Gateway 52

My talk with Luna the next morning was, in one word, awkward.

I knew it’d have been like that no matter the circumstances, but having to do it by writing through our lockets made everything harder. Juggling reassuring her that I enjoyed it, with me needing to explain to her how dangerous it was and why we shouldn’t do it again until I found a way to keep us balanced, was a task that really should have been done in person. That way, I’d at least be able to hug her and show how I felt instead of just writing it.

What didn’t help was that the last time I had talked to her was just after I rescued Kie, right before I first talked to my Zanpakuto spirit.

But I managed, somehow. Luna was happy to wait as long as I made up to her when the time came, which wasn’t something I’d ever deny her in the first place, so no loss there.

I had just finished my breakfast after my talk with Luna when I received a note from Ukitake to meet him at his office on the 13th.

___

The 13th division was idyllic.

There were gardens, trees, ponds, and streams everywhere. And every single Shinigami I saw there had a smile on their face.

I couldn’t blame them. Going from the land of dick measuring contests that were the 11th to such a calm atmosphere made me smile too.

After asking for directions, I reached what looked more like a traditional Japanese manor than anything else.

The place was open and light, with plenty of greenery surrounding it. And sitting at the front, there was a black-haired man wearing a Lieutenant’s badge.

“Good, you’re here. I thought you had gotten lost,” he said, standing up.

“I did,” I replied with a shrug. “Had to ask for directions on the way.”

“Ha!” He laughed, sending a smirk my way. “Good to know Matsumoto wasn’t lying about how easygoing you are! I’m Kaien Shiba, Lieutenant of the 13th.”

I blinked. How fast did that woman work in spreading gossip!? It hadn’t been 2 full days since I had met her!

“I know what you’re thinking. And yes, she does.” Kaien nodded. “She came by yesterday morning to gossip with my wife. And by the way,” he gave me a thumbs up. “Congrats, you’re currently the third Lieutenant with an active love life.”

“Really?” I asked curiously, following Kaien as he led me into the building.

“Yeah, the only other one is Lieutenant Shirogane from the 6th division, but he talked about retirement last time I saw him,” Kaien said, opening a door and waving me in. “Captain, Lieutenant Lupi has arrived!”

“Thank you, Kaien. You can go back to your training with Rukia,” Ukitake said. And with a bow, Kaien turned around and left.

“So,” I said once the door was closed. “What do you have for me, Captain Ukitake?”

He snorted before letting out a peal of laughter, which ended up being mixed with a rather potent cough until he calmed down.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, still grinning. “It’s just that, you really gave up on standard Japanese etiquette, haven’t you? At first, I thought it was Shunsui’s easygoing presence that made you forget it, since you were still learning when we first met, but now I see that you completely discarded it.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “That level of formality isn’t for me. I even have to remind myself to address people by their rank sometimes. Add to that how no one in the 11th cares, and it’s a wonder that it took so long for me to just move on to what feels more natural.”

“Hm,” he nodded. “I like it. People sometimes stand at too much ceremony. My subordinates could stand to relax a little.”

“Hard to see how they couldn’t, living in this division,” I said, looking out of the window to a pond where a few Shinigami were feeding the fish while sitting on the grass surrounding it.

“You’d think so,” he sighed. “But the more I insist on casualness, the more they stick to formality.”

“Have you tried taking a page out of the 11th’s playbook and beating it out of them?” I said with a laugh.

“No,” he chuckled, “I don’t think I have. Maybe I should give it a try, at least with Kaien…”

We enjoyed the humor of the idea for a few moments. Then, Ukitake let out a breath and looked seriously at me.

“As nice as talking with you is, Alex, that’s not why I called you here today,” he said.

“Obviously,” I rolled my eyes. “Have you found what you were looking for yesterday?”

“Yes,” he nodded, then turned his head to the window. “There is a way to help the girl, Luna, to put order in her soul. At least enough that just being connected to you wouldn’t be a constant threat. And with time and training, she’d be able to, if not match you, at least resist you, even if you tried to invade.”

“But?” I asked. He wouldn’t have made a big deal out of it if it hadn’t come with some big issues.

He looked back at me, “But it is not only illegal, but also highly dangerous, not only for her, but you as well.”

“How dangerous?” I didn’t care about legality. I could always just not come back to this world, but the danger to Luna was another story.

Ukitake thought for a moment, “While there are no records of it ever happening, the theorized worst-case scenario would be complete soul destabilization, where her soul would just, disperse, into spiritual particles.”

At my look, he rushed to explain further.

“Not that that’d happen! Especially if the one doing the procedure has good enough control over their spiritual power!” He said, sighing when I seemed to calm down.

I didn’t know if that was comforting or not. Since Luna was in another universe entirely, it would be my control that everything would depend on, be it for good or ill.

“So, what is it?” I leaned forward. A dangerous and illegal procedure? I couldn’t help but be interested. The chance of Luna dying was risky, but as long as her soul was intact, I could figure something out. I was currently a soul living in the afterlife, after all.

Ukitake pulled a wooden pentagon from his pocket. In it, there was a carving of a pentagon-shaped skull atop an X.

“This,” he said, handing it to me. “Is a Substitute Shinigami badge. It alerts for nearby Hollows and allows its owner to separate their soul from their body so they can fight.”

“So the idea is to turn her into a Shinigami while still being human?” I mused, still examining the badge.

It wasn’t a bad idea. There were no Hollows that I knew of in either of our worlds, so all it’d do is give her power without putting her in danger.

“That is the start,” he confirmed. “But the safest way to do it is temporary. She’d lose her powers with time, a year at the latest. It’ll only be useful for her to strengthen herself so she can go through a permanent way of becoming a Shinigami in the future.”

“And the risks you talked about…” I muttered.

“Are for the safest method,” he nodded. “For a permanent method, we’ll need to see an expert,” he muttered.

“Expert of what?” I asked. The way he said it made it sound like it wasn’t something he was enthused about, and considering how easily he talked about doing an illegal procedure, that was worrying.

“Soul manipulation,” he said seriously. And yeah, that tracked. Who better to find a permanent solution to my problem than someone who had mastered the root of the issue?

“And this is a problem, why?” I pressed.

Ukitake stood up with a sigh.

“Come, I’ll explain on the way,” he said, walking out of the room.

___

“Bakudo #25: Kikoenai-on,” Ukitake muttered as we walked through the Seireitei.

I felt his spell surround us, moving with us through the streets.

Things were more complicated than I expected. If he felt the need to use a spell to mute our conversation to anyone who might be listening in.

“Ok, spill,” I said, pulling out my wand and adding a few privacy spells to his.

“The expert we’re going to see is the previous Captain of the 12th and creator of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, Kisuke Urahara,” he said, turning a corner sharply. “He was exiled 100 years ago over his experiments with soul manipulation,” Ukitake said. “He turned several Captains and Lieutenants into Hollows.”

“And that’s better than the current leader of the 12th?” I asked dubiously. “Or anyone else, for that matter?”

Ukitake stopped and turned to me, his face twisting in distaste.

“I wouldn’t trust Mayuri with anything living that I didn’t want to become one of his test subjects,” he said as we went back to walking. “And Shunsui and I have our suspicions about how fast he was sentenced, especially when his exile came about from him running away with the previous Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukido and Captain of the 2nd, Yoruichi Shihoin, and the Commander and Grand Kido Chief of the Kido Corps, Tessai Tsukabishi.”

“That’s… a group of very powerful people to just go off rails like that and then stay silent for 100 years,” I said, and what an understatement it was!

Kisuke Urahara being a Captain and the head of the SRDI screamed danger. That he ran away with another Captain, who just so happened to be the leader of the ninja special forces, and the Commander of the Kido Corps, who also just so happened to be the most powerful Kido practitioner in the Kido Corps and probably the most knowledgeable in the Gotei?

Something weird was going on.

“That’s precisely why I’m choosing to go there,” Ukitake said, turning another corner. “They know not to try anything. And if we’re lucky…”

“You get some information about what really happened,” I finished.

“Yes,” Ukitake nodded.

“So, where are they?” I asked, recognizing with some mirth the direction we were heading towards.

“The World of the Living, in a town on the 13th’s territory,” he said, and I realized that we were, in fact, heading towards the Senkaimon. “We’ll need to be fast so the guards don’t realize we went through, but I don’t see this bei-”

I put my hand on Ukitake’s shoulder and stopped.

“Alex?” He asked in confusion.

“Jushiro, how far is this city from the last training mission in the WoL of the First class of the Academy?” I responded with my own question, a slight smile tugging on my lips.

Even though he was confused, Ukitake thought for a moment before saying, “Not that far, why?”

I let my smile turn into a smirk.

“Because we’re taking a shortcut,” I said, strengthening my hold on his shoulder before apparating us to the meeting place of the training mission.

___

Two hours later, we arrived in front of an unassuming shop with a sign reading “Urahara’s Shop".

“I told you we should have gotten a map!” I exclaimed for what felt like the 1000th time since we arrived at the WoL.

“And I said I knew the way!” Ukitake exclaimed back, pointing at the shop in front of us. “And look at that! We’re here!”

“After two hours! We could have arrived in ten minutes if we had a map!”

CLAP CLAP

Both of us turned sharply at the sound. In front of the shop, there was now a lean man with messy, light-blond hair under a striped green and white bucket hat. His black Haori fluttered in the wind, displaying a white diamond pattern on its bottom half.

“As amusing as watching a Captain and a Lieutenant arguing in front of my shop is,” he said, a mirthless smile on his face as he gripped a cane I hadn’t seen with him when I turned. His eyes sharpened, and his smile turned into a frown. “What are you doing here, Jushiro Ukitake?” He demanded.

___

A/N: And that’s that.

Ukitake means business when there’s a problem he can fix. And I always thought that he and Shunsui harbored suspicions over Urahara’s sentencing and knew where he and the rest of the Vizard were. Shunsui was way too unsurprised by Lisa’s appearance during the Fake Karakura Town Arc.

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