Title: Turnabout
Author: darkling59
Fandom: Bleach
Rating: T
Date: 6/3/2019
Disclaimer: Bleach and all associated characters, settings, concepts, etc. within this story do not belong to me.
Warnings: Apparently I've been cagier with information than I realized. Rest assured, all questions will be laid to rest in due time.
Please read and review!
Rebellion - Night 3
Lilynette was happy to welcome Starrk back when he finally lost interest in listening through his wolves and threw his final follower off his trail. It was early in the evening by then and her classes were over for the day – normalcy had nearly returned to the Academy.
(As normal as it could be with so many students dead or hospitalized by rogue zanpakuto.)
She was even happier to welcome him back when he offered to help her with her homework.
For the next couple hours, he let himself forget about the captains, Muramasa, and the whole rebellion. Instead, he spent the time sprawled on his back on the bed of Lilynette's former roommate with her books stacked on his chest, reading through one of them and calling out answers from the text to the homework questions she read aloud to him. By an unspoken understanding, they did not address any of the heavier topics plaguing both of their minds. Instead, they simply enjoyed each other's presence and relaxed into a sense of false normalcy. There would be plenty of time for Starrk to spill his secrets once the rebellion was over.
He stayed there, reclining comfortably on the soft bed until the sun was down and Lilynette was yawning widely into the darkness. She stumbled around preparing for bed, grumbling about the curfew that would steal her lights and Starrk stared up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head.
Despite her protests, she was asleep nearly the second her head hit her pillow, well before curfew.
Starrk waited there in the darkness until he felt the flickers of shinigami reiatsu signatures beginning their canvas of the building; instructors and extra security checking on the students to make sure there were no zanpakuto attacking and everyone was obeying curfew. As skilled as he was, he wouldn't be able to escape the notice of someone opening the door to examine the room.
He sat up with a sigh, making the bed squeak angrily as he stretched and yawned, temporarily baring his sharp teeth. Then he pushed himself upright and stepped across to Lilynette's bed.
She was sound asleep sprawled on her stomach with her arms locked tightly beneath her pillow and her face buried in its soft depths. Her breathing was deep and even and her muscles were completely relaxed. Somehow, the blanket had slipped down her back to settle around her waist and Starrk automatically pulled it back up to drape over her shoulders. Lilynette stirred faintly at the change but did not wake up.
With a final wistful glance at the peaceful scene, Starrk turned his back and stepped out of the window, using a single flash-step to get onto the roof and then taking off back into the streets of Seireitei to avoid the guards patrolling the academy grounds and surrounding streets.
X
He'd forgotten about Wabisuke's words to Kazeshini earlier in the day; the remark that Muramasa would deploy them as soon as night fell. Or at least that the zanpakuto spirits would take action in the night, with or without orders. He remembered them when he got closer to the forest where they'd set up camp, however, and felt a large cluster of reiatsu signatures emerging from the shadowy depths.
At the front of the pack was the most confusing member of Muramasa's forces: Byakuya Kuchiki. And he was on his way to the sixth division.
Had he come to his senses and decided to defect back to the side of his comrades? Or was he leading the charge on Muramasa's orders?
More importantly, should Starrk head over there to see what was going on or should he turn tail and attempt to avoid everyone as he'd originally intended?
Perhaps turning tail would be wiser, but he was getting really tired of running away. And his curiosity had become a stronger driving force than his caution and distaste for shinigami.
From his location, he was approaching the sixth division from the south while the zanpakuto and Kuchiki were approaching from the southeast. They had a head start on Starrk but he was faster so he didn't arrive too long after them.
In fact, he arrived just in time for the action to start.
A tornado of pink flower petals erupted into the air, completely demolishing the headquarters of the sixth division and slamming through the buildings on either side, greeted by panicked shouts and screams from the shinigami on duty within.
When the zanpakuto all paused at the sight, clustering together to watch rather than help, Starrk had to wonder if they were actually there to support Byakuya at all.
Instead, a new reiatsu signature roared into existence in an explosion of red energy. A monstrous skull-headed snake-creature shrieked as it flew out of the cloud of debris, accompanied by a shinigami Starrk recognized as lieutenant Renji Abarai and a vaguely feral female zanpakuto spirit attached to the snake monster by a chain.
The snake lunged into the cloud of flower petals, emerging from the other side with Byakuya it its mouth, the upper and lower jaws held wide apart by the captain's foot braced on its lower incisors and his zanpakuto holding back the upper canines.
"Why are you doing this, Captain?!" Renji's strident yell echoed through the night air, even drowning out the sounds of remaining destruction. "Why?!"
"As I said. For the sake of my pride." Byakuya remained emotionless in the face of his subordinate's anger and hurt. With a casual slash of his sword, he forced Zabimaru back and landed on a nearby roof. With another gesture, he directed his shikai into the snake's mouth, matching the ball of deadly energy building within.
"Your pride?!" Renji yelled, his confusion and anger obvious. But Byakuya was done talking.
"Bankai."
X
Starrk wasn't arrogant enough to think he'd gone completely unnoticed by the zanpakuto present, but none of them took note of him as he crept closer to watch the fight. It didn't last long; he found himself wincing in sympathy as Lieutenant Abarai was crushed into the dust along with his zanpakuto, despite his bankai and the arrival of Rukia Kuchiki.
Unsurprisingly, when Byakuya turned to leave, it was Kazeshini who got in his way. The wind zanpakuto had been chomping at the bit all day, just waiting for an opportunity to let loose against a shinigami and sate his bloodlust.
"Muramasa sent us ta give ya a hand." Kazeshini sneered at Byakuya as he stalked past him. The jingling of chains followed his movements as he raised his conjoined double-bladed scythes over the prone forms of Rukia and Renji. "I'll show ya how to deal with shinigami. You need to kill them!"
There was a bare second of frozen silence as Byakuya turned, just enough time for Starrk to wonder if he was going to intervene, before a new voice cut through the cold night air.
"Stop right there!" Soifon flashed out of shunpo onto the roof of a nearby building, expression forbidding. Her reiatsu blanketed the area and it was the purposeful nature of its spread that made Starrk analyze it more closely and realize there were dozens of weaker reiatsu signatures hiding within it, already moving into position around the zanpakuto. By the time she continued, he knew what she was going to say. "We've got you surrounded!"
A series of confused, angry, and fearful snarls and protests emerged from the group of zanpakuto as they turned to look at the dozens of black-clad ninjas from Soifon's punishment squad appearing from the shadows. Most of them circled, turning their backs to their companions and baring their swords to the shinigami – all but two.
Starrk had never seen the peacock-feathered zanpakuto before, but he recognized the giant ape-man as Hozukimaru and the heavy stare he was exchanging with Ikkaku said everything necessary about his intentions. The feathered zanpakuto next to him was exchanging an identical glare with a shinigami near Ikkaku, one with multicolored feathers on his face and the symbol of the eleventh division on his shihakusho. The two shinigami were bracketing Soifon but completely ignoring her in favor of their sword spirits.
"Zanpakuto and Byakuya Kuchiki!" Soifon yelled, ignoring the obvious tension between the officers around her and the zanpakuto in front. "You are under arrest! Lay down your weapons and kneel on the ground!"
"Screw you!" Kazeshini yelled back, to the agreeing hisses and shouts of his companions. All of them lifted their weapons and took stances in readiness to fight.
Soifon's expression never changed as she addressed her troops. "Stop them. We cannot let these criminals leave this place!"
As one, over thirty ninjas flashed forward, short blades ready to kill. Unlike the zanpakuto, they were dead silent as they advanced.
Battle closed in seconds, triggering complete chaos.
Sheltering unnoticed in the second story window of a nearby half-demolished building, Starrk watched the violence. In the middle of it all, Byakuya stood still, equally silent with his eyes fixed on the captain of the second division. A focus that shifted to Ichigo Kurosaki as he arrived seconds later and clashed swords with Senbonzakura.
The ninjas stood no chance. Skilled assassins though they were, not a single one could match a lieutenant's power level, which was the weakest caliber of zanpakuto present.
Kazeshini cut a bloody swathe through them, shrieking with laughter. Blood flew through the air, accentuated by screams and the whistling of the wind-spirit's chains and blades. Genryomaru assisted, though he was grim and silent about it, not exulting in the pain and death. Arcs of lightning zapped from his pike to explode on the ground and into his targets, sending any ninjas that escaped Kazeshini high into the air, convulsing and bleeding, only to hit the ground with bone-breaking thuds.
Starrk's windowsill had a good view of the courtyard in front of the sixth division headquarters, and its deep shadows combined with his silence kept him unnoticed. As the carnage continued and intensified, his claws clenched over the edge of the sill and dug deeper and deeper into the wood. He didn't like or understand the actions of these zanpakuto; why were they so violent? How did this help their goal at all? And if this battle was so important – and it must be for so many of them to be here – then where was Muramasa?
Starrk could sense a few other spirits patrolling the surrounding streets, but none of them were Muramasa. There was no sign of him.
The more that happened, the less any of it made sense.
When Soifon moved to lunge into the battle to defend her fighters from Kazeshini, Genryomaru turned on her, shooting a lance of lightning straight at her perch and exploding a crater in the wall, running after her as she was thrown off balance and took a backwards step of shunpo to regain it. When Starrk twitched an ear in their direction, he could hear them talking (apparently Genryomaru was more vocal around shinigami than around Wabisuke and Gegetsuburi). The massive volcanic form of Tenken followed his lieutenant-class friend with ground-shaking footsteps, defending him from Soifon's sword and her verbal barbs.
That would have left three zanpakuto to fight – four, if you counted Senbonzakura, but he was occupied fighting Ichigo – but both zanpakuto of the eleventh division officers took off with their respective shinigami to fight one on one in distant locations, too far for Starrk to hear them and he was not interested enough to manifest wolves to follow, especially since they'd probably just get blown up by the attacks flying hot and heavy through the air.
To Starrk's surprise, Lieutenant Kira stepped in as the unlikely savior for what few ninjas remained. He was the quietest and weakest officer present, managing to go unnoticed entirely until the others were occupied, but for some reason, the second he stepped onto the battlefield he had Kazeshini's full attention.
"You!" Hisagi's zanpakuto snarled, full of venom. Instantly, Kazeshini forgot the massacre surrounding him and lunged after Kira, still bitter that the lieutenant of the third division had rescued Hisagi earlier. Wisely, the lieutenant fled, drawing Kazeshini away and giving the second division ninjas the opportunity to stagger away with their living comrades. It was a calculated retreat, not cowardice, but that wouldn't make a difference if Kazeshini managed to catch him.
Starrk lowered his ears and focused on the one fight remaining in the center of the sixth division: Ichigo verses Senbonzakura with Byakuya observing from one side and Renji and Rukia watching from the other, leaning heavily on each other.
The two combatants were powerful, there was no doubt about that, but watching them Starrk saw no new techniques from the last time he saw them fight in the forest. Senbonzakura used his shikai to throw hundreds of blade-petals at Ichigo; at once and in multiple streams, occasionally even trying to surround him in a ball of blades and death. Ichigo responded by throwing wave upon wave of intense arcs of energy at his opponent, beating back the attacks through sheer force alone. When they began to come too fast, Ichigo went into bankai and used the increase in speed to gain the upper hand. Unsurprisingly, Senbonzakura went into bankai in response and increased the number of blades in the air tenfold. After the first burst of clashing blades, the basic energy nature of their attacks kept them from any true close combat sword fighting.
Starrk grimaced when the whirling pink cloud of blades came a bit too close for comfort and he had to tap some aside with his own reiatsu. If he wanted to remain unseen, he needed to retreat, though he didn't want to go too far; whoever won this fight would determine the fate of the rebellion, he was sure. By numbers if nothing else; losing so many high-ranked zanpakuto would put a severe dent in Muramasa's plans for equality and freedom.
If those were really his goals at all.
The wolf zanpakuto left his refuge and ghosted across a rooftop, absentmindedly smacking aside one of Kazeshini's blades when it came too close to clipping the side of his head. Not even Kazeshini noticed.
He sensed more than heard the shinigami gain the upper hand as he maneuvered through the streets around the site of the battle, looking for a spot beyond the debris radius from which he could watch.
When the three zanpakuto lurking in the shadows stepped into Soifon's and Kira's fights, taking the combatants by surprise, the sword spirits gained a slight advantage. Starrk recognized their signatures as Wabisuke, Gegetsuburi, and Suzumebachi, two of them belonging to officers present, but before they could retreat to their own dominance battles, something completely unexpected happened.
"Gotcha, Sword."
Starrk was moving at the first syllable, lunging up into the air away from the presence suddenly behind him, but a huge, rough hand grabbed the back of his coat and yanked him back until he was flush against the much larger form of Zaraki Kenpachi. He had to crane his head back against a haori-covered chest to see the captain of the eleventh division, who was looking down at him with a feral light in his one visible eye and a sharp grin on his face.
The wolf zanpakuto bared his own teeth in response, a much less happy expression. "What do you want?" He growled.
"Let's see what you're made of." Was the captain's ominous response. Starrk had a bare second to brace himself before Zaraki threw back his head with a roar of laughter.
Reiatsu exploded around them, bright yellow energy so intense that Starrk had to squint his eyes to see through it. The massive spiritual pressure hit him like a brick between the eyes but he braced himself with a grunt and, through sheer self-preservation, raised his own reiatsu to push back against it.
A column of blue energy roared into existence alongside the one created by Zaraki Kenpachi, impacting it far up into the sky as they vied for dominance. The two opposing columns clashed, sparking green where they hit each other with soul-crushing power. As they battled back and forth, Zaraki laughed madly, by all appearances having the time of his life. Starrk snarled and finally managed to yank his coat free, whirling to face the captain with his ears pinned all the way back. His energy level kept rising and rising to match the increasing pressure trying to smash him flat, pushing back against that of the man attacking him who only seemed to get happier with every new wave of reiatsu.
Starrk's face was washed pale by his own blue energy while Zaraki's was cut by bright yellow light and deep shadow, throwing the crags of his face, his scars, and his teeth into sharp relief. His golden eyes seemed to glow, reminding Starrk of hollows he'd fought in the past.
Hollows he'd fought, defeated, and eaten.
(Not the past. Not HIS past. A previous life. Not him at all.)
In a calculated move, Starrk smashed his power against Zaraki directly, aiming for the center of the bigger man's chest. He didn't need it to hurt the man, or even make contact – all he needed was a little space.
Kenpachi reared back with shock at the force, sliding back a single step. It was enough; Starrk darted back and upwards, letting the column of his power die back and pulling it inside his skin, shoving it deep down through the cracks and crannies of Lilynette's Inner World where it could not hurt anyone. Despite wanting nothing more than to escape the looming fight and the increasing number of eyes landing on him, Starrk did not turn to run. He'd need a much longer head start before turning his back on the captain of the eleventh division was anything but suicide.
Zaraki roared with laughter as his own column of power slowly dissipated. "Now we're talkin'!"
Originally, Starrk had been separated from the main battle by a row of buildings; the cover he'd relied on to remain unnoticed. Their combined power had taken care of that obstacle; there was a crater of debris dozens of meters wide surrounding Zaraki and not a single roof or wall remained standing.
Every fight going on in the sixth division instantly ground to a halt while enemies and allies alike turned to look at Zaraki.
"C'mon, Sword!" Zaraki yelled up at the silent figure in the sky who was still glowing blue despite his attempts to rein in his power. "Get down here and fight me!"
"I was only watching." Starrk replied lowly, voice just audible from the ground. "Not looking for a fight."
"Too bad – yer gonna fight now!" Zaraki roared back and ripped off his eyepatch, throwing out another, even more intense wave of power; out rather than up this time, so that nearly everyone in the vicinity was thrown back…and back and back. The blast of power was comparable to an explosion.
Buildings fell, pavement cracked, lieutenants and zanpakuto were thrown through the air, and captains retreated with curses aimed at their comrade. Kira, Kazeshini, Wabisuke, Genryomaru, Gegetsuburi, Renji, Zabimaru, and Rukia stood no chance while Tenken caught his closest comrade and pulled back on his own. Soifon snarled out a curse and retreated with Suzumebachi on her tail, and Byakuya set his feet, grit his teeth, and managed to remain in place (though the power slid him backwards a few feet). Ichigo might have managed to stay as well, if Senbonzakura did not take advantage of his distraction by launching an attack with his shikai and getting both of them caught midair and flung away by the force of Zaraki's blast. The pink blade-petals surrounding them shredded everything they touched as they were blown far and wide, breaking Wabisuke and Gegetsuburi before they even hit the ground.
Starrk's ears fluttered in the wind caused by the blast and he squinted his eyes against the brightness, but he didn't move from his perch in the air.
"Now we're alone, we can really cut loose." The combat captain grinned, obviously pleased with himself.
Starrk scowled. "I don't think you understand, Taicho-san. I don't want to fight. It doesn't matter who's here."
"Pah, what fun is that? Get down here and fight me!" Kenpachi was losing patience fast.
"…And we're not alone."
"Eh?" The captain looked around, surprised at the correction, and found that Starrk was correct: Byakuya still stood in the courtyard, watching them silently with narrowed eyes. "Kuchiki."
Byakuya inclined his head slightly but said nothing.
For a moment, Zaraki found himself torn. He'd always wanted to fight his fellow captain in a no holds barred battle, but Byakuya never deigned to agree, no matter how many pointed barbs got thrown in his direction. Plus, Yamamoto severely frowned on captains fighting other captains. Now, the head captain was missing and Byakuya was technically an enemy; Kenpachi would not get a better chance to fight him. But he also had a fun, new toy to play with: the abnormally strong wolf zanpakuto who was just as cowardly as Ichigo, but had enough power to withstand Zaraki's full attention.
Decisions, decisions.
As he hesitated, Starrk let himself relax slightly and descend towards the ground. He would have preferred a roof, but there weren't any left after so many battles. Surely the captain would refocus his attention on an enemy clearly aligned with Muramasa, a traitor to the Gotei 13 by his own admission.
Instead, a jagged sword came whistling for his throat the second he touched the ground.
Lightning quick, Starrk ducked and the blade slashed harmlessly over his head, clipping the fur on the tips of his ears but missing its target: his throat.
Starrk whirled away at top speed, calling in protest: "Shouldn't you fight him?"
"I'll beat ya real fast and then fight him!" Zaraki laughed. "Yer not gettin' away that easy!"
"This is easy?"
Over the past three days, Starrk had managed to avoid using his sword by depending on kido, his wolves, and an excessive amount of personal power. After his materialization, he'd actually let it dissipate entirely. Pressed so closely by the eleventh captain, he found that kido wasn't coming fast enough and his wolves weren't gaining cohesion before being plowed through and left behind by the rapidly shifting battle.
Starrk was fast, but not as fast as he'd been as a hollow; he could leave most pursuers in the dust but he couldn't create after images to stand in his place anymore – not yet, anyway. He could discharge blasts of unfocused energy which might gain him ground, but using an attack so close to a hollow's cero around so many witnesses would definitely turn the Gotei 13 against him.
Well, more than they already were. He wouldn't be 'just a zanpakuto' if he did that.
"Fine." He muttered. "Fine."
The next time Zaraki lunged forward, leading with his sword pointed directly at Starrk's heart, the wolf zanpakuto held out his open hand and, with a touch of willpower, a long, straight katana materialized in it, crackling with blue energy. He effortlessly blocked Kenpachi's blade, smacking it aside and twisting his sword around to skate across the captain's neck, drawing a long, straight line of blood across the skin it touched.
Zaraki stopped and took a step back, shock turning his face blank. He raised one hand and drew it along the scratch, looking at his bloodstained fingertips and then at the zanpakuto in front of him, now holding a sword he'd pulled out of thin air. It took a rare caliber of opponent to draw blood through Kenpachi's intense energy. Every enemy capable of piercing his skin was a welcome change of pace.
"Finally!" The captain grinned, as feral as any hollow.
Starrk sighed in resignation but held his sword angled in front of him and took a stance in readiness to fight.
Zaraki vanished into shunpo, angling for a shot on his opponent's neck but Starrk was just as fast and blocked with his sword tilted downwards behind his neck. His other hand punched covertly at Kenpachi's gut while they were in close quarters. It was hidden between their bodies so the increasing number of spectators could not see how closely it resembled a bala; the shot of unfocused energy drove the breath from Zaraki with a low 'oof!' and shoved him back, giving Starrk the space to maneuver and flick his opponent's sword aside, driving the point of his own blade directly towards his face.
Zaraki managed to block it despite struggling for breath and returned it with interest, descending into a mad fury of hacking and slashing, laughing the whole time.
In contrast, Starrk was silent as he retreated a step at a time, blocking every stab and slash with the edges and hilt of his sword. It required good reflexes but not much thought so he was able to take a quick look at his surroundings between clashing blades.
There were way, way too many eyes on him. From Byakuya and Kira to Soifon and the massive form of Tenken. None of them seemed in the least surprised by Zaraki's behavior, so Starrk was the sole focus of their attention.
But there were others close by, approaching quickly from the fourth division, and one of them smelled sharply toxic. Familiar.
For a second, Starrk's ears shot upright as he realized what was coming and stumbled, receiving a deep scratch across his cheek for his trouble. He ignored it, shooting straight up again, vaguely noticing a purple haze muddying the air and the faint sound of a baby crying.
It was dangerous, even deadly, to turn his back on Zaraki but suddenly staying was even worse.
He still couldn't get more than a few feet; not enough space to generate a wolf or enough time to figure out a kido spell.
"Where th' fuck are you goin'?" Kenpachi roared, swinging his sword so that it whistled through the fur of Starrk's coat. Blood flew from another scratch; a long, shallow cut to the back of Starrk's left arm.
"Away from that." Starrk replied, gesturing downwards.
"From…?"
The source of the smell arrived in a cloud of lethal purple poison and screaming cries, a massive yellow head topping the body of a blade-filled caterpillar smashed through one of the few remaining walls in the sixth division courtyard. Ashisogi Jizo: Kurotsuchi's zanpakuto in full furious bankai mode. The fastest shinigami present vanished into shunpo to escape from it while the others fell coughing and bleeding from their eyes and mouths when the purple cloud enveloped them.
Zaraki was caught by the farthest edge of the cloud but the sheer pressure of his reiatsu kept it from entering his lungs. From Starrk's perspective, Jizo's appearance did something else even more important: it distracted his opponent for a vital five seconds.
It was enough time to whirl and flee, scattering wolves in his wake to cover his retreat.
X
"Whoa!" Shunsui wobbled out of shunpo as a dark-colored blur sped past him, sending Jushiro jumping in the opposite direction with a yelp. He only recognized it after it was gone, by the reiatsu signature left in its wake. "What's your hurry Zanpakuto-sa…oof!" Another blur hit him, this one electric blue and running in the opposite direction. He recognized it as a wolf but it didn't stop to look at him.
"Ey, Sword!" A familiar stentorian roar identified the likely target. It was only thanks to the zanpakuto shoving them out of the way that Kyoraku and Ukitake weren't hit by the yellow wave of energy preceding the captain of the eleventh division. "Stop and fight, ya-ack!"
They also had a front-row seat to the sight of the bright blue wolf slamming head first into Zaraki's face, driving him backwards into the nearest building and digging its sharp teeth deep into his neck. Four more followed, flowing around the other captains to back up their companion and grabbing onto the wrists and ankles of their target.
"Eh?! Get off!" Zaraki snarled, swiping at the wolf on his neck with his sword, throwing around the wolf on his right wrist in the process. Blood spurted from the wounds caused by their teeth; none deep enough to kill, but all deep enough to hold him fast and hurt badly.
Shunsui was faster than Jushiro and he took point as they approached, pulling out his sword to help the captain of the eleventh fight off the wolves. He saw the other man's arm raise and his sword come smashing down on the head of the wolf at his throat. And he saw the wolf dig its teeth in even harder, stiffen, and begin to glow.
They both had a bare second for their eyes to widen before the first wolf exploded in a blast that blew a crater in the surrounding buildings, starting an chain reaction among the four remaining wolves that threw Zaraki backwards a hundred meters and Shunsui nearly as far in the opposite direction to skid painfully on his back across the pavement before he could regain his balance, barely missing Jushiro who had the luck of being too far back for the direct blast to do anything but knock him out of the air.
Stunned silence fell in the wake of the explosion. Not even Zaraki stirred from where he'd come to rest in the broken shell of a sixth division building.
X
In the distance, Starrk paused and perked his ears, scanning for pursuers and finding none. Apparently, his wolves had proven a great enough distraction to buy his retreat. A discrete scan of the reiatsu signatures remaining proved that, though much diminished, Zaraki's was still present and no other souls had gone dark in the wake of his attack.
Good. He'd wanted to get Zaraki off his trail, but he hadn't wanted to kill him. That proved he hadn't overestimated the man when he decided how much power to put into his wolves. It also revealed that no one else had been foolish enough to get in the way of the blast.
Tension slowly seeped out of Starrk's muscles as he realized that he'd escaped without being forced to kill anyone.
"Puppy!"
He jumped in surprise but suppressed the instinctive reaction to lash out when Yachiru leapt at him from a nearby building, landing easily on his back and clambering onto his shoulder.
"Where did you come from-?"
"You can't leave, Puppy!" Yachiru squealed over Starrk's head, grabbing hold of his upright furry ears in an iron grasp and twisting.
"Yes I can." He grumbled, wincing in pain before reaching up and detaching the little girl from his shoulders. She pouted at him and twisted to flip out of his hands and return to her perch.
"But Ken-chan wants to play with you!"
"I'm not interested in 'playing' with anyone." Starrk scowled and tightened his grip instead of letting her go, then flicked a spark of energy into the air next to him, manifesting a wolf and plonking her down on its back. Startled, Yachiru tightened her legs around her new mount and grabbed its ears with her hands, watching the zanpakuto with wide eyes. At least it couldn't feel the pain of her punishing grip.
"Hold on." Starrk told her, gruff but not aggressive. A mental command sent the wolf streaking back towards Captain Kenpachi along with its rider and another made sure it would dissolve as soon as she left its back.
Yachiru's delighted giggling faded into the distance along with the energy signature of Starrk's projection and he breathed a sigh of relief, massaging the lingering pain out of his ears.
X
"Apparently, our wolf has hidden depths." Kyoraku observed into the heavy silence of the unofficial captain meeting in front of the sixth division after Ashisogi Jizo's poison dissipated. The cluster of responding captains included Kyoraku, Jushiro, Kenpachi, and Soifon while Ichigo sat on the ground nearby, being tended by Unohana for the poison he'd inhaled from Ashisogi Jizo's bankai. Mayuri had stalked away in a huff when Ichigo threw himself on Unohana's mercy rather than undergo the scientist's 'treatment', taking along the broken remnants of the zanpakuto snapped by the massive waves of power from the fights between Zaraki, the wolf, and the other captain-class opponents: Wabisuke, Gegetsuburi, and Kazeshini. Along with his own sword, of course, broken by the detonator hidden inside of it. Tenken and Genryomaru had fled while the remaining sword spirits had been reclaimed.
"What is that thing?" Soifon snapped. She'd been largely left out of the loop about what was going on in Seireitei proper. The loss of her zanpakuto had burned her pride, but she'd put that aside in order to organize her division to search for the seat of the rebellion, research information on Muramasa, and scour the streets of Seireitei for missing zanpakuto. Logically, as the captain of the second division, she'd assumed she knew more about what was going on than anyone else, especially with Yoruichi on her side, and paid little attention to the information provided by the other captains in deference to her own in-depth investigation. As such, before tonight, all she knew about the wolf zanpakuto was that he existed. Not that the others knew much more. "Whose is it?"
"That is a question we would all like answered." Jushiro replied, pensive frown on his face. "So far he has remained peaceful unless attacked but this is the first time his wolves have shown…well…"
"They're fuckin' bombs." Zaraki interrupted, voice an irritated snarl. "That cheater."
Jushiro's chuckle was strained. "I don't think he would agree with you."
The captain of the eleventh division had not been unconscious for long; less than a minute after the wolves exploded in his face, he was up and roaring for another fight, despite the thick streams of blood running from his neck, wrists, and ankles, and copious burns, bruises, and impact injuries from the explosions. It had taken the combined efforts of Ukitake and Kyoraku along with the timely arrival of Unohana to keep him in place long enough to give a report instead of chasing down the wolf spirit who had once again disappeared.
Though so long as he refused to let anyone but Unohana heal him, it was going to be a while before she'd allow him to go anywhere. All of Ashisogi Jizo's poison victims were higher priority and that served the rest of the captains perfectly fine.
"But whose sword is it?" Soifon demanded, as if any of them had come up with the answer.
"We don't know." Kyoraku replied. "Not even any suspicions."
"But…it's a captain's sword. It has to be." Soifon snapped. "It matched Kenpachi-taicho!"
"I coulda used more power-!" Zaraki snarled, offended.
"Could he have used more as well?" Kyoraku asked curiously.
"Er…" The other captain was blindsided by the question. "Maybe? He didn't seem to be tired or anythin'."
"He didn't react to the pressure of your reiatsu?"
"Nah. Didn't even seem to notice it, mostly. He didn't like it when I grabbed him, though! An' he cut me without even tryin'. It was a great fight!" Zaraki laughed before quickly souring. "Until he brought out his bombs."
"Yes, let's talk about that." Jushiro quickly cut in. "His apparently explosive wolves. Has anyone reported that ability in connection with him before?"
"It hasn't shown any sign of power like that." Soifon growled. She stressed the lack of personal pronoun, reminding them that the wolf wasn't actually a person, but a sword. A possession with an unknown owner. "My division would have detected that no matter where it was trying to hide."
None of the others could deny her words. The column of blue energy matching Zaraki's familiar explosion of yellow reiatsu had been visible for miles.
"Are you certain it does not belong to a captain?" Soifon scowled, furious and increasingly worried.
"Pretty sure." Kyoraku sighed. "The head captain's missing. He doesn't belong to me, Ukitake, or Unohana-taicho. Kurotsuchi's zanpakuto is broken. You and Hitsugaya have reclaimed your zanpakuto. Byakuya and Komamura's zanpakuto have both been identified. That only leaves Kenpachi-taicho, but his reaitsu signature and abilities are completely different from those of the wolf spirit."
Soifon listened silently to the breakdown, expression becoming graver with every sentence. "So we have an unknown zanpakuto with unknown abilities belonging to an unknown wielder with unknown allegiances."
"Well, when you say it like that…" Kyoraku dissembled.
"I'll divert resources to finding and containing it immediately." Soifon stated, all business. "And to determining the identity of its wielder." With that, she turned on her heel and vanished into shunpo, not sparing her fellow captains another thought or word.
"You guys talking about that wolf guy?" With his treatment finally complete and the last of Ashisogi Jizo's poison scrubbed from his lungs, Ichigo staggered up from the ground and lurched towards the captains. Unohana rose gracefully behind him and caught him before he could faceplant.
He mumbled thanks and tried to brush her off, only to find that her grip was iron and the fixed smile on her face was getting increasingly threatening.
Ichigo blanched and bowed his head in respect, correcting his manners. "Thank you, Unohana-taicho."
"Of course." She released him and turned to her fellow captains. "Do you require my presence at this meeting? There are other injured and poisoned victims that require my assistance."
"No, that's fine." Ukitake reassured her. "We'll fill you in later. Thank you for your service, Unohana-taicho."
"Oi, what about me?" Zaraki interrupted. His injuries were still bleeding and his haori was stained with an alarming amount of blood, though he didn't seem to be in pain or debilitated in any way. "I've gotta go finish my fight!"
The smile that Unohana turned on him was terrifying. "I'm sure you can wait a few minutes while we preserve the lives of our poisoned subordinates."
She was one of the few forces in Seireitei capable of stopping the captain of the eleventh division in his tracks. His mouth actually closed with a snap when he looked down at her expression and he turned away with a grumble, backing down.
"Ch'. Fine."
"Are Renji and Rukia going to be okay?" Ichigo asked with obvious worry. "And Ikkaku and Yumichika?"
Unohana paused in the action of turning away before sighing quietly, her only sign of dissatisfaction at the interruption. "Madarame-san and Ayasegawa-san were injured while reclaiming their zanpakuto, but due to their distance from Ashisogi Jizo, they are not suffering from its poison. Lieutenant Abarai, Lieutenant Kira, and Kuchiki-san are being treated now along with the other officers and shinigami Ashisogi Jizo encountered on its way to the sixth division. If that will be all…?"
"Er, yeah. Okay. Sorry." Abashed, Ichigo scrubbed at the back of his neck with one hand and turned to the other captains sheepishly as she left. "I know she'll fix them. I'm just worried."
Kyoraku chuckled and Ukitake smiled. "That's alright, Kurosaki-kun. Unohana-taicho understands; your friends will be fine."
"Did you see anything?" Shunsui asked, with an air of futility.
"Not really…" Ichigo scowled. "I wanted to make Byakuya tell me what's going on but I didn't even get to fight him!"
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Senbonzakura got in my way and then he used Kenapachi's energy blast to throw me to the other side of the division." Ichigo grumped. "I saw the wolf guy's blue reiatsu blast but not the fight - I got back right after Mayuri's sword spirit got here. I didn't realize it was poisonous."
Kenpachi scoffed. "Yer jus' weak."
Obviously forgetting who he was talking to, Ichigo snapped back. "At least I beat my opponent."
"What was that?!" Kenpachi's killing intent rose around them like a physical weight, making the newly healed substitute shinigami stagger in place. "I'll take ya right here, right now, if ya want, Ichigo. I won't even have Unohana heal me first!"
Even with blood still streaming from multiple wounds, Zaraki was a brutally intimidating sight, especially with his dripping, jagged sword raised and aimed at Ichigo's throat.
"Whoa, no! That's not what I meant!" The human boy yelped, waving his hands to ward him away. "I was just…I mean…That's not…"
Jushiro and Shunsui exchanged looks of amusement mingled with resignation.
"Why don't you both head to the fourth division?" Jushiro suggested after a long moment, breaking the conflict up before it could devolve into a fight…or, more likely, a chase. A very short one, with both of them wounded. "You can give us full reports once you're healed. Unohana-taicho will be there with the others soon so you can check on your friends." He directed at Ichigo. "And your division members." He directed at Kenpachi.
"Tch', fine." Zaraki snarled and turned to stalk away.
Ichigo stuck around for a few more minutes, but his concern for Renji and Rukia drew him away too quickly to make a meaningful report.
"What do you think?" Jushiro asked in an undertone.
Kyoraku sighed. "At least more of the zanpakuto have been recovered. That leaves…what, six? Seven? Along with Muramasa and Byakuya, of course. That's the good news."
"And the bad news?"
"We might have most of the zanpakuto back, but we don't have Muramasa. His end goal is a mystery. And I don't even want to speculate on Kuchiki's involvement. Or whatever the wolf zanpakuto is up to."
"Hmmm…" Ukitake sighed, joining Shunsui in gazing at the destruction around them, especially the bloody crater where the wolves had left Zaraki. "That is true."
"Oh, and we can't forget Yama-jii!" Shunsui added. "We still don't even know where he is, let alone what plans Muramasa has for him."
"Maybe I can help you with that." Both captains turned in surprise at the purring female voice. At their attention, Yoruichi stepped out of the shadows, flowing forward with confident grace. Her golden eyes were deeply satisfied as she addressed the senior captains. "I've found the head captain. Care to mount a rescue mission?"
Sharp inhales, nearly gasps, met her declaration. Shuttered hope crossed both of their expressions at the thought of news on their old teacher. But they also started scanning the nearby rooftops for zanpakuto spies
"…Let's take this back to headquarters." Ukitake ventured, warily watching the shadows. "This isn't the place to discuss such information."
Yoruichi nodded respectfully. "Of course."
Together, the three of them took off for the fourth division, all thoughts about the wolf zanpakuto losing priority next to information on Yamamoto's location.
X
Starrk was on Sogyoku Hill when Senbonzakura came for him.
He was sitting at the peak of the hill where the captains had lost their zanpakuto a couple days earlier, though he did not know it, when he felt the new, vaguely familiar reiatsu signature flash out of shunpo and into existence behind him. The sky in the east was slowly lightening and he'd been watching it idly, wondering if the sunrise would be as striking as the sunset he'd seen from the forest. With an irritated sigh, he lowered one shoulder and glanced with one eye back at the masked zanpakuto spirit standing ten meters behind him, interrupting the peaceful scene. His expression was inscrutable but Starrk could sense his unease.
"What do you want?" The wolf grumbled, not bothering to get up or show any sort of manners to Byakuya's zanpakuto spirit.
"Muramasa requests your presence." Senbonzakura sniffed haughtily, just as offended by the slight to his honor as Byakuya had been the first time Starrk encountered him.
Starrk cocked his head in consideration. "He hasn't cared before. Why now?"
"He has not informed me. If you wish to know, you must ask him yourself."
For ten minutes, Starrk let him wait as he thought about the words. It was obvious Senbonzakura did not like being left in the dark; it took seconds before he was impatiently shifting his weight back and forth and the suffocating noble-borne arrogance that Byakuya was learning to keep in check was still strong in his zanpakuto. So was the youthful impatience that Byakuya had largely managed to erase from his body language.
Starrk didn't particularly want to join Muramasa. He didn't even want to talk to the spirit, who still reeked of a kind of twisted sickness that raised Starrk's hackles and whose actions were making less and less sense the longer his rebellion continued. His casual, unthinking acceptance of carnage also put Starrk off. Something inside told him to stay far, far away from Muramasa and his bloody machinations.
But…
Muramasa was the one behind the chaos currently plaguing Seireitei. He was the only one who knew exactly what was going on and why. There was no way Starrk would throw away his loyalty to Lilynette for the sake of the other spirit, but what if he didn't have to? Putting aside his own nebulous uncomfortable feelings seemed like a small price to pay for a few answers. And what if Muramasa's endgame really was equality for shinigami and zanpakuto? That didn't sound so bad. And he could always leave if Muramasa did anything too offensive.
Starrk finally let out a heavy sigh, ran a hand through his hair, and stood up.
Senbonzakura stiffened and reached for the hilt of his sword, wary of a threat, but Starrk just frowned at him and spoke.
"Fine. Take me to Muramasa."
It looked like watching the sun rise would have to wait.
Author's Notes: This chapter got a bit too long so I was forced to chop it in half. That means that some of the things I mentioned would happen in this update will actually happen next time. On the plus side, that also means the next update will be coming up pretty fast.
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