Too Great a Second Chance
Chapter 4
So wow. I feel bad. The original note I had here was about how I didn't wait months to update and how great that was for me and everyone who reads this story. Instead, I ended up losing track of actually finishing the chapter because of life and even more time has passed between this update and the last. I'm really going to try to stop this trend, otherwise you can expect my next update in 2020.
It should be obvious that if I owned either Naruto or Bleach, they would be different.
For the second time that day, Zabuza was being escorted by Soul Reapers. The main difference was that he was no longer being lead in chains, which was certainly a plus. However, the apparently deranged old man leading the way was not.
"Oh, Zabu-boyo, you don't know what this means! The last decree from the Soul King was that which set up the creation of the Seireitei, which changed the whole of the Soul Society!" The aged man seemed to be doing his best to dance as they walked, and was doing a poor job of it. He was bedecked in the same uniform as the other Soul Reapers, although he also wore a white haori, marked with the number one. Zabuza vaguely recalled a woman wearing the same thing, but he couldn't quite remember exactly… "Oi, Zabu-boyo, are you listening? You were drafted as a Soul Reaper by the Soul King himself! Isn't that cool?"
"Don't call me that. Also, I don't know who that is. Is he the guy in charge of Soul Reapers?"
"Well, Zabu-boyo, I'm in charge of the Soul Reapers. In turn, the Central 46 is in charge of the whole Soul Society, including us. The Soul King is in charge of everybody!" Zabuza nearly fell forward. This man was in charge of the Soul Reapers? Every other Soul Reaper he had met had seemed like a little better than a street thug. So, was this large, bald, childish, friendly but admittedly creepy man just some administrative schmuck…
Or was he just better at appearances than the others he'd seen so far? What if… "Oi, Zabu-boyo! We're here!" The captain-commander and the Soul Reaper entourage had stopped at the entrance to another grand looking building. Or, it would look grand, if not for the fact that most of the outside was covered in construction scaffolding. "I know that the building stuff makes it look less impressive, but it's still cool right? Right?" It took Zabuza about three quarters of a second to realize that this Ichibē was actually waiting for a response. It took him about five more seconds to gargle a response.
"I've never liked palaces. All they are is a way for the corrupt to hide all their bullshit." Ichibē stared at Zabuza, his eyes wide as ever, completely unmoving. No one shifted for a solid thirty seconds. Then, Ichibē burst out laughing.
"Right you are, Zabu-boyo. Lucky for you, we haven't had time to refinish the foundations from the last palace, and so I'll have to disappoint you. We haven't gotten to any bullshit yet." There! In the last sentence. The Soul Reapers smile had changed, from the kindhearted smile of laughter into a smile of insanity Zabuza readily recognized. Not full blown homicidal insanity. Just general, sadistic insanity. Coupled with some knowledge that if they really wanted to, you would paste before you had a chance to dream of saving yourself. Damn old men. They needed to be easier to read. "This palace, as you put it, is the new administration building for the Gotei Thirteen. The Soul King only ordered our founding one hundred years ago, and this isn't a huge priority, so none of the decoration has been added. It is but a shell. A mold, if you will, for the bullshit." Another smile. Not the insane smile or even the laughing smile of earlier, but a knowing smile. He liked to joke. Intriguing. "As I said, we're still very much setting things up to fulfill the decree of the Soul King, and so things are a bit...untidy. And you've certainly made things interesting." Ichibē was still smiling, but it seemed slightly more forced, neither as knowing or crazed as his previous smiles. "It was difficult to get the nobles of the Soul Society to get on board with making a bunch of thugs in charge of enforcing the law of the land, but we eventually managed," he said this quietly, and came to a stop. His smile was gone, and it was almost more unnerving than when he bore his crazed grin. "We did so by convincing them that by taking Soul Reapers from noble families, we wouldn't be able to convince all of them to turn on their old families. I the end, they came around and allowed us to set up the Gotei Thirteen, and even helped fund the construction of the Soul Reaper academy. Our ranks are still populated by some pretty rough characters, but they're rough characters the nobles recognize. You, on the other hand, are much different. Not only are you from the Outer Rukongai, you're a soul from the World of the Living. That means you're an unknown. And you have already proven that you're both competent and more than willing to kill. That's the perfect recipe to make them worried."
"But you have to take me in because your boss said so." To this, Ichibē burst out into an uproarious laugh. He continued walking towards the incomplete building now looming over them, and held the door for Zabuza.
"Very True, Zabu-boyo. Now, let's introduce you to your parole officers."
While the outside was still fully obscured by scaffolding, the inside of the Soul Reaper headquarters was certainly impressive. Ichibē had brought him to large, elongated room filled with other Soul Reapers in white haoris. The looks on their faces seemed to mainly be indifference, disgust, or fascination.
"Alright, thanks for coming everyone! This here is Zabuza Momochi, who the Spirit King made sure we picked up. Now, I'm sure some of you have doubts of his character, but I can assure you, he is more than willing to support the Gotei Thirteen."
"Is that right, Ichibē? Did he tell you this while he was dismembering someone, or just caving in their chest cavity?" This was from the rather intimidating figure with a large scar across his forehead and an impressively firm scowl.
"Whoa, Eijisai, you're being a bit judgmental, eh? You and your students aren't exactly known for your kindness. Isn't a bit a hypocritical to judge him so hard?" The contrast between the first speaker and the second was almost comically vast. The gruff gung ho samurai had been rebutted by a man with a large, unkempt hairdo and a pair of reflective sunglasses.
"If you're conflating his crazed massacre in the North Rukongai with the justice I deliver, Nimaiya,"
"Then he would be completely right." The room froze. Zabuza could barely make out the features of the last speaker, because their features were completely obscured by a curtain of long black hair. The black locks slowly turned towards the head of the room, Ichibē, and revealed a woman with a thin face and sullen eyes. "From what I understand, he also only killed criminals, and had the decency not to bleed the surrounding towns dry. In that way, he was almost more just than you and your goons. Sorry, students."
"Yachiru," Eijisai ground through his teeth. "You dare lecture me on justice? You, who would rather kill someone than acknowledge their existence? You, whose subordinates are ultimately responsible for this mess? You dare call my students goons while yours kill without discretion?" His voice slowly grew in between his questions until he was nearly roaring.
"Bwahahaha!" Eijisai's anger was drowned out by Ichibē's crazed laughter. "Oh, you're such boisterous comrades, eh? Just don't get too lively or I'll have to quiet things down." Ichibē's maniacal grin had returned, and the clashing rage in the air was quickly reigned in. "Now, on a more direct note, Zabu-boyo needs to join a squad. Now, is there anyone besides Captains Unohana or Yamamoto who'd like to take him in?" Yachiru and Eijisai, who Zabuza assumed were Unohana and Yamamoto, immediately gave Ichibē a death glare, both of which were returned with a gleeful smirk.
"Well, I suppose if someone needs to reign the poor bastard in, I'm certainly willing to," came a voice from Ichibē's right. The man who had spoken had dark skin, startling golden eyes, and slicked back hair accompanied by a neat beard.
"Well then, I see no problems with putting Zabu-boyo in Squad Two. Is there anyone who does object to Captain Shihōin?"