REIATSU XENOMECHA
Funny enough, this idea sprang up while I was watching Gravion, Gravion Zwei, and Sousei no Aquarion. Also, listening to their respective theme and insert songs helped since whenever they play, I'd imagine Bleach characters piloting giant robots battling aliens. :P
The songs that inspired me to do this:
Nageki no Rosario (Gravion op)
Kurenai no Kiba (Gravion Zwei op)
Nageki no Rosario orchestra version (Gravion/Zwei insert)
Gasshin God Gravion (Combination song)
Ennou Gasshin Soul Gravion (Zwei combo song)
Sousei no Aquarion (Japanese op)
Genesis of Aquarion (English insert)
Sousei no Aquarion (Shiina Tactix version)
Last Impression (Gundam Wing, original and orchestra)
White Reflection (Gundam Wing)
Yeah, it's quite obvious how nutty I was about those two robot animes judging by this list.
~~oOo~~
EPISODE 1: JOURNEY TO THE CASTLE OF THE TITANS
It has been six months since the devastating Winter War…
Six months since a rogue Soul Reaper named Sousuke Aizen, along with two others named Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tousen, with their army of Arrancars (Hollows who gained Soul Reaper powers),waged war with the Thirteen Court Guard Squads of the Soul Society for the souls of the citizens of the highly spiritually concentrated Karakura Town who had been purposely chosen and condemned to be the materials to create the King's Key—a legendary item that is said to open the way to the Spirit King's dimension.
I heard that Aizen's reason for starting such a conflict was to overthrow the Spirit King and become a god or something like that. I admit, the kid's a real genius for the way he planned it all out since the very beginning, and I don't just give away such high compliments to just anybody.
Still, despite all that elaborate planning, Aizen eventually succumbed in the hands of one ryoka boy named Ichigo Kurosaki, a 'Substitute Soul Reaper'.
Ichigo Kurosaki…what can I say about him? Well, if Aizen had the ingenuity, this tangerine-head kid had the spunk. A bit hot-headed on occasions, this from my point of view makes him look rather cute. Oh-ho! Don't be getting any ideas now. I'm not interested in younger guys.
I don't really have the details of how this kid managed to defeat the so-called almighty Aizen, but I heard from my secret sources that he was so charged the reiatsu or spiritual power, that he was practically a walking geyser of power. And anyone who had been near or had contact with him for a long period of time had started to awaken their own spiritual potentials because of him. The most obvious living proofs of the phenomena were none other that two of Ichigo's closest friends: Yasutora Sado, a.k.a Chad; and Orihime Inoue who actually managed to unlock their own powers. I guess that could be a major factor. Not to mention he had gone through Kisuke Urahara's torturous training methods. Still, I can't believe Kurosaki actually survived that kind of training.
Although all that hard work paid off in the end, it didn't come without a price. My sources told me Kurosaki lost all his powers after a large scale attack powerful to send Aizen onto his knees. Unfortunately though, the megalomaniac was still breathing even after a direct hit. Fortunately though, Urahara cast a very powerful custom sealing kido to put him away. By that, I meant sent him away. He probably kept in the deepest dungeon in Soul Soceity for all I know.
Now that I'm done reminiscing, I guess it's time I tell you about myself.
My name is Shion Tenguji. My age is nobody's business. I stand at five feet and ten inches with long golden brown hair that I usually wear in a tight bun. My eyes are a watery shade of blue, and a fair skin complexion. I usually dress in a professional manner though not afraid to loosen up every once in a while. I live in a huge Western medieval style castle in hidden in a forest far away from society, with the nearest town being at least fifteen miles away.
Based by that last part, you all have already guessed that I'm very rich or utterly loaded as you young people would say. Well, I don't mean to brag, but if you've been in business as long as I have with a wise attitude with money, you'd be just as loaded as I am.
Crreeeaaakk…
I stopped my musings as I heard the door slowly open. From the door I saw a good friend of mine enter. I put down the half empty cup of red tea on the table next to me.
"Welcome back, Misato," I greeted. "How have you been doing?"
My friend, Misato, adjusted her glasses before replying.
"I'm fine, thank you for asking," she said. "I've been keeping watch over the potential candidates just as you asked me to. I've also managed to sneak around and gather information on the other two as well."
She handed me two folders. I picked one up and began examining the information inside.
The two of us were silent for a few seconds before Misato spoke again.
"By the way, have you begun making the necessary adjustments on the…you-know-whats?"
She sounded pretty cautious at the last word, but I didn't mind. I raised my head to look at her.
"Yes," I said, "The castle staff are even working on them now even as we speak. They should be done in a day or two. However, we're still not sure how they will take to those yet, but when the need arrives, we might have to make further adjustments here and there."
"Should I continue to watch over them?" Misato asked.
"Please do." I closed the folder and began to think. "With the necessary preparations nearing completion, all that's needed now is them."
Misato nodded in understanding. "I get it. Leave it to me."
I smiled and thanked her. After that, she turned and left. I gathered the folders and was just about to leave myself when I heard footsteps heading my way. I looked to the door to see a cute little face with squinty eyes peeking at me.
"Momma?" said a little voice. At the sound of it, my smile became motherly. I went over to the child and knelt down so I was on eye-level with him.
"Yes? Do you need something?" I asked as I patted his small silver haired head.
"I heard ya talkin' wit Ms. Ochi," he replied. "Are there really new people comin' over ta live wit us?"
I frowned slightly at my son's news of listening to the conversation Misato and I had moments ago. "Now, honey, you know it's not polite to eavesdrop on other people's conversations," I chided him. My son's face fell a little.
"Sorry," he said in apology, but then brightened quickly. "But it's true ain't it?"
I looked at him and my smile returned. He was being cute in order for me to curb my upsetting, and frankly, I just couldn't resist. Who could stay made at a cute face?
My son smiled. "I hope at least one a' them becomes my friend. Ev'ryone else here's jus' too busy."
I let out a sad "aww" at that last statement and wrapped my arms around him. I hate to admit it, but he was right. And since I was busy as well and there weren't other children in the castle, there wasn't anyone for him to play or spend time with when he wasn't being homeschooled or in training.
"If everything goes well, then yes, there'll be new people living with us." I told him, rubbing his back as I did. "For now, let's put our trust on Ms. Ochi."
He nodded and I let him go before he went running off. I stood up as I watched him disappear upon making a turn in the hallway. Then I went back to the table and began to peruse through the folders containing the information of two individuals named Orihime Inoue and Ichigo Kurosaki.
This is where I now leave the story to narrate itself as it isn't really about me, but rather about the youngsters who are about to get involved in yet another war—a war that might prove to be more intense than the Winter War ever was. I pray the in the end, whether we win or lose, that they would be able to forgive me for having to push another huge responsibility upon their young shoulders.
~~oOo~~
Ichigo Kurosaki stared out the window as the teacher droned on and on with the lesson, bored out of his mind. Six months after the war, he was finally back to normalcy. Having lost his Soul Reaper powers, he could no longer see, hear, or even sense spirits, Hollows, or Soul Reapers. Nowadays, the job of hunting down Hollows was left to Uryu, Ichigo's classmate, friend, and Karakura Town's active resident Quincy. Ichigo's other friends also resumed normal lives, most of which were now planning to get summer jobs when school was over. With nothing else to think of, the ex-Soul Reaper decided to jump in and find a job to save for college which was only about one year and six months away.
Another upside of his now normal life was that he managed to pull his grades up. Of course he had to work extra hard due to his many missed classes during the massive fiasco about Orihime's kidnapping and the Winter War.
Everything in his life, well for the most part since there were his sisters (particularly Karin) who could still somehow detect the presences of ghosts and his dad who's really a Soul Reaper himself, was finally normal as it supposed to be.
So…Why wasn't he content? Or happy for that matter?
"Ichigo Kurosaki!" Ms. Ochi's voice range as she threw a piece of writing chalk at the strawberry-haired teenager, hitting him on his temple and snapping him from his musing.
"Honestly, Kurosaki; if it weren't for the fact that you really are serious about keeping up your grades, I would have hit you with something bigger," said Ms. Ochi, scolding him. The class turned its attention to Ichigo as the spectacled teacher spoke. "You can daydream in your own time, but right now, all eyes and ears are on me."
"Sorry," Ichigo muttered in apology.
All of Ichigo's friends looked at him with concern in their faces. Since the war ended, Ichigo seemed to have fallen into depression and still hasn't managed to get over his stupor even though he had gotten his normal life seemingly on track.
"Ichigo," Orihime mumbled sadly. Uryu quietly adjusted his glasses as he looked in his direction. Chad and the others just looked on with equally said looks on their faces.
Ms. Ochi gave a sigh. "Alright. Moving on…For homework, read pages 140-145 and write a three page essay about the topic. You are to turn in your work the day after tomorrow. Other than that, I have an announcement."
The whole class stared at her in curiosity.
"Next week, on Monday, we'll have a class field trip in the home of one of the wealthiest people in Japan," she said.
The class nearly bugged out. Someone of such a high standing in life was actually generous enough to invite high school students over to their own home. Was Ms. Ochi serious?
"Before you all start asking, yes, I'm dead serious," said Ms. Ochi as if reading their thoughts. "I'll give out the time and place of meeting tomorrow."
As if on cue, the bell rang for dismissal. The sound of books closing, chairs moving, and feet shuffling permeated in the air as students stepped out of the classroom in droves. Ichigo and his friends were the last to leave. Ms. Ochi watched them as they disappeared out the door. When they were finally gone, she then went to stare out the window to the orange twilight sky.
"Hopefully, this will all work out as planned," the teacher muttered to herself.
~~oOo~~
"I can't believe we get to go to the home of one of Japan's wealthiest," said Orihime as she walked alongside her friends. "Don't you have to be just as rich or have special connections to be allowed to come over?"
"Who knows," said Tatsuki, a girl with wild unkempt hair walking next to the former. "Maybe it's the latter or maybe they owe Ms. Ochi a favor."
"Still, isn't kind of intriguing? I mean, it's like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said a short dark haired boy named Mizuiro. "Hey, does anyone have a clue on who we'll be visiting?" Everyone else in the group muttered "no" or shook their heads.
"Ms. Ochi did say she'll give us the details tomorrow. So we'll just have to wait 'til then," piped Uryu.
"I'm kind of excited! You think they'll give us advice on how to make millions?" another boy with shaggy brown hair said happily.
"I wouldn't count on that. It'll probably more like advice on deciding and managing a future career," Tatsuki replied.
"Yeah, if you're really serious on making millions, who better to ask for advice than an expert, right Mr. Asano?" said Mizuiro.
While everyone else was busy chatting about the impending field trip, Ichigo remained silent. A worried Chad quickly took notice.
"Ichigo," the tall half Mexican said in his deep tenor voice.
"Hm?" the aforementioned person grunted in response.
"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked. "Sorry, I know we've been asking this quite a lot. But we're getting really worried about you. You haven't been yourself lately." That was the most Chad had said in a while.
Ichigo gave him a reassuring smile, though the emotion behind it was more like uncertainty. "Yeah, I'm okay," he said, then fell silent once more.
"Ichigo," Uryu's stern voice suddenly called. The former Soul Reaper stopped walking just as his friends stopped then all turned around to face him.
"Wh-What?" he asked, confused.
"Ichigo…" Orihime began speaking in a soft caring voice. "We're friends, aren't we?" The question made him balk, now ever more confused.
"Of course we are," he said, "Why do you ask?" The orange-haired girl just gave a sad downcast look.
"You moron!" cried Tatsuki. "Isn't it obvious? Ever since the whole thing six months ago, you've been acting pretty distant and depressed. We keep asking if you're okay, but it's the same answer every time! You say you're okay, but your facial expression tells us otherwise." She took a deep breath, calming herself down. She, Keigo, and Mizuiro already knew about the outcome of the Winter War after demanding (most on Tatsuki's part) an explanation.
"The thing is, Ichigo, what we're saying is that we're your friends. So if you suddenly don't feel okay or have any problems, all you have to do is come forward and talk to any one of us," she said, her voice becoming gentle.
"She's right, you know," said Mizuiro in agreement. "It's not good to keep it all inside."
"Yeah, man. We worry about you too," said Keigo, for once not being his nearly unbearable self.
Ichigo gazed at all of them with a meaningfully guilty look on his face. "Guys…"
His lips curled into a small smile. "Thanks…I feel a little bit better now. Sorry I made you all worry. I just…I just have a lot on my mind lately."
His friends gave their own small smiles.
"Glad to hear it," said Tatsuki. "Just from now on, when something's bothering you, come see us first."
"Yeah," said Ichigo, and they resumed walking home together. A little while later, they went their separate ways.
~~oOo~~
"I'm home!" Ichigo announced his presence as soon as he came through the door of his house.
"IIIICCHIIIGOOO!" The loud voice of his father rang soon after that and came at him with a furious flying kick, which he sidestepped without much of a word and causing the older man to fly out the open door and crash on the steps. "You're late!" he said, as he quickly and miraculously bounced back from the humiliating defeat. The teen simply ignored him, clearly used to his antics since he had been doing it since he was young in order to "toughen up and build character" as he put it.
"Welcome back, Ichigo," his younger sister, Yuzu, greeted him from the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready soon."
"Ok," answered Ichigo, going up the stairs to his room without another word.
From her spot in the kitchen, Yuzu sadly watched her older brother disappear to the second floor of the house. His voice still carried a sad or forcibly happy tone within. She wished there was something she could do to make him happy again. However, for now, making his favorite dish was the only thing she could think of. She turned back to the pot, stirring the contents carefully.
She wasn't the only one who noticed his behavior. Karin, Ichigo's other younger sister, saw the whole thing from the living room and became just as upset as Yuzu. She, like everyone else who knew about her brother being a Soul Reaper, also knew that he lost his powers fighting some evil, megalomaniac. And like her sister, she wanted to find a way to make him feel better.
Up in his room, the former Substitute Soul Reaper set his schoolbag down on his bedroom desk lazily and laid down his bed without bothering to change out of his school uniform. He gave a tired sigh and laid his eyes on his closet, which now seemed empty now that there was no freeloading midget occupying it. Even Kon must've known that he didn't want to be bothered since he hadn't barged in to bug Ichigo like he often does.
He must be locked in Yuzu's room.
"Shit…" he cursed for making himself bring up those memories and angrily sat up and looked out the window in a vain hope that he'll be able to see anything out of the ordinary. But he quickly turned away after a few seconds. His hands went up to his face, his scowl growing deeper. He wasn't a Soul Reaper anymore. He was now normal just like everybody else, including his life. But as much as he wanted to forget everything about being a Soul Reaper, he just couldn't do so. So much had happened, so much had been experienced, it was downright impossible to think of it all to be just a big messed up dream.
Ever since he lost his powers, Ichigo couldn't help but feel a large chunk of his soul had been taken away and left him feeling like something had gone missing in his life—like a void had been created. He guessed that it must've been how Hollows felt like seeing the holes on their bodies that are usually found where their hearts used to be.
Still, life goes on…
Ichigo woke from his torpor when he heard Yuzu call him for dinner. He lazily got up to join the rest of his family downstairs before his father came in running to give him another flying kick.
~~oOo~~
Dinner went as it would have on any normal day. The air around the dining table was filled with chatter—mostly from both Yuzu and Goat-face, as he often called his father—about how their day went and shared some light gossip. Karin would often join in by adding witty, sarcastic comments here and there. And depending on the situation, the Kurosaki patriarch would spout some overly dramatic comments which as usual earned him a sharp hit or two from either Ichigo, Karin, or both.
"So, Ichigo, how about you?" asked the younger of the twin girls. Upon doing so, those at the table fell silent and all eyes were now on him.
"Er…" The teen fidgeted a little at the sudden attention given to him. "What about me?"
"I asked how your day went."
Ichigo raised one hand to scratch behind his head. "Oh. Well, it went smoothly. Nothing big really happened, just a typical normal day at school." He smiled, though rather sheepishly after having spoken.
"Ah, I remember. Ms. Ochi said we're gonna have a field trip on Monday, next week," he quickly added.
The last statement seemed to have sparked everyone's interest as Karin asked him, "Where to?"
"We don't know much about it yet, but she said we were going to visit the wealthiest person in Japan." Three pairs of eyes went wide.
"You're going to visit the Prime Minister?" Isshin, the Kurosaki patriarch, belted out all of a sudden, slamming his hands on the table and standing up to lean towards his only son at the other end of the table. "That's great! My son is going face to face with the most powerful man in the country. I'm so proud of y—ACK!" A bowl of rice was shoved on his face before he could jump across the table to get a hold of the boy, courtesy of Karin.
"Lay off, old man," she said with a deadpan look on her face.
"And no, we're not going to see the Prime Minister; or at least, I don't think so," said Ichigo, annoyed. "We were told that the details will come by tomorrow. Until then, I don't really have a clue." With that, he put down his empty bowl and chopsticks before standing up.
"I'm going to bed," he said as he left.
Yuzu looked on sadly as she watched her brother's retreating back, "Ichigo…"
~~oOo~~
The next day was just as uneventful as the other days. That was until Ms. Ochi came in and began speaking to the class about the upcoming field trip.
"Alright, class," she said. "I'm now going to elaborate more about Monday's trip, so be sure to take note so you wouldn't forget. First off, we'll be going by bus. Our destination has quite a distance so we'll have to leave early. That means you all have to go to bed early. I'll expect to see you guys at the front quad around 6 a.m."
Almost everyone in the class groaned.
"6 a.m? That's way too early!" Keigo said in complaint.
"Yeah, just how far are we going?" asked Tatsuki.
Ms. Ochi continued on, ignoring the complaints, "You'll be following the school dress code, and don't forget to bring some note paper and something to write with. You never know when something important comes up that you need to write down. Alright, that's about it. Remember, turn in to bed early. Am I clear?" The class chorused a "yes".
Uryu then raised his hand soon after. "Hold on. You haven't told us where we're going yet."
"Ah, yes, I was just getting to that," said the teacher. "Our destination will be Tenguji Castle. Has anyone heard of it?"
A babble of talk filled that air as students either said no or asked each other about whether such a place existed.
"Tenguji Castle? Can't say I've heard of such a place," said Uryu, adjusting his glasses.
"It sounds like somewhere a high ranking government official would live in," said Chad.
"Oh! So we're going to visit the Karakura Town mayor?" asked Orihime.
"Somehow, I don't think the mayor would be wealthy enough to afford living in a castle," replied Ichigo.
Ms. Ochi suddenly gave a fake cough loud enough to go over the babbling of the class, effectively silencing them and catching their attention.
"Ok," she started speaking again. "I totally understand that none of you have even heard of such a place, so let me explain. Tenguji Castle is a huge Western style castle located deep within a wood in the northeast outskirts of town. It isn't very well known since the owner likes to keep a very low profile. And no, the owner it isn't a politician. Geez, can't you guys think of anyone else?"
"Now, if there are no more questions, you are all free to go," she continued, "Just remember to sleep early the night before the trip."
~~oOo~~
At home, Ichigo told his family about the details of the upcoming trip. Everything went normally until he brought up Tenguji Castle. Like him and everyone else in class, his father and sisters had no idea such a place existed in the far outskirts of town. Whoever owned that castle must have done an incredibly good job at laying low enough for people to not notice their existence. He couldn't blame them though. Being the wealthiest person in the country garnered a lot of attention, both good and bad. If he were that rich, then he'd want to lay low too; if only to avoid creepy stalkers and picture hungry paparazzi.
After getting up extra early and going to school a couple days later, Ichigo saw the bus that would be taking them parked near the gate. The closer he got, he could see that there were already some of his classmates already waiting in the front quad. Among them were his friends. Even Keigo, who had complained about having to wake up really last week, was already there.
His friends gave a loud greeting at the sight of him, and Ichigo in turn, greeted back and came over to them.
"Can't say I'm glad to see you early," quipped Uryu.
"Good morning to you too," said Ichigo, used to the Quincy's occasional sarcastic tone. He then went to lean against a nearby tree, but not before noticing Tatsuki sitting on a small bench next to him. She appeared to be looking at something on a small laptop. Curious, Ichigo went to ask.
"What're you looking at over there, Tatsuki?"
The aforementioned person jerked a little upon being broken out of her concentration and turned to one who spoke.
"Hm? Oh, hey Ichigo. I almost hadn't noticed you," she said, smiling. "In case you're wondering, I was just looking up some information on Tenguji Castle. Don't you know it has its own homepage?" The dark-haired girl turned the small device to show the former Soul Reaper. "Homepage, huh? So much for wanting to keep a low profile…"
The others, having heard of the conversation and curious about their destination, turned to catch a sneak peek. Their eyes bugged out at the image displayed on the page before them—smack-dab in the middle of the screen was a picture of a huge fairytale reminiscent castle sitting in a large forest with small mountains around far back.
"That's Tenguji Castle?" Ichigo asked in disbelief.
"Is it really somewhere in the outskirts of town?" asked Orihime.
"I don't understand why you're all surprised. Ms. Ochi did say that it was a Western style castle last Friday," said Uryu, adjusting his glasses and closely examined the picture. "It seems that it had incorporated the architectural design of Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany."
"Pretty nifty, isn't it?" Tatsuki replied. "I couldn't believe it either when I first saw it. I was expecting something more from the old eras. I tried to find the address to see if it really was really around Karakura, but all I found in the contacts were their phone number and e-mail. Then I tried to look for it in the 'About' section, but it only said that it was, and I quote, 'tucked deep in the unnamed forest northeast with Karakura Town being the closest settlement with a fifteen mile distance between them'."
"So I guess that means that it has no real address?" asked Keigo. "How do they get their mail then?"
"The owner must be some paranoid old miser. Why else would anyone that rich would want to live so far away from civilization?" said Ichigo.
"Have you gotten some information about whoever owns the castle?" asked Uryu.
"Not yet. But let's see," Tatsuki replied, clicking a link that said 'Founder' in the 'About' section. When the new page loaded, everyone who had huddled around the dark-haired girl were greatly disappointed to find out that the page was still under construction.
"Why the heck would something like that be under construction? Aren't those kind of info the first things to be made when making a website for a place like that?" an exasperated Ichigo nearly bellowed.
"Figures. Believe it or not, the site is relatively brand new," the Quincy answered for him, and earning puzzled stares from the group. "If you direct your attention to the disclaimer at the very bottom of the page, you'll see a couple of dates saying for how long the website has been around."
Tatsuki scrolled all the way down to the bottom, and just as Uryu said, there was the disclaimer typed in tiny arial font. Her eyes focused on the dates at the very end.
October – March 2010
"Strange. It says on here that the website has only been around for six months," she said.
TWEEEEEEEEEEEETT!
Ichigo's group and the rest of the travelling class nearly screamed at the sudden sound of a whistle being blown. All heads turned to where the offending sound came from and saw an energetic Ms. Ochi waving at them from the gate.
"Wow! It's nice to see most of you actually got out of bed early to be here at this hour," she said cheerfully. "Alright, gather 'round, I'm gonna take roll. When your name gets called, say 'Here', get on the bus, and sit wherever."
~~oOo~~
The bus ride was uneventful for the most part. Some students found ways to cope with the boredom that followed by chatting among themselves, fiddling with their cellphones or other handhelds they have; others slept, and the rest, like Ichigo, preferred to stare out the window and gaze at the passing scenery.
It took several minutes to get out of the Karakura Town proper. Several more to an hour was spent on the freeway. Then the next thing everyone knew, they were on bumpy unpaved ground, and the wide open scenery was replaced by trees. Although he didn't show it, Ichigo was starting to get curious and excited at the same time.
"So many trees," said Orihime in slight awe. "I didn't even know there was a forest out here."
"Ladies and gentlemen, as of this moment, we are now treading into Tenguji Castle property. The castle itself will be in sight in a moment," the bus driver said into the bus intercom.
Almost there, thought Ichigo as he continued staring out the window. The trees were slowly beginning to thin out…
His return to reverie, however, was cut short when he heard some girls on the opposite side of where he was sitting (the left side) squeal in delight upon spotting a beautiful lake from the view from their window. Ten minutes later, the castle slowly became visible and could finally be seen from the front. Five more minutes later, the bus finally stops.
"Okay, we're here, kids. You may all stand up and stretch," said Ms. Ochi as the bus driver opened both the front and back doors of the vehicle. The class slowly got up from their torpor, some moaning in relief at getting to stretch their muscles.
"Finally…" Ichigo heard Tatsuki sigh when she passed by him on the way out.
~~oOo~~
Ms. Ochi's class stared all around in awe of their new surroundings, starting with the huge gatehouse they were currently standing in front of and the lush greenery that made up the huge courtyard to the towering castle beyond.
"Ooh, it's even bigger in person," said Orihime, gazing at the green tiled towers and turrets while shielding her eyes from the sun. Chad, who stood next to her, gave a grunt of agreement. The other's in their circle of friends followed suit.
While the teens looked at all they could see, their teacher thanked the bus driver and went to attend to them while the latter drove away. But instead of turning back to the way they came, the bus went along another road that seemed to round the perimeter of the property. Ichigo, the only one who saw it for lack of anything else to do at the moment, raised an eyebrow. Where is it going? Is there an exit somewhere at the back?
"Pay attention everybody," Ms. Ochi spoke. Ichigo and the rest of the class turned to her. "An escort will be coming to accompany us to the castle. I expect everyone to be on their best behavior or you'll be kicked out. To be on the safe side, I'll set up some ground rules while we're here: One, there'll be no touching of any artifacts or any other item in the castle unless allowed; Two, when our escort or host is speaking, none of you are to speak until he or she finishes; Three, no crude or snide comments; Four, no straggling or separating from the group. Doing so, will not only get you lost in the castle, but will also cost you a demerit. So, any questions?"
Nobody answered.
"Good. I'm glad we can understand each other."
"Pardon me," a smooth voice spoke from behind. The teacher turned around and found herself face to face with a nicely dressed young man.
This new person stood a few inches taller than Ms. Ochi and appeared to be in his mid-twenties. He had fair skin, a sharp angled face, strange piercing yellow eyes, and median length white hair that was fixed with fringes framing his face. He was clad in an outfit that made him look like a fancied up butler—his tailcoat was a sanguine red and had gold trimmings, the silky vest underneath was a dark forest green, both the pants and leather shoes were black, he wore white gloves on his hands, and in place of a tie was a frilly cravat with an emerald brooch fastened on it.
Ichigo stared at the strange looking man as the latter pushed his half-moon shaped glasses up the bridge of his nose in the same manner as Uryu would usually do. He didn't know why, but there was something rather off about this person. Looking over at his other friends, he could tell that they were thinking the same thing.
"Oh, hello there," Ms. Ochi greeted the man. "Are you our escort?" The man nodded.
"Yes, I am," he replied and turned his attention to the students who were casting him odd looks. Though there were some (mainly girls) who looked at him with blushing faces and soft giggles, but he paid them no mind. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Hermes, the majordomo of Tenguji Castle…and we have been expecting you." The people, who had been blushing, swooned at the sound of his voice.
Ichigo couldn't help but feel a shiver down his spine when the man, now known as Hermes, spoke the last part. For a moment, he swore he saw Hermes' piercing yellow stare cast upon him when he mentioned that their arrival had been expected.
"Unfortunately, the mistress of the castle is still caught up in her work and is very busy. But I assure you that she'd be joining us later in the day," Hermes continued. "If it's alright with you, how about I take you all on a tour of the castle? That is, until the mistress arrives."
"I see," said Ms. Ochi. "Sure, we don't mind. Heaven knows these kids need to be exposed in some classic world history and culture."
Hermes nodded in agreement and motioned for everyone to follow him. "This way, please."
The sounds of several shoe-clad feet were heard as the group began to move behind the castle majordomo.
"Hey, Ichigo," whispered Keigo a moment later, nudging the tangerine-haired boy next to him while they walked. "What's a 'majordomo'?"
"Dunno. Some kind of butler or something," replied the latter.
"You're correct in a way, but actually, a majordomo is the head steward of a large household like in a palace or castle," Uryu said, joining in. "He is also the one who speaks or makes arrangements, or takes charge of things when the master or mistress of the household isn't around."
"How the hell do you know that?"
"I read a lot of classic novels with aristocratic characters in them, in case you haven't noticed."
"You mean those boring foreign language pocketbooks you carry around?"
"For your information, those books are not in any way boring. They're sophisticated and beautifully written works of literature," the Quincy retorted.
"Yeah, whatever…"
Uryu huffed in annoyance.
~~oOo~~
If the exterior of the castle was impressive, then interior was at least, three times more. They walked on a smooth marble floor littered with various designs and symbols, looking like something usually seen in a huge shopping mall or a fancy expensive hotel. The walls were adorned with various paintings and colorful tapestries. Vases, sculptures, statues, and suits of armor can also be seen lined on the walls from time to time. The class moved in a moderate pace; the only sounds permeating the air were the shuffling of people's shoes on the granite stone floor and the voice of the majordomo as he explained the various works of art around the halls. Keigo complained that the trip was starting to turn into a visit in an art museum and kept asking when they will finally meet the millionaire Ms. Ochi spoke of in class, much to the annoyance of his friends.
Meanwhile, somewhere deep within the castle, two pairs of eyes watched over the unsuspecting class on a set of monitors that were connected to a bunch of hidden cameras installed in the very hallway they walked in.
"Misato sure did a very good job bringing them here," said a mature voice that belonged to a woman.
"Oh? Ya mean all these people are gonna live wit us from now on?" asked a second more juvenile voice, this time belonged to a young child.
"No," the woman gave a chuckle, "just some of them."
"Who're they?"
The woman pointed to a monitor showing the zoomed in image of Ichigo and friends.
The child next to her giggled, "Them? They don' look much."
"Now, now, what did I say about judging a book by its cover?" the woman gently scolded. "You'll never get to know what they're really like until you've met them first. Why don't you go down and do that? And maybe have some fun along the way, too?"
The child nodded enthusiastically and replied, "Okay! I was gettin' bored in 'ere anyway." And with that, he took off running. The woman smiled as she watched him disappear from the door then turned back to the monitors showing Ichigo's bored face.
"Things are going to get interesting pretty soon," she muttered to herself. "I should be going too."
~~oOo~~
"Aaaaargh! When is this millionaire person gonna show up?" Keigo exasperatedly groaned, careful to keep his voice down so as to not cut off Hermes' explanation of an exact replica of Raphael's School of Athens painted on a wall.
"I'm beginning to wonder as well. It's almost noon," said Uryu who was starting to get even more annoyed with Keigo's incessant whining.
"Maybe they got swamped with work. Being a millionaire can be a busy job, you know," said Orihime.
"But still—" Keigo began, but a new voice rang in the hall they were in and effectively cutting both the brown-haired student's complaint and the white-haired majordomo's lecture.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting." Everyone stared to the left intersection of the hall where the voice and the sound of footsteps were coming from.
The footsteps then suddenly stop. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something?" the voice asked.
It would have been difficult for those in the back to see but it obvious to those around front when Hermes turned and smiled at the other person.
"Not at all, milady; in fact, we have been waiting patiently for your arrival," he said with a bow. The footsteps resumed, and every teenager present nearly gasped in an odd mixture of awe, surprise, and confusion upon the sight of a woman appearing before them. From Ichigo's perspective, the woman reminded her of Soul Society's Eighth Division lieutenant, Nanao Ise, but a bit taller, with blue eyes, no glasses, golden brown bun hair, and a business suit-like attire.
"Everyone," then said Hermes who had straightened up from his bowing and gestured at the lady, "I'd like to finally introduce to you the master of Tenguji Castle: Ms. Shion Tenguji." A series of collective gasps and murmurs filled the hall.
"That's the owner of this castle?"
"No way! How did she manage to have so much money?"
"She's richer than the mayor! Heck, maybe even the Prime Minister!"
The noise continued for a few more minutes until Ms. Ochi stepped in and hollered for them to be quiet. Shion only chuckled at their reactions and reassured the teacher that it was a pretty typical reaction for anyone who hadn't known about the castle.
"You should really count yourselves lucky, kids. We usually don't invite anyone over since we'd risk the press finding this place. You're quite fortunate today because I owed your teacher a favor," said the castle master. "But before I introduce you all to the wonderful world of big business, how about some lunch? It's the least I could do for making you all wait and listen to my majordomo drone on about fine art." Hermes gave an uncertain smile at that last part. Whether he was annoyed or anything else, he didn't show it and just simply pushed his glasses up his face.
Shion then gestured for them to follow her to the dining room. As they walked, the some of the class kept glancing at the paintings displayed on the walls. Though a good number of them seemed to be replicas of Renaissance artists' works, there were also a good number of others that have never been seen before. Orihime, among those some, had her eyes shine in awe and remarked at how well the paintings were done while Mizuiro surmised that the ones who were never seen before must be originals commissioned from modern painters.
However, there was one painting that had definitely caught the busty beauty's eyes enough to make her stop in her tracks.
"Ooh," she mumbled as she stared, not minding that everyone else was leaving her behind, which is why it was a good thing that Tatsuki noticed immediately when she stopped.
"Orihime, come on or you'll be left behind," she chided. But the former didn't move. Instead, she coaxed the latter to come and look at the painting with her. Confused at how special the painting could be to garner such attention, Tatsuki complied.
The painting Orihime was staring so intently at wasn't as big as the others mounted on the walls—it was at least half as small and showed a portrait of a rather pointy-faced, squinty-eyed man. For some strange reason, she couldn't help but have a familiar feeling about this person.
"Hey, you two, what's with the hold up over there?" Uryu's voice called out to the two girls.
"Guys, check this out," replied the busty one of the two and causing her other friends to stop.
"What?"
"Just look!" Orihime gestured for them to come. Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad gave each other confused looks before finally complying out of curiosity.
"Whatever it is, Orihime, you have to make it quick or we'll be left behind."
The ashen-eyed girl stepped a little away from her previous spot to make way for the boys and pointed at the painting.
"Him," she said. "I don't know really. Maybe it's just me, but…doesn't the man in this painting look kinda like somebody we knew?"
The three boys set their eyes on the painting and stared.
"It looks like…" Chad began, but went at a loss of words.
"No way," said an astonished Uryu who adjusted his glasses to see more carefully.
"That's…" muttered Ichigo in disbelief, eyes wide in shock.
~~oOo~~
OMAKE
XENOMECHA COMMAND CENTER
Secretly hidden within the walls of Tenguji Castle, an automatic sliding door opens to reveal a dark room lit up by the glow of a huge monitor up front and several others around the sides. We find that we had entered into the very back and elevated part of the room. On this elevation were a lone wide chrome desk and a swivel chair. And on this chair sat a familiar person working on something on a laptop—you could hear the sound of keys being pressed in quick successions.
The person then stops typing and stretches his arms.
"Finally, I'm done," he says as he drops his arms, "Time to go back." He swivels around, and sees you standing there. It turns out the familiar person is none other than Hermes the majordomo of the castle.
"Who are you, and how did you find this place? And is that a camera?" he asks, confused and a tad flustered. "You don't appear to be part of the student touring group, and no one is supposed to know about this place until the next episode. Kindly step out and refrain from speaking about this to the outside world."
You explain that you came on a special invitation from the master of the castle.
"Special invitation? I don't recall Lady Shion sending out an invitation of any kind. Otherwise, she'd ask me to send it in her stead."
You pull out a lavender colored stationery and show it to him. Hermes takes it and examines it closely. He was silent for a few seconds before sighing.
"This is her doing alright. No other business woman, or man for that matter, would send out letters written on designed color stationeries. She must have decided to send it personally. And oh, there's a prompt in here addressed to me." He mumbles as he reads. Not long after, his eyes bug out. "What? We're doing that thing now?" he asks to nobody in particular and hands you back the paper. You could tell he's rather annoyed as he ran a gloved hand through his silvery hair.
"Why couldn't she have given me a memo, or tell me while we were in the hall?" He sighs once again. "Nevermind. Fine, I'll go along with this." He presses a few keys on his laptop and an overhead picture of the castle appears. Hermes then fixes his hair until presentable, and sits straight on his chair. He clears his throat and assumes a business-like look.
"Welcome to the Command Center. I'm Hermes, the majordomo and your host for this segment. Starting today, we'll be talking about anything regarding the castle, it's inhabitants, and everything else that's left out and unable to fit in the story. Today, we'll be talking about Tenguji Castle.
Tenguji Castle was built many years ago on this very spot. Believe it or not, it started out as a simple wooden shack." An old black-and-white picture of a shabby wooden shack slides in place of the castle on the monitor. "As the years went by and as Lady Shion became more successful with her business, the shack was eventually torn down to make way for a proper house. Then again for a bigger house—then a mansion; a larger mansion; a small castle; and finally Tenguji Castle." More pictures slide in as he continues to speak until it all goes back to the castle.
"Also, as the Lady Shion's home got bigger, so did the property around it." He presses the 'Enter' button, and a map of the entire Tenguji property appears on screen. Hermes begins pointing at the locations around the castle one by one.
"The castle is in the very center of the property. On the southeast is the garage where the various vehicles are being kept and maintained. On the opposite side, a fair way off, is a man-made lake that stretches up to border northwest where the farm and stables are at; and finally, the vineyard and floral garden stand on the northeast. In its entirety, the property is about the size twice and a half of the Roman Coliseum in Italy. A dense forest and a few small mountains surround it.
The aesthetics of the castle are inspired by the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. To date, this is the only castle—not counting Cinderella's in Tokyo Disneyland—built in a Western style to exist in Japan." Hermes turns off the laptop and wipes his glasses.
"That is all we have for today. In the next episode, we'll discuss about something else. Good day to you all."
~~oOo~~
I know omakes are supposed to be funny at the end, so please bear with me if I hadn't done a good job with this one. I'm not very good at producing humorous situations on purpose. Also, as you may have read, nothing much happens here. If you made it to the end and now reading this sentence, congratulations! You deserve an imaginary slice of fancy French Silk pie and an equally imaginary Collector's Edition Shirosaki action figure.