"Ahh Emiya, just place them down there on the left will be fine, you've been helping me shift my stock for a while so have some tea and snacks and take a break."
"This much is fine Sato-sama, what kind of shinigami would I be if I can't even endure this amount of physical activity"
"Well you should take a break whilst I make a checklist of the stock anyway, I would feel as if I'm taking advantage of you if you don't"
And like that she enters the store to make sure everythings in order, leaving him alone with tea in his hands to reminisce about how the academy has been so far.
One thing Shirou has quickly learnt is that, with how ageing works in the Soul Society, the perceivement of time and how it passes is unreliable. It had been two years since they first joined the Shinigami Academy and only a year since Gin graduated to start officially working for the Gotei 13 and yet the time spent felt like nothing and that despite the two years, he has remained fundamentally the same. From what he has heard from ongoing rumours it would seem his sly friend has not only managed to graduate in only a year, an achievement very few could boast, but even managed to gain a seated position in the fifth division early on.
Furthermore, even Rangiku, spurred on by the sudden success of her close friend, has started to train and study to an extent he didn't even think she could manage. She has begun to regularly drill through her training every day in order to master each of the four forms and is consistently placing in the upper echelons in tests and spars, not to mention her skillful control over her huge levels of reiatsu. At the rate she's going she would easily graduate at the end of the year and would more than likely begin work for one of the divisions as a seated position like Gin.
For Shirou Emiya, it feels as if his only friends are starting to leave him behind.
That's not to say that he's performing poorly, far from it even. Whilst his Kido is only around the average mark he easily excels in the remaining three forms; his Hoho can be considered near the level of speed Shunpo experts exhibit, for Hakuda he can hold his own and stall for time even against his instructors due to a mixture of his, seemingly innate, ability to read people and his impressive physical prowess, and finally his Zanjutsu is one of, if not, the best, in the class. It always did surprise both him and his peers how someone so mild mannered could be such a natural when wielding a blade. He would use his zanpakuto skillfully and efficientiently and had even managed to beat some of his instructors during spars, leading Gin to create a theory that in the living world Shirou was either a practitioner of kendo or, more worryingly, someone who was used to fighting.
Yet despite all this skill he felt listless in his duties. Unlike his two friends he doesn't have a specific road to take in order to achieve his goal since whilst he does want to find out who the purple haired girl is, he can't physically retrieve his memories. All the books he read on the subject matter simply stated that very few rarely regained them with the deciding factor on who does seemingly being just luck. With all those reasons he found it hard to follow a particular goal and instead chose to spend most of his time outside in Rukongai helping the people who needed it when he wasn't training.
This has, however, led to him discovering the general populace's attitude towards the shinigami corps. Whilst the duty of the Shinigami were to protect the spirits from bandits and hollows; and to help enforce law and justice, there was an increasing number of them that took advantage of their position of power to harass the general populace. This would range from things such as a self-imposed 'protection fee' to the more dangerous such as beatings at the smallest perceived slights, to even the occasional murder. All this combined with the fact that the majority of it is ignored and swept under the rug has resulted in the majority, if not all, of Rukongai to view them in a disfavorable light. When he first walked outside the walls of the Seireitei with his uniform, whilst he was treated normally by most, some did view him with weariness in order to not anger someone who would be a future shinigami.
And with what he has seen and experienced in some of the districts in Rukongai, he couldn't blame them. A majority of the populace lived in poverty due to the sheer size of Rukongai in comparison to Seireitei and due to them being just spirits, the economy was not only limited in what they could offer each other, but also stunted in growth since the needs were so different for them. To also have to face the corruption some of the Shinigami showed and pay their unreasonable tax has resulted in them being less than friendly with the majority of the Shinigami and, from what he's learnt, has even incited revolutions before, leading to thousands upon thousands of lives to be lost.
A bag was thrown into his lap breaking him out of his line of thought, "Everything seems to be in order, so take this as payment." Looking inside revealed that it was filled to the brim with dried food and various snacks for him. "Sato-sama there's no need. Really."
"I won't hear otherwise Shirou, last time you helped you refused money saying that you would feel bad forcing me to pay when I didn't request your help, well this time you can view your hard-work as payment for the food and if you argue with me on this then so help me god I will give you two more bags of food and will continue to do so until I bankrupt myself."
"Alright, alright, fine. Thank you for the food Sato-sama, I'll see you next week" and begins his walk back to the Academy. But not before he hears "And I keep telling you to drop the -sama, I'm only 87".
On his way back he decides that eating an entire bag of snacks by himself probably isn't the most healthy decision in the world and decides to look for a strawberry blonde girl to share it with. Knowing at this time she's probably training her Zanjutsu in the outside area he heads there after retrieving a tea set from his room and gently strolls to his destination. Finally arriving, he watches her finish her set first before announcing his arrival. To him, Rangiku Matsumoto will always be an important person. Compared to other girls in their year and class she already stood out with her blonde hair and (though he would never admit it himself) developed body. She was outgoing and friendly which attracted admirers from all of the boys and even some of the girls and whilst at times she could come off as self-centred, she is one of the most caring people he knew. Not only was she the first friend he made since arriving in the soul society, she was one of the few that kept him from making decisions that may be, what he called less than optimal, but, what she calls dumb. As she finishes, she looks over at him and takes a seat beside him.
"What's the special occasion, you never bring me snacks. Say they're unhealthy."
"A friend gave them to me as a gift after I helped them and I thought it would be a nice break to share them with some tea"
"Well I'll never say no to snacks." And after a sip she asks "So, what have you been up to lately? I've asked around and apart from training and lessons you're rarely seen at all" she asks whilst helping herself to the treats.
"Just the usual, going out into Rukongai to help those in need"
"So the usual wannabe hero antics then, you know someone is going to take advantage of you someday if you're not careful"
"I'm training to be a Shinigami, I'll be fine. Is it wrong to want to save everyone?"
"It is when you don't include yourself in everyone" she replies.
Turning to look at her only to receive a sombre look in return. She continues.
"Shirou, I have only known you for three years at most and yet I can already see something is wrong with you"
At this he can only return a look of confusion.
" You honestly don't understand do you? You go along with everyone else, if someone asks you for help you don't consider how it would affect you, and even if it's for the most minor trouble you will go to the most major lengths to solve them for everyone but yourself. And for most of the time you don't have a reason for it!"
"I just want to he-"
"Why? You don't help people because you WANT to help them, it's more like you help people because you HAVE to. You treat helping people as if it's necessary for survival and would easily make the decision to use your life to save theirs. Hell, the only moment I think you're truly happy is when someone else is."
At her words visions of a man with dead eyes yet a voice filled with iron will suddenly start to make themselves known in his mind. He has no recollection of who he is or his name, only that he causes him to both like and hate him.
"You feel supreme bliss in others' happiness"
No… Is she right?
"We both believed ourselves to be sinners. And we both lived in a certain way to free ourselves of those chains"
Is it wrong to live solely for the sake of everyone else?
"We both knew we could never be freed, but believed it was the right atonement, and sought salvation that could never be given to us."
But I don't how to live any other way.
Taking his continued silence for displeasure she finally shatters his line of thoughts. "I'm sorry, I know you just wanted to relax and hang out and I ruined that, just ignore what I said"
"No. You're right. I just don't know what else to do. There's a limit on what I can accomplish in regaining my memories and when I had spare time I just felt like I had to help people, even to the extent of hurting myself and those that care about me."
Sighing in response to his acknowledgement of his own damaging tendencies she takes a few seconds to think of a suitable reply.
"...I can't say I know how to help you but just know that I don't want to see you hurt yourself just because you value your own life less. Hell, even that idiot Gin would feel sad if you died."
"Thanks. And if I ever reach that point again just give me a good hit to remind me of it."
"In a heartbeat. Now, I need to get out these clothes and take a shower." And with that she leaves the training yard, but not before finally saying, with a smirk on her face,
"Wanna join me~" and to his shame he couldn't help it when his face reached the same shade as his hair, which he assumed caused her much enjoyment as she laughed her way to the women's showers.
Deciding to take advantage of the weather, and the convenience of already being at the training grounds, he decides to train with his Zanpakuto more. Sitting under the shade of a tree, he crosses his knees and places his Zanpakuto over his lap and closes his eyes in order to start meditating. As he enters deeper into his trance the world around him transforms. The courtyard turns into hills of naked ground with bare patches of verdant fighting through, staked with different swords, the moon appears above him sailing in the clouds above spinning gears yet its rays seem to focus on something a distant away that he cannot reach no matter how hard he tries. As the world shifts' a strangely maternal voice calls out to him.
"So you're finally back" she starts.
Turning around he is met by a woman with winter hair and crimson eyes. She wears a white dress laced with red, inscribed with gold and a crown made of similar material on her head. As soon as he turns to face her she leaps towards him and hugs him tightly.
"Shirou~ you should visit more often, at this rate you will one day forget me and become an unfamilial child."
"Irisvie-"
"Ah, ah, ah. Remember what I told you to call me"
"I-Iri-san, please I-"
"Oh of course! You must be here for Nise-chan right, well I won't get in the way of young love then, just remember protection is just a myth~ and there's no problem with having a couple hundred grand children!" And with that outrageous line she disappears to god knows where.
Already shaken, Shirou decides to continue to where he knows his other Zanpakuto spirit is. On his way, his mind drifts back to when he first made contact with his Zanpakuto's spirit. He had heard whisperings from the blade before but one night he had managed to hear its name and, instead of sleeping, decided to meditate to try to reply. Imagine his surprise when instead of finally conversing with it, he instead received a disproportionate scolding for the crime of 'staying up too late'.
Only to then find out she wasn't even his only Zanpakuto spirit!
"You're late"
"You know, you should move closer to the centre of the inner world, then I wouldn't have spend so long just walking to you and, therefore, being late"
"I can't stand the woman"
He sighs and scratches his head as he focuses on the other woman in front of him. She was a woman who was taller than him and had a metallic sheen to her skin. Her hair
was white as snow and had eyes of molten copper.
"She's really not that bad" he tries to reason only for her to respond with,
"She won't keep telling me about my 'child-bearing hips'!"
"Can't you two try to get along? I mean if you both are gonna be here all the time it's the better for you two to try at least"
"Can't you just get rid of her? I mean she doesn't even help you."
"You know I can't just get rid of her, she's apart of you"
"No she isn't, she calls herself a Zanpakuto spirit but I know she isn't."
"Then at the very least she is someone important to me. Plus she likes you."
"Well I don't like her so that's that. Now do you want to train or just keep talking?"
And just like that, the two start to spar.
Shirou Emiya never was the smartest person in regards to the more technical aspects of the job, especially when it came to the spiritual part of it. And yet even he knew something was weird about having two separate and different Zanpakuto spirits, especially when only one other person had a dual Zanpakuto spirit and he was the captain of the eighth division. When he asked them about it Nise answered with the fact that she doesn't know whilst Irisviel does know but doesn't think it's the right time to tell him. The only thing she told him was that she herself can be considered a Zanpakuto spirit, just not his, and that Nise Hagane was his true Zanpakuto spirit. Because of his unique situation they both suggested to him to keep Irisviel a secret and only mention Nisehagane when asked about his Zanpakuto spirit. Until Iri tells him about his true nature he doesn't want to risk losing the only lead to his previous life so he accepts.
As they spar Nise begins to invoke herself leading to Shirou to hear screeching metal as he fails to hear her Kaigo and, only seconds later, is forced to start evading the sudden variety of other Zanpakuto that he recognises being launched at him. Realising that generating any more distance would be a death sentence, he instead charges towards her in order to get rid of her range advantage. As he gets closer and closer, blocking any projectile swords and dodging the ones he can't, she begins to fire them with increasing speed whilst preparing herself for close combat and preparing a thousand strategies in her mind. Suddenly, he throws his sword at her covering her vision and Shunpo's behind her whilst covering his hand in Reiatsu in order to pierce her, only to finally notice the dust of a certain friend of his being spread among the floor. Before he can plunge the hand through her chest Haineko activates resulting in multiple swords of dust being pointed at him. Knowing it's over, she turns around and states
"Surrender or die"
Obviously he yields.
"You got me"
"You are getting better, but you still fail to come up with counters for a versatile enemy. Remember, if you cannot beat me I will not tell you how to achieve my Shikai"
"I know, I know. You say this as if you're supposed to be easy to beat. Anyway, I'm going to leave and get ready for dinner."
And with those words a white missile slams into his ribs as she says
"You can't leave without saying goodbye to me~"
Disregarding where she came from he instead takes a moment and manages to rasp out, "G-good b-bye Iri-san-", and like that, begins to return to the outer world.
After he's gone she looks towards a hill filled with swords and asks to a certain someone,
"Still too shy to say hello?"
On that lonely hill sits a man with short white hair and steel grey eyes. His body is forged to bronze and is clad in black armour with a vermilion coat over it all.
In response to the question he looks over, snorts, and looks away.