tessai and I are both quite capable.”
Tessai bowed.
Ryuuken leaned towards Kisuke, keeping his voice low. “Please take him. I’m being driven mad.”
Kisuke whipped the fan in front of his face, his eyes sparkling as he lowered his voice in turn. “But I thought you enjoyed the gigai I made for him.”
“The gigai is well-made. The man is obnoxious.”
“Well, yes. But you said you were coming to see Isshin get pummeled, did you not? And if you’re not there…”
“I thought it would take a couple of hours. Storm the fortress, beat everyone up, leave. Like the times the Shinigami raided the Quincy fortresses.”
“Touché.”
“It’s been five hours. I cannot deal with this man for that long.”
Kisuke glanced at Isshin, who was curled up in a corner moping. “We could go together, if you wish.”
“That I can deal with. More targets for his emotional instability.”
Kisuke raised his voice. “Are we here to rescue your son or mope in corners, Isshin-kun?”
Isshin stood up and smiled. “Let’s rescue Ichigo!”
Kisuke nodded. “This way first, then.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ririn cheered as Ichigo knocked the cat-Arrancar out of the air. The way he fell, there was no doubt he was dead.
Ichigo turned, saw the group, and joined them. “Ukitake-taichou. Why has no one else heard of a substitute Shinigami or seen this badge?”
“It was Shunsui’s idea.”
“Which one was he?”
“The one with the pink kimono.”
“Oh, right. There are a lot of you.”
“And we’re all here.”
“I can deal with Aizen and his army.”
“Can you.” Ukitake’s smile said he was about two sentences away from patting Ichigo on the head.
“Yeah. I’ve been training.”
Orihime ran over and joined the group, followed by a little Arrancar.
“Inoue, watch ou-“
“Wait!” Ichigo jumped in front of the little Arrancar before Ukitake could get his Zanpakutou fully out of its sheath. “This is Nell. She’s helping us.”
“Helping you?” Ukitake studied Nell.
“I healed Ithigo.”
Ukitake shrugged. “I won’t argue with that, then. You’ll have to explain to others later.”
“Yeah. There were some Arrancar watching me fight. Want to come help with them?”
“I-“
There was a burst of reiatsu in the distance, Unohana’s. Ukitake whirled around, facing the direction from which he’d come. “You have healers, you should be fine. Keep Ururu with you.” Ukitake broke into a run.
Ichigo watched him go and shrugged.
Orihime hugged Ururu before following Ichigo as he charged the female Arrancar who’d watched the earlier battle between him and Grimmjow.
*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Unohana was sure that Aizen wouldn’t attack her and Isane or order an attack on them. She didn’t have a reason for that feeling, but it was there. However, Unohana had not considered that Ichimaru might attack on his own. She’d thought he was firmly under Aizen’s thumb.
“Missed ya. Did ya miss me?” He was grinning as he retracted Shinsou, circling Unohana and Isane.
“Aizen didn’t order you to attack us.”
“Nah. He wanted me ta sit around longer. I didn’t feel like it.”
Unohana tried to keep herself between Ichimaru and Isane, but it was not easy. The man moved quickly, always looking for an opening.
“We should keep this between you and me,” Unohana said to Ichimaru. “Taichou to former Taichou.”
His grin widened. “Nah. Your zanpakutou heals. It doesn’t attack. Isane-fukataichou, though, can fight a bit.”
“She’s weaker than you.”
“I like ‘em flutterin’ an’ scared. Like Kira-kun.”
“I can fight. I’m here to take part, Taichou.”
“Ikorose, Shinsou!” He frowned. “Why are ya taichous always jumpin’ in tha way?” He pulled Shinsou out of Unohana’s shoulder.
Isane was staring, her mouth wide open. “Taichou?”
“We’re no match for him, Isane. Run.”
“But-“
“Go!”
Isane ran.
Gin laughed. It was a cold, harsh sound that Unohana had not heard before. “I love a chase. But first…” He stabbed Unohana’s stomach. “Not enough ta kill ya, but enough that ya won’t be a distraction while I play with your lovely fukataichou. Bye bye!” With a mocking wave Gin was gone, chasing after Isane. Unohana was left alone, left to internally yell at herself for splitting from the other taichous.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Shuuhei could feel Ichimaru’s reiatsu, knew that it was close and getting closer. He could also feel Isane’s. He looked at Kira, wondering what the blond was thinking.
Kira was biting his lower lip, looking at the different paths. He could feel the reiatsu as well, along with Shuuhei’s eyes.
Kon had shut up about an hour ago, after Shuuhei threatened to rip his fuzzy head off. It was welcome peace, though his jabber had been pleasantly distracting too.
“This way.” Kira pointed at a path that led away from Ichimaru.
“We’re going to abandon Kotetsu?”
Kira met Shuuhei’s eyes. “I…” Kira sighed.
“For Kotetsu.” Shuuhei headed down the path he figured would intersect with Kotetsu and Ichimaru. He felt Kira follow him a few moments later. One word at a time Shuuhei planned out his apology to Kira, knowing that Kira probably would not forgive him.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Next chapter may take a bit longer. Just had a series of projects land on my desk, and at work is where I do a lot of my writing. But I've already started it. :)
Rating: pg-13 for violence
Pairings: Shunsui/Ukitake, Isshin/Ryuuken, Gin/Rangiku
Spoilers: Everywhere. Seriously. Liek woah.
First chapter can be found at: http://nadat.livejournal.com/47532.html
~*~
Tousen walked through the halls with Wonderwiess trailing along behind him. He could feel the reiatsu of his former comrades. “They know not what they do,” he said. Wonderwiess didn’t answer; the Arrancar rarely did. That was part of why Tousen didn’t mind Wonderwiess. This Arrancar wasn’t arrogant or proud, didn’t go around trying to kill for the sake of killing.
Wonderwiess skipped on ahead to a window. “Hat.”
“Hm?” Tousen joined Wonderwiess, unsure of what the Arrancar was seeing.
“Want the hat.”
Well, that was unhelpful. Tousen could sense several Taichou-level reiatsus in the general area, as well as fukataichou and weaker. He knew that Kyoraku wore a hat, but could also tell that Kyoraku was not in the area Wonderwiess was viewing.
“He wants Kisuke’s hat,” Ichimaru said from behind them.
Tousen hated everything about Gin, including the way Ichimaru always suppressed his reiatsu so he could sneak up on everyone.
“I wasn’t aware that Kisuke wore a hat.”
“Floppy thing. Green an’ white. But then, ya wouldn’t know what green or white was, would ya.”
Tousen ignored Ichimaru. “Don’t try to take it. It’s not worth the possible bloodshed.”
“Bloodshed this, bloodshed that. Ya know that Komamura’s here? He wants ta kill you. So does Shuuhei. And I can feel Zaraki runnin’ around in circles. Good thing Yachiru’s not on our side. Ya think he’s angry that ya ran from the battle last time?”
“Come along, Wonderwiess.” Tousen walked away from Ichimaru. It would not do to continue this conversation.
Ichimaru watched him go, grinning the whole time. Messing with Tousen was one of his favorite games. He peered out the window and spotted Ukitake with a little girl. “Wonder if ya feed her candy too,” Gin said. He considered the different groups moving around, trying to decide who he wanted to mess with. “Ran and little Shiro are for later. Maybe Kira-kun.” He remembered Aizen telling him to wait a bit longer and sighed. “Maybe I’ll ‘accidently’ run into a couple o’ healers.” He wandered off.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Byakuya kept counting to ten in his head, slowly. It wasn’t helping. They’d dealt with three weaker Arrancar, and the boy kept jabbering on about his prowess. Shoving the boy at an Arrancar hadn’t helped, either. The boy killed it.
“And that was when we untangled freeloader-san. But Urahara-san won’t let him forget it. Think we’ll run into him here? I know he’s here somewhere.”
“Of course Urahara is here somewhere. You were with him five hours ago. Have you already forgotten?” And I wish you’d stayed with him, he added mentally.
“Not him. Freeloader-san.”
“I have no idea.”
“Do you know him? I mean, you’re all Shinigami, right?”
“I have no idea.”
“You have to know him. He’s awesome when he’s not being an idiot.”
“I have no idea.”
“Is that all you can say?”
“I have no idea.”
“You’re the worst person to be paired with. At least freeloader-san tries to be funny when he’s not scrubbing down the shop.”
“Does he.” Byakuya paused at a fork in the path, and then chose the left-hand one. He wanted nothing more than to throw the boy at Aizen and see what happened next. Unfortunately, Aizen was suppressing his reiatsu. Byakuya had no idea where the man was. Ichimaru, though… Byakuya backtracked and took the right-hand path instead. Gin might just stab the boy, but that was fine with Byakuya.
“You probably do know him.”
“Do I.”
“Yeah. He said his taichou was a snob with dark hair.”
“Did he.”
“And he said his taichou was a pansy.”
“Then he wasn’t talking about me.”
“I think he was.”
“Kuchiki.”
Byakuya glanced up, seeing the Kurotsuchis. He’d sensed them along this path, but hadn’t taken much notice of it. The Arrancar with them surprised him, though he didn’t show it. “Kurotsuchi. Do you plan to kill that?”
“No.”
“Shall I?”
“I think the plan is that he kills you, actually.” Mayuri tilted his head and smiled. Byakuya had looked down on him for far too long.
“Is it.” Byakuya was moving before the second word was out, using kidou to keep Nemu out of the battle and pin her to a wall. She was simply a doll, and he remembered Kyoraku’s hunch that if Mayuri was dead, Nemu would cease functioning. Ukitake had a feeling Nemu would go insanely homicidal, but Ukitake read too many suspense manga when he was sick in bed.
Byakuya was pleasantly surprised to see the boy, Jinta, was it? slamming that oversized bat into a minor Arrancar that had slipped up behind Mayuri and the pink-haired one. The plushie jumped from Byakuya’s shoulder and took up a fighting pose. Byakuya hid his amusement. Weak as they were, at least he had allies this time around.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Yachiru. Is this the way or is it not?”
“Ken-chan is lost again?”
“Only because I keep listening to you!”
“Then why are you listening to me?”
Zaraki thought for a minute, still backtracking from the most recent dead-end. He wondered why there were so many dead-ends. An image crossed his mind, that of Gin grinning, and suddenly he wondered if he was meant to be on this path. Gin had teased him often about getting lost…
“Ken-chan is ignoring me!”
“Che. I never ignore you. I was thinking. Can you sense anyone’s reiatsu?” That was one skill Zaraki wished he’d spent more time working on.
“Drunkie-taichou and Librarian are close!”
“How about Aizen?”
“Not yet. But there’s an Arrancar down that way!”
That would do for now. Zaraki followed the direction Yachiru pointed.
“Freaky-taichou and snob-taichou are fighting,” she reported. “So is angry-taichou. She’s already using Bankai.”
“Everyone else gets all the fun. This better be the way.”
“It is!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hitsugaya could sense the enemy up ahead, and pulled out Hyorinmaru. He could feel Matsumoto preparing as well before they turned the corner. A tall Arrancar stood there, apparently waiting.
“I wanted someone I could fight,” he said.
Hitsugaya drew himself up. “I’m Tai-“
“I know who you are. Short, with white and spiky hair, wearing Taichou robes and glaring as if it would accomplish anything. And she’s… yeah. She fits Aizen-sama’s description. Ichimaru-sama gave a more detailed description, but we’re not supposed to check quite so thoroughly.”
Matsumoto turned bright red. She was very glad Hitsugaya hadn’t turned around.
“And they told you we couldn’t fight?”
“No, not at all. But Aizen-sama said we weren’t to kill you. Ichimaru-sama wants to play with you. We’ve all learned not to get between Ichimaru-sama and his toys.”
“Toys?”
Matsumoto would describe that as growling, she decided. “You may take it easy on us, then. But we won’t take it easy on you.”
The Arrancar laughed. “You should at least know the name of the one who is going to beat you into tomorrow. I’m Noitora.” He drew out his Zanpakutou, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
“I believe Gin’s request was that there not even be bruises.”
Noitora froze. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto stared.
Aizen smiled. “Sorry to surprise you like this, but sitting and waiting was getting tiresome. Welcome to my fortress. You’ll be enjoying it much longer than most here.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I’d illustrate the battle for you, but my hands are chained to the wall.”
“Ichigo has told me about your drawings,” said Ishida. “I’ll pass, thanks.”
The noise of something cracking drew their attention.
“One hand free,” said Chad.
“Wait. You’re breaking free with muscles only?” Renji found himself wondering if the shopkeeper had ulterior motives for asking Renji to train Chad, like Renji’s death.
“The handcuffs block my reiatsu. Have to.”
“You’re gonna make me look bad,” Renji said. “We came to help you guys out…”
“Never send a Shinigami to do a Quincy’s job. They’ll botch it every time.”
“No one sent us! We-wait. Hey! We didn’t botch it!”
Ishida snickered and waited. Chad would finish breaking free; nothing could dissuade him when he was determined. In the meantime, he’d keep teasing Renji. The fukataichou made an excellent target.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I love bouncing.”
“I’ve noticed. You resemble your maker in that.” Yoruichi eyed the now-decimated room. As she’d told Kisuke, she’d be fine on her own. She’d only met one Arrancar so far, and he’d been easy to put down. She could feel reiatsu raging around the building, but unfortunately her path had yet to branch. She wanted a chance to meet up with allies; fighting was more fun when you had friends on your side.
“You stopped moving.”
“And yet your ears didn’t.”
“Heehee.”
“We shouldn’t have split up. We’re isolated now.”
“You have me…”
“That’s not what I meant. I mean it will be easier to kill us off if we’re alone. No use sitting and fretting, though.” Yoruichi broke into a run again. This path had to meet up with another sometime soon.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Nanao was bleeding. It was a small cut, from a piece of flying debris, but Kyoraku was being overdramatic, as always.
“And now the pale beauty of your hand is marred forever! What cruel tragedy!”
“It’s a scratch. It will heal.”
“But if it leaves a mark I will never be able to forgive myself.”
“You didn’t destroy that pillar. That creature did.”
“But I failed to shield my lovely-“
“Taichou. This is battle. I will get injured.”
Shunsui pouted. “At least let me wrap it with my sash.”
“It’s the only thing holding your hakama up, as you’ve illustrated many times to Ukitake-taichou.”
“But-“
“Please, Taichou. It’s fine.”
He sniffed, but glanced to the far end of the room. “Very well, Nanao-chan. But later I shall make sure it is properly attended to.”
“Of that I have no doubt.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Four dead. And you haven’t touched one.”
“I don’t need to, when you’re here, Taichou…”
SoiFon turned her back to Omaeda. “This way.”
He followed at a distance, not sure why she angrier than normal today. He wasn’t going to ask, either. Omaeda knew he wasn’t the smartest Shinigami, but he was far from the most stupid. Current opinion said Ichigo would fall into that category.
SoiFon knew exactly why she was angry. She’d been left behind like Kira, Hinamori, and Hisagi. This battle was going to be a mess for them. She couldn’t bring herself to hurt Yoruichi, no matter how hard she’d tried. At the end all she’d wanted was her Taichou’s approval once more.
At least she could make Sousuke, Gin, and Kaname pay. Maybe that would help the fukataichous. She couldn’t sense Sousuke’s reiatsu, though.
“Omaeda. Shall we go for Gin or Kaname?”
“Komamura-taichou wants Tousen.”
“Gin it is, then.”
SoiFon lead the way, stalking through the halls.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“And now another left…” Kisuke shifted his ‘compass,’ picking another path.
“Kisuke-kun!” Isshin slammed into other former Captain.
“Oh about time. Here. You take him. I’ll take the guy with you.” Ryuuken did not sound happy.
Kisuke managed to get out from under a smirking Isshin. “I don’t need distractions when I’m working.”
“Nobody loves me.”
“You lost the two little ones?” Ryuuken glanced around.
“Handed them off. Tessai and I are both quite capable.”
Tessai bowed.
Ryuuken leaned towards Kisuke, keeping his voice low. “Please take him. I’m being driven mad.”
Kisuke whipped the fan in front of his face, his eyes sparkling as he lowered his voice in turn. “But I thought you enjoyed the gigai I made for him.”
“The gigai is well-made. The man is obnoxious.”
“Well, yes. But you said you were coming to see Isshin get pummeled, did you not? And if you’re not there…”
“I thought it would take a couple of hours. Storm the fortress, beat everyone up, leave. Like the times the Shinigami raided the Quincy fortresses.”
“Touché.”
“It’s been five hours. I cannot deal with this man for that long.”
Kisuke glanced at Isshin, who was curled up in a corner moping. “We could go together, if you wish.”
“That I can deal with. More targets for his emotional instability.”
Kisuke raised his voice. “Are we here to rescue your son or mope in corners, Isshin-kun?”
Isshin stood up and smiled. “Let’s rescue Ichigo!”
Kisuke nodded. “This way first, then.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ririn cheered as Ichigo knocked the cat-Arrancar out of the air. The way he fell, there was no doubt he was dead.
Ichigo turned, saw the group, and joined them. “Ukitake-taichou. Why has no one else heard of a substitute Shinigami or seen this badge?”
“It was Shunsui’s idea.”
“Which one was he?”
“The one with the pink kimono.”
“Oh, right. There are a lot of you.”
“And we’re all here.”
“I can deal with Aizen and his army.”
“Can you.” Ukitake’s smile said he was about two sentences away from patting Ichigo on the head.
“Yeah. I’ve been training.”
Orihime ran over and joined the group, followed by a little Arrancar.
“Inoue, watch ou-“
“Wait!” Ichigo jumped in front of the little Arrancar before Ukitake could get his Zanpakutou fully out of its sheath. “This is Nell. She’s helping us.”
“Helping you?” Ukitake studied Nell.
“I healed Ithigo.”
Ukitake shrugged. “I won’t argue with that, then. You’ll have to explain to others later.”
“Yeah. There were some Arrancar watching me fight. Want to come help with them?”
“I-“
There was a burst of reiatsu in the distance, Unohana’s. Ukitake whirled around, facing the direction from which he’d come. “You have healers, you should be fine. Keep Ururu with you.” Ukitake broke into a run.
Ichigo watched him go and shrugged.
Orihime hugged Ururu before following Ichigo as he charged the female Arrancar who’d watched the earlier battle between him and Grimmjow.
*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Unohana was sure that Aizen wouldn’t attack her and Isane or order an attack on them. She didn’t have a reason for that feeling, but it was there. However, Unohana had not considered that Ichimaru might attack on his own. She’d thought he was firmly under Aizen’s thumb.
“Missed ya. Did ya miss me?” He was grinning as he retracted Shinsou, circling Unohana and Isane.
“Aizen didn’t order you to attack us.”
“Nah. He wanted me ta sit around longer. I didn’t feel like it.”
Unohana tried to keep herself between Ichimaru and Isane, but it was not easy. The man moved quickly, always looking for an opening.
“We should keep this between you and me,” Unohana said to Ichimaru. “Taichou to former Taichou.”
His grin widened. “Nah. Your zanpakutou heals. It doesn’t attack. Isane-fukataichou, though, can fight a bit.”
“She’s weaker than you.”
“I like ‘em flutterin’ an’ scared. Like Kira-kun.”
“I can fight. I’m here to take part, Taichou.”
“Ikorose, Shinsou!” He frowned. “Why are ya taichous always jumpin’ in tha way?” He pulled Shinsou out of Unohana’s shoulder.
Isane was staring, her mouth wide open. “Taichou?”
“We’re no match for him, Isane. Run.”
“But-“
“Go!”
Isane ran.
Gin laughed. It was a cold, harsh sound that Unohana had not heard before. “I love a chase. But first…” He stabbed Unohana’s stomach. “Not enough ta kill ya, but enough that ya won’t be a distraction while I play with your lovely fukataichou. Bye bye!” With a mocking wave Gin was gone, chasing after Isane. Unohana was left alone, left to internally yell at herself for splitting from the other taichous.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Shuuhei could feel Ichimaru’s reiatsu, knew that it was close and getting closer. He could also feel Isane’s. He looked at Kira, wondering what the blond was thinking.
Kira was biting his lower lip, looking at the different paths. He could feel the reiatsu as well, along with Shuuhei’s eyes.
Kon had shut up about an hour ago, after Shuuhei threatened to rip his fuzzy head off. It was welcome peace, though his jabber had been pleasantly distracting too.
“This way.” Kira pointed at a path that led away from Ichimaru.
“We’re going to abandon Kotetsu?”
Kira met Shuuhei’s eyes. “I…” Kira sighed.
“For Kotetsu.” Shuuhei headed down the path he figured would intersect with Kotetsu and Ichimaru. He felt Kira follow him a few moments later. One word at a time Shuuhei planned out his apology to Kira, knowing that Kira probably would not forgive him.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Next chapter may take a bit longer. Just had a series of projects land on my desk, and at work is where I do a lot of my writing. But I've already started it. :)