Chapter 20: Scars and Plans Uncovered?
*It has become a winter wonderland here in Minnesota! :D I hope you guys haven't abandoned me and are just busy with finals and the holidays.
Though I know The Serene Dancer has not left me and I can always count on her. Naomi may have been justified but people are still going to hold it against her. I'm glad you found the banter cute and it is time we got back to the real matters at hand.
Please review.
Disclaimer: I don't own bleach, just a lot of OCs.*
"Facts which at first seem improbable will, even on scant explanation, drop the cloak which has hidden them and stand forth in naked and simple beauty." ~Galileo Galilei
A man dressed in rich dark robes sat at a heavy ornate desk in the middle of the night. The only thing that pierced the darkness were a few softly glowing candles. He was reading through messages and missives from alliances and so-called friends. Nothing urgent, merely a check-in as to what was going on with them and what they've heard going on with him.
There was one message from a clan he hadn't heard from in a long time but he hadn't opened it yet. He would save that for tomorrow morning when he was fresh and well-rested. It could be something very good or very bad either way he would find out tomorrow.
For now he was growing weary and the idea of crawling into bed was looking more pleasing by the minute. Perhaps it could be made more pleasing by the presence of his favorite maid/concubine…
His thoughts were disrupted by the light rush of air that accompanied the young spy as he appeared suddenly before his master. He could tell it was male by the distinct lack of curves and that he had no female spies in his employ. Women had no talent for keeping secrets or being secretive at all.
The younger male wore a formfitting black uniform and mask that hid everything but his metallic brown colored eyes. The only bit of color being a red chrysanthemum symbol on the upper part of both arms. He knelt before the robed man behind the desk before retrieving a small folded piece of paper from a hidden pocket in his uniform.
The robed man read the slip of paper, his face remained calm and collected perhaps even pleased. He refolded the paper and held the corner of it in the flame of a candle. He watched the paper being quickly devoured by the fire and dropped it in a small dish where it turned into nothing but ash.
"Well done on your report. The plan went as well as expected. Continue observing them as you have until they return."
The spy's eyes gleamed with pride at being complimented before he nodded, bowed again and disappeared. The man leaned forward and rested his chin lightly on his fist. The plan had gone as expected just not as he hoped. But that would've made things too easy and there'd be no fun in that. At least now he had a better idea of what his new opponent was capable of.
Green eyes gazed at the flickering flame of the candle a moment before he leaned over and snuffed it out.
Morning sunlight gently caressed Naomi's eyes until she finally opened them. She stretched her limbs and slowly sat up. Her fever was gone, her head felt clear and her body didn't ache like it did yesterday. She combed her fingers through her blonde bed head.
She looked to the side and saw Ikkaku sitting cross-legged on the bed with his sword balanced on his lap. His eyes were closed and he was perfectly still. If it weren't for the slight movement of his chest she would've thought he was dead. Quietly Naomi maneuvered herself out of her bed but feet became tangled in the blankets and she fell to the floor with a loud thud.
She quickly looked up and for a fearful moment she thought she had woken him. It would be beyond embarrassing for him to see in such an awkward position. But no, the man was still meditating and Naomi quietly breathed a sigh of relief. She untangled herself and walked over to the window.
The window opened to a forest and some houses. The trees were vibrant shades of gold, vermillion and auburn. They looked to be ablaze with fire especially when sunlight streaked through the trees and lit the leaves. A breeze blew through knocking some brittle leaves from their branches.
Naomi shuddered. It was a reminder that winter is coming.
She shook her head and stretched her arms above her head, savoring the feel of her muscles being reawakened. She continued to move around and part of her nagajuban fell from her shoulder. The garment had become quite loosened when she had moved around in her sleep and so had the wrappings around her chest.
Naomi cast a glance over at her roommate who was still deep in meditation. She shrugged off the top portion of her robe and quickly tried to tighten and adjust her chest wrappings. Ikkaku started to come to from his meditation and his face became flushed at what he saw. He was about to shut his eyes when she turned slightly, the sunlight hit her back and revealed something.
Three pale raised lines marred the flesh of her back.
They were partially covered by her chest wrappings but he could still see them. They were not ordinary scars. They were far too clean and precise to have been done in the heat of battle.
No, someone had done this on purpose as in Naomi was held down and someone carved into her.
The middle scar was a clean line that ran parallel to her spine, from the base of her neck down and disappearing beneath the fabric but perhaps down to end of her spine. There was a scar on both sides of the center scar. Those were clean cut too and went just as far down. But at the top they curved with the backs of her shoulders.
His gaze was riveted on the marks, slowly tracing them with his eyes. He felt oddly appalled. Of course he had seen scars before; he sported a few impressive ones himself but those three simple clean lines made him uncomfortable and strangely angry. Angry certainly at who had done this to her. But why? Why should her past wounds bother him so much?
He wanted to say something but shut his mouth, closed his eyes again and forced his face to become calm when Naomi started to turn around. She fixed her nagajuban and seized the rest of her uniform from the bed and proceeded to dress.
"This is from your stationary, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"It is in your handwriting and even sighed off with your signature, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"So then why are you telling us you didn't send this?" Sakura fought to keep her tone civil and calm.
She and Zaraki were standing in front of the Head Captain. The old man had returned to his post and was sitting behind his simple desk. Sasakibe stood, like the sentry he occasionally was, slightly behind his captain.
"I am telling you that Captain Ishida because it is the truth. Neither I nor my lieutenant issued such an order."
"Ya sure you're not just going senile?" Zaraki grunted, only he would have the cojones to say something like that out loud.
Yamamoto brushed it off with a dignified huff. He was used to Zaraki's crassness but he was most certainly not becoming a victim of his old age.
"So if neither of you sent this, then who did?" The Quincy asked.
Sasakibe and Yamamoto shared a brief, subtly but very telling looks with each other. Yamamoto spoke, "Forgoing this hiccup in communication I am sure Lieutenant Yamamoto and Third Seat Maderame have handled the situation they were sent out to complete. I believe that will be all, you are both dismissed."
The two captains bowed and took their leave. Once the door was firmly shut behind them Yamamoto gingerly picked up and examined the forged order that Captain Ishida had left. It was written on his stationary alright and in writing almost identical to his own even the signature was a close copy. But there were subtle differences that he could see that differentiate it from the genuine article.
He sighed and let the paper flutter down onto his desk. Sasakibe looked between the paper and his superior who sat still and calm. The lieutenant knew that although his captain appeared calm there was probably a torrent of livid emotions.
"I know you have an idea as to who did this, the question is why?" The steadfast lieutenant said.
The Head Captain rose from his chair and ambled slowly to the open terrace, "The imagination can conjure up many reasons to answer the why but it is trying to know which one is the true reason that is the challenge."
Quietly Sasakibe asked, "So what are going to do?"
He gazed out into the expansive view. The trees that were visible were becoming barer with each guest of biting chilly wind. Autumn was fading quickly this year it seemed. But to return to Sasakibe's question, he did not know.
He had never known how to deal with his sons. He still didn't.
After being dismissed Sakura and Zaraki started walking out of the First Division grounds and towards their respective divisions.
"Isn't it odd that he would dismiss us like that? Someone was able to send out fake missives and get two captains to send out their officers to face who knows what," she sighed and ran her hand through her hair, a habit she shared with her daughter Naoko.
"Maybe he knows who did it and he's going to handle it himself," Zaraki grunted.
"Yeah, maybe. I really hope we didn't send our seated officers on some wild goose chase," Sakura prayed.
Kenpachi snorted, "Give them some credit Ishida. They know how to handle themselves and they're not weak in any sense."
She knew he was right but Sakura had lost one lieutenant and she was not keen on possibly losing another, especially one as dedicated and strong as Naomi. She was trustworthy, loyal and an all around joy to have. But Naomi was also powerful, determined and quick on her feet.
Zaraki was right; she needed to give Naomi and Madarame credit. They could handle themselves and would return soon.
"Hey Ikkaku?"
The man in question turned his attention to her. The pair was now making their way back to Seireitei, mostly by walking and the occasional use of shunpo. It was a surprisingly sunny warm day and they were in no real rush. That was fine with Naomi, it would give her time to figure out what was up with him.
Ever since this morning he had said little to her and she was beginning to wonder if she had said or done something last night to upset him. Last night was a blurry feverish mess of memories and she was having trouble sorting out what happened and what she may have dreamed up in her delirium.
"Did we talk about anything last night?"
He briefly debated about whether he should tell her how she told him about she jilted Byakuya Kuchiki at the altar, her family's law about marriage and her trying to achieve Bankai. Honestly? His mind was still stuck on those scars she was sporting on her back. If he asked she would know he saw and rain hellfire upon him for seeing her partially naked however accidental.
"Different things… what do you remember?" He asked.
Naomi faintly recalled something about Captain Kuchiki, her feeling angry though she couldn't remember what about. She remembered getting close to him… and… A bright flush of pink appeared on her cheeks and she shook her head, hoping that was a dream. A not-so-bad dream I might add. She did recall telling him why she wanted to achieve Bankai. That's it!
"I told you I wanted to achieve Bankai so I could become a branch head," she slowly recounted.
Ikkaku relaxed slightly, this was a topic he could handle. "Yeah, you did. Were you actually serious about going to achieve Bankai? Is becoming the branch head your only reason?"
It wasn't that that was a bad reason but it wasn't a good one either. Wielding that kind of power was serious business and should be achieved for the right reasons. Reasons that involve protecting the people you care about, defending one's home and doing what truly feels right that was a lot better than trying to gain power for the sake of power.
"I am serious. This is something I have wanted to do ever since I achieved Shikai. I do want to become the branch head because then I could use that clout to protect my mother and Ryouji. It'd be a great way to stick to Takehiko and it would be nice to have some power behind me, maybe then my relatives would take me seriously," the last part she muttered to herself.
He quirked his eyebrows and studied her for a moment. That's a little… ambitious. "If you're that set on doing it then I know a place you can go if you need a private place to train."
Naomi perked up. That was what she definitely needed since she'd be dealing with a fire based zanpakutou. Training like that was not the easiest thing to do. She wanted to keep her training a secret lest Takehiko catch wind of this.
"Abarai told me about an underground training room. I can't exactly remember where, you'll have to go to Urahara. It belongs to him anyway."
You've got to be kidding me. Naomi mentally groaned. But she smiled, conveying the gratefulness she felt nonetheless, "Thank you for telling me."
The two passed the rest of the journey by shunpo in silence. It wasn't awkward but not really companionable, more like a strange blend of both. They returned to Seireitei by late afternoon.
Before heading back to their respective divisions Ikkaku said, "Good luck, Naomi."
She smiled and nodded. An indiscernible feeling settled in her stomach that told her she was going to need all the luck she can get.
*I'm pretty sure you can guess who the mystery man at the beginning was. But who was the spy? Have we seen him before? I can't recall…
Can you guys guess where I borrowed the phrase "winter is coming"? It might be obvious but I couldn't resist. What do you make of those scars on her back? Any idea how she got them and why?
I'm a little excited for the next chapter because we get to see Naomi train to achieve Bankai, face some nasty personal issues and taking her badass-ness to a new level. Since the next post will be Dec. 27th I'm thinking of posting on Christmas Day instead along with a Christmas omake at the end. You guys got any ideas for one?
Please review and good luck with any exams/projects/papers you all may have going on. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays in general.*