Unusual Tests

"Stop fuckin' around, Kisuke! Nelliel needs a good beating'!"

Grimmjow was furious, as expected. To someone like him—who was temperamental, short-fused, and prideful, there was no greater sin than challenging his ego. But, as it would turn out, Nelliel seemed to share some of these unsavory qualities.

"Watch yourself, Grimmjow…"

"W-why don't you both just calm down a little…" I stuttered as I tried to maintain composure. Their spiritual pressures were attacking one another furiously, with me standing right in the epicenter of the clash.

"Tsk… Lance, don't tell me you're sidin' with her?!" Grimmjow scoffed, his eyes twitching as he struggled to break eye contact. The two had been locked in a staring contest for a while now, their glares digging into each other's eyes like jackhammers.

As their spiritual pressure continued their clash, another, more ominous one engulfed the entire camp, shivers running down my spine as my knees weakened.

"Both of you can cut it out. We don't have time to be chit-chatting and playing around," Kisuke said, his eyes downcast as waves of anger pulsated off him.

"Hmph." Grimmjow groaned, turning his back to Nelliel as he retreated to his corner. She stood down moments later, now sat back down on the ruffed up couch.

As confusing as I'd found it, I somehow found the idea of battling Grimmjow, who was Espada Sexta, more troublesome than I had found my battle with Nelliel.

While Nelliel wasn't necessarily weak, it was likely more so because she didn't enjoy battling, as opposed to Grimmjow, who sought after the thrill of fighting. Whether or not one was stronger than the other still wasn't apparent, but I was still leaning towards Grimmjow, despite their ranks as Espada.

"Very good," Kisuke said, his voice suddenly cheerful. "Now, I need volunteers—Arrancar, to be specific. Those ho resides within the Spirit-Class ranks 1 through 3, to be even more specific~"

Spirit-Class was a form of categorizing the reiryoku of an individual. Depending on the amount of reiatsu the individual possessed, they would be ranked accordingly on the list. As an example, a Captain-Class Soul-Reaper's Spirit-Class was usually between 1 and 3.

Fortunately for Kisuke, he'd somehow managed to find himself 3 Arrancar who fit perfectly into those specific requirements.

"Ahh… I'm not very fond of large, sharp objects, actually…" Nelliel said, her voice stiff and monotone.

'She must be lying, right?' I thought to myself, baffled by her seemingly worried expression.

Oddly, she didn't seem to be, despite her resurrección and the transformation of her Zanpakutō.

"In that case, you two can be my guinea pigs~!"

I shot a glance over at Grimmjow, who was sporting a sickened expression, "Nah, no way. I ain't doin' favors without anythin' in return, Kisuke."

"Hmm? In that case… How about I guarantee a chance at meeting Kurosaki again?"

"Deal," Grimmjow said, immediately responding as his usual attitude swept away with the wind, replaced by a cooperative, robotic demeanor.

'Isn't Urahara a little too good at getting what he wants…'

"Wonderful. I assume you will also be taking part, Lance." Kisuke said while sporting a toothy-smile.

I knew exactly what this man had in mind, that said, I was still unsure.

"I'm not against it… Before I decide though, I need to know the date." I said.

This was incredibly important. It wasn't something I could stray away from, no matter what. I had a limited amount of time to gather the necessary skills, power, and connections before I could proceed with my plan.

One of such was gaining access to the Soul-Society before June 17th.

"The date, you ask?" Kisuke murmured.

"It's important."

He shot me a curious glance, "the fourteenth of June."

'I've got at most 3 days, then… Leaving this any longer could have some nasty repercussions…'

"Why do you ask?"

I sat myself down next to Nelliel, "I'll tell you later. Let's just get this over with."

Seemingly pleased, Kisuke got to work.

Kisuke conducted himself in a bizarre manner. His tests were random, uncoordinated. He didn't seem like he had a set goal in mind, and was more so just testing everything he could until he found a positive. With this method, it was like trying to catch a fish in an ocean with a pint-glass. While you'd likely catch one eventually, it wasn't nearly as effective as simply using a fishing rod.

But, to my dismay, the man seemed to actually gather results, and at an alarming rate. He had a three-legged tripod set up to his side, a screen-like hologram being projected above it as he typed away. The screen had information regarding both me and Grimmjow's vital signs, fluctuations of our spiritual pressure, and for some reason, our emotional frequency. That last one weirded me out a little, though. How could injecting an oven-sized needle into us even provide data like that?

Regardless of the man's unusual methods, he somehow reached a conclusion after only 3 hours of work, producing tiny little black and white pills through one of the many contraptions he had at his disposal.

"What did you have us slavin' away over, then? And what's with the rocks?" Grimmjow asked as he stretched his arms. We'd been forced into these mechanical chairs, our arms strapped as he stuck needles into us, unable to move.

I got up and matched his gestures, my arms clicking and releasing the tension, "much better…"

"They're called Shin'eiyaku. Not done yet, though. I took some samples from your reiatsu—that would explain your irritability and sudden weakness," he explained. "Currently, as you know, there's a war going on in the Soul-Society. The Captain-Class Soul-Reapers losing their Bankai was a severe kick in the teeth."

Grimmjow, his tone unimpressed, kicked his chair from under his feet and slammed the recently-repaired table. "So, what? You tryin' to steal our power and give it to them, huh?!"

"Not quite… This pill only has temporary effects, but should serve as a means of retrieving the stolen Bankai once finished."

"If you took their reiatsu… Does that mean the pill acts as a sort of hollowfication? Similar to that of the Visored?"

"That's pretty smart," I said as I agreed with Nelliel. While I already knew what the Shin'eiyaku did, feigning ignorance in front of Kisuke was the least I could do to avoid his curiosity. Appearing suspicious to Kisuke Urahara of all people wasn't on my list of things to do.

"Ha-ha. You're too kind~ It's nothing special, really." Kisuke said, flustered.

"If that's done, then what're we waitin' for? Why aren't we headin' for the Soul-Society?!" Grimmjow shouted, finally finished inspecting his Zanpakutō for any changes. Apparently, he was as paranoid as he was angry.

"They aren't finished yet. I still nee—" Kisuke began replying to Grimmjow, but was quickly cut off by two obnoxious voices.

"Hah?! Of course this is cute! What on earth would you find cute if not for this?!"

"Quiet down, you misfit… Things like that don't mean anything."

'Those voices… Couldn't they be…'