NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7: Bleach Retorta by Adain (pocketTherapist)
Chapter 1
Kisuke comes awake with a jerk and no memory of having fallen asleep. He struggles against the disorientation, wrenching at his usually - clear mind when it refuses to offer up an answer. He had been… He and Ichigo had been traveling…
The memory settles in with an unpleasant twisting sensation and Kisuke bolts to his feet. Or tries to, anyway. The suppressant collar locked around his throat saps his strength and his hands and the collar are both chained to the wall; all he succeeds in doing is choking himself. He falls back onto the bench and forces himself to think.
He remembers this cell. He was kept here while waiting for his trial after he had failed to stabilize the Vizored for the first time. That would place him roughly a century and a decade or two in the past. He's clearly in his old body, and a thrill of fear shoots through him. Ichigo has no body in this time. Kisuke can't be sure they would have even ended up in the same time period, if Ichigo had survived, not with the dubious nature of the Dangai they'd been dumped into.
Treachery, his mind whispers. Betrayed.
It's probably even true. The Central 46 had no love for either of them, not by that point. He knows the time stream probably tore apart his old body--it's almost certainly only luck that he managed to land in his own in this time, instead of being simply disintegrated entirely. But that means that Ichigo's chances… well.
Ichigo would not want him to waste this chance. Kisuke will honor that as best he can.
First, though, he needs to get out of here. He cannot afford to wait for Yoruichi to save him--he needs to get to Aizen before he's banned from Soul Society for the next century. If he remembers correctly, Tessai is just down the hallway. Last time, Kisuke had waited, having decided, however uneasily, to trust the system and hope that his word as a captain would at least let his voice be heard. This time around, he already knows that the Central 46 has been compromised.
This time around, he will not wait.
His hands are bound behind him but the shackles around his wrists hang as loosely as he remembers. For once, Kisuke is grateful for his tendency to forget meals. With nary a grimace, he folds his thumb into his palm and clenches his fist, dislocating it and allowing him to slip his hand free from the cuff. He resets the digit with his teeth and pulls a slim piece of metal from his collar.
Old Onmitsukido habits die hard.
It takes only a moment to open the other shackle and barely longer to release the collar. The restraints are warded against kido from both inside and out, but the thought of manually opening the locks seems to have evaded the minds of the designers, and Kisuke exploits that ruthlessly now. His cell door is breached with similar ease and then he's moving, ghost-like, to Tessai's cell.
His friend looks startled to see him, but grimly expectant nonetheless. Kisuke has him out within minutes. An hour later, they've corralled Yoruichi (who'd been worryingly easy to locate) and Kisuke lays out his plan. Quite frankly, it's absurdly risky, but Kisuke has very little to lose at this point. It's also very simple. Yoruichi and Tessai will get the Vizored and escape to the human world. Kisuke will take care of Aizen if at all possible, and then meet them there, assuming he makes it out. If he doesn't…
Kisuke's already given Yoruichi the Hogyouku and the instructions for how to stabilize the hollowfied shinigami. She very obviously has questions, not the least of which is the surety which directs his hands right now, but she trusts him enough to wait for answers until later.
There's a long moment where everyone is ready, but no one wants to leave. Finally, Yoruichi slaps affectionately at his shoulder.
"Take care of yourself, Kisuke."
"You as well, Yoruichi-san, Tessai-san."
Then they're gone, and Kisuke takes a long moment to watch their backs. It's interrupted by the harsh blare of the Seireitei alarms, and Kisuke almost laughs when his escape is announced to the entirety of the Gotei 13. He's a little surprised about the "kill on sight" order, but Kisuke has over a century's worth of experience on his younger self, and his near-prescient intelligence has been tempered by an edge of cunning. He can play this game as well as any of them--better, even, as former Onmitsukido.
Now, he just needs to get his hands on Aizen before Kisuke can properly make his escape. The Hogyouku isn't awake and certainly isn't in Aizen's chest, so as long as Kisuke can get his hand on Kyouka Suigetsu, he can be sure he's killing the proper person. Unfortunately, Aizen's likely to be quite cautious at the moment, but Kisuke knows Aizen much better than Aizen knows Kisuke at this point in time.
Kisuke shakes himself, shedding his captain's robe and shoes without another thought, one hand palming the long knife he keeps hidden in the sleeve as he does.
It's time to hunt.