Chapter Twenty Six – Holy Rose
Shunsui set the large black-bound volume down on his brother's desk, letting out a heavy sigh as he reluctantly began to flip through the aging pages of tightly scripted kanji.
It was the next day - a beautiful day made for sleeping in and then lounging in the gardens under the shade of one of the big trees, watching the world go by. It was only an hour or two after dawn, yet already he was dressed, his straggling curls even brushed into some semblance of their roughly neat waviness. He had so far resisted the Clan fashion of tying it back with an ornate clasp, but even so, he had made more effort that morning to look like a Clan successor than he had done in a long time. At his throat, the dusty pendant of the Kyouraku Clan hung heavily beneath the fine fabric of his dark grey kimono and pale pink kataginu, and though he had felt compelled to wear it for this purpose, he was still conscious of its weight around his neck.
Tokutarou had ridden from the estate before dawn, for the Council had called and he had gone to attend one of their long and invariably dull meetings. For this reason, Shunsui had worn his pendant, for it had been given to him by his brother in the first place and signified his position as heir of the Clan. With it, in Tokutarou's absence, he remembered, he had apparently gained the right to give instructions - and with grim resolution he had decided to put that theory to the test right away.
As a result, he had easily gained access to Tokutarou's locked study, and Yasuhiro had made absolutely no complaint at all when he had asked the tall, broadly built retainer to help lift heavy volumes down from one of the higher shelves. Now Shunsui was alone, and for the past two hours he had gone through them carefully one by one, searching for any record that might mention Aizen Shiori.
So far he had not had any success.
The volume that now lay before him was one of the oldest Tokutarou still kept in the study that had once belonged to his father. All Clans had tomes like this - pages and pages of dull as dishwater genealogy in order that, should they ever need to prove their blood lineage, it would all be easily there and available for anyone to see. The Kyouraku had once been a far bigger Clan, Shunsui knew, for he had been forced to listen to lectures on the subject when he had been a boy of ten or eleven, yearning to escape his classroom for the fields and lake beyond. Yet he had not found any reference to 'Aizen' anywhere in the more recent volumes and, even so far back as the reidoku controversy, the name had not appeared anywhere in the text.
Shunsui was on the verge of giving up.
He sighed again, turning the pages once more and skimming over the paragraph as he stifled a yawn.
"Kyouraku Matsuhiko; eldest son of Kyouraku Shintarou espoused Kyouraku Aimi, begot Kyouraku Junichi, son and heir espoused Noraya Keiko deceased without issue..."
He muttered, rubbing his temples as the words blurred slightly before his gaze.
"For heaven's sake, you'd think they'd at least attempt to make this interesting. A few murders, a couple of scandalous affairs...even a tea party at the cousins' house would be a welcome change. But all these long lists of names and relationships. You'd think that..Ah!"
He paused, his finger stopping alongside a column of kanji as he caught sight of something.
Aizen Genjurou, eldest son of Aizen Shinichirou espoused Kyouraku Yuuko, begot Aizen Massuke, son and heir, plus female issue...Aizen Massuke deceased as child, no further issue.
"Female issue."
Shunsui tapped the page pensively.
Fourth degree, western territories...and an Aizen at long last. It fits with what I remember from those boring lectures as a boy. The Aizen were one of the Western Kyouraku families, but it looks like their line died out when this Massuke kid died. Two hundred years ago, then. That's a long time. Too long to be significant? Maybe. And maybe it's not even the same family. But I need to know for sure...
He shut the book, getting to his feet once more and crossing the study to where a smaller shelf of books flanked the wall. As he approached them, his gaze fell on the sword that still hung decoratively above them, and he frowned, gazing at the sheathed blade for a moment.
Tensonshin. Father's blade.
Tokutarou had kept it there as a symbol, Shunsui knew. It not only indicated Tokutarou's position as Matsuhara's heir and therefore his right to rule the Clan, but it also served as a reminder that the family was Gotei, even though at present no member wore the Kyouraku haori. Shunsui half suspected that Tokutarou had kept it there for a third reason, too - as an icon of Matsuhara's betrayal at the hands of his own kin. Tokutarou had known their father far better than Shunsui ever had, and had grieved for him all the more deeply as a result. For this reason, he had chosen to honour the man who, in the end, had retreated from his duties in search of placating his troubled conscience. It was a way for Tokutarou to prove to his Clan that he was Kyouraku, even if his mother had been Shiba.
He ran his finger along the row of books now, pausing at one and pulling it out from its resting place.
Each of these detailed more specifically the families of the Clan by date and region, and as he searched through, Shunsui was aware of several vague references to the Aizen family. Then, at last, he reached the final references - the family of Aizen Genjurou and his ill-fated son.
"Aizen Genjurou, of fourth degree kinship, recognised heir of Aizen Shinichirou late of the western provinces as granted by the Lord of the Kyouraku Shunsuke-sama to serve within the council of the Clan and be as such recognised as blood of the Clan even through marriage and through his heirs. And of his wife, Kyouraku Yuuko, born of third degree kinship yet youngest child with three brothers that she be formally recognised hereon in as belonging to the family of Aizen Genjurou and to consider this her true connection and society from the point of matrimony onwards. And of their issue, should they beget any, that they be considered heirs, if sons, and if they be daughters to be accepted that as Clan they may move in the same society."
He read the antiquated text out loud, absorbing each word of the entry carefully as he did so.
"Aizen Massuke, son of Aizen Genjurou and late heir of the western estates having died before reaching his majority, and having been put at peace by the lawful blade of his Clan it shall be recorded here that the estate of Aizen Genjurou should pass not through his two daughters but through his legitimate cousin yet of half Urahara blood and that on the death of Aizen Genjurou such matters should be put in place in order to provide for the daughters of the aforesaid Aizen Genjurou, namely the hime known by the names of Fuyumi and Shiori. And that at this point the Council will ratify the claim of his successor through the usual channels."
Aizen Shiori.
A smile touched Shunsui's lips.
Well well. Have I found you?
He turned the page over, reading down the columns with a sudden second wind.
"And be it arranged in all formality here that Aizen Shiori, youngest and only surviving child of Aizen Genjurou, of two years tragically deceased by lawful blade of his own Clan to prevent the sickness be hereby adjudged clear of the taint of disease. And it with all honour that her guardian as given in the last will and testament of the late lord Genjurou should accept the proposal of her guardian and cousin to become Lady of the westlands as though born of that line by right and to consolidate the claim of her lord cousin Atsuhiko by all peers here accepted as lord of the western province, though he be of half Urahara blood and therefore his claim was ajudged before the Clan council and found to be right and proper. Let it be thus recorded that of that match have been with success three daughters who by common fame are known as Masako, Shiori and Sanao, to be betrothed at their Father's pleasure to any of good blood."
Shunsui shut the volume with a snap, sending up a small cloud of dust as he did so.
The Aizen family died out - because of disease or because it was a disease the Clan didn't want to spread, and so they slaughtered them instead of letting them fester and die a natural death. The one daughter survived, though, married her father's cousin and had a daughter of her own by the same name. And at that point...the story stops. There's no more reference to Aizen so I guess that Atsuhiko didn't have a son and heir and that his lands were divided among other relatives. Meanwhile, his daughter...the second Shiori...would be of the right age to have married an Urahara. And if the guardian - the cousin that poor girl had to marry - was already half Urahara, then I suppose he had the connections to get his daughter married off to someone high up in their heirarchy, too. Urahara Keitsune, perhaps. It would fit. It would all fit. This second Shiori married Urahara Keitsune, they had a son...then all hell broke loose. And since the Kyouraku were as messed up as any Clan by the reidoku, Shiori-dono didn't reach out to our kinsfolk for help.
He slid the book back into the bookcase with a sigh.
But one thing is for sure, thank goodness. We're dealing with an ancient and distant connection. Kin they may be - but all of this would take the family outside of the four degrees of our Clan, even if that's not true for the Urahara side of it. Which means...this can't fall on Nii-sama's head. Since no Clan leader is responsible for the actions of a blood relative born outside the four degrees of Clan.
A rueful smile twitched at the corners of his mouth.
Damn, now I'm starting to think like a nobleman. If I'm not careful, I might actually begin to care about these things.
He fingered the pendant around his neck, running his touch over the carved surface that marked out the emblem of the Kyouraku.
Or more likely, I care about Nii-sama and that Seimaru doesn't find a way to warp this in order to get his revenge on District Eight for all the recent hostility.
As he stood there, contemplating, he was suddenly aware of the faintest prickle of energy from the area around him. He frowned, his senses immediately on the alert as he wondered if one of his brother's many loyal retainers had come to find him, but as he caught a clearer hold of the unexpected sensation he realised that, while it was vaguely familiar to him, he could not match it with any of the men who ran Tokutarou's estate on a daily basis. He turned, glancing around him, but there was no sign of anyone and, as he listened, no sound of footfalls on the stairs or in the corridor leading up to the study door.
He was quite alone, yet somehow he knew he wasn't, and the hairs pricked up on the back of his neck as he tried to make sense of the odd feeling.
As though I'm being watched.
As though something here is watching me...even though I can't see anyone at all.
He bit his lip, shaking his head as if to clear it, but although the signal remained low and indistinct, he could still feel it prickling across his senses and stealing its way through his natural defences to his core.
Whatever it was knew what it was doing, and, probably, precisely what it was looking for as it sneaked more deeply through his wits, burrowing itself inside of him as though examining him from the inside out.
At that moment Shunsui turned his head, his heart almost stilling in his chest as, out of the corner of his eye he became aware of a faint, ethereal glow in the area of the room where he had just been standing. He swung around, his eyes widening in disbelief as he registered the iridescent opal sheen that now bathed the wall in a haze of light...and within the haze, just clear enough for Shunsui to make it out was the sheathed weapon that, for eight years, had hung silent and dead as a symbol of nothing more than his brother's right to power.
Tensonshin.
Despite himself, Shunsui was frightened.
Although he did not consider himself an expert on zanpakutou, he knew that they were partners and servants of the men and women who wielded them and, as such, died when their masters died, their spiritual power evaporating into dust and merging with the ether that charged the air around them with light and sound. Some did not even leave blades, he remembered, their souls being so connected to the wielder that they too disintegrated into ethereal dust, leaving behind nothing more than a legend of their past exploits.
Yet Matsuhara's sword had not disappeared. Shunsui still remembered vividly the day his father had died...and that, when the weapon had clattered to the ground, it had simply lain there as Matsuhara's grief and pain had flooded out into the chamber, paralysing his son's sensitive wits and changing the course of the family for ever.
Matsuhara had died, but Tensonshin had remained. Still, though, in eight years the sword had remained here...and in eight years, it had been nothing more than a dead, empty shell of a blade. Since he had returned here, Shunsui had not once felt even the faintest of spiritual pulses emanating from the sealed weapon, and had had absolutely no reason to suspect that any such power still resided inside of it. And yet, in that moment, there was no mistaking it.
The light that shone forth in the sunshiny study now, brighter than the light of the sun itself...that light came from Tensonshin.
Tensonshin...was not a dead blade after all.
For a moment Shunsui simply stared at it, unsure what to do.
Part of him was pierced with terror, memories of his Father's murder all too readily flooding his mind as for an instant he was six years old again. But the other part of him - the part who had grown up and learnt to cope with the pressures of his Clan - prevented him from fleeing the study altogether. He was afraid, yet he was also curious. Impossible though it might be, it was not his imagination.
And whatever the reason, I ought to do something about it. Before Nii-sama comes home and I have to explain why he has a new Kidou lamp installed over this shelf instead of a dead man's sword.
Steeling himself, Shunsui took a hesitant step towards it, then another, and then another, stopping a foot or so away from the glittering blade. Now he was this close, he could see that the buzz of light was being forced from within the sheath, creating the unnatural haze effect, and almost without thinking about it he reached up his hand, moving his fingers to brush against the hilt of the weapon.
As he did so, he almost thought he could hear crying, and he jerked back, swallowing hard as he tried to make sense of the equation. For a brief instant, he had felt a connection to the weapon. And then, in the next, it had been gone.
But this is not my sword. I can't wield this sword. I can't even communicate with it. It belongs to Father. It's nothing to do with me.
After repeating this to himself a couple more times, he gathered his courage once more, gripping the hilt firmly in his right hand and pulling the blade cleanly free of the mounted sheath that fixed it to the wall. As he drew the weapon out, he almost dropped it in surprise for, instead of the slightly rusty, fading metal he remembered from the reluctant duel against his Uncle, the blade of the weapon glittered and glistened with pure white light, its edges suddenly smooth and sharp, and its surface more beautiful than any metal Shunsui had ever seen in his life before. A spiritual swordsmith had crafted this blade, he reflected absently, turning the weapon so that the sunlight from outside caught against its glimmering surface. It truly was a weapon from heaven...was that why, even now, it glowed after its master's death?
Gingerly, as though it were made of delicate glass, Shunsui brushed the index finger of his left hand against the beautiful blade, feeling the soft humming of the spirit deep within. Yet now he knew it was not the hum of a free zanpakutou spirit, prepared to rush into battle on the whim of its master's choosing. Matsuhara was dead, and so, therefore, was Tensonshin. This was no longer a battle weapon. It had not awoken to fight a second time. It was instead simply trapped...rejected and sealed by the man who had summoned it and therefore severed from him, even in death.
A useless weapon made so by a man who didn't want to fight.
Despite himself, Shunsui felt tears pricking at the back of his eyes as he understood the heavy, lingering sadness that throbbed deep within the weapon's savaged consciousness.
You're not alive, and I can't speak to you. But yet you call out to me, because you can't move on. I've never heard it before - or seen you glitter like this. But maybe I've never tried to. Perhaps I've just assumed you were dead, too - just like everyone else.
He closed his eyes, feeling the blade's grief against his own raw memories of his father.
You and I both, Tensonshin. In the end, he abandoned us both. Perhaps that's why you reached out to me like this. After all, I don't suppose I've ever been inside this room alone before now. Perhaps it is only me...that you wanted to make understand.
The books forgotten for the time being, Shunsui settled himself down beside the window, setting the weapon down on the ledge beside him as he gazed out at the grounds beyond. As a very small boy he had run riot here, yet he had never truly understood the depth of his father's neglect until the day he had seen Matsuhara die.
The day he had chosen to die, rather than fight and kill his brother.
He pursed his lips, suddenly angry.
"The day he chose to run away and leave Tokutarou-nii and I to struggle on, somehow - not to mention Okaasama." He said slowly, speaking out loud even though he knew the shimmering weapon could not reply to him. "I've never seen it that way before, Tensonshin. I've always felt that it's better to run away or to die than it is to fight your own people. And I still feel that...that Clan should not kill Clan. That that's wrong, to spill the blood of your own. But...but in the end...Father was weak, wasn't he? He was smart and capable and gifted...but in the end...he was weak."
He ran his fingers through his thick hair, as flashes of another encounter suddenly filled his mind. The image of a black demon, red eyes glowing out of skeletal features as it made demand after demand dashed across his senses and he bit his lip, his gaze falling once more on Tensonshin's blade.
"That's what he was trying to tell me, too. That demon. In that fever-induced dream." He murmured, reaching across to brush the weapon once more as though by touching it he could somehow soothe its lingering pain. "That I was going to end up like my Father. Maybe it was me, after all, warning myself of that fact. Or maybe it wasn't. I suppose I'll never know. But...since then...I suppose I have changed my outlook. And now...I've never before felt so strongly about protecting my Clan. I've never felt so resolute about it - or so relieved to find out that someone I thought might be a blood relative is actually too distant a one to count. Is that why you reached out to me, Tensonshin? Because for the first time I actually felt my Clan pride stir inside of me?"
"Shunsui-dono?"
A voice from the doorway made him start, half-convinced for a moment that it had been the sword that had spoken, but as he caught sight of Rae in the entrance of the study, he sighed, offering her a rueful smile as he took in the confusion in her expression.
"I'm sorry. I thought Tokutarou-sama might have returned, since I heard voices." Rae bit her lip. "Who...were you talking to?"
Shunsui glanced down at the sword beside him, seeing that the weapon had ceased to glimmer, its surface becoming once more dulled and old. He smiled, shaking his head.
"Myself, I suppose." He said sheepishly, getting to his feet and picking up his father's sword. "Or Father. One or the other."
"That's....Matsuhara-sama's zanpakutou, isn't it?" Rae's gaze flitted to the weapon, and Shunsui nodded.
"Tensonshin. Yes." He agreed. "But it's just a sword now. Father is gone. Just...I don't have many memories of him, really. So it's a memento, if you like. Of someone I never quite knew properly."
"I see." As Shunsui returned the weapon to its sheath, Rae's expression became thoughtful and she slipped into the study proper, sliding the door shut behind her. "Tokutarou-sama has told me about your Father - about what a brilliant Shinigami he was, and how it destroyed him in the end. But you must have been young...when he died. I barely remember the news arriving - and you and I are of an age."
"I was six." Shunsui agreed. "And though he was never properly a Father to me, I suppose I still wish he hadn't died. Well, you do, don't you? When it's someone you don't feel you know as well as you should."
He gazed up at Tensonshin, then,
"Father stopped fighting because he didn't want to hurt the souls of the tortured creatures he was sent to kill." He murmured. "He didn't want to take down the Hollows, because he knew they felt pain and he empathised with them. Everyone one he slew, he felt more and more grief for. In the end, he couldn't handle it any longer. He ran from it and buried his emotions in other things. He cared too much in the end about the duty his family had made him do."
"Like that it sounds like a tragedy." Rae murmured, and Shunsui nodded.
"I've always thought so. A tragedy that ended with him being murdered by my Uncle." He agreed soberly. "And even now I don't forgive that - I've never forgiven my Uncle for turning on his own brother like that. But...till recently, I always supported my Father's way of seeing things. That he didn't want to make the Hollows suffer. That he didn't want to have to hurt anyone. That...he shouldn't have had to do that in the first place."
"And now?" Rae asked gently. Shunsui grimaced.
"Yesterday at the refugee camp, I saw real suffering." He said evenly. "I've never been very good at acting...I've always kind of let things flow by for the most part. But seeing those people...hearing their stories...made me realise that Father wasn't always right. Little by little I'm realising that...well...sometimes you have to fight. Sometimes there are battles...even if you don't want to...that you'll regret not fighting. Battles Father should have fought with Tensonshin...and yet never did, and now never will."
"Battles against Hollows?" Rae looked surprised, and Shunsui shook his head.
"Battles against other people." He said simply. "Battles against the elements of this world that allow families to flee in terror and pain in search of sanctuary whilst those who persecute them are left to do as they place. Battles against people who kill other people and never face retribution. The world's an unfair place and the older I get, the more I dislike it."
He looked at her, taking in the thoughtful expression in her eyes, and he offered her a rueful smile.
"I've always felt like that." He admitted. "And I had begun to think it was time I started to act...so I stopped cutting my classes and began to learn how to be a Shinigami. But...I think...for the first time now it's something more than that. Today...yesterday...recently. I've begun to realise that if Father had fought some of those battles, a lot less people might have suffered. I don't condone killing - especially not a member of your own Clan. But..."
"If such a deed must be done, let it be done by a Clan leader." Rae murmured softly. "So as he can take the blame and guilt from his people and yet let them live."
"I beg your pardon?" Shunsui stared at her, and Rae grinned, spreading her hands.
"It's in an old book my Father has." She said with a shrug. "It was one of the many volumes I used to have to write passages from in order to perfect writing kanji neatly and precisely. So I remember it...learnt it by heart, I suppose. The way of leadership...at least, something like that."
She looked sheepish.
"I'm sorry. It wasn't my place to comment, was it?"
"No. I prefer it if you do." Shunsui assured her. "And that's it. That's it exactly."
He sighed.
"I'd never be a good Clan leader." He admitted. "Because I still run away from things a little. I could end up like Father, in the end, so it's a job I really don't want. But I will take the haori. And I will do that job, even if I can't do what Nii-sama does."
He grinned at her.
"So I told him to marry you. That way, you can give him sons and I'll be off the hook." He said casually. "Seems a fair deal to me - don't you think?"
"Then you accept me?" Rae looked surprised, and Shunsui nodded.
"No reason not to." He agreed cheerfully. "Nii-sama likes you, and you're my cousin, so I should too. Besides, it's more likely you that needs to accept me. I'm the troublemaker, after all - the one who doesn't follow convention."
"Perhaps not." Rae said cautiously. "But even so, Tokutarou-sama thinks highly of you. And I do not think he gives such opinions lightly."
"Maybe." Shunsui acknowledged. "But he's also a little biased. Mother too. My record is at the very least somewhat blemished...so don't make up your mind too soon that I'm safe to be around."
He offered her a rakish grin, and Rae gave him a smile in return.
"I'm not worried." She assured him. "A hime has to marry, and I could do far worse than to marry my Clan's leader. And besides, Shunsui-dono...I think I'm going to like spending time in your company, too. You have a refreshing view of things and I admire that...I hope that we'll talk again, and many, many more times into the future."
"You'll probably regret that idea." Shunsui warned her, then he relented, shrugging his shoulders. "But if it's what you want, I won't object. I'm as determined as you are to make this work out - if for no other reason than Nii-sama needs to stop dallying and get married before all the pretty girls are gone."
Rae laughed, shaking her head in amusement.
"You're really not very formal at all, are you?" She reflected, and Shunsui shook his head.
"Nope. In fact, at school, a couple of my classmates like to call me on it." He said with a rueful grin. "I've never really been fond of stuck up manners and things like that. If it wasn't for the fact that you were here to marry my brother, in fact...and that Mother and he both told me to be on my best behaviour or else...I'd have made Rae-chan of you already."
"Rae-chan, huh." Rae was silent for a moment, then she shrugged.
"When I marry Tokutarou-sama, you can call me Rae-chan." She suggested. "And I'll call you Shunsui-kun, too. Because then we'll be brother and sister as well as cousins and, well...here's a long way from my home and my family. I might not see them very often, so I want to know that this can be a family place too."
"It's a deal." Shunsui's eyes twinkled and he nodded. "After all, we're the same age. So it makes sense...I don't really want to call you "Oneesama" if I can help it."
"Two months isn't enough for you to do that!" Rae looked horrified. "I think I'd hate that...being called Oneesama by someone who's one day going to wear the haori of this Clan! So you're never allowed to call me that - all right? You can call me Rae-chan - and that's that."
Shunsui looked amused.
"You've dropped your careful formality." He observed casually, moving to the desk to collect together the old volumes Yasuhiro had lifted down. "When you speak to Tokutarou-nii - and to me, too, till now - your language has been very careful and precise. But that way you don't get to know anything about anyone. Now you're talking to me normally - I like it much better."
Rae looked taken aback for a moment, then she laughed, shrugging her shoulders.
"You really are as smart as your brother says." She reflected. "Even though you knock people off guard with your mode of address - I see it now. The way you see through people and know what to expect. It's almost a frightening talent, Shunsui-dono...except that I don't think you're a frightening person. On the contrary, I think you're the opposite - so perhaps that's why the Clan expect you to take the haori after all."
"We'll see." Shunsui pursed his lips. "In any case, you can talk to me as you like. I won't be offended - I'd prefer it that way. My other sister calls me an idiot and a moron and several other things besides, after all...I'm used to it by now."
"Your...other sister?" Rae looked blank. "But you...don't have any sisters. Do you?"
"No. Not really." Shunsui chuckled. "But you'll have heard Nii-sama talk about Sora-chan, I'm sure. He was raised with her family, after all. Sora's a Shiba, and my classmate at the Academy. She and I share no blood at all - but because she grew up with him, she calls Tokutarou-nii Oniisama as well. So I say she's like my sister, too. She doesn't stand on ceremony either...she says exactly what she thinks."
"Oh, I see." Rae's face cleared. "Yes, I have heard him mention the Shiba hime...and her brothers, too. I hadn't realised you were so close, though - as you said, you're not blood relatives. But then, when you say it like that, it does make sense. I look forward to meeting her, then."
"Yes." Shunsui hesitated for a moment, then, "When you do, take my advice. Speak to her as she speaks to you. Don't hide anything in pretty manners and fine robes...Sora won't accept you if you act like that. And I think...Sora needs to accept you...maybe even make you another honorary sibling for this to go well. She's very fond of Nii-sama, you see - he was with her family since before she was born, and she's a touch protective over him even now. So if you're yourself from the start, and honest and open, I think...she'll accept you. If you're not..."
"Even though the Shiba are so much stronger a Clan than our own?" Rae looked doubtful, and Shunsui nodded.
"Even so." He agreed. "The bond between our people and theirs is formed of familial affection, not politics. You'll do best if you follow that lead - trust me."
"Then I'll take your advice." Rae dimpled. "And probably I'll ask much more of it too, since you know far more about Tokutarou-sama than I do and there are things I don't like to ask an adult like Yoshiko-basama about. If we're to be brother and sister, then I can trust you, can't I? To tell me the things I need to know."
"Depending on what they are, I can try." Shunsui agreed. "I'm done here now, in any case, and I can't reach to put the books back, so I'll have to ask Yasuhiro to do it for me. Once I've done that, we could walk out across the grounds and down to the flower garden? It's not quite as nice as the lake I used to play by at my Uncle's house...but it's pretty enough and a lot of the flowers in bloom there don't flower well in northern climes. Not even in this District, so I've been told."
"All right." Rae nodded. "We'll walk and talk and you can tell me about your brother."
"If you trust my opinion so easily." Shunsui pushed aside the encounter with Tensonshin for the time being, casting the girl a playful smile. "Seeing as we're strangers too just yet."
"Yes, in a way." Rae agreed. "But...I don't think so, not that much."
She shrugged.
"You see, you told me some things just now about your Father. True things about him that you said with all honesty and without any embellishment." She added softly. "You could have shouted at me for intruding, or simply told me it was not my business to ask questions about the previous Lord of this Clan. But you didn't reply like that. You answered my question as though I was already part of your family...and I liked that, Shunsui-dono. I liked it a lot."
"Well, we're cousins, so you already are." Shunsui said simply. "Besides..."
He grinned ruefully, shrugging his shoulders.
"A friend of mine is good at that...at easily telling people things without hesitation." He said pensively. "I haven't always talked openly about Father at all - but now I do, and I'm glad I do. So really, it's probably that friend's influence that I can. Not any great social gift of my own."
He laughed.
"Most girls think I'm a pervert, an idiot, or both." He added lightly. "You don't think I'm either of the above?"
"I've seen no evidence of either so far." Rae's gaze became teasing, and Shunsui grinned.
"Well, if we're brother and sister, that counts out the first." He said pragmatically. "And as for the second...I suppose you're not easily misled by things either, in the end. Like Mother...you're no fool either. But that's a good thing. Nii-sama shouldn't marry a fool. So in the end, it's all well, isn't it?"
"I suppose it is." Rae laughed, holding out her arm for Shunsui to take. "Then if that's decided, let's walk out where you suggested. After all, I'll probably be staying here for good now that I've come here. And before any arrangements become official, I want to know and see everything about this estate so that I can truly call it my home!"
The pathway was long and winding, stretching out into the distance to a place further than the eyes could see. Somewhere in the hazy atmosphere ahead, Shunsui thought that he could see mountains, but they were uneven and indistinct, cloaked in rippling shadow and somehow like illusions that no matter how far he walked, he never seemed to draw near. The stones beneath his feet crunched with every step, and as he glanced down, for the briefest of moments he thought that he was stepping on fragments of bone - tiny, charred chips of peoples lives cast down to the ground for the nobility to walk over.
At this horrifying thought, he stopped dead, hesitating for a moment as the fragments seemed to prick through the base of his sandals to his feet below. Were his socks really reddening with the colour of his blood, or was that simply the dying embers of the summer sun as it set slowly over the landscape?
But he had decided now, that he was not simply going to run away.
Slowly, very slowly, Shunsui gathered his courage, bending down and reaching out a tentative hand to touch the small white and black pieces that coated the stones of the path in a thin yet constant layer. His fingers brushed against them then, gritting his teeth, he gathered a handful, lifting them and tilting his palm towards the fading light as he tried to make out what they were. As the sun set and the darkness spread, tongues of blackness lapped over the hills and valleys. They drew closer and closer to his crouched form, yet as they pulled near to him they parted, circling around him as though something in his aura was keeping them at bay.
As he hesitated, trying to work out what he was seeing, the fragments that he had touched began to glitter and shimmer with strange opal light. From the darkening sky something above him seemed to shine out of the blackness, as one by one the stars over his head began to twinkle and the moon, bright and bold in its velvet backdrop bathed him in its comforting night time glow.
It had been the gentle brush of the moonlight that had touched the fragments, he decided, and then the next minute he was not so sure, as the light surrounding them grew brighter and each one began to change slightly, first shifting from white to the most pastel of yellow, blue or pink and then, before his disbelieving gaze, each one unfurled, producing delicate crystal-like petals like nothing he had ever seen before. In the unreal glimmer of the moonlight, Shunsui watched the once-dead pieces spread out into colourful blooms, each one unique and shining, and each one as perfectly formed as the one before.
"And so, you see, Shunsui, what happens when you act."
The voice was gentle and teasing, soft-spoken and like the tinkle of wind-chimes blowing gently in a summer breeze. Shunsui swung around, hunting for the speaker, but she was nowhere to be seen and all around him suddenly he was aware of the moving earth, as one by one fresh green shoots burst through the ash-blackened ground, shaking the dirt from their leaves as they raised determined heads of blossom to the welcoming evening sky. Shunsui bit his lip, his grip on the flowers in his hand tightening slightly as he tried to work out where he was and what was happening.
Was it even ash? Or was it something else that had engulfed this surreal landscape? Had it truly burned, or was it just an illusion of the light - land cast in shadow because the light of the moon could not reach?
He stared at the blooms in his hand, then out at the ones sprouting through the darkness, and his eyes widened. One by one, they were moving - shifting from between his fingers to root in the ground far beyond his reach. It was as though he had put them there, and yet he knew he had not moved from this spot where the moonlight shone brightly down around him. Yet even so, there was no mistaking it. The same flowers that had bloomed between his touch were now blooming across the way - each one delicate and perfect as it raised its head towards the sky.
Like some kind of illusion. Witchcraft...magic I don't understand.
"You're confused. You shouldn't be. This is your doing, after all - you make the flowers bloom here."
Now the voice was louder, and Shunsui turned back, this time making out the tiny, ethereal form of a young girl skipping daintily along the pathway towards him. It had seemed as though she had come from nowhere - or perhaps she too had been born from the shadow, starting in one place and yet somehow emerging in another.
As she got closer, Shunsui realised that she was not a child at all, but a young woman, yet elfin in build and appearance so that, had he been standing fully upright, she would probably not reach even as far as his waist. She wore flowing robes of white, each interwoven with the most delicate sprays of pink and grey blossom. Her hair, silver and glinting in the moon's light was wound back from her face in an ornate style, threads of gold and tiny pink flowers woven in a crown across the top. Her eyes were violet in hue, deep and full of both emotion and mischief, and her skin was almost as pale as the moon's as she let out a rippling peal of laughter, reaching out her tiny fingers to brush them against Shunsui's own.
In the moment that they touched, Shunsui felt a mix of sensations and memories flood through him, and then, just as soon as they had begun, the images stopped.
He stared at her, completely confused by this point, and the girl put her head on one side, reaching out to pluck one of the flowers from his curled grip. She held it up to him, eying him with resignation.
"Don't you understand, yet, what these things are? Really, you are far too slow-witted sometimes. I expected more of you, considering that you heard Tensonshin's tears."
"Ten...sonshin?" Shunsui gathered his wits, staring at the girl as if seeing her for the first time. "This has something...are you...am I dreaming? Dreaming about Father's blade? Dreaming about...what happened this afternoon? When I took Rae-hime into the gardens, and before, when I...when I touched...Father's zanpakutou blade?"
"Tensonshin has waited for a long time for you to hear its voice." The girl looked sad, true grief in the purple eyes. "But you weren't ready to understand yet, and so it waited. And we waited too, Shunsui. Me especially. I'd made up my mind, you see, that I wouldn't speak to you until the time was right. Until Tensonshin reached you...I'd stay back and not say a word. Even if it meant you died in the meantime, or descended into madness and failure. I needed you to understand everything properly - to understand what was right and wrong and make up your mind without my interference. But for a while I thought you wouldn't...that maybe you never would at all."
She smiled, an in an instant the melancholy was replaced by dazzling joy.
"But it didn't happen like that!" She said happily, setting the flower back down and wrapping her doll-like digits around his index fingers as she met his confounded look with a grin of triumph. "And now I'm here, and we can talk at last. I'm so glad we can, Shunsui. We've not been able to yet...but I wanted you to see this place. And understand it, too. Though you have been here before...the last time you came it was dead and dying and we didn't know whether you'd survive the flames."
"Flames?"
As fragments of memory began to slot themselves together, Shunsui realised with a jolt that he had indeed been in this place before. A place where, pursued by the fires of Seimaru's curse he had hidden in the hopes of sanctuary, and yet had met a demon, a black, bat-winged, skeletal demon, who had wilted the flowers and who had, his red eyes piercing Shunsui's very soul, threatened to send him down to Hell himself.
Shunsui frowned at this, and as though she could read his thoughts, the girl nodded.
"Yes. You met Amaki, then." She agreed. "You remember it now, I think? Good. That makes it easier. I wasn't sure how much you did know - but I thought that the flowers at least...they'd help you. And it seems I was right."
"Amaki." Shunsui said the name softly, a chill running through him as he spoke the creature's name, then, as another thought struck him, "Wait! In that case...are you...Seibara?"
"You know my name?!" The girl seemed delighted by this, her grip on his hands tightening as she made a little skipping movement. "Even though Amaki only said it the once, even though you never saw my face before...you still know my name? You still remember...even after all this time! You know that I'm Seibara - does that mean that you know who I am?"
Despite himself, Shunsui smiled at her sudden excitement. He settled himself more comfortably on the pathway, shaking his head.
"No. I don't." He admitted. "My memories of your friend are hazy, too, so you'll have to explain. Preferably without inviting him here - the last time we spoke, we didn't exactly see eye to eye."
"That's because you were different, then. You'd given up and were running away." Seibara eyed him reproachfully, settling down on the ground opposite and folding her hands in her lap. "You made the flowers die, and that made Amaki angry. It made me angry too, Shunsui. You'd killed all your hope and were just hiding, waiting for death. And that's...how Tensonshin died, you know. Died but didn't die...trapped by a master just waiting for death."
And then, with a sudden, blazing flare of understanding, Shunsui realised what she meant.
"Tensonshin was Father's sword. Father's zanpakutou that he summoned then abandoned." He murmured. "And you know about it...and about the way it feels. Even though I'm the only living person who could know...since it's never done what it did today before. But you know...don't you? You know even more than I do. And Amaki...he knew too? You both know...about Tensonshin?"
"Of course we do." Seibara said matter-of-factly. "We're his children, after all."
"His...children?" Shunsui whispered, then, "No, that's not what you mean. You're not the children of Tensonshin...that's not what you're telling me, is it? You're telling me you're Matsuhara's children - Father's children. That Tensonshin was part of Father and that you...both of you...are part of me? That you...are...my...zanpakutou?"
The last words were little more than a whisper, but Seibara let out a shriek of joy, bounding to her feet and flinging her tiny arms around Shunsui's neck as she hugged him tightly.
"You do understand!" She exclaimed. "Amaki said you wouldn't, but you do! You haven't pushed us away, and you do want to talk to us..."
She hesitated, then held him at arm's length, gazing at him in sudden hesitation.
"You...will talk to us?" She murmured, and for a moment, Shunsui saw fear in her eyes. "I couldn't be sure about it, before. Not before today. But your spirit to protect rose up and Tensonshin reached you...so I thought perhaps you were starting to be ready. That instead of shutting us away again, now you might be ready to learn the things we have to teach you?"
Shunsui sighed, raising a hand to brush away the faintest of iridescent tear drops that glittered suddenly against Seibara's ghostly lashes.
"I've hurt you." He murmured. "Like Father hurt Tensonshin. So Amaki was angry with me. And so you're worried, too. That I'll do the same thing, and leave you in pain the way Father left Tensonshin."
Seibara lowered her gaze, brushing her toes absently against the charred pathway.
"Nobody likes to be abandoned." She said softly. "You know that, and so do we. You've felt it, so so do we. But we were afraid you'd abandon us...yes. That you wouldn't find us at all."
"So this...is not a dream?"
"It is a dream." Seibara nodded. "But it's also a message. In sleep, you drop your barriers further than when you're awake. It's easier to make contact with you then. You're strong-willed and stubborn, and you like to keep us at bay by doing the minimum you need to to keep up. Because of it...well...there's already enough work to do."
She released her hold on him, bending to pick up another fragment and holding it out.
"I can see your thoughts, so I know when you first looked, you thought it was bone." She said quietly. "That's because you automatically think the worst. And more, you blame yourself for things that can't have been your fault. So you see nightmares and they become nightmares inside of you. Your self-doubt and self-loathing takes over and guides you...and so then these are bone, because that's what you see them as being."
She closed her hand around the fragment, then,
"But they can just as easily be seeds." She whispered, opening her fist again to reveal the tiny, crystal blossom. "The starts of new life, not the ends of old ones. Which way it is is up to you, in the end, Shunsui. How you play the game decides whether you win or lose."
"Life isn't exactly a game. Not everything works out as neatly and precisely as that." Shunsui murmured, and Seibara dimpled, shrugging her shoulders.
"It's no different. It has ups and downs, wins and losses, just like any other." She said flippantly. "You should remember that. Winning the game depends on your strength of will. Whether you want to fill this place with decay and death or growth and life is up to you. You're the only one playing, after all."
Shunsui eyed her for a moment, digesting this carefully. Then,
"So is Amaki the decay, and you the growth?" He asked softly.
At this Seibara laughed, shaking her head in amusement.
"He'd be angry, if he heard that." She chided him gently. "In truth, Amaki's the easier of the two of us to work with. His lessons are easier to learn than mine - mine carry far harder challenges and may cause you much more difficulty, in the end. Amaki simply wants you to hold up your head - to not run away, and to face the demons that you like to hide from. Utilise them, if you can. Make them bend to your will instead of being victim to their negative whims. He's been wrapped in your depression for along time, and has absorbed it since you were small - so his appearance became warped and fearsome as a result. He took that sacrifice for you - from your Father's death to the agonies of that boy's fire curse, Amaki has always been the one to take the brunt of your pain. He's angry and he's bitter and he has many lessons he'd like to lash into you. Perhaps he is dark where I am light - he is shadow where I shine. Yet even so...he is not decay."
"He...was warped by...my depression?" Shunsui swallowed hard, then, "I made him...like that?"
"Of course." Seibara said impatiently. "We're within you. This place is within you. Both of us are extensions of you, so of course it was you who did. Who else would it have been?"
"But I...didn't mean to..."
"No, but that's how it is, so there's no need to make it worse for him by sinking back into self-despair." Seibara said with a shrug.
"But...and you? What...about you? Did I hurt you too?"
"You didn't warp me." Seibara looked sad. "But you didn't let me grow, either. I'm as old as you, but I'm still only the size of a child. I represent light, I told you - and the positive traits that lurk within you. Things like your resolve, Shunsui. And now you've stopped growing, I too won't grow any taller. Because you never had resolve until today...this is how I am and, as an independent spirit, how I'll always be."
"So I warped one of you and stunted the other." Shunsui sighed. "I really am Father's son, aren't I?"
"Not yet." Seibara assured him. "And truly, if you listen to us, we won't let you be. We may have been physically affected, Shunsui, but the power is still there. Even as we are, we're no weaker. We can get stronger, too, if you let us play along with you, rather than shut us away and pretend we don't exist. You have a lot of strength you can still use - just as much as you ever did. For that reason, Amaki absorbed your negativity and prevented you from losing your wits. For that reason I waited, even though it meant waiting for such a long time. We both did what we had to do...until the time came that you were ready."
She smiled.
"To really start playing the game you all like calling 'life'."
"I still don't think it's quite as much fun as you seem to." Shunsui said ruefully. "But all right. Since I've caused you so much trouble already, I suppose the least I can do is shut up and at least try and work this out properly, isn't it? After all, if what you say is true..."
"There is one more thing." Seibara hopped daintily from one foot to the other, reaching out to touch him on the nose. "Tensonshin was one spirit. He could not cope with Matsuhara's grief alone. So when you were born, we divided our spirit into two. Amaki and Seibara, two spirits to stand guard over you until you were ready to call us out. We are quite separate, now. We operate on our own and we back each other up."
Mischief sparkled in her eyes.
"It's easier for us that way, but harder for you." She said teasingly. "Since we take it in turns to watch over you, and you can't possibly harness our true power without both of us being present at the same time. Darkness and light always work together - without the sun or moon there can be no shadow, after all. But bringing us back together how we were before...is your greatest challenge of all."
She shrugged.
"You'll come to understand, I think, why that's something you should hold carefully in your heart." She whispered. "And why you'll have to work to bring us both together in the end."
"I'm quite happy just talking to you." Shunsui said wryly, and Seibara tut-tutted, shaking her head.
"My lessons will be harder. I told you already." She warned him. "Your resolve, after all, is still not totally finalised. Light can eradicate shadow, but it also creates shadow. In the good there are also bad things - demons and doubts lurking, and you must harness those if you are going to succeed. Whether you can find the resolve to act as you should...as you need to...that will be the real test. I will make you face difficult things and test that resolve. Whereas Amaki might only haul you back from the brink of death, I won't do that."
She smiled, yet Shunsui saw a steeliness in her violet gaze.
"Amaki can exist here when the flowers are all dead, since he can exist in shadow and despair." She said simply. "But I'm different. I can't work in that environment. Like the flowers, I need there to be light, even if it's the light of the moon. I need you to be looking forwards. I won't answer you unless you show me that you can create hope, not just destroy it. It's easier to break something than it is to build it from new."
She gestured around them.
"These flowers are born of your resolution and hope." She added. "Right now, you're happier than I've known you to be - since you joined the Academy, little by little you've begun to mend and the scars you had are starting to fade away. The flowers bloom for longer before they wilt and die and as time goes on, they'll bloom earlier, too. You're on the right path, now. Keep on it. That's all I wanted to say to you."
She turned, as if making to leave, but Shunsui called her back, reaching out to brush his fingers against the fragile fabric of her fluttering cape.
"Wait a minute. Don't disappear just yet!"
"I've said all I can say for now." Seibara dimpled, shrugging her shoulders. "That's enough for a first meeting, Shunsui - I'm not one of those ladies you can charm with your flirting, you know."
Shunsui smiled, shaking his head.
"Amaki meant Heaven's Demon. I remember that now." He said lightly. "Tensonshin means Heaven's Reverence, doesn't it? Is that why, then? Is that where his name came from?"
"Very perceptive." Seibara let out a tinkling peal of playful laughter.
"And you...you're Seibara." Shunsui frowned. "Bara...as in Rose, perhaps?"
"That's right." Seibara nodded her head. "But not just any roses. Sainted roses. Holy roses. Special roses that only grow in one place."
She tapped him lightly on the head.
"Inside here, when you and I fight together." She whispered. "But you'll understand that, I think. Because one day we will, Shunsui. I'm sure about that now. One day we will fight together...to change this world just like you hope."
With that she was gone in a haze of glittering light droplets, and as the world faded and blurred, Shunsui opened his eyes, drawing a deep breath into his lungs.
He was back in his chamber, and it had been a dream, and yet, deep down, he knew it had been more.
Tensonshin called to me to wake Seibara. Seibara wanted to speak to me, but I wasn't ready. But seeing the refugees, talking to Nii-sama and to Irie-san...thinking this whole thing over...now am I ready? And the question is, ready for what?
He sighed, rolling over onto his side and closing his eyes.
I'll think on it more in the morning. And maybe I'll talk to Juu about it, when I get back to school. Of all people, he's the one who might understand. Because if they are parts of me...parts of my zanpakutou...there won't be anywhere to hide from them. So I want to be prepared the next time that fire-eyed bat-demon invades my consciousness.
A faint smile touched his lips.
But I'm not afraid, now. Not like I was before. I only saw the one side of it, then. Now I've seen both. I can destroy things or I can create them. It all depends on me. And if that's the case, then I really can't not act any longer. I really do have to find some resolve - because I won't leave them all alone. I won't do to them what Father did to his sword. Juu's said that his fish are always with him - that they told him they'd never leave him on his own. Well, I hate being alone and abandoned. I hate it, and so do they. So I guess...I won't do that any more. I'll just have to work a little bit harder, I suppose...on the path to becoming a proper kind of Kyouraku Shinigami.
Author's Note: Shunsui's historical research.
Okay, my lexis is probably not perfect and certainly I'm writing it out of context. But believe me there are historical documents relating to all kinds of things written in that grammatical style. If anyone thinks it's hard to follow, imagine how much fun it was to study such things in statutes, acts and eyre court rolls when I was doing my degree...O.O