Summary: Goro carves a place for himself in the afterlife.
Note: so my brain won't stop thinking of parallels between Akechi and Gin, which brought me down the P5/Bleach crossovers hellhole to start writing a Gin!Akechi reincarnation AU. However, that one is still a WIP, so have this one instead while I finish the other one.
Warnings: Shinigami!Akechi, Which Means Past Major Character Death, Kinda Feels?, I Think…, Set Years Post P5 And Right After The Seireitei Invasion Arc, What Are Fighting Scenes Even.
Disclaimer: Don't own P5 or Bleach.
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Treacherous. Deceptive. Backstabbing.
Goro stared down at the paperwork on his desk as his emotions whirled inside of him.
Seireitei was restless in the aftermath of the invasion and the defection of three of the Gotei 13's captains- captains of the Ninth, Fifth, and Third.
The Third, which also happened to be Goro's division.
He'd never really considered that he'd have the stamp of betrayal branding him in his afterlife as well, even if it was by proxy rather than personally.
At least the divisions weren't blamed for the actions of their captains; Goro didn't know if he could handle outright hostility from the rest of the community just because of what his former captain did without snapping. Thankfully, he was only a 3rd seat.
(He almost pitied vice-captain Kira who had to shoulder all the division's responsibilities with the absence of a captain.)
Goro raised his hand to his chest to touch the fabric of his clothes at the spot he knew the flower of the division was sewn into the underside.
Marigold. Despair.
Goro closed his eyes as he remembered his captain- former-captain (and what a twist of fate it was, that he'd find himself under the command of another captain in the afterlife, at least, it was a different type of captain) and recalled what made him accept the invitation to the Third division instead of the other divisions that extended the invitation as well.
(He was a supposed prodigy after all, graduated the academy in two years, plenty of divisions wanted to get their hands on him.)
The eerie sense of familiarity he felt when he was in the captain's presence, and the innate 'I understand this person' that struck through him to his core; both made him decide almost immediately where he wanted to go after his graduation.
He snorted. Familiarity and understanding. Such nice concepts when one didn't take into account the possibility that they were linked to betraying people.
He inhaled and regained his previous quiet when he felt a reiatsu signature approach his office (shared with both the 4th and 5th seat officers). He refocused on the paperwork just as the signature reached the door.
"Enter," He called out, not waiting for the Shinigami behind the door to knock, and the Shinigami obeyed immediately, the reiatsu signature and lack of hesitation to Goro's command narrowed down the identity of the Shinigami- the division's 17th seat, "Inaba-kun, what's the matter?"
"Akechi-san!" Inaba bowed, "We received a notification from the Twelfth about a berserk Hollow in the Living World."
Goro rose from his seat to walk towards the filing cabinet to look for the forms he needed for this mission, "I see. 7th seat Yuki-kun and 8th seat Dojima-kun should be done with their training session in the courtyard at the back by now; go inform them of the situation and tell them to prepare and meet me here. Return immediately here once you're done, you'll still be playing courier today."
Inaba bowed again and left the office while Goro returned to his desk with the needed paperwork.
"Doesn't the paperwork ever end in this place?" He sighed.
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Thanks to his previous experience with paperwork when he was alive, he managed to finish the forms in time for Inaba's return from informing both Yuki and Dojima along with the aforementioned officers, and so he sent Inaba off yet again, but this time with the forms to deliver them, and headed to the exit of the building with Yuki and Dojima in tow.
"So, a berserk Hollow?" Yuki murmured, and Goro nodded.
Dojima hummed, "We're always ready to back you up, Akechi-san!"
"Quite," Yuki agreed.
"Thank you, Dojima-kun, Yuki-kun."
After the three made their way to the exit, they quickly Shunpo-ed to the Senkaimon. The gate's guards simply bowed to them and stepped to the side, allowing them to go through the gate.
Walking into the gate with his own Hell Butterfly fluttering about him and guiding him though, he pursed his lips in concentration, and prepared himself for battle.
Hollows never went down without a fight, let alone berserk ones.
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The gate took them to Tokyo, and Goro had to bite down on his dissatisfaction and unease just like he did every time he ended up in Tokyo for assignments; while it had been years since he died and found himself in the afterlife, it hadn't been long enough for him to comfortably return without seeing memories of the life he'd long left behind, and the people he'd long left behind.
(The Akechi Goro he'd long left behind.)
(He kept expecting someone with enough reiatsu to see him and recognize him. So far, it hadn't happened, but he knew with his luck, the first person to see him would be the last person he'd want to see him.)
The Hollow's location wasn't too far off, so the three quickly made their way over to it.
Crowded, was Goro's first thought, distaste coloring it; crowds made their job more difficult, but then again it was Tokyo, crowds were a given.
Loud, was his second thought when the Hollow started wailing.
Familiar, was his third thought when he landed on top of a lamp post in front of the Hollow.
(Which wasn't surprising; he already had a theory about origins of the berserk Hollows…)
The Hollow was perched on top of the wall surrounding Okumura Foods' HQ, close enough to the entrance leading to the company's building proper.
The same entrance a familiar head of fluffy auburn hair was exiting; the same entrance a familiar young woman with short, dark brown hair and red eyes was waiting at.
Goro's hand found its way to his zanpakuto's handle, "Yuki! Dojima!"
"Right away!" The two chorused as they Shunpo-ed over to the Hollow with their swords drawn.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The Hollow wailed again, and Goro saw Okumura Haru stiffen as she exited the building, and stare off into space with a vacant expression on her face, Niijima walked over to her with a concerned expression on her face.
"RUUUUUUUUUU! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Yuki and Dojima slashed at its side, pulling its attention towards them. The Hollow shifted its head towards them, its bone mask covering its face in a sphere with mere slits for eyes going along the sides.
Goro could make a good guess about the identity of this particular soul.
Dojima Shunpo-ed again and landed on the Hollow's head, thrusting her sword down into the mask, but it sparked off of it without damaging it; Dojima, unsurprised, Shunpo-ed away as the Hollow raised an arm to retaliate.
Goro took his chance while the Hollow was distracted and Shunpo-ed over to slice through the limb, which fell to the ground. Goro allowed himself to drop to the ground as well, just in time for the Hollow to bring its other arm around to slice through the air where Goro had been mere moments before.
He landed a couple of meters away from Okumura and Niijima, right in front of them. Niijima was staring warily in his direction, stance protective in front of Okumura, who was silently crying, still staring ahead.
Above them, the Hollow wailed again, "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
Okumura let out a sob, and Niijima turned her attention towards her to check on her, "Haru? What's the matter?"
"Mako-chan." Okumura sobbed, "I just… I… I don't know but I could have sworn I heard my father call to me."
Goro didn't stay around to hear the rest of the conversation, as he Shunpo-ed to stand next to Dojima, who had taken the opportunity of the Hollow's distraction with its lost limb to use Bakudou to bind the Hollow in place. A few meters away, Goro could see Yuki was doing the same thing.
It was Goro's turn.
Flashing forward, Goro climbed the Hollow's body to jump on its head, bringing his zanpakuto up as he called out, "Tear to shreds, Ren no Tsume!" His zanpakuto flashed bloody red tinged with white and black as it changed into its shikai form; Goro slashed down, the petal-like serrated blade of his zanpakuto catching on the mask and slashing through it in a line. Goro jumped away from the Hollow as a portion of its mask began to crack along the line made by Ren no Tsume, and disintegrate, revealing a part of Okumura Kunikazu's face.
He landed in front of Okumura and Niijima again, and Yuki and Dojima dropped to stand next to him.
The Hollow wailed again, "RUUUUUUUUUU! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! RUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
Down below, Okumura was doubled over as she continued to sob, with Niijima hovering over her worriedly.
And then the Gates appeared.
Goro stood frozen in place as the Gates of Hell opened, and the being behind it reached forward with its sword to pierce through the Hollow and drag it into hell before the gates closed and crumbled into nothingness.
"Akechi-san," Yuki murmured and placed a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his daze.
"Ah, excuse me." He resealed his zanpakuto and sheathed it, "I was simply distracted."
"Seeing the Gates is disturbing." Dojima smiled kindly at him, "Take heart, Akechi-san, you're simply doing your duties, and whatever sins this soul committed while alive aren't your fault."
Goro nodded, "I understand, Dojima-kun. For now, we should head back, we're done with our job here."
"I'll open the Senkaimon," Yuki said and turned around, walking a couple of paces away and using her still unsheathed sword to open the gate.
Dojimo patted Goro on the shoulder before heading over to Yuki.
Goro turned his attention on Okumura and Niijima before it was pulled away by the Hell Butterfly that landed on his shoulder.
He shook his head and turned away from the two girls, walking to the Senkaimon; this wasn't his world anymore.
The gate's doors closed behind him as he walked through them, and he shifted his focus to what he had next on his schedule.
He was Akechi Goro, 3rd seat Shinigami of the Third division and he had a report to make.
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End
Yes, I shamelessly named Akechi's zanpakutou Ren no Tsume.