Bab 49: Achieving Bankai
Itsuki was surprised,
'Two weeks'
He never expected that it would take that long for him just to achieve the first two stages of Saber.
'Still, who would've thought'
Itsuki was still surprised to encounter Saber inside his inner world. She seemed to have some direct link with his eyes.
Coming out of his thoughts, he saw Yoruichi waiting for him as he once again got up and followed her. Yoruichi, didn't let this blunder go, as a playful smile appeared on her face,
"Arara, it seems that you have some issues with your Shunpo. Would you like this elder sister to help you?"
Itsuki just ignored her while he once again reached the trees. Over the years, he had come to ignore her taunts and just treat it like an everyday thing. His relationship with the girls had gone long past friends and, including them, even Itsuki didn't know where they were. They had come in contact with each other as sparks seemed to fly, especially between Rangiku and Yoruichi. Rangiku had long since passed the academy and had joined the 10th division like the anime. She expressed her interest in joining Itsuki but was adamantly refused by him.
Itsuki knew that the 2nd division was no place for someone of Rangiku's character, so he was against it. It was the same for Gin, he wouldn't let her get close to the one that harmed her. Plus, he didn't want to show any weakness to him so her request to enter the 5th division was immediately denied.
Downtrodden, she went to the 10th division, who's current captain was someone who wasn't mentioned in the anime. It seemed Shiba Isshin hadn't become the 10th division captain yet.
Over the years, Itsuki had many run-ins with various captains and lieutenants, including the future visored members and Aizen himself. All these interactions were brief as Itsuki was doing his job, other than that he was still dead set on trying to defeat the third stage of Saber. His most notable interaction was probably with Sarugaki Hiyori when a criminal Shinigami escaped into the S.R.D.I Headquarters, the Shinigami Research and Development Institute.
His subordinates were barred entrance into the facility and eventually Itsuki was called. Coming in front of the facility's entrance, a group of Onmitsukido members could be seen standing confronting a small figure. The said figure had spiky blonde hair tied into twin pigtails and brown eyes. She was relatively short and wore the standard Shinigami uniform with a lieutenant armband. She had three freckles underneath each eye and a long protruding fang from the upper left side of her mouth.
She seemed to be in deep anger and started beating the members up as Itsuki got close.
"Like I said, no one is here!"
"But, Lieutenant Sarugaki, we have no choice. The criminal was seen entering the facility"
Before Hiyori could retort a voice was heard,
"What's going on here?"
""Corps Commander""
The members immediately kneeled upon realising the intruder was their superior. Hiyori looked upwards at the newcomer while holding an Onmitsukido member by the collar and the other hand balled into a fist. Looking up, the sun entered her eyes and she couldn't get a proper glance at the figure in front of her.
Just as she was squinting her eyes trying to make out the figure, the all too annoying voice of her captain was heard.
"Ma, ma. There's no need to get physical, and, Minamoto-san, you and your subordinates can enter…"
Before he even finished speaking Itsuki had already disappeared from their sights.
"Oi!!"
Hiyori tried stopping him, but she had lost all traces of him.
"Give up Hiyori-san, he has already gone"
Hiyori was gobsmacked by Itsuki's speed as she just stood there in the same position. Turning towards her captain, she saw him just stand there while smiling at her,
"What'cha looking at me for, D*ckhead?!"
Throwing the man grasped in her arms at Urahara, she stomped off. Urahara and Itsuki's subordinate were left shocked with the way she acted. Trying to confirm his suspicions he voiced out,
"Don't tell me Hiyori-san, you're unaffected"
Hearing this, Hiyori turned around
"Huh?"
Clearly confused by Urahara's claims, a confused look was plastered on her face.
"Didn't you see, Minamoto's face?"
Turning her head to the side she replied,
"No, the sun was in the way"
As if realising something,
"Come to think of it, even last time I didn't get to see his face"
The group had a look of understanding on their faces when they saw Hiyori's face deep in thought.
"Although, I've heard rumours in the Shinigami's women association…"
During her contemplation, a gust of wind was felt before Itsuki returned while dragging an unconscious Shinigami by the nape.
"Let's go, I've caught him"
""""Hai""""
Hiyori just stood there, mouth agape, as Itsuki had appeared in front of her, in full view. This time she got a perfect look at Itsuki's face as a slight blush appeared on her cheeks. Itsuki's cold eyes looked down at her. She looked up and his next words brought out a vein,
"I'm not interested in children"
Followed by him disappearing.
"What the f'ck did you say?!"
Shouting to no one and finding no one to vent her anger towards, a prey appeared in her field of vision. She just looked at her captain's goofy face while he stared back with an oblivious look.
Running up to him, she jumped and planted both her feet on his face before storming off.
Another notable thing was that Itsuki was lent to the 11th division. Zaraki Kenpachi hadn't become captain yet and currently Kiganjo Kenpachi was its captain. Although they hadn't met, Itsuki was given back to the 2nd division only a week later for reasons unknown.
Apart from these episodes, Itsuki's training was anything but smooth. Facing defeat after defeat, Itsuki concluded that Saber wasn't a great teacher. He realised that she was trying to teach him something from the start, but he always died before or when she showed it. Since then it's been a year since his first defeat and today seemed to be the same. It would go the same and when she struck with that move everything would disappear and he would wake up.
However, this time the sword didn't hit him, instead it was realisation.
Clarity formed in Itsuki's eyes as this time he felt something from the sword. Before he thought that disappearing was the end, but he never realised that it wasn't. What he needed to feel was the emptiness of the sword itself, the reason for the disappearance. A series of words appeared in his head as he also swung his Odachi, hitting Saber's katana.
Emptiness covered his heart as he felt his eyes starting to strengthen. What followed was Saber's katana being sliced into two as the Odachi then slicing her in two. She once again disappeared into motes of light including her katana as they entered his eyes while a yukata similar to Saber's kimono appeared on him. A black samurai armour then formed around him with a flag extending out the back of the armour with the insignia of a tiger and dragon roaring at each other. No skin could be seen as he wore gloves in his hands and he still had his jika-tabi. Now the only thing he lacked was a helmet and a mask.
Itsuki's current look was of a valiant general that belonged to only one place, the battlefield.
Wondering why the armour wasn't complete, Itsuki saw a figure in the distance.
'Not again'
While thinking this he got a clear look on the figure and was surprised to see someone wearing the exact same armour as him, but with the helmet and mask. The helmet had a crescent moon sitting on top of it as an ornament. Like the armour, the helmet was pitch black alongside the mask. It wasn't a plain mask; it had the mouth of a roaring tiger sculpted on it. The teeth that jutted out had a peculiar shine to it giving the impression that it was anything but weak.
The figure also held the same Odachi as Itsuki.
Staring at each other, both of them disappeared into a series of clashes towards a long drawn out fight. Although, it didn't end up as his win, he didn't lose rather it drew out long enough until Itsuki was forced out of his inner spirit due to fatigue.
Like this, another six months flew by with training and him responding to his duties. Currently, a figure could be seen sitting on a rock with two swords on his lap.
Coming out of his meditation, Itsuki looked at the open field surrounding him as he got up,
"So that's my Bankai"
The last fight with the figure was especially intense but he still ended up embedding his sword onto said figure. Upon awakening he realised that the trials done by Saber were partially linked. The first three got him ready and the last gave him what he needed.
He didn't know who the figure was as it didn't talk no matter how many times Itsuki tried to initiate a conversation. Meaning he tried, but never succeeded in bringing out the words needed to start a conversation resulting in it being a long silent six months.
Night had descended when he returned to his room. Having just entered, an announcement was heard,
"Emergency! Emergency! All captains are to report to the 1st division barracks immediately. An anomaly has occurred with the 9th division. The 9th division's captain Muguruma Kensei and Lieutenant Kuna Mashiro's reiatsu have completely vanished. An emergency meeting of all captains will commence immediately."
Calculating the time, Itsuki realised the hollowfication incident had already commenced due to Seireitei getting the news of Muguruma Kensei and Kuna Mashiro disappearing. This also means that Urahara Kisuke would have already sent out Mayuri to help the squad.
Itsuki got ready and made his way into the main hall of the 2nd division. It was half full as the rest were still getting ready while Soi Fon and them had gone with Yoruichi as her personal guards. Itsuki didn't wait long until Yoruichi and her entourage entered the hall with Yoruichi plopping down on her seat.
Giving out a sigh of frustration, Yoruichi mumbled,
"That damn Kisuke, couldn't keep his cool"
After that she dismissed the room saying that it was of no concern. Only Itsuki, Soi Fon and Marenoshin were left inside the hall when she began to tell them the full situation,
"…with that 5th division's captain Shinji Hirako, 7th division's captain Aikawa Love, 3rd division's captain Otoribashi Rojuro, the kido corps' lieutenant Ushouda Hachigen and 8th division's lieutenant Yadomaru Lisa were sent out. I am to remain on standby and Itsuki…"
Turning to look at Itsuki, Yoruichi let out a surprised exclamation
"Wait Itsuki, your eyes?"
Shocked by the sudden exclamation, Itsuki quickly found a mirror and took a deep look. He still had his handsome features but appeared more mature, same haircut but what was different was his eyes.
His eyes remained the same as when he had his Mystic Eyes activated. Azure blue pupils with a beautiful pink layer within. He knew he had his eyes deactivated but for some reason they didn't disappear. He activated them before deactivating to test things out. He felt there was no changes, but his eyes did seem powerful than before. Concluding that it had something to do when he defeated the third Saber, he let things pass before trying to find out the changes in his own time.
Returning to the main hall, Itsuki just sat down with no intention to explain it to them. He didn't want any more people to know the secret to his eyes. Knowing Itsuki's intentions for not sharing, they didn't talk about his eyes and moved on to another topic.
Upon being dismissed, Itsuki began contemplating into his future action. He didn't need the power of a hollow as he had his eyes and saw no need in escaping with Urahara. He wasn't close to the other captains as well so it would instead look suspicious, making a few more plans for the future, Itsuki took out a new training regime as he now needed to train his Bankai and find out if any changes has happened to his eyes. Once he was finished, he sat down to meditate with his swords on his lap.
**********************************
Author's note(well rant)
Sorry guys, had lost all motivation in writing.
Landed two job interviews, one went really well but sadly didn't get it and the other...
Well the other, I had a phone interview but was rejected before it even began for one simple reason, being a student.
Was quite downtrodden so lost my motivation.
Well i'm now back and will try to make up for the other chapters.
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