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Post by Haku "Katsumi" Yamamoto on Apr 29, 2024 17:07:05 GMT -6
Haku looked up at Ichigo in astonishment. His words felt warm in Haku’s chest. He smiled wide and nodded, a twinge of sadness in his eyes. “Okay.” He reached up with his sleeve and wiped his eyes with the cleanest part before the tears even had a chance to fall. “I really miss him.”
“I know, kid. It’ll get easier. I promise,” Ichigo patted his head again and helped him up. “But hey. I have a confession too.” He gave a half grin and scratched his cheek, carrying the first aid kit with him. “I… didn’t actually want you to teach me Kido. What I wanted your help with was helping me get a meeting with Shunsui. I wanna ask him if I could join the academy.”
Haku blinked then flushed in embarrassment. He gave a sheepish grin and chuckled, holding his hands behind his head. “Ohhh… That makes way more sense. Sorry, Ichi-san. I got carried away and caused trouble for you.”
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Post by Ichigo Kurosaki on Apr 29, 2024 17:08:31 GMT -6
Ichigo laughed at Haku and shook his head. “Nah, come on. You were just being a fanboy. I can’t fault you for that. Help me talk to Shunsui and we’ll call it even.”
Haku let his arms fall to his sides and gave Ichigo a dead-eyed expression. “Even? You threw me through a freaking wall.” “I didn’t mean to! You told me to give it my all!” “I meant figuratively!” Haku walked off, leading them towards the entrance of the training grounds, ignoring the gaping hole in the wall. He threw his hands up in the air. “You threw me. Through. A. WALL!”
“I SAID I WAS SORRY!!!” -END RP- "Boom! Pow! Pow!"
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Post by Haku "Katsumi" Yamamoto on Nov 21, 2024 14:16:02 GMT -6
Bleach Unrated: REBOOTEDCurrent Arc: The ChaosEpisode 583 “Echoes of Power”: Haku stood in the center of the training grounds in the Seireitei, Asauchi in his hands with the blade pointing down. He held it in front of him with his eyes closed, focusing on carefully gathering his reiatsu together and pushing it into the blade slowly as he grasped the hilt. He felt trickles of energy leaving him, first like a dripping faucet, and then like a slow stream. He pushed in as much as he could, like trying to fill a very tall glass.
Slow. It was so slow this way. He knew it was best to impart his energy onto the sword gradually, but he had already done that and then messed it up by breaking his first Asauchi. He had to fix things. He had to get back on track. Toshiro had given him new focus along with his new Asauchi. He knew he could do this. He had to. And wouldn’t it be a testament to how much he had grown if he showed up to the academy on his first day with Shikai already under his belt.
Still, he heard a soft voice in the back of his mind that didn’t quite sound like his. “You’re not ready,” it said.
“I am ready,” Haku bit out verbally, his brows scrunching together. “I’ve been doing this for a year now. Doing this is child’s play for me.” He increased the flow on the faucet, his hands growing cold and achy as the slow stream grew to a moderate spill. The sword seemed to rattle with the energy Haku was pushing into it. He held it steady as he let his energy flow into it.
And then he felt the flow staunch itself somehow. As if someone had pinched off a section on a garden hose. He growled in irritation and turned up the faucet again until his energy was gushing into the sword like a spilled bucket. He felt his hands frost over and the hilt of the Asauchi grew ice cold like a metal pole in the winter. He grimaced as his injured hand prickled with pain.
The cinch in the garden hose then became a finger in the shoved into the spout, stopping the flow of his energy completely.
“You are not ready,” that voice repeated.
Haku’s eyes snapped open, cold with icy rage. He pried his hands away from the Asauchi’s hilt, grabbed the base of the sword blindly and chucked the sword at his feet. He ignored the stinging pain from where his hand had been sliced open by the blade. He curled his hands into fists and bared his teeth at the Asauchi on the ground. “What the hell do you mean I’m not ready?!! I’ve learned my lesson! I understand now! Who I am is not going to change! It doesn’t make any difference whether you’re an ice type or a fire type”—Haku threw his hands up, blood streaming down his forearm from gravity—“or a fucking flower type with purple polka-dots! I get it! So why the hell do you keep getting in my way?!”
He stomped up to the sword and resisted the urge to kick it clear across the training grounds. Instead, he pointed his bloodied hand at it. The blood then began to freeze to his hand as his reiatsu ran wild. Ice spread across the ground around him and the sword like fire eating up dry grass. An invisible wind kicked up Haku’s snow white hair, whipping frosted strands against his cheeks.
“You’re supposed to be my partner! And yeah, I haven’t exactly been the best partner either, but I’m trying now! So why the hell are you holding me back?! You were ready to tell me your name before all this started, so what the hell is your problem now?!”
“Calm down, child.”
His hands were in fists again, and somehow the ice cold rage inside him grew white hot, making his veins feel like fire, even as the ice spread around him and over his skin. He gritted his teeth so hard his jaw hurt. “Do not. Tell me. To calm down.”
“You must calm down. You will only injure yourself further. You do not yet know how to control it. Control yourself.”
Haku paced around back and forth in front of the sword, icy footprints following him wherever he walked. Flakes of ice and frost whipped off of him, carried off by that same invisible wind. “I was plenty in control of myself until you showed up! Ever since I met you, you’ve caused me nothing but trouble!”
“If you have grievances with me, calm yourself and come speak with me directly. You are free to do so.”
The words calmed Haku enough that he could think a little more clearly through the mix of emotions swirling around in his head. Still. He fell like he wanted to blow something up with Kido. He had no idea how to get that feeling out. It was probably yet another thing that he could only blame himself for. Hiding the feelings he had only shared with Toshiro behind a mask of happy-go-lucky hadn’t done him any favors like he thought it had. Now he was left with emotions that he had no idea how to deal with. Despite everyone telling him to talk about hard things and about his grief after his grandfather was killed, he had done the opposite. Sure, he had cried it out and talked about how much he missed him, but the anger and hate and rage he had bottled up. And now he was left with that bottle threatening to explode with no idea as to how to keep it intact.
“Breathe.”
The word was like feathers against his skin. A light touch that felt almost… comforting? Haku found himself obeying the voice. He closed his eyes and inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth, counting to ten each time and holding for five in between. Eventually he felt himself settle. The hot grew cool and the cold grew warm. The ice on his skin and surrounding him evaporated into nothing. Once he felt every part of him return to equilibrium, he slowly opened his eyes, looking around the training grounds as if he expected someone to be standing there watching him, but there was no one. He was alone. But still, he felt like he was being watched, like had just thrown an epic temper tantrum in the middle of the market like he had when he was a toddler. An unexpected wash of shame covered him and he felt his skin grow warm with embarrassment. He looked down at his hand to see that the ice from his reiatsu had essentially cauterized the wound from his blade. All that was left were pink, puckered lines along his palm and fingers from where the blade had sliced his skin and flakes of dried blood.
Haku took another long breath and walked up to the Asauchi bending down to pick it up. Properly this time. He held it by the hilt again, in front of him with the blade pointing it down like last time. He tried to start over but found the flow of his reiatsu still plugged. A tiny prickle of irritation budded in the back of his mind, and he couldn’t tell who it belonged to.
“Sit down.” The voice remained calm.
Haku lowered the Asauchi and sat down cross legged, laying the sword over his lap.
“Close your eyes.”
He closed his eyes and returned to his deep breathing. Soon the world fell from around him and he felt a cold breeze blow against him. The dirt ground turned to hard stone. The scent of mountain air and cherry blossoms filled his nose. It was suddenly bitterly cold, but also warm with sun. Slowly, he opened his eyes and found himself in a place he had only been to once before. His inner realm.
It was a rural landscape of Japan. A red and white three story shrine with black, sloping rooftops stood proud in the distance at the end of the cobblestone path he sat on. The cobblestones were cut into squares and fit aesthetically into the dark soil that surrounded them. The paths were laid out thoughtfully around a garden, the grass patches sectioned off with cherry wood fencing. The gardens were filled with tall and short cherry blossom trees, pine trees, maple trees, and short green and red bushes as well as stones weathered into various shapes and sizes. And in the background, up the sloping hills of green and brown beyond the shrine, was Mount Fuji, covered with snow at its peak, standing tall and proud over the beautiful landscape. It was a scene that his grandfather would have loved. Would have spent hours sitting in feeding the flycatchers and the robins and the warblers birdseed and rice crackers.
But this time his inner world was different. Before it was covered in a thick blanket of frost and snow. This time it felt like late winter or early spring. Cold but still warm enough to sit out and enjoy the cherry blossoms in full bloom. Haku blinked as he looked around, standing up slowly. The Asauchi was gone, his hands now empty. He took a tentative step forward, his sandals tapping on the cobblestones. The sound seemed to echo on forever. He walked down the path towards the dead end that led only left or right. He saw no signs of his zanpakuto spirit, but he knew he was here. He could feel him.
“Okay… I’m here…” Haku raised his hands as he turned in place, searching the skies for the spirit. “Now what?”
He faced away from the shrine and the mountain, glancing down the pathways that led through the garden. He could see a white sand zen garden down the way and was about to head towards it when the bitter cold wind picked up, blowing his clothes and hair around so much that he lifted his arms to shield himself from the wind.
A mighty thump sounded behind him, along with the clicking of talons on cobblestone and the rustle of feathers. Haku turned to see a white phoenix about four times his height and nearly as big as the shrine behind it standing on the path in the intersection. It stretched out its great white wings then folded them neatly against its body. Its eyes were a strange swirl of ice blue and sunlight yellow. And wafting off of it were wisps of ice and snow and condensation that looked almost like flames now that Haku really took the time to look at the bird. Its feathers waved in an unseen, unfelt wind, the energy and frost blowing off of it flickering like firelight. But there was no heat. None except for the sun slowly rising in the eastern sky. And as he looked even closer, he noticed that shimmers of yellow ran through its plumage, as if it were made of ice and the crystalline surface were reflecting the sunlight. Its crest of feathers on the top of its head fanned out and curled upward like a crescent moon. Its long tail of feathers barely fit along the cobblestone path.
Haku swallowed hard and opened and closed his hands into tight fists, squeezing some in visible stress ball. “You… you said… that if I had grievances with you to…” A ball of fear choked off his words as it lodged itself in his throat.
The bird lowered its head in what seemed to be both a nod and an indication that it was leaning in close to listen to what Haku had to say. “Well then, child. Let’s hear it.”
Well, he’d planned on telling the spirit just how he felt about him, but… Standing here looking at him now… It was like trying to explain to his grandfather how his favorite teacup ended up broken. He tried to swallow again but his throat was dry.
“Um,” Haku rasped out. He tried to find the words again but they crumbled up like loose snow before they reached his tongue. “I’m… I’m sorry. For pushing you away that day. For leaving when you tried to tell me your name. I was wrong, and I shouldn’t have done that.”
He could have sworn the spirit grinned at him in amusement. “Your apologies are appreciated, but unnecessary.”
Haku balked, taking a step back in surprise. “Wh-why?”
“You were not ready to hear it. You are free to choose not to hear my name, just as I am free to withhold it from you. Zanpakuto do not force their name on their masters. That would be most unwise,” the bird cocked its head to the side.
“Okay…” Haku held his hands out at his side. “I’m ready to hear it now. What’s your name?”
“I refuse.”
Haku threw his hands up and turned to walk off but only made it a few steps before he stopped and turned back around, holding his hands up at the bird in pleading. “Why?! What more do I have to prove to you to make things right?!”
“It is not about ‘making things right’,” the phoenix ruffled its feathers, preening its wing with its beak. “You are not ready.”
“And why do you think I’m not ready,” Haku let his hands fall back to his sides with a huff.
“You still have not learned to control yourself. Your suppressed emotions allow your reiatsu to run rampant. You injured yourself and nearly injured your friend as well,” the bird stated without a hint of judgement. “If you do not learn to control yourself and harness your emotions as the master of Hyorinmaru said, then you will only get yourself and others hurt by using my power.”
“Then why did you try and—”
“Furthermore, you are scared of it,” the bird added, cutting him off with a flutter of its wings. Its talons clicked against the stones as it shifted forward, closer to him. “You are afraid of this power. It has the potential to cause great harm, even to yourself if you are not careful.”
“My grandfather said that fear is necessary to wield great power, otherwise we would never keep ourselves in check,” Haku told his spirit.
“Yes, but letting that fear take over instead of letting it make you wise is also counterproductive. Fear of great power should make you cautious, not apprehensive.”
Haku hung his head with a sigh. He understood what his spirit was saying, but… “Then how do I learn to not be apprehensive if I can’t use that power?”
“You already can. You, like all Soul Reapers, have echoes of your own power even without Shikai,” the bird began shifting back, as if it were preparing to leave.
Haku’s head snapped up. He saw the phoenix unfurl its wings. “Wait, what?! What does that mean?!” He ran forward as the bird began beating its wings.
“My power is your power, child. As is true for all Shinigami.”
Haku stopped short and covered his head as the bird took off, soaring high into the sky before flying off back to Mount Fuji from where it came. The surge of powerful wind knocked Haku back onto his back, but his back didn’t hit hard stone, it hit dusty ground and he found himself staring up into the late morning sky of Soul Society. His hair was disheveled and wrapped around his head, neck and shoulders.
Haku grumbled, scowled, and blew a strand of hair out of his face. “I hate that bird.”
He sat up and grabbed the Asauchi that had fallen out of his lap. He stared at the utterly unremarkable sword that would one day—hopefully soon—become his zanpakuto. The spirit had said Soul Reapers had “echoes of their own power”. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure what that meant, but…
Haku looked up and twisted at the waist, looking at the towering buildings in the distance outside the training grounds. Standing up, he sheathed his sword and ran for the exit of the training grounds. He had to go back and see Toshiro again.
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