"Ah! Right!" Ichigo exclaimed, leading the group to dash through the long tunnel.
Shirou followed the others while looking around. This place felt weird, the smell of death and despair, a feeling that he had felt once in the past. The sound of the water dripping, a strange mist surrounding them, it reminded him of that day.
It was suffocating, a pressure that made him unable to breath.
'Why does it feel like this place has become so strange?'
As they ran, the ground suddenly cracked. Loud sound arrived from behind them alongside light that pierced the mist.
Turning around, Shirou saw a train. Or perhaps it wasn't a train, a strange monster with similar shape covered in mud and dirt, its eyes glowing red and ominous like a ghost. Its roar was like a siren and it moved like a bullet train, chasing after them.
"What is that!?"
Ichigo shouted, confused.
Yoruichi looked past her shoulder and her eyes widened, "That's not possible!"
"Is that bad!?"
"Of course it's bad!" She shouted in frustration. "Run, don't touch that thing or your existence would cease to exist!"
"What kind of explanation is that!?"
Yoruichi didn't reply to Shirou's question. She only focused on running as fast as she could, trying to put a distance between herself and the train monster. The group followed her example, sweat trickling from their forehead.
The monster behind them continued its chase, unrelenting in its path. It was faster than them, gaining speed every second.
Orihime had nearly reached her limit.
Noticing that, Shirou called out to her brother, "Ichigo!"
"Yeah!"
With a nod, he grabbed Orihime's waist, picking her up like a bag. Sado, on the other side, ran faster to match Ichigo's speed. The group, now having two members carrying someone, increased their speed to escape from the train monster.
"The exit is over there!"
A light appeared at the end of the tunnel. Their destination was in sight.
"Run faster!"
The exit grew bigger and bigger, the light grew stronger.
Soon they had reached their destination. Yoruichi jumped first, followed by Ichigo and Orihime, then Sado. Shirou, who had slowed down for a second, ran toward the exit last.
He managed to jump out the exit before the monster could reach him. He tumbled to the ground, a soft ground that reminded him of grass and flower fields. He looked up and saw the exit had closed up.
"Phew, we managed to survive." Yoruichi sighed in relief, her hand placed on top of her head to calm her racing heart.
Meanwhile, Shirou looked around to take in his surroundings. Many houses made from woods and straws with tiled roofs filled his eyes, the ground was covered in green grass. The place felt so ancient.
"It feels like ancient Japan. And over there is a better building compound." He said.
"It should be. Soul Society has existed for a long time, adopting Eastern culture." Yoruichi commented, her eyes narrowed. "But, this isn't the place I expected to end up in. While we're close to where the Shinigami lived, but we're outside of the boundary. It seems we need to follow our original plan."
"What are we doing?" Shirou asked.
Yoruichi turned her head to the side, looking to the West.
"We'll need to find an ally. He's the best bet we have at this moment to enter Seireitei safely. But, he should be nearby." She replied.
Shirou nodded and stood up. He patted the dirt from his black haori.
"So, where should we go first?" Ichigo asked, his tone impatient. He clearly wanted to save Rukia as fast as he could, and this small delay didn't seem like good news.
"Well, first, let's go this way." Yoruichi said as she walked forward. She turned into a cat mid-walk and dashed forward. "Just follow me, I know someone who can help us."
All of them hesitated except for Shirou. His experience in war told him that following a veteran was better than staying still.
"First rule, follow Yoruichi-san." He said with a smile to reassure them, "Let's go."
Following his words, the group followed after the black cat.
***
Going further from the Shinigami compound, Shirou noticed the house had become sparse. The previous housing was close to each other, and some people dressed in old Kimono walked around.
Now they were walking on a road toward the forest. No house, and no sign of people. It was a deserted land, like an uninhabited island.
"Are we on the right path?" Shirou asked, looking at the cat sitting on his shoulder.
For some reason, Yoruichi stopped walking by herself and just let Shirou carry her. Her head was pointed forward, and she didn't even pay Shirou any glance.
"It should be the right path. The villager you asked earlier said they moved here, no?"
"Yes, but... Identifying one house that's similar to each other would be difficult even for me."
Yoruichi snorted at his reply, "It's not similar, at least the person who lived there had some sort of a unique mark. Even if their house design changed, they will definitely be easy to find."
"Design?"
Everyone looked confused but kept going.
Soon, they found what they were searching for.
"See? It's easy to find."
"When you say something about a unique mark, I don't expect something like that."
Shirou smiled wryly as he looked at the house standing in the middle of land.
The house itself was normal save for the strangely tall chimney-like building attached to the back of the house. In front of them, the unique mark stood tall. They were two giant hands holding a red banner that read "Shiba Kuukaku", the owner's name.
"This thing is..." Orihime stared in awe.
"...Strange." Ichigo muttered in disbelief.
Shirou could feel a headache coming from the sight. The name that his mother mentioned before he left, Shiba, was clearly written on that banner. He smiled wryly, feeling like he had uncovered where his father's quirk came from.
'Is every Shiba's family member a bunch of weirdos?'
Jumping off Shirou's shoulder, Yoruichi walked toward the building, only to be stopped by two guys who appeared out of nowhere.
"Hold on! Who are you? One of them seems to be a Shinigami."
"Suspicious! We, Koganehiko and Shiruganehiko will not let you pass."
They were tall guys with thin mustaches. They wore a chinese hat and a chinese martial artist's robe. Koganehiko had a cream colored robe, while Shiruganehiko had white.
"We have business with your master. Let me through." Yoruichi calmly said, ignoring the two guys' blabbering about suspicious people and intruders.
"Who's the intruder, I said... wait, is that you, Yoruichi-dono?" Koganehiko stopped mid-rant, and his expression changed from anger to shock and then a bright smile. "It really is Yoruichi-dono!"
"Is Kuukaku inside?"
"Yes, of course. Please come inside!"
Shirou was surprised that these guys actually recognized Yoruichi. They must have met each other in the past. And he was already prepared to fight if needed.
Maybe his fight or flee instinct had been too high ever since he arrived.
Shirou shook his head, his lips tugged into a small smile.
Because the other party kindly invited them to enter their home, he decided that he shouldn't make the first move unless they proved themselves to be hostile. Being hostile to everyone he met would just be a trouble for him in the long run, as it would just make everything more difficult.
He wasn't Archer who looked grumpy all the time.
One of the gatekeepers, Koganehiko, escorted them inside the house. He opened the door and revealed a set of stairs leading underground.
Shirou and the others paused for a second.
"Underground?" He asked, "The design is... unique."
Koganehiko looked proud at that and nodded, "Of course! Kuukaku-sama's fireworks always create a loud bang! If we live in a normal house, it would disturb the neighborhood!"
Shirou didn't quite understand what he meant by fireworks. He didn't know why the guy looked proud of being loud either, so he decided to just nod and follow Yoruichi down the stairs.
Ichigo grumbled behind him while Orihime looked around with an awe expression. Sado, on the other hand, just kept walking with a blank face like usual.
They entered a long tunnel, a tunnel so long that he could barely see the other side, until they reached the bottom. A sliding door greeted them, and a voice came from inside.
"Is it Koganehiko? There seems to be a rare guest arriving today."
"Y-Yes. Please excuse us." The man replied, opening the door.
The first thing Shirou saw inside was a one-armed beautiful woman. She wore provocative red robes and a short white skirt. The stump of her missing right arm was wrapped tightly by a bandage.
The same bandage wrapped around her long messy hair. She was sitting with her leg crossed on a pillow while looking at them with an amused expression.
Her eyes stared straight at Yoruichi and she smirked, "Oh, it's really rare to see you visiting us."
"Indeed, it's been a long time." Yoruichi greeted as she approached the woman.
***Chapter End***
Seems rushed without any details?
No worries!
Many details will be talked about in future chapters by showing them instead of telling you about it. This is just how I'd like to write it :)
But I made sure to mention it in one of the paragraph. If you miss it, then I can't say anything at all! (Urahara invited both Orihime and Sado off screen, mentioned when he introduced the gate to Shirou and Ichigo. I want to focus more on Shirou and his surrounding.)
I know some will like it and some will not like it, even stories Harry Potter or LOTR has haters.
Anyway, bribe me with stones for more chapters.
And if you're curious about Soul Society arc (Almost finished) and don't want to wait, visit my pat -reon / ShuviLily.