I Knew Your Name [Watari/Closed]

“I’m not playing any games. I’m telling you what this world you’ve fallen into is” Bill walked around the table and looked at her, eye to eye. She was crying the poor thing, wasn’t the world terrible? What good questions she is asking in such a state! Really Watari had picked well in this one yes he had. She was breaking, her fragile world of hope and happiness was crumbling around her, maybe the nobles did care! Maybe they really wanted the world to become a better place.

“Because I didn’t draw you in and I’m not playing you. I’m giving you the board dear Reika. I’m giving you control” He put both his hands on her shoulders, probably the first physical contact that meant anything that she’d ever felt. The poor urchin from the rukongai, thrown away like she was nothing and just as she was starting to think she was something these terrible terrible nobles had taken it all away.

“Zenji Hatayama could’ve given you his name, he did it for Xio!”

One of his hands moved to her tears and he let one run down the length of his finger as he caressed her face. There was something just so precious in the way her world had shattered into a stream of tears.

“Yuki could’ve given you her name, she doesn’t want it after all”

He whispered sadly as he pulled her close into an embrace, his arms wrapping around the slender form of his devastated sister. Poor thing, those terrible terrible nobles had used her like a toy and thrown her away, they didn’t want her! The only person who had offered her anything was dear Watari.

“Nobles do it with everyone dear Reika, to them the Soul Society is a gameboard and you are another piece to stab the next in the back with. So I took you from it, when I met you in that glade I saw what you really were, you’re Reika Suzumei, you’re special”

Watari said he wasn’t playing games as she trembled in her chair. Was he telling lies like the others? No. He couldn’t be. That portrait of Yuki and the rest of the nobles spoke volumes of untold secrets. The noble could have just left it at that, but rose instead, coming to stand next to her, looking into her eyes.

Gentle hands touched her on the shoulders - warmth. These weren’t like the hands that she had fought against. There was kindness in their touch. It felt like a parent telling their child the harsh realities of the world outside their home and all the monsters that lurked in the shadows. Her heart was completely broken.

No one wanted her. No one wanted her for real. She was just a pawn in their games.

This man, her brother was showing her kindness that she hadn’t felt since she was a child. He wiped away her tears and drew her into his arms. Zenji didn’t want her, he just wanted a puppet. Yuki didn’t want friendship, she wanted a soldier. Watari, he wanted to free her.

Reika buried her head into her brother’s chest, the pain in her heart becoming too much to bear. The arms around her made her feel safe and warm like she was home. She was broken. The young Suzumei sobbed, gripping hard to Watari’s sides.

Pain tore at her chest - the pain that they had caused with all their lies. “Th-they’ll pay.” She managed to say in between the tears as she trembled in his arms. “Thank you.” the words came as a whisper as she looked up at him. “Thank you, Watari-kun.”

“Of course they’ll pay, why else do you think I wanted to protect you so badly?” Soul King’s Kidney, she was upset was her world so easily broken? Apparently, but that’s what Yuki and Zenji got for playing with a poor urchin from the Rukongai. How could they be so heartless to drag her into their games what sort of people were they, monsters? It was a good thing Reika had Bill otherwise she wouldn’t have anyone.

“You do however have to play ignorant to all of this, they have to believe that you don’t know of their games. They’ll think they can control you my dear, but they can’t, you know the truth. Zenji will tell you to do things but you’ll know better, you’ll see the truths in his actions - Yuki will try and shine the light towards you but you’ll see the injustice in her words and the acid on her tongue” He’d seen the maneuvering working alongside Nao Aoki had allowed Watari to put people near her, people she couldn’t even register as being spies they’d seen the movements. Zenji was trying to fill the third with his people, now there was a gaping hole.

“Nobody loves you as much as I do. Nobody wants the best for you as much as I do. So use what they’ve given you” See Watari? See? Wasn’t Bill right all along? She was perfect, so blinded by her own righteousness so easily malleable. All she needed was a sense of purpose, a blade that cut through all of those things she knew didn’t quite make sense. Now she could see reason, she danced to a new narrative, the Reika of old was dead and buried in the Sakura Glade, Watari had seen to that.

He ran his hand through her messy hair and wiped the tears from her eyes.

“You tell me how you want your revenge and we’ll make it a reality. You tell me what you want more than anything and I’ll give it to you. That is my promise”

But what of marriage?

What of the alliance?

Children.

In Watari’s House. He always won.

They’d pay, he spoke those words so sincere that they acted as a balm on her heart. So soothing that she relaxed into her brother’s arms as he spoke of protecting. She didn’t know the real truth, his twisting of words, making her instead see a plot against an innocent girl in a nobles world. Reika was nothing more than a pawn in Watari’s game. The comfort of his arms wiped away the world around her, cradled as if she were in a castle in the sky. Safe and warm from all the treachery in a man she barely knew.

Like clockwork, Watari spun his tale, telling her to play the role of the victim, innocent - turned by the whims of an evil man. Reika felt in her heart that she was the victim, nodding to his words. They had used her, made her play the puppet. None of what she had thought was true friendship was real. It ached. Oh, how her heart hurt because they toyed with her. They were truly monsters!

Reika sniffled as her brother wiped away her tears, his reassuring touch atop her head calming her. On the outside, she was fine as someone could be with tear-streaked cheeks and puffy red eyes. Inside though, the redhead was a mess. A whirlwind of emotions from sadness to hate ripped her inside out. Yet in the darkness of her heart, there stood Watari, asking what she wished to do to those that hurt her, discarding her as if she were nothing but garbage from the Rukongai.

There wasn’t a bad bone in Reika’s Suzumei’s body. Hurting someone wasn’t in her nature - growing up in the districts taught her that only bad people deserved the infliction of justice. Lord Suzumei granted her that ability.

“We take away what they love the most.” Reika wiped away a single tear from her eye. “We take away the honor of the pious bastard and the trust of that damn wolf girl.” Venom hung on each word. “We’ll turn their little friendship against each other, using their hate just as they used me.”

Hate and anger filled the little shinigami for the first time. It felt as if her chest were on fire as she thought of what to do against those that hurt her. “I’ll need Titus’s personal touch to get some the Hatayama’s traditional garb. I’ll be personally visiting that she-wolf myself. She'll know the true wraith of the Suzumei. Zenji will just have to pay the price.”

Reika held out her right hand to Watari. "Will you grant me this simple request, Watari-kun?"

It hurt so bad.

Reika wanted to hide from the world, but the anger in her broken heart wanted more.

“You want to use Titus?” Watari could see the man flicker with a flash step at the call of his name into visible sight, the man had an uncanny knack of lying in the shadows and was a formidable servant indeed. The look of boredness in the man’s eyes revealed to Watari that it probably had already been done weeks ago in preparation for noble family invasion, it was surprisingly easy to mimic uniforms of the various families so Watari had no doubt Titus had some in place for contingencies.

“He is our family's butler so I’m sure he’d be more than happy to help” that flicker in Titus’s eyes, was that doubt? Was he angry about what Watari had done? Probably.He’d been seething when they’d brought up the idea of marriage to Yuki, Bill was pretty sure he would have preferred her dead to his own hands. Luckily, Titus valued his judgement and it seemed like he wasn’t angry, just doubtful. Most likely he agreed with Reika but was questioning whether she was fit for purpose.

“I have to ask you my dear Reika, rose of the estate, storm of the Suzumei and most beloved sister, is revenge truly the best solution? I’m sure we could confront them in other ways” Probably not, but hey, better to sell this story right? Whatever she had planned would no doubt set those bridges on fire and leave nothing left which was all just falling into place for Bill anyway. He just had to make sure Reika was doing it of her own decision, that when and if the time ever came that she realised, she’d be too far in and too far gone.

“But of course Reika-chan, if you desire a personal touch I’ll allow that”

He put his mouth to her ear so only she could hear the hot whisper of his words as they sowed the seeds that needed to be said.

“Make sure my beloved suitor-to-be has her will shattered, otherwise she’ll just break more people won’t she?”

Bill would then pull his mouth away from her ear and look her in the eyes.

“Her servants are already loyal to the Suzumei, if you desire complete discretion you could enter her estates freely and nobody would question you. You could even surprise your dear friend!”

Of course, she wanted to use the damn butler! The man moved swifter than the wind and was invisible to the eye. If plans were going to be set into motion, she’d need him to make it look like an attack happened on the Kameko Estate! That man would be the final linchpin to make it look like the Hatayamas had it out for Yuki, but for her friends as well.

The look in Watari’s eyes told Reika that Titus was already there in the room with them. Seemed that even mentioning his name summoned him from the shadows. He was perfect.

Even with dark machinations in mind and the thrill at the thought of righting wrongs done to her, Watari’s words caused a pause in thoughts. Did he have his doubts about her plans? No. Maybe he was being cautious. He loved her. He didn’t want her getting hurt because of running headlong into petty revenge. In defiance of Reika’s thoughts, her brother gave her the go-ahead.

But as he did so, those hushed whispers he said into her ear sent a shiver down her spine. Suitor-to-be!? Her brother was going to marry the very person that used their ‘friendship’ to get close to her and manipulate her! It was unspeakable! Unforgivable! The thought of it made her want to vomit.

“I know what I want.” She said flatly, turning around to look up at the giant of a man. “And you, if you have doubts about my loyalty to the family, you’ll be able to air your grievances when you run my own zanpakuto through me at the Kameko Estate. I want it to look like I fought for my life. I want it to hurt!”

The anger in her was rising - Rieka clenched her fists as she turned back to Watari. “Your she-bitch of a fiancee will have her will broken when she comes home to fire and death. All that she loves will be lost in that fire and she’ll see her ‘dear friend’ lying in a pool of her own blood with dead Hatayamas cast aside. She’ll know the betrayal and the loss of what’s left of her family. Yuki will lose it all that night and only have me as the poor victim left.”

Her chest heaved - she wanted nothing more than Yuki dead. But to suffer, to suffer as she did. To see her world fall apart, that was far better.

Yes, anger was a delicious emotion wasn’t it? So palpable and so tangible. Was this love that stirred in Bill’s gut or something more sinister? Who could quite say. He had never quite known what love felt like, his own father had scarred him, his own mother had abandoned him and he supposed the closest thing he’d ever known to affection was the inspiring tutelage of the man that awaited in the shadows.

“You want me to spill your blood?” Please, I want you to drip on the edge of my blade. Your life juices running in crimson down my length, I want my blade to sip from your sweet nectar like nothing else. Do you know how much I long to stain your pale skin the same color as her eyes and your hair? I could think of nothing else more ravishing than watching those eyes fade dear sister but alas I have to be the good one.

Give me her neck. Later dear Watari, we have much to do and your simple murderous tendencies simply won’t suffice, we can’t go killing siblings now can we? But her neck is so - yes yes I know dear man, it’s slender and thin and her bones will go ‘snicker snack’ ever so nicely in our grip but we simply can’t.

“No, dear Reika, I can’t fulfil that wish. I could not possibly run you through with your own Zanpakuto, what sort of brother would I be to fundamentally destroy everything I’ve worked so hard to build with you - it would be a betrayal of our trust” But trust me Reika dear running you through with my Zanpakuto is ever present in my mind. Bill’s skin grew clammy at the thought, such emotion, such a rush! Watari was right it would be so easy to just watch this thin sapling in his arms crumple and it would be so quick too! Ahh agony is bliss.

“Your plan has a certain fire in it I enjoy, maybe it’s the way your eyes shine in vengeance, maybe it’s satisfaction I get from hearing my fiance's world torn down around her. I can’t quite say, dear Reika you leave me with a single thought”

Slender neck.

Pale skin.

Red hair.

Pooled on the ground, her blood around her.

Almost . . . almost Watari . . .  almost.

Snicker snack.

Now we’re back.

“I love it”

And he held her close.

Denied, good. Watari didn’t wish to inflict harm onto her. Perhaps he really did love her as a brother should. It was an oddity. Yes, Reika had her little patchwork family, but now she had an actual blood-related brother. Someone who would protect at her weakest, to hold her when the evils of the world came at her.

I don’t see what Zenji saw in him. But that monk was full of lies.

Yes, his puns were bad. He seemed to put up a facade to the outside world. Here though, Watart had shown her a kindness that she had never seen. He made everything feel alright again. As he said his praises and held her close, Reika could smile in his embrace.

Reika's hands gently cupped Watari's cheeks, making him lean down as she stood tiptoed, kissing him on the forehead. A gesture to his kindness, to his love. She smiled as her grasp was released. "Thank you, dear brother - for everything." And she meant it. He’d single-handedly changed her world. Whether for better or worse, he’d open her eyes to the ‘truth’ and shook her to her very core. Yet through it all, he supported her.

“I’m sorry. I need to rest. This has all been very taxing and I just need some time alone to deal with it. Can I go h-” She paused for a moment. Reika was going to ask if she could go home when she realized she was already there. “Can I go to my room? And maybe we can have dinner together like a family.”

Eh? What was she doing? His brain failed to comprehend any of her actions? Had she kissed him on the forehead? Why would she do that? Was she drunk? Was she that much of a lightweight that the alcohol had influenced her actions so severely? No, she wasn’t off balance and her speech wasn’t slurred. This had to be what actual affection felt like and it felt bizarre, in fact the act of being kissed on the head seemed to dislodge a memory in Watari’s head that he’d have preferred to keep away from . . .  It was of a tall woman with red hair - his mother . . .

“To your room? Of course pick one of the many, I’m sure you’ll find one that you enjoy and if there’s anything in it you desire it can be arranged. At your word the servants will collect your things from your old residence and bring it here”At that word a few female servants came down the stairs to bow prostrate at Reika’s feet. THese were her serving staff, totally loyal to her and existed to obey her every command. Of course they all had full time employment contracts but that was because Watari Suzumei was a businessman, not a slavedriver.

Like a family? What was it to be like a family? In a way he’d just been playing the role of what a brother should do.He’d doted on his younger sister, given her everything she wanted and supported her dreams and no wonder she was thriving. Only with his love was she so near her successes, only with his love had she even achieved shikai and Reika should love him as well. He gave her everything. It was only right.

“Dinner would be wonderful my dear, go bathe and enjoy what you’ve earnt. You deserve it after how you have suffered today” Once more he’d wrap her in a tight hug, the sort of hug that brothers did because he was a good brother and he’d let it linger a moment. Just for a moment. Just to let her presence soak into his. He could feel Watari building in the back of his mind, to be so close to her slender form, to be so near to that dainty neck it would be so easy to just snap it -

He let her go.

Her room. A foreign concept to the shinigami who had grown up in poverty, sleeping in a hovel with her patchwork family. The academy wasn’t much different - no it was crammed in a dorm with others. To have a room of her own was a luxury beyond concept. There wouldn’t be snoring or awkward groans of those sleeping in the same room as her. It was a novel idea. Something she desperately needed.

Reika needed nothing more than to be alone in her thoughts. To seek shelter and comfort in the quiet. The mere thought of being buried in the covers swaddled almost like a newborn sent a slight shiver down her spine, calming the shinigami for a brief moment as Watari summoned a few female staff. That calm didn’t stay long as the servants bowed before her.

This was life as a noble - Having people prostrate themselves before you? It didn’t settle well with the redhead. It nearly caused her stomach to knot in guilt, but the whirlwind of emotions within her seemed to cast it all aside. They were here to help, to help her to her room. Yes, that’s what mattered most right now. She had to escape to her own little world.

The noblewoman was ready to leave, permission was granted, yet before she could Watari embraced her one last time. She found herself instinctively wrapping her arms around him, feeling his warmth and love for a lingering moment. “Thank you, brother.” The words came softly as she released him from her embrace, turning to the women before her, gesturing to them to rise, which they did in an instant. “Please show me to a vacant bedroom. I’d like to lie down for a bit.”

The women bowed, “Right this way, Lady Suzumei.”

Reika smiled softly at Watari. “I’ll see you at dinner then.” With that, Lady Suzemei followed the pair of servants into the manor. It was all alien to the young woman, but she’d make use of the gifts that her new brother gave her. She’d have her revenge and turn this wretched society on its head. Reika was going to play their noble games and she intended on winning.

[exit]