A Spirited Picnic Ch1 Ficbit – Stabbed in the Ego

~ crossovercreativechaos

Yin tilted her head. “Do you think the Syndicate thinks you care about Chief Kirihara? You didn’t kill her.”

Where on earth had that come from? “I didn’t kill any of Section Four,” Hei said firmly.

Yin nodded. “But she’s the only one who’s pretty.”

Mao was cackling, leaning against Yin’s wig and bunching claws to stay on her shoulder. Huang gave Hei a long-suffering look, followed by a slowly raised eyebrow that somehow made Hei’s ears burn.

“She’s a cop,” Hei protested. “I’m – retired. Just trying to get by, and stay alive. Not crazy.”

“Sure you’re not,” Huang said dryly. “But even if she wants to strangle you more than kiss you, I’m kind of surprised she hasn’t shown up in that noodle shop.”

Hei blinked. Gave their handler a sideways glance.

“You’re not surprised.” Huang folded his arms. “Okay, give.”

“I manipulated her,” Hei said practically. “The first time she ever saw Li, she was questioning me as the neighbor who just moved in next to Shinoda Chiaki. She bought my story then; she believed my cover for months, no matter how many times I showed up where Contractors did. I dropped persona in a restaurant just before Hell’s Gate, and all she did was laugh. She’s the chief of Section Four, and she didn’t believe I was BK-201 – she couldn’t believe it – until I took Hourai down.”

It hurt. He’d been doing what he had to; he’d actually been keeping her safe, the Syndicate would never have let Chief Kirihara live if she remembered who the Black Reaper was. But it hurt.

“Detective, and you stabbed her straight in the ego.” Huang grunted, nodding once. “Yeah. That, I get.”

42 thoughts on “A Spirited Picnic Ch1 Ficbit – Stabbed in the Ego”

  1. Not mention, once you’ve trained yourself in safeguards against deception, if someone defeats those and lies to you? Unless you can tell exactly how it was done, and grow a very significant amount, it is wise to be very very cautious about that person in the future. (Rational even. XD )

    Thanks.

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      1. Because she’s going to have a Problem that needs outside expertise.

        Oh, is she going to be one of the first from the Tokyo to realize that Hollows aren’t JUST in Karakura? They are everywhere. Karakura just gets more than the most places for reasons.

        Or just needing more information from Dr. Ishida about how to help her Dolls in Astronomics?

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      2. *EG* I propose a set of facts for your bunnies to chew on.

        Hollows can be smart enough to carry grudges. (See Shrieker.)

        From Ryuuken’s examination, dead Contractors may Hollow very fast.

        (Bai actually wouldn’t have – it’s Bleach canon that a deceased soul inside a living body might have its soul chain completely vanish and yet not Hollow; see a certain parakeet.)

        Section 4 has taken down some Contractors in Tokyo… but who’s the most helpless, and most energy-rich source, of all the possible targets who helped them do it?

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      3. The Astronomics Dolls.

        When Kanami and the rest don’t know that Hollows are everywhere problem. That Hollows can hold grudges. And that Contractors almost always go Hollow and very quickly.

        Through to be fair, that last bit is new and select info even to people are used to dealing with Hollows. And mostly theory since they haven’t actually seen it happen. They just think it is very likely given the soul damage.

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      5. No . . . to be fair, they are young. And have been working with Ichigo. Who isn’t very subtle either.

        He’s learning. But it’s a work in progress.

        Through my bunnies are amused by the idea of just Hei and Ichigo helping (to start off with) because they like the image of Section 4 or someone else questioning how they managed to overlook the prescence of a teenager with orange hair all things.

        Through the bunnies propose that even if Hei and Ichigo managed to avoid MOST of Ichigo’s friends noticing and following them to Tokyo . . . they might not get so lucky with Uryuu.

        Or they do manage to avoid the teenagers, go to Tokyo, save the Dolls, get back home . . . only for Ichigo to get a cheerful (and spine chilling) greeting of “Hello Kurosaki-kun! I have a few questions if you aren’t too busy!” from a certain shop-keeper.

        My bunnies are convinced that due to being a trouble magnet, Ichigo is pretty much guaranteed to run back into Urahara at exactly the wrong time for anyone’s sanity. And Hei just might be unlucky enough to be nearby when said meeting happens.

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      8. Hmmm, as KohakuRyu mentioned further down, the only way to Hollow-Proof a place Ichigo knows of is regular patrols.

        Ryuuken may know some Quincy tricks, and undoubtedly Shinigami with enough mastery of Kido may have some other ideas, but good luck getting Shinigami that’ll actively work with Astronomics (nevermind Section 4) instead of just performing memory wipes, and Ryuuken is probably less than interested in coming anymore to the attention of the Japanese Government’s National Law Enforcement branches than he already has (because after what Misaki put together about Karakura and Hollows means anyone associated with Ichigo and/or recent patient ex-Detective Kuno is in the running for extra attention. Misaki’s got no interest in actually making that happen, but Ryuuken is probably more aware of the risk than he is the exact circumstances).

        So: regular patrols are it.

        Shot in the dark, but it’s actually probably up in the air whether Kanami reaches out for the Noodle Shop or Ichigo first. The Black Reaper is handling hollows in Karakura… occasionally, but hollows in Karakura had been Ichigo’s beat.

        So when Kanami gets that information her first thought is probably “so I need someone who can not only handle the bastards, but can just plain see them.”

        Only person she reliably has on call for that may very well be the Black Reaper, since even with Ichigo’s recommendation Kanami’s probably not willing to hire a bunch of highschool students in Ichigo’s class.

        …I guess this is how Kanami brings up her “well we’ve technically been co-workers previously” argument for hiring BK-201.

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      10. Which might get her Ichigo and “Li” anyway.

        Which is if you don’t know what either is capable doesn’t look very promising . . . a teenager who looks like a punk and a guy who looks like his biggest enemies are dustbunnies . . .

        Of course, Kanami knows WHO was asked to hunt evil ghosts in Karakura so she does the dustbunny guy is scarier than he looks. At least she assumes dustbunny guy is BK-201. Because she cannot see Misaki having those kind of feelings for a sixteen year old.

        On the one hand, BK-201 . . . very scary assassin. OTOH, looks like he is an ex-assassin . . .

        Kanami: “I was denied critical, need-to-know information.”

        Misaki: *looks confused* “What are you talking about?”

        Kanami: “You never mentioned that BK-201 is cute.”

        Misaki: *sputters* “HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE?!”

        (Seeing as Hei IS at least a couple of years younger than Misaki, is Kanami going to do any teasing about Misaki liking younger men?)

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  4. Yin nodded. “But she’s the only one who’s pretty.”

    Point.

    And some Contractors are still interested in sex. Yes, they are supposed to be “rational” which generally means not thinking with your other parts, not your head. But as we all know, Contractors are not really as rational as they like to think. And can find a myriad of ways to justify their irrational behavior.

    And they MIGHT picked up on the fact that Hei has done a lot of mental gymnastics to avoid killing Misaki or anyone else in Section 4. Or rather, being ORDERED to kill them to protect the Syndicate’s secrets.

    He’d been doing what he had to; he’d actually been keeping her safe, the Syndicate would never have let Chief Kirihara live if she remembered who the Black Reaper was.

    Yes but she doesn’t know that.

    She thinks she’s alive because the Syndicate ordered you to either allow her to live or to keep her alive (hence you protecting her).

    Misaki is in for a shock when she learns that the Syndicate ordered no such thing. In fact their orders, if Hei hadn’t either done some creative reporting and/or very fast rationalizing to them, would have been to kill you. And possibly other members of your team.

    Since Hei wasn’t ready to run yet, he needed to avoid being given orders he really, really did not want to comply with.

    “Detective, and you stabbed her straight in the ego.”

    There is that too.

    Through being stabbed in the ego might be good for detectives (anyone else for that matter) once in a while. Might help prevent one from getting arrogant or too rigid in their thinking. Both of which, in their own ways, can be lethal.

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    1. *G* This is also Yin trying out that “teasing” thing she remembers friends do with each other. So far, so good.

      *Nod* A lot of Misaki’s assessment of the situation centers around “Contractors are not altruistic”. She currently has some evidence that may not always be the case – see November 11 and July – but that’s one counterexample against every other Contractor she’s met. That the highly lethal Black Reaper can and does choose to actively not kill people is hard to grasp.

      *G* I’m looking forward to Saitou’s face when he finally finds out who he was washing dishes with.

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      1. That the highly lethal Black Reaper can and does choose to actively not kill people is hard to grasp.

        Might be because Misaki doesn’t chase after purely human assassins?

        Doesn’t know that some assassins are actually pretty peaceful people outside the job. Because they don’t actually enjoy killing people (like Kenshin: He doesn’t enjoy it. He doesn’t hate the people he killed. They just happened to be on the other side and he was just a better swordsman than them)? It’s just what they are good at (I’m the best at what I do but what I do isn’t very nice).

        I’m looking forward to Saitou’s face when he finally finds out who he was washing dishes with.

        The word we are looking for is epic?

        Kinda of a brown pants thought?

        Especially if he remembers he was doing something with water. Near a guy who use electricity. Of course, he was standing close enough to Li that he wouldn’t need to use the water to zap him.

        IF he wanted to.

        (We know that Hei doesn’t kill if he doesn’t have to. But Misaki and her team don’t know that).

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  5. A fic series of DtB that goes AU towards the end of season one, called “The office” has the Black reaper really think Misaki is scary, on account of her driving, which the instructors for getaway driving at the Syndicate could learn from…

    if we mention assassins, i think Emiya Kiritsugu from Fate Stay Zero should be mentioned.

    having Kanami hire Ichigo to hollow proof Astronomics would be interesting.

    As for Saitou-i am eager to see his face at that revelation, as well.

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    1. Especially when Ichigo is going to have to admit that, as far as he knows, the only way to Hollow-proof something is to patrol it regularly. So he an Hei are going to be out on retainer to clear out Hollows, but this also would make Kanami that much more determined to help the Dolls.

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      2. Ichigo will probably want to help Hei.

        Hei has the power to actually fight them right now. But Ichigo knows Hollows better than Hei does.

        Through helping Hei patrol is probably not what Dr. Ishida meant when he talked about controlled exposure to danger and Hollow energies (presumably Ichigo is getting plenty of the necessary Shinigami energy simply from living in the same house as his father + the increased spirit energy levels of Karakura in general).

        I predict that Zangetsu are going be curious about Li Hei when he comes back. I also predict that Zangetsu might feel guilty for leaving his partner / being too damaged to reach out anymore. He is supposed to be Ichigo’s protector. And if I’m remembering the chapter right, Zangetsu was not enthuastic about the plan to burn out Ichigo’s powers to save the world.

        And well, Ichigo has a habit of blaming himself for failing to protect someone under his protection, even when it isn’t his fault or there is nothing he could have done . . . and Zangetsu is a piece of his soul so he just might have the same habit, in different doses.

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      3. There’s no way Hei’s going after a Hollow without experienced help. Those things are scary! 😉

        Zangetsu and Hei. The bunnies keep making frustrated noises about getting the two to meet….

        Not to mention, Ichigo’s wondering how much like a Vizard Hei really is. Because that implies many, many things. 😉

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      4. Not to mention, Ichigo’s wondering how much like a Vizard Hei really is.

        Hmmm . . .

        Vizards are Shinigami with Hollow powers.

        The Contract is Hollow powers. The glow in his eyes when he uses it is the same as a Hollow.

        So where is the Shinigami side? And what form will that take? Considering Hei already has sharp pointy things. And considering the . . . everything . . . probably the last thing he needs right now is a voice in his head.

        So something like shikai but not a zanpakuto? (well, considering that a Contract is like Hollow powers but is not an inner Hollow).

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      8. Couple thoughts. Li, using the same character, has a list of people with the surname that includes fictional people. Has all the people I’d found checking the property specific wikis, except for Hei. Card Captor Sakura, Sakura Wars, and Shaman King may be of interest.

        Secondly, my bunnies thought it would be funny for Hei, Ichigo and Ryuuken to go up to investigate, and run into Urahara, who has pressganged Orihime and Uryuu. Off looking into Aizen junk could justify Urahara ending up all sorts of places. Aizen could have buried something beneath Tokyo years before the gate went active, and never gone back to check.

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  6. I totally sympathize with the frustrated bunneys getting Hei and Zangetsu to meet. I can totally picture Hei’s face when he sees him and realizes why Ichigo was flinching around him yet still wanted to be around him. Especially the coat. For that matter, I want to see Hei’s face when he sees Ichigo’s Bankai. 😆 long black coat and super speed and everything. Too bad that it is going to take a while before Ichigo can pull that off again. 😞 I also think it would be awesome for Ichigo to patrol/protect the Dolls in Soul reaper form while Hei’s human. That would be entertaining.

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      1. And no one told Ichigo he couldn’t deputize someone else as his own substitute. After all, it’s only illegal for a shinigami of Soul Society to share powers. No one said anything about Ichigo, who has made a stand that he is not a member of Soul Society. This, has possibilities.

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  7. Yin: She’s the only one who’s pretty.

    But what about Mayu? Hei didn’t kill her, even though he met her. though I suppose she might not technically count as Section 4 being a liaison officer. Still, though, that’s mean, Yin.

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  8. >>So where is the Shinigami side?

    >>Ichigo is actively wondering about that. A lot.

    That’s… An interesting question.

    The place to start would be ‘what powers are uniquely Shinigami?’

    Most Shinigami powers have to do with reiatsu manipulation and spiritual pressure, but Hollows can do most of those too and I think Quincy might be able to as well.

    There’s Kido, but as Ichigo himself demonstrates not all Shinigami are very capable with that.

    That mostly leaves the Zanpakuto (‘s probably why thinking up a Zanpakuto Shikai and Bankai is step 1 for most people making Shinigami OCs).

    Hei can’t manifest a Zanpakuto while still in his body – I’m not sure most Shinigami can even manifest their Zanpakuto if they’re in gigai. But then, a Contract isn’t exactly the same as Hollow powers.

    It’s like Hei told Ryuuken, all Contractors can do just one thing.

    So – since we’re scratching off spiritual pressure and reiatsu manipulation, because Hollows can do those too but we don’t appear to run into any Contractors pulling those tricks – that leaves Hollow… Powers. For lack of a better word.

    One detail that helps tie these settings together is that Contractors have just one power? You can almost say the same thing about Hollows. Grand Fisher had his Lure and Claws, but the thing with his claws was related to his Lure anyways. Shrieker had his explosive mini-mes. What’s-his-name that Rukia fought in Las Noches who’d eaten Kaien had possession, and tied to that possession shapeshifting.

    We don’t see the ‘Hollow Power’ for all of them, but that overlaps between Hollows and Contractors.

    So the Contract is probably related to whatever the Hollow Power would be as a Hollow.

    So Bai – and Hei – would have a Hollow Power tied to… technically sub-atomic matter alteration… Technically, they may qualify as something in the category of the crazy bullshit Orihime can pull, if done correctly. But their instinctive application is electricity.

    So now we come to the opposing side of the equation, what does that mean for Vizard’s Shinigami side? Is their a relation?

    The place I’d want to look for such a relationship is the similar ‘unique’ power that Shinigami get: their Shikai and Bankai.

    Does that hold? Yeah, it kinda does. Each Shikai is/has a unique specific power, and the Bankai usually builds on that somehow. Byakuya’s is just his Shikai but bigger, Renji’s are kinda the same, Rukia’s Bankai is her wearing her Shikai, and even Ichigo has some of that – his special power for his Shikai is technically Getsuga, while his Bankai power is technically an upgrade to Getsuga Tenshou, and his reiatsu focused into overwhelming speed.

    So does this correlate to what we see from Vizards?

    Hilariously the only Vizard I can remember seeing the Shikai and Bankai for and their Hollow-form is Ichigo. Most of the Vizards were Vice-Captains tho’, and Vice-Captains don’t need to have Bankai to qualify for the positions, just Shikai.

    Still, does the pattern hold?

    I think it does.

    When we see Hollow Ichigo loose his two big tricks are the same as Ichigo’s Bankai. He’s stupidly fast. Overwhelming power and speed, and instead of Getsuga Tenshou there’s a Cero that leaves even Arrancarr blinking at the aftermath in shock.

    Pulling back, I’d take a shot in the dark that if Ichigo were to manifest a Contract it’d probably either be based on superhuman physicality – mostly speed, some power – or some kind of Wave Motion Cannon.

    So, let’s reverse that for Hei.

    If Bai had hollowed, she probably would’ve mostly pulled tricks with lightning strikes, but could have done some terrifying matter manipulation tricks. If she’d been a Shinigami her Shikai would’ve probably. . . actually, it’d probably look a lot like Rukia’s Shikai and Bankai. Rukia’s Bankai powers look like ice, but according to the wiki technically they all revolve around her having the ability to drastically reduce heat in specific areas and patterns, while her Bankai allows her to set her own body temp to something like Absolute Zero and extend the freezing effects out from herself.

    Bai/Hei would probably have something similar, manifesting Shikai as some kinda crazy Lightning-Go-****-Yourself. At Bankai I’d theorize that they wear the energy field – technically they’re able to alter matter on the sub-atomic level in Shikai, but redirecting electrons with their Shikai weapon as a conductor being most of what they seem to be doing; whereas at Bankai buh-bye needing a conductor, they can probably reach out and play with nearby matter like it’s play-doh as long as it’s within their range. The effect is probably similar to what you see Hei doing at the Gates, just… portable.

    Probably anyone who hardens their reiatsu against it stands a chance of resisting the effects – it’s not absolute – but given you’ve basically gotta be constantly forcing the ‘spiritual pressure to deflect blades’ trick at a level equal to or above Hei/Bai’s spiritual pressure every time they decide to reach out and change you…

    Well. That’s terrifying.

    …Provided my Wild Mass Guessing has anything resembling sense or logic to it.

    Bringing that back down to level, we probably won’t see any/a lot of Shinigami tricks out of Hei until someone forces him out of his body… Ichigo’s badge was mentioned, but I wonder if Rukia left that glove lying around.

    Oh, and on the topic of ‘would prefer not to kill you’ assassins: Michael Westen, of Burn Notice. Dude’s technically not an assassin, he’s a spy, but he’s had to pull double-duty now and again.

    Also, on the related grounds of Lethal-Assassin-Hei not needing another voice in his head… Well.

    I’d recommend Working Around the Crazy by peroxidepest17 over on fanfiction.net.
    https://m.fanfiction.net/s/5872642/1/Working-Around-the-Crazy

    ‘S a one-shot crossover between Burn Notice and Supernatural, and includes some spoilers for… I wanna say season 3 or 4 of Supernatural?… but it doesn’t actually require much in the way of knowledge of either show’s background or canon to understand.

    For Working Around the Crazy we get to see Michael dealing with an actively malevolent voice, as opposed to the potentially helpful one Hei’s liable to get, but I suspect there might be a similar reaction. I can’t help but think that Hei’s too professional to let little things like hallucinations get to him.

    (I am aware that his time infiltrating Pandora in Season One suggests otherwise, but still.)

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