MORE THAN WHAT MEETS THE EYE
"Chapter 6"
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and any of the characters. Some of the characters in this fanfiction are created for the purpose of creating a deeper plot. There may be some violent scenarios during the entire story. There is no yaoi, shounen-ai, or yuri in this story. Keep and open mind and read at your own risk.
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Thank you for those who have reviewed the previous chapters. I deeply appreciate all the help that I could get. Please continue to review. I am really encouraged to write because of the reviews that I get.
The boundaries which divide life from death
are at best shadowy and vague.
Who shall say where one ends,
and the other begins?
Edgar Alan Poe
Urahara Kisuke knew who is currently standing in front of the door of his home. He didn't even have to open it to know who it is. He only needed to sense a bit of the spiritual energy and he already knew of his visitor. There are very few in Soul Society who had this kind of aura, excluding him, Isshin, Yuroichi, Yamamoto, and Aizen.
He debated between himself if he should greet the visitor by the door or just wait for the visitor to come in—he could really. Or he could wait for the other option, which was that the visitor would simply knock off the wooden door and let himself in.
But, manners went ahead of him. He slid the door open and smiled warmly.
"Ara! Byakuya-boy! It's been a long time since you've paid me a visit." Urahara greeted him warmly and with energy. "…personally…"
Byakuya simply stared at the man who stood in front of him. His striped hat, the coat, the haori, the cane, the hair, they were all different from the Urahara Kisuke that he remembered before when he was still a shinigami. More than that, this Urahara Kisuke's attitude is far different from THE Captain Urahara Kisuke.
But…
Appearances do and did deceive people…even death gods at times.
Even though he changed his appearance; even though he's hiding beneath that worn out hat; even though he changed the way he acts and reacts; his spiritual energy did not decrease through time. It only increased. This IS the Captain Urahara Kisuke that trained Kurosaki Ichigo. And also the Urahara Kisuke that stuck Rukia in a faux body with that…
Hougyoku…
"Urahara…" Byakuya started staring down the much older man obviously lacking respect.
"Oh how rude of me. Do come in, Kuchiki Byakuya-sama." Urahara bowed as if to make way of his visitor.
The other did not miss the sarcasm and the teasing manner of the former captain. But he knew that was not the reason why he was there. So he chose to shove it off to the side and focus on the far more important things such as the explanation. He stood there waiting for his host to guide him through the house. Urahara moved to his front door.
"Ah, here. Follow me. We can talk in this room." Urahara led the way to a chamber near the end of the hall.
They walked past a few halls until they reached the dojo. They sat down facing each other. Urahara Kisuke still smiling with his eyes buried underneath the silhouette of his hat while Kuchiki Byakuya stared him down. The blond former death god rubbed his nape and smiled sheepishly.
"Well, to what do I owe this visit, Kuchiki-san." Urahara asked, although he already knew, even at the vaguest details, the reason why Kuchiki Byakuya visited him this time. "Honestly, this is the first time that I met you…outside of the safety of your world."
Urahara picked up a pot of tea. He looked up to his guest and smiled.
"Coffee? Tea? Me?" Urahara teased and Byakuya did not even blink.
"I'll be going straight to the point, Urahara-san." Byakuya started, cutting off the other. "What is happening to Rukia?"
"Rukia-chan?" Urahara asked, for the sake of asking. He already knew his purpose anyway. "What is happening to…"
Byakuya glared at him.
Urahara smiled. He was smart and he knew when not to make jokes. But…
Somehow, it was really fun to tease the 6th division captain. It's not really everyday that you get an honorable guest such as this and definitely not everyday wherein you can actually tease the captain without getting at least some of your blood on the floor.
But one look in the eyes of Byakuya's eyes, Urahara could not even muster enough guts to tease him anymore. There were so many emotions left in his eyes. Even though it was covered with his usual mask of indifference, there were emotions of…
Anxiety
Loneliness
Hopelessness
Helplessness…
Fear…
"It's the Hougyouku." Urahara answered, politely.
"Clarify this one. I believe that the hougyoku that you made was already taken by Aizen." Byakuya growled, he didn't really feel like the former captain was taking him seriously at all.
He traveled to this place because of his emotions. He appeared the same on the outside because of his mask of indifference. But deep down inside, he was simply struggling. Emotions were in turmoil and he could not really feel the ties of his long learned emotional control. He could almost feel that a little more of those surprising Rukia-accidents would break his string and knock him out of indifference.
Even if he did not show it, he felt for his sister.
To be specific, he felt for Rukia.
He didn't really know, but somehow
He felt that he didn't really see her as his sister anymore.
At first he thought that he only saw Hisana's reflection on her. They do look alike in so many ways than he could imagine, but then his feelings started to develop without him noticing it. He would watch her sneak out and go to the human world to escape her emotional moments and he would make sure no one caught her. He would watch her for the entire night just to make sure that she was safe.
He rationalized by saying that he was trying to atone for the sins that he did. But then whenever Ichigo and Renji came near Rukia, he felt this strong tugging feeling in his chest. At first it was something akin to what people may refer to selfishness. He thought it was because she was his sister and he had this protective brother thing. But then he was surprised when seeing them too near each other easily irked him and made him lose his patience a lot faster.
He would sometimes forbid Renji to come to the Kuchiki household just because he did not want to see him near Rukia. Of course, no one noticed this but a mere act of the 6th Division Captain wanting some peace on his own. But deep inside, he wanted him out because he did not want him anywhere near Rukia.
Then he would start to feel a little tingling feeling whenever she was around. She would notice the slightest tensing of her muscles and would smell her fragrance even stronger. He would notice the slight smile that she would give and in all his annoyance, he did notice the difference in her treatment between him, Ichigo, and Renji.
Sometimes, he wished he was not her brother…
To be honest…
He wished that he wasn't…
Because if that would be true…
Then his feelings would not be forbidden…
His thoughts were interrupted when Urahara spoke.
"Ah, but I did anticipate that." Urahara sipped the tea that's in front of him. "I am not stupid enough to not prepare for a possible 'theft' of my dangerous research material."
Urahara rubbed his nape and sighed.
"A lot of people in Soul Society, including Aizen, thought I did not know how to dispose of the thing I created." Urahara rolled his eyes. "Of course I knew. It was a matter of creation and destruction, the principle is too simple that even kids know that."
Byakuya wasn't really the type that would ask "huh" but his expression was almost an equivalent. Urahara smirked at the confused expression that was written all over the face of the 6th Division captain.
"When the hougyoku is mentioned in Soul Society, the people see it as some sort of small plasma orb that contains powers that are unmatched." Urahara started. "That's why I created a decoy to represent that. However, the real Hougyoku is not a simple orb."
Byakuya listened intently.
"The hougyoku is the faux body itself." Urahara continued. "To be specific, it is the body and soul that temporarily fused with the orb."
Urahara sipped his tea before continuing. He noticed that Byakuya did not move an inch.
"I must be confusing you." Urahara teased.
If Byakuya was not Byakuya, he would have nodded.
"The hougyoku, in essence, is an object that breaks the line between a hollow and a shinigami. To others, it is something that breaks the limits of both. But in theory, the two sides are both dead beings. The dead do not get stronger." Urahara grumbled.
Right…Byakuya almost thought agreeing with the theory. The dead does have the limitations of the dead. Hollows and Shinigamis are both dead beings and are no longer allowed to stay in the world of the living. The two beings are created after dying as humans. So then, what is the line that separates the two?
"Therefore, the line that is between them is…" Urahara started to explain.
"Humanity." Byakuya continued for him, getting the theory. Urahara smiled.
"Indeed you are one smart boy." Urahara ignored the scowl that Byakuya made and proceeded to relay the explanation. "Humanity is what separates a hollow and a death god. The limitations of the human body caused what the Catholic believers say as the miracle of life."
"Thus, when I created the hougyoku, I had intentions of not creating something that would bring forth eternal life or immortality, instead, bringing forth humanity. What makes Kurosaki Ichigo stronger than Zaraki Kenpachi? In perspective, they both long for strength and power. They both have people they want to protect. They both have bodies, souls, and hearts. But what makes them so different that Ichigo was able to defeat Kenpachi?" Urahara looked at Byakuya.
"It's not the hollow inside him that makes him stronger." Urahara knew what he was thinking.
"Then what is it?" Byakuya asked, a little annoyed with the long story but digesting them all in his brain.
"Death." Urahara replied. "Yes, death is what differentiates them. Kenpachi isn't afraid of death, instead he likes it. He likes the feeling of pain and anguish. He likes being challenged and pushed near death."
"But Kurosaki Ichigo fears it…" Yuroichi interrupted. Byakuya sensed her and did not bother looking up at her as she sat down beside Urahara. "Pleasure to see you again, Byakuya-boy."
Byakuya did nothing to reply.
"Polite as always." Yuroichi grumbled towards the 6th Division Captain.
Urahara simply acknowledged her presence and proceeded with his theory.
"That's why, I created something that then protects someone from this. I had thought of bringing humanity but then I created something I did not foresee." Urahara continued. "I created something that would bring immortality. It freezes death and stops it from claiming life. I created something that would people refer to as the hougyoku."
"Yes, we were discussing that part." Byakuya snide.
"And to your question…" Urahara noticed the impatience. "The faux body that I lent to Rukia-chan was a part of the hougyoku. It was the carrier or the sheath of the hougyoku."
"I am confused." Byakuya honestly remarked. "I am sorry to say this but please get to the point. You are running about in circles."
"Byakuya-boy, what this man is trying to say is that he created two hougyoku." Yuroichi answered. "The hougyoku that Aizen has is the hougyoku that deals death, while that hougyoku that your sister has is the one that preserves life."
Byakuya's eyes widened.
"In principle, it was true that I did not know how to destroy something I created, but I do know how to counterbalance it." Urahara countered. "It is simply Yin-Yang. I created something that could destroy, therefore I have to create something that could restore."
"Two hougyoku. One of death and the other of life." Byakuya surmised. "So you are saying that Rukia's faux body is a hougyoku?"
"Yes and no. Yes because it was her faux body. No because she isn't in the faux body anymore. She's in her normal body." Urahara shook his head. "The hougyoku in the faux body is temporary, what's permanent is that when I asked her to use that faux body, I wanted to turn her to human. Not to seal the death hougyoku, but to seal it both."
Byakuya thought that if he would have been Kurosaki Ichigo, his brain would be bleeding. But since he was a Kuchiki, he understood everything in plain English. The only thing wrong with this is that the person doing the explaining wasn't really doing it clearly.
It was plain obvious that he was a bit unnerved with him…rather…uncomfortable with him.
"Urahara, I will summarize everything." Byakuya sighed inwardly. "In gist, you discovered that the line between hollows and death gods is humanity. So you wanted to create that. In the process you created something that deals death, in short, gives power that exceeds both death gods and hollows. So not knowing how to destroy it, you created a counter balancer—that's the life hougyoku. Which is the faux body…"
Urahara nodded.
"You got almost everything correct." Urahara nodded, a little happy.
"Almost?" Byakuya raised a fine eyebrow.
Urahara nodded.
"To be accurate, the life hougyoku is your sister." Urahara smiled. "And to be even more accurate, the real hougyoku is…"
Byakuya's eyes widened fractionally.
Finally understanding everything.
It was so white around the entire room. The white curtains danced around the area and the wind blew a gentle breeze. There was no one in the room except the girl, lying down on the bed with her eyes slowly opening. Amethyst eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. She blinked once and then twice before covering her face slightly because of surprise coming from the sun's morning glare.
She squinted her eyes and saw the sign of the 4th Division.
"I'm…in the 4th Division…" Her voice was soft and weak. She could not move a muscle from the other parts of her body. It was only her arm that she could move freely.
Her raven locks felt all tangled up in her scalp after what seemed to be a few weeks of sleep. Rukia felt as if she was out for too long. But then again, now that she's awake, she felt that she already restored majority of her energy.
There was not more pain in some of her body, even though the memory of being stabbed in more than one place was still there. She was only worried that she probably was decapitated. She was glad that her body parts were still intact.
She concentrated and tried to move some parts of her body such as her legs and arms, and she felt them move to her need. She slowly went to sitting position before trying to steady herself. She looked to the window distracted with the beautiful cherry blossom petals failing to notice the aura of the person that stood beside her.
A hand gently found its way on her shoulder which surprised her. She immediately turned in alarm, taking her sword to her side and shielding it in front of her. But the person who she saw surprised her…
TBC
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