Title: Turnabout
Author: darkling59
Fandom: Bleach
Rating: T
Date: 9/18/2021
Disclaimer: Bleach and all associated characters, settings, concepts, etc. within this story do not belong to me. All of the original stuff does. Please DO NOT steal.
Please read and Review!
Aftermath – Day 3 (Night)
Not for the first time, the world spun around Lilynette and she clutched her zanpakuto spirit tightly to anchor herself as he spirited her out of trouble. Normally, she'd be angry at him for taking charge and embarrassing her in front of the shinigami…but…
She's sweaty, dirty, tired, and frightened. Her stomach feels like it's been stabbed and she's sure it's still bleeding – though she still doesn't know why. Her head is pounding from over-exerting her still-growing spiritual powers and her mind no longer seems to want to comprehend what's going on around her. Worst of all, she'd looked Captain Soifon right in the eyes during her verbal attack on Starrk and saw firsthand the disgust behind the words and the grim truth to her threats. When Starrk's wolves struck the captain down, Lilynette had been relieved.
She didn't want to think about what that meant.
Captains were supposed to be good people. The best shinigami, the heroes of legend, celebrities of the afterlife. At the academy, they were all but worshipped for their status and abilities. It was considered a privilege to be addressed by any shinigami in the top ten seats of a division and a true honor to be addressed by a captain.
Lilynette had met a lot of captains since leaving the academy and she doesn't feel very privileged. She's young, tired, in pain, and if she had any more energy, she'd be frightened. It never crossed her mind to yell at Starrk for carrying her out of trouble, not this time. Instead, she curled up into the smallest ball she could manage against his chest and buried her face in the fur of his collar. Her zanpakuto spirit hugged her closer protectively and the tension in her muscles slowly started to unwind.
This was the closest she'd felt to 'safe' since the start of the rebellion. Starrk had been there to support her from the very beginning and she knew that, even with nothing else making sense, he'd always be there for her no matter what. The image of Koga murdering his own zanpakuto tried to surface but she stubbornly refused to react. That's not them. That will never be them.
Cuddled in the embrace of her other half, her guardian, she let her eyes slide closed.
When Lilynette stopped moving, Starrk quietly panicked. She was rarely so quiet, even in sleep, and she was still bleeding as heavily from her stomach as he was from his chest. She should be more irate, not less. But he didn't know what to do. He didn't know why they were bleeding and every potential reason he could imagine was worse than the last. And with Lilynette acting so odd and the shinigami no doubt on their trail, ready to kill…
Starrk clutched his wielder tighter and pushed his shunpo as fast as he could, not looking for any particular destination, just trying to escape from the horrible scene at the lake. The evening streets of Karakura Town passed swiftly below him, its peaceful inhabitants unaware of the spiritual conflict going on overhead.
Chaos reigned at the lake in the wake of Starrk's departure. The weaker sword spirits were slowly de-materializing back into their blade forms without Muramasa to keep them in the physical realm but only their wielders seemed to realize it. Most of the shinigami and stronger sword spirits were focused on Soifon who was snarling and shouting despite bleeding heavily from the throat, the wolf having vanished once its creator was long gone. No one dared suggest she pause for medical attention.
"Well? What are you fools waiting for?! Capture them!" She snapped, shoving her concerned lieutenant out of the way to glare at the other subordinate officers. "Now!"
Before anyone could move, Ichigo pushed through the crowd of lieutenants to get in front of her.
"Hey, wait-!"
"Get out of my way, Kurosaki!" She tried to push past him only to find the other humans fanned out behind him, flanked by Rukia and Renji. Weapons were in evidence everywhere but held low and the shinigami exchanged confused shrugs and grimaces, unsure who they were supposed to listen to. The only fighters with any sort of clear motivation were the ones on Ichigo's side who looked to him for guidance. Soifon found herself stopped short and it infuriated her. "What is the meaning of this?!"
Ichigo scowled, crossed his arms, and glared down at her. "That guy helped us! We could've been in real trouble without him and he helped me escape from the head-captain's zanpakuto earlier too! Why are you-?"
"I have no need to explain myself to a substitute shinigami!" Soifon snapped. "That sword spirit is a threat and must be neutralized. It must be retrieved for interrogation immediately!"
"Interrogation?!" Ichigo's goodwill was fading fast. At his back, Orihime slowly put her hands up to her hair pins and Uryu drew an arrow to his bow. "Why?!"
"Why?! Why do you think?!" The captain's reiatsu rose swiftly around her in response to their perceived threat. "I warn you -."
"What is the meaning of this?" The slow drawl of Shunsui Kyoraku halted all of them in their tracks. He strolled casually out of the darkening shadows and offered them all a genial smile, but his eyes were dark under the shadow of his hat. It was rare that Kyoraku pulled the power card, but when he stepped forward, no one doubted who was in charge.
Soifon, suddenly reminded of her relative youth and fewer years as a captain, took a step back and looked away when Kyoraku tried to meet her eyes, some of her ire wilting when he didn't immediately leap to her defense. Ichigo met his eyes but kept his hand on his sword, uneasy at the change in the captain he'd only known as lazy and happy go lucky before now. When no one answered him, Kyoraku clapped his hands once, a loud sound in the suddenly quiet clearing that jolted everyone back to attention.
"Hey, now! This is a time for celebration! We won, didn't we? Muramasa was defeated?"
Murmurs of excited assent spread through the crowd of lieutenants.
"Already?" A new voice, younger and clearer than the rest, came from the woods behind Kyoraku and Toshiro stepped forth followed by the silent form of Hyorinmaru. The tenth division captain scowled and grumbled. "I should have been here to help. I know Komamura was planning to come too."
"He arrived right after you. I asked him to guard the senkaimon while I figured out what was going on." Shunsui explained cheerfully, easing back his intensity now that the tension was seeping away. "Speaking of which…" He turned to Ichigo with a raised eyebrow. "Care to explain, Kurosaki?"
"Sir-!" Soifon yelped in protest, only to be silenced by a waved hand.
"Easy, Soifon-taicho. Why don't you get that nasty looking injury seen to, hm? I'll be with you in a moment."
Embarrassed at the dismissal but unwilling to protest, she stepped back. Kira tried to offer her his help as the only lieutenant who used to be a member of the fourth division, but she silenced him with a scorching glare and stood in silence, fuming.
Ichigo didn't notice. Under Kyoraku's expectant look, he launched into an explanation of Muramasa's death and the hollows at the lake, gesticulating wildly and explaining how much the wolves helped the shinigami. He ended by reminding Kyoraku how much Starrk and Lilynette had helped them in Seireitei right before leaving. By the time he was done, a good number of the lieutenants were nodding along with him, as was Toshiro.
"Hmm…that is something to think about." Shunsui scratched thoughtfully at his chin. "Thank you."
Soifon, having been brought up to date on the evolving situation in Seireitei by Ichigo's story, was finally realizing just how badly she'd screwed up. She'd been one of the first to arrive in the Living World and hadn't waited for any information beyond 'Muramasa's gone to Karakura Town' before she left - nothing else seemed important, given other captains were taking care of it. The wolf zanpakuto hadn't even crossed her mind until she saw him producing wolves at the lake and decided he needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. Had she taken Starrk down in one hit, that would have been excusable; he would have been a prisoner but unharmed and easily released from custody. But she hadn't and the things she'd said…his wielder had been right there and she hadn't realized it. And not some dangerous renegade or outlaw like she'd thought but a shinigami academy student and a child. All of that power and those perilous abilities were on the shinigami side, despite her previous assumptions. Starrk and his wielder had the potential to be a very powerful weapon in the Gotei 13 arsenal… and she might have thrown that all away with a few rash words.
"Is your neck feeling better, Soifon-taicho?" Kyoraku turned to her, and she felt like a misbehaving child in his twinkling eyes. She just knew he'd forced her to hear all of that on purpose. She set her jaw and nodded, despite the blood still flowing heavily down her chest from her neck. "Perhaps you'd like to explain…?"
"I perceived the wolf zanpakuto as a threat due to his actions during the battle and in Soul Society." She bit out. "When I attempted to take him into custody, he attacked me and fled." She turned away, dismissing Kyoraku as well as she could. It was rude but she felt the need to re-establish her authority; he was a captain of equal rank to her and she had no reason to treat him as a superior or for him to have any say in her actions. "Now, if you're through wasting time, I need to send my scouts out to find and apprehend him and his wielder."
"Just a minute, Kitten!" A much-loved voice chuckled from right behind Soifon and before she could turn, a familiar feminine body was pressed tightly to her back and warm hands were covering her eyes. "Guess who!"
"Y-Yoruichi-sama!" the captain of the second division was instantly reduced to blushing and stammering and she wished she'd been able to wash up or at least hide her blood from her idol. The older woman laughed and spun her around by the shoulders, then her grin dropped in concern and she tapped the corner of the ragged bite on Soifon's neck.
"You need to get that checked out, Soifon. Why don't you head to the fourth division? I'll take care of your little runaway."
"B-but, I can…"
"No, no, I insist! I'm more than capable of handling him. I've done it before, after all." She winked at Kyoraku and he immediately caught on.
"Sounds good to me." He drawled. "If it's okay with Captain Soifon, of course."
She didn't even seem to hear Shunsui. Her eyes remained fixed on Yoruichi as she stammered. "W-well, I wouldn't want to inconvenience you, Yoruichi-sama…
"I insist! I'd feel much better if you went back to the fourth division and got that nasty bite fixed. I'll come see you later, okay?"
That promise was enough to strip every other concern from Soifon's mind. She'd do anything for a personal visit from Yoruichi-sama, an opportunity to have the flash goddess all to herself.
"O-Okay!"
Before she knew it, she was heading back through the senkaimon on her way to the fourth division, passing Komamura where he stood on guard and followed by most of the lieutenants who'd fought in the battle.
Starrk used shunpo to make his way across Karakura Town for the first couple dozen miles, then he dropped to the ground in an easy jog. Lilynette was a light, unresponsive weight in his arms and his chest throbbed and bled in time with her still-too-rapid heartbeat. He only kept going for a few blocks before slowing to a walk, then stopping altogether.
"Lilynette?" He shifted her, nudging her lightly for a reaction. "Can you hear me?"
Her fingers tightened in his fur and she pressed harder against him but didn't answer. He was relieved that she was still responsive but that didn't diminish his concern about her behavior.
"C'mon Lily. Talk to me." As he spoke, he scanned the streets around them, wary of staying out in the open with shinigami no doubt on their trail. There were a few dark alleys leading away from the street between forbiddingly tall buildings. He picked the nearest one and slipped inside.
"Mmph." His wielder made a faint whining sound and mumbled. "Leave me alone."
Some of the tension went out of his shoulders at the faintest spark of her familiar spirit and he paused halfway down the alley. It was open at the other end, the exit illuminated by the wan yellow light of a streetlamp, and he frowned slightly before hunkering down in the center of the narrow area with his back against the wall. He tried to detach Lilynette and set her down next to him but she clung harder.
He hesitated, then shrugged and let her stay.
"What's wrong? You didn't get hurt, did you?" He nudged her.
"…My stomach hurts." She admitted reluctantly. Her head shifted just enough that he could see pale pink eyes looking back at him with the beginnings of a glare. "You never told me why that was important."
Her tone was flat but Starrk flinched as if it was an accusation and Lilynette was too close to miss the movement. Abruptly, she sat up in his lap and her glare blossomed into a full-on menacing glower. It wavered when she saw the bloody scar on his chest but that didn't distract her for long. She put one hand over his scar and the other over the one on her stomach.
"You never told me why it was important." This time, she spit the words and her zanpakuto spirit pulled back in surprise at the vitriol in her voice. "Did you know this would happen?!"
"Wh-No! Of course not!" He was upset by the implications of her accusation. Did she really think he would let her get hurt? Or that he would hurt her? "I told you stay back – you were supposed to be safe!"
"So this is my fault?!"
This time, he frowned. "I didn't say that. You're putting words in my mouth."
In a single sharp motion, the girl pushed upright and away from him, stalking down the alley until she had enough room to spin and throw her arms wide. She was too upset to realize that she was hurting him with her words by lashing out. "At least someone is! Why don't you ever say anything?! You seem to know everything, even more than the captains, but all you ever tell me is that we'll talk about it later! You almost lost it back there and, and-." Her voice broke. "They were going to hurt you! You heard that captain – she wanted to take us back and separate us…"
Starrk lowered his eyes. "She would have wanted that no matter what happened at the lake."
"How could you possibly know that?!" Lilynette's strident yell echoed off the tall buildings around them, inward-facing windows looking down like accusing eyes. "And if you did know, why didn't you tell me before it happened?!"
"…I didn't want to hurt you." Starrk admitted quietly after a long, heavy silence.
"Well, I'm hurting now!" Lilynette put her hands on her hips, looking down at the blood staining the front of her clothes (some of it her own, some of it from Starrk), then back at her zanpakuto. Her eyes lingered on his scar, so much more visible than hers, and she swallowed. "And so are you."
She advanced until he had no choice but to look into her face. Her words were far more serious and adult than he'd ever heard before. "Don't try to make me wait any more, Starrk. You're a part of me, an' I'm a part of you. Don't try to hide who you really are from me." Her voice broke. "Please don't leave me alone, just cuz you think it'll protect me. It feels like I don't know you anymore."
Starrk flinched. She couldn't have said anything more painful even if she'd known about his past as a hollow.
"I always meant to tell you." He protested after he'd swallowed past the lump in his throat. "I meant it when I said I'd tell you everything when the rebellion was over."
"But-!"
"But…you're right." He averted his eyes to look up at the sky far overhead, framed by the black outlines of the buildings. It's a full moon – something he never would have seen in Hueco Mundo. "Now that Muramasa and Koga are dead, I guess the rebellion is officially over. And not answering your questions is causing more harm than good."
"So…you'll tell me?" Lilynette's ire was instantly forgotten. She crowded close, falling into a seated position with the gangly agility of youth, so close to Starrk that their knees bumped together, and leaned forwards eagerly, "Everything?" She scowled. "You'd better not hide! I can take the bad stuff – I'm not a little kid!"
Starrk sighed, remembering white sand, red blood, and a shinigami who should never have been in the land of hollows. "I know, Lilynette. I've always known. I think…that's one reason I didn't want to tell you."
"…Huh?"
For months now, Starrk had hidden his emotions and feelings deep inside his soul and Lilynette's Inner World, determined not to let them poison her new life. He'd tried to pretend their former lives didn't exist because they were hard and painful and they ended so badly – he didn't want his other half to suffer through the knowledge of what they went through, what they were. Or, God forbid, remember it.
Maybe that would have worked if Muramasa had never rebelled or that bandit in Rukongai had never attacked Lilynette. Maybe. Or maybe something else would have happened and pushed him to tell her. Their lives had never been easy, no matter where they were.
"Do you remember, at the beginning off all of this, when you asked me if a zanpakuto could be something else before becoming a zanpakuto?" He ventured, picking each word carefully. There was so much to tell and so little she had any way to understand. He didn't want to upset her if he could help it.
"…Yeah, kind of." Lilynette shifted. "So…is that why you know things? Did…did you come from somewhere else?" Her voice dropped and her shoulders hunched. "Are you even really my zanpakuto?"
"Hey." He reached out and put a clawed hand on her bowed head, gently urging her to look back up. "Of course I am. I was inside your Inner World when you woke up in Rukongai and I woke up when Ritoshin Jalk attacked you. We share the same soul – I'm your zanpakuto."
Lilynette's smile trembled but it held and she grabbed his hand before he could pull it back, yanking it to her chest and hanging onto it stubbornly. He didn't pull too hard before turning it to hold her hand back. His breathing came a little easier at the connection.
"It's just…" He continued, falling silent for a long beat as he struggled to put his memories into words that she would understand. "I'm not…we were…"
It was his turn to slump his shoulders and avert his eyes.
"What, Starrk?" Lilynette's tone was surprisingly empathetic. Had being a shinigami for so little time allowed her to grow more than their centuries in Hueco Mundo? A year ago, she would have kicked and screamed at him for holding back. The realization made something twist deep in his heart.
"Are you sure you want me to tell you? There's no going back if I do. You can't un-know something like this."
She scowled and leaned forward to poke him hard in the shoulder with her free hand. "Of course I want to know! You'd better not be trying to hide again, or else…!"
Ah, there was the spirit he knew so well. Maybe she was just too tired to kick and scream much.
He closed his eyes and forged onwards. "Every soul comes from somewhere. You woke up in Rukongai because you died somewhere else – both of us did."
"I know that, it's one of the most basic things they teach us at the academy. Every shinigami was a human before becoming a konpaku, a plus soul, and then-."
"No."
"…No?"
"No. I remember what came before, Lilynette. You started this life as a konpaku and I started it as a zanpakuto but before we died…"
He paused, expecting her to interrupt, but all he heard was her rapid breathing. He thought she was shaking but he squeezed his eyes more tightly closed and continued. Now that he'd started, he couldn't stop.
"We started as one soul, I know that, but somewhere along the way we…broke. The being we started as was so lonely that it ripped its soul in half to create a friend…to create us."
"Humans can't do that." Lilynette realized, something complicated in her tone. He thought it might be horror. "Shinigami…?"
"No." Starrk sighed. "Lilynette, before Rukongai, before we died, we were hollows."
A sound ripped from her throat, a sort of keening whine.
"Not only that…we were the most powerful of hollows." He opened his eyes, looking up at the full moon and the starless sky around it, imagining it as the crescent in the sky of Hueco Mundo reflecting bloody sand below. "We were a Vasto Lorde and an arrancar." His mouth twisted bitterly. "I think we were the only naturally created fully-formed arrancar in existence. At the end, I think we might have been the most powerful hollow in all of Hueco Mundo."
"Then…how did we die?"
He glanced back down at Lilynette and found that her eyes were wide and glassy, shocked. No doubt she was scrambling to deal with the information he'd just dumped on her head. His tone was gentle as he answered.
"A shinigami killed us."
"Oh…" She released his hand to scrub both of hers through her hair and then pushed them hard against her eyes, trying to ground herself. "Oh. No wonder you don't like shinigami. You've been weird about the captains all day and you almost had a heart attack when I told you I wanted to become one." She glared at him through her fingers. "How could you let me do that?!"
She'd be okay, Starrk realized. Maybe she hadn't come to terms with their past yet but she wasn't descending into shock and self-hate and she wasn't rejecting him for the knowledge of what he used to be. She wasn't falling apart and, maybe best of all, she hadn't remembered anything that could cause her harm. It felt like a great weight had lifted from his shoulders, like warmth beating in his heart, and for the first time since waking up and realizing she did not remember their past, he laughed at the expression on her face.
"Hey!" She dropped her hand and stared at him with wide, offended eyes. "Are you laughing at me?"
"Sorry."
"You are!" Her brows furrowed. "I didn't know you could laugh."
"I'm not exactly the life of the…party…" Abruptly, Starrk's senses sharpened. His wolf-ears stood erect and he turned his head towards the sky, searching for whatever had triggered his senses. Inwardly, he cursed. He'd been so distracted talking to Lilynette that he'd forgotten they were being pursued – was that what had caught his attention? Had that shinigami captain caught up?
He stood in a fluid motion, still looking up. There was no one visible and he couldn't feel any strange reiatsu but something was screaming at him that he and Lilynette were not alone.
"Starrk? What is it?"
Lilynette scrambled upright and craned her neck back to follow his eyes, but he just shook his head in dissatisfaction.
"I don't know. There's something there but…"
He stopped and turned. Head now level and eyes directed towards the mouth of the alley, he finally noticed the small black cat sitting primly in the very center of the entrance, smooth black tail curled around delicate paws and slitted yellow eyes looking back at him without fear.
"…A cat?" Lilynette followed his gaze and laughed incredulously. "You're worried about a cat." She dug her elbow into his ribs. "C'mon, Starrk. I know wolves are kind of like dogs, but…"
He didn't rise to her teasing, just responded curtly. "That's not a cat."
Catching on to his serious tone, Lilynette's enthusiasm dimmed and she pressed closer to him. "Is it a zanpakuto?"
"A zanpakuto? I think I'm insulted." The cat spoke in a strong male voice, amusement coloring the tone.
"Ms. Not-a-Captain." Starrk nodded at Yoruichi in neutral acknowledgement but he stepped protectively in front of Lilynette. "Are you here on behalf of the shinigami?"
"Perhaps, in a way." The cat flipped her tail but did not otherwise move. "Soifon is very sorry, by the way."
"Yeah, right." Lilynette growled, glaring at the 'cat' with narrow eyes. "I bet she's just as sorry as that creepy guy in the clown mask."
"Captain Kurotsuchi, huh?" Yoruichi chuckled. "I can see why you'd find him unnerving. Did you meet him?" She shifted her paws as if she wanted to step forward but was well aware that any sudden moves could be taken badly by Starrk.
"No, but Starrk did and told the captains to keep him away from me. An' there are lots of rumors about him at the academy – everyone's scared that if they fail the exam more than once then they'll be sent to the twelfth division and never seen again." This time, it was Starrk's turn to be surprised. He hadn't known Lilynette knew who Kurotsuchi was.
"Is that so? If the rumors have spread that far, perhaps it's worth bringing to the head-captain's attention. Kurotsuchi is a captain, after all – he has an image to maintain."
Starrk cocked his head. "And would Yamamoto amend the captain's actions, or hide evidence of them?"
"You certainly don't have a high opinion of shinigami, do you?" Instead of being offended, Yoruichi sounded curious. Her eyes turned to Starrk's companion. "What about you, girl? What do you think of shinigami?"
"I…well, I…" Caught on the spot, Lilynette stuttered. She still hadn't recovered from learning Starrk's life-changing information but that old desire to be a hollow-fighting hero fluttered in her chest in response to the cat's words. However, now it felt like a betrayal to even consider becoming a shinigami, knowing that they killed her and Starrk and that Starrk was still suffering through the memories. She shifted from foot to foot, well aware that she was wearing a shinigami academy uniform and she'd been telling every captain who would listen that she wanted to be a shinigami when she graduated. "I…I don't…"
"She wants to be a shinigami." Starrk answered for her and she looked up at him. There was a hint of a sad smile in his expression but he didn't look upset or betrayed.
"I don't think I asked you, Zanpakuto-san." Yoruichi rebuked lightly and cocked her head expectantly towards Lilynette, who set her jaw stubbornly and crossed her arms.
"What if I don't want to be a shinigami anymore? What if I just want to be me? That's my choice, right? Me an' Starrk could leave and…and…" She trailed off.
"They will not let you go. You must understand." Yoruichi stated firmly. "The two of you together would be a powerful addition to the Gotei 13. Or a powerful weapon to be used against them, were any of their many enemies to sway you." The cat looked into Lilynette's eyes, speaking slowly to make sure every word hit home. "Even if you fled, they would hunt you to the very edge of Rukongai."
Lilynette recoiled. Overwhelmed, she turned and buried her face against Starrk's shoulder. Her zanpakuto held her close and leveled a glare at Yoruichi. The cat met his eyes without flinching.
"I'm sorry, but that is the truth. It's better that she knows now rather than putting it off. You did an admirable job keeping her out of the chaos of the past few days, but this was always going to happen. You can't protect her from this reality anymore – she's a part of this, just like you are."
Starrk didn't immediately agree but he didn't deny Yoruichi's words either. He looked away first and the former captain accepted that as the best she was going to get. Though the fact that he let her say her piece without interrupting or contradicting her warnings was a strong sign that he knew she was right, whether or not he wanted to admit it. Unfortunately, she wasn't done yet.
"What's more, with Muramasa gone, you are going to have trouble staying manifested soon. Most of the other sword spirits have already returned to their shinigami's Inner Worlds. What will you do when she's left alone to handle Soul Society? You won't be able to protect her then."
At Yoruichi's words, Starrk hesitated. She was right. He could feel Muramasa's absence and it was becoming more difficult to maintain his physical form. Not impossible; he had more than enough energy to keep the separation going as long as necessary; but now he was relying on himself rather than the block placed by Muramasa which had forced him and Lilynette apart in the first place.
Sensing his sudden uncertainty, Lilynette's hand tightened around his arm and she looked up at him, panic overtaking her turmoil. She didn't say anything out loud, not wanting to give Yoruichi any sign of her distress, but Starrk knew what she was asking. "You're not going to leave me alone, are you?"
"Don't worry." He sent to her mentally. "I'm not going anywhere."
His other half relaxed then turned a deep scowl on the cat. "Don't lie to us! Starrk's fine!"
"Is he?" Yoruichi's tail flipped. Back. Forth. Back. Forth. Her small, furry face gave nothing away. Starrk had the uneasy sensation she knew exactly what was going on and the words that passed silently between them were obvious to her watchful eyes. "Interesting. However, that doesn't change your situation. You have a very important decision to make and you need to make it soon."
"What do you mean? Aren't you here to make me go back?" Lilynette asked. At the clear confusion on the faces of both student and zanpakuto, Yoruichi softened.
"No, not if you don't want to." Her deep cat-voice was gentle as she replied. "But I want you to be fully aware of your situation before you make any choices you will regret later." She paused, giving them enough time to exchange an uneasy look but not enough to form a response. "You, Lilynette, are a student in Seireitei and a prospective shinigami with a zanpakuto unlike anything seen in the Gotei 13 before. You've attracted some very powerful attention that will not easily be turned away, whether or not you choose to go back. In a decade or so, once your powers are fully developed and you've learned to control them, you'll be a force to be reckoned with."
Her eyes flicked to Starrk. "You, Starrk, are a zanpakuto with abilities that make those same powerful people very uneasy. You seem to defy expectation and precedent at every turn and you have drawn a great deal of attention to your wielder, apparently on accident. You've also clearly telegraphed that, though you've shown a remarkable degree of individuality, you are wholly dedicated to your wielder and are capable of being a powerful weapon for the Gotei, as proven by the recent battle." Yoruichi sighed and shook her head. "I'm not here to force either of you into anything, but if you don't go back, life is likely to be very difficult for both of you in the future."
Silence fell and Yoruichi watched them until she was certain they had nothing left to say. Then she stood up, arched her back in a stretch and turned to walk away. She spoke to them over her shoulder without looking back.
"You've got some time to rest, but not too much. They're already looking for you. When you're ready, follow my trail and I'll take you somewhere safe where you can make your decision."
Lilynette kept her head down after Yoruichi left, choosing instead to speak mentally.
"Is she right?"
Starrk's deep sigh was audible but his words were equally silent. "Yes. I thought if I was able to stay away from the captains or keep them from associating us, then I could return to you at the end of the rebellion with them none the wiser to our past. You could continue being a student and developing as a shinigami at your own rate."
"And I screwed it up by going to you in those caves." Lilynette's voice was small.
"No, I did. I underestimated them. They knew I existed on the first day and I never managed to defuse their suspicion." He grumbled. "I didn't even do anything worth mentioning until last night. I don't know why they were so paranoid before that."
"You heard the cat; they were worried Muramasa was going to use you as a weapon against them."
"Hmmm…" Starrk chose not to mention again that, without seeing his abilities or sensing his unbound reiatsu, there was no reason for them to consider him any more dangerous than a cork-gun against captain-class shinigami. Instead, he jostled her until she was forced to look up and meet his eyes and then he spoke quietly, out loud. "What do you want to do?"
"I thought…I thought they'd let us go if I didn't want to be a shinigami! And I wanted to become a shinigami to fight monsters and protect people, not because…not with…!" Her hand waved in a wide, all-encompassing arc.
Starrk understood. None of this was what she'd signed up for or even knew was a possibility. He settled himself more comfortably against the building behind him and raised an eyebrow. "I know. So. What do you want to do? Do you still want to be a shinigami?"
"I…well…I…you wouldn't mind?"
Her zanpakuto shrugged. "If that's what you want."
"Even though…?"
"Yes. It's the way of our world, Lilynette. Shinigami fight hollows, hollows fight shinigami. If we were in Hueco Mundo, it might be different, but the only hollows in Soul Society are there to hurt people."
"An' I want to protect people." Lilynette nodded and squared her scrawny shoulders.
Starrk felt her decision click into place in the back of his mind. Abruptly, there was a sense of being in sync, of stability, radiating across their bond. "You know what you want?"
"…I think I want to be a shinigami." She scowled. "But not if they're evil! I want to fight hollows and protect people – not…whatever that mean captain was doing! Or the mad scientist!"
"But you still want to be a shinigami."
"I…yeah." She looked up at him, hopeful and tentative, looking for approval and support. "Yeah?"
He nodded easily and stood up, lifting her with him and then placing her on her feet and setting off out of the ally. "Then I guess we should follow the cat."
He was at peace with her decision, oddly enough. It felt right, now that she knew what she was getting into. Going back to Soul Society felt less like stepping into a pit of vipers and more like taking advantage of a new opportunity. Something else inside of him clicked into place, softer and deeper than before, and he absently rubbed his hand over his chest, barely noticing the way his former hollow hole ached only slightly at the pressure.
Kyoraku was embarrassed to admit that he'd lost control of the situation at the lake mere seconds after stepping out of the Senkaimon. For some reason, he'd expected it would be easy to keep an eye on Starrk and Lilynette, given they'd accompanied him of their own free will.
In his defense, he hadn't expected Starrk to suppress his reiatsu as soon as they left the portal, especially so well. Most captains couldn't hide their spiritual pressure so completely. (Though he should have guessed; no one would have overlooked the girl if she'd been leaking even a fraction of the power Starrk had shown before applying to the academy.) And there were a few dozen more pressing matters to attend to at the time. Gillian-sized pressing matters. It was only after the first wave of gillians went down that he realized the rogue zanpakuto and his wielder were no longer behind him.
Technically, at that point he could have sent Katen and Kyokotsu to find them but he hadn't been sure his sword spirits could be trusted on their own. He hadn't fought them down and they hadn't been unbrainwashed by Mayuri; their cooperation with him was more out of necessity than choice, for all that they'd followed him to the Living World. And with the mood Katen had been in, she'd have quite happily challenged someone to a game of life and death at the first opportunity. Without revealing the stakes.
He hadn't seriously considered sending any of the other combatants after Starrk and Lilynette either. None of the lieutenants or sword spirits could be spared from fighting and he had to stick to his post to direct reinforcements and make sure Muramasa and Koga didn't flee back to Soul Society. The human kids…
Well.
As strong as they'd become, their allegiance did not lie with the Gotei 13. Shunsui was under no illusions as to what would have happened if he'd tried to give orders to the young Quincy or the human boy he'd taken out during the ryoka invasion without Ichigo to act as a mediator, especially after Soifon tried unsuccessfully to force them to accept her authority right before his arrival. Orihime might have listened to him but he doubted her powers would have helped much in regard to Starrk and Lilynette.
Given Starrk's general reticence and reluctance to fight and the fact that his allegiance had clearly been regained by his wielder, Shunsui had decided to let them go for the moment and focus on the battle. As he'd felt Starrk's reiatsu swamp the battlefield like a tidal wave not ten minutes later accompanied by the eerie howling of hundreds of wolves, that might not have been the best decision.
It seemed a far worse decision when he came upon Soifon snarling as viciously as the wolf that had ripped up her neck.
Thank God for Yoruichi and Urahara. Urahara for having a prototype garganta generator on hand to get rid of the hollows generated by Koga's death and for the presence of mind to call for Yoruichi when the situation with Starrk got out of hand, knowing Soifon would never listen to him. And Yoruichi for reacting so swiftly and having such remarkable tracking skills.
"So you found them?" Kyoraku didn't quite manage to suppress his sigh of relief as he spoke into the small receiver in front of him. Beside him, Jushiro squeezed his shoulder in support. They were back in Seireitei, sitting next to each other in the small fourth division room that had been their command center during the zanpakuto rebellion.
"Yes, they didn't go far. It seems like they just wanted some distance to get over the battle shock." Yoruichi's voice crackled over the communicator as she sighed. "The girl is very young and didn't seem to be dealing with it very well. I tried to convince them to return but Soifon really spooked her and she was already worried about Kurotsuchi. There's something else going on between her and her zanpakuto as well, but he noticed me before I could overhear anything of substance. He's absolutely loyal to her; whatever she chooses to do, he'll follow her one hundred percent."
Jushiro nodded thoughtfully, leaning against Shunsui to speak into the receiver. "Were you able to at least apologize for Soifon's words and actions?"
"Yes, but I'm not sure they believed me." There was the sound of Yoruichi moving around and voices talking in the background. Hers was louder when she continued. "Ichigo's promised to talk with her about, heh, 'real' shinigami values when she gets here but I have no idea how that's going to go."
"That's a good idea. Give her a friendly face to represent shinigami. Ichigo's naturally charismatic as well; even if he doesn't mean to convince her, she could be swayed by the force of his belief alone." Shunsui suggested.
"That's what Kisuke thought. That's why this place is full of human kids right now; Ichigo appears to be traveling with an entourage tonight." Yoruichi's amusement came through loud and clear. "At least they won't have any trouble finding Urahara shoten."
"And you're sure they'll follow you?"
"I suggested it and told them they would be safe here as they made their decision. Where else could they go?"
Safe, yes. But not unknown. Thanks to Yoruichi, Starrk and Lilynette were already back on the Gotei's radar, though she hadn't gotten close enough to put trackers on them. It was a relief to know that Shunsui hadn't lost the promising youngster and her strange zanpakuto. At least she wasn't at risk from any local hollows with Starrk watching her back.
Jushiro frowned. "I suppose there's no use in reassuring them further?"
"Not now. They need some time to think first. The best thing to do is leave them alone to avoid spooking them again. Trust me, I know what I'm doing." Her voice changed tone, becoming more casual. "How are things back in Soul Society? Are you guys recovering okay?"
"Hm? Oh, yes. Most of the zanpakuto have returned to their shinigami's Inner Worlds, with only a few stubborn exceptions. Four captains are still in the fourth division due to injuries sustained in the rebellion, including the head captain, Zaraki, and Soifon. Five lieutenants injured in the battle at the lake are also laid up. Byakuya is here as well, being treated for reiatsu exhaustion, but he's also under guard pending questioning by the soutaicho." Jushiro gave the brief rundown.
"I wouldn't like to be him when the head captain gets up." Shunsui commented, wicked humor dancing through his voice. "Even though he knew about Koga and what Byakuya was up to with the zanpakuto, that doesn't excuse acting against the Gotei's interests and attacking his subordinates. Or deceiving the rest of us."
"He might be nearly as mad as he will be at you for misplacing Starrk." Jushiro's tone was dry. Yamamoto hadn't reacted to the powerful unknown zanpakuto very well, despite Starrk's assistance. But he reacted to any kind of change or surprise like that and Starrk's willingness to help while stuck inside of Ryujin Jakka's dome had tempered Yamamoto's naturally paranoid reaction. If Starrk and Lilynette kept to the straight and narrow in the future, he'd be happy. If they didn't, he'd make sure they were dealt with like any other threat to Soul Society.
"Ah, well, hopefully Starrk will be back with his young wielder long before that becomes a problem." Shunsui's uncomfortable chuckle was weak. No one liked being the object of Yamamoto's anger.
"Sounds like you two have a full plate." Yoruichi laughed. "I'll get back to you when -."
She was cut off by a loud knock echoing in the background and the bang of a door being thrown open. Several voices shouted Ichigo's voice in censure.
"Hold that thought." Yoruichi murmured. "I think…"
"Uh, hey. We're looking for the cat lady…?"
"Looks like our runaways responded faster than expected. I've got to go. Give me…hm. An hour?"
"Good luck." Shunsui and Jushiro chorused.
The line hung up on the distant sounds of Yoruichi calling a greeting and Lilynette mumbling an inaudible reply.
Shunsui settled back, relaxing. "Well, that's that. They'll be back in no time."
"Don't get too settled in, Shunsui. What do we do with them once they are back?"
"…Oh, right."
Author's Notes:
-There was some confusion over Soifon's actions last chapter; I hope this cleared it up.
-It's probably obvious by now, but I won't be covering anything to do with the toju arc. I draw the line at filler arcs for filler arcs, at least for this fic.
-One more short chapter and an epilogue to go!
-Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter! Seeing your thoughts and well wishes really brightened my day.
Please Review & let me know what you think!
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