Opposites Work Together [Satoshi]

You know, at some point with all the..Rivers of bodies and blood that get dumped like a soup kitchen meal for other people's benefit, you start to find out that your life is probably tougher then it seems. Infact, you might even find that life is hard. After all, it's life that kills you.Not death. A shinigami is just the messenger.

Though say what you will about shinigami's motives, because generally, it's pretty bad to be followed by a God of death. Fortunately for most people though, he couldn't really be called a Shinigami anymore.

Unfortunately for other shinigami, ever since he left squad 12 he's had relative ease finding out where members of the Soul society pop up. Could be here, could be there. Rarely does a Soul reaper just pop through another dimension without alerting someone.

To be perfectly honest, normally he wouldn't involve himself with things that appeared irrelevant off the bat; he relies heavily on intuition and instinct. But today was different, today was a new day. Actually a rather nice day at that, sunny and green. How deceptive the world can be, filling it with beauty. It was only a mask for danger and death.

"Mm..Aw yeah, that's fucking good." He takes another bite of his twix candy-bar with a mouthful of tea.

Sitting on top of a tree branch wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world by far. But shit, if you found a think enough tree branch, it really wasn't that bad. Mother nature's firm mattress. Especially when you had such human delectables, far beyond the capacity of a spirit. They just..Lack the passion of life to put into their food. Exquisite. And it even looks like the expected arrival is due for a curtain-reveal. Fun.

His long silver hair had perfectly matched his white robe, giving a sort of 'cold' appearance. Graceful, yet distant. Carefully watching as the Shinigami walked through the jungles of this world with little idea the dangers that could possibly befall someone who had no experience in these matters. Shame.

He took another bite and set the bar down on his branch 'seat'.

"That's for you, big guy." He said, patting the tree's bark. He gulped the rest of the tea in his cup and slipped it back into his robe; waving his hand to cause the jug of tea to disappear.

Golden eyes pierced at the Shinigami from above, watching as he sat down amongst the wilderness and opened a book. A kido book, from the looks of it. They never seem to update their editions..Boring.

His flash step carried across the winds like a flash of lightning, landing directly behind the man with a few crunch of leaves in order to give away his presence; his energy was quite well hidden. His long Nodachi was as long as he was, his hand rested against it as he smiled at the Shinigami.

"Lose something?"

Yeah, definitely comedic. His new friend's reaction to Satoshi's arrival couldn't help but bring about a chuckle. Their instincts always seem to resort to defensive maneuvers like the enemy decided to introduce themselves and then stab them in the back. He raised his eyesbrows with an 'Oh really?' in his face as the man drew his swords.

"Two swords? Fancy." He murmured, rubbing his scruffy chin hairs.

Kido, hm? He nodded in acceptance to the man's business in the forest, as well as his obvious discomfort to the yellow-eyed soul before him. He's a talker, alright. Probably does it when he gets nervous.

Don't want to scare the critter, he might creep away.

He coughed loudly to ease the silence, gripped the scabbard of his Katana, and yanked the sword out of his sash; laying it against a tree trunk next to him and proceeded to take a few steps toward the Shinigami.

"Oh, we all strive for excellence. But you're not going to get it with that useless thing." He spoke, nodding his head at the kido book that he possessed.

Taking out a completely clear device from a pocket in his robe, he tapped the center of the glass to initiate a start-up sequence. The device sprang to life, 'Mekhanic' was displayed on the screen. It similar to a phone in size, but much more advanced in purpose. He set it down gently on top of a flat rock. Guess I'll cut to the chase, then.

"This is a bit weird uncanny. So, this is going to go one of two ways, alright? Splendid. You can try and poke me with your..Uh--toothpick blades and see how well that benefits your health. Option two, you can put down your weapons down and we can have some nice tea."

Often in his life, Satoshi had found that people were quite acute in their personalities. Unfortunately this tended to make them seem a bit dull to his taste, and he could lose interest fairly quickly. Today he was hoping, just maybe, this individual could show some zest for life. Clearly there was discomfort amongst Merrick. The very way he looked at the Vizard was with suspicion and concern, so for the time being he'd have to work on building some trust.

He smiled warmly with his eyes closed to display a friendly body language.

"Well then my friend, you're in luck; I happen to take sugar with my tea as well."

Carefully sitting cross-legged upon the earth, he wiped the dirt and grime off another relatively flat rock. He raised his hand at the stone; and for a brief instant, the Vizard's true power could be felt with a massive surge of dense energy. An almost searingly bright flash of light had appeared out of nowhere simultaneously to the energy.

Yet just as fast as it had appeared, it vanished, only to reveal a basket of baked food, and a new container of tea. Two empty cups were stacked onto each-other; next to a small bowl of sugar-cubes. Accommodation was nice, it often provided a layer of relaxation in the majority of situations. If not relaxation, then at least a little comfortability. Lowering his hand to the ground, he scooped up a tea-cup and the kettle; pouring the liquid inside before gently setting it back down.

His overwhelming gaze slowly shifted from his beverage. Looking upon the Shinigami with a nigh emotionless expression, he took a sip, lowered his cup, then set it back down upon the ground with a heavy sigh.

"Beating around the bush has never been a particular hobby of mine, so I will skip straight to the point. You seem quite busy with your, uh..Studies."

Waving his hand over the device that lay on the rock, its brightness seemed to spike immensely. The light radiating from it began to pulsate, ending with a flash that projected a 3d image directly above it. Transparent images were still detailed enough to make out most of it. It was a complete layout of the soul society.

"You have no reason to trust me, and frankly I don't have the time to waste trying to gain it. What I can offer, however, is a reason to trust your beloved Soul Society even less. My business is important, and I can ensure that you'll want to hear what I have to say."

"That book naturally limits your potential. You'll have a wondrous time learning from it, yes, but it's not going to be anything worth your life-span. Now, I'm sure you have questions. Now is your chance to answer them. As for my name, for now you can just call me Koku'. Short for Kokurai, my nick-name."

A look of curiosity was aroused in his eyes as the Raven-haired Shinigami moved about. To him, the way he presented himself wasn't meant to intimidate anyone. That gave him the impression this man wasn't a natural hard-head. Fortunately for him of course. He had spent many-a years collecting information, and many of the people he met on his journey were nothing short of stubborn.

He took another sip of his tea. Bitter. Another sugar cube was dropped in his cup, then stirred remotely just by moving his finger in a circular stirring motion above the tea. He took another steady sip.

"Magnificent. Persian's can make some tea, I'll tell you." He murmured to himself.

Moments had passed, the nicknamed Shinigami waited patiently for Merrick to acquaint himself with the situation at hand, observing intently as he made his own cup of tea. Kokurai (The Crimson One) nodded in satisfaction as his company enjoyed the tea that was brought.

He reached down and took an apple from the basket; sharp green color, and took a massive bite out of it. Juice spraying in either direction from his mouth. Crunch-crunch-crunch, gulp. "Ahhh."

The Vizard's gaze re-adjusted to Merrick as the man began inquiring. Keeping eye-contact as he asked him specifically about the Kidou. He took a deep breath, and exhaled.

"Let's see, how can I put this..Have you ever read a manual on how to do something? A book that is meant to guide your process in order to produce a particular outcome or goal to be completed. When you read this book, you gain an understanding that could only be derived from reading this book, based on its knowledge. Its upon instruction of this book's subject, not the book itself, that you learn how to improvise with this skill."

He made movements with his hands to visually assist his wording, a subconscious habit.

"Take a book about architecture. Let's say this book teaches you three different houses to make, and produces the step by step functions that are needed to learn them. It isn't until after building this house, or questioning of the book itself that you look at your accomplishment and think, 'Hm..Perhaps I actually could have done this or that to make it better then what this book says'. "

He took another crunchy bite of his apple. Munch-munch-munch, gulp. "Ahhh."

"In summary,-" Buurp.

"There is knowledge of shortcutting your way to power in this world, with no cost to yourself. Knowledge that is kept hidden on purpose. Why? Only to limit people like you, seekers of such knowledge. That book of yours, one I have studied for a hundred years myself, is nothing short of a pre-written spells. It is upon creation of your own power and creations that you learn how to truly become one with Kidou."

He took another mouthful of apple, and tossed it aside.

With a mouthful he mumbled, "That your only question, Merrick?"

It was becoming clearer by the second that his current way of speaking about abilities was confusing the Shinigami's understanding of what he was trying to get across to him. Perhaps there was an easier way..

He rubbed his chin in thought, seemingly interupted by an unmistakable reiatsu of a Zanpakuto spirit. His eyebrows raised in wonder. That could have been mistaken for a blatant disagreement of his own opinion on the matter.

Much to his unsurprise, it was. Merrick glanced at his Zanpakuto, and seemed to come to a conclusion of his own as he did so. Not long afterwards, his opinion was given to the Vizard with a tad bit of hesitation. It just so happened that Kokurai had a keen dislike for hesitation, so that only left eliminating it.

It was then that his Shinigami acquaintence had made up his anyway, remarking a need for a demonstration of his abilities. Stroking and twirling his long white hair, he watched closely as Merrick presented a Kidou blast, Byakurai to be specific. Nigh befuddled from the particular Hado he chose to use, he chuckled to himself and decided to try this from a different angle.

He sat up off the ground, and dusted himself off.

He exhaled deeply, then sniffled.

"Your worry on the subject is understandable..Would you like to know what I've noticed, Merrick of the Kidoshi? You've decided to focus on the topic of Kidou and knowledge of power, rather then inquiry upon the Soul Society's infamy. You think of me as suspicious and possibly power-hungry, that's fine. Rarely do people who first meet me believe otherwise. But do not think of me as a fool, I am not an arbiter of evil who seeks you to join my malice. Shortcuts doesn't mean you lose experience to gain power."

Leaves crunched, the Vizard moved nimbly through the short grass and brush, and stopped a few meters away from Merrick. He looked up toward the sky, sunlight shimmering through the cracks and crevices created by tree-branches.

"The book itself does not matter, perhaps I should have said it this way to begin with. There are spells in it that are worth learning, such as the one you just demonstrated. Spells that mark your unique path to your goals, they become cornerstones. But some spells in that book are riddled with nonsense, they are nothing more then obstacles put in your path to slow your movement toward the meaningful spells. Power is..Dangerous. Power can attract the worst out of people, Merrick. But something to remember; power does not corrupt people, people corrupt power. It is the essence of our innovation that improves our skill. And yet, people do not become great by following the footsteps of a great man, you do what the great man did."

He took another deep breath, and looked back down to Merrick.

"Do you know what my Zanpakuto wants right now, Merrick?"

He looked over at his blade, standing against a tree.

"It's suggesting I stop wasting my time with you, and gut you where you stand. Do I think it's correct? No, because people can't learn if they're dead. You are confused, rightfully so. But that is because you have yet to learn."

He paced towards the area that the Shinigami shot his Byakurai, and stood next to a perfectly healthy tree.

"I will explain everything to you, Merrick. My offer is this, you will learn the things I have spoken to you about and more; the truth behind my ramblings."

He looked at the tree, reached his hand out and felt the bark intimately.

His muscles quickly contracted and then relaxed, simultaneously releasing a mountain of energy. This energy, in comparison to what was displayed earlier, was astronomical.

"Kaso."

A crashing torrent of shimmering yellow reiatsu had surged out of him, appearing like a tsunami of gold. Just as fast as it had released, it absorbed into one small point around his hand and released outward with a catastrophic result; a shockwave crashed into everything within 100m in front of Kokurai, until there was nothing left. Every single tree, branch, leaf, pine-needle and shrub within blast-zone had began completely tearing itself apart as if mini-bombs were going off inside each atom.

In one massive burst of energy, a football field size of prospering jungle was pulverized into a field of dirt and rock, bits and pieces of wood and shrubbery began falling from the sky.

He lowered his hand, nothing but air had filled the area where the trees once stood. He exhaled deeply and put his hand back in his pocket and paced back over to Merrick and said,

"And all you have to do in return my friend, is listen."

He sat back down at the tea area, and began sipping once more.

His confidence of Merrick's understanding had been increased, certain that the man would begin to comprehend the details of Kokurai's details. He smirked in novelty at the satisfaction of Merrick's awe; Kokurai's display of power clearly surprising the younger Shinigami.

As one progresses, such displays of power become more and more irrelevant to said person. But it was always enjoyable to see someone else in astonishment. Unfortunately the heavy burden of life starts to become more prominent, especially as your power grows. You start to realize that even with all that power, your still just as weak as where you first started unless you put it to use.

It seemed as though Merrick was finished being surprised, walking over to the Vizard's position and sitting back down with him. Finally, he began to ask the question's that were intended to be asked in the first place. He remarked the fact he was labeled as being possibly dangerous and manipulative. Heh.

"I can assure you Merrick, I have yet to find someone that isn't dangerous and manipulative on some level." He leaned against the rock the device was upon, and looked up at the 3d image.

"Right, if you want to start, we'll start for real. But know this Merrick, the truth hurts. You must be prepared to face whatever consequences come with knowing it. Aghem, with that in mind."

He tapped the device, and the image split into two seperate pictures, one was a layout of research and development, another was picture of the Central 46 building.

He locked eyes with Merrick, a face of extremity and grimness rested upon his eyes.

"First of all, let's get this straight. The fact that you were 'informed' of anything, means nothing. People will tell you what they want to tell you, and those people themselves hear it from people who barely know. Second hand information is easily edited."

He chuckled.

"Second, no, we're talking about present. What the Gotei does on a daily basis to, as they say, 'keep the peace'. And the fact you can even call them civilized is.."

He shuttered in disgust.

"Vulgar. The Soul Society by that definition, has always been civilzied. But they've also always been brutal. First, I'll tell you about the bounts. A race of beings created by the Soul Society trying to dabble into territory they had no idea about, combining soul DNA to amplify it. In the process, they created the bounts; but the experiment was a failure. The result's were not what they had wanted to conclude with, and the failure resulted in an catastrophic explosion that took out 1/10 of the entire Soul Society. But did the Soul Society attempt to fix this? Oh yes, in their own way. The Bounts were cast into exile simply for being born. Years later, even after countless centuries of peace and no harm to humans, the Soul Society had decided to wipe out the Bounts because they simply didn't trust them, and sent men about men to assassinate every single last one of them."

He coughed to clear his throat, and took another sip of his tea.

"And that was only to fucking summarize, I could go on for days alone about that. But.."

He set his tea down.

"Next there are mod souls. The Soul Society had decided to create artificially editable souls, otherwise known as modification's. Millions upon millions of lives, forced to labor our every need. And what's more, destroy any mod soul that is, quote, 'defective.' What defines being defective? Anything from unwillingness to cooperate with Soul Reapers, to being annoying. And it all starts, Merrick, with these two buildings."

He points at C46 and R&D.

"Central 46 decides the fate of everyone in the Soul Society with absolute authority, regardless of what people think. Research and development has, for quite some time, documented many unethical cases in order to simply expand technological workings. Sanctioned murders for the good for our 'futures'."

He waved his hand, and the images were replaced with one of countless dead bodies and crators from a battlefield.

"This was a recent battle that was sanctioned by the Soul Society themselves, a fight against a group known as the Wandenreich. Although extremists, they were not lethal, and they had decided to attempt to kill them anyway. When they realized they had done nothing but horribly failed and got innocent people killed in the process, C46 had announced the situation to be completely classified and halted any news from reaching the Gotei."

He waved his hand once more, a picture of a popular Soul Reaper known as Raiden had appeared.

"This man, a hero, a legend to his people and a morale compass for all; sentenced to life in prison for murder. The real situation..?"

He waved his hand once more, a dead body of a woman lay on the ground; but she had a hollow mask.

"His friend attempted Hollowfication and failed. And so to protect the people around him, he had to kill off the hollow she had become in the process. The Central 46, deeming this situation unethical, sentenced him to rot."

He snapped his fingers, and the device flickered off.

Extremely upbeat, he raised a wild grin and drank his tea.

"Thoughts!?"

-Sip

He thought that maybe his explanation would confuse, or possibly misconstrue his meaning of the situation; but he was pleased when Merrick had asked the golden question, one that everyone has always asked him at one point, or even vise versa. In essence, "What are you gonna' do about it?" It was a good question, one that marked the actions of a person who claims to be for the greater good.

He adjusted his position, calmly tapping the device once more. This time, the image was of the Rokungai district, regular souls living lower-class lives.

He nodded in response to his question and pointed at the image, lowering his hand after doing so.

"These are Souls as you know them, AKA plus souls. What is the Soul Society to people who don't know what it is? The afterlife. But.."

He tapped the image again, and again, and again. Images of famished and homeless individuals of every age had displayed people in alley-ways and street corners, drinking themselves to death or stealing food from each-other.

"But to people like me who spent their life here? People who know what the Soul society is, knows it to be hell."

He picked up the device from the rock, shut it off, and slipped it inside his robe pocket.

"What do I plan to do? The inevitable. The first step to solving a problem is realizing there is one, Merrick. And the only way to solve one of the biggest problems in existance, tyranny, is through.."

His hand lifted up and tapped the flat stone next to him. A flash of yellow energy; and a moment later there was a small statue of a man holding a pitchfork and a torch.

"Revolution. If you convince the crowd, you convince the individual. Everyone in the Soul Society more or less knows the true nature of Central 46 to some degree, but no one knows it better then people forced to live in their shadow. Caught in an endless loop of hunger and wishful thinking. I plan on showing the Rokungai these truths, as well as the Soul reapers willing to listen. This, hopefully, will spark a will to change."

He took another sip of his tea.

"It's far better then the alternative, which is kill everyone and everything that moves."

Shrug.

Listening intently, his attention was focused upon Merrick for the duration of his thought process. It was remarkable to him that someone could live in the Rokungai, kill his own friend, and still believe he can solve things like a politician.

A sturdy laugh couldn't help but escape from his lungs.

"You think like a younger man, Merrick. Admirable..."

Koku stood up and dusted off his white robe, then placed his hands behind his back, and paced slowly through the grass.

"But unfortunately mistaken. You haven't lived long enough to see what the Soul Society is truly capable of, and yet to know that Central 46 will silence anyone who deems their will..'Incapable'. Why, Merrick? Why can't this be changed?"

He faced him in the middle of the field.

"Listen closely, because I will only tell you this once. The Central 46 is indirectly controlled by the authority of the Soul palace, the home to the Soul king; patron of us supposed Souls. They believe in expressing their authority, they follow the will of the Soul King. Incorrectly so, of course. They haven't been in contact with him for centuries."

A sigh left his mouth, followed by a deep inhale.

"Do you want to know what Aizen wanted, my friend? He wanted to replace the Soul King and take over the balance of the world. But in doing so, not only did he threaten it, he slaughtered countless in the process. That is what the Soul society does on a weekly basis, with not a single drop of remorse, nor anyone in their right mind to stop them."

His hands left his back, and starting moving around as he spoke.

"His idea was good, but his way of doing it was foolish. Nonetheless, the Soul society assisted in the destruction of countless lives, and wasn't even the one who stopped him in the end. It was two citizens of Karakura town, Ichigo Kurosaki and Kisuke Urahara. Did they receive rewards? Hardly."

"Now what about the Wandenreich? They knew they can't simply become the Soul King, so they wanted to remove him from power and replace the world order. As you can tell, they didn't get far with their first attempt. The Soul Society slaughtered all of them. What do they want besides that? Who knows?" He shrugged.

"You will soon come to the realization, Merrick, that there really is no balance. It's all anarchy and chaos, funneled into one shape by the Soul Society in order to call it balance. Countless people still die from hollow attacks across the living world. The Soul reaper's are practically there just to send the dead to the Soul society, they have minimal effect in actually saving lives."

"Let me finish my thoughts by saying this, Merrick of the Kidoshi. I do not care what you think about me, nor will I ever. I have always been independent, because despite other people's opinions, I know what needs to be done. Nonetheless, I have other allies and people who see the true despair that is being caused, and wish to change it. So with that, decide here and now what you want to do with your life, Merrick.

You can spend the next few hundred years reading that book and living in the grace of the Soul Society's walls while everything else slowly burns, that choice is up to you. But know that when the day the Soul Society is finally free, if you are against its freedom, then you will be my enemy."

He put his hands behind his back once more, and looked at the leaves..Dancing in unison.

"Gorgeous, is life. Yet even more tragic then death itself. The first step to solving a problem is realizing there is one, Merrick. "

He couldn't do anything but shake his head in pity of the man's response. It seems; too long have this generation of Shinigami been shielded from the truth. Clear to him Merrick could not grasp reality, he raised an eyebrow at the black haired man's request to learn the secrets of Kido.

He couldn't help but rub his chin's stubble in thought.

"When you picture revolution, you picture some fanatic standing in front of 100,000 souls, telling them to take up arms and fight."

He walked quickly, right up to Merrick. Sitting down or not, the large Vizard would tower of the Shinigami with a look that was never displayed before by Kokurai, a look of rage.

"Let's get serious here, Merrick. We'll be adults, so take a long look at me."

His eyes narrowed.

"Do think I got this far, survived for this long, because I want an army of untrained peasants to fight for my cause? You think my one plan; after centuries of forming it, is to simply cause more chaos? And yet, despite your in-action to literally anything, you want to learn Kido just incase you ACTUALLY decide upon something you want to do!"

"As I said, you convince the crowd, you convince the individual. The souls in the Rokungai are not meant to be the pawns in a war. There is no fucking 'legal' way to try and defy a god, buddy. You think he's going to step down from his golden palace, which by the way is in another dimension, and listen intently to Merrick of the Kidoshi's ideas on political reform?"

He released a laugh of mockery.

"Every little shred of progress you see today in any society, like it or not Merrick, was bred through either revolution of tyranny, or enforcement of tyranny. Everything else is just fluff. You want to know what I plan to do? I plan to do more then just make the Rokungai want their freedom, I'll have the Soul Society itself take its freedom. Funny part is, the Captain's of such squads would have no problem cutting down anyone who interferes with the Soul Society."

He scratched his head, thinking.

"I doubt any amount of information on this situation will change your mind, you just haven't been through enough of the world to see it's errors. I respect your optimism, however."

"Alright Merrick, I will teach you. But you're absolutely not going to like the way I'm going to do it..I think it will be perfect for this situation."

He put his hand on Merrick's shoulder.

"I'm going to try and hurt you, badly. Your job is to do your best to defend yourself, using only your kido. An arrancar named Theo had did this very same thing to me, I'm lucky to be alive. Perhaps you will have the same luck I did, hm?"

He laughed non-chalantly.

"5 seconds. Go."