It's all one scene today, and that's because it has a lot to pull off. So I hope it works, enjoy.
The cicadas chirped as the afternoon started to give way to evening. Ichigo thanked his luck that he missed the hottest part of the day. Even in Soul Society, the August heat was no joke.
That would have made the long walk to the Tsunayashiro estate both tense and unbearable. Instead, Ichigo only had to deal with the discomfort of playing nice to a servant who served someone who he most definitely didn't like.
There really wasn't anything wrong with her. She was nice, maybe a bit energetic, and she definitely talked a bit much, but she did point out some fun things that he didn't know.
For example, apparently, the sakura trees the Kuchiki have are a unique strain that doesn't exist in the living world. Or that the Shihoin gardens have at least one example of each of the one hundred and thirty-two varieties of maple.
Honestly interesting stuff, but the green on her outfit definitely made things awkward. Especially as they finally got to the gates of the Tsunayashiro estate.
The gates of the Tsunayashiro estate were nothing like the rugged simplicity of the Shiba estate's gate nor like the elegant gates to the Kuchiki estate. These gates were imposing. each standing twice Ichigo's height, and fixed upon them in solid and polished gold was the seal of the Tsunayashiro clan.
with a simple knock, the gates began to swing wide. There was no smaller door like the Shiba estate, and so as Ichigo walked through the path to the main compound, he was subjected to a walk through a forested road until he came to the actual residency.
The compound was lavish. The floors were tiled with jade and black marble with gold inlay separating them.
It was clear that the Tsunayashiro were wont to flaunt their wealth and power. Why else build such a lavish estate furnished with symbols of wealth?
The part that unnerved Ichigo the most however was the silence. The Shiba estate was absolutely bustling with people, and even the Kuchiki estate was abuzz with activity even though the planners took every chance to isolate the servants and the guests from each other.
Here, there were only the echoes of Ichigo's own footsteps as the servant guided him to Tokkinada's study.
Soon they were before a large mahogany door. When Ichigo looked for the servant he found he was alone, with only the click of a false wall to give him any idea of what happened.
After a few moments of looking at the door, Ichigo decided to knock with a polite one-two.
After a few moments, Ichigo was greeted by one Tokkinada Tsunayashiro.
"Ah, Ichigo! I'm glad to see that my servant was able to find you. I hope the Kuchiki didn't grill you too hard," Tokkinada grinned ear-to-ear. "Oh, where are my manners? Come in, take a seat!" With that Tokkinada guided Ichigo into his study, a moderately large room with wall-to-wall bookshelves, each filled with books of varying ages and languages as well as subject matter.
Once they got to a pair of couches by Tokkinada's desk he motioned for Ichigo to take a seat before taking a seat as well across from him.
"I do apologize for not having tea ready, I wasn't sure when you were going to arrive, any preferences?" Tokkinada awaited Ichigo's reply.
"I uh… don't really have a preference, I'm more partial to coffee," Ichigo scratched the back of his head. He hoped to not offend as it was clear Tokkinada was a very fickle individual if his reputation was anything to go by.
"Hm, shame, the coffee machines are down for cleaning. I could have the servants pull an espresso if you want," The kitchen was well-equipped to meet the whims any guests or family members may have. While the Kuchiki held strongly to tradition, the Tsunayashiro's exposure to the living world made them far more modern in terms of taste.
"No no, tea is fine" Ichigo was somewhat overwhelmed by the offer. He was just coming off of a tense meeting and Tokkinada was just dropping all of this into his lap immediately.
"Alright, how does nilgiri sound?" Tokkinada himself was partial to the creamy texture.
"Uh, fine I guess," Ichigo had little idea of what that was and was perfectly fine to go with the flow.
"Nilgiri it is then," Tokkinada smiled. The servants observing them should probably have the tea ready soon. "How did the Kuchiki treat you? I heard you sent a request to marry Lieutenant Kuchiki."
"Yeah, the matchmaker spoke with me a while ago," Ichigo wasn't sure why Tokkinada was interested in his personal life, though at this point he had found the buzz around him and Rukia to be a bit much. "The elders though were a bit rough."
"I understand, you are a relative unknown to them. Not to mention you have… unorthodox opinions," Tokkinada chose his words carefully. Ichigo's opinions were largely the product of his life in the living world, a place where life was measured in decades not centuries. His views were a result of that perspective, just as Tokkinada's were a result of his perspective.
"Yeah… I get that a lot," Ichigo wasn't exactly a fan of the fact that his opinions, which were largely just things he was taught growing up or were told were basic standards, were suddenly seen as out of left field and 'unorthodox.'
"It's to be expected. You were raised in a world that left the ideas of feudalism behind centuries ago. The last person who was able to enact meaningful change in Soul Society was my teacher Yamamoto, and sadly he's dead," The late founder of the Gotei was the only person in the past thousand years who has ever truly posed a threat to the way Soul Society did things. He respected him for that, for seeing what needed to be done and doing it. No talk, no deliberation, no grandiose posturing. It was a shame that Yamamoto died long before Yhwach's return.
"Yeah, I wish I could have done something to save him," Ichigo sighed. That was a rough day for him. He had fought tooth and nail to escape that cage, only to discover he had been too late. Byakuya was dying, Yamamoto was dead, the Wandenreich picking at the bones of what was left… and Rukia… The shape she was in when he found her…
"That's in the past, the war is over," Tokkinada spoke softly. He had seen the mayhem the quincy caused, all in the name of avenging Soul Society's 'Original Sin.' He was impressed. They had finally found a way to bring them low. Even if the rightful order of things was ultimately reestablished, they had come ever-so-close to usurping it.
"Yeah…" Ichigo was still weary of Tokkinada. He had stolen Ikkomikidomoe, and he had attacked Nell and Halibel. The weight of the situation he was in finally landed. He was in the lion's den now, he only hoped that Tokkinada wasn't asking for something ridiculous.
"So, how has your training with Lieutenant Kuchiki been?" Tokkinada probed for information. An idea of how well he is now able to control his power would be invaluable. He has long had an accurate picture of his strength, but his control is what will dictate the efficacy of his plan should Ichigo choose to move against him.
"Okay, but progress has been slow," Ichigo was intentionally vague. There was a lot he didn't want to tell him, and anything he said could be used against him in the future.
"I'm sure you'll find your pace soon enough. Though with recent developments between you and the Lieutenant, I imagine that you intend to stay?" Tokkinada filed away that information in his head. Now it was time to find more.
"Yeah…" Ichigo was starting to feel uncomfortable. Tokkinada's interest in his personal life was beginning to be uncanny. "Why are you so interested in me?"
"Well, would you look at that! It seems our tea has arrived," Tokkinada drew the attention away from the question. Not that he didn't want to answer it, but now was not the time to show his hand.
Ichigo saw through the attempt to dodge the question, but at the same time a servant had just arrived with stuff that needed to be set up, and so the conversation would have to stop anyway. That was quite convenient for Tokkinada. Especially as Ichigo didn't notice the servant until Tokkinada had pointed them out.
He didn't know if his senses were being dulled, or if he was simply too distracted by the man in front of him to notice the world beyond their 'conversation.'
Soon after they had arrived they had finished putting down the tea set and had poured them some of the tea inside the pot before placing it between them and leaving. The subtle hint of terror from them as Tokkinada shifted one of the things on the table into its proper place did not go unnoticed. Tokkinada however acted as though nothing had happened, and that it was always in its correct position.
"I do apologize for my interruption, but the answer to your question cannot be given in the presence of… unworthy ears," At that Ichigo could feel the slight specks of spiritual power at the edges of his attention vanish, and soon after Tokkinada used a few hand-signs to cast a silencing kido. It was clear now, Ichigo was alone with the beast.
"Has Kukaku told you the story of the founding of Soul Society?" Tokkinada's question surprised Ichigo. He had never seen anything about the founding. It was as if the texts he read assumed Soul Society had always existed for as long as there were souls to occupy it, and that the Soul King had always been.
Ichigo knew it was all bullshit. Soul Society had to have come from somewhere, but he had assumed that it was either something he would learn in due time, or just not important.
"Your face of bemusement says everything. Don't worry, my father did the same. Hiding information like this from me," Tokkinada smiled. "The world wasn't originally like this. Split into realms for the living and dead. Almost a hundred thousand years ago the living and the dead coexisted side by side. A world without death as we currently understand it."
Ichigo's mind raced back to Yhwach's words. Was this what he sought to do all along? To return the world to its original form?
"Now, things were fine for a while, Humanity had only just risen above its peers in the animal kingdom. As such our souls weren't much, but soon, over generations we became much stronger. Discovering that we had powers that could only be best described as magic. Esoteric and mysterious," Tokkinada weaved his tale like a master orator, keeping Ichigo's attention.
"Soon, new creatures began to manifest. Malevolent spirits who only hungered for human souls, living or dead. They would gain many names, bekataro, demons, ghouls, windigo, I could go on, but we both know of what I speak,"
"Hollows," Ichigo was not surprised that hollows and humans came about around the same time.
"Unlike today they were popping up spontaneously. Fully formed and with no preceding soul. At first, they were small, but as time went on, eventually we had menos grade and above just popping into existence, quite the problem, don't you agree?" Tokkinada's story now was starting to become scary to think about. Hollows as strong as Grimmjow or Ulquiorra in a time when humanity hadn't yet even mastered fire… With no shinigami that would be a death sentence. Ichigo nodded. This world without death… it was clearly untenable.
"So what happened?" Ichigo was fully invested. He was skeptical and would fact-check this with Kukaku, but he still listened.
"A creature stronger than anything ever seen before started hunting the hollows. Protecting the paleolithic tribes of humanity. A being you have seen before," Tokkinada grinned.
"The Soul King," The fact he laid eyes on a being almost as old as humanity. A relic of a time unrecorded except here. It was a sublime realization. His entire life was but a moment to the Soul King.
"Precisely. It wielded power unlike anything ever seen, and soon after appearing, taught these tribes how to defend themselves. What was once untouchable, now was beatable. However, soon it was clear the situation had become unsustainable as hollows began rapidly outnumbering humans. Thus, Five chiefs and a sage all gathered and spoke, and a plan was hatched. They parlayed with the Soul King and well… Let's just say there's a reason he was the way he was when you saw him," Tokkinada made another unsettling smile as he took a sip of his tea.
Ichigo processed that for a moment.
"Are you saying…"
"That our ancestors mutilated a god? Yes," Now Tokkinada could see the horror being processed in Ichigo's face. An attack under false pretense has always been dishonorable. "But not only that, they also cast a ritual that almost brought humanity to extinction in the act of creating the order we know today. Burying this secret deep, and not telling anyone what happened," Tokkinada now prepared his pitch. Ichigo was a volatile individual. Delivering his pitch, and ensuring the threat was conveyed in a way that didn't immediately anger him was important.
"So not only did they do this, they hid it from the rest of Soul Society?" More secrets? More lies? The only good news was he wasn't the only one in the dark here.
"Not just the rest of Soul Society. I doubt many in the other houses know either. As far as I am aware, we are the only ones who know of this deceit, and I seek to correct it. I only know because my family has records of our own that go back far enough," Tokinada spoke half-truths. He didn't know for certain if any of the other clan heads knew, but he did know that Kyoraku and Yoruichi did. It was best if Ichigo didn't try to confirm what he is being told. They would only poison his mind with their fear of the power they should have rightfully claimed.
"Wait wait wait, this would predate writing!" How could there be records of this!
"In your world. Trust me, translating from a dead tongue took some work," Tokinada laughed. The effort it took to translate the 'document' was ridiculous, and the fact that he had to hide it from his clan just made it more complicated. Ah, to be young and ambitious.
"So who was the sage?" Ichigo noticed how the sage didn't trace to the modern reality of Soul Society. There were only five great houses, and the Central 46 only came about because of Yamamoto.
"You would know him as leader of the Royal Guard, quite the character he is." Tokinada smiled. His grin an unsettling visage.
Ichigo hmed at that. Ichibe had always given him a bad feeling. This explained at least part of that.
"Why tell me this?" Ichigo was suspicious. He didn't figure Tokinada would tell him this for the sole sake of informing him.
"Because I want to change a few things. I feel that people, even in the living world, deserve to know the truth of this world," Tokkinada played on Ichigo's own experience of having been lied to, and having his own heritage hidden from him.
"And you want my help," Ichigo was sure there were details that he wasn't telling him. There had to be.
"Hardly, while I would appreciate your assistance, it is not required. All I am asking for is for you to allow me to try," Tokinada's request was surprising, but that just made it more suspicious.
"And if I don't?" Ichigo narrowed his gaze, there had to be a catch.
"Do understand that as part of my job as head of the Visuals Department that I have had to come up with countermeasures should you go rogue," and with that Tokkinada put his tea down and pointed to a sigil above his desk. That of a hexagonal seal with a stylized skull sitting on a black x. The very same sigil emblazoned on every substitute shinigami badge. "And well, the badge was my invention."
"You sick fuck!" Ichigo was almost at a boiling point. He was threatening Karin!
"Now now, Ichigo. I'm just the type who takes precautions, nothing more. It would pain me to possibly bring a fellow noble to harm, so I would only do it as a last resort, and don't worry, the lives of your loved ones will not be taken. After all, any physical harm could cause a civil war. Something nobody is interested in starting," Tokkinada played off the threat, but secretly Tokkinada was beyond amused, he had gotten a rise out of Ichigo.
"Now, I have finished what I needed to tell you, you are free to leave," Ichigo stormed out of the room. He was beyond pissed, hell, he was probably going to grab Zangetsu and come right back to kill him, civil war be damned!
Tokkinada would have hell to pay!
Who had "Antagonist loredump" on their bingo cards?
I did that because it just felt right for everything involved. I hope you enjoyed.