Noble Love - Bleach (Kuchiki Byakuya x Oc x A bit of Various)

四十

After the meeting, the Shinigami went their own separate ways, only to battle their Reigai counterparts that were sent to the Human World by Inaba to capture Nozomi. It was a tough battle, as most of them were sent to the Urahara Shop to be healed by his workers, but in the end Nozomi was saved.

The following morning, Asa joined three Captains, Hitsugaya, Byakuya and Komamura, in Urahara's underground training hall. They stood across the giant square-framed stone gate where the owner of the shop was making preparations for them to enter Soul Society. "I apologise for the wait, everyone." he said. "I'll done with the adjustments in a minute."

"So we'll have to pass through the Precipice World, after all?" said Hitsugaya.

"Isn't the Precipice World completely under Kageroza's control?" asked Komamura.

"I wouldn't say completely." answered Urahara.

"What do you mean?" demanded the Captain of 10th Division.

He removed his hand from the gate and turned around to face her and the Captains, and explained, "It appears Kageroza's control doesn't extend to the Cleaner. You might be wondering, "How did the Cleaner appear so often when it should only have appeared only once every seven days?" I came up with a hypothesis."

"Never mind the lengthy explanations." interrupted Byakuya. "What you're saying is that he set the time axis of the Cleaner's appearances to coincide with when we enter the Precipice World."

"Exactly." said Urahara with a smile. "Astute as always, Squad 6 Captain." The said man only furrowed his brows at him before he added, "However, that suggests there are limits to his control of time. Otherwise, why waste the time between your entry into the Precipice World and the Cleaner's appearance?"

"So, what do you want us to do?" inquired Komamura.

"I've reserved a space behind the Cleaner that is not controlled by Kageroza." said Urahara. "It's a short time axis when you can move inside the Precipice World. You will be passing through there. I said "reserved", but it's at most thirty seconds or so. If your timing is off and you enter too soon, you'll become the Cleaner's prey. On the other hand, if you leave the reserved space, you'll fall into Kageroza's territory. You might never be able to leave the Precipice World again."

A gentle smile flickered across Asa's face. "Thank you, Urahara-san."

The said man grinned at her. "My pleasure, Asa-chan." he said.

Just then, Tessai entered the hall, and not long Zaraki approached them from behind with Yachiru on his shoulder. She was a very small, young girl with pink hair, dark pink eyes and a perpetual blush on her cheeks. She wore the normal Shihakusho and the 11th Division Lieutenant insignia on her right arm.

"You're late!" scolded Hitsugaya.

"We were about to leave without you." added Komamura.

"You're just in time." said Urahara, otherwise. "But before you go, I should warn you that-"

"Don't need any!" interrupted the impatient Zaraki. "Let's get this show on the road."

"Aren't we running out of time?" questioned Hitsugaya, who was looking at the owner of the shop.

"You're right." agreed the latter. "Okay, watch yourselves." He crouched down and activated the portal with Tessai on the other side of the gate. As soon as the gate lit up, he said, "Here we go!"

Once the gate opened, the Cleaner made its move, and at this cue Shinigami took off. As they ran in the Cleaner's wake, Komamura looked at their surroundings uneasily. "What's wrong?" asked Hitsugaya.