SOMEWHERE IN THE SPIRIT WORLD.....
Jupiter held an emergency meeting with Kazumi and Bezel after he encountered Phantom through Aizan's vision before his death. Kazumi's shaking hand covered her mouth, flabbergasted, as she learnt on how Jupiter briefly explained every details. But at the same time, wasn't happy at all. Rather more livid.
" Are you certain that you saw Phantom with your own eyes? We all know he's dead and buried underneath the stars for eternity. I'm sure the Soul society must've forgotten about him!" Kazumi ranted.
" It's true, my Queen. I thought so too, but he's alive and inside the hogyōkū. That maggot must've saved him." Jupiter calmly responded.
" What are you trying to say, dear friend?" Bezel asked, anxiously.
" What I am trying to say, in my biggest theory, is either Phantom could be reincarnated as that boy from birth. I have a gut feeling he might had killed Aizan in cold blood or one of Yamamoto's pests gave him to that boy." Jupiter explained, unsure if he's right.
All remained quiet and were thinking twice before acting so irrational about their decision. They knew Phantom as one of the most powerful celestial dragons, but could that be the reason why Captain Yamamoto kept Ichitarō and his sisters? Even when the war will begin at the start of the Quincy war anniversary?
After thinking for a while, Bezel broke silence by asking:
" We can't let Phantom win. Especially when he's dead. So, what are we going to do about this?"
" No need to worry about it, old friend. I have a very special idea that won't backfire. We'll stick to the plan on killing that boy." Kazumi answered.
" But how? The Soul society won't let us in." Bezel remarked.
" I know. I can't let a silly dragon god defeat us. Trust me on this. Beside, I think I'll need my brother's help again and this time we'll take control of the Soul society."
Not later in that evening, Kazumi summoned Katsuya and almost instantly, explained her plan to avenge Aizan by invading the Soul society and kill Ichitarō. By then, all of them agreed as they waste no time picking up powerful alliances.
~~~~~~~~~~
MEANWHILE....
IN THE SOUL SOCIETY....
" Here you go. One large roasted duck with veggie stir-fry and rice. I'll bring you some dessert once you're all done. Lady Méi guī and Lord Kyōraku will be back for long." One of the maidens reported after she placed a plate of whole roasted duck.
"Xiè xie, fùqián.*" said Yoshimura and the maid was completely astonished. She then explained with a smile on her face, "It's alright. I've been in a Chinese restaurant when I visited my aunt and have been learning Mandarin since I was 6."
"You're so kind that you have learnt so much about in the world of the living, young lady. Let me know if you and your siblings need anything." Said the maid before she left and closed the door.
Yoshimura sat next to Rangiku and Ichitarō beneath a large box shaped hibachi*. They basked among the fireplace with their feet as they grabbed each of their three bowl of rice after taking pieces of duck and stir-fry veggies. Before they began eating, Ichitarō placed his bowl down, worrying about the words Yumichika said. Surely, it didn't affect him entirely, but when the old Head Captain mentioned Koro as one of his men, he questioned himself if Koro had any other skeletons in his closet.
Hence, he felt homesick the moment he realised he might made a mistake of collecting those items.
Yoshimura and Rangiku noticed he hadn't tasted his food and were bothered.
" Is something wrong, Ichitarō? " Rangiku softly asked.
" Huh? Oh. It's nothing really." He answered and Yoshimura sighed.
" If it's about that purple haired guy talking to you about changing your moves, then don't let it worry you too much." She advised.
" I know, but if we go back home, what are we going to say to mom and dad? Or when everyone will start questioning about Koro? I-if I told them everything, I'll feel like a burden, you know? Maybe, just maybe that'll be the same feeling that I'll have when I was 5 years old ____."
" Ichitarō, that's enough. Stop worrying about everything. When we'll get back, they'll understand once we tell them." Yoshimura stated, then advised her twin brother, " Look, dear brother. It's not and always never your fault you've been in an accident 10 years ago nor was it your fault that Koro died protecting you. Priscilla and the others.... I know it's too soon for their time, but you're too young to understand back then. So, don't blame yourself for something that's beyond you."
By then, Ichitarō couldn't said a single word to Yoshimura, but was thoughtful at the same time.
' Yoshimura...' he thought.
Silence remained between the triplets, but Rangiku, immediately enlighten their moods.
" Hey, less worrying about getting back home and more chewing these delicious foods before they go cold. We'll discuss our plans to get out of here and figure out our way back home." She suggested. By then they all agreed as they began with their feast.
Few hours after eating, they all sat on their bed and Yoshimura took out the skeleton key from her hair, plotting a plan after Ichitarō told both of them how he went missing.
" Okay. Here's what we're going to do. Instead of asking anyone to get us home, because of the connection they have with the old head captain, let's sneak out of this cottage instead. Using this `bad boy`. By then, we let him collect the last artefact and we move out." Yoshimura explained and both Rangiku and Ichitarō simply glanced at her key with confusion.
" You're saying we let Ichitarō to finish his task and come back to the Soul society, by leaving everyone behind, including the people that know Ichigo?" Rangiku asked.
" Without saying goodbye.... again?" Ichitarō asked.
Yoshimura, unfortunately, nodded on both answers.
" We have no choice. Besides, they won't notice our existence anyway." She answered, waving a skeleton key in her fingers.
That's when the arctic blue furred cat like entity appeared out of nowhere and grabbed it by its mouth as it landed behind the door. The triplets tilted their heads in curiosity at first, but Yoshimura wasn't pleased. She slowly went towards it as she softly asked:
" It's okay, kitty. I'm not trying to hurt you or anything, but see that key in your mouth? It's the only thing that'll get us home. We'll do anything you want. So, please give it to me or my siblings ?"
Both Rangiku and Ichitarō approached in the same manner as their sister. The moment it was cornered, the door, miraculously, opened and one of the guards peeped at the door.
" Sorry, kids. It sure is pretty windy outside." Said the guard, which gave the opportunity for the entity to escape.
" HEY, IT'S GETTING AWAY! LET'S GET IT!" Yoshimura shouted and they all took out before wearing their warm boots.
Away from the warm cottage to the shivering cold night, the triplets ran the entire 8th division looking for the entity with a skeleton key in its mouth. The guard tried to call them, but they ignored him, leaving them no alternatives, but to chase the triplets and take them back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Four to five guards arrived, looking for the triplets around the 8th division. They split themselves into individuals, beginning their search.
Meanwhile, the triplets were running around the 8th division, pursuing the cat-like entity. The more they're after it because of the key, the less they wondered they're lost. However, when it finally stopped, Yoshimura wasted no time grabbing its light feathery body.
" There you are, you naughty cat. Now, give me this key." She demanded and, unexpectedly, does exactly as she told. She placed it in her side pocket and carried the entity on her left arm.
" Let's get out of here, before anyone knows we're not here." Rangiku said with a squeaky, small voice when she looked around and noticed they were lost.
" Especially that straw hat captain and his wife." Yoshimura stated and all of them agreed.
The seconds they walked out, almost immediately, they heard voices of three people.
" Did you hear that?" Ichitarō softly asked. When they turned their body, they saw a slightly opened door in a two-story building.
They began crawling towards the building, leading to the office. As they peeped through the door, Ichitarō gaped with his eyes wide open when he saw something familiar.
' Excallibur? What's he doing here?' Ichitarō wondered as he noticed Excallibur was inside a bird cage. The triplets also saw Captain Kyōraku and Ramune talking to one of the remaining captains. They didn't take long to figure out who it was.
Inside the office, Captain Mayuri was seen sitting on a chair, staring and typing onto his computer. Both Shunsui and Ramune stood a few metres away from him and guarding Excallibur from ever escaping. Mayuri scanned through the screen and read Koro's notebook at the same time, treating it like an evidence.
Ramune saw how stressed her husband was and softly asked him:
" Qin ài de*, you look upset. Is it about those kids?"
Kyōraku sighed and answered:
" I don't want to lie. I'm so baffled that it's uncertain if we'll ever trust those kids. On the other hand, Koro, even in his grave, was dragging them towards danger without any adult supervision. I know they can take care of themselves, but the spirit world is far too dangerous for them alone."
" You're not wrong, Zhàng fū. I'm as confused as you are. There might be some possible explanation for all of this. After his death, there's no telling Koro had secrets that might explode in any time." Ramune suggested, but both were shocked when Captain Mayuri saw something when an image from the computer done scanning.
" EUREKA!" He shouted.
Both looked at Mayuri and Shunsui got closed to him.
" You got something?" He asked and Mayuri nodded.
" This language seems something I haven't seen in my life. It appears this is an ancient language from spirit demons. I thought they were extinct a long time ago, but I'm surprised they're still here. This means Koro may have wrote this whole thing before his tragic death." Mayuri explained, stroking his in curiosity.
" Wait, if old man Koro wrote this notebook throughout his journey and those kids ended up in the Soul society, could this mean these kids are.... spirit demons?" Shunsui asked, but his wife shook her head in disbelief.
" That's impossible! Why would he do this to those poor kids?" She exclaimed. Shunsui came and comfort her unsettling, exasperated manner.
" Don't despair, sweet rose. Even if we keep them until their 50, one of them have to crack." He spoke with his silverish tone.
The triplets froze and stared with their eyes wide open and their hearts were beaten faster than a taiko drum. They remained speechless after they heard their conversation and planning they'll stay here without seeing their parents again.
Suddenly, when they heard emitting footsteps, not knowing what to do and briskly ran to the stairs, without being noticed.
~~~~~~~~~
" Why the hell would they want to keep us here forever? We did nothing wrong, that's all!" Rangiku trembled in a huffing sound.
" Maybe it's because of me. I'm the one they want since they know Koro for how many soul reaper years!" Ichitarō shouted.
" Then we have to leave now! Mom and dad are waiting for us!" Yoshimura insisted.
But Ichitarō stopped from running, unsure if he'll continue again. Both of his sisters had done the same, yet were flustered by his actions.
" Then... what about the last item?" He asked.
Yoshimura huffed as well, trying to rest.
" What about it? We'll get it later when it died down. And no.... I'm not...being insensitive about it." Yoshimura said.
Just as he tried to opened his mouth and asking her how insensitive it was, they were halted by a voice of a child provoking his father.
" Ā-pah*, look. It's those same people everyone talked about. Even Shūshu* and Gōngzhu Loong*. " The little boy said. As they turned their bodies, the triplets saw Captain Ukitake holding Tobimaru. He was puzzled at first when they saw them outside for the first time in his life.
" What are you guys doing here? You're supposed to be inside the cottage." Ukitake asked. Yet none of the triplets seemed to answer his question as there's a lot going on in their own minds.
" Well... you see_____." Ichitarō answered, struggling to control his breathing. However, he was interrupted by some of the Chinese guards.
" Stop right there! You're going back to the cottage this instant! " The first guard commanded.
The triplets are now surrounded. What are they going to do?
~~~~~~~~
MEANWHILE.....
On the outskirts of the Rukongai, Jupiter, Bezel and Kazumi stood beneath the deep layered snow as the icy wind blew over their bodies. Yet, they were already wore their warm clothes, in which prevented them from freezing themselves to death.
They all waited for Katsuya to bring their own powerful allies and their soldiers to arrive in the dead of night. Except when owls and coyotes began their song. Even though, Bezel's patient was slowly running thin like a frozen lake, at last Katsuya arrived with more of his armies.
However, Bezel wasn't pleased.
" Are you sure they're going to be enough? " He asked.
" Absolutely not, my dear Lord. But we're capable of eliminating those Soul reaper fat heads." Katsuya answered.
" Are you sure your plan is going to work? We'll be good as dead, before we know it." Bezel asked Kazumi, nervously.
Nonetheless, Kazumi bursted in laughter, as if she found it amusing.
" You, the most feared prince of darkness, having cold feet on the night of the attack?" She smirked. Bezel slowly shook his head.
" Not really, your Highness. Just worried." He answered. Then, she commanded:
" Bring me your favourite pet."
Bezel bowed his head as he conjured a powerful entity, enough to kill a mortal. From the summoning, an enormous, muscular entity with a head and a body of a lion, a scorpion tail and a bat like wings appeared from the pentagram drawn ground and growled before Bezel.
When it spread out its wings and flew from above, it floated midway without touching the snowy floor. Kazumi and Jupiter smiled at the entity as Bezel allowed Jupiter to climb on top of the entity.
" Such a beautiful manticore you're brought us, Lord Beelzebub. I won't harm it the moment I stepped on to the Soul society." Jupiter chimed wickedly.
" I know. That's why we'll stick to the plan on bringing up more of our allies. I'll bring some more of my manticores." Bezel stated and Jupiter hopped on top of the manticore and headed towards the Soul society.
' You'll never doubt me for a second, my queen.' Bezel smiled as he glanced at Kazumi.