Okay, guys, as promised, Chapter 14. Emotions run rampant, but it's not a bad thing. Guess it just depends on how you define "bad", but that's beside the point. Enjoy.
Chapter 14—Secrecy
It was difficult, seeing Komamura injured like this.
Koji sat by his captain's side in Urahara's spare room where they had slept before. Hitsugaya and the lieutenants were in the front, speaking to Urahara, attempting to decide their next move against the strange Reaper with Hollow powers. Right now, Koji found that he didn't care. What mattered was how badly he'd failed, how he'd actually gotten his captain hurt because of his own cowardice.
The captain was breathing—that was a good sign—but the breathing was slightly labored. When they'd brought him back, Urahara had promised them that he would survive. Urahara had bandaged Komamura's wound, and used some kind of drug to accelerate his healing, but somehow, it wasn't enough for Koji. He wanted the captain to wake up now.
He had lost track of how long he had been sitting at his captain's side when Urahara entered, his face slightly more grave than usual.
"We need to talk," he said, in such an authoritative voice that Koji found himself slightly frightened.
"About what?"
"About what you haven't told the others. I could sense your powers from my shop... You do have Soul Reaper powers, but there's something else, something you aren't telling the others. You have power that you're keeping hidden away, don't you? Or is it power that you're putting into something else? Or maybe it's just a secret you're intent on keeping..."
"It's not important."
"How much power are you holding back? You haven't achieved Bankai—I know that for sure—but you do have some power that you aren't using. How much of it is dedicated to keeping up that disguise?"
"I don't know what you're—" Koji stopped his reply midsentence. He had never been good at lying, and it was very clear that Urahara wasn't foolish enough to be deceived by anything that he said. Rather than attempt another round of deception, Koji sighed. "Are you going to tell them if I tell you?"
"Depends on if I need to."
"It's a Kido, one that I learned at the Academy," Koji said. "Bakudo 83: Henkan."
"Ah, yes," Urahara stated. "Transformation. And you've kept it going for how long?"
"A few... months," Koji sighed. "I've kept it maintained."
"Continuously?"
"Well, no," Koji said, "not exactly. Sometimes, I release the Kido, but more often, I just keep it going so that nobody knows." Koji looked at the inert figure of Komamura. "Captain Komamura's probably braver than I ever was."
"If you dropped the Kido, you'd be more powerful than this," Urahara stated. "Your powers are already impressive. Once you release the Kido, you'd probably have more power than you'd know what to do with. You could very easily make lieutenant and, once you learn your Bankai, you might even be able to become a captain."
"I don't deserve to be a captain," Koji noted. "I don't even deserve to be Komamura's lieutenant." He swallowed hard, trying to suppress the lump of guilt that worked its way into his body. "I've spent so much time trying to lie to my captain... If I drop the Kido, and he sees me—"
"You think too little of Captain Komamura," said a voice, and Hitsugaya entered the room, Rangiku and Rukia close behind. Urahara looked up at him, but Koji looked away. He couldn't bring himself to look at Captain Hitsugaya, yet he didn't want to look at Komamura either. He contented himself with staring at the wall. "How is he?"
"Just fine. He'll wake up soon, but I don't know if he'll be in the best condition for battle," Urahara said. "Captain Unohana would've done a better job of healing him than me."
"You've done what you can, thank you," Hitsugaya said. Then, his gaze turned on Koji. "Is there any particular reason why you're trying to hide your real appearance?"
Koji didn't immediately reply. He didn't want to answer, yet he knew he could not simply ignore a captain's question. He took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry." Short and sweet, but he knew it wouldn't suffice. Hitsugaya started to speak once more.
"Why don't you release your Kido and show us what you really look like?"
"Because—"
"Third Seat Shimizu..." The voice, moaned and saturated with pain and exhaustion, was one that Koji wished he hadn't heard right now. He didn't need to hear it, yet he looked and saw Komamura's eyes focused on him. "Release your Kido; that's an order."
Koji swallowed, hating that he could not refuse. He hesitantly lifted his hands and clapped. A small wave of white light washed over them, but it quickly faded...
And Koji sat there... feral and furry. His fur was sleek and black and streaked with silvery lines. A tail had appeared at the base of his spine, visible over the top of his pants, and when he looked up, his blue eyes had become a shade darker, with vertical, slitted pupils. His human ears had vanished, replaced by wolf-like ears that were, instead of being flared upward, were flatted against his head in his embarrassment. Koji swallowed hard, then heard a squeal.
"HE'S CUTE!" Rangiku announced.
"That's it?" Rukia asked. "That's all you were hiding?"
"He looks like Komamura," Hitsugaya noted. "A bit darker-toned, but..." He looked between Komamura and Koji. "Are you two related somehow?"
"No," Koji said, still avoiding their eyes.
With visible (and audible) effort, Komamura sat upright, looking at Koji with a mixture of amazement and confusion.
"Why did you hide yourself?"
"I just thought... When I was younger, people were always scared of me because of how I looked. I didn't want that to happen again," Koji explained. "I figured that if I could keep it secret, I'd do better as a Soul Reaper." Then, upon seeing Komamura's disappointment, he said, "I'm sorry, sir." Then, on the heels of that, he said, "Are you angry with me?"
"I cannot fault you for hiding your appearance, as I once had done," Komamura stated. "I must confess, though, that it does bother me that you cannot trust your allies with who you really are. It hurts to know that your friends cannot be trusted."
"Captain, I really am sorry. I know that this probably isn't the best way to find out, but I was just scared of how everyone would react if they knew. I scared people," Koji said with a small, whimper-like noise. He sniffled, and quickly wiped his eyes. "I won't make this mistake again. Since you're like me, I guess... you, of all people, would've understood."
"Yes, I would've. But now that we know you've been keeping this secret, is there anything else you haven't told us? Anything that could help us now?"
"No, sir," Koji said. "I'm sorry for getting you injured, Captain, but I'll make up for it."
"How?"
"With his Kido released, he'll have plenty of energy to spare," Urahara stated. "Give me about a day or two with him, and he'll be fighting at his best. If we do it right, he might even learn a new trick with his zanpakuto."
"Urahara, are you suggesting—?" Rukia began.
"Yes," Urahara replied. "He's powers might just be strong enough to reach a new level."
"A new level? You mean...?" Koji gasped.
"Captain Komamura, since you're injured, I would ask that you stay behind to help me supervise his training," Urahara suggested. "After all, for what I have planned for him, it may very well be better to have you here."
"I see," Komamura said. "I can help, but what about the rogue?"
"We cannot fight him now," Urahara said, "simply because he's too powerful right now. Even you and Captain Hitsugaya were not strong enough to defeat him, but with the seal on you, I'm not surprised. He's clearly got power equal to a captain at twenty percent of his power. So, what if we find a Soul Reaper without restrictions and with power equal to a captain?"
"Me?" Koji asked.
"Of course."
"How?"
"You've got to learn the next stage of power."
"The next stage... You're talking about—"
"Bankai."
Be honest; how many of you saw this coming? How many of you knew something like this was going to happen? -_-
Either way, here's Chapter 14, and I hope you're ready to see more of Koji Shimizu. Enjoy, read, and possibly review.