Chapter 7: Arrival

*Happy Easter! Sorry, this is a tad late; the semester is nearing its end, and there's a rush to get everything done. Please review. Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, just the OCs.*


The ground felt solid beneath Naoko's feet though it did not feel like wood or stone or dirt… just solid. Everything around them was a solid, blinding luminous white. Far different than when she traversed the Dangai with Orihime just before they were abducted. But Naoko wasn't going to complain; that place had been creepy as all get out, and she'd instead take this than a dank tunnel.

A moment later, her foot touched grass, and white gave way to color. The group stood atop a grassy knoll with a blue sky above them and a city below. The gray stone streets wove around charming brick buildings that stood tall and proud. Verdant trees and slim lampposts stood like sentinels along the boulevards.

It was not just the scenery that caught their breaths but the atmosphere. The air here tasted rich with reishi like Karakura, and Naoko could feel it invigorate her with each inhale. The underlayer of the air felt so… Quincy like. The feel reminded her of Uryu, their parents, and grandmother. In Seireitei, the air was rich, but sometimes cloying from all the Soul Reapers and Hueco Mundo felt vaguely unnerving.

Uryu stood beside her, entranced by the town, said quietly, "It… feels like home."

She couldn't tell if he was talking about Karakura or meant he found a sense of belonging.

"Where to now?" Renji asked as they grabbed their belongings and walked towards town.

Uryu fished out a slip of paper from his pocket, "I've got the address, but…" He looked around at the street signs, "I'm not sure how to get there."

"You don't know how to get there?" Ichigo asked with some incredulity. "Don't you know where this place is?"

A vein twitched on Uryu's forehead, "Of course I know where it is. I just don't know how to get there from here, it's not like I could predict where that tunnel was going to drop us. We could've fallen from the sky like last time."

While the two boys argued, Nemu silently plucked the address from Uryu's hand and approached the nearest person.

"Pardon me, but could you tell us how we may get to this address?" She asked politely while showing him the paper.

An older man with a noticeable gut and bushy mustache adjusted his glasses and read the slip. "Oh, you're looking for Heaven's Cross Manor. It's at the other end of town, just at the outskirts, head straight north from here, and you'll eventually find it."

Nemu bowed, which stunned the man, "Thank you, sir."

She returned to the group and relayed his directions. As they walked, Naoko took in the sights and sounds around them. The buildings looked as though from the nineteenth century, and some were adorned with pointed roofs and narrow towers. Naoko could translate some of the street signs, and store names they passed and she wondered if the other could too.

"Hey, Nemu? You were able to talk to that guy, and he understood you, but when he spoke, I heard German. Are all Soul Reapers multilingual? Can you read and write in another language too?"

The quiet woman nodded, "He did understand me as I could understand him. All Soul Reapers can speak and be understood amongst anyone regardless of their native tongue. Death is a universal language. Reading and writing, however, takes actual effort to learn though my former captain installed an ability to know how to read and write in another language."

Huh, I wonder if that's because the spoken word has been around for far longer than the written word? "I guess that would explain why Mom was helping Captains Flynn and Harumi so much with their paperwork."

A half-hour passed before the buildings began to thin out, and more nature could be seen and soon Heaven's Cross Manor. The six stood and stared at the massive and beautiful building. Creamy white walls of stone dotted with tall shining windows in neat rows. A two-story structure with gray chimney stacks sprouting upward from the smooth navy roofing. A neatly manicured stone and garden courtyard sprawled out in from of it all.

"This… this is it, right?" Rukia asked. "It's beautiful."

"And it's ours," Naoko breathed in awe. If it looks this good on the outside, then imagine how beautiful the inside might be. Their steps echoed softly on the stone path and up the steps to the wide double doors. The wood was elegantly carved, and Naoko could make Quincy crosses subtly worked into the design.

"Do you think it's locked?" Renji asked.

Uryu looked the doors up and down, "Not sure."

He gripped both doorknobs, turned, and the doors swung open with ease. The entrance hall proved to match the grandness of the outside. Pearl gray marble flooring shone in the sunlight as did the glittering crystal chandelier above them. A deep blue carpet ran up the staircase that split in opposite directions to the second level. A portrait depicting a castle tucked amongst mountains hung at the center. Doors and entryways to the right and left of the grand hall led to other rooms that Naoko was now keener to explore.

"I'm quite sure even in Japan knocking is still the polite and appropriate way to enter a home."

The warm and only slightly chiding voice belonged to a smartly dressed older man. His white hair was combed back and fell just past his neck with a matching mustache and short beard that covered the length of his jaw. Naoko's senses immediately seized his reiatsu, he was a Quincy like them, and one glance at her brother told her he sensed it too.

"Pardon our intrusion, but since this is our home, I don't think we have to knock," Naoko mildly joked, gauging the man's reaction.

His gray-blue eyes widened, and then he started chuckling, "You are certainly of Setsuna's brood. You must be Naoko and you are Uryu. My, you look so much like Soken, it's uncanny."

Uryu flushed slightly at the compliment, "Thank you, are you Seiichi Matsuro?"

"That I am." He leaned over to get a better look at the rest of the group, "I'm surprised at your choice of traveling companions. I don't think I've seen this many powerful Soul Reapers in one room. Friends of yours, I take it?"

Naoko nodded and pointed her thumb at Ichigo and Renji, "These two may not be the brightest, but they're harmless."

"Hey!"

Matsuro chuckled again, "You're welcome to get yourselves settled in first, and then we can eat if you like before getting to business."

The teen assumed by business he meant their inheritance of the manor and any lands attached to it. They grabbed their things and headed upstairs.

As they walked, Naoko whispered to Uryu, "Does he know about Grandmother?"

Uryu nodded, "I saw him at the funeral, though he left shortly after."

Naoko said nothing, though she didn't recall seeing him. Come to think of it, she couldn't recall much about the funeral or the days after it. She shrugged it off. If it was important, then I'm sure I would have remembered.


Spring was a time or renewal, growth, and awakenings from a long wintry slumber. The latter rang true for the gem held lightly in Wilter's fingers. A dark stone capable of transcending the very lines Nature drew. Soul Reaper, Hollow, Quincy, what did it matter to this deceptively simple object? It paved the way for one to evolve into a higher being of legendary power.

Power faintly pulsed from within the sphere, a hint that it was gaining strength and would soon be ready. Gently feeding his own reiatsu into it on occasion helped with that progress. It would wake shortly, and he would be prepared.

A knock startled him out of his musings. Scowling, he placed the jewel back into a small velvet-lined box, locked it, and hid again in a secret drawer. "Enter."

A nameless subordinate of his entered carrying a small sheaf of papers. "Sorry to disturb you Captain, but the post has arrived."

Wilter took the papers as the underling left. Leafing through the documents, he saw the typical communique. He almost tossed the whole pile until a small, neatly folded slip caught his eye. A hidden missive from one of his own. The ones no one knew belonged to him and were long dead.

Copper eyes scanned the short sentence and smiled before burning the paper. He had almost given up on this course of action after that royal tramp lied to them and took her secrets to the grave. It seemed even more difficult after his two operatives failed to bring in the Quincies.

But now the Quincies had come to them.

This would make everything so much easier, though he would still have to move carefully as Glyndower yet cast suspicious glances at him after all these years. What could he say? It wasn't his fault his men killed those they were sworn to protect. Well, it actually was since he ordered it, but she did not need to know that. Either way, he would still move carefully, but assuredly towards his goal despite having the Quincies so close.

Wilter glanced down at the drawer that held his secret treasure. He had waited this long he could wait a little bit more.


The long table was laden with dishes of German and Japanese fare, which Naoko considered smart. This way it gave people a chance to try the local cuisine while also providing some familiar foods. She loaded her plate with a bit of everything, especially the fragrant sausage that was making her salivate by its smell alone. The dining hall was a long room with one wall dominated by floor-length windows that opened up to a view of the outside greenery. An empty fireplace stood at another wall. The table and chairs appeared old but cleaned and polished.

"If I may ask sir," Uryu began. "How long have you known our grandparents?"

"Well, I met your grandmother before your grandfather. I was about seventeen and she was fifteen, I believe, and Soken came a year later." Matsuro paused for a moment before posing his own question, "Did your grandparents ever tell you how they met?"

The siblings shook their heads while not noticing how their friends were busy eating, but still listening.

The old man smiled fondly, "Your grandfather and I had been hired to be your grandmother's personal bodyguards. Her siblings and father had all died by then, and her mother feared to lose her only remaining child. At first, Setsuna was distant and silent, made so by the grief she felt for her lost family. But that did not deter Soken. I remember how every day, he would try to make conversation with her or do something to make her smile."

Uryu's mouth quirked up at that, "He always did hate to see a sad face."

"Over time, she opened up, and we became good friends though I noticed how those two became even closer. I was sent to Germany for university and to become a member of the royal council. I believe your great-grandmother had plans to take the throne from her brother and put Setsuna on it. She was trying to make use of as many allies and advantages she could to do it. However, your grandparents had different ideas and ran away to elope."

This was certainly news to Naoko; it was hard to imagine her mild-mannered grandparents doing something so rebellious. The whole thing sounded like the plot of a cliché romance novel, but still sweet.

"She really must've hated the other guy to run away with your grandfather," Ichigo said.

"It wasn't so much hate as it was a poor match, at least from the letters she sent me. The marriage was arranged because her betrothed came from a noble family; well, so did your grandfather. However, his family fell out of power and into disgrace."

Uryu's silverware clattered noisily in his surprise, "Wait, Grandfather was a noble?"

Matsuro seemed a touch surprised the teen hadn't known that. "Yes, he was, but as I said, his family fell out of power. I can't recall how only that it happened when he was quite young."

"Are you of nobility as well, Mr. Matsuro?" Nemu inquired.

"I'm afraid not," he chuckled. "My family were vassals to the Fukumoto family, your grandmother's hence how I came to be her guard."

Once lunch concluded, Matsuro encouraged the others to explore the manor while he talked with Naoko and Uryu. He led them to a beautifully furnished drawing room with a coffee table set between a pair of cream-colored sofas. Sitting in one, he gestured for them to sit in the other across from him.

"I asked to speak with you privately because I want to know a few things. The first being your intentions regarding everything your grandmother left you, such as the manor and her title."

Brother and sister exchanged looks before Uryu answered, "We aren't sure yet. We only came here to find out more about our grandparents and our ancestors."

"We've never met Quincies outside our family," Naoko added. "We'd like to learn more about our culture."

Seiichi nodded, "It was a sad, tragic fate to befall our people in the East. I can understand why you would be eager to learn more, especially with an opportunity like this. That leads me to my next question, though, why are you traveling with four Soul Reapers? It might be seen as odd or disconcerting for some Quincies to see you so close with them."

Like you? Naoko wanted to ask. "Those people are our friends; we fought alongside each other during the war against Aizen. You knew our grandparents, so you should know they advocated for Soul Reapers and Quincies to work together. What they did to us was horrible, but it was two hundred years ago, most Soul Reapers we know weren't in service to the Gotei or even dead by then. There is no reason to hold a crime against them that they did not commit."

"I see your point young lady, though it is likely many will not. Soul Reapers are not well received by Quincies, even those who have not been affected by them. You need to be careful with who you associate yourselves with that is if you choose to take the title of royalty."

"And if we don't?" Uryu asked.

"Then, you could have it passed to someone else of a noble family or disband the monarchy entirely, though I wish you luck in that." He waved his hand as though dismissing it all. "But you don't have to make a decision now. Give yourselves time, and I will be happy to help you with whatever you choose to do."


*Please review (this story can't be that bad, can it?) I'll try to post April 24th.*