Chapter 15: Family
Rukongai was a city divided into 320 different districts. 80 districts in the northern, eastern, southern and western district. The higher the number of the district, the worse the living conditions.
However, that ratio doesn't go down in a linear line like one would think. Instead, it declines steadily downwards until it hits district 50. From there on out, things spiral down way faster. According to reports, district 59 was the last one where people actually wear somewhat proper footwork.
People ran around wearing rags, no shoes and were becoming more like savages than real people. As soon as one hit district 80, one would be forgiven to think to accidentally have stumbled into hell's front yard.
Western district 63 may already have been one of those areas that were pretty rough, but people still mostly behaved like, well, people. That was of course, among people who looked like actual humans. Towards someone from the wolfman-clan for example, they were not so welcoming. Not exactly hostile, but not exactly all warm and cuddly either.
That certain someone lived somewhat apart from the usual living quarters, somewhere in the woods, where he had built his own cave.
ooo
Ousai Souken was just about to prepare dinner. He had caught some fishes, plucked a few different fruits from the trees and if he wasn't mistaken, the dried meat he had prepared days ago was about to be just right.
There were a few reasons as to why he lived out here in the woods instead of together with the other humans.
First there was the fact that he'd clearly never fit in, with his large stature, brown furr and scars that his body was littered with.
Second, he had living standards that were somewhat different from what the people here were used to. Sure, he could have moved up to some of the higher districts, but the spot in which he had built his cave was just too beautiful to let it go to waste. A river was nearby, so his nourishment problem was solved. The trees in the area bore surprisingly tasteful fruit and last but not least; nobody else was here.
That was essentially the third reason why he lived out here, because it was quiet. None of the usual noise of the market, no baffled stares at his outer appearance and no whispering behind his back.
The fire on which he would grill the fish was already set in place, now it just had to get a bit bigger. The table was already prepared with carefully crafted dishes and bowls.
Suddenly, Ousai stopped dead in his tracks to pay close attention. There it was again. A strange noise he had been hearing for an hour about now, like something was shifting on gravel. It was faint, almost silent, but it was there. He slowly started to turn back to the fire, when he heard it again.
Alright then, let's see who you are.
Ousai was out here for one more reason. Said reason was the fact that he had a special ability, which he had honed in his years as a Shinigami. A skill that allowed him to uphold a special awareness field around him with a constant radius of about 15 meters.
He could alter that whenever he wanted, but if he didn't have any special intentions, 15 meters was the default setting. Right now though, he did and so he widened his field until he found what he had been suspiscious of. Somebody was hiding around his home. But who? He couldn't have possibly pissed soeone off, he never really moved out of his comfort Zone to do that in the first place, so who could possibly-
He stopped his train of thought and burst out in howling laughter once he recognized the Spiritual pressure of the person trying to be stealthy.
It had been years since he had last seen him, but to Ousai, it still felt like it was just yesterday. One of the only persons he knew that treated him with respect rather than with fear and resentment for his looks.
"Ya know, when it didn't work a few years ago, why should sneakin' up on me work now?", he said grinning in his gravely voice out in the open. First there was no reaction, until his adversary acknowledged defeat and walked out so Ousai could see him.
"I could have sworn I had you this time", said a sheepishly smiling Makoto. "What gave me away?"
"Don't drag yer feet on gravel", Ousai responded. "You didn't even enter my field of awareness, I could hear you stomping like a herd, boy. Makes me think ye didn't even try."
"Ah, you mean your omniscience? Ok, come on, we both know that that's cheating and if I would have actually managed to make it in there, I would have won old man", he retorted and started walking towards Ousai.
The latter did the same and slowly raised his arms. "You can call it what you want, you know the rules; I spot you before you tap me, I win. Come here, you", he said and gave his foster-son a heartfelt hug. "I imagine you have much to tell me", Ousai said after releasing Makoto.
"That would be an understatement", the latter responded and grimaced.
"Well, you've come just at the right time, I'm about to prepare dinner."
"Great, I'll grill the fish. Bet you're still taking it off the fire early."
"I like it more raw than baked, you know that", Ousai shot back and both of them had to smile.
The dinner preparation went on without much conversation aside from the usual chatter regarding how certain dishes were to be handled and so on and forth.
The meal was unusually quiet as well. This wasn't like Ousai remembered it. Makoto was more the type that couldn't stop running his mouth, wether it was full or not. Something must have happened, but he knew better than to bluntly ask the question. Instead, he casually started a conversation.
"So tell me kid, what did ya do in these past few years?"
"Well, for starters, I became a Shinigami."
"Yeah, I can see that smartass."
Makoto smiled selfstatisfied and continued. "Not how you'd think though. I actually blew the academy. Both figuratively and literally."
Ousai let out a loud laugh.
"Yeah, the last part was considerably more fun than the first. See, I started to see flaws in the teaching methods they used and kindly corrected them a few times, to which they threatened with expelling me. I didn't think they had the balls to actually go through with that though, so I kinda kept correcting the teachers until they actually threw me out. Then I hit fuck it and showed them that I was right."
"In what regard?", Ousai asked between two bites.
"The academys security", Makoto stated with a smug attitude. "I proved that to them by actually breaking into and setting fire to it."
"And how did the fast-talking know-it-all get from academy arsonist to fully fledged Shinigami?", Ousai asked curiously.
"I was "discovered" as a rare talent that requires specialized tutelage", Makoto declared proudly.
"Surprises me that it took a burnin' school for 'em to pick up on that. Looks like the lot's starting to slack."
"See, that was my argument too, but low and behold, they just refused to belive me."
"Must have been terrible for ye, I can only imagine", Ousai said with cynical bite.
Makoto was a good kid, but the fact that he always knew better was a little taxing sometimes. Ousai actually had some pity for the guy's poor teachers. Makoto appearantly didn't hear Ousais comment as he casually carried on. "So after that, I was taken in by none other than the vice-captain of the 6th division. He brought me in front of the central 46 and vouched for me."
"Oh, that poor bastard."
"I even learned how to use Shikai in record time."
"Really", Ousai said, now a little surprised.
"After some time, he told me that he had nothing left to teach me anymore. So I was omitted as a fully fledged Shinigami ready for deployment."
"So now yer what; still part of the 6th?"
"Nope, I'm actually part of the 11th now."
Ousai let out a laugh once again. "The 11th? Yeah, ya fit right in with those bastards. Battle-crazed, with your own mind and let no one else tell ya what to do. Say, is that savage with the eyepatch still captain?"
"You mean Zaraki Kenpachi?"
"Yeah, that one."
"Actually, yeah. And since the Quincy war from a good four and a half years ago, he's actually gotten much stronger."
"Like the bastard wasn't already strong enough. How many power limiters does he wear by now, ten?"
"Actually, still just the one. He had it reconfigurated to be more efficient."
"What about captain Komamura? Does he still write the "A puppy's feeling" in that monthly magazine?", Ousai asked with amusement.
"Ah, no. The official reports say he lost his ability to fight after the Quincy war and when it was over, he disappeared without a trace. Whether he's dead or alive, nobody knows. His lieutenant took over and is now captain."
That came as somewhat of a shock. During his time in the Gotei 13, Ousai has always had some admiration for his fellow clan member, even if he never really knew him personally.
"And what do ya do now? Some boring paperwork?", he quickly changed the subject.
"11th division, remember? My current captain isn't so big on paperwork, cleaning work, or any kind of work to be honest."
"Ah yes, I forgot."
Makoto hesitated before he continued. "But todays visit actually has something to do with what I do currently and I kinda, sorta, really need your advice, because as it turns out, I'm not that suited for the role."
Ousai didn't say anything, he simply donned a more serious expression and raised an eyebrow.
"See I- I fucked up. In a really bad way."
"Go on", Ousai said slowly.
"I had a mission in the human world about six months ago. The Shinigami Substitute was appearantly on vacation, so there had to be someone else taking over his job. Having never been in the human world, I of course volunteered. My orders were simple. Send every soul I could find to Soul Society and kill every Hollow I encounter." He took a quick break to take a deep, somewhat shaking breath. "Only that I of course got cocky and wanted to let loose a little, because a few months prior to that, I actually managed to achieve Bankai."
Ousai let out an acknowledging whistle. Bankai wasn't easy to achieve. It required an extensive amount of focus and commitment, traits he had rarely seen displayed by his foster-son. So hearing that he actually did it was… kind of unbelievable and amazing. Ousai couldn't help but be filled with a bit of pride, even if he noticed that Makoto's voice had been devoid of any pride or joy about the fact.
"So when the opportunity presented itself, I just had to use it, try it out, see what it was like in the field. I'd never get a shot at it like this again. Suddenly a few dozen Hollows, which noticed that the Shinigami Substitute was gone, got overconfident and entered the human world together. It was kind of like a dream come true, since now I had more than enough targets to practize. I obliterated all but one. One I had overlooked, rather weak and insignificant, who slipped away unnoticed while I slaughtered the rest. By the time I realized that I had missed one, it was already too late. A boy and a girl were killed that day."
"And ya obviously feel guilty and responsible for that."
"Because I am", Makoto responded, now far more serious. "But that's not even the worst part. The worst part was, that, even after basically having killed them, I still failed to send both of them to Soul Society. Both of their soul chains dissolved incredibly fast. I managed to send the girl here, to this district, but I couldn't get to the boy in time. I was literally one second too late. All I was able to see was his terrified face when the hole in his chest was formed."
"And then?", the wolfman persisted.
"And then I got to the girl, took her in, vouched for her in front of the central 46 like Abarai-Sensei did for for me and started to train her. Simultaneously, I broke into the research lab and stole equipement to open a Garganta to search for the boy in Hueco Mundo."
"Hold on a bloody second. Ya broke into that psychos lab, which in and on itself is nuts by the way, to steal some shit? How did ya even get past the front door?"
"My Bankai is pretty useful." Makoto didn't elaborate much further on that and judging by his voice, digging into it wouldn't really help the situation.
"I'd keep me eye on that investigation if I were you. Sooner or later, there are gonna be some very unpleasant consequences, especially if they find out i's you. If there's one thing that crazed maniac of a scientist hates, it's violaters of his holy garden."
"I kind of didn't really have a choice, I had to do something. So now I'm swinging back and forth at educating her and trying to find the boy in friggin' Hueco Mundo. Not that I'm particularly great at either."
"I can understand the boy, but ya couldn't have done that much wrong with training the girl. I mean she's only been in your care for what, 'bout four months?"
"Four and a half actually, if you're going by the time from when I picked her up to now. Also, contrary to your assumption, there's a lot you can do wrong."
"How so?"
"Because I trained her like you trained me."
"Oh, okay, I take it all back. There's an whole bloody shitload that can and probably did go wrong there."
"Something I noticed once she blew up in my face with it. I ended up making some excuse for my actual horrible skill in tutoring. She luckily believed me and I moved on to more… tame methods."
Ousai took a few moments to take that all in. Training anybody else like he trained the boy was not only a bad idea in theory, but also completely nonsensical, especially in an environment like Soul Society. Ousai had been hard on Makoto, but because he layed more emphasis on teaching the boy how to stay alive instead of teaching him how to fight.
"So let me guess, ya want my advice on how ya should carry on?"
"Yeah", Makoto admitted, almost a little defeated and exhausted.
"Tell ya what; bring her here", Ousai told him after giving it some thought. "I'll judge the situation meself and then I'll give you my advice."
"Sounds like a deal", Makoto said with a faint smile on his lips. Through the whole exchange, his mood had kind of dropped from almost annoyingly cheery to flat out depressed. Ousai didn't like that. He had rarely seen his foster-son like that. Makoto without a smile on his face was kind of unnerving for the old wolfman to see. From that alone he could tell that this was really weighing on him.
"Alright then. Bring her as soon as possible. I'll be ready."
ooo
After they had finished eating, Makoto left the place he had once called home and still kinda did, to get on route to return to Soul Society.
During the last few weeks he had come into situations where he was forced to perpetually use shunpo, so he had gotten pretty good at it. From district 80 to Seireitei was now only a matter of a single day. The hours passed by and his new home slowly came into sight.
Nothing had really changed, it looked just like before. He suspected some kind of ruckus on the inside though. Kiara had been unsupervised for a good three weeks now, who knew what kind of havoc she had wrecked in that time. Maybe leaving her alone that long after having taught her the basic principals of Reiatsu usage was not such a good idea after all.
He genuinely did not know if she'd actually been able to restrain herself for that long. He could only hope.
He also had to prepare some kind of excuse, in case questions would come up regarding his prolonged leave. His captain wouldn't mind that much, but the central 46 would if the word would get around.
That was something he had to avoid at all costs. First, that would drastically decrease his freedom and thus automatically erase his options to go looking for the boy. Second, if they'd actually go and check his "work" in district 80, he'd be fucked.
And third, he'd be around for investigations, since his break-in was still an open case. What Ousai had said was not something he had forgotten, but more like pushed to the edge of his mind. He was well aware that, should he be found out, the consequences would be pretty ugly and he didn't think for even the fraction of a second that that day wouldn't come.
The only goal he had in mind right now though was to get back and check on how things were as fast as possible. It didn't really take him that much longer anymore and the higher distrcits went almost by in a blur. It was late evening when he finally passed district 1. Once he had gotten to the outer entrance gates of Seireitei though, he was greeted by someone unexpected.
"Good evening Makoto", said a familiar voice waiting behind the doors.
"Abarai-sensei", he nervously responded. The fact that Renji Abarai had taken the time to wait for his arrival this late into the evening didn't really deliver a positive vibe.
"What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you obviously."
"And why would you do such a thing? I know I'm your former student and hold the fourth seat in a division, but I'm surely not important enough that a vice-captain would have to sacrifice his free time just to wait for me."
"Alright, let's drop the pretences. I just have a few questions that I'd like you to answer, that's all. I just so happened to overhear that you've developed a habbit of coming back in the night after your missions in the outer district. How's rebuilding going by the way?"
"Slow", Makoto answered tightly.
Relax. He doesn't know anything. Just be casual.
He exhaled a bit and tried to get his body to ease up a little.
"Slower than I like to admit", he added.
"Well that's sad. Then again, you're only one man, so you couldn't possibly do much. Come on, I'll walk you to the 11th", his teacher said with a welcoming wave of his hand.
"It was a voluntary mission if I remember correctly, wasn't it?", he continued while Walking.
"Yeah, exactly."¨
"So why did you take it on then? Up until not too long ago you had your own mind and certainly didn't do work like that out of your own free will."
"Well, after everything that's happened, I thought maybe I could put my skills to good use for a change."
Abarai-sensei nodded a few times. "I understand. Gotta say, a noble cause. That begs the question though, why now?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean now that you've picked a protège yourself, which gives you an aweful lot to do by the way, you must be pretty overloaded with responsibility, right?"
Fuck, he suspects something. He knows something is fishy.
His mentor wasn't dumb. Makoto knew that he'd eventually figure out what was going on, but he didn't think that he'd have a hunch so soon. But his sensei wasn't done.
"Why did you even take her in in the first place?"
Shit. Of all the questions that he had to ask, it just had to be that one.
Makoto didn't answer for a bit to buy himself some time. Damn it. What now? He couldn't tell him that he was responsible for his student's death in the Human world, at least not yet. That conversation would go and end very poorly. He thought hard and almost too long but managed an answer that would hopefully statisfy his teachers curiousity for a bit.
"When I found her I… I guess I saw myself. I kind of didn't want someone like that to end up in district 63, so I made a decision. The fact that it was my home district certainly contributed if that is your next question."
Abarai-sensei layed his head back and gazed into the stars a little. "Look Makoto, you're a good guy, but you gotta set prioritys here. When you vouched for her in front of the central 46, you basically declared that she is now your responsibility. However, you gotta lay down facts to prove that your methods are working and I can tell you right now; they don't. You sent the girl to me and not only is her "education" all over the place, it's incredibly poor. You also constantly disappear to save lower districts, which is again, noble and all, but you are in no position to do that. And if you don't spend the necessary time training her, she will get taken away from you, I hope you know that."
Oh Makoto knew. But he once again hadn't accounted for something like that to be complained about or noticed this early. Shit. Would he have to go before the central 46 now? Would he need to defend his "custody" over Kiara? Because if so, his chances looked pretty grim.
"I do. Vividly."
"Good. Normally, I'd have to report something like that, but since it's you, I'll pretend like I never saw that."
Makoto turned around to his mentor and his face lit up. "Really?"
The lieutenant sighed and turned to the former student. "Just do your best, that's all I'm asking. Find a compromise between your mission and your duties. And just shoving her off to other highranking members of the Gotei 13 is not the goal here, she is your responsibility not theirs, make sure to get that into that thick skull of yours."
Makoto looked at him a bit before expressing his sincere gratitude with the weight he put into his next two words. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Oh would you look at that, the entrance doors to squad 11. Still unguarded, as per freaking usual." That last sentence was a little too saturated in disappointment to the point where Makoto got the feeling that his former teacher didn't even try to be decent. Abarai-sensei turned around and started walking the other way.
"Good night, Makoto. Make sure not to blow that second chance you technically never got."
"Good night Sensei. Again, thank you."
"I have no idea what you're talking about", was the last answer he got from Renji Abarai before the latter disappeared from his vision.
Well, better get some sleep before dealing with the little warmachine tomorrow.
He casually walked onto the 11th division grounds, only to hear a light rambling from somewhere to his left where he noticed on further inspection that vice-captain Madarame was in fact talking to a tree. It sounded like the rambling of a tired and very clearly drunk man. Of course. He must have gone over to squad 7 again to drink with captain Tetsuzaemon.
"Vice-captain Madarame, fancy meeting you here", he approached him. The lieutenant suddenly jolted up and turned his head into Makotos general direction.
"Who you be you who, be you who?", where the first words tumbling out of his mouth.
"It's Makoto Souken, actually. 4th seat of this division, remember?"
The vice-captain squinted his eyes before dawning a whide smile. "Ah of course is you. Come-Come-come on and uhm… nap? Nip? No somein' witha D. Drool? Drown? Dr- Drink! Yeah, thas the one", he concluded in his drunk ramblings. "Come and dr- drink withus ma f-friend."
"I don't think that's a good idea lieutenant. I have a better one. How about we both go to bed and call it a night? Come on, I'll get you to your quarters."
"Aaaaaaaawe, but, but I was ju-just, just havin' such a- a nice convesra- conserva- coneverasat- such a nice *hick* talk with the, the three uhm, tree."
"I bet you were", Makoto said absently while taking one of the vice-captains armes over his shoulder.
"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah I *hick*, I was. We were- we were talking about uhm, the, the floor."
"Really?", Makoto retorted with played interest.
"Ye- *hick*, yeah. About how the fl- how the floor was, was made out of uhm, about how the floor was made out of-"
"Floor?"
"Yes", he gurgled joyfully. "How the floor was- was made out of *hick*, floor. 'Twas a, a good talk. He's a good listener, that tree, I *hick* mean three."
This went on for a bit until Makoto finally got to the vice-captains quarters. It took him a good half an hour until he had put his superior safely to bed, after which the latter insantly fell asleep and started snoring.
Makoto got outside the building and made his way to his own quarters. He didn't rush himself, as he was fairly tired.
He opened the sliding door to his rooms, undressed and fell on top of his futon.
"What a day."
ooo
11th division grounds, in one of the hideouts of the (in)famous apprentice of the 4th seat, a girl was sleeping. But something was different, completely unlike it was before. Kiara had dreamt about things before, but never had a dream been so strange and yet… familiar.
She was in a world, different to anything she had ever seen. It was filled with a green, rich grassland, however, it didn't bear any flowers. The field she was standing in was llike a great circle that at some point shifted over into a vast forest. Objects were floating above that forest, but they were blurred and she couldn't make them out.
It was night and the sky was light by dancing, warm lights while the sky above those lights was sprinkled with stars but no moon. Instead, a giant blue comet was almost hovering were the moon was supposed to be, but while it seemed to stand still, the flames that were peeling off from it were speaking a different language, trailing behind it. The comet was moving and yet, it stood still.
"Turn…..", a voice said from behind her. It was faint and she almost missed it, but it resounded again. "Turn ar….."
It was just as faint as before, but somehow, Kiara perceived it more distinctly this time. She turned around in order to seek the owner of the voice and eventually saw a shape. A blurred shape that was standing in front of her, next to something less blurred that kind of looked like an oven. It clearly had a fire burning inside it.
The shape began to speak again, but it was hard for Kiara to understand it all.
"I…your…..d..Speak my n….so…..may rec…e my….er. My….. is...'…"
"What? I can't hear you. What's your name?"
"My name is…"
ooo
Kiara opened her eyes and jumped up wide awake. Her heart was pounding and she was sweating heavily. It was this dream again. A world she had never seen before but still felt kind of familiar. A shape she couldn't make out but still kind of remembered what it looked like. Why did she keep having that dream?
Author's notes:
So yeah, another chapter done. Ousai was actually a later addition to the party and writing him is pretty fun. As some of you may have noticed, the wording I chose for him make it seem like he's irish, but that's intentional. Just picture him with that thick irish accent and he becomes like, a million times more fun. As for Makoto; I think I gave him some much needed character work here. At the beginning, it seemed like the whole mentor student thing between him and Kiara was the standard type of training where the main character just has to be smart and adapt and find out everything themselves and so on and forth. This isn't really the case here and I did that because I actually have some experience when it comes to educating people. That standard anime trope? It don't work real well.
I kind of wanted to do something different here and subvert a few expectations. It might not quite seem like that now, but all the characters I'm working with are actual flawed people. Makoto is the cool old brother/mentor figure of one of our main characters, but he's not perfect. He makes mistakes and tries his best to fix them, but doesn't really succeed sometimes. I don't know about you guys, but I think that's pretty compelling and I actually like how it humanizes him, hence why I did it.
Now there might be some of you who are kinda upset that I keep talking about Makoto's Bankai, but not actually show it. I understand why you'd get pissed about that and that it kinda feels like I'm using it as the easy way out to justify certain scenarios. Then again, "Makoto's Bankai" has been the answer to two scenarios up until now, maybe three and trust me, there won't be that many additions to that number until we actually get to see him in action for the first time.
And then we have Renji. He get's shafted in the anime and in parodies a lot of the time and is presented as a half-pointless side character who instantly goes Bankai in every fight he's in, but accomplishes not a whole lot in the greater scheme of things and after thinking about it, that's a pretty sad common misconception. Obviously, I don't need to tell that to you people, since I'm assuming that ya'll actually finished the manga before starting to read this story (if you didn't, I'm really sorry about spoiling you. When I wrote this story I wanted it to stick as close to the canon as possible so that people can just start reading this without having to accept any major changes to the canon).
Anyway, what I want to say is that renji is actually pretty badass. He gets some really cool moments in the last arc THAT STUDIO PIERRROT STILL FUCKING REFUSES TO ANIMATE. Oh sorry, I got a little bitter there. Anyway, he get's cool moments to shine, has a sick character design and to present him as dumb and useless as some people think he is really feels like a disservice to the character. The dude is freaking vice-captain and not without reason. So, I'm trying to let him be as awesome and smart as he actually is. Just in case ya'll are wondering why it feels like he's a detective of some sort now.
Oh and one last thing, then I'm done. The "A puppy's Feeling" joke? That is actual fucking canon, go check it on the official Bleach wiki site, I'm not making this shit up. I legit couldn't hold it in me when I read it and just had to include it as a gag of some sort.
Now that all of that is out of the way, there's really just one more thing to say:
If you`ve got your own opinion or ideas, PM me, or, better yet, review the story. I`ll always welcome constructive criticism.