Bleached

Chapter 7: Christmas holidays (part 2)

Zanpakouto speech

§ Shiba Clan Mansion: Elder's meeting room §

One Shiba Kokouto was in a rage. Not only had one of the Elders of his Council killed the former Clan leader, but he'd clearly done something more terrible, if his fate as an eternal sinner was something to judge by. The icing on the cake was that Kaien had insisted several times to him that Ryuu had too much power. But everytime Kokouto had waved his concerns aside. After all, if someone was mildly unpleasant, it didn't mean that they were mass murderers. But right now his attention was drawn to the young man, who was actually a child in terms of age. But Kokouto felt as if his experience of a thousand years of life were nothing compared to the experinces the young Heir Lord had undoubtedly experienced.

The Elder was also curious about his Sensing abilities. As far as he was aware, only the strongest Shibas had the ability. Shiba Isshin, who was a Captain level shinigami, had told him in a rare moment of seriousness that if he went into Bankai, and concentrated hard enough, he could hear snippets of his opponent's thoughts. But the Heir Lord had apparently heard everything Ryuu had thought, so much so that he got the slippery eel to admit one his greatest secrets. Without even entering his shikai. Such a mystery this young man Council leader finally called order to the meeting.

"Quiet down! I know that the shocking revelations of today have stunned us to the very core. Lord Kaien, what do you suggest we do?" Kokouto knew that Kaien's word would be the final say in the action the Council was going to do. Kaien was after all, a charismatic leader, and no one beside Ryuu had ever disagreed with him. Kaien seemed thoughtful, before he answered.

"I would like for the Clan to send the details of the revelations to the Onmitsukido, conveniently leaving out anything about Sensing, ofcourse,and have them lead a thorough investigation. After all, it is their third seat who was revealed to be an eternal sinner." Kaien paused, then a small vidictive smirk graced his face.

"And I would think it will be beneficial for us to hand over Shiba Kyuu to them as well. After all, his escapades are no secret from anyone." Everyone grimaced at the mention of the pathetic son of Ryuu. After the motion had passed with an ovewhelming "aye",one of the Elders, Shiba Natsumi (AN: Thanks!) asked Kaien something hesitantly.

"Lord Kaien-sama, you always opposed Elder Ryuu. Could it be that you knew of his deeds?" the Council became still at the query, and focused their attention back to Kaien once again, who had an inscrutible look on his face. Kokouto winced as he realised that Kaien was very close to cracking, if his reiatsu was anything to go by.

"Yes. I knew that Ryuu was an evil man. I knew that he needed to be thrown out of the Council, and possibly the Clan. I knew that," a look of anguish came over Kaien's face as he finally lost control of his reiatsu. In miliseconds, Ichigo was beside him, providing his brother comfort. Kaien visibly struggled to regain his control as he continued.

"I knew that he...he murdered Father...because I was there. The night Father was assasinated, he was very tired. He'd recently returned from a month long stay in Hueco Mundo. So he was an easy prey for Ryuu. I was only a recent graduate from the Academy then. I didn't have enough credentials to coonvince the Council or the C46 of Ryuu's deeds, not without solid evidence. So, I worked hard to become a stronger and more respectable as a shinigami. But it wasn't enough. I still didn't have enough evidence against Ryuu. But then along came my brother." Kaien gave Ichigo a soft smile.

"I can't say how grateful I am, otouto, that you managed to kill that bastard, and at the same time provided evidence aganist him. I was suprised that the Gates of Hell appeared, as I am not aware of Ryuu's other..ventures." The silence that Kaien's emotional outburst generated was broken by the occasional sniffle. Poor Natsumi was looking horribly guilty. Kokouto clenched his fists, his rage reappearing. That all this had happened under the nose of the Council was a wake-up call. But the Elder pulled himself together. He focused his attention towards the Heir Lord, who was comforting his older brother. Clearing his throat, Kokouto brought everyone's attention towards himself.

"We are all grateful, Heir Lord , I am curious about how you managed to Sense The Sinner's thoughts. I think we're all aware of your high reiatsu, as we can all sense it. Why don't you supress it, by the even then, a Captain level Shiba can only hear snippets of thoughts when they are in bankai, and you clearly didn't even release shikai. " Ichigo scowled at the query about his reiatsu as he thought of a suitable reply.

"To answer your question, Council leader, my Sense has always been strong. I have to supress it's reach, or I am subjected to everyone's thoughts, and I don't want to invade anyone's privacy. Despite that, I am still able to Sense auras. The reason I used my Sense on The Sinner was because he was emitting a...stained aura, like his soul was drenched in a foul substance. As for your other question, well, I am supressing my reiatsu. What you are sensing is approximately 20% of my unreleased reiryouko." The Elders were all beyond being shocked by the Heir Lord, as proven by the blink and subsequent shrug most of them took. Kaien looked amused. It seemed like Ichigo had made the impression he'd desired. But something was nagging on the Clan Head's mind. He turned towards the Council leader.

"If you don't mind me asking, Kokouto-sama, how did you get to know about Ichigo? I was going to introduce him today anyways, but I had planned him as a surprise, mainly so Ryuu didn't attempt anything against him." Kokouto looked a bit sheepish at the question.

"Ah, well you see... a couple of weeks ago, Kuchiki Ginrei showed up on our weekly tea-session, looking slightly gobsmacked. Then he invited us to the annual Kuchiki ball, which is on Christmas Eve, in two days, insisting repeatedly that I bring the new Shiba Heir Lord to the ball, along with the Clan Head, of course. I was totally confused, but I masked it well enough. So I took this meeting as an opportunity to find out what was going on. And I must ask the Heir Lord for the reason that Lord Kuchiki is so interested in him." Ichigo blinked, slightly bemused by Kokouto's answer and the subsequent question.

"That would probably be because I have a good friendship with Heir Lord Kuchiki Byakuya." The orange haired man hid a smile, remembering the reason for Ginrei's gobsmacked expression. Apparently Byakuya had never accepted anyone outside Yorouichi and Juushiro as friends in his 90 years of life. So the elder Kuchiki was reasonbly surprised when Ichigo and Byakuya were messing around, in typical teenage fashion on one of the occasions they went to the Kuchiki mansion one weekend. Of course Ginrei had probably interrogated Byakuya after Ichigo had left, and he'd probably told him who Ichigo was. Not that Ichigo minded. The Heir Lord re-focused at what the Council leader was saying. He sighed almost out loud when he got to know that they were finally done.

§ Kuchiki Mansion, Christmas Eve §

Ichigo was sitting on the porch of the Kuchiki, preferring to be alone. He was brooding, tired of keeping a polite smile on his face, pitying the hosts, especially Byakuya. He was also mad at his escorts, Kaien, Kokouto and his past-future father. eally, after forcing him through another session with the Creepy Trio, they should at least have the decency to accompany him through this ball. He grimaced, remembering his meeting with Isshin, and the revelations it had brought.

* Flash-back, two days ago, after the Council meeting*

Kaien, Kokouto and Ichigo were having dinner. They were all in one of the most hard-to-reach and well-secured areas in the Mansion, giving them freedom to talk about anything and everything. Kokouto was asking Ichigo about his powers, and he was giving him the Bullshit Backstory, as dubbed by Shiro. Suddenly someone entered the room, surprising Ichigo while Kokouto and Kaien remained unsurprised. Then Ichigo took a good look at who'd entered. It was his future father, though the man likely didn't know it. But what surprised Ichigo was that man had sideburns. And no goatie. Huh. It seemed like Shiba Isshin was doomed to make bad decisions regarding his facial hair. Shiro and Yhwach, remained quiet, as they were probably busy fightig of yet another flashback of yet another painful death.

"Ah, Isshin-jii, finally. Let me introduce you to our new Heir Lord, Ichigo, and this is my jii, you probably don't need to call him jii." Kaien introduced the two of them. Ichigo looked slightly bemused. It seemed like his father had missed the meeting if his surprised reaction at his identity was anything to go by. And he was probably freaked out by the similarities between Kaien and Ichigo.

"Pleasure to make your aquentice, though, I must ask, why weren't you at the meeting, Isshin-san?" the man in question blinked as Ichigo winced inwardly at calling his father by his name. He preferred Goat-face. Kaien exchanged a glance, and Kaien gave a slight nod. Ichigo blinked at the exchange, slightly confused. Kokouto sighed.

"Well, we might as well tell you now and be done with it. Kai-chan, could you please cast a privacy kido?" the Elder voiced out, confusing Ichigo even more. Kaien twitched at the butchering of his name, though he obliged. Isshin ran a tired hand through his hair.

"It is a rather long explanation, Ichigo-sama. You see, this is the most well-kept secret of the Shiba Clan, and the reason why there haven't been that many Shiba Captains. You see, when a Shiba reaches bankai, the Reiou offers him or her a place in the Royal guard. Although you can decline, or retire, many Shibas decide to accept the offer. I was offered the same when I reached bankai 50 years ago. As you can see, I accepted. Thus my reason for being late." Isshin explained. Ichigo was wide-eyed at the end of the explanation. Did his father just say what he heard? And did he use a fucking honorific?! He literally felt Shiro going green. Ichigo refocused.

"Please, for the love of all things holy, do not use honorifics when talking to me." Ichigo bit out. Isshin blinked, then shrugged in acceptance. Looks like the hate of honorifics was universal.

*Flash back end*

Ichigo shook himself out of his reverie. He shivered slightly. It looked to be a cold night. He almost jumped when someone touched his shoulder, before turning to face his companion. Byakuya looked slightly smug as Ichigo turned to face him.

"It seems like I finally surprised you, Sensei." the raven-haired man said arrogantly as Ichigo glared at him without heat. They held their postures for a while, before breaking into laughter.

Next: Meeting