06
The last few months of their time in the Dangai had been really difficult to Ino. No, it wasn't the increasingly intense training that made it that way even though her tired and sore body might say otherwise.
It all started since they had that particular argument that ended up with her attacking him with a full-incantation Soren Sokatsui. Surprisingly or maybe not, he didn't seem to be affected at all by that highly potent spell that could've easily eradicated any living beings. But it was hard to miss how much he had distanced himself from her since then. Even during her Reiatsu element training that involved nothing but ice, the way he treated her felt colder than those ice, and much more hurtful. She had contemplated to apologize several times, but in the end always decided not to. Because to her confusion, he didn't seem to be bothered at all with her stupidity for trying to kill him.
At last, the time that she had been supposedly waiting for had come.
After the usual training session, instead of letting her take a break, the Shinigami Captain curtly informed her that it was over. Then as she watched him using his Zanpakuto in such a way to open the gate, she waited for her mind to take it all in that the training had finally over. She should've rejoiced already. She was finally going home after around a year being away after all. But somehow, she just felt barely more than relieved. Her mind kept replaying him saying it's over until she noticed that she had unconsciously followed him through the portal.
The bright morning light that greeted her as soon as she got back to her apartment balcony distracted her from her troubling thought momentarily. Everything around her still looked the same as before she left for her training. It all confirmed then that in her world, they had indeed only been gone for a few hours to her relief. And she was more than happy when her little guest appeared soon later.
"GOOD MORNING! And welcome back, Miss Ino, Captain Hitsugaya!"
"Hachigo-chan! I missed you so much! You wouldn't believe how miserable it was going through one whole year with only this jerk as company."
The girl intentionally tried to rile him up so hopefully he would be annoyed like how he used to be again. Unfortunately, whether intentionally or not, the boy barely paid attention to her, much less listened to what she said.
"I see you've already become rather fond of living here, Hachigo."
"Yes, sir. It's mainly because I really enjoy Miss Ino's presence though. She's really fun to be around with. And I bet she has become very strong now!"
"I love being around you too, Hachigo-chan! Hey, let's have a spar sometime later, okay?"
She hoped that he would make a response this time, heck some irritating remarks about how she would pathetically lose would be good enough to her. Sadly for her, not only he ignored her again, he even acted as if they were stranger.
"I see. On the other hand, after contemplating about this matter for quite some time, I've decided to not go with my original plan. It would be inappropriate for me to stay under the same roof with a young woman I'm not related with after all. However, you're permitted to stay here for the time being if you want."
He was well aware of how hurt she was, but didn't dare to look at her, and was glad when he noticed a familiar Reiatsu nearby. Soon enough, his most trusted comrade appeared in the air near the balcony, the immaculate attire and aristocratic aura gave away the man's rank and status.
"A wise decision, Captain Hitsugaya. It was a mistake for you to involve yourself with a human female, but it's a good thing that you've come to your senses soon enough. I know I was right to believe that you haven't lost your professionalism."
"Captain Kuchiki. I thank you for sparing your time to come all the way here. Your supervision would be much appreciated."
The mentioned human female watched the exchange between the two Shinigami Captains with obvious annoyance. They behaved as if she wasn't even a person. She couldn't help but wonder if one of the requirement to become a Shinigami Captain was to be the most stuck-up member of their divisions.
"Can anyone tell me who the stuck-up newcomer is, please?"
Thankfully, there was still someone who saw her as a person, and was always happy to answer her questions.
"The sophisticated mister is CAPTAIN BYAKUYA KUCHIKI of the Sixth Division! He is also the head of the highly prestigious Kuchiki Clan."
"Well, he looks rich alright. Is that what make him like ten times more stuck-up than even Toushiro? Luckily, not that many people here could see spirit, or else Konoha would be full of irritated people sooner or later with him here."
It seemed like her derisive words had struck a nerve.
The Sixth Captain's eyebrow twitched with irritation. Fortunately, his fellow Captain noticed this. To saved the insolent girl from being shredded to pieces by deadly sakura petals, the boy suggested that they should continue their talk somewhere more private. It didn't take any convincing because the nobleman also thought the same. The two took their leave immediately after with Shunpo.
It really hurt to see him just left her without even a glance.
"Is it so hard to say see you later or something... What have I done wrong to you..."
"NOTHING, MISS INO."
"Oh I'm sorry, Hachigo-chan. I didn't mean to say that to you." It was embarrassing.
"You still do nothing wrong, though. Captain Hitsugaya is not angry with you."
Well, that was hard to believe. He seemed to be the type of person who just ignored anyone he was angry with, she was pretty sure of that. But as she took a closer look at the little girl's innocent face, she found a knowing a glint within those glossy green eyes of hers.
"How can you tell?"
"I'M HIS NUMBER ONE FAN!" She smiled warmly. "I know that he never does anything based on emotions alone. Everything he does is always for a reason."
For what reason then? Ino found herself wondering quietly. Was it because she was not good enough for him?
Well, compared to that gorgeous Lieutenant of his, she begrudgingly admitted that she looked kinda plain. So perhaps, he just didn't want to get her hopes up or something? He must have already noticed her having feelings for him. If that was really the case, she could accept it. It still hurt, but it was nice of him to not lead her on and break her heart later on. But was that really the case?
Or was he simply being his stupid duty-obsessed self that he didn't want to waste time with her?!
―
As he walked alongside his fellow Captain, Toushiro thought about how he had been treating her like a stranger. His mind couldn't get over the image of her looking hurt like that. To be honest he felt guilty, but he had no choice. The girl somehow had the talent to effectively make him lose his focus.
He remembered that one time when she pleaded him to fight for his live. Back then, he was actually afraid that he would unconsciously give in to her impossible plea. He couldn't afford any of that, because his time was already very limited as it was. Just as how it had been for so long, his duties and missions would always be his top priority, especially when the fate of the worlds was at stake. He still believed he had made the right decision.
His thought ended just as they had arrived at the top of the village's bizarre monument that supposedly represented their historical leaders. Well, it was actually his senior that called it bizarre, not him. The nobleman stood proudly, looking down at each of the carved stone for a moment, before he began.
"I have to say it was very uncharacteristic of you to play as a hero, Hitsugaya. Not only have you risked everything just to save that insolent human, you also went as far as using a prohibited method to train her. The only acceptable excuse is because you felt indebted to her, but that's highly unlikely. Don't tell me you have actually developed romantic feelings for her."
"I have my own reasons, Kuchiki. Please, don't assume such absurd things. You know very well that I have no time for such feelings. You might be more stoic than me, but we both know that I'm colder than you. Being cold is my very nature. All thus time I actually have been trying to be warmer to others. But until now, I'm still end up colder than you who have been actively trying to be colder to others whether you're willing to admit it or not."
He hoped he didn't offend his senior, because he could tell that the prideful man was just trying to express his concern in his own way. There was no reason to worry, though. The man didn't think he has a reason to feel offended. He knew well enough that what the boy said was actually true.
"Very well then. It seems I have no more reason to question your commitment further."
"That's good to hear. Now, I believe you have some information for me."
It was obvious that the boy had been waiting for the knowledge the Kuchiki Clan Head's had gathered from the family archive. His enthusiasm was apparent. The nobleman looked at him with slight amusement, thinking how he still behaved like a child sometimes. He then gave him a pointed stare, silently reminding him as usual to not interrupt him once he started speaking.
"You might already figured it out on your own by now. This is about the other world of the living, the one we're familiar with. Long ago when humankind was still relatively simple minded, the Ancient Ones worked as the terminator of misbehaving Pluses before they could turn into Hollows. For millennia, the method proved to be effective enough, and barely affected the balance of the worlds, since those kind of Pluses were still rare. However, it all changed once humanity began to advance. The rate of unnatural deaths that would eventually result in Hollow transformations increased significantly. On the other hand, those Ancient Shinigami mostly worked on instinct, continued to mindlessly terminate them."
"For the first time in history, the balance between realms was threatened. Unfortunately, even the Soul King possessed no authority over those ancient beings. It was not until decades later that a solution was discovered. He summoned two chosen souls from Soul Society to learn a new soul burial method. Those two were none other than Shigekuni Yamamoto and Ichibe Hyosube. They later formed the original Gotei 13 after recruiting eleven other powerful allies. Their tremendous strength was enough to push back those mindless beasts to their nest in Hell, and eventually prevent a great calamity from happening."
They fell silent for a moment. Byakuya gave his young friend a chance to take it all in. The boy seemed to be fascinated about something in particular.
"I wonder if there would come a time when we manage to surpass those original squads..."
"I believe the time will surely come if you become our leader. Alas, you messed up at last moment just because you took a sudden interest in an under-aged human female. What a shame."
"Don't tell me that's what you intend to tell the others. You can't make a joke, Kuchiki. Just tell me the rest of what you've found from your family archive."
"I will think about it more later then. I'm particularly curious to see Ichigo Kurosaki's reaction once he heard this interesting development."
"See who's losing his professionalism now."
The Sixth Captain frowned slightly. The boy had a point, he admitted to himself. It was shameful for someone of his standing to behave in such a way. He'd better continue his report then before he made a fool of himself even more.
"In one of the oldest and top secret records, there was revelation about how Ancient Shinigami came to be. It was quite shocking. Every Soul Society-born soul with high spiritual power that suffered a tragic death would later be reborn in a certain hidden section of hell. As time went on, they would gradually lose their original characteristics to eventually become those demonic beings, but they would still retain most of their power. This knowledge was actually the main reason behind the creation of Sokyoku, the legendary execution blade with the ability to completely purge a soul."
"So basically we're dealing with fallen comrades and predecessors then..."
"What do you suppose we should do, Captain Hitsugaya?"
"It's still quite early to decide. We still didn't have a clear enough grasp of the whole situation. Did Kyouraku give you any specific order?"
"Perhaps it was just him being incompetent as usual, but he said you're still in charge to make further decision." Though in all honestly, he much preferred to listen to this boy than than their flamboyant superior.
"Figures. Well, for now let's take care one of the first priority in every mission in the world of the living. Follow me."
The boy then jumped down gracefully from the top of the strange monument, followed closely by his slightly puzzled senior.
As it turned out, the priority that the young Captain mentioned earlier was finding a decent accommodation for his comrade during his stay here. Said comrade got this answer after he persistently questioned him on their walk through the village. He didn't know what to think of it. Should he appreciate the boy's considerateness or scold him for prioritizing such trivial matter?
In the end, Byakuya decided to trust his friend's judgement regardless how odd it seemed since he also mentioned that the man that could help them was a reliable contact of his. However, he soon enough began to question his decision when the boy pointed at a suspicious looking ninja who had his face almost completely covered. He felt somewhat disgusted then as he noticed that the weird man seemed to be stalking a beautiful lady who was most likely a traveling musician based on her equipment. It was unacceptable.
"Captain Hitsugaya, are you sure he is the correct person?"
Admittedly, the boy was also ashamed by this discovery. He prayed that his so-called contact was actually doing some kind of spying for an important mission. It would be best to get some kind of explanation first.
"Oi, Hatake-san! What are you doing?"
"Captain Hitsugaya, there's no need to pretend you're innocent enough to be oblivious of what he's doing. That pathetic lowlife is obviously -"
Before the honorable man could finish his speech, the so-called lowlife hurriedly pulled him and his fellow Captain into a nearby alley. He couldn't believe how insolent this stranger was. Thankfully, he could refrain from using violence as he sensed that the lowlife had no ill intent whatsoever.
"Get your filthy hand off of me. And be grateful that Captain Hitsugaya trust you or you would only have one hand by now."
"You don't need to be so panicked, Hatake-san. I don't think that lady could sense our presence." Though he knew that the man was just being careful.
"Sorry, but I'm afraid it was just a silly misunderstanding. You see, I once knew someone who looked very much like her. She was unfortunately a spy. So when I saw that lady entered this village, I decided to be cautious, seeing that we just barely survived an invasion yesterday. Please trust me!"
The poor guy felt helpless then when the two Shinigami only stared at him blankly. He looked at the younger one pleadingly for help, but the boy also seemed to be disappointed in him.
"Hatake-san, believe me. Captain Byakuya Kuchiki and I are older than you. We have a lot more experience in life, even regarding trivial matters such as this. We could tell that you surely have strong interest in her. Perhaps at the moment, it's just barely more than lust, but who knows. It could very well become something worth protecting someday. I'd say be honest with your feelings, and approach her directly like a gentleman."
"I believe you, Captain Toushiro. But trust me, it's too complicated. You two shouldn't trouble yourself thinking about my pathetic love life."
He then turned toward the older Captain, hoping that he would agree since he appeared to be too prideful to care about such matter. Too bad for him, it was one of those rare occasions that Byakuya Kuchiki decided to share his view.
"What a pitiful coward. Take every chance you got regardless how small it might seem. I would say it's better to experience love even if it ends up with suffering than never experiencing it at all. And be grateful you're capable of such feelings, unlike Captain Hitsugaya here."
The nobleman was too absorbed in reminiscing the memories of his deceased wife that he didn't notice his comrade's annoyed look and the masked man's dumbfounded one. The poor guy just couldn't believe it. Never in his life had he ever thought that one day he would get scolded by actual death gods for being too helpless in romance.
"That's... definitely meaningful, Captain. I'll take your advice in mind... yours too, Captain Toushiro! By the way, my name is Kakashi Hatake, Captain Byakuya. And I'm sure two great Shinigami Captains like you are not here just to give me err love advice?"
"Correct, Hatake-san. About that, does your offer for a place to stay still stand? Captain Kuchiki here is the head of a prideful noble family, so I'm afraid he would rather die than ask for help from commoners like us." The boy was still annoyed, it seemed.
"Of course! But the thing is... Are you okay with dogs, Captain Byakuya?"
"I don't mind the clean ones. How about you, Captain Hitsugaya? You no longer have a place to stay after you decided to not involve yourself any longer with that under-aged human girl. Though, I doubt someone like Hatake has enough space for three adults in his residence."
That got Kakashi's attention. He wouldn't pass a chance to tease the boy Captain.
"Wait a minute. Captain Toushiro, you've broken up with Ino-chan already?! Please reconsider it! It's just too soon. I know she's a bit immature, but I really think you two would be great together once you've solved your differences."
"Ridiculous. Captain Hitsugaya made the right decision by forgoing that human female. He is more suitable with modest but highly refined women like my cousin In actuality, he would've been married to her already. But he was too much of a coward to commit, and she ended up resenting males."
Toushiro couldn't help but wince slightly. It was still somewhat a touchy subject for him. He thought that they had agreed to put it behind them.
"Seriously, Kuchiki. You haven't got over that? What did you expect from me? I was barely sixteen in human years back then."
"I expected you to grow up faster."
"I did fast enough in the past decade if I say so myself." And he was still proud of that.
"But once you did, you lost your tastefulness by fooling around with that glorified harem of yours."
The boy was left speechless. He didn't expected the nobleman would bring up his fangirls. In the end, he silently admitted defeat. It was still decades too soon for him to win against his senior in an argument. To get his mind out of this, he then decided the next course of action they would take.
"Hatake, lead the way. We'll start to discuss the much more important matters at your place."
The three walked silently through the busy street of Konoha. It wasn't that they didn't have anything to say. The two Shinigami were just being considerate of their human ally's predicament. The guy was already seen as some kind of creep by a lot of people. Being seen talking with 'invisible friends' would only make his life more difficult. Luckily as an elite ninja, he was still considered as an important person, thus not required to help in the rebuilding of the infrastructure.
As they finally got to his apartment, Kakashi was somewhat grateful that this place had been spared from during the invasion. There was nothing special about his small and plain residence, but he would've been annoyed if it got destroyed, and he had to go through the trouble of finding another place. His guests also didn't seem to care about how it looked as he invited them in, though most likely because they didn't expect anything better from him.
"Please have a seat. Sorry, I doubt I have anything to offer. I'm rarely home lately, and it seems like I would spend even less time here now that another war is all but confirmed."
It was quite a surprise then when the boy Captain all of a sudden looked alarmed just as he was about to sit near his senior.
"A war? Yamanaka never said anything about it." As far as he could remember most of what came out of that girl's mouth were nothing but nonsense.
"Well, at the moment only select few of the senior shinobi are privy to this knowledge. But we really need to tell them soon so they could be more prepared, since it's highly possible that it would be an all-out war this time." Kakashi still didn't get why the Captain reacted that way though.
"A cataclysm is inevitable it seems..."
"Care to elaborate, Captain Hitsugaya?"
"Don't you get it, Kuchiki? A war, especially a full scale one would without a doubt result in very high casualties. There would be so many deaths, so many tormented souls that would surely attract a large number of our ancient counterparts to come and eliminate them. The thing is even I'm not sure the Gotei 13 could stop them if they all happened to show up."
No one spoke for a while.
The two Shinigami Captain understood the direness of the situation perfectly. As for Kakashi, he was smart enough to at least understand the implication, even though he knew very little about the matters they were talking about. Still, he couldn't help but wonder about something that didn't seem to make sense. He hoped the young Captain wouldn't feel offended as he decided to speak up his mind.
"That would be truly frightening indeed. But Captain Toushiro, are you sure that a cataclysm is bound to happen if many souls disappeared in this world? I mean, there had been several Shinobi Wars in the past, and most likely many souls were eliminated at those times. Still, I don't think there had been any sign of the end of the world... I'm sorry! I don't mean to doubt you."
Thankfully, the Captain didn't seem offended at all. On the contrary, he commended the man for making a good point.
"Good question, Hatake-san. I've made my own investigation regarding this matter that resulted in a credible explanation. I believe there's a reason why the Soul Society discovered this world only recently. Though my theory was only confirmed when I examined the Dangai during my time training Yamanaka there. Originally, this particular world had an unusually strong realm barrier that made it harder for an unwanted contact with another world to happen. However, with so many unnatural deaths over the time in result of wars and the elimination of those souls by our ancient counterpart, the barrier couldn't stand the imbalance any longer. And we came to this point where further imbalance would surely result in a true cataclysm."
He had not expected the situation would turn up to be this dire, so he had not reported this discovery back to Soul Society, but he was positive about it. As technically his supervisor, the Sixth Captain didn't blame him for this. In fact, he found himself blaming himself for doubting the young Captain's commitment earlier. And as a man of noble standing, it was only proper for him to admit his mistakes.
"My apologies, Captain Hitsugaya. I should not have suspected that you went to the Dangai just to be alone with your human female. As always, you have a good reason for every decision you make. However, I have a question. Which world this world would collide with if the balance is lost? Surely, it would not be Soul Society, or the S.R.D.I. would have noticed by now."
He actually didn't care much about the fate of this world, but he would still feel sorry for the people if somehow their world happened to clash with Hueco Mundo. However, it seemed like his young friend knew him all to well, and could easily read his train of thought.
"It doesn't necessarily mean we could care less, Captain Kuchiki. A clash between worlds would not only result in a great disaster to those worlds, it would also result in a chain effect that would force them to collide with the remaining worlds. And that would be an apocalypse. As for the answer to your question, which world has made the most contact with this world for ages? I really hope I'd be wrong, but with the strong presence of our ancient counterparts here, I suspect the world that would most likely clash with this world is Hell."
"And Hell is beyond our jurisdiction..." Byakuya realized in dread.
They all fell silent for the second time. It was such a difficult situation. On one hand, it was absolutely forbidden for Soul Society to interfere with the matters in the world of the living, no exception. On the other hand, if another war broke out in this human world, the consequences were too great. Even then, it was such a simple decision for Toushiro Hitsugaya.
"I would most likely receive a death sentence, right, Captain Kuchiki? By now I already have nothing to lose. It wouldn't matter much if I break another law. So I will try to prevent the upcoming Shinobi War."
The older Captain immediately look at the boy as if he just proclaimed that he would marry his human female or something equally ridiculous. He simply couldn't believe that the child genius who had become the youngest Captain in Gotei 13 history could be this foolish.
"Kyouraku and the others are giving their all to help your case. The least you can do to appreciate their effort is by not losing your senses."
But it seemed like the young Captain had made a decision. And once he did, it was always final.
"I want you to follow the protocol and report this decision back to Soul Society later, Captain Kuchiki. I know it wouldn't make you feel that much easier, but I don't plan any direct intervention. I only intend to convince this world's leaders that a war would only lead to a calamity they couldn't even comprehend. On that note, do you have any idea how I can meet them, Hatake-san?"
The man took a moment to think. He knew how powerless he was compared to the Captains, but he was determined to assist them no matter what.
"Captain Toushiro, first let me say that I genuinely appreciate your selfless willingness to save this world. As for your question, I just happened to received news earlier this morning that there's going be a Five Kage summit soon where the leaders would discuss about the matter that would cause the war."
But then...
- Knock-knock! -
`I know you're there, Kakashi. Open the door!`
The distinctively female voice startled the three men who was still too absorbed in their discussion. Interestingly Byakuya Kuchiki was the one appeared to be surprised the most. Not only the voice sounded familiar to him for some reason, he also recognized this particularly weak Reiatsu.
"That woman..." He dreaded the possibility that he would meet her again.
Toushiro, however, found his senior's sudden strange behavior highly amusing. Who would've expected that the stuck-up man was actually had his own human female? It would be more than interesting for sure.
"And here I am surprised that you seem to recognize her, Captain Kuchiki..."
"This is not what you're thinking, Captain Hitsugaya! I don't associate myself with that female human."
- Knock-knock! - Harder this time.
`I'm here to collect your report of yesterday event. Now, open the door or you'll regret it!'
"Uh, this is Kakashi. Do I know you? Please come back later! I don't feel like opening the door right now." He soon realized that he just said the wrong answer when the two Captains both gave him dirty stares.