Gateway 50

“Thank you for calling a meeting so soon after I sent my report, Captain Commander,” I said, kneeling in front of the man in charge of the entirety of the Gotei 13.

He was a bald old man with an X-shaped scar on his head, a long beard and mustache combo, long eyebrows, and a gnarled wooden cane leaning at his side. What worried me was the feeling he gave off. While Unohana exuded the sense of imminent death only when she wanted, it seemed like he was holding back so as not to set everything around him on fire just by existing.

We were in a long, mostly empty hall. He was sitting in a simple but tall chair at the end of it, with Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku at his sides.

“Lieutenant Lupi, the problem you presented was too concerning to wait. A connection like the one you have is unprecedented in the Gotei’s history,” he said, making me wince. If my situation were unprecedented, then it was doubtful that any useful information on how to fix it existed.

“If even you are worried, Yama-jii, then this, connection, must be really bad,” Captain Kyoraku said casually.

I glanced at him. He was a tall man with long, wavy brown hair tied in a ponytail and wearing a straw hat on top of his head. He wore the standard shihakusho and haori, but with a pink, flowered kimono draped across his shoulders on top of it. At a glance, his appearance was casual and laid back. But his eyes showed the shrewd and analytical mind behind the facade.

The Captain Commander grunted and gave me a look that I felt even though I wasn’t looking at him. Turning my eyes to him, he made a slight movement with his hand, prompting me to explain the situation to the Captains.

“Before coming to Soul Society, I made this,” I said, pulling my locket out from underneath my clothes. “It’s one of a pair. I gave the other to my girlfriend.” I looked at the locket fondly. “They are enchanted, so that any change to one happens on the other.” I opened it to show them the paper pages inside. “That way, we could stay in contact even when we were away from each other.”

“Romantic,” Captain Kyoraku muttered.

I sighed, “A little bit after that, I was in a place dedicated to the research of magic’s greatest secrets when I came upon a door. This door called to me, and it was only instinct that stopped me from getting in.” I looked at each of the Captains in the room. “When I turned from the door, the locket had changed. From gold to rose gold and…”

“And?” Prompted Captain Ukitake, looking at me curiously.

“And I could feel her heartbeat through it,” I said. “And her locket changed in the same way.”

Before anyone could ask more questions, I continued.

“Recently, I managed to finally talk to my Zanpakuto spirit in my inner world, and there, I learned that now the connection from our lockets runs deeper, at least from my side,” I said, closing the locket. “I don’t know if it was turning into a spirit or the creation of my inner world, but the connection is now based on my soul.”

I let the silence of what I said hang for a moment. Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku’s wide eyes stared at me while the Captain Commander looked gravely at the floor.

“When I got inside my inner world for the first time, I felt her heartbeat all around my soul, and it was getting stronger. My spirit panicked when it happened, and he led me to a glowing door to make it stop.” I stopped, trying to remember what spell he used to do it. It felt important, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it.. “After that, he just told me he had it handled and not to worry about it. But…”

“But you’re not about to let the life of someone you care about in the hands of an unknown, even if that unknown is part of you,” Captain Kyoraku said, his sharp eyes boring into me before he nodded and looked to the Captain Commander. “Yama-jii, what do you want to do about it?”

The Captain Commander looked seriously at us before leaning back in his chair, grabbing his cane, and tapping the ground with it. The tap looked light, but the sound echoed loudly, as if the proclamation of a judge was about to happen.

“Captain Ukitake, Captain Kyoraku, both of you have my permission to start the search for a solution to Lieutenant Alex’s problem, with access to some restricted material granted,” he said, emphasising the word ‘some’ with a glare. “Any further permissions will need to be formally requested, dismissed.”

“Thank you, Captain Commander,” I said, following the Captains outside.

___

Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto

As the doors closed behind his students and the new Lieutenant, Yamamoto wondered if his gambit would work.

He had been searching for a season to unite Alexander with Jushiro and Shunsui ever since his talk with Unohana. But there was never a plausible excuse, until now.

And what an issue it was! A soul connection between a human and a Shinigami. He doubted that the standard resources would help, and barring the involvement of Captain Kurotsuchi, only a few places would have useful information.

But he knew his students. Both of them would quickly realize where to go, and in the meantime, their proximity to Alexander should form strong bonds of camaraderie.

Not to mention the fact that Shunsui and Jushiro should be able to ferret out any major secret Alexander was hiding. It didn’t escape his notice that he freely admitted to having an open link to the World of the Living from the moment he arrived, nor his wording when describing his arrival to the Soul Society.

He slowly stood up, moving out of the hall in the direction of his office. He had a permission note for the Kido Corps library to write, and maybe a stroll to see the 11th’s newest statue.

___

Alex

We didn’t waste time, going straight to a small library in a corner of the 1st division. It was completely utilitarian, with no decorations or comfort, just a place to gather knowledge. 

Captain Ukitake had the presence of mind to send warnings to his and Captain Kyoraku’s Lieutenants that they’d be busy for the day. And then we spent hours fruitlessly searching for anything that could he helpful.

I was sitting on the ground surrounded by towers of books when I heard the loud SNAP of a book being closed with too much force. Looking over one of the towers in Captain Kyoraku’s direction, I saw his annoyed stare fixed on the book he had just closed before he let it fall to the ground with a sigh.

“This is pointless,” he said, leaving backward on the chair he was sitting on. “We went through the best sources at the start, now we’re just grasping at straws.”

“I agree,” Captain Ukitake said, calmly closing his book before quickly covering his mouth and coughing. “We’ll need to go further for this one,” he said, giving Captain Kyoraku a meaningful look.

“And that means, what?” I asked, dropping my book and casting an organization spell so everything went back to its correct place.

“I know I saw something similar when you restored my tea set and the garden after Kenpachi tore through it, but your magic is still impressive,” Captain Ukitake said, staring in wonder at the books flying about.

“Yeah, it’d certainly be handy to be able to put everything in order with a flick of my hand,” Captain Kyoraku mused.

I held back a snort. They had no idea of the versatility of Hogwarts’ system of magic.

“Gentleman, the question?” I diverted. Showing them how good that system was would come when I had things handled. Maybe invite them to watch my fight with Zaraki?

“Ah, yes,” Captain Ukitake said with a sheepish smile. “We’ll need to request access to the Kido Corps archives, which is probably why the Captain Commander talked about further permissions.”

“So, he knew we wouldn’t find anything?” I narrowed my eyes.

“Not exactly,” Captain Kyoraku shrugged. “Yama-jii needed to make sure he wasn’t missing anything, and unless you want to become a test subject, we’re the only ones with enough free time and expertise to help you.”

“What’s that about becoming a test subject!?” I repeated in alarm.

The Captains looked at each other for a moment, then turned back to me, saying, “Don’t worry about it,” in unison.

“Why do I feel that I should?” I muttered, glaring at them suspiciously.

“I’ll explain later,” Captain Kyoraku said. “First, we’ll need to send a formal request to Yama-jii.”

“I’ll do that,” Captain Ukitake said, stretching his back. “It’s already past my bedtime, so I can write the request while waiting for my tea.”

“Hmm, that’s an idea!” Captain Kyoraku said, brightening up. “Taking a bit to relax before going to bed seems like a great idea!”

“You just want an excuse to get drunk at a bar,” Captain Ukitake deadpanned.

“Of course! And I already have my day cleared! So there’s no chance of Nanao coming to pick me up before the night’s over!” He cheerfully replied.

“Well, then I’ll be off. Until tomorrow, Lieutenant Alex,” Captain Ukitake said, nodding at me.

“Until tomorrow, Captain Ukitake,” I bowed slightly.

As he left, Captain Kyoraku draped his arm across my shoulders. The height difference made it a little awkward, but he didn’t seem to care.

“So, what do you say? Up for some sake?” He asked.

“Please,” I snorted, taking a step away from him and conjuring an already full tumbler of whisky, and taking a sip. “I’m always ready for a drink.”

The Captain stared at me. First, uncomprehending, and then as if all his prayers had been answered. Taking hold of my shoulders, his face turned completely serious when he asked: “Can you do sake?”

“No,” I said, seeing the light fade from his eyes. “But give me some time, and I’ll create a spell for it.”

“I think,” he said, a smile growing on his face. “That we’ll get along very well. Now come on! The bar awaits!” And saying so, he draped his arm across my shoulders again and started dragging me out of the library.

___

“Hey, everyone! I’ve brought a new face today!” Shunsui exclaimed while opening the door to the bar, conjured wine splashing out of his glass by the action.

Located in a commercial area of the Seireitei, the place was lively. And also full of Shinigami.

Shunsui led me to a table with three people, two men and one woman.

The woman was a buxom blonde who loudly cheered at our entrance. One of the men had black hair and a 69 tattoo on his face, and his eyes seemed to be unable to leave the blond woman’s chest even while he cheered with her. The last man was blond with a bang across his left eye, and his cheers sounded only half genuine.

“Hey guys, this is Alex, the new Lieutenant of the 11th,” Shunsui said as we sat down. “Alex, these are Lieutenant Matsumoto from the 10th, Lieutenant Hisagi from the 9th, and Lieutenant Kira from the 3rd.”

“Ohh, I’ve heard of you!” Matsumoto said, leaning forward and giving me an ample view of her bosom. “You’re the one who whipped the 11th into shape! Squared all the debts, fixed the paperwork problem, and set up Ikkaku and Yumichika as enforcers!”

“Wait, that was true!?” Hisagi said incredulously. “I thought that was a myth!”

“It’s true,” Kira responded, taking a sip of his drink. “Captain Gin mentioned being interested in meeting Captain Kenpachi’s preferred sparring partner.”

“Wait!” “What?” Matsumoto and Hisagi exclaimed at the same time.

“Hahaha! That’s not even the start of it!” Shunsui laughed. “He ran The Gauntlet less than 2 hours after appearing in the Rukongai and was immediately made Lieutenant!”

“He WHAT!?” Everyone screamed.

“God fucking danmit, this is going to be my whole night, isn’t it?” I muttered, noticing all the looks I was getting.

“Don’t be like that!” Matsumoto said, leaning into me and passing me a cup. “Take a drink, relax!”

“Fine,” I sighed, taking the cup and sipping it before taking some distance from the woman. “And just so you know, I have a girlfriend.”

The series of exclamations that followed were drowned out by Shunsui’s voice: “Oh THIS is a love story worth telling!”

Seeing the entire bar enraptured by Shunsui’s retelling of my story (with way too many embellishments), I could only say one thing:

“Fuck.”

___

A/N: And that’s that.

So, shit kinda went down today so I didn’t have time to do my usual final edits. Everything’s fine, but I’m way too sleepy right now to trust myself with modifying the chapter. I’ll do it tomorrow when I’ll hopefully be able to have some peace.

As always, thank you all for your support. And see you next week!