TtF: Chapter Five--Those Left Behind I
Chapter Five: Those Left Behind I
Notes: Part one of another series within a series, otherwise this would probably have been really long. Does that make any sense? :P Postponed posting this, because I got Kubo'd; Risa's little scene with Kyoraku made me err on the side of caution and wait, in case there was something I would need to adjust/eliminate/shoot myself in the foot for missing.
Disclaimer: I own nothing… not even a current permanent address to call my own. Fanfiction is one of the few joys I have left, and yet it’s still not really mine… They are Kubo's shinies.
Rating/Warnings: T for language, but no warnings beyond the usual TBTP Arc.
~*~
It’s hard not to wonder about those that they left behind in Soul Society; how much have things changed since they left? Presumably, new captains and vice-captains have been named, and cover-ups are being formed to explain their sudden absence… its not like their presences could possibly be missed, after all. Five captains and three vice-captains, not to mention both the captain and vice-captain of the Kidō Corps can’t just disappear without someone noticing.
~*~
When Shinji thinks about the traitorous son of a bitch that his fukutaichou turned out to be, it’s still extremely hard not to get angry. Sure, he suspected the sneaky bastard, but apparently he hadn’t been careful enough. It’s irritating, knowing that Aizen had not only known that he was under suspicion but gotten the drop on him…
He’d suspected his cool, collected and slick fukutaichou from the beginning, and Hirako had tried bringing up his uneasy feeling with Ukitake once. He’d wound up shrugging it off, however, not having any damned evidence to give to Jūshirō to prevent himself from looking silly… and grimly, he thinks that now, he has all the evidence in the world, and no one to show it to. Not without someone trying to execute him, anyway.
There had just always seemed to be something dodgy about the boy, something even downright creepy in the way he always seemed to know where to be-or where not to be-and how he always just appeared in the corners of your periphery… something felt off about Aizen, no matter how calm and nice he seemed. Shinji meant to keep him under surveillance, within arm’s (blade’s) reach when his true intentions surfaced…
Only to fail. He not only failed his instincts, but cost others their lives, their souls… They don’t blame him, though, and even Shinji isn’t so stupid as to hold himself wholly accountable; he’s far from perfect, as Hiyori never fails to remind him. The fact that he never suspected this of Aizen, however, still pisses him off.
Allowing himself to get angry only makes the Hollow stir more anxiously in his mind, so he breathes deeply, pushing away the anger. For all that they have managed to subdue their Hollows and gain control again, intense emotion is still treading a line, one that he feels uncomfortable treading most of the time.
For all that meditating has never been his style, Shinji sure seems to be doing a lot of it these days.
Deep down, he knows that Aizen has more than likely been named captain in his stead. That thought hurts his pride more than a little, and the least he can do is hope that his betrayer is not conducting any more ‘experiments’ and sentencing other shinigami to this same fate. Then again, if he is, there may not be any way for them to know; any other victims would not know to escape, nor have the Flash Goddess to help whisk them away… and there would be no way for them to know, either, having been completely cut off from Soul Society.
There aren’t really a lot of people that he misses, strangely enough; the strange combination of company that he keeps these days are slowly drawing closer to one another, becoming friends when before they rarely talked to one another.
He finds himself thinking of Shunsui and Ukitake, and even Retsu occasionally, though not often. The three had been captains with him for a long time, long enough to qualify them as friends, though they were never as close as Shunsui and Jūshirō obviously were. Even without all that, however, Shinji misses the afternoons taking tea with the other two men, Shunsui’s laughter and Jūshirō’s gentle smiles as they reminisced and shared jokes.
Shinji misses those afternoons, though admittedly his afternoons are no less entertaining these days. Learning to maintain his mask for prolonged periods of time is just another technique to master, no matter how unsavory it is with him. Sparring with the others keeps them all in shape, though on the afternoons where he needs a break, he is most often joined by Rose. The blond man isn’t the same as Shunsui and Jūshirō, of course, but he is nice enough to talk to, relaxingly calm when compared to the others.
Things aren’t the same, and while he misses a few old friends back in Soul Society, overall, he can’t bring himself to complain. It takes some getting used to, of course, but then again, he supposes nothing ever really stays the same forever. One thing he can say for certain, however, it that it won’t be the same when he sees that bastard again; he will kill Aizen, no matter how long it takes, or how much training and mediation.
~*~
It’s hard not to wonder about those that Risa was forced to leave behind. She and her captain had been close, though she wonders how he is doing without her… and if he’s read any good books recently. Thankfully, he’s always had really good taste, so there were always plenty of books for her to borrow from Kyoraku-taichou.
Surprisingly enough, however, she does miss him. Kyoraku may be the laziest man in all of Soul Society, and she wonders how he’s managing to take care of his paperwork now; perhaps he’s manipulated some other poor soul to take care of it for him… that would be just like him.
Despite his laziness and womanizing ways, however, Kyoraku-taichou has always been a good man. His laid-back captaincy was a relief, especially compared to how Shinji must have been, or even Urahara… while both blonds have the ability to be deadly serious, for the most part they act almost childish-even more so when Sarugaki is around to provoke them. Imagining Kyoraku ever being that childish and rambunctious is enough to give her a headache, and she wonders exactly how the Fifth Division functioned on those days (which, from how Shinji acts around here, seem to occur more often than not).
By extension, Risa wonders about Ukitake-taichou; as Kyoraku’s closest friend, it is hard to wonder about the welfare of one without wondering about the welfare of the other as well. Ukitake was one of her favorite captains as well, if only because he is easy to talk to. Some of the other captains are (deliberately?) distant, keeping themselves apart from the others-like the Tenth Division captain; he hardly ever comes out aside from meetings, and even then hangs back by himself. Either that, or some of the captains-like Shinji-are completely insane. Ukitake, however, is cheerful and easy to talk to, a rational contrast to her own captain when he’s in one of his moods.
On the other hand, Risa also misses one of the Eighth Division’s newest members, a tiny girl by the name of Ise Nanao. The girl is quite frankly amazing; while she is older than her physical appearance, she is still quite young by shinigami standards, and yet has already managed to gain her zanpakutō and graduate the Academy her first time through-no small task. She is not quite the prodigy that Ichimaru Gin is, or Shiba Kaien, two names that are still bandied about in amazement, but she is still remarkable.
Despite her prowess, however, Nanao-chan is still young, and Risa had taken her under her wing, so to speak. Once a month, Nanao-chan comes to her for a chance to read together, something that Risa enjoyed immensely. Unfortunately, their last night to read together had been on the night that everything had gone to hell-and Risa had never gotten the chance to see the girl. She hopes that Nanao-chan is doing well, that someone else is spending time with her and helping her… being the youngest shinigami in a division by such a wide gap can be troublesome. She also wonders if Ukitake still brings candy for Nanao-chan; he seems to enjoy bringing candy for the younger shinigami that he takes a liking to.
Being here isn’t completely bad, however; it’s amusing, to say the least. Things are more sedate and relaxed than in Soul Society, and she has more time to read her books, which is a definite plus.
On the other hand, however, the subjugation of her Hollow has been a difficult task. While there’s no longer that immediate threat of losing control, learning to master and maintain her Hollow mask is a daunting challenge-even harder than what she had thought learning bankai would be. The voice has finally begun to subside, however, leaving her alone in her own mind once more.
Watching her comrades work to learn to control this new development is unnerving. Former captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13, learning to become Hollows voluntarily and use this strange new power…
It’s hard to come to grips with the fact that they are no longer shinigami. Risa is not sure what that makes her now-for decades, she has been a shinigami, but now, she has no freaking idea. It’s more unnerving than she knows how to express.
Are they Hollows now? Soul Society had given the order to dispose of them, to execute them like Hollows, but… she’s still Yadōmaru Risa, still herself, she thinks. There’s just this extra power to learn and control, this extra voice within herself to ignore and argue with; does that really make her a monster, someone to just get rid of?
What she does know is that she is now stronger and faster than she was before, even without drawing on this new power. Her senses are sharper, her reflexes better, her accuracy higher… all this, without even drawing on the Hollow in her soul.
The trade-off is steep. This new range of strength has been paid for heavily; the others that Aizen tried this technique on were killed, their souls sucked dry of power. They are the first to survive, the first to have to figure this out.
She hopes they are the last.
This cursed power isn’t worth what she has lost. Instead of being home, being the only person she has ever known to be, she is here with a mixed group of captains and lieutenants, all betrayed and confused, all on the run from Soul Society and caught in the midst of this betrayal. It’s not all bad, but… she wants to know who she is.
~*~
Hachigen Ushōda tries not to think-about the changes within him, around him, or to him. He has always been a private person, relatively shy in comparison to the others around him. As such, when the others feel particularly rambunctious or mischievous, he tends to retreat and see out Tsukabishi Tessai; his former captain is a comfort, especially since he doesn’t pry into Hachi’s thoughts.
Despite his friendship with his (former) captain, though, there are just some things they don’t talk about. They don’t speak of their friends in Soul Society, nor of the failure that they both feel so keenly-Hachi for not being strong enough to protect his comrades, and Tessai for not being suspicious enough, for not arriving more quickly. Even with all the silences between them, they both know that neither blames the other at all, which is reassuring. The words do not have to be spoken, because their friendship has never been one of verbosity.
His mind hasn’t stopped racing since they came here and settled in this house. Thankfully, there is enough room for everyone to have their own rooms, as well as room to have a training room. In his room, though, Hachi has been busy thinking, thinking, and thinking.
First, the consuming thing was figuring out what they had become, and what they were going to do. It had taken a while before he, along with Urahara-san and Tessai-san, had figured out how to deal with these new changes, but they had finally made progress-finally subdued the evilness that had been forced within their very souls.
Things aren’t necessarily all bad, however. Hachi was never particularly close to anyone back in Soul Society, but now… now, he can sense a distinct pulling together, though he knows that some of the others would protest that statement until their gigai turned blue in the face. While a few of their number might have already been close back in Seireitei-Tessai, Yoruichi, and Urahara, for example, as well as Shinji and Hiyori (loathe as they may be to actually admit it)-there are new bonds being formed as he watches, tentative and yet strong.
Slowly but surely, he can see Yadōmaru forming a friendship with Rose and Love, fueled by their shared passion for books. The one glance he took at one book, however, had been enough to dissuade Hachi from joining them in that particular pursuit, but nonetheless, he does enjoy sitting and discussing new literature with Rose.
One of the most surprising friendships, however, is developing between Hiyori and Kensei, though then again, the thought of them as sparring partners isn’t that hard to imagine. Hiyori finally has a better outlet for her… rambunctiousness, and Kensei doesn’t have to deal with Mashiro’s temper tantrums if she can’t touch him.
They have welcomed Hachi, however, conversing with him and even sharing a quiet cup of tea as he struggles to master these new powers alongside them. He is making friends, and this group… it feels as if they are actually becoming a family, because by now, it’s hard not to realize that things are never going back to normal, and that they can never really be free of one another. Their paths have all become intertwined, but then again, that’s not always a bad thing.
~*~
Wow, Hachi’s voice was really, really hard for me to get into. I hope that it came out alright and in-character. It’s just he’s so… quiet, I guess. He’s hard for me to get into his head, so… let me know if I got him right? Or, you know, totally off-base, so I can remove this and fix it!
Notes: Part one of another series within a series, otherwise this would probably have been really long. Does that make any sense? :P Postponed posting this, because I got Kubo'd; Risa's little scene with Kyoraku made me err on the side of caution and wait, in case there was something I would need to adjust/eliminate/shoot myself in the foot for missing.
Disclaimer: I own nothing… not even a current permanent address to call my own. Fanfiction is one of the few joys I have left, and yet it’s still not really mine… They are Kubo's shinies.
Rating/Warnings: T for language, but no warnings beyond the usual TBTP Arc.
~*~
It’s hard not to wonder about those that they left behind in Soul Society; how much have things changed since they left? Presumably, new captains and vice-captains have been named, and cover-ups are being formed to explain their sudden absence… its not like their presences could possibly be missed, after all. Five captains and three vice-captains, not to mention both the captain and vice-captain of the Kidō Corps can’t just disappear without someone noticing.
~*~
When Shinji thinks about the traitorous son of a bitch that his fukutaichou turned out to be, it’s still extremely hard not to get angry. Sure, he suspected the sneaky bastard, but apparently he hadn’t been careful enough. It’s irritating, knowing that Aizen had not only known that he was under suspicion but gotten the drop on him…
He’d suspected his cool, collected and slick fukutaichou from the beginning, and Hirako had tried bringing up his uneasy feeling with Ukitake once. He’d wound up shrugging it off, however, not having any damned evidence to give to Jūshirō to prevent himself from looking silly… and grimly, he thinks that now, he has all the evidence in the world, and no one to show it to. Not without someone trying to execute him, anyway.
There had just always seemed to be something dodgy about the boy, something even downright creepy in the way he always seemed to know where to be-or where not to be-and how he always just appeared in the corners of your periphery… something felt off about Aizen, no matter how calm and nice he seemed. Shinji meant to keep him under surveillance, within arm’s (blade’s) reach when his true intentions surfaced…
Only to fail. He not only failed his instincts, but cost others their lives, their souls… They don’t blame him, though, and even Shinji isn’t so stupid as to hold himself wholly accountable; he’s far from perfect, as Hiyori never fails to remind him. The fact that he never suspected this of Aizen, however, still pisses him off.
Allowing himself to get angry only makes the Hollow stir more anxiously in his mind, so he breathes deeply, pushing away the anger. For all that they have managed to subdue their Hollows and gain control again, intense emotion is still treading a line, one that he feels uncomfortable treading most of the time.
For all that meditating has never been his style, Shinji sure seems to be doing a lot of it these days.
Deep down, he knows that Aizen has more than likely been named captain in his stead. That thought hurts his pride more than a little, and the least he can do is hope that his betrayer is not conducting any more ‘experiments’ and sentencing other shinigami to this same fate. Then again, if he is, there may not be any way for them to know; any other victims would not know to escape, nor have the Flash Goddess to help whisk them away… and there would be no way for them to know, either, having been completely cut off from Soul Society.
There aren’t really a lot of people that he misses, strangely enough; the strange combination of company that he keeps these days are slowly drawing closer to one another, becoming friends when before they rarely talked to one another.
He finds himself thinking of Shunsui and Ukitake, and even Retsu occasionally, though not often. The three had been captains with him for a long time, long enough to qualify them as friends, though they were never as close as Shunsui and Jūshirō obviously were. Even without all that, however, Shinji misses the afternoons taking tea with the other two men, Shunsui’s laughter and Jūshirō’s gentle smiles as they reminisced and shared jokes.
Shinji misses those afternoons, though admittedly his afternoons are no less entertaining these days. Learning to maintain his mask for prolonged periods of time is just another technique to master, no matter how unsavory it is with him. Sparring with the others keeps them all in shape, though on the afternoons where he needs a break, he is most often joined by Rose. The blond man isn’t the same as Shunsui and Jūshirō, of course, but he is nice enough to talk to, relaxingly calm when compared to the others.
Things aren’t the same, and while he misses a few old friends back in Soul Society, overall, he can’t bring himself to complain. It takes some getting used to, of course, but then again, he supposes nothing ever really stays the same forever. One thing he can say for certain, however, it that it won’t be the same when he sees that bastard again; he will kill Aizen, no matter how long it takes, or how much training and mediation.
~*~
It’s hard not to wonder about those that Risa was forced to leave behind. She and her captain had been close, though she wonders how he is doing without her… and if he’s read any good books recently. Thankfully, he’s always had really good taste, so there were always plenty of books for her to borrow from Kyoraku-taichou.
Surprisingly enough, however, she does miss him. Kyoraku may be the laziest man in all of Soul Society, and she wonders how he’s managing to take care of his paperwork now; perhaps he’s manipulated some other poor soul to take care of it for him… that would be just like him.
Despite his laziness and womanizing ways, however, Kyoraku-taichou has always been a good man. His laid-back captaincy was a relief, especially compared to how Shinji must have been, or even Urahara… while both blonds have the ability to be deadly serious, for the most part they act almost childish-even more so when Sarugaki is around to provoke them. Imagining Kyoraku ever being that childish and rambunctious is enough to give her a headache, and she wonders exactly how the Fifth Division functioned on those days (which, from how Shinji acts around here, seem to occur more often than not).
By extension, Risa wonders about Ukitake-taichou; as Kyoraku’s closest friend, it is hard to wonder about the welfare of one without wondering about the welfare of the other as well. Ukitake was one of her favorite captains as well, if only because he is easy to talk to. Some of the other captains are (deliberately?) distant, keeping themselves apart from the others-like the Tenth Division captain; he hardly ever comes out aside from meetings, and even then hangs back by himself. Either that, or some of the captains-like Shinji-are completely insane. Ukitake, however, is cheerful and easy to talk to, a rational contrast to her own captain when he’s in one of his moods.
On the other hand, Risa also misses one of the Eighth Division’s newest members, a tiny girl by the name of Ise Nanao. The girl is quite frankly amazing; while she is older than her physical appearance, she is still quite young by shinigami standards, and yet has already managed to gain her zanpakutō and graduate the Academy her first time through-no small task. She is not quite the prodigy that Ichimaru Gin is, or Shiba Kaien, two names that are still bandied about in amazement, but she is still remarkable.
Despite her prowess, however, Nanao-chan is still young, and Risa had taken her under her wing, so to speak. Once a month, Nanao-chan comes to her for a chance to read together, something that Risa enjoyed immensely. Unfortunately, their last night to read together had been on the night that everything had gone to hell-and Risa had never gotten the chance to see the girl. She hopes that Nanao-chan is doing well, that someone else is spending time with her and helping her… being the youngest shinigami in a division by such a wide gap can be troublesome. She also wonders if Ukitake still brings candy for Nanao-chan; he seems to enjoy bringing candy for the younger shinigami that he takes a liking to.
Being here isn’t completely bad, however; it’s amusing, to say the least. Things are more sedate and relaxed than in Soul Society, and she has more time to read her books, which is a definite plus.
On the other hand, however, the subjugation of her Hollow has been a difficult task. While there’s no longer that immediate threat of losing control, learning to master and maintain her Hollow mask is a daunting challenge-even harder than what she had thought learning bankai would be. The voice has finally begun to subside, however, leaving her alone in her own mind once more.
Watching her comrades work to learn to control this new development is unnerving. Former captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13, learning to become Hollows voluntarily and use this strange new power…
It’s hard to come to grips with the fact that they are no longer shinigami. Risa is not sure what that makes her now-for decades, she has been a shinigami, but now, she has no freaking idea. It’s more unnerving than she knows how to express.
Are they Hollows now? Soul Society had given the order to dispose of them, to execute them like Hollows, but… she’s still Yadōmaru Risa, still herself, she thinks. There’s just this extra power to learn and control, this extra voice within herself to ignore and argue with; does that really make her a monster, someone to just get rid of?
What she does know is that she is now stronger and faster than she was before, even without drawing on this new power. Her senses are sharper, her reflexes better, her accuracy higher… all this, without even drawing on the Hollow in her soul.
The trade-off is steep. This new range of strength has been paid for heavily; the others that Aizen tried this technique on were killed, their souls sucked dry of power. They are the first to survive, the first to have to figure this out.
She hopes they are the last.
This cursed power isn’t worth what she has lost. Instead of being home, being the only person she has ever known to be, she is here with a mixed group of captains and lieutenants, all betrayed and confused, all on the run from Soul Society and caught in the midst of this betrayal. It’s not all bad, but… she wants to know who she is.
~*~
Hachigen Ushōda tries not to think-about the changes within him, around him, or to him. He has always been a private person, relatively shy in comparison to the others around him. As such, when the others feel particularly rambunctious or mischievous, he tends to retreat and see out Tsukabishi Tessai; his former captain is a comfort, especially since he doesn’t pry into Hachi’s thoughts.
Despite his friendship with his (former) captain, though, there are just some things they don’t talk about. They don’t speak of their friends in Soul Society, nor of the failure that they both feel so keenly-Hachi for not being strong enough to protect his comrades, and Tessai for not being suspicious enough, for not arriving more quickly. Even with all the silences between them, they both know that neither blames the other at all, which is reassuring. The words do not have to be spoken, because their friendship has never been one of verbosity.
His mind hasn’t stopped racing since they came here and settled in this house. Thankfully, there is enough room for everyone to have their own rooms, as well as room to have a training room. In his room, though, Hachi has been busy thinking, thinking, and thinking.
First, the consuming thing was figuring out what they had become, and what they were going to do. It had taken a while before he, along with Urahara-san and Tessai-san, had figured out how to deal with these new changes, but they had finally made progress-finally subdued the evilness that had been forced within their very souls.
Things aren’t necessarily all bad, however. Hachi was never particularly close to anyone back in Soul Society, but now… now, he can sense a distinct pulling together, though he knows that some of the others would protest that statement until their gigai turned blue in the face. While a few of their number might have already been close back in Seireitei-Tessai, Yoruichi, and Urahara, for example, as well as Shinji and Hiyori (loathe as they may be to actually admit it)-there are new bonds being formed as he watches, tentative and yet strong.
Slowly but surely, he can see Yadōmaru forming a friendship with Rose and Love, fueled by their shared passion for books. The one glance he took at one book, however, had been enough to dissuade Hachi from joining them in that particular pursuit, but nonetheless, he does enjoy sitting and discussing new literature with Rose.
One of the most surprising friendships, however, is developing between Hiyori and Kensei, though then again, the thought of them as sparring partners isn’t that hard to imagine. Hiyori finally has a better outlet for her… rambunctiousness, and Kensei doesn’t have to deal with Mashiro’s temper tantrums if she can’t touch him.
They have welcomed Hachi, however, conversing with him and even sharing a quiet cup of tea as he struggles to master these new powers alongside them. He is making friends, and this group… it feels as if they are actually becoming a family, because by now, it’s hard not to realize that things are never going back to normal, and that they can never really be free of one another. Their paths have all become intertwined, but then again, that’s not always a bad thing.
~*~
Wow, Hachi’s voice was really, really hard for me to get into. I hope that it came out alright and in-character. It’s just he’s so… quiet, I guess. He’s hard for me to get into his head, so… let me know if I got him right? Or, you know, totally off-base, so I can remove this and fix it!