X
That night, as the house groaned and creaked for attention, I found my mind swirling between my memories and Shinji.
"He might leave again," I whispered to myself, recalling my initial hesitancy to become familiar with him in the past.
Now he actually might, Shiro thought of how we had found out he left. The short blond bob attached to a white haori with the insignia for the Fifth Division on it, appearing in front of us to block the enemy as we struggled to keep up. Didn't even tell us…
I played over our previous interactions. I recalled meeting him in the original timeline. He had been attractive, and we had gently connected. His loyalty for his chosen family, for me when I had been chosen to join, had infatuated me. Then he just…disappeared.
Then…the war.
As a captain in the past, Shinji had been confident. He'd been able to say no to us and make that boundary. And the way he fucked…
There was something about hands that gripped too hard, hair pulled too tightly, neck squeezed too tight that just…
My hands skimmed down at the thoughts floating in my head. You cried, Shiro recalled.
And I loved it, I assured her. The extreme pleasure, the type that races up and down your body, makes your heart beat too fast, and squeezes your soul, is what I still longed for.
X
Mitakihara City really was a place of wonder. It was so wonderful, in fact, that just about every train from Karakura had at least a brief stop here.
'The City of the Future' indeed, I dryly thought as I saw the bane of my thoughts board the commuter train across from me.
Last night was too good to call him a bane, Shiro popped up, referring to our rather explicit dream.
Shut up!
I had to stop myself from physically huffing at her when he sat next to me. He was close again, but still not touching.
"Hey." He tipped his head back, lanky legs sprawling.
"Hi," I greeted him.
"Fancy meeting you here," he kept up.
"I don't think I'd fancy something like this," I quipped, smirking to myself. I saw him look at me from the corner of my eye.
"Want to go to lunch?" he asked after a beat.
"Oh." I paused, breaking the flow of the conversation. "I'm on my way to lunch," I admitted.
He casually looked around at the empty train. "Meeting anyone?"
I debated whether to lie.
"No." I settled on the truth. I'd been lying too much lately.
" Perfect," he chirped. "I'll come too."
X
We were quite the duo, the fashionable, confident, handsome, young blond man, and the short but attractive woman, rolling up to the cafe.
We sat in a booth, were given menus, and were perusing our options for food before the conversation really picked up again.
Delicately, I pressed my leg along the full length of his while I sipped at my bubble tea. He maintained the stare that we were giving each other.
"So you really don't remember me?" he suddenly asked.
"Remember you from the ice cream truck?" I played dumb.
Since you want to tell everyone the truth, why not tell him yes? Shiro pointed out.
No. Can you imagine what they'd do if they discovered my ability?
"Not the ice cream truck!" he practically groveled out. "From before." When he said this, his voice dropped.
"Before?" I asked.
He nodded.
"I think you said we met at Urahara's, right?" I tried to remember. That was a memory that hadn't quite come to me yet.
He frowned. "Not that. I mean further back."
I gave him a blank look.
"I guess—" he started loudly before realizing where he was and quieting down. "I guess all I want to know is…do I look familiar? Seem familiar to ya?" He leaned over, sliding his drink to the side.
"Familiar…" I mumbled to myself.
He eagerly nodded.
I frowned. He's so different like this. The old Shinji from our original timeline…He would have just held my hand and told me something sweet.
Old Shinji from the past, the second timeline, would have acted like this if he thought you were being ridiculous, Shiro pointed out.
I agreed with her. He probably would have tried to fuck it out of me. This would have been his last resort. He's changed, I realized with a stark clarity. This Shinji…I think he cares about me.
My eyes widened.
"Well? Anything?" His pressing voice brought me back.
I shook my head. "No," I said regretfully. "Nothing." A changed Shinji…Could I get to know him the same way? Would we still mesh? I questioned.
I think we'd mesh better with a Shinji like this one who has emotions, Shiro said rudely. Like that sweet Shinji from the very beginning.
This is too many Shinjis. My head is rattling.
He sighed, dejected. He leaned back in his seat, looking glumly at his dish as the waiter served us.
"I'm sorry." I tried to bring him back. I'm sorry, but I can't let anyone try to use my power but me. It's too dangerous. I'm not even their Koi…
"It's okay." He surprised me, playing with his napkin. "Kensei said—well, it doesn't matter," he cut himself off.
"Oh," I murmured, not sure how to comfort him and feeling guilty. "Shinji…are you maybe mixing me up with someone else?" I tried to redirect.
"No. I know it's you," he told me firmly, finding his resolve as he started to poke at his greens. Taking a bite, he spoke with a full mouth. "Yer the only one who can manifest their hollow."
My eyes widened. What the fuck did you do? I accused Shiro with vehemence.
Nothing! She all but hid from my angry proddings.
"How do you know that?" I asked him lowly, putting down my fork.
He took a drink of his water, eyeing me thoughtfully over the glass rim. "I saw it…in yer bed with ya. Twice now," he informed me surely.
The other night, we realized at the same time.
"Not so happy now, are ya?" he asked me almost vindictively.
"Are you going to tell anyone?" I asked, my voice lowered and quiet.
He thought about it for a moment, eyeing me. "I suppose I could keep it a secret…for the time being," he teased before his smirk fell off. "So? What's the secret to it?"
Shiro shivered within me, feeling as if she wanted to hide us both away.
"Well?" he pressed after my brief silence.
"Trust," I answered after a beat.
"Trust?" He malfunctioned.
I nodded.
" That's a fucking joke," he hissed out. Seeing my straight face, the missing punch line, he sighed with anger and dug around in his pocket. "Here," he hissed out, throwing a few blue 1,000-yen notes on the table. "For lunch," he told me, standing.
I turned to watch him all but stalk out of the shop, the small bell shrieking as he gruffly pushed through.
That was a failure, Shiro observed.
How was I supposed to know he hates hollows? I threw back at her.
What? Why are you upset with me? She sent a distinct upsetness through our link.
I sighed. I'm sorry, I apologized for being unfair. It really wasn't her fault. I suppose after all these years, decades, spent with Shiro, I had forgotten how ill the Vizards had spoken of their perceived burdens.
They could be like us, Shiro wished wistfully.
X
I found myself wandering Mitakihara aimlessly, taking some time to myself. I doubted that there would be a reoccurrence of the other day, that anyone would recognize me.
Busy streets, empty alleys, and sky-high bridges kept my feet busy while my mind worked overtime.
I wish I was as carefree and relaxed as them, I thought enviously, watching a few schoolgirls pass me by.
We could be, if we defeated Aizen, Shiro affirmed our goal.
We could defeat him in the upcoming invasion, I agreed, feet tramping through the grass by the river that joined our two towns.
We could.
I crouched down, looking into the water, and began to plot.
X
"Hey! What're you doing?" The two twins, Karin and Yuzu, bustled in through the door after Ichigo. All three of them looked like they had been in a fight with the grass more than the competition.
Karin twirled the soccer ball on her finger, looking between Ichigo and me as Yuzu fiddled with her shoes.
"Uh, nothing." I flipped the paper over.
" Huh? It doesn't seem like nothing." Ichigo frowned again, not having missed the lead-saturated paper. "Let me see!" He grabbed out for it suddenly.
Using my superior reflexes, I was quick to ball up the paper that held the framework to achieve my goal and jerked away before shoving it in my mouth.
"What the fuck." Karin copied my potty mouth, making Ichigo and Karin both round on her.
X
"Then, Koi, if you please." Kisuke held out a pill to me. The beaming light of the underground training area reflected off of its purple hue as I examined it gingerly.
"What's this?" I took it gently, ignoring as Ichigo's classmates oohed and awed over the young man's now empty body.
"A gikon!" He flipped his fan.
"Okay." I shrugged, tossing it up and swallowing it down. "Was I supposed to chew?" I deadpanned, realizing I hadn't.
"Huh?" Kisuke had a shocked look on his face at my immediate reaction.
Feeling a ripping noise and suddenly light, I looked down to see my body kneeling before me. Guess not then.
"This false soul will take over your body when you're in dire need! She'll keep your body safe while you fight!" His sales pitch sounded prerecorded.
I looked at her curiously as she stood up. "Gikon, reporting for service!" She mock saluted me.
I'm uncomfortable, Shiro interjected.
"This is weird…" I took her face in my hands as she relaxed her posture. I pushed and pulled at it curiously.
"Maa, well, I'm sure you'll get used to it," he assured me before going to Ichigo and using a few well-placed words to send him into a tizzy. The other three teens laughed at them.
I continued to inspect my body and the false soul as Kisuke explained the soul extraction, the paper gate before us, and the overall plan.
I remember this, I realized as I played with the hair on her—my—head, twisting it and fluffing it. The gikon smiled at me patiently. This is what I went through. I glanced at the kids standing before me. Without anyone else, of course.
The kids were an interesting addition. Their very existence made me feel that I was, in fact, jumping realities as well as time.
They'll be liabilities, Shiro warned.
Ichigo might not be. I hoped.
"Then…Koi, are you ready?" Kisuke asked, finishing his lecture. The ragtag group turned to look at me.
"Yeah. I am," I told him, my heart doing something funny in my chest.
We're going home, Shiro spoke for the both of us.
He looked at me curiously, shielded behind his paper and wood, before going to the opposite side of the papier-mâché looking rectangle that Tessai was on.
"Then…" Setting Benihime down on the ground, he put his hands on his creation. Benihime will be upset about that, I thought.
"Start!" The rectangle lit up a brilliant white, and I felt Shiro take over my eyes as we squinted through the light. Already, Yoruichi was jumping into the senkaimon, black front paws falling into the light. Without hesitation, Ichigo was following her.
I waited until the almost indecisive Ishida Uryu made it through before I gave a small burst of reiatsu to propel myself forward. I cut the almost flash step before touching the light, not wanting to attract the currents of the Precipice World.
X
The Precipice World was cold and wet. The walls twisted, turned, and beat like a heart might. Shadowed objects stretched overhead, the sickly pulsing reminding me of a digestive track.
"Hurry. There's something coming!" Yoruichi's deep voice spurred us on faster. I was bringing up the rear of the group, all of us were running on foot rather than flash step. The barest hint of active reiatsu and spiritual pressure would cause these nightmare-esque walls to close in around us like a final supper.
Twisting my head back, I resisted the urge to use my powers to reach out and get a closer look at said light. What I could see, almost stumbling as my foot caught on some unknown bump on the rough terrain, was a single round light illuminating the disgusting purple walls as it rushed toward us.
"The cleaner," I realized to myself.
"Run faster!" Yoruichi yelled as it barreled toward us.
Wasthis thing always so fast? Shiro panicked as it easily closed more than half the distance to us.
As if hearing her, the plague-filled organs of the Precipice World made a blind jab toward us, barely grabbing ahold of the cape of the blue-haired boy in front of me.
"Ishida!" Ichigo's friend, Chad, made quick work to rip it off and throw him over his shoulder. Looking back at me and seeing my nod, he pressed onward.
" H-Hey!" Ishida yelled, barely audible over the roar of the train engine a scant few yards behind us. I forced myself to run faster, the growing light at the end of the tunnel, safety, growing stronger and stronger.
"Leave it!" Yoruichi stressed from the front. "Anything that purple goo touches won't ever come back!"
"Santen kesshun!"
A gentle, orange energy flared up behind me. I felt a sudden push from behind, and I was catapulted into the light.
X
The air smelled familiar here. It touched a pain in my chest. Home. The sight of the Seireitei had left my heart to burn with longing, a low fire reaching out to wood just out of reach.
I relaxed in my plain kimono, the faded slate blue making me feel as though I had never left. It was much comfier than my shihakusho. A small, kind old woman had ushered us into her home as soon as we started wandering away from the scene we had caused.
"Well, you're lucky to have survived, boy." The old woman was disciplining Ichigo, doing a very efficient job of it.
He looked properly cowed. "I'm sorry," he admitted.
"That wall…there's no telling when it'll go back up." The black cat licked at its paw.
"Yes," the old woman agreed. "And to think you defeated Jidanbo, the gate guard…" she trailed off. "I'm sure your mother trained you well." She gestured toward me.
"Mother? That's my sister, old lady," he corrected. Ichigo and I deadpanned.
"Hmm. Aren't you the one that had that little boy? The smart one…" She's so old she's losing her mind, I realized.
"No. You must be thinking of someone else" I tried to gently correct her. I would never have kids. Not after parenting my siblings my entire childhood.
X
The homes in Rukongai mostly had the same feeling to them. The food was genuine, hard grown through hard labor. There were spiders in the lesser used rooms, in the rafters, but the fires in the centers all burned equally bright.
Kukakku, the current head of the Shiba clan, one of the five great noble families, lived in a mansion. All the rooms were pristine, the hearth burned greatly, and ornate details decorated often-forgotten edges.
Walking through her home, it was all I could do to keep myself calm as I contemplated how I had been stolen from all this. My contempt for Isshin grew more as he lingered on my thoughts.
I'm a princess, I told myself defiantly, knowing very well that I wasn't one because of my mother's side.
It helped to grow my confidence for my dangerous up-and-coming plan.
X
This wasn't the plan! I was groggily pulling myself out of the debris. The ball had cracked from Ichigo and Ganju's infighting, and our group had been shot in several different directions around the Seireitei.
Forcing myself to sit up, I tried to unwind my hair from where it had gotten caught around me before I stood. I can't believe I let them shoot me out of a firework cannon a second time!
Looking around, I drew on Shiro's powers to increase my sight. As the yellow claimed my irises, I slowly gathered where I was.
I think…this is Squad 3?
"Hey! What the hell!" a voice cried, coughing into the dust that was slowly fading away.
"Stay back," another, calmer, voice commanded. Someone's coming, Shiro warned as we sensed the sticky reiatsu approaching. It felt like bubblegum on the bottom of a shoe, clinging to both surfaces desperately while simultaneously trying to rip itself away.
My eyes narrowed, head injury forgotten as a silver-haired man approached me. "Gin," I hissed out, hand going to my short blade as I instinctively fell into a fighting stance. Even if he does try to kill Aizen in the future…right now, he's still my enemy!
"Oh? I don't think we've met yet." His slight blue eyes glared at me as his hand went to his zanpakutou lackadaisically, deceitfully.
I calmed myself, taking a deep breath, as I allowed my power to spill out threateningly. From under my mane of hair that threw up in the breeze, cobwebs bobbed freely.
"Oh? Are you sure?" he teased me, mouth twisting. "I'm quite…strong!" At this he unsheathed his sword, bringing it back like he had with Ichigo the prior day. Not waiting, I dodged to the side as it flew through where I had been. There was an explosion as the building behind me was cut in half from the roof down.
Tsk! My shoulder burned. Looking down, I saw that it had been easily cut through.
He frowned and tried to bring his blade back in, slicing toward me on the left. Stepping off the ground, I jumped over his blade, grabbing the top of it.
It inched toward my fingers, growing shorter by meters in the milliseconds I took to propel myself well into his space.
" Okasen." The name slew off my lips easily as I gave a harmless slice of my dagger in front of his chest. Using my slice to draw the yellow light onto the air, I cut the spell off from my zanpakutou. His eyes widened and I heard a small gasp as yellow light fell off the tip of my blade.
The spell fired, beams of blinding light coming out of the firefly line I had drawn. They pierced his chest, slicing one arm deep as he made a move to protect his sword arm.
He slid back, reiatsu pushing on me as leverage. I stood firm. My eyes cautiously looked to either side, seeing the whole of Squad 3 gathering around us.
"You don't think you'll actually get out of here alive, Ryoka, do you?" Gin hissed. He brought his sword forward again, and I tensed as he opened and closed his hand, looking focused.
Here he comes! Shiro felt the spike in his bloodlust carrying on his spiritual pressure like wind. Bringing up my blade, I held back his leap and downward stroke with some effort. "Oh? What happened to your zanpakutou, Ryoka?" He pressured me while he mocked my short sword, using his height to make my angle worse. "And why…do you have eyes like that?" He spoke quietly, and I realized he was talking to himself.
Flinging him off, I used another kido. "Haien!" I stressed, using my hand to gather up a darker purple reiatsu from the air around me. I threw it at my opponent, aiming for his face.
He lunged to the side, falling. "Rikujokoro!" He pointed at me. I watched as reiatsu gathered on his finger, pulling from the reiatsu that was swarming our battlefield.
Turning to flash step away, I was pummeled in my midsection by a beam of light. Then another in the back, and four more slammed into me. I choked, leaning forward, grabbing for my throat as the air slammed out of me. One more beam, apparently held back out, slammed into my head before finding its way into the circle of light around my waist.
I shook my head, trying to clear the immediate blood out of my eyes.
Concussion, Shiro warned.
Cursing my hesitation, I used the cobwebs that now peppered the ground around us to perceive him standing up. "Oh? Look at what you did, Ryoka."
Doing my best to ignore his continued taunting, I squeezed my zanpakutou and silently released my shikai. Letting go of my now shadowy blade, it fell onto the ground and broke apart noiselessly.
"I'll have…to punish you now." He stood over me, blade raised above my exposed throat. Shakily bringing in a breath, I forced myself up by pressing the flat of my palms to his strong kido spell.
"Is that…so?" I goaded. I watched with satisfaction as he raised his blade higher, blocking some of the midday sun on his haori.
A tiny, twisting shadow latched on this. It started to pulsate.
"Yes," he hissed, spiritual pressure spiking as he made to stab me through the head.
M y shikai grew, twisted, and convulsed up and around his body. It stopped his arms at the joints before circling around his neck.
"Release me," I threatened, raising my own powers up, ignoring the cries of the weaker Soul Reapers that were fainting around us, our spiritual pressure too much for them to take.
Resisting me, he made to extend his blade into my head.
Snap! Pop! Rip!
My zanpakutou squeezed his throat, ripped up and down his chest, and crushed his arms at the elbows.
"What…?" I heard him murmur as blood started to gush out, bleeding through his snow white haori.
Dropping his blade, it clanged to the ground next to me. His body dropped like lead.
"Captain Ichimaru!" Several Soul Reapers cried around us, forcing me to stay in motion. Cradling my shadows around me, I used them to stab through the binding kido and break free.
"Get some help!" A blond man ran into the clearing. "Captain!" He stopped short, seeing me with my foot raised above Gin's zanpakutou. "Stop, Ryoka!" he commanded me, hand going to his blade.
I watched as his eyes kept going back to his captain. He's scared, Shiro laughed.
The thought made me smirk. Seeing this, I felt the lieutenant's smaller spiritual pressure attempt to push me down. He raised his sword.
Knowing that I was in no condition to fight, I covered myself in shadows and flash stepped away over the buildings.
X
I found myself licking my wounds in a storehouse on the outskirts of Squad 13, next to the boundary of Squad 11.
Green energy shimmered above the kido burn on my left hand. I stared at it emptily.
I can't feel Gin's spiritual pressure now, Shiro observed.
It's night now. My grosbeak eyes flicked to the now dark window over the entry doors. We must have damaged him bad.
Shiro frowned at me internally. He damaged us bad.
I could only agree.
So we're going ahead with the plan tomorrow? she questioned.
Have to. I kept my answer short. No other option, really.
X
Focusing my hollowed eyes here and there as I casually walked, I observed the Soul Reapers running to and fro, yelling about conflicting orders.
They're in total chaos, Shiro remarked.
I wonder if they were like this in our time? There was only us and Yoruichi, so…
We puzzled over it, discreetly taking a left amongst the confusing layout of the Seireitei to avoid a group of Soul Reapers running toward us.
They continued on, and we started back on the correct path. This will take us to JuushiroJushiro's personal chambers, I recalled as I stepped down a narrower side path. And avoid the main entry courtyard for the Thirteenth Division.
Keeping to myself, I glanced around before jumping over the corridor separating his chambers and the quiet side road.
Landing with a small plop in the lush grass he still cultivated after all this time, I crouched down before scanning the area. Consciously throwing my cobwebs out when I didn't see anyone, I relaxed when I perceived no one close.
Standing upright, I found my eyes caught by the small fountain before me that looked meticulously kept.
Ah, he got rid of the fish. I was dismayed.
He had loved them so much…I wonder if something happened? Shiro absently wondered as we hopped up onto the deck that we were painfully familiar with.
Our stain! I realized with a shock, habitually looking behind one of the wooden pillars. I had spilled heavier sake there just over 100 years ago now, and the wood, while no longer permanently blushing rouge, was now a much deeper brown than the surrounding.
It's aged, Shiro remarked. Bittersweet love flickered at our heart.
I could only imagine seeing JuushiroJushiro again. Would he look the same as he had 100 years ago when we last saw him? Or would he look the same 200 years ago when I was an only child, manipulated into fighting in the war against Aizen?
Gripping my heart, I slid open the door to his personal chambers like second nature. His quarters were surprisingly unchanged. The table was out, and an empty cup sat forgotten. His bed roll was put away, but his writing brushes were laid out and drying on his worktable.
Delicately, so as to not disturb the picturesque dream I felt enveloped in, I reached down and gently touched the largest brush. They were dry.
I don't think he's been here for at least a day. I circled my cobwebs around me, tasting the air for his distinctive power. Where are you, JuushiroJushiro…?
I went to turn away from the desk before something caught my eye. Smiling softly, I delicately crouched down and touched the cover of the manga.
Sogyo's Refusal!
Volume 536! Refusing to Forget!
"Oh, JuushiroJushiro…" I sighed, giving in and flipping the book open. His art style had evolved. While it still had the flow of his streaming brush, it held a small ridge that it hadn't before. He's changed…
My fingers kissed at the pictures as I flipped the pages. I should be rushing away right now. We're all in danger, but…
I stilled over a picture of a small girl, Sogyo's darling friend, who was leaving abruptly, painfully, despite him reaching out.
"I refuse…to forget!" the small boy cried out, making peace with her decision and fate.
The effervescence of Saturn trilled down my cheeks hotly. "JuushiroJushiro…!" My shoulder shook as I delicately replaced the novel.
X
"Hey! Someone's in the captain's chambers!" a shrill voice shouted out.
"What?! Stop them!" a deeper voice commanded.
Hearing the heavy footfalls of his squad, I made myself scarce by wrapping my shikai around myself and flash stepping back out the front doors. Swiping at my eyes, I ignored their indignant yells as they watched me pause on the roof of the corridor and look back at his quarters.
Swiping at my eyes roughly while they threatened me, I directed my shikai to stay in the shadows of my soles. This boost to my flash step allowed me to easily fall into a breakneck pace to the Eighth Division.
I bypassed the administrative center of the Thirteenth on my way, knowing that he was more likely to be with Shunsui than spending a day or more in that building.
Pausing at the divide between the Thirteenth and the Eighth, I let myself drop down onto the ground for more discreet travel than my prior rooftop extravaganza.
Stepping out onto the main road, my feet padded quietly as I tried to make short work of crossing it. My face kept forward as I passed a group of Soul Reapers who were making their way down the road. I don't think they saw me…Relief as I managed to make it to the other side.
The Eighth wasn't bustling like the Third or the Thirteenth had been. It seems that Shunsui's relaxed attitude had instilled a sense of security in his company. Instead, while the Soul Reapers were doing heavy and frequent patrols, their powers and how they held themselves revealed that they felt surprisingly calm given the situation.
There was a sense of urgency, the want to stay alert, but it seems that that they weren't feeling the absolute panic that was dripping off of the rest of the Seireitei by midday.
The closer I approached the administrative center for the Eighth, where I knew Shunsui's office was, the more I passed lone Soul Reapers rather than patrol groups.
Thank goodness I didn't have to steal a shihakusho…I recalled Orihime mentioning it at Kukakku's. Not blending in would have been a severe problem at this point.
"Excuse me." A strong, feminine voice made me pause. I could feel a probing reiryoku poke at me curiously. "Who are you? I don't recognize you." This caused several Soul Reapers to pause from where they were going or what they were doing, looking at us with a sudden alertness.
I turned around, trying to project self-confidence. Nanao stood before me, a book under one arm and her other hand discreetly resting on the hilt of her zanpakutou. She wasn't frowning, but I could perceive her suspicion.
"I'm from Squad 1. I have a message for Captains Kyoraku and Ukitake." I gave my practiced piece.
She paused before relaxing subtly. "I see. Right this way." She directed me to follow her. The Soul Reapers around us relaxed as we passed. I noticed a small group of them glance at me before heading off down one of the alleys.
Giving a wide berth between us, I was surprised when she led me to the admin building. I didn't think she—oh.
She rounded on me then, book dropping as she unsheathed her zanpakutou. "Squad 1 never sends a regular Soul Reaper as a messenger," she hissed at me, fingers already glowing with a destructive spell.
The red ball of flames she summoned flew at me. Calling up a seki, I was able to protect myself easily. Raising my fingers, I started to focus my powers into a binding spell before something white obstructed my vision. Taking a step back, I was surprised to see a familiar straw hat facing me as Shunsui took ahold of Nanao.
Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I leaped away at the silent presence as I aborted my kido spell. Looking up, I froze.