"How is she doing?"
He sighed, which easily gave her his answer.
"Poor brat," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest with a frown. "Only nine, and she's already seen her mother die in front of her because of a fucking Hollow."
"Easy there," he chided softly, giving her a glance. "You make it sound like you sympathize with her."
She threw him a glare. "I do not!" She looked off to the side. "It's pity, nothing else."
He nodded, not believing his companion for a second. "Uh-huh."
"Shut up!"
His laughter filled the once solemn air as they drew their minds away from the tragedy of the girl's mother's death, forever changing the girl's outlook on the world.
- - - - - - - - - -
11 YEARS LATER
JULY 17
Sayuri stared at the banner hanging from the wall with wide eyes. "What the-?!" she sputtered out as Urahara wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side.
"Happy Birthday!" he cheered out, everyone else present repeated after him with glee, Yoruichi having a small confetti popper in hand.
It has been a month since the anniversary of Kurosaki Masaki's death and Sayuri's breakdown at the cemetery, and Sayuri has been acting like it had never happened. She just turned her attention towards figuring out where Grand Fisher was and how to kill him.
She hadn't even realized her birthday was upon them.
"You're twenty-one now, Yuri-nee!" Yuzu said with a bright smile as she wrapped her older sister in a hug. "How does it feel?"
"Yeah, give us some experienced words for those of us who haven't reached that age yet," Karin sarcastically said, though she also had a smile on her face.
On the other side of the room, Rukia was standing with Yoruichi.
"I didn't realize Sayuri's birthday had been today until Urahara-san told me," Rukia said, holding a cup of tea in her hand and taking the occasional sip from it.
Yoruichi shrugged. "It often slips her mind, so we just have to casually remind her of it."
Rukia eyed the elaborate decorations for Sayuri's birthday. It was clear that they have been used in the past. "Casually?" she repeated dubiously.
"Okay, maybe not casually," Yoruichi corrected herself. "More like every year since her mother died, even more so after her father's death."
Rukia sighed, a frown making its way onto her face. She didn't like how Sayuri just let the world pass by and not celebrate simple things, such as her own birthday.
Yoruichi noticed the look on her face. "That's why we're here," she said, making Rukia look up at her. "We're here to make sure that Sayuri doesn't forget that there's more to life than she thinks."
The Kuchiki girl nodded.
Suddenly, Tsukabishi Tessai, a worker at the Urahara Shop, stuck his head into the room with a grim expression. Everyone paused in what they were doing at his appearance.
"There's someone here for Kurosaki-san," he said before taking his leave.
Sayuri shared a glance with Urahara, who offered her a clueless shrug. She sighed before heading towards the entrance of the shop, ready to see who it was.
She paused and her eyes widened at who was standing just outside the doors of the Urahara Shop.
"Yo." Ginjō Kūgō grinned and gave her a two-finger salute. "Happy Birthday."
- - - - - - - - - -
"What are you doing here?" Sayuri asked as she placed two mugs of tea on the kitchen table. One for her, the other for Ginjō. "I thought you were somewhere in Europe."
"I was," he said as he took a sip.
Sayuri had departed from her party early in order for her and Ginjō to speak in private at the Kurosaki home. Urahara had agreed to watch over Yuzu and Karin, though he had given Ginjō a look that she couldn't decipher, her friend giving a similar one back. Rukia stayed behind in order to talk to Yoruichi and Urahara about what to do next for Sayuri's Shinigami training.
"Something came up, though," he continued, leveling her with a grim stare.
She sighed. "What is it this time?"
"Those guys I warned you about, remember that call?" At her nod, he continued. "Well, they've been upping the searches for you. My associate says it's only a matter of time before they find you here in Karakura Town."
"Lovely," she drawled out. "As if I'm not already busy with shit."
He snorted. "Yeah, about that. A Shinigami? Seriously?" At her shrug, he frowned. "I mean, Urahara and the cat were enough for me to wrap my head around, but a noble girl? Really?"
"Can't really help what fate hands me," she remarked, giving him a look. "You know that."
"You're telling me that you couldn't have done something to avoid all of this?"
She thought for a moment. "I could have," she uttered out slowly, ignoring his wide-eyed, incredulous stare. "But it would have disrupted the flow of events, and I couldn't have that happen."
She gave him an apologetic glance, which he waved off with a heavy sigh. "Whatever," he grumbled. "What are you gonna do about the guys hunting you, though? I'm curious."
"Let them come," she simply said, taking a sip of her drink. "I'll be ready for them when they do."
And he didn't doubt that.
- - - - - - - - - -
THE NEXT DAY
Sayuri withheld a sigh as she looked over her notes. She was currently sitting in the cafeteria of the university, which was nearly empty since classes were finished for the day. The only reason she was still there was because she wanted to be thorough in her studying and it was difficult to do so at home.
Don't get her wrong. She loved her sisters with all of her heart, but they needed so much of her time that it was difficult to get her work and studying done, which was why she often pulled all-nighters.
(Rukia was not impressed when she learned of this.)
"What are you still doing here?"
She raised her head to look at her...acquaintance, maybe? She didn't know what to label her relationship with Ishida Uryū. It wasn't completely hostile, but it wasn't completely friendly either.
"Trying to study in a peaceful environment," she answered before taking a glance at her watch. Her eyes widen as she began to hastily pack her things, Uryū watching silently. "Shit, Rukia's gonna kill me."
"Is that the name of the Shinigami you've been hanging out with?"
She paused, giving him a look. "Okay, I get that you don't like the Shinigami that much because of what happened to your grandfather, but not all of them are like that."
He gave her a glare. "How are you so sure of that?"
She thought back to all of her interactions with Urahara, Yoruichi, Rukia, even Shūhei. They had done nothing but treat her with respect, kindness, and companionship, which were things that she felt were underappreciated in life. "I just am."
He scoffed. "I get that our fathers knew each other, but I don't understand how they could tolerate each other."
"Something similar to us, I'd imagine," Sayuri snipped as she heaved her messenger back onto her shoulder and crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't get me wrong, they weren't the best of buddies, but they knew when they needed to work together."
She had heard from her father how he had met her mother, and, consequently, Ishida Ryūken, Uryū's father. It wasn't a pretty tale, but she appreciated getting to learn how they all met each other.
Uryū shook his head before leaving without saying anything else.
Sayuri stared at his retreating figure with creased brows and worried eyes.
Why did she have a bad feeling about the next day?
- - - - - - - - - -
THE NEXT DAY
Turns out her bad feeling was correct.
"Stupid Ishida pride," Sayuri muttered under her breath as she sliced her blade through three more Hollows. "Why does he have to be such a dumbass?"
Uryū had decided that it would be a good idea to crush a Hollow Bait after classes had let out for the day and challenged Sayuri to a Hollow killing contest, where whoever killed the most Hollows was the winner.
Obviously, Sayuri was opposed to the idea of it.
She didn't care about her kill count, she just cared about protecting the people of Karakura Town. They didn't know what was happening around them and she wanted to keep it that way. She thought about the number of Hollows the bait had and would bring to Karakura Town. The amount would definitely be enough to get the attention of the Soul Society, which meant they would most likely figure out about her and Rukia.
She knew them finding out was inevitable, but she didn't expect that it would be this soon.
"Sayuri!"
She paused in her movements to see Rukia running towards her.
"What the hell is going on?!" the Kuchiki girl shouted once she came to a stop, panic on her face.
Sayuri frowned before quickly explaining what had happened. Rukia's face went from panicked to enraged in a matter of seconds.
"What was that fool thinking?!" she snarled. "Was he even thinking about what this could do?!"
"Probably not," Sayuri muttered quietly, catching Rukia's attention.
Her purple eyes stared at the eldest Kurosaki's face as she turned towards her with a frown and sad eyes.
"I apologize, Rukia," she said softly, her grip on the handle of her Zanpakutō tightening and untightening in anxiety. "I didn't think things would end this soon, but it seems like it's time."
Rukia tensed, reading between the lines of what Sayuri was saying. Before she could say anything, Sayuri was gone, ready to smack some sense into Ishida Uryū's head.
- - - - - - - - - -
"What the hell is that?"
Sayuri turned her gaze towards the large Hollow poking its head through the large tear in the sky with a blank expression.
"Menos Grande," she said, making Uryū look at her with wide eyes. "I didn't realize that your Hollow Bait was that powerful, Ishida-san."
(Neither did I, he thought to himself.)
She suddenly shifted her grip on her Zanpakutō, now gripping it with both of her hands. Her bright blue eyes remained on the Menos Grande as she spoke to Uryū, "I'm gonna need you to get a solid grip of where you're standing." Her eyes landed on him for a second. "Things are gonna get a little windy, okay?"
He nodded shakily as Sayuri disappeared from sight with Shunpō before appearing in the air, a good distance away from the Menos Grande. She tightened her grip on her Zanpakutō and uttered out, "Shine from the heavens, Tentai no Kibō."
- - - - - - - - - -
Rukia watched with wide eyes as the blade of Sayuri's Zanpakutō changed and then, vanished.
"What just happened?" she breathed out.
Urahara, who had restrained Rukia with a Kidō so she wouldn't go rushing towards Sayuri, said, "She just released her Zanpakutō." At Rukia's shocked look, he smiled. "Don't think she didn't train while you weren't around, Kuchiki-chan. She pulled quite a few all-nighters in order to learn the name of her Zanpakutō."
"Why did the blade just disappear?" she asked, her eyes watching as Sayuri raised her arms above her head, gripping her Zanpakutō in both of her hands. "And what is she about to do?"
"The first question, she'll have to tell you herself," Urahara said. "As for the second-"
He was cut off by the large burst of black and red energy bursting from Sayuri's Zanpakutō, gathering in order to make her attack stronger.
"Getsuga..." she began before finishing out strongly, "...Tenshō!"
She brought down her blade and the attack went straight at the head of the Menos Grande. As it collided with the Hollow's mask, a large explosion occurred and smoke gathered afterward. As the smoke cleared, no one could believe their eyes at what was now on the mask of the Menos Grande.
"She cracked the mask?!" Rukia cried out, not believing what she was seeing.
Urahara had a similar reaction. "I knew she was powerful, but I didn't anticipate that she was this powerful," he muttered to himself, watching as Sayuri seemed to turn in their direction with a sorrowful look, something he wouldn't expect to see on the face of someone who won a battle, seeing as the Menos Grande had retreated back to where it had come from.
Then he realized.
She was looking at Rukia with such a sad face because she knew that the Soul Society would be coming for Rukia.
All because of her dealing with the Menos Grande.
- - - - - - - - -
THE NEXT DAY
NIGHTTIME
Rukia ran down the street, not bothering to deal with the tears that threatened to fall down her face. She had just run away from the Kurosaki residence with just a note for Sayuri, who had most likely already found it by now. She knew that the Soul Society would be coming, just by the look on Sayuri's face after she chased off the Menos Grande the day before.
"Geez. How the mighty have fallen."
Rukia froze in place, looking up at the top of the electrical pole beside her, the figure of someone she never expected to see again crouched on top of it.
"Abarai Renji..." she mumbled, shocked to see that her childhood friend had been sent after her.
Without a warning, he jumped from the top of the pole and brought his Zanpakutō blade down between them in an attack. Rukia watched with wide eyes as he smirked.
"You turned your back on an enemy, Rukia," he jeered. "You've gotten rusty."
"Renji..."
"Where's the one who took your powers, Rukia?" he asked, interrupting her.
She didn't hesitate in saying, "What are you talking about?"
"You're in a Gigai and your Reiatsu is low as hell," he said with a frown. "Where's the one who took your powers?"
"Baka!" she said. "Just because I'm in a Gigai doesn't mean I've lost my powers!"
He stared at her with narrowed eyes. "You really expect me to believe that? You've been spending too much time with the population, otherwise, you wouldn't have such a human expression on your face!"
Her eyes widened.
(She didn't realize that at this time that Sayuri had found her note and was already on her way to stop Rukia from being taken back to the Soul Society.)
"Looking so human...there's no way that's a good thing," Renji said with a grimace. "Isn't that right, Kuchiki-taicho?"
Rukia froze as footsteps fell lightly behind her. She looked behind herself to see her adoptive older brother standing there with his usual stoic face as sakura petals blew by in the breeze.
"Nii-sama..."
- - - - - - - - -
Sayuri didn't pause in her movements as she caught sight of the bloodied Uryū. She appreciated him trying to step in, but he was out of his league.
These were experienced Shinigami.
She let out a war cry as she let her feet connect with the face of Rukia and Uryū's assailant, ignoring the other Shinigami present for the moment.
Renji let out a pained cry as he landed on the ground hard. He quickly sat upright with a hand gripping his bloody nose.
"All right, who did-!" he cut himself off when his eyes landed on Sayuri, who had drawn Tentai no Kibō and stood in front of Rukia protectively. "That can't be..."
Both he and his captain felt the connection snap. It then neatly tied together like a string, albeit a little loosely.
This girl, the girl who had taken Rukia's Shinigami powers, was their soulmate.
"You okay, Rukia?" Sayuri asked lowly, snapping Rukia out of her shock.
"Baka! What are you doing here?!" the Kuchiki girl shouted at the eldest Kurosaki, who glanced at her over her shoulder with no expression. "I thought I told you in the letter-!"
"You should know that a letter wouldn't be enough to keep me from coming after you, Rukia."
Renji and Byakuya were shocked. They hadn't expected to hear such a pledge of loyalty to Rukia that this human had just given with a straight face.
"Sayuri," Rukia whispered as Renji got back onto his feet.
He growled softly under his breath. His eyes caught those of his captain, who gave the slightest shake of his head. She may be their soulmate, but they had a job to do.
"Good grief. Is she the one who stole your powers, Rukia?" Renji asked, though they all knew the answer to his question. "You know that's punishable by death!"
"It was a life-or-death situation, Shinigami-san," Sayuri interrupted with a frown. "You would have done the same as she if you were put in her position."
Clearly, he didn't like Sayuri talking back to him since he held up his Zanpakutō and said, "Howl, Zabimaru!"
Sayuri's eyes widened as his Zanpakutō seemed to gain 6 segments in the blade and protrusions on the blunt and sharp end of the blade. So this is the Shikai of another Shinigami, she mused to herself.
"Do you even know the name of your Zanpakutō, kid?" he continued with a snarl, expecting that she wouldn't know it.
She frowned at him underestimating her. She pointed her Zanpakutō at him, being mindful of what the other Shinigami was doing.
"Shine from the heavens, Tentai no Kibō."
Both the lieutenant and captain watched as the black blade of Sayuri's Zanpakutō grew in length and widened some before disappearing from sight.
"The hell..." Renji trailed off. "Where the hell is the blade?"
Sayuri gave a thin smile, though it was hollow, Rukia noticed. "I apologize. Tentai no Kibō can be a little shy, so he likes to hide from sight. I hope you don't mind."
Renji scowled. "The blade's not even there anymore! What can it do to-!"
He was cut off by Sayuri's quick movement and her blade slicing across his front, sending blood flying into the air.
Byakuya blinked. How could she be so fast?
"Sorry about that," Sayuri said as if she hadn't just attacked the Shinigami in the middle of his sentence. "He doesn't like it when people underestimate him based on his appearance." Her gaze hardened. "Neither do I, for that matter."
She paused for a moment before she Shunpoed to the top of the electrical pole, having avoided Byakuya's attack at the last second. He followed her movements with a cold gaze, one she met evenly without a flinch.
"Looks like you got me a little," she murmured as she felt blood dribble out of the cut on her upper right arm. "Been a while since I've had that arm cut."
He mentally frowned at her last statement. What did she mean by that? He turned his attention to his lieutenant. "You let your guard down. Don't let it happen again."
Renji nodded as he slowly got back onto his feet. "Hai!"
Something flashed in Sayuri's bright blue eyes as she suddenly rushed towards Renji, her Zanpakutō positioned for a killing blow.
Rukia watched as Sayuri's entire posture changed and her eyes widened when she caught sight of her eyes.
They were red instead of bright blue and black instead of white.
Without a second thought, she moved between her childhood friend and her crush and screamed out, "STOP!"
Sayuri froze, her invisible blade an inch away from slicing through Rukia's neck.
Renji let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
Byakuya watched with a tense posture as Rukia stood unmoving and unafraid.
"Sayuri, calm down," she whispered softly, hoping her voice would get through to her. "Please."
Sayuri stared at the Kuchiki girl for a moment before she slowly lowered her Zanpakutō from her neck.
"Only because you asked, Rukia," she said softly as her eyes returned to their usual bright blue. "Only because it's you."
Only two months of knowing each other and their bond is already so deep, Renji thought with wide eyes. How is that even possible?
Rukia frowned, dreading what she was about to say. "Let me go, Sayuri."
The Kurosaki girl froze, eyes not leaving Rukia's purple hues. "What?" she growled, the red and black beginning to slowly flood back into her eyes.
Renji looked between both women warily. It felt like a stand-off, one side calm and the other ready to burst.
"Let me go, Sayuri," Rukia repeated softly, forcing back her tears. "I need to pay for what I've done."
"It was my choice," Sayuri said, not bothering to hide the tears building in her eyes. She glanced at the two Shinigami, showing that she was still aware of their presence and was not letting her guard down one bit. "That makes it my fault."
"I suggested it, though. Let me pay for my sins."
Sayuri's breath hitched at Rukia's defeated tone. "Don't give me that crap," she snarled, catching the Kuchiki girl by surprise. "Pay for my sins, my ass. What happened to the head-strong noble girl I met two months ago? 'Cause, she certainly ain't here."
Rukia glared at her. "It doesn't matter what you think. It's happening and you can't change that."
"You may be right," Sayuri muttered, shifting her grip on Tentai no Kibō unconsciously as a nervous habit. "But that doesn't mean I won't try to stop it."
Rukia felt the tears stream down her face at Sayuri's words. "That's what I'm afraid of," she whispered before Byakuya pressed down on a pressure point on Sayuri's neck.
Sayuri's eyes rolled back as she lost consciousness, falling back. Renji quickly caught her before she hit the ground, the same going for her Zanpakutō.
Renji looked at his captain with curious eyes. "What will we do about her? We can here to kill her as well as bring Rukia back for her execution."
Byakuya was silent for a moment, his eyes moving to meet Rukia's teary ones. He turned his attention back to his lieutenant and said, "Leave her here."
"Taicho?"
Byakuya didn't say anything else as he opened up a Senkaimon to take them back to the Soul Society, leaving behind Sayuri's unconscious form.
Clogs hit the ground. Urahara frowned as he adjusted the bucket hat on his head.
"What an interesting turn of events," he muttered, staring down at Sayuri's unconscious form. "She's gonna be pissed when she wakes up."
So...
Pretty heavy chapter in my opinion. But, hey - at least we now know the name of Sayuri's Zanpakuto: Tentai no Kibo. It means Celestial Hope and more about it will be explored as the story goes on.
As you can tell, things have been a little different than the actual storyline of Bleach. I have been doing this on purpose.
I want to make Sayuri different than Ichigo. I want some of their personality traits to be the same, but I also want to make Sayuri her own person and not a copy of Ichigo. I hope I'm doing a good job on that.
So, after this, Sayuri will be ready to head to Soul Society to rescue Rukia, though she isn't going alone. Her friends will be right there with her and we'll check back in with Shuhei as well to see his reaction to the news about Rukia.
Until next time, have a great day.