Chapter Text
Uryū dragged his battered body in the direction of Rukia, determined to fulfill the main objective of this entire endeavor.
“…I wonder if Orihime’s ok,” he mumbled tiredly to himself. Hopefully, she was alright wherever she may be. That guy from the 11th was leagues weaker than her in terms of reiatsu.
“Hrgh!” Uryū heaved in pain as he ascended the Senzaikyû’s steps. Another sign that Uryū was at his limits. It was a damn shame that Uryū had to sacrifice all his powers to defeat that bastard of a captain, and in the end, Uryū didn’t have Mayuri’s death to show for it.
But it didn’t matter in the end, as long as he could save that foolish Kuchiki (and perhaps annoy Karin in the process by rubbing his success in her face), then all of this would be worth it.
Slowly, but surely, Uryū made his way to the top of the Repentance Palace, ready to enter and save Rukia…
Only for his plans to be snuffed out by the arrival of another captain, just as he was about to reach his god-forsaken goal .
The captain looked at Uryū mournfully. Genuine sadness and regret can be easily seen on their face.
“It’s nothing personal,” the shinigami said while gripping the hilt of his sword. “But… we must maintain the peace.”
A solitary tear rolled down the man’s right cheek.
“Howl-“
The captain’s incantation was swiftly interrupted by an endless hail of… bullets? Since when did anyone in the Seireitei use firearms? And why were those shots emitting such a strange energy?
The shinigami captain flinched at the loud noise that suddenly peppered the entire landing. Despite this, the man managed to move away from the ambush and dodged most of the projectiles. Amid the captain’s disorientation, Uryū felt someone grabbing him by the back of his collar.
“Hey, stop!” cried Uryū. “Let me go-“
Uryū suddenly lost all the air in his lungs as the wind swept at high speeds around him, his vision turning into a muted blur. A moment later, those overwhelming sensations came to an abrupt halt. Uryū gasped for breath once the motions finally ceased.
“Oi! Who goes the- Uryū!? a young and familiar voice could be heard from his side.
Said teen groaned as he picked himself off from where he had stumbled on the ground, before proceeding to blink in confusion.
No longer was Uryū in front of the Senzaikyû. Instead, his surroundings had been replaced with… a training ground?
“Wait, how did you guys get here?” another person asked
Uryū traced the location of the speaker only to come face to face with a bewildered Karin plastered on the ground, a worried Yuzu, a lithe woman with dark purple hair, and the red-haired lieutenant that was responsible for bringing in Rukia in the first place.
“What am I doing here?” Uryū asked incredulously. “What’s he doing hanging around you two? And who’s that lady over there supposed to be?” Uryū gestured at the two people he didn’t recognize.
“I’m here to save Rukia too, goddammit!” the tattooed shinigami roared.
“The purple-haired bitch is Yoruichi by the way. You know, the cat ,” Karin deadpanned in a way only done by someone who has had enough of another person’s nonsense.
“Besides, you’re one to talk,” the annoyingly loud lieutenant challenged. “Who’s the guy that barged in with you?”
Uryū was about to ask what the shinigami even meant when an amused laughter cut through their banter.
“You guys are one hell of a comedy act,” a foreign voice drawled behind Uryū.
The quincy whipped around, ready to draw his bow from reflex. However, before he could so much as flick his quincy cross, a gloved hand tightened painfully around Uryū’s wrist.
“Wo ho, easy there buddy,” Uryū’s mystery kidnapper (or perhaps savior?) placated. The person dropped Uryū’s clenched wrist in favor of raising both hands in surrender. “Wouldn’t want to start a ruckus for nothing now, do we?
The man who hauled Uryū away from the Repentance Palace wore a zipped-up, bright blue jacket that sported a fancy-looking gold design in the middle. The hoodie of which was pulled over his head, hiding the man’s hair and eyes.
In contrast to the eye-catching upper part, the man's lower half was rather subdued, consisting of a pair of plain white baggy pants and some leather work boots.
Another thing of note was the ominous purple crystal that hung from the man’s belt. The orb emitted an unusual presence, similar to what Uryū sensed from the bullet hail that halted the captain hell-bent on finishing him off.
“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to share why you brought me here?” Uryū asked with caution.
The unnamed stranger shrugged. “Are you telling me you could’ve taken out Mr. Goggles back there in your current state?
At Uryū’s lack of answer, the man proceeded to smirk in victory.
“Thought so. You should be grateful that I saved your ass in the first place,” the unwanted guest gloated.
“Kisuke never said anything about bringing in more people to the fray,” Yoruichi said sharply. Her eyes pierced right through the stranger like a cat ready to pounce on prey. “What are your intentions? And why hide yourself until now?
The man moved to sit on a nearby rock. “Well, Kisuke wasn’t the one who employed my services,” he said. “Let’s just say a… mutual friend of his had sent me this way, as a sort of insurance. I didn’t bother showing up before because all things considered, you lot were handling yourselves pretty well.”
Yoruichi continued to glare daggers at the intruder. The person sighed at the woman’s apparent distrust.
“I’m not working for the four-eyed traitor, if that’s what you’re so worried about,” the man said tersely. “Take that as you will, I don’t care. I’ve got other stuff to attend to.”
The hooded man took one last look at Uryū and the Kurosaki twins before nodding. “Don’t kick the bucket while I’m out, alright?
With a heavy crackle, the strange unknown vanished before anyone could raise a single complaint.
Three years ago
“What are we doing here?” Ichigo asked the red-clad devil hunter. “There aren’t any demons in this room? Why take the detour?”
In response, Dante ruffled the shorter boy’s hair. “Because when it comes to a job, you don’t take information for granted.” The older figure mulled around the shelves and desks, meticulously examining every nook and cranny.
“Most of the time, your client won’t have all the facts available. Or the intel you get might be outdated and spotty. Worst case scenario, your patron may be actively plotting against you.”
Dante approached a section of the chamber lined with expensive wooden panels. His face soon twisted into a grimace.
“Seems like this mission might be the latter. Come here, kid.” Dante motioned at Ichigo to come closer. “Think of it as practice for your sensing abilities. Can you feel what’s inside?”
Ichigo furrowed his brows in concentration, using his hands to send pulses through the innocent-looking wall as a sort of aid. He calmed his mind and focused on any abnormal presence near him. Sure enough, Ichigo could feel dozens of little lights from a hidden place in front of him, little lights that Ichigo had long learned were mortal souls.
“There’s still living people in there!” exclaimed Ichigo. The boy spun towards Dante urgently. “We need to save them.”
“Not quite.” Dante shook his head. “Go and take another look.”
Ichigo returned to his target, trying to feel if there was anything wrong with the souls before him.
It was well hidden, and it had integrated itself deeply into each spirit, but Ichigo could feel a wild and untamed current running through every one of them.
A telltale sign of magic, more specifically, demonic energy.
“Oh, they’re already possessed by a demon.” Ichigo wilted.
“Could also be a nasty curse or another. Either way, it’s too late for the poor folks,” Dante confirmed.
Ichigo scrunched his face in confusion. “Who are these people anyway? Why are they piled up into a space like this?”
Dante placed his hands on his hip. “My guess? I think these are all those other devil hunters our employer claimed to have died during previous ‘extermination raids’.”
Ichigo clenched his fists in silent fury. “This entire thing is a setup.”
“Right on the money, kid,” said Dante. The devil hunter himself didn’t look all that worried about their current situation. “Go and wait outside. I’ll handle things over here. Don’t go barging in before I finish, okay?”
“…Okay,” Ichigo muttered before dashing out into the hallway. It wasn’t long before screams of agony and fear reached his ears. No doubt courtesy of Dante’s victims.
“Possession is nasty business, Ichi,” Nero confessed a while back. “Your average devil will look and act monstrous. Killing them is easier on your conscience.”
Nero heaved a heavy sigh. “People who are possessed though? Regardless if they were your friend, your family, or a stranger, it doesn’t change the fact that they’re human once, and they will still look human when you kill them.
“Even if you know better, even if you know they’re not a person anymore, you can’t fully erase the guilt of having to take their lives.”
Nero patted Ichigo’s shoulder fondly. “I pray you’ll never have to deal with that, squirt.”
“You sound like you know a lot about them,” Ichigo observed.
The youngest Sparda smiled wryly. “That was my specialty in The Order. I got really good at dealing with them.”
Around fifteen minutes later, the devil hunter finally stepped out to rejoin Ichigo. “C’mon kid,” Dante coaxed. “We have a party to crash.”
Ichigo followed his guardian wordlessly. Within Ichigo’s inner world, a pair of voices were baying for the perpetrator’s blood, with varying degrees of composure.
Remind me again why we haven’t charged in and killed this Aizen guy, Shiro complained. I’m bored, King. You haven’t fought anything interesting in ages.
Have some patience, Shiro, the Old Man admonished. Ryūken couldn’t tell us the full extent of Aizen’s abilities. It would be foolish to show our cards so soon.
Yeah, Ichigo didn’t think it was a good idea to tip their hand early, either. They were running on startlingly little knowledge as it is. If Ichigo were to ever land in a confrontation against Aizen and his cronies, he would need all the advantage he could get.
But all this detective work is so dull, Shiro continued to whine. C’mon! Auntie Trish and Lady aren’t here to nag on us like mother hens. Let’s go tear some arrogant bastards a new one while we can.
‘It’s only been a few months since Redgrave,’ Ichigo argued. ‘You can’t be that starved for entertainment.’
Well, I wouldn’t be, if it weren’t for the fact you’ve been completely benched from taking any jobs, Shiro grumbled. Auntie Trish got fucked up by Urizen too, but she’s still allowed to go hunting. Meanwhile, we get saddled with administrative work.
‘To be fair, out of everyone, I feel like I did end up the worst off after that whole mess,’ Ichigo stated bitterly. ‘Auntie Trish managed to recover completely after a few days, and Nero at least received a cool devil trigger out of it. All I got was an unstable transformation via demonic infection to the soul that I still can’t get rid of.’
We’ll burn through the corruption eventually, Ichigo, the Old Man assured. Do not worry about it now, just focus on completing your current assignment.
Speaking of, where are we going anyway? Shiro asked. Why did we leave the ryoka behind? Aren’t they the ones we should be guarding?
‘Ryūken’s kid and the twins should be fine with a Shihoin guarding them. That one guy with the weird arm won’t be killed on account of him being a murder suspect, and the healer girl isn’t in any immediate danger either,’ Ichigo listed. ‘ I think we have some leeway to do a little independent investigation.’
Shiro made a noise of realization. Ohh, you wanna check out what’s up with the 46 coots huh?
Ichigo nodded to himself. ‘You felt it too, didn’t you? When I used pesquisa to track the separated ryoka? I did it near enough to the Central 46 compound that we should’ve been able to pick up on their reiatsu.’
Yeah , Shiro agreed. And yet, we didn’t feel a single soul inside of the underground building. It’s completely empty.
‘Which begs the question, how exactly have they been sending orders to expedite Rukia’s execution?’ Ichigo wondered. ‘I wonder if those orders even came from them in the first place.’
You suspect Aizen had a hand in all of this , the Old Man said. A logical suspicion. After all, it might be related to what Ryūken told us, about Aizen’s ability to trick the people around him.
So… you wanna do a little breaking and entering? Shiro questioned with budding excitement.
Ichigo smirked, halting his flash steps right in front of an obscenely large open space that leads to Central 46’s chamber. He fiddled with his purple orb, readying his catalyst in order to charge his spiritual energy into magic.
‘Of course.’
Aizen returned to the Central 46 building, eager to continue his research on the Ōken. His plan was going smoothly so far, the ryoka were proving to be excellent distractions. And whilst the Kurosaki twin’s potential comes nowhere close to their deceased brother. It was still fascinating to witness their impressive growth.
Such a shame that Aizen had lost the eldest Kurosaki child so early. He would’ve also been a wonderful subject to observe.
Aizen shook off his musings as he approached the Central’s entrance. Just as he was about to enter, Aizen stopped and eyed the modified kido barriers he had placed with the sole purpose of alerting him to anyone who crossed certain thresholds.
Or more specifically, Aizen stared at what remained of the mangled warning system, burnt and dispelled beyond repair. Aizen couldn’t sense any foreign reiatsu that should’ve clung to the destruction, causing him to be unable to identify the perpetrator.
There was, however, something that stuck to the damaged spell. An energy that Aizen has never encountered before. It felt distorted, and oddly enough, flaming hot.
Regardless, one thing is clear. Someone had managed to break into Central 46 without Aizen knowing about it until now. An unknown variable has entered the game.
Aizen’s intrigue was piqued. It wasn’t often that something managed to slip under his nose.
Descending to the lower levels, Aizen examined the Assembly hall’s kido barrier and found them in the same condition as before, with the odd presence making another appearance.
The traitorous shinigami briskly made his way to the Great Archives, it was here that Aizen made a breakthrough in his investigation.
As expected, the kido spell had been dismantled, and the disturbing energy was also present. But this time, there were signs of another person’s reiatsu intermingling with the foreign aura.
More importantly, it was a reiatsu that Aizen recognized. Though it was one he hadn’t sensed in the last five years.
Aizen smiled in glee and anticipation. Carefully rearranging his current plans in the wake of this new discovery.
It seems his old schemes designed for Ichigo Kurosaki would not go to waste after all.