7 – Halcyon Days
Uryu inspected the Heilig Klinge in his hands with a distasteful expression.
"A Quincy wielding a sword…this is an abomination," he said.
"Don't be so traditional. Sometimes you have to get in the thick of it. And it's good practice making it too. Compared to the bow and arrow, it's much harder to make the sword, because it has to survive contact with the enemy, and not just explode," Ichigo said, stretching after their spar.
They were in the basement under the Ishida hospital, which was surprisingly spacious. In fact, it seemed to be quite a bit larger than should have been physically possible, and Ichigo suspected a certain shopkeeper had something to do with it. It was nowhere near as ridiculous as the vast open space underneath Urahara's shop though.
Here, this basement at least still looked like a really big underground storage room, rather than that place which looked like a whole different world.
"There are tools we can use in melee, Kurosaki. The Seele Schneider is more effective than creating a purely spiritual sword," said Uryu. He handed the Klinge back to Ichigo, then walked a bit to a shelf to retrieve a metallic cylindrical object.
Ichigo listened to Uryu describe its function and how to use it to break down enemy spirit particles, but his face turned increasingly distressed when Uryu began to drone on about how it was made.
After nearly ten minutes, Ichigo sweatdropped and coughed. "Uh…right. I think I'm good."
'That's way too complicated! I completely didn't understand any of that,' he thought.
Uryu shot him a look of annoyance. "I haven't finished explaining."
"Hahaha…okay never mind that Ishida. I won't understand even if you explained all day. There's way too much knowledge I'm missing on the basics before I can tackle something as complicated as the Seele Schneider. I've never made any tool before," said Ichigo.
"Then where did you get your Zeichen?" Uryu asked with a frown.
Ichigo looked at the Quincy cross attached to his wrist and scratched his head.
"I guess I'm a bit different from most Quincies. When I gave Rukia's Shinigami powers back to her, I got a Quincy spirit form instead of turning into a Plus soul. It came with the Zeichen, and I can manifest it whenever I want. Now that I think about it, it's almost like a Zanpaktou that I can use in a human body."
It was after all, the medium through which he concentrated spirit particles and formed either the Heilig Bogen or Klinge.
Uryu's face twitched as he heard Ichigo compare a Quincy tool to a Zanpaktou.
"I see. I would like for you to demonstrate the Hirenkyaku again, Kurosaki," Uryu said.
Ichigo obliged.
Today, the two Quincies had been comparing techniques that they knew.
To Ichigo, it was enlightening to see the level of mastery Uryu had already achieved in all the basic skills. He couldn't deny that Uryu was in fact stronger than him in many ways. But that was natural, because he himself had only just started learning.
But after the first few spars and Ichigo started to use his full breadth of skills, Uryu wasn't actually much of a challenge.
This was because Uryu had focused almost exclusively on the traditional archery of the Quincy, and had no skill in melee whatsoever.
Furthermore, he hadn't started practicing the Wogenschritt—what Uryu called Hirenkyaku—yet. Because Uryu was skilled enough to launch hundreds of arrows accurately and shoot across huge distances, he found no need to actually move. And he was fast enough at it that Hollows would be shot down even point blank if they rushed him.
This, however, didn't work on an opponent like Ichigo, once he started using Wogenschritt to dodge and rapidly get close to fight in melee instead of competing with archery.
As a result, Uryu begrudgingly admitted that Ichigo did have some things he could learn.
O O O
While Ichigo was off training with Uryu in Quincy techniques, Rukia decided to hang out with Ichigo's friends.
She tagged along while Orihime, Tatsuki and Chizuru went to the mall to shop for new clothes.
"Kuchiki-san, have you really never been to a mall?" Orihime asked with a curious expression while she watched Rukia look all around like a tourist as they walked along.
"It's true, Inoue-san. Where I come from, there weren't any big shopping centres. There were markets and shopping districts, but not an enormous building like this," said Rukia.
"What do you think? Impressed yet?" Tatsuki said.
"I admit it is impressive. To think that so many people would be gathered here to buy goods, it is very lively."
"Malls are a girl's second home, right Hime?!" Chizuru said while trying to put an arm around Orihime, but was blocked by Tatsuki.
"Hey, let's go over there! Those dresses look nice!" Orihime said with an excited face, pointing to a store front.
And so Rukia was encouraged to try out a number of different outfits, all while Tatsuki had to fight off many would-be suitors trying to get close to Orihime, including Chizuru.
Hours later, they were carrying filled shopping bags and sat down in the food court to enjoy some ice cream.
"Um…Rukia, can I ask you a question?" Orihime said with curious face.
"Yes?"
"Do you like Ichigo?
It was those rumors again. Rukia shook her head. "Those are just rumors. We're just friends."
"But you two walk to school and go home together every day," said Orihime. "That's what couples do."
"That's only because we live together."
"Eh?! You live together?" Orihime looked shocked. "So you've already progressed to that stage!"
"Woah, what? You and Ichigo live together? When did that happen?" Tatsuki asked, taking a big bite out of her cone.
"His father is an old acquaintance and I have no other relatives nearby, so the Kurosaki household was kind enough to let me stay with them. That's all," Rukia said. She licked her ice cream, carefully savoring it. After she agreed not to go back to Soul Society, Ichigo introduced Rukia to the Kurosaki household.
She did her typical 'innocent girl' act that convinced them that she was an orphan from another town who had been assigned horribly abusive foster parents and successfully filed for emancipation, at which point she left town and found her way to Karakura, to be saved by Ichigo when she had been cornered by thugs when she was lost and had no money to rent a place.
Ichigo's dad was of course extremely happy that Ichigo had brought a "third daughter" home and hid her in the closet, while Yuzu was tearfully sympathetic, so they easily agreed to let her stay with them, and even let her stay in the closet. Only Karin seemed suspicious, but she didn't voice any objections.
Orihime asked again. "So you're really just friends?"
"That's right."
"Jeez, how disappointing," Orihime crossed her arms. "If Rukia liked Ichigo too, then us girls would win two against one!"
Tatsuki spat out her ice scream. "Orihime…! That's…that's not how it works…the number of people is not rational…love isn't supposed to be unequal like that!"
Orihime looked cluelessly at her best friend, while Rukia looked flabbergasted.
"Ahh! I get it!" Chizuru said with an excited face. "Altogether there's 3 points right?! With 3 points and two women on one, the other side definitely loses! The result would be 2 points to women and 1 to men, a woman's victory! Augh, if it really happens, what should I do? I better get a camera! Wait! If Ichigo is out of the picture then in his place…"
Tatsuki choked Chizuru. "Shut up! Just die you pervert!"
Then Tatsuki turned to Rukia and asked with a suspicious face, "Anyways, are you sure you're just friends? What about all the times you guys skip class together? You better not trick Orihime just because she's naïve!"
"Ah, we just had to take care of some things."
"Like?"
"There are dangers lurking in this town that we have to protect innocent people from, I'm afraid I can't say any more," said Rukia.
"You've got to be kidding me. Is Ichigo getting you involved in gang fights or something? You should leave that stuff to the police. Vigilantism isn't legal." Tatsuki finished her cone and wiped her hands and mouth with a tissue.
"No, nothing like that. There's nothing illegal going on."
"Look, I used to fight with Ichigo against some gangs back in the day. I'm not going to rat you out or anything. But we're in high school now. You two need to think about your future. What if you get caught fighting? You won't get into a good school if you have a black mark like that," Tatsuki said in a lecturing tone.
"No, you're mistaken. We aren't fighting criminals. We fight evil spirits and help souls pass on peacefully," said Rukia.
"Pfftt!" Tatsuki laughed. "Oh, damn, are you serious? What, like Don Kanonji?"
"Yes, exactly!" Rukia said with a smile, then she crossed her hands over her chest and mimicked the television star. "BOAHAHAHAHA!"
Orihime took the cue and did the same thing. "BOAHAHAHAHA!"
"Stop, you guys…this is so embarrassing!" Tatsuki facepalmed.
Chizuru wrestled away from Tatsuki then stood up and did the laugh extremely loudly.
"Aw yeah, you girls are fans too?" Then a bunch of other mall go-ers near then all mimicked Don Kanonji.
"Smells like bad spirits!"
"Spirits are always with you!"
"BOAHAHAHAHA!"
"…" Tatsuki crashed upside down on the floor with a huge sweatdrop.
O O O
Rukia walked home by herself after saying good bye to the other girls.
On the way back, a black cat watched from the rooftops of nearby houses.
Suddenly a shadow covered her own on the ground, as something appeared behind her while she turned on to an empty street.
Her eyes widened for a moment before she felt a hard strike on the back of her head.
Her vision swam as she collapsed downwards, dropping her shopping bags. Unable to enter spirit form by herself and with her Shinigami powers severely weakened in a human body, she was helpless to resist as a gloved hand pressed down on her head, keeping her face down, then something was injected through her bare skin into her bloodstream.
Before she had a chance to manifest Sode no Shirayuki or try using Kido, she lost consciousness and her body was taken away.
O O O
"This is impossible," Urahara said, looking at the data on his computer screen.
Rukia's unconscious body lay on a platform with numerous gadgets and wires hooked up to her.
"So your plan failed, Kisuki?" The black cat spoke in a deep male voice from the opposite corner of the room.
"Could this also be the Hougyoku's doing?" Urahara murmured to himself, turning to look at Rukia's gigai. Then he stood up and began to pace back and forth.
"Kisuke, what exactly happened?" Yoruichi asked, still in cat form.
"She's…alive, for lack of a better word," said Kisuke.
"Alive?"
"I mean that she is for all intents and purposes, an actual human now! A living human," said Kisuke. "This is no longer a gigai. It's her body now."
"I don't understand. Isn't that what you wanted? For her to become a human, losing all her powers, and rendering the Hougyoku dormant forever?"
"Yes, but not like this. She hasn't lost her spirit pressure! That day when we felt her spirit pressure release was no coincidence. As I suspected, she has recovered all of it. No, in fact, it seems that she has even more than before…as if becoming a living human has allowed her soul to grow in the same way."
"So you will need another host?"
"It will not be easy to extract it from her. The implantation procedure only works one way. To extract it I would need special tools from Soul Society. And Aizen might have already stolen them."
"…"
Urahara sighed and shook his head. "It seems I miscalculated. She was supposed to enjoy her time as a human so much that she would wish to become one even as her powers were drained, thereby causing the Hougyoku to grant her wish eventually. Then guilt should have caused her to subconsciously wish her powers never returned. But instead, she has found a new resolve to fight…and for whatever reason she hasn't gone back to Soul Society even though her powers have returned."
"Hahaha…" Yoruichi laughed. "Kisuke, you cannot calculate the power of love. Ah, the wonders of youth…"
"This is not good, Yoruichi. Even if she stays in the Human World, the Hougyoku cannot fall dormant in the presence of a strong will stimulating it. It would be difficult to find another host if even I acquired the extraction tools. An ordinary human would have too many strong desires and growth potential. Only a non-living Shinigami soul, its will dulled by experiencing the slow passage of time on the scale of centuries, and who discarded their own power to become a human, seeking nothing but a mundane, normal life, could have put the Hougyoku to sleep."
"It was always a long shot, Kisuke. Do you really think Aizen still doesn't know where it is? Didn't you say he probably stole the extraction tools? Why would he do that unless he knew it was implanted in a soul? Just admit it, Kisuke. This isn't just bad luck. The plan was never going to work."
Urahara fell silent, simply looking at Rukia contemplatively.
"What are you thinking now, Kisuke? I know that look of yours. You're cooking up a new hare-brained idea, aren't you? Ichigo will never forgive you if you do something as stupid as destroying her Soul Chain and Soul Sleep."
"Haha…" Urahara opened his fan and fanned himself. "Of course I wouldn't do something so stupid. If the Hougyoku returned her powers once, it can do so again. At this point, we can't rely on keeping it hidden. But Aizen will try the Soukyoku first, because there's no risk of any pieces of her soul staying attached to the Hougyoku that way, and interfering with his own use of it. The backup plan will still work. I was just thinking that, if her will to live is strong enough, the Hougyoku might even help her survive it. So maybe this is a good thing after all!"
"Kisuke…you'd best not let things get to that point. If they ever find out…"
"I know."
O O O
Later that evening, Rukia woke up at the Ishida hospital, to find Ichigo standing over her with a worried face, and Uryu sitting to the side reading a book.
"Rukia! You feeling okay?" Ichigo asked.
"What…happened?" She asked, putting a hand to her temple as she got into an upright position.
"You were found passed out on the street, and brought here by an ambulance. It seems to be a case of anemia," said Uryu matter-of-factly.
"Anemia?" She asked with a puzzled expression. All of a sudden, she turned chibi with a huge head, her eyes were comically wide while she pursed her lips and held a finger to them. "What's that?"
Ishida instantly put on a doctor's coat neatly and cleared his throat.
"You don't have enough hemoglobin in your blood, a result of iron deficiency. You need to make sure you're getting the right amount of nutrition. Eat a balanced, iron-rich, diet. Most meat is rich in iron. Many teenage girls avoid meat thinking that it will cause them to gain weight, which is not true because the digestion of protein is very energy intensive and will not lead to weight gain as long as you avoid high fat meats. Even if you insist on eating very little meat, you need to get the necessary nutrients from other sources. I recommend sushi, or iron-fortified milk and cereals," said Uryu.
He grabbed a sheet from the nearby desk and handed it to Rukia.
It was a detailed description of various test results and the conclusions.
"So this gigai is defective now? Wonderful," she grumbled, reading over the sheet.
"No, the gigai is working perfectly. All the scans our doctors ran found no discernible flaws in it. I didn't have to make any adjustments to keep your secret. It is exactly like a human body. An impressive technology. I wouldn't have expected Shinigami to be capable of something like this," said Uryu.
"Well, it wasn't made by Shinigami," said Rukia. Then she looked at Ichigo and seemed to remember something. "Although…I guess Urahara is a Shinigami, just not a part of Soul Society anymore."
"You know, Rukia, I was just thinking, what if it's not just a gigai anymore? What if it really did turn you into a human?" Ichigo mused with his eyes looking up, his finger and thumb forming a checkmark under his chin, and the other hand on his hip.
"That's impossi…" Rukia trailed off. Was it really impossible? Ichigo did say that the gigai was intended to turn her into a human without any spirit pressure. What if it already completed the transformation without her noticing, before she got her spirit pressure back?
"I guess you're right. Souls can't just possess an empty human body, right?" Ichigo said with a laugh.
"…" Rukia twitched with a tick mark on her forehead at the reminder of that incident. "Actually Ichigo, they can. In fact, it's possible to possess a human even if there's another soul inside it."
Ichigo blinked. "Eh? So ghost possessions are real?"
Rukia took out a clipboard, paper, and crayon from nowhere, then started rapidly drawing diagrams.
"Yes. In theory, any soul without an externally manifested Soul Chain, or a broken one, can do it. Even Hollows. But it's a rather difficult skill, and fairly rare to see. A human body is much more resistant to possession than a gigai," she said, pointing to the cute rabbits she drew.
"What the hell?! I don't need such crappy drawings to understand that!" Ichigo's eyes turned white while he pointed up and down at the clipboard, several tick marks on his head.
Suddenly Uryu got in front of him, then leaned in to look the drawings carefully.
"I see. So this is how Kurosaki learns complex ideas," Uryu said, his glasses flashing as he adjusted them. "This is an excellent explanation, Kuchiki-san."
Rukia nodded seriously. "Thank you, Ishida-san. Ichigo is too block-headed to learn any other way."
Ichigo turned chibi with a square head and crouched in the corner of the room with a dark cloud of gloom over him, wavy vertical lines under his squinted rectangular eyes.
O O O
A/N: It's been a while, but I'm back in the mood for some Bleach.
I'm a surprised at the amount of positive feedback on this story. I thought the fandom as a whole was much less active now. Is it because of the return of the Bleach anime, or the new Burn the Witch stuff?