Hirenkyaku was a movement technique used exclusively by Quincy, allowing them to move at high speeds by using the flow of Reishi.
Perhaps it came naturally to her.
Masaki Kurosaki had trained well in it. Before long, she arrived outside Karakura Town First Bank and realized there was a serious problem.
She couldn't get in.
Police cars blocked the streets outside the bank, and hundreds of officers had sealed the place off completely. A huge crowd of onlookers had gathered beyond them.
Helicopters were in the sky, and snipers had been stationed on the rooftops.
The bank's doors and windows were sealed shut.
On top of that, only after arriving did she sense a Shinigami's faint Reiatsu inside the bank.
After all, the conflict between Quincy and Shinigami went back a long way.
Her aunt had constantly drilled into her that Shinigami were evil and that Quincy must never have anything to do with them.
The realities of the situation were like a bucket of cold water poured over Masaki's heart, extinguishing the flame that had flared up.
"Oh." She sighed. In the end, she couldn't be as carefree as Shiraishi. She stepped back and accidentally bumped into someone, then quickly turned around and bowed. "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention."
After apologizing, Masaki looked up and noticed that the person she had bumped into was dressed rather strangely. Even though it wasn't a holiday or a festival, he was wearing a kimono.
It was dark green on the outside and deep green underneath. He wore a green-and-white striped bucket hat and wooden clogs.
He was quite handsome, with short, light blond hair that stuck up slightly and deep, army-green eyes. A little stubble on his chin added to his mature masculine charm.
"Oh, it's all right." Kisuke Urahara pulled his bucket hat down, said nothing more to the Quincy, and pushed his way into the crowd.
When he reached the police perimeter, he discreetly released a mouse-shaped Gigai from his sleeve, then turned and left the scene.
Rather than head somewhere crowded, he went to a secluded alley with few people and hid in the shadows.
Before long, a black cat appeared beneath the moonlight, walking with graceful steps. With no one else around, she dropped her disguise and spoke. "Kisuke, is something important going on?"
"You nearly scared me to death, Yoruichi."
Kisuke looked helpless.
Yoruichi didn't care. She swished her tail and said, "You should know what my Zanpakuto can do. There's no way Soi Fon could discover my true identity."
"Still, time really flies. That little girl from back then has actually fallen in love."
Kisuke lifted his bucket hat, his face grave. "It's not as simple as you think. That Shiraishi is a recently wanted criminal in Soul Society. Captain-Commander Yamamoto has given strict orders for the Second Division, Eighth Division, 11th Division, and Twelfth Division to apprehend him together. Aizen has his eye on him too."
"Soi Fon really fell for a troublesome guy."
Yoruichi muttered and leaped onto Kisuke's shoulder. She knew all too well that being noticed by Aizen was no good thing. It meant endless trouble and the possibility of dropping dead at any moment.
Aizen was entirely responsible for her being unable to return to Soul Society.
"Kisuke, you've been away from Soul Society for so many years. Where did you get all this information?"
"When I first established the Research and Development Institute, I left a backdoor there, just in case."
Kisuke shrugged. Someone like him usually planned three or four moves ahead for every step he took. Whatever he did, he found a way to leave a backdoor in case something unexpected happened.
While he was director of the Research and Development Institute, he had already considered the possibility of parting ways with Soul Society one day.
Yoruichi perked up. "Then can I return to Soul Society?"
"Sorry, there's no getting past the spiritual wave monitoring. Mayuri Kurotsuchi isn't an incompetent fool."
Kisuke shook his head. There was no hiding the spiritual waves produced by opening a Senkaimon from the Research and Development Institute. He hadn't tampered with that aspect either, in case Mayuri noticed something was wrong. It would be bad if he traced the backdoor back to him.
Yoruichi swished her tail. "Tch, how boring. I'm going back. It's not often I get to see Soi Fon."
"No. Aizen has his eye on Shiraishi. If you get too close to him, you might be targeted. Aizen very likely knows your Zanpakuto's ability."
Kisuke didn't want her to go back and take that risk. Seeing her with Shiraishi and Soi Fon on television had given him a real fright, and he had hurried over to stop her without even finishing his tea.
"There aren't many people who know my Zanpakuto's ability."
"At the very least, Byakuya knows. The Fifth and Sixth Divisions aren't far apart."
"..." Yoruichi had no answer to that. The first time she visited Byakuya, she had taught him in her cat form for fun, then turned into a human.
His reaction back then had been amusing: his face had turned bright red, and he had looked ready to bury his head in the ground.
She reminisced about the past, then suddenly noticed something was off. "Aizen can't be so bored that he watches Shiraishi all the time, can he? Kisuke, tell me the truth!"
Kisuke pulled his bucket hat down and said helplessly, "I knew I couldn't hide it from you. You're right, Aizen isn't keeping a special eye on Shiraishi, but he's been monitoring everything happening in Tokyo lately. He's conducting a Hollowfication Experiment to find Hirako and our exact location."
Yoruichi asked in puzzlement, "How?"
"He uses Shinigami souls to create an Ox-Head Hollow that's somewhere between a Menos Grande and a Hollow. It kills Shinigami stationed in the World of the Living and causes them to undergo Hollowfication. If it fails, their spiritual bodies collapse."
Kisuke had sensed something was wrong as soon as the Ox-Head Hollow appeared in the World of the Living. He immediately contacted Hirako and the others, saying they would undergo special Hollowfication training, and took them to an enclosed space for it.
In truth, it was to keep them from seeing Shinigami get killed.
Given their personalities, even if they knew it was a trap set by Aizen, they would choose to step forward rather than drag others into it.
In their eyes, their convictions were far more important than their lives.
That was something Kisuke could not allow.
"Kisuke, you're always like this, taking everything onto your own shoulders."
"..." Kisuke didn't answer. He had always wanted to tell Yoruichi that she thought too highly of him. In truth, he was nowhere near that good.
He wanted to keep Shinji Hirako and the others around because he didn't want to lose to Aizen again, and wanted more pieces at his disposal.
But he didn't say so outright.
If Yoruichi hadn't been so accepting, perhaps he would have gone down the same path as Aizen in his loneliness.
"I'm sorry, Yoruichi."
"Don't worry about such things between us. If you need help with anything, just tell me."
Kisuke smiled. "Of course."
After that, the two chatted casually about ordinary things. Suddenly, popping sounds came from the night sky.
Brilliant fireworks shot high into the air, bursting into clusters of colorful flowers.
The two looked up at the fireworks together.
On the amusement park's Ferris wheel, Shiraishi and Soi Fon were watching the fireworks outside as well.
"What do you think?" Shiraishi asked.
"It's all right." Soi Fon couldn't take her eyes off them, though she still wouldn't admit it.
Shiraishi shrugged and opened the Ferris wheel car's door. "All right, it's time to end this trip to the World of the Living."