Anamnesis
Summary:
"Why can I still not remember anything? How can I do the things I do? Who, no, what am I?"
Timelines and Spoilers:
Getbackers universe: Between the Divine Design and Marine Red Arcs, volume 18. Anything up to there is fair game.
Bleach universe: After the Soul Society Arc but before the Hueco Mundo Arc, during the time in between, volumes 21-26. Anything up to volume 26, plus storyline from the Turn Back The Pendulum Arc, volumes 36 and 37.
A/N:
I've prepared short synopsis' of each manga for those who don't know what they are about. I have left them somewhat vague as to not spoil too much of the story.
Getbackers:
Getbackers is a story about Amano Ginji and Midou Ban, a team of retrievers with a 100% success rate. Their motto is "get back what shouldn't be gone". Ginji has the ability to generate electricity and Ban had a 200kg grip and possesses a power known as the jagan that traps someone in an illusion for a minute.
Bleach:
Bleach is a universe where hollows, evil spirits that where once human, prey on the unknowing human populace. Soul Reapers or shinigami (death gods) are a militant order of spirits who fight hollows and help departed souls pass on so they don't turn into hollows themselves. One needs reiatsu, spiritual pressure or power, to be able to see and interact with the spirit realm.
I have to give a great big glomp to Madawg for the title and solution for this piece. I also have to thank my betas Forenzoku and outcastedrogue for their input and corrections.
Disclaimer:
I do not own any of the copyrighted material in this story. Getbackers and Bleach belong to the gods, ahem, manga-ka who created them.
Anamnesis
by: irthos
Chapter One
"Go, I'll hold them back."
"Are you sure?"
"Just get out of here, damn it!"
As the others left he raced down a different alley to draw off their pursuers. When he turned a corner a flash of movement ahead warned him that he had been flanked. Good, they took the bait, he thought. He stopped to put a wall at his back and waited for them to come to him.
The first wave fell with no problem. The second, armed with knives, attacked as one giving him a little challenge. They too fell. The third got down right nasty and decided to quit playing games, they brought firearms to the knife fight.
"Fucking cowards," he grumbled as he weighed his options. He would have to chance taking them out. He needed to buy more time for Ginji and the others to get the package to the client.
He was able to take down four of the armed men before one of the remaining three got the drop on him.
Shit.
Time seemed to slow. Even if he dodged the goon's bullet, one of the other two would draw a bead on him and then it would be over. His only chance was to use the jagan, but he had already usedit three times. One more time could be fatal, that's what the old woman had told him. She had spun such gruesome and horrifying tales that he had never entertained the thought of even risking using it beyond the allotted three times.
However, his options now were either certain death or 'could be fatal'.
It wasn't really a choice. Any chance of survival was better than none.
He hoped he lived through this.
x-X-x
His muffled shriek died as he fell to his knees.
"Make it stop, make it stop," the mantra unknowingly passed his lips.
He got once more to his feet, stumbling along as the pain in his head slowly increased again. Bringing with it horrible visions.
Each worse than the last.
Each time the pain receded he prayed it would not return.
His pleading went unheeded.
The pain grew with each new rendition of nightmares.
He now knew only pain. He no longer remembered why he was running or to where or for how long, only that he couldn't stop, he had to get away.
The cycle repeated itself. Him falling when the pain got too much, rising when he got a reprieve to continue ever forward.
Another agonizing scream heralded the man falling again. Unlike before, this time he laid motionless on the pavement, barely breathing.
x-X-x
Urahara had gone to visit with Isshin after Yoruichi had contacted him with the news of the man's son's victory and the betrayal of Aizen. He had been astonished when she had told him that their mission was already complete, they had only left that afternoon. She explained that while being chased by the scavenger, Orihime had used her Shun Shun Rikka to shield them from it and had somehow triggered a time-space tunnel that had sent them back about a weeks time. A rather interesting side effect. However, was the cause of the occurrence the scavenger or the girl's power? Sadly it was not something he could readily test. There was no way he could control such an experiment.
Urahara was on his way home after having a few celebratory drinks with Isshin. He had to shake his head, when the man dropped his foolish facade he was a fairly intelligent and humorous conversationalist. Too bad he kept that fact hidden from his children, but he had his reasons. Even if Urahara didn't know what they were...yet. He would eventually ferret out the information.
His musings on what those reasons might be was interrupted by a strong surge of power coming from the general direction of his shop. The power was like nothing he had felt before. It was similar to reiatsu but was heavier, more substantial almost. It's texture was more earthy and it's tone was like the peal of a church bell. Unlike a shinigami's reiatsu that was like the wind and sounded like chimes. Or that of a hollow that felt like a deep ache and sounded like nails raking across a chalkboard.
He used shunpo and went to investigate. Halfway to his shop the power abruptly ceased. He stopped on the roof of the Shoten and cast out his senses to try and find the source of the intriguing phenomenon, but there were no traces. He was joined shortly by his three housemates.
"Were you able to pinpoint it's location?" Tessai asked.
"Unfortunately no, it covered too large of an area," he answered.
"Should we patrol?" Ururu murmured.
Urahara scanned as far as he could and found no unusual activity. "No, the city is quiet tonight. Surprising after that burst of energy, but nothing seems amiss. Let's get to bed."
x-X-x
"Hey, wake up," Jinta poked at the sprawled form with his broom. There was no response.
"Is he dead?" Ururu asked.
"No, he's still breathing," he poked again, "I don't see any blood and I don't smell booze, I wonder what's wrong with him."
"We should get Mr. Tessai, he'll figure it out," Ururu surmised.
"You go. I'll stay and see if he wakes up," Jinta told her.
"But--"
"I'm older so it's my decision! Or do I have to force you?" he swatted her with his broom. She could have easily deflected the blow but didn't.
"I'm going, stop hitting me," she said leaving, as she turned her broom jabbed him in the side.
He grunted at the impact, not certain that the action was a complete accident. People let themselves be fooled by her sweet, innocent demeanor and her big dark eyes. But not him, he knew better. He had been the victim of her devious plots far too often, most of the time taking the blame for her schemes.
Jinta harrumphed and turned back towards the unconscious man, only to jump, finding him no longer unconscious. He was sitting against the alley wall with his knees curled to his chest, his head on his knees, and his arms hugging his legs closer to his body.
When the hell had he moved? Jinta hadn't heard a sound.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked once his heart rate returned to normal.
"Don't know yet," the reply was scratchy and hoarse, barely above a whisper.
Jinta winced in sympathy. The man's voice sounded horrible. He wondered if he was sick, Jinta had heard that sometimes sick people's throats got sore. However, there was no tale-tell coughing or sneezing that was supposed to accompany being ill.
Being strangled could produce that kind of voice. He remembered Ururu's after a tussle with a particularly unpleasant hollow. He also remembered the vivid black and blue coloring that resulted from the attack. Looking at the man's neck he saw no bruises to indicate him having been throttled.
So how could it have gotten so rough? He glanced at the man to find himself under scrutiny of intense cerulean orbs.
He jumped at the sight of the completely blue eyes. The usual white around the iris was nonexistent as was the pupil. Everything was a blue hue.
What the hell!? Jinta almost brandished his broom at him.
The man, or boy really, blinked and his eyes returned to what is should normally look like. The pupil and sclera were their regular black and white. However, that brilliant blue was still present in his iris.
Strange, his angular face and dark, straight hair told of Japanese heritage. But his blue eyes spoke of mixed breeding. Huh, it wasn't like he was one to talk with the coloring he had, as with most of his friends and acquaintances. Didn't that archer have blue eyes, he mused.
Come to think of it, all the people he knew with strange coloring had some sort of spiritual power. Could he too have some, which would explain that weird blue coloring that had covered his eyes. He checked, but the boy was human, there was no reiatsu coming from him at all.
"Where am I?"
Jinta was jolted from his contemplations at the question. "Karakura," he answered as he heard Ururu's voice drifting to him from around the corner, hopefully with Tessai in tow. "I'm Jinta, by the way. What's your name?" He saw the boy start with surprise and then stare at him blankly.
"I don't know," he answered.
x-X-x
Urahara climbed the ladder from the training area to the ground level with a bulging knapsack slung across his back. His supply and information run had been very fruitful this time around. Closing the trapdoor in the storeroom floor he shrugged off the bag and placed it on an empty table to be sorted and cataloged after lunch. He left the storeroom entering the apartment that took up the rear of the shop. He heard Tessai in the kitchen and went to see what he was preparing. Passing the bathroom he heard the shower turn off and the curtain being pulled aside. Thinking it was one of the children, he continued to his goal of the kitchen.
He found the tall, bespeckled man setting a lid on a large, steaming pan on the stove with one hand while pouring hot water from the kettle into a mug with the other.
"What'cha cooking?" he asked impishly.
Settling the kettle back on the range, he replied, "A western recipe of sirloin roast. For dinner."
"It's barely noon, why are you starting it now?"
"It takes about three hours to cook.(1) And I still need time to prepare side dishes," he explained calmly.
Urahara's reply was interrupted when the children came tearing through one door of the kitchen and out the other that led outside. Jinta was, as usual, chasing Ururu. At least this time he was weaponless. Urahara chuckled at their antics.
Wait.
If the children were outside and Tessai cooking, who was taking a shower?
He had just parted ways with Yoruichi after secretly checking on the goings on in Soul Society, so it wouldn't be her. Nor could it be any of his other shop regulars who were at this very moment in the mending wing of squad four. He checked but didn't detect any reiatsu. So, that begged the questions, just who had Tessai let in the house and, more importantly, why?
He turned to investigate and found himself facing said visitor who stood in the doorway. The boy looked about Ichigo's age. Wet dark hair fell to his chin, accenting his pale face and vivid blue eyes. He was as tall as Urahara but his frame was hidden beneath one of Tessai's white button-up shirts which hung on him like a sheet. The rest of the boy was clothed in a pair of black sweats one of their recent constant, usually uninvited, guests had left behind.
Opening his other senses he tried to get a feel of the boy. All humans possessed a miniscule amount of reiatsu in their chain of fate, their tie to their soul. That power was flavored with the person's deeds, whether they be good or bad. However, when he looked he found not even a speck of reiatsu. The kid felt like an empty gigai. Urahara had never come across anything like this before. Very, very interesting. He would have to keep an eye on him.
"Well, hello," he greeted once he finished with his perusal, he noted his visitor had done the same. Taking in his striped hat and cane with a blink.
"Hello," the boy croaked.
"Ouch, sounds painful," he half-joked sympathetically.
The boy nodded, his hair falling in front of his face. Tessai removed the tea bag from the mug and stirred a spoonful of honey into the steaming liquid. When he finished he handed the drink to their guest. "Lemon tea with honey. It will help soothe your throat."
"Thanks," another ground out reply. The boy sipped wincing slightly while looking at Urahara inquisitively.
"Where are my manners? I'm sure the others have already introduced themselves. So now it's my turn. My name is Urahara Kisuke, proprietor of the lovely shop out front. Who might you be?" And why are you here, was left unsaid but clearly understood.
The boy sighed and shrugged making the gaping neck of his borrowed shirt almost slide off his right shoulder. He caught and readjusted the garment, but not before Urahara saw the scar gracing the flesh. He had seen plenty of the like, he even sported a few of his own, the scar of being run through with a sword.
Tessai answered for him, "Jinta and Ururu found him unconscious in the alley behind the building. He woke up with no memories of who he is or how he got there, suffering from a raw throat, sore muscles, and severe headache."
Interesting, he must know, or had known, if he was telling the truth, something about that peculiar reiatsu from the night before.
"Well, we can't have you wandering around with amnesia, now can we? You may stay here until everything gets sorted out."
1. - Found this recipe online with a search for long cooking times. I've never used this recipe not do I ever plan on it. Here's the site I found: .
Sirloin Tip Roast
Baking instructions: Bake at 375 degrees - Start with ¼ inch of water in pan - Keep
covered until fork tender - uncover to brown.
2½ - 3 hours total cooking time
Stove instructions: The above items can be cooked on the stove on medium heat. Start with ¼ inch of water covered for 1 hour. Uncover to cook down the juices in the pan to a dark brown color. Brown meat on all sides. Add 1 chopped onion and ¼ bell pepper and saute. Add 2 inches of water and scrape bottom of pan. Finish cooking. Add 2 tablespoons of cream of mushroom soup to thicken gravy.
This story is already completed and I'll be posting a new chapter every few days or so. I hope you enjoy!!