I know I should be working on the seventeenth chapter of MhM (well, I am working on it, but I haven't finished it at the time of writing), but I couldn't get this out of my head. Which, strangely, was how Masks Hiding Masks got started in the first place. Hmm... well, this is part of the Masksverse, which you might want to read to understand this.
When Ryuu opened her eyes, time had stopped. The horrifying monster that had been her captain when he'd walked through the doors of the meeting hall loomed above her, red light frozen around his armored fist in preparation for the reduction of her soul to ash. Pillars of bone protruded from his back and shoulders, turning the once-proud man's posture into a stooped, primal stance that twisted the bare bones of his feet grotesquely.
And even though the world had become still and hushed, the vast ocean of predatory reiatsu—reiatsu that she didn't want to think belonged to a Hollow—that made her stomach contents churn and turn to ice water was still there, making her breath hitch in her throat and washing her pain away with adrenaline.
The sixth seat of the Ninth Division had never been so scared in her life, and never so unable to hide her fear.
Interposed between Ryuu and the beast about to make Shinigami flambé of her stood a tall figure, at least six feet and impressively broad-shouldered. It looked as if someone had sculpted him—she was sure it was a him—out of steel, such was the texture and color of the kimono he wore, save for the copper-and-bronze-striped obi at his waist. Heat radiated off the man, making the over-long hem and sleeves flutter. A wakizashi with a sheath and hilt-wrapping of muted gold was bound at his back, twitching slightly with each breath he took.
The only still parts of the figure were the steel-colored hood he wore, and the golden mask beneath it, the slightest suggestion of stern human features etched into the soft metal. Ryuu had never been sure how the hood stayed up or how it perfectly concealed everything but the mask and the gleam of more metal of an uncertain color on the man's neck.
Heart of the Stars was imposing at the best of times and then the sixth seat always had to fight the quivering fear that arose within her. The overwhelming terror of facing the bloodthirsty monster that had been caged within the Ninth Division's captain was all that kept her from feeling that now.
"Whelp." Even as she was on the brink of losing—not dying, her mind refused to think that Captain Muguruma could kill her—the Zanpakuto spirit held the same curt, borderline rude tone he used the rest of the time.
A shaky, hysterical laugh bubbled out of Ryuu's throat. "What're y'doin' here, old man? Get outta the way! I'm gonna die but by Soul Society I'm gonna die fightin'!"
"You cannot hope to bargain with me, brat." There it was again, his refusal to call her by her name. Only once had Heart of the Stars used her name, but only then, and even though it infuriated the sixth seat he still would not dignify her with a name, neither the preferred Matsushima Ryuu nor the hated given name Shibata Kasumi. "You deny yourself and deny your heart with all its weaknesses and strengths. You will die, and those people who depend on you will die for your failure. I look at you and see nothing more than an overconfident child playing at being a Shinigami. No, I do not see even that. I see nothing."
A growl rose out of Ryuu. "Yeah, I'll die, but I won't die listenin' to some bullheaded, rude freak that ain't even brave enough to show himself t'me! Y'claim to be my Zanpakuto spirit, but all y'ever do is criticize and doubt me! Aren't ya happy that I threw off the Eleventh? Ya asked me to find the resolve to fight for something instead of fightin' for the sake of fightin' and I did!" She tried to stomp her foot, but found herself frozen with the world, unable to move an inch.
Heart of the Stars took a heavy step towards her, clothes whispering like fabric despite their metallic appearance. "You are as bullheaded as you accuse me of being, you foolish pup. Do you not realize that I reflect you as a blade reflects its wielder's resolve? I criticize and doubt you because you criticize and doubt yourself. You think you are never strong enough, and so you are not, and I tell you so. You think you are unworthy of being trusted as the man-monster trusts you, and so I mistrust you. You fear opening your heart to others because you believe you must earn it before they will open their own, and so my heart is closed to your petty whims."
"Whelp, you refuse to honor your ancestry with the use of your true name and so I refuse to honor you with a name at all. There is no resolve in you any longer, only the desperate longings of an insecure brat to be respected by clinging to a reckless, belligerent personality in the hopes that others will like it better than yourself. How can you fight for something when you are consumed by fighting the truth of your being?" He asked coldly. "I lend you my power in the hopes that you will stop denying your heart and instead deny the injustices of the world the chance to continue to wreck it. So tell me, now that you have no need for your pretenses, will you listen? Will you find that inner fire that awoke me? What is it you hope to fight for?"
Ryuu stared at him, expression open and wounded. "You..." Her head dipped, the only part of her able to move. "Yes. I'll listen now. I...I want to fight for the Ninth, for its ideals. I can't refuse to give it my all or innocent people'll be hurt by this thing. If I don't it'll be dishonorable, and I, I have to try to preserve Captain Muguruma's honor." A choked sob escaped her. She couldn't kill him, couldn't destroy the man who'd been everything to her these past months. It was selfish, but living without her captain would hardly be a life at all. Yet it was what he would've wanted. "And even though it hurts I have to do what's right and fight the demon that's got him."
The resonant tones that came from behind the gleaming mask sounded almost pleased. "I feel your determination, child. It is satisfactory. But you cannot hope to win as you are. From where does your resolve truly come? You have acknowledged the code that you buried within yourself when you thought you had found your place. Now acknowledge your heart and all that is in it."
The grey-haired girl gulped as her mind raced, frantically trying to find the right answer. It was there, everything, just so hard to put into words, so hard to let the words that sounded so vulnerable slip from the tight lips that protected and isolated her. "...I want to fight for them. I want to fight for the people who'll get hurt if I fail. No, that-that isn't quite right. I want to fight for Captain Muguruma. He's...he's been so good to me. I want to get stronger and protect what he loves, everything he can't protect. I'd die for him, and I know it sounds stupid, but I really would. I have to protect him from the monster in him and I have to protect myself, 'cause he wouldn't want me to get hurt because of him. He loves the Ninth so much, and I can't just let it, or him, fall like this."
"Yes. Yes, I hear nothing false in your words." There was definite happiness in Heart of the Stars's voice this time. Never had Kasumi heard him happy.
When she had first heard his voice, it had come from everywhere, and there had been neither masculine nor feminine qualities to it. Not that she had been paying attention to such things. The first time Ryuu had entered her soul world, it had been little more than tremendous light and heat. Only the small ring where she had stood was safe.
And the first thing her Zanpakuto had said was, "I will not permit any darkness to taint this place of light. Give up your lies, shitty brat."
That day, Heart of the Stars had forced her out of her soul world, and it had taken several tries before she could remain there for longer than a few seconds. But eventually the then-eighth seat had slowly ceased to cling to everything the Eleventh was, and so the world had become less blindingly harsh. It had been a painfully freeing process, but no less painful than trying to force herself to be one of them had become. And the wall of fire had retreated, suggestions of blank white pillars replacing it.
Finally Ryuu had stood there and watched a figure etched from flame-kissed metal step from the last fire and approach her. He had walked towards her, and as he had the world had blossomed into life, blank pillars and floor turning to alabaster inscribed in star-blue with spirals, poems, stars and moons and suns. It had become a pavilion with blue fire dancing across the dome above and the top of a mountain outside, a Zen garden and a plum tree in full bloom outside, all of it blessed with the touch of a summer sun but chilled by the refreshing chill of the sky.
Heart of the Stars had moved like a samurai, stately yet strong, dignified yet fierce. He had stood right in front of her, and at an unspoken command the grey-haired girl had knelt in a iaijutsu pose and extended her hands to him, palms up.
The Zanpakuto spirit had drawn the short sword at his back and placed it in her hands firmly yet gently. She had felt the smile beneath the mask, and then suddenly he had been kneeling behind her, or perhaps beside her. And then the warrior had whispered his name into his charge's ear with the sort of intimacy that only lovers or those bound together by their souls could manage.
"When I came to you as myself for the first time, I told you who I was," Heart of the Stars said. "I allow no barrier to stand in the way of the truth. All lies must be burned away to grow and become strong. All fire must have fuel to burn, and it is your passion for fighting for your ideals that fuels me. Only truth and resolve can make us strong. At the heart of the stars, nothing but pure fire remains. The stars that shine down are unchanging and cannot hide themselves. They burn as themselves until their death and gift us with their true light so we may see when the moon hides itself behind the night."
The Zanpakuto spirit walked towards her, his massive frame dwarfing the Shinigami before him. "But just as your desire to fight for a righteous cause is only one facet of who you are, so is what I show you now. I am also your need to protect others. I am the inferno that burns too hot for anything outside to conquer it, the wildfire that shelters new growth beneath but cannot burn for too long or risk throwing away precious life. I am the holy knight who does not fight for personal truths, but for his celestial kingdom and the heavenly king that rules it. You have seen the fans I have given you to stoke the fire of your resolve, to press unrelenting attacks upon the enemies who threaten justice without allowing you to guard anything that you hold dear."
"Now I must give you the armor that guards the life of the protector. To keep those you treasure safe, you must keep yourself safe, that you may fight for them. This was my challenge for you."
A thin line of blue fire crackled into existence, splitting Kokoro no Hoshi in half. For a moment, the hooded kimono and mask trembled upon his person, before shuddering and falling away into nonexistence.
A gasp escaped Ryuu's lips as she saw the fully realized avatar of her soul. It was indeed a man that stood in front of her, his black hair pulled back into a long ponytail that fluttered in the heat waves that poured off of him. Eyes as blue as her fire regarded her from a sun-brushed face that she was surprised to realize was actually quite handsome. Most impressive was the full plate armor her Zanpakuto stood in, gold and silver that gleamed so bright it nearly hurt. The metal that she had occasionally seen glinting within his long sleeves had been the shining gauntlets Heart of the Stars now wore, a wide blade on the back of each hand, extending past his fingers. Fire raced and leaped over the armor and blades.
This wasn't a form designed to embrace those close to her. It was designed to make sure she and they would survive and be able to embrace another day.
"You have endured the trial I set for you. Call my truest name, Kasumi." A tight, fierce grin gripped his face, the one all men wore when they walked through fire, and then he was gone, the world abruptly snapping back into motion.
Shibata Kasumi leaped away from the Cero, body and brain screaming at her as she performed an action that was at once painful and against her nature. The grey-haired Shinigami lay her right fan over her left, and roared with a voice made raw long ago from screaming,
"Bankai! Paladin of Untamed Fire!"