Chapter Text
In the summer, the unremitting call of the cicada echoing through the ample garden and the unpleasant high temperatures made for a slower, lazy day. But the little girl didn’t mind the heat very, as she had found herself an ideal location under the shadow of the great willows where she could play by herself without being bothered.
For now, all her attention was on the current object of her curiosity on the ground: the dying body of a butterfly of brown and reddish colors to which, with the help of a previously sharpened stick, she carefully dissected.
She wasn’t being bothered, yes, but that didn’t mean she was alone. For a while now, the grim figure of a huge individual entirely cloaked in rags, sat on a nearby rock and watched her play.
“Do you like it here?” they asked out of nowhere, their voice, a thin one.
“It’s a nice spot,” she simply replied, eyes not leaving her recreation.
“I didn’t mean here in the garden, but with your family. Do you like them?”
“They’re alright, I guess.”
“You guess? Shouldn’t you be more sure of that?”
The girl shrugged. “I don’t really have many references, but I’ve seen the moms and dads of my friends outside. How they act and live.” Tentatively, she cut away one of the butterfly’s wings. “I know my parents don’t love each other. But sometimes, they would act like it.”
Her interlocutor let out a quiet sound of acknowledgement. There was a hint of amusement in it.
“You’re a sharp kid, though it’s kind of concerning you can say that kind of thing so naturally. Doesn’t it bother you?”
But she was still more focused on her test subject and so, the remaining upper wing was cut. She could muse over the question now.
“They do it because they love me lots and don’t want to make me sad. That’s why I shouldn’t make them worry.”
Something shifted under the cloaks, the noise too foreign to be human. Maybe it was their way of pondering in turn and in consequence, asked, “didn’t your so caring parents teach you that you shouldn’t talk with strangers, then?”
The girl, who had delicately initiated an incision throughout the insect’s thorax, stopped halfway through to turn her head towards her companion and look at them with big, genuine eyes.
“But I know you. You’re the one I see in my dreams.”
They seemed to let out a real reaction for the first time, the atmosphere unknowingly taking on a heavier turn as within all that cloth and shadow, a wide smile could be only perceived.
“You truly are sharp. I can’t wait for the moment we meet, my dearest.”
She stared, until a voice was heard in the distance.
“Asagao-sama!” it called repeatedly, making her turn to the source of it. It came right from the main house. “Where would you go off to now? Asagao-sama!”
Guessing playtime was over, when she turned back to say goodbye to that person, they were already gone.
She didn’t duel too much on it though, and standing up, she called back. “Coming!”
The branch was dropped without much care, falling beside the butterfly corpse, and the girl departed for the house.
◇◆◇
Asa breathed easy, an odd stillness surrounding her darkness, as yet inexplicable. Then, light began to slowly filter through her eyelids all the same that odd subconscious sensation began to grow more dominant, until her body pushed itself up, eyes suddenly wide open with an urgency whose purpose she didn’t know, but that spurted her heart rate nevertheless.
She came to search throughout the luminous and spruce hospital room, with nothing to anchor her back to the world before her uniform by the bedside table made sure to crush her against it with facility. Her zanpakutō rested on top and with it, the echoes of what had transpired the previous night returned one by one.
Her first instinct was to bring her hand up to her abdomen and though no injuries were found, her memories couldn’t be untrue. She almost killed Nemuri. Had she managed to give her even nothing more than a small scratch... She would have... She tried to desperately brush the thought away, but in its place, the image of Kurotsuchi’s head blowing to bits were just as vivid, if not more, anxiety obstructing her throat as she hid her face in her hands. How could she even begin to digest anything? They had their control on the situation just fine but then... What kind of shinigami couldn’t control their own zanpakutō?
“Oh, you’re already up?” a soft voice suddenly interrupted.
Guard still high, she rose her head up like a spring, only to be left with a greater surprise before the man at the door. Styled with sleek white robes on top of his shihakushō, he received her with serene, composed eyes. It was almost as if time itself hadn’t dared to pass by him.
“Seinosuke-dono!” She hadn’t been able to control the astonishment in her voice. That could only mean– She looked around at the ward she was in again. This had to be his clinic, which was actually even more baffling.
“It’s been a while,” he greeted, an untroubled smile on his face. “Though it’s a good sign to see you with so much energy already.”
“L-likewise, but... Just how did I end up in here?”
He closed his eyes for a moment, maybe reminiscing, maybe searching for the best wording. “I wouldn’t have expected in this day and age to receive by the entrance of my clinic the abrupt petition of treatment from none other than the Isoarashi family.”
“They brought me in?” She changed her mind then and put forth a more pressing matter. “Was there anyone else with me?”
“They only left me with you.” He didn’t have to observe for long to feel her burden, so he added, “it seems you have retained your essence. That’s good, too, but now, I must apologize for imposing this to you even though you just woke up. You have an awfully insistent visit and if I let them in right away, peace will finally return.”
With that announcement, Asa could only brace herself for when he’d open the door back again, strengthening her mind against the kind of explanations they’d demand out of her and the ultimatums that’d surely follow. But Kurotsuchi and Nemuri walked in instead.
She blinked a couple of times rather mechanically, only to certify that the man loosely standing there was the same one she had witnessed getting his brains perforated. Now that was something objectively hard to digest.
“How did you even– No– How is it possible at all! I saw you die! Quite literally!” she couldn’t help blurting out.
“That’s definitely what happened,” he said with the same ease everyone seemed to possess but her.
But it wasn’t as easy for her to accept the fact and thus, it only unnerved her all the more.
“Clearly not!”
Nemuri stepped in resolutely then, energetic as ever. “It was him, but it wasn’t him! It turns out he didn’t leave the institute at all! Isn’t Mayuri-sama wondrous?”
“Don’t give excessive explanations so lightly,” he murmured. Still loud enough for her to hear.
“It barely even counts as one! And you should be the one to explain yourself!”
He turned his eyes up to the ceiling, as if deflecting Asa’s noisiness while reluctantly retracing his steps.
The light offending his eyes when the door opened for him forced him to need a second to discern Akon in front of him who, visually harried—to start with—hastily came to his encounter. He must have been the one who turned them on.
“Captain, you finally came out of there!”
“Situation?” he requested as he immediately began to walk down the corridor, the lieutenant right behind him in a more hurried fashion.
“Just as you said, there has been an attempt to break into various facilities! All of them have been blocked and not further issues have been reported, of course.”
He snorted to himself. Once again, they thought they could outsmart him.
“But, Captain... May I know why there is a device to open a garganta in the middle of your main laboratory?”
“Ah, yes. Switch it off whenever you can.”
Though plainly eluded, still without a clear answer, Akon didn’t give up. It was as much of a good quality of his as it was a bad one.
“Sir, this new security system... Did you set it up during the time you were working along Shutara Senjumaru?”
“You’ve been paying attention,” he at least commended him.
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. That’s why it’s even more astounding to think just how quickly and silently you assembled it.”
Accessing the mentioned laboratory, he went directly to face a monitor to his right, verifying the actual positions of his companions just as quickly. When he noticed the current time, he restrained himself from a frown though. The reinstatement of the main body was too slow. If only they hadn’t destroyed the ‘vessel’, at the very least he could have collected more data from it.
“Does what’s happening have anything to do with what became of Omori-san?” Akon suddenly asked, his cautious tone prompting him to measure a reply.
“Pay no mind to any of this, Akon. And that’s an order.”
“If the institute’s being attacked in any way, I would be much more efficient if you’d provide me with a small assessment of the situation we’re in.”
“You’d receive the pertinent instructions necessary, when it is necessary, just as it has been until now.” Closing the tabs, he now made his way towards the exit at the other side of the workshop. “I’ll step out for a moment. I have to go for Nemuri and then pass by the clinic to get Asa,” he mentioned in passing.
“What?” The man was so baffled he had forgotten his manners. “The clinic?”
“Good job, Akon,” he simply remarked before leaving. “Make a report on the defensive systems performance before I get back.”
Back to the present and to looking at Asa, he simply said, “well... This and that happened.”
“Give me a real explanation, dammit!” She slammed her hand into the mattress. “You basically sent me into danger on my own!”
“Seeing that everything that happened was more your fault than anything else, it’s only natural for you to go solve it firsthand. And if we’re speaking of clarifications, the one who must give a proper explanation would be you.”
She halted for the first time since he had come around, as he was in the right. She owed it to him, at this point. If only for all the trouble she had caused him.
But Seinosuke sighed, interrupting her divagations.
“It just so seems that peace won’t be returning that easily.” He addressed Asa next with an unusual serious look. “Though I believe I have a pretty clear idea of your current circumstances, would I be getting you in trouble if I spoke freely?”
She already could get an idea herself, of what he could be alluding to.
“Please, go on.”
“They brought you in alleging some kind of unknown poison, which I must punctuate was annoyingly complicated to completely get rid of; it’s still fortunate that whatever attack you may have suffered, you were very lucky it missed all organs.” Without worrying too much about hiding it, he briefly glanced at the man to his side before getting back to business. “And with that said, I discharge you from bed, so don’t delay in your leave.”
“Thank you so much for your help!” Her lowered head almost touched the bed sheets. “I’m so sorry for all the fuss!”
By the time he left the room, Mayuri offhandedly commented to himself, “what does one has to do for you to show such exceptional manners?”
She rose it back fast to give him the death stare, but he dissuaded her with the movement of a hand.
“Let go of those trivial details about going alone, or if it was me or not. They wouldn’t left their precious heiress to die, but the rest of us, on the contrary... In conclusion, it was too obvious a trap to show up willingly, don’t you think so? But if you really thought I would walk directly into it without taking the appropriate measures, that’s on you.”
Not pleased nor contented, far from worsening her indignation, she returned a severe look, almost melancholic, and stole a glance at Nemuri for a moment. She countered it with those same big old eyes of hers. It didn’t look like she held a grudge against her, or feared her at that, and nevertheless, it could have ended up real bad. It was hard to understand.
Without an actual reply, she sprung to her feet. There was no other way around it, she was at fault. Now back in action, she mutely endorsed Seinosuke’s abilities as she began to change back into her uniform right there.
“I will tell you everything you may want to know, but first I have to return and get my own answers from that hag right this moment.”
“I’d have to advise you against it,” he said without much of a reaction.
But she didn’t listen, taking in one hand the corset she didn’t have the time to put on and her sword in the other before decisively stepping out of the ward. Both Kurotsuchi and Nemuri followed behind.
“Don’t rush into things without a proper strategy,” he reiterated.
The rest of the clinic, which had been conveniently vacant at that moment, followed the same curated aesthetic of the immaculate room reserved only for the peace and quiet of high-level patients, now almost defiled on their wake. Asa hadn’t planned to make its walls suffer with their presence much longer, but when she reached the exit, a kneeling man on pristine, uniformed clothes suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking the way altogether.
“The Kuchiki house sure is quick to act,” Kurotsuchi commented from behind her.
The sole mention of that family’s name froze her in place. All her recently gathered determination wobbling as she tried to wrap her mind around why people of that level would even appear in front of her.
“The three of you have been summoned to the main residency. I ask that you accompany me.” The presumed messenger kept his head low; his words clean-cut.
And horrified by those words, Asa recoiled. “You surely must have made some kind of mistake...”
“It’s an urgent invitation, Asa-sama.”
She crawled out of her own skin. Surely the appellation must have only been due to the servant’s code of conduct, but still she felt her being about to activate her flight or fight instincts just by the sole allusion. Though before she could have conjured any other excuse, Kurotsuchi stepped ahead past her, to her greater surprise.
“Let’s get going then. Better to get on with it as quickly as possible.”
“Thank you so much for coming around on such short notice. I hope it wasn’t too much of an inconvenience.”
Asa had no idea what to do with herself. She just sat there almost comically stationary, in the seat opposite her, who she understood was a high-ranked member of the Kuchiki family and right beside her, her huge partner. The both of them, though dressed in more comfortable, homely clothing, were the ones who appeared to be more nervous.
“I believe we’ve never met! I’m Kuchiki Rukia,” the woman addressed her with genuine eyes, and then gestured to the man. “This is my husband, Abarai Renji. Ichika told us you helped find Nemuri-chan.”
“I’m Asa...” Her introduction though, was more reserved.
“F-feel free to eat whatever you want!” This Abarai man gestured towards the pastries they had brought about.
She looked down at the low table they were having their meeting at, and then to the tea they had also tentatively served, to end up glancing to her left, out of the ample room and into the magnificent, nocturn garden. There, the two little girls delighted over their excited reunion.
Ichika... Was nobody going to share with her the small detail that she was a Kuchiki scion?! Not only that, but everything also pointed to her having run straight to tell everything she knew to her parents... Whatever the implications of such a concept might be. Though looking back at the couple, she wouldn’t trust they had fallen into an especially precarious situation.
“Girls!” The woman stood up a little to get their attention. “Could you go play not too far away while the adults talk?”
They immediately agreed to the idea, going off together as Ichika murmured something about how she had to fill her up on everything. Now alone, they just looked even more uncertain if it was already possible, and she had to clear her throat before starting off.
“Well... First of all, I’m so relieved everything seems to be fine!”
The sound of a cup clacking on the table pulled in everyone’s attention to Asa’s side where Kurotsuchi sat, now arms crossed.
“If everything is fine, what are we doing here?” For his unexpressive face and unamused tone, he looked the most comfortable one in the room.
The husband tried to take on the conversation then, not less hesitant. “The thing is, captain Kurotsuchi... We were expecting you to be the one who gave us some kind of explanation. After all, Ichika came to us too panicked to really understand what was going on.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t have to worry about that. Just a minor incident of little to no importance in one of our field experiments. As you may know by now, kids can sometimes get too unruly for their own good, but everything has already been mended and settled.”
Asa kept her eyes on her untouched tea, thinking just how easily the lies came out of him.
“We understand, but–” the Kuchiki tried to intercede.
“I’ve already spoken with Nemuri and I assure you she won’t involve Ichika again in this kind of environment, so you don’t have to worry. Moreover, I would be very grateful if you could maintain discretion regarding the IRD affairs.”
“Aren’t you being too nonchalant, Kurotsuchi?” a man emerging right by the exterior corridor asked. “What kind of field research makes a kid vanish in the middle of a forest in the rukongai?”
“Nii-sama!” the noblewoman called with surprise.
Asa was completely taken aback again. That man, she couldn’t mistake him, his bearing too recognizable even if they had never met before. The haori was just the final confirmation of his title. He ought to be captain Kuchiki Byakuya, the actual Head of the Kuchiki Household.
“Like I said, IRD matters.” Kurotsuchi didn’t seem shaken by his sudden intervention though.
“It ceased to be so the moment Ichika became involved. Furthermore, I don’t believe you would find it beneficial if the way you’re doing things behind headquarters backs just happened to leak out.”
He didn’t even blink before the disguised threat, gazes locked.
“And why do you assume I haven’t communicated it?”
With the same measured and stoic poise he had displayed since his arrival, he replied, “I have no problem wasting my time verifying it with the captain commander.”
Tension heavily built up in just a moment, nobody else wished to meddle between them for what felt like whole minutes. Asa was even beginning to worry about what kind of statements she’d have to surrender, when Kurotsuchi cut that right off with a sigh.
“It won’t be necessary.” And simply stood up, meeting him eye to eye. “Will you quit making a fuss if I go to report in right this instant?”
“You shouldn’t need me to say anything.” The man closed his eyes and turned away, walking off just like that.
Agreeing or not, Mayuri stepped out of the room immediately after. “Nemuri! We’re leaving!”
A small head sprouted right from behind a bush, in the distance.
“Coming!”
He glanced back at Asa then. “Let’s go.”
She left her seat fast; the offered tea left to cool. Although she strove to not show it, she still was fairly lost. She just parted after a quick bow, as they were already leaving without her. The couple returned the gesture just as hastily, not much else to add as the inexpert invitation had been abruptly terminated.
When she caught up to them, they were already by the cobbled trail leading to the estate exit and a moment as good as any, she reached out, uncertain on how she should begin to voice everything she had bottled inside her head, but Nemuri was faster, leaping a couple steps ahead to then turn on her heels towards them.
“Now that everything is settled...” The expectation fabricated by her tone stopped them both. “I did take away something really useful this time!”
And before they could even get an idea of what she meant, directly from among her clothes she brought out an entire flower, roots and all. Although already somewhat deflated, the liberation from the improvised pocket let it slowly recover some of its form. Asa was effectively surprised, in the same way that just thinking about the girl carrying that around on herself concerned her plenty. Kurotsuchi was more practical, as he first approached to collect her haul.
“Don’t think that just because of this you’ll be able to avoid an appropriate punishment,” he reminded her as he examined the specimen.
Asa went to his side with the same idea, first checking if it represented any kind of immediate danger; after all, it ought to still hide an intelligent parasite on its core. Structurally, everything was in order, without a ground to properly hold on to in an attempt at feeding off anyone’s soul. ‘In order’, within its already acknowledged peculiarities, that is. He must have reached the same conclusion, because he put it back in her hands.
“Take it with Akon immediately. He’ll be waiting for you,” he instructed. “And say goodbye to that spending the night away from home nonsense once and for all.”
Nemuri nodded energetically with the barely hidden outline of a smile, but before she could go and fulfill her orders, Asa awkwardly went on ahead.
“Wait, Nemuri! I... I still haven’t been able to–”
“That’s right!” The volume in which she had shouted that out made her stumble with her own words. The girl lowered her head at her right after. “I’m sorry I lost your mantis, Asa-san! They took it from me before they let me go with Mayuri-sama. I’ll compensate it to you somehow!”
More than disturbed by the implications of her words, she was first and mostly in complete perplexity. Compensate it to her? She’d better have the roles inverted.
“... You... don’t have to worry about that,” she managed to articulate.
“Still!” Hand raised over her head, she waved goodbye just as she briskly got away before she was able to say anything else on the matter.
She stared at the spot where she eventually lost sight of her and unaware to it, Mayuri observed her so. Even though it wasn’t the first time she’d had that thought, it was still difficult for her to wrap her mind around the girl’s nature. Though true enough, even if it wasn’t apparent at first glance, she was her father’s daughter. She turned to him then and at first, they just stared back at each other. Now, if the daughter had evaded her...
“Whatever it is that it’s going through your head, it can wait. As you sure can understand, I have to run through headquarters and waste some of my valuable time.” It was like he had seen her from a mile away.
“But I won’t waste it! Just listen to me for a minute!” The overcoming and uncomfortable sense of groveling she was having at that point was still lighter than guilt.
And of course, he ignored it altogether. “Didn’t you were in such a rush to straighten something up somewhere else?”
She would have argued back if he wasn’t right. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling away as easily. She needed to clear everything up as soon as possible, and that need was gnawing out at her.
“We can talk later,” he added, resuming his way with the same nonchalance.
“We will!” She had meant to come out as... accusatory? Hopefully assertive, but the result was a stiff mess.
Either way, he didn’t spare another word and left her to deal with her conflicted mind by herself. Which frankly, she kind of should. Maybe awfully self-aware as of late, she just hoped she wouldn’t embarrass herself to any further extent for what was left of the day, at the very least.
◇◆◇
Daria filled out the records by her small table with a roughness atypical of her. The studio was dimly lit, instead assisted by the oil lamp close by in an unproductive attempt at creating a sedate environment. She would have sent it flying across the room at any moment, if it hadn’t been for the faint movement at her back.
“You sure took your sweet time,” she referred her complaints without putting aside her main occupation.
“The compilations on the scene took longer than expected. I beg you take my apologies.” The shadowy figure of the hooded man in black became more distinct as he reported back to his master. He, on the other hand, maintained a more controlled poise. “They have already let out the child, as you instructed, and Asagao-sama has long been left in good hands.”
“And the captain subject?” she asked in turn.
“About that, I’m afraid the recovery of the body became impossible, though we have already confirmed it wasn’t even him.”
The woman didn’t concede an answer. The softness of her fountain pen dipping into the inkwell with a couple of taps being the only thing filling the room at that interval.
“Would you wish for me to proceed with the test report?” the officer followed up without a major problem.
“Go ahead.”
“You’d like to hear on the accuracy of the bulb stage in the quick identification and differentiation of objectives. Even without major instructions, they were able to discriminate from among those without spiritual traits of the family. It’s a shame I can’t say the same thing of the titan stage, whose control turned out to be quite poor given the expectations placed on them.”
“A complete failure, then.”
“I’ll send your compliments to the team.”
“Make sure you do.” Far from what one would expect, Daria didn’t take badly the change in tone. “Anything else?”
“Something that could be of your interest, yes.”
Placing by the table the little habitat, he took a step back to his spot, arms now crossed at his back. Daria observed it carefully with eyes that didn’t let out much, opposing to a pair of a nature that, though unquiet, turned out strangely similar.
“This creature was in possession of the child, though it’d rather belong to your granddaughter.”
“And what was she doing with it?” Like that, her attention was back on the scrolls.
“It was actually being employed as a compass to the plantations. It’s exactly because of it that leading them all the way to the kyōgoku came to be a rather simple operation. But how’s that possible, you’d probably be asking yourself.”
“You’re being terribly theatrical. Cut to the chase.”
He nodded apologetically dutiful. “Of course. In short, Asagao-sama has been busy developing her own formula of parasitism, making use of kidō alone.”
Daria’s writing came to a sudden halt, to then coming to consider the small insect at her side again. It leisurely tried to climb up the branches that occupied the majority of the space.
“Can you guarantee that information?”
“With complete certainty, my Lady. Not only is she able to control it, but of establishing a connection without apparent adverse effects.”
Though silent, the agile considerations proved easily noticeable on her unblinking stare. He reverentially let her ruminate for a little longer, until he deemed it proper to speak again.
“Furthermore, letting you know I’ve been informed that Asagao-sama is approaching the mansion at this very moment.”
“Perfect. You’re dismissed.”
“If you’ll excuse me...”
The moment he disappeared was the instant she dropped her fountain pen to the side; the remaining ink speckling the dark wood. Unmoving, not even air seemed to get by her before she finally picked up the habitat in between her own hands at eye level. Now, the insect wriggled its antennae in uncoordinated alternation, and the little black dots of its faceted eyes shifted almost like liquid. Her nose wrinkled. Still, the subdued sense of unnerving was inarguable.