A/N: Seventh installment, translations at the bottom. Enjoy! x
Amazake-babaa's Anguish - 7
Mikazuki made a habit of pinning up her hair with the sakura branch decoration ever since that night she conversed with Byakuya. She also made it a habit to ignore anything to do with the man for the last week, going as far as stopping her nightly walks, which pleased Takeo. There had been one night where she was walking with Rangiku to The Tamed Strelitzia, when spotting Byakuya she pulled her friend into a series of alleyways, effectively getting them lost. Only to be rescued from the man who she was hiding from.
Chōjirō Sasakibe had asked her to come to the First Division earlier this morning to help with the preparations for the Tea Ceremony Club, being held in a couple of hours. She remembered being hesitant to turn up but forgot the reason why. Her promise to Chōjirō had gotten her out of her futon that morning, even though she wanted to stay in her cocoon of blankets. Mikazuki was running, already late. Under her arm was the rolled up rice paper with the haiku on it. Tendrils of her hair fell out of the clasp, framing her face. All the time spent getting her hair done neatly was ruined, giving her the that-will-do look instead.
"Mikazuki-san, you're here." Chōjirō greeted the blonde warmly, coming out of the mizuya holding some ingredients and utensils.
"Where should I put this?" Mikazuki held up her calligraphy.
Chōjirō took the rice paper from her and worked on turning it into a hanging scroll. After he had finished, the haiku was hung near the entrance for anyone leaving to see. The sun had just peaked over the horizon giving every soul in The Soul Society the first rays of light. She took the kettle and went into the side room to put water in it, Mikazuki heard Chōjirō greeting the other members of the club.
"Ohayou gozaimasu, Unohana-taichou and Kuchiki-taichou."
Kuchiki-taichou? "Kuso." Mikazuki whispered, suddenly remembering why she had originally been reluctant to come.
"Did you say something?"
The intrusion of sound in the small area surprised her and she dropped the kettle into the sink, the clattering could be heard distinctly. "Iie. You shouldn't be in here." Mikazuki made sure not to turn around to look at the man she had tried so hard to ignore.
Byakuya's eyes narrowed, though she couldn't see them as he replied. "Sasakibe-fukutaichou asked me to check how you were getting along with filling the kettle."
Before he had a chance to get any closer to her, Mikazuki turned around with a semi-full kettle in her hands and a not-so-genuine smile on her face. "Let's get started shall we?"
Much to her aggravation, Retsu was kneeling on one of the side cushions. Meaning she couldn't distance herself from Byakuya. The ceremony began and after about an hour, they were all drinking a powdered green tea and eating some cake. There had been an extra piece for when Yachiru decided to turn up, grabbing the desert and shunpoing quickly away.
"Sasakibe-fukutaichou, that new wall hanging is quite nice." Retsu mentioned, looking over at the entrance.
"Arigatou gozaimasu. Mikazuki-san made it."
"Really?" Retsu looked over at the woman beside her. "You should join the Calligraphy Club, I'm sure Kuchiki-taichou is looking for a new member."
Mikazuki was sure that she heard the man take a sharp intake of breath. "I can't. With my duties and this club, I don't think that I would be able to find time." She felt bad for lying to the gentle and soft spoken Captain and really hoped she couldn't pick up on it.
"That's a shame." Retsu said, starting up a conversation with Chōjirō.
Both Mikazuki and Byakuya stayed quiet, half listening to the conversation. They were more aware of the person next to them than anything else. She was sure he knew she had lied and was glad he didn't call her out on it.
The club ended soon after and Chōjirō offered to walk Retsu back to the Fourth Division. Mikazuki quickly stacked all the utensils and bowls up, taking them to the mizuya. Byakuya stayed on his cushion not moving. She heard his movements and thought that he left. She relaxed, her tensed up shoulders lowering. Washing the dishes didn't take long to do. She was on her last piece when she felt someone breathing against her ear. The dish dropped from her hands, splashing a lot of soapy hot water on her shihakushou.
"You've been ignoring me again." He had her trapped, arms on either side of her, holding onto the long sink.
"I have no idea of what you're talking about." Mikazuki blatantly lied.
Byakuya touched a strand of her hair that was framing her face, slowly twirling it around his finger. "You're lying."
She turned around in the little space he left her, their chests touching. His hand went back to holding onto the sink. "I didn't realise you were an expert on my dishonesty."
"If I told you I was, would you stop lying to me?"
"Iie."
He leaned down a little bit. His lips were hovering over hers. Mikazuki clutched at his shihakushou, at first it was to push him, her hands wouldn't push they just stayed where they were. She then decided it was because she didn't want to fall backwards into the sink. A minute had passed before he spoke again.
"Have you ever thought about the first time we kissed?" He didn't move any closer and he didn't pull away.
She wanted to close the gap, their lips were practically touching. She told herself to not be the first to give in, so she just lied again. "Iie."
"Liar, let me tell you something." Byakuya paused, leaning back to look her in the eyes. "I did it to stop you from talking."
Mikazuki frowned, she didn't know why to truth hurt her. Had she been putting more thought into it than necessary? Why was he still here? Her eyes closed to hide the beginning of tears which decided to show up, from his possible lingering gaze. Her hold on him tightened and she was sure he noticed this.
"Yet here I am and you're not speaking a word." His voice was low and she had to strain her ears to hear him even though they were so close, she felt one of his fingers caressing her check. "Why do I feel like doing it again?"
The last bit was said more to himself than to her. Mikazuki's eyes were still closed, so she didn't see him get closer until he was breathing on her once again. This time she pulled to close the distance but her hands were suddenly empty. Opening her eyes she saw that Byakuya was gone.
"Why are your hands in the air Mikazuki-san?" The question was asked by Chōjirō, who just came back from his walk.
"Ano…"
Mikazuki was glad to see that the corridors of the Fourth Division weren't cluttered with injured shinigamis. She was walking with Rangiku, picking up Sayuri. She also made it a habit to not look where she was going as she talked with her friend and bumped straight into a firm chest as she turned a corner. Hands on her shoulders had stopped her from falling backwards.
"Gomen nasai…" She looked up and saw Sōsuke's bespectacled face smiling down at her. "…Aizen-taichou."
"Not to worry Mikazuki-chan." His hands were still on her shoulders and she stepped backwards to get out of his grasp. "Sayuri-chan isn't in. Apparently she is at the Eleventh Division."
Her eyes narrowed. "What business do you have with her?"
"I just wanted to chat." He laughed, though she couldn't see what was funny. "Unohana-taichou told me about the calligraphy at the Tea Ceremony. I'm glad you are carrying on with it, you were always so good at it when I was teaching you."
Mikazuki just nodded and smiled politely as he excused himself.
"Isn't he just dreamy? I can understand why Hinamori-chan has a thing for him." Rangiku said, fanning herself with a hand as she watched the Captain of Division Five leave. "Was it just me or is there some tension between you two?"
"It's betsuni."
They made their way to the Eleventh Division and when arriving Rangiku went straight to Yumichika, they started getting into a heated argument about the latest Rukongai fashions. The Captain and his two other subordinates were just lazing around, her younger siblings and the Lieutenant were nowhere to be seen.
"Where are-"
"They're playing hide-and-seek." Takeo answered her unfinished question.
"Do you think that's safe?"
"Sure it is. Everyone is scared of Yachiru-fukutaichou." Ikkaku replied. "How about we spar Ishikawa-chan, as fellow Third Seat officers?"
"Demo, how am I supposed to beat you when you have bankai?"
Ikkaku got up from where he was sitting and he spat on the ground as he made his way to her. "Obviously it won't get that far. I won't need to activate it."
Mikazuki unsheathed her tantou, holding the saya in her other hand. "Fine, nothing above the shoulders though."
"Whenever you're ready to attack Ishikawa-chan, go." Ikkaku did the same with his katana, also holding onto the saya.
She held out her zanpakutou, the blade reflecting the sunlight. It wasn't naturally so short. Mikazuki preferred close combat fighting and when she first got the katana, the weapon didn't allow for that sort of fighting style. It took years of reishi manipulation before she was able to shorten the blade, giving her time to experiment with it as well.
"Are you going to start? We don't have all day." Ikkaku said getting annoyed.
"What happened to whenever you're ready to attack Ishikawa-chan?"
He swung his blade from above his head bringing it down on her. "I changed my mind."
Mikazuki brought her saya up to block but the strength he used on the strike caused her footing to fumble and his blade nicked her shoulder. Ignoring the slight pain and discomfort she lunged forward in a stabbing motion and he hit away her attack with his saya. She used the momentum to twist around and try to wound him from his other side.
Ikkaku predicted this move and blocked it with his blade. He didn't predict that she would change the direction of her attack, slicing his upper arm. Blood started squirting out in rhythm to his heartbeat. He cursed loud enough for the entire division to hear him.
Along with shortening her blade into the size of a tantou, she had also adjusted the actual blade so that it was double-edged. This made it difficult if she wanted to block an attack with only using her zanpakutou because she would only cut herself in the process, since the hilt wasn't big enough for both her hands. That was when she started using her saya for blocking. It was also good for giving blunt attacks.
He shunpo'd away when gaining the cut, putting distance between them. Turning his zanpakutou upside-down he removed the hilt's pummel, using the special blood-clotting ointment inside to cover the wound.
"I can't believe you're wasting that stuff on a paper cut." Mikazuki shouted.
"Mind your own damn business. You cut an artery and you know it." He flexed his arm to make sure the ointment covered it all.
"Here I thought the men in the Eleventh Division were invincible."
"I'll get you back." Ikkaku slammed both his katana and saya together. "Nobiro, Hōzukimaru."
His zanpakutou melded together forming a spear-like weapon with a red tassel at the end of it. Mikazuki smirked knowing how deceiving his weapon looked. She remembered Takeo telling her one time about it actually being a three sectional staff. She just had to watch out for when he spoke the command. Gripping her tantou more tightly, she moved forward.
"Sakero!"
Ikkaku jabbed the spear forward as it split, the chains lengthening. Mikazuki swatted it away each time with her saya to avoid getting hit. If he didn't move it so fast she could probably cut straight through it, since his zanpakutou wasn't durable in this form. He wouldn't slow down its actions and as she tried to get closer to him, he would jab harder to push her backwards. She miscalculated one of Ikkaku's last swings and ended up trying to block too early. The spearhead came forward too fast for Mikazuki to move out of the way and cut across her cheek. They both stopped what they were doing.
"Kuso! Kuso… kuso." Mikazuki felt her cheek, blood staining her fingertips. "You asshole! That was my face!"
Ikkaku shrugged, acting not too bothered by her outburst. "It's not my fault you were too slow."
Tears of anger fell from her eyes, stinging her new wound. It was sure to leave a scar. There was only one place she knew of that could remove it and she didn't have the means to get there. Mikazuki saw Takeo make his way over to her but she shook her head at him. She was going to finish this. I'm going to need your help.
"Fukigen, Tobenaitori." Her tantou started to glow and using her saya she spread the blades out into a ten-sectioned fan. The tips of it were metallic while the rest was black, the colours of all shikai form zanpakutous.
"Kiki-chan has a shikai?" Yachiru murmured aloud, just as shocked as everyone else watching that knew her.
Mikazuki had kept this part of her zanpakutou a secret, from both family and friends. Being Head of the Detention Unit, she didn't need to call upon the spirit's power. These last couple of weeks have been the most she's ever carried it around at once. She and Ikkaku had attracted quite a crowd of the division's members, they all waited with baited breath for who would win from this match that started out as an innocent spar.
The bald guy started to laugh. "How are you supposed to get closer with that?"
Mikazuki held the fan above her head, the resigning sun casted an elongated shadow on the ground. The shadow didn't look like the fan's shape at all. Instead it was a bird flapping its wings. Mikazuki smiled at Ikkaku, ignoring the blood gathering at the underside of her chin and dripping onto her shihakushou.
"She may look like a melee-type weapon, but you should know to never judge something by the way it looks. Ritoru Hokaku Furaito." She brought the fan downwards and it looked like nothing had happened.
Movement occurred on the ground, shadows of tinier birds were making their way to Ikkaku and fast. He gazed above them but he could see anything. Holding his zanpakutou in front, he braced himself. He felt his arms being pulled away, stretched out to the sides. The staff fell to the ground as his hands released it. He wouldn't have been able to hold on to it any longer even if he tried. Moving was useless, he found out after trying for a few minutes. Not his arms, legs or torso.
"What have you done? I'm paralyzed!"
"Iie." Mikazuki walked towards him, finally able to, her zanpakutou and saya at her sides. "Tobenaitori in shikai form is a projectile weapon. Little nets made out of my spiritual energy can be released from each tip of the fan at will, holding my opponent in place."
Once she was in front of him, she raised her fan and cut his cheek. "Since I can't shunpo, it allows me to get close. Of course I've never tried it out before so I had no idea it would actually work." She slashed at him one more time, a deep gash across his chest.
A huge burst of energy exploded out of him after the gash had opened, making Mikazuki fly backwards. Ikkaku gained full movement again, his spiritual energy overpowering her own, breaking all the nets that had kept him in place. He went over to where his zanpakutou laid and picked it up before he shunpo'd over to her. She could feel his anger rolling off of him, much greater than her own earlier. Knowing somehow his next blow would surely decapitate her in some way, she tried to find the strength to move but there wasn't any left. Covering her head she waited for pain that never came.
Takeo was beside her, blocking Ikkaku's attack with his katana. "I can't allow you to do that."
"You want in on the action as well?"
"Iie, we're leaving. Sayuri-chan! Ryo-kun!" Takeo helped Mikazuki to her feet and she put all her weight onto him since her legs were too weak to move themselves.
"I'm staying with Ikkaku-kun. Onee-chan hurt him so much." Sayuri argued with Takeo, glaring daggers at her older sister.
"Okay, Ryo-kun?" The boy just shook his head.
"Chotto matte kudasai." Mikazuki said, trying her best to stand on her own. "Madarame-san, I want to fight you with no weapons."
Ikkaku scoffed. "You're too weak, there's no point."
"I'm beginning to wonder whether the whole Eleventh Division is full of cowards." Mikazuki shouted as Takeo tried to drag her away.
"Oi, don't go putting down my division just because of two seated officers." Kenpachi shouted after her.
"See you later Kiki-chan!" Mikazuki could barely hear the girl shouting from the Captain's shoulders.
Rangiku parted ways with the two when they reached Junrinan. She gave her friend a hug before telling her to get better.
"I didn't need you to save me Takeo-kun."
"Just shove that pride of yours Suki-chan. The last thing anyone of us needs is you dead." He held the door open for her. "Naze?"
"Shirimasen?" Mikazuki looked at him confused.
"Why did you keep your shikai a secret?"
She gazed down guiltily. "I didn't mean to, not really. There was just no point in saying anything. Do you think Sayuri-chan will ever speak to me again?"
"When her Ikkaku-kun is better, I'm sure."
1872 (Inuzuri)
Mikazuki lifted herself up and she spat out the dirt that made its way into her mouth when she connected with the ground. Takeo gave her the stick she had been using to fight him with, which had flown from her hands across the clearing.
"All we ever do is fight with sticks." Mikazuki got up and dusted herself off, before taking her stick. "Takeo-san can't we do something else?"
Takeo paused for a bit, scratching his head. "I suppose we could fight without the sticks."
"Demo, that's still fighting. Can't we swim or go for a walk?"
"Iie." He threw his stick to the ground and raised his fists. "You're going to need to learn this as well if we are going to go to the Shinigami Academy."
Mikazuki experimentally held up her fists, punching forward a few times. "Just don't hit me too hard."
He gestured for her to come closer and turned his hands so the palms faced her. "Hit me with all you got."
She did that, aiming a fist square into his hand, putting all her strength into the punch. Instead of hurting him, she hurt herself. Bringing her hand to her chest, she started jumping around yelling obscenities. Takeo laughed and shook his head at Mikazuki.
"Maybe I should've shown you how to form a proper fist first." He grabbed her hand, trying to rub out the soreness. "You need to have your thumbs on the outside, not the inside."
Mikazuki watched as he closed her fingers, leaving the thumb until it rested over her fingers. His hand easily covered her and he squeezed it a couple of times to show how much less it hurt. He stepped back and had his knuckles facing her instead of palms.
"This time, try and block me."
She held up her hands, suddenly scared. He was going to go easy on her, right? He went to punch her and she moved out of the way. Call it instinct or luck, Mikazuki had no idea how she managed to do it. Takeo tried to punch her again and she ducked before swinging her leg out in front of her, tripping him over. She was ecstatic and cheered at her victory. It was short-lived when he got up to tackle her, knocking all the breath out of her.
"Well done, Mikazuki-chan." Takeo said from above her. "Looks like we found something you're good at because it sure isn't swing a stick around."
23rd February 1870 2:01pm (Karakura Town)
"Take a deep breath in… hold it there for a few seconds… and gently breathe out again."
Mikazuki followed the instructions of her Sensei. She felt weird doing breathing exercises as part of her Calligraphy course, clueless of how it had any relevance. Her Sensei said that it was necessary and so she went along with it and was glad her mother wasn't around to watch.
"Do you remember that haiku I taught you earlier?"
"Chotto."
"I want your strokes to lightly caress the paper to begin with."
She did exactly as she was told. Her first attempt was a disaster, having too much ink on the brush. Mikazuki was glad she didn't make the ink, knowing it would've been either too clumpy or too watered-down. She smiled at her second attempt, her strokes being nice and even this time. Her father had recommended taking up the course, saying the best people to live had great knowledge in the art. Right now she didn't have any faith in her work but somehow with the right amount of practice she could learn to love it.
"That's not good enough."
Mikazuki made a face, not liking the discouragement at all. "I thought it was quite good since I've just started out."
"It's not your calligraphy I was talking about." Her Sensei underlined some of the last characters she had drawn. "It's a white chrysanthemum, not an orange pulsatilla."
1894 (The Shinigami Academy – Seireitei)
Mikazuki was attending the optional Calligraphy class. For the first time she made sure to get there early enough to be seated inside the classroom instead of outside in the hallway. It was also the first time she saw the teacher Sōsuke Aizen so closely. She admired the way he would hold his brush elegantly and his strokes would be strong but not forced. All the girls in the class would stare longingly at him. She wondered whether their reasons for joining the course were actually because of the subject or more because of who taught it. As the class finished, Mikazuki took her time with packing up her belongings. She disliked how everyone would rush out at once, making the space in the hallway even more cramped.
"Mikazuki-chan." She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into brown eyes behind framed glasses. "I couldn't help but notice how much you excel in this art."
She looked away to hide the blush forming on her cheeks. "Arigatou gozaimasu Aizen-sensei."
As Mikazuki continued to pack away her things, she felt him breathing near her ear before whispering. "Do you spend your spare time practicing?"
"Iie." She was trying her best to stay focused but the way he leaned in near her was distracting. "I was taught for a bit when I was alive."
"How did you die?" Sōsuke had a look of concern for her as he asked, though she couldn't see it with her back turned.
"I'd rather not talk about it." Mikazuki started to feel uncomfortable, especially with how close he was staying.
She got up and he took her latest piece of work from her, rolling it up. "Of course, if you're able to remember your memories, it must still be painful."
Mikazuki just nodded. He was walking closer to her and she was walking backwards, until her back hit the wall. Sōsuke leaned in closely, ignoring the panic that showed in her eyes.
"If you ever need someone to chat with, to get things off your chest I'-"
"Aizen-sensei I was wond-" The voice that interrupted Sōsuke's words stopped after seeing the scene before him.
She looked over to the entrance and it would've been the only time she was happy to see boy that stood there. "Kuchiki-sama!"
Mikazuki used the disturbance to get away from her teacher and linked her arm with the noble, earning a bewildered look from him. "Ishikawa-san?"
"Gomen nasai Aizen-sensei, I just remembered that Kuchiki-sama here promised to spend lunch with me."
Sōsuke carried on smiling but it looked a bit forced, "You'll have to help me pack up the room another time then."
Mikazuki and Byakuya left the classroom, when they were out of sight from the man she instantly let go of him sighing in relief.
"What was happening in there?" He asked, obviously wanting answers.
"Betsuni."
His eyes narrowed. "It looked like something to me."
"Don't worry about it." Mikazuki smiled at him before turning to walk away. "Let's just say I owe you, okay?"
Her fingers gingerly touched the thin scar as she looked into the reflection from her tantou's blade. The darkened crusted scab was clearly visible against her pale skin. Her previously smooth cheek now wasn't so smooth anymore. It had been a long time since she had received a face wound. The first had been from Suì-Fēng's zanpakutou when Yoruichi Shihōin was still Captain. Mikazuki had contemplated wearing a hollow-like mask to cover her face, just so no one would see the imperfection it now held. Someone burst into her office making her drop the tantou and she quickly turned to the side so whoever it was couldn't see half of her face.
"Haven't you heard of knocking?" She spat out bitterly.
"Iie." Byakuya said coming straight up to her desk. "I figured if you knew it was me, you would find some way to lock the door."
Mikazuki just shrugged, he had a point. "I thought nobles held common courtesy in high regard."
"There's no such thing as common courtesy when it comes to you."
She turned to face him, suddenly angry, not realising her mistake. "What's that supposed to mean?"
His eyes zeroed in to her cheek, narrowing when they saw the scar. "What happened to your face?"
"Betsuni." Mikazuki tried to cover her cheek with a hand but she was too slow.
Byakuya grabbed her wrist with one hand and with the other he held her chin, fingers delicately hovering over the wound. "It looks like something to me."
She closed her eyes, ignoring his penetrating glare. "I had a sparring match with Madarame-san a few days ago."
He said nothing as he let go of her, making his way to the exit. "That's what happens when you spar with barbarians."
"Matte! Where are you going?"
"To give Madarame-san a talking to."
"You can't do that. It was just a friendly spar." Mikazuki jumped over her desk and pulled him back into her office so she could stand in the doorway, blocking his exit.
"A friendly spar that cut your face open." Byakuya was close to shouting at her, he needed to control the rage he was feeling.
She flinched at his words. It wasn't as if she didn't know the results of the spar, it was all over her face, literally. "I'm sure you came in here for something else, rather than insulting my face."
"Hai." She could see the tension build up visibly leave him. "I need to go to the Maggot's Nest."
"Naze?" She crossed her arms.
"I can't tell you, demo, it's important. I need to talk to that prisoner again."
"Iie." Mikazuki went straight pass him and over her desk again. "You're banned remember?"
"Now you're being childish." Byakuya went over to her placing his hands on her desk, leaning forward. "I want to take you up on that I owe you, you owe me."
"Now who's being childish?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "You can't, that expired years ago, you're too late."
"I don't have time for this."
"Neither do I." Mikazuki held onto a piece of paper. "I have some work to get on with, leave onegai."
He left, fuming. Byakuya didn't know why he wasn't just shunpoing. Maybe he had been spending too much time with that infuriating woman and also thinking about her. Mikazuki's weakness must be rubbing off on him, the most talented at shunpo. The shinigamis he passed made sure to stay out of his way after the first one had been pushed out of it. He was going somewhere in his bad mood and it wasn't to the Eleventh Division.
A/N: Now I know that Tobenaitori's shikai form resembles that of half of Yoshi's (the bounto) doll. Purely coincidental, :/ when I found this out I was too lazy to change anything because I had already spent so long creating/planning her zanpakutou. In saying that, no copyright infringement was intended.
Here are the translations.
Mizuya – water-room with a pantry
Ohayou gozaimasu – good morning (formal)
Kuso – shit
Iie – no
Arigatou gozaimasu – thank you (formal)
Ano – um/uh
Gomen nasai – sorry (formal)
Betsuni – nothing
Demo – but
Saya – the guard/cover
Reishi – spirit particles
Nobiro – grow/extend
Sakero – Split apart/split
Fukigen – soar
Ritoru Hokaku Furaito – little captured flight (probably not right, but it sounds good).
Chotto matte kudasai – wait a minute
Naze – why
Shirimasen – excuse me
Chotto – "kinda"
Matte – wait
Hai – yes
Onegai – please
