Chapter 56

"…Well Fuck."

That was certainly one way to put it. Eloquent too, but Shunsui Kyoraku could find no humour in the situation while watching Oetsu Nimaiya swear in disbelief. The rest of the Royal Guard in the Seireitei were no better, their expression stuck in varying degrees of outplayed. Then again, Shunsui knew that his expression was no better.

His face was pulled taut due to the simmering emotions threatening to spill out from within him, and he was doing very little to suppress them. Beyond the grief, and beyond the disbelief, there was only anger. Yhwach had gotten away and blew up any chance they had of pursuit by dealing a critical blow to the Shiba Clan's fire work canon.

Yhwach had gotten away even after what he'd done.

For a second, a trace of irrational venom flickered over Shunsui's eyes, as he gazed at the so called 'Royal Guard.' If all of them were so strong, then why had they not been able to defend the old man at his most vulnerable state after his Bankai was stolen? Of course, Yhwach's own strength and capabilities weren't lost to him, but more often than not, the death of a loved one caused irrational sentiment.

His grip tightened around the hilt of his trusted blades, veins bulging beneath the skin of his forearms. He was angry, angrier than he'd ever been before, yet he had nowhere to direct it. All he had now was frustration, and a scowl no one would ever associate with him.

Calm down. Fury besets the mind. Remember what the old man taught.

Shunsui felt the soft hands of his Zanpakuto spirit reach out to him in consolation, their condolences and insistence to calm him bidding him to ease his burdens, but he didn't need that right now. It would be so simple to seek comfort or dwell over his grief, yet he couldn't do that. He wasn't the only one hurting, and he had his duty, not only as a Shinigami but as the most qualified Captain after the old man to take the role of Head-Commander.

As a student of Genryusai, he couldn't waver. He was sure that wherever Ukitake was on the battlefield, his friend and fellow student would be doing the same.

Then suddenly all the anger and grief were gone, bottled up and replaced by a forced calm that didn't quite make the cut. He couldn't bring himself to smile, nor assuage the growing atmosphere of dread permeating through the air even after the Quincy had called for their retreat. In truth, he wanted nothing more than to scream in frustration and self-reproach for what had happened. He was the old man's student. Sure, he'd been preoccupied fighting off his own adversary, but it hadn't been to the point where his opponent was too skilled. Instead, he'd limited his own capabilities to match just a little bit over his adversary's. It was done in order to stall and get a read on the enemy forces. Intel.

He who knows the enemy, wins the war.

His choice was one he was now severely regretting. He'd always had full faith in the old man and had never bothered thinking that the old man would ever need any help. He was the immovable mountain, the unbreakable pillar supporting the unit that the was Court-Guard Squads, and now he was nothing but another casualty listed on a bloody report.

Damn it he didn't want to do this right now. He wanted to find a bar, plop himself down over a seat, then drink away his own sanity. He could have helped. He could have helped.

His eyelids pursed shut, a shudder travelling down his back. His Bankai was dangerous, and he wasn't sure if the enemy could have stolen it from him, but at the very least, if he'd attacked all out from the beginning, he could have interfered in the confrontation with Yamamoto.

He didn't. Now Yamamoto was dead.

Dead. Deader than dead surely.

Shunsui ignored the frantic actions of the members of the Royal Guard trying to make an attempt to chase after Yhwach. They'd failed their duty, and he had failed his. The negativity was shared all around, made worse because he was making no effort to cheer himself up. With the Seireitei in ruins, Captain killed, and collateral damage to the Rukongai, everything was a mess that had to be dealt with. He considered shirking off his responsibilities, but the old man would have had his head for the action. There were simply no excuses for a dereliction of duty, emotionally impaired or not.

Yamamoto's defeat struck hard, more so for him as he grew up under the old man's tutelage, yet this was why he had to keep moving on.

"Gather the dead! The Seireitei had been attacked, but it has not yet fallen! Honour the sacrifice of the dead and one day soon, we will avenge them all!" He yelled out, stone-faced and bitter, yet concealing it behind the faked joviality he was known for. Perhaps only his lieutenant or Ukitake would be able to notice the difference of how he ordinarily acted and now, but he needed to convey a sense of confidence to the defeated even if he didn't feel all that happy himself.

He alternated between emotions of resignation and resolution before pulling out a clay jar of alcohol and downing the burning drink in one go. He'd need it before doing what was needed.

"Nanao," he greeted as he felt the spiritual energy of his lieutenant appear near him. He'd ordered her to stay away from the fighting and focus on aiding the injured to the Fourth Squad's barracks. Her clothing was ruffled and smeared with patches of dried blood, but it wasn't her blood so it was fine. Parts of the blood smeared corners of the rimless glasses she wore, which was odd because knowing her, she would have cleaned them by now. A loss in visibility in a fight was detrimental.

You know what else was odd? She wasn't berating him with an endless slur of abuse as he shattered the clay jar of alcohol he had in his hand, and then promptly downed another. Instead, she walked up to him as he pulled out a third jar, swiped in from his hand, and then downed the entire thing herself, her cheeks flaring red from the alcohol's potency.

"Didn't take you for a drinker. Finally breaking out of your shell I se-"

"Captain. With all due respect, I can handle it from here." Nanao unpinned her secretary-like black hair and used the pin to secure a bandage over her left arm. She must have gotten injured sometime during the fight with the Quincy, Shunsui idly observed, but he didn't say anything and allowed her to get her point across. "You've already given the orders to gather the dead as protocol dictates. All that's left is to ascertain damage and look for survivors, something that doesn't really require a Captain's participation. The…Head-Captain, I was there when Captain Unohana left to try and save him only after the enemy had left. She's still yet to return. Maybe the commander…?"

Shunsui used a hand to pull down his straw hat over his face. He knew what Nanao was insinuating, and it was if a ray of light was shining in the dark. Worse, he found himself nodding at Nanao's offer before flash-stepping towards where he'd last seen Yamamoto's body fall.

It was an errant decision not made with logic as a fallacy, yet he could be forgiven in the fact that he shared a certain non-blood but familial relationship with the head-commander. Besides, Soifon, ever a stickler to the rules, was already using her squad's men to sweep over the Seireitei's remains in a far more effective manner than ordinary Shinigami. With her still alive, the task could be settled even without him though she'd certainly glare at him for not helping.

As far as he knew, Kenpachi, Kuchiki, and Saijin were critically injured and were thus unable to contribute. Shunsui could offer aid, but here he was speeding towards Yamamoto.

A distance away from him, Shunsui spotted the figure of Jushiro Ukitake approaching as well, but his friend was stopped when Soifon appeared and gave him a piece of her mind. Still, the fact that Ukitake had seen him and nodded towards him, meant that his friend was trusting him to verify their teacher's condition.

Shunsui wouldn't allow himself to disappoint, and with another burst of spiritual energy, he directly flashstepped to where he sensed Unohana's unique spiritual signature.

She was hunched over the ground, and surrounded by pieces of rubble from broken walls and shattered tiles. Her complexion was pale, making her seem far frailer than any time he'd ever seen her before. "Captain Unohana," he called out softly, trying not to distract her with his greeting.

Unohana didn't answer, her mouth set into a line and expression clipped. Sweat trickled down her forehead which crinkled as her lieutenant Isane tentatively wiped the perspiration away before once more standing respectfully to the side.

It was only then that Shunsui got a good look at what Unohana was working with. There was blood everywhere, dripping over stone, and smearing into white granite.

Yamamoto had been bifurcated across the chest. The strike had cut in from Yamamoto's right elbow and bisected through the rest of Yamamoto's body from just above the waist. He'd managed to keep his left arm in tact by virtue of it being held in a guarded position when Yhwach had attacked, but he'd lost his right forearm, his lower body, and any trace of the overwhelming spiritual energy Shunsui had long since grown accustomed to Yamamoto possessing.

Shunsui couldn't feel anything from the old man. No one could. Yamamoto Genryusai was dead in all sense of the word, but the sheer concentration on Unohana's face had him holding his breath in a terse silence.

A layer of blue healing kido was spread around Yamamoto's remains and covered him completely in a translucent dome. When Shunsui looked closely, he could see the smallest up and down motion over Yamamoto's chest, and a wave of tentative relief washed over him. He wanted to laugh in joy, but feared the noise may interrupt Unohana.

He left Unohana alone to do her thing, and instead inched towards Isane who must have been watching Unohana from the beginning. The small easy-going grin over his face wasn't as forced as it used to be. "How is he?" He asked for specifics. However, he wasn't going to like what he was going to hear.

"He's going to die," Isane delivered the news which shook Shunsui's being, the grin fading from his face. "Captain Unohana has only been managing to keep his vitals alive, but that's it. He doesn't have the spiritual energy left to sustain himself, and any he manages to gather can't be retained in his body. He doesn't have long unless…"

"Unless what?" Shunsui remarked sharply, the sound almost like a wounded growl.

"Orihime Inoue. Her power defies the basis of healing kido. I-If it's her, she might be able to help," Isane supplied hastily.

Then what were they waiting for? Didn't that mean the old man was going to truly die when Unohana's spiritual reserves depleted? The thought was jarring, and more than a little disconcerting, but rather than aid Yamamoto, Shunsui couldn't help but notice that the Zero Squad was putting more emphasis on a devising a way back to the Soul King's Palace.

Resentment was the first thing he felt, as he decided to abandon Shinigami protocol and request the help of a human. It was better than letting the old man die while the others did nothing. They stared down at Yamamoto's form in regret, but they still didn't even bother to offer any sort of assistance. His lips twisted into a tight scowl, his brows narrowing fiercely. Fury came after resentment that they were putting the old man's life second to whatever objective they had, but then came comprehension.

It hadn't been more than forty or fifty minutes and the entire Soul Society was changing. More accuracy, the entire place was collapsing.

Shunsui stumbled on his feet as his footing destabilized from the fractures that formed beneath him and everywhere the eye could see. Great slabs of tiled earth rose and upturned the surroundings into a wasteland of dirt and dust. Up in the sky, Garganta-like fissures tore into the space, prying open and revealing a black void.

"Noooo! This can't be!"

Shunsui turned just in time to see Ichibei of the Royal Guard arriving through a senkaimon guided by a hell butterfly. The other members of the Royal Guard noticed him just as quickly and flocked to him. In any case, Shunsui's attention lingered not on Ichibei, but the Senkaimon to the Human World Ichibei had opened.

There was his ticket to request Orihime's assistance in time, and he didn't hesitate to move forward. Even if something was happening with the Soul Society, Jushiro was still around and could lead just as well as him anyway.

In the blink of an eye, Shunsui appeared in front of the senkaimon, a foot lifted in order to step through. However, a large hand stopped him in his tracks.

"Best not to go in there," Ichibei warned grimly, voice gruff and hollow. "It's dangerous and it won't last. Look around you and you'll understand."

The ground shattered from beneath Shunsui's feet again, the spiritual energy comprising the Soul Society's stability shifting and breaking to reveal patches of the Dangai. The bridge between dimensions was blurring. No longer could a path be seen, but rather, the path was shortening until it was infinitesimally small. Had he been in there during the process, he would have surely died. The knowledge was jarring, prompting him to give a stiff nod to Ichibei. When Shunsui looked down beneath him, he no longer saw the dark patches of the Dangai, he saw the skies of the Human World. He blinked at the sheer convenience of it all, but one glance at Ichibei and he understood that the sight was probably the worst kind of bad.

Ichibei clearly knew what was going on.

"The worlds are merging," Ichibei said reluctantly, a large hand placing itself beneath his chin. "Yhwach has begun the process of blurring the lines between the living and the dead. He is breaking the balance set about by the ancestors of the Seireitei's Noble Clans by assimilating the worlds together."

"Should we allow Yhwach to continue, everything that has been worked for during the past thousands of years will be for naught. This will be the greatest blight in the Soul Society's history, and it would seem as if Yhwach had struck here first." Ichibei's veins bulged over his skin when he noticed the ruins of the Shiba clan's canon. The other members of the Zero Squad bowed their heads in their failure. "It's too late. He's already begun the process. For now we must retreat and find an alternative means to access the Soul King's palace, defeat Yhwach, and then reinstate the world balance."

Much of what Ichibei had said might have meant something to Shunsui, but right now, all he cared about was the strain he could see on Unohana's face. She wouldn't be able to last much longer. Time was of the essence, and explanations can come later. When Soifon, Ukitake, Mayuri, and the other Captain arrived, both inured and not, the bickering and shouting began after seeing Yamamoto's condition.

"This shouldn't have happened! What were you fools doing after I sent the signal that there was danger in the Seireitei!" Soifon wasn't mincing words. Her squad had been the first to report sightings of white clad individuals in the Soul society, but no one had been able to react on time. She herself was just as guilty, but the stress and outrage were clouding her judgement.

The other surviving Captain bristled while holding onto the bodies of their injured fellow Captains. Toshiro looked like he had words to say to Soifon, but he'd never get the chance to turn this into an argument. Yamamoto couldn't afford the time.

"Quiet! All of you!" Shunsui thumped his sword against the ground, the distinct clang sharply propagating outwards. "The old man would be ashamed of your behaviour. We need order, stability! I've been told that if we can find Orihime there's a chance to save the old man so shut up and get yourselves in order! The realm's already falling apart and none of us know how long it will last."

"Ten more minutes," Ichibei supplied the answer. "Hikifune, you and the others help gather as many injured Shinigami as you can. When the realm destabilizes, we'll all be ejected into the Human World. We can't stay here even if we want to."

They had no choice. The Human World and the Soul Society were merging.

Shunsui looked up at the strange star-shaped structure at the highest level of the Soul Society that was breaking apart the balance between the worlds. He could tell that Ichibei and the others would like nothing less than to storm their way up there, but there was currently nothing that could be done. A tactical retreat was the only answer at the moment.

"The Shinigami Kisuke Urahara has a base of operations," Ichibei moved to take command. No one moved to oppose him.

"I detest that man," Mayuri grumbled at the proclamation, but much like the others present, he still followed through with the suggestion. "I can respect his intellect, if nothing else."

"I'll meet you all there," Shunsui said curtly. Ichibei was planning to wait the full ten minutes to gather as many wounded as possible, but Yamamoto may not have that long to wait.

Ichibei looked at Yamamoto's condition, and implicitly agreed with Shunsui's words.

In a step, Shunsui flashed over towards Karakura Town's sky. Due to the blurring of the boundaries between worlds, the spiritually aware were met with the odd sight of the Seireitei floating amidst the sky. For Shunsui, it meant he didn't have to travel via Dangai.

In a city of millions, he had to locate Orihime. It was a task that was far simpler to do than any could think about. He knew what Orihime and the other Ryoka's spiritual energy felt like, and perhaps the most obvious of all, was that anyone spiritually aware was standing frozen in place.

The sight of the Seireitei crumbling in the sky would have shocked anyone, especially a certain group moving in large numbers.

A group of familiar humans were staring up at him as he made his way over.

Shunsui recognized them as the Ryoka who'd infiltrated the Seireitei to help rescue Rukia Kuchiki. However, there were several new additions that even he wasn't quite familiar with. All of them were wearing Karakura Highschool uniforms with Orihime leading everyone from the front.

"Tatsuki, Keigo, Chizuru, please just trust us," Orihime pleaded. "We need to get to Mr. Urahara's place. He'll know what's going on."

"Indeed. This isn't the time for questions. Someone's coming." Ishida glanced up at Shunsui's approach.

Shunsui tipped his straw hat in greeting, but couldn't afford idleness. Rather than speak right away, he strode directly beside Orihime. "Sorry, but I need your assistance." He abruptly and carefully picked her up, prompting her to yelp.

"Let her go, you sleazy bastard!"

At any other time, he would have been amused to have a human kick him in the face, but this wasn't that time. He didn't flinch, nor did he even feel the attack. Instead, in his frustration at all the distraction, he unconsciously leaked a bit of his spiritual pressure. His assailant, a tomboy of a girl, was immediately panting for breath and straining to stay on her feet. It was as if someone had just punched her in the gut, a choked gasp escaping her throat.

"T-Tatsuki stop! He's not a bad guy," Orihime tried to reason before directing her attention on Shunsui. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

"Yama-jiji's going to die if I don't hurry." Shunsui said curtly while doing his best to reel back in his spiritual pressure. Tatsuki, Keigo, and Chizuru who were the most affected visibly sighed in relief. "Also, the world's going to shit right now so I suggest making your way to Urahara's like you were doing. The faster the better."

Piece said, Shunsui glanced up to the Seireitei crumbling in the human world's sky and watched Ichibei already leading the other Shinigami to Kisuke's. This made things easier. They'd probably taken Yamamoto with them which everyone could just gather at Kisuke's shop. This in mind, Shunsui made to bolt.

"Wait," Orihime called out, not to Shunsui, but to Sado and Ishida. "If something dangerous is happening in town, we have to get Yuzu!"

Yuzu? That was a name Shunsui wasn't quite familiar with, but it wasn't difficult to see that she must have been a person of importance with how both Sado and Ishida tensed.

"Sado, take everyone and go. I'll go and get Yuzu then meet the rest of you there." Ishida pushed up his glasses and disappeared in the direction of the Kurosaki clinic. "This won't take long."

With her piece said, Orihime beckoned Shunsui to move as fast as he liked, and fast he did. A few blinks, blurred images, and flashes later, and the both of them arrived in front of Kisuke's shop. Already, the Shinigami led by Ichibei were helping set down wounded while Kisuke appeared to take stock of the situation with Isshin and the Shiba siblings.

"W-What happened?" Orihime asked, a tremor in her tone.

No time. Shunsui didn't bother answering and instead, carefully led her to where he saw Unohana nearly collapsing in exhaustion. She'd been keeping Yamamoto's vitals alive even while the Soul Society melded with the human world.

"Help him. Please," Shunsui's voice was fragile, terse. In response, Orihime gave a quick nod, and deployed an orange barrier that enveloped what was left of Yamamoto's form.

In the meantime, Shunsui began pacing, trying to distract himself from looking at the pained grimace on Orihime's face. Surely the old man wasn't going to die? No. No he wouldn't think about it, and just let her work. The intensity of his presence may negatively affect her, so it was with reluctance that he left her alone and joined the bickering of his fellow Captains.

All of the Captain were being critical of each other's failure, and it was getting them nowhere. Shunsui had half the mind to put an end to all the shouting, but in its own way, he could use the distraction.

Ichibei had gathered the members of the Royal Guard together and all were discussing in hushed tones when the improbable happened. Lightning writhed in the sky, tendrils forking upwards and over the outline of a rounded border.

Under Yhwach's power, the process of world assimilation had begun. This meant that the Soul Society, the Human World, and Hueco Mundo were being forcibly merged into one. The process had already happened for the Soul Society and the Human World, which meant there was only one place remaining.

Hueco Mundo.

Impossibly, it was fighting back against Yhwach's influence, a sight no one missed. How could they when gigantic swords manifested around the outer border of what could only have had been Huceo Mundo itself? Every weapon was primed and aimed towards the star-shaped formation high up above where Yhwach resided, and then Armageddon began.

The unrelenting sound of screeching steel echoed in the air as the spiritual projections rocketed forth and battered against the Seventy-Two barriers of the Soul King's Palace. It was a sight the spiritually unaware couldn't see, and yet, it produced natural phenomena.

Winds raged, fires bursting forth from out of nowhere. Gales hammered over the city, shattering glass and causing panic in the street as wires snapped from telegraph poles.

The barriers around the star-shaped structure warped and bent, before black shadow like creatures returned fire with neither side backing down, and then utter silence abruptly settled in. Both sides just stopped at once as if accepting a small reprieve, and a reprieve it was.

The entire exchange had been a test, a warm up.

All at once, the sword's around Hueco Mundo vanished to be replaced by something that felt much more lethal. A layer of flame pulsed, two new types of swords beyond the size of human imagination manifesting. One to cleave the mountains, another to bring about the fires of damnation. Quantity had been replaced with quantity, yet neither sword moved to attack. Should they be unleashed, not only would the Soul King's Palace be affected, but the people in the human world too.

A ceasefire?

Shunsui let go of the breath he'd been subconsciously holding, and much like the others, felt dread creeping into them. Just what sort of monsters were they facing here? Even Soifon's mask of confidence had shattered to reveal a look of helplessness that not even Yoruichi's presence could assuage. He shivered, hands pulling on his pink Haiori to wrap tighter around himself.

As for Ichibei and the other members of the Royal Guard, they looked intrigued and unreadable at best.

"How are we supposed to compete against that?"

He didn't know who said it in the crowd of Shinigami, but what everyone did know was that it shattered any semblance of morale anyone could muster. He himself was lacking any sure answer to deal with the situation.

"We will need allies," Kisuke cryptic voice pierced through the somber silence.

The first to understand what Kisuke had just suggested wasn't anyone from the Seireitei or the human world, instead, it was Gin Ichimaru who was bound in several layers of Kido spells and held in Tessai's grip.

Gin? Gin Ichimaru the traitor? Shunsui had to blink to see if he was seeing right, but no amount of rubbing his eyes was making Gin vanish. Therefore, this wasn't his imagination fucking with him then. The other people who recognized Gin were mute before calls to 'execute the traitor' were being made much to the discomfort of Rangiku who hovered by Gin and looked ready to snap at anyone who approached with ill intentions.

Fortunately, Shinji Hiroko and his group of Vizords spoke up from where they were already resting in Kisuke's shop.

"What allies do you speak of, Kisuke? We have none left. There's practically nothing left of the previous balance in the world either. The only new addition of fighting power we have are any new humans who can see us. Do elaborate about allies, sly friend?" The smile on Shinji's face wasn't quite reaching his eyes. If the man's intelligence was anything to go by, like Gin, he'd probably guessed who Kisuke was referring too and didn't like it one bit.

Shinji looked appalled, daring Kisuke with narrowed eyes to even suggest bringing the topic up at all.

'Drop it.'

Shunsui could read between the lines and the silent messages between Kisuke and Shinji. He himself was admittedly curious to what one as vaunted for his intelligence as Kisuke would suggest for an ally to rely on.

"Aizen and the Vasto of White," were who Kisuke suggested after what they'd just witnessed.

Gin was laughing. No one else was.