Chapter 8 – Tempting hand of a God (The Soul Hunters)
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
"Normal speech"
'Inner speech/thoughts'
'Inner hollow/Zanpaktou speech'
xxx
It did not take long for Ichigo and Renji to arrive at the compound of the 4th Division, where they quickly made their way through the long halls and entered the room, in which Rukia was currently bedridden. In it, they found that she had two more visitors, one being her own Captain, Jūshirō Ukitake, while the other one was a woman Ichigo didn't recognize. As soon as the two of them barged through the doors though, both Ukitake and the woman turned to them.
"Ah, Abarai-san, Kurosaki-san. I was hoping you'd come see her." Ukitake said with a gentle smile, stifling a cough rising up from within his throat.
"Captain Ukitake." Renji nodded to the man and turned to the woman who, meanwhile, switched her attention back to Rukia.
"Are there any news, Captain Unohana?"
Ichigo's eyebrows twitched.
'So she's the Captain of the 4th Division, huh? Feels… bland.' He noted with a frown. Since Shunsui had told him the Captain of the 4th Division was the best healer in the Soul Society, Ichigo had been expecting a more imposing figure. The woman in front of him, that looked to be barely in her forties, had an angelic smile on her face and Ichigo was completely unable to read her.
"She still hasn't regained consciousness so we don't know anything new but I have been able to analyze the remnants of the spiritual energy within her wound. It has a similar composition to the energy of the old clan of magic hunters, the Quincy, but I'm certain it wasn't them. The one who fought her was something different. I sent the samples to Captain Kurotsuchi so we should have results by the end of this day, even if Kuchiki-san remains unconscious." Unohana stated and checked Rukia's vitals once again.
"I see."
"Similar to the Quincy, huh?"
Ichigo's frown deepened as he glanced between Renji and Ukitake, both of them deep in thoughts. He vaguely recalled that Kurotsuchi was a name of the Captain of the 12th Division, which was a division of the Gotei 13 responsible for research and development. But the new term rang in his ears.
"Excuse me but what is a Quincy?" He asked and caused the other three shinigami to look at him.
"Ah, sorry Kurosaki-san. I forgot you were a student for a moment." Ukitake apologized with an embarrassed smiled.
"I wanted to ask sooner, actually, but what is a student doing here? Ukitake-san?" Unohana asked in a curious, yet not an unpleasant, tone. The man quickly motioned Ichigo to come closer, what the teen begrudgingly did, and turned to Unohana.
"Kurosaki-san is the one responsible for the improvement in Kuchiki-san's mood."
It was Ichigo's turn to have an embarrassed smile.
"I see. Thank you for that, Kurosaki-san. It was painful to watch Kuchiki-san brooding and not being able to help her." Unohana said and nodded to him. Ichigo swore he could see her eyes move away from him for a moment and he literally felt Renji stiffen behind him. Having nothing to reply, the teen just nodded back to the woman and turned to Ukitake, expecting him to answer his previous question.
"Ah, yes, the Quincy. How to explain this term…" Ukitake briefly glanced at Unohana and Ichigo witnessed a short, but obvious, silent conversation between them. With a nod, Ukitake glanced back at the teen.
"Yes. I think this should suffice. Quincy is a term we, shinigami, use to describe spiritually aware humans who are able to absorb and manipulate reishi into spiritual weapons. You can say they were a clan of sorts and their history reaches as back as to a thousand years in the past but… their history is long and boring so I spare you the details. Let's just say that a Quincy is the polar opposite of a shinigami. Literally." He explained with a smile that was, for a moment, a little bit too unnerving.
"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked. He opted not to react to these new pieces of information, even if he felt his heartbeat increasing. Part of Ukitake's definition had fit too nicely on him and his sisters while they had been alive.
"Well…" Ukitake scratched the back of his head.
"The biggest contrast between a shinigami and a Quincy is the method of fighting. And Quincy used to fight. Mostly hollows, though. The point is, a shinigami uses his inner spiritual energy to fight, while a Quincy uses mostly an external source of reishi. Moreover, they use this energy to power their own weapons. It may still sound too similar to a shinigami so I'll point out the most important thing. When a shinigami slays hollows, he purifies them. When a Quincy does it, he completely obliterates the hollow and all souls he may have within him." He continued, earning a frown from the teen.
"You mean…"
"Yes, their method does not allow for souls to join the reincarnation cycle. Souls slain by a Quincy simply cease to exist. Completely and irreversibly. That is why our ideologies were never compatible. Their way threatened to destabilize the very balance of the souls. "
Ichigo narrowed his eyes, finally catching on a small detail.
"You speak of them using only the past tense. That means…"
An expression of a regret washed over the frail Captain's face.
"As far as we know, most of the Quincy have been eradicated 200 years ago. They have been killing hollows at a fast rate, giving us no other choice then to wipe them out. We had to do it in order to prevent the destruction of the world." He said in a pleading voice. Ichigo shook his head.
"You don't have to convince me, Captain Ukitake. I don't know anything about this so there is no way I could judge you for your past actions. It's just a piece of information for me. Nothing else." He stated. Truthfully, there was a stubborn thought in his mind telling him it was wrong to justify killing anybody. However, as a person who had killed before, he stayed true to his word. He was in no position to judge the Captain's words.
"Although, it does surprise me that we are not taught this in the Academy." He said after a moment.
"That's in case you wouldn't join any military branch after you graduate. You don't need such knowledge if you're going to be just a simple clerk. You will be informed once you enroll into Gotei 13 or any other branch." Renji stated from behind him.
"Well, this has been quite informative but if that's all you want to do here, then I'll be forced to ask you to leave. My patient needs a peaceful and calm environment to heal." Unohana called out to three of them in a tone that was sweet, but also carried an unspoken threat. Ichigo thought he felt a sudden chill in his body and turned to Renji and Ukitake to voice this thought but saw both of them negatively shaking their heads.
"…they can stay."
A weak and familiar voice came from the only bed in the room, causing everybody to spin around.
"Ah, Kuchiki-san, you're finally awake." Unohana quickly responded to the voice and hurried to check the female shinigami's vitals for the third time. She lightly pressed against her chest, to prevent her from sitting and smiled sweetly.
"It's good to see you up but you should avoid any straining activities for the rest of this day. Is that clear, Kuchiki-san?"
"…yes." Rukia seemed even smaller when squirming under the gaze of the best healer in the Soul Society and Ichigo had to stifle a chuckle. He coughed and shook his head.
'That surprised me, I almost laughed.'
After Unohana left, a short silence fell onto the room until Ukitake cut it short.
"Well, you heard Unohana-san, Kuchiki-san but I think talking with your Captain and your friends should be alright, right?" He smiled encouragingly.
Over the course of the next few minutes, Rukia summarized her trip to the Human World, which eventually led to her being bedridden.
It seemed it all had happened in Karakura Town, where she had been investigating a report about a disappearance of souls of recently passed away humans. What should have been a trivial matter quickly escalated into a violent encounter with a stranger she had met after discovering a human body devoid of any soul. She had exchanged a few blows with this stranger until he escaped the scene and left her alone. Later, she had ran to him again and had witnessed the same person literally sucking out a soul of a human male. This time, the fight went for longer. The stranger had proven to be a challenging opponent and she had been barely able to fight him on equal grounds. But then, another one of his kind assaulted her from her blind spot, rendering her barely conscious. She had thought she was going to die but the two strangers left he like that, most likely thinking her wounds were sufficient to kill her. She also explained to Ukitake the method the stranger had been using to fight her. It was something she had never seen before. The man had used something he called a 'doll'. This doll had enough power to be compared to a shinigami's zanpakuto. The only other thing she had been able to catch was a name one of them had mentioned before completely exiting the premises. Some Kariya-san.
"I see. The name does not ring any bells so we should wait for Captain Kurotsuchi's analysis. Until then, you should remain here."
"Captain?" Rukia asked with uncertainty in her voice when Ukitake fell silent for a while. The man smiled at her.
"If the one you've fought was that strong, I'm thinking of giving you some support on this mission. I'll send an official memo later but, Abarai-san, are you available? I think having a Lieutenant backing Kuchiki-san up would greatly reduce my worries. Of course, you can refuse."
Ichigo grimaced. Even he was able to feel the discomfort in Renji's eyes at being called out like that. But then again, it was not his problem. Renji rapidly blinked in panic, his eyes jumping from Ukitake's smiling face to Rukia's closed eyes.
"Uhm, I… I…" Poor Renji couldn't fight against the smile on Ukitake's face for long and admitted defeat a moment later.
"…I'll do my best, Captain Ukitake. I'm sure Captain Kuchiki won't have any objections." He said in a defeated tone.
"If it's that much trouble I think I can manage by myself, Abarai-san." Rukia said, her eyes still closed.
'Ouch. That was cold.' Ichigo thought to himself. He saw a vein popping on Renji's face and prepared for an outburst but, surprisingly, the Vice-Captain was able to hold it in.
"Sure, if you call this 'I can manage'." He smirked when Rukia's cheeks colored. She defiantly turned her head to the side and refused to say anything anymore but it seemed Ukitake took it as assign of acceptance.
"I'll call Ikkaku-san, just to be sure. That means Yumichika-san will want to come too." Renji added.
"Alright, I'll ask Captain Zaraki."
…
When they finally left Rukia's room, an hour later, Renji caught Ichigo before the teen could take off in a burst of Shunpo.
"Wait, Kurosaki!"
"What is it?" Ichigo asked in a sigh. He wanted nothing more than to go to his room a take a long, hot shower.
"…"
Ichigo stared at the Vice-Captain, whose mouth alternated between being opened and closed with no sound coming out. When this went on for more than a minute, he rolled his eyes.
"Oh come on, you're a Vice-Captain. If you want to say something just say it or I'm going back to the Academy."
"…fine!" Renji finally managed to find his voice. He averted Ichigo's gaze and intently stared at something behind the teen.
"T-Thank you."
Ichigo blinked and completely ignored Renji's burning cheeks.
"For what?"
"Rukia. You saw how she is. We have some issues and… well, if this scene happened a few months ago, she would have either completely ignored me, tried to mock me or even worse. I'm sure it's thanks to you that she's… mellowed."
Ichigo stared at him for a moment, mentally shaking his head.
'This guy…'
"Sure." He replied and turned around to leave.
"No! I mean… I truly am thankful. I know I'm repeating myself from before but it means much to me. If you ever need a favor, say it."
…
Even in his room at the academy compound, Ichigo wasn't allowed to relax completely. As soon as he had returned, a black hell-butterfly flew inside through the only window and started to fly around his head. Ichigo took a deep breath to calm his nerves and tried to remember the procedure to accept a message from this small messenger.
'I'm sure it was just holding out a hand and releasing a bit of reiatsu to confirm it's me.'
He did just that and the black butterfly landed on his index finger. In the moment it touched his skin, he heard a voice of Captain of the 8th Division inside of his head.
'Ichigo-kun, it's me, Captain Kyōraku. I've talked to Captain Sui-Feng and one of her men should come tomorrow in the evening to pick you up. She agreed to listen to your story but it's possible she'll just give you an advice and won't help with the case as she's quite the busy Captain. But before you go meet her, I have some advice too. Be careful how you speak to Captain Sui-Feng. She's… well, I shouldn't talk bad about my fellow Captains but she's a harsh person who is strict about the whole military protocol thing. Choose your words carefully. And most important thing.
Do not mention the name Yoruichi at all. I apologize, but for now, you cannot know the reason. Just trust me on this, Ichigo-kun. Completely avoid talking about this name and the person with it. Otherwise, be prepared to suffer the consequences. I'm deadly serious.'
The messaged completely relayed itself and the butterfly left the room, leaving a baffled teen alone with his thoughts. He was caught unprepared for the grim tone of Shunsui's voice when he spoke the last few lines. If a Captain as carefree as Shunsui felt the need to warn him over such trivial matter, then Ichigo was going to heed it.
It bothered him greatly, not knowing why was such caution necessary but he had met enough shinigami from the ranks of Gotei 13 to know that people without issues were quite rare there. If the name was really such a taboo for the Captain of the 2nd Division, Ichigo was going to avoid saying it when talking to her. It would do no good if he died so soon. He still had things to do.
After a hot shower to loosen up his muscles, he climbed into the bed and entered a sweet oblivion in which he battled his zanpakuto spirit in yet another session of sweat, blood and sparks of metal hitting each other.
The next day flew by really fast. It may have been his skills progressing further and allowing him to breeze through most of the classes but it also may have been the growing anxiety within his guts from meeting a harsh Captain that allowed him to tune out the voices of others.
Before he knew it, he was standing at the entrance to the academy and waiting for a random man from 2nd Division to guide him to his Captain. It did not take long for such a person to arrive and shortly after that, Ichigo found himself following some nameless guy in a peculiar clothing, different from the regular shinigami garb. Nameless not because Ichigo overheard the man introducing himself but because the man did not do that at all. He just landed in front of him, asked if he was Kurosaki Ichigo and, satisfied with an answer, told the teen to follow him.
Efficient, strict and disciplined.
That was Ichigo's first impression of the man and he had a suspicion, it would be similar with most of the men from the 2nd Division. At least with ones in the same attire. Ichigo also suspected that those men were probably personally trained by the Captain Sui-Feng if she was a person he was expecting her to be.
They quickly arrived at their destination and the man led Ichigo all the way through the barracks until they stopped in front of the door leading into the Captain's office. The teen raised his eyebrow when the man made no intention of moving further but it did not last for long.
"You can join the others. Kurosaki Ichigo, come in." A female's voice came from within the closed room, causing the man next to Ichigo to vanish into the thin air and Ichigo to open his eyes as much as he could in surprise.
'Damn.' He thought and, opening the door, walked into the room that belonged to the Captain of the 2nd Division. The Captain herself was seated in the chair behind the table, busy writing some sort of a report. With a sharp wave, she motioned the teen to come closer and sit down.
"Wait a moment, Kurosaki. I need to finish this." She told him, never taking her eyes from the paper she was writing on. The tone of her voice was not as cold as Ichigo had expected it to be but it was also not friendly. It was simply neutral. He also couldn't, as much as he tried to, feel even a speck of the Captain's reiatsu.
'Well, she is supposed to be a master assassin.' He thought to himself.
As it became quite a custom for him, Ichigo took the chance to study the person in front of him before they began speaking. Like they said, first impression was important.
Captain Sui-Feng of the 2nd Division was a relatively petite woman. That fact alone must have been fairly helpful in her job. If she wanted to, she could have easily hid herself in her office alone even though the office didn't really have that much space in the first place. Her hair, worn short with two long braids bound in white cloth, was as black as the uniform she was wearing underneath her Captain's haori. The uniform looked nothing like the regular shinigami outfit and it seemed it had something to do with her other title, a Commander-in-chief of the Onmitsukidō. Onmitsukidō was the second largest organization of the Soul Society, right behind Gotei 13, and was an equivalent of a Covert Ops used in the human world. Finishing her report, the Captain offered no more room for Ichigo to study her further and stared at him intently.
"I've been asked by Captain Kyōraku to listen to your story, since a part of it directly concerns the reputation of my division. Make no mistake though, Kurosaki Ichigo. I'm not interested in anything beyond that. At least not for now. I may change my opinion but that depends on the story. Be brief but do not omit important details. Am I clear?"
She still didn't release any notable amount of reiatsu, yet Ichigo felt his palms getting sweaty from the intense pressure of the Captain's gaze directed straight at him. It was nothing physical. The pressure was purely mental and, for the first time in a long while, Ichigo felt like a kid again. A kid asked by a scary teacher to admit his guilt at participating in a random bullshit.
He wasn't scared, no. That ship had sailed weeks ago. But it was the feeling closest to that, intimidation. He was being intimidated and Ichigo knew, then and there, that the fact that Sui-Feng was the most skilled assassin in Soul Society was only partially at fault. It was his sixth sense, his inner instinct telling him 'this woman is dangerous'.
Moreover, it was a different kind of dangerous than with Shunsui or anybody else. This was dangerous in a purely violent sense. That she would strike him down in the moment of getting the order to do it. Captain of the 8th Division had been right. He really needed to choose his words carefully.
And so he did. He began telling his story using short but informative sentences devoid of any redundant knowledge that could only unnecessarily prolong his speech. It didn't take him long, however, till he got to the point in his story, when he had his fight with the member of the 2nd Division. There, Sui-Feng momentarily stopped him.
"If you were a random person who just waltzed in here with a claim like that, I would have probably incapacitated you in an instant. It's a dangerous game you're playing, Kurosaki Ichigo. Do you have any evidence to support your claim?" She asked the teen and narrowed her eyes when Ichigo put the slightly burned zanpakuto of the one he had fought on the table. Taking it in her hands, she rolled it between her fingers as if looking for something. Her expression darkened when she noticed the insignia of her division plastered on the low part of the sword's hilt.
"I see. Continue."
But Ichigo remained silent, obviously thinking about something.
"What is it?" She asked with displeasure creeping into her voice. Ichigo grimaced.
"Nothing, it's just… I just remembered I had a small conversation with that man during our fight."
"And?"
Ichigo mentally cursed. He just damned himself for no reason. If only he didn't get off-guard by the memory of the man's words suddenly popping into his mind. He sighed and prepared himself for the worst case scenario.
"…he sort of mentioned you, his Captain. If possible, I wouldn't want to repeat his words. He wasn't exactly… kind when he talked about you."
Sui-Feng blinked and raised her eyebrow, the expression on her face changing into one of an amusement. That confused the teen.
"Oh please, Kurosaki. I am the Captain of the 2nd Division and Commander-in-chief of Onmitsukidō. I am quite aware my methods are harsh and because of that only the best shinigami can remain under my command for a long period of time. It won't be the first time a weakling tried to push his shortcomings onto me in from of insults. I am a professional, I can take it." She said with a dangerous smile, yet Ichigo wasn't completely convinced.
Maybe it was the feeling of having an invisible blade pressed against his throat, an illusion of the increased mental pressure coming at him from the Captain.
Maybe.
"If…if I remember correctly, he was really disgruntled about you using a whip on him. He said… are you sure you want to hear it?" Ichigo tried to stall the time. He failed.
"Kurosaki, I'm already wasting my time. Hurry up or I'm kicking you out of my office."
He sighed. He blamed his memory for recalling such pointless stuff so precisely.
"I quote: If I had the chance, I'd show her that a bitch like her should lick a man's feet." He paused and took a glance at the Captain. Sui-Feng just snorted and motioned him to continue.
"And then… he said he found a girl, a k-kid that looked almost exactly like you and he… he…" Ichigo trailed off and his hands shook.
Just remembering those particular words, the face of that man saying them, was enough to stir the anger within him. He cursed his own sick mind when it subconsciously tried to picture the very scene and a growl escaped his lips.
"Say it." Sui-Feng ordered in a low voice. She was no longer amused and the stare she gave Ichigo was hard.
And Ichigo said it. He spit the hateful words out of him. It left him winded, like he had just ran for days. But Sui-Feng did not react to it. At least not in a way that was visible for the teen. Shortly after that, after allowing him a moment to gather his thoughts and take a deep breath, she told him to tell the rest of the story. Ichigo did it while omitting parts with Yoruichi. Sui-Feng listened to it and, at the end of it, had a serious expression on her face.
"Once again, a dangerous claim, Kurosaki. I admit, the story you've told me is convincing and, for the most part, also backed up by evidence and witnesses. However, that a Captain would do such a worthless thing as manipulating an ordinary soul is too absurd, even if you do look almost exactly like the deceased Shiba Kaien and therefore, there's a possibility of you being his reincarnation."
"Who?" Ichigo instantly asked, his breathing getting heavy. The name Kaien was familiar. He clearly remembered Ukitake saying it when he had first met the teen. It was also a name that had caused Rukia to go silent and anxious. That time, he had sworn he wouldn't look into it but it seemed it was unavoidable now. Sui-Feng narrowed her eyes.
"You have met Ukitake, Kyōraku, Kuchiki and maybe even more shinigami from Gotei 13 and no one told you about him?" She asked suspiciously.
"They have mentioned him a few times but not one of them wanted to say any details. I think it has something to do with Rukia."
"Kuchiki Rukia?" Sui-Feng's mouth formed a thin line and she stared at him for a long while.
"Shiba Kaien was a former Vice-Captain of the 13th Division that has died a few decades ago in a foolish attempt to avenge the death of his wife at hands of a certain hollow, despite not having any intel on it. I will refrain from further judging his actions, character or beliefs if only because of my respect towards Captain Ukitake." She finally said. Ichigo suppressed the urge to ask her more as he knew there simply had to be something else, something far more important.
'If not, it wouldn't make sense for the atmosphere around Rukia once his name is mentioned.' He thought and, pushing the though into the back of his mind, returned to the original point of discussion.
"So you will not help with this case." He stated neutrally. Sui-Feng's stare hardened.
"Careful, Kurosaki. You're in no position to judge me. But yes, right now, I will not offer any help. As it stands, I have enough work at my hands right now. Besides, I think with the support of three other Captains, this case has a good chance to work. However, I will give you an advice." She said.
"If, by any chance, it is true that a Captain was involved in this, in manipulating a plus soul to spy on another soul, you can't do a thing about it. It's barely a crime. He probably wouldn't even be reprimanded because of it. Focus on the other thing. On shinigami of Gotei 13 visiting such disgusting brothels. That is more important in my eyes."
"If it's so important then-"
"Those were my final words, Kurosaki."
…
After Ichigo left, Sui-Feng stayed in her office and, for several minutes, stared through the window, deep in thoughts. Her face betrayed none of her emotions. The complex and intricate web of thought and ideas growing within her mind caused her to scowl. There was something off about the story of Kurosaki Ichigo. Something she wasn't seeing. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but it was clearly weird.
She still clearly remembered what had happened a century ago, when her mentor, the person she had admired the most, vanished from the Soul Society along with few others. That time, the incident that had grown into a large case started innocently. Innocently like the story of Kurosaki Ichigo. Sui-Feng was a master assassin, the best of best, excelled in strategy and military thinking, manipulations and schemes and right now, she had a bad feeling in her gut. She rarely didn't act on it but when she did not, bad things happened.
She sprung from her chair and vanished into thin air in a blast of Shunpo unparalleled in the whole Soul Society. When she came to a stop, it was only moments before she entered another office where she confronted a man in a flowery kimono.
"Kyōraku, we need to talk."
…
It was Ichigo's third time in Karakura Town as a student of the academy. Once again, the students were doing a regular training trip to practice Konsō, opening a Senkaimon gate and communicating with the hell butterflies that spawned each time a soul was being sent to the afterlife. While the first trip had gotten quite messy for the teen, his second visit had been fairly peaceful. Because of that, he had hoped the third one would be at least as calm as the previous one.
Now he knew he had been naïve. The sheer amount of bad luck he regularly attracted was just astounding.
Although, he could have avoided trouble this time. After everything he had done so far, he did not feel like a good person, despite some students still hailing him as a hero of Rukongai. He did not consider himself a hero. Yet, he still had a conscience and seeing the person he had slowly come to see as a friend under attack caused him to disregard the orders from the upperclassmen leading this trip.
He had somehow gotten a bit too far from his group and because of that, he first felt and then witnessed as Rukia sailed through the air in a distance and slammed into a tree trunk. The impact must have dislocated one of her shoulders, as one of her arms now dangled uselessly at her side. Growling under his breath, Ichigo made a split-second decision to go to her.
'…I will regret this. I will definitely regret this…' He thought over and over again. Disobeying orders for the second time was going to bring him more punishment than the last time he had done it.
When he drew closer, he saw three other shinigami officers, one of which he recognized as Renji, each battling his own opponent. But what was unpleasantly surprising was that one of shinigami, a man with jaw-length black hair and weird colorful feathers on his right eyelashes, was the one fighting Rukia. Renji seemed to be fighting some metallic creature along with a large, muscular man with short red hair and an orange Mohawk. The last shinigami, a bald man holding a spear in his hand, was engaged in a battle with a man with a messy, orange-red hair jaw-length on one side, while clean and cut short on the other one.
Ichigo took some time to observe the situation, even if the adrenaline in his veins was telling him to rush straight forward and lunge on the first opponent. He knew that would have been a bad call; the training at the academy was paying off. But the pitiful state Rukia was in made it hard to concentrate.
'See it, see what's going on and understand it.' He mentally repeated to himself what Gengorō once told him in a class and strained his eyes to notice any small detail that could help him. His hands trembled, he was somehow nervous. This looked like a true battle. Not that he hadn't been in a serious fight before. But this was like cut out from a fantasy book. Blasts of energy, chunks of concrete flying around from the force of punches, flashes of light when powerful spells glowed in the dusk, it all seemed so much more dangerous than when he had fought his past enemies just with a simple blade.
'There! What is that? It looks like a… flower?' He wondered when his gaze located a funky tattoo at the chest of the shinigami fighting Rukia. He growled when a bit of blood spurted from her arm and forced his own mind to comprehend the situation faster. With a bit of luck finally leaning over to him, he spotted the man's eyes and the realization dawned upon him.
'He's being controlled.'
In that moment, he quickly went over a few scenarios and decided on the best course of action. He was still hidden and it didn't look like anybody had noticed him.
Good. That gave him a moment of surprise.
He quietly began to build up his reiryoku and started to mutter a chant. In the next second, he jumped out of his hiding place and headed towards Rukia with his right leg moving forward.
"Ichigo?!" Rukia exclaimed in surprise, making him scowl. So much for stealthy action. Fortunately, the shinigami fighting her wasn't able to react to his presence and received a kick to the back of his head, which managed to knock him unconscious. Landing on the ground, Ichigo spun around and turned to the other battles and aimed his opened palm at the closest one.
"Hadō #63, Raikōhō!" A brilliant flash of yellow lightning emerged from his hand and shot towards the man with unique hairstyle, hitting him dead on.
"Ow, what the heck?" The bald shinigami yelled when he barely avoided the following explosion. He turned his head to the place from where the attack came and cursed.
"Yumichika!"
"Don't worry, I just knocked him unconscious. He seemed to be under some sort of control." Ichigo stated in an attempt to calm the shinigami down. The man blinked and opened his mouth but when no sound came out, he turned around and returned to his fight. Ichigo almost laughed at the incredulous expression on the man's face but then he remembered why he came there in the first place.
"You alright?" He kneeled next to Rukia, who was so surprised to see him there, she didn't even protest when he tore a bit of cloth from her shinigami attire and used it to bandage her arm. The pain that shot from the wound, however, managed to fully wake her up.
"I-Ichigo! What are you doing here?!" She asked frantically. The teen just sighed.
"What does this look like, idiot? I'm helping your sorry ass."
She slapped him on the hand and looked like she wanted to yell at him but, as she tried to stand up, only to fall back on her butt, she realized the situation and the condition she was in.
"…fine, but don't think about fighting those guys. They are lot tougher than anything you've fought before."
"Sure, sure." Ichigo replied absentmindedly, concentrating mainly on patching the girl up. Rukia grabbed his shoulder and yanked him closer to her.
"I mean it, Ichigo. Please don't fight them."
The pleading tone of her voice caused the teen to raise his gaze.
"I don't know what has gotten into you, Rukia, but I'm not a useless kid that you have met on that dark night anymore. Will you try to stop me from fighting even after I become a regular shinigami?" He asked with a frown. Rukia shook her head but refused to look him in the eyes.
"No I won't. But you're only a student know. You're not yet prepared for fights of this level." She said sadly.
"Watch out!" The bald shinigami yelled, alerting Ichigo of a fast-moving projectile heading towards him from a man he had previously his with a Hadō spell. He gave Rukia a cocky smirk.
"Who told you that I'm not prepared? Limit, release!" He stated loudly and the outburst of reiatsu knocked the projectile sideways, causing it to miss him and hit a tree next to him instead.
"I'm going."
"I-Ichigo?" Rukia's eyes were wide open as she stared at him in shock. She wasn't the only one.
"Shit, Renji, who is this brat? This is not reiatsu of an academy student." The bald shinigami yelled and, seeing that the man he was fighting got caught off-guard by the heavy reiatsu suddenly pressing on him, used the short moment to strike him with his spear.
"Gah! D-Damn it! Koga! Another one came!" The man yelled loudly as blood flowed out of a deep gash on his shoulder. He was in a fairly bad shape, the Raikōhō from Ichigo had dealt some nasty burns on his skin. The larger man that was battling Renji glanced at him and grimaced.
"Fine, we're pulling out."
"Don't think I'll let you!" Renji growled despite being heavily injured and tried to stop them, along with Ichigo, who quickly joined the fray but the man ignored them.
"Dalk!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" The metallic creature that looked eerily like a spider with a human head answered and jumped in front of them. Transforming its metallic hand, it began to rapidly fire metal projectiles like a machinegun, forcing all of them to take cover. When the barrage stopped and Ichigo and the rest could finally look from behind the cover, there was nobody else there.
…
"Kurosaki, Kurosaki, why do you do this to me?" The principal lamented in a theatrical tone as he tiredly shook his head. Ichigo just stood there silently, his gaze pointed at the wall behind the principal's table.
"I've been lulled by your peaceful second trip and now you go and do this? Do you hate me, Kurosaki? Care to explain your actions?" He asked with a sigh and leaned into his chair, his stare directed at the teen in front of him. The fingers on Ichigo's right hand twitched in annoyance; there was much he wanted to tell the man. But he stopped himself before he could have said something stupid.
"We were told to scatter and find our own targets for Konsō and, unfortunately, I wandered too far. I felt a familiar shinigami reiatsu coming from a close location so I went to take a look. Then, I witnessed a fight which was not going well for the officers of the Gotei 13. Because of that, I waited for the right moment to interfere and help them. That's all." Ichigo explained in an indifferent voice that caused the expression on the principal's face to twist into a scowl.
"I see. Now do tell me, Kurosaki, do you think you are the only student that was on the trip with you that can sense reiatsu?"
Ichigo frowned, not really sure what the point of such a question was.
"Of course not."
"So do tell, why do you think you are the only one who went to join the fight?"
A long silence fell upon the room as Ichigo's frown grew confused and he struggled with an answer to the question he didn't completely understand. When he remained silent, the principal raised two fingers.
"I'll help you with that. There are two reasons nobody joined you in your grand journey to save the day." The man trailed off and enjoyed the irritated grimace on Ichigo's face.
"The first reason is simple. You are a student of the academy and you have no business in anything the Gotei 13 is doing." Ichigo bit his lip to stop himself from retorting. He wanted to ask him, whether he should have just left Rukia and co. alone and possible die but a moment later, he knew what the man would say to him. What rubbed Ichigo in a wrong way was that he actually agreed with it. If it had been anybody else than Rukia, he probably would have overlooked it. There was no sense in risking his life for a stranger. He had a promise to keep, things to change.
"The second reason is quite obvious to me and, probably, to anybody else within the academy. Though it seems it's not that obvious to you. Kurosaki, what do you think an average student would feel when hit by a reiatsu of a high-ranking officer of the Gotei 13 in a combat state?" The man leaned forward and put his hands on the table.
"They would have been terrified, of course. The spiritual pressure of high-ranking officers is worlds above the one a student possesses. Most of them would be scared to fight and that's how it's supposed to be. A student should never meddle in a fight of such level. That is equal to a suicide."
Ichigo blinked. He didn't even realize it until now but was he really that much different from the others? He knew, of course, that his reiatsu was strong and he also knew just how strong the reiatsu of a Captain was. But so far, for some reason, he didn't connect the dots to see the obvious.
He was not like the others.
Sure, the talk about him being a 'monster' was nothing foreign for him. It had been circling the academy for quite some time now. But only after hearing this from the principal, the truth hit him hard.
The thought honestly made him gulp in uncertainty. Was there something wrong with him? If he was that much different, something was surely wrong with him. Even the bald shinigami he had met in the real world, whose name was Ikkaku, said it himself. That Ichigo's full reiatsu was already loads above what an academy student was supposed to possess. It was beginning to rival even Renji. And Renji was a Vice-Captain.
Maybe that was the reason, that his sub-consciousness became aware of this sooner than his consciousness, that he asked Renji, Rukia and also Ikkaku to keep the knowledge of his true reiatsu a secret. Maybe he was afraid if everybody knew about it, they would have thought of him of a monster more than they did at the moment.
"I… see." He said, deep in his own thoughts. The principal noticed the change in his expression but said nothing about it. Instead, he took out an envelope.
"Truthfully, what you did this time, is much more serious than before. Your actions could have resulted in deaths of Gotei 13 officers. However, it seems you are incredibly lucky." He said and slapped the envelope on the table.
"What is it?" Ichigo finally registered the envelope and asked suspiciously. The man pointed at it and grinned in a dangerous way.
"This is your way out of the punishment that was originally planned for you. It seems your action have caught an eye of Captain Aizen, the Captain of the 5th Division. He asks you to attend his calligraphy classes, which happens twice a week. In return, you will receive no punishment for what you did."
Ichigo stared at him for a long while.
"How long?"
The principal's grin widened further.
"Indefinite period of time for now, Kurosaki."
…
"…and so, it seems I'll be spending some time with this guy. Do you have any information on him?" Ichigo asked and took a gulp from his glass. He was currently at the Kuchiki manor on a dinner with Rukia, as she received a day off to recover from her injuries. She also wanted to thank Ichigo for his help in her fight, even if she still considered his intervention as unnecessary. They talked for a while and, gradually, Ichigo mentioned the bonus classes he had gotten as a punishment replacement.
"Captain Aizen?" Rukia mused with her brow scrunched.
"Well, as I've told you before, the man gives me bad vibes. I don't really know why myself because he is a well-respected, polite and soft-spoken intellectual. From what I've heard, he rarely gets angry at anybody, no matter how badly they behave or act. His division adores him and there are also others, from other divisions, who look up to him. I'd say he's like an epitome of perfection. I don't know, maybe that's why I feel so nervous when near him." She said while scratching her tilted head.
"Hm, I think I understand. He's basically a person who appears to be too perfect. That could be unnerving." Ichigo nodded gravely. Rukia's description of the man seemed to remind him of something he had heard before. He soon forgot about it as Byakuya, the Captain of the 6th Division, entered the room along with servants carrying plates of food and he pointed his gaze towards the teen.
"Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Captain." Ichigo didn't really like using titles but since the man was helping him with the case, he thought he could give him some respect. Just a little bit. The Captain continued to stare at him and, after a moment, turned around to leave.
"Nii-sama, you're not joining us?" Rukia asked timidly. Byakuya briefly glanced at her and shook his head negatively.
"No. I have a clan meeting." Then he moved his glance onto Ichigo, who raised his eyebrow in response.
"I do hope you will reduce the amount of foolish acts to a minimum in the future, Kurosaki Ichigo. I wouldn't want to see the man who has saved my pride to end up in prison." And with that, Byakuya left the room, leaving Ichigo to blink in confusion and Rukia to stare at his empty place with a small blush on her face. The teen turned to Rukia.
"Did he just scold me and thank me at the same time?"
But Rukia wasn't listening to him and was muttering to herself with a hopeful smile.
"…Nii-sama called me his pride…"
…
The evening of the first class of calligraphy came quickly and Ichigo dragged himself to it feeling a dread in his stomach. He tried to look up some information on the class and what he had found, did not please him.
It seemed that Captain Aizen was not just well-respected, the man was also insanely popular among every group of shinigami, whether they were from Noble clans, Rukongai or just regular citizens of Seiretei. His classes were always packed tightly with students who thought of him as an idol. Just thinking about it made the teen shudder. He didn't know what he would have done if he had been getting such attention.
He easily found the place and, after entering, his mouth gaped open from the sheer amount of people cramped in there.
"Ah, Kurosaki Ichigo, welcome to the calligraphy class. My name is Aizen Sōsuke and I'm the one leading this class. Please, come and take your seat." The man in the back of the room, apparently the Captain of the 5th Division, stated with a kind smile and pointed at the one empty place practically next to him. Ichigo felt a shiver running up his spine when he noticed the short, but sharp, glares coming from the other students once he moved forward.
'Gee, it's like a scene from an occult movie.' Ichigo thought with a grimace. It seemed the seat that close to Aizen was a subject of great jealousy. Silently, Ichigo sat down.
"Since this is a calligraphy class, we will obviously study just that. But it is also much more than just that. We will talk about many things, exchange our different opinions, reveal our ideologies and speak about anything that may be worrying your soul. Don't worry about anything. Nobody here will judge you for anything. Just be yourself." Aizen said in a calming tone, his eyes behind his glasses closed and his mouth still forming a smile. Ichigo still didn't say anything.
He was afraid once he did, he would vomit. The atmosphere in the room was too sweat, too heavy and too cheerful for his own tastes. Not that he liked to brood or to be in eternal sadness. But this, what was around him, was just unnatural. Felt unnatural. But he also had to endure it. At least for some time.
"Now, please introduce yourself. Not just the name, as we are all already aware of it. Tell us something more." Aizen nudged him, while he placed the brush in his right hand above the center of a paper in front of him. As all eyes in the room shifted onto him, Ichigo felt his throat getting dry.
This really wasn't his grain of coffee. He cleared his throat.
"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo. I'm sixteen years old. I'm here because I've been asked to, not because I want to. So I don't think I'll tell you anything about me. I don't know you, you don't know me and I don't trust strangers."
His words were followed with a short silence, during which the other students just stared at him. Surprisingly, nobody glared. That almost caught the teen off-guard.
"I see. That is unfortunate but I hope that in time, you'll change your mind. Moreover, your words have told us more than you think." Aizen said with an amused smile as his brush began to move across the paper, creating a complicating kanji 'utsu', which meant 'depression'. Seeing it, Ichigo's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.
"Now, take your brush and write the first kanji that came to your mind once you have entered this room." The Captain continued in a calm tone, motioning the rest of the students to do that too.
With a devious smirk, Ichigo grabbed the brush, dipped it in ink and wrote just that. A few seconds later, an austere kanji 'aku', which meant 'evil' shone on the paper. But his effort went out of the window as Aizen did not look even a bit offended and instead chuckled.
"I see. Well, I am a part of the Gotei 13, so it's understandable you see me like that." Captain said in a low voice, as the other student began to chatter among themselves.
"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked. Aizen changed the paper in front of him and smiled.
"I did not ask just for a random student, Kurosaki Ichigo. I have heard about what you have done in Rukongai for those poor souls, how you helped them, so I understand you don't view shinigami as somebody you can easily trust."
Ichigo closed his eyes and frowned.
"…you could put it that way."
Aizen raised his head and looked over his class. After that, his gaze returned onto Ichigo.
"See, Kurosaki-san, you are not the only one who thinks that Soul Society needs a change. A change for the better. There are too many evils being done every day. Too many deeds getting unpunished. Too many souls living in horrible, terrible conditions."
Ichigo glanced at him.
"You're talking about yourself?"
The Captain nodded.
"Indeed. I am well-aware this world is not as people in the living world believe it to be. I… have a dream that one day Soul Society will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal'."
Ichigo snorted.
"If I remember correctly, those are paraphrased words a man in the West once said."
"Yes. Truly a man ahead of his time. But I think it does fit for this world too. Don't you?" Aizen nodded and seemed quite pleased that Ichigo had understood him. The teen sighed.
"I do but somebody has pointed something out for me. That the Soul Society can't become the true paradise I would want it to be. That there are things, unpleasant things necessary for its existence."
Aizen's brush stopped moving but his gaze was still pointed on the paper.
"Was it somebody from the Gotei 13 that has told you that?"
The slight change in his tone caused Ichigo to momentarily stop doing everything.
"Uhm, I'm not sure anymore. Why?"
Aizen smiled sadly.
"Because it would make sense. For the Soul Society to change, even a part of Gotei 13 must be replaced, changed. There are too many shinigami with bigoted sense of thinking and their biased opinions are only hurting this whole place. Moreover, the person at the highest place is most likely at fault."
"The Captain Commander?"
Aizen just mysteriously smiled and negatively shook his head. He did not say anything, so Ichigo returned to his writing and, to his surprise, he found he had subconsciously written another kanji.
This one was 'getsu', which meant moon. He had no idea why he wrote it but, looking at it up close, he felt some sort of a connection with it. As if it was talking to his very soul.
"To see the truth, one must seek it meticulously and in places no other would go to, Kurosaki-san. You may found dark secrets even where there appear to be none. For example, you may think Captain Kurotsuchi of the 12th Division is an evil person, as most of the students seem to think and you probably wouldn't be that far from the truth. He is, after all a scientist and such people have things they want to hide. But nobody would look twice at the gentle and kind Captain Ukitake of the 13th Division."
Aizen stated quietly, so only Ichigo would hear him. The teen registered what he just said but could only stare at him in surprise.
"Huh?"
End of chapter 8.
I'm back in black! ... or not. My life has been hectic these past few blablabla... you know what I mean and you're not interested in my excuses.
Just wanted to let you know I'm not delaying updates without reason.
This chapter did many things, hope you caught them all. Indeed, I chose Bounts to be the background plot for a while. I have a few reasons for that. Mostly logical ones (timeline, it allows me to connect things etc.) Sui-Feng is here and so is AIZEN! Finally! His plan is slowly unwrapping itself. Look forward to it.
To reviews:
*Elliona1 - Yes, I always considered Shunsui to be a very cunning man. Even in canon, he was one of the few that suspected Aizen was not all that good. Similarly, he's suspicious of him in this story as well. He asked Ichigo the question because he sees Ichigo as a potential ally, knows him looking like Kaien can't be a coincidence, wanted to hear his own thoughts from somebody else and knows that somethings doesn't add up with Ichigo's story. The question and Ichigo's answer told him that Ichigo thought process is similar to his only with the difference that Ichigo is a young man who wouldn't be afraid to go against anybody for his beliefs. Shunsui regrets not taking a bigger stance in Urahara's and Vizards' case a centruy ago and wants to make amends. I can't say more cause I'd be spoilering too much... Yes, I thought of the question myself and thank you. (even though I don't think it's that genius :) ).
*BicolourRaptor - thank you, I hoped for a more real Ichigo. That full hollow form huh? I do plan something like that but don't know the details myself yet.
*Ebru_Gunduz_Lestrange - yes, you got it right (it was that obvious? :D).
Thank you all for reviews and PMs, favs and follows. Look forward to next chapter, I do too ;)
Till next time.