A Farewell to Mortality

Arriving shortly after Chad, Orihime, wearing a bright pink blouse, beige loafers, and grey sweatpants that hugged her voluminous ass, opened her eyes wide and practically shouted, "Oh, wow! Hey, Ohta-kun. Mr. Yoruichi said you'd be coming with us, but I didn't know if you would actually show up."

Raising his hand, Ohta replied, "Long time no see, princess. Get hit by any cars recently...?"

"Moooouuuu..."

Puffing out her cheeks, Orihime briefly appeared offended before quickly getting over it, adopting a marginally more serious expression as she said, "Tatsuki really misses you, you know..."

Shaking his head, Ohta quietly asserted, "That life is behind me now...but when you see her next, you can tell her I said hi and congratulate her for taking First Place in the national tournament..."

Adopting a smile, Orihime responded with a curt, "I'll be sure to tell her." before shifting her attention to Yoruichi on his shoulder, gaining a far more luminous smile as she waved her hand and said, "Hello, Mr. Yoruichi! Your fur is looking especially soft this morning!"

"Well, I wanted to look my best before my homecoming," mused Yoruichi, leaping from Ohta's shoulder as she could sense the final two members of their party approaching.

Though they didn't exactly appear alongside one another, Ichigo and Uryu showed up around the same time, the latter following behind the former. When they noticed Ohta, both bishonen frowned deeply, but it was Ichigo who said, "It's you..." in an ostensibly threatening tone.

"It's me..." parrotted Ohta, intending to say more, but Orihime literally inserted herself in front of him, exclaiming, "Good morning, Ichigo-kun, Ishida-kun~!"

As if he had only just noticed her, Ichigo stared at Orihime with his mouth agape, asking, "Inoue? What are you doing here...?"

"Mou...I told you it was okay to call me Orihime," pouted Orhime, promptly perking up as she added, "As for why I'm here, isn't it obvious? I'm going to help rescue Rukia...!"

Adopting a serious expression, Ichigo firmly asserted, "We're not going on a picnic, Ino–Orihime. You could die."

"I know that..." replied Orihime, maintaining her smile but lowering her eyes and appearing saddened as she muttered, "But Rukia is my friend. I can't just sit back and watch bad things happen to her. I might not be the strongest member of our party, but I'm sure I can be helpful..."

Before Ichigo could try and persuade Orihime to stay behind, Yoruichi chimed in to say, "With the exception of Ohta, the little missy here is the only one that can heal you if you sustain severe injuries in a fight. Unless you want to be the one to die, I suggest you shelve the chivalry and thank her for agreeing to come along."

Shifting his gaze to Yoruichi, Ichigo looked like he wanted to argue but froze when he saw who had spoken.

"Did that cat...just talk?" asked Ichigo.

Picking Yoruichi up from the ground, Orihime happily revealed, "His name is Mr. Yoruichi! Isn't he just the cutest~!?"

Though she didn't appreciate being picked up and manhandled by the bubbly ginger, Yoruichi tolerated Orihime's antics, stating, "We don't have time for this right now. The window to avoid detection while entering the Soul Society is incredibly tight. We should get going."

"First things first..." chimed in Uryu, pushing up his glasses as he stared at Ohta.

Expecting the arrogant Quincy to talk shit, Ohta was marginally surprised when Uryu abruptly lowered his head, appearing sincere as he stated, "I owe you an apology, Yamada Ohta. You were correct when you said my grudge against Soul Society had nothing to do with you and the people of this town. I hope that by participating in the salvation of the one you hold dear, you might forgive my lapse in judgment..."

"..."

Taken aback by Uryu's formality, Ohta didn't immediately respond. As a result, Ichigo had the opportunity to say, "I also wanted to apologize..." scratching his head as he added, "And to thank you. I heard about how you rescued Karin and treated a serious injury. I'm not sure what I would have done if she died, so thanks...I mean it..."

Sparing Ohta the need to respond to either of the two, Kisuke abruptly clapped his hands, saying, "Well, now that we're all here, shall we get a move on? As my adorable feline colleague pointed out, we don't exactly have the time to stand around chatting."

Prompted by Kisuke's words, Orihime threw her right hand into the air and enthusiastically exclaimed, "Let's go!". She was truthfully feeling the most nervous out of everyone present, but that didn't stop her from taking the initiative to march into Urahara's shop, prompting everyone else to follow shortly after...

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"Oh, wow! I never knew there was such a ginormous space underneath the town! Incredible...!" exclaimed Orhime, seeing the underground study chamber for the first time.

As the reactions of Ohta and Ichigo had been lackluster during their first visit to the chamber, the muscular Tessai teared up a bit in response to Orihime's enthusiasm. Kisuke had developed the prototype, but he was the one who built and repaired the underground space whenever Ohta destroyed it. Having someone recognize his work was touching...

"Now, now, no wandering off," said Kisuke. "You'll have plenty of time to explore once you return. For now..."

Snapping his fingers, Kisuke caused a large rectangular gate, seemingly comprised of sheets of paper, to materialize out of thin air.

"That is the gate that leads to Soul Society," explained Urahara. "It's called the Senkaimon(Tunnel World Gate). Listen closely because I'm going to explain things once. But, first things first..."

Using his cane, bearing the symbol of a skull exuding blue flames on its tip, Urahara abruptly stabbed Ichigo through his chest, the tip of the cane phasing through his body as his Soul was summarily ejected.

"Hey, what's the big idea!?" exclaimed Ichigo. "You could at least warn me before you expel my Soul! And you guys, stay away from my body. It's not a toy...!"

With Ichigo directing his words to them, Chad, Orihime, and Uryu ceased examing his presently lifeless corpse.

"Alright, listen up," said Urahara. "This Senkaimon is different from normal. These papers are inscribed with a spirit particle conversion formula, so it 'should' convert any physical matter that passes through into spirit matter. The caveat is that this type of formula violates the fundamental principles of the world, so passing through is bound to incur a reaction of some sort. As a result, you'll only have about four minutes to reach the other side. If you fail, well, your bodies and souls will either be obliterated or displaced somewhere, maybe even 'some time' else..."

Adopting one of his characteristically creepy smiles, Urahara asked, "So, how about it? This is your last chance to back out. The moment you step through this gate, the only option you'll have is to move forward. Hesitate, even for a moment, and death might be the best end you can hope for..."

"Just open the gate," said Ohta, abruptly vanishing before reappearing in front of the Senkaimon with crossed arms and a resolute look on his face as he firmly asserted, "Even if everyone else chooses to remain behind, I'm going..."

"He's fast..." muttered Ichigo, his body trembling ever so slightly as he appended, "Just like the guy who took Rukia..."

While everyone else was equally taken aback by Ohta's speed, Yoruichi jumped onto his shoulder, looking back at the befuddled group as she asked, "Well, what are the rest of you fools waiting for? Either line up or stand back...!"

Prompted by Yoruichi's shout, everyone moved over and stood before the Senkaimon, prepared to enter the moment it opened. Orihime happened to line up on Ohta's right, causing him to raise his brows slightly, but now was neither the time nor place to ask why she didn't stand next to Ichigo. If he had to guess, Tatsuki had asked her to look after him. Either that, or she expected him to carry her if she fell behind...

"Well, looks like everyone's ready," said Kisuke, standing on the right side of the Senkaimon while Tessai mirrored his position on the left. Once they began channeling their spirit energy into the gate, the interior released a blinding, bluish-white light while Kisuke shouted, "Jump in the moment it finishes opening! And remember, you only get one chance at this! Make it count...!"

Nearly as soon as Kisuke finished shouting, the blinding light emitting from the gate stabilized, revealing a dark corridor lined by purple, flesh-like walls. It was a fairly gruesome sight, but everyone leaped in without any obvious hesitation, Ohta leading the pack considerably by activating Shunpo the moment the corridor came into view.

Though she anticipated Ohta's actions, Yoruichi sighed and whispered into his ear, "Stay with the rest of the group. We'll be using the Kōtotsu, the cleaner that prevents foreign objects and entities from clogging up the Dangai, to reverse the flow of time. If you pass through too quickly, everyone else will have appeared a week before you..."

"How the hell does that work...?" asked Ohta, failing to comprehend how he could reach the gate at the end of the tunnel first yet somehow arrive later than everyone else...

"Why are you asking me?" retorted Yoruichi. "Kisuke is the only one who understands how this works. Once we're done rescuing Rukia, feel free to ask him."

"Hard pass..." replied Ohta, holding his ground and waiting for everyone else to catch up, barely keeping ahead of the fleshy purple corridor that was collapsing behind them...

"Jeez, Ohta-kun, you can't run ahead like that...!" whined Orihime, clearly struggling more than the rest of the group.

Floating backward at the same pace the group was moving forward, Ohta asked, "Is this really the fastest you guys can go? Do I need to carry your asses...?"

"Damn show off..." growled Ichigo, feeling equal parts annoyed by Ohta's behavior and frustrated at himself. He had trained his ass off to catch up to the duo that had captured Rukia, but Ohta's speed made it clear he still had a long way to go.

While the 'men' were too proud to accept Ohta's help, Orihime surprised him a bit by shouting, "Please carry me...!" as she abruptly leaped at him. She had a phenomenal physique, but she wasn't very athletic. Her shoes, laceless loafers, also weren't very suited to running, so she didn't hesitate to accept Ohta's offer, forcing him to catch her.

("Her tits are massive...") noted Ohta, his expression remaining unchanged as Orihime clung to his body, pressing her voluminous, incredibly soft tits against him. Ohta nearly grabbed her ass to support her, but he managed to resist the near-instinctual urge, instead grabbing her waist as he asked, "Do I look like a Segway to you...?"

Noticing that Ohta's body was very rigid, almost like it was being held in a fixed position, Orihime ceased clinging to him, tentatively standing on his toes as he continued supporting her waist.

"I didn't before, but I'm starting to..." replied Orihime, her usually bubbly smile somewhat awkward as she had never had a boy her age hold onto her waist before. Ohta had hit the nail on the head when he assumed she had promised Tatsuki she would look after him, but now Orihime got the distinct impression she would be the one being taken care of...

Causing Orihime's smile to cramp even further, Ichigo shouted, "Can you two stop flirting without a care in the world!? We're kind of in the middle of something...!"

As if in response to Ichigo's words, the collapsing wall of flesh behind them began to exude a pale glow, quickly intensifying to resemble the light of a runaway locomotive. Shortly after that, a massive, train-like 'creature' burst through the collapsing wall of flesh, chasing after them like it was trying to run them over.

"What is that thing!?" screamed Ichigo, picking up his pace alongside Chad and Uryu while Yoruichi explained what a Kōtotsu was and how it was 'bad luck' on their part that they happened to encounter it on their way through the Dangai. This was false, of course, but only Ohta knew this. Everyone else, sans the comparably comfortable Orihime, ran as if their lives depended on it...

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(A/N: Instead of saying 'mou,' Orihime should be saying 'moo'...)