Hello everyone, here's your precious Dakan69.
Hope you enjoy my new story.
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 2: The Visoreds
(OPENING: Leader – Warrior Inside)
AREAS OF HEISEKAI
While walking through certain places of Heisekai, Raian explained to the awakened three youngsters that Heisekai is an Island on a sea, protected by the 'Suneku', the armed forces of this place. Furthermore, Raian even claims that it is much older than the soul society, something that even Raian himself couldn't believe eighter when he and Seireitou discovered this place and making it their new home.
While explaining, Fujimaru, Matsuri, and Shiyo looked around. Despite Raian's claims, this place didn't seem so much different than the Soul society.
The houses, the streets, all of them identical to Rukongai and Seireitei. Maybe the trees and Forrest seemed much more beautiful, but that's it.
But the most strange thing are the souls. Compare to those from Rukongai, the souls here were staring at them, what's more with an expression of disgust.
Matsuri couldn't figure out if it was because they three were strangers or maybe for some other reason.
No matter the reason, Matsuri didn't like those kinds of stares.
Shiyo then asked Raian, what kind of place they're going for, Raian answered they're gonna meet Seireitou Kawahiru-sama.
The three immediately realized whom Raian is talking about: the Captain of the 8th Division.
When Fujimaru then asked what he and Seireitou are doing here and why they aren't in the soul society anymore, Raian said that all Questions will be answered when they arrive at Seireitou's mansion.
SEIRETOU'S ZEN GARDEN – HEISEKAI
Seiretou ordered Shinji to explain again what he told him and Raian before Ashido and Naibu came back.
Then, Shinji started telling Ashido, that Kisuke Urahara, their Informant of Karakura Town, the current 'Jureichi' (Important spirit ground), came into contact with a new substitute Shinigami.
"so the soul society started creating substitute-shinigami again? , it's hard to believe that they don't have any fitting shinigami to watch out for the human world." Ashido remarked.
"I also thought at first, but this time it seems that the soul society AS A WHOLE didn't have any intention to create another substitute at all if you understand … "
Ashido then looked towards Shinji closely, knowing what he meant by that, "you mean that Aizen has his finger in the pie again ?" he asked Shinji.
"Oh come on, Aizen has all his fingers in all pies if we're honest about it, along with Gin, Tousen, Bansui, and … " Shinji suddenly stopped, since he was about to mention a certain name he wants to avoid right now.
Seiretou and Ashido obviously knew which name Shinji was about to mention, and also why he stopped.
Ashido looked towards Seiretou, "Should we tell them? " Ashido asked Seiretou if they should tell the three unconscious teens about the fifth person Shinji was about to mention.
"but none of us has really seen him, you only said that he made some kind of deal with Bansui." Shinji said while wondering if the information about that certain person is credible because, from all people who were on Aizen's side, Shinji still can't believe that THAT person is among them, just how did that a**face Aizen convinced THAT person to join his cause?
There was also the possibility that THAT person is blackmailed. If that's the case, then maybe Shinji and the other Visoreds could convince THAT person to come back to their side, now that Fujimaru, Matsuri, and Shiyo are with them.
"I know it's hard to accept it Shinji, but trust me when I say that I saw him with my own eyes before: HE is now our enemy." Ashido explained,
"And what's more, if we compare the pictures we received from las Noches today, and remembering his strength and the fact that HE is right now in charge of Las Noches while Aizen is absent, it's most likely that he's really loyal to Aizen. And to be honest, I doubt Aizen would put someone else in charge of Las Noches' Administration than him." Ashido continued the explanation.
"I think it would be the best if we try to avoid mentioning about his current whereabouts. But if they ask about him …hmmm.. in any case, we should try to avoid telling the truth about him for the time being." Seiretou concluded, to which Ashido and Shinji understood how hard this topic will be to explain to the three youngsters.
Seiretou then looked towards Ashido, "anyway, now to the next topic, what was the new substitute shinigami's name again, Shinji ? "
"Ichigo Kurosaki, if I'm not mistaken." Shinji said.
While Ashido was still wondering what benefit Aizen might have from a substitute shinigami, the new servant named Sora seemed surprised as well by hearing a familiar name again, resulting in slightly losing his balance, which nearly made him fall.
This was noticed by the three Visoreds, who looked towards him as if they suspected that the new servant heard that name before.
Seiretou then looked towards Sora's eyes,
"you know that man, do you Sora?"
Sora, who nodded then started telling his story after Seiretou ordered all four of them to sit down so that Sora could explain.
Sora then explained that he has been a soul for about 9 years after dying in an accident (Sora didn't specifically say car accident since the surroundings here seemed to him like the Japanese Edo-period, where there didn't exist cars).
He always watched out for his still alive sister named Orihime Inoue. As time went by, he realized that his sister was meeting with other people in her class, like her best friend Tatsuki Arisawa and Ichigo Kurosaki included.
When Seiretou asked his servant how he would describe this Ichigo Kurosaki, since Shinji mentioned that Urahara only mentioned his name and nothing else, Sora answered from what he remembered, that Ichigo seemed like that kind of young man who always gets into trouble, like fighting against some thugs regularly.
This Information somehow amused the three visored listeners: a wannabe 'tough guy'/deliquent who became a substitute shinigami.
The reason for that was, as he remembered how his sister explained it while praying for him, that like his sister, he had unusual spiky orange hair. While nearly everyone thinks that he colored his hair, implying that he's really a delinquent himself, Sora's sister Orihime claimes that it's his natural hair color, and remembering that this Ichigo also regularly visited the Karate Dojo of Orihime's best friend, who also is Ichigo Kurosaki's neighbor.
And then, when his sister was around 15, Sora, still as a soul, was abducted by hollows. The last thing Sora remembered before he became a hollow was, how he suddenly appeared in some kind of white desert, to which the three Visoreds concluded it to be Hueco Mundo.
And after he became a hollow, Sora has been ordered to attack Ichigo Kurosaki, which he did by attacking his home.
While doing this, he remembered how that Ichigo suddenly wore a black kimono and a large Katana sword after some young and short women with black hair and pajamas hit him with her right hand, separating his soul from his body.
This part seemed to have made Seiretou even more curious, which made the leading Visored asking his servant who that black-haired woman with pajamas was and how she managed to separate Ichigo's body from his soul in the first place.
While Sora didn't remember hearing her name, Sora remembered that when fighting as a hollow against Ichigo after Sora himself injured his sister, that black haired women used some kind of ability called 'Kido', if Sora recalled correctly, to heal Orihime's injuries.
After the fight, Sora was somehow able to reoppose his hollow instincts, which he used to look towards his sister for the last time, before taking Ichigos sword to stab himself in harakiri-style, which resulted in him to be erased from the human world.
Aside from the fact that the listeners were surprised to hear that Sora could oppose his hollow instincts, the three listening Visoreds concluded that the black-haired woman must be a shinigami.
Seiretou then asked if Sora also has fought against that woman, to which he replied with 'no' and that expect that she could see him, he couldn't feel any strong energy from her.
Now with this new information and the fact that Seiretou's servant didn't seem to lie, there was only explanation why that black-haired woman didn't, or rather couldn't fight:
"she must have transferred her whole shinigami powers to that Ichigo Kurosaki it seems" Seiretou concluded.
"Is that even possible? I mean if I remember about the past substitute shinigamis, they only could take 50% of the shinigami powers at most, because their bodies couldn't bear that much spiritual pressure, even though they were what we call 'High-spec' humans." Shinji explained his point of view.
Ashido, as well as Seiretou and Shinji, knew that a small percentage of humans can sense spiritual beings, which make them classified as 'high spec humans'. And considering Shinji's explanation right now, this Ichigo would be the very first Human who could absorb 100% of a shinigami's powers, if that is really the case at all. But there was still another uncertainty that bothered everyone, especially Ashido.
"Even if that's the case, this still doesn't explain how Sora could enter Heisekai, since only hollows, who were slain by a Visored's 'Zanku' can enter Heisekai." Ashido reminded everyone while thinking that even Sora won't be able to answer this matter. The only possible explanation would be that this Rukia is a Visored, but if that's the case then they, especially Seiretou, would've known her.
"at any rate, it seems that Kisuke Urahara has to explain more about this boy, can I count on you Shinji ?" Seireitou asked.
"is it a command to all of us? " Shinji wondered if Hiyori and the others can help him or if it's a 'stand-alone' order, which could be harder in this case.
"yes, even though it's possible that he might be reluctant the next time he's been asked" Seiretou explained before looking towards Ashido.
"as for you Ashido, I order you and Naibu to find out more about that young man named Ichigo Kurosaki on your own, which means that you and Naibu will join Shinji when he goes back in the human world." Seiretou ordered towards the red-haired fellow Visored.
Seiretou then asked Sora, who went on the left side near his lord:
"Say Sora, do you mind tell us where this Ichigo currently lives, you mentioned that you attacked him at his home right? "
This time Sora didn't answer. Usually, Seiretou wouldn't accept such behavior, but he, as well as Ashido and Shinji, understood that Sora didn't want to cause this Ichigo more trouble than he did when he was hollow.
"As you may have heard from our conversation, that Ichigo has become a substitute Shinigami, which some humans can become when a shinigami transfers his powers to one of these special humans, right ? "
"yes, milord" Sora answered while nodding.
"but one thing we forgot to mention is, that it has been prohibited for shinigami to transfer his powers towards a human … "
This revelation shocked Sora, proven by his expression.
"which means that Ichigo Kurosaki and this black haired woman you mentioned might get sooner or later into big trouble anyway. But since you've shared valuable information with us, we're willing to repay this debt by trying to avoid more trouble. " Seireitou offered him.
Besides the fact that Sora was now a servant of Seiretou, Sora realized that Seiretou is trustful, but he still wondered how he could prevent Ichigo from getting into more trouble.
Sora then explained that Ichigo Kurosaki's house is also a clinic, labeled as the 'Kurosaki Clinic', which was also where Sora was brought before he died as a Human.
After Seiretou thanked Sora for his explanation and honesty, the four men saw that another man, along with a servant carrying three katanas, as Sora did, came towards them, which turned out to be Raian.
"Hello Raian, did they wake up ?" a surprised Seiretou wondered.
"Actually, they're waiting at your mansion's front gate." Raian answered, which surprised the three other Visoreds.
"didn't expect for them to recover that fast" Seiretou said.
"well actually, the three woke up around 15 minutes after you three left. While the two girls could remain level-headed, the boy slightly lost control after I told him that we confiscated their Zanpakutos." Raian explained with an amused smirk before another servant appeared, carrying three Zanpakutos.
'what's more, the boy became even more embarrassed than his sister the moment he realized he hadn't it with him the moment he woke up.' Raian thought.
While Seiretou recognized the first Zanpakuto to be Raian's, the other two Zanpakutos seemed unknown to him, suggesting that those two belonged to the Kudo Twins.
"The second girl didn't have a Zanpakuto right? " Seiretou asked.
"no, even though her reiatsu seems as strong as that of her two peers." Raian declared.
"Alright, bring them towards my lounge as well" Seiretou ordered Raian as well before he left.
SEIREITOU'S LOUNGE - SEIREITOU'S MANSION - HEISEKAI
After the three Visoreds and the two servants with the Zanpakutos stood up, they went for Seiretou's lounge where everything for the upcoming letter has been prepared.
As they went for the many corridors, Shinji looked around the interior design. While the interior is in traditional Japanese, there were also clear ornaments, which looked like Hollow masks.
When the three Visoreds stood in front of the main Shoji-Door, Seiretou ordered Sora and the other servant to wait here, resulting in Sora and the other servant kneeling at the left corner of the Shoji-Door, the Katanas still under their care.
The lounge the three Visoreds entered was a traditional Washitsu with highly detailed illustrated Shojis, used eighter as a door, a window, or a room divider.
Seiretou sat in front of the prepared desk with a scroll and a long, but narrow brush, along with fresh ink. Seiretou started to write the letter he wants to send to a certain person.
While Seiretou is writing the letter, Shinji and Ashido meanwhile sat each at a prepared Zabuton-cushion, each along with a Chabudai-table, each with a cup and a full teapot, enjoying the tea until Seiretou is finished writing his first message.
It took around 15 minutes until the three heard an excited, and familiar (for Shinji and Ashido at least), female voice.
"WOW !, look at all these decorations around this corridor, this Manison's lord must be very fearless to make such scary ornaments" an excited young girl's voice could be heard first.
"Hey, are that our Zanpakutos? " A young man's upset voice could be heard while the other servant felt scared by his voice.
"FUJI-NII !, did you forgot we're inside a mansion ?!" the third voice, which belonged to Matsuri, as Ashido and Shinji realized, could be heard before a loud knuckle could be heard, "please behave" Matsuri added.
"OUCH … " the young man suddenly felt pain, "I'm sorry, Matsu-nee and Getsueikirite-dono."
"your sister is right Fujimaru" Raian suddenly spoke, "I'm sure you'll get your Zanpakutos back as soon as possible, but right now, I recommend you three to be on your best behavior after I open the door, am I clear ?"
" " "Yes sir" " " the three said in unison.
While Raian opened the Shoji-Door, Ashido and Shinji stood up.
Then, the two Visoreds saw the three expected young adults bowing towards Seiretou.
From right to left stood the light-brown haired Fujimaru with two hairpieces on both sides of his bangs and a bright red ribbon in his hair that rests on his left shoulder, then his light-blond haired sister Matsuri with a headband that has a flower attached to it, both in Shinigami's black Kimono and their dear brown-haired friend Shiyo, who wore a yellow kimono and a headband with several bright green leaves.
"thank you very much for inviting us to your palace, Kawahiru-taichou." Matsuri introduced herself first.
"it's an honor to meet you, Kawahiru-taichou." Shiyo introduced herself.
"I'm also honored to meet you again, Kawahiru-taichou." Fujimaru said since he remembered how he once met the previous Captain of the 8th Division.
When Fujimaru, Matsuri, and Shiyo woke up, they wondered where they were. At first, they thought it's the soul society since Raian Getsueikirite, Captain of the 13th Division, previously the Fukutaicho of the 8th Division under Kawahiru-taichou, was the first one to come into contact with them.
He then explained to the three awakened youngsters that Seireitou Kawahiru, the Captain of the 8th Division, wants to speak with them as soon as possible, which surprised them three since they never interacted with the 8th Division, except Fujimaru, but even he didn't interact that much with them.
More strange than the fact that they are interacting with the two commanders of the 8th Division was that they weren't wearing their representative Shinigami uniforms. While Kawahiru-taichou wore a mostly white Kimono with black stripes on the Kimono's sidelines, Raian's clothes were mostly black in a fashion they've never seen before.
What's more, when they got out of the emergency center, they realized that they've been stared at by many people, most of them watching with fear or disgust for some reason. But their biggest question was where the hell they are since this place doesn't seem to be soul society at all. It was Raian who told them that they are in 'Heisekai'.
The three were still keeping their heads low, still bowing.
"If you excuse me, I'm leaving" were Raian's last words, while bowing as well, before he closed the Shoji-Door.
Secrets, who stopped writing, smirked after hearing their polite introduction, even though they behaved 'less polite' a moment ago.
"I remember you Fujimaru." Seireitou said while smiling, remembering how he saw Fujimaru in the Barracks of the 11th Division, "And You must be his twin sister, you two also were stationed in the 11th Division if I'm not wrong" Seiretou announced with a happy expression to the twins before looking towards the brown-haired girl with interest. "but I doubt I remember your name." He admitted.
"oh, my name is Shiyo Suzunami, I'm the daughter of Konoka Suzunami." Shiyo proudly announced.
"so you're really her biological daughter then? " Seireitou asked, to which Shiyo nodded.
He didn't say it to Ashido and Shinji, but from those three, Shiyo was the most he's been curious about. The reason was that her reiatsu was somehow similar to his own and his younger sister, Yukina.
Hearing that Shiyo is Konoka's daughter made sense to Seireitou, explaining why she didn't have any Zanpakuto.
One reason for that is, that Seireitou is one of the few people who knows that Konoka Suzunami was the Captain of the Kido Corps back then, which was top secret information. This implies that Shiyo is a master in Kido as well.
"It's good to see that you three aren't hurt since I've been told that all of you were found unconsciously in Hueco Mundo, by the way, you can lift your heads. " Seiretou announced to them, which they did while Seiretou started writing his second message.
The three youngsters realized that like Raian, Seireitou's choice of clothes are also now different than the twins remembered: Now Seireitou is wearing a shihakushō that was of pale white, almost of a pearl shade, with black trimming along the edges and running down the outer sides of his hakama.
But what they saw then, made their eyes open wide: despite their strange clothes, two very familiar faces stood before the three youngsters. Fujimaru was the most surprised one. While Shiyo was surprised and excited as well, Matsuri wasn't that surprised since she already saw Ashido before.
"F-Fukutaicho Shinji ?, Fukutaicho Kano? Is that really you ? " Fujimaru asked in disbelief.
"Hello Matsuri, Fujimaru and Shiyo." Ashido greeted while coming closer to the three. Meanwhile, Matsuri noticed that compared to a while ago, Ashido is wearing a Kimono similar to that of a shinigami's 'Shikahusho', except that its color is red instead of black, fitting Ashido's hair color, and Ashido is also carrying his brown fur coat around his red 'Shikahusho', along with a hollow-looking mask, the same Matsuri saw in the forest of menos.
Shinji did the same as Ashido, "Nice to see that you three are doing well, and please don't address us like that, since we aren't in that position for a long time. As you may already know, this isn't the soul society, so now you can just call me by my first name, or 'aniki', same for Ashido" Shinji claimed to his former subordinates while looking to Ashido, who nodded, agreeing to be called by his first name too.
The three noticed that Shinji's new clothes were in the same fashion as that of Raian.
"Now that you mention it, Raian-dono said that we'll be brought to the human world before we go back to the soul society, but why … " Matsuri wanted to ask.
"you're asking why we don't send you to the soul society directly? " Seiretou asked them before he answered: "I'm afraid that's impossible for certain reasons."
"a-and why if we may ask, Kawahiru-sama ?" Shiyo asked
After Seiretou has finished writing his letter on the scroll, he closed it, what's more, he put some kind of paper with a kanji-like symbol on the scroll.
"let me answer your question with a counterquestion: do you know where we are right now ? "
"This village here is called 'Heisekai' as it has been told to us." Shiyo answered,
"and what is Heisekai ?" Matsuri curiously wondered.
"it's somewhere in Hueco Mundo? , since Raian-dono told us that we were found in the forest of menos? " Fujimaru asked, still wondering if they really have been found in Hueco Mundo.
"wrong" Seiretou said.
" " " huh ? " " " the three youngsters wondered.
"It's another, much better afterlife, despite of our population size of around 1,500 people" Seiretou started explaining, " it's true that most souls which are found by a shinigami are sent into the realm known as 'soul society', which is considered THE afterlife, when they die, BUT … " Seireitou then breathed before continuing.
" … under very unique circumstances, when a soul out of nowhere becomes a hollow and then being slain by a Visored's 'Zanku', thus being purified, THEN these purified souls can also enter the realm of Heisekai." Seireitou finished.
"Zanku? " Matsuri wondered what Seiretou is talking about.
Seiretou then took his whole sword (blade and Scabbard) out.
"let me ask you another question: How are Heisekai's forces called ?"
"If I'm not mistaken, 'Suneku' " Matsuri answered,
"and have you've been taught what the 'Suneku' is in particular ?" Seiretou asked while now looking towards Fujimaru.
"The army of the so-called 'Visoreds' as Raian-dono said, but I'm afraid he couldn't explain it any further to us" Fujimaru apologized for his lack of knowledge.
"as you know, Shinigamis call their Swords 'Zanpakuto', right? " Seiretou asked while the three teens nodded.
"the weapons of us Visoreds, on the other hand, are called 'Zanku'. " Seiretou then added.
The three looked in confusion, wondering what the difference is since Seiretou's sword didn't look much different than a Zanpakuto in their eyes.
"I can see the confusion in your eyes, so I guess you'll have to see it for yourself" Seiretou concluded while giving his whole Katana to the three youngers.
"try to sense my Zanku's Spirit. " Seiretou ordered the three youngsters.
While Fujimaru, Matsuri, and Shiyo held the 'Zanku', as Seiretou called it, they closed their eyes, so that they could come into contact with its spirit, as Fujimaru and Matsuri did with their Zanpakutos regularly. Shiyo also did that with Matsuri's Zanpakuto many times.
At first, there was only black, but then, out of nowhere, a Vasto Lorde-like hollow with a 'Hannya'-like Hollow mask appeared in front of the three youngsters, which made them open their eyes immediately in shock, resulting in Seireitou's weapon to fall on the Tatami-floor.
Still in shock, Fujimaru, Matsuri, and Shiyo looked towards the Katana, which has been taken again by Seiretou, who was surprised that the three youngsters could sense his Zanku's Spirit immediately.
Seiretou then started to explain further.
"As you know, Shinigamis are souls who were trained in the Soul Society in the art to fight against Hollows and of course I, Raian and many others were also like that as you three remember, but one day, we were trapped in Hueco Mundo, the world of the hollows.", as Seiretou explained, he stretched his left hand.
"And not being able to return, we had a realization …" Seiretou continued.
Then suddenly, the three youngsters saw that on his left hand, something seems to materialize. At first, they didn't seem to realize it, but then they, especially Matsuri, could see it clearly: it was a hollow mask, what's more, a very unusual hollow, which looked like a festival mask, only white.
Then it hit them: it was the same 'Hannya'-like hollow mask they saw when sensing the Zanku's Spirit.
The three young visitors, out of fear, stepped back, afraid to see that Seiretou has created a hollow mask. Right now, they were even afraid for his life, or afterlife, or how else to put it.
"As you see, this is a hollow mask, and every Visored can materialize his own." Seiretou stated while looking at his mask.
"the realization we had was that both, the Shinigami and the Hollows were both in fact, defective beings. And for Shinigami to devote to the instincts of the hollows, is a possibility to reach true 'completeness.' " Seiretou explained before making the hollow mask disappear again.
Seiretou, as well as Shinji and Ashido, saw how nervous the three youngsters suddenly were.
Even Seiretou realized that he might have exaggerated it a bit, so he decided to calm them down.
"now that I have explained what, I, Raian, Ashido, Shinji, and many others have become, I'll explain why we can't send you to the soul society directly." Seiretou started.
"First: I, and most Visoreds, don't get along with the Soul Society anymore for many reasons, particularly because we obtained hollow like powers, which has been prohibited by the Central 46." Seireitou explained.
"So .. you are expatriates? " Fujimaru asked, still nervous about their situation here, like his sister and the other female.
"That's right, and Second … " Seiretou then turned his head towards Shinji and Ashido, "how long did you said has it been since they've disappeared? " Seiretou asked them.
"around 200 years if I'm not wrong." Shinji answered.
This information shocked the three youngsters even more than the hollow mask that Seiretou just had.
"w-what do you mean by 200 years ?, y-you d-don't mean … " Matsuri asked in a nervous state while looking towards Shinji, who also had a serious expression.
"yes, you three are pronounced dead, for around 200 years," Shinji revealed towards them three, who made a shocking expression.
The three youngsters were stunned by Shinji's revelation. How could it be that they were pronounced dead for so long? All three of them clearly remembered how their home time in Seigen-taichou's quarter.
It was then that all three at the same time remembered that they suddenly became tired out of nowhere, even though they enjoyed tea while looking at the moonlight back then.
"and during those 200 years, many things have had to happen, which we will now explain to you." Seireitou announced.
(ENDING: Aqua Timez - 1mm)