A/N: I was seriously spazzing out earlier today. My internet worked fine this morning, but about an hour after I came home from town, it all of a sudden stopped. I thought it might be because of the weather, but the other computers in my house were working. Needless to say I was very upset with the whole thing. I finally got it to work somehow (still trying to figure that one out) so I'm better now. This chapter was fun too. This is not the last chapter by the way. The next one will be. Thanks to everyone that read/reviewed/alerted/favorited! You guys are wonderful. You keep me going. Thanks again! Anyway, onwards! Good, not good? Let me know. -KG
Chapter Ten: For Their Own Good
Before Yukio could even twitch, two of Soi Fon's division members were on either side of him with a firm grip on his arm. The rain had started to let up a little bit, softening the thudding sound and making her words seem clearer. She stepped closer, continuing were she left off.
"Yukio Otori, you are charged with negatively manipulating and brainwashing unwilling participants, insulting high level officers including the Captain Commander, and the destruction of Gotei 13 property in the Eighth. If you want to see it, I have the order right here."
She pulled out a rolled piece of parchment from her robes and waved it before returning it to keep it dry. She had a scowl on her face, and she looked up when she saw Ivy Giahara appear behind Shunsui and Nanao, watching the sight.
The dark-robed figures started to pull him away from the scene. He stopped suddenly, causing his transporters to stop as well. He turned partially back towards the Eighth officers and looked over his shoulder at Nanao.
"Well, it appears that some things happen for a reason after all."
He said nothing more, and the guards pulled him along again. Watching them disappear around the corner, Soi Fon came up to Shunsui and Nanao, seeing Ivy do the same. She spoke up, wondering why she was here.
"Captain Giahara, are there additional orders from the First?"
She shook her head. "No." Then, she smiled, sweetly of course. "I just wanted to watch him get dragged away. Actually, it's quite embarrassing that someone like that was right under my nose and I didn't catch him."
"You voiced your concern that something wasn't right soon after his transfer into your division. I suppose it isn't your fault that we failed to listen. It seems he fooled us all." She added the last part bitterly, angry at herself for her own weakness in the matter.
Ivy shrugged her shoulders. "What's done is done, I guess." She paused for a minute, smiling a little when she thought of something. "Izuru wanted to come too, but he's still in the Fourth."
"So he's still suffering from the side effects then?" Ivy nodded.
"Side effects from what?" The two female captains looked over at Shunsui. They almost forgot that he and Nanao were still standing there, lost in their own conversation.
Ivy explained. "Brainwashing. It seems that Yukio's power wasn't revealed because it isn't really a fighting skill. He has something like 'the power of suggestion' taken to the next level. At least that's how Retsu explained it. His persuasion abilities make people do what he tells them to for the most part."
"Well that would explain a lot of things." Shunsui was thinking about his run-in with the woman from the Thirteenth in particular.
Soi Fon nodded. "Yes, that's why the demonstration was never held. He apparently talked the supervisors out of it. It was the same at the meeting the other day. That's why none of us really said anything in your defense. We are sorry about that. They wanted me to let you know." She inclined her head towards Shunsui, and he acknowledged that.
"How did you figure this out? Last time I checked, most of you were in support of his suggestion." Nanao wondered this. What had changed in the last few hours?
"Well," Ivy spoke. "After the meeting, several of us contracted rigorous migraines. That didn't seem like an odd thing, but after checking in with Retsu, she found that almost all the captains and lieutenants had one. The Twelfth was called, and don't ask me how, but Mayuri and Retsu were working together until they figured out the source."
"It must've been severe then. Those too are like oil and water. Retsu being like water, of course." Shunsui was right. They rarely were forced to work together, and they only barely tolerated each other. After all, one was dedicated to saving lives, while the other didn't think twice about taking them.
"Everything just fell into place after that. Some members from Mayuri's division came with him to the Fourth, and one them broke down saying that someone had convinced them to set fire to that holding building in the Eighth that exploded yesterday. When they ran tests, they found that he showed the same readings as the rest of us. Yukio was linked to some other things too."
Soi Fon continued after that. "Captain Unohana said that those who resisted Yukio were 'strong minded.' There weren't many who were able to resist him, as you can see. Those that did suffered worse, so Izuru was one to fall victim to that, being that he was one to oppose your suspension."
"So that explains what happened with Captain Zaraki." Nanao was thinking, and that was something that just came across her mind.
"Yes. Who knows what else he may have done too. He was fortunate that the Captain Commander was not in the meeting. He would not have been swayed that easily, and he probably would have noticed that something was happening to us." They all nodded their approval, pausing a few moments in silence.
"So, what happens now?" Shunsui had turned towards Soi Fon again. She seemed to have gotten orders from Yama-ji lately, so she probably knew what they were supposed to do.
"We are to report to First Division. They have some things that need to be changed."
Shunsui smiled, an actual smile verses the ones he'd been giving all day. Maybe things would start turning around now. He still worried about Nanao though. Other than her one question, she had been very quiet. She was usually like this, but today it bothered him. They still had many things to work out.
They began to walk away, getting clear of the alley before they used shunpo. They stopped however, as they heard a small laugh come from behind them. Turning, they saw Ivy trailing behind, covering her mouth with her hand.
"May I inquire about what that you find so funny?"
She smiled at her, knowing that even though Soi Fon seemed brash, she was curious.
"Oh, nothing much, just thinking about Yukio's ability. If the higher-ups would've known about it, they probably wouldn't have wanted him as a lieutenant. I mean come on, what's he going to do, talk a hollow to death?"
At this all of them could be seen failing to suppress a chuckle. It was good to lighten the mood a bit. The rain helped too, for it had let up entirely. Leaving the place in a flash, they headed to the First.
XoXoXoX
Their meeting at the First was about the same as the first time they were there, except all the actions were reversed. Nanao was put back as lieutenant, and Shunsui was once again a Captain not on suspension. Nanao was more than happy to give back the white haori she possessed. Things were supposed to be right now, but Shunsui still felt the weight resting on him. Things were not quite right yet. He didn't worry much about it though, and the thought passed through his mind as quickly as it came. He would settle that as soon as he got a chance. For now, he let himself celebrate silently that this had at least been fixed and Yukio was imprisoned.
When Yukio's charges had been read, the list was quite long for someone that had been in the Seireitei for such little time. They had to trace all his actions back to the very beginning. It started by confirming that he changed his name and had been through the Academy many many years ago. He had disappeared around the same time that Leiko was exiled, waiting to make a move. To get through the Academy once again, he had just 'convinced' the instructors to give him the marks without having to prove anything. Then he used being a prodigy as a cover up.
Shunsui was impressed that they could find so much information so fast. Then again, that was their job, so it shouldn't have surprised him that much. If only they would've known this sooner though, then they could have avoided a bunch of unfavorable situations.
Once Yukio was in, he offset his true nature by his nice guy attitude. Some of his charm had been put into that, so a lot of people were fooled. Those that could see through it, like Izuru, had not felt right, but couldn't see anything wrong otherwise. Of course, the good marks and referrals from the Academy had peaked the others' interest, so they wanted to see if he would do well in an officer's position. To get out of his demonstration, he had done the same thing as in the Academy, he simply told them it wasn't necessary. They listened.
There weren't many times he singled out people for his particular skill, but it was used on Kenpachi Zaraki to discourage his fight. It was also known that he had convinced the Twelfth Division member to light fire to the building in the Eighth. The storage place had been used for other things as well, but everyone knew it was one of Shunsui's sake reserves. An explosion had ensued from the flammable liquid.
Shunsui was also convinced that the same thing had happened to the Thirteenth woman, but he left this information out. It would just complicate things. She had shown some of the same symptoms though, like the daze when it had worn off, so he was positive that's what happened. Everyone knew, like his sake, that he was with Nanao.
The meeting had been what sold them on signing the warrant though. During and after, he had commented negatively about some of the captains. He directly insulted Ukitake, Ivy, and Rangiku, by saying that their judgment was no good. By complaining that no action was ever taken and referring to Shunsui's status as one of his students, he had insulted General Yamamoto.
Then, there was the fact that he had deliberately manipulated captains and lieutenants against one of their own. It was impressive that he was able to sway most of them over, but it was a punishable act. The last thing added to the list was harassment of Nanao. Shunsui made it a point to not leave that out.
After fixing that, they had been sent over to the Fourth. Unohana wanted to check if either of them had extensive exposure to Yukio's skill. Shunsui had no trace of it, but that was to be expected because they didn't interact together much. In Nanao, she had found numerous traces. This could be used to explain the buzzing she felt in her head earlier, the one that had wanted her to lash out against him.
Unohana had given them the clear after confirming that he would no longer have any affect over her from the last time she was exposed. Nanao was more relieved than ever. The feeling she had when he was around made her sick to her stomach. She was glad that he was finally gone.
She and Shunsui were sitting in a room in the Fourth Division currently, watching Unohana leave the room. Jushiro walked almost immediately after, like he had been waiting to do so the whole time they were there. Nanao was seated on one cot, feet not touching the floor. Shunsui was across from her on the adjacent one, looking at Ukitake.
Thinking that they would want some time to talk alone, she got up to leave. Not realizing what she was doing, Shunsui got up at the same time.
"Sit." Ukitake's command made both of them sent him a puzzled look.
"What's the deal, Juu?"
He rolled his eyes in a very un-captain like manner. "You two are not going anywhere."
Nanao began to protest. "But, Sir, I really need to-"
He cut her off. "The only thing you need to be doing right now is talking to him." He pointed at Shunsui. He also looked ready to protest, but Ukitake cut him off too. "You need to talk to each other. I will force it if need be."
Jushiro had been Shunsui's confident in everything. He knew all that happened by now, including the stress that they were going through. Heck, he didn't need to know what was going on to realize that.
"I could cut the tension in the room with a knife. That's why neither of you are going anywhere until you sort things out. I don't think anyone wants to see either of you moping around."
He walked over to the door, stopping at the frame. "This is for your own good, really. I'm going to be standing out here, so don't even think of backing out." He gave one of those eerie smiles, like the kind Unohana had. Maybe he learned it from her.
Sliding the door shut, Ukitake could be heard conversing with division members as they passed by. Shunsui walked over and touched the door, a blue barrier coming up to meet his hand. Jushiro had placed a kido barrier over it. Nanao could probably break it if she tried, but he supposed that there really wasn't a better time to do this. Neither of them should put it off any longer.
"I guess he really wasn't kidding." He laughed a little but then stopped when he thought of what he was going to say. Fortunately for him, Nanao decided to break the silence.
"Are you angry?" She asked it in a small voice, like a child that was afraid of a scolding from their parents.
"What? I should be the one asking you that." He sighed deeply. It didn't make things any easier. "I could never be mad at you for something like that. What he did was…inexcusable, for lack of a better word. If I could, I would strangle him."
Nanao was looking at her feet swinging back and forth, anything to keep her occupied so she wouldn't focus on how nervous she was feeling at this moment. This shouldn't really be a big deal, but both of their faiths in each other had been shaken a bit. Lost in her thoughts, she did notice that he was now standing in front of her. Only until he crouched down and looked at her did she finally snap out of the daze.
He spoke softly, worried if he was saying the right things. "So…you saw what happened in the alley." It wasn't really a question, but she nodded anyway.
"I'm assuming you were waiting for me to say something, then?" She nodded again.
He sighed again, looking downwards for a minute before looking back at her. "Nanao, I'm so sorry. I know it was entirely my fault, what with Yukio's influence, but I still fell terrible about it. It wasn't like what happened to you." He paused for a minute, thinking back on the scene.
"I was running some errands while you were working, and she called out to me for help. She looked a little lost, being so far from the Thirteenth. I asked her what was wrong and she just sort of lunged at me. I pushed her off but…I guess you saw the rest. I'll understand if you don't… trust me anymore." Some other words had come to mind instead, but he didn't even want to think of that.
He had gotten up after, going to move away from her. He really did feel bad. He took one step before he felt himself being pulled back. Looking down, he saw that Nanao had come to life and grabbed onto his hand. She looked up at him with hopeful eyes, feeling the same way he did. She shook her head.
"No, it's just as much my fault. You fell under the same situation that happened to me. It's the same thing. It looks like we both made a mistake."
Well, she was certainly taking this better than he thought she would. Then again, it was his Nanao-chan, and he should know that she was pretty tolerant when it came to him.
"I'm sorry too." She sighed. "I still trust you."
He smiled at her, turning around as she got up. "Never again, Nanao-chan. I promise." He tucked a strand of somewhat wet hair behind her ear. He kissed her then, sealing the deal.
Breaking apart, they heard Soi Fon talking to Jushiro in the hallway, him keeping up his end of the bargain of not letting them out until they were finished.
Nanao smiled a little before a crease formed on her brow. "It seems that the past won't leave us alone, will it? Sometimes I wonder what's next to come and try to take you away from me."
He wrapped her in a hug. "Well, then we just have to deal with it when it comes. Nothing is going to get rid of me, not as long as you want me here. Eventually those things will stop bothering us, although it might be a long time yet."
She nodded against him. There would probably be more things to come. She would fight for it though, having come such a long way to get where she was today.
They both looked towards the door as a loud thudding was heard coming down the hall towards their room. Quieting to listen, they heard what the hurrying division member was saying.
"Captain Soi Fon!"
They heard him come to a stop in front of her, panting for breath.
"What is it? It better be important." It was nice to see someone back to their old self.
"Yukio Tokinori has escaped!"
-End of Part Ten
A/N: Okay, I know some of you saw that one coming. I couldn't help it. I feel incomplete without my small action scene. I need the practice anyway. Besides, I can't end it like this, I haven't put in my special way of ending it yet. That will come next chapter. I love hearing from you! Let me know if justice was done! -KG