Thank you to anyone who has reviewed, alerted, faved, or even just taken the time to read this. I love you all. (Review replies are at the end.)
Note: Nippon/Nihhon is the actual name for Japan.
Once again: I do not own Bleach, nor do I own the original idea for this story.
.
warmthwarmthwarmth
.
Almost four months later.
.
"Gah! Away from me, you tyrant!"
Uryu watched as Ichigo bolted across the field, Kukaku's ringing laughter following him. Held in her hand, the tip digging into the ground, was a long katana, almost identical to Tensa Zangetsu in shape - only the guard different, a square rather than a swastika. It's coloring, however, was like a regular sword, a steel blade and wooden hilt, wrapped in a dark green grip. After weeks of training, Ichigo had finally managed to change Zangetsu into a less conspicuous form.
The orange-haired boy finally ran out of steam almost twenty yards away from his torturer, flopping down into the long grass. The sky was just as blue as the day they had arrived in the Soul Society, though the leaves of the trees dotting the field were just starting to change color around the edges.
Uryu was sitting high up in one of those trees, watching his new family train. Over in another part of the grass, Ganju and Orihime exchanged kidou spells. At the moment, however they were taking a break to watch the brother and sister's antics, Ganju laughing at the suffering Kukaku was putting his youngest brother through, and even Orihime was giggling.
"Come on, Kei-kun! Don't let her beat you down!" she cheered.
The redhead pushed himself up and saluted her playfully. "Yes, Ikari-sama!" he replied. An instant later, Zangetsu's new pommel slammed into his gut and Kukaku appeared in front of him. He groaned and bent over, but managed somehow to stay on his feet.
"No time for playing, boy! Now let's see what you can do with that thing!" She reached across her chest and drew her own sword. Ishida couldn't see her face, but the look of dread that crossed Ichigo's features was clear even from his spot in the tree.
It was nice, being here. He didn't just mean sitting up in the tree, either, watching Ichigo and Kukaku go at each other and Orihime mastering spell after spell. Living here, with the Shibas, with the only two people he'd ever become close to other than his grandfather. It was even nice to train, regardless of the fact that he was training in shinigami powers.
He was content. It was a new feeling. He didn't feel a drive to work harder, be better than everyone else. His father's shadow wasn't hanging over him, or his sensei's death.
Uryu stepped off of his high branch, landing on the ground a fraction of a second later. He had always been proud of his speed. He flitted around the field - it was really more of a meadow, with patches of colorful flowers randomly appearing in the long, soft grass. He was practicing shun-po, though he still didn't consider it as fast as Hiren-Kyaku.
Common sense told him that he couldn't use his Quincy powers anymore, though he still trained in them, growing in strength. His reiatsu was more like a shinigami's now that he was a resident of the Soul Society - now that he was dead.
For a minute, he paused and stared up at the clear sky. He was dead now. It was strange, thinking that. It was even stranger realizing... he didn't particularly care. Maybe if he hadn't died next to his nakama, he might be a little more upset, but he didn't mind being dead. He'd never particularly liked the world of the living, with its noise and brightness and fast pace and confusion. One of the reasons being a Quincy had been so attractive to him was its simplicity - exterminate hollows. Don't die. Don't get caught.
Often, Uryu had wished he had been born a few centuries earlier. Now he was in a world that could almost be the old Nippon he dreamed about.
A warm breeze caressed his skin, and Uryu felt his expression soften. The Rukongai was beautiful, whatever the nobles in the Seireitei thought. Perhaps it was far worse out in the higher districts, but at the moment, there was no place he'd rather be.
That was strange too; being content as he was, not wanting anything to be different.
Wind carried more sounds of laughter his way, and he turned to see what was going on. It seemed that Orihime had decided to try out her kidou on poor Ichigo while his took a break from abusing him. A pale yellow kidou rope originating from Orihime's palm chased him around as she and the two Shibas laughed.
"Tired, Kei-chan?" Kukaku bellowed.
"Not - on - your - life!" The redhead barely managed to get the words out through his panting. He put on an extra burst of speed, dashing back towards his 'family'.
When he stopped in front of them, his hands on his knees to keep him up and his head hanging while he hyperventilated, his bright-haired pursuer finally let the kidou disappear. She was trying to hold back her giggles, but Uryu could tell she was fighting a losing battle.
Over the past few months, and after much 'encouragement' from Kukaku (often in the form of shouting and minor violence), Orihime had become more confident and bold. She could tease the rest of them now, though her sweet disposition still won out the majority of the time. She wasn't as afraid to speak up and say what she wanted to now, though Kukaku, of course, still thought there was progress to be made. It was nice, watching a modest and timid girl become a confident and unashamed woman.
Ichigo was changing, too. Watching him pull himself together and put Orihime into a headlock and give her a gentle noogie, Uryu saw it. He was more comfortable now, in his own skin and with the people he cared about - with people in general, even, to some degree. He wasn't constantly worrying, and he wasn't constantly ready to explode.
Living in the Rukongai, with people who treated them like family, with no concerns about how they would react to anything, and with no wars or reminders of their sadness, was good for them.
Even Uryu himself was changing. He was letting himself become closer to his two nakama, to the people who cared about him. Even now, watching instead of being there, he didn't feel as isolated as he had always been.
It was a good feeling.
They had also changed physically, of course. Ichigo's bright orange hair was a bit longer than it had been right after he'd fought Aizen - after those three months spent in his inner world. It looked good, actually, and it would make him less recognizable when it grew even longer. Orihime wore her lengthening hair in a braid, her flower pins tucked through the tie at the end. Uryu's hair was longer too, one side of his bangs pushed back and the other almost covering his right eye. He didn't need his glasses anymore, either. For some reason, death had cured the near-blindness he'd formerly been subjected too. At the moment, he was probably the least recognizable of the three of them.
Finally finished with Orihime's punishment, Ichigo let her go. The girl rubbed her head, scolding him. Her face brightened quickly, though. Excitedly, she said something to Ichigo, gesturing wildly with her arms. He nodded and said something back while his newest siblings looked on. Orihime turned to the open meadow and held her hand out vertically. Her mouth moved, and a whirlwind exploded from her palm. Uryu recognized it from Kukaku's demonstration - Hadou 58, Tenran (1). She had been working on it for a week, unable to get the hang of it, so she was probably very proud of this one - hence her demonstration.
The redhead who she was so eager to show slung an arm around her shoulders, smiling. He said something to her, likely a glowing praise, because she turned and gave him one of her brightest smiles.
A rush of something like warmth filled Uryu's chest. He had always assumed that even though a heart was the center of a person's emotions, you couldn't actually feel those emotions in your physical heart, but this seemed to prove him wrong. There was a tightness in his chest, but it wasn't bad, like the time he'd asked his father why he hated Quincies and heard his answer. It felt nice.
Instinctively, he flitted into the branches of the nearest tree, not even realizing that he had used Hiren Kyaku instead of shun-po, where no one could see him. He watched from between the leaves as Orihime performed her newly mastered kidou again, and Ichigo clapped for her. That warmth strengthened as he watched them.
He leaned back into the tree trunk, tilting his head back to rest it on the back, and out of nowhere he had an epiphany. His whole view of himself suddenly changed. Oh, he thought. This is what you meant when you talked about the thing I want to protect, oji-san.
Uryu leaned forward again, watching his two nakama talk with smiles on their faces.
I want to protect that - the happiness of the two people in the world I care about.
.
Ichigo went to bed early that night - not surprising to anyone in the Shiba residence. What did surprise Uryu, however, was Kukaku beckoning for him and Orihime to follow her. She led them into the library, where all of the books on kidou and the history of the Soul Society and records of the Shiba House's secrets were kept. The weapons that were not zanpaku-tou were stored there as well, and Kukaku went over to these.
A moment later, she came back to them with two plain, sheathed katana. They were called asauchi, Uryu remembered, nameless zanpaku-tou. Unless a shinigami combined it with a part of their soul, it was next to powerless against anything but the weaker hollows. Most named zanpaku-tou started out like this - Zangetsu being one of the exceptions.
"You have a choice now," Kukaku told them. "Kei is getting stronger, and you won't be able to keep up with him just with kidou - and you won't be able to fight alongside him with your human powers once he decides that he wants to become a shinigami - which he will, eventually. He'll enter the Shinigami Academy, and join a company, and get himself into danger. So if you want to stay with him, you'll have to learn to use these." She held up the asauchi in her hand.
She was uncharacteristically solemn. Uryu understood what she was saying, and from the look on her face, so did Orihime.
"I understand why you might not want to follow him, and if that's what you decide, then I won't turn you away when he leaves. I know you, Orihime, hate fighting and violence. And Uryu, you hate shinigami. So it's up to you." Their host of the past four months watched them with perceptive eyes. Her use of their former names showed them how sincere she was.
Orihime was the first to reach out and take one of the swords. She barely even thought about it. "I'll go wherever Ichigo does - wherever Kei does. And I'm Atsumi now - I can't be hesitant any longer when it comes time to fight. Using this -" she lifted the sheathed blade "- is just part of my life now."
It wasn't very hard for Uryu, either. His ingrained hatred for all things shinigami gave him pause, but it had already been cracked - he had been training in kidou and shun-po for the past few months, and one of the people whose happiness he realized he wanted to protect was himself a shinigami. It didn't take much consideration for him to reach out as well, though his hand was less confident. "Like Atsumi-chan said - I'm Akito now. I'll follow Kei, too. Someone has to make sure he doesn't slip up and give himself away the moment he arrives in Seireitei."
He slid the katana partway out of its sheath, watching the light be reflected off of the curving steel. This would be different - but he was learning that different didn't always mean bad.
Kukaku nodded, satisfied with their decisions. "I'll start training you with those tomorrow. Sleep with them tonight - you should start communicating with your soul as soon as you can. Now, go get some rest." She walked past them, out of the room, leaving them to contemplate what their future would be like.
"Ishida-kun?"
Orihime's voice was small, timid - Orihime's voice, not Atsumi's, as much as Atsumi was really a part of her now. She hugged her new asauchi to her chest, looking at the floor.
"What is it, Inoue-chan?" he replied, following her lead and using their former names.
"We... have to protect Kurosaki-kun, don't we." It wasn't phrased as a question, but Uryu could tell that she wanted an answer anyway. "We have to... keep his frown away." Her gaze wandered the room, going over the shelves of books and scrolls without really seeing any of them.
Uryu sighed. "That's right, Inoue-chan. And we'll do it, so don't worry too much, ne?"
She nodded firmly. "Right. Because... we love him." Uryu blinked in shock and opened his mouth, presumably to protest, even though at the moment he couldn't speak. As if reading his mind, Orihime, spun around and fixed him with an intense stare. "Don't try to deny it, Ishida-kun. You love him just as much as I do, although maybe not in the same way - or maybe you do." Her look softened. "I'm glad you do."
She looked away again, hugging her katana even closer. "I'm... happy you do. Because you'll want to make sure he's happy just as much as I do. He'll have two people watching over him." She looked... not quite sad or lonely, but not happy, either.
Uryu smiled softly at her, even though she couldn't see him. "Right. Inoue-chan."
She smiled at him once more with somewhat watery eyes. "Arigatou, Ishida-kun."
She started for the door after a moment of understanding passed between them. "Good night, Akito-kun," she offered over her shoulder, returning to the person she was, now. He watched her go, letting random thoughts flash through his mind.
"Love... huh?" he mumbled absently after his long-gone nakama. Once more, he glanced down at the katana, before he shook his head and headed off to his own comfortable futon.
.
When he opened his eyes, he thought he was back in his father's training room under the Karakura General Hospital. After a moment, thought, he realized that this room, though made up of the same block shapes as his father's, was much bigger - big enough that he couldn't see the walls. The ceiling was higher, painted a dark gray, and the lowest sections of the room were a deep blue, while the color lightened as it got higher until it was almost white.
This was the inside of his soul.
He leapt down to a lower surface, and a flash of light caught his eye. The side of one of the larger blocks was made of reika glass. When he looked around, he could just see a hint of another. Most likely, they were scattered all throughout this place.
Uryu went over to the glass and looked through. He saw a meadow - the same meadow they trained in, dotted with trees and patches of brightly colored flowers in long green grass, all under a blue sky with only a few, wispy clouds passing overhead. The plants were moving - blowing in the wind - and he could see one of the small streams on the edge of the area where they practiced flowing quickly.
Entranced, he put his hand up to the glass. Unexpectedly, his fingers slipped through.
At first, the surprise made him yank them back, but when he let them slip through a second time, he kept going, until his arm was in just past his elbow. He could feel the warm air, roused momentarily by a soft breeze and then still again. It made him want to sink into that place.
He stepped forward, letting his arm go in all the way up to his shoulder. His foot entered too, that soft grass meeting his feet. One more step forward, and he would be engulfed in that perfect meadow.
It seemed like he was in some kind of trance. He was moving to take that final step without even pausing to consider the possible consequences. But it was so inviting in there, so warm...
A soft hand landed on his shoulder. He snapped his head around to see who was keeping him away from that wonderful meadow.
His eyes landed on a girl his height, and about his age. She obviously wasn't Japanese - her features were those of a westerner. Her hair was blond, so pale it was almost white, and her skin was very fair. She wore a ragged white robe, with a hood over her head that contained the waves of her hair.
"Sie mussen aufhoren," she told him. He recognized the guttural German, spoken to him by his grandfather. You must stop, she had said.
"Varum?" Why? He wanted to go in, to just rest in that serene place.
"You will not be able to return," she said. She was speaking in Japanese now, though she still had an accent. She pulled him back, drawing him out of the glass.
As he lost that warm sunlight, she knocked her away. Cautioned by her words, however, he didn't immediately return to the panorama.
"Why?" he asked again.
Her eyes stayed locked on his. "That is a world created by your desires. If you enter, you will close your way back, and you will voluntarily trap yourself in that place. Your body will go into a coma and waste away while you wander in there, not caring about anything outside of it." She said all of this bluntly, unashamed of his weakness.
He stared at her. "You have strong desires," she added. "It stands to reason you would have to fight against being consumed by them."
Uryu looked away. He still remembered his first meeting with Ichigo as a Quincy and a shinigami with shame. He so wanted to prove to someone that he was strong, and needed, that he hadn't cared about the consequences of his actions or the situations of his perceived enemies.
The girl, whoever she was (though Uryu had an idea), noticed his expression. "Do not look like that. Yes, you made a mistake, but it is in die Vergangenheit, the past. What has been done cannot be undone. You must learn from it, but move on."
She was stern and unsympathetic, and Uryu found that he enjoyed that quality. Straight, honest truth was too often difficult to come by.
He hesitated. "Fine, then." Pushing away unnecessary thoughts of his past, he turned to the question that had been circling in the back of his mind. "Who are you?" he asked.
A corner of her mouth quirked upward. "I think you have already guessed that - though I do compliment you for not assuming." She crossed her arms comfortably.
"You are not yet able to hear my Name. I know that it will not be too long of a wait, however."
Uryu nodded slowly, observing her. Blue eyes looked past him, into the dimension beyond the glass. "Take another look," she ordered.
Uryu's eyes widened, then narrowed anxiously. "I might get taken in by it again," he stated softly.
Those crisp blue eyes locked onto his. "Do not be afraid." He lowered his gaze, turning his head away to look across the strange room. "Höre mir zu." Listen to me. A warm hand took hold of his chin and turned his head back so they were face-to-face. "Furcht, fear, is good. It has allowed humans to survive. But it must be controlled. Your Furcht, fear, your Vut, anger, your Leidenschaft, passion, all must become your Zielstrebigkeit, your complete determination. The will to succeed will bring you farther than any raw emotion."
Uryu listened quietly to her lecture, taking in every word. "I will try," he said when she looked to him for a response.
"Nein." Her soft hand released him. "Do not try." She jabbed her finger into his chest, emphasizing as she finished, "Nur tust." Just do.
.
He woke that morning before any of the others, just as the sun was showing over the horizon. It was a strange experience for him, who typically had to be coaxed out of bed by Orihime (or kicked out of bed by one of the Shiba siblings). Rather than fixing breakfast for himself and waiting for the rest of the household to rise, he decided that today, he would listen to that latest news of the Rukongai.
For the past two months, every week or so, Hatojiki Akito visited the first district of West Rukongai. He talked with the citizens, in particular the merchants, who were always the first to hear about any new happenings. Gradually, he was compiling an encyclopedia of information about Soul Society and Rukongai.. There was no real purpose to it at the moment, but he had a feeling that someday, it would come in handy.
He hesitated just as he was finished dressing in his yukata. The asauchi lay next to his made futon. A faint trace of reiatsu - his own reiatsu - could be felt from it. Already, it was merging with his soul, becoming his zanpaku-tou.
Uryu sighed and slipped it through his obi (2). The German girl in his soul had instructed him to carry her around with him, wherever he went. In order to have that sword truly become her, it had to be close to him, she said. So far, it had been best to listen to her.
As he shun-po'ed through the cool, still morning air towards the large village that was the first district, he thought about his conversation with her last night. Looking into the scene beyond the glass was hard, and combating the compulsion to enter it and be at rest with determination was hard as well. "It will get easier," she had said. "You must learn true control - understanding the desires of your heart and being able to go after them only when it is fit to do so, without being controlled by them yourself."
She had told him to look at the scene, and find what was wrong with it. Hesitantly, he had guessed that it existed - she had refuted this - or that it was too perfect - also wrong. He had searched through the panorama for ages, looking for anything, and he was wrong on every guess.
"If you do not know, it is no use to guess. When you arrive at the answer, you will know it." Instants later, he had woken up.
Uryu grimaced. What was it? What was missing in his heart's paradise? What should be there that wasn't? The girl would never tell him, he was sure of it, and he guessed that until he knew, he would not be able to hear her name. She hadn't even attempted to tell it to him, though she did say that even just a day before, he would not even have been able to hear her voice.
So what was it?
The merchants were just setting up their stall in the market square when he arrived. A few waved to him, and he made his way over to them, catching his breath as he walked normally. He rested a hand on the candy-seller's table. "Ohaiyo (3), Hatojiki-san!" she said cheerfully.
"Ohaiyo, Mizu-san," he replied good-naturedly, still somewhat breathless.
"Are those Shiba's tiring you out? You know you could come lived with me anytime - I'm sure I'm at least a bit more civilized then they are." She smiled. Even though it sounded like teasing, Uryu knew that she was perfectly serious. Being around her made him a bit uncomfortable at times, but she always had the most news. People liked to hang around her stall, eating little bit of candy of just enjoying the smell, and her friendly disposition meant that people were happy to talk to her.
"I'm sorry to say that I'll be staying with them for quite some time, Mizu-san. Someone has to keep them from destroying the Rukongai." He smiled - even if he did occasionally feel awkward around her, she had a similar effect on people to Orihime. Everyone smiled around her.
"Do you have anything for me today?" he asked, moving to business while looking over the fresh candies. Orihime loved the sugary rock candies, and Ichigo was always willing to have chocolate (though Uryu often wondered how the Soul Society, set in something like ancient Japan, could have chocolate.)
"Ah, yes, you'll never believe what happened yesterday! It caused a huge commotion. Shinigami visited us!" Her warm brown eyes were wide with excitement and awe.
Uryu's head snapped up. "Shinigami?" he asked, alarmed.
Mizu nodded eagerly. "Yes, a bunch of them. A big, tall one - a fukutaichou (4)! And he had long red hair, too!" She moved her hands eagerly as she described him, again in a similar way as Orihime. Uryu wasn't paying attention to that, however.
"Abarai Renji-fukutaichou? Of Sixth Company?" Uryu's sense of alarm heightened. His eyes narrowed. "Who else was here?" he demanded.
"Ah - you're really getting worked up about this," Mizu-san said, blinking.
"Just... tell me," the Quincy said. He managed to calm himself down enough to appear normal - nothing would be gained by panicking.
"Ano... (5) the newest fukutaichou, that Kuchiki lady, she was there. She kept Abarai-fukutaichou-sama from shouting too much. And this little black-haired girl was there. Kuchiki-fukutaichou-dono called her Karin-chan?" She looked up as she spoke, remembering. "Ku... something Karin... I think I've heard that name before..."
"Do you know why they were here?" Uryu interrupted her thoughts, anxious for more answers.
"Ah, yes! It was so strange - they were looking for the war hero! They wanted to know if Kurosaki Ichigo-sama had been here! Imagine, the man who saved Soul Society - here!" She very nearly squealed with excitement.
Inoue-chan would never do that, no matter how worked-up she was, Uryu thought with a hint of disdain. He shook his head, removing the superfluous thought. "Arigatou, Mizu-san," he said quickly. He turned away, ready to shun-po back to Kukaku's house.
"Oh? You aren't staying any longer?" Mizu asked. A hint of a pout laced her voice. "Maybe the shinigami will come back this afternoon!"
"Gomen (6), Mizu-san," the raven-haired boy tossed over his shoulder in parting.
He sped towards home quickly, calming his nerves on the way. Obviously, there wasn't anything to worry about just yet - the house was far enough away that their reiatsu couldn't be felt all the way from the first district. Still, he needed to tell Kukaku as soon as he could.
His new zanpaku-tou hummed comfortingly at his side, reminding him to stay determined. He would have to wait to confront the mysteries of his soul until after this problem was taken care of.
.
warmthwarmthwarmth
.
1. tenran - tornado
2. obi - a belt or sash that hold the kimono closed, usually wider for women
3. ohaiyo - good morning
4. fukutaichou - lieutenant
5. ano - basically it means 'um'
6. gomen - sorry
.
Something I want to make clear now: Even when I put a little more romance in this, it will not be a love triangle. I loathe love triangles. So, Ishida and Orihime will not be rivals for Ichigo's love. I think they see each other more as parteners then anything; they're both devoted to him, or Ishida will be, anyway. (Also, Ichigo is completely effing oblivious to their feelings, so it's not like there's anything to have a rivalry over just yet.)
Also something else to remember: devotion is not the same as love, though it may appear the same. Ishida doesn't love Ichigo, at least not yet. He just wants to make sure that Ichigo - and Orihime, don't forget - is happy.
For anyone wondering about why Uryu's zanpaku-tou speaks German, remember that he is a Quincy. From the names of Quincy techniques, some of which are in Japanese and some of which are in German, I assume that the Quincies originated in Germany, and so at least one of Uryu's ancestors must have been German.
.
Gemini24: I'm not really putting any romance into the story just yet, but there are more hints in this chapter. I'll probably add more later on, from both characters. Thank you for your review! You're my first one XD!
La terrible La: (first of all, love your username ^-^) Thank you so much. I love, love, love detailed reviews. I love the way those three interact, too - remember Ichigo's fight with Ulquiorra? And I will be bringing the others back somewhat; I'm slowly working toward a big climax ;), so everyone'll play a part somewhere along the line ^.^.
.
Please R&R!