Chapter Eleven

Manifestation

Hiroki stared at Sadao, trying to process what the Splintered leader had just confirmed. Sho was in the Soul Society.

"Is there something you'd like to say?" Sadao asked. There were a million things Hiroki would like to ask, but he decided his first question would be to Makoto.

"What all was a lie?" He asked her. She still couldn't look at him. "Answer me." Hiroki's tone was growing angrier.

"I never lied to you," she finally answered softly. "But I owe my life to Sadao. I believe he knows what's best."

"And invading the Soul Society is best?"

"I-."

"You don't need to answer him, Makoto," Sadao interrupted. "He'll never understand."

"Then help me understand!" Hiroki shouted. "Because right now, all I see is people who lied to me. I thought you didn't want a war?"

"At the time I told you that, we didn't. But then Makoto unlocked her Bankai, and now we can show the Soul Society we exist. She was the final one of us who needed to unlock it. And with her jailing ability, we've already robbed the Gotei Thirteen of three of its strongest Captains. They are prime for invasion now."

"You know that we have allies, right?" Hitsugaya said. "Allies that are more powerful than you can imagine."

"I can imagine a lot," Sadao responded. "But tell me this: is it true that everything in the Soul Society is made of Reishi?"

"Even if it is, that's too much for you to try and use. Not even the Quincy could do it when they invaded."

"Well the Quincy lacked something I don't."

"And what's that?"

"Now why would I tell you that?"

"It doesn't matter," Hitsugaya sighed. "There's no possible way you can enter the Soul Society. From what I can tell, that man's Bankai can only switch the places of himself and one that's 'marked', as he put it. That means he can't teleport anyone else without teleporting himself. And even if you could open the Senkaimon, you can't pass without a Jigokuchō, or you'll be forced into the Dangai."

"You assume that is Sho's Bankai's only ability. Why? Did he tell you that that was all it was?"

"You mean there's more to it?" Hiroki asked.

"Of course there is," Sadao chuckled. "It's a Bankai. If it only did what the Captain claims it does, then it would just be a slightly stronger form of Sho's Shikai. While anyone who enters the field will be marked, it does not just limit him to switching places with them. He can also bring the 'marked' to his location as long as they start in his field of kunai."

"So you're saying that you…"

"Yes, he can teleport myself and Makoto to his location at any point, but I told him to wait. After all, the other Splintered are on their way right now. We can't very well invade with only two people."

"Two?"

"Yes. Unfortunately Makoto has to stay here for the foreseeable future. If she goes with us, the jail disappears, and we can't have that happening."

"None of this will happen if I stop you here though," Hiroki said. "And Makoto can't help you if she has to keep up that jail." He placed his fingers on the flat of his blade.

"Bless, Kamihime," he commanded. The ribbons tightened, and glowing letters that read "Hinoken" appeared on his blade. Blue fire surrounded Hiroki's Zanpakutō.

"Hiroki, don't do it," Makoto tried to warn him, but Hiroki ignored her.

If I stop him here, Hiroki thought, then the invasion will be off. Makoto won't have to worry about following him anymore in this absurd plan. None of them will, and they should be able to survive.

He used Hirenkyaku to get close to Sadao, and swung his sword, an arc of blue fire trailing behind it. Sadao looked unfazed and unimpressed. He simply raised his umbrella to block Hiroki's blade. Really? Hiroki thought with a smug look. The umbrella?

But Hiroki's smugness quickly turned to horror as his blade collided with the tool. He expected his flames to pass on to the umbrella like they had with Ikkaku's Bankai, but they didn't. Instead, his flames disappeared, seemingly sucked into the umbrella. Unable to move from pure shock, Hiroki couldn't block as Sadao raised his fist and slammed it into Hiroki's stomach. It felt a hundred times stronger than a normal punch, and Hiroki assumed that it was being reinforced and strengthened by Reishi.

"Hiroki!" Makoto and Histugaya both called out as the nineteen year old was launched from where he was, slamming into the side of a building so hard that there was an impact crater formed from it. Tiredness and pain racked his body. He felt himself slowly falling and could swear he heard some calling his name as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Hiroki's eyes opened and he found himself sitting on a cloud in his inner world. Kamihime sat on a cloud next to him. She was smiling like usual even though Hiroki was clearly not in a smiling mood. He clenched his hands into fists.

"He betrayed me," Hiroki muttered.

"Who?" Kamihime asked with a tilt of her head.

"Sadao," Hiroki replied. "I thought you'd know that from the fight I just had with him. Can't you see what happens in the real world?"

"Well, to me, this," she motioned at the sky around her, "is the real world. But as for Sadao, can you really talk about betrayal after you broke their rules?"

"You're on his side?"

"No," Her smile lowered slightly, tinged with sadness. "I've always been on your side. My main objective is to keep you safe, and it always has been." She lightly touched his cheek before moving her hand away. "But the best way that could have been done is if you had stayed with the Splintered."

"Then I'd be joining an invasion into the Soul Society and that doesn't exactly scream survivable to me."

"Maybe, but you would have been in a better position to try and convince them not to invade in the first place. Think about it: confronting that first trio of Shinigami already gave them a negative impression of you, and then you went and tried to talk to the Shinigami without their permission. Then you bring back Captains, and when they're turned away, you go after them. I'm not saying what you did was wrong, but if you had shown that you were on the Splintered side before trying to convince them to not do anything…maybe there'd be a different outcome."

"But what if it was the same outcome?"

"Well then you'd have to pick a side. You forget I know you better than anyone. I am a part of you, after all. And while you want to tell yourself that your main goal was to find these people a home, it was actually a bit more selfish than that."

"Let me guess: I wanted to play hero?" Hiroki asked, reflecting on what Sho had also told him.

"Wanting to play the hero isn't a bad thing if done for the right reasons. So let me ask you one more time: what is your reason for helping the Splintered?"

Hiroki was silent for a few moments. He knew the answer though he still wanted to say it was to find them a home. But he knew that'd just be a secondary reason.

"Because I want to be somebody," he finally answered. "I want to be recognized as someone other than a college student with a part-time job. I want to be…different."

"You already are different. You don't have to prove it to anybody, let alone yourself. But if that is really your goal, then wake up and prove it anyway."

"Even if I did wake up, I'm not strong enough to stop Sadao. Also they're probably already in the Soul Society."

"You mean that you aren't strong enough yet."

"What?"

"You'll figure it out soon enough. And the next time we see each other will come quicker than you think. Now wake up."

Hiroki's eyes shot open, and he found himself staring straight up at the stars above. The rain had stopped and the clouds had slightly dispersed leaving windows amongst them to see the lights in the sky. When he sat up, he noticed the jail with the three Captains was to his right which meant he was on the rooftop and not on the ground. He could swear he fell though.

He looked to his left and found himself staring at Makoto who was sitting next to him, her head lowered. Her face was red and Hiroki couldn't tell if the water on her face was tears, rain, or a mixture of both. He knew he should be angry at her, but he couldn't bring himself to feel that way. Instead, he came to realize that she had been put into a difficult position, and he actually felt sad for her. He also noticed that she hadn't noticed that he was awake.

"Sadao can really pack a punch, huh?" he asked, chucking, but then groaning as he grabbed his stomach which was still very sore.

Makoto's head shot up, her face a mixture of shock and relief. Then it turned to anger, and Hiroki thought she was going to slap him or something similar, but to his confusion, she just lunged and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight.

"Um, okay?" he managed to say. Then he realized the Captains were behind them, and just the thought of them looking at the two teenagers made his face burn.

"Uh, Makoto?" he asked, trying to get her attention. It worked, and when she noticed what she was doing, she quickly released her grasp over him, her own face still red though Hiroki assumed it was from embarrassment this time instead of tears.

"Don't read too much into it," she said, looking away. All Hiroki could do was smile, but then remembered what had transpired before he had lost consciousness. His smile disappeared, being replaced by a more somber expression.

"I have some questions, and I need you to answer them," he said with a serious tone. Her face turned to one of pain, and she grabbed her arm out of discomfort.

"Alright," she answered with hesitation.

"First off, you need to know that I'm going to have to go after Sadao. If I don't he's either going to get the Splintered killed or kill Shinigami. I know you don't have any love for the Shinigami, so I'm not going to ask you to join me, but I need to know whether or not you're going to get in my way."

"Please don't make me choose."

"I wish I didn't have to, but you and I both know I'm not joining Sadao at this point. Now, like I said, you don't have to join me. All I ask is that you release those three and stay out of our way. I don't want you getting hurt or worse."

"I…" she was silent for a minute, and Hiroki could tell she was thinking hard about her answer. "I can't join you against them, but I won't stand in your way. Also, if you swear that you're going to try and stop the other Splintered and not kill them, then I agree to release the Captains. If…If you lose, Sadao won't forgive me for this. I'll be kicked out of the group."

"It's a good thing I don't plan on losing."

"But how do you plan on stopping him? He just…you couldn't do anything against him."

"That brings me to my final question."

"And that is?"

"How can I achieve Bankai?"

"I…what?"

"It takes at least ten years to achieve Bankai," Hitsugaya interrupted. "You don't have the time. Though…there is apparently a method to get it within three days, but you'd have to find Urahara Kisuke for that. Even if you did, there's still not enough time. It would be best to just release us and let us go and take care of the invaders ourselves."

"The invasion is partially my fault," Hiroki answered, standing up. "I'm going to go and stop him, but I know I'm not strong enough yet. As for the timeframe, I know for a fact the Splintered have a way to achieve Bankai quicker. After all," he turned to Makoto, "you achieved it within a day, didn't you?"

"How did you…?" Makoto asked, also standing up.

"Back at the cafe where we ate after my first training session, you mentioned that you hadn't achieved Bankai, but if Sadao had let you do something, you would have already, yet you didn't tell me what that something was. I can only assume you unlocked your Bankai while I was in the Soul Society, right?"

"Yes, that's true but-."

"Then you achieved it in less than a day."

"Yes, but I was training for a few years in preparation for the moment I would do it. If you try to…if you try it, you won't succeed. It could leave you severely injured or even dead."

"If I try to stop Sadao the way I am, I'll be dead anyway. Please, Makoto, you have to teach me how to do it."

"Damn it. It's bad enough I'm even letting you try and stop Sadao, but now you want me to show you how to…Hiroki, you may not even be able to do it."

"I won't know unless I try."

Makoto put her hand over her face and rubbed the bridge of her nose out of frustration. Finally she sighed, "Fine. I will tell you how to do it. But only because I want you to have a chance when facing Sadao. First off though, we need a clear roof." She drew her sword and turned to the jailed Captains. She put her sword in front of her and concentrated. Suddenly, the prison shattered and the thousands of shards of Reishi flew into Makoto's Zanpakutō.

"We should return to the Soul Society immediately," Byakuya said calmly, as if he didn't care about just being freed.

"We can't," Hitsugaya replied. "Not all of us, not yet at least. If we all return now then Hiroki doesn't have a way to enter."

"Your duty is to the Soul Society, not a Human, no matter what his ancestry may be."

"I'm not leaving without him. Oh, and tell Lieutenant Matsumoto that she's in charge of Squad Ten until I return."

Byakuya was silent for a moment before responding, "Very well. Then you remain here. Captain Zaraki and I will return."

Byakuya inserted his sword into the air, opening the gate to the Soul Society. The two Captains entered, and the doors closed behind them before disappearing. Hitsugaya turned to Hiroki.

"You better be able to achieve Bankai. I will give you till the sun rises. If you haven't by then, I will leave without you."

"I understand but uh…do you think it's a good idea to leave Rangiku in charge of the squad?"

"She may be an alcoholic annoyance at times. Actually most of the time. But she can hold her own in a fight, and she can lead when she needs to. I wouldn't have kept her on as my lieutenant when I became Captain if I thought otherwise."

"Kept her?"

"She was the lieutenant to the previous Captain of Squad Ten as well. But that doesn't matter right now. Right now, you have already wasted a few minutes talking instead of training."

"You're right," Hiroki turned to Makoto. "So how do we do this?"

"First you must know that to achieve Bankai, a Shinigami must manifest their Zanpakutō spirit into the real world and subjugate it."

"How do I do that?"

"Well normally it takes at least a decade to form the relationship that allows you to do so," Hitsugaya answered.

"Does that mean you had to do it?"

"Yes."

"Will you tell me how you did it?"

"No."

Hiroki wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"But I am interested in how you're supposedly able to do it in less than a day," Hitsugaya continued.

"That's something that only Splintered can do," Makoto managed to speak again. "All spiritual things are made from Reishi. That includes Zanpakutō spirits. Being half-Quincy, we're capable of controlling Reishi. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

"You're not telling me that you forcibly draw them out of the Zanpakutō?" Hitsugaya asked.

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

Hiroki noticed the anger on Histugaya's face and the look of shame on Makoto's, "What's wrong? Am I missing something?"

"There's a reason it takes at least ten years to achieve Bankai," Hitsugaya answered through gritted teeth. "You have to form a relationship with them and convince them to finally manifest. Forcing them to manifest is not the relationship a Shinigami should have with their Zanpakutō spirit."

"Except we're not Shinigami," Makoto nearly spat. "Do I disagree with the method? Yes. But is it effective? Also yes. And it's what Hiroki will have to do if he wants to face Sadao. You've only seen Sadao's Shikai."

"Wait, what?" Hiroki asked.

"His umbrella is his Shikai. You've only seen him in his Shikai form."

"But he wears the suit?"

"And? Do you think we can't change out of these robes if we want?"

"I've never really thought about it before. But if that's true then his actual body-."

"Is with the rest of ours. And before you ask, no, I will not tell you where our bodies are. But your body is with them and they're in a safe place, so don't worry about that and focus on this."

"So how do I manifest Kamihime?"

"That part's easy. Just feel her spirit within the blade and use your Reishi Manipulation to force her to come forth."

"What happens when she does?"

"She'll be angry. You'll fight. If you want Bankai, you'll have to win. Much easier said than done. Oh and because she'll be manifested, you won't have access to your Shikai making it much more difficult."

"Okay. I guess I better get started." Hiroki turned to Hitsugaya. "I'm sorry. I wish there was another way."

"As do I, but I won't interfere. It's your choice, and I'll respect it."

Hiroki drew his blade and stared at it. Then he closed his eyes and concentrated on the blade. At first he could feel the Reishi in the air around him. That was much easier to sense since he had done it before. Then he focused even harder. He started to feel the Reishi within himself, but below that was something else: a different strand of spiritual energy. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew that that was Kamihime. He concentrated harder than he had ever done before. He felt like he might faint at any moment. Suddenly he felt himself grab hold of it, and he mentally yanked at it. Then he felt nothing.

"Did…did it work?" he asked, opening his eyes. At first he saw Hitsugaya and Makoto, and when they didn't answer him, he noticed that they were staring at something behind him. He slowly turned and saw Kamihime standing a few meters away.

She was still in the robes that Hiroki saw her in when they were in his inner world, but her hair accessory was gone, allowing her hair to reach near her waist. In her right hand she held an exact copy of the Zanpakutō of which she was normally within. Then Hiroki saw her expression. Her eyebrows were slightly lowered and she wore no smile, giving off a calm rage.

"Kamihime?" Hiroki asked hesitantly, trying to start a conversation.

Kamihime looked around at her surroundings before speaking, "So this is the World of the Living. And you brought me here. No, that's wrong. You forced me here."

"You know why you're here, don't you?"

"Of course I know why I'm here. After all, I told you that we would meet sooner than you thought. I knew you'd do this, though I have to be honest: I didn't think about how it would feel to be ripped from my home. It's…unpleasant. I gather you know what you have to do to achieve Bankai, correct?"

"I do. I have to…subjugate you." Hiroki didn't like using the word, but it was the truth. "You could just make this simple and surrender now."

Kamihime's mouth curved into a slight smile, "I told you that I'm on your side, but my responsibility is first and foremost your safety. If you achieve Bankai, you will go and face Sadao, and that is the antithesis of what I want. So no, I won't surrender. I will face you in combat, but I will try my damndest to stop you. You may hate me if I win, but I honestly couldn't care less."

"I think that that's a lie. I think you would care a lot if I decided to hate you. But don't worry, I wouldn't hate you. Only myself for not being strong enough."

"Enough talk. We might as well get this over with."

Suddenly Kamihime was behind Hiroki, swinging her blade at him. He quickly moved to the side as her blade passed through the air where he had just been standing. When he regained his footing, he lunged forward. She put up her blade to block and both swords clashed with a metallic clang. Each fighter tried pushing their opponent on their back, but neither gave ground.

"I thought you weren't trying to kill me?" Hiroki asked.

"I'm not," Kamihime replied. "Any wound I give you in this fight shall not be fatal, but only to drive home the fact that you should surrender."

They both managed to push off at the same time, moving themselves backward several feet. Hiroki used Hirenkyaku to get behind Kamihime like she had before, but instead of swinging his sword, he swung his leg at her back hoping to kick it. She quickly turned just enough to grab his foot and flung him over her head with a strength Hiroki had absolutely no idea she possessed. He hit the ground and rolled. Before he could get up, he felt that Kamihime was about to strike, taking advantage of the moment. Without knowing where she was, he kicked out and was lucky enough to strike her in the leg. Her leg buckled and she fell into a kneeling position. Hiroki was already in the process of getting up, and he put the tip of his blade to her throat.

"Surrender," he demanded.

"Sharpness," Kamihime muttered and she flicked her sword up which sliced right through Hiroki's blade, severing it in two. The top half fell to the roof with a clatter. Hiroki was too stunned to move. Kamihime stood up, now her sword was at his neck.

"Just because you can't use your Shikai doesn't mean that I don't have my abilities," she said. "You forget that I am the one who provides your blessings therefore I already have them, and can use them when needed. Now it's your turn to surrender." Hiroki stared at his broken blade in silence for a few seconds before replying.

"No," he said and pushed his head slightly forward so that Kamihime's sword tip pressed slightly into his neck. He could feel a small trickle of blood come from where the point of the sword met his skin. "I won't surrender. This is too important for me to quit. So either kill me or help me."

"Hiroki," Makoto began to move forward, but Hitsugaya put a hand in front of her and shook his head.

Kamihime stared at Hiroki, their eyes looking directly into the other's. Finally she sighed and smiled. She withdrew her sword and lowered it.

"Very well," she said. She began to walk past him, but then stopped. Much to his surprise, she placed her hand under his chin and smiled. "You know if we weren't already on good terms, you'd probably be dead right now. Count your blessings that I respect your resolve."

She removed her hand slowly, brushing the underside of his chin as she did. He felt his face grow red and he heard her laugh. He turned to look at her, but she was gone. Suddenly he took a deep breath as if he had been holding it in even though he wasn't aware of it. Makoto and Hitsugaya walked up to Hiroki. Makoto had an irritated look on her face, and Hitsugaya had a more confused expression.

"What was that?" Makoto asked.

"What was what?" Hiroki asked, clearing his throat.

"Forget about it. Did you at least succeed in what you were trying to do?"

"Yes, I can…feel it." Hiroki turned to Hitsugaya. "It's time we returned."