I stood alone in the underground cavern, staring into empty space. Timeless as it was, I could almost feel the minutes creeping by and the closer it got to 1 in the morning, the harder my heart thumped in my chest.

Soon, I would return to the soul society. I played with the yarrow carving on the little chain necklace I had scabbed from Jinta, smoothed down the front of my black singlet, tightened the straps of the braces at my arms, then paced back and forth to leave a worn path on the ground.

Saying I was nervous was an understatement. I was freaking crapping myself. My mind was plagued with horrifying thoughts of Kenpachi and the rest of Squad 11 hunting me down, not to mention the fact that any use of my spiritual energy would result in the whole Soul Society trying to kill me. The biggest worry was what would happen if I tried to enter the Soul Society if I had been banned.

Would I be fried alive? Pushed back into the World of the Living?

Something brushed my leg and, so caught up in my thoughts, I hadn't notice the cat enter. I jumped and let out a squeak, almost calling forth Chiya's sword. The black cat cocked its head to the side.

Heaving a sigh, I bent down to pat it. "Geez, you gave me a fright, cat." It flicked its tail. "It's surprising that Urahara allows you in; he doesn't seem like a person fond of cats." I straightened, cracked my back and looked back at the ladder.

"He has good reason to keep me by his side."

A blank minute passed.

My eyes widened slowly. I looked at the cat. It looked back. I picked up the cat, looked it over, then placed it back on the ground.

"I could have sworn you just talked," I muttered, shaking my head.

"I did. You find that hard to believe?"

Yes, yes I did. Even though I saw his mouth move – for he sounded like a male – I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that a cat, a plain, ordinary animal, had spoken to me.

My mouth flapped for words but nothing came. This was exactly like when I had met Kon. My embarrassment was saved by the creaking of the trap door. I spun, watching as Urahara descended, followed by Tessai, Ichigo and three others.

This early morning was just getting weirder.

"Kera? You're here too?" Orihime asked in surprise as she drew near, followed by the imposing figure of Chad.

Uryu had also appeared, dress in a white uniform with blue trim. I was glad he had recovered fully from Renji's attacks.

"Um, yeah," I answered, flabbergasted, as she threw herself at me and hugged tightly. "But I don't understand, Orihime, how can you see me?" My gigai was lying on my bed upstairs.

"Oh, well you see, it all began when Ichigo saved us a couple of times as a soul reaper and..." she started, but then her eyes wandered and she saw the cavern we were in and my question went straight in one ear and out the other. "Wow! I had no idea this huge space was underneath Mr Kisuke's store! It's cool! It's like a secret base!"

Tessai, with his glasses still cracked from Ichigo's and I's training endevours, bowed before Orihime and grabbed her hands. Tears ran down his cheeks. "I'm touched! What a sublime reaction!"

Thus, Orihime was stolen from me and I was no closer to my answer. I was sure Orihime and Chad had not possessed the ability to see spiritual beings. Then again, I haven't really spent a great deal of time with them nor can I read others abilities like other soul reapers. I decided that I would have to question them both when it was quieter.

"I had not expected to see you so soon, Kera," Uryu stated and I shifted my gaze to him. "I'm guessing you sorted out your soul reaper problems?"

I frowned. "How did you know about," I saw Urahara over Uryu's shoulder hiding behind his fan, "actually, never mind. I already know. To an extent, yes, they're sorted."

He squinted at me. "You're giving off a strange spiritual pressure."

I sucked in a deep breath and tugged all ounces of energy back into my body. I hadn't even realised it had been leaking out. Kisuke's damn collar and braces weren't working as well as they were supposed to.

"Like I said, to an extent," was my only response before I turned away from him. My hand brushed the collar at my neck, the new one that covered the hole.

It was more fashioned like a necklace that clung to my skin, made of a thick silvery metal that Tessai had hammered out to its thinnest possible form. Hopefully, it would keep my spiritual pressure from going crazy; the arm braces were extra bindings in case the collar failed or Chiya decided to betray me. I still did not trust that dragon.

"Okay, okay, kiddies!" Urahara clapped his hands. "Pay attention please!" A snap of his fingers. "And away we go!"

The air before us shivered and rumbled angrily before four black squares appeared in the sky. Then, four pillars covered in what looked like bandages came free of the blackness. With a resounding thud, they joined and created a large square.

I knew what it was. A senkai-mon, a doorway to the soul society. How Urahara got his hands on the ability to create one was beyond me though.

"All right. This gate leads to the soul society! The senkai-mon, the tunnel world gate. Please listen carefully," Kisuke's voice dropped all semblence of cheeriness. "I'm about to tell you how to pass through this gate without dying."

By way of Kisuke's cane, Ichigo split from his body and his gigai slumped to the ground.

"WHOA!" the others chorused and crowded around his body, poking and prodding it.

I think I found it fascinating to watch the fascination of those three as they played with the gigai.

"It actually comes out quite easily," Uryu murmured.

"So you're not in this Ichigo anymore?" Orihime questioned.

"Of course not. Don't talk about me like I'm a Pez dispenser."

A snort of laughter left my mouth and Ichigo turned piercing eyes my way. "How come you aren't stepping out of your gigai?"

"I'm already out," I replied, gesturing to my new uniform: plain black singlet, compression tights, a dagger sheathe on my left thigh and calf high blacks boots.

"That's not soul reaper uniform."

"You're like Ichigo and Rukia too, Kera?" Orihime's eyes alighted with surprise.

"Yeah, only I will stick out more than Ichigo will in the soul society. That's why I needed to change up my outfit."

"And is that why you cut your hair?" Chad asked.

"Oh my, I didn't even notice that!" Orihime launched to her feet and twisted my head to the side. She pouted. "Why did you cut it so short?"

Sheepishly, I pulled away from her grasp and flicked my short ponytail. I'd cut it to just shoulder length and the red streaks had been covered up. "I can't really say." Ichigo knew but he had the audacity to keep his mouth shut.

"Are you a criminal from that place?" Uryu, however, wished to squeeze the answer from me. He wasn't far from the truth.

"Does it matter at this moment? Kisuke, are your preparations done?" I yelled at him, but he was in a discussion with Tessai... and the black cat.

"You better tell us later about what you got up to as a soul reaper," Orihime said and I gave her a curt nod.

They're probably going to find out as we go anyway.

"Uh, guys, why are you still touching my body?" Ichigo looked very confused, peeved and slightly embarrassment as the others went back to manhandling 'Ichigo'.

Suddenly, from nowhere, Kon appeared shouting his objection. "Yeah! That's going to my body for a while! Stop touching it! Oh, Orihime, you can touch it as much as you want!" He kissed his paw and sent the kiss towards her.

Uryu and Orihime were in shock. I waved my hands before their faces but they didn't even blink or shift from the talking stuffed toy and their mouths hung open like unhinged doors. Kon went on to proclaim that he was coming to the soul society with us – I slapped my forehead – before Chad wrapped his fingers around his head.

A silent stare, in which Kon started sweating bullets. "Everyone, eyes over here!"Kisuke called and everyone faced him. A distressed, whiny scream reached our ears but no one turned. "I shall now explain the gate.

"This gate has a reishi henkan-ki – a spirit-particle conversion machine – on top of the normal tunnel world gate. The two are attached by covering the gate with ketsugo-fu – union tags."

So that's what the bandage looking things were.

"Spirit-particle conversion?" asked a confused Ichigo.

"Correct. As you know, the soul society is a world of konpaku. It is impossible to enter it without looking like 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," Uryu said, "even without removing the konpaku, if you walk through this gate..." Here, he trailed off and Kisuke instantly picked up his train of thought.

"Yes! You can enter the soul society looking exactly the way you do now!"

I silently applauded Kisuke. Underneath that facade of crazy shop owner/ knower of all things soul society, he was actually a genius.

"All right! I got it!" Ichigo fumed impatiently. He was obviously not impressed by Urahara's show of knowledge. "Let's go through alread- OOF!" Urahara jabbed him violently in the side.

Ichigo wandered off to nurse his wounds as Urahara continued, "And now for the most important part. 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 senkai-mon can only remain open and connected to the soul society for a brief time...four minutes at most."

"Four minutes?!" we all cried out.

Bloody hell, that was pushing it! If the tunnel was anything longer than 1000m with uneven ground, we probably wouldn't be able to make it in time. Chills wracked my body but I willed myself to calm down. Panicking now would definitely jeopardise my abilities when the time came.

"After four minutes, the gate will close and you'll be trapped in the dangai, the precipice world between this world and the soul society forever! In addition, within the dangai..."

More bad news? My body couldn't handle all these negative, horrible things. "..Is a restrictive current called koryu that paralyzes konpaku in order to prevent the entry of Hollows and other foreign invaders. If even one of your limbs gets entangled in it...the possibility of passing through dangai within the time span becomes close to zero."

Breath, Kera, breath. You know you can run that fast. But what about the others? Can they? Kisuke, now I wish you'd found an easier way in or even prolonged the time period.

"Then, how can we..." Orihime voiced her fear, eyes wavering.

"Go forward," said the cat.

"Mr Yoruichi!" Orihime exclaimed. So that was his name.

"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 doubt, have no fear. Do not stop. Do not look back. Do not think of those you are leaving behind. Just go forward."

Mr Yoruichi turned to face us. "Those who can do that, follow me."

"You're preaching to the choir!" Ichigo yelled, stepping forward. "The moment we came here, all of our minds were made up!"

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

"Then I'll have to win!" Ichigo proclaimed, voice like iron and fiery determination in his eyes.

Truth be told, my own heart had calmed. The words of Yoruichi rang within me, filling me, and Ichigo's determination, as well as the others, fuelled my own. Before I could stop it, my lips twitch into a smile I hadn't conjured since my fights with Kenpachi. Chiya whispered her approval and joy, her power flowing through my veins.

The air within the senkai-mon whistled and howled, bright light starting to fill it. "Are you ready?" Kisuke asked. "Run in as soon as it opens."

"All right," Ichigo answered for us all. "Kon! Take care of my family!" he shouted over his shoulder and I sneaked a glance back to see the stuffed lion duck-taped around the mouth and arms pinned to his sides.

Then, as the brilliant light filled the entire senkai-mon and radiated outwards to wash away our shadows, we simultaneous rushed forward.

A sliver of doubt clutched me, caused me to falter slightly in my step, as I passed the threshold. Light blinded me and, for a moment, I thought I had somehow been teleported back into the underground room.

I blinked furiously and the land around me became clear. The walls dripped some white substance, hiding bony structures beneath it, and the ground was rough and rock hard. The sky was a dark bruised colour and the air was heavier than anything I had breathed before. I had made it through.

"This is...dangai."

Suddenly, a large sound rumbled behind us. "Come! Don't just stand there! Run! The wall of koryu is coming!!" Yoruichi yelled and that jump started me.

Before the others could even register, I was off. I was not waiting around for anyone or anything. My feet pounded over the hard group, synchronising with the others as they raced after me. The path ran straight before us and, in the very far distance, a single speck of white light. 

The entrance to the Soul Society.  

A/N: Hey guys, I'm alive! Finally scrounged pieces of time to write up the next chapter and bits of the story to come ^_^ comment your thoughts and criticisms and if you noticed any strange symbols in my writing that definitely shouldn't be there (now my writing program is having issues -_-)