Tite Kubo © Bleach
Italics in this chapter means that the person (Arisu) is speaking English.
Beyond the Beyond
Chapter 6
by GaleSynch
He was alive. He was alive.
Somehow, that was surreal. "Kaien!" Someone was calling his name, repeatedly. Who? Was it that girl? The one with purple hair?
His first thought was that: what an odd coloring.
His second thought was: she saved my life.
Life... Miyako lost it... he planned on joining her, so why— He opened his eyes. blinked dazedly. "Uno... hana-taicho? Ne, are you dead too?"
A soft sigh. "Rest up, Shiba-kun."
He drifted in and out of consciousness for the next few hours, his wife was present in every dream. In his dreams, he always reached out to take her hand, always. But he couldn't seem to catch her hand. So when his fingers closed around a slender wrist, he was surprised.
"Miyako!"
His eyes snapped open. It was blurry at first but then the woman's face came into focus. He released her as quickly as he'd snatched her arm. It was Unohana-taicho; he grimaced. "Sorry," he croaked. "I just— what happened? Unohana-taicho... you can't be dead too, can you?"
A soft, sympathetic smile. "No, Shiba-san, I'm alive and so are you."
The sentence sent a jolt through his mind and despite her firm hand on his shoulder, meant to keep him on the bed, he jerked upward. He regretted it instantly as pain wracked his body—but only for a brief moment. He felt as if rust had gathered in his bones with the awkwardness of his movements and he wondered what had happened.
Ukitake-taicho related everything that had happened (from the bed next to Kaien's). They were all about to be goners but an unseated officer from the 10th Division had saved their lives. Kaien only felt a little embarrassed; the Captain and Lieutenant needing an unseated officer to save their hides.
"Gotta thank her," Kaien said. "Where's that kid?" The girl was quite tiny.
"She's asleep, if you're wondering," His fellow Lieutenant Isane said. "She doesn't understand us, though."
"Ah, yeah," commented Ukitake-taicho. "She spoke in a completely different language. Weird kid." There was that tone Kaien was starting to get familiar with listening. His captain had something more to add about that girl but with Isane there, they couldn't say anymore.
Isane, always empathetic and so excellent at picking up other people's moods, seemed to know too. She smiled at them. "Get well soon. That girl, Arisu, is in the East Wing building if you want to see her later." And slipped away, pulling the hangings to hide them from sight.
"Taicho?"
"Hm?"
"Sorry... for not being able to protect you. And, I totally lost myself too." Kaien blinked, eyes stinging. "I just want to fight for Miyako one last time, I went into battle knowing full well that I'm not going to see the next sunrise and yet, here I am... So, I'm sorry for endangering you and Kuchiki."
Ukitake-taicho exhaled noisily. "No, it's no one's fault. You were fighting for your wife's memory, your pride and everyone's safety. Just don't be so reckless, next time. We won't be as lucky as tonight to have a wayward fellow Shinigami to defend us when things go bad."
"About her—"
"Kaien. Do you remember how her Zanpakuto looks like?"
Kaien frowned, trying to remember something after being taken over. "It was bright, like looking at the sun." He turned his head to look at his captain who frowned, troubled. "Why?"
"The twin katana's I saw her holding was dark. Did you hear the name? It's—"
"Un, Hikaru."
"I thought it was Onikirimaru or something—but the command was different, foreign and complicated."
Kaien's eyes widened at the implication. "She—has... two Zanpakuto's?"
"It wouldn't be good if word gets out. And, well, Kaien, handing over our savior would be a very rude way to repay her, wouldn't you agree?"
An hour later saw Ukitake waving Hitsugaya over, smiling tightly. "So, can you do us a favor?"
:: :: ::
Toshiro remembered the day the 10th Division had picked Arisu up.
Approximately fifty or more Hollows had appeared. It was so alarming it disturbed the tranquility within the walls of Seireitei. Being responsible for that district, the 10th Division had been dispatched. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto had went as more were appearing and the seated officers might not be able to handle it.
Imagine his surprise when he found no Hollows and no casualties.
Only a female soul unconscious, hands and legs chained.
Her spiritual energy was fluctuating, overbearing one moment and fading the next. A tear in space drew Hitsugaya's attention but Matsumoto dealt with it swiftly, Haineko swirling almost lazily to dispatch the Hollows.
"Taicho," said Matsumoto, in one of the rare moments she was serious. "I suggest we bring her back with us. If we leave her here, the Hollows will just keep coming. We can leave her at Shin'o Academy to be trained. Such strong spiritual energy would be a waste if she just spent the rest of her days here."
Hitsugaya grunted. Matsumoto was right. Leaving her here or anywhere not within the protected walls of Seireitei was begging for her to be killed. Training her to be a Shinigami was certainly the only way; the Gotei 13 certainly was lacking these days, their standards were lowering due to the abyssal results of the inductees.
With a sigh, he picked the girl up; she was light, unsurprisingly. Children in Rukongai were never fed properly, leaving them emaciated.
Her name was Arisu (at least, Toshiro assumed so) which was an odd name, Toshiro had never met anyone with such a name. Much less someone who didn't understand their language and spoke in a completely different language.
"I'm leaving her growth in your hands, Hitsugaya-taicho," said the Captain Commander.
Toshiro saw that coming from a hundred miles away. The rest of the Captains had pretended to be solid statues ("I ain't got no time for a prissy girl who passed out when she saw a damned Hollow." Kenpachi.) when the Captain Commander asked who was willing to take over—no one. Handing Arisu to Ichimaru Gin (a slick bastard who Toshiro never really trusted ever since they met) who volunteered was similar to attaching a bomb on her person and setting it off the next second.
Good thing Kyoraku shot Ichimaru down. But when he was being stared at ("Are you volunteering, Shunsui?"), started coughing. Ukitake probably would've volunteered if he wasn't absent. So, once again, Toshiro was stuck doing the hardest, most troublesome job.
Arisu didn't cause trouble but her tendency to stare at Toshiro while not actually seeing him was unnerving and annoying. She also messed up the orderly papers in a misguided attempt to help (ruining hours' of hard work but he didn't yell at her because she didn't understand and it was Matsumoto's fault for dumping everything on the small child).
She was hard-working and had a keen mind, he would give her that.
She grasped what he was demonstrating easily even though how she could chant Kido in another language was surprising and suspicious. He had always been a good judge of character and he could tell Arisu didn't really mean any harm, she was just lost, confused and sad. So he let her off.
Toshiro never saw her smile, not even when Matsumoto grinned brightly at her or when she cracked a joke, lending credibility to the fact that she cannot speak their language (or she was deaf to a certain degree, she turned when they called her name though).
Arisu was also helpful; he could hear the whispers and laughter of the Shinigami around him. Shouting at them meant that he acknowledged what they were saying about him, so he had kept silent.
He could feel Arisu's purple-eyed gaze boring into his back but he didn't react. He had been trying to decide which would be less-harder to eat. His favorite was—
A loud bam! as Arisu jumped and slapped her palm on the button he had been (very) discreetly eyeing drew his attention. He would've berated her for cutting in line, by pushing him (the nerve!) but she handed him the coupon. "Strawberry juice, right?"
He berated her anyway but he was grateful, no one ever volunteered to help him or did it of their own initiation. Usually, he had one of his officers deliver his meals. But since he was passing by the mess hall anyway, he'd decided to just eat there, without troubling anyone.
And was reminded painfully of when he first became Captain and everyone ridiculed him behind his back (or in front of him, those idiots).
The one time he lost his temper on her was when she screwed up on a mission.
Just when he thought he could finally take a break, she caused a whole lot of trouble and landed him a mountain of paperwork. She ruined the Division's reputation and he must've shouted himself hoarse for hours at her before he dismissed her.
"Ne, taicho," griped Matsumoto the next day. They'd glanced out the window and had caught, for the fifth time, Arisu flash-stepping with a different coat this time. "Don't you think this punishment is too—well—harsh?"
If Matsumoto had been more observant, she would've noticed he'd stopped looking out to stop himself from caring. "No." Maybe, muttered a small voice.
"But Kaito—"
"Can you finish your work in time? And don't think you can pile that paperwork on me."
Matsumoto made an impatient sound and before he can stop her, she darted off.
Toshiro scowled.
Ten hours later, Toshiro approached Ukitake who asked for a favor. "What?"
:: :: ::
Toshiro's eyebrows furrowed as he gazed at Ukitake and his Lieutenant, Shiba. "Transferring divisions? Arisu's fine where she is now." Toshiro didn't know how many times he'd repeated that for the last ten hours.
Unohana commented offhandedly that Arisu's Zanpakuto was unique and definitely would award her a high seat in the 4th Division. Toshiro doubted Arisu liked being a healer when she obviously like sparring with Yachiru and the others from the 11th Division and had to be dragged away.
Aizen thought she had a lot of potential and if Toshiro was stressed out, he would be willing to take over for him. Toshiro would give that Aizen had a paternal air about him that might soothe Arisu and he seemed to have the patience for the girl's antics. But Arisu screamed her head off when she first met him, so Toshiro said no in consideration of her fear. Her reaction to Aizen was odd since the man was one of the most popular Captains in history.
Perhaps a trauma from when she was alive—Arisu had died of murder, not a natural death.
Ichimaru? Hell no, Toshiro couldn't trust him with his laundry, much less the life of a subordinate who was obviously wary of Ichimaru and ran the other way when he was in sight. Tosen? No. Arisu had looked very uncomfortable, it might be because of the eyes.
Kurotsuchi? So Toshiro could come and see a failed specimen? Komamura? Arisu had sneezed no less than a dozen times when he was within vicinity. The other Captains could care less.
Still, they had made their offers.
And out of all of them, Ukitake had the most potential to be a proper caretaker to Arisu; he liked children and would be heartbroken when they disliked him. Arisu was a kid who saved his life, she was probably on the top of his list in the good book.
"Not around you, no," Shiba Kaien said. Insolent fool. Toshiro's eyes sharpened into a glare but Shiba wasn't cowed. "I can't trust Arisu in your hands—hands that killed a friend for the possession of a Zanpakuto—"
Bringing Sojiro up was like driving a dagger into Toshiro's frozen heart. "What?" his voice was barely above a hiss. "How dare you—who told you—" Stop. Calm down. "What does this have anything to do with Arisu? She's not my friend and we do not have the same Zanpakuto." He would've known if she had Hyorinmaru too (but, please, no, no, no—).
Shiba winced. Busted.
Ukitake sighed. "Promise this does not leave this room?" Toshiro considered that before nodding jerkily. "Eh, Arisu's Zanpakuto... doesn't have a form, does it?"
"...No."
"Nothing resembling two very lethal, grim katana?"
"No, just pure light or the chains around her hands when it's not in use. Get to the point, Ukitake."
"She has two Zanpakuto's," Ukitake said this with the air of one commenting on the weather. It was delivered so casually Toshiro nearly missed the point. "And it would not be in our nature to let our life-save die because of the rules of balance."
"We're not coined Balancers for nothing," Toshiro returned tightly.
Ukitake's face contorted into one of pain. "Toshiro, she's just a child."
"It's Hitsugaya-taicho to you," he returned automatically. But paused and considered. Arisu's record flashed into mind. Her data was automatically implanted into base once she became a Soul and was registered as a Shinigami. He'd just checked it to make sure there was nothing fishy about her.
Birth Name: Arisa Antenor.
Age: 11.
Date of Birth: January 26th.
Cause of death: Murder (crime committed by a Human, Kokuto).
Soul Burial done by: Urahara Kisuke.
Ignoring who had sent her to Soul Society, Arisu was just an unfortunate girl who got killed. And now, barely a year in the afterlife, she was going to get killed—again—Toshiro could see where Shiba and Ukitake were coming from. Because she had two Zanpakuto's.
Toshiro wondered if Urahara had anything to do with it.
"Well, Hitsugaya-taicho? Don't worry, we'd handle the paperwork—"
"What're you talking about? Arisu's staying where she is. If there's anyone who can understand an anomaly in Zanpakuto's and what role it plays in its wielder's lives and deaths, it's me." He gripped Hyorinmaru (gained from the death of his best friend).
The thought of Onmitsukido swooping down on Arisu and killing her the same way they did Sojiro in was almost unbearable.
Why couldn't a Shinigami have two Zanpakuto's?
(Why couldn't a Zanpakuto have two wielders?)
Besides, Arisu deserved the chance to live. (The man who killed her would just have to wish he never met Toshiro.)
:: :: ::
It was marginally easy to make sure Arisu wouldn't be arrested and tried before the Central 46 (and the three of them were guilty by association) for being of such aberrant nature. Toshiro didn't confide in Matsumoto, worried that his Lieutenant would spill the beans when she was drunk.
It took a while to get Arisu to understand that she shouldn't tell anyone either and it was best to train by herself.
"I'm not ambidextrous," said Arisu to Juushiro, swinging her katana's around. The chains connected each katana to her and she was twirling it like it was a fan.
Ukitake smiled gently at Arisu, hefting his own Zanpakuto up, gesturing for her to attack him. She hesitated, glancing round at her foster father for confirmation; he nodded and she lunged.
"Slowly," Ukitake warned her, "you're not familiar with your left hand: that's okay. Mimic my attacks, all right?" Arisu nodded, but looked mildly irritated at the slow pace.
Kids, always so excitable, thought Ukitake fondly.
He slashed downward as carefully as possible, a second later, Arisu flung the same attack back at him with considerably more force and less caution. She probably thought that since he was a Captain, he would be invincible. His lips twitched into a smile. This was actually fun.
The two traded attacks back and forth, pace slowly increasing in terms of speed and power.
It wasn't until the second hour that Ukitake reached his limits; a cough wracked his frame and Arisu, who did not have reflexes quick enough to stop herself, slashed his torso open. She dropped her katana in shock, gaping at him.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm so sorry—I'll use Hikaru—"
"'S okay," grunted Ukitake, grinning weakly, and ruffling her hair even as his Lieutenant hurried forward to haul him to the Fourth Division.
Arisu deactivated her second Zanpakuto with a grimace, looping her chains around Ukitake, murmuring the command for her brilliant Zanpakuto. Instantly, Ukitake felt energy and vitality returning; he glanced down and watched with mild fascination as the chains glowed, the cut closing quickly, and the light extinguished.
"Continue?" Arisu looked hopefully at him.
"Against me this time," Kaien said, wishing to stop his captain from overexerting himself even though Ukitake's skin had more color to it than before. "You've got to get used to fighting different opponents. Come on." He dragged her away when she looked pointedly at Ukitake, obviously wanting to fight him instead of Kaien.
To be honest, Kaien felt a little insulted because Arisu looked quite disinterested ("Hey! What's with that insulting look?!"). She should be drafted into the 11th Division; this was all Yachiru's influence.
This time Arisu kept her distance, swinging her right katana. She didn't move and at first, Kaien thought she was purposefully insulting him but then he noticed it— the purple energy swirling around her katana. She pulled back and flung it at Kaien who barely dodged out of the way.
He let out a small 'eep!' when he noticed the gouge in the earth.
"There goes that porch," said Ukitake fondly, as if this happened every time. "Well, I'll get Kiyone and Sentaro to clean this up,. Never you mind, Arisu-chan, keep on practicing... you'll get the hang of it soon."
Kaien gave his captain a dead-panned stare. "It's OK that she destroyed our division building?" Did Ukitake-taicho even hear the screams erupting from within the building?
"Come ooooon! I wanna fight—kill stuff!"
:: :: ::
"Yo, Jyuu-san, I heard you and your Lieutenant picked a kid up somewhere." Kyoraku stopped short, nearly running into someone very tiny. I glanced down at the purple-haired child that barely reached past his waist. "This the kid? Eh, you remind me of Nanao-chan when she's still young—...what're you doing, ojou-chan?"
For the young girl had taken to poking him in his gut. "Fly," she answered.
Kyoraku was positive she had not meant it the way it sounded. "What're you doing?" he asked, more slowly this time.
"Fly," she made sweeping motions, as if she expected Kyoraku to go flying backwards.
"I think she's trying to kick me out."
"Can't be," said Shiba Kaien, brows knitted as he looked at his foster daughter. "She knows the word 'get out' very well. Arisu-chan, he's a taicho. Be polite."
But Kyoraku had noticed what Kaien didn't. She was extending her index and middle finger, poking Kyoraku repeatedly. "Are you trying to perform Tsukiyubi?" he questioned.
She nodded, eyes lighting up in recognition and a small grin curling her lips. "You—smart!"
"Thanks!" he chirped. "So where did you learn about that?"
"Canju!"
"Can-what?" Kyoraku glanced at Kaien, baffled. Anyway, where was his long-time best friend? The white-haired captain was missing.
"She meant my younger brother, Ganju," Kaien offered. "Anyway, that's a very advanced Hakuda technique, Arisu. I don't think you can—"
"Mah, I'll teach you." Kyoraku beamed. "It's super easy!"
:: :: ::
"Hitsugaya-taicho gave her the fourth seat because she's a Shiba now... one of the Five Great Noble family..."
"Tch. She looks weak. What sort of skill did she have?"
"Hitsugaya-taicho is no different—he's the worst—"
Perhaps they thought Toshiro was deaf but the snow-haired captain had learned to ignore it long ago. What he didn't expect was for Arisu to stop walking and whirl in their direction.
"Shut up!"
"Arisu?" He was surprised but quickly covered it up. "Arisu!" he barked, trying to stop her from doing anything stupid or reckless. "Let's go."
"I challenge you, you stupid bastard!"
Toshiro stared at Arisu; since when did the purple-eyed girl learned such vulgar language? Wait. Did she just challenge an officer of higher rank? That was the fourth seat, Toshiro didn't think Arisu could defeat him yet— before he could so much as cry, "No!" the other guy yelled, "Bring it!"
Since when did his division started emulating the 11th Division's way out solving problems?
Toshiro groaned.
But a part, a tiny part that he wouldn't acknowledge, felt glad that she was defending him. No one had done that before.
"Loser!"
Toshiro sighed; she really was trouble. "Oi, Arisu, get back here—!"
:: :: ::
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Updated: 28/9/2014
Status: Unbeta'ed
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Question: When I write from another perspective, whose pov do you want to see?
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Review!