"Your emotions make you human. Even the unpleasant ones have a purpose. Don't lock them away. If you ignore them, they just get louder and angrier."
― Sabaa Tahir, A Torch Against the Night
Chapter 4
Dreams , Memories and meeting with Mario Part 1.
"So, I just want you know that whatever I'm going to do is for you and I have never loved or cared anyone in my life except you. I Sousuke Aizen promise you that we will be back together as a family in few years when my plan succeeds."
Keigo wanted to speak but couldn't not even the man had noticed his presence, even the surroundings seem to be blurry. He was only able to notice the appearance of the man, the man was wearing a white coat and since he was facing the opposite direction couldn't clearly see his face but he was able to spot that he was a wearing spectacle and his hair was brown in colour.
Without thinking he moved forward something in his gut told him that this dream was really important to him and he should find out about it at any cost but he couldn't, it's as if something swas preventing him from finding it out. He willed himself to move forward ignoring the pain he felt at that moment. Finally, he was able to reach closer to the man and to his immense shock, the man turned around and just passed through him like he was never there in solid form which unnerved him a bit.
Now he was having second thoughts about finding who that guy was talking to. Unfortunately, before he could force himself to wakeup which was really rare when he was having realistic dreams or night mares based on his real-life incident, the fog started clearing up making it easy for him to look around the place or room he was standing in and to his immense surprise he found himself in his parent's bedroom in one of their houses at Karakura Town ,everything looked exactly like the same before the fire accident .
"Anything but this, anything but this. Please don't do this, not this place, not this room, please somebody wake me up"
Keigo screamed/begged /pleaded in his dream but to no avail and he even started pinching himself but it was all in vain.
No matter what happened he wouldn't be able to wake up unless someone physically woke him up that someone being his sister or shion the black female cat in their house who had an habit of waking him up whenever he had a really bad nightmare or chizuru when she stayed over or Ryuken san whenever he was working in his hospital as an intern sometimes assisting him out with his patients and in other times working in the reception during the weekends when he was requested by him to work overtime or any member of the Honsho family when he stayed over at their place when his sister had to accompany their grandmother for business related meetings or when he was helping out Chizuru with her studies or when he and chizuru were helping Honsho san with stuffs related to his work ,stuffs which he can't do legally as a Cop ,stuffs which he can do as an hacker like digging information about corrupt business person, politicians and other shady members of the society whom Uncle Honsho can't do anything without evidence ,evidence which cannot be obtained legally.
Otherwise he had to go through the whole incident again and again, he couldn't interact nor he couldn't stop anything from happening either he could only re-enact the incident or could watch it like a movie. If it's the former at least his scream will draw attention to him but if it's the latter then he had no other option but to watch the entire event unfold before him slowly which was the worst.
He expected the calm peaceful atmosphere to change into that of the hellish scene of the accident. But it didn't, instead he heard a baby crying loudly behind him. He turned around and there was indeed a baby in crib. He was baffled there wasn't any baby in that room during that incident and he was more surprised to see the younger version of his parents and his sister running into the room, trying to calm the baby. They looked exactly like how they were slightly older before that happened ,he couldn't take his eyes off them .He for sure knew that this was the only dream where they don't look scarred or with injuries ,his mother looked beautiful and regale even in her sleeping robes she had the same look on her face when she looked at him in the ambulance before her death the look filled with concern and worry for him not for her or his sister ,but for him whereas his dad on other hand had the same goofy smile on his face ,the same smile he had given him during his final moments at the hospital bed assuring him that none of it was his fault no matter what .
But it is his fault though right ?after all he is the bringer of ill fortune, the parasite who sucked everything including their life and gave them only pain and suffering till their death ,the cursed monster who robbed his sister of her parents if only the electric wire had fallen on him instead of her or if only his sister had come a bit a late into his room when he had slit his wrist ,his parents ,his relatives though most of them were Aholes to his mom and his 4th grade sensei who would always encourage him to be usual self (after he completely shut himself off after the first incident that there was nothing with him and that his best friend was at the wrong place at the wrong time and that electric wire falling on her was just a coincidence ) would have survived .
He couldn't hear anything they spoke because whatever they spoke was suppressed by even louder sound a cat meowing to be precise, the only word he could barely hear was "Keigo" his name not that he cared much about what they spoke because at that very moment he only cared about was to hug and tell them how sorry he was about everything and ,that they were the best parents he could ever have and he misses them a lot .
A crazy thought popped in his mind ,what if it is possible for him to stay in this place even if he was just a spectre here ,he could see his parents regularly ,where he wouldn't be causing anyone trouble, where he could be himself instead of the fake persona he puts in front of others, may be there is a way he just had to figure it out. But he immediately pushed those thoughts away from his mind, Mizuo needed him the most and he couldn't do that to her, not after she practically raised him from the age of 10 managing her studies and learning how to handle family business at the same time from their Grandmother. He couldn't leave her alone in this world, sure they have their Grandmother who would be there for her but his sister wouldn't say it out loud but she would be a total mess without him, the same for him.
The meowing got louder and closer this time, he looked around for the presence of any cat but couldn't find one. He was wishing that this moment would last forever, of course but knowing his luck he knew better than anyone how futile is that in his case. After all he did learn it in a really harsh way. Still he rushed forward with a single goal on his mind to hug them one last time knowing very well what the outcome was /is.
And like he had expected the forms of his parents and the baby started fading quickly only for the scene to be replaced with a scene of a woman standing in a garden and suddenly she was surrounded by a white light, the woman started screaming in pain though nothing was harming her at least visibly but he understood that the light was responsible for that . Then complete silence the woman fell down unconscious but he had a really bad feeling that she wasn't just unconscious but in fact she was not alive. There was something familiar about the woman, he took a step closer and what he saw made him gasp ,this was Ryuken San's wife whose picture he had always seen on his table table in the hospital, he told him that she had passed away due to unfortunate circumstances, Keigo didn't want ask any further since the sadness emitting from him at that time was too much bear and it was impolite as well. That might be the first and last time Ryuken San had let himself become that emotional but underneath that sadness he could sense a slight pang of guilt muddled with anger.
"Why am I dreaming about her though? I am seeing her photo regularly but that doesn't make any sense at why I am getting this dream now? Have I completely lost my mind? What about the previous one? That seemed too real to be a dream?" questions like that kept popping in his mind. Questions for which he didn't have any answer at the moment, he is not even sure if he can get answers for it without hurting or offending Ryuken San or his sister. Based on his previous experiences, he should know that this is just his mind messing with him but he couldn't ignore the fact that the extra sense which usually warns him when something is not true wasn't doing that and that never failed him before. The only plausible and logical reason he has at that moment is that these might be his subconscious thoughts projecting themselves in the dream or it might be due to the violent movies and games he has been watching in secret from Mizuo.
Well if it's the former then he has some really serious issues with capital I and is need of a visit to a psychiatrist because seriously dreaming about how someone died is no serious issue but if its latter god save him if his sister somehow finds out that he had been staying up night and watching all these instead of sleeping on time like he was asked to, his sister had set a bunch of rules for him like sleeping time, the routes he had to take while coming back home from school or his part time jobs and sometimes arrives at work space without announcing ,in the pretence of having a small snack with her friends from University or sometimes accompanied by their Grandmother who thought that the café he was working was calm and pleasant which would have been believable ,had they not been appearing in all the restaurants and Cafes, his sister being an over protective mama bear he can understand since she had been there with him when something goes wrong , but his grandmother joining that bandwagon is a different story.
All of this was because some gun and knife wielding idiots thought it would be a good plan to kidnap Chizuru and him on their way to her house from his work place when they decided to take a dark isolated alley just for fun. They would have succeeded if the morons had planned properly but noo they fumbled with their threats, stumbled with their movement and one even shot his fellow kidnappers freaking them out and causing a ruckus which eventually led to them arguing amongst themselves. Just his luck what started as a kidnapping turned into a real life soap opera and they were forced to listen their arguments about how the guy who had shot his friend had taken alcohol more than his part and he had to repay it only for that guy to come up with a argument of his own about how he was taking what others owed him, then the argument turned into a childish name calling which eventually ended in full on brawl among those idiots which had drawn attention to their activities not to mention Chizuru the silent smiling smart beauty she is had called her father during the argument without anyone noticing her not to mention the gunshot and the ruckus had drawn the attention of a police patrol along with the passer-by. Realizing the danger, they were in the idiots tried to flee the scene but were caught exactly a street away from the place of their attempted kidnapping apparently both the car tires got busted and there was a leak in the fuel tank as well.
They were all arrested and but couldn't do anything to the ones who had asked them to do their bidding because of lack of proper evidence and other technicalities, what a big load of crap. Its pretty obvious that they were indirectly targeting Honsho san for looking into their illegal activities and his sister for making a move against them. He could feel the smugness radiating from them in the court room and the fake concerned look which they gave him and his sister, the tone in which they spoke about how they wouldn't go against their family friends was too much that he came so close to punch them in their smug faces, only to be stopped by his sister and Grandma who told him that they would have their due on time. Besides the failed attempt would put them on their guard for sometime before they tried anything serious. For once his luck or curse whatever it is happening to him turned out to be helpful, for once it didn't harm anyone he loved.
While Keigo was lost in his thoughts, a figure clad in full white had appeared silently a few feet behind him and was observing him for past few seconds. And keigo wouldn't have even noticed the presence of something or someone behind him and would have woken up from his sleep had it not been for his extra sense alerting him that someone was there behind him. Keigo turned around slowly and saw a man with a huge moustache standing behind him with an unreadable expression on his face. Keigo recognised that this man was also wearing a full white dress with only major differences is that he was having a black scarf on his neck and a missing sword or katana but unlike the aizen guy in his this guy was wearing a double-breasted trench coat, which has some sort of symbol on the middle, with large buttoned cuffs and lapels, white trousers, and trench boots. Now looking closer at the mans face he looked like a cheap rip off of Mario except this one dressed like a fighter than a plumber.
"Looks like you have finally noticed my presence. Though I am curious how you were able to invade my memory scape, not even the strongest quincies or the shinigami are capable of this feat, not that they knew about my resurrection" Mario look alike spoke Arrogantly.
Keigo blinked thrice and he looked around to see if there is anyone else but to his surprise there wasn't and the Mario rip-off was actually talking to him, well this is the first time something or someone in his dream has directly spoken to him. He looked at Mario who for some reason was annoyed and put off by his lack of response.
"Are you talking to me Mario?" he asked walking closer to the man "Can you even see me?" he asked waving his hand in front of the man's face.
The man looked offended either because of his action or question or may be both. His response was an in human growl and glare. Keigo ignoring the growl and glare started speaking casually without any fear
"If you think that a growl and glare from a cheap Mario rip off, you are mistaken and besides you are not the scariest thing I have seen in my dream, besides what can you even do to me. You are just a fragment of my dream"
As Keigo was speaking the man was getting pissed at each word spoken before realization dawned upon him. He started laughing loudly for few seconds
"You don't even know what you are doing do you child?" he paused before continuing his speech in a tone which adults use when they are talking to small children.
Keigo cut him off rudely
"Yeah, well I'm dreaming and you Mr. Mario is a part of it and I'm not child" he shot back petulantly.
The man remained calm and collected, he gave him a pitying look and continued his speech in the same tone
"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by you, this is my mind, my memory not your dream, like I said before no one has ever managed to successfully invade it, you somehow managed to do it. I was initially angry that someone dared to do it. I had assumed that Yamomotto and his Shinigami had somehow discovered my resurrection and had developed some means to invade my mind. But to my immense surprise it was just you, a mere child who had done it unknowingly and based on your little rude interruption I am assuming this is the first time you have done it right? So, what are you a Shinigami or a Quincy or a harbringer?"
Keigo wanted to be offended of being a child and the tone the man was using but at that moment he didn't care because this is one of the hilarious and interesting dreams he has ever had .Besides may be it could give answers to the abnormalities happening around him and even it doesn't at the very least he could be himself for sometime without the consequence of others getting hurt the others being anyone outside his family and close circle.
"Quincies? Is that a name of a cult or some sort of made up word you just came up with? Shinigami? The only Shinigami I know are the one I have seen in the movies and games, wearing full black Skelton mask and a scythe as a weapon for reaping souls, are you saying they are for real and you think that I'm one of those? Talk about active imagination Mario" he chuckled before continuing "harbringer might be possibility after all I have brought destruction to people's life around me" the last part was said in a bitter tone.
The man looked at him sourly for few seconds before schooling his features
"I look over this one last time about you calling me Mario, whatever does that even mean .My name is Yhwach , often referred to simply as "Your Majesty" by my followers , I am the Father of the Quincy and for your information Quincy is neither a cult nor it is a religion but a supernatural beings just like the Shinigami ,the ones you mentioned are hollows though they don't carry weapons like the one you said. And as for harbingers they are mortals who have survived the encounter with the hollows and gained some extraordinary powers, powers which can rival a Shinigami and quincy if they have enough training and spiritual powers. From your answer I can understand that you do not understand the supernatural aspects properly. No matter you should be thankful to me for educating you and I can tell you what you are if you allow me that is"
Keigo could only stare at that man for a second taking in everything which was explained to him, then he started laughing loudly even pointing his hands at him. Apparently, it was a wrong thing to do, the man who is likely the embodiment of his subconsciousness that's what Keigo thought, was getting annoyed and could sense the anger radiating off him and nothing could be compared to the look which he was receiving at that moment. He tried to control his laughter and he did for a second but made a mistake of looking at his face again which resulted in another laughter fit.
"What is so funny that it resulted in you behaving like a lunatic? Care to explain because I don't think there isn't anything on my face neither the valuable information, I had given you freely, information which no one had provided to you. You should be grateful that you have intrigued me or else it wouldn't take much time for me to remove your existence from the world of living ." the last sentence was said with such a calmness even though the intensity of his anger and rage was high gained keigos attention which somehow managed to stop his laughter.
"Thank for making me laugh Mario, Its been a long time since I laughed like this even though its just a dream I feel like I lost a burden for which I'm really grateful even though you are just a figment of my subconscious thoughts and imagination. As for the reason my laughter there are a lot ,like you referred yourself as Your majesty ,Narcisstic much ?,I mean you even a created a cult and called yourself the father of it, dude that's insane not mention the information you provided are nothing but a fantasy thought/ideas which I might have got from some novels I have read .You even created a weird unintelligible name for you or maybe I did subconsciously .Now I fear my sense of naming because of that name of yours. Not to mention you even asked me to call you "Your Majesty " , how rude you only exist because of me so I'm your creator so if anything you should call me "Your Majesty" but since im feeling magnanimous you can call me Master Keigo or Master Asano" he replied sarcastically ignoring the how mans face had turned red either because of embarrassment or anger.
"You saw what I did to that women in my memory prior to my arrival though her death was still her fault for being impure yet she was an unwilling participant ,you on other hand are willingly choosing it in spite of my warning .Im a King who will become a god one day instead of grovelling before me like you should have instead you openly mocked my name, my legacy, my children and even my appearance. But I do commend your candour, only few have looked me in the eye and spoken to me, even those didn't have the gal to mock me directly, not to mention you even asked me to ,how did you say ?ah that's right since you are feeling magnanimous you asked me to call you Master Asano instead of your majesty, that's the most amusing thing I had ever heard in my life" Mario gave a dark chuckle filled with malice and tone he used was anything but amusement ,which sent shivers down his spine. For the first time since he started the conversation with Mario look alike he was having doubts about whether it was right on his part to mock him so brazenly,but then he had never felt this comfortable with being himself and showing emotions not to mention no one will get killed or maimed because of him and in case if that man is indeed real then he got nothing to worry about his safety ,not after how he proclaimed without any remorse about how he killed Ishida sans wife just because he felt she was impure whatever does that even means which he is sceptical about it because he didn't see that man there when she collapsed but if there is a chance that this guy is for real then he wouldn't mind if he gets some sort of punishment from his luck or curse for his lack of empathy and arrogant nature since the people he had shown emotions had been affected at the very least that's what he had assumed . After some quick thinking he decided to play along to get more information and decide it properly.
The man continued if he had noticed the look of unease on Keigo's face he didn't seem to care about it
"Was it bravery or stupidity or ignorance or all the three combined together? ,Im not completely sure. But from the look on your face I can pinpoint that its mostly ignorance .I wonder how you would react where I to appear Infront of you in my full glory. Before that let me find out what sort of being are you ,if you are quincy and if I deem you worthy ill give you a chance but if you are a Shinigami or a harbringer then I would like to find out if you will show the same attitude when we meet in the battle field in future when my plan comes into fruition " he stopped when he looked at Keigo who had a inquisitive look on his face as if he wanted to ask some questions on his own.
"Of course I will let you ask some questions since this whole conversation is a new experience for me ,im feeling magnanimous" the man spoke in a mocking tone.
"Anything?"Keigo couldn't stop himself from asking.
Mario nodded
"I will answer any question, I swear it on my honour as a quincy" .
Note: I hope I haven't made Yhwach too out of charcter. As for Keigo his usual cannon character is just a façade he has been putting up infront of people other than his family, close friends (which he doesn't have much for now ,the usual gang he hangs out with in the cannon doesn't count in this fic) and family friends ,there is reason for it since I have given a titbit about it in this chapter. I have taken some liberties in adding some extra skills for Keigo like hacking, hand to hand combat and kendo considering who his sister is. This fic is going to be bit slow, slightly dark in few chapters and cannon is going to be tweaked a bit. There will be some major changes from the cannon. Constructive criticisms are welcome. I thank the people who have favourited and bookmarked this fic.