Sorry. I know it's only been...three days since my last update(?), but I feel stupid since I already have almost this whole story done already XD
Although I am rewriting the end and I like the changes so hopefully you do too :D
Onward...
Chapter 7: Questions - Lair of the Iron Wolf
"So you're pretending to still have amnesia?" Rukia asked as Kenshin leaned against the wall outside the Kurosaki household. "Why? What about the division? Can Momo handle it on her own?" She frowned and crossed her arms.
Kenshin opened an eye and smirked at his friend. "My, my. Is the Mouse so concerned for me that-oof!"
Rukia glared up at the gruff-looking man and pulled her fist away from his side. "Jerk…"
"Bitch…anyways…your brother is watching over the division enough to help Momo if she needs it. Captain-Commander Yamamoto knows that I'm here as I'm still handling a mission."
She blinked in surprise. "Really?"
"Hai. My job is mostly to keep an eye on the city with Yoruichi to ensure that no attacks are made while a special ops team is sent into Hueco Mundo to try and find the cause of those adjucha attacks."
"So it's assumed someone else is behind it all?"
"Exactly."
"I see…" Rukia rubbed at her chin while mulling the information over in her head. "So where are you staying?"
"With Tatsuki."
As if a light bulb went off in her head, Rukia slowly brought her gaze back up to meet her friend's and smirked slyly. "Is that so?"
"…what?" He cocked an eyebrow, not really liking the inflection in Rukia's voice.
"Oooooh, nothing….lover boy-eee ow! Let go you jerk!"
Kenshin had quickly thrown on a headlock and was proceeding to grind his knuckles into the petite woman's head. "Run that by me again Mouse."
"I'm sorry! Yee-ow! Let go! You're messing up my hair!"
"Just get to bed ya smart ass…" He released her but not before giving her one more ruffle. "Little miss perfect has school in the morning, doesn't she?"
"Jerk.." Rukia pouted as she moved to try and straighten her hair back out. "Just don't cause trouble Kenshin."
The captain shrugged and gave a wave over his shoulder then disappeared into the night air. Rukia sighed softly but smiled, still feeling good in knowing her friend was alright. With a single leap she was back up at Ichigo's window and slipped inside. He glanced over his shoulder at the girl as she got back into her Gigai. "So, everything alright with Kenshin?"
"Yeah. He had his memories back a lot sooner then he let on."
"So why is he still here then?"
"He's handling a mission with Yoruichi while the Soul Society looks into why adjuchas were even in the human world."
"So….if he's here…who's watching his division?"
"Nii-sama." Rukia shrugged as she made her way to the closet to pull out her drawing pad. "Hey Ichigo."
"Yeah?" He didn't bother to look back from his desk or his homework.
"Umm…nevermind." She shook her head and continued with her drawing.
Ichigo glanced to the bed with his brows furrowed. "What is it Rukia? If you have a question then ask it."
"It's nothing." It probably wasn't a good idea to tell him that Kenshin was staying with Tatsuki. She wasn't sure if Ichigo knew that Tatsuki had some spiritual power and could see spiritual beings. If that was the case, though, was she aware about Ichigo being a substitute shinigami? Was she aware that she was a shinigami?
/\/\/\/\
"I did manage to gather the readings from that night you were here dealing with the adjuchas." Kisuke stated while fanning himself lightly.
Kenshin and Yoruichi exchanged glance before looking back to Kisuke, waiting for him to get to the point. "And?" Kenshin asked.
"Well…" He looked over to Tessai who nodded and slid a pile of interconnected paperwork forward to the captain. "Look for yourself."
The captain sighed while unfolding the spreadsheet, his eyes moving over the unfamiliar information. "I don't get it."
"The blue line is your reiatsu with the green being that of your squad as a whole. The yellow is the adjuchas and Hollows, and the red…well that's what you'll want to take note of."
"What red line?" He continued to fold and unfold, moving across the spreadsheet until finally he found it. His eyes widen at what he was seeing. Even if he wasn't able to read the spreadsheet exceptionally well, he understood what it meant with the red line peaking out of nowhere and matching his own reiatsu, if not surpassing it by a small margin.
Yoruichi noticed the look on her pupil's face and leaned closer to get a look. A similar reaction appeared on her own face. "Kisuke…that's not a shinigami reiatsu, is it?"
"Nope…"
"Then that means-" Kenshin began but was cut off by Kisuke who slammed his fan shut.
"An arrancar."
/\/\/\/\
The rest of that night Kenshin found himself plagued with the thoughts of an arrancar being loose. Hadn't the arrancars been dealt with in the Winter War? It was possible another could have emerged but it wasn't a comforting thought in the least bit.
If an arrancar was around, then it made all too much sense why adjuchas were seemingly more active as of late. An adjucha was the Gillian stage before a Vastos Lorde; or as they called themselves, arrancar. Was it possible a new arrancar had come into existence or…did one of those that were thought dead somehow survive?
If it was an arrancar, was it just a fluke that he had been attacked or was he specifically targeted? It had to just be a fluke chance. If any of the Espada had survived then why would they target me? I only fought one of them, and even then…
His thoughts drifted away as he stared into the abyss of his mind. Those were thoughts he rather leave buried deep in the darkness of his mind then draw back up. Shifting in the desk chair he turned to look toward the sleeping girl. Even if it was a fluke, he was risking this girl's safety by staying around her. While he was good at suppressing his reiatsu down into an absent state, he was risking Tatsuki's safety by lingering around her.
If this unseen enemy was aiming to weaken the Soul Society then they might try to do so by taking hostages, such as Tatsuki. He knew the Captain-Commander wouldn't approve of him going after the human girl, but he would anyways. There would have been a time in his life when he'd forego risking his life for another save for his captains when he was of the Onmitsukidö; but like all things, times change.
He had developed real friendships with not only his two ex-captains but with a few of his fellow captains, vice-captains, and others. This girl though…she was the first human friend he had. She saved him and showed him kindness and hospitality. She made him feel normal without the concerns of being a captain and even made him laugh with ease. He felt strange when around her, as if nothing mattered around him but this girl's presence.
What was he suppose to do then? He wanted to protect this girl, but he also felt a selfish desire to stick around her. Come on Takeda, what's happening to you? This isn't like you to lose control…
No, it isn't.
That voice…the captain glanced at his zanpakutö in his right hand and arched a brow. He hadn't spoken with his zanpakutö in a long time…
Perhaps now was a good time to do so.
/\/\/\/\
The world of his zanpakutö was a strange one. It was pitched in an eternal night with no moon ever in the sky. The land was torn apart with deep ravines splitting parts up. The outer edge was surrounded by trees but everything in the middle was rocky with only sparse trees strewn throughout it.
In the middle of it all was where he could always find his zanpakutö spirit, Tetsu Kiba, lingering in his usual spot. The spirit always could be found under a lone tree in the center of the world sitting on a ragged, old mat in lotus position. Tetsu Kiba took the form of an aged man, although truth be told Kenshin only knew this by the gruff, raspy sounds of the man's voice and the gray hairs of the whiskers on his chin and jaw line.
Most of Tetsu Kiba's face was covered by the head of a wolf pelt he wore that extended over his back. Over his chest he wore a ragged cloak that came down to the elbows with his forearms and hands covered by worn-out armor. Around his waist was another wolf pelt that dropped down over the right leg. His left was partially covered by the ragged cloak but beyond that the spirit wore brown hakamas with tabis and straw sandals. Much like his master, the spirit carried his nodaichi in hand rather then wear it at the hip.
"So, you decided to finally seek me out after so long of remaining silent, eh boy?"
Kenshin bowed before the spirit before sitting down in the same position, setting his blade down next to him on his right. "It has been some time…hasn't it Tetsu Kiba; however, don't speak to me as if I was remaining silent to your calls. You never called to me for anything."
"I had nothing to call to you for, boy." The aged spirit grunted. "You achieved bankai and everything that came with it. There was nothing more to teach you so I didn't feel a need to call to you anymore, boy."
Kenshin never liked how his zanpakutö addressed him; boy. It was like Tetsu Kiba saw him as some child and addressed him such. His tone was either always bitter like a parent scolding a child, or stoic like a parent that had lost faith in their child. While his tone was always unpleasant, his zanpakutö was very wise and had never steered him wrong.
"I'm sure you're aware of my situation and that attack that occurred on me, Tetsu Kiba." The spirit only grunted in reply. "What should I do? Is it protecting if I stay with the human girl, or is it protecting if I leave?"
The spirit grunted again but craned his neck to look up at the tree above. "Like a pup you cry out to your mother for nourishment, suckling for the milk from her tit. How pathetic, boy." The aged-sounding spirit shifted some, the sounds of joints popping filling the night air. "How can you protect something if you are not around to defend it with your blade? Would you try to put out a fire by throwing water at it from afar, boy?"
"No-"
"Then why raise your blade to defend someone if they are no where near you to protect? It seems you've become foolish with this rank of captain you acquired. Did you learn nothing in your fight with that woman? That fight with-"
"Enough!"
The spirit tilted his head back down some but seemed to have no desire to say anything further on that matter. "You are the wolf, boy. The wolf can be a solitary creature or it can run with a pack. The days of you being a lone wolf ended long ago when you accepted friends into your life and into your heart."
Everything began to get hazy and as it did Kenshin felt himself awakening from the meditative state, but before he left the world of his zanpakutö he heard the echoing voice of Tetsu Kiba call out to him, "think of your pack…"
/\/\/\/\
Of my pack…
Kenshin's eyes shot open. It was already morning and Tatsuki had left for class. He let out a sigh, running his fingers through it shoulder-length hair. What was he going to do? What was it that Tetsu Kiba was trying to tell him? Why couldn't that old bastard just be straight forward with him?
He moved to stand when something on the desk caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Turning to face the desk, the captain picked up a folded note and opened it, reading it quietly to himself.
Kenshin,
I didn't want to wake you up as you looked to be deep asleep. I have practice today for karate, but if you want you can come watch. I provided directions to the dojo from my house at the bottom of this letter.
Hopefully you slept well.
-Tatsuki
Kenshin chuckled as he noticed the way the girl wrote her name compared to the rest of her penmanship. Glancing down at the bottom he eyed over the directions and the time to be at the dojo. Was she really just letting him know, or was she asking and hoping he'd come watch?
My pack…
He hated how wise Tetsu Kiba was despite how arrogant he sounded.
Hmm...what will happen? You'll just have to wait and see! :O
Next time! Chapter 8: Confusion