Walking Alone

"I'm doing it...!" shouted Ichigo, finally forming a stable cannonball after nearly twenty hours of concerted effort.

While Orihime clapped supportively beside him, Ohta remarked, "Wow. And it only took twice as long as we originally intended to stay. It's a new record..."

"Can it," retorted Ichigo, going from happy to annoyed with the ease of flipping a light switch. As he did, visible cracks began appearing on the surface of his spherical barrier, followed by an abrupt implosion that left the orange-haired youth floored, twitching as smoke rose from his body...

"I'm sure that's some kind of record as well..." muttered Ohta, turning to Orihime to say, "Go and make sure he isn't dead."

"Okay~!" replied Orihime, bouncing to her feet and happily running over to carry out Ohta's instruction. During lunch, they had discussed opening up a 'Paranormal Detective Agency' to investigate abnormal occurrences and find lost items. More accurately, Orihime had pitched the idea while Ohta focused on eating, tentatively agreeing to let her become his investigative assistant in a vain attempt to end the conversation early...

"The two of you seem to be getting along rather swimmingly..." remarked Uryu, seated a few meters away.

Completely ignoring the bespectacled Quincy, Ohta watched with mild interest as Orihime's healing barrier caused the slight charring on Ichigo's clothes and body to disappear slowly. The treatment of his injuries wasn't too unusual, but he found it strange she could heal Ichigo's clothes, even if they were made from spirit particles...

"Thanks, Orihime..." said Ichigo, rising to a seated position with furrowed brows and an awkward smile.

"Oh, it's no problem, Ichigo," replied Orihime, clapping her hands together as she exclaimed, "I'm happy to have been of help~!"

Before Ichigo could respond, Ohta called out, instructing, "Oi, Strawberry. Hurry up and produce another shield. If you can hold it, we can blow this popsicle stand."

"Don't tell me what to do!" barked Ichigo. However, after holding Ohta's serious gaze for several seconds, he picked up the Reishukaku and spent a minute or two to produce another barrier. It took a while to start up, but Ohta could see it was more stable than the previous one.

"Looks like you aren't completely hopeless..." remarked Ohta, rising to his feet and declaring, "We're launching at noon. Take a bath, get something to eat, and try to get a few hours of rest. Once we enter the Seireitei, we don't know when we'll have another opportunity to do so."

"And who put you in charge...?" asked Uryu, startling slightly when a deep, masculine voice answered, "I did," prompting everyone to look toward the room's entrance, finding that Yoruichi had appeared, seemingly out of thin air.

"Ohta is the most powerful among you, by far," stated Yoruichi. "He also has the most experience, so you should defer to his judgment when I'm not around. You're free to use your own, but if he's going out of his way to tell you to do something, you can assume it's the correct thing to do."

As Ohta hadn't exactly told them to jump through hoops or smash their faces against a wall, Uryu couldn't refute Yoruichi's words. As for Chad, well, he didn't care who was in charge. He had come to Soul Society to repay a debt, so he would keep moving forward until Rukia was saved or his body could no longer continue.

With no one offering any arguments, not even Ichigo, the group left the training chamber to get some R&R before their departure. Orihime asked Ohta if she could accompany him, but as he was planning to take a bath, he advised her to go and do the same. Fortunately, while Kukaku was a very 'free-spirited' woman, she had enough sense to separate the male and female baths...

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"Alright, I hope you shitstains are ready...! The final countdown begins now!" shouted Kukaku, standing outside the massive fireworks launcher while everyone else huddled within the chamber.

"Listen closely," said Yoruich, sitting atop the Reishukaku everyone had their hands on. "Once we get inside the Seireitei, it's crucial that we stick together. If we 'do' get split up, do your best to avoid direct contact with the enemy. And if you encounter any Captains, just run. Our objective is to rescue Rukia, not to pick a fight with the Soul Society."

Directing her gaze to Ohta, Yoruichi added, "I'll be depending on you to keep everyone together if something goes wrong."

Furrowing his brows, Ohta asserted, "I can ensure you stay together, but I'm splitting from the rest of the group. If we stay together, it will make it easier for the enemy to surround us."

"You can't do that, Ohta-kun!" exclaimed Orihime. However, before she could say anything more, Yoruichi replied, "Very well. I won't stop you. Just remember what we discussed, and don't go on a mindless rampage. The moment you kill a Captain or Lieutenant, this situation becomes a lot harder to salvage..."

"Mr. Yoruichi...!" exclaimed Orihime, unable to believe what she was hearing. In response, the soot-colored cat stared up at her, narrowing her eyes as she asserted, "Ohta-kun's power is far more destructive than you can imagine at your current level, young lady. When surrounded by allies, he cannot exercise his full might, so letting him serve as a distraction will greatly enhance our chances of success."

Shifting her gaze to Ichigo, Yoruichi added, "That means it will be up to us to rescue Rukia. Don't rush off on your own, and if you get separated from the group, seek shelter or hide underground."

"Understood..." responded Ichigo, his expression serious and resolute as he directed his stare at Ohta. He knew the latter was the most 'desperate' to save Rukia, so he believed Ohta was putting his trust in him by serving as a distraction.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Ohta stared at the Reishukaku and suggested, "We should probably start channeling our spirit energy before Kukaku sets this thing off..."

"Ohta-kun..." muttered Orihime, feeling somewhat useless and saddened by the reality he planned to fight alone. Unfortunately, she knew everyone else would require her power more, so even though she wanted to go with him, she ultimately hung her head and didn't ask...

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"We're breaking through!" screamed Yoruichi. "Channel as much of your spirit energy into the Reishukaku as possible! If we can't break the barrier, every single one of us will die...!"

Prompted by Yoruichi's words, everyone except Ohta began pumping their spirit energy into the Reishukaku. His priority was linking them together to ensure they wouldn't be separated. Thus, when the Reishukaku exploded moments after piercing the barrier, they remained tethered by an invisible cord while he waved his hand, saying, "Don't die." as he was launched out of the resulting energy vortex.

"Ohta-kun...!" shouted Orihime, extending her hand in his direction like she wanted to chase after him. Due to the invisible cord, however, she couldn't break free from the rest of the group. Chad had also grabbed her arm as an additional precaution, so Orihime had no choice but to remain behind while Ohta hurled toward the ground like a meteor.

Turning away from the energy vortex, Ohta controlled his descent as he thought ("That girl's a clinger...") with a deadpan expression. At the same time, he spread his senses through the area, having mastered picking up spiritual signatures as far as ten kilometers away. His psychic sense was much stronger, but that required leaving an 'imprint' like the ones he left in the bodies of everyone back in the Reishukaku.

Sensing no significant threats, Ohta clicked his tongue in mild frustration, impacting the street below without slowing. The energy of the Reishukaku veiled his body in a protective membrane of golden light, so he barely felt a thing despite his crash generating a large explosion and forming a crater more than five meters across.

Rising from the smoke cloud, Ohta dusted himself off and looked around the area, his ears picking up the distinctive sound of a Japanese 'clapper' alarm echoing throughout the entirety of the Seireitei. Shortly thereafter, the pitter-patter of footsteps drew Ohta's gaze to a group of Shinigami he had sensed long before their arrival.

"You there...!" shouted one of the Shinigami, a somewhat plain-looking man with short black hair and a square face, pointing his Zanpakuto at Ohta as he commanded, "Drop your weapon and get on your knees...!"

"Hard pass," replied Ohta, extending his left hand toward the crowd of thirteen people before slowly lowering it. As he did so, the predominately male group felt like a hydraulic press was pushing down on them from above, forcing them to their knees and cracking the ground beneath them as they tried to resist.

"You're lucky I'm not your 'enemy,'" stated Ohta, supplanting his psychic energy with Reiatsu(Spirit Pressure). According to Yoruichi, his reserves were around the level of a 3rd or 4th Seat, but his overwhelming mental energy made his Reiatsu like an exacto knife. Instead of applying broad pressure over an area, he could focus his Reiatsu to target his opponents' minds directly, incapacitating those with weaker wills in an instant.

Knocking everyone but the Shinigami who had spoken unconscious, Ohta pulled the man toward him with Telekinesis, emulating a certain Sith Lord as he coldly inquired, "What is your class, and what Squad do you belong to...?"

"Spirit...Spirit Class 4," replied the man, clawing in futility at his throat as he croaked, "Squad...Seven...!"

("Hmmm...that should be the Squad commanded by the Demi-human wolfman...") thought Ohta, recalling the information he had compiled on the more important members of the Gotei. Squad 7's Captain, Komamura Sajin, was in the category of individuals 'not' considered to be a member of Aizen's group, so Ohta allowed the purple-faced Shinigami to plummet to the ground, instructing, "Send word to your Captain and the rest of the Gotei. Yamada Ohta has come to reclaim what's his..."

Turning away from the man, Ohta began a slow and casual stroll through the antiquated-looking district. He was playing the part of a distraction, but if he got too serious and started rampaging, it would draw a little too much attention...

("Do not hesitate...") said a voice within Ohta's mind, causing him to stop in place.

("What you seek is within your reach. You need only to extend your hand and grasp it...") added the voice, unmistakably belonging to the shadowy jackal representing Ohta's Zanpakuto.

Drawing the combat knife strapped to his hip, Ohta stared at the near-pitch-black blade, asking, "You realize that if I do that, I endanger the lives of those brats and make things more complicated for myself further down the line, right?"

("It is better to fight for the preservation of your ideals than at the behest of others.") replied the jackal. ("Find the one named Aizen Sosuke and kill him. Then track down the one called Yhwach and extinguish his flame as well. This is the path you desire...")

"What I desire is up in that tower..." muttered Ohta, directing his gaze to the tallest structure in all of Seireitei. Yoruichi had informed him that was the location Rukia was being kept, not to encourage him to go there, but to provide him some peace of mind knowing he 'could.'

("You barely even know her...") remarked the jackal. ("You also know well her 'guilt.' She feels she has forced you into a relationship and fears she has become a shackle on your heart and actions. That's why she permits you to lie with the dark one...")

"It doesn't matter..." replied Ohta, furrowing his brows as he said, "Unless she can hold my gaze and tell me she doesn't love me, I will never let her go..."

("Yet here you are while she remains locked away in a tower...") countered the jackal.

"..."

("Forget it...") said the jackal. ("If this is the path you are determined to walk, I will continue to observe and pray for you to have good fortune in battle. Without my power, you'll need it...")

"We'll see..." replied Ohta, returning the knife to its sheathe before closing his eyes to better focus on his senses. Yoruichi had advised them to avoid clashing with Captains, if at all possible, but he was determined to fight at least one of them to 'prove' he could. The only question was, which would show up first...?

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(A/N: Any opinions on who Ohta should cross paths with? Is it time for Renji to get his teeth in? Maybe a fateful encounter with his brother-in-law? Or, perhaps, and angry kitten? Decisions, decisions...)