Disclaimer: Bleach, its characters and its settings aren't mine.
Tatsuki just gapes at me.
"Pardon?"
"I can feel her. It's weak, but your blank is no longer a blank, it's a proper Zanpakuto with a spirit of its own. Now how serious were you about shortcuts?"
"Totally serious. Don't slow down."
She says it like she means it.
"Fine. We're going to fight every day for the next ten days. Then I'm going to show you how to wake your girl up."
"How long will that take?"
"It'll be fast, we're going to use the Urahara method. If you're up to it. But first, ten days of fighting. If you can't handle that then Urahara training is out of the question."
Admittedly I'd done my ten days after waking up Zangetsu, but there are limits to what I'll let Tatsuki goad me into. Like doing without sleep for two hundred and forty straight hours. Most people die before they reach that kind of insomnia.
Thankfully we're already dead.
Limits.
Right.
I'll admit I was going a little easier on her then I'd gone on myself. Maybe because I'm a swordsman and she's a hand-to-hand type. My sword is my weapon; Tatsuki doesn't feel that way yet.
Tatsuki grinned a very unfriendly grin. Then she came at me as though she wanted blood.
Good luck with that, hon.
Ten days later (mostly afternoons and evenings though – we still had classes) I thought she was serious enough to give it a whirl. I met her in the usual place near campus, turned my back on her.
"Get on."
"Why?"
"We're going a lot farther out today. You'll be fighting me without the patches. I don't want us to be found."
Tatsuki didn't say anything more. She's an awkward rider. Rukia fits my back like she was made for it, and Hime-chan is almost as good – she trusts me so much she actually curled up and went to sleep once. Yuzu also make a comfortable passenger – I've never had a chance to carry Karin by herself.
Tatsuki doesn't somehow, she feels awkward. Maybe because I've always seen her as one of the guys? Or maybe because she'd cut my throat, given half a chance?
We traveled far out, almost as far as the beach. I was looking for a clearing. I guess I could have made my own, but there's something about using my Gensa on harmless trees that just rubs me the wrong way. Guess I'm an environmentalist.
Tatsuki is wearing the white Shozoku uniform. Thankfully not the white Yoruichi number. On Yoruichi-sensei it makes perfect sense. On Tatsuki I always feel like she made a wrong turn at the ballet class and ended up in the dojo by mistake. Also, note to self - Tatsuki gets riled if you call her Bones. That's got to be important knowledge.
To think I'm carrying a real live hero from the Winter War. My roommate Morisato leads her fan club, and I think Sei wants Tatsuki for her onee-sama, despite Sei being over a hundred and Tatsuki being twenty (there's a special brand of Tatsuki fan fiction for that).
Seymour just keeps quiet. I think the guy is afraid we'll notice he's been hanging around and send him away.
That damn hollow always has some horse-related crack about me carrying Tatsuki around. How that half-wit could be a part of me I'll never know.
Tatsuki's attitude is definitely not being improved by all the manga. There's a new one called Dragon Princess, which Morisato has about four copies of. She's privately vowed to kill whomever is doing that one. I've got to admit it seems kinda like stalking to me, constantly having your imaginary student adventures written up for all the world to see. Tatsuki can already take care of herself better than some of the senseis, if she couldn't I might have done something about the manga.
Maybe.
"Well?"
What's this? The voice of an angel from the heavens? Or just some bony buzzard squatting like a toad on my back?
Buzzard, I'm thinking.
"You're angry all the time," I said. "It's giving you crows feet." Kinda wondering what I'd gotten myself into. Tatsuki probably expected bankai by the end of the evening.
I personally like training in the deep forest. No pesky line of sight for people to catch me; fight in a wasteland and you'd be surprised who might see you. Have to keep an eye on the horizon in every direction – too much work. Give me trees any time.
Eventually I found a place I like and we stopped. Tatsuki drew her Zanpakuto.
"You know how that thing works? In theory at least?"
"I'll aware of the theory." She said it dryly. "In fact I think I saw a flash of her in class today."
"It's a she? What does she look like?"
"None of your damn business."
So maybe a giant walking asshole then.
Hey, I can hope, can't I?
"Fine." I released to Shikai. "You're too crazy to back down, so I'm not going to talk you out of this. Lesson one, using the Urahara method. We'll skip the hole and the fight with Ururu and move on to step three." It occurred to me that as good as I am I didn't really want Tatsuki trying to take a hat off my head with a sword.
"We're going to fight for real." I grinned at her, realized how this was something I was suddenly looking forward to.
I have to ask her, just to be fair to myself. "Do you really want to do this?"
"Just start already!"
"You don't know what it involves-"
"If you managed it I can do it too. Start now!"
I shrugged. "Lesson the Third, Tatsuki. You'll fight a captain level opponent. If you can't hold your own-"
I shunpoed forward and the fight was on-
She knew he was quick, he was a legend for it. But Ichigo was suddenly ahead of her - swinging at her head-
Tatsuki felt a thin line of fire on her cheek - he'd cut her, he could have taken out her eye!
Tatsuki shunpoed back, dodged a strike to the left as Ichigo swung overhand, somehow stopping his heavy Zanpakuto just short of the ground.
She shunpoed again.
"Better get your sword up Tatsuki! Otherwise-"
He was there again, right in front of her - she had to dodge a flurry of strikes. Her cheek stung where he'd cut her.
"-Zangetsu will take that pretty head of yours off."
Tatsuki suddenly realized just how serious he was. Ichigo was insane! This was supposed to be a training exercise!
Tatsuki slipped left ahead of Ichigo's two handed Zanpakuto swing, which tore through the tree behind her, brought it crashing down.
Tatsuki shunpoed away from him, felt him casually coming up behind her as the tree crashed down behind both of them.
He could have cut her in two with that strike - he would have cut her in two-
Tatsuki dodged, felt a second sting on her cheek. Ichigo had materialized in front of her, bloodied her again!
"Fight Tatsuki! I've never killed a dragon before but by God I'll kill you!"
He was too fast - Tatsuki didn't try to run again. Instead she spun into a kick-
And he stabbed her.
Ichigo took three quick shunpoes back as she fell, laughed at her as she grabbed at her leg.
"Better keep your feet out of this," the bastard called, from maybe twenty steps away.
Tatsuki screamed. "You hit me!" Tatsuki tried to stand, to assess the damage. It was more than a graze this time, the tip of his blade had driven up into the back of her thigh, torn a gouge the length of her hand. She couldn't stop the tears of pain-
"No, I missed! I was aiming to stick Zangetsu up your stuck-up little ass! Keep your feet out of this fight Tatsuki! Or I'll bloody well cut them off!"
He was coming again, charging at her, reaching, she realized, to pull his mask into existence.
She was going to die.
Time seemed to slow as she realized she would die. She could no more master Ichigo then she could hold back the turning of the seasons - he'd brought her here to kill her, to rid himself of the one witness-
"Are you afraid of him?" Tatsuki didn't recognize the voice. Ahead of her the substitute - the Vizard who'd ruined Orihime's life was almost frozen in his charge towards her, his Zanpakuto rising in slow motion with the sole intent of striking off her head. He had entire worlds that hated him and the frustration of a man who'd be chased to the end of time. He had nothing to loose.
"He is a man, not a force of nature," said that voice. It was a womans voice, it was her Zanpakuto.
"I'm not afraid of him," growled Tatsuki. Ahead of her Ichigo and all the world had slowed to a crawl, almost stopped entirely.
It wasn't fear, it was anger, anger at her own inability-
"He's been beaten before, many times. Cut him and he'll bleed, Tatsuki."
Tatsuki turned and saw her, the spirit of her Zanpakuto. Very tall, as tall as Captain Zaraki. It had the outline of a woman, but only that most basic shape; the head concealed behind a huge straw hat and featureless china mask, like a hollows' mask, except without eyes or mouth or nose. The tall willowy body was cloaked in a huge and anciently styled kimono, red and beautiful.
Nothing of the Zanpakuto's skin was visible, every part of her was covered in silk or straw or china. Only the immense black mane of hair floating on the breeze behind her was visible. Even her hands were concealed, deep in the overlong sleeves that rested on Tatsuki's shoulders as the spirit gently turned her back towards the frozen substitute.
"You hate him," said the spirit. "I hate him. Together we hate him, Tatsuki, for what he did."
In the depths of her soul Tatsuki knew there was nothing human behind that mask, that hat and that robing kimono. Female, yes, very female, but not human. Not even mammalian.
Which to Tatsuki's mind made the breasts sort of hard to explain.
The tall figure bent forward over Tatsuki in a way no mammals spine could have bent, spoke directly in her ear.
"He'll bleed, Tatsuki, and you want to see him bleed."
Tatsuki lowered her brows "What do I have to do?"
"He is one of the most powerful forces on this or any world, Tatsuki, he's everything you ever wanted to be. But he's only a man. Cut him and he will bleed. Cut him Tatsuki!"
"I know you now."
"Say my name, Tatsuki. Say my name and STRIKE!"
"Rise Red Dragon!"
Tatsuki felt her spiritual pressure erupt through her skin, surging down the length of her Zanpakuto as Red Dragon exploded in her hands, blade shattering, reforming into a long line of red razor-sharp triangles that whirled out and spun around her like a tornado of saw blades. They screamed out as they spun.
Red Dragon wasn't a sword at all, it was a just a hilt with twenty or so free floating red and gold triangles in a curved line floating above, spinning in perfect lockstep, each triangle smaller than the palm of her hand-
Ichigo had stopped.
It was sudden when it happened, that light taking root in her eyes as Tatsuki shouted out the name, released her shikai. And I have to admit, I was impressed.
But then, she's my student. And, to a certain part of me, no matter how much we hate each other-
She's my Tatsuki. I expected no less.
"Red Dragon, huh? That's your shikai. Congratulations. On to your next lesson. More fighting. You think that thing in your hand makes you a warrior. It doesn't. A Zanpakuto isn't a weapon, it's a part of you. There's strength in it. Ask your Zanpakuto to share that strength with you. It's a she?"
"Yes."
"She's going to be a lot like you Tatsuki," he was lecturing now, like an old man. "-remember that. If you're strong she'll be strong. If you can't be beaten then she can't be beaten. If you're stupid and lazy, guess what she'll be? Every one of your flaws, she has. And she can't conquer hers until you conquer yours. Now we're going to push you until you release your special attack. Then you're going to pass out, that's normal, it happens to everyone. As soon as you're up again we're going back to the dorms. That is, if you think you can handle it."
Tatsuki flushed. It was a another damn test! But with her spiritual pressure rising the wound in her leg had almost closed and-
"I can handle it!"
"Of course you can. If you're ready I'm going to kill you now."
She didn't give him the chance to attack - Tatsuki raised Red Dragon and shunpoed forward, slipped around his sword, swung down to deflect – she could make the parry – she could cut him, mark him-
Tatsuki screamed when Ichigo cut her across the stomach. Zangetsu had gone right through the gap between two red triangular blades – too late she discovered her sword was unable to parry-
"You're out of commission. That's it for today."
"I can still fight-" Tatsuki struggled up, had a hand pressed to the slash across her middle. It had to hurt like a bitch.
"Don't be dumb. To borrow an expression from a complete bastard you should be in two pieces right now. Your backbone is all that's holding you together. God, I hated that guy."
"It's just a scratch-" but the pain in her voice said more.
"I can and will knock you out cold Tatsuki. Shut up and rest, I'll try to patch you up. Take off your top."
She was horrified. "I'm not taking off my-"
Ichigo wasn't having that. "You're wearing underwear, aren't you?" He seemed to realize her backless uniform didn't allow for underwear. "Stupid Tatsuki, you've got nothing in there I'm interested in. Only stretch marks-" he was pawing at her belt, and she was in too much pain to stop him, "-and a couple of saggy old boobs like nasty raisins, all knobby and weird-looking. Trust me Tatsuki, nothing I'm interested in. Probably smell bad too-"
Tatsuki tried to push him away, but her strength was failing – her inability to control her own pressure was crippling her. "Get-"
"Just open the damn uniform! Or I'll cut if off you and drag you back to campus naked!"
He was incredibly insulting, but his fingers were gentle enough.
"Are you-" she gasped in pain.
"Battle field triage? I learned it from fourth squad. Those captain friends of yours, can you come up with a credible excuse for this?"
"I'll tell them I got cut during shikai training."
"They'll want to know who did it. You're too new to be training for shikai with live steel."
"I'll tell them it's a -friend- from the squads."
"So I'm your friend now?"
Bastard meant 'because I have something you want?'
"Knock off the tone and patch me up, you smarmy prick."
"Only if you cover up those sorry boobs of yours. Just the sight of them, I don't know if I'll ever have an erection again-"
The worst part was Tatsuki felt herself blush.
"Knock it off Kurosaki or I'll mess you up-"
"They look like they've curdled you know. Are they filled with cheese?"
"Knock it off!"
A half hour later I was carrying Tatsuki back to campus. I regret never having taken the change to try GPS - I sometimes wonder how fast I'm going.
I'm sure she'll be able to make up a convincing lie, mostly because I'm the only one willing to put her on the shinigami express without any regards for her wellbeing or mental health. Crazy as it sounds, she considers that a good thing. She loses me and all her plans go out the window.
And sure enough, she didn't. I don't know who got the blame for cutting her but I don't feel sorry for Tatsuki. She's pushing herself ridiculously hard and she thinks everyone around her is too stupid to know why.
Tatsuki wants a posting back in the real world. She wants to move in with Orihime and protect her. It just hasn't occurred to her that Orihime can't see shinigami anymore, she doesn't let herself. One day we just disappeared off Orihime's radar, and she ignores us totally. There's some effort to protect her, just to make sure hollows don't get too close, but with Tatsuki here and Orihime choking back her own spirit powers the hollows don't go looking for her.
Well, I guess that's occurred to Tatsuki, she just hasn't put the whole "I'm a shinigami ergo Orihime can't see me either" thing together yet. Either that or Tatsuki thinks the rules have changed now that she's playing for the other team. Uh- the dead team, that's what I mean - Suddenly Orihime will acknowledge Tatsuki the reaper.
Shit. Tatsuki lives in a dreamworld. My proscription for that? More winter war. That was a great way to lose your illusions.
I miss my eye. It was so handy for – looking at things.
Anyway, I got to watch out the window while Yoruichi and Soi Fon berated Tatsuki for her training method, tried to get the name out of her. Soi Fon figured it was Renji or Ikkaku, Yoruichi obviously figured it might be Urahara, though she didn't tell Soi. I was beginning to think Tatsuki was going to fold on me when Yoruichi suddenly signaled Soi Fon to back off.
Oh fuck.
I think Yoruichi just figured out who'd be most likely to train someone using the Urahara method if the madman himself wasn't involved. If she mentioned that suspicion to Soi then Shrimpy would take the school apart one brick at a time to look for me. Of course I'd fuck Soi over bad if she ever started something, but in general I don't like to start brawls with captains when I'm hiding out from them, basically under their noses.
Thankfully Yoruichi is about as counterculture as a Shinigami captain can be, and I trust my Sensei completely. Yoruichi won't rat if I can manage to keep myself under cover. In fact, she'll probably try to cover for me with Soi.
Kitty Sensei, I love you. You're just so totally cool.
But Soi...
Once upon a time I decided I'd make the world a better place by removing the Twelfth captain from it. I've given some serious thought to taking out the second captain too. I don't like Soi Fon, she's inflexible to the point of stupidity. One more of those stuck in the Edo period. At the very least I'm going to bend that woman over and put my foot to her ass hard enough to sail the second captain over the moon. Soi Fon is one of those people who so richly deserves a size twelve boot print to the back of the haori.
Pity I don't wear size twelves.
Now Yoruichi knows where I am.
Better and better. This gets better and better every bloody day. That's twenty one in Red Flower, one captain, one captain who nuked his own memories and God knows who else is getting suspicious. Plus I still get that feeling that someone is watching me.
I'm going to have to start a list or something, I'm beginning to lose track.
Don't get me wrong, I trust Kitty Sensei with my life. It's just that Yoruichi is technically on the other side-
I'm having one of those days. Luckily I'm not a guy much subject to angst, but I'm having one of those days where the frustration is getting to me. They've been getting worse since I've got here, the knowledge that any morning I could come out of my dorm room to discover the entire campus evacuated and several of the more ferocious captains waiting for me. Soi, because the little bitch would insist, Byakuya, Shunsui, Zaraki and Ukitake. Not the old man, he doesn't like to get his hands dirty.
I'm great with a Zanpakuto but everyone has limits. I'm thinking five or ten captains at once might be somewhere past mine.
Went outside, back to that quiet little garden where I'd last spoken to Yuzu and Chad. Then I took a nice long nap on the bench and felt a lot better.
More trouble the next day, but I was basically able to shrug it off. All sorts of people were after Tatsuki, wanted to know how she'd been cut up and who'd done it. I'm watching from the sidelines (Tatsuki and I never interact anywhere where anyone can see us - no one knows that we know each other) and I'm shaking my head at all the tough guys (and girls, let's be fair, there are fangirls too) who are making noises about how anyone could do this to Tatsuki-sama and what they want to do about it. It's like look, someone got through Tatsuki's guard. If they can get through Tatsuki's guard, what are the odds they won't get through yours? Dumbasses. That sort of thinking could get you killed. Or visited by Eleventh squad, which is technically worse than being killed.
Then it got better.
What?
Sarcastic?
No, I don't damn well mean that sarcastically! I'm being honest here!
Some of the teachers caught wind of Tatsuki's injury, and she gets her ass hauled up to Fourth squad to fix it. Soi and Yoruichi might not rat her out specifically but the moment the fourth captain finds out – well, let's just say that If I know Captain Unohana there'll be five minutes of damage control followed by a week of enforced bed rest and tea drinking as punishment for being difficult.
You know, I'm tempted to call Hanataro. If someone accidentally left a training sword where Tatsuki could find it-
Okay, I'll admit I'm being a shit at this point. Anything to get Tatsuki into more trouble-
Tatsuki ended up confined to the infirmary for a week, and I gather she was livid. Not so livid that she'd argue with Retsu, but still pretty livid.
I love a story with a happy ending. And it couldn't happen to a nicer girl. In fact, there was a special issue of Tatsuki Shoujo published the following day dealing with that - the art was kind of wobbly because someone must have worked thirty straight hours to get it done.
I bought two copies and slipped one under her door for when she gets back.
A week without Tatsuki. I intend to enjoy it fully. Still sort of worried about the squads though. Even if Yoruichi does nothing, Soi will hunt down all the regular suspects to make their lives miserable until someone confesses to cutting Tatsuki. Most of the guys she'll go after are my friends.
Or my cronies at least. But why have friends when you can have cronies instead?