章 5: Chapter 4:

They all climbed down a secret tunnel inside Kisuke's shop, which led down to a huge room like a giant desert with dry trees and rough rock protrusions. This is also where Ichigo and Mei went through their hellish 10-day training in this desert. Kisuke also almost made Mei become a Hollow and every time she came down here she glared at Kisuke with murderous eyes.

"W-Wow!! I had no idea this huge space was underneath Mr.Kisuke's store!" Orhime once again most sincerely complimented this desert space.

"It's cool! It's like a secret base!!"

"Hmm... I'm touched! What a sublime reaction!" Tessa was so moved that she shed tears at Orihime's sincere words. He used both of his hands to hold Orihime's right hand.

"Hee hee. Thanks!"

"Okay, okay kiddies!" Kisuke clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention. Then he wore his usual grin and snapped his fingers. "Pay attention please! And away we go!"

Suddenly black portals appeared nearby and they were arranged in an upright rectangular shape. Then from those portals appeared 4 square cylindrical stone pillars with papers stuck in random directions, they automatically fell into the positions of the 4 rectangular corners.

"All right. This gate leads to the Soul Society. The Senkaimon, the tunnel world gate." Kisuke had previously been speaking in a joking and cheerful tone, but then he became extremely serious when talking about the matter of life and death for Ichigo's group. "Please listen carefully. I'm about to tell you how to pass through this gate without dying."

Kisuke used the stick he always carried to expel Ichigo's Soul Reaper from his body, then his body fell to the ground lifelessly.

"Whoa!!" The rest all cried out in surprise when they first saw how to expel the soul like a thing, even Mei curiously poked the cheeks of Ichigo's lifeless body. Chad was trying to lift Ichigo's body up to see if there was any reaction.

"It actually comes out quite easily." Ishida also curiously knelt down on one knee to examine Ichigo's body. It was true that his body no longer had any pulse.

"So you're not in this Ichigo anymore?" Orihime grinned while poking the cheeks of Ichigo's body.

"Of course not. Don't talk about me like I'm a pez dispenser." Ichigo put his hands on his hips and looked at everyone examining his body. "But um, why are you guys touching my body?"

"Yeah! That's gonna be my body for a while! Stop touching it!!" A lion-shaped stuffed animal tried to resist when he rose from behind Ichigo, causing Ichigo to scream in surprise. Is that a talking stuffed animal...? "Oh! Orihime, you can touch it as much as you want~"

"Kon! What are you doing here!?"

"Huh?! I'm going too, of course!! I won't let you leave me behind! I intend to ride into the Soul Society whatever happens!" The stuffed animal named Kon protested and struggled when he heard Ichigo refuse to take him with him. Then Mei curiously picked it up and spun it around in a circle to see how it reacted. "Wha- W-wait.... Miss.... Woaaa! What a beautifull lady, you can spin whenever you want~"

"A perverted stuffed lion...." Mei muttered as Kon was still dizzy after her spinning him in the air several times but he was still trying to put his face on Mei's busty chest when she threw it to Chad. Looks like he's happy to have a toy just like his dream.

"HUH!? Why are you here!? Stop..... STOP!!!!"

"Everyone, eyes over here! I shall now explain the gate." Kisuke once again had to cry out to get the attention of Ichigo's group, causing him to sigh as he looked like he was babysitting. "This gate has a Reishi Henkan-Ki--A spirit-particle conversion machine--On top of a normal tunnel world gate. The two are attached by covering the gate with Ketsuō-Fu--Union tags."

"Spirit-Particle conversion?" Mei curiously asked Kisuke back as she tried touching her hand on the gate.

"Mmhm... Yep. As you know the Soul Society is a world of Konpaku... It is impossible to enter it without looking like a Konpaku." Kisuke nodded and continued to answer them. "But as you know, only Mr. Kurosaki and Lady Mei, both are Soul Reaper, can move about as a Konpaku. Even if Konpaku were removed from the rest of you, their chains of fate would still be attached, so you'd barely be able to move much less travel to the Soul Society."

"That's where the Reishi Henkan-Ki comes in! It converts matter--called Kishi, which makes up most things in this world--.... Into Reishi, or Spirit Particles, which are the main components of Konpaku!"

"In other words, even without removing the Konpaku, if you walk through this gate...." Ishida thought for a moment then spoke after Kisuke.

"Yes! You can enter the Soul Society looking exactly the way you do now!"

"All right! I got it! Let go through already! OOF!" Ichigo said impatiently and then Kisuke took his stick and hit him hard on the waist as a warning while Kisuke was smiling triumphantly. Ichigo grimaced and leaned against a nearby rock, unable to do anything.

"And now for the most important point. Passing through the gate itself is no problem. The Spirit Particle conversion is painless if you move forward, you will indeed reach the Soul Society."

"The problem is time. The Senkaimon can only remain open and connected to the Soul Society for a brief time.... Four minutes at most!"

"Four minutes!?" Only now did they realize the tension of the situation after Kisuke brought up the concerns, that they had to race against time inside that gate.

"After four minutes, the gate will close and you'll be trapped in the Dangai, the precipice world between this world abd the Soul Society... Forever!!"

"In addition, within the Dangai.... Is a restrictive current called Kōryū that paralyzes Konpaku in order to prevent the entry of Hollows and other foreign invaders."

"If even one of your limbs gets tangled in it.... The possibility of passing through Dangai within the time span.... Becomes close to zero."

"Then.... How can we...."

"Go forward." There was a distinctive male voice coming from near Mei, causing her to look up and down looking for the owner of the voice. Until Mei looked down at the ground, a black cat with golden eyes walked up to her, making her curiously squat down to try petting it. The cat growled and squirmed, trying to get away from Mei's hand. "Hey hey, haven't you ever seen a talking cat!?"

"Mr. Yoruichi!" Orhime exclaimed excitedly when she saw that black cat. She even called it 'Mr', so perhaps this was a cat that could transform! That left Mei with an expressionless face and her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Didn't I tell you? The heart and the soul are connected. The state of the heart is crucial. The will to go forward...."

"Will be your guide."

"Have no doubts. Have no fears. Do not stop. Do not look back. Do not think of those you are leaving behind."

"Just.... Go foward."

"Those who can do that, follow me." The whole group was silent for a long time after Yoruichi's "encouraging" words.

"You are preaching to the choir! The moment we came here.... All of our minds were made up!" Ichigo stepped forward and answered Yoruichi firmly. On his and the other four of his group's faces was an expression of determination.

"Just so you understand, boy.... If you lose, you will never return to this world."

"Then I'll have to win!"

"Exactly!" Yoruichi glanced at Ichigo at the corner of his eyes, making the expression on his cat's face even more confusing. It's true that like a cat, it's hard to understand what it's thinking even if it can speak like a human.

Tessa and Kisuke stood on either side of the gate as they bent down to perform some sort of summoning action. The air seemed to be sucked into the space of the gate, it glowed and emitted resounding roaring sounds.

"Are you ready?" When the gate was almost completed, Kisuke glanced at Ichigo's group and signaled to them. "Run in as soon as it opens."

".... Kisuke, thank you for giving me shelter.... If I ever return to The Human World, I'll probably stay at your place again...." Mei muttered under her breath, but the sound of the wind and the gate about to open drowned out most of her words, causing Kisuke to only hear a few important words like "Thank you" and "If I come back." again.... Then I'll stay at your place for a while longer". She stood close and leaned to the side, making it as difficult to read her expression as it was to read Yoruichi's, but Kisuke could feel her giving him a rare smirk.

"Alright.... Here we go!!" Kisuke's thoughts almost drifted away because of Mei's rare but extremely dangerous smile, almost making him forget his mission. He cleared his throat and loudly ordered everyone to quickly run through the gate.

"This is...."

"Dangai!" Ichigo exclaimed. Mei was a little curious and reached out her hand to touch the purple mist that built up those walls, causing her hand to burn a bit, causing Chad to hold her wrist and pull her away from the wall.

"Come! Don't just stand there! Run!" Yoruichi walked in front of everyone and urged them to run faster as the purple mist walls approached them. "The wall of Kōryū is coming!!"

Inside this place, it was all dark and only the faint light at the end of the tunnel illuminated this place. The path that the Senkaimon gate opens is surrounded by terrifying dark purple mist. Wherever Ichigo's group ran, the mist seemed to have sentience and followed them there. Everyone used all their strength to run through this road while being chased by a wall of sentience.

"The... The walls are collapsing! They're crumbling behind us!" Ishida ran and looked back as he saw the walls continuing to pursue them.

"Don't look back--Run!" Yoruichi continued to urge everyone to run and not look back as he continued to lead. "If the Kōryū swallows us, we're done for!!"

"AAAH!!" Ishida shouted along with Orihime as they dodged a wall to their left that collapsed on top of them. Luckily, Orihime was unharmed, but the cloak Ishida was wearing stuck to the walls, causing him to be pulled towards the walls. "Huh? AAAAAH!?"

"Uryū!?"

"Idiot! It's that stupid costume you're wearing!!"

"Wait! Don't use the Zanpakutō" Yoruichi stops Ichigo before he attempts to act recklessly to save his friends. "The Kōryū entangles all spiritual entities! If you swing that sword, you'll both be swallowed up!!"

"Then.... What am I supposed to do?" Ichigo spoke loudly in panic as he stopped and unsheathed his sword. Without thinking, Chad tore off Ishida's cloak and carried him on his shoulders before continuing to run.

"Phew.... Thanks.... Huh!? Hey!!" Ishida was confused and shocked that Chad risked his life like that to save Ishida. He struggled on Ishida's shoulders, demanding to stand down and run on his own. But Chad ignored what Ishida said.

"Let's go!" Chad said calmly, making Ichigo sweatdrop and confused then look over at him.

"O-okay!"

"Put me down, Chad! I can run on my own! Put me..." The walls continued to collapse behind them and Ishida continued to struggle, but not as violently as to make things difficult for Chad. He suddenly stopped and stopped speaking when he felt something was wrong. Ishida looked up and saw the collapsing walls behind them, a flash of light appeared with something giant moving faster towards them. "W-wait guys! Something.... Something's coming!"

There was a beam of light coming from above the head of that giant thing that looked like a sentient beast made of walls of mist, now it had become faster and more gigantic.

"Wh... What is that!?" Ishida said in panic, causing everyone else to turn their heads to look at the thing that made Ishida panic. It was truly huge and was only a few feet away from Mei causing her to run faster. "Mei, run faster!!"

"It's a Kōtotsu-- A cleaner!! It appears once every seven years.... But why now!?" Yoruichi also said in panic when she saw Kōtotsu, the cleaner cleaning this path. Something that was not on his list of plans including backup plans. "Run!! Very fast!! Run for your lives!!!"

"Hurry! The exit's just a head!!"

"No!! It's catching up!!" Ichigo gritted his teeth and tried to run forward at full speed with his group. Mei simply remained silent and slowed down a bit to turn around to look at the giant thing that was chasing them. "Mei!?"