Bleach (c) Tite Kubo
Black and Blue
Lamentation
A light breeze sweeps through the Seireitei carrying a gentle warmth along with it.
Its the first pleasant sunshine they've had after days of overcast gloom.
A total shame then that the majority of the Seireitei's inhabitants are far too busy to take a few moments to sit down and enjoy this magnificent day.
Captain Jushiro Ukitake certainly thinks so.
Had he shared Kyoraku's proclivity towards skiving off the administrative duties of his office, it would've been a wonderful day to laze about drinking Sake with his best friend. But no one has that luxury right now.
Sosuke Aizen's treachery are fresh gaping wounds in everyone's minds. Wounds that would take decades to fully recover from, if not centuries. Everyone, even Ukitake's usually lackadaisical best friend, is scrambling to pick up the pieces from this catastrophe.
Much of their infrastructure is encased by scaffolding, with craftsmen scurrying about like worker ants to repair the damage. Though the Sokyoku's splintered shards and ruined execution stand have remain untouched. The Captain-Commander and Central 46 are currently in fierce debate about what to do with its remains.
The stark irony that it was a group of human Ryoka who saved them from greater calamity was not lost on anyone. Nor was it sitting well with everyone.
While many in the Soul Society were grateful for the unintentional aid, others still smarted. Their pride wounded at being so completely outmaneuvered by five inexperienced children.
In Ukitake's opinion, that rage was utterly misdirected towards their invaders-turn-guests.
Young Ichigo and his companions were little more than unfortunately convenient scapegoats for the true target of outrage.
Aizen's betrayal is a hard slap to the face of the Gotei 13 and a harsh awakening to how complicit they'd all become over this relative peace. A peace that most assuredly has come to an end, even if some still wish to deny it by burying their heads in the sand.
Lacking a true challenge these past millennia, the Seireitei blindly followed their laws and traditions into a state of stagnancy.
In fact, Ukitake could scarcely remember a time when those ancient laws were challenged or rewritten to accommodate for the new and unprecedented.
And now the Gotei 13 is forced to acknowledge their foundations have grown far more brittle than anyone ever dared realized.
They had all become so complicit that no one thought to challenge any of the inflexible status quo that governed their world. Centuries of dogmatic adherence to tradition and regulation had become iron cages to their minds. And those in power had shifted their priorities from administering the lawful order, justice and prosperity of the Soul Society to perpetuating corruption, cruelty and exploitation.
Something rendered in sharp relief by Aizen's savage intellect and unbounded ambitions. He deftly wove his way through those ancient laws, twisting and bending their writ to his advantage and very nearly succeeding in plunging the Seireitei into civil war.
Sosuke Aizen effortlessly dismantled and trampled upon the pride of the Gotei 13 in his unchecked quest for power. One that led to him to such depths of depravity he would willingly side with the Hollows of Hueco Mundo to further his lofty, foolhardy ambitions for godhood.
Perhaps the biggest wound to all their prides was the fact a number of their officers had always felt uneasy around Sosuke Aizen.
A general muted feeling that the affable, kind-hearted, genial Captain was not all he seemed.
Every single one of their concerns were unceremoniously swept under the rug through a variety of circumstances. Those who expressed their concerns ended up removed, in exile or death. And again, no one thought to question those incidents as anything more than tragedies or crimes against the state.
Oh, how those men and women would crow right now.
To make matters worse, this scheme was devised and carried out right under the nose of the ever watchful Omnitsukido.
In light of that revelation, hundreds of thousands of tiny incidents and decisions made over the past century and a half were now looked upon with intense scrutiny. And not just the ones posed by Aizen and his associates.
Many a Shinigami have cast their eyes back over their years and wondered just how many of those choices were influenced by that one evil man's designs.
Former Fifth Division Captain Shinji Hirako, now a permanent exile, had always suspected something amiss.
When the former Fifth Captain had been invited to drinks with Ukitake and Kyoraku a century ago, Shinji had more or less confessed he deliberately sought out Aizen as a Lieutenant as a rouse. His true intentions was to sniff out a rat, and his suspicions all pointed to that seemingly genial Aizen.
And a little over a decade after that appointment?
Shinji was cast out along side nine other commanding officers of the Gotei 13, labelled a criminal for participating in unlawful acquisition of Hollow powers, and now has a permanent kill-on-sight order looming overhead. His prophetical suspicions cast in the light of a plotting malefactor who feared Aizen would expose his imagined slights.
Meanwhile, Sosuke Aizen was appointed to replace him as Captain; a reward for his efforts in 'eliminating the rogue elements' within their ranks. He became another public's darling, even as his actions eliminated nearly half of the Gotei 13's command staff.
Ukitake's own late Lieutenant was another man who did not trust Aizen.
Kaien Shiba had a heart a dozen sizes too big for his own good. He never let his status as high nobility go to his head either. He was friendly, affable and hard working with a violent bullheaded kind of loyalty to match.
That he of all people did not trust Aizen spoke volumes.
Kaien's dislike only compounded after that incident a century ago.
Kaien Shiba refused to take the declaration and execution orders lying down. He'd had varying degrees of familiarity with all of the hollowfied officers; Lisa Yadomaru in particular was his best friend, by virtue of how much time they'd spent together whenever Kyoraku and Ukitake met. Shinji Hirako was his former Captain, having initially joined the Fifth as a Third-Seat upon his graduation before transferring to the Thirteenth a year later. (Back then, Shinji often joked he'd never forgive Ukitake from stealing such a prodigy out from under him).
And Kaien's loyalty was absolute. He did not abandon those he let into his heart. It simply wasn't in his nature.
After ruffling one too many feathers, Ukitake eventually gave an executive order for Kaien to let the matter rest, warning disciplinary action should he try to push it further. An order partially spawned when Ukitake's own attempts to overturn the Captain-General's edicts had summarily failed.
It was one of the only times they had ever fought - genuinely fought.
With the mounting suspicions surrounding Aizen, and naught but smoke and mirrors to prove it, Ukitake didn't want his Lieutenant risking his life either. He'd loved the man like a younger brother, like a son, and couldn't bare the thought of losing him...
But Ukitake lost him anyway. Possessed by the foul hollow Metastacia who murdered his wife, then thrown onto his own student's blade.
Regret gnarls at the soul like no poison ever could, and over the course of his life Ukitake isn't proud to admit its become an old friend. That very poison seeps into his soul even now.
Captain Ukitake regrets letting Shinji Hirako handle Aizen all on his own. He regrets not throwing the full weight of his authority into pressuring Central 46 for an official investigation a century ago. He regrets not backing Kaien's attempts to clear his best friend's and fellow officers' names.
Most of all, he regrets not being able to do anything until it was far too late.
It seems like he is always far too late.
Ukitake knows it cannot and will never be, but at the end of the day he is a sentimental creature. And in that sentimentality, sometimes, privately, he likes to indulge in the fantasy of a better world.
One where catastrophe was averted.
A world where his fellow Captains and Lieutenants were still proudly serving as devoted members of the Gotei 13, unmarred by a madman's scheming.
A world where his late Lieutenant, for all intents and purposes a cherished son, commands the Thirteenth division as its Captain, his beautiful wife at his side as Lieutenant, and an entire division of fanatically loyal Shinigami at his back. Every single one as proud to serve as he.
Ukitake thinks back to the haori he had commissioned so long ago with an ache in his heart. He'd intended to retire some decades earlier, and would have had the fates been kinder.
Jushiro Ukitake may have been the commanding officer of the Thirteenth Division, but Kaien Shiba was the heart and soul of their company and everyone knew it. And half the time, he had performed the duties of a Captain anyway along side his own while Ukitake was struck by another episode of illness. It only made logical sense that he would inherit the role.
The Captain likes to ponder, with some bittersweet amusement, that perhaps being kicked into the Captaincy would've finally coaxed the reluctant Lieutenant to train a Bankai. Nejibana was the most powerful water-type Zanpakuto in the Soul Society, so there was no doubt in Ukitake's mind Kaien's Bankai would've been magnificent to behold.
But Kaien Shiba is dead and gone. Nejibana gone with him.
That's the tragically immutable reality.
Yet, Ukitake has found himself reminiscing quite a great deal about his late Lieutenant lately.
And the haori remains in a corner storage unit in Ukitake's office, along with some of Kaien's affects.
Some of the more personal items, like photos and sentimental trinkets, Ukitake had returned to the Shiba family home personally as a compassionate gesture. The only things that remained from his tenure was a collection of books, the years turning their pristine white pages a faded yellow.
Kaien had insisted they were gifts, but to whom Ukitake didn't know and never found out. If he did know, he would've ensured they reached their intended destinations as a last respect to his Lieutenant, but those names would forever remain a mystery. So the books remained in the office storage closet, covered by the Captain's haori.
Occasionally Ukitake would flip through those old tomes when he was in a particularly nostalgic mood. They were filled with recipes, the borders detailed by little scribbled additions in Kaien's half-neat scrawl.
Despite the lingering grief of Kaien's fate, the Captain still hopes to pass that haori onto another some day, however far flung into the future that may be.
With an effort of will, he plucks his thoughts from that maudlin road. The past was the past. And the now commanded their attention.
Ukitake's not usually one for such distractions, but the recent Ryoka incident has him thinking wistfully of those older days.
What particularly caught Ukitake's attention was the young human, Ichigo Kurosaki.
When the Captain first saw the young man on the bridge to the Penitent Cell, the resemblance was so startling it felt as though he'd take a step back through time and saw Kaien all over again. He half-expected the young man to look up, wear Kaien's grin and offer an offhanded joke about the absurdity of the whole situation.
After the whole matter was settled, Ukitake had to admit he'd taken quite a shining to the new Substitute Shinigami.
Ichigo may have been rough around the edges, but he's an honest and straightforward soul. He simply acted because it was the right thing to do. Maybe that's precisely why Ukitake had taken a liking to the young man so quickly.
If he were alive, Ukitake thinks Kaien would've liked him too.
In his more fantastical moments, Ukitake even wonders if the cycle of life had allowed his Lieutenant to be reborn and the fates decided to be kind enough in allowing Ukitake to become acquainted with that new life. But those were private outlandish thoughts he would never express to anyone. Not even to Kyoraku.
Still, Ukitake prides himself on being a good judge of character. He'd only known the young man as a guest for a number of days (and as an unknown enemy days before that), but it was clear Ichigo and Kaien were cut from the same cloth. Though Ichigo Kurosaki was a great deal more serious and reserved compared to the friendly sociable Kaien.
They both possessed the same brash reckless violent determination to do what they believed was right and damn the consequences.
So much so, Ukitake could very easily imagine Kaien in Ichigo's shoes, using every scrap of influence he had to try and acquit one friend - and if diplomacy failed? Bludgeoning something into submission worked just as well, too.
The entire Thirteenth would've risen up at Kaien's call to arms - such was the loyalty and admiration they had for their former Lieutenant. Such was the reverence held to his memory.
Perhaps some decades hence, and if young Ichigo was willing to look past their disastrous first encounter, he would consider joining the Gotei 13 as an official Shinigami once his human lifespan is done.
Ukitake ponders he'd even offer the young man a role in the Thirteenth. To mentor him as he did Kaien.
But that's a thought many dozens of years away.
The here and now required attention, especially when Kiyone and Sentaro burst into his office, crashing to the floor in a quibbling mess about 'who got here first'.
"Captain!"
"Captain Ukitake!"
"Kiyone, Sentaro - what's the matter?" Ukitake prompts with an indulgent curl of the lips.
His two third seat officers were always in competition over his regard. It's equal parts endearing and exasperating, but they never let their spirited natures interfere with their duties and the pair were dedicated officers none the less.
The co-third seaters recovered quickly and dropped to one knee in his office doorway, their heads respectfully albeit hastily inclined, but their faces were lined with anxiety, "Captain Ukitake! We've detected an extremely potent yet unknown reiatsu coming into contact with Ichigo Kurosaki through the Combat Pass."
Ukitake's good humor instantly evaporates and he's on his feet, grave concern flashing in his eyes, "An unknown reiatsu?" he repeats and frowns at the implication, have more humans manifested abnormal powers like Ichigo's companions, Inoue Orihime and Sado Yasutora?
He circles his desk quickly and beckoning his officers to follow him. The Combat pass and other associated devices are monitored from a station within the Thirteenth's central archives, a short walking distance from the main barracks and administration offices.
"Yes Captain," Kiyone continues severely, "Fifth seat Takanashi is currently working to pull up the timestamps, audio recordings and other associated data of the incident."
"Why didn't anyone report this sooner? Is Ichigo Kurosaki in any immediate danger?" Ukitake questions gravely.
Its not a reprimand, but he has to consider some unsavory possibilities. Their arrangement with Ichigo Kurosaki was fragile at best, and by necessity the Captain is required to accommodate for the worst case scenarios.
Hope for the best but expect the worst, as the old saying goes (that being said, they're scraping the bottom of the barrel to find 'worst' these days.).
"F-forgive us Captain!" Sentaro says, as overly contrite and penitent as ever, "With the clean-up from Aizen's betrayal and other duties, we've been unable to monitor the combat pass and its associated functions as studiously as we should have. This is an unforgivable failure on my part! I'll accept any punishment you see fit-"
"No, Captain, this is all my fault! I should've been more attentive to it. Its a crucial task for the ongoing security of the Soul Society-" Kiyone pips in, as eager to throw herself on the metaphorical sword as Sentaro, a comment that descends swiftly into their usual bickering.
Ukitake allows them to continue, mainly because he's too busy considering all the contingencies and scenarios to put a halt to their antics. His eyes narrow darkly. Could this be Kugo Ginjo? Already?
The thought lingers. Then he dismisses it with a visible shake of his head. No, it can't be.
Ginjo's reiatsu signature is a known factor on their most wanted list. A reiatsu signature will naturally change over the years as a person's power grows and evolves, but the combat pass would take those discrete variances into account. Ginjo would've been identified immediately and sent off warnings. The Captains would convene in an emergency session and plans drawn to eliminate him.
Even before the pass, Ichigo had only been a substitute for three months at most, and spent that time under Rukia's supervision. There was no way Ginjo could've wriggled out of the woodwork and approached him without Rukia reporting it, her own circumstances be damned.
Ukitake enters the archive chamber, where Fifth Seat Yomi Takanashi is leaning over a control panel, diligently typing away at keys. Her pale brow etched with concentration as her fingers danced over the keys with a speed to make Twelfth Division researchers weep with envy.
Kiyone and Sentaro emerge from the corridor at Ukitake's shoulders.
"What's the situation?" Captain Ukitake says by way of greeting and Takanashi halts, snapping an immediate salute to her Captain.
Yomi Takanashi is a tall woman with pale red eyes and long brown hair tied back in a tight braid, her maroon wrapped Zanpakuto slung across her back. Her name has crossed Ukitake's desk multiple times in recent months as one of the division's rising stars. Rumour has it she's even set eyes on the vacant Lieutenant post.
Takanashi quickly resumes her task after Ukitake waves a hand to set her at ease, "I've found the timestamps from when we first detected the unknown reiatsu signature to when it vanished. I'm currently pulling up the audio recording; my theory is that if we can create a voice print, we could identify further instances of contact with the Substitute Shinigami and we'll be able to ascertain whether this new encounter is a friend or a foe."
"What about the reiatsu signature itself?" Ukitake prompts, "Have you been able to identify anything about it at all since Kiyone and Sentaro reported this to me?"
Takanashi shook her head, "No, Captain. All I can tell you is that this individual is not in the Wanted Persons list, Missing Persons nor our active directory. Whomever this is, they are not an actively serving Shinigami. But the quality and refinement of the reiatsu sample we've analyzed through the pass implies they've had a significant amount of training in the Shinigami arts. Its structure also corroborates this theory."
"A Shinigami?" Kiyone says, blinking in surprise then bit her lip, "Are you saying this could be a rogue Shinigami that's contacted Ichigo Kurosaki?"
"It does fit the pattern. Yoruichi Shihoin was fighting along side the Ryoka for a time, and where she is, Kisuke Urahara is never far behind." Takanashi agrees, her brows knit together in thought, "It might be this person has been taught our techniques and arts through the former Captains. As I said, there's no match in our records for missing persons, Most Wanted watchlist, criminal elements or active servicemen." Takanashi repeats firmly, frown deepening as she ponders quietly, "Or they were taught by another faction entirely."
Sentaro is the first to speak up on the implication, giving the Fifth seat a hard look. "Are you suggesting Aizen could've trained his own host of Shinigami in secret?"
"At this point, how can we know he didn't? Though exposed now, we simply don't know just how deep and wide his deceptions ran. And presuming that's indeed the case, this person could very well be an Aizen sympathizer or loyalist." Takanashi explains, "He could be using the weakness in Soul Society and our tenuous relationship with Kurosaki to recruit him against us."
"That's entirely a possibility. However, given how severely Aizen wounded him during his departure, and how much he made his friends suffer, I doubt Ichigo would ever willingly side with the man." Ukitake admits grimly, even as the words choke him on the way out. His brow furrows in thought. "Its an equal possibility that this is another party entirely; one outside of Aizen's influence. We need to know more before we can judge the most appropriate course of action to take from here."
Sentaro suggests, trying to veer away from that unwelcome scenario, "Could it be another human who obtained Shinigami powers?"
Kiyone shuts him down, just about ready to engage in another round of bickering. "No, you idiot! If it was another substitute Shinigami, their reiatsu signature would match another officer in our directory! And we've had no reports of missing Shinigami in the last three months since Kuchiki."
Ukitake brings a finger to his chin, "That's very true. But that doesn't answer the question of who it could be."
Takanashi's fingers are still a blur, but abruptly stop when shock runs across her features.
"What's the matter, Yomi?" Ukitake enquires.
Takanashi's swallows down a lump in her throat, then turns to her commanding officer, "On a whim, I ran a new query in the inactive directory of our database; those killed in action or confirmed deceased. Captain, there's already over a dozen hits with a roughly sixty to eighty point match to this reiatsu signature." She glances down at the display flashing through profiles, more and more lines populating the screen. Each subsequent appearance edging just that much closer to a complete match. "Captain, they're all members of the Shiba clan."
"The Shiba Clan..." Captain Ukitake echoes in stunned disbelief.
The Shiba Clan were one of the five noble houses, disgraced and dismissed from their grand status after a series of unfortunate losses deprived them of two of their clan heads in as many decades. In light of that, the idea of a Shiba clansman faking their death to hide in the human world wasn't farfetched. Anyone would vouch they weren't the kind of people to actively go against the Soul Society - even after their disgrace - but they were people.
And people can so easily fall into the trap of vengeance, no matter their cast.
"Have you located the audio recording of the encounter? Can you play it for me?" Ukitake requests.
Takanashi nods and activates the soundbite. The sound quality is decayed due to heavy background noise. Rainfall if they had to guess but with swift keystrokes the interference abates slightly.
Meanwhile, Ukitake approaches the display and looms over Takanashi's shoulder to observe the results.
Peripherally, he still listens to the recording. For all the mystery, it seems this unknown entity (evidently connected to the Shiba clan) really was intent on making pleasant conversation, even if Ichigo wasn't exactly receptive to the attempt. There's an achingly familiarity about it, even through the weather interference.
Then, a particular phrase used by this unknown man snatches Ukitake's attention,
:Then again, my Zanpakuto's a water type. The more water there is the better she can fight - be it seas or heavens. Suppose that makes me a little biased too, right?:
He feels icy fingers coil around his heart even as a traitorous fragile impossibly hopeful thought bursts to the forefront of his mind.
A water type Zanpakuto and a reiatsu signature that aligns to the Shiba clan.
No. Ukitake reasons with himself, clamping down on that runaway thought. No, its just a turn of phrase. He chides himself for a lack of self control.
Zanpakuto are as wide and diverse as the Shinigami who carry them. His mind's been distracted lately, that's all. This is merely a coincidence. Point of fact, it would be virtually impossible if there weren't other water-type Zanpakuto. Even the Shiba, renown for their elemental zanpakuto, had more than one water type.
"Captain?" Kiyone prompts, concern lining her face but Ukitake brushes it off with a silent wave,
"Captain Ukitake, are you sure you're alright? You've gone a bit pale." Sentaro presses.
Granted, its the same for all of them. Doubtless, all three officers are close to drawing the same conclusion as the Captain, if they haven't already.
Ukitake's frown deepens as he continues to listen, that glimmer of hope is growing like a weed the more he listens even as his rational mind howls 'impossible' over and over again.
:For starters, I was going to say 'thank you'.:
:For what?: They hear Ichigo ask back,
:For saving Rukia from the Sokyoku and Aizen's schemes when I couldn't. By the time I heard what was going on from Urahara and Yoruichi? Everything was already over, and dear god, did I want to rip them both a new one. Then again, had they told me they know I would've torn the Seireitei to shreds to save her... but I'm glad Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku managed to cotton onto the foul play and lend you a hand in their own ways. They're good men. Some of the best I've known.:
:Okay, now you've got my full attention; just who the hell are you?:
Ichigo's caustic tone demands as the search concludes, producing a signature match of 97.89 points.
Without prompting, Takanashi presses the entry, the profile expands to cover the display and she sucks in a shocked breath. Ukitake's heart seizes and he lets out a shaky breath.
"Why would they want to thank Kurosaki for saving Kuchi-?" The question dies as soon as its given voice when Kiyone glimpses the profile picture. Sentaro is similarly robbed of his voice, both are locked in place by disbelief.
All eight eyes are locked on the mugshot of messy black hair, ocean green eyes and the faintest curl of a smile.
The audio continues to play.
:My name is Kaien Shiba. Former Lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division. And you'd be Ichigo Kurosaki - Its my genuine pleasure to meet you.:
Author's note:
For those who don't know, in the Light Novels (I'm not taking them as canon, but am taking elements from them), apparently Ukitake had every intention of handing the Captaincy over to Kaien and retiring to the medical division (or reserve), but Kaien died days before that was meant to happen.
Edit: 11/12/2022 - just cleaned up the chapter to make it flow better. Additionally, the thing about Kaien being in the 5th Division is from the Bleach 3rd Phantom Game. Kaien started his career in the 5th as a Third-Seater before transferring to the 13th.
Regards,
Aurora313