(Bleach) Awake and Alive - Chapter 34: Mistress and Zanpakuto
Mikari stood in front of the mirror in her room and looked over herself. Her normal shinigami uniform, no longer the miniskirt form, 5th Division haori with a light green underside and red obi, instead of the normal white, tied overtop her whole outfit. The white tail and wolf ears with white light pink fur inside shined light blue under the sunlight from the window instead of white in the room. Her chocolate brown was now let down with some of it tied to both sides in high pigtails by two red ribbons. Lastly, her face with bright gold eyes looked mature to all, but looking in the mirror, she could still see a child.
She sighed at her reflection sadly and walked out of her room and left the 5th Division barracks with her head down. It didn't matter how she looked now, Mikari did not feel like herself anymore. Ever since the Zanpakuto Rebellion began, she felt lonesome inside. Something in her heart was missing...and that was Amaterasu. The scene from two nights ago would not leave her head:
"...Amaterasu..." Mikari whispered at the sight of her, now materialized, zanpakuto. The said zanpakuto did not move from the rooftop when the ecstatic taicho walked happily forward on her rooftop.
"Thank goodness you're alright!" She sighed in relief and had a big smile on her face. "I was so worried!"
Amaterasu closed her blue, emotionless eyes and held her right hand out. A cylinder of light formed in front of her palm. Once the light faded, a giant, blue paintbrush was in its place and she grabbed it tightly in her outstretched hand.
"Shine from heaven's light..." She muttered when the brush fully condensed in her hand.
Mikari's eyes widened. Blades of thunder formed around Amaterasu, pointing straight at the little girl, ready to fly.
"N-nani..." She muttered, body shaking and eyes beginning to get watery.
The zanpakuto opened her eyes and looked down at Mikari with a hint of sadness, unknowing to the three in the area. "Gomenasai...Mistress Mikari." She whispered to herself.
Her pupils shrunk to slits. "Strike her now!" The blades flew forward at her command. Mikari stood frozen on the spot, watching the attack inch closer. She snapped out of it at the last second and jumped into the air. The attack left an explosion on the roof, but Mikari just kept her eyes on Amaterasu. The glare on her face made Mikari shudder. It made her want to cry all over again.
She then saw Amaterasu twirl the paintbrush in front of her, creating a circle of fire. Out from the circle, flames in the form of wolves appeared. They stood growling at Mikari in the sky, staying by Amaterasu's side, waiting for her order.
"Scorching wolves!" At her command, the wolves ran forward and jumped forth to the sky, leaving a trail of flames behind. Mikari knew she couldn't touch the wolves, but she did know a kido that could help, but it isn't her specialty.
"Way of binding # 92: Aqua Armor!" the water vapor in the sky condensed into bubbles. The bubbles got together and went over Mikari's arms like a cloak of water in the form of tentacles. She brought her arm in a vertical motion, allowing the water to stretch out and slash right through one of the wolves. Her other arm pushed forward and the water wrapped around the other wolf. Steam went off when the water constricted tightly enough for the wolf to disperse.
"Thunder rage!" A bolt of lightning came down from and struck Mikari head on. She let out a piercing scream as her whole body was enveloped by the attack and it didn't make it better that the water on her arms made the thunder stronger.
The attacked stopped and Mikari fell to the ground, laying down in her own mad-made crater. She tried to pick herself up, but sparks flew around her body and kept her paralyzed. Her whole body was burned and she felt like a crisped piece of meat.
"Ha! Is that all you got as a taicho!" Mikari heard a laughing Haineko above her. She was able to turn her head to the sky to see Haineko, Tobiume and Amaterasu.
"You're worthless without your zanpakuto!" Haineko continued to laugh down at her.
"All you shinigami need us to survive. But we won't be controlled by you again!" Tobiume spoke out as well.
The two then went quiet when they saw Amaterasu's glare. They gulped and decided to run off for somewhere else. Now Mikari and Amaterasu were alone. Amaterasu's glare on the girl hardened, showing no sympathy.
"You're just a kid afterall these years. You never deserved to wield my power." Mikari looked up sadly at Amaterasu's words. She could handle what the other two said, but hearing it from Amaterasu was just unbelievable and almost unbearable.
"A-amaterasu...this isn't you..."
Amaterasu growled and turned her back to Mikari. "You are no longer my mistress. Next time we meet...I will finish you off, you will either give up or die!"
She disappeared without a trace, leaving Mikari to cry at the events and words of Amaterasu. Her cries brought Momo and Isane to her side. They tried to calm her down as they healed her, but she only calmed down once all the crying made her tired and she fell asleep.
Mikari shook her head of the memory. This wasn't the time to get sad. Yamamoto was missing, most of the Sereitei was destroyed, the new taicho's base was the 4th Division where most of the shinigami were as the amount of wounded was large, and noone knew where the zanpakuto's were.
Her silent walk from the 5th Division to the 4th Division ended when she saw Matsumoto and Momo walk out of the 4th Division area.
"All healed up Mikari-taicho?" Momo asked.
"Yeah, I should really thank Unohana." She tilted her head at them. "Where you two heading?"
"We're heading out to find our zanpakuto's." Matsumoto answered back to which Mikari nodded. "Ok, good luck." She said, watching the two run off.
Those two weren't the only ones who went off looking for their zanpakuto's. Others, like Toshiro, went off as well. Mikari would have gone too, but she had to heal her body.
Mikari continued into the 4th Division and headed for the main office. She opened the office door to see Unohana, Ukitake, and Kyoraku there. Also, she saw Yoruichi inside too.
"Onee-chan? What are you doing here?"
"Hi to you too." She laughed lightly before getting serious. "I actually came her with Ichigo once we heard about the rebellion from Rukia who escaped from the attack."
"Where's Ichigo then?"
"He went to find Rukia, who went out to find Byakuya."
Byakuya's name brought a heavy atmosphere to the room. During the rebellion, Byakuya had faced his zanpakuto, Senbonzakura. But noone had seen him after the fight. The worst could be imagined, but the 6th Division wouldn't hear of it.
Mikari spaced out as the taicho's talked about the situation. Yoruichi noticed this and gave her a light nudge.
"What?" She growled out in a hush tone.
"You need to relax." Yoruichi whispered back.
"Huh?"
"Maybe you need to head home...and when I say home, I mean home home." Mikari looked at her sister with a 'WTH' face. She was just talking nonsense or just plain voodoo.
"Ok, you're all boring me." Mikari joked to the group. "I'm gonna head out for a walk."
"Take care." Were the last words Mikari heard as she walked out. She left the 4th Division and began her own little walk down the streets of the Sereitei. Almost all the buildings around her were either completely destroyed or half torned to pieces. But thanks to the hard work of everyone, slowly the buildings were being repaired, though there was still the threat of an attack.
Mikari then thought back to what Yoruichi said. What did she mean by 'I need to head home home?' Then something sparked in her head, like a small lightbulb. When she said 'home home', did she mean the Shihoin Compound?
Since that was her only lead and she knew she couldn't ask her sis, Mikari decided to head there after so long.
Looking around the area, Mikari had a feeling of nostalgia. The Compound hadn't changed in years, everything was the way she remembered years ago. Even though she had been back for a few months now and her family knew she was here, she never had a chance to see the Compound.
"A-ah! M-mikari-sama!" She heard suddenly. Mikari looked at the front porch of the Compound and saw the male servant, or butler as she called him that watched over her like a nanny.
"Sebastian!" She cheerfully said, though the servant sweatdropped at this. "Please misses, my name is Kyoya. Remember?" "Yeah but shouldn't all butlers be named Sebastian, ne?" "You haven't changed at all misses."
Kyoya offered to give Mikari a tour and tell her family that she was here. Mikari declined, knowing that her family and even the servants would make a huge commotion, maybe even plan a big dinner, and now wasn't a good time. She told him that she wanted to be alone and he reluctantly left her.
Something took over her body like a weird feeling she couldn't explain. Her body moved on its own to the backyard of the Compound. Mikari didn't get angry though. She was actually happy to be in the backyard. It held so many memories for her. This was where Yoruichi told her that she adopted her into the Shihoin Clan. Also many times she played a game of tag here with Yoruichi, Kisuke, even Soifon and Byakuya, though Byakuya just angrily chased her as a kid...And this was where Mikari officially first met Amaterasu and released shikai...
"ONEE-CHANNNNNN!"
"No matter how much you cry Mikari, I just can't help you."
A young Mikari, in the shinigami academy uniform, sat on the grass of the backyard of the Compound. She had puppy dog eyes on her face which was completed with her whining, all directed to Yoruichi who was sitting on the porch in her taicho attire.
"You gotta help me onee-chan!" Mikari pleaded, fake tears falling down her face. "I heard from the teachers that to be a strong shinigami, I need to release my zanpakuto's shikai form. But they won't tell me how!" She had a little fit by rolling around on her back and hitting the ground.
Yoruichi let out a heavy sigh and rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry Mikari, but this is something you will have to figure out on your own."
This brought Mikari to stop her fit, but her ears went down in depression. "Can't you give me a hint or something?" She whined.
Yoruichi crossed her arms and looked up in thought. After 5 impatient minutes, she looked back to Mikari. "Ok, first have you heard a voice talk to you when you're alone."
Mikari tilted her head to the right. It was a strange question. Yet, "yeah I have, well in my dreams mostly, even back with the scientists. I always hear a soothing voice, but our conversations get cut short when I ask for its names."
"That's a good start." Yoruichi gestured to the katana laying beside Mikari on the ground. "You see, that voice is your zanpakuto spirit. It's trying to connect with you so that you both can grow stronger together. But to do that, you must be willing to understand your zanpakuto and learns its name on your own."
The small girl stared in amazement at yoruichi and thought back to her words. "Connect with my zanpakuto..." her face scrunched up in a weird, funny way. Yoruichi had to cover her mouth to not laugh outloud. Trying to think hard on what to do pained Mikari's head and made her face scrunch up more.
"UGHHHHHH!" She cried out, relaxing her face. "I don't know what to do!" Mikari gazed up to the sky, watching the clouds go by. "...I wish my zanpakuto could help me..." The sun came out from behind a cloud. A wave of sleepiness came over Mikari when the sun's rays hit her eyes. "My zanpakuto...my zanpakuto..." she whispered softly, eyes drooping down not strength in them.
What happened next, yoruichi never saw coming. Mikari closed her eyes and just fell to her back slowly. Yoruichi jumped up and ran over to her. She tried shaking Mikari's body, but she didn't even twitch. It was like she was in a deep sleep.
"C'mon Mikari. Wake up. Sleeping won't help you think."
"What's happened to the young mistress!" yoruichi jumped at the voice and turned around to see Kyoya on the porch, looking like he was about to pee his pants. 'D-don't worry, she's fine-" "I must call a doctor immediately!"
Kyoya ran off in a host and Yoruichi slapped her face lightly. A huge commotion was sure to start in the Compound. She looked back to Mikari who was smiling in her sleep. "Seriously. I'm hoping you're communicating with your zanpakuto or this is just worthless."
"AHHHHHHHHH!" Mikari screamed feeling herself fall down extremely fast. She saw the darkness of her subconscious whoosh by her. Her screaming died down as she got tired and the fall seemed to be going on forever. Then suddenly, her body hit a body of water with such a force. The water rushed over her as her body began to sink. Even though this was her subconscious, Mikari quickly freaked out and made her way to the water's surface. When she got to the surface, she was relieved to see land nearby, well she actually saw a field of flowers, but either way it was land.
After swimming to land and relaxing on her back, Mikari decided to look around. She got up to talk blindly through the field. She knew she wasn't dreaming , but this was a strange part of her subconscious, nothing she's ever seen before. As she walked in silence, she noticed something run past her. She turned around to try and see, but it was too fast and zipped off in another direction.
Mikari was extremely interested in whatever the thing was and decided to follow the route it left behind in the flowers. The route she was followed was leading her to a giant sakura tree. Before she reached the tree, she saw something white jump from the base of the tree to one of the high branches, hiding from her view, behind the petals.
"Matte! Don't hide please, I just wanna talk." Mikari said sweetly to the tree, trying to get the figure to show itself. She heard the branch swish lightly, which got her to smile. "Please may I see you...or may I not see my zanpakuto spirit?"
Her last words got the tree branch to swing back and forth as a white blur jumped down in front of her, surprising Mikari enough to fall on her ass. Mikari took in the sight of a white wolf with red markings on its fur, and on its back was a lightning sword and mirror with flames spinning off of it.
"Sugoi!" Mikari reached her hand up to pet the wolf's head. "You're such a kawaii okami!" The wolf blinked at the girl in surprise, but relaxed enough to wag its tail along with Mikari's. "Arigato tiny mistress."
The sound of a sweet woman's voice in a teasing way got Mikari to gasp loudly. "Y-you can talk?" "And much more," a giant wolf smile was on her face, "but you will see that in time." Teased the wolf, getting Mikari to cry on the inside. She wanted to see now.
Mikari then opened her mouth to ask the wolf its name, but closed it when she remembered Yoruichi's words. She has to communicate and understand her zanpakuto to find out her name.
"I know I won't find out your name so easily..." The wolf titled her head to the left, blue eyes waiting in anticipation for Mikari to continue. "...but I wanna know more about you! If that is alright with you?"
"...I wouldn't know what to say..." Her soft voice said, unsurity was heard by Mikari. "Can you tell me about this place and just about zanpakuto's?" "Well if it won't bore you...that's fine. I would get comfortable."
The two then got comfortable with Mikari relaxing against the tree and the wolf had her head on Mikari's lap. Like they were best friends for years. "Well to start with something simple, this is your inner world. It represents yourself deep in your subconscious and is the place I as your zanpakuto reside."
"And its basically the place where we communicate." "Precisely."
Mikari turned her gaze down to the she-wolf. 'A-ano...are zanpakuto's basically just weapons for shinigami's?" A sad sigh came from the wolf. "I guess you can say that. Us zanpakuto's are just used as the personal weapons of shinigami allowing them to use our abilities."
"But that doesn't make sense." The wolf looked up to smiling gold eyes in surprise. Mikari continued, "you zanpakuto's have your own forms like other beings, so you can't only be a weapon. And your powers are your own and not ours. We're both two separate beings, not just shinigami and zanpakuto. Yet it's even stranger that shinigami and zanpakuto are technically one, yet not. So yeah nothing really makes sense."
The sudden wolf-like laughter shocked Mikari enough to jump before looking at the wolf that had begun to roll around. "O-oh my...it's so stranger to hear you talk like that...so moving...and so confused..." "Ummmm...should I be offended?"
Moving from Mikari's lap, the zanpakuto got on its paws and stood in front of her. "You are more than I've seen mistress, and that has caught my interest." This got Mikari to laugh slightly. "Well I guess thats good."
"I want to be your zanpakuto."
"...but aren't you already. Not that I'm complaining..." Mikari tilted her head and the wolf chuckled. "Yes I am...what I mean is I wish to fight alongside you. Give you my powers and help you grow stronger!"
"If that is your decision..." She stood up and looked down at the wolf with a smile. "But I don't want you to think you're giving me your powers for myself...I understand that they are yours and I will grow stronger to be a worthy shinigami to use them and obtain my own powers to protect others!"
"Hai mistress!" "Please, my names Mikari."
"And my name is-"
Yoruichi paced back and forth on the porch. She knew that Kyoya would be back with a doctor and Mikari wasn't damn awake yet. A huge mess was sure to come.
Suddenly a bright light came from behind her.
She turned around to see that it was Mikari's zanpakuto that was glowing. Her eyes widened when she saw Mikari's arm move to the sword, pick it up and hold it up to the sky. All while having her eyes closed.
"Shine from heaven's light...Amaterasu..." Mikari's mouth moved slowly. The light around the sword brightened and then as quickly dimmed to reveal a staff with a golden sun cross on the end. It wasn't like anything Yoruichi had ever seen before.
Mikari's eyes fluttered open and she turned her head to give her sis a toothy grin. "Yo, I did it."
Mikari let out a happy sigh. That was one of the greatest moments of accomplishments she had in the past. Such a happy time...yet it was being forgotten by the one person she had shared it with. Her ears drooped as she looked down at the garden in front of her, holding back tears for like the hundredth time. "Dammit all." She grinded through her teeth.
BOOM!
Her head snapped to see a section of the Shihoin Compound roof on fire. She clenched her fist, having a pretty good idea on who caused it. Mikari shunpo'd to the section of the Compound that was on fire. On the ground, she saw a few servants collapsed on the ground, probably surprised from the attack. She got to their sides and was relieved to seem that none of them were badly hurt.
Mikari shook their shoulders to get their attention on her. "Hurry up and get out of her! And make sure noone else enters the area!" She ordered getting them to nod. "Hai!"
After they all ran off, Mikari refocused on the situation. She happened to be in the training area of the Compound, with part of a roof on fire. The elders would surely eat her ass later for this...and the damage she knew would come in the future as she felt the familiar wave of reiatsu of her zanpakuto around her. And out from the fire stepped out the beautiful Amaterasu.
"I had a feeling you would be here." She smirked down at Mikari from the roof.
"I beg you one last time Amaterasu," Mikari cried out. "Please stop this. We don't have to fight-"
"I already said that next time we meet, I would finish you off." Her paintbrush materialized in her hands. "And I intend to follow through with my little promise!"
The two glared at each other knowing in the back of their heads that this would be the final and only fight.
Omake:
Mikari and Amaterasu glared at one another, getting in position to strike at one another. Then Amaterasu relaxed her stance and closed her eyes.
"We don't have to fight yet." Mikari looked up at her confused. "Huh?"
In a blink of an eye, Amaterasu was off the roof, now sitting in a chair beside a small table with a tea set on the table.
"Please sit down, enjoy some tea." She kindly offered. Mikari just anime fell and jumped back up with a pissed face.
"What the hell! Aren't we gonna fight!" "That's in the next chapter." "...Right."
Mikari walked over and took a seat at the table where Amaterasu offered her a cup of tea. The two sat silently, drinking their tea in peace.
"So how's it going with Master Hitsugaya." Mikari spit out the tea in shock at the question. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well he won't be seen for awhile, so I think the audience should have something." "I don't think so, this is a serious moment. and you're my zanpakuto you already know enough!"
"Anyways," Amaterasu continued in a gentle voice, ignoring what Mikari said . "you two have been together for awhile and haven't even mated. he hasn't even left his mark on you. I think soon you should go to the next step."
"YOU HAVE NO SAY IN THAT! AND WE'RE NOT ANIMALS SO DON'T SAY MATE AND STUFF!"
Bleach Awake and Alive Chapter Preview
Rukia: "I guess the time has come for Mikari and Amaterasu to finally fight."
Ichigo: "Kind of depressing that noone will see them fight."
Rukia: "How can you say that! It's horrible enough for partners to fight!"
"Next time is Chapter 35: Clash of Partners."
Ichigo: "Hey aren't you suppost to be fighting with Sode No Shirayuki now?"
Rukia: "That's off camera in this story thankfully, but you can see it in the bleach episodes, i believe are eps-"
Ichigo: "Nahhh. Too lazy."
Rukia: "You're ridiculous!"