Spoilers for the Thousand Year Blood War Arc!
Just a little something I came up with when pondering Shunsui's new state. Sorry for any rough spots, it was written pretty quickly and without much extra thought.
Hints of Shun/Nanao if you squint.
Shunsui let out a heavy sigh. He really should get going to the captain's meeting because he knew that everyone would be convening right about now, and falling apart soon after, but he had been given a short reprieve because of his more grievous injuries. He was actually just now getting a good look at the damage done to his face. Standing in front of the mirror, he noted apathetically how clean and empty his eye socket looked. It was unnatural, yet not the horrific sight he expected. He had been expecting a jagged, bloody hole, like it had felt like when first inflicted. Unohana-sempai had personally come to him and done the best she could, but even her vast experience had not been able to hide the sorrow in her own eyes when she tried and failed to regenerate his lost eye. He had known, immediately after the attack that his eye was unrecoverable, but he had hoped...
Letting out another sigh, Shunsui acknowledged painfully that the old man had always warned him against his soft heart. His ear, luckily had only been physically cut, and nothing with his hearing had been damaged. It would be difficult enough to recalibrate himself to being with only one eye, but near impossible if his hearing went along with it. Shunsui was not surprised when he felt his zanpakutou manifesting itself behind him. She always showed up when he was feeling too depressed or weighed down, if only to kick his ass in person.
The older of his two swords, the only one to ever talk, sneered at him derisively. Stepping forward gracefully, she turned his head to face her and examined his face critically. The younger aspect of his sword stayed quiet, but he could tell she was on the extreme alert, hyped up from the earlier battle.
"You're an idiot," Katen Kyokotsu berated, her one eye flashing in anger, her grip on his face becoming harder to the point of pain.
"Now - " Shunsui began, only to be cut off by his rude zanpakutou.
"You knew this enemy was different," she fumed, letting go of his poor face in favor of pacing in front of him. "You agreed to let us out in shikai, yet you still took the enemy lightly and were caught off guard." Shunsui opened his mouth only to yet again be interrupted.
"You were not 'testing the enemy's power', you were taken off guard because you were arrogant, and you know how we feel about arrogance." He hung his head and nodded, because he truly had not been prepared for the attack that had taken his eye and ear. He should have begun his shikai's ability earlier, yet he hadn't. Katen Kyokatsu gentled a little at his beaten puppy dog look.
"However, you have now truly come to reflect me," she offered. Shunsui's head shot up at that. He was confused for a moment, and then connected that statement to the fact that his right eye was now rendered useless and half of Katen Kyokatsu manifested as a woman with her right eye covered. Then he recalled a conversation he once had with his zanpakutou when he had been frustrated with the lack of change in his power. It had been as if he had reached a plateau, and he could not get beyond his current state. She had reassured him by saying when he reflected her, they would achieve new heights.
He had not understood then what she meant, but now he did. So now that he was at a disadvantage physically, yet matching his zanpakutou, he could learn new things from her especially in her way of fighting. But then he frowned. Katen Kyokatsu consisted of two swords, however, he himself only reflected one, so how was he supposed to compensate for that? Katen Kyokatsu had watched patiently the entire time, recognizing each and every emotion and thought that flitted across his face. She knew he had become stalled at the part where he only reflected the larger of his two swords. However, the other part would be revealed very shortly.
"Here," she told him while tossing an object at him unceremoniously. It was only by luck that Shunsui managed to grab hold of the object, as he still had not become accustomed to the change in depth perception. Opening his fist, he realized Katen Kyokatsu had given him an eyepatch, similar to the one she wore. Putting it on, he couldn't explain why, but he immediately felt less exposed, and not just in the physical sense, either. It was as if this particular eyepatch diminished the disadvantage of not having his right eye. Just then there was a knock on the door.
"Taicho, it's time," Nanao told him from the other side, respecting his privacy as only she could. She had always known when Katen Kyokatsu was manifested, even though he never told her, but she always made sure to turn the other way, since manifestation of zanpakutou were private experiences, although Katen Kyokatsu could care less. Hearing her voice, his zanpakutou smiled widely, which made Shunsui nervous. Nothing good ever came from that smile.
"Always the good little lieutenant isn't she? Your Nanao-chan," Katen Kyokatsu crooned at him in a way that made the hairs on his arm stand up. He knew she was getting to something.
"She's always by your side, coming to your aid even when you don't need it or she isn't up to it. And a fast little thing, too. She was able to minimize the damage to your body from the other injuries before Unohana could get to them. What would you do without her, Shunsui-kun?" He shuddered at that; he could not even begin to imagine what he would do. He remembered what had happened. After the final attacks on him he recalled feeling her reiatsu rush toward him in direct disobedience to his order for her to stay hidden and analyze the battle. She had immediately begun emergency field healing on his wounds and managed to heal a couple of them completely, but she knew better than to touch his eye, leaving that for the experts.
"She will be your other half, your other eye," Katen Kyokatsu decreed imperiously. Shunsui's remaining eye widened at that. He never thought...He had never wanted this for her. For her to be his other half meant she would have to come into battle with him, when he had always bade her to stay on the sidelines. Now, she would always be in danger, his shield in every sense. But to put her in such a position made sense. Nanao-chan knew him best, and she knew how to fight with him without hindering him, but their power levels differed widely... Katen Kyokatsu knew where he had arrived in his thinking process.
"We will train her together," she reminded him, the younger half nodding vigorously, "and she has much power you have let lie latent for too long." Shunsui sighed. He had no choice, and he knew which choice Nanao-chan would make, no hesitation. Yet in a way, having Nanao-chan be his partner in every sense was a relief. He would no longer be alone, and Nanao-chan would be able to fight by his side, like she had always wanted to.
"Come in, Nanao-chan," he told her, his failure to dismiss his zanpakutou being his tacit agreement to the plan.
Ise Nanao opened the door slowly and walked inside. Her eyes widened a bit when she noticed her captain's zanpakutou still manifested in the room, but other than that she gave nothing else away. She might have been a little surprised by the eyepatch, but it made sense for him to wear one since his eye was unrecoverable. She had already spoken to Unohana-taicho about her captain's condition, and their best hope would be to ask Inoue Orihime to try and heal it, if her captain agreed. Shaking herself out of these thoughts, she arrived in front of her captain and allowed herself to look him over thoroughly. When he passed her check, she continued with what she had been saying before.
"It's time, Taichou. The captains are gathered in the assembly room."
"Thank you Nanao-chan, I'll be there shortly." She nodded and made to leave the room. "Nanao-chan," she stopped but didn't turn, "we will have much to talk about when I return." What went unspoken was his plea for her to not go far. She nodded once.
"Hai, Taichou." I'll be right here. Then she walked out to go back to their division's headquarters.
With that, all Shunsui could do was begin his trek to the first division's assembly room, his mind swirling with what he and Katen Kyokatsu had discussed. All this would have to wait, however, until after he had assessed the condition of the remaining captains, and after the old man's funeral.