Notice: Act 0 (this act) is ALMOST COMPLETELY OPTIONAL and NOT THE INTENDED STARTING POINT. If you are impatient for below-average pacing and pure backstory, please SKIP TO ACT 1 CHAPTER 1: SUNNY DAYS. Only read this act if you are interested in the backstory.

PROLOGUE:

PERCEPTION

CHAPTER 1:

THE GUARDIAN

Rukongai West, District 32, June of 1953. Blood fills the air and the screams of whole and hollow alike ring in the ears of the survivors. There were merely three monstrosities at the center of it all, massacring everything in sight. In the dead of night, they struck and killed hundreds. Minutes later, that turned into thousands. Shadows that stalked the innocent, the sheer embodiments evil took everything and left no ashes - nothing. And she stood in the middle of it, unable to do anything.

Chiyo – a pale, impoverished, black-haired child – stared out of the window of her half of a two-floor home while her parents held her tightly. The alarm bells were ringing across the entire district and yet nobody was here to stop it. In the distance, she could see the explosions and dust rising from the destruction, coming closer and closer each second. Bright red beams of light shot out momentarily to light up the night and further demolish everything in their paths.

Suddenly, everything fell silent. For just a moment, there was a peace as if the monsters had given up or finally been slain. Alas, it was short-lived. As she continued to stare out of the window, senses nascent and blinded by fear, the building in front of her suddenly collapsed – a huge shadow struck forward, the sword talons cleaving in twain that which stood in its way. She was pushed aside by her father, who was bifurcated by the sudden attack. Everything remained silent to her ears, ringing in a bout of Tinnitus. The hand of his slayer stuck in her mind as it stared through her soul: a totally featureless porcelain mask atop a mass of bestial darkness. It stared with its uncanny gaze, turning red, a light shone into their home that gathered around its gaze.

Once more, she lost everything. Her mother screamed and covered her, "Chiyo!" When the flash of red filled the room. Everything before her eyes went white and black, the floor beneath her crumbled at a whim and sent her falling into the floor below. The burnt, black, disintegrating cadaver of her apparent mother covered her completely from the blast. She pushed it off hastily while the smell of singed nickel and heaving ashen oak assaulted her, the corpse quickly falling into the air before her while she fled towards one end of the bottom floor where another frightened family of 3 lived. Quickly, their youngest son was dispatched with a mere crash of the beast's claws swiping just next to Chiyo where he came to help her. The wall tore open, a huge gash soon collapsing in on itself. Drenched in the proofs of death, she leaps through the newly made hole without a moment's thought and gets flung into the air by the hand simply raising!

Another beam of light erupts into the ground to her left, demolishing what's left of the building she just came from and blowing a clean hole in another just beyond it. There are no screams. As the clouds of dust erupt from the rubble of the falling home, she flees into the allies of the neighborhood. The night falls silent as the beastly hollow unleashes a deafening roar. She doesn't turn back to see what it looks like, she just keeps running. It thrashes around, sending debris barreling into other buildings; it smashes into them and destroys everything in its path. Crowds of Rukon peasants begin fleeing from their homes down the broad main streets, with many carrying their children or some form of weapon to defend themselves with.

Her run breaks into a sprint as soon as the echoing screams of people being consumed by the screechers flying above resound in the night's air. One hung above her, waiting and watching for a vulnerable moment to strike. She spots it for a brief moment, immediately choosing to dive into another alley and make her way into the larger crowd. The people who recognize her call her name, "Chiyo, look out!" The hollow dives right onto her, pinning her to the ground and screeching at her in preparation to kill. She flinches, looks away; when the people come to her aid with their tools slamming into and raking the hollow until its pitch essence spills all over them and the ground. It falls over, they gang up on it and wail on the thing while Chiyo gets back up and continues to sprint away. She takes one moment to look back, but regrets it as she witnesses them all being torn to pieces by the hand of the blank-faced hollow form before while its massive wings eclipse the moon itself.

So that their sacrifice is not in vain, she chooses not to fight but to continue fleeing as far from the beast as possible. It whispers to her from afar, just as loud as if it were right next to her, "I WILL FIND YOU ONE DAY, NAMELESS GIRL." She tries to ignore it, but finds herself being befittingly haunted by the hollow. She made it away safely after hours into the night of nothing but running and trying to evade what hasn't followed her. Beyond the scope of the hollows, she still saw their destruction continuing. She found herself in a completely foreign part of the district with nobody who recognized her or sympathized. It was on that night that those beasts killed nearly a quarter of the entire population of that district before leaving, before there was even a response to the attack. She resented them for it. Not just the hollows, but the shinigami who failed to help, who never came until it was too late. Yet nothing could help, so she simply lied back and accepted it.

Now a squatter in an abandoned shack with nothing more than a destroyed bed, she avoided contact with others as long as she could have. Each day was then-forth filled with boredom, solitude, and an overall nihilistic atmosphere. If not that harsh, it was at least pessimistic and anti-social. Most of her time was spent either wandering around outside and scavenging food and water, or lying in bed and daydreaming until sleep comes. Over time, she found this to be unsatisfactory and decided to find a new association. One who could teach her how to follow her vow of vengeance with action, and obtain the strength to one day face the beast that had killed everyone she knew and loved.

It took returning to an empty home every night only to starve; no sympathy from those who claimed to pity, living completely alone. It took this to realize her place in this hell of a life. And then it came: a voice. It spoke to her one night and comforted her with sweet nothings, empty promises of things to come, lies of enjoyment, and the word that it was herself. It had no name, and it claimed her soul, that charismatic and empty voice that was her. It was that, her asauchi, that spoke to her and gave her the courage to stand. And so she stood, on lies and false promises of the future. It was blatantly dishonest, for honesty would have killed her. At least, that's what it claims.

It was during a minor assault on a block close to hers that she decided once and for all to choose what destiny she would take. In the close past, she had associated with a hunter who hired her and in return fed her with their catches; and he had given her an old bow to practice with. This was the first thing she grabbed when the screams started. She made her way to the site by way of rooftop until the fiend was in sight: a 2-man-sized monstrosity that looked like an amalgamation of wolf and fish and wore a pale mask with a depraved look to it that could pierce the hearts of the bravest of men. Its hairs and quills stood on end as it murdered a mother and primed to devour her son as well. The now nameless girl stood above it with her puny weapon in hand and little hope to do anything, but she defied that chance and fired at it with a ruthless fervor. Two more, in quick succession that led the beast to be stunned at the surprise attack. As it looked back, another flew into it and pierced its eye. The beast screamed in pain and thrashed around, but she didn't relent. She continued to pelt it with several more, then more after that. The missiles ran out soon, and she was forced to the ground where someone threw her what little they could spare: a mesely scythe. She climbed atop the beast and hacked into it bit by bit with that almost useless tool, but somehow managed to break its mask and lead it to death.

So there she stood before a hollow's corpse, having nothing left to do but turn to the victim. The boy she saved stood there; dumbfounded, terrified, bawling. She approached and embraced him, "It'll be okay." She lied, and they both knew it. They stood there and shared the pain – she held him as he cried and the people around simply stood and watched. Soon, someone came and took him. When they did, she left. The people who saw couldn't help but label her a hero, but she payed it no heed and simply returned to her empty home with nothing but the guilt of having to bear witness to that. There in the middle of the broken-down mess of a building that she merely squatted in lay a sword. It screamed to her as she came in with that familiar, deceitful voice. It spoke once more to her of that lie of hope, one that was clearly just a nice thought wrapped in a convincing charade. It beckoned her to pick it up, so she did. It was a katana with a red handle and a silver ribbon, whose guard was two crescents side-by-side and whose scabbard was of black. It was silent while she held it, yet it breathed down her neck like a stalker in the night. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling, but strangely satisfying. She resolved then and there to continue.

From then on, she kept her conviction on the fragile basis of white lies fed by this opium-ex-machina. For years later, she would spend countless hours hovering over her strange home and watching like a mighty sentinel for her enemies to return so that she may destroy them. Eventually, this earned her the name of Yumiko Nishimura. She hadn't chosen it, it simply came. What began as a quest for vengeance soon transformed into a guardian mission. Once to destroy a foe, now to prevent the misfortunes of others by their hands. And this is where they called her by Koken: Their protector. For years after, she was the one who stalked the night, who preyed upon shadows. She who was the destroyer of destroyers. Not a hero, but a vigilante who took the responsibility of life.

Yet, despite her status and concern, she took strides to not befriend those she protected. Those that spoke tales of her exploits could never refrain from calling her a cold and ruthless hermit. And the blade by her side did nothing to help; it kept her far from others, pointing them out as burdens. It taught her, "You will only lead them to their dooms." Though a lie, it was also a truth hiding in plain sight. Dooms – fates – are all that make up the world: series of events leading to destinies and more events. Of course, it never explicitly stated this and let the remark remain vague and interpretative. Perhaps it wanted her to defy it?

Nevertheless, it led her to solitude, for she followed its every word. Those that followed her didn't realize that they were following her blade. And so, they all met their untimely demise by the hands of its trickery. One by one, they all dropped like flies; not a single apprentice survived: None to follow but her. So now she is alone with her selfish spirit. This is Yumiko Nishimura-koken, and this is her fate.

It was January of 1980 when Yumiko finally decided to change her future and to become more than many of the Rukongai could ever claim to. She was perched atop the roof of a two-story building while on the lookout for a shinigami that was apparently stationed there recently; a rookie who had been assigned just a week ago. Yumiko had been following his every movement since he was assigned without him even noticing. She circled him day and night like a vulture waiting for a lost lizard to die. It ended up that the time spent tracking him was peaceful, with barely any hollow attacks to speak of. However, she worried that his presence was making them more careful about their plans, and that they may just be stockpiling units to make sure that they overpower him. If such a thing were true, there would probably be a large battle about to take place.

So, one day as the sun set and the scout was finishing his duties for the day, Yumiko decided to approach him from the shadows in her bland, hooded tunic. "You're the first in a long time." she tells him.

The man freezes in his tracks just outside a bar, then turns towards the alley she stands in. He seems relieved after noticing her stature, so he underestimates her with an added cheeky smirk, "Wow, to think a kid like you could startle me like that. What the hell are you doing out so late, anyways? You could get hurt, you know."

Despite his obvious, genuine concern; Yumiko takes offense to it as lightly masked patronization. She steps out from the shadows and draws her bow in one smooth motion, "If I were you, I'd watch what you say." she threatens.

The shinigami takes a quick step back immediately upon noticing the arrow pointed squarely between his eyes. He cautiously places a hand on his Zanpakuto's handle and loses his aforementioned cheeky smirk, "And if I were you, I'd put that thing down immediat–" But before he can finish his sentence, she launches the arrow into the ground between his feet, drops the whole weapon, and draws her own blade! The shinigami manages to parry with his own just moments before hers can make contact; the two blades fly to her right with a loud, metallic screech. She holds his sword there, away from both of them.

"You might just survive with reflexes like that." she claims, then flourishing and backstepping into a defensive stance. The two point their blades at each other.

"H-How...?" the man begins with a nervous stutter, "Is that a Zanpakuto? How did you get that, and how the hell can you make a draw like that!?" He seems to have lost his nerve.

"That's right. This thing is mine. The rest doesn't concern you." She informs him. The man begins to respond, but she cuts him off with a quicky couple of jabs that he manages to avoid, but then she transitions into a diagonal cut from below that he blocks! As soon as she realizes what just happened, she whispers, "Kowareta." The blade glows for a brief moment before suddenly shortening to half its original length! The sword slips past the shinigami while he's busy being surprised. She doesn't stab him, but she punches him in the chest with the guard of the sword and maneuvers behind him while he's stunned. She puts him in a choke-hold with the shortened sword pointed at his throat.

"What just...?" He questions, unsure of how she managed to put him in this position. He doesn't attempt to struggle against the hold even though it's not particularly tight, if at all.

"Not good enough. You lived in the closer districts, didn't you?" she begins to interrogate him. Her voice in monotone, but has just the right hint of sharp, spicy resentment.

"What does that have–" He attempts to argue, but she simply tightens the hold and asks more specifically.

"I'll ask you again: Where did you live? Who trained you?" She sounds much more stern; her eyebrows are furled in frustration now.

The shinigami chokes a bit and hastily answers, "North, district 14! It was just the teachers at the academy! Now who the–"

Yumiko punches him in the back of the head, "You don't get to ask questions. Anyways, I'm done." She stays silent for a moment and holds him in that lock despite saying that, but eventually lets him go with a heavy sigh. "You won't last here. Don't engage the hollows, and get out while you can. You'll live longer."

The man is dumfounded, but glad to have not just died. As she walks back to her bow to retrieve it, he decides to speak again, "Hey! I'll have you arrested for this, you here me? Nobody attacks me and gets away with it!"

Just a second after he finishes and starts to rise, she whips around with an arrow drawn again and immediately launches it straight at him! It whizzes past, brushing his throat ever so lightly so that he can feel the wind of death touching him. He stands there, slowly rubbing his neck and trying to think of how to respond. She delivers a threatening one-liner, "I won't miss next time." and proceeds to walk back into the alley she came from.

He's left standing there, a nervous wreck that the small crowd that began gathering can now witness. They all stand there, whispering amongst themselves. He can't stand the thought of those people gossiping about his loss, so he retreats into the bar.

Later that night, the shinigami's Denreishinki detects at least 2 low-level hollows and 1 anomalous hollow closing in on his position. However, he is now completely and utterly hammered to the point where, when his radar went off, he toppled out of his chair and nearly broke his neck. He stumbles around on the ground for a while but evenually manages to wobble into the streets with his weapon drawn and waving it about while yelling, "Come 'n' ge' me ya pansies!" or something to that affect. Well, the two bat-like, man-sized hollows that had invaded were immediately upon him, able to swoop down and knock him over with absolutely no risk. One manages to knock the sword out of his hands, and they both screech at him afterwards.

The people strolling around that evening all panicked and started screaming at the sight of the two; they all tried to run indoors and most of them made it, but the winged beasts flipped targets and dive-bombed two people each! The four are pinned to the ground and about to be devoured with no help from the drunk shinigami. Just in time, as if planned out, Yumiko suddenly leaps from one of the rooftops and plunges her sword straight into the back of one hollow's head! It screams and writhes around, trying to buck her off but can't. She drives the blade deeper and deeper and then rips it out, making a giant fissure across the back of its head!

Just a moment later, the other now enraged bat-like beast charges towards her with an intimidating roar. Yumiko barely flinches, she simply faces it head-on with her sword ready to slam straight into its mask! Right when it comes too close for comfort, she jabs forward with as much force as she can muster to fully penetrate it! The blade goes right through the center and slides in with a horrible scraping sound, but the hollow seems to have been defeated the moment its mask was broken.

The two immediately begin to desintegrate upon death, leaving the four souls to run away and Yumiko and the shinigami safe for the moment. She approaches him, looking rather upset, and kicks him in the gut for added effect. She begins to repeatedly kick him in various places while berrating him, "Useless, idiotic, foolish, fumbling, drunkard buffoon! You almost cost a family their lives, and for what? So you could drink yourself to death and get nearly slaughtered by grunts!? Shame upon you and your whole family! I should..."

The berrating trails off into still silence while the Denreishinki starts to beep incessantly. The shinigami looks up and slowly changes his blissful and half-conscious expression into one of abject horror at what he has laid eyes upon. His eyes go wide, pupils tiny, mouth hung wide open in disbelief, face scrunching up and sweat and tears slowly forming. A presence lingers behind Yumiko – it opens its mouth to speak. As soon as that mouth is agape, the entire world feels like it's weighing down on their shoulders. The air turns to iron and the ground a giant magnet; color leaves the sky and heat leaves the body.

It speaks, with a voice so distorted and deep that any normal person wouldn't be able to understand it, "IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME, NAMELESS GIRL." Yumiko slowy turns around to meet the eyes of this horrifying foe. The first thing she sees is a pure white mask with absolutely no features aside from two perfectly circular eye holes with the perfect proportions to linger in the uncanny valley. It towers as tall as two grown men and has spindly, thorned limbs that encompass everything below it, standing like an ape. Its body though small to the rest of its body is covered in pitch-black fur that makes it seem three times larger, and out of that sprouts six raven-like wings that could eclipse the whole sun.

The beast of a hollow retracts its head via extremely long neck and makes a lightning-quick attack aimed squarely at Yumiko's head that she just barely manages to avoid...however, the shinigami behind her is not so lucky. His head get cleanly erased from existence and replaced by a messy puddle of chopped up gore on the ground to his right. The body topples over while Yumiko slowly rises and dumbfoundedly stares at the cadaver.

"FASTER THAN BEFORE." The beast compliments her, but tries once more just a moment later. He swipes downwards, Yumiko sidesteps his claw-hand and parries a second that comes in a blink later; two more parries and the sword finally gets knocked out of her hand! The beast seems to laugh twistedly and quietly, then knocks her backwards with the blunt end of its hand. She lands flat on her back with her head slamming into the ground, but luckily right next to her sword.

Yumiko coughs up a smattering of blood, then tries to lift herself back up but quickly notices a sharp pain in her stomach: despite being hit by the blunt end of his attack, there's still massive if also shallow cut running right across her waist! It starts to slowly seep blood and soak her tunic while giving her debilitating pains. She manages to lift her head up to see in front of her at least, but meets with the unpleasant sight of the monstrosity simply waiting for her to see it. It then proceeds to shriek like a white thresh and swipe its massive hand into a nearby building, destroying the wall and exposing several people taking cover inside! Yumiko tries to raise her hand in defiance, but is still ultimately unable to move before the huge masses of spiritual pressure toppling over onto her.

The hollow tilts its head towards her as if to ask, "No?" but promptly rejects any notion of mercy as it bicurates at least 6 people in one fell swoop. To Yumiko, it would appear as though a gaping, black smile were stretching over the whole width of its mask in slow motion, as if the people it killed were meaningless deaths meant only to rouse her. It works, as she tries to stand back up in vain, the huge injury still preventing her from standing correctly. As if it weren't painful enough, the hollow then approaches her in a casual manner – but still quick enough to surprise even shunpo practitioners – and smashes its hand into her side again! It sends her flying into the wall of a building with a painful thud and snapping sound. She quickly falls and collapses onto the ground, being unable to move even more than previously. The wound bleeds more and becomes deeper, with another now laid over it and across her whole left side.

Silently again, the beast lingers over her and raises its hand for another attack. Not a finishing blow, but something just weak enough to be considered sadistic. He begins to lightly pound her entire body into the ground punch after punch in a slow, methodical succession. Every time she starts to fade out of consciousness, he wakes her up with another painful bash. Everything weighs her down until even the simple task of raising a finger or speaking becomes nearly impossible. The only thing she can do is stay awake and endure the torture.

But then there's a glimmer of hope. Crowds of peasants from all around angrily gather with any weapon they could possibly find; they mob together and scream at the beast while throwing rocks and trash at it. Though this doesn't quite anger him, it proves as enough of a nuisence that they distract him from his fun. As soon as they have his attention, they charge forward with weapons raised as a seemingly unstoppable tidal wave of sharp sticks...that is then stopped in a single swipe of his hands. Several people are lethally wounded, but this doesn't shake the mob. The militia crash into him weapons-first and deal at least minor wounds to his legs, causing him to take flight and land on top of a nearby house. The mob follows him the best that they can, swarming around Yumiko defensively with all their poles pointed up at him. The hunters in the back all draw their bows and, at the word "Fire", all unleash a volley of arrows on the hollow! He's pelted repeatedly with what to him are merely large needles that prove an average threat at best.

He would close back in on them and destoy the mob easily, but both his sadistic nature and the surprising oncoming of a force of reiatsu even stronger than his stop him cold. Without another word that he knows Yumiko wouldn't remember, he simply leaps back into the sky and sails off into the night, presumably back to Hueco Mundo. It's only several seconds later that a stout, black-haired woman in a modified captain's uniform appears before the mob accompanied by several people in a mix of red and black uniforms. The ones in red uniforms wear long hats that obscure their faces completely.

"It's gone." she calmly tells one red-suited man standing next to her. She whispers a few words to him and then orders him to leave. She approaches the peasants who put their improvised weapons down in fear of what her uniform represents. She doesn't speak to them, but rather to another person standing next to her – this time in a skin-tight black suit – some command that leads the majority of the excess troops to leave while a few stay behind. The remarkably serious-looking captain stares into the crowd for a few long seconds and easily picks out the gap amongst them. She makes a hand signal at the location, causing several of the black-suited individuals to forcefully clear a path through the masses. She waltzes right on through as if it's entirely her business, meeting the sight of a thoroughly beaten down Yumiko who has been somehow holding onto her sword tightly this entire time. She's completely unable to move, but has the strength left to scowl at the captain for no other reason than to express her resentment.

After a few moments of examination, the captain leaves her be, but tells one of the black-suited people on her way out, "I want her name included in the investigation report." They give a short but respectful bow in confirmation, then she takes her leave. The black-suited people leave the crowd and all line up in front of them. One among the group announces, "Starting tonight, all witnesses to the event that just occured will be detained and brought in for questioning! Answer truthfully and promptly! All injured civilians will be treated by 4th Division medics courtesy of the 2nd Division and will also be questioned! Please line up now in an orderly fashion!"

The crowd does as they say, gathering into a messy line and waiting for what will happen next. They all whisper about each other worriedly, and a few stragglers even refuse to leave Yumiko's side until the medics arrive. The rest of night consisted of various other cloaked people cleaning up the mess that the battle made and dozens of medics arriving on-scene only to be disappointed with the lack of injured people and surplus of definitely dead people.

The next morning, Yumiko barely manages to open her eyes in the midst of still being patched up by a meek girl from the 4th Division. She doesn't make much of a budge besides that, mostly out of shock from what happened the night before. She looks around the room a bit, noticing that her sword is thankfully at her bedside. The building around isn't a hospital or barracks of any kind, but rather some beaten-down, repurposed house that her and the other injured are recovering in.

Someone happens to come in just a few moments later, addressing the girl next to Yumiko. "Yes, she's awake now. Go on, then." she answers him.

The man sits down by Yumiko in a noticably uncomfortable wooden chair and pulls out a clipboard and pen. Yumiko's vision is still slightly blurred, but she can make out various horns, aquatic features, and other oddities covering the man as well as his girth. His uniform is mostly white and long unlike a typical shinigami's. His voice is also surprisingly deep when he asks, "So you're feeling much better, now? I expect that much from my little Asane!" he makes a small chuckle, as does the girl who now stands behind him.

"More or le–" Yumiko begins to answer, but suddenly has a violent coughing fit. She recovers after a moment of the apparent Asane looking concerned, "Except that..."

"Hmmm..." the mutant-like man groans "You can call me Gokuro. I'm just here to ask a few questions if you don't mind." He sounds lax, but also quizzical.

"Sure. Maybe I'll have a few, too." she agrees as she leans back onto an extremely thin pillow.

"Ah, good. Question 1: Where were you during last night's attack?" He brings his clipboard close to his face and begins the interrogation.

Yumiko sighs with a slight hint of anger, "Just getting my ass kicked by some freak of a hollow."

"Oh? And how many were there?" he adds.

"Three. Two grunts and one big guy. I killed the two grunts."

"Killed them? With that sword, I suppose." he says to himself, but speaks back up "Anything you can tell me about the big one?"

She simply gives a description, "He was big, black, had razor-sharp claws, long arms and legs, long neck, really simple mask, and a bunch of big wings."

"And how strong do you suppose he was?" Gokuro questions further.

Yumiko gives a tired smirk, "Very. It felt like I was getting crushed just by being near him. Then he was so fast that I could barely keep up. Then he killed like, 20 people in one swipe."

"Oh dear." he remarks.

"Everyone would say that." she claims.

"Oh, no, that was genuine. This raises some very bad alarms. So what of this mask you mentioned?" he clarifies, then asks.

"It wasn't much," Yumiko claims "just kind of shaped like a blank head with two big eye holes where they should be. They didn't look right, like they were too far apart but also too close together."

"Certainly seems simple for a hollow. Right, so how much contact did you have with it?" He continues to jot down the details of what she had said while asking.

"I fought it. It won." She manages to give a lenient chuckle on top of the frankness.

"Well, the injuries were quite severe from what I heard. One more minute and you might've not made it!" He also tries to laugh at his dark joke, but it quickly turns awkward and quiet. Yumiko's smirk also fades. "So what kind of power did it hold?"

Yumiko raises her hand far above her face and starts counting on her fingers as she lists, "Well, it could fly, had long reach, could cut things in two without effort, it was physically strong, and...oh, it was somehow really, really fast. Like, it could teleport and everything!"

Gokuro suddenly stands up from his chair in utter shock and yells, "Teleport!?" Everyone goes silent; he awkwardly sits down and speaks more quietly with the girl nearby: Asane, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Shunpo?" she guesses in her very squeaky voice.

"Precisely!" Gokuro almost yells again as he raises his finger.

"But hollows can't use Shunpo!" Asane argues.

"That's why this is so thrilling! If hollows can use Shunpo or even just teleport, imagine what we have left to learn about them!" Gokuro sounds very excited.

Meanwhile, Yumiko's vision is less blurry, to the point that she can make out the back of Gokuro's uniform: the number "12" in Japanese. Just to make sure she's making that out correctly, she calls out to him, "Hey, where do you work?"

Gokuro stops and turns around, looking skeptical despite answering moments later, "Research and Development, 12th Division." It takes him a moment to recognize the sour look that just befell her; he comments on it, "You don't like the 13 Divisions, do you? A lot of the Rukongai peasants don't."

Yumiko nods, still giving him a new glare. "Continue." she demands, now a little more scornfully than before. Asane seems to be feeling the new tension, as she visibly freezes up.

"Ah, right! I think we're almost done." He sits back down and continues with one of his last important questions, "This one is specifically for you. What is the origin of that Zanpakuto?"

Yumiko flinches and grits her teeth at him on the last word. "Zanpakuto?"

Gokuro sits back for a long explanation, "Yes, that thing is clearly a Zanpakuto. It's very curious for someone who hasn't entered the academy to possess one, much less own it. Most souls have to use an Asauchi, but you seem to actually have a matured Zanpakuto. Has it spoken to you at all?"

Yumiko hesitates to answer, but a minute or two of staring daggers at each other makes her relent at least a little, "I just found it in my home one day. Then I picked it up and started hearing this voice in my head."

Gokuro edges more closely, "And what did it say?"

"'You looked lonely.'"

The two aren't staring into each other's eyes anymore, they're staring into each other's very souls, both with the intent to harm. It goes on for a solid few minutes until Gokuro gives up with a tired, "Heh, you win. I'm not the best at intimidating people, anyways." He prepares to rise from his chair, deciding to end that tangent with a compliment, "You look like the type who has a lot of resolve."

He's about to leave, but stops before he can take one too many steps and turns back around, "Ah, I almost forgot the last question: What is your name?"

Yumiko closes her eyes, breathes deeply, then answers, "Everyone calls me Yumiko Nishimura-koken. My friends know me by a different name."

"Hm?" he interrogates further.

"Nobody still knows that name." she solemnly admits.

Gokuro turns back around and jots the answer down, "I see. Sorry to hear that. Nishimura-koken, eh? The folks around here must respect you with a title like that."

"You could say that. I wouldn't call the trust well-placed, but it gets me free food and a place to stay." Yumiko looks much more lax now, but also a bit down.

"Food? Heh, you would make an excellent shinigami." he claims. "Oh, you know what? How about you go there two days from now and just linger about outside until someone comes for you?" Gokuro suggests.

Yumiko raises an eyebrow, but agrees for lack of a better plan, "Alright, we'll see what happens."

Gokuro smirks, then leaves without another word. Meanwhile, Asane sits back down next to her and hands over a clipboard and pen similar to the one Gokuro was using. "Here, it's just basic patient info." Yumiko takes it and starts to run through it half-heartedly.

"4th Division?" Yumiko asks.

"Correct. We're like...medics. The whole division is dedicated to treating injured people and building hospitals." Asane explains.

Yumiko nods and the silence continues for another minute. After finishing the paper, Asane takes it and prepares to leave by herself, but gives a passing inquiry, "So you're going to try being a shinigami?"

Yumiko looks to the side and closes her eyes halfway, "Maybe. If it'll help me get stronger...so maybe I can beat something like that."

Asane suddenly seems happier, "Great! I'll see you later, then. Yumiko?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, see you later, Yumiko!" Asane waves at her as she leaves, but is stopped just moments before.

Yumiko managed to stop her with simply, "Actually, you can go ahead and call me Chiyo."

Asane looks inquisitively back at Yumiko, who is now giving a faint smile. Asane returns it and jogs down the hallway outside the room.

Yumiko stares up at the ceiling and loses her smile. She reaches up towards the ceiling to see that her vision is now almost back to normal. Given the time she has to rest, she decides to think on the decision, "Become what I hate, huh? Oh well, maybe it won't be absolutely terrible. Yeah, I'll do it."

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