Chapter Text
The Soul Society held its breath as Yhwach's spiritual pressure faded away. Ichigo Kurosaki had won the war and saved the whole of Humanity, Soul Reapers and Arrancers alike. A miracle that would be spoken for generations to come, but for now Ichigo and his friends were focused on the present, and finding a way to reunite themselves.
At this time, Yukio Hans who had helped transport Ichigo was waiting inbetween the soul society and soul palace, for further instructions. Accompanying him was Riruka Dokugamine. Although Yukio wasn’t particularly interested in the aftermath of the war, he had a debt to pay to the soul reapers for sparing his life. However as soon as it was confirmed by Urahara that Yhwach was dead, Yukio would readily began for his departure.
In contrast, Riruka most certainly was not as willing to depart as quickly as Yukio. She had insisted,(essentially begged) Yukio to stay and wait for Ichigo Kurosaki, and Orihime Inoue. While she disliked admitting it, she admired the two of them. So, the thought of leaving without seeing them upset her. Yukio was fully aware of this, to the point he would roll his eyes at the mention of both their names.
“They’ll be fine, they defeated a future seeing maniac. They aren’t dead.” He responded back indifferently to Riruka, making her temper flare.
“What?! How dare you say that! They’re-ah!” Riruka gasped. Yukio watched as she covered her mouth, a rush of embarrassment engulfing her. He simply shook his head and placed his attention back on his game.
“Friends?,..yeah maybe for you, definitely not for me.” Suddenly Yukio got a notification on his watch. Quickly he read the message, only to realize Riruka was going to get what she wanted after all.
“Looks like we’ll need to head down” Yukio set the elevator in motion to head to the soul society.
Riruka instantly shifted, “why? For who? Is it Ichigo? Orihime? Both!? Hey answer me!” Riruka narrowed her eyes with annoyance continuing to ramble on about who they might be assisting. Yukio remained composed, but his emotions betrayed him as he smirked.
“Just wait and see.” At those words Riruka wasted no time at all. She quickly grabbed a mirror from her pocket to fix herself up. Mumbling curses at Yukio for not simply telling her who they would be encountering.
As they arrived Yukio could feel the pressure of the outside seep in when he opened the door. The waft of sweat, blood and death had welcomed itself inside the elevator. Yukio couldn’t help but pinch his nose slightly, Riruka nearly gagged at the stench, but that changed when he stepped in.
Ichigo Kurosaki. The savior of the soul society. His clothes tattered, the look of someone who’d been through hell and back. He had arrived with some red hair guy, who also looked worn down. Yukio grimaced, the battle had taken its toll. Riruka hesitated to speak. She had rehearsed what she wanted to say but, the words wouldn’t come out. Yukio broke the silence, “Get in, your friends are waiting for you.” Snapping back to reality, Riruka finally spoke up.
“Y-yeah! We don’t have all day! We have to get Orihime too!” Riruka’s attitude popped back up. Ichigo scoffed slightly, but he got immediately. As he stepped foot inside, the red head quietly followed behind. Yukio’s eyes linger slightly on Ichigo before he noticed the other man observing the room around him. He spoke after, “Wow so you got a VIP treatment all the way back up, huh? Can’t tell your Urahara’s favorite soul reaper…”
Once those words had been uttered Yukio felt a shift in ichigo’s mood. Ichigo’s brow twitched, “really? You’re really saying that?! Heh, couldn’t handle a little rough wind coming up here, your majesty?” Riruka who was standing next to Yukio perked up to watch the two men bicker.
“Oh? I meant that it must be nice being able to avoid all that wind, maybe-, and this is just a theory but, maybe Urahara didn’t want you to get blown away by the wind before the big fight?” Renji looked Ichigo up and down taunting Ichigo’s current state. A devious expression began to unfold on the redhead’s face.
It pushed Ichigo to the edge, he gritted his teeth and raised his finger at Renji, “Thats your theory Renji? At least when I flew down from the palace, I didn’t need to hold someone else’s weight to keep me from blowing away, so there!” Ichigo poked right where Renji had been visibly injured. Renji’s unbothered facade broke has he knelt down by the weight of pain where Ichigo had touched, to retaliate Renji had elbowed Ichigo on the knee causing Ichigo to fall as well. The two glared at each other before wrestling all over the floor.
Riruka’s expression had turned from curiosity to bewilderment, she couldn’t fathom being in such a condition and still be able to fool around. Yukio sighed as he turned back to his console and waited for the ride to be over.
After what seemed like an eternity, the doors opened. A strong gust of wind hit everyone in the room, Ichigo and Renji had composed themselves after giving each other one final glare before standing up and heading outside. Before they stepped out, Ichigo turned and faced Yukio and Riruka.
“Thanks, I really appreciate the two of you, we’ll come back soon.” Ichigo gave a small smile in gratitude. Renji nodded in agreement. Before either Riruka or Yukio could say anything, the two reapers had Vanished. Riruka’s shoulders slumped, “good looking people are so annoying…” she sat down with a sigh. Yukio simply remained as he was. He could understand why Ichigo left in a hurry. Riruka hadn’t noticed but when she had mentioned Orihime’s name to Ichigo, his eyes became cloudy. With an emotion he couldn’t quite explain.