Chapter Five – Harmonic Discord, pt. 1
Once, hundreds of years ago, if one were to ask Gin why he chose to be a Shinigami, he would've lied.
He would've denied it even to himself- to suggest that it was the powers and utter control one has over one's environment as the root cause of his signing up is not something you readily admit. He's always known he would reach the ranks of the Captains- for the first few dozen years of his career, he simply believed that it was going to be based solely on his merit.
Then he ran into Aizen.
These days, nobody asks him about anything- they merely flee in terror as that unholy leer bears down on them, a sharp blade sweeping the life out of his enemies like a scythe through a field of harmless wheat.
He joined because drawing blood- having total control over another creature's fate- is the most pleasant ways to pass the time he's ever indulged in. Of all the hedonistic pleasures Gin's run across, nothing quite matches up to making another living creature beg for mercy.
Nothing at all.
"Let's try that again…" said Gin smoothly as his foxlike smile beamed down upon a woman half-turned into a Hollow, a giant, writhing mask slowly consuming her face. He pulled out a needle full of a green, viscous liquid, and caressed the woman's collarbone- a seemingly gentle action turned horrific by how the flesh where the needle made contact flayed open and blackened.
She screamed, and the mask laughed.
-----
Reiji couldn't sleep.
It wasn't the storm- he's slept straight through an earthquake before. And a flood. And a few stampedes- that wasn't the best sleep ever, but he slept.
The more… relaxed of the twins almost never finds himself with insomnia. When he does, it means trouble.
Reiji listened carefully, years of training translating itself into a pair of extremely sharp ears. His brother was still asleep. Kali was still gone on whatever errand occupied her tonight.
He slipped away, quietly fading through the walls and out into the street. A few moments later, a rain-drenched ronin could be found on the path to a certain shop run by a certain shinigami.
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"ICHIGO! FIGHT ME!" roared Kenpachi.
"HiRukiahiRenjilunchtodayrightokayseeya!" said Ichigo breathlessly as he ran by the two, doubled back, ducked through a doorway, and just barely escaped a rampaging Kenpachi.
The two old friends blinked.
"That was odd," said Rukia.
"No, not really. Kenpachi's been tracking Ichigo down ever since he came back," said Renji with a snort. "Wanted to show off his Shikai."
Rukia spat out the milk tea she was sipping. "WHAT! Zakari-san's managed to gain Shikai!"
"Yeah. The damnable bastard wiped out almost all of Sector 80 while doing so- didn't you hear the fireworks last week?"
"I was… visiting Ichigo."
Renji raised an eyebrow, silently inquiring. Rukia replied in kind- a mad "leave me alone" look and brightly colored cheeks.
-----
"Urahara-san."
"Bwuh! Wha! AH!"
Kisuke Urahara- wacky, cheerful, and lethal beyond description- fell most ungraciously out of his bed.
"Gah! Reiji-san, don't do that! You ruined a perfectly good dream!"
Reiji smirked, and helped the elder shinigami up. "Yorouichi's coming back next week, isn't she? Reality's better than dreams, ne?"
Urahara glared at him, and stuffed his hat on. "Alright, now that you got me awake, what do you need?"
"First, a bottle of sake- strong as you have it. Second… well, sake first."
Urahara raised an eyebrow. "This sounds… interesting."
-----
Gao blinked. The sun was up, and the rain had stopped. The smell of fresh bread was in astonishingly close proximity.
"Oi, eat it before it gets cold," said Reiji as he chewed on a coffee cream bun.
"Ooh, red bean pastry! Thanks!"
"No problem. Kali's not back yet, by the way."
"Probably- mmph, this's good- won't be for a few weeks. Like the last few times."
Reiji looked out the window. "Wonder what she's up to?"
Gao glanced out, face full of pastry. "Hollow hunting. Either that, or finding information about a possible Hollow outbreak. As usual. Why're you concerned? She can take care of herself."
"Meh, fine. Wanna spar again?"
"Do I!"
-----
Urahara hummed as he got to work, enormous, trailer-sized blocks of granite following close behind him as his assistant did the grunt work. Slapping on a dozen assorted soul seals doesn't seem much like hard work- unless you could detect the enormous amount of spiritual energy they were being infused with.
Any lesser mortal would've died from sheer exhaustion five hundred seals back. But Urahara was dead long ago. And there were six hundred and fifty more to do before he was done.
It's hard work, you know. Not a lot of people have the resources necessary to forge bridges between worlds- even if they knew how to in the first place.
-----
"Oi, Gao," panted Reiji as he took a break, medicinal herbs slowly stitching together his torn flesh. "'nuff sparring today?"
Gao, also panting from exertion and multiple near-fatal wounds, grinned at his brother. "Barely lunchtime! You already giving up?"
"No, actually. Just tired of cleaning the floor with your ass," scoffed Reiji. "Thought we might go hunting instead."
Gao blinked, looked out, and blinked again. "It's not nighttime, you dope. Hollows almost never attack in broad daylight- the sun blinds them."
"I know. Elsewhere, I mean. I heard the Seireitai's been under siege for these last few years- Hollows everywhere in their forests, man."
Gao raised an eyebrow at his brother. "How? We're not Shinigami- we don't have any way to cross that barrier."
"Found a guy. Willing to help us." With the last wisp of smoke, the last of his wounds were knit shut, not even a scar left to bear witness to the savagery of their training.
"What about Kali?"
"What about her?"
"Man, stop being so cryptic! I know you're planning something!"
Reiji grinned at his brother. "Why does she need to know? She's going to be gone for a while herself, and frankly, we have no reason to wait for her like we do. C'mon, I'm getting stale just fighting you all the time."
Gao frowned. Well, why not?
-----
Kuchiki Byakuya's bemused expression was an oddity- the slight grin, tightened eyes and the subtle clues that he was desperately trying to hold back a tide of laughter was an extremely unusual look on the otherwise stoic prince of ice and sakura petals.
It was making Ichigo absurdly nervous.
"S-so say something already!" said Ichigo, just a touch frantic.
"You really think you deserve this."
Ichigo glared defiantly. "Considering my track record, it's not as if there'll be any shame smeared upon the Kuchiki name."
"Nonetheless, a mere commoner-"
"Hey! Hardly a 'mere commoner!' Give me a little credit- not even the 11th division's chopped down so many Menos and lived to-"
"-rude, uncouth, impulsive, and probably severely lacking in personal hygiene-"
"…now that's just plain insulting."
"Oi," interrupted Renji as he came in with a pile of paperwork in his arms. "Kuchiki-san, just get it over with. You already had me work out her paperwork anyhow, and Ichigo's in charge of the party preparations anyhow."
If looks could kill, Byakuya would be short one vice-captain right about now.
"…very well. Kurosaki Ichigo, I accept your proposal. From this day forth, Kuchiki Rukia shall…"
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Two regular shinigami would've probably died long ago, trying to literally push back the Menos-sized mole Hollow.
Two regular shinigami wouldn't have had the advantage of being introduced to certain… interesting… branches of medicine.
If this was baseball, Reiji and Gao would've been banned for life long, long ago- and Kali, too, for supplying them.
"Augh," winced Gao as his spiritual pressure faltered. "Withdrawal. Out of pills! Got anymore?"
"Only two!" yelled Reiji as another swarm of demi-hollows threatened to engulf him, his sword flickering through their mass as he struck another deep gash across the mole's sightless face, a gout of black blood spraying outwards. "Catch!"
A black pill found itself flying through the air, towards Gao's outstretched hands… and intercepted by another.
Kali glared out from beyond a rift in the air, one long, leather-clad leg stepping through at a time.
"What exactly… do you two think you're doing?" she snarled, eyes flickering dangerously between the twins.
A spasmodic, horrifying release of energy. A deep, gravel-torn voice.
"Yes… what are you three doing here?" said Zakari Kenpachi, 11th Division Captain, his enormous frame looming down from above the freshly slain mole with a slight, bloodstained leer.
A storm crackled over the Seireitai.