Chapter Twenty Four: Touching the Past
"Well, at least it isn't raining."
Takasugi adjusted his sword at his waist with a sigh, offering Kikyue a rueful smile. "I can just imagine what this grove is like when it's wet. Muddy underfoot would be an understatement. I reckon it's probably a swamp."
It was a little after dawn, and the Seventh Division officers had arrived in Sixth District, in the cherry grove, where a scientific investigation was already well under way. The Twelfth had been in situ all night long, tuning instruments and testing coordinates until they had located the trace emissions of the Gate from which the corpses had spewed forth. Now, six or seven officers were hard at work building a temporary frame around the stretch of space where the Gate was thought to be, passing pieces of unknown equipment to each other with unintelligible instructions about this angle or that algorithm. Opening the Gate was clearly a more complex task than opening a Senkaimon, and although Kikyue was impatient to be off, she squashed the instinct inside of her, all too aware that there was no safety in haste. Hirata had told her to trust the Twelfth's science and to adhere to their instructions, and she had made sure that her men had had the same information. In the end, she had brought six officers, including both Takasugi and Hashimori. Although the sun was now fully risen, there had not yet been the order to advance, and Takasugi, always an active, impulsive soul, was starting to get restless at the delay.
"We're lucky Guren-sama's allowed us to come here at all," Hashimori, a quiet, professional officer who numbered among Hajime's patrol cast his companion a reproving look now. "I don't think our neighbours would be so gracious if they knew you were commenting on the natural conditions rather than focusing on why we're here. We won't be patrolling in mud, Takasugi-san. We're going into the Gate, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't rain inside the Dangai."
"Who knows what it does in there, lately?" Kikyue stretched her arms over her head with a sigh, casting a resentful glance across the clearing to where Ikata was holding forth to a group of seven or eight Eleventh Division officers. The Eleventh had already been there when Kikyue and her men had arrived, for they had had one final briefing from Hajime and their Captain before they had been allowed to leave the Seventh barracks. It had meant that Ikata had taken the opportunity to deploy his men as close to the Dangai Gate opening as was possible, forcing the Seventh Division officers to stand a little at a distance from where Mareiko and her team from the Twelfth were busily buzzing around. Though the Gate was normally invisible, Mareiko's equipment had made a slightly hazy shadow appear in the air and at the sight of it, Ikata had muscled forward, announcing in a boorish voice to his men that they should be ready to go in and 'defend Seireitei' at a moment's notice. His voice was loud, carrying through the clearing and sending disgruntled birds flying up into the air, but somehow Mareiko had kept her focus, ignoring her neighbour's adjutant and concentrating instead on the extremely precise scientific instruments she had brought along with her. Her hair was in its usual straw scarecrow disarray, and she was not wearing her haori, as though she had forgotten to put it on before leaving the Twelfth. Yet despite her haphazard appearance, there was nothing for Kikyue or her companions to be amused at. The reality of their mission was heavy over all of their shoulders, but none more so than Kikyue herself.
This place is where Guren-sama's son died.
She glanced around at the slightly dishevelled cherry grove, taking in the broken branches and scarred trees that indicated Guren-sama's own encounter with the undead. It was still pretty and scattered with pink, but there were strange marks and unidentified stains that soaked some of the older petals, while in other places, the flowers had been swept away and removed completely, exposing stretches of muddy grass where there was usually a carpet of sakura. It was completely different from the place where Kikyue had seen her injured brother, bloodstained and gasping for air on the grass, but it reminded her of that moment, anyway. Guren-sama had suffered in the same way as her father had, years before she or her brother had even been born, and although she had never met Ribari, nor thought of him before, at that moment she fancied she could imagine him, his expression one of terror as he sank into his final coma.
My aunt killed him with poison. The girl who killed Souja-niisama is dead, and good riddance, but Aunt Eiraki is still alive, in custody, and well looked after. She may have lost her mind when Keitarou died, but Guren-sama lost his chance for justice. In spite of that, and in spite of Father's decision to take care of Eiraki-basama, Guren-sama has agreed to work with my family. He's given permission for us to desecrate this place further in order to find the one behind it. If Katsura is here, and we find him, then our debt to the Kuchiki will be great - but coming here myself makes me remember what our families share. We both want closure to Keitarou's reign of terror...and we will both never find it, because of loved ones we lost who can't be brought back.
She sighed, folding her arms against her body and sending Ikata a look of disatisfaction.
Guren-sama is the same as Father. He lacks a son and heir. But he has Shirogane-dono and Ryuu-dono. Father's male nephews are Kohaku and Katsura. Kohaku may not be a problem, but Katsura is. Guren-sama lost his son, but his nephews are loyal and reliable. Father has Sayuri and I to take care of him, but in our case, there's one nephew who might well kill us all if he had the chance. I suppose that I can't blame Father for the final briefing this morning. He's worried about that...even though he knows he can trust me, he can't help worrying about that.
"Hime, do you think we'll actually be able to get inside?" Takasugi asked the question at that juncture, and Kikyue turned, nodding her head.
"Sekime-taichou sent word that she'd successfully opened and disabled the Gate near the border camp, in Third District," she said. "This one should be the same, and so she should be able to open it."
"And destroy it?" Hashimori looked apprehensive. "If she does that, how will we get back?"
"Guren-sama wants it removed, once and for all, so I assume she has another solution for our return," Kikyue shrugged. "I leave that to her. She's the scientist. I'm pretty sure she won't let anyone go in there unless she's certain we can get out again."
"I suppose we're about to find out," Takasugi indicated in the direction of the Twelfth officers, who had begun to stand back from the makeshift frame, exchanging glances and nods of approval. "It looks like they're done, which means we're on. About time, too. I know this can't be rushed, but I admit, I don't like waiting around when there might be danger ahead. If it's going to be rough, I'd rather be getting my teeth stuck into it, rather than standing about and dwelling."
"Ikata-dono, Kikyue-dono, may I speak with you both, please?" Mareiko brushed her messy hair back from her face, turning to look for the two senior officers, and Ikata immediately muscled forward, sending Kikyue a glare that dared her to try and take his prime position. Kikyue bristled at the challenge, but she swallowed her hunter's indignation, merely crossing the clearing to stand at his left hand.
"I'm sorry for the wait. I wanted to make sure it would hold open long enough to allow you all to enter safely," Mareiko offered them both a weary smile, and Kikyue could see the clouded preoccupation in her gaze. Mareiko didn't like the order she had been given, she realised with a jolt. Mareiko was opening the Gate, but she wasn't happy with the idea of people going inside it.
That means it's probably a lot more dangerous than we think it is, and that's why she's taken so much time over it. Because she doesn't know how stable it might be inside. Destroying it is one thing, but making sure we can enter is another.
"The Gate is ready to be opened," the Captain spoke now, reaching into her obi and producing two glittering round disks. "These are Gate Keys. I have one for each of you, as the two officers in command of this mission."
"I am the officer in charge, Sekime-taichou," Ikata protested, and Sekime nodded.
"Yes, I know, but you have a Third Seat to back you up, and it makes sense that you have the option to divide forces to investigate if need be," she said calmly. "A back-up plan is always useful, and so I made sure there was a second key. Here you are, Ikata-dono. Here's yours, Kikyue-dono. They won't open the Gate from the outside, but they ought to activate a stable Gate from the inside. We've done some tests at Twelfth and we've proven that they successfully activate the Gate there. When you go in, I will seal this Gate behind you. The Keys won't operate this Gate, and I don't really want us to use it again because I'm not convinced it's very steady. It might prove dangerous, if we were to try and force the issue. For that reason, I've linked the Keys to the Gate by the Twelfth. You should be able to return directly to Inner Seireitei from any point in the Dangai where this has a signal. So long as you don't stray from the Dangai map, there should be no risk."
"We're going to patrol everywhere," Ikata glanced at his Key, then shoved it into his broad obi with a shrug. "I suppose it's a good thing, though, coming back to Inner Seireitei. Sixth is a long way from home and it's a trek. We can report more easily that way, and then my Captain won't moan that I'm wasting good time."
"How does it work, Sekime-taichou?" Kikyue sent Ikata a withering glance, then glanced at the fair-haired Captain. "Is it tuned to a specific reiatsu, or is it possible for any of my men to use it if the need arises?"
"Why would you let your underlings use it?" Ikata demanded, and Kikyue offered him a flinty smile.
"I prepare for all possibilities," she said calmly. "If I can't activate it, someone else may need to."
"It's not tuned to a specific reiatsu," Mareiko shook her head. "It can't be activated by anyone who doesn't possess a zanpakutou, and your reiatsu alone should make the connection. The Keys will resonate to the zanpakutou aura of the person who holds them, and they will react accordingly if triggered to open the Gate. I will keep track of them while they are in the Dangai, and hopefully be able to log your location based on the zanpakutou signature. None of the sample corpses that have emerged from in there have had those kinds of weapons to hand, and we've no reason to believe that they have conscious thought or the ability to plan or steal items. The Keys can be activated once but only by someone with at the very least shikai in their command. Your officers should be able to activate it, if there is an emergency, but I would advise you keep it yourself unless there is such a need."
"I was going to," Kikyue assured her, sliding her own disk into her obi. "Are you going to disable this Gate after we go inside?"
"I don't think that is a good idea," Mareiko looked troubled. "I will, of course. But I will wait for your safe return, first. It must be shut down, but I won't risk your lives. I don't know what kind of reaction it might cause, internally. There were some ripples of energy when I closed the one in District Three, and I was a little alarmed by the readings. This Gate is just as unstable. I would sooner you were not inside when I closed it permanently...so I will put a temporary seal on it, and the formal disabling will happen when you are back and debriefed."
"That makes sense," Ikata nodded approvingly. "Well, then, we've got our tools. I've briefed my men, and Kikyue-dono," he glanced insolently at the young Endou princess, "you and yours just follow along with mine. I know you've probably been told to look for that Katsura guy, and I don't really care if you do - but we're here to investigate and I'd thank you for not interfering with Eleventh's work. If you're coming with my squad, you follow my orders. Is that clear? That's what the Vice Captains agreed, including yours."
"Ikata-dono, I think that Kikyue-hime..." Mareiko began, but Kikyue held up her hands, offering Mareiko a rueful grimace.
"I've had my orders," she said briskly. "Ikata-dono, we are at your disposal. We are looking for Katsura. We're not interested in impeding Eleventh's mission here, and I'm sure you won't mind us pursuing our specific ends once inside."
"So long as it's clear," Ikata rumbled, and Mareiko sighed, turning back towards the Gate.
"We're ready to open it," she told the nearest officer, who saluted, hurrying towards the equipment. At a signal, all of the officers present drew their swords from their scabbards, plunging their blades deep into the frame at different points. Mareiko strode between them, her hands pressed together as she muttered what sounded like some kind of new and complex kidou spell. Energy flared forth from her hands, connecting to the energy field the zanpakutou had ignited, and, as Kikyue watched, the crackling reiatsu surged together, forcibly ripping open the hazy shadow trapped within the flame. It wobbled for a moment, as though about to close right up again, but as Mareiko intensified her focus, it stabilised, the edges of the tear held open by the frame. Mareiko lowered her hands, gesturing for Ikata and Kikyue to come forward again.
"Inside is not quite normal," she said softly. "I don't really know what will happen when you go in, but I suggest you keep a close focus on your reiatsu, and don't try to use Kidou or your sword releases inside the tunnels. I know this is a normal safety warning," as Ikata opened his mouth to protect, "but in this case it is particularly serious and you may meet hostile entities in the tunnels. We don't know if there are more corpse dolls lurking there, so you must be prepared to avoid them or deal with them in a non-spiritual way. Sealed swords should be fine, but most of all you need to retain focus. We've done some tests and the walls of the tunnel in Third District were feather-thin and prone to fragmenting. My officers found that if they kept their own reiatsu very controlled, they were able to forge a replacement pathway beneath their feet to fill any gaps, but it would be dangerous if you lost concentration. With luck, this Gate is better than that one - but I can't be sure, so it's better to be prepared. So long as you don't let your spirit power flare, you should be fine. If you do, it could be dangerous for all of you."
"Nobody is to release their swords or use Kidou until further notice," Ikata raised his voice, barking out the orders to all the assembled officers as though they had not been in close enough earshot to hear Mareiko's own words. "We'll take out any enemies the good old fashioned way, with blades and fists. I've heard the Endou are warriors," this last to Kikyue, "so I imagine your men are capable of that."
"They are, more than," Kikyue said softly, although she could sense the flaring indignation in the reiatsu of her associates. "We are ready to go in when when you are, Ikata-dono. The Endou are proper fighters, and they won't be found lacking on this mission. You have my word."
The Spirit Archive was one of the oldest and biggest constructions in the heart of Inner Seireitei.
Built several centuries earlier, at a time when the Clans of Seireitei had come together to form the first, raw Council of Elders, it contained books, records and documents donated over the years by each family as they changed leaders and evolved their political power bases. While the oldest and most obscure records for the whole of Seireitei still resided in Sixth District, copies of every legal document and formal report dating back several milennia was meant to have been drafted, copied and secured in the bowels of the Archive, to enable shinigami of any faction to do the necessary research to carry out their job. These days, many of the most used and accessible records in the lower landings of the building pertained to Gotei law, a more recent development that had come into play with the formalisation of Shinigami routine. Land documents, official supply records and receipts and material relating to spirit power, kidou and shunpo were also easily accessible to all registered squad members on entering the building. Deeper within, however, lay the Restricted section - an area reserved for Clan Leaders and Captains. It was here that some of the older or more controversial historical records from Seireitei's past were secured away from the prying eyes of the rank and file, and it was here, to this part of the Archive that Shunsui had come that morning.
The room in which he now found himself was long, and dark, with wooden shelves that ran floor to ceiling. Each shelf contained rows of scrolls, all neatly rolled and ribboned in what was a roughly chronological system. In theory, all of the scrolls deposited here had been placed in a specific order, and each scroll had a number which associated with a formal list. When he had asked for the list with the archivists, however, he had discovered that it, along with some other catalogue paperwork had been destroyed by mice and insects, and the remains had long since been burned. While records pertaining to actively useful material had been reconstructed, nobody had thought to come down here and do the same, and so the numbers that were scribed in black ink on each shelf below a pile of scrolls were now like a secret code that had lost all meaning with the destruction of its cipher. The scrolls were all neatly stored, Shunsui mused, as he walked slowly between them, pausing occasionally to peer at a faded label on the shelf, but they had not been disturbed for some centuries, and the dust lay thickly over them, concealing Clan motifs and the ornate patterns of the wrapping silk from view. There was no natural light here, the room powered by kidou lamps which had also clearly seen better days, for they flickered at intervals, making the entire chamber claustrophobic and eerie.
The files stored in this room had essentially been discarded here by Clans choosing to make room in their own smaller archives for more recent and relevant material. Only the Kuchiki, with their traditional role as record-keepers of Seireitei had not used this place as a literary tip. The records stored here were significantly old - some, Shunsui presumed, were even older than Genryuusai, and a few were written in such ancient form of script that nobody in this age was able to read them. This was the archive devoted to pre-Council Seireitei history - a catalogue of skirmishes, warfare and military coups that stretched back to time immemorial.
Shunsui had been forced to learn large swathes of his own family history as a boy, under duress and often in a locked room, under guard. His suspicious and power-hungry uncle had seen to instilling in him a knowledge of his ancestors, but even that forced education had been essentially recent. There had been only the briefest mention of Heaven's War in those lessons, and nothing of its aftermath, when soldiers had been thrown into the Dangai. In fact, as Shunsui reflected on those lessons now, he felt certain the name had only come up in reference to rewards of land and title awarded for brave military service.
Well, I know the Kyouraku is a newer Clan compared to some of the others. That's one reason why we got District Eight. The Endou and the Kyouraku only became formally recognised as Great Noble Houses long after the others were already established. There was never a Kyouraku Province, and whatever land and title my ancestors held came originally from military service to the Yamamoto. There's no reason that we'd have been taught about something that happened before we existed as a family - and the Kyouraku are rarely interested in things that don't involve them as chiefly important.
Shunsui sighed, pausing at a particular stack of rolls with a grimace. What was held here would take a lot of time to go through, and he wasn't entirely sure yet what it was he was looking for. Since Juushirou's visit, he had been pondering the problem of Katsura's odd behaviour, and the frightening possibility that the dead that had been spewed out into parts of Rukongai and Seireitei might be from a time earlier than even Genryuusai could remember. The Kuchiki records of Heaven's War and the conflicts that came before it would almost certainly be more neatly and tidily organised, but Shunsui knew that negotiating with Seireitei's illustrious First Clan over access to such precious and ancient paperwork would be difficult and likely to raise suspicion. The Kuchiki had risen to prominence over the other families in a time period that Shunsui estimated probably coincided with Heaven's War, when they had been appointed the first Seireitei-born Regents and had received the imperial mandate to govern on the Soul King's behalf. As Seireitei had militarised, the position of Regent had not endured, but the reputation had, and Shunsui felt sure that any tiny detail that showed the Kuchiki in anything but a positive light had long since been spirited away into oblivion. Shunsui was not foolish enough to believe that the Kuchiki had not been involved in the tasteless practice of consigning villains to the Dangai, but the practice had ended not long after Heaven's War had been concluded, and Shunsui had had to acknowledge that it had probably been these Seireitei-born Regents who, deciding it was unpleasant, had brought the custom to a close.
The Punishment Gates were sealed, the records to their whereabouts disappeared over time. The Urahara should have that information, but apparently, they don't. Keitarou might have taken it, but if he did, I'm sure we would have found it in one of the sites he used as his base. When he was alive, fine, he could move his resources with him - but after his death? Unless that was part of his plan, which I doubt, we surely should have located that material among his other research notes. Nagesu-sama has used Keitarou's science over the past thirty or forty years to augment Seireitei's own technology, and that includes stabilising the Senkaimon and making them more functional. If the information about Zaimon wasn't there, then it seems unlikely Keitarou took it.
He gazed up at the scrolls with a look of resignation.
And that's why I've come here. Everything that the Clans did not want or need got dumped here and forgotten about. Nobody comes here. Nobody's interested in these documents. They're brittle relics of a past world that no longer exists. Seireitei keeps them because it's a matter of form to do so - but nobody's looked at them in generations. If there's anything left in Seireitei about the Spirit Gates, and the prisoners consigned into them, I'm sure it's probably here. Somewhere. Dumped by the Urahara when they reinvented themselves as scientists on the cutting edge rather than purveyors of cruel and unusual punishment. The only question is, where?
As the Captain Commander for this session, it had been no trouble at all for Shunsui to access the restricted area, for the key to this room was among those items he had been given to look after for the year. His predecessors had had the same privilege, but there had never been a need to come in here until now, and so the key had fitted stiffly into a lock full of dust and, most likely, the shells of several insect generations that had made their home in this quiet, dark sanctuary. Shunsui's current rank also allowed him to take any record from the Archive for his own private research without anyone asking any questions. It was the first time since he had been invested with the role at the start of the year that he had not regretted having been burdened by it, but his subordinates were not allowed to come into this room without specific paperwork, and in any case, Shunsui was following his own whim, not wanting to create a panic.
If Juushirou wasn't so worried about Kohaku, then I'd ask him to come in on this with me, but I don't want to add more to his plate. The last thing we need is Juu getting ill over all of this. Hirata has enough to think of, with Kikyue going into the Dangai, and while I could ask Sora, she's not always as discreet as I'd like. There's not really anyone else with high enough rank that I can go to, so it will just have to be me. At the very least, I suppose I'm looking for scrolls with the Urahara crest on it - or something closely resembling it, whatever it might have been centuries ago. Everyone forgets about this place, because nobody ever needs to come here. Ancient history is what it is, but this is the most likely place to me for missing records to turn up in. Even if he did take material relating to Gate technology, there's no reason for Keitarou to have taken information about prisoners that died long before he was even born. Keitarou's puppets had to be alive, and the creatures that the Fourth have forensic custody of were not alive. The more I think of that, the more I'm sure it's different. And if they are men from Heaven's War, or the time before, then I think we should know about them. Even if they are dead, since speaking to Juushirou, I feel more and more certain that we ought to know who those people were. The only trouble is...I don't have a clue where to even begin with finding them.
He braced himself, reaching out a tentative finger to brush a layer of thick, grey dust off the nearest scroll as he looked for a familiar family insignia. The first few scrolls contained crests he did not know, probably the records of families no longer in existence, whose records had been discarded here when their lines had died out or been extinguished by treason, plague or war. Occasionally he came across an older or simpler version of a family emblem that he did know, such as the Yamamoto or the Unohana, but he had been searching the archive for some time before he caught sight of what he was looking for.
The Urahara crest had changed significantly over time, and to begin with he had almost overlooked it. But, as he had squinted at the insignia in the dim, unsteady light, he had recognised the weave of colours as those that belonged to the Urahara even in the present day. A quick check of the surrounding shelves told him that all of the material here was from the Urahara, but whether it was old enough to relate to the time of the Zaimon, he did not know.
Carefully he took the nearest two scrolls down from the shelf, carrying them tentatively across the chamber to the small, steep reading desk that stood against the far wall. Setting the second scroll down, he began to slowly unroll the first, coughing and brushing away the cloud of ancient dust that swirled up from the dry and delicate paper. The ribbons were so thick with dust they had been permanently dulled, but when he removed them, a thin line of vivid colour lay beneath, revealing the expensive silk that had been used to wrap the scroll originally. The characters were old and tiny, written in an awkward cleric's hand and full of ancient, obscure forms of characters that typified Seireitei's older history. Occasionally, a Clan name would appear, but written in an unfamiliar way, and occasionally, spelt out entirely in phonetic script. In spite of this, Shunsui persevered.
The first scroll, he soon realised, was entirely too new to be of any use. There was no mention of Punishment Gates, and instead, it detailed the mundane minutiae of more generic experiments, carried out at the request of this lord or that. At intervals the scroll was signed and sealed by whichever Urahara leader was in charge at that time, and at the very end of the scroll was a second seal - that of the Kuchiki regent, authorising the experiments for the good of Seireitei. Shunsui did not understand enough about scientific jargon to really know what these records were pertaining to, but there was no mention of the Dangai or any kind of Gate, and so he re-rolled the document, tying it closed and turning his attention to the next scroll.
This one was some kind of genealogy, and it too had been signed off by the Urahara and a Kuchiki Regent. It was a document detailing the provisions of the old Urahara Province, now long since subsumed into District Three. The Council of Elders had reissued all territorial paperwork, rights and authorities at its formal inauguration, thus making old land distribution claims obsolete, but a glance at the map showed Shunsui that the borders of Urahara land had not greatly changed, even if the legal system had.
Several hours passed, as Shunsui worked his way through each scroll he found, but every one he opened contained information on scientific experiments long since run and abandoned, or territorial matters that had become irrelevant since Seireitei's District system had been established. The dust in the room was drying his throat and his eyes, making him cough and wish that he had thought to bring a gourd of water down with him. The dim and uneven light was also making his vision blurry, and so, as he took the next scroll from the shelf, he resolved to himself that, for this visit, it would have to be his last.
He carefully removed the ribbon, unrolling this scroll against the ancient walnut desk and peering wearily at the characters that lay within. As soon as he did so, however, he realised that he had hit the jackpot. This was not a territorial record, nor a list of reasons why the Urahara were a proud Clan of the Ancient World. It was not an old genealogy, proving descent from one of the earliest nobles in recorded Seireitei history, and nor was it a list of ingredients or colour changes noted on chemical reactions relating to new dye or a particular type of weapon polish. It was written in an awkward hand, but Shunsui could make out immediately two key characters in the title at the far end of the scroll.
The characters for Punishment Gate, Zaimon.
Following this was a long list of names, each of which had a crude black tick beneath them, as though indicating that punishment had been carried out.
Bingo.
It was a very long scroll, and at various intervals, it too had been authorised by the Urahara Lords of their age. At a glance, most of the names seemed generic, surnames of common folk enlisted into military service, rather than their lords and masters. Shunsui did not know how old this scroll was, nor whether it came close to the time period when the Zaimon had been closed up for good but, as he reached the end of the scroll, he recognised the swans of the Kuchiki badge and knew that this too had been formalised by a Kuchiki Regent.
They put a stop to it, soon after Heaven's War. That means this is probably one of the last lists of condemned. It might be totally irrelevant, but it might not be. I can't help thinking that there's something more in this, and even if it's crazy, I can't shake it. Kohaku having sleepwalking hallucinations about people thrown into the Dangai...frightened people, people who were guilty of following the wrong army, but not necessarily the dangerous monsters we've been thinking about. This list is long, and the sheer length of it indicates that this punishment was used far more than we've been given to believe. I thought Punishment Gates were a last resort for the most deadly of criminals, but this makes it look like anyone who disagreed with authority or who came out worst in a dispute ended up in there. If that's the case, and someone - Katsura or otherwise - is able to reanimate the dead, that means the Dangai is an untapped resource of corpses waiting to be unleashed on Seireitei. Maybe the lack of Hollows is also related to this somehow, too.
He re-rolled the scroll, fastening it with the ribbon and sliding it into his obi.
I'll take this with me and look at it some more in better light, when my eyes aren't stinging from so much dust. I don't suppose knowing just the names of people who were sent there is going to matter all that much - but it is indication of the scale of this punishment. And that's a start, at the very least. I dread to think what kind of resentment and fear these people had when they were chucked into the darkness - but I'm starting to think that the Dangai may be a lot more dangerous than we think. Right now, that means stopping the investigation into it until we understand more...and that means I have no time to lose.
So today was the day.
Tsuneyoshi stood at the window of the Dome, gazing out pensively at the smooth, white landscape that stretched out for an eternity before his gaze. His heart was still uneasy, rattling in his chest as if protesting about the path he was about to take, but he forced the misgivings aside, resting his hands on the carved sill with a sigh.
He still could not fully remember everything about the day he had been consigned here.
The Void World was bleak and empty. Up until a short time before, he had been oblivious to sensations such as loneliness, isolation and grief. He had not remembered the face of his son, nor the beautiful, rolling countryside that he had taken so much pride in. He had not remembered the bloody bodies that had lain on his lawn, nor the scent of charred flesh until Kunimori had begun to probe into his recollections, but although he wanted to resent the Yamamoto, he knew that he could not. The memories had not returned to him because of Kunimori. They had begun to trickle back five years earlier, when something had jolted his senses.
Something that had touched the Gate that last time it had opened...something that he had not been able to remember or recognise, but something he knew had been there all the same.
Kunimori is a cheat, a liar, a greedy man and someone I do not trust. I despise his morals and his lack of integrity, but when it comes to revenge, I believe him.
He turned away from the view, leaning up against the stone pillar with a grimace.
He said he sensed Harumizu. Harumizu is the reason I had oblivion, and the reason that oblivion faded away. I didn't know that that was what it was, not until Kunimori connected the name and the sensation - but whatever touched that Gate, however briefly, is the one that tortured me with images and dreams five years ago. He's there, and I have to face him. I'll never rest, now, until I do.
His fingers brushed against Meidoushi's hilt, and the sword hummed faintly at his touch. Tsuneyoshi frowned, his eyes becoming sad.
A man walks the path he chooses in life. I chose mine, and I can't turn back from it. Kunimori is right. Revenge is the only path to peace. When Harumizu is dead, then I can rest, too. When that is over, I can find my own peace. I need that closure. Without it, I can't move on...so I must face Harumizu. I must take back the things he took from me. I must know everything I did, everything that happened...everything he did to me when he decided to make a fool of me, torture me, and then rip away the veil of safety and consign me to this life here. I need that...and I suppose Kunimori knows it, more than even I did.
He had not been back to the Hollow Forest in the last few days. Though he had found it a form of respite, carving up the mutated creatures that lurked in the ugly underbelly of this world, he also knew that Kunimori's logic was correct. By purifying the Hollows in the Forest, he was helping the shinigami in their eternal battle against the tainted souls, and he did not owe them any such kindness. Moreover, with each passing day, tiny fragments of the past returned to him, and he now knew that the creatures who had fallen to their lowest low in that barren place had once been soldiers like him, rank and file whose only crimes had been to follow their Lords to disgrace and distruction. The dead that lurked in the waste-space of the Zaimon had probably been the war wounded and the beaten, those tortured for information before being tossed, broken and bound into the abyss. Those who had made it here, to this Void World, had struggled to eke a living, but the oppressive gloom of their predicament and their resentment towards the shinigami for their exile and eternal damnation had, bit by bit, twisted their souls into something bleak and dark from which there was no return. Tsuneyoshi knew that he was no different from them. He had not mutated on the outside, but he had twisted and turned on the inside, until he was sure that where his heart had once beat, there was now a black, empty hole as bleak as the Dangai itself.
Kunimori probably didn't mutate because Kunimori lacks common human feeling. He remained rational because his heart was already cold and empty before he came here. He had nothing to lose, and so he was able to detach and plunge himself into research instead of really suffering the barrenness of this place. Maybe his hate and resentment fuelled his survival, who knows? But most of those Hollow-people I slew in the Forest were not like that. They were soldiers who picked the wrong side - men who left behind wives, children, family to grieve them. They spent their entire existences trying to get back to Seireitei, only to be killed if they slipped through and found a way in. The shinigami created their own worst enemy, and I should not be killing them. If the men they betrayed and forced into Hollowfication choose to take their revenge, why should I stop them? I am the Soldier, like Kunimori says. The leader of the death army - the army of vengeance. I can't lead the Hollows...I don't have that power. But I can lead the fallen...and maybe Kunimori is right. Perhaps that's what I need to do, for the lost soldiers as well as for my own peace of mind.
"You're here in good time, I'm surprised."
Kunimori swept into the chamber at that moment, pausing to eye Tsuneyoshi up and down before nodding his approval. "Yes, that expression is more what I expect. You've found your resolve, haven't you? You're going to come with me and kill shinigami, aren't you?"
"My business is with Harumizu," Tsuneyoshi said softly. "I'm coming for that purpose. I want you to promise me that you won't touch him, Kunimori-dono. I'll help you make it across the divide. I'll help you, but I want Harumizu myself. And one other thing."
"Oh, we're making demands now?" Kunimori raised an eyebrow. "Instead of moral lecturing, I'm getting a negotiation list?"
"I'm serious. I want it understood between us, before we step across the divide."
"Fine, I'm listening," Kunimori sighed gustily, but gestured for his companion to continue. "What is it? What are your conditions, Lord Tsuneyoshi?"
"I want you to leave the Unohana be," Tsuneyoshi said evenly. "I eradicated the ones that needed eradicating, a long time ago. I won't see my son hurt, nor any family he has had since. I want you to promise that. You said if I didn't help you, you'd slaughter them - but if I do, I want your firm word that you won't go near them or their land."
"I'm not remotely interested in them, if you're cooperating with me," Kunimori dismissed this concern with a casual flick of his hand. "I'm interested in the Yamamoto. I have scores to settle there. Your family are nothing to me. I need your help, and if you help me, I won't bother them."
"Then we have an agreement," Tsuneyoshi said gravely. "I expect you to honour it, with your word as a Lord."
"As the future Lord of the Yamamoto, you have it," Kunimori's eyes glittered with amusement. "We shouldn't waste any more time, though. There's shifting in the Dangai space. I don't quite know what's caused it, but I feel as though the fabric of the pathways have begun to change. Perhaps it's Harumizu? I'm not sure, but if it is, we should be careful. His sword is capable of eradicating a lot of things - including my Knowledge, which we need if we're going to get anywhere at all."
"Harumizu," Tsuneyoshi murmured the name, and Kunimori nodded.
"You haven't been killing the Hollows," he added. "One or two of them escaped the Forest last night. It was most interesting."
"Escaped?" Tsuneyoshi's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What do you mean, escaped?"
"I may have encouraged it," Kunimori admitted. "The Hollows have always frustrated me. Somehow they can get from here to Seireitei but I can't for the life of me work out how they do. They seem to split space in a way we just can't or don't understand. I tried many times in the past to follow them, but it's not possible. Still, all the disruption we've been causing seems to have shaken things up. I don't know what caused it, but I've sensed some flashes of energy from the Dangai - energy that isn't anything to do with us. Maybe the shinigami. It's hard to be sure, but a few Hollows sensed it, and went after its scent. I would have liked to have followed them, to see where they ended up - since you've stopped slaying them the moment they step out from undercover. But since that's not possible for us...I came here. I hoped you'd be ready to talk about the final stage of our plan."
"I'm ready," Tsuneyoshi hesitated for a moment, then drew Meidoushi from its sheath, gazing at his reflection in the polished sword blade. "I still don't like it, but I've begun to understand a little what you mean. Revenge is not just about you and I. I've been in the Forest, and killed Hollows, but the last time I went, I saw something there I didn't see before. I felt something...that they were the same as me, and that they had been consigned here against their will by shinigami systems of justice. I don't want to kill them any more. I want to find Harumizu and get back the rest of my truth. I know I killed members of my family, but that was an internal Unohana affair. and I'm not the first Unohana lord to purge the Clan."
"You want to know why a whore's son had the right to consign you to oblivion, when you were just handling family business," Kunimori nodded. "You don't need to explain it to me. It's the most sense you've made since you started hearing me speak to you, which is progress and timely progress indeed. Revenge is the one thing left to us, you know. I'm glad you understand that, since we're taking it for all of them, not just you and I. With your sword, some of them can have their own revenge. Isn't that a beautiful gift to give them, the ones who couldn't speak for themselves? Isn't that the duty of a great General, to represent the will of his army?"
"Don't try and make it sound noble, when the army in question is in decomposition," Tsuneyoshi muttered. "I don't say I like all of it. I just understand it. And I'm ready, so we should do this, before I start to focus on the corpses too much and become nauseous again."
"No..." Kunimori's eyes became slits, and he held up his left hand, the fingers of his right slipping down towards the hilt of his own zanpakutou sword. "Wait. Wait a minute. Do you sense that?"
"Sense what?" Tsuneyoshi looked startled, and Kunimori groaned.
"Really, sometimes I think you're only capable of hearing dead souls," he said disparagingly. "Stop and focus for a minute, you fool. You must be able to sense it, if I can."
"I'm trying not to sense anything, until it's time to go," Tsuneyoshi snapped back. "I don't want to lose myself again. I want to keep control."
"Well, I suppose that means I won't have to tie you up before we leave," Kunimori rolled his eyes, "but as it happens, you might be saved that job - at least, put Meidoushi on ice for a moment. I think we're about to have company. Someone's opened that Gate."
"Opened the...? You mean, shinigami?" Tsuneyoshi looked alarmed, and Kunimori chuckled.
"They've clearly come to find out what's been causing all the disruption," he said, apparently pleased. "We've worked so hard to find and open a Gate, Tsuneyoshi-dono, but now they're being kind and helping us along. You can hold off on your army of death for a little while longer. I think we have some live shinigami coming to see us and I'm absolutely certain that we can put that fact to good use."
Author's Note: Regents
In the world of Japanese history that I study, the political system of Japan was complicated. Most people consider 'old Japan' to be the military governed society of the Edo period, with the shaven-pate samurai who carried two swords in the way Shunsui does. This is also the setting Kubo chose for his Bleach Seireitei world, and thus I have kept that in mind when writing. To me, though, the Edo period is fairly 'new' Japan, dating only back three or so centuries. Edo is the old name for Tokyo, and it is a really young city in a country where other cities, like Kyoto and Nara, are well over a thousand years old and steeped in history. From 794AD up until the end of the Edo period in the 1860s, Kyoto was the capital of Japan, not Edo/Tokyo. Even the Japanese term for the Edo period, "kinsei", means literally "recent society", and is generally translated as "pre-modern" or "early modern" Japan. Most 'warriors' of the Edo period never fought in a war, and the theory of Bushidou is a mythical concept dreamed up by this society based on their interpretation of battles they had never experienced. Tokyo is the new face of Japan, but the soul of the old country is in Kyoto and the Kansai, and always will be.
The term 'samurai' is a lot older than the Edo period, from which it leaked into western popular culture and vocabulary, but it is often used incorrectly in English as a catch-all for Japanese warriors as a whole. Samurai literally means "one who serves" and was not always a term associated with warriors. In eras preceding the Edo period, a samurai was a lower ranked military or clerical retainer, not a warlord, that would be referred to in this way. The warriors (known as bushi, tsuwamono, and mononofu, among other terms) that I study did not carry katana or wakizashi. They had tachi, as the katana was a much later development. They used bows and arrows as their weapon of choice, and preferred warfare on horseback, not on foot. Being a good archer generally mattered more than being a good swordsman.
In this political climate, there were several shifts of power. Direct rule by the Emperor was replaced in around the eighth century by what became known as Regental Rule. The Regental House, the Fujiwara, continued to hold this role over generations, even, probably, into the Edo period - although the amount of power it contained changed with time, and there was at least one very famous warrior Regent in the 16th century, Hideyoshi. From the middle of the 12th century, provincial families who had held military obligation to protect the Emperor and the court gained in influence and power, leading to Japan's military governments. I have tried to echo this structure with my concept of Seireitei, beginning with direct rule by the Soul King, then by Regents, and finally by the military government we know as the Gotei.
Kubo's Gotei bear striking resemblance to the Shinsengumi of the 19th century, so I suppose the Gotei I am writing about in these stories is probably the kind of warrior society you might have found at the start of Edo, in the seventeenth century, when warriors still remembered the bloodshed of battles like Sekigahara or Osaka Castle. These are some of the few warriors of the Edo period who did see military action - but of a form changed almost unrecogniseably beyond what people imagine Japanese warfare to be. The 19th century warriors had and used cannons and guns and, sometimes, wore western uniforms. So for real 'Japanese' warfare, it is necessary to go back to an earlier age. Kubo-sensei seems to have felt this too, as he drew Byakuya on at least one calendar in the armour of Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1160-89), Japan's tragic war hero. The name Senbonzakura also comes from a play about Yoshitsune. This tells me that Kubo, although writing about an Edo setting, was aware of the old warrior traditions and stories, and intended that element to exist in his world as well. For that reason, I have tried to do this in my writing. And I really need very little excuse.
The idea of the Kuchiki and their position as the Regental house in Seireitei came about because even after the real power of the Regent role had faded, the Fujiwara considered themselves superior nobility, and resented anyone else who tried to achieve the same heights of political influence and usurpation that they had enjoyed. This created friction between them and the increasingly powerful military houses.
I am not a fan of the Edo period, and so the opportunity to bring elements of an older Japanese society and ideology into Bleach again was too good to resist.