NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20: Retorta chapter 14
Kaien is freaking the hell out. Kukaku can't quite tell why , because he can't tell her anything other than that it's Gotei 13 business, which could be anything from "Juushiro is sick again and I don't like it" to "the next war of extermination is on the horizon." Kaien tends to freak out quite a lot.
She hasn't seen him worn quite this thin since their mother died, though. It worries her, and she can't even help because she's not a Shinigami herself, and thus not privy to Seireitei secrets. She'd wanted to join for exactly that reason, be some unseated member in his squad to try to take some pressure off of his too-young shoulders, but he'd talked her out of it. She'd still been healing from the explosion back then, mentally and physically, and she'd been determined to prove that lacking an arm wouldn't take away from her potential. She doesn't have Kaien's particular brand of genius, but she's smart, and a fast learner, and she's even better at reading people and situations than he is.
And when she'd gone to him as her newly-appointed clan head and declared her intention, she'd seen him truly afraid for the first time in her life. All the color had drained out of his face, and he'd swayed on his feet. He'd begged to know her reasoning, and only relaxed finally when she'd promised to stay well away from Seireitei and its Court Guard and its politics. She'd been half sure by the end of it that Kaien was going to try to send her back out to Rukongai, running from some unseen threat.
It was the first time she'd ever considered that their government might be something less than trustworthy, but now, decades later, Kukaku iss glad she took her brother's advice and stayed the hell out. If nothing else, her friendship with the Shihouin heiress had given her a unique insight into the darker aspects of the Gotei 13. Their continuing contact, right up until the hollowfication debacle, had confirmed what she'd already known, really. Something was terribly, terribly rotten in the very heart of Soul Society.
The last thing she'd heard, C46 was unlikely to make a favorable decision and Yoruichi was preparing to desert her post in the hopes of saving the lives of her first friends and the newly born hollows, which Yoruichi was convinced that Urahara could fix, given enough time to work.
Then something had gone to hell and now no one knew anything, or couldn't admit to anything, and Yoruichi hadn't come back to the Shiba compound with her rescues, as agreed. Kaien is looking through their clan archives with an air of frazzled bewilderment, and the entirety of Seireitei resembled a kicked hornet's nest.
Kukaku hasn't been more worried--or curious-- in decades. Wherever Yoruichi was, she hoped the werecat was having fun.
Muramasa is a patient creature, by nature. Their former master had been a brash, impatient man by nature, and Muramasa had developed in counterpart to that. They had waited centuries before Ichigo had saved them, and they don't mind watching things play out from a distance. Bonding with Ichigo hasn't changed that, much. They're perfectly content to sit back and watch the Gotei 13 tear itself apart, for instance. They are also perfectly aware that Ichigo will never stand by and let such a thing happen. It's one of the things they admire most about their second owner.
It's also one of the most infuriating, because Muramasa is also a protective creature, and they would love to bundle Ichigo away and never allow anyone near him again, save his close companions.
They won't do that either, because it would make Ichigo unhappy, and that's the least acceptable outcome. So they'll just have to be strong enough to beat everyone a thousand times over, so no one can ever touch him without his consent, and no one can ever touch his loved ones.
In this, at least, they and both halves of Zangetsu are in absolute, perfect accord.
It's interesting to be back in time, though, knowing that Koga is sealed away somewhere instead of dead , but for once, Muramasa doesn't feel a pang of sorrow or longing. They've healed. They belong here, with Ichigo and Shiro and Ossan, shepherding a bunch of insanely-powerful newborn Visored and whoever else seems to be gathering to Ichigo's particular brand of gravity.
Koga can rot.
A wild shriek draws their attention away from their musings, and they turn to see Ossan holding off Shiro's wild attacks, Zanpakuto and Quincy spirit each making an admirable attempt at eviscerating the other. Shiro is grinning widely, sharp teeth on full display, and for all his stoicism, Ossan isn't really concealing his enjoyment either.
Muramasa watches for a while, content to enjoy the others' terrible attempts at sparring--did they really have no other setting than all out?-- except then Ossan heaves Shiro off the end of his blade directly into them.
This time, the screech is all theirs, as they're knocked arse over teakettle by the hollowfied sword. Shiro bounces back up, laughing, and prepares to launch himself at Ossan again, without even a glance at the generally calmer spirit he knocked over, only to be interrupted by a different sword thrust through his gut. From behind. He glances over his shoulder in shock, meeting Muramasa's narrowed eyes, and then he dissolves into mist as they cleave right through his spine. He'll be back in a moment, with Ichigo's power levels, but it's still a bit of an inconvenience for him.
Good.
If the other two want to play, Muramasa thinks viciously, they are more than willing to oblige them.
Somewhere in the midst of showing Lisa a bakudo, Ichigo sighs. He loves his spirits, gods help him, but dear lord did none of them know how to shut up .
Kurotsuchi Mayuri squints at his sensors. He's recalibrated them half a dozen times already today, but he still doesn't like what they're telling him. By which he means that what they're telling him is flatly impossible, and if he tries to go to Yamamoto with this he'll be back in the Maggot's Nest before he can blink .
There are, in fact, not a dozen Arrancar lounging around on top of Soukyoku Hill. For one, there isn't nearly enough screaming. Second, because he's a good scientist dammit , there are not a dozen Arrancar on Soukyoku Hill because he went and looked, and thus independently verified that these sensors are full of bullshit and not science. There wasn't a trace of Hollow reiatsu in the area, and Mayuri trusts his instruments, but he trusts his own senses more. He's--more or less captain-class, by now, especially since he's got Bankai. While it's plausible that there are a handful of Hollows out there that are far stronger than he is, it's definitively improbable that all of them decided to get together, come to Soul Society, and sit around on the execution hill doing nothing.
A little light on the sensor blips, indicating that one of the signatures just appeared at the same moment another disappeared.
It's been doing that for hours, too. He wants it to stop, but the only way he can do that is to calibrate it to ignore all hollow reiatsu over a certain level--which is stupid. What if actual Arrancar showed up? Or the hollowfied former captains? Mayuri has so many questions. Literally all the questions.
Curse Aizen for being a secretive bastard and hiding his notes, and also curse him for dying without ever letting on what he'd been doing. Mayuri helped in the research division for a reason, dammit, surely they could have collaborated?
He wants Urahara. At least he knows that his taicho is still alive--he won't believe that slippery ninja bastard is dead until he sees the body himself. And run half a dozen tests. And even then he won't be totally sure, because Urahara is a slippery ninja bastard . At least Mayuri isn't doing whatever Soi Fon is doing; that level of moping is terribly unattractive and utterly useless.
Mayuri will make it so that Urahara will be damn proud to come back and acknowledge him.