Notes: I only recently started Brave Souls. I would love to say that the sole inspiration for this story was the fact that I was able to collect two Yachiru, four Zaraki, and two Unohana in record time. But it has more to do with I doubt we're getting another chapter any time soon, and the theories (both outside and within my head) won't let me sleep properly.
New Yells from Hell
A Bleach Fanfic by
Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)
Chapter 1: Riding with Ukki
Ichika Abarai was young yet, but she thought she had a pretty good handle on what was to be her life, for the long haul. And when her people said the long haul, they truly meant it.
Part of her life that Ichika felt fairly confident in was that Kazui Kurosaki was weird. But also always either cool or nice (even if the way he expressed that sometimes was to startle her badly by knowing more than he should have), so she liked him (even if her way of expressing that was to get mad, yell, or threaten with bodily harm).
Sometimes, however, he was too weird for the room entirely.
On this occasionan, said room was the dojo operated by Ikkaku Madarame.
Ichika was the favorite pupil (if only in her mind), so she had a bit of a reputation (very true) to protect (not so much true, Ikkaku would never kick her out... for too long). And she didn't want Kazui to get them both in trouble.
They were winding down from the day's sparring, and Yumichika Ayasegawa was giving a pop quiz on things any shinigami should have known. Pretty standard stuff. How to identify the Head Captain (you were supposed to say by his hat or kimono, but Ichika always said, "He'll be the one lying down," and had yet to be marked as incorrect), which squad to report to for urgent healing (Squad 4), how to avoid starting a fight everywhere you went (Ichika always said, "Don't join Squad 11," and had yet to be marked as incorrect).
Again, Kazui knew a lot more than he should have. His answers tended to be weird, but Yumichika often called on him, simply to see what he'd say. Kazui was basically the closest thing they had to a transfer student, a concept which, in itself, still mystified most of them.
Yumichika asked what Kazui wanted to be when he got older. More common answers were "Head Captain" or "Captain of this Squad because." Or even "Lieutenant of this Squad because."
Kazui said, "5th Seat."
The immediate impression was maybe he was idolizing Yumichika in his former rank. But no, Kazui clarified. "I don't want to risk getting promoted to Captain. 5th Seat is fine for me."
His logic wasn't technically wrong, although Yumichika pointed out that, if Kazui were good enough for long enough, and there was either a war or several incidents were enough higher ranked people died or were exiled, he might still get promoted.
Kazui instantly saw the the sense in that, and changed his answer to, "7th Seat, then."
Yumichika finally asked what Kazui had against being a Captain.
Kazui firmly shut his mouth and would say no more, so Yumichika left it alone, for the moment.
But after the class, Ichika cornered Kazui outside and demanded an explanation. What she did not admit out loud was that it would be extremely difficult to realize her fantasy of them being the first pair of married Captains, if he was never a Captain to begin with.
Kazui gave her his answer, and it wasn't at all what she was expecting. "I don't want to get sent to Hell," he said firmly.
Ichika had no response to that.
Kazui thought she was confused, so he explained his thought process in great detail.
The next day, Ichika changed her answer to what she wanted to be, from "Captain" to "8th Seat," and would answer no questions on it.
He was in Hell. That much was plainly obvious.
He had some idea of why. Sometimes, the true story was in what was left out of the books. And as he'd never heard of any dead Captains walking around Hueco Mundo, this was definitely one of the stronger possibilities.
He wouldn't be alone, at least.
The thought had barely crossed his mind, when something he hadn't at all sensed approaching thumped into his left leg, hard, and then hung on firmly.
He looked down, instinctively reaching for his zanpakuto, ready to slash whatever Hell-born monster had latched onto-
"Ukki! I missed you! You're late! Got candy?!"
He stared blankly into Yachiru Kusajishi's upturned, beaming face. "Not that it isn't nice to see you again, but... why are you here, of all places?" he asked.
She ignored his question, scrambled up to his shoulder with truly unnatural speed, and tugged at his hair. "Come on! Everyone's waiting for us!"
This was relatively good news, but he couldn't stop staring. She was entirely unchanged from the last time he'd seen her. Save for the rather fitting addition of a hell butterfly, perched on the side of her head, slightly above her right ear. Its wings were moving very slowly, but constantly.
After another tug, he started to move. He had no idea if they got lost on the way, or how long the trip normally took. But by the end, he was very much convinced they had taken the scenic route, and that the reason Captain Zaraki had constantly been late, was that the only thing worse than one person with no sense of direction, was two of them working together.
Ichika had learned something from watching Kazui. Sometimes, you had to be very, very careful, when letting others know how much you knew.
So it was some time before she finally approached Yumichika and asked, "Is Captain Zaraki married?"
This question was met with the blankest of stares, which instantly told Ichika a great deal. By the time she got the verbal response, she no longer needed it.
"Of course not. Why would you even ask that?"
"Does he have a girlfriend, then? Maybe a really clingy sister or cousin?"
Yumichika frowned. "Ichika. Why are you asking?"
She couldn't tell him the truth, of course. He would never believe her. Or, if he did, it would get her in a great deal of trouble. She'd had similar problems with her parents, and she didn't want to worry them again. But she wasn't lying and she wasn't crazy. That much, she knew for sure, even though it was very difficult to prove consistently. After all, it wasn't like she could demand a trip to the Human World every time someone thought she was making up stories. Although it would have been extremely helpful if she could.
Yumichika was still waiting on an answer, so she went with her old standby: lying.
"Because I'm the jealous type, that's why."
Yumichika's eyebrows shot up so far that they vanished entirely into his hair.
"You won't tell anyone, right?!" Ichika demanded. She tried to put a little desperation into the false anger, hoping it would make a difference. It did.
"There's no need to get upset, child. I would never betray you. But... we will discuss this later."
"Yeah, okay," Ichika grumbled.
He watched her with obvious concern for a moment, then quickly walked away.
"That was a close one," murmured a voice in her ear. "I thought for sure you'd blab this time."
"What good would that do?" Ichika snapped, spinning around to glare at the woman leaning over her.
"None, really," the woman admitted, straightening up. "That's why you should keep your mouth shut. It's not your secret to tell. And it's not even really a secret. Everyone who needs to know, does know. Including you. Think about what that might mean."
"I have and I still don't get it! Why can't he see you? I thought for sure-!"
"Think about what that might mean," the woman repeated firmly, tapping Ichika's nose.
"Or you could tell me! I never asked you to let me see you!"
"That is very true," the woman agreed. "And if you had asked, I would have ignored you. But you didn't ask. You didn't need to. You were able to see me without me having to give you permission first. Do you truly not understand how rare such a thing is? How special that makes you?"
"I don't wanna be special!" Ichika shouted.
"Tough," the woman said with no sympathy. "You were born that way. Take it up with your parents. More specifically, your father."
"Why?" Ichika asked, instantly suspicious. "What did he do to you?"
"Nothing. But if anyone is to blame for me being visible to you, it's definitely him."
That much, Ichika thought she understood. This woman had only started appearing well into Ichika's training with Ikkaku, who had also trained Ichika's father. And while she hadn't exactly confirmed it, Ichika was almost positive that Ikkaku could see the woman, too. Which was why it was so weird that Yumichika couldn't. Both men had known and served under Captain Zaraki for roughly the same amount of time. But there was clearly some difference, even if Ichika wasn't sure what it was. And it wasn't as simple as rank. If it was, she shouldn't be seeing anything.
Unless she was special. And she really, really didn't want to be. She could not help feeling a tiny bit of annoyance at Ichigo Kurosaki. He alone had believed her, and she was grateful for that, but he could have warned her that no one else would. Although she now knew why his creepy twin had laughed at her.
The most direct option would have been to ask Captain Zaraki himself. But Ichika wasn't sure what scared her more: that he might deny that the woman existed, or that he might make it so that Ichika could never get into any squad other than his. She was in Squad 11 too deep as it was. The woman was proof enough of that.
"This would be so much easier if you really were his wife," Ichika muttered.
The woman snorted. "Trust me, it really wouldn't. Not for me, anyway. You should run, your father's looking for you. You're late for tea with your uncle again."
"Why do they have to do that right after training!" Ichika growled as she sprinted away.
The woman laughed softly, seconds before Ichika's father ran right through her, shouting, "I see you, brat! Get back here!"
Continued in Chapter 2: Waiting with Re-chan
Rukia visits the Kurosakis to discuss Kazui's progress.
Endnotes-And-Theories:
This story is centered around a few theories of mine, which I'll go into gradually.
Theory 1: Yachiru is in Hell. The two Captains who were in the best position to know the truth about Yachiru, and got along famously with her via snack giving (if only in omake), are now both in Hell. Ukitake, who was known to hand out candy to kids, is now in Hell. Yachiru's missing. We haven't actually seen inside Hell in a while. Obviously, Yachiru went to get more snacks. That's the fun excuse.
The real one? Every Kenpachi should, by definition alone, end up in Hell. I would assume the same for any excess power they may have, as that's the entire reason for them going there.