Chapter Eleven: A Matter of Murder
"They're back."
Ryuu turned away from the dorm window, sinking down onto his bunk as he absently began to loose the white ties from his hair, running his fingers through the shoulderlength waves as he did so. "It's as Sensei said, after all - they're alive, and Anideshi's brought them back."
"Ukitake-kun!" Hirata was on his feet in a moment, but Enishi frowned, holding out his hands to pull the young boy back.
"Hold on there." He advised. "We were told to stay here until further notice. Weren't we? So we will. All of us. Kuchiki's wits are sharp enough to have told us what we wanted to know - if they're back here, and alive, that's all that matters. Isn't it?"
"Aside from the fact that the three of us are far from off the hook." Ryuu said darkly. "And I cannot imagine what Sensei will have in mind for Kyouraku and Ukitake, given the concern they have caused to everyone. Ukitake can perhaps be forgiven - going to help a classmate in trouble is at least a sign of his Kuchiki honour coming through. But what on earth possessed Kyouraku to take off after some local town girl? Providing, of course, that that's where he went after all."
"Ukitake-kun only said that he'd gone to help a friend in trouble." Hirata murmured hesitantly. "Not that it was a girl."
"Maybe it was something else, then." Enishi reflected. "Kuchiki, didn't you say that the girl who came here left in a different direction to Ukitake and Kyouraku?"
"She did." Ryuu confirmed. "But more than that I do not know. Her reiatsu was extremely feeble and very muddled. Tainted with illicit drugs, no doubt - and certainly far beneath a Clan bloodline."
He sighed, shaking his head as if to clear it.
"My Father will be cross, if this becomes a scandal and he believes I'm somehow involved with such things." He said heavily.
"I doubt it'll come to that." Enishi said sensibly. "Now they're here, after all, and alive. They might get a yelling at - perhaps a beating or confinement or some other kind of punishment. But no harm was done, in the end. And Genryuusai-sensei's not unreasonable. I'm sure it'll be fine now, once it all dies down."
"What a pleasure it must be to live in your simple world, Houjou." Ryuu said acidly. "But even if he is your kinsman, I very much doubt Sensei is going to just let it slide by. He was angry before - very angry, in fact. And I would not like to be either one of those two, when he decides to unleash that anger."
"Ukitake-kun is hurt, though, isn't he?" Hirata looked alarmed. "If Sensei gets angry with him, maybe..."
"Oh, he won't do it while Ukitake's injured." Ryuu shook his head impatiently. "But it'll come, though, of that I am sure. You can mark my words, Hirata. This is the beginning - it is not the end."
"It seems quiet up here, just the three of us." Enishi murmured. "Where's Shihouin in all this, anyway? He hasn't come up yet, either."
"Shihouin's actions are nothing to do with any of us." Ryuu said coolly. "Whatever secret places he's sneaking off to, Houjou, those things do not concern us. In fact, it is nice to be able to talk freely without him eavesdropping. I do not trust that one even an inch - the Shihouin have little enough honour, and he none at all."
"If you're going to fight with him, Kuchiki-kun, I'm glad he's not here either." Hirata sighed, and Enishi stared at him at the uncharacteristically forthright statement. "I have a headache and I'm worried about Ukitake-kun. Do you suppose...when Sensei lets us leave here, we will be able to see him?"
"Probably, at some point." Enishi nodded. "Don't look so frightened, Hirata - Ukitake's a lot tougher than he looks. We both know that."
"I wonder if Kyouraku will be sent back here tonight." Ryuu reflected, and Enishi shrugged.
"If he's in one piece, perhaps." He agreed. "Unless he's put into solitary, or something like that. Then we'll know how Ukitake is, Hirata - Kyouraku'll know better than us."
"I'm not speaking to Kyouraku-kun and I don't care if he comes here tonight or he doesn't." Hirata's pale eyes darkened and he folded his arms across his chest, uncharacteristic obstinacy filling his expression with a rare sense of purpose. "This is all his fault. Ukitake-kun is hurt and he might get into more trouble because Kyouraku-kun gets himself into stupid situations. So I'm not talking to him. And he can do what he likes. I don't care."
"Yeesh, Hirata, calm down!" Enishi's eyes widened. "What's gotten into you tonight - you're acting completely unlike yourself!"
Ryuu's eyes narrowed, and he eyed Hirata pensively.
"The Endou blood, perhaps, coming out at last." He murmured, and Hirata flinched, shaking his head firmly.
"No. Not that." He said vehemently. "I'm just worried about Ukitake-kun, that's all. He's my friend. And..."
He faltered, biting his lip, and Ryuu sighed.
"Don't cry again." He ordered. "Men don't cry, Hirata, and it's pitiful when one of your level and ability does it. Houjou is correct about Ukitake - he is strong despite his appearance. And in the end, Ukitake decided to go after Kyouraku. The blame lies with both of them...Kyouraku was the first fool, but Ukitake was almost as big a one in return."
Hirata's expression darkened, but he said nothing, and Enishi sighed.
"When Sensei cuts us loose, I'll ask when we can see Ukitake, okay?" He said slowly, his tone conciliatory as he tried to soothe the boy's ruffled feelings. "As a kinsman, he might be kinder to me if I ask - and I can try, anyway. All right?"
Hirata eyed him for a moment, then, very slightly, he nodded.
"Yes." He murmured. "Thank you, Houjou-kun. Because no matter what anyone says, I won't be able to rest until I see for myself that Ukitake-kun is all right."
For a moment after they entered the study, there was silence. Then, Shunsui gathered his courage, rubbing his left foot idly against his right ankle as he attempted to meet Genryuusai's gaze.
"Sensei, the person...with Juu...Ukitake-kun...was that...?"
"Unohana Retsu." Genryuusai agreed briskly. "Of the Gotei's Healing Squad. But you knew that, didn't you? You've seen the haori before, after all."
Shunsui said nothing, and Genryuusai frowned.
"Your family has a long tradition in serving with the Gotei just as mine and Unohana's have." He said quietly. "Yet you seem determined to gainsay that destiny and prove yourself a failure. I don't understand it, and I know your brother doesn't, either. He sent you to me because he didn't know what else he should do with you, after all. Do you not realise how much this is your last chance to make something of yourself?"
Shunsui swallowed hard, but did not respond, and Genryuusai's brow seemed to become even more wrinkled with consternation.
"I understand that you had a visit this afternoon, as well." He said softly. "From a young woman."
Shunsui bit his lip, a moment of anxiety paralysing him as he remembered Megumi's mangled body, then he got a grip on himself, slowly nodding his head.
"Yes, sir." He said quietly. "I did."
"I'd like an explanation of your conduct, if you please."
"I owed her coin from the last time I saw her." Shunsui said slowly. "She came to claim it. When we'd spoken, she left. That's all."
"And you decided to hare off into the undergrowth for what purpose?"
"I wasn't with her, Sensei. I wasn't with anyone. I left campus alone."
"Knowing the risk of breaking your curfew...?"
"I..." Shunsui faltered for a moment, then steeled himself, nodding his head.
"Yes, Sensei. I knew, and I still went." He said frankly, meeting Genryuusai's gaze yet hardly knowing how he dared do so when the faint embers of that internal fire were clearly beginning to flicker in the man's eyes. "Ju..Ukitake-kun didn't have anything to do with that. He came to keep me out of trouble, not for any other reason. Everything that's happened tonight is my fault in its entirety - please don't punish him for his part in it."
"Ukitake knows the rules as well as you do, Kyouraku Shunsui." Genryuusai said inexorably, and Shunsui bit his lip.
"I know." He murmured. "And I didn't ask him to come, either. But he felt the Hollow - and he came because he thought I was in danger. It reminded him of his Father...and so he came. That's why. I guess he couldn't bear it - staying and doing nothing when someone was in danger."
"And your own reason for leaving campus in the first place?"
Shunsui bit his lip, dropping his gaze. There was a moment of silence, then,
"No matter what my reasoning, Sensei, I still left without permission and I still broke your restrictions on me." He murmured. "So it doesn't really matter, does it, why I did? In the end the crime is the same."
"And you have no mitigating circumstances you'd like to raise?"
"Mitigating circumstances?" Shunsui closed his eyes briefly, the sick, giddy feeling returning as he remembered the feeling of finding Megumi's body just moments too late. "No. I have none, Sensei. Punish me as you see fit. I accomplished nothing useful this evening. I did nothing of any good to anyone."
Another moment of silence, and Shunsui felt his companion's reiatsu flicker faintly, then settle.
"Endangering a classmate's life is a serious offence." He said softly. "In those circumstances, there's no reason to show you any particular mercy."
Before Shunsui could answer, however, there was a sharp rap at the door, and Genryuusai frowned, his gaze flitting to the wooden divide.
"Enter." He called, and the door slid back to reveal Yunosuke, his expression troubled as he bowed his head towards the old man.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, Sensei, but Unohana-sama wanted me to report to you right away." He said quietly. "This evening, when carrying out Sensei's orders, we came across the body of a young woman in the forest - in a place not far from where the Hollow's reiatsu was first detected. The reiatsu of both Ukitake Juushirou and Kyouraku Shunsui were also detected nearby."
Shunsui stiffened, alarm flooding his expression, and Genryuusai's gaze narrowed to near slits.
"I see." He said quietly, his gaze shifting back in Shunsui's direction. "A young woman, you say? Was she a victim of the Hollow?"
"No, sir." Yunosuke hesitated, then, "It seemed like her throat had been slit, Sensei."
"Slit?" Genryuusai faltered for a moment, as though he had not expected this. Then he frowned. "I see. And this was within the vicinity that the Hollow's reiatsu was first detected?"
"Yes, Sensei. Though it seems to have been beyond the area where the Shinigami patrol met and dealt with the Hollow."
"Well, Kyouraku?" Genryuusai's tones rippled with suppressed anger. "Your expression tells me you know something of this matter - Perhaps you'd tell me the truth this time. I dislike those who seek to deceive me - I will find it harder to forgive you the more times you lie in my presence."
Shunsui swallowed hard, finding his resolve crumbling under Genryuusai's stern gaze.
"You knew that girl, didn't you?"
"...Yes, Sensei." The words were no more than a whisper.
"More, you knew that she had died this evening. Didn't you?"
"Y...yes."
"And what else? Did you go into the forest this evening to meet with her?"
"N...not exactly, sir." Shunsui gathered together the scattered shreds of his courage, swallowing the bile that rose in his throat as he raised scared eyes to his teacher's. "I went to...to try and help her. But I was too late. I couldn't do anything, after all."
Genryuusai processed this for a moment, then,
"And you know, then, this girl's name?"
"Megumi, sir."
"Megumi? Just Megumi?"
"That's all I knew her as."
"Yunosuke, what kind of girl was this that you found in the forest this evening?" Genryuusai turned his attention back to his older student, who frowned, pursing his lips.
"She looked like a girl from one of the local settlements, sir. A hostess, or tavern girl. Something like that."
"Not Clan?"
"No sir. Not Clan."
"I see. Yet her throat was slit?"
"Yes, sensei."
"Very well. And the girl's body?"
"Haru and I brought it back to the school, Sensei. We didn't really know what else to do - but we both felt it might...well, that you might want to see it, Sir." Yunosuke hesitated, then, "Sensei, the girl's injuries were not...casual or accidental. That's all."
Shunsui stared at his senpai in disbelief.
"Back to the...school?" He demanded, forgetting for a moment where he was, and Yunosuke frowned, nodding his head.
"It was a suspicious circumstance." He said simply. "Genryuusai-sensei is the most local representative of District One's ruling Clan. Therefore he needed to know about it."
"Clan." Shunsui muttered, and Genryuusai's eyes narrowed at the dismissive tone in the boy's words.
"Thank you, Yunosuke." He held up his hand. "You have my authority to leave the girl's remains with Unohana Retsu-dono and let her determine the cause of death in a more exact manner. You and your classmates are no longer required. Please do not discuss your findings with anyone outside of myself or Retsu-dono until further notice. Understand?"
"Yes, Sensei." Yunosuke bowed, then withdrew, leaving the two once more alone.
A terrible silence fell over the study, then Genryuusai sighed.
"I'm going to try again." He said softly. "Kyouraku, what do you know about this girl, 'Megumi?"
Shunsui hesitated, then he sighed, shaking his head.
"Nothing." He murmured. "Except her name and that she was in trouble."
"And the other girl that came to see you...she was the one who asked you to do something to help this Megumi?"
"Yes."
"Where is the other girl now?"
"I don't know. I sent her to Oniisama's land. I was going to write to him and let him know to help her, somehow."
"To Tokutarou's land." Genryuusai looked thoughtful. "Then you have more ideas about this situation than you're telling me. You don't believe that this girl was murdered randomly, do you?"
"I don't know what happened to her." Shunsui said honestly. "Except that she died just a short time before I found her. And while I was there, with her, the Hollow took me by surprise. Who brought her there, or why exactly - I don't know. Just that she'd been in some trouble with someone...and that was all."
"And that is the truth?"
"Yes, Sensei."
"Ukitake? What does he know of this?"
"He knew that Kyouko had come to speak to me, but I told him to stay behind when I went to see Megumi." Shunsui said slowly. "He sensed the Hollow and came after me. I don't know if he saw her body. He didn't mention it...and I didn't tell him she was dead."
"Why did you not alert a member of staff to your concerns?"
"Megumi wasn't the kind of girl most Noble Clan-folk would want to help." Shunsui said bitterly. "And especially not the Gotei."
"It seems to me like you hate the Gotei." Yamamoto looked surprised, and Shunsui sighed, nodding his head.
"I do hate it." He said honestly. "I've always done. Because it means holding weapons and killing in the name of family pride and glory. And I don't want any part of that, Yama-jii."
His eyes widened as he realised that he'd let the casual nickname slip from his lips, and he took a step back, registering that his brother's warning had after all come true.
Damn, but after tonight how could I be in my full senses? Megumi's murdered, Yama-jii's firing questions, Juushirou's hurt...it's a wonder I'm still standing, considering all of that!
"Even if we are alone, my boy, I'm not sure that you should use such a familiar term of address for me when I've brought you here to scold you for your wild behaviour." Genryuusai warned. "The fact that I knew your father, and am closely acquainted with your brother is not going to act as a shield for you, you know, no matter what you say."
"I don't want it to." Shunsui shook his head hastily. "I'm sorry, Sensei. I didn't mean..."
He sighed.
"It'd be a lot easier if I wasn't ever born into the Kyouraku family at all." He murmured, resignation in his dark eyes. "Ukitake-kun doesn't know how lucky he is. Everything he does is because he wants to do it. He believes in doing it. Me, I'm not that way. I know too much about it...what it means. What happens if you're part of the Gotei...and what happens if you don't follow that duty to the letter. I know how noble families work, Sensei. And I don't want any part of it."
He sighed.
"I wasn't going to talk about Megumi because I didn't know what to say, and I still don't." He added. "But I'm still willing to take all the blame for tonight. I might not believe in the Gotei, but Juushirou really does. And he should have the chance to follow what he believes in – it's not his fault he got associated with an idiot like me."
"I have no intention of punishing Ukitake." Genryuusai shook his head, and Shunsui's eyes widened.
"But...?"
"I believe he's punished himself enough, letting loose that much raw energy without first knowing how to control it." Genryuuai reflected. "His body isn't strong enough for that kind of reiatsu flare just yet - even with Unohana's gentle ministrations, it will be a few days before he's fit and well enough to rejoin his classmates. And I imagine, for one like him, a few days convalescence will be worse punishment than anything else I can devise."
He smiled slightly.
"Unohana's skills are effective, but I imagine that they will be less than pleasant for him while he's still so tender." He added.
Shunsui's gaze flickered with comprehension and relief, and he looked rueful.
"I suppose that's true." He reflected, realising as he did so that the earlier oppressiveness between them had dissipated somewhat. "He's totally different from me in that respect. He doesn't like to be doing nothing, whereas I..."
"You are quite another problem." Genryuusai sighed heavily. "We'll put the matter of the murdered girl aside for the moment - though you realise that had you been at a level where you were able to carry a blade, you might even be suspected of causing her death? And it's not just this one incident, after all. It's far more than that. It's a general insubordination - this stubborn bitterness that rears its ugly head every time any responsibility comes your way. You are disrespectful, lazy and troublesome and what's worse, you're doing it entirely on purpose. Tokutarou knew it and so do I. Your words about the Gotei only strengthen that fact - that you're going out of your way to appear incompetent and useless rather than it actually being the case. That, in itself, is almost twice as unforgivable than if you were truly as hopeless as you pretend."
He frowned, shaking his head.
"And yet I know, if I let you go now, I will be shutting the door on someone who, even in this state, shows a tremendous amount of potential." He murmured. "I know, Shunsui, that you've put about among your classmates that your brother bought your way into this Academy. That you rank in the top tier of classes thanks to Kyouraku influence. But we both know that that's not the case, don't we? We both know that, of all the first year students, it was you who scored the highest mark on the entry tests. Of all of the First Year, your reiatsu is the most naturally attuned to the skills of a Shinigami. If any student deserves to be here, it's you."
Shunsui dropped his gaze, suddenly ashamed of his deception, and Genryuusai pursed his lips.
"I understand you used both Kidou and Shunpo in the forest, didn't you?" He murmured, and Shunsui froze, alarm piercing through him at his teacher's perception. At his reaction, Genryuusai nodded.
"Yet you're not even ranked or attending practical classes in either Kidou or Hohou, if I recall correctly." He continued. "Who, pray, taught you those skills?"
"J...Juushirou taught me the spell for shakka-hou, so I had a way to defend against the Hollow." Shunsui said reluctantly. "I didn't know what I was doing, I just...well...did it."
"And the Shunpo? You're a first year, and even Kuchiki Ryuu and Shihouin Kai don't know that technique yet. How is it that you do?"
"I...don't know." Shunsui admitted, raising his gaze slowly once more. "I didn't consciously learn it. Just...sometimes, when there's danger...I can. That's all."
"Just when there's danger." Genryuusai rubbed his beard absently, digesting this. "By instinct, you learnt a skill even the most gifted Shinigami work for years to master properly?"
"I didn't mean to." Shunsui protested. "It just happened - I wasn't trying to use Shunpo, and I didn't know really till tonight that that's what it was. It wasn't on purpose. I...I just did."
"And yet, with all that talent, you seem set on throwing it away." Genryuusai's tones sounded momentarily pained. "Do you want to be a failure in life, is that it? Have you so given up on being anything else, that nothing I do or say is going to reach you?"
Shunsui bit his lip, somehow feeling the teacher's words strike right through to his core. Genryuusai had not raised his voice even a little bit, yet even so there was something in the man's disappointed tones that cut through him even more deeply than his Uncle's whip ever had.
"I don't want to be a killer." He said at length, meeting the teacher's gaze with an honest one of his own. "That's all. And if I stay here...if I learn how to use a sword...that's what I'll be doing. Isn't it? Learning how to kill."
"I wouldn't say that." Genryuusai looked startled at this. "Combat skills are important, true enough, but I'm not teaching you to slay your fellow students. Quite the opposite - I want you to learn the value of working together, not striving for just your own goals. The purpose of the training is to learn how to deal with the Hollow problem, after all."
"But that's just it." Shunsui whispered, pain in his dark eyes as he gazed at his teacher earnestly. "Hollows...I don't want to kill them either."
"Why not?" Genryuusai stared at him.
"Because they're not just monsters, after all." Shunsui swallowed hard, tears on his lashes as his exhaustion dragged out the deepest, darkest feelings from within his heart. "They're like us. Aren't they? They're souls...souls who've been through something horrific. They're suffering. In pain. And you want us to kill them as though they were nothing. I can't do that! I can't be that person! That's why I hate the Gotei! I don't want to learn to be a killer!"
Genryuusai's eyes opened wide at this, and for a moment there was silence, as Shunsui fought against the tears that swirled within him. Then he sighed.
"Is that it, after all?" He asked gently, and Shunsui nodded slowly.
"I know what Noble swords can do." He said brokenly. "When I was six years old. I saw my Uncle challenge my father, and take him down. My Father's aura was full of despair, the day that he died, like he felt trapped and hopeless and destroyed by the world he'd been forced into. And when we were out there...when that Hollow attacked I...I felt it again. The Hollow...the Hollow had that despair, too. Deep within it...it was crying out in pain."
He closed his eyes briefly, as the tears began to spill down his cheeks.
"Father made a lot of mistakes, but he didn't want to kill." He murmured. "That's why he abandoned his position in the Gotei and let his sword gather dust. And that's why my Uncle killed him - because my Father didn't want to kill anyone else. But I'm not like my Uncle, Sensei. I'm like my Father. I don't want to kill anyone, either."
He sighed, opening his eyes again.
"That's why I told people I didn't pass the entrance exam." He said hopelessly. "Because if folk think I'm smart enough, they'll force me into doing things I don't want to do. And even if the Hollows do want to hurt us - I can't kill them. I can't kill something when it's like that - it's not in me to do."
Genryuusai sighed, resting his hands gently on Shunsui's shoulders.
"You know, it's rare for someone as inexperienced as you to be able to feel so many things emanating from a Hollow's aura." He said softly. "Even more so considering how often you've cut your classes this term. It makes me wonder, Shunsui, what you really are capable of if you apply your everything to the matter at hand. Because your perception and your skill is already far higher than that of many I've trained in the past - even, dare I say, greater than some of those I number among the fledgling squads of the revised Gotei. With a gift like that, there's absolutely no doubt about where you should be. Here, at the Academy, learning to make the most of what you can do."
"But..."
"It's painful, I know, the first time you pick apart those sensations and realise that a Hollow is more than just a monster out for your soul." Genryuusai continued softly. "And it's difficult, sometimes, knowing that in order to save an innocent soul, you might have to challenge a tortured one. Your Father would say the same things, after all. He disliked it more than anyone else I ever worked with. Using his blade to cause more suffering to those who had already suffered deeply enough."
Shunsui swallowed, reaching up to brush away his tears.
"In the end, it destroyed your Father, knowing those things." Genryuusai reflected. "And you are, without a doubt, your Father's son. His perception and understanding are inside of you, and I know all too well that you're reaching the same crossroads he reached, too, when he decided the course of his life. You didn't just inherit his strengths, Shunsui, but also his weakness. His inability to deal with the pain of his duty...that same weakness could also take over you, if you allow it to."
"Not if I don't ever have to wield a sword." Shunsui shook his head. "So I'm sorry, Sensei, but I really don't intend on learning. I never have done. From the moment I saw my Father cut down, I knew that. I wasn't going to bear a sword or learn to kill. So you'd do better to send me home, if that's the case. I'm only going to disappoint you more, if you keep me here like this."
Genryuusai shook his head slowly.
"When your father was a part of the Gotei, things were different." He said softly. "In order to save the innocent souls, there was little choice except to destroy the attacking Hollows and condemn them to oblivion. We didn't know, clearly, a way of doing anything else. And your Father wasn't the first man to be driven from his purpose by the burden this knowledge brought."
He smiled slightly.
"But for almost as long as there's been a Gotei, there've been people working on a way to change that." He added. "To have the perception to differentiate a Hollow's spirit from a demon is a gift few souls ever have - even those who reach Shinigami level. Yet for the past several generations, members of the Gotei have striven to find ways to change the way in which we deal with these souls. Instead of destroying them, as our ancestors often did, more and more Shinigami have come to want to help them."
He spread his hands.
"One of the reasons for my setting up this Academy was to try and ensure that that method became widespread." He added. "Little by little, we've come to understand which parts of the Hollow need to be severed in order to purify them, as opposed to destroying them. Seven years ago, the Gotei representative from the Urahara clan perfected a method by which, using his zanpakutou, he successfully severed the Hollow's darkness from the soul it clung to, sending the soul to Rukongai, and dispersing the darkness completely."
"But...?" Shunsui's eyes widened, and Genryuusai nodded.
"In time, all the students of the Academy will learn how to do the same with the spirit power locked inside their blades." He said softly. "We no longer kill Hollows, Shunsui. We set them free."
Shunsui stared at him, and Genryuusai smiled.
"Well?" He asked gently. "Is that the kind of Shinigami you'd prefer to learn to be? One who saves souls, rather than leaving them to suffer? Over the past few generations, there have been numerous bloody conflicts in the Real World. Many lives have been lost in violent circumstances, and the number of Hollows has reached such a level that they're even able to break through into Soul Society and threaten us right at our core. To return the balance, we need to have as many people as we can to purify these Hollows and return them to their original spirit state. And with the potential you have inside of you, you're one of those who could truly make a difference. Your instinct to shield Ukitake was, after all, a sign of your true impulse to protect, not to run away. And that was your Father's way, as well. It's entirely in your hands from hereon in - whether or not you can utilise the potential we both know you have."
Shunsui took a deep breath into his lungs, as the last of his strength gave out and he sank to his knees, closing his eyes as he fought against the giddy waves that crashed across his senses. Relief mingled with something he could not define intoxicated his mind, and he felt his teacher's hand on his shoulder.
"I should punish you, and severely, for what you've done." He heard Genryuusai say. "You broke bounds, put a classmate at risk, and almost got killed by a Hollow. Plus, there is more I want to know about this Megumi girl and why her life was important enough for you to try and save. There will be consequences, Shunsui. Don't think there won't be. Whipping you is pointless...but I'll be sure to find plenty of other jobs for you to do in penance for your disobedient behaviour. From tomorrow morning, you can report at dawn to the Kitchens and submit yourself to whatever odd-jobs you're given until breakfast ends - do you understand?"
"The Kitchens?" Shunsui's eyes snapped open, then, "Yes, Sensei. I understand. Though I'm not a very good cook...In fact, I don't think I even know how to."
"Then I'm sure there will be plenty of cleaning and carrying for you to do." Genryuusai said frankly. "You are lazy, so I'm punishing that laziness with work."
Shunsui frowned, but inwardly he knew the judgment was fair.
"Yes, Sensei."
"And as for your Kidou and Shunpo...Kidou, certainly, I will make it known to Kazoe that you're ready to undertake the practical class with your comrades. It seems wisest, before you cause an injury with your lack of training, and there's no reason why you shouldn't begin what your fellows are already learning." Genryuusai continued. "Regarding your Shunpo..."
"I won't use it, Sensei, if you don't want me to." Shunsui said quickly, suddenly not wanting Aitori to know that he'd achieved that particular skill on his own. "I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to be smarter than anyone else and it'll be awkward, if they think I've learnt something the rest of them haven't."
"Very well." Genryuusai nodded. "But in return, I expect to see you giving proper effort in all your classes. The summer exams will be the indication of that - knowing what you're capable of."
"Yes Sensei."
"Then arrangements will be made." Genryuusai nodded. "However...for tonight..."
He paused, then Shunsui heard him sigh.
"This is your last chance, Kyouraku Shunsui." He said softly. "No matter how talented you are, you will not get another one. Understood?"
Shunsui slowly nodded his head.
"Y...Yes, Sensei."
"Then you may go to your dorm." Genryuusai indicated the door. "Providing you can make it that far on your own."
"Yes, sir, I think so." Shunsui felt the relief flood through him again at this. "But...please Sensei, about Juushirou..."
"You are not to go to the Healing Bay tonight." Genryuusai shook his head. "You are tired, not hurt, and I wish to speak to him alone. Your concern is to abide by the rules...I will tell you when you may see your classmate. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." Shunsui pulled himself unsteadily to his feet, bowing towards his Headmaster. "I understand, and...and I'll do what you say."
"Time will tell, I suppose, whether or not you will." Genryuusai muttered. "But at least I know time can make a good Shinigami."
In the hallways, unnoticed by the busy senior students, a lone shadow slipped from hall to hall, his mind racing as he took in everything he'd heard. It had been completely by chance that Kai had seen Yunosuke and his companion returning to the school, for he had been returning from his trip to the bath house, and his natural curiosity had made him pause as he had registered the bundle the two students were carrying. He had picked up quickly the truth of his classmates' unexpected absence from the school grounds, and though he had put it down to simply Kyouraku's innate foolishness, he had realised that something else was amiss when he had read the odd prickles and hesitations in the two seniors' reiatsu.
They had brought the object, wrapped in blankets as it was to the Healing Bay, and Kai had had his second shock, registering the head of the Unohana Clan's white haori flapping around her slender body as she gave quiet, measured instructions. After a short conversation, the two senior students had separated, and Yunosuke had hared off in the direction of the headmaster's study, whilst Hikifune Haru, the sturdier of the two had lifted their burden carefully into a disused chamber.
"We found her in the forest." Kai had heard Haru saying, and his blood had run cold as he had put the pieces together. "Her throat had been slit, Retsu-dono, but even so there was very little blood. That's all we know. It may have nothing to do with the missing boys - but their reiatsu and the Hollow's was nearby. I wonder if they stumbled into something they shouldn't."
"Then leave this matter to me, and return to your companions." Retsu had replied, in her low, sweet tones. "Thank you for your hard work - I'll no doubt discuss the matter with Genryuusai-sama later. It's nothing for you to worry about any more - you've done the right thing and now you are dismissed."
"Yes, Retsu-dono." Haru had bowed his head, then withdrawn, and Kai had pushed himself even further into his hideyhole, suppressing his reiatsu as hard as he could go as he watched the illustrious Gotei member hesitate, putting a gentle finger to the blanketed object, then letting out a little sigh.
"Such things so close to a school like this." She murmured. "Rest in peace, young one."
With that she had gone, closing the door behind her, and though she had paused for a moment, glancing vaguely in Kai's direction, she had not stopped long, heading back to the Healing Bay and the living patients who were claiming her attention within.
For a good few minutes, Kai had not moved, afraid that she was coming back. However, as the time ticked past, he realised that if he didn't move quickly, it wouldn't be Retsu but Genryuusai himself who would more likely dog his movements, and he frowned, steeling himself as he darted across the corridor, pushing back the unlocked wood divide and slipping into the dark room beyond.
It was too much of a risk to activate the Kidou Lamps, but Kai had not trained in stealth all his life for nothing, and he moved cautiously around the room, drawing close to the table in the centre where the boys' strange burden had been put down. There was enough moonlight glinting in from the window to give him a dim view of what they had found, and as he took a proper look, he felt his heart sink into his boots.
"Megumi." He murmured, as Seimaru's words raced through his brain. "So he...did he do this?"
He took a deep breath, fighting the urge to panic as he examined the body more closely, and realised that - clumsy though it was - the throat slash that had been fatal was distinctive enough to have been done by the Shihouin Clan.
"You idiot." He muttered fiercely. "Using our techniques in such a casual, rough way in order to dispose of your loose ends! No Shihouin would claim such sloppy, casual work - no Shihouin would have allowed the body to be so easily found! And in the forest...where Kyouraku and Ukitake were? Did they see you? Did they see...this? You total and utter fool, Seimaru! You worry about me letting the side down, and now, you do something so casual as this! Are you trying to implicate my Clan? Is that your intention...to show us how under your thumb we are in this whole thing? Or is this just your sick, twisted sense of humour having its way with me once more?"
He clenched and unclenched his fists, taking a step back from the body as he forced himself to calm down.
For Midori, I have to be rational. Because of Midori, I can't lose my cool. If Aitori doesn't know yet, let him find out and let him report it - I'll have nothing to do with this. If Seimaru thinks he'll incriminate a Shihouin for this crime, then I'll be as far away from it as possible.
He eyed the corpse critically, making out what he could in the dull gloom.
She died not long ago.
Relief flooded him at this realisation.
She must've died during this afternoon sometime, when I was here and people could vouch for me. Aitori too, since a group of us were helping him tidy his classroom and sort through old papers for rubbish. There's no reason to question where we were, at the very...
He froze, his eyes opening wide as a sudden thought occured to him.
Could Aitori have arranged to tidy his classroom on this particular day, at that particular time, because he knew that Seimaru was about to get rid of the girl? Did he do it, then, so that he, Onoe and I had alibis and were witnessed by seven or eight other students as well as by each other? He's sly and crafty, and I wouldn't put it past him - to cast such a smokescreen as that.
Seimaru makes it look like Shihouin, the Shihouin are accounted for. So her death is a mystery, and fades into the background.
Kai sighed, rubbing his temples as he felt the dull throbbing beginning at the base of his skull.
For now, I won't give anyone any reason to think I know the girl or anything about this. I'll go to the dorm and to bed, and I won't say a thing to anyone. If Aitori manipulated me this afternoon, so be it. At least his doing so puts me in the clear. And if Megumi's dead, she can't tell anyone that I knew her. Or that any of us did. Or what she was being paid to do here. So, in the end, nothing has changed.
Even if there's one more corpse...no, nothing has changed.
Repeating this a few times as if to fully convince himself, Kai left the empty room, replacing the sliding door and heading quickly across campus to the dorms.
But dear God, Seimaru - I seriously hope you know what you're doing, after all.