Rank Hath Its Privileges [Kasumi/Closed]

The days were long, but went by fairly quickly. There were so many things she had to do nowadays that at times she wasn’t even aware of what day they were, she didn’t even think about the time. Not that such details mattered, not anymore. While she used to wait for the weekend, a couple of days off after a long period of patrolling and working down on earth, or a certain holiday, it appeared that for now taking a day off was just wishful thinking. A part of her felt somewhat afraid that she would never again have any time off, which would easily drive her mad. She was pretty certain that a big enough pile of reports could kill a Shinigami as easily as a honed blade could.

With a sigh the young Captain made her way toward the new office. The place still felt slightly unreal – as if she was visiting a film set, or a scene ready to be moved once the curtains would fall.

’I’ll take some time to get used to, perhaps you should get some of your old things from the Second. Once you’ve given the Annex a touch of personality – of life – it’ll become easier to recognize it as your own.’ Of course, Vör was right but Kasumi simply hadn’t had the time yet to pick out a plant or two and some paintings to decorate the place with.

Watching the pond as she walked by, she briefly wondered if the koi which lived in it ever got the urge to redecorate their new surroundings to make it fit their old ones. It was ridiculous, really, to be thinking about whether the fish liked their new habitat or not. Perhaps that was a clear sign of how tired she truly was. Having gone from barely any responsibility and no more than two or three orders a day was leaving its mark on Kasumi’s already pale face. The fact that her latest project – which she had picked up as a way to both entertain her curious self and see what life was really all about – wasn’t going the way she would have wanted it to, didn’t quite make things better.

Pulling the shoji aside she thought to secretly nap in her chair while spreading out some papers in front of her in case that someone would decide to bother her, she stopped death in her tracks when her eyes met the sight of someone sitting behind her desk. If it wasn’t for the familiar appearance of the man, Kasumi might have thought that a cheeky subordinate had decided to test her patience. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

“Takua?” She brought out in confusion just to hear him greet her in a singsong voice.

What the hell was he doing here?

Carefully closing the shoji behind her, she couldn’t help but to wonder if she was dreaming. It felt unreal to see him here, now, sitting in her chair is if nothing had ever happened. The last time she had felt his presence it had been.. How long ago? She shook her head, she couldn’t place her finger on it now. The only thing that mattered was that he had vanished back then, and with Shun remaining she had assumed for the Arrancar to have been purified.

Blinking, she turned to fully face him, still in the same dreamy state. “It.. could have been worse.” She replied, with a tired gaze which suddenly started to look a lot like panic.

An Arrancar was in her Annex – an incredibly strong creature at that; the Annex was in the middle of the Seireitei. If.. Should they..

A disaster, she quickly realized while taking a step forward. While he wasn’t being hostile now, on the contrary, the man looked rather pleased, she had never been able to sense his presence – unless he allowed her to, with the exception of the battle in the outer Rukongai.

But now.. Shun wasn’t around. She was the one to take on the enemy if others could not.

“Not here,” Kasumi gasped at the Arrancar who strangely enough seemed to lack his mask. “elsewhere.”

The brief brushing of her fingers against the hilt of her sword had the room turning silvery-white as the two figures were swallowed up by a bright sphere which led to another world, one of ice and snow.

“Welcome in Niflheim, it's better that we talk here.” the whisper carried across the snowy area between them. She let out a shaky breath, then smiled while coming a bit closer. Green and red danced across the dark sky – giving the fields of snow an eerie feeling.

“What were you doing there? And.. how? I thought.. I thought that you were dead?”


Words: 793

Her look of utter confusion prompted his grin to deepen. Poor Kasumi. Of all of the things she had expected today would bring, this would probably be close to the last on her list. Still, he thought to himself even as he enjoyed the moment, wasn’t she a little too dazed and confused? If he had had any doubts about this before, they were gone now. He’d noticed the utter lack of any personal decoration in her office while he had looked about, and now he pondered which was more likely to be the reason; that she still couldn’t accept that this post was her’s, or she was being so worn down she hadn’t had the time or energy to do it.

Her mention of his name was met with a chuckle, a note of humor sounding alongside dry honesty. “That’s me. Well, mostly so. It’s somewhat akin to calling an obi a sash,” he remarked somewhat cryptically. Takua was, of all of the other names he could be called, one of the better ones. At the very least it was more accurate than calling him Alexander, even if that one also had a kernel of truth to it. But that was more akin to a single grain of whole wheat in a loaf of white bread.

That was all semantics though, and he banished the amusing thought to focus on things that mattered in the next few seconds. Kasumi clearly didn’t know what he was, believing he was still an Arrancar- and thus, an enemy other Shinigami would attack on sight. If he had guessed correctly, her next reaction would be to…

Yep, get them to another place entirely. He let the transition take him, faintly caressing the abrupt twist in space as they both popped into a small demiplane formed from Kasumi’s soul. It was a cute little power, although it should have left Value dangling with nothing to sit on. Instead he appeared to be quite comfortable sitting on empty space, an illusion he made no attempt to dispel when he stood up and leaned into thin air instead. Even his clothing looked impacted, as though an invisible wall were propping him up.

Really now. Some of the best things he could do now were used for dramatic impact. And it suited him just fine. Terrible as it was to admit, but in some things Wishes made for an excellent role model. Not that Value would ever say it. There were some things that just shouldn’t be mentioned. It would make him utterly insufferable…although that thought also brought to mind the saying about pots and kettles…

Takua grinned, “Shun did have a chance, that I’ll admit. It would have been pointless otherwise. But I was more powerful than his worst fears, he just didn’t know it.” Which was all to say that the man had missed his opportunity, and the Arrancar had claimed his. Which was why he was still alive, after all. One final roll of the dice, betting that he’d find his answer. His smile turned crooked and he continued blithely, “Which isn’t to say it wasn’t close, or that your choice of words is entirely inaccurate. Part of me did die. Thankfully it seems that that whole phoenix thing was actually more accurate than you’d think,” he paused to give a wink with a twinkle in his eye, too amused at his own jokes to be proper. But then he had an awful lot of catching up to do, now didn’t he? Sekai had always said his sense of humor was the worst she’d ever met, but that was no reason to stop. “So a little death,” he hesitated for a half beat before continuing in a tone so obviously straight it couldn’t be, “not the French kind, sadly-and back from the ashes I came.”

Now that was truly abysmal, but he just couldn’t help himself.

His good humor might have been surprising to her, but what he had to say next would likely distract her all the same. Not that his smile or the laugh hiding in his voice went anywhere, “Which is why I’m no longer an Arrancar. You can call me Takua if you want to, it’s still accurate enough to serve as my name, or you can call me Value.”

And with that little bombshell out of the way he kept talking, “But I’ve hardly been the only one changing. You’ve gone through a lot of growth yourself, haven’t you?” The inquisitive tone was still warm, his eyebrows arched as he looked Kasumi up and down. “I’m honestly not sure which is the bigger surprise, my Transcendence or your becoming Captain Commander. Congratulations. It can’t be easy.” It wasn’t either. The lack of personal effects in the room spoke to that. He waited, leaning further into thin air without his shoulder moving an inch, for Kasumi to ask her questions and respond to his own, especially the one implicit in his final words.

Bewildered both by his presence and his comparison to being a sash, or obi, or whatever he was thinking right now, Kasumi couldn’t help but to deeply frown at the man. The expression she had showed both her frustration and confusion quite well, and the fact that he was basically floating in the air wasn’t helping either. While she hadn’t explored this world as much as she would have liked to, something about the way he leaned into nothing didn’t come across as natural – not even here.

Speaking in riddles not unlike the ones she’s heard coming from ‘Tokiyo’ - she still called the being that, simply because it was easier – he admitted to being a ‘little’ dead. As the man, who admitted that being called Takua was fine, continued, Kasumi felt her face twist at the idea of the being in front of her being something so abstract as Value. Holding onto that bit, she chose to engage in a bit of small talk before digging deeper into whatever he was talking about.

They’re so odd

“It’s not, but I manage, I think.” That was probably if she ignored the lack of sleep and the most odd reports she was getting.. together with the pressure of having to make life-altering decisions from time to time- ugh, perhaps she was only thinking that she was managing. At least there were still things to play with, ones she didn’t want to leave behind for sleep.

After a deep breath she rubbed her right eye with the back of her hand before letting the snow behind her form into a chair. Takua had his place, she could have hers. Now that they were about to talk through more than a couple of matters at hand she planned to use the same time to relax a bit.

“Well, if I’m honest I’m really glad that I’ve accepted this haori even with the workload being pretty much endless. Who knows what that traitor would have done with the Gotei should it have been in his hands.” Ending it with a sigh she let herself fall back into the snowy seat. The cold pleasantly seeped into her back and Kasumi felt like falling asleep. If it wasn’t for one of the most peculiar beings among the realms being present inside of her own Bankai, she might have.

Gripping the side of the chair, she let some of it crumble beneath her pale fingers. Every time she came into contact with her own creation she felt at peace – the young Commander had forgotten how good it felt to be wrapped by the soothing cold.

“What do you mean by ‘transcendence’, though?” Tilting her head to the side she suddenly felt like she was in class again; trying her best to listen, absorb and understand the meaning behind the words.

“If a bit of you died, how are you here? Is that why you don’t mind being called ‘Takua’,” she mimicked the quotation marks by curling two fingers on each hand and repeating the motion a couple of times while talking. “but pretty much say you’re not him?”


--520/1313

Talking in half-riddles was way more fun than it ought to be. He knew that because whenever people had done it to him it had pissed him off or frustrated him to no end, but now he was the one who could be infuriatingly vague. The worst part was that some of it was that he knew it was simply...better that way. How better to encourage someone to think than to lead them to the answer, but require them to take those steps. A thought and lesson far stronger because they were not told. It was not always true, but more often than not. And for those times when they didn't yet understand enough to even as the right question...

Then, he nodded quietly to himself, it would be time to take a more active role.

His smile remained but a glint in his eyes betrayed his interest in her answer. Value's lips quirked as he said, “Quite. He could have done a great many terrible things.” Anyone could once they got their hands on power and authority. Because of greed, petty revenge, ambition, and far more besides. And, of course, the most dangerous. Being convinced you were doing the right thing.

His head tilted to the side as he regarded Kasumi, unblinking as he took in her questions. What did he mean indeed. Slowly he leaned up, standing upright. The relaxed cast to his features remained, but his voice was sharper than before as he answered. “An obi is technically a sash. You could call it one, correctly. But it lacks specificity, an exact description. The principle is the same. I am Takua, yes. I am, more accurately, Value. Takua, sash. Value, obi. You see?” He grinned as he shrugged, but his eyes glittered with an inner fire as he looked at Kasumi.

“For the rest of that? Well. They're all related.” The Transcendental chuckled even as he reached up to scratch the back of his neck, looking away from the young woman, “Funny thing though, the little death has less to do with the sword Shun put through my head than it should. As a general rule and all, having your skull split three inches down wouldn't be a 'little' death anyways.” His grin grew wider as he gave her a roguish wink, “General rules do have their exceptions though. Turns out I am one.”

His grin held as the snow fell around them, and he said, “As a general rule, Hollows lose their hearts too.”

The weight of that sentence settled like the snow around them. His grin shrank, eyes hooded lazily as he continued, “That day, I understood why I was a Hollow. What had broken in me all those years before. And I changed. A little death, you see? I killed the fragment of my soul I had froze centuries ago, and in killing it, freed it. Allowed myself to be whole. So I am no longer Hollow. Transcendence.” He paused, shifting back again onto that cushion of air that should not have supported him. His smile quirked again as he spoke, “And the answer I found became my power.”

It was the closest thing he would say. He could say more, if he wanted to. It didn't always go well, but he could. Doing so could inhibit her though, so he refused.

The rest was also personal to him and him alone of all the rest. She did not need to know, and he did not want to tell her. Very little else mattered.

She tried her best to understand what he was saying, but she couldn’t help but feeling quite confused all over again. Everything he’s said so far had sounded so easy and logical, though, it wasn’t. It took her too long to process the fact that Hollow lost their hearts. If nothing else it appeared more or less normal, because Hollow weren’t capable of love, but that’s where things got odd – you didn’t love with your heart, not according to what Kasumi knew. So.. what was in the heart? What was a heart aside from a muscle?

Perhaps Hollow-breeds were capable of some sort of love and the heart meant something else entirely. If what you lost wasn’t anything physical, but simply a part of you, of your soul – then.. how did you lose a part of your soul to start with?

“I’m not sure if I understand what you’re trying to say. If you were a Hollow – and you were – and you had lost your heart, but it wasn’t lost because it was frozen, then.. Hollow never actually lose anything?” She blinked, unsure of what to do next Kasumi simply stared at the man whose new name was Value. “or is that why you’re the exception? Because you hadn’t lost it.”

No longer restricted by the need to behave calm and collected she wasn’t able to stop herself from rambling on. “And how did you free it by killing it? Did it go back into the cycle? Then.. no, wait, how do you kill a part of yourself?”

By now she almost felt dizzy from the seemingly endless rant. All she could think of now was the way she had drowned the ugly past, though, it hadn’t altered her in any major way. Yes, her bond with Vör had become stronger, she had become better at understanding her powers, yet it hadn’t even opened the gate to the world they were in now – for that she had needed to drown more than a reflection of her life as a human.

He’s the exception, the young Commander inwardly mumbled to herself. Something about the former Arrancar had been different from so many others. Due to some reason he had managed to change instead of die. Like Kiriko. And Tokiyo.

Kasumi’s eyes burned and so did her soul. She wanted to know what made them the way they were. What, exactly, they were, aside from a concept. Her mind was desperately trying to wrap itself around the facts but they were so vague and otherworldly that after a couple of rounds around the vicious circle the thinking process came to a disappointing halt.

Only then did she realize that perhaps thinking wouldn’t do in this case. At times one needed to do some real research. Of course, forming hypotheses and working them out together with theories was necessary, but in emergencies, one had to let go and jump into the turbulent waters if they truly wanted to capture the moment.

Fighting back another wave of questions, she took a deep breath and shook her head. “All these questions, you’re probably growing tired of them,” She smiled, wondering how exactly to act in order to get what she wanted. The man was different in so many ways. All she needed was a little of that difference to better understand his origin and ‘birth’. “if you haven’t already. I can imagine that most want to know the same things I do.”

With her snowy seat left behind her she stumbled onto something hard a couple of steps later. A book, one she’s been reading no too long ago when.. Huh?

It was still here.. it wasn’t lost. Picking it up, she curiously studied the edge, then the pages. Turning to Takua with an apologetic smile dripping from her lips, the white-haired Shinigami suddenly found the shortest way home – the solution to her growing problem.

“Something I’ve left behind here by accident,” a casual explanation for the harmless item in her hands. She hoped he didn’t suspect a thing, figured there was no need for him to be suspicious considering she hadn’t attacked him so far.

“Reading up on matters I’ve missed in the Academy or those I haven’t experienced because of my age can be quite interesting.”


713/2026

Value chuckled, warm and steady at her clear confusion. “As you've figured out, I was an exception.” Exception was an understatement really, not that Kasumi needed to know all of it. Her flickering reiatsu was more than enough for him to know what was going on inside of her head. “And despite everything, I was still Hollow in every way that mattered. Just not every way that I was supposed to be.” The Transcendental gave a shrug, his voice dry enough to turn the snowscape into a desert. “And all that really matters is that I allowed myself to change instead of clinging so desperately to the past.”

Every word of that was the absolute truth. It didn't do what had happened justice, didn't capture the nuance or anything else, but at the end of the day that final sentence was all that mattered.

His smile grew wider, laughter dancing in the back of his eyes as he spoke, “Hardly tired of it. It's one of the only natural reactions to finding out that we exist, after all! Especially when you knew who we were before. Just so long as you know you won't get all of the answers.” Takua chuckled again, but behind his humor was something as hard and unyielding as any sword, “After all, some things lose their power if they're given to you. That old saying that it's the journey, not the destination that counts. is absolutely true.”

His good humor remained, even as Kasumi stumbled across a book that she'd left in the snow. Something shifted behind his green eyes, but there was nothing else but a casual, “Well I'm glad you found it again,” to give hint to how he felt.

Once again the future was in her hands, once again he found himself wondering what she would decide...and what the outcome would be. Good or evil, he didn't know. The only thing he was sure of was that this was a turning point.

He smiled instead though, finding the action all too easy as he reached up to scratch the back of his neck sheepishly, “Quite. I loved reading, and I've had more than a few centuries to catch up on! Thankfully I've got the time to do it, but the library is going to be mad at me because of my late fees I'm afraid.” An impish sparkle gleamed in the back of his eyes as he thought of that before he shook his head, relaxing even further as he leaned back again against nothing at all, “What's the book about?”

Him being an exception meant that he was rare material. Honestly there had been no need for him to explicitly tell that he wasn’t ordinary – people like him never were. Somewhere on the edge of her consciousness a question arose if they were actually still people in the traditional sense, but she kept that one to herself. Becoming suspicious now would break apart the plan which was coming together just now. That would be a shame and a real waste.

We, without any poking he simply threw it out there. The evidence that he had become a part of some other race, some other type of creatures which appeared to be god-like in so many ways. Oh the thrill she felt at the thought of having one to examine. All of her Second training had to go into stopping herself from getting any more hyped than was naturally to be when feeling curious and somewhat excited.

Takua – or Value – knew her enough to be used to her excitement. Learning and discovering had always been a part of Kasumi. He had been one of those to teach her, in a certain way, about some important things. She wondered if today would be no different. In fact, she hoped that his presence would let her in on some of ‘their’ secrets.

“Thank you,” she smiled, “and I’m glad that you’ve conquered your..” gesturing at him with her free hand, she took a step forward and the snow creaked beneath her foot. “past.” Having found no other way of putting it, Kasumi went with what seemed to be the most appropriate thought at the moment.

“As if you care about something so trivial as library fees.” It was meant to lighten the mood even further, to keep him focused on her excitement regarding his presence. All of it was real. The endless jolts going through her system were pushing her tiredness to the background. Her surrounding sharpened as she concentrated.

“It’s mostly about Bakudō, I find it quite fascinating. The work also touches the creation of seals. Unfortunately there are only a couple of basic sketches on the latter topic. I’ll have to find myself something more suitable to read sometime soon.” she grimaced, as if the idea brought her physical pain. “If there will be any time to read.” Glancing up at him, she sighed. The play went on. She stretched the moment as much as she could.

“I think I’m jealous of your time.” Still no lies. Expect he might not aware that time wasn’t the only thing she felt, sort of, jealous of.

Looking at his face she tried to remember where the pieces of mask had been, it’s why her gaze traced his hair and neck, all the way to his shoulders. Drawing the lines in her mind Kasumi wondered where the secret was hidden. What part of his body could show her his current state. Which bits of Value would lead to a breakthrough should she get her hands on them.

It really was now or never. Regardless of that knowledge she still felt nervous in the moment of the world collapsing around her. In a flash of silvery white the gate swallowed her while leaving her ‘guest’ inside of Niflheims cold embrace.

Still holding her breath she let Hoho carry her feet toward the labs. Having no idea how much time she had, if this would actually work or Value would step out – had never been there? Her mind was a mixture of panic, excitement, disbelief and hope to have something entirely new open up before her. In a storm of emotions and thoughts the young Commander burst into the furthest levels of the laboratories. Her eyes shone bright, jaw set tightly as she dashed toward the dying bits of life she had been trying to create.

A piece of him attached to these cells of energy might be their salvation. It might give them life. It might even have them turn into more than what the Shinigami were. Then she would be able to study them as they bloomed. All she needed now was finding a way to give them some Value.



696/2722

It was almost sad, really. He held all of the cards. It wasn’t as though he had a glimpse of the script, no no no, his powers didn’t extend that far, although there were others that could see farther ahead. Value wasn’t, after all, something that lent itself well to specifics when discussing the future. Especially not when people valued things differently...but that was all part of the point, part of the joy. After all, if everyone wanted the same thing, it would get pretty boring damn soon!

As if anyone needed more proof he was not the man he’d once been, that thought would have set him apart.

But he could feel the decision point approaching. Felt the probabilities winnow as her excitement filled with malevolence. Her emotions were an open book, and with it, he knew what path she would take. There was no question about that anymore. So the choice came down to him. How would he react when she inevitably tried to trap him here? Oh she had some good motives...of course she did. But that wasn’t enough. And in the end, what he did would determine what she was most likely to take from this.

A few more casual words to give her, still chatting as though they were old friends, and then he was alone in the winter.

Value sighed, still watching the place Kasumi had been. “A pity in some ways. I’m fairly certain I know where this is going to go. Part of me didn’t want you to, but now that you’re already on the path…”

He’d have to see her through to the end. Only a single decision tree was the most valuable now. She’d made her choice, and with it sealed his own. When it came across like that, there really was only one thing to do, wasn’t there?

Value waited, shaking himself out as he felt across the boundary between dimensions. Soon enough she’d reach her destination, in the darkest reaches of her labs. And when she did-

The man took a breath.

He exhaled fire.

His skin split open, light gleaming from within. Wings ignited, their sudden appearance ravaging the icy air as they roared. Even the ground began to burn as Value took his true form, his eyes on something far away as he stripped away the walls he had built around his soul. Niflheim shuddered as his reiatsu spread throughout it...and then ignited. He would leave nothing behind, not even a scrap of his own reiatsu for her to examine, and the snow shrieked as it sublimated into steam. Only barren rocks remained as he stood on a vision of the apocalypse, one arm rising to touch the air in front of him.

“Such hubris.” His mouth curled into a razor edged smile. “Not that I mind.”

And then there was only fire.

--------

“I’m disappointed Kasumi. I’d hoped you wouldn’t do that.”

The words, the near-lie, came from absolutely nowhere in the stillness surrounding her. They resonated in her, through her, and the pain came a moment later. He’d put Niflheim to the torch and left not even his reiatsu behind, and now he shattered the walls of reality around them as he stepped through. No one else would feel it but Kasumi...but for her and her alone, the weight of his existence was as crushing as the ocean depths. There was nothing but the weight though, no hint as to what he was, no feeling at all. Just something implacable and far greater.

In the space between blinks, Value took his place in the world before her as though he’d never left it at all. Magma swirled in his eyes as he tilted his head to look at her. “I’m almost impressed really. I really didn’t think you’d be that utterly stupid,” he said calmly, his words dropping with the steady beat of the truly measured. But they were cold, utterly at odds with his appearance as they whipped out like a lash.

“You don’t have the power to hold me. You do have the power to make me an enemy.”

Frozen in the moment she looked for a way to let him out while still having him in chains when heat started to crawl through her guts. Like a snake it uncoiled itself somewhere in the pit of her stomach. At first Kasumi thought that the sensation was just her imagination playing with her, but when the fire expanded outwards and into her limbs she could no longer deny its scorching existence. From the inside out it ate away at her strength. Curling upwards the flames seemed to threaten to spill from her mouth, but when she opened her lips in an attempt to cool the back of her throat nothing happened. Nothing aside from a pain filled growl rolled from her tongue. Biting it back, she held onto the edge of table in front of her in order not to fall.

Creaking the edge gave in when her fingers dug in harder. A shivering breath made it out before the world collapsed on her in a flash of fire. Drowning in the heat that smothered her she coughed, stumbled, and finally got to process the words which had been spoken. Somehow they had been lost in the white hot reality melting outburst of whatever Value had done.

She inhaled slowly. The weight on her shoulders pushed her further through the table’s surface and a moment later the Commander found herself holding onto her knees to make sure that her face wouldn’t hit the ground. There was no heat anymore, but the pressure still present was almost unbearable. Sweat rolled down the side of her face. She caught herself feeling surprised when the drops didn’t hit the tiled floor faster than they usually did. The gravity hadn’t grown stronger. It was Takua - Value - who did this to her.

Fear, excitement, disbelief and lots of wonder mixed in her blue eyes as she tilted her head with a lot of effort. Looking up at the man crushing her so easily she felt so many things but no regret. With every second that passed the awe for him, that had settled in her chest, grew larger.

He had caused her pain,
he had allowed her to feel fear,
he broke apart her world without sweating,
yet he deemed her worthy of being a potential enemy.

Did that mean that she held a certain value?

Did he see things she did not?

“You..” she paused catching her breath. Every bit of her body felt like it was filled with lead. Muscles moved to let her speak and it was almost as if they were paralyzed. She could barely control her lips. Awkwardly twisting her tongue she got out another word.

“..honor.”

The world turned. She gripped her knees tighter.
Did he let her stand up straight?

Having no power to speak she silently looked at him. Hungry blue eyes told her story.

Me.

You honor me.



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