10 The arrival at Soul Society!

Chapter ten.

''You're not going to join them?'' Urahara asked, nodding with his head towards to the four teenagers that were having a conversation not too far away from both of them.

''I'll be with them in a moment, but first…'' Kuromiya crossed his arms across his chest, thinking on what would be the best way to make this certain request to the man. ''You do remember that I've said I would join you in exchange of a favor, right?''

''Of course, I do!'' The blonde man answered with his trademark grin, now more interested in the conversation. ''If I remember correctly, you needed help with something, right?''

''I need you to find something.'' The blue eyed boy said, deciding to just simply got with the shortened version of it. ''There's a certain organization called Xcution, it's a group with fullbringers just like me.''

''Oh? I certainly wasn't expecting that. Your kind is quite a rarity, after all.'' Urahara mused, now both of them deciding to walk towards the other members of their newly founded rescue group. ''I should be able to learn a thing or two about them once you're back from the Soul Society.''

''Got it.'' Kuromiya nodded, satisfied with their agreement. Right now all of them where just outside of Urahara's store, and it was already many hours deep into the night.

They arrived just in time to hear Ishida screaming something about a talking black cat, much to their amusement.

''It's just a talking cat Ishida, is it really that surprising?'' Kuromiya asked as if it was just a completely normal sight.

''How wouldn't it be!?'' The quincy screamed, watching in disbelief as all his classmates accepted the fact that a talking cat existed without as much as a second thought.

Ichigo watched in barely hidden amusement Ishida's reaction, he had learned during his training with Urahara about Yoruichi's real form, so this wasn't actually a surprise to him.

''Okay, okay, that's enough!'' Urahara clapped his hands to get the attention from the group back onto him. ''It's not good to stand around talking about this sort of stuff outside, so let's going in!''

Ishida, Chad and Yoruichi in her cat form followed after the man, entering inside the store and leaving Ichigo, Kuromiya and Orihime by themselves.

''… Inoue.'' The orange haired boy said, gaining the attention of the both of them just before entering the store. ''How much do you know about what's going on?''

Kuromiya already knew what this whole thing was about, so he decided to ignore their conversation and move on with the rest of the group.

. . .

''Ishida, do you happen to have some spare clothes?'' Once inside the underground training place,

Kuromiya decided that it wouldn't hurt to ask him about it. He did remember that the quincy was quite skilled at making clothes after all.

''Hm?'' Ishida's gaze landed on his classmate, doing his best to ignore the fact that it was somehow possible to fit a place that big under a store that small. ''I had one replacement just in case, you can try it out if you want.''

''Thanks, that's just what I needed.''

. . .

Not more than a few minutes later, Ichigo and Inoue had finally entered the underground 'base', and by now Kuromiya was already changed in a similar set of clothes to Ishida, minus the ridiculous cape.

'It's a little tight, but It will do.' Kuromiya thought, testing out his movements with the white outfit on. Ishida was quite a bit skinnier than him after all, especially after his training with Urahara.

''Woah! Such a huge space under the store, it's so cool!'' Orihime was the only one from the group that didn't make an attempt to hide her surprise.

''Really?'' Ichigo questioned, giving the girl a weird look.

''If I could have your attention!'' The voice of Urahara made the group of five classmates and a black cat turn around, facing the blonde haired man. ''Now here we go!''

Kisuke snapped his fingers, making what appeared to be a portal made of nothing but paper appear out of nowhere.

''This is the gate to get inside the Soul Society.'' Urahara told them, walking next to the door and giving it a light touch with his cane while he performed his explanation. ''It's called the Senkaimon, which means 'realm penetrating gate', mind you!''

''I won't bore you with the small details, but I've prepared this beauty by piling up spirit exchangers on top of the normal Senkaimon.'' The shop keeper explained, having the undivided attention of all the people in there.

''Spirit exchangers?'' Ichigo tilted his head at the term, not sure on what meaning those words held.

''Soul Society is a world of souls.'' Urahara reasoned, that alone was enough to make some of them realize what the problem would be. ''Kurosaki-san aside, the rest of you can't access your soul form, meaning that in normal circumstances you wouldn't be able to get in.''

''… And these spirit exchangers should do the trick for us, right?'' Kuromiya ended for him, it was a pretty straight forward explanation after all.

''Correct.'' The blonde man nodded at the teenager. ''Now, let's move on to the actual important explanations. Once you're in the Soul Society, I would advise anyone who isn't Kurosaki-san or Kuromiya-san to avoid fighting someone like a captain.''

''A captain?'' Chad asked, his tall body towering over his peers. ''How are we supposed to recognize them?''

''Believe me, their spiritual pressure alone should be more than enough to make you recognize them.'' Urahara said, his gaze turning serious. ''Captain shinigamis wear white haoris, so avoid them at all costs. The same goes for the two of you too…'

''Unless it's your last resort, don't fight them.'' He said that last part pointing with his cane straight at Ichigo and Kuromiya. ''… Now, I'll open the gate towards the Soul Society, but keep in mind that it will only be open for no more than four minutes.''

''Four minutes? Will that be enough?'' Ishida asked, walking closer to the gate and examining it with care.

''In normal circumstances, no.'' Urahara replied, his goofy behavior long gone. ''But you will have to make it work somehow, otherwise you'll get stuck in there forever.''

''What should we do?'' Orihime appeared to be quite a bit shocked by all the details being thrown at her.

''Move forward, that and nothing else.'' The black cat said, making them turn their gazes downwards. ''Otherwise you'll not make it.''

''I'm not one for motivational speeches.'' Kuromiya interrupted, he felt his body screaming at him to jump inside the portal at the first chance he got. In his mind it was pointless to talk about what would happen if they didn't make it, he had a ton of abilities that he wanted to try out in battle. ''The point is we either get there or we die, I doubt anyone would come here without being prepared for that much at least.''

''Exactly.'' Ichigo added, walking up next to him. ''That's the reason we gathered here.''

''You two do understand it, right?'' Yoruichi told them. ''Lose and you'll never be able to return here.''

''It sounds to me like all we got to do is just win.'' Ishida had decided to jump into the conversation too, his resolve not wavering in the slightest. ''I won't lose to a soul reaper again, so we might as well get on with it.''

''…'' Yoruichi's cat-like eyes landed on the three young teenagers, measuring their resolve with her trained eyes.

''Now we'll open the gate up!'' Urahara called, the gate now emitting a blinding light that forced some of them to cover their eyes. ''Please jump in simultaneously as it opens. Now go!''

None of them doubted for a second, jumping all together inside the strange portal without looking back, leaving Urahara on his own at the world of the living.

''It's up to all of you now.'' The blonde man muttered.

. . .

''Irregularities detected along western perimeter, security alert in areas three through eight!'' The voice of a man alerted hundreds of soul reapers, many of them immediately running towards those sectors without another question.

''Repeat! Irregularities detected along western perimeter security alert in areas three through eight!'' Noticing the sudden movement around him, Renji Abarai's attention was now on the voice of the shinigami that was emitting the warning.

The red haired soul reaper was sitting at the Squad's Six barracks, killing the time with one of his fellow squad members.

''What!? What's going on?'' The lieutenant asked, it had been a long time since something like that had happened after all.

…

''That thing is still following us!'' Ishida screamed, right now he was being carried by Chad after his cape had somehow got caught in the 'restricting current'.

It had been already over three minutes since they had entered the senkaimon, which meant that the team didn't have much time left until they got trapped inside there. To make things worse, behind them was some kind of immense bullet train with a golden eye at the upper-center of its body.

''Don't let it touch you! That's the kōtotsu, it'll erase you!'' Yoruichi's voice warned them, she had been leading the way despite the fact that she was in her cat form. ''Damn it, this only happens every seven days and today just had to be that time!''

Kuromiya watched from out of the corner of his eye how the cleaner was getting closer and closer to them. Naturally he could have already been out with his raw speed, but he had to be here just in case something went wrong.

''Hurry, we're close to the exit!'' The cat's words made anyone aware of the fact that the exit was now visible from there, however the kōtotsu was almost touching them by now, which forced Orihime to activate her powers.

''Nagiku! Baigon! Lily!'' Orihime's hairpins started glowing in a golden light as she called upon her power. ''Santen Kesshun, I reject!''

A golden barrier with the shape of a triangle appeared just at the last possible second, protecting them from the incoming contact with the kōtotsu.

. . .

Six figures materialized out of thin air, falling uncontrollably from more than ten meters up in the air.

"Gaah!" Crashing against the floor, Ichigo, Chad, Ishida and Orihime ended up falling face first against the ground, the fall happened so fast that a small cloud of dust formed all around them.

''Yo, are you guys still alive?'' The only two that had managed to avoid the painful fall were Kuromiya and Yoruichi. The reason behind that was quite simple, the fullbringer had used Bringer Light mid-fall, thus he was now standing in the air surrounded by a circle of green light.

Yoruichi had realized this, and had decided to use the head of Kuromiya as her landing spot, effectively avoiding the crash against the ground.

''Somehow… I think I'm okay.'' Ishida replied, forcing himself to stand up. ''What about the rest?''

''Woah, Kurosaki-kun! The way you land is so artistic!'' Orihime's words confirmed that she was perfectly fine. Ichigo was much the same, although he had landed in a considerably more awkward position, with his ass up in the air.

''Shut up.'' Ichigo told the girl, though it was clear that he didn't really mean it. Next to them, Chad was standing and examining their surroundings, since he was the one who had managed to land in a somewhat comfortable position.

''This place suck ass.'' Kuromiya commented, gaining the attention of the rest of the group. While everyone started to look around them, the blue eyed boy descended to the ground, allowing the cat to jump down from his head. ''If this place is the afterlife then I think I might just be better on the world of the living, thank you very much.''

''I hate to say it but…'' Ishida trailed off, unsure on how to react to the empty town. ''… I agree.''

''Is this really the Soul Society?'' Ichigo questioned, even if they disregard the fact that there was no one in there, the town itself appeared to be quite poor.

''Yes.'' Yoruichi replied, confirming their words. ''This place is known as the Rukon District, and this is where souls first live upon arriving to Soul Society. It also is on the perimeter of the Seireitei, where the soul reapers live.''

''It seems like even the afterlife has its own problems.'' Kuromiya said, pointing towards a certain place behind them. It was enormous in size, and it looked considerably more fancy than the Rukon District. ''I'm guessing that's the Seireitei, no?''

''So that's where the soul reapers live, huh? Alright, we are going there!'' Ichigo didn't seem to care too much about the Rukon District, not even bothering to discuss his decision with the rest of his team, he charged towards the Seireitei. ''Awwright!''

''That's not going to end well, right?'' Ishida questioned, looking at the black cat for an answer.

''Y-you fool! Don't get too close!'' Yoruichi shouted at him, in an attempt to stop him from essentially killing himself. ''You'll die!''

''Huh?'' Ichigo stopped in his tracks at that, just in time to avoid a massive wall from crushing him like an ant.

Innumerable parts of a gigantic wall started falling to the ground, blocking the path towards their objective. This went on for a few seconds, until eventually the Seireitei was no longer visible from their position outside it.

''Waagh!'' Most of the rescue team was forced to cover their faces, shielding their eyes from the large amount of debris that the wall had showered towards all around them.

''It's been a long time…'' The distinctive voice of a male caught the group's attention, making them look in between the dust in order to find the one who was talkin.''… Since someone tried to pass through the Seirei Gate without a travel permit.''

The dust settled down, allowing them to see the figure that had been talking to them. Though man would have probably been the wrong term, considering its size it couldn't be anything less than a giant.

''You all are rare guests, brats.'' The giant ended, his figure towering over all of them.

. . .

''It seems like the ryoka have landed outside the Seirei Gate.''

Behind the wall, an entire group of soul reapers were waiting, prepared to engage in battle if the situation required it. Leading that group were two lieutenants, Hisagi Shuhei and Izuru Kira.

''Since they're on that side, there's no need for us to go.'' An unseated soul reaper commented, standing next to his respective lieutenant.

''Well…'' Shuhei, the lieutenant of the ninth squad said, looking towards the closed gate. ''That's especially true since Jidanbo should be there.''

. . .

''Yo, Ichigo.'' Kuromiya called, interrupting the conversation between the giant and his classmate. ''Would you mind switching with me? I'm itching for a bit of a warm up.''

''Hm? Sure.'' The orange haired soul reaper agreed without much consideration. After spending ten days training with him, Ichigo had learned that for some reason once Kuromiya had something in his mind he wouldn't accept a no for an answer. ''Just don't take too much time.''

If Ichigo knew about the system, he would have most likely understood why the blue eyed boy often was so insistent, and the answer to that was just simple:

[Hidden quest obtained:

Defeat Jidanbo, the gate keeper.

Reward: 500 I.P.

Bonus reward for making him cry: 250 I.P]

'… Sometimes I think you are just a dick, system.' Kuromiya thought, reading the details of the quest. He didn't appear to be surprised by the low reward, since the teenager had learned that the amount of rewards he would get was entirely dependent on how much danger his life was in.

That meant that since Jidanbo didn't represent a big enough threat for his current self, the rewards would be on the lower side.

''Trust me, I won't.'' He assured the soul reaper, tagging him out from the fight.

''HAHAHA! You must have gone nuts.'' Jidanbo had finally reacted, laughing at the words of the little human who was walking towards him. ''A warm up, you say? I could crush you with a single strike from my axes!''

To emphasize his point, the giant slammed one of his house-sized axes against the ground, causing a shock wave from the sheer force behind the blow. His friends were forced to cover themselves for a second time, this time from the quick winds that approached them after that single attack.

''Could you keep it low? I don't like loud people.'' Kuromiya answered, now reaching for his asauchi that was resting on its scabbard, attached to his waist. ''Now then, if I beat you up, will you open the gate for us?''

''HAHAHAHA!'' His laugh was enough to make a few small rocks blow away, right towards their group. With a fast reaction, Chad, Ichigo and Ishida destroyed those rocks, each of them, slashing and shooting the rocks respectively. ''Yeah brat, if you beat me, that is.''

. . .

Standing at a safe distance from where the fight would take place, Ichigo and the rest of his friends watched the upcoming fight, each with their own reaction.

''Shouldn't we help him out?'' Chad turned his head towards the black cat, since it was their guide after all.

''Nah, he'll be fine.'' Ichigo interjected, not having doubts that the fight would be swiftly over. ''Just because he's big it doesn't mean he's strong.''

''… I just hope you two are not underestimating the strength of our opponent.'' Ishida said, though he didn't make an attempt to intervene either.

''Jidanbo is quite the opponent, he's the gate keeper for a reason, but…'' Yoruichi trailed off, she had been watching most of the training that Kuromiya and Ichigo had been doing whenever she had some free time, and that was enough to make her able to judge the situation accordingly. ''It shouldn't be something out of his abilities.''

''…'' Orihime remained quiet, though it was easy to see that she was the one who has having the most doubts about leaving him all by himself.

''Don't worry, Inoue.'' Ichigo assured the girl, knowing that she wasn't entirely convinced about it yet. ''That big guy is not really a challenge for him, just watch.''

. . .

''It seems like your friends have manners, at least.'' Jidanbo said, watching as no one from the group made an attempt to intrude into their fight. ''We have rules in the city after all, when you fight it's one on one.''

''Kind of a dumb rule, then.' Kuromiya commented, tilting his head up in order to meet the giant face to face. ''If you have an advantage like numbers, why not use it?''

''It doesn't seem like your friends agree with you, though.'' The giant man pointed out. ''Otherwise they would be helping you out.''

''You misunderstand me.'' The fullbringer said, further continuing with his explanation. ''I meant that you should use any advantage you have when you're against someone stronger than you, there's no need for them to intervene right now.''

''… You brat!'' His words ended up making the giant lose his cool, and so soon enough he had a giant axe heading towards him with the intention of squashing him like an ant.

Despite the fact that the axe had incredible power behind it, it moved quite slow in comparison to the speeds that Kuromiya could reach, so if he really wanted to do it, dodging was a valid option. However, the system had asked for him to make the gate keeper cry, and he wanted those bonus points.

The axe connected, breaking the ground below them in a spider web pattern and sending dust all over the small battlefield, blinding all the observers from the fight.

''… I was expecting a bit more, but I guess Urahara's training is just that good.'' The voice of Kuromiya made Inoue and Chad sigh in relief. Once the dust settled down, it revealed something that was hard to even imagine.

Rather than dodging, countering or blocking with his sword, Kuromiya had decided to try something out and so, he had grabbed the edge of the axe bare handed, stopping the blow with his bare hands.

''Y-you…'' Jidanbo was perhaps the one who was the most shocked about the current situation, since he knew better than any other person just how much power was behind that blow.

''I wasn't sure if it would work, but it seems like my raw spiritual pressure is big enough to make you unable to harm me… Well, almost.'' Kuromiya added, feeling a small trail of red liquid falling from the palm of his right hand, which was still holding the axe under an iron grip, cracking it slightly.

''L-let go! Let go!!'' The giant started pushing back with his axe, attempting to get it out of his enemy's hands before it would completely break.

''Hm… Guess you can have it back if you want.'' Despite the fact that he had managed to stop the first blow, in terms of raw strength Jidanbo still had the upper hand and thus, the gate keeper managed to retrieve his axe.

The giant was so enraged by now that veins were appearing through his forehead skin, giving him a fairly intimidating look. Yet, all that rage disappeared just as quick as it had arrived, now replaced by another thunderous laugh.

''HAHAHA! You've guts, I'll give you that much boy.'' Jidanbo said, rewarding his actions with a fair amount of respect. ''It has been many decades since someone stopped my attack, however…''

Jidanbo's free hand disappeared inside his shihakushō, seemingly looking for something inside it, and after a few seconds, he found it. Pulling a second axe from inside his robes, the giant was now wielding two axes, one in each hand.

''Let's see if you can keep that smirk on your face after an entire round of my attacks!'' The gate keeper said, raising both of his axes to the air. ''This is my final attack Jidanda Banzai Strike Festival!''

'… What the fuck is that name even supposed to mean?' Kuromiya thought, sweating at the strange antics from the guy in front of him. By now, both axes were already making their descent towards him, so he picked up his asauchi and decided to end it without wasting more of his time.

Gathering his spiritual pressure, he made a single swing with his sword and directed it straight at the handle of the axes, slicing them away from the giant's hands. He had to make sure of aiming it right, since if he ended up slicing the gate keeper's hands by accident, the giant wouldn't be able to open the door for them.

''W-wha…!?'' Both massive pieces of metal fell to the ground, cracking the ground due to their sheer weight. Immediately after that, the battlefield turned surprisingly quiet, the giant looking with a blank stare at the handle of his broken weapon.

''… M-my axes! My axes!'' Tears started forming at the corner of Jidanbo's eyes, and the once unbeaten giant started crying like a child would do when he's denied something.

'… This gotta be the easiest points of my life.' Kuromiya thought, happily claiming his well-earned points and walking back to his classmates. ''Yo, I did it guys!''

. . .

While each of them watched the blue eyed boy get closer, some of them didn't know how to feel about what had just transpired.

''Before this fight started, I didn't think I would be saying this but…'' Ishida trailed off, watching the giant cry his heart out near the gate. ''… That's kind of sad… And pathetic.''

''Yo, Kuromiya, nice one!'' Ichigo's strength wasn't his tact, so he decided to complete his teammate with a thumbs up.

''Kurosaki-kun, that's not nice!'' Orihime pouted at the orange haired soul reaper, despite her words she still started running towards her classmate.

''Yo, Orihime, is this my reward? I wouldn't mind a nice hug… Eh?'' Having been expecting a big 'congratulations' hug, he was surprised to see the girl give him a high five, much to his dismay. ''… Man, this sucks.''

''Nice job, Kuromiya.'' Chad complimented him, giving him a pat in the back.

''… Yeah, just what I needed.'' Kuromiya answered, though the fact that he said that while clenching his teeth made it not seem too convincing.

. . .

It had been around ten minutes since Jidanbo's defeat, and somehow Yoruichi and Orihime had managed to make the giant regain his composure.

''Y-you guys are not bad people! Even though you have defeated me, you still are worried about me!'' Jidanbo said, speaking so loudly that some of them had been forced to cover their ears.

''Not really…'' Kuromiya whispered, if anything the gate keeper was being quite obnoxious, he almost was a little disappointed for not hurting the man a bit more.

''Kuromiya-san, do you need me to heal you?'' Orihime was now next to him, and was ready to call upon her powers if it was required.

''Hm…'' The black haired boy's eyes landed on his bleeding palm, despite the fact that it was a shallow cut it wouldn't hurt to have it healed. ''Sure.''

While Inoue summoned her powers in order to heal his classmate, Jidanbo was now in the process of lifting the massive gate.

''Now that I think of it, couldn't Kuromiya-san lift us up and make us go past the wall since he can fly?'' The girl asked, cutely tilting her head to the side.

''That wouldn't work.'' Yoruichi informed them, watching the healing process. ''That wall is nothing more than the first defense, there's also an invisible force wall called the shakonmaku that would repel us back in most cases.''

''It makes sense.'' Ishida reasoned, it would be weird if the Soul Society was counting just on this wall to keep the intruders away. By now, Orihime had already finished healing Kuromiya's cut.

Jidanbo was just finishing his own task too, since the gate had been lifted up and he was now holding it almost to the height of his shoulders.

''Alright, let's go!'' Ichigo, who was the closest one to the open gate was about to go in, when all of them noticed that Jidanbo had stopped in his tracks. ''… Huh, what's the matter? Why're you standing there like that? Did something happen?''

Kuromiya ended up turning his gaze towards the gate too, were a lone figure was approaching them with slow steps. The notification from the system only managed to confirm just who that person was.

[Hidden quest completed:

Meet Gin Ichimaru.

Reward: 300 I.P]

End of chapter ten.