"Does anyone else know about this?" Ichigo asked as we roamed the Seireitei. I was doing my best to try to hone in on Shokyakuro's energy, but so far not even so much as a flicker.
"Only Hanataro, I think. He may have told Captain Unohana, I'm not sure about that," I said. "But other than you and Hanataro I didn't tell anyone."
"Why not? I mean we could use all the help we could get." I sighed out.
"Who else was I supposed to go to?" My tone came out harsher than intended, but I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the frustration. "Captain Kuchiki doesn't like me much. Plus I'm still trying to prove myself to him, and this would definitely set that back. I can't go to the Head Captain; you have no idea the kind of wrath he would unleash if he knew I had been so reckless with Shokyakuro …"
"I'm sure he would understand. He's your grandfather, after all."
"That's exactly why he would be so angry. He knows a great deal about my zanpakuto, which means he knows how dangerous it is. I let my emotions take over when I left him at squad 4 — I made the conscious decision, despite knowing everything I do about my sword, to leave him out of my sight. I know better than that. But I did it anyway. He would be furious with me, and I just can't handle that right now. He's a last resort." Ichigo nodded but I could feel his eyes still fixed on me.
"… you could ask Renji, you know," he said tentatively. "He's still your lieutenant."
"You know I can't."
"You can. It's his job."
"Drop it, Ichigo," I said sternly, trying to focus on the task at hand instead of how irritated I was.
"I'm just saying —"
"—and I'm saying, drop it." I stopped, stepping in front of him, and stared him down. He looked surprised at my sudden shift. I could see hurt behind his eyes. I exhaled heavily and moved closer to him. He didn't move to step away, but his body tensed. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to get aggravated, especially not with you. And I'm not. Aggravated with you, that is. I'm mad at myself for being so damn reckless with all of this. I'm mad at Shokyakuro for being so difficult. And I'm mad at Renji for … well, I don't know how to put that into words but I'm just mad at him."
"I get it," he said. He still didn't move. I took another step to him, our bodies nearly touching.
"But you," I continued, my voice low. "You I'm not mad at, not in the slightest. So I'm sorry for taking it out on you." I watched most of the tension leave his body, though some remained; he was trying to keep his guard up. He reached up and brushed his knuckles lightly against my cheekbone. I shuddered at his touch.
"I know." His fingers moved to graze my lips and I felt them part slightly on instinct to take one of his knuckles in the front of my mouth. He froze; I watched his breath catch slightly in his chest. I kissed his knuckle lightly, like a feather, and murmured a thank you onto his finger before releasing it from my lips. The air between us was electric. I could feel my body aching to move to bury myself in him. My eyes lingered on his for another second before I tore my gaze from his and took off walking in the direction we had been before.
Neither one of us said anything after that; he just fell in step with me and we searched. I centered myself, trying to track Shokyakuro's energy. As much as I hated it, he was a part of me, a big part. Not having him by my side I couldn't help but feel like some of me was missing. I focused on that, on that missing piece, and tried to connect with him.
A groan echoed in my head. It was faint, almost non-existent, but I heard it.
Shokyakuro …
Another groan, louder this time. Something was definitely wrong, but at least his last groan seemed to come from a particular direction. I took off towards where the sound had come from and tried not to lose my focus on him. I heard Ichigo following close on my heels as Shokyakuro's presence became closer and stronger; I could feel his heat starting to fill my veins again.
We stopped in front of unfamiliar barracks, though I read at the top of the building whose squad this belonged to: squad 12. Ichigo hissed through his teeth.
"This isn't good …"
"What? Why?"
"The captain of squad 12 is the head of Research and Development here in the Seireitei," he said, staring up at the barracks. "He's, um, a character. To say the least…"
"So what are you saying, then?"
"I'm saying if your zanpakuto is here, then we need to find it. Fast." The urgency in Ichigo's voice kicked my body into high gear as I flew through the doors, barging in without warning. A few wandering squad members looked at me in surprise, but I paid them no mind.
Shokyakuro …
There was no answer. I concentrated even harder, searching for the tether that led me here in the first place.
Shokyakuro! I called out to him in my mind, hoping desperately that he would hear me. I waited anxiously as I continued to clear my head to make space for him. My body was moving on its own through the barracks.
A low groan, a loud one this time, rang out in my head. I stopped in my tracks.
Girl … His voice was weak in my skull, but it was still him. Retrieve me at once … I nearly collapsed in relief at the sound but held strong and followed the energy he was now radiating. It was faint, fainter than I had ever felt it before, but I could still follow it to him; like a golden thread pulling me towards him.
He led me down a long flight of stairs into what could only be described as a cross between a science lab and a dungeon. I tried not to look at the various shelves adorned with jars and vials filled with strange and unsettling things. I had to focus. The thread was growing stronger and brighter with each stride I took; he was so close I could almost feel his hilt in my hand.
"That will be quite far enough, thank you," a raspy voice called out from the darkness. I stopped on a dime, narrowly avoiding the zanpakuto that was now pointed directly at my chest. "Now, I don't remember giving you permission to enter my lab." I stared down the blade in front of me, trying to make out its wielder in the darkness. The bone white hand at the hilt stood out, one of the few lights that hung from the ceiling shining directly on it. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"I mean you no disrespect, sir," I said, trying unsuccessfully to keep the venom from my voice. There was no question about it: Shokyakuro was here. "But I'm here to reclaim what's mine."
"Reclaim what's yours, eh?"
"I know my zanpakuto is here."
"Oh?" A curious sound from the man. "Is that so." Not a question. A bright light behind him blazed, illuminating my zanpakuto. There were wires of all different colors, along with some other things I couldn't identify, attached to his blade and his hilt. Everything was hooked up to various monitors. It looked like he was … experimenting on him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I growled, stepping forward despite the blade. I felt the tip pierce through the thin skin on my chest and push ever so slightly on my sternum; a thin line of blood trickled down between my breasts. Ichigo lunged for me, his hand on my shoulder, but I shook him off and stood my ground.
"Ah … a feisty one, have we? How intriguing," he said, cocking his head. In the light I could see his features, and though I was putting up a good front, it took a lot of effort not to cringe.
The scary face and strangely colored skin aside, he was a surprisingly large man. His size only added to how inherently threatening he was. There was something so … off about the man. Something I couldn't identify, but still something I couldn't seem to shake; it snaked itself through my bones and up my spine, and I resisted the urge to shudder at the feeling. He smiled at me, revealing a set of unnervingly large teeth, and I thought the smile may break his face it was so wide.
"Though I shouldn't be surprised," he continued. "Your zanpakuto has quite the fighting spirit in him as well. It only makes sense the two of you would share the same energy."
"I'm going to ask you one more time …" I said through my teeth. "What, the hell, do you think you're doing with my zanpakuto?" He looked perplexed. His head cocked to the other side, a creepy, mechanical movement.
"Is that not obvious to you? I am doing experiments on the weapon." I almost lunged forward again, sword be damned, but this time Ichigo managed to grab me by the waist and hold me firmly in place. The man scoffed, finally lowering his blade. "If you're going to be so callous as to leave such an important tool just lying around, you need to be prepared to face the consequences. Don't you agree?" I sagged slightly, a wave of guilt washing over me. I felt Ichigo loosen his grip, though his hands still stayed resting on my waist.
"Even still, where do you get off just taking him? What makes you think you can do that?" He shrugged.
"It intrigued me. Its energy is unlike anything I have ever felt before, and I wanted to understand why." I couldn't help but just stare at the strange man, blinking.
"What — who are you?"
"Finally introductions, eh?" He snickered. "I am Mayuri Kurotsuchi, captain of squad 12 and the head of Research and Development."
"Right … I'm —" He waved his hand in the air, cutting me off.
"Don't bother, I'm well aware of who you are … Katsumi Yamamoto," he said with a grin. I felt the hairs on my arms raise as a surprising chill worked its way through my body at the sound of my name in his mouth.
"Mayuri, just give Katsumi her zanpakuto back," Ichigo said from behind me. Captain Kurotsuchi frowned.
"Ugh … you," he said with a snarl. "Substitute soul reaper. You always seem to have your nose in someone else's business, don't you."
"I'm just trying to help my friends."
"Yes, yes, I've heard you sing that tune before," he said. "Either way, you seem to have relatively decent timing — I'm almost done with my final experiment."
"What are you doing to him?" I asked. "His energy is almost entirely drained." Another soft groan sounded in my head in response.
"Heh. I'm doing what I need to be doing to get as much information as I can from this strange entity."
"But —"
"And besides, from what I hear, there is still quite a lot to figure out about it; even you don't know everything about your own zanpakuto. You should be thanking me for doing the research I'm doing," he said, wandering back to the monitors with an irksome nonchalance. "Who knows what I'll dig up about it? Maybe something to help you with your little … control problem." My blood ran cold. Where was he getting all of this information? Was he in contact with someone who knew more? Or … did Shokyakuro …? My head was spinning.
I felt Ichigo give a light squeeze on my waist and was thankful for his touch; even just that little bit of familiarity gave me more ground to stand on. I grazed his fingers lightly with my own before stepping away from him and closer to Shokyakuro. His energy was pulsating — it was slow, like a faint heartbeat, but it was definitely him. Its warmth wrapped around me in a familiar mix of comfort and caution.
"Get me … out of here …" a far too recognizable voice spoke out. "Girl." My knees nearly gave out from underneath me.
"Was that …"
"Yes," Mayuri said, standing from his chair to meander over to me. "That was your zanpakuto, Shokyakuro. Strange hearing his voice outside of your head, isn't it?"
"But how —"
"—wouldn't you like to know?" His voice was sinister. "I suppose we'll just have to wait for my research to yield us some answers, won't we." Again, not a question.
All of the air left my lungs and my stomach was in knots. I knew that something Captain Kurotsuchi had done was hurting Shokyakuro, or at the very least sapping his energy. Even still, there was nothing left for me to say in my defense at this point — he was right about everything. Sure, he was wrong to take him, I guess. But he wasn't wrong that I shouldn't have left Shokyakuro unattended, and he wasn't wrong that his research, whatever kind of research it was, could very well provide answers to some of the many unanswered questions we still had.
I turned and bowed to the man. Though he didn't look surprised, he looked at me with a steady wariness; I could see the gears working in his mind.
"Thank you," I said. "For taking the time to try to learn more about my zanpakuto. Please let me know if your research provides any new information." He smirked.
"Heh. Fine, then," he replied. "Nemu!" He called off to some dark corner and within seconds, a girl appeared. She would have startled the crap out of me had I not been so caught up in my thoughts.
"Yes, Master Mayuri," she said with a bow.
"Go fetch the girl her zanpakuto — be sure to remove all of the wires and other bits. Wouldn't want her taking anything that didn't belong to her, now, would we?" I heard Ichigo scoff behind me.
"Right away, Master Mayuri." I stared as the girl dismantled the contraption that my zanpakuto had been attached to, though my eyes weren't focused on anything in particular.
Shokyakuro … talked. Out loud. It shook me to my core even thinking about what that could possibly mean. I also had to admit that the thought of having to face him after all of this was the furthest thing from what I wanted to do — I'd sooner face Renji at this point than my own zanpakuto. His rage was going to be boundless.
Ichigo's warm hand found its way to the small of my back, sprawling almost entirely across. I didn't move away, but also didn't go into him like it seemed he wanted me to. When he noticed my posturing he leaned into me instead.
"See?" Ichigo murmured against my hair. "I knew we'd find him." I let my body relax a bit, sighing in relief as his words set in. I took in his scent, my toes curling, and tilted my head to rest slightly on his, still bent down to mine. His fingertips dug lightly into my back.
"Here you are." The girl called Nemu was in front of me, Shokyakuro resting flat on her open palms. I didn't hesitate to grasp his hilt in my hand, feeling the familiar weight with a sigh of relief. I waited for the usual burn to make its way to my palm, but it didn't come.
"Shokyakuro …?" Captain Kurotsuchi clucked his tongue at me.
"Impatient girl, aren't you?" He said. "He is going to be fine, so quit your whimpering, would you? His spiritual pressure is just a bit drained, that's all. He will recover and be back to full strength within a day or two." As if responding to the statement, a small bit of heat warmed my hand. It was like a tiny fluttering heartbeat. Relief washed over me yet again as I fastened him to my belt, double checking to make sure he was as tight as he could be.
"Thank you for returning him to me," I said, bowing my head. My voice was tired, ragged almost. The man gave me a slow once-over, his eyes tracing my body in a way that made my skin crawl. His eyes met mine and they narrowed slightly, just for an instant, before he turned his back to me. He said nothing in return, only waved his hand casually above his head and grumbled something I couldn't make out. Nemu stood before us, hands clasped at her lap, and bowed on behalf of her master, then hurried off behind him. A shiver worked its way up my spine as I watched them leave.
"Let's get the hell out of here."