Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach
Rating T (I guess, I'm never good at determining this stuff…)
Mini author note:
"Hollow" – normal talking in the outside world (anywhere other than Isshin's inner world) and Isshin talking inside the his inner world
'Hollow' – thinking
'Hollow'– Zanpakutou talking to shinigami while the shinigami is in the outside world. Zanpakutou thinking in the inner world.
"Hollow" – Zanpakutou talking.
A/N: Huge thanks to Freya, Wulf 4 Life, Caitlyn, It's a Mystery, 20z20, PennyOfTheWild, and FlourTheCat for reviewing. Your support means everything to me. There's no excuse for not updating for this long, but I'm here now, and I'm here to stay!
O-O-O
Chapter three – Interlude
O-O-O
Like a garganta, the sky tore open seven meters above the surface, basking the ground in gentle orange glow of the entrance to the Royal Palace. A lone figure emerged from that light. He stood there for a few minutes, enjoying the cold breeze on his face, then jumped down to the ground without making a sound. Despite Tokyo's bright lights and crowded streets, his descent into the busy city centre caused no alarm – for no one had noticed him, even though just his touch could kill an unprotected soul. Hell, protected or not, fledgling souls of mortal humans would vanish in thin air simply from standing next to him. Beneath the dark gray hood, his gray eyes examined the faces of men and women that obliviously walked past him. The rest of his body was hidden by a long gray coat that reached almost to the ground.
He smirked, satisfied that the giant seal that covered both his back and shoulders was doing its job. On his back, he carried a simple katana, sealed and strapped in – there was no reason for him to use it. Only the oldest and most powerful of the Vasto Lorde would even consider facing him.
As a spirit of a dead child floated to him, he flashed one of his rare honest smiles, ruffling the child's hair. The young boy looked up to his face, staring in his gray eyes, noticing the ageless face, and a paled complexion. The child's eyes widened with surprise, as he bowed his head.
"Kami."
Now it was the man's turn to look surprised. He didn't wear the uniform of the shinigami, and even if had, it still wasn't the appearance mortals expected of them. Smirking kindly, he spoke with a soft, yet authoritative voice.
"Yes, child?"
"My dad…" the child sniffed, holding back the tears. "A monster a-ate my d-dad!"
The man stood silent, not sure what to say. Finally, he took in a deep breath.
"Where?"
"T-There…" The boy muttered in a whisper, pointing at the street's corner. When he looked back up, the man whom he had mistaken for a god had disappeared.
From around the street, a Hollow's head rolled out, soon followed by the rest of its large scaly body. The child screamed, but stopped when he felt the reassuring touch of the man's hand on his hair. Neither the gray coat nor his hands were stained with the red traces of the monster's blood.
But, by the time he got to look up to the man's face, he realized that he was staring at air, the man being long gone.
When several minutes later Enjōji Tatsufusa, third seat of Eight Division and a mountain of a man arrived, all he could see was a young boy sniffing with teary eyes and a happy-ish smile. When he looked at the Hollow's slowly disappearing body, he was both shocked and terrified to see that the beast's head was not severed by a blade, but rather torn off by brute force.
'By god…'
"What happened here little boy?"
The boy looked up to the shinigami and, through the tears he no longer held back, said.
"Kami-sama saved me!"
O-O-O
The man was already on the outskirt of Tokyo, moving faster than an eye could keep up, his feet barely brushing the surface of the ground, and each step thrusting him several meters forward through the air. To him, shunpo was a useful accessory, but there was nothing that could compare to the feeling of the rush of air on his skin as he blasted through it at supersonic speeds, running. As the street in which he was running neared its end, he saw a thirty story building appearing in front of him. Not slowing down even for a second, he thrust his foot into the concrete, shattering it, launching himself skyward. He stretched out his hands midair, grabbing the ledge of the building with a wall-crushing grip, and using his momentum and his hands as a pivot point, rotated his body onto the building. As soon as both his feet touched the floor, he readied himself to run off the edge in another supersonic burst of speed, only to feel a presence on the roof he was standing on.
"With due respect, could you not have used shunpo, Izanagi-sama?" Miyamoto spoke, naming the man with one of the names most commonly associated with him. Miyamoto knew that this name, just like so many others, was a fake, an eccentricity displayed by both members of the Royal family. And as far as their apparent godhood was concerned, well... The Soul King himself always defined himself human, and utterly rejected the idea of being a deity. His son on the other hand didn't find it worthy of his time, and hence didn't bother correcting everyone, unintentionally keeping the myth alive.
"Won't you fall on your knees? You are standing before your Sōtaicho here, after all." Izanagi asked with a concealed smirk.
"I would, but long ago I made a policy never to bow before old friends." Miyamoto looked up and chuckled, looking in Izanagi's grinning face. "How long has it been, old friend?"
Izanagi shrugged, and took off his hood, revealing his dark black hair to the setting sun.
"A century here or there?" He replied.
"Feels like more." Miyamoto too now shrugged. "How's home?" He asked, his voice hinting but a trace of nostalgia.
"Still standing, for now. Don't worry yourself," He added, not fooled by Miyamoto's question even for a second, "she's still waiting for you."
Hearing this, Miyamoto gave off an almost nonexistent sigh, but otherwise not showing any sign of the overwhelming relief the he felt, as her name echoed through his soul.
'Tomoe…' Three centuries of absence were indeed a long time.
His thoughts were disturbed by the sound of Izanagi's voice.
"How's your new assignment? Are you any closer to bringing in the deserter?"
"I believe you received the report Ajax sent at the same time I have – that subordinate of his that Achilles assigned him for support made contact with the target. You already know this, right?" He was surprised when he realized that Izanagi was looking at him slightly surprised.
"You're kidding, right? Izanagi…?"
"Don't give me that look. I must have simply overlooked the report during my work, that's all."
Miyamoto sighed, but didn't bother to state out he noticed the Soul Prince's little lie.
"The fourteenth, Busujima I believe her name is, met the target and engaged him in brief combat, but was tricked and disabled. Ajax treated her injuries with his zanpakutou, then took her back to the Royal Palace for healing. He should return soon."
"Always the responsible one, he is… Very well." He smirked. "It seems you got all under control here." He slightly bent his knees. "Ciao."
In a burst of speed, he ran off the roof of the building they were on, jumping to the ground thirty floors bellow before continuing his mad dash through the streets that lead out of the Tokyo city.
Back at the top of the building, Miyamoto sighed, shrugging.
'Even after four thousand years…' He shook his head in disbelief. 'That man will never grow up.'
OOO
Shiba Kaien was not a happy camper. Not happy in the least. He was inside of a small office, leaning on the wall while he studied the facial features of the man that summoned him. The man in question seemed to be tall, though how he was sitting behind his office desk at the time, he might have mistaken. His skin was dark tanned, and he had the eyes of a European, or maybe American. He had blond curly hair, as well as blue eyes and wore a typical black business suit with a navy blue tie. And he knew Kaien's secret identity as shinigami.
'US military personnel?' Kaien wondered. 'There are still some US bases in Japan from the war. Is he from one of them?' He had many questions. Like per instance, how the hell could an ordinary human even see him? He could as well start with the most pressing one.
"How the hell did you recognize me?"
"It wasn't all that difficult." The man replied.
"Care to elaborate?"
"Eee-laborate?" The man kicked back in his chair, lifting his feet on the table. Through a wide grin he said: "What's there to elaborate?"
Kaien's eyes narrowed. This guy knew something he didn't.
"How did you recognize me?"
To this, the man took his feet of the table, and opened a drawer. Without saying a word, he pulled out an A4 sheet and pushed it across the table.
"What's that?"
The man smirked, as he pulled a lock of hair behind his ear, as a confident smile lingered on his lips. "Check it yourself." Kaien approached the table and picked it up.
He nearly dropped it.
"Shiba Kaien, fukutaichō of the thirteenth division if the Gotei 13." He read out loud. "Height 6'0. Weight 50 lbs. Spiky raven black hair. Shiba clan badge on the arm. Married to Shiba Miyako." His eyes grew wider as the list continued. "Two family members, a sister and a brother. Location of residence, thirteenth division barracks, home situated in western rukongai, Hokutan dist…rict." Crumbling the piece of paper in his hand, he cast a venomous glare at the man.
"Where did you get this?" Heck, even the picture in the corner was that of him in a shinigami Shihakushō.
"From whom do you think?" The man said. The easygoing atmosphere that seemed to surround him just evaporated. He leaned forward in his chair, placing his elbows on the table and crossing the fingers right in front of his face, his blue eyes reflecting Kaien's glare back at him. With a cold voice, he then proceeded to answer: "From your superiors, where else?" All color seemed to have disappeared from the face of the young fukutaichō.
"My… superiors?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion. Whatever was going on, this guy seemed to know way too much to be nothing less than a shinigami agent of some sort. "Who the fuck are you?" He hissed out.
"My, such hostility…"
"Answer me!"
"All in due time, kid, all in due time."
But if he had expected Kaien to play by the book, than he definitely didn't read all there was about him after all. The first punch landed on the unsuspecting blond man's face, making him fall out of his chair. Just as the man tried to get up, he felt the weight of Kaien's foot as the young fukutaicho stepped on his chest. To his surprise, Kaien was already in his shinigami form.
The fukutaicho stepped harder, forcing the man to hiss out in pain.
"Don't bother calling for your security." Kaien said with a smirk, "Even if they could see me…" he paused to pull out his zanpakuto, placing the razor sharp tip against the man's neck, "I doubt they would be fast enough to do something." Pushing the blade only slightly, he made a small red line on the man's neck. He could see a small drop of crimson on the tip of the blade. The mixed feelings of rage and concealed fear reflected off the blond man's face gave him some satisfaction.
"Now, why don't we start over? I want names. Namely yours and your contact's in Soul Society."
The man gave him the grin of a grizzly bear.
"You got some guts kid, coming at me like that. The moment I get out of this gigai, you'll be in for such an ass-whooping…!" He quickly quieted down as the sharp end of Kaien's zanpakutou began drifting towards his jugular.
"Hmm, seems to me you know what happens when a zanpakutou kills something other than hollows, don't you?"
The man nodded.
"They're not called soul-cutters for nothing, right? It can reach you inside that fleshy suit you're wearing." He said with a menacing smile. "How would you like to disappear?"
"It is forbidden for shinigami to kill non-Hollows." The man replied, undaunted, with only a sliver of worry slipping in his voice.
"Oh, no, no, no…" Kaien began shaking his head, enjoying how suddenly the man's eyes drifted over to Kaien's zanpakutou hilt the moment his grip tightened, "…you see, I have all the justification right there on that little piece of paper you gave me. For all I know, my wife and siblings lives might be in danger, therefore, I would be obliged to find out the truth – even if it meant killing you in the process. And do you know the best part?" The just man glared at him.
"Here's the best part – whose bright idea was to meet while in gigai? It doesn't matter how strong you'd be out of it – while you're in one, you're no less killable than any living human out-" He was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing. And, unless the humans managed to develop a phone that could produce real sound instead of that annoying 'ring-ring', not to mention the faint vibrations of reiatsu in the atmosphere, it was definitely a product of Soul Society.
"Where is it?"
"Second drawer from the top. Hidden compartment at the back, invisible to human eye."
Kaien took a step back towards the drawer. "Don't move." He commanded. He quickly opened it and, never taking his eyes off the man, found the hidden compartment. It wasn't locked, but then again, why should it be? He reached in and pulled out a black, standard shinigami issue Denreishinki.
He answered it.
"Yea?"
"Achilles-sama?" He heard a familiar voice on the other end.
"Akon? Is that you Akon?"
"S-S-Shiba-fukutaicho? !" He could hear the scientist's startled voice on the other side. "What are you doing on that phone?"
"That's my line! And Akon, if I'm not happy with your answer, I'm shoving that cigar I know you're smoking so far down your throat, you'll be crapping tobacco for weeks!"
"S-Sir, I was assigned to act as a liaison between Soul Society and…"
Akon fell silent, but Kaien was in no mood for potty breaks. He had less and less idea in what he got himself into, but he would be damned if he was just gonna let some yahoo push him around.
"And? ! Spit it!"
"I'm not sure you have the proper clearance for that information, Shiba-fukutaicho."
"Akon…" he hissed out his name threateningly, "…don't make me come over there."
"Sir, the probability of you being able to come-"
"AKON!"
Suddenly, he heard the man on the floor laughing.
"And what do you want?"
"The phone. Give it to me."
He thought about it for a second. Hell, by now he was just pissed enough to kill the man – what did Akon call him, Achilles – and everyone else in the whole bloody building. The only thing preventing him was that damn piece of paper with the name of his wife written on it.
"You have sixty seconds." He said as he tossed the phone.
"Give me ten." He said with a grin, then put the phone next to his ear. "Tell him everything Akon."
"Sir, are you sure that's wise?"
"Just do it. I'd told him myself if I'd have known how he'd react. And Akon… Tell Ukitake to do better profiling on his subordinates next time. This cat here nearly killed me over a misunderstanding." The connection broke off for a moment, while Akon most likely went to consult his superiors, most likely Kurotsuchi. Soon enough, Achilles heard the scientist's voice.
"Very well Achilles-sama. I shall inform Shiba-fukutaicho of the current situation."
Without saying a word, the blond man tossed the phone back to Kaien.
"That's more than ten seconds." Kaien muttered as he put the phone next to his ear.
"Blame Mayuri."
Kaien cursed.
"Talk to me Akon. Don't leave out a damn thing."
Over the course of the next fifteen minutes, the scientist did just that. He told him of how their objective was the capture or elimination of a dangerous rogue shinigami that was recently located to be passing through Karakura City. Due to the nature of that shinigami's former position, namely being one of the Royal Guard, it turned out that cooperation with them would be of absolute importance. For Kaien, most of that was gibberish, but the scientist's final instruction left him feeling winded.
"Yeah." Said the man, Achilles, as he got up off the floor with an unfriendly smile. "Sucks to be you."
'Crap.' But there was no way he would let this man see that he agreed with him. 'Can't believe this guy's gonna be my superior during the investigation…'
O-O-O
"So… Where are we going exactly?"
Isshin looked over his shoulder. Following him closely was Urahara Kisuke. If the expression on the merchant's face was any indicator, he was very confused.
"Can it Geta-bōshi. Do you want us to get caught?" They were both dressed in standard shinigami uniforms, and were doing their best to not stand out.
"…That wouldn't be the most favorable of outcomes, would it?"
"…No."
"…Are you going to tell me why you dragged me all the way to Seireitei at least? I'm not too big on getting executed. And last time I checked, I was still number one on Soul Society's most wanted blacklist."
Isshin smirked.
"'Fraid I'll steel your thunder?"
"No, I'm just… okay, maybe a little bit."
They waited until a group of Fourth Division shinigami walked past them before they continued talking.
"Relax. Besides, you always bitching about settlements for your shop got annoying after the fiftieth time."
Urahara shook his head.
"I still fail to see how sneaking into Seireitei could have anything to do with our monetary predicament – we're not hitting a bank, are we?"
"Shut up and keep walking…" Isshin hissed silently through his teeth, as he waved a hello to group of shinigami ladies that were sitting inside one of many Seireitei's outdoor mess' where the shinigami would visit after work hours, or during lunch breaks. One of the women waved back, leaving an impression of familiarity – even though Urahara assumed she did that only so she wouldn't appear to be rude, just in case.
"Stop attracting attention, damnit." He hissed back at the renegade. "Are we there yet?" Isshin rolled his eyes.
"The obnoxious kid routine? Really?"
Urahara flashed a grin. "Aaaaaaare we theeeeeeeere yeeeeeeet?"
"Knock it off!"
Urahara chuckled. "Fine, fine… spoilsport."
"And we're not hitting a bank. There's a hidden supply stash here for Royal Guard operatives to use." Isshin explained. "I'm guessing the gear my kind uses while operating in the field sounds interesting?"
"Possibly… go on."
"There's a secret room beneath the Tenth Division barracks. It was made for our operatives in Seireitei, so it's rarely used these days." He paused to think for a moment. "Odds are, there won't be anything with serious firepower… But there should be some adequate stealth systems.
They made the turn at the next corner, and kept moving forward. The roof of the Tenth Division's main barrack came into view in front of them.
"Okay now, use only short bursts of shunpo Geta-bō…shi…" He muttered a curse when he saw Urahara shunpo-ing up to the rooftop and disappearing over to the other side. When he caught up, he punched him in the shoulder.
"Why the hell did you run ahead like that?" He asked the sleazy merchant.
"Puh-lease. You got an ex-taichō here. I know how to stay hidden when I want to."
Hidden atop the roof tiles and hidden from view, the duo waited for the right chance to do a little of break-and-entry.
"Hey, bucket-hat? Who's leading the Tenth these days?" Urahara remained silent, then pointed finger down into the group of shinigami.
"Hitsugaya Toshiro."
"Which one?"
"The one in the center of the group."
"Behind the kid?"
"The taichō is that kid."
"Good one. Now seriously."
"I am serious."
Isshin gawked, but otherwise said nothing. In some fifteen minutes, the courthouse seemed clear. Without making a sound, they jumped down to the ground and quickly waked to the small backdoor that lead into the barrack. Isshin lead them confidently through a bunch of corridors with such ease that it quickly became clear that the rogue had visited the Tenth division many times in the past.
"Hey, Kurosaki?" Isshin grunted in response. "Can I ask you something?" Hearing the rogue grunt again, Urahara interpreted it as an okay. "So, what division were you before you got the promotion?"
"Doesn't concern you." Feeling uncomfortable, Urahara simply muttered a 'sorry' before moving on. They went down the stairs to the basement. Spotting a small broom closet door, Isshin flashed a satisfied smile before stepping inside. He pulled out the pendulant he wore around his neck and pressed it against the wall opposite to the door.
"What are you doing?" Urahara asked.
"Shush." The merchant could hear the rogue mutter something under breath, ending with 'Noren Mekuri', 'Kyōmon' and 'Sho'. The wall suddenly appeared to be a lot less solid. Mist-like, even. Isshin confirmed it by stepping through.
"That's quite some kidō you got there…" Urahara muttered for himself following him into darkness, but Isshin heard him nonetheless, and grinned as he lit up a small torch and used it to light up the dark. He then held up the pendulant so that Urahara could see it before putting it back around his neck and hiding it in his Shihakusho.
"Royal Guard needs to be able to fight off any threat. This pendulant is one of many items we use to give us the edge when fighting threats that no ordinary shinigami could stand against."
"And how does that little thing help you?"
"Think of it as a kidō processor. It can combine up to three spells into a big one."
"Fantastic. Can I get one of those?" The rogue dismissed him with a wave of hand.
"Hell no. There's not a spare in any of the three words, human, shinigami or hollow."
"Then…?"
"Royal Palace only."
"Damn." Urahara then noticed a small jeweled dagger on one of the shelves. "What does this one do?" He asked as he reached for it.
"Don't touch that!" Being a science wiz himself, Urahara knew when not to push his luck with the unknown, and quickly pulled his hand back.
"The techies in the Palace have been experimenting with Bakkōtō technology for the past few years, ever since Yamamoto reported their existence. That thing will kill you if you don't know how to use it."
"Bakkōtō tech? Must be something that happened after my exile." He frowned. "If it's so dangerous, how come it's a standard issue for you guys?"
"Who said it's a standard issue?" He grabbed the hilt, but right before his fingers wrapped around it, Urahara saw Isshin's palm start to glow, bathing the tiny tentacles in its light. "They engenered it to be a reiatsu storage and release weapon. And before you say anything, that's all I know about it. They never thought me how to actually use it." He returned the dangerous dagger back on the shelf. Behind his back, he heard Urahara sigh in disappointment.
"What else do you got here?"
Isshin frowned as he looked around himself, examining each shelf before he saw what he was looking for. He picked up a small chest, less than thirty centimeters wide and showed its contents to Urahara with a grin. The merchant needed to look at it only once to know what was in front of him.
"I'll take it!" He said, with a grin matching the rogue's.
O-O-O
"Ugh! This bites!" Matsuri groaned. She was sitting on top of the Karakura bridge, with her feet dangling over the edge. Her brother, who was lying next to her with a straw in his teath, facepalmed.
"Kid, you just had a brush with death. Chill."
"Easy for you to say. You don't take anything seriously."
"I do."
"Mhmm."
"I do!"
"You spent most of your time off duty asleep!"
"And I spend most of my time on duty fighting your share of hollows – not that there's anything wrong with that!" He quickly corrected himself. "I'll keep doing it till you get a full recovery." When the girl sighed, he got up to a seated position and wrapped his arm around her. "You're still upset about that rogue guy who saved our collective behinds, aren't you?"
"And you're not?"
"Absolutely not!" He said with a fake smile. "Think about it – a guy like that can take care of himself, right?" But guilt made his stomach churn inside. 'Take care of himself? Against Shiba-fukutachō and the might of a full division at his back? Nobody's that tough.'
"Nii-san…"
"What?"
"Do you get the feeling we're being watched?"
The teenager scoffed. "We're always being watched when up here. This bridge is a tourist attraction. People look up all the time." He leaned forward over the edge, sticking out his tongue at the crowd below. "That doesn't mean that they can see…" It took him a few seconds to realize that there was a man in the crowd looking straight at him. From the look in the man's eyes, Fujimaru felt chills running down his spine. "They can't see us, right?"
Matsuri tugged him on the sleeve of his Shihakusho.
"Let's get out of here, nii-san."
"Yeah, let's."
And in a blur of shunpo they were gone, leaving the strange man dressed in white and blue behind them. His searing gaze followed them across the sky, hidden beneath strands of brown hair. Before anyone noticed anything, he slipped the small silver cross back into his sleeve, as he started walking in their general direction.
O-O-O
(End of chapter three)
A/N: Okay, I'm guilty as charged. There's no way to express how deeply sorry I am for not updating this sooner (or sticking to the time table I put up on my profile, for that matter… my bad).
Okay, so here I have introduced a new character – the strange leader of the Royal Guard, the man that took upon himself a name of a god. He's also the son of the Soul King. Just to clear any misconception here, he is NOT a god, or an avatar of a god, or anything god-related. And unless I change my mind (which is unlikely at this point), his appearances will be limited to cameos and some Royal Guard related scenes throughout the story. (He will play a lot more prominent role in the sister story of "Scathing Moon Rising" – namely my other fanfiction "Innocence is a Virtue")
I also reintroduced two other characters – Miyamoto and Achilles (from Japanese and Greek cultures respectively). Just in case anyone forgot, Miyamoto is the second seat in the Zero Squad (top 13 elite warriors of the Royal Guard), and Achilles is fourth.
You also got a sneak peek into what gizmos and doohickeys that set the Royal Guard apart from its Gotei 13 counterpart (lots more to come), and a small glimpse into what will occur in the next chapter. Hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing (it was a blast for me).
While I'm on the subject of gizmos and doohickeys, I guess I should explain a bit more on how the kidō processor built into Isshin's pendulant works. It's basic principle is to take several spells and use them at the same time – something that the shinigami can do on his own, like Byakuya and Rukia (dual incantation) but with the help of the pendulant, the user is given the chance to skip most of the incantation (as you've already seen in this chapter). It also allows a three spells to be used at the same time and in some cases develop unique properties when put together. The spells Isshin used to open the hidden passage were: 'Noren Mekuri'(Curtain Stripping) which removes the invisibility illusion, 'Kyōmon' (Mirror Door)An high level force field that deflects attacks from the outside but is easy to break from the inside. And 'Sho' which is the level 1 Hadō spell, sometimes translated as 'Thrust' or as Bleach Wiki now states it 'Clash'. The combination of three, along with Isshin's special incantation (which I omitted for obvious reasons) allows the barrier to be removed.
3rd A/N: I believe that's all the explaining necessary for this chapter. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. As always, reviews are review addict's best friends (metaphorically speaking, of course :p ). Hope I'll be able to update soon! (…or sooner than this time, at least, hehe.)
See you all next time!
~KuroiTori-sama
PS: That was one helluva long endnote :p
