"So," Unagiya began, "how did you know about that symbol?"
She and Aigis were seated back in the warmth of the house, each nursing a cup of tea. After the uproar from the children over the symbol that Hitomi drew, both women silently decided that the children had enough excitement for one night and corralled them to sleep. The serious talk could come later.
'Later' turned out to be an hour after the children went to bed, which was not nearly enough time for Aigis to decide if she wanted to tell Unagiya the truth. Even within the vaguely magical setting of Soul Society, a story about averting an apocalypse seemed improbable at best, and impossible at worst. To Aigis, Unagiya was a practical person, unlikely to believe a story like the Dark Hour. If her work did not involve Shadows and world-ending events regularly, maybe Aigis would dismiss it as a fantasy too.
More importantly, she felt it was dangerous for Unagiya to know exactly what happened. Yu would get on her case about keeping people ignorant, as he had done so a few times in the past, but…
Unagiya was important to Aigis. She did not want to see her guardian hurt because of what she knew, even if it would cost her their bond.
She made her decision.
"I used to work in the government," she said, her eyes still trained on the faint ripples of her cooling tea. "Part of Public Security."
Unagiya took a sip of her tea, brown eyes scrutinising Aigis's face.
"We were investigating a death cult," she continued. "They believed that their goddess wished for death, and encouraged their members to pray to their goddess."
"Sounds relatively harmless so far, to be honest." Unagiya commented.
"Their core members also took assassination requests."
"Oh." Unagiya set her tea down on the table, looking a little pale.
Aigis finally took a sip of her own tea, musing over the story she spun so far. "We finally caught the core members one day, but in the process…" she trailed off.
Unagiya was ignoring her tea now, staring intently at Aigis. She did not dare to meet her eyes.
"Someone I was close to sacrificed himself to save us." Aigis finished after a pregnant pause. She set her tea down on the table, and very carefully tried to keep her hands steady.
Makoto's passing had dulled to an ache over the centuries, but she still remembered the open sorrow from the other members of S.E.E.S. from back then, along with her own quiet sadness. His funeral had ended up being an unexpectedly major affair, as people from all walks of life came to pay their respects. If her memory was correct, there was even a television businessman who came to the funeral.
They eventually moved on, but they never forgot.
Unagiya's eyes softened. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Does that death cult have anything to do with the symbol Hitomi drew earlier?"
Aigis managed a nod. "That symbol was their goddess's face," she explained. "A harbinger of death named Nyx."
Unagiya frowned at the foreign word, but didn't say anything else, silently waiting for more information. Aigis appreciated the patience, but she wasn't sure where to go from there. Going into detail on what exactly Nyx was would only invite more questions that she felt she was not ready to answer just yet. Maybe it would be prudent to focus on the future.
"I can only speculate on what they're doing here," she rubbed her hands over the now cold cup. "It's possible they don't mean any direct harm, but with Hitomi's account and my own history with them, I think the chances are slim."
Aigis mulled over the information in her head. The conversation had dragged out memories she hadn't even considered for decades, and it was taking more effort than expected to remember details from events that happened over three hundred years ago. She instead decided to focus on the present.
A community of tight-knit people from all ages. Their inability, or possibly reluctance to integrate themselves into the town. That uneasiness that even the children picked up on as time went on. The group's refusal to take anything as charity or payment for their work in the town. Their (presumably) shared Nyx tattoo. Hitomi's account that their members possibly forbade mingling with people who aren't part of the community, yet they still voluntarily helped out around town. The possibility that they engaged in self-harm. That their apparent leader is a former shinigami. Aigis's mind began running calculations and simulations, drawn from her centuries of experience leading the Shadow Operatives.
Palladion stirred.
"You look like you have ideas." Unagiya commented, one hand cupping her chin and her elbow resting on the table as she watched her charge with interest.
Aigis jolted out of her musings. She hasn't realised how much time passed since she started going over possible scenarios and how to mitigate the damage caused from them.
"I need to make a few enquiries tomorrow," she said firmly. "I just hope I'm not too late."
Unagiya's eyes widened in understanding. "You don't think– but how?"
"Most Rukongai citizens will not be able to stand up to a shinigami, retired or not." Aigis said. "Based on what we know so far, it's a possibility. And he has backup." She had long stopped underestimating her opponents based on appearance. The people around Namba may look frail with their ragged appearance, but there was no telling on what their actual abilities are. It was entirely possible that they were able to kill easily, considering who they were worshiping.
"It's dangerous." Unagiya said.
"I'm used to it." Aigis replied.
They stared each other down across the table. After almost a minute, Unagiya slumped over the table in defeat.
"Fine," she grumbled out. "But don't you dare get yourself hurt, alright? And if you run into issues, let me know." There was particular emphasis on the last part.
Aigis was highly reluctant to drag Unagiya into this particular issue and had every intention of solving it herself, but she appreciated the sentiment nonetheless.
"I will." Aigis said.
It took another twenty minutes of fussing from Unagiya before she was satisfied, so Aigis went to bed later than expected. But even then, her mind was running with plans and possibilities for the next day, as she mentally reviewed the hasty checklist of information she wanted.
She had grown fond of the town in the eight years since she started living here. She did not want her past to destroy it.
Namba Touji raised an eyebrow when he saw who was approaching Satou's house in the middle of the town one sunny day. Aigis stood out with her foreign name and features that he rarely saw even in shinigami. However, her mannerisms were clearly Japanese, and she seemed to have honed them to a fine point. His attempts at gathering information about the town through her had been rebuffed previously, with her politely dodging his questions and using her manners as a shield that did not change even when he sent his believers after her to gather intel. Fortunately, the other townspeople were more forthcoming.
So it was a little surprising to see one of the most skittish people he had met willingly approach him.
"How unusual to see you here, Aigis-chan." Touji greeted the girl. "Do you have business with the chief today?"
There was a flash of something across Aigis's face, but she wiped it off so quickly Touji almost thought he was imagining it. "There were some concerns from the Unagiya household about supplies within the town." Aigis replied, her voice light and even. "I was hoping to talk to Satou-san about it. Is he around?"
"Sorry, you just missed him." Touji sighed and ran a hand through his unkempt ponytail. "He should be back soon though, if you're willing to wait."
Aigis nodded her thanks and went to sit on the stairs to the house, clearly uncaring of the dirt on her kimono. For a while, they waited in companionable silence, one guarding the door, one resting.
"Forgive me for asking a potentially sensitive question," Aigis asked suddenly. Touji's head snapped to her. "Why did you become a shinigami?"
Touji gave her a wry grin. "Interested in becoming one?"
"Possibly." she hummed noncommittally.
Touji looked up to the blue sky. Clouds scattered across the blue expanse, a welcome relief from the glare of the sun.
"I just did it because I had the potential," he admitted. "Then again, I did like the work."
It was true, at least until Touji realised how little he changed the world around him, or rather, how little he could change. The outer districts of Rukongai were still a lawless mess, people still suffered unknowingly, and Seireitei was still unwilling to make any major changes to their existing structure. Despite the numerous scars he received as payment for his decades of service to Seireitei, hoping to create a better world for souls to live in, there were no improvements. He scowled at nothing in particular.
Aigis looked politely confused for a moment. "What kind of work did you do as a shinigami?" she continued.
"Oh, just the usual — patrols, Hollow hunting, stuff like that." Touji replied easily. "I did go to the Living World a few times for long term assignments though."
He saw Aigis's eyes widened almost imperceptibly at the apparent news that he had gone to the Living World before. Touji did hear from the chief that she was a relatively recent arrival, having lived in Soul Society for only eight years. Perhaps she still missed her friends and family back in the Living World?
"What were they like?" she asked.
"Mostly Hollow hunting and patrols as well. But also some konso, helping spirits move on to Soul Society." He turned from his standing position near the doorway to fully face Aigis.
Her face had smoothed out again, back into the placid stare that she carried when she first arrived. However, it was clear that her full attention was focused on Touji.
"Do you miss your family?" Touji asked.
Aigis blinked, then looked away. "...I think I do," she mumbled into her kimono.
"I hear that a lot with new souls," Touji sighed. "Can't really say I know the feeling myself, but I understand. Losing your family is tough."
"Do you not remember your time as a human?" she asked curiously, head tilted to one side.
"Nope," he answered easily. "Didn't remember, don't feel like remembering either. They weren't important." At the very least, not as important as what he is doing now.
"I see."
Her reaction gave Touji pause. It was stated as a matter of fact, yet there was also a hint of pity in her voice.
In his opinion, Aigis was the one who deserved the pity, for being separated from her family.
"Can you tell me about your family?" he asked.
Aigis gave him a wary side eye. Touji made a visible effort to relax even further and tucked his hands into his kimono sleeves. He made sure Aigis saw his zanpakuto and that he was cutting himself off from reaching for it too quickly.
After a tense moment, she turned back to staring at the ground. "I had a sister," she said, not looking at Touji. "We were inseparable."
She did not elaborate further, but the pain etched on her face was clear.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
The silence stretched on.
"This would be a lot easier if traveling between the worlds wasn't so restricted." Touji said, trying to keep the conversation going.
"I'm sorry?" There was a hint of incredulity in her voice.
Well. That caught her attention.
"You heard me," he continued. "What if going to see family who lives in a different world is as easy as walking?"
"There would be chaos." Her tone was full of certainty.
"Would you want to see your sister again?" Touji asked.
"No." The response came surprisingly quick. "I made peace with my mistakes and death. She would have done the same."
It was an unexpectedly mature outlook that he could appreciate, yet also spoke volumes about the trust she had in her sister.
Time to change tactics.
"Do you know where souls go when they die here?" Touji tried.
Aigis was now openly staring, sapphire eyes scowling at him. "Not that I know of." she replied after a pause. Was that wariness in her voice?
"The lie they sell at Seireitei is that the souls break down into ambient reishi," he answered, carefully considering his next words. "The truth is nobody knows. Souls breaking down simply was the most convenient excuse they could come up with, and it stuck."
Her gaze turned thoughtful as she looked away, head tilted to one side. Her left hand rested on her chest.
"What does that have to do with traveling between worlds?" she asked after an extended pause.
She caught on quickly. "Not much," Touji agreed. He felt a grin creep into his face. "But what if you didn't have to travel between worlds just to see a familiar face? Merge all three worlds into one, have all the souls mingle together. Let the world be reborn into something new. Nobody has to separate from their loved ones through death."
Aigis went still. "That's what your religion is about, isn't it?" she whispered. From Touji's angle her cropped bangs covered her eyes, so he couldn't get a good read on her expression. He appreciated the discretion though.
"You're smart," he said. He meant it too. "Shinigami don't have the power, or rather, some of them do have the raw power to remake the world, but don't want to change the status quo. Then what's the point of all that power when it just perpetuates more misery? We can't rely on them for anything!" He stopped himself before he could go further on the rant. That was not what Aigis needed to hear right now.
"What gave you the idea that a higher power could solve that issue?" she asked.
"Why, a divine messenger of our goddess, of course!" Touji couldn't help his smile. He spread his arms, basking in the daylight as if it was the sacred moonlight that he adored. "He sadly passed away before he could spread his wonderful ideology further, but he had revolutionary ideas! If the powerful will not change, all we need to do is topple them! Death to the world, so it may be born anew!"
He still remembered the moment he met the gaunt man who became his saviour, who led him on the path of enlightenment. Even though he died too quickly to forces outside of even his control, Touji was determined to keep his ideology alive.
In the heat of the moment, he momentarily forgot his audience. He quickly realised his error though. Aigis was a potential recruit, not a believer just yet. Touji coughed to cover up his overexcitement.
"Sorry about that," he sheepishly went back to leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed against his chest. "But think about it. You'll have a community of people who understand your deepest desires, and we can help you with controlling your reiatsu too. I got to be a pretty good teacher over the years." He gave a lopsided grin that would hopefully reassure the girl. She frowned instead.
"Oya? It's rare to see you here alone, Aigis-chan!"
Both people whipped their heads to the source of the cheerful voice. Satou had both hands nestled in his yukata, a friendly smile permanently etched onto his face. He walked up to the doorway between Touji and Aigis, oblivious to the conversation they had earlier.
"Come on in, I have senbei!" Satou urged.
Aigis smoothed out her features as she followed after the old man, thanking him throughout. Meanwhile, Touji did not move from his spot. There was an unspoken agreement between the two that meant he became Satou's unofficial door guard in exchange for allowing his believers to lodge in his house. It was mundane, boring work, but still work that Touji was willing to do. He managed to hear snitches of Satou's conversation with Aigis behind the closed wooden doors, something about needing to reserve more water for the Unagiya household. It took about ten minutes for the conversation to die down, and Aigis stepped out again shortly afterwards.
Their eyes met.
"Still interested in the offer?" he asked, voice low enough to make sure Satou wouldn't overhear.
"Let me consider it," she replied. "I do have my duties at the Unagiya household." She turned away and continued her short descent down the stairs.
"And what have they done for you apart from piling on more work?" Touji pressed on.
Aigis stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
"They're holding you back," he continued. "You're clearly much better than all of them combined. Join us. You'll be free of your shackles. You don't have to give an answer now, but I'd prefer one in a week."
She was no use to him dead, after all. His goddess needed sacrifices to manifest, and he'd rather have her not be one of them.
She half turned back so one blue eye was facing him. In the clouding sky, it looked paler than usual. The scrutiny was still there, yet beneath that, something else was lurking.
The air was still somewhat frigid, but Touji felt a chill down his spine for an entirely different reason.
Without a word, Aigis walked away.
"You look more tired than usual, Aigis." Unagiya observed at dinner. "Something happened?"
Aigis blinked up from her bowl of rice, surfacing from her memories of the events that occurred earlier today. "Something like that," she admitted. Then she shifted uneasily in her seat. Her mind was running a hundred scenarios a minute, yet none of them helped when all she knew was that something would happen within a week that would involve the cultists. She desperately needed more information, but asking Namba directly about it without any intention to join in was going to be a futile endeavour, and she suspected that she had acquired as much information as possible without raising any suspicions today. Asking the cultists themselves was possible, but there were enough of them spread out around the town that it would take time for her to track them down, then ask the right questions without them becoming suspicious. And then there was the fact that they would almost definitely tell Namba, which would make herself, and by extension, the rest of the Unagiya household a target.
So, Aigis herself was not an ideal choice for asking questions. Maybe she would need Unagiya's help after all.
"Actually, maybe now would be a good time to talk about it." Aigis shifted into a more comfortable position. She launched into an explanation of the conversation she had with Namba earlier in between bites of her meal, along with his offer.
For the first time since she started living here, dinner time was silent. Even the youngest children understood, apart from possibly Kousuke. Aigis suspected that he was merely imitating the others.
"I do not plan on accepting his offer, by the way," she clarified. "But I do wonder why he specifically said one week."
"The obvious answer would be that he's planning for something to happen in one week." Unagiya said. "Or he's leaving, which is also possible, but I think he would leave you with a method of contacting him if that's the case, rather than a hard deadline."
Aigis nodded. "That's what I think too," she agreed. "The issue is that it is difficult to plan for it when I don't know exactly what's happening."
"So ask for help." Unagiya reached across the dining table and flicked Aigis's forehead, earning a surprised yelp.
Unagiya's flicks were surprisingly painful. Aigis rubbed her forehead with one hand as she surveyed the table. Unagiya's eyes were warm, but hard. Touma and Megumi looked like they were steeling themselves for what comes next, and Megumi in particular kept one eye on Hitomi, likely worried about her mental state. Hitomi herself had curled into a ball – Aigis made a mental note to keep her close. Hiroki, Yuuta, Kuro and Ryou unfortunately looked too excited at the prospect of helping Aigis. Kousuke bounced on his seat.
Aigis sighed. They really were good children.
She wanted to keep them away from the dangers of her previous life, but perhaps, they also needed to learn to face those dangers too.
So what can they do, while out of danger? The townsfolk are friendly enough for the most part, and the children know to stay away from the occasional drunk. They have lived here long enough to memorise the roads and alleyways that snaked through the town, and Aigis made sure that they were physically fit enough to run away if threatened. They are also small enough to fit into holes most adults will not be able to crawl through. The older children can do just fine on their own, but the younger ones may need chaperones, especially to make sure they would not blurt anything that will compromise their efforts to the wrong people. Hitomi needs to stay away from any cultists, but is also the most skilled at using reiatsu. Unagiya can brawl as well as any drunk man in town, but can't quite stand up to magic. Her mere presence is a good way to intimidate people though.
An idea slowly coalesced in her mind. There were still too many holes in it, but maybe some of it can be organised into a more coherent plan later.
She cleared her throat, catching everyone's attention, then put on her best child-friendly commander voice. "Okay, this is what I'm planning…"
Aigis had not given a reply on his offer, and it was the last day. Touji sighed from his usual position. He did have high hopes for the girl to join him, especially with her sharp wits and raw reiatsu. It was barely trained, yet somehow refined. She would be a wonderful addition to his believers. With time, he believed that she would even rise up to the highest ranks of the group.
Touji left his post to look for her. His believers knew what they needed to do, and according to Yoshida two days ago, everything was in place. They would be fine without his guidance for a while.
He meandered through the town, greeting the sparse locals in his usual friendly tone. The people here are full of life – a suitable sacrifice for the strengthening of their goddess. Touji mentally apologised to the townsfolk, but they would find solace in their goddess's embrace. The air was cold, but dry — an unfortunate consequence of the untimely drought that swept through the area.
It was perfect for his plans.
His footsteps brought him to the edge of the town, where the orphanage was located. The household matriarch was outside the entrance of the modestly sized cottage, hanging bunches of grains out to dry. She stopped when she noticed Touji, but he also stopped a respectable distance from the entrance.
"Good morning, Unagiya-san," he called from his position. "Do you happen to know where Aigis is?"
"Nope, she went out on errands and won't be back for a long while." From this distance, it was somewhat difficult to see Unagiya's face, but her voice sounded normal enough when she yelled back. "Want me to let her know that you're looking for her?"
"That's quite alright," Touji replied politely. "I'll look for her elsewhere!"
He ambled away from the residence, unaware of the suspicious look that Unagiya cast on his back.
It took hours for Touji to give up looking for the girl after he checked various neighbourhoods within the town. Not for the first time in his life, he silently cursed his poor ability to sense individual reiatsu. All he could tell was the gentle blanket of elevated reiatsu that permeated the town, and that the only place with significantly stronger reiatsu was at the orphanage, which made sense considering its residents.
The skies were turning into twilight when he made his way back to the chief's home. He looked over the town, cast aglow in the last embers of the sun for the day. The crescent moon was already overhead – small, yet sacred. The town's darkened windows cut out the majority of the light pollution, which allowed Touji to enjoy the emerging stars.
His brain caught up.
The town was never dark.
Now that he finally started paying attention to his surroundings, there were many, many more oddities. There was always a low din within the town as people milled about at all hours of the day, yet now the silence was deafening. As it appeared, there were no people within his vision, which just raised more alarm bells.
Touji felt his heartbeat quicken. Where are his believers? What about his plans? The paranoia made him move quicker than intended as he slipped into shunpo without meaning to, checking the little reishi device he personally hid in a thatched roof, one designed to violently explode into flames on his signal. It was soon after he arrived when he spotted the potential hiding spot, and he had gone there in the dead of the night to place the device. Nobody ever noticed.
The device was gone, with nary a sign it was ever there.
He moved as quickly as he could to the next hiding spot he knew of, below the foundations of a slightly rickety house. That one was gone as well, and even the foundations were somehow fixed without him knowing. It looked like a slap-dash job, considering the rough structure, but it would've held the house up for years more than if it wasn't fixed at all.
One by one, he checked the hiding spots that he knew of, and found every single one gone. Even worse, he did not see a single soul on the way. It was as if the town ghosted during the day, which made for a bad joke.
He stopped back where he began, in front of the chief's house. Touji was now panting heavily from the exertion and nerves, while the cold night breeze cut through his kimono layers. He surveyed his surroundings again, trying to piece together what happened and mentally berating himself for letting the situation spiral out of control.
"Are you looking for something?"
Touji whirled around, one hand automatically reaching for his zanpakutou and dropping to a battle ready stance. He looked up for the source of the voice.
Her short hair glinted silver under the moonlight. She stood on the rooftop of Satou's house, with a glowing red orb – the exact same device he had been looking for – held in her hands. She tossed it up once, let it fall back into her hand, then crushed it. The orb dissipated into particles of reishi.
Aigis looked down on him, her blue eyes glowing in the dark and a displeased frown displayed on her face.
A/N: So first off, uh...
I'm sorry for letting this hang for 4 years?
Life had been a bit of a whirlwind since the last chapter, and yes I know I published another half done story in the meantime, but still. Not an excuse. As for what happened, I moved across the ocean (again), did my masters, got a job, and now I'm about to move into a new apartment. Throughout all this I tried to get some stable additional income (opened up a Redbubble shop which is doing pretty nicely for all that I have on there), and I'm also looking for a new job. Work visas are a bitch.
Back to this story. I genuinely wrote myself into a corner years back, where I had the cool crisis but no idea on how to resolve the crisis. I finally wrote myself out of the corner. Time will tell if it's a good resolution or not, but I think I have a slightly...less messed up timeline compared to last time. Updates on this story will still be very sporadic and really just depends on when inspiration hits me, so I have no ETA on when the next chapter will be out. I have been writing snippets of it on my phone during my work commute though. It's a good distraction. Oh, and if you spot any mistakes let me know. This chapter was not beta-ed.
So please review, and again, I'm sorry for the 4 year radio silence.