Chapter 78 - 1,000 Yr. BWArc: From Forge to Fabrics
Byakuya's POV
If someone told me that one day, I would be standing in the Royal Dimension picking out an asauchi from the collection that the captain responsible for creating the zanpakuto in the first place held in a spare room . . . I would take that person's words with a grain of salt.
. . . And yet here I am, doing exactly that.
"Don't mind them. . . They're like this with every shinigami that comes by to get their sword reforged," He told me as we were confronted by the asauchis' quite hostile reception. "It's their way of showing their displeasure to all the shinigami who've mishandled their swords in the past."
"I see, but I doubt that you have seen many people come to you for your expertise over the decades," I couldn't help but say as I kept my eyes on the volatile spirits, all of them looking eager to attack.
"No, not really, but when such an occasion does occur, they tend to milk it for all its worth," He explains with a grin that almost seemed sinister to a certain extent. "You should have seen them when the others were here. They were nicer to your sister compared to the redhead and the substitute. Your lieutenant survived with a passable grade, but it took Kurosaki two tries before he could move on."
"Two tries?"
"He needed to find out what he truly was before the asauchi were willing to accept him," Nimaiya tells me, shaking his head as he looked off to the side. "When he came back for the second go around, all of them were kneeling in submission for the boy. . . Never seen anything like it!"
"It definitely sounds like it was quite a sight," I say, and he simply nods his head before gesturing for me to approach the zanpakutos.
Thankfully, none of them tried to leap at me as soon as I was close enough, but they were all tense, watching me as I started to walk further and further into their group, allowing myself to be surrounded by all their hostile glares as I searched for the one asauchi that would form Senbonzakura's foundation.
I do not know how long I walked amongst these unfriendly beings, but when I found what I was looking for, I knew it when I felt it. It was like something clicked inside of me when I spotted him just off to my left. Reaching out to it, it looked at me with an unreadable expression before stepping forward, tentatively reaching out for me in return.
As soon as our hands touched, the other asauchi seemingly disappeared into thin air, as if they were never here to begin with. When I turned to look back at my chosen sword, I was no longer looking at a blank face.
I was looking at Senbonzakura's face . . . well, what remained of it now that is.
My zanpakuto always kept his face hidden, regardless if he was in our Inner World or walking with me in the Seireitei, but in the past, things were much different.
At first, Senbonzakura would keep his face bare when we first met, but as we grew to know and understand each other, he started covering it more and more. First it was a scarf, then a mask that covered the lower half of his face, and then a variety of full face masks until he settled on the design he currently favored.
Now, his face was bare, but the only tangible feature was his blue eyes. The rest of his face was smooth pale skin, like an unfinished portrait.
"Half a face, for half a zanpakuto," I heard Nimaiya say as I brought the asauchi forward. "When you touched it, what remained of Senbonzakura's essence within you showed itself on the asauchi. If you were to see him in your Inner World right now, this is what he would look like to you right now . . . With clothes of course."
"Of course . . ." I say in return as he moves toward the exit, the asauchi and I following close behind him.
The forge was at the bottom of the waterfall, and since there was no other way to access it but for the waterfall itself, I was forced to swallow whatever pride I still had and jump into the water after Captain Nimaiya, who didn't hesitate to jump in as soon as he was close enough.
The journey down was strange, but weirdly exhilarating, but I couldn't think on it long when the Guard captain was already out of the pool, grabbing hold of the asauchi and pulling it over to his forge, where Hiuchigashima was already waiting with a few other women dressed in similar garb as her.
"Captain Kuchiki, meet Tokie Tonokawa, Hasuka Hashihara, Nonomi Nomino, and Tsumiko Tsuchimiya!" He tells me, gesturing to each woman in turn as he continues to walk to his forge. "They are my assistants . . . Now sit back, relax, and wait until I call you! We'll take good care of your sword here."
I could only silently nod as I emerged from the water, watching as the women converged on their superior. Keeping myself at a safe distance, I could only watch in awe as the group smoothly came together to complete this task.
Proving that there was more to them than what meets the eye, each woman had their own specific role in the process, with Captain Nimaiya bringing everything together in a way that only an expert craftsman could. Each time he brought his hammer down on the blade, large swaths of fire reared out from the forge until the very last strike. The fire itself wasn't the standard red or orange that you would expect, but a pure white that seemed tinged with pink as the man continued with his work until he set his hammer down.
"Now, it's your turn," He tells me, gesturing for me to come forward. "I've done what I can. . . Now you'll have to build on it."
"I will have to work quickly though," I admit as I looked into the forge. The blank slate that was the asauchi was now gone, replaced with a sword molded into Senbonzakura's likeness.
It wasn't him just yet, but it will be, soon.
"You'll have to, considering the enemy you'll be facing once again," He adds as slips his sunglasses back onto his face. "Captain Hyōsube will be helping you on that front specifically, but he's the last of the Guard that you'll be meeting. Captain Shutara is expecting you next."
"Captain Shutara?" I ask, quickly remembering that she was the one that retrieved Rukia, Abarai, and myself from the Fourth Division.
"Yep; the one that spoke with your girl before we came back up here," He further reminds me, his cheeky grin returning. "Best be on your way now. . . You don't want to keep Captain Shutara waiting."
T ~ P ~ O ~ S ~ L
Captain Shutara was already waiting for me at her palace's landing platform by the time I arrived. Having a better understanding of how these launch pads operate, I was able to successfully land with the grace and dignity that a captain should hold, especially fortuitous since it appears that the woman had been watching me, likely since she first spotted me flying through the air.
Her eyes held a calculating edge to them as she continued with her silent observations, analyzing me with a stare that slowly went from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. It wasn't the first time I was being stared at like this, and it wouldn't be the last either, but thankfully, there was no malicious intent behind that gaze of hers.
It was very clinical, as if she was actually calculating what my physical measurements currently were in her head.
Then again, she is the creator of the shihakushō, so that could be the likely reason she was looking at me the way she is right now in the first place.
"So, this is what you look like when not covered up in bandages," She slowly says, watching my face keenly. "It's nice to see that you've recovered well Captain Kuchiki. . . I hope my fellow Guard members didn't give you too much trouble along the way."
"Not in the slightest," I say as I start to follow her into her domain. I was trying to be diplomatic, but the look she was giving me made it obvious that she didn't completely believe my words. ". . . Some were different than others."
"And here I thought your courting of a Fukudome would make you a little looser with your words . . . Haven't taken up their mannerisms just yet I see. . ."
"I guess you can say that . . . I believe the ways of my family have been so embedded in me that it's hard for me to change my ways these days." I say in return.
"Spoken like a true Kuchiki. . ." I heard her say, though there was no malice in her words. "I don't mean to be mean, but I must admit that the members of your family tend to be more stuck in their ways compared to most, well, aside from the Tsunayashiros of course."
She spoke the clan's name as if it were a curse, and I could not blame her. Captain Shutara's path toward her position in the Royal Guard was well known amongst the nobility, and though I still shake my head at my ancestors' choice of position at the time, it was still better than the well-known response the then-Tsunayashiro Clan head gave at the time.
Only the Fukudomes had the foresight to give the woman the resources she needed to create her greatest achievement, an act that some within that family still love to brag about to this very day . . .
. . . Well, that is what Mina has told me.
"I cannot fault you for your words," I finally say, knowing well that she had a point. "Even now, there are many that are still slow to change their ways, unwilling to budge until the proof finally smacks them in the face."
"Well, that's a blunt way of putting it . . . Maybe the Fukudomes have been rubbing off on you," She says, turning her head to reveal the playful smirk on her face. "At the very least, I'm sure Lieutenant Fukudome has."
"Captain Nimaiya has mentioned that you met her when you arrived at the Fourth to retrieve the others and myself. . ." I say, ignoring the obvious innuendo in her words. It was rumored that the woman had a . . . flirty side to her, but I had no plans to be baited right now.
"I did. Apparently, I interrupted her just as she was visiting you," She tells me as we step into a hallway that was decorated in various types of fabric. "To me, it appears that just as she was settling in to visit you, I arrived to take you away."
"Your timing is impeccable then. . ." I say, unable to hold back the bit of sarcasm that leaked into my voice.
"Oh, don't be like that . . . The sooner you're finished here in the Royal Dimension, the sooner you can return back to the Seireitei and your lady love," She tells me as we turned into a room full to the brim with rolls and swaths of various fabrics. "Welcome to my workroom. As you can see, I like to keep the place well stocked."
"This room likely puts all others to shame," I say, shaking my head at the multitude of colors and patterns that covered the room. "From what I have seen so far, I must guess that you are going to be dressing me in one of your creations."
"I see you catch on quick Captain Kuchiki. . ." She smirks again, this time without the flirtatious undertone. "I'm the one that handles the creation of Ōken Clothing. With the barriers between the Royal Dimension and the Seireitei being what they are, it's what you'll need if you want to return home in perfect fighting condition."
"I understand . . . And before you can start working on your latest creation, you'll need my measurements then."
"Correct again Captain Kuchiki . . . And I hope you won't be too difficult with me during the process," She says as a golden arm appears from the contraption on her back with a measuring tape in its palm. "At the very least, I expect that you'll be more compliant than your lieutenant was when he was here."
"More compliant? Was Lieutenant Abarai not as . . . forthcoming as you were hoping for?" I ask in return.
"He was, at first, but once I threatened to cut off his manhood, he was a lot more willing to do what I asked. . ."
"I see she takes her job very seriously. . ." I thought to myself as we came to a stop at the part of the room that held a series of full-length body mirrors. ". . . If I'm not careful, I may get the same threat, and I have no plans on leaving this dimension less of a man."
"Seems like you're thinking over my words pretty hard there Captain . . . Heed them well, and you won't be disappointing your lady love when you finally decide to go at it underneath the sheets."
The insinuation in her words were obvious, but it was enough to make me stutter in my steps. Usually, I'm able to ignore such words from others, but hearing my relationship with Mina being spoken in such a blunt fashion from a woman who was effectively one of my superiors, it had a different effect on me.
When I looked up, Captain Shutara was watching me with a smirk that was eerily similar to a certain were-cat's own, especially when she was successful at putting me off kilter, and knew it as well.
"What? Was it something I said?"
"Did you have to put your advice in that kind of context?" I asked in return, her face unflinching as mine felt like it was starting to burn.
"Oh, Captain Kuchiki, I could have been much blunter than that. . . So, shall we get things started then?"
At this moment, as I watched her put on a smile that would have seemed innocent to most men, I could start to understand why Abarai wasn't as forthcoming with her earlier.
A/N: Please review!
