Yoruichi and Ten Unohana Meet

"Tōsen, why did you do this to Kensei? Did you betray your own captain?"

"That doesn't count as betrayal. He's very loyal. He was merely following my orders faithfully, that's all."

After an explanation and some threats, Kisuke Urahara arrived.

"Oh, my, what an unexpected guest!"

Gin Ichimaru, still smiling, said, "This is bad. We've been found out."

Aizen then twisted the truth and pinned everything on Kisuke Urahara, who had come in secret without Old Man Yamamoto's knowledge. He promptly blocked Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō with Dankū and slipped away...

He left Kisuke Urahara to clean up the mess and take the blame.

Then,

There was no then.

Kisuke Urahara, the poor kid, had been utterly outplayed by Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu and his long-laid plans, and was sentenced by the Central 46 Chambers.

At the Second Division barracks, Yoruichi hurried toward the Central 46 Chambers with a frown, missing Retsu Unohana, who had come to persuade her not to act rashly.

Retsu Unohana sighed at the sight of the empty Second Division barracks. Yoruichi still isn't thinking calmly. Kisuke Urahara has made the most progress researching Little Ten's condition, but without the support of the Shihōin Clan in Soul Society, his research will be delayed indefinitely. Sigh...

But Yoruichi knew nothing of this, so she went ahead and rescued Kisuke Urahara, hoping he would soon resolve the problem inside Ten Unohana's body.

In the World of the Living,

Ten Unohana wandered aimlessly through the streets, bored. His eyes roamed about, showing that what the world lacked wasn't eyes to discover beauty, but beauty itself...

But something soon caught the wandering Ten Unohana's eye—a Senkaimon.

"The Soul Reaper stationed in Karakura Town hasn't left, and nothing's happening in Karakura Town. Could it be... the Visored?" Ten Unohana thought, hurrying toward the Senkaimon. Since Retsu Unohana had personally handled everything concerning his Gigai, it naturally used the best technology, and Ten Unohana could even use some Soul Reaper abilities while inside it.

Besides, Ten Unohana had also absorbed some Quincy. Thus, even in his Gigai, he quickly reached the place where the Senkaimon had opened.

"Oh! Isn't this Yoruichi?" Although Ten Unohana had already had a hunch, he happily pretended to be surprised. "Come on, it's been a while. Let's say hello with a kiss." With that, he leaned his face toward her.

This surprised Kisuke Urahara, who didn't know how close Ten Unohana and Yoruichi were. He only knew that Ten Unohana was a major criminal in Soul Society.

Yoruichi stared blankly at Ten Unohana's face, tears streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks. But when Ten Unohana planted a kiss on her face, she quickly snapped out of it and pulled away from his lips, waving her arms.

Ten Unohana smacked his lips and said, "Yoruichi, that was this Gigai's first kiss! You have to take responsibility!"

Yoruichi still couldn't recover from her shock and stared blankly at Ten Unohana. He stepped forward again, intending to embrace her and kiss her once more, but she had come to her senses and dodged him. His antics finally brought her back to herself.

Blushing with embarrassment, she wiped away her tears and said to Ten Unohana, "Let's find a place first. Big Brother Ten, you have to tell me all about what happened to you in Hueco Mundo."

Ten Unohana saw that Kisuke Urahara was carrying so many things, including several people. He turned to Yoruichi, who was only carrying Hiyori Sarugaki on her back and holding Lisa Yadōmaru and Mashiro Kuna, and said, "Here, let me carry them for you. You take a break! Carrying these three for so long must have been exhausting! Have a rest, don't tire yourself out!"

Well! Those words sent Kisuke Urahara running in tears. He was carrying so many things, holding some, carrying others on his back, and even had things hanging from him. Every place on his body that could carry something was already full. He had thought meeting someone they knew would lighten his load, but who knew...

"All right! Let's go! Keep up!" Ten Unohana said, taking the three and holding one in each arm with the third on his back.

Several figures flew unrestrained through the sky above Karakura Town. They were so fast that they didn't cause much panic, though some rumors did get around.

But that was no concern of Ten Unohana's.

Inside a villa,

Yoruichi stretched widely and said, "Ah, after being busy for so long, we can finally settle down for a bit. Big Brother Ten..." As she spoke, she threw her arms around Ten Unohana and rubbed against him vigorously. He teased, "Why aren't you calling me a bastard anymore?"

Yoruichi's face turned slightly red.

"Wahahaha, the little cat's blushing!" Ten Unohana shouted, eager to stir up trouble.

"Ah—you bastard, I'll kill you!" Yoruichi shouted, charging at Ten Unohana.

But both of them had forgotten that Ten Unohana was still in his Gigai.

Boom!

Ten Unohana crashed into and broke a great deal of furniture before falling to the floor.

"Ah! Big Brother Ten!" Yoruichi cried out in fear. She rushed over and picked him up. Ten Unohana, meanwhile, made the unfortunate discovery that his Gigai was somewhat damaged.

He said to the anxious Yoruichi, "I'm fine. My Gigai's just damaged. Move aside a little, Yoruichi. I'll get out of it." At a loss, Yoruichi slowly put him down.

With a soft pop, Ten Unohana's black Reiatsu flashed around his body...

At the Twelfth Division in Soul Society,

"Beep, beep, beep."

"There's a Gillian-class Menos Grande. Huh, it disappeared? The location is... Karakura Town." Listening to the report from his subordinate, Mayuri Kurotsuchi said, "It's fine. Ignore it." Mayuri Kurotsuchi knew that Kisuke Urahara had just gone to Karakura Town. After all, the Twelfth Division monitored the Dangai, so he knew Kisuke Urahara had arrived in Karakura Town. It was only a Gillian. Never mind a Gillian—even if it were an Adjuchas, Kisuke Urahara could easily crush it. Thus, Ten Unohana's leaking Reiatsu drew no attention.

Ten Unohana, meanwhile, burst into curses in the World of the Living. "Damn it, what the hell was that? Don't you know that could get someone killed?"

The Gigai was the cause. After more than a hundred years, no matter how well it had been preserved or how perfect the technology, some problems were bound to arise. That was what had caused Ten Unohana's Reiatsu to leak just now.

"Th-this, this!" Kisuke Urahara stared at Ten Unohana in terror. Yoruichi followed Kisuke Urahara's gaze, but she didn't react much.

Kisuke Urahara's reaction struck Ten Unohana as a little strange. Puzzled, he asked, "What is it?"

"H-Hollowfication."

Ten Unohana froze and felt the mask on his face. "Oh, I wasn't careful." He swept a hand over his face, and the mask dissipated into the air. This surprised Kisuke Urahara even more.

"You can control Hollowfication with such ease?"

Ten Unohana asked in puzzlement, "Hollowfication? Is that what you call this condition? Hmm, it's quite fitting!"

Ten Unohana's pretense of ignorance

Left Kisuke Urahara even more puzzled...

At that point, Yoruichi stepped in to explain. After all, Ten Unohana couldn't explain it himself. What if he gave an offhand explanation and exposed himself? It was better not to mention those classified events surrounding his birth.

"Kisuke, all right, I'll explain it to you!" Yoruichi stepped forward.

Knowing this would take a long time, Ten Unohana walked along as he said, "Looks like it's a long story. Let's go to a room first. I've made a complete mess of this place."

"All right."

Inside the room,

Yoruichi took a sip of wine and said, "Kisuke, what you've been researching is actually Big Brother Ten's condition—or rather, his body. The combination of a Soul Reaper and a Hollow, that kind of thing."

"What?!" Kisuke Urahara stared at Ten Unohana in shock. Ten Unohana sat sprawled on a couch with his legs crossed. Yoruichi had copied his posture, but she gave off the air of a mature queen, a far cry from Ten Unohana's aura of a sleeping dragon.

"There was also someone called Aizen researching this," Yoruichi said to Ten Unohana, who didn't seem to care.

Ten Unohana nodded and said, "I remember that kid. Hmm, very hypocritical!"

Only then did Kisuke Urahara realize how formidable Ten Unohana was. He had known what kind of person Aizen was back when Aizen was still in school.

But Kisuke Urahara didn't know that Ten Unohana knew because of his previous life.

Seeing Kisuke Urahara's expression, Ten Unohana said to Yoruichi, "What happened? How could you do something so foolish? You even ended up defecting from Soul Society... Didn't Mom stop you?"

Yoruichi said sheepishly, "I was too anxious. I missed Mama Hana."

Ten Unohana put a hand to his forehead. "Don't you ever think things through?! I remember telling you before to be careful of that Aizen. He's a very deceitful person, and a Zanpakuto, which is closely tied to its owner's personality, wouldn't be the type for an honorable, straightforward fight either. You..."

After saying this, Ten Unohana wanted to know whether the plot had changed, so he added, "After all you gave up, does Soul Society know about Aizen's crimes?"

Yoruichi said sheepishly, "No..."

Ten Unohana said, speechless, "Forget it, let's not talk about that. Did you just say Aizen researched my condition too?"

Yoruichi nodded. "Yes. He also researched the combination of Soul Reaper and Hollow and made something called a Hōgyoku. Kisuke made one too."

Ten Unohana looked at Kisuke Urahara and said, "Take out that thing called a Hōgyoku. Let me see it."

Kisuke Urahara looked at Yoruichi, who said, "Give it to Big Brother Ten! From now on, Big Brother Ten's affairs are my affairs." Only then did Kisuke Urahara give the Hōgyoku to Ten Unohana, who took the Hōgyoku with its shifting dark-purple, jade-like color.

"Huh..."

Ten Unohana said in some surprise, "I didn't expect you to be able to make something like this!"

Yoruichi said sheepishly, "Actually, it was only because I secretly took some of your Reiatsu that Mama Hana had preserved that..."