Harry couldn't believe the latest piece of information that Captain Ukitake shared with him.
"This can't be right," Harry protested, his eyes pleading with Captain Ukitake for a different answer. But the usually gentle captain of squad 13 remained resolute, his expression grim, confirming Harry's worst fears.
When Harry learned that the Head Captain called an emergency Captains' meeting, he thought it was something to do with a Hollow incursion. Recently, several Menos-level hollows have been trespassing into the World of the Living at an unprecedented rate. Even Squad 13 was stretched thin to compensate for the manpower needed to secure the humans from the recurring incursions. Those incursions were happening all over the world, stretching the shinigami squadrons thin and leaving Soul Society understaffed.
Already, their ability to patrol the closer Rukongai districts was dropping fast. At this rate, even Harry was considering pulling back his remaining subordinates from their patrol duties in the Rukongai to bolster shinigami presence in the human world. The shortage of Shinigami was such that Harry had to take an increasing number of duties in the human world to dispatch hollows. He also had to deal with other strange anomalies cropping up due to too many spiritual pressures coalescing in the World of the Living.
As if all these problems were not enough, he was now faced with the impending trouble of Rukia Kuchiki. That blasted woman had gone ahead and transferred her spiritual powers to a human!
'Why the fuck did she do that?' Harry mentally screamed.
He couldn't fathom why someone so withdrawn like Rukia Kuchiki would transfer her powers to a random human. It didn't make much sense. Besides, he had been monitoring her communications until recently, and she never told him about this.
"Why would she do this? She never mentioned anything about a human or transferring her powers to one." Harry muttered dejectedly.
"We don't know. Squad 12 only became aware because they had increased surveillance on Rukia's position due to your continuous appeals to check the faulty readings shown by the spirit detector carried by Kuchiki-san." Captain Ukitake said.
"Oh." Harry muttered.
On the one hand, he was relieved that he would not be blamed for Rukia's actions, as he had repeatedly requested Squad 12 to take notice of the faulty readings they were getting from Rukia's spirit detector. But at the same time, he didn't like the fact that one of his subordinates committed such a horrendous crime right under his nose. To disturb the natural span of human life was a desecration of the natural law. The shinigami exists to safeguard the natural span of human life in the World of the Living and keep all spiritual interference at bay instead of influencing human life.
Rukia Kuchiki was aware of this task more than anyone else. The blasted woman was part of one of the noble clans of Seireitei, for the Reio's sake! So, Harry wondered why she'd transfer her spiritual powers to a human she met on the mission and refuse to inform anyone from Squad 13.
"Permission to apprehend Rukia Kuchiki and bring her to Seireitei to answer for her crimes," Harry requested, his head bowed low.
After all, he was the one who sent her to Karakura Town. It was his duty to bring her back and punish her for her crimes.
"Denied, Lieutenant." said Captain Ukitake.
"Buty sir…" Harry started to protest.
"Head Captain's orders, Lieutenant Harry." Captain Ukitake said with a sigh, "The Central 46 has convened, and they have ordered the Head Captain to send Captain Kuchiki and Lieutenant Abarai to capture Rukia and bring her to justice."
Harry just gaped at the Captain Ukitake upon hearing that.
"The Central 46 ordered the Head Captain?" Harry asked incredulously.
That was the second unusual piece of information Harry came across in the span of a few minutes. The Central 46 hardly ever interfered in the work of the Gotei 13. If they did, it was mostly something to do with Rukongai or even an internal security matter or a matter related to one of the noble houses…
Harry's eyes widened as he realised why the Central 46 was interfering.
"Do you think the Kuchiki clan is exerting pressure on the Central 46 to get Rukia off the hook?" Harry asked his captain.
"I do not know. It is strange that the Central 46 would interfere this early, especially when Squad 12 had only just found out about Rukia's mishap." Captain Ukiatake said with a thoughtful frown.
That comment also made Harry frown. If Squad 12 had only recently found out, then it didn't make sense that the Kuchiki clan became aware and found enough time to exert their influence on the Central 46.
'Unless there is a spy in Squad 12 who reported to the Kuchiki clan.' Harry mused.
He wouldn't put it past the noble families of Soul Society to be resourceful enough to place informants in each of the squads.
"I know what you're thinking." Captain Ukitake said with a knowing look.
"Umm… Captain…" Harry played ignorant but his Captain was a man of centuries of experience.
"Please don't go around spreading rumours that the Kuchiki clan has spies in the Gotei 13. There is enough chaos as it is. We'll know more once Rukia-san is extracted from the World of the Living." said Captain Ukitake.
"Of course, Captain. Nothing of that sort will happen." Harry promised.
Although, he doubted his silence on the matter would do any good. If it were any other normal shinigami, the Onmitsukido would've sent their Keigun squad to kill the shinigami in question and be done with it. Only Rukia's noble status granted her the chance to stay alive and perhaps even a trial. In this case, he suspected Captain Kuchiki and Lieutenant Abarai would be charged with the execution of the human while Rukia went relatively safe.
This was one more reason for Harry to never seek out the wizarding world, even on the off chance he was wrong about the reality hopping. Involving mortals in the shinigami business always ended up in disaster.
"Good. Now, I have another mission for you. Squad 12 have detected several hollow incursions in the Gyeongsang province of Korea. The details will be sent to your spirit detector within the hour. Assemble a team and deal with these hollows for good."
"Yes, Captain." Harry nodded before leaving Captain Ukitake's quarters.
He wanted to stay in Seireitei to speak with Rukia once she was extracted from Karakura town, but orders were orders. He supposed he could have a talk with that stupid woman once he returned to Seireitei.
Once he received the data in the spirit detector, he immediately took a small contingent of shinigami with him, leaving Kiyone Kotetsu to take up the duties of a Lieutenant in his absence.
"Will Kuchiki-san be given leniency, sir?" Sentaro Kotsubaki asked as they neared the hell butterflies.
Harry was not the least bit surprised that word about what Rukia had done had spread across the squads. It was, after all, only a matter of time for Squad 12 to spill the beans. By now, he suspected the entirety of Seireitei must've learned about Rukia Kuchiki's actions.
"I do not know." Harry answered honestly.
"It's wasteful to think about things we have no control over. Focus on the mission ahead, Kotsubaki-san."
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Now, open the Senkaimon." Harry ordered.
Sentaro pushed his zanpakuto into the space between two hell butterflies and twisted his sword as if turning a lock. A doorway opened in the tear of space formed, connecting Soul Society to the World of the Living.
"Be on guard." Harry warned his subordinates before stepping through the doorway.
*****
Rukia ran as fast as possible with her thin legs. Her lack of spiritual power was really getting on her nerves. As she ran through the darkened roads of Karakura Town, she hoped desperately that Ichigo and Kon would remain safe. If she had stayed in the Kurosaki home for too long, she'd have brought great danger upon them. With Ichigo battling a Menos Grande and a hollow bait, which placed Karakura Town in danger, it was only a matter of time before Gotei 13 found them all.
So, she ran, putting as much distance as she physically could from Ichigo.
"Your senses have dulled, Rukia."
Rukia froze upon hearing a familiar voice. She turned her head sharply in the direction of the voice and looked upon a shadowy figure standing on an electric post. She could see the blade of the katana glinting silver under the moonlight. She blinked, and in the next moment, she found Renji standing before her, his sword shattering the floor beneath her feet and under his spirit energy.
"What is that look on your face, Rukia? You're a trained Shinigami. Yet, all I see is fear – a human emotion." Renji snarled and swung his sword against her, cutting a thin line across her cheek.
Rukia stepped back as her cheek stung with blood slowly flowing down.
"Renji! You…" Rukia stared at her childhood friend with a slew of emotions she couldn't immediately comprehend.
"Where is the human Rukia?" Renji asked, giving her a cold look.
"What are you talking about?" Rukia feigned ignorance.
"Don't play games with me, Rukia. I can feel how diminished your power is. We know some human stole your Shinigami powers. Now, where is he?"
"We?" Rukia muttered with a frown.
Suddenly, she felt the winds shift, and she found her brother a few paces behind Renji. The cold look in his onyx eyes made Rukia tremble but she steadied her heart for what lay ahead.
"There is no human involved, and no one stole my powers." Rukia lied boldly.
"You have spent too much time amongst these humans, Rukia. Even your lies lack conviction." Renji growled before catching her throat in a vice grip.
Rukia struggled against his vice grip as she battled to breathe. Just then, a bright blue arrow made of reishi pierced through the air straight for Renji. But he tilted his head, and the arrow passed harmlessly by without any incident.
"Ishida!" Rukia muttered as Renji loosened his grip on her throat.
She eyed the wounded Quincy with a troubled look as he engaged in a verbal banter with Renji.
'This is getting worse. Why did he come here? You idiot.' Rukia couldn't help but curse the arrogant quincy boy who was so callous enough to throw his life away.
But then again, Ishida was the reason the Gotei 13 became aware of her situation. If Ishida hadn't used the hollow bait to lure hollows into Karakura Town to challenge Ichigo, none of this would've happened. Still, that didn't mean she wanted him to die at Renji's hand.
"Ishida, you should leave. Please don't…" Rukia pleaded.
"I can't do that Kuchiki-san. I can't stand by and let a defenceless woman get harassed by two soul reapers."
"Who're you, kid?" Renji growled, taking a threatening step forward.
"As I said before, I'm someone who hates soul reapers. My name is Uryu Ishida."
Rukia barely held back a sigh as Ishida aired out information so callously without any self-preservation.
"Someone who hates soul reapers, you say. In that case…" Renji raised his Zanpakuto as if he was about to make a swing.
"No Renji…" Rukia screamed.
Ishida summoned his reishi bow and nocked an arrow on it, but Renji was too fast. He suddenly appeared before Ishida in blinding speed and cut through the quincy's bow and chest. Blood splattered on the street as Ishida fell unceremoniously to the ground.
"No." Rukia whispered in horror as blood started to pool beneath Ishida.
"A quincy? Really Rukia? This is the riffraff you keep company in the World of the Living. This is shameful." Renji said with a shake of his head.
Rukai's eyes widened when Renji raised his Zanpakuto to stab the downed Ishida.
"Remember this before you die, quincy. Renji Abarai… is the name of the man who killed you!" Renji smirked as he swung his sword.
"No!" Rukia screamed.
But before Renji could stab Ishida, powerful spirit energy slammed into the space between Renji and Ishida, forcing Renji to dodge backwards.
"What the…?" Renji stared at the newcomer with a frown.
Rukia could only watch in horror as what she tried to avoid came to pass. Before Rukia stood Ichigo, whom she had tried to protect from the Gotei 13.
She watched with almost a resigned expression as Ichigo and Renji fought in the middle of the street. While Ichigo slowly started to gain the upper hand with his growing spiritual pressure, even as Renji was using his Shikai, she knew it was all for nought. Her eyes strayed to her brother, who had remained aloof in a corner, watching the fight with a neutral expression.
Her eyes widened when her brother disappeared before her eyes.
'Flash step.' Rukia thought.
She looked back and saw Ichigo fall headfirst into the ground in slow motion with a gaping wound in his chest. The Zanpakuto in Ichigo's hand fell in two pieces on the ground.
"I have destroyed his soul chain. It should be enough." Byakuya said with a cold look at Rukia. "Now, let's go."
"Wait just a minute. Where are you going?" Ichigo grasped the hem of Byakuya's soul reaper uniform.
"Ichigo!" Rukia closed her eyes, unable to look at her friend's sorry state.
"I see why you care for him. He has that man's looks. I'll not strike the final blow. He'll have an hour at most to live. Now come Rukia." Byakuya said blandly as he walked away from the bleeding Ichigo without a care in the world.
Rukia had to exchange a few harsh words with Ichigo so that he wouldn't antagonise her brother any further. She desperately hoped Urahara-san could save Ichigo's and Ishida's lives. Without any complaints and a heart full of prayers for her friend's survival, she stepped through the Senkaimon and left the World of the Living behind.
*****
Footsteps echoed in the otherwise silent cave.
Aizen Sosuke paid it no heed as he pinned his eyes on the happenings shown on the screen. The ease at which Byakuya Kuchiki dealt with Ichigo Kurosaki was not surprising. However, he was impressed by the growth in power of his experiment subject. The power Ichigo Kurosaki displayed in battle against Renji Abarai was impressive for a newly made shinigami. Granted, Abarai-san was fighting with a limiter, but it was still remarkable for a human to pull it off.
Another thing that interested him was the broken sword of Kurosaki-san. He had theorised that the sword was born out of instant reishi manipulation. The ease at which Byakuya Kuchiki broke it confirmed his suspicion beyond doubt. After all, an Asauchi made by the Zero Squad was not so easily broken or dull.
The implications of that discovery were far-reaching.
"You become interesting every second of the day, Ichigo Kurosaki." Aizen muttered, pushing his glasses up his nose as he stared at the bleeding form of the young human-turned-shinigami.
"Oh no! What has happened to our young hero? Did Captain Kuchiki kill him?" Gin asked with mock concern, staring at the screen behind Aizen's seat.
"He is at death's doorstep. But knowing Kisuke Urahara, he'll find a way to save the boy's life and restore his powers." Aizen commented noncommittally.
"Ho! Good old Urahara to the rescue then." Gin shot him a cheshire grin.
"Hmm. But what is interesting is the change in the boy's friends." said Aizen.
"Huh?" Gin tilted his head to the side confusedly. '
The imagery on the screen shifted to show Orihime Inoue awakening her powers in the form of small spirits that hang on her hair in the form of hairpins. Then there was Yasutora Sado, who had the ability to transform his right arm into an armoured arm.
"Have you not noticed, Gin? Kurosaki-san's friends developed powers so suddenly. Don't you find it strange?" Aizen asked amusedly.
"I don't know, Captain Aizen. You're the man who knows this stuff." Gin shrugged disinterestedly.
"Hmm." Aizen hummed thoughtfully, "I think it's time that we stand ready to take over the esteemed Central 46."
*****
Harry slashed through the tail of a hollow that looked like a scorpion. The hollow let out a painful scream as it tried to swipe at Harry with its limbs.
"Hadou 31: Shakkaho."
A red ball of energy smashed into the face of the hollow in almost point-blank range. The hollow mask crumbled under the weight of the kido, making the hollow howl in pain. Distracted by the pain, the hollow didn't see his sword coming. His zanpakuto cut cleanly through the hollow's neck, and its body started to break into reishi particles.
"Rhaaaaa!"
"Oooooorraaah!"
More hollows howled in the distance as several more garganta opened in the sky. More and more hollows started arriving in packs, overwhelming the Shinigami squadron.
"Sentaro-san. Order everyone to converge on my position. If we stay split up, we'll be picked off one by one."
"Yes, sir."
Harry watched the fourth-seat officer run away to gather the other members of the team. Meanwhile, he gathered spirit energy into his right hand while keeping his eyes on the nearest garganta forming in the sky.
"Bakudo 62: Hyappo Ranken."
A bright white rod of spirit energy formed in his hand. Usually, the binding kido was used to pin down enemies. But Harry slightly tweaked the spell's energy with his innate magical energy. The magical energy within him was easy to mix with spirit constructs, which allowed him to mix the Bombarda spell with the kido. A slight discolouration appeared on the white rod after he applied the spell and let the rod fly.
That single rod split into twenty rods, all carrying the Bombarda spell. One by one, the rods speared into the hollows that came out of the Garganta. The hollows let out painful howls, but their miserable existence was cut short when those rods exploded one after the other. The hollows were shattered into a thousand pieces as bright explosions lit up the night sky. The human city slumbered, ignorant of the happenings of the night sky.
"Rhhhaaaa!"
Harry turned his head slightly to see a large hollow with a gorilla-like body rushing towards him with its fists raised.
"Bakudou 61: Rikujokoro."
Six wide beams of yellow light slammed into the hollow, arresting its movement and keeping it pinned on the spot. Harry took careful aim with his index finger, pointing at its forehead.
"Hadou 4: Byakuri."
A bolt of pale lightning shot out of his fingertip and punched through the hollow's forehead, killing it instantly.
"Sir, I've brought them all." Sentaro appeared before him, along with six other members of their team.
"Good. From now on, we face the hollows as a team. They have the advantage in numbers, and we need to ensure they're not getting that advantage over us."
"But sir…. There are too many souls on the streets. They'll…" one of his subordinates started to say.
"They don't matter. We employ tactics when we engage in battles Kanao-san. Right now, our focus must be killing the hollows, not protecting the souls."
"Yes, sir."
"We'll purify them after we destroy the hollows." said Harry with a sigh.
They didn't have to wait long as their spiritual pressure attracted the attention of hollows from across the city.
"That is a lot of hollows." Sentaro said with a healthy dose of fear.
Harry was also thinking the same. This many hollows showing up in the World of the Living was a rare event which required special attention on his part. He could feel the excitement from his Zanpakuto spirit in his inner world. He wondered why he was hosting a Zanpakuto spirit who was thrilled with the prospect of a fight.
"I'm your other half of the soul. My traits are your traits, you idiot." Amaterasu said with a huff.
Harry didn't contest the claim as it was true.
"Reign over the upper heavens, Amaterasu."
With a bright flash of blue light, his arms held all ten rings. But this time, the flare of spiritual pressure did not affect his surroundings, as he had a limiter placed on his body to shield the human population from being affected by the battling spiritual pressures. All the rings on his arms moved out and floated around him in a circle sans the two rings that stayed on each of his arms. The eight floating rings cackled with purple lightning as the hollows closed in on their position. With a thought, the rings rushed at the hollows, and the battle began earnestly.
An hour later, the last of the hollows were purified from the area. Harry stood over several bound hollows under a binding spell. The rest of his team were dead tired and spent. Even he was feeling the same as battling wave after wave of hollows for an hour straight with a limiter on his spiritual pressure was a terrible ordeal.
"This is the last of them, sir." Sentaro said tiredly, sweat rolling down from his cheeks and neck.
"Good." Harry muttered.
With a thought, a ring of his zanpakuto was positioned straight at the captured hollows, and a cero was fired at the bound hollows stored in the pocket dimension of his zanpakuto. The hollows were blown to dust after the cero slammed into them, augmented by his spiritual energy.
He immediately got wary looks from his subordinates because he used the standard hollow attack without a care in the world. The cero was a classic beam of energy with distinct hollow spiritual pressure. But his zanpakuto had the distinct power to hold pocket dimensions in each of the ten rings. It was similar to Captain Ukitake's zanpakuto, but unlike it, Amaterasu could store the energy in each of the ten pocket dimensions. When in need, he could replicate the energy within the pocket dimensions of his choosing.
Therefore, Benzarenza's lightning and cero were now stored in his rings to use indefinitely as he saw fit unless he dismissed the energy from the pocket dimension.
"Well, that's it then. I can no longer feel any hollows." Harry let out a sigh of relief as he searched for any spirit energy belonging to the hollows in the area and found nothing.
"The spirit meter is also not reporting anything, sir." Sentaro reported.
"Good. Contact Squad 12 and relay the message that we've dealt with the hollows. Once they give the clear, we can take our leave." Harry ordered.
He didn't know why it took Squad 12 almost five hours to give the all-clear, but Harry was relieved when they finally did. The whole mission took three days to complete, and his team was eager to return. Undoubtedly, another mission was waiting in store for them, but he hoped no more direct mission requests would come from Squad 12 for a few days. His team needed the rest, and he hoped to have them assigned to the third district of the Rukongai.
Sentaro opened the Senkaimon, allowing them to step into Soul Society. Once they neared the Squad 13 barracks, they were greeted by Kiyone Kotetsu with the news about Rukia's successful extraction and her incarceration pending trial.
AN:
To read ahead of the update schedule; pat(r) eon. C (O) M/Dragonspectre.
For artwork related to the fic:
https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf