Author's note: This ties with my story Stinging Bee. The original characters appearing here are the same.
Tales of the Second Division
Yu's life
Genre: Tragedy
Rating: T
Characters: OC, Soifon
He was born into a noble family. He was the firstborn son of the seventh head of the Fon clan and the heir. It would have been good if it wasn't for the traditions of their family. Yu didn't mind serving in the Onmitsukidou, but as he trained to become an assassin, it was becoming apparent that he wasn't good enough. His relatives never forgot to remind him what the punishment was for those who didn't make it to the Keigun Brigade. So Yu trained and trained until he dropped and then trained some more and it still wasn't enough. Even his brother Keung, who was a lot younger and currently half his size, could defeat him in combat now. Yu hated it. Keung wasn't training half as hard as him, but he had more reiatsu. Stupid accident of birth gave the younger brother strength he didn't have to work for.
Then it was time for Yu to enter the Academy and gain the formal education required to enter the Onmitsukidou. Yu didn't know it for sure, but he suspected that he was admitted into the Shinoureijutsuin only because of his family's intervention. His scores on the entrance test were pretty low.
Once in the Academy, he was placed into the lowest class and even there he struggled. He didn't have the raw power to strengthen his blows or cast Kidou stronger than the lowest level. But he refused to give up. He trained and trained and he was always able to pass into the next year, even if it was by the skin of his teeth.
He graduated on his own merit, of that he was sure. If his results were any worse, he would have failed, but he had passed and that counted. Then came the entrance exam into the Onmitsukidou and he failed. He didn't qualify even for the Reversal Counter Force, the lowest branch of the Onmitsukidou. It was a terrible blow. He had hoped for at least a tiny bit of comfort from his family, but he was disappointed. True to the Fon traditions, they declared him a disgrace to their name and disowned him. To them, it was as if he had never existed.
Left to his own devices, he was forced to work odd jobs to make ends meet. And even during the worst times, he didn't stop his training. He hoped that maybe if he managed to get into the Onmitsukidou the next year, his family would accept him back. But he failed again. The year after that he applied for the Gotei 13 too. He failed again. Finally, four years after his graduation, he was accepted into the Fourth Division. It wasn't what he had imagined doing, but it was better than how he had lived before.
That was until he realized what his new duties were. Because of his low reiatsu and less than perfect Kidou, he wasn't allowed to actually heal anyone. He was stuck making the beds, sweeping the floors and bathing the patients who couldn't move. He hated it. He hated it utterly. It was so unfair. He had worked so hard, yet he was never rewarded for it. And his brother Keung, who was never half as hard-working as him, succeeded at everything. He was admitted into the Punishment Corps, became a unit commander, married a rich noblewoman and had six children with her. It was just so unfair and Yu resented him for it.
It was easy for Yu to keep track of his former family. A lot of people came to the Relief Station, the Medical Relief Units met a lot of people and all the medical staff talked. Therefore Yu was among the first people who knew every time Keung got injured. Yu never visited his former brother and the one time they met in the hallway accidentally Keung didn't seem to recognize him. That angered Yu immensely. Had his little brother already forgotten him? Did Yu mean nothing to him anymore? Knowing the Fon, it was probably the case.
But Yu couldn't forget Keung. He kept tabs on Keung's medical records. He laughed when an injury forced the Eighth Head of the Fon Clan into early retirement. Finally Keung's perfect life was crumbling. But it still wasn't enough. Yu felt even happier when he learned about the deaths of Keung's sons. He lost all five of them within a few years. And his wife died too. Now if his only daughter croaked too, Yu's happiness would be perfect.
But instead it was Keung who died. Yu was almost ready to forget about his former family, dismissing his niece as insignificant, but then he began hearing more and more about her. Elite bodyguard of Shihouin Yoruichi. Then the commander of the Punishment Corps. And finally the Commander-in-Chief of the whole Onmitsukidou and Captain of the Second Division. By that time, Yu was almost consumed by his bitterness. Why should a stupid little girl gain so much when he was denied everything? But he couldn't do anything about it so he kept quiet, swept floors and stewed in his hate.
He got to meet his famous niece (former niece) once. She visited somebody in the General Relief Station and he nearly bumped into her when he was rushing to deliver clean bedsheets on time. He dropped his cargo when he stopped abruptly to avoid the collision. Soifon looked down at him, despite the fact that she was a lot shorter. Her eyes were full of contempt and there wasn't even a flicker of recognition. She said nothing and continued on her way.
How dare you? Yu thought as he picked the now dirty sheets from the floor. How dared the bitch not show respect to her uncle? He was the one who was supposed to be the head of the Fon clan, not her. Yet she obviously thought she was so much better than him. She was the one who was supposed to be sweeping floors and cooking meals and he was the one who should be serving in the Onmitsukidou and ruling the Fon house. At that moment, he swore he was going to get his revenge on her for his pathetic life. But Soifon was too distant and powerful for him to reach.
When he heard about Aizen's betrayal, he was disappointed. Why didn't they let him in? He would have gladly helped them destroy Soul Society. Everything there was so unfair and it deserved to be destroyed. But the traitors didn't let him in. They didn't even want him to gather information, one of his best skills. And he could have told them so much. Even they were so unfair. He wanted to destroy them too, but for now, he was content to watch as they and the leadership of the Gotei 13 destroyed each other.
Then suddenly Yu realized that his chance came. Soifon was badly wounded after the latest battle with the three traitors and she was recovering in the Fourth Division's hospital. Finally she was defenseless and within his reach. He would have danced with glee, but he didn't want to risk anybody seeing him. There would be a lot of time to dance once Soifon was dead. He remembered everything he had learned about assassinations in his youth and devised a plan.
He switched shifts with another member of the Fourth, so that now he'd be the one to take care of the wounded woman. There were guards everywhere, but Yu didn't mind. He knew how to work around them.
His first impulse was just to poison Soifon's food, but he dismissed it. He wanted to see her die. He laced her next meal with sedatives instead. It was actually safer than trying to poison her outright. She was trained to recognize the taste of the most common poisons and some uncommon ones, but sedatives were a different business. They could remain unnoticed.
He knew it was a risk, but he brought the drugged food to her himself. It allowed him to see where the guards were stationed and how many there were. He could see two, one on each side of her bed. He suspected there were some more he couldn't see. But that didn't matter. He planned to act so fast they wouldn't have the time to react.
He was a bit slow in leaving the room. So much that one of the usually impassive masked guards glared at him. Yu didn't mind. Before he left the room, he saw as Soifon picked the chopsticks and began eating the laced food. It was all he could do not to let a smug grin appear on his face before the door closed behind him.
An hour later, he returned to the room under the pretense of picking the empty dishes. The two guards stood still, as if they hadn't moved since he had left. Soifon lay on the bed fast asleep. The empty bowl lay on the nightstand, right beside his bed. Everything was going according to his plan.
He walked towards the bowl, trying to look as casual as he could. Then, as he leaned down to reach for the bowl, he let the dagger concealed within his sleeve slide into his palm and with a lightning fast motion stabbed at his niece's throat. He knew that he wouldn't be able to walk away after this, but he didn't care. As long as Soifon died, he didn't mind dying too. At this point revenge was more important than survival.
His attack was stopped not even halfway to its target by a hand catching his wrist in an iron grip. The next moment a blade landed on his throat and he felt himself being suffocated in a monstrous reiatsu.
"That was sloppy," Soifon, suddenly wide awake, sneered. "Did you really think you can get me with such an amateurish attack?
No! Yu thought. This couldn't be happening. He had planned so hard. He couldn't let himself be thwarted so easily. He let out a mighty roar and threw the dagger at Soifon. Or he tried to. Her grip on his wrist didn't slacken a bit, so the weapon only fell from his fingers. He tried to launch himself forward, but only felt the blade placed against his throat slice deep into his body. Blood flowed freely.
"Idiot," Soifon commented. There was only scorn in her voice. "What did you think you'd accomplish?"
Yu wanted to tell her, but he couldn't. The blade cut his throat too deep. He could only snarl at her as his lifeblood flowed out.
"Oh, you can't talk? Well, it doesn't really matter," the Commander of the Onmitsukidou shrugged. "You're probably just one of Aizen's flunkies, aren't you?" He wanted to tell her no, to explain just who he was and why exactly he wanted to kill her, but all that got past his lips was a gurgle. "No?" She raised an eyebrow. "Well, you are even more pathetic than most of them. I guess it doesn't really matter who you are. You won't be soiling this world with your stench much longer anyway." Then she turned to her guards. "Take away the corpse." The silent ninja obeyed.
As he was dragged out and his sight darkened, Yu thought that not only he failed to kill his target, his (former) niece didn't even know who he was and why did he want to kill her. And she didn't care.