There for Each Other Chapter Five (Bleach, Rose/Love)
Title - There for Each Other Chapter Five
Disclaimer - Don't own any of the characters, I just lock myself in my room and make them bend to my muse's will.
Rating - Doesn’t start out at M but it will find its way there, we’ll just start out with T for now.
Word Count -3,427
Warning - There is het in here (Lisa/Love & YoruHara) but this will be yaoi so there are some overtones, if that bothers you (or vise versa).
Summary - It began with a stranger rescuing a stranger and went on from there. Love & Rose's story from Academy, Soul Society & beyond. There will be angst, UNF to the max, meddlesome YoruHara with help from a certain raven-haired be-spectacled visored - & let's throw in a Kuchiki!
Back to Chapter Four!
Tea and Gossip
Somehow being the opposite of musically inclined Yoruichi had no idea if the mostly combat-oriented academy had a music room. Then she and Kisuke had gotten called away by hell butterfly from the gotei and Rōjūrō and Aikawa decided to see the last part of the official version of the orientation tour around the medical wing.
It was Aikawa’s newness to it, and a repeat of his desire to learn kidō after watching someone use it to heal, that lead to the perfect opportunity for Lisa to “meet him later to show him a bit of beginner first aid kidō.”
For some reason Aikawa felt like he should keep a look out for reproving noble eyes around every corner.
Damn that part in him…it was what kept him from walking away when he noticed a fight in the distance (or a naked blond man not so distant)…it told him he wasn’t going to do anything with the spoken-for woman…well maybe some kidō…if he was lucky.
“So is that all you have to wear?” Rōjūrō asked as they waited for Lisa to show up from her meeting with Yasu on behalf of the student board.
Expecting that question to rub him the wrong way Aikawa was surprised with the sincere concern on the blond’s face when the other man turned to face him. “Yeah.”
“You say that as if that’s not a big deal,” Rōjūrō murmured with one of those frowns without moving his mouth.
“I’ll have the uniform,” Aikawa wasn’t pleased with its look but he really wasn’t that picky with clothes.
“Oh dear,” Rōjūrō shook his head, golden hair tossing with the vehemence of the gesture. “There must be something I…” He turned to look over at his two trunks, but Aikawa saw straight though him.
“Yer noble silks ain’t gonna fit me,” Aikawa laughed.
“You don’t know!” Rōjūrō closed the distance between them, his hands moving to grip Aikawa by the shoulders. “You’re a bit taller than me but--Oh!” He tried to argue but as his nimble fingers moved in a measuring way over the curve of the other man’s shoulders he encountered Aikawa’s upper arms and the muscles there. “Um…hoh…” Lavender eyes met brown and Aikawa felt those long fingers dig appreciatively into his biceps. “N-never mind.” Definitely flustered the noble turned and moved to answer the soft knock at the shoji door.
Aikawa watched after the other man with a soft shake of his head seeing a male uniform at the shoji he figured it was the tea Rōjūrō had thought to ask for on their way through the dinning hall. He moved to the small, low table placed almost in the center of the room, moving the books and scrolls Rōjūrō and he had gotten from the library at most of the older students’ behest.
Placing the tray on the table Rōjūrō sat and started to serve the tea. “I’ll think of something,” He said into the quiet, continuing on about Aikawa’s lack of clothing, his eyes still very focused on his hands as he moved them back and forth in the process of preparing their tea.
“Don’t worry,” Aikawa waved the idea away as another knock sounded near the shoji.
“Aikawa-kōhai,” Lisa was smiling as she came into view through the open door eyes scanning for and finding the precarious stack of library escapees dumped on Aikawa’s futon. “Did you read any of those?”
“No way,” Aikawa shook his head stepping back out of her way so she could enter and he closed the door behind her. “I hope you didn’t think that was gonna actually happen.”
“I’d hoped,” Lisa teased with a surprisingly strong bump of her shoulder to Aikawa’s. “You can read, can’t you?” Her question was matter-of-fact, nothing even resembling pity or superiority in her tone, as if it was something she’d rectify if she had to and with no trouble.
“Yeah.”
“Who taught you?” Rōjūrō murmured, as Lisa and Aikawa each took a side of the table, a cup of steaming tea already in position for each of them.
As seemed the norm with surprised questions aimed at something he’d done or said without thinking, Aikawa shrugged. “Just do…”
Lisa surprised them both by wrenching her glasses away meeting Aikawa’s widened gaze with her bare eyes. “That’s fascinating…You must have been taught when you were alive.”
The silence that followed those words spoken in such a reverent tone was so quiet that it screamed in their ears. Lisa didn’t notice and quickly went on to explain the theories on a spirit’s “muscle memory” so to speak.
“I did get the feelin’ I was doin’ stuff I’d done before…even though I couldn’t remember before wakin’ up in that…cave…” He looked up and both sets of eyes were on him, both equally as brilliant with curiosity about his words one about the meaning of those words and the other about the meaning of hearing those words. The intimacy of the moment was palpable; none of them could say if it was errant spiritual pressure or what that gave the moment such weight.
“You awoke in a cave?” Rōjūrō’s voice was soft and soon deep brown eyes were looking quizzically at him, more for the melancholy in the noble’s voice than the question.
“Yeah,” Nodding Aikawa lifted his cup and sipped the still-piping-hot beverage, eyes still on Rōjūrō’s. “Up on this small bunch of mountains…thick woods…lotsa fuckin’ bears…”
Lisa’s voice interjected with, “And nobody told you they were bears…”
“I felt it for everything at first…walkin’, squinting into the sun ‘nd shit…” Aikawa thought about those first few minutes of this new “life” he’d woken up into. “Fightin’…felt like the freshest…s’why I think I died doin’ it.” Coming back to himself Aikawa realized he’d been staring into Rōjūrō’s crisp purple eyes and he lowered his gaze to his tea.
With social skills drilled into him by his governess and mother, Rōjūrō kept himself from showing that his heart was thudding in his chest as if he’d fought such a fight, for his life. He also barely kept his eyes from tearing over as he tried to distract himself with his scorching tea and gulped it without thinking.
“That’s amazing, kinda jealous I’ll admit,” Lisa’s hand covered Aikawa’s where it curled around his cup. “I was born in Rukongai but it was from my ma.”
“Though you were…” Aikawa wondered if he should mention much of the conversation he’d had with Yoruichi. “Ain’t you a noble like Goldie here?”
“No,” Rōjūrō said simply to the nick name.
“No?” Aikawa lifted one eyebrow eyes flickering toward Rōjūrō’s which were still honed in on his teacup.
“No.”
With a soft giggle Lisa answered, “I’m third generation; my family’s always had above average reiatsu…its soo romantic,” Lisa rolled her eyes as she slipped her glasses back on. “My pa rescued the youngest daughter of a noble and they fell in love…Yadōmaru’s married into nobility.”
Since one of the subjects of the tour had been the difference between the souls of Rukongai and those in Seireitei and one of the major differences had been if they had been born in Soul Society outside of the Cycle of Life or if they had been interrupted in their way through the same Cycle. Aikawa brought this up wondering exactly what the real answer was, and Lisa seemed to be the type with an answer.
“That’s kind of true,” Lisa said with a slow nod. “My ma had to have me to prove pa could hold his own…Having enough spiritual pressure to create a new soul…that’s integral…Being that confirmation for my parents…Well more specifically my ma--getting her back into Jiji-sama’s palace, it’s made for some over-protectiveness.”
“S’why yer betrothed?”
“You sneak!” Lisa gasped and pointed an accusing finger at Aikawa. “Have you been talking to Yoruichi-senpai?”
“Little.”
The kōhai did that thing where she examined something behind the glare of her glasses, this time Aikawa. “Does it seem like a hassle?”
“What? You bein’ engaged ‘nd all that secret love bullshit?”
With a bark of laughter, “Yes! What else could I possibly be talking about?”
With a shrug Aikawa answered, “Plenty of shit…”
“Secret love isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Rōjūrō’s voice murmured almost inaudible from the other side of the small table, his eyes firmly on the whitening knuckles of his hand on the edge of the tabletop. “Mira was all about clandestine,” Came even quieter.
Aikawa swung his gaze away from Lisa the senpai almost felt the fizzle of whatever had started to spark between them. “So you two were…?”
“No we weren’t,” Rōjūrō shook his head until he had to push strands of gold from his face. “Boyhood crush…Lots of saké…horrible, horrible decisions,” He summed up, signaling the end of his words with a deep draw from his tea, which was the perfect temperature this time around.
“So you didn’t know he was a prick?” Aikawa surprised the blond enough to get him to sputter into his beverage.
“Love!”
“Uh-huh…” Aikawa nodded. “So you didn’t?”
Rōjūrō treated him to a punch to the upper arm nearly too fast for the other man to see, instead of being as ineffectual as the one Mira had been given Aikawa yelped in surprised pain and grabbed his own arm. “So who are you betrothed to Yadōmaru-senpai?” Rōjūrō purred innocently as he poured himself more tea.
“Kuchiki.”
Blond eyebrows flew upwards as Rōjūrō tried sipping his tea again. “Sōjun Kuchiki…wow…”
“So didn’t I come here to do something besides gossip like we’re a bunch of old noble ladies?” Lisa asked shooting both of them a look.
“Oh sure…let me know if you need help teaching Love any kidō,” Rōjūrō teased as he finished his tea.
“I’m surprise your mother let you do kidō--”
“She didn’t,” Aikawa ruined the joke and Rōjūrō threw his hands up in exaggerated defeat. “What!”
“She didn’t know that silly,” Rōjūrō sighed in exasperation and got up from the table to rummage in the larger of his trunks.
“What are you up to?” Aikawa shook his head at the noble and made himself turn back to Lisa who was nursing her tea with a disgruntled look on her face. “Sorry he’s worried about my wardrobe.”
“I have this kimono you could sleep in at least…its loose-fitting--”
“Oh I was just talking to Yasu about that,” Lisa raised the level of her voice to catch Rōjūrō’s attention. “Aikawa-kōhai isn’t the only one that came to the entrance exam with just the clothes on their backs.”
“That’s horrid Yadōmaru-senpai,” Rōjūrō let the trunk close, returning to his spot on the table. “I have plenty of clothes--”
Lisa quickly shook her head, “Yasu has an allotment of funds for leisure clothes, not many but enough with the addition of a large supply of staples and Academy uniform suitable for both cold and hot seasons.”
One of Rōjūrō’s tabi-ed toes nudged at Aikawa’s bare foot, “And shoes?”
“I said staples,” Lisa nodded. “There aren’t as many scholarship students as indicated when the candidate list was formulated, so there was a surplus. I was trying to convince Yasu to keep it and use it for more leisure clothes or to add it to the emergency fund for those that ruin their uniform’s beyond repair.”
“Oi how would they do that?” Aikawa asked curiously uncurling his foot enough to nudge back, tea set rattling as Rōjūrō’s feet proved ticklish even through socks, his knee jerking up into the table. It was the only evidence of the noble’s reaction besides surprise at the jump of the table, which sent Lisa in to a soft giggle.
“More than likely sword tears, blood from those kinds of wounds…um…burns…” Lisa fiddled with her glasses as her head tilted to the side, thinking over the situations where one could ruin a sturdy Academy uniform.
“Burns?”
“Without sufficient focus a kidō spell can blow up in the caster’s face…the more spiritual pressure one has to put into the incantation, the bigger the bang,” As she spoke Lisa slipped her glasses back off and started to fiddle with them as if she could twist them into a different shape.
Distracted with the sudden return of a playful jab of tabi-ed-toe to the arch of his foot one word drew his attention, “Bang!” Aikawa turned to look at Rōjūrō who might have thought he succeeded at looking innocent but his roommate was starting to notice tells in the practiced-noble façade. “You didn’t say anything about blowin’ shit up.”
“I believe I listed all the uses for kidō that I knew of,” Rōjūrō answered, actually letting out a bit of helpless mirth as Aikawa returned the toe prod again catching him in the perfect spot. “Damn you Love,” He hissed with helpless laughter. “Truce.”
Aikawa nodded and slid his empty cup forward set on pouring himself another cup only to be intercepted by Rōjūrō. “I wanted more tea.”
“I know,” Rōjūrō took the teapot and poured more tea, topping off Lisa and his. “And don’t worry the booms don’t pack much power at first.”
“True,” Lisa agreed taking a drink. “And if you control the level of intent it should hardly sting.”
With a nod of understanding Aikawa nursed his tea, recalling one of the tour topics, things he might need to work on before he started exercises in class. He knew how to reach into that place he kept his spiritual pressure and pull it out; he was working on manipulating all aspects of it and only just understood how he might manipulate the intent of it. He grasped the protective intent, it was instinctual and there was really no attention necessary for Aikawa to increase the intensity of his will to defend himself.
It was anything else that he couldn’t quite get. After using it his reiatsu was starting to come more natural, focusing specifically on something was messing with the easy part he didn’t think about so sort of still didn’t know how he did. “I’m workin’ on that,” He admitted.
“Intent? It’s tricky…mostly it comes from you…so it’s hard to make it into something different…say you’re trying to heal and your adrenaline is pumping from fighting…it can take a few moments to get it right,” Lisa explained. “That’s why real serious healing kidō is only done by people with a certain level of calmness and reserve to their personality.”
“Like that Hachigen-senpai,” Aikawa recalled how mellow just the student’s voice had been.
“Yes he is in Advanced Kidō and a teacher’s aide for the Beginner and Intermediate Kidō classes,” Lisa sighed as if pining after such education. “He even has a tutor session with so many students it’s like a class of his own.”
“Shit,” Aikawa muttered impressed.
Rōjūrō nodded and pointed at Aikawa, “That’s my line.”
“Damn…Wait until Hachigen hears an Ōtoribashi was impressed with his skills before graduation,” Lisa gave them a sly grin. “He idolizes your mother and just about the entire Tsukabishi house.”
“I’ll have to let Okaasan know she has fans.”
“She has a fan club,” Lisa admitted. “Hachigen is president.”
The blond’s mouth opened into a little “o” of surprise before he started to laugh. “What is it you do there?”
“I have too many other clubs to attend…she is one of my favorite kidō masters though,” The hint of a blush touched the girl’s face and Aikawa tried not to stare like a idiot when it made her look less like the studious upperclassman and more like a young woman. “Why doesn’t she let you do kidō Rōjūrō-sama?”
“Oh don’t do that!” Rōjūrō waved off the honorific. “If you must then please recall I am your kōhai,” He said with a soft upward tilt to the corners of his lips. “She always tells me that to really know kidō there must be nothing secret between one and their spiritual pressure…She can tell I’m not striving for that…” Rōjūrō made a face. “Well that I wasn’t striving.”
“So is it a bad idea you teachin’ us to do a little somethin’?” Aikawa asked. “I ain’t gettin’ you in trouble.”
“There’s no rules about that in kidō, the Tsukabishi noble house start their progeny as soon as they can speak to recite the incantations,” Lisa assured him. “As far as school rules…well…” Here she paused to refit her glasses to her nose, as if it would resettle the studious façade. “There is only an hour volunteering for the Academy as punishment--which I already do in spades--and that is if I get caught.”
“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” Rōjūrō nodded.
Lisa went on to explain that of all the kidōs, healing was the one that had to have the calming reiatsu. “Or in a bind, the intent has to be purely selfless…you give of yourself to heal the wound.” She then went on to describe a cauterizing kidō that worked really well on small wounds, the bigger the injury the more pain felt if the spiritual pressure and intent weren’t calm.
“It works well if you don’t have a bandage for a wound and no time to find one,” Lisa went on to explain. “I use it all the time when I get paper cuts, but you can use it as long as the wound is within either one inch deep, five inches across, or two inches wide; anymore than that and you have to pause to relax your spiritual pressure.”
“And the closer to one limit the less you have with the others,” Rōjūrō tacked on to Lisa’s explanation. “Okaasan used to use that one when I fell down and scraped my knees…it always stung a little, especially when she was upset about the falling down part.”
Then there was a numbing kidō which had to have its haiku-sized incantation recited unless the caster was an advanced kidō master. “Ninety-nine percent of the kidō you do will have to have the incantation to be effective…some of them are longer.”
“Damn, knew there was a reason you were so wordy,” Aikawa said into the silence, casting a glance toward Rōjūrō.
“Whatever do you mean?”
“Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō, third in succession for the title of twentieth Head of the Ōtoribashi clan?” Aikawa continued, “Shinō Academy First Year…”
“All right, all right!” Rōjūrō said with a wry twist of his lips.
“Your name is almost as long as most incantations,” Lisa jumped in with a teasing smile. “Good to have practice, they can be tongue twisters.”
“Part of me wants to learn, but…damn,” Aikawa was sure it wasn’t a surprise to either of them, even if they hadn’t known each other long, that he was a man of few words.
“You just focus on the hakuda and zanjutsu and I’ll help you with the rest,” Lisa offered.
“You sound like your plate is already full Lisa-senpai,” Rōjūrō protested for Aikawa, who had been thinking about saying something like that (then he realized that meant she already had few personal hours otherwise).
“We might be in the same division one day, I want to know you can pull your own weight,” She drained her cup. “All right, that’s all I’ve got until you…” Here she pointed at Aikawa. “Get better control of your reiatsu both manipulating it and keeping hold of whatever intent you need...” She handed the teacup to Rōjūrō and caught his gaze. “You I expect to help.”
“Of course,” Rōjūrō nodded dutifully and Lisa laughed softly.
“Good…I’ll see you two!” She gave Aikawa a pat on his shoulder before letting herself out.
Aikawa slid his cup forward a questioning look on his face, in answer Rōjūrō poured the last of the tea in. Before he could drink any however the noble took a sip, then set on putting the tea tray back together to leave outside the door. “Oi.”
Rōjūrō looked over affecting an innocent bewilderment, “Hm?”
The expression had Aikawa fighting a grin. “Y’want the rest just say so,” He said as he spied the blond’s empty cup stacked with Lisa’s.
“Not all of it,” Rōjūrō protested with a shake of his head, getting up to take the tray to the shoji.
“Hey,” Aikawa grumbled taking a gulp of tea before handing the cup back with one last drink left to the departing noble. “M’done with it.”
Treating his new roommate to a slow upward tilt of his mouth into that heart-wrenching sad smile of his Rōjūrō took the cup with a murmured, “Thanks.”
Onwards to Chapter Six!
Disclaimer - Don't own any of the characters, I just lock myself in my room and make them bend to my muse's will.
Rating - Doesn’t start out at M but it will find its way there, we’ll just start out with T for now.
Word Count -3,427
Warning - There is het in here (Lisa/Love & YoruHara) but this will be yaoi so there are some overtones, if that bothers you (or vise versa).
Summary - It began with a stranger rescuing a stranger and went on from there. Love & Rose's story from Academy, Soul Society & beyond. There will be angst, UNF to the max, meddlesome YoruHara with help from a certain raven-haired be-spectacled visored - & let's throw in a Kuchiki!
Back to Chapter Four!
Tea and Gossip
Somehow being the opposite of musically inclined Yoruichi had no idea if the mostly combat-oriented academy had a music room. Then she and Kisuke had gotten called away by hell butterfly from the gotei and Rōjūrō and Aikawa decided to see the last part of the official version of the orientation tour around the medical wing.
It was Aikawa’s newness to it, and a repeat of his desire to learn kidō after watching someone use it to heal, that lead to the perfect opportunity for Lisa to “meet him later to show him a bit of beginner first aid kidō.”
For some reason Aikawa felt like he should keep a look out for reproving noble eyes around every corner.
Damn that part in him…it was what kept him from walking away when he noticed a fight in the distance (or a naked blond man not so distant)…it told him he wasn’t going to do anything with the spoken-for woman…well maybe some kidō…if he was lucky.
“So is that all you have to wear?” Rōjūrō asked as they waited for Lisa to show up from her meeting with Yasu on behalf of the student board.
Expecting that question to rub him the wrong way Aikawa was surprised with the sincere concern on the blond’s face when the other man turned to face him. “Yeah.”
“You say that as if that’s not a big deal,” Rōjūrō murmured with one of those frowns without moving his mouth.
“I’ll have the uniform,” Aikawa wasn’t pleased with its look but he really wasn’t that picky with clothes.
“Oh dear,” Rōjūrō shook his head, golden hair tossing with the vehemence of the gesture. “There must be something I…” He turned to look over at his two trunks, but Aikawa saw straight though him.
“Yer noble silks ain’t gonna fit me,” Aikawa laughed.
“You don’t know!” Rōjūrō closed the distance between them, his hands moving to grip Aikawa by the shoulders. “You’re a bit taller than me but--Oh!” He tried to argue but as his nimble fingers moved in a measuring way over the curve of the other man’s shoulders he encountered Aikawa’s upper arms and the muscles there. “Um…hoh…” Lavender eyes met brown and Aikawa felt those long fingers dig appreciatively into his biceps. “N-never mind.” Definitely flustered the noble turned and moved to answer the soft knock at the shoji door.
Aikawa watched after the other man with a soft shake of his head seeing a male uniform at the shoji he figured it was the tea Rōjūrō had thought to ask for on their way through the dinning hall. He moved to the small, low table placed almost in the center of the room, moving the books and scrolls Rōjūrō and he had gotten from the library at most of the older students’ behest.
Placing the tray on the table Rōjūrō sat and started to serve the tea. “I’ll think of something,” He said into the quiet, continuing on about Aikawa’s lack of clothing, his eyes still very focused on his hands as he moved them back and forth in the process of preparing their tea.
“Don’t worry,” Aikawa waved the idea away as another knock sounded near the shoji.
“Aikawa-kōhai,” Lisa was smiling as she came into view through the open door eyes scanning for and finding the precarious stack of library escapees dumped on Aikawa’s futon. “Did you read any of those?”
“No way,” Aikawa shook his head stepping back out of her way so she could enter and he closed the door behind her. “I hope you didn’t think that was gonna actually happen.”
“I’d hoped,” Lisa teased with a surprisingly strong bump of her shoulder to Aikawa’s. “You can read, can’t you?” Her question was matter-of-fact, nothing even resembling pity or superiority in her tone, as if it was something she’d rectify if she had to and with no trouble.
“Yeah.”
“Who taught you?” Rōjūrō murmured, as Lisa and Aikawa each took a side of the table, a cup of steaming tea already in position for each of them.
As seemed the norm with surprised questions aimed at something he’d done or said without thinking, Aikawa shrugged. “Just do…”
Lisa surprised them both by wrenching her glasses away meeting Aikawa’s widened gaze with her bare eyes. “That’s fascinating…You must have been taught when you were alive.”
The silence that followed those words spoken in such a reverent tone was so quiet that it screamed in their ears. Lisa didn’t notice and quickly went on to explain the theories on a spirit’s “muscle memory” so to speak.
“I did get the feelin’ I was doin’ stuff I’d done before…even though I couldn’t remember before wakin’ up in that…cave…” He looked up and both sets of eyes were on him, both equally as brilliant with curiosity about his words one about the meaning of those words and the other about the meaning of hearing those words. The intimacy of the moment was palpable; none of them could say if it was errant spiritual pressure or what that gave the moment such weight.
“You awoke in a cave?” Rōjūrō’s voice was soft and soon deep brown eyes were looking quizzically at him, more for the melancholy in the noble’s voice than the question.
“Yeah,” Nodding Aikawa lifted his cup and sipped the still-piping-hot beverage, eyes still on Rōjūrō’s. “Up on this small bunch of mountains…thick woods…lotsa fuckin’ bears…”
Lisa’s voice interjected with, “And nobody told you they were bears…”
“I felt it for everything at first…walkin’, squinting into the sun ‘nd shit…” Aikawa thought about those first few minutes of this new “life” he’d woken up into. “Fightin’…felt like the freshest…s’why I think I died doin’ it.” Coming back to himself Aikawa realized he’d been staring into Rōjūrō’s crisp purple eyes and he lowered his gaze to his tea.
With social skills drilled into him by his governess and mother, Rōjūrō kept himself from showing that his heart was thudding in his chest as if he’d fought such a fight, for his life. He also barely kept his eyes from tearing over as he tried to distract himself with his scorching tea and gulped it without thinking.
“That’s amazing, kinda jealous I’ll admit,” Lisa’s hand covered Aikawa’s where it curled around his cup. “I was born in Rukongai but it was from my ma.”
“Though you were…” Aikawa wondered if he should mention much of the conversation he’d had with Yoruichi. “Ain’t you a noble like Goldie here?”
“No,” Rōjūrō said simply to the nick name.
“No?” Aikawa lifted one eyebrow eyes flickering toward Rōjūrō’s which were still honed in on his teacup.
“No.”
With a soft giggle Lisa answered, “I’m third generation; my family’s always had above average reiatsu…its soo romantic,” Lisa rolled her eyes as she slipped her glasses back on. “My pa rescued the youngest daughter of a noble and they fell in love…Yadōmaru’s married into nobility.”
Since one of the subjects of the tour had been the difference between the souls of Rukongai and those in Seireitei and one of the major differences had been if they had been born in Soul Society outside of the Cycle of Life or if they had been interrupted in their way through the same Cycle. Aikawa brought this up wondering exactly what the real answer was, and Lisa seemed to be the type with an answer.
“That’s kind of true,” Lisa said with a slow nod. “My ma had to have me to prove pa could hold his own…Having enough spiritual pressure to create a new soul…that’s integral…Being that confirmation for my parents…Well more specifically my ma--getting her back into Jiji-sama’s palace, it’s made for some over-protectiveness.”
“S’why yer betrothed?”
“You sneak!” Lisa gasped and pointed an accusing finger at Aikawa. “Have you been talking to Yoruichi-senpai?”
“Little.”
The kōhai did that thing where she examined something behind the glare of her glasses, this time Aikawa. “Does it seem like a hassle?”
“What? You bein’ engaged ‘nd all that secret love bullshit?”
With a bark of laughter, “Yes! What else could I possibly be talking about?”
With a shrug Aikawa answered, “Plenty of shit…”
“Secret love isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Rōjūrō’s voice murmured almost inaudible from the other side of the small table, his eyes firmly on the whitening knuckles of his hand on the edge of the tabletop. “Mira was all about clandestine,” Came even quieter.
Aikawa swung his gaze away from Lisa the senpai almost felt the fizzle of whatever had started to spark between them. “So you two were…?”
“No we weren’t,” Rōjūrō shook his head until he had to push strands of gold from his face. “Boyhood crush…Lots of saké…horrible, horrible decisions,” He summed up, signaling the end of his words with a deep draw from his tea, which was the perfect temperature this time around.
“So you didn’t know he was a prick?” Aikawa surprised the blond enough to get him to sputter into his beverage.
“Love!”
“Uh-huh…” Aikawa nodded. “So you didn’t?”
Rōjūrō treated him to a punch to the upper arm nearly too fast for the other man to see, instead of being as ineffectual as the one Mira had been given Aikawa yelped in surprised pain and grabbed his own arm. “So who are you betrothed to Yadōmaru-senpai?” Rōjūrō purred innocently as he poured himself more tea.
“Kuchiki.”
Blond eyebrows flew upwards as Rōjūrō tried sipping his tea again. “Sōjun Kuchiki…wow…”
“So didn’t I come here to do something besides gossip like we’re a bunch of old noble ladies?” Lisa asked shooting both of them a look.
“Oh sure…let me know if you need help teaching Love any kidō,” Rōjūrō teased as he finished his tea.
“I’m surprise your mother let you do kidō--”
“She didn’t,” Aikawa ruined the joke and Rōjūrō threw his hands up in exaggerated defeat. “What!”
“She didn’t know that silly,” Rōjūrō sighed in exasperation and got up from the table to rummage in the larger of his trunks.
“What are you up to?” Aikawa shook his head at the noble and made himself turn back to Lisa who was nursing her tea with a disgruntled look on her face. “Sorry he’s worried about my wardrobe.”
“I have this kimono you could sleep in at least…its loose-fitting--”
“Oh I was just talking to Yasu about that,” Lisa raised the level of her voice to catch Rōjūrō’s attention. “Aikawa-kōhai isn’t the only one that came to the entrance exam with just the clothes on their backs.”
“That’s horrid Yadōmaru-senpai,” Rōjūrō let the trunk close, returning to his spot on the table. “I have plenty of clothes--”
Lisa quickly shook her head, “Yasu has an allotment of funds for leisure clothes, not many but enough with the addition of a large supply of staples and Academy uniform suitable for both cold and hot seasons.”
One of Rōjūrō’s tabi-ed toes nudged at Aikawa’s bare foot, “And shoes?”
“I said staples,” Lisa nodded. “There aren’t as many scholarship students as indicated when the candidate list was formulated, so there was a surplus. I was trying to convince Yasu to keep it and use it for more leisure clothes or to add it to the emergency fund for those that ruin their uniform’s beyond repair.”
“Oi how would they do that?” Aikawa asked curiously uncurling his foot enough to nudge back, tea set rattling as Rōjūrō’s feet proved ticklish even through socks, his knee jerking up into the table. It was the only evidence of the noble’s reaction besides surprise at the jump of the table, which sent Lisa in to a soft giggle.
“More than likely sword tears, blood from those kinds of wounds…um…burns…” Lisa fiddled with her glasses as her head tilted to the side, thinking over the situations where one could ruin a sturdy Academy uniform.
“Burns?”
“Without sufficient focus a kidō spell can blow up in the caster’s face…the more spiritual pressure one has to put into the incantation, the bigger the bang,” As she spoke Lisa slipped her glasses back off and started to fiddle with them as if she could twist them into a different shape.
Distracted with the sudden return of a playful jab of tabi-ed-toe to the arch of his foot one word drew his attention, “Bang!” Aikawa turned to look at Rōjūrō who might have thought he succeeded at looking innocent but his roommate was starting to notice tells in the practiced-noble façade. “You didn’t say anything about blowin’ shit up.”
“I believe I listed all the uses for kidō that I knew of,” Rōjūrō answered, actually letting out a bit of helpless mirth as Aikawa returned the toe prod again catching him in the perfect spot. “Damn you Love,” He hissed with helpless laughter. “Truce.”
Aikawa nodded and slid his empty cup forward set on pouring himself another cup only to be intercepted by Rōjūrō. “I wanted more tea.”
“I know,” Rōjūrō took the teapot and poured more tea, topping off Lisa and his. “And don’t worry the booms don’t pack much power at first.”
“True,” Lisa agreed taking a drink. “And if you control the level of intent it should hardly sting.”
With a nod of understanding Aikawa nursed his tea, recalling one of the tour topics, things he might need to work on before he started exercises in class. He knew how to reach into that place he kept his spiritual pressure and pull it out; he was working on manipulating all aspects of it and only just understood how he might manipulate the intent of it. He grasped the protective intent, it was instinctual and there was really no attention necessary for Aikawa to increase the intensity of his will to defend himself.
It was anything else that he couldn’t quite get. After using it his reiatsu was starting to come more natural, focusing specifically on something was messing with the easy part he didn’t think about so sort of still didn’t know how he did. “I’m workin’ on that,” He admitted.
“Intent? It’s tricky…mostly it comes from you…so it’s hard to make it into something different…say you’re trying to heal and your adrenaline is pumping from fighting…it can take a few moments to get it right,” Lisa explained. “That’s why real serious healing kidō is only done by people with a certain level of calmness and reserve to their personality.”
“Like that Hachigen-senpai,” Aikawa recalled how mellow just the student’s voice had been.
“Yes he is in Advanced Kidō and a teacher’s aide for the Beginner and Intermediate Kidō classes,” Lisa sighed as if pining after such education. “He even has a tutor session with so many students it’s like a class of his own.”
“Shit,” Aikawa muttered impressed.
Rōjūrō nodded and pointed at Aikawa, “That’s my line.”
“Damn…Wait until Hachigen hears an Ōtoribashi was impressed with his skills before graduation,” Lisa gave them a sly grin. “He idolizes your mother and just about the entire Tsukabishi house.”
“I’ll have to let Okaasan know she has fans.”
“She has a fan club,” Lisa admitted. “Hachigen is president.”
The blond’s mouth opened into a little “o” of surprise before he started to laugh. “What is it you do there?”
“I have too many other clubs to attend…she is one of my favorite kidō masters though,” The hint of a blush touched the girl’s face and Aikawa tried not to stare like a idiot when it made her look less like the studious upperclassman and more like a young woman. “Why doesn’t she let you do kidō Rōjūrō-sama?”
“Oh don’t do that!” Rōjūrō waved off the honorific. “If you must then please recall I am your kōhai,” He said with a soft upward tilt to the corners of his lips. “She always tells me that to really know kidō there must be nothing secret between one and their spiritual pressure…She can tell I’m not striving for that…” Rōjūrō made a face. “Well that I wasn’t striving.”
“So is it a bad idea you teachin’ us to do a little somethin’?” Aikawa asked. “I ain’t gettin’ you in trouble.”
“There’s no rules about that in kidō, the Tsukabishi noble house start their progeny as soon as they can speak to recite the incantations,” Lisa assured him. “As far as school rules…well…” Here she paused to refit her glasses to her nose, as if it would resettle the studious façade. “There is only an hour volunteering for the Academy as punishment--which I already do in spades--and that is if I get caught.”
“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” Rōjūrō nodded.
Lisa went on to explain that of all the kidōs, healing was the one that had to have the calming reiatsu. “Or in a bind, the intent has to be purely selfless…you give of yourself to heal the wound.” She then went on to describe a cauterizing kidō that worked really well on small wounds, the bigger the injury the more pain felt if the spiritual pressure and intent weren’t calm.
“It works well if you don’t have a bandage for a wound and no time to find one,” Lisa went on to explain. “I use it all the time when I get paper cuts, but you can use it as long as the wound is within either one inch deep, five inches across, or two inches wide; anymore than that and you have to pause to relax your spiritual pressure.”
“And the closer to one limit the less you have with the others,” Rōjūrō tacked on to Lisa’s explanation. “Okaasan used to use that one when I fell down and scraped my knees…it always stung a little, especially when she was upset about the falling down part.”
Then there was a numbing kidō which had to have its haiku-sized incantation recited unless the caster was an advanced kidō master. “Ninety-nine percent of the kidō you do will have to have the incantation to be effective…some of them are longer.”
“Damn, knew there was a reason you were so wordy,” Aikawa said into the silence, casting a glance toward Rōjūrō.
“Whatever do you mean?”
“Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō, third in succession for the title of twentieth Head of the Ōtoribashi clan?” Aikawa continued, “Shinō Academy First Year…”
“All right, all right!” Rōjūrō said with a wry twist of his lips.
“Your name is almost as long as most incantations,” Lisa jumped in with a teasing smile. “Good to have practice, they can be tongue twisters.”
“Part of me wants to learn, but…damn,” Aikawa was sure it wasn’t a surprise to either of them, even if they hadn’t known each other long, that he was a man of few words.
“You just focus on the hakuda and zanjutsu and I’ll help you with the rest,” Lisa offered.
“You sound like your plate is already full Lisa-senpai,” Rōjūrō protested for Aikawa, who had been thinking about saying something like that (then he realized that meant she already had few personal hours otherwise).
“We might be in the same division one day, I want to know you can pull your own weight,” She drained her cup. “All right, that’s all I’ve got until you…” Here she pointed at Aikawa. “Get better control of your reiatsu both manipulating it and keeping hold of whatever intent you need...” She handed the teacup to Rōjūrō and caught his gaze. “You I expect to help.”
“Of course,” Rōjūrō nodded dutifully and Lisa laughed softly.
“Good…I’ll see you two!” She gave Aikawa a pat on his shoulder before letting herself out.
Aikawa slid his cup forward a questioning look on his face, in answer Rōjūrō poured the last of the tea in. Before he could drink any however the noble took a sip, then set on putting the tea tray back together to leave outside the door. “Oi.”
Rōjūrō looked over affecting an innocent bewilderment, “Hm?”
The expression had Aikawa fighting a grin. “Y’want the rest just say so,” He said as he spied the blond’s empty cup stacked with Lisa’s.
“Not all of it,” Rōjūrō protested with a shake of his head, getting up to take the tray to the shoji.
“Hey,” Aikawa grumbled taking a gulp of tea before handing the cup back with one last drink left to the departing noble. “M’done with it.”
Treating his new roommate to a slow upward tilt of his mouth into that heart-wrenching sad smile of his Rōjūrō took the cup with a murmured, “Thanks.”
Onwards to Chapter Six!