"Laws exist only for those who cannot live without clinging to them." ― Aizen Sōsuke.
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Itachi knew this day would come sooner or later but he just wasn't prepared for it to arrive this soon. He thought he could stave it off for at least a couple more years until a viable solution presented itself.
He knew he was only delaying a very bad scenario but without anything to fix it that was all he could do.
Something had happened. There had been a leak and he wasn't sure where. From his side, the number of people that knew about Tōshirō and Kusaka could be counted on one hand, along with a few outliers like Kisuke and Shunsui.
The issue concerning their Zanpakutō was so closely guarded that the only people that knew from his side were Yoruichi and Junpei, and maybe Gin and Soi Fon too. The latter because she was easily the second eye behind everything he did.
In other words, aside his suspicion of Kisuke and Byakuya, since they were the only people he spoke to in-depth concerning the issue, the only other place there could have been a leak on was at the Academy
Unfortunately, while he had eyes in the Academy, none of them kept specific tabs on either Tōshirō and Kusaka. The only one who did was Junpei and that was under his direct orders.
Besides, Tōshirō and Kusaka weren't just normal students, they were at the top of their bunch. If someone was tailing them or acting suspicious around them they would notice and report back to him. If someone had been keeping an eye on them and was more skilled than they were and they couldn't sense him out then Junpei would have sensed it on occasions.
But that also didn't make any sense. For them to specifically put attention on both of them they would have to know about the common denominator between the two boys and that begged the question: how did they know?
The more he thought about it the more the chance of it being something premeditated seemed unlikely.
"Captain Uchiha, what brings you here today?" The Head Captain asked as he stepped into his office.
"My students are being held on trial."
Yamamoto grunted and stared at Itachi with half opened amber eyes. "And what do you have in mind to do?"
"I will speak to Central 46 for whatever reason they are being put up on trial. Whatever it is they are accused of, I want to know."
Yamamoto raised his head from its hunched position and stared directly at Itachi and spoke with the faintest lilt of exasperation in his voice.
"I would ask you how you knew of this but I doubt there's much that goes on in the Seireitei that you do not know of." His eyes now were hard, cold and judging. "You would have me believe that you know not why they are being set in trial?"
Itachi stared just as hard as impassive. "I would have you believe that I do not know the crime they committed."
At that Yamamoto sighed. He leaned back into his chair and regarded Itachi with a guarded expression. "You are a smart boy, Itachi. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can outmaneuver everything. Whatever it is you're thinking, I'll tell you this right now: it is not worth getting caught against Central 46."
And therein lay the bone of it. Regardless of Itachi's own reasons, Central 46 is the complete governing body of the Soul Society and the Shinigami as a whole. It did not matter if he agreed with their decisions or if their decisions were right or not. An act against Central 46 would be construed as treason regardless of the morality of the motives.
He already knew where Central 46 was heading with this trial. He already knew the rules, so also did he know the punishment for breaking them. It did not matter whether they had a hand in it or if it was unintentional. All that mattered was that they found themselves on the other side of the law.
"They are just students."
"They broke the law."
"They didn't mean to."
"They broke the law."
Both men stared at each other with their thoughts kept behind their eyes.
The worst part was that Itachi understood. Both the kind of man Yamamoto was and the principle of the ruling power Central 46 had. But understanding never always produced cooperation. It was because he understood that he was able to loathe it even more:
Yamamoto's rigid ways and the inviolability of Central 46 both.
Kisuke was right. His words were true when he said Itachi was way too weak to fight against Central 46, but it wasn't the whole truth either. The whole truth was something even more bitter.
Itachi would never be strong enough to fight against them, because Central 46 was in a way the symbol that depicted Shinigami in everything they were – in both the good and bad.
They would not budge, not for a particularly stubborn Captain, but neither would Itachi. He promised those two boys that nothing wrong would happen to them and in less than a year his words were being thrown back in his face.
"You're a smart boy, Itachi," Yamamoto said again, his voice gravely, "but even you know that there are some things you can't fight."
"…"
"The laws they are being tried on are laws that are older than even I. You might question why it is good or bad but remember, there must be a precedent before any law can take root."
"… the reason matters too."
"Not if it seeks to start a precedent." Yamamoto rubbed the bark of his cane slowly. "Temper that unruly fires in your heart. It will do you no good except to an unfortunate end."
Yamamoto Genryúsai said in finality. Steadfast and rigid – that was how Itachi knew him. He would uphold the laws he knew, be they good or bad, because they were the very backbone of the world he had come to know.
"I will speak with them." Itachi finally said. Other than anything drastic or foolish, this was the only option he had that did not see Yamamoto pulling out his sword and setting him ablaze.
Yamamoto breathed in. "Dismissed."
He didn't waste a single moment more in Yamamoto's office. He had gotten what he came for. If not the man's approval then at the very least his permission. Trying to speak with the Central 46 behind Yamamoto's back was a fool's errand. They held no respect for any Shinigami except Yamamoto.
With all this taken care of, there still remained one issue and that was how they had found out in the first place.
It couldn't have been at their final examinations or could it? Itachi had personally made sure that any form of observation into the blade wouldn't hold.
Kusaka didn't need his Shikai for their final examination so there was no chance that he affected the blade enough for it to get noticed.
Was it just simply a coincidence? It felt too spontaneous and rushed to be one.
Those were his thoughts as he made his way towards the central building that was the seat of Central 46.
The question remained: what would he do? What was he willing to do?
He had his doubts that something like this was not something that they would pardon, and for a few reasons he understood why. But just because he understood didn't mean he agreed with it.
The Seireitei, and the Nobles in conjunction, were guided and fervently upheld what Itachi saw as a patchwork of rules atop a society and history that was as deep as the bodies of their enemies were high. Rules could be broken and amended, but only if it helped continue the status quo. That was why someone like Mayuri could be let free compared to others that might have committed lesser crimes.
Mayuri was a weapon they could wield against their enemies, or at least they saw it like that, but for some reason they decided that Tōshirō and Kusaka were not. That hinted at history. One where they failed to control.
So no, he would not sit idle and let his students face bias for some clouded history.
He stopped before the gates where two guards stood looking at him impassively, and without saying anything they opened the gates.
'They were expecting me.' Itachi thought as he walked through the open gates into the building that sat behind it. Whatever it was, Itachi decided that he did not like it.
"Captain Itachi Uchiha." Someone announced his name as he stepped into the room where he was surrounded by raised platforms on which sat the members of Central 46 with white cloth covering their faces.
He saw Tōshirō in the middle of the room with both hands bound behind his back in restraining seals.
"Captain Itachi Uchiha, I'm glad you could join us today." Someone, the voice of a woman, said without bothering to hide the thin sneer behind it. "But first I have to ask, why are you here? We did not call for you?"
"You did not." Itachi replied, raising his head to look from Tōshirō to the woman who spoke. "But I was informed that a former student of mine was apprehended to Central 46 so I couldn't help but wonder what crime he committed."
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