Chapter 91

Returning to where Tatsuki was, Shirou checked the Karate club members' condition and sighed in relief upon seeing they were okay.

Some of them hadn't regained their consciousness, but some of the stronger members had woken up already, including Tatsuki who was looking at him and Ichigo in his Shinigami form with faces full of questions.

"I will explain later. For now..." Shirou said as he looked at the unconscious members. "Help me wake them up. We need to move them from here, just in case."

Tatsuki didn't say anything, instead, she nodded her head and did what he said.

The unconscious were carried by the stronger members of the Karate club and they moved them to a safer place.

Nothing else happened and everyone managed to regain their consciousness in an hour. Tatsuki helped to explain that there was a gas leak in the mountain, causing a huge explosion, and then, the earthquake and landslide followed.

Everyone believed her words without a doubt.

Shirou sighed as he looked at his hand. It had been trembling for a while, his mind still remembered the danger from the earlier fight. Even though it was nothing much compared to fighting Servants, the enemies were still Hollow.

The creatures that didn't care about humanity and even went as far as attacking them. And to know that there might be an organization of them, something he guessed according to Ichigo's words because the thin-looking man introduced himself as number 4 Espada.

A sigh escaped his lips. He wanted to take it easy after he was freed from the burden of being Hero of Justice. But now this happened.

'I guess this is the result of choosing the Hero of Justice path in the first place, huh?'

Silence engulfed the three as they walked back to Karakura Town. Ichigo had returned to his normal form, and he tried to break the silence between the three of them, so he decided to ask about his fight earlier.

"Say, were you training in that mountain, Arisawa?" He turned to his long-time friend and asked, "I thought you usually trained at home?"

"Well..." She trailed off. "We decided to have our outdoor training today."

"Why though?" Ichigo asked again.

"I have my reason. Don't ask." Tatsuki replied coldly.

"Is it about the tournament?" He continued asking.

"..."

Realizing that his words had made her shut up, Ichigo decided to stop his question.

Shirou looked at them and sighed. 'Well, they both knew each other better than I do. If this is the right way, then be it.'

After walking in silence for a minute, Tatsuki asked.

"So... what was that?" She asked. Her voice was heavy and full of confusion and frustration. She looked at both Shirou and Ichigo. "Those strange people who appeared from nowhere... That explosion and earthquake."

"To be honest, we don't know much about it either." Ichigo said, "It was just an enemy."

"I see..." Tatsuki trailed off and stopped. She was quiet, but her mind was working, thinking about everything she saw and heard.

"Tatsuki?"

Tatsuki looked up to see Shirou staring at her, concern filled their eyes as they looked at her.

"Are you okay? I mean... I understand that this is confusing but—"

"It's nothing." She interrupted him, forcing a smile. "I just need time to accept it, I guess?"

She turned around, hiding the pain in her expression, "I don't understand anything, and it seems that you guys have your own thing going on so... I'll just leave you two be. Just tell me when you are ready to talk."

Smiling a little bit wider, Tatsuki said.

"I'll be here to listen to your story whenever you are ready to share it. I won't push it and I won't try to pry any information from you. Just tell me if something like this happens again. I want to know about it."

"Tatsuki..."

While they had already briefly explained back then about hollow and Shinigami job, it was clear that she couldn't accept it because it was incomplete.

Having only incomplete knowledge could frustrate people. But Ttasuki was wise enough to realize that she shouldn't pry into their business. It was too dangerous...

"Okay. When we have time, let's have a talk." Ichigo said, nodding his head.

"Yeah." Shirou said, looking at his friend, "I want you to be safe and sound too, Arisawa."

Tatsuki blushed lightly, her lips curved up into a smile, and she quickly shook her head to drive the thoughts of Shirou away from her mind, and looked away from the two boys.

She looked back and forth at the twins for a few seconds. After she calmed herself down, she sighed.

"Well, I guess that's enough. My home is close so you don't need to worry about me anymore, Shirou."

"Oh, okay." Shirou nodded.

"I'll be here for your story when you are ready." Tatsuki waved at him, "See ya!"

She walked away from the three, leaving them in the street. Her figure disappeared around the corner.

Both Shirou and Ichigo looked at each other and they both knew what they had to do next.

"I will go to Urahara." The former said, "He probably has some kind of information."

"Alright." Ichigo nodded, "And I will talk to Chad and Inoue. Maybe they have something to do."

With that, both of them parted ways to search for an answer.

***

After a few minutes, Shirou finally arrived at the Urahara shop.

The old shop had the usual atmosphere surrounding it, with its old building standing there at the corner of the road, surrounded by other houses and buildings.

Jinta and Ururu were cleaning the front yard when they noticed the red-haired boy.

"Shirou!" Jinta raised his voice and grinned widely, raising his broom, "What brings you here? Did you come to help us clean? Or maybe you want to have a ball match? Let's do it!"

"J-Jinta..." Ururu tried to stop his partner.

"No, Jinta. Not this time." Shirou waved his hand, rejecting his request. "I have urgent things to talk about with Urahara-san. Where is he?"

"I am here." Urahara stepped out of the shop while holding his hat.

For some reason, his usual carefree expression was gone. It was clear that he already knew what Shirou was here for.

He stepped closer and stopped in front of Shirou. His eyes were sharp as they looked at him, but he didn't say a word. Instead, he just stood there with a calm expression.

"Well, come inside. I will explain what they are. This matter is pretty complicated so we need to have a proper talk."

Nodding, Shirou walked past the man, heading to the shop.

***

The explanation about Arrancar took a pretty long time, starting from how they evolved from a normal Hollow into Menos called Adjuchas and then some had reached Vasto Lorde before they took off their mask to gain Shinigami-like ability.

From the arrancar's reiatsu earlier, Urahara guessed they were at least Adjuchas who took off their mask. Or maybe they were higher rank since they could use Hierro and Sonido, a defensive ability to harden their skin and movement technique to move fast.

They also used Cero easily, a powerful red beam of destructive reiatsu that could obliterate everything in its path. If not for Rho Aias, Shirou could've died from that.

Arrancar... A dangerous existence, indeed.

Shirou sighed, "I see..." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "So, they are higher level hollow."

"Yep." Urahara replied, nodding. He looked at Shirou with a serious expression, "They are stronger than the average hollow, so you must be careful next time you face them. Especially if they are using their real power."

Which was by releasing their Zanpakutou.

Apparently, their sword sealed their main power, so they had to "Release" it to access their real form.

It was like a bankai in the sense that it had to be unlocked, but instead of training hard like the Soul Reapers, they had to use a different way to access it.

"Release." Shirou murmured.

"Yes, they called their power 'Resurrección', which means revival in Spanish."

That's why when he traced those weapons nothing came up. They were new, most probably only a few months old.

But Shirou was still confused by this fact.

"Why did they target me?" Shirou asked, tilting his head.

"That's the question that I want to know too." Urahara admitted.

The shop owner was silent for a moment as he thought of the possibilities of what happened and what was happening right now. He put his finger to his chin in deep thoughts.

A few seconds later, he looked up and spoke, his voice full of confidence and certainty.

"I believe this is somehow related to that matter." Urahara said while looking at him, "Soul society incident. Do you know what kind of item that Aizen Sosuke wanted back then, Shirou-kun?"

Shirou narrowed his eyes, "He wanted... Hogyoku, wasn't it?" He recalled the information that the Soul Society had shared with him after his battle in Soul Society.

"Yes. But do you know what is it? Or its function?"

He shook his head.

All he knew about the object was the fact that it was dangerous and could be misused for something bad. Something that Soul Society would want to get rid off if they had the chance.

Yet the object was kept because no one could destroy it.

And now it's stolen.

Urahara sighed and smiled a little, "It was a special orb with power to break the boundary between Shinigami and Hollow, creating a perfect life-form. The orb is also capable of manifesting one's desire. A wish-granting orb, if you will."

A wish-granting orb?

Hearing that, Shirou couldn't help but remember the Holy Grail. Could Hogyoku be another form of it? But if that was the case, then the danger would increase by tenfold.

'Wish-granting objects always come with a price.' He thought.

"I think Aizen Sosuke is using Hogyoku and its ability to break down the boundary of Shinigami and hollow. And by using that ability, he could turn a hollow into something more like a Shinigami. An arrancar."

He continued.

"I don't know how many he has under his command, but it's safe to guess that it's quite a number, judging by how two of them were here just a while ago." Urahara concluded his speculation and turned to Shirou.

"Anyway, this is my theory. I might be wrong, or maybe I am right. We'll never know until the time is right." Urahara paused, he was silent for a few seconds.

An enemy with a wish-granting object in their hand. Of course, Urahara only mentioned that it was capable of manifesting one's desire, but Shirou understood it better than that.

Aizen could use that wish-granting orb to change the world according to his will. Or, at the very least, create a new army with it. An army of Hollow or something more.

It was not an impossible task, judging by the power of Hogyoku.

"Either way..." Shirou stood up, "I will have to be more careful from now on."

"Indeed! I will investigate it from my side. So, I want you to act like normal. Can you do that?"

Nodding, Shirou smiled at Urahara.

"Sure."

He would wait, but not forever. If things went south, he would act. And this time, he would make sure to keep everyone alive.

He had no choice but to take down whoever it was that was threatening his family.

He would crush the threat with everything he got. He would bring hell to those who tried to destroy his peaceful life.

And so, he left the store under Urahara's gaze. The shopkeeper looked at him with a complicated look, as if he wanted to say something, but didn't know how to word it.

"Be careful."

Urahara's words were soft but they echoed in the empty shop, reaching Shirou's ears as the boy left. He gave a simple reply.

"Yeah."

Shirou stepped outside, and the door closed behind him, leaving him alone.

Dark clouds brewing above Karakura Town. The blue sky got covered with it and thunder roared as lightning struck. Rain poured down from above, drenching the place and its people.

Bad omen appeared in the town and it wasn't a simple one. It was a sign that something terrible was going to happen, and soon.