A/N: I finally got around to watching the Unknown Zanpakuto Tales arc and I've gotta say, I'm enjoying it bounds and leaps better that the two previous arcs. The idea for this story occurred to be several episodes in and even though I've got two other stories to worry about at the present, I just had to get it down. Well, here it is. Enjoy!
Chapter 01
Suzuki, although he clearly looked to be older than his mother, was undoubtedly younger. After all, the day of his "birth" had come a mere two days after Sode no Shirayuki and Senbonzakura had lowered their guard (and their clothes) to give in to the desires that arose from their mutual attraction.
Suzuki, (as he preferred to be called) like his parents, took a human form whenever chose to materialize. He had the appearance of a young man in his mid-20s and was a bit taller than his father.
Senbonzakura had seen countless people in many forms of attire in the World of the Living in the more than one hundred years that he had been paired with Byakuya Kuchiki. But that experience did not help at all when it came to why his son wore the attire of a man hailing from 19th century Europe. Then again, he himself often pondered why he was dressed as a samurai. Did it have to do with the psyche of the wielder?
It would certainly explain why Zabimaru was split into a woman and a child: the amount of uncouthness their master exhibited was enough to necessitate the use of two forms.
Suzuki would not find his master waiting around in the zanpakuto realm and not long after his birth (two minutes to be exact), he took his zanpakuto form and dropped himself in what he thought to be a completely random location in Sereitei.
That random location happened to be Rukia Kuchiki's forehead.
"Arrgghhh!" Rukia snorted awake, "Wha…wha-wuh-zat?"
Rukia accidentally slapped herself when she aimed a little too low, thinking that a mosquito was the reason of her interrupted sleep.
Rubbing the source of her pain, she hoped that there would be no visible mark left. Rukia didn't really want to spend the following day explaining why there was a red hand print on her cheek. It didn't take much effort to imagine Renji spreading the rumor that her subconscious self was a masochist aficionada.
Just to make sure, Rukia decided to check the state of her cheek in the bathroom mirror. She pulled off the comforter covering her body and when she rolled off her futon, her shoulder came into contact with an odd object.
Rukia looked down and even though it was dark, she had been a Shinigami long enough to know what a zanpakuto looked like even in dim light. It certainly wasn't Sode no Shirayuki, as Rukia never kept the sword by her bedside.
Not to her surprise, she did not recognize the zanpakuto. But just to make sure, Rukia decided to check it against the bathroom light. Yawning, Rukia grabbed the sword and lugged it to the bathroom. It was common practice for new recruits who had zanpakuto that had not yet achieved shikai form to have their initials written at the base of the hilt. She hoped it would result in an identity so the sword could be returned.
First having cleared her cheek of any marks, Rukia unsheathed the sword and held it up high to get a good view. The blade was a solid black that strangely did not glint in the bright bathroom light. The handle was covered with intertwined red and black cloth that ended with a thin, red chain dangling near her elbow.
"This is a pretty nice looking zanpakuto."
Leaving the bathroom, she couldn't help but feel sorry for whoever the sword belonged to, as misplacing a zanpakuto was seen as irresponsible and was severely looked down upon.
Thus, whoever with shinigami was, he or she was in very, very big trouble.
"Poor bastard," she muttered.
Rukia shrugged and decided to hand over the zanpakuto to her brother in the morning. As it was a Saturday, they would both be eating breakfast together in the morning.
She leaned the weapon up against the wall next to the polished wooden frame that suspended Sode no Shirakyuki.
"You've got company," Rukia yawned as she turned in the direction of her futon.
Sode no Shirayuki was horrified. When Rukia had left to enter the bathroom, she left and quickly moved to contact Senbonzakura several rooms over: something serious had occurred.
A/N: R&R Ladies and Gents!
EDIT: This chapter was edited on 08/06/10. Nothing was added to the plot make-up of this chapter. On a re-reading months after submission, I noticed huge grammatical errors. The first two chapters were written during my midterms, so that explains why I didn't catch the mistakes I normally would. Aight. That's it.