Ichigo Kurosaki
The shopkeeper, Urahara, is taking a long look at my newly created zanpakuto. Things moved pretty fast after my transformation. I got back into my gigai and called him, he called my father, and soon the whole invisible posse had gathered on the roof of my school. We had to get out quickly - since most of the teaching body was still on the hunt for me because of me punching Kuchiki and whatnot - and so I escaped school altogether, making Tatsuki's earlier lie kind of a truth. We also brought Orihime and her reformed brother with us, supremely confused as they were. At that point, we split up. Kuchiki was very alarmed about the whole situation and kept shrieking hysterically and making no sense. She wanted to stick close to Sora's ghost no matter what. No way I let her be alone with Orihime or her brother, though, not after what she's pulled with Ishida, so I asked dad to tag along and escort Orihime to her home, while I went with Urahara to his shop so that he could check me thoroughly. Or at least that was the excuse; I saw him and dad mumble stuff secretly and ominously among themselves, so I suspect there might have been more to it than this. When isn't there? My whole new not-quite-life as a spirit seems just a mess of secrets and half said things.
That aside, when we arrived here, Urahara asked me to show me my new form, and unceremoniously pushed my soul out of my gigai with a touch of his walking cane - wild guess: it's not just a cane. I was surprised that, for something that is supposed to be a part of my spirit, and emerged from my own soul, it was so easy for me to simple hand it to him my zanpakuto, but apparently contact isn't needed to maintain it manifested. In fact, now that I've created it, it just exists as a physical object. Well, not physical I guess. A ghost object. I wondered about what would happen if it broke, and he said that I shouldn't worry, it would repair itself. Then I wondered what would happen if it got separated from me for a very long time, or by a very long distance, like if I simply placed it on a rocket and have it shot into space and he said that he'd never heard of anything like it, and also to never try anything like it, ever, and gave me a nasty stare which definitely made me lose any interest in experimenting too wildly with my new sword-soul-scalpel thingy. I'm going to hold tight on it and take real good care of it. Maybe get it a sleeve or something. Not sure how you get a ghost sleeve, though.
Sandal-and-hat guy weighs the scalpel, pricks his finger with the tip of the needle, unspools a bit of the thread, pulls on the thread to test for strength, picks the thread like a guitar string, bites the thread like a tailor trying to break it, then after another thoughtful look and a few hand flourishes to get a feel for the balance of the whole thing, finally hands it back.
"You got quite a small one, mister Kurosaki," he says, perfectly seriously but with a spark of amusement in his eye.
I take it with a sigh. "Is that a dick joke?"
"You see, Shinigami's zanpakutos' size scales with their power. Of course, any expert and truly powerful Shinigami will be able to control their spiritual pressure so that it doesn't necessarily become the size of a building. But I would be even more surprised by your incredible show of restraint if that applied to you."
"So it was a dig at my strength?"
"No, it was also a dick joke," confirms Urahara, cheerfully. "They're a staple at the Academy among any young male Shinigami who receive their first zanpakuto. Feels like a rite of passage you have to go through, really. Congratulations, you are now officially a Shinigami."
"Such a moving graduation ceremony." It's kind of uncomfortable to keep holding this thing in my hands. Either I risk cutting myself with the scalpel or stabbing myself with the needle, and I can't keep them dangling because then the thread just unwinds and both things end up falling. I definitely need a sleeve. Maybe some sort of holster that I can hang from my belt. "I'll just be happy with having the chance to stay alive, I guess."
"Hm-mm." he hums pensively.
See, this is the part where some shitty news drop. As I said before, I did get the sense him and dad were mumbling something among themselves with their ominous "Shinigami business" attitudes. That can not be a good sign.
"Because I will stay alive, right?"
"Oh, your odds are pretty good. I'd say better than fifty-fifty, if we handle this properly."
Obviously. Isn't that a bummer. "What do you mean? It was you who said this was all I needed to do. I'm a Shinigami, I can stabilise my soul within this gigai, so I can live on Earth, I guess-"
I stop thinking about that for a moment.
"-wait, how long can I live on Earth now, again?"
"Oh, as long as you want," Urahara quickly handwaves the reveal that I'm now friggin' immortal. "But that's only if you're allowed to stay. See, when I told you all of that, I wasn't lying. But I didn't account for your actual awakening to Death Godhood being so... unique."
I do not know what Shinigami awakenings usually are like, but going by how mine reduced Kuchiki to a bumbling mess, I had surmised it was not exactly normal. "How unique?"
Sandal-and-hat shakes his head, and before answering, he sits at a chair he keeps next to a table so overloaded with junk that its legs are buckling, which I think should act as the counter for this shop. The big jet black cat that I've often seen lazing around the room comes close and jumps in his lap, and starts purring while getting stroked on its back, from the nape to the base of the tail. It has that thing that cats do, of seeming both supremely disinterested in anything happening around it, yet also keenly attentive to any whisper. Its eyes fix on mine at one point, as if it had taken a special interest in me. Not like it could. It's just a cat. But maybe it does see me; they say cats can see ghosts. It sure would explain a few things about them.
"Mister Kurosaki," starts Urahara, "your first act as a Shinigami was to create an entirely new form of spiritual existence. That I know of, that's a first in memory, living or otherwise. Normal zanpakutos mostly just cut stuff down. Sometimes they also burn it, or freeze it, or do other curious and often painful things. But the aim is always the cutting."
Crap. I never really stopped to think about what I was doing. I was so swept from the passion of the moment, it was almost like being possessed. In fact, considering I had just awakened a whole new section of my soul that has apparently its own limited sentience and consciousness separated from mine, it was frighteningly like being possessed. "So you think someone noticed."
"Maybe no one did," he shrugs. "If everyone in Soul Society's research division was blind, and deaf, and asleep in a drunken stupor when you pulled off your stunt. I can tell you, though, discipline wasn't quite that lax back in my day."
Crap, times ten. "They're going to be on my ass? Will I have to fight them?"
"You will definitely have to not fight them. If you did fight them as you are now, that would be the fastest possible route to an actual, final death for your very soul."
"So do I talk to them? Can they be reasoned with?"
Sandal-and-hat sighs. "To understand the answer to that question, you must first understand what the history of Soul Society is, mister Kurosaki. Do you know that the afterlife is separated by regions?"
"I do, and I wanted to ask, before all this stuff came up. It makes no sense to me. Why does the afterlife give a fuck about political boundaries?"
"Not political, Mr. Kurosaki. The very fabric of the spiritual world - what you could call its spacetime continuum, using terms from your physics - is sustained by spirit particles, and spirit particles gravitate around each other. That gravitation can cross the boundary between worlds. In other words, the afterlife's own presence is denser in areas of the spirit world that correspond to highly populated human regions."
"So there's a lot of afterlife centred on Tokyo and Japan, but then empty space everywhere around it at sea?"
"Not even space. An almost complete lack of existence. Passage is possible but extremely dangerous, and only an affair for the most experienced and powerful. And souls left stranded in those areas are often never retrieved by any guardians, Shinigami or others. Death at sea is a much grislier affair than even most human legends make it to be. Sometimes the concentration of Hollows manages to get to levels high enough for them to coalesce into Menos and bring forth disaster. Why, the Great Bermuda Incident of-"
I cut him off - I'd be very interested in learning about all this, if not for the fact that apparently I have the Shinigami police about to bust me. "So what does this have to do with me?"
"It has to do with how Soul Society is structured. Consider this. It's a place that has been built and shaped throughout the millennia by the souls that have departed from this world and travelled there. Even as they lost their memories, they didn't lose all of their habits and mindset. It is a world of immortals, in which the longer you live, the more skill and power you can amass. More so, those who in life were practised at meditation and mental discipline are the most attuned to their spiritual powers, and likely to become Shinigami, and those who were also experienced in the art of war can still make use of their martial skills. And every single one of them came from Japan's past. There's been a balance, as the population of this country grew, the new souls sometimes drowning the old ones in sheer numbers, but at one point, a ruling class established itself, and managed to get a hold of power."
"That power is self-perpetuating. Because they are strong, they can choose who to teach, and what to teach them. Their strength can grow without limit, as they refine their skills through centuries. Already a lone Captain of Soul Society is powerful enough to annihilate an entire Squad of lesser Shinigami single-handedly. And they almost never expose themselves to risk, as it's not necessary, and there isn't much in existence that constitutes a risk to them anyway other than each other. They do not die, they do not retire, they are not replaced, save for truly catastrophic, but extremely rare, occurrences. They do not change, Mr. Kurosaki. And neither does Soul Society, with them leading it."
The good news keep coming. "When are they from?"
"It varies. But most of the Captains probably used to be samurai and daimyos from periods ranging from Heian to early Edo. There certainly isn't anyone who has died in Meiji or later in any position of real power."
I feel all the hope that had filled me after my transformation drain from me, and slowly be replaced by creeping dread. Before, my fear was getting sent to Soul Society. Now, suddenly, I start wondering if that wouldn't have been lucky, compared to what I'm facing. "So I need to deal with a hostile government that thinks I'm potentially a threat to an order they've sworn to protect. They're immensely strong, so fighting them is suicide. And they're also stubborn and prideful like old time samurai, if old time samurai were immortal and had superpowers, and were arrogant to match. So negotiating with them is impossible too. Did I get the picture right?"
"More or less, yes, mister Kurosaki. You have had a taste of it when dealing with Kuchiki already. Their mindset would be quite alien to your 21st century human sensibilities."
An entire society made of much more powerful Kuchikis? Oh, I am screwed.
"So I just sit back and die?" Anger mounts up in me. "You said it would be fine! I could have just gone to Soul Society, and now I risk being destroyed altogether? I didn't do anything bad! Fuck that, I did something good! And I didn't even mean it! I was, like, not in full possession of my mental faculties."
"Surely compelling arguments for a human lawyer, but the situation here is a bit different," Urahara mutters, shaking his head. "That said, do not despair. You have some powerful allies on your side."
"And who would they be?"
"Your father, to begin with. He used to be a Captain too. You may not entirely get a sense of what that entails, but I assure you, he is very powerful."
"Powerful enough to take on the entirety of Soul Society on his own?"
"No," admits Urahara, "though certainly stupid enough to try if your life depended on it. Something that I'd heartily try to dissuade him from doing, by the way."
Good call. Last thing I want right now is to drag my dad down with me too. He better keep taking care of Karin and Yuzu.
"Then there's me," he adds.
"But surely, you're not stupid enough to take on all of Soul Society for my sake, either?" I care about his life much less than I do about my dad's. But I'm sure he cares a lot more.
"Oh, of course not, even if I could physically set foot in there, which I can't. Long story. But I can support you in other ways."
"Like?"
He pulls off a sly smile. "Why, offering you goods and services of the highest quality at extremely competitive prices, for example."
Somehow, I'm not feeling terribly hopeful here.
"And I'm sure Yoruichi will be willing to help too, if it comes to that. Right, Yoruichi? You wanna sharpen your claws a bit on those big mean Shinigami too, don't you?"
And he tickles the cat, who in turn answers with a threatening disgruntled hiss and a weak attempt at biting off his finger. Yeah, now he's just taking the piss.
"So it's unwinnable," I say, hopeless.
"Things standing as they currently are, it is," he replies. "But never let the impossibility of victory stop you from trying to at least force a draw. Don't worry, me and your father are handling this. That is why we brought you here, and here you should just stay put until the matter is settled."
"Settled? But if they're coming to look for me, wouldn't they-"
Right. Stupid, stupid me. I realise it in that moment. If what I did was considered some kind of violation of the natural order, then they would have two targets. One would be me, the newbie Shinigami who could do strange stuff to souls. But as long as I didn't go near any Hollows, I would not be an immediate danger. But the other target would be a lot more urgent - the abomination unto nature itself, the thing whose existence they are most horrified by. The ghost I transformed. Sora Inoue.
They're going to go to Orihime's house first.
Which is why my dad went there, and why I've been brought here, to sit it out.
I am ready to bust out of here and run to Orihime's house the instant I understand it all, but that's also exactly when a sudden weakness captures my limbs. I feel like all the weaker points of my joints are being pressed at the same time, stopping me from moving an inch. When I look at Urahara, he's got a hand raised in a wizardly gesture, and a glint in what I can see of his eyes.
"You will do well to simply remain here and be safe, as your father intends you to do, mister Kurosaki," he says. "This is crucially important right now. Shinigami are bound by rules and codes, and one thing you can count on is that anyone who gets sent on such an important and delicate mission will be the type to hold onto them. The girl will not be hurt or killed. She will likely have her memory wiped and will be otherwise left unharmed."
"But Orihime's brother...!"
"Her brother will be exorcised and sent to Soul Society, as he should have been years ago. There is nothing we can do about that; if we are to hope to save you, we must at least throw a bone to the enemy. It will be already difficult to protect you as things are, without precipitating it all in a battle. That would make your position only harder. The most important thing right now is that you don't get yourself killed."
"Nothing we can do?"
Maybe. Maybe there isn't. But just hours ago, there was nothing I could do about Orihime's brother either. And these people keep underestimating me.
For example, this spell he's binding me with is the same Kuchiki used on me on the first night we met. And back then I managed to break it without even being a Shinigami.
"You know what, mister shopkeeper...?"
I push a bit against the magic that keeps me tied, testing its resistance, and feel it push back. I get a measure of it.
"FUCK! THAT!"
I scream as I expand my spirit and muscles at once - they sort of feel like they're truly one and the same, now. And the bindings give way effortlessly, like wet paper wrapped around my body. Urahara's half covered eyes don't even let me see if he raises an eyebrow at this. He seems unperturbed as always. I turn away, gripping my zanpakuto, and dart out of the shop, vaulting right above my gigai, which is slumped on the ground in front of the door, and in an instant I'm jumping from roof to roof. I run out and don't look behind, with a full intention to not let myself be stopped or held back by anything he could say or do. Maybe he understood that, and maybe that's why he didn't even try. Maybe I was just too fast and caught him by surprise. Maybe.
But when I shattered that spell and turned around, for a split second, on his face, I think I saw the tiniest glimpse of a grin.
Rukia Kuchiki
I always took pride in being a proper Shinigami. In following the rules, in sticking to my teachings, and in bringing pride to my family. Whatever tiny lapses I had - such as using Urahara's shop - were hardly serious matters, and only done in service of a greater good, namely, doing my job even better. For the sake of human souls, of Soul Society, of the Kuchiki clan. Only once, a few days ago, did I give in to a real, serious violation of that code, under pressure and implied threats, and with a reasonable expectation that in the end nothing all too bad would come from it.
It stands to reason that fate would sink its fangs in me. It's just retribution for my error.
When making that fateful mistake, not in my worst nightmares would I have imagined the current outcome. I am in company of former Captain Shiba, we're escorting this human girl back to her home, and along us walks... that thing. The thing makes no sense to any of my spirit perceptions. The thing should not exist in this plane, it is a contradiction, a Hollow without a hole, a Whole without a chain, a Shinigami without a zanpakuto. I keep a respectful distance from it, and my hand always on the hilt of my sword, ready to strike. Had it been just up to me, I would not have hesitated already. I would have purified it the moment I laid my eyes on it. But it wasn't up to me, of course. The Kurosaki boy first, and his father later, saw to that. I could have overpowered the boy, perhaps - he is green, even though his powers still appear great and inexplicable to me. But had I done so, I would have risked the wrath of his father. And that is one thing I can not face.
"They're cute, aren't they?," says the Captain, with a dorky smile.
The human girl, even back in her body, seems to have retained some spirit sense, and can now see and touch ghosts. She's cradling to the thing, hanging onto its arm, and excitedly recounting every detail of the last years of her life, while it nods and smiles in return.
"I couldn't say," I reply, flatly.
Captain Shiba shakes his head. "So cold, so cold, Kuchiki," he teases me. I would not dare normally deny the dignity of a Captain, even within my own thoughts, and even if given reason, but in this case I feel justified by his status as a deserter. He is, to put it bluntly, an ass and a buffoon. Of course, I would rather not say this to his face, so I merely keep an expressionless façade and walk on. I imagine the 10th Squad must have only gained in mature and level-headed leadership by replacing him with the youngest captain to ever serve.
"Ah, uhm, come on in, Kuchiki, mister Kurosaki," says the Inoue girl, embarrassed, as she opens the door to her house to us. The Captain grins and makes a joke about calling him 'dad', to which she blushes even more violently. As I said, an ass. I politely nod and walk in, and the thing merely phases through a wall, and we find it on the other side, looking at everything with a strange fascination.
"I thought I would never see this place again," it says. "When I turned - but now it's still different. It feels more vivid. Like I'm alive again!"
It extends its hand to touch a flower kept in a vase. The petals move under its finger as if it was made of solid matter.
"I could never do this so well," it explains. "It took me so long even that one time with the keys..."
"So it was you!" Orihime bursts out, with a giant grin. "I knew it! I knew it!"
They frolic and reminisce inane human anecdotes some more. I can only wait to the Captain's side and cringe at the sight. I still have no understanding of the situation; no real way to frame it, and no rules I can apply to it. This is unprecedented and unforeseen by any teaching I have received. The one thing that brings me relief is that I am sure I will soon receive backup in dealing with this; the anomaly can not have gone unnoticed in Soul Society. Help and expert advice are on the way, so I can limit myself to sit this out and wait.
Still, I am reconsidering the interpretation of my traditional duties. I am, after all, not just to slay Hollows, but to protect humans from them. And while this thing is not precisely a Hollow any more, I can likely consider it at least a hostile and dangerous existence. And my recent discussion with Kurosaki have led me to perhaps understand better the way humans relate to the death of one of their own. In their ignorance and narrow view, it is certainly something that causes them suffering. It may sound like blasphemy to compare it to the death of the soul like Kurosaki did, and yet, I can understand that the feelings involved are similar. I feel a pang of sudden pain, because my thoughts drift back to Kaien for a moment. I imagine seeing him in front of me again. I imagine what I would feel. What I would need to hear.
"Do not get used to it," I say to Orihime, as calmly as I can, to not let too much of my disgust come through. "It will not last, and it is dangerous. Keep your distance from it."
Orihime is confused, the thing frowns, while the Captain sighs deeply. "You're a real party pooper, Kuchiki, anyone ever tell you that?"
"This is no party. I am sworn to protect humans from the dangers posed to them by spirits and their ignorance of them, and it is what I am doing. Since you seem to have abandoned more than just your job," I manage to muster enough courage for that last dig. I am almost sure he wouldn't actually get angry over it; the man makes a show of how lax and passive he is, if anything.
"But Kuchiki, my brother isn't dangerous!," rebuts Orihime. "He's - he's just Sora, he's the same as always. I know him, I can tell!"
"No, you can't," I insist. "You are ignorant of these matters. It is something that should not exist."
The thing looks at me, but not with hatred or anger, more like sadness. "So what am I?," it asks. "Can I go back to being that hungry thing?"
I wouldn't deign it of speech, but this is a matter I needed to discuss anyway. "Impossible to say. You may be even more dangerous as you are, though. Orihime, this is not Sora Inoue."
She looks to me and Captain Shiba confused. He makes a shrugging gesture and waves a hand as if to mean, don't listen to her, she's crazy.
"It is not your brother," I insist. "Naturally occurring souls in the human realm only come in three types: Wholes, Hollows, or Shinigami. Whatever this thing is, it is neither of those three. It can't be a normal soul, and it can't keep existing."
"YOU CAN'T KILL HIM!," screams the poor girl, clinging onto the thing.
"I don't mean to." I try my best to give her a comforting smile. "I would rather perform a Soul Burial. If your brother is still in there, then his soul will be purified, and can move on to Soul Society."
"My brother is here!," she shouts back, stubborn. "Can't you see him? He's just himself. He can talk! He remembers everything! Sora, tell her yourself, please!"
The thing frowns. "I remember our life together," it says. "I remember the day I dragged Orihime out of our previous house, away from our parents. I remember my death, and staying here to look over Orihime for years. I remember the loneliness and how it became more painful, almost unbearable, towards the end. On that roof, it just got - it took me over. I felt despair, and that's the only part I don't remember well any more. And what I remember, I wish I could forget."
The girl is shaken, brings her hand to her mouth. I will not let myself be played that easily. "You could lie. Or be sincere, and still be a false thing, an artificial soul who is living as a parasite off its host's original memories. In fact, mod souls are the closest form of existence to what you are now that I can think of."
"Kuchiki, now you're really reaching," Captain Shiba chimes in. "Can you stop for a minute being such a sourpuss? You don't understand what she feels li-"
"I UNDERSTAND EXACTLY HOW SHE FEELS!"
Something I didn't know was in me snaps and shouts back. I stop for a moment, surprised by myself. But then, now that the dam is broken, I can't keep it in any more. I have had it with being surrounded by morons.
"Your nephew, Captain Shiba. Kaien. Do you remember him? Or were you too busy gallivanting with human women to think of your own kin and the clan you brought shame to? He served as Lieutenant in the 13th Squad when I entered it. I fought under him. He was the best leader a Shinigami could wish for."
I have had it with the weakness and the cowardice and the laziness.
"He wished to avenge his wife, Captain. He fought a Hollow with strange powers. He lost, and his body was possessed."
With the compromises and the half measures.
"And I had - I had! TO KILL HIM! WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS! TO SAVE HIM FROM THAT FATE!"
Because if duty doesn't make sense - if there is always a trick, always a loophole - as these people always seem to think...
"I GAVE HIM THE FINAL DEATH! THE DEATH OF THE SOUL! BECAUSE I HAD TO! AND IF HE REAPPEARED IN FRONT OF ME TEN THOUSAND TIMES, TEN THOUSAND TIMES I WOULD DO IT AGAIN!"
...then what would that make me?
My outburst ends and leaves everyone stunned. The Captain now looks at me with serious eyes perhaps for the first time since we've met.
"Kuchiki, I am sure you did your duty well, back then. Kaien was one of my clan, you're right. As a former head of the Shiba, I thank you."
And as he says that, he bows to me.
Then he gets up, puts a hand on my shoulder.
"But just because that was your pain," he asks, "would you make it everyone else's too?"
For an instant, he could almost fool me. I think about whether Sora could truly be a stabilised human soul existing in the human realm. What would that mean for the spiritual balance of the world, and if Soul Society could ever allow it to live. But then the thought of the incoming reinforcements suddenly allows me a moment of lucidity. I start thinking about the consequences of it, see the connections, and suddenly, Captain Shiba's motivations become a lot more clear - the cold calculation behind the mask of empathy. Oh, the selfishness is without limits in this one. Any respect left I could feel towards the man disappears just then and there. I wish I had power enough to summon a Bankai to smite him personally right here and now.
"At least I am trying to prepare the girl for the inevitable," I say. "Unlike you."
Orihime gasps. "What?"
"Reinforcements are surely coming from the Soul Society. This man - he doesn't care about your brother or the thing he has become. He only cares about me not exorcising it because he needs it as a bargaining chip to save his son."
The Captain groans. "Kuchiki, things are not that black and white. I will do what I can to save both of them. Sure, I care more about my son than I do about Sora. But even had it been impossible to help him, I would have at least left them this much time happy with each other."
"Did you hear that, Orihime Inoue?," I turn to the human girl. Surely she must see now that I am her only true ally here. The one who is trying to protect her, however harsh the actions needed to do that are. "This is what this man is like."
But she fidgets, she hesitates.
"I can't fault him for loving Ichigo," she finally says. "And even if it's just for a few hours - I am so happy to see you again, Sora."
The thing smiles back and hugs the girl. The Captain looks at them, seemingly moved. I can only stare in disbelief.
"Your dedication to go beyond the call of duty is admirable, Rukia. But it is misguided in this circumstance. Humans can not be made to reason. They can only be shown the truth by force."
The voice is unexpected - one I haven't heard in months now. Even when I'm in Soul Society, it is not common for me to cross my path with him, after all. But for him to be the one who was sent here, I can not say I even dared hope for it. But now that I know, I feel absolute trust that my troubles are over. He will solve everything, and no one will be able to stand to his sword as he swings it to enact justice.
I turn around, and in front of me, having just passed through the house's door, is my brother, the head of my clan and Captain of the 6th Squad, Byakuya Kuchiki.
Ichigo Kurosaki
I'm running with all my might to reach Orihime's house in time, but to be honest with myself, if it comes to what should I do once I'm there?
Fuck if I know.
I sure need to talk with dad, but if any other Shinigami show up, that's where my plans end. I could fight and hope for the best, I guess. Hey, it's all magic anyway. Might as well get lucky and pull out some mysterious power-up out of my ass or something, for all I know about it.
That's about the moment my thoughts get interrupted by me being violently smacked in the side by something. Violently enough that I lose my foothold, though my foothold was in mid air in the first place, and I end up smashed against a house's wall. With a human body, this would have been a lethal blow; as a Shinigami, it's just really friggin' painful. I don't feel dizzy or anything, just feel my bones almost break, and when my hand goes to my flank, right above the hip, it comes back drenched in red.
What do ghosts even have blood for? We don't even breathe!
"Yooo!," shouts someone, with an inflexion that makes him sound like some of those punks I sometimes beat up under the bridges of Karakura. "I was told to guard the house, but never thought that the other target would be so stupid to show up! You got a death wish?"
I'm in this whole stupid situation exactly because I don't. "And who are you?"
The punk shows himself, stepping down from the roof where he was standing dramatically before, letting only his silhouette show against the moon. He's got red hair tied in a ponytail, facial tattoos, some kind of mask or sunglasses he keeps on his forehead and generally looks like he just came out of the prefecture's penitentiary rather than Soul Society. If you ignore the black kimono and the huge sword thing that looks more like a long, segmented whip made out of blades.
"Lieutenant of the 6th Squad, Renji Abarai," he introduces himself, with a snarl. "And you are the jerk who's being a pain in the ass to our Rukia, aren't you?"
"Me?," I scoff, and hold tighter my zanpakuto. Seeing that massive thing he's shaking around, I'm definitely getting an inferiority complex. "She's the one who's a pain in the ass."
"Yeah she is, but humans don't get to say that." He stops the whipping motions. "Come on, get your zanpakuto out. Make this fun."
My zanpakuto is already out, though. I didn't even have time to think about that friggin' sleeve. I move forward and in front of me the scalpel part, putting up a guard of sort. Renji's eyes widen, and then he bends over in hysterical, completely uncontrollable laughter.
I'm sure it's real funny. But I've been into enough street brawls to know you don't waste a good opportunity, so my immediate reaction to that is to jump towards him, on his left side, where he'd have a harder time reaching me by swinging that huge chain thing, and quickly slashing at the back of his knee with my scalpel. The knowledge of how to do that isn't entirely mine - I'm not a swordsman, I'm not a surgeon, and I've never even been into a knife fight. But creepy as it is, this whole autopilot thing my zanpakuto can pull off sure is convenient.
The Shinigami punk screams in surprise and turns around, enraged, but as I suspected, his sword is way too big and unwieldy for him to react in time, and so I'm out of range when the massive retaliation strike hits and completely wrecks a whole roof, dragging concrete and tiles into a big heap of rubble. Goes to show bigger isn't always better, it's all about technique.
Damn, now I got into the habit of making dick jokes about this to myself. It really is way too easy.
"You fucker!," growls Renji, as he drops on his knee. I can't exactly inflict mortal wounds, and I don't even want to. But that should have sliced all the tendons in his left knee, which means he basically can't use that leg any more. Muscle-skeletal anatomy of spiritual bodies seems to mirror really closely that of living humans - makes sense in a way, it'd feel awkward as hell to have to use the same instincts to move a fundamentally different body plan. But that only means it's got the same weaknesses too, and my weapon is made for that sort of precision.
Still not enough to stop him, though. The guy simply gives up on his leg and uses the other to jump around, now, which sounds ridiculous, but is going to be a lot less funny if he manages to get in even one hit with his giant flail sword. I can't exactly parry it, so my only defence is getting the hell out of dodge, relying on the superior power of having two functioning legs. I would run to Orihime's house to ask my dad for help, but first, I don't want to endanger Orihime, and second, this guy mentioned being standing on guard, so I suppose he's just a flunky of someone even stronger, probably a Captain. If my dad has his hands full already, I'm not going to help by making it a two on two fight. In the end, I have no choice.
"Hey, asshole!," I shout, trying to pump myself up - shit talking the opponent always works well for that. "I'm taking you down, right here, right now."
Rukia Kuchiki
There is a sense of elation that washes over me when I see my brother walking into the room. Byakuya Kuchiki is the man who adopted me into the Kuchiki clan, gracefully lifting me from what could have been a long existence of poverty and purposelessness, and introducing me to the ways of the noblest of the Shinigami. His strength is reassuring to have next to me, but that is hardly the only thing he brings. What he represents most to me is sanity. His teaching, his shining example, are what led me to try to become an exemplary Shinigami. He is the one I most molded myself after. His clarity of thought and vision, his ice cold ability to separate right from wrong, are what I can only aspire to imitate - and as seen from my recent failures, I have a long way to go still. His arrival heralds the return of a semblance of order in the chaos that has been my life in the last few days.
"Rukia," he calls to me, without taking his gaze off Captain Shiba - no, Isshin, it wouldn't do to call a deserter Captain when faced with a real one. "Move away from that man."
I obey, taking to his side.
"Thank you for coming to help, brother," I say, with a deferential nod. "I apologize for all the trouble caused."
He glances at me for a moment, and his stern gaze only punctuates my already growing feelings of guilt over the circumstances I am part of.
"Apologies will not be enough. From what we have been able to piece together of this incident, you may have committed or been accomplice in some serious crimes. I hope you realise you will be asked to take responsibility for them."
"I understand," I say, bowing my head in shame. I really do. Regardless of the circumstances that pushed me in this direction, there is no excuse for my behaviour. Even under threat of death, I should have preferred that over letting things get this bad.
Having observed our reunion from afar, now Isshin steps in, glancing at my brother up and down, all with his usual sleazy smile.
"Hya, Byakky! You made captain now?"
My brother frowns. In his place, I don't know if I would show such restraint.
"It's Captain Kuchiki, especially for those who lack any official position of equal dignity," he replies, coolly. "I have come to resolve this matter for good."
His hand is already laying on the hilt of his zanpakuto as he says the last words. "I hope there will be no resistance."
The other laughs it off. "Now, don't be so hostile. We should discuss this a little though."
"There is nothing to discuss."
And my brother draws his zanpakuto. I draw a sharp breath. I thought the issue would be considered serious in the Soul Society, but this goes beyond my expectations. It suggests that the harshest possible action course has been decreed.
"Our records show that a few hours ago, an unidentified spiritual creature was stabilised, using a Hollow as starting material, in the area of this city. Further analysis showed the event to be coinciding closely in time and space with the manifestation of Shinigami powers from an individual that has been identified most likely as Ichigo Kurosaki. Further checks have revealed Ichigo Kurosaki has been recorded dead for the last few days, and has consistently been in the action radius of Rukia Kuchiki."
I turn my head away again, ashamed.
"Hey, we'd gotten away with it if you guys didn't bother to check that in depth. Most of the time, no one does," Isshin scratches his stubble. "So, what's the plan here? Surely you don't just expect me to hand you my son for execution, yeah?"
"Indeed I don't. If you had any pride as a Shinigami, you wouldn't have impregnated a human in the first place." My brother's eyes narrow. Even just a fraction of his contempt leaking feels like it could freeze the world over. "Your son should be put down just for being such an impure existence. Never mind his role in this incident."
Isshin puts his hand on his zanpakuto too.
"That's really harsh, Byakky. If I didn't know you don't mean it, I could get really offended."
He draws the blade, while still keeping a relaxed pose.
"And you know I don't take nicely to that."
"Then you will not enjoy what comes next," replied my brother. "The anomaly will be destroyed."
Wait, not purified? There is good reason to believe the original soul of Sora Inoue still dwells within the new entity. I can see Orihime and the thing huddling in a corner. The poor human girl cries out, scared.
"Ichigo Kurosaki will be destroyed."
Isshin grins his teeth and puts up a guarded stance. I can't say I did not expect this, though in a way, it still elicits an unexpected feeling of regret in me. As my brother pointed out, perhaps I really let my good will towards humans take over too much. I try to meditate the feeling away, and purge my heart from this sort of lapses to my duty.
"Orihime Inoue will be destroyed. It is unclear what effects prolonged close exposure to the new entity may have had on her soul, or if it's safe to simply erase her memories."
This is genuinely surprising. I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach - I am sure my brother is only repeating the orders he has received, but why would this be requested, rather than a simple observation period? Orihime's terrified and hugs the spectre next to her harder, she's white as a sheet and can't even speak up at this.
"Karin and Yuzu Kurosaki will be destroyed, to avoid any further anomalous human-Shinigami hybrids to emerge," concludes my brother. "And you, Isshin Kurosaki, formerly known as Shiba, will have to surrender yourself to arrest. You will be brought to Soul Society and kept as a captive for a period to be determined but superior to two hundred years, for the role you played in the incident. You should be thankful, as your merely indirect involvement and former status as Captain have earned you your life."
I think for a moment of Yuzu and her study materials. Which to be fair haven't served me all too well, judging from Ichigo's reactions, but nevertheless, this decision strikes me as incredibly harsh. But even more than that, having spent a few days close to this man - an ass though he may be - there is one thing I realise.
"Thankful, huh," mutters Isshin. His sword lets down a bit for a moment as he seems to relax his stance. "Well, there's really only one thing I can say to that."
He will never accept those terms.
I toss myself out of the way - I'm outclassed and would only limit my brother's movements. The very moment I do so, Isshin has closed in with a single flash step, and his sword cuts in a wide arc, aimed at my brother's head. Had I stayed there, the zanpakuto would have sliced clean through me too, and perhaps he was counting on it, as a way to take my brother from a blind spot.
"BURN, ENGETSU!"
The blade is wreathed in spiritual flames as it travels towards my brother. He responds by turning his own sword upside down, the handle raised high, to parry the blow. The flames burn brighter and singe the tip of his hair, setting fire to his garments. Then the full force of the blow hits, and my brother is slammed away by the impact, straight against the wall. He crashes through, rubble and dust exploding out of it. Orihime regains enough control of herself to simply scream again. I move in front of her and cast a barrier spell, which should protect her from any stray debris produced by the fight. Which is a completely useless thing to do, now that I think of it; I could let her die here, for all her life's worth now. But my hands move before I can think this through.
My brother walks back in, and this time, his blade is dissolving into a fine cloud of pink cherry blossoms, each light, small, and as sharp and deadly as the sword itself.
"Scatter, Senbonzakura."
The petals attack Isshin from all sides, forcing him to deflect them with large swipes of his sword, but they seem to have some difficulties recovering from a parry, as the spiritual flames apparently throw their trajectory off. They're not able to regroup fast enough to actually stop Isshin from walking up to my brother and trying to hit him again with a deep swing, a cut from above that could split a human body in two. My brother escapes with a flash step, this time, but when he comes to a stop, there's a large vertical gash on his forehead, dripping blood on his nose. He only narrowly avoided the strike, and in his eyes are burning the fires of anger.
He waves his hand.
"Bankai: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
The gigantic blades that sprout from the ground like sequoia trees tear the house in pieces, cracking asphalt and concrete, shredding wood and steel. Then they all burst into cherry blossoms as well, and a beautiful view of death unfolds as they merge, pulsate, flutter into clouds and streams on the battlefield, defining its space and closing in on a trapped opponent. It's only the second time I see my brother's bankai, and the first in a real combat situation. It's breathtaking, and I can't imagine the terror I'd feel facing it.
Isshin, however, seems to feel none of that. He stands in the centre of a slowly closing in vortex of petals, keeping an eye on them, but seemingly unworried. All he shows is more anger and grim determination.
"You have made your situation worse," says my brother. "Surrender now and your punishment will still be only imprisonment. This is your last chance. We should not fight by going all-out in the realm of the living."
"We shouldn't fight because you know you'll get your ass kicked?," the man laughs. "I know how it works. You got your limiter on, don't you, Byakky? You're at about one fifth of your regular strength. But me, I've got nothing like that."
My brother frowns. "The limiter exists for a reason. We can't risk damaging this world with the full extent of our powers. You wouldn't dare-"
There's an instant of doubt. Isshin's blade flame starts glowing more intensely, more brightly.
"Command," hurriedly says my brother, "requesting emergency limiter remo-"
"GETSUGA TENSHOU!"
The swipe of Isshin's sword blows up in a blinding flash of light, a river of energy that gushes out of the tip of his blade and floods everything. I close my eyes, and can barely keep the barrier up. Orihime screams again. When it all calms down, whatever was left of the house in the direction has been completely obliterated. The house in front has lost a whole chunk of its upper floor, and part of its roof. The road is devastated - cars and lampposts alike have been torn to pieces, and lights are fading out one after the other in the neighbourhood as surely some damage to the power line has caused blackouts. And my brother-
"Listen here," says Isshin, who is now standing atop his body, bloody and slumped to the ground, with a mean stare. "You don't get to tell me what I would dare do or not after saying you're here to kill my children."
"Don't be a fool," my brother gasps for air. I would rush to his side to heal him, but I am also terrified of the man standing above him. "Soul Society will send someone else-"
"Urahara warned me to try and negotiate. I'm sure he'll be pissed," replied the man. "But I tried, and see where that got us. I really hope Soul Society sends all its best one by one. I'm going to slaughter them all as I'm about to do to you."
No! No, I can't allow this, I must stop it, there must be something I can- I let the barrier shatter, I try drawing my sword, but my hand is frozen there, and his instead is rising, his sword about to fall on my brother's neck, and he can't move, and- I need-
"Stop there!"
We all turn to look at the new arrival. It's the second familiar voice I hear tonight, and when I see him too, I instantly feel even more relief than with my brother's.
It's Renji. And he's holding a wounded Ichigo to his chest, his unreleased zanpakuto pressed against his throat.
"Let my captain go."
Ichigo Kurosaki
I'm not a stranger to the feeling of being a complete idiot, but this sure is a new high. Note to self: if the ancient and experienced Shinigami tells you you have no chance to defeat another ancient and experienced Shinigami with your scalpel thingy and approximately five minutes of practice with it, listen to him next time.
Problem is making sure there will be a next time.
"Let my captain go, you bastard!," repeats Renji, just to make his message clear, and he really makes that blade uncomfortable. Unfortunately, he also confiscated my zanpakuto, so I don't have any way of reacting. I think he might have just killed me, but then he saw the chaos over here and must have thought that a hostage might be more useful. Which unfortunately, it turns out, I am.
My dad's looking real scary right now. He's bleeding a bit, his kimono is torn here and there, and he's breathing heavily. But he also looks like a demon and has his sword pointed right at the neck of some pretty looking dude who's in way worse shape than him. Looks like my dad had been kicking a lot of ass until I got myself captured like an idiot and gave these assholes a bargaining chip.
"You let go first," he says, slowly, "and then we'll see."
"I'm serious - step away from the Captain, now!"
"No can do."
I can see what my dad's doing - if he lets go, given that that's a Captain, there's absolutely nothing stopping them from killing me. I would be done for sure; holding onto his only card is the best chance we all have. Still, it's not really comforting to listen to all of this with a cold blade pressing against my neck.
My captor has a nervous twitch and seems to pop a vein - I can feel his hand grasping me even tighter, and the sword being ready to cut my throat. Shit, I'm about to die, am I not? This is useless. This guy isn't rational enough to think things through in this situation, he will just lash out if he's cornered. Or maybe that Captain of his will let him know to just let the mission take priority, and ignore his life. This'll end in a fucking bloodbath, and I'll be the first casualty.
For a moment, I think of all I ever wanted to do with my life, all that could have been and that will never be, obviously. All the occasions I'll lose.
In that precise instant, a vision materialises in front of me. A beautiful woman, with black hair, dark skin and violet eyes, completely naked, appears mid air.
I mean, sure, I was thinking about that too, but this is ridiculous.
"Who the fuck-" begins Renji, and he's got no time to finish because the woman needs only a couple movements too fast to see to free me from his clutch, toss me away, then throw him overhead and slam him against a nearby half-collapsed wall. Conveniently, in the movement, she manages to rip off the top part of his kimono, that she then throws on herself. She covers her breasts and shoulders that way, but there's still lots of parts sticking out, so I just try to focus my eyes above waist level when looking at her.
"I believe I told you this wouldn't end well for you, mister Kurosaki," says a familiar voice in a mocking tone.
Gotta give it to him, sandal-and-hat is on the money. He lands gracefully next to the beautiful woman, his cane in hand - except now it's plain to see that it's not a cane at all, it's one of those concealed swords, which he's now unsheathed and holds up in a relaxed guard. His zanpakuto, just as sly and shifty as you'd expect from him.
"You didn't tell me about her, though," I grumble, picking myself up and walking to Renji, still groaning on the ground, to recover my own weapon. "You only mentioned yourself and dad."
"What are you talking about?," he replies, surprised. "I'm quite sure I did mention Yoruichi too."
I blink. Twice. I look at the woman, trying not to be too distracted by - well, everything.
She looks back, winks, pulls out her tongue, then makes a gesture with her hand, like a cat using its paw to groom.
I will never be able to look at felines the same way again.
"Thanks for the help, Kisuke!," says my dad. He's still not taking his eyes off the downed Captain. "Now I can kill this bastard in peace."
I hear someone scream "NO!" and run forward - oh, wait, it's Rukia, and there's Orihime and her brother too - then a flash of action takes place too fast for me to see. Yoruichi has jumped and seized Rukia, grabbing her wrists and subduing her by twisting them behind her back. Urahara has jumped next to my dad, and his sword has just parried the blow that was about to end the Captain's life.
"Don't get in my way, Kisuke," growls dad. I have never seen him so angry, couldn't imagine he had it in him. "They want to kill all my children!"
Wait, not just me, Yuzu and Karin too? Ok, I'm with him, I say we kill that bastard.
"Well, that sure sounds extreme and unusual. Captain Kuchiki, do you care to explain?," asks Urahara, turning to the man below him while still keeping my dad's sword in place.
"That's the order - of the Council of 46," murmurs the Captain - wait, that surname, is he from the same clan as Rukia? "You can kill me, they'll just send an even bigger force, and this time without limiters. You will all be destroyed."
"I believe he has a point, Isshin," murmurs sandal-and-hat.
"Let them come! I'll kill them all if necessary," replied dad. Man, he's absolutely blind with rage. Even I can tell that would probably be impossible.
"Then let's hope it won't be necessary. Captain Kuchiki, don't you think there's something strange with these orders?"
The other scowls. "The decision of the Council is absolute, and I will not question it," he says. "Kill me, or let me go, and I'll go ahead with my duty."
"Brother!"
Rukia shouts, Yoruichi seems to ask with a quick glance to Urahahara whether she should shut her up, but sandal-and-hat shakes his head imperceptibly.
"Brother, forgive my impudence for speaking up, but... you have always told me I have a duty towards both Soul Society and my clan. If you go through with this, you will do no good to Soul Society at all. You will simply cost them a great Captain. And to our clan, losing you will mean a lot more."
"Would you have me compromise?," he mutters back. "That softness of yours is what led to this situation to begin with, I'm sure."
"I am sorry, brother. It did," Rukia bows her head. Slowly, Yoruichi lets her go, simply taking her zanpakuto away for safety. The Shinigami walks up to her brother and kneels next to him. "And I will lay down my life if necessary to make up for it. But right now, I only care about what would be best for us all."
The Captain thinks for a moment, eyes closed, then draws a sharp breath. "The boy and the anomaly," he says. "If I were to go back with less than that, I couldn't look the rest of the Gotei 13 in the eye."
"Well, see? Now that's something we can work with!," exclaims Urahara.
"What?!" My and my father's shouts are nearly simultaneous.
"We must thread a needle here, mister Kurosaki - both of you." Sandal-and-hat finally sheathes back his cane, as my father lowers his sword too. "If we kill Captain Kuchiki, there's going to be no stopping the punitive expedition that will follow. We will all die. All of us present here, and Yuzu and Karin to boot. Does that sound acceptable to you?"
It doesn't. But...
"You're telling me I have to die for the sake of protecting everyone else?"
"Goodness, no!," the Shinigami exclaims. "Besides, even if you do go with them, this will be far from over. No, what we need is for you to go and face trial in Soul Society. Hopefully a proper investigation will give us the chance to uncover what, precisely, are the reasons for these peculiar orders the Captain received."
"And you're going to trust Captain Kuchiki's good word here that he won't simply kill Ichigo the moment they're out of sight?," snarls my dad. Rukia has a moment of indignation at the insinuation, though if you ask me, dad's right, honourable as he may be, this asshole is probably also the type who thinks there's no need to worry about keeping your word to mere humans.
"No, we're not. Miss Kuchiki, am I wrong or did you say you would be willing to lay down your life to resolve this situation?"
Rukia is taken a bit aback by the surprise of being asked such a sudden question, but she quickly recovers her usual cool demeanour. "I did, and I always mean my word."
"Very well, then it's settled. Captain Kuchiki, if you don't mind, I will cast Bakudou #84, Soul Link, on Ichigo and Rukia."
My soul is going to get linked to hers? I don't really like the sound of that, honestly. "What does it do?"
"It binds your lifeforces. It can only be undone by the caster - in this case, me - in the presence of both targets. Until it is undone, it causes the lives of those who are bound to be connected. In other words, if you die, she dies too."
"So you're making her a hostage?"
"Of a sort. And because I can't enter Soul Society, it guarantees both of you will have to be allowed to return to me, unharmed, so that I can undo the spell. I'm sure Captain Kuchiki would not want his little sister to die this way, would he?"
The man sighs. "I had been told you were a devious man, Urahara Kisuke," he says. "Very well. We will accept your terms for now, as the other targets are less urgent than these two. But the matter is far from settled."
My dad looks at me. I can guess what his eyes are asking me. And honestly, the fuck can I say? I don't like this. I don't like it one bit, and if I had known, maybe I would have just passed on peacefully when I had the chance. Backing down and surrendering myself isn't something I enjoy. Putting my life in someone's hands this way is straight up an idea I hate. Every single thing that has happened in these days has made my situation progressively worse, and there's no improvement or end in sight. Being held prisoner by these Shinigami people fills me with anything but confidence. I try to imagine my immediate future - locked into some fucking dungeon as a ghost, in an alien world that looks like a bad samurai movie. I try to imagine the slightly less immediate one, and can't even figure out if it will exist. I give one short thought to the possibility of complete oblivion. The death of the soul.
But even with all that, it's the only way. Everyone else is going to suffer if I don't bite the bullet.
I give dad a nod. He acknowledges it silently, then finally takes the tip of his sword off the throat of Captain Kuchiki.
"Let's get on with this then!," cheerfully says Urahara. "Kuchiki, Kurosaki, please gather around. The process takes a bit."
We stand one next to each other, as the guy starts waving his hands around and chanting a long string of nonsense - something about threads, darkness, the string of fate, and so on, so forth. As the spell weaves around us, I can start feeling its tug. It's a strange, immaterial sensation, but soon it's as if I can perceive Rukia's soul, as if her thoughts and emotions had faint echos that bounce around in the room of my own mind. Then I gain the distinct awareness - etched straight into my mind - that my life and hers are indeed absolutely connected, with a line that can't be rescinded, and that were she to die, there would be no future for me either. The strange thing is that this awareness feels like a deep, emotional thing too, so it's really annoying for me to realise that this must be exactly like someone who's madly in love with someone else would feel. A quick glance at her reveals that she purposefully averts her eyes from me. Yeah, she must feel the same. Creepy.
"Bakudou #84, Soul Link!," finishes announcing Urahara, after his long incantation, and with those words and a final flash, the pact is sealed. My life is now hanging on a thread, quite literally. But hopefully that will be what protects me from a worse fate.
Captain Kuchiki advances, followed by Renji, who finally managed to get up. He exchanges a quick and seemingly not random gaze with Rukia - do these two know each other? - but in the end they say nothing to each other, and the red-headed guy just confiscates my zanpakuto, having already gotten Rukia's from Yoruichi, and takes us both in custody. The Captain raises his sword and cuts a vertical line in mid-air; a circular screen door appears out of nothing and slides open, the inside glowing with otherworldly light. Out of it flutters a black butterfly.
The Captain stops for a moment and looks back. "Now the anomaly," he says.
Orihime and her brother are hugging; he's whispering something in her ear. She's crying. Finally, he gets up and walks forward.
"I'll come peacefully," he says. "Please let me make a case for my-"
The words stop, choked mid-sentence. Orihime lets out a scream. The Captain has turned around his sword and stabbed it right through Sora's throat. Blood is gushing out.
"I believe I said you should be destroyed," he says. "You have been deemed impossible to purify by the research division. Your very existence is a taint that endangers the cycle of souls."
He slashes out with the sword. Completely open, Sora's throat bleeds out in a few instants, as the body falls down, with barely enough strength or time to clutch at his neck, the hands desperately trying to keep inside the escaping blood. Orihime runs to him, crying desperately. Even Rukia seems somewhat shocked. I'm grinding my teeth, but what the fuck can I even do?
"Please die," murmurs the Captain, before turning around. Renji follows him, dragging us along. My last sight of the world of the living is a bleak one - a dark, barely moonlit street, with multiple half-destroyed houses. My father looks at me with a grim stare, and I can sense he's promising that this will not be the end, as he won't let it be, but honestly that thought scares me too. Urahara is merely hiding under his hat, as usual, inscrutable, keeping secret his plans and emotions alike. And Orihime is breaking down, gasping and sobbing over the dead spiritual body of her brother, the brother who has met his final death, all thanks to my heroic actions. Good job, idiot. She would look beautiful if the sight wasn't so heartbreaking. The very last thing I see through the slit of the closing sliding door is her tears, her warm coloured hair shining under the moon, and a bright, sudden glint from a lacquered hairpin she keeps in it, a cute little thing shaped like an azure six-petal flower.
Rukia Kuchiki
As I set foot back into Soul Society for the first time in days, I can feel the sudden richness in spirit particles of the atmosphere around me overwhelm me. It happens when you stay out of it for a while - the environment of the mortal realm is very different. That's also why it's not usually advisable for missions to last too long.
We emerge in the Rukongai, just out of the walls of the Seiretei. My brother leads us in silence to the gates, and takes care of the formalities with the guardians so we can pass through. Neither me nor Kurosaki are cuffed, but Renji is keeping close guard on us both. I somewhat resent that - as if there's an implication that I might resist, or worse, help the human. I know this is just expected procedure, of course, and my irritation is unreasonable. Or at most, it's best directed at Kurosaki - ultimately, the root cause of all my woes. But I can't help feeling like there's also something else at play.
"You really had to go and get embroiled into all this trouble, huh?," grumbles Renji, without turning around to look at me. "Stupid Rukia."
Well, that's just like him. "You're one to talk."
"The trouble I got into never got me soul-bound to a human. Why'd you have to go and do that?"
Why indeed? Since after the spell was cast, I can feel constantly the tug at my soul that somewhat draws it to Kurosaki's. It's disquieting and off-putting - especially the way it makes me feel towards him, as if I cared in any way or form for his life. When really, by all means, I wouldn't. But now his life is mine too.
"I acted following my best sense of my duty," I answer. "For the greatest good of Soul Society."
"And you think you could figure that out better than the Captain?"
I have to think for a second before replying to that. "That's not it. But my brother's own sense of duty and self-sacrifice might have led him to believe that seeking any alternative would be cowardice. I merely shook him out of that impression by providing an outside perspective. As soon as he had time to examine it, he did agree with me."
"Yeah, and you - ah, forget it." He mumbles more to himself now. "I shouldn't be talking to you anyway."
He goes back to being awkwardly distant. I assume it's because he feels like he shouldn't be seen familiarising with a suspect of crimes - someone who will surely have to undergo trial. I have steeled myself for that, though I can't deny that it worries me. What most gets to me is the shame of it, that it will bring to me and, by association, to my clan. When I think about it, it makes me wish to just sink in the depths of the Earth.
We meet up with some men from the 6th Squad, as well as Captain Ukitake and a contingent of the 13th, who have come for me, I assume. There's a brief chat between him and my brother, which I can't hear. At the end of it, Captain Ukitake is frowning and appears quite down. He tries to reach for me, but is stopped by my brother and ends up giving up and leaving, after a brief gesture of acknowledgement in my direction. After him, a platoon from the 1st Squad arrives, led by Lieutenant Sasakibe. It seems like Kurosaki will be given off to them; he sends a short glance my direction before being bound, blindfolded, and dragged away, towards the towering jail that is the Senzaikyu.
Only then does my brother turn around to face me, once the human boy is out of earshot.
"Come, Rukia," he says. "We're going to the Kuchiki home. You need to prepare yourself."
I walk forward, bowing my head. "Of course. I will have to face trial soon. I am grateful even for the chance to spend the days waiting in confinement at home rather than in a jail cell, brother."
"You will not face trial," replies my brother.
I'm confused.
"Brother, I have to take responsibility for what I did," I say. I know I started all of this hoping to get away with it, but the situation is different now. I wouldn't want my brother to lose face just because he pulled strings to keep me out of harm's way. "I will gladly face what's necessary if it clears my honour."
"You will clear your honour, Rukia, the only way that befits our clan and the magnitude of your crime," he replies. He stares at me with his unflinching, godly eyes - the same eyes that taught me the stern justice of Soul Society, the immutable rule and creed that we follow, the eyes of ice that would not melt for anything. "Your shame is not to be exposed in a public proceeding. You will be allowed to put your affairs in order. Then tomorrow we will sit together in the Room of the Crimson Tatami, and there we will wait."
I feel a chill at the name of that room, which in the long history of our clan has only had one purpose. I know what I said about laying down my life to make up for my crimes, of course.
"You will sit in front of me, carry out the ritual as properly given. You will be given your sword and follow the ritual, but you will not need to suffer through the blow."
But to say it and to actually go through with it are two different things. Even as I am overcome by shame because of it, terror grips my heart none the same.
"Tomorrow, at midday, Ichigo Kurosaki will be executed by the Sokyoku. Due to the Soul Link between you, you will die too. It will be painless and instantaneous."
"Brother-," I can only say. "I thought you gave your word that-"
"I never gave my word that Kurosaki would not be executed," he replies. "I agreed to the plan. It was the humans and the exiles who believed tying your two lives would mean you would both be spared. As mongrels without honour, they can not understand the depths of commitment a true Shinigami can achieve, in the pursuit of their duty. But you do, Rukia."
I clench my fists. I put up a stiff, stony expression. I try my best to push back the pointless, shameful tears that are trying to make their way out of my eyes.
"Of course, brother," I say. "I do understand."
Sousuke Aizen
The necessary strings have been pulled, and decisions have been taken. Everything fell in place just as I hoped. My little game of shogi with Urahara is turning out in my favour, as I always knew it would; his pawn is now helpless in my hands. There was some risk involved, but I counted on my dear opponent to manipulate things so that we would end precisely in the position that works best for me. He may be hiding more of his plans from me, but I have my own counter-moves in place, were they to become necessary. There is nothing to worry about. Tomorrow, this game will end, and I will be finally able to call checkmate. And from there, a much greater game will begin.
So long, Ichigo Kurosaki.
You were a useful little pawn in my plan.