Bleach: Azashiro

I woke up only in the evening. Feeling great, I stood up. There was no point in lying in bed again. I looked out the window and tried to roughly estimate the time. Darkness had only just descended on the Shihoin estate. The last rays of sunset were still visible on the horizon. It must have been around seven o'clock in the evening. Usually, at this time, the sun sets.

Again, I caught myself wondering: does the sun even exist? Shaking my head, I stopped thinking about useless things. What was the point of pondering it if I didn't have enough information? And most likely, in the next hundred years, I wouldn't find any data about it. Well, I might find something, but it would probably be general information. I wanted to know more about the process of dividing the world into three parts and the reasons behind such actions.

I needed to get myself in order. First, I should take a bath. Even though I had washed all the blood off myself yesterday, the smell still lingered. I had no desire to walk around stinking all day.

After completing my morning routine, I got ready and headed to the underground complex. My destination was the dining room. I really liked Omaeda's cooking.

When I arrived and began choosing my meal, I was surprised to see breakfast dishes still available. I checked with the cook. It turned out that because of my work in the squad, this was a common occurrence. It wasn't unusual to complete a night task, disrupting one's sleep schedule. In such cases, dishes suitable for breakfast, lunch, and dinner were available around the clock.

Taking an omelette with rice and vegetables, I sat down at a distant table.

As I ate the delicious omelette, I thought about what to do today. Using the training ground at night wouldn't be possible, and I wanted to spend my time productively. That ruled out all types of physical training. Meditation? Possibly. I could also try visiting the library. Of course, they would only let me into the general section, but maybe I could find something new.

After breakfast, I handed my tray with plates to a servant and left. Before it got too late, I needed to find out more about the library. Unfortunately—or fortunately—my plans were not meant to be. As I was exiting the underground complex, a short, white-haired girl named Shika grabbed me and dragged me along with her.

"Shika, where are you taking me?" I asked.

"Hmm," was her only response.

Noticing that she was dragging me outside the estate, I pulled my hand out of her strong grip and stopped.

"I'm forbidden to leave the estate," I said, responding to her bewildered look.

"Why?" Shika asked in surprise.

"First of all, hello, nice to see you," I said calmly, trying to keep my composure. "Members of the squad are prohibited from leaving the territory of the Shihoin clan."

"What? Hahahaha!" Shika burst into laughter. "Who told you such nonsense?" she asked, wiping away her tears.

"Grandpa," I replied, already feeling like he might have been wrong. "Isn't that true?"

"Haha, well, maybe for ordinary shinigami. But this rule doesn't apply to members of noble families. Of course, you're still required to live on the clan's territory. But in your free time, no one's holding you back. You can visit your family, walk around the city, and no one will say a word to you," Shika explained, still laughing.

"I thought we had to be on constant alert?" I asked.

"Well, not all the time. When your group is on duty, you must be here. When were you going to tell me about this?"

Haa, I had already resigned myself to spending a whole year in the squad. And now it turns out I was wrong. The news was certainly wonderful. I'm glad I found out about it now, even if it was by accident.

"Now, maybe you can explain where you were planning to take me?" I asked. After my question, she looked a little shy and averted her gaze. Of course, I was glad that after yesterday's incident, she seemed fine. But I wanted to know where she was taking me.

"Well…" Shika hesitated. Or maybe she was just shy? It was hard to tell what was going on in her head.

"I wanted to take you to the forest," she finally said. I was taken aback by her answer. Why the hell would she drag me into the forest? She looked into my eyes, then quickly lowered her head and started fidgeting with her foot. She looked so innocent, damn it.

"Why?" I asked.

"I… I wanted to ask for your help," she said, trying to change the subject. "And anyway, where have you been all day?"

"I was sleeping. Don't change the topic. What kind of help do you need?" I stopped her attempt to divert the conversation. It might have sounded harsh, but I knew she wouldn't tell me otherwise.

"I need your help with training," she said, looking at me with determination.

"Okay, let's go," I agreed easily. She blinked in surprise for a couple of seconds but quickly recovered and led the way. Apparently, she hadn't expected me to agree so readily.

I had my own assumptions about what kind of training she needed help with. Given recent events, it wasn't hard to guess. But before we started, I needed to talk to her. I didn't want to scare her. Maybe I could dissuade her. It was unlikely, but worth a try.

We arrived at a cozy spot. Tall, lush trees surrounded us, and birds were singing. It was a serene place. It's a shame there weren't more places like this in Seireitei. Although, considering the size of the city, it's hard to complain. When I first learned about the size of the forests in the city, I was genuinely surprised. This wasn't some small park but a full-fledged forest. Even if it wasn't huge, it was still within the city. And it wasn't the only one.

Perhaps I should visit here more often. It's a great place to relax. People rarely come here. Shinigami sometimes visit, but they're not frequent guests either.

"So, what do you need from me?" I asked.

"Release your spiritual pressure," Shika said, turning to face me. She was clearly tense.

"Shika, my reiatsu is unusual. I wouldn't want to harm you," I said softly.

"I know. My uncle already told me. But I need this," she replied. I immediately remembered Chika-san's words. It seemed she wanted to prove something to herself. But still, I didn't want to hurt her.

"Shika, I don't know what happened to you, and I'm not going to pry. But I don't want to harm you," I tried to dissuade her again. "Back then, I had no idea how my reiatsu affected others. Now I know, and I can't let you go through that again."

I still didn't fully understand how my reiatsu worked on others. But the information I had was enough to get a rough idea.

"It's okay, Aki," she said sadly. "I'll tell you."

"You don't have to—" I started, but she interrupted me.

"No, I want you to know," Shika said firmly. "It's not a secret, but it's an unpleasant story."

I nodded, showing that I understood, and sat down on the grass. She sat down opposite me.

"I was five years old then. My mother and I went out into the city for a walk. Everything was fine; we went shopping. I was having fun," Shika said with a sad smile.

"Until one moment, a strange man approached my mom. They clearly knew each other. After a couple of minutes of conversation, my mother took me in her arms and ran after him. At the time, I didn't think anything was wrong. I thought we were going to visit someone," she chuckled sadly.

"At some point, I fainted. Most likely, that man knocked me out," Shika said with hatred in her voice. "I woke up tied to a table, surrounded by a bunch of Hollows. That man stood over me, and my mother was helping him with something while looking at me."

"I remember her look full of contempt and anticipation directed at me. All I could do was lie there, unable to move, and look at my mother," she paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts, then continued. "Just as the man was about to make the first cut and do whatever he had planned, my father and uncle burst into the room with a group of shinigami."

"A few years later, after much persuasion, my father told me what had happened," Shika said with an exhausted smile. "It turns out my mother was a member of a secret society of aristocrats. They called themselves 'The Future.' Their goal was to create a new Soul King. The funniest part is that none of them had achieved Bankai. But there were a lot of smart people. They conducted experiments on Hollows."

"My mother, seeing my talent, suggested using me for their experiments. They thought I was perfect for their needs and kidnapped me. Luckily, they didn't succeed. All of them were found and executed."

What? Were they idiots? Members of noble families, of all people, should understand the futility of such actions. And kidnapping a member of the Shihoin clan? How stupid do you have to be to kidnap the granddaughter of the clan head, who also oversees a secret operations squad? It was beyond comprehension.

Although, considering their ideology, they might have been fanatics. I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

"After this incident, I've had trust issues," she said with a sad grin.

I would have been surprised if this event hadn't affected her. Haa, I hadn't expected this. Thank goodness everything turned out okay.

"And, on that mission… I almost betrayed myself," she said, turning her head away, trying not to look at me.

That explained her behavior during the mission. Now everything made sense. I remembered how Shika had been ready to attack me at any moment out of fear. She saw it as an act of betrayal.

Yeah, she had really beaten herself up over it. She had probably already convinced herself of things without even asking for my opinion. Well, all I could do was help her.

"Shika, it was my fault during the mission, not yours," I said, pulling her into a hug. "You didn't do anything wrong. Your reaction to my reiatsu was normal. Understand?"

It might have sounded a little strange, but it was the best I could do. Comforting people wasn't my strong suit. Killing? Easy. Offending? Also easy. But this? Not so much. Oddly enough, I had grown attached to her. Maybe I could even call us friends. Hah, in this world, I had exactly twice as many friends as I did in my past life.

"Uh-huh," she mumbled, burying her face in my chest.

"Will you help me?" Shika asked in a quiet voice.

Now there was no way I could refuse. And there were benefits to this. Such training would help her in the future against strong opponents. Maybe I should also practice controlling my spiritual pressure. Considering how mediocre I was at using it, it was worth a shot. True mastery of spiritual pressure involved focusing it on a single target. Of course, I was far from that level, but I had to start somewhere. Previously, my priority had been other shinigami abilities. I had never trained to use pressure effectively. There had always been something more important to do. I couldn't split myself in two, so I had to prioritize.

"Okay," I agreed.

***

In the end, I had to agree. At first, it wasn't easy for Shika to withstand my reiatsu. But over time, she got used to it and began to resist external pressure better. The training also helped calm her down. By experiencing it again in a controlled environment, she came to some conclusions and started behaving like her old self.

We returned closer to midnight. Shika, with a smile on her face, went to her room, setting a time for our next training session. It was nice to see her smiling again.

Left alone, I decided to visit home. I wanted to talk about my first day and just catch up with my parents. My father shouldn't be asleep yet. He had attended a dinner party yesterday and was likely to return in about an hour.

As I walked slowly toward the house, I reflected on Shika's story.

One thing about the story confused me: Shika's mother. I could roughly understand the motives of the "Future" members. They wanted to create a new Soul King. Most likely, they didn't have complete information about the past, which led to such an idea. Or perhaps they knew the history well and wanted to elevate themselves like the noble families. They might have been brainwashed fanatics. Why not? All possibilities had some merit. Alas, I was unlikely to ever learn the truth.

But what was Shika's mother's motive? Was she also a fanatic? But how? As far as I knew, she was from a high-ranking noble family. How had they recruited her under the noses of two powerful families? It was strange.

Could it have been blackmail? But according to Shika, her mother had acted voluntarily. Also, I couldn't imagine what would drive a member of a noble family to despise their own child. Noble families instill the idea that the clan and family come first, above oneself. To despise your own daughter, the future of the family, was unthinkable. The only explanation was that she was fanatically devoted to the cause. But such devotion doesn't arise out of nowhere. It's simply impossible.

Haa, it was pointless to think about it now. Besides, they had already killed everyone. Thank goodness. I wouldn't want to deal with fanatics. They can be unpredictably dangerous, as they don't care about casualties.

***

A week had passed since Shika and I started training together. Now, she was used to my reiatsu and didn't shy away from me. She could tolerate spiritual pressure quite well. Of course, such rapid progress didn't come out of nowhere.

Chika-san, after learning about our training, taught his niece how to resist spiritual pressure. It turned out there were nuances I hadn't been aware of. He promised to teach me once I met certain requirements. I wondered what those requirements were.

But I couldn't call the training useless for myself. I had gotten better at controlling my spiritual pressure. Even though the progress was small, it was still progress. And that was something to be happy about.

I also got scolded. Yes, verbal reprimands from my mother were still a thing. Returning home late one night, I was caught by my mother and forced to listen to a lecture about taking care of the grass. I had completely forgotten about that grass, but my mother remembered everything. My father also returned at the wrong time and had to listen to the lecture with me. There was no need to cover for him. Heh.