Bleach: Waves and Rapids
Part III: Ascension Arc
Chapter 20: Positive, Negative; Neutral
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and its characters, except for the OC's being introduced into the story. These characters (and Zanpakutō, if applicable) belong to me, and me only.
"Captain Kuchiki," Anson said suddenly among the silence at the campfire. "I've just received a report; Tsubasa Daichi of your Division has been taken prisoner of Hueco Mundo." Byakuya's hand stopped as his marshmallow on a stick started to ignite. "Is something wrong?"
"Not too much," he said, "I don't worry about him too much, but it is a concern of what he might do." He pulled the marshmallow out of the fire and blew out the flames. The stick was charred, though the marshmallow was reduced to a small black mass.
"However, the report states that he was able to kill one of the Messengers before capture. How about that?"
My hand stopped. Did I hear that correctly? Daichi killing a Messenger?
"Which one?"
Anson looked at a piece of hard paper, which seemed to have a few burn marks on its edges. "'Hae, the flame Lorde; she doesn't hesitate to use flames to burn her enemy to ashes.' It also states that she can raise the flames' temperature to a thousand degrees centigrade..." Anson glanced at me, "...more than enough to instantly vaporize water."
"I ought to thank him," I said sarcastically. Though I really didn't care what would happen to him. He was a pain to me, and it was for my better that he was no longer around.
"It hasn't been long since they've taken Rukia Kuchiki hostage," Anson said. "Now that they have another prisoner of war, I'm not sure whether the businesses of Soul Society will be kept secret. Tsubasa knows how things generally work, and some of those generalizations include our defense mechanisms."
"Not to mention," Rosche added, "he has a certain disharmony with Kai. I doubt Tsubasa will withhold information from the Hollows if it means a way to get rid of Kai." Rosche shifted uneasily, then prepared a marshmallow for roasting. "If he resorts to that, it will not only affect Kai, but everyone else. Kai is new to the Shinigami duties, and the Hollows probably won't deem him too much of a threat."
"I'm right here..." I said. "But, if I happen to master Bankai in time, that would make me a threat, wouldn't it?"
"Any Shinigami will prove a threat with Bankai," Anson stated, "even a Shikai will suffice; Bankai just makes you more of one. It is the most powerful of Zanpakutō forms, which is why it is imperative that you and Rosche learn it as soon as possible. Two more capable of achieving Bankai will greatly ensure our victory in this war."
"Along with the extra Zankensoki training, you will be much more deadly," Soi Fon added.
"I just hope so..." I mumbled to myself. I tossed the burnt stick in my hand into the fire. "I'm done for the day. All I know is that tomorrow is gonna be a long one."
"How about you talk now?" The Messenger known as Kray threw someone against the prison room's wall, greatly startling Rukia. "Still not gonna, eh? I might have to chop off a few toes then." As he reached for his claymore sword, Ez grabbed his hand.
"His Majesty told us not to bring permanent damage upon the prisoners," he said. "Besides, we can ask Sy for a Hollow that can dig into one's thoughts, instead of having to bloody the castle." Ez released Kray's hand, whom let it hang at his side.
"Tch," Kray said with a scowl. He and Ez left that cell, with Kray slamming the bars into place with a wide sweep of his hand. Rukia felt herself cringe at the sound that echoed through the hallway. She had a small urge to see who the person could be, one who could have deserved such unrefined treatment?
They are Hollows, Rukia told herself, then confronted the figure in the cell. He was middle-aged, she could tell by the man's stubble. His hair was dark, and his eyes were hidden behind cracked glasses. What startled her more was the Shinigami shihakusho that he wore.
"You want something, Missy?" the man growled. "You don't look Hollow at all. What, they still let you Arrancars around? Thought they fully changed them or something."
His attitude reminded her of the rough classmates she met at the high school of Karakura. They too were unrefined and showed little to no respect. She tried the direct approach. "Kuchiki Rukia, Lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division of the Gotei Thirteen."
His face was at a loss for words for a second; given that his face merely contorted and his jaw shook, trying to form words. "Kuchiki-taichō's sister? What the hell are you doing here?!"
"What do you mean why am I here?" Rukia demanded in a slightly more louder tone. "The same reason you are, prisoner of war!"
"Then why the fuck do they let you out of your cell, have nice clothes, and allow you to come bash me around, hah?!"
The F-word stung Rukia, even though it had been the fifth time she heard it. "Ask the King! He let me around! Plus, I never came to bash you; you brought that on yourself!"
Out of nowhere, the blade of a large sword buried itself on the door frame of the Shinigami's cell. Rukia traced the blade to its wielding hand to realize she was face-to-face with Kray. The sword slowly parted from the wall as Kray spoke: "How much louder do you Shinigami have to be?!" The air seemed to weigh down on Rukia as a wave of Hollow reiatsu billowed out from the Messenger. "Have your Captains taught you that 'Silence is golden'? Or do Shinigami only teach you that Hollows are evil and must be destroyed?
"To Hell with their ignorance! They are all hypocrites; they allow their 'Visoreds' and despise the 'Arrancar' even though both are half-Hollow. So-"
Kray stopped as a wave of reiatsu came seemingly from nowhere, with the appearance of a scythe now curved around his neck. Rukia saw Sy at the scythe's handle. "That's enough, Kray."
"Sy..." Kray muttered.
"Collect your sword and leave. His Majesty does not take lightly of vandalism of his castle." Kray pulled his sword out of the frame and stalked away when Sy permitted. Rukia heard Kray utter the word "Traitor" as he left.
"Thank you... Sy," Rukia managed to say.
"Don't thank me every single time I send another Messenger away," he said. "Now there are two to keep track of..." Sy rested his scythe on his shoulder before he turned and began to leave.
"Why do you bother?" Tsubasa called out. "You're a Hollow, and we are Shinigami! Why do you bother protecting us?"
Sy stopped. "You two should be happy that the King has decreed me to be on your side instead of the others'," he said cryptically.
After the daily Bankai conditioning, Rosche and I arrived at Sakiruma Plateau for Byakuya's Kidō training. I spotted his first reading his book, End of Beginnings, Beginning of the End. He snapped the book shut as Rosche and I approached him. He pointed at me and I barely had time to react to what happened next.
"Byakurai." A bolt of white lightning shot out from his finger. I outstretched my hands in front of me, one hand behind the other.
"Enkōsen!"
The spell collided into the condensed reishi shield, to which didn't explode, but rather was able to send me back quite some distance. My shield faltered, throwing me off balance, but managed to block the brunt of the Byakurai power. Apparently, the back of my head hit the ground. My vision flickered. "Ow..." I said.
"Captain Kuchiki!" Rosche demanded. "What was that for?"
"It was barely quarter of my usual power," he said. "Besides, it was to test his reaction time, though I intended for him to counter with Dankū." He snapped his fingers a couple of times. "But, a solid Enkōsen without stating Kidō level was quite surprising."
I walked up to my captain, the flickering gone from my eyes. "How are we going to train Kidō exactly?"
"There will be no need to hone your Reiryoku," he said. "The two of you have decent enough Reiryoku, both of expected high-seated officers. The primary objective is to memorize the Kidō, and incantations if necessary."
I dug out the slip of paper which had the kotodama of Dankū on it. "Walls which none can climb," I said, "trenches which none can pass over. Nothing shall penetrate what is airtight..."
"Exactly," Byakuya said. "Memorize that."
"At least it's better than having to memorize whole chapters of the Bible like they do in Ao no Exorcist..." I said to myself, referring to yet another anime, which included combatants who recited certain verses to vanquish demons.
"Something to share?" Byakuya asked.
"Nothing... just a lapse from my lifetime..." I blinked. Ao no Exorcist? What's that? Is it like Code Geass? Am I going to start remembering others too?
"Socrius, put up a Dankū barrier," Byakuya ordered. I recited the kotodama and raised my hands outstretched in front of me. A thin layer of Kidō, about three meters wide, four meters tall, and about a centimeter thick, formed itself between me and Byakuya. I saw Byakuya nod his head before approaching me. He reached out toward me; his hand passed through the barrier. He then pulled his hand back, then pointed a finger at me.
"Hadō Four, Byakurai."
A jolt of white lightning erupted from his finger once again but struck against my Dankū barrier. The barrier shined as it moved in the light, swirling the lightning around and dispersing it vertically and horizontally.
Byakuya winced. He looked confused for a second. "Adequate," he stated. "Again, quarter of my power, and even with kotodama, your barrier falters ever so slightly. Practice so that it does not. Your Zanpakutō is Kidō-based, so she may be able to help you with that... and..."
He turned away and looked at Rosche. She recited the kotodama and erected her own barrier, and Byakuya tested its strength with his quarter-power Byakurai. It stood firmly, though the Byakurai did not disperse.
"I thought so," Byakuya said.
"Is dispersion something abnormal?" Rosche asked. "Or is cancellation abnormal?"
"Dispersion; Dankū is supposed to cancel the Reiryoku of whatever strikes it. There is some fault in your Reiryoku cancellation, though I know not what it means."
"Is that a problem?" I asked.
"Not one that detriments your ability to deflect attacks, but there is a chance to either accidentally maim an ally or maim a foe. It all depends on your position and or timing, but I would remedy your cancellation problem rather than bet on luck."
I nodded. "I will practice that."
"Hibiscus, I have no constructive criticism for you. I will allow the two of you to practice your Dankū barriers for a few weeks. For the next lesson, I don't wish to overload your minds with Kidō incantations, so I shall resort to a simpler form of combat; Zanjutsu."
Byakuya drew his sword. "Who wishes to be evaluated first?"
Neither me nor Rosche volunteered. I could tell why; Rosche was accustomed to combat with a whip. But my style depended on another person's movement, with counterattacks and reason. My strong point was creating moves, but not executing my next action. Improvisation was my strongest point, and creating new tactics against a person in whom I hadn't faced put me at a disadvantage more than at an advantage.
"Socrius, you try first."
I bit the inside of my lip as I made some distance between me and my captain. I slid the longsword from my hip and held it out in front of me, tip facing around forty-five degrees from the ground's angle. "Wrong," Byakuya said.
I raised an eyebrow.
"The Academy never taught, and never will teach, what Shinigami do when facing an opponent whom is not a Hollow. When facing a more clever adversary, never hold your sword out like that. What if..." Byakuya shunpo'ed behind me and pressed the flat of Senbonzakura against my neck. "...they manage to sneak behind you and trap you?" I jumped away, holding my sword up in my custom stance; feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and sword held at my right at shoulder height and top facing Byakuya. I waited for him to move.
After a few seconds, Byakuya asked, "What if the enemy's only objective is to buy time? He would have fulfilled his duty by stalling the first strike."
He wants me to show my offensive skill, I thought. What a pain... I took a breath before shunpo'ing forward and holding my sword out like a baseball bat. As I neared, I swung my sword, also while sticking my foot out to kick.
"Creative form," Byakuya said, blocking my blade with his while catching my foot in the palm of his left hand. "A double-pronged attack may prove more useful against a more bulky and slow opponent. Against quick opponents, one should have a large range and or a wide sweep; to be quicker produces a more desirable outcome." He dropped my foot and I fell to the ground.
"I'm falling more than usual..." I whined, picking myself back up. I sheathed my sword and retreated to sit on a nearby rock. "Is it Rosche's turn now?"
Byakuya sighed. "I was not yet finished... come back." I sighed. "This is a spar. So draw your sword."
A week had passed in the Dimension. Anson, at the time, was a small distance away from Byakuya, Kai, and Rosche. He dug out a piece of paper and quickly scrawled a message onto it:
Urahara,
If Ichigo or any of his friends approach you, tell them that the Soul Society will enter Hueco Mundo within a few days. Yamamoto has already prepared forces to fight the incoming Hollow army. Seven shall go forward to fight the Messengers, myself included.
You will know what is to be expected.
-Divine Son
He folded up the paper and dropped it. The ground swallowed up the paper; in real time, only a few seconds would have passed in between his note to Hueco Mundo and to Urahara. Anson sighed.
"What did the note say?" he heard someone say. "And who was it sent to?"
"You're becoming better with your Kyokkō," Anson said casually.
"I'm the one asking the question." Soi Fon appeared beside Anson, her Suzumebachi pointed at Anson's neck.
"Soi Fon," Anson said coolly. "With all due respect, put down your middle finger. It is the most rude, non-explicit gesture to date."
Soi Fon pressed the tip of Suzumebachi against Anson's skin. "We are going to have a problem if you don't start talking!"
"And if we got a problem," Anson said, "you got a problem." Anson felt muscle movement through Soi Fon's weapon and called upon the power of his Bankai.
Soi Fon yelled out, but Anson could only see her yell. He had removed the air around Soi Fon to dampen the sound from escaping. "Bakudo Ten, Tanma Otoshi." Soi Fon went limp and collapsed into a heap. Anson allowed air to flow through and inspected the damage he had done.
The wound inflicted was shallow, but blood still leaked out substantially. Anson remedied the wound with healing Kidō. Suzumebachi had reverted to its, her, Zanpakutō form, with a tinge of blood near its tip. Anson wiped the area clean with his shihakusho sleeve and put the blade in the sheath located at Soi Fon's rear waist area. That barely went as planned, Anson thought angrily. I could have accidentally killed her, had I had been more discomposed. He closed the wound, carried Soi Fon to the shade of a nearby rock and laid her in a sitting pose.
The job finished, Anson noticed a slip of paper appear beside his foot. He picked it up, trying to ignore the scents of candies that accompanied it. Damn you Urahara.
D.S.,
I can feel them, Ichi and Co. Whatever you're doing, better finish it quick, because there isn't a lot of time. We're talking about Kuchiki's sister here, and Ichi's gonna want to save her as soon as possible.
I'll try to stall them as best I can.
-Candy Man
Anson read the note again, then burned the note with a manipulation of air temperatures. Ichigo's gotten there faster than I thought. I'll have to compress the time-line much more than I have to...
"Bakudo Eighty-One: Dankū!" The translucent barrier formed before me, showering me in the smoke caused by the explosion of a Byakurai blast. The Dankū barrier held. "No signs of falter. But the cancellation problem still exists." I was half-pleased.
"I haven't found out the cause," I admitted.
Byakuya looked up. I turned to see Anson walking toward us. He stopped a few feet behind me and seated himself down. "What," Byakuya demanded, "are you doing here?"
"Just keep going," Anson said in a light tone, completely contradictory to Byakuya's. "Just think of me as a third student." He smiled.
Byakuya barely suppressed a frustrated groan. "Socrius, again. Dankū, and this time, cancel it."
Once more, I formed the barrier; once more, the barrier dispersed the spell in random directions perpendicular to the Dankū. "I might know the problem," Anson offered.
"Indulge us," Byakuya said.
"Cancellation is in a way like absorbing," Anson said. " To stop dispersion, Kai has to sacrifice Reiryoku; this causes the "cancellation" process. In most cases, though irrelevant to our predicament, Dankū has enough cancellation in itself to block a Level Eighty-eight Kidō, or several lower Kidō in bulk; as long as the cumulative Kidō levels do not exceed eighty-eight. It also varies with Reiryoku strength, but that is impossible to determine that without Captain Kurotsuchi's reiatsu-meter.
"It is better explained through this chemistry reference. With either ions and ionic compounds, both have a number of positive or negative charges. There has to be an equal number of positive and negative charges to create a stable compound. In our case, our 'stable compound..." Anson added the "quotations" gesture to the word," is an explosion and smoke, rather than an 'explosion, smoke, and stray reiatsu'.
"In Kai's case, he is unable to utilize this cancellation principle. He doesn't use any Reiryoku to cancel, and so he places more entities in danger. My guess is because of Shionari, as she and Kai share the same Reiryoku 'pool'. Shionari's Deluge Form allows the absorption of Reiryoku of anything the Shikai body touches. But maybe something was experienced to completely negate Reiryoku-Reiryoku conflicts.
I was so confident that I was going yet another one of its kind. I was so confident that I was going to overwhelm one of them, use its Reiryoku to fight, but only to experience a different kind of medium enter my world. One of an intruder; I had to release that power. "Shionari mentioned 'intruders' when I tried absorbing the Reiryoku of a Menos Grande," I said. "Perhaps Shinigami and Hollow Reiryoku are incompatible with one another, though I can't vouch for Visoreds or Arrancars. Maybe it was this that shut off this cancellation thing."
"Hypothesis deemed correct," Anson said triumphantly. "And from our 'victim' too. Wait until Kurotsuchi hears this... he'll be sure to take all the credit..."
Byakuya sighed softly. "Just be sure to control whether you could or could not 'absorb'. It may prove useful in the future."
I nodded.
"What's next?" Anson asked.
Byakuya growled under his breath. "You managed to explain the nature of Kai's problem. You can teach these two the essential Kidō."
"In my opinion, you're the better teacher!" Anson said in his lively tone.
"You're just a lazy bum!" Rosche called out.
Byakuya took no note of the statement. "For what has seemed to be a week, I have been having to deal with demeaning nicknames by our Second Captain. I had not signed up for that. I wish to retire, get over with this war, and return to the way things had been."
"Byakuya Kuchiki," Anson said, "things had never been normal ever since Ichigo Kurosaki changed Soul Society two years ago. Even after Aizen, there was the Fullbring matter. Your sister, Rukia, and even Urahara had to pay close attention to him. There was always the tense moment of when Kugō Ginjō would show up to 'recruit' Ichigo. And after those few days of peace came the Message of the King of Hollows."
Anson breathed once, as if to stabilize himself. "Captain Byakuya Kuchiki. Your life will never return to normal. Not now, not after the war. Until the governments of both Soul Society and the Hollow Realm can reconcile, there will always be conflict and there shall always be strife. The cycle of life and death will always continue to repeat."
Byakuya drew his sword, and I could feel his Reiatsu flare. I could only describe it as being on the red side of the spectrum; he was angry beyond comparison.
"What's with the sword?" Anson inquired. "You really aren't..."
"Bankai," Byakuya said, dropping his katana tip-first into the ground. "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." The sword sank into the ground, as if it was dropped into water.
The sky darkened as multiple blades rose from the ground, as far into the horizon as one could see. They then dispersed into multiple pink shards, hovering menacingly behind Byakuya.
There was a swoosh of air and I saw that Anson had appeared, in his sitting position, behind Byakuya. "Eighty-five centimeter danger zone. I'd rather not maim you, nor would you maim yourself so willingly because of anger."
"Senkei: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!" Byakuya uttered, and the shards came together to form a cage of pink swords around Byakuya and Anson.
"Kai! Get out!" Rosche called. I took a second to realize that the cage was closing quick, so I shunpo'ed backwards and had barely steered clear of the boundary, though with my excess sash significantly shortened.
"Anson!" Rosche called out, and I instantly heard metal strike metal.
"You need not worry about me, Rosche!"
"I never worried! This is for being a dumb-ass! You're going to get owned!"
"Other than that," Anson said, "you two watch carefully. You may learn a thing or two."
There was a small explosion, and the two trailed out of the smoke cloud on opposite ends. "Captain Kuchiki," Anson said. "I have always been wanting to cross blades with you. Never have I found you available. But now that you have come to me, I can fight uninhibited."
"You speak as though you know you are going to win," Byakuya said arrogantly. "Back down before I break your body into pieces."
"Force is meaningless without skill," Anson said.
"The time for talk is over!" Byakuya roared, completely losing all composure. He charged forward, his sword glimmering white...