The Second Division officer was stunned.
Before coming he had thought he had seen every kind of scene.
After arriving he realized this was one he truly had not.
A Soul Reaper from Seireitei had been captured, treated like a plaything and toyed with.
If this spread back to Seireitei, the whole Court would quake three times over.
Still, with centuries of experience, he sensed something off and said sternly, "Assaulting a Soul Reaper of Seireitei is a capital crime, punishable by the harshest sentence. Are you sure you admit to stealing Kuchiki Rukia's power?"
"Correct," Tachibana Yu said without a glance at Rukia's struggles, owning it without hesitation.
"Then there is no helping it..." The officer's eyes chilled as he slowly drew his zanpakutō. "If Kuchiki Rukia willingly transferred her power to you, I would not act. But since a human stole a Soul Reaper's power..."
"You, a mere line officer, dare raise your blade to me?" Yu cut him off, looking down his nose at the man.
"Hmm?" The officer faltered. The arrogance coming off this human Soul Reaper was wrong. Background?
Hand on his hilt, he probed, "Do you have an organization behind you?"
"Of course."
"Which one?"
"Urahara Shop."
...
On a distant rooftop, Tessai Tsukabishi turned to Urahara Kisuke. "Shopkeeper, is that human boy bluffing because he knows Captain Kurosaki's identity?"
Urahara looked genuinely puzzled. "That should be impossible. Even Kurosaki Ichigo does not know his father's past. How would this kid?"
Hanakari Jinta scowled. "He is too cocky. People would think he is a Seireitei captain."
The black cat, Yoruichi, spoke for once. "He is posturing, most likely."
...
"Have you heard the name Urahara Kisuke?" Yu asked, holding Rukia as he faced the officer with a lofty air.
Urahara: "???"
Tessai: "???"
Shihōin Yoruichi: "???"
Hanakari Jinta: "???"
Tsumugiya Ururu: "???"
The Second Division officer sucked in a breath and tightened his grip on the blade. "Urahara Kisuke..."
Of course he knew that former Twelfth Division captain. The man's craftiness was near demonic. Once head of the Technology Development Bureau, he had humbled even Kurotsuchi Mayuri. Rumor said he conducted forbidden experiments and fled Seireitei with several captains. Even in exile he lived openly in the World of the Living, a terrifying figure in a gray zone.
"Then..." the officer said gravely, staring at Yu. "Are you Urahara Kisuke's son in the living world..."
"That is right." Yu's chin lifted. "If you know Urahara, good. I am his disciple, the one he trusts most."
Urahara's face went dark. He grabbed his cane and lunged. "I am going to beat that shameless brat."
"Shopkeeper, calm yourself, please," Tessai pleaded, locking him in a bear hug.
Urahara Shop existed in a delicate space, skirting the law. Even though Seireitei knew who ran it, for many reasons they had not sent arrest squads. Marching up to a Second Division operative would be different. That would be provocation. Not just captains. Old Man Yamamoto might come himself.
"Never thought it would be Urahara..." Cold sweat beaded on the officer's brow. He knew his weight. He was just a field man in Second Division. The other name could bend Seireitei's principles. Even if that man smashed him right now, Soul Society might let it slide.
"And that is not all," Yu added. "Do the names Tessai Tsukabishi, Hanakari Jinta, and Tsumugiya Ururu ring a bell?"
The officer swallowed. "Jinta and Ururu I do not know. But Tsukabishi Tessai... you mean the former Grand Kidō Chief of the Kidō Corps?"
"Correct!" Yu thumped his chest. "I am also Tessai's disciple. He calls me a once-in-a-millennium kidō prodigy and plans to teach me everything he knows."
"Hiss..." The officer drew breath through his teeth. "Even Tsukabishi-dono is present?"
"Shopkeeper, do not hold me back. He is ruining my good name," Tessai fumed.
This time Urahara restrained him. "Tessai, breathe. Best we stay out of sight."
"My lifetime reputation," Tessai groaned. "If that brat goes to Soul Society and cannot cast a single spell, what then?"
Hanakari Jinta swung his bat irritably. "He did not even know my name?"
Ururu blinked timidly.
The only one not yet named, the black cat, grew uneasy. Surely the brat would not drop a cat's name too.
"Have you heard of Yoruichi?" Yu called loudly just then.
"Yoruichi..." The officer's eyes bulged. He took two steps back, staring at Yu. "Could it be that personage?"
"Shihōin Yoruichi."
"Correct," Yu said, patting his chest again.
This time the officer did not wait for him to go on. He stammered, "Are you also that lady's disciple?"
"Correct."
"Impossible. She already has a disciple. She would not take another." He thought of Captain Soi Fon, Yoruichi's student. If she heard that Yoruichi had taken on a pupil in the living world, she would go mad. She might rush over and kill someone.
"Not exactly a disciple."
The officer finally exhaled. Relief lasted a single heartbeat.
"I am her man," Yu said.
cough cough cough cough...
The Second Division officer doubled over hacking.
MEOW!
A piercing screech split the distance. The little black cat writhed in Ururu's arms, glaring across the rooftops at Yu with murderous fury.
MEOW!
"I am going to kill that human!"