Chapter 30: Interim.
Chapter Thirty. (Edited by CDoggo: Heyyo! Fun fact of the chapter; Leeches have 32 brains, what you do with that information is up to you. Hope you enjoy the chapter!)
"I want to know your name, and I won't accept a no for an answer." Akihiko interjected, he had wasted more than enough time already, so now it was time to learn the one piece of information he needed in order to awaken his shikai. "So, answer me…''
"What's your name?"
His zanpakuto spirit blinked, a blank look adorning his face, remaining silent despite his sudden question, or perhaps because of that question.
''What an interesting thing to say.'' The kid mused, humming while he considered what to answer to his wielder. ''That wording seems to suggest I don't want you to know my name, you know? I'm sure you understand, there's not a single soul in this world that cares more about you than I do, and that's because…''
''Because you are me.'' Kuromiya finished, already knowing that little piece of information. It was common knowledge to anyone that finished watching Bleach that zanpakutos weren't just 'spirits' on a sword, but a part of the very own wielder's soul.
''Correct!'' The spirit praised, smiling lightly at his wielder while nodding in approval. ''Like you already know, it's not really my fault that you can't hear my name.''
''We can try if you want, but that still doesn't solve our problem.'' The little blonde kid started walking around the strange world, being followed by Kuromiya who still wanted to hear what the spirit had to say. ''That problem is, either you don't trust me enough or you have doubts about my intentions. Whatever the answer might be, that is preventing you from hearing my name.''
''Doubts? I can't have doubts about you, I know that you are a part of my…''
''Knowing something and understanding it are two different things, I'm afraid.'' His zanpakuto replied, after which he stopped in front of one of the myriad of doors that surrounded them. He pointed at it with his index finger, making Akihiko focus his gaze in that specific door. ''See that one? It has quite a few cracks on it, right?''
''So what of it?'' Kuromiya questioned, furrowing his brows at the cracked door. ''There's quite a few older looking doors here, this is hardly interesting.''
''See, that's where you are wrong.'' The spirit had at some point lost his child-like smile that he often wore, a somber mood taking over him. ''You know what this door should contain? You don't, of course. This single door should contain the memories about your own death, yet once you open it…''
The kid forced it open with a strong push, a few more cracks appearing on the door as it opened up, only to reveal…
. . .
Three 'soul reapers' were able to be seen having a discussion in the middle of the empty streets of the seireitei, each of them silently whispering to each other as they made a stop for what could have been six hours of walking.
''Sado-san, we need to stop.'' Ishida warned his classmate Sado Yasutora, no matter if both of them might have been able to walk for hours without rest, that wasn't the case for the third member of the group, Orihime, who was showing more than a few signs of exhaustion. ''I need to sit for a while, we don't have as much stamina as you.''
Ishida lied, making sure to phrase his words in a way that would make it seem like Orihime wasn't the only one tired, otherwise the gentle girl would end up pushing herself past her limits just to not be a bother.
''Ishida-kun…'' Orihime whispered in between heavy breaths, glad that she wasn't the only one tired. The beautiful girl had been walking with her friends for a bit over six hours, and their speed was far from the usual 'walk in the park', which didn't make things easier for her.
''Ishida, Inoue…'' Chad stopped at that, looking towards both of his classmates with a somewhat uneasy look. He had been in a hurry ever since Ichigo's spiritual pressure had lowered, and the feeling that his best friend was in trouble pushed him to double his pace, which the group apparently couldn't match.
Sado's gaze shifted towards the white tower which was still quite a distance away from them, the night had fallen upon them two hours ago too, which meant that Ichigo could still be in trouble for all they knew.
''Sado-san, you must have felt Kuromiya and Yoruichi's spiritual pressures around there too.'' Ishida reasoned, at this pace they would end up separating themselves, and that would do them no good. ''I'm sure at least one of them would help him, we don't need to worry.''
''That's not enough, I need to be sure.'' Chad argued back, shaking his head despite the fact that there was reason behind his classmate's words. ''You two can follow me at your own pace, I'll run to the tower and come back if I don't find anything.''
''Sado-kun, don't…'' Before Orihime could make an attempt to convince their friend, the tall teenager started running away, his focus settled on one single direction, the white tower. The girl tried to go after him, but Ishida's arm stopped her from giving chase to the man.
''Don't.'' Ishida said, making sure to keep his voice in a somewhat gentle tone or else things could get more than a little complicated. ''I'm sure Sado-san will be fine, our best way to help is to not get in his way.''
Truth be told, Ishida considered that their current groups would be the best, Chad was too focused on Ichigo right now and that would end up bringing unnecessary attention to them, which they certainly didn't need right now.
The two fifteen year olds were left alone on the streets, the night acting as their camouflage from most nearby soul reapers. The two of them walked through the streets, searching for a place to act as their cover for the night, and the moment they left, something happened.
From one of the walls of a building that had been no more than three meters away from the group, a human-like figure started coming out of the wall, as if he had been some kind of chameleon using the walls as camouflage.
''Oh well…'' A wicked smile colored the man's overall creepy appearance, his eyes focused on the retreating figure of the two classmates. ''It seems like I have found two new test subjects, and one for later too.''
This was no other than Mayuri Kurotsuchi, captain of the twelfth squad and president of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute.
. . .
''Nothing, nothing at all.'' Kuromiya whispered with a confused tone, his gaze lingering in the door that should have shown the moment of his death, and yet it didn't lead anywhere, nothing more than empty space of the black and white world. ''... How is this possible?''
''You should ask that to your little system, perhaps? The spirit questioned, and something about his voice made him feel like he didn't like the situation one bit. Still, despite his tone the zanpakuto proceeded to explain himself. ''Whatever the answer to that might be, I know for a fact that the voice inside your head isn't telling you the truth. I don't trust it, and I don't like the dependence you have on it.''
''So what? You want me to stop using an advantage like that?'' Kuromiya frowned, finally getting more than a little frustrated with their whole conversation. ''You know more than anyone just what threats are waiting for me, for us! You think I can take on someone like 'him' without it?''
There was no need for either of them to mention just who that 'him' was, both of them had a single face appear on their minds, and one name repeated itself in their consciousness. Still, despite their mutual line of thinking, their emotions regarding it were quite different.
''... I hate it.'' His spirit whispered to him, clenching his child fist's in the first showings of actual anger that it had ever shown. ''Are you that scared of Yhwach that you can't even say his name? You have yet to explore your own powers and already accept that he's impossible to defeat?''
That hurt, because whether Kuromiya wanted to admit it or not, he had feared even thinking about the so-called 'Bleach Final Boss', even now he was doing his best to concentrate on the current threats, just to avoid thinking about him.
''I don't like that, one bit! You trust too much the system, but what do you really know about it?'' The spirit kept talking, not allowing to even take a breath before he was admonished for his actions yet again. To further explain his point, the blonde kid snapped his fingers, and four doors materialized out of nowhere, each one of them opening to show a different memory.
''That is…'' Kuromiya started, recognizing his first real fight in this world, against nothing but a regular hollow that had been an instant away from killing him.
''That little system just loved to lecture you about risking your life, yet he ambushes you to fight a hollow without a warning. Talented as you might be, you had little but no combat experience and this was the one situation at which you were the most vulnerable.'' The kid said, snapping his fingers for yet a second time while that specific door vanished.
Both of their gazes turned towards the next door, which showed when he had been fighting Gin Ichimaru at the gates of the Soul Society.
''No memories about your own death, the system doesn't have a problem with risking your life…'' The zanpakuto pointed out, making sure that his wielder understood each of his arguments. ''Let me ask you this, do you notice something strange with this memory?''
''I don't think so.'' Akihiko confessed, not quite noticing what could have been wrong with this particular door. While the memory of Gin cutting their path to the insides of the Soul Society played itself, he started noticing something that he had missed at the time.
''You remember now, don't you? Your first thought when facing Gin Ichimaru was that he had…''
''Around twice as much spiritual pressure as me.'' Kuromiya finished, understanding what his zanpakuto meant. Since that moment, he had purchased two 'reiatsu boosts', which in theory should have made his current self much stronger than Gin was. ''Yet when I think back and compare myself to Gin, I feel like we should be on a similar level.''
''Exactly my point, now think back and try to picture where that concept of 'twice the amount of spiritual pressure' came from.'' His spirit prompted him to continue his current line of thoughts, soon enough his wielder would arrive at the truth.
''That concept kinda 'popped' itself on my mind… I'm not quite sure how, I shouldn't have been able to feel spiritual pressure at that point in time.'' Kuromiya was talking about the first time he had purchased a boost upon arriving to this world, but by that time it should have been impossible for him to determine such a thing. ''You are not telling me that…?''
''That 'wrong' concept was given to you by the system, despite both you and me knowing that it wasn't a smart idea to purchase it, the same happened whenever you had a chance to make yourself stronger, regardless of the risk, the system just came back to push you to do it.'' The spirit explained, the rest of the doors opening up, each one showing a situation where he had the chance to grow stronger, each one of them holding a risk.
When he had purchased his first boost despite the fact that it would have made him a target for hollows, when he had the chance to further push his fullbring abilities to their next level, his system had arranged a situation for him to do so.
Last but not least, when he had the chance to select a second race despite the consequences that might come to bite him in the ass, the system pushed him to do it.
''Now listen to me, I'm not telling that the system is evil or wants to take over, that's just some cringy ass low quality fanfic shit.'' The kid said with a straight face, though his words managed to break all the seriousness and tension on the air. ''All I'm telling you is, you can trust me, for I am your very own powers and never in a million years would I bring you harm. You can use the system, but don't let it use you!''
''... That's enough.'' Kuromiya said, his own smirk mimicking the mocking smile of the kid that looked at him. Now, after all the words of his spirit, a piece of his very own soul, he had finally managed to understand a bit of his sword's feelings. ''You sure love to talk a lot, huh? If you want my trust, then you can have it, in exchange…''
''Give me those powers, and I shall make hundreds of new memories for you.'' He finished, offering his fist to the blonde kid while waiting for his answer.
''It's not 'give me those powers', don't talk about them like that.'' Fist bumping with Kuromiya, the spirit replied to his wielder's words. ''They are your powers after all, now, you better hear my name this time or else I'm throwing you out of here. Scream it, like you are some vanilla shonen protagonist, my name is…''
Nothing came out of the kid's mouth, much to Kuromiya's disappointment, and just when he was about to fall into desperation, his spirit laughed.
''I'm just messing with you, I just opened my mouth and didn't say a thing.'' His laugh just got louder at the pissed look on his wielder's face, who clearly didn't find the situation amusing. ''My name is Eien Mujou, you better let everyone know that!''
''You just had to ruin the moment…'' Kuromiya muttered under his breath, watching as the kid kept laughing at him after telling him his name. With a frown visible on his face, he just started walking away from 'Mujou', hoping to get out of his creepy inner world. ''Whatever, can you send me out or something?''
''Alrighty then! Just make sure to create a few nice memories for me to see, especially with that Yoruichi!'' The spirit waved at him, once again pushing him out of the strange dimension and soon enough leaving him to be the only inhabitant of that world.
. . .
''Hm, you are done with the little chat with your spirit already?'' Yoruichi questioned, her yellow eyes focused on the figure of the teenager that had been seemingly in the middle of an encounter with his zanpakuto. ''I must say, he sure must be quite talkative if he pushes you to talk with him so often.''
Kuromiya blinked, his gaze traveling from the roof and landing on Yoruichi's beautiful face and her cat-like eyes, who seemed to illuminate the darkness that surrounded the room in which both him and Ichigo had been resting.
''Yeah, about that.'' Kuromiya stood up, searching for his zanpakuto which was resting against a wall, and after no more than a few seconds he picked it up, unsheathing it in front of the woman's eyes and Ichigo's still unconscious form. ''He wanted me to scream it, so I'll whisper just to annoy him a bit.''
''Wait, what are you…?'' Yoruichi asked, her curious gaze following his movement as he placed his hand on the blade of his zanpakuto. ''Don't tell me you already learned it…''
''I won't tell you then, I'd rather show it to you.'' His smirk widened at that, focusing on his blade as his once greyish blade started glowing in a pale white color, and so, he muttered it's release command. ''Interim, Eien Mujou.''
End of chapter thirty.
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