Greetings. This is my first Bleach fanfic, and I'm hoping it's not going to blow up in my face.
A few things before we get going:
Disclaimer: Bleach and all characters in it are the property of Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump. This fanfic is not being written for profit, but simply out of a desire to put some creativity demons to rest
Reviews are welcome, as is constructive criticism. In the case of the later, be brutally honest, but don't be abusive, please. And flames are going to get to meet my non-existent industrial-strength fire extinguisher.
I'm rating the story a 'T'. There will be strong language, violence, maybe a few adult themes. Basically, I'm aiming for something about like the main series.
As for content, this story is mostly a Sui-Feng AU. Yoruichi will appear here and there and have an influence, but this is not a Yoru-Soi fic; if you're looking for that, I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere. This is mostly going to be an action/adventure piece with maybe a touch of romance here and there.
And with that…
A Bee Among Strawberries
Sui-Feng had to get away.
She was using shunpo now, going on instinct, trying to make her way to…wherever in this place.
She flashed from rooftop to street to yard to rooftop.
Sui-Feng could feel the pain, and the wounds, she'd-
That hadn't happened.
As she flashed again, Sui-Feng just knew that hadn't happened.
It had been a mix-up, a mistake…
The sound of clashing spiritual steel, and the feel of a zanpaktou biting into her…
Those eyes…
The overwhelming power of her reiatsu…
The blows from every direction at once…
She'd been such an idiot.
Sui-Feng flashed to a patch of grass, and stopped and sensed.
The young assassin couldn't smell the reiatsu, but that meant nothing. She was nothing compared to…
Why had she come here?
Sui-Feng had asked herself that question she didn't know how many times during her flight this…afternoon?
Yes, it was afternoon. The light of the Living World's sun was turning the soft orange and gold that she knew would turn into the purple and black of evening. The young shinigami had only been aware of the slowly fading heat of the day, but now she paused to take in her surroundings, to see where she'd wound up this time.
Sui-Feng supposed she could take that chance. After all, was use was there to actually try running?
She was sitting on a grassy incline that led down to a small river, or maybe it was a large creek, that was flowing peacefully below her. The sound mingled with those of the people in the neighborhoods on either side of the river, people who were either wrapping up their business for the day, or were preparing for a night on the town or at home. The smells of food being prepared for the cookfire or stove mingled with warm grass and cool water in Sui-Feng's nose, and for a moment she thought she could be in Rukongai…
She should have been in Rukongai. Or the Seireitei. Or hunting Hollows for Soul Society, or…
Damn it, how could she have been so stupid?
Stupid!
Stupid!
Sui-Feng let out a cry of frustration and anguish as she slammed her fists in the ground on either side of her. No one here would see the unseemly demonstration, of course, and for that she was glad.
But neither did she terribly much care.
All she cared about was the shaking and the feeling that the hot tears were going to come back, and the overwhelming fearthat she could die like this. As quickly as she'd put her hands on the ground she clapped them over her eyes, as though to hold in her emotions, or at least hide them in some approximation of a Hollow's mask.
Like the Hollow she could sense in the distance…
Sui-Feng tried to calm herself, tried to think…
She should have figured that bastard Urahara would have been up to something. But instead Sui-Feng had fallen for his trap.
The young assassin's mind whirled with the possibilities…
A gigai of some sort, animated by one of Urahara's creations? No, there had been too many cues in the fighting, too many things about her that Urahara couldn't have copied.
Then perhaps some sort of mind control? That sounded more plausible, but even then Sui-Feng found it hard to believe anyone could bend her mistress' mind like that.
Sui-Feng wasn't sure, but she knew one thing.
Whoever that woman she'd fought earlier had been it was most emphatically not Yoruichi-sama.
It couldn't be… It just couldn't be…
Sui-Feng had lived for that woman. For Yoruichi-sama.
Her whole life had been dedicated to following the head of the Shihoin Clan. She would have done anything, given up everything for Yoruichi-sama, unbidden and unasked.
And in the end she had…
"What are you doing here?"
The words still cut through Sui-Feng's soul.
She'd seen the empty throne room, heard the rumors the next day. She didn't believe them, even after her clan's elders had pounded the implications into her head.
Yoruichi-sama couldn't possibly be a traitor. She was the Defender of the Realm, for crying out loud! Granted she didn't care much about titles, but still…
Sui-Feng knew her…
The Hollow was closer now, a movement of air bringing the foul, rancid odor of the thing's reiatsu to her nostrils…
Sui-Feng realized the tears were flowing again. That she was sobbing again. And that the fear and confusion were surging through her again.
Just some poor, worthless, stupid…
Yoruichi-sama had been surprised at Sui-Feng's arrival, and a little scared. That was to be expected; the Onmitsukido would send their best after their former leader, after all.
But beyond that, especially once it was clear that the former Taichou and her friend Urahara-taichou weren't in any immediate danger, was the look of contempt on Yoruichi-sama's face. As though Sui-Feng were some peasant interrupting important court business.
She'd tried to explain herself to her former mistress…
Former mistress…?
"Why?" she whispered into her palms, to no one in particular.
Sui-Feng had nothing now, she knew that. She'd cut her ties to her clan and the Soul Society on her way here, cut them with Suzumebachi in her comrades' bodies and blood. No one would accept her there now. Not ever.
And no one would accept her here, either.
She was worthless…as broken a blade as Suzumebachi was now, thanks to the same woman.
It was actually a relief that the Hollow was closing in on her now, its scent was too powerful to ignore in the cooling summer air. It was approaching tentatively, a smart thing considering it was coming up to one of its kind's ancient enemy. But it was clearly a hunter of shinigami, as Sui-Feng could now smell such mixed in with its reiatsu. No doubt it sensed her own weakness, the blood from her injuries making her easy to track.
Sui-Feng wasn't going to fight, though. There was no point to it. No point to her life. She would let the thing take her and make use of her worthless self.
And it would end the crippling fear.
She tried to calm herself, tried to let the tears and shaking and sobbing stop.
She wanted to at least not totally embarrass her ancestors before she met her end…
The Hollow was almost on her now.
Sui-Feng smiled, knowing this would be the end, fitting for a fool such as her. She lowered her hands and turned to face the Hollow, wanting to at least see what was about to put an end to her existence.
"Feng-san. Oh, Feng-saaaan."
A hand waved in front of Shaolin's face, breaking her reverie. She shook her head a little and focused in on the present again.
"Sorry, Hirako-san. I was just thinking…"
"About this place?" He made an elaborate show of scanning the area. "What about it?"
"You don't take things seriously, do you?"
"Helps pass the time. And you, my dear Feng-san, still don't have a sense of humor, I see."
"Not around you, anyway." She smirked a little.
"Oh, that hurt." He dramatically clapped his hands to his chest.
Shaolin shook her head. "I was thinking about when I first came here…when we first came here."
A century had changed Karakura. The banks of the river she'd spent time on in those early days had been covered over in concrete, the river utterly tamed to man's whim. And the houses were cement and brick and she didn't know what else, rather than wood and paper.
Still, when she was standing on the banks of this river, Shaolin couldn't help but remember…
"Did you remember to get the…"
Shaolin put away the nostalgia and turned an annoyed expression onto her Vizard companion.
"Yes, I got it." She laid the large and somewhat tattered traveling bag she'd been carrying on her left shoulder down on the ground. Then she opened it and began to search through its contents, trying to ignore the former Taichou who was hovering over her.
"You know, Feng-san, I'm aware you're not exactly a fashion maven. But…isn't that bag a little…old. I mean I know you've got enough money for a new one-"
"This one's special." Shaolin continued digging through it for another moment and then carefully pulled out the magazine she'd had stowed there.
Shinji took the proffered item, but almost ignored it for the bag. As Shaolin stood, she suddenly saw the dawn of recognition in his face.
"That's the bag that human student…"
"…Tatsuki-chan."
"Tatsuki-chan?" He paused. "She's the one who gave it to you a while back, isn't she?"
"Yes."
"And I suppose you try to take it everywhere you go?"
Shaolin slung the bag's strap over her shoulder, and then turned to look at him. She didn't like sarcasm.
"No, but I use it a lot. It's a good bag."
"From a favored student."
Shaolin thought for a moment. "Tatsuki-chan spent a lot of time saving to get this for me, as a sign of respect."
"And of course it would have been insulting to refuse it."
"Of course."
Shaolin turned her attention back to the river, trying to get off the subject. But apparently it was too late.
"You've gotten awfully chummy with them over the years, Feng-san."
Shaolin sighed.
Here we go again. I can't believe I started this…
"And that's a bad thing?"
Shinji shrugged, a neutral expression on his face. "They're not us, Feng-san. They don't live in our world."
"We don't live in our world, Hirako-san. Or did you forget?"
"Don't remind me. And that's beside the point."
"Which is 'don't play with the humans, or you'll get us all killed'…" She paused. "Shinji, why do we call them 'humans'?"
"Come again?"
"We're practically cousins. We look like them, act like them…hell, we're drawn from human stock. So why to we act like they're some completely alien species?"
Shinji seemed to think about that.
"I don't know. Maybe I'll ask Aikawa-san about that sometime."
"Speaking of whom…"
Shaolin pointed at her gift, still in Shinji's hands. The Vizard sighed at the Shonen Jump magazine and shook his head as he examined it.
"I just can't get into what those two see in this manga stuff."
"Just be careful with it. That thing is signed."
Shinji raised an eyebrow and flipped through the book. "By the author, no less. They're going to flip."
"It's signed by the authors."
"Oh, then they're really going to flip. I'll try to keep it away from Aikawa-san, otherwise I'll have another civil war on my hands."
"Are you going to get on me about what happened to Hiyori again?" Shaolin threw the rucksack back over her shoulder and gave a mock-glare.
Shinji looked like he was for a moment, and then he collapsed into one of his cheesy frown faces. "No, I know she made her own choice. But I blame you for making her want to go out and-"
"…live a little?"
Shinji smiled ruefully and shook his head. "And here we go, again. We can't ever meet without all this sparring, even though I thought we agreed to disagree about this. Thirty years ago."
Shaolin smiled. "We did. But I still like to give you a hard time."
"Back at you."
Shinji took a moment, and then his expression became troubled. "Do you know where Sarugaki-san is now?"
Now it was Shaolin's turn to be defensive. "You don't want to know…"
Shinji arched an eyebrow.
"Do you own a TV?"
"No."
"Good. Don't get one."
The Vizard 'leader' processed that for a moment, and then let it go. "Well, thanks for the magazine – especially since you won't be seeing us for a while."
Now Shaolin arched an eyebrow. "You guys actually taking a vacation?"
"I wish." His expression was deadly serious. "We think a shinigami has been posted to this area. We're not entirely sure, but whoever it is has been in the area for several days now, so we figure it must be a positing. We want to keep our heads down anyway; you know what happens if they find us?"
Shaolin understood perfectly. The Soul Society wasn't terribly forgiving, and a century wasn't that long to them. Especially not for what the Vizards and their companions had 'done'…
"Anybody you know?"
Shinji shook his head. "No, not that that's saying much." He paused again. "But there's another reason we think they've been posted here."
Shaolin felt a cold chill creep through her that had nothing to do with the day's temperature. She closed her eyes and cursed inwardly.
"The Hollows are back, aren't they?"
"Yeah, they are."
Damn it Isshin-san, I told you this would happen…
Shinji must have read the look on her face. "There haven't been many yet, just a few. But they're back, Feng-san. And I just thought you might like to know."
Shaolin nodded her head in thanks. "Domo arigato, Hirako-san. I need to start getting ready."
And get the others ready. Especially Ichigo-kun…
They turned and started to leave, but then Shinji stopped and turned back to her. "One more thing: we think she might be in town, too."
Shaolin froze at that.
Yoruichi-sama…
"Thank you, Hirako-san. I won't ask where she is, since you wouldn't know."
The two ex-shinigami resumed their respective courses, Shaolin's taking her back into the town of Karakura. As she made her way through the streets she made a mental note to ask Kisuke-san about all this.
And about Yoruichi-sama.
It had to be the oddest Hollow Sui-Feng had ever seen.
It wasn't some gargantuan beast, fangs, claws and what-not flailing around for spiritual flesh.
Rather, the Hollow was small, smaller than herself. It was in the shape of a girl, if Sui-Feng had to guess, with long blonde hair in a pair of ponytails and a black robe of some sort. In fact, it would have been almost cute but for the grotesque bone mask on its face, the horn jutting out of its forehead being particularly disgusting to Sui-Feng's sensibilities.
But no matter. Whether the Hollow that consumed her was big or small, Sui-Feng didn't-
"Please kill me."
The Hollow's words, the near-whisper of a teenaged girl, hit Sui-Feng in the face like the back of Yoruichi-sama's hand had. There was so much pain in those words, so much anguish…
Now the young shinigami looked more closely at the Hollow, and realized the black robe was a shihakushou… And there was something on its – no, her – arm…
A fuku-taichou's badge?
Then she looked into the eyes of the creature. They were the eyes of a Hollow, twin irises of yellow in otherwise empty black sockets, but…
There were no tears, but Sui-Feng could see the utter devastation, the self-loathing…the idea that this person's existence meant nothing to them. But there was also a little shock as well, maybe from having met someone who…felt the same way.
It took a moment for Sui-Feng to find her voice.
"Who are you, Hollow?"
"I'm not a Hollow!" The girl's voice reverberated. "I'm…I mean, I…"
"Her name's Sarugaki Hiyori."
At the sound of the male voice, both Sui-Feng and…Hiyori turned their gazes towards the buildings behind them. Urahara Kisuke was standing there quietly, a sad look on his face.
And not too far behind him, a dark-skinned woman with topaz eyes…
"YOU BASTARD! YOU DID THIS TO ME! YOU DID THIS TO ME! You…!"
Hiyori let out a primal scream, one that had the sound of a Hollow behind it. It made the hair on the back of Sui-Feng's neck stand up, and Urahara-taichou looked unsettled by it as well. Behind him, the dark-skinned, dark-haired woman kept up a guarded expression, her hand going to the hilt of the zanpaktou strapped to her back.
For a moment, Hiyori looked like she might charge at the two taichou…or was it now former taichou? But the scream seemed to spend the girl's energies, and she collapsed into a sobbing heap right in front of Sui-Feng.
Sui-Feng honestly didn't know what was going on or what to do. But if this was a former fuku-taichou, this girl had to be terrified. She had probably lost everything, too.
She was a kindred spirit.
Before she knew what she was doing, Sui-Feng had her arms around the girl, trying her best to be in a comforting position. She could still hear the girl's sobs, even as her own tears were drying in the evening air.
"why…? why me…? what did I do, gods…? I don't wanna be a Hollow…"
It was a moment before Sui-Feng noticed Urahara had come up to them. She turned a…not-quite glare on the man she'd never trusted before.
"What is this?"
Sui-Feng was surprised by the lack of venom in the question. She guessed that she wanted to know what was going on right now. She also knew she didn't want…Hiyori…to be hurt by this man again.
Urahara looked very sad, and very ashamed, not his usual cheery self at all. Yoruichi-sama seemed to relax a little, but her expression was still wary.
"Come with us, Feng-san. Bring Hiyori-san with you. I'll explain everything once we get back to the others."
She could feel Hiyori shaking her head in protest.
"What about…?"
Urahara sighed. "It's a long story, Feng-san. Needless to say, I'm largely the reason we're all here today."
He held out his hand.
"Please, come with me."
Sui-Feng hesitated for a moment, all the conflicting feelings in her jumbling about. She looked at Yoruichi then, pointing in the older woman's direction.
"What about…?"
She could still feel the older woman's reiatsu and, gods help her for even considering this, she was scared.
Urahara seemed to pick up on this and smiled a little more. For the oddest of reasons, the sight of it calmed Sui-Feng a little.
"I'll handle Yoruichi. It's not right what she did back there, but she had her reasons."
"What do you mean 'not right', Kisuke?" Yoruichi looked more than a little insulted and her reiatsu flared. "She tried to kill you just this afternoon!"
"Yes, she did, as any good servant would." Even though he was calm, Sui-Feng could hear an edge to the man's voice. "You shouldn't fault her for that, you know.
"Now, let's take this inside where we can get this mess straightened out, shall we?" He looked expectantly at the younger shinigami.
Sui-Feng thought for a moment, and then sighed.
What did she have to lose?
She picked herself up, pulling Hiyori up despite the other girl's protests and struggles. After a minute, though, even Hiyori seemed to acknowledge what was going on and ceased her struggling. They both got up on their feet, and began to follow as the two taichou made their way back towards the town proper.
As the river disappeared behind them, Sui-Feng fixed a gaze on Urahara.
"If you hurt her, you'll have to answer to me, got it?"
The former taichou gave a smile that was both sad and slightly amused at the same time.
"Got it."
Yoruichi looked seriously at Sui-Feng. "And if you try to hurt him, you'll have to answer to me. Have you got that?"
It took a moment for Sui-Feng to get over the shock of those eyes…so full of grim intent. She found she couldn't look at them, and instead looked submissively towards the ground.
"Yeah, I got it Yoruichi-sama."
Even as she could feel the older woman turning her attention away, Sui-Feng felt the cold chill flowing through her veins. Even though it was now dimming down a little, the reiatsu that had been such a comfort was now scaring her half to death.
To think that she could even consider being scared of the woman she'd declared a goddess only hours ago, and be helped by a man she didn't trust.
What a pathetic person she was.