Renraku-gakari.
Disclaimer: Skymaster23 has no connection to any literature.
Buford is walking down a street following his "chat" when he sees Isane appear, looking upset again. "I didn't ask you to do that, Buford. Now Suì-Fēng-Taichō is going to report it to mine." She tells him, and steps back.
"And to mine." Kiyone adds as she walks out from behind her sister, with a similar expression. "Even if it did turn out to be because of that four-eyed piece of crap's plan for Kuchiki-san; me and Sentarō still broke the law. We knew and accepted that there would be retaliation."
Isane nods and joins in. "So while we're not unappreciative of you for sticking up for us, don't ever do that again, please."
Buford looks between the two before replying. "You assume."
"Huh?"
He looks around for a few seconds, and leans over to them. "That confrontation i had was more on the off-chance that any of her little minions is really Aizen's."
The two sisters look startled at him when Kyōraku-Taichō shows up out of nowhere. "Well now; what might you three be doing out here?" He asks them, then starts prodding Buford with an elbow. "Heh, Byu-kun and Isane-chan are out for a family stroll?" He asks as he turns and puts his hands together. "Aw, it seemed just like yesterday when you two lovebirds were going around one after the other*. How i miss those days."
Buford and Kiyone both give sweatdrops while Isane blushes when all four feel a burst of reiatsu. "What the... Kiyone?!" Isane shouts as her sister bends over for a second.
"I'm alright; not used to that ryoka's reiatsu yet." The younger Kotetsu says. Both know it's only half true, but neither address it. "There were a lot more higher-ups around last time i felt it."
"It's coming from Yama-ji's place." Kyōraku said as they all turned in that direction.
A while before that, Ichigo was going through Sasakibe-fukutaichō's collection. "I honestly never thought I'd see the day when a fellow shinigami would be as open minded as i!" The latter said with a forearm over his eyes.
"It must not have been easy for Sasakibe-sama to translate these; was it?" Ichigo asked while going through act three of Othello.
"Oh, most certainly, young one. It took me 40 years to master the languages, find all the originals, and write them down." Sasakibe explained as he motioned around his personal library.
"All this aside, though, should we be getting to that sparring match?"
"Hmm? Ah yes, that, we can proceed whenever you're ready... but there is more to your question, no doubt." Sasakibe told Ichigo, which made him look to his hand before shaking his head.
"Nah, let's just get this over with; i got twelve other places to visit, don't forget."
The two headed to the training hall, where Yamamoto, Yoruichi, and the other ryoka were waiting. The Sōtaichō walked to the center, placing a hand on the floor, creating a kido barrier around the two. "Kurosaki Ichigo, the objective is to last one minute against Sasakibe Choujirou. If either of you fall or make contact with the barrier, you will lose. Understood?"
"Got it."
"Begin!"
Ichigo unfurls Zangetsu and charges at Sasakibe, who sidesteps while blocking. He swipes at the younger one, but barely misses. "You're not even going half the speed of our first encounter."
"Peh, it's only been six seconds longer than that." Ichigo replies, glancing again at the hand he struck the fukutaichō with days earlier. "It'd be more fun if you didn't hold back on me. Call out that shikai, already."
Sasakibe gives no reaction as he speaks. "...Only because you'd likely taunt me as you did the Kuchiki boy. Ugate, Gonryumaru."
On the sidelines, the others watch as Sasakibe starts with a thrust like he did on the hill, only this time, Ichigo blocks it and attempts to slash sideways, but Sasakibe parries and swipes at him several times. "This is what he can do, huh?" Ichigo thinks after ducking under another thrust, and angles his blade to blind the older man in order to try a thrust of his own, but Sasakibe redirects it.
"Wow, all that movement in only 11 seconds. Kurosaki-kun's amazing, isn't he?" Orihime asks her two friends.
"Maybe, but i can't help but think something's off." Uryu thinks to himself while Chado, Ganju, and Yoruichi do nothing.
Ichigo continues striking at the fukutaichō, but stops after 5 moves. "What's wrong, Kurosaki Ichigo? You can't be tired already!"
"Now who's taunting. Not what I'd expect after i broke a metacarpus knocking you out."
"So you were aware this whole time; is that what you are saying?" Sasakibe asks him, but Ichigo only smirks and stands straight before looking to Yamamoto.
"This bout is over!"
As the barrier falls, Orihime looks around. "Wait, why'd he give up like that?" She asks. "Kurosaki-kun was winning, wasn't he?"
Yoruichi chuckles and speaks. "Winning? If anything, he was lucky to give in when he did."
"It took me a while to catch on, but yeah. Despite how thin that blade of his is, it wasn't flexing no matter how far from the tsuba my hits landed." Ichigo explains, causing Orihime to gasp just as Buford enters.
"Sōtaichō, what was that reiatsu burst a little while ago?" He asks, and Yamamoto explains. "Oh, i see... do you intend for him to do the same with the other taichō?" He asks next, causing Ichigo to flinch in the background.
"Hmm; that is difficult to say. It would be beneficial for him to learn more than a single style against Aizen, but afterwards?" Yamamoto thinks.
"Uh, time out, atleast let me catch my breath first." Ichigo says.
Hearing that, Ganju starts to smirk. "What's a'matter, tanpopo, throwing in the towel again already?" He asks, just to piss him off.
"No way in hell! In fact, I'll take on that nephi... what's-it right now!"
"Huh?"
"I will permit a second match only after one half-hour and if Pendleton agrees." Yamamoto says.
Buford still looks startled until Yoruichi walks over to him. "I suggest going along with it; he'll need the practice." She tells him.
He looks to Ichigo for a moment before nodding. "Okay, I'll accept on the condition that we take this outside."
One half-hour later, the two face each other in the ichiban-tai courtyard. "Let's see if that thing Ishida mentioned really is a zanpakutō, Pendleton-san." Ichigo says to him.
Buford huffed, and unsheathed it before pointing it in his direction. "Only because you asked so nicely, mortal." He replied, and began reminiscing.
Flashback.
Sunch'on, Korea. 1886.
Buford, as a goteitaishi of the Hachiban-tai, is out on his 24th anti-hollow sweep, this one having been arranged so as not to aggravate the Pluses from a sunken cargoship called the Normanton. Because the Denreishinki is a cumbersome mix of telegraph and compass-style detector, positive for Pluses, negative for hollows; a second goteitaishi, in this case from Kyuban-tai, has to carry it around**. The message: Sweeper team 19 reporting [stop] 4 hollows have been dealt with [stop] Performed 14 konso: 8 humans, 6 animals [end].
"All done, temp'?" The second of the pair asks in annoyance.
"Yes i am, Umesada-san." Bufor replies while putting the earpiece away and his bowler derby back on.
"Good, there's a knockout from Nanaban-tai who's futon has my name on it." The second tells him, only for a female plus to run up to them. "But I'm sure she can wait."
"Excuse me, you're those people with the funny-looking swords, right?" She asks them.
"We sure are, miss." Umesada tells her. "What can my underling and i do for you?" He then asks while Pendleton rolls his eyes, then she informs them of a jibakurei.
"He-he was a vendor who was hit by one of those horseless carriages while he was dozing off. He dragged himself to an alleyway just before dying." She describes. "But i can't help feeling like something else happened later."
The two shinigami look to each other before Umesada speaks. "You wouldn't mean a tear in his chest, would you?"
"No, usually he's rambling about his wares; but ten minutes ago i saw one, or possibly two of those beasts on the roof of the building he's stuck at."
"That can't be, we just cleared this zone." Umesada says in disbelief. "Which way?"
"Just half a mile down the street behind me." She tells them.
The pair shunpo to the spot, only to verify her story after squeezing past a barrel. "I knew i should have made... it's not the wires... you lug this damn thing around." Umesada complains while checking the detector for possible malfunctions at the same time. "Gears are all where they should be... That sugegasa-yarou is too much of a gal-sneaker to train his troops properly." He continued as he wiped off a little bit of grease.
Pendleton chuckles half-heartedly, only to notice movement out of the corner of his eye. It's just a bystander across the street in a black cloak, but he can't shake the feeling of being watched until he sees the plus again. "Did you remember something about the hollows you claim to have seen, ma'am?" Pendleton asks, once he notices her, only to see her lower her head. "Ma'am?"
The only response was in the form of a massive arm bursting out of her side. As the hollow shrugs off the rest of it's disguise, Umesada attempts to draw his asauchi, only to stumble on a discarded broom. "Shit, too many obstacles here." He tells himself just before being jumped on.
"Umesada-san!" Pendleton shouts as the hollow is biting the other shinigami's thigh, then draws his asauchi and slashes at it's other forearm, but it's only a scrape. It looks at him and kicks him into a nearby wagon, startling all the mortals around them, and causing a long scratch on his jaw. As it heads towards him, it suddenly stops. He wonders what it's waiting for, but soon realizes everything else is also frozen in place. He raises a brow before seeing the battle scene morph into the ledge of a mountain. "Now what's going on?" He asks under his breath.
As if on cue, he hears something walking out of a cave's entrance. It's a massive griffin. "We are manifested at last." Buford hears from it, somehow knowing the word we is the royal version.
"What are you?" He asks nervously.
It then motions for him to follow it into it's lair. "You wish to know our name?" It asks him, then scoffs. "You, who listens but does not hear. We will not give our name to one who cares not of what he already knows!" It yells. "Look there, Buford." It tells him while turning it's head to the left.
He turns to see a pool of water, the surface of which shows Umesada still fighting the hollow as police officers evacuate the citizens and try to make sense of the apparently causeless destruction.
He's outmatched.
"You wish to save those people?" It asks him.
"Of course i do."
"Even he who did nothing but speak ill of you and your taichō?"
He stops for a second at that "...I-"
"Speak!" It yells again while spreading it's wings. "Do you let fear, and fury, rule over you?"
"I do not!"
"Then say our name!" It shouted. Buford somehow knew this our was the standard version. "None will stand in the way when you can-"
End flashback.
"Yottsu-fū ni jōshō, Umō'i Kunshu***." He says and slowly twists his zanpakutō ninety degrees as it morphs into a western hand-and-a-half sword with a crossguard shaped like two golden wings.
Shinigami zukan
A week after being promoted, Buford is walking out of a barbershop, and puts a new derby on since the last one was stepped on by the hollow, when he spots the kyuban-tai man passing by with a cast and a crutch, and hollers to him.
"Huh... Pendleton-san." Umesada says, having a slightly better opinion of his temporary partner. Slightly. "I hear you got a fancy number after we got back from being in the soup."
Pendleton shrugs. "I wouldn't consider nijuseki that great, but it's a start. How'd it go with that nanaban-tai lady you mentioned?" He asks, only for Umesada to start scowling. "Umesada-san?"
"She... Kazu... Kazumi-chan told me to vamoose and went with Ogidō-jurokuseki from yonban-tai, insteadi!" Umesada admitted while tears shot out from him in two little arches.
Chapter four.
* Not sure if it's still a custom, but Japanese couples used to walk three paces apart.
** Made up predecessor to modern soul pager.
*** Ascend to the four winds. Monarch, clad in feathers.
Currently wondering if i should change the protagonist's name to one more common during the 17th & 18th centuries?