-18 Days until Invasion-

Deadlines are wonderfully stressful things.

For literally months I had been working on various projects to get ready for the Invasion and even when it became clear that I was running out of time, I was pretty relaxed about everything. Then Urahara tells me that we have at most a few days before we set out to retrieve Rukia and suddenly all the pressure of how little time I have hits me.

Its doing wonders for my work ethic though.

“You should relax a bit Alexandria. Stressing out will only mess with your stomach.” A deep rich voice says beside me.

Looking over I see Yoruichi sitting on one of my half-finished projects. Not actually sure I remember what that one was supposed to be honestly. But she’s talking to me now. Guess that means our little game is over.

Does that mean I win?

“Easy for you to say, you're not the one messing with a device where a single failed calculation might kill you. I think I’m allowed to freak out a little. Besides aren’t you supposed to be keeping an eye on Rukia?”

The assassin-cat just stretches lazily “I can keep track of her from here just as easily. Not that we really need to be all that vigilant. It’s not like the Soul Reapers are going to sneak over here to grab her. You’re just complaining because you have to do the final tests on a product.” She gave me a glance, “you’re a lot like Kisuke in that regard.”

“... right. Well I’m going to get started. If you’re planning on staying in here, make sure to stay out of the spell circle. I don’t guarantee you won’t lose something otherwise.”

Yoruichi jumps off and starts heading for the door. “I think it’s best if you do not have any distractions for now. Best of luck!”

I sighed then closed the door behind her. She finally starts talking to me and then just takes off when she feels like it. How very fitting for a cat.

Oh well, enough stalling I suppose. I grab the proto-device and check over the coding to see if anything jumps out at me. Not that I haven’t done this a few dozen times by now...

“Right, spell circle activation test in 3...2...1…”

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-15 Days until Invasion-

Blearily making my way down the ladder to the training room I noticed Urahara and the kids standing near a giant hole in the ground. I knew the hole was important for something, but three all-nighters in a row was taking its toll and my brain wasn’t making the connection.

Yawning, I made my way over to them.

“Hey guys, whatcha doin?”

Urahara just waved while the kids turned away from the hole to ackowldge me.

“Oh, hi Ms. Cross. We’re waiting to see if Ichigo turns into a Hollow after cutting his soul chain. He’s in the hole right now, but his times almost up!” answers Ginta, a sadistic glint in his eye. Though that tends to be normal for kids his age. I don’t think he fully grasps what turning into a Hollow would mean for a person. Or he does and just doesn’t care. Meh, too sleepy to think about that right now.

I continue to one of the nearby boulders to use as a seat, capturing Ururu along the way and pulling her into my lap. Comfy enough to use as a pillow and quiet enough to be relaxing. Ururu is best pillow.

Well that is until a loud scream starts coming from the hole. Guess that means Ichigo is starting to Hollify. Though if he doesn’t stop screaming soon then I might kill him myself.

Ururu starts squirming in my lap “Shouldn’t we rescue him? He’s turning into a Hollow.” In response I just hug her tighter, placing my chin on the top of her head until she calms down.

“He’s fine. When a soul turns into a Hollow, the spiritual body explodes. It then reforms into the body of a Hollow with the mask being the last thing to form.” Urahara explains, looking over the edge of the hole. “But with Ichigo, the mask is the first thing trying to form. Showing that he is fighting the transformation, he might still become a Soul Reaper.”

From the bottom of the hole we hear Tessai shouting that Ichigo is breaking out of the seal they placed on him and he was moving to eliminate Ichigo. I don’t know who they think they are fooling. If Tessai wanted Ichigo sealed, then Ichigo wasn’t going anywhere until Tessai allowed him. Though it was a good way to increase the mental pressure on Ichigo I suppose. Declare in a very open manner that he was out of time and he either escape now or be killed probably would make anyone hurry up.

Realizing what was going to happen next I handed four crystals to Ururu, “Make a square around us, ‘kay?” Focusing on a fifth crystal I sent a pulse of mana through it, activating a weak barrier just in time to block the rush of wind and dust that had been kicked up.

As the wind died down, we all see Ichigo standing outside of the hole. His face covered by a Hollow mask with three small red scratches and some tattered rags, while the rest of him was attired in the normal dress of a Soul Reaper.

“A shihakusho and a mask? Is he a Hollow or a Soul Reaper?” Ginta questions from, -beside me? When did he get there? Ah, Urahara borrowed my barrier to block the wind. Fair enough.

Urahara goes to talk to Ichigo while I start wandering past them. Shows over, I want to do my tests and then go to bed. Of course what I want doesn’t seem to be in the cards as right as I’m walking by I hear Urahara say, “-step 3 of your training is to land one hit on Alex-chan over there!”

I looked over to them just in time to jerk my head back, avoiding the sweeping slash Ichigo sent my way. Yikes, Urahara seems to have sent him over the edge. That attack was just pure frustration.

“Well, you certainly are eager. Though why am I getting dragged into this Kisuke?”

The bastard had the gall to smile at me, “Well you’ve been working so hard the last few days I figure you could use the break!”

Glaring up at the ceiling, if only to avoid looking at Kisuke, “I don’t suppose you would reconsider if I said I’ll kill him if we fight right now?”

“Nope! Now fighters, get ready!” Urahara exclaims while getting into position like a fight referee.

Fine, let’s get this over with. Tracing a basic longsword into my hand I turn my attention to Ichigo. “I wasn’t kidding right then. Come at me with everything you got or I will kill you, my temper is pretty nonexistent right now.”

For his part, Ichigo looked fairly unintimidated by my words, “Yeah? Well guess what lady, I’m not exactly a pushover. I’m gonna beat you then go beat the hell outta Mr Hat-n-Clogs over there.” He declares, pointing his broken zanpakuto at me.

Both of us settle into a ready stance.

“Begin!”

With that I explode forward, apparently shocking Ichigo with the speed I closed the distance between us. Though he is quick enough to block the heavy overhead strike, he fails to react to the following kick which sends him crashing into a nearby boulder.

“Lesson number one” I said gravely, as a walked towards Ichigo. “Never focus completely on one part of your opponent.”

Ichigo jumps at me in an attempt of an attack, but is forced to defend when I use a sideways slash that looks like it would cut him in half. Despite the successful block, he is still launched backwards and tumbles across the ground. I don’t know what Urahara’s plan was, but I’m going to beat Ichigo unconscious then go sleep. I don’t even care about final spell tests right now, it can wait till tomorrow.

Unconsciously I start radiating a killing intent at Kisuke, it’s his fault that I’m wasting time right now. I decided right then he was going to be compensating me with some special alloys for my test devices for springing this on me.

Charging again I’m actually surprised when Ichigo turns tail and starts running away from me. Despite that, he is actually managing to dodge the occasional attack from behind. Guess he has really good instincts to do that while running away.

Well I say that but Ichigo seems to have had a brainwave that gave him an overinflated sense of security since he has a stupid smirk on his face. Though just to be certain I stop pursuing him.

“And what are you smirking about?”

“I just want to confirm something,” Ichigo says, smile growing a little bigger. “You aren’t a Soul Reaper, are you?”

Confused but still willing to humor him I shake my head no.

“And that sword of yours. It isn’t a zanpakuto.” Again I shake my head no. “In that case your sword can’t hurt me!” Wait he can’t be saying… “Only a zanpakuto can hurt a Hollow or a Soul Reaper. Which means even if you land a hit it won’t cut me, and I only need to hit you once to win!” He finishes with a self satisfied smile.

...apparently he is saying he can’t be hurt by my weapon.

Well there went any reason to hold back as far as I’m concerned. If he wants to make stupid statements without considering the danger if he is wrong, then he can face the consequences.

“That is an interesting theory Ichigo. Especially since just earlier this month you saw that medium hurt a soul with a basically ordinary stick.” The bravado started to die on Ichigo’s face, “But even if that wasn’t the case…” I hurled my sword through the air, nicking the side of his cheek before dismissing the sword. His hand reflexively checking on the small cut and the last of his bravado leaving with the sight of blood on his hand. “...let’s move on to lesson number two. Never believe an opponent cannot hurt you.”

With that I trace two longswords, both with a cutting enchantment rather than the basic one I was using earlier. This time when my one-handed overhead attack was blocked, my sword went halfway through the un-reinforced zanpakuto. I met Ichigo’s eyes as he struggled under the continuing pressure of my attack. “Also you failed lesson one” With that I wrench his sword off to one side, shearing off the end of his blade, while using the turning motion to send my heel into Ichigo’s jaw. Luckily for him, another bolder caught him before he flew to far, and just to make sure he stays in place I throw the second sword at his shoulder, only nicking him when he reacts fast enough to duck down.

Tearing his shihakusho free, Ichigo starts fleeing as I pursue him. A sword thrown directly in his path forces him to halt, allowing me to catch up and launch another attack. This time seeking to cut him from shoulder to hip. Ichigo manages to bring his sword into some semblance of a guard position… before the tsuba is sliced in half and falls away from the handle.

“And now you have nothing left of your sword” I state coldly. “Face it Ichigo, you lose. Now just accept it and DIE!”

Shouting out, I continue my assault on Ichigo. Small cuts and nicks appearing on him as he dodges and runs away. What is left of my patience is quickly running out, if Ichigo doesn’t at least fight back I’m bringing out the bow.

As though responding to my inner complaints, Ichigo stops running and takes a stance like he is going to pull a sword off a hip sheath. An interesting choice considering the only sheath I think he has ever used is his over-the-shoulder one, but if it means this we can end this then he can take whatever stance he wants. One thought goes through my tired mind. Ichigo did something after getting his shikai. Something that forced Urahara to actually defend…

Ichigo spins dramatically, making a drawing motion with the handle of his sword while crying out “ZANGETSU!”

A blinding flash of reiatsu engulfs Ichigo, forcing me to close my eyes. When it dissipates, Ichigo is left crouching next to a large knife-like blade with a long white bandage around the handle.

“Well you got your sword back. You gonna actually fight back now?”

Ichigo doesn’t actually react to my jab. Instead he straightens up and looks into my eyes.

“Hey lady.”

Great, the protagonist is about to pull a powerup out of his ass. Sighing as my brain finally recognizes what Ichigo is about to do, I dismiss my sword and pull out one of the one-shot devices I wanted to test out before this whole situation started. Overall it looks like a simple silver pistol, though the barrel lacks any opening where a shot might come from.

“I really hope you dodge this,” Ichigo starts, raising his arm and reiryoku at the same time. Causing the tattered remains of the sealing cloth Tessai created to explode off of him.

“Lesson number three…” I mutter, while pointing the device at him.

“CAUSE I CAN’T CONTROL IT YET!” Ichigo roars, swinging his blade down. A massive rush of reiatsu surging towards me.

I channel some mana into the device causing a golden yellow spell circle to manifest at the end of the barrel. I don’t actually want to kill Ichigo so I take care to limit the amount of mana going into this shot while pulling the trigger, “Accel Shot, fire!”

Both attacks meet in a blinding flash of light. Cancelling out each other, while kicking up even more dust and sending bits of rock shrapnel flying through the air.

When the light dies down I look across the deep gouges in the floor from both our attacks. Ichigo is braced up against is sword, completely asleep from the looks of it. “...don’t use an all out attack if you are going to collapse before you confirm your opponent is down.” I sighed “But then I guess you technically win since the ref is biased towards Soul Reapers.” I give Urahara a half-hearted glare as I run my thumb over a small cut on my sleeve from where some shrapnel cut me.

“Not like you cared about winning in the first place Alex-chan.” Urahara states as he comes over to inspect the damage. “Have to say, Ichigo Kurosaki is one scary kid. Doing this kinda damage without a proper technique. How did your device hold up? Did low power help its reusability?” He asks, looking at the now glowing red gun in my hand.

“Poorly,” I state bluntly, “It doesn’t really matter what power the shot is. As soon as I use it it’s going to need repairs. Although the low power shot looks like it won’t take too much effort to fix. It will be good for clearing out the rank and file if they group up, but anyone 4th seat and up should be able to tank a shot if needed from what you were telling me about the squad ranks.”

“So back to the lab to try an recalibrate it?”

My glare intensifies a little, “No, thanks to someone dragging me into a training exercise I’m exhausted. Congratulations, your plan worked. I’m going to bed.”

Urahara hides his face behind his fan, with a fake innocent sounding tone exclaims, “I’m hurt Alex-chan! You think I did this on purpose just to force you to take a break?”

Heading towards the ladder leading back to the shop I call out over my shoulder, “Yes! Now stop being smug and go train the rookie!”

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-3 Days until Invasion-

Groaning I let my head collapse onto my workbench.

I finally came to the conclusion that there is no more preparation I can do. It would take too long to attempt making another device, one-shot or otherwise, and messing with the devices I already made was pointless at the moment. They simply were the best I could make with my current skill and understanding.

It wasn’t all bad though. I managed to get eight one-shot pistols made up and finished debugging the other main prototype device. I would only be able to use that one twice or so, but in reality it only needed to work once. I had some other random utility objects, such as my initial ventures into jewelcraft, but those were more like overpowered flashbangs. Useful certainly, but not exactly a trump card.

Enough of this. I’m not going to get anything else done so no point hanging around the lab. I spent way more time in here over the past few days as it is. Heading out the door, I locked the lab for the night. Might as well go enjoy myself for a bit since I can’t help with the gateway anyway.

On the way out I saw both Tessai and Urahara hard at work writing down Kido inscriptions. In some ways I was disappointed that I would never be able to do much, if anything at all, with Kido. Then I remembered much of Kido revolved around poetry and naming and was immensely glad my abilities weren’t based on words.

Humming tunelessly, I made my way out of the shop and started heading into town. Maybe try out that restaurant I saw a while back.

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-Day of Invasion-

“Wow, this is amazing! Who would have guessed there was an amazing room under the ground, it's like a secret base or something!”

It’s finally time to head off into the Soul Society. You would think that getting ready to cross into what is essentially the afterlife would have a bunch of teenagers on edge. Instead Orihime looks to be enjoying the scenery, much to Tessai’s delight. Though considering he is responsible for helping create the space, I guess he has the right to enjoy people complimenting his work.

The boys just seem fine with there being a massive cavern underneath a random candy store. I’m not sure whether to praise their adaptability, or be concerned by the lack of reaction. They could be trying to avoid showing an embarrassing side of themselves, I suppose. The picture of Ichigo seeing Yoruichi talk I managed to grab is one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

Though when they notice me standing in my combat outfit near Urahara they seem more curious. Uryu in particular seemed surprised by my presence, though since Chad seemed unaffected it might have just been more noticable.

“Excuse me, who exactly are you?”

Giving the two of them a slight smile I replied, “I’m Alexandria Cross. I’m currently employed by Urahara-san and will be joining you all in the Soul Society.”

“All right everybody, gather around! We are about to get started.” Urahara exclaims, snapping his fingers. In response four pillars materialize in the air to form a square, settling into the shape of the finished Senkaimon.

“Just one more thing before I explain” Urahara states, before slamming his cane through the back of Ichigo’s head. The sight of Ichigo being forced out of his body and the surprise interrupt of Kon 'When did he get here?' was enough to distract any further conversation.

When the explanations finally finished, the gate opened and everyone resolved, the only thing left to do was head through the gate. After almost a year of research, training, and preparation it was finally time to step out of the shadows and start shaking things up.

The last thought in my mind as I passed the threshold was simply, 'This is going to be exciting!'