Hajime looked around the ruined hospital curiously.
He and the family had already attended the lecture with Don Kanonji. As soon as he'd laid eyes on the man, Hajime had known he wasn't exactly a fraud. He had enough talent that as soon as he'd taken the stage, Don Kanonji had looked taken aback and started scanning the crowd as though he was looking for something. Hajime was sure that something was him, but the man had to be either badly trained or undertrained, because he'd been unable to pinpoint the demon. It hadn't put him off his game for long, though, and Hajime still had ringing declarations in his ears.
It had been entertaining, though, and they had managed to reach the site of the filming before almost everyone else. So they'd gotten spots right in the front, which unfortunately put the albino much closer to the TV star. Don Kanonji was giving him uneasy looks, and Hajime flipped up his mask to give him a grin. That only seemed to make things worse but then Ichigo slapped him lightly upside the head.
"Stop freaking him out, Hajime." He murmured softly and Hajime gave a raspy laugh. "Dad and my sisters will never forgive you if you disrupt things."
"Meh. I'll be good." Hajime pledged, shifting his shoulders to put Dulce in a slightly more comfortable position. Then he stopped paying attention to the show and looked at the hospital.
Rather, former hospital. A fire had gone through here some time ago, but apparently the building had been cleared as safe for the show. Hajime could feel the aura of the place, and it wasn't good. Places could have vibes, both negative and positive, and he was picking up a strong negative vibe here. Although it wasn't surprising, really. Hospitals were places that people suffered, even if to get better, and many people died. Add a fire to that and, well… it wasn't going to be chirpingly cheerful. If he'd had his choice, though, Hajime would never have come here.
The spirit babbling on the ruins just added the icing to the cake. Hajime sighed to himself. If there weren't a huge crowd, he'd have put the thing out of its misery. As it was, he just had to tease it.
"Hey, dumbass! You're dead! You're not getting a pink Cadillac!" He called to the ghost, who yelled back at him.
"Yes I am! And what the hell are you? Demon thing! Come over here and I'll kill you!" The ghost shouted and Hajime sighed, shaking his head sadly. Then he winced as Ichigo slapped him again.
"You, boy!" Hajime jerked as Don Kanonji pointed at him. "You can see the spirits too! Come to my side and assist me!" Hajime just stared for a moment, meeting a manic grin. He'd thought Kanonji was worried about him. Maybe he'd been wrong about that.
"Okay?" Hajime said, bewildered, as he slipped past the ropes and went to Kanonji's side. Then he realized he would be on television too, in his fully unsealed form. Interesting, and possibly that was why Kanonji had picked him. He did look fascinating like this. He sighed as he heard Isshin's voice rising over the crowd, declaring that was his nephew. He glanced back and saw Ichigo was just looking pained.
Hajime crossed his arms, looking at the ghost as Kanonji went through his spiel. He didn't understand how the crowd could be so enthusiastic. They couldn't see the spirit, they were just taking it on faith that it was there.
Hajime was honestly expecting Kanonji to pull out a focus stone and send the stupid thing on to the afterlife. He could not have been more surprised when the TV idol suddenly plunged his stick into the half-formed hole the spirits' chain was connected to.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" He yelped as the TV star ground the staff in. "Shit! Holy shit, stop!" He tried to grab the man but stopped. He could see the damage was already done, the hole was widening already. "Fuck!" Resting a hand on his chest, Hajime realized he had a problem. His focus stone was beneath his armor, a good place for it since he pretty much never used it in this shape, and his armor kept the stone safe. But if he sealed up, he wouldn't be able to get this form back without breaking out a lot of windows. He'd actually done the transformation at Urahara's before going to the convention. "Ichigo! Get over here! Use the Soul Candy!" He yelled and the teen hastened to obey, quickly swallowing a pill and jumping out of his body. "Use your focus stone before it vanishes!" They didn't have much time now.
And then time ran out. Hajime cursed in Hindi as the ghost began to shatter, screaming pitifully. Ichigo knocked Kanonji away, which he supposed would make good TV, since Ichigo was invisible to everyone. Sure enough, the announcer yelled about it and the crowd gasped.
"Damn." Hajime said mildly as he tried to get a bearing on where the hollow would appear. It would be somewhere nearby, he knew that. Glancing up at the moon, he saw the ball of spiritual energy taking shape. It drifted slowly to the roof of the ruined hospital. "We – agh!" He jerked around just in time to take a blow on the arm, his armor notching under the force. "What the fuck?" It was the shinigami from earlier, and he was looking pissed.
"I knew you would cause trouble, demon!" Hajime cursed him fluently in Hindi, wondering if the kid was either stupid or just spoiling for a fight. Not that it mattered now. He quickly weighted his options and shouted at Ichigo.
"Hey Ichi! You go take on that Hollow, I'll deal with this guy!" Hajime was confident in Ichigo's skills. "Don't bother with bankai, you won't need it!" Using it on small fry like that would just be sad. Ichigo's shikai would be more than enough, despite the young priest's lack of experience.
"Right!" Ichigo said, then yelped as he got yanked back by Kanonji as the hollow leapt down. Hajime wanted to yell at him, but he did have to give at least some attention to his current opponent. The announcer was going absolutely crazy, and Hajime made it worse when he grabbed the shinigami by the face and threw him into the hospital wall. Only he and Don Kanonji were visible, so it looked like they were having the duel of the century against malicious spirits.
"Seriously, I don't have time for you!" Hajime snarled as he tried to knock the demon slayer out. But the green haired man was just as stubborn as he was stupid, and managed to dodge just as the hollow spotted some tasty and distracted snacks. "FUCK! MY HAIR!" The hollow had just managed to snag one of his pearly locks, tearing it away. "Okay this is fucking stupid." There wasn't enough room to fight here, too many people, too many distractions. He couldn't use his shikai effectively, either. Dulce Muerte would be FAR too likely to go into the audience. Ichigo had apparently decided the same thing, he'd grabbed Don Kanonji and run into the hospital. Of course, that was a pointless effort as long as Hajime and this stupid shinigami were outside to taunt the hollow.
Heaving out his breath in a huff, Hajime flew for the roof. The shinigami followed him, but the hollow seemed to decide that jumping onto the roof was too much trouble and ran into the hospital instead. There were cries and gasps behind him and Hajime snarled as he realized everyone was seeing him fly.
"Oh what the fuck ever, I am Superman." He muttered to himself as he landed on the roof. Then he turned to the shinigami. "Okay. I am giving you one warning. Leave me the fuck alone or I am going to kill you." He was deadly serious now. He was absolutely sick of this stupid kid. That actually made the demon slayer hesitate and Hajime saw uncertainty in his eyes.
"You didn't kill anyone when you faced Byakuya taichou." He said, stalling a little, and Hajime sneered behind his mask.
"Yeah, and you know why? Because I respected Byakuya. He's strong, he's smart and he was fighting for what he believed in." Hajime was willing to grant Byakuya the purest of intentions. Really, he was a fucking dangerous demon wandering around the real world, and the temples didn't exist anymore. Why would the shinigami just leave him alone? "You, however, are just a fucking newbie who's out of his depth. I will kill you. Fuck off, or die." Hajime levelled his sword at Saito.
"Fuck you demon!" Hajime saw the rage in the shinigami's eyes, almost insanity, and sighed to himself. Then their swords locked and Hajime spoke.
"Dulce Muerte." The globes of power flowed outwards and the shinigami had to dodge frantically to avoid them. But he couldn't, and several of them hit him in rapid succession. Hajime waited for the smoke to clear, then twitched a little as the door to the roof flew open and Ichigo and Don Kanonji rushed out. The hollow was in hot pursuit, and Hajime decided to end his little game quickly.
A quick exchange of blows, and he neatly broke Saito's sword. The shinigami was staring stupidly at the hilt when Hajime punched him in the face. Gathering a tiny bit of his power, he cast a sleeping kido over the prone shinigami. He didn't even need the words to focus such a low level spell.
"I'm getting too soft." Hajime muttered to himself. He wasn't even sure why he'd spared the idiot. For a brief moment, he considered removing his head anyway, but then turned away with a small sigh of disgust. "What is wrong with me?" He asked, turning his attention back to the others on the roof.
Ichigo was pinned to the railing but that wasn't much of a problem for him, these days. A quick burst of focused spiritual power broke the stuff, and Don Kanonji distracted the hollow just long enough for Ichigo to neatly bisect it with his shikai. Hajime just watched, white hair flowing in the breeze as the hollow dissipated, revealing the soul it had come from. Then that vanished as well, which was actually a relief. Hajime hated it when the gates of Hell opened for a soul. He often wondered if that was where his soul would end up, in the end.
"Oh. That's why I spared him." Hajime mumbled to himself. Seeing that damned ghost brought up all his fears about his own mortality. A kill just wouldn't feel good at the moment, no matter how much the demon slayer deserved it. "Huh?" He listened as Ichigo explained about the hollow, and Don Kanonji fell to his knees, weeping about his failures. "Oh shut up!" He barked and they both turned to him, surprised. "It's not your fault no one taught you and you had to make up shit on your own." Hajime snarled as he grabbed the man by his collar, dragging him to his feet. "I'll teach you to use a focus stone, but nothin' else because I don't like you anyway." Ichigo put a hand over his face at that, but it was nothing but the truth. Hajime was not interested in starting a temple revival with Don Kanonji. "But that's all you need to be exactly what you've always thought you were."
"And the crowd is waiting for you." Ichigo said and they both looked up. They could hear the sound of the crowd, chanting Kanonji's name. "Give them what they want… hero." Hajime blinked at that. He would never have called Kanonji a hero. But then, he would never call himself one either. Ichigo? Maybe.
But what he thought didn't matter, and Hajime watched in bemusement as Kanonji walked to the edge of the roof and did his trademark laugh. Hajime shook his head, wondering when he'd teach the lunatic to use a focus stone.
It took a while to get free of Kanonji and Hajime ended up making an appointment to meet him for a one on one tutoring session. Kanonji's aura indicated that he could use ruby or red spinel, similar to Hajime, which was interesting. The TV celebrity promised to have a stone when Hajime arrived. Then he and Ichigo discovered they had a new problem.
"Ichigo just ran away!" Yuzu said tearfully to Hajime as Karin and Isshin searched in vain for the teenager. "He was yelling something about being free." Ichigo made a choking sound as Hajime found a convenient wall to bang his head against.
"Why this, why now?" He moaned. "And what in fuck was wrong with that soul candy?" He was sure the things weren't supposed to behave like this. Hajime looked up as Ichigo put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hajime, can you find my body?" Ichigo asked, very worried. Hajime sighed. There was only one way, and he didn't like it.
"You need to order me to. Then the power of the holy bonds will draw me right to you." He said reluctantly. Ichigo nodded with equal reluctance and took a breath.
"Hajime, go find my body right now." He ordered, his voice firm and Hajime grinned a little at the tone before setting off purposefully. It was actually kind of funny now, when Ichigo gave him an order like that.
It took him a while to find the runaway Soul Candy, because it was moving like crazy. But he finally managed to find it when it stopped to have a fight with some thugs. Hajime watched, a bit astonished, as Ichigo's body threw people around like it was easy. It rather reminded him of himself, in fact. But then he leapt down behind it and Ichigo's body whirled, blanching as it saw him for the first time.
"Dulce Trappa." He said softly. The white and black fabric caught Ichigo's body by the arms, yanking them from his sides and lifting him into the air. Hajime blinked as the boy resisted with more than human strength. "Hmm." That was strange. Shrugging to himself, Hajime lifted a hand to the boy's forehead and prepared himself to destroy the force within.
"Please, don't!" The boy said in a panicked tone that made Hajime pause. It sounded so much like Ichigo, even if it wasn't. "Please don't kill me!" Big tears began sliding down his cheeks and Hajime winced. What he'd been about to do was similar to an exorcism. Soul Candies were meant to be disposable, that's why they came in pez dispensers. The spirits within them were very one-dimensional and would in fact fade over time, if a shinigami left one in charge of a gigai long enough.
"I thought things like you weren't supposed to care about living and dying." Hajime said, lifting up his mask and looking into the teen's face. Soul Candies were programmed to take care of the body they were inhabiting, but nothing more. Ichigo's body glared at him, his eyes still glazed with tears.
"Fuck you!" Was his only reply and Hajime chewed on his lip for a moment. Muttering to himself, he carefully sealed his power but kept his shikai active. That was not exactly easy and Dulce muttered to herself, mostly obscenities at the pain. Then he picked up his focus stone with one hand and used it to concentrate on the soul.
What he saw astonished him. This was no simple soul candy, but something infinitely more complex. In fact, this was a person, although clearly an artificial one. Hajime studied the construct in fascination before blinking and tucking his focus stone away.
"I see you're not a Soul Candy. How did you get into a dispenser? Well, whatever." Hajime gripped the teen by the scruff of his neck, letting Dulce vanish, to her relief. "This body isn't yours and you can't keep it. I'll make sure you're not killed." He added as the teen began to struggle.
"I don't want to be imprisoned anymore either. I was so afraid, I knew he was going to dispose of me." Ichigo's body really did sound afraid. Hajime grimaced, unsurprised. He doubted the shinigami could perceive the complexity of their creation, and even if they could they probably wouldn't care.
"I don't know… what's your name?" He asked as he tugged the teen away, forcing him to walk in front of him.
"I don't have a name." He answered and that made Hajime pause, a bit speechless. He couldn't help but feel a sudden kinship with this thing.
"I didn't either. I'll do my best to help you." He said, patting it on the shoulder. Ichigo's body looked back at him warily. "But keep moving. That body belongs to my friend and lover so you damned well don't get to keep it." Hajime was not putting up with that.
Making love to someone else in Ichigo's body would just be wrong.
Hajime lay in his bed, listening to the ticking of the clock and thinking depressing thoughts.
He didn't get like this very often. His bonds took away any kind of control over his own life. Even his emotions and mind could be dominated by them, if his master cared to give the command. If he was told to be happy, he would obey. If he was told to feel pain, he would, despite not having any injury. Most of his masters had been unaware of that, something he was thankful of. The few who had known had been nightmares.
But a side effect of his complete lack of control was a fixation on the moment. Hajime didn't bother to think of the future, normally, since he could not affect it. He thought of the past, since he did have many good memories, but not obsessively so. He tended to live in the present, and tried to enjoy himself as much as he could, within the limits of his orders.
But now, he was dwelling on his pain and fears. Hajime ran a hand over his own throat, then down his chest. He rubbed the white skin there, closing his eyes. If Ichigo had been there, he would have recognized the pinched expression as emotional pain.
If he went back far enough, Hajime could remember everything he'd done as a demon. He'd had almost no personality back then. He'd been a monster, nothing but base urges and carnal desires, bundled up with cunning and a cold intelligence that was even more dangerous than his violence. He'd been a horror, a nightmare made flesh. And unlike the other three kings, he'd enjoyed visiting the three worlds. He'd come so frequently that the people there had given him names and actually sent him sacrifices, anything to appease the demon king. Sometimes it had even worked, although not often.
Hajime sighed, wiggling in his blankets. It seemed wrong to him that the soul of an infant had been put in this shell. It was defilement, not of the already defiled demon, but of the innocent baby. What had his soul ever done to deserve this?
And what would happen to him when he died? Hajime was not stupid enough to think he would live forever. He was nearly indestructible at the moment, but as soon as his chains were finally broken that would change. The balls contained his essence when he was badly hurt, and helped him to regenerate. When the bonds were broken the balls would break, and he would be free… free to live or die, by his own will and skill. And his bonds were so close to breaking now. Hajime wanted to be free, but he'd have been lying if he said the thought didn't give him a bit of fear.
What would happen when he died? Hajime sighed as that question came back to haunt him. He'd done so many terrible things over the centuries. Not just when he was a demon, but as a slave to the temples.
Not all of his masters had been evil. Not even most of them. Quite a few had been very pure, like the priest who had put him to running important messages for the temple. Some had just been cruel to him, but not cruel in general, and the tasks they had put him to had been benign. But there had been a few who had been ambitious or outright evil. The woman had been the most evil, but it had been one of the ambitious ones who had ordered the massacre of that family. Hajime bit his lip as he remembered. The deaths of children still haunted him.
And Hajime knew Hell was a real place. There had been no justice for that woman in life, and she'd died of old age, but her demon servant had been there to see as the gates of Hell had opened to swallow her soul. Hajime remembered how she had screamed at him to save her, and how he had laughed. His bonds to her had broken the instant she died, and he'd been swiftly returned to the balls. But he'd had enough time to mock her with his hatred.
But would that be him, someday? Hajime closed his eyes, and let out his breath in a long sigh. He just didn't know.
"Screw this." He mumbled to himself, sitting up. "I'm going to go make a cake." He'd been experimenting with his new decorating kit, and he could make all kinds of buttercream flowers and leaves. He was getting very good at roses. And he had a recipe for a very interesting coconut cake with mango buttercream frosting. It would be very tropical and it would get his mind off depressing things.
Hajime refused to dwell on doom and gloom. He could do nothing but live for today and hope for the best.
Hajime whistled as he looked through the craft store.
It was an independent shop, and carried all kinds of interesting things. He idly picked up a bedazzled bracelet and tried it on, before putting it back. It was cute and all, but he needed his money to get what he'd came for.
What he'd come for was miniature marshmallows, edible glitter and graham crackers. The craft store catered heavily to amateur cake artists, as well as scrap bookers, and Hajime knew they would have what he wanted. Everything in hand, he went to the cash register and quickly paid for his purchases. Then he began to walk home.
Hajime was unaware of the fact that his life had certain patterns. One of them was that he often went to the craft store, always after school, and always took the same path home. Ichigo never went with him because the craft store bored him, and they weren't joined at the hip. They were both confident that they could take care of themselves.
It was a beautiful day and Hajime smiled, pausing by a fenced in yard. The fencing was done in dozens of colors, and inside were a good dozen toddlers and young children. It was a private daycare, and Hajime usually stopped there to just look at the children. They were sweet… from a distance. Hajime preferred not to get too close. He knew exactly how annoying children could be when you were the one caring for them. Knowing that he had to follow orders faithfully, a few of the priests had dared to use him for child care.
Stopping right here was also part of his pattern, and Hajime was not expecting someone to take advantage of it. Suddenly sensing reiatsu, Hajime dropped his bag and summoned his scythe just in time to slap a dart out of the air.
"Ah, well. I didn't think that would work." Hajime stared at the utterly peculiar being in front of him. He'd never seen a demon slayer wearing so much makeup before. And the golden teeth were just strange. "You are a fast one, aren't you?"
"Who are you?" Hajime said, confused, but turned his sword into Dulce Amor. He thought he would need it.
"I am Mayuri Kurotsuchi, taichou of the 12th Division and President of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute." The shinigami grinned, widely, and Hajime found it disturbing. "And you will be my newest test subject."
"What? How about no?" Hajime said, eyes narrowing. He didn't like this at all. Then his eyes widened as a purple mist suddenly filled the air. "Fuck!" He mumbled, putting a hand over his face and deliberately stopping his breathing. It wasn't as though he needed it.
Sword clashed against sword, and Hajime could tell this taichou's forte was cleverness rather than strength or stamina. But he was very clever and Hajime hissed in pain that was far greater than it should be, as that golden sword nicked his arm. To his irritation, Hajime realized that his own movements were slowing. Something was affecting him and a quick check of his body confirmed that the purple mist had gotten into him anyway. Through his skin?
Snarling to himself, he took to the air. This would be easy enough to take care of. Unsealing his powers immediately purged any kind of venoms or mind altering effects from his system. But to his shock and surprise, Mayuri's subordinates were waiting for him in the air. A woman with dark hair in a long braid, and a man with very short dark hair and odd little horns. They both attacked him, driving the demon towards the ground and Hajime swore. It was as if they were trying to prevent him from unsealing his powers.
As if? Wait… that's exactly what they're doing! Hajime began to quietly panic. "Dulce Muerte!" He pulled out all the stops, trying to break through the two shinigami above him, but his body felt heavy and slow. And then a dart sprouted on his neck, making Hajime grunt. "Guh." The albino wavered, falling back to the ground. His mind was feeling like it was wrapped in wool and he reached out for his power.
Then he stopped, looking at the daycare. Frightened by the strange things occurring nearby, a woman was herding the toddlers into the house, but it wouldn't matter. If Hajime released here, in this spot, that house would be nothing but rubble. The children would all die.
I can't. I can't. I… can't… Hajime grunted as Kurotsuchi deliberately pierced him with his sword, letting droplets of blood land on the ground. Then again, and again. Each wound made his body harder to move, and Hajime could tell the effect on a demon slayer or human would have been instant paralysis. But he was tougher and immune to most poisons. At least, he had been, once upon a time. It seemed poisons had gotten better. Blood was pooling beneath him now and Hajime stared at the bright red liquid, feeling completely disconnected. He couldn't seem to string any thoughts together. What was happening to him?
Then the woman was holding him down as the second man began fixing cuffs and chains to his limp, unresisting body. Hajime let his head drop to the ground, unable to put his regret into words. But it pained him, deeply.
He doubted he would survive what the shinigami had in mind for him.
