Chapter Text
Chaos followed the retreat of the Quincy army. Half of the Seretei were in shambles, many of the seated officers hospitalised and some of the captains were under intensive care, not to mention that the Sōtaichō was missing, presumably dead. In his absence, Kyōryaku Shunsui former captain of the 9th was named as the next leader of the Gotei 13, but he only accepted it as a substitute until they can find either Yamamoto alive or his body. The two strangers who fought on their side surrendered and submitted to an interrogation led by the captains, the substitute shinigami and his gang, and by the representatives of the 46th. One of the representatives, to everyone’s surprise, well everyone but Shunsui and Jūshirō, was the wife of Yamamoto. Who knew the jaded soldier once were a normal person, falling in love and marrying someone. Naturally, Madam Yamamoto was a force to reckon with in her own right.
“Let the questioning begin. First you tell what you think we will need to know, then everyone has a chance to ask questions. Is this acceptable?” Although it was a phrased as a question, everyone felt it was not one. One needs to be a fool to disagree with Yamamoto Arisu. (1)
“Where should I start, hm, I know, a history lesson. More than a thousand years ago (2), a bloody war was approaching its conclusion, it had been waged for nearly three hundred years. By that time, no one knew who is why initiated it. The Quincy had a fearsome king, who was not only strong but also cunning. He was a brilliant strategist with a vast spy network, therefor like our very own Urahara Kisuke he had plans ready for several scenarios. So much, so that there was a legend that he sees the future. He circulated rumours that he had been stabbed, poisoned or shoot many times, yet no one managed to kill him, so the other myth was born that he is a god. Make no mistake he is neither immortal nor a seer, which of course doesn’t mean that he is not a formidable opponent but far from being unbeatable.
After a clever plot, he was cornered and separated from his elite unite, the Steinritter, think of them as the equivalent of the Gotei taichōs. After several hours of relentless fight, he as vanquished, or so everyone thought. Only three people know what happened in reality, the Sōtaichō, his general and the then Kenpachi. However, there is a legend or song among the Quincy, called the Kaiser Gesang or Emperor Song. It tells the story of a sealed king, who would regain his pulse after 900 years; 90 years after, his intellect would return; and 9 years afterwards, finally he would regain his power. (3) The king had a horrible technique called the Auswählen, where he could take back the power from some he deemed unnecessary or mostly impure, and then he could redistribute said power or absorb it himself. 9 years ago on June 17, a rainy night, many Quincy died among them Kurosaki Masaki and Katagiri Kanae also known as Ishida Kanae.”
“Um, I am sorry to interrupt, but, who did die that night?” came the tentative question from Orihime
“Yare, yare. Kurosaki-kun’s and Ishida-kun’s mother” came the amused answer from the unknown male.
“Don’t you think that this is not your story to tell?” accused Urahara
Suddenly the air in the room became thick as the women let loose some of her reiatsu. “Hush now child, we are at war. The time for secrets and tiptoeing around egos is over. I have given ample opportunity to all of you to tell him who he is and what powers reside in him. I will not tolerate anyone being at half power because they don’t know or they wish to hide their true potential. The Gotei was established to be the shield wall for the three realms, but this wall is only as strong as its weakest member is. If you cannot give your, all leave now because we have no use of you.”
“So what am I know Quincy, Shinigami, human, visored?” Ichigo seemed to be angrier than confused.
“Ask your father or your so-called mentor. I have no time, nor the patience to trace your bloodline.” the women seemed to be at the end of her proverbial rope. Little did they know that she was not angry with Ichigo, he had every right to know, but with Isshin and Kisuke. Unsurprisingly, this reprimand was just too much to the hotheaded teen, so before his hollow would be unleashed among the others, he left the room. “I think you should follow him former taichō-sama. You turned a fifteen-year-old into a child soldier. He is your responsibility, not his father’s, not the visoreds’ and not Yorouchi’s, but yours alone.” The disapproval was evident in the woman’s voice and most probably hit home because the shopkeeper just vanished from the room.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Ichigo did not stop until he reached the underground training place. There were two places in Soul Society where he felt safe, the Kuchiki manor and here where he was surrounded by the reiatsu of his mentors. He was upset, but not for the reason everyone would think. He was no fool, he knew there was more to his father’s story, and he was the one who told him it's fine not tell him yet. However, he never could have imagined this was about his mother being a Quincy. Call him petty, but being seventeen was hard, not to mention that he had been already stabbed, killed, manipulated, lied to and abandoned numerous times. So excuse him, but he was allowed to be pissed off and throw a temper tantrum here and there. But looks like someone did not get the memo that ‘fuck off Ichigo wants me time’.
“Kurosaki-kun…”
“I’m fine Geta Boshi, this is not my first rodeo. You and Goat face are not the most forthcoming people; I know this so no surprise. The funniest thing that I’m not even angry that there is yet another part of my past that none of you told me. But because of the reason why you haven’t told me. Despite all the time, that I have taken it in a stride whatever was thrown at me, none of you trusts me. That I would understand, that I would forgive whatever you two think needs to be forgiven. Shit, old man, how many times do I have to prove it? When will I be enough? Don’t you dare to apologise! Just give me an answer.”
“Kurosaki-kun, it’s not about trust. I…”
“Fuck of Geta Boshi, how many times have I bled in your floor? How many times have you used me in one of your schemes? When will you stop putting this distance between us? Or this it? Am I nothing more than a pawn, a soldier?”
“Kurosaki-kun …” the blond tried to reach the teen and turn him around, but Ichigo’s reiatsu exploded from within throwing the shopkeeper several feats.
“Wrong answer, Hajun-sama. (4) You just broke King.” came the echoing voice of Ichigo’s inner hollow.
“Shiro (5), if I’m not mistaken.” Urahara’s whole demeanour changed, from relaxed an unassuming idiot to a predator on his own right.
“So that’s what he is calling me, fitting I guess, but oh so wrong.” To the blond’s surprise, he casually started to swing Ichigo’s sword around “If I were you I would unleash my zanpaktō. Although King likes you so I cannot kill you, I think it’s high time to pay some blood for what you have done to him.”
“Wait, Ichigo-kun broke his sword during bankai, how come you have one now.” Kisuke was genuinely confused. But the hollow wasn’t paying attention and attacked none the less.
“So now you can call him Ichigo, too late Hajun-sama. And correction King broke what he assumed was his zanpaktō when in reality it was nothing but a toy, a practice sword if you will. The one everyone has before the real deal.” That fact that Shiro managed to stab Urahara on his first try did not surprise the hollow but that it launched him into the shopkeeper’s inner world well that was an exciting outcome. He landed in a strange room mostly covered by red cloths and in the middle among many pillows reclined Urahara’s sword sprit. Seemingly, without care, the female spirit was fanning herself, but the hollow knew better, that one wrong step and he would be sorry, this lady defied all logic. “Aww what an honour, the Crimson Demon herself.”
“You have some nerve to call me a demon, and to be fair, it’s Princess.” Corrected the unruly hollow sharply “You seem to be angry with my wielder. Why?”
“Haha, he broke mine. I take offence with that.”
“Well, then yours not only ignorant but weak as well.”
“Oi Hime-chan, careful you might be a predator, but I’m pure instinct. And tell me why is King ignorant?”
“Let me tell you a short tale ….”
“What’s up with everyone today. Did I transmigrate (6) into a matinee dimension?” Faster than he could detect a shallow cut appeared on his cheek; by the time he registered that the other spirit moved she was reclining in the same position as if she never moved. (7)
“As I was saying, let us go back to the winter war when your owner lost his power. My wilder drove himself into a frenzy to restore the power of yours. Needless to say, no one saw him for weeks. He shooed everyone away all the time, took only the food that was necessary and barely slept. At one point, he started hallucinating from the lack of sleep and food. That’s when the Catwoman interfered, we nearly killed her. Not a big loss if you ask me, but he likes her; alas, he relented and took better care of himself. Finally, he realised the answer that was in front of his eyes all along. You just needed to be jolted awake, or they could wait until you come back to your own. So there came the relentless fight with the boy’s father, Kisuke wanted to give yours a choice, Isshin was against the whole thing, wanted him to quote ‘have normal teenage years’. Kisuke started the preparations anyway, he knew yours wouldn’t sit on his ass and wait to be rescued so before he could do anything stupid like fall for Ginjō’s scheme Kisuke wanted to be ready. Then he realised that despite how strong we are, we are no match for the reiatsu that needs to be kick-started. Hence the dilemma of how to collect enough.
Do you know what he did? He went to the old bigot and begged him for help On. His. Knees. He got down on his knees in front of the people, who ridiculed, banished and used him when it was convenient. So, don’t you dare to accuse my wilder that he abandoned, betrayed yours or that he doesn’t care. Granted, he is as graceful as a bull in the china shop when it comes to human interactions, but he cares more than any of you can fathom. Now be gone, before I do something which would make Kisuke seal me away for half a century, again.”
And Shiro found himself back in King’s body still holding the sword embedded in the former captain. He pulled the blade out with as much care as it was possible. “Very well, Hajun-sama, you are off the hook this time. King is a bit twitchy that I blooded his princess, the fool as if this could kill ya. But one more thing Hajun-sama, my name is Zangetsu, use it next time.”
Urahara’s head was spinning. First, the hollow stabbed him, then he froze and kind of disappeared, and when he was back, he was completely different. What the hell happened here? And he is one to talk when he never called him anything else but Hajun-sama in a very, very mocking tone. That his name was Zangetsu well that didn’t really shock Kisuke he kind of suspected such. The kid was never good at soul searching.
“Oh my god, Geta Boshi. I’m so sorry. I tried to come back when I realised what he was planning.”
“What? Oh this, this is nothing Ku…. Ichigo-kun.” he dismissed the teen’s concern, absentmindedly wiping the wound with his hand enveloped in a healing kidō “Do you know what happened?”
“Why did he attack you, or why did he change his mind?”
“Both. Any”
“I guess I was more hurt by you, deep down, than I realised. As for why the change of heart, heck if I know, but he is not the most forthcoming thing.”
“Ichigo-kun I don’t want to cause trouble between you and your father, so I will not go into detail. I referred to his wishes so far because he was your father. Some would kill to have that in their life, good or bad. But true, you have earned the right to make your own decisions. And I do trust you. So much so that I have a proposition for you. In a time of war, it is not unheard off for two people, who trust each other to protect their back, to form a bond, it is called Ryōba no ken (8). It forms a bond between the sword spirits, so one can sense where the other is and whether they are safe or in danger. It allows tapping into each other’s reiatsu, to read it and to draw from it. Hence, it is an extremely close tie. For instance, the only known bonded pair this time is Kyōryaku taichō and Ukitake taichō. Don’t give me your answer now, think about, I know it’s not how you act usually. However, I did not make this offer lightly, so I ask you to treat it the same.”
“Keh, I will, but I doubt it would be any different then what it is now. But fine I will give some more thought.”
“Thanks for humouring this old man.”
“Stop that Geta Boshi. You are not that old.”
“But Kurosaki-kun, you called me an old man not five minutes ago, am I old now or not?” whined the other from behind his fan.
Ichigo did not dignify it with an answer. Instead, he returned to the meeting, with a small grin on his face. Kisuke gave him a little bit of headway if he can keep up with the Shunpo princess then he can keep up with the teen.
“Just what did you tell him, Hime-sama?” he wondered, not as if he was expecting an answer from his moody sword spirit. She did not appreciate that he let the other wound him. But he felt, if Ichigo wanted to hurt someone, then he was the one who deserved it the most.
“That’s for me to know Mushukumon (9), and for you to wonder” came the unsurprising answer.
“Yare, yare (10) someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”
“Yet, I still have a better bedside manner then you!”
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
“Ain’t you a ray of sunshine today” chuckled the male after his partner successfully drove out not only the substitute shinigami but the former 12th captain as well.
“Aren’t. Careful there little fox, one might think you are not from the neighbourhood. But anyway, this it, I would like to wait with the plan until those two come back. So any questions so far?”
“I have a few.” Indicated Ukitake “First of all who are you? Why the secrecy? And why do you know so much?”
“Let me change it up a bit. I witnessed the first war, but I was awfully young. But it was something that always fascinated me, was there any chance to prevent it from happening, could we have won it faster with less bloodshed, and so on so forth. So I talked to anyone I could find who was willing to talk. If we had time, I’m sure we could find most of what I have told you in the Kuchiki archive, but we have very little time.”
“Why? Do you think they will attack again?”
“They will because there is one more line to that prophecy which was forgotten in 9 days he will regain the world. (11) He will come.”
“Ah Ishida-kun, I’m so glad you could make it.”
“Well, you threatened to tattle on me to the Steinritter if I didn’t come. So I had no choice.”
“Quite frankly for a self-proclaimed genius, your plan sucked boy, they knew about your Mom. Keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer and all that. Besides, your little cohort is at its strongest when you are all together. Fighting alone was never your style, despite what nonsense you would frequently spout. I just made sure your teenage hormones don’t cloud your judgement” came the blunt answer. “Where was I … oh yes. So this is how I know things, as for who we are, I’m afraid I can’t tell you that. You see as I had told Yhwach has an extensive spy and information network, which remained intact even when he was not around. Because of circumstances, that are not relevant at the moment, I was unable to continue my work as part of the Gotei 300 years ago, but a contingency plan was put into place by the then 46 council. My name, rank, personal history, any description of my appearance had been sealed away for as long as needed. Down the line I met with Little Foxhere, who was seriously injured and everyone thought him to be dead, I whisked him to safety, nurtured him be back to health, and he has been training with me ever since. We used a modified version of the same seal. However, his records are not sealed, since he was declared dead we just had to make sure no one can recognise him.”
“And as the last days of preparations draw near, we managed to sneak in a false order to the Wandenreich, namely that every document of the deceased or missing person to be destroyed for better management of the available information. We are somewhat sure that they no longer have information about us, but it is important that we remain anonymous. We are the wild card, Yhwach cannot factor us; hence, why we never made it into the war potential list” clarified the male.
“Aw Little Fox, you are sore. Never you mind, by the end of it, everyone will know how badass you are. Anyways some of you may feel that you have seen us somewhere that you have even talked to us, but it is imperative that you do not chase that feeling and try to figure out who we are we cannot risk exposure. So, for the time being, you can call Little FoxHameshi and me Ruri” although none of them could see, they could all hear the amusement in Ruri’s voice, while Hameshi quite literally facepalmed
“I can’t believe you went there.”
“Well, you could go with Aoi (12) if you want to.”
“Always knew you wanted to put a stamp on me.”
“Been there done that, remember?”
“I’m done dealing with you for today, and I would prefer Aoi if I must.” Huffed Aoi vexed by his partner’s antics
“You have the Ryōba no ken bond, right?” asked Kyōryaku
“Yes, the worst decision of my life.” “Yepp” came the simultaneous answer. “Oh come now Little Fox, you love me. Oh look, they are all here. Everything is peachy in paradise?”
Ichigo just grunted while Urahara fanned himself without any word, but anyone could sense the calmness and contentment radiating from the younger one. “Ishida, what the heck are you doing here?”
“Your friend had the insane plan well more insane than what you usually cook up, to infiltrate the enemy line. We gently reminded him how foolish said plan was. Phase two was to get everyone here: the people from the Transient world (13), the visoreds, the Catwoman, the Shinigami, the Shibas…”
“One is still missing” interjected Aoi
“Sorry about being late, I drooped off the twins at the shōten I hope you don’t mind Urahara-san. But Yuzu and Karin were adamant that they wanted to see your kids” burst Isshin in.
“Well there goes the missing Shiba, all counted for.”
“Taichō?! Where have you been? What? I don’t understand.”
“Love the hair, Ran-chan, long time no see.”
“Taichō? Shiba? What the… DAD. You. Me. Talk.”
“Oh hi, there son.”
“Shiba Isshin, former 10th taichō, is Kurosaki Ichigo, your son?” came the question, which sounded suspiciously like a death threat, from Arisu.
“Why, yes, Ma’am!” rubbed his neck, Isshin somewhat awkward.
“As much as I am team ‘Isshin onto the naughty list’, we have things to do.” tried to gain back everyone’s attention Ruri, but it was a lost cause, half of the room erupted into chaos.
“So you come with this very convenient story and expect us to blindly trust you” inquired Ukitake. While the other half of the room tried to decide whether to skin Isshin alive, castrate him or just simply hang him.
“Well if you put it that way, I guess we are suspicious, but I cannot give you more than what I have already told you.”
“I guess, you wouldn’t subject yourself to protective custody until we could confirm at least part of your story,” said Kyōryaku
“No, we cannot. Still, have a lot of things to accomplish and already very limited time to do so” answered Aoi as honestly as he could.
“Then I’m afraid we are at an impasse” spread his arms the new Sōtaichō.
Ruri contemplated her next move for a second, a decision made she put her hand on her zanpaktō and rushed at the former 9th captain. Who not expecting to be outright attacked was a little late at drawing his sword and could only unsheathe his short sword. However, Ruri did not pull her own, and instead grabbed Shunsui’s hands that were holding the wakizashi, and forced it upwards, so instead of pointing towards her abdomen, it rested against her heart. “If you truly cannot find it in your heart to trust me, then kill me now. I cannot help you if you don’t trust me, and I would rather be dead then see what comes after” was Ruri’s response. By now, the whole room was silent, and everyone eyes were on the pair.
“That’s quite enough, young lady; you have caused enough drama as it is. And you Shunsui stop harassing the girl” snapped Arisu. “We have very little choice here, we need allies, and we need help. They are offering both, that is enough for now.”
Soon after, the informal meeting broke up, and Ruri and Aoi choose to help with the wounded. After several exhausting hours, they were finally alone resting on the rooftop of the fourth’s hospital building.
“Well that was eventful” stretched his sore muscles Aoi.
“Yes, way more chaotic then I expected”
“Oh, come on. You loved every minute of it. Drama Queen”
“And imagine I haven’t even got to the juicy part. That one of the Kenpachis needs to die for the other to evolve. We need all the Arrancar who are in fighting condition, now that they kicked the Quincy out of Hueco Mundo. I need to train the human girl for her healing ability to be top-notch. And sadly we need Sōsuke” Ruri counted out the things on her fingers.
“Aizen and the Arrancars are going to be a bitter pill.”
“Yes, but it must be swallowed none the less. Can you take care of the Hisagi and Ayasegawa?”
“Of course, we have been over this like a gazillion times” came the vexed answer from Aoi. “You seem to be happy.”
“Maybe it is wrong, but I’m happy. I have you, I’m back in Seretei, so far everything goes according to the plan… and we kicked ass today.” Ruri’s smile got bigger when he heard his partner’s laugh; it was a rare treat to hear.
“That we did, that we did. Well, let’s turn in for the night.”
“I can’t wait to see what they did to Shiba, have you seen the look on Kukkau’s and Yoruichi’s face? Isshin and Kisuke are going to be on their shit list for the foreseeable future.”
“Case in point, Drama Queen.”
“Never denied it.”
Endnotes
(1) Arisu (亜利寿) according to the internet means ‘noble’ while I speak Japanese, names are bit more complicated 亜-means next rank, 利-means advantage or benefit and 寿 can mean either congratulations/best wishes or longevity. So ‘noble’ in the sense of royalty seems feasible. Kubo gave talking names, so I was trying to stick with this, while still sounding okay with Yamamoto.
(2) So Kubo wasn’t the best with timelines, if you try to add up, it is often contradictory. While the first war supposed to happen a thousand years ago, the prophecy also takes nearly thousand years, so either the seal was broken as soon as Yhwach was sealed or within one year. Next chapter I will clarify my timeline, but that needs a bit more work.
(3) I mix-matched some of the translations I found so this time it’s a bit different from Bleach Wiki. Anyways you can see this part in Chapter 537
(4) This took me a while, I wanted a phrase that would indicate the hollow is aware of how dangerous Kisuke and Benehime are. Later on, he calls Benihime the Crimson demon. So Hajun (波旬) is the Demon King of the sixth heaven in the world of desire in Buddhist mythology. Which is funny because of Benhime’s bankai name contains Kannon (観音菩薩) which is the Japanese version of Guanyin or Avalokiteśvara who is associated with compassion in the Mahayana school. Interesting trivia that initially he was male, but somehow turned into a female in China, and this is how she was imported into Korea and Japan. Therefore, in India, the sculptures are rather masculine. And of course, Zangetsu calling him sama is half-mocking, half respectful despite what Kiuske believes.
(5) I don’t think he has a cannon name, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. So I went with the simple Shiro (白) meaning white. Very original, I know.
(6) It means to die or fall asleep and weak up in a different body, usually in a different time/dimension. A popular theme in Chinese Xianxia novels.
(7) It is called hōzuri (頬摺) according to Bleach Official Character Book 3 UNMASKED, page 157 (yeah this part is from Bleach wiki, sadly I don’t have this book) and one of Urahara's existing techniques. It was pure coincidence, by the way.
(8) Ryōba no ken (両刃の剣) which means double-edged sword, in an earlier version it was Yaiba no Futago (刃の双子) which translate into twin sword or the twin of the sword. Basically, I wanted to find something for a Sword brother, which is unisex. I don’t know yet which one I will use.
(9) Mushukumon (無宿者) means homeless wanderer
(10) I realised I had used it before but didn’t want to renumber everything, so here it comes. Usually, I saw this translated as My, my or Dear me. But can be translated a number of ways expressing an exclamation. It is generally written in hiragana alone (やれやれ) ‘oh!; ah!; oh dear!; good grief!; dear me!; thank God!’ are what my dictionary says.
(11) So this part comes from Chapter 546, and it is Yhwach who tells this, so most probably he is the only one who knows about it. But that’s the beauty of fanfiction I can change things.
(12) So quite obviously ‘Ruri’ does a wordplay here Ruri (瑠璃) means lapis lazuli thus indicates a shade of blue, while ‘Aoi’ (蒼) simply means blue hence why Little Foxaccuses her to wanting to put basically her name on him. ‘Himeshi’ is not a full name, but what it refers to I won’t tell you this time. Feel free to guess, though.
(13) Although usually it is translated as Human World, World of the Living, Material World, or the Real World. The original Japanese word gensei (現世) means the present world, present age or the transient world, which I think sounds way cooler.