46 Wayward Thoughts, Meandering in Silence

With Yoruichi only coming by to update him on the situation with the other group, tracking him using their spiritual link, Ohta eventually found himself alone, once again, in the tunnels beneath Seireitei.

"This sucks..." muttered Ohta, staring absentmindedly at the luminescent algae lining the ceiling above. The present situation reminded him of when he was on jobs in his previous life. He didn't know if he was unique or if it was just human nature, but whenever there was a possibility of him dying, his thoughts wandered to both the past and future.

"I need to start working on my tolerance..." concluded Ohta. He had the memories of being sober for more than fifteen years, but like many other people in his 'profession,' he had a penchant for drinking to take the edge off or dull the senses. The incident at Kukaku's made him reluctant to pick up a bottle, but if his brain kept wandering to places it shouldn't, he didn't mind killing it a bit...

Closing his eyes and leaning his head against the wall he was seated against, Ohta tried to guide his thoughts in a more positive direction. He reckoned there was about a 70% chance of Rukia attempting to break up with him for 'his sake,' so he imagined shutting her up with a kiss, leading to much, much more. Unfortunately, partway through the imagined scene, a similarly sized, equally petite Captain overlapped with Rukia's image...

"Man, fuck this shit..." groaned Ohta, rising to his feet and preparing to leave the dark and increasingly dreary underground tunnel system. If his thoughts were wandering due to inaction and boredom, there were more than a few ways to amend things.

Emerging from a circular hatch after ascending a ladder more than 20m in length, Ohta immediately felt better. The underground tunnels, like many ancient structures within the Seireitei, used trace amounts of Sekkiseki in their construction. This made them excellent hiding places, but due to the interference caused by the Sekkiseki, spiritual entities would begin to feel increasingly discomfited, eventually becoming sick.

Breathing in the fresh, Reishi-rich air aboveground, a faint smile returned to Ohta's face. The air was incredibly refreshing, but, better still, he could sense a trio of passably powerful Shinigami nearby, ideal candidates for a bout of recreational venting.

Shunpoing over to the trio's position, Ohta discovered a blonde-haired Shinigami whose massive tits looked like they were about to burst out of her Shihakusho, a sickly-looking man with pale skin and notably 'angular' blonde hair forming a sharp cowlick covering the left side of his face, and another man with a fairly 'fresh' hairstyle and rugged features that made him resemble a thug, complete with sunglasses.

Noticing that all three Shinigami were wearing Lieutenant badges, Ohta's smile broadened as he called out, questioning, "Could the three of you be looking for me~?" with a trace of whimsy in his tone.

Though the two male Shinigami immediately went on high alert, drawing their Zanpakuto, the buxom blonde's blue eyes widened as she remarked, "Oh, wow. The report failed to mention how handsome you were."

"You're not so bad yourself," mused Ohta. "A little top-heavy, but I dig the wavy blonde hair."

Narrowing her eyes in amusement, the blond-haired Shinigami crossed her arms in a way that intentionally emphasized her bust as she said, "If you come down this instant and behave, I'll let you see what's on the end of this chain."

Taking note of said chain, the end of which was sandwiched between the female Shinigami's massive tits, Ohta remarked, "Tempting, but I'll have to pass."

"That's a real shame," replied the woman, narrowing her eyes even further as she grabbed the hilt of her Zanpakuto, abruptly leaping toward him and drawing it as she shouted, "Growl, Haineko...!"

In response to her call, the female Shinigami's blade seemed to vaporize, becoming a cloud of ash or dust. Said cloud raced at high speeds toward Ohta, but he just waved his left hand, dispersing it with a wave of psychic energy that also slammed into the woman, sending her sliding backward through the air.

Raising his brows, Ohta remarked, "You must have pretty good control to be able to stand in the air while the barrier is active..."

Adopting a fairly mischievous smile, the female Shinigami asked, "Should I praise your ability to stand in the air as well...?"

"Nah, I know I'm a badass," replied Ohta, catching the angular hook-shaped sword of the blonde male with his 'bare' hand. Neither he nor his psychic barrier wavered, but Ohta suddenly felt like he had entered a tub of water, an invisible pressure enveloping his body.

Though he was surprised to see Ohta stop his Zanpakuto with his bare hand, the blonde male was markedly more shaken when he failed to pull away. Ohta didn't even seem to be gripping his blade, but it didn't budge no matter how hard he pulled at it.

"You should have let go..." mused Ohta, his characteristically deep voice sending a chill through the blonde man's body as he felt an invisible force envelop him, freezing him in place.

Seeing his fellow Lieutenant unable to move, the sunglasses Shinigami, wielding a large falchion shaped like a fan and with a pick-like protrusion near the tip, promptly decided against trying to catch Ohta off guard. He couldn't tell what method Ohta had used to trap the angular blonde, so he attempted to buy some time for the woman, saying, "Hey, you, Ryoka. Is it true you came all this way to rescue that girl from the Kuchiki Clan...?"

"That's right," replied Ohta, waving his hand and sending the blonde man crashing into the ground, keeping him in place by constantly accelerating him downward. He still felt the sensation of being enveloped in water, but it wasn't too difficult to move as he turned toward the man, pretending to ignore the woman as he asked, "Why? Got something to say...?"

Amusing Ohta somewhat, the thug-like man shook his head and gave a thumbs up with his left hand, asserting, "Only that you're a real man. It takes a lot of balls to invade the Soul Society like this. Must be one hell of a woman, that Kuchiki girl."

Shrugging his shoulders, Ohta casually confessed, "She's a bit lacking as far as looks go, but I've come to learn that even petite women have their charm. She's my little spider-bunny."

As he actually knew Rukia, albeit only in a professional setting, the thug-like Shinigami was more than a little surprised by Ohta's words. The Rukia he knew was a very quiet, serious, and unapproachable woman. Hearing someone refer to her as a 'spider-bunny' was somewhat amusing, but he could only imagine how she got the peculiar nickname...

Now thoroughly enveloped in the buxom blonde's ash cloud, Ohta turned to face her, asking, "You about finished with your preparations?"

Exhaling a throaty, sensual chuckle, the blonde playfully mused, "I like to take my time with handsome boys..."

Slashing with her bladeless Zanpakuto, the buxom blonde intended to cut Ohta but her ash, usually capable of cutting like a scalpel, scraped futilely across the invisible membrane covering his body.

Furrowing her brows, the buxom Shinigami combed her fingers through her wavy blonde hair, appearing slightly annoyed as she remarked, "It's always a good idea to use protection, but don't you know you feel it more without? You're no fun..."

"That's because I haven't started moving yet," replied Ohta, surprising the

woman by vanishing and appearing behind her as he supplanted, "I take back my comment about you being top-heavy. Your trunk is pretty packed as well..."

Though her immediate instinct was to take evasive actions, the blonde-haired Shinigami ultimately leaned her head back, staring at Ohta with an upturned, albeit inverted gaze as she softly remarked, "You're even more handsome from up close..."

"I get that," replied Ohta, returning a smile as he placed his hand on the woman's shoulder, causing her to feel like a tremendous weight had been placed on it.

"Is it too late to talk things out?" asked the woman, smiling wryly as the pressure continued to increase.

"Afraid so..." replied Ohta, suppressing the temptation to offer the woman a drink once this incident had been settled. Such comments would have earned him an eye roll or gotten him ignored in his previous life, but here, where he had good looks, a naturally smoldering gaze, and a deep voice, it was getting him into trouble...

Fortunately for the blonde woman, Ohta didn't send her crashing into the ground. Instead, he increased the pressure around her body, constraining her lungs and overwhelming her senses with his concentrated Reiatsu. As a result, she quickly lost consciousness, held aloft by his psychic energy as he looked to the final Shinigami, their gazes meeting for several tense moments.

Feeling he had already vented plentily, Ohta surprised the thug-like man by suggesting, "Let's end things here. Take these two wherever you go to receive healing or send a signal to the 4th Division. I'll be loitering around this area for a few hours, so be sure to bring a Captain with you the next time you come, okay?"

Before Ohta could turn away and disappear using Shunpo, the sunglassed Shinigami exclaimed, "Hey, hold up!"

Turning back to face the man, Ohta raised his brows, stating, "You have ten seconds."

Shaking his head, the thug-like man said, "I don't even need that. I just have one question for you before you go..."

Indicating for the man to continue with his silence, Ohta wasn't surprised when he asked, "You're not really our enemy, are you?"

Adopting a faint smile, Ohta asserted, "If I were, the Gotei would be down four Lieutenants, forty-three Seated members, and a Captain. I'm here for one reason and one reason only. I want my spider-bunny returned to me."

Nodding his head, the thug-like man said, "I understand. I'm unsure if it will help, but I'll convey your words to my Captain. Thank you for sparing my comrades."

Punctuating his words, the thug-like man bowed steeply. This earned him an approving nod, but by the time he raised his head, Ohta was nowhere to be seen...

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Contradicting what he had told the thug-like Shinigami, Ohta immediately changed locations after handling the trio of Lieutenants. Things had gone favorably with Soifon, but if several Captains showed up to surround him, he could find himself in a tricky position. Thus, just in case he was forced to flee, he left psychic imprints throughout the Seireitei, intending to trick any pursuers using Yoruichi's most-hated method.

After traversing what must have been at least seven-hundred kilometers, Ohta concealed his presence and spied on passing Shinigami to find out which piece of the pie he was in. The Seireitei, as could be expected, was divided into thirteen 'courts,' he guarded by one of the thirteen Squads of Shinigami. The central, metropolitan-looking area was the dominion of the First Division, effectively making it a 'no man's land.' The remaining twelve courts were perfectly divided like the slices of a piece, circling the central court and covering nearly 1,800,000 square kilometers.

As the pie-like courts were arranged similarly to the numbers on a clock, Ohta hoped that by moving north along the western side of the Seireitei that he would find himself in the area managed by the 9th Division. Their Captain, Tosen Kaname, was one of the suspected accomplices of Aizen, so while Ohta might not kill him outright, he wouldn't mind decorating the pavement with the purportedly blind man's blood...

Fortunately for Ohta, one of the Shinigami he captured readily revealed that he was, in fact, in the region patrolled by Squad 9. Better yet, there was an active order for all members of the Division to assemble outside their barracks, apparently preparing to head to his previously reported location en mass...

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(A/N: Well, that's convenient (O w O)...)