Hello everyone, here's your precious Dakan69.
This time there's a double release. Which means there will be a second chapter being released immediately. As soon as I started writing this chapter, it became too long for only one, which is the reason I'm sperating it. Hope you enjoy it nevertheless. Also please leave a critical comment of how you all view my story so far, since I wouldn't mind hearing other's opinions.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even the soundtracks. Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo while the soundtracks and anything else copyrighted belongs each to their originator.
Vaizado no Ashido
Chapter 18: the sister's enlightment part 1
(OPENING: Aimer – US feat. TK from Ling Tosite Sigure)
KARAKURA COMMUNITY PARK - KARAKURA TOWN - MORTAL WORLD - MIDDAY
(soundtrack: Death Stranding OST -Bridges)
Naibu and Fujimaru were sitting patiently on one of the Park's benches for Yuzu's arrival. What's more, Fujimaru was also wearing a pretty large backpack on his back.
"Didn't they say they'll be present as well, Shizuka-sensei ?" Namikaze asked while looking around where they might've been.
"they only stated that they'll be nearby so that we won't be interrupted calmly," Naibu stated calmly while remembering Yesterday.
FLASHBACK - OUTSIDE OF THE URAHARA SHOP - KARAKURA TOWN - YESTERDAY
Yesterday, when they've finished their meeting with the Stealth Force Shinigami named Eikichiro Saido, who'll bring Fujimaru, Matsuri, and Shiyo back to the soul society, Naibu surprisingly got a call from Yuzu, who asked if they could meet so that she could ask him more questions about her brother and the hollows.
While talking to her, Naibu saw how Kenji, Kusaka, Saori, and Fujimaru appeared, all of them rather curiously who would call Naibu at this time,
making Naibu say to Yuzu on the phone that he must see if 'he has time' and that he would call her back in 10 Minutes at the latest.
"Who was that? " Kenji demanded curiously, only for Naibu to answer, "Yuzu Kurosaki" Naibu calmly answered, "she wishes for answers about her brother," Naibu added, making everyone in front of Naibu look towards each other, what's more Saori's eyes went wide slightly after hearing that name.
"Should I call her back? " Naibu asked towards Kenji, who somehow couldn't decide, remembering their meeting with Ryuken and what he has told them about the Kurosaki's.
"yes, call her back," Saori suddenly stated, much to Naibu's, Kenji's, Kusaka's, and Fujimaru's surprise.
"b-but I doubt that's a good idea. I mean, what if ... " Kusaka wanted to remember that a 'particular person' familiar to Ryuken might be against that meeting.
"if 'he' has a problem with that, I'll come to him in person. " Saori stated, this time much more serious, seen by her expression and her voice. She then looked towards Naibu,
"Ask her if she has time on midday tomorrow," Saori demanded to Naibu, who then looked towards Kenji, who in turn nodded, agreeing to what Saori ordered.
KARAKURA COMMUNITY PARK - KARAKURA TOWN - MORTAL WORLD - MIDDAY
And Yuzu agreed, much to Naibu's surprise.
(soundtrack at 3:07)
Naibu and Fujimaru immediately turned around when they heard her footsteps. Both noticed that Yuzu had slightly different clothes than Yesterday. At this thought, Fujimaru wondered if he could maybe change his clothes for the next time. What's more, she's carrying a small backpack as well, like Fujimaru himself.
"you're punctual," Naibu said, "that's good. Now, as I said on the phone, you'll ask me any questions, and we'll try to answer it as clearly as possible." Naibu stated calmly while looking towards Yuzu's eyes.
"and please understand that we're still investigating about your brother, which means that we don't know everything concerning him," Fujimaru stated, to which Yuzu nodded, agreeing to both things.
(end of the soundtrack)
While Fujimaru prepared the picnic blanket, Naibu prepared the cup of tea with the other contents from the backpack. On the other hand, Yuzu also took out something from her backpack, which turned out to be the yellow lion-plushie Fujimaru had already seen the last time, only this time it had something like a 'princess style'-dress put on it, which made Fujimaru chuckle a bit,
"didn't except for you to take along your plushie, let alone to be dressed properly," Fujimaru stated while still chuckling,
"well, of course, after all, for an important meeting like today, I decided that 'Bostov' shall look elegant as well." Yuzu explained, revealing that she calls her lion-plushie by the name 'Bostov.'
"Alright," Yuzu stated rather excitingly about her first Question,
"My first Question: what exactly are those beings you called 'hollows'? " Yuzu asked towards Naibu,
"Hollows are evil spirits who try to devour other ghosts or, in some cases, even living people. They are born, or more like created, when ordinary ghosts of deceased people remain too long in the mortal world instead of going into the soul society," Naibu answered clearly,
The last word, however, made Yuzu even more curious,
"Then, please tell me what you mean by 'soul society'? " Yuzu asked further,
"the afterlife," Naibu answered, "or more like 'one' afterlife."
"There are a few more 'afterlives' beside the 'soul society' . The latter is the largest one where most souls went through. " Fujimaru added with a warm smile on his face, making Yuzu slightly blush by his expressions.
At first, She wanted to ask more about the afterlives, but then decided otherwise,
"and what are you both? I mean, how could you fight against those hollows? " Yuzu asked this time,
"The answer to this is quite complicated," Naibu stated, "but to make it short, we both, I and Fujimaru, are so-called 'Ankoite,' which are a 'Hybrid-race' between a Shinigami and a Quincy." Then, Naibu asked, "Which one of those two shall I explain first ?" Naibu added, making Yuzu think for a while.
Remembering the Japanese folklore she once heard in her school and the fact that Naibu talked about the 'soul society', Yuzu could imagine what Shinigamis are, but the term 'Quincy' on the other hand, was unknown to her, well except that it's a non-japanese word, making her choice easier,
"then please tell me about the Quincies first." Yuzu decided, making both Naibu and Fujimaru smile slightly for a while before Naibu started explaining.
Naibu explained to Yuzu that Quincies are a clan of 'spiritually aware' people who were once scattered around the whole globe here in the mortal world. Dedicated to fighting the hollows. 'spiritually aware' - or 'high-spec' humans, as Naibu added, are the term used for mortal humans who can see ghosts. Like Yuzu herself.
Naibu explained further that Quincies were able to fight and 'destroy' the hollows thanks to their special weapons called 'Heilig bogens', which Yuzu may have witnessed already, to which Yuzu nodded, remembering the glowing bows and arrows Naibu and Fujimaru used to kill the hollows.
Fujimaru, meanwhile, took out a yellow/golden colored pendant which looked like a circle with spikes on the outside and a cross on the inside. Then, Fujimaru somehow made the pendant glow in green before a 'green laser' shaped glowing bow appeared out of the cross, making Yuzu's eyes go wide.
"What you see now on Fujimaru is an Example of a 'Heilig Bogen'. It's created via these pendants we call 'Solkors'. " Naibu explained towards her. After making the 'Heilig Bogen' disappear, Fujimaru gave his 'Solkors'-pendant to Yuzu so that she could inspect it closer.
It was at this moment that Fujimaru noticed a slight movement beside Yuzu. When he turned beside her, he looked again towards Yuzu's Lion-plushie 'Bostov', making him slightly press his forehead in concern because he could feel a slight amount of reiryoku coming out from that pushie.
As for Yuzu, as soon as she took the pendant in her hands, she suddenly had that odd feeling, as she could breathe and smell better for a moment.
Then, suddenly, she thought she could hear a loud growling behind her, which in turn made her turn around in shock.
The growling continued a few times before it suddenly stopped utterly.
"you've heard it, didn't you? " Fujimaru stated to her, "the growling of a hollow," he added, to which Yuzu nodded before she immediately gave Fujimaru's pendant back out of fear to hear those growlings again.
Naibu then added that both he and Fujimaru were both Quincies before gaining the abilities of the Shinigami as well, which led him to start explaining about the latter.
Shinigamis, as Naibu explained, are souls from the soul society, who, like the Quincies, are also dedicated to fighting against the hollows. What's more, they're also responsible for deceased souls to bring them to the soul society, capable thanks to their weapons called Zanpakutos, which have mostly the shapes of Katanas.
Both Quincies and Shinigamis existed for a 'very long time, longer than humankind's recorded history, as Naibu claimed, and both sides seemed to have the best intentions against the hollows, but there was still a big difference between them both.
Naibu then explained further that, thanks to their Zanpakutos, Shinigami are 'purifying' the hollows, thus turning them back into regular souls by 'killing' them, which means that any soul can go to the soul society in most cases.
But with the Quincies, it was different. Compared to the Shinigami's Zanpakuto, the Quincy's 'Heilig Bogens' cannot 'purify' a hollow, which means that if a hollow is 'killed' by a Quincy, it's 'over'. The hollow, thus the soul which the Shinigami could've purified, will never be able to reach the afterlife, thus being 'truly killed.'
This fact was the main reason why both, Shinigami and Quincy, were also at war, surprising Yuzu even more.
"but didn't they fight the hollows for the same reason? " Yuzu asked in confusion.
"That's right, and I'm convinced that if they would've truly sought a solution regarding the 'purification', both sides already would have found one a long time ago." Fujimaru now continued explaining while Yuzu noticed his pressed forehead, showing to her that he was angry about that.
Naibu then continued again, telling Yuzu that the Shinigamis and Quincys were organized like Countries, even like 'World powers in the mortal world', and that when two strong fractions have contrary points of view or contrary interests in general, the result is mostly a conflict, like the so-called 'blood war' around 1000 years ago or the 'great Quincy massacre' 200 Years ago, to which the latter was even happening directly in front of Naibu's and Fujimaru's eyes.
This also shocked Yuzu, seeing how Fujimaru suddenly looked down, making Yuzu look down as well, realizing that Fujimaru also possibly lost someone from his Family.
But then she realized something about Naibu's final statement, which confused her,
"wait ? did you just say 200 YEARS ago ?" Yuzu asked with a confused expression on her face,
"that's right," Naibu replied, "compared to mortal Humans, Quincies and Shinigamis have a long lifespan. Thus we age slower, which is the reason both are mostly prohibited from interacting with mortals too much." Naibu added calmly.
Naibu then continued Quincy's history from 200 Years ago, adding that only a dozen of the great Quincy Families officially survived the massacre. In contrast, the others disappeared or started to marry 'normal' humans.
Then there were those like him and Fujimaru. They decided to fight the hollows with the Shinigami's Zanpakuto along with their own Bows, which was 'luckily approved' by the Shinigamis, as Naibu explained.
Fujimaru then took out his 'Einhander', which he also activated, making a glowing green-colored blade coming out.
This time Yuzu beamed in excitement, remembering a famous American sci-fi-fantasy film series she once watched with her dear brother.
"What you see now is the so-called 'Einhander', a version of the Zanpakuto used by us 'Ankoite'. As I've already explained, the 'true' Zanpakutos of the Shinigami look like ordinary Katanas compared to our 'Einhanders'. " Fujimaru explained while deactivating his 'Einhander' before offering it to Yuzu for inspection as well, only for her to refuse politely, to which he understood since she might hear the hollows growling again.
"There were many others like us who started to use the 'Einhander'." Naibu continued, "For that, while the Shinigamis still considered us to be 'Quincys,' the true remaining Quincies called us 'Shinigamis.' because of this. But we ourselves use the term 'Ankoite.' to distinguish us from both." Naibu stated calmly.
"As for the Original Quincys, one of the surviving great Quincy Families even resides here in Karakura. It's the Ishida Family," Naibu explained further while making Yuzu's eyes go wide.
"Ishida? You mean like Ishida-san form the Karakura Hospital ? " Yuzu questioned in disbelief.
"That's correct." Naibu said, "and during our investigation, we found out that Ishida Ryuken's son, Ishida Uryu, not only goes to the same school as your older brother but that he also took the path of the Quincy, fighting the hollows along with a young man named Ichigo Kurosaki, which is your brother's name, right ?" Naibu stated, making Yuzu immediately come up with her next Question.
"Then tell me now, please, how is onii-chan involved in all of this ?" This time, Yuzu asked quite desperately as both Ankoite realized. It was about her dear brother, after all.
Naibu then turned towards his discipline,
"Since even I need to rest my voice, I believe Fujimaru may answer your Question this time since I've explained a lot already. I hope you both don't mind." Naibu said while now looking towards Fujimaru as well, who somehow pressed his teeth slightly, while Naibu now drank his cup of tea.
'yeah, sure,' he thought angrily that his sensei had such a 'childish excuse' instead of openly saying that he wished to take a break. What's more, compared to his sensei, Fujimaru didn't know all details. But then maybe Fujimaru wondered if that may be the reason he had to explain it now.
"Alright, about your brother," Fujimaru stated, "During our investigation, we've discovered that your brother has become a Shinigami," Fujimaru confirmed.
"a Shinigami? But how." Yuzu wondered in disbelief.
"even though we're still investigating, we've found out that he's been a Shinigami since the middle of May, thus for three months already."
"Middle of May? But that's ... " at this moment, Yuzu remembered that it was around this time that their house had been destroyed.
"We also know that around two months later, your brother came into contact with Ishida Ryuken's son Uryu." Fujimaru continued, "Because Uryu is proud to be a Quincy and therefore has a hatred for the Shinigami, according to his father, he challenged your brother into some kind of challenge." Fujimaru explained.
"onii-chan was really fighting against him? " Yuzu still wondered in disbelief.
"yes, but also that luckily, after this one fight, your brother and Uryu buried the hatchet," Fujimaru added, making Yuzu calm down,
"Anyway ... " Fujimaru continued, "there's something else I wanted to ask you if possible," Fujimaru stated this time while knowing that he might hurt her with that topic but needed to talk about it nevertheless.
"you said to us before that your sister and your brother are aware of ghosts, right? How about your parents? Can they see them as well? " Fujimaru asked as tactfully as possible, pretending that he doesn't know about Yuzu's mother.
"one reason I'm asking is that most mortal humans, who can see ghosts, have parents who can do this as well, making their children inherit this ability," Fujimaru confirmed, making Yuzu's eyes going wide slightly,
"inherited? you mean ... "
"that's right." Fujimaru confirmed while looking towards Naibu, "and I believe you remember how Shizuka-sensei explained about the great Quincy Families, right ?" Fujimaru asked, making even Naibu pay even closer attention to how Fujimaru will explain further. Yuzu meanwhile nodded, remembering that there also existed other Quincy-Families beside the Ishida's.
"the other reason I'm asking you is that another, now defunct, Quincy Family was named the 'Kurosaki-Family.' " Fujimaru explained.
Now, this made Yuzu's eyes get even more expansive than all the other things she heard from those two men. It was crazy enough to hear that Quincies and Shinigamis existed but to think that her own Family is part of that.
At first, she tried to deny what Fujimaru just claimed, but then again, the fact that this ability is presumably inherited somehow made sense to Yuzu. How else was it possible that she and her siblings could see them while their parents were not supposed to.
"my father is the only one who can't see them. As for oka-san ... " Yuzu confirmed, slightly confident at first before she made a somewhat sad expression while looking down,
"I don't know," she added sadly, as seen by the two Ankoite.
"you don't know ?" Fujimaru asked, slightly curious.
"my mother died six years ago." making Naibu and Fujimaru look down as well, knowing that they might have mortified her.
"we're really sorry for asking you about such a sensitive topic, but the fact you, and your siblings, not only can see ghosts but also that your Family has the same last name as one of the previous famous Quincy clans are all vital pieces of evidence that ... " Naibu now continued explaining again before being interrupted by Yuzu.
"that oka-san was also a Quincy ?" Yuzu finished Naibu's sentence as a Question.
Then there was silence in the whole Park.
"To be honest ... " Naibu spoke again, "I couldn't believe it eighter when I heard your brother's last name and that he became a Shinigami. But as soon as I saw you, and what's more, when our both hands touched the last time, I actually could feel that you have a lot of spiritual energy for a mortal girl. And the fact that when you just touched Fujimaru's pendant, you were able to hear a hollow's growling kilometers/miles away, something that even most spiritually aware humans couldn't hear from that far. And now that you say that you don't know if your mother was able as well, makes it obvious to me, but Of course," Naibu continued explaining, "we don't want to claim something without any clear pieces of evidence." Naibu added that he's still not entirely sure, while his arguments seemed even more apparent and believable for Yuzu. But still, the thought that her mother also might have been able to see ghosts and never revealed it to her father made her very discomfort. Yuzu also started to slightly regret it to have contacted Naibu and Fujimaru in the first place, but then again, it was her who wanted answers about her brother. But to think that her mother would be relevant about this was something Yuzu couldn't foresee.
"Then ..." Yuzu spoke to the two men, "is there a possibility to find clear evidence for your claims ? " she asked curiously but with a severe expression, since it's this now is about her mother.
"Well," Naibu started to answer, "does your Family still has some belongings or remainings of your mother somewhere in your home or elsewhere? " Naibu asked her, making Yuzu slightly understand what she has to do soon,
"Well, I believe there are in our attic," she answered while Naibu took out his own 'Solkors'.
"if my assertion is true, then, as a Quincy, your mother also must have possessed a pendant like this. But compared to mine and Fujimaru's, the pendants of the Quincies have a different shape. They mostly have the shape of silver-colored crosses or silver-colored pentacles." Naibu explained,
"If our assertion turns out to be false, then we want to apologize in advance for bothering you about your deceased mother." Fujimaru now stated rather tactfully while also bowing in front of her.
"And also, thank you for listening to us," Naibu added, bowing as well.
After the three stood up, both Ankoite gave the picnic blanket and other contents they've taken along with back into Fujimaru's backpack.
As for Yuzu, she also gave her plushie 'Bostov' back inside her backpack.
Before she was about to leave, she then looked towards Naibu again,
"Thank you for the explaining, and the tea, of course." Yuzu stated while bowing in front of them both.
"If you want to talk again, just call us. I believe you still have our number. But if possible, please don't tell anyone of what we've told you." Naibu stated in his usual calm manner.
"of course," Yuzu answered.
"I believe it's also time for us to leave as well. See you soon, Yuzu-san." were Naibu's last words before he and Fujimaru went away from the Park.
Yuzu also started going away but on the contrary direction.
OUTSIDE OF THE KARAKURA COMMUNITY PARK - KARAKURA TOWN - MORTAL WORLD - AFTERNOON
As Namikaze and Naibu were walking out of the Park, Fujimaru couldn't help but feel uncomfortable about a particular matter,
"I can sense that something is bothering you, Fujimaru. Is it about your namesake ?" Naibu asked his pupil.
"Of course not. There's no real reason to be concerned about them in the first place. No, there's something else I'm bothered about." Fujmaru stated concerningly,
"you're talking about her plushy, right ?" Naibu stated, much to Fujimaru's surprise,
"well, I doubt we have to be afraid about that." Finally, Naibu expressed his opinion about the plushie.
"if you say so ... " was Fujimaru's response to his master, knowing that if Naibu-sensei sees no concern, then there isn't.
GATES OF THE MASHIBA MIDDLE SCHOOL - KARAKURA TOWN - MIDDAY
"do I really have to do this? " Hiyori asked, somewhat bothered while walking alongside Ashido, now both in their new Gigais Urahara created for them. Although Ashido wore an Aloha shirt, Hiyori, on the other hand, was now wearing her usual dress without her red jogging-coat, as Ashido requested.
"it would be more suspicious if I would do 'that part'. " Ashido stated calmly.
"that's true, I guess," Hiyori admitted, "and you're sure that she's here, Aniki ?"
"she was there the last time I saw her," Ashido confirmed calmly, more focused on the building in front of them instead of Hiyori.
"then go ahead, please. You know what to tell her. " Ashido said rather seriously to Hiyori, who nodded, knowing it was a strict order instead of a simple Plea.
While passing the gates, Hiyori realized that she had actually never visited a school in the mortal world, let alone a middle school. But remembering and comparing it to the Shinigami academy in the soul society was probably as dull, if not even more boring, since, in the Shinigami Academy, they taught you at least a few fun things like Kido and Zanjutusu.
But the most exciting fact right now is that none of the others know what she and Ashido are doing. When Shinji asked Ashido about her punishment, he only stated that 'she'll help him with something. Thus, it's like she's on a top-secret mission here, making her slightly exciting.
But the excitement ended as soon as she saw the soccer playfield where she could see a bunch of kids playing soccer. Among them were nearly all boys, except one black-haired girl.
She wanted to approach them at first, but as Hiyori looked and listened closer, she saw that one of the kids had succeeded in scoring a goal.
"Alright, since you've lost, you'll treat us. And since it's hot today, maybe we'll go for ice cream today." one of the boys, with brown hair and glasses, asked excitingly.
"what do you think we should eat, Karin? " another boy with a brown afro asked towards Karin.
"definitely not ice cream. Are you out of your mind ?" Karin stated rather seriously, " we've just trained, and you already want to cram sugar inside your bodies." she added even more intimidating, making the boys look in fear.
" " " " w-we're sorry " " " " the four boys immediately apologized and bowed towards Karin, who then breathed in and out after her friends' reaction.
It was then that the five kids heard steps from nearby.
When they've turned around, they saw a blond girl with spiky pigtails—wearing a white shirt, red jogging pants, yellow flip-flops, coming closer towards them. Her facial expression was quite intimidating for the other kids, the boys even thinking that her expression was even more intimidating than Karin's, who also felt somewhat concerned about this girl's presence.
"Are you Karin Kurosaki ?" Hiyori asked rather calmly, compared to her usual behavior, as Ashido 'pleaded.'
"And you are? " Karin asked as calmly as possible, despite that she became somehow bothered by that girl.
"Someone who wishes to talk with you in private." the blond girl stated calmly.
"About what ?" Karin asked rather suspicious.
"Your brother." the blond girl answered seriously while still gazing towards Karin's eyes.
'Ichi-nii? ' Karin's eyes went slightly wide, wondering how this girl knew about her brother.
She then turned towards her friends,
"I'll be right back." She told them before going along with Hiyori, extending her distance and her friends.
"so, what do you want from Ichi-ii ?" Karin asked now more seriously while looking towards Hiyori's eyes,
"Not me," Hiyori stated, her gaze also directed towards Karin's eyes, "but Ashido-Aniki wants to talk with you," Hiyori added.
"Ashido ?" Karin first remembered the red-haired Shinigami with the red Kimono and the monster mask and the blond teen named Matsuri.
She then turned her eyes towards her friends while also coming back towards them.
"Guys !" she called them loudly, making them look towards her,
"There's something I need to do, so Let's call it a day."
"What? Are you sure, Karin ?" Kei Uehara questioned Karin's sudden change of plans.
At this Question, Karin made a rather angry facial expression, making her four friends intimidated again.
"Y-yeah, alright, we'll go immediately." one of them, his name Heita Toujin, spoke for all the four boys while all of them bowed again in fear before going away.
(ENDING: The Anix – Fight the Future)