Chapter Text
They were following a trail of the road gone astray.
Lost was their destination, lost was their purpose and long they had lost adrift of their journey’s end.
In the abyss of path, lost and awry, they had become wandering travelers.
And soon, they eventually followed into the road of apathy.
— prologue
Observer from Farthest Gaze
Tsuyuri Kanao usual endeavors was observing people, as she loitered outside analyzing people of their habits and conducts, sitting on the chair tall enough for her to sit made from wooden scraps. She lived in a conveniently placed ‘house’ where many people walks, runs, and stumbles to who-knows-where. Being one of the long-time resident in the District, high-ranking people was never a sight for sore eyes for her since they are the faithful visitors in this so-called 14th District of ‘fun’. Kanao always saw them drunk, laughing to themselves, or at times, seemed pretty high judging from the blushes of their faces.
She can recognize the cause of these phenomenon. The District Kanao currently lived in, known as Flower District, has many names attached to it due to how well-known this District to others. Pleasure District and Entertainment District was one of its names. And those names speaks many volume what kind 14th District was in the eyes of others.
However, despite living in the Flower District, where you can see the residents living here seemed to constantly wear high quality clothing, she was just a simple resident wearing a simple pink yukata. Kanao didn’t attempt to join the ‘Entertainment Establishment’ like others to improve their lives and lighten up their quality of life. Compared to them, she was already fine on her own what she subjected into where other people would find ‘boring’.
Kanao can understand why people would find what she was doing as ‘boring’. Sitting in front of her ‘home’, her gaze trained from people to people in analyzing their actions, she was already used to this type of thing. Kanao knows people liked bombastic, over-the-top things so long as they could gain attentions and have their ego increase until they were noticed. People liking those type of things are fine but for her, she liked silence and solitude detachment from others. She preferred to stay in the shadows. Because being in the subject of attention, even just from the thought of it, scared her.
But for people who liked doing grandiose and pompous acts, despite what people would say to them, Kanao respected them for their haughty confidence, for their consistency to impress other people and continually receive the attentions. She really looked up to them, at least for their confidence. If she could imitate them and do the same acts, turning heads in her directions. . .
Kanao shook the thought away. No. It would better if she doesn’t think about. Doing what she wanted to do and gaining attentions are two different things.
“Hello there!”
She blinked, slightly surprised someone approached her. Kanao looked at the pink-haired girl with dark clothing which she instantly recognized.
Shinigami.
Shinigami are people who regulates souls in Soul Society, according to what she heard from others. They are always seen patrolling every district to monitor peace—the District 14th no different from others. Kanao stared at the pink-haired girl in front of her. But what is a kid shinigami doing here in 14th District? She thought Shinigami was consist of grown-up trained people who exercise strength and used this strength to protect others. . .
“Hello there!”
The pink-haired shinigami waved her hands in front of her, close to her face that Kanao had to lean back. She didn’t move from her position, not fazed when the pink-haired shinigami shoved her face that close to her own. Kanao blinked at her strange antics.
“A doll? No, you just blinked. Can you talk?” The Shinigami in front of her mused, poking and pinching her cheeks. She tilted her head left and right as if peeking at every side of her body.
Kanao was still not fazed, just letting the Shinigami do her business but. . . Why is this Shinigami curious about her? she wondered. Can’t she mind her own business and leave her alone? Kanao was genuinely confused.
“Strange… you have a doll-like complexion but you are actually a normal soul. Why didn’t you join Red Light?”
She eyed the little shinigami. Even though this person was supposed to be a Shinigami, all she did probe answers from her. But… this Shinigami is a kid. Perhaps she had a curiosity equivalent to a child. Or maybe, this kid is actually grown-up with diminutive body and she can no longer grow anymore…
“You can’t…talk? Are you mute?”
Kanao removed the Shinigami’s hands from her face, as gentle as she can to not offend her. Despite the Shinigami’s questions, she didn’t give the satisfaction to answer. Why does she want to know whether she can’t talk or not? Gaining that knowledge won’t change a thing. Kanao was a soul in the sideline not meant to be noticed in this district full of blinding happiness. She was meant to continually observe other people without disturbance. She even had to ignore the insinuation to get out of the space and, at least, react even to the smallest thing.
Why does people want her to react? If she does it, no one would care and no one would listen. They would ignore her like they always do and continue to be indifferent. ‘Reacting’ was already an out of option for her. She won’t force a laugh or a smile if it wasn’t what she genuinely feel in the present.
“Ah, I’m hungry… Do you know where I can buy food?”
She glanced at the small Shinigami. If this girl had been appointed here in this district for some time, she’s not doing a good job. And she only eats food once per week, not by buying but through scraps and litters and leftovers.
The tiny Shinigami pouted. “Not a single response? Geez… why are you so against me?”
Kanao wasn’t against her, she just wanted to be left alone. She wasn’t actually against at the notion of approaching a lone stranger. Only she wished that the lone stranger wasn’t her because encouragement and company was the least of her needs.
“Alright! Let’s play a game!” The kid shinigami cheerfully said. “The Reaction Game!”
Kanao turned her attention to the streets full of people, decidedly tried to ignore the kid who sat beside her. The Shinigami can do what she wants. As long as she doesn’t break her attention to the crowd.
“Let’s start! First, hmm... what about this! Why does Nest of Maggots is called Nest of Maggots? Because there is a nest of maggots!”
She lowered her gaze at the ground to look at the multiple sets of walking feet. What she said… doesn’t make sense. Isn’t nest of maggots just a nest of maggots?
“Nothing? That’s fine! The next one is… I’m the president of the Shinigami Women Association!”
Kanao trailed her gaze to a stumbling drunk in the distance. Good for her. But that knowledge is a useless piece of information for her.
“Not that too?! Okay…! I’ll make sure to surprise you this one! The 11th Division is full of peaceful people!”
She side-glanced at the Shinigami. That’s it? What a disappointment. She actually expected she would surprise her. If only she got a general knowledge about the 11th Division she talked about, she probably would get surprised. . .
“Not even that? Aww… I was sure you would get surprised with that one since it wasn’t true…”
Huh? Then what kind of people does 11th Division had. . .
“Anyways! I give up! You win! I lost! Though, it would better if you express many things…” the little shinigami muttered, as she tapped under her chin thoughtfully. “Why are you always like this? Can you smile? You know what kind of smile I’m used to see? Like this.”
Kanao doesn’t know. She has been like this ever since she can remember. Being expressionless was something she already had. Can she smile? Maybe, perhaps. Besides that, she’s curious what she said about the smile she was used to see—
Her eyes widened when she glanced to see a slasher smile and bloodthirsty eyes. In her whole lifetime as a former living, and by extension, in her death, this was the first time she saw a kid who donned a murderous expression on their face.
“Whoa, you reacted! Yay! I succeeded!”
She finally understand what kind of person she was. She was someone who will do anything through lies and deceit just to get what she wanted who doesn’t care of the consequence as long as she gets satisfied. But still, she’s confused. Is her reaction really that important? Is it really that fun?
“Ah, that was fun! I want to do that again!”
There goes the answer.
“But… you’re really strange. Your reiatsu is weird. It’s all scrambly and uneven. It’s like constantly in a blender. I wonder why…”
Kanao returned her gaze to the Shinigami with open confusion. Reiatsu…? What is that? What did she mean about scrambly and uneven? No matter. If she will continue to ignore her, perhaps she’ll leave her alone.
“Anyway, if you’re here in Rukongai, you died, right? How did you die?”
She gave her a confused look. Is it normal for a shinigami to ask a soul how they die when they were alive? Even if she had to answer, she had nothing to say. She had no memory how or when she died. All she can come up as a guess was that perhaps she died peacefully, either from her sleep or something else. What was even stranger was she can’t remember her childhood at all. Just a blank slate, nothing else, nothing more.
Except for her name, Tsuyuri Kanao.
Why did she arrived here in Soul Society with just a fact that she died? She felt she was being robbed of something. How she lived, how she died. She wanted to know all of it.
“You’re…frowning. Was it something painful? Peaceful? Did you suffer when you were alive?”
She inwardly sighed. Not really. She just had a blank memory, that’s all.
“I see. It’s fine! We have our own secrets to hide, right?”
Kanao blinked and snapped her attention to the small Shinigami. Did she just unknowing muttered those words or. . .
“It’s almost the end of my patrol! Thanks for the company, umm…”
She simply stared.
“Hmm… fine! Instead, I’ll tell you my name! It’s Kusajishi Yachiru! When I patrol here again, I’ll make sure to visit again!”
Kanao looked at running figure of the small shinigami, her noticeable pink-haired slowly blending in to the crowd before she completely disappeared in the distance. She gaze on, sitting in her chair wondering at the unexpected presence of the shinigami. She was neither upset nor annoyed at the kid, just slightly chagrined at the talkative shinigami who approached and continued to run her mouth. It wasn’t something she needed to hear for the rest of the day but still welcomed the presence of the shinigami. It would be rude to chase her away actively.
But if there’s something she wanted from the kid shinigami, it would be one single thing, something that was uttered by the strange stranger.
Kanao hoped she didn’t mean those words by visiting again.
Because she hoped she will continue observing from farthest gaze without notice.
She hoped.
A tolling of bell can be heard amidst the crisp night of Seireitei. The loud clangor signifies the end of work shift of the day. A tired Shinigami can be seen sighing in relief from his paperwork, a Shinigami can be seen sleepily walking to the barracks of their respective divisions, the rest of the Shinigami took their well-earned break for the day as they would back to work in the following day. This was their common procedure of their undying job.
“Ken-chan! Ken-chan!” a high-pitched cry can be heard in a certain street in Seireitei.
A man with tall stature stopped in his way as he slowly turned his head, revealing his eyepatch over his right eye along with a small chime of the miniature bells attached from the pointed ends of his strange hair. “Yachiru.”
A small pink-haired Shinigami latched on his back as soon as she came close to him. “How was your day today?” The girl, Kusajishi Yachiru, asked him with perpetual Cheshire smile on her face.
The man, Zaraki Kenpachi, shrugged indifferently and resumed his walk. “Eh. Nothing special. Surrounded by lots of weakling I can’t fight.”
Yachiru started to swing back and forth from his back. “Hey, hey, did you know, did you know? I met someone today!”
“Really? Must be interesting.”
“She is! Even though she doesn’t react a lot but I can feel a great friendship along the way!”
“My, my, did I hear something ‘interesting’ just now?”
Both Shinigami looked ahead as Kenpachi stopped his footsteps. The man who leaned to a nearby wall before them had an unusual silver hair with a smile as if conniving with a plan and narrowed, almost closed to slits for eyes.
Kenpachi resumed his walk.
“You’re not going to respond me?” The silver-haired man, Ichimaru Gin, feigned a distressed, hurtful face as the tall man ignored him.
Kenpachi halted, raising his head as if he remembered something. “Ah, Ichimaru, what are you doing here? This area is far from your barracks.”
The other man widened his smile, like a fox, like a snake. “I didn’t know you were territorial, Captain Zaraki.”
“Nah.” The man drawled, almost lazily. “Not used seeing you around here, that’s all.”
Gin hoist himself from the wall. “Well… you’re not wrong. Just currently battling something on my own.”
Kenpachi snapped his attention around him, searching with eagerness. “Where? Is he strong?”
“Yeah, strong. Very strong that even I can’t possibly defeat it by myself.”
“But I can’t see him everywhere.”
“That’s why it’s strong. Because you can’t see it.”
“Then I’ll sniff him out. And then I’ll fight him.”
An amused chuckle escaped from the silver-haired man. “You’re going to sniff out my insomnia?”
Silence.
And then Gin dodged an attack from Kenpachi.
The eyepatch man clicked his tongue as the man disappeared from his sight.
“He’s gone, Ken-chan.” Kusajishi oh-so-generously informed him from his shoulder.
Kenpachi gruffly huffed and sheathed his swords to the obi sash of his shihakushō. “Leave him. I have no interest to chase after him.” He restarted his walk towards the barracks. Their stroll to the destination was silent until his small companion decided to break it.
“Ken-chan, you don’t find him interesting?” Yachiru asked curiously. It was obvious she was talking about the slit-eyed man.
“Not really.” He answered nonchalantly. “I know he’s strong. He is Captain like me. I guess that speaks of his strength.”
“But you still don’t find him interesting?”
“Well…” He trailed, finding some words. “He’s slippery like a snake. I don’t like him. I hate shifty people like that. They don’t give straight answers.”
“Hmm… I guess you don’t like him because… uh, I don’t get it!”
“Me too. I don’t get it, I don’t get him. That’s why I don’t like him.”
“...you don’t find him interesting because you can’t understand him?”
Kenpachi shrugged. “Probably.”
The Shinigami let Zaraki Kenpachi’s unanswered dislike towards Ichimaru Gin disappear into the air of Seireitei.
They followed the road of apathy, driving on to their journey’s end despite everything.
On their way with their farthest gaze, they were met with a Wild Flower ahead of the crossroad.
- interlude
“Captain sure is taking his time.” A bald man with a wooden sword resting in his shoulder commented, taking a break from the spar, covered in heavy sweat.
“That should be nothing different, Ikkaku.” A man with flamboyant appearance who leaned near the window replied. “You know how atrocious his sense of direction.”
Madarame Ikkaku shot a look of discomfort at Ayasegawa Yumichika. “Did you just… insult Captain Zaraki?” He said in disbelief. “Lieutenant is not gonna take that lightly.”
Yumichika just waved a hand. “What, they’re both not here. I may respect him but it doesn’t stop me from spilling the truth.”
“But what if we told him what you’ve just said?”
Ikkaku turned his head, but not turning around to face his sparring partner. “Oh? You can do that and yet you still can’t defeat me?”
His sparring partner flinched.
“Don’t you dare insult my brother, Madarame, he’s still learning.” Another voice came in defense.
Ikkaku tilted his chin, sending narrowed eyes at the far back of his sparring partner. “Defend your little brother all you want. It’s the truth. But still,” He gave a pointed look at the young adult in front of him, “little brother, how come your brother is a prodigy when it comes to sword fighting, and you’re not?”
“I have no talent for it.” The little brother bluntly respond.
“That’s an excuse. You should have learned Zanjutsu at first hand in Shinōreijutsuin. Even an average Shinigami knows how to handle a sword while fighting.”
“…but I have no talent for it.”
“Then what are we doing here sparring with swords?!” Ikkaku exploded, throwing the wooden sword to the wooden floor of the dojo. He doesn’t understand why he was asked for a spar if his partner had no idea how to use a sword. Was he pulling some sick joke on him?!
“I’m good in Hakuda.”
The bald man gaped at him, aghast. “Then you should have told me in the first place! Are you trying to make yourself a fool in front of your brother?!”
“That’s your fault, idiot.” Yumichika interrupted. “You were so excited at the notion of the fight that you didn’t hear the little brother say he wants to spar hand-to-hand combat. Of course, he would be dragged at your enthusiasm.”
A sweat appeared on his head, the intense weather outside started to heat him up. “That was my fault?!” Ikkaku exclaimed, demanding and shouting at the teen for answers.
“…yes. Just like Ayasegawa-san said.”
The man who sat far behind the three Shinigami in front of him muted their voices away from him. He had no interest in their conversation; he was supposed to be left alone in silence until his little brother and the Third Seat accompanied by Fifth Seat barged in the dojo where he was lounging to sleep. As he drowned their voices, a comment slipped by to his half-asleep consciousness.
“You know, I would be surprised if Captain Zaraki would get his brain fried from this weather.”
“Yumichika! I said, don’t insu—“
He snorted a laugh. Their Captain getting affected at measly things like temperature and raging sun? Yeah, that would be a sight to see.
Their so-called strongest Captain in Gotei 13, Zaraki Kenpachi.
Kenpachi had no idea where he was. And the heat above him was almost equally annoying. He can feel his temper flare up in irritation. Who the hell made the road to be so confusing? Who thought up of a way of complicated corners that leads to another corners? Who in a world didn’t think of a way of straight line to a destination? Who?
He guessed he had no right to complain about it since he wasn’t the one who made the road. People always think of a complicated answer for a simple question, causing to the single-minded to find it confusing.
Why everyone doesn’t think in a simple way so everything will be simple? Why is everyone so blind that everything has always been simple? Why do they think that everything has a complex reason when it was simple the whole time?
He doesn’t know, hell, he doesn’t want to think about it because he knows it will lead to complicated answers. He doesn’t like complicated things, he likes simplicity that everyone can understand.
But still, there’s one thing that seems to be missing. The voice in his ear, the weight in his shoulder, the reiatsu on his back; something feels missing.
Kenpachi looked behind him, eyeing the road, then returned his gaze to his front. Why does he have a feeling he forgot someone…?
Shrugging, he resumed his walk, ignoring the nagging feeling.
Annoying, thinking is annoying. As well as the heat above him.
Kanao wondered if it’s possible for her to combust into flames under this weather.
Even though she was already sitting under the shade of her ‘home’, the intensity of the heat still made it through the ‘roof’. Though, the ‘roof’ in question was low and thin, she guessed it shouldn’t have surprised her. Her ‘home’ was actually small, she can’t make a complaint about it.
She raised her eyes at the burning sun above her, looking at the scorching heat in front of her as it made a mirage of mirror to the ground. Since it has been a while, should she take a walk around the 14th District for a change in this heating weather?
“I’m back here again, Pleasant Eyes!”
Kanao shifted her wide eyes at the familiar form in front of her as the small Shinigami arrived out of nowhere. She didn’t even hear her footsteps in the distance. Though, just like last night, she realized she didn’t hear the Shinigami approaching near her. That was weird. Kanao had always been sensitive when someone attempted to move towards her.
No. Never mind that. That’s unimportant for now. If she would continue to ignore the Shinigami as usual like the last time—like last night, perhaps she will be left alone and cool her head from this weather.
“Oh, where are you going? Why are you leaving your tent? Do you have something to do?”
“So that you’ll leave me alone and go back to your job” doesn’t seem to be a sufficient answer since she figured she won’t leave her alone even if she said that to her. Her destination was only the 14th District itself, she had no fixed location where she would be going since her intention was only sightseeing.
And of course, to get away from this intense heat to get some fresh air in some hill.
“Ah! Snake, snake! There’s a snake in my home!”
Kanao stopped walking when she heard someone screaming and looked at the small house where she stood in front of it. A snake seemed to slither its way to this particular house. Kanao looked behind her to see the small pink-haired shinigami who also stopped, looking at the house. The shinigami turned her head, as of noticing the stare directed at her.
“What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?”
She frowned. Is she not doing anything at the poor screaming woman?
“Go away! Go away!”
Kanao snapped her head at the second bout of the scream in the house. She turned at the shinigami again, waiting for her to do something who only tilted her pink-haired head as if confused. Seeing that she didn’t lift a finger to help, Kanao sighed and started to walk in front of the kid shinigami, bending her body with an outstretched hand. . .
“What? What are you doing? Why are you walking in front of me?”
. . .and grabbed the hilt of the sword from the obi sash of the Shinigami, unsheathing it, leaving only the scabbard in her hips.
“Ah! What are you doing with my Zanpakutō?!”
To do your job myself, Kanao thought.
Gripping the katana with a firm grip, Kanao ignored the cries from the small Shinigami as she walked towards the house and forcibly opened the door which she easily did since the lock was unhinged. Looking around inside the house, full of dust and jumbled objects, she finally found the cowering woman who attempted to hide in the corner.
“W-who…?” The trembling whimpered.
Seeing that the trembling woman was not in the right mind for introduction, she simply says, “Where’s the snake?”
Immediately catching on her intention, the woman seemed to calm down as her shaking lessened. She responded and shakily stood up with her back still attached at the wall. “I-It just came out of nowhere. It seems different than normal.”
Different than normal…? “Do you happen to see what it looks like?”
She shook her head. “Just barely. It seems to be completely white but there’s something black on its tail and the head seems to have something too.”
She nodded in gratitude. “Thank you. Can you walk—“
A scream cut her off. “Above you!!”
Kanao immediately look up to see something white shooting itself towards her. With sword on hand, she instantly swung to slice it as a liquid landed on her face with a stinging sensation accompanying it. Her free hand flew its way to her face, feeling a hot, searing pain, almost blinding her.
Did the snake’s blood just…? Despite only having one good eye, she saw the snake slithering its way towards her. Kanao wasted no time and she stabbed it in the head before it was able to make its move against her. Finally having a clear view of its appearance, her eyes widened at the amalgamated snake. True to the word of the woman’s words, the snake does have pure white skin and strange skeletal head. But the ‘something black’ mentioned by the woman was not a snake’s tail, but a scorpion’s tail. The tail looks crooked and wounded. But on a closer look, it was slashed.
Her hand immediately went to her face in realization. The liquid that landed on her face was not blood but poison from the scorpion’s tail.
“T…thank you… I don’t know how to repay you—“
Kanao didn’t wait for the woman’s words as she hastily walked out from the house, leaving the trembling woman and the dead snake behind.
“Is there something on your face?”
Kanao stopped on her tracks when she heard the Shinigami’s voice. With her left hand that was gripping her face to cover the poison from heating sun, she realized that in her other hand, she was still holding the Shinigami’s weapon. Turning around, Kanao crouched down in front of the small shinigami and sheathes the sword to its rightful scabbard. She gripped the shinigami by her shoulders with her free hand.
“Shinigami. Do you have an antidote that works in any kind of poison?”
The kid shinigami looked startled at the sudden question, or maybe because it was the first time she talked to her. “No. I didn’t carry it this time.”
“I see.”
She stood up, still gripping her face and walked away from the shinigami. She had to find a district doctor, even a local clinic would suffice.
“Why do you need an antidote? Are you poisoned?”
Ignoring the shinigami that followed behind her, Kanao continued her way, searching for someone preferably with medical knowledge. As far as she knows, under this heating weather, the poison would get worse when exposed to heat that’s why she had to hurriedly search for someone.
Her steps stumbled, nearly tripping on her own feet when her vision become tilted and jumbled, and found herself falling all fours to the ground. Kanao raised her hand on her temple, shaking her head as she registered her position at the ground before she noticed something dripping under her nose. She touched her nose it and saw her fingertips drenched in blood. She looked down on her pink yukata and discovered that it was covered by her botched blood.
“Are you okay?”
After she heard those words, the world spun around her and her vision turned black.
In his enduring journey, Kenpachi finally arrived to his destination.
“Good afternoon, Captain Zaraki!”
“Ah.” It’s already afternoon? Damn, he was lost for quite some time.
“Took you a while to arrive, Captain.”
Kenpachi turned his attention to see his Third Seat and Fifth Seat, Ikkaku and Yumichika, waiting for him.
“Yeah. The weather outside made me lost.”
Ikkaku raised his eyebrows at his words, glancing briefly at Yumichika. “It’s rare for Lieutenant to not accompany you,” he remarked instead, tilting his head.
“Hmm.” Ah. That’s why the weight on his shoulder was missing.
“If you’re searching the Lieutenant,” Yumichika said. “She’s in the Fourth Division.”
“Huh?” Both the Third Seat and the Captain made a sound of confusion. Ikkaku was separated from Yumichika for a while in a patrol after the spar at the dojo but this is the first time he heard this. And it was rare for someone from Eleventh Division to visit the Fourth Division unless they are there to be healed.
“Well,” The Fifth Seat continued, “apparently, she bought someone from Rukongai.”
“From Rukongai, huh?” Kenpachi drawled. He had no interest what stray cat Yachiru brought.
“I wonder what happened for Lieutenant to bring someone at Fourth Division.” Ikkaku wondered.
Yumichika matter-of-factly replied. “Must be severe. I heard it was someone from 14th District.”
“The Flower District?” Came a surprise tone from Ikkaku.
Hearing this, Kenpachi’s interest perked up and smirked.
He changed his mind. Yachiru must have brought an interesting stray cat.
Author’s Musing:
So far, as I read in twitter, there seem to be a possibility for Bleach to come back in animated form, according to some (admittedly dubious) sources that Aniplex just recently bought the rights of it. I dunno if Noriyuki Abe will come back as the series director or Studio Pierrot will return as its animated studio (they’re busy with Black Clover or something). There are even rumors of OVA about Burn The Witch one-shot by Tite Kubo which is related to Bleach mythology, so perhaps that’s a sign, I guess.
Terminology used in the chapter
(taken from r/bleach and wikia)
Rukongai (City of Wandering Souls): The slums outside of Seireitei where souls from the World of the Living/Human Realm are sent.
Seireitei (Court of Pure Souls): The citadel at the center of Soul Society where nobles and Shinigami live.
Shihakushō (Garments of Dead Souls): A specialized uniform worn by Shinigami.
Zanjutsu (Swordsmanship): Sword wielding combat techniques and styles unique to Shinigami.
Shinōreijutsuin (Spiritual Arts Academy): Also known as Shinigami Academy. A school trains Soul with spiritual powers for each of the three military arms of Soul Society.
Hakuda (White Strikes/Empty Strikes): Unarmed hand-to-hand combat techniques and styles unique to Shinigami.
Zanpakutō (Soul Slayer/Soul Slaying Sword): A Shinigami weapon, shaped like a typical Japanese katana.