So, this is a chapter that's a bit newer than the ones around it again, though the first and last parts are especially new. so here's some more IR, and Ichigo and Hisagi meet Tokinada. Also, for those who have read CFYOW, we meet Tokinada's retainer in this chapter.
Ichigo and Rukia found themselves in a commercial area close to the thirteenth squad barracks. It was clear the place had spillover damage from the war, and only a few of the shops were open. Among the open storefronts was a plaza with several storefronts that sold various food stuffs. Among those was a place with a simple sign that said something about ice cream, it was clear this was the place Rukia was talking about when they left the training area. Ichigo and Rukia had left their zanpakuto on a holding rack used for people coming back from training as it was frowned upon to be armed in a time of peace.
"Take a seat, I'll go put our orders in," Rukia moved to the short line that had formed in front of the small storefront. As he was alone for a short time he considered what was around him. Seireitei had weathered one hell of a storm. He could still see much of the damage, but here everyone was, taking back what bits of normal they could.
"Here," Ichigo didn't need to look to see it was Rukia, especially since what ended up in his hand was a popsicle shaped like a cartoonish rabbit.
"Really?' Ichigo looked over at Rukia. The more things changed the more they stayed the same. "I thought you were going to order ice cream mochi or something."
Rukia gave him a look before responding,
"I was, but then I saw that they had these, and I had to buy them," Ichigo wasn't surprised. It seemed that she had an obsession with rabbits.
"Figured that much," Ichigo had gotten used to Rukia's antics from his time working as her substitute. Her ability to switch from deathly serious to her more playful attitude was something that no longer caught him off guard.
There was a silence as they ate the confections. Rukia wanted this to be as normal a moment as could be, but there was a thought that she couldn't let go of. A concern that was eating at her mind.
"Are you okay with…" she didn't need to say the second part. He was ripped away from his human life. Even if it was only temporary.
Ichigo sighed as he looked back at his first friend in Soul Society.
"You'd look right through me if I said yes," They could do that with each other. He knew Rukia was still beating herself up over past mistakes. He could see the outward signs of her own self-loathing, he'd been there himself for years, and he knew what it was like. "But it isn't as bad as it could be. Seems the insanity is a family trait."
"Indeed," Rukia let out a light chuckle as her mind wandered back to the good memories she had with her mentor and predecessor as lieutenant of the thirteenth. He had his moments, but she knew that was because the Shibas wore their hearts on their sleeves, Ichigo was no exception.
"You don't need to hate yourself about it," Ichigo's response puzzled her for a moment.
"What?" Rukia looked over after she swallowed a bite from her popsicle.
"Kukaku told me about Kaien. You did the right thing," Ichigo's words stunned her into silence. "You don't need to keep eating yourself up over it," Ichigo then took a bite out of his own popsicle. He knew what feeling responsible for a loved one's death was like. He blamed himself for his mother's death right until he learned that she died because her powers were taken away when she needed them most. Because of that, he also knew the relief he felt when you finally know it wasn't your fault. "
"Thank you." Rukia smiled faintly. She had heard it from just about everyone who knew. Her captain, her brother, and even Kukaku. Hearing it from Ichigo though was different for some reason. For some reason hearing it from him helped her believe it. Most of the trauma was done and gone after her fight with the ninth espada, but the wound was still there, and probably would be for a long time. "I think we should finish up before we talk anymore."
"Yeah, you have a point," Ichigo smiled lightly before moving to finish his own popsicle.
Kukaku loathed Tokinada, and that loathing was justified. The man acted like a colossal asshole, but he was more than that. He was a heartless sociopath that enjoyed nothing more than to cause pain and suffering. So when Tokinada came to talk about assisting the Shibas in expediting their resuming of production of various key support equipment that Soul Society had been conserving for the past twenty years, she knew there was something else to the game, but she listened.
This is why Kugo Ginjo was leading the ignoble asshole into her meeting room as she inhaled some smoke through her pipe. Once Tokinada had sat down, and Ginjo along with the child that was clearly Tokinada's retainer took their places Kukaku laid down the law.
"I will not tolerate any of your bullshit. You so much as try to pick at me or anyone else here, you're out," Kukaku stared daggers at Tokinada. She recognized the zanpakuto on his hip. It was one of the ancestral zanpakuto given to the great houses, and would only answer to someone of Tsunayashiro blood. The fact he wore it here meant either he counted on her being too stupid to recognize it, or he wanted her to know. Kukaku bet on the latter, he would know that as a Shiba the importance of the zanpakuto and its history were hammered into her head, including the names and abilities of every one of the great families' ancestral zanpakuto. This was an implicit threat.
"I thought this was supposed to be a fresh start for relations between our clans, are you truly going to bring up old grudges?" Tokinada's face broke away from the default grin he had on. He was trying to take control of the situation, but it was clear Kukaku wasn't going to let him have it.
"I will forgive the Tsunayashiro clan of their past slights against the Shiba clan, but I will not forgive you for killing Kakyo. Shibas do not forgive those with our family's blood on their hands, no matter how dried it may be," Kukaku drew her zanpakuto and stabbed it into the table in front of her. Tokinada's bodyguard was ready to spring into action before Tokinada stayed them. "However, for the sake of cooperation, I am willing to tolerate your continued existence."
Tokinada's smile returned to his face. "I see, then let us get down to business shall we?"
Ichigo was walking back to the Shiba manor after hanging out with Rukia after his training. Rukia had to go and look after the thirteenth again, and Ichigo figured that Tokinada had returned to the Tsunayashiro manor now, and so had also left. He was on his way past the ninth when his eyes caught Hisagi walking back to his division.
"Hey, Hisagi, how are Kensei and Mashiro treating you?" Hisagi looked over at Ichigo. He wasn't wearing anything over his shihakuso and his normal sword that was on his back was instead replaced by a nodachi on his hip.
"Well enough, though Lieutenant Kuna is being her usual self," Hisagi remembered that Ichigo knew his current captain and fellow co-lieutenant and had trained with them to control his own hollow abilities.
"Bouncing off the walls like she's made of rubber?" Ichigo had seen what Mashiro gets up to. She is an expert hand-to-hand fighter, and he figured that she could beat the shit out of him, but she fancied herself a tokusatsu a bit too much.
"Yeah… there's a reason she has been in charge of hand-to-hand and physical conditioning for the division," Lieutenant Kuna was great at training the division and the more physically demanding duties, but outside of that she was almost useless. That left Hisagi with all of the things she deemed boring. Mainly the paperwork and running the Seiretei Magazine, and the processing of all of the lieutenant reports for presentation to the head captain. He didn't mind this though as he found he was more in his element there, especially as a journalist.
"Figured. She damn near kicked my ass a few times when training me," when she was his sparing partner during his time with the visoreds she had left him in a crater a few times.
"Really?" Hisagi was somewhat surprised. Though it was likely due to a combination of Ichigo holding back for the sake of sparing and Lieutenant Kuna getting carried away as she usually does when sparing with a strong partner. He had learned that the hard way. "Well, Ichigo, I have a question?"
"Yeah?" Ichigo looked over at the lieutenant.
"Would you mind if I interviewed you for an issue of Seireitei Magazine? I'm trying to write a couple of articles I think you would be able to contribute to," Hisagi didn't want to waste the opportunity to ask, even if Ichigo said no, at least he got that far.
"Sure, do you have the questions on you right now?" Hisagi was surprised at that. It usually took a few days, maybe even a week to get an interview with a noble, and here was Ichigo asking if he was ready to go right now.
"Hold on, I'll get them," Hisagi flash stepped to his shared office with Captain Magamura and his fellow lieutenant.
As Hisagi opened the door he noticed Mashiro being her usual self, and Captain Muguruma was at his desk doing paperwork.
"So, finally got that interview with Ichigo?" Kensei looked at his co-lieutenant with a grin. He had been trying to get one for a while.
"Yeah, just here to get my notes and recorder," Hisagi walked over to his desk and opened the top drawer, taking a notepad and a small voice recorder.
"Good luck, Ichigo is a blunt individual," Kensei knew Ichigo was going to say things that may not be entirely popular with the rest of Soul Society, but he knew that Soul Society needed a shock to its system. It needs to change.
Ichigo and Hisagi had walked to the Shiba manor. He had thrown out a few sounding questions, a little bit of his life story, things that while he may not be quoted saying would help the readers understand exactly who Ichigo was.
This was when they caught Tokinada Tsunayashiro walking out from his meeting with Kukaku. What perplexed him was the kid following him. His reiatsu was weird. It felt like some sort of patch job, like someone took soul pieces from a bin of pieces-parts and threw them all together. At the same time however, it was clear this kid was strong, very strong.
"Ah, Ichigo Shiba, it is good to finally meet the hero who killed Yhwach," Tokinada spoke to Ichigo with a saccharine tone and an unreadable expression. He seemed to just be leaving, making Ichigo sure that going with Rukia to that ice cream place was a good idea, even if the only thing she got were Chappy popsicles.
"You must be Lord Tsunayashiro," Ichigo bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment. He feigned respect if only to not draw ire. His attention however was on the small child next to him. His soul itself seemed to be patchwork, but now Ichigo was trying to see if he could sense the individual parts, and he was having some success. He could sense bits of shinigami, and even a bit of what felt like fullbringers, however, what really got his attention what the oh-so-familiar tinge of quincy reiatsu. Whatever they were, someone wanted the abilities of a quincy in the mix. Ichigo then moved to look at the person of interest, a small dark-skinned child of indeterminate gender. "And who might you be?"
"My name is Hikone Ubuginu, retainer and bodyguard to Lord Tsunayashiro," Hikone spoke with a chipper tone. Their body language conveyed a sense of energy and youth that implied that they were both mentally and physically immature. Ichigo couldn't help but be unsettled by the child. It was clear they were powerful, likely even strong enough to take on a captain.
"Well, it was nice to meet you, but Hisagi and I have some business to attend to," Ichigo wanted out now. There was something in the air that made him feel uneasy, but he couldn't sense what.
"Well, I guess this is farewell for now then. Come Hikone, we have other matters to attend to," with that Hikone moved to follow their master with a bounce in their step, something that contrasted greatly with Tokinada's own measured pace.
Ichigo however found himself staring at the zanpakuto on the back of the retainer. He could now tell what that feeling was. Whatever was the case with that zanpakuto, something was simply wrong about it.
"You feel something off about that kid Hisagi?" Ichigo asked the lieutenant, but his eyes were fixed on the double-edged straight sword on the kid's back as he walked away.
"Yeah… it feels like he's…"
"Made of pieces parts?" Ichigo finished Hisagi's sentence. That all but confirmed his suspicions, Hikone was an artificial soul.
Seinosuke Yamada was a scientist. He was a medical scientist, primarily focussed on the healing arts and how to better improve the methods by which casualties returned to the battlefield, but he was still a scientist, and to call oneself such in the Seireitei was to admit to being a monster.
Right now he was under the patronage of Tokinada Tsunayashiro. It was a lucrative deal, it allowed him the resources to work on some of his pet projects, especially looking into how to replicate the regenerative abilities seen in hollows, even if only temporarily.
Fortunately, the thing he was commissioned to do was helpful in this regard. Tokinada wanted him to create an artificial soul from the fragments of shinigami, hollow, human, and quincy souls.
He didn't ask about where he got those from, nor why he needed them, especially since there was something odd about the human souls. The rules of patronage though were simple, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially if it is the mouth of someone who showed up with a brain in a jar that just happened to complete the project you were asked to work on. The former lieutenant of the fourth division knew which side his bread was buttered on.
I wanted to write the interview, but sadly I couldn't find a way to write it that felt right. there will be references back to it when appropriate, especially regarding Ichigo's answers. Anyway, for those who have read CFYOW, I would like it if you didn't spoil what I set up for those who hadn't. Next chapter we're going to be hopping back to Karin and there will be another scene I hope I got right.
if you have any feedback, feel free to leave a review.