"Captain Kaizumi!"

Hioshimi paced around the 8th Squad's barracks irritably. As she passed, rows of shinigami were rushing around, cleaning the place up from their most recent training session. Mats and wooden swords were being stowed away as one unfortunate soul had to wash up the sweat from the floor. Hioshimi didn't pay much notice to them, continuing to call for her captain. [i]"If he doesn't show up soon, we're going to be late..."[/i] she mused angrily.

As the minutes ticked by and the rooms started to empty, Hioshimi's patience also started to wear incredibly thin. It didn't take a lot these days to set her off into a bad mood, especially since she was dragging her lethargy around like a chain around her limbs. The calls of "Captain Kaizumi!" devolved into "Captain!", then "Pachid?!" and, after angrily shrieking "FOR GOODNESS' SAKE, PATCHY!" at the empty captain's office, someone finally approached her nervously.

Hioshimi glared down at the shinigami, recognising him as the 6th seat, Taiko. "Lieutenant, Captain Kaizumi left for the 6th Squad barracks a while back now...something to do with a report." admitted Taiko, squirming a little uncomfortably at the prospect of a scolding from Hioshimi for withholding that information until she'd finished making a complete and utter idiot of herself. And, it was true, Hioshimi was in half a mind to backhand him for the nerve of it all.

Just as she tensed up, ready to yell, exhaustion hit her like a truck. She had just spent a good half-hour running around the barracks, worrying and getting angry, only to find out that Pachid was safe, not ignoring her, and actually doing some work; the relief of it all lowered her guard a little and her tiredness crept up, unknowingly, on the lieutenant. She slumped a little, peering at Taiko hopelessly, before drawing herself back up to her full height and nodding curtly to the 6th seat. "Alright, alright... thank you for telling me at last. Go on, head to the tournament with the others, I'll catch you guys up in a second."

Hioshimi trudged along into her own office, picking up a few stray pieces of paper and shifting them onto the captain's desk in his office for reviewing. Admittedly, she finished them almost three days early, but that was because she knew Pachid would take three days to do anything about it. As she left the captain's office, she stumbled over to her sleeping mat and collapsed into it with a thud.

Staring dimly at the wall, Hioshimi knew that she wasn't going to fall asleep and that the whole prospect of just lying there was a fruitless effort. She also knew she wasn't alone in these kinds of situations and saw Jinzo's face flashing, briefly, across her mind's eye; best at Zanjutsu, but wouldn't do Hakuda unless, and Hioshimi remembered this part very clearly, unless a bare hand could stop his blade in battle. Of course, that meant he wasn't taking part in the tournament too, so Hioshimi could go and say hello to him...

Hioshimi rolled over and felt her zanpakuto watching her. She could try some more Jinzo, see what Fuminshiyou thought on the tournament; but Hioshimi had the sneaky suspicion she wanted to talk to someone without having to leave her bed. She wondered what Pachid would say about that - probably make a joke about her being even lazier than him, which would irritate her and get her moving again. Just as equally, he'd understand...There have been moments, when Hioshimi's insomnia was so bad that she did have to see her Captain in the dead of night to talk about it. [i]"Humiliating,"[/i] scolded a voice in her head. [i]"Like some little girl, afraid of the monsters in her head that creep around at night. You've watched the same five minutes for the past 180 years and it still provokes more fear out of you than an angry Hollow."[/i]

Hioshimi scowled into her pillow, feeling her mood sink dangerously low. For a moment, her hand brushed the hilt of Fuminshiyou, and then with determination Hioshimi unsheathed her blade and ran her finger along the flat side of the clean, sharp metal. She could feel Fuminshiyou's protests, Her argument against Hioshimi's dark thoughts and her comfort. This didn't surprise Hioshimi, the pair of them got along incredibly well together and taught each other new things but...just knowing that there was some sentient being out there that knew Hioshimi wasn't being irrational and (as she's heard the mutterings behind backs about her) attention-seeking by staying awake all night, it gave her energy to keep going.

"Thanks," she whispered to her zanpakuto and pushed herself up from her bed, sheathing Fuminshiyou. There wasn't much time left now, to get to the tournament...jogging out of the barracks, Hioshimi knew she wasn't going to be able to run there. With a sinking feeling, she looked down at her feet and braced herself, knowing that she'll mess this up and crash into something again. 

"I really, [i]really[/i] hate Shunpo...." sighed Hioshimi, pushing herself forward as fast as she can.