Fate's Twisted Whims
a Bleach fanfiction
Written by: Sakura Onna
Chapter 6: Of Soul Candy and Decisions
"I vote the name should be changed to Soul Candy because it's cuter!" the pink haired president of the Shinigami Women's Association, Yachiru, yelled jumping out of her seat as she raised her hand with excitement. A ringing chorus of agreement arose from the group of assembled women with the exception of Sakura who sat with her fingers steepled in front of her, her eyes on one of the other members.
Sakura had not been the most pleased when Rukia Kuchiki had joined as the memory of her face covered in Kaien's blood was still fresh in her mind, but she was smart enough to hold her desire to harm the other young woman in check and observe her instead. Sakura felt a tinge of sadness to Rukia's spirit energy and though she more or less tried to hide it her eyes showed it as well. What did she have to be sad about? She had money and power as a member of the great Kuchiki clan. Surely she could buy whatever she wanted or at least talk one of her family members in to buying it for her. And to think she was such a midget too. It must have been the situation that had made Rukia seem taller at the time Kaien died.
Sakura was slouching in her seat with her elbows on the table itself, and her head was still way above Rukia's. Sakura scowled in Rukia's direction for a change being able to do so openly knowing she could easily pass it off as the topic of discussion. Honestly what difference did it make if the substitute soul pills were called gikongan or soul candy or whatever? They would still do the same jobs no matter what they were called.
"Moody-chan, what do you think?" Yachiru asked mere seconds before she pounced on Sakura interrupting her thoughts.
Sakura jumped the moment the lieutenant landed on her and she swore silently. She had let a bit too much of her focus go on the main source of her discontent, allowing the pink-haired child to startle her. She clinched her teeth still not very fond of the nickname Yachiru gave her, "I think this whole discussion is ridiculous! Who cares if it sounds cute or not? And don't any of you answer that! Things work better if they are named by what they do or how they work because then you don't have idiots using them the wrong way. Like for instance what would we do if someone just happens to find a container filled with 'soul candy' laying around and eats a bunch of it thinking it's actual candy? I don't think I need to make a list of people in each squad that would actually do that now, do I?"
"Moody-chan!" Yachiru cried in annoyance before hitting Sakura upside the head. "You're worse than normal today! I wanna call them Soul Candy and design different containers for them! All in favor of ignoring Moody-chan's meanieness?"
A ringing chorus of agreement arose around the room again followed by various shouted suggestions for the designs. Most of the women were smitten with the possible cute ideas running through their minds even with Sakura's valid argument against it. Sakura sighed accepting the inevitable outcome of this meeting. If anything bad happened because of the name of the damn substitute soul pills it wasn't going to be her fault. . .
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"So, Shunsui, how's you-know-who doing these days?" Ukitake asked his friend taking a tentative sip of his tea.
"Meh. It's hard to tell since the girl won't let me get anywhere near her, but from what I've heard from Nanao-chan she's getting more talkative and she's become absorbed in to SWA. So it seems she's doing better, but I still haven't seen or heard any evidence indicating that she's going to drop the act any time soon." Kyoraku replied leaning back on his elbows and staring up at the sky above the rolling hill they sat on near Squad 13's barracks. "I still have to wonder when she's going to just come flat out with the fact that she's a Hideyori and get it over with."
Ukitake smiled faintly as he chuckled once in amusement at Kyoraku's words, set his tea aside and stared at the land before them. "She'll tell everyone when she's ready to. She doesn't really have that much of an incentive right now if you know what I mean. Sakura isn't that stupid, and Tadakatsu's death was more than a mite suspicious if you think about it."
"You saying it was someone from Squad 5 that killed him or something, Ukitake? That could be taken as heresy you know." Kyoraku said in shock of the words coming from the mild-mannered man beside him. Kyoraku sat bolt upright with wide eyes and stared at Ukitake, his jaw slightly dropped with his surprise.
"I know you aren't going to tell the Head-Captain on me, Shunsui, so you can wipe that look off your face. Besides I'm not the first one to be suspicious of it, remember? Hiei started trying to dig up what information he could related to his father's death before the fire claimed him and his whole family except for Sakura. What if it had been an inside job in both cases and it had simply been an accident that Sakura survived the fire? That possibility gives her more than enough reason to hide her identity from everyone, including us."
"So you're saying that when she feels like she can really trust someone with her life and that things are safe enough for her, she will reveal who she really is to them and not a moment before then?"
"Exactly."
"It's probably going to be a long wait then," Kyoraku stated settling back again and pulling his straw hat over his face, "and hell may freeze over before that time."
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A sudden crash and the door to the SWA meeting burst open. A young man with medium blond hair went flying across the room with a shriek and a taller young man with jet black hair stood in the doorway ready to charge after the shorter man until his golden eyes landed on Sakura, who was the first of the assembled group to stand. The dark haired man snarled at Sakura as the blond one hit the wall and fell to the floor with a whimper.
"Great. Just when I think I can finally get that little shit without the bitch interfering, she shows her ugly face again," the black haired man growls.
"Shion Yome. Just when I was starting to think a hollow had munched your ass too." Sakura replied coldly recognising him as quickly as he had her. "You never learn do you? I thought I made it clear before we left the Academy: Fuck with my friends or family, and I fuck your ass up worse than you did to them."
A hand calmly settled on Sakura's shoulder holding her back, and Captain Unohana stepped in front of her a smile still on her face. She gives Sakura a reassuring look before turning her eyes on Shoin. What ever it was that her eyes revealed to him scared the crap out of him and made him take a step back, "You came here as a patient the other day. You throwing one of my squad members around like a rag doll shows you are more than healed. In that case you may as well have just left instead. If you don't wish to be banned from the healing wards for the rest of this decade that is. And we are all well aware of just how well Squad 11 members are at staying uninjured for more than two weeks."
Shion's eyes widened even more and he retreated before the captain of Squad 4 could make good of her threat. Sakura thought of yelling an insult at his fleeing back but thought better of it as she glanced at some of the other SWA members out of the corner of her eye. The blond was just starting to pull himself up into a standing position with the wall when Unohana and Isane Kotetsu went over to him.
"Are you alright, Ryuku-kun?" Isane asked as they started looking him over.
"I-I'm fine, Captain, Lieutenant. Thank you," he stated doing his best to down play the pain in his side.
"Dummy, don't say something like that when you have at least two cracked, possibly even broken, ribs," Sakura called to Ryuku from where she stood by her assigned place seat at the table, her arms shoved in her sleeves. "And don't get that blank look! I remember how you looked when that happened to you in Academy."
"Sakura-san?" Ryuku's green eyes widened. "I didn't know you joined the Shinigami Women's Association."
"Ah, shut it!" Sakura bit out then left the room. She was happy Ryuku was more or less okay but her anger at Shion hadn't been given vent and if she stayed anywhere near Rukia as wound up as she was there was no guarantee she wouldn't go after her.
"Moody-chan," Yachiru muttered in the now silent room.
"Actually this is mild," Ryuku said with an odd half smile curving his lips. "She didn't destroy anything in her exit. But in all seriousness she does appear to be getting better with her anger. Before whenever she had an issue with someone for any reason she'd go after them. Just now she could have attacked two people she has a grudge against but she didn't. She let another deal with one and she walked away from the other."
"Huh? If that guy there was one of them who was the other?" Rangiku asked staring out the doorway to the hall.
Ryuku's smile remained in place and even widened a bit. "It isn't my place to say. When she wants to reveal her grudge to that person she will."
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Rukia watched the way Sakura and Ryuku spoke and thought of Renji, instantly missing him. It was clear to Rukia that those two had a special bond of friendship. The kind born of shared struggle of some kind. As well as a secret understanding from him. Rukia had seen some of the venomous looks the other woman had given her over the past few months and had to wonder what her problem was. Honestly Rukia had never seen the slightly younger woman before she joined SWA in her life, so the looks confused her. As well as Ryuku's words that Sakura held a grudge against her. No Rukia didn't doubt that she was the one Ryuku was referring to. But what could she have done to the other woman to earn such spite? And why hadn't she confronted her with whatever her grievance was yet?
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"Bloom and shatter, Yuki Hana!" Sakura cried releasing her zanpakuto's shikai. Water vapor in the air began to cool and condense behind her then freeze into two large flowers of ice. Once the flowers formed they shattered into countless shards of ice as sharp as any blade could become. Sakura flicked her left wrist and some of the shards immediately flew at a straw stuffed target in that direction, slicing it to pieces. Sakura flicked her right hand, still holding the intact zanpakuto, and more shards flew at another target. Then she visualized one of the targets behind her and on command shards annihilated it. She continued this process until she became able to fully control the ice shards with just her mind then continued her training session until she was on the verge of being able to control the shards with so little effort that it was almost as natural as breathing.
"My, my someone's rather upset," Kyoraku stated surveying the state of the practice field now that Sakura had gotten through with it, and took a sip of sake. He had to say he was impressed by the damage she had caused in just a few hours time. "Tell me what happened to put my little Sakura-chan in such a state."
"With all due respect, Captain, I am not your little fucking anything!" Sakura growled glaring at her captain silently daring him to come any closer to her.
"Ah, come on, Sakura-chan. You can tell me anything you want and I'm not going to gossip about it to anyone. Not even Take." Kyoraku knew his voice was being patronizing but he couldn't help it. He even shortened Ukitake's name hoping it would remind her of when she was younger. He then sat on the ground and patted his lap. "I'll even let you sit on my lap if you want."
Sakura felt a tick develop in her right eyebrow as her anger rose. Did he think she was a six year old or something?! She ground out in annoyance. "I am not a child."
"Sure you're not." Kyoraku just couldn't keep from saying. If she was going to be like this he may as well make a game out of it and have some amusement.
Sakura, though, wasn't in the mood to play. She raised her zanpakuto, "Bloom and shatter, Yuki-"
Before Sakura could finish the incantation, however, Kyoraku shunpoed back to his office. Sakura shook her head and walked away from the practice field muttering about stupid old men under her breath. It was late and her training to blow off some steam had made her hungry.
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Sakura sat bolt upright in her bed covered in a cold sweat. Her eyes darted to every corner and every wall of the small room she called her own in Squad 8's barracks. Her heart raced a million miles per hour and her breathing was on the verge of hyperventilation. Sakura forced her breathing to slow as she became sure that it was just a dream and not real that she had just experienced. She wasn't in danger or caught in a fire. She had been in the past but not now. She was as safe as could be considered. There were no dead bodies of her family in the room staring at her accusingly. She was alone with Yuki Hana by her bed. Sakura pulled Yuki Hana close to her for comfort like some might a teddy bear or security blanket. Yuki Hana whispered what comfort she could to the young woman knowing she was the only one she would turn to for such a thing in this point in time. . .
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"Sakura-san!" Nanao cried when she saw the dark purple smudges under the younger woman's eyes a few weeks later. "Are you alright? Have you been sleeping properly?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sakura lied with a fake smile. She instantly saw a very disapproving Yuki Hana with her hands on her hips in her mind's eye, and knew if she could Yuki Hana would shout 'No! No, she's not okay! She's lying! She's been being kept awake for most of the night for a while now by nightmares!' at the top of her lungs.
Nanao looked doubtful, "If you say so, Sakura-san, but I think you should go talk to someone in Squad 4 just in case. You don't look so good."
"Just had something's on my mind that's all," Sakura said dismissively with a wave of her hand.
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Kyoraku figured out ways to get under Sakura's skin with her sleep deprived state and annoyed her more than ever before. He also figured out how to get close enough to do so as well since her abilities were a bit stinted from her lack of sleep. Sakura eventually gave in trying to figure out her dreams herself and started to talk with Yuki Hana to see what she had to say about them, but what she said most was that none of it, the fire and the deaths, were Sakura's fault and she had to get that through her thick skull. Yuki Hana basically said that it was excess guilt that she had no reason to have that were causing the nightmares. This added to Sakura's exasperation.
"Hey, Sakura-san," Ryuku said as he cautiously poked his head around the corner of a building knowing she was there. Nanao had told him about Sakura's abnormal state and requested that he check in on her since it was more likely she would be more honest with him because of how long they had known each other.
"Huh? Oh, hey, Ryuku-kun," Sakura replied looking up from her work briefly before returning to it. Her voice and body language through her posture definitely spoke of weariness to him.
"How long?" Ryuku asked firmly.
"Huh? How long what?" Sakura asked confused looking up again her work halting.
"How long since you had a decent night's sleep? And don't lie either, I can see plain as day that it's been at least a week."
"A few weeks," Sakura admitted reluctantly. "It was the night after you got thrown across the assembly room that it started."
Ryuku's eyes softened and he gently brushed some stray hair out of her face, "What is it that is denying you your rest?"
"Nightmares. Very vivid ones that seem real at the time," Sakura replied softly turning her face away.
"It's alright, Sakura-san. I'm sure that even the Head-Captain has them now and then. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Besides have I ever told anyone your secrets?" Ryuku assured wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they both sat on the ground. He hadn't even told her that he knew who she really was, much less anyone else. "I'm all ears to whatever you need to say or get off your chest, Sakura-chan."
Sakura told of some of it but kept some of the finer details that could be dangerous to herself. She knew from the change in how Ryuku had addressed her that she had to set him straight some time and not give him any more encouragement. With the more affectionate honorific and a look back on the past Sakura could now see that Ryuku was starting to care about her in a way that she didn't. She would have to figure out some way of telling him without hurting him too badly because she did care about him as a friend. . .
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She slept a bit better that night.
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Then the next day Kyoraku pissed her off enough to decide she had enough.
"Nanao-san, I'm sorry but I can't take this much anymore!" Sakura stated placing her hands on Nanao's desk none too gently. "I don't know how you've managed to put up with him as long as you have, but I can't. I can't deal with a Captain like Kyoraku any longer. I need you to fill out the transfer papers for me."
Nanao was taken aback by Sakura's sudden request. Granted she knew that their captain had been more insufferable then ever lately. . ."Are you sure, Sakura-san?"
Sakura nodded taking her hands from the desk, "Yeah, I'm sure. I respect you, Nanao-san, but I can't stay under the command of a captain I don't any longer. I've stayed here these past 50 years because of my respect for you."
". . . Any preference for your new squad assignment?" Nanao asked resigned as she found the needed paperwork in a desk drawer.
"As long as it isn't Squad 1, 12, 5 or the same one Shion Yome's in, I'll take it." Sakura replied honestly. "Cheer up, Nanao-san. There's still the SWA meetings and stuff."
"Just to warn you it will take a few months for the paperwork to get figured out most likely. Probably won't be until some time in August that you'll receive your new squad assignment so you'll be with us still until it's all set up."
"Understood and that's fine with me."
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A few days later Rukia Kuchiki was sent to the human world on a mission to later return a criminal to be executed for transferring her shinigami powers to a human and out staying her time in the human world. At the same time Renji Abari was promoted to lieutenant of Squad 6, and later it would be he and his captain, Byakuya Kuchiki, that were sent to retrieve Rukia. Few quite expected what happened next. . .
A/N: Finally I'm putting an end to some of this stuff! Next chapter is Ryoka Invasion by Ichigo and crew so it is a transition. Then it will be Squad 6 time!!!! And for those of you who are worried that Sakura is going to be third seat or so in Squad 6, she's not going to get that high of a promotion. Especially right off the bat, right after the Aizen incident. Yes a lot more Byakuya on the horizon. As usual please give me your feed back and reviews!!
'Til next time,
Sakura Onna