Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with Bleach and Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance.
Understanding
Kamito, Est, and Restia were sitting in Kamito's small house.
"To start," Restia said, "Kamito, do you remember the end of the last Blade Dance when you won and we met with the Elemental Lords?"
"To be honest, no I don't really remember," Kamito said, "I can't remember what it was."
"As expected since you lost your memories," Restia said, "the truth is the corruption and the awakening."
"Corruption and awaken?" Kamito asked.
"Yes," Restia said, "Corruption of the Otherworldly Darkness and the awakening of Ren Ashdoll."
"The Otherworldly Darkness and Ren Ashdoll?" Kamito replied and then eyes wide a bit as he recalled something that he saw something that was horrifying, "Wait, I remember something that I saw…"
"You remember something Kamito," Restia said.
"Y-Yeah, sort of," Kamito said.
Est just looked at Kamito and was concerned for him.
"It might help after all," Restia said, "maybe you'll eventually remember what really happened but regardless I will tell you. You have the right to know."
"Restia," Kamito spoke.
"Kamito, everything I did, everything that I was involved in, I did it all for your sake," Restia said.
"What do you mean?" Kamito asked.
"How could you say that what you did was for Kamito's sake?" Est asked with a frown, "It doesn't seem like it was when you sent enemies after him."
Restia was about to rebuke what Est said but stopped herself and considered her words.
"Yes I can understand how it could look that way," Restia said, "but it's the truth when I say that everything that I did was for Kamito's sake. My way of doing things was actually to prevent Kamito to be the Demon King."
"The Demon King?" Kamito spoke, "Restia, what are you saying?"
Restia looked at Kamito, "Kamito, you are the successor of the Demon King, the one who ravaged the world a thousand years prior."
"…I see," Kamito said surprised, "you know, there was someone here in this district that said I was the successor of the Demon King."
"Huh, Kamito, what are you talking about?" Restia asked confused.
"Well the thing is that before you came, I met with someone who was part of the Instructional School," Kamito said.
"Really?" Restia responded surprised.
"Yes," Kamito replied with a nod, "in fact, I wonder if you remember the person. He was Kenji Oka."
"Kenji Oka," Restia said, "Oh I see. Yes I actually do remember him. In fact, he was one of the people that sealed me in the ring because he didn't like how you were."
"Of course, I suppose it was to be expected," Kamito said, "he was mad and annoyed when he learned that I was killed by Jio," Kamito shook his head, "his tone changed and actually tried to kill me, referring to me as trash."
"Kamito," Restia said.
"Yes?" Kamito asked and noticed the dark expression that Restia had,
"Do you know if he is still around?" Restia asked as she was in a foul mood, "I want to teach him a painful lesson."
"Oh don't worry about it," Kamito assured, "and besides, the Shinigami that came by took him. They're probably taken him to the Seireitei."
"Hmm, sounds like a lot happened," Restia said.
"Yes a lot," Kamito said.
District 40 of West Rukongai, Takame
The two well-dressed men left and Velsaria watched as they left while the tall man frowned and folded his arms still holding his sheathed sword.
"I just don't get it," The tall man said.
"What is it?" Velsaria asked looking at the tall man.
"I was told that materials were being taken to help the nobles move in against us," The tall man said, "How could this have happen? Did he give the wrong information?"
"Who are you referring to?" Velsaria asked.
"Huh, what a minute," The tall man said and then he got upset, "this isn't right! Even it was nothing to use against us, we still shouldn't have let them go!"
"D-Do you seriously believe that?" Velsaria replied shocked.
"Yes I do," The tall man said and he turned to Velsaria, "We should have stop them anyway and let them suffer of not having anything to celebrate."
"Don't you think that you're being a bit petty?" Velsaria asked.
"If you were around when an incident happened here in this district, you would have felt the same way," The tall man said and then he sighed, "Well it's too late to do anything about it now."
"What is this incident that you're talking about?" Velsaria asked, "I know I heard it before when I arrived here."
"Hmm you want to know," The tall man said, "In that case, I would like to invite you to our base."
"Your base?" Velsaria asked.
"Yeah, I want you to meet our leader and then you can hear what happened here," The tall man said, "You'll come to understand why we view the people in the Seireitei as enemies and why we're standing against them."
Velsaria thought about it and nodded.
"Very well," Velsaria said, "I'll check it out."
"Great," The tall man said with a nod, "I'll head over to the base now. Head there later, I'll be expecting you."
"Very well," Velsaria said, "I will be there."
"You won't regret it," The tall man said, "by the way, what's your name?"
"Oh right," Velsaria said, "my name is Velsaria."
"Velsaria," The tall man said, "Huh, I see," The tall man grinned again as he pointed at himself, "my name is Katsuie, Katsuie Imagawa."
The tall man named Katsuie gave Velsaria directions on how to get to the base and went on his way eagerly waited for Velsaria. When Katsuie left, Velsaria stood and wondered if she really was going to go through it.
District 40 of North Rukongai, Minori
Kamito told Restia and Est what occurred between himself and Kenji Oka and up to the incident with the fire spirit Ifrit.
"I see," Restia said, "so that's what happened. It certainly is a surprised with Ifrit but now I understand… a blood stone that was in the Seireitei."
"Yeah," Kamito said.
"Kamito," Restia said.
"Hmm?" Kamito responded.
Restia went to Kamito and hugged him and had a sad expression. Her action surprised Kamito and Est who didn't appreciate what the dark spirit was doing.
"R-Restia," Kamito spoke.
"I'm so sorry," Restia said with sadness, "I'm so sorry for what happened. I never wanted you to die. It's my fault. I never wanted any bad to happen to you. I'm sorry Kamito. I'll do anything to make it up to you. I'll never separate from you again. I promise you this."
"Restia," Kamito said and then smiled as he hugged her back, "It's okay. It doesn't matter anymore. You're here with me. I wanted to be with you for three years since we separated. I'm glad to have you back Restia. Now that you're here with me, I am satisfied. Nothing else matters."
Est looked on and had a sad expression and decided to stand up and make her way out. But as Est was heading out, she was suddenly grabbed by Kamito and he pulled her in for a hug as well. Est and Restia were surprised and Kamito was feeling happy.
"I'm feeling happy right now," Kamito said, "I want to stay like this with the both of you."
"Kamito," Est said.
"As long as the three of us together, nothing can beat us," Kamito said .
"Kamito, do you mean that you still want me around?" Est asked.
"Huh, of course I do," Kamito replied happily, "Why wouldn't I?"
Est blinked her eyes as she was surprised and Restia was surprised as well and both Est and Restia looked at each other.
District 40 of West Rukongai, Takame
Velsaria walked and arrived at the outskirts of the district. She stopped and saw the huge building.
"This must be the place," Velsaria said, "it looks like a castle although it looks rundown."
The former knight walked and approached the rundown castle. As Velsaria approached the castle, he saw three young looking men who looked to be guarding the entrance. The three young guards looked and saw blonde haired young woman.
"Hey, who are you?" One of the guards asked.
"This is the base belonging to the Yarikawa Clan," Another guard said.
"The Yarikawa Clan?" Velsaria asked, "So that's the name of the group."
"That's right so who the hell are you woman?" The third guard asked.
"I was invited here by Katsuie Imagawa," Velsaria said.
"Imagawa?" The first guard asked.
"Oh so you're her," The third guard said, "You're Velsaria, yeah, we were told to expect you."
"Imagawa told us to let you through," The second guard said.
The three men opened the gate and someone was walking through and it was Katsuie.
"You're here," Katsuie said as he was pleased.
"Yes I came just like you requested," Velsaria said with a nod.
"Great then let's go," Katsuie said, "Our leader is waiting to meet with you."
"Very well," Velsaria said with a nod.
Velsaria went in the base and went in with Yashiro. As they were in the grounds within the base, Velsaria looked around and saw people who she assumed were members of the Yarikawa Clan. The members looked at Velsaria and most gave suspicious looks. They went up inside and went up the stairs and got to the upper floor. There was a door and Yashiro opened the door. There in the room, there were two people who were waiting. One of them was a lean man with black shoulder-length hair and had a scar over his left eye and had a navy blue sleeveless robe and he was holding a sheathed sword. The other was an average looking man with short brown spiky hair and he wore a dark red sleeveless robe and he had his own sword that was as tall as he was and he carried it on his back.
"Well now, so you're here," The average looking man said, "so this is the lady."
"Yes leader, this is her," Katsuie said.
Katsuie went and stood next to the man who Katsuie called leader. Velsaria looked around and gave her attention to the three men who stood before him.
"So your name is Velsaria, I take it," The spiky hair man said.
"Yes," Velsaria said with a nod.
"I see," The leader said with a nod, "it's nice to meet you Velsaria. As you know, we are the Yarikawa Clan, the clan that is opposing against the nobles and their soldiers in the Seireitei. I am Jiro Yarikawa and I am the leader of the Yarikawa Clan. I am just going to say that I don't mind if you want to join us. My group is welcome for everyone that wants to join as long they desire for our clan's objective. Believe me, it would be worth your while and you can be part of delivering justice against the oppressive system of the Seireitei."
"Oppressive system…" Velsaria said.
"That's right," Jiro said, "you've already met Katsuie here."
Katsuie nodded and smiled.
"Join us Velsaria," Katsuie said, "I can tell, I can tell that you have quite a fighting spirit in you. I bet you can handle yourself in battle. We can provide what you need to help us put an end to the vile nobles."
"I am Shigure Tokita," The scarred man said, "and I'm just going to say be blunt. Miss Velsaria, I'm not so sure about you."
"Oh, is that so?" Velsaria replied.
"Yeah, you don't really seem much to me," Shigure said, "although I suppose it doesn't matter really. I mean even if you are useless in battle, you can be helpful in other ways. I'm sure we can find some usefulness for you… that is if you choose to join us."
"She's useful," Katsuie insisted.
"How can you be so sure?" Shigure asked, "Didn't you also say that he just intervene helping those two men?"
"Well yeah and I sense something in her," Katsuie said, "I can sense her spirit energy."
"Wait, you sense that too?" Velsaria asked surprised.
"Huh, yeah," Katsuie replied looking at Velsaria.
"I see," Velsaria said, "there was someone who sort of said the same thing to me."
"Oh, who was that?" Jiro asked.
"It was a woman," Velsaria said.
"What woman?" Shigure asked.
"Well it was woman who had two people with her," Velsaria said, "In fact she seemed well-dressed compared to the others."
"I see," Jiro said with a frown.
"Leader, could it be that…?" Katsuie spoke.
"Most likely," Jiro said.
"Hmm, do you know?" Velsaria asked.
"It's most likely that you actually met a noble from the Seireitei," Shigure said.
"A noble?" Velsaria asked.
"Yes," Shigure said.
"Looks like we have to be cautious," Jiro said, "we don't know if it is her but let us on guard."
"Understood Leader," Katsuie said.
Jiro cleared his throat and looked at Velsaria.
"So Velsaria, what do you say?" Jiro asked, "Would you be willing to join us?"
Velsaria thought about it and then she went back to what happened in her previous life and how things ended for her when she was died due to the cursed seal in her heart. She thought about it and decided to face the three men.
"To be honest, I don't know," Velsaria said, "I don't really know much of anything. I just arrived here today and I don't know much of anything in the Soul Society. I need to time to really think about before I make a decision."
"C'mon Velsaria, I can promise that it would be worth it," Katsuie insisted.
"Katsuie," Jiro said looked at tall man and then he looked at Velsaria and nodded, "that is perfectly understandable. Just introductions were just good enough. Take your time and if you feel that this is a fit for you, come to us."
"Thank you," Velsaria said.
Velsaria left after waving at Jiro, Katsuie, and Shigure. She went on her back to her small rundown house by the river. As she continued on her way, she realized that she forgot to ask about an incident that happened in the past. She figured that she could stop by seeing Kozue and ask her in details.
District 78 of South Rukongai, Inuzuri
Jio was taking a walk through the outskirts of the district. He stopped when he heard some noise and was curious of what the noise was as it sounded like a grinding sound. Jio went to where the noise was as he kept walking, the grinding noise was getting louder. Jio arrived to an area where there was a tree that was wilted. The teenager looked and was surprised in what he saw and it was a large grayish-blue Hollow that had a horse shaped mask and was standing on two legs and had it claws grinding on the wilted tree.
"What the hell is this?" Jio asked.
The Hollow stopped and turned and saw Jio and the Hollow roared at the boy as it prepared itself to actually kill the soul that it saw. Jio looked on and was narrowed his eyes at the creature.
"I don't know what you are," Jio said and then he grinned, "I can tell that you're looking for a fight… that's fine by me. I was just thinking that the guys that I have been fighting were just pathetic weaklings," Jio drew unsheathed the sword he had and pointed at the Hollow, "Maybe you can give me a decent challenge."
Seireitei
In the central capital of the Soul Society, Okabe was walking in the building that was the barracks of the First Division of the Gotei 13. Not long, he was in the office that belonged to the Captain of the First Division who was also the supreme leader of the Gotei 13. Okabe was meeting with Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto and with him was Chojiro Sasakibe who was his lieutenant. Okabe was explaining to Yamamoto about the situation that had occurred in the Minori with the Oka Gang, their leader Kenji Oka, and the blood stone that was taken and ended up in Kenji's hands who then used it to summon the fire spirit Ifrit. Yamamoto and Sasakibe listened and took in everything that the 10th Division Captain was reporting to them.
"…with that concludes everything that has happened," Okabe said.
"I see," Yamamoto said, "very well. You have done well Captain Okabe."
"Thank you Captain-Commander," Okabe replied with a bow, "and as ordered I have already had Kenji Oka taken and handed custody to the Onmitsukido."
"Of course," Yamamoto said with nod, "Have you figured out who within the Seireitei was ultimately behind this?"
"I do believe I know who it is but…" Okabe spoke.
"But?" Yamamoto asked.
"If my guess is right, then dealing with that person is going to be difficult," Okabe said with a frown.
"I see," Yamamoto said with a frown, "this could be a problem."
"Sir, do know a way where we might be able to get around it?" Okabe asked.
District 40 of North Rukongai, Minori
Night had fallen and in Kamito's small house, Kamito was lying in a futon with Restia and Est who both fell asleep. Kamito was staring at the ceiling of his house and then he glanced over to both Restia and Est and he felt glad. It had been such a unique thing for Kamito. He was happy to have both Est and Restia with him and ready to live on in district with his two precious contracted spirits but he was also sad as he was wondering with what was going on Claire and the others. He didn't what happened but he hoped they were okay and they were able to move on and concentrated on getting in the Blade Dance.
"I feel terrible that I had died and left them behind," Kamito said in his head with a sad expression, "especially Claire."
Kamito sighed sadly and gradually fell asleep.
That's it for this chapter. Next chapter: Kamito, Est, and Restia continue their time in Minori.
