Chapter 6: Aisuhime & Kagekishi
"So what are your names?" I asked, more curious than ever. They looked at me and smiled. The man motioned to the woman as if to say "ladies first". She smiled at him. They were so obviously in love. It was adorable, if not a little nauseating.
"My name is Aisuhime," the lady said with a smile, "If you need me, simply say, 'Strike Aisuhime', and I will come to your aid as an arrow with him as the bow." I smiled widely, and the man cleared his throat.
"My name is Kagekishi," the man stated with a small, sarcastic bow and a goofy smile, "If you need my assistance, say "Shimmer Kagekishi", and I will allow you to hide in every shadow and strike using the mist that your zanpakto will become by going into your enemies bodies and either turn the mist to ice or use it as a poison." I smiled and started clapping and laughing until I heard someone clearing their throat.
I turned around to see everyone's favorite master of stoicism himself, Kuchiki-taicho. My zanpakto quickly went back into my sword, and I smiled at him. He looked at me like I had lost my mind, but I didn't even care. I was so excited about meeting my zanpaktos!
"Who were you talking to, Shinkiro-san?" Kuchiki-taicho demanded. I looked at him with a nervous smile on my face. Would he think I was crazy? Kagekishi and Aisuhime told me it was normal, but they may think it is doesn't mean Kuchiki-taicho will agree… Oh well. Might as well tell the guy the truth.
"I was talking to Kagekishi and Aisuhime, the spirits in my zanpakto," I said softly with a small smile, but I could not mask my excitement. He looked at me in what almost looked like shock.
"You know your zanpakto's name?" he asked getting very serious. I nodded vigorously.
"Names," I corrected happily, "There are two in here!" I held up my sword with a proud grin that I could not hold back. He gave me a scrutinizing look before saying, "Call them out." "In which form? I can only do one at a time," I asked, confused. He stared at me again. Did I suddenly grow two heads? Oh well.
"I'll just show you both," I said unsheathing my zanpakto, "Strike Aisuhime!" To my sheer pleasure, my sword turned into an intricate deep purple bow with an ice blue arrow with a barbed tip. Kuchiki-taicho looked borderlining on impressed, but then I let Aisuhime return to normal and prepared to call on Kagekishi.
"Shimmer Kagekishi," I said quietly and out of instinct held my zanpakto end to end and smashed between my hands, turning it into a mix of dark purple and ice blue mist. I suddenly melted into the shadow of a nearby sakura tree. The look on Kuchiki-taicho's face was priceless. He was shocked, and I think he was impressed. I quickly withdrew Kagekishi and appeared two inches from Kuchiki-taicho's face which was totally unintentional on my part. Then I heard a deep chuckle in my head. Dang it, Kagekishi. My face turned dark red.
"G-gomen nasai, Kuchiki-taicho," I stuttered starting to back up until he grabbed my left arm. Oh by the way I'm left handed.
"What happened here?" he pulled up my sleeve revealing the scar from the night my parents pretty much killed me. It was a pretty intricate looking scar. It looked my mom was trying to perform some sort of satanic ritual on me. Jokes on her I guess. It looked kind of cool honestly. I avoided his gaze, but I felt a hand grab my chin and pull my face to force me to look him in the face.
"Who did this to you?" he asked again. I felt the tears start to well up, but I forced them back. I am not weak, not anymore. My past does not define me anymore. I sighed. I knew his past, so I suppose he had a right to know mine. Plus I'm living at his place so yeah. I just figured it would've been in the papers from the head captain about my situation.
"My adopted parents from when I was alive did it the night I died," I stated coldly, "They decided that night they were going to go ahead and finish me off after 14 years. It was about time." I smiled humorlessly at him. He looked at me, and his stoic face softened. Next thing I know, I felt two arms wrap around me awkwardly, but protectively.
"How often did stuff like this happen?" Kuchiki-taicho asked, his voice sounding…angry? I looked up at him with a small smile.
"Why does it matter, Kuchiki-taicho? Is this part of my training?" I joked with a smaller laugh at my own joke because I knew he wouldn't laugh. He looked at me and seemed to be arguing with himself.
"Call me Byakuya," he said, shocking me, "I do not wish for you to fear me. From the sounds of it, you spent your entire life fearing the people who are supposed to take care of you. I will not have that here. My job is to train you. For me to do that effectively, you must trust me. Now tell me how often this happened." I smiled smally. He truly was kind, just very very strict and stoic. He did have a heart though.
"It happened almost every day," I admitted, "I have burn scars down my legs and stab scars and other slash scars all over me from over the years. They just avoided my face because they cared too much about appearance. I could hide everything else." The grip around me tightened slightly, and I hesitantly returned the hug. "Thank you, Byakuya-taicho," I said with a few tears escaping my eyes and onto his captain's robe.
He pulled my face up and looked me in the eye. "I will make you strong, if that is what you truly wish. You will be able to protect yourself from anything like that ever happening again," he said all business again. I nodded happily, and he let go of me. "Today, you may accompany me to the sixth company if you'd like to see how things are run there to prepare you to work one day," he offered calmly. I got even more excited and looked at my zanpakto.
"Kagekishi! Aisuhime! We're going on a field trip!" I whispered excitedly. I heard their combined chuckling, and that so made it worth the weird look I was getting from Byakuya-taicho. "Oooooo…. Getting to call him by his first name already? Wow, Imouto-chan got game!" I heard Kagekishi teasing in my head. I rolled my eyes and shushed him in my mind as I felt my face heat up. This new life of mine was sure getting pretty interesting.