Chapter 15:
"I...I can't do this after all."
Yukiko was standing before an empty space between two warehouses on the outskirts of the city, fighting against the urge to run away and failing. It was still too soon.
"Yukiko, this has been one of the goals you've been working toward all this time," Soyokaze reminded her. "You cannot run away now. You've come too far to simply retreat."
"Y-you're right," Yukiko stuttered, taking several more breaths. Then stealing herself against the nerves, she stepped forward and touched the barrier with her reiatsu.
Knowing she couldnt' break it and that she would need the creator's permission to enter, she waited...and waited. For some reason nothing was happening.
"Maybe I didn't use enough reiatsu to show it was me," she wondered to herself. "Should I...try again?"
"Wait."
She paused, with her hand hanging in the air, following her sword's suggestion. Then a gap in the barrier opened up like a door. She breathed in relief and apprehension as she stepped inside and looked aorund.
There were no signs of life in the entry room, which seemed to be devoid of anything aside from garbage and other things expected of an abandoned building. The only things out of place, were the large piece of concrete sticking up form the floor, revealing a set of stairs, and the sound sof battle coming from it.
"Of course they have one," Yukiko sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Were you expecting something different?" Soyokaze asked in amusement.
"No. I think I'd be more surprised if they didn't have it," she sighed. "Alright...here we go..."
Slowly, she edged her way over to the staircase and down the steps. They were short steps and led deep underground toward a lighted area. As soon as she reached the bright area, she stopped right at the edge and peeked out fom the side.
A smile spread across her face at the scene befoe her, bringing back waves of good memories. On one side of the underground training facility she could see Lisa, Love, Rose, Mashiro, Shinji, and a really big guy with bright pink hair she didn't recognize. The six of them were all sitting near each other doing something different. Lisa ha da magazine on her lap, Love was busy reading something and then llaughing about it, Rose was tuning his violin and occasionally complaining about Love spoiling the book, Mashiro was lying on her stomach kicking her legs in boredom, Shinji was tossing his hat in the air and catching it, and the large stranger seemed t be meditating.
Her amusement at the scene was cut short as a loud crash startled her near the steps. She quickly pulled away from the opening to avoid being seen ignoring Soyokaze's jabs at being a coward.
"Rrr...I told you not ot hollowfy!" an all too familiar yell sounded nearby.
"I had to!" This one was also familiar and much more recent. "You almost killed me!"
"If you'd died from that then you obviously weren't as strong as we thought," the first responded bitingly. "We don't need weaklings."
"Why you..."
Another crash interrupted the second voice befoe the sounds of battle moved away. Yukiko chuckled lightly to herself over the conversation she'd just heard. It seemed Ichigo had taken her advice to heart and came for help after all. Not only that, the loud mouth Hiyori seemed to be the one trianing him. They were a lot alike so she found herself laughing over the situation.
"Well that's everyone," she murmured as the anxious feeling began to return.
"Almost everyone," Soyokaze pointed out. "You're still missing one."
"R-Right."
Yukiko knew her ex-captian was nowhere to be seen...but a part of her hoped he would be gone for the day. Out of all the Vizards, he was the one she feared seeing most.
However, her hopes were dashed when she heard a light banging noise followed by a call for lunch. It was Kensei. Yukiko reluctantly peeked around the side again and spotted him on one of the boulders wearing an apron and holding a frying pan and ladle. When had he learned to cook?
She watched as everyone began to move towards the food and was seirously contemplating running away when a shout and collision made up her mind for her.
"Ume! You came! Why are you hiding up here? Come eat with us!"
She wasn't given the chance to answer any of the questions or make any sort of response as she was dragged down the rest of the stairs and over to a talbe filled with food. She blinked a few times, after she stopped, as she tried to register what just happened. After all, it had been over one hundred years since the last time she'd been dragged around by the hyperactive Lieutenant.
"Guys, look who came to visit!" Mashiro shouted giving her a hug. "Finally! Let's have a sparring match, Ume! You promised."
If she had been her old self, Yukiko would have bust out laughing at the varied expressions that greeted her. In fact, the only one that didn't seem surprised in the least was the big guy. If anything he looked amused. Thinking on it, she realized he was probbly the one that made the barrier surrounding the building and therefore let her in.
"Hi," she mumbled nervously. "It's...been awhile."
At her greeting, the frozen scene finally returned to life and the expressions changed. Hiyori grunted and looked away; the big guy smiled at her and nodded; Rose, Love, and Lisa gave similar silent greetings before returning to their meal; Ichigo blushed a little and looked away; and to her dismay, Kensei grabbed his plate and sat as far away from her as he could without leaving the immediate area.
"Yukiko, what are you doing here?" Shinji asked curiously. He smiled warmly, showing all his teeth, and approached her with a plate of food in his hand. "I thought you were planning on saving us for later."
"Well...I'm sure Kisuke already told you what I was working on, so I'll just sum it up," she answered, forcing her calm demeanor to stay. The expressions she'd seen after the shock wore off brought back not so pleasant memories. "After my success with those three...I wanted to come here. I...need this."
"In that case, come grab some food," he murmured, gesturing to the table. "I believe it's high time we catch up."
Yukiko offered a weak smile and nodded before taking a seat next to the big guy with her own platter. She began to eat and a heavy tension rolls over the rest of the group, keeping them from going into any form of normal conversation. Ichigo felt very uncomfortable about the whole situation having no idea what her relaitonship with the group was and finding the lack of any sound to be disturbing.
Then, as the tension continued to grow, it was suddenly broken as Mashiro jumped onto Kensei's back and knocking him over. Her sudden appearance made him drop his plate; the food landing all over his front.
"What the hell, Mashiro!" he yelled shoving her off of him and trying to brush the food off.
"Meanie, Kensei!" she yelled back. "Ume's finally come to visit and you're sitting all the way over here. You should come sit over here instead!"
Kensei was about to yell back when a soft giggle echoed through the silent hall and everyone turned their attention to Yukiko. She still had the sad look in her eye, but a warmer smile graced her lips and she was holding a hand in front of her mouth. She was laughing...
Somehow, her one small laugh set off a chain reaction as first Shinji, then the rest began laughing as well. Then through her giggle, Yukiko managed to get enough control over herself to speak. "The food is pretty good," she murmured nervouly. "But, I think wearing it is a bit much."
Although she didn't think it was that funny, her comment made Shinji and Mashiro both start howling with laughter. She blushed slightly at their reaction and noticed that Ichigo was looking around in utter confusion.
"Poor thing," she thought with a sigh. "I should probably give him some sort of explanation later. Though, I wonder if it's okay to tell him who they are. It's not really my place."
When the laughter died down, Kensei disappeared from Yukiko's sight and everyone else went back to their food. This time, however, they began chatting with each other; all previous tension having gone completely out the window. Rose and Love began discussing a magazine they'd both read, and Lisa pulled out one of her own while continuing to eat. Shinji, however, had gotten to his feet and moved over to where she was sitting, taking a seat in front of her while Mashiro plopped down almost on top of her.
"So, what have you been up to?" he asked taking a bite of food. "You definitely seem to be better, at least since the last time I saw you."
Yukiko paused with her food halfway to her mouth. "Well, managing to solidify three people in my mind definitely helps. Especially since some of their memories link with yours," she slowly murmured. "But then, I suspect Kisuke's already explained things to you all."
"Well, to Kensei and myself yes," Shinji nodded in confirmation.
"What about you? You've been away from soul society for over 100 years," she continued. "What have you been doing all this time?"
"I've been reading these great magazine's whenever I can," Lisa cut in easily. "I've been collecting them since I found out they existed and spend most my time looking over them, again and again."
Yukiko sweat at this answer, but still found it amusing.
"Actually, aside from getting our new power under control and planning to battle them, we've all picked up our own little hobbys," Shinji answered with a shrug.
After this, each member went into detail about their own personal entertainment was. Yukiko listened to each and found they seemd to fit the different personalities. All except for Kensei having learned how to cook. It really threw her off to know the meal she was eating was made by his hand. It was impressively good.
After this, things devolved into a simple exchange of questions which she tried to answer as best as she could. The other sometimes answered each other's questions, giving her a chance to get her breath, especially in moments when her body began shaking. Luckily, Ichigo seemed to remember what she'd said to him when she delivered her report. When these moments began, either he would catch on and say her name, or Mashiro would suddenly hug her and call her name or ask her to spar. Thank goodness the green haired girl would allow her to decline. She seemed to know that Yukiko needed the help, but made it look like she was just throwing her old fits. Silently, Yukiko thanked her for that. She would have wanted to flee without it.
After everyone had finished eating, and Ichigo had washed the dishes, Hiyori dragged him off to continue his training amidst his very loud complaints. While the training was necessary, it also provided an opportunity for the rest to talk without him hovering.
"So, now that Ichigo's occupied, how about telling us what exactly you plan on doing," Shinji spoke the moment the other two were out of earshot.
"Hiyori should really hear this too," Yukiko mumbled lightly.
"Don't worry about her, we'll explain it later," Lisa spoke up, finally setting her magazine aside.
"We're all very curious to know what your plan is," Rose added thoughtfully.
Yukiko paused for a moment, closing her eyes as she took several breaths, clearing the images that had arisen from the last few comments. "Alright, I'm going to be coming here everyday for the next week," she began. "Or six days to be exact. I will spend the majority of each day with one of you and retire at my apartment for the night."
"Why only six days?" Shinji asked curiously.
"Because I've only really met Hachi once, so any memories I have of him are obviously fake and Mashiro has always used my nickname, which means all the memories I have of her not using it are fake," Yukiko waved off as if it didn't matter. "I don't have any issues sorting through my memories of the two fo them, it's the rest of you that's it's difficult."
"So, do you have a certain order or is it first come first served?" Love asked with a small chuckle.
"I have an order...and please don't argue with me about it," she answered looking at each one of them in turn. "First I'll go with Rose, then Love. After that I'll take a day with Lisa followed by Hiyori. I'll end off the week with Shinji then Kensei."
"Sounds like you've got this all sorted out," Shinji nodded. He was a little irritated he had to wait so long, but based off the order he thought he understood why.
"I suppose this means I'll see you tomorrow," Rose hummed. "Any ideas on what you'll want to do?"
"I have some ideas, but mostly it'll just be a day to create new memories," she summed up.
The group nodded their understanding and even Mashiro didn't argue, though she did whine a little about when she'd be able to get in a sparring match. Yukiko promised her they'd do it after the week of pain, which seemed to make her happy.
Once the rules were layed out, Yukiko got to her feet and bade the group farewell before turning and making her way toward the exit. As she moved up the stairs, she stumbled a little and leaned against the wall as some restrained tears slipped down her cheeks. It'd been far more painful to get through just those couple hours than she thought, even with Ichigo and Mashiro's help. She paused for only a few moments to once more push all the pain and fear down before moving off the wall and finishing her climb.
Her head was pounding from the growing headache she had and the stress from the discussion. What made it worse, was the fact that during the entire thing, Kensei had avoided so much as looking in their direction. She was sure she even saw him leave part way through it, which only took an extra harsh toll. She'd wanted to assure him about why she chose to keep him till last, but now she just wanted to leave.
As she reached the front door and moved to step through the barrier, she sensed someone behind her and felt them grip her arm, turning her toward them. Her stomach and jaw about dropped when she saw it was none other than Kensei. He looked like he was struggling with something as he stood there, staring at her. Instantly a set of images exploded through her mind and she felt the urge to run, or scream in his face, or something...but Soyokaze's words kept her from any drastic actions as the images were forcibly suppressed.
"Can this wait?" she asked slowly, resisting the urge to rip her arm out of his grip.
"No," he answered firmly. He opened his mouth several times to say something, but seemed to be struggling to figure out how to word what was on his mind. "Are you sure this is how you want to do things?" She stared at the ground silently. She was surprised he knew her plan already, but reasoned he must have stayed close enough to listen to everything, but kept her from seeing him. "Are you going to wait an entire week before talking to me?"
His question startled her, and instead of fear, frustration bubbled up inside of her making her stare icily back at him. "You once made me wait for months before explaining yourself," she sot at him, pulling her arm free and backing away from him. "You can wait one week." He took a step forward and she wrapped her arms around herself protectively. "Look! I'm not...I'm not strong enough to do it yet."
Kensei grimaced at her declaration and clenched his fists in frustration. She was so torn in many directions that a part of her spitefully thought he deserved it...after everything he did to her. She froze as this thought careened through her mind and she had to shake it again. He took a step toward her and she backed up instinctively. Fear once more took up residence in her mind and she felt yet another tear escape her closed eyes.
"Please...K-Kensei," she whimpered, a few tears leaking down her cheeks. She hated how pathetic the plea sounded. "Believe me, I want nothing more than to pick up where we left off but, I know I can't until I've solidified everyone else here in my mind. It's just...it's too much without that support."
Kensei sighed, swallowing hard at the pained, terrified look on her face. "Alright," he murmured gently. "I'll wait one more week."
At his promise, she looked up at him and all the fear melted away as she saw the sincerity in his eyes. Slowly, her lips turned up and she felt her heart swell as she smiled as warmly as she could muster. "Thank you, Kensei," she murmured softly. Then she turned and walked out the door without looking back.
Shippoman: Sorry about the two month wait, but here's the chapter I've been working on. I hope the ending wasn't too pathetic for her.
Anyway, in the next chapter Yukiko starts making headway with the group of Vizards, but things get a little rougher the farther along she goes. Will her plan actually work, or will the mind destroying training make it impossible? Stay tuned to find out. And please remember to R&R. :D