Chapter 8 – Grind
Rin put on the bravest face that she could, but she was incredibly nervous. She knew that she had to because Ichigo had so much faith in her that she could. She couldn't, and wouldn't, let him down.
"Will they not like me because I'm a demon?" she asked, squeezing Ichigo's hand as hard as her tiny ones could. Despite everything that Ichigo had done to boost her confidence, with every step, her will eroded.
"Like I said yesterday," Ichigo said, strongly, "If they don't like you, they are going to have to answer to me on why they don't like you. Trust me."
"I'm trying..." Rin said, voice trailing off, "I'm scared," she finally admitted. Ichigo nodded.
"It's okay to be scared. This is all new for you. And I'm never going to tell you how you should feel," Ichigo said, "I want you to be calm, but I cannot force you to be that. The only thing that I can do is reassure you that I will always protect you from anything and everything." Rin looked up at her new father, a steadier expression on her face.
"I don't make that promise to just anyone...I'm not particularly good at these kinds of talks. But I am good at keeping a promise. I swear to you.
"So, just for me, let me keep my promise. Let me protect you. And I want you to just worry about being as happy as you can be." Rin blinked, feeling tears start to swell up.
"Ichigo..." she said, squeezing the hand a bit tighter, discovering a well of strength that she did not have before.
"I know you can do it. But at the same time, I need you to also rely on me. Trust in the promise that I gave you." Approaching the school, Rin's already iron-clad grip became tighter. Ichigo chuckled, noting that she was acting a lot like Yuzu would have in the same situation.
"I'm not feeling the trust, Rin," he stated, tone light.
"I'm trying..." Rin said, partly underneath her breath. A young woman, with a light olive complexion, long black hair with a large blue bow in it, and a long-sleeved yellow dress, emerged through the double-doors that acts as the entrance to the school.
"You must be Ensign Kurosaki?" she said, "I heard that it would be impossible to miss out on catching you."
"This hair of mine is becoming hard to not see," Ichigo said, with a forced smile. It wasn't that he did not want to be there. He knew that he should have shown a true sense of enthusiasm or something. But man he really couldn't even muster up fake emotions. Hopefully, his fake smile wouldn't upset the teacher or rub off on his new daughter.
"Uh..." Rin groaned, hiding behind Ichigo's leg.
"I thought we were getting over this," Ichigo said, with a small chuckle, "Come on, you're better than this."
"No, I'm not! I wanna go home!" The teacher laughed, crouching down to the young girl's eye level.
"I know how it is, being a demon going to a school. When I was a young girl, just like you, I went to a school in the world of the living," the teacher said, sincerely, "I'm a half-demon, just like you." Rin blinked, her grip on Ichigo's leg lessening.
"My mother made me wear a headband to press my ears down, so I wouldn't be revealed," the teacher revealed, untying the bow in her hair, revealing a small set of ears that resembled a cat's, "My family couldn't afford a human skin, unfortunately. So a headband had to work.
"Once my ears became too large for those, she switched to a ribbon. It was a very large ribbon and it drew a lot of attention, some were positive, some was negative. All by humans who could never understand.
"You have a chance that all half-demons, like myself, always wanted. A chance to go to school with fellow demons. A chance to have a normal childhood. And you have friends going to help you every step of the way if you let them." The teacher reached out her hand, extending an invitation. Rin's ears fell.
"Is it okay that I'm scared?" Rin asked, softly. The teacher nodded.
"It is perfectly normal. Being scared of new things is natural." Rin looked down, before letting go of Ichigo's leg.
"I'll go..." Rin replied. Ichigo, impressed by the teacher's compassion, smiled.
"That's great! I'll lead you to your class!" Rin slowly walked to the teacher.
"Thank you for convincing her," Ichigo said, "I feel like I would have done more harm if I would have tried." The teacher chuckled slightly.
"Well, I'm quite experienced in this front, Mr. Kurosaki." Ichigo grimaced at the honorific attached to his name.
"Ugh, I feel so old when you call me that," he said, "You're definitely older than me Ms..."
"Xi," the teacher replied, "Xi Jiang. This is my third year teaching here. And Rin is certainly not the first half-demon that I've had to share my life story with."
"Ms. Xi. I'll remember that" Ichigo responded, "Thanks for taking care of Rin today."
"Just remember to pick her up. New parents tend to forget that step."
Ichigo, for the first time in three days, was completely to himself. So naturally, one as ambitious as he was going to do a bit of catch-up. The first thing that he needed to do was make sure that he wasn't missing any critical news. He had a personal device that allowed him to receive Militia emails, but he hadn't checked it for the past two days due to dealing with his new roommate. Now that he was free, sitting on his couch, he quickly scanned through his inbox, looking for keywords or important senders.
Normally, important emails wouldn't go to his work email. Too much oversight, too many eyes on it. Yura would send emails, but that's because she wasn't much of an email person in the first place and her assistants were the ones tasked with sending out notices. Everyone else contacted him directly. And luckily enough, he was never called.
Satisfied with the lack of interesting emails, Ichigo turned off the PDA and set it on the counter next to the couch. He didn't have the next step, seeing that he was still in the "needs guidance" phase of his plan. Autonomy didn't belong to him until he had a confirmed target in mind. He at least had the basic semblance of trust built up with the Lords of Death, even though his desire to be one of them was strong enough that the naked eye could see it.
Suddenly his phone burst with a loud ringing tone. Ichigo sighed, grabbing his phone out of his pocket and looking at the screen. The screen read, "Unknown Number." Oh boy.
"Hello," Ichigo answered, in English.
"Hello Ensign Kurosaki," the voice, belonging to a woman said, "This is Lord Tobias. Can you speak?" Oh boy.
"Of course," Ichigo said, sitting up, "What can I do for you?"
"Not over the phone. I already approved you for a ticket to Chicago. Come to me."
Ichigo had never left the country of Japan. It was always funny that he had explored different realms of existence, but had been locked to one country when he was alive.
...It was funny to him at least...
Regardless, he never thought he would be in America for business revolving the dead. He would say that it was somewhat neat, but that would be a lie.
Shamira Tobias was a very accomplished lawyer in the world of the living. After performing as one of the most accomplished prosecutors in the history of Illinois, she was elected the attorney general of the state. Shamira now runs a firm and seemingly has the wealth of Chicago in her clutches.
So why is someone like her so invested with the dead?
Born in Israel, her parents immigrated to the United States when she was a small child. Despite the move, her father continued to stir spirits as a medium. It seemed quite unfortunate that young Shamira inherited her father's powers, seeing that she cared little about that side of the spectrum. And yet, she is one of the most powerful names in the world of the living and the world of the dead and she never touched a blade in her life. How unusual.
The elevator to her penthouse ding when it reached the destination and the doors slowly opened. Ichigo stepped into the large home and was immediately greeted by a server.
"My lady is awaiting your company," the young man, in a sharp butler uniform said, "Follow me." Ichigo said nothing, following his steps with a short gap between the two.
The butler opened a door, leading into what Ichigo would assume to be a library. Shamira Tobias, a slim woman with long, straight black hair, awaited, sitting in a large, ornate chair. The butler stepped up to Shamira.
"Mr. Kurosaki has arrived." That bullshit again.
"Ah, perfect. Let him in," Shamira replied. The butler motioned Ichigo in, who took the queue.
"Good timing, Ensign. We have much to discuss. You are dismissed, William." The butler named William bowed, before turning on his heel and leaving.
"William is good help. Hard to find in this age," Shamira said, "My old butler would be so proud to see how far along he has come." Ichigo stood, impassively, which the Lord of Death noticed.
"Take a seat. This is an informal meeting. Right now, I am Shamira." Ichigo found a small couch, which he decided was as good as a seat that he was going to find.
"I have heard many stories about you, Ichigo," Shamira said, "Yura weaves tales about you. Impressive ones. You also managed to impressed Mr. Stevens and Bolezn. That's quality work."
"Thank you," Ichigo said, wondering if the rumors of Lord Tobias uncompromising professionalism was only in effect when she was in uniform.
"You also handled yourself well with that incident with the Russians. You have shown good work."
"Thank you."
"So now, I need you to impress me." Ichigo could feel the room darken.
"Are you aware of cults, Ichigo?"
"In Hell? There are thousands of them," Ichigo replied, "None major, however."
"Hell doesn't matter. Unfortunately, this one exists in the world of the living."Ichigo blinked, racking his brain on what it could be.
"Aizen Sosuke was a shard of the great soul of light, Geninnam. And this cult, the Way of White, claim to have the last shard to resurrecting it." The was a long pause in the conversation.
"Oh...That is not good..." Ichigo finally said. Shamira crossed her legs.
"Actually, that does not matter. Even if Geninnam is brought back, it is trapped inside the Abyss. The Way of White could not save the castle from being swallowed after the Knight Noel killed their leader."
"I see...The Way of White aren't going to be threats unless they find a way to move Geninnam out of the Abyss." Shamira nodded.
"And that's something that you are going to prevent. I do not want bloodshed unless it is necessary. And if you need to kill one, you have to kill all of them. Leave no trace of your involvement with them. Leave no traces that this cult ever existed."
"That's a simple task," Ichigo said, plainly, "I'm guessing there's more."
"I did say that we had much to discuss, seeker of thrones." Ichigo did not react visibly but mentally starting stacking routes to bury a Lord without throwing away progress that he had already made.
"Do not worry, Ichigo. I do not care why you locked Yhwach away from his throne. A throne that he could unlock, as he is a Quincy...Unless let's say, you had some form of special blood, hmmm?"
"Are you implying something?" Ichigo asked, cautiously.
"Ichigo, whenever I take interest in something, I do research. And I looked at every trace of Kurosaki blood and found that your family never split. The Kurosaki family line are pureblood Quincies. So pure that you still follow the first generation."
"I'm sorry if this sounds disrespectful, but I don't know that means. I don't know that much about Quincy lore and whatnot."
"I figured that you didn't. Yhwach awoke twice. Once was his birth. And next was his return. Both times he woke, a branch of Quincy rose with him. And your family belongs to the first..."
"So he can't unlock the throne because he forgot his first generation powers? That's...cool?"
"I figured that you made some last-ditch effort to prevent Yhwach from claiming absolute victory at that very moment, but it went better than expected. Yhwach needs you to unlock the throne. Which means Yhwach will work for you..." Lightbulbs went off in Ichigo's head, along with a caution sign.
"Why are you telling me this?" he asked, wisely. Shamira checked her watch, a small smile creeping to her face.
"I do not want Lords devoid of creativity. I sense that you know what to do with leverage. So flex it."
"Do I need the Shinigami?" Ichigo asked himself that, staring into the waters of Lake Michigan. The Shinigami were going to be his attack dogs in his initial plan, using them as bodies to funnel into the effort of peeling the thrones away from Yhwach, but now he has more leverage than he could have ever imagine. Yhwach needs him to unlock the throne. Some that he can't even unlock until his soul is returned to him...
Suddenly, the cold lake winds turned warm.
"Ms. Xi says I should call you daddy," Rin said, holding Ichigo's hand on their walk back to his apartment, "She said calling you by your name is disrespectful." Ichigo shrugged with his free arm.
"I don't think it's really important," he replied, "While I am your father, I want you to do what you are comfortable with."
"Are you sure you won't be mad?"
"I haven't been mad so far."
"Okay!" Rin said, excitedly, before calming down, "I'll think about it."
"Don't think too hard. What did you learn today?"
"Oh, I learned some letters and so numbers!" Rin shouted, "It's kinda hard, but Ms. Xi said that I am doing a really good job at learning."
"That's wonderful. Do you want to practice at home with me?" Ichigo offered.
"For real!? I do! I do!" Rin exclaimed, beaming.
"This is getting quite tiresome," Kurotsuchi Mayuri groaned, walking with his vice-captain and greatest creation Kurotsuchi Nemu, back to his chambers, "The Lords of Pestilence are poking their heads into places that they do not belong. Nemu, I need you to delete all the completed research off of the Squadron computers and move all unfinished research onto my personal computer immediately."
"Yes sir," she replied, obediently. Mayuri grumbled underneath his breath as he entered his chambers, leaving Nemu behind. The woman waited for any last-minute instructions, before turning on her heel and heading toward the computers.
Normally, Nemu would simply do what was asked of her. But this task felt different. It felt like a desperate attempt to spite his enemies from a man with numbered days. And Nemu didn't know what side she wanted to be on.
Nemu was not appointed as the vice-captain by Mayuri. Instead, she was a request to the Captain Commander. She has no explicit value to the Shinigami and Captain Kurotsuchi keeps her out of the loop by design.
Placing a USB storage device into the computer, she started to copy the files over, before deleting them. Captain Kurotsuchi will expect the hard drives to be destroyed, so she didn't need to delete the files in the first place but this was a good precautionary method.
The Lords of Pestilence were not to be trusted. Captain Kurotsuchi was made one so they could try to exert some pressure on him to make him do his bidding. Seeing that they were so frustrated with each other meant that the experiment failed spectacularly. Regardless, they were useless and if she tried to go to them, the Lords of Death would certainly have her killed.
So what to do...Nemu did not have many options to go to. Maybe Urahara Kisuke could provide her with sanctuary.
Regardless, she was not going to allow herself to be simply thrown away.
"Grind" by Alice in Chains