chapter 28

Plans moving forward

Yuzu had cried herself to sleep the first time her brother had failed to turn up to a scheduled dinner. He had sent a message beforehand that he couldn't make it sure, but that curtesy didn't dull the feelings much. She was finding it hard to be without her brother, it was even harder trying not to imagine what he might be doing. Both she and Karin had no happy illusions about Ichigo's situation, he was in danger and they knew it. That he had stopped visiting for weeks now had them both shivering in fear. They had been told he was powerful, but how could that reassure them when they had nothing to measure weak to powerful against? She snuggled deeper into her blankets as she tried to get some sleep, Ichigo had always come back before, but the thought wouldn't go away that...
"What if he doesn't?" she barely whispered into the night.
Karin rolled over in the bed across from hers and they could see the same fear in each other even in the dark.
"You had to say it didn't you? Why did you have to say that?" Karin whispered back
"sorry, I just cant get my mind off it. Its been over a month now and he promised. ichi-nii just about never breaks a promise, not to us"
"Just means its serious and he's busy, he'll be alright. He has to be, and he didn't go alone either."
Yuzu dragged in a cold wintery breath as her brain dug up the memory unbidden. "Remember in the lounge room when they met? They said he basically worked alone, that the others couldn't keep up with him"
"Damn it Yuzu would you please stop it" Karin almost begged. then the door gently swung open as their father quietly walked in.
"Hey girls, want a quick lesson on reiatsu? If you know someone well enough you can pick up their feelings in it. Hop up and we can talk."
The twins curled up under blankets and waited in the lounge room as Isshin made them warm drinks before returning to them.
"I wont lie and say he isn't in danger, but its not as bad as you think." He started
"So how bad is it then?" Karin asked
"as far as actually being able to kill him there's only about twenty to thirty people in Soul Society that could really hurt him and only a handful could actually beat him in a fight, and they are all on his side." He breathed sigh as he swept a hand through his dark hair "the real danger is Ichigo hurting himself. He's decided to try and help everyone in soul society by setting up law and a police force, but there are people who like things just the way they are and they are fighting back on what would be a huge job to start with. They cant kill him but Ichigo might push himself too far or do something he will regret to beat them. He also has to worry about the political situation. He's got some really powerful friends on his side so they wont be able to keep him down for long but it will slow him down. He's also never been too good at looking at things in roundabout ways so he's likely to do something wrong. The big advantage Ichigo has is that he's basically removed himself from the Siereitei to fight while his friends deal with that so smart move by him, though I'm not sure he really meant to do it."
Yuzu sighed in relief "anything else you can tell us?"
"IIm afraid not. I was keeping tabs on him through an old friend but he took off to Seireitei to help them out. It should make things a little safer, Kisuke is no push over"
Karin blinked "the crazy candy shop keeper?"
"Yep that's him. I do know he has Hitusgaya-taichio with him so he's got backup"
"...Toshiro?"
Isshin's gaze narrowed "is their something I should know dear daughter?"

...

it had become a full war. What had started out as a slow creeping advance into Rukongai while dealing with the occasional army had erupted into a full conflict on all fronts, and there just wasn't enough shinigami to go around. The situation was falling apart and Ichigo didn't know what to do. His plan had been simple enough in concept, use the shinigami as the core of his forces with the bulk made up of recruits from academy drop outs and other volunteers with above average reiatsu, and it had been largely working till they lost the southern army. In the weeks since then recruits had dried up and once helpful communities had withdrawn and began to hide away from people associated with Seireitei. Ichigo had thought they would help, that they would be happy to have the change, and he had been wrong. Well not entirely he supposed, they had been mostly willing enough to help to begin with, they just didn't think he could do it anymore, that helping him was not worth the risk of association when he was forced to run back to Seireitei. But he couldn't do this without them. He was at the limit of what Seireitei could provide in manpower, anymore and he risked lowering the patrols for the living or weakening the response should a disaster strike. If there was something he had learnt already its that the hollows never stopped and that there was always something brewing beneath the surface waiting to cause trouble. Ichigo was pouring over military texts and studies both modern and ancient looking for an answer, school texts were long forgotten back in Seireitei. In hindsight he had been naïve and rather childish to just walk out and think he could do this where others had failed. He had new ideas, but he didn't have the experience or the knowledge to implement them. He wasn't out of this yet though. He still had plans waiting to come to fruition and he knew chad was up to something, that he had his back. what he needed to do was stabilize the situation, buy time for others to act and prove he wasn't going anywhere. What he needed was new tools to use against him enemies and weapons to arm his non shinigami troops with, but that brought in escalation of the conflict though he supposed that had already happened. Ichigo leaned back in his chair running a hand across his face in tired thought. What he needed was a stalemate, the question was how to get one. If he just sat around the lords of Rukongai would just attack till the balance of souls began to waver and tilt and he would be back to square one. So he needed to keep them from attacking, or make them think they would gain nothing by attacking him. Ichigo's study of history showed this situation typically resulted due to terrain. Large swamps, oceans, thick jungle or mountain ranges. Something that made it next to impossible for both sides to reach each other without high cost. Issue was, Soul Society had no such features. There was many large rivers, lakes, forests, clusters of mountains and bogs, but no very large landmarks that could provide what he needed. Soul Society was a quilt of terrain designed to be lived in, not made from natural processes. His tent flapped open as Toshiro entered. Ichigo quickly made a hole in the barrier he kept up to contain him unsealed zanpakuto and the reiatsu that released. Toshiro let out a mix between a sigh and a groan as Hyorinmaru shifted out of its sealed state and he took a seat. The leader of the tenth was tired, while Ichigo was desperately learning Toshiro was fighting in his place. Where he went there was victory, but there was only one of him and he could only keep going so long.
"any ideas?" Toshiro asked as he grabbed a cup of water for a nearby jug and took a drink.
"maybe, I just cant figure out how to make it work. How much do we have in the ways of supplies?"
"we are short on manpower and time, material supplies is not an issue and wont be for years yet. Seireitei keeps many large warehouses of all sorts of stuff under kido seals for permanent storage in case of a siege."
"siege by who?" Ichigo asked in surprise
Toshiro shrugged "stuffed if we know but better safe then sorry"
Ichigo sat thinking for a bit, things he had been reading the past weeks began to click and shuffle around in his head
"we need manpower and time, and don't want to keep relying on Seireitei for supplies if we can really help it, right?" he asked as a laughing smile spread across his face
Toshiro sat up straight and looked at his friend "right, so what are you thinking?"
"we steal it from them" Ichigo said with a laugh
Toshiro nodded "ok but how does that fix our manpower issues?"
"we steal that too"

...

Uryu sat at the dinning table of Kanae Ishida...his own mother...and it was a distraction he didn't need as far as he was concerned. Masaki begged to differ.
"I wont ask why you are here Uryu, because it wasn't to see me, I know that much. I can see it so easily in you. You are like your father, just with different goals" Kanae said softly as she gazed at her son.
"if you are trying to rekindle some form of bond with me that's not what you should be saying. That man is barely family let alone my father figure" Uryu replied coldly over his tea.
Kanae smiled "yes, his relationship with Soken was not the best either, neither was Soken's with his father. Men of the Ishida clan have a habit of dedicating their lives to their goals to the exclusion of most everything else. Its both admirable and a bit sad to watch it play out, but I feel the world would be much less hopeful without all of you"
Uryu wasn't sure how to take that so he took a sip of tea and held his composure, his mother gave him a knowing smile
"so tell me Uryu, what is your goal that pushes you so far?"
"to create the heaven my grandfather dreamed of. I will drag the Quincy to the greatness they have sought for so long, even when they have become cowards hiding under a rock"
his mother laughed "truly? I think you can do it, but how do you plan to deal with our powerlessness? Even if we regain our Quincy heritage hollows are still poison to us, the shinigami hunt us for what we do to the balance...and there is him to deal with."
"the situation has changed, Kurosaki and myself have changed it"
"Kurosaki?" She looked at the other woman seated at the table "interesting. So how has the situation changed?"
"the shinigami are on our side"
Kanae blinked, then sat quietly for a bit. "how on earth did you manage that?"
"hmmm. part of it was the old Quincy. While the sou-taicho was horrified by what we were capable of as enemies he did see the value of having us as allies once the proposal was made, but he needed to see that Shinigami and Quincy could work together and that we were willing to address our impact on the balance. While Kurosaki convinced them of there being some value in outsiders I believe the ability to cooperate was shown by myself and the current fuku-taicho of the sixth, Abari Renji, during the battle of Hueco Mundo and other events"
his mother raised an eyebrow "battle of Hueco Mundo?"
Uryu waved her off "another time. The key point is that the Shinigami are willing to help, we have a way for Quincy to cleanse souls instead of destroying them and I am utterly confident we will soon have a way to restore your power. Its all in our favour now, you just need to stop hiding and grasp it"
Kanae breathed a sigh "and what if we don't want to grasp it? What if all we want do is hide away from it all?"
Uryu slammed a hand down on the table "then I will take whoever is willing and leave the rest of you to rot!" He snarled
Kanae sighed "look at you Uryu" she gave a weak smile "a Quincy warrior unbowed, but the same cant be said for most of us. Most of us have given up on fighting back or seeking dreams or trying to change things. You would get some, but not many, not enough for a true alliance. Not enough to help the Shinigami or your friend"
Uryu sneered "cowards. Them and you both. I will take warriors over rats any day"
Masak spoke up to interrupt a possible tirade "true, but if you cant get the ones who don't want to fight how will you support those warriors? Seireitei is huge, it houses not just the Shinigami but the industry to make them self sufficient in a situation, it houses the nobility who have commanding wealth or key duties, it houses the government and highest courts, the medical and research institutes. Your position will be much stronger as a whole if you bring more then warriors and soldiers to aid them. If you can bring our thinkers and scientists, our builders and farmers, you can add our knowledge and methods to theirs."
Uryu settled swiftly focused on thought and composure "an alliance between modern nations involves shared intelligence, construction techniques, supplies and more...it seems I was hasty, too eager with my goal in sight. Alright then Kurosaki-san, since my mother has clearly given in what do you suggest as a course of action to rouse the Quincy?
Masaki winced "if I knew that I would have done it years ago"
then his phone went off
...

Chad could feel them around him but couldn't reach out to them. He was surrounded by his tribe but couldn't talk to them. He had never been able to do this, his own stoic, quiet nature and lack of social skill had crippled him before he had set out, he just hadn't known it yet. He was on the outskirts of a nameless town in south Rukongai, most didn't have names, it was the district that mattered more then the area of it you lived in. He moved to approach a group of farmers, he could feel them, the red in one and the green in another, and watched as their gazes became wary and fearful like all the others before them. Chad gave a quiet disappointed sigh and shifted the direction of his steps, they would run if he came much closer. He supposed the trip hadn't been completely wasted, he had learnt the meaning behind the different coloured light he could feel in people. The red was always prominent around Seireitei, most notably along the four main avenues out of the fortress of the Shinigami. the green light was prominent in the outer districts...away from regular Shinigami patrols. it had taken the months he had spent working with Urahara and the time he had been in Soul Society to grasp what the difference meant. They were Fullbringers, but not all the same. Shinigami sealed their power in the living world because reiatsu impacted the environment and souls of those around them that it touched, like the imprint of a foot in sand. Red for the imprint of Shinigami reiatsu and green for hollow attack. His friends in xcution all had green light within them. By their own understanding they were all survivors of hollow attacks as unborn infants, at the period when lives and souls could most be influenced as they grew before birth, but repeated exposure would create the same effect. Aizen had been smart sure, but he had also been arrogant and unable to accept things outside his control. Sado's power came from an early life hollow attack that had killed his parents and then the traces had grasped on to Ichigo's own hollow power to grow into its full form. This was a power dedicated to life and how it changed. Shinigami and even Quincy lived long lives of slow steady growth, study, training and hard combat, and the power they gained from such an existence was incredible, but it did not change or shift suddenly. Fullbring did just that and would reach its full potential well within a human lifetime, sometimes within months. Sado knew Ichigo had what he thought was a good idea, but the power of a Shinigami just grew too slowly and was too complicated to use in its infancy. What he had wasn't trained people with a bit of power but newborn Shinigami that had yet to learn how to walk in their new world and it wasn't going to stand the test that now stood against him. Sado knew he had the answer, but had no way to reach out and grasp it.

Keigo strolled up to another person with a smile on his face and a greeting on his lips. It was a well practiced routine by now. Mizuiro scouts them and he hooks them.
Alice and Mizuiro leaned against a wall watching Keigo work, fielding questions and idle banter like the social addict he was. She turned to her new friend "so how could you detect what he's looking for? Now that I know its there I can find it, but just barely. You know senses like yours aren't normal right? How did you get them?"
Miruiro smiled "it took me a bit to get it myself. I'm in the handicrafts club at school"

...

he looked up from his drink and swept his gaze around the private room at his gathered fellows and gave a sigh. "well this didn't go as planned, time to shake things up"
a friend looked up from his book "what do you plan to do?"
the man finished off his drink and answered "we go to soul society."

...

the emperor woke with the dawn and pondered his plans with a calm mind. the Shinigami grew more powerful by the day. The lethargy that had pervaded their military for nearly half a century was banished, they once again pushed themselves to new heights and sought great works and campaigns to undertake. Shinigami growth had resumed and the emperors plans were askew. To challenge them in their own stronghold would always be hard but now they were awake and a new plan was required, a new path to the future had to be found. He turned to his attendant with new orders.
"make the hollows scream"

...

the pair of young women moved through the northern Rukongai army command centre with nervousness radiating in their reiatsu but it was far to late to back out now. They had their duties and goal, and they did not coincide with Ichigo's no matter how admirable his goals were. Rukia and Momo had spent their early lives growing up in Rukongai and it would survive without his aid. Their lives would continue one way or the other but Yamamoto was getting old, Seireitei needed its next sou-taicho. They both shook slightly as they spotted the command tent.
"will he still be your friend after this, do you think?" Momo asked as she stepped a little closer to her companion.
Rukia smiled "he will be. He wont like this at all and it will throw him into a spin but he wont hate us, either of us"
"glad you're so confidant" Momo grumbled
"Rukia's smile widened "comes with knowing him better"
after a few more steps they reached the tent and entered. Ichigo and Toshiro looked up and gave brief tired smiles through the barrier
"there you both are, I was starting to wonder what you were up to" Hitsugaya said "you've arrived at the right time, we have plans to get moving"
Momo straightened. this was the part she was dreading the most. Kurosaki-taicho would forgive them once he understood...but would Shiro-chan?
"I'm sorry Hitsugaya-taicho, but we are on a different mission" Momo said firmly trying to draw all the confidence of a fukutaicho around her, she still felt so small and weak under those now sharpened gazes. Rukia continued for her
"apologies, but by order of the central 46 we are here to arrest Kurosaki-taicho for his trial. he is charged with breaking the prime duty of seireitei and dirupting the balance of souls"