What Lies Beyond

[Nakajima Kimiko]

The Shinigami of the sacred Gotei 13 have always been seen as powerful by those who have met or seen them. Whether by respect or instead plain fear, their history has allowed them to be most often branded with numerous names spanning countless cultures. Angels of death, grim reapers... A few even went as far as to deem them with other terms, such as guardians, protectors, and even demi-gods. It is why there are so many stories of the Living World - be they urban legend of the modern era or ancient mythology of times long forgotten - which depict great icons of power. However, if there is one thing that Humans tend to misunderstand in their ignorance of the denizens of the Soul Society, it is that these icons which have unconsciously become part of their global culture, it is that every single one of them share one particular attribute without exception: a weapon. That weapon is known by all who have properly witnessed it as Zanpakuto, the Soul Slayer.

A Zanpakuto takes on many forms. At first a simple Asauchi of no particular affinity, it slowly develops over time to fit the needs of the Shinigami who was given the task to wield it. They can take the forms of plain straight swords, slimmer katanas, larger claymores. Of course, that is only when they are Sealed, meaning in a state in which their wielder is unaware of their name. Once this name is found and then used so as to Release the blade from its spiritual constraints, they can then take more exotic shapes like whips, double-bladed spears, and even chakrams. Although a number of the celestial warriors do not actually employ the use of their weapon in battle, seeing as there are a plentiful who prefer to instead rely solely on the magical art known as Kidō, each of them are assigned and then tasked to cultivate their weapon after their admission within the Gotei 13. The reason why this task is so incentivized is simple: it is because a Released blade allows the Shinigami to achieve greater power.

One may ask how a Shinigami may be able to find the name of their Zanpakuto. It would be a hardly unsurprising question to hear from an inexperienced warrior, as after all, all Zanpakuto are unique to their wielder. Therefore, it is fundamentally impossible to simply find the name of a blade through what could be considered as normal means. In order for one to appropriately accomplish this task, they must instead head towards what is popularly referred to as the Inner World. Accessed via the Jinzen ritual, the Inner World is a place that is deeply connected to the Shinigami. It is shaped according to their unconscious demands, representing what they are and what they feel down to the deepest spiritual level, and in a way, allows one to reach their personal nirvana. More importantly, it is also where the Shinigami can find one particular individual to talk: the very spirit of their Zanpakuto. From them, they may be able to learn many things, and in the case of many, even form a great friendship.

The elderly spirit Shizukakane residing within the blade of Nakajima Kimiko is a notable example of this fact. He who resides within the so-called Fields of Tranquility - the infinite plains forming the quieter half of the dual swordswoman's Inner World - could be described as a father figure of sorts, a mentor. He has always been there for her, always been at her side in one way or another, and even now, he believes himself to be a protector of sorts. He is, as one could imagine, the definition of a kind old man who enjoys spending his time drinking tea and playing shogi. The only difference between him and the common kind you see wandering the Living World in search of a purpose before the end of their miserable life is that this old man can wield a sword, and he can wield it well. In fact, he can wield it so well that he could also be practically described as a master swordsman. Should he had been a Shinigami proper rather than a spirit, he could have easily taken the mantle of Captaincy or become a teacher of Shin'ō Academy.

For quite some time now, he and the warrior have met every single day. At times, they spoke to one another, and at other times, they instead trained proper, but regardless, there was never an exception in their schedule. The spirit would await the Shinigami as she completed her paperwork for the Gotei 13 in the morning and then trained during the early afternoon, and then interact with her during the evening until she then leaves for the night. Unfortunately, this schedule did not last for very long, as once the second sword was introduced, it was rendered less organized and instead more unclear within the many years that then followed. It was hard to blame any one of them for this sudden and abrupt change of pace; after all, the one who was responsible for it was quite the unruly sort, and there really was no easy way for them to make it more stable. Consequently, they would from there on meet in the late afternoon or, in the worst of cases, even converse during the night.

Tonight would be one of those times the warrior would decide to meet the elderly one. It had been a long and arduous day of paperwork, and then training with the other spirit. Both of these activities had been quite bothersome for the woman. The first was filled with countless reports that she needed to complete before the end of the day, which translated into hours of writing and formatting in order to make the clearest documents possible for her superiors, and the second was as grueling as always. She had believed that meeting with Wynne and being inspired to teach others would have allowed her to move on from her hatred of Taishokukane to an extent, but as the years went on, this hatred of hers was only emboldened. His dishonorable fighting style frustrated her to no end, and his demeanor frustrated her even more. There was no respect between them, no friendliness. If anything, she saw him not as a boon a second Zanpakuto should have granted her, but rather as something much less benevolent. It was a maddening sensation.

It was with such a hating heart that she thus decided to enter her Inner World before going to bed, and head on over to speak with Shizukakane. She could not bear the other spirit anymore, could not stand him any longer, and so she felt a need to speak with the other spirit within her blades, the one that she actually respected and cherished. This need brought her to the Fields of Tranquility where the green grass ruled under a bright sun. There, away from Taishokukane, away from her comrades, her barracks, her duties, she stepped forward with glee. Her hatred there was lessened by the sun above, the greens below, and the blowing of the wind flowing by her ears. She felt happy and at peace, maybe even a bit excited. There would be no battles today, she thought, no crossing of swords. No. Instead, there would only be tea and shogi. It was that which she needed now, not the other, not after the hellish day she has just experienced.

And so, her trek through the fields began. She walked, and walked, and walked. Each step she took left a footprint onto the grass below, marking her path as she headed along. All things considered, it was quite the voyage. Usually, it only took her a few minutes to reach the spirit, but now, it almost felt like an hour. Even so, her happy and gleeful mind did not really care. It was nice to be here in these plains. It reminded her of the times she has spent with the elderly spirit, and less so of the disgusting forest that has been so prevalent in her life during the past few years. There was no darkness here at all or even a peep of the many sounds that kept blasting her ears over there, not even one bit. In fact, she could not even see the forest in the distance today. Instead, here, all she could experience was a bright and sunny day, where there was ample color to both feel and enjoy without any sound at all excepting the wind. It was better in every way. So, so much better.

Eventually, though, the travel would slowly come to an end as she arrived to the spot in which she would usually meet the spirit. Although many years has passed since they have met, it has not changed in the slightest. It was still a small clearing located between grassy hills, where a single chabudai stood. Simply seeing the low table was enough to make her smile, reassured. "Finally... That took longer than usual," she hummed calmly as she headed forward towards the piece of traditional furniture, then slowly pushed herself down onto her knees. Though the spirit wasn't there to greet her this time, she knew that there was nothing to worry about. There had been times in which she needed to wait before his arrival, and every single time she did need to wait, he arrived a few minutes later. He'll come. She was sure of it. After all, if he can't, why was she then allowed to come here to the Fields? If he was busy, he would not have allowed her to access them.

This waiting, however, went on for longer than expected. The few minutes she expected rapidly turned into a dozen minutes, and then dozens. By the time this approached the half-hour point, her happiness and excitement started to fade, and with a tinge of worry, she started looking around at her surroundings. What was happening? Was this normal? Did something happen to him? The questions would start appearing within her mind slowly at first, though as more minutes passed, they would become more and more oppressive. Maybe he really didn't want to talk today? Was that the reason why he was being so late? She was aware that he has been somewhat distant lately, especially if she wasn't in the Inner World. But then, if that's the case, why was she allowed to successively conduct the Jinzen ritual? He could have just told her that he didn't want her to come. He didn't need to do this, right? Right? As the questions continued to pile on, she would clench her teeth and look down towards the chabudai for a moment to think. No, everything is fine. Everything is totally fine.

But then, as she raised her head again, she heard footsteps coming towards the other end of the table. She knew their slow pacing, their light weight: they were the steps of Shizukakane. With her faith in the spirit reignited, the scarlet-eyed warrior would look up towards the source of the footsteps to greet him. However, before she could, she stopped. She couldn't find the strength in the moment to smile or to even appear worried. Instead, she merely watched in shock, silent, horrified by what stood before her.

On the opposite end of table did not stand Shizukakane. It was not the kind old man that was always so comforting and talkative. In his place was someone else entirely. She wore a black Japanese school blouse, office trousers, and shoes, the attire of a high-class student of her native country. Her skin was pale, almost downright white in color, and her sharp eyes were of a bright silver behind rectangle glasses which sported the same black color as her ponytail hair. Her stance was upright, straight, so much so that it appeared downright unnatural, and the smile that she sported was quaint, yet confident, maybe even mocking. Figuratively crowned over her head was, in the distance, a line of bright white clouds that covered the horizons. Her whole appearance was unsettling, to say the least, but it was not what bothered Kimiko the most. Rather, it was the fact that aside from all of the features previously named, she looked exactly like her. It was not just an uncanny resemblance or a coincidental similarity. She was outright a mirror image of her.

For a moment, the Shinigami wanted to ask her who this person was, which was enough for the woman before her to chuckle quietly and raise her right hand, revealing that she had been reading a book of sorts. There was nothing written on the cover that properly identified it, though it was unclear whether or not that identification would have granted her any sort of meaningful information. "Narrating someone's story sure is fun, don't you think, Kimiko-chan~?" She asked in a soft tone that sounded as though she was lightly mocking the one meant to hear it. "You can make them think things, make them do things, even completely change their life on a whim... It's always a good time~."

After the shock of the moment passed, Kimiko's eyes would slowly widen before they would then be pressed into a frown. Slowly, the memories returned, and soon enough, she started realizing who this person was supposed to be. It was "she", the being Taishokukane kept talking about that tormented her dreams since her days as a Shinigami officially began. "You... bitch," she spat lowly as she stared right into her copy's eyes. Her breathing was heavy, her teeth clenched powerfully against one another, and the both of her hands were closed into tight shaking fists. Her gaze showcased her deep hatred for the woman, a loathing that she has cultivated over a great course of time, with a hint of murderous intent. 

"Oh-ho, such anger~! That's rude, Kimiko-chan, very, very rude... but also very unoriginal," she laughed swiftly, amicably before she would then close the book she held, returning it to her pocket. "If I was in your place, I would have said *** and *********. Those are much better words~."

Each of the words she meant to tell the scarlet-eyed warrior came out as muffled and distant, enough so that Kimiko was unable to understand each of them. However, it did not matter to her. She didn't want to hear them in the slightest, and if anything, she was glad to not have heard them, if only to spite the woman by not ever using them. It was very petty, yes, but considering what was currently happening, she had every right to be petty. Although her current self now understood that this was not actually her Inner World, but rather a mere dream that has taken its form, the copy had infringed upon what she believed to be sacred ground. She had no right to be in the Fields of Tranquility, not even in a recreation of them. "What do you want?" She huffed as she stood there at her end of the chabudai, still glaring daggers straight into her doppelganger's soul. "Are you here to hurt me again? Like you've done countless times now?"

The accusations were not without fault. Despite appearing harmless, if not disrespectful, the pale woman was a dangerous individual capable of great violence. There were many dreams in which she displayed sickening pleasure when physically tormenting Kimiko. She had stabbed her many times, crushed her, cut her, and plenty more, all by manipulating the dreams and using them against the defenseless Shinigami. The response that the woman gave to her in the moment, at first, did not reassure Kimiko on that end: "Oh, no, I don't plan to hurt you, Kimiko-chan... At least, not yet~," she jested before she then pressed her arms onto the table, with her right arm placed in front of the other horizontally. "I brought you here because I wanted to tell you something that I think you would find important."

"Hmph. What the hell would that be?" 

There was a pause that settled between the both of them once Kimiko spoke out her spiteful retort. It was a quiet moment of silence between the two, one which seemed as though the other being considered to be important, as she would make sure to press herself forward in the moment on the table, enough so to break her unnaturally straight posture.

"I am going to kill your precious old man."

Another moment of silence was then raised, in which the scarlet-eyed warrior would simply stare back at the being. Her expression was at first confused again, as though her mind was trying to figure out whether the being before her was serious or not, though eventually as she realized that the tone she had used was more serious than ever, it changed into something else. Her eyes became wide with fury, so much so that they almost appeared bloodshot, and her eyebrows frowned deeply over them. Meanwhile, her spiritual pressure grew exponentially until it caused the table between them to wince and groan. "What... did you say...?" She muttered quietly, threateningly, as though she was about to unsheathe her blade at any given time.

The doppelganger was not at all intimidated by this, however, instead simply amused. She would watch the Shinigami become increasingly more angry at her, going as far as to give her a playful grin fo sort, as though she was pleased by the reaction. "I think you heard me, Kimiko-chan~," she hummed, feeling as though her words did not bear repeating. "You're a good girl. You can understand~." There was no hesitation in her words, no apparent will to lie to her. What she had just said was told with utmost confidence that carried a will to do the deed.

Unsurprisingly, this caused the Shinigami's anger to explode tenfold. She had absolutely no idea as to how a being that resides within her dreams could possibly achieve something like that, but she didn't care. Someone that she considered to be dangerous to her was threatening to kill the person that she believed to be the closest to her. The doppelganger had already inadvertently declared a will to harm Shizukakane before through some blatant imagery, but this went far beyond anything she has ever done before. This was not simple imagery, but rather a declaration, a promise, and she was not going to let that fly. In so doing, with bestial rage booming within her heart, Kimiko would grab onto the blade attached to her obi sash, then attempt to violently unsheathe it in the direction of the woman's neck to decapitate her. Like the words told to her, this action was also done without hesitation, with utmost conviction.

However, her attack never landed. Before her blade could reach its intended destination, a metallic noise surged vertically from beneath the chabudai, passing through Kimiko's blade before stopping right over her head. It was a perfect cut. It left the table cut in two, the blade shattered, and the entire of Kimiko's head cleaved in its entirety. As the parts of the latter would slowly separate from themselves, the being would admire her handiwork with a pleased smile before speaking the final words the Shinigami would hear in this moment. "I think that's enough for now. Good talk~. Have a good night, Kimiko-chan! We'll see each other again... very soon~."

The Shinigami's head was then severed completely, and her consciousness then faded away, leaving this dream world once again.

[Nakajima Kimiko]

"That's... how it happened..."

Kimiko's voice spoke quietly over the chabudai as she remained at her side of the table, sitting cross-legged. It held a tone of worry, all the while she looked down towards the low table with eyes that seemed to be as anxious as the Fields themselves. The skies above, usually so sunny and bright, were covered by an armada of large gray clouds that stretched throughout the horizons, and the wind around them sped about with an unclear pace. It caused the pieces that were currently set onto the shogi board below to shake every now and then, and even almost be blown away. Even the cups of tea and the teapot that was set about near them had almost fallen off from the table, threatening to spill their contents onto the grass below. The only thing that appeared to remain unaffected by this terrible wind was the forest that remained far away in the distance. Well, at least it appeared as such, for its trees were so high that they passed through the clouds above.

On the other side of the chabudai, Shizukakane remained, sitting in a position that was almost identical to the swordswoman's. His silver eyes were lowered into a deep frown, causing his features to appear sharper than usual. He had listened attentively to everything that had been told to him. The location that the woman within the dream had decided to take this time, the appearance of the woman, the words that she said... He had taken them all into account as much as his old mind possibly could, and now he contemplated both they and the information that was given to him about the previous dreams with a very serious gaze. Around him, the wind blew somehow fiercer, more intense with an invisible force that slowly flattened the grass blades which surrounded him. Even though Kimiko was not looking at him in this moment, it was very clear to her that he was not only taking the threat that was given to him seriously, but also angrily.

After the scarlet-eyed warrior finished speaking, he had remained silent, as though making sure that he had understood absolutely everything that had been said to him, then grabbed onto the cup of tea that was set before him, raising it to his lips thereafter. The action had been seemingly accomplished to calm himself before he would say or do anything reckless, as he was quite tense a few moments ago, but although it did somewhat alleviate his emotions, he remained both outraged by the fact that he was threatened in such a disgusting fashion and saddened that Kimiko has had to go through such a terrible ordeal. "To think that I would be challenged by a dream all for the sake of harming you..." he would sigh with a slow and tired blink of his silver eyes as he thought of the matter even further. There was rage within him, anger, though his age and kindness prevented him from properly opening himself to Kimiko. "Such cruelty. Only a brigand would dare to play in such an unfathomable way."

The swordswoman raised her eyes back towards the spirit of her blade after he spoke. Unsurprisingly, she fully agreed with what he had to say on the matter. Attempting to hurt or outright kill the spirit of a Zanpakuto blade was indeed a very hurtful and cruel way to harm a Shinigami. Worse yet, that clone of her or whatever she was supposed to be definitely knew that Shizukakane was close to her and was seemingly going to attempt to kill him for no reason at all other than to hurt her. However, words were not a solution to such a problem. Hell, it was possible that there was no real solution to this problem altogether. Though this clone has threatened the spirit, they fundamentally have no idea as to how she is actually going to attack him. For all they know, it was totally possible that she wasn't real and that what she had said was only some kind of sickening trick her mind had conjured like all of the other nightmares she has experienced.

The problem was that there was a great difference between this nightmare and the one she experienced last night. The others were forgotten quickly much like a normal dream, left behind in the corners of her mind to then naturally vanish over the course of time. This one had instead remained. It was still fresh on her mind even as they were speaking to one another now in the dead of night. Considering this, it was becoming clearer and clearer that this woman was real to some extent... and the possibility of that piece of information actually being true immensely bothered Kimiko, especially given how powerful she was in those dreams. "... Whatever she is... we need to do something about her," she commented after the spirit finished speaking his mind on the matter, doing so with a serious and powerful tone. "I don't know if what she said is true, but either way, I'm not going to allow her to come here. I'm not... going to allow her to hurt you."

Those last few words she said were spoken in a softer voice, one that was very clearly worried for the safety of the spirit. Though a part of her believed that she would have perhaps been scolded for thinking this way, as she believed it made her appear somewhat weak and frail, the old man did not respond harshly to it. Instead, the kind smile that has long since become familiar to her would appear on his face, and he would settle down. "No, of course you will not do such a thing. Leaving me to her mercy would after all be rather uncharacteristic of you," he jested, chuckling softly before he would then grow a bit more serious once again. "With that said, though I believe it is unkind of me to tell you this now... I do not believe that you are powerful enough to face her. You have just told me that you were struck down so quickly that you were unable to see it coming. The brigand may show you no respect, but it would seem that she is much stronger than you could possibly imagine."

That wasn't quite what Kimiko wanted to hear. She was glad that Shizukakane was not angry at her for caring about his safety, but the way he laid the truth bare in such a way made it seem as though any effort she would show against the doppelganger within her dreams would be nothing more than hopeless endeavors. The worst part about it was that he was right. Though the other nightmares are now but faint memories, they have all showcased to her the power of this being. In each and every single one of them, she was killed or diminished to nothing seemingly without any effort whatsoever. Her swordsmanship was beaten senseless, her speed was outpaced almost twofold, and her spiritual power was overpowered. The being may have perhaps granted herself additional power within those dreams, as after all, it appeared as though she had control over them to a degree, but nothing says that she will be weaker if they ever properly cross paths.

However, before she could actually say anything in response to the old man's words, he would take another sip from his cup of tea, then let out a sigh. "Even so, should I be defeated, there is nothing to suggest that she will then not go after the forest brat... and then you."

It was an unfortunate truth, one that Kimiko could not agree more with, though once again, it hardly brought any solutions to the table. There was indeed absolutely nothing that guaranteed that the being was not going to pick another target should she ever be successful in taking out Shizukakane. As the old man said, she may go after Taishokukane, and if she is successful in that endeavor as well, she may then go after Kimiko. Nobody knew for what purpose she may actually try to do such a thing, but whatever that purpose may be, it was their responsibility to make sure that none of them perish against her. After all, who knows what would happen if she somehow becomes a tangible thing and decides to go after the people of the Eleventh, her new student Wynne... or Celes, her dear mentor. If she can't face it on her very own, then almost all of those people will not be able to fare any better against her either. 

But then, how can she beat her? She is not physically strong enough to properly fight her on equal grounds, and in so doing, her powers could never be properly activated in a battle against her before she reaches her. In fact... it doesn't really feel as though there were any actual chances to beat her, even if she tries her best to train all day, every day, at her absolute limit. It really did feel somewhat hopeless. "Then what should we do?" She decided to ask Shizukakane in the moment. Though she tried to remain calm, it was clear that the lack of clear plan here was making her progressively more anxious. "I don't think I can really ask the others for help, not even Celes, so it's really only us. I don't want to gang up on her, but... if she is stronger than me and she gets the upper hand against you, I..." 

She wasn't able to finish her sentence. The words stopped coming and she was simply left there, staring at the low table in silence alongside the spirit who did the same thing. She had no idea of how to proceed. Usually, she can simply push herself forward into battle and see what she can do there, but in this specific case, it almost seemed as though they were all going to eventually face what appeared to be an unstoppable threat that was not going to show them any mercy. If she tries to fight her on her lonesome, she will most definitely die, and if she tries to forgo her own morals and the rules of the Bushido Code all in one fell swoop, there is still no guarantee that she will survive. Hell, though he is definitely a much better swordsman than she was, there was no guarantee that even Shizukakane and Taishokukane both could survive a fight against her even if they fight together. At least, it didn't feel like that to her, not at this point in time.

But then, after a few more seconds of silence, the old man would make a declaration. It was said solemnly, with great consideration of the matter at hand. "There is one path that we may take together." He raised an iron gaze towards the young woman who would simply stare back, surprised by the sharpness of his features. It was the first time she had seen him become this serious. "It will be a difficult path to cross for us all, but in order for your survival to be guaranteed, I am afraid that this may be our only solution."

The fact that the word "solution" alone was mentioned here was enough to cause Kimiko's attention to be instantly taken. She would stare back at him with great intensity, blinking in confusion at first, then would slowly start to realize what he was referring to. "You mean... That path is..."

"Yes, Kimiko-chan. You have guessed correctly. This path of ours...

... will lead us to Bankai."

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Long ago in a distant past, when the Shinigami began to wield what would eventually be referred to as the Zanpakuto, the celestial warriors of the heavenly realm only used their weapons like how they believed to be intended: as conventional weapons of war to be used against the vile Hollows of Hueco Mundo. Swords, claymores, daggers... In the end, so long as they cleansed the souls of the energy which transformed them into such terrible beasts, the form of these weapons did not matter, for the effects of their use alone were more than sufficient. A blade, after all, was a blade, and it was thus only logical that a blade functioned similarly to a blade in every circumstance, even if it happened to be a spiritual weapon rather than a purely physical one. For the officers, commanders, and great leaders of the time who had much better things to do than consecrate much of their time to their weaponry, that was simply all there was to these blades, nothing more, nothing less.

However, as time would go, the Soul Society would face increasingly-more dangerous threats from both Hueco Mundo and pockets of the Living World. These threats took on many forms, from the strongest of Hollows to the most despicable of the Quincies. Overwhelmed by the alien powers they have to face on a daily basis, the Shinigami believed themselves too weak to face them all with their simple weaponry and in so doing, they attempted to learn more about what they brought with them in battle. Though the majority of these officers did not achieve meaningful results, there were a few who found achieved communion with their blades, and in so doing, they grew to become so powerful that their Zanpakuto would find themselves twisted by their power. These Shinigami would "release" their swords from their constraints, and in so doing, they will allow their weapons to be bestowed their true form. That form was the Shikai, the initial release.

The blades which were able to reach this stage proved to be incredible weapons over the course of the centuries that followed. They tore through many beings that threatened the security of Humankind and the Soul Society both, and were able through their existence alone to provide the Shinigami with a goal. Despite this, the Shikai too eventually proved to not be sufficient enough for the malevolent beings that were then born after its development. The Hollows would grow into devastating Vasto Lordes, and the Quincy would reach even stronger levels of power. Moreover, a few demons of Hell would even find themselves capable of escaping their eternal damnation. The Shinigami needed something that was even stronger than the Shikai, something that could reach become more powerful than anything imaginable. Again, the Shinigami searched and searched for years, though after a time, they were finally able to develop what they considered to be their greatest weapon. It held many names, many of which all held the same meaning, though eventually, only one of them would rule over them all.

Bankai.

There has never been a word in the history of the Soul Society that has ever held such an enormous amount of importance as the one carried by the Zanpakuto's famous second Release state. For many centuries, it held the responsibility of representing the final evolution of the Shinigami's Zanpakuto, its true form. All who are able to reach this state alongside their Zanpakuto are to be known as the ultimate warriors of the Soul Society, beings that simply cannot be beaten easily by anything other than the few worthy of properly tackling them on. These beings are feared across every realm and especially renowned for their power. In fact, the power that these beings is such that both the teachers of Shin'ō Academy and the highest officers of the Gotei 13 made it as the penultimate goal a Shinigami must reach in order to be recognized as their strongest. It is thus needless to say that many modern Shinigami are driven by the possibility of achieving Bankai with their Zanpakuto, either for their own personal gain or for the utmost completion of their sacred duty.

Unsurprisingly, Kimiko was admittedly one of those people. Ever since she has learned of the existence of this released form and was permitted to witness Celes' own Bankai, she had always wished to attain a Bankai of her own. Of course, a childish part of her wanted one only because it looked cool and it would just make her stronger, but there was a greater motivation behind it than just a wish to acquire a new weapon. Well, not just one motivation. In her eyes, to achieve Bankai was one more step forward towards becoming an even greater warrior. It was a badge of honor of sorts, to put it bluntly, something that would not only prove to many that she was one of the best swordsmen in the Soul Society and that her teacher at the Academy was nothing more than an old coot that was ruthlessly obsessed with the magical arts... but also certify that she was the best student Celes could have taken under her wing.

With that said, she had wholeheartedly believed that this process would been done naturally. Back when she was nothing more than a simple student of the Academy, she had thought that the process would have simply been completed with her Zanpakuto's spirit, and that would have been the end of that. She wasn't sure how this would have been accomplished, as she was still struggling with the concept of Zanpakuto spirits as a whole back then, but after she had met Shizukakane, she sincerely felt that it would have been sorted out rather peacefully. The old man liked talking, shogi, and tea, and with that in mind, it was thus only understandable of her to believe that the process would have been conducted through pleasant conversation, many games of shogi, and plenty of tea. Of course, there was training spanned throughout all of those things; after all, a Shinigami must obviously train either their mind or their body in order to become stronger, regardless of how long it may take for them to accomplish that. Even so, it did not sway her earlier convictions.

But then, this happened. All of this happened. The awful dreams that kept depicting that terrible being, the appearance of the forest in the horizon of her Inner World, the manifestation of Taishokukane, and now a literal threat from the aforementioned being... It never stopped. The more these phenomenons kept occurring as time went on, the more unsettled Kimiko found herself becoming, and so it was only natural that - for her very own safety - her the obtention of her Bankai would be inorganic and unusual. Nevertheless, she had hoped that it would not have come to this. She had sincerely wanted to obtain her Bankai legitimately like how she obtained her Shikai, and how Celes and most likely the majority of every other Shinigami she has met unlocked their own Bankai. But, no. This would not be. Instead, she would learn how to use Bankai because of an emergency. She would not learn it because she deserved it, but rather because she needed it.

It was dreadful. She did not want this. It felt unnatural and wrong, like she was downright cheating the system. It reminded her that this strength of hers and the possession of a second Zanpakuto that so characterized her before everybody that has met her so far wasn't really the product of training, but rather of sheer happenstance that she could not even explain. She felt like she was special for no apparent reason, more powerful simply because she was, and it felt insultingly isolating. How could she relate to the others - Binita, Charles, Dai, Gideon, everyone - if her power completely overpowered theirs? How could she so much as have a decent spar with them if she knows that she can take them down in less than five seconds if she so much as considered using her full strength against them? It felt wrong. So wrong. She shouldn't be almost as powerful as her own Vice-Captain, who has dedicated his entire childhood to becoming a Shinigami, while she herself has only been a Shinigami for just a little bit more than a decade. She shouldn't already almost rival Celes. She shouldn't. She really shouldn't. 

And yet, here she was, for better or worse.

---

After the rest of the night was spent without nary a single dream, Kimiko woke up within her quarters as usual. She would go on to spend her morning as she usually does every day. First, she'd eat breakfast (a simple bowl of rice that she had purchased the day prior in Rukongai) outside near the training area, then she would go on to head on back inside the barracks to complete her paperwork. All she needed to complete today were a few papers here and there, namely reports of missions that she had completed over the last few months and other important tasks typically given to higher officers such as herself, like the handling of the recruits' profiles and where they would be assigned after the end of their preliminary training sessions. It was all done surprisingly quickly and efficiently within the span of about two hours. Once she finished her paperwork, she submitted it, headed for the main entrance, then left the barracks.

For the first time since she has joined the Eleventh Division, the scarlet-eyed woman was not going to train onto the familiar sands of the Coliseum. Shizukakane had told her that, for the purpose of what they were going to achieve today, she would need to head towards a place that was, in his words, "secluded from the rest of the world". In other words, she needed to go somewhere in which there would not be many people wandering around it, such as her fellow Shinigami at the barracks or the civilians of Rukongai. He did not explain why she would need to do such a thing, though after she gave some thought as to why that would potentially be needed, she simply acquiesced and decided to follow his instructions without protest; after all, her Shikai affected the world around her to a certain degree, so it was only natural to expect that her Bankai could also do such a thing, even if she was unaware of what it could do at this point in time.

It took her some time to find the ideal spot. Even with a mixture of her top speed and several uses of Shunpo, she would only be able to start reaching the farthest districts of Rukongai after three hours of travel. However, she would eventually find what she believed to be the best spot that was available to her. It took the form of a clearing away from the main roads of the 52nd western district, deep in a forest. There were a few rocks surrounding the area as well as a small stream, but aside from that, all there was in this open spot of land was a single tree overlooking a patch of grass. It was surprisingly peaceful. She could hear birds chirping in the distance alongside critters going about their business deeper into the forest, yet the noise was at a minimum. Given where she stood, she honestly believed that there would be people living here, as the 52nd is amongst the first few districts that could be considered as being rather poor. Maybe the lack of a larger body of water kept people away from it.

Once she was appropriately settled into the area, the Shinigami would allow herself to take a rest from her lengthy journey under the branches of the great tree. For about thirty minutes, she would recover with her back pressed the trunk near its roots, simply gazing forward towards the stream. As she did so, she would quietly reflect about all that's happened lately and think about what was going to happen next now that she was here. Was she really going to get her Bankai today? Was Shizukakane going to be okay with Taishokukane being around? Was Taishokukane going to be okay with this and not cause a fuss over her lack of strength? Was the being that threatened Shizukakane going to profit from the situation and attack while they are distracted? Once again, like so many times before, she held no answers for these questions. She could only sit there and contemplate what kind of answer they could give to her in the near future.

Eventually, the time would come for her to commit to what she had come here to do. Once it came, a deep sigh would escape her lips. "Here we go," she would mutter to herself as she mustered as much inner strength as she possibly could in this moment to brave the unknown that she would soon confront head-on, then began the ritual. Adopting the Jinzen stance, she would cross her legs, settle her blades onto them and her hands onto the extremities of each blade, then close her eyes. Slowly, her mind would close off all thoughts to focus on the task at hand, and with each passing second, her soul would start resonating with her weapons. A few seconds later, this soul would start connecting to the blades, and as this connection would become increasingly more direct, she would find herself sink away from Rukongai and into the darkness behind her eyelids. After that, she was physically gone, taken away to the Inner World.

[Nakajima Kimiko]

The first thing Kimiko felt as her soul drifted from reality to its personal sanctum was the wind. She could already tell that it was a gust unbeknownst to her, one that she had never really encountered before, or at least none of a similar quality within the Soul Society or the Living World. On one hand, it blew strongly, powerfully, enough so that it almost threatened to completely blow her away. However, on the other hand, it felt calm and welcoming, just enough to feel like a soft brush pressed against her skin. It was a very odd contrast that was definitely supernatural, unnatural, and unfit to be referred to as being so much as remotely possible, so much so that it took the Shinigami a moment for her to get used to it. Once her mind would finally decide to brave the source of the wind proper, it would task her eyes to open. Though they accomplished this task slowly, it was only then that their owner realized why the wind was the way it was.

She stood in the very middle of what she could only call a divide. It appeared as an almost tunnel-like formation of plain earth - a line of undistinguished, uncharacteristic, washi-like beige - set in the middle of the two "regions" which formed her Inner World. Above her right stood the bright greens of what she and Shizukakane eventually named the Fields of Tranquility, and above her left stood the almost dead, gray home of the silver shade she has long since grown to detest, the Fading Forest. The earth was uneven, seemingly positioned as though the sunny verdure of the fields were positioned slightly above the darkened woods. For all that could be known about it, it almost appeared not quite natural, but rather man-made, designed to push away the forest in favor of the fields. Even the great wind which blew all around Kimiko seemed to correspond to that logic, seeing as the serene breeze appeared more powerful than the violent gust. Either way, they both pushed the grounds of each side, giving them an ethereal look that made them appear like drawings being roughly torn away from their surface.

Unlike the time which she was first introduced to the fields, the Shinigami did not find herself completely taken aback by the sights. If anything, the only emotion she felt in the moment was concern. She could tell that this formation was not meant to be there, and instead was a kind of placeholder. The earth she stood on was not a part of the earths which surrounded her, and in so doing, it was as if the latter two were vividly attempting to erase it from existence by battling one another for dominance. At first glance, she should have been reassured by this. She preferred Shizukakane over Taishokukane, and with the way the fields rose so high above the forest, a part of her mind believed it would be nice to see the forest properly taken over by the sunny fields. However, it felt somewhat... wrong. It felt like something in her mind that she had wished to not express before Taishokukane had been materialized and laid bare before her solely to make her see.

Regardless, though the sight of the divide did not please her, she did not remain still for much longer. Having long since understood that the spirits within her blades preferred to be found by the Shinigami rather than finding her themselves, she would move on into the divide. She trekked forward at a steady pace, keeping herself at the center of the divide as though following down a path. Due to the wind, it was a surprisingly-arduous task. Her movements were not as quick as she believed they would have been, since the gusts kept blowing against her body and robes. The weather was also rather poor. Despite the fact that it was not raining, the clouds which have been haunting the fields for quite some time now were still present in the air, preventing any sunlight from passing through. Coupled with the wind, this caused the area to appear cold and generally unpleasant to venture through, especially given that she still was wearing her sleeveless garbs, as always. Even so, she moved forward with great resolution, never once bringing herself to a standstill.

After a few minutes of this would pass, the scarlet-eyed woman would slowly feel the presence of other beings near her position. It was unclear as to how many there were due to the strangeness of the area and the wind both being an incredible bother to her senses, but eventually, she would come to see what she believed to be these beings with her own eyes. They stood on each sides of the cliffs, overlooking the path and its current resident without a word spoken to one another. Eventually, once she would be able to close the gap between she and them, Kimiko would be able to properly identify the two as her Zanpakuto spirits. Feeling as though the small journey she has been going through had now come to an end, she would finally stop before staring upward towards the spirits. "Good afternoon," she called to the two, her voice somehow able to flow through the harsh winds quite naturally without a need to raise it. "I have to admit... I didn't think our first time together would be like this."

"Neither did I," the younger of the two spirits would add with his eternal scowl still very firmly painted on his face. As to be expected, it did not seem as though he was happy to be here. Then again, Kimiko couldn't even think of a single time in which Taishokukane has ever been happy. "If I had a say in where we would gather, we would not have come this close to this despicable light."

"Perhaps if you gave it a chance, you would not despise it so," Shizukakane commented with sharp eyes staring straight into the younger spirit's, "but I must digress. As I have explained to you, we are not here to converse. Keep your words to yourself."

The statement was said with a tone that very clearly carried both the knowledge and mastery of an elder warrior who has seen it all. In fact, it held such power that the gravity of the words surprised Kimiko, as once again, she was very used to seeing the old man's softer side. Even when he was at his grumpiest - and it was rare that he was even grumpy to begin with - she would never hear him speak so harshly about anything or anyone. However, she had to admit that the sight of seeing the impatient shade wince angrily in response to the words, yet actually shut his mouth without adding yet another of his dreadful quips was a deeply cathartic experience. Every single time she did the same thing, she would always be met with the same imperious attitude that she has grown to absolutely loathe over the course of time. Seeing someone actually put him in his place without bringing that prideful sense of superiority out of him just seemed right.

In any case, once the matter of attitude was settled, the old man would turn his gaze towards the Shinigami. He did so while standing as straight as he could, doing so in a way that consequently towered over Taishokukane. "Kimiko... Today shall be the day you will be granted the right to wield our true form," he spoke directly to her, as though he wanted her to understand how important and significant this moment was for her development. "Though I would have preferred this moment to have been accomplished at a more opportune time, the latest threat to our lives have made it clear: this cannot wait any longer." His eyes looked towards Taishokukane for a moment, as though making sure there would be no objection from the younger spirit, be they physical or vocal. Seeing that there were none, his gaze would then return to Kimiko. "This will be a rapid process. You will not be asked to accomplish a certain task, and you will also not be asked to fight us in any fashion. Our time is unfortunately too limited for us to put you against such circumstances. However, I must warn you that this will not be pleasant. Knowing this, do you believe yourself ready?"

Kimiko would gaze at the elder spirit with that same resolution from before. She wasn't sure as to what he meant by "not pleasant", as there were many things that she could consider as such, but it did not deter her away from the goal that had brought her here in this divide. She wanted to get her Bankai, no, needed to get it. Sure, it was going to make her stronger, but knowing now that that being in her dreams was not just a terrible fragment of her imagination, but something that could potentially attack someone somehow, this Bankai would be useful to her in many more ways than one. With it, she will be able to defend herself, but also Shizukakane himself, Celes, and her friends of the Eleventh Division, maybe even the Soul Society as a whole. In other words... she simply can't refuse this offer, even if this "not pleasant" comment may lead her to a very painful destination. "Yes. I'm ready," she thus would respond to the elder spirit. 

The two spirits would gaze at her for a little bit longer as they verified her claim, making sure that it was as truthful as it could be. Once this was made clear, Shizukakane would nod and slowly grab the handle of his blade. "Very well." Letting out a quiet grunt, he pulled his weapon out of its scabbard, then pointed it at Taishokukane. In response, the silver shade would huff and rapidly unsheathe his blade before pointing it towards the old man's, as though he wanted to prove something to the both of them. Neither Kimiko nor Shizukakane spoke of it. Instead, the latter would let his words flow in the wind towards the woman. "Bring us forth, and allow us to become one."

Although the instruction was cryptic, the dual swordswoman at least had a fair assumption as to what she needed to do in this instance, and so she attempted to proceed as demanded. With a fair pace, she pulled the both of her blades out of their scabbards. For a moment, she would look down towards them with a bit of worry, unsure as to what this process could do to them if it somehow failed. However, soon enough, she would took a deep breath and let herself prepare for the task at hand. She was not going to give up now, not when she was so close to begin this task proper. In so doing, she would hold the blades to the furthest they could possibly go away from her body, holding them tightly by the handle as she collected the motivation within her to proceed. After she believed herself sufficiently prepared to go forth, she would start bringing the swords up, so as to have them point towards the cloudy skies above.

The process began as soon as she started moving her blades up over her head. Almost instantly, she would feel a pressure onto her body. It was fairly light over the first few nanoseconds of her motion, though as the swords progressed higher and higher towards where she intended them to be above her head, it became progressively heavier. At a certain point, it would start to hurt, and instinctively, her body would attempt to fight back by increasing the spiritual energy around her. The earth would tremble from the contact between both invisible forces, causing the earth to crackle as though subjected to a massive earthquake. The wind would blow even more powerfully, rendered free from both the violence of the forest and the serenity of the fields to form a chaotic mass that ravaged the outskirts of the two "regions". The balance of the worlds was being broken by the force, and worse of all, this breaking was done consciously.

By the time Kimiko's arms started to be raised above her head, the force pressed against her body became so painful that she automatically closed her eyes and started to scream. Ridding herself of her sight, she would not notice the cracks in the earth and the ravaged land tearing apart around her making way for blinding seas of light and dark. Shizukakane and Taishokukane both would find themselves becoming one with these masses, and soon, all that would remain from the Shinigami's Inner World would be the divide of beige. It kept cracking, cracking, and cracking even further as she raised her blades, until finally, as her arms would be stretched far above her head and the blades would be nearest to each other, the divide would vanish into nothingness, allowing the light and dark to combine into an incoherent mass that would swallow Kimiko's body whole. At first, it almost seemed as though it was to threaten to drown her in their energy, though as the blades finally touched each other, they would melt into one another and become one.

And then, the pain stopped.

[Nakajima Kimiko]

When Kimiko opened her eyes shortly after the pain which was crushing her body had subsided, she was at first unsure of what she was currently seeing, for all she saw was light and dark. There were no sunny greens, no dark greys, no moody clouds or even a sky to speak of. All there was instead of these colorful elements was a mixture of black and white that collided against one another multiple times in rapid succession. If she could compare the terrible sight that was granted to her to anything she had seen before, it would feel as though she was staring at an old television of the Living World that was unable to show anything but static. The only difference was that the static looked more like unending, blaring snow that buzzed infinitely onto the screen at a coherent rhythm, while this chaotic mass of black and white instead moved, swerved, and waved as though meant to both remain constantly moving and forever immobile at once.

No. That wasn't the only difference. There was another one that she was able to discern right away, which was the lack of sound. The static blared, while these colors instead remained quiet, silent. In fact, she could not hear a thing from her surroundings. She could not hear the grass rustling, the leaves in the trees shaking, and the wind responsible for these sounds blowing in the wind. It was as if everything had been put on mute. The noises were not the only elements of the environment that had been stripped from her, as everything else that was part of what a person would usually be able to sense and feel had been removed. There was no climate to experience here, no soothing wind to embrace tenderly, not even a hot or cold temperature to bother complaining about. Though she was apparently was capable of standing on a sort of invisible surface, there wasn't even a ground to stand on and appreciate, no stream of water to bathe in, not even a rock to kick and throw away. 

The lack of proper sensing and sighting from the environment at first made the Shinigami sick and attempt to close her eyes so as to hide herself from the chaos. It did not feel right to her. None of it felt right. Stripped from everything she usually relied on to navigate herself throughout her life felt as though she had been rendered bare and naked in a world of uncertainty. It was a distressing experience, to say the very least. Fortunately, this was not to be taken literally, but it nevertheless bothered her incredibly. This feeling was only accentuated once, while she attempted to close her eyes, she would realize that her appearance had changed. Her body, clothes, and even her very skin now were colored so as to resemble a shape wearing the light and dark of the mass which surrounded her. Only her face had remained distinct, with her eyes and mouth branded with a white that made it appear simplified and inhuman. She would be unable to see her face, of course, but the fact that she could barely see even her arms in the mass was extremely bothersome.

"Argh...! What the hell...!" She found herself muttering quietly underneath her breath as she attempted to make sense out of all of this. Admittedly, the sound of her very own voice caused her to briefly jump in place, as the silence which surrounded her caused it to be much louder than she expected it to be. Surprised, she would stand there for a moment with the white spots she sported for eyes blinking before she would sigh. "Okay... So I can hear myself... That's... great?" This information would unsurprisingly make her a bit curious, and so, she would carry out a few experiments of sorts, mostly so that she could try to express her distaste of her surroundings in one way or another. The first few of these experiments took the form of tapping the invisible ground below her a few times over and over, which allowed her to not only hear a paper-like noise be emitted from the ground, but also feel it. Upon noticing this, she would then lightly slap her forearm with her free hand, which allowed her to feel the impact. This naturally allowed her to conclude that she could emit sound and actually feel things herself. It was better than nothing, to say the least.

It would be during those observations that she would also notice that her blades were missing. Indeed, the weapons Shizukakane had instructed her to combine into one had... well, disappeared. She was not holding onto them any longer. Upon realizing this, she would naturally attempt to look around so as to see where it could have possibly gone. At the same time, she would also attempt to search for the aforementioned elder spirit and Taishokukane, seeing as she could not see them due to the extreme lack of clarity her surroundings were granting to her. Naturally, due to that specific reason, she found none of the things she was looking for. If she can barely even recognize her own body within this quiet chaos, then she was never going to find her blades and their associated spirits. Feeling as though she was running out of her options, then, she would let give in to frustration and raise her hands near her mouth. "Oi! Hello?" She called loudly, enough so that her voice echoed throughout the area.

Unfortunately, there was no vocal response. It was to be expected, given that she appeared to be totally alone in this place. However, she would receive an answer nonetheless. The black and white which curled and swiveled and twisted in her surroundings would all suddenly stop upon her exclamations, becoming akin to a crude and indistinct collection of shapes before each line of light and dark would be drawn towards a certain direction. What was above was dragged down and what was below was pulled up towards a particular direction, while the colors at her sides headed forward. It was as if they were each focusing onto a single point of this peculiar area, though oddly enough, the colors which formed her body were not attracted, instead remaining onto her being. It was a very peculiar event, one that would have most certainly been impossible to witness in the Living World or even the Soul Society without ample use of magic.

Upon witnessing this event, Kimiko would simply observe at first, unsure what to make of this development. Obviously, she understood that she was being given directions right away. It was rather easy to comprehend that she was meant to head towards where the light and dark were themselves heading to, and that whatever that destination may be will have something to do with her Bankai. However, it seemed too easy. Typically, whenever she finds herself in her Inner Worlds, she has to find her Zanpakuto spirits on her own without any intervention or help; after all, as mentioned before, they appreciated being found. It was something that, in time, she had gotten progressively used to. This was different. Rather than having to find a spirit, meaning the literal personification of her weapon, she appeared to instead being downright instructed to go to where it could be found. In a way, this appeared as though she was being directed towards a trap of sorts.

However, it's not like there were many other options to go for at this point in time. She could decide to not follow the directions, but if so, what would she then do? Await the beginning of another event in this strange, off-putting world? Leave her Inner World and return to Soul Society to get her bearings? The both of these options would not really grant her any results that she would personally consider to be right, and so, eventually, she would find herself conceding with the fact that she needed to move onward. If she doesn't, she will most likely not be able to properly achieve Bankai, and if she can't, the consequences of that decision may haunt her for the rest of her life. For all she knows, staying here may even do her eventual harm, seeing as the Zanpakuto spirits have long since proven that they can injure her. So, with her resolution returned, she would decide to brave the uncertainty of what lies ahead and bring herself forward towards her next destination. 

The walking, as to be expected, went on for quite a bit. She would walk forward without stop, letting her footsteps bring her the only noise that this chaotic mess would be capable of producing. As she proceeded, she would realize a few things that would bother her more and more extensively. It was rather difficult to judge any kind of distance in this place, given that everything looked the same. She couldn't even keep track of the time in here due to the fact that there was simply no sun. This particular element mixed in with the lack of pretty much anything that makes a place what it is only made traveling within said place all the more perplexing. Kimiko enjoyed traveling through the Fields of Tranquility and even the Fading Forest because of what they can give her to her in return. They allow her to feel things and be granted something in return, be it calm or energy. This granted her nothing. It only gave her confusion and frustration.

But of course, it would eventually come to an end. The patterns in her surroundings led her to a point that was much further ahead when compared to her earlier position. She was no expert in the matter, but if she could properly measure the distance, it felt as though she had traveled at least more than a few hundreds of meters, roughly the distance between the barracks of the Eleventh Division and the western gate of Seireitei. The reason why she was able to deduce that this was meant to be her destination was due to its appearance. Over there, the light and dark which form her surroundings focused onto a single spot, which made them appear as though they were converging into solid streams. From the Shinigami's perspective, there appeared to be so many of these streams that she could not count them all at once. In fact, this observation made her instinctively wish to stay away, as though threatened by the potential danger these streams may be for herself. But she needed to move, and so, heading just a little bit closer as carefully as she could, she saw what the black and white was so attracted to.

Just over the invisible ground stood a sword. It was difficult to make out from the streams of black and white which were attracted to its blade, though Kimiko could see that it was levitating over the ground with its hilt pointing up. Its shape was crude, like nothing the Shinigami has before. In hindsight, it barely even looked like a sword, more like an elongated streak of metal designed to cut down foes. The hilt was small with only enough space for her own hand to hold it, and there was no guard to speak of, making it a very offensive tool. If anything, at a first glance, it almost seemed as though one would literally need to hold the weapon by its blade. As for said blade... it was stretched beyond one's imagination. It was longer than both Shizukakane and Taishokukane at their maximum potential, both of which are relatively long weapons at such stages. She'd give it around eight meters total, eight meters of steel that reached for such distance that it reached below where she stood into the invisible ground.

The sight of the weapon caused the Shinigami to stand there and watch in plain astonishment, unsure of what to do now that she was here. It seemed that she was meant to take the blade, or at least that was what her logic was telling her to do, assuming she can trust her surroundings. The problem is that she still had a hard time trusting said surroundings. Combining both Shizukakane and Taishokukane had hurt her. Their combination hadn't felt strange or simply disconcerting, no, it had outright challenged her to the point that she needed to fight back against it with her spiritual energy. Considering that, she wasn't sure if she really wanted to touch that blade. Every single part of her mind and body both would tell her to stay away, leave the Inner World, and never ask the spirits to earn her Bankai again, or at least not this Bankai. However, for the nth time, her conscience settled in and the white which formed the mouth pattern on her face clenched its teeth. She could hold on. Holding on was what she needed to do here, for everyone's sake.

Fortunately, there was nothing bad that happened at first as she made sure to avoid the streams. If anything, it felt oddly serene, like there was nothing to fear, that everything was going to be alright. This nevertheless did not rob her of her weariness. Many Hollows during the course of her career had attempted to trick her by using sordid tricks that aimed to soothe her in one way or another. A few used past memories to trouble her - like that one creature who had recreated her past favorite arcade joint - while others instead used less specific methods like chemicals and spells. This was no Hollow, of course, but given how menacing it seemed to be at a glance, she couldn't help but almost think of it as such. In so doing, for the first few seconds she would spend near this great blade, she would aim to grab the weapon by the hilt by slowly bringing her right hand to it. Unfortunately for her, she had every right to be weary.

As soon as her fingers neared the hilt, her hand suddenly found itself attracted to it with such great force that it unconsciously caused Kimiko to grab onto it. With her eyes widening, she immediately tried to let go and create a distance between herself and the blade, though by then, it was too late as her hand refused to let go. The black and white which formed her body would then start pouring out of her being towards the blade. It did so slowly and shakily, but the Shinigami felt as though her very own life was being sapped out of her self. "Argh!" She cried out as she held onto the blade, her spiritual energy rising to combat the threat. However, it did nothing of note, proving itself to be worthless against this draining. Somehow, in one fell swoop, this weapon has trapped her, and now it was trying to absorb her like its surroundings by ridding her of her physical and spiritual force. It was as if it was literally consuming her whole where she stood.

During this terrible process, Kimiko would feel as though there was something trying to reach her from the sword itself. It was as if it was trying to communicate with her, to say something to her, all without a voice. She would hear it within her mind as though its words were taking the place of her thoughts. Its voice was ethereal and unclear, making any attempts at comprehension from her part difficult, though she would be able to discern the meaning behind its decision. At first, upon having being finally able to decipher the message, she became terrified. The fear of death had gripped her mind yet again like it had gripped her while battling the antlered one. She could not understand why this was happening to her in the slightest, and this lack of knowledge was making her panic internally like never before. At one point, she even considered cutting her hand off so that she could run away from this despicable blade and never return. But then, she clenched her teeth and brought her other hand onto the hilt.

"No..." she would mutter as her legs stopped trembling and began to support her proper. Her stance became straighter, sharper, and her breath became steadier. "I won't... let you...!" The grip around the hilt became more and more powerful as her rise would go on. It was to the point that she would apply her full strength at a certain point. Meanwhile, the streams of black and white surrounding the blade would find themselves shaking as, suddenly, the blade would be pulled upward. "I WON'T PERISH HERE!" With a powerful scream, she brought forth the weapon from its invisible constraints, then raised it far above her head, letting it dominate her surroundings while the streams that came from her body would begin to cease their transfer to return to her body. The streams of light and dark which formed her surroundings would continue to be absorbed by the sword, though as it was now raised, their absorption would gain in speed. All so suddenly, she had become the wielder of the spot, and it showed.

This acceleration would slowly cause the area around Kimiko to progressively lose its detail. The dark would become paler and paler, while the water would become a bit darker, slowly leaving nothing behind but a world of pure washi beige. But the Shinigami paid no mind to this change. Instead, she kept focusing on the blade she now held with her two hands. While she held it high, it continued to communicate with her in her thoughts. Again, she could only perceive a few words, though it was clear that her ability to resist the absorption had caught its interest. She did not deny his curiosity in her. At this point, there was no need. So, accepting the words that kept entering in her mind, she would let out a heavy sigh before clenching her teeth as the last of the colors which formed her surroundings would be erased. The struggle became lesser and lesser, until eventually, as it appeared as though the sword landed her power, she declared:

"CONSUME, TSŪKAKANE!"

The absorption would become even faster, achieving such great speed that it caused the area to become akin to a vortex. Then, as all that remained was Kimiko and her new weapon, the washi which now surrounded her would whine, crack, and tear until the only thing she could see was what she wielded.

[Nakajima Kimiko]

It took her moment after the washi had been completely torn away to realize that Kimiko's soul had been removed from her Inner World and returned to the Soul Society. While her Bankai grasped at the energies which surrounded her then, the literal vortex that had formed had somewhat blinded her, preventing her from realizing all that was happening around her. Its blinding capabilities were in fact so powerful that it caused her to focus entirely on the blade she held so high above her head, and in so doing, her vision became blurry and unclear. She wasn't even able to feel the sinking sensation that was usually so familiar to her return to the "real world", so to speak. To not even be able to feel such a familiar thing felt horrifying, to say the very least, but also oddly liberating. Perhaps it was because she had subconsciously realized that she was finally being allowed to leave this terrible world in which she found that terrible blade.

There was one thing, however, that she was able to sense within this chaos. The more the washi was torn apart, the more she felt her senses return, or at least what her senses were supposed to detect from the environment. What previously smelled like nothing would soon instead emit the fragrance of dirt and grass, and what felt like nothing would become cooler. She experienced the blowing of the wind - as light as it may have seemed upon her arrival to this destination of hers - and the shine of the sun above again. Just being able to sense these things were bringing Kimiko not only relief, but also satisfaction. She had done it, hasn't she? Yes, she has done it. She has achieved Bankai. Once again, she had done something that many Shinigami thought would be impossible for her to accomplish in a very short time. Admittedly, she believed once again that she should not have unlocked this form so rapidly, but considering that she could have potentially died back there... she couldn't help but feel somewhat delighted.

As such, while this feeling washed over her like a true wave of pride and accomplishment, she would allow herself to smile and even let out a small chuckle of disbelief. For the first time in a long while, she actually wanted to speak of this accomplishment with the others. Unlike her acquiring of her second Zanpakuto, she deliberately wished to bring the matter to her comrades and friends. She wanted to brag about this achievement in front of the others at the Eleventh Division; to talk about it with Binita and Charles; to share the experience with Gideon; to make Dai piss himself even further before her while talking about it; to inform Tsukuyomi about it in order to potentially be promoted higher up the chain of the Gotei 13; and finally, to talk about it with Celes and Yunorashi so as to gain their congratulations. She felt truly happy about this, not disappointed or frustrated, and she most certainly was considering sharing this happiness with the rest of her acquaintances.

But then, her vision was finally returned to her, and as her eyes opened on the environment that surrounded her in the Soul Society, everything that she felt up until this point came crashing down to be replaced with a widened gaze of utter dread.

She no longer stood underneath the tree below which she had decided to conduct the Jinzen ritual. No longer was she sitting by its roots near a peaceful glassy clearing with a few rocks nearby and a water stream bringing life to the fauna and flora. Now, she was sitting in the middle of a crater. The great tree was gone. The grass was gone. The rocks were gone. All that remained of the natural beauty was a spherical hole of dirt and the aforementioned water stream, or at least what remained of it as its quietly spilled onto the rocks below. Everything else which was contained in whatever composed this spherical radius had seemingly been completely erased from existence, leaving nothing behind their wake but what was meant to never be found through normal means below the surface. Not even the nearby animals which stood within this radius had apparently been spared, for they could not be heard any longer. There was no squirrel in the vicinity, no bird, not even an insect. Consequently, the only thing which could then be heard was the calm breeze.

Horrified, the Shinigami would simply look at her surroundings for a moment. Without a word, she contemplated the results of her accomplishment. Slowly, she eventually decided to stand up, grabbing her blades in the process before just holding onto them with a tight grasp. After a time passed, enough so that the sky which was once of a light blue color started to slowly adopt a redder tone, her mind would start bringing the pieces together in an attempt to move on from its state of shock. What happened here was the result of her Bankai. Somehow, while she was within her Inner World, her swords became one and unleashed their power onto the surroundings much like how they unleash their power immediately when they are released individually. This created a radius from which they then did... this. In a way, the fact that it was able to activate itself during her Jinzen wasn't abnormal, as her Shikai tend to do that as well at times. However, they have never gone this far.

At first, she admittedly wasn't sure of how this even happened to began with. It didn't seem to make sense. She understood that her Bankai had a radius effect like her Shikai, but the blades alone could never accomplish something like this, as all they do on their own is remove sound and color from their surroundings. However, as she thought about it further and recalled what happened in her Inner World, she began to realize that her Bankai indeed had a power similar to theirs. Like them, it formed a radius and absorbed something. The difference between each other was that, in comparison to them, the accursed blade seems to not only limit itself to simple elements like sound and color. Instead, it goes for a greater concept. She wasn't quite sure how this worked, but if it can erase everything in a vicinity like this, then it meant that it didn't just take away sound and color. It meant that it absorbed... life itself. In other words, this Bankai was actually a very simply concept: all it does is just combine both of her Shikai before then bringing them further beyond.

The fact that Kimiko was able to understand this frightened her. This was not what she had imagined her Bankai would be. If anything, she firmly believed that her Bankai would have resembled Celes' Bankai: something physical that grants her greater physical abilities. Instead, she got something that allows her to tap into some horrifying life-leeching ability. Yes, life-leeching, for if this Tsūkakane's effects are truly similar to her Shikai blades', then she will most likely be capable of absorbing life and then make techniques with it. It wasn't just a typical life-leeching ability you would see from a vampire or a being which sports similar abilities to the creatures of old. Those creatures only suck blood, therefore leeching life in a way that actually leaves tangible behind, even if that something becomes inept and dead. In comparison, this blade went beyond that. It left nothing behind, not even a glimpse of what was touched by its power. It's like it absorbs life to the point that it eventually completely erases it.

In an instant, her pride and accomplishment were both rendered null. The self-confidence she had been building up until this point had been shattered completely. She didn't want to show this anymore. She didn't want to tell the others that she had acquired this Bankai. She didn't want to tell them that this is what it does. If she tells them about it and its effects... She can't even imagine how they would feel upon learning of its existence. They might become angered by the fact that it isn't a physical weapon, betrayed by the fact one of their strongest warrior doesn't even have an ability that conforms to their laws and culture. Her current abilities were already a stretch of the definition. Worse, they might become scared of her and would never want to talk to her again for fear of being subjected to this ability. She wouldn't blame them; after all, if her Shikai abilities can affect them as well, then it only makes sense to assume that her Bankai ability will affect them too. Truly, the only logical thing that she believed she could do in this instance is to treat her Bankai as it was apparently meant to be: a weapon to defend herself against the incoming threat. That is it.

Eventually, she found the strength to push herself up from the ground and head away from the crater. She didn't want to stay in this place any further nor come back to it, not now, not ever. If someone from the 52nd sees what happened here, she will not be able to find the power to explain what happened. So, left slightly shell-shocked by all that's happened, she brought herself out of the crater, then headed into the woods towards the direction from which she believed she came from to reach the place. She walked for an extensive period of time by the many trees until she would reach the main road. Unsurprisingly, there was no one there. They had probably witnessed what happened there to a degree, and so had fled for their lives. It was a saddening thought, but it at least brought relief to Kimiko's mind as she distanced herself further and further away from the crater. If an observer would have been caught by the blast, it would have been a disaster.

However, as she would travel a bit further away from the crater, she would find someone wandering the roads. From their looks, they appeared to be a lone traveler, a scrawny man wearing commoner robes and a large straw hat that hid his face. Once they saw the Shinigami, his face was partially revealed, though all that could really be seen under the shadows of his hat were his lively blue eyes. "Hm, a Shinigami..." a low, but curious tone came from him as he stared at the scarlet-eyed woman. "What happened there? Was it a Hollow or something? There was this huge white dome..."  

Kimiko would find herself staring at him for a moment, unsure of what to say. After a moment of deliberation, though, she would simply nod. "Uh, yeah... It was a Hollow. A whole bunch, actually," she lied. "I was able to take care of it, but... stay away, alright? I took out a whole bunch, but there might still be a few wandering around over there."

"Hm, alright then. I will try to find another way," he answered with a sigh as he looked on over towards where he presumably saw this white dome he mentioned before he then started moving once again. "Take care."

In response, the officer would nod once more and head forward in the opposite direction, yearning to put this behind her for now.

---

Meanwhile, as the effects of Kimiko's Bankai came to an end, the divide was reborn and the "regions" of her Inner World became as such once again. The Fields of Tranquility from which was born the merciless light returned to their primordial grassy form, and the oppressing dark that the Fading Forest faded away back into its army of grey trees. However, though these elements were able to return as they were, they were not allowed to mold into something more pleasant. The divide remained to form the line between each region, forever separating them from one another with its infinite tunnel-like shape, and the winds kept battling one another supposedly until the end of times. The climate also did not become better compared to before. If anything, it worsened, as now, the sea of clouds above has adopted a greyer and more depressing color. It was as though a storm was brewing over the "regions", one that would shake their very foundations.

Onto each side of the divide were returned the spirits of the blades. Now liberated from their combined form, they stood there for a moment, contemplating what has occurred in silence. The older spirit sported a sharp expression on his face, one of regret and resolution, while the other instead looked towards the grey grass of his grounds with a deep frown. None of them were looking at one another, or at least not for the first few minutes that followed the end of their combination. Though they were not harmed physically from this process, it was clear that there was a tension in the air between the both of them which was greater than what they had showcased to Kimiko before. In fact, this tension was so great that it almost seemed as though the grounds were shaking in anticipation of it. Should an outsider have had the unfortunate privilege to gaze upon this moment, they would have believed themselves about to witness an intense battle between the both of them.

Fortunately, they did not cross blades. Now was not the time to do that. Instead, the younger spirit decided to raise his eyes towards the elder, and speak. "Congratulations, old man. You have granted her your greatest weapon yet. I hope you are satisfied with this development," he spat frustratingly before approaching the very edge of his side of the divide. Noticing that the aforementioned old man did not answer him, he would continue, this time with a louder intonation to his voice: "How much longer do you intend to feed her your lies?"

The questions brought the old man to finally turn his gaze towards the younger spirit, which would cause the latter to frown a bit more deeply. Somehow, the man looked weaker. His appearance had not changed, but something about the energy that surrounded him had lessened. "I have given her access to Bankai in order to defend herself against the intruder. That is what I have told her I would do, and that is also what I believe we have both found to be a worthy decision to make." 

"Do not take me for a fool! You have witnessed what we have become when we joined forces, and you have seen what it can do. That was not Bankai. That was an abomination!" His voice roared across the Inner World, enough so that it almost caused the winds in the divide to suddenly strengthen from the man's emotions alone. Despite this, the old man remain unaffected by this and simply stood there, taking the brunt of his outburst without so much as recoiling from it. The lack of response caused Taishokukane to clench his teeth angrily with his fists shaking in anger before he stopped and calmed down. "I had hope. I believed that preparing her for this moment would have allowed her to access her true power. But, I was wrong."

The two spirits then remained mute again, their conversation appearing to come to an end in this moment. The younger one had nothing to add, while the older one seemingly was refusing to have this discussion continue any further. Noticing this and how futile his words were becoming, the former would turn his back to the latter and start heading towards the trees. Before he could actually leave, however, he stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Tell me... How long do you intend to maintain this charade of yours?" 

"... For as long as I live and breathe."

Taishokukane remained silent then, registering what was told to him quietly before he returned his gaze to the woods and began moving forward once again. "Then, for as long as you live and breathe, she shall fall."  

And with that, the silver shade slowly disappeared behind the many enormous trees, leaving the older one all on his own near the divide. The latter's eyes gazed at the Fading Forest in anticipation for the man's possible return, though once he noticed that he was gone, he turned himself towards the fields. In the distance, the grey clouds that covered the sky were not so dark. They appeared paler, closer to white than grey, though unnaturally so. It was as though they were being replaced by the white. Although they were so far away from where he stood, seeing them in the first place was enough to make him let out a quiet sigh. "I'm sorry, Kimiko-chan." 

The grass crunched underneath his feet as he moved, breathing more sharply as he did so.

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[Col Arana]

I count 93 paragraphs; for a total of 465 TP. Be sure to keep this thread on hand for when you apply for Bankai!