"Hey," Izuru greeted Rukia, sitting down on the large rock he had found the girl on and dropping a satchel next to them. They were in the park where they revealed their identities to each other. Izuru set down a small bento box filled with handmade sweets, then laid flat on his back, swinging one leg in the air so the black hakama swished back and forth. "I went from leggings and jeans to hakama. Can't tell if this is an upgrade or a downgrade."
"I think that depends on your preference," Rukia responded, picking up a pink mochi and eating it. If Izuru had Luna's preferences, he'd sooner chop off his hand than eat the squishy treat.
"Well, I don't have to worry about what I'm gonna wear every day. So… upgrade!" Izuru set his leg down and rolled onto his stomach, plucking a wagashi jelly in the shape of a leaf, and tossing it into his mouth. "So, what have you been up to these last… twenty years…" He said the last part slowly, quirking an eyebrow. "I'm going to go insane with how slow the Seireitei's time functions."
Rukia chuckled. "You get used to it."
"Oh!" Izuru reached into the small bag and retrieved a thick notebook. "I spent the past couple of days filling out this notebook. Kira's been feeding me information on Captains and Lieutenants so most of that is complete."
Rukia raised an eyebrow and smirked, slowly shaking her head. "I remember in all of your fanfictions you would make a notebook."
"I don't trust my brain. Okay, hear me out," Izuru said, opening the notebook and showing Rukia what was already written out. English lettering was scattered across the pages, along with rough sketches. "I've mapped out the general gist of what I remember the plot being… meaning, mostly everything up until the Fake Karakura town arc. I also have a few character profiles on some of the characters… I need your help to fill in the gaps."
"I don't know… I might have forgotten stuff, you know?" Rukia looked at the pages, chewing on her bottom lip as she squinted at the squiggles that were Izuru's scrawl. "I might need to relearn English all over again, it's been so long since I spoke it."
"I can reteach you. Since we'll be seeing each other more often and going into the World of the Living to, apparently, kindle a positive relationship with the future Kurosaki family." Izuru flipped to the first page of the notebook and clicked a pen. "Come on. We have the chance to change things, but it won't do much if either of us forgets what's going to happen.
"That's true." She nodded with a small smile. "Alright, we should meet up for lessons once a week then."
In a room within Squad 13th's barracks, three Soul Reapers sat in tense silence.
Kaien stared at Izuru with increasing intensity. Rukia stood off to the side with a serene, innocent smile on her face. Her eyes closed as she hummed softly.
Izuru couldn't help but sweat as he refrained from glaring at the tiny girl in the room. Internally, he would rather be spending the next three hours doing paperwork for Gin, than be within half a kilometer radius of this Lieutenant whom he only talked to once. That was three days ago at a Lieutenants meeting. By talk, that entails saying hello to each other and then sitting far away from each other because of squad numbers.
"Lieutenant Shiba," Izuru greeted through his teeth, giving the faintest bow possible.
"Lieutenant Kira." Kaien's icy's tone cut through the air as he crossed his arms tightly across his chest.
"Rukia!" The short dark haired girl cut in with a wide smile. She gained an unimpressed look from the dark-haired man.
On the other hand, Izuru was covering his face and his shoulders shook. The dark-haired duo could hear progressively louder and louder snickers coming from the blond.
Rukia smiled wider and looked over at Kaien like a puppy that wanted praise.
"Why?" Izuru asked, staring at the girl, his shoulders still trembling as he cleared his throat. His blond hair was slightly mussed at the ends. "Out of everything you could have done, why that?"
"Because~" She sang, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking back and forth on her feet.
"First Captain Ichimaru and now you. I awaken people's inner Disney Princess desires to sing, apparently," Izuru said, rolling his shoulders so he sat up straight.
"Seems so!" Rukia chirped, further confusing the older Lieutenant on her left.
"What the heck are you two talking about?!" Kaien shouted, throwing his hands up as he glared intensely at Izuru.
"I'll tell you when you're older," Izuru responded absentmindedly, not even looking at him but instead, Rukia. He froze, eyes widening to disproportionate size and he takes a very subtle shuffle on the tatami away from Kaien. "I said nothing, and no one heard anything."
Rukia meanwhile was doubled over in laughter, tears streaming down her face as she tried to catch her breath.
"I'm older than you!" Kaien almost shrieked. Turning to shoot the fellow Lieutenant a piercing glare.
Something inside Rukia told her that Izuru considered himself older when one considers the age of the manga itself.
"Well! Now you two have met! What do you think?" Rukia chirped, knowing full well what the reactions would be.
"I hate him! I disapprove! You cannot date him! No!" Kaien immediately responded.
Izuru's face fell, twisting and morphing into something akin to a small child being told to eat his greens. His nose scrunched up and he stood up to take a very deliberate step away from Kaien. He leaned away, only to take several very large strides forward, and smacked the back of his hand on top of Kaien's forehead, his other hand covering his own forehead. "Are you okay, Lieutenant Shiba? Do you need to go to the 4th? Have you eaten any apples today?"
"Dude," Rukia said, a blank expression on her face. "That was not the point of introducing the two of you."
Kaien looked between the two of them like they had each grown a second head. "It wasn't? Then what was the point?"
Rukia took in a deep, centering breath. "You two are my best friends." She finally said, "I wanted the two most important people in my life to meet and be friends as well. We all need to be friends!"
A look of utter betrayal passed Lieutenant Shiba's face as he looked at Rukia with wide gray eyes. "Two best friends, Rukia? Two? When did you even start talking to Kira? You haven't spoken to him in almost 20 years."
"Guess I'm one of Rukia's…" Izuru paused, looking like he knew he was going to regret the next words to come out of his mouth, but is gonna do it anyway. "... dirty little secrets."
Rukia frowned, but with the tenseness in her eyes, you could see she was slightly amused.
"As for Rukia and I being friends for this long, it's… complicated." Izuru scratched his neck as he talked, and continued to do so until very angry red fingernail-wide marks formed. "Um…"
"'Complicated?'" Kaien parroted, crossing his arms over his chest. "Okay, no one is leaving this spot until I get an explanation. Now. Rukia, how could you keep such a big secret from me? What's going on with you?"
Rukia went quiet, looking at Kaien. When she realized what was going on, she really didn't plan on letting… Well, anything comes up. At least, not until the main storyline came up, and then she would have to come clean to at least Ichigo, if not Byakuya. She probably would have said something to someone had she found Luna sooner, but that never happened. So… those thoughts got pushed to the side.
"We remember our past lives."
Pushed to the side until she found Luna, who likes to talk!
"Izuru!" Rukia hissed.
Kaien's eyebrow shot up as he looked at Rukia with a puzzled expression. "Is that it?" He placed his hands on his hips. "Rukia, our entire society is based on the idea that we reincarnate when we die. It's not unreasonable to assume someone could remember their past life."
Rukia slowly nodded, "I guess… but-"
"I admit it's a little odd that you two specifically remember your past lives, and you two happen to be friends, but I'll buy that." Kaien cocked his head to the side. "Doesn't explain why you didn't introduce Lieutenant Kira to me once in the twenty years I've known you. I've never heard you spending any time with him before."
Rukia tried to steady her breath, her heart racing in her chest. Okay, this was an easy lie! Just claim that they never interacted much in school so they didn't have any chances to learn about the reincarnation! It's easy! She just had to… find her voice. Yeah, calm down enough to let the lie slip past her drying mouth.
Rukia also sent a pleading glance to Izuru, hoping he would catch on with the lie and tell it for her.
But Izuru was standing in such a way that Rukia was on his blind side.
Izuru raised a hand up to the side of his face. "Because a little under a month ago I wasn't Izuru."
"DUDE!" Rukia shrieked without any dignity, storming over to the blond and grabbing his arm. "Why would you say that?!"
Izuru shrugged her off and then pointed at Kaien. "Because, Rukia, he's the closest thing to an ally we can even hope to get, even if he's under the genjutsu!"
Genjutsu-?! "Hypnosis! It's hypnotism! Stop calling it a genjutsu! You're supposed to be the one that knows all of the Japanese and remembers things!" Rukia's voice was cracking under the pressure it took to make herself speak. Cold sweat broke down throughout her body, even as Ruru and Yuki were pleading within her to calm down.
"The fact I can even speak to anyone is a miracle in itself! Before you get the wrong idea, Lieutenant Shiba," Izuru continued talking much to Rukia's fears as she was close to collapsing next to him, since the panic was starting to take over her, "The Rukia that is my friend, and the subordinate and friend- Rukia, that you've known is the same person. But I didn't become Izuru until this body died of a hollow injury several weeks ago. Think of it as…"
Izuru paused, humming as he seemed to rifle through his Japanese to find the right word.
"Possession? Yeah, I like that word. We died at the same time, but something happened, and well, yeah…" Izuru reached out and grabbed Rukia by the upper arm as her legs gave out. "Hey… hey, Rukia? Hun? It's okay. You're okay…"
Izuru slowly guided both his body and Rukia to the ground, with Kaien quickly kneeling down to check on her. Two hands from different people were rubbing circles on her back.
"We'll talk more in detail later," Kaien said firmly. "But if possible- Lieutenant Kira! Summarize the most important piece of information in a single sentence."
"Always act natural around him, but do not trust Captain Aizen… Or Captain Ichimaru," Izuru answered, the last bit said like an afterthought.
Rukia made several noises of distress.
"And this is why we don't bottle things up for years on end," Izuru scolded gently.
"Captain Aizen and Captain Ichimaru…" Kaien muttered. "Rukia said something about hypnosis."
"Aizen is a natural-born liar," Izuru said flatly. "I would say he has no soul, but… well, 'Soul Society' kind of contradicts that claim."
Rukia blinked and then let out a short laugh. "Really?"
Kaien ran a hand through his hair. "This is… a lot."
"It is. We have a lot to catch up on." Rukia mumbled, steadily taking in deep breaths. "You can't tell anyone, not even Miyako." She stared at him with serious eyes.
Kaien gulped. "I can try but she knows when I'm hiding something."
"Then just tell her you have to hide something for the safety of others." Izuru crossed his arms over his chest. "Why do couples insist on keeping others' secrets and not just tell their partners 'hey, I have to keep this thing a secret, please don't ask me for more information'? It's as simple as basic, human communication!"
"Izuru was never in any kind of relationship in both this life and his former life," Rukia responds blankly, jabbing her thumb in the blond's direction.
"Seriously, Rukia?" Izuru throws his arms out toward nothing, "It's one of the main conflicts in every movie, tv, and video game out there! I can only imagine who has died throughout history because people were either kept in the dark, or someone blabbed!"
Kaien frowned. "I suppose." He nodded. "Why is it dangerous?"
"Captain Ichimaru or Aizen will find out if the information spreads, and Rukia's protected by Captain Ukitake," Izuru answered as one would to a five-year-old, with very slow speech. "I don't want to get stabbed by my snake of a captain on my next mission."
"Uh-huh." Rukia wagged her eyebrows at him, a wide smirk on her face. "Suuuure you don't."
"Besides his eyes, I find Captain Ichimaru physically unattractive in every sense of the matter." Izuru didn't even have a single blush on it.
"His body is nice." Rukia snickered. "You like that don't you? Nice lean muscles, tall, all he's missing is the long hair."
"... You do know Squad 3 has communal baths, right? I've seen him without that… stupidly-named robes. He's a twig. I can wrap my hand around the largest section of his arm and have my thumb and middle finger touch." Izuru covered his face with his hands and groaned. "I did not want bathing to be my first time seeing other naked men. It's so… ugh."
Kaien looked between the two of them with a perplexed expression. "The heck is going on, man? Like how the hell did this conversation even start?"
"This happens often," Izuru explained through his hands. "Rukia gets side-tracked easily and I tend to continue the conversations." He withdrew his hands and suddenly paled. "Is there a place we can talk in secret? Captain Ichimaru's looking for me."
It was true. Very faintly, Rukia could sense Ichimaru's spiritual energy leaking out in the area in an almost searching manner. "Did you leave him with paperwork?"
"Yes, but he never does it. He gets bored easily and I have to coach him to sit down and actually do his work," Izuru said and turned his head in the direction of the spiritual pressure. "I finished all of mine before meeting with you two."
Rukia snorted. "That sounds like him."
"I'm not his babysitter, but I think he has abandonment issues." Izuru stood up and flattened his hakama pants.
"Captain Ichimaru, Abandonment issues?" Kaien asked as he stood up, helping Rukia to her feet. "That doesn't sound like him. Follow me."
As they walked Rukia shrugged. "Actually, with the number of times he just leaves without saying anything and goes weeks and months without another reappearance, it makes sense."
"The number of times he keeps sneaking into my quarters just to read and eat my snacks," Izuru grumbled to himself. He blinked a few times then looked around. Rukia could tell he was pestering Kira for answers. "Where are we going, anyway?"
"My house," Kaien answered, keeping up the pace as a large manor started to appear in the distance. "Captain Ichimaru never goes there, not after my sister nearly scared the daylights out of him."
Izuru raised his eyebrows and looked down at Rukia. "Is there anything I should know in advance?"
"Not that I can think of," Rukia responded with an absentminded muse to her tone. This, of course, was before a speeding figure rushed towards them, and out of instinct, Izuru jumped in front of the pair.
And is now holding Kotarou upside down, by his ankles.
"Rukia, there's a small child," Izuru deadpanned, looking at the giggling child with a varying margin of emotions.
Kotarou stared at Izuru with wide eyes and then pointed at him. "Hey, dad, who's this?!"
"That's Lieutenant Kira," Kaien answered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Lieuten- oh! Like my dad!" Kotarou's voice rang out with pride.
It took everything to click in Izuru's mind. "Ah, this makes sense now." Izuru then squatted ever so slightly, and just when Rukia thought he was going to set Kotarou down… the kid was flung into the air. Izuru easily catches him and holds him against his hip like some kind of mom. "Healthy weight too."
"Wha-?!" Kaien had a hand resting on his Zanpakuto, his mouth hanging open. "Why?!"
"Because I wanted to?" Izuru adjusted the kid so he wasn't sliding, glancing at Rukia who was on the ground laughing.
Kotarou rested his head against Izuru's shoulder, a little dazed but the adults that knew him well enough could tell he would recover right about… now. "Again!"
Izuru looked down at the child, at the panicked Kaien, then back at the child. "No." And dropped him on his butt.
"Ow! Why not?!" He shouted, pouting up at him with shining teal eyes.
Izuru reached down and poked his forehead, "Maybe next time, little man."
"But Uncle Kaname does it when I ask!" Kotarou explained with flawless child logic.
"Kaname…?" Izuru looked at Rukia with confusion. "Why does that sound familiar?" Neither one of them saw Kaien tense up.
"Tosen…" She raised a brow and was met with a thousand-yard stare. "You know, the blind Captain of the Ninth?"
Izuru took several long steps away from the small child. His eyes glazed over for a few seconds and Rukia could almost see the million and one Luna's running around her brain trying to find the one file of memory. By the time it was found, his eyes cleared up in a matter of seconds. "You know, that explains a lot."
So this chapter was so fun to write. The interactions between Kaien and Izuru were hilarious! I hope you thought so too! Please let us know what you thought!
