Chapter Text
Ichigo was still trying to remember why he had thought going to Kisuke had been a good idea. Old Mr. Hat and Clogs had never really been much for direct information, after all, so it really shouldn’t have surprised him as much as it did, but getting a grand total of “Hmm… that sounds a bit like an anime I once saw” when confronted with the prospect of one of their comrades being trapped in a fictional land of ninja was really not appreciated right now… at all. It didn’t help his sanity that Sasuke-as-Uryuu was presently sitting beside him, giving him weird looks. Remembering what he had seen regarding the spirit ribbons and the apparent similarities between the konpaku transitions and the …whatever was happening to his friend, Ichigo pulled the manga out of his pocket again and, concentrating on the spirit ribbon, opened it to the corresponding page. Except, this time, the page was different. As he watched, the ribbon moved along the pages, as though attached to a film reel. With wide eyes, he looked up, gaze locking with Kisuke’s and asked plainly, “Is there any way someone could force two souls to change places across a dimensional barrier if something… an object is used as a conduit?”
Seeing Kisuke’s look of befuddlement at what he just said, Ichigo’s already frayed nerves combusted.
“What?! What’s that look for? I can’t come up with decent plans or something? Is that so hard to imagine?!”
“Ichigo, I was just thinking about who might be capable of doing something like that. Do you have any ideas?” Kisuke responded in his usual, irritating almost bored tone.
Thinking for a moment, Ichigo spoke. “Aizen? But he’s supposed to be dead! I was there. We were all there!”
“While Aizen Sosuke may have had a hand in this, I do not believe he is still alive. If anything, it would have to be one of his subordinates, but as Tousen Kaname and Ichimaru Gin were also killed in the battle, it would have to be one of the Arancar and that… I have my doubts. Who else do we know who might be interested in playing with reality, hm?” Seeing Ichigo’s blank look, the former captain decided to provide another clue to the teen. “Who do we know who likes to conduct experiments?” …still nothing… riiight… “Experiments involving your dear friend Ishida Uryuu over there,” Kisuke finished, tilting his head toward the silent presence in the room.
Finally seeing comprehension dawn on the often clueless teen’s face, Kisuke waited for the anticipated reaction… in three … two …
“It’s that nut job, Kurotsuchi, isn’t it?”
“Bingo.”
At the sharp intake of breath from the teen seated next to him, Ichigo turned to Sasuke, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that while the body was familiar and voice only slightly altered, the soul within was vastly different from the one he so wished was there. Seeing the slightly glazed look in the other’s eyes and the minute emotions that flitted across Sasuke’s near-emotionless mask, the room’s occupants were all suitably and understandably startled when a loud “Ichigo! What ‘er ya doin here?” was called from across the room.
“Renji!”
Coming to join the three seated men, Renji carefully took in the morose and slightly tense atmosphere, trying to work out exactly what it was that had everyone so agitated. Glancing at each of the three in turn, his crimson gaze focused on the book in Ichigo’s hand and, eyes widening slightly, emitted a sound of triumph as he reached for the manga. …Which Ichigo promptly held far, far away from the tattooed redhead.
“Oi tha’s mine, Ichigo!”
Seeing an opening, Kisuke spoke in his calm, yet piercing manner, “And where, pray tell did you acquire it, hmm, Renji?”
Thinking back, the shinigami spoke, “Nemu gave it to me at the last Lieutenant’s meeting. Why?”
At the collective sigh, from the other three men, Renji looked around startled. “Why? What’s the big deal?!”
Emitting another sigh, Ichigo spoke up, “Renji, look at Uryuu,” he said, gesturing to the man seated on his right.
Not comprehending what was being asked of him, the redhead perplexedly looked at the still silent member of the group. “Well, he seems quieter than usual, I guess and his posture’s a bit off. Why?”
“Look, Renji. Look for the ribbons.”
Knowing that something drastic had to be going on for Ichigo to use that tone of voice, Renji closed his eyes and focused. He knew that unlike orange-topped man before him, he was usually unable to see spirit ribbons without considerable time and effort while in the living world. But this was important. From the sounds of it, something had happened to the moody archer and, he’d be damned if he let a friend suffer when he could help. Opening his senses to the reishi around them, Renji started to sense the ribbons, though he could not as yet actively see them, concentrating harder on the task at hand, the Quincy’s form appeared in his mind’s eye, an ordinary spirit ribbon of pure white wrapped around his lithe frame… wait… That’s not right! Looking closer he saw that what he had initially thought was a flash of spirit interference, static if you will was instead a ribbon of vibrant blue, crackling like lightning and extending from his friend’s chest.
Hearing Renji’s gasp, Ichigo raised the manga in his hand, ensuring it would be in his line of spirit-sight, slowly moving it to draw the other man’s attention to the oddity surrounding the book.
Blinking open his eyes, Renji looked between the manga and the seated man before him, trying to make sense of what his mind could not fully comprehend. He had thought he had become used to the impossible happening with Aizen’s defection and subsequent war in Hueco Mundo. But this… this was… Hearing Ichigo’s fingers snap in front of his face, Renji managed to pull himself together slightly, closing his gaped mouth and sitting up a little straighter.
“So… you saw it, did you?” Kisuke ventured in his lazy drawl.
“I saw something. Wha’d I see though? It was like a …like an electric bookmark almost connecting Uryuu to the manga.”
“And here we get to the crux of the matter.” Kisuke replied.
“What do you mean?”
“This young man before us is not our friend Uryuu.” Seeing Renji’s shock, he continued, “Have you read the book Ichigo is holding, hmm?”
“Well, yeah. It was interesting and the characters were pretty cool… why? Was I not supposed to or something?”
“No, no. Nothing like that. I just means that our dear head of Research and Development had …plans, shall we say.” Hearing this, Sasuke’s eyes widened marginally, thoughts clicking together like the pieces of a many-sided puzzle.
“What do you… Wait. No. You mean something happened to Uryuu because I let him borrow the book after I’d read it? But that’s …that’s …”
“That’s entirely something Kurotsuchi would do and you know it. You know how much he wanted to mess with Uryuu in Hueco Mundo. But cheer up, Renji. All is not lost!”
Looking at the man lazily swing a cane about the place, he attempted to give his best WTF are you on look, though from the maintained grin, he failed miserably. Suddenly, something clicked, something back in the recesses of Renji’s mind that had not been accessed since his earliest days at the academy when they were learning the history of Kido development.
“It was a reishi trigger, wasn’t it? It was only set to activate at a certain time and only if a specific individual was handling it.”
“Right you are.”
“But what does that mean? What happened?” Remembering Kisuke’s earlier words, the tattooed redhead turned to the seated form of his friend. “If you’re not the archer, than who are you?”
Clearing his throat, Ichigo took over introductions, “Renji, this is Uchiha Sasuke, Sasuke, this is Abarai Renji, Lieutenant of Squad 6.”
Still staring a bit bug-eyed at the seated man, Sasuke… wow that was a …wait. Processing everything he knew of character Sasuke, his now apparently missing friend, and the situation they now found themselves in, Renji turned toward Kisuke. “Uryuu’s in the book, isn’t he?”
“It would appear so, yes. Ichigo managed to chart the movement of the ribbon across the page, almost as if it was attached to a film reel.”
Looking at the others, Ichigo thought hard about potential solutions, discarding each as they appeared. Finally, it was his hollow that put things into perspective, giving him a mental kick in the rear. They got on significantly better since the travesty above Las Noches, Ichigo having firmly reclaimed his seat as king in their battle of wills. Shifting his gaze to Sasuke, he asked in a very mater-of-fact tone, “Can you hear him?”
“What?”
“Ichig-“ Putting his hand up to stop Renji’s questions, he repeated his query.
“Can you hear Uryuu in the back of your mind, Sasuke? His spirit ribbon is still there, yours is just more prominent at the moment. You should be able to communicate with him if you concentrate, if you meditate.”
Knowing Ichigo was speaking from experience with a combination of his own hollow-bound issues and the shinigami’s connection to their zanpakuto, the other two let the orange-tressed shingami handle the situation.
After what seemed an age of held breath and hopeful wishes, Sasuke spoke.
“I can hear him.” At those words, the rush of relief was almost enough to overwhelm Ichigo, though he saw the other man begin to speak once more and stilled his actions. “It is faint, but I can hear him and he sounds rather angry.”
“Could you let him know we’re trying to find a way to fix this?”
Relaying the information through the still weak connection, Sauske felt himself chuckle for the first time in a considerable while, before going deathly still.
“Sasuke? Sasuke, what’s wrong?” Ichigo asked.
“He said to tell the idiot to damn well get on with it, but that this by no means means he is siding with the shinigami.” A small laugh escaped those assembled at the oft repeated and very …Uryuu prase.
“He also said he has taken on my form and is in the company of one Yakushi Kabuto.” Of the three gathered, it appeared only Renji had any idea what this meant.
“He’s being taken to Orochimaru, isn’t he?”
“You... Of course you know. It’s in the damn book.” Releasing a sigh, something he was doing with greater frequency than he ever had in his own… reality, and didn’t that sound strange in his head, he looked to Renji and continued.
“This Kurotsuchi fellow, how likely is it he is somehow tied to the Orochimaru of my world?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m sure you know by now the… nature of some of his …experiments. It seems that they are very similar in nature.”
Adopting a thoughtful pose, Kisuke steepled his fingers together in front of his face and spoke the damning words: “It sounds like you need to head back to the Soul Society.”