Chapter Thirty Eight: Saku and Shunsui
It had been a long and gruelling night.
Saku pushed back the shutters at the window, allowing the streaming morning sunlight to brighten the sickroom and letting out a heavy sigh.
Morning had come, then, and with it some relief. After all, despite the harrowing night before, Shunsui still lived.
She turned, taking in his sleeping form for a moment, and despite herself a fond smile touched her lips. He was completely oblivious, his hair more messy and tousled than usual from the spike of the fever, but though his cheeks were still faintly flushed, his breathing was quiet and even, and watching him soothed her ruffled feelings even more.
Even now, I can't think of you dying. Even though I thought us separate – here I am. Last night I couldn't have left you – even if Midori-sama had called, I could not. What does that say, then, about my strength of will? Even though I know I can't stay here…even so, here I still am.
She stepped away from the window, moving to stand at the bedside.
The fever had raged long into the night, for even after Retsu had mentioned the flare in his reiatsu, it had been far from the end of his battle, and his cries of pain and frightened whimpers had each pierced right through to the core of Saku's young heart. From time to time he would turn, flinging out his hands as if looking for comfort in his world of delirium, and as Shunsui's mother had clasped the hot, dry hands in her own delicate pale ones, the woman's clear anguish had only made Saku's grief all the worse. A mother who had clung to her son desperately, yet helpless to do anything but hold him and try in vain to soothe his terror – for the first time Saku had seen clearly the world from which her young friend had come.
She had never met Shunsui's real family before – only the cold, austere Uncle from whom the boy had so loved to escape, and she had assumed that the rest of the family were similarly distant. Shunsui had never let her see clearly how much being separated from his birth mother had hurt him, after all. His flippant remarks and carefree attitude had masked them from her. Yet in that moment she had realised the true tragedy of Shunsui's childhood – that he had been stolen from a mother who had loved him, to be used as a weapon of war by a man who did not.
I misunderstood too, in the end, didn't I? All the things you said…yet to be taken from her as young as you were, when she loves you as much as all that. You weren't free either, Shunsui. Being Clan does not make you free after all, does it? I wish I'd understood that more clearly. No wonder you looked to me for escape.
Once Shunsui's fever had broken, on Tokutarou and Retsu's insistence, Yoshiko had retired to a nearby chamber to sleep off the exhaustion and trauma of the previous night. Tokutarou himself had gone to speak to the aging Headmaster, and, Saku presumed, to send a message back to his kin in District Eight to say that his brother was now out of danger. Retsu had also offered her a place to sleep, but Saku had politely refused, saying that Midori would probably come for her early and she would be better off being ready to leave.
But truly she had just wanted to linger here a moment longer, assuring herself that her old friend was going to live before leaving him forever. There was no harm in it, after all – to give in to her feelings just once if he was sleeping and unaware.
She touched a gentle finger to his cheek, relieved to feel that his skin had cooled from the raging fever of the previous night.
You broke Seimaru-sama's curse with your will to live…with the strength you have to fight back. I'm glad, Shunsui. Because you were aimless and lost, when we were young. But if you found the will to fight back, that means you've found some purpose to live for. And that you're stronger now than you were then. Even though I shattered you – you've still managed to pull back together.
She turned, padding slowly across the floor towards the door of the tiny, secluded chamber.
So then, goodbye, Shunsui-kun. For the last time – as we both walk towards the lives we've now chosen.
"Saku?"
Shunsui opened his eyes sleepily, pulling himself into a more upright position and at his movement the girl paused, turning from the doorway and casting him a hesitant glance.
"I thought you were asleep." She said softly. "Were you pretending all the time?"
"No." Shunsui shook his head, pulling his blankets more tightly around him as he leant back against the wall. "I was sleeping. But I felt you leaving...And I didn't want you to go that easily."
"I was going to slip out while you were resting." Saku glanced at her hands. "I hoped that you wouldn't know I was here - it's too complicated otherwise."
"What does that settle?" Shunsui asked softly, and Saku raised an eyebrow, eying him pensively.
"What's to be settled?" She asked simply. "You and I were friends, we grew up, things changed. There's nothing left undecided. No matter what you say or think or do, we're oceans apart and we always will be. I'm not coming back to District Eight. I don't belong there any more."
Shunsui was silent for a moment, then he extended a hand, beckoning to her gingerly. His cautious movement told Saku that he was still in pain, even though he was much recovered from the night before, and she sighed, reluctantly heading back across the room and grasping his fingers loosely in hers.
"Don't push yourself." She said quietly, gently pushing his arm back down onto the bedclothes. "I'm here. I know if I leave now you'll only try and follow me, and nobody will be happy if you get worse again, not after last night. So I'll humour you, just this once. Just words though, Shunsui. Whatever you have to say to me - I'll hear it. But that's all. All right? You won't change my mind about anything, after all."
"I wasn't going to try and talk you into coming back to District Eight." Shunsui shook his head slowly. "To be honest, I thought...you'd come to hate me, to tell you the truth."
"Hate?" Saku started, then she smiled ruefully, shaking her head.
"For what?" She asked him lightly. "What have you ever done to me, Shunsui, to make me hate you in any way?"
"Because we were friends, you lost your home and because I acted too late, your Father died." Shunsui said frankly, pain in his dark brown eyes, and despite herself Saku sighed, reaching across to brush the stray strands of messy brown hair off his sweat-soaked brow.
"You didn't make the decision that evicted us. I know that. I always have." She said gently. "And if you've been blaming yourself for it all this time, you're more of a fool than I ever thought you were. Your Uncle decided, and I was never angry at you for it. Even if I seemed that way...I was always more angry at myself than at anything you did."
She frowned, resting her hand on his shoulder.
"Father's death was not your fault either." She added quietly. "You came and you tried to help us. Even if it was too late for him - that was something you didn't know and couldn't know. The important thing was that you tried."
"And you told me seeing me was painful for you. That it was best we didn't meet again." Shunsui reminded her. "You broke my heart, Saku-chan. It wasn't a very nice thing to do, if I'm honest about it. It hurt quite a lot, that did."
"You idiot." Saku said matter-of-factly, and Shunsui's eyes widened, a flicker of surprise in his gaze as he registered the more familiar, light-hearted manner of speech that had once been the norm between them. "I told you that because I didn't want to see you. Because if I didn't see you, I couldn't break my resolve. I couldn't change anything. I said it because I was too much in love with you to be near you, and too much in love with you to harm your position by being near you. It's like I said before - we're oceans apart. Socially, in ways we never realised. Whatever you think, however I feel - that's how it is in society's eyes. I have too much pride to simply be a Lord's mistress. And you have too much to do in this world without me dragging you back. So I cut the strings. I parted us permanently. It was the only thing to do."
"I think that's what made it hurt so much." Shunsui admitted, rubbing his face in his hands, then lowering his fingers with a sigh. "Because it made sense. And it still makes sense. I wasn't going to ask you to come back to District Eight. I know you wouldn't, even if I begged you. And even though I don't care anything for family reputation, I don't want you to think I have no respect for your honour. You take it seriously. I know that."
"When you have nothing else, pride and honour become more important than ever." Saku said gravely. "They can't be bought and sold, and they can't be polluted or tainted by corruption or greed. They're the only things a child is born with and dies with, Shunsui. Their honour and their pride."
"There you go again." Shunsui pursed his lips. "Spouting all that adult stuff."
"In a very short time I will be, in the eyes of all of Seireitei. Though in truth I think I came by that situation a long time ago." Saku cast him a wry smile, fondness in her gaze as she eyed his dishevilled form. "I didn't expect us to meet up how we have. But if you aren't going to ask me to come back to District Eight, what are you going to do? If you know you can't keep me, why do you want me to stay?"
"You helped Mother to nurse me last night." Shunsui said softly, and Saku reddened.
"You knew that?" She demanded, and Shunsui nodded.
"I'm quite quick at identifying trifling things like reiatsu. And touch, too." He agreed. "I'm grateful, though, Saku-chan. And I was...happy, too. That you felt that you wanted to do that - even considering how things have been between us."
"Well, no matter what common sense says, I still love you and I still have memories that I can't suppress." Saku sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm resigned a little more, now, to always feeling this way. But even if it's difficult for us to be even friends now, I...I suppose I can't let go completely. And I didn't want you to die. It's a woman's instinct, after all, to care for those she loves."
"Are you saying men don't have that instinct?" Shunsui raised an eyebrow, and Saku grinned.
"You're much better already." She said, relief flooding her dark eyes. "But no, I don't think it's quite the same thing with men. Men protect, women care."
"Do you think so?" Shunsui was surprised, then, "I'm not so sure Midori-sama would agree with you."
"Perhaps not." Saku acknowledged. "But either way I suspect the end result is often the same."
She eyed him quizzically.
"You just wanted to thank me, for doing that?"
"No. I wanted us to talk." Shunsui shifted himself more comfortably, bunching the blankets up around him as he suppressed a shiver. "Even if I still feel lousy, I don't want you to disappear without it. I was curious, after all, about your choice of duties. Are you happy, then, assigning your life to Midori-sama's whims?"
Comprehension flooded Saku at this, and she nodded.
"You're worried about me." She murmured. "That District Two isn't a safe place - that Midori-sama isn't a safe person to involve myself with. That I might find myself doing things that you don't think I should do - or that I might be in danger if I choose that path. Is that it, Shunsui? You worry about my future even now?"
"It's like you said. I don't want you to die either." Shunsui said evenly. "Well? I wanted to hear it from you. If it's your choice - if you're happy and you're safe in that decision - there's nothing more for me to say about it. But yes, I was worried. The Shihouin are a complicated Clan - and Midori is capable of violent acts."
"I know those things." Saku smoothed the skirt of her robe over her knees as she digested his words. "Shunsui, I've known that since before the last time we met. Midori-sama has made it perfectly clear to me what her values are. And bold and ruthless though they can be, she is not a woman who lies. Everything she has said, good and bad, she has not hidden from me."
She shrugged.
"I saw her kill one man. I knew she planned to slay your teacher, also." She admitted. "I stood by and let those things happen...even aided and abetted her in getting here and in concealing her whereabouts from the people nearby. I've already committed myself to her path - it's too late for me to turn back even if I wanted to."
At Shunsui's look of consternation, she smiled sadly, reaching across to touch his lips.
"Don't say it." She said quietly. "I know how you feel about death and murder and I know that you don't approve. But I'm not as firm as you in that respect. I've learnt to protect myself and that there are things I need to accept to keep myself alive and in a good position. Perhaps that's why I didn't want to speak to you, after all. I didn't think you'd like it, if you knew that even before this meeting I had agreed to become Midori-sama's apprentice. And I had accepted being taught whatever techniques she sought to teach me - even those which one might use to kill."
Shunsui eyed her for a long time, then he sighed, pushing her hand aside feebly with his own trembling fingers.
"And this is your choice? You want this?" He asked slowly. Saku nodded.
"In District Two, I can hold up my head high and take a position where I don't shame myself or my family." She said seriously. "I have changed, Shunsui. I'm not as carefree as I might have seemed when we were small. I'm a pragmatist and I know sometimes what has to be done. Yes, it's my choice. It's what I want. Even though it doesn't cure me of my feelings for you - it's a position whereby I'm not abused or beaten, and I don't have to live in fear or shame."
"Then I can only accept it, can't I?" Shunsui sighed again, and Saku smiled despite herself.
"I don't need your approval." She reminded him gently. "But that said, I'm glad you're not going to try and talk me out of it. You wouldn't succeed, after all. This is my path. You have yours, too, now."
She gestured to the room around them.
"You belong to this Academy. Your future is here, and then out in Seireitei, protecting people like your Father did." She continued. "You have a lot of power, Shunsui. A lot of potential. That you're still alive despite Seimaru-sama's curse is proof of that fact. It wasn't a light spell, and it wasn't a hex that could be broken by anything except your fighting back. So I know that you'll be an amazing Shinigami, one day. One of Midori-sama's calibre, maybe - perhaps even beyond. And when that happens, I'll be proud to say that I was once someone you considered friend."
"There's no past tense in that sentence, Saku." Shunsui reached across to clasp her hands in his weak fingers, meeting her gaze head on. "Whatever your views on the matter, you've always been my friend. You always will be. You were my first friend and you were the one who I looked up to when I had no one and nothing else to look up to."
He smiled ruefully.
"I think we both misunderstood a lot of things about each other's lives." He added regretfully. "But I don't want to go back and change our friendship then, even so. They're nice memories, after all. I like them. And I'm going to hang onto them as long as I can."
At the look on his face, Saku swallowed hard, tears pricking at the back of her eyes.
"Me too." She admitted. "Even though I try to forget them. Midori-sama said that it might happen, eventually, that she'll find someone suitable for me to marry, and if she does, I won't turn it down. It doesn't matter, after all, who I marry. Maybe I'll come to care for them or maybe I won't, but I know Midori-sama won't choose someone who would hurt me."
She placed her hand gently against Shunsui's cheek, then,
"It's a pain, being in love with an idiot." She said resignedly. "Because no matter how much of an idiot he is, you can't help carrying on."
Shunsui laughed, wincing involuntarily as he jarred his aching body, and Saku let out an exclamation, reaching out to grasp him firmly by the shoulders.
"No laughing! Not while you're still weak." She ordered. "I'm sorry. I'll be more careful...just don't hurt yourself on my account, all right?"
"You really are worried about me, aren't you, Saku-chan?" Shunsui eyed her for a moment. "You know, I wonder how sick I really was last night. Was I really bad, then? It's all a blur to me. Was I really at death's door?"
"Mm. It wasn't nice. I don't really want to think about it." Saku said frankly.
"Bad enough for you to give me the kiss of life, perhaps?" Shunsui asked teasingly, and Saku started, then glared at him, putting her hands on her hips.
"You're malingering now. There's nothing wrong with you after all." She said bluntly. "I'm wasting my sympathy, aren't I?"
"On the contrary, Saku-chan, I'm still very weak and shaky." Shunsui assured her. "Though you don't have to wait for me to stop breathing, if you wanted to kiss me. After all, I'm sure that it could only boost my energy levels, if you did..."
"You are still as much of a cheeky brat as you were three or four years or so ago, when we were playing by the lake." Saku said frankly, pushing him back, and Shunsui grinned.
"Whoever said that was a game?" He demanded. "You're going away, and I won't see you again. Maybe not for a while, perhaps ever. That being the case, you could at least kiss me goodbye. I'm suffering, after all. Don't you have any pity for me at all, Saku-chan?"
"When you look at me like that, I want to slap you." Saku admitted. Then she relented, letting out a chuckle as his eyes became big and beseeching.
"You don't change." She murmured. "Even now you're the same silly fool you were then. Though I think you have a little more pride in yourself now. A little more strength than you had back then. You've stopped running away - maybe that's it. But even so I'm sort of glad - that you're still Shunsui, even though so much has happened since then. Somehow Shunsui-sama doesn't suit you...it doesn't suit you at all."
"I'm glad you've finally realised it." Shunsui grinned. "The way I was dressed, when you didn't even know me - I've not dressed as formally as that since and I cut my hair so as it wasn't long and noble any more. I don't want to be Shunsui-sama. Not from you, anyway. I don't believe in those oceans - so remember it, okay? Saku-neechan."
"I'll do my best not to forget it, Shun-kun." Saku's eyes softened. "Or you, saying it to me in that way - as though we'd never been parted at all."
She sighed, reaching across to ruffle her fingers through his tousled hair.
"Though you were handsome with long hair, you know. It suited you. You should grow it long again."
"Do you think so?" Shunsui looked doubtful, and Saku nodded, her cheeks reddening.
"As your neechan, it's my advice." She said frankly. "So you should pay good attention to what I tell you."
"I don't see why I'd start doing that now, when I never did as a boy." Shunsui's brow was tired and drawn, but there was a wicked sparkle in his dark eyes. "All right, Neesama. I'll do my best to keep it in mind."
"See that you do." Saku murmured. "Because I won't be there to stitch your robes or help you escape your classes any more."
"No. No, you won't." Shunsui's gaze became grave. "I'm sorry about that, but I understand it, too. I'll just have to rely on Juu and the others to keep me on the straight and narrow - I'm sure between them they'll make something worthwhile out of me."
"I'm sure they will." Saku smiled, tears on her lashes. "Judging by Ukitake-san's mode of attack, I don't think you'll be allowed to sit idle for long."
She paused, then hesitantly bent her head towards him, kissing him gently on the cheek.
"I don't know when we'll be leaving, or when you and I might meet again. If ever." She admitted. "I don't intend on leaving District Two for some time, when we return there...and there will be much to do because things there are unsteady. So I'll grant your wish a little bit, Shunsui-kun. For old time's sake."
"For old time's sake." Shunsui echoed, reaching up a finger to brush his cheek. He smiled, nodding his head, and Saku could see the emotion in his dark eyes.
Despite herself she felt relieved.
"Maybe we did need this talk, after all." She reflected out loud. "Maybe there were still things we both needed to say."
"And maybe both of us needed to face up openly to how things are." Shunsui added. "Whatever our feelings, now we part. And we'll stay parted. Because, in the eyes of Seireitei, we're from different worlds."
He pursed his lips, and Saku saw uncharacteristic resolution enter his dark gaze.
"But we will change that." He said firmly. "Juu is just the start, after all. Juu and the others from the Districts. It's going to be a revolution, and the hierarchy won't matter so much, one day. It might not be something you or I live to see happen, but we can begin it all the same. Juu's said it time and time again - if you don't like something, change it. Don't just live with it and moan. So maybe that's become my resolution. Maybe that's why I stopped running away. Because running away gets people hurt and killed. I'm not going to do it any more. I'm going to try and make a difference - even if it's only a really small one."
"Considering it's you, I doubt it'll be small." Saku told him ruefully. "But if that's the case then I'm glad. You looked shattered into pieces the last time we spoke, but now you don't seem like that at all. And I...I cried for three days after you left the house, over you and over Father. But now I don't feel empty or hollow any more. We've grown up and we've parted, but in the end we haven't grown apart, have we? They're different things...and I hadn't realised it till now."
"Friends are still friends even with distance between them." Shunsui nodded. "Nii-sama says that a lot - it's something Kyouki-sama told him when he left District Five. So I'll say it to you, now. We'll be friends even parted - all right?"
"All right." Saku agreed.
"Even if the Shihouin and the Kyouraku go to war with one another?"
"Even so." Saku nodded. "Because I'm not Shihouin, and you wouldn't fight in a pointless war between noble houses."
"Too true." Shunsui acknowledged. "All right then. It's settled."
He frowned.
"But I do wish I could have done something to help you, after Uncle kicked you out." He admitted. "I did nothing and I couldn't see anything to do. But I didn't like it. And even the medicine..."
"The medicine you gave me came in very handy, as it happens." Saku smiled, shaking her head. "The border between Seventh and Eighth has been fortified for a long time. But one of the men guarding it from the Endou side had a wife who was very sick from the same complaint that had wracked through our town. In return for my passage into District Seven, I traded the medicine to him. So it helped to save someone, no doubt. And it helped me to get to the place where I met Midori-sama and found my own path. So you did help me, Shunsui, in the end. Just in a way you didn't expect."
"Really?" Shunsui looked surprised, then he smiled. "Well, I'm not sure I'm happy that I was part of you getting dragged into Seimaru's web somehow - but if you're happy over it, I won't argue with you."
Saku shrugged.
"I don't regret it. I work for Midori-sama, and she has no intention of working with the man who hurt you." She said simply. "She hates him, and now, so do I."
"But she didn't kill him, did she?" Shunsui's eyes became grave, and Saku shook her head.
"I…don't think so." She admitted. "I don't know for sure what happened…but if she had, it would have been a big fuss. And well…Tokutarou-sama was quite clear about taking vengeance against him if you died. So…Seimaru-sama must still be alive."
"It may be strange, but I'm glad that's the case." Shunsui admitted.
"Even though he would have killed you?"
"Mm. I'll remember for future reference not to play with men with fireswords." Shunsui looked rueful. "But yes. Midori-dono's way is violent, ruthless and effective – but with the Shihouin-ke so tentative, it could have ruined everything. And…"
He paused, and Saku's eyes softened.
"And that would put me in danger." She murmured. Shunsui nodded.
"You. Kai-kun. A lot of innocent people who aren't involved." He said soberly. "I don't believe killing solves anything, really. And I…he didn't kill me. It's better…that it's this way."
He paused, then,
"Midori-dono is here." He murmured. "I can sense her reiatsu in the grounds."
"Even wiped out, you can do that?"
"Once I know someone – yes." Shunsui was sad. "She's come to take you away, hasn't she?"
"Probably." Saku agreed. "And to speak to Genryuusai-sama about what happened yesterday. Then we'll leave."
"Then good luck, I suppose." Shunsui managed a faint smile. "We'll both do our best to move forward – and let's see where it takes us."
"For the time being, you should probably rest." Saku said firmly. "You might not remember last night, but other people will. And how close you came to making it your last, too. You look tired and you're obviously still hurting. Go back to sleep…you probably need that more than anything else."
"Maybe." Shunsui acknowledged, obediently slipping further beneath the blankets and resting his head on the makeshift pillow. "I don't feel like doing much else. I just wanted to speak to you…before you were gone and I didn't get a chance to."
"Well, you have, and things are fine." Saku told him firmly. "So I'll leave you to be the invalid. Try not to worry about me, Shunsui. I promise you – I'm strong enough now to be all right."
"Let's hope that I am too." Shunsui murmured drowsily, closing his eyes, and for a moment Saku just watched him, a bittersweet sense of affection washing over her.
Onwards and forward towards the lives we choose to lead. We did need to talk like this – and now we can move on. Sweet dreams, Shunsui. Rest well and become that Shinigami everyone expects you to be. There are a lot of things for you to do here, after all…and it'll be better done now that you don't have to worry about me any more.
With that she turned on her heel, crossing the chamber to the door and silently letting herself out.
Now my duty is to Midori-sama and returning to District Two. There will be much for me to do and I must be equal to that task. For now, Shunsui has to be forgotten…for now, I have my obligations too.
"In the end, Amaki, it seems you were proven wrong."
In the silence of the sickroom, a faint, feminine voice echoed out, as glimmering particles of sunlight danced together into a mottled pattern across the walls.
"Well? He wants to fight after all. I told you it was reckless…diving in like that and pulling him about."
"I did what I had to do." From the shadows, a darker, more acerbic voice contested, prickling at the edge of the blackness as sun and shade collided across the wooden sickroom floor.
"Did you? I wonder about that. I wonder if it was necessary, acting like that."
Like droplets of light, the female voice continued to chastise. "Being so ruthless with one still so young."
"He's babied and mollycoddled far too much." The shadow countered. "He always has been, and he's lazy and irresponsible because of it. I won't serve a coward, Seibara. No matter how much I'm meant to be loyal to him – I will not."
"He's not a coward. He took the injury to protect his friend." The sunlight glittered over the grooves and lines of the wood, forming a petal-like pattern against it's polished surface. "That's something that should be nurtured. He's been alone a long time, after all."
"A solitude he's chosen. He was the one who decided that."
"Even so, I think you're cruel, taunting him."
"Yes. I'm cruel. I'm going to continue to be cruel." A faint buzz of energy darted across the shadow that hung stubbornly behind the shutters and beneath the sill. "Understand it, Seibara, because I don't mean to change my attitude. Do you want to end up like Tensonshin? Do you want that fate to be our fate too?"
At this, the bright iridescence of the flower-petal light faltered slightly, and there was the faintest of sighs on the morning wind.
"No." The voice murmured, her tones mournful. "You know I don't want that."
"Then listen to me." Returned the shadow. "Shunsui is strong. We know that. Spiritually, he has the power to summon us and if he applied himself, he'd find a way to do that most probably before he reaches full adulthood. But he's lazy and slow and reluctant to fight. And he runs away. Whatever the reason he took the injury, he tried to run from it. I interfered because he sought death instead of fighting. And that's always been his attitude. The boy who would sit and let his brother kill him rather than fight for his own life."
"That was loyalty. Not laziness," countered the light. "But you're right in one way. He is slow. And till now, he's shut us away. Till this point…we've never been able to reach him in any way at all."
"His weakness opened that door. It allowed me through and I won't let him barricade it again so easily." The shadow vowed. "You shouldn't either, Seibara. He needs both of us – not just me – and he needs us to take a hard line with him – not cosset and fondle him as though he was the centre of our universe."
"He is." The light flickered purposefully. "But it's all right. I don't feel the same way as you do – but I don't intend on making his path easy. It shouldn't be easy. It should be earned. You needn't worry about me being soft on him, Amaki. In the end, perhaps, I'll be the hardest of us both when it comes to giving up my power. I'm fond of him, after all. I'll want him to do his very best to prove himself."
There was silence, as little by little beams of light began to penetrate the darkness.
"Yes. Maybe you're right." The shadow reflected. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to underestimate you."
"You were angry. With good cause." Came the response. "He was about to give up. Had he died, I would have been cross too. I just wouldn't have been so aggressive and direct about it – that's all. He was lucky, maybe. He got you instead of me."
"If you feel like that, why didn't you confront him?"
"Because I had faith he would see sense and fight. And that we would not, in the end, be needed this time."
"On the contrary, I suspect, he had great need."
Genryuusai's voice pierced through the conversation, conducted as it was through the ether of Soul Society's spirit charged atmosphere, and at this clear interruption, the elements faltered, uncertain as to how to act now one had broken through to their midst.
The old man stepped into the chamber, bowing his head slowly.
"I cannot see you, but I can sense that you are there." He murmured. "Stray particles of something that Shunsui has no idea yet how to use, left to fly freely from him while he sleeps off his exhaustion. In all the time I've taught him, I've waited to sense you – and now, for the first time, I do."
"You cannot see us, but you can hear our words?" The shadow demanded, and Genryuusai nodded.
"I can sense your being here because I knew Tensonshin." He said gravely. "I trained the man who wielded your predecessor, and understood almost as well as he did how that blade was formed. Shunsui is Matsuhara's son, and I have felt it in his aura. Last night, to fight the curse, he called on his true power for the first time. He summoned you without knowing what it was he summoned, and called on you for help."
"It is not usual for anyone but the wielder of a sword to sense or hear the spirits of another." The woman's voice echoed curiously through the ether. "Who are you, Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni-sama, that you can reach us like this?"
"It isn't me who does." Genryuusai's wizened grip tightened on his wooden cane. "Ryuujinjakka and I have worked so long together that it is easy for my thoughts and his to merge and become fluid in one. Because of him, I can hear you. Because fire called you out, I am ever more aware of you - and that boy's lack of knowledge and control means that you fly more freely into the ether than if he had summoned you there in the usual way. But Ryuujinjakka knew you were there. And because he hears you, so do I."
"Ryuujinjakka." The shadow murmured, and Genryuusai nodded.
"It is up to Shunsui to deserve to call on you." He continued. "And I won't ask you to be lenient, or submit to him before he is ready to wield your power. On the contrary, the more difficult the path, the more successful your bond will be. And I know well that, with that boy, it will be a difficult path. His mental state is such that he will make it harder for himself, trying to take the easy path. Still, even so, I have faith in him to get that far. And…I will ask you this one thing. Now that you have reached through to him…do not let him seal you away a second time. Whether you chastise him or you don't – whether you train him or you don't – is a matter for you both to decide. But do not let him fall back into foolish ways. I seek to make a Shinigami of him – and for that, I need your help."
"He isn't ready for our active interference." The shadow said baldly. "This was a desperate situation, that's all. If he hadn't have gone back to face the fire, he would have died. Scaring him into going back was all I could do – it's not time to begin moulding him for battle yet. He doesn't care enough, yet. He hasn't reached that point."
"But the time isn't far away." Light darted across the wood of Genryuusai's stick as if exploring the power contained within. "And he's not the only one, either. You've felt it too, haven't you, Genryuusai Shigekuni-sama? You and your blessed firesword? The resonance of another sword spirit waiting to be risen and trained? It's exciting, in the end. I like this Academy. It means we won't be like Tensonshin. We won't be training alone."
"Shunsui is our concern. Nobody else is." The shadow muttered. "And he's far from proving himself ready to call us his, whatever any other students might or might not be doing. I'm not interested in playing with goldfish, Seibara. Not even if you are."
"They're not goldfish." The light protested. "One's black and one's white. How can they be goldfish if they're not gold?"
A faint smile touched Genryuusai's lips.
"I think you're wrong." He said frankly, eying the sleeping Shunsui with a thoughtful, pensive gaze."On the contrary, I think Shunsui needs Juushirou as much as he needs the both of you."
"I think so too." The light danced up and down Ryuujinjakka's cane, repeating its mottling effect across the smoothed wood. "They may be 'just fish'…but since Shunsui met that boy, his barriers against us have weakened. That's the true reason you were able to reach him, Amaki. Because he's not fighting so hard against his destiny now as he was. I think…we shouldn't dismiss Ukitake Juushirou or hisIn'you spirits. As time goes on…I think we might cross paths with them more than once."
"The Shadow Cat has returned."
Ryuu dropped down onto the grass, casting his companions a resigned glance as he set his pile of books down beside him, stretching out his sheet of paper and skimming over the precise columns of kanji that already decorated the page. "I imagine that has something to do with you, Hirata - seeing as you went to the trouble of inviting her back."
"Midori-sama's come back here?" Enishi glanced up from his own haphazard pile of books, eying Ryuu in surprise. "Was she meant to? Did she come to see Shihouin, or...?"
"No. She's come to see Genryuusai-sensei." Juushirou said softly. "About what happened yesterday...to Shunsui...and about last night."
"Etsuo-san is also here, too." Hirata ageed, hugging his knees to his chest. "Midori-sama won't leave her behind in District One - I'm pretty sure about that."
"Etsuo-san was still with Kyouraku when we left him last night." Enishi remembered, giving up on his attempts at writing and dropping his brush down onto the grass with a sigh. "It's no good. I can't put thoughts down onto paper like you can, Kuchiki - you've written reams already and I've barely managed my name."
"That somehow does not surprise me." Kuchiki eyed Enishi for a moment, then offered him a faint smile. "But it was a noble act to come with us, in any case - so if you want me to help you, I will."
"Kuchiki-kun?" Hirata stared at him, and Enishi gaped, looking bewildered.
"Are you serious?" He demanded. "You have a whole load to write yourself - are you sure you want to help me...?"
"Yes. I will help you." Ryuu agreed calmly. "And by helping you, it will further emphasise the fact that I'm not helping Shihouin Kai. He can sit upstairs and write his own essay - after all, he is as responsible for all of this as any of us."
"Kuchiki-kun..." Juushirou sighed, rubbing his temples, then, "Well, if you help Houjou-kun, I suppose it's all right. Hirata and I didn't get assignments - I feel somehow worse that we didn't, given what happened."
"Your punishment was worse." Enishi cast them a sympathetic grin, and Juushirou nodded.
"Even though we had a message this morning to tell us Shunsui survived the night, I didn't sleep at all when we were sent away." He admitted, rubbing his temples. "I was trying all night to pick up Shunsui's reiatsu - to keep tabs on it, to make sure he was still alive."
"I don't think you were the only one who didn't sleep." Enishi said quietly. "I can't feel his reiatsu at all, really - but I didn't rest much last night, either."
"None of us did, in the end." Ryuu sighed, setting down his brush. "And my body still aches. I will not be casting illicit Kidou for some time to come, let me tell you."
"It wasn't the Kidou that was the cause. It was my recklessness." Juushirou said firmly. "I know it, Sensei knows it - Shunsui knows it, too. It's not anyone else's fault but mine. I should have gone back and found help - but I was tricked by Seimaru's snare and I put myself in danger. If I had thought it through, Shunsui wouldn't have been hurt."
"What about you, Hirata? Are you staying here for good now?" Enishi cast the younger boy a quizzical glance, and Hirata nodded his head.
"There's nowhere else for me to go." He murmured, a note of wistfulness in his quiet tones. "I don't have a family to go back to, right at the moment."
"You can't go home at all?" Enishi frowned, and Hirata shook his head.
"If I did, right now, Seimaru would find a way to hurt me." He said softly. "Besides, Endou-ke are not welcome in District One. If I go home, I'm acknowledging myself with them. Even though there are things I can't...really talk about...I've made my decision that way."
He fingered his throat for a moment, then,
"Sensei has my pendant. My crest is no longer in my custody, and I am no longer representing the Endou-ke." He said soberly. "I'm Endou Hirata in name alone. I told Sensei that I wanted to get stronger...strong enough to return my Clan pride and to be of use to Seireitei and District Seven. He said I could stay - that he would teach me and make me a Shinigami. So here we are. It seems it'll be a longer time before I see my family than I thought."
Juushirou shot him a glance, but there were no tears on the boy's lashes, and he sighed.
"I feel responsible for that, too."
"No. On that count the blame lies entirely with the disgusting behaviour of Endou Seimaru." Ryuu said categorically. "We all know it, but as there is no evidence, we cannot do anything about it."
Hirata looked troubled, but said nothing, and at his expression, Juushirou decided to also remain quiet on the subject of the letter.
"Do you think we'll be allowed to see Shunsui?" He said instead. "When his family are gone, of course - I wouldn't intrude on them right now."
"Genryuusai-sensei has also visited him this morning." Ryuu added. "I saw him heading that way as I brought my books outside. So surely we will know more about his exact condition soon."
"I would think so. And if he's okay, we'll get to see him." Enishi nodded his head. "Remind me to tell him that if he ever sees that Seimaru guy again, he should run."
"I wonder about that." Hirata looked pensive, and Ryuu shot him a quizzical look.
"About what?" He demanded sharply. "Surely after all that has happened you do not expect Kyouraku to face your cousin again?"
"No. No, that will be my duty, when I'm strong enough." Hirata said matter-of-factly, and for the first time Juushirou saw a hint of the warrior in the thin boy's frame. "I just...curses aren't usually placed in the same way twice - are they? Nobody's ever survived Seimaru's curse before, so it's difficult to know for sure...but...I wonder if..."
"If Seimaru can't curse someone he's already cursed once?" Juushirou asked, and Hirata nodded.
"I don't know." He repeated. "But...maybe. Since the curse is a matter of wills, after all. And Kyouraku-kun has already broken Seimaru's desire to kill him. I don't think that his body would succumb to it again. He's probably immune."
"But unlikely to want to test the theory." Ryuu said acerbically. "Given the results this time around."
"No kidding." Enishi said fervently.
"So if Genryuusai-sensei is with Shunsui, who's Midori-sama with?" Juushirou wondered. "Because Kuchiki-kun is right. She is here. I can feel her reiatsu too."
"That is a foolish question indeed." Ryuu said frankly. "Why do you suppose I left the dorm and came to work outside?"
"Because you and Shihouin were trading more insults than you were writing words?" Enishi asked lightly, and Ryuu offered a sardonic smile.
"Other than that." He acknowledged. "No. Because I felt the approach of a nasty black cat on the stair, and I decided it was better to make myself scarce before I found myself in the midst of a Shihouin reunion."
"She went to the boy's dorm?" Hirata's eyes almost fell out of his head, and Enishi grinned.
"She came to see her brother first, huh." He reflected. "When you say stuff like that, Kuchiki, it makes me think of her as something other than the wench who killed our Hohou teacher."
"What Midori-sama has done and who she is aren't necessarily the same." Juushirou stretched his arms, leaning back on the grass. "I think that can be true with a lot of people. And she's definitely one of them. She came back to see Kai as well as to see Sensei. She didn't get to speak to him before - so we're better off being out here, if that's the case. Though I'm glad you came to join us, Kuchiki-kun. You might have gone to the library - but I'm happy you came here instead."
Ryuu did not answer for a moment, then he shrugged.
"It is a warm day." He said evenly. "And the library would not be so pleasant as sitting under a tree."
"Maybe." Juushirou was not to be dissuaded. "But I've been thinking, though."
He reddened, remembering Genryuusai's words.
"Sensei said some things to me yesterday which made me think a lot." He admitted. "And last night, when I couldn't sleep, I went over them in my head, trying to make them sink in. I don't know how true they are, and I don't think...they're things I want to discuss. But it did make me realise that Class One is a unit - isn't it? More or less, anyhow. We're friends with one another. When Hirata vanished, we worried. We all searched for him - everyone chipped in and lent a hand. And now, with Shunsui ill, everyone was worried about him, too. Houjou-kun and Shihouin-kun wanted their share of the blame, because it was a team effort to use that spell. And...it's just...I think it's a good thing. It seems an obvious thing to say - but I'm glad."
"Everyone...was worried about me?" Hirata looked startled, and Juushirou nodded.
"Everyone." He confirmed. "You're just as valid a member of the group as anyone else, after all."
"Ukitake's right." Enishi grinned. "Even if you can't go home, you do still have us. And we're not swayed by the political decisions of our elders - here is just school, after all."
"Such promises are not so easy for a Kuchiki to make." Ryuu admitted. "But at present there is no active ill will between the Endou and the Kuchiki-ke. I believe that to be because we consider them largely disgusting - but in Hirata's case, I think, a clear exception has to be made. Even if he does associate with Shadow Cats."
Hirata reddened.
"I trust Midori-sama." He said firmly. "If I hadn't have done this time, Kyouraku-kun would have died."
"Well, everybody has their flaws." Ryuu said resignedly. "I will not hold it against you."
"Fine words from a Kuchiki indeed."
A voice from the clearing behind startled them, and they swung around, hearing a peal of amused laughter as a slender figure stepped into the light.
"Midori-sama!" Juushirou exclaimed, and Midori nodded, her gaze flitting between each of the students briefly in turn.
"It's been a while, Ryuu-kun." She said softly, bowing her head towards him, and Ryuu snorted, shaking his head.
"Not long enough, evidently." He said quietly. "Well? Did you see your brother? You do know that women are forbidden from entering the male dormitories, I trust? Though I suppose rules are not applicable for shadow cats."
"Not this Shadow Cat." Midori agreed lightly. "I had permission to go there, since Kai is forbidden to get up. And I was worried about him - so we had a chance to speak at long last."
"Did you not come to speak to Genryuusai-sensei?" Hirata looked confused, and Midori nodded.
"Genryuusai-sama was most obliging." She said quietly. "The border patrols did not want to let me return to District One, so he came personally to see me across. We have spoken about many things...not least the events that now have seen the Endou-ke barred from District One. I am glad that Shunsui-dono is alive still - and also, Hirata, to see you here, where you rightly belong."
"I'm not going back." Hirata said firmly. "I already told you, didn't I? I can't and I won't."
"In that school hakama, with your glasses, you look much more the boy than you did yesterday." Midori observed. "But in your eyes, it hasn't changed. Your resolution is still there - I'm glad."
"Genryuusai-sensei's become your ally, then, has he?" Ryuu's lip curled. "I see."
"Not my ally." Midori shook her head. "But he is grateful that I helped prevent the deaths of two students yesterday by intervening when I did. He supports me as the new Head of the Shihouin Clan - but that is so far as it goes. I have come to get Saku - then I will leave. But before I do, I hoped to speak to Hirata and Juushirou about a couple of things."
"To both of us?" Juushirou was startled, and Midori nodded.
"If you don't mind." She agreed. "I may not get another chance, after all. I will be very busy, now, with things as they are in District Two."
Hirata got to his feet.
"Ukitake-kun, you don't have to come if you don't want to." He said quietly. "But I'll go - Midori-sama came on my asking, after all."
"It's all right. I'm coming with you." Juushirou assured him, pulling himself upright and nodding his head. "Kuchiki-kun said he was going to help Houjou-kun with his assignment, after all - we'll leave them in peace to work."
"Be careful, Ukitake." Ryuu said acidly. "You never know what you might get when you deal with an assassin."
"Well, well, he's still as stiff and Kuchiki as ever, that one, isn't he?" Midori reflected in some amusement once they were out of earshot. She raised her hands over her head, stifling a yawn, but Juushirou was not fooled by her apparent casual behaviour.
"Things are serious in District Two, Midori-sama, aren't they?" He murmured, and Midori nodded.
"They are, but you needn't worry about them. They are my problems now, and I will solve them." She said evenly. "Rightly or wrongly, the Shihouin-ke will move forward. I've made it clear to the investigators that we will cooperate with them fully, after all. My Clan may have secrets, but I have nothing to hide. Tomorrow I will stand before the Council and attempt to be formally recognised as Head of the Shihouin Clan. I don't feel it will be a problem to achieve - then the real work will begin."
She glanced around, then,
"I will attract attention here. Is there somewhere we can speak in privacy?"
"The gymnasium." Juushirou suggested. "It's closest, and nobody has a class there at the moment. We could quite easily get inside and talk for a while in there."
He gestured to the big stone building, and Midori's expression lightened.
"Very well." She said, relieved. "Lead the way."
"So why did you come to speak to us, Midori-sama?"
Once the three were safely inside the stone structure, Hirata raised the question. "If things are busy - why hunt us down especially?"
"Because of something you mentioned to me before we parted ways." Midori said gravely. "The letter you took from Aitori's house. The one that implicates Seimaru."
"The letter..." Hirata bit his lip, and Midori frowned.
"Do you no longer have it?"
"I've been hiding it somewhere secure at the school." Hirata shook his head. "But I've been thinking about it, too. In the long run, it can't stay here. Even if where I've hidden it is quite secure, it's still not perfect."
He pinkened.
"I used a basic kyakkou to conceal it." He murmured. "But I don't know how long that might last, and...other people might come across it if the spell breaks."
"I still can't get over you using Bakudou so easily." Juushirou reflected. "But I suppose...it makes sense that you'd do it that way."
"I never thought of it as using Bakudou. Just as a trick my father taught my sister and I to survive at home." Hirata smiled faintly. "That's all."
"I meant to ask you before - are the Shihouin mentioned in this letter, other than Aitori?" Midori asked softly, and Hirata shrugged.
"Not specifically by name." He replied. "The Clan is, but no one in particular."
"Then this seems to be a very damning letter indeed from Seimaru's perspective."
"Yes, but its also a dangerous one from Hirata's, too." Juushirou said quietly. "So that's why we've kept it secret."
"It's all right." Midori smiled. "I have no desire to bring harm to Misashi-dono or his family. Hirata's one I consider my true sworn ally, after all, and I owe Misashi-dono for his help when I was in District Seven. It's not that I'm thinking about. It's something else."
"Something else?" Hirata looked wary, and Midori nodded.
"You make sure you do keep that letter safe." She murmured. "Because its existence proves Seimaru was working with Aitori. It spreads the seeds of suspicion outside of the Shihouin and actually provides proof of it. It doesn't need to be shown to have power. If he knows that it hasn't been destroyed – if he knows that people have it – he can be manipulated."
"He knows." Juushirou looked guilty. "I told him it did. I'm truly sorry for that, Hirata-kun. I really wasn't thinking about what I was saying."
"It's all right. He doesn't know who has it or where it is." Hirata assured him.
"Then I should give him the impression that I have it." Midori decided. "That you gave it to me as part of the pact we made when you came to ask for my help. Because it is valuable information to have – not just for your safety, but for the safety of my family, too. So far, you see, the Noble Clans are divided over what to do about our Clan. Now that the truth has about Uncle's plans have spread across Seireitei like wildfire, everything is very tentative and my Clan have looked to me for support or leadership. But outside of District Two…"
"The death penalty." Juushirou whispered, and Midori nodded.
"Even though Genryuusai-sama has given me his support to lead the Clan, he has done so because I am not involved in the chemical experiments and seek to move away from them." She said softly. "I cannot guarantee that he would support a lighter sentence and he has a lot of sway where his Clan are concerned. Even if he did, the Yamamoto-ke suffered badly from the original experiments and as a result they're vehemently against this kind of violation. I can only imagine they would vote for death, if asked."
She sighed.
"The Urahara will want to distance themselves from their past mistakes and exiled kinsfolk, and so will also vote for death." She said resignedly. "Of course, my own vote will be omitted, so the Shihouin will have no say in these proceedings. The Kuchiki hate the Shihouin and will probably not show any mercy, simply on account of the fact if it was reversed, they would expect us to act the same way. That is three votes for death."
"But the other Clans…?" Juushirou murmured, and Midori nodded.
"The Unohana will vote against. They always do. They don't believe in capital punishment." She agreed. "And Retsu-sama is a level-headed leader. I believe I can reach out to Kyouki-sama and now that I've had dialogue with Tokutarou-sama, I feel fairly confident in securing the Kyouraku-ke's clemency. Especially in light of the injury Shunsui-dono suffered - Tokutarou-sama has more or less indicated that he's willing to side with anyone who's siding against Seimaru in any respect. If that happens, it will make it three against three. With just the Endou vote yet to come."
"The Endou are Shihouin allies, though, officially." Hirata frowned. "Seimaru would not want to face questions raised by their refusal to support you publically – surely?"
Midori let out a humourless laugh, shaking her head.
"You are my ally, and Misashi-dono also, maybe. But I have slighted your Clan's heir by renouncing my engagement to him and leaving in such circumstances." She said softly. "Not only that, I released my blade and fought him weapon to weapon. He knows you've worked with me, and he will not forgive it easily. No, he will seek to redress that balance, I think. Unless I have a way to change their minds, since I can't imagine them wanting to grant mercy to my Uncle or other kin in those circumstances."
She offered Hirata a smile.
"But you have a very precious letter." She said lightly. "And that letter is my key to winning Seimaru's support, as well as ensuring your safety at the same time."
"My safety?" Hirata stared, and Midori nodded.
"That is the other reason I came to speak to you." She agreed. "Because of the assault on Shunsui-dono, the Endou-ke have been barred from District One. You know that - you being the exception. You've said that you can't go home now, because if you do, the chances of you ever leaving again or being able to do anything to help your Clan get free from oppression will be virtually nil. So I propose to invite you to use District Two as your temporary accommodation. Since you are my ally, I would like to have you."
"To District Two?" Hirata gaped, and Midori smiled.
"Of course, not in term time. In term time, you will be here. Just as Kai will." She said lightly. "I discussed it with him when we spoke just now, and he is in full agreement that my idea is the best one. It would be a safe place for you to be while you can't be at home...that is my main thought."
"That would solve one problem at least." Juushirou pointed out. "I'd thought about you coming back with me, Hirata, but to do that you'd have to cross District Seven. Even on the wagon paths, you might be at risk if your Clan were looking for you. Midori-sama lives on the other side of District One, though. And you would be safe there, with her protection."
"Yes." A flicker of sadness crossed Hirata's expression, then he nodded.
"For the sake of my family, I really won't go home." He said resolutely. "I already told Sensei that my loyalty was to him and my training, not to Seimaru and his wiles. So thank you, Midori-sama. I will accept your kindness."
He sighed.
"Shihouin-kun said he'd help me with my Ouyoudou, when he was fit." He added. "Perhaps this will be a chance to do that."
"Yes. Yes, I would think it would." Midori grinned. "We're very good at martial arts, after all. You'll learn a lot, Hirata-kun. Believe me. I'm more than happy to help you train in our territories - since in the end Seimaru is our mutual enemy and a threat to both our families."
She pursed her lips.
"And as a sister rather than a Clan leader, I want to see Kai develop friendships outside of the Clan." She added. "He's not ever been able to do that, because our Clan weighs heavy on anyone's head. The Shihouin mindset is what's damaged us so fundamentally this time, and it's made his life extremely difficult so far. It's time to broaden horizons and seek new views – and for Kai to build alliances beyond District Two is important to me."
"As for Seimaru, do you think that having the letter will persuade him?" Juushirou asked. "I mean..."
"Well, I don't intend to negotiate. I intend to tell him and use the letter as a lever." Midori said matter of factly, and Juushirou frowned.
"You're going to blackmail him."
Midori nodded.
"Where the lives of my kin are concerned, Juushirou, there are a lot of things I'm willing to do." She said quietly. "Not all assassins always seek death. Remember that for the future. As a Shihouin, I'm honour bound to protect my Clan and die in their name. But I don't kill unnecessarily. That would make us as barbaric as Seimaru and his companions – and though we act in the shadows, we are not without morals."
Juushirou eyed her for a moment, then he smiled.
"I'd like to say that if it was my family, I'd find another way." He admitted. "But I'm not sure, if I was in your situation, that I'd do anything different. If it was to protect people I loved most of all – even if they'd done stupid, unforgivable things – I'd want to protect them."
"I'm glad to hear it." Midori offered him an amused grin. "That I have your approval, Juushirou-sama, and can proceed with my plans."
Juushirou reddened, holding up his hands hastily as he shook his head.
"I didn't mean it that way!" He protested. "I wasn't trying…I didn't…"
"No. You speak. I like to hear it." Midori shook her head, reaching out to put her finger to his lips. "Saku was the first, you are the second. I have never met District people as people before, and my Clan voted against teaching you because it knew nothing about you. But I do, now. I intend on teaching Saku myself, after all – and I can see why it is Genryuusai-sama invested so much in you, too. There is a straightforward honesty and loyalty that Clan intrigue has eroded from the upper classes and sometimes I tire of these war games between families."
She shrugged.
"The Shihouin are no longer going to vote against educating the lower classes, Juushirou." She added. "On the contrary, I hope to benefit from it myself once I am accepted into the Gotei and officially given leave to wear the Second District haori. Saku has made me curious as to how many more talented young people there are in my District. You said it yourself, didn't you? That it's time to understand the way those people think if I really want to rule it properly. I will take that advice and use it, I think. The Shihouin are going to be very different now I'm in charge. We'll go back to our roots, of course – but also, perhaps, make better use of the things we have around us."
Juushirou's lips twitched into a warm smile, and he bowed his head towards her in acknowledgement of her words.
"I'm glad to have been of help to you, Midori-sama." He said seriously. "I'm glad that my instincts bore out. It's the first time I've been involved in anything like this, after all – I'm glad that following my gut feeling can still be the right answer even if I'm way out of my social depth."
"You are as dangerous as people say you are." Midori reflected. "To the people who underestimate you or seek to ignore you. You're a figurehead for all District children everywhere…one who's broken through that social barrier and more, who deserves to have done so. I'm glad to have met you. I think that we may meet again often in the future – and I hope I can call you my ally those times as well."
"I hope so too." Juushirou admitted, and Midori smiled.
"But you won't compromise your principles for the sake of old alliances, will you?" She murmured, and Juushirou shook his head.
"I still don't like what happened to Aitori, and I'd find it difficult to accept it, if anyone else was killed that way." He admitted. "I agree with Shunsui on this. People shouldn't be killed. Hollows should be purified. Clans should uphold the law, not overrule it for their own ends. Aitori should have been charged and questioned and given a trial. That's what I think, even now."
"Though doing so may have compromised the lives of more people." Midori pointed out, and Juushirou sighed.
"Guilt and innocence seem blurred concepts in Clan hierarchy." He admitted. "I haven't quite figured out yet where the line is drawn."
"There probably is no line." Midori acknowledged. "But it's all right."
She cast Hirata a grin.
"Juushirou would be the safest place, wouldn't he? To hide your letter where no one inappropriate could see it."
"Ukitake-kun?" Hirata's eyes widened, then he smiled, nodding his head.
"That's true." He murmured. "Ukitake-kun would never be swayed into using it for his own ends. And he'd keep it safe if he'd promised to do so. Besides, if people think it's with you, Midori-sama, nobody would think to search District Six for it. It would be safe, I think, if he had it."
Juushirou frowned for a moment, then he nodded.
"I'll take it." He agreed cautiously. "But only on the understanding that I can conceal it in a place that only I know about. And that when I do, it's only to be returned to Hirata's hands – nobody else."
"That seems fair to me." Midori nodded. "I don't need to have possession of it. Just to know in detail its contents. Would you permit me to see it, Hirata? I won't touch it if you don't want me to – but I'd like to quote his words back at him when we meet, so he knows that I am sincere."
"I'll go and get it." Hirata nodded, getting to his feet and disappearing from the gymnasium, leaving Juushirou and his companion alone.
"That boy is growing bolder, little by little, with each day." Midori murmured. "But I wonder…will he ever be strong enough to face and displace Seimaru?"
"He shouldn't have to." Juushirou replied, and Midori nodded.
"No. But the consequences if he doesn't may be dire for his kinsfolk." She replied. "Not to mention those who live in District Seven who have high reiatsu like you or even like Saku. Some have already been killed. Others have probably been experimented on in the perfection of this drug – even if Father balked at using live subjects, I can't imagine Seimaru cared. The Endou-ke will destroy itself eventually. Unless Hirata finds enough strength to overcome his cousin and cut the rotten wood away."
She shrugged.
"He will remain my ally, however, in times of need. I owe him and his people much." She responded. "I hope by offering him sanctuary in District Two I can do for him what he has done for me this time."
"Your Clan aren't revolting against you taking control so suddenly?"
"My Uncle is currently being kept a prisoner at his own home by representatives of the Yamamoto and Urahara Clans." Midori said frankly. "My Father and brother have submitted to them since Uncle's arrest, and my cousin has been detained at his tutor's property though at present he doesn't face active charges. Because Uncle has been arrested and because the evidence has been confirmed by the Urahara investigation team, he really has no choice but to relinquish the leadership of the Clan. If he doesn't do so before he's found guilty by the Council, they will take away his right to do so, and he realised this when I went home and laid it all before him. Kai and I are not directly involved. Therefore he's acknowledged me as his successor and I have promised him in return to do all I can to spare Aniue, Father and my cousin from the death penalty."
"Not himself?"
"As head of the Clan, my Uncle expects to die." Midori said sadly. "I will do my best for him as well, but in the end, he might choose to take all responsibility if it will help spare the others that surround him. He's made mistakes, but he trained me well and even though he sent me away, I am fond of him, too. We will see, I suppose. It may be enough if I can give my word that the facilities will all be destroyed and the guilty parties kept under supervision. But it may not."
"Midori-sama...what about...Onoe-kun?" Juushirou faltered, and Midori eyed him keenly.
"The way I hear it, that young idiot spouted all kinds of offensive ideas your way, and you put him neatly in his place." She said softly. "Even so, you're concerned for him?"
"I don't like him." Juushirou shook his head. "So worry might be the wrong word. It's just...for anyone so young to make a decision like that..."
"It was, once, a natural part of Shihouin training." Midori said gravely. "Kai and I were both taught that way, as well - to act, to be decisive, and to die rather than be taken prisoner. But I'm going to change that, too. Living agents are better than dead ones, and an agent who is trained properly should never spill a secret no matter how hard they are pressed. Good soldiers are hard to train and experience impossible to accrue in a suicide culture. I will not let any more Shihouin be needless sacrifices if it can be prevented."
She sighed.
"But I can't do anything for Tomoyuki." She admitted heavily. "If he recovers, it will be his own strength that will guide him back towards the light. His life force is faint - Genryuusai-sama has made it clear what he will be returning to me. I will take him home, and return him to his family. His father may denounce him - his mother probably will not. I will do my best to ensure he isn't killed by kin for shame of his deeds...but more I cannot do."
"I see." Juushirou's hazel eyes became clouded. "Life is easy to take for granted when you're young, maybe. I don't like him, maybe. But I do feel sorry for him. Poor Onoe-kun. He must have been very scared."
"You sound like an old man, speaking that way."
"Perhaps I do." A faint smile touched Juushirou's lips. "But it's just that death isn't that much of a stranger to me. I can't take life for granted when I don't know how much of it I have."
"How much of it you...?"
"I was born with a lung weakness, and I should have died at birth." Juushirou explained. "I don't know, now, how long my life will be. I might live a long time. I might not. My symptoms flare and I can't always control them...so I try to do as much as I can and not have regrets. That way, at least, if my life is short - there's no looking back in sorrow."
Midori offered him a smile.
"I see." She murmured. "I hadn't perceived it before. You don't carry yourself like a sick person, Juushirou. Even though you are thin and pale, I did not discern your illness from your reiatsu. You are a strong person - I don't think you'll see death any time soon. Not unless you go running to find it, by taking on situations you're not ready to handle."
She spread her hands.
"As for my position in District Two, you underestimate what the Shadow Cat is to the Shihouin." She said frankly. "For me to stake a claim to the leadership now, in a time of crisis, probably brings people more relief than it does anxiety. And Uncle...I think, in a way, he's a little relieved too. He was so struck with grief when he lost his children, and then so frightened about what it would mean for the Clan in the long run. Maybe in some ways it's why he trained me himself. He knows, I think, that I wouldn't turn on him. And he's counting on me now where he can't act himself."
"That will make Shihouin-kun your heir, won't it. Like Shunsui is to his brother."
"Yes. Until I marry, it will."
Midori smirked at this.
"And I won't be marrying Seimaru. Sadly, now I'm Head of the Clan, there's no longer any possibility of me being aligned with Tokutarou-dono…it's quite a pity, because aside from the political advantages he really is as handsome a man as I'd heard tell. But two Clan heads can't marry one another for fear of conflict over territory, so there it is. For now, I'll abstain. There's time for that, after all, in the future."
Despite himself Juushirou laughed.
"You might always ask Shunsui." He said innocently, and Midori snorted, reaching across to swat him playfully as a cat might swat at a branch.
"Now you are pushing your luck." She said frankly, but there was amusement in her eyes. "It's a good thing that I like you so much as I do, Juushirou-kun. Else I might have taken offence at you wilfully marrying me off to your friends like that."
"Sorry." Juushirou looked contrite, and Midori laughed.
"I rather like being teased." She admitted. "I never imagined I would be, but I'm finding that I do. Besides, Shunsui -dono would probably be as horrified as me by that suggestion. From what I've heard, he's not looking to marry, that one. And I believe his eyes are fixed in one direction - a line he cannot pursue."
"Etsuo-san." Juushirou said sadly, and Midori nodded.
"For her sake and his, I will separate them." She murmured. "Permanently, most likely. Saku will be my disciple, after all. She has a lot of potential and I can make good use of her. More, I can provide for her a stable future. A home. Perhaps even a husband and family as time goes on. A way, at least, to live in pride and independence without feeling beholden to any Clan. She will earn her keep, and hold her head up high. Even if they still have feelings for one another…to allow it to continue would be foolish and destructive to both of them. That is a line which must not be crossed, after all. Not yet, at least. Not in this unsteady social society."
"I think Shunsui knows that too." Juushirou admitted. "I don't know how he feels about Saku being with you – but I think at least he'd be glad she'll be safe."
"I left her here last night because I felt it best she had a chance to be near him one last time." Midori sighed, stretching her hands over her head once more. "I intend to leave soon, so I thought I'd be kind and give her a little time to say farewell. I'm soft-hearted, perhaps - but I think I can spare her that short spell with her old friend before work begins on saving my District. I didn't know last night if he would live - maybe they'll get to say a final goodbye, now that he's out of danger."
"I'm glad you think that way." Juushirou nodded. "When you've gone, I'll go see him - but I wanted to leave them a while, too. Tokutarou-sama said Etsuo-san stayed with Shunsui all night...I think it's right they get to talk before they say goodbye. For both of their sakes."
"Yes. It's the right thing." Midori agreed comfortably. "After all, who knows if they'll meet again?"