SOUL SOCIETY
Toshiro found Indra sitting nearby Misaki in Squad 4 ward.
"You haven't moved from her side for a long time, have you?" Toshiro asked
"She is slowly recovering. Thankfully she had no grave wounds. Her own spirit energy is rapidly restoring itself which is accelerating the healing." Indra commented still looking at a sleeping Misaki
"That's good. You have been summoned by the head captain along with captain Zaraki." Toshiro informed
"Right now?" Indra asked as he turned to look at Toshiro.
"Yes. It has been one day. I was surprised he didn't call you early. Perhaps he was waiting for Zaraki to recover from his wounds." Toshiro mused
"Then I will not keep the head captain waiting." with that said Indra stood up and left the squad 4 wards straight to squad 1 barracks
XXXXX
Head Captain Yamamoto observed the bandage covered form of Zaraki Kenpachi keenly. He was happy a shinigami had the power and skill to defeat Kenpachi at his peak but he was also not happy with the lack of discipline from his subordinates. If shinigami do not exercise discipline how can they claim to be the force of balance in the world?
His attention turned to the door and he watched as his lieutenant Chojiro Sasakibe opened the door and allowed a young man to enter. He watched as the young Shinigami now briefly and stand tall waiting to be addressed. Strangely he felt no shift in the spiritual pressure of the young shinigami before him which was strange as that suggested a calm mind and an exceptional dominance over one's spiritual pressure.
"So you are Kurosaki Indra." Yamamoto asked
"Yes, Head Captain." Indra answered shortly
"What position do you hold in squad 10?" Yamamoto asked
"I hold the position of third seat." Indra answered
"Do you think you have the authority to judge and punish a captain of the 13 court guard squads?" Yamamoto asked
"No, head captain. But, I am responsible for my subordinates and anyone who brings them harm so long as they remain loyal to Soul Society is an enemy and they will be dealt with to the best of my abilities." Indra declared
"I see. Do you have anything to add captain Zaraki?" Yamamoto asked the captain of squad 11
"Leave the boy alone old man. We fought as warriors do. This is how squad 11 deals with any problems. He had a problem. with me and he fought me with everything he had. That's the end of it." Zaraki said in a lax manner
"The end of it...? I hardly think you can decide the end of this incident Captain Zaraki. You are henceforth banned from participating in any missions without my express permission. The fact that you have injured a member of squad 10 is shameful. If anything like this happens again consider your life forfeit." Yamamoto then turned to Indra and stared him down
"For once I am being lenient in punishing you as per the recommendation of your captain. I have been told that you excel in all branches of Kidou spells. You will serve in squad 4 for the next six months in your free time as a volunteer healer. We have other methods of punishment but considering your intentions I am being this much lenient. You may go." Yamamoto dismissed Indra
"As for you, we have much more to talk about Captain Zaraki." Yamamoto began to lecture about the importance of exercising self-control and what not making Zaraki's head spin.
XXXX
Indra let out a sigh of relief after he exited the squad 1 barracks. He vanished in flash step as he travelled to squad 10 barracks. On the way, he was wondering what happened to make him so emotional these days. He was usually a very logical person and he knew that attacking Zaraki no matter what would have brought unwanted attention in himself. So he was troubled by the knee jerk reaction he took that day. This had to be really explored and that pushed him to contact Kagetsu.
The moment he arrived he immediately entered his room and closed the door. Then he took a meditative pose and slowly immersed himself in his soul. When he opened his eyes he found himself on a giant rock that was floating in the sky. He was struck speechless as his world had completely changed in a span of several months. Huge trees now stood proud over the buildings that were now razed to the ground. Everything was so different and unreal that he felt this world was not his.
"Don't worry Indra. Your world is safe. This is just a manifestation of your love to me." a voice from behind him spoke
Indra turned around and found Misaki there with him.
"Misaki, what are you doing here? How are you here?" Indra asked confused
"As I said, you love me so much so that you have manifested me inside your inner world. If you doubt me ask Kagetsu here." Misaki pointed at the spirit who was standing far back. Indra approached him and forcefully turned him around.
"What is the meaning of this Kagetsu? Stop the tricks that you are playing and restore the world back to order. This world feels alien to me." Indra demanded
"I am not the one that changed this world. She did and you allowed her to do so." Kagetsu said in disinterest
"What? What are you talking about? How can Misaki change...?" Indra cut himself off as he came to a realization
"You are not Misaki. You are her zanpakuto, Shizen no megami (Nature Goddess)" Indra said as he turned around to face her
The Zanpakuto spirit smiled cruelly and her black shinigami garbs began to be replaced by a green armour leaving her shoulders bare.
"You are right. I am not Misaki. I am her Zanpakuto. I didn't want to meet you like this Indra. But still, maybe it is better that you are here as you can witness your love for Misaki will bring our two worlds together." Shizen no megami said with a bright smile
"What do you mean by bringing our two worlds together? I don't understand." Indra asked confused
"Let me explain. You must know I was very unhappy with how Misaki was attracted to you. I didn't like that one bit. I have kept her pure of any corruption influence all these years and suddenly despite my repeated warnings she felt something for you and it blossomed so fast into something that I could not take away. But over time I realised you were good for her in some ways. You helped and admired her like no one ever did. Slowly I was turning around to the fact that you were good for her. It was then you gifted her with the key. The key that gave me access to your inner world." Shizen no megami smirked
"Impossible. That was not the function of the key. It was to create a point of reference for my Bankai to activate and anyone that I gift the key becomes shielded from my Bankai." Indra argued
Shizen no megami laughed at his argument.
"I thought you were a brilliant person but you are failing my expectations Indra. You yourself said to Misaki my power is based on the manipulation of life energy. Then why do you think I can't manipulate the key that you left inside her inner world to my desire. It is highly arrogant if you to think that but I guess it comes with the darkness inside you Indra. When you gave the key to Misaki it was not because you loved her but it was to use her to enforce your Bankai in this reality. You didn't see anything in her other than a potential follower. I understood that when my power infiltrated your inner world. It was then I realized how despicable you are. From that moment on you were in my control. Behold my Bankai..." Shizen no megami let go of her sword into the ground and the sword dissolved upon contact
"Kami no rengō (Divine Union)"
Everything around him began to glow in a pale green colour and began to change into wooden constructs. Trees, flowers, streams, grass and son began to spread our across his inner world changing everything he knew.
"You were trying to turn her into a servant. The moment I understood this I wanted to destroy you. But Misaki loved you. You were her focal point in life. I couldn't ignore her desires and destroy you. So I decided to do what you tried to do to her. I will make you her servant. After today you will worship her. You will stand with her and support her through your life. You will protect her with every shred of your power. She will become the air that you breathe, and without her, you will die. You already felt a sample of that when you struck down that fool who injured Misaki. Her wish will be granted as both of you will live a long life loving each other but under my terms." Shizen no megami proclaimed with a smirk
"I see. So your bankai has the power to unite different aspects of the world together. That is impressive. I knew Misaki's power was special the moment I saw her activate it. But I never realized her power could influence the world in such a large scale. I am impressed." Indra said as he bowed his head shielding his eyes
Shizen no megami smiled in triumph at Indra's submission.
"It is good that you submit to me. I will purify your soul of the dark stain inside every living human. The taint that you carry to exploit the world and everything in it will be removed by myself. With your power joining me I will be able to cleanse the whole world of this taint. This is my purpose, Misaki's purpose." Shizen no megami boasted
"It is very funny you are believing yourself to be the master if this world. You should remember that this world belongs to me and I am good at it." Indra said as he looked straight in the eye of Shizen no megami.
Indra looked at Kagetsu and nodded. Kagetsu took out his sword and handed it over to Indra. He silently activated the shikai and stabbed the sword into the rock that they were standing. The green glow began to spread into the blade as well making Shizen no megami smile.
"See, even your zanpakuto is being converted. Soon you will be just an extension of Misaki. You will become her slave." Shizen no megami laughed cruelly
"That is a good dream you have. Let me ask you something. Have you seen a bright moon that shined in the sky? It is very majestic and divine isn't it?" Indra asked even as the green glow began to consume his fingers
"Yes the moon is divine but the earth is more beautiful." Shizen no megami proclaimed
"The moon looks very divine on one side but what of the other, the Dark Side..." Indra asked and immediately a black aura surrounded him completely that swept away the green glow from the blade
"Let me show you the power of darkness." Indra raised his sword and his blade became consumed by a dark flame. He stabbed the blade into the ground and said...
"Kokushibyō (Black death)"
The effect was instant as everything around them became consumed in a black glow. Shizen no megami found herself unable to move and all her powers became unresponsive.
"Don't waste your time in trying to break out of this. The black death like its name turns anything it touches completely dead. In this case, it is your power that black death has touched. You see it shares the property of vacuum. Vacuum means nothing and anything that the black death touches becomes empty. You tried to take away my inner world but it is your world that is going to disappear. A shinigami without an inner world is dead." Indra smirked
"No, please don't. You will kill Misaki. You love her, you cannot kill her." Shizen no megami begged
"Love is a strong word. I admit that she is fascinating but the moment she posed a threat to me is the moment her existence became irrelevant. This is goodbye." Indra said and everything around him and Kagetsu disappeared in the darkness
"Looks like we will have to rebuild everything again." Kagetsu said looking at the empty world
"Thankfully we have a very good memory." Indra smiled and handed over the sword to Kagetsu. They activated their Quincy powers and engaged their version of Almighty. The world around them began to get rebuilt brick by brick. They watched as the sky returned to its position. Then the ground below them began to get filled with large skyscrapers. The souls that Indra traced with his eyes began to get formed inside the buildings. Several large rocks began to form in the sky and floated there defying gravity.
"Home sweet home." Kagetsu said as he floated down and settled on top of a building
"It is a shame we lost Misaki. She could have been a valuable puppet for taking that zanpakuto away safely." Indra pointed out
"We can have another puppet later down the line. For now, let's play our role in Aizen's plan. Your brother is going to arrive in Soul Society soon enough. What's your plan?" Kagetsu asked
"Everything must happen in an organic way. There is no rush to see my dearly beloved twin and his friends. They will stumble upon me at some point. Right now I have to put on a sad face as my girlfriend is dying. Wish me luck." Indra said as he began to disappear
"Good luck." Kagetsu said as he watched his wielder disappear from the inner world
XXXX
Indra found himself back in his room. The black death would have already taken effect on Misaki but he didn't want to give away anything so he returned to his office and worked as usual for the rest of the day.
He was called to captain Hitsugaya's office by noon. As he entered the office he saw both Rangiku and Toshiro present.
"We are going to the squad 4 barracks. Do you have anything serious to do." Toshiro asked
"No captain." Indra replied
"Good. Then let's go." Toshiro said
The three of them went into squad 4 barracks and they found Misaki in an isolated room.
"What happened? Why is she in a separate room?" Indra asked a squad member
"Her reitsu levels are draining away at an unprecedented rate. We are maintaining her with artificially injecting reitsu into her. We don't know what has happened." the healer said
The three of them waited outside the room and even Unohana later came to personally diagnose. After several long hours, Unohana exited the room and greeted them with the bad news.
"I am sorry to say this but Nagai San will not live longer than tomorrow morning. Whatever happened to her has drained her spirit energy and is continuously draining her spirit energy. No matter what we couldn't identify what is causing this. I am afraid we are helpless at this stage." Unohana said sadly
"How long does she have?" Indra asked
"The most we can hold her is for two hours. I am truly sorry." Unohana said sadly.
Toshiro and Rangiku became struck speechless by the final verdict of Unohana that Misaki would not survive for more than two hours. In Toshiro's case, he was more enraged and sad than ever before as he had lost three members of his squad because if this disastrous mission. With a resolute expression, he turned to Indra.
"Kurosaki. If you challenge Zaraki for the position if Captaincy, you can kill him legally." Toshiro looked at Indra as he said this
"What will that achieve? It will not undo what has happened to Misaki. I don't want to tarnish her memory with an act of violence." Indra said as he turned to walk away
"Don't you want to stay with her Kurosaki?" Toshiro asked in surprise
"She had already told me everything I needed to know in a short time. All I can do is not to let her life become meaningless and that is by making sure her absence be felt to those who depended on her. I can do that much for her and I am sure she would be happy with that knowledge." Indra said as he disappeared from squad 4 barracks
"Rangiku, stay with Misaki San. I will keep an eye in Kurosaki. Despite his words, I don't know what he would do." Toshiro said as he also disappeared in a flash step
XXXXX Sometime later XXXX
Indra placed a bouquet of flowers on the grave of Misaki.
"Are you sure this is the place for her final resting place?" Rangiku asked as she observed the rundown place around her in Rukongai
"She came from this place and she was never ashamed of this fact. She felt more at home here than in Gotei 13. So it is fitting for her to return back home." Indra commented
"Perhaps you are right." Toshiro said as they stood near the grave
"Captain has there been any progress about Kuchiki san." Rangiku asked to break the silence
"Central 46 has issued orders to capture her. Kuchiki Byakuya and Abarai Renji has been tasked to apprehend the prisoner. The stealth force reports she is in Karakura town. I believe they are on their way as we speak." Toshiro replied and fell into a comfortable silence.
Soon Toshiro and Rangiku departed leaving Indra alone near the grave.
"Don't worry Misaki. I will put good use of the powers of your Zanpakuto. Sadly you flew too close to the sun and got burned." Indra whispered and he too vanished in a flash step
XXXX KARAKURA TOWN XXXX
Rukia Kuchiki cast one long look at the house of Kurosaki family. This has been her home for quite a few months and she felt a little pain in her heart to leave the safety if this house. She turned her back and walked away from the house. Each step she took dulled the pain slowly as she knew in her heart this was for the best. She knew this day would come eventually but she thought by then her powers would return. Unfortunately, that never happened and now she was forced to flee to ensure Ichigo's safety. She knew soul society would be aware of Ichigo's existence as they would hardly overlook the appearance of a Menos Grande in the living world. Ichigo's fight with the Menos Grande would have alerted the Gotei 13 and they would surely send someone to eliminate him as well as to bring her back so that she will face the punishment for illegally transferring powers to a human. This is the reason she ran away from the Kurosaki house hoping that whoever is sent after her will only concentrate on her and leave Ichigo alone.
After hours of running, she managed to cover a lot of distance from Ichigo's how and she left a sigh of relief. But that was short-lived as the Senkaimon appeared right before her and her eyes widened in alarm at the occupants inside the gateway.
"Renji, brother..." Rukia breathed in fright
"Hello, Rukia. I see you were running away. Why don't you come out of your little gigai and we can have a friendly chat." Renji mocked her
"You have caught me. We can now go and I will accept any punishment." Rukia said as she walked towards them
"We will go to soul society soon enough but first come out of your gigai." Renji ordered
Rukia looked uneasily at her old friend and her brother who had yet to speak up or even express any emotions.
"If you are not going to do this by yourself then you leave me with no choice." with that said Renji unsheathed his Zanpakuto and slashed across Rukia's left shoulder. Blood oozed out of the wound and ran along her hand.
"Look at yourself Rukia. You don't even have the spirit energy to evade my attacks. Where is that boy who stole your spirit energy?" Renji asked in anger
"Nobody stole anything from me Renji." Rukia started but she was cut off by a familiar sound
"Are these clowns bothering you Rukia?" Ichigo asked as he stared hard at the two Shinigami
"Ichigo! What are you doing here?" Rukia asked with a little heat
"You left without saying goodbye." Ichigo looked at her with a raised eyebrow
"You don't understand. This is dangerous. You shouldn't have followed me. Leave now." Rukia looked seriously at Ichigo
"So this is the boy you transferred your powers to. He looks weak." Renji cockily said
"Squad 12 reports the boy was able to wound and repel a Menos Grande." Byakuya spoke up
"No way. This guy looks too weak for that to happen but I will thank you, orange-haired freak. You just made our job a whole lot easier by revealing yourself. Now we can finish you off and return back with the prisoner." Renji boasted
"Then let's find out whether I am weak or not." Ichigo rushed at Renji with his sword and Renji reciprocated and thus their duel began.
Rukia stood by the side watching the conflict between her two friends. Ichigo surprised her by holding his own against a more trained opponent like Renji. Even after Renji activated his Zanpakuto Ichigo was still in the fight until her brother stepped in and delivered the final blow. It was over in a blink. She watched with a pained heart as Ichigo fell down on the ground bleeding heavily from the strike of her brother. The sword that Ichigo carried lay broken on the ground. Rukia teared up as she realised one more life has been lost because of her.
She watched her brother walked towards her in a poised manner with a cold look.
"Come. Your judgement awaits you in Soul Society." Byakuya coldly said
Rukia's eyes widened as her brother was forced to stop by Ichigo holding on to his leg from behind. She saw her brother's expression change and she immediately intervened before it could turn bloody. She kicked away Ichigo's hand harshly.
"How dare you touch my brother. Your powers have already been broken and if you somehow manage to hold on to your life live it like a normal human. Forget you ever met me and don't ever even think about journeying to soul society. If you survive, live the rest of your life with your family." Rukia said and turned her back and followed her brother and Renji into Soul Society. Before the senkaimon closed Rukia cast one last look at Ichigo and saw him fall unconscious.
As soon as they stepped into Soul Society Byakuya turned to Renji.
"Secure the prisoner in a cell under strong barriers. We shall hold her until the verdict from Central 46 regarding her fate." Byakuya ordered
"Yes, captain." Renji said as he led Rukia to a holding cell in squad 6
XXXX
A man with a bowl hat and a black cat observed the bleeding form of Ichigo. Soon they were joined by the resident Quincy, Ishida Uryu. Seeing the bleeding form of Ichigo, Ishida rushed to his side and tried to stem the bleeding.
"What happened?" Ishida asked
"Kurosaki San had a disagreement with the shinigami of soul society. It seems miss Kuchiki has been taken prisoner by them and our resident shinigami tried to stop them. It seems he failed." Urahara said
"Don't just stand there. Help him up." Ishida frowned at the shady shopkeeper
"Since you asked so nicely..." Urahara helped to carry Ichigo and they left towards his shop.
The black cat sitting on Urahara's shoulder looked at the blood that still spread out on the street. The cat knew this was the beginning of the bloodshed. Aizen had made his move and it was now their turn to play. She couldn't wait to pay back for what Aizen had done all those years ago. She was looking forward to the coming days.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
It seems the poll is neck to neck. Majority agrees to change the pairing which I have obliged. As for the poll results for anti-hero and a reformed hero is a mixed one. The poll result was neck by neck and I think I will decide whether the si is a hero or not as the story progress later on.
Anyway, thank you all for participating in the poll.