Many years had passed since Isuka had taken over as head of the house hold for the Noble house Shihoin. After the defection of its previous head, Yoruichi Shihoin and the house's name had disgraced many and equally many have lost faith in its name. Since then Isuka has trained with bound powers and learned the ways of Seireitei to regain Shihoin's name to its previous honourable state. Now with Isuka's final acceptance as head of the house and the coronation hours away she sat dressed to acknowledge her fate and set her plans into motion.
"You look magnificent Isuka." From the door stood Isuka's personal trainer and strategist Kazuma. He had been the one to raise her, having lost nothing and since has seen him as a father figure.
"Thank you Kazuma-sensei." Isuka bowed and Kazuma brought her into a hug.
"You have exceeded most of our training and I am most proud. So today do not worry about making a mess of things. You will be fine and... Your time is running out! You had better hurry." He released her and she opened the door to leave.
"You have been more like a father than any one and I will always think of you that way." Before he could answer she left, she didn't need to be any more embarrassed than already.
As Kazuma had said the coronation went without mishap. Isuka returned to her room and changed out of the deep blue dress and upbraided thick black hair. For a moment she looked in the mirror and recalled the issues she had to overcome to get this far. Her looks had been one of them.
'Such a silly thing' She commented in her head. 'You think they'd have been glad... '
In the house of Shihouin most members of the line had the dark skin. Some others varied but not so much as she had. Other members of the family which had tried to take the title of head had said her birth was not legitimate but she and ended such thoughts.
'How can anyone be legitimate in a place like Soul Society? Have you lost your minds?'
And so, pale skinned and violet eye unlike the amber that graced the Shihouin lines predecessor. She was as far from looking Shihoin as every single outsider.
Isuka followed the dirt path that lead to the dojo style building to train with Kazuma that had been planned for the day. Most of her studies she had overcome and exceeded; Fighting and her dance where the only ones she now continued other than her constant thoughts on Seireitei. The city always changed so much and she always had much to learn. Fighting she had been inapt with since birth… she never felt fighting was worth it until Kazuma explained things that only could be solved with a battle of fists other than with words. Her studies in dance had added to her agility in fighting and when she fought it was like she was still lost in dance.
"Good evening Isuka. It is wonderful to see you." He was always so polite and even more so now that her title was official though she found no need for him to speak with her any differently.
"Shall we begin?" Kazuma nodded and set aside the book he had been reading and placed a rock on it to keep it from bending in the heavy wind that blew across the outdoor platform.
"Today I will fight with no restrictions. You will, as best you can; take me down. Should you feel unable to fight simply tell me to stop." Isuka agreed and a few other students Kazuma trained sat on the side lines to watch. She could hear them cheer her on and felt a pride rise that she felt only when fighting, so very contradictory to her previous thoughts on fighting. The only issue she had was she had no Zanpakuto.
One of the students shouted the fight to begin and Isuka flew across the gravel. Usually never the aggressor she took a new edge into battling with him today. She knew that Kazuma though he didn't look like it was a dangerous opponent. He had learned the finer arts of Kido and only the most high levelled spells he needed use of the incantation to make them deadly.
"Kyakko." Isuka braced herself as Kazuma vanished, she knew where he would go and that was for her weakest point. The only thing to do was to purposely make a weaker point.
Sure enough he came where she wanted, but didn't attack where she thought he would. Instead he slammed her head long into the ground for 30 feet instead of trying to slice her midsection.
"Good. Trying to make an opponent do what you'd like is nice, but enemies that know of you will not fall to that so easily. Be wary of that." This was the worst part of fighting with Kazuma. He always 'teaches' during a fight, but to her it was as if he was mocking her, even though she knew better.
Quickly she picked herself from the ground before he attacked her again. As he said he would not go easy and any enemy would not wait for their opponent to get back up again. Using the only thing she knew she could do better than him was flash-stepping. That was one of few thing Yoruichi had taught her before her defection from Seireitei. Kazuma dug his feet into the earth for better footing and swung down before she was even visible to the eye. His Zanpakuto slammed length ways into her legs and she buckled and lifted off her feet for a moment before landing on her rear.
"Not good enough Isuka." The other student chanted her name as she spit dirt out of her mouth and wiped away more dirt. Below him a circle brimmed white in the dirt, a set of numbers burning above the surface.
"Kakushitsuijaku…" 'He'd been tracking me before I had even attacked…' Being a strategist was good to have in battle so long as it was your ability and not the others.
"Soren Sokatsui." Isuka swore under her breath and the other students on the side lines got up from their seats and stumbled away from the arena. Blue fire swirled around behind Kazuma and grew large. She could already feel Kazuma's Reitsu as it began to slow her movements; the pressure and gravity seemed to pull her down.
Fighting the urge to give in, the fire balls set loose from their tethers blasted down to incinerate her.
From somewhere shouts rang out in shock.
"T-Tozansho." She shouted the name and fire crashed into a pyramid of blue light and the fire sputtered out. But already the next attack was coming.
"Kazuma-sensei. This is too much." Her lungs burned as if she'd took in his attack like air. One arm felt numb so to stop it from moving around too much she tied it to the obi at her waist.
"Reikohu!" Her attack flared and burst with Kazuma's and one of the young men ran to help her up.
"You have a visitor Kazuma sensei… This can wait no?" But both Isuka and Kazuma heard nothing of his words and she sent him out of the ring with a single glance.
Kazuma's voice echoed from everywhere; his last spell still sang in harmony with the wind.
"Hiriyugekizokushintenraiho." Isuka thought he was mad and he was throwing everyone present in danger. She must have pushed him over the edge somehow… but with what she had no idea. Kido was not her forte, but never the less as her fellow students attempted to run from the oncoming blast she formed the only spell she knew that might save them.
As the heat from the attack and the roar of fire deafened her ears and blinded her eyes she threw up her hands and shouted a shielding spell.
"Danku!" She finished the spell and a crystalline box closed in a round his Thunder Cannon. Though her ears were ringing a crack broke through the constant tone and then another crack. She looked up thinking her barrier was failing, but it remained steady, the thunder inside slowly dying away.
Bells chimed distant and weak.
A final shattering sound and the weight of Kazuma's Reitsu lessened and then vanished completely.
"What on earth?" She stood up as tree limbs cracked under an unseen weight and the people who had been watching her lay on the ground unconscious.
"But my spell held true!"
"Isuka!" Kazuma cried out and he crawled across the ground towards her. Had his spell backfired somehow?
"Kazuma!" She couldn't imagine what was happening when a hand landed on her shoulder. Thankfully seeing Kazuma on the floor erased her fighting intentions otherwise she might have swung.
"Forgive me child." She turned as an old man spoke, but already her sight was dimming.
"Kazuma…."
The main house was in a ruckus, feet running this way and that in some uproar. The sounds slowly drew Isuka from her sleep and she slowly stood from the bed. Beneath, her legs trembled and shook uncontrollably and images of everything going up in flames brought her running to the door and she stopped. Kazuma's voice spoke from the other side and down the hall. He was alright.
Her hands gripped the door handle, but she was unable to turn it to open the door. She feared the voice on the other side was one like Kazuma's, but not his. She had seen his face; he had crawled on the floor like a dying man seeking forgiveness. The blood that had traced the soft line of his jaw...
"Young lady, I am sorry to have missed your coronation, but late it seems is better than not at all." Behind her stood General Yamamoto and Captain of the First Squad of Seireitei; He was supposed to have shown for her coronation as her title became official, but he had not been present and Kazuma had not explained why.
"Greetings… I beg forgiveness if I fail in being polite… I am most unwell." He did not smile even after her low bow, but took a seat at a table in the room and motioned for her to join.
"I would think so after that display in your dojo hours ago… seems things of Kazuma's making have come undone." She didn't understand just what he meant, but she knew he would explain. He had been the man she almost attacked before blacking out.
"What happened at the dojo? Is every one alright?" Fear gripped her and she clutched her leg to stop their chattering. She ignored every single thing in her teaching that taught her respect before her elders and even then it rubbed against the grain.
"Something rather interesting; you have been informed that your spiritual powers have been sealed since you found out you were next in line to the Shihouin house, correct?" Isuka nodded. She had been told that and was one of the first memories she had.
"Good, well it seems that Kazuma has been keeping that seal under control until you broke through it earlier this evening. Your Reitsu seems to have bottle itself up instead of dissipating as the seal was supposed to and so after your imaginative battle came to a crushing end, it was unleashed and caused a… rather enormous amount of damage; Your fellow students and Kazuma are well." Isuka let out the sigh she had pent up inside, in case Yamamoto said ill news instead.
"I believe I have you to thank for that?" He nodded and smiled, his wrinkles becoming more evident.
"The only ill news is that the seal cannot be redone." Again she found herself without understanding. "Being that as it is, I have managed a way to deal with such. That ring about your wrist, 'eats' or rather consumes Reitsu. I would have thought it was not needed... except your spirit pressure is rather intense and is not waning in strength just yet. I fear you may have to wear it for a while until you acclimate to your new change." She bowed in thanks and agreed about the suggestion made. "As it is, I find you are a good candidate for head of this house and will expect to see great things from you, but I must be going now. Please expect my apologies at my short appearance."
"It was you that saved my friends and teacher. I have you to thank for that." She bowed once more though to her it would never seem enough.
"It was you that saved your friends. Although on the weaker side, the spell was more than enough to fend off your teachers spell, though his choice in spell use should be thought of before hand if he wishes not to destroy such a lovely home." Isuka laughed and agreed, showing him to the front door and wishing him safe return, Not that he needed it. Something behind her tingled and she swung around blocking with her hands.
"Kazuma-sama." He looked at her stunned and mildly stand-offish.
"You seem well… that is good. I am sorry for having placed you in such danger. Please forgive me." Isuka went to embrace him, but in her hand was something hard and unfamiliar. When she looked down a sword hung between her fingers. All she could do was look at. Her mind did not seem to comprehend the sword resting in her palm.
"It seems I could not avoid this forever… You will have new training from now on. I will be a merciless teacher." Isuka stared at the sword, it was thin and long, the handle was an intricate tangle of twined glass or something else transparent and stuck out horizontally form the hilt.
"This is… my Zanpakuto..." Kazuma remained silent. "Yes… training will be most difficult, and I am saddened that you cannot teach me this." She turned her eyes and looked at him, hiding the love, joy and fear that he brought her all at once. "I have decided I will enter Seireitei and become a Shinigami. I will learn from my mentors there and my fellow comrade as I have done so here till now."
"Impossible." Isuka gave him a strange look." I will teach you."
"That is impossible. You will remain here and carry out my duties in my absence. I will return as head when I have learned what is needed to carry out the duties of my own will. I will bring honour to my house."
"You will not be trained right. You will be belittled because of Yoruichi's failings. This bodes ill news for the Shihoin name, not well."
"Then I will go nameless. Or a fake name I will bare so no such things happen. I will prove my worth and bring my true name to light when the time is right. I will bring our name back into good graces. It is my purpose." Kazuma stood silent and his face saddened. "I will be fine."
"I know. It is just, that you have grown so fast and so well. It saddens me to have you leave, but with such a good cause it is hard to argue against you."
"Then we must be careful. The smallest of things can give you away. This... will allow us to communicate yet remain anonymous to everyone else." Taking her hand his voice lowered.
The spell he wove made the shadows in the room spasm then bend. Like an illusion the shadows moved like water and pooled under her feet then crawled up her legs. After a moment the blackness moved over her arms and resolved onto her skin, tattooed.
"This is Tenteikura… This will allow us to speak where ever we are to each other, silent and obscure to all others." Isuka smiled at Kazuma like a daughter to her father.
"What kind of name do you plan to use?" Already the previous mishap had been washed clear from their minds.
"I'm not sure yet…"
"You will tell me when you find out, right?"
"Of course."
"Then I will let you rest now. It has been a tiring day and we have much to do to allow you to disappear from the Shihoin house." She sighed at the work load ahead and he left the room to allow it. That was when it hit her.
As Kazuma walked down the halls he arched his sore back and felt the ink on his arm swirl and a single word formed after a moment.
"Isuin." Then "Half Isuka, half Shihoin." And before he dropped his arm one more transmission moulded onto his arm.
"Thank you, Otosan."
He replied "With love to my daughter."