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"Ichigo-san, I'm worried about Zezu-chan," Rukia spoke as they sat in his room. It had been a couple hours since school got out.
"Me too," Ichigo replied.
"How bad has she been hurt by him?" Renji asked.
"She's never missed a day of school, despite her injuries. No one has ever questioned it because we all know how violent Tsuchini-san can be and she'd always brush off the questions with a smile and laugh. Her father was a professional fighter in America," Ichigo sighed.
"I'm going after her," Renji spoke as he came out of his gigai and opened the window.
"We'll come with you," Rukia spoke and came out of her gigai and so did Ichigo.
They jumped out the window and Ichigo led the way to the house at the end of the street. He opened the front door quietly and they entered silently. As Rukia closed the door, a scream reached them from below. They searched every room, searching for the way to the basement and found a part of the living room wall that wasn't actually part of the wall and when they moved it, they saw stairs. They ran down the stairs and as they entered a dirt tunnel, Rukia gagged as they caught onto the smell of old blood.
"Damn," Ichigo muttered.
"Papa please, let me go! I didn't tell anyone, I never have!" Zezu's voice echoed down the tunnel.
"Pathetic girl, begging for mercy." A sinister voice laughed, sending shivers up Renji's spine. "You know that it was your fault that Alexandra died. You're some kind of freak and I'm done putting up with your shit. All that sliver glowing of your eyes just pisses me off."
There was a crack of a whip followed by a blood-curdling scream. The three Shinigami ran forward and were appalled at the sight. Zezu was on the ground, one of her ankles chained to the wall. Her clothes were torn, revealing fresh wounds and old scars.
"Zezu-chan!" Rukia gasped.
"R…uk…ia…?" her voice cracked as she forced herself onto her knees and she looked at them. Her eyes were glowing as if she had activated a zanpakto bankai and her wounds were healing quickly. "Why…did you…come?"
"Who are you talking about bitch?" her father hissed, looking over his shoulder but he couldn't see them.
He cracked the whip again and it hit her cheek and neck. Zezu whimpered but kept her eyes on the three Shinigami that were staring at her in horror. Renji's heart sank when he saw a small smile on her face when she looked at him.
"It's… alright… He'll finish soon enough…"
"Freakish bitch, talking to yourself like that!" the man moved forward, drawing two blades. He plunged one into her shoulder and the other into her thigh. Zezu's face contorted in pain as she lowered her head. "You will never leave this room again because you'll be dead. I'll get around that weird barrier that protects you from death."
"Mom would have been discussed with you," Zezu hissed, bringing her hand up and ripped the blade out of her shoulder and leg. "Her spirit protects me from you."
"I will kill you," he hissed.
"This is going too far," Rukia hissed.
"I agree," the two boys spoke.
"Mother of mine
Protect the night…"
"Stop that useless chant!" her father slapped her and she dug on of the daggers into his knee.
"Refrain the night,
Light with might!
Destroy his hate
burn the pained!
Kill which hurt
and threaten my life!"
Her voice rose with each word as a light gathered around her heart and she tossed the other dagger right into his heart. He fell backwards and the Shinigami watched blood pool across his chest.
"Bastard," she muttered as she stood up.
"Zezu-chan, are you okay?" Rukia shunpoed to her as she swayed and steadied her.
"Y-yeah," Renji heard her laugh. "I'm good."
"You're bleeding badly," Ichigo growled as he reached her and broke the chain around her ankle.
"Ma will heal me before she finds her peace," she pointed to a corner and a plus came into view that looked like an older version of Zezu. "Hi mom."
"You are finally free, my darling. You found something that could help make you stronger," the woman smiled. "Shinigami, release his spirit before he comes back as a hollow. Now that he is dead, I no longer am needed to protect her. She has you three and those other three students that hang with you. Teach her to become a Shinigami like you, her Reiryoku is stronger than you think even though no one can sense it." Then the woman started to disappear and entered Zezu, healing all her wounds and old scars. As soon as the plus was gone, Zezu's eyes turned back to blue.
Renji and Ichigo drew their blades as the plus started to form and hit him with their hilts before he fully materialized. Renji heard a whimper from Zezu and looked at her. She had her face buried in Rukia's chest and her body shook. Renji pulled her into his arms and they left the room quickly. He found her room and placed her on the bed and left the room so Rukia could help clean her up. He leaned against the wall next to Ichigo.
"What do we do now?" Ichigo yawned.
"Follow her mother's wishes; see if she can become a Shinigami. When Byakuya-sama summons me back to Seireitei, I'll take her with me and see if she has the ability," Renji spoke, stretching his arms above his head.
"I'd like that Renji-san," Zezu's door opened and she was wearing a black shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. She slid on a pair of flats then smiled at Renji. "Why is your face red?"
"It's nothing," Renji muttered and she laughed.
"I want to thank you three for coming after me. If you hadn't showed up, I most likely wouldn't have tried to fight back at all."
"What was that chant?"
"My mother used to say it to me when I saw one of those masked creatures. She was able to see them too but we kept it from father. They always seemed to not like that chant so we always said it and they usually left us alone. Can we get out of here? I don't want to stay in this house much longer."
"Yeah, let's go down to the pier where Sado, Inoue, and Ishada are waiting for us. We'll figure out something there," Ichigo spoke and they left the house quickly.
Down at the pier, Inoue was sitting between Sado and Ishada and they were looking at the sail boats in the bay.
"Zee-chan!" Inoue looked over her shoulder when she heard them on the pier and scrambled to her feet and engulfed Zezu in her arms. "We were so worried when your father called you out of class."
"These guys came by. My father wanted to head back to America and gave me the choice if I wanted to go back or not," Zezu lied and Renji looked down at her and she narrowed her eyes at him as if daring him to say something.
"Come live with me!" Inoue smiled. "I have a spare room at my apartment!"
"Thank you," Zezu smiled and secretly Renji smiled as well. "Well I am going to go for a walk."
"Alright, where should we meet later?"
"Meet at Ichigo-san's around 5 and i'll take you over to my house so we can pack my things," Zezu smiled over her shoulder then walked off and inoue sat back down.
"Are you sure she should be on her own?" Rukia whispered to Renji and Ichigo as they watched her walk off.
"She needs to clear her head after what happened at the house. Don't tell the others what really happened, let them think what Zezu told them," Ichigo whispered back.
"I'll go tail her and make sure she's okay. I worry about the strength of her Reiryoku and from what her mother was saying that it's strong, no matter what we sense," Renji whispered then walked off in the direction Zezu had headed.
Renji found her in the cemetery, kneeling in front of a headstone that had flowers on it. He jumped up into a tree and watched her, making sure to be quiet and not let her see him. She knelt there for a while before standing up and walking off towards the cliff that overlooked the bay. She sat cross-legged near the edge and seemed to go into a meditation as a breeze picked up.
'Protect her!'
A voice rang in Renji's head that sounded like Zezu's mother as he heard the scream of a hollow as it appeared behind her. Renji jumped out of his gigai and dashed towards her as she spun around onto her knees and stared up at the hollow. Her eyes were wide with fear and her body seemed to be frozen. Her mouth was parted slightly but no noise came out. The hollow wrapped it's clawed hand around her neck and lifted her up and closer to him.
"Your powerful young one, stronger than when you were younger and my brother killed your mom. We've been waiting for her to stop protecting you so we could kill you for killing him when you first moved here. Where's your lightning bolt mark, huh?" the hollow laughed.
Renji activated his shikai and attacked the hollow, cutting off it's hand and he ran forward and caught Zezu with one arm. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he could hear a sob as she buried her face against his neck. Renji retracted Zabimaru and shunpoed behind the hollow to get Zezu away from the monster.
"Shinigami, you will pay! We will have that child for killing him!" the hollow screamed and renji felt Zezu tighten her grip around his neck as he stopped and turned to face the creature.
"Who?" Renji growled.
"He was one of her family that turned into one of us," the hollow snapped.
"Liar!" Zezu cried as she turned to look at the hollow. "I've never killed anyone and I've never had any other family!"
"You must not remember it, but we do." Zezu's face paled and Renji saw a small lightning bolt appear around her right eye. It was as blue as her eyes and seemed to glow. "Ah, the bolt. That is how you managed to kill Tommy, your own brother who had been five when he turned."
"Enough of this," Renji snapped and swung Zabimaru at the hollow, killing him. "Zezu are you okay?"
Zezu buried her face in his haori and he heard a sob come from her. He sheathed Zabimaru and cradled Zezu close as he found a tree to lean against. He held her close and let her cry herself out, not even asking about what was going on. Soon her breathing evened out and he realized that she fell asleep. He shifted into his Gigai easily and stood up, keeping Zezu in his arms and walked towards Ichigo's house to have Isshan check up on her.
Her neck was bruised but there had been no damage to her. Renji laid her in one of the spare rooms and went to talk to Isshan who was in the kitchen.
"Isshan-san, did Zezu have any younger siblings when she first moved here?" Renji whispered.
"Yes, he was four or five. Tommy looked like his sister and mother. Days after they had moved here, he was hit by a car and died instantly while Zezu got a major head injury. He got mad that she didn't mourn for him when in truth, she couldn't, she had no memory of him because in that car crash, she hit her head and lost all memories of her past. I had worked with her for years trying to get her to remember but they were gone. I had to help her learn to walk again and learn to read and write again. We had to teach her everything over."
"So she was still recovering when he turned?"
"In a way yes. In his anger, he threw her into a wall as her power spiked, making her hit her head again. She lost all memories of that encounter. It's why she seems so small and quiet. She only has eight years of memory instead of 16."
"Is it normal that even when someone talks about it, I don't have any recollection of it?" Zezu came into the room, her movements slow.
"In your case Zezu, yes it is. If four years of therapy didn't work then those memories won't come back. It's probably best that you don't remember," Isshan spoke calmly.
"What about the bolt that thing talked about?"
"It was a type of defense that was in your genetics. That mark on your cheek is how you used to channel the energy, but since your mother has passed on, the power has died. It was her soul that gave you that power so that mark is just a tattoo now."
"Okay, am I okay to go doc?" she smiled and he nodded.
