An Arcanist in Karakura Town 29 (Patreon)

An Arcanist in Karakura Town
Chapter 29

-VB-

The Four Musketeers - I know, it’s supposed to be three but there were four of them - returned from Soul Society, and they brought back with them some unwelcome guests.

I, however, did not mind them too much because, well, my bounded fields kept them out and most of the “cast” at this point in Karakura Town weren’t bad or ambitious people.

Okay, one of them was a fight-loving brute, but that’s one in … five?

Whatever.

To my surprise, Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro was the first person to confront me. I actually didn’t even know he came to visit and talk, but he did, and got into the warehouse because Ichigo told Orihime that, and I quote, “He’s not a bad,” about Hitsugaya, so she invited him for a tea when she saw him outside the warehouse trying to find a way in - or talk to its inhabitants.

This placed in me a deep sense of deja vu. Hasn't something like this happened before?

Regardless, a guest was a guest, and Hitsugaya was not a smug or manipulative bastard like Urahara, so I had no reason to be rude to him right off the bat.

Unless he decided to start demanding something unreasonable, that was, because - as part of a military organization - his duty was to further the goals of his military, and if the military demanded it, then he had to act on it. I wasn’t like Ichigo, who’d gone into Soul Society and helped them. I was an outsider even among the “mortals” and, on top of that, a known unfriendly neighbor. Soul Society would lose nothing to drive me out if it came down to it, and especially considering that I had to kill one of the Second Division’s assassins, I had a feeling that they were aware that I was aware of their intent towards me.

“I didn’t think that a captain would come and visit me,” I hummed as I served all four of us tea. Orihime was just happy to talk with Matsumoto, Hitsugaya’s more mature-looking (note how I didn’t call her mature but merely mature-looking) lieutenant.

Also, she was hot as ugh, I wanna tap that.

The tenth division captain, a very young man by the standards of Soul Society, grunted. “I have been tasked with surveying the town of all those who are capable of spiritual contributions. You’re the third I have visited.”

I assumed that Urahara was the first, if only because of gigais the shinigamis needed, but who was the second? It was unlikely to be the Visored, because they were still on the run (formerly slated for execution) and Urahara wouldn’t direct Hitsugaya to them under most circumstances.

Something to think about later.

Also, seeing as Hitsugaya clearly did not want to beat around the bush, I didn’t either.

“For what reason?” I asked.

“For recruitment.”

I snorted. “Soul Society can go die in a ditch,” I laughed.

My words caused the other three to tense up.

I had my reasons, of course, namely that the Second Division had tried to kill me and Orihime, but I couldn’t just outright say that. What the Second Division did might not even be known to Hitsugaya and the greater Gotei 13.

Second Division was, after all, an intelligence and assassination division.

They’re not going to just tell everyone they were going to kill someone.

So I also didn’t, because aside from the fact that Orihime might be upset over my homicide, I didn’t know how these two would react. Oh, they would certainly be hostile, but would they act upon it?

Seeing as I didn’t know the exact strength I would have to fight against the combined might of the Tenth Division’s captain and lieutenant, I didn’t.

I also would make Soul Society an open enemy of mine, which would be reciprocated in turn. I couldn’t possibly handle that without more preparation. It also would attract Aizen to seek me out, and I was not going to let that damn manipulator and illusionist anywhere close to me if I could help it.

So no, I couldn’t just blurt out the fact that the Second Division tried to kill me and that it made us enemies (even if Hitsugaya and Matsumoto might not know about the fact). There was, however, another angle I could play.

“Soul Society is so corrupt that calling it corrupt would make the other corrupt assholes feel slighted,” I said pleasantly, even if what I’d just spoken was anything but. “Hell, even if you told me that I would get paid to work for you, I don’t think I can believe that.”

Hitsugaya didn’t say anything. Considering that everyone out of the centermost region of Soul Society saw exactly how crude, violent, and short life for the immortal souls were, they couldn’t.

And so he and Matsumoto didn’t.

“And? It is how it is.”

Okay, maybe not.

“Well, go fuck off if you really think that,” I replied coldly. “That’s the old way of thought, and the rest of humanity doesn’t follow through with it.”

“We have our orders.”

I leaned forward.

“And I just told you no. So you can leave.”

To my surprise, they left. Actually in hindsight, it wasn’t surprising because they were good people, and good people don’t try to fuck over other people.

“Did you have to be mean to them?”

I turned to look at Orihime, and shrugged casually.

“As long as they’re in Gotei 13, I might have to,” I replied. “They might not be corrupt, but the nobles in charge of them are corrupt as hell. They’re the kind of people who force shinigamis with the same zanpakuto spirit to have a duel to the death.”

She looked horrified by it.

“The people in charge of them are nobles worse than the ones that used to dominate this island nation in its medieval era. It’s best if we don’t associate with them.”

“T-Then what about Tatsuki-chan and Ichigo-san?”

“They aren’t members of Gotei 13, right?”

“Probably not… I mean, they aren’t dead.”

“Then I don’t care. I don’t like Ichigo because the bastard and his friends make too much collateral damage and have no remorse for it, but if you want to be friends with them, I don’t mind. Just don’t let our kid be like them.”

She chuckled nervously as she caressed her taut belly. “Yeah, that would be …”

“Out of control?”

“Yes.”

It took some time but I managed to get her around to my way of thinking by using the ingrained culture inside of her: Japanese conformity. While we could be as weird and odd as we want inside of our homes, we had to keep up at least the semblance of appearances outside of it, and should our child become too much like her mom’s friends, who are very prone to collateral damage, then there was a problem on our hands.

But that was still a question and possible problem we would have to discuss and solve some half decade down the line.

I leaned over and wrapped my arms around Orihime, who hummed appreciatively.

“... If we really want, then we can just move away from it all.” It was a nice delusion. Aizen wasn’t likely to let anything escape his grasp. He was just that kind of megalomaniac, the ones with messiah complexes.

“I … heard what happened in Soul Society.”

I felt her hands clench.

“I don’t want to run away from it.”

I sighed. I supposed that I should have expected this.

“Okay,” I said. “But you know that you can’t leave our home when it starts to get serious, right?”

She nodded.

“Good.”

It was a compromise. We wouldn’t run away to leave her hometown to burn, but she also wouldn’t be in the way of harm.

I felt that I was coming back to this point constantly because … I honestly cared for her. If I saw her get hurt by either the shinigami or the arrancar, then I might really do something I might regret later.

After all, Soul Society won’t be Soul Society if I reduce the planet to a nuclear wasteland - and I could, considering that I had a copy of the Worm parahuman Bakuda under my list of abilities. Try being spiritual with the material world there to supply you with the souls.

You can’t.

… Wait, was that seriously the solution?

Could I make a bomb that prevented the transfer of souls?

… I might just have one last experiment to do before the shit hit the fan, and arrancars… they made for a very good test subject with all of those souls they devoured.