Well, here's the next chapter.
As always, I appreciate any and all reviews and readers.
Reviews really spur me on and encourage my writing, and I always read out every review no matter how long and answer questions if you happen to put any in there.
I really hope this fanfic isn't getting too weird and rushed…maybe I write the chapters too quickly sometimes, but this is just so much fun to write for me.
Hope it's just as fun to read.
Let's get this started!
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or its characters, settings, etc.. Did you really need me to tell you that?
Orihime Inoue gasped as she tried to focus through a haze of numbness and pain, feeling her body unable to move, her vision blurred and confusing.
She actually felt paralyzed, or what she imagined paralysis was like, her body cold and unfeeling as she gazed at the two men standing close by.
She knew not where she was or what was happening, but surely if she had been cognizant, she would've been quite surprised.
Uryū Ishida had no idea what he was doing, why he was standing there listening to this clearly enemy's words, why he hadn't moved quickly and saved Orihime, why he wasn't attacking this man.
He had received the note a while ago…
A friend of the Ishida Family sends his regards
And it had outlined a certain location and given vague orders to bring "the big-bosomed girl" along.
Why had he even humored the note? Curiosity?
No, he couldn't fool himself now; things had changed since his battle with Mayuri. Since he had watched Ichigo saved them all.
Depending on a Shinigami? Foolish, idiotic, unallowable…he could hear his father's voice enunciating such things…
"You don't trust me do you, Ishida? You have every right not to…I am a Shinigami. However…I knew your grandfather, Sōken Ishida and his father Shigeru Ishida…I tried to help them both you know, back then when the Quincy Wars were raging."
Ishida took a step back, having heard all of this already from the strange Shinigami who called himself "Kaworu". He found it preposterous!
Then why don't I do something?!
"You don't believe me? Like I said, understandable…however…I have proof…your great-grandfather gave it to me, long ago, before the Wars began. I never managed to put it to good use, but…in the light of the loss of your powers, maybe I can…"
Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryūsai pulled away part of his Captain's uniform to expose his chest. Ishida's eyes widened in surprise.
Normally it would be from the massive scar running down Kaworu's torso, given to him by Yoruichi, though Ishida had no idea.
However, something else attracted the shocked young Quincy's eyes.
On Kaworu's chest, presumably exactly nineteen millimeters from where his heart would be beating inside of his skin, lay a pentacle-shaped scar. A Quincy Cross.
"You?! How do you have that? Why?! You're a Shinigami! You're the bastard who fought Kurosaki!"
"I was assassinated by Soul Society long ago for a single sin, standing for the lives of those Quincy that the Shinigami planned to slaughter. I remember my words before my father, begging him to reconsider. There had to have been other ways, you know…You shouldn't be surprised I knew your family and that they assisted in creating the first Shinigami-Quincy hybrid…"
"They'd never! We…we are sworn enemies, it is preposterous!"
"Sworn enemies? Yet you tag along with that Ichigo fellow all the time, don't you? Your relationship there is a figurative hybrid itself. No matter how much you humor yourself on your relationship and friendship and act distanced or perceive Ichigo as 'different', it will never change the fact that he comes from the line of those who helped kill your grandfather and family!"
"I…"
"We are much alike in this way, you know…wronged by our pasts, wronged by Soul Society…yet you seem to have kept your ties and compassions, and I excuse that since you are young…but your power has suffered for it…"
"What do you mean?!"
"I can sense it in you; you no longer have your full powers, yes? There was a time I'm sure when you were a proud Quincy…but look at you now! Depending on the strength of Shinigami!"
"Bastard!"
Ishida's eyes widened in anger and he reached to draw a spirit arrow before he realized he no longer had his powers. He trembled in frustration as he heard Kaworu's haughty laughter.
"I learned much, you know…how to awaken Quincy powers in someone, be they a former Quincy or even a Shinigami…My Quincy powers were been weakened long ago, but I've always been studying their techniques, keeping tabs on their survivors. If only I had been able to be there when old Sōken died…I would've…"
"Shut up!"
"Still confused? Conflicted? I'm not surprised…but I offer you the devil's tongue…You see, I offer you nothing short of Paradise…Tell me Ishida, what if I told you that there could be a world out there where your grandfather was alive, where your Quincy comrades had survived, a world of peace and prosperity?"
"I'd call you a madman!"
"Yes, I'd imagine such a response…however, the gate to a new existence engineered solely by my will is possible, you know. All I need are the powers of a Quincy to focus the spiritual energy of this plane into a single arrow and the King of Soul Society's Royal Key. I will take hold that throne in the sky, the power of a god that Aizen wishes to take hold of, I know of it. We will supersede him and engineer a paradise where neither he nor the brutality of Soul Society need exist. A world where Yoruichi gave me her lips, not her sword in my flesh. A world where your grandfather and father and family stood together proudly and the Quincy were enlivened. Maybe even a world where that girl would pay you the slightest attention instead of fawning over that Shinigami you call your friend!"
Ishida followed Kaworu's suggestive gaze at Orihime's unconscious form and stiffened.
"What are you implying?!"
"You're as open as a book! And as easily torn apart in my hands! You need new strength, a return to your Quincy powers, and I can provide that…one must train to the highest levels of fatigue and fitness, and then receive a Spirit Arrow at the cavity nodule nineteen millimeters from your heart. It's difficult, risky, but your great grandfather gave me that pentacle scar on my chest himself…those days were long ago, and my Quincy powers are near vanished, but I know I have the ability to at least summon that one arrow you need in your chest."
"Hah! You think I'll just allow you to shoot me in the chest?! This could all be a trick to-"
Suddenly Kaworu was right behind him, and Ishida's eyes widened in surprise bordering on awe.
"Trick to accomplish what? Kill you? My dear boy, I could suffocate you with my spiritual presence alone if I wanted to. No, I wish to reawaken the Quincy in you and train you to a new level of strength. For the sake of Shigeru Ishida and those Quincy long massacred, and frankly for my own sake. My own powers were awakened in such a technique, and they have long worn away in my Shinigami body…but you…you are the tool I need…the Quincy who can help me access the King's Key and Throne. I need no cursed Hōgyoku! I came here originally because Aizen had the artifact I needed to reinvigorate my own Quincy powers, but with you I no longer need him…I'll lead him along a bit more regardless, maybe even get him Rukia…"
"Tool?! And what makes you think I'll allow myself to be used?"
Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryūsai bent forward and whispered harshly behind Ishida's ears.
"Because I can give you the power…the power to surpass Ichigo Kurosaki or even the strongest of the Shinigami…I can train you, train you like that Yoruichi trained him, I know all about it... and with that power you can wrest a final vengeance from the Shinigami, and with that power along my side we can both redirect a new chapter of this terrible existence…A new Paradise. Only through the destruction of this world can a new more vibrant one be created."
Uryū Ishida remained silent, but his body was trembling. The new words and knowledge imparted on him, indeed this Devil's Tongue, and those conflicting thoughts of his friends…his body was paralyzed with indecision.
He looked up to see Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryūsai standing before him, his arms stretched out as if drawing an invisible bow, and indeed a spirit arrow began to form in Kaworu's hands though it clearly was not very strong.
"So, shall we begin?"
Days flowed past, then weeks…
Soul Society began to contemplate the fact that the intruders had simply vanished.
Though to those with even small degrees of reason, it was obvious something was amiss.
Lively Seireitei felt like a graveyard. Captains Hitsugaya, Kurotsuchi, Ukitake, Kyōraku, Hisagi, and Komamura were nowhere to be seen by their Lieutenants or Divisions.
Normally this would have alarmed the attention of Captain Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai himself but the old man hadn't called a Captain's Meeting in ages, his Seireitei orders to all Shinigami to stand down and ignore the "strange occurrences" still active as if he ominously was aware the intruders hadn't vanished just yet.
In fact the only Captains still generally seen in public were Captains Kuchiki, Unohana, Zaraki, and the still hospitalized Soifon.
Generally there was a latent electricity in the attitude and atmosphere of Soul Society, as if everyone felt something big was about to happen.
Everyone was tense, and this included one Ichigo Kurosaki.
His aches and wounds had seemingly returned with even greater pain and he was still in that hut with a recovered Rukia, both of them tending to be brooding and silent. She would often visit her older brother, he would often demand Kisuke Urahara allow him to go hunt for the missing Orihime and Ishida…but they never really interacted with each other directly as much, Rukia and Ichigo.
As if there was a divide between them, and unconscious one perhaps. For Rukia, it seemed obvious she felt guilty about Ichigo's severe wounds and worried for his missing friends who she now considered her own friends as well.
However Ichigo Kurosaki's worries seemed far different. Often he would awaken in the night, screaming and gasping in pain, whispering for his dead mother, trembling or having night fits.
Rukia couldn't stand to see him like that anymore, so more and more as she found herself unable to help him; she simply slept in her normal quarters at Headquarters.
Ichigo Kurosaki let out a gasp in the night, awakening yet again in a cold sweat.
It had been happening for many nights now, these frequent nightmares. In his minds he could hear the screams of his friends, his family…his mother…Rukia…Orihime…all of them.
All along he could hear that voice inside himself. It was not the Hollow, he hadn't felt the Hollow since that battle with Kaworu…no…it was truly himself, he knew it…
You haven't the strength to protect them…You couldn't help your mother…you couldn't help anyone…or yourself! Pitiful! Now Orihime and Ishida are simply missing, gone right under your slumbering wounded nose! Pathetic…
Ichigo rolled about under his covers, feeling absorbed with the sweat on his skin and filth in his mind.
"Pathetic…pathetic…I…I have to…be stronger for them…"
"Truer words were never spoken; dear boy…you do seem like a pathetic worm right now, squirming there in your blanket…"
Ichigo yelped and leapt up with a jump at the sudden foreign voice in his room. He knew suddenly whose voice it was…certainly not foreign…
Before his now unraveled beddings stood Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryūsai himself, and the former Shinigami Captain seemed no worse for wear since the last time Ichigo had seen him.
He still had that arrogant smirk, those flowing Captain's garments that had seemingly been repaired and cleaned…but…
Ichigo noted the look in Kaworu's eyes and almost felt pity. They seemed tired, dead, the eyes of a corpse. No light.
However this was obviously instantly replaced by Ichigo's rage…rage at his own weakness…rage at this bastard.
"Bastard!"
Ichigo reached out for Zangetsu only to wince with pain as Kaworu's foot gently but firmly planted itself on his right arm.
"No…no…We can't have that. I have no time to play with your toy sword, and I think you'll have no urge to play with me when you hear the marvelous toy I got for myself…She's a feisty young girl indeed!"
Ichigo hissed, staring up hatefully at Kaworu.
"What're you talking about?!"
"I know you know who I speak of, that Orihime you treasure so much…You seem to value your friends so greatly…this young naivety unknowing what I know, that they would betray your trust and strength in an instant if needed."
"Shut up! Where's Inoue you son of a bitch?!"
"Somewhere…safe…alive. That's all you need to know for now. I'll give you her back…if you give me Rukia Kuchiki in return…"
Ichigo's eyes widened in disbelief and anger and he flailed around uselessly until Kaworu applied more pressure to the foot stamping on his arm.
"So wild, so angry…that hate in your eyes, keep it, treasure it, it won't be there forever…when you have lived as long as me you grow to forget the marvelous taste of human emotion…But that is another story. I told you what I wanted in return for your friend. I need that Kuchiki girl…"
"NEVER! I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Unlikely…I don't see why you're so…difficult. Choose between the two females you seem to cherish so sickeningly. I only had one, and she was a bitch who gave me death for our anniversary. Count yourself lucky."
Kaworu reached into his flowing clothes and pulled out a flower-shaped hairpin which he promptly dropped on the floor before Ichigo's raging face.
"Tomorrow, at the far western district of Seireitei, in front of the currently inactive Third Division's Headquarters…bring Rukia Kuchiki, or next time I'll drop Orihime's skull here instead of a mere hairpin."
Ichigo stared up at him with barely controlled rage, his face twisting in confusion and helplessness as Kaworu lifted his foot and simply disappeared; obviously flash stepping out of the hut as quickly as he had intruded.
When Kaworu disappeared, Ichigo leapt up grasping Zangetsu and smashed it against the ground in frustrated fury.
"Dammit! What use is my bankai, what use is my sword, what use is any of my power if I can't protect my friends?! Shit! Shit!"
Ichigo Kurosaki did not notice the two men who had been close by outside watching him and Kaworu.
Kisuke Urahara smirked, ignoring Ukitake at his side.
"What great providence…"
"I would watch what you call great providence, Urahara…Rukia is a valued member of my division, and I assumed…your friend. Keep in mind that we humor your presence here in Soul Society only while you are a helpful party to the solving of this terrible problem. Afterwards it would be wise for you to leave immediately before Captain Yamamoto or Kuchiki execute you themselves."
Kisuke gave his former mentor Captain Jūshirō Ukitake a snide look.
He hated being around this memory of the past, it invalidated his current strength and he felt like it returned him to his futile youth. As if he was some weak student again still struggling with life.
As if he'd want to waste anymore time than necessary in this pitiful place.
Urahara had only come for Yoruichi, he told himself as he often visited her yet unconscious form in the infirmary. However deep inside he knew he plotted far greater reasons for his return…Kaworu had to be silenced and stopped once and for all.
His intents may have been admirable, but he had gone about them all the wrong way and far too early. He had paid for this, and Urahara had been content with him being a ghost of the past.
"I simply mean that this will be the perfect time to strike…obviously we can't actually be expected to let either girl die or be captured…At the appointed meeting time and location we will simply move in full force, remove the girls, and eliminate Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryūsai."
"Eliminate him, hmm? So you harbor no regret for erasing this man who once was your greatest friend?"
Kisuke Urahara glanced at Ukitake with an unreadable expression and then turned away.
"I have many sins weighing on my shoulders Jūshirō…one more for the sake of the Shinigami will make no difference."
The dust cleared the next day as the rays of the sun pierced the barren open ground in front of Third Division's Headquarters in the far western district of Seireitei.
Everything had been planned out to the minutest detail, and all parties including, importantly, Rukia and Ichigo had been informed of the plan to ensnare this Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryūsai.
On the dusty field appeared only Ichigo, his expressions preoccupied and tense, and Rukia by his side. She seemed to give him worrisome glances every few minutes, but it was clear she was trying to be strong for what would soon come.
And indeed, he did soon come, materializing about fifty feet away in the swirling wind.
Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryūsai looked exactly like Rukia remembered him, an elegant but savage young man in Captain's clothes with a small knife at his hip.
However, there was a slightly new accessory now. Dangling rather rudely and haphazardly from his right hand was the limp form of Orihime Inoue. Rukia could sense from Inoue's spiritual presence that while she was unconscious and weakened, she was still alive.
That at least meant something; soon the trap could be sprung.
The foul man now called across the field, staring emotionlessly at Rukia and Ichigo.
"You've made your choice, I see…order the Kuchiki girl forward and I'll rouse this bosom girl forward myself…she's been under a bit of paralysis that's all…No harm done…"
Rukia could see Ichigo trembling with rage and frustration alongside her, ready to draw his blade and rush haphazardly towards Kaworu.
Preempting his foolishness, she quickly began to move forward towards Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryūsai as the man roused a confused and fatigued Orihime and urged her towards Rukia.
"Rukia? Where am I? What is this?"
"Shhh, Orihime…just listen…one, two, three, step towards me as I step towards you…it'll all be okay…trust me…"
The two girls slowly made their way across the field, and just as they were about to intersect, an army appeared.
An army? Perhaps not, but Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryūsai must've been startled by the sudden appearance of so many uninvited guests.
Twenty feet behind Kaworu were Captains Kyōraku and Ukitake, silent and ominous. Twenty feet in front of him, in between Kaworu and the girls, were former Captain Kisuke Urahara, Captains Hisagi and Komamaru, and Ichigo Kurosaki himself having quickly flash stepped forward.
Kaworu shrugged, suddenly flashing in front of the two girls, whirling around to glare at the collected company of Shinigami that had appeared.
"I had a feeling this type of thing would happened, but I figured it'd provide me a good opportunity to kill a few Captains or two. Guess I thought right, you should've all heeded my father's orders."
From the second he had appeared, Kisuke Urahara could feel Kaworu's glare on him. He had expected a more dramatic reaction for a reunion this many centuries in the making, but all he received was Kaworu's cold disturbing stare.
Breaking himself out of his stupor, Urahara spun around to his 'comrades', comrades at least temporarily.
"Ichigo! Grab Rukia, I'll take Orihime...we need to move, quickly!"
Kaworu gave a sneer, suddenly appearing in a wild crouch in front of Kisuke, sending a roundhouse kick at Urahara's face.
Urahara just barely managed to dodge it and flash next to Orihime, grabbing her.
"Oh no you don't!"
Urahara's eyes widened as Kaworu hurtled towards him at lightning speed, realizing that with Orihime in his arms he had no chance of outmatching such a level of flash stepping agility.
Suddenly, a massive explosion of dust between Kisuke and Kaworu, obscuring their views and stopping Kaworu's fists attempted reunion with Kisuke's face.
The last thing Kisuke saw before the dusty cloud enveloped all were Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryūsai pained and hollow eyes, still deep and beautiful, yet now pulsing with a supremely enveloping hate that seemed to threaten the possibility of paralyzing Kisuke where he stood.
Now, a brisk wind was gently moving away the dust, and instead of finding Kaworu's eyes or fist in his face, he found himself staring at a massive…back.
Then…a furry canine face, confident but angered.
Captain Sajin Komamura stood now between the two old adversaries who had once been friends, and his spiritual presence was indeed menacing along with his strange appearance.
He glared at Kaworu with what seemed to be utmost disrespect, and Kaworu gave him a snide grin.
"Huh? I didn't know they accepted doggies as Captains now…or are you a fox? How amusing…I assume you're my father's lapdog? Does that look mean you wish to kill me?"
Komamura continued to stare fiercely at Kaworu, though he shook his head.
"No…I was simply contemplating how a son of a man as seemingly great as Chief Captain Yamamoto-Genryūsai could become such a thing…this queer sense of justice you have, it reminds me of a friend of mine…I swore I would bring him back and enlighten him to true justice with my own hands and sword."
Kaworu sneered.
"Don't project your pitiful past onto me, Fido. Out of my way before I send you to doggie heaven."
"I will do no such thing…long have I contemplated the mad wildness of Zaraki, the inflexible wrongs of your father, the skewed and subjective justice of Kaname…I see now that there is a balance between all three that I myself can find…I need only my will, my strength, and my sword! Tenken!"
Komamura flash stepped forward with speed deceptive for his massive size, slamming his zanpakutō down towards Kaworu.
The canine Captain's strength was indeed impressive, leaving a large scar in the earth with a single slash of his unreleased zanpakutō. However Kaworu was totally unharmed, having seemingly dodged it without much difficulty, a few inches to the right of the area where Komamaru's sword had struck.
"I see…then I have no choice…I'll have to end this quickly…no pulling punches…Todoroke, Tenken! BANKAI! Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō! Let the spirit of his own blade bear his coffin!"
Urahara whirled around, deciding not to watch the rest of the fight, overcome with satisfaction at how the plan was going despite initial setbacks. He had Orihime and Kaworu was occupied, now that Ichigo had Rukia they could both tactically retrea-…
Kisuke Urahara stared dumbly at Rukia's confused and unattended form trying to make her way out of the dusty plain without arousing attention.
Ichigo Kurosaki hadn't moved a muscle since all the flashing tactical movements had begun.
Urahara suddenly saw why.
Behind Ichigo's head was a glowing spirit arrow, presumably drawn ready to pummel straight through his skull.
The arrow led up to familiar hands and arms and the even more disturbingly familiar face of Uryū Ishida.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter…
Did it seem too rushed?
Maybe?
I hope not…
For those wondering:
"Where's Hitsugaya?! Chad?! Kenpachi?! Mayuri?! Etc?!"
Worry not…you'll find out more and see more characters in the following chapters, there's simply an important showdown happening right now and I'll be focusing on it prior to any of that.
Especially Kenpachi and Hitsugaya. I have BIG BIG plans for them down the line. And plans for all of the pairings and characters and possibilities you all love. This fanfic will stretch on beyond this "Kaworu Arc".
Oh, and for those wondering what fighting Komamura will be like, oh just wait…We've barely gotten to see or understand his powers in the series so far. I have something thought out…heheh.
And what of Kaworu's intentions regarding this 'paradise' he wishes to make using the King of Soul Society and talk of taking the throne…seems like he's been thinking along the same lines as Aizen or knows something we don't.
And what of Ishida?! What happened?! Did he really train with Kaworu? And if so, how has he changed? Has the "Last Quincy" truly grown more powerful?
Hope you guys stay along for the ride.
See ya next chapter.