As they gaze at each other, Toushiro suddenly came to a realization, he wasn't in his Gigai so normal people shouldn't be able to see him.
"You... can see me?", he asked.
Yuuki didn't respond and just stood there frozen on the spot.
(Ah crap! What should I do?! I didn't expect to see Shiro here! If I say something he'll know I can see him. It would be the start of him talking to me and ask questions. By the looks of it, it seems he still doesn't remember me...... oh how I missed him.... wait! What am I thinking?! Focus Yuuki, focus!), she frantically thought.
Then she saw a familiar figure behind him.
"Yuu-chan?! Is that really you? What are you doing here?! Since when did you got out of the hospital? Oh wow! I'm surprised to see you!", Miharu happily said as she went past Toushiro.
"M-Me too, I'm surprised to see you as well. Orihime told me you were away on a trip. Since when did you come back?", Yuuki said.
They pretend they can't see him as they continue to chat.
Three months ago when Yuuki was gravely injured, Nagisa, Masahiko, Miharu and Amaterasu combined their powers to heal her. Although, they didn't break the spell Shinjo put on her. Due to the severity of her injury, Grandma Farah made a fake memory to Ichigo and the others that she got into a severe accident. She was in a coma for about a month. Masahiko and the rest decided to take her to their secret hideout for her to continue recuperating while a Shikigami acted as her double for two months. Meaning, she only woke up a few days ago and just returned today.
Miharu came back from her mission to find Shinjo once she heard the news that Yuuki has woken up. They already met for about four hours ago but got separated again when Nagisa called to report about her mission. They just replayed their reunion when Miharu saw Yuuki in a pinch.
(Was it just my imagination?), Toushiro thought as he looks at two chatting happily as if he wasn't there.
Yuuki and Miharu talk as they walk until they pass by Toushiro. A bit convinced that they can't see him, he continues his search for Ichigo and leaves.
(*sigh*) "Thanks Mii-chan... that was a close one. I didn't expect him to show up so suddenly.", Yuuki said.
"Hehehe, Luckily I was right behind him so he might've thought you were staring at me.", Miharu said.
"Yeah.... oh that's right! I thought you were with Orihime?"
"We bumped in to Arisawa-san earlier so I went on ahead."
"I see... we need to call everyone. I think Seireitei is beginning to suspect and they're now searching for us. That may be the reason why Shiro is here."
"Huh? I thought Grandma Farah erased their memories of us?"
"Weren't you listening to what she told us last time? She only erased some of everyone's memories and replaced them with fake ones regarding us being involved to hide the Sacred Jewel of Soul from the Central 46 who we now know that cannot be trusted. However, it was rushed so she said she did a lousy job. Even though we can trust the Shinigamis, they're still under the jurisdiction of the Central 46. Meaning... we shouldn't get involved with the Shinigamis as well.", Yuuki said with a sad look on her face.
"The jewel is currently in the possession of Toushiro-sama, right? Then there's about Hell... there was already a plan to take it back with the help of the Shinigamis."
"Shiro doesn't know that he has the jewel, only the 7 of us know. As for taking Hell back, Mii-chan... I'll be counting on you to find other surviving members of the Shinohara clan. Once we have enough manpower, we'll take back Hell ourselves since it's our duty in the first place. We'll take over your mission of finding Shinjo-nii. Can you do it?"
"Hai!! You can count on me!"
"Thanks Mii-chan... I know you just got back but this is important."
"I'll do my best to get it done quickly."
"I'm so fortunate to have a friend like you.", Yuuki said as she smiles.
They go on their separate ways.
Meanwhile, Toushiro senses Ichigo's Reiatsu nearby and heads towards his direction. Upon arriving, he saw him fighting against a few Hollows.
"Oi... Kurosaki...", Toushiro called.
Ichigo cuts down the last remaining and turns to Toushiro.
"Toushiro?! What are you doing here?", he asked.
(*cross popping veins*) "That's Hitsugaya-taicho for you!", Toushiro said with an irritated look on his face. "I came here to ask you about something."
"Let's talk at my place."
At the Kurosaki clinic, Toushiro and Ichigo proceeds to Ichigo's room. Yuuki who just got back immediately notices them as they enter the room. She folds a paper talisman and turns it to a tiny bug. The bug enters Ichigo's room without being noticed by the two.
"I'll get straight to the point. You once told us that you also have some parts of your memories missing, right?", Toushiro asked with a serious look on his face.
"Yeah, what about it? Do you have any idea what caused it?"
"It's not what but who. We already have the suspect in custody, his name is Shinohara Shinjo. Does that name sound familiar to you?"
".... yeah... I don't know why though."
"Same goes for me... he said he had a sister and I think her name was Haru. Here's the weird part... he told me that we were the ones who killed her but then the next minute he claims to be the one who did it. I can't get anymore information out of him. I'm in the middle of investigating things since he told me something disturbing."
"S-Something disturbing?", Ichigo nervously asked.
"He told me that the world is going to end, not just the Human world... first was Hell. Then Hueco Mundo or Soul Society might be next as well, and that there's nothing we can do about it since his sister was the only hope of stopping it."
"Then what should we do?"
"Since the Human world is involved, we'll need your full cooperation as well. Tell me about your memories, ever since you got your Shinigami powers until today. If something doesn't match up or seems strange we'll start investigating there."
"That will be a very long story."
"Well you should start now, the Head Captain told me that there's a strong possibility that the verdict will be execution. We only have 7 days until then."
Unbeknownst to them, Yuuki was listening to their conversation the whole time with a Shikigami disguised as a bug. She carefully thinks of a way to save Shinjo and prevent Ichigo from talking. There are flaws within their altered memories so if they manage to find that flaw, Yuuki and the rest will get exposed.
Ichigo was about to speak when they heard someone knock at the door.
"Ichi-nii are you there?", Yuuki asked at the other side of the door.
"Yes, what is it? I'm kind of busy right now."
"There's something I want to buy at the convenience store... can you accompany me?"
"Can't you go by yourself?"
"I can... but... it's already past 8pm... you and dad always tell me not to go out alone at night, remember?"
(*sigh*) "Alright fine... I'll be right there."
"Really?! Thanks Ichi-nii you're the best!"
"What?! Hey Kurosaki?!", Toushiro called.
"I'll be quick.", Ichigo said and leaves the room before Toushiro could even protest.
Once outside Yuuki purposely went to the farthest convenience store.
"Does it have to be the farthest one?", Ichigo asked.
"That's the only store that sells honey flavored pudding.", Yuuki said and eats a spoonful. "Mmmm! Oishii! (Now what? I can't distract him any longer.), she thought.
She then takes out her phone and calls on Masahiko.
"Who are you calling at this time of night?", Ichigo asked.
"A friend of mine.", Yuuki said. "Hello? It's me, can we meet up tomorrow? There's something I need to tell you.... tell the others too, okay?", she said at Masahiko at the other line.
"Are you going out with friends tomorrow?", Ichigo asked.
"Yep!"
"That's good.... you know.... you seem to have changed ever since you could talk. It really surprised me and dad, for years you weren't able to talk. Then after the accident you suddenly can."
"It was really inconvenient when I wasn't able to talk so I practised, kinda like a speech therapy at home. It worked better than expected, right?"
Ichigo opens the door and steps inside.
"Yeah.... okay we're back... don't forget to brush your teeth before going to bed, 'kay?", he said.
"M'kay..... wha-?! Already? (Time for plan B!)", Yuuki thought.
Ichigo quickly heads back to his room where Toushiro was waiting.
(*cross popping veins*) "What took you so long?!! You said you'll be quick!", Toushiro said with an irritated look on his face.
"S-Sorry, I didn't thought Yuuki would choose the farthest one."
"It's already this late... we'll just have to continue this conversation tomorrow."
Yuuki sighs in relief as she listens to their conversation.
(Then we'll make a move early tomorrow, we'll break Shinjo-nii out of prison. If there's some ruckus going on at Seireitei then there's a big possibility they'll call on Shiro. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.), she thought.
She sends a Shikigami to Masahiko later that night to let them know of the plan.
******
The next day, Yuuki is ready to head to Seireitei. She was about to leave when Ichigo came down the stairs and proceeds to the kitchen.
(*yawn*) "You're up early...", Ichigo said as he rubs his eyes.
"Good morning sleepyhead. We're going to visit some old friends who live a bit far so it's better to be early."
"I see.... have fun."
"We will! Breakfast is in the oven, make sure you finish it all! ", Yuuki said with a smile and leaves.
"Yeah, yeah."
"Ittekimasu!", Yuuki said and leaves.
"Itterasshai...... (*yawn*) Might as well have breakfast first.", Ichigo mumbled.
Ichigo opens the oven and saw that the food was good to two people.
(She might have thought of having breakfast first but then changed her mind.... oh well... I guess I'll make Toushiro join me for breakfast.), Ichigo thought and shrugs.
Ichigo asked Toushiro last night to sleep over at his place since he knew he has no place to stay for the night.
"I guess I should wake him up now...", Ichigo said.
He went upstairs to wake Toushiro up. Once awake, they had breakfast. Unbeknownst to them, Yuuki put a spell on the food to make them sleep again. She didn't want to give them the slight chance to talk until Toushiro goes back to Soul Society.
A few hours later, Yuuki and the rest review their plan, Nagisa will create ruckus while Yuuki sneaks in to the prison where Shinjo is being held and get him out. Nagisa made her move first and the alarm went off. They were wearing masks that covers the entire head to avoid recognition. Before they move into action, Shino put sealing talimans on each of the captain's rooms while they were sleeping. They discovered that she has better control over her powers on short distances. Her teleportation powers was perfect for the job during the night, nobody was aware what came to them. Since Shinjo has nullification powers, Shino can't get him out through teleportation.
Only the captains were sealed in their rooms. Masahiko speads out Shikigamis to create more confusion. Yuuki will be the only one sneaking inside the prison while Shino is on standby for their escape.
At the Human world, Toushiro was woken up by the ring on his phone.
(*yawn*) "Hello? Matsumoto, what is it?", he asked still a bit sleepy.
"Taichou!! Finally!!! We need you here right now! A woman wearing a noh mask has gone nuts and all the other captains were trapped inside their rooms! That includes the Head Captain! Everything is all messed up right now! The other lieutenants are trying to subdue her but she's crazy strong, like Zaraki-crazy strong!", Rangiku frantically yelled.
Toushiro quickly stands up and noticed Ichigo was already awake and overheard everything.
"I'll go with you.", Ichigo said.
Toushiro nods.
*******
When they both arrive, Seireitei in a state of panic. He also noticed that no one seems to be seriously injured despite all the damages.
"Kurosaki, I'll handle the intruder can you find a way to free the other captains?", Toushiro asked.
"No way, thinking isn't my thing. Why don't you go instead and I'll handle the intruder.", Ichigo said.
"It works either way, I'll leave her to you then."
Ichigo nods and goes on their separate ways, Ichigo heads for Nagisa while Toushiro heads to the 1st division barracks to try and free the Head Captain. He saw a paper talisman stuck at the door and tried to remove it. However, there was a strong barrier protecting it. Toushiro ponders for a while.
(It's no use... that woman who's on rampage, and the other captains being trapped are obviously connected, but why? There's a strong possibility that she's not working alone. What could be their reason in doing all these? Anyways, I can get some information from her.), Toushiro thought.
Toushiro quickly makes his way to Nagisa and Ichigo.
While on the way, he notices a suspicious person wearing a kabuki mask sneaking on the way to the 1st division barracks. He quickly sneaks up from behind the person.
"Who are you?"
"Kyaahhh!!!!"
Toushiro also got startled by her scream.
"Shiro! Will you quit doing that?!!", the stranger exclaimed. (Oh, that's right... he doesn't remember anything.), she thought.
He raises an eyebrow but somehow it felt like déjà vu. He proceeds to point his blade at her and suddenly remembers a similar scene. Though her appearance was vague. He quickly shakes it off and focuses on the task at hand.
"You're with that woman in a noh mask, aren't you? What do you want?", he sternly asked.
(... I can't beat Shiro in a sword fight, this is bad. But.... knowing him, he won't fight an unarmed person... then....), Yuuki thought.
Yuuki holds on tightly to his blade until she cuts herself. Toushiro remembers the girl did the same thing.
"L-Let go!!", Toushiro exclaimed.
Yuuki lets go and uses her blood on a paper talisman and summons a powerful Shikigami. This kind of Shikigami takes blood instead of spiritual energy. The more blood it takes the more powerful it becomes.
(I just need it to distract him while I make my way to our rendezvous in about eighteen minutes.), Yuuki thought.