Bleach: Gazing Mirage

Chapter 29

Mei quickly made her way to Yoruichi's mansion, hoping to find her and report about the artificial human. However, when she arrived, she was informed by Suì-Fēng that Yoruichi had gone over to Urahara's place to see if any progress had been made on breaking the forbidden kido. Not wanting to waste any time, Mei immediately set off for Urahara's mansion.

As she arrived, a servant led her inside and she soon found herself in the presence of Yoruichi and Urahara. Without hesitation, Mei reported everything she knew about Yuichi, Niko, and the artificial human.

Yoruichi listened intently to Mei's report, her eyes narrowing in thought. Urahara, on the other hand, leaned with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I see," Yoruichi said after Mei finished her report. "This is a complicated matter, Mei how come you weren't aware that Yuichi and Niko were attempting such a thing until after it was too late to stop them? Urahara, can you help us?"

Mei immediately knelt down and said, "My apologies Lady Yoruichi! I was so focused on monitoring any changes concerning Kira that I hadn't checked on Yuichi in a few days."

Urahara said, "Now now Yoruichi, it's not her fault and she seems overworked already. I'll see what I can do. We'll need to act quickly and discreetly. But first, let's see the artificial human so that I may accurately evaluate the situation. Mei, can you bring them here? Be sure to also ask them to bring any remaining unused gikons and gigais here. I'll send someone to help you transport them discreetly."

Mei quickly got to her feet, "Of course, Sir Urahara. I will bring them here immediately." She then turned and made her way back to Yuichi's dorm room along with two servants, to bring him and Niko back to Urahara's mansion so the dire situation could be solved.

It had been troublesome to quietly and discreetly lead the artificial human while carrying the gigais into the carriage they brought. Since Mei was the stealthiest she brought them all while the servants and Yuichi acted as lookouts to make sure they weren't seen.

Upon her return with Yuichi and Niko, Mei led them into the study room where Urahara and Yoruichi were waiting. The artificial human had been covered with a cloth and the remaining gikons and gigais were brought over in a large crate.

"Place him on the table so that I can examine him," Urahara instructed.

Yuichi and Niko carefully placed the boy who was looking around on the table and stepped back as Urahara approached him. He gently removed the cloth covering the artificial human's body and marveled at what he saw.

"This is truly remarkable," he said, his eyes wide with wonder. "The level of detail and complexity in this artificial human is unlike anything I've ever seen. This could pass as a real human and it might even be possible for it to procreate with other humans. It seems to even have its own cognitive function but they're still underdeveloped like that of an infant."

Yoruichi nodded in agreement, "It's a shame that it was created illegally, we'll have to keep this a secret until we can find a way to explain it. The fact that it was created by you two isn't that big of a deal however the laws broken to do so are."

Urahara then placed his hand on the boy's forehead and released what Yuichi perceived as an altered form of healing kido energy. After a while of doing this, he suddenly turned to Yuichi and Niko, "How on earth did you get the gikon and gigai to synchronize to such a level? It's truly stable and shows no signs of deterioration at all. Previously when we attempted it only achieved a semi-synchronization which caused the artificial human to go berserk forcing termination."

Niko was clearly excited as she explained, "That part was Yuichi's idea. When we first tried to synchronize the gikon or soul with the gigai we noticed we couldn't get it to stabilize. That's when Yuichi came up with the revolutionary idea of rather than trying to sync the soul to the body or the body to the soul we should create our own synchronization point and simultaneously sync both the soul and body."

Urahara listened intently to Niko's explanation, his eyes lighting up with understanding. "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! I never thought of that approach before. This could change the game completely. We must keep this a secret and continue our research. But first, we need to find a solution to the legality of the issue surrounding this artificial human."

Yoruichi nodded in agreement, "Agreed, we must find a way to explain this without causing a disturbance. In the meantime, I suggest we keep him under our protection and continue to monitor his development."

Mei stepped forward, "Lady Yoruichi, I believe we can take care of him at the mansion. The others have experience in caring for people like they did with me and they will make sure he is well taken care of."

"Umm, about the legal issue, I believe I may have an idea." said Yuichi causing the others to turn to him, "They might be willing to excuse the little transgression if maybe we steered the project in a way they might be able to profit from it. It'd also help if Captain Ueahara were the one to release the project."

Urahara and Yoruichi looked at Yuichi with interest, "Yes that might work," Urahara said. "But I believe we should approach this with caution because if we unveiled it in its complete form they'll immediately attempt to weaponize it so we have to be careful. We don't want to create any more problems than we need to. So let's hold off on presenting it to anyone just yet while I think of our best solution."

Yoruichi nodded, "Yes in the meantime, while you think we need a place to keep this boy safe. I'll bring him back home with me and have the servant pretend he's a new orphan I picked up. I don't get many visitors so if we keep him out of sight then I should be able to buy us a few weeks to maybe a month or two." She turned her gaze toward Yuichi and Niko, "I expect full cooperation from both of you in this matter. The consequences of this becoming public knowledge could be dire. You may even face execution if it's revealed."

Yuichi and Niko both nodded, "Yes, Lady Yoruichi. We understand and will do as you say."

"Okay, then Mei for now take Yuichi and Niko back to the dorm and make sure no one sees or follows you. The kid and I will stay here for a while before heading back to the mansion. He's pretty docile so he shouldn't be any trouble. Oh and you two no more experimentation of any kind from now on. If you wish to do anything like this then contact either Kisuke or myself through Mei." said Yoruichi

"Understood, Lady Yoruichi," Mei replied. "Let's go, Yuichi and Niko. We need to get back to the dorm and make sure everything is in order."

Yuichi and Niko both nodded, "Yes."

As the three of them left the room, Urahara turned to Yoruichi, "Be careful, Yoruichi. We don't know what kind of consequences this could bring if the Shihōin clan if they ever found out."

Yoruichi gave a small smile, "Don't worry, Kisuke. I've dealt with worse. I'll make sure that none of this touches the Shihōin household. If it looks that bad then we'll just run away."

Urahara nodded, "Okay, by the way, Yoruichi that kid Yuichi do you want to give him to me? I don't know why you're so interested in him but I really want him. He managed to figure out something that has plagued the 12th Division for quite a long time."

Yoruich smirked and said, "Not a chance. However, I've been meaning to ask you to run some tests on that boy in secret. When I met him in the forest he claimed to have lost his memory but that was an obvious lie. I was planning on killing him if he made a move but he didn't."

Urahara raised an eyebrow, "Really? That's quite surprising. I'll be sure to run the tests as soon as I can. But what makes you think he's lying about his memory loss?"

"I just have a gut feeling," Yoruichi replied. "I've been in this game for a long time and I can tell when someone is hiding something. But I want to know what he's hiding, and what abilities he might be hiding. That's why I needed to keep him so close."

Urahara nodded, "Understood. I'll run those tests soon."

Yoruichi stood up, "Good. I'll be off now. Keep me updated on the results."

"Of course, Yoruichi," Urahara replied as Yoruichi grabbed the artificial human and disappeared in a flash of shunpo.

Urahara sat back in his chair, deep in thought. He couldn't help but wonder what Yoruichi was planning to do. But he trusted her instincts, and he knew that if she was interested in that boy, then there must be something special about him. He just had to find out what it was.