Memento Mori
Chapter Thirteen
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A ringing reverb of spiritual steel accosts both our ears as our respective nodachi scrape against each other, brilliant orange sparks flying. A hidden dagger pierces my throat, again, and I drop to my knees gurgling on blood. A second later, we're up at it again. Bloody peachy this is. Just where have Sui-Fēng and Natsumi gone?
Her loosed hair falls around her shoulders, diamond scar visible, "I expected more out of you, Minato Tatsushiro. You have yet to show me why you were regarded as one of our most dangerous captains."
I jump back, panting from exertion and reassessing, "Well, I don't really want to fight you, you know."
A quick mental command and the twin gauntlets of my zanpakutō form on my forearms. I should have started like this, but I did want to test myself against an opponent that wouldn't kill me. That plan was an utter failure. I've gotten lazy, though that's no surprise. When it comes to the seven sins, Sloth and Pride are mine more so than any others. And that's a truly conflicting and thus lethal combination. Perhaps Unohana wasn't the best opponent choice. Probably should have chosen Kyōraku-senpai. Ahh well. And locked. Position found.
"And why would that be?"
I laugh. A chilling laugh, my voice unconsciously reverberating with the a fraction of an Outer God's power behind it. A faint sheen of poisonous energy surrounds me as I blast towards her as we hear the cries as Sōsuke's 'death' is discovered, "Wouldn't you like to know?"
My left arm moves through her sword, I grab her hair and yank her off balance. Swinging my legs around, I knock her to the ground, running my blade through her right leg and twisting it around to prevent her from coming after me immediately. It's hardly a fatal injury for someone like her, but she's not Orihime or Kirinji, so it will take her some time to heal herself enough to begin the chase. A blast of reiatsu catches both of our attention, though I'm towards it before she can catch on. And if I happen to be using my ability to slow her perception of time, well, only suckers play by the rules.
Flying across the land, I land a double kick in Sui-Fēng's torso before she can land a finishing blow, blasting her away into a nearby tree with a satisfying crunch of broken bones. As I land, my left foot gives under me as I land on a shoe filled only with blood instead of flesh, muscle and bone. And then I feel it. Oh no. No, no, no. It's too soon for it too have gotten this far. Damn it all.
Smirking, as I have no need to let anyone else worry about this, I extend my slightly clammy and shivering hand towards Natsumi, "Come with me if you want to live."
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You know, I've never really wondered why exactly Kisuke has so many bolt holes hidden around, but I don't think I've ever been more grateful towards him. We duck into one as the shinigami scurry about, fretting over the apparent death of Sōsuke. Well, this is all certainly entertaining.
Leaning my back against the wall and closing my eyes, I mutter, " The troupe is ready. The stage is set."
"What?"
Opening an eye, I lightly chide her, "Nothing to worry about, Natsumi. Just commenting to myself."
She doesn't look totally convinced, but it'll have to do for now. Can't have her ruin this anymore than it already is. My play has only certain paths I can allow inspiration on.
"Are you disappointed in me?"
She sounds so miserable that I have no choice but to frown and look at her, "No. Should I be?"
"Well, you said Ichigo would beat a captain. As would Uryū and Orihime. But I didn't."
"And neither did I. We both had opponents we couldn't beat."
Her surprise is clear. Did she think I couldn't lose? I shake my head lightly, then continue, "I knew we lost from the moment I saw who our opponents were. Ichigo and Ishida both brute forced their victories. They had idiots for opponents who were willing to oblige. Your opponent, Sui-Fēng, you couldn't do that with. She would never settle to allow that. My opponent, Unohana, was simply better. Far better. Honestly, you're lucky. If Sui-Fēng had been really trying to kill you, I wouldn't have been able to save you in time. I could say the same about my battle."
She sits back while I stretch out my cramped arms, "So, what now? What is everyone else doing?"
"Sado, Orihime and Ishida are all sitting in prison. Ichigo has or will shortly encounter the elder Kuchiki sibling. He should count himself luckily. Byakuya's current power is but a drop in an ocean compared to what his grandfather, Ginrei Kuchiki, commanded in his prime," I smile fondly at some old memories, "And I should know. I consider myself lucky to have been acknowledged as worthy of my rank by the old wind-bag."
Given that she's never faced Byakuya, I can't blame her for not really understanding the comparison. In retrospect, it wasn't the best choice, as only the elder amongst the shinigami would understand, truly. But I digress. Shaking my new left foot lightly to get used to the altered weight, I frown. Covertly shadowing my arm from Natsumi's sight, I examine the faded uneven eight pointed star tattooed upon my left inner bicep. It's darkening faster now. Fuck.
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"If you could see me now, would you be proud of me? I'm honestly not sure, but would you understand why this was necessary?"
I run my fingers over the masterfully engraved name. Yasuo Shihōin 998-1820. Captain of the Second Division. Beloved superior officer.
"But you were so much more. At least to me. You were always more understanding of doing what was needed for the world, even if it was conventionally considered wrong. That's why you were always regarded as the best head the Onmitsukidō has ever had. That's why you were such a good match for my philosophy."
Kneeling down, I lay a bouquet of Anemone and Gladiolus at the bottom of the tombstone, "Gods, I miss your presence. How you would always reprimand me for instigating. How you would cheer me up when I had done something distasteful for the greater good. It's true, you know. You don't know what you have till it's gone."
Leaning my forehead against the cold marble and closing my eyes, I whisper to the wind, "Father, if you were the one burdened with nigh-omniscience, would you have come to the same conclusions and made similar decisions?"
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"So what are we doing?"
I set the Tenshintai down in our open spot. I'm using one of Sōsuke's old labs as our training area. Yoruichi and Ichigo are using one of their own holes, and we shouldn't interrupt them.
"Bankai training. Same as your brother. This doll will allow you to, probably, learn it in about three days, assuming you don't die at the hands of your zanpakutō. The power multiplier will be needed, and the other methods I'm sure you don't want."
She just raises an eyebrow at me, "Other ways? That don't involve what basically amounts to possible suicide?"
Ahh, the innocence of youth, no power is gained without sacrificing something, "Well, I could always use my own abilities to heavily distort time in this area. If, of course, you don't mind being a forty-five year old stuck in the body of a fifteen year old when we're done. Remember, it normally takes ten years to obtain Bankai. Another ten to master it. And then we would spend another ten to make sure you wouldn't need it. The mark of the greatest is that they almost never need to use their ultimate trump card."
She walks a ways away and contemplates her options for several minutes, before coming back, "Alright. Let's go with..."
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Four days later, as we run towards Sōkyoku Hill, I get a bad feeling. I activate Renzokutai to isolate the timeline giving me said feeling, for this will be just grand in the worst way possible. I just know something is going to go horribly wrong. Oh. Oh gods. Well, shit. Even now I can begin to hear it all.
"Tōsen! Explain yourself if you can!"
"So this is the Hōgyoku. It's so small. Well, I have no further use-Gin?"
I arrive just in time to see Gin's zanpakutō go through Sōsuke's chest as he depowers from removing the Hōgyoku from young Rukia.
"Ara, ara, sorry, Captain Aizen. Korose, Kamishini no Yari."
Well, best take advantage of this. Feeling Renzokutai materialize on my arm, I leap towards Tōsen. My left arm passes through his block and his body as my hand grasps his heart and plucks it from his body. Landing behind him, I turn on my heel and shred his corpse to pieces with the mono-filament wire of my right arm stinger before destroying it completely with a low level fire Kidō.
"What? What are you guys doing?"
I reach down and grab the Hōgyoku before slotting it in my pocket and walking towards an open area where we'll be okay, "Gin-kun. Whatever happens now, you need to follow my lead," I turn to the other member of our party, "Natsumi-kun, you have a final choice. After this, there is no turning back. Stay with your brother - and the story ends, you all dead in a stagnating world of hypocrisies where your very existence is considered a crime against the natural order. Come with me - you stay alive and I show you just how interesting the world can become with a changing of leaders."
She places her hands on her head, presumably struggling with the decision.
"And did you know all that earlier? Did you intentionally lead me to take this path?"
I sigh, keeping my voice as level as I can despite my annoyance at having to adjust so many of my plans on the fly, "Natsumi, let me put it this way for you. I brought you to the door, but you're the one who ultimately decided to walk through."
Yoruichi and Sui-Fēng maneuver around me, "It's over Tatsushiro. Make a move and you die."
"I see. Is that so?"
"Sorry shishou, I got myself captured."
"Don't you see? There's no place for you now."
As the rest of the Gotei 13 flash in, I allow myself a small smirk as I see Natsumi give me a covert nod.
"Tatsushiro!"
"Who is he?"
"Minato Tatsushiro was once-"
As I sense the incoming presence, I allow myself a brief frown, as I have no speech prepared like Sōsuke did. No matter. Everything is derailed with no chance of getting back on at this point, so what's one more change?
The light of the Negacion come down in three pillars of yellow light. Our captors quickly jump away, reasonably worried about what may happen if they are partially caught in an alternate dimension.
"Ahh, that's too bad. I wouldn't have minded being your prisoner for a tad longer...Good bye, Rangiku. I'm sorry."
"Natsumi! What are you doing?"
"You don't want to understand anything that you don't have shoved down your throat, dear brother. I have no need to justify myself to you."
Yoruichi looks up at me, "So, Hirako was right about you. You were on Aizen's side the whole time, another student stepping up to take his dead teacher's spot, and were just playing us, me, the whole time."
I give a distorted facsimile of a smile, "Hirako. A deluded fool. Too arrogant to see underneath anything. No, I was not on Sōsuke's side, nor his student. It would be correct to reverse both those statements, rather, he was on mine, and I was the teacher. I didn't want to betray you or Kisuke, Yoruichi. However, Death and Fate have taken the stage. We must all play our parts."
After my last parting comment, I take out a small photo of my better half and take a long glance at it before the darkness of Hueco Mundo swallows us up completely, "I never wanted it to come to this. It seems I may not see you in some time. Forgive me my carelessness, Miya."
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Author's Notes:
-Did I build up only to fall short on the battle with Unohana? Undoubtedly, but that's part of the reason it took longer than usual. It took several attempts to settle on an outcome I liked. Trying to balance Unohana's badassery while not writing myself into a corner with my back to wall was hard. So I eventually went for the classic Exit Villain Stage Left.
-Don't' tell me, people want to spar with me on my arrancar relationship views. Yep. Die-hard arrancar fans bringing pitchforks and torches? Most likely. Bring it on. Honestly, I do like some of them. And thus my opinion is changeable with a decent enough argument. But you know, fridge logic and all on Hollows was in play.
-Have I radically changed the plot from the original plan of mine, and thus some previous author's notes are now irrelevant? Of course. I've been reading A Song of Ice and Fire recently, and that impact should be felt on the plot. This is not a heroes-will-always-triumph and never die story. Ilyn Payne is ready to receive.
-A commenter noted how I was kinda the Gendo Ikari of this AU Bleach 'verse. I went back and reviewed Neon Genesis Evangelion, because it had been some time. I have come to the conclusion that Minato Tatsushiro is worse than Gendo Ikari. Gendo at least had romantic love (if in a twisted, yandere way) to give as a reason for all his asshole actions, while Minato has no such thing when he decided on his path, reducing his motives for his dickery to (to use the TV Tropes term) It's All About Me. But hey, that is your author at his core. A life-or-death world has just served to massively help it along in a the course of a few centuries.
-I found out the other day that someone recommended this on TV Tropes on the Bleach FanficRecs page. They even made a trope page for it. So, hats off to whoever took the time to do that.