Web of Schemes

Part 2: Chapter 1

Yasuke breaks from his confusion and hesitation. "I've only been here twice and you two keep messing with me. What the hell! What's the whole truth!" He looks the Female spirit in the eyes, who he now knows is his only Zanpakuto spirit. "Why didn't you tell me? How did you not know what it was?"

She isn't phased and is determined to fix their relationship. She pleads to Yasuke. "I didn't know what IT is, it spawned here the same time I did when you started pouring your spirit energy into me. It has no ill will towards you, and it is as tied to your soul as I am. I didn't understand and I didn't know it could harm you. But you must believe me I would never knowingly let it harm you!"

Yasuke can feel the genuine emotion coming from her, she is as angry about it as he is. But he realizes this isn't her fault. Yasuke realizes he's turning his own self-hatred and his anger at his father on her. Yasuke lets out a deep sigh and puts his hand on her shoulder. "I believe you." He turns around to face the Crocodile that he must admit, he didn't like from the start. "You, tell me why I shouldn't kill you and free myself of you?"

The Crocodile without hesitation or seemingly any fear at all simply responds, "You can't." It lifts itself from the sand and walks past them both. "I am part of your soul now. You could kill "me" but I'm only a representation in your mind but the actual seal is permanent. You of all people know how strong your fathers kido is, boy.''

Yasuke confirms what he noticed earlier now that the creature is up and moving. "I didn't imagine it. You're bigger than last time. You're not just a cap on my power, you are siphoning power from me aren't you?"

The Crocodile slowly keeps walking away from them both without responding to his question. Yasuke doesn't need any verbal confirmation; he can feel it. He looks at his hands and squeezes it tightly. Yasuke can feel the slight difference in his power, it has dwindled. He should've gotten stronger from surviving that near death fight with the scorpion Hollow. He can feel that it has shrunken just a bit. Nothing else is said and the Crocodile slides into the salty water and out of sight.

Nothing is said between Yasuke and the Female for some time. Yasuke eventually finds something to say. "Nice to meet you properly I guess." He steps back and bows to her.

She smiles sadly at him and bows back. "Nice to meet you as well, my name is Kenshihime: (The swordsmith princess)"

It takes Yasuke some time to realize he actually just heard her name. She doesn't say anything and smiles expecting him to say something. Yasuke looks at her surprised, clearly she doesn't know he heard her. "Sorry, can you please say your name again?"

Her smile turns to a frown. She is clearly upset that he's asking to repeat it thinking he didn't hear it again. She sighs, "My name is Kenshihime."

Yasuke grins from ear to ear. "Nice to meet you...Princess."

She smiles and leaps into the air. "Yasuke! Say it again!"

He is overjoyed at seeing her happy, it makes him feel better. "Nice to meet you, Kenshihime." She grabs Yasuke by the wrist and yanks him toward the cabin.

"I have been waiting for this moment since, forever. We will train until you're stronger and we will find a way around that parasite masquerading as a Crocodile! We should be able to access our power now. You will ove your new abilities." she hauls Yasuke up the steps onto the porch and waits. "Go ahead, open it." Kenshihime says with utter excitement.

Yasuke grabs the handles of the old looking cabin and tries to yank them open. They finally give and fly open. Nothing happens. No burst of energy. No light show. Just the sounds of an empty cabin. He walks in, not disappointedly but actually excited. The middle of the cab has a hearth in the the floor with what looks like a heat forge and anvil. Yasuke turns around to see a happy zanpakuto spirit but is surprised to see shock on her face. "What's wrong?"

"That forge is supposed to be aflame. The hearth represents your scabbard and it should be blazing with your spirit energy. This is where you forge your power." She says with a twinge of disappointment or sadness.

"1 step forward and 2 steps back." Yasuke can't help but feel disappointed. "Maybe it's just not on yet?"

"I'm not su....oh no." She covers her mouth. "I think our intruders' hold on your power is far more significant than we thought. If he's constantly siphoning your power then you might not even be able to call on my true name in battle. I think his ability to absorb power was dormant until you crossed a certain threshold of power. The power needed to release a Zanpakuto was the cut off point your father set, most likely. That means the more power you gain from here on out will go to it. Your ability needs you to pour large amounts of reiatsu into the forge for it to work."

Yasuke's anger builds but it fizzles out because he doesn't know what he can do. He can feel the despair creeping in on him. He squats down and holds his head in his hands. How can he protect his mother? How can he make his uncle proud? How can he placate his Grandfather? Yasuke hears the sound of thunder off in the distance and a storm begins to form on the horizon of his inner world.

"Yasuke!" Kenshihime yells his name. She snatches Yasuke up by the back of his collar and tosses him out the door where he lands hard on his back. "Don't give up! This isn't over. Your father hasn't won and I will not let you give up! Get up and find an answer! I know what your capable of, you need to do this journey for you! Now get up and take what you want or else you'll lose everything. Your Mother, power, and even Kisara will all be gone if you don't fix this!"

Yasuke is still shocked by the sudden throw but he hears every word. He understands he must do something and he can't wait for someone to tell him what to do. "Understood! Master Kita is far more proficient in kido than my father, she should have a solution!" He gets up out of the sand and dusts himself off. "Okay, send me back."

Kenshihime smiles, proud of her soul mate. "Yes sir." She pauses for a second. She softens her voice and looks at him lovingly, "Yasuke please remember, I will always be by your side."

The sun above Yasuke's head flares to life and covers the entire inner world in a blinding light. Yasuke covers his eyes to shut out the sun's harsh light. When Yasuke finally opens his eyes he is lying on a cot in the academy medical wing. He feels a heavy weight on his right arm. He looks down to see what's on top of him. He sees jet black hair spread out over his hand. Kisara is sleeping on his hand and snoring very softly. Yasuke chuckles because he never thought such a small person would snore. He tries not to move so he doesn't wake her up. Yasuke looks to his left and sees Master Kita staring out the window of his hospital room. This is the second time he's been here and it's as white as it was before. The squad 4 soul reapers and interns were always cleaning. They are usually cleaning even when patients are in a room but it was just these two women in the room now.

Yasuke decides to whisper to get Master Kita's attention, "Master".

Master Kita flinched from the surprise whisper. "Yasuke!" She yells. Which is the exact opposite of what he wanted. She turns and is holding a black wakizashi in her hand. Yasuke notices she is holding his smaller zanpakuto. He's curious why she is holding it.

A warm hand pulls Yasuke's face away from Master Kita and he is met with eyes as blue and icy as a glacier. Kisara's eyes are cold, fierce, and piercing and Yasuke can see slight anger behind them. "You idiot...we almost lost you!" She throws herself on him and squeezes him with all her strength.

"I'm glad you're fine too, Kisara." He responds softly.