...
"The king gallops, shaking free from the shadow, beating the armor, kicking about the bones, slurping the flesh and blood. The creaking increases. Smashing the heart, he walks in alone toward the faraway other side."
Binda Blinda: Part 5
The Fullbringers
The glass around her shattered, spraying the pure white tile surrounding it with cold, murky water as the contents of the glass prison was emptied onto the floor of the abandoned laboratory.
Coughing and spluttering, the girl lay naked on the floor for what seemed like an eternity. Slowly, very slowly, her senses came spiraling back to her body; The empty noise in her ears had now been replaced with a low humming, and blinking her eyes, she could now clearly see her surroundings. Her breathing picked back up, now completely even, and her heart rate picked up back to the normal rate.
Slowly, she sat up, glancing around the room in stoic confusion; It was empty. Judging from the silence, the rest of the building was empty, too. The girl shivered, reaching up and grabbing a white jacket that lay draped over a stool in front of the desk. She attempted to stand up, but failed several times. Her legs felt like limp noodles, and for the first three times she tried to stand up her efforts were rewarded with bruised knees as she fell to the hard floor once again. At last she stood up, though she was forced to slump over and use the desk to her right to support the weight of her body; It seemed to be too much of a hassle for her legs just now.
The girl wrapped the jacket closer to her body, though the single article of clothing barely came to mid thigh. Shivering still, she dragged her fingers through her sopping wet hair in a desperate attempt to rid it of tangles. Her short caramel locks were freezing cold, and she felt goosebumps erupt over her sensitive body as the freezing water dripped down her spine.
A moment later, her eyes fell on the files strewn over the tabletop. Her own face stared back from the topmost page within the open file, and she froze; Was this real? Something inside of her told her that there was something very important that she had to do, but it was like she was awaiting orders, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't remember what she was meant to do... What she had been created to do.
Sifting through the papers, her hands still shaking, the girl at last pulled out yet another paper- This time, an unfamiliar but welcome face stared back at her. The girl's grey eyes looked up at her from the pure white paper, her blood red hair standing out drastically from the page. The girl's eyes moved back and forth, rapidly taking in the information typed on the page, as well as the notes in the margins, which were written in bright red ink. Then she picked up her own paper, the one with her picture, and read through that, as well. At last she was finished, folding the two pages and placing them in her jacket pocket. With a heavy sigh and yet another shiver, she steeled her body, readying herself to move.
"... Nee-chan..." Then the girl moved slowly towards the doorway, entering the empty halls of the once great Los Noches.
17 MONTHS
LATER.
"Are you retarded?"
Hitsugaya Leona, Third Seat of Division Six of the Gotei Thirteen shot her best glare across the table, her eyes clearly displaying her annoyance as they fell on the red haired man across from her. The man's tattooed eyebrows knitted together in frustration as he grumbled something incoherent to himself, biting his knuckle thoughtfully as he stared down at the tabletop between them.
Currently, the redheads were engaged in a rather intense game of Shogi. Leona was quickly learning not to challenge her supervising officer to any games that required thinking whatsoever- He was not known for his logic and levelheadedness, after all. Flinging down the little wooden game piece that he held in his fingers, Renji growled in agitation, holding his head in his hands and glaring up from the game board and across the table at his Division's Third Seat.
"Damn you, Hitsugaya," he seethed, and Leona rolled her eyes. "Every fuckin' time, I swear!"
"Yeah, and never again." Leona retorted bitterly, clearing off the board and stowing the Shogi pieces back into their box. "This is ridiculous, how the hell are you a Lieutenant with such shitty logic?"
"What does that say about you, then?" Renji jeered, pointing at her in an accusatory manner. "You're still Third Seat, and I'm way worse at this stuff than you." This didn't seem to faze the other redhead in the slightest, though she slammed the board game's box shut a little too loudly.
"You know that I'm no longer allowed to be in a position as high as a Lieutenant," she replied stiffly, pulling her shoulder length carmine hair back into a low side ponytail. "Essentially, I'm forever on probation."
"Yeah, whatever." Renji grumbled.
It had been a year and then some since the incident with Aizen. Renji often found it strange that Leona had settled down so quickly after such a trying ordeal- The Vizards still resided in the human world, after all, and many people had expected for the previously rogue Shinigami to do the same. But Leona had stayed, much to everyone's surprise, save for maybe Byakuya, who had obviously seen it coming. Although Leona would have to remain Third Seat for the rest of her career as a Shinigami, she seemed to be taking it rather well. But Leona was not quite as settled as everyone seemed to believe her to be- Division Six's Third Seat still made frequent visits to the human world, though she was fairly certain that not a soul, living or dead, knew about it.
She knew that it did not do to dwell on the past. But many things always brought her back to Kurosaki Clinic- Even, sometimes, to Ichigo's room. Love, regret, loneliness... Sometimes even anger. Anger that Ichigo felt his best option was to give up his ability to see her- To be with her for the sake of others. But she knew that it was irrational to feel that way- She wasn't allowed to blame him.
She had nearly been caught skulking just outside of Kurosaki Clinic only once, and by none other than Kurosaki Karin, for that matter. But the dark haired girl had only caught a glimpse, and Leona was fairly confident that her personality would prevent her from saying much of anything to Ichigo about the chance encounter. Leona knew that she could get a Gigai and return to the human world at any time, but she seemed to think it best to remain in Soul Society. It was her home, after all, and everything important to her was there... Everything but Ichigo.
"Good morning, Nee-sama."
Turning to look over her shoulder, Leona's eyes fell on Toshiro, who was now standing behind both her and Renji, Rangiku by his side. Leona had to say, she was more than impressed with her brother's growth in the last year or so. Not only had he grown taller, but his hair looked better, and his skills as a Shinigami had improved tenfold, even for already being considered a child prodigy. He now wore a small white scarf around his neck and, although Leona didn't know what exactly it was supposed to achieve, she had to say it made him look a considerable amount older.
"And Lieutenant Abarai- How are you?"
"Your sister's a bitch." Renji deadpanned, jabbing his thumb in Leona's direction as he spoke.
Leona rolled her eyes, folding her arms and proceeding to elbow Renji roughly in the gut. Toshiro simply scowled, but Rangiku giggled to herself in the girlish way that Leona had come to expect from Division Ten's Lieutenant. Leona had been under Renji's strict supervision ever since she had accepted Captain Kuchiki's offer of Third Seat in his Division- It had been part of the compromise with the Captain Commander that if Hitsugaya Leona was once again to enter the Gotei Thirteen, not only could she not rise above Third Seat in any Division, but she also had to be under supervision at most times from her direct superior- Meaning Renji.
Despite this, the two had really not grown any more fond of each other, each simply developing a short lived sort of tolerance for one another. They bickered constantly, but at this point, most of the 'upper management' of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads seemed to have just learned to tune out the duo's incessant arguments.
"Lieutenant Abarai, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from calling my sister such things," Toshiro stated calmly, and Rangiku giggled yet again. Leona smiled, bending down slightly so that she was almost Toshiro's height- The siblings' height difference still managed to astonish those in the Seiretei- And ruffled his hair lovingly.
"Don't worry about me, Tou-chan, Lieutenant Abarai is too scared of me to say anything too mean," she comforted. Renji snorted-
"Where the hell'd you get that idea?"
Despite the faint pink tint that made its way onto the young Captain's face, he kept his voice level as he spoke. "Tou-chan?" he repeated, making a face and batting his sister's intrusive hand out of his hair. "I don't think so- It is Captain Hitsugaya." Leona frowned.
"But Tou-chan!" she said, almost whining in response. "It's been more than a year, and I'm your sis-"
"No."
Renji chuckled as Leona's face fell a considerable amount. Rangiku leaned in closer, taking in Leona's appearance, despite her having been around the Seiretei for more than a year, now.
"You know, that get up really does resemble Captain Suì-Fēng's," she observed, taking in Leona's sleeveless and backless haori, as well as her long black hakama. The only real difference was her red sash that she wore around her waist, which held her scabbarded Zanpakuto. "If you aren't careful, she'll think that you're copying her!" Leona simply shrugged.
"It's comfortable, so sue me."
"Oh, she will."
Renji let out a barking laugh, earning himself a rather hefty blow to his lower abdomen from his Third Seat, though she kept her face stoic as though nothing had happened. Toshiro simply grumbled something to himself, folding his arms as he walked past his sister.
"I came to say that we are going to breakfast," he said, doing his best to sound nonchalant. "You are welcome to join us if you wish." Leona chuckled to herself as she exchanged glances with Renji, who shrugged but then nodded in consent.
This had been much the way of things for the past seventeen months. And, when Leona finally had time to look back on it, she figured that she really should not have expected things to stay that way- She should have seen it coming.
"Inoue, we really can't eat this much,"
From the middle of the floor of Ichigo's room, Inoue Orihime fidgeted uncomfortably. Despite himself, Ichigo scowled, setting down the tray of tea between them before sitting on the floor across from her. If he was to be entirely honest with himself, he knew that Orihime had been acting strangely ever since Leona had all but vanished from his life. She talked to him more, now- He wasn't too sure what she meant by it, really.
It had been seventeen long month since both Rukia and Leona had returned to Soul Society. For obvious reasons, Ichigo had seen hide nor hair of them since then. But sometimes, he could swear that someone had been in his room. Occasionally he would wake up to find his clothes moved, or various trinkets and books left in odd places where he had no recollection of leaving them in the first place. Sometimes, he liked to think that Leona was being her usual creepy self and pulling the old break n' enter on the Kurosaki residence. He liked to think this was the case.
"O-oh, really?" Orihime stammered, blushing furiously and staring at the ground.
"Well, yeah." Ichigo replied, making a face before taking a piece of bread. "There's only the four of us, you know. I'll take it if you're giving it away... Why're you so fidgety?"
"I-I just didn't expect you to invite me in!" she exclaimed, glancing around his room frantically. Ichigo frowned- This wasn't the first time that Orihime had been in his room. When he voiced this thought, however, he was met with even more blushing and stammering than before. Finally giving up, Ichigo simply decided to let it alone. Orihime had always been a weird one, after all.
"Your boss gave these scraps to you, right?"
"They're not scraps, they're leftovers!" Orihime protested through a mouth full of bread. Ichigo rolled his eyes.
"Same thing," A short pause, and then Orihime set down her tea. Her flushed cheeks were now gone, and she looked Ichigo in the eyes seriously.
"Kurosaki-kun..." she began, searching his eyes for anything that might give her some clue as to what was going through his mind. "Did something happen recently?"
"Huh? No, why d'you ask?"
"J-just a feeling!" she stuttered, balling her hands into fists out of nervousness. "L-like a strange person following you... Things like that..." Ichigo's eyes saddened, then, and Orihime lapsed back into silence. For a moment, he kept his gaze fixed on the rim of his teacup, not speaking for several long minutes until, finally, he answered.
"... Sometimes... When I wake up, things have been moved."
"Kurosaki-kun, wh-"
"This morning, Hamlet was open on my floor... I haven't read that book in ages." he confessed, his eyes falling on the tattered old book, which he had by now replaced back on the bookshelf. Orihime looked puzzled, tilting her head slightly to the right and staring up at the ceiling.
"I didn't know you were interested in Shakespeare, Kurosaki-kun.*"
Ichigo set down his teacup, not replying to Orihime, but simply staring at the leather bound book on his shelf. He did not wish to be entirely honest with Orihime- The fact that the book had been left out three nights in a row now had been left out of his confession. Each night, the mystery reader grew substantially closer to the end. He didn't often mention to people that he enjoyed reading Shakespeare. As a matter of fact, the only person who had ever really picked up on it was Leona, even though the two had never really discussed it.
Orihime left soon afterwards, leaving Ichigo to clean up the bread crumbs and teacups, though his mind was swirling with thoughts of various things. He often wondered why Leona hadn't stayed. The events of the day that Aizen was defeated were still seared into his mind almost too clear for comfort, and the thought that he would most likely never see the red haired girl again almost scared him... Almost. His eyes fell again onto the leather bindings of Hamlet, and he sighed heavily.
He had been angry with her. And he was sure that Leona, at least part of her, anyways, was just as angry with him, even if her frustration was far less grounded than his was. He was sure that someone as hotheaded as Leona constantly questioned why he could not have come up with at least one other way to defeat Aizen- He was sure that she hated herself for thinking such things, but he knew that she would feel that way. At least part of her would. Just as part of him would always resent her for leaving him here.
Suddenly, his bitter thoughts were interrupted by a call from Orihime.
"K-kurosaki-kun... It's Ishida-san..."
Leona walked swiftly through the streets of Karakura, not really caring as she passed easily through the oblivious living people surrounding her. She was here on business- Unofficial business, but still business. It was just her luck that she had gotten Abarai Renji as her supervising officer- After all, she had said it once, and she would say it again; The man was not one who was known for his logic and levelheadedness. In that field, Leona had him beat, and she had at last found another opening to get back to the world of the living.
This time, however, she was not here to rifle through Ichigo's books, or stare at the stars, or share tea with Urahara and Yoruichi, although the latter might come later. She had not entirely made up her mind on the subject as of yet. She rounded the corner, keeping her fingers on the hilt of her Zanpakuto simply as a precaution- She was quickly finding herself in unfamiliar waters.
The people that she had noticed around Ichigo for the past several days were shady, to say the least. She had noticed them come around Kurosaki Clinic several times, but it wasn't until she had caught sight of someone familiar that she had begun to suspect anything out of the ordinary. The image of the caramel haired girl from Hueco Mundo was still burned into her mind, and she couldn't shake the feeling that the girl had managed to escape Los Noches and still remain in her right mind. She certainly hadn't- This girl would not be different.
A flash of pink caught her eye as she darted across an alleyway to another rooftop, and she cursed her lack of stealth; The girl probably was already well aware by then that she had been tailing her. Leona had only seen this girl twice before then, and she still knew next to nothing about just who- Or what- She was involved with.
"Hey,"
The feminine voice came out of nowhere, stopping Leona in her tracks. Her fingers tightened around the hilt of her Zanpakuto, and with a deep breath, she turned to face the girl who had spoken. Her long magenta hair flowed freely in the early evening breeze, and her defiant eyes, which matched her hair in color, met hers unblinkingly without even a hint of fear or apprehension- Just pure, unbridled curiosity.
"Hey," Leona replied, turning her entire body to face the girl who had appeared behind her. The girl frowned, staring Leona head to toe. At last she seemed satisfied, and she picked the conversation back up.
"Who the hell are you?" she said, not really seeming to care that this would have been considered rude had the situation been more normal. Leona smirked. It seemed that she and this girl would get along just fine.
"Hitsugaya Leona, Division Six, Third Seat."
"You say that as if it means something to me," the girl replied, and Leona snickered. After a pause, the girl continued. "Dokugamine Riruka."
"I'd say nice to meet you, but you're kind of a bitch."
"Same to you," Riruka replied, though she failed to conceal the heavy scowl that marred her forehead with worry lines. "You're not human." she stated blandly, though the revelation didn't seem to faze her much at all. Leona's smirk grew still wider.
"Neither are you," she said. "At least, not entirely... Not a normal one, anyways."
"Oh, gold star," Riruka replied sarcastically. "We have a winner." Leona rolled her eyes and removed her fingers from her Zanpakuto. "And you... You are a Shinigami."
"And circle gets the square," Leona replied swiftly.
"You were just dying to use that one, weren't you?" Riruka retorted, and now she was sporting a sneer that rivaled Leona's. "It pisses me off when people over prepare like that."
"It pisses me off when people dye their hair weird colors," For a moment, Leona thought that she may have gone too far. But it seemed that the pink haired woman opposite her was far more resilient than she gave her credit for.
"Well played." Riruka said at last, stepping down from the edge of the building to move closer to Leona. Neither one of the women seemed to be afraid of the other, for whatever reason. Perhaps it was a simple bond achieved only because they were both powerful women, and each could sense that power in the other. Neither seemed too sure, but they didn't question it, either. "So, what do you want, Leona-san?"
"I have a proposition, Riruka-san." Leona replied stiffly, folding her arms across her chest. "... More like a request, actually."
Riruka raised her eyebrows, mirroring Leona's movements as she, too, crossed her arms over her chest. "And why should I listen?" At this, Leona smirked still wider.
"Survival of the fittest."
Riruka's eyes widened, and she froze, her attention officially caught.
"... I'm listening."
"... I do not think he's coming."
The clear voice broke through the almost tangible tension within the base of Xcution. A blonde boy, who sat on top of a table with his feet propped in a chair, peeped out at the voice's owner from under the brim of his hat. He said nothing, however, and once again turned his attention to the game.
"He's coming, Kanna," said another voice, this time from the couch. The caramel haired girl, who was perched rather precariously on the marble countertop of the bar, turned to face the dark haired girl on the leather sofa who had spoken.
"Kugo-san said eight," she replied calmly, her voice seeming to be naturally monotonous. "It is now quarter past." The other woman snorted, and the caramel haired girl called Kanna narrowed her eyes. "I don't appreciate that, Jackie,"
"You're new, so I'll make this clear now," Jackie replied, her dark eyes trained on the girl on top of the bar. "Don't talk back to me. I don't like it."
Kanna's eyes glittered maliciously, but she said nothing. The man directly behind her had stayed silent this entire time, instead choosing to put his energies toward cleaning out the glasses behind the bar with a pristinely white rag. Kanna listened closely, the corners of her lips picking up fondly when she realized that the man was humming quietly to himself. At long last, the door opened, revealing their leader, Kugo. Kanna had always said that all of Kugo's expressions looked rather creepy, but that did not seem to faze the Xcution member much at all, and Kanna made a face as she made eye contact with him, not at all caring for the horrible look that his face now wore.
The boy in front of him was an entirely different matter. Kanna's eyes narrowed, falling on the orange haired boy in front of Kugo with mild interest. He was tall, lean and muscular- But still, nothing special. Kanna's almost bitter thoughts then turned to his mistrustful eyes, which darted around the room so swiftly that the other Xcution members may not have even caught it.
"Why's this place so huge?" the orange haired boy asked as Kugo stepped through the door behind him.
"We knocked out five rooms on the left and right, and three floors above and below." he replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Kugo stopped walking, then, his eyes traveling around the room to quickly count the members present. "One of our members has a little money." Kanna rolled her eyes- With powers like theirs, when used correctly, they probably could have even forgone using money on something like that. 'Bringing' rock or cement was not difficult, after all. "Now, before we get down to business, I want to tell you about our goal."
"Your goal?" the boy repeated, arching an eyebrow curiously as he spoke. Kugo nodded.
"Yeah," Kugo replied, his voice gravely and deep. "The reason we approached you... Is to help you get your Shinigami powers back." The boy's eyes widened, and Kanna couldn't help but to smirk, bringing her knees up to allow her elbows to rest on them before holding up a single hand in a greeting gesture.
"My name is Kanna," she said, her voice cold and calculating almost to the point where it sent chills through the room. Ichigo's eyes fell briefly on the exposed palm of her hand, where a brilliant black tattoo of the sign of Omega** stood out clearly against her pale skin. "Congratulations. And welcome to Xcution."
*It actually does say at the very end of the first chapter of Bleach that Ichigo looks up to Shakespeare. It's in the character profiles.
** THIS IS THE SIGN FOR OMEGA, just in case anyone was curious: Ω. Omega (the last letter of the Greek alphabet) is often used to denote the last, the end, or the ultimate limit of a set, in contrast to Alpha the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the New Testament book of Revelation, God is declared to be the "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last". This will become relevant in later chapters!
In this chapter, I tried to progress it as far into the Fullbring Arc as I could without it moving too fast. I hope I did okay with that- If I start moving too fast tell me, seriously, so I can fix it.
Anyways, it starts out lightheartedly, mostly just summing up key characters' feelings on prior events, as well as giving a little insight to the mystery character that's been so illusive throughout the previous arc. But then it takes a little turn when it reaches the point where Ishida is attacked by Tsukishima. Soon after, Leona seeks out Riruka (one of my favorite characters), and we see a little bit of witty banter between the two. I hope I succeeded in capturing Riruka's vain yet unruly attitude, as I'd hate to screw up one of my favorite characters.
Now, I'm going to say this again, and I apologize, because I know it's getting old: PLEASE, please review. I must say, I had been hoping very much for 200+ reviews by the end, as many rival OC stories have 300+, but it appears that such a thing will not be happening, since at most there will be 6-10 more chapters and I haven't even reached 170 yet! All I can say is thanks to everyone who has and continues to review, and I sincerely hope that anyone who reads my story reviews themselves, especially those with con-crit to offer!
Let me know what you think, and thanks for the reviews on last chapter!
