Itsuki was currently in his captain attire sitting on his desk. He wore the standard captain"s attire with black ribbons tied around his arms. He wore the normal shihakuso but instead of wearing straw sandals he wore a pair of thin Jiktabi.Seikyo was perched upon a stand next to him, cleaning her feather. She looked up with alert upon noticing someone entering.
He was going over some paperwork when he had a visitor. It saw a relatively young captain in front of him. He had five kenseikans on his head with three on top and two on the side. His captain"s haori had the number six on the back and wore a pair of fingerless white tekko.
"An unexpected visitor"
Itsuki just looked at Byakuya with the expression "What do you want? Can"t you see I"m busy"
Byakuya sighed when he saw this, Itsuki hadn"t changed and was still a man of few words. Byakuya was extremely haggard as he hadn"t got sleep for the past few days. His wife"s health continued to deteriorate, and he couldn"t find anything to help.
Eventually asking Yamamoto he was led to here. He couldn"t find any cure and no doctor could help the woman. Yamamoto said that Itsuki may be able to help but he didn"t get his hopes high. Turning to his friends he bowed,
"Please can you help…"
Byakuya was a complicated character, incomparably apathetic bordering on arrogance and looking down on his enemies but would ask for help when needed. Like, when he asked for help from Ichigo during the blood war to protect Soul Society, whilst knowing he was a human and shouldn"t be included in Soul Society"s affairs. It seemed that he didn"t care for others, but in fact he did care for those closest to him. For example, he blocked Rukia in becoming a seated officer to stop her form endangering herself.
Mid bow he suddenly stopped. A katana was right there in front of his eyes, if he moved any further it would stab into him. Looking up, he saw Itsuki looking down with an angry look in his eyes.
Itsuki was initially surprised to see Byakuya bow but it was instantly supressed by anger. Over the years, Byakuya and him would spar every other day and a rivalry/friendship was created. He felt offended with how Byakuya was acting like a stranger in front of him.
Knowing Itsuki"s thoughts, Byakuya just gave out a smile and left towards the Kuchiki manor as he returned to his apathetic look while Itsuki followed behind. The dream of many female"s would have come true if they were seen together, but with their speed, they went largely unnoticed until they reached the Kuchiki manor.
Itsuki was a frequent visitor to the manor so he knew his way round but still followed Byakuya out of courtesy. Arriving next to a room, a pair of shojis suddenly opened with Unohana leaving the room. She was also called to try and help but was unable to do so.
Unohana looked up and past Byakuya as she gave out her motherly smile.
"It"s been a long time, Itsuki-san"
Itsuki just nodded while Byakuya questioned Unohana,
"Hisana, she…"
Unohana just shook her head before Byakuya could finish. Upon knowing the answer, he backed down and looked towards Itsuki. He was his final hope but Byakuya never had much faith.
Itsuki just looked at Unohana, she was a scary woman. He remembered when they first met after he became captain.
- Flashback -
They were just left the captain"s meeting room when Unohana came towards him. They were still in the 1st Division HQ so no other Shinigami was around.
"So Itsuki-san, how are you coping as a captain?"
"Good"
"This must be Seikyo, she is indeed a cute bird"
Seikyo who was on Itsuki"s shoulder was patted on her head as she complied by rubbing her head on Unohana"s arm.
"Fufufu"
Giving out a laugh, she picked Seikyo up and handed it to Ukitake who was also there. Itsuki was confused by her actions as she looked towards him.
"Follow me"
Leaving these words, she made her way towards the training ground where Yamamoto trained Itsuki. The other captains decided to follow what was up. Currently, only Itsuki had become a new captain so Aizen wasn"t here and the current Kenpachi was still the same as Zaraki had yet to come so he wasn"t here as well.
With them were just, Ginrei, Shunsui and Ukitake.
Unohana had her back against Itsuki as the others stood some distance away. Suddenly, a horrifying reiatsu filled with battle l.u.s.t poured out of Unohana. Her tied up her escaped her restraints as she turned around revealing a scar on her neck.
A gloomy look was in her eyes while a menacing smile plastered her face. She slowly drew out her sword indicating Itsuki to do the same. Ever since she first met Itsuki, she felt something similar from him. The feeling of a killer, someone who is surrounded by death, it awakened her l.u.s.t for battle. Whenever she looked at him, she would just want to draw out her sword and penetrate him.
Shunsui and the others weren"t shocked by the sudden change.
"The first kenpachi truly lives up to her name"
Shunsui looked on as Itsuki got into a stance.
"Hmm"
Looking closely, he could see a hint of a smile on his face and a pure unadulterated battle l.u.s.t spewing out of his eyes.
Upon the two disappearing, the battle was extremely fast, and it ended within a short amount of time. Although Unohana had reached a high level in swordsmanship, she had lost interest in fighting and Itsuki had reignited that pa.s.sion. The current mother like figure was no longer there, what replaced her was the most diabolical criminal to ever exist in soul society.
Itsuki had defeated her with pure speed. The others hadn"t even seen him move and had only saw Unohana reacting with pure instinct to defend against his sword. But in the end, she was defeated.
Itsuki and Unohana had their back"s facing each other with Itsuki standing and Unohana on her knees with her sword stabbed into the ground,
"I"ve been defeated, I"ve been scarred, but Itsuki, you are the first to make me feel so hopeless"
Getting up, she walked off without turning back. There was a slight limp in her walk which indicated that she was injured and was currently using healing kido to patch her up.
From then on, at least once a week, Unohana would arrange a fight with Itsuki. Itsuki also complied as this wasn"t a normal spar, Unohana came with the intention to do serious harm so Itsuki would always be on the edge when fighting against her.
There were times she would refuse to come, like if there was some emergency and she was needed to help at the hospital, she would not fight on that day. On the other hand, Itsuki would come to the hospital and learn some medical knowledge for emergency first aids.
Returning to the present, Unohana took her leave while leaving a lingering glance on Itsuki. Byakuya never saw this as he hurriedly opened the door. It was an empty room with one futon in the middle. A pet.i.te, sickly women lay upon it as the setting sun basked its light into the room.
She had delicate facial features that radiated kindness and pale white skin. Short black hair fell onto her shoulders with a strand falling in between her purplish-blue eyes. Hearing someone sit next to her she turned around and a blissful smile appeared on her face,
"ByakuySama, you"re back"
Trying to sit up, she was gently pushed down by Byakuya.
"Don"t get up, you need to rest"
A gentle look replaced Byakuya"s eyes as he looked at his wife.
"I"m sorry ByakuySama, I"ve troubled you"
Looking outside she continued,
"It seems I won"t be able to search for her again"
Hearing this Byakuya replied
"You don"t need to search for her, I"ll have people look for her, you just rest"
Hisana just smiled at her husband"s worries before looking behind him.
"It seems we have a guest"
Itsuki walked forward and sat down next to Hisana,
"It"s been a long time Hisana"
"It has indeed, Itsuki-Sama"
Seikyo who was still in the skies flew down and landed next to Hisana. Turning around a girlish squeak escaped her as she hugged Seikyo,
"Seikyo-chaaan"
"Kyuu~"
Seikyo wasn"t against it and returned her hug by rubbing her face. While this was happening, Byakuya turned to Itsuki. Itsuki was concentrating on Hisana"s body looking for the root of the illness. Byakuya saw a sudden light in Itsuki"s eyes and felt a shiver down his spine. Cold sweat cascaded down his skin unknowingly when he looked into those eyes.
Itsuki had activated his mystic eyes as he a.n.a.lysed Hisana. Astonishment filled his eyes as he saw the numerous lines of death littering her body. This showed that Hisana would pa.s.s away quite soon and remembering back to the anime, it would be at the start of spring.
Looking out, the first seeds hadn"t bloomed indicating that there was still time. Turning towards Byakuya, he asked,
"Byakuya, do you trust me?"
Byakuya nodded as he looked back at Itsuki. Calling out to Seikyo, he ordered,
"Seikyo, bring Unohana here"
Hearing this Hisana let Seikyo go as she flew towards the leaving captain. Hisana had heard Itsuki speak and before she could ask, Itsuki spoke to her,
"Hisana, do you trust me?"
Hisana also nodded. She knew that Itsuki was her husband"s only friend and he treated her like his sister. Back when they first decided to get married, they faced many oppositions, especially within the family. He was of n.o.ble birth and the current head of the one the four great n.o.ble houses while she had come from the later districts of Rukongai. Their statuses didn"t match at all, it was like comparing a common rock to a precious jewel.
Itsuki, however, was someone that didn"t care for this and had supported her back then. Technically, Itsuki had also come from the further districts of Rukongai so she felt more comfortable with him, before she knew he was a captain. She had first met Itsuki when they were sparring and was one of the few females immune to his charm. Byakuya had introduced her to him and that was when Itsuki"s playful nature surfaced. He didn"t tell her his ident.i.ty.
This had somehow helped her as not many people knew that Itsuki would come and spar with the Byakuya every now and then. So, he got to see many things happen to her, death threats, lack of food and negligence in taking care of her.
All Itsuki did was send Seikyo to accompany her and that had somehow sent a message to them, so she experienced a lot less bullying. Seikyo was also a clever bird as whenever a servant came to do tasks for her, she would just glare at them, making sure she got the right and correct food.
Itsuki found it funny seeing her expression on their wedding day when he formally introduced herself. Hisana was also surprised that the infamous Raijuu was Itsuki.
A short time later Seikyo returned with Unohana.