Chapter 127 - The Elude of Romance

"Noooo, there's no way I, a mere handsome and sexy shopkeeper, could possibly have bankai!" — Kisuke Urahara. 

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Years slowly and stealthily trickled by, and with the hardly changing nature of the Soul Society and souls in general, most remained unaware or nonchalant of its passing moments. 

While the wider Soul Society(the Rukongai Districts) remained the same in more ways than one, a few things happened, most unimportant, inside the Seireitei, specifically the Shinigami sphere. 

With Aizen's defection being the prime event, Itachi went through the third trial in his career as a Shinigami, became a Captain and had his Bankai sealed and classified as a 'war asset'. 

That aside, the Captains became aware of Aizen's plans with the Hōgyoku, or at least the general sketch of it, and the Gotei 13 started monitoring all three realms, especially Hueco Mundo, for any abnormalities that might point to Aizen, while also keeping in a passive state of alarm in case of another invasion or if they had to take up the arms against Aizen in Hueco Mundo. Unfortunately, they weren't at full strength as most of the Captain seats remained vacant. 

One of the more notable events was Gin's sentencing. He was spared the death sentence and was instead imprisoned to carry out the sentence of three thousand years in the Maggots Nests. 

Another event, one that was secretive even among Captains, was an issue concerning Kenpachi Zaraki and ironically also involved Itachi. 

He was almost forbidden from sparring with Kenpachi, or taking any action that would make Kenpachi grow as a Shinigami(at least that was what it sounded like to Itachi), but surprisingly it was Yamamoto that put his foot down, even managing to draw over half of newly elected Central 46 to agree with him. 

All that incident did was to increase Itachi's dislike and distrust for Central 46 and also pick up on the fact that they were – some at least – against Kenpachi becoming stronger, or spirits forbid, succeed in achieving his Shikai with how close he was. They were afraid of him. 

Picking up on this fact was very easy for Itachi. Regardless of how much he might hate it, coupled with his paranoia and bias, Itachi had been a noble, and not a lowly one at that. He could fit smoothly well into that crowd if he wanted to, except that there was a zero percent chance of that happening. 

He knew the reasons for their fear, and while cowardly and foolish it might be, he knew it was warranted to an extent. 

They didn't want to create a Shinigami on par with Yamamoto that they couldn't command or suppress. 

The numerous times he had sparred with Kenpachi, he had never once felt the limit of Kenpachi's Reiatsu and had never seen someone's Reiatsu that was as intense and dense as his, except for the Head Captain. 

If Itachi could fight on par with a Captain with both their Shikai released, Kenpachi could fight on par with a Captain with their Bankai released. 

No matter how many times he recalled their fight, it was plainly clear that Kenpachi was the stronger fighter and he only kept up with his dangerous abilities—

… Itachi who could keep up with any Captain, except for two(Yamamoto and Aizen) with them using only Shikai, was being matched swing for swing and even pressured by a Kenpachi who had no Shikai or Bankai, no Shinigami-related exoteric technique, and only relied on just his chipped blade, wild instincts, and pure physical strength. 

One was a genius with great intellect, greater skill and a virtuoso of combat, while the other was a monster of combat. 

There was a singular question that no doubt echoed through everybody's mind, Itachi and Yamamoto included, when they comprehend Kenpachi's potential. 

'Should he ever attain Bankai, who would be strong enough to be his match?'

Even without a Shikai, his Reiryoku was so abundant that it automatically refined his Reiatsu to the point that not only was his skin so difficult to cut through, his Reiatsu became so dense that it reduced the effect of any Reiryoku-based attack. He had a natural resistance to all spiritual power-based attack that only grew thinner the more an opponent was to his level. 

— And these were all the notable things that happened in the last few years. 

And like a sparingly handful of individuals suspected, as the days steadily trickled by, Kenpachi Zaraki ever so slowly crept towards the threshold of his Shikai, a threshold he found himself unable to cross no matter how much and how hard he kept trying. He was missing something, he could tell that much, but for the love of all the blood he's spilled he couldn't tell what that thing was. 

As it were, Kenpachi Zaraki was not a patient soul. Patience was not a virtue he had, if he had any to begin with. 

With every passing day his frustrations grew, and he slowly reverted to the state of mind that was most natural to him. 

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[POV: With Itachi] 

Itachi walked towards the main compound of the 10th Division with Soi Fon following silently behind him. Most of the Shinigami they met along the way greeted Itachi respectfully but with a peculiar expression on their faces when they realized the direction he was walking in. 

They arrived at the main building that was situated on the west side of the compound and before Soi Fon could knock, someone slid the door open and a tired gruff voice beckoned Itachi to enter. 

"Good morning, Captain Itachi." Rangiku who stood behind the door greeted Itachi and ushered them in. 

"Lieutenant Matsumoto." Itachi returned the greeting with a nod and walked towards where Isshin was sprawled on as he tiredly stamped a heap of reports. 

"Why me? Of all people, why me? I hate this job." He cried out indignantly and childishly but the heap decreased quickly at a visible pace. 

"Itachi, I got your message. But tell me again why my subordinates have to be the one to do this?" Isshin asked with half-lidded and tired eyes. The playfulness and childish tantrums were visible on every part of his body except his eyes. 

While the two Captains discussed private matters, the two Lieutenants remained in the wider room – Soi Fon standing up in mirror-like stillness whereas Rangiku sat quietly with a book in hand. 

Time passed and with no sign of their discussion coming to an end, Rangiku bookmarked her book and turned to Soi Fon who was standing diligently in wait for her Captain. 

"You should relax a little, Soi Fon. It's not as if he's in any danger here… I would be glad if he was." She teased her straight-laced fellow Lieutenant, mumbling the last part to herself. 

"Tsk. You're just like him. You're no fun." She'd meant to say it as a passing comment but a little venom seeped into her words, particularly when she mentioned 'him'. 

It came as a surprise to most but sometime during Gin's trial Itachi had become the person she hated the most. 

Gin had refused to speak to her and Itachi, her fellow Lieutenant back then, who clearly knew something about Gin being the one who captured and interrogated Gin, refused to tell her anything. 

That however wasn't the reason that made her hate him, the reason for it was a comment Itachi had made. 

"Why bother so exhaustingly? If you don't understand why he's resolved himself to die, then maybe you never understood him at all. I however, do. And it is because I understand exactly what he feels that I know he wants nothing more than to die, and honestly, that is the kindest thing someone like him deserves."

There was something in Itachi's words when he'd said those words but Rangiku didn't care about such redundancies as her eyes saw a searing white. 

She'd attacked him then and there only to blackout and wake up hours later lying in the middle of nowhere. 

He'd instantly become her least favorite Shinigami, a fact everyone in both Divisions knew, except that they could see how little Itachi cared.

"Soi Fon, let's go." Itachi exited the room called Soi Fon. He nodded at Rangiku as he left. Just because the other party hated him for some reason doesn't mean he'll forego basic courtesy. 

As they left the office, Soi Fon noticed some peculiar looks they got – some happy, some sad. A bet. 

"That has to be the most stupid thing I've ever seen." She commented. 

"What is?" 

"Do you know some of them actually believe there's something going on between you and the 10th Division's Lieutenant?"

"Well, I think there—" 

"Something romantic." Soi Fon promptly cut him off and smirked when she saw how instantly his words died in his throat. 

Itachi's eyes surveyed around them and caught some Shinigami passing around money and focused in their direction.

He glanced at Soi Fon and faced forward. "At least you're not dumb enough to believe that."

She chuckled, especially when she could see how he had been blindsided by her words. 

"True. But it is entertaining to humor such thoughts every once in a while." She sent him a sly grin. "You might have denied being involved with the Lieutenant romantically but I feel like it's more because it's Lieutenant Matsumoto rather than the insinuation of you having romantic feelings for someone."

"You're correct on both counts. I am not romantically inclined towards anyone."

"Yet, right?" She laughingly called out as Itachi started leaving her behind.

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