Made To Be Weapons

by Revlid

It's an age-old question; where do zanpaktou spirits come from? The truth is stranger than many would believe, as Soul Society is an afterlife for more worlds than ours alone. Series of one-shots.

2. Houzukimaru

Houzukimaru

In the weird, semi-conscious world of his afterlife, Shikamaru lazed, watching the clouds of this small world drift by. In them he saw shapes – sprays of blood shifted to twin feathers shifted to a notched sword shifted to a comb. For the most part, his wielder had a one-track mind, and that showed in his clouds. But clouds were clouds, and to the nebulous remains of Shikamaru's consciousness, that was enough for eternity.

Ikkaku got along well enough with his zanpaktou spirit. They were both lazy, in their own way. Houzukimaru in an obvious, sluggish manner, quick to sleep and slow to rise, while Ikkaku transcended sloth and reached hard work on the other side – it would have been troublesome to be pushed around, so he fought and intimidated until no-one in Rukongai dared. When he became a Shinigami, it would have been troublesome to take orders, so he got strong enough that the only people left ranked above him were the ones who wouldn't bother. So Ikkaku didn't mind if his zanpaktou took a little while to stop cloud-watching and lend him its strength – it only made the fight more interesting, in the long run.