Broken Pieces

Something broken can be fixed; something destroyed cannot. The imbalance between Soul Society and the living world was one such occurrence where this simple statement was put into practice. The imbalance was something that could be fixed, meaning the balance was merely broken and not destroyed. However, when the order was given to wipe out the entire Quincy clan to restore that balance, I knew that what I was about to see was nothing broken. No, there would be utter destruction.

I was sent out alongside Isshin to lead a group of specifically assembled shinigami. Our objective was, in basic terms, to take care of the problem that had risen. We had given them too many warnings already, as it were –it was their own fault for not listening. The balance of life and death … it was something that shouldn’t be fooled around with, especially for the reasons the Quincy were using to justify their own sins.

It was with a heavy heart I swung my blade down. Not to send a spirit to Soul Society. Not to wash away transgressions of a Hollow. But to kill, to destroy. This, when it came down to it, made us no better than the Quincy. Nevertheless, I could not ignore a command from a higher-up. I had little say in anything concerning the Central 46. Their judgment and their orders were strictly for us to follow. It didn’t matter if we agreed or not. Orders were orders.

An arrow hit me in the shoulder, going cleaning through with the force behind it. I hissed, eyes emotionlessly seeking out the culprit. That person, whoever it was, became my next target instantly. There were just so many of them, so many lives we had to destroy. There was no time for errors, and I focused only on getting the job done. When I was back in Soul Society, I could possibly let myself feel again, but in this world – there was just no time.

I blocked an attack on my exposed back with a quick turn and flash of Benihime. She glistened with blood already, the crimson substance bathed in the light of the full moon from above, and I bit back the bile that rose. Get the job done. Get the job done, and then get the hell out. I repeated the mantra over and over again. It worked, too, my mind reorienting itself to function on business only. It wasn’t healthy, admittedly, to avoid your emotions. But I would rather rid myself of them than feel anything like compassion right now. Right now as my sword slid into a man’s stomach and swiftly back out. Right now as I avoided endless attacks, one after another.

Shinigami weren’t meant to end up like this. Killing humans for the sake of two worlds. But it was inevitable, I supposed. Most things were. It wasn’t destiny, nothing like that. It was more a cycle. Live to die, die to live. That was how Soul Society worked. Everything had a function, a purpose.

“Kisuke! Watch your head, you idiot!” I swung Benihime up, dissipating the arrow aimed at my head in one fluid movement, never pausing once in my footwork as I spun. My sword easily took out two more Quincy in the process. “Damn, no wonder you made captain before me.”

“Thanks,” I breathed out roughly, eyes assessing the situation at hand. “Isshin, four o’clock.”

“Got’cha. You gonna be okay on your own for a bit longer?”

“I think I’ve been doing just fine on my own, haven’t you, mister new captain?” He rolled his eyes, but took the hint and started back in on the masses that surrounded us, the war continuing to wage on between shinigami and Quincy. Me? I was lucky I hadn’t collapsed yet from my over-use of shunpo. I wasn’t as good as Yoruichi in that department, and I was sorely testing my limits here. That didn’t matter in the slightest. What mattered was the successful completion of this mission.

*

We had won, in the end. I doubted this would have been true if Isshin and I hadn’t released our respective bankai. The Quincy, as a whole, could put up one hell of a fight. And to think – this was only the starting point. Quincy families were all over the world. We sure had our work cut out for us; that was for sure.

“Where to next, Isshin?” I muttered, completely worn out and laying spread-eagle on the ground as a healer attended to my wounds. Isshin, himself, had already escaped the grasps of the healers, saying he could “heal his own damn wounds”. I envied him for his brashness sometimes. Even if he was lying through his teeth, he still had the energy to protest and that meant he was going to be just fine.

“I was thinking we can hit Asia next.”

“Oh joy. Like Europe wasn’t enough.”

“What, you bitchin’?” He was smiling down at me in that smug ‘I’ll never let you live it down’ kind of way. This had to be remedied.

“Of course not. I was trying to insinuate that I’m up and ready for another fight. Any time, any place.” I sat up against the healer’s wishes for me to do so and a substantial cut the girl had only just been healing easily ripped back open. She looked mighty pissed about that. “Do you have the locations, Isshin?”

“’Course I do. Buuuuut, I won’t give them to you until you’re all patched up. So be a good boy and let the pretty lady heal ya, kay?”

I scowled, shooing away the healer’s hands when she moved to address my wounds again. “Why are you in such a good mood, anyway?” I wanted to add “because we just fucking killed two thousand people here, Isshin” but my heart wouldn’t have been in it. I was too numb at the moment; the adrenaline rush from the fight still coursing through my veins and erasing all the pain and worry I would have otherwise been drowning in.

“Mm, got word from Yoruichi back in Soul Society. She promised she’s gonna give us an extra special surprise when we get back!” He did some kind of deformed version of a happy dance. It was almost like watching a train wreck – I couldn’t look away.

“Isshin, did you ever consider it could be a bad surprise?” I asked dryly, letting the healer at least dress my wounds if not fully heal them. “Just, you know, think about.”

He paused in his ‘happy dance’, giving me sad, puppy dog eyes that softened my resolve to be indifferent toward him. Damn him for being someone I could fall for, over and over again. “But Kisuke-chaaaaan, Yoruichi wouldn’t do anything like that our first day back!”

I shrugged, quietly thanked the healer for her patience and attention, and then motioned for the idiot to help me stand. “Come on, let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be another long day.”

“You said it!” I leaned against him almost entirely as he supported me, enjoying his warmth and comfort for a few minutes longer than I really should have. He noticed, I think, but he didn’t comment. I guess he understood that after such a harrowing day I needed that small consolation – that small remainder that he was right there, alive and well. Sometimes, moments like these … they were all that got me through days like this.