X
I had escaped outside for a time to desperately try to enjoy the cool air of the rainy day.
Wiping the wretch and sick off my beak, I sipped at what little water I had left as I broke mentally. I looked down at the shop, the ground feeling much too far away as I swayed unevenly.
Casting my wings out, my back throbbed with pain as I stepped off the roof for a controlled descent. I grunted, hurt, as I landed heavily on the dirt before the shop.
The setting sun caught on the flecks of sweat in my white feathers, throwing sparks of light against the ground as I cautiously approached the Shoten. My shadows were running this way and that as they wrapped around me, hiding me behind an anxious, shifting cloak.
My usually organized thoughts were all but obliterated under this duress. I had turned myself over to my base instincts.
Looking through the open doors, I saw Kisuke sitting on the small step that led to the family residence behind the shop front. His fan had been paused, and he looked at me with an interest as I slowly approached. He held a fresh ice pack up to his head.
Will he hurt me? Will he capture me?
Nervous thoughts ran around my head as he shifted to kneel. My eyes tightened in stress as he slowly extended his arm, offering me a peaceful hand.
My beak hovered just a few moments from his fingers, the two of us tense and frozen as predators while we tested the other's boundaries, the heat fraying both of our nerves.
Slowly, I leaned forward and delicately set the tip of my beak onto his fingers. His expression lightened at this, and I all but purred as he delicately rubbed my mask up and down.
The feeling of another's touch, the heat on my skin, was enough to make me want to give into these cursed feelings.
"Ms. Hollow," he started softly. "Are you still sick?" Worry echoed off his quiet voice, but I couldn't help the slow bristle of my feathers as I got deeper into the thick of it. Kisuke Urahara…the man that created the Hogyoku, who put it in an innocent woman's soul, who had a hand in…everything…
Kisuke, hugging me from behind as we played; Kisuke, gifting me the spell books I had long searched for; Kisuke's and my hands intertwining, my precious cobweb connecting us as I showed him my power.
Shinji.
The betrayal flashed up in my mind continuously. At the thought, a small pathetic breathy noise escaped me.
Kisuke soothed me, and I felt myself leaning forward as we looked into each other's eyes. His hand ran along my beak, sliding nearer to my face smoothly as I came closer.
I sighed as his hand came to rest on the side of my mask, his heat cooling the flames in my bones. "You're not one of his, are you…?" he questioned in a whisper, searching my mask for an answer.
Lightly, I shook my head no.
I watched as his pupils dilated, a mix of curiosity and a sudden awareness of the cobwebs that were gathering around us as my power leaked out. His hair seemed a little more bedhead today even compared to how poorly he'd kept it these awful, sickly last two weeks.
"I think I can guess at what's happening…" he told me softly, slowly standing as he kept the guiding hand on my mask. "I'll need to run some tests…" he talked to himself now, his voice hushed even further.
The idea of tests had my feathers fluffing up farther, but I didn't resist. I need help, repeated over and over in my boiling mind.
I let the blond man lead me to a back room past an openly worried Tessai. I followed obediently, taking care to ensure that we didn't stop touching. His very presence seemed to abate the flames somewhat.
I sat and observed as he produced the small blocky computer and the small scanner he had used before.
I was leaning more and more into him as time went on. By the time he told me to hold still, I was wrapped around his arm and nuzzling into his shoulder. The command made me shudder.
"Boss…" I tensed at Tessai's voice, throwing him a threatening glare as a challenge, but Kisuke redirected me.
"It's under control," Kisuke told him.
Tessai, unconvinced, hovered briefly before closing the doors to give us privacy.
Satisfied, I breathed in Kisuke's scent deeply as he typed away on his device.
"O-Okay," he stuttered out as I got up on my knees to get closer. Gently yet firmly, he gripped my shoulders and forced me back down.
I whined with the action, lightly biting at his clothes in protest. I jumped when a strong hand gripped my beak shut, unrelenting when I tried to back off.
"Now, now"—he tsked me—"I'm not quite done yet."
I tried to pull away as he held the scanner up to my head. It beeped loudly. Seeming satisfied, Kisuke looked at the result before he plugged it into the computer.
He leaned forward as the results scrolled down the screen, rubbing at his chin thoughtfully while I continued to try and pull away.
"Interesting…" he mumbled to himself, ignoring my frustrated hissing as it grew louder. After reading for a few moments, he looked over and released me.
I hissed in alarm as I reeled backward unexpectedly, landing awkwardly on my wings. I recovered and hissed at him again, the flames inside me eagerly crisping my frustrations finely.
His eyes narrowed, and I slowly lowered my wings as I felt his powers move around us in a slow, purposeful, and threatening manner.
"Good hollow." He reached his hand out as if to pat my head, but I resisted and stayed where I was.
Kisuke's reiatsu slowly tightened around me, and I found myself relenting out of instinct. I feel like…I'm not in control! His hand was warm as it smoothed my hair.
"You…seem to be suffering the effects of a sickness," he noted, looking at me as if for a response.
I tipped my head, confused. His expression was unreadable, eyes shaded by his hat, as we stared at each other.
I gasped, something deep in me jerking in pleasure as he took my mask, my face, in both of his hands and guided me forward firmly.
"This sickness you have…I'm worried it might be contagious." He held me tightly as he shined a bright light into each of my eyes.
Half blinded, my eyes followed a perfectly timed droplet that ran down his hairline. Taking his hands away and leaving me bereft, he typed some more into the small computer.
"Hollow to Soul Reaper transfer…?" he guessed, typing the note in. He held the scanner up to his own head and waited until it beeped.
Once the results were uploaded, his eyes widened. "Ms. Hollow"—he turned to me, eyes still dilated as he looked to be overheating in his green haori—"I think you might be the reason I've had a fever these past few weeks." He frowned in thought before calling out for Tessai.
"Yes, Boss?" Said man immediately opened the doors, apparently not having gone far.
"I think this will take a few days. Our friend here is sick and gave whatever it is to us both. I think you should take the week off, relax." He flapped his fan at him playfully despite the seriousness of the words. "Do you mind…?" He trailed off, looking somewhat imploringly at his best friend.
"Boss…!" Tessai stressed, losing his words.
"Now, I think our friend here needs some help. Besides, she hasn't killed the new car yet." Kisuke flipped his fan up, hiding his smirk at my actions.
"…fine." Tessai eventually agreed, disappearing as he closed the door again.
Satisfied, Kisuke turned back to me. "Now, what to do…" He waved his fan as he thought. "I don't have as many notes on this as I would like…" He spoke freely, apparently assuming that I wouldn't understand him, given my debauched state.
I growled lowly at this, not intending to be a plaything for science.
I gasped as his surprisingly heavy and rough hand tangled in my hair, making my neck bend up and back, exposing my weakest point to him while he pushed us together and held me close.
"Now, I think it usually starts like this…" He quietly spoke to himself as his mouth brushed my neck. My breaths turned throaty as I felt the unyielding vulnerability spike something inside me.
He bit at my trachea, and my wings shook as they opened wide behind me, lower, larger feathers pushing forward as the top of the wings pushed back.
Presenting.
Almost clinically, Kisuke's too-curious hand went to brush the small sensitive feathers closest to my back. I twitched back at the forward motion, but his other hand kept me still.
"Now, now," Kisuke spoke, and I swallowed against his rising reiatsu tracing my skin. "Are you sure you don't want this?" he asked rhetorically as sweat beaded down my arms.
I could only moan, the air whooshing out at the pathetic noise. My tail slapped the ground behind me.
Kisuke chuckled. "That's what I thought."
I closed my eyes as he let go of my hair, both hands tangling in my sensitive feathers in an exploratory fashion. Rhythmically, his hands moved across what he could reach in sections as he took me in.
I fell into him, my body trembling at the sensations.
Shinji…
My face twisted as I was haunted despite nature's every effort to incapacitate me. I went to draw back slightly only to have Kisuke hold me to him tightly with one hand.
His power focused in his hand, and I flapped forward in anger as it slithered up me, binding me with golden rope. My longest feathers caught his clothes, leaving clean nicks before they were fully restrained as well.
Kisuke grabbed my hair, forcing my head back so that he could look at me. "No." The one word made my body freeze, something deep and primal within me cowering away from his dark unbent eyes.
Seeming satisfied with my reaction, Kisuke bent down to explore the side of my neck and the crook of my shoulder. I shivered as he kissed his way up higher and higher, almost vibrating when he stopped just below my ear.
He chuckled at my reaction. Growing bolder now that my hands were stuck behind my back through a combination of kido and the heat, he tentatively took my cloak into his hand.
Looking curiously at its consistency, he then mentally pushed it to the side for later as it opened for him easily.
"A shihakusho?" he asked, looking lost in thought as he played with the stitching.
The soft touch of his fingers against my chest made me shiver again.
Coming out of it, he was quick to shove the top of the shihakusho out of the way and admire as my breasts puckered in the cold.
"Cold?" he teased, tracing lines as goosebumps rose.
Just the sensation, I wanted to correct.
Spiraling closer, I couldn't help but sway forward as he reached the small points of pleasure at the same time. Both caught between a thumb and forefinger, he slowly worked them lightly, driving me up the wall.
Looking like he couldn't help himself, he bent down to my chest. I jolted up as he captured one between his warm, wet lips. A firm hand guided me by my lower back closer as he began to work on me.
I couldn't keep my small mewls and gasps in, forgetting how the air made them sound as I eagerly rocked into his mouth. Kisuke sucked hard, and my fingers curled at the almost painful force. Abusing me steadily, I failed to notice as his other hand traveled down to grab my butt until I was being massaged.
Releasing me with an audible pop, he licked around my bright red areola before he came up to bite down on my neck.
I leaned into the pain, fighting against the spell to be able to embrace him tightly in return. He released me, chuckling at my actions, before he licked at the already bruising skin.
I leaned forward as his hands left me, only to make a low, guttural noise as I saw him release himself from the confines of his pants. He smirked at me, pleased with the reaction, before he took my hips. He slid me forward and pushed my upper body back, making me awkwardly lay down. Fixing my legs so that it was more comfortable, I looked at him expectantly.
He smiled at me, the lights casting the shadows to a darker angle. I shivered from the predatory look. Pulling our hips flush, he moaned as he rubbed us together with rolling hips. His head went back from the sensation, and my hungry eyes ate up his glistening skin. Wet sounds built up as my excitement grew.
Looking down at me, Kisuke smiled confidently as he saw how debauched I had become. I gave an airy moan as he reached down to fist himself, the blunt head teasing my entrance with the up and down jerks.
Slowing his hand, Kisuke stared at my core as he slowly lined up. The blunt head started to press in, filling me up in a way I long missed.
Shinji. Shinji! The thoughts made me jerk away even as Kisuke unrelentingly pushed in.
Kisuke growled, making my previously skewed shut eyes widen. Bending down, he pressed tightly on my arms as his dark look returned. He continued to press inside steadily, not giving an inch despite my sudden panic as I broke free of the heat momentarily.
Kisuke Urahara looked like an animal above me as he surrendered to the heat. He began to thrust erratically before settling on a fast, demanding rhythm. The lewd wet noises spurred him on, his reiatsu growing heady and dark around us. He panted over me, small breaths mixed with sweat.
Unhappy with my struggling, teeth bit tightly close to where they had earlier. He growled lightly against me. This note was lower and deeper than before. I made a pathetic noise from the pain, feeling my blood speckle around from the Soul Reaper's teeth.
The savage mark made my head loll to the side, capturing me under the waves of the flames again. Breed. Breed. My body changed the rhythm as it rocked back into his aggressive thrusts.
The insides of my thighs were sore, his sharp hips digging into me. His hand wrapped around my throat, and I found myself gasping for breath as he became even more aggressive.
Hanging onto my neck for dear life, intent to breed at the forefront of his devious, delusional mind, Kisuke grunted with the force of every thrust in tandem with me.
His free hand dug into my wings, pulling feathers free as it pressed down painfully. The softness seemed to give him the edge he needed, and I felt his already permeating reiatsu rise, smoking the room with gunpowder, as he lost control.
Something twinged inside me with every thrust, the heat making itself known deep within. I made a pathetic noise as the flames raced up from my toes, in from my arms. I tried to pull away from his bite, but he only locked it down harder.
Struggling, I suddenly released under him with a barrage of shakes. He wasn't able to resist my clamping down on him, and he spilled hotly within me, painting my walls with his seed. As he came, he continued to give small firm thrusts into me as if to push his seed in deeper, to claim me as his.
He held me down as he twitched, then continued to press me tightly to the floor as I felt the slow leak around him. Slowly, he let up on the bite, and I hissed as I felt my blood run free.
He sat up and softly grinded his soft member against me. I felt as he took it in hand, tracing the wet back up and pushing it back inside me.
I stared up at him with momentarily clear eyes, body exhausted and placid instinctually as I slowly replayed what happened in my head.
My hand went to the bite mark on my neck, only to pull it away with a pained hiss.
Kisuke watched me, his eyes slowly growing wider and clearer as well. "What—What did I do?" He looked down at his hands, down at where we rested together, in shock. His hands shook slightly. "I-I didn't mean to-to—" He looked at me with wide, helpless eyes, and I was struck with the Kisuke that had loved Keisei.
Slowly, cautiously, his hands floated toward the bond mark. I relaxed as he did so, instincts demanding that I present and submit to him. "That's—what's—"
He took a calming breath as I watched him from the corner of my eye.
"I need to clean up," he decided suddenly. "I need to get cleaned up." I watched as he all but fled the room.
I bit my lip, hands fixing my clothes and pulling my cloak back on as I dribbled onto the tatami mats. Shinji…
I crumpled behind the flawless bone mask, hunching over until Kisuke returned sometime later.
"Are you…okay?" he asked slowly, his hat gone, and his eyes openly concerned for me. He stared at the bloody bite mark.
I opened my beak to respond but couldn't find it in myself to answer.
Shinji…
I bowed my head again, grief seizing me like a boat in the ice.
Kisuke grasped at his chest, frown deepening. "Do you want to…shower…?" He hesitated further. In ordinary circumstances I would have been enthralled by his behavior.
I slowly nodded.
X
I could feel the hot water on my back, stinging my wings where feathers had thoughtlessly been pulled out.
Shiro? I reached out for comfort as I wrapped my arms around myself.
I could feel her arms wrap around me in our inner world. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this— She broke off as our grief crested briefly.
Shinji… I pictured his smiling face, my eyes burning as my tears caught on the mask that I still couldn't remove.
Love…I'm so sorry…
Together, we mourned.
X
"I think the heat has abated," Kisuke decided as he sat in the living room taking his temperature. The doors of the previous room had been closed, and I only had to wonder for a moment before I instinctually knew that he would be here.
The fact that I knew that without sensing for him bothered me deeply.
I dipped my head at the idea, hovering before I let him guide me to sit next to him. He tilted my head to the side, and I obliged as he examined the mark.
"This is…!" The previous bloody mess had been washed away, revealing deep groves that were already crusting over. I couldn't heal myself of the wound while Shiro was preoccupied.
Kisuke stared at it, for once shocked into a silence as he connected the dots. "My reishi is in this bite," he finished, almost mystified. His fingers tentatively pressed at the marks, and I shivered as I felt the unique touch.
He jerked back from the sensation, fright from our reiatsus intermingling in such an intimate fashion.
He stared me in the face as his own actions finally sank in completely. His eyes narrowed slightly as he contemplated it, a Soul Reaper and a Hollow, but not enough to change his expression.
Shinji…
My heart throbbed, and he gripped at his chest almost painfully in response.
"Are you…sad right now?" he asked almost innocently.
My eyes fluttered as my grief washed up on shore. I nodded.
His face fell somewhat. "I'm sorry," he offered, his voice hitting that low, genuine note that I recalled from so, so long ago. His hand fell onto mine purposely.
The heat made him sick too, Shiro sadly reiterated. I don't know if we can blame him, but…
But we couldn't deny the grief in our chest, our betrayal to Shinji. We didn't even let him protect us when he wanted to.
Not relying on him had been my true crux.
"…Kokyu?"
I looked up at Kisuke, confused, as I came to.
"Do you feel okay, Kokyu?" he asked again, a hand on his own neck mirroring where the bite was. Can he feel me through this bond…? Our powers are overlapping through the bite so…
I opened my beak to answer, wanting to show him how I still struggled to speak. Sad wisps of air escaped from my damaged vocal cords and neurons.
He frowned, but his eyes still looked at me inquisitively after all this time, as if I was the most interesting formula he'd seen in a while. His concentration on me, especially given the lack of those dark dangerous eyes, reminded me of our happier times together in the long-forgotten past. It helped me relax somewhat.
"That bite… I won't be able to heal it while your soul is unstable," he gathered, surprising me. He put a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Although it might heal quickly if it were a normal injury, the foreign reiatsu within it will impede that."
I missed the back of the head scratch he used to do, the fond and warm memories melding poorly like oil on water with my grief. I watched as he typed away, trying to distract myself from the dark thoughts.
"I didn't realize that Soul Reapers were affected by heat as well…" he muttered to himself quietly, taking notes. The sounds of him intensely focusing brought me back to the old days where I'd often wake up in the middle of the night to him hunched over the table, writing down his latest breakthrough.
"But for a Soul Reaper to share a heat with a hollow… I've never heard of this before…" he continued on. "I wonder if the Vizards know anything about this…?"
A painful shoot through me drew Kisuke's eyes, and I knew for certain that we were now connected.
"Are you sad because it's me?" he asked blatantly, face crumpling somewhat as he faced me fully.
I opened my beak, my expression faltering somewhat behind the mask. The idea of Kisuke—no, my mate, my inner animal corrected me—thinking that I was wishing him away, that I didn't want him, hurt me deeply.
I leaned forward, huddling in his chest while he slowly wrapped an arm around me.
Tink! Tink! Tink!
A light hail started up within me as I tried to hold my feelings for Shinji close despite the reiatsu in the bite and my instincts leaning toward Kisuke.
This isn't fair! I accused the primordial emotions and instincts that swam in my deeper hollow powers.
Kisuke slowly rubbed my back, his smell gathering in between my feathers.
X
I slept in the Shoten that night, a room away from my mate. I didn't feel ready to share a nest yet. Even being away from mine made me uneasy. I was tangled in the sheets, my lips drawn tight as my mind circled itself.
Aizen… Shinji and I had created him in this same manner. That monster. I've spent my entire life chasing after him. The ridiculousness of the situation caused a dark laugh up into my throat that I tried to stifle. Only to get knocked down by someone else. I took a deep breath. I can't undo the past, I decided. I can't stop him from becoming a monster.
I recalled my innocent note that I had left. Maybe…Maybe he'll do something about the Quincy. The hope was far-fetched, and I immediately shoved it down as I nestled into the blankets to distract myself.
The bedding I had been gifted smelled like Kisuke, a light smell that his clothes carried. I burrowed in them, something deep inside me relaxing.
Shinji. My brain kept short-circuiting back to him. How in the world can I face him like this? My fingers brushed the bite mark, and I felt Kisuke's powers lying within me, a thread between our consciences. He would be so sad if he knew…
I nestled deeper, trying to comfort myself. Kisuke could feel my grief as well. That much I knew.
X
Three light knocks on the door had my scrambling up from toying with me hair.
"Good morning!" Kisuke entered, carrying another small tray. "Although I'm still not certain you're a morning person…" he talked to himself as he closed door.
He placed the tray down in front of me as he joined me, picking from what I usually avoided. He has been paying attention. The thought somewhat relieved me despite its cowing implications.
"I have a friend coming over today to meet you," Kisuke started.
I blinked at him owlishly. Friends?
As if hearing my skepticism, he waved his fan at me playfully. "I know, who could resist me?" He laughed, a grin on his face.
I let myself get pulled into his happy demeanor, my wings falling somewhat as I relaxed.
Friends, huh…? I wondered as he left me to my own devices. I bet it'll be Yoruichi in human form. I mentally tossed a dice as I heard the faint spewing of the shower in the back of the house.
Knowing Kisuke would be distracted by bathing, I gently touched around the deep bite. My fingers probed where it hurt terribly and where it hurt…slightly less.
How long? I wondered at Shiro. How long will this last?
She remained silent.
X
A dusty smell tickled my nose despite the noticeable absence of the usual spiritual pressure. It had the quiet, barely noticeable herbal scent of aged cacti mixed in, sleeping beneath the heavier smell of sand.
Shinji.
My heart pounded in my chest, and I tried to slip the kimono Kisuke had given me up higher to hide the mark.
He won't recognize us, Shiro quietly reminded me.
I frowned at her continued absence as I slowly thought it over.
Could he…Could he love a hollow? I wasn't foolish enough to think that the others thought of me as anything more than that despite Kisuke's mild suggestion when we had been alone.
I had resolved myself to stay in my designated back room and hide away until the vibrant blond himself barged in.
My breath caught as he paused in the doorway, hands on either side still gripping the sliding doors, and looked me up and down.
"You think this is a Vizard?" He dropped his hands, looking annoyed. I felt as if a small dagger had run through my heart. "This is a hollow, Kisuke!" he admonished my mate as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Shinji took a cautious couple of steps into the room. "Does it bite?"
Another dagger. It? echoed hollowly in my empty mind.
"Kokyu does not bite," Kisuke corrected him, walking around the lithe man to come closer to me. He knelt next to me and made a show of putting his hand on my head. I let him roll my head around dramatically.
Shinji stared at us skeptically, mouth drawn tight. "Take off your mask." The familiar twang of his voice made something in me pinch in a whirlwind of warmth and hurt.
The idea of taking my mask off made me nervous. Aside from needing it to heal, it was my one lifeline, my one excuse as to why they didn't recognize me.
Kisuke looked at me curiously as the bite throbbed.
"Are you listening?" he asked me, head tipping to the side in annoyance.
O-Oh... I brought my hands up and gave the mask a small tug to show them that it wouldn't come off, hoping that it would still be stuck. It was.
They stared at me, Shinji looking dull and Kisuke looking like he could catch fire any second from his scientific excitement.
"See? Not a—what's that?" Shinji interrupted himself, pointing at my neck.
I sucked in a breath and gripped the bite mark that had begun to poke out.
"Kisuke, you—you mated with a hollow?!" Shinji's mouth fell open as he took a step back, his eyes wide.
"She's not a hollow," he tried to redirect.
"I thought Yoruichi was pulling our leg when she came by and said that…" Shinji's eyes darkened dangerously as he looked down at me, and I felt the small grains of sand of his reiatsu begin to nip at me uncomfortably. "You did this, didn't you?" he accused suddenly, pointing at me. He growled lowly, and I was frozen as I saw a kido start to pull together in his palm.
Kisuke jumped in between us, trying to defuse. "Now, Shinji, why don't we take this outside?" He tried to save the shop and house from any more damage.
"Kisuke, you can't—can't—!" Shinji balling up his hands into fists and his shoulders shaking had me leaning forward, hands up to comfort him, before I realized that I was, again, the problem.
"Kisuke, you can't just fuck a hollow right after you break up with a guy!" Shinji hissed out, jaw tight as he turned on his heel to avoid our eyes.
What?
What?
"Now, Shinji, this doesn't have anything to do—" Kisuke held his hands up placatingly and slowly approached Shinji.
"I'm not stupid, Kisuke!" He turned around, face somewhat crumpled despite the anger in his eyes. He focused that anger on me next, and I found myself pinned. "Dirty hollow. Stay the fuck away from me," he warned dangerously, spitting his words out.
Shinji disappeared in a flash step, and Kisuke's shoulders slumped.
X
I huddled against the wall, my nest pushed up around me tightly in the corner as my cluttered thoughts hoarded me.
Shinji… Shinji… Shinji…
X
Kisuke was studiously absent the next three days. I knew he was in his lab—the door at the end of the hall that was always warded shut—because of the bite mark.
Instead, Tessai was the one who prepared the food and cautiously approached me as he moved around his home.
The truce was quiet and tense, but given what had happened with my previous lover, it was everything I could hope for.
Shinji.
I frowned absentmindedly at the movie on TV, not hearing the characters talk.
"Truthfully, Professor Hawking? Why would we allow tourists from the future to muck up the past when your contemporaries had the task well in hand?"
The TV chirped away.
I don't think…I can give you peace again…
X
The grief in my heart was heavy. I bowed under the shower, letting the water hit the back of my neck as I curled up between my knees.
It was strange, trying to come to terms with the one you loved never having existed, being rewrote, only for them to appear and treat you as a distasteful stranger.
An enemy, even.
Saturonic tears flowed down my cheeks, commingling with the shower water and sliding into the drain.
X
Kisuke had noticed the ill mood from the beginning, I reckoned. He probably hid away to hide his own feelings. Now he was subtly trying to tickle and distract me with a feather that had fallen out of my wings. I had cuddled onto the couch with the intent to nap, but he apparently had other plans as he sat down to watch the six o'clock news.
"Record breaking highs all week, folks!"
I frowned at the projected lows for the official end of fall. The small down feather twitched against my foot surreptitiously.
"And the upcoming holidays are going to be chilly. Bring a jacket!"
It twitched again, this time a longer draw up the length of the pad of my foot. My eye twitched as I held in a breathy giggle. I watched him out of the corner of my eye, my amusement building and slowly overtaking my glumness as I saw his innocent focus on the weatherman.
I could feel the leftover reiatsu in the bite tattling on my amusement even while it let me pick up on his.
Subtly shifting up, he glanced at me as I discreetly freed my tail.
The feather teased my thigh now, making me jolt.
"What's wrong?" he asked, eyes steady on the TV as he leaned his head in his hand, balanced on the arm of the couch.
I shrugged, using my now free tail to curl around in the back of his messy hair. He reached a hand up to scratch absentmindedly at the soft sensation, none the wiser.
X
"Can I join you…?" Kisuke's cautious voice made me sit up and squint into the black. He hovered at the door to my room, looking at me through the small portion he'd already opened.
My body, eyes half-lidded with sleep, ached with a loneliness that I couldn't deny.
I waved him in and shifted my nest to make room for two.
X
I toyed with Kisuke's hair as he slept, light breaths giving away that he was going to wake soon.
Kisuke and Shinji were together.
The thought clung to me like an uncomfortably cold, wet rag.
Why would that make me feel uncomfortable? I questioned myself, recalling JuushiroJushiro. I smiled slightly as I remembered how embarrassed he had been when we had discussed that. 200 years is a long time… My face fell somewhat.
Maybe I still feel protective of Shinji? I had decided to respect his space and follow his wish, but I had a feeling that he would forever be special to me.
Or am I protective of Kisuke? Since taking me in, and especially since he began to share my nest the prior week, I had slowly grown more and more attached to him on top of the animal instincts that bayed us together.
Two people that are mine…that are together. Were together.
I chewed it over mentally.
Maybe I am turning into JuushiroJushiro?
X
A strange presence in the air had me migrating to the front of the shop. Unlocking and sliding open one of the doors, I frowned up at the spitting purple sky.
What is this? I questioned Shiro, confused at the smell. The smell was almost undetectable in the way that one can no longer smell their home or themselves.
It smells like…you. Us. My brows creased, my beak opening as if to taste the bewitched spirit ribbons that swayed slowly in front of us. Lifting my eyes farther, I was surprised to see the elegant ribbons stretch over the entire city.
"Kokyu?" Kisuke asked behind me, yawning. He came and leaned against the doors as well. "Hmm… That's an unusual hollow," Kisuke noted, watching as a spirit ribbon swayed just before the tip of his nose. "There's a captain here from Soul Society. Don't worry about it," he reassured me, a warm hand on my arm.
X
"No." Kisuke pushed my beak away from where I had snuck it closer to the vegetables he was chopping.
I obeyed. For now.
As if sensing my resolve, Kisuke tidied up his work and stored the food away. I watched as he slipped his haori and shoes back on.
"I heard that there's a candy sale up the street at the supermarket. I'm going to scope out the competition!" Kisuke sang as Tessai and I saw him off.
"Do not buy any," Tessai warned him, shaking one overly large finger as he remembered the last time this happened.
Kisuke laughed innocently, hiding behind his fan. "I would never support the competitor!" I could feel his reiatsu bubble up in humor as he lied through his teeth, likely knowing very well he was going to at least try a few. "See ya!" He departed quickly, haori swooshing in the chilly autumn breeze.
I watched him go, happy to stay behind under the kotatsu with Tessai as we ran through his TV recordings.
X
I tipped my head as Kisuke returned, a serious look on his face.
"Is everything all right, Boss?" Tessai questioned for me.
"It's nothing." The bite dully thudded as he gave a fake smile.
X
"Help!" A familiar voice had me jolting in dread as the doors to the shop slammed open. My head whipped around, my beak nearly clipping Kisuke as he jumped up.
"What's the problem, gentlemen?" He immediately went to question the visitors out of my sight.
I held my breath, tensing as something ugly and purple welled up inside of me.
Isshin.
Kisuke sent a warmth through the bond, likely feeling my disastrous reaction. A small almost questioning feeling came through.
"Please, she—she's—something's wrong!" Isshin exclaimed.
Slowly, I leaned over just enough to see. Isshin was laying a young girl down before Kisuke, who was kneeling to get a better look.
Mom? I would recognize her hair anywhere.
Kisuke's normally calm spiritual pressure turned colder, the shop becoming nippy enough to make me shiver.
"She's being hollowfied," he deduced, gesturing to something that I couldn't see because of the poor angle.
"What?!" the second white-haired boy gasped from behind Isshin.
"How do we stop it?" Isshin looked at Kisuke levelly. "And…" He hesitated, perhaps not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth. "How do you know that?"
The bond pushed Kisuke's urgency into me, showing me that we were running out of time. "I am the exiled captain of the Twelfth Division," he introduced himself, making Isshin's eyes narrow. "Since I was exiled, I've been studying hollowfication in the World of the Living."
Isshin balked somewhat at Kisuke's face, not believing him.
"Fine," Isshin decided. "What do we need to do?" He crossed his arms, looking as though he was trying to convince himself of his own decision.
"For this…" Kisuke hesitated, and I felt his reiatsu start to weave into itself as he thought. "We would need to tether her soul to a non-hollow soul." He looked up at our guests.
The white-haired man was hesitating, having gone pale at the thought of a permanent bond.
"Fine," Isshin decided boldly, making everyone in the shop, including Tessai, who was leaning over my shoulder, blanche.
"…huh?" Kisuke and the white-haired boy asked in unison, stupefied.
"I'll do it!" Isshin insisted, his cheeks turning pink as he stood there with his arms crossed looking bold. "I'll save her," he decided.
Kisuke coughed into his hand while the boy stared at Isshin in wonder.
"All right. Then…" Kisuke began by instructing the man that so long as he was bound to her, his Soul Reaper powers would be sealed away.
Isshin agreed readily, not taking a second to weigh his feelings. Is this it? I wondered. Is this what he regretted enough to treat his kids horribly?
Isshin sat next to Kisuke. I tipped my head curiously as Kisuke held his hand up to Isshin's face, Isshin going limp and falling unconscious.
That's how Shinji knocked us out, I recalled our original timeline.
Kisuke held up a hand to the young girl's face, the same kido spell setting to work on her.
Should I go look…? I thought about creeping out just for a glance. Grieving had been exceptionally hard after she had passed away. Especially given that all the responsibilities had been pushed onto me by Isshin. I had been bitter for quite some time until I realized it wasn't her fault that he had done that.
I recalled the diary I had read so long ago, how young she had been.
How young she is right now, Shiro corrected me gently.
If I do nothing…will that all play out again?
I gasped as Isshin sprang up seemingly out of nowhere, looking triumphant.
"Did it work?" Kisuke asked, fan waving in one hand pleasantly while he closely monitored her rescinding hollow reiatsu with the other.
"Yes," Isshin answered. "I…that was tough," he admitted, rubbing his arm.
"You thought it'd be easy?" Kisuke mocked him.
"Tch!" Isshin looked away, his eyes straying to Tessai and me. I froze as our eyes connected, his curious as they flirted up and down my mask.
"She'll need rest," Kisuke advised. "Is there somewhere that she can stay that isn't here?" Kisuke waved his fan back at Tessai and me. "She needs to be away from people like us until her reiatsu straightens itself out," he instructed.
"O-Oh, I can…" the white-haired boy spoke up, and I listened with half an ear as I stared back at Isshin.
Is this what happened? You made a split-second decision and regretted it and took it out on your kids after she died? I had to clamp down my swirling reiatsu as I felt it build up in agitation.
Kisuke closed the front door behind them and locked it loudly.
"Boss?" Tessai questioned his actions.
"That seal I gave them…it's a strong one. If her soul goes out of whack again before the seal can settle, Ex-Captain Shiba will disappear."
My eyes widened at his words. What?
"How long will it take to settle?" Tessai questioned, already trying to clean away the dirty flecks the trio had left behind.
Kisuke hummed as he thought. "Twenty years or so? Not long at all," he guessed.
X
So Isshin really did disappear for real. I picked at the tip of my mask, cleaning it off as I contemplated what had happened earlier. I always assumed he ran away. Coward.
Are you upset?
I took a moment to feel my emotions. No. Not upset. But not glad either.
X
"Wow, Kisuke…you've really got her tamed!" Yoruichi laughed as she downed another glass of sake. I shot her a look.
"Now, now, Yoruichi, that's not it at all! She's perfectly reasonable!" Kisuke insisted, still hands deep in my hair as he slowly worked it into a braid.
"Perfectly reasonable, huh…?" She looked at us thoughtfully. She put a hand on her forehead, looking exasperated. "I'll admit, I was against it at first"—
"I know. You told Shinji." His tone was non-accusatory.
—"but seeing you two together like this makes me think otherwise!" she admitted, ignoring him. Her voice dropped as she looked away. "I'm sorry for staying away for so long," she apologized.
"It's okay," Kisuke assured her, tying my hair off. "It took some time to get adjusted anyway." He lightly pulled on my braid to prove his point.
X
"I grew up in Yoruichi's mansion with Tessai," Kisuke confessed one day as we relaxed on the back porch. My back was against one of the wooden beams, sitting up, and his head rested on my bosom as he slowly faded and then came back only to fade again.
I looked down at him in surprise. Kisuke's past? I had long been curious, but he was always so private.
"I was a bastard child from one of the retainer families for the Shihoin," he confessed without malice. "Tessai is my half-brother." My eyebrows shot up behind my mask.
Feeling my surprise through the bond, he chuckled. "I know. It's a bit of a shock, isn't it?" He fell into a thoughtful silence. "I hope that someday soon you can tell me your past," he prompted wistfully.
I cursed my injuries.
hello, everyone! sorry for the spotty update. i'm having eye surgery next week and i'm hoping that will make everything better. i owe you one chapter which is supposed to be up next week (it won't bc of my surgery), and then the final chapter the week after. i'm going to upload them together when i am recovered (no more than a few weeks). i may upload one additional chapter explaining my writing process of this story, as it's my longest completed project at this point, and i am extremely proud of it. also, i know i said i would have another finished project ready to go for you all when this one was completed, but alas, i have lied to the both of us (albeit unknowingly). printed copies of this fanfic can be found on my twitter, Saturn_Effervescent