Gateway 56

The battlefield stood still as we measured each other up and waited.

Ever since Captain Commander Yamamoto showed up with the other Captains in tow, neither Zaraki nor I dared make a move; just his presence was enough to make both of us hesitate to continue the fight, at least until we had his approval.

I didn’t know if it was through self-preservation or respect, but it was good to know there was more than one person capable of making Zaraki obey their commands.

As we waited for the Captains to finish their talk, I wondered how this fight had gotten so out of control.

It was supposed to be a demonstration of the usefulness and power of magic to the lower ranks of the 11th, but Zaraki seemed intent on getting stronger with each hit he took.

I could easily admit to being overconfident and underestimating Zaraki in the beginning, but my last few attacks would have definitely taken him out if I used them then. Now? Now I wasn’t sure if my best would have nearly the same effect on him.

Dismissing that line of thought, I started planning my next moves. There was no use limiting myself anymore, and taking into account the only attack he went out of his way to dodge was the Severing charm…

My thoughts were derailed when, with a casual tap of his cane on the ground that made a sound as loud as a gunshot, Captain Commander Yamamoto said a single word: “Proceed.”

Instantly, I extended my right hand out and summoned my Zanpakuto, jumping to the side to catch it so I could avoid Zaraki’s strike. Even then, I barely had time to unsheathe my Zanpakuto before I had to use it to block Zaraki’s following attack.

It was a bad move on my part. Zaraki’s increase in strength meant that instead of merely being pushed back, I was launched away.

Keeping my composure, I landed on my feet, left hand already drawing the Lightning Rune in the air as I incanted.

“Hado #4: Byakurai.”

I finished the incantation a moment before Zaraki appeared, just in time for him to be blinded by the flash of light and hit dead-on with a torrent of lightning as thick as a bus.

The instant the spell was cast, I noticed my mistake. Using the Runes with regular spells, at least with the ones I learnt from the Wizarding World, elevated them to a higher level, and adding Kido to the mix only perfected things further. Kido spells and wizard spells also worked well in magnifying each other's properties. But mixing Kido and Runes without a wizarding spell to properly bind them together seemed to only increase output.

 As it was, all my attack did was provide a distraction.

‘Fuck!’ I screamed internally, quickly Flash Stepping to my initial position in front of our audience.

My options were severely limited now that I knew that Runes didn’t work that well with Kido. If I were fighting anyone else, I wouldn’t be worried, but Zaraki was a different beast entirely.

Holding my Zanpakuto with both hands, I started inscribing the Division Rune in the air as I thought on the other revelation I had with my past few attacks.

That is, the fact that inscribing the Runes made them more potent than simply willing them into existence.

The Bombarda Maxima I cast should have done much more damage than it did, not even to Zaraki, but to the environment surrounding it. Compared to the mile-long fissure the Severing charm created, it barely cratered the ground.

Zaraki arrived just as I finished the Rune, and this time, I went on the attack.

“Di-” I started, holding it as I Flash Stepped directly in front of him, letting the power of the Rune seep into my sword and mix with the spell, making it glow silver as I slashed downward. He grinned in response, casually raising his sword to block. “-ffindo!” I finished, just as our swords touched.

The ground cratered around us, and the pressure wave cleared all the dust and debris from the surroundings, which gave everyone a clear view of Zaraki’s blood splattering around us.

His Zanpakuto managed to block a small part of the spell, but most of it hit. The cut it produced was deep, almost going through him. It was only the chips on his blade messing up the angle of my attack that saved him from having his heart cut in two.

We stayed there, our swords locked in place for a moment that felt like eternity. Until, finally, he fell backwards into the ground, Zanpakuto still in hand.

___

Zaraki Kenpachi

He stared at the cloudy sky as he felt consciousness slowly leave him, closing his eyes for what felt like the last time.

Was this what it felt like to die?

“Kenny?”

If it were, then he could think of worse ways to go than against a powerful opponent, finally realizing their potential.

“Kenny! Don’t die!”

He knew Alex had it in him. He might fool everyone, even himself, but Zaraki knew from just one look at him how much he was holding back.

That first time they fought, feeling the insane spike in killing intent being instantly crushed and suppressed like it was second nature. Blocking an attack that should have been a killing blow with his bare hand. He knew he had to do something about it.

“Kenny! If you die, you won’t be able to fight Lupinin anymore!”

So he did. Alex’s eyes brightened up every time they trained, even though Alex was annoyed by his surprise attacks. And dumping the Lieutenant position on him made Alex go from a kid who was easily pushed around to a man who took action when he felt the need to.

He still made excuses to hold back, to leash himself to what he thought was ‘appropriate’, where even the most anal retentive Captains knew to make a stand instead of drowning in passivity.

“He isn’t there yet, Kenny! He needs you! We need you!”

But he made things better. He put the division in order, inspiring the lower ranks to push themselves harder in training. After this fight, he could see them learning Kido as well. He even made sure Yachiru had everything she wanted, no matter where in the division she was!

“Silly Kenny, do you think you didn’t?”

Maybe becoming Captain was what Alex needed to grow into who he really was.

“Kenny! Don’t give up now! We still have many, many fights to go through!”

‘That voice… Yachiru?’

“Kenny! Don’t let yourself die this easily! To someone who hasn’t even reached their peak yet!”

Was he letting himself die? It didn’t feel like it. His strength was gone. And even though Alex had to be pushed into it, he won their fight fairly. What else had Zaraki left to do but die?

“Get stronger!”

Could he? He kept getting stronger throughout the fight, and even then, he still lost.

“Will you let that be your limit?”

‘No, I won’t,’ Zaraki thought, forcing everything he had, everything he was, into one single action.

He opened his eyes.

___

Retsu Unohana

“So, that’s their limit…” Genryusai mused, stroking his beard as they watched Zaraki fall to the ground.

“It seems so,” Unohana sighed. She had hoped Lieutenant Alex would have managed to push Zaraki into his rightful power. The way Lieutenant Alex kept inflicting damage even after Zaraki’s spiritual power had surpassed him made her think it was possible. But alas, it was not to be.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Isane make a move towards the battlefield, so she quickly caught her shoulder and held her in place.

“Captain?” Isane questioned, turning to look at Unohana with an uncertain expression.

“This is no time for your misplaced sense of worry, Isane,” she gently said, her eyes still on the battlefield, where Lieutenant Alex went down to one knee while using his Zanpakuto to prop himself up, his gaze fixed on Zaraki’s unmoving form.

“What!?” Isane’s confused exclamation gave way to Captain Soi Fon’s own opinion.

“I concur with your Lieutenant, Captain Unohana,” Soi Fon said, looking at Unohana curiously. “The battle is clearly finished. Why not spare ourselves the time and go render aid?”

A glance at the other two Captains in attendance told her that they, too, believed the fight to be over.

“So, you three haven’t realized yet?” Genryusai snorted. “The whelp over there did,” he waved at Lieutenant Alex’s direction.

“Ma, ma Yama-jii, don’t be too hard on us,” Captain Kyoraku said, waving off Genryusai’s reproach. “Just tell us what we missed.”

She was about to respond when an explosion of spiritual power came from Zaraki. His spiritual pressure too great for all but a handful of seated members to keep conscious under it.

Zaraki slowly rose to his feet with both hands on his Zanpakuto, ready for more.

“That,” Unohana said to the shocked audience, although Yachiru didn’t seem surprised by this turn of events. “You missed that.”

But…

Lieutenant Alex rolled his eyes and stood up. His entire demeanor screaming his annoyance.

…While Zaraki’s power increased, the damage he took stayed with him.

Lieutenant Alex, on the other hand, had easily healed the worst injury he had taken.

Zaraki raised his Zanpakuto, ready to apply a picture-perfect overhead slash using both hands.

Even with the 50 feet of distance between them, receiving such an attack would be a dangerous proposition. But neither she nor Lieutenant Alex were worried.

As the sword came down, the ground before Zaraki was crushed by the amount of power behind it, a wave of yellow power quickly reaching Lieutenant Alex’s position.

But with a simple Flash Step, Lieutenant Alex dodged the attack. And with another, he closed the distance to punch Zaraki in the face.

The punch wasn’t that strong, only kicking up a small shockwave, but it was enough to knock Zaraki back to the ground.

“Stay the fuck down!” He screamed, but Zaraki had already lost consciousness.

Unohana released Isane, but the girl didn’t move. Her wide eyes staring at the scene of the fight in shock.

“Come on, Isane,” Unohana said, already moving to heal the 11th’s Captain. “Now it’s time for us to do our duty.”

Shaking the shock off, Isane shouted, “Yes, Captain!” And followed after her.

___

Alex

I let myself feel the exhilaration of victory as Isane healed my wounds.

There wasn’t anything particularly worrying, but she looked like she needed to do something, and Zaraki was in the stomach of Unohana’s Shikai. So it was either heal whatever minor wounds I had or helping the unconscious members of the 11th. Not much of a choice, to be honest.

As Isane finished, I stood before the mass of 11th members, staring as a few of them started to wake up.

Annoyed and impatient, I extended my hand towards them.

“Rennervate!” I cast. The reviving spell blanketing the crowd of 300 Shinigami and forcefully awakening them.

“Good! Now that you’re all awake, can you please tell me why I won against our Captain?” I asked, watching with suppressed amusement as they searched for Zaraki, only for them to get stuck on Unohana’s giant, green manta ray-like Shikai.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Captain Commander walk over from where the other Captains and Isane were congregating, only for him to stop by my side, turn to the crowd, and lightly tap his cane on the ground, bringing everyone’s attention to him.

“Your Lieutenant asked you a question!” He grinned. It looked… dangerous. “The only reason he isn’t your Captain now is a technicality, so if I were you, I’d answer him!

Hundreds of eyes turned to me, most of them filled with awe or terror.

With a sigh, I conjured a cigarette and lit it up, letting the smoke fill my lungs as I enjoyed the moment. No one wanted to answer, even with the Captain Commander telling them to do so.

“I’ll have to spell it out, huh?” I said, leaning forward with a shit-eating grin on my face. “I. Had. Magic.”

The crowd rippled at my statement, but I wasn’t done.

“If I had gone to the fight like you lot, the first hit Captain Kenpachi scored on me would have been the end,” I paused, looking at the faces closest to me. Ikkaku and Yumichika looked pained, while Yachiru had a small smile on her face as she looked at me. “But since I’m not a moron, I used magic to bridge the gap.”

“Normally, I’d have no business winning that fight. I was outclassed from the start. So what did I do? Did I follow your example and attack from the front, letting the strongest take the win? No! I kept my distance, slowly injuring the Captain until I found an opening to finish the fight. And when I got hit? Did I keep going while ignoring my injuries? No! I healed myself and made sure not to get hit again!”

I looked at the gathered members of the 11th, face contorted in disgust.

“The 11th is called ‘The strongest division’, but honestly? From my point of view, it’s the division of unearned pride and self-sabotage.”

As I turned to leave, I heard clapping from the ground of Captains. It was Captain Unohana, soon followed by the others. Except for the Captain Commander, who was staring down the crowd with an unreadable expression.

“Lieutenant Alex,” he said, clear enough for everyone to hear and prompting the clapping to stop.

“Yes, Captain Commander Yamamoto?” I asked.

“Well, done,” he inclined his head in my direction while still staring down the rest of the 11th. “As of this moment, I’m giving you free rein to bring the 11th division up to your standards. Do what you must.”

With a tap of his cane on the ground, his declaration was made official.

And me? I was already thinking about which division-wide curse I’d cast to force the idiots into actually learning.

___

Sosuke Aizen

“This was a most revealing battle,” Aizen smiled while watching the fight end from afar. “Thank you for your warning, Kaname.”

“I was only doing my duty, Lord Aizen,” Kaname Tousen, the blind Captain of the 9th division, responded with a bow.

Both men were wearing spiritual power-suppressing cloaks under the bent light of Bakudo #26: Kyokko, while watching the fight. One could never be too careful when trying to his from two of the Gotei’s founders.

As they turned to leave, Tousen asked:

“Will you recruit him to our cause, Lord Aizen?”

Aizen stopped, pondering the question.

At first, he thought it was a necessary step to recruit Alex. His ability to see through Aizen’s Kyoka Suigetsu was a constant threat to Aizen’s continued plots, so much so that Aizen had to refrain from many of his operations while waiting for an opportunity to recruit him.

But after Alex’s and Ukitake’s visit to Urahara in the World of the Living, and now the cat’s presence being found out by Captain Unohana and hidden by Ukitake, he hesitated. How much did Alex know? Would their next meeting be as enemies?

He… didn’t like the prospect of losing a potential peer to Urahara, the man who seemed to be happy living under the power of that Abomination. But the dangers of approaching Alex about the subject were too great; he’d need to be subtle about it.

Thankfully, he didn’t need to worry about the Old Man finding out. He was strict in his adherence to the law, and all of the Captains involved knew better than to admit to colluding with criminals without enough evidence to convince Central 46 of their innocence. Evidence they would not find as long as he didn’t take reckless risks.

“We’ll see,” Aizen answered. “Until then, your mission is still in effect, Kaname. Approach the boy, talk about your justice, and see how he responds.”

“Of course, Lord Aizen,” Kaname Tousen said, bowing once again as they left the battlefield behind.

___

A/N: And that’s that.

I always thought Zaraki’s fight with Nnoitora was the perfect place for him to start hearing his Zanpakuto spirit. Not to get his shikai, but to just open a dialogue and show progress in his decision from the Soul Society arc. So I gave him that here.

And Alex wins! Not through strength, but by superior tactics and a lot of luck. Plus, get got the approval of Old Man Genocide, so that’s something.

As always, thank you all for your support! See you again next week.