Bleach (c) Tite Kubo
Once more, if only to see you again
Temptation, Decision
Whichever Research and Development Institute researcher made this piece of junk gigai either needs to be fired or have their pay docked. The wounds Rukia sustained two days ago in her skirmish against the Hollow outside Ichigo's and Kaien's lookalike's home were evidently more severe than she realized. When she'd left (ran away) that dwelling, it sapped all her energy to make it to the out-of-the-way shop owned by Urahara, forcing her to inhabit this cramped flesh shell while she recuperated.
Rukia knows that wearing a gigai is an occasional necessity in their line of work but she'd never actually been put in that position herself. Until now. The dismal few classes she'd attended at ShinÅ Academy covered the theory, providing broad stroke descriptions of what inhabiting a gigai would actually be like and provided clinical instructions on how to interface with one effectively. But no amount of theoretical education ever matched against the real thing.
It's a strange sensation, wearing a body that simultaneously was yet was not her own, and most definitely not comfortable in the slightest.
Whomever calibrated this thing needs to have their eyes examined. She mentally grumbles, flexing and closing her fingers into fists. Minute responses like this are stiff like there's a layer of static between her reiryoku and the gigai's interface, plus the feeling of being smothered, squeezed into clothes a dozen sizes too small for her. Which is saying something, considering her already diminutive frame. She puts it down to simply being unused to the weight and being inexperienced in its operation. With more practice, she's certain it'll become easier to move.
Small mercy then that Rukia hasn't sensed a hollow's presence in the intervening time, nor has she received any orders from the Soul Society requiring her urgent and immediate attention. Solace in that at least. The less she strains her powers, the sooner she can recover her strength. And the sooner she can shed this pseudo flesh, the better she'll feel.
However, Rukia is not so wrapped up in her own irritation that she can't take a moment to appreciate the peace and quiet of a warm summer afternoon. Dressed in a two-toned blue frock and black slip-on shoes that seems to be a common modern fashion, Rukia had found herself a small bench in what seems to be a main town square. Its an open plaza of sorts, lined with shops similar yet completely alien to those back home.
Still, this place have a sense of... normalcy Rukia admires. A sense of the ordinary. She sits back and watches. A young family heading in and out of shops, guided along by the eager child. A faint smile pulls at the corner of her lips while she watches these humans mill about their daily lives.
But an unfortunate downside to this quiet means her mind is free to roam back to the twin brothers.
No dismissing the resemblance as a trick of the mind now. Not when he - not when they appear to be adolescent clones of the late Kaien Shiba, albeit one palette swapped with an expression authored by a permanent scowl.
Now dysfunctional shock has abated, Rukia argued with herself about what she's going to do. Protocol dictates she should report the matter immediately so remedial measures could be undertaken. The research institute would select an representative to conduct a damage assessment, memory modification would undoubtedly follow to erase Rukia's presence entirely. The brothers would go on with their lives, blissfully ignorant that they ever met her. Depending on the research institute's findings, the whole incident may go down as a permanent black spot on Rukia's permanent record and she'd have to endure a probation period, but any potential damage would be mitigated.
Selfishly, there is part of her desperately wants to go back.
Setting aside the unresolved mysteries surrounding the Hollow's behavior the other day, she... simply wants to see him again. Speak with him. To throw every caution and edict to the wind and tease out if there's any traces left of the man that used to be. And, if Rukia was completely honest with herself, to sate a selfish wish for personal absolution, to learn for certain if he would forgive her for what she did. Or if he wouldn't.
The opportunity - the temptation - is so very tantalizing.
Of course acting on those impulses is expressly forbidden. Deliberately inserting oneself into the reborn life of a former loved one, attempting to reawaken old ghosts, is one of the gravest crimes a shinigami could commit. They are wardens of the cycle of reincarnation, their duty is to shepherd the dead into the next realm, not to turn back the hands of time to seek personal restitution.
At the same time, Rukia reluctantly counters herself, she couldn't merely leave them to their own devices either. Those two possessed incredible amounts of reiryoku, both latent and emitting. Enough to see and to physically interact with her spirit body, which means they would draw any Hollow to them like moths to a flame. Any mindless beast who got their claws on the twins' souls would become orders of magnitude stronger, requiring seated officers or Captains to deal with.
Rukia bites her lip in frustration. Duty has completely split her down the middle. To avoid violating edicts against reassociation, Rukia must stay away. However, she has to remain nearby in case hollows decide to target and devour them for their spirit energy, at least until a replacement has arrived and she'd gathered the strength to return to Soul Society.
She wrestle with herself and her own frustration, which leaves her completely distracted. Lost in thought like she is, she doesn't hear the person creeping up behind her. Doesn't sense them looming close until, in the corner of her eye, she glimpses a shock of black spiky hair.
"Boo!"
"Kaien!" Rukia blurts out the name as a startled reflex, practically bounding off the bench to face her intruder.
For a split second there's a tremor, a micro-expression of puzzlement on the lookalike's face. But it's gone before Rukia registers it, replaced by a Cheshire's grin. The lookalike leans on the bench back, chin propped up on his palm.
"Oh, you are gonna be so much fun to mess with." He promises, eyes shining with boyish mischief. He's dressed in more casual clothes today. A pair of jeans and three-quarter grey shirt. That same shell band sits on his left wrist, now joined by a watch.
"Found yourself a new victim, have you, Kaien? Better her than me I suppose." Ichigo drawls, meandering closer at a leisurely pace.
"I still have plenty left in the tank for you, dear brother. Don't you worry about that."
"Oh goodie. I can't wait." Ichigo grumbles sarcastically under his breath.
Like his twin, Ichigo is dressed casually today with his hands shoved in his pockets, wearing an expression of pure disinterest. "So much for 'I expect we shan't meet again.'" he mocks lightly.
Rukia doesn't hear the mockery. Her attention taken by something else.
Kaien.
Even the name is the same.
Rukia swallows down a lump in her throat. That's too much. Too much of a coincidence. She can't decide if fate is being kind or relentlessly cruel. But she compartmentalizes those thoughts for later, instead clinging to her rising indignation at Ichigo's tone.
"What are you doing here?" she half-demands.
"That's our line. We," Ichigo gestures between himself and Kaien, "live here. So I'll throw that question right back at you: what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be off hunting more Hollows or going back to wherever you came from?"
Kaien motions with his free hand towards the people milling around the square, some of whom paused briefly to react to Rukia's earlier shriek, but quickly moved on with their lives. "Yeah. Can't help noticing other people can see you now, plus you're not wearing that black and white get-up anymore. Does that mean you're not a ghost after all? Is the ghost-hunting samurai thing a part-time gig...?" He trails off, shrugging vaguely. "What's the whole situation here because me is confounded."
Ichigo arches an eyebrow at his twin, "Interesting choice in syntax there, Kai."
Rukia takes a second to collect herself. "If you must know."
"We must." Ichigo says.
Rukia's brow twitches again. If he keeps this up Rukia might just smack him. But she takes a steadying breath, "Over the course of our duties, sometimes shinigami are required to mingle with humans, hence this gigai. A temporary fake vessel."
"Okay, so you're a shinigami and you're presently inhabiting a fake human body. That's not creepy in the slightest." Kaien says, then he draws back to muse to himself. "Though I suppose the convenience outweighs the creep factor."
"Back to the original question; what are you doing here?" Ichigo presses.
"My duty." Rukia responds but before she could expand on her answer, Ichigo jumps in.
"And what duty is that? Getting your ass handed to you on a silver platter?" Ichigo shoots back.
"Ichigo, behave." Kaien chastises reflexively.
"Oh please, you were thinking it." Ichigo accuses.
"Yeah but I wasn't gonna come right out and say it."
Rukia shakes her head and heaves a sigh as the twins descend into their childish squabble, "Are you imbeciles quite done with your bickering and mockery or should I leave you two to sort things out and come back later?"
"Right. Sorry." Kaien clears his throat, redirecting his attention to her. "Uh, before you dive too deep into things, would you mind giving us your name?" Kaien prompts, suddenly very awkward. "You know ours but we don't know what to call you? Tis slightly unfair and more than a bit rude."
"Unless you want us to address you as shorty or shrimp. Which I'm perfectly fine with, for the record." Ichigo interjects mildly, "Midget and pipsqueak are also on the table."
"Hey!" Rukia protests.
Kaien sends Ichigo a look, but not bothering to hide his amusement, "Did I not just say behave?"
"To quote a certain twin of mine, where's the fun in that?"
Kaien shakes his head, affecting an air of exasperation when he turns to Rukia, pointing at his brother, "See what I have to put up with?"
Ichigo gaps at him, incredulous. "Excuse me-?"
"You're excused." Kaien chirps, not skipping a beat.
A vein pulses on Ichigo's temple. "Don't make me come over there and kick your ass, twerp."
"Its so adorable you think you could, brat." Kaien taunts smugly.
"Why you little-!"
"As much as I'd like to see how this would play out," Rukia cuts in firmly when Ichigo makes a start for Kaien, interrupting things before the sibling banter escalates to blows in the middle of a public venue (which Rukia privately admits she would've found it hilarious if it were any other circumstance), "My name is Rukia Kuchiki. I've been charged with protecting your town the foreseeable future, from monsters such as the Hollow you saw me fight the other day, and guiding the lost souls to the next world."
"Charged? By whom?" Ichigo ponders to himself, then shrugs as if deciding he didn't care enough to know the answer.
"Neat. A resident psychopomp." Kaien says, nodding to himself. "Does that mean you'll be helping ferry the ghosts hanging around here? 'cause if you need to be pointed in a direction, I can think of at least a dozen restless souls hanging out in this precinct alone. One in particular leaps to mind." Kaien shudders at the thought.
Ichigo pulls a face. Judging from his expression, he both knows whichever spirit Kaien is referring to and clearly judged them to be an unpleasant individual. "You really want her to deal with old man Nakamaru on the far side?"
Kaien shrugs, "I'd rather have the guy move on to the next realm than wallow in misery all day."
Ichigo scoffs, "For real? Rukia's five foot nothing, if that, and that guy's a giant. He'd chew her up and spit her out."
"Rukia's got a sword," Kaien points out defensively, sparing her a quick glance, "Somewhere I think. If Nakamaru gets snippy... I don't know, she can stab him or something."
"Stab him?" Ichigo echoes incredulously.
"Politely." Kaien says as if stating the obvious.
Rukia's mind reels, both from the lack of a reaction to her true nature and the blatant lack for respect for her own capabilities (although in their defense, she hasn't exactly given them the best presentation). "I... okay. Setting aside for the moment you're both idiots, you're taking this extraordinarily well..."
The brothers exchange a look, something intangible passing between them, before they return their attention to her, "Yeah, well, we've been able to see ghosts for as long as we can remember. It doesn't exactly strain credulity to learn there's a subset of monsters to go along with the usual suspects." Ichigo explains casually. Kaien hums in agreement.
Rukia glances between them. She has the impression they're hiding something but considering how this conversation has gone thus far, she seriously doubts she'll get more out of them than they'd be willing to share. Instead she makes a decision.
"I suppose it wouldn't. However there are things that you should be wary off regardless. And I believe its only prudent that I teach you what to look out for and how do avoid them. At least for a time." Rukia declares with finality. "Is there somewhere we could speak more privately? There's other matters I'd like to discuss."
"Well now." Kaien begins, keeping his voice low and curiously neutral. "Ain't that a spot of intrigue?"
He and Ichigo are guiding their new... friend through Karakura town. She's hanging back a few paces and those violet eyes are studying their backs intently, an unreadable expression on her face.
"Intrigue, my foot. With her hanging around, I'll be stuck twiddling my thumbs," Ichigo complains grumpily in an equally low tone, then more concerned. "You think our watcher friend from the other day told her about us?"
"I haven't sensed him nearby." Kaien admits, brow creasing while he expands his sixth sense to seek the individual out. "For however little that counts. Just because they aren't present now doesn't mean they're not acting. Sending Rukia our way might be part of some scheme to probe what we know. Conversely, Rukia's interest is entirely authentic and they might not be working together at all."
"Coincidence upon coincidence." Ichigo murmurs disdainfully. "And you know how I feel about those."
"I know. I think you're right. I think someone really is trying to play us. And I for one do not appreciate it in the slightest." Kaien concurs, "But that's not the only thing I find intriguing."
Ichigo glances away for a second before catching on to Kaien's meaning. "We never told her your name."
"Exactly." Kaien says, wearing that crooked scheming mile of his.
Ichigo closes his eyes with silent exasperation, understanding full-well where his twin's line of thought is headed, "Kai, look. I know what you're thinking. And I don't think this is the way to get the answers you're looking for."
That remark wiped the look of his twin's face. "What else am I supposed to do? We both know prying the answers out of Dad is like pulling teeth, despite all the times I've practically beg him to tell me anything about my namesake." Kaien counters, sounding uncharacteristically bitter, "If I can't get answers out of him, I'll pry them out of her. Think about it; the way she reacted to us like she's the one seeing ghosts and the fact she knew my name unprompted. She knew him. It's obvious."
"Yeah, and if she knew him, that means she probably knows how he died too, Kaien." Ichigo points out brusquely, taking the wind out of his twin's sails. "Depending how close she might or might not have been with the guy, you don't think that might be a memory she'd rather not revisit?"
"So I'm just supposed to sit and stew, am I?" Kaien challenges with a rare scowl.
Ichigo rubs his temple, pushing away a mounting headache. "If what you're guessing is on the mark, that's another coincidence to add to the tally."
"I know." Kaien agrees.
Ichigo spares him a glance, seeing a discoloured mirror of his own determination. He exhales a bone-deep sigh after a long moment's pause. "You know your curiosity is going to get you killed one day."
"Probably." Kaien concludes without hesitation, "And god only knows if I'll like the answers when I find them, but the only way I'll know for sure is if I ask the questions."
"Fine. Just... don't be stupid when you broach the subject with her, alright? You have a habit of being a bit of a handful." Ichigo cautions him.
Kaien is positively amused, "Hi pot, name's kettle. Have we met?"
Ichigo groans, rolling his eyes.
"How much farther?" Rukia prompts, cutting into their conversation.
"Just around the corner. Why? Are you getting hungry?" Ichigo quips.
Rukia flushes red, sputtering. "Wha- No. Of course not! I was just, uh..." the low drawn sound of a growling stomach interrupts her sentence. Ichigo and Kaien stare at her. Ichigo bemused and Kaien hiding a teasing smirk.
"Gez. Only arrived, what, two days ago and you're already acting this bossy?" Kaien drawls, sharing a look with his twin and jabbing a thumb at Rukia, warming up to a routine with his twin. "Can you believe this?"
"I don't know what to tell ya. These tourists, man. What can you do?" Ichigo sighs, shrugging helplessly.
"Hey!" Rukia protests.
Author's note:
Hope you enjoyed!
Aurora313