Twilight Marionette: Konichiwa everybody, I know I said I'd post this on Wednesday but I've been ill for the last 3 days with a fever so apologies on that. Still, its a lot quicker then I usually post so meh. Heh heh heh.
Twilight Puppeteer: Your still ill though, seriously, your burning up.
Twilight Marionette: Yes! That's right, I'm on fire right now! Aha hahahaha!
Twilight Puppeteer: Its not just your body that's ill is it?
Twilight Marionette: Did you say something?
Twilight Puppeteer: Nothing at all. Please forgive any small mistakes, she really is pretty ill right now. Thank you for reading, as always!
Chapter 25: In place of my memories, a song. Part 2
Ichigo looked up into the sky as the snow gently fell all over his body from the dark gray clouds that moved slowly overhead. Akatsuki's face came into view with a depressed expression on her face but Ichigo felt so alive that he didn't really notice. She appeared to be speaking to him but the words never reached him and her lips moved to silence. She looked down at him with annoyance and he grinned at her just sound returned to his ears. "Hey!"
"Don't you hey me! I told you you couldn't fly here Ichigo," Akatsuki said with little amusement on her face as she hovered over Ichigo's field of vision. Ichigo noticed that the snow never seemed to land on her, managing to fall around her rather then onto her.
"That hurt!" Ichigo grinned as he winced with one eye as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. "Just like my inner world I guess."
Akatsuki looked at him suspiciously. "You thought it wouldn't be?"
"I had no idea what to expect."
"And you jumped anyway?" Akatsuki sighed heavily as she pulled Ichigo his feet and dusted him off before slowly floating away from him. Ichigo looked at her with annoyance and pointed at her accusingly. "You said we can't fly in this world! So why are you hovering upside down like that!"
"No no no I said you can't fly here," Akatsuki said cheerfully and waved her finger at him. "This is my inner world after all."
Ichigo wanted to complain some more but he realized with grim awareness that she really had warned him not to leap from the window with her in hand. In hindsight he really should have listened to her. Another thought occurred and he pointed at her accusingly again. "You let go off me on purpose! I remember now! You smiled innocently at me and let go off my hand!"
"Its strange through, normally Hakumei would of come to meet us by now. She normally refuses to allow anyone to be alone with me in my Soul-scape. The other Ichigo was constantly being watched by her but you, she's not watching you," Akatsuki said as she looked up into the snow laden clouds.
"Hey! Don't just change the subject like that! And what do you mean the other me? You linked with my Hollow as well?" Ichigo almost shouted.
"Ah! Its so pretty tonight! Come on Ichigo, come with me quickly. Come on come on!" Akatsuki grabbed Ichigo's hand and ran back towards the doorway into the school, dragging him along with her.
"Hey! Hey! Stop changing the subject! You don't have to pull like that!" Ichigo ran after Akatsuki back through the open doors into the strange high school. It wasn't that much different then his own school but it felt very different. For a start it was far too quiet and the lack of movement made the shadows look all the more like they were, in fact, moving.
It was easy enough to keep up with her as she was not running anymore but floating along at a reasonable pace like a ghost and with as much interest in her surroundings as one. Ichigo however kept falling behind as certain things caught his eye. Not once but twice now he had passed by a room with an open door only to see someone in there in the corner of his eye. However each time he stopped to look back the room was as empty as all the others. Nor was there anything to suggest that anyone had been there to start with.
Catching back up with a completely uninterested Akatsuki they came to a stair case, Akatsuki turned and waited at the base for him. She grinned at him evilly and pointed at Ichigo which made him stop and look back at her suspiciously. "What is it?" Ichigo asked wearily.
"You know I said that you can't fly here?" Akatsuki said as her eyes narrowed and her expression became happily evil.
"Yeah?" Ichigo replied defensively.
"See you up there!" The air around her body distorted for a brief moment and then a vortex of air exploded out from her with a force strong enough to make Ichigo to raise his arms in front of his face defensively. As the last of the air currents passed by him he removed his arms just in time to see Akatsuki fly up the space between the stairs. Ichigo ran up to where she had been standing and looked up at her rapidly ascending figure.
"Hey! The least you could do was carry me with you! Oi! Damn it!" Ichigo cursed as he started running up the long, winding stairs. Only now that he was running up them did he realize that they were far higher then the outside of the building would have suggested and Ichigo reminded himself that this was not a world to be taken literally. Still, it didn't make it any quicker to climb knowing that.
Akatsuki had already reached the top and Ichigo grimaced as he mentally estimated how much longer he had left to climb. Had he had his Shinigami abilities this would have been so much easier and he wondered what it was about this place that was suppressing them. Or if was a simply a matter of having to learn to use them in this inner world. He wondered how much power his other self still had in this world.
As he reached the very top of the stairs he stopped to catch his breath just in front a door that Akatsuki had broken the lock to. "Why the hell do you need to brake down a door in your own inner world?" he said in between pants as he waited for his breathing to return to normal. Now that he looked closer at the door he realized that its surface was covered with strange, almost arcane symbols arranged in a multitude of almost random patterns. He was about to reach out to touch them when he felt something push against his back and throw him through the unlocked door.
His vision was lost for a moment as he was thrust out into the now heavily falling snow storm. He reeled around aggressively to face the person that pushed him but found himself staring into an empty stairwell. He reached up and scratched his head in thought and shock his head. A sudden gust of icy cold wind blew against the back of his head and drew his attention to the rest of the roof. It was kind of similar to the roof on his own school but there were no railings around the edge. Of course if no one lived here what would been the point. There was no Akatsuki to be seen.
"Hey! Akatsuki!" Ichigo shouted. For a moment there was nothing but that same ominous silence that ruled this world.
"Up here Shinigami-sama!" Akatsuki called from up above and behind, Ichigo's eyes following her call. Akatsuki was standing atop a large metal water tower staring out over the town with a pleased look on her face. Her large scarf was blowing furiously behind her along with her hair but her clothes seemed to be completely unaffected by whatever wind was blowing up there.
Without waiting for an invitation Ichigo ran around the stairwell entrance until he found a series of ladders that lead up to the top of the water tower. For a moment he considered trying to leap the distances but had his doubts and decided it would be less painful and troublesome to just climb. As he climbed he noticed that the metal was cold to the touch but not as cold as it should have been in the current weather but he paid little attention and instead concentrated on climbing. As he reached the top of the water towers ladder he found himself staring at Akatsuki's face.
Akatsuki was kneeling down in front of the ladder and smiling innocently at Ichigo with her eyes closed, her hair blowing around her, framing her against the snow filled night sky. For a moment Ichigo froze and was snapped out of it as Akatsuki returned his stare with a puzzled look on her face. "Ichigo?"
"Huh? What? Uh never mind its nothing," Ichigo said as he shock his head and pulled himself up the last part of the ladder with Akatsuki's help. Despite the snow her hands felt so very warm, just like she had been when he first met her in this inner world. "That was a hassle, this better be worth it."
Akatsuki kept hold of his hand and looked up into his eyes with concern which then turned into a devious smile. "You should of just asked me to carry you."
"Why you!" Ichigo growled and clenched a fist at her which only made her smile wryly at him and return to her spot on the water tower where Ichigo had seen her when he looked up. He forgot that she was still holding his hand and found himself brought beside her. It was the same kind of view from down below but up here, looking down on the inner world with Akatsuki next to him it felt so much different.
The town looked warm and inviting in the falling snow. The town glowed with a strong warmth that he could almost feel on his skin. Inside, he cursed his own inner world for being so weird. It really was a more impressive sight from up here and he wondered if this place had a name. A foolish thought, he didn't have a name for his inner world either. Since until recently no one had ever been there there didn't seem much of a point. At least in this world the buildings were the right way up.
He looked to his side and stared at Akatsuki for a moment without her noticing as she watched the snow falling with the fascination of a child. Any minute now he half expected her to start running around or throwing snowballs at him.
Ichigo had still been wondering what it was about this world that had been bugging him so much, there were plenty of things that were out of place here. No people yet or animals and no movement other then themselves and the weather. He reached his hands out and let the snow gather on his hand and let it build up into a small pile before he realized what it was that was bugging him so much. Snow was supposed to be cold. "The snow here isn't cold." Something inside him made him feel as if he had said this not so long ago.
Akatsuki looked back at him sheepishly and then in an almost affronted manner as if Ichigo had just caught her doing something she shouldn't. She reached out her hand and let the snow pile up gently on her palm before blowing it into the wind. "I didn't know that."
"What?"
"I didn't know snow was supposed to be cold," Akatsuki replied softly as she watched the snow clouds roll slowly overhead. She had only ever seen snow in pictures that Aizen had showed her, no one had ever told her it supposed to be cold. Even if they had, she had never felt it on her skin to know it before.
Ichigo looked at her critically and decided to be tactful. She came from a world of wind, sand and perpetual night. Never seeing the snow, it wasn't that hard to imagine. Hollow rarely retained memories from when they were alive either so that didn't help. "Yeah its cold, it melts when it lands on your hand too," Ichigo said kindly and let some more of the flakes fall onto his hand, half expecting them to turn cold now that she knew they were supposed to be so. For some reason all he could see now was white ash falling onto a silent, dead world.
"I've never actually seen the snow before so I can't imagine what it feels like, it must be wonderful!"
Ichigo stared at her for a moment before nodding to himself. "I'll show it to you some time."
Akatsuki looked across at him and smiled weakly. "Do you promise? You cant forget! You can't promise me that in here and forget it out there in the real world, I'll never forgive you if you do Shinigami!"
"I promise I'll show you real snow. I won't forget, you can count on it Akatsuki." Ichigo grinned at her as her weak smile perked up a little though far less then he would have liked to see. Not for the first time he wondered if she really was reading his very mind like a book. She said she wouldn't but did she actually mean she couldn't. Was he upsetting her?
"Next time," Akatsuki started to say and hesitated. "Next time you come here I'll show you my real inner world. So you better not forget what you promised me."
Ichigo smiled to himself but didn't look back at her. He had started to guess as much, that this inner world wasn't completely genuine. There was just no way people like him or her could ever have such a beautiful and peaceful inner world. "Metaphor huh? So, shall we start?"
"Huh?" Akatsuki replied incredulously.
"We can go deeper then this right, I know you can experience the memories of others. And I bet they can experience yours as well. I want you to do that, let me show you some of my memories. That is, if you trust me, if not, then that's fine too."
"Its hardly a question of if I trust you Shinigami! Your the one who'll be in danger if I screw up remember! Your the one who has to trust me, not the other way around!" Akatsuki shouted at him enthusiastically as she waved her arms up and down. Ichigo just grinned back at her which threw her off guard. "W-what is it?"
"Heh! Nothing at all, I guess you really aren't reading my thoughts right now after all."
"What are you," Akatsuki started to say but trailed off as he continued to grin at her.
"I'm here right? How can you think I don't trust you? You could really mess me up in this place right, something about destroying my mind and sanity," Ichigo waved his hand around to emphasis his point as he spoke. "You really think I'd be here if I thought even for a moment that I couldn't trust you. Don't be such a moron." Ichigo placed his hand on her shoulder and Akatsuki looked away to the side with an expression of both frustration and relief.
"You better not regret it later! Whatever happens from this point onwards is your own responsibility. It was your decision, remember that Shinigami," Akatsuki said without meeting his gaze. Even though it wasn't a real hand on her shoulder it was real enough to make her uncomfortable. A few strange thoughts crossed her mind and she mumbled to herself.
For a moment nothing happened and they both just stood there in silence, the cool snow settling on their shoulders and heads. "So how does this work exactly? Are we supposed to hold hands or something to form a connection?" Ichigo asked to break the silence.
"Are you a idiot? Why would we need a connection, were already connected, don't you remember? In the world of the waking were already in close contact with each other."
"You know that isn't what I meant Akatsuki."
Akatsuki sighed in defeat. She had really wanted to get away with just showing him this place but Ichigo really did want to close the gap between them. He really was taking Urahara's words too seriously she felt, that old man was probably just trying to mess with her. But she really did want to share this with Ichigo if he really was willing. She just hoped that the experience wouldn't do more harm then good. "I have the ability to see the memories of other people, that is the highest form my powers take. At best its just low level telepathy that requires a stable physical and spiritual link. If you want me see something then you need to decide what it is. Its not my place to pick a memory at random."
"So I just need to remember something?"
"It helps if its a memory that's important to you. Ah! I know! Like you one we used earlier to create the spiritual resonance between us. A strong memory like that would be perfect!" Akatsuki looked up at Ichigo as she spoke enthusiastically. Ichigo's expression didn't change at all but Akatsuki was good at reading emotions and she could tell when she was treading into something she shouldn't.
"Its not like that's the only thing I want to see! No no no don't get me wrong! There's plenty of other important memories you can pick I'm sure, anything will do really!" Akatsuki rambled uncontrollably.
Ichigo's heart felt heavy and burned. He wasn't angry at her as he watched her ramble on and on, he had no right to be. She had no way of knowing what had happened. How could she. "No its fine, I can't think of anything as important to me as my mother."
"Really?"
"Yeah, why does that surprise you?" Ichigo replied in a tone that suggested Akatsuki was treading on very thing ice. Akatsuki backed away from him in shock at his tone and he instantly regretted it. The snow falling all around him made him feel guilty. Of course she didn't know why his mother would be so important to him, did Hollow even have mothers? The best they could ever do was pretend. He smiled confidently at her and nodded. "So whats going to happen exactly?"
Akatsuki looked back him for a while before her expression became far more serious. "Just leave it all to me Shinigami-sama! I'll sing for you the song of Heaven!" Akatsuki moved into Ichigo before he could react and held her arms around him and rested her head against his chest. He looked down at her an d realized that she had her eyes closed as if she had simply fallen asleep right then and there.
He was about to reach down to her when he remembered what she had just told him. "Just concentrate on something important to me right?" he said to himself and looked up at the sky. It was painful but he already moved on from that and there was no reason not. In fact, he would probably feel better knowing someone else knew exactly how he had felt, experiencing the same heartache and pain. If she wanted to share it with him then he wouldn't deny himself that support.
Ichigo closed his eyes and concentrated. He remembered how his mother had made him feel and the times they had shared. And how he had lost her to Grand Fisher. He opened his eyes wide as the world seemed to distort. He could feel the connection with Akatsuki with so much clarity. Her own soul resonated with his and he felt at one. Akatsuki's eyes opened just slightly, a red light glowing from within escaping.
Ichigo's soul. It was so bright she felt that if she stared into it long enough it would burn her. The light floated slowly away from her as she stared at it with nervous apprehension. The red and black hue deepened all around her as her heart's resolved weakened.
"He has faith in me," she said to herself but still found herself hesitating to touch the soul. She stared at the gently burning soul with weary eyes. Unsure of what to do she held her left arm out into the empty water and opened her palm, as she did so a glowing red sphere appeared in her hand.
"I know that but still," she said to the sphere critically and after a few more moments of apparent silence glared at the sphere and narrowed her eyes. "Its not as simple as that! Why does everyone but me see it as simple anyway!"
Akatsuki listened to Hakumei's soul intently, the red light distorting the color of her own eyes in its red aura. As easily as she had summoned the soul she gently closed her hand, the red and black sphere shrinking and disappearing into nothingness. She floated towards the sphere that was Ichigo's soul and looked at it intently. "Is it really OK?" she said softly to herself and reached out to poke the sphere.
Nothing ever happened when she poked them and wondered why she felt the need to do it, maybe it was the strange sound they made when she did. She opened her arms out wide and the sphere floated towards her and she wrapped her arms around it gently, its warmth spreading through her body. And its confidence. She sighed and smiled at the sphere. It was true no matter how you looked at it, Ichigo's confidence was infectious. She closed her eyes and concentrated.
"Let me sing to you the Song of Heaven." Akatsuki said in more then one voice as she started to sing, her song causing the light from the sphere to completely engulf her in its intense, burning white glow.
Akatsuki's eyes completely closed and her body relaxed as it held onto Ichigo. She started to sing and her soft voice spread across the inner world. A red aura spread around her and Ichigo, which enlarged into a red and black sphere. The Song of Heaven resonated across the inner world.
The symbols on the inside of the stairwell door glowed deep red and then faded into nothingness. Hakumei watched until they had all faded and sighed. Though she also smiled warmly. "I really wish you would say something, especially at a time like this." Hakumei said to the person standing behind her.
The dark shrouded figure of the girl who shared Akatsuki's face said nothing and simply stared.
Hakumei turned her head to face her and grinned. This was the same girl who frequently appeared in Akatsuki's dreams, causing her much grief. When asked if Hakumei knew who or what she was she had not exactly been honest and had denied any knowledge. The kind and soulful notes of the Song of Heaven made the girl recoil in what Hakumei guessed was fear and pain.
"I'm sorry, but I think its time you both remembered. It can't be helped in the end. When that time comes, I hope you'll find that strength you lost so long ago. Without your help neither one of them can defeat me. After all, I'm not here to be helpful, only to protect what was most important to her."
The little girl said nothing to this as well and turned away, fading into the stonework of the wall. Hakumei sighed as she felt her disappear. "If only I could remember you name."
Akatsuki's eyes opened wide, their red centers fading to a deep golden hue. Everything seemed out of sync for a moment and the world was distorted by monochrome light. As the link stabilized she was met by the view of a wide, aching river. It looked so familiar. The rain fell heavily onto the water soaked ground causing little rivers to run under her feet as she floated just above the ground. "I know this place. I think."
"This is! So you really can do this kind of thing huh? I never thought it would be this real," Ichigo said with honesty. No matter how many times her powers to see the memories of other people had been explained to him he had never really expected it to be so real. It was just like it had been. He looked up into the sky with saddened eyes into the dark clouds and the falling rain. It felt so heavy and cold as it pounded his face. He didn't dare look down, knowing what he was going to see.
Akatsuki looked at him with mild annoyance. "So, all this time, you were doubting what I told you? That pisses me off for some reason." Akatsuki had not failed to notice the young boy crying over the body of a woman but remained silent on the subject. She could feel how that young boy was feeling right now, just as Ichigo must have felt at the time however she lacked the emotional connection Ichigo had to his mother and so the emotions flowing through her were without context and so had no outward effect.
"Heh, Sorry."
"This place is important to you?" Akatsuki asked in a emotionless tone of voice. Ichigo turned on her and immediately stopped himself from doing anything. Even if this was a sad memory for him there was no reason at all for her to understand, it was his memory after all, not hers. Though her expression lacked any emotion it was not unkind, it merely lacked understanding.
"This place, this is the place where my mother died."
"Ichigo," Akatsuki said seriously but lacked the heart to chastise him. She wondered what had possessed him to bring up such a painful memory like this but understood that he had his reasons. It was the least she could do, to watch to the very end on the dream. She always thought of it as her responsibility to watch until the very end.
"Kinda pathetic huh," Ichigo said as he put his face into the palm of his hand and laughed quietly to himself. "Your probably thinking what kind of person could have this kind of memory as his most precious recollection of his mother? Its true though. Its not like I enjoy remembering this, of course I don't but, the thing is, its the most powerful memory I have of her. In this time and in this place, I remember her most strongly of all."
Akatsuki swallowed hard to herself but refrained from saying anything. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say in a situation like this. Hollow rarely needed comforting and when they did they never admitted it to each other. She wondered if she should put her arm around him but her expression darkened as she remembered that even if she had wanted too she had no presence here. She was no more then a ghost, watching a play.
"Akatsuki? This is just a memory right? So nothing I do here will change anything really, but, just this once, can I change what happened that day?" Ichigo said stoically to himself as he looked straight into her eyes.
"I'm sorry Ichigo but you can't change what's already happened. The past will always be the past. No matter how much you want to change it," she turned her view back to where the body of his dead mother lay, with a young boy, Ichigo she guessed, crying over her body. Though at the time Ichigo couldn't see it she could see it now, the trail left by the vile creature known as Grand Fisher. She started to float down towards the boy like a ghost, her body suspended, half out of sight. As she reached down to touch where the boys shoulder would have been she felt a tremor run through her body and her eyes opened wide in pain.
Ichigo followed behind her and knelt down next to boy and the body of his dead mother. For some reason now that he looking down at his own past as an observer he didn't feel as bad as he had expected he would. He was sad but not so much that he wanted to cry anymore. He had cried enough for her a long time ago. "Sorry for showing you such a weak side to myself," he said without looking at the ailing Akatsuki.
"Ah ahahahah its not such a bad thing, there's no reason for you to apologize," Akatsuki said as she looked away from him with an embarrassed smile. The pain had gone now but there was no doubting that extreme pressure she had felt a moment ago. It had felt like she was being crushed from all directions at once. She looked around but found the world to be exactly as it had been a moment ago. "Somethings wrong here."
"You OK? You looked kinda pale, like someone just scared the life out of you," Ichigo said with genuine concern as he almost leaped to his feet to walk over to her. "If you can't do this any longer then stop!" He reached out towards her but Akatsuki gracefully avoided his grip and floated backwards a few paces further away from him.
"No no no its fine, I'm in complete control," Akatsuki said unconvincingly and waved hand up and down towards Ichigo. "Its just been a while since I've done this kind of thing, that's all. Ahahaha." Another wave of pain passed through her and her eyes opened wide in response. "Ichigo! No!"
When she had reacted with such pain in her eyes Ichigo had instinctively moved to catch her and her voiced only reached him as he was about to touch her. It was too late, he couldn't stop in time.
Ichigo's eyes shot open at the same moment he heard a strangely familiar scream cut short and a loud thud, the kind you would hear if you ran into a door and the door won. He was lying on his back looking up at the ceiling, his mind was full of thoughts, feelings and idea's that he was fairly sure weren't his own. He wondered if they were Akatsuki's and were a result of the link between them.
He looked to his sides and found that Akatsuki was nowhere to be seen and he looked back up at the ceiling and his mind raced. It was a strangely wonderful feeling. Even though his mind was crowded with thoughts that were not his own it had never felt sharper and clearer, at least for the moment, everything seemed so unimportant and he had not a care in the world. He wondered if this was how Akatsuki felt all the time but he doubted it, it was more suitable to imagine that this was how Hakumei saw the world. "Hakumei Suika," Ichigo said to himself without realizing why and forgot the name almost as soon as the words left his mouth. "Huh?"
"Arghhhh damn it!" Akatsuki complained loudly as she groped her head. She was leaning against the door which had so kindly not given way as she was thrown into it. "This is why I don't like doing this with other species, it always ends in a rejection reaction!" she shouted accusingly towards the ceiling. She looked across at Ichigo and half glared at him as she realized he was doing perfectly fine. However glaring proved too much of an effort and she just sighed and closed her eyes as lay slumped up against the door.
The residual thoughts that were in Ichigo's mind started to dissipate and as they did it was almost as if he had never even felt them. A few moments later the feeling escaped him completely and he couldn't seem to remember how it had felt to begin with. He felt annoyed for some reason and he twisted his head upwards so that he could see Akatsuki. "You OK?"
"Do I look okay, damn it! Why did you have to reach out to me!" Akatsuki shouted at the ceiling as the last of the migraine left her head. Realizing she had just shouted at him for no reason she looked back down at him and scratched her head sheepishly and smiled. "It can't be helped. It was just too much."
"You saw her right, my mother? Or was it more like you were there? I don't seem to remember too much after you started singing."
"Ah well you see its kinda like," Akatsuki started to say and hesitated. She wondered if that had been the memory that Ichigo had truley wanted her to see. It had been so sad. She had no idea what had caused her so much physical pain but when he reached out to touch her he completely shattered the link between them. "I'm sorry."
Ichigo twisted his body and pushed himself to his feet and walked over towards her. She didn't seem able to meet his gaze and he understood why. He knelt down in front of her and put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. Akatsuki seemed surprised by the contact and looked up at him wide eyed.
"Shinigami-sama?" Her chest felt heavy with pain and guilt. Some of it Ichigo's, some of it her own.
"Stop calling me that!" Ichigo said sternly but grinned back at her worried expression.
"But I saw something far too precious! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to its just that that's what your heart chose to show me! If I had known I would never have, I got carried away and," Akatsuki rambled, her eyes darting from left to right as she thought about each and every word that left her mouth. Ichigo put his other hand on her free shoulder and her eyes froze.
"Its not your fault, you don't have to apologize for anything, not to me. Its no secret what happened to my mother. Rukia, Orihime, Chad, Ishida, Urahara, they all know what happened to me in my past, its not something I need to hide anymore, not from them, not from you. The fact that you not only saw it but felt my pain and sadness. You can't imagine how much that means to me. I think that's why I showed it to you, to show that I trust you completely even with my most precious memory. Or something like that! Damn, that sounded embarrassing," Ichigo tutted to himself in annoyance at himself.
Akatsuki stared into his eyes and found herself unable to meet his gaze gain but this time it was because her chest was starting to feel hot and her breathing was starting to become faster. She looked back up at him intently. 'Your most precious memory, you gave me your most precious memory, Ichigo that's so, that's so, stupid. You idiot.' She smiled to herself and felt her body relax. "Idiot."
On the other side of the door Isshin Kurosaki stood with his back to the wood with his arms folded in front of him. Karin and Yuzu had already left and he had been about to when he had heard the sound of a young lady being blown head first into a door. Even if he hadn't of been there to hear it the large burst of Reiastu would have made it obvious regardless. He grinned to himself and nodded his head in approval at Ichigo's little speech. Sometimes he wondered if his son wasn't as clueless with girls as he thought he was. But it had defiantly been a good speech.
"Akatsuki? Are you OK? Your face is turning red and your forehead is on fire!" Ichigo said with genuine concern as he rested the back of his hand against her temple and gave her a look of serious concern.
"Ichigo your such an idiot." Akatsuki smiled warmly at his concern as she sat there being cared for. It was true that she was feeling feverish, she always did after such a long soul link but that was not the only reason. She closed her eyes and sighed to herself too quietly for Ichigo to notice. "But then again so am I."
Hitsugaya stepped out of line and out into the middle of the assembled Captains before turning his view towards Yamamoto who had ordered an immediate strategy discussion upon Hitsugaya's learning of the intruders name and identity. Things were now a lot more complicated then a mere infiltration.
"Hakumei Suika, former 5th seat from division 5, she served under the then Captain Shinji Hirako. She went missing several months before the start of the Vizard incident and had yet to be located, it was assumed that she had either been killed or had deserted for reasons unknown," Hitsugaya said as he read off from the open book in his hands. Finding a name and a picture had been immensely helpful in finding a host of missing information, not least by Mayuri's efforts to undo the work done by the infiltrator.
"So its possible that she was in league with Aizen at the time and went missing to hide her involvement, interesting," Byakuya mused to himself in thought.
"She disappeared before months before it started to get serious, she might not be involved at all. It would be foolhardy to move based on such an unproven theory." Sajin Komamura added on tactfully before anyone started to jump to conclusions.
"I agree, we don't know enough about what happened back then to reach such a awful conclusion so carelessly," Ukitake agreed. Looking at her picture and name in the book brought a feeling of guilt to his heart. She light have been just another victim of Aizen's ambitions, long forgotten and condemned as guilty by association. "There's no proof at all that this girl had any allegiance of personal affiliation with Aizen to begin."
"Aizen was her lieutenant at the time, its hard to believe that they didn't know each other. Though I do agree, we don't have enough data to judge her disappearance on. Her relationship to Aizen withstanding, its possible that she was one of his first victim's just as much as its possible that she was in league with him and disappeared for reason's beyond our knowledge." Mayuri stated as fact in his usual arrogant tone. "We need more data!"
"Enough!" Yamamoto roared as he slammed his walking stick down hard onto the wooden floor causing a mighty boom which drew all eyes towards him and silence any voices in objection. "We are not here to determine her relationship to Aizen 100 years ago! We are here to determine her relationship with the traitor Aizen in this time! There can be little doubt based on what we know that Hakumei Suika is in league, or at the very least not an enemy of Sousuke Aizen. A Shinigami with the powers of a Hollow, regardless of her innocence, cannot be allowed to roam freely in the world of the living." Everyone was left silent at Yamamoto's words, his authority was embedded into every word he spoke, a effect that only strengthened with his years.
"What about Kurosaki Ichigo?" Soi Fon asked with a deadly serious expression her face. Everyone had been avoiding the question but she felt compelled to ask it.
"That's different," Hitsugaya started to say but was cut off as Soi Fon raised a hand towards his mouth.
"I'm not talking about his condition. I mean do we seriously believe that this Hakumei Suika has been roaming free in his home town without his knowledge. I find it hard to believe."
"We have no proof that she is still in the world of the living anyway," Sajin stated unemotionally.
"We have no reason to think that she isn't. She escaped to Karakura town rather then Hueco Mundo so I see no reason why we shouldn't look for her there again. Its obvious that she has some reason for remaining there," Soi Fon tensed herself as she awaited the inevitable response.
"Ha! You didn't find her last time, why will you find her this time? At least one of my men engaged her in combat!" Zaraki Kenpachi laughed maliciously as he spoke, much to Soi Fon's annoyance.
"And lost!" Soi Fon snapped back much to Zaraki's amusement.
"So what?"
"My point is," Soi Fon said as she turned respectfully towards Yamamoto. "My point is that we have a confirmed identity. If she's still hiding in Karakura town we will find her this time. With this knowledge our prey will become that much easier to find."
"Heh heh heh! With the added bonus that this time if you fail you really will have no excuses!" Zaraki added on for his own amusement.
"What abilities did she posses?" Byakuya asked Hitsugaya, seemingly obvious to the agruement now going on to his side.
Hitsugaya quickly glanced through the sheets of paper before him and looked back towards Byakuya. "As far as I can tell she was in possession on no unique abilities. Her profile states that she had released her Zanpakuto's second form but other then that she had no special talents. However her control of reiatsu was far above average but by no mean exceptional. Her command of Kido rivalled that of a lieutenant."
"Her control over the years has become exceptional," Byakuya stated unemotionally as he raised his hand to his chin in thought. "She is able to conceal her reiatsu to such a point that she becomes indistinguishable from those around her, this most likely also allows her to detect things that most people would miss. It would make it very easy for her to avoid detection even in hostile situations."
"How could you possibly know that?" Zaraki asked in confusion.
"Its the obvious conclusion to a lot of things," Byakuya said and left it at that.
"But now that we know what kind of trick she's using to hide we can find her that much easier!" Mayuri added gleefully. "I think I have enough data on her ability to weaken its effects but you will still need to be within a certain distance of her or there's no point!"
"Then it is decided! Captain Soi Fon will lead her Assassination Squad to Karakura town and determine the location of former 5th seat Hakumei Suika and capture her. It is imperative that she not be killed however, she is useless to us dead if we are to gain insight into Aizen's goals. However, if escape seems likely you are ordered to kill her rather then let her escape."
"And if Kurosaki Ichigo interferes?" Soi Fon asked.
"You have permission to subdue his movements but not to kill him, he is still of use to us in the war against Aizen."
"Understood sir!" Soi Fon saluted and immediately took her place back in line.
"Dismissed!" Yamamoto roared and slammed the base of his stick onto the wooden floor.
With the matter decided the Captains began to leave the chamber at their own pace, some with the pace of those who had little to do and others like Soi Fon who were now in a great hurry. Ukitake stood silently by the exit and looked up into the clear blue sky in deep thought. It didn't make sense to him to act in this way. It was true that it looked like she was indeed in league with Aizen but there was no proof. But the guilt was still there eating away at him. She was just another person that they had failed to save and abandoned. "Things are starting to move fast but it doesn't feel right."
"You can feel it as well?" Shunsui replied casually from behind his friend, assuming that Ukitake was indeed not talking to himself. "Old man Yamamoto seems spooked by something. Did he know her or something?"
"Maybe. Do you remember her at all? I know its a lot to ask for something that happened over a hundred years ago."
Shunsui reached up and scratched his chin before shrugging his shoulders. "I think so, at least a little but only by appearance, I never once talked to her. She always seemed so nervous that I thought she might flee at the sight of me."
"That's understandable," Hitsugaya added on with no apparent malice.
"Oi oi that's cruel Toshiro-kun!" Shunsui said with a grin on his face.
"I can't deny I feel the same way. Considering that she did no real damage other to our pride General Yamamoto is willing to expend a lot of effort to capture her now. I wonder if he knows something that we don't, maybe something about her that would make her important to Aizen's plans."
"Old man Yamamoto is just being over cautious. Right now we have no idea what Aizen is planning and now were confronted by a person who may or may not be one of his allies from 100 years ago. You can't blame him for wanting her captured. He's just doing his best to protect everyone."
"Hakumei...Suika," Ukitake mused to himself a moment longer. Her face, her name, he was sure he knew it.
The Senkai gate opened almost silently, as requested by Captain Soi Fon as she lead her unit into the world of the living. With silent and deadly purpose her assassins and reconnaissance units dispersed into the area surrounding the gate, within moments the area was completely secure by unseen and unheard Shinigami. Each one knew his task to the letter and only waited for the order to move out.
A multitude of breaths were held as the last Shinigami emerged from the Senkai gate as it started to close straight behind them. Captain Soi Fon stopped and looked up into the dark early morning sky through a fine haze of early morning mist. The air smelt good to her and the mist provided them with a moment of advantage. She looked around the area, into the trees and towards the rooftops and nodded. No one was watching who could see.
"The whole of Karakura town is to be searched! There is a high probability that the infiltrator, most likely Hakumei Suika, a former Shinigami from squad 5 is still in the area. She is to be apprehended and returned to Soul Society to face trial!" Soi Fon was met by a wall of silence and smiled proudly. It was not the silence of an empty space but the silence of the unseen. An assassin appeared in the corner of her vision in the blink of an eye and kneeled without word. "Yes?"
"What of the substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo?" Soi Fon would have punished him for needing his orders repeated but she understood that they were about to face a pontentially brutal opponant, it was only natural to reassure them
"If he interferes he is to be restrained. A suitable seal has already been prepared for the task and I will use it if necessary." Soi Fon walked forward a few paces and then stopped to look down at her hand. She had been practicing with a new seal technique she had been developing for just such a situation and was eager to test it in actually combat. Who better then a monster like Kurosaki Ichigo.
"And the girl? If she can not be captured?" The dark voice said from under his mask.
"Kill her."
"Understood."
"Begin the operation!" With that all the unseen figures spread out across the city, with Soi Fon seeking out the biggest obstacle first, Kurosaki Ichigo.
The wind blew over the opening, stirring the grass with barely a sound. Into the opening walked a curious black cat with a devious smile on its feline face. It looked around and was satisfied that it was alone now and lowered its guard. "This is bad," Yoruichi said to herself as she sat down and looked at the place where the Senkai gate had disappeared. It seemed that Yamamoto was finally ready to take things seriously. That would be troublesome.
Her ears twitched as she heard the sound of grass being stepped on lightly behind her and twisted her head slowly. At first she wondered if Soi Fon had finally managed to out maneuver her but her eyes narrowed as she found herself looking up into the eyes of a girl who was clearly an Arrancar. She would have reacted but the small Arrancar was far too close to her already and obviously had no intention of attacking.
At first it stared down at her with a stoic expression of disinterest but when Yoruichi failed to react back she broke out into a devious smile. "Your Yoruichi-sama I dare say," Yami said with a cheerful voice and her expression turned to a childlike smile that radiated malice. "Hiding in the body of a cat, I dare say, how shameless." Yami raised her long sleeves in front of he mouth as she spoke. "Can we talk?"