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| - Tedasuke had drawn the short straw. He was cold, he was irritable and he was thoroughly soaked through. Even his bones seemed soaked. The rain fell in a horizontal spray that clung to flesh and cloth with equal ease. It had taken mere moments for him to be drenched from head to toe. His black hair was a mess atop his head and his uniform clung to his skin, making movement difficult without a squelching sound being heard. Great, could this night get any worse? Night Patrol in the Seireitei was always dull and boring. It was an assignment members of the 11th drew straws for, hoping and praying they avoided the short one while grabbing a longer straw. Those lucky enough where probably now beginning their nightly exercises. How Tedasuke wished he could be among them. Swinging a sword at your competitor to the cheers of the crowd was decidedly more enjoyable than stomping through rain soaked streets. At least in the barracks it was warm. If only wishing it could take him there. Out here at this time of night the only saving grace Tedasuke could cling to was that it wouldn’t be long now until his shift ended and he could go home. Two hours? However long it happened to be was too long. The street he was on came to a sudden dead end which immediately brought Tedasuke up short. A wall ran from one end of the street to the other, effectively blocking off any attempt to proceed past that point. ‘Heh,’ this was new. Was someone trying to play a prank on him? If so they weren’t doing a very good job of it. ‘You’d think they’d try something stronger.’ A single downward slash from his zanpakutō brought the wall crumbling down. Continuing onward, Tedasuke’s entire demeanour changed abruptly. Before he’d found the wall Teasuke had been dragging his feet as he walked, with a slumped posture that echoed his annoyance. Now he stood straight as a post with his shoulders squared and chest puffed out. His eyes were darting from left to right quickly, spotting shadows but never the assailant he thought to be hidden there. But the weather had made him irritable and he had enough of pranksters. ‘You really need to perfect your tailing technique,’ Tedasuke said as he stopped. ‘Pranksters aren’t supposed to be caught.’ And he was in no mood to let them off without a reprisal this time. ‘Tedasuke Shiba,’ a male voice replied. ‘You’ve been asking questions… the wrong sort of questions.’ A smile broke across the 3rd Seats face. Not pranksters then. Who then? ‘Now comes your time to sleep.’ ‘I don’t think so,’ he turned and parried, sparks illuminating the area briefly. In that instance Tedasuke glimpsed purple eyes and cyan hair beneath a black cowl, and tanned skin. Was he a Heisekian? If so, what was he doing in the Soul Society? That could wait till later. Pressing his attack, Tedasuke skidded along the rain-slicken street, his sandals giving little purchase. It turned his movement into a sliding pierce his mysterious attacker vaulted over; where a blade dug into the 3rd Seats shoulder. Blood joined the rain on the floor and Tedasuke twisted in place to meet his attacker again! Sparks heralded their clash, but Tedasuke was the stronger. Brute force pushed the purple-eyed young man towards the wall, where Tedasuke aimed to squash the air from his lungs. ‘Who sent you?’ Tedasuke began quizzing, applying the pressure to his zanpakutō. The young mans body was jammed between blade and wall. ‘Someone you think you know well.’ Cryptic little shit. What was that supposed to mean? ‘I’ve had-’ Tedasuke leaped backwards, patting at his arm as black shadowy flames sprouted to life! Only the sodden cloth stopped the fire burning, saving him from terrible burns. It happened so fast after that. One moment the young man was standing still, flickering shadows upon his blades edge. The next he was standing behind Tedasuke, and blood was flowing. ‘Enough?’ The young man finished Tedasuke’s sentence as the 3rd Seat slumped to the ground in a heap. ‘Never take your eyes from your opponent. That’s as inviolable law of battle.’ He then kicked Tedasuke in the temple. Something blurred past. ‘Then allow me to lecture you, young man.’ The cyan-haired youth went immediately rigid. ‘Tedasuke isn’t dead. Haven’t you ever heard of following through? Ending your opponent, instead of lecturing their unconscious form, is a basic rule of combat as well.’ The speaker was Tadashi Kori. His blue captain’s haori blew in the wind and was already soaked through. Tedasuke was held under his left arm while his right hand held tightly Tedasuke’s zanpakutō. ‘You came close, I’ll admit to that. But think about your current predicament. You’ve got nowhere to run. You are surrounded.’ Not truly. There was only Tadashi and… ‘I could always- ugh!’ He never finished. ‘Why is it I can never go for a nightly stroll without encountering some dagger in the dark nowadays? Huh! And people wonder why I spend my days gambling and sleeping?’ Shin Nagakura, captain of the 7th Division, had ended the young mans resistance with a single chop to the neck. He had gone without his captain’s haori however, which told Tadashi all he needed. ‘Is he alright?’ Shin asked upon seeing Tedasuke. ‘He’ll live,’ Tadashi replied, looking down at Tedasuke. ‘I’ll take Shiba to the 4th Division. His wounds are beyond my skills.’ ‘I’ll take this to the 7th Division Barracks. I’ll get him to talk.’ With their pieces said the two captains went their separate ways… ‘No more,’ Itazura’s mind roared. ‘… No more…’ It said again. He was on his knees and every muscle was screaming at him in union and his head felt like it had spent all day being crushed between the jaws of a vice. Vision was blurred and his hearing was muffled. Kusaka was nothing more than a blur in front of him, his voice a muffled groan. Yet Itazura got back to his feet and concentrated until he felt like his head was going to burst open. Mariko watched from the sidelines with Sojiro, who had long ago requested medical personnel. The medic was a young woman with long black hair, reddish brown eyes and a body that cut a magnificent figure. Her name was Kishiko and she looked far from pleased. Sojiro had twice told her that she wasn’t to step in. Mariko was beginning to wish she would, or Kusaka would come to his senses and stop the torture he called training. Itazura had hit a wall in his training. One he said he wouldn’t easily overcome. So he bit the bullet and asked Kusaka to force him. Only by gazing into the dark abyss of death through pain would he finally demolish that wall and see what lay on the other side. That request came three hours ago in the morning of their tenth day training. The result was that Itazura was barely standing right now. His breathing came in slow, heavy gasps and his movements had slowed to a tenth of what they had been when he’d started. Right now he even appeared to be standing still. Long purple lines the colour of ripened grapes covered his exposed right arm and chest, while sweat shone on his forehead. Both hands gripped his zanpakutō like his life depended on it. His back was bent and his eyes where down, yet he still edged closer to Kusaka, who couldn’t quiet believe his eyes. ‘That’s enough for today,’ Kusaka said at last, motioning for Kishiko to mobilize. She did so immediately, medical pack in hand and a disapproving expression etched across her face. ‘Proud of yourself, are you?’ She was always a strict one. ‘… Not… yet,’ Itazura whispered. ‘I can… still… fight…’ Kishiko’s face said clearly what she thought of that statement. ‘Are all you Kori such headstrong fools? The only one I’ve met who isn’t is Sojiro and he won’t go against your wishes, so what’s the point?’ ‘… I said… get back… here…!’ Kusaka turned at his cousin’s words and for the umpteenth time this morning, the elder Kori’s eyes went wide in his head. Spiritual energy clung to Itazura’s zanpakutō like a drowning man to driftwood and soon his body was shrouded in that same aura. ‘It can’t be,’ Kusaka breathed. ‘Did he manage it!?’ Sojiro echoed. ‘What? What did he do?’ Mariko asked immediately after, confused. ‘Get back!’ Kusaka roared, appearing in front of Kishiko, shielding her from the onslaught! A shockwave loosed itself from Itazura’s body, but it got no farther than Kusaka, who dwarfed the entire torrent by assuming his Shunkō state. Vibrant white energy danced along his limbs, which immediately shredded his black jacket and the white shirt worn beneath. The energy he exuded enveloped the wave Itazura released, hitting it with perfectly opposite strength. Kusaka’s quick action caused the wave to recede away to a faint outline until not even that remained. Once over Kusaka was the first to inspect his cousin’s now unconscious frame. ‘He used it,’ Sojiro confirmed at last. ‘That was unmistakably the Rei Furashuu, yet…’ ‘Something’s off,’ Kusaka agreed, ‘its consistency’s all wrong. Sure, the end result may be the same, but…’ ‘What’s that supposed to mean!?’ Mariko asked, frantic. ‘Is he alright? What happened? Sojiro, answer me!’ ‘Yes, he’ll be fine, Mariko. You can calm yourself. He merely exhausted himself completely, so to speak. What just happened… is something that shouldn’t have happened though. Not yet at least.’ Sojiro replied, and then noticed that Mariko’s confusion hadn’t lessened much. ‘Even with the glove to bring about greater spiritual control, he shouldn’t be fit to utilize that technique this early on. We’ve only been training you both in the basics for the last ten days.’ If this was basic then Mariko didn’t want to see what her cousins considered intermediate; or advanced for that matter. That would make her crazy. ‘Thank goodness.’ She said instead. She wanted to run to his side, see for herself. But Kishiko was kneeling over him now and she’d only get in her way. ‘Kishiko,’ Kusaka said after close to ten minutes of silence. ‘Take Itazura and Mariko back to Nishiendo. Sojiro, you and I need to talk.’ ‘You can say that again,’ Sojiro rolled his eyes before gently pushing Mariko on her way. ‘Make sure he gets a good meal when he awakens, followed by bed rest. He ran himself ragged today. Now,’ he rounded on Kusaka as soon as the others were out of earshot, ‘what are your theories on what just happened? Discounting the end result, what Itazura just managed to do wasn’t the Rei Furashuu.’ ‘So you saw it too, eh?’ That didn’t help Kusaka’s mood any. ‘Unless my senses have deserted me completely he… shelved… his own spiritual energy. For the slightest moment it wasn’t Itazura standing in front of me. It was…’ ‘… The Rei Furashuu,’ Sojiro finished. ‘What does this mean, Kusaka? I’ve never seen anything like that before in all my life. And what does it mean for Mariko? Will hers be similar, or different?’ This was one conundrum the brothers didn’t need. Kusaka looked positively dumbfounded. He had no answers for his brother’s questions. Here he was a master of the Rei Furashuu and a child throws him for a loop with his very first usage. Could this day get any better? ‘I’ve got no answers, brother, only questions. We can safely rule out his zanpakutō. He doesn’t know his Shikai. It hasn’t even begun speaking to him yet.’ ‘We can rule out Kidō having an adverse effect as well,’ Sojiro added. ‘He was too exhausted to conjure any spells an hour ago, never mind fifteen minutes ago.’ That was putting it lightly. He’d summoned a mere flash followed by a brief spark. ‘So… at the end of our little brainstorm we come up with sweet F.A? That’s fantastic. Won’t Tadashi just love that?’ Right now it wasn’t looking good. It wasn’t often that Shin done anything constructive. He was lazy and mostly uncooperative to anyone save Tadashi yet even he had his uses. Extracting information from unwilling peoples was one useful quality he exhibited. Another was sneaking. Like Tadashi he’d served in the 2nd Division amongst the Onmitsukidō before becoming a captain, where he’d learned how to apply just the right kind of persuasion required. If that didn’t help then he’d just have to resort to more cunning means. ‘Name,’ he asked of his captive. ‘Nanashi,’ the young man answered willingly. ‘So you’re nameless? I find that hard to believe. Your mother must have truly loved you not to have named you.’ ‘Save your insults for someone who cares,’ Nanashi replied. One thing this so-called captain wouldn’t get was an angry reaction. ‘You’ve got a backbone, I see.’ Shin knew the moment he’d looked into those purple eyes yesterday afternoon that torture wouldn’t work. He could insult him until he was blue in the face as well and still get no farther forward. That wasn’t the way. This young man had the heart of a lion and a spine of steel. Breaking him wouldn’t be easy. But did he necessarily need to be broken? And with that thought Shin saw an option he had originally overlooked. All that remained was that the young man took the bait. ‘Well, I’m off.’ Shin said at last. ‘I’ve got a few new recruits to clean.’ They thought they were good gamblers. How wrong they’d soon find themselves to be. To them gambling was a hobby. To Shin it was a part of his life. This little act itself was a gamble. Before he left he turned and impacted the young man in the chest with enough force to knock him unconscious, while loosening the chains on the wall as well. Judging by the strength he demonstrated against Tedasuke, it wouldn’t be hard to prize them free of the wall now. ‘When he wakes wait an hour.’ He said to the two guards on duty. ‘After an hour has passed, bring him his supper and then vanish discreetly.’ ‘But-’ the first guard began to say. ‘Trust me,’ Shin patted the man on the shoulder. ‘It might help that he knows about my secret exit as well, but don’t make it obvious. Once he’s out, I’ll follow him at a distance. Chances are he’ll look for Tedasuke. On the flip side, he might lead me right to his employer. Whatever he does, I still get more info than I went in with.’ And if his luck was in that employer would be none other than Raiden Yasuhiro. ‘All we can do now is wait and see where the pieces fall. Oh! One more thing,’ ‘We won’t utter a word to Mrs. Kori, sir.’ Shin patted both on the shoulders before departing. Yukimura would never condone his actions. Besides, he’d gotten quite skilled ay lying to his little sister and manoeuvring around her. Tonight would be no different. If only young Riki was here. His nose could be put to good use… ‘Don’t think badly of Kusaka and Sojiro,’ Mariko finally worked up the courage to say the words. Kishiko merely remained silent as she changed Itazura’s many dressings. He looked like a little mummy, recently buried. ‘They’d never let anything happen to us that we couldn’t recover from.’ ‘My eyes told me otherwise,’ was Kishiko’s brisk reply. What did this girl know of her cousins? Kusaka was a barbarian. Kishiko saw him training with the others back in Horiwari often enough. He and Kenji battered one another black and blue and then laughed it off as a joke afterwards; as though butchering one another could simply be brushed aside like dust. And Sojiro was his main accomplice. Rarely did Sojiro ever question his brother’s methods. He had even stopped her intervening to stop Itazura’s senseless beating! ‘My mother once told me that your eyes shouldn’t be trusted, that they can deceive you.’ Mariko knew Itazura had been in no real danger. Bruises healed in time and that was all that had been inflicted. Bruises: Nothing more and nothing less. ‘If you knew anything at all about my cousins, then you’d know they aren’t mindless brutes. Kusaka’s been like a second father to us and Sojiro has ever been at our disposal should we have need of him.’ ‘Your cousins batter you both black and blue!’ ‘You don’t know anything about them,’ both girls turned to look at Itazura, who’d obviously been awake for some time, listening to their argument. He was laughing too. ‘Mariko was nearly killed two weeks ago,’ he said finally. ‘There was nothing I could’ve done to stop it, simply because I lacked the power. So I asked Kusaka and Sojiro to train us, so we’d be ready in the future. I know they knew we weren’t ready, but did they stop? No, they didn’t. And why did they train you then, I here you asking? Because they hate seeing us get injured, just as much as our parents do. They did it so we could protect ourselves and each other.’ He winced as he sat up on one elbow, his breathing laboured. ‘Judge them after you know their circumstances.’ Apparently Kishiko had nothing to say to that statement. As soon as she was done changing his bandages, she was gone, leaving the two Kori siblings alone. ‘You’ve thrown Kusaka and Sojiro for a loop with that stunt,’ Mariko told him with a smile. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. It was only then that Itazura saw the futon lying across the floor at the foot of his bed. ‘I remember standing up, thinking it was a bad idea and then… silver light that didn’t last long. Then I woke up here. What happened?’ So Mariko told him everything that had happened that morning. She started with his initial request which Kusaka showed hesitation in granting; the training that followed and finally his usage of the Rei Furashuu. ‘Sojiro was shaken. You could see it in the way he reacted. Kusaka hid his surprise poorly. Whichever form your Rei Furashuu took surprised them. They’re still discussing theories.’ To that Itazura only laughed, even if his ribs were a little tender. Now he could push for more control. Now he was a step closer to his goal. Next Story > Meeting the Reigai.
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