Chapter Forty Seven: A Tangled Web
Daylight.
Hirata struggled to force his eyes open, lifting a heavy hand to shield his gaze from the bright winter sunlight that streamed in through the window of his chamber, dazzling him and causing a dull ache to spread through his head. Dragging himself into a sitting position, he felt around for his spectacles, sliding them on his nose and rubbing his temples as the room shook a little before his vision.
What had happened to him last night?
He turned back his thoughts, remembering the drinking contest between Shunsui and the Tenth Division Captain, and then the interruption of Sora's other brother Ryuusei in understandably high dudgeon at their lack of restraint. Then everything had become somewhat swimmy, and he could not recall any more. He had clearly got to his room, for he was here now, but for the life of him he could not recall how.
Yet I didn't drink anything, so I don't know why.
He frowned, rubbing his temples.
I guess everything's been weighing on me - maybe last night it finally kicked in. I suppose Ukitake-kun brought me back here. I should thank him - else I might've found myself sleeping in the corridor or the great hall.
He turned towards his friend's sleeping place, then paused, eyes widening as he registered the fact the other boy was not there.
Had he risen already? Got up early and left the chamber for some reason?
Hirata frowned, alert now despite the throbbing at the edge of his senses. The zanpakutou that had lain neatly beside Juushirou's bed was also gone, and although he knew his friend might have simply gone to do some early morning sword training, somehow it did not seem right.
He got to his feet, moving over to touch Juushirou's bedcovers.
Had his friend slept here at all? Certainly the blankets had been disturbed...but...
He frowned, as his fingers brushed against something hard beneath the smooth fabric, and not without misgivings he drew the blanket back, staring in confusion at the empty sword sheath that lay abandoned in the middle of his classmate's futon.
Sougyo no Kotowari isn't here, and nor is Ukitake-kun. But this is. This is here.
Unease crept over the younger boy's heart as he scooped the scabbard up, turning it over in his grip. Was the letter still inside? Was that why Juushirou had left it behind - so as not to risk losing it again? But even so...even so...
He left here carrying a drawn blade. Kyouraku guest or not, the guards would surely arrest him for running around the halls in that condition. So why, Ukitake-kun? Why take Sougyo and leave the room - what drew you out there? Or was it who?
A knock at the door startled him from his thoughts and he hurried to open it, hoping that it was his missing friend - although he knew that there was no logic to Juushirou knocking on his own bedroom door. As he pulled the wood divide back, however, his gaze met Kai's concerned golden ones, and the sense of unease in his heart began to grow into one of increasing dread.
"Kai-kun." He murmured, and Kai nodded apologetically.
"Sorry to drag you up so early. I guess you weren't really awake yet, judging by how you're dressed." He said evenly. "But I came to see Ukitake, really. Is he about?"
"He...isn't here." Hirata stood back so that his friend could see into the chamber. "I woke up and he wasn't there. Sougyo no Kotowari's gone, too. Just...the sheath is left behind. He took the sword and...I don't know where he went."
"He's not here, huh." Kai seemed less surprised by this information than Hirata would have expected, and the young Endou's brows knitted together in consternation.
"Kai-kun, did something happen last night?" He asked softly. "While I was asleep?"
"Good question. Wish I knew the answer." Kai sighed, stepping into the bed chamber and shutting the door behind him, leaning up against the wood and folding his arms across his chest. "Thing is, Hirata, last night found a bunch of us wandering the halls without really knowing why we were. Edogawa picked up something - and to tell the truth, so did I - though what exactly I couldn't tell you. Kuchiki and Sora were also there. And it was just...very odd."
"You were all wandering around the halls?" Hirata stared at the Shihouin as if he'd gone mad. "Without knowing why? And...what about Ukitake-kun? You didn't mention him - wasn't he with you?"
"No. He wasn't." Kai shook his head. "And I've told you what I know. It doesn't make a lot of sense even though I've spent most of the last few hours trying to work it out. Edogawa's the one to ask, really - her senses are stronger than anyone's when it comes to something like this. But we thought there was someone here. They were here, then they disappeared. Edogawa and Sora went after them - Kuchiki and I too, only all separate. And we met up in the entrance hall to find a window had been forced and your sister was outside in the cold, shivering and by herself."
"Eiraki was?" Anxiety flooded Hirata's heart anew, and Kai dismissed it with a flick of his hand.
"It's all right. She's all right. She'd been sleepwalking, or something...in any case, Edogawa stayed with her the rest of last night, so like as not she's fine by now." He replied. "Maybe whatever it was drew her out too. In any case, it seems Ukitake was the first to find her, since she remembers him being there and him telling her it would be okay. And then...the next she knew...he was gone, she was alone, and we were tracking her down."
"Gone?" Hirata echoed faintly, and Kai nodded.
"We don't know what happened." He said honestly, and Hirata could hear the note of frustration in the older boy's tones. "Even for a Shihouin, tracking whatever it was we sensed here was impossible. Eiraki-hime said that there wasn't anyone else with her - just Ukitake - and by the time we got there, there was no trace of him, either. Not there, not anywhere. Edogawa was on edge - really on edge about it. But...since we couldn't prove anything wrong had happened, we couldn't do anything about it. Far as we knew, Ukitake might just be suppressing his reiatsu and he might turn up back here come the morning. So...that's why I came here. To see if he did."
"But he didn't." Hirata's gaze flitted back to the black sheath, now sure that Juushirou had left it there on purpose. "I don't know about any of this or why I slept through it, Kai-kun - but I'm pretty sure that Ukitake-kun went out for a reason. Not just to find my sister - he wouldn't have taken Sougyo with him just to rescue her from sleepwalking in the cold. You said there was something or someone else here, even if you couldn't find out what or who. I think Ukitake-kun must've sensed it too. That's why he took his sword."
"You think he might have used it to defend Eiraki-hime?" Kai asked sharply, and Hirata shrugged helplessly.
"I don't know. I was sleeping." He said heavily.
"The guards were drugged, too - according to Kuchiki. Certainly none of them came after us when we were roaming the halls and the grounds to our hearts content." Kai said grimly. "We wondered if you'd got tainted by it too - since your senses are usually pretty on the ball and I doubt you'd have been kept under otherwise. But you were more than half asleep by the time you left the dance hall last evening - and since you drank water Yasuhiro brought you, and he too was drugged...it looks that way."
Hirata sighed, nodding.
"That would explain why I feel so muggy this morning." He murmured. "But if someone went to the trouble of drugging Yasuhiro-dono and the guards, that means something did happen last night. Surely...you should've reported it then?"
"To who?" Kai demanded. "Tokutarou-sama isn't here. Kyouraku had drunk far more than he should've and he would've been as hard as the guards to raise. And all of them were out cold. If we'd gone to Kyouki-sama, the Kyouraku would've been up in arms over it and it'd have created all the more problems."
"But Kai-kun, what about Ukitake-kun!"
"I know. I know!" As Hirata's voice rose, Kai nodded, coming and resting his hands on the younger boy's shoulders. "We all felt that, too. But we didn't know he'd really disappeared. And Edogawa said it herself - that there'd been no pain. No attack. Nothing like that. When Ukitake's reiatsu disappeared, it just...did. Nothing happened to him. He wasn't hurt. He just...vanished. That's why we thought he was maybe suppressing it. Because otherwise...we didn't know how to explain it."
"Nothing happened to him?" Hirata whispered. "Even though he took his sword and even though he's not here?"
"Edogawa was quite certain." Kai nodded. "Nobody had attacked him and he didn't raise his sword. He wasn't in any pain or anything like that. He just was there and then he wasn't. And that's all."
"But...that makes no sense!"
"No. None at all. None of it does." Kai agreed. "But if he isn't here now, and he hasn't been back here, then he must be somewhere else. That's the only thing for sure. And more...if Edogawa is right about last night, he must've left on his own whim. By his own will. If nothing hurt him or kidnapped him or took him down - then that's the only explanation. If he left here, he did it himself."
"Leaving my sister alone in the cold? I don't think so." Hirata shook his head fervently, terror rising through his whole body now as he contemplated this. "Even if Edogawa-san is sure, Kai-kun, I don't see...I don't think...why would Ukitake-kun take Sougyo no Kotowari if he didn't think there was danger?"
And why would he leave the sheath behind, unless he suspected it was something to do with the Endou and he wanted to keep the letter out of their hands?
"I don't like it either." Kai said frankly. "It doesn't sit well, does it? But what else can we think? Ukitake's hot-headed and sometimes he does crazy things. But even if he did leave the estate...we can't trace him without picking up his reiatsu. And I've been trying - and I can't."
"Me either." Hirata murmured. "Though maybe that's because my head is so heavy with whatever was in the guards' water. Still, though, if I'm awake now, they must be too. Something must be reported to someone. Even if Ukitake-kun did something stupid...even so, we need to find him and find out what and why. He's reckless but...he...he has a reason, when he is."
"I wanted to come here first, but I was on my way to barge in on Kyouraku about it." Kai admitted. "Just, I had to be sure that I wasn't being silly and that Ukitake really wasn't back where he should be."
"He isn't." Hirata's fingers tightened around the sheath of the zanpakutou, then, "Kai-kun, there's...something else. Something I...I haven't told you. Or anyone. Anyone except...Ukitake-kun. Something...that's...a secret."
"Something?" Kai asked sharply, eying his companion in surprise. "Something to do with your Clan? Something to do with Eiraki-hime and Sumire-sama coming here, or...?"
"Mm...no. Not that." Hirata shook his head. "But I haven't told...them about it, either. Ukitake-kun is the only one...who's known all about it."
"It being?" Kai settled himself opposite his young classmate. "Spit it out. If it's important...tell me."
"You know...that there's a letter. Don't you?" Hirata whispered. "Midori-sama has seen it and you know...that one exists. That implicates Seimaru in...everything that happened with your Clan a year or more ago."
"Yes. I know." Kai said grimly. "Providing that it wasn't a smokescreen to scare Seimaru into backing off when Midori-nee became head of the Clan - I know."
"It's not a smokescreen. It's real." Hirata murmured. "The letter...it was in Aitori-sensei's house. And...when I found the body I...I took it. Before I did anything else, I...took it and hid it, so that my Clan wouldn't fall into trouble. I was worried about Otousama and Okaasama and Eiraki-chan - so I didn't have a choice. Even though I was protecting Seimaru too - it was all I could do."
"So you have it." Kai's eyes narrowed. "This letter? It's in your hands?"
Hirata faltered, not answering for a moment. Then he held out the sheath.
"It's inside here." He whispered."Hidden between the inner lining and the outer casing."
"What?" Kai stared, taken aback as he stared at his friend in disbelief. "But...you mean...Ukitake had it? Ukitake...?"
"Mm." Hirata nodded jerkily. "He was...neutral. And I trusted him. So I...I asked him to. It was Midori-sama's idea, that Ukitake-kun should hold it. And he...he has. When Tokutarou-sama gave him the sheath, he...he hid it inside, in the gap between the two layers. Even when Kyouki-sama confiscated the sword, she didn't look for anything there so she didn't find it."
"No wonder Ukitake was so worried about that." Kai's expression became one of comprehension. "It was more than just pining for his blade, wasn't it? He thought he'd dumped your whole family in it."
Hirata nodded.
"But last night he took his sword and left the scabbard here." He murmured. "And I think...he would only have done that for one reason. Because whatever happened last night...whatever it was, he thought it was relating to my Clan. And that if he took the sheath, well, the letter might fall into the wrong hands."
Kai turned the scabbard over, examining it for a moment, then sighing, slipping his finger inside and carefully working the inner layer free so that he could reach the folded parchment within.
"It's here. Safely hidden, just like you said." He agreed, pulling it free and holding it out to his companion. "The kind of letter, I imagine, that's worth killing for to someone like Seimaru."
"That's what I think, too." Hirata swallowed hard, taking the folded sheet gingerly between his fingers. "Why else would Ukitake-kun leave it here? He left it for me, didn't he? In case something happened to him - he left it so that I would still be able...I would still have it."
Kai pursed his lips.
"What do you intend to do, then?" He asked. "We still don't have any evidence anyone else was here at all. Kuchiki thought there was, Edogawa too - but we didn't find anyone, and Ukitake made the decision to leave here of his own will. Nobody made him go. So..."
"Mm. I know." Hirata glanced at the letter, turning it over in his hands. "And I'm not sure...I just...I'm afraid of what it means. What Ukitake-kun knew...what he intended by it. What happened to make him go out like that. And...who or what he encountered out there. The guards were drugged - it wasn't by accident."
"You think someone knew he had the letter? Someone lured him out for that reason?" Kai demanded, and Hirata shrugged.
"I don't understand how my Grandfather died, but I know Seimaru was behind it." He said darkly. "Just because I don't understand why Ukitake-kun is missing doesn't mean I don't know who I think is responsible for it."
"And nobody else knows the whereabouts of that letter?" Kai asked. Hirata shook his head.
"Ukitake-kun and I. And now you. Nobody else." He agreed.
"Then how would anyone find out where it was hidden?" Kai demanded. "Why would they go after him and not you? If only the two of you knew...if not even Eiraki-hime and Sumire-sama knew..."
At that moment there was a knock on the door, and Hirata's eyes widened as he hurriedly slid the letter into his obi.
"Nobody else must know. Yet." He said quickly. "Please, Kai-kun. Whoever it is - I don't know, yet, what we're dealing with."
"All right. I promise." Kai nodded. "But if it is related to Ukitake being missing, you're going to have to tell someone. For his sake...you know that."
"If it comes to that, I know how to act." Hirata said softly. "Don't worry. I know."
He raised his voice.
"Come in, Edogawa-san."
The door slid back, revealing, as he had expected, the young Kuchiki hime, hair in a long dark tail and wrapped in a robe over her night clothes. She was not alone, however, and Hirata's eyes widened as he registered his young sister in tow.
"Eiraki-chan!"
"Nii-sama..." Eiraki faltered, biting her lip, and Mitsuki put a gentle hand on her arm, offering her an encouraging smile. Eiraki simply lowered her gaze, however, and Hirata could sense the uncertainty in his sister's demeanour.
"Juushirou-kun isn't here." Mitsuki stated the obvious, and Hirata knew that before she had knocked she had known this to be true. "Hirata-kun, has Shihouin-kun explained to you...about last night?"
"Yes." Hirata slipped off his glasses, rubbing his temples. "And I'm trying to absorb it. Why Ukitake-kun would slip out like that - why he wouldn't even leave a message...what he intended to do. I'm trying to work out what it was that happened to make him leave here...and if he did go of his own free will, what was he trying to prove?"
"None of us know that. And none of us can work out where he's headed." Mitsuki's tones were full of frustration and she sighed, sinking back against the wall of the chamber. "And now...Eiraki-chan..."
She paused, her gaze flitting to the younger girl, and Hirata was startled to see the look of distress in Eiraki's eyes.
"Eiraki, what is it?" He asked softly. "Last night...you were outside, weren't you? Ukitake-kun was with you - do you remember something about it? Something you didn't remember before? Someone else, even?"
Slowly Eiraki shook her head.
"There was nobody else there." She murmured. "My memory is hazy, Nii-sama, but when I was outside, it was only Ukitake-san. He was...I was coughing, and I felt...dizzy and unwell. Tired...and my chest was hurting. I couldn't stand up, and he supported me...he looked scared for me, like he understood."
"Coughing blood again?" Hirata was alarmed, and Eiraki nodded.
"But I feel...better this morning." She owned. "Like it was a cold or a chill but it's starting to pass by now. My chest feels better...I feel less tight and tired than I did."
"What did Ukitake say to you, do you remember?"
"That he was sorry for grabbing me but he thought it would help if he supported me..." Eiraki twisted her fingers together. "And that...I had been sleepwalking and...I...he had come to help me. That's all I remember him saying. I think I fainted...and when I woke up, I was by myself."
"That doesn't say much." Kai grimaced, and Hirata sighed.
"But Ukitake-kun wouldn't have just left Eiraki-chan out there in the cold. Especially if she was unconscious. He wouldn't have just...he'd have alerted someone."
"But if he couldn't carry me himself..." Eiraki faltered, and Kai shook his head.
"Hirata's right. Ukitake is top of the class when it comes to Kidou and he's used flares of that before - he and Kyouraku - as a signal that something's amiss. He wouldn't have known that the guards were drugged - if he'd fired something into the sky we at least would all have felt it and come running. And Kyouki-sama too, most probably. But he didn't do anything like that. Even though Kidou is his strongest subject - he didn't do it."
"Which means he wasn't able to?" Mitsuki's lips thinned.
"And the other thing is, why did Ukitake-kun know that Eiraki-chan was sleepwalking in the first place?" Hirata murmured.
Eiraki did not answer right away, and Mitsuki reached across to squeeze the younger girl's hand.
"Eiraki-chan's memories are fuzzy. She isn't sure whether it's real or a dream." She said softly. "So don't jump in on her and assume anything, all right, Hirata-kun? Last night, after we came back here, she had a bad dream - and when she woke up, she told me about it. But neither of us know what sparked it and whether it was just the tension of the night...so that's why we didn't mention it right away."
"Mention it now." Kai said abruptly. "The longer we dither, the further away Ukitake can get from where we can find him."
Eiraki swallowed hard, but slowly she nodded her head.
"Ukitake-san said I'd come in to Nii-sama and his room by mistake - that I'd been sleepwalking and he'd startled me awake by accident." She said softly. "He said he'd frightened me and I'd run away, so he'd gone after me to see that I was all right."
"Taking his zanpakutou with him?" Kai arched an eyebrow, and Mitsuki sent him a dark look.
"Shihouin-kun, you should listen if you want to know what she remembers." She chided quietly. "Go on, Eiraki-chan. Tell them the other bit that you told me."
Eiraki took a deep breath, then,
"I don't remember getting to your room, Nii-sama." She said unevenly. "So probably I was...I must have been...sleepwalking or something. But...in the darkness, I remember...Ukitake-san's fingers glowing with energy and...and there was something in my hand too. I dropped it...I was frightened. But I think...I think it was...a knife."
"What?" Kai was on his feet in a moment, and Hirata's eyes became big with alarm. "Eiraki-hime, are you saying that...you sleepwalked here...to hurt someone?"
There was a long silence, and something cold gripped itself around Hirata's heart.
"Me." He murmured softly. "She came here to hurt me."
"I didn't mean it!" Tears glittered in Eiraki's eyes and she shook her head hurriedly. "I didn't want to...Nii-sama, I really didn't! I don't remember...how or why...just that's all I know. That I was here, Ukitake-san's fingers were glittering and...there was a knife in my hand."
"Though that part of it could just have been a dream." Mitsuki added. "We're not sure. I don't think Eiraki-chan would hurt you, Hirata - she loves you and she was very upset this morning at the thought she might have brought harm to you in any way. So it might not be as it sounds - it might just be..."
"It might just be the truth."
Kai cut across her, bending down beside Hirata's bed and poking at something that protruded slightly from beneath the younger boy's belongings. Slowly he drew it out, and a gasp escaped Mitsuki's lips as it became clear what the object was.
Grimly Kai set the dagger down on Hirata's bedcovers, meeting his friend's gaze.
"It's hard to explain what that's doing here, if it was just a dream."
A stifled sob escaped Eiraki at that moment and she buried her face in Mitsuki's shoulder, the older girl hugging her tightly.
"Shihouin-kun, I believe her when she says that she doesn't remember it and didn't mean it." She said softly. "I don't know how to explain it, but I believe her. She's telling the truth - I would be able to tell if she wasn't. She doesn't understand it any more than we do - why she was here and what she intended to do."
Hirata moved tentatively forward to examine the knife, putting his finger against the carved hilt with a frown.
"Ukitake-kun touched it too." He murmured. "And Eiraki-chan...and...there's something else. I can't make it out, it's too faint. But something else is here."
"Do you think Ukitake hid it before coming after Eiraki-hime?" Kai asked, and Hirata nodded.
"Probably. So as not to get Eiraki-chan in trouble." He agreed. "And it...it's not an Endou blade. It's a Kyouraku one. So maybe...he didn't want to cause trouble for Kyouraku-kun's family, either. Whatever happened last night I don't know about - I was lost to the world and I don't remember. But it looks like...Ukitake-kun used Kidou to wake you up, Eiraki-chan. And because he did, you weren't able to do whatever it was you were sent to do."
"Sent to...do?" Mitsuki's eyes clouded with consternation, and Hirata nodded, reaching over for his glasses and sliding them back onto his nose as he felt his headache double.
"I don't believe Eiraki would hurt me, either." He said simply, moving to put a hand on his sister's arm and Eiraki turned, eyes swimming with tears as she gazed mournfully up at him. "And she certainly wouldn't carry a Kyouraku dagger even if she did want to. Someone gave that to her. Someone gave it to her and gave her the order to come and eliminate me. I don't know how or what spell they used - but it's without a doubt the truth."
"Meaning there was someone else here. Someone who was controlling Eiraki-chan because she was inside the manor and had access to you." Mitsuki said softly, still hugging protectively onto the distraught young princess. "The guards were drugged so as nobody could interfere...and she was meant to kill you. Only Juushirou-kun was awake, and he saw it...and he stopped it. He probably fired Kidou at Eiraki-chan before he realised that it was her...and when he did, he probably worked out that it was wrong somehow. That's why he came after her...that's why he took his sword. Because he thought someone else was out there...someone who might hurt Eiraki-chan for failing to carry out her orders."
"This has a nasty taint to it." Kai said darkly. "If there's someone in this vicinity who can pull that kind of a trick out of the bag, who's really safe? If someone can control other people...manipulate them to do something like this to someone they care about..."
"I'm sorry, Nii-sama." Eiraki whispered, and Hirata swallowed his own misgivings, shaking his head.
"It wasn't your fault. It wasn't you." He said simply. "I know that. I wouldn't believe it even for a moment, anyhow. Our family may be ripped into shreds at the moment, but I don't have any doubt in those I'm closest to."
"Nii-sama..." Eiraki flung herself on him at this, tears streaming down her cheeks a second time, and Hirata hugged her, casting a glance at Kai.
"Grandfather died through mysterious circumstances. He died yet nobody was able to prove how." He said softly. "Now Eiraki-chan has attacked me without any real reason or cause, and she herself doesn't even know why. I think those two things might be connected."
"I think we need to get someone else involved." Kai said grimly. "I'm going to wake Kyouraku and get him to throw the whole estate on alert, if he can. If whoever it was was here last night, it's just as possible that they're also involved in why we can't find Ukitake this morning."
He paused, then,
"Since the guards were drugged and that dagger's a Kyouraku knife, we also have to consider that last night was an inside attempt." He said softly. "Someone from Kyouraku's family may be part of this - someone who dislikes the fact you guys are here."
"Or it could be a plant. A frame, to try and make it look bad for Tokutarou-sama." Hirata shook his head. "It's not the first time we've seen someone deflect attention...after all. Is it?"
Kai's features paled, and slowly he nodded, glancing at the weapon again.
"My Clan almost fell because a Shihouin dagger was used to kill a District girl...and the trail of reidoku led back to our door." He murmured. "I suppose that...if someone found that kind of distraction had worked once..."
"It could work again." Mitsuki swallowed hard. "Hirata-kun, do you think...it was...from outside?"
"I think it may have been." Hirata sighed heavily. "The truth is, there's nobody - as far as I know - in this District who would want to kill an exiled member of the Endou Clan. But there are plenty of people over the border, which is why we're exiled to begin with. So...even though I can't see how they'd do it...it isn't impossible to me that they did."
"If they were smart enough." Kai pursed his lips. "And whatever you say about it, Hirata - it's not Seimaru's reiatsu on that knife. Whatever else it is - it isn't his."
"No. It isn't." Hirata agreed. "But it's so washed over with Ukitake-kun's and Eiraki-chan's that I'm not sure whose it is...or if it's simply the lingering of something else put there to deceive us."
He groaned, running his fingers agitatedly through his loosed dark hair.
"I'm getting so paranoid." He whispered, more than half to himself. "I never used to think like this."
"Then the first thing is to find Ukitake." Kai said firmly. "If someone was here, maybe he knows who. Maybe he decided to go after them, idiot that he is, and if so, we haven't time to waste tracking him down and bringing him back."
"Seimaru wants the letter." Eiraki pulled back suddenly, gazing up at Hirata in consternation. "That's why, Nii-sama. The letter is the reason."
"Letter?" Mitsuki looked confused, and Hirata stared at his sister in dismay. "What letter?"
"Something that's better not talked about." Kai said briskly.
"But Ukitake-san had it, didn't he?" Eiraki was not to be dissuaded. "He must have. You didn't have it. You said you wouldn't trust it to Clan - so...you gave it to him, didn't you? You gave it to Ukitake-san and now Seimaru's trying to get a hold of it!"
"What letter is this we're talking about?" Mitsuki was concerned too now. "Hirata, did you give something dangerous to Juushirou-kun to look after?"
Hirata sighed, closing his eyes briefly.
"Ukitake-kun doesn't have it." He said softly. "And Kai-kun is right, Eiraki-chan. We don't talk about it. Talking about it puts people in danger - it may already have, if someone else assumed what you just assumed about its whereabouts."
Eiraki was startled, and Kai shook his head.
"Hirata's telling you the truth." He added softly. "It's a dangerous letter, Edogawa - better you don't know what it contains. Even I haven't read its contents - Hirata's the only one here who has. As to where it is or whether Ukitake has it - I'm pretty sure that if that's why he's disappeared, someone will be disappointed. The letter isn't with Ukitake. That much is for sure."
"Then maybe they'll give him back." Eiraki murmured, and Kai let out a heavy sigh, reaching across to pick up the dagger.
"More likely they'll kill him, if there is a 'they' and if this isn't just one of Ukitake's crazy whims to put things right." He said flatly. "Which is why I'm going to wake Kyouraku now. And once we've done that...we'll worry about how to track our missing soul down."
---
"I trust you have good news for me?"
As Keitarou stepped into Seimaru's office, bowing his head low before his companion, the young Lord turned from his position by the window, fixing the scientist with a thoughtful, half-wary look. There was something feral in those pale eyes today, Keitarou reflected, even as he raised his gaze to meet the nobleman's own. Something impatient and impulsive, and he sighed, faintly irritated by the other's lack of patience.
If you can't wait for what you want, you don't deserve to get it. Spoiled brats are never the ones who succeed, in the end - they just get exploited by those who are smart enough to lurk until their time comes.
Out loud he said,
"Mixed news, my Lord. But in the circumstances, I think...you can call it good."
"Is Hirata dead?" The question was so bluntly spoken that it caused even Keitarou to wince. He shook his head.
"No. No, he isn't." He admitted. "Not yet."
"Not yet?" Seimaru reacted in a moment, wheeling on his companion and dashing the provincial paperwork that had been piled on his desk to the floor in a brash, irrational sweep of impatience. "What do you mean, not yet? I thought that's why you went! I thought that's why you let me let that girl and her mother loose! I thought..."
"I am sorry, Seimaru-sama." Keitarou kept his calm, bowing his head once more towards his companion. "As I said, the news is mixed. But if you will hear me out..."
"I'll hear you out." Seimaru growled, moving towards his companion and grabbing him by the shoulders, pushing him up against the wall of the study. "I'll hear it, and then, if it doesn't satisfy me, I will throw you in a cell and hear it again, with whips and chains like your kinsman suffered at Grandfather's hands. My patience is running low, Aizen. I cannot keep 'waiting' for everything to happen!"
"Has something occurred, then, in my absence?" Keitarou asked softly, making no attempt to resist the Endou lord's sudden attack. "You seem...agitated, my Lord. As though something has...worried you."
"Worried me?" Seimaru's eyes narrowed, and Keitarou felt the grip on his shoulders tighten. "What do you think should worry me? The fact that you haven't delivered on your promise - or the fact that my Aunt and my young idiot cousin are now also roaming around my enemy's territory? This morning a message arrived from that cursed neighbour advising me that they had his protection - and that if any agents of District Seven sought to enter Kyouraku land, it would be taken and dealt with as an act of war. The document was signed and sealed in his name and that Shiba witch's also. More, he threatened to report me to the Council of Elders over it - over driving my own kinsfolk to flee from this place! What do you suppose I should tell them, if they summon me on these grounds? That I allowed them to leave because a mad scientist told me that I should?!"
His voice was rising, and Keitarou could see the tension in the young man's thin features as all the things he had bottled up came pouring out, one after the other.
"Tell me, Aizen, what you have done." Seimaru said at length. "Tell me some good news. I do not want more bad."
"There is no bad news, Seimaru-sama." Keitarou shook his head, staying calm despite how close his companion's fingers were to his exposed throat. "Hirata-sama is not dead. But as I said, not yet. In fact, this circumstance may prove to be the better one - especially if you have been sent such a notification from Tokutarou-sama about your kin."
"Explain." Seimaru's eyes were no more than slits, and Keitarou nodded.
"If Hirata-sama was to come here, you wouldn't be attacking anything or anyone on Kyouraku land." He said lightly. "Would you?"
"Hirata...come here?" Despite himself, Seimaru's fingers loosed on Keitarou's body, and carefully the scientist extracted himself from the other man's grip. "You've said that before, but nothing has happened. He is a coward, after all. Why should I believe in it now?"
"Last night I sent Eiraki-hime to kill her brother, as per your orders." Keitarou explained softly. "But in doing so, I discovered something else. And so I...in the end...I decided against taking that action. Because...that letter not only still exists, but...its whereabouts is known to another than just Hirata himself. And if Hirata had died..."
"I would have been implicated by this ally in the shadows." Seimaru took a deep breath, his fit of rage seemingly calming in light of this new information, and Keitarou sighed, inwardly glad that the other man had as good a dose of Riku's rational genes as he did his father's mad ones. "So? The plan changed, and...?"
"Eiraki-hime served a useful purpose for me." Keitarou said lightly. "In discovering who else it was that most likely knew the location of the letter. Or, perhaps, who currently is in possession of it."
"And?" Seimaru pressed. "Don't spread it out - get to the point already!"
"Ukitake Juushirou." Keitarou smiled. "The boy from the Districts that so offended you."
"That whelp..." Seimaru's fists clenched as a new flood of rage threatened to overwhelm his body. "I knew there were reasons enough to hate him when I saw him the last time! But that he would have it himself - all this time. Midori tried to distract me, Hirata too - but in the end...in the end..."
"Ukitake Juushirou is currently in my possession." Keitarou added calmly. "As per our agreement."
"Then bring him before me and I'll beat it out of him, the whereabouts of this letter!" Seimaru exclaimed. Keitarou shook his head.
"If I may suggest, Seimaru-sama, there is another course of action open to us now." He said softly. "I used Eiraki-hime to lure Ukitake to a place where I knew I could take him away with me without too much of a fight. The letter is not on his body – but it is quite clear he knows about it and about where it is hidden. He is an interesting boy, but he has a fatal weakness. A fatal, fatal flaw in his design that makes him very useful to your cause whilst he remains alive."
"Which is...?" Seimaru looked doubtful. "I don't see how any plan involving that boy being alive is going to please me, but I will hear you out all the same."
"He is loyal to his friends. To his principles. He does not lie well, and his head is full of naive ideals about the world he lives in." Keitarou leant back against the wood panels of the office, eying Seimaru keenly as he observed his reactions. "I believe he's been keeping this letter a secret for over a year, in blatant breach of Council Law...for the sake of the young boy, Hirata-sama. Their friendship is such that he would give himself willingly into my hands in order to have me set Eiraki-hime free from my spell. Eiraki-hime's usefulness ended at that moment, so I let her go. And I took him with no fuss..."
He paused, shrugging his shoulders.
"But Eiraki-hime will know that Ukitake was with her before he disappeared. And she will no doubt tell her brother about it." He added softly. "And Hirata-sama...will then...come looking for his friend. For the friend in whom he's trusted the secrets of his family - and right into your hands."
"Right into my hands." Seimaru repeated thoughtfully. "And if he goes to the Kyouraku for help?"
"If he was going to do that, would he not have done so a year or more ago?" Keitarou pointed out. "This letter may incriminate you, Seimaru-sama, but it's more than likely it implicates the Endou-ke as a whole. Hirata-sama would want to protect his Father, would he not? He won't go to the Kyouraku, since that would mean it going before the Council proper. He'll come here under his own steam…since it's not something he would want in the public domain, is it?"
"You know, I believe you are right." Comprehension dawned in Seimaru's gaze. "He's had adequate opportunity to brandish that letter to the Council, yet he's not done so – not even the jezebel Midori was able to use it to stop me gaining my title here. And as for Ukitake…when I crossed that boy's path before, it was clear that my stupid cousin had a connection to the District boy that was stronger than he had to any other. Hirata is weak. A mouse. He's shy and pathetic and he's not the kind of brat who would easily garner support from his Clan peers, after all. I should have realised sooner...that Ukitake alone would be the one who held the proof."
"But if we already have him here, and Hirata-sama comes too, there will be no further loose ends." Keitarou said neatly. "Eiraki-hime told me that Hirata-sama wouldn't even tell her about the location of the letter. Chances are nobody else knows about it, anyhow. And while the Council would surely act against you if you went hell for leather against the Kyouraku by crossing their borders...they can't do anything about a foolish young boy looking for his friend, can they? Especially since that friend has no Clan connections of his own."
"Mm." Seimaru dropped down behind his desk. "Then...? You intend to do something, I presume, to lure Hirata into my hands?"
"I am already considering such a course of action." Keitarou agreed. "Trite as it may be, the most direct form of communication often works in these cases. We'll suggest a trade – Ukitake for the letter. Although that part of it will be a deceit – since neither of us intend on letting Ukitake leave District Seven alive."
"Ukitake being anywhere alive is annoyance enough for me." Seimaru muttered, and Keitarou arched an eyebrow.
"I trust though that you will allow me to keep him and utilise him in the way we agreed, sir?" He asked softly.
"If keeping that creature alive will serve a purpose for me, too, then for the time being I will." Seimaru nodded reluctantly, letting out a sigh of resignation. "But when Hirata is dead, he will also die. No...no. He will die first - in front of my cousin's eyes, and then I will take Hirata down too. That is my wish, Aizen. That is what we will do. My aunt and my cousin are of no real interest – if I reach them or not no longer interests me. When Hirata is dead, I can kill my Uncle and that will be the end of it. There will be no other male line to contest me. Like Grandfather, I will rule supreme over the Endou."
He shot his companion a sidelong glance.
"And you will provide me with reidoku, so as I can reach Bankai, won't you?" He added. Keitarou inclined his head.
"I will certainly provide you with whatever you ask of me." He said simply. "I am a man of my word and I will not break the promise that bound us together in the first place. If you wish for reidoku, I will supply it. You can be sure of that."
"Then for now it is well." Seimaru gestured towards the door. "But keep that runt out of my sight. Experiment on him as you will - cause him as much suffering as your science allows you - yet keep a little of him still alive for me to have the final pleasure of cutting him down myself. If he has been the one defying my justice all this time...I will have the last word."
"As you wish, Seimaru-sama." Keitarou bowed his head low once more. "I will do as you command."
"Make sure you do." Seimaru's gaze told Keitarou that the nobleman had still not completely forgiven him for keeping Chudokuga a secret, and the scientist's lips thinned thoughtfully even as he withdrew from the chamber, shutting the door carefully behind him.
Seimaru is becoming more of a problem…or should I say that our interests begin to diverge at this point.
He sighed, running his fingers through his dyed dark hair, then,
For I rather think I will want to keep Ukitake. It's soon yet, of course, but just on first impressions…even though his zanpakutou was sealed and even though he did nothing particularly unusual, his reiatsu is more interesting than I expected. I will need to think about this carefully, in the end – I may not seek to kill him as quickly as Seimaru does.
He made his way quickly along the hallways, bowing his head absently to various Endou council members he passed on the way as belatedly he remembered that even though his thoughts were all Urahara, right now he was still in the guise of Minazake Roukei. The political façade was more of a hindrance to him that morning than it was a help, if he was honest – since the sooner he returned to his underground laboratory the better. He would be expected to attend the Endou administration session later that morning, and he rued inwardly the fact that his current position meant his time was not his own.
But I rather think it won't be for too much longer. Reidoku is almost complete – it simply requires a final test subject Shinigami to prove that it can be used to the full effect. Well, that's easily resolved. If the District boy is unsuitable, there's always another option.
A slight, humourless smile twitched at the edges of his lips as he slipped down the back stairs towards the forbidden area of the Endou manor.
If Seimaru wants it, I will not keep it from him. I promised, after all. I will keep my word.
Making sure that nobody could see him, he dropped into shunpo, shifting his body through the channels of spiritual energy until he was deep within the former dungeon itself.
"Kei-nii!" Shikiki hurried to greet him, and Keitarou reached down to pat her absently on the head.
"I'm a little later than I thought. I'm sorry. Seimaru-sama expected to speak with me." He told her softly. "Are you all right? You made sure to eat while I was away…? Your barriers need strength, after all, and you won't get that unless you make as good a meal as possible."
"I'm fine." Shikiki seemed relieved to see him, for she grasped his fingers in her chubby ones, squeezing them hard and hopping excitedly from foot to foot. "And I eat more here with the food you bring me than I did in the village. I'm all right, Kei-nii. And I've been practicing, just as you told me. I always do, when you're not here."
"The walls don't make it hard for you?" Keitarou asked curiously, and Shikiki shook her head.
"To begin with, it was hard." She admitted. "But I'm used to it now. Being down here in the dark. And that stone…whatever it does, it doesn't bother me now."
"It's far more damped than it was when the prison was first built – I've seen to that." Keitarou tapped the stone pensively. "I would say that from the outside it blocks about ninety percent of spiritual emissions…but inside is maybe as low as ten percent, now. But even so, that you can overcome its effects is a good sign. I'm proud of you, Shikiki. It means that when you're in a less hostile location, your barriers will be even stronger."
Shikiki beamed at the praise, and something in her grimy, innocent features made Keitarou grin.
"All right. I have work to do." He told her gently. "I want you to stay in this area and keep working on your barriers. I'll come to speak to you and see how you're doing before I go upstairs for my meeting, I promise – but before that I have something else I need to do."
"Something else?" Shikiki tilted her head on one side, then, "To do with the nii-chan you brought here last night?"
"You saw us?" Keitarou questioned, and Shikiki shook her head.
"No. Not properly." She replied honestly. "And I don't go into…where Kei-nii does all his special working. But I felt his re…re…reiatsu with yours when you came. And I knew you said someone was coming…so…but I didn't want to step out in case you were cross with me. So I didn't."
"For now, that's probably better. Until I've settled him in the best way." Keitarou considered. "But you're right, Shikiki. There is a 'nii-chan' who's come to play with us for a little while. He's quite…special too, I think. Like you, he's from the Districts, and like you, he has skills that make him different to other people."
"He's not like the others, then?" Shikiki enquired. "The ones who come and stay and then go again?"
Keitarou smiled at her innocence – she had not yet realised, even from living in such close proximity to his working laboratory that the village peasants he had brought here to test on had not left the place at all, but had died in their cells and had been obliterated as waste matter by the force of his kidou. He shook his head.
"No. I think this one…may stay for a long time." He murmured, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a silver key. "From today, Shikiki, you are free to roam anywhere you like in this underground world. I kept this locked from you before because it was dangerous, but those experiments are, for the time being, no longer a concern. The chemicals that might have hurt you are shut away and I don't think you'll come to any harm."
"Then…I can talk to the nii-chan?" Shikiki asked hesitantly. Keitarou nodded.
"You can." He said evenly. "But be careful when you do. He's different from you and I, and I'm not sure he will acclimatise to this place as easily as we have. So perhaps…right now you should not attempt it. Maybe later, after I've had a chance to talk to him a little more first."
"Okay." Shikiki's eyes became big, but she didn't question the instruction and Keitarou knew that she trusted implicitly in everything he said. "I'll go and work on my barriers, then. I fixed the broken scabbard you left with me to play with, and I'm not even tired, so I'm sure I can show Kei-nii how much better I'm getting!"
"I look forward to it." Keitarou turned the key in the lock, removing it and slipping it into his obi. Carefully he pulled back the divide, turning to shoot her one last smile. "I'm very proud of you, after all – my little time weaver."
He was rewarded by another beam, and then, as the young girl skipped off to obey his orders, Keitarou stepped into the hallway beyond.
From one obedient study project to one that will take a little more coercing. Oh well. I like a challenge.
Slowly he walked along the rows of cells that flanked each side of the long, dark hallway. They were hollow, black and empty, with only the sparsest of surroundings to suggest any living creature had ever been held there. Each was identical, carved out or grey stone and using the natural splits in the deep, below-surface rock to form the foundations of each squat, square cell. There was no natural light, for they were some way below the level of the ground, but each had two dim kidou lamps positioned at either end – enough that the captive could see their world and that the captor could see them. These dated from the days of the old Endou dungeon, when guards would have patrolled this narrow hallway looking for prisoners who were on the verge of causing trouble – however, Keitarou had used them to his advantage too, in order to see the changes in his test subjects and when they finally drew their last breath and were therefore no longer of any use to him.
Rough blankets were tossed against the wall of each – moth-eaten and worn yet clean, for Keitarou had not wanted his science to be tainted by the risk of infection. He had added low, thinly stuffed mattresses for the prisoners to sleep on, and an empty water vessel and wood ledge for food provision stood in the corner of each. They were squalid and unpleasant, but they were not dirty, and any unfortunate vermin Keitarou had ever found nearby had been quickly flung into the animal afterlife by a quick, cleansing shock of Byakurai.
The cells were empty at present – all of them except for one at the very furthest end, and as he reached it, he slowed, realising that his young guest was already awake despite the lack of sleep he had received the previous night.
"I'm sure Seimaru was very pleased to see you." The voice was quiet and edged slightly with frustration, and Keitarou smiled, resting his hand against the cage bars as he turned to meet the sullen hazel eyes.
"My accommodation is unpleasant. I'm sorry." He said softly. "Please don't take it personally. This is all I have, after all. The room and façade I keep above stairs as Minazake Roukei is fraught with the constant danger of being found out – here and here alone can I be who I really am."
"I'm very happy for you." Juushirou murmured, and Keitarou laughed.
"You're not happy at all." He reflected. "And I didn't expect that you would be. But I have at least some good news to bring you. Seimaru has agreed to keep his word – he won't be coming here to claim you as his prize."
"And what are you intending to do with me instead that I should be glad about?" Juushirou eyed him warily. "Surely I'm no use to you just here in this cell. You said you had something in mind – I want to know what. If I'm not allowed to leave here, I at least want to know what your motives are. Seimaru's I understand. He hates me and he has reason to want to kill me since I opposed him before. But you…I don't understand what I am to you. If it's not because Seimaru wants me…then why?"
"I am a scientist." Keitarou crouched down so that he was at the same level as his prisoner, eying him earnestly as he settled himself on the cold floor. "I like to learn things. I hoped to learn them from you."
"From me?"
Keitarou nodded, reaching out a pale hand and sliding it through the gap in the bars towards Juushirou's own. Juushirou flinched back, but Keitarou laughed, shrugging his shoulders.
"I don't need to touch you to realise it." He said lightly. "You have quite powerful reiatsu, don't you?"
"Maybe."
"Of course you do. You raised a zanpakutou. It would be foolish to think otherwise."
Keitarou pursed his lips, looking pensive.
"I have no personal grudge against you, so in that sense, my motive is nonexistent." He admitted. "It was pure scientific convenience that drove me to bring you here. It has benefits for Seimaru too…you are useful bait with which to set his trap. But as for me…"
"Bait?" Juushirou's eyes widened. "You mean…you do expect someone to follow me after all?"
"No. If they have sense, they won't." Keitarou shook his head. "I told Seimaru that they would, because it was what he wanted to hear. But I don't put so much faith in Clan or their loyalty to those around them. I don't think anyone will come here for you, Ukitake, even if it was possible for them to trace our path. So far as I know none of them are powerful shinigami capable of opening Senkaimon, which reduces the likelihood even more. I think you should resign yourself to that fact. I have plans, after all – and I'd like you to be a part of them."
Juushirou's eyes narrowed at this.
"I already told you that I had no intention to do anything." He said curtly. "I kept my part of the deal by coming. That's all you can ask of me. I'm not obliged to do anything else."
Keitarou gazed at him for a moment, his expression becoming flinty. Then,
"Do you have a father, Juushirou?"
"He died." At the sudden use of his first name, Juushirou started, staring at his companion uncertainly. "Why?"
"A mother, then?"
"Stepmother…yes. Why? What has that to do with you?"
"Brothers? Sisters? Family you care for?"
"I don't understand. What are you…?"
"What lengths would you go to, then, to protect them from harm?"
"What do you mean to do?" Juushirou's eyes flashed with fear, and Keitarou laughed, shaking his head.
"No. Not me. It's not me you should be wary of." He said softly. "I don't care anything for them or what lives they lead. But you have already crossed lines. Become something you should not be. And this has had repercussions already, has it not? Maybe in the future it will have more."
"That's no business of yours."
"On the contrary…as someone who's been a victim of Clan, it is." Keitarou shrugged. "My only reason for choosing you was based on the fact you don't have Clan ties. No other reason, no other motive. I knew very little else about you, and I probably never intended that I would. I simply planned to utilise you as a test subject for my science. To make you stronger and allow you to fight on an equal par with those who might oppose you. I had planned to do that…to make you the first person to trial my reidoku in a proper sense."
Juushirou stared at him in horror, then slowly he shook his head.
"Kill me." He said softly. "I won't be your guinea pig for that awful chemical. Kill me now and be done with it. I don't want anything to do with reidoku."
"Proud words." Keitarou was amused. "Proud, principled and naïve words. Do you think I would have told you that if I still intended to do it? I knew you wouldn't agree, after all. I'd have found another way to slip it into your system. But you needn't look at me so warily. I've changed my mind. Even sitting here, I can tell – you're not a suitable candidate after all."
Juushirou's eyes narrowed, and Keitarou withdrew his hand from the bars.
"I can tell from here that your reiatsu is stronger than I'd anticipated." He owned. "I made a foolish error of judgement which I can only blame on my having spent too long around Clan idiots these past hundred years. I thought that a District shinigami would be adequate as a subject for reidoku enhancement. But on the contrary, I think it would be a waste of my time and your life to try it. Even sitting here like this…I can tell your reiatsu is potentially higher than Seimaru's own. What that sword of yours can do I don't know – though I very much hope to find out. But either way, it needs no enhancement. On the contrary…it perhaps needs better control."
Juushirou bristled, shaking his head.
"My control isn't that bad, and it's none of your business." He said indignantly. "I'm still a student – you can't expect me to be able to do everything perfectly right away."
"But even so, at student level, you have more power in that scrawny body of yours than the Endou Clan's current leader. Perhaps, with time and training, as much or more as his predecessor had." Keitarou reflected. "One drop of reidoku would therefore, probably, kill you. Your control is there, but raw and ragged around the edges. It would be like a flame to dry tinder. Your power would explode…and that would be that. Nothing gained. Nothing learnt. Much wasted."
"Then what will you do with me, if that's the case?" Juushirou demanded. "I'm not going to be your puppet. I told you that."
"I already told you that Chudokuga's shikai would be ineffective against you. Now I know it for sure." Keitarou responded. "I should be disappointed that you aren't the test subject I envisioned – but instead I'm intrigued. You don't look strong enough to wield that kind of power. You don't seem strong enough, yet I know that you are. I want to see your sword. I want to test it. I want to learn about it – all about it – and what it means for Soul Society."
"My sword?" Juushirou's gaze flitted across to the cell across the other side of the corridor in which his unsheathed blade was currently housed. "Why?"
"Because I'm starting to see the possibilities." Keitarou got to his feet, offering Juushirou a grin, "Of a shinigami without Clan ties…a shinigami without Clan protection. I'm curious. Intrigued. And I want to learn more. Is there any harm in that? Are you, then, ashamed or afraid of your sword?"
"I'm not ashamed, nor afraid of it." Juushirou shook his head and Keitarou knew he had wounded the boy's pride with his carefully chosen words. "But I won't fight for you, so don't think anything you can say or do will make me. I'm not controlled by any Clan – and I'm not controlled by you, either. So don't think that I am."
"I would rather see you release the sword with that free spirit." Keitarou acknowledged. "Very well. I'll make an agreement with you, in that case, that may be more to your liking."
"Which is?" Juushirou was suspicious.
"Seimaru's demands and my interests are beginning to clash." Keitarou said softly. "I have saved Eiraki-hime and Sumire-sama, but I did so to bring you here. I have no interest in Seimaru's dynastic ambitions, nor his desire to kill every blood relative in his near vicinity in order to make sure nobody else can claim in District Seven. I supported him and shielded him and worked with him while Shouichi-sama was alive – but now he is dispensed with, and so our aims diverge."
"You killed Shouichi-sama." Juushirou whispered, and Keitarou nodded.
"Yes." He said briskly. "But not because it was Seimaru's wish. I did it because he killed a kinsman of mine – one I cared for and one whose children will now grow up as he and I did – lacking in a home or a father."
"But you still…somehow…in a way that nobody could trace…" Juushirou trailed off, and Keitarou smiled slightly, gauging the best way of tackling his hot-headed, idealistic young companion.
"You'd do better not to worry about the fates of dead men. He isn't worrying, after all." He responded evenly. "Before I killed him, I told him the truth – that Seimaru was acting against him. Then, with that shock and disbelief in his eyes, I took his life. That's all you need to know. His life for Daisuke's. A death that suited Seimaru and I both."
"Do you think I intend on making deals with murderers?"
"I understand you made them with a certain Shihouin Princess, if Seimaru is to be believed."
"That was different. That was…"
"In protection of her Clan?" Keitarou asked softly. "Daisuke was beaten and brutalised, his body broken and his soul destroyed through torture. He was put through unimaginable things to betray his family, and he did not. Would not. So Shouichi-sama killed him. Was I wrong, then, to avenge his death? For his children's sake…for his widow's? Was it wrong…? Don't you think that, in cases such as that, justice will only come at your own hand?"
"I…" Despite himself, Juushirou faltered, and Keitarou knew he had the advantage.
"If it was one of your siblings, Juushirou, how would you act?" He pressed gently. "Would you forgive it, if one of your blood was so abused and ill-treated and then killed for no reason? Daisuke was like my brother, and he was only the last. Since the death of the old woman, countless scores of my blood kin have been so assaulted. Before that, even…we have never been safe. Is it not normal, then, to want to stand up for those people and fight back?"
Juushirou sighed, rubbing his temples.
"It doesn't make it right." He murmured.
"But who can I go to for justice?" Keitarou pushed his advantage home. "I'm an exile. I don't exist. My true Clan already abandoned me. Like I said, I became the Urahara's dark reputation. I am the one who avenges them – all of them – for all of the suffering they've had. And in particular, for Daisuke and Father."
He smiled.
"You would be no different. I can see it in your eyes." He added evenly. "If it was your kin, dying and begging for mercy, you wouldn't stand back and stay out of it. And nor could I. The Council don't acknowledge me and would probably kill me…therefore there is no other way than by Chudokuga's blade."
"You won't convince me that you're a good person that way."
"I'm not trying to. I'm not a good person." Keitarou admitted. "I'm not going to lie about that. But I do act with reason, and I don't do things that make no sense. I follow the path that is most logical for me to follow at any time, and that path can change in a moment."
"Meaning what?" Juushirou demanded.
"If you will let me study you – you and your District zanpakutou – then I will have no reason to remain on Seimaru's side." Keitarou responded simply. "He is useful – but his political viability is short-lived given the growing demand he places on the slaughter of his kin. If you work with me – just here, within this laboratory, so as I can examine your abilities – I will do what is in my power to bring Seimaru's stranglehold to an end. You support his rival, after all, do you not? Endou Hirata is your ally. Well, if you will show me your sword, and allow me to study it – he will become my ally, also."
"Why should I believe you? What would be in it for you?"
"You have no reason to trust me." Keitarou agreed. "Except that I have kept you alive when Seimaru would have you killed. My interest in you is just that at the moment – scientific interest. But that in itself is enough. As an Urahara – as a member of that Clan – it's how we are, deep down inside. I believe that I can learn things from your existence. Many things. Things such as how a District person can gain such power without blood or training. Things like that. Things that may…one day…be of use to me."
He shrugged.
"But that's no concern of yours. What is is that I am probably the only person who can stop Seimaru."
"That's stupid. The Council could stop him. Lots of people could stop him." Juushirou snorted, and Keitarou's expression became sinister.
"Yes. If they have evidence, they could." He murmured. "But otherwise, it means invasion and war. He's thinking of it, you know – invading District Eight. Attacking the Clan there. Destroying the refugees that fled from him in order to track down his cousin. He has those ambitions and he wants to destroy Tokutarou-sama for hiding his kinsfolk. Tokutarou-sama sent him a message about them, and it's made him mad enough to strike."
"But...!" Horror flooded Juushirou's gaze.
"For now, I have stopped him from acting." Keitarou held up his hands. "I am the only one who has that kind of influence because I know the truth of how his Grandfather died and I could easily destroy him with that information. And if you work with me, I will disclose those things and make sure he is brought to justice. If you let me learn from you, District shinigami…I will disclose anonymously to the Council written proof the events of two summers ago. My interests are not really with the Endou-ke and never have been – my work on reidoku has about reached its end. If you give me another path to follow…then maybe…"
Juushirou's lips thinned. Then, slowly, he nodded his head.
"All right." He agreed cautiously. "If it doesn't require me to attack anyone, because I won't do that. I'll let you see Sougyo no Kotowari, and I'll allow you to find out what you want to know about my reiatsu. You're wrong about one thing – I'm not like you enough to want to kill Seimaru, and I don't want to enter into a pact with you to kill him, either. But I do…want to stop him starting a war and involving innocent people in his madness. And I want to help Hirata and his family. I made a promise and I want to keep it."
"Then we understand each other." Keitarou produced the Kyouraku crest from his obi, setting it down just behind the bars of the cell. "This is your proof that I won't betray you over to Seimaru. I have more Kyouraku blood than I do Endou. I care little for it, in honesty – but this time I will honour that blood over Seimaru's demands."
Juushirou scooped up the crest, dusting it off and glancing at it. Then he nodded.
"Very well." He murmured. "I agree."
-----
"So run this by me again."
Shunsui sat down heavily on one of the big silk-covered cushions beside the window of his chamber, wrapping the robe more tightly around his aching body as he gazed blearily up at his impatient classmate
"Start from the beginning, Kai-kun - and talk slowly and quietly, for heaven's sake. You shouting down my ear at this hour is not popular at the best of times...but especially not when I'm hungover."
"If you hadn't been an idiot last night you'd know all about it already." Kai was unsympathetic. "And this morning we might have a better idea what was going on. Snap out of it, Kyouraku, else I'll snap you out of it personally...hungover or not, there isn't time."
Shunsui sighed, burying his head in his hands as he struggled to put his thoughts into coherent order. He had been forcibly dragged from his bed by the persistent Shihouin just a short time earlier, rudely awakened from an alcohol induced dream that he had not wanted to leave to a world in which every tiny sound seemed like a thunderclap and in which Kai's shaking had more resembled an earthquake than an attempt to rouse him.
"Okay." He said at length. "I'm listening. I'll try to follow. What has Juu done now?"
Kai frowned, pulling the Kyouraku weapon from his sash and dropping it down on the hard floor with a clatter. Shunsui flinched as pain rocketed through his fuzzy brain, but even as he opened his mouth to protest, he caught sight of the dagger and the words died on his lips as he bent to pick it up.
"Where in hell did you get this?" He demanded, staring up at Kai in alarm. "If this is your idea of a wake-up call, Kai-kun..."
"Don't be stupid. Of course not." Kai snorted. "Do you think I don't have my own Shihouin one if I want to slice and dice you into listening to me? No. That came from Hirata and Ukitake's room. In which Ukitake isn't. And hasn't been...since sometime late last night."
Shunsui blinked, struggling to follow his friend's words, then,
"Late last night? After the party?"
"Mm. Early hours, about." Kai nodded. "And it's more than that. The knife didn't just appear there - it was dropped there by Eiraki-hime, when she was startled out of an attempt to kill her brother."
"What?" Shunsui was on his feet in a second, regretting it the next as he stumbled, throwing a hand up against the wall of the chamber as the world swam and danced before his eyes. "Ah, I shouldn't do that! Not when I'm still half asleep, and fugged up into the bargain. But Kai-kun...are you serious? Eiraki-hime...tried to kill Hirata? What happened? Where is she now? What has she said? What..."
"Sit down before you fall down." Kai gave his friend a little shove, pushing him back down onto the cushion. "And I'll tell you what we know. And also what we don't. Listen up, okay? Try and follow, since it's complicated...and we've wasted enough time already."
"I'm listening." Shunsui crossed his legs, setting the dagger down beside him. "Go on. I'm sorry - I didn't realise that it was something that serious."
Kai's lips thinned, and he nodded, slowly relating the events of the previous night and then the conversation in Juushirou and Hirata's chamber a short while before. As he talked, Shunsui felt the cold sense of unease and dread in the pit of his stomach grow ever greater, his expression becoming grave as the Shihouin boy finished his account.
He sighed, reaching to scoop up the dagger once more.
"And this was it? The dagger Eiraki-hime had?"
"Yes. She thinks so too. Hirata and I can both feel...something on it, but we can't identify what beyond Ukitake and Eiraki-hime."
"Too many people have touched it now. I can't either - even if my head wasn't setting up a marching band, I doubt I'd manage it." Shunsui sighed, rubbing his fingers against his brow in an attempt to soothe the persistent throbbing of his brain as it protested at being forced to think under such duress. "But she was being manipulated...and she had this. And you think Juu went after whoever it was who was manipulating her?"
"Only explanation we have, since Edogawa is adamant he wasn't attacked or taken by force." Kai nodded. "Seems like he squashed his reiatsu and went hunting in that madcap way of his."
"And this was...about what, six hours ago?" Shunsui rose slowly to his feet, moving carefully and gingerly across the chamber towards the rope that connected the complex network of serving bells around the Kyouraku manor. "Juu doesn't know this territory, so if that's the case...if I send for Yasuhiro and have him deploy his men out to search on horseback - they might be able to locate him and bring him back to the estate before any big fuss is kicked up. Nii-sama isn't here, and I'd rather not make it too big a thing given the delicacy of the situation. If Eiraki-hime...if people thought she was going to cause violence..."
"I don't think she's still affected by whatever it was." Kai shook his head. "I think it was just a one off thing - and it failed, so the attacker fled. She doesn't remember a lot of things - but..."
"I'll speak to her anyhow." Shunsui groaned, his fingers brushing against the bell rope, but then he stopped. "And it would be better I send summons from Nii-sama's office, now I think of it. It would be the day after the party, though. My brain isn't up to this, but it's going to have to be anyway. My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I do remember Nii-sama telling me that when he wasn't here, I was effectively in charge of things. Even though it's a few months till my twentieth birthday, he said it would be good practice seeing as I was home from school. And now this...but if it's in my hands, at least Yasuhiro should obey me. I hope."
"I'll ride out with them." Kai decided. "We should - all of us who can. We know Ukitake's reiatsu, and on horseback..."
"Hirata is staying here for now. I won't risk it." Shunsui gazed at the dagger. "This connects to him. Even this..."
"There's something about that knife, isn't there?" Kai asked softly, and Shunsui sighed, nodding his head.
"It's old." He said quietly. "And the floral border on that Kyouraku crest says it belongs to a branch of the Clan I thought had died out. Certainly a branch of the Clan who...aren't represented here at the wedding. But..."
"A plant, then? To frame a Kyouraku?"
"No." Shunsui's eyes narrowed as his mind flitted to the conversation with Irie in the refugee camps. "I rather think...it's a message. And I'm not going to ignore it. Come on, Kai-kun. We need to find Juu before someone else does, which means I also need to talk to Eiraki-hime right away – in particular about where she got that dagger."
"You're going downstairs like that?" Kai gazed at him, bemused, and Shunsui glanced down at himself, taking in the rumpled night clothes and the expensive embroidered-silk robe that covered them with a rueful grimace.
"Yes, because right now getting properly dressed in a way to suit my kinsfolk's expectations is beyond my thought processes." He admitted. "Besides, this is an emergency. There isn't time for me to gawk blankly at kataginu and wonder which garment goes where. I'm more worried about what stupid thing Juu's got himself into right now – if anyone has an issue with what I'm wearing then they'll just have to take issue with it."
"Fair enough." Despite his anxiety, a smile twitched at Kai's lips and he nodded his head. "All right. In that case, I'm right behind you."
Author's Note: Eiraki
Again, in reply to an anon review:
Keitarou's sword was monitoring Eiraki, but until he unleashed his Kairaishi technique, it was not controlling her. Her emotions and reactions were all her own, manipulated as they were by her loneliness, gullibility and his persuasion. Since that was Keitarou's shikai, it could not be activated from such a far distance away from where Eiraki was - hence why Keitarou had to go to District Eight and meet with her in order to activate the skill. Eiraki's ill health was caused by her body trying to reject the foreign spirit matter, much like a human body would reject a foreign body.
So her belief in Keitarou was not created by Chudokuga, and therefore remains as it was before.