This Light, the Will of the Heart, I See
Ooh, I was going through my computer files the other day (monthly clean-the-crap-that-you-don't-need-off-of-your-computer day for me), and I found the old plot for this fanfic (when it was going to be a Naruto fanfic)! So this was the basic plot:
Kabuto finds a girl about the same age as him in the leaf village. He soon discovers this girl is empathic and telepathic. When there is an attack on the leaf village, Kabuto saves the girl, but in the process, he is injured. After admitting his love for the girl, he falls unconscious. The next time they meet, Kabuto has no memory of the girl. The girl tries to get Kabuto's memory back, and succeeds after the two bow-chika-bow-wah. (Insert sultry music here xD)
That was all I had for the plot. I didn't even have the girls' name. Hence the reason why I never worked on it again. But I think it's better as a Bleach fic, don't you agree?
NOTE: This is the second revision of this fanfic. If you have been reading it before, ya might wanna go back through an' look through it again…
Inspiration: None.
Chapter Rating: PG-15
Spoiler Warnings: None that I can think of.
Chapter Warnings: Language via Hitsugaya.
"These are normal thoughts."
"These are thoughts that Sakana sends." This is what she receives.
This is one's Zanpakuto.
Chapter 3: Rejection
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Sakana woke up that next morning with a much relaxed sensation. The medicine certainly helped her, because she didn't have any more distressing dreams that night. The smell of eggs and sausage came to her nose, and she went downstairs to see Hana cooking breakfast.
"Ohayo, Sakana~! What's wrong?" Hana asked, seeing a rather loopy look on the taichou's face.
"Could y' tone down y'cheerfulness a little bit, ne?" Sakana asked her voice thick and slightly slurred, "You're buzzing my head."
Hana had a confused look on her face, so Sakana decided to elaborate a little for her vice-captain.
"Basically, your cheerfulness is making me feel retardedly giddy. Stop it." She said as Hana sat down with both of their plates.
"Will you be well enough to work?" Hana asked. Sakana shrugged.
"I wouldn't know unless I tried. I have a meeting this morning, so I just have to concentrate on staying away from Zaraki and Kurotsuchi. Those two will be the end of me." Sakana said. She finished her breakfast and washed her dishes in the sink.
"Take care of the division." Sakana said, slinging her Zanpakuto over her back. Kaenrinmaru had indeed left, and it made her feel slightly empty.
"Did you take that medicine?" Hana asked. Sakana made a face and shunpo'ed up the stairs to the bathroom. Sakana picked up the bottle of medicine and drank some of it, making a disgusted face. It seemed to taste different every time. Hana's spirit animal, a collie, was lying outside the bathroom door. Sakana grumbled, and the dog's tail thumped against the floor. Sakana could sense the dog's feelings, but couldn't read her thoughts, which was odd; she had always been able to read a sprit animal's thoughts.
"You're lucky, you know that?" Sakana told the dog, which just wagged her tail and stayed where she was.
"Well, I'm off." Sakana said to her fukutaichou. Hana gave Sakana a concerned look. "Are you sure you're gonna be alright?" she asked, a serious tone in her voice. Sakana smiled at her fukutaichou.
"I'll be alright." She said. The taichou shunpo'ed out the door and disappeared. The collie gave Hana a perplexed look.
"What's wrong?" Hikari asked, "You feel stressed. I'm sure she'll be alright."
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Sakana jumped off the roof and landed in front of the doors to the meeting hall. The effect of the medicine was already beginning to take effect, because she barely heard any thoughts or sense any feelings. Her mind felt numb, but not too numb so she would not be able to think. The 14th division taichou took a deep breath before pushing open the doors to the meeting hall and stepping in.
Most of the captains had arrived already. Yamamoto was seemingly staring off into space, Unohana smiled at Sakana, Byakuya was looking over his report to make sure there were no mistakes, Komamura was talking to Shunsui, her yuki-ouji was gazing at the floor, and Ukitake was reading a book. Soifon, Kenpachi, and Mayuri hadn't showed up yet, and Sakana guessed it was a good thing. She wasn't sure if she could handle walking past the 11th and 12th taichou. Unohana motioned for the young taichou to sit by her, but before she did, she went over to Toshiro.
"Toshiro-kun!" Sakana said cheerfully. The taichou didn't respond, which concerned her a little.
"Toshiro? Are you okay?" She asked, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. The white haired taichou turned around and blinked at her.
"It's Hitsugaya-taichou." Toshiro said. Sakana made a funny face.
"Whatev. Are you okay? You look a little pale." Sakana said, reaching out to feel Toshiro's forehead. Toshiro smacked her hand away with a little more force than she was used to.
"Leave me alone." Toshiro grumbled, a frown present on his face. Sakana noticed that the temperature around him had dropped a little bit.
"What's gotten into you?" Sakana asked, a quizzical look on her face.
"Look, whoever you are, get outta here!"
Reality slapped Sakana in the face like a boot to the head. (lol)
He didn't remember her.
"Wait… don't you remember who I am?"
"I have no fucking idea who the hell you are. Who are you?" Toshiro growled a little rudely. The hairs on the back of Sakana's neck rose in anger.
"I'm Sakana Satoshi, taichou of the 14th division. You're best friend." Sakana said, a little bit of desperation in her voice.
"…don't know you. Besides, if you're a taichou, where's your haori?" Toshiro asked. Sakana thought about it for a second. She had pulled it off when she had been fighting the arrancar, and she had passed out, so she hadn't had a chance to grab it. She then speculated that it had been found and taken to the fourteenth division, or possibly the first division.
"Anou... I think it's at my division. I'm not very sure…" Sakana said, scratching her head. Rethinking it, it would most likely be sitting on the back of her chair, clean and smelling like Febreeze.
"That story's less believable. Whatever." Toshiro said, turning away. Dejected, Sakana plopped down next to Unohana on her cushion and sulked.
"Here."
Sakana looked at Byakuya. He was holding Sakana's taichou haori. Sakana smiled weakly at her counterpart and accepted her haori. She put it on and then rested her head on the table. She would now be in a funk for the rest of the day.
How could he not remember her? Just a few days ago, he had admitted that he loved her. What had happened? Sakana buried her face in her arms as her tears disappeared into the sleeves of her Shikakushou. Her entire body was shaking, although not visibly. Unohana gently put a hand on her arm.
"I'm sorry."
Sakana didn't look up at the quiet apology. She didn't want the other captains to think she was weak. If Mayuri or Kenpachi caught her crying, she would never hear the end of it. A soft sob escaped her lips, and Unohana gently rubbed her back.
"When Hitsugaya-taichou woke, we had no way of knowing he would have amnesia. He insisted on being released. I should have kept him." Unohana said softly. Sakana roughly brushed her tears away and sat up as Yamamoto called the meeting to order. Soifon and Mayuri had showed up, but Kenpachi was nowhere to be seen.
"Zaraki-taichou will not be with us, since he is on a mission with his division. Soifon-taichou, your report, please."
When it came time to read her report, Sakana kept pausing in the middle of it. Unohana looked at the younger taichou with worry. Was the loss of Hitsugaya's memory affecting her that much?
"I'm sorry, Soutaichou. My lieutenant wrote this report, and, well, it's illegible. Can you come back to me while I rewrite this?" Sakana said exasperatedly. Yamamoto nodded.
"Kuchiki-taichou, please."
Sakana pulled a pencil and a sheet of paper out of her haori. She began to swiftly write her report again, pausing to decipher what her lieutenant wrote. Mayuri had to deliver his report, so Amaya gently tapped the table in front of her old taichou.
"Sakana!" she hissed quietly. Sakana looked up and glared at her.
"What?"
"Are you okay?" Amaya asked, concern reflecting in her eyes. Sakana ignored her and resumed writing, pausing every now and then.
"Ha, it's done."
"Sakana!"
"What! I'm fine, okay?" Sakana whispered.
Finally, the meeting ended. Sakana felt flushed; her body was going from hot to cold to hot again. Her entire body shuddered violently as she got up from her cushion. Was it a side effect of the medicine? It couldn't be; it would have happened the last time. Her head was pounding violently. She carefully walked out of the meeting hall and to her division, leaning against the wall for support. As her head throbbed, she felt very lethargic.
"Sakana!"
The taichou turned around to see Amaya running towards her. She stopped and leaned wearily against the wall. She could feel Amaya's emotions; mostly worry filled her.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me, and don't try to drag me to the 4th division, it won't work." Sakana said bluntly. Amaya raised an eyebrow at her response.
"I didn't even say—"
"Can read your mind. Side effect of final bankai ability." Sakana said, somewhat enjoying this.
"B-"
"'It's impossible! How did that happen?!' That's what you're wondering, isn't it?" Sakana said smugly. Amaya growled at her.
"Stop it. Really, are you okay? You were shaking throughout the entire meeting. And you look flushed. Now, I'm not saying go to the fourth, but… just take a nap or something. You look like you really need it." Her face cracked into a smile, "I can't have you falling out on us, can I? I'm your best friend; I have to look out for you."
"But the division…"
"Have Hana and Ara look after it for you. Just go lie down on the couch and take a short nap. You've taken naps before, and the division hasn't blown up."
"Yeah, only because you were my fukutaichou. I'm afraid to do it with Hana as my lieutenant." Sakana laughed softly, "You know, a nap does sound good. I think I will."
"I'll come by to see how you're dong. Get some rest." Amaya said shunpo'ing away to her division. There was a thud and a "What is the meaning of this?!" from a certain disgruntled 6th division taichou.
"Gomennasai!!"
Sakana blinked drowsily.
A nap sounded wonderful right about now.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Someone shaking her rudely awakened Sakana. Groaning she came out from underneath her taichou haori (she had been using it as a makeshift blanket) and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. How long had she been out? Finally, her vision became focused, and she could see a figure with white hair standing over her.
"Aren't you supposed to be doing paperwork right now?" the figure said in a disapproving manner. Sakana recognized it as Toshiro.
"I was tired, so I took a nap, yuki-ouji." Sakana said sleepily.
"That's no excuse. I came to pick up some papers. Where are they?"
Sakana stretched and got off of the couch, leaving her haori on it.
"And it's Hitsugaya-taichou. Seriously."
"Nanto, nanto. I'll have it done in about 20 minutes if you come back." Sakana said, shuffling some of the paperwork around and finding what belonged to the 10th division before sitting down at her desk.
"You mean you don't have it done? This division is pathetic." Toshiro scoffed. Sakana grimaced and sent a thought to one of the spirit animals that lingered around the office.
"…WHAT THE HELL?! OW!"
"Yeah, see if we're pathetic when I can tell any of the animals here to do whatever I want." Sakana said as Toshiro pried a cat off of his rear end. Toshiro glared at her as Sakana sat down and began to write, a hand on her head. "And please, try to calm down. You're not helping my headache."
Toshiro sat down on the couch, huffing. He did calm down, and Sakana's headache eased away. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Toshiro spoke.
"…kaen-hime, sumimasen."
Sakana paused and looked up from her paperwork. "Huh? What did you say?"
Toshiro looked at her. "Huh? I didn't say anything. Now get back to work." He said harshly. Sakana blinked and returned to her paperwork.
Had she imagined it? Was it the medicine that was messing with her head again?
"Are you done yet?" Toshiro asked after about five minutes. Sakana sighed and fanned herself with one hand while writing with the other. "Almost."
"Well, hurry up." Toshiro said. Sakana pushed down the growl that rested in the back of her throat.
"How about you shut the hell up and let me finish?" Sakana snapped in a tone she hadn't used in a while (due to Amaya's constant abuse of her captain whenever she snapped at her). Toshiro looked surprised for a moment, and then slammed his hands down on her desk, glaring at her.
"Don't use that tone with me."
Sakana looked at Toshiro with hate filled eyes. "I'm done." She said shortly, shoving the papers towards his chest, "Now leave me the fuck alone."
Toshiro stormed out of the office, leaving the floor to her office covered in a thin sheet of ice. Sakana's resolve shattered once she could no longer feel his reiatsu around the office. Her head fell to the desk with a thump, and she sobbed.
She had never, ever snapped at Toshiro like that.
She hated Aizen. Hated him for sending that Arrancar; hated the Arrancar for attacking her and Toshiro. It was his fault. Standing up and brushing tears from her eyes, she called her spirit animal to her.
"Hi! What's up? What's wrong?" Kaihaku, a shape-shifting raccoon, said as he leapt on her shoulder.
"Nothing. We're going to the 2nd Division."
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Sakana and Soifon walked into the cell where they were keeping the Arrancar. "We haven't been able to get anything out of him, so I don't know what you can possibly do…" Soifon said. Sakana's lips curled into an evil smirk that was eerily reminiscent of Gin's.
"I'm feeling pretty infuriated, so it shouldn't be a problem."
"Oi! Arrancar!" Soifon said. Gay turned around and looked at Sakana.
Sakana noticed that Gay had gotten a little thinner. The Arrancar smirked at her, noticing how distressed she looked.
"Sate, sate. If it isn't the fiery taichou."
Soifon blinked and Sakana had rushed the Arrancar and grabbed him by the throat. "Tell us what we want to know. Why did Aizen send you here? What are they planning? I want EVERYTHING." Sakana snarled. Gay pulled a (random) pen from a hidden pocket. Aizen's secret would die with him.
"I will tell you only one thing: Aizen has something planned for the Seireitei, and for you. Something HUGE. I am proud to be part of his plan. His secret shall die with me."
With that, Gay stabbed himself in the heart with the pen. Sakana dropped him and attempted to remove the pen, but the deed had already been done. The Arrancar was dead. (1) Sakana turned to Soifon, who had to control her shaking. Sakana's reiatsu… it wasn't like it was before. Soifon could tell her comrade's reiryoku was tainted with immense hate.
"I'm sorry, Soifon. I didn't mean to… to make him…" Sakana said, suddenly sounding and feeling very guilty. Soifon shrugged.
"Eh, it's okay. Don't beat yourself up about it." Soifon said as the two walked out of the cell. "Oi! Marechiyo! Get that cleaned up!" Soifon hollered at her fat fukutaichou.
"(Om nom nom) Yes'm."
"I've just been really stressed lately…" Sakana said tiredly as they walked through the division. "With Toshiro acting the way he is, it's driving me crazy."
"Your spiritual pressure… when you were talking to that Arrancar, it felt… off. You can't let your hate take over you. Be careful." Soifon warned, "It's happened to a few of my men before. They get so absorbed in their hate and revenge that it consumes them and they lose themselves to their dark sides. (yeah, coughSASUKEUCHIHAcough) You're a captain, so it shouldn't be too big of a problem, but your reiatsu… it will become tainted with a black color if you're not careful. If more than half of it is black when you let it rip, you might not be able to go back." She finished. Sakana nodded. (LOL, once you go black, you'll never go back! Lol, black person humor! Lol.)
"Thanks, Soifon-san. I will."
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Translations and Kuso like That:
Ohayo: Good Morning.
Anou: errr…
Gomennasai: Excuse me!
Nanto, nanto: whatever, whatever. Sakana tends to say it twice in a row if she really doesn't give a shit.
…kaen-hime, sumimasen: Sorry, flame princess. Sakana thought it was the medicine messing with her head when she heard that, but in reality Toshiro had said it.
Sate, sate: Well, well.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
(1) When I wrote this, I was thinking about Mikami from Death Note. He stabbed himself with a pen and died. xD He pulled a Mikami.