Chapter Fifty Eight: Kakugo
Seimaru's reiatsu had changed.
From his position at Midori's side, Hirata bit down hard on his lip, anxiety flooding through him as he processed the dark, intense spirit power that now flowed around the Clan leader's body, pouring into his sword as he flicked it back to release a second crescent of flame to follow the first. It had seemed for a moment as though Kyouki had been swallowed up by his flare, but as the second strike let loose from Yojinmozu's gleaming tip, Kyouki herself hazed out of shunpo on the opposite side of the copse, letting out her breath in a rush as she dusted stray ash from her clothing.
"Whew. That was a close call."
She had lost her haori, Hirata realised with a jolt. No...he corrected himself, she had sacrificed her haori. In the moment that Seimaru's flare had touched the delicate fabric she had discarded it, using it as a barrier between her and the flames to give her time to evade their blazing heat. Yet although Kyouki had escaped the attack unharmed, Hirata understood that it had not been easy. What had ignited so brightly had been the white symbol of Fifth Division and Fifth District leadership - the proof that the one Seimaru was fighting was one who battled with the Gotei's pride in her blade.
That symbol of pride was now no more than ash, and Seimaru did not seem to have any intention of abating his attacks.
"You slipped your haori and escaped me." He said darkly, his gaze flitting to where Kyouki now stood. "You used it as a distraction and a shield for my flames - but you won't be able to pull that same trick a second time."
"No. I imagine stripping off here would not be a good idea, seeing as there are minors present." Kyouki spoke flippantly, but Hirata could see that her green eyes had become grave. "I hope you know what you've done to yourself, Seimaru. What that reidoku is truly capable of. In the end, it may not be me you find yourself fighting."
"Don't be stupid. I've never felt better." Seimaru's features lit up with triumph and he fired another crescent of hot red flame, forcing Kyouki to bring her weapon up in its ghostly blue shield to deflect the force of the attack. Even so, the flames battered against the light shield, making Kyouki take a couple of steps back to maintain her stance, and Hirata's heart clenched in his throat.
He's got stronger, but as yet, he hasn't lost control. Is he right? Is the reidoku Seimaru just took...really stabilised enough to let him fight Kyouki-sama and win without losing his wits?
"This isn't the same reidoku as the Council ran scared of a century ago." Seimaru raised his weapon, sparks falling from the tip as he eyed his opponent pensively. "A hundred years has seen some changes...this formula is stable and I can use it. I will use it. To burn you into nothing more than ash."
At his side, Hirata was aware of Midori's tensing, and he knew that her thoughts had flitted to her uncle. A sudden stab of anger rushed through him as he digested this.
Kamuki-sama lost his life trying to create this kind of reidoku - the Shihouin-ke has suffered and I know as well as anyone how much. Yet they've taken me in and supported me - allied with me - although I've shielded the true evil from facing justice up to now. Seimaru and his scientist...the Endou-ke are the ones who were the real danger. Kamuki-sama was led astray - his plans for his son became something bigger and darker. Yet...this reidoku...had Kamuki-sama managed to obtain it alone - would he then be using it to try to cut down others for his own ambition? Or simply to secure the future of his Clan by infusing his heir with spirit power he lacked?
He clenched his fists, feeling his nails digging into the palms of his hands.
In the end, it isn't the Shihouin who are truly guilty. I knew that. I've known it a long time. It's the Endou-ke. This rotten, twisted Clan. The Endou-ke deserve to be destroyed...if all they're founded on is other people's spilt blood.
"You already sound delusional, if that's the case." Kyouki's sword glittered with light as she brought it down, flaring a frozen beam of light towards where Seimaru stood. "And I'm going to cool you down and make you see things rationally. Or don't you have any shame in enhancing your feeble ability with false chemicals?"
"I say that a shinigami should do what he can to be strong." Seimaru darted neatly out of the way of Kyouki's flare, and Hirata realised that his speed had also increased. "Whatever that might prove to be. Isn't it the duty of a shinigami to be the strongest in the Clan? Isn't that how it should be? The Gotei elite?"
"But by natural diligence and hard work, not dabbling in illicit chemicals." Kyouki dropped into shunpo, reappearing behind Seimaru and firing a second flare of light. "That's the difference. That's what makes someone Gotei."
"Old fashioned values." Seimaru whipped around, sending a blaze of fire to meet Kyouki's beam and this time, instead of being washed out by the cold light, the two met in the middle, sending an explosion of spirit power up into the ether. "Old fashioned beliefs that will see people trampled underfoot. Under my feet, most probably, considering that your sword doesn't seem to be as effective as it was against my fire."
He grinned, tapping Yojinmozu idly against his leg as a faint amber haze began to surround his body.
"What's next?" He asked mockingly. "I've countered the day moon, and deflected the night one. Don't tell me that's the end of your repertoire, Kyouki-dono. I didn't suppose that the great Gekkoushin would be so easy to neutralise."
His eyes narrowed.
"Or is it simply that without its partner in crime, it's nothing more than a trick sword?" He taunted. "Was it Tensonshin, after all, who had all the true strength?"
"You know nothing about Tensonshin." Kyouki's aura bristled with indignation at this. "Nor do you know anything about Gekkoushin. You should curb your tongue, Seimaru. You deflected one beam, that's all. You've yet to lay a hit on me - I'm completely unhurt and quite capable of continuing for some time. You'll have to do more than that if you want to take me down - even with reidoku in your system, you're still not a match for Gekkoushin's power."
"We'll see. I'm just warming up." Hirata saw Seimaru's gaze flit briefly towards the fallen reidoku vial, then, "You seem to be moving more slowly, and your attacks seem less effective. Forgive me for thinking you were tiring - you certainly seem to be fighting that..."
"Hadou no Hachi-juu Hachi."
Kyouki's voice cut across him, deep foreboding in her tones as she disappeared, reappearing in the sky over his head.
At his side, Midori cursed, grabbing hold of Hirata and pulling him forcibly down onto the ground.
"What...?" Hirata was startled, and Midori shook her head.
"Stay down." She muttered. "You'll see why."
From his prone position, Hirata could just about make out the form of the Fifth District shinigami, her form silhouetted by the light of the winter sun as she thrust her left hand up against the blade of her still glittering weapon, then,
"Hiryuugeki Zokushin Tenraihou!" She exclaimed.
The next moment Hirata was sure that the whole of the copse had been consumed by light, for a flare of energy like none he had ever seen or felt before had blazed from the shinigami's hands, merging with the natural power of her zanpakutou and surging unforgivingly down at speed towards where Seimaru stood. The trees, the sky, the clouds, everything seemed to be a mass of light, and Hirata found himself screwing his eyes shut as the heavy wave of spiritual power shook the ground around him with its inpact. Struggling to draw breath, he felt Midori's grasp on him tighten, and then, from somewhere, he heard her voice.
"Kyouki-sama's getting serious." She said softly. "If there's anything left of Seimaru now, we've got a real battle on our hands."
"How could anyone...survive...that?" Hirata murmured weakly, and Midori sighed.
"Unfortunately, we don't know how much his power is augmented by reidoku." She acknowledged. "Normally, only someone capable of higher level Bakudou would be able to deflect a spell like that. But...I can still sense Seimaru's reiatsu. Can't you? Who knows what level that chemical can drive him to."
Hirata opened his eyes cautiously, and as the light began to fade, he became aware of a flickering line of fire from one side of the copse to the other. It was not quite a complete shield, for the force of Kyouki's kidou had broken through it in several places, but though Seimaru seemed somewhat singed around the edges, he was still on his feet, breathing heavily but defiant and triumphant as his opponent landed neatly on the grass opposite.
"Is that all a level eighty eight Kidou can do?" He asked mockingly, his voice slightly hoarse but still easily audible in the silent grove. "No wonder I never bothered learning much magic. It barely even touched me at all."
Kyouki's brows knitted together.
"You're lying." She said softly. "My zanpakutou's power is light, and that spell is also light. When I fire it from Gekkoushin's blade, I know exactly where it goes and what damage it does. It ate through your reiatsu, and you had to flare the strongest flames you could to stop it consuming you completely. Your reiatsu is faltering again, Seimaru...even with the reidoku, this isn't a fight you can continue indefinitely."
"The same is probably true for her, however." Midori murmured, and Hirata shot her a look of alarm.
"You mean...?"
"Hadou #88 is a powerful spell, and to use it without an incantation consumes a lot of reiryoku." Midori spoke gravely. "Even given her natural disposition towards it as a light-based attack..."
She smiled faintly.
"Maybe you can't feel it. You are only a student yet." She acknowledged. "But you do know kyakkou, and that's another light-based spell. You should understand that light manipulation requires a lot of concentration...even though Kyouki-sama is proficient in kidou, using that in battle is meant to be a finishing move. To keep fighting in shikai beyond it...her reiryoku has taken a hit, too."
Hirata frowned, his gaze flitting towards Kyouki as he assessed his companion's words.
"Then is it a case of...who lasts the longest?" He whispered. "But...Midori-sama...the reidoku..."
"We don't know what it can do." Midori agreed grimly. "But I'll tell you this, Hirata. By now, using the kind of power that Seimaru is...he should have lost control. He should be struggling to control his spirit power - but he isn't. It's reacting on a much higher level than he can handle, yet he's handling it. That reidoku...is probably what he said it was. Stable. And if that's the case..."
"He's at least as strong as Kyouki-sama until it wears off." Hirata bit his lip. "If it even does."
"Mm." Midori nodded. "I doubt the effects of one dose are permanent. His reiatsu isn't completely steady with it...so I imagine it's the first time he's taken it. But even so...I hate to admit, it's an impressive debut. Seimaru as he is now...I couldn't fight him, Hirata. And you..."
She did not finish her sentence, but Hirata understood her meaning all too well.
I wouldn't stand a chance. But I knew that anyway. With or without reidoku, that remains the case. I'm weak. I've always been weak. And now the stakes have changed...he's so far away from me now that...
His gaze fell on the reidoku vial again, and he frowned, his brow creasing.
There's still reidoku inside. He didn't consume it all.
For a moment he pondered on this realisation, wondering what it meant.
Is he planning on pacing it out? Matching Kyouki-sama blow for blow and then using that to up his levels again to finish her off? Or...?
His gaze flitted from Seimaru to Kyouki, then back to Seimaru.
Midori-sama is right. He's handling himself without a problem, but his reiatsu isn't totally secure. Is that it, then? He's taken just enough to make sure he augments his fight power without breaking through and falling apart?
"It's time to wind this up." Seimaru's weapon glowed with fresh amber fire as he slipped into shunpo, reappearing at Kyouki's left hand side. "If you're so sure that I can't hurt you, let's see exactly how far that theory bears out, shall we?"
His eyes glittered with something that had Hirata not known Seimaru for so long as he had, he would have mistaken for madness, then,
"Chi ni, juso o." He murmured, his tones sinister as the flickering amber flames flared around his body. "Kouen Kougeki."
He swept his blade cleanly through the winter air, the flames shooting out towards Kyouki and the other Clan leader cursed, slipping into shunpo as she tried to dodge it. Seimaru simply began to laugh, however, flicking his blade towards the spot she reappeared and to Hirata's horror, the flames changed direction, bearing down on Kyouki with ruthless determination.
Kyouki slipped into shunpo a second time, then a third, but Seimaru's blade seemed able to hold the fire in the air indefinitely now, for he simply shifted their aim, powering them forward once again towards their prey.
As the heat licked up towards the edge of Kyouki's hakama, Hirata's stomach flip-flopped, fear in his eyes.
"Hadou no Gojuu Hachi. Tenran!" Kyouki spun her blade out in front of her, and a swirl of air whirled out to deflect the flames, sending them flying in all directions across the copse. Hirata was aware of Midori muttering the words to a spell under her breath, and falling fragments of flame deflected harmlessly off the kidou barrier she had erected over them just in time.
Kyouki dropped to the ground, sweat beading her brow as she drew breath raggedly into her lungs. She had avoided being touched by the curse, Hirata knew, but in doing so she had been forced to fire another powerful kidou spell, and now it was clear that the Clan leader's reiryoku was starting to falter. Shunpo, kidou, shikai...yet still Seimaru stood before them, and still his blade gleamed with amber flame.
The reidoku was strong, then. In this state, Hirata realised, he would have even been able to challenge Shouichi face to face to win the Clan by open means.
To claim the Endou-ke legitimately, you have to battle and defeat the existing leader...take his life and therefore his title in full view of witnesses.
Hirata's eyes narrowed as his gaze fell once more on the reidoku vial.
Using poison to enhance your power is not honourable...but is any of it really honourable? As it stands, Seimaru will kill Kyouki-sama and then...Midori-sama and I, too, since neither one of us are anywhere near Kyouki-sama's level of fighting. Seimaru seems as though he can keep going...but avoiding the curse has exhausted Kyouki-sama's spiritual power. At this rate...at this rate...
"You seem tired." Seimaru eyed Kyouki in amusement. "I'll congratulate you on managing to avoid my curse - but even so, the effect is about the same. I doubt you can bring out any more big spells like that - do you even have enough to fire your sword at me again?"
"Try it and find out." Kyouki glared at him defiantly. "If you have anything left in that tainted blade of yours."
"Plenty, as you're going to see." Seimaru laughed, darting nimbly forward and sweeping his sword down towards Kyouki's upper body. "While you feel my weapon cut through your flesh and bone, that is. Have you ever wondered what it feels like, to be sliced open by burning metal? I've wondered, often. What it feels like, when my sword slashes holes in my opponent. You'll have to tell me - if you live long enough to voice the words - just what it's like to be cut down by a firesword."
"He's losing it." Midori hissed. "Things like that...even Seimaru..."
"No. This is Seimaru." Hirata said blackly. "He's just like his father. Just like him. This is how he is, when he corners his prey. Usually it's someone who can't fight back...and then, instead of simply cutting their throat and making it clean, he curses them and watches them die. Mibune-jisama was the same - he used to slash holes in his victims until they had no more blood to spill, whether they were alive or dead. This isn't the reidoku, Midori-sama. This is my cousin's true nature coming through."
"Hirata..." Midori cast him a glance, and Hirata's eyes narrowed.
"Enough." He murmured. "I've had...enough."
As Seimaru's sword slashed down, Kyouki managed to raise Gekkoushin's gleaming blade to counter it, pushing back against it with as much strength as she could muster. She was not using the weapon's spirit powers now, Hirata knew, but her ingrained, native sword skills that she had probably been learning since she was a small child. It was all she could do now to maintain that level of defence, and he made up his mind.
There's no honour in this Clan. Therefore, if we both die, and the Clan fades...then maybe, in the end, that's the best thing. So long as Seimaru is no longer there...it must be the best thing. If Father is still alive...if he is then...he'll know what to do. And if not...if not, the Council will.
"Hirata?"
As he gently detached Midori's grasp from his body, the Shihouin Clan leader stared at him, confusion in her golden eyes. Hirata bowed his head before her solemnly.
"Thank you." He whispered. "For everything done before and everything I know you'll do from now on. I have faith in your Clan...I trust your Clan. And I'm sorry...that mine caused it and you such harm."
"Hirata, what are you..." Midori's eyes widened, and Hirata offered her a sad smile.
"Bakudou no Nijuu-roku. Kyakkou." He whispered, feeling the swirl of reiryoku wrap itself protectively around him as he concealed himself from sight.
"Hirata!" Midori's voice pierced through him, but he forced himself to ignore it, suppressing his spirit power to its lowest level as he fixed his attention once more on the vial of reidoku lying forgotten on the ground. Not far away, Seimaru and Kyouki's blades clashed and clattered against one another in a fierce battle of swords, and Hirata bent to pick the wooden container up, feeling the ominous aura of the reidoku within.
I was right. There is still...in that case...
He turned towards the fighting Clan leaders, quashing his fear as he slipped the vial within the confines of his spell, and making his way carefully across the grass until he was a bare few feet from the two oblivious shinigami.
They were too close together, now.
Hirata's eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he gauged their positions.
No good. Not yet. I can't risk it...Sora would be sad, after all, if I...if her mother...because of me.
He took a deep breath to steady himself, then, as Kyouki mustered a burst of strength, pushing the firesword away from her glittering blade of light, he took his chance, darting between the two combatants. As Seimaru's blade drove forward hungrily once more, Hirata acted, thrusting the wooden vial forward boldly against the sheer point of the weapon.
Yojinmozu pierced cleanly through the wooden container at once, and Seimaru let out an exclamation as it immediately ignited against the heat of the zanpakutou, flaring into a great ball of energy that smouldered with an eerie, choking black smoke. Seimaru's eyes widened in alarm and he tried to bring his weapon back, but it was too late. The sealed wood vessel gave way within seconds, and the remaining drops of the potent solution spattered across the amber blade, causing it to flicker and flare with unnatural crimson light. Seimaru let out a yell as though he had been burned by some kind of acid, taking two or three steps back from the astonished Kyouki as his focus was suddenly distracted from the fight.
There was a sudden explosion of flame and reiryoku, and Hirata found himself flung backwards across the grass, his kyakkou disintegrating with the force of the blast. He fell heavily on the ground, his glasses shattering against the icy surface, and from somewhere around him he was aware of Kyouki's exclamation of horror. As the flames swarmed out across the copse, he closed his eyes, knowing that without the ability to shunpo, he could not escape their speed.
But if we both die, Seimaru, then it really does end. And nobody else can be made to suffer for being put in the middle of the two of us. Even though I never really wanted to fight...if in the end, we both die...maybe District Seven can start over again. Finally.
From somewhere in the hot, burning darkness, he thought he heard a bird's shrieking cry, and then, silhouetted against a backdrop of simmering brimstone, he saw the spectral form of a hawk, bearing down on him with a glitter of resolve in its golden eyes. Something washed over him, and as the heat seemed to dissipate, he opened his eyes slightly, half-wondering if the hazy image before his gaze of the hunting hawk beating its wings towards the fire was a hallucination caused by the reidoku's fumes.
Then he felt hands grabbing at his body, and a harried, angry voice in his ear, and the moment was gone.
"Damn you, Hirata, what are you trying to do? Get yourself killed?"
It was Midori, yanking him into shunpo and back away from the fire, her eyes glittering with frustrated gold light, and Hirata's lips twitched into a faint, comprehending smile.
It wasn't a bird, then? It was Midori-sama, after all? Midori-sama...using that whirlwind spell that Kyouki-sama used. But for a moment, without my glasses...
"Midori! Get him well away from here!" That was Kyouki, and from the sound of her voice, Hirata knew that she was at his other side, urgency in his tones. "Whatever he did...I don't know, but whatever it was, staying here is a bad idea. Get him clear!"
Hirata felt the grip on his heavy body tighten, then,
"A poisoned fire raging out of control is a danger to everyone." She responded evenly. "Kyouki-sama, you take him. You take him far. I have my reiryoku intact...you can't possibly stop that fire, but I...can."
"Midori!"
"Bakudou no Hachijuu Ichi. Dankuu!"
The Shihouin princess's voice was firm and Hirata was aware of another flare of concentrated spiritual magic shooting out across the copse, forming a resolute barrier between them and the oncoming burning surge of energy.
"What about Seimaru?" Kyouki demanded. "Dankuu can block the fire, maybe, but..."
"Seimaru can fend for himself." Midori's words were cold, and Hirata remembered the ruthless precision with which she had dispatched Aitori in the little town in District One. "Taking him alive is no longer an option, Kyouki-sama. Hirata saw that too, so he acted. We can't save him. It's too late for that."
"Mm." To Hirata's surprise, Kyouki did not argue, and the boy turned his hazy gaze back towards the fire, watching the angry flames beating up against Midori's kidou barrier.
He could not see clearly, but in the flames beyond, he was aware of a shape, its silhouette shifting and deforming in the glow of the fire that surrounded him. Though he could not focus in on his cousin, he knew that Midori's assessment was right. He could feel it, after all - the deep, agonising swirl of Seimaru's reiatsu as bit by bit it broke through it's normal limits and flared up beyond the other's control.
So I was right. He was at his limit...a little more and it tipped the scale.
Hirata took a deep breath into his lungs.
"You are a reckless idiot." Midori was glaring down at him once more now, and he swallowed hard, staring up at her blankly. "What did you think you were doing? You could've been killed too!"
"Taking...down...Seimaru...was...my duty." Hirata murmured. "And...if someone...else died...I couldn't...let that...happen...again."
"Don't bully him, Midori." Kyouki dropped down at his other side, and Hirata was aware of the relief in her voice. "He probably saved my life, acting how he did. You're right. Taking him alive was not possible. Maybe it wasn't ever possible...I don't know. If I'd fought with my all from the start...perhaps it wouldn't have got to this point."
She reached across to ruffle her fingers through his dark hair.
"You are an interesting kid, after all." She reflected. "And you're right. This was your duty. I'm glad you saw it that way, too."
Midori sighed.
"Even if he had been killed?"
"Midori, you sound fond of the boy." Kyouki chided, and Midori paused for a moment.
"I am." She admitted. "He's been my ward and charge for a year and more, Kyouki-sama. He's like a part of my family. I came here to defend him because he's my ally...and also, because he's Kai's friend. I had no intention of letting him in harm's way."
"It's over." Kyouki gestured towards the barrier, which was starting to fragment and break down as the inferno on the far side of it quieted into a smouldering black wasteland of ash and charcoal. "Whatever you did, Hirata, I guess we're not taking much of your cousin from that."
"It was reidoku." Hirata struggled into a sitting position, squinting across the grass to where a strange, misshapen lump of something black was hunched in the middle of the devastation. "The rest of what was in his vial. I thought that...if I tipped it on his blade...if he...he overloaded then..."
"Cruel, but ruthlessly effective." Midori reflected. "You are an Endou, then, after all."
Hirata did not answer for a moment, then he nodded his head.
"It would seem so." he agreed softly.
Kyouki got to her feet, moving cautiously into the burnt out area and pausing beside the hunched up lump. She sealed Gekkoushin, then tapped the end of the blade gently against it.
"There's not much left of him." She said gravely. "His body warped and changed before it was completely engulfed by his own flames. But there's enough here...a skull, what's left of it, and limbs...he didn't escape. This is Seimaru. He's dead."
Seimaru is dead.
Hirata pursed his lips.
I killed Seimaru. I killed my cousin. I...Do I regret it? Do I feel...that I did something terrible? Do I feel...that way?
His eyes clouded and he gazed down at his hands, making out the blurry smudges of ash against his skin.
I don't. I don't feel anything. Just relief. And empty. And...that's all. It's over. That's all I feel. That in the end...it's over.
He frowned, as a sudden prickle of energy pierced through his thoughts, and his eyes widened as he turned to grab Midori by the arm.
"Midori-sama!" He exclaimed, and Midori nodded her head.
"I feel it too." She agreed grimly. "Juushirou and Shunsui-dono."
"Something's wrong." Hirata struggled to his feet, but stumbled, and Midori caught him, pulling him back down to the ground.
"You're our priority here." She said quietly. "This is Endou territory and the Clan leader has just died. Right now, we need you and in one piece as far as we can manage it. Nothing else matters...for the time being, your Clan has to come first."
The world around him was a brightly coloured carpet of petals, pinks and blues and yellows surrounding him and softening the ground onto which he had fallen.
Cautiously Shunsui opened his eyes, glancing around him in hazy confusion as he tried to make out what had happened. All was quiet, and try as he might he could not pick out Juushirou's reiatsu anywhere in his surrounds. Above his head, the sky was dark, speckled at intervals with the bright glitter of stars, and a haze of something silver indicated that the moon was this time hiding behind the delicate gauze of a fleeting cloud.
Confused, he pulled himself into a sitting position, and as he did so, he realised that his right arm no longer seemed to be hurting. As his gaze fell on it, he saw that it was unharmed, and tentatively he flexed and clenched the fingers of his right hand, watching them obey his instruction without hesitation.
His eyes narrowed.
So, this was not the field of battle.
"Seibara?" He murmured, and something hazed into view before him, stepping daintily over the petals as she came to acknowledge his call. There was a smile on her face, but Shunsui was not fooled - her eyes were grave and troubled, and as she reached out tiny fingers to brush against his, he found that he was all the more aware of her distress.
"You remembered." She murmured. "You knew that it was me and that I'd brought you here. I'm glad, Shunsui. We don't have much time to talk."
"Here being my inner world." Shunsui's lips thinned. "Which is why I can move this...?"
He lifted his right arm, and Seibara nodded.
"In here, you are without injury." She said softly. "Your physical body has been battered and your right arm is broken. But inside here is your soul alone. This time, your spirit hasn't taken injury. At least...at least, not yet."
"Not yet?" Shunsui echoed her words sharply, grasping her by the shoulders in his alarm. "What do you mean, not yet?"
"Calm down." Seibara shook her head, and although she had not touched them, Shunsui found his fingers loosening their hold, slipping down from her shoulders and falling harmlessly to his sides once more. "If you're not calm, I can't explain to you. I told you already. We don't have time!"
"Explain? Explain what, exactly?" Shunsui struggled to control his frustration, shaking his head. "Seibara, out there my best friend is about to kill me. If you've got some magic trick up your sleeve that can do something about this..."
"There is a way." Seibara nodded, though again Shunsui saw that grave look flit across her eyes. "But it depends, Shunsui. It depends on what we talked about before. On your...resolve."
"My...resolve?" Shunsui repeated, and Seibara nodded.
"Ukitake Juushirou is under the spell of another zanpakutou." She said briskly. "You suspect that already though, don't you?"
"Mm. Urahara Keitarou's." Shunsui's eyes narrowed angrily. "Like he used Eiraki-hime as his puppet, now it's Juu. But Juu snapped Eiraki-hime out of it somehow. So if you can just tell me the way to snap Juu out of it..."
"As I said...there is a way." Seibara agreed carefully. "But you must listen...and consider everything I have to say."
She sighed, settling down before him on the ground.
"You've lost the power of your right arm, therefore it is useless and we cannot use it." She added. "But you have your left arm, and you must use it, Shunsui. If you lose the use of that arm too...I cannot help you. Amaki is already barred from entering this fight - even though I feel him pulsing at the edge of my awareness, he cannot join you because your arm is in the state it is. That was careless. You must not let it happen again."
"I didn't expect Juu to fire God knows what at me." Shunsui muttered. "It wasn't something I knew he could do."
"Regardless, that's how it is." Seibara fixed him with a piercing glare, and Shunsui realised he would do better to shut up and listen, for this was not the gentle, slightly exciteable Seibara he had encountered the last time. There was a seriousness about her that he didn't like, and he felt his stomach knotting up as he wondered what she was going to say.
This time my life is in danger. So this time she's got serious. And I don't think I like it, that she has. Even if she is going to save my life.
"Because it's another zanpakutou, we understand what's happened better than you." Seibara said at length, letting out a heavy sigh. "Amaki and I...we knew from the start. But this was the first time either one of us could break through to speak to you. You really need to lower your barriers to us more naturally - we're your allies, and you don't have to fight alone."
"I'm sorry." Shunsui acknowledged. "I suppose it's something I'm not used to, yet."
"Mm." Seibara nodded. "Well. I hope we'll get time to change that."
She tilted her head on one side, eying him for a moment, then,
"You care a good deal for the one you're fighting. I know that." She said softly. "What I am going to tell you, therefore, will be difficult to hear. You will not want to hear it. But I will speak to you only the truth. How you act on it...will be up to you."
"All right..." Shunsui frowned. "Spit it out. You said yourself we don't have a lot of time."
"The spell that afflicts your friend is a zanpakutou's manipulation technique." Seibara said slowly. "But it is not the same technique as the one that controlled the young girl. Her spirit power was weak - and whatever was done to her was neatly and swiftly removed in an instant. The uneasiness you felt with her condition was because of that zanpakutou's faint aura - but in the night that you slept through, that sensation disappeared completely."
"And Juu?" Shunsui pressed.
"Mm. Ukitake Juushirou is different." Seibara repeated. "He is not weak. Therefore the spell that controls him is also not weak."
She patted him gently on the arm, then,
"The sword that controls your friend - it would be better to say, 'poisons' him." She said sadly. "Because the other's spirit power is burrowed deep into his body and lodges within his heart. I can feel it, radiating from him - he is not acting on his will, but he will still act and continue to act until someone brings him down. Even though it puts a strain on his spiritual power - he will keep going until it kills him."
"Then how do we get it out of him, the way Juushirou got it out of Eiraki-hime?" Shunsui demanded. Seibara shook her head.
"Ukitake Juushirou could not have removed this influence from the young girl." She said frankly. "I imagine that it was removed willingly by the one who holds the zanpakutou - I don't suppose any other could do so, without causing extreme damage to the child's vital structures. The same is true of your friend - only in his situation, things are far more grave."
"More...grave?" Shunsui's heart clenched in his throat. "How so?"
"Do you know the word 'bankai', Shunsui?"
"Bankai?" Fear flickered into Shunsui's gaze, and he nodded. "Yes...oh God. Do you mean...are you saying...that Urahara Keitarou's sword does have Bankai? That that's how...Shouichi-sama...and now Juu...?"
Seibara nodded solemnly.
"The one who wields this sword is unusual. Their blade is not a combat blade, and never has been." She said quietly. "It has a specific taint to it, therefore...a taint that works itself inside its victims and consumes them from inside out. It steals their free will and as their bodies attempt to reject it, it breaks them down and destroys them too. The more spirit power they possess, the more quickly this transition occurs. In the case of your friend - I imagine there is very little time at all."
"But then...what..."
"Even so, there is enough time for him to do serious harm." Seibara cut across him. "Not just to you, but also to the little girl. Maybe also to others. His technique is reckless and his spirit power raw and beyond his control. He will eventually kill himself trying to use it to fight - his body is in a constant state of fear and is attacking instinctively even though his mind is not necessarily aware of all that's going on. Perhaps there is no mind left to be there. It's hard to know for sure."
"Juu is still there. He's still there." Shunsui pushed her away, shaking his head emphatically. "He said my name, Seibara. He spoke to me...he said..."
"A trick of the manipulator's blade, perhaps?" Seibara murmured, and Shunsui shook his head again.
"No! I don't believe that! Juu is there! He is! He..."
"You said you wanted to know a way to stop this." Seibara said quietly, and Shunsui nodded.
"I do." He agreed grimly. "Tell me. Tell me how to break this stupid spell. I'm sure Juu's still there, so if we break it..."
"Do you have resolve?" Seibara asked, and Shunsui nodded.
"In this respect? I have resolve." He said frankly. "So tell me..."
"You cannot save your friend's life." Seibara eyed him mournfully. "Even though I see how much pain that will cause you, it still remains the truth. Therefore the lives you must save - the ones you must protect - are yours and the girl's. You cannot save Ukitake Juushirou. You can stop this, but you cannot save him."
"But you said..."
"The only one who can withdraw the spell from his body is the one who holds the sword." Seibara said flatly. "And even now, if he tried, I think he'd be too late. Ukitake Juushirou's spirit power is wild and raw and out of control at the least thing. Probably the sword's wielder has miscalculated how unstable he is - in any case, it's gone too far. Probably it's lodging too deeply within his heart now to be pulled back. To pull it out would likely kill him anyhow...there is nothing else that can be done."
"Then..." Shunsui stared at her, colour draining from his face, and Seibara nodded.
"Your choice is to take one life, or sacrifice all three - yours included." She said soberly. "He may or may not be aware of what's happening, Shunsui. I do not know for sure. But his body is in pain and his sword is crying out for someone to help them. I will help you - I will stay with you, and together we will accomplish this horrible thing. But you must stop his heart. The source of the poison is there. You must kill him quickly and without hesitation - it is the only way to save anything from this situation."
"You're asking me to kill my best friend." Shunsui was numb. "I can't do it, Seibara. There's no way...I can't...I..."
"Then you will die, and the child too." Seibara said matter of factly. "And then he will, slowly and painfully, as he uses his spirit power against more and more imagined enemies. Perhaps he will attack other friends of yours. Perhaps he will kill them, too. He cannot be stopped in any other way than this, Shunsui. So I'll ask you again. Do you have resolve?"
Shunsui bit his lip, tears glittering on his lashes as he stared at her in dismay.
"That's not fair." He whispered. "When you said you'd test me...when you said that, I never thought..."
"Nor did I." Seibara's voice was tinged with regret. "It brings me no pleasure, Shunsui. Ukitake Juushirou is a special friend to you - but more, he is like you. His sword is also possessed of two spirits - he and you are probably so drawn together on account of that twin bond. I had hoped that Amaki and I might learn from them and in our turn, teach them things as well. That the two of you would grow and strengthen together - but there is truly no other path. I will help you, I promise. I will not abandon you even though you are battered and disarmed. If you have resolve, I can fight with you. And I will, Shunsui. I promise that I will."
Shunsui closed his eyes, then,
"I understand." He whispered. "In that case, Seibara...let's go. Shikiki's life - other people's lives...Juu wouldn't want those to be sacrificed because I was a coward and I didn't protect them. He would...he would be the first to...say...to lay down...."
He swallowed hard, unable to continue, and he felt Seibara's gentle fingers brush against the skin of his left hand.
"Then we'll do what we have to." She said regretfully. "I'm sorry, Shunsui. If there was any other way, I'd tell you - but there is none. This is the only one."
"Onii-san!"
Shikiki's shriek shattered through Shunsui's inner world at that moment, bringing him back to consciousness and he opened his eyes, seeing the faintest haze of something pink shoot out across the clearing as Juushirou made his death charge forward. The other boy stumbled for a moment, falling back a couple of steps, but then a second flare of energy burst forth from his zanpakutou's right hand blade and Shunsui swore, somehow forcing his heavy, mangled body forward to knock Shikiki out of the line of fire.
"Juu-nii." The young girl sobbed. "Onii-san, why is Juu-nii...why won't he stop! Why..."
"We'll stop him." Shunsui spoke quietly, hoping he could keep the true emotion from his tones. "But you have to trust me, Shikiki. Because what I'm going to do...I don't want to do. But for Juu's sake...I have no choice."
"Your arm is broken." Shikiki's eyes widened, reaching out a tentative finger towards it, and at her touch, Shunsui recoiled with pain, shaking his head.
"Please...don't." He begged. "I know it is. But it's just bone. It's all right. I can fight left handed. If I can get to Kai's wakizashi..."
His gaze flitted across the landscape to where the fallen blade lay, but Juushirou stood between it and him, and he sighed.
Your resolve is all you need, Shunsui.
Seibara's voice echoed in his head.
Don't falter now. Look at him. Look at him carefully. Do you see anything in his eyes to tell you that the one you're fighting knows you?
Shunsui's gaze flitted to Juushirou's face, his heart heavy as he realised the truth in the spirit's words.
"Juushirou isn't there." He murmured, and he felt Seibara sigh.
Then you can set him free?
I...
Shunsui faltered for a moment, then he nodded, pulling himself painfully to his feet and casting Shikiki a glance.
"Shikiki, stay back." He said firmly. "Until the fighting stops...stay back. All right? You may hate me or you may forgive me - but it's the only thing I can do. I won't forgive me - so I don't mind, if you're mad at me too."
"Onii-san?" Shikiki stared at him blankly, but Shunsui took no notice, fixing his attention once more on his classmate. Juushirou had readied for a fresh attack, swinging his blades forward as he began to run towards them anew, and Shunsui could hear his rasping breaths, blood still trickling from his lips as though he was truly being eaten from the inside.
Seibara is right. This is killing him. If he can feel it, then God only knows how afraid he must be. Even if it's something so awful as this...even if it's killing someone...I can't let Juu suffer like this. I can't do that to him. Not if I really consider him my friend.
His eyes narrowed, as light began to flicker and take form between the fingers of his left hand.
He said it, didn't he? He told me to stop. He didn't mean me stop attacking him. He meant that he wanted me to stop him. That he didn't like it...that he wanted it to end. So...so it's my duty, in the end. Even if I hate it, I have no choice. I have...I have resolve, Seibara. I will do this...I'm the only one who can.
Almost before that thought had crossed his mind, the hazy glow of spiritual energy around his left hand glimmered and sharpened, and Shunsui drew breath sharply as he felt his fingers close around the unmistakeable hilt of a sword. It was a wakizashi, just like the one that Kai had lent him - but unlike Kai's, this one was throbbing and pulsing with life and awareness, and he knew somehow that he held Seibara in his hand.
Buoyed by this proof of her promise not to let him face the inevitable alone, he somehow found the energy to push forward and as Juushirou swung at him he forced his injured arm up, trying not to scream in pain as it clattered uselessly and heavily against the flat side of Sougyo no Kotowari's blades. Juushirou's grip on his left sword faltered once more, and as he hesitated, Shunsui drove forward, his mind a haze of pain and grief as he thrust his left hand towards the other boy's exposed chest. He could almost hear the beat of Juushirou's heart, he realised, and its erratic rhythm seemed to thunder through his head as Seibara's tip grew closer and closer to his friend's ribcage.
It was only one second in real time, but it seemed forever before the glittering spirit weapon pierced through the fragile wall of Juushirou's chest, splintering through his ribs and protruding deep into the core of his heart below. Shunsui had not known where he was aiming, or even if he was aiming, yet Seibara had guided him forwards, and as Juushirou let out an unearthly shriek of pain, warm blood gushed from the wound, splashing against Shunsui's fingers.
As Juushirou began to fall to the ground, his eyes met Shunsui's for a moment, and Shunsui faltered, his resolve fading and dying as he saw the startled, confused look in his friend's eyes. The boy's lips had moved slightly, and though they had not had time to finish the word, Shunsui knew that Juushirou had tried to say his name.
Had Juushirou known everything, after all?
The blade flickered and faded as Shunsui's resolution eroded into grief and regret, and he dropped to the floor as Juushirou slumped beside him, feeling giddy and sick as he put a shaking hand to the other boy's throat.
There was no pulse.
Even though he knew it, Shunsui could not fathom it...he could not form the words or even rationalise what they meant despite the fact all the evidence was right there before his eyes. Time seemed to have stopped still, yet though the seconds dragged by like hours, the fallen District boy did not move again.
In the end, Shunsui's numb senses realised that he was not going to move again.
Juushirou was dead.
Author's Note:
Twice in one chapter. O.o Drama overload!!
For anyone unaware, the title of this chapter is the Japanese word for resolve. Actually, it has a stronger meaning/implication in Japanese and is often used in Bleach and other anime to describe a character whose mind is completely fixed and accepting of the task ahead. Therefore it applies to both Hirata and Shunsui in this chapter - what Seibara is trying to teach Shunsui is 'kakugo'.