Chapter 33 (Shizuko)

Several months later…

The sun set in the World of the Living and another day came to close. I shut my eyes and plucked away at my shamisen, letting my fingers and hands move with the flow. A deep breath in and a slow breath out. A high note and then a low note. Peace and quiet—

"Can you shut up your stupid guitar!"

—and loud, obnoxious children.

I opened my eyes but didn't stop playing. Jinta only grew redder in the face, looking like he was about to kick my shamisen.

"Uncultured," I sighed, "You should learn to appreciate your heritage more—"

"That isn't heritage—that's music that old ladies like you listen to you all day," He groaned loudly as I struck a few keys off-key just to annoy him.

"Such a closed mind. I hope the rest of the young humans aren't like you—"

"I hope the rest of the old hags aren't like you," He grumbled back, only to have the back of his head smacked. Kisuke looked down at him with a raised eyebrow, and Jinta threw his hands out, "Oh, come on, boss! She's old!"

"A hundred and eleven is hardly old," I scoffed. But to restore the peace, I put my shamisen away.

"You really should be wearing your uniform," Jinta grouched as he looked at my pale pink yukata, "You're a Shinigami—"

"We're supposed to be keeping a low profile. Between Ichigo and the other Shinigami who were sent out to find Rukia, too many people have spotted us." He opened his mouth but I cut him off sharply, "You can complain about my pass-times, but I won't have you telling me how to do my job too."

He stormed out of the room. I pulled my hair back and began to pin it up. I needed to go out again and patrol Karakura tonight.

"Not that I don't love having you stay here," Kisuke leant against the doorway, "But that little temper of yours is putting everyone on edge. Mind telling me what that's about?"

"I'd rather not—"

"I wasn't really asking," He smiled when I looked at him. He chuckled and came up to me, "You don't strike me as a sullen person. But you've been acting more like your mother—"

"I'm not!" I shouted and pulled away from him. His eyes widened in surprise from my raised voice, but I kept my mouth shut.

"So that's why you're on deployment," He smirked, "To escape from her."

I finished tying up my hair and grabbed my zanpakuto, "I'll do a better job at keeping myself in check. But I'm done with talking about her."

Storming out into the night, I stalked towards the town square. But I knew what Kisuke had said was true. Since volunteering for the new guard posting in the World of the Living, I had been able to escape the things that were troubling me the Soul Society. Perhaps it was the cowardly thing to do, but I couldn't do it anymore.

I needed space. I needed to be able to think without someone breathing down my neck, and for the first time ever, I had just that. No Head Clansmen. No reminders of my late husband. No mother. Just me.

A whistle from behind me stopped me in my tracks, "Yumi, she is pissed."

"Kisuke clearly mentioned the unmentionable again."

Ikkaku and Yumichika landed beside me, both grinning at me like a pair of teasing uncles. I rolled my eyes and they both burst out laughing.

"I thought you might have skipped over the rebellious phase," Ikkaku wiped a tear away, "You're nearly as bad as your mother."

"No one is even close to Kumiko's attitude," Yumichika grinned as he fixed my hair. I stood still and let him redo the entire thing, listening to him tut, "Really, Shizuko. If you're going to put your hair up then at least do it properly. After all, we don't want you disappointing your boy toy."

The boy toy suddenly appeared by us, out of breath and dressed in a t-shirt and cargo pants. His hair was messy and falling out into his face, like he had left in a rush. I glanced at him briefly before pointedly looking away.

"My, my, it looks like your temper tantrum woke up our dear Renji," Yumichika smirked as his hands dropped away from my hair, "We'll leave you two love—"

He stopped the moment I turned my eyes on him. Smirking at Ikkaku, they left with a wave. And then it was just Renji and I…

"Hey," Renji fixed his hair, "Heard you leave in a hurry, and I thought something was the matter—"

"Everything's fine…I hope Jinta calling you a moocher hasn't made you paranoid. You don't need to follow me in the middle of the night to deal with my existential crises, Renji."

He only grinned and stepped up to me until we were so close, I had to strain my neck to look up at him, "I don't know—it beats cleaning the dishes."

I bit the smile forming on my lips, "Doctor Abarai…has a charming ring to it, don't you think?"

"Well, as your therapist, I recommend you deal with whatever it is that's bugging you," He cleared his throat but it did nothing to hide the blush blooming across his cheekbones. Glancing down hesitantly at me, he added, "You're not a snippy person…but you're acting a lot like Captain Kuchiki."

"So like a noble should act?" I asked with amusement. He said nothing, only waited for me to take him seriously. I sighed, "Renji…I know that I've been lashing out at everyone…and I'm sorry for that. It's not like me at all. I just—I'm just angry."

"Like I said, you need to talk about it," He grinned, "And luckily for you, I'm a therapist."

"Really?" I took a step closer, completely in his space now, "Lucky me then."

"Mmm," His hands were taking a hold of my face. I tilted my head up. "Well feel free to talk to me whenever you want to…"

Initially, Renji wasn't apart of this deployment. None of the Shinigami that were here now had been. But after Ichigo and his friends had been attacked by Arrancar-level Hollows, the Soul Society had sent them to back me up.

And ever since, Renji and I were having a hard time keeping our hands to ourselves.

"I don't want to talk right now," I whispered, shutting my eyes as the familiar curve of his lips brushed against mine.

I reached up and hooked my arms around his neck. He pushed his lips against mine, demandingly and deliciously, and I pressed myself flush to him. He tasted like the herbal tea I had bought from the store for Kisuke and Yoruichi.

Renji moaned against my lips and I tugged at his hair-tie. His hair came loose and I ran my fingers through the red mess.

We both pulled apart as the air erupted, like someone had detonated a bomb. I grabbed my face as my nose stung—there were enormous spiritual pressures around us.

Renji was already out of his Gigai as I stood up, wiping the blood that dripped from my nose. He looked at me with wide eyes.

"It's fine—it happens to my mother too," I drew my sword, "We should go."

We headed towards Kisuke's where the Hollow was. We both knew it was an Arrancar—one of Aizen's detestable creations.

Renji looked at me, "Captain Hitsuguya should be activating the full release of our powers—just hang in until he does."

I smiled, "Sounds good."

He winked at me before we both shot forward. When we arrived, the skies above us were littered with our teammates and Hollows. I sensed an immense amount of power from all of them, but they were all small fry compared to the particular Hollow that had caused my nose to bleed. He was further away, headed towards…Ichigo.

I began towards the Karakura Clinic but Renji caught my wrist, "Shizuko, we need you here."

Before either of us could debate it, we were swept up into battles. I was immediately on the defensive, up against a Hollow that resembled a bull. He was made of brute strength, and I was having a hard time countering before he charged me.

Finally, he paused. I clutched my zanpakuto and began to gather spiritual pressure in my palms.

His hands were unsheathing his zanpakuto as he said, "Shinigami, I am Tauro, Arrancar—"

"Hadō Number Thirty-One," I appeared in front of him, shocking him momentarily, "Shakkahō."

It didn't do much than blind him, but it bought me enough time to slice over his hands. He couldn't release his zanpakuto this way.

He growled at me, swatting me away, "I thought you Shinigami were supposed to have manners."

I sheathed my zanpakuto and pressed my palms together, inciting quickly and quietly before his hands could regenerate, "Ye lord—Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings—"

"Don't ignore me!" His foot shot out, knocking me off balance.

I jumped over him, "Ye who bears the name of Man!"

He tried to batter me with the horns of his broken mask, but I somehow missed it through sheer luck. He was like an enraged animal, blindly attacking wherever and however he could.

"On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus—" I stood my ground as he charged closer, closer, and closer, "In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens…"

He opened his mouth to roar, rattling me to the core.

"Hadō Seventy-Three, Sōren Sōkatsui!"

I caught his mask, and gritted my teeth as I fought to control the power of the Hadō spell. He wailed as I burnt through the hardened bone, cutting through his essence like butter. It wasn't enough though—I hadn't completely destroyed his mask.

Before I could draw my zanpakuto and finish him off, Rangiku collided into me. I jumped out of the clutches of her opponent but right into the hands of my own.

"You're so quiet," He cooed, grabbing my chin, "Like a gorgeous, porcelain doll."

Everyone else were in similar positions to me. I was on my own in this situation. My mind racked through all the possible options I had right now but was coming up short. There was one thing, but I needed to free one of my hands.

I focused my spiritual energy in my sword hand. My palm warmed up and I held it to the Arrancar's meaty arm until I smelt burning flesh. Despite his squirming, I made sure to keep the pressure on until he was forced to loosen his grip.

I ripped free and let my sword channel my spiritual pressure, "Snap and shift, Kitsune!"

The Arrancar scowled as my zanpakuto broke apart into nine separate chains, all ending in a long, sharp blade. I flicked my wrist and sliced through its tail in several places, jumping away as soon as I could.

"Very cute. A little nine-tail," He continued to condescend me, "But those are a little long. You're too slow."

He appeared behind me suddenly and I jumped back just in time to avoid his zanpakuto's sharp blade. He came at me relentlessly, and I kept dodging and side-stepping him. It continued for minutes and he was growing increasingly agitated by it.

"Is this all you Shinigami were taught? To dodge!" He screamed and lunged at me.

I took the opening and threw my arm out. The chains hurtled towards him, several getting knocked out of momentum by the Arrancar. But three wrapped around him, the blades anchoring into him like fishing hooks.

He chuckled, "That tickled—"

With my other hand flowing with my spiritual pressure, I plucked at the three chains like I would a shamisen. The reiatsu soared through the chains, and they soon glowed white-hot. The Arrancar howled in agony but couldn't break free. As I played after with the music of my zanpakuto, the other chains began to heat up as well.

I drew them all back and with a final swing, he was disintegrating. My zanpakuto shifted back, and I turned to see how the other were fairing.

"Shizuko!"

Again, a second Arrancar hurtled into me. We were both momentarily surprised by the contact, but soon were scrambling for the advantage. Renji rushed towards me but was drawn back into his fight.

I reached for my zanpakuto but the Arrancar had me by the throat. I began to choke out an incantation but he crushed down on my windpipe. My vision speckled and I was helplessly limp.

My eyes locked onto Kisuke's, and he faltered. And just as he headed towards me, the air rumbled. My fingers involuntarily flexed and I felt my entire body rattle as my mother's spiritual pressure momentarily paralyzed us all.

A flash of black and suddenly I was free from the Hollow's lethal grip. I caught myself, coughing and spluttering, but in time to see her release her zanpakuto on the Arrancar.

It hardened around her arm, smooth and sculpted like the metal was part of her anatomy. I had watched over the years as her Shikai had evolved from being a hunk of metal to a refined, bionic arm. I knew how lethal she was when that sword was allowed to run rampant.

The Arrancar came at her and she cut off its other arm. Again, it charged, and it would lose another limb. It was like watching someone play with their food. Her eyes were like glass marbles, like fighting, killing was something she could do in her sleep. It didn't have the affect on her as it once did.

"Dirt," She mumbled as she watched the Arrancar writhe in a bloodied, mangled mess in front of her.

She let her zanpakuto return to its regular, and I could practically see what went through her mind as she tightened her grip on the hilt. It wasn't good enough to face death by her Shikai. If it wasn't her job to cleanse Hollows, I think she might have let it choke and suffer.

She swung her sword and the Hollow disappeared. Her movements methodical and surgical, from the executionary blow to the way she flicked the blood off her blade. Her sword slid into its sheathe, and she turned to me.

Her arms were around me in an instant, holding me tightly against her. I shut my eyes but hesitated in hugging her back. But then she took a deep, shaky breath, and my resolve broke. I held her close and tightened my arms around her. Her head folded on top of mine, and her hair cascaded over me.

She smelt like she always had. She looked as the same. She was the woman who had given everything to me…so why was it so hard for me to overlook the anger I felt?

She stiffened, and for a second I wondered if I had mumbled all that aloud. But when I saw that she was looking over my shoulder and the sounds of battle ceased, I knew that it was something else entirely else.

They stared at one another quietly, neither one giving way to how they truly felt. She scowled as she always did. He had that serious, quizzical brow which hinted to me that he was a little less shelled up than she was.

I would like to think that after being separated from my husband for a century, I would show some kind of emotion. But my mother didn't. She just looked at him like he was a stranger who was passing by her on the street.

But as she spoke his name, it sounded jarringly familiar. Like all those anniversaries she would spend sobbing and whispering his name as she locked herself in her room, looking through his belongings. His jaw tightened as she finally whispered…

"Kisuke."


IT HAPPENED! It took a while but we finally got there, people!

Sorry for the slight delay-work has been crazy! Heads up that the next update will come a little earlier (Big bummer, I know lol) because I'll be going out of town and won't have access to my computer! So hopefully that makes up for for the slight delay this week!

Up Next: Kumiko and Kisuke's reunion; Shizuko and Kumiko are forced to finally face one another.