Chapter Four
"Masaki Kurosaki. Recite the Kuchiki family historical morals."
"One: Always follow the rules on a strict basis. Two: Respect elders till the very end. Three…" Masaki paused. "Uncle Byakuya! So what happens when a spirit dies in Soul Society?"
"They are eventually reincarnated into the world of the living." Byakuya answered back with a vein popping on his forehead. "Masaki Kurosaki. I will advise you to continue with your training and to address me correctly by my proper title. I'm only being easy on you because you are my niece."
"How boring! So strict!" Masaki promptly grumbled under her breath. What was her mood at the moment since training? Pft! Down the toilet! And it's all because of Byakuya! When they first met, he started drilling into her head that she was dead as dead can be. As a five year old, she didn't mind as long as her mommy, daddy, and everyone she loved were with her. She wasn't lonely. She was even excited to learn how to do all those magic tricks her mother showed her on the way. Then…Byakuya came along. All that went down the drain. For ten days now, she had to memorize exhausting passages, rules, scriptures that nobody even cared about! Boring!
Byakuya sighed at her indifference. "I will end this session for today. Be back in ten minutes for your next learning session."
Masaki's eyes lit up. "Are we going to do magic like mommy?"
"No." He harshly rejected.
"Please!" Masaki begged.
"Can you control your spiritual pressure into a perfect sphere?"
"Yes Uncle Byakuya. I did that five days ago."
"No." He still rejected. "You still have to complete your heritage education. And I have to teach you about the Kuchiki upbringing. You do realize that you are a potential next heir. Therefore, I have to correctly train you to become a competent Head of the Kuchiki clan." With that, he vanished, leaving little Masaki standing alone in the courtyard.
Huffing, Masaki angrily kicked a rock at his direction. All this time, she had only been learning about her "heritage" the Spartan way. She watched all the older people throw kido spells at each other and transform their swords. She wanted to do that too! But at this rate, she wouldn't be able to learn that in twenty years. Plus, her schedule was torturous! There was no free time! Everyday, she woke up at the crack of dawn and had to stand in front of Byakuya to recite everything she learned the day before. Next, she learned more about the long, long, long, long history of the Kuchiki clan just by reading a bunch of old scrolls. Next, she was lectured about Soul Society history and how the whole thing breaks down. She was then preached in the philosophy of life and death, right and wrong, blah, blah, blah! Seriosuly! She could almost be bored to a second death!
Well… At least she got a break today…even if it is only ten minutes. Ten minutes. Ten minutes of no Byakuya. Ten minutes of freedom. Ten minutes of escape!
Masaki quickly bolted out of the courtyard doors and ran in the direction of the Fifth Division. Her parents should be there! She could complain to them and get Byakuya off her back forever! It was brilliant!
Now…if she only knew how to get there… Soul Society was a maze! All the whitewashed walls looked the same and they twisted around in weird directions. She even climbed on top of a huge tower and she literally solved how to get from the First to the Thirteenth. But it was so big that she forgot all the other eleven locations.
But for now, as she ran, she was relying on those weird little senses that told her where people were. Those senses were ribbons that floated up around her. She just had to pick one and hope that was the person she wanted. Right now, she was following after her mother's ribbon to find her way to the Fifth Division. Even that was difficult since her sense of the actual ribbon was pretty bad. Masaki swiftly ran from corner to corner. She followed the paths that this maze made. She followed her mother's ribbon. She followed her instincts. She followed everything just to get away from the mean uncle.
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the young child, she merely ran parallel to the main Fifth Division headquarters and right past her only escape.
Masaki felt like she was running nowhere. Her connection to her mother vanished. She was running wherever these white walls led her. She made a lot of ninety-degree turns. She felt a lot of strange pressure coming at her from all sides. She just ran to get away from it all. She will run; anything to escape her dreadful Kuchiki training. She will run forever.
Masaki felt a suddenly soothing pressure hit her cheek. The orange haired girl slowly skidded to a stop. She followed this gentle push through another set of corridors. She felt this strange pressure pull her in to a safe sanctuary. And it was. Before Masaki knew it, she was standing at another set of courtyard gates. Looking inside, she could see a serene woman sitting on her porch, gazing up at the flowers above.
Masaki inched closer. "Umm…excuse me?"
The woman glanced at her and gave a calm smile. "Young child. Welcome!"
Hearing her soft voice, Masaki knew it was definitely safe to enter. She ran even closer to this woman. Once she was close enough, she was that this woman was extremely pretty. Maybe even rivaling Matsumoto! But her hairstyle was a little weird. She wore a normal braid except it was in the front, not the back. But her eyes were very gentle. She was an aesthetic woman that all little girls dreamed to be.
"You're pretty!" Masaki unconsciously exclaimed all of a sudden.
The woman chuckled. "How flattering. Thank you." She stopped and closely examined Masaki. "You're not hurt. Are you lost?"
Masaki nodded.
"I believe your parents, Rukia-san and Ichigo-san, are still working in their office. You must have taken the wrong turn and missed the Fifth Division completely."
Masaki gasped, "You know my mommy and daddy?"
"Why yes. I am quite a close acquaintance of them both. You must be their cute daughter, Masaki Kurosaki." The woman paused all of a sudden and gasped. "Oh my! How very rude of me! I forgot to introduce myself. I am Captain Retsu Unohana of the Fourth Division, specializing in medical aid."
OoOoO
Rukia awkwardly cleared her throat before addressing to her older brother. Usually, it would be him berating her about anything she done wrong or not perfect enough. Today it was quite the opposite. Although her husband seemed to really relish this fact, she simply felt a little out-of-place in that moment.
"Nii-sama. Are you sure she deliberately ran away?" Rukia hesitantly asked.
"Affirmative." That was his only answer.
"Where is she right now?"
"She just ran past your division area and is currently heading to the Fourth." He merely replied.
"Bwahahahaha!" Ichigo bawled while rolling onto his back. "I can't believe you scared Masaki into running away! And I thought she was terrified of me! You and Renji practically scare the shit out of her! How can you train her like this?"
"Shut up Ichigo!" Rukia barked at her husband. Man! It must be an Isshin trait or something! Rukia suddenly faced her brother again and bowed down. "My deepest apologies Nii-sama! I'm sure my husband did not mean that."
Byakuya sighed. "I know. Of course I would know. Why did you think I let him marry you in the first place?" He suddenly glared at the orange haired captain, making him freeze on the spot. "But you do remember I have every right to take Rukia and her daughter back into the Kuchiki family and leave you here all alone."
Ichigo smirked back. "Come on Byakuya! I know you're not cruel enough to do that. Okay. I know you can be cruel enough to make me do…that…to get your blessings. But you would never hurt Rukia or your niece. I know you just want what's best."
"As much as I would hate to admit it, he's right." Rukia muttered before turning back to her brother. "Nii-sama… I trust you that I'm handing over my daughter's education to you. But as a mother, I have to voice my concerns for her. You may have learned these things when you were a young baby. But Masaki is a five-year old toddler. She just died and came to Soul Society. You can't expect her to learn all these things over night. She wasn't raised on books and scrolls. Back in the world of the living, she would play, sleep, and eat every day with no worries."
"You're being too harsh on the kid. I know you really want her to learn and succeed. But you need to loosen up a little. Act a bit friendlier with her. Treat her with concern." Ichigo suddenly frowned at Byakuya. "She's not a soldier that you can bark at. She wasn't raised that way."
Byakuya nodded, but held firm glares with Ichigo. "I'll kindly take your suggestion and try to 'loosen up'. But I, as Head of the Kuchiki family, have to maintain reputation. This style of teaching has lasted with the family for generations. It has been successful with each Kuchiki Head."
"How about finding different ways to teach her the same material?" Ichigo suggested. "She's only five years old so she doesn't have much of an attention span to memorize a thousand years of history."
"And what can be so different from the standard Kuchiki style methods?"
"I don't know. Play a game or something."
Suddenly, in Rukia's mind, she was imagining Byakuya sitting down with Masaki and moving their little board game pieces around. Just the thought of her stoic brother picking up a green token and trying to beat a five year old cracked Rukia up. If it weren't for her natural Kuchiki control, she would be rolling on the floor already!
"No." Byakuya plainly rejected.
"How about a personal instructor?" Rukia suggested.
"Instructor?"
"Yeah." She confirmed with a nod. "I know Nii-sama is very busy and he doesn't have much time. Maybe that's why he's just stuffing as much information as he can into Masaki. With a personal teacher, you can teach her the essentials of the Kuchiki family and basic shinigami training. Her instructor will be helping her with other training aspects along the way."
"Yeah that's a pretty good idea." Ichigo mused on the subject. "But we'll need lots of teachers. Byakuya can find someone in the Kuchiki family to help with his Kuchiki lessons. But we'll need people for other stuff. Kido…well our division members are pretty strong in kido. I can probably find someone to teach her zanpakuto basics. I guess I can ask Yoruichi-san to teach her flash stepping—"
"I'll do it." Byakuya suddenly offered. No way in hell is he letting that cat corrupt Masaki!
OoOoO
"Captain Unohana? Captain Unohana. Captain Unohana!" Masaki exclaimed after she repeated the name about ten times. "You're one of the greatest healers in Soul Society! Gotei 13 would have been dead without you! You're a legend!"
"I'm flattered," Unohana blushed with a smile. "I'm curious, Masaki-chan, how did you learn about me?"
"Uncle Byakuya…" Masaki grumbled. "Every day, I learn a hundred years of Soul Society history for one hour. I don't remember much history, but I remember a lot of current history like when this bad guy Aizen came! He caused Gotei 13 to lose three of their captains and made a whole species of hollows! He was really, really bad! But you saved all the people he almost killed! Like Uncle Hitsugaya! But he's actually my godfather!"
"What else did you learn?"
"A lot! I especially remember my daddy! It's so romantic! He battled against all of Seireitei just to get to mommy!" Masaki's eyes became very dreamy and she started fawning around in a daze, as if relishing this simple fact of history like a romantic movie scene. Soon, she snapped out of it, much to the relief of Unohana. "I also remember a lot about my Uncle Hitsugaya. He is so smart! He graduated the Academy in one year and he is the youngest person ever to become a captain! He's also really heroic! All of his battles were awesome! Especially the one with this Gin guy and this other one with an arrancar! His zanpakuto techniques are so cool! I want to have an ice zanpakuto when I get one!"
Unohana simply smiled as the child rambled on about her idol. "There's a chance you might get one. Your mother does have the most beautiful ice zanpakuto in all of Soul Society."
Masaki nodded. "Yep! I want mine to be beautiful like mommy and powerful like my uncle! Hey Unohana-sama? Do you think I will get an ice zanpakuto?"
"Masaki-chan, I'm afraid I don't know the answer. But your soul already knows. All you have to do is listen." Unohana wisely replied before quickly changing the subject. "Did you learn anything else interesting?"
"Yeah! The Seventh Division captain is a dog. There's a woman Uncle Byakuya hates that can turn into a cat. This Soifon girl can kill in two hits. The Eleventh Division captain was the only person to become a captain by killing the previous captain. The bad guy, Aizen, really messed up his lieutenant that she took years to recover. But I don't care. I don't like that Hinamori girl."
That last comment really piqued Unohana's interest. "Why don't you like Momo Hinamori?"
Masaki slightly paused on that answer. She knew she had no right to hate this one girl because she never met her. But Hinamori's relationship with Hitsugaya would become a definite obstacle for Naori. She can't let that happen!
Masaki truthfully answered back, "Because I think Uncle Hitsugaya and Auntie Nao really like each other. And that Hinamori girl is just going to get in the way!"
"Auntie Nao? You mean, Naori Hibana?" Unohana questioned.
"Yeah! Naori Hibana! I like to call her my Auntie, but she's really my godmother. Sometimes, she gets mad at me when I call her that." Masaki explained. "Do you know her? I didn't read anything about her. And I thought she was a pretty famous shinigami!"
"Naori-chan. Yes…I remember her fondly. She was like a child of mine. I see she's been getting along very well with Captain Hitsugaya." Unohana spoke to herself as she reminisced through their time together. An idea popped up in her head. "Masaki-chan, do you want to hear a story?"
"Story?"
"Yes. A story about a little girl…" Unohana replied. She took one long breath and began:
One fine spring day, I went with my team on a rescue. These monsters named hollows were terrorizing a small village. They were small like horses, but they were still very vicious. They hurt a lot of villagers. It was very bad. But we got rid of them all in a pinch and we began to treat the injured.
I was directing our medical officers to the wounded when my ears heard a faint rustle from the bushes. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw little footprints and thin trails of ruby red. 'Was this another injured person?' I thought and I followed this trail.
What I saw was unbelievable! A little girl, about your age, had her hands placed up at another young one's head and it was glowing bright green. This little girl cried and her hands shook in fear. But she was doing a fabulous job. She was saving a young child who was almost at the brink of death. But she only healed the young child to stability and she didn't have enough spiritual pressure to finish the job.
That's when I stepped in.
"Are you going to save her?" She asked me.
"Of course I will." I replied. "You were really courageous to bring your friend here and save her. Where did you learn such a high-level healing kido?"
The young girl pulled back the sleeve of her kimono to show the bandages wrapping her arm. "I saw this man do it once and I wanted to learn how! So I copied him a couple of times. I even did the same thing to myself, but the scars are still there. This is the first time I did it for real." She answered.
I took hold of her arm and I healed it a little bit more. "There. Your arm should have no scars." I told her.
The young girl gasped. She quickly pulled up her sleeve and unraveled her bandages. Just like magic, the scars were all gone! Vanished as if they were never there!
"How did you do that?" She asked me.
"The same thing you did before." I answered back to her. "Would you like to learn a bit more?"
This young girl became very excited and happy. She shouted back at me. "Yes!"
That was when we became our little journey together. She saw me as her teacher and her mentor. I took her in, gave her clothes, and even made her a part of my division when she got a little older. Under my guidance, she became a very capable healer. She only reached that level because she was a patient person. She would study each healing technique very carefully and practiced a lot to master it. She had a large amount of motivation when she was young. So much that she quickly became a competent healer in my division.
But that motivation to learn also led her to techniques other than healing.
She learned her zanpakuto's name one day. I lost her motivation that day.
This young girl was gifted with a power that could cause a great amount of damage, but it also gave her more access to the body than any other shinigami. She became so fascinated with the destructive abilities of her zanpakuto that her concentration wavered to that. She began to develop more of her new power and less on healing. Very rapidly, she mastered her shikai.
That was when I decided she learned all she needed in my division. As much as it hurts me, she was bound for greater things other than simple healing. She had to go out there on her own. It became a time for her to be released from the nest.
I arranged for her to move towards a more combat-oriented division. But she was still a young child and I didn't want her to feel out of place with the older officers. I wanted to place her in a division where there was one member who could become her friend. The Fifth Division was my best bet because of the nice lieutenant and it was close by. But unfortunately, it became full. So I had to place her far away in another division.
It hurts to see the little girl I raised to go off on her own. But the little girl only smiled and consoled me by saying, "It's okay Unohana-sensei. If I get hurt, I'm sure you'll be there to make me better!"
With a smile on my face, I happily sent her off to her new division.
Over the years, she did get hurt quite a lot and she would always be very excited to see me. But with each visit, I could see changes in that little girl. Her hair grew only a little. She got taller. She lost her baby fat. But one very noticeable change I saw was her eyes were tired. Every time I saw her, she looked like she wasn't getting enough sleep. I warned her. She only assured me that she was all right. Along with her appearance, her personality was slowly changing. The once cheerful little girl became a little dry and cynical. But luckily, she still had her soft nature. That was reassuring.
I was a little worried and I contacted her captain. I could feel a vibe that she did not fit in well with her new division. I wondered if I made the wrong choice. But I decided not to interfere. It was her battle now.
I was right.
The little girl slowly got better. She came to me in high spirits. She showed me all her new tricks. She also became very involved with her new division. Her visits became less frequent. She only came in to have her body healed if she couldn't heal it herself. She frequently got lost in her thoughts when I ask about her new superiors. I've heard those rumors that she was getting along well with her captain.
Now she only comes in for business. She's grown into a mature teenager. She and I still have that teacher-student relationship even though it was over many years ago. She still treasures me as a special person in her life. But our paths have split. She has her own business and I have mine.
That is a story of our separation.
Unohana finally finished her little tale. She could see that Masaki was completely engrossed into this story. Her mouth was gaping wide and her eyes bulged out in curiosity.
"That's a really sad story!" Masaki whimpered. "You can't see her ever, ever, ever again!"
"Oh no! She's not gone forever! I can visit her whenever I feel like it. But I'm so busy with my division that I don't have the time. I'm sure she's been doing well."
Masaki wiped a tear. "It's still very sad. You lost someone who was very close to you!"
Unohana gently smiled, telling the little child she was okay. "I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. She and I are still close. It's not really something to worry about nowadays."
"So you'll get to see her again?"
Both of them stopped their conversation when they heard faint footsteps approaching the door. Masaki naturally freaked out thinking it was Byakuya and she inched a bit closer to Unohana. The shadow looked just like him! It had wavering hair that seemed to only be down to the shoulders. But as the tall shadow got closer, they could see the features of a younger person. Then, when the door opened, the first thing they saw was a pair of golden eyes.
"Auntie Nao!" Masaki loudly shouted and flew into her arms.
"Masaki-chan!" Naori exclaimed in surprise. "Masaki-chan! Be careful! These papers are going to fall out."
Masaki smiled. "Sorry Auntie Nao! I just got really excited to see you."
"That's good to know. And it's godmother." Naori sighed. She turned to look at Unohana, who was sitting and gently smiling at her. "Good afternoon Captain Unohana. How are you?"
"I'm doing well. How about you?"
"Couldn't be better. Why how did Masaki-chan wound up here? Did she wander in? Did she cause any trouble?"
"Oh no." Unohana shook her head. "She was more of a pleasant surprise."
"I was running away! I don't like Uncle Byakuya! He's mean!" Masaki complained.
Naori merely sighed. "Don't be like that. Your mother would be very disappointed."
"It's the truth." Masaki huffed back.
Ignoring the young girl's temper, Naori turned back to Unohana. "Here's some paperwork Captain Hitsugaya wants you to fill out." Naori walked over to her and handed over a neat stack of papers. But as she passed them off, a stray parchment lingered off the side and it spliced through the skin of her pointer finger. Soon, a tiny trail of red blood dripped down from the cut.
"Are you okay?" Both Masaki and Unohana asked with Masaki being the more worried one.
"Relax. It's only a paper cut." Naori calmly answered. She placed her other hand on top of the cut. A glowing sphere of green spiritual pressure appeared and instantly, the cut became skin. The blood disappeared and any scar also disappeared. Naori confidently showed them the result. "See. All better."
"I see you haven't lost your touch." Unohana commented.
"I did have the best teacher." Naori replied, earning another warm smile from the gentle captain.
"Teacher?" Masaki blinked. She was confused. But her questioning was ignored.
Naori quickly bounced little Masaki, making the young child laugh. She began to exit from the division area. "I guess I should bring you back to your mother. But she mentioned to me that you were meeting your new instructor later. It would make sense to bring you to her instead. Rukia-san is probably there."
"Instructor?" Masaki asked in question.
Naori nodded. "Yes. You're getting an instructor for kido training. Actually your instructor is a really close friend of mine. You will love her! She's very nice and helpful. And she's a complete master at kido. She's much, much better than me. I think she's now a professor so teaching you is going to be very easy."
"Really?" Masaki instantly brightened up at this opportunity. "What's her name?"
Shinigami Cup!
"Now Masaki. I want you to form a perfect sphere using only your spiritual pressure." A more scholarly looking Byakuya requested with a scroll and brush sitting in his hands, ready to pretend to take notes.
Masaki placed her palms out together and suddenly, all her spiritual pressure formed into a ball. Amazing! Even Byakuya was impressed. The first day of kido introduction and Masaki was already controlling everything in tip-top shape. Simply amazing! She must take it from her mother!
Wait! Whose orange hair is that poking from above that wall?
"Ichigo! Stop cheating!"
So…any guesses whom her new instructor will be? I decided to add that Unohana story because guess what it's about? Growing up! And who really needs to grow up? A lot of characters actually… As you are noticing, these next couple of chapters will be about Masaki learning about her new environment and getting adjusted to Soul Society. There will be Hitsugaya and Naori fluff going on...if I feel like it.
By the way, hip hip hooray for frackin' Hurricane Irene. That's why I'm posting this chapter now before the power outages kill my electricity and I can't update for you guys. Bless me for living on the path of destruction. Why does the East Coast have to suffer so much? First an earthquake and now a hurricane! Then again, nothing really happens around here... Current conditions as I post this: the calm before the storm...
Read and review for another chapter! Which will be posted when everything is fixed up and ready to go.