Chapter Thirty Five: Kinnya's Rage
"They've gone."
Shinkei fell back against the wall of the house, letting out a gusty sigh of relief.
"Yeesh, for soldiers, they sure could get in and out of the strangest places. I thought they were going to be here searching all day and all night too, the way they were going at it."
"They were here a long time." Kaede pushed shut the sliding door of the study that had once belonged to her husband with a soft click. "Sanjirou and Yuuya are seeing to putting the back rooms back in order, and Rouhei and Miyabi are straightening out the bedchambers, but they really did pull everything about without a second thought. I dread to think what state our garden is in - Anika is already raging about the kitchen. When Kamikura-sensei returns from the town he's going to meet a scene of utter chaos."
She paused, giving her eldest son a troubled glance.
"Hiro, what about Nagoya-dono? They were here and they searched thoroughly. But they didn't find him so...they must've missed some place or other?"
"I don't know where he is." Hiroyuki shrugged his shoulders, a helpless expression on his own face. "When he heard the soldiers were coming, he insisted I took him outside so that he couldn't be connected with the family."
He grimaced, casting a glance towards the window where he could see the first signs of dusk beginning to colour the blue of the sky. It was some three hours later, and finally the last of the Kuchiki retainers had left the Ukitake property, a curt parting warning about the penalties that would befall any peasant who shielded a traitor still ringing in the ears of the indignant family. With the thoroughness of their search, too, it seemed to Hiroyuki as though they would not come back a second time.
They had not found their quarry, and they did not suspect the Ukitake-ke of any wrong doing. But that in itself was a puzzle - and Hiroyuki knew that his own worries had shifted from the safety of his kin to the whereabouts of the wounded shinigami who had so desperately forced his way outside moments before the men had arrived.
"When we got outside, he did something and vanished." He concluded. "I've no idea what he did after that - but since the soldiers didn't find him, maybe he left the place completely."
"In that state?" Shinkei frowned. "Hiro-nii, I know you were suspicious of him being here, but the guy couldn't fight a bowl of rice with a chopstick the way he was when Rou-kun and I found him. Miyabi and Shikiki have both been nursing him, too, and they've said the same. Are you sure he could've got away? He seemed pretty weak still, despite Shikiki's care."
"I'm just saying what I saw." Hiroyuki rubbed his temples. "If Shiro-nii was here, he'd probably have a better answer for you, but he isn't. And as far as I saw it, Nagoya-dono vanished. Then the soldiers came...and if they didn't find anything...what else am I supposed to think?"
"Like that, if he has left our estate, it won't just be guards who might track him down." Kaede bit her lip. "He's vulnerable to Hollows, too, given that he's a shinigami. And other wild animals sometimes come down from the upper ledges - Hiro, I don't think we can just assume he's gone and leave it at that. If he did what you said, he did it to protect us - all of us. In return..."
"I know." Hiroyuki's eyes darkened. "That's the worst part of it. When he said that - about my job being to protect my family, not him - I realised that he was trying to repay us for saving his life. And I wasn't happy, either. But what I can't see, I can't see. I don't have smart skills for tracing shinigami, Mother. Only Shiro-nii can do that. So..."
"He's not gone away anywhere, Hiro-nii."
She had crept up on them without any of the trio realising it, and as they turned, Hiroyuki saw the consternation in Shikiki's eyes as she stood with the sliding door half open to face them.
"He's still here. He's in the garden where you left him."
"Then why didn't the soldiers pick him up?" Shinkei demanded. "Shiki-chan, are you sure? Hiro-nii said he disappeared. And then..."
"Mm-mm." Shikiki shook her head. "He's still here. He's been here the whole time. I can sense it. I know where he is. He was just using magic, that's all. To hide."
"Magic? You mean...that Kidou thing that Shiro-nii does?" Hiroyuki was taken aback, and Shikiki nodded, pushing the door back fully and crossing the study floor towards the older boy, sliding her stubby fingers into his calloused ones.
"I'll take you." She said quietly. "Because I think he still needs our help."
Hiroyuki frowned, pausing to cast a glance at Kaede, who inclined her head in agreement.
"You said it." She said lightly. "He did what he did because he wanted to try and shield us. If Shikiki is right, and in that state he forced himself to use Kidou because he wasn't strong enough to leave...then surely we still have an obligation to shield him too. He's proven that whatever crimes the Kuchiki suspect him of, he's not someone who easily lets others get killed."
"He did say he was going to do what he was trained to do." Hiroyuki's brows knitted together, and he tightened his fist around Shikiki's chubby hand. "Okay, Shiki-chan. I understand. You lead the way - I'm coming."
"I don't think he's awake." Shikiki's tones were anxious as she led him through the old building towards the battered rear doors. "He used his Kidou as much as he could...he used it and used it until he couldn't use it any more. I felt it...all of it. He was determined...he didn't intend to let it go. So he kept holding it...until he passed out and he couldn't hold it any more. So you should be able to see him now. But I don't think he can walk, so you might need to carry him..."
She paused, eying her adoptive brother hopefully, and Hiroyuki grinned ruefully.
"It's all right." He assured her. "What Okaasama says is true. He's proven that he doesn't mean us harm - and that there's a reason Shiro-nii respects him. I respect him too, if he did what you said he did. To push himself in the state he was in for our sakes...I suppose that here is now a pretty safe place for him to be, now they've searched it. So it makes sense for him to stay until the fuss dies down again."
"I think so too." Shikiki's expression lit up. "I'm glad you want us to keep him a bit longer, Hiro-nii. Because he's really not a bad person."
"It's not that I really thought he was." As they stepped out into the grounds of the Ukitake manor, Hiroyuki shrugged his shoulders. "But he's a Clansman, and we shouldn't be involved in Clan squabbles. This seems to be a big one - and that made me wary. Both Father and Shiro-nii have entrusted a lot in me now to take care of all of you. And from the way those soldiers were behaving, he's wanted on something quite major. Has he said much more to you?"
"Someone he was close to died and it made him sad." Shikiki said thoughtfully. "I don't think he's used to losing people in the same way, and he said something about wanting to find out who killed that person and why."
"Maybe he dug too deep." Hiroyuki's brows knitted together. "I've heard Shiro-nii talk about the Endou and the Shihouin, so it wouldn't surprise me. You've seen it too, haven't you? In District Seven, how Clans are with things they don't want in the public eye."
"They slaughter people." Shikiki said frankly. "If they don't think that they matter. But Shirogane-nii didn't do that. He didn't let even me protect him with my barrier, although no normal soldier would've been able to get through it. And he was Juu-nii's shishou. So he's like Shun-nii - he's nice."
"I think he's quite different to Shunsui." Hiroyuki said wryly. "Well? Where is he, then? I still don't see him - where are your senses telling you he is?"
"This way. Here." Shikiki loosed her grip on the older boy's hand, padding across the grass in her bare feet and tapping on the weather-worn wooden door of the old storage shed. "I think he's inside here. I think probably he went there because if his spell didn't work, at least he'd still be hiding."
"You're right." Hiroyuki pushed back the divide, the light of the setting sun falling across the slats and panels to reveal a huddled form up against the far wall of the shed. He dropped down by Shirogane's side, realising quickly that Shikiki had predicted correctly and that the young noble was quite unconscious. Even in the dying rays of the sun Hiroyuki could make out the pallor of the shinigami's skin and he frowned, putting a gentle finger against Shirogane's cheek.
At his touch, the man let out a faint murmur, and Hiroyuki felt relief trickle over his senses once again.
"He's fainted. Like you said." He said, turning to meet Shikiki's anxious gaze. "But I don't think that there's anything worse than that. Whether he's unconscious or asleep I couldn't tell you - but he's not particularly hot or feverish, nor is he all that cold. If we bring him in now, he'll probably escape worse harm. Your senses are useful, Shiki-chan. You're better than a scent hound when it comes to things like this."
He slipped his hand behind Shirogane's back, using his other arm to loop under the collapsed shinigami's legs. Carefully he lifted him, frowning as he did so.
"He isn't as heavy as I thought he would be."
"He isn't very well. That's why." Shikiki said seriously. "Being ill makes you lighter. Dai-nii used to say that."
"You mean he's lost weight? But he's been eating fine." Hiroyuki was surprised. "Admittedly he picked a little at things for the first day, but I've seen him clear bowls of Anika's rice porridge and other things since. Surely..."
"It's not that. It's a...sick kind of losing weight." Shikiki sighed. "I can't really explain it clearly. But I think Shirogane-nii was ill already before he was hurt this time. He said some things about it - about having been poisoned when his friend was killed. And I think...maybe he hasn't been very well since then. At least, he did say he hadn't slept a lot when he was at home, and I suppose, when he had to leave there too..."
"I wonder." Hiroyuki pursed his lips. "You think that his tiredness now is more a cumulative effect from all of those things, not just the lack of blood, don't you?"
"Mm." Shikiki agreed, trailing behind her companion as he carried the oblivious patient back into the house and towards the steps to Juushirou's chamber. "I think so. He lost lots of blood. But I think...he's really very unhappy inside, too. And that...isn't getting better either. I'm not sure if it's because of his friend dying, or his family not wanting him, or because he was chased and stuff and hurt like he was. I don't really understand Clan life that well so I can't be sure. But that's why...I want to be kind to Shirogane-nii. Because nobody is being kind to him at the moment except me. And...I think he doesn't like that. He's not used to that."
She sighed, stretching her hands over her head with a yawn.
"I'm used to what it's like, when people don't want me, or aren't kind." She said matter of factly. "It doesn't happen any more, thanks to Juu-nii - but till then, it happened a lot. Still, when things are like that, and someone is nice to you, it helps. And you want...to help those people, because they helped you. So Shirogane-nii helped us today. That's what I think. Because we were kind to him. Even though he's Clan, I think it's the same thing."
"You've been kind to him." Hiroyuki cast the unconscious shinigami a guilty glance. "The rest of us have somewhat kept our distance. But you're right. It's the same, isn't it? He's injured and we're helping him. And he's a friend of Shiro-nii's...Shiro-nii would be angry, if he thought we were giving a bad impression of his family. It must've taken a lot of Nagoya-dono's time and energy to train Shiro-nii, with the health problems he has. Yet he stuck with it and he succeeded. It's really a very little thing for us to look after him now. I'm sorry, Shikiki. I've let myself become too suspicious."
"No. Bad things happen if you're never suspicious." Shikiki said thoughtfully. "But I think it's okay not to be suspicious of Shirogane-nii. Whatever bad thing his family think he did, I think it's wrong. I don't think he did it. I don't think he hates his family - I think he loves them. And I think he wants to be wanted by them - so I don't think he'd do anything to make them want to push him away."
She darted ahead to slide open the door of Juushirou's chamber, startling Miyabi who had been carefully tidying the mess that the soldiers had left in their hunt for their missing fugitive.
"Nagoya-dono?" At the sight of the limp form in Hiroyuki's arms, Miyabi hurried forward, but Hiroyuki cast her a grin, depositing his burden gently on the top of the raised pallet bed.
"He's asleep, I think. Or tired out. He's not hurt any more than he was before." He assured her. "We'll let him rest a while, huh? He was brave, today."
"Mm." Miyabi nodded her head, placing the last of Juushirou's books back on the shelves, then coming to stand at Shirogane's side. "The soldiers won't come back, will they?"
"They searched the house from top to bottom and they didn't find him, so probably not." Hiroyuki shook his head. "They didn't come here because they suspected us. They were searching all the land and property in this area, else Hikari's farm wouldn't have been tackled. If they've ticked us off a list, they likely won't be back any time soon. It's much safer for Nagoya-dono to be here rather than anywhere else."
"What would they do, if they found him?" Miyabi sent her brother an anxious look, and Hiroyuki sighed.
"Arrest him, probably. Since they left him for dead once, I wouldn't be surprised if they'd be happy to hurt him a second time." He said frankly. "His life is in our hands, and so we'll keep the secret and do what we can. All right? Shiro-nii would want us to do that - so we will."
He reached over to ruffle Miyabi's hair gently.
"You'll keep helping Shikiki to nurse him, won't you?"
"I will." Miyabi nodded firmly. "Juu-nii would want me to, so I will."
She rested a hand briefly on Shirogane's pale one, then sighed.
"He really does look like a doll when he's asleep." She said thoughtfully. "But his hair is all messy now, look. There's bits of straw and dust in it from outside. Do you think he'd wake up, if I brushed it through?"
Despite himself, Hiroyuki laughed.
"I don't know." He admitted. "Maybe you should wait till he wakes. He might be startled if he opens his eyes to find you curling his hair or something like that."
"Silly." Miyabi snorted. "Nagoya-dono's hair is already curly. I don't need to do anything about that. But curly hair gets messy really easily, and if he was hiding outside..."
"I think he's waking up anyway." Shikiki piped in at that moment, and Hiroyuki's gaze flitted to the sleeping Clansman's face, noticing the faint trembling of his lashes. A moment later his eyes opened, hazy and confused as he stared up at them blankly.
"Shirogane-nii, are you all right?" Shikiki was the first to react, taking his free hand in hers and squeezing it gently. The muddled grey eyes shifted across to meet hers, and Hiroyuki was surprised to see both a smile and a look of relief cross the other's haughty features.
"The soldiers...have gone?" He asked faintly, and Shikiki nodded, loosing her hold on his fingers.
"They didn't find you." She said matter of factly, a faintly scolding note in her tones. "But you were silly and you used too much magic. Hiro-nii had to bring you back inside because you were out cold. You should say thank you - it's cold in that shed at night."
"Shiki-chan..." Hiroyuki trailed off, but Shirogane was regaining his wits speedily now, and he shifted his heavy body around, pulling himself with some difficulty into a half-sitting position to meet the older Ukitake boy's gaze.
"Thank you." He said quietly. "Even though it would have been easy for you to have left me alone...a second time you did not."
"You took a gamble to protect my family, and so I'll take one to keep protecting you." Hiroyuki said evenly, faintly embarrassed by the genuine sincerity in the other's eyes. "Please don't look at me like that, though. It's weird, having a Clansman stare at you in gratitude for something that's just common sense."
Shirogane started, then he laughed ruefully, reaching up to rub his brow.
"I suppose I'm a little tired." He murmured. "Perhaps you're right."
"Shirogane-nii, don't you do anything silly like that again." Shikiki said firmly. "All right? You're lucky, this time. But you're not well yet. And if you want to get better, it's like I told you. You can't do idiotic things."
She sighed, rolling her eyes in Miyabi's direction.
"That's why I say Clan people are stupid." She said resignedly. "They don't listen even when you say things that make sense."
Shirogane did not answer for a moment, then he reached out a shaky hand to brush her cheek.
"Do you think Clan have so little honour...that...they'd let...children die...to protect themselves?" He asked softly, and Hiroyuki saw the flicker of pride in the nobleman's eyes. "Some Clan are foolish, perhaps. Some are undoubtedly evil. But most of us have...honour. My life was saved by you. I would not steal your life in return, Shikiki. Yours or the lives of anyone you cared for."
He smiled wryly.
"Ukitake...would not forgive me for that, would he?"
"You and Juu-nii really are friends, aren't you?" Miyabi sat down on the end of the bed, and with a jolt Hiroyuki realised that the aura of fear and uncertainty that had separated the Ukitake children from their unexpected houseguest had almost entirely dissipated with the day's events.
"I think maybe there's a difference between friends and teacher and student, Miya-chan." He said now. "Nagoya-dono is Shiro-nii's senpai, and the one who trained him. But you probably shouldn't put him in the same box as Shunsui."
"But that's still a friend, kind of." Miyabi reasoned. "And if he's Juu-nii's friend, Juu-nii is probably worried about him too. He'll be happy, won't he, when he finds out we've helped like this."
"I suppose he will, but for now we're not telling him - or anyone - anything." Hiroyuki warned.
"We'll go find Anika." Shikiki decided. "Since Shirogane-nii is all right, he's probably hungry. Using a lot of strength does that - so let's go see if we can help Anika make something for him to eat, Miyabi."
"All right." Miyabi got reluctantly to her feet, nodding her head. "We'll go do that. Hiro-nii, you'll look after Nagoya-dono till we get back, won't you?"
"I'll do my best." Hiroyuki agreed playfully, and Miyabi grinned, allowing Shikiki to pull her out of the chamber and away to find the family's trusty household servant.
"I understand, now." It was Shirogane who broke the awkward silence, his expression pensive as he examined his dusty hands. "What it is Ukitake wants so badly to protect."
"Mm?" Hiroyuki dropped down a little awkwardly at the bedside, casting his companion a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"
"The reason he kept getting up again and again, even coughing blood...to face me and my strict demands with his sword." Shirogane sighed. "This is it, isn't it? What he wanted to be able to protect."
He gestured around him.
"This house is old and worn. The curtains are faded, the walls are battered. The books have been read so often the binding is coming away and the mats on the floor are wearing thin." He said reflectively. "There is nothing in this place which holds any kind of allure or appeal - on the contrary, it is a ramshackle home with nothing particularly to recommend itself to outsiders."
"I hope you're going somewhere with this." Hiroyuki's eyes narrowed, and Shirogane offered him another faint smile.
"I have never liked the Districts, nor paid the slightest bit of attention to the lives of its people." He admitted frankly. "Ukitake was my first and - I thought - last encounter with that way of life. Truthfully, I have always considered you all beneath me - beings of no consequence or value whatsoever. However..."
He sighed, burying his head in his hands.
"I am a little envious of Ukitake, now." He murmured, and Hiroyuki found his indignant pride fading as he took in the genuine pain in his companion's voice. "He has nothing...and yet...I understand now why it doesn't concern him and why he's happy to call himself District."
He raised his gaze.
"He has all of you." He said sadly. "And that in itself is enough...to want to take up a sword and fight."
Hiroyuki's eyes softened.
"We're all very fond of Shiro-nii." He said quietly. "But we all know he's not like us, too. His mother's blood - the Kuchiki blood - makes him that way. Despite that, though, he's always been Oniisama to all of us and he remains so. No matter how far he goes, that's something we all know."
He sat back, folding his arms across his chest.
"Our house probably isn't anything special compared to the Kuchiki manors." He said thoughtfully. "But I've never wanted to be Clan. I'm happy enough with what I have and I wouldn't change it."
He eyed Shirogane keenly.
"We've kept our distance from you because we know there's a divide between Clan and District and without Shiro-nii, we didn't know how to broach that properly." He added honestly. "Shikiki is the only one who's really encountered Clan in a big way before, but even though her experiences were so horrific, she isn't afraid of you. Just now, though...Miya-chan showed you her trust. What you did for us today has broken down that barrier. Whether you consider us beneath you or not, you've obtained our loyalty and our help - so far as we can offer that help. Maybe all we can do is shelter and feed you - but we'll do that at least until you're well enough to take a boat from the coves and clear your name."
Shirogane did not speak for a moment, and Hiroyuki could tell that the Clansman was thinking things over carefully. Despite his pale complexion, rough peasant robes and tousled hair, the shinigami had not lost his appearance of elegance or nobility, and a faint smile touched Hiroyuki's lips as he remembered Miyabi's doll reference.
"I don't intend on putting your lives in danger on my account." At length, the Kuchiki spoke. "But...I believe I need a little more time to heal before I can safely undertake the things I need to do. I had energy enough to fire and hold a spell today, which proves I've made progress. But...perhaps..."
He pursed his lips.
"There may be one more thing I can ask of you, Hiroyuki-dono."
"What's that?" Hiroyuki was curious.
"If my Uncle is resorting to the level of invading private homes in order to find me, it means that the situation has intensified around my home, and more damage may occur." Shirogane's eyes narrowed. "I cannot write a letter to Guren-sama, because it would certainly be intercepted, and if I showed myself to a messenger, with a reward on my head...the risk is far too great. However..."
"You want us to send a letter for you? To the Clan?" Despite himself, Hiroyuki was a little apprehensive, but Shirogane shook his head.
"No. Not to Guren-sama directly." He said thoughtfully. "Right at the moment I am tired, and I shall eat and sleep and think over what should be said. But I think...I shall send a letter to my former teacher in District One - the same man who has such faith in your brother. If I did that...would you help me send it?"
"To the Academy, you mean?" Hiroyuki asked, and Shirogane nodded.
"To Genryuusai-sensei." He agreed. "I will conceal a letter to Guren-sama inside and ask him to forward it to District Six. That's the one chance I have to make contact without Seiren-dono's interference, since nobody would question Genryuusai-sensei's motives."
"I'll talk to Kamikura." Hiroyuki decided. "He's a former student of Genryuusai-sama's, and they do correspond from time to time. If he went to send the letter, it would not be suspicious at all."
Shirogane's eyes lit up with hope, and Hiroyuki realised that Shikiki's words had been more perceptive than he had known.
"I don't think he hates his family - I think he loves them. And I think he wants to be wanted by them - so I don't think he'd do anything to make them want to push him away."
"You miss your family, don't you?" He said quietly, and Shirogane shrugged.
"I'm trying to understand a lot of things at the moment. Things I had taken for granted, mostly." He said honestly. "Since the death of my cousin, many things have occurred that have shaken me. Perhaps they are teaching me lessons about pride and complacency - or punishing me for those vices."
He sighed.
"Shikiki said I wasn't like other rich people, but I am." He said self-effacingly. "I pay no attention to the needs of others until I am needy - I care more for my own status than I do for the status of those around me. I am quick to anger and draw my blade out of pride - and I am sharp with my criticisms of anything and everything that does not match my expectation. I am...just as foolish and simple as any other rich man you will ever meet - whether I will manage to learn anything even from this experience I do not know."
"I don't think you're foolish or simple." Hiroyuki grinned. "And certainly today you proved you can pay attention to the needs of others. That was quite a harsh self-analysis."
"By nature I am pragmatic." Shirogane offered a rueful grin in return, and Hiroyuki felt that a faint bond of understanding had begun to build between them. "That is all."
"Nagoya-dono, will you tell me firmly what exactly you are involved in?" The Ukitake boy asked now. "Since we've gone this far to protect one another's interests, will you trust me with that at the very least?"
"I don't know entirely what has happened." Shirogane admitted. "But many things confuse me. Ribari-sama's murderer remains at large, but since his death hostility between my Uncle and I has intensified. Uncle has a son, you see - my cousin Ryuu - who he sees as the rightful heir to the Kuchiki Clan now Ribari-sama is gone."
"And he sees you as competition?"
"I am not entitled to be considered as heir, because my bloodline comes through my mother and not my father." Shirogane said matter-of-factly. "And I haven't ever thought of taking the Clan, even if my claim wasn't that way. But I've been in Guren-sama's favour for some time - especially since my mother's death. I know it was mostly from duty to her that he did so much for me - but I suppose to Seiren-dono it seemed...otherwise."
He sighed.
"I didn't cry when Mother died." He admitted. "She had been ill for so long and everyone had told me time and time again that she was frail and would probably not last much longer. Therefore every day I was prepared for it to be the last time we saw each other. I loved her very much - but when death claimed her, I wasn't sad. I had built up a barrier, I suppose - I was ready to lose her and so when I did, I let her go with ease. She was in pain when in this world. Death meant an end to that pain. So I didn't cry."
His eyes narrowed.
"But Seiren-dono...took that amiss." He murmured. "That I showed no grief for my mother, who he had been close to also. It deepened the rift between us, I think - that I never went even once to pray at my mother's memorial after she was laid to rest. However, Guren-sama understood...at least, I thought so. I was trained at home and then sent to the Academy to become a shinigami fit to be his Vice Captain. Seiren-dono didn't like that either, nor the fact I was the one chosen to finalise Ribari-sama's training. Then...Ribari-sama was murdered. And I...I was the shinigami in charge when the squad was attacked."
"Seiren-sama believes you killed your cousin?"
"I think so. Though he has been careful not to say it, I am sure he does." Shirogane pulled a graphic face. "Or at the very least, I've annoyed him enough and he wants rid of me so that he has a clear path for bringing Ryuu into the succession. So officially I'm suspected of plotting against Ryuu and Guren-sama. And so I'm a fugitive. I escaped arrest at the manor and I've been on the run since then. What's happened since, I don't know - but a convenient witness has appeared who seems determined to make Seiren-dono and I believe in each other's guilt."
"You don't believe your Uncle killed your cousin and is using you as a scapegoat?" Hiroyuki asked bluntly, and Shirogane shrugged.
"I did." He admitted. "For a moment, I thought it. But...the more time I've had to consider it, I...don't believe that any more. I think it's too convenient that someone appeared to turn Seiren-dono and I against each other, so probably both he and I are innocent. He's simply acting for Ryuu now that Ribari-sama is dead, but the two things aren't connected. And I admit, I like Ryuu. I'd swear allegiance to him quite easily. So...this is all founded on gross misunderstanding. However, since Guren-sama also seems to want to find me...I don't believe there's any benefit in my turning myself in and trying to get an audience with him."
"It sounds messy." Hiroyuki grimaced. "I'm so glad I'm not Clan. And more, that Shiro-nii's connection to the Kuchiki is distant enough to sever him from all of this."
"Ukitake's connection to my Clan is more vivid than you might think, but wholly illegitimate." Shirogane offered Hiroyuki a humourless smile. "He is the grandson of the local Lord of the Manor for this area of District Six - albeit out of wedlock."
"What?" Hiroyuki stared, and Shirogane nodded.
"Kuchiki Raiko was the bastard daughter of my Great Uncle, Kinnya-sama." He agreed evenly. "The hermit shinigami who never leaves his manor. But it's all right, Hiroyuki-dono. Kinnya-sama's men were not among those who searched this house. There are shinigami with his retinue - and I believe one of those also saved my life when I was cut down by the soldiers in the forest. I don't know if he has any motive except to return his region to peace and quiet as quickly as possible - but I think it most probable that he has no idea of Ukitake's existence at all."
"Shiro-nii is...that close to being Kuchiki?" Hiroyuki gathered his wits, and Shirogane smiled.
"You should keep him out of this matter for as long as you can." He agreed. "Let sleeping dragons lie."
"That's why you protected us most of all, isn't it?" Hiroyuki's eyes became slits. "Because you knew that even the faintest suspicion in our direction and the connection would be made. That's why you said about my family being killed - whilst soldiers might arrest us if we were just sheltering a fugitive, if there was something else in the equation too..."
"Kinnya-sama doesn't involve himself in politics." Shirogane said simply. "I'd advise you to follow suit."
"Bit late for that." Hiroyuki cast his companion a dry smile, and Shirogane laughed.
"True." He owned. "But I am grateful for your help. I've been scattered so badly lately - I find myself quite pitiful, but I didn't have time to even take my flute from my chamber when I fled. It's always calmed my nerves whenever I've been angry or unsettled - I miss it badly. For all the efficacy I might have used to manage my Clan or my squad, I have never really been one to care about having company - even conversations with my zanpakutou spirit come but rarely. However, this unexpected interaction with your family is helping me gather my wits more than I would have thought."
"Shikiki is very clever at understanding other people's sadness." Hiroyuki acknowledged. "Even though she's just a child. And you can count on the rest of us now, too. We're your allies. Especially since what you've just said...makes us almost kinsfolk."
Shirogane raised an eyebrow, and Hiroyuki chuckled.
"I thought you wouldn't like that." He said playfully. "But it does. Shiro-nii is my half brother and you just said that his grandfather was your great Uncle. Therefore..."
"I think that is a line of enquiry best left alone." Shirogane said acidly. "But for the meantime, there is one thing I would ask of you."
"Mm?" Hiroyuki got to his feet, pausing to glance down at his houseguest. "What's that? Shikiki and Miyabi will be back with food for you soon - and Miyabi intends on brushing the dust from your hair too, so if it's something menial, you'll have to speak to them. I told you that I wasn't going to be your manservant, and I meant it."
"You have pride too, just like your brother." Shirogane reflected absently. "But no, it was nothing like that."
He smiled, this time a smile of sincerity.
"My name is Shirogane." He said simply. "I would be grateful if you would use it. If you are allies of mine now - Nagoya-dono seems unecessarily formal. You've already dropped the formal speech for the most part - so you may as well address me as I address you."
"Oh. Well, that I can do." Hiroyuki winked. "I'll let you get some rest before the girls descend on you, then, Shirogane-dono."
"Thank you." Shirogane inclined his head in acknowledgement. "And when my wits are more about me, I will think more carefully about the letters I now know I must write."
Midnight.
Shunsui paused to cast a glance across the chamber, taking in Hirata's sleeping features in the soft white glow of the moonlight. It was a clear night, with only the vaguest wisps of cloud drifting across the velvet sky. Summer had arrived almost without their noticing it, and though a slight breeze blew gently across the school grounds, inside the building it was a warm, clement night.
Most people were fast asleep, like Hirata, lost in dreams and oblivious to the passing of the dark hours. But although Shunsui was well used to nights that were far warmer than this one, he alone had been unable to drift off to sleep.
A deep feeling of unease still rested in the pit of his stomach, and though he could not put his finger on what or why, he could not escape from the stifling sense of foreboding that was constantly there nagging at his thoughts. Kazoe's announcement to Ryuu and the rest in the library had done nothing to settle his heart, either. On the contrary, the clear, concise way in which the Kidou master had brought the instruction had sent fresh waves of doubt and worry searing through Shunsui's insecurities.
He did not want to be involved in the Kuchiki dispute, yet the more he tried not to be, the more he felt that becoming involved was an unavoidable end result. That the darkness was spreading over the whole of the landscape, and that, piece by piece, it was eating away at the tranquility that had held firm for the past two years.
Though he had never fully believed in that tranquility in the first place.
Though Shunsui had never been in the habit of speaking clearly about the things that most troubled him, he knew that he could not continue to ignore the signs. And even though he was not able to put it in words for those closest around him, as his sense of unease had grown, so had his conviction that the evil involved was something far deeper than a simple case of violent Clan ambition.
This was being pushed into place...manipulated...by something more.
A force had killed the son of the Kuchiki Clan leader in full view of his comrades, and had escaped. Yet now a Shihouin was incarcerated for making a foolish attack on the life of that Clan leader - and in Shunsui's sharp mind, those things did not add up.
It was almost as though they were meant to see the obvious and no more - but Shunsui had survived his harsh childhood by seeing beyond the obvious, and it ate away at him that he had seen something like this before.
Another time when the Shihouin had been used as scapegoats, and blood had been spilled.
You both feel it too, don't you?
As he slid his swords into the sash of his night robe, he felt the faint flicker of his zanpakutou spirits' consciousness brush against his own, and he let out his breath in a rush, tapping the two hilts absently with the tip of his fingers.
No, don't answer that. It's what you've been trying to push on me since term began, isn't it? I don't want you to lecture me about ignoring signs and signals - so let's take it as read that I understand.
Where are we going?
Seibara's soft voice flitted across his thoughts as he pushed back the door of his chamber, casting a glance behind him once again to ensure that Hirata was still fast asleep before stepping out into the corridor beyond and gently closing the divide behind him.
It's not like you to miss out on your sleep.
This was Amaki, a faint edge to his words, and Shunsui smiled grimly, making his way purposefully along the main landing to the end of the hall. Going through the main school building risked waking younger members and staff alike, but the window that let sun and moonlight illuminate the senior corridor at intervals was a wide one and overlooked the school grounds. It was already slightly open to allow the night air to circulate, and Shunsui did not find it difficult to push it fully back, resting his hands on the sill for a moment as he gauged the distance in the darkness.
They were some floors up, so he knew he could not just jump from the window and hope for the best. But very little escaped his notice, and he already knew that beneath where he stood, the wall was thick with rose and vine. He had often teased Juushirou about the potential access to the balcony of the Nest, but there were other places around the senior annexe that were just as good for quick climbing access, and so with great care and precision Shunsui swung a leg over the sill, shifting his grasp to support his weight as he felt with his other foot for a good hold. Before long he had found it and, with the help of the thick vines to guide him down, he was soon on the grass, the cool blades still damp from the evening dew and refreshing against his bare feet.
Shunsui, what are you doing?
Now Seibara sounded concerned.
It's the middle of the night, and the old man already told you once this term about breaking curfew. If you're going to leave the school grounds...
I'm not.
Shunsui shook his head imperceptibly.
We're not leaving school grounds, so I won't be breaking rules. Nobody's ever said that Seniors can't be up and about in the night - I remember past Senior classes being called on to patrol late into the evening when bad things were afoot. Therefore I'm well within my bounds. Don't worry, Seibara. I don't intend on getting into any trouble.
Then why are we here?
Amaki's shadowy presence hovered at the edge of Shunsui's thoughts.
Explain what you intend, Shunsui. You're not supposed to keep secrets from us, no matter who else you might choose to hide things from. If you can't place your faith in us...
I'm not hiding anything.
Shunsui patted the sword hilts again, then turned, making his way purposefully across the grounds towards the area that was fenced off for zanpakutou training. During the day he was often here with Kaoru, but as he reached the gate, he felt the flutter of Seibara's excitement buzzing against Amaki's disbelief.
Are we going...to train?
We are.
Shunsui paused, gazing at the training ground gate thoughtfully, then with a deft flick of his fingers he manipulated the lock open, pushing the old structure open and stepping into the land beyond.
My sword isn't the kind of zanpakutou that can be used to fight against a kid like Kaoru. You both understand that, don't you? In the short time I've known the both of you, I've learnt that you take no prisoners when you're really serious about fighting. Therefore I don't intend to ever use you when training Kaoru - not released. But you're right...I can't just do nothing about my own training either. Because I feel...bad about something. And I can't explain what it is or why - just that I'm sure you both know about it just as much as I do.
He sighed, sinking back against the fence and feeling it give slightly under his weight.
I can't really express it in words. Not even to Juu, and especially not to Ryuu at the moment. The business with the Kuchiki is serious, but I can't get out of my mind the fact that it's all...something else. Something...bigger. And something that's going to mean danger for all of us if we're not careful.
At last you're taking your senses seriously.
Amaki sighed, but Shunsui felt the disapproval fading from the male spirit's voice.
You're right. Evil is in the air. You can feel it, perhaps better than your peers. Your sword is half demon, don't forget - a demon should be able to feel evil.
You're not a demon.
Shunsui closed his eyes, the darkness of his mind shifting and blurring into the midnight meadow of rainbow coloured flowers lit up by the glow of a moon just like the one that hung in the sky above them that night. Carefully he imposed his own form into the world, stepping into his inner consciousness as he waited for his spirits to join him.
But you do have an uncanny sense for the negative, and for other people's evil tendencies, Amaki. My own among them. And I always intended to listen to you - I just had to find a moment when I could. Just I don't think I can put that off any more, can I? Even though everything has been busy...I don't suppose it's something I can let wait.
That's more the Shunsui that Seibara and I gifted our powers to.
Now he could see Amaki taking form, the shadowy skeletal figure with the glowing red eyes. At the creature's feet, the flowers began to wilt and decay, but Shunsui was no longer the weak soul he had once been, and the decay did not spread beyond the immediate aura of this apparition's bat-winged body. Despite Shunsui's words, there was no doubting that Amaki was indeed a demon - but Shunsui had come to learn and understand his sword's true nature, and so he no longer saw the twisted, blackened entity as an object of fear. On the contrary, he knew that Amaki's distorted body had been the result of his own negativity and despair, and now when he saw the spirit take form before him, he felt only regrets for the amount of suffering and neglect he had inflicted on his sword whilst growing up.
"Well? You're right, of course. On all counts. You're not naive enough to believe that District boundaries have any way of confining evil, and it snakes its way across the whole of Seireitei, just as it has before. The taint of death lingers around those Kuchiki friends of yours - death they've seen and felt, and that taint has spread here because of their coming. It will follow them, too. Don't believe that it won't."
Amaki's face twisted into a grotesque grimace.
"The scent of death is an active one. It hasn't faded. It still grows. All of the things that have happened...are as you suspect them to be. They are a beginning - but they are not a complete entity."
"Great." Shunsui spoke this word out loud, aware at that moment of a faint, glimmering haze of light emerging from the left hand side of his vision. Seibara was tiny in comparison to Amaki, a perfectly formed fairy-like figure who despite her delicate appearance was the one who had always pushed Shunsui's endurance and conviction to the greatest extent. Her expression now was as sober as her companion's, and Shunsui sighed, reaching out a hand to touch her briefly on the head.
"Well? What exactly do you both intend to make me do about it?"
"What the danger is, Shunsui, even we don't know. It hasn't come here yet, and so we can't find it out." Seibara said sadly. "If we could, we would tell you - but we can't. Still, what Amaki said is true. Both of the Kuchiki have that taint about them. Shizurugi and Yuuyugo are both on edge - Yuuyugo is buzzing with apprehension over the amount of bloodshed in District Six and the violence that is still going on there. And Shizurugi has more or less shut himself away from our probing - we've tried to reach out to him, but he refuses to respond."
"Rather like Mitsuki and Ryuu themselves. I suppose their swords reflect their own moods at present." Shunsui rubbed his temples. "But I'm grateful to you for trying. There are questions that as their classmate I can't ask - no, I daren't ask, that's the truth of it. I don't want to become involved in this business, but most of all I don't want Juu to get himself involved in it. It makes me uneasy no matter how I think about it - because I don't think this is a Kuchiki issue. And I don't think...you think it is either, do you?"
"Shinigami Clans are full of unspoken ill-intent." Amaki dropped down onto the flowers, wilting a bunch more as he crossed his legs, folding his arms across his skinny chest. "It's hard to know where all of that comes from. Any Clan has enough of it to implode itself. You've seen that for yourself. It's hard to pick up from our point of view what's what when there are so many conflicting vibes. As zanpakutou, finding that information out isn't our job, either. That's up to you to worry about. All I'm interested in is telling you that evil is around and you need to be ready to meet that evil. So that's why Seibara and I have been nagging you."
"Being lazy is really not a hobby or lifestyle choice you two recognise, is it?" Shunsui let out a heavy sigh. "But I know you're right. And about the Clans, too. It's a shinigami problem. Not a zanpakutou one. Even so though, I'm sure that there are a lot of little pieces of this that haven't pulled together yet. A boy murdered. A Clan leader whose life was threatened. Another Clansman driven into exile. A missing Shihouin. Now a Shihouin turns up in the prison in District Six. And who knows what else we haven't seen yet?"
"Speak your real fear, Shunsui." Seibara said quietly, and as he met her gaze, Shunsui's own brown eyes darkened. "You can't speak it to anyone else, but speak it to us. Amaki is right. You mustn't conceal anything from the two of us. We're here to fight with you and we won't ever abandon you - so trust us. Trust us with the fears you have, even if you don't know how to quantify them to anyone else just yet."
Shunsui was silent for a long time, then, slowly, he nodded.
"Aizen...Keitarou." He said softly, and as he did so, the memory of his fight in the snow with Juushirou some two years earlier flashed through his brain. He flinched, remembering Juushirou's frozen body lying motionless on the snow, the blood tainting his clothing, and Shikiki's young hands glittering with pink light as they fought to restore his friend's life.
"Aizen Keitarou." He said again, more strongly this time as he forced the images away. "But that's nothing new, is it? You both alone know that ever since the day he disappeared his existence has concerned me. Since he put Juu through so much - I've not forgotten him. He's disappeared and the world has gone back to normal. But I never have believed that. Not really. I don't know where he is or how many people he's killed in order to keep himself hidden. Probably Hirata's poor sister among the rest, since she was one of those he used and abused. But I know he is alive. And if something evil is lurking in Seireitei, I find it hard to believe he wouldn't be connected to it."
He buried his head in his hands.
"Even Juu doesn't know how much that man's existence bothers me." He whispered. "I've not spoken about it since...well...how can you speak about an incident that one of you doesn't remember? And I don't want him to remember. I don't want him to be drawn back into that web of danger. Because...Keitarou almost killed Juushirou the last time. And I don't want anything to happen to Juu."
"Juushirou is important to you." Seibara's glittering white fingers brushed against the sleeve of his robe, and he glanced up, meeting her gentle expression with a troubled one of his own. Seibara alone had been with him during that battle, and therefore Seibara more than any other knew and understood the fears he had locked away inside his heart. Without saying it, she understood that it had been that encounter - that fight in the snow which had driven Shunsui to train to raise his zanpakutou properly. The fear of losing someone else so close to him had been fully ignited that day, and even though he had quickly returned to his normal self, Seibara knew that it had left deep scars against the young boy's soul.
"I won't let anyone kill Juu." Shunsui murmured now. "That man or anyone else. I won't let him be used or broken like he was the last time - I won't let it happen, Seibara. You both taught me to protect the things I care about and fight when I need to fight for those things. So I want to be ready to fight. Because if Aizen Keitarou is involved in any of this - if he is - I can't imagine he's totally forgotten about Juu. And with Juu having Kuchiki blood as well - I can't risk not doing anything at all."
"Your spirit to protect is possibly your most driving instinct." Amaki observed now. "But there's no time to wallow in fears about an event that hasn't yet happened. Your friend is not weak, and he is not as young as he was the last time he crossed paths with that man. You have no actual evidence to connect anything now to the person you consider your absolute enemy - and that is why you've not raised his name to anyone, not even to us until tonight. But we've known he's there, Shunsui. Deeper inside of you than inside of your friend, perhaps, despite the past. Aizen Keitarou drove you to make a choice that you would probably not easily have overcome. Had that young one not been there, he would have made you kill the person you trust most. That's something we don't expect you to forgive. But instead of dwelling on it, we expect you to get stronger. And fight back. So that such a thing can never happen again - to anyone you care about."
"I know." Shunsui's eyes snapped open, the inner world disappearing as he gazed across the empty training ground with renewed resolution in his heart. "I've held back, because I know...that the things you want to teach me aren't necessarily things I'm going to like. I think...there's a darkness in Katen Kyoukotsu that helps me understand better the darkness that man wielded against Juu and I. Or...no, I suppose the darkness is mine first and foremost. You come from me, not the other way around."
A sad smile touched his lips.
"Perhaps it's because of that, I don't know. But I think...Katen is a sword designed to kill if necessary, isn't it? And that to wield it...I have to accept that no matter how good my intentions when I enter a battle, the moment I do, I'm in the wrong. That the things I'll do are things I won't want to acknowledge - the reasons that I'll do them is what I have to look to in order to keep moving forward."
Saying such things proves you've moved beyond your Father.
Seibara's words were gentle.
We won't lie. You're not wrong. Your sword is shadow and light, and you can never hide completely from shadow, Shunsui. It can be your greatest tool, if you can only learn to use it. The games we play are not really games at all, but battles of life and death - your will against the will of your opponent. And we will never teach you a skill that you will find easy to accept. Your soul is not designed to take the easy way out. It's designed to take the right decisions. That duty comes with the level of strength you have, so you can't escape it. And we will force you to learn how to use those skills - even if it brings you pain. Just like that day in the snows two years ago.
Shunsui hesitated for a moment, then he slowly closed his left hand once more around the hilt of his wakizashi blade, drawing it and flipping it around into a more comfortable grip.
"Hanakaze midarete, kashin naki."
He murmured, and a faint breeze blew across the training ground as Seibara's spirit flared in response, sending the petals of a flew late tree blossoms fluttering to the ground. Shunsui's right fist grasped the katana hilt, raising the weapon and holding it horizantally against Seibara's wakizashi as if to stir Amaki's spirit into joining the release.
"Tenpuu midarete, tenma warau." He whispered, closing his eyes as his swords glittered with energy, morphing and changing into their released forms. "Katen Kyoukotsu!"
Dawn had come.
Kinnya gazed out of the window of his chamber out towards the horizon, his brow creasing as he watched the mixture of colours flood across the distant waves of the District Six coves. The sun was rising slowly, its glow somewhat dampened by the heavy cloud that had lingered overnight, whilst the reds and oranges that pooled across the wind-rippled waters made the old shinigami think of blood.
A red dawn meant a day of ill weather, and from the slightly shadowed edge to the clouds, Kinnya was sure there would be rains that morning.
Maybe even a storm.
His lips thinned, his snow-peppered brows drawing together as he considered this fact.
If the report I received yesterday is true...there will indeed be storms. But perhaps not of the kind you choose to send down, Senaya-nii.
Reaching for his cane, he carefully pulled himself to his feet, absently rubbing his hips to get rid of the stiffness. In the past few weeks, his doctors had all but withdrawn the many herbal remedies they had foisted on him for joint pain and fatigue, and as a result when his body protested after a long night sitting watching the stars, there was no longer any medicine to take the edge off the twinges. Yet Kinnya preferred it that way. His body was not broken, nor had it yet begun to shut down. He had simply chosen not to use it - and now he was trying to, it was protesting at the sudden and unexpected activity.
An old man can't change his habits as easily as a young one, so they say.
Kinnya's grey eyes drifted to the cane, his lips pursing as he ran his gaze over the engraved surface of the wood.
Did you send the clouds this morning, Senaya-nii? So that you couldn't see me vent my rage on the unfortunates your son calls a retinue?
"Kinnya-sama?"
The knock at the door had been expected, but still to the impatient Kinnya who had long awaited it, his manservant's arrival seemed to have taken far too long.
"Come in, Keiichi." He said frankly. "I expected you sooner - what delayed you?"
"It is dawn, my lord." Keiichi was unperturbed by his companion's apparent ill humour. "And I have obtained the information you sent me to gather. That and another thing - something which perhaps will also be of some interest to you, bearing in mind the tale young Ryuu-sama brought with him when he came to visit you."
"Something relating to Ryuu's visit?" Kinnya, who had been about to demand the papers clutched carefully in Keiichi's old hand paused, fixing his manservant with a quizzical look. "What do you mean? What else have you discovered - does it also relate to Aniue's dubious interpretations of truth?"
"No. Not that." Keiichi shook his head. "It's just...while investigating your scout's report, I accidentally stumbled across something additional. Something relating to the news Ryuu-sama brought about...Raiko-hime and her...her family in these parts."
"About Juushirou?" Kinnya's eyes widened and, papers momentarily forgotten, he stumbled forwards, grasping Keiichi's hands in his own. "I thought he was in District One - is that not true? Please do not tell me that some ill has befallen...just when I came to discover..."
"Juushirou-sama is indeed in District One." Gently and carefully, as if used to his master's flights of emotion and passion, Keiichi detached the old man's eager grip from around his wrists, patting him reassuringly on the shoulder as if he were a father comforting his son, rather than a retainer reporting to his master. "I'm sorry to have frightened you - it is not that at all. Simply that the name Ryuu-sama gave was Ukitake, wasn't it? And the family Ukitake live in this area of District Six - not far from the coves that Shirogane-sama was heading for when we let him flee."
"They do, do they?" Kinnya's eyes became thoughtful, and he turned back towards the window, resting his hands against the sill as he gazed once more out towards the coast. "I see. I suppose that makes sense. I didn't know where Raiko had been sent, and at that time I was mostly still at the main house under Aniue's beck and call, so I had no time to really investigate. But...I suppose that would have suited my brother. To leave her under my nose but out of my reach. Yes, it would have suited him quite well. And so the son Raiko birthed lives under my rule, does he? An irony indeed. I wonder if Raiko's poor husband even understands the half of the manipulations Senaya-nii indulged in to erase her connection to our Clan."
"Raiko-sama's husband is also deceased, it appears." Keiichi said frankly, and Kinnya turned, eying Keiichi in consternation.
"My grandson...is orphaned?"
"From the information I gathered yesterday, I learnt the man had been killed by a Hollow protecting his eldest son some...I suppose it must have been seven or eight years past." Keiichi scratched his head absently. "It was irrelevant information, but people in these parts talk to one another quite a lot and Ukitake Hidenobu was a well known person in the coastal community. In any case, when I discovered that the head of the Ukitake-ke was a young man barely approaching adulthood, I asked what had become of his Father. And I was told that story...that Hidenobu-dono had already passed away, leaving his family in the charge of his third child and second son."
"By a Hollow?" Kinnya's hands began to tremble against the sill, colour draining from his features. "But what...what of the shinigami, Keiichi? Where were the shinigami?"
"By all reports they destroyed the Hollow, but not until Hidenobu-dono had taken a fatal wound." Keiichi said gravely. "The son he was protecting was Juushirou-sama - the father gave his life for his child."
"His life for..." Kinnya swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly dry and cottony as he realised the implications of his servant's words.
Raiko brought spirit power into a District family. My daughter gave it to her son, and because of that, monsters took his father's life. Monsters that shinigami should destroy - shinigami like me. But I...I have not left this manor to fight them since my daughter passed away. And so when my grandson was in danger...it was his father who defended him. A man who could not have had the strength to fight fought in my place, because I...I turned my back on the world and I did not bother to know. Raiko, your husband's life blood is on my hands, isn't it? And my grandson...my grandson was orphaned, because I did not do my duty to protect the people here.
His eyes narrowed.
"Keiichi, the other report, if you please." He said quietly. "About Seiren's soldiers - I assume that you gathered this irrelevant data whilst completing those enquiries on my behalf?"
"Yes." Keiichi nodded his head, holding out the papers and with a still-shaking hand, Kinnya took them. "It's as you suspected. I obtained that memo from one of the senior soldiers - your nephew gave consent for them to search for Shirogane-sama via whatever method necessary to find him. Including the invasion of peasant homes."
"I see." Kinnya's gaze blackened. "But I do not see Guren's seal on this document."
"That's because it isn't there." Keiichi said quietly. "I made some discreet enquiries and I've heard that Guren-sama is keen to find his nephew, but that the instructions he's sent out to people have been to detain Shirogane-sama with the least fuss possible. As far as I am aware, no communication has come from him that endorses Seiren-sama's men to invade the homes of your people."
"So Seiren has acted alone, out of his own stupid paranoia or ambition?" With a sudden burst of anger, Kinnya tossed the papers aside, watching as they scattered across the chamber floor. Keiichi did not flinch even a little at the unexpected reaction, and Kinnya sighed, closing his eyes briefly to contain his swirling rage.
"Very well." He said evenly. "Then one more thing. Your information about my grandson - you happened to obtain this just by accident, did you? Or perhaps because the areas you investigated...the places where Seiren's men had been...included the home where my grandson's family live?"
"You are right, my Lord. The Ukitake home was one of the estates searched for Shirogane-sama."
Kinnya's fists clenched together, his knuckles whitening from the tension that flowed through his old body.
I already stole his father through my careless, self-indulgent grief - Senaya-nii and I between us inflicted spirit power of that level on a District family that could only take sacrifices as a result. And now...and then this. I won't have it. I won't have it!
"Seiren's chief officers have been summoned here, I trust?" He asked out loud, and Keiichi inclined his head.
"Yes sir. They have."
"Then I will see them." Kinnya's voice had lost all of its warmth. "Please bring them to me at once."
"Yes, sir." Keiichi bowed and withdrew, and Kinnya turned away from the window, his thoughts and emotions swirling through his body as for the first time in a long time naked fury overwhelmed him.
My grandson's life has been made miserable enough by Kuchiki pride and ambition, and I'm an old man whose hands are just as stained with blood and deception. If you know about me...and from what Ryuu says, you do - you must also know I did nothing to save your father, Juushirou. And probably...you won't want to meet with me, knowing that. But at least I won't let further harm come to your family. Believe me, even if it stains my hands with more blood - I will not permit it!
A faint flicker of spiritual energy darted across his wits and he frowned, taking a deep breath of air into his lungs.
Besides, Shirogane is still in District Six. Hiding, maybe, but there. If I dispatched my shinigami, where would they find him? His location and the place Keiichi described are startlingly close together. Perhaps that isn't a coincidence. Shirogane was a student at the Academy. Juushirou is a friend of Ryuu's and a current student there. Perhaps I'm overthinking it, but...if the Ukitake-ke have chosen to protect Shirogane, I will protect him too. I will not let Seiren have his way - does he not realise that by acting this way he throws into jeopardy everything that idiot brother of mine worked so hard to achieve?
"Kinnya-sama, Captain Ouguchi and Captain Furizawa of Seiren-sama's special guard."
Keiichi returned at that moment with the two senior officers, and as they entered the room, bowing stiffly in Kinnya-sama's direction, the old man felt his dislike swell up within his body once again. Their attitude was formal, but somehow off-hand and imperious, as though they were bowing to a lesser man than the one who had given them their orders.
Well, they would quickly learn their mistake.
Kinnya's eyes became slits.
"Ouguchi and Furizawa." He murmured. "I would like you to explain to me, if you don't mind, what business you and your men had invading the homes of my people?"
"With respect, Kinnya-sama, your retainer has a copy of all of our paperwork pertaining to yesterday's mission." Ouguchi was the first to speak, his voice brusque and dismissive enough to rankle against Kinnya's sleeping pride. "You will see that with the command of Seiren-sama, second in command of the Kuchiki Clan we are endorsed to search this land for the missing fugitive, Nagoya Shi..."
"I did not see Guren-sama's seal on that document." Kinnya cut across the man's words, and the soldier faltered, casting a glance at his companion, who frowned.
"As my comrade just reported, sir, the mission was commanded by Seiren-sama, not Guren-sama."
"I see." Kinnya's voice was dangerously low as he fought to keep a hold on his emotions. "And are you both aware of the laws pertaining to such invasions of private land in District Six?"
"With the authority of someone of Seiren-sama's position and bloodline, we have the right to..."
"You have no rights. Not on my land." Now Kinnya could not hold back any more, and at the hard, accusatory note in his tones, the two soldiers hesitated once again, staring at him uncertainly. "I would advise you that before you obey the orders of your commander so mindlessly and without thought, you take a look at the law and you understand what you can and cannot do to disrupt the peasant classes of District Six!"
"Kinnya-sama, if you please..."
"I will not 'please'." Kinnya was in full flow now, a faint haze of spirit power beginning to glimmer around his body as he rounded on the two men, stalking towards them like a hunting cat bearing down on its prey. Despite themselves, the soldiers both took a step or two back, for the gleam of rage in Kinnya's eyes was like nothing they had ever seen before. They had clearly been told that the lord who ruled this area was a docile old man who had turned his back on his duties and who would not interfere with their orders. That he was in possession of a temper or such a powerful spiritual aura they had had no clue - but as the old man's reiatsu prickled out from his body towards them, the tension in the chamber began to rise.
"The law states that only with the permission of the Clan Leader in writing can the views of a local landlord be overruled." Kinnya said now, his every word biting through the thick atmopshere and digging into the unfortunate men who now cowered before the force of his reiatsu. "Do you understand? The Clan Leader. Guren-sama. I believe I made it clear that I would cooperate with your search so long as my people were not put out unduly and were not frightened or brought to harm. Now I receive this report, and I am not happy."
He raised his free hand, white electricity dancing menacingly between his fingers.
"The penalty for breaking that law can be loss of rank, or even loss of life." He said coldly. "If I wanted to, I could kill the both of you and eliminate the whole of your search force without retribution from the central Clan court, because I am within the law. You are without it's protection - I suggest you speak to me more carefully if you want to return to the main house alive."
"Kinnya-sama, the men are simply following the orders they were given." Keiichi's voice was impossibly calm given the rising atmosphere, and Kinnya shot him a glance, the byakurai fading from his hands as he let out a sigh.
"Yes. I know." He admitted, the reiatsu that surrounded his body fading and quieting somewhat at his servant's words. "But I want them to understand what my rights are. And that in this matter - they and my nephew have none."
He wheeled back on the two terrified soldiers, a hunter's gleam once more in his eyes.
"Do you understand?" He asked, a nasty tone in his voice. "Your lives are forfeit to me if you dare lay another finger on a single one of the peasant homes within my land. As it is, I believe the most sensible option would be for you to gather together your retinue to a man and leave the Coastal Regions immediately. Otherwise I might become angry again - and I am not the feeble old fool your commander Seiren believes me to be."
At the informal way in which the Lord gave Seiren's name, the two soldiers glanced at each other once more.
"W...with respect, Kinnya-s...sama, two of my squad h...have not reported back to our campsite for the p...past few days." Furizawa somehow managed to form words, but from the formality and deference now in his tone, it was clear that he had been well shaken by the Clansman's words and mode of attack. "I have sent people to find then, but...to withdraw..."
"Sending men into the wilderness on illegal errands likely brings with it consequences of the highest level." Kinnya's words were soft, but there was a faint threat in his slate grey eyes. "I imagine they became unecessarily violent and so were dealt with by my own retinue who are charged to keep the peace in this region."
"You mean...you..." Furizawa's face drained of colour, and an unpleasant smile touched Kinnya's lips.
"I have said nothing. I am an old shinigami who does not leave his manor without good cause." He said dismissively. "And I have no interest in your underlings or where they might have got to since you dispatched them here. If they are fool enough not to return safely to your flock, perhaps a wild animal has claimed them. There are said to be bears in the forest, as well as Hollows and other unpleasant creatures...I imagine they were careless enough to cross the path of one such beast."
"We found traces of blood in the forest on the coast road, and a damaged sword, but nothing more." Ouguchi said quietly. "Kinnya-sama, if you know the whereabouts of our comrades, please tell us. It is impossible for us to return to the main house with an incomplete force of men. You must see that it appears badly for you if men go missing in what is meant to be a peaceful environment."
Kinnya fixed Ouguchi with a cold look, and Ouguchi wilted under the sternness of the other's glare.
"Are you accusing me of murdering your men?" He asked quietly, and Ouguchi swallowed hard.
"No, sir. I mean, that wasn't...it's just...perhaps...as you said, they fell foul of..."
He trailed off, his words becoming unintelligible, and that unpleasant smile returned to twitch around the corners of Kinnya's mouth.
"If they are lost, leave them. If my men should find them, doubtless I will return them to Seiren, since I have no desire to have his lackeys around my land any longer." He said decidedly. "Soldiers who cannot heed danger or follow simple maps are of no use to anyone - possibly my nephew will not mourn them, should they not return."
"Kinnya-sama, with all due respect..." Furizawa began, but another glare from the shinigami silenced whatever he had been about to say, and slowly Kinnya inclined his head.
Weak silly men. They probably guess their comrades are dead - maybe they even know so far as that I was behind their disappearance. But they're no longer crowing so proudly. I'd wager it'll be a while before they make such a silly assumption about Kuchiki rank again.
"You have not found what you are looking for on my land, therefore you have no grounds to complain." Out loud he spoke coolly, raising his hand in a dismissive gesture. "You can go back and report this to Seiren, if you choose - but I am within my rights to evict you and evict you I shall. You are no longer welcome here. You or any of your companions who wear Seiren's badge. I have no fear of my nephew, nor am I worried about his authority. He is merely what I once was, and I understand better than you think what rights that does and does not give. He is not Head of the Clan, and his son is not named or invested heir yet. Therefore Seiren is as I was - surplus except to act as his brother deems fit. The sooner Seiren realises that his entire life has been for that purpose alone, the better everyone in this Clan will be."
He thrust out his hand, and a small yet substantial whirl of spirit energy shot out across the chamber, blasting against the sliding door and blowing two thirds of it clean off its runners.
"You are dismissed." He said evenly. "Do not come back here without the proper paperwork and seal, else you will find yourselves parted extremely easily from your lives, let alone your badges."
Without a word the two soldiers fled, falling and scrambling over one another to escape through the hole Kinnya's kidou had left in the sliding door. As they disappeared, Keiichi cast a glance at the damage, then tut-tutted under his breath.
"That was an unnecessary theatric, Kinnya-sama. Your doctor will not approve of all this Kidou you seem to be using of late."
"I know." Kinnya rubbed his wrist ruefully. "But I was angry, Keiichi. I needed to let some of that anger forth. Besides, I don't feel unduly tired. I think I'm all right. Perhaps we won't tell my physician too much about it."
"When he sees the hole in the door, I think he'll guess." Keiichi rolled his eyes. "But I will see what I can do about getting it repaired in the meantime."
He frowned, his gaze becoming serious.
"Kinnya-sama, they may come back and with a warrant from Guren-sama himself. Are you prepared, if they do?"
"They will not." Kinnya said evenly. "Because there is nothing they can find here that will induce Guren to cross me in such a way. He knows...what Seiren and his silly soldiers do not know. That I might be a hermit now, but I have not always been so. And Seiren has no sense for spirit power, but Guren is the opposite. He has an extremely keen awareness of other people's abilities - unless he knew for certain that Shirogane was here and that he had evidence to prove him guilty, I don't think he would act. Guren is not careless. That is why he is Head of the Clan."
"Well, your people would be proud of you." Keiichi reflected. "But would you have reacted with quite so much anger if I hadn't told you that Juushirou-sama's home was searched?"
"Perhaps not." Kinnya admitted. "But the truth is, Keiichi, I probably have no way to reach out to my grandson anyway. Time has passed and lives have been lost. He would...probably not like the man I am - even less if he knew the things I'd been involved in for the sake of my brother's mad Clan policy. So if all I can do is protect the kin he's not here to protect right now I will. It's very little, but I will."
"Whenever Juushirou's name comes up, your eyes become alive again." Keiichi observed. "I don't think you've given up on meeting with the boy, even despite what you just said."
"I don't suppose I'll ever give up on that - knowing he's alive takes the edge off my grief for Raiko." Kinnya said matter-of-factly. "Besides, there's something else. I think...Seiren may not be dancing to Guren's tune."
"You think he's planning rebellion?"
"No. I think he's being used and manipulated to a point where Guren becomes angry." Kinnya said darkly. "I dislike Seiren, but I will keep my word about this family and so it bothers me when I think someone is trying to split it apart. Seiren is a fool to so easily fall into traps, but perhaps that's as much the foolishness of Aniue and I for letting him remain alive in the first instance. It would have been so much simpler if we had not...but given the situation we now have, all we can do is try and limit damage before Seiren truly overreaches himself."
"Do you think Seiren-sama knows...things he should not?"
"Maybe. But I am fairly sure Guren does not." Kinnya rubbed his temples. "So if Ryuu is right and someone else is aware of it - that evidence may yet surface to push the split between the brothers once and for all. If someone can make Seiren's acts desperate enough to make Guren angry...and then the right piece of incriminating proof came to light...it would look very bad for Seiren and for the Clan."
"Someone is trying to frame Seiren-sama by making him go after Shirogane-sama?"
"Possibly." Kinnya agreed. "I'm certain of Shirogane's innocence and more, because nothing has come from Guren, I'm certain he believes in the boy's innocence too. I think Guren to be fond of him, so if Seiren was to kill the boy, that might be enough to tip the scale. Therefore it's better that Seiren's men are not anywhere near where Shirogane is until this can be straightened out. Seiren is the one who has the most to gain from Ribari's death, and the biggest motivation behind why he'd do it, too. So whether he does or he doesn't know is immaterial. Either way it would not look good if that were to suddenly surface over the corpse of Guren's other nephew."
"Shirogane-sama is still here, isn't he?" Keiichi demanded sharply, and Kinnya nodded.
"He's recovering from his wounds not far from the coast." He said wryly, and Keiichi's eyes narrowed.
"By the coast? You mean...?"
"Maybe. It's possible. Yesterday Shirogane definitely used concealing Kidou when you said the Ukitake land and surrounds was being searched. Therefore I think it's a high possibility my grandson and his kin are on Shirogane's side."
"And that means you now are, too?"
"I've given my motives." Kinnya scolded. "But yes. If you like to add that one too, I won't object."
Keiichi was quiet for a moment, then he sighed, coming across to tap his companion gently on the arm.
"I think Juushirou-sama would realise, if he met you, that deep down you are a kinder person than most in the heart of that Clan." He said reflectively. "However many things you've done and whatever you haven't managed to - even despite the way you like to act to frighten those around you in order to keep things as they should be. Senaya-sama knew that he could have ultimate trust in you because of that good heart, and that is why of all people you alone know how he was thinking when he left this world for the next. Even now you're willing to honour your brother's requests of you - even though he's been dead such a long time, and no longer has any right to claim your loyalty."
"You're wrong about that." Kinnya said ruefully. "Senaya-nii was someone who demanded that kind of loyalty for life - and for my life, not just his own. He knew when he died that I would keep his words close and see to the things he could not do himself. He knew even death didn't break that connection - that I was still bound to him when he was gone."
"For that reason, Senaya-sama was able to make the choices he did. He could leave the rest in your hands and rest easy knowing all would be done as he instructed." Keiichi observed wisely. "The brother he often argued with and who clashed swords with him on one occasion or another - but the brother who understood him better than anyone else. I sometimes think that when he died, you lost a part of your own soul as well, Kinnya-sama. You no longer had anyone to disagree with quite so violently."
"I suppose that's true." Kinnya laughed, nodding his head. "Ryuu asked me if Aniue and I were close, and I told him that it was a hard question to answer. Even now I find it that way - to me it always felt that we were closer than blades of grass but more distant than the sun and the moon. Yet you are right. I did understand him. Perhaps we were close. Often I really do feel as though he's still watching me from his Tsukijiro."
"Despite the way you drove fear into those guards just now, I think that Juushirou-sama would see the Kinnya-sama who cared - not just about his grandson, but about that boy's District kin and your own past and present, too." Keiichi decided. "I've been your servant a long time and you've often treated me with kindness. Perhaps you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. If Juushirou-sama is smart in the way Ryuu-sama said...I'm sure..."
"For now, there are far too many other things pressing." Kinnya dismissed this with a flick of his fingers, but a faint smile touched his lips at Keiichi's words. "I expect that I will have a visit from Seiren before too long, in outrage about the way I treated his men. And when that happens, I intend to see what I can do to stem his stupidity...before it condemns both him and the Clan to collapse."