Author's Note: Well, that promise of one chapter per two weeks didn't really hold true, did it? I just had so much to do with moving to another town and all this university stuff. I do have other things to do other than writing fanfictions. And a huge thank you for everybody who reviewed and started following this story. You warm my heart.
Anyway, I hope you think the wait was worth it. A little bit shorter this time, but with plenty of content. I try to be at least above the 5000 word count for each chapter, though.
All mistaked are mine. Other news: water is wet.
The boy was an enigma to Yamamoto. No, he was less like an enigma and more like countless others people he knew, including almost the entire upper ranks of the Gotei 13.
The way he has met most of those figures was unpleasant to say the least. Some, like Yachiru Unohana, he met in battle during the years where he has wandered (and terrorized) Rukongai himself. Others, like Miya Kanae, have shown up one day out of nowhere to join the Gotei. Yamamoto was still dubious about some of their intentions and motivations, but he ignored it (mostly) for the sake of the Gotei.
Those people who were responsible for the protection of the Soul Society were in many cases criminals, the worst of the worst he could find. Murderers, pimps, kidnappers and human traffickers. All of them were the best fighters in the Soul Society, but the severity of their sins was equivalent to their strength.
Until now they were just a loose group of demons and devils without a common goal. For some of them the Gotei 13 was just a means to an end. Here, in the Seireitei, they had better connections not only to better their financial means, but to also expand their reach. Here they were in the middle of the Soul Society, and from here they could reach their greedy little hands out into the entire Rukongai. People like Akuma or Ryuzaki could use their connections and position to establish and their further reign, where others like Unohana could use the Gotei to discover strong opponents. Everybody had their own agenda.
That was why the Academy was more important than ever.
In that Academy the future generations of Captains were trained, the future of the Gotei 13. They were his only hope of forming this military institution into a proper unit, not just different jagged pieces randomly put together like it was now.
And for now there were no students with more potential to reach that unity than Shunsui Kyouraku and Juushiro Ukitake.
When he has first seen those two he has seen the future of the Gotei. Both of them were skilled and intelligent with a good head for strategic thinking. Juushiro was kind, loyal and understanding, but wouldn't hesitate to do what had to be done. Shunsui on the other hand had a streak of ruthlessness in him, hidden behind his lazy and easy going attitude that fooled everybody who didn't know him.
Though Yamamoto doubted Juushiro could ever have the hardness and willpower to become Captain-Commander one day, Shunsui was a possible prospect he had to harness.
At least, Shunsui has been a prospect, until Yamamoto has met the young man that was Ichigo Shiba.
He has made inquiries about the boy. He knew that Taka Shiba has adopted the boy only a short while ago, his name changing from Kurosaki to Shiba. Sure, he looked like he had some Shiba blood in him, but that alone didn't make him into a trustworthy character, no matter the reputation of his Clan. What he found wasn't very informative, but that was informative in itself.
Because Yamamoto has found exactly nothing about the boy.
No name, no rumor, no reputation, no history, neither in Rukongai nor Seireitei.
That was slightly worrying. Sure, Kanae appeared out of thin air as well, but he didn't trust her completely either, though it had to be said he trusted her more than other Captains. She has proven herself and her allegiance to the Gotei 13 time and time again, but Yamamoto couldn't shake off the last lingering traces of doubt concerning her. He just couldn't trust somebody without knowing their darkest secret.
Now he had to determine if he could trust the new Shiba.
What Yamamoto has found out pretty early in his observations of the boy was that he was an abysmal liar. Though it wasn't necessarily through what young Ichigo said, but through what he did and how he acted that Yamamoto found an interest in him.
Since day one he has seen the boy try to act like somebody he was not. He tried to hide his abilities, act like a beginner where Yamamoto could see the experience. And now that he was seeing him fight properly it became more and more obvious.
Ichigo Shiba was as deadly as a giant club. If you hit hard enough with it everyone would go down. But he lacked the actual finesse and elegance that a professionally trained fighter processed.
Oh, sure, the boy was incredibly fast, agile and combined Zanjutsu with Hakuda like it was nothing, but there was no real style to his movements. He looked like somebody with knowledge of the basics got thrown into fights way over his head and learning as he was going, no time to stand still without dying. How Ichigo reacted to the most miniscule changes of Shunsui's stance, the way he reacted to every muscle twitch, all of his actions showed that he was used to fight way stronger and faster opponents than himself with way more experience. The boy was relying too much on his instincts (though admittedly very honed instincts) instead of real training. He was like a piece of clay that already got the basic structure of what it should become one day, but lacked the actual details.
And yet again Yamamoto saw that the boy was still holding back.
Slowly but surely he could see how Ichigo was losing his inhibitions, how he was getting faster with his strikes, how he hit harder than before with every swing of his swords.
And what kind of swords they were.
What were the chances of someone with another double blade? He thought Shunsui and Jushiro would be the only ones to have some in the next millennia, guessing from how none have appeared in the dozen centuries before. But now, so short a time after he has found Jushiro and Shunsui, Ichigo had a third double wielding Zanpakuto? It was unbelievable.
Though from what he could see of those swords until now he couldn't detect a particular special ability. He could feel a residual trace of reishi around these blades, but until now he couldn't tell if it was part of its ability or originated from the high reiatsu the boy was giving off in general.
That was another thing. When Ichigo released his Zanpakuto Yamamoto could feel, for a split second, the true depth of his spiritual energy, and he was impressed. No usual Academy student had a reiatsu that high. Hell, most Lieutenants didn't have a reiatsu that high.
In the beginning, during the entry exam at the Academy, his reiatsu has felt haphazard and uncontrolled, but now that he found out Ichigo's true power the boy actually had pretty good control all things considered.
The boy was releasing off more and more reiatsu the longer the match with Shunsui was going on though, but Yamamoto doubted it was because of his control slipping. No, judging from the grin on Ichigo's face it was more because he was enjoying a good match.
Maybe he was enjoying it a little too much…
"Juushiro," Yamamoto said to the student beside him, his eyes not leaving the combatants. "Maybe we have to make it a little more difficult for our new friend."
With a nod of understanding Juushiro jumped into the fray to aid his best friend.
Ichigo had to say that Ukitake and Shunsui were really young. Where they have been two of the oldest and best Captains of the Gotei 13, one of them even being the Captain-Commander, right now they were simply Academy students. The best students, no doubt, but still only students.
Shunsui was still learning how to handle his Shikai. His stance, his footwork and movements were already pretty good, but he lacked the vast tactical thinking and speed, the ease with which he incapacitated his opponents and tricked them into doing what he wanted. The use of his Zanpakuto's special ability was awkward as well. It was obvious that he still learned how to handle it properly and to its full potential, though Ichigo could already see traces of the warrior he would become one day.
Maybe that familiarity was what drove him to let loose on his abilities almost on instinct.
Back when he was sparring and training with Shunsui in the few free moments they got to get a handle of his new double blades, Ichigo quickly learned that holding back was a great mistake regarding such a superior opponent as Shunsui Kyouraku. The man has had centuries of experience ahead of him. It is pointless to say that he wiped the floor with Ichigo at the beginning. Of course he eventually got better (Ichigo always did), but Shunsui always stayed ahead of him, always a little faster, always a little more agile, always a little more vicious and cunning.
Ichigo has quickly learned to go all out against the Captain-Commander, but now it kind of proved counterproductive of his goal to stay under the radar.
He was just too used to fight Shunsui. It was that familiarity that made him lose himself in the fight, and it only got worse when Ukitake joined into the fray.
Those two had flawless teamwork to say the least. Ichigo didn't know if it had something to do with them being best friends or with whatever training Yamamoto has put them through, but what Ichigo did know was that it only made him lose himself in this encounter even more.
It was instinctual really. If you fought an enemy stronger than you, then you had to take it up a notch or die. There was no other way to survive. If Ichigo has ever leaned anything, than it was this.
Ukitake's abilities were a little more refined, the use of his Shikai a little less awkward than Shunsui's, though his was also a little less complicated and versatile.
With every encounter of their swords Ichigo could feel Sougyo no Kotowari absorb small bits of his reiryoku into itself, enough that a short time later Ukitake pointed his swords at him and shot at him with a beam of his own energy. The attack came slower than Ichigo knew Ukitake would be capable of later in life, but it still had quite some bite behind it nonetheless.
Dodging swiftly and hiding in the destruction the blast caused Ichigo leaped towards his opponent in a bout of reasonably speeded Shunpo, careful of the eyes still observing them. He rushed towards Ukitake, but Shunsui's movements in the corner of his eye told him that he wouldn't reach his goal, so he turned mid swing to intercept Shunsui's own swing aimed at his neck.
They crossed swords for a couple of moments until Ichigo raised his speed level for a nanosecond and slipping into Shunsui's guard. With a strong kick he propelled him out of his way and sped towards Ukitake again.
His opponent already had his guard up and blocked Ichigo's swing before going into the offense. Ukitake tried to use feints and tricks to land a hit on Ichigo. He has early on caught up that Ichigo reacted to the most miniscule shifts of weight or movements, and thus he tried to move slightly wrong to not let his opponent in on what he planned to do next. It made Ukitake fight a little awkwardly and seemed to cost him a lot of concentration to not let his muscle memory take over, but it seemed to be a reasonably effective fighting technique.
But just as Ichigo dodged one of Ukitake's swings that was born from a strange angle of his upper body (one normally inefficient one for fighting, though now adopted to counter Ichigo's experience) Ichigo could see Ukitake tensing and all the blood leaving his already pale face.
Halting in his counterattack Ichigo's blade stopped just millimeters from Ukitake's now unprotected chest as said man dropped his guard. Quickly jumping backwards Ichigo tried to not get Ukitake into the line of Shunsui's sword should he try to use the moment of inactivity for an attack.
But he needn't have worried. As soon as there was a sign that something was wrong Shunsui rushed over towards his friend in concern. Ukitake meanwhile has dropped his swords and kneeled on the ground, hacking up blood.
"Shit," Ichigo cursed and sped over towards the pair as well. He was beat to the punch by Yamamoto, though. Already kneeling by his student's side the older man was scanning his charge over with a hand glowing with Kido. A second later he cooped Ukitake over his shoulder.
"He needs a medic. Now," Yamamoto commanded hard as steel, and in the next second he was already on his way towards the Fourth Division.
Hastily sheathing his own sealed Zanpakuto and then scooping up Sougyo no Kotowari, Shunsui deemed to follow his teacher and friend, Ichigo already hot on their tail.
When they reached the Fourth Division they bypassed all the medics on their way and barged right into the Captain's office. To say that Tenjiro Kirinji was pissed would be an understatement.
"What in the name of ever loving fuck are you doing here?!" he shouted as he shot up from his desk. Only Ichigo's reflexes saved him from being impaled in the head by the pen he threw at them as they barged through the door. Kirinji raised an eyebrow at his reaction before his attention shifted towards the body flung over Yamamoto's shoulder.
"Heal him," Yamamoto all but demanded before laying Ukitake on the examination table stationed in a corner of the office that wasn't cluttered with papers, scriptures, and weird looking medical projects (at least Ichigo hoped they were medical projects, shuddering at the thought of Kurotsuchi).
Kirinji's face pulled into an evil grimace. "And why should I do that? He's just an Academy student."
The aura in the room became oppressive from one moment to the other. A shadow laid itself over Yamamoto's eyes as he turned towards his fellow Captain, and his reiatsu shimmered around him like heat waves. "Your job as the Captain of the Fourth Division of the Gotei 13 is to provide the necessary medical care needed for a military organization. As your commander, when I say heal, you will heal."
Kirinji, nonplussed by the heavy reiatsu bearing down on him, regarded Yamamoto for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and strutting over towards the examination table. "Yeah yeah, don't worry. I'll have him fixed up in no time."
Reining his reiatsu back in Yamamoto inclined his head and turned to leave the office. With a last worrying look at Ukitake Ichigo followed him outside. Shunsui was already standing before the door, his friend's now sealed Zanpakuto still in hand. He looked a little nervous, probably due to the sudden spike of reiatsu moments before.
"Captain Kirinji will take care of Juushiro," Yamamoto informed him. Shunsui visibly relaxed at the news.
Striding toward the seats lining the other side of the hallway Yamamoto sat down with his hands on his knees and his back ramrod straight, looking as unmovable as a rock. Good luck to everybody who tried to make him move anytime soon.
Sighing Ichigo took the place beside him, though significantly less strict, instead lounging in his chair and preparing himself for a possibly long wait. Meanwhile Shunsui opted to pace the hallway.
It took several minutes for any of them to speak. "I think I saw what I needed today," Yamamoto broke the silence.
"Oh?" Ichigo inquired after Yamamoto failed to continue. "And what exactly did you see?"
The Captain-Commander turned his gaze towards him and regarded him with a piercing gaze. "Potential," he answered. There was this now familiar fire in his eyes again. "The way you move, your fighting style, your agility, all of it is far more advanced than many seated officers'. Who has taught you?"
And now there was the familiar debacle again. "Different people here and there. I never had only one consistent teacher," he answered evasively. It was true though. There were Urahara, Yoruichi, the Visords, Shunsui, and all of them have left their imprint on him. But he couldn't give their names, fearing for some kind of time paradoxon or strange questions, though those were still a couple of centuries away (except Shunsui, but Ichigo could hardly say that that Academy student trained him)
"In Rukongai?" Yamamoto asked further. Ichigo gritted his teeth and turned his gaze towards the wall in front of him.
He couldn't answer that question. Because where else could he have trained but in Rukongai? He could hardly say in the world of the living. That would mean he either brought his abilities and – more importantly – his memories with him from before his death (which was impossible, everyone in Soul Society started with a blank slate), or that he had access to the world of the living, which only nobles and Shinigamis had. Either way, he couldn't even tell Yamamoto a half truth in this one, and he knew he was a shitty liar.
So he rather didn't say anything at all.
After a while Yamamoto realized that he wouldn't get an answer. Ichigo could feel his eyes roam over him again in calculation. And again, just like in the man's office, he had to force himself not to squirm. He hoped the Captain-Commander wouldn't dig even deeper.
"You know," Yamamoto eventually said, "I know a lot of people who have a lot of secrets. I have quite a few of them myself. So I know how hard it is to keep them, and I know how much they weigh. It is hard to trust somebody you don't completely know, but trust me in one thing," He underlined his words with a burst of reiatsu towards Ichigo that made him bake out into an uncomfortable sweat and made his heart skip a beat. "If one of those secrets of yours turns out to be a threat to the Soul Society, the Seireitei, the Gotei 13, or even the Soul King himself, then you will wish you have never been born."
Only when the reiatsu retreated did Ichigo dare face the other man again, but even without the spiritual pressure he was an intimidating sight with that glare. Ichigo swallowed and nodded in understanding, holding his piercing and heated gaze.
Yamamoto nodded. "With that out of the way," he continued, his entire demeanor relaxing slightly, "I congratulate you to your acceptance to the graduating class."
Ichigo blinked in surprise. He has completely forgotten about that. "Oh, um, thank you."
"And another thing," the old man said while his eyes strayed towards Shunsui. "I want you to continue meeting with us for our weekly training sessions. See it as recognition of your skill, but also see it as a means for me to keep an eye on you. But when I saw you sparring with Shunsui and Jushiro I could see the future of the Gotei 13.
"And I want to know if you deserve it."
In the end it took Kirinji a little over an hour to stabilize Ukitake, but he would have to stay at the Fourth for a couple of more days. The training session was cut short, though, and thus he and Shunsui were dismissed for the day.
Ichigo has already mentally prepared himself for rather relaxed evening with his history book. But Fate (aka Taka Shiba) had other plans.
"I've heard you were called to the principal's office," she said when he entered his room. In his absence she has made herself comfortable on his bed, glowering at him with narrowed eyes.
"Why am I still surprised to find people making themselves comfortable in my room?" he muttered under his breath while leaning Zangetsu against the side of his desk.
"I didn't raise my son to be a troublemaker," Taka continued and pointed a finger at him. "What did you do? Did you beat up somebody who gave you trouble? Did you bully somebody? Just because you were adopted into a noble family doesn't mean you're allowed to pick on the ones below you. Indeed, it is actually your duty to protect them. Did I make that not clear in your education?"
"What education?! You didn't raise me!" Ichigo shouted in annoyance. He let himself fall down on his desk chair and rested his cheek on his palm. "I didn't get in any kind of trouble if you have to know. And how did you know I was called to the principal's office anyway?"
"I have my methods," Taka answered ominously, though obviously placated by his own answer. "If you didn't get into trouble, then what did the old sourpuss Yamamoto want to talk with you about?"
Ichigo snorted at the term. "He wanted to invite me to his weekly training sessions with him and two other students. That was today, by the way."
Taka's eyes lit up. "Really? And? How did it go?"
Ichigo averted his eyes in embarrassment. He wasn't one to brag about his accomplishments, especially academic, but he also knew that Taka wouldn't leave him in peace if he didn't tell her. He just knew she was about to lose her shit with what he was about to tell her. "He wanted me to continue to participate and stuck me into the graduating class."
Taka didn't disappoint. With a shriek of excitement that would have made the toughest metal rocker deaf she threw herself at him in an embrace. She squeezed the life out of him and kissed his cheek over and over again. "A Shiba is the first in the history of the Shinigami Academy to finish within a single year. My son! Finally a Captain in the family!" she crooned between wet smacks on his cheek.
All of Ichigo's attempts of pushing her away were in vain, just like the other day when he came back with the acceptance letter. "You know," he pressed out, "I'm not a Captain yet. I didn't even graduate."
Taka seized her attack on his face and glared at him. "You better be young man, or else…" She didn't have to elaborate what she would do with him. It was perfectly written on her face and the way she squeezed him a little harder.
Ichigo started to get short on breath. "Okay, yeah, sure. First Shiba Captain, got it," he wheezed out.
And again Taka was all sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes Ichigo wondered if this woman was bipolar. "That's my boy." Suddenly she gasped and let go of him. Ichigo fell to the ground like a wet piece of cloth, but Taka didn't pay any attention to him. "Oh, just wait until I tell the others! Hideyoshi will cry tears of joy, I just know it! And Granny will be so proud! Mostly of herself for proposing taking you into the family, but, well." She muttered the last thing under her breath and shrugged.
On the ground Ichigo was finally able to regain his breath. "You know," he said, "there is something I don't understand."
Turning towards him Taka braced her hands on her hips. "And what's that? Spit it out brat."
"Why are you treating me like family?" Ichigo has had this question ever since he woke up and Taka offered to adopt him. She didn't know him, she didn't know what he did, how he got his injuries and how he appeared in her courtyard, but she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, to adopt him and make him a part of her family. Everybody has followed her example. Everybody has treated him kindly (or at least not unkindly) and welcomed him into their circles. And now here Taka stood, just a minute ago glowing with pride that he would finish the Academy in only a year and calling him her son like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Said woman regarded him carefully for a moment, obviously seeing his confusion at her behavior, but after a few short moments she grinned so widely that she had to close her eyes. "It's because you are family, Ichigo."
Ichigo growled low in his throat in frustration. She just didn't get it! He was about to tell her that when her hand came down up on his head and tousled his hair. "Don't be such a worrywart all the time or you will get winkles from all the stress and frowning," she told him.
Annoyed he swatted her hand away. "This is exactly what I mean," he stressed. "You treat me like you have known me for ages, as if I'm really your son and not just a stranger you adopted just two weeks ago. Why?"
Again Taka regarded him carefully, the cheer previously in her eyes gone and replaced by something akin to seriousness. Eventually she sighed and sat down beside him and leaning back on one of her hands. After a moment of silence she spoke. "Ichigo, I treat you like a son because you are my son."
Ichigo wanted to protest again when she waved a hand in his face. "No, listen to me," she interrupted him. "What I mean is that all of the people I have adopted and made part of the family, all of them became a real part of my family." Her expression turned soft. "All the cousins and siblings I have adopted really became my cousins and siblings. We Shiba are an open and family oriented Clan, and we show that and give proof to it every single day in the way we treat our own, no matter in what relation we stand to each other. We are family, and that is final."
She turned to look at him. "And when I treat you like my son, then that is because I really see you as my son."
Ichigo turned to nod in grumbling understanding but haltered in his movement. "Wait, you just talked about cousins and sibling you adopted." Taka nodded. "What about the sons and daughters?"
She waved him off. "I never adopted any sons and daughters."
Ichigo wanted to rip his hairs out. "Then why did you make an exception for me?!" he half shouted into her face. Family was all well and good, or it would have been if Ichigo received the same treatment as everybody else. But that was obviously not the case here. He just didn't get it. "What did you see that made me stand out?"
Taka sighed and turned her gaze towards the wall. She said nothing at first, and Ichigo already thought she wasn't going to answer him when she finally spoke.
"Your eyes," she said. Ichigo regarded her profile, but Taka didn't look at him. "I saw into your eyes and I saw somebody who was lost. I saw pain, and grief, and anger and desperation and a child that was lost in all of it." She shrugged. "Maybe it were my motherly instincts, maybe it was my conscience, I don't know, but something inside me told me to take care of you. Properly take care of you, not only to give you a room at the compound, a monthly stipend and a pat on the back. You need somebody in your life you can rely on, to be there for you when nobody else is, and that's what I want to be for you. Somebody you can lean on implicitly."
Now it was Ichigo's turn to avert his eyes and stare at the wall. He had to grit his teeth and swallow the lump that has formed in his throat at her words. Was he so obvious that a total stranger (two strangers if he counted Yamamoto) were able to read him like an open book? Were the hardships he went through, all the loss and signs of desperate fighting, that close to the surface?
He always felt like all he experienced, all he has been through, was precariously close to the surface, just waiting to break free and swallow him whole. He though he hid it well, but he has always been a bad liar (proven time and time again), and all the things he did to hide how broken he was inside were obviously not good enough. Or, at least not good enough for Taka and Yamamoto as it seems.
He felt an arm wrap around his shoulders and pulling him into a one armed embrace. At first he tense, but then Ichigo relaxed and let his head rest on Taka's shoulder.
"I know it is hard," Taka said after several minutes of comforting silence. "It's hard to let others in after horrible things happened, but I and the entire Shiba Clan are there for you in case you need them. And even in the Gotei 13 we have a lot of member in many Divisions. You will never be alone again."
If that was only true, then Ichigo wouldn't have to think about all the people he has lost during the years.
The comforting embrace lasted for several more minutes before Taka obviously deemed the time for sulking was over and clapped his shoulder. Hard.
"So, who do we have," she asked herself. "We have my brother Juro in the Fifth Division – he is the fifth seat there -, then we have a couple of cousins and nephews and nieces in the Fourth – we Shibas are good with Kido, you know -, and some are in the Seventh and Eighth... I think. But I know that none has ever been in the Sixth, that's for sure."
"Let me guess, because all the Kuchiki's get a stick implanted up their asses right after birth and can't handle our awesomeness?" Ichigo piped in.
Taka laughed and tousled his hair again. "You get that exactly right. See? I knew you were one of us!" Her eyes lit up again. "Oh, and we can't forget the pride of the Shiba Clan: Your sister, Atsushi Shiba, Lieutenant of the Eighth Division."
Ichigo blinked in surprise. "My sister?" He scowled. "Don't tell me you adopted her, too."
His adopted mother just chuckled. "No no, she is all mine. Well, mine and Hideyoshi's, but I did all the hard work, so I call dibs." She leaned towards him conspiratorially. "If you're jealous of her title as pride of our Clan, then you don't have to worry. When you become Captain you can take that title away from her."
"But only if I become Captain before her," Ichigo argued. Not that he wanted that stupid title, but whatever.
Taka grinned. "In that case you can brag that you finished the Academy early and thus bested her."
"And I can't brag about that now?" There were obvious flaws in Taka's argumentation.
Again she just grinned. "To quote you, you haven't finished yet."
Ichigo grumbled under his breath as he stood up, Taka chuckling in the background. She, too, raised herself off the floor and patted him on the back. "Don't worry, I know you can do it, I have faith in you. But now I have to go. The good thing about being a parent is that I can brag as much about my children as I want – actual accomplishments or not -, and I can't wait to rub this particular thing under Samu Kuchiki's nose" she said and cackled evilly.
She ruffled his hair one last time and gave him another wet smack on the cheek which he quickly wiped away with his sleeve. "Don't get into any trouble," she advised him on her way out. In the doorway she turned around again and grinned at him. "But if you do, make sure it was worth it."
Only when she was gone did he mutter, "Story of my life."
A/N: In one review somebody asked why I don't use honorifics. You know, the -kun, -san, -sama things. You see, I think there are two types of anime/manga fanfictions. Those who try to adopt the style of the culture they originate from or play in, and those who try to bring them closer to the audience. None is better than the other, they are equal, but I decided to go with the letter one.
For an example: instead of using taishou and fukutaishou I use Captain and Lieutenant. This is also the reason why I don't use the honorifics. I used them once when a servant spoke to a Clan person (the -dono as a sign of deep respect etc.), but that was to demonstrate that exact relationship, a Clan member and a servant. I limit myself to only use them in that or similar situations because I don't want to reach too far into that kind of writing because it's just not my kind of writing style.
Another reason: I tend to forget to add honorifics at the end of a name. It would look weird if some names had them and then some didn't because I simply forgot, so I just leave them alltogether.
I hope you liked the chapter, and I hope I get many lovely reviews like last time :3