Chapter Fifty Six: Poison vs The Poisoner
"Yamamoto-kun!"
Hirata hurried across the uneven volcanic terrain, stretching his senses far and wide in an attempt to locate the leader of the second student group. It was pitch black now, and Hirata found that even trying to navigate by the moonlight was a hopeless task for the mountain landscape overshadowed a good deal of the most direct path. Had Kai come back this way, he decided grimly, he would have had far more trouble locating the way ahead, for Akira and his companions were also moving and it was hard to pinpoint faint traces of spiritual energy in an atmosphere full of only air.
But where I'm concerned, air particles are almost as good as spirit ones.
Hirata closed his eyes, the sound of a hunting bird's beating wings suddenly clear across his thoughts. The next moment a shadowy mirage blotted across the moon, and Hirata felt the gentle touch of wind on his cheeks change. No longer was it just teasing at his hair and his clothing, but it was almost trying to speak to him, and with his awareness heightened Hirata found he could manouevre his slender body more easily around the obstacles that the night concealed.
My eyesight is a weakness, but in the dark, being able to navigate by reading the breeze becomes a strength.
He clenched his jaw together tightly, forcing every single fragment of his spiritual awareness to focus in on the world around him, reading each and every breath of the breeze for any sign of the group he sought. At first there was nothing, but then, faint and inconsistant, something rushed across his thoughts and his eyes snapped open, his body immediately changing direction to head for it without a second thought.
I don't want to leave Kai there with Onoe-kun too long. In the darkness, it might be dangerous – someone might come back to cover the scene and take the evidence. Kai-kun's fighting works best with the element of surprise or at least the ability to conceal himself from his opponent. Like the Hollow on the first night, if the enemy takes him off guard, it's a different story.
Hirata leapt nimbly over a pile of broken rocks, skirting around the outline of a shallow pool caused heavy rain the night before. With every step he could tell he was getting closer to his destination, but each step also put more distance between him and the friend he had left behind.
He was alone in the bleak wilds of the Real World, and despite himself he felt his conviction waver slightly as he remembered Onoe's shattered corpse lying abandoned on the ground.
A man who'd make someone into a puppet is a man who kills without mercy. Alone here, I'm just as vulnerable as Kuchiki-kun was and my life is just as pivotal for the future of my Clan. I mustn't let my own guard down in the desire to help the others. Maybe that's Aizen's real intention. If he can scatter us all over the place, we'd be much easier to pick off one at a time.
He stifled a shiver.
I can't think of that now. I have to find Yamamoto-kun and the rest and bring them back to the Senkaimon as soon as possible.
Even as this thought crossed his mind, he misplaced his footing and with a yelp he tumbled forwards, only just managing to keep himself from tumbling headlong down the slope of the mountain itself. Taking deep breaths into frantic lungs, Hirata clung on to the rocks for dear life, struggling to bring his panic under control. The sharp current of air running alongside him told him that it would have been a long drop – and that if he had fallen, he would probably have not survived.
The Real World is dangerous too. That's what I get for daydreaming.
Once the immediate fear had passed, Hirata pulled his body into a more upright position, once more scouting the surrounding area for any sign of his classmates. The sound of footsteps not too far ahead made him tense, and he shuffled back against the cliff wall, listening carefully as he tried to work out if whoever was coming was friend, foe or merely one of the Real World's native inhabitants.
"Endou?"
The voice made him start and he glanced up, a bright glow of whiteish energy suddenly illuminating the area around him. Shielding his gaze from the glare, Hirata was able to make out the startled features of Aoi, Kidou magic glittering around the tips of his fingers.
"What are you doing here? Where's Shihouin?"
Despite the fact Hirata had obviously crossed from his assigned area into theirs, Aoi seemed more anxious than cross, and Hirata realised that his companion too had sensed something was not right. "Did something happen? You look like you've been running."
"Where's Yamamoto-kun?" Hirata clambered to his feet, casting a wary glance to his right as he kept his body close to the cliff wall. "I need to speak to him and we need to find Amai-san and Shikibu-san. We need to go back to the Senkaimon at once."
"What's happened?" Aoi's sandy brows twitched together in alarm, and he grasped Hirata by the wrist, pulling him carefully along the uneven rock face towards safer ground. "Be careful of your footing here – unless you've studied the maps, you're in danger of falling right over."
"I know. I almost did," Hirata admitted grimly. "Thank you, Michihashi-kun. As for what's happened – I'd rather report it only the once, so if you don't mind…"
"We were about to head back to camp," Aoi nodded. "Akira and Kanshi are just beyond this dip in the rock. We took out a cluster of Hollows and buried one soul into the bargain – it's been a busy night for all of us."
"It's going to get busier," Hirata said quietly, relief glittering in his pale blue eyes as he made out the broad figure of Akira and his Shiba companion not far ahead. "And we're going to go back. Tonight, I expect. I can't think anything else is possible."
"Something major has happened," Aoi whispered, and Hirata nodded, raising his voice.
"Yamamoto-kun!"
"Endou?" Akira strode across towards him, a mixture of surprise and irritation in his expression. "What the hell are you doing in this part of the mountain? It's damn dangerous underfoot – bad enough for us to see in the dark, but for someone with glasses…"
"I followed the breeze here," Hirata said, a little incoherently.
"Akira, something's happened," Aoi interjected apprehensively. "Maybe to Shihouin…since Endou came alone."
"Shihouin?" Akira's eyes became slits. "I can't spend my whole life bailing him out of trouble. Well, what is it? Spit it out, kid. I'm listening."
"Kai-kun is fine. Only I left him…there, where it happened," Hirata said cryptically. "Yamamoto-kun, tonight in the forest somebody attempted to take Kuchiki-kun's life."
"What?" Aoi's complexion became ashen, and Hirata saw Akira's lips thin.
"They did, huh?" was all he said, however, and Hirata nodded.
"Is he still alive?" Kanshi joined them at that moment, adding his voice to the conversation, and Hirata shrugged helplessly.
"I don't know," he admitted. "Kai-kun and I stumbled on the scene after it had already happened. From what we can tell, there was a fight, and…"
"Enishi released his sword," Akira said thoughtfully, "didn't he?"
"As far as we can tell, Houjou-kun was the one who took down the person who was probably after Kuchiki-kun's life," Hirata nodded quickly, his glasses wobbling on his nose at the sudden movement. "There was nobody at the scene when we got there, however."
"Then how do you know anyone was attacked?" Kanshi demanded. "Endou, I know it's dark, and that people have been moving in shadows around the Kuchiki for a while, but even so…"
"No, I think he's probably right," Akira shook his head, cutting his friend off in mid-flow. "Enishi released Kyoshingeki and I never felt it flare like that before. I've trained with him a few times – fought him too – and I know that he's the first to back off if a confrontation isn't serious. Today he was serious. I think it's the first time I felt killing instinct in his blade. Enishi was assigned with Kuchiki – and Endou's explanation accounts for why he'd be launching himself into a proper fight."
"Kai-kun is still at the scene, because of protecting the evidence," Hirata agreed. "Since I can track wind currents, it seemed easier for me to try and find you and tell you what had gone on. We don't know any details for sure, Yamamoto-kun – except that someone was taken down by Houjou-kun's blade and that person didn't get up again. Houjou-kun wasn't at the scene and nor was Kuchiki-kun – we think that probably Houjou-kun took him back to camp, maybe to try and find Edogawa-san and get her help."
"You mean to say there's a dead body out in the wilds somewhere and Shihouin's sitting guard over it?" Kanshi let out his breath in a low whistle. "That's going to take some explaining before the Council if anything ever did."
"I don't think it will. I think the Council probably already know more about this than we do," Hirata said grimly. "Besides, the person Houjou-kun cut down was already dead, Souryou-kun. Kai-kun and I both knew him – Kai-kun especially, because they were kinsman. The person Houjou-kun took down was a classmate of ours in First year, but he suffered serious psychological damage and was essentially braindead. If he attacked Kuchiki-kun, it was under the control of someone else."
"In short, Enishi de-stringed the puppet, but the puppet master is still out here and so it's not safe for the rest of us to remain."
Akira clicked his tongue against his teeth.
"All right. I understand the message. The campsite will have to take care of itself. We'll head back towards the Senkaimon and pick up Suzuno and Shikibu on the way. They can't have headed too much further out and…"
He paused, frowning, and Hirata cast him a quizzical look.
"Yamamoto-kun?"
"Did you feel that?" Akira's question was directed to Kanshi, not Hirata, and the other boy nodded.
"Kuwagobari," he murmured. "Make no mistake about it – that was Suzuno's zanpakutou release."
"Then maybe Houjou-kun found Amai-san instead," Hirata frowned. "Where it happened wasn't far from the divide between our group's land and theirs, so that's not impossible. Maybe…"
"No. No, it's not right," Aoi's expression suddenly became distressed and he shook his head, reaching out to grab Akira by the arm. "Akira, can't you feel it? There's something else…someone else. That spirit power…wherever she is…"
Hirata swallowed hard, his heart stilling in his chest as he recognised on the breeze the faint strains of an all too familiar spiritual presence.
That scent surrounded Juushirou after he was felled in the snows in District Seven. For days after Unohana-sensei and Tokutarou-sama brought him and Shunsui-kun back to the manor, it was there…lingering around Juushirou's body until little by little it finally faded away. I won't ever forget it – the darkness of it and the empty hopelessness it seemed to shroud him in back then. There's only one sword that operates with reiatsu like that. One sword, and that belongs to…
"Urahara Keitarou," he murmured, and Aoi swallowed hard.
"Oh no." He whispered.
"Aoi?" Kanshi shot him a sharp look, and Aoi shook his head, looking upset.
"Last winter, Nagesu-sama sent a memo to all the heads of the central Urahara families warning us that he'd had indications the exile was still alive and that we should be on our guard against his deceptions," he said uneasily. "Since his disappearance, Nagesu-sama's been anticipating some kind of revenge attack on the Urahara, and last winter some of his people suggested movement in the Real World – but nobody could track down where the exile might strike from. We were all on alert, but the attack never came…and gradually our guard relaxed."
"Instead he went after the Kuchiki," Hirata said sadly, and Aoi let out a heavy sigh.
"That came some months later. It didn't occur to me that that assassination was anything to do with our family or with the exile," he said heavily. "If it had, I would've raised the point – but I don't think it occurred to any of us. The Kuchiki seemed to be focusing on inside suspects – and then there were rumours of a Shihouin connection. None of that seemed to tie in to Urahara Keitarou, or, therefore, to us."
He spread his hands agitatedly towards the direction of the flare of spiritual energy.
"What I do know, though, is what an Urahara sword feels like when it's released," he confessed. "All swords from true blood members of our Clan have certain characteristics in common. Whatever I don't know about this circumstance, I'm quite sure that whatever that second reiryoku is, it connects in some way to an Urahara sword."
"You know something about this too?" Akira gazed at Hirata, who shrugged.
"My family's fortunes and the actions of that man have been intertwined for far too long," he said frankly. "I'd quite like to cut the connection free once and for all."
"Then the first thing we should be doing is finding Suzuno and Shikibu," Kanshi said darkly. "Obviously they're in danger, and obviously they don't know just how much, so we need to go find them and round them up. Ideally we need to do it before they cross paths with the wrong folk and wind up in a confrontation of sorts. Suzuno's not the best of fighters, and Shikibu…"
He trailed off, chewing down on his lip as another sensation assailed them.
"Dokusou Houshi," Hirata intoned softly. "Shikibu-san's released her sword, too."
"What the hell is happening over there?" Kanshi demanded.
"We have to go. Now. Whatever the situation is, that's an order," Akira said blackly, his fingers twitching towards the hilt of his sword. "Zanpakutou at the ready, and we will use them if need be. Sensei sent us here as a group and we'll go back as a group, even if it means taking a few bruises along the way. Whatever Shikibu thinks she's doing, she can't know who it is she's up against. We need to get in there and get them both out – we'll worry about the Senkaimon once we've got our group back all in one piece."
Almost as soon as the words left Naoko's lips, the eerie green haze of light that surrounded the silver of her zanpakutou blade began to brighten and grow, spreading out across the whole of the surrounding area and illuminating both its wielder and her opponent in the strange emerald glow.
In the darkness, Naoko knew that the oddly luminescent nature of the weapon made her appear ethereal herself – a fitting guise for a shinigami, poised between the living and the world of the dead.
A humourless smile touched her lips as she considered this, the spectral gleam of the release reflecting in her eyes and making them appear to glow with a ghostly, vengeful light.
In the murky brightness, Naoko was aware of Suzuno's gasping breaths and the slight movement of the girl's pale white fingers as she struggled to reach the hilt of her own sword. The movements were feeble and Naoko knew they were futile, for with each passing second the blood that pooled around the student's body seemed to grow, her white hakamashita almost as red now as the hakama each female Academy student wore.
Something about this made Naoko even more angry, and she turned her gaze back towards her friend's attacker, allowing the fury of the moment to eclipse the fear and the grief of truly registering Suzuno's desperate condition.
Dokusou Houshi was her shield against such soft emotion, and in that moment, Naoko was glad to feel the cold grip of something curl itself more resolutely around her heart.
"Dokusou…Houshi?" After a silence that seemed to last ages, the assailant spoke, his own mud-slurried eyes reflecting hazel in the unremitting haze of the weapon's illumination. "Well, well. That really doesn't sound much like the kind of sword a Unohana would hold."
"I already told you that I'm not a healer," Naoko's eyes became slits, specks of indignant fire sparking from her gaze as derision and loathing welled up inside of her. "Unlike Suzuno, I don't fix wounds. Dokusou Houshi doesn't repair anything. It's a sword designed to destroy things – souls, spirit power…life."
"I see," The man let out a soft chuckle, folding his arms across his chest, and Naoko could see clearly the glitter of silver that patterned its way across his shoulder, a tell-tale sign that Suzuno had used her weapon to heal this stranger before he had turned on her and attacked her with his own. This fact only renewed the anger that burned within her, but she forced herself to remain focused, blotting out her concern for Suzuno's condition and instead trying her best to gauge her opponent's next move. He seemed suddenly relaxed, almost casual, but Naoko was not naive enough to be so easily fooled.
"You can't take me off guard so easily," she murmured, reaching across to tap the hilt of her weapon. "When my zanpakutou releases, it emits a cloud of tiny particles too small to be seen individually. Those particles glow and together give off brightness – but my sword isn't that kind of sword and this atmosphere isn't simply cloaked in green light."
She tilted her blade slightly, and as she did so, the delicate mist that cloaked the silver weapon grew denser, the tiny particles pulling together to form a larger spiritual mass.
"You liked the name of my sword, I think," she added evenly, her tones level despite the adrenalin and rage competing for the upper hand through her system. The cold grip around her heart had not lessened even for a moment, and Naoko put her faith in its ability to keep her steady, even when faced with the risk of battle. "I don't suppose that you know what that name really means."
"I don't imagine that it matters," the man said evenly. "I've killed your friend, and I will have to kill you. That's the price you pay for crossing my path this evening – my apologies for the inconvenience. Unfortunately tonight hasn't gone exactly as I anticipated it would – your friend's life and your own are byproducts of that misadventure."
"People's lives are not byproducts," Naoko spoke in low tones. "Suzuno came here to heal you, and you hurt her. That's unforgivable in any situation – but to dismiss it so casually is even worse."
Her grip tightened on the hilt of her weapon.
"My sword's spirit is not a particularly nice individual – nor has he ever pretended to me that he was. He believes in the necessity of following everything through with a calm and clear head, and so you won't spark me into a careless fury, no matter how much you try to taunt me," she added. "My weapon doesn't work well with impulsive attacks. It likes to take in all the details and then act according to what it's learned. This haze of light that surrounds us reads every single fragment of spiritual energy you give out…based on that, Dokusou Houshi will find the best place to launch its assault."
"I see," the man's eyes became calculating. "I suppose then these tiny particles of yours are not flecks of energy at all, but spores of some kind – correct? I can feel them, brushing against my reiryoku as if looking for a way in. You're trying to find the crack in my defences, but you have to realise that most fights don't happen at such a slow speed. If you stood still before a Hollow in that way, what do you suppose would happen?"
Naoko smiled, her expression truly terrifying in the emerald light.
"I'm not fighting a Hollow," she said simply. "I'm not fighting at all. You're not someone who can fight me."
"What makes you think that?" The man looked startled, and Naoko snorted.
"Your wound on your shoulder was taken from the blade of one of my classmates," she said disparagingly. "Kyouraku Shunsui's zanpakutou, unless I miss my guess? Dokusou knows the spiritual signature of all of my peers, and he very rarely makes a mistake. You also allowed Suzuno close to you to heal you – but had to take her when she was off guard to attack her, meaning you lack confidence in close combat battle. Dokusou's analysis of Suzuno's injuries tell me that you hit her in one go and when she wasn't expecting it – not that this was any kind of protracted fight. And finally…"
She brought her still glimmering sword up into a more offensive stance,
"You allowed me to release my sword. Nobody who intends to kill an enemy gives them as much leeway as you've given me. Your zanpakutou has a strong spiritual aura, but strong spiritual auras are a favourite food of mine. You really don't have any way to fight me – and therefore I needn't be afraid."
"No way to fight..." for the first time the faintest flicker of irritation crossed the man's gaze. "What kind of naïve nonsense does that old man sensei of yours teach you at this Academy, I wonder? You assume that a battle is fought only with a sword? That's a strange attitude for an Unohana, even one who claims to destroy. Naivety kills people more than anything else. You came here to help your friend – yet now you seem to believe yourself a match for me."
"Does that scare you?" Naoko's eyes became predatorial. "Dokusou Houshi thinks it does. I can sense it all from you, every flicker of your aura. I'm trained as a fighter, and you're weak in that regard. That's the truth, isn't it? You don't want to engage my blade, because…"
"Hadou no Yon. Byakurai."
A bolt of white lightning cast pale greenish by Dokusou Houshi's eerie haze shot out across the divide between them, flaring bright light around the surroundings as it made a beeline for Naoko's body. Naoko snorted, swinging her weapon down and cutting through the attack with one sweep of her blade, sending the tiny white fragments spinning out into the surrounding ether. As each shard of the spell was split apart from its brethren, clusters of ghostly green energy surrounded them like hungry hunting insects honing in on their prey, and piece by piece all trace of the kidou spell soon disappeared into nothing.
"I see," the man pursed his lips, eying his companion thoughtfully. "Your sword absorbs spirit power. Your own is probably unaffected – no, perhaps it's augmented by that ability – am I correct? Like Juushirou, you're capable of drawing in spirit power and unleashing it on your opponents."
"Ukitake-kun?" Naoko's brows drew together in consternation. "How do you know him? Have you hurt him tonight as well?"
"I didn't realise he was so popular with the girls," the man said lightly, "but you needn't worry. Your classmate is quite fit and well. I would prefer not to kill him – I find him far too interesting, even though he didn't seem inclined to speak to me this evening. His friend even less so – as you've correctly observed from my healing wound."
"You went after Ukitake-kun, but Kyouraku-kun fought you off," Naoko's lips thinned. "To be hit by the blade of that lazy good-for-nothing must make you a lax creature indeed – I don't believe I've ever seen Kyouraku-kun move at any kind of speed, which makes you a particularly slow character."
"I suppose that might be a fair analysis," The man rubbed his hands together pensively, and Naoko saw the faint glitter of reiatsu against the edges of his skin, "but if your power is like Juushirou's power, surely there must be a level at which it overloads."
"I don't know what kind of power you're talking about," Naoko said quietly, "but unfortunately my sword doesn't absorb your energy and throw it back at you like a mirror. True, my sword devoured your Kidou and true, it will use that energy to power its own attacks. But it digests it, it doesn't reflect it. Besides, as yet I haven't attacked you. Dokusou's assessments take a little time, and I wanted to find out who you were and why you attacked Suzuno first."
"That's possibly your mistake," the man said thoughtfully. "You've been letting your sword gauge my spirit power but in doing so you've allowed me to gauge yours, too. Your sword absorbs but it doesn't re-fire? It breaks down foreign reiatsu…and uses it for its own? You shouldn't give your enemy so much information about your weapon, Naoko. It's a dangerous thing to do when you don't know who you're facing."
"Who gave you leave to use that name?" Naoko demanded, a flash of irrational anger breaking through the haze of calm her sword had cast over her body. "You know nothing about me, and you certainly aren't someone I'd allow to call me by my given name!"
"Your friend Amai-dono didn't mention any other name," The man's gaze flitted to Suzuno's fallen body and he let out a sigh. "It seems a little late to ask her now, so 'Naoko' is all I know. I'll balance out the equation a little, shall I? I'll tell you my name, and then we'll be even."
"I already told you I don't care what you call…"
"Keitarou," Keitarou broke across her, offering her a benign smile. "Kei-ta-rou."
"I said I didn't care," Naoko was too angry now to really absorb what her opponent had just told her. "I've found out all I need to know about you with my sword, and you soon won't have enough spirit in you to care about a name. Your injury means your spirit power's broken and all over the place, and you can't fight, which gives me two advantages. You've cast an unpardonable insult against my family by hurting Suzuno. I don't intend to leave here without killing you – whatever retribution it brings down on my head."
She swung the blade down in a straight line towards him, the haze of energy surrounding it growing greater and more dense with each passing second.
"I'll take the spirit power you used to hurt my friend and I'll stop you from hurting anyone else with it," she muttered. "Dokusou Houshi - Kyuushuu o!"
The moment the command slipped from her lips the whole of the area was lit up suddenly with tiny specks of vividly burning light, scattering through the air like cinders from a bonfire cast up in the wind, and as Naoko swept her weapon across once more in Keitarou's direction, the tiny, brightly glittering objects honed in on him like a cloud of mosquitos searching for a place to bite.
"Bakudou no Hachi – Seki."
A clear, disc-shaped barrier flared briefly up between them, but Naoko's eyes hardened and the tiny green objects clustered around the spell, clustering around the edges as they piece by piece began to break through the condensed spiritual energy. Yet more flooded over and under the reach of the barrier, some landing on Keitarou's face, some on the legs of his black hakama, and yet more making a direct assualt towards the half-exposed Chudokuga in the scientist's hand.
"There are too many of them to escape with Bakudou," she said dismissively. "Putting a spell between them and you just gives them more to feed on. I'm sorry, but since my sword doesn't absorb energy in order to re-fire it, there isn't a limit to how much it can take in. It breaks down the reiryoku and therefore it can keep ingesting it and turning it back into raw spirit power. It does that constantly, over and over, until there's nothing more for it to draw in. I told you, didn't I? My sword doesn't exist to fix things, but to destroy them. Bit by bit it will suck the life and energy out of you, until there's nothing left but a husk of nothing at all."
"You students seem to be quite clever." Despite the fact he was now surrounded by glittering green predators, Keitarou did not seem particularly perturbed. "I must admit, your sword is fascinating and a little different again from the kind of weapons Ive studied in the past. Unfortunately, though, I'm not really interested in Clan zanpakutou."
He raised his hand, and Naoko's eyes widened slightly as she realised that the weapon he held in his grip was glittering with silver energy.
"Ore, Chudokuga," he said softly, and several sharp-pointed barbs of silver thread shot out across the copse at speed, driving forward to pierce through Naoko's own body in the same way as they had clearly penetrated Suzuno's.
But Naoko was not Suzuno, and before the weapon could hit her, she brought her own blade up, deflecting the most dangerous of the threads and diverting two or three others off their course. One scraped against her cheek, causing a thin trickle of blood to roll down towards her chin, and a second lashed through the sleeve of her hakamashita, drawing a thin reddish line across her pale skin.
"Your attack is fast but it's useless," she said derisively. "My sword has now touched your sword directly, which will only speed up the process of absorbing your spirit power. It's not a very pleasant way to be defeated…but I'm not particularly choosy about my methods when it comes to avenging the honour of my Clan."
"I see. So that sped things up? I had hoped as much," Keitarou's smile now was eerily content, and he nodded, watching in thoughtful silence as Naoko's tiny green specks converged as one body on the exposed edge of his blade. "I am in a bit of a hurry – and I don't want to risk being found talking to you here when I have other things I need to do. It's been fun playing with you – and for your gall and your skill with your sword, I won't take your life. But in return, I am going to take something from you."
Naoko's heart suddenly lurched in her chest at the ominous tone in her opponent's voice and her eyes darted to his zanpakutou, her expression becoming one of alarm as she realised that where a moment earlier the weapon was entirely cloaked in clusters of green energy, now there was a decidedly silver sheen beginning to emit from the sword's spiritual core. She struggled to redouble her concentration, but it was to no avail, for Keitarou's reiryoku had focused now and with a jolt she realised what he had done.
He's not trying to fight off my sword. He's doing the opposite…he's feeding it!
"Dokusou Houshi, retreat!" she exclaimed, drawing her weapon back and Keitarou tut-tutted, shaking his head playfully as though scolding a small child.
"Don't ruin the fun by running away half way through," he said reproachfully. "Chudokuga doesn't often get a chance to play with friends that are more or less on his wavelength."
"What are you doing!" As the greenish clusters began to flicker and spasm with silver light, Naoko felt something cold run through her body, and she glared at him in fear and indignation. "Why are you flaring your spirit power – what are you trying to achieve!"
"Your sword's absorbtion power acts rather like a swarm of mosquitos," Keitarou's smile was cold now, and in the green light he looked particularly foreboding. "Unfortunately for you, Chudokuga is a spider. Spiders are predators to many insects - and some spiders prove to be very poisonous."
"You…"
"I already said I would not take your life," Keitarou flicked his wrist to disperse the remaining clusters of green with a smile. "I've realised from this encounter that it would be a waste of a useful talent, so it appears to be better to leave you alive. Have a safe journey back to Seireitei, Naoko-dono. I trust you'll consider the reiatsu you've stolen from me ample vengeance for your friend."
With that he was gone, his flash-step so quick that even Naoko's sharp senses could not pinpoint the moment that he had left the scene. The next instant all thought of him was gone from her mind as a sharp and painful sensation jarred through her system, clamping itself firmly around her airways and stifling her breathing with one crushing blow. Her sword slipped from her grasp as she fell to her knees, desperate hands clawing at her throat as she fought to draw air into her lungs. Suddenly lightheaded, her head began to whirl, fear overloading her senses and sending her back into a spasm of panicked gasping.
As quickly as it had come, however, the feeling was gone, and she hunched against the cold stone, rested her palms against the uneven surface and greedily dragging oxygen into her battered chest. Her concentration well and truly broken, the fragmented pieces of her sword's spiritual energy dissipated into a hazy grey-green mist before fading away completely, and as the weapon sealed itself back into its static form, Naoko reached out a shaking hand to touch the hilt.
Houshi-sama, are you there?
There was silence, and Naoko wrapped her fingers more firmly around her blade, drawing it carefully and tentatively towards her. It appeared completely normal, but as she touched a finger to the silver surface, she felt a faint shock and something juddered through her once again.
It felt like an electric charge. Houshi-sama? Houshi-sama, please, respond to me. What did he do to you?
There was still no response, and a shiver ran through Naoko's body, alerting her for the first time to the coldness of the Real World night.
There was a faint murmur from the crumpled form at her side, and pushing her own concerns away for a moment, she clumsily sheathed her blade, dragging her protesting body across the short distance to where Suzuno lay. The blood that fanned out around the other girl's body was a considerable amount, and despite the darkness, Naoko could make out her friend's pale complexion, waxy and ash-white in comparison to the thickly sodden crimson of her school uniform. Rips across the front of the fabric told with cruel clarity how quickly Keitarou's attack had cut through her clothing to the flesh and bone beneath.
"Suzuno?"
Naoko spoke in low tones so as not to startle her companion.
"Suzuno, can you hear me? I'm going to help you. Somehow, I'm going to help you."
There was no answer, but Naoko saw the faintest twitch of her classmate's fingers and she nodded, slipping her own trembling hand into her companion's grip.
I'm not a healer. I can't heal your wounds.
The reality struck through her like lightning.
A healer mends broken shinigami, but who's there to mend the healer?
"I'll get help," she said aloud, but as she made to loose her hold on the other girl's hand, she felt Suzuno's fingers tighten slightly against her own.
"Suzuno?"
Naoko bent over her friend as the fragile girl mouthed something. Though the wound at her throat preventing her from forming the words, Naoko knew her companion was asking not to be left alone.
In that moment Naoko regretted more bitterly than she had ever done in her life before that she had been born with a fighting blade and not a healing one.
I've always been an abberation within my Clan, and I've always pretended not to care. I do care though, Suzuno.
She rested her free hand against her friend's chest, feeling the faltering beat of the other girl's heart.
If Mitsuki was here, she'd be able to save you. If Mitsuki was…but she isn't. There's only me, and I'm not enough. I can't save your life. I don't have that power and I don't know how.
Why did you try to help him, Suzuno? Maybe Mitsuki's right. Maybe I don't understand what it means to be a healer. Does it drive you forward to help so much that you discard the risk to yourself? Does being a healer mean having the courage or conviction to die at the hands of someone you healed? Whose life is more important – yours or theirs? I never understood these things, but right now I wish that I did.
Tears glittered against her lashes as this realisation sank in, numbing the pain in her heavy limbs with a deeper pain she had never before felt quite so keenly.
"I'm sorry, Suzuno," she whispered, and as she met the girl's gaze, she saw a flicker of resignation in eyes that were already becoming glazed and empty.
"Shikibu!"
The yell was Kanshi's, and as bright light illuminated the whole area Naoko turned, making out her classmates in the glare. Something about the approaching students spoke for the remainder of her composure and the tears trickled unchecked down her cheeks as she broke down into heavy, exhausted sobs.
"We're too late," Hirata murmured, and the next minute Naoko felt someone's rough hands on her body, pulling her forcibly away from Suzuno's fallen form.
"Aoi, take care of Shikibu," That was Akira's voice, and dimly Naoko was aware that it was the Yamamoto who had dragged her back, bending down himself over the fallen healer and putting his hand against her throat. "You too, Kanshi. She looks worn out and she's covered in blood. Some of it might be hers – we need to find out for sure."
"I'm…I'm not…" Naoko managed, but the words stuck in her throat and she coughed, another shiver running through her exhausted body.
"Just take it easy," Kanshi told her firmly, and Naoko was aware of him on her left and Aoi to her right, both of them supporting her so that she did not fall. "We'll help you if need be, Shikibu – just breathe for a moment, all right? There's no danger now. Whatever happened…it's over now."
"What should I do, Yamamoto-kun?" Hirata asked, and for a moment Akira didn't answer. Then, at length, he spoke.
"Endou, you said that tonight Kuchiki was attacked, didn't you?" he said softly, and Naoko's head jerked up, a look of horror in her grey-green eyes.
"Kuchiki-kun…was…?"
"So Kai-kun and I believe," Hirata nodded his head slowly.
"Shihouin oughtn't be left on his own," Akira's brows knitted together, and Naoko was somehow comforted by the resolution in his expression. "Go get him, and then go find the other group. If they're heading to the Senkaimon, go there and wait for us with them. Your friends will listen more to you than to me – so tell them what's happened and make sure they don't go through the gate without us. We're going through together. Opening the gate more than once is a risk – especially since whoever attacked Suzuno is obviously still at large."
"He…called himself…Keitarou," Naoko managed, and on her right side she felt Aoi suddenly tense.
"Endou was right," he whispered.
"So it appears," Akira got to his feet. "Well? There's no time to hang around waiting, Endou. I gave you an order – are you going to ignore it or do you simply not care whether Shihouin gets attacked next?"
"I'm going," Hirata said softly, "but…if I went to Juushirou-kun first, I could get Edogawa-san, and then Amai-san…"
"There's no need for that," Akira's brusque words sent fresh spasms through Naoko's body and she collapsed back against Kanshi, her usual pride and composure shattered as her emotions overwhelmed her.
Hirata glanced at Akira for a moment, but did not object, merely slipping into shunpo and disappearing into the night.
"Kanshi, you and Aoi manage Shikibu. I'll see to Suzuno."
Akira's next words were sharp and to the point, allowing for no disagreement or questions to be asked, and Naoko felt herself hauled into a more upright position, Kanshi's strong arms looping around her shoulders.
"I've got her, Aoi. It's all right," The words seemed far away, as if spoken by a stranger in a foreign land, and as the colours and lights blurred before her gaze, Naoko gave up on her attempts to stay conscious.
As she slipped into oblivion, she thought she saw the faint shadow of a spider scurry across her consciousness, and then all went black.
"At this rate, we're going to take till sunrise to get back to the gate."
Shunsui let out a heavy sigh, his gaze flitting to the unconscious form still clutched protectively in Enishi's strong grip.
"I thought the most important thing to do was get out of this area – why are we taking so long to do it?"
"We're following Mitsuki's guidance," Juushirou pushed back a low-hanging branch, turning to glance at his friend. "I know you're not happy, Shunsui, and I understand why. But we're all together again now, and I doubt anyone's going to attack us in team formation. You wounded Keitarou once, and Enishi dealt with Onoe. The likelihood is that we won't cross their paths again."
"Taking Ryuu through shunpo is a risk," Mitsuki spoke up herself at this juncture, reaching out to rest her hand on Shunsui's arm. "The amount of poison in his system isn't a lot, but if we were to rush, it would move more quickly and do him more harm. Although I don't think there's enough to kill him, I'm still only in training. If it's designed to act slowly and it just hasn't fully exploded yet…moving him too fast might set off a dangerous chain reaction."
"Nobody's doing anything to put Kuchiki at risk," Enishi said firmly, and Shunsui's gaze flitted to the tall Yamamoto, taking in the uncharacteristically preoccupied expression in his friend's dark eyes. "If Edogawa says we walk it, then we walk it. You can shunpo on ahead if you like, Kyouraku – maybe even prep the gate for opening – but I'm going to follow Edogawa's instructions. She's our healer, and therefore her opinion counts."
"What about the others?" Sora hopped anxiously to Shunsui's other side, chewing on her lip. "We can't go back without warning them, can we?"
"We can't," Juushirou agreed. "The place Ryuu was attacked wasn't far from the divide between their area and ours, so we can't ignore the possibility that Keitarou-san at the very least is still lurking around."
"I can't believe you slashed open his shoulder," Sora cast Shunsui a resigned look. "You've no sense of self-preservation sometimes, you know that? This is Aizen Keitarou, Shunsui! The guy the Council's looking for – and you just go tossing your sword at him like he's some common thief out to steal Juushirou's coins!"
"I'm glad he did," Juushirou said blackly. "Though I agree it was idiotic, it was well timed idiocy, and I'm grateful. I really didn't think Keitarou-san'd come after me again, which shows that I obviously underestimated his interest in me. Perhaps something that happened in the period of time I don't remember made me more significant to him – but since I can't remember, I really don't know."
"You're not going to remember, either," Shunsui sent him a meaningful look. "That would be playing into his hands – and what happened in the snows in District Seven is better off left forgotten."
"You needn't worry," Juushirou shook his head. "I'm not going to be his – or anyone's – puppet again. Sougyo no Kotowari protected me then and I'll work with them to make sure that he can't repeat the experiment. All in all we've learned a lot tonight – providing Ryuu is all right, perhaps the gamble has been worth it."
"I'm not sure," Mitsuki murmured, and Enishi cast her an anxious look.
"Edogawa? Is it Kuchiki? Am I holding him too tight? Too loose? Is the poison spreading?"
"No…no. It's not Ryuu," Mitsuki shook her head, offering him an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry, Houjou-kun. I didn't mean to alarm you. It's nothing to do with that – I was just thinking about the others, and whether one of us ought to go to find them. Whether I…ought to go to find them."
"You? On your own?" Juushirou stared at her, and Mitsuki bristled.
"Are you going to tell me that it's a foolish idea?" she asked archly. "I'm pretty sure you're currently considering going on your own, and aside from the fact you're our group's leader, we already know you're on Aizen Keitarou's want list. How is my wanting to go any more stupid than yours?"
Juushirou reddened, and despite the gravity of the night's events, Shunsui stifled a smile.
"That told you," he observed, amused. "Well? What's up, Mitsuki-chan? Something must be, if you're willing to leave Ryuu's side. Hurry up and spit it out – we're already literally walking around in the dark so you might as well shed some figurative light on the matter."
"I'm not sure how to explain it," Mitsuki looked troubled. "It's just a feeling. That's all. In this world it's not easy to be clear…but…I think I feel it all the same."
"Someone else is hurt?" Sora demanded, and Shunsui's eyes narrowed.
"Someone worse than Ryuu?" he asked softly. "If you're willing to take off and leave us to look after him, that means someone else is hurt and their life is in more danger, doesn't it?"
"Maybe," Mitsuki agreed cautiously, "but like I said, I'm finding it hard to pinpoint exactly what. I certainly felt…something happen. But now I don't really sense anything at all. Just spirits on the wind – and that could be anything."
"Well, we've reached our destination, anyhow," Juushirou paused, running his fingers tentatively through the gap of air between two trees, and nodding his head. "This is the place all right. Even by moonlight, I can tell – we're back at the Senkaimon."
"Ryuu's breathing is also still pretty steady, and his pulse is all right," Mitsuki confirmed, reaching across to brush stray wisps of hair from her cousin's brow. "He's not fine, but I think he's stable. If Retsu-sama sees him, I'm sure he'll be all right."
"Then one of us should go and alert the other group," Shunsui cast a glance at his companions. "I don't mind going, if you like, Juu. I'm quick when it comes to shunpo, and I don't suppose Keitarou'll want to see me again while he's still gushing blood."
"There's no need," Mitsuki murmured, before Juushirou could respond. "Someone's coming – at speed, this way."
"Coming?" Juushirou's fingers brushed over Sougyo no Kotowari's hilt, but before he could do anything else Hirata, followed by Kai materialised on the scene, each one of them breathing hard, as though they had pushed themselves to cover the ground in the shortest possible time.
"Hirata...Shihouin?" Enishi's eyes widened, and Shunsui saw a sudden look of guilt and consternation cross his features. "What are you doing here? Where are Yamamoto and the others?"
"We thought to meet them here, but felt your reiatsu instead," Kai said frankly. "Hirata…knows more than me. He's had orders…we're to stay here and since…you're here too…nobody need go looking…for you."
"Orders?" Sora blinked, and Hirata nodded, pausing for a moment to catch his breath.
"Aizen," He managed at length.
"Aizen?" Juushirou bit his lip. "Keitarou-san crossed paths with you people too?"
"Too?" Kai's eyes darkened and his gaze flitted to Ryuu's still form. "Houjou, about Kuchiki…"
"He's alive, Shihouin-kun," Mitsuki was the one who answered, her voice grave. "Thanks to Houjou-kun, he's all right. He's been knocked out by some drug but nobody managed to finish the job."
"More to the point, what else has happened?" Shunsui's eyes became slits. "You two hared over here like crazy people – what did Aizen do to you to make you run like rabbits to the Senkaimon?"
"He had a run-in with Amai and Shikibu," Kai said briefly, but Shunsui could tell his classmate was unsettled. "I didn't see any of it, so I only know what Hirata told me. But Amai was pretty badly hurt, and Shikibu was in an emotionally delicate state."
"She was crying," Hirata agreed. "I've never seen a girl cry so much as that before, let alone a girl like Shikibu-san. I think Amai-san was very badly hurt – but Yamamoto-kun took charge of her immediately and sent the rest of us to take care of everything else."
"That's what you felt," Sora turned to look at Mitsuki, who nodded.
"It must have been," She agreed uneasily. "I had hoped I'd read it wrong, but if Amai-san is hurt…if that happened, then…"
"Yamamoto-kun instructed us not to open the gate till they arrive. He said that it would be dangerous opening it twice since there are attackers on the loose," Hirata cut across the healer's words, meeting Juushirou's eyes with serious ones of his own. "We know about Onoe-kun…but he wasn't here alone."
"No. He wasn't," Juushirou let out a heavy sigh. "All right. Yamamoto-kun's probably right. If Amai-san is hurt, it's better we don't waste time and energy opening and closing the gate only for them to have to do the procedure again. We might draw Hollows to this place if we release too much reiryoku, and that would make things complicated."
"I don't think that it will make a difference how quickly we open the gate," Mitsuki murmured.
"It doesn't hurt to be ready," Shunsui pulled Seibara's blade from its sheath. "I'll open it, Juu – when we did the safety test, I got the quickest score for releasing the Senkaimon, so if the situation's like that, I'll do it."
"Okay," Juushirou agreed. "In the meantime, the rest of us will watch out for any sign of Yamamoto-kun and the others – and also any sign of danger."
"Shihouin, about Onoe…" Enishi began slowly, and Kai came to stand beside him, glancing at the unconscious form of the young Kuchiki before shaking his head.
"I know," he said frankly. "You needn't mention it again. You did what you had to – probably better than anybody else would have done given the same circumstances."
"Maybe," Enishi shifted Ryuu's weight slightly in his arms. "But…"
"Tomoyuki was dead already," Kai cut across him. "I knew that. We all knew that. The Shihouin family as a whole know it – Oneesama kept him alive as a reminder of what had gone before, not because she really believed he could be saved."
"Now perhaps he really is saved," Mitsuki said sadly. "The one who made the mistake was me in the first instance – if I hadn't tried to hard to hang onto his life force in First year, he wouldn't have been put through all of this."
"But he wasn't the one who killed Ribari-sama," Juushirou said gravely. "Hirata…"
"Mm," Hirata nodded, and Shunsui realised that their young friend already at least partially suspected what was about to be said. "Eiraki did that, didn't she?"
"I'm afraid so," Enishi nodded. "I'm sorry, Hirata. We all are. Something like that…"
"She's made her choice," Hirata said simply. "Mine is to stick with my family, therefore there's nothing more to be done. Thank you, Houjou-kun – but Eiraki's decided to become like Seimaru and Grandfather, and therefore I won't…there isn't a way…to simply forgive her."
"She would have taken Ryuu too," Mitsuki murmured. "If not for us, she would have taken Ryuu too."
"Then I'm glad you were there," Hirata's expression gave nothing away, but Shunsui knew his friend too well not to notice the ripple of pain that flickered just beneath the surface of the younger boy's pale eyes.
"Open the gate."
Before anyone else could speak, Akira's voice cut through the conversation, and at the impatience in the Yamamoto boy's tones, Shunsui turned to make a neat retort. His words died on his lips, however, as he caught sight of his classmate, something red and bloodsoaked clutched in his arms and a grim expression in his dark brown eyes. Instead he nodded, thrusting Seibara's blade through the air and feeling his zanpakutou's spiritual energy reach out and connect with the mechanism of the Senkaimon. Wood slats hazed apart, revealing a dark passageway beyond, and he sheathed his weapon, watching the small, slightly drunken butterfly flutter feebly out into the Real World air.
"Amai-san!" Mitsuki darted forward, but Akira raised an arm to push her aside.
"You're not needed," he said gruffly. "Tend to Shikibu instead. She needs you more."
"Naoko…?" Mitsuki's eyes widened, colour draining from her face as she registered the second, unconscious form clutched tightly in Kanshi's grip. "What…how…"
"She's just fainted. She's still breathing," Kanshi said hurriedly. "Her spirit is fluctuating all over the place, Edogawa, and she's bloody from tending to Suzuno so it's hard to know if she's been hurt. If you can stabilise her, then taking her through the gate will be easier."
"No Kidou inside the passage. It's too dangerous," Akira warned, and Shunsui watched Mitsuki reach out to touch a tentative hand against Naoko's skin.
"She's not badly hurt," She said at length. "Just…just very upset. I think…it will be all right to carry her through without using any kind of Kidou to support her."
"But what about Amai-san?" Sora demanded. "Yamamoto, you can't just stand there dripping blood everywhere and tell Mitsuki not to help her! Surely you don't think you can fix her yourself?"
"Don't be foolish," Akira turned to glare at the unfortunate girl, and Shunsui was struck cold by the expression in the older boy's eyes. "What can be done for Suzuno now I can do, and I will do it myself. Edogawa's talents are useless here. She's better tending to Shikibu – and to Kuchiki, by the looks."
"Wait a minute," Juushirou held up his hands. "Yamamoto-kun, are you saying…"
"We're wasting time," Akira did not pause to listen to the end of the sentence, striding forward into the tunnel, and Kanshi sighed, moving forward to follow his friend inside.
"We should go," he said softly.
"But Amai-san?" Juushirou had not given up, and Shunsui bit his lip, reaching out to grasp his friend's hakamashita by the sleeve.
"Leave it, Juu," he murmured.
"But..!"
"There's nothing to be done for her now," Shunsui shook his head. "That's what Yamamoto's telling us. Suzuno-chan is dead."
Author's Note: Dokusou Houshi
Naoko's zanpakutou, Dokusou Houshi 毒草法師, is somewhat different in some respects from the swords of her peers. Although it has particular characteristics that are not out of place in a healer's sword, her zanpakutou's key driving force is not to heal but to damage the things that its reiatsu surrounds, and therefore she is considered a 'spiritual abberation' by her Clan.
Naoko is very proud and very opinionated and her ability to see things in such caustic clarity is a characteristic her zanpakutou shares.
The name Dokusou Houshi is a slightly odd one, too. Dokusou is a poisonous plant of some kind. 'Houshi' can mean several things depending on the kanji used. In the case of Naoko's sword, it carries a dual meaning - the kanji for the sword name 法師 mean "priest" or "preacher", however 'houshi' can also indicate 'spores' 胞子(as in poisonous/fungal spores).
Dokusou Houshi's forms of attack are threefold. On basic release, Naoko can use the tiny flecks of emitted reiryoku to draw information about her surroundings and her opponent without doing anything in the way of clear attack. However, in shikai form (the only level Naoko has power over) she has three possible commands.
Those commands are "Suimin o", "Doku o" and "Kyuushuu o." In simple English terms - "bring sleep", "give poison" and "absorb." Against Keitarou, Naoko chose to use the final one of these attacks in order to try and weaken Keitarou's spirit power and therefore defeat him.
Naoko's zanpakutou spirit is a poe-faced priest who doesn't smile and scarcely ever shows any kind of warmth or sympathetic emotion. As an anomaly among the Unohana, Naoko's spirit power is quite harsh and judgemental - rather like Naoko herself!