(I don't own Bleach, which, by the way, IS COMING BACK BABY! But more on that in the notes down below)
Chapter 19: Weird occurences
"Alright", Shunsui Kyorakus voice sounded through the gathering hall of the captains, "now that we're all so nicely assembled here, let us commence our emergency meeting."
"Would it be possible to take care of this matter as quickly as possible?", captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi uttered. "I had to break off a rather extensive matter for this and I'd appreciate if I could get back to it swiftly."
"All in due time captain Kurotsuchi", the captain commander said. "Now, I didn't just gather you for a simple tea party, there is a rather serious matter at hand; we've detected the intrusion of Hollows into Soul Society."
"Remnants of Aizens army?", captain Soifon instantly theorized.
"No", captain Kurotsuchi answered in Shunsui's stead, "the signature was too feint and devoid of Shinigami Reiatsu. It definitely is Hollows we are dealing with, the data has been very definitive about that."
"So what you're saying", captain Kuchiki took part in the conversation, "is that what we are dealing with is not an invasion, but a simple intrusion?"
"That is correct", captain Kurotsuchi answered.
"Then I suggest we send reconnaisence immediately", captain Kuchiki concluded.
"Reconnaisence?", captain Soifon asked in slight disbelief. "Don't you think that is a bit too lenient?"
"What exactly is it that you are trying to say?", captain Kuchiki countered.
"Exactly what I've said. It's too lax of a measurement to take after everything we've had to endure in the last few years. Aizen betrayed us and would have almost realized his plans if it wouldn't have been for Ichigo Kurosaki. Juha Bach invaded Soul Society and attacked our forces like it was nothing and killed several of our people in the process. We were not prepared for any of these threats, and now, four and a half years later, we actually have confirmation of imminent danger, no matter how small it is, and you want to react to it with reconnaisence?"
Captain Kuchiki wanted to retort to that, but captain Hirako was faster with his reply. "Exactly that's what we should do. Soul Society's enjoyed peace for centuries and now in the span of a couple years, the world was standin' on the brink of collapse. Twice. If we send out a huge amount of troops to a single place, then the general populous could get a bit unruly don't ya think? We need to think about the safety of Soul Society, but we also need ta let it appear as though peace is intact, you feel me?"
"It's like captain Hirako says", Shunsui quickly intervened. "The Shinigami under our command and the people of Rukongai need to think that peace continues to be the same it was for the last couple years. Captain Soifon, deploy a small team from the Onmitsukido and report to me when you're ready. We'll send them to the designated location and wait upon their return to form a strategy with the knowledge they've collected. Any questions so far?"
Nobody said anything.
"Then todays meeting is concluded."
ooo
"Are you for real?"; was Kiara's first reaction to the situation she was just presented with.
"I don't like repeatin' meself, girl. Draw yer toy and try to hit me with it", was the rough answer she got.
It was early in the morning, she had just been thrown out of bed for breakfast and right after that the crazy old wolfman was telling her to attack him now. With a real blade.
"Wha's wrong with ya, yesterday ye weren't so coy with drawin' the damned thing."
"Yeah, no it's just- isn't that dangerous?"
Ousai just put on a confused face. "Like I said: yesterday ye weren't so damn coy with drawin' the damned thing."
"Well, that's because I thought we'd be ambushed by somebody. Using it against someone I know is- it makes me a bit nervous."
Ousai raised an eyebrow and looked over at Makoto's direction. The latter caught up on it, studied the wolfman's face for a few seconds and then answered the unspoken question with a sigh.
"No, she's never actually fought with it."
"Are ye shittin' me boy?"
"Do I look like it? I've been switching back and forth between her and district 80 and was only ever able to oversee her progress and give her according goals for the next time I got back. Besides, do you honestly think she's had any opportunity to test herself with a real sword? Even the captain of the 11th fights with bokken inside Seireitei when he's not slicing up an intruder or something like that."
Ousai shook his head. "Well, first time's gonna be sometime, better now than somewhere on the actual field."
"I actually used it once", she said.
He turned around to Kiara. "Ah yeah, when's that?"
"I fought a training doll about 3 weeks ago with it, when I was training with vice-"
"Training doll's one thing, livin' person's another. Did ya ever do 'at?"
"Only sheathed", she confessed.
"Then this is yer actual first time." He impatiently signaled her to come at him.
"Aren't you gonna defend yourelf with a sword too?"
"I don' even need a bloody sword against that one over there, ye think I need one 'gainst you? No offense, but ye can't even chip off one lousy hair from me fur."
"Can I take that as a challenge?"
"If that's what it takes to get ya movin'."
Kiara wanted to retort something, but then decided not to at the last moment. Talking about it any further would just piss the old man off. So, she opted to just roll with it. If he was really able to hold his own against Makoto, someone who went toe to toe with some of division 11's finest, then she really wouldn't have to worry about hurting the old wolfman. Right?
Only one way to find out. She drew her Zanpakutou and took her stance. It was a weird sensation to grip the handle of a real sword and point it at a real person of flesh and blood.
A wooden sword was one thing, if you got hit by one of those the worst thing that could happen were bruises and broken bones, nothing that the healing Kido from the 4th division couldn't fix (bless these people for merely even existing and doing what they do).
Her own sword however was a different matter entirely. It weighed heavier in her arms, the grip was different because of the fabric around it, it even sounded different already from just drawing it out of its sheath.
The sunlight was reflected by the blade, casting a white shadow on the ground. Her right hand pressed against the rhombus shaped guard as she tried to get a cool head by controlling her breathing. Her feet were slowly moving over the ground, getting in an ideal position to charge at him.
And then she did.
They weren't too far apart, so she reached him pretty quickly and aimed at his upper body with a slash from above. Just as her blade was about to connect, Ousai evaded it by simply stepping to the side.
She attempted another attack, this time from bottom to top, only to be greeted by the same result.
She attacked again. And again. And again. She tried several different approaches, vertical, horizontal, diagonal, top to bottom, left to right and the other way around, but no matter how well executed her moves were, Ousai evaded them with such ease, one could almost think he was bored.
"Why don' ya try it with a little more juice behind it?", he casually asked after a while.
She stopped and looked at him confused. "What?"
"Give it a lil' more effort."
"I'm already giving it as much as I can." He made a face again, looked over to Makoto and left her unsure if that was meant for her or him. Probably both.
"Nope, that she knows", Makoto said, again without actually being asked a question. "Might wanna work on your articulation, people who didn't grow up under your care get easily confused by it." Ousai just scoffed, while Makoto looked to Kiara. "He means use your Reiatsu to fire up your moves."
"But you said to not use it against other people", she said.
"He's an exception. He wasn't really kidding about not needing a sword against me. Even as I am now, I think he'd hold his own. Well, up to a certain point, then I'd mop the floor with him", he added with a smug grin on his face.
"Careful boy, or we might test that one later", Ousai said and turned around to Kiara again.
She wanted to discuss it more, since using a combination of a sharp sword and released Spiritual pressure against somebody she didn' want to hurt sounded like a pretty fucking terrible idea, but once again decided to shut up and roll with it. Something told her that the two mentor figures in front of her knew what they were doing, given the slightly disinterested face of her mentor and the completely relaxed one of his fosterfather.
Well, here goes nothing.
She closed her eyes and concentrated. Imagining the pool, the branches flowing from it and releasing her power in a burst. Then she regulated the flow to a moderate pace and took her stance again. He wasn't too far away, she didn't even have to take one full step to reach him, so it didn't seem impossible to land a hit. All she could do was give it a shot.
She moved quickly, trying to surprise him in the effort, but he simply evaded just as relaxed as before. This time though, Kiaras senses were heightened, so she could somewhat see the whole process and it was weird as hell.
Somehow, before she had even raised her sword, the old man had already started moving out of striking range. She was still swinging out and he was already standing still again.
Was it just a trick? She tried again, only to see the same thing happening again and now she was certain.
He's evading my attack before I can even start it.
God, just thinking that sounded strange, but it was a fact.
"Ye look confused. Wanna know a lil' secret?", the old wolfman said smiling. "I can read yer mind", he continued ominously after a few moments. "Don' believe me?", he said amused, probably because she made a disbelieving grimace to that comment.
"For example", he said and raised his finger like a teacher. She tried to catch him off guard while he was monologuing and attempted another surprise attack from above.
"Yer next attack will be from above", he said right before she was about to wind up. She heard what he said, but she was moving too quickly, so she only fully registered it after she had already attempted the slash.
This had to be coincidence. Lucky guessing or something of the sort. But luck always runs out eventually, so she tried again, from the right this time.
"From yer right to the left", he said while already evading.
She tried again and again, while he predicted right every single time and was already stepping out of striking range before she had even wound up or was just in the process of doing so.
"How are you doing that?", she asked genuinely curious.
"I told you already, didn' I? I can read yer mind."
"Bullshit", Makoto yelled while sitting above the cave entrance (when the hell did he even get up there?).
"Shut up boy, let me have me fun", the old wolfman growled to which Makoto snickered like a little boy that just got away with a prank.
"… so you can't read minds?", Kiara carefully concluded. Makoto's snickering slowly became a faint laughter that instantly died down once Ousai glared in his direction, but his smile remained.
The fosterfather turned to her again, picked up a stone on the ground and said: "Why don't you try to find out?"
"Ok, what am I thinking of right now?"; she instantly shot out and for the first time it looked like she had caught him off guard. An awkward silence became appearant that got drawn out longer and longer until Makoto burst out in howling laughter, to which Ousai, without even looking at him around, flicked the stone he had picked up over his shoulder and hit Makoto straight in the head over a distance of about 15 meters holy shit how was that even possible?
"Ok, I deserve that", the latter groaned from over the cave and rubbed his head.
"How did you do that?", Kiara asked amazed this time.
"Why don't you try to find out?", Ousai said again, this time with a menacing undertone. Something told Kiara once again that this was not a person to be fucked with and nobody should even attempt to try. Well, she guessed that was a conclusion everybody would draw after they had seen as much of the man as she had.
Except maybe Makoto, but he knew Ousai for a very long time and probably got past the untouchable aura that people like the old wolfman emitted, especially as his fosterson.
She quickly went over her options and what she knew to figure out how to continue. Her opponent had evaded her every move up until now, and while she wasn't sure whether he could or could not read minds, she was willing to throw that idea out the window, given Makoto's comment and Ousai's reaction to it. He could do something that was for sure, but he couldn't read minds.
She had no idea how he had managed it, but somehow he had known exactly where Makoto had been sitting. Maybe it was some kind of heightened senses, like enhanced hearing, or a keen sense of smell (he was part wolf. She felt kinda racist to include that bit just based on his looks, but it wasn't that far-fetched). However, that didn't explain how he was able to successfully predict her every attack up until now. Maybe she'd know if she could pressure him a bit more, but to do that she'd have to raise her Spiritual pressure.
Actually, why the hell not? She had been encouraged by both Ousai and Makoto to use her Reiatsu, but never to what extent. Makoto himself admitted that the old wolfman didn't need a sword against him, so he had to be pretty strong. There was no harm in giving it more power than she was at the moment, right? She took stance and tripled her initial output. She emitted a tiny shockwave while doing so and could have sworn to have seen a little twitch on Ousai's lips.
She wasted no time and attacked him once again. And this time, saw something even weirder than before. With her heightened senses, she was able to perceive his movements much better and process them a lot faster now. And she wasn't quite sure how to feel about what she saw. Everything from before was still there.
He started moving before she had even raised her sword, even if it looked like she'd reach him, she never actually did and no matter how close she got. Now though, when she was performing an exceptionally fast sword strike, it looked like no matter how fast she'd go, she never closed the distance between her blade and his body. They were both moving at the same speed, at least until he was barely out of range.
It didn't really annoy her until she realized that he was mocking her. Normally, moving as little as possible to conserve energy was a pretty good strategy. He was just doing it out of boredom though. She could tell from his body language and facial expression that he was legit not moving more than absolutely required. It pissed her off to be taken lightly once again and she would not stand for it.
She raised her output even more and let her attacks become more aggressive, but no matter how hard she tried, she still couldn't reach him. Suddenly, as she was rushing towards him, instead of moving away he moved towards her, using her velocity to trip Kiara.
Luckily, she was able to avoid falling down face first, but it still hurt, especially since it was actual ground. She never thought this day would come, but right now, she missed the dojo a little. She grunted and got up.
"Anger clouds yer judgement. Never let that happen. 'S not a bad thing ta use in a fight, but ya have to be able to focus it, otherwise it's wasted energy."
"Well, it's kind of hard not to get frustrated when you keep evading all of my attacks with that bored ass attitude. How do you even know when and how I'm going to do one anyway?"
Makoto suddenly appeared next to her. Friggin' shunpo. It was cool as hell, but him constantly using it like that in her presence kind of made her like it slightly less.
"Don't ya dare boy", the old wolfman threatened before Makoto had even opened his mouth.
"I wasn't gonna say anything", he responded slighty offended.
"Yeah ye were. Why else'd ya get down here?"
Makoto raised his finger and was about to say something, but stopped himself halfway through. He did the same thing for about two times before saying: "Alright, guilty as charged."
"Ya know, since yer gonna tell her anyway as soon as I'm not around, don' even try to deny it", Ousai said and pointed at Makoto accusingly. The latter just shrugged his shoulders and nodded. "We're gonna make this a lil' game."
Both of the younger Shinigami's skeptically raised an eyebrow. "A game? Seriously?", Makoto asked.
"Yer getting' awefully sassy boy. Yes, a game. A guessin' game to be exact."
"I'm not sassing, I'm just surprised."
"Well, it sounds sassy."
"Who me?"
"Yes smartass, you."
"Like I said, I'm not sassing."
"Yes you are."
"No, I'm not"
"Yes you are."
"No I'm not."
"Yeah you are", Kiara joined.
"You stay out of this", both said at the same. Kiara just snickered. The fight? That was tense yeah, but this? This was pure gold. From one moment to the other, the imposing menacing wolfman went from wise teacher to being to a father again in a split second, the same with Makoto who went from a cool smartass to being a son again and it was just so fun to watch.
"What's so funny?", both of them asked simultaneously again.
"Nothing, it's nothing. So how do we play this game?", she asked and tried to keep it together, but still couldn't surpress a chuckle.
Ousai eyed her suspiciously, but dropped it. "It's a guessin' game, how do ya think we play?"
"Actually, "guessing game" leaves a lot for interpretation there", she answered in an upbeat tone, not unlike Makoto whenever he reacted to one of her comments or questions like a jackass. "For example: do I guess and you just nod or shake your head and we keep doing it until I'm right? Do you ask vague questions to help me figure this out and kind of lead me on the right trail? Are you going to give me hints by showing me objects? Uhh, if it's that last one can it be like a sharade? Please say it's gonna be a sharade."
Ousai said nothing. He was completely silent and just shifted his head towards Makoto very slowly, while widening his eyes and putting on an accusing expression.
"What?", the latter asked confused. No reaction. "What?", he asked again, throwing his hands in the air. Ousai just raised his arm and energetically pointed to Kiara.
"Oh don't try to shift this on me I- ok you know what I'm kind of gonna have to take the blame on this one, you're right, I'm a bad influence", he said and changed demeanors mid-sentence from being offended to being plainly honest.
"Please don' tell me that this'll get worse", Ousai said with a pained voice.
"Nope, this is new actually, at least to this extent. I'll keep an eye on it."
"Ya better do more than just "keep an eye on it". One of ye is enough, I don' need two smartasses around me."
"Hey I'm not so bad."
"I don' know, might get a different opinion on that when I ask yer teachers from the academy."
"Oh please, I partially blew their school to smithereens, of course they would theoretically have a reason to resent me a little", Makoto said with an innocent demeanor.
"…yer doin' this on purpose."
"I have absolutely no idea what you could be talking about", the foster-son answered and smirked. Kiara felt like simply watching these two interact was something she never thought she wanted until she received it.
Ousai shook his head and sighed. Kiara could tell just by looking at him that he had experience when it came to handling Makoto, because he immediately dropped the subject and focused on what was important again.
"A'ight girl, let's get this going. I'll be helpin' ye on the way with questions to spark yer thoughts a bit. And no before you ask, 's not gonna be a sharade. Seriously, ask me the question again and I'll shave yer head."
That threat was loud and clear. She was actually going to ask if it would be possible to make it a sharade anyway, but given Ousai's reaction, she was able to stop herself just before it would have gone critical. She understood why Makoto enjoyed being a lighthearted jackass in certain situations, hence the reason why she did it too. But her hair was where she drew the line.
So she just kept quiet and said nothing, while Makoto once again couldn't stop himself from snickering.
Ousai ignored it and continued to speak with Kiara.
"Let's start with what ya know. What can ya recall from our battle?"
"I never landed a single hit", she answered quickly. That one was as easy as it was frustrating.
"Why did ye never land a single hit?"
"Because you evaded every single one of them."
"Now how did I do 'at?"
"Because you can read my mind, but somehow you can't. You can't predict what I think, but you can predict how I move."
"What do ya want ta say with that?"
"You can't look inside my head but you can read my body I guess? I thought you were just good at guessing things out of thin air, but halfway through I was pretty sure you can read my mind, until Makoto couldn't keep his mouth shut."
"I hear somebody wants extra dojo hours", Makoto's voice resounded from somewhere above the cave again (when did he get up there so fast again without anybody noticing?).
"Until Makoto kindly tried to help me with a hint", she quickly corrected herself, to which she received a chuckle from Ousai. "It just confused me more though", she continued. "If you couldn't read my mind, how can you still predict my movements?"
"Define what ya mean with me readin' yer body", the wolfman said and picked up another stone.
"You know old man, that would sound pretty wrong out of context", Makoto said and as on cue another stone was flicked towards his head, this time with considerably more strength. Even though Makoto managed to catch it, his hand was slammed into his forehead.
Without a care in the world, Ousai gestured her to continue and she tried the best she could, but she couldn't entirely ignore her half groaning and half laughing mentor about 15 meters away. She figured that this was just one of the ways these two showed affection to eachother.
"Maybe you can read my stance and predict what I do from that?"
"Close but not really. Ya can do better than 'at, go at it with a bit more creativity."
She gave it some thought and tried to think more outside the box, add factors she hadn't been told and came up with a few ideas.
"Can you predict it because you can read my Reiatsu?"
"No."
"Can you see the future?"
"Hard pass, don' wanna have ta carry that burden."
"Can you feel the vibrations on the ground when I shift my feet or tense my muscles and the earth then tells you what I do because your abilitys are actually earth related?"
"Ok, now yer getting' a lil' too creative there. What would even let ya think my abilitys were earth related?"
"You threw those two rocks with pinpoint accuracy at Makoto's head."
"Through one me abilitys yeah, but not 'cause they're earth related. Tone down the imagination just a smidge, yer getting' on the right track."
"Does it have anything to do with your five senses?", she instantly shot out.
"No."
"What kind of technique is it?"
Ousai slightly smirked to that question. "Be more specific." He sounded demanding, but in a positive way, like a teacher trying to challenge his student.
"Is it a special type of ability? Does it have an activation time, a range limit or a time limit?"
"You could say so, no, sort of and no."
No activation time. So he could either use it whenever he wanted to on a whim, or he was using it all the time. The missing time limit also indicated that he was using it constantly. The range limit was a little confusing. Sort of? What did that mean? Would it sometimes, but other times not have a range limit? Or was it maybe adaptable to the environement? Or maybe Ousai himself decided on the range he wanted it to have.
Suddenly, she had an idea.
"Are you using it right now?"
"Yes."
"What range does it currently have?"
Another smirk. She was moving into the right direction, that much was for sure.
"I'd say 'bout 16 or 17 meters."
"Can you manipulate that range at will?"
"Yes."
"Is it a sphere like ability?", she asked.
"What do ye mean with sphere?", he countered.
"Is everything you can do inside an invisible sphere? Kind of like a force field?"
"Mostly correct, keep goin'."
She took a few mometns to process all the new information. Adaptable range at will. Similar to a force field. He was using it at the moment. His current range reached a bit further than where Makoto was sitting.
She had another idea. She looked around and searched for a fruit tree or a berry bush in close vicinity. She found a tree and chose a very significant branch. Then she pointed to it.
"Without looking at it, tell me, what exactly am I pointing at?"
"A branch." The answer was fast, he didn't even have to think about it.
She glanced on the very top of the cave and saw a few sparrows on top of it, four to be exact. And they seemed just about out of his range.
"How many birds are sitting on top of your cave?", she asked tense with anticipation.
This time it was a full on smile when he answered. "I don't know."
"You have some kind of awareness field", she immediately concluded. He clapped his hands and whistled.
"Not bad girl, not bad. Ye figured it out. But how does that help you figuring out how I evaded all of yer blows? Just knowin' where things are doesn't help me predictin' shit."
Kiara wanted to shoot back with something, but he was 100 percent correct. Even after thinking about it for a longer amount of time didn't help, she just couldn't think of anything.
"You got me in a box here", she finally admitted.
Ousai raised an eyebrow and exhaled a little. "Shame, ye were on such a good track." He looked like he wanted to say something else but suddenly stopped in confusion. Then he turned around and directed his gaze to where Makoto was sitting- correction, to where Makoto had been sitting (the way he just moved around without anybody noticing was starting to get a bit unsettling).
Ousai closed his eyes for a second, probably to widen the range of his awareness field. After a few moments he opened them again put his hands to his mouth and yelled: "Boooy!"
"Whaaaaaaat?", the answer resounded from somewhere in the forest to Kiara's left.
"Get over here!", Ousai yelled. Moments after, Makoto appeared next to Kiara (and freaked her out again).
"Gah, seriously, stop that", she complained.
"Not as long as it'll be funny", he snickered.
"It's not."
"It is to me. What is it old man?", he quickly added before Kiara could continue the argument.
"Ya can spill the beans if ya want to."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"But just a second ago you were completely against it."
"I know, but she hit a roadblock and if I help her any more than I already did, I might as well tell her meself. Also, ya always had a good way of explainin' it. So there ya go."
"Kinda takes away from the fun a bit if you just let me, but ok. His predictions", he said and turned towards Kiara, "are a combination of his awareness field, or omniscience as I like to call it, and very educated guesses." He sat down. "With said omniscience-"
"Awareness field."
"Not calling it that, jiji. Anyway", he continued, "with said omniscience, he gets something similar to a sixth sense. What you said earlier about him feeling the tensing of your muscles was actually a pretty good assumption. See, dear old jiji over here", he said and nodded to Ousai, "was once an instructor for Kenjutsu. As such, he knows almost every stance there is to know and every move you can do from those stances. So let's just assume you take the basic kendo stance and you plan to use a strike from above. To do that, you have to wind up first and right before you do that, your muscles start tensing in a certain way. Through his field, he can tell and just "predicts" the attack that would make the most sense. That's why he only ever says what you're going to do just after you started performing the action."
Kiara said nothing for a few seconds, then looked over to Ousai and asked: "Okay, so how do I learn that?"
Ousai burst out in laughter. "Ya really think ya can just learn somethin' like that? It took me years ta develop and perfect the technique. It wouldn't even do ya any good right now, yer too slow."
"You know, that kinda hurts, but fair. I'd still like to learn it though, then I'd at least be more prepared for jackasses sneaking up on me." Makoto snickered.
Ousai looked at Kiara for a moment. "It's not like I can't teach ya, it's just that you'll never learn it in the remaining time yer here. Yer leavin' again tomorrow mornin', right?", he asked now talking to Makoto.
"That was the plan. You could still try to teach her the basics though. Maybe she'll get with 'em"
Ousai nodded and simultaneously shrugged his shoulders, then he turned to Kiara. "Alright girl, listen up, here's how it works."
ooo
Makoto and Ousai-jiji were sitting on the top of the small rock plateau, a safe distance away from the girl that was practicing the basic basics of a technique she could not possibly learn right now, so that she wouldn't accidentally overhear their conversation. The training fight had demanded a good portion of the day and the sun was already beginning to set.
"Boy, ya need ta tell her. The truth and I mean the whole truth."
"I know, I know. I will eventually, I just… not now. She's just started to settle in, probably made some friends and acclimated to her new life. I can't just shatter her whole world view by telling her that the person who's sticking his neck out most for her is doing it out of guilt and not because he cares. Not until she has really settled in and can live without having to depend on me."
"I think yer past the point where ya're just doin' it out of guilt. I've seen the way ya interact with eachother, 's almost as if ya had a sibling."
"You're right", Makoto said with an approving, but heavy nod. "But she won't see it that way. You know how these things go. If I tell her "I didn't care at first, but I do now" it'll only make things worse, because then it would look like I'm trying to make excuses. And by the way, that's becoming a problem."
"What, the fact that ya care?"
"Exactly. I'm responsible for her death, I practically stole her entire life. I know I don't have the right to just talk to her much less tease her the way I do."
Ousai-jiji stared off into the distance. "Then why do ya still do it?"
Makoto sighed. "I don't know. Maybe because I'm hoping to give her something back that she might have had before."
"And what's that?"
"A sense of family I guess", Makoto sighed heavily.
"… by being a Jackass ta her?"
"We both know I've never been the best with social interaction. I'm good when it comes to annoying people, but we both know I'm not the best when it comes to showing actual affection."
"Maybe devote a little more time ta her than just showin' up and leavin' again."
"Yeah", Makoto said a little unnerved. "Maybe."
Ousai-jiji rolled his eyes. "Conversation for another time. Getting' back to what matters though: The longer you wait with tellin' her, the more damage ya'll do."
"I know."
"Then what are ya waitin' for?"
"The right moment I guess?", Makoto said a little insecure.
He had never talked about this with anybody, not even with Susanoo. Talking about it now made him more uncomfortable than he would have liked to admit. Just thinking about Kiara's horryfied face when learning the truth turned his stomach inside out. He didn't want to tell her. He couldn't bring it over himself and yet he knew he had to.
"Boy, the right moment will never come. If there's one thing I've learned in me entire life, it's that there's no right moment. If ya're really waitin' for that, ya'll wait until it's too late and ya never tell her, which'll break you. Or worse, she'll find out herself somehow and then what?"
"Don't spark my imagination, please. I've got enough what-if scenarios in my head already." Makoto rubbed his temples.
"She's smart and she's bright. Eventually she'll understand and maybe even forgive ya."
"Yeah", Makoto said a little pessimistic. "We'll see about that. Well, on the bright side, if she hates me after the fact, then I'll probably have more time to focus on my other problem child."
"That reminds me. How the bloody hell did ya break into the research department without anybody noticin' ya?"
"Oh, I was noticed alright. Someone else was there too. But there's something strange about that person I still can't quite put my finger on."
"For example?"
"It looked like he was there to break in himself, but as soon as he saw me he attacked. There was something about his aura, it felt… incredibly sinister. Filled with unbridled rage and pain."
"Unbridled rage and sinister aura ey", Ousai uttered. "Sounds like a Hollow ta me."
"I thought so too, but that's impossible. Despite everything, his Reiatsu was still mostly a Shinigamis, it was just… it was really weird. He was really weird, so I freaked out, went Bankai on his ass and got the hell outta there."
"He was strong enough to push ya into usin' Bankai?"
"No and that's the freaky part. He wasn't really that strong. If we'd just compare the difference in Reiatsu, I could take him, no problem. But there was just something so frighteningly evil about him. I was in a panicked state myself already and then I encountered something like that. It didn't really matter if he was or wasn't stronger than me, I just didn't want to take a chance."
"Ya haven't seen 'im since?"
"No, I haven't. Sometimes I get an uneasy feeling, like he's watching me from somewhere, but other than that, nothing."
His foster father took a few moments before he responded. "Just make sure ta take care of yerself. I don't wanna have ta bury ya before I kick the bucket meself."
"Don't worry old man", Makoto said with a confident smile. "I'm gonna outlive you three times over."
ooo
"Captain Kurotsuchi", somebody yelled. Ah, how annoying. This was the second time today he had been interrupted from dissecting the rather magnificent specimen in front of him. All the preparations had been made, the tools were ready, his helpers were standing by, the room was steril and everything was ready to go. Additionally, he had been looking forwad to the autopsy of this one for a very long time, so this better be important.
"Yes?", he replied rather annoyed. He didn't even bother to turn around, he just glanced over his shoulder to see who the unfortunate fool was who had just disturbed his moment ony to be mildly surpised. Running at him with a sheet of paper in his hands was Akon, his vice-captain.
Strange, Akon should know better than to interfere with Mayuris business. Perhaps this was something interesting after all.
"Make it quick Akon", Mayuri said after his vice-captain had reached him, still slightly annoyed. "As you can see, I'm about to get busy with an exciting specimen I have been anticipating for a while now."
"The report you've been waiting for, the one regarding the break in around half a year ago", Akon said, short of breath.
Mayuri's annoyance was suddenly replaced with curiousity. "Have you finally been able to filter out the components?"
"Yes sir."
"The blood samples?"
"Fully analyzed."
"The areal Spiritual pressure changes and additional data?
"Recovered and written down as well as the full extent of compromised surveillance installations and stolen equipment."
"The spiritual signatures?"
"…separated, but they remain unidentifiable sir."
"That is most certainly disappointing", Mayuri noted annoyed again. "The incident is almost half a year old, you've had all the data from the start and you're still unable to completely analyze everything?"
"My most humble apologies sir. We've tried every conceivable method, but the spiritual signatures are still the same. We can't identify them the way we've identified the blood samples and everytime we try something risky, we lose another part of the samples."
"And the newer methods I've instructed you in?"
"Not even those worked sir."
"Curious…", Mayuri mumbled to himself, already in deep thought. "I will attend to that particular data myself, but that comes later. Show me what you have for now." He reached out his hand, wordlessly demanding the sheet of paper in Akons hands. He handed it over and Mayuri quickly skimmed over the data. Then he read a specific set of information that just couldn't be correct.
"Akon, are you sure that every single bit of analyzed data on this sheet is 100% correct?"
"Your question regards the Spiritual pressure composition, doesn't it?", Akon immediately asked.
Mayuri squinted his eyes. "Continue."
"I checked it at least five times, but the results were always the same. Everytime I concluded my tests, it seemed like both signatures were part Hollow, altough the Hollow signature was the same in both samples, which would indicate that it was the same person twice."
"And you're still sure that both individuals that broke into my laboratory that night were Shinigami?"
"Yes sir, that much we were able to deduce from the signatures. Our theory is that the Reiatsu from one of them mixed with the other in the altercation they had outside the building. We've also been able to trace the paths they were going within the research department, so we now know who stole which equipement."
"Elaborate", Mayuri commanded intrigued.
Akon nodded. "One individual, let's call it subject one, was wandering around aimlessly on the complex. It openend and closed several doors, the equipement that was in those respective rooms however remained untouched, except our technological Shunpo-amplifier prototype based on Quincy techniques. Subject one was only rummaging throughout the complex until it had found one of the old prototype Garganta doorways. After that, it had immediately tried to leave the building. Subject two proceeded way different. It's almost as if it knew exactly where to look. Three of the six destroyed storage sites were actually robbed. We have however been able to preserve the destroyed samples."
"Good. At least we still have that. Do we know anything specific regarding subject ones escape?"
"No sir, apart from the fact that it must have clashed with subject 2 somewhere on the way, we have no idea."
Mayuri nodded. "I see", he said already absent again.
"Captain Mayuri, is something the matter?", Akon asked after a while.
"Why do you ask?"
"You don't seem particularly upset by these findings."
Mayuri chuckled. "Keenly observed Akon. As a matter of fact I am not upset, no. This situation has turned into an opportunity to present one of my projects in a better and more convincing light before the captain-commander. Is everything we discussed on this report?"
"Yes, sir."
"Before I tend to this matter I need to proceed with this autopsy. I have prepared too long and I am too positively thrilled about dissecting this corpse to do it sometime else. You may leave Akon."
"Of course, sir."
"Oh and Akon," Mayuri quickly added. "Please do make sure to keep Nemuri Hachigou busy during my procedure. I absolutely cannot use any distractions right now."
"As you wish sir", Akon answered and then turned around to leave.
"Subject one and two had an altercation", Mayuri mumbled to himself. "And guessing from their searching patterns, they don't necessarily belong to the same factions."
He took another look at the paper sheet and searched for the damage report section. The information indicated that their fight was rather serious. Short but intense. Mayuri couldn't help but slowly laugh himself into a really good mood before beginning his autopsy. His new project to surpass Urahara Kisuke yet again was now much closer in his reach than he could have ever imagined
And he couldn't help but be absolutely thrilled about it.
Author's notes:
Hey, hey, hey, people. It's me again. After having been gone for quite some time. Not to worry, the story is coming along smoothly, that's all good. I mean, if you worried about it, well then sorry for being an infrequent updater (is that even a word?), and if not, then I guess you're all good.
Before I get to this chapter, Imma have to adress something I did not speak at all about in the last one, which is the choice in music.
Now I don't know if any of y'all actually listen to the tracks I'm "perscribing" at some points of the story, if you're not you can just leave this part out and move along. If you actually are, then cool, I'm happy that effort doesn't go to waste. So, in the last chapter, I suggested a track title from the movie "Mad Max: Fury Road" (which is one of the most amazing action movies I've ever seen, go watch it, it's so good I swear). The movie can best and most simply be described as a 2 hour chase scene, or a two hour Mario cart cutscene from hell rated R. In the movie, the characters are under tension most of the time and there's this theme of "survival of the fittest" present. To me, this music has exactly the kind of wild, raw, chaotic vibe that's fitting for a Hollow and or a Hollow fight scene. I felt it was really fitting and so that's why I chose it.
Now onto this chapter:
The plot thickens! Somewhat at least. I've kept the pacing slow for the most part, at least in my opinion, which is something that can lead to parts feeling uneventful and dragging at times. This is supposed to be a full on sequel to Bleach (how I got so much alcohol into my system that I thought tackling something so big was a brilliant idea, I have no fucking clue), and as such we first need to get to know the characters. For that, slow pacing is in my opinion better than quick pacing, because if you pace your story too quickly, it's gonna feel like an assimilation of events that are told to you (the reader) through a narrator and not the view of a character itself as it should be.
And even if it's told through the perspective of characters themselves, if the story moves too fast, you essentially get "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker". For all of you out there who've seen it and loved it or hated it, hey, more power to you, this is just my personal opinion. I personally really liked the movie, but boy is it a mess. From the first fucking sentence in the god damn title crawl you realize that this one does not give a fuck about people who'd like an actual movie, it's just "GO! GO! GO!, let's go to places, meet new characters and forget about them as soon as they've fulfilled their narrative purposes".
What I'm trying to say is that I think good character introduction and development needs slow pacing for the story of that character. If that's a turn off for you, I completely understand.
Oh, and to adress the elephant in the room, BLEACH IS COMING BACK! OUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN HEARD PEOPLE! I cannot stress about how actually amazing it is that Bleach is coming back after over 8 fucking years. It almost seemed like an impossible dream, but here we are and it never felt better to be a Bleach fan. The only thing that I really, really hope for is that they do something about that ending, but seeing as Fairy Tail had one of the most loathed and unstatisfying endings in manga history (I know it technically continues with the 100 years quest but still), and they didn't change that in the anime, I kinda doubt it. It would be amazing as hell, but honestly, I'd be okay if they didn't. Bleach even coming back is an anomaly and if that's the only thing we get I'm still happy, because it's more than we ever hoped we would get.
As always, I welcome reviews and encourage them. Or, you know, PM me if you want to tell me something personally, I welcome that too.