Thanks again to those who reviewed/favorited/alerted this fic. I appreciate it.
Deuces: Thank you! As long as I have time and material, there will be updates lol.
Yuuki: Well, I know at least one of your questions will be answered in this chapter. I don't know about the rest though, lol. I'm glad you like it so far :D
Hello everyone! Hope everything has been well so far in this new year. I just started back school -_-. Only three more semesters before I graduate! :). So what will be revealed in this chapter. Let's take a peak ;)
Chapter Four: You Don't Know My Name
The Hidaka manor was vast, beautiful, and one of the more modern manors amongst the noble families. The grounds took up a considerable amount of acreage and had many lakes, ponds and streams. One of the most popular spots on the lands was the large memorial garden. The garden was erected several centuries prior, in honor of the clan's fifth leader, who was considered to be the greatest leader the clan had ever had. It was peaceful and beautiful. It was also where Cho Hidaka liked to spend most of her free time, in order to relax and get away from pressing clan business. However, today was not that case. Today, clan business interfered with her sacred getaway. But in this instance, she didn't mind in the least.
"And, what did you say your last name was again?" The man bowed before the sixteenth clan leader.
"Kuchiki, Cho-sama." Cho smiled as she looked at the young couple in front of her.
"Ahhh. Kuchiki, huh? Well, it seems like the Kuchikis and Shihoins have a strong effect on the Hidaka women. Very well then. I approve of this marriage, Bai. Seeing as how the Hidaka clan has traditionally served the Kuchiki family, I'd be hard pressed to say no. Besides, you seem like a very nice man." Bai-Lin Chang stood up and gave her first cousin a big hug.
"Ah! Thank you so much, itoko-sama! I really love him! Honestly, I do!" Cho giggled, hugging Bai-Lin back.
"I can tell. Congratulations. I'll see you two in a few weeks." Bai-Lin nodded her head and grabbed her fiancé by the hand. She scurried down the pathway leading out the garden, pulling him along with her. Cho couldn't help but chuckle at the slightly younger girl. She always was the hopeless romantic. She shook her head.
"Ahhh, was that young Bai-sama, Cho-dono?" Cho turned around to see that one of the Hidaka elders had come to join her in the garden. She grinned.
"Yes. Yes, it was. She came seeking my approval for marriage. It seems as if she has become smitten with a young man from the Kuchiki house." The elder's eyes lit up.
"Splendid. You know, if we continue to marry off our men and women to the nobles of the four great clans, perhaps we'll gain enough status to become the fifth house."
"Perhaps." He nodded his head. He did not leave. "Was there something you wanted?" The elder nodded his head before quickly bowing.
"Yes, Cho-dono. It is requested that you grace us with your presence at the meeting that was to being at eight. The elders have already arrived." She nodded her head.
"Yes, that's right. I was supposed to meet with the elders today, wasn't I? I apologize. It's just that I haven't seen Bai-Lin in so long."
"Quite understandable, m'lady. But – if you would –" Cho nodded and held up her hand.
"I'm on my way." The elder quickly bowed once more before walking away. Cho sighed deeply and stared at the Sakura trees whipping in the light, calm breeze. So much for a peaceful afternoon.
"Good evening everyone. I apologize for keeping you waiting, but now I'm here." Cho sat down on an ornate pillow across from five of the seven Hidaka clan elders in the meeting room of the estate. "So what is the matter at hand?"
"Cho-dono, the biggest order of business on the agenda concerns the future heir of the Hidaka clan." Cho cringed upon hearing the words leave the Senior Elder's lips. They had brought up the issue of an heir before, but dropped the subject upon her repeated insistence that they did. Now it seemed as if they were back to their old habits.
"Listen, I –"
"Hold on a moment before you protest. Yes, we know that you are still very young for a clan leader and that you have plenty of time to birth children. However, the time you have for choosing a suitor is dwindling down much faster."
"With all due respect, that's crazy, I still have plenty of time to choose my husband as well."
"Correct. You do. However . . . the Kuchiki men prefer to marry their women at a young age. As do the Shihoin men –" Cho rolled her eyes. She looked over at the elder who had come to get her earlier. He sunk down in his seat a little, trying to avoid the 254 year old woman's beautiful, blue eyes boring holes into him.
" – Oh, so this is what this is about, huh? You want me to marry a Shihoin or a Kuchiki so the status of the clan will elevate. Is that what you all want? Huh? For me to marry a man from the four great clans?"
"No, m'lady, nothing of the sort," the Senior Elder said, trying to calm her down. "It's simply the fact that we think that the men from these clans have the most befitting traits for the Hidaka clan leader."
"Basically, we don't want you to marry anyone that would shame us," another elder chimed in. Cho shook her head.
"I don't know." The Senior Elder sighed deeply.
"Listen . . . m'lady . . . we would not continue to press this issue if we had some reassuring signs that you were taking the matter as seriously as we are. We have yet to see you court a man the entire time you have been leader. Now, traditionally, the Hidaka clan does not arrange marriages. However, if the elders deem that it is in the clan's best interest for us to do so, then you better believe that we will do it."
"Now you stop right there. Nobody is arranging any marriages for me. If I marry, it will be for love. I will not be forced into it."
"But, seriously, you must see the dilemma that we are in, Cho-dono. If anything bad were to happen to you, there is no legal successor to the throne. Saiyuchi's three daughters cannot ascend to the throne because they bear the surname 'Chang' and not the family surname. You have no siblings or children to pass the title to. And Yoshimitsu's three children cannot become leaders due to the fact that two are now dead, and the third was excommunicated from the family. Honestly, we are between a rock and a hard place right now." Cho bit her lip and balled her fists together to try to calm down. She closed her eyes before beginning to speak.
"Believe me, I do understand the problem. I am no idiot. However, I will not be pressured into marriage by anyone. I will step down as clan leader if you all should decide to arrange a marriage for me. In other words, you would be left without an heir regardless. Furthermore, I will do my duty and produce an offspring in order to maintain the status of the clan, but I will do so at the time of my own choosing. Have I made myself clear?" All of the elders present nodded their heads.
"Yes, Cho-dono we do understand," the Senior Elder said. "However, if we deem that you are not making any progress after a certain period of time, then we will have to result to other measures." Cho did not acknowledge the elder with a 'yes' or a 'no'. He took this reaction as a hint that they had better end the meeting shortly if they knew what was good for them. Indeed, the Senior Elder did call an end for the meeting. Cho stared coldly at the elders as they, one by one, they left the room.
"Wow, that was interesting. Being clan leader is rather troublesome isn't it?" Startled, Cho jerked her head around, trying to see where the voice came from. She calmed down drastically after seeing that it was only the shinigami with the light hair. She smirked.
"Well, well. I haven't seen you in quite some time." The shinigami smirked as well.
"Likewise. A little over ten years, I'd bet."
"Mmm, something like that." She stood and turned around to face him fully. "What brings you by?" The light haired man's smile grew.
"I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I have some juicy information that you might want to hear." Cho cocked a brow.
"Really? Is that right?" He nodded his head.
"Yes, it is right." He chuckled. "However, I suggest you sit down first before I tell you."
Setsuna felt like she had been hit in the head with a mallet when she gradually began to come to. Ugh, what happened? Did I just black out? Ever so slowly, she opened her eyes and saw two individuals hovering over her bed. Their faces held both relief, questions, and concern. Then, like an ocean wave, everything that had happened earlier came flooding back to her memory. She sat up in bed. "You!" She pointed at Rukia. "You knew my name. What the hell are you doing here? Who are you?"
"Glad to see that you're finally awake." Setsuna turned to Ichigo, who now had a very calm expression on his face. Setsuna narrowed her eyes at him.
"I could say the same for you too. How could you scare me like that, Ichigo-kun?" She looked at both of them. "What are you two anyway? Ghosts?" Rukia narrowed her eyes as well.
"What do you mean, 'what are we'? We're soul reapers, just like you." Setsuna looked at her as if she were crazy.
"Soul reaper? What is a soul reaper? I have no idea what you're talking about. How can I be something that I don't know anything about?"
"Yes you do. You are a soul reaper, Setsuna."
"Nooo. I am not."
"Are you joking?" Rukia threw up her hands, beginning to get angry. "You are a soul reaper from the Soul Society! You used to serve in the thirteenth division with me!" Rukia could tell that nothing was beginning to click. "Your best friend was a part of Squad Eight!" Setsuna shook her head. She still did not understand. Rukia sighed deeply. "Don't you remember me? Rukia Kuchiki? Or my brother, Byakuya? Surely you can remember him. My brother and your sister used to be good friends."
"Sister?"
"Yes! Sayori Shihoin! Don't you remember her?"
"Rukia! Stop!" Ichigo grabbed the frustrated woman by the arm, trying to get her to settle down. "I really don't think she remembers."
"I don't know anyone named Rukia or Byakuya or Sayori. I don't know what you're talking about!" Rukia's breath hitched in shock. She could not believe that Setsuna could not remember anyone, considering how close she had been to them. How close they had been to each other. The two women continued to stare at each other for a few moments, neither knowing what to say to the other. Ichigo sighed.
"Set – Setsuna-chan . . . how long have you been able to see spirits?" he asked, trying his best to cool the tension between the two. Setsuna turned to him before looking down at her hands.
"I don't know. Ever since I can remember I have been able to see them. I just never told anyone. I didn't want people thinking that I'm crazy." Ichigo chuckled.
"Trust me. I know plenty of people who won't think that you're crazy." Setsuna cocked her head, confused. "Chad, Uryu, and Orihime can all see spirits too. So can my little sister Karin, but you haven't met her yet."
"That makes sense. I can tell that those three have above average spiritual pressure. I could feel it in Tatsuki and Keigo as well. Honestly, I could tell it in you too when we first met, Ichigo-kun. Guess I now know why, huh?"
"You have immense spiritual pressure as well, Setsuna," Rukia added. "That's why those Menos were after you." Setsuna cocked her head in confusion again.
"Menos?" Rukia sighed and ran a palm over her face.
"Don't tell me that you have forgotten about Menos too? They're upper level hollows."
"Hollows?"
"My God, Setsuna!" Rukia reached behind her and out of nowhere, pulled out a writing pad and a black marker. She began to scribble on the paper.
"Oh no," Ichigo said to himself, fully aware of what was about to happen. Setsuna looked at him.
"What? What is it?"
"You'll see."
"There! Done!" Rukia turned the notebook around so Setsuna could see her drawings. On one side of the paper, there was a happy looking rabbit, surrounded by sparkles. On the other side, there was an angry looking bear, surrounded by dark clouds and lightning bolts. "This," she pointed to the bunny "is a plus. Pluses are good spirits that have no murderous intent. You know, like me and Ichigo." She then pointed to the bear. "Now this is a hollow. Hollows are evil spirits whose only mission in life is to kill and eat souls. They are the bad guys." She turned to the next page, completely ignoring a matching pair of disbelieving looks. On the second page was another bear, dressed as a Menos Grande. "Now these are Menos. These are the Gillian class of Menos. They are made up of a whole bunch of hollows that have come together as one. A hollow soup, if you would. These hollows are especially strong and are quite tough to defeat. Now on to the Adjuchas –"
"Okay, okay." Ichigo said, grabbing the pad away from Rukia. "I think Setsuna-chan has seen enough of your crappy drawings for now." The short shinigami narrowed her eyes and balled her fists. She hit him on the arm.
"You jerk! My drawings are not crappy! At least she got the point! Right, Setsuna?" Setsuna slowly nodded her head. Indeed, she did get the point of the drawings, but she agreed that they were poorly drawn. She wasn't about to tell Rukia that, however. Rukia smiled. "Good."
"So . . . why are the Menos attracted to me and not to you guys?" Ichigo shrugged his shoulders.
"That's what we've been trying to figure out." Rukia nodded her head.
"Yes. Granted, Menos are attracted to anyone with high amounts of spiritual pressure. However, generally, the Menos do not appear this frequently or at the large amounts we've seen lately." She placed a hand on her chin. "It is pretty obvious that your spiritual pressure is being contained, seeing as how I remember it being much stronger than it is now. But the problem is that you don't remember anything."
"What do you mean?" Setsuna asked.
"What I mean is, since you don't remember your past, you probably don't remember how to use kido or a zanpakuto. So there is no possible way that you know how to contain your spiritual pressure." Ichigo's eyes lit up.
"Oh, I get it! It's like someone is controlling her spiritual pressure for her." Rukia nodded again.
"Right. But who and how is the question. Also, it seems like someone other than us knows that Setsuna is in the world of the living and is sending the Menos after her. This person is probably the same one who broke Ukitake-taicho's barrier." Ichigo scoffed.
"Aizen."
"Maybe. Aizen seems to be the most logical answer. But what would be his motivation?" She pulled out her soul pager and began texting. "I'll have to ask Ukitake-taicho about it." Setsuna bounced her eyes back and forth between the two shinigami, now more confused than ever. She slowly raised her hand, hoping to be acknowledged.
"Yeah?" Rukia asked, temporarily leaving her thoughts.
"So . . . who is this Aizen, person?" Both Ichigo and Rukia face palmed.
A/N: So many questions, lol. I promise they will all be answered in the upcoming chapters. I'm estimating that this will be between a 15-20 chapter story. So I'm a fifth of the way there, lol. Thank you all and don't forget to let me know what y'all think! ;)