I
There were several questions regarding the Quincies that Ichigo wanted to ask Ukitake, since the latter hadn’t given him much time to do so in the real world. He was unable to ask them, however, since the minute they had stepped into the Dangai Precipice World, Ukitake went into another of his coughing fits. It continued for so long that Ichigo began to question its authenticity and suspected that he was making it up to avoid answering his questions.
When Ukitake’s seemingly nonstop coughing fit extended into its tenth minute, Ichigo couldn’t take it anymore.
“Ukitake, are you all right?”
“Fine,” Ukitake said raspingly.
“You don’t look fine,” Ichigo said. “Are you sure you don’t want to stop for a while and rest or something?”
Ukitake shook his head with what appeared to be difficulty.
“Captain, I think you should rest,” Rukia said solicitously.
She held on to her captain’s shoulders to support him as he doubled over.
“I really think you should rest,” Rukia said in a tone of finality.
Ukitake shook his head, and, when his coughing offered him a few moments’ respite, said, “The Cleaner... could appear at any time... We can’t stop now.”
“The... Cleaner?” Ichigo said, his eyes widening. His memory was as sharp as ever, and the moment the word ‘Cleaner’ sunk in, vivid memories of the black, train-like thing flashed through his mind.
“We have to go. Now,” he said in a tone of urgency, starting to walk in strides.
Everyone followed him. On a previous occasion, all of them had narrowly escaped the Cleaner, and a repetition of the incident was far from welcome. All they could do was walk as fast as they could and pray that the Cleaner didn’t show up until they reached the Soul Society.
“How much longer do we have to go?” Ichigo said as the feeling of impending doom made him panicky and more impatient and irritable than he already was.
“I don’t know,” Ukitake said weakly. He had recovered from his coughing fit and was walking as quickly as he could, with support from Rukia. “All I know is that the Cleaner is scheduled to clean the Precipice World today. It could appear now, or an hour later, or much later than that. The Cleaner is erratic, and it almost never appears at the same time on two consecutive weeks.”
“How do we know that it hasn’t already cleaned this place up?” Ichigo asked.
“See these walls?” Ukitake said, gesturing at the dark walls of the tunnel-like place. “They’re beginning to fade into the Restrictive Current. When the Cleaner finishes its job, the walls return to their former solid state for the rest of the week.”
“And how fast to these walls fade?”
“That depends,” Ukitake said. “Sometimes it fades away rapidly. At other times, it takes an age. When the walls have faded to a certain degree, the Cleaner appears. As you can see, the Restrictive Current has already eaten away at most of the—”
A grunt from Chad made Ukitake focus his attention on him.
“What is it, Chad?”
Chad pointed over his shoulder.
“I think it’s the Cleaner,” he said simply, almost as though he were making an idle remark about the weather.
Ukitake turned his gaze to where Chad was pointing, and his eyes widened.
“Good lord!” he said, pushing Rukia to walk faster. “We have to speed up or we’ll not make it!”
They broke into a run.
“Damn it!” Ichigo said, gritting his teeth in frustration. “It’s probably less than ten yards away from us!”
“Don’t talk! It’ll only slow you down!” Uryū yelled over the noise that the steadily approaching cleaner made.
Ichigo fought the urge to make a comeback and focused on running. The surge of adrenaline the urgency of the situation occasioned him gave him a boost in speed. But was it enough to escape the Cleaner in time?
“We have to use flash step!” Ichigo yelled. “Uryū, you grab onto Orihime and use that Quincy trick of yours.”
“It’s called Hirenkyaku,” Uryū said peevishly.
“Whatever,” Ichigo said. “Ukitake, you and Rukia go ahead. I’ll take Chad.”
Ukitake nodded and tightened her grip on Rukia’s shoulder.
Rukia protested that she knew flash step and would only slow her captain down, but Ukitake had already kicked off.
“Let’s go, Orihime,” Uryū said, wrapping an arm around Orihime’s waist and taking off gracefully to what would appear to be the infinite to the untrained eye.
“Damn it!” Ichigo cursed. “You’re too heavy. Flash-stepping my way out of this is gonna be difficult.”
“Can you do it?” Chad said.
“I can, but I won’t be as fast. Judging by how close the Cleaner is, we might not make it.”
The Cleaner was only a few feet behind them—close enough for an inch of the white cloth sticking out of Ichigo’s Zanpakutō’s hilt to be sucked in.
“I’ll try to slow it down,” Chad said, raising his right arm behind him as Ichigo struggled to hold onto his friend tightly.
“El Directo!” he cried, and a blast of blue energy shot out of his transformed arm, hitting the Cleaner straight in the eye (it’s safe to assume it was the eye).
Ichigo would have been incredibly foolish to turn around and see if it had worked. Instead, he put his faith in Chad’s abilities, and, concentrating all his energy into his legs, performed the longest flash step he had ever performed.
And it paid off: The Senkaimon to the Soul Society was only a few feet away when he landed.
He grinned triumphantly.
When Ukitake’s seemingly nonstop coughing fit extended into its tenth minute, Ichigo couldn’t take it anymore.
“Ukitake, are you all right?”
“Fine,” Ukitake said raspingly.
“You don’t look fine,” Ichigo said. “Are you sure you don’t want to stop for a while and rest or something?”
Ukitake shook his head with what appeared to be difficulty.
“Captain, I think you should rest,” Rukia said solicitously.
She held on to her captain’s shoulders to support him as he doubled over.
“I really think you should rest,” Rukia said in a tone of finality.
Ukitake shook his head, and, when his coughing offered him a few moments’ respite, said, “The Cleaner... could appear at any time... We can’t stop now.”
“The... Cleaner?” Ichigo said, his eyes widening. His memory was as sharp as ever, and the moment the word ‘Cleaner’ sunk in, vivid memories of the black, train-like thing flashed through his mind.
“We have to go. Now,” he said in a tone of urgency, starting to walk in strides.
Everyone followed him. On a previous occasion, all of them had narrowly escaped the Cleaner, and a repetition of the incident was far from welcome. All they could do was walk as fast as they could and pray that the Cleaner didn’t show up until they reached the Soul Society.
“How much longer do we have to go?” Ichigo said as the feeling of impending doom made him panicky and more impatient and irritable than he already was.
“I don’t know,” Ukitake said weakly. He had recovered from his coughing fit and was walking as quickly as he could, with support from Rukia. “All I know is that the Cleaner is scheduled to clean the Precipice World today. It could appear now, or an hour later, or much later than that. The Cleaner is erratic, and it almost never appears at the same time on two consecutive weeks.”
“How do we know that it hasn’t already cleaned this place up?” Ichigo asked.
“See these walls?” Ukitake said, gesturing at the dark walls of the tunnel-like place. “They’re beginning to fade into the Restrictive Current. When the Cleaner finishes its job, the walls return to their former solid state for the rest of the week.”
“And how fast to these walls fade?”
“That depends,” Ukitake said. “Sometimes it fades away rapidly. At other times, it takes an age. When the walls have faded to a certain degree, the Cleaner appears. As you can see, the Restrictive Current has already eaten away at most of the—”
A grunt from Chad made Ukitake focus his attention on him.
“What is it, Chad?”
Chad pointed over his shoulder.
“I think it’s the Cleaner,” he said simply, almost as though he were making an idle remark about the weather.
Ukitake turned his gaze to where Chad was pointing, and his eyes widened.
“Good lord!” he said, pushing Rukia to walk faster. “We have to speed up or we’ll not make it!”
They broke into a run.
“Damn it!” Ichigo said, gritting his teeth in frustration. “It’s probably less than ten yards away from us!”
“Don’t talk! It’ll only slow you down!” Uryū yelled over the noise that the steadily approaching cleaner made.
Ichigo fought the urge to make a comeback and focused on running. The surge of adrenaline the urgency of the situation occasioned him gave him a boost in speed. But was it enough to escape the Cleaner in time?
“We have to use flash step!” Ichigo yelled. “Uryū, you grab onto Orihime and use that Quincy trick of yours.”
“It’s called Hirenkyaku,” Uryū said peevishly.
“Whatever,” Ichigo said. “Ukitake, you and Rukia go ahead. I’ll take Chad.”
Ukitake nodded and tightened her grip on Rukia’s shoulder.
Rukia protested that she knew flash step and would only slow her captain down, but Ukitake had already kicked off.
“Let’s go, Orihime,” Uryū said, wrapping an arm around Orihime’s waist and taking off gracefully to what would appear to be the infinite to the untrained eye.
“Damn it!” Ichigo cursed. “You’re too heavy. Flash-stepping my way out of this is gonna be difficult.”
“Can you do it?” Chad said.
“I can, but I won’t be as fast. Judging by how close the Cleaner is, we might not make it.”
The Cleaner was only a few feet behind them—close enough for an inch of the white cloth sticking out of Ichigo’s Zanpakutō’s hilt to be sucked in.
“I’ll try to slow it down,” Chad said, raising his right arm behind him as Ichigo struggled to hold onto his friend tightly.
“El Directo!” he cried, and a blast of blue energy shot out of his transformed arm, hitting the Cleaner straight in the eye (it’s safe to assume it was the eye).
Ichigo would have been incredibly foolish to turn around and see if it had worked. Instead, he put his faith in Chad’s abilities, and, concentrating all his energy into his legs, performed the longest flash step he had ever performed.
And it paid off: The Senkaimon to the Soul Society was only a few feet away when he landed.
He grinned triumphantly.
II
Emerging from the Senkaimon in the Soul Society was a group of five haggard looking people—Ichigo, Rukia, Chad, Uryū, and Ukitake—and a girl who was as bubbly as she ever was—Orihime.
“Looks like we’ve made it,” Ichigo observed.
“Great observation, Ichigo!” Rukia said peevishly. You can’t blame her: anyone would become peevish if Chad fell on them and refused to budge.
“Chad, you’re squishing her,” Uryū said, holding out a hand to help Chad to his feet. “Whoa!”
What Uryū hadn’t accounted for was the fact that in order to get someone as bulky as Chad onto his feet, one needed to exert himself to the limit, and that’s precisely what Uryū hadn’t done. As a result, instead of lifting Chad up by so much as an inch, Uryū found his own weight augmenting the enormous amount already on top of Rukia.
“You guys, this is no time for a threesome!” Ichigo said. “We have to meet the Head Captain.”
Rukia should have liked to direct a swearword in Ichigo’s direction, but the fact that she had had the wind knocked out of her made it very difficult for her to give wind to anything except a groan—but even that sounded stifled.
“Don’t worry, Rukia,” Ukitake said reassuringly. “I’ll get you out of there. Hado Number 1: Shō!”
Both Uryū and Chad were blasted off their feet as an invisible force hit them. They landed after a few moments some dozen feet away from where they’d been sitting on top of Rukia.
“Sorry about that,” Ukitake said, the hint of a sheepish smile on his face. “I hadn’t realized that even a level one Kidō spell cast by a captain could have devastating effects on humans.”
Ichigo absently remarked within himself that Ukitake probably wanted to show them that despite his physical weaknesses, he was worthy of being a captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads.
“Are you two all right?” Ukitake asked, walking up to Chad and Uryū, wisely choosing to refrain from offering his hand to the latter.
“I’ve felt better,” Uryū said, wincing as he got up. He placed two hands on his lower back and pushed on it so as to be able to stand straight. Once a straight posture was achieved, he proceeded to test his joints by moving them—he was sure he’d broken an ankle (or both) when he landed in a heap after that flight. Even more than his body, his Quincy Honor was hurt.
Chad grunted to indicate that he was neither fine, nor too bad.
Ukitake nodded.
“That’s good to hear,” he said, adding in an undertone that only Uryū and his sharp, prying ears could hear, “because otherwise I might not be given a Real World mission for a long, long time.”
“Well, hello there!”
“Mr. Urahara!” Ichigo exclaimed, responding reflexively to the voice, and whirling around to regard its owner.
Urahara smiled indulgently at him and his companions.
“I couldn’t say ‘It’s been a long time,’ since it really hasn’t,” he said, laughing at his own joke when nobody else did.
His mouth, which had heretofore been curved in a smile, straightened into a straight line, before curving downward in a frown that indicated ambivalence.
“What? Did somebody die or something? Why’re you behaving so glum?”
Ichigo started as though he’d been disturbed from a wet half-dream, and stammered something about thinking.
“Thinking about what?”
Ichigo scratched the back of his head as was his habit whenever he searched for a lie. One would, therefore, be right in assuming that lies are stowed away at the very back of the head.
Knowing that the lie he came up with would not give sufficient verisimilitude, Ichigo shrugged in defeat.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Urahara raised an eyebrow, but the act went wasted, since his eyebrows were hidden in the shadow his hat cast on his face.
“Well,” he said, “I was kinda expecting a more enthusiastic greeting. I thought you’d be more surprised than this to learn that I’m a Soul Reaper.”
“I already knew you were,” Ichigo said. “Yoruichi told me.” he added reluctantly, realizing that nobody would buy the idea of his reaching the conclusion using his own intelligence.
“And besides,” Uryū said, straightening his glasses even though they scarcely needed to be straightened, “Ukitake already told us all about your becoming captain again.”
“Did he now?” Urahara said, turning to the Squad 13 Captain and casting him a mildly reproachful look, from which the latter shrunk like a bat from a car’s headlights.
“Well anyway,” Urahara said, sighing, and averting his gaze from Ukitake, “it looks like I’ve failed to surprise you. That was the only reason I came here. Well, I guess to make up for it, I’ll be your host for today. Not that you need to be shown around the place or anything: You’ve already been here before!”
Ichigo nodded nonchalantly. Nonchalantly, because he wanted to practice for the event of meeting Byakuya. The latter would doubtless expect him to say something stupid, and would doubtless have a patronizing retort on the tip of his tongue. But no, Ichigo was going to surprise him by nodding curtly and walking away from him unsmilingly. The bewildered Captain of Squad 6 would probably ask him why he wasn’t trying to talk to him like he always did, to which Ichigo would answer, “Two can play the same game,” and continue walking with his nose held high.
“Ichigo!”
Ichigo snapped back to reality.
“Are you sick or something?” Urahara said solicitously. “You spaced out back there. I had to call your name thrice.”
“I’m fine,” Ichigo said with an airy wave of his hand. “Absolutely fine.”
“Looks like we’ve made it,” Ichigo observed.
“Great observation, Ichigo!” Rukia said peevishly. You can’t blame her: anyone would become peevish if Chad fell on them and refused to budge.
“Chad, you’re squishing her,” Uryū said, holding out a hand to help Chad to his feet. “Whoa!”
What Uryū hadn’t accounted for was the fact that in order to get someone as bulky as Chad onto his feet, one needed to exert himself to the limit, and that’s precisely what Uryū hadn’t done. As a result, instead of lifting Chad up by so much as an inch, Uryū found his own weight augmenting the enormous amount already on top of Rukia.
“You guys, this is no time for a threesome!” Ichigo said. “We have to meet the Head Captain.”
Rukia should have liked to direct a swearword in Ichigo’s direction, but the fact that she had had the wind knocked out of her made it very difficult for her to give wind to anything except a groan—but even that sounded stifled.
“Don’t worry, Rukia,” Ukitake said reassuringly. “I’ll get you out of there. Hado Number 1: Shō!”
Both Uryū and Chad were blasted off their feet as an invisible force hit them. They landed after a few moments some dozen feet away from where they’d been sitting on top of Rukia.
“Sorry about that,” Ukitake said, the hint of a sheepish smile on his face. “I hadn’t realized that even a level one Kidō spell cast by a captain could have devastating effects on humans.”
Ichigo absently remarked within himself that Ukitake probably wanted to show them that despite his physical weaknesses, he was worthy of being a captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads.
“Are you two all right?” Ukitake asked, walking up to Chad and Uryū, wisely choosing to refrain from offering his hand to the latter.
“I’ve felt better,” Uryū said, wincing as he got up. He placed two hands on his lower back and pushed on it so as to be able to stand straight. Once a straight posture was achieved, he proceeded to test his joints by moving them—he was sure he’d broken an ankle (or both) when he landed in a heap after that flight. Even more than his body, his Quincy Honor was hurt.
Chad grunted to indicate that he was neither fine, nor too bad.
Ukitake nodded.
“That’s good to hear,” he said, adding in an undertone that only Uryū and his sharp, prying ears could hear, “because otherwise I might not be given a Real World mission for a long, long time.”
“Well, hello there!”
“Mr. Urahara!” Ichigo exclaimed, responding reflexively to the voice, and whirling around to regard its owner.
Urahara smiled indulgently at him and his companions.
“I couldn’t say ‘It’s been a long time,’ since it really hasn’t,” he said, laughing at his own joke when nobody else did.
His mouth, which had heretofore been curved in a smile, straightened into a straight line, before curving downward in a frown that indicated ambivalence.
“What? Did somebody die or something? Why’re you behaving so glum?”
Ichigo started as though he’d been disturbed from a wet half-dream, and stammered something about thinking.
“Thinking about what?”
Ichigo scratched the back of his head as was his habit whenever he searched for a lie. One would, therefore, be right in assuming that lies are stowed away at the very back of the head.
Knowing that the lie he came up with would not give sufficient verisimilitude, Ichigo shrugged in defeat.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Urahara raised an eyebrow, but the act went wasted, since his eyebrows were hidden in the shadow his hat cast on his face.
“Well,” he said, “I was kinda expecting a more enthusiastic greeting. I thought you’d be more surprised than this to learn that I’m a Soul Reaper.”
“I already knew you were,” Ichigo said. “Yoruichi told me.” he added reluctantly, realizing that nobody would buy the idea of his reaching the conclusion using his own intelligence.
“And besides,” Uryū said, straightening his glasses even though they scarcely needed to be straightened, “Ukitake already told us all about your becoming captain again.”
“Did he now?” Urahara said, turning to the Squad 13 Captain and casting him a mildly reproachful look, from which the latter shrunk like a bat from a car’s headlights.
“Well anyway,” Urahara said, sighing, and averting his gaze from Ukitake, “it looks like I’ve failed to surprise you. That was the only reason I came here. Well, I guess to make up for it, I’ll be your host for today. Not that you need to be shown around the place or anything: You’ve already been here before!”
Ichigo nodded nonchalantly. Nonchalantly, because he wanted to practice for the event of meeting Byakuya. The latter would doubtless expect him to say something stupid, and would doubtless have a patronizing retort on the tip of his tongue. But no, Ichigo was going to surprise him by nodding curtly and walking away from him unsmilingly. The bewildered Captain of Squad 6 would probably ask him why he wasn’t trying to talk to him like he always did, to which Ichigo would answer, “Two can play the same game,” and continue walking with his nose held high.
“Ichigo!”
Ichigo snapped back to reality.
“Are you sick or something?” Urahara said solicitously. “You spaced out back there. I had to call your name thrice.”
“I’m fine,” Ichigo said with an airy wave of his hand. “Absolutely fine.”
III
“Now,” Urahara said, leading Ichigo and his friends into his office in the 5th Squad’s barracks, “there are certain things that you need to know before we get down to business.”
“Business?” Uryū said with a wary glint in his eye. “Quincies are not ‘business’,” he said with dignity.
“Not so loudly!” Urahara said. “If a Soul Reaper other than me were to hear that, you’d be in big trouble.”
“Yeah, Uryū,” Ichigo said. “Whose side are you on?”
“I’m not on the side of the Quincies,” Uryū said with asperity, adding in an undertone that he supported the Soul Reapers.
“You made it sound like something else,” Urahara said.
“I was referring to the Quincy race, and not the organization which has now proved a threat to the peace of all dimensions,” Uryū said.
“In any case, there are certain things you need to know about the Quincies before you can join our ranks and fight with us,” Urahara said.
“We’re listening,” Ichigo said.
“Great. So the first thing about Quincies is that they’re a very proud people. They know no mercy. On top of that, they’re extremely powerful, as well,” Urahara explained.
Ichigo felt the need to say, “But Uryū’s not all that strong.”
Uryū winced.
Urahara laughed.
“Uryū’s a different case. His Quincy powers haven’t developed to that level yet. In fact,—correct me if I’m wrong, Uryū—Uryū’s grandfather had fled Quincy Lala-land long before Uryū was born. As a result, he didn’t have access to the specialized Quincy Training Environment.”
“Quincy Lala-land?” Uryū said.
“That’s what I like to call the Quincy Dimension,” Urahara said, hiding his wide grin behind his fan.
“So these Quincies,” Ichigo said; “they’re really powerful, huh?”
“You have no idea,” Urahara said. “Compared to them, Uryū doesn’t even qualify for a Quincy.”
Uryū straightened his glasses on the bridge of his nose self-consciously.
Just then, Yoruichi entered the room.
“Kisuke, the Head Captain wants to see the both of us now.”
“Ah,” Urahara said. “Well, Ichigo, I guess I need to go now.”
Ichigo nodded.
“I’ll answer all your questions once I return,” Urahara went on.
“Business?” Uryū said with a wary glint in his eye. “Quincies are not ‘business’,” he said with dignity.
“Not so loudly!” Urahara said. “If a Soul Reaper other than me were to hear that, you’d be in big trouble.”
“Yeah, Uryū,” Ichigo said. “Whose side are you on?”
“I’m not on the side of the Quincies,” Uryū said with asperity, adding in an undertone that he supported the Soul Reapers.
“You made it sound like something else,” Urahara said.
“I was referring to the Quincy race, and not the organization which has now proved a threat to the peace of all dimensions,” Uryū said.
“In any case, there are certain things you need to know about the Quincies before you can join our ranks and fight with us,” Urahara said.
“We’re listening,” Ichigo said.
“Great. So the first thing about Quincies is that they’re a very proud people. They know no mercy. On top of that, they’re extremely powerful, as well,” Urahara explained.
Ichigo felt the need to say, “But Uryū’s not all that strong.”
Uryū winced.
Urahara laughed.
“Uryū’s a different case. His Quincy powers haven’t developed to that level yet. In fact,—correct me if I’m wrong, Uryū—Uryū’s grandfather had fled Quincy Lala-land long before Uryū was born. As a result, he didn’t have access to the specialized Quincy Training Environment.”
“Quincy Lala-land?” Uryū said.
“That’s what I like to call the Quincy Dimension,” Urahara said, hiding his wide grin behind his fan.
“So these Quincies,” Ichigo said; “they’re really powerful, huh?”
“You have no idea,” Urahara said. “Compared to them, Uryū doesn’t even qualify for a Quincy.”
Uryū straightened his glasses on the bridge of his nose self-consciously.
Just then, Yoruichi entered the room.
“Kisuke, the Head Captain wants to see the both of us now.”
“Ah,” Urahara said. “Well, Ichigo, I guess I need to go now.”
Ichigo nodded.
“I’ll answer all your questions once I return,” Urahara went on.
IV
“Do you know why I have called you here?” Head Captain Yamamoto said, regarding Urahara and Yoruichi from his seat on the other side of the large table in his office.
Yoruichi and Urahara shook their heads.
“It is because there is still a void in the Captaincy of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads,” Yamamoto said.
“The Third Squad,” Yoruichi said. “Have you found a suitable candidate, sir?”
Yamamoto nodded.
“As a matter of fact, I have. Captain Urahara,” he said, turning to Urahara, “what is the status of Isshin Kurosaki?”
Urahara smiled.
“By now, I think it’s likely that he’s completely regained his spiritual energy.”
“Those gigais are really something, Kisuke,” Yoruichi said.
Yamamoto nodded.
“Then I will send someone to the World of the Living to escort him to the Soul Society.”
“I’ll go,” Urahara said.
“All right, then,” Yamamoto said. “There’s just one more thing: What about Isshin Kurosaki’s daughters?”
“Tessai can take care of their gigais.”
“Very well, then,” Yamamoto said. “Bring all three of them.”
Yoruichi and Urahara shook their heads.
“It is because there is still a void in the Captaincy of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads,” Yamamoto said.
“The Third Squad,” Yoruichi said. “Have you found a suitable candidate, sir?”
Yamamoto nodded.
“As a matter of fact, I have. Captain Urahara,” he said, turning to Urahara, “what is the status of Isshin Kurosaki?”
Urahara smiled.
“By now, I think it’s likely that he’s completely regained his spiritual energy.”
“Those gigais are really something, Kisuke,” Yoruichi said.
Yamamoto nodded.
“Then I will send someone to the World of the Living to escort him to the Soul Society.”
“I’ll go,” Urahara said.
“All right, then,” Yamamoto said. “There’s just one more thing: What about Isshin Kurosaki’s daughters?”
“Tessai can take care of their gigais.”
“Very well, then,” Yamamoto said. “Bring all three of them.”
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