Warning: I am not an archaeologist or a tomb raider. Please excuse any inaccuracies (if there are any) in the story. Also please take into consideration that I am merely taking a creative license.
ITALICS = DREAM
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
Nineteenth Day of the Fourth Month, Thirteenth Year of Kunshu's Reign
Pitter patter. Pitter patter.
The sound of the rain hit the ground gently as they trudged forward through the muddy green path. Orihime pulled the raincoat's hood down, frowning at the mud grabbing at her boots.
Ichigo grunted and held onto the straps of the waterproof backpack tight. "When is it gonna stop?"
"The rain isn't too bad." Rukia commented.
Ulquiorra stayed silent, while Toushirou examined the map once more.
"We're close to the starting point of the main pathway to the tomb. Let's keep it up!" Megumi called out to everyone. She huffed a bit, fiddling with the necklace. The rumbling sound of the thunder kept her on her toes.
Puffs of breath could be easily seen from everyone. The droplets of rain lingered on their skin. From the corner of their ears, the crashing waves against the nearby cliff mixed in with the roar of the thunder. The occasional wind wailed loudly. When they finally reached the main pathway, Megumi sighed in relief. Nothing bad had happened so far. "Hitsugaya-san, where do we need to go next?"
"Apparently, we need to walk straight for half a mile and then turn right." He folded the map and put it back into his dry pocket.
"Then that's what we'll do." Ichigo murmured, motioning to everyone to follow him. "Let's get this over with."
The mud in the pathway became thicker and heavier for the feet. The green shrubbery mocked their inability to walk well. The clouds were grey and their path was slowly wrapped in fog. Megumi looked uncertain as to how long they walked and how far they had gone, but the calm expressions on everyone else's faces gave her some relief.
"I didn't know that this area had fog. The villagers didn't say anything like that." Orihime whispered to Megumi who agreed.
"At least, they gave us a map. We just need to be able to follow it well and then we won't have any problems." Megumi tried to convince herself that everything was just fine as she said that to Orihime. Suddenly, she felt something slimy wrapping itself around her leg inside of the mud. A chill went down her spine and goose bumps appeared on her arms. She could not move.
Orihime turned around with a questioning gaze. "Meigetsu-san? What's wrong?" Everyone else also faced her.
"I… I can't move. Something grabbed my foot." Megumi swallowed hard and wondered why she had such bad luck. Toushirou walked over to her and tried to pull out her leg from the mud with difficulty.
"Oi, do you need help, Toushirou?" Ichigo called out to him.
He glared at the bodyguard. "It's Hitsugaya-san and no, I can do it." He tugged at her leg harder. Megumi winced from the pain. "Megumi, try to shake your leg from whatever is holding your foot." He whispered to her.
Megumi clenched her teeth and focused her strength in getting away from the thing that is wrapped around her leg. Unfortunately, that caused the thing to tighten its hold on her. She cried out in surprise. "Hitsugaya-san, it's stronger… The hold…"
"The villagers didn't tell us about this…" Orihime muttered under her breath. Worry pooled into her eyes.
Megumi shivered from the cold and fear. The thing was starting to move. "Hitsugaya-san. I think.. I think you should get away from me." Her voice shook.
"What are you talking about?" Annoyance lingered in his voice as he tugged at her foot with more strength than before.
"It's… It's-!" Before she could finish her sentence, she felt herself being thrown over the nearest cliff with her mind processing that Toushirou was also being thrown with her.
Fuck.
"Toushirou/Hitsugaya-san!" "Meigetsu-san!"
Black spots appeared in her gaze as she locked eyes with a shocked Toushirou.
It was all over.
The rain had stopped pouring for the last hour.
"What do we do...?" Orihime almost slid down to her knees in shock when Ulquiorra supported her from the side.
"I don't know." Rukia stood there.
Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "Well we can't stand here forever. Let's get moving to the main tomb. Knowing Toushirou, they'll get to the tomb as well."
"But they just went over a cliff!" Orihime cried out.
"From what I remember, you can't die from the height of that specific cliff. They were lucky that they were thrown in that direction. Don't you remember what the villagers said? They said that the cliff to the right near the main pathway is short in that no one can die from the height since a lot of shrubbery is there to soften their landing." Ichigo argued.
"Kurosaki Ichigo is right. We need to move forward and believe that they are alive and well." Ulquiorra murmured. "We need to be there at the entrance of the tomb, so that they will not worry about our whereabouts."
"Why can't we just go find them?" Rukia asked.
"Think about it, Rukia. The fog is too thick right now and they aren't even answering as we yell out their names. We already waited a good hour for them to answer back, but considering that they aren't responding back, they are either already on their way to the tomb or they were already thrown in a good distance away from us. We can't afford to get lost anymore." Ichigo sighed. "I would love to go search for them myself but it's my job to keep you guys safe. So let's head to the tomb. It's our best option right now."
Ulquiorra held Orihime closer to help her stand better in the mud. "As he said, it's safer for us to head to the tomb until the fog has dissipated and the rain has calmed down. By then, we can either look for the two if they still don't arrive at the tomb or wait a couple of hours at the tomb before heading back to the village. No matter what we decide to do, we first should head to the tomb."
"Then that's what we'll do. Let's go." Rukia pulled the hood over her head once more once the rain began to drizzle.
Toushirou's turquoise eyes flickered open. The dim sunlight brightened up the area that he laid down on. Normal grass that was covered in dew and the trees glowed healthily. He sat up with a dazed look before processing that he was still alive after being thrown off a cliff.
"You're finally awake. I was getting worried that you were actually injured from the fall." It was Megumi's voice but the way she was speaking was odd as though an older man was speaking to him. "How do you feel?" When he spotted her sitting on top of a boulder in an unusual fashion, he quirked his eyebrow at her. The smile that she held was so warm and free.
"I'm…fine." He answered a bit tentatively. "What about you?"
"I'm doing well! It's been a while… I mean it's nice out here." Her smile was still heartwarming. It was a smile that he never saw from her before. While Megumi showed many smiles to people, it was never one that was this open - not even to him who was her longtime work partner. The softness in her voice almost hurt him, reminding him of the distance between the two, despite their unusual habit of calling each other by first name.
This is not Megumi because she doesn't smile and speak like that. Softness and warmth are sides of her that she does not show to others.
That was a thought that he never wanted to acknowledge.
Burying such emotions to the corner of his heart, Toushirou's eyebrows finally furrowed in suspicion. A frown was etched in his expression. "Who are you?"
"I'm Megumi!" She jumped down from the boulder.
Toushirou slowly unsheathed his katana. "Liar. Megumi can't climb up a boulder. She would get too scared of jumping down from such a height."
"Then perhaps you can take a guess as to who I am?"
"..." Toushirou let his katana down to his side. "You're Ukitake Juushirou. Captain of the Thirteenth Division. One of the strongest captains known in history. Polite, well-respected, and highly honorable. Known to also have an illness. Am I correct?"
"Yes." Megumi smiled once more.
Toushirou frowned. "If you're honorable, then why did you take over Megumi's body?"
Sadness flickered in her eyes. "I have my reasons. One of them has to do with you actually."
"What do you mean?"
She shut her eyes as she said, "You hear it everyday, don't you?"
He watched her carefully from a good distance. "Hear what?"
Before Toushirou could process what had happened, Megumi placed her hand over his chest. "In your dreams… Something is calling for you… Something wants you to know its name." The electric blue tint in her eyes almost glowed unnaturally.
Toushirou pushed her away from him. "And how do you know that?"
"You are awakening." She continued. "It wouldn't do to leave it alone. You'll end up killing everyone if you don't learn how to control it."
His eyes widened in shock. "Wha-"
"Come at me with a killing intent, Hitsugaya Toushirou." She raised her hand into the air.
"I won't hurt you while you're in Megumi's body!" He finally snarled in frustration. His katana was still in his hand.
"Then you will unfortunately have to die." The hardness in her eyes was apparent. "All waves, rise now and become my shield. Lightning, strike now and become my blade." The air around them sparked and suddenly, it forced him down to the ground. It was as if gravity became ten times stronger. "Sougyo no Kotowari." A single katana materialized in her hand.
"How…?" Toushirou struggled to stand up, using his own katana to balance himself. He breathed hard, unable to comprehend his current situation.
"I brought you two here for a reason. Time is a fickle thing. While time goes by normally outside of this area, time here loves to go by extremely slowly. One day in here is one minute outside." Megumi grasped the single blade with two hands as that blade slowly transformed into two blades. As the blade came apart into two, a large red rope at the base of the hilt lengthened and the silver metal square charms attached to the rope fell until all five were visible. A second blade jutted out from the inside of the main blade, extending back towards the hilt while running parallel to the main blade. "Are you ready, Hitsugaya Toushirou?"
"Why are you doing this?" He yelled out as he finally went into attack position.
"I will help you reach your full potential, Hitsugaya Toushirou, but if you do not reach it in time, then this girl will sadly die because of your stubbornness." She sighed to herself. "So please do your best since I don't want her to die."
"Get the hell out of her body then…" Toushirou muttered under his breath. His chilly glare sharpened at his enemy. "I don't care if you're known as an honorable person, but if she's going to die because you refuse to get out of her body, then I'll force you out, even if it means destroying your entire existence!" He let out a warcry, dashing towards Megumi with an intent to kill the being inside of her, but before anything could happen, his katana broke in half and flew into the air. The shock in his turquoise eyes grew stronger.
The cut that she made with her weapon was clean and precise. Her speed and technique surpassed any opponent he fought in the past and himself. "You will have to do better than that." An apologetic smile graced her lips.
Fierce anger and cold calculation swirled in his eyes. "My best katana…" He had found a worthy opponent in the worst possible time.
"Listen to the voice...and call out its name." Her voice seemed to be carried by the gentle wind when she spoke. "Listen and you will hear it."
Hitsugaya Toushirou found that he could no longer ignore her words.
"Where am I…?" Megumi woke up from her sleep as she sat up from her spot. It was strangely dark but comforting.
"You're finally awake." An older man with long white hair and green eyes kindly looked at her. He wore a long sleeved white haori with a crimson lining and a white obi. Underneath, he had the common Shinigami soldier uniform on. "I apologize for barging into your mind like this."
"It's...not a problem. Probably." She replied with a questioning gaze. "Who are you? You look oddly familiar…"
"It seems like your mind isn't completely awake. That would be my fault." He walked over to her and pat her head gently. "You can think about it for as long as you wish."
"Why do I feel so tired…?" She yawned, rubbing at her eyes.
"Your Reiryoku is being used by me." He sat in front of her with a worried expression. "You have an unusual amount, but my Reiatsu is taking too much out of you. Unfamiliar pressure to your body and spirit."
"...Reiryoku… Reiatsu… Why does that sound oddly familiar too?" She blinked at him absentmindedly.
"I'm sure it will come to you eventually." He was no longer smiling. An ancient exhaustion lurked in his eyes.
She finally held his face with her hands almost energetically. "I remember you now. You're Ukitake Juushirou… How could I not know you? You're a part of my research." She laughed freely. "What a dream this is…"
"If only you knew…" He smiled grimly.
Toushirou slammed against the tree. Groaning from the pain, he struggled to stand up again. Another water blast from Megumi's katana smashed into his stomach. He coughed violently. Black spots flickered in his sight. "Dammit…"
I am here.
"It's a shame… Is this where it will end…?" Megumi's voice lingered in his ears. The sadness that he heard angered him. "Your friend will cry a lot."
"N-no…" He managed to say. "She wouldn't cry." The surety in his voice stopped Megumi dead in her tracks.
So hear me…
"She wouldn't cry because she would get angry when she finds out that I lost. She would furiously scream at me to wake up and then proceed to tell me to beat the bastard who killed me." His chuckle sounded breathy.
And listen…!
"And then she would try to avenge me like the idiot that she is when she's mad…" An unusually open heart-wrenching smile tugged at his lips. "She would only cry when she forgives herself for not saving me."
"And that will be after avenging you…?" She asked him curiously.
"No. She would never forgive herself. Never…" He closed his eyes.
Say it...
His breaths were becoming shallower. "So that's why…"
And call my name...
"That's why I…" He struggled once more to stand up.
Boy, hear my cry!
His turquoise eyes flared with life. "That is why I cannot afford to lose!" He raised his hand in the air. "Prepare yourself!"
My name is-
The air around him grew colder. Thin layers of ice crystallized on the ground and on Toushirou's clothes until it shattered. Shards of the ice flew into the air as his clothes were replaced by the common Shinigami soldier uniform.
"Sit upon the frozen heavens!" In his hand, a ball of glowing light hovered over it. "Hyourinmaru!" He then swiftly grabbed the katana from the ball of light by its light blue hilt and swung it once to test it, while admiring its unusual four-pointed bronze-colored guard and crescent-shaped blade that was attached to the hilt by a long metal chain.
"You finally heard the voice." Satisfaction lingered in her eyes. "It didn't take a full day either. So now we can sharpen your skills until it is proficient..."
"Now…" Toushirou's eyes had changed. A sense of never-ending and calculative calmness pooled into his expression. He suddenly vanished from his spot.
Megumi's eyes widened before she felt a wind coming from her side. Immediately, she blocked his attack with her weapon. "Even if you activated your Zanpakutou, you still cannot defeat me that easily." She threw him to the other side of the area with pure strength. He landed perfectly as if undeterred. "Hohou…?" Surprise flickered in her eyes.
Without allowing him to rest, Megumi flash stepped behind him and brought down her two blades to slash at him when he easily blocked it with his long katana. Her eyes narrowed. He had disappeared in less than a second once more. Nevertheless, she remained calm, forcing her blades to clash with his blade from behind her. "Too obvious." She kicked his stomach, but found that he had vanished once more. "He really is using Shunpo… When did he…?"
Once Megumi noticed Toushirou standing from afar, she smiled gently. "I'm surprised that you can use Shunpo already. It's not as fast as mine, but… I think this battle should come to an end."
"The end…?" Toushirou glanced at her suspiciously. "And I'm supposed to believe that because…?"
The smile vanished. The cold hardness was etched in her frown. "Because I will end it now." Megumi effortlessly flash stepped next to him with her blades against his throat. He stood still. She smiled once again. "And now it is over."
Toushirou calmly lowered his blade. "You win."
"It is not a matter of winning." She backed away from him and released her blades as they dissipated into the air. "Hitsugaya Toushirou. Now that you have heard the voice of your Zanpakutou… In order to control your power better, I will teach you a training method to help you properly converse with your Zanpakutou and to attain access to newer abilities."
"Why…?" Toushirou voiced out his confusion. "What will you gain from me controlling my powers? It has nothing to do with you."
"I wouldn't be able to stand watching you kill your teammates on accident just because you couldn't control your own powers." Megumi sighed. "That would be tragic."
"Alright." Toushirou frowned. "So what is this training method that you will teach me?"
She pointed to the katana in his hand. "First, return your Zanpakutou to its normal state."
He blinked in confusion. "Return it…?"
"Your Zanpakutou is currently in its Shikai form, but it is unnecessary for the training method I am about to teach you."
"Shikai…?" He muttered under his breath. "And how do I do that?"
"Focus on your Zanpakutou and ask it." She smiled patiently. "There are various methods, but you will find the method that you like the most."
"Ask it…" Toushirou stared at the polish of his new katana and swung it once before sheathing his new Zanpakutou. Immediately, the katana let out a burst of small light, returning to its original form of a long normal katana.
"Good! Now…" Megumi sat down on the ground in a meditative pose. "Sit down with me and place your sheathed Zanpakutou over your lap." She summoned her katana again and stabbed the ground in front of her.
"..." He followed her words without question. Curiosity pooled in his eyes. "And then…?"
"You will then force your mind to become one with your Zanpakutou." She breathed in and out. "Essentially, you're calling out the true form of the powers of your Zanpakutou and when you enter a state of calm to enter the inner world of your Zanpakutou, you will engage them there. In other words, you will have to fight against your Zanpakutou spirit in a battle in order to learn new abilities."
He closed his eyes, following her breathing patterns. "Is that all?"
"No, you can also properly talk to your Zanpakutou spirit. However, you need to be aware of the fact that any form of injury sustained in the inner world while meditating can be reflected in the real world. You need to also know that you can be so deeply entranced that sustained wounds can easily be ignored." Megumi opened her eyes and watched over Toushirou's relaxed state. "So be very careful."
"...What is this training method called?" He murmured to her. She stood up from her spot.
"Jinzen. Remember it well and practice it everyday." Megumi then shook Toushirou right before he entered the state. He looked up at her in surprise. "In my tomb, you'll find a special badge inside of my stone coffin. This badge will allow me to train you further in your dreams. I'll need you to find it and keep it for me."
Toushirou also stood up and fixed the sash for his Zanpakutou's sheath. "So where inside of the coffin is it?"
"I will be holding it in my hands." Her expression turned deadly serious. "This is vital in preventing you from losing control of your powers, so remember to always have it with you if possible."
"But I-" He was about to retort when she interrupted him.
"I trust that you can do it." She quickly pat his shoulders before sitting down on the floor once more. With a big smile, she then waved at him goodbye. "I will see you later then."
"Wait!" Before he could say anything further, she slumped down to the ground - completely unconscious.
He soon sighed deeply to himself. "I have no choice, huh…"
Immediately, Toushirou laid down on the ground next to her in an exhausted fashion and looked up at the rare light blue sky. "...It's calm, isn't it? Megumi…?" No one answered him. He covered his eyes with his arm. After a couple of minutes of tense silence, the wind finally caressed his hair gently as he then stood back up with determination in his eyes.
He was once again prepared for the long journey ahead.
If you liked what you read, have any questions, or need any clarifications… Then please review? I would be really happy to hear your thoughts and would be happy to answer any questions you might have. :)
Thanks!