Meeting Kurosaki Ichigo was a little like meeting a legendary figure.
History books celebrated him as the hero of Soul Society – the one who uncovered Aizen's treachery, and one of those who helped defend Soul Society when the Quincy invaded. This stood in stark contrast with his history, as he had started as a substitute shinigami while he was still alive, back when regulations did not allow shinigami to share their power with humans. Then he invaded Soul Society with the intention of stopping an execution, and the rest was history.
Kurosaki was the entire reason Soul Society has changed for the better, and he was rewarded with a place for his family as one of the Five Great Noble Houses.
In the Living World, it was difficult to meet figures as legendary as he was. Aigis sometimes found herself reminiscing and recounting stories of long passed Persona users to the newer members of the Shadow Operatives, who wanted to hear the tales and exploits of the famous figures that they looked up to. Rise was a popular target, as her legacy in the entertainment industry endured even a century after her death.
But here in Soul Society, with the long lifespan of souls, it was entirely possible to meet the living figures of those who influenced history an age before. The real question, however, was if they lived up to their legendary stories. And the fact that Seireitei seemed like the type of place who would cover up their tracks for their own convenience – as the fact that they were only allowed to learn what was taught at the Academy, along with students only being allowed to borrow a single book on the history of Soul Society in the library – just made it more likely that they would alter it to their own convenience.
So she watched Kurosaki with just a little more interest than usual.
"I know that you deal with spiritual problems arising from the Living World," Makoto began as he led the group into the barracks, "but what exactly do you do here?"
"We're basically the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here." Kurosaki replied casually. "Any issues related to Hollows or shinigami that crop up in places other than Soul Society, we deal with it. We also handle correspondence with other branches of Soul Society since they're often written in languages other than Japanese, so you need to learn a foreign language if you join, but you can pick which one you want to learn. English is a popular choice."
Aigis stole a surreptitious glance at the rest of the group. From their vacant stares, it seemed like only she and Makoto managed to follow that explanation.
"Other branches of Soul Society?" Someone mumbled.
"We're not the only ones here." Kurosaki explained. "The United Kingdom has their own branch, for example."
Aigis realised she was learning more about the world outside of Soul Society in those few minutes than she ever did at the Academy.
"Um…what is your relationship with the lieutenant of the Fifth Division?" Another student asked.
"Kazui?" Kurosaki repeated. "Yeah, he's my son. Kinda inevitable that he'd become a shinigami considering my family history and all, but I do still worry as a father. He's stuck his nose into things that he wasn't supposed to too many times to count."
Several shy chuckles ensued.
The outside appearance of the Seventh Division really was not all that special – the same whitewashed walls supported by wooden beams as the other divisions, along with a hastily manicured garden, a hot spring, and an underground training area that Kurosaki promised was "extra reinforced against everything so you can go as wild as you want". When asked for clarification, he simply said that it could withstand an assault coming from him, and it was left at that.
Still, there was a constant stream of shinigami going to and from various facilities within the barracks, unlike the other divisions where they mostly kept to their desks. They all greeted Kurosaki with a cheerful word, and he responded in kind.
"Well, I think you've all seen the same things by now in the other divisions," he said partway through the tour. They stood in front of a large wooden door that muffled the sounds inside, with the walkway facing the garden. "But here is where the real work gets done."
He opened the door.
"Hey, where's that report?"
"I'm in the middle of sending it!"
"Is this a typo or the actual info?"
"Uh…honestly both?"
"Why is this thing lagging?"
"Be grateful! At least we don't have to write all this out by hand!"
A chorus of gasps escaped from the group, while Aigis was transfixed on the sight before her.
Cubicles divided individual desks from each other, all equipped with a computer, a keyboard, a tablet and a multitude of stationery from paper to pen to brush. The electronic equipment was somewhat dated from her perspective, but considering that no other division was even using electronic equipment from what she could tell, the Seventh seemed to be about five hundred years ahead of their peers in terms of technology. In the back of her mind, Aigis idly wondered how electricity was supplied in a society that barely used them in the first place.
"I don't really care about how Seireitei prefers to get their reports and stuff done," Kurosaki said, a satisfied smile on his face, "but writing all the reports by hand was a pain in the ass. So for us, we record everything digitally – or at least, as much as we can digitally. Saves a lot of storage space for us 'cause we don't have to file everything physically, so I was able to expand some of the other facilities we have. Don't worry, we'll teach you how to use these if you join the division."
Forget the advantages of frequent Living World trips, this was the real advantage of joining the division. Brushes and ink have long overstayed their welcome in Aigis' opinion, and as odd as it was, she longed for the familiarity of a keyboard.
"If your division is the only one handling contact with other areas of the world, I imagine that this division must be quite busy usually." Aigis commented once Kurosaki closed the door.
"We are," he confirmed as they moved on. "But then about half of it is for the Captain-Commander anyway so I just forward it straight to him, unless it needs a translation first. It's not as bad as it looks, trust me."
She took the chance to gauge the reactions of the students. A few were still fixated on the door, though others seemed rather lost after the conversation. Makoto looked contemplative as she narrowed her eyes at the door, while Izukino was just as uninterested as the beginning of the tour for the Seventh.
"Is there anything you're looking for when recruiting people for your division, Kurosaki-kun?" Hinamori asked, probably for the benefit of everyone else who was too intimidated. Several people's eyes widened at the casual address, though Kurosaki himself did not seem to mind.
He scratched the base of his neck. "Not really," he began, "but I appreciate people who are willing to accept new ideas and are flexible in their methods. Because we often deal with the Living World, you're going to see a lot of new things that you've never seen before, and your understanding of the world will be challenged. People who can adapt to change are those who thrive in my division."
The rest of the tour continued, and Aigis found herself noticing all the minor, but very much advanced additions to the division facilities. The cafeteria served food from all over the world, a few of the smaller offices had whiteboards scrawled with notes, and many people carried thin tablets while they moved between buildings. In theory, they should not fit into the Edo-period Japanese aesthetic at all, but somehow Kurosaki made it work.
In fact, the whiteboards looked rather similar to the ones available in select rooms at the Academy. Did he bring them to Soul Society?
"Um…" Makoto suddenly spoke up at the end of their tour. "Is your lieutenant unavailable, if you are leading the tour?"
Aigis blinked. She had been so fixated on Kurosaki himself that she failed to consider that these tours should have been led by lieutenants (excluding the Third, who had a reasonable excuse for their missing lieutenant).
"Oh nah, he's here." Kurosaki waved a hand. "He's shy though, and mute, so I do the tours instead. On the other hand, he's an excellent worker. His quirks can be easily worked around, and he keeps our division on schedule with paperwork, so the least I can do is take over the tasks that he can't do instead."
It was difficult to tell from his perpetual half-scowl, but it seemed that Kurosaki was an unexpectedly kind captain.
"Thanks for the tour, Kurosaki-kun!" Hinamori waved one last time to the captain as he sent them off.
"Tell Lisa she still needs to reimburse me for that manga I bought for her!" Kurosaki yelled after the group.
"Will do!"
Aigis almost wanted to ask who Lisa was, but Hinamori immediately moved onto her introduction for the Eighth Division, and she lost her chance.
"I'd say the Eighth can be rather…two-faced." Hinamori said as they neared the Eighth Division barracks. "The captain is pretty strict with her duties and all, but her lieutenant is super laid back. Despite that, they still get things done. So I guess you just need to know how to work hard and play hard!"
It sounded like a cheesy corporate tagline that was a few centuries out of style. Aigis wondered where Hinamori learned that phrase.
The lieutenant was similarly out of style. Yayahara Yuyu had her hair styled into a long side ponytail, with it clearly bleached blonde and dyed with pink tips. Her shihakusho had to be the most modified uniform Aigis had seen so far – a two piece set where her abdomen was exposed and the black haori sleeves cut short, with the white layer cut into long sleeves. Her hakama was essentially a short skirt, and instead she covered her legs with a pair of long black leggings and white leg warmers. She was also the second person that Aigis met who had darker than usual skin tone. About the only part of her uniform that was standard was her tabi.
In other words, she looked like a gyaru.
"Isn't that style a couple decades out of fashion?" Makoto whispered to Aigis, and she returned the question with a nod. The last time she saw a resurgence of that trend was almost a century ago.
"Hi everyone! Welcome to the Eighth Division!" Yayahara was even more energetic than Shihouin and the younger Kurosaki as she gestured with her entire body. "Come on in, there's lots to see here!"
Unlike the other barracks who built their buildings all on level ground, the Eighth had built their facilities on uneven ground, resulting in some buildings needing a staircase to reach the entrance. It made for a mild workout, though Yayahara was barely fazed as she hopped from stair to stair as if it was flat ground.
"Oh, here's our meeting hall!" Yayahara gestured to a somewhat decorated building while she twirled around on her tiptoes. "It also has a dining— oof!"
She landed face first into the chest of an older shinigami. There was a quiet wince from the students, though she seemed unfazed as she extracted herself a moment later. "Hi Captain!"
The newcomer was an older female shinigami who wore a white haori, a pair of red glasses, and her long black hair was braided into a long ponytail that hung off her back. Similar to her lieutenant, her shihakusho was modified to bare her abdomen and her hakama shortened to a skirt, but that was the extent of the modifications, unlike the more extreme changes that Yayahara had made to her uniform.
Perhaps the captain was her inspiration?
"Yuyu," the captain said sternly, "I thought I told you to watch your surroundings here."
"Sorry Captain!" Yayahara clasped her hands together. "I didn't see you 'til just now."
The captain sighed, a long suffering one that plainly showed this was not the first time it happened. "We will talk about this later," she finished. Then she turned to the students. "Nice to meet you all here. I'm Yadomaru Lisa, captain of the Eighth."
So this woman was Lisa?
"Kurosaki-kun asked me to remind you about reimbursing the manga he got for you." Hinamori said, in lieu of a greeting.
"Huh?" Yadomaru snarled and bared her teeth. "That was compensation for when he borrowed that set of manga from me and then didn't return it!"
Hinamori blinked. "Maybe you can clarify that with him yourself?" she suggested. "I'm sure you two can settle on the issue together."
Yadomaru's face twisted at that suggestion, but smoothed out a moment later. "Well, I'm busy," she dismissed. "It's a shame that I can't stay longer, but I hope you enjoy the tour everyone." She strode off, her face almost comically stormy.
Yayahara gave a chuckle once Yadomaru was out of earshot. "She says that, but in fact she's good friends with Captain Kurosaki. She doesn't just lend her manga to anyone who asks, after all."
The tour continued, though Aigis could not help but notice the strangely large number of rooms furnished like lounges – comfortable cushions and low tables, clean tatami mats, and simple decoration for leisure.
"Our previous captain – that is, the current Captain-Commander, loved his drinking parties." Yayahara explained when asked. "And he liked to drink whenever he could, too. So he had all these rooms built for drinking in them if he didn't feel like being on the rooftop. Captain Yadomaru refurbished most of them to storage rooms or tea rooms after she took over."
Probably for the best, Aigis thought to herself. Though the fact that he became Captain-Commander meant that he was probably a genius of some sort that was worth the trouble of him being an alcoholic.
The rest of the tour went by uneventfully, apart from Aigis noticing the immaculate gardens off to the side of the path they were walking on towards the end of the tour. In fact, the entire division seemed to be rather clean and organised, despite the eccentricities of its leaders.
"This is the last stop for the day!" Hinamori cheerfully announced. "The Ninth Division is traditionally considered the security division, so they are always on standby. However, they're also in charge of the Seireitei News Magazine, so they regularly produce articles on current happenings."
Aigis still remembered the mild shock she had when Akechi described the Ninth for her, before she became a shinigami. Partially because she did not think a news organisation existed at all in Seireitei, and partially because a military branch was managing it. Her sensibilities dictated that journalism should belong to the citizens, but then again, perhaps if the journalists were armed and ready to face threats in their way they were, bizarrely, better suited for the role than the unprotected civilian journalists that populated the Living World. She cut the thought off before it strayed too far.
Like the Seventh Division, Aigis met a captain instead of the lieutenant she was expecting at the entrance to the Ninth Division barracks. Appearance wise, he was of average height, with unremarkable black spiky hair. What was remarkable, however, were the multitude of tattoos running across his face, all black lines, with a "69" printed on the side of his cheek. Both his shihakusho and haori sleeves were ripped off – the jagged edges looked frayed. Coupled with the spiked collar he wore around his neck, it gave Aigis the impression that he was a rather classic punk.
"Welcome to the Ninth Division, everyone." He greeted the group warmly, though his eyes did not settle on anyone in particular. "I'm Hisagi Shuhei, captain of the Ninth, and I will be leading your tour for today. My lieutenant wanted to do this, but unfortunately he's been waylaid by an injury, and is currently recovering at the Fourth."
Well, that explained why he was here instead of the lieutenant everyone seemed to be expecting.
As expected for the captain of a division that handles journalism, he engaged the students with small anecdotes of the various facilities around the division rather than use straightforward language to describe the surroundings. The sliding doors looked newer than the rest of the building because Hisagi had once sliced through several of them when he lost control of his zanpakutou while training. Their garden was haphazard, because nobody in the division could agree on how it should look like, so there was a little piece of every shinigami who had ever been an officer in the Ninth. There were a few struggling computers in the office because Hisagi had wanted to try the technology out for their publications after Kurosaki introduced them to his own division, but the technology never quite picked up when shinigami were averse to changes in tradition. On and on, the anecdotes built up, until Aigis could almost visualise the rich history of the division and of Seireitei.
As expected of the editor-in-chief of the Seireitei News Magazine, Hisagi was a master storyteller.
"Where do you get your article materials from?" Izukino asked.
"Generally from the division reports." Hisagi replied. "Because we're also the police and security force of Seireitei, all division reports from other divisions are handed to us before we hand it to the Captain-Commander. Some of them have…ah, interesting details in them, so we use that as inspiration for our articles. With permission, of course." The last sentence was hastily tacked on, maybe to assuage any concerns about sensitive information. "And sometimes officers contribute their own columns or articles. Rukia-san once ran a rather popular series detailing Kurosaki's life as a shinigami in the Living World since they were often paired up for missions, and Captain Hitsugaya has a column dedicated to ice sculptures."
Aigis blinked. There was…quite a bit more variety than she expected from the magazine, if the two examples that Hisagi gave were any indication on the breadth of possible subjects.
"Most of us here, we're pretty artistic people to some extent." He continued the tour, his steps echoing off the wooden floor. "I like to encourage writers to have their own flair in the articles they write, as long as it's not inappropriate. It keeps the articles interesting enough that readers will come back for more."
"Who are your audience?" Makoto asked.
Hisagi tilted his head. "Mostly the shinigami in Seireitei," he answered after a longer pause than expected. "It's meant to have a wide appeal, considering the range of articles we have in there. Nobles might turn their nose up at what we do because they think it's below them, but I've heard that it's actually pretty popular with them as well, as long as they did not parade their preference for it." At that, he let out a soft chuckle, which Hinamori mirrored.
The students were left baffled, but they did not seem inclined to explain the joke.
"What about the Rukongai citizens?" Makoto followed up after an awkward pause, as if it was not there at all.
Hisagi shook his head. "Only the first few districts," he said, though he looked contemplative. "Not that I didn't want to, you know, but I hope you understand that transport logistics prevents us from distributing them wider, and we would have to drastically change its contents if we were to target Rukongai citizens."
Aigis eyed Makoto from the corner of her eye. She backed off her questioning at Hisagi's answer, but the glint in her eyes seemed…contemplative.
She filed that information away in the back of her mind for later.
The tour continued to the training areas and living quarters. The dormitories looked the same as all the other divisions structurally, but the subtle splashes of paint along the walls made it stand out from the other whitewashed walls just enough to be an uncomfortable part of the environment. Shinigami were hard at work hacking away at training dummies in the arena, the dull thwack of bokken echoing across the courtyard. They reacted to the tour group with a short grunt that may have been a greeting, which Hisagi returned with a clearer greeting of his own. As far as Aigis could tell, the cafeteria was similarly plain, serving the standard fare she spotted in almost all other divisions.
The tour ended with nothing remarkable happening, and the group trooped back to the Academy.
"One of the nobles who's been mentoring me said he was acquainted with the head of the Kuchiki family." Makoto said in the evening.
She and Aigis had decided to cram into Aigis's room to do their homework – they had two days' worth of reports and lessons to catch up on due to the tours forcing them to miss regular classes. It was not as much of an issue for the sixth years like Izukino who had largely finished all of their lessons and were now revising for the graduation exams, but for the two of them who were cramming six years of material into less, each class was precious. Consequently, every study room was booked, and thus they were forced into the tiny dormitory rooms to do their work in peace.
Aigis looked up from her space on the floor. She had given up her desk to let Makoto write there instead, while she scattered her own materials on the floor. "Are you thinking of joining the Sixth?" she asked, immediately picking up on what Makoto did not say.
Makoto's hand hovered over her homework, an essay on the alternative uses of kido. "Maybe," she mused, her brush absentmindedly writing out the answer. "What Lieutenant Kano said about his captain…it hits close to home, though my mentor never really said anything about that to me."
Becoming a Phantom Thief changed her whole worldview. Being a police commissioner changed it even further. Where once her world was clearly defined in black and white, now her world was a tapestry of shades. Bending the rules just a little to affirm her own sense of justice – she had done that plenty of times if she sensed that the offender had a good reason, or was genuinely regretful. No set of laws were perfect – they were at best a guideline on how the people should act for the sake of a peaceful society, and it seemed that Captain Kuchiki understood that.
Makoto could work around the stuffiness.
"It's an appealing choice at the very least," she said finally. "But I'm also considering the Ninth."
Aigis blinked. "You want to work as an editor?"
"No!" The denial slipped out more forcefully than she intended it to, and she quickly cleared her throat. "Sorry. But while I am interested in the journalism that they do, it's actually the police part that appealed to me."
"Are you sure about that?" Aigis's facial expression did not change, but Makoto detected the hint of playful stiffness in her voice, whenever she wanted to play up her robotic aspect back when they were still alive. "I believe you were more interested in the magazine offerings than their patrols during the tour."
Makoto could practically feel her face heat up at the tease. "W-well…" she stuttered, "I was thinking of sending some to the village we went to for that mission with Shihouin-san…"
With the struggles of winter, the artisans sent to the village had shifted their focus from teaching the villagers marketable skills to just helping them survive the harsh cold of outer Rukongai. The latest report was a month ago, where all it said was that they were in the process of stocking firewood and scavenging for possible insulation materials. But the class divide was still there, despite efforts on both sides to meet in the middle. However, if there was a magazine with a wide appeal that could bridge the gap between the two…
"Without knowing its exact contents, I am not sure if I can recommend doing that." Aigis pointed out, her focus shifting back to her homework. "There is still a large cultural divide between the inner Rukongai districts and the outer Rukongai districts. What appeals to most people here may not necessarily appeal to those living outside of it. Plus, I am not sure if all residents there know how to read."
And there was the reason why Makoto was hesitant.
"I know," she sighed. "But I think it's worth a try. Worst case scenario, the villagers don't like it, and the craftsmen can keep the books or they can use the paper for kindling."
It was difficult to tell in the dim light of the cramped room, but Makoto thought she saw a ghost of a smile on Aigis's face. "Knowing you though, I am sure you can work something out." Aigis encouraged.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Makoto replied, her tone slightly dry but still full of gratitude. "Did any of the divisions interest you today?"
Aigis's gaze glided over a report in her hands, her eyes unfocused. "I like the Seventh," she replied after a pause. "But I cannot tell if it is because I am genuinely interested in the work that he does, or if I know that my skill set would be perfect for the work."
Her skills would indeed help her out if she went to the Seventh. Aigis was fluent in multiple languages on top of Japanese, plus she was excellent with a computer. Probably because she was one.
"What do you want to do?" Makoto asked.
Aigis put down her report on her lap. Though she was technically still looking at it, her gaze was far. "I promised my guardian I would improve the shinigami government from the inside," she finally said. "Even Akechi-san hinted that it was a possible path that I could take. But more than anything…I was holding onto the hope that I would see people I recognise again."
Makoto's breath hitched.
Aigis lived for over three hundred years.
How many endings did she witness? How many deaths? How many letters of consolations and obituaries did she have to write?
How long did Aigis reside in her memories as she found herself remembering her friends longer than she knew them?
Makoto got off the chair and sat with Aigis, their bodies facing the same way. There was not quite enough room on the floor for both of them to sit comfortably, but nevertheless she raised an arm around Aigis's back and rested it lightly, tentatively, on her shoulder. She only put more weight onto it when Aigis leaned into the warmth.
"I miss everyone so much, Makoto-san." Aigis whispered.
Makoto pretended to ignore the quiet drops of tears that fell on her uniform. She was awful at platitudes – her attempts at it came across as blunt, and she soon learned to leave that particular task to others.
But here, it was just the two of them.
"I'm here, Aigis-san." Makoto shuffled closer to Aigis. Her body had a warm and softness to it that was not present back when she was still a robot. "And you made your way here. We will find more Operatives, I'm sure."
In any other scenario, Makoto may have refrained from giving others false hope. But against all odds, despite the millions and possibly billions of souls residing in Soul Society, they still managed to find each other again.
It did not seem so hopeless after all.
A/N: I'm back from my trip! I know I promised a late September release but visiting family and friends got rather busy so I was wiped for the most part of the latter half of the trip (but I did eat my fill of delicacies I can't find where I live!) I'm taking it easy for a day, then will probably get to work unpacking and cleaning up before I start other matters.
It was an intentional choice to leave the last chapter on a cliffhanger, but it was not intentional to have a 2 month gap between uploads. That was how it just worked out XD but hopefully I'll go back to regular monthly uploads now. The last part of this chapter was not originally planned to turn out this way either, but the characters decided to speak for themselves and now I have this little emotional moment that I should probably do something with in the future. My beta ran into some family issues, so I'm trying to lighten their load by giving them some space, so next chapter may still be delayed, but I already have the alpha draft ready and it should be fine for me to do the checking myself.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and see you all next chapter!