"Bankai…"Yamamoto was surprised hearing the word Bankai, but felt strange, due to all the noise from the thunder, wind and the flames he didn"t hear it clearly. He felt Itsuki"s reiatsu spike up and the pressure begin to grow,
"This brat, he doesn"t think…"
Yamamoto remembered seeing Itsuki"s eyes full of grievances, it was probably the most emotions he had ever seen on this disciple.
Itsuki was there wondering,
"Who the h.e.l.l said Bankai? I was supposed to say it!"
"You brat! You dare…"
Yamamoto shouted at Itsuki and realised that nothing was happening with him. No power up, no pillar of reiatsu, nothing. Itsuki looked confused as a similar expression masked Yamamoto"s face.
Looking round he saw Soi Fon and Yoruichi fighting, it seemed that Yoruichi had revealed Shunko and Soi Fon had fury written all over her face as a pillar of light engulfed her,
"…Jakuho Raikoben!"
Itsuki felt shivers down his spine as he remembered Soi Fon"s Bankai. Looking towards Soi Fon, a gold metallic cylinder that looked like a missile twice her size was encasing her right hand. There was also a gold faceguard covering the right side of her face with a slit in the middle.
Using the slit to aim the missile she screamed,
"For Itsuki"s first!"
Fins emerged at the end on the missile as flames poured out the back.
"Take t-!"
Yoruichi suddenly appeared behind Soi Fon and gave her a chop on her neck, effectively knocking Soi Fon out. Giving out a breath of relief, she looked in Itsuki"s direction with eyes filled with accusation as she didn"t expect Soi Fon to care about Itsuki that much. At first, she thought that she would have a good bout with Soi Fon, but reality took a different turn. It was as if Yoruichi had killed her entire clan and she was out for revenge.
Yoruichi gently laid down the unconscious Soi Fon as she examined the missile. Cold sweat poured down her face as her intuition told her that this missile packed quite a punch.
Itsuki also let out a sigh of relief before looking towards Yamamoto. Remembering the slight panic in Yamamoto, a derisive smile found Itsuki"s mouth. Yamamoto"s eyebrow twitched as he knew Itsuki was mocking him. Veins popped out his head as the temperature of the flames increased. Shunsui was already sweating buckets and had thrown off his flowery kimono,
"This kid, it"s true the cub doesn"t fear the tiger."
Ukitake nodded next to him while Seikyo who was on his shoulder squawked.
Yamamoto"s muscles bulged as he stared at Itsuki with incomparable fury. The more he looked at the smile the angrier he got,
"Itsuki! you brat…"
Suddenly a transmission was heard in the ears of every captain and lieutenant,
"Connection successfully established. Those of captain, lieutenant or seated officer rank in the Gotei 13 as well as the Ryoka, this is the 4th division lieutenant Kotetsu Isane. This is an emergency message from captain Unohana of the 4th division and I, what I"m about to tell you is true…"
Afterwards the lie orchestrated by Aizen Sosuke of his death, the traitors being Ichimaru Gin and Kaname Tosen, Toshiro being defeated, the death of Aizen"s lieutenant and the ma.s.sacre of Central 46 were all transmitted to everyone off.
Ukitake was shocked by the revelation,
"It can"t be…Aizen…"
Shunsui on the side spoke up,
"That"s what the girl says, what are the two of you going to do?"
Looking at Yamamoto, Itsuki sealed his Shikai as he also sheathed his Zanpakutos, indicating his intention.
"Let"s go to the Sokyoku hill."
Yamamoto and Itsuki then properly put on their Shihakuso and searched for the Haori. When they took it off, they were blown by the wind. It was quite comedic seeing the two strongest Shinigami of the Gotei 13 look through a pile of rubble for their Captain"s Haori.
"Ah! Found it!"
Yamamoto was the first to find it as his zanpakuto once again turned into a walking stick. Crouching slightly, he became the frail old man he once was.
"Need to take care of my back…"
Itsuki pretended he didn"t hear that as he soon found his Haori and the four left for the Sokyoku hill. By the time they arrived, Yoruichi and Soi Fon had their blades on Aizen, Rangiku had hers on Gin and Hisagi had his blade on Kaname while a heavily injured Ichigo, Renji and Komamura lay on the side. Rukia seemed listless in Byakuya"s arms while all the rest of the captains and lieutenants, apart from the 11th and 12th division, had arrived. Kukaku was also there on the giant monkey-looking gatekeeper known as Jidanbo.
Nanao seemed to have recovered and was behind Shunsui.
Aizen had a smile on face when Yoruichi questioned,
"What"s funny?"
"I"m sorry, it"s time."
A rip in s.p.a.ce appeared above them as a Gillian opened it wide. There were dozens of them on the other side of the hole where a large, yet closed purple eye could be seen. Suddenly, three rays of light came down enveloping the three traitors as they slowly rose from the ground. Gins said sorry to Rangiku as he also looked in Itsuki"s direction. Komamura got up and shouted at Tosen into why he became Shinigami while the latter started talking about Justice.
Iba wanted to attack but was stopped by Yamamoto as he explained that the light was called Negachion. It creates an independent s.p.a.ce within, isolating it from the outside, it was what the Menos do to help their comrades.
Lastly, Ukitake called out to Aizen,
"Even joining with the menos. Have you fallen so much, Aizen?"
"You"re too proud, Ukitake."
Aizen then took of his gla.s.ses and swiped his hair back leaving a strand fall on his face.
"…From here on, I shall stand in Heaven. Farewell Shinigami, farewell human Ryoka boy…"
Aizen looked at Ichigo,
"…for a human, you were truly interesting."
Aizen then looked towards Itsuki as a small smile formed at the edge of his mouth before the rift closed dictating the end.
Itsuki remembered part of their talk,
"…so Itsuki, want to make a non-aggressive pact…"
Itsuki just looked the chessboard, waiting for Aizen to speak,
"… one where you don"t directly act against me, and I won"t directly target and kill your close ones."
Itsuki knew that there was no point in beating around the bush in this meeting as he carried on looking, moving his bishop. Aizen was able to read his intentions as he continued while moving his rook,
"It seems like you agree, however I will be at a general disadvantage as they will act against me, so I"ll add another clause…"
Seeing the traitors leave, the 4th squad relief teams came to take care of the injured while Itsuki made his way to Byakuya. Unohana had just come from treating Toshiro and also made her way treat Byakuya.
"You"re all beaten up."
Byakuya looked at Itsuki as he smiled,
"Whose fault do you think it is?"
Rukia tried approaching but was stopped by a Shinigami,
"Let me go!"
"The captain is und…"
Itsuki looked at the Shinigami before ordering,
"Let her go."
The Shinigami immediately let her go as Rukia ran next to Byakuya.
"Byakuynii-Sama…"
Looking at Rukia, Byakuya decided to tell her the truth,
"There is something I need to tell you…"
Byakuya was breathing heavily from the injuries he took when protecting Rukia,
"…It"s about my wife Hisana and why I adopted you…Do you know the reason why you were adopted?"
"Yes, it was because I reminded lady Hisana of her younger sister."
Byakuya looked calmly at Rukia,
"That"s right, that is the lie I told them to feed you. You didn"t remind Hisana of her younger sister, you are her younger sister."
The more Byakuya spoke the more shocked Rukia got. It was difficult for her upon knowing that she had a blood elder sister and was still alive. It was also the wife of her elder brother who always wore a veil whenever she met. At first, she thought that she was trying to keep a distance but finding out that she had too much guilt to look at her, broke her heart. Unknowingly, tears fell out of her eyes as Itsuki pat her head.
"The only ones who know the truth is me, Hisana and Itsuki. Back then, I faced a lot of opposition when I tried to marry Hisana and it was due to Itsuki that she was properly taken care of. It was also Itsuki who saved your sister from death. I faced more opposition when I adopted you, I promised Hisana that I would protect you. No matter what, I wanted to fulfil the promise I made her. Due to this, even if it was opposed by Itsuki, I made an oath in front of my parent"s graves that this was the last time I broke the rules."
Byakuya looked calm as Rukia got sadder the more she heard,
"Then, upon hearing your death penalty being decided I didn"t know what to do, that"s when Itsuki came and just said to trust him. I didn"t know if he predicted other"s saving you…"
Itsuki felt embarra.s.sed taking all the credit. Although Ichigo did play his role, just like the anime, for Byakuya, it looked as if Itsuki had predicted it all.
"…Rukia, I"m sorry."
Unohana then told Itsuki and Rukia to leave. Itsuki looked at Ichigo being healed by Orihime before making his way back to the 2nd Division HQ. Everyone got their well needed rest after these chaotic days were over and the next day, Itsuki had an unexpected visitor, Rukia had come to visit.
Itsuki was sat on the Onmitsukido captain"s seat while Rukia stood there fidgeting slightly. She was currently out of her prison clothes and was wearing a purple kimono. She knew that Itsuki wasn"t much of a talker as she stood there looking for words to bring out.
She opened her mouth and closed it, repeating the process for G.o.d knows how long. If someone saw this scene, it looked like a young girl confessing her love to her crush with the blush she had on her face. Itsuki finally couldn"t take it as he just stood up and started walking. Indicating for Rukia to follow they ended up where Ichigo and his group were currently staying. He shunpoed in, grabbed Ichigo and threw him onto the training ground just outside.
His friends were shocked by what was happening and thought it was an enemy attack. The three made their way outside only to see the back of Itsuki and Rukia further away and Ichigo collapsed on the floor with his legs dangling in the air.
Rukia was shocked with Itsuki"s action and Ichigo was still confused with what was happening. Ichigo then pushed himself up and saw Rukia next to him,
"Hey! Rukia, what is the meaning of this?!"
Rukia didn"t know how to explain to Ichigo as she looked at Itsuki. Seeing Rukia act like this, Ichigo also looked towards Itsuki only to see him throw the two a wooden sword. Catching hers, Rukia seemed to realise that Itsuki had read her intentions and Ichigo was still lost.
Rukia got into a stance as Ichigo looked at the wooden sword, then at the wooden sword that Itsuki was holding back. He continued to look back and forth at the swords then seemed to realise something but Itsuki had already struck.
Itsuki knew that Ichigo was still recovering, but with Orihime here, she could use her healing abilities on Ichigo. Orihime looked at the back of Itsuki and remembered the night when she met the figure who pressurised her with pure reiatsu. Asking for the captain with "beautiful gem-like eyes", she found out that it was the captain of the 2nd Division, the strongest after the captain-commander himself, Minamoto Itsuki.
Itsuki was thinking of something else as he struck Ichigo"s head,
"…I"ll add another clause, you will guide that human Ryoka boy for a bit."
"I couldn"t screw canon then, so I"ll screw it now! Aizen, you would rue the day when you made that clause!"
Rukia had a shocked look on her face when she saw Ichigo getting taken down in one move, while she gulped and took a step back when Itsuki turned towards her.
********************************************
Author"s note
Still too soon for his bankai.
There still are many parts to be revealed from the talk with Aizen.
Some might think that what Itsuki has done is stupid but remember, he can be the most clever guy with a IQ of 500 but his intelligence would still be limited to the author"s.