pulled it free and sighed in relief when he glanced at the caller's number.

"Chad, did you find them?"

Trying to listen while Renji breathed in his face, Ichigo's brows furrowed and he zeroed in on a name. "Urahara's? He did what? Not the dangai?" He lifted his eyes to meet Renji's shocked gaze. And Ichigo wondered if his faced paled like his friend's just did.

This day suddenly went from bad to worse. He couldn't believe it. Their pregnant wives just ran through the precipice world without the Kidō Corps to keep open the gate. How stupid could they be? Ichigo was going to strangle Orihime when he finally got his hands on her.

Well, maybe not strangle her, but he might yell, and most definitely scowl at her a wholeit would be. Tiring and a bit nerve-wracking, but nothing worthy of the disaster-laden lecture Kisuke gave them before he opened the gate. The man wasn't only a seedy shopkeeper; he was also a scaremonger of the worst sort.

"Are you all right, Rukia?"

Shoving Urahara to the back of her mind, Rukia glanced to the side to see Orihime watching her with concern. "Yeah." she replied with a small smile before curiously asking, "How about you?"

Orihime pumped a fist in the air, her cheeks still flushed pink from their run. "I'm fine."

Wondering -yet again- where she got her energy from, Rukia smiled indulgently at her friend before turning to the street on her left. "Ready then?"

"Yep, let's go."

They hadn't even gone ten steps when Byakuya appeared at the junction