Chapter Thirty Seven: Unwanted Memory

"It seems wrong, somehow, holding a meeting in an atmosphere like this."

Enishi pushed open the door of the Vice Captain meeting chamber with a sigh, sinking his broad frame down into his usual seat and resting his elbows on the polished surface of the desk. "Nothing's been the right way around since Souja-dono's funeral, and that's a fact. Now we're having a Vice Captain's meeting? Seems messed up to me. All our divisions are on high alert as it is."

"For that reason, I suppose," Sora followed her former classmate into the small, brightly lit chamber. "I know what you mean, Houjou - it's a strange feeling, isn't it? Walking in here and knowing that even if everyone on roll shows up, we're one short. All those things he said about security in Seireitei, and the next thing we know..."

"Too young," Enishi said gruffly. "That's all I can think about it, Sora. Too young. The youngest of all of us shouldn't be the first to go. I've had to keep up face in front of the young'uns - Thirteenth have been sent a bit scatty, what with Kirio's stray and now a new recruit turning up in the middle of it all - but I really don't like it. Souja wasn't more than a kid himself - and Hirata's a friend. This kind of thing shouldn't happen to anyone, but it's roughest when it's to someone barely out of training hakama."

"That's how this world is," Shirogane's voice came from the doorway, and both adjutants turned, taking in the grave features of the Sixth Division deputy. He crossed the mat floor towards them. "Unless you'd forgotten, Houjou, Souja-dono isn't the first nor the youngest of Aizen Keitarou's Clan victims."

"Ribari-sama," Sora's features became shadowed, and Shirogane nodded.

"As you say," he replied shortly. "I doubt there's a single division right now who isn't focused on bringing this particular felon to heel. That's probably why we've a meeting right now. We're not just individual divisions or Clans facing this threat. The more split up we are, the more he'll harpoon our weaknesses. It's how he works, playing with people's minds and jumping in to take advantage while we're scattered and confused. We should be sharing information, and working out what we can do. Even if Keitarou isn't the kind of enemy we can take down ourselves, the more we know as a collective, the stronger we are behind our Captains, and right now that has to count more than anything else."

"I suppose that's true," Enishi rested his chin on the back of his hands with a frown. "That was the vein in which Souja himself was talking, wasn't it, last meeting?"

"Mm," Shirogane nodded. "He said to me afterwards that he was determined to get to the bottom of it. I can't help thinking that he was killed on purpose because of that intention."

He shrugged helplessly.

"Guren-sama's talked to me a little about the Council and the Captain's meetings, but Sixth didn't send representation to the Rukon, so I don't know if we're any further on than we were in that regard. This is what I mean about pooling information. Surely there's something we can do?"

"Father is hard at work trying to decipher the coordinates of the Real World Senkaimon he found in the Rukon, in order that they can get a rough fix on where Keitarou might've fled to," Shiketsu pushed back the door of the chamber, slipping over the threshold and revealing Ryuusei and Hyakken in his slipstream. "We were just discussing it. Father hasn't asked me to keep anything from this meeting, but there's not much conclusive to talk about. I know Twelfth have been asked to look at the Rukongai evidence in the meantime...but it feels as though we're grasping at straws."

"Sora-chan, if your Captain's said anything to you, it might be a good time to share it," Ryuusei added, glancing at his sister, and Sora let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head.

"He's not told me anything much at all," she admitted. "The fact he hasn't makes me certain there's something he hasn't said. I mean, I debriefed Kaoru and Hanako, and they said they'd found an abandoned settlement and so on - signs that Keitarou was there, but wasn't there now. I've not had a chance to ask Naoko-chan, either. Shunsui's clearly got something on his mind regarding this, but whatever it is, he doesn't seem to want to share it with either of our other two, or with me. He might have told J...Ukitake-taichou, but other than that..."

She trailed off, shrugging her shoulders.

"I guess I don't have high enough clearance. Shunsui and I are close friends, Aniue, but there are times he can play the Captain and pull rank too. I think this is one of these times."

"Houjou? What about you?" Shirogane asked. "Has Shikibu said anything?"

"Mm," Enishi pressed his lips together. "To be completely honest, I haven't spoken to Shikibu since they came back. We've both been too busy. Kira pretty much reported the same as you've just said - an abandoned settlement, an empty hut, signs of having been cleared out...that's all. Nothing else."

"No Vice Captains went to the Rukon, either," Hyakken pointed out. "Maybe none of the Captains felt it a good idea, considering what happened to Souja-dono, but it means nobody here has a direct idea of what was seen there."

"That's not the case, Hyakken-dono," Shiketsu said matter-of-factly. "Two Vice Captains went to the Rukon. Eriko-dono and Kai-dono were there."

"Kai-dono never comes to these meetings, though, or hardly ever," Shirogane grimaced. "Onmitsukidou isn't quite like the other divisions. As for Eriko-dono, the Fourth are so busy at the moment after what happened in the Spiritless Zone. I don't expect either of them to show for this meeting."

"Well, today is an exception," Kai's own voice prevented any of the others in the chamber from commenting, and Enishi turned, seeing his friend wearily cross the room towards the often vacant Second Division seat. "I'm here, and I'm here because of the Rukon. Nagesu-sama told me that I should report to you what I felt was wise. That's why there's this meeting, now. Midori-neesama arranged it with the other Captains and sent through the memos...I'm hoping that most of us turn up."

"Eriko-dono said she was coming, too. She was just seeing to a couple of patients and would be late," Shiketsu offered Kai a faint smile. "She asked me to bring her apologies, but she felt that coming late was better than not at all."

"So now we just have to wait and see if the others appear?" Sora reflected. "It would be a tragic irony, wouldn't it, if the first Vice Captain's meeting where everyone else showed up did so because one of ours got killed."

"It's not the first time that's happened," Ryuusei reflected. "It's been a while since a Vice Captain died in action, true, but I remember the last time. Shirogane-dono, Shiketsu-dono, I'm sure you do too."

"You mean Sakanoue, I suppose?" Shiketsu grimaced, nodding his head. "Yes, though it's not an incident I like to recall. We lost kinsfolk in that incident, too. It was a messy business."

"I haven't heard this story." Sora's ears pricked up, and Ryuusei sent her a pensive glance.

"Gossip you haven't picked up on? I'm surprised," he observed wryly, and Sora pulled a face.

"I don't know everything," she defended herself. "I don't know much about the Urahara - so sue me!"

"Sakanoue was a Yamamoto, actually," Enishi scratched his chin. "Not that I really know much about it, either. I know he died, and had a formal funeral. That's about it. Total different branch of the family and older t'boot. Well, I guess you can say I wasn't much for social Clan functions, and begged out of them as much as possible, so I don't see how I'd have met him anyway. To be truthful, the only reason I know even his name is because it came up briefly when I was originally invited to be Eleventh's Vice Captain after graduation. Since I chose against it, I never heard any more. I figured it was a Hollow or something - was it not?"

"Hollows of a sort, yes," Shiketsu confirmed. "In the Rukon. I don't know all the details - just that he was killed in action over the divide and he had a hero's funeral on account of it. There was a lot of spiritual pollution in the Rukon then - a lot of Hollow incidents there that the Eleventh and Twelfth saw to cleansing. It was one of those things which, on another occasion, could've ended differently."

"But the meeting after he died, everyone came together and talked like this," Ryuusei reflected. "Sakanoue was respected by pretty much everyone, just like Souja-dono."

"Some people say that his death was murder, too." Hyakken added, and Sora turned to eye the Ninth Division Vice Captain in dismay.

"What? I thought Shiketsu-dono said he died in action!"

"He did," Hyakken nodded. "It was just a rumour...that there was something off about the Hollows in the Rukon. They were more...humanoid than normal, and apparently, capable of independant thought to a limited degree. But the subject got shut off and they never investigated it. Minaichi-taichou and Sekime-taichou both wanted it that way, I think...well, they both lost people they were close to, and there was no proof of anything. I know there was suspicion, though."

"Of Keitarou?" Shirogane asked sharply, and Hyakken shrugged.

"There was that rumour," he agreed pensively. "It was within memory of Ribari-sama's death, and of course, the incident with Seiren-dono. People wondered...well, whether he'd escaped Kinnya-sama's blade and taken up his old tricks again."

"So maybe this is the same as then, then?" Sora wondered, but Shirogane shook his head.

"Sakanoue died before I was inaugurated as heir of the Kuchiki," he said quietly. "It was too soon after Keitarou's run-in with Kinnya-sama's blade for him to have begun any kind of operation anywhere else. Even if we do now have proof he was in the Rukon, and he's been there the whole time, he wouldn't have been able to orchestrate the sheer quantity of Hollows that were being deployed in that region. He took a severe injury - both Kinnya-sama and Hirata-dono testified to that effect before the Council. Besides, the original Hollow incidents began before Keitarou stopped stalking my family. Much as I don't like to give him an alibi in any of this, I think it unlikely there's a connection since his focus was clearly on destroying us, not unleashing random unknown experiments in the Rukon valley. You've let your imagination run away with you, Hyakken-dono, because of the Kuchiki-ke's feelings following that business - but in reality it seems more likely that Real World pollution slipping through the soul burial process caused the contamination."

"Father's enquiry into the matter came to the same conclusion," Shiketsu agreed. "He could find no reason to open a full scale investigation. Sakanoue died as a result of his deployment in the field as an active member of Eleventh Division...and we should leave the past in the past and move to the present. Souja-dono's death was definitely murder, and we have to focus on justice for him now."

"Yes, let's drop the Sakanoue subject before Ikata and the others get here," Enishi suggested. "I agree with Shirogane-dono. It was a bad incident, but the kind of thing shinigami are geared up to face and it sounds like he acquitted himself in the way an officer should. Let's not slur a good war record with intrigue we can't prove when there's already enough grim stuff to be going on with."

"Ikata's his cousin, isn't he?" Ryuusei remarked thoughtfully. "I remember thinking how it was impossible two such different people could be so closely related. I was surprised when Atsushi-dono selected him as Sakanoue's replacement...I guess it's probably still a sore point."

"As we see regularly, with Ikata's general attitude towards his Captain," Shiketsu sighed wearily. "I can't imagine Ikata has the sensitivity to care about such a distant event, though. We see proof of his attention grasping attitude and blatant arrogance on a regular basis. He was probably glad that the competition was removed. Though I remember Minaichi went through a few candidates before he was forced to fall back on the one he did...you included, of course, Houjou."

"We'll drop the subject." Ryuusei said firmly, before Enishi could respond. "I can sense Ikata and Michihashi at least heading this way, and Kai-dono said he had things to report."

"Kanshi's on his way, too," Sora added, settling herself more comfortably in her seat. "I guess you're chairing this meeting, Shihouin, since your Clan called it in the first instance."

"If nobody else has an objection, I think I should," Kai looked troubled, but nodded, moving to the front of the room. "It's not generally the Onmitsukidou's way to divulge information, but when it comes to Keitarou, all rules change. If it gets us even an inch closer to what we need to know, I'm prepared to tell what I can - beginning with the testimony of a Second Division prisoner currently in custody known to us under the name of Suzuki Naoto."

"This is everything that you got from the Rukongai visit?"

Mareiko rested her hands on the unit of Nagesu's laboratory, her quick, dreamy gaze flitting over the reams of scrawled notes her Clan leader had scribed hurriedly down in the hours since the mission's return from the Rukon. Nagesu himself had not yet rested, even though the investigation had taken place through night hours in Seireitei, and it was drawing on towards midday. On the contrary, he had sent messengers to Twelfth Division as soon as he had been able, summoning the Twelfth Captain to help him go over the results.

"There's a lot written here, Nagesu-sama. You must have been working non-stop."

"There isn't really time to think about resting, not when Keitarou is on the loose, and besides, my mind is too jumpy to step back from the investigation," Nagesu ran his fingers through his sandy blond hair with a sigh of acknowledgement. "I'm sorry for the abrupt summons too, Mareiko - but two heads are often better than one and I wanted your opinion. I'm quite sure that we discovered the scene of Souja-dono's murder, and I had Kamitani and Yunosuke collect samples to prove it, but those will have to wait for the time being. More important are the readings from the Senkaimon - both the one that Souja-dono must have destroyed to make it back here, and the other, which was barred with Kidou."

He moved to stand behind her, leaning across to indicate a particular passage.

"Sekizanha warned me against trying to open that gate. He thought it was unstable, and that it might implode if I used any significant level of power on trying to break the Kidou spell. It wasn't childish magic, though. From the little evidence I was able to glean through Sekizanha's senses, it was a complex barrier designed from Bakudou but - I have to admit - a spell to which I could give no name. Perhaps it was a custom technique...which would marry with the evidence Shikibu Naoko's sword gave about Keitarou having been in the vicinity."

"Shikibu Naoko?" Mareiko looked startled. "From the Thirteenth Division? She was with you on this trip, too? I thought you went with Onmitsukidou?"

"I did, but Shunsui-dono's group had assigned members of Thirteenth, if you recall, and she was one of them," Nagesu responded wearily. "It turns out that she had a personal encounter with Keitarou some several years ago, and as a result, her zanpakutou is keenly sensitive to any trace of his lingering reiatsu. She detected his presence all around the area that Shunsui-dono patrolled, and when Kamitani told me about her zanpakutou's ability, I sent for her to come do the same at the crime scene. Keitarou's reiatsu was not present in Souja-dono's blood, which supports the idea he didn't kill the boy himself, but the gate...that was different. I had thought that Keitarou's presence was there, but suppressed and not quite tangible to me. Shikibu's Dokusou Houshi was far more concise. She said that there was no doubt - Keitarou had gone through the gate, and, almost certainly, had set up the Kidou around it. That being the case, investigating it became priority number one."

"I see," Mareiko stood back, pursing her lips thoughtfully. "And you think he went to the Real World?"

"Sekizanha was convinced that that was where the gate led to, yes," Nagesu nodded. "I only have a vague sense of coordinates, and I've tried to note them down as best I can, but I don't know how accurate they are. The Real World is a big place, and although I have sent Yunosuke and Kamitani with coordinates ahead of me to fix a gate and stabilise it for frequent transport between here and the Real World to one of our usual Urahara encampments, I may well miss our target by a wide range. I also don't want to leave them alone for long - I can't spare other officers, and I wanted to hear Shiketsu's report before I join them, but his meeting seems to be running on longer than I expected. For that reason, I want you to take command of the data and continue to work on it. Anything you can glean from it that might tell us about Keitarou's whereabouts or anything else you deem appropriate to our resolving this situation, I will welcome with gratitude."

"I can try," Mareiko eyed the notes doubtfully. "I would offer to come with you to the Real World, Nagesu-sama, but in the circumstances..."

"Your brain is my greatest ally and support in this," Nagesu rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You often see things that I do not, and I trust in your ability to work this through. If my mission to the Real World proves fruitless, at least I know that there is a back-up plan being put into operation and there will be other options to investigate on my return."

"Well, creating other options is becoming a Twelfth Division speciality," Mareiko, whose pale eyes had become rather tragic brightened at this, nodding her head. "I'll do what I can, and that's a promise. Also, if you want me to analyse the readings from the Kidou, perhaps I can come up with a less volatile way to break the bond on the original gate than releasing Sekizanha would achieve. It's possible that, even if the spell has been custom designed for the purpose, my research might indicate the base spells it has been formed from, and so the best way to neutralise it."

"That's why I sent for you," Nagesu sent her a wry smile. "I knew you'd reassure me with suggestions like that, and at present I think there's nobody in Seireitei who knows as much about Kidou as you do. It might come to it, that we have to go back to Rukongai and try and breach the gate, so that would be helpful. Also, there's one more thing I need to leave with you."

"Yes, sir?" Mareiko's gaze burned with curiosity, and Nagesu nodded.

"The information Ukitake gave me at the meeting. The sheet you saw...the data that he produced out of nowhere," he said pensively. "It turns out that that research was not only thorough, but extremely accurate. We opened our gate very close to the area where Keitarou had, indeed, been operating, and found the site of Souja-dono's murder, clues to follow Keitarou's path, and signs of a settlement, including - if Shunsui-dono is to be believed - a location Souja-dono himself mentioned before he died. That kind of accuracy does not come by fluke. I don't know how Ukitake came by it, but thanks to that work, I was able to hypothesise coordinates that took us right to where we needed to be. I don't know how much interaction you have with your neighbour, but if you should find the time..."

"You want me to talk to him about it?" Mareiko tilted her head on one side, then nodded, her grin widening. "That's no problem. As it happens, I'm quite fond of the Thirteenth - they've always been polite neighbours, and I find Ukitake-taichou is friendly enough. These days I don't have much reason to call by Eleventh, but I've been to Thirteenth once or twice to do scientific analyses of his sword's release and he's been very accommodating of my geekish curiosity. I'll go see him, and see what he says. He might not reveal his source, though - it sounded in the meeting like it was something top secret."

"Mm, which bothers me just a little bit," Nagesu admitted. Mareiko's eyes widened.

"Do you think Ukitake-taichou has links to Keitarou?" she demanded, and Nagesu laughed despite himself, shaking his head.

"No. Out of all the potential figures in Seireitei who might plot rebellion, he's bottom of my list," he said, amused. "I remember the sorry state Keitarou's blade left him in following an encounter in the snows of Seventh District - no, I think it's fair to say that Ukitake would choose to have nothing to do with my misguided cousin. It's more a concern that he got to that information and we didn't. I can't explain it, but it seems...strange."

"Midori-dono was saying similar things about Ukitake-taichou and Onmitsukidou business," Mareiko pondered. "I guess he has a more accurate information network than anyone thought, considering he's from the Districts."

She shrugged, offering a happy-go-lucky smile.

"Maybe it's because he's nice to people, and it makes him easy to trust," she suggested. "In any case, I will go there, I promise. If I can, I'll find out his source, but if not, shall I trust some of this information to him, in case there's a chance he can pass it to those contacts? With the Real World being such a big place, and with us not knowing so much...even if he isn't an Urahara, I think maybe...we should."

"In the current climate, unity is the only weapon we have against chaotic genius," Nagesu agreed grimly. "Do what you think is best, Mareiko. I trust you."

"Then I'll do what I can," Mareiko dimpled. "Don't look so worried, Nagesu-sama. It will be all right. Really."

"Let's hope so," Nagesu responded darkly. "Now, I must go and and see whether Shiketsu has returned yet from the Vice Captain's meeting. It's a long one, today, so hopefully that means some useful information has come to light. Michihashi will probably be looking for you, too, before long - so I'll keep you here no longer."

"All right," Mareiko gathered the notes up in her arms. "You're probably right - I don't want him to think I've got locked in the supply basement again...last time he clean blew the door off its hinges and organising repairs at Twelfth is such a hassle."

She sighed, rolling her eyes expressively.

"You'd think the craftsmen would be glad of the business, especially since we're such frequent patrons, but they always seem so reluctant to come calling," she added. "Good luck in the Real World, Nagesu-sama. I hope you find what you're looking for."

"So do I," Nagesu nodded, "and more, that this time I can stop him before he causes any more harm."

Well, so Nagesu and the Kyouraku idiot had made it back safely from their trip to the Rukon.

Deep furrows lined Atsushi's brow as he considered this, disapproval touching his expression as he placed the last of the documents in the pile for distribution and let out a heavy sigh. It was mid-morning, and, thanks to the summons of the Shihouin, his adjutant was busily engaged in a Vice Captain's meeting, leaving him free to go about his work in peace and quiet. Atsushi relished these brief scraps of sanity time, as he thought of it, for though Ikata's skills were good and his drive genuine, it was no secret between them that he was not the kind of second Atsushi would've chosen given half a chance. In fact, Atsushi reflected, as he got to his feet, stretching his arms over his head to release the cramp setting up home in his long, bony fingers, he would have sooner worked without a Vice Captain, had the Clan been willing to allow it. Ikata was not the smartest man he had ever known, but he was sharp enough to know that he got on Atsushi's nerves, and his strident voice and swaggering figure were often the causes of Atsushi's late night headaches.

They were chalk and cheese, sun and moon...and had it not been for the firm pressure of the previous Clan leader, Hashihiko, he would never have even considered the man as a candidate.

Even Enishi would've been a better selection than this, had the fool remembered his responsibility to his kin.

Atsushi rested his hands on the windowsill, gazing disgruntledly out towards the direction he knew Juushirou's Thirteenth Division were based. The jagged shape of the Twelfth Division barracks, with its frequent reconstructions blocked his view, but Atsushi could just make out the sloped roofs and the briefest outline of the Captain's chamber stretching out over the koi lake. Thirteenth had been built so close to the edge of Inner Seireitei's land that they had been forced to build it partially over a puddle, he told himself derisively, and yet, instead of being put out or righteously embarrassed by that fact, Juushirou had declared the location beautiful and welcomed it with genuine delight. There was a reason Thirteenth Division came numerically last in the list of divisions, yet the infuriating white haired Captain, with his District airs and interfering habits seemed completely oblivious to the fact his squad ranked below all of the others. For him to have had the temerity to accept the position of Captain at all had grated on Minaichi's Clan-proud nerves, but then, to appropriate his own potential Vice Captain candidate...no, there were some insults that were not to be forgiven.

His gaze fell on the Twelfth Division once more, and the cross expression in his eyes softened slightly, a faintly sad look entering the normally harsh gaze.

He had hardly been there in years, either. There had been a time when the Eleventh and Twelfth Divisions had worked in such close partnership that he had known the names of most of the senior officers within the Urahara Division, but now he no longer knew nor cared who was working under its auspices. Only Mareiko remained of the people he had once worked with so closely - and even where she was concerned, things had moved beyond the point of no return.

"Well, Atsushi-kun, we're ready to go when you are!"

The image of her robed in the black uniform of a Vice Captain, silver and white badge glittering on her upper left arm flashed into his thoughts, her eyes bright and eager and her hair sticking out around her head like a straw halo. She had been scatty and disorganised, rarely wearing a proper pair of tabi, or turning up with a Clan obi instead of a shinigami one holding her shihakushou together, but the infectious sound of her laughter had always helped soothe any nerves Atsushi might've had on entering the Rukon or the Real World, and so he had overlooked these imperfections in favour of the bigger picture. Well, maybe then they had been friends, he reflected grimly. Even though rank had separated them by one position, she had never bothered to speak to him formally, treating him more like a former playmate than a senior officer and teasing his rigid, stick-in-the-mud approach. He was not a popular man - Atsushi himself was under no illusions about that fact, for hard disciplinarians were rarely well liked, and he believed in running his squad in the proper way, without any of the emotional claptrap he knew the Thirteenth went in for. Mareiko had been an exception - even now he did not know why or how - but everything had changed after their last joint mission - everything, beyond the point of no return. Now, when she called him Atsushi-dono, and adopted formal, polite language, he was aware of the gap between them and how much that gap now hurt.

But how could it be otherwise? He had worked to make it that way - he had intended to build that separation. Because everything had changed that last day. Everything.

Atsushi sighed, grabbing his light, functional cloak from its hook behind his desk and pulling it over his shoulders, determined to push the cobwebs from his brain and clear his head. His division were all hard at work at their various drill exercises - he knew that even in Ikata's absence, they would not dare be otherwise, for Atsushi had always been a hard task master and his demands for physical prowess had increased ever since that last mission over the divide. He would expect nothing but military perfection from his officers and so showed them no kindness or affection, barking orders and inflicting swingeing criticism, but seldom offering praise. They would be stronger, fitter, ready to face anything and everything, no matter what the ask. He would not make the mistake again of allowing one of them close enough to him to skew his judgement - perhaps, in that sense, having Ikata as a second had been a positive move. There was no risk of him becoming fond of this subordinate, he mused to himself grimly as he made his way along the thin, twisting path that led around the side of the Eleventh to the stretch of green at its rear. Not this time around.

He paused as he reached his destination, his gaze flitting across the grass to the hewn squares of grey stone that divided the sea of green. Most were small, only big enough to carve a name on, and not much more, and Atsushi ignored these, stepping over them as he crossed the garden towards a taller, more polished slab that stood at the very rear. It was nothing more than a memorial, he knew, for the funeral and all other formal arrangements had taken place in District One, where his body had been interred, yet it had seemed right all the same that there be mention of it here, alongside those of his fellow, fallen comrades. Especially, Atsushi reflected bitterly, resting his hand on the top of the stone plinth that reached up almost to his waist, since it had been his idea to begin this garden in the first place.

Atsushi had never been a man to bother with sentiment, and so the whole exercise had seemed a pointless one to him, yet in the end he had given in, allowing this small, insignificant scrap of Eleventh Division's barracks to be turned over into a memorial garden for those officers that had fallen in the line of duty. Recognising their sacrifice was a way of building divisional unity, was that what Sakanoue had said? Atsushi rubbed his temples, attempting to remember the man's words, but it was so very long ago now, and all he could do was draw forth a faint recollection of his face.

It was hardly surprising, since he had spent twenty five years trying to forget.

He stood back from the memorial stone, his gaze running down the five characters that made up Sakanoue's full name.

Another person he had been weak enough to like, to respect, to train...another person who had gone far far away, leaving him behind.

Atsushi's eyes narrowed to slits, as another, less welcome image suddenly flooded over his brain.

"Tai...chou..."

The words were forced out with difficulty as gasps of air from sword-slit lungs, the bloodstained fingers clawing at the fabric of Atsushi's shihakushou as the man struggled to make himself understood. The thick dark hair, normally so neatly pinned back in straggling, matted clumps around his shoulders, specked with whiteish chalk that even now made Atsushi feel nauseous, and his wild eyes rolling and staring in desperation as he fought to make himself understood.

"Help...me..."

The glitter of sword blades, Sakanoue's, Atsushi's own, in the dim haze of the weak Rukongai sun, and then that prickling awareness that they were not alone, that someone else was watching them with burning, judging eyes. Sakanoue's incoherent groan, his eyes fluttering shut for the last time, and then, the most awful of sounds that not even the loudest of Twelfth Division's explosions could erase...the final death rattle, as life escaped the Vice Captain's body for the last time.

He had slumped on the grass, blood pooling all around him, and Atsushi had thrown his usual austere demeanour to the wind, abandoning even his own weapon in his distress. He had tried in vain to revive the man, but it had been to no avail, and the crimson-soaked, shredded corpse had lain heavy against his arms. He had heard rumours that the dying saw flashes of memory before their eyes in the moments their soul left them, but even though he did not know what Sakanoue's eyes had seen in those last moments, his own head had become an unbearable morass of recollections, each one coming unwelcome and unbidden to unsettle his usual composure.
Images of the young boy he had selected as an apprentice had flooded him, the lad's hard work and dedication inspiring Atsushi's grudging respect. The Captain had never married, and had not had any interest in children, but the careful, efficient diligence with which Sakanoue had learned every skill had, in time, forged a bond between them, a bond which had been the closest thing to father and son that Atsushi had ever known. When Eleventh Division had come his way, there had been no hesitations on selecting Sakanoue as adjutant. He had prided himself in being able to set up the division to run smoothly and effectively and had even boasted at Captains' meetings how having an adjutant he had trained himself meant a superior level of performance. Yet, cradling Sakanoue's broken body, he had, for the first time, known the helplessness that grief placed on the flipside of absolute trust, and at the same time, he had vowed that he would never, ever forgive.

Twenty five years on, the world had moved on and changed, but Atsushi's convictions had not.

He patted the stone pensively, turning back towards the barracks.

Mareiko was lucky. She never saw what I saw. Never knew what I knew. She never had to live with the things I've lived with for all these years. Perhaps I pulled away from her, but it was for the best. Having friends makes you weak, it lays you open to vulnerability and attack. She never has understood the need to become stronger, that all her science and research can't possibly protect her from the evil in this world. Evil that wears the colours of the Gotei, and taints everything it was ever designed to stand for.

"Taichou!"

Ikata's bellowing tones cut through Atsushi's reverie, and he grimaced, quickening his pace towards the main military complex so that his adjutant did not find him in such a place. Ikata had mocked its existence the first time he had seen it, and Atsushi had no mind to reveal his deepest thoughts to his second.

Your cousin, Sakanoue, and yet in all ways inferior. Still, if I can hate him, so much to the good. If the enemy kills him, I will simply march on and cut them down...and this time, there will be no looking back.

"Taichou, where are you? I have to report to you - about the meeting this morning!"

Ikata's yells were getting louder, and Atsushi was sure they could probably be heard at both Twelfth and Tenth, but as he rounded the corner of the courtyard, he saw the broadset man standing there, hands on hips, gazing around him with a mixture of irritation and insolence.

"There you are, Taichou. I was looking for you."

"Yes, I heard, and so, I believe, did the rest of Inner Seireitei," Atsushi replied waspishly. "Well? I trust this morning's meeting had a purpose other than to get you out of my hair -tell me at once and don't delay. What discoveries from Rukongai? And don't leave anything out. Even your small brain must have absorbed a good amount of it, and I want to know as much as you can tell me."

Ikata glanced at him for a moment, then he snorted, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yes, sir," he said frankly, a touch of familiarity in his tone. "Whatever you say...you're the boss."