#also did anyone pick up the 'Tiger of Paperwork' reference? ;)
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For All That Was Lost
BLEACH Anime Celebration - Day 3: Loss
Rating: K+ with mild themes
Setting: Sometime before chapter 686, during autumn or winter.
Synopsis: While on a visit to the World of the Living, Shinji and Momo reflect on what was lost and what was saved.
AN: so this is a little bit late, due to 1) the original copy not saving properly, and 2) becoming unwieldy and going from 700 to 2000+ words. Anyhow, I present a brotp fic with one of the best captain-lieutenant duos. This may or may not have been a deleted scene from my other fic As Months Go By, As Season Change slightly remodeled for these prompts; you don’t need to have read it (or part 2 whenever it comes out) to understand what’s going on here. Also, it just dove-tailed from the last fic I wrote, To Give Your Shelter.
Also, in case you’re wondering, this is what Shinji is wearing (minus the beret and fancy shoes).
I hope you enjoy this one!
___________________________
“This is hardly warranting of a video, sir.”
“But it’s a historic moment! Hold on a sec.”
Momo loses the fight to not smile as her captain fishes his denreishinkai out of his coat pocket with his free hand.
All around them, humans walk past, some glancing at Shinji while he unlocks his phone and gets the camera ready. Momo knew even before they’d arrived at Karakura Town he would choose to dress to stand out, and he didn’t disappoint with the pale purple turtle neck, baggy coat, and orange-tinted sunglasses with the attached chain looping around the back of his neck. She’d gone for something tamer – a pale pink sweater, black and white pleated skirt, and dark stockings – which got a mocking sigh of disappointment from her captain. ‘Honestly, Hinamori, you haven’t been keeping up with the trends of the World of the Living!’ he’d teased.
Well, looking around, she’d say she was closer to whatever clothing trends humans had in this city. When he finally has the camera ready, she sighs through her nose. “How about a photo instead?”
He looks at her from over the sunglasses, and she looks right back, unyielding. It’s a staring contest for almost thirty seconds when Shinji gives her a defeated smirk. “Well, I guess it’s a good compromise.”
He shuffles next to her and leans back, holding the denreishinkai far enough to get both of their heads and the café behind them in view. “All right, hold up your coffee.”
She does so and widens her smile into a grin.
“To trying café coffee for the first time!” he cheers, ‘clinking’ his foam cup against hers.
“Honestly, sir,” she chuckles.
He snaps a few pictures, with only difference in any of them being one without his sunglasses; she likes that one best. She makes a mental note to get a copy from him later.
“Right, let’s get going,” he says while putting his denreishinkai away. “Hiyori’s gonna kick my ass if we don’t get to the warehouse on time.”
They start down the bustling street, passing an array of shops and restaurants. Momo begins to wish she’d taken more than one day off to visit the World of the Living; there’s several shops she would walk into and an izakaya she could see herself, Rangiku, Toshiro, Izuru, and Renji going eat at.
Shinji starts on his double espresso, and after the first sip, gives a long, approving hum. “Now that is coffee.”
He looks at her expectantly. Momo will never understand how the most trivial things are get the most authoritative looks out of him.
“It still feels too hot,” she says with a nervous chuckle.
He shrugs. “Just don’t let it get cold. It’ll tastes more bitter. It’s not like iced coffee when that happens.”
“Iced coffee? You can have it cold too?”
“Weren’t you paying attention to menu boards?” he chortles.
“Honestly, I couldn’t get over the pastries they had there.” She grins. “They were so pretty! I almost bought one.”
“Well, why didn’t ya?”
“We wouldn’t have time to eat it. Besides, it’d probably get messed up on our way to see Sarugaki-san and the others.”
“They have containers to stop that from happening, dummy.”
“Oh.”
He glances over his shoulder, the café almost a tiny rectangle in the distance. It’d too far for either of them to run back and get anything.
Momo waves her free hand. “If I have time on the way back, I’ll get something then.”
They continue on down the city street, weaving their way through groups of humans. Despite their brisk pace, Momo takes everything in. Some of the stores and restaurants remind her of those in Rukongai, and some of the technology is similar to what had recently been developed by the Twelfth Division. She’s never seen so many humans before, nor such tall building in the World of the Living. It’d been decades since she last in this world, and until now she’d only ever heard about it’s development from Shinigami who were sent on patrols to the cities and towns.
She looks at her captain when they stop at a traffic crossing. Despite what he wore and his bright blonde hair, he oddly fitted in with the rest of the humans. The way he held himself, slightly hunched in the shoulders and a hand stuffed into his pants pocket, it not only made him appear more casual - not that he was ever as stoic or formal as some of the other captains were in the first place. He’d lived this world for over a hundred years, probably knows this town like the back of his hand, it’s understandable he’d feel relaxed being here.
Momo decides if they have time, she’ll ask him to show her the places he’d worked at and question him and the other Visoreds about what had changed the most in Karakura Town.
At the green light, they cross to the other side. Along the way, a strong gust of wind blows through, causing Momo and most others to huddle in on themselves. Shinji though remain standing straight, his coat and the chain attached to his sunglasses blowing out behind him as he takes another sip of coffee. For a moment he looks like one of the models from one of the magazines he read.
Momo chuckles, tempted to get her denreishinkai and take a picture.
“What’re you laughing about?” he asks once they reach other side of the street and into a courtyard.
“It’s nothing.”
“Well, it’s gotta be something or else ya wouldn’t…” He does a double take, gaze going over her head. “No way!”
Momo blinks and comes to a stilted stop. Her captain is frozen with his mouth agape. Following his line of sight, he’s staring wide eyed at a shop on the opposite side of the courtyard. AB Cookies.
“Do you know that place?” she asks.
“Yeah, but last I saw it, it was on a different street. She must’ve moved it.”
“She?”
“Kurosaki Orihime.”
Momo’s eyes widen. “I had no idea she worked in a bakery. Is she the manager?”
“Co-manager.” Shinji checks his watch, then looks between further down the street and AB Cookie. After a beat, be mutters under his breath, “Screw it.” Then, to Momo, “You’ve met Orihime before, right?”
She nods.
“Well, I’m thinking you wanted to get something before, and I guess we shouldn’t come empty handed if we’re late.” Without warning, he walks speedily towards the bakery. “So, we might as well get a peace offering before we arrive!”
Taking the hint, she catches up to him.
Walking into the bakery, Momo is greeted by various sweet scents and brightly colored decor. There are only a few tables and chairs inside, all of them up against the wide windows that look out onto the courtyard. The glass counter is full of pastries, and the wall behind it lined with different breads. Some baked goods look like nothing she’d ever seen, and upon reading a few of their labels, she raises a brow.
“Raisins and leek?” she says under her breath. “Strawberry and seaweed?”
Shinji doesn’t notice her bewilderment as he sidles up to the cash register.
“Yo, anyone in?” he calls out. When no answer comes, he tries peering through the doorway off to the left of the breads. “Says it’s open. Maybe she’s-”
“Sorry to keep you waiting!” Orihime walks through the doorway, wearing a uniform that matches the sweet aesthetic of the decor. “Welcome to AB Cookies, how can I….?” She blinks at Shinji, who just grins back in return. “Hirako-san!”
“Nice to see you, Kurosaki.” He gestures to Momo. “You remember Hinamori, right?”
Momo quickly straightens and bows her head. “It’s good to see you, Kurosaki-san.”
“Likewise, Lieutenant Hinamori. What brings you both here? Are you visiting?”
“Yeah, but unfortunately we’re short on time,” Shinji answers. “Here to visit Hiryori and the others.”
“Ah, I see. We saw them just last week actually.”
“For real? Why?”
Orihime’s smile turns rueful. “Kazui went off exploring and bumped into Aikawa-san. He brought him home before he could wonder into the warehouse.”
“Geez, kid sounds like his dad, wondering into places he shouldn’t.” Then, with a teasing lit, “You were a bit like too, now that I think about it.”
That gets a nervous chuckle out of Orihime. “I guess so.”
Shinji leans an arm on the counter. “Next time I’m here, I’ll swing by and see Ichigo too. In the meantime, I came by to see if you could give me your best donuts.”
Orihime grabs a nearby pair of tongs and gestures to a cabinet on the right. “How many would you like? We do a special for a dozen.”
“A dozen it is!” Shinji turns to Momo. “Which ones do ya want? Or would like something else?”
Momo would argue that he didn’t need to pay for her snack, but she knows he’ll insist until they get into an argument which would probably make them late.
That, and the donuts are all very cute. Most looked like animals, including a cat with chocolate whiskers and a rabbit with almond ears. The few that didn’t have an animal design were glazed in fluro colors with floral designs in white frosting.
She points to the donut shaped like a tiger. “I’ll have a yuzu one, please.”
Shinji makes a choked sound. Glancing up at her captain, she discovers he’s trying to withhold laughter. She goes to ask what’s funny, but he’s quick to start picking the other donuts.
As Orihime bustles about folding up a box and putting their selection into it, Shinji asks her about Ichigo and Kazui, the store, and a few people Momo assumes are humans.
However, she doesn’t listen to their conversation, instead becoming focused on Orihime herself. To think one of the saviors of the Soul Society runs a bakery. Considering her role in the war, it’s humbling to find out she lives a life like this, with a family of her own and in a job that’s far more peaceful than a Shinigami’s.
She smiles so brightly, even after everything that happened. Everyone had moved on from the war and Aizen’s betrayal in their own, but some still struggle to do so. They can’t forget what they saw, or what they lost, or who they’d lost.
There are times where Momo suddenly remembers someone who was no longer alive; a subordinate or seated officer, a friend from another division, and sometimes someone who is alive but had lost a part to themselves – whether it was a limb or an aspect of themselves hardened by what they saw and experienced. She also remembers wonderment some had in their eyes as they spoke of the World of Living after coming back from a posting, hoping to go back again when they were on leave and see and try thing that were unlike anything in the Soul Society.
“Oi, Hinamori.”
Momo blinks out of her reverie. “Captain?”
Shinji and Orihime look at her, the former with a slight furrow in his brow and the latter holding out the box of donuts to him.
“You spacing out?” Shinji asks.
“Sorry! I was just thinking, that, uh…this bakery is amazing. Kurosaki-san, did you bake everything here yourself?”
Something changes in Orihime’s smile, but Momo can’t put her finger on it. Regardless, Orihime answers, “Oh, thank you! I bake most of it with the help of Harumi-san and Ito-kun. They’re on their break right now, otherwise I’d introduce you to them.”
Momo manages a smile. “It looks like a lot of hard work. I’m looking forward to trying the donuts.”
Shinji takes the box of donuts and turns back to Orihime. “As is, we’ll be back for more some other time. Say ‘hi’ to Ichigo and Kazui-chan for me, yeah?”
After bidding farewell, they’re quick to return to the courtyard and speedily walk to the warehouse.
For Momo, stepping back out is like being in a different world. At least the Arrancar and Hollows were aware that a war took place, but no one here would except those who had been at the battle itself. A small part of her bitterly thinks how none of the humans anywhere will ever know of the sacrifices made or the lives lost to save them all. Perhaps more than that though, she’s sad that none of those who are gone will ever get a chance to do what they wanted in the World of Living. Some may have already reincarnated as a human, but they aren’t the same person she knew them as.
“Looks like you’re spacing out again.”
They’re on a different street now, heading towards a park only a few feet away. She’d barely notice the change in scenery, nor how slow their walking pace had become.
As they cross on to the path that winds through the park, she sighs. “I was just thinking that this world almost vanished during the war.” She swallows against the lump building up in her throat. “We’re taught our duty as a Shinigami is to maintain to balance and project lives that aren’t involved in our world. The humans will never know that, and it’s better of course that they don’t, but even so...”
She tilts her head back, watching the clouds move by through the leaves and branches that arc over them. Shinji’s face loses any traces of humor as his gaze falls to the ground.
When he says nothing, Momo starts to ramble. “Hirose-san wanted to go to a flower festival in the country side. She heard about it while on a posting in a seaside town, a lot of the residents traveled from there to go. She wanted to see if all the flora there was like ours.
"Hoga-san and Domen-kun both wanted to go to a beach, neither of them had seen the sea before. They also wanted to go to the bars and see if the drinks here taste any different from those in the Rukongai.
"Funai-kun wanted to go to a festival here. He said he saw something called a Ferris wheel and wanted to go on it.”
An amused snort comes from Shinji. “That right? Thought he didn’t like heights.”
“Are they tall?”
“Yeah. You get into one of the carts on this massive wheel and they take you up for a spin.”
“That sounds strange.”
“Nah, not like a fast spin. It’s slow so you get to take in the scenery.”
Momo smiles. “That’s probably why he wanted to go in one. He wanted to look for a new landscape to paint.”
They come to a natural stop at the side of the path. Though the look Shinji levels at her appears nonchalant, she knows better.
“I get it," he says, "but this is the way it has to be.”
“...I know.”
“Like you said, it’s how we’re trained to think. We screwed up in the past with the Quincy and others, but I’d like to we’ve finally learned from it.” He takes a sip of coffee and ponders for a moment. “We’re also taught to lay down our lives for our friends and family. In doing so, we can go knowing we fought with everything we had, that we protected the worlds for all the inhabitants.”
And this fleeting feeling, of nostalgia and fondness, collides with what Momo sees all round her.
Surrounded by leafy green trees and shrubs, flowers swaying in the breeze, and humans, gathered as families or friends or alone on park benches, it’s all life. The children can continue to laugh and smile, the adults can keep their heads up and continue to try to provide for and help each other without being burdened by something so existential. To wish that they knew about the war that almost made this world vanish would not only burden them, abut also be a disservice to the friends and subordinates she’d lost, who gave their lives to ensure no one suffered. That the wonders this world has could continue to amaze the humans and Shinigami for decades to come.
“If there’s one thing I learned while living here it’s that human screw up, a lot. Some more than others…”
Her captain’s words stop her from becoming overwhelmed. She looks back to him, about to question him, but stops when his smile returns a fraction.
“But there’s that chance to change,” he continues. "Not everyone takes it, but for those that do, for those who choose to do the right thing, for those who choose to keep walking after going through hardships, I think that’s reason enough to keep this world.”
Momo is momentarily speechless, taken aback by the uncharacteristic sentimentally of her captain. “That’s…awfully wise for you, sir.”
He blinks at that, and then laughs in shock. “What kind of back-handed compliment is that?!”
“Ah, I didn’t mean it like that! It’s just…I’m not used to speaking like that.”
“Well, when you get to my age, you learn a lot. In fact, get your denreishinkai out and write down whatever I just said! We’re gonna write it as part of a field report for today.”
She laughs at that. “Sir, we’re not on duty!”
Shinji starts laughing too. “Doesn’t matter, our division’s gotta know what they’re fighting for and that’s the best way I’ve ever worded it.”
Her smile is wide as she shakes her. "I'll type it up later."
Shinji points to her cup as he takes one last sip of his own. “Still haven’t tried your coffee. Has it gone cold?”
She'd almost forgotten about it. “It’s still warm.”
Momo finds herself looking around the park again, at all the humans going in and out. Then, she raises the latte to her lips and takes a sip.
For all that was lost, there was much more still alive.
“It’s good.”
___________________________
BONUS SCENE
Momo goes to knock on the warehouse’s entrance, but Shinji steps in front of her.
“No need. Besides, you’ll want me to go in first.”
Momo raises a brow at that, but doesn’t say anything as her captain opens the door. He starts to announce their arrival when a red blur comes barreling towards them, jumping from somewhere up high and landing right in front of Shinji.
“You’re late!” Hiyori shouts.
Shinji scrambles to put the box of donuts in front of him and raise its lid. “Do you really wanna ruin these?!”
Hiyori pauses, one of her sandals raised high. She glares down at the donuts, eyeing each one as if assessing an enemy. Shinji doesn’t move a muscle, not even to reign in his deep-set scowl or look back at Momo. It was as if he were a student waiting for the approval of a teacher who is always hard to please.
What feels like a minute later, Hiyori sniffs, then lifts her foot and puts her sandal back on. “Fine.” She snatches the box from Shinji. “At least you got enough for all of us.”
“You’re welcome” Shinji snarks as she steps aside to let them in.
Hiyori ignores him, instead nodding at Momo. “I bet you’re the reason he isn’t twenty minutes late, but he’s the reason you’re five minutes later. If you can get him down to two minutes, I’ll shout you dinner next time you’re here.”
Shinji gawks. “Since when do you pay for other people’s dinners?”
“Since she’s had to put up with you, Baldy!”
Momo edges her way past the two as they get into an argument. She meets the gazes of the remaining three Visoreds. Aizawa slowly makes his way towards her and Hachigen follows.
“Hinamori-san, right?” Love says as he nears. “Didn’t really get a chance to speak back during the war.”
“It’s good to finally meet you, Lieutenant,” Hachigen greets.
Although she feels a slight thrum of anxiety, Momo is surprised how calm she is. Perhaps because she met them during the war before they went to the Soul Palace, and they’d help seal the cracks between the Soul Society and the World of the Living; without their efforts, who knew how the war would’ve turned out. Before any of that, she’d seen and heard Shinji speak to these people over the denreishikai. He’d talked about them both fondly and in annoyance, but she could tell the connection he has towards them ran deep.
“Hello, Aizawa-san, and Ushoda-san” she greets in return with a bow of her head. “I’ve looked forward to finally speaking with you all.”
#bleach returns 2022#shinji hirako#momo hinamori#brotp: the fifth division#orihime inoue#hiyori sarugaki#love aikawa#hachigen ushoda#lisa yadomaru#bleach#fanfiction#yes Shinji really was about to film Momo drinking her first cafe coffee#he's basically a proud dad#also did anyone pick up the 'Tiger of Paperwork' reference? ;)#I'm going to need to come back and edit this#but I figured I better post it up in the meantime
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Cosmic Escape Velocity
Did a little bit of writing in the whole YYH situation thing! It’s silly. It also takes place during Hell Year in its own branch timeline.
Kei.
Yeah?
I suspect your personal fate and fortune may be… Isobu paused, clearly trying to come up with a single word that would sum up the disaster of Kei’s life. All of his tails swayed uncertainly in her mind.
Unlikely? Hilariously broken? Kei’s suggestions, as always, went over like a fleet of lead balloons. She didn’t react at all when Isobu mentally swatted at her with those tails in irritation, keeping her hands behind her back in perfect parade rest.
We are standing in the office of a thousand-year-old spiritual being that has a pacifier in his mouth, said Isobu, angling his palms as far up as they’d go without breaking his not-at-all-physical shell. He just didn’t have the limb rotation range. I am not sure there is a way to sum up this latest catastrophe without stretching the language.
Kei shifted her weight from her right foot to her left. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with just screaming.
I do not scream, Isobu huffed.
Too much dignity?
Not enough lung.
It was Kei’s turn to roll her eyes as subtly as she could.
“Are you even listening?” asked the baby, standing up in his chair to loom as far as he could over the top of his desk. The two mountains of paperwork to each side of him did not care, and in fact made him look even smaller. Despite the added weight of his spiritual energy—not chakra, as had been specified a few minutes ago—Kei didn’t take him much more seriously.
Look, she had the equivalent of a nuclear reactor implanted in her chest through spiritual surgery. There was only so much comparison to make.
Still, what Kei actually said was, “Of course, Koenma-sama. Sorry for the interruption.”
The baby sat back in his chair, frowning around his pacifier. “Then as I was saying, I can’t send you back to your starting point.” As Kei’s hopes for a quick resolution took a dive, he went on, “Going by your spiritual signature, you arrived from a world that has a different wave pattern from our own. Forcing your way through during convergence must have cost tremendous amounts of energy—”
Well, it wasn’t like I passed out in a bush on purpose, Kei thought despairingly, silently cursing her circumstances for the umpteenth time. Koenma’s attendants had picked her up, dusted her off, and plopped her in front of their boss with barely any time to react.
“—but once the intersection period passes, that cost skyrockets. By a factor of a hundred.” Koenma laced his pudgy baby fingers together as far in front of his face as they’d reach, a contemplative look crossing his expression as he observed her. “How well do you understand the concept of a leyline?”
Kei considered. Then she unfolded her arms and brought her hand to her chin, to facilitate her thinking. It was probably a placebo effect, but it made her feel better. “I don’t know if you’re going for the ‘weak point in reality’ or the ‘source of magic’ version, but I think I get the basic idea.”
She’d only read enough fantasy novels to fill her entire brain with tropes.
Koenma stared at her with his eyes narrowed almost to slits, as though trying to decide if she was being facetious or not. “Well, you must have found a leyline from your home world at the exact moment the waveforms met. And whether you knew it would happen or not, using any kind of spiritual energy near something that volatile has…consequences.”
Of the wormhole kind, Kei thought.
Your luck is atrocious.
“But this is no time to give up hope,” Koenma said firmly, wagging one finger. “Your world’s wavelength is appreciably short by human standards! The best time for sending you home could be anywhere in the next year to the next four. It’s certainly better than the half-century for some worlds. Some others haven’t come back in my entire lifetime!”
Kei shot a mental glare at Isobu. You were saying?
I stand corrected. It is worse.
Kei took a careful, meditative breath to steel her nerves. No time for freaking out. She could have her moment of wordless panic when she could find a corner to cry in without being observed. Even the emotional deadening of the last few months couldn’t stand up to this. “I see.”
Koenma’s face scrunched into a frown. If it was ever going to be less strange hearing fully-formed sentence coming out of that face, Kei didn’t imagine it’d be any time soon. Then: “In the meantime, would you like to have a job?”
Kei’s thoughts screeched to a halt. “I’m sorry?”
“It’s not the same as a solution; just a stopgap,” Koenma explained patiently. “But if I understand humans, it’s better to have something to keep your hands busy than to sit around in despair until a miracle falls into your lap.”
“What kind of job?” Kei asked, careful to keep the suspicion from seeping into her voice. She’d had more than enough contracts go bad in the midst of her long deployment to learn a little caution. Sensei filtered what he could, but now Kei was out of his reach.
And she hadn’t said no, so Koenma leaned forward in his seat with full lecture mode engaged. “I have a new spirit detective—a boy a few years younger than you—undergoing training to improve his combat skills. But while he’s busy getting whipped into shape, I don’t have anyone to handle his workload.” Koenma’s half-hidden eyes gleamed. “Are you interested?”
“What does the job entail?” Kei asked, as most of her sense of humor dropped right out of her body. Even if she didn’t know where she was, some things never changed. It wouldn’t be her first time being hired halfway through a contract, though it was always at Sensei’s discretion. There had to be a reason why a person whose agents had found her in a bush under a purple sky, in the land of the dead, thought she would be useful for his purposes.
Koenma replied, “In your case, it mostly means completing any minor missions he can’t. Stamping out trouble caused by apparitions of all kinds, but especially demons. Your duties will change after he returns.”
Something in the back of Kei’s head started itching, like a thought she’d forgotten sometime over the last seventeen years. The blanket of emotional exhaustion was too thick to avoid smothering it.
I will look for it.
Thanks.
Kei’s gaze roved slowly around the room, from the stacks of paperwork to the employer offering her busy work. “Let me read and edit the contract before I sign anything. I’d also like any reference material you have on apparitions, and maybe an assistant if you have one to spare.”
Something in Koenma’s expression softened, at least as far as Kei could tell. Babies did not have terribly suitable faces for adult emotions. “I’ll send for Ayame-san. She’ll also be your contact if you do decide to take me up on this offer.”
“Thank you, Koenma-sama,” Kei said, because it didn’t hurt to be polite to a god who administered the afterlife. Sure, Kei was a little corporeal to be a resident, but that could always change.
Kei barely paid attention as the oni attendants bustled around the pastel office and eventually escorted her out into a waiting room. While blue- or red-skinned humanoids registered as unusual, the sheer number of them running around like headless chickens cut down on the unfamiliarity quickly. They were just barely clambering up the slope on the uncanny valley in their tiger-skin loincloths, and most of them ignored her presence entirely.
I wonder if that is a self-preservation instinct.
If any of them can tell you’re here, it is. Kei, sitting in an armchair no more comfortable than those plastic abominations in a waiting room at a hospital, mostly let the world pass her by. Do you think anyone’s realized we’re gone?
I doubt the nearest jōnin has, Isobu muttered resentfully. Then, more thoughtfully, he said, The crane might have.
Kei’s hand shot to her mouth before she’d even articulated her thoughts. Using her kunai would be more sanitary, but hell, she was in the land of the dead. She bit down on her knuckle with one canine, drawing blood for the contract. Then her hands flew through the hand signs with barely enough time to name them: Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram.
For a split second after she slammed her hand into the nearby coffee table, Kei’s nerves jangled with fear. What if this doesn’t work? What if I do this wrong and Tsuruya gets hurt—
Chakra-derived ink spread across the wood in a familiar pattern. Sure, the drain behind the technique was an order of magnitude higher than anything she’d expected. And sure, that usually meant bad things, and she was probably breaking several interworld rules in one fell swoop.
But Kei didn’t care.
Because, amid the sudden burst of white chakra smoke and the terrified screaming of oni office workers, she heard a familiar voice say, “Keisuke-sama? Did you call for me?”
Tsuruya beat her wings once, sending paperwork flying through the air along with the rapidly dissipating smoke, much to the dismay of the oni audience as the flailed after their disrupted files. Once she could see, she jerked her dark head to see Kei better with one eye, then the other. Then she folded her huge wings against her sides and bowed low.
Kei launched herself out of the chair and hugged Tsuruya’s three-meter bulk with enough force that her crane companion let out a startled honking noise.
“I missed you too,” Tsuruya said once she regained her balance, dropping her beak to rest against Kei’s back. Her wing looped around Kei, shielding them both with metal-edged feathers. “Though if you do not mind my asking, where are we?”
Kei said, “Probably the afterlife?” but was so muffled by her summoned friend’s feathers that she didn’t get a response.
“My apologies, but I do not think I caught what you said,” Tsuruya said. When this, too, failed to incite an audible response, Tsuruya changed tactics.
“Ow!”
By hitting Kei in the head with her beak, just like old times.
It was at this point in Tsuruya’s fussing that they were interrupted by a polite cough. Kei kept one arm slung around Tsuruya’s neck as the two of them turned to face the interloper.
A dark-haired woman stood amid the chaos of the oni attendants’ panic, expression placid. She wore a black kimono and carried a centimeter-thick stack of paper bound neatly with gold thread, along with an oar strapped to her back.
She bowed.
“Can I help you…?” Kei prompted, after managing a half-assed bow despite her stance.
“Ayame, Gekkō-san. I have your contract.” When she straightened, Ayame added, “If you’ll come this way, there is a side room where we can discuss terms in private.”
“Are you helping represent my interest or those of the spirit world?” Kei kept the obligatory lawyer joke tucked well inside her skull.
“I only want to help both parties come to a compromise.”
Well, that was helpful. “Thank you, Ayame-san. Please lead the way.”
-----
An hour later, Koenma received the modified contract and began to read it, while Tsuruya, Kei, and Ayame all stood around. Of the three, only Ayame seemed perfectly in place.
Ten minutes after that, the oni outside his office were startled to hear a cry of “How many thousand yen per month?!”
Kei stared down his fury with patience born of entirely too long spent alone and nail-biting desperation. “I’m still human. I’ll need to pay rent, buy food, and obtain supplies while living in whichever city I need to cover. And I know what my expertise is worth.”
Koenma gaped at her for a moment longer, only avoiding the goldfish impression by dint of his pacifier, then glared down at the contact. As he perused it with increasing fervor, he muttered under his breath.
Kei caught the words “unbelievable” and “never in my life” and “not made of money.”
Over Koenma’s shoulder, Ayame smiled faintly.
“FINE!” Koenma burst out at last, throwing down his fountain pen in defeat after almost fifteen minutes of desperate rereading. “It’s legally sound, and you have a point about living world expenses. But when the call comes, you need to be ready to fight! Is that clear?”
Kei bowed in full shinobi style, dropping to one knee with her head angled toward the floor. Koenma didn’t need to know she was hiding a smile for, however tangentially, managing to frustrate a god. “Of course, Koenma-sama.”
Oh, he may regret that.
“Then get out of my office! Ayame, show her how to get everything organized so she can start as soon as possible!”
Ayame swept Kei and Tsuruya out of the room amid the god-child’s impending tantrum. While Kei sat sidesaddle on Ayame’s oar as they took flight, Tsuruya pumped her huge wings and trailed in their slipstream with deceptive ease.
“I look forward to working with you, Ayame-san,” Kei said, though even she wasn’t sure how sincere she was. “Please take care of me.”
Still, Ayame replied, “Like one of our own, Keisuke-san.”
It wasn’t until they’d landed in some human city that Kei realized, however belatedly, that she’d never told anyone her name. And that to be in the spirit world meant she’d been separated from her real body. Which was, of course, also lying in a bush.
All she could say to that, once she was again on her own two feet, was, “Well, that figures.”
Dead twice she could remember, and all she got out of it was a job.
#catch your breath fanfic#crossover#yuyu hakusho#keisuke gekko#isobu#tsuruya#koenma#cosmic escape velocity
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A Princess, A Tiger and A Dragon Part 2
I’d woken up alone in the bed. It was nearly midday when I got a shower and managed to start processing the issues. Masamune and Shingen would both have lost their contracts due to the behaviour, and it sounded like I no longer had a job as well. My phone wasn’t anywhere to be seen in the bedroom, so I made sure to just get dressed into something that covered everything, before beginning my hunt into the living room.
My phone was plugged in on the side of the kitchen, next to the coffee machine as I began to make a fresh batch. I ran a hand through my damp hair and then saw that my phone had practically exploded overnight.
I had emails, texts and then fifty-nine missed calls.
Most of the calls were from my ex-boss, whilst texts were from new numbers. One had introduced himself as ‘Sasuke’, and that Kenshin had told him to text me to arrange an induction. Another was Yuki who had managed to get his old number blocked, it was badgering for me to get Shingen in and then the last one as an apology saying he had turned up at the office. I plucked Nobu’s text out from the masses, telling me to call him before the end of the day, and then a follow up one from Hideyoshi with the same content. Then some empty threats from my ex-boss about ensuring I would never work again in this industry after the embarrassment caused.
I was going through everything mostly to get rid of the notifications. I sighed and leant against the counter, taking sips of my coffee before the door was unlocked.
My head sharply jolted up to see Nobu and Hideyoshi.
“Coffee?” I offered, a bit stunned to see the two lawyers.
“Your ex-boss is going to be a problem,” Nobu opened straight up. “They don’t want you back in because of someone else’s actions, but then it could technically be classed as your resignation if you agree to it,” he explained.
“Can they not just fire me with the implications of other’s actions then?” I tilted my head to the side.
“No, they need you to have done the offensive,” Hideyoshi explained. “But you could just say you have another job and drop everything,” he sighed, before gulping at the coffee.
“I just need to get the confirmation then off Kenshin, or rather, Sasuke is the guy who text me this morning,” I shrugged, picking my phone up to show them both the text.
I wasn’t surprised when my phone was now in Hideyoshi’s hand and picked my mug back up as I leant against the counters.
“You’re surprisingly calm considering everything,” Nobu brought me out of my internal thoughts.
“Well, there wasn’t going to be much chance of stopping those two really,” I pointed out. “And it’s not like I don’t kind of have a job offer to walk straight in to from all this, so even though they made the mess, they also gave me something from it. And I know their hearts were in the right place when it was all going off, so getting mad at them isn’t going to solve a single thing.”
The CEO ruffled my hair with a smirk. “You’ve come so far from surprising us all at our first visit to the apartment,” he praised me. “You don’t look so young, lost and innocent.”
“I’ll take it that was meant to be a compliment,” I smiled as Hideyoshi reappeared.
“Sasuke Sarutobi is Kenshin Uesugi’s manager, and he’s been desperate for a personal assistant for Kenshin for months. No one has lasted more than a day, and Kenshin has never approved of a single one. Natsuki is the first one that Kenshin has apparently liked the look of, both in paperwork and in person,” Toyotomi stated. “I told him to get over here with the contract and we’ll go over things and then get her ex-boss off everyone’s case with that,” he nodded firmly.
“In that case,” Nobu smirked and picked his phone up to make a call. “We should be adequately catered for.”
Masa had apparently been looking for any excuse to get out of paperwork when the CEO lawyer had made the call. His boss was far from impressed at the situation that he had put the company in, but then again Masa was one of the head chefs and they were never short of clientele asking specifically for the man. They were returning the appropriate funds, and now he had to find himself a job to bring something in when Nobu gave Masa the perfect excuse and outlet. At least with Shingen being a partner in his business, then he didn’t really have a boss to argue with, just his other business, Yuki. Then again both of them appeared to be swimming in demands as Shingen was talented at networking to ensure the business would stay steady.
Sasuke was a slender gentleman, who also appeared to be referred to in the business as ‘Kenshin’s Handler’ for some reason. He managed the events and showings that Kenshin was showing up to, but Kenshin needed a stylist and personal assistant who would overrule anyone on set as to what he would be wearing, and also make the connections for when he appeared at events to ensure that he was wearing nothing but the best. Natsuki learned that she was likely also going to be photographed and would need to be media coverage ready at all times in her life, even when Kenshin wasn’t around.
“The contract sounds fair. No set work hours but that’s the demand of the job,” Hideyoshi nodded as he went through the contract with a fine eye, picking each page apart appropriately whilst Masa had served them all some sake and coffee after the lunch spread. “Hotels, when required, are paid for by Natsuki and then reimbursed in her next monthly pay,” he frowned.
“It’s to save Kenshin getting agitated, especially later on at nights after events,” Sasuke spoke up, carefully swilling the sake. “He has no head for money, he simply lets everyone else deal with it. Technically, I am listed as your boss for all purposes because it will be me ensuring your pay and benefits, but it is Kenshin you will be answering to for your actual work,” he explained. “But you are expected to travel on a whim’s notice, and your passport will always need to be up to date. I will be sorting visas, but you must be able to meet at Osaka airport with a couple of hours notice.”
“Sounds like Kenshin doesn’t worry about a lot of things,” Masa spoke up, eyeing up the manager with a dubious glimmer.
“He doesn’t. He has the funds to not worry, he simply will be paying me and Natsuki to do that,” Sasuke nodded in agreement. “As you can see, there is a handsome salary minus expenses to compensate, and there will be times to holiday of course. Kenshin likes to take frequent breaks, so you will rarely find that you’re working for more than a couple of months at a time.”
I glanced up at Hideyoshi and Nobunaga, who had just finished looking over the contract. “There’s nothing in there we can see that’s amiss,” Nobu nodded to me and slid the document over.
I flicked to the last page and signed my name before handing it back to Sasuke with a smile. “Please just let me know when I’m needed to start.”
Natsuki was away on her first abroad business trip, and the apartment felt more than a little flat as Shingen’s fingers were stroking through Masa’s shaggy locks, the chef’s head resting on his lap. A cup of sake was resting in Shingen’s other hand, and they were both staring into their fireplace with blanks looks.
“She’s back in a few days at least,” Masa broke the silence.
“We should get the rings ready,” Shingen laughed. “And organise to take her on a date to the restaurant near the seafront, she loves it there with the seafood.”
“Maybe,” the chef was a little hesitant.
“She’s not staying with us because it’s convenient handsome, she loves you and me. It’s the same when you walk in from work late, you clearly don’t notice how her face lights up and it’s always a competition between us to see who gets to hug you first,” the carpenter was soothing Masa over, his hand never ceasing in his stroking of the locks.
“Don’t you look at the photos of her in the media with Kenshin?” The chef pouted. “And they all say about how well she aesthetically suits him.”
“Because she spends just as much time attending to her own makeup and wardrobe as she does to Kenshin’s,” Shingen was trying to remove as much of the doubt as possible. “I did tell you to not listen to the gossip rags, mostly because you’ll get upset.”
“She’s shot into the frame and looks like she belongs there,” Masa sulked, turning over and hiding his head in Shingen’s lower abdomen, both men ignoring the stimulation of the carpenter at having his boyfriend in such close quarters after a prolonged abstinence.
“She’s a beauty who works in fashion and now has a job where it gets her properly recognised, I hear that her old company was trying to pay her to return with ridiculous amounts of money and she still refused. Natsuki isn’t the type who gets swayed by looks and the gossip rags, she’ll come bounding back home and it’ll be like she never left,” Shingen smiled down at the pouting male. “I’ll book the restaurant for a couple of nights after her return, she’ll have jet lag and need to catch up on sleep.”
Kenshin managed to look amazing even when we were jet lagged to hell. He had threatened the staff on the airline with many lawsuits because he saw how exhausted I was that I could barely even keep my eyes open the second we boarded the plane, so photos were definitely something I didn’t need to be worrying about. A pair of oversized sunglasses were my only protection when we landed, but they would cover the sins that a change of clothing wouldn’t as we walked through the airport.
Though the bodyguards apparently weren’t doing their job as a microphone was shoved into my face about the rumours I was warming Kenshin’s bed. I merely brushed it aside, not saying a word as Kenshin then pulled me into his protection, glaring at the offending journalist as the bodyguards then closed around us. Sasuke was speaking about being careful about what was published.
“Princess?” Shingen was sounding shaken as I opened the door to the apartment.
“Hey,” I smiled, dropping everything to get my welcome home hug.
“I can’t find Masa,” he whispered, trembling as he was holding me. “He’s not answering his phone, he’s not at work, and I can’t find him anywhere,” Shingen’s head was buried into the crook of my neck after he sat us down on the sofa, straddling me across his lap. “I think when the gossip rags started breeding stuff about a romance between you and Kenshin, it broke him.”
“What did the gossip rags say?” I was panicking.
“There wasn’t any denial from you or Kenshin about the romance, and a photo of you in his arms at the airport,” Shingen sighed.
“Yeah, a journalist had just broken through the bodyguards and shoved the microphone in my face,” I replied, my nails starting to dig in to Shingen’s back. “You don’t think,” I paused, and then both of us looked at each other. “His dad always was stubborn,” I could barely get my words in order, and I was willing to bet we both looked a state as the carpenter grabbed the car keys. There was only one pace for us as we headed for the garage.
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