More updating! Enjoy the chapter!
Shout outs to:
GodofGreed: Aha! Ken-chan and Mayuri? They are definitely worth adding next! I'm pretty sure Natsu's reaction to Kenpachi would be: "FIGHT ME!"
Crazy Red Fox: More Ken-chan! I personally like Byakuya a lot too. He's a cool character. I'll consider it, okay?
Guest: Thanks!
He received plenty of strange looks from the people in the town—Onibus—but he was used to it. However, the fact that all of them could see him clearly was grating on his nerves; he was supposed to be someone that no one could see.
The Shinigami captain waited outdoors as the Fairy Tail mages spoke to the client, restlessly shifting from foot to foot. He remembered what Captain Kurotsuchi said a while ago about the Shinigami Keys.
They finally came out of the building.
"It took you long enough," said Toshiro bluntly. "The person we're looking for is in that direction." He pointed north. "I can sense Rangiku's reiatsu."
Toshiro flash-stepped, disappearing and reappearing about forty or fifty yards away, waiting as the Fairy Tail mages followed suit.
When they almost reached where Rangiku's reiatsu was the strongest, Toshiro stopped them and took his key.
"I'll be the distraction. You'll know when to come out, yes?"
They looked about to protest but Toshiro silenced them with an icy cold glare. Gulping, the other mages hid.
Toshiro continued walking and then sat down, putting the key on the ground before sitting in an alleyway close to the area.
He heard light footsteps on the ground stop. Toshiro assumed that the thief had stopped to pick up the key when he heard slight jingling.
"Which fuckin' Shinigami is this one, eh? Better not be some shitty brat or else that person's gonna get hella pissed at me," he heard. Much to his surprise, it was a female's voice. What vulgar language. This one also had an immense reiatsu.
"Eh, whatever. It's still a Shinigami Key. And hey, it has a pretty dragon on it." He heard cloth rustling and he assumed that the person was shrugging.
The footsteps continued and as the thief went past the alleyway, Toshiro materialized behind her.
"Just where do you think you're going with my key?" he asked smoothly, pointing a sword at her back.
Immediately, the thief spun around with a long dagger drawn, and he got a good look at her face.
She had multi-colored eyes that changed color depending on the light and long and straight black hair. Her midnight black cloak was made of satin and swirled as she turned.
"Nowhere that concerns you," she responded quite calmly, her dagger still pointed at him. "I was right. You are a shitty brat."
"Be careful of who you are talking to," Toshiro replied coldly. He flash-stepped behind her, his sword at her throat and his hand around her left wrist—which carried the dagger.
"Oh, I'm so fucking scared," she mocked. A sadistic smirk crawled onto her face. "You're the one who should be careful, shitty brat.
"I summon thee, Shinigami!" she shouted, her right hand holding a Shinigami Key.
A portal opened up and his lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto, appeared. The moment she appeared, a black bracelet that he'd never noticed wrapped around her left wrist.
Toshiro was shocked enough that his grip slackened and the thief was able to slip out of his grasp. Only then did he notice that there was no one around; it was strange. Perhaps the thief's reiatsu was too strong.
"Now, Matsumoto, why don't you go attack the child over there?" purred the thief, her eyes gleaming crimson.
Apparently, Matsumoto was forced to obey. Her movements seemed slow and forced, however, and Toshiro deduced that his lieutenant was trying her hardest to go against the order as he ducked and weaved.
The bracelet. Of course. It suddenly hit him. Toshiro slashed at his lieutenant, aiming for the black wristband.
"Oh ho, a smart one, aren't you?" the thief said, smirking. "You know exactly what's controlling her, and you're going for it? Excellent! My master will be pleased."
The instant Hyourinmaru connected with the bracelet, a series of ancient letters appeared above the bracelet. Toshiro found that the sword was attached to the bracelet, and his hands were stuck on the hilt. Suddenly, he felt a tug on his reiatsu.
Agony raced through his body, and he gritted his teeth to hold in a terrible scream. Apparently, whenever this mode was activated, the mind control part of it didn't work because his lieutenant stopped mid-swing and frantically tried to take off the bracelet. It began draining his reiatsu.
However, when he studied it carefully, he realized the bracelet was becoming thinner and his sword was making progress. Biting hard on his teeth, he focused on destroying the bracelet. Within a few moments, it shattered, sending shards of black metal into the air.
He leaned on Hyourinmaru to catch his breath while Rangiku regained control of herself. Quickly, she drew her sword.
The thief continued smirking sadistically, but before she could force Rangiku to go back, Toshiro stole the two keys back with flash-step.
"You do realize that the bracelet is the only thing that was controlling me, right?" said Rangiku. "So you no long have control over me. The key merely allows the user to summon the Shinigami, but the Shinigami has the power to decline and accept these summons."
The thief merely laughed. "You may be fine, but you should consider looking after the shitty brat. I'll be taking my leave now, shitty brat, Rangiku." Then she ran off.
"Dammit…" he said. "If only… I actually bothered… listening to what…Kurotsuchi… said… I'd still be fine… I stayed… in this world for too long…" Darkness pressed at the edges of his vision, and he swayed before collapsing, his breath coming in ragged pants.
"S-shit," he managed.
"Captain, how long were you in this world?" Rangiku demanded.
"…An hour and a half…" he muttered.
The Fairy Tail mages finally came, apparently overwhelmed by the immense reiatsu that the thief possessed. Rangiku scooped her Captain up, much to his chagrin, but he didn't do much about it.
"We have to get back to Soul Society immediately. Take these keys, young lady," said Rangiku, tossing Lucy the keys.
"What's wrong with him? I could heal him," said Wendy quietly.
"I can't afford to wait much longer. The ethernano in this world is like poison to Shinigami if we stay too long," Rangiku said hurriedly. She'd sent a Hell Butterfly to Urahara a moment ago, hoping for a response. "At maximum, we can stay for two hours but we start to grow weaker after one. Don't summon Captain Hitsugaya until he can come by himself."
Suddenly, a Senkaimon opened, and Rangiku breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll be going now. I'll come around to talk to you, okay?" Then she ran into the portal and the doors closed before disappearing.
Rangiku appeared in the Seireitei, immediately flash-stepping to the Squad Four barracks. Without knocking, she burst in, drawing the attention of most of the squad members.
Captain Unohana instantly assessed the situation and a few other Shinigami took Captain Hitsugaya off to another room.
"How long was he summoned?" Unohana asked.
"According to him, about one and a half hours, but it could be more, considering that he tends to leave these details out," Rangiku answered.
"Foolish pride," she heard Unohana mutter under her breath. "Anyway, the amount of reiatsu lost is unnatural for even two hours. What else happened?"
"The person who found my key summoned me and—before I could make a contract with her—put this black bracelet on my left wrist. Apparently it allows mind control and absorbs the reiatsu of whoever tries to destroy it. However, while it's absorbing reiatsu, not only is it vulnerable, it also leaves the wearer free of mind control. Additionally, I originally thought the key bearer was male."
"What did this thief look like?" continued Unohana.
"When I first met her, she was wearing a cloak and hood. Also, her voice was fairly masculine. However, when she summoned me the second time, she had multi-colored eyes and long black hair. She also had a dagger."
"Anything else?"
"Nothing, except that the thief is clever."
"You may go now," Unohana said dismissively, heading into the room that Rangiku's captain had been sent off to.
"But"—Rangiku began.
"Your captain will need rest. You can visit some other time."
Sighing in defeat, Rangiku headed off to the Squad Five barracks to pay a visit to a childhood friend of her captain's—Momo Hinamori.
(PAGE BREAK)
The next morning, Toshiro woke up to see a rather feminine face hovering over his. Surprised, he sat up so fast he hit his head against the other's, eliciting a sharp exclamation of "shit" from him and "ouch" from the girl.
"Shiro-chan!" complained the girl—who was obviously Momo, considering that she was the only girl allowed to call him that.
Toshiro rubbed his forehead ruefully as he glanced around, studying his surroundings. Apparently, he was in the infirmary. "Don't startle me like that. Your thick skull could give me a concussion."
"That wasn't nice, Shiro-chan!"
"Anyway, what are you doing here?"
"Visiting you, of course," Momo responded as if that should be obvious—which it was but he wasn't thinking clearly. "You were out for three days and three nights! We were worried."
Well, shit. It wasn't the next morning.
"You lost a lot of reiatsu," Momo continued. "Captain Unohana wasn't sure you'd make a full recovery, but I guess you will."
"Of course," Toshiro replied. "I worked hard for my title. I'm not about to give it up for some little retarded thief."
Momo winced. "About that 'little retarded thief'…" she trailed off. "You might want to look at this." She passed a file to Toshiro.
It was labeled "Kagami Mimikku" (Kagami means "mirror" and mimikku means "mimic".)He opened it and found a few papers inside. By the looks of the pages, the file was at least a few thousand years old.
The first page showed a picture of the thief that had taken Rangiku's key. "Kagami Mimikku, descendent of the Mimikku clan. DECEASED." Toshiro turned the page.
"Name: Kagami Mimikku, last of the Mimikku clan.
"Zanpakuto: Akumamira (akuma means "demon" and mira means "mirror")
"Age: Died at six thousand six hundred and sixty-six.
"Relatives: None known.
"Rank: Captain of the Fourteenth Squad.
"Killed in battle.
"Shikai: None.
"Bankai: None.
"Other: Captain Kagami Mimikku was one of the few captains that did not have a Bankai or even a Shikai. Her Zanpakuto was mirror-like and reflected everything. Not much about her Zanpakuto is known."
Toshiro turned the page, a page about her Zanpakuto.
"Akumamira is a rather long and thin sword that widens and thins to the wielder's will. Its hilt is an ordinary sword's hilt, except for the long and mirror-like chains that hang from the back of it. It is a dark red and black color. The blade changes color depending on the surroundings.
"Akumamira's name comes from the fact that it consists of the colors of hell and that it reflects."
Frowning, Toshiro studied the picture of the Zanpakuto before turning the page. He glanced at Momo.
"There was a fourteenth squad? And is there more on the Mimikku clan?" he inquired.
Momo nodded and passed another two files to Toshiro. He nodded his thanks and opened the first one, the one labeled "Squad Fourteen".
"Squad Fourteen was a squad that specialized in most things. They accepted all Shinigami, no matter their skill. The first Captain of Squad Fourteen is remembered as Zeref the Black Mage. He was able to live in the Summoned world for many years before fading away.
"Several eons later, Captain Mimikku, leading the Fourteenth Squad, was fighting against a group of Quincies during the Quincy extermination. The whole of the Fourteenth Squad was wiped out, including Captain Mimikku. However, not a single Quincy was spared either.
"The Fourteenth Squad faded away and its stories are long since forgotten. Most of its records are destroyed."
Toshiro stared at the page for a few moments. "That's a gruesome story," he said, finally. "It seems as though Mimikku was the one who led them to their deaths."
Closing the file, he opened the other one.
"The Mimikku clan is a clan of Shinigami who are specialized in mimicking others' appearances and are masters of disguise. They have a unique ability that allows them to stay in the Summoned world for as long as they please.
"Several thousand years ago, the Mimikku clan was wiped out when they turned traitor and attacked the Shinigami. Only one was left. Kagami Mimikku was the last survivor of the Mimikku clan but when she died, her clan's legacy died too.
"Despite the fact that the Mimikku clan turned traitor, they were extraordinarily talented in disguise and swordplay. They did not have a Bankai or Shikai, but they made up for it in stamina, speed, skill, and spiritual energy." He stopped there, seeing as the rest were myths the Mimikku clan created.
Toshiro gave the files back to Momo, who took them. This reminded him too much of the Kusaka incident.
"Thanks, Momo," he said, sighing.
"Anything for my Shiro-chan," Momo teased.
Toshiro's ears reddened. "Jeez, stop calling me that! It's embarrassing!"
I decided to end this on a happier note. Yes, Kagami Mimikku is my OC. Continue to stream in which Shinigami you want next!
So far, Ken-chan has two votes and Byakuya has one…
Keep on swimming—er, keep on voting, keep on voting…
Did you see the Soul Eater reference? It's subtle, but whoever finds it gets to pick which Shinigami appears next.
