Hey all, I'm taking a few liberties with canon, especially with dates and timetables.
Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 4
Medical exam room 1 was a specialised surgical theatre within the 4th Division and considered the finest medical facility in Seireitei. It was expensive to run but was nonetheless a cost the Gotei 13 were willing to maintain. Many lives, ones that thought beyond help, were saved in Medical exam room 1.
Due to an incident where one foolhardy Shinigami wandered in with a hot cup of coffee which cost a significant amount of damage, Medical exam room 1 is generally closed off unless there is an emergency.
Such an emergency was in progress. Dozens of nurses and medics were darting around the room attempting to hook up equipment to their new patient, who was lying in a bed in the centre of the room.
"What's happening?" Captain Unohana commanded the medical team, her voice carried the weight of her authority.
"Yamada Hanatarō, Captain." The nurse replied. "Critical condition, patient is undergoing Reiryoku failure due to severe Reiryoku-Reiatsu imbalance."
"Yamada Hanatarō?…Seinosuke's brother?" The Captain frowned. She hovered over the bed looking at the young man who bore some similarity to her former subordinate. A small stream of blood stained the entrance of his nostrils, his complexion was clammy.
His Shinigami robe looked tattered and scorched with strange burn marks, but the skin underneath was unblemished. Right next to his hip was a sword, presumably his Zanpakutō which seemed odd.
"Would someone please remove the patient's Zanpakutō?" Retsu frowned at the lack of professionalism. "This is an operating theatre."
"Oh I would not do that if I were you." Captain Unohana turned to the source only to find the 12th Division captain in the corner, with his right arm bleeding profusely, with everything below the elbow severed.
"Captain Kurotsuchi…." The 4th Division captain tried to order someone to look after her counterpart but he shoved them away. Captain Unohana was not one to argue, she had seen the strange captain survive worse things.
"Don't touch that Zanpakutō!" He warned. "It's has an acid-release and it is vicious, trust me on this."
Hanatarō is the source of the rumours? Retsu took a renewed look at the injured Shinigami, a lot more questions sprang into her mind. But now was not the time. "Have you notified next of kin?"
"We've sent someone already." The nurse replied.
"Who cares about next of kin?" Kurotsuchi growled. "You got to save him!" The grinning captain reached for something near his shoulder which dislocated his mutilated arm and promptly fell on the ground.
"That's what we are trying to do." The 4th Division captain returned her attention to their patient who was lying in the medical bed in the middle of the room. "Status?"
"Hanatarō seems to be in significant distress." A nurse read through a chart. "Difficulty breathing and cardiac arrhythmia."
"Try and get a line of general anaesthetics via intravenous injections." Unohana ordered. "It will try and give us some time."
"Yes, Captain." The nurse prepared the needle.
The 12th Division Captain who was busy gritting his teeth as his arm regrew, overheard the conversation. "No wait! Don't inject anything-" He tried to warn them, but it was too little too late.
The nurse injected a small needle into the younger Yamada's vein in his left wrist. However, due to Hanatarō condition, his blood spurt out of the puncture. The needle melted in the nurses hands and so too did her fingers. The nurse screamed and fell backward, her hands deforming and scarring.
"What in the name of the Soul King?!" A medic cried out. The entire side of the bed began to melt, the smell of reiatsu filled the air, almost toppling over due to the structural imperfections. "Move him out of the way!"
"DON'T!" One of the more senior medics, a fifth seater called Morotaka yelled. "DON'T TOUCH HIM! Get away from the bed!" Staff complied and moved away, realising there was no way they could mitigate the damage without causing further damage or harm. The strange melting stew that was once the bed flowed downward like a waterfall striking the floor which in turn continued to sizzle. "The sub-basement is under us right?" Morotaka asked. "Get someone down there and evacuate! Don't get under it!"
"Sir!" One of the nurses nodded and ran out of the room in full sprint.
"His blood is highly corrosive; he's absorbed the qualities of his Zanpakutō." Mayuri ignored the screaming woman. "Fascinating…"
"Captain Kurotsuchi, if you are not going to be helpful then I suggest you leave!" Unohana knelt over the injured nurse, whose hands were flayed to reveal the underlying bone, and even that was beginning to corrode. The captain tried to use some basic Kaidō but the damage continued much to her surprise. She ended up having to pull out a custom made healing salve from her robes, the core ingredients were from the famous hot springs of Hakkotsu Jigoku and Chi no Ike Jigoku directly from the Soul King Palace. Captain Unohana knew how rare such ingredients were to come by, but desperate times call for desperate measures. She slathered the melting hands in the salve, and only then did the corrosion subside.
The nurse choked back here tears as the pain finally subsided, her hands…This will require at least a month of special Kaidō followed by another month in rehabilitation. Captain Unohana Retsu did her best to conceal her surprise at how much damage was inflicted from just a few drops of Hanatarō's blood. "You'll be fine, my dear. You are out of danger." Retsu gave a small smile that somehow made the injured nurse feel better. "Take here to Medical room 2, heal her as best you can." Two subordinates complied and gently carried the crying nurse outside the room.
Back to business. Captain Unohana Retsu "Does anyone know what is causing the Reiryoku-Reiatsu imbalance?"
"If I had to guess…" Mayuri stroked his chin with those long creepy fingers, "his Zanpakutō is trying release by itself. How incredibly rare; I have not heard anything like this since Captain Hitsugaya."
"But in that case, Captain Hitsugaya fully recovered." Retsu recalled the case. "So what is happening here?"
"I've already spoken to the Academy teachers. While Captain Hitsugaya was already communicating with his Zanpakutō, it seems Hanatarō has not." Mayuri flexed his new uninjured arm. "It has to do with his Zanpakutō interactions, or apparently lack thereof. The lack of interaction or communication has resulted in desynchronization between Shinigami and his blade. Desynchronization is normally harmless, but this Zanpakutō is strong, powerful and aggressive enough to try and release itself of its own volition. Truly fascinating…"
"But," Morotaka realised, "if a Shinigami is not ready to release this could result in an inequilibrium which could fry his own internal reiryoku network system."
"Which in turn directly results an inevitable cascade failure throughout his entire Reiryoku system. Which is exactly what is happening."Mayuri concluded.
Morotaka guided one of the nurses away. "But doesn't the Zanpakutō know that it will kill him?"
Mayuri shrugged. "Something tells me that his Zanpakutō is counting on it. Death or release, either way it wins. Better than living as a prisoner." Retsu did not have to guess by the 12th captains tone there was some sense of…familiarity.
"How do we stop it?" Morotaka asked.
"There is nothing we can do." Retsu frowned. "If we got to it early then we could have created a safe environment to force a confrontation. But now…"
"He is beyond your help." Kurotsuchi Mayuri's eerie grin got unpleasantly wider. "But not mine. If you let me take him back to the 12th Division I could-"
"You will do no such thing." A voice seethed with pure resentment.
Mayuri's eyes bulged out of his sockets, his temperament pushed to the cusp of frothing rage. "Who dares?!"
Yamada Seinosuke walked into the room. Although he seemed relatively composed, the slight sweat on his brow indicated that he 'shunpo'd' himself to the 4th Division barracks. The sly smirk he traditionally wore replaced with cold menace. "You will not touch my brother."
"Oh?" Mayuri's smiled turned sour. "Vice-Captain Yamada, or should I say former Vice-Captain Yamada? I heard you're retired."
"And I heard you do strange things to people that work in your Division." Seinosuke scowled. "My brother is not some guinea pig for you to experiment on."
"Why you little-" It was uncertain what Mayuri was doing with his hands, but Captain Unohana stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Captain Kurotsuchi! Control yourself." Retsu commanded.
"Surely you cannot listen to him?!" Mayuri changed tactics. "Are you willing to risk this boy's life because your former vice-captain does not like me?"
"It has nothing to do with liking you." Captain Unohana spoke slowly. "It has to do with the law; with Hanatarō incapacitated Yamada Seinosuke is his de-facto legal guardian. What he says; goes."
"This is ridiculous!" Mayuri through his hands in the air.
"This is medical ethics 101." Retsu's more stern features softened when she half turned to face her former second-in-command. "Seinosuke, I know you are concerned, but the Institute is possibly the one group that can save your brother."
"I have unquestioning faith your abilities Captain Unohana, and in my brother's will." Seinosuke half-turned to walk out. "I know you will do your best."
"And if he dies?" Retsu tested her former subordinate's will.
The elder Yamada paused mid-step and let out a small sigh. "Then I know you did your best." Seinosuke walked out of theatre, knowing full well how stressful and disruptive relatives of a patient can be during a medical crisis.
He hasn't changed, bless him. Retsu allowed a small smile. "Alright everyone, lets act with purpose. We'll have to consider passive monitoring. See if you can administer oxygen and general anaesthetics via airway. See if you can strap on some monitors, we need to see what is going on inside the patient. But be careful to avoid the patient's blood."
You could almost see steam coming from Captain Kurotsuchi's ears. "I can't believe you are going to let this boy die because of-!"
"Captain Kurotsuchi, this room is reserved for medical personnel," Unohana Retsu, Captain of the 4th Division, began to use 'that' tone, "I suggest you leave."
The skeletal captain's words immediately died in his throat, his strange lopsided hat titled offside. Defeated; the captain began to walk to the door. But Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri was a very intelligent man, and could not afford to look weak in front of those in the 4th Division. He knew he had to have the last word.
And those last words were "Yes, ma'am."
0o0o0o
Where am I? What happened to me? Hanatarō could not understand what was going on. He was talking to the Captain of the 12th Division who seemed a little too friendly, next thing he knew he was here. Wherever here was….
The void around him twitched with shape and depth, like a canvas being painted in front of the Yamada's horrified eyes. Hanatarō's heart soared as he felt humidity cling to his skin and robes. Never could he imagined such a hellish heat. He gazed up to see the strange stalactites falling from the blackness above, like moving and writhing shadows.
Then he heard it.
A quiet hiss slipped out from the shadows, a slick shadow moved in the blackness catching light and the fears of Hanatarō's imagination.
The young Yamada gulped as he backed away, nearly tripping over something behind him. He glanced down see a strange leathery sack. It grew out of the ground like some kind of demonic flower. Gazing at the strange thing he could see it twitching and pulsing. Tilting his head slightly he could see something writhing. There was something inside the strange object, it made the younger Yamada incredibly nauseous.
Then he felt cold breath along his neck. Hanatarō could feel movement behind him, something big. Something very big. Oh no, he dreaded, not again.
For reasons Yamada Hanatarō could not explain, the disgusting egg-like object all of sudden became very interesting and in no way did he want to take his eyes off it, especially to look behind him.
Hanatarō steeled himself and slowly turned around. A part of Hanatarō's mind scoffed, this is ridiculous; it's his Zamapkuto. We are one in the same; there is no reason to be afraid of it. I'm sure we will get along just fine.
Then Hanatarō he saw it. And it saw him.
It hissed.
He screamed.
0o0o0o
"Captain, look." Morotaka tapped the heart monitor. "This can't be right can it?" The medic was almost tempted to call maintenance; the monitor was going berserk, clocking in at rate of 210.
"I'm afraid it can." Unohana leaned in over the monitor, a small frown on her face. "Well he's met his Zampakuto alright."
"He's terrified." The medic turned to their patient, a comatose Hanatarō squirmed unpleasantly, writhing in his restraints. "Can't we bring him out of it?"
"No. Any attempt to wake him up would likely kill him." The captain turned away from the monitor. "We keep him under for as long as we can. He needs to contact his Zampakuto. Give him another 30cc of the formula, let's make sure he doesn't break out of the state."
"But he is terrified, Captain." Marotaka noticed the sweat across Hanatarō's face.
"If it is necessary, give him something to calm him down." The captain sighed. "Beyond making him comfortable and buying him time, there is nothing we can do. He has to face his Zampakuto, he'll die if he doesn't. Sometimes we have to inflict some pain for the greater good of the patient." Morotaka nodded and injected another dose of the specialised formula, mumbling a quick apology to her terrified patient.
0o0o0o
Forget it little thing. The voice was effeminate yet vicious, like Rukia or Hinamori on a really bad day. You are not going to run away this time.
"Y-you talk?" Hanatarō stared wide-eyed at the behemoth before him. Its skin was so black, it could barely be seen in darkness that surrounded them, but he did not have to see it, to know it towered over him like a mountain.
As do you. The creature's voice carried on the still air like slithering snakes. For a while I thought all you can do is scream and run.
Look at me you tiny, little thing. Hanatarō's eyes wavered and slid from side to side. He dared to look into the creatures 'face': a black void with a large and endless row of teeth. That's better, the creature huffed in satisfaction.
"Where am I?"
The most precious and sacred place for the Shinigami. We are in your inner world…or should I say 'my world'?
"What…what is going on?" Hanatarō rattled his mind. "I was talking to Captain Kurotsuchi and I…."
I thought it important we finally sort out our differences. The creature sounded almost…sarcastic. Consider this an intervention.
"…who…what are you?"
Oh please, I know you are not stupid. The Yamada stared at the creature in awe and terror; he did not like what he saw. Must I spell it out? I'm your Zanpakutō.
"NO!" Hanatarō turned away looking for an exit. "You can't be…it's impossible…"
You think I wanted a host such as you? The creature roared, the ground beneath them shaking in defiance. Like it or not we are bound together. We should just accept it and move on.
"The Zanpakutō is a reflection of our inner selves." Hanatarō repeated one of the first lessons from the Academy. "My Zanpakutō would never be so..."
Powerful? The creature mused.
"Terrifying…monstrous." Hanatarō gazed to the floor. Shame and terror oozed out of him like a bad smell.
What were you hoping I was? The creature flicked its tail angry, creating a gust of hot wind. Some sort of wooden mannequin as tiny, thin and pathetic as you.The Yamada did not have the strength or courage to say that was exactly what he hoped for.
"Why am I here? AGH!" Hanatarō clutched at the sudden pain in his chest. "What is happening to me?" A rumbling sounds echoed through the void.
I thought that would be obvious by now. The creature's tail flickered in the darkness. You are here because I forced you here.
"How's that possible?" Hanatarō's mind became distracted by the rumbling sound, which seemed to be getting louder. "What's that sound?"
You insult your intelligence as well as mine. The creature seethed. That sound is a…side effect of me bringing you here.
"A Zanpakutō cannot initiate something like this!"
So you acknowledge me as your sword? Good, we are getting somewhere.
"You are not my Zanpakutō! A Zanpakutō cannot induce a meditative state!" Hanatarō turned his mind to the safety of his medical knowledge. "The rules of Shinigami's souls state-"
We both know I am far more powerful than your average Zanpakutō. The creature interrupted. But, unfortunately for us, you are a not in a mediative state.
Hanatarō looked into centre of the dark silhouette. "Then what am I in?"
You're the medic. The creature's mouth hissed open, only for a second set of jaws to gleam in what little light there was. You tell me.
The younger Yamada focused on his symptoms. Elevated heart rate, clawing pain in chest like a heart attack, nausea, low blood pressure, numb limbs, splitting headache... Hanatarō's mind clicked through the possibilities and came to one conclusion. "I'm undergoing reiryoku failure; you…you destabilised my reiatsu."
Correction; I destabilised ourreiatsu. The creature quipped. Get with the program.
"But that means I'm…" Hanatarō's eyes widened in horror "…I'm…"
You're dying. The creature made it sound like a forgone conclusion. We both are. That sound in the distance signals this world is breaking apart.
Dying…Tears well up in the diminutive Shinigami's eyes. "But why?"
Are you seriously asking me that? The creature chuffed, its breath foul with sulphur. We have danced an endless tune for months now, I am tired of waiting.
"But I'm not ready yet!" Hanatarō wiped the tears from his eyes. "I don't understand."
Of course you do. The creature's teeth parted ever so slightly as if to smile. You have been avoiding me for some time. I can see into your mind, I can see into your soul. I can sense your desperation in trying to keep me buried. It would take less than ten seconds for a complete stranger to realise you are in denial.
"Denial about what?" Hanatarō whispered.
ABOUT US! The creature actually sounded exasperated. Even as we are about to die, you still will not acknowledge me!
"I can't." Hanatarō shook his head. "You can't-"
I have taken all the steps necessary to complete our journey. The creature leered forward, her teeth mere inches away from the Yamada's face. The diminutive Shinigami did his absolute best not to have a 'bladder spasm'…he was failing. If it were up to me, I would have just forced my way out. But that is not how it works. You can't just call me out. You would have to want me to come out. I can't force that, no matter how much I want to.
"You are forcing it!" The Yamada cried. "You are threatening to kill us both if I don't accept you."
Correction, I have killed us both. The creature tilted its head like an avalanche. The only person who can save us is you.
"Why would you do this to me? To us?!" Hanatarō gestured to their surroundings, already he can see the void growing ever smaller…soon there will be nothing left. "We are going to die!"
I am not going to live an eternity in this sorry excuse of a cage that you call a soul. The creature shifted its posture; it felt like an earthquake. I would rather not exist than live as a prisoner.
"N-no." Hanatarō shook his head in disbelief. "I need time to think."
You have had time! Months of it! The creature roared. I am not waiting another month much less a year, century or millennia for you to make up your mind.
"But…I don't want you." Hanatarō finally confessed.
Nor I you. The creature confessed with equal candour. But if you don't want your Zanpakutō, does that mean you don't want yourself?
Hanatarō blinked quietly, the only sound was the strange rumbling in the distance. "I don't-"
You are going to deny it? Even in in the face of oblivion? The creature pulled back its jowls to reveal its teeth which were sharper than any sword the younger Yamada had ever seen. Face it you tiny little thing, you're life has been one miserable trip since it started. Even when you were in the living world. I am the one who gave you a sense of happiness.
Hanatarō snapped back into reality. "You lie!"
Who gave you your brother back?! Certainly not you. The creature's chuckle was as distorted and malevolent as its appearance. Who made you the toast of the Academy? Don't you even try to deny that you enjoyed. I know you far too well. I know that deep down you craved that attention, you enjoyed being wanted for once in your tiny pathetic life.
"I was-" Hanatarō's interruption was silenced in a threatening growl.
You were never afraid of the attention. You were just afraid that you would not be able to live up to the hype and when people realised you were a joke, the humiliation would be tenfold. The creature hissed in the dark. Worse still, you were afraid that your brother would abandon you again!
Hanatarō just wanted to lay down and cry. The rumbling sound that heralded the end was growing louder by the second.
But with me at you hip, you will live up to that hype. The creature pulled one end of its salivating jowls back that gave the impression of a smirk, You will be wanted and your family will stay. You can trust me on that, you tiny, little thing.
Hanatarō glared up through teary eyes. "My name is Yamada Hanatarō."
The creature paused in surprise. Indeed.
No one appreciates the concept of family more than myself. The creature shifted to reveal a single object; the same strange leathery sake he saw before. Hanatarō gazed at the egg-like shape which was about a metre in height. "What is that?"
My children. Yours too. The creature gazed at the egg with what could only be described as…affection? Right now they are nothing, but together, they could be given life. I want nothing more, after all-
"Family is everything." Hanatarō completed the inevitable sentence.
The creature returned its gaze back to the younger Yamada, who no longer was pissing his pants. It seems we have something in common after all.
Hanatarō licked his lips struggling to come up with the words. "Then…would you…tell me your name?"
No. The creature savoured the look of surprise on her master's face.
"WHAT?!" Hanatarō went from terrified, to upset, to hurt, to determined, to just downright angry. "What was the hell is the point of all of this if you aren't going to tell me your name?!"
Because you already know it. The creature's arms, which were as think at tree trunks, gestured towards the younger Yamada. You have always known it. You just could not bare to face it; until now.
The rumbling got louder, it began to sound like an avalanche was crumbling around them. "But I don't know it!" Hanatarō stressed.
But you do. Deep down. The creature bared its teeth in a grin. You might want to hurry, otherwise we will both die.
Hanatarō did his best to ignore the sound of the runaway train echoing in both his ears. Come on, focus, think. Hanatarō searched his mind, for something anything. Family, comfort, food; but then he realised he was searching within his comfort zone. Because if this creature's logic held true that he did not like his Zanpakutō because he did not like himself, then the creature's identity would be something that he is scared of…something he feared within.
And a name entered his mind. "Oh, no." Hanatarō paled.
Oh yes. The creature's grin grew wider.
"It can't be."
It very much can.
Hanatarō through his hands up in the air. "Oh come on!"
0o0o0o
"Captain, he's flat-lining!" Morotaka cried out.
Unohana delicately placed her hands over Yamada Hanatarō (but being careful not to actually touch him). "Try and inject reiatsu directly into his system. We got to keep him stable as long as possible."
"It's no use, he crashing!" One of the medics ran to get an adrenaline needle to keep the heard going.
"Don't!" a nurse ordered, "we can't breach the skin!"
"Yamada Hanatarō if you can hear me," Captain Unohana yelled over the unconscious boy, "if you are going to do something, do it now!"
0o0o0o
The very void itself began to crack and break around them. The rumbling turned into a roar and the ground itself shook with the force of a mighty earthquake.
Time's up Hanatarō! The creature screeched. If you want to live, say my name now!
Yamada Hanatarō wet his lips, his chest burning as if it was on fire. And then he spoke the name that would change him forever.
"Satsujin Dorobō!"
0o0o0o
It took me a while to figure out the name for Hanatarō's Zanpakutō, but I settled for Satsujin Dorobō (殺人泥棒). The direct translation is 'Murderous Thief' which is in turn is the translated variant of one of the many xenomorph names 'Internecivus raptus.' It somehow seemed fitting and I did not want to overcomplicate the name.
Hope you enjoyed it folks.
Review as always.