A complex looking piece of machinery dropped into place with a loud bang and I held back a curse while I simultaneously ran a diagnostic on it and looked it over with a structural analysis spell. To my relief nothing on the hyper-durable computer core designed to handle dimensional flux and ship-to-ship combat had been damaged by the few inch fall.

I blinked as my tired mind caught up to what I had just thought.

I blamed the ridiculous work schedule Urahara set. The entire shop crew, kids included, had been pulling near 15-hour days minimum constantly trying to get everything ready for the upcoming war. It was a good thing that we were managing to advance the project so quickly too. There had been several interruptions by some of Aizen’s pet Arrancar that were thankfully turned away without needing my help. Although I did need to spend a little time healing Urahara after one of the attacks. Even with the full support of the Soul Society’s second division, we were barely keeping ahead of our estimated time for when Aizen would launch his final attack. If we were delayed…

Well let’s just say I was very impressed Urahara managed to do this in the original timeline without the use of some of my restorative spells. He must have either had some sort of stimulant he was hiding from me or he just replaced his blood with coffee to get it done.

I finished securing the core to it’s mounts and left the ship. If I was making basic mistakes like forgetting how durable the things I was working with were, then it was time to take a break. Especially given that I should be resting up for the big final confrontation that was sure to take place any day now.

After Ichigo had decided to spurn my advice and blunder on in his own pig-headed manner, I stopped paying much attention to him and his friends. Not for spiteful reasons, but simply because I doubled down on getting my own stuff working and a lack of things to teach.

Similarly to when we were preparing to head to the Soul Society that first time I couldn’t really do any meaningful training to help out the humans in the group. Uryu was busy regaining his quincy abilities, Orihime needed someone more on her level to begin working out a fighting style that worked for her, and Chad needed to fully control his own abilities.

In a pinch I might’ve been able to help the last two, but Orihime never asked me and Chad found a much better partner in Renji since the added pressure of his Reiatsu would stimulate Chad’s own growth.

I had resolved to keep an eye on Orihime since I knew at one point Ulquiorra was supposed to kidnap her but it became harder as more of my time was taken up with my other projects and responsibilities. Soon, daily checks became weekly, and then they became just when I found time. It got so bad that by the time I noticed, she had already been captured and written off by the Soul Reapers.

Ichigo and his friends had already left to retrieve her.

I stayed because there was simply no point in going to Hueco Mundo with them. Aizen would come to the World of the Living and I had a trump card to try against him.

“Done for the day, Alexandria?” Yoruichi asked when I walked outside my lab.

“Yeah. I’m as far as I can get before the final confrontation. No point losing sleep at this point. I only have the drive system left to go then the ship is fully operational.”

“And then you’ll be leaving us.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah, I know Urahara has been looking into it in his spare time -what little there is- but whatever is going on with my soul unraveling is beyond what he can handle. I’m going to need to find somewhere else if I want help with that.”

I cracked my neck and stretched out a bit.

“I figured out how to leave a marker though. I can’t guarantee how long I’ll be gone once we finish up with Aizen and his whole mess, but I’ll be able to come visit once I’m fixed.”

Yoruichi smiled. “So confident we’re going to win, hmm? You know something I don’t?”

“Quite a bit by now, unless you got a degree in dimensional mechanics when I wasn’t looking” I snarked. “But honestly, it’s win or lose now and I prefer to be optimistic about our chances.”

“Not going to hang around for a victory party then?”

“You just want to see me drunk again.” I joked.

I had delved into some sake bottles after a particularly stressful day. Turns out, while it takes a lot of alcohol to get me drunk, once I’m there I lose any semblance of balance.

“But no.” I said, growing more serious. “This is just the last straw with Soul Society. Soi Fon passed a message back to us about the investigation into the Nobles. It’s getting bad and the only reason they haven’t ordered a few captains to capture me so they can figure out how the Zanpakuto copying works is because they alienate you all if they do it. Once that’s passed, they simply won’t care.”

Yoruichi nodded. “I figured. Rest well. No telling when Aizen is going to start things off.”

“Take your own advice. I know you haven’t gotten much rest either.”

The assassin just flipped me off as she walked away. It made me laugh and that was enough for now.

Now then, I had an important meeting with my bed.

-o-

A couple days later I was spending some downtime reading a book for the first time in weeks. Reading used to be one of my favorite hobbies, but between trying to learn everything I could from the Archive, building up my tech base, and practicing my abilities, -even excluding all the stuff Urahara had me doing- I simply didn’t have time for it.

I was trying to recapture some of that enjoyment while waiting for the final battle to start but it wasn’t working as well as I’d hoped. Even sitting still, I was filled with a kind of nervous energy that refused to settle down. The anticipation was completely preventing me from enjoying the book I had picked out.

Eventually I gave up and shut it with a sigh. It wasn’t even that good. The plot was generic and uninspired and the big twist was obvious from a mile off. It was okay enough for wasting time, but I simply couldn’t get drawn into the story.

I wandered around the shop for a while, not really paying attention to what I was doing.

Was I really so used to frantically training that I couldn’t relaxy anymore? I needed to get more hobbies.

My introspection was cut off by the arrival of Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Tessai.

“It’s time.” Urahara said seriously. “We’re activating the Tenkai Kecchuu.”

“Oh good. And I was just getting bored too.” If my smile was a little shaky, no one pointed it out.