Hey all, I'm back with chapter 11 of Teachings of the Past. And we passed 100 Reviews. That is AWESOME according to me. The 100th reviewer was Zaralann. However, ever single review is important to me. One doesn't get to 100 without 99 before that. Once again I give thanks to my Beta anchora, who once again did a great job. So without further ado, Chapter 11.
Transference
Ichigo stared at the words on the paper in front of him. Not even the possible impending anger of Unohana could deter him from his shock. The format had been fairly similar to that of Kurotsuchi's, but the content had been completely different.
Name: Amamiya, Ichigo
Entrance Exam-
Kendo- Null, Awarded 51 for observation purposes (See Potential)
Written- 100
Potential- 'Incomplete Soul'
That was where Ichigo had frozen, a flux of thoughts swirling in his head. 'What was the hell was an Incomplete Soul!? How was he even alive if he didn't have a full soul? Was that why he could never get a response from his Asuachi? Was that why Zangetsu did not have his memories in their first meeting after the incident?' None of this made any sense.
"Hello, Ichigo!" Yoruichi's yell snapped him out of his daze. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Yes." He replied shortly.
"Well then, say something instead of staring glassy eyed at that paper. What's so interesting about it?"
"It's nothing, just a possible lead." Ichigo dismissed with a wave of his hand. "It's a thin lead though, could evaporate quickly." He hastily shut the file. It wasn't that he didn't trust Yoruichi, he simply did not want to inform her of his… affliction, at least not yet.
"Some small advice from your boss; talk about it. It can really help." Yoruichi nudged him, a smile pulling at her lips.
"You're not my boss just yet. You're still here until you reach shikai."
Her smile did not fade, instead growing even more mischievous
"So… did Unohana taicho specify when I needed to go see her?" Ichigo hoped the causal tone he tried to incorporate into his question didn't sound too forced.
"Oh, she didn't, but making a lady wait is never a good idea."
"So I'll be taking my leave then." Ichigo announced, shoving the papers inside his shihakusho, carefully. He would find a place to stash them on his way to the fourth division.
"Oh you're not getting away from me that easily. Especially, not after..." her voice trailed off, she looked cautious.
"I told you it was nothing." He replied hotly, hurriedly.
"We both know you wouldn't be so defensive if it wasn't."
"Fine, I'll discuss it if you want." He'll humor her. There was no way Ichigo was going to tell her about his file, just about the possible Kurotsuchi lead. "There is just something suspicious about the death of the fourth student. And he was quite a suspicious student to begin with. Multiple inflictions on his record, none of them stuck though."
"A track record is certainly suspicious, but if he was cleared of charges, he was probably innocent."
"Not the way he was cleared, recanting witnesses and lack of evidence." Ichigo explained. "I also don't trust the guy."
"Have you met him?" the Shihoin inquired, her eyebrows furling.
"Er… no, it's simply because a note in his file said that he had sadistic tendencies." The words stumbled out of Ichigo's mouth, but at least they smoothed over his blunder.
"That is all good, but isn't he dead? A dead man can make no confessions."
"I don't believe he is, and I haven't gotten a chance to see his medical file in detail, but I am willing to bet that he was declared as no more by someone other than Unohana taicho."
"So what's your plan of action?"
"I'm going to find him and drag him back here, whether he wants me to or not."
"Okay, you do that," Yoruichi nodded, "I will dispatch a couple shinigami to aid you in the search."
"All right."
"Amamiya-san. Please, come in." Unohana taicho invited as Ichigo's knuckles approached the door to knock.
Ichigo gingerly stepped over the foyer. Even if there was no demonic aura around Unohana presently, he knew it would appear within seconds if he made even one misstep.
"Hello taicho, I was told that you wished to speak to me." Ichigo spoke with a very formal tone, taking every precaution to not set the captain off.
"Would you like some tea?" Ichigo was sure Unohana had purposefully avoided the question.
"Yes, thank you."
The pair sat, not a word spoken. The time seemed to tick by exteremly slowly, making Ichigo more nervous and irritated by the second. He could have been out there searching possible leads, rather than sitting here playing a silence game. Ichigo finally spoke up again, "Well this is nice and all, but what was it that you wished to speak to me about?"
"Ah yes, I simply wanted to ask you, how is it possible that you are still alive?"
"Huh?" Just what Unohana was eluding to, Ichigo had no idea.
"You seem to be functioning normally. Have you had any dizzy spells or fainting episodes in the last few days?"
"...Not that I know of."
"Any decrease in motor function? Any loss of feeling in your extremities? Would you mind if I performed a small medical examination on you?" The questions came out quickly, but still in a calm manner.
To Ichigo this already felt like a doctor's visit. "Wait just a second," he raised his hand, "Why exactly do you need to do all this?"
"Because what you did to revive your sister should have killed you."
Ichigo was speechless. There was no word that could exemplify his feelings.
"What you essentially did was insert your own reiryoku into her and warp hers to imitate your own. Then as you pulled away, by the nature of reiryoku it returned to you, however, it pulled along in its wake your sister's changed reiatsu."
"How was that supposed to kill me?"
"A shinigami can house someone else's reiatsu for some period of time without repercussion, around 8 hours by our calculation. After such time, your soul will spurn the alien reiatsu and spit it out, however this act will hurt your capacity to hold reiryoku and you would be crushed by your own reiatsu."
"But I was able to save her, that's all that matters to me." Ichigo defended. It was worth it. The price of his life was never too much to pay to save someone else. It may not be the Onmitsukido's motto, but sure was his own. "And why am I just finding out about this, it's been well over 8 hours. It you knew that I had done, how come you call me in earlier?"
"My diagnostic kido only told me a little while ago. I was investigating her lack of reiryoku, when I found that it had been forcibly removed."
"So, it's my fault that she doesn't have any reiryoku anymore?"
"Slightly; you see, the mysterious illness worked by slowly eating away at the reiryoku, then the body once the reiryoku was gone. So, she would have lost her life if you had not done what you had. Therein lies my confusion, though you absorbed her reiryoku, yet you haven't fainted or shown any signs of illness."
This was another surprise. Not only had he taken Honoka's reiryoku and lived past the 8 hours, but also the taken the disease housed in her body and was showing no signs of it. "Do you have any theories about why the disease isn't affecting me?"
"I have a couple, but I can't confirm anything without a medical examination."
"Can I hear them anyways?"
"There are two possibilities I can think of, either transmitting the disease to another body many kill it entirely, and the other is that your body is able to regenerate the reiryoku at the same rate or faster than the disease is able to eat it away."
"Can I have some time to think about it?"
"Don't take too long," Unohana approved. "You don't seem to be suffering currently, so this time I can make an exception."
"I also want to make one request, don't tell Honoka about any of this."
"I can agree to that, but if it isn't too personal, can I get your reason?"
"This was my choice; she doesn't need to feel guilty."
"So you're the new guy."
Ichigo had just shown up to the waypoint that Yoruichi had instructed him to given him. She had also given him a full set of instruction, including clothing. Ichigo was wearing a full black ninja suit and his Zanpakuto was strapped tightly to his back. His feet were bare of any footware and only his eyes were visible. The instructions had also told him never to reveal his entire face or even volunteer his name to those he was working with. Everything had to stay a complete secret. Ichigo suspected that students were not normally allowed to go on field missions, but due to the nature of it, Yoruichi had made an exception.
There were two other shinigami in the clearing, one a girl and the other a guy. It had been the man who had addressed him.
"Well, it looks like we got another quiet one. Just my luck. Anyways, do either of you know what our mission is? 'Cause I have absolutely no idea."
"I might have an answer to your question." A disembodied male voice spoke. A black cat emerged from the brush. As she appeared, so did three thin files in their hands.
"Your mission is simple; you have to find this boy. He is a potential threat to the Seireitei. You are to go to District 51 and uncover his deception."
"His deception?" The woman piped up.
"The boy faked his death. We have discovered that he blackmailed one of the medic shinigami to get away with it. Thus finding him is of utmost importance."
So it had after all been a good idea to confide in Yoruichi, she had had come through and confirmed Ichigo's theory.
"This is the boy's home district?" the male inquired.
"Yes, this is where you begin your search. Also, be weary, the people of Kakure kao are suspicious of outsiders. It would be best if you weren't spotted at all." Then the werecat vanished.
"Well, that was a surprise, the Oshaberi Neko gives us our mission." The older male laughed.
This peaked Ichigo's interest, "The Oshaberi Neko?"
"Ah, he talks!" the man dramatically jumped backwards, "The Oshaberi Neko is the cat you just saw. It was shock the first time he gave me a mission a few years ago. Rumor is that if the Oshaberi Neko gives you mission, you're mission either goes amazingly quickly."
"Oh." It was all Ichigo could say, at the moment he was trying to keep a straight face. In his mind, Yoruichi was not even close to a good omen. More like a sign of trouble.
"Oh who did you hear that from?"
"The granddaughter of the late Shihoin Matriarch, I think her name is Yoruichi. She's a nice girl that one."
"Are we going to sit here gossiping or are we going to begin are mission," came the stern voice of the only female in the group. "We only have a few hours before sun rises."
The town was fairly midsized. Ichigo thought it looked a lot like Karakura, if Karakura had been mostly made of slum. Finding one person, if he was here, was not going to be an easy task. He quickly flipped through the file that Yoruichi had made appear in his hands. It contained a current picture and the address that Kurotsuchi had given when enrolling, among other records that Ichigo had already seen.
"One of you go check his house, the other check the outlying areas of the town. I will check in the intermediate area." Ichigo commanded quietly. Ichigo was nowhere near the most senior officer in the group, but the words just flowed from his mouth. Plus, he really wanted to face the poisoner one on one before he let anyone else at him.
"It's not a bad idea, I'll ignore your tone this time." The older man spoke authoritatively. "I'll take the house." He then proceeded to flash away. The other did the same without a word.
They had come up with nothing, in two hours of search. Ichigo had returned to Academy grounds and had been quite angry. He had been quite sure that they would find Kurotsuchi quickly, that had not turned out to be the case. Yoruichi had reassured him that they would keep searching, and told him that manhunts were never solved on the first day. He had then asked when he scheduled to help. Yoruichi had just given him a pitying look and explained that she had pulled every string she could just to give him this day. This was why he had been angry; he had discovered this lead, so his place should have been at the forefront of the search.
It was in his anger and desperation that he told Yoruichi what Unohana taicho had asked of him. She had been quite shocked to hear that he had possibly been infected by whatever virus Honoka had once had. It was on the condition that he not tell Unohana about the traitor in her division, that she agreed to clue the taicho in on his secret. Yoruichi told him that Unohana also knew of the system, so it would not be too much trouble to clear it with her mother, the interim head of the Onmitsukido.
"She has been told, you can go tell her that you approve her request of having a medical examination." Yoruichi shook him out of thoughts.
"Thank you Oshaberi Neko-sama, now I can rest easy knowing my mission will be easy." Ichigo's voice adopted a teasing tone towards the werecat.
"Hello taicho," Ichigo greeted as he felt Kyoraku's reiatsu approach him. "What can I do for you?"
"It depends on you medical examination." Surprisingly the voice was serious.
"Can I hear it anyways?"
"If Unohana-taicho is able to clear you for duty, I have a job for you."
Well, that was a lot better than my last chapter if I do say so myself. Not much to say this time, other than next time I will be able to incorporate some action because I was not able to this time. Once again if you guys spot anything horribly wrong tell me, I will fix it. See you all next time.
-Wheel Then
(Oshaberi Neko) – Talking cat
