Having witnessed most of the war from the sidelines, Yue wasn’t accustomed to having her decisions usually dictate who’d die in the line of duty and who’d have a chance of escape. The Second Division required her to devote most, if not all, of her energy to it – training the unseated officers, keeping tabs on the squads sent out, maintaining the security in Seireitei, sending out the Patrol Corps in various dangerous locations and keeping an eye on the prisoners within the Nest of Maggots, all with the highest degree of secrecy. It wasn’t something she couldn’t deal with but it had taken its toll on her considerably over the past few months. At least her Division members were behaving – of course, after she’d threatened to exact the old Captain’s punishments on them.
On top of all that, the Noble houses – particularly between Yukihiro and Ichigawa, yet again – were in the middle of another petty feud Yue found was rather stupid. All the same, she sat in the main meeting room of the Ichigawa House, watching two surly men argue about pointless things, considering they were in the middle of a war. Yue brought new meaning to the term ‘grin and bear it’, being the only borderline cheerful person in the spacious room lined with nobles of every age. She hadn’t bothered with a formal kimono like everyone else as she’d been called on too short notice to have the energy to change.
“You’re paying for the damages, Isao! Half of the southern compound is in ruins thanks to those hooligans you call Yukihiro’s!” The Head, Ichigawa Kazuhiro, spat at the man facing him. The man in question slammed his hand down on the low table, rising slightly from his seat.
“They were provoked!” He ground out, eyes flaring. “At least we contribute something to this war! What have you done? Watched the districts you were supposed to be protecting razed to the ground? Satisfying, I’m sure.”
Kazuhiro’s temper flared and his grip on the blade by his side tightened. “We did what we could! We don’t rush like savages into every battle like you lot!”
For the first time in her 247 years of living in Seireitei, Yue looked on in dismay. Ichigawa and Yukihiro had had their rivalry for thousands of years but it had never escalated into this. She’d seen her family members vandalize the Ichigawa compound plenty of times, watched the buildings explode and go up in flames while her family ran off, cackling. Likewise, the same had been done to her own family’s compound though to a lesser degree. Much of the aggression came in a diplomatic way, like right at before that moment.
She was broken out of her train of thought by the entire table flying up towards the side of the room the Ichigawa’s were sitting on. A flash of ashen wood was all she saw before the women on the other side scattered, shrieking. Above her, Isao had risen, Zanpakuto drawn, facing an equally armed Kazuhiro. Across her, Yue could see that Ichigawa Ryuusei, her fiancé, was equally horrified as she and he scrambled to stand up amidst the chaos. Moments later, he extended a hand to Yue who hopped up, narrowly avoiding the whirl of Isao’s blade.
A full-on brawl had resulted of the discussion that was supposed to have taken place that afternoon. The women were gone, cowering in the hallways, away from the brawling men. Yue looked on the from the outside as the delicate paper of the sliding door tore, her pale eyes calmly taking in the brutality her family was renowned for.
Yet Isao couldn’t have been solely blamed for his reaction; the Yukihiro house had already lost a tenth of their family to the hundred-year war and more were coming back either incapacitated or dead every day. Their tacticians worked night and day to maximize damage and minimize losses and so far, it had worked – if it hadn’t been for them, the casualties would’ve been much worse. The Gotei had acknowledged this and were now seeking to recruit the second family for their own use, something that Isao wasn’t on board with just yet. How that would play out was yet to be seen.
Furthermore, the House’s role in the war was undoubtedly important; being the militaristic generals of Seireitei, the Yukihiro planned and devised every move of the military not directly under the Gotei 13. However, Isao was already on the verge of pulling out on account of the devastatingly high casualties. He was torn between his pride – his House’s sole purpose for thousands of years – and the welfare of his family; what was the point of upholding a tradition when there was none left to do so?
Unlike their rivals, the Ichigawa House had barely lifted a finger since the war had started and seemed to be living the exact same was a hundred years prior. The war seemed to be of no concern to them; the Academy and upper districts were their only responsibilities and that’s what they devoted their energy to. The Seicho House stood in a similar position; it seemed only the Yukihiro and Usagi Houses were willing to take a stand.
Tuning out the racket, Yue’s attention shifted to the Onmitsukido agent she’d sensed approaching. He was panting by the time he got to her and shakily pointed in the direction of the First Division, his voice laden with exhaustion as he spoke, “Captain-Commander’s calling a meeting.”
It was the first time since Yue had become Captain two years ago that the old Captain-Commander had called a meeting, possibly since the invasion. With a quick “Thank you,” to the agent and a bow to Ryuusei, Yue Flash Stepped towards the First Division. She briefly thought back to the brawl behind her and worry crossed her mind as she wondered how they’d stop without her there.
The barracks of the First Division loomed up as Yue ran through the gates and made it just in the nick of time, taking her seat to Kuroda’s immediate left. None paid any heed to her entrance as far as she saw, probably unable to sense her suppressed reiatsu. It was the first time she’d seen all the Captains assembled together but it only served to stress their dire situation. Hell butterflies fluttered around her, getting in the way of her vision and one landed on the side of her teacup. However, unlike most others, Yue smiled and gently pushed them away. They constantly kept up a stream of information such as the status of the Nest of Maggots.
As she took a sip of her tea, her eyes roamed the room, absentmindedly taking in small, insignificant details of the other Captains. Captain Akimoto appeared to be surrounded by Hell Butterflies as well, probably relaying some sort of important information to him. He was something of a father to Yue and she greeted him with a polite nod and a gentle smile, just as she’d always had.
Her gaze flicked from one Captain to another, smiling when she made eye contact and in Hakkin Kiyoko’s case, accompanied by a wave. Osamu, as usual, sat by himself near the end of the room, three Captains seated between them.
Yue didn’t personally have an opinion on the man; nevertheless, he made her uneasy and she made an effort to avoid him at times. Something about him unsettled her, though she wasn’t sure what could be different. His ambition? That could certainly be a dangerous element in any situation and it could prove him as a difficult adversary to face. But that was ridiculous, he was far too loyal to his Division to do any damage anywhere. Yue found that avoiding people tended to be counter-productive and needless; with that in mind, she smiled at Osamu as well before focusing her attention on the Captain-Commander.
Ueshima, Yuzuki
Yuzuki wasn’t happy. The chatter of a certain Shinigami by her side was grating on her already frazzled nerves; the temptation of just strangling Ine and getting over with it was hard to smother.
“Listen here, Ine! I want to be done with this stupid mission and get back to work, you hear?” Ine’s chatter ceased for a moment, before he went into rapid-fire again.
“What are you teaching me? Did the Captain say so? Are we killing Hollows? ‘Cause if so, I’m ready!”
“No doubt you are,” Yuzuki ground back, her temper flaring. “Look here, unless you calm yourself and learn how to act properly in certain situations, you’re not being a very good Shinigami. And certainly not one fit for the Fifth Division! You’re lucky the Captain isn’t here to see you act like a child fawning over candy –“
Ine’s cut her off, barely fazed by her scolding. “Look, Lieutenant! A human soul! Are we supposed to perform Konso?” He rushed forward and was unceremoniously yanked back by Yuzuki’s tight grip on his arm. It was a miracle the bone hadn’t shattered.
“Ine, if you cannot bear to listen to my instructions that can easily be remedied by a return trip to Seireitei. That’s actually quite an appealing thought –“ Once again, Ine hurriedly cut Yuzuki off.
“I’m sorry, Lieutenant. Please proceed.” His enthusiasm had died down considerably, possibly due to the dull pain throbbing through his arm.
Yuzuki guided him through several important processes upon entering the Human world – making sure the Senkaimon was closed, having enough gigai pills and how to use them. She herself didn’t bother demonstrating how to enter a gigai; it was a fairly uncomplicated process and she didn’t fancy losing her clothes. Ine listened intently, careful not to irritate his superior even further.
Fifteen minutes in and Yuzuki pointed to a small, silver device fastened to the sash of her Shihakusho. “This communicator is to be used as frequently as specified, Ine.” Ine responded by giving her a slightly guilty look. He’d overlooked his communicator last time and had had a spitting mad Yuzuki on his head for the next couple of weeks. “Whenever you don’t use this, the overseer of your mission which in most cases is I, will think that something’s wrong – at worst, you’re dead and at best, that you’re demented.”
Suddenly, Yuzuki found herself speaking to a head missing its cranium, forehead, eyes and nose. It was nothing but the lower portion of Ine’s head sliced cleanly off. Blood spattered onto Yuzuki’s skin and uniform – however, that went unnoticed as her blade deftly came up to block the whirling claw that functioned like an oversized saw. The woman sidestepped away from the Hollow’s tail and turned to face the monstrous head of the Hollow, its jaws wide open in order to make her its next meal.
“Oh no you don’t,” Yuzuki hissed, lashing out with her foot and knocking the whirling claw away before leaping high into the air, pushing a blast of reiryoku into her legs. Her right leg came crashing down on the Hollow’s head, reiryoku and all, the immense pressure cracking the monster into bits. It dissolved into dust, billowing out into the air filled with the screeching of Hollows.
She hadn’t noticed it before. The entire area was full of Hollows of every shape and size, emitting some sort of noise as they measured up their next target. Behind them, Yuzuki could see a couple of Menos Grande stretching up into the sky. She gritted her teeth, hand on her communicator. She hadn’t ever seen such a large amount of Hollows in one place, as organized as they were. This wouldn’t be good.
Just as she pressed the button, the first of the Hollows came leaping for her face.
“Lead Astray, Senmei Yoake!”
That had been around a hundred years ago.
Yuzuki now perched on the edge of one of the taller houses, setting her sights upon anything remotely resembling a Hollow. Activity in the Human world had been low lately, even in the entire area Yuzuki had been tasked with overseeing. It was considerably larger than any other Shinigami’s, possibly the entire area of theirs’ put together. She made contact with the odd Shinigami but overall, it was pretty bleak. And bleak was one thing she couldn’t stand.
After the attack, she’d been asked to stay back in the Human world and keep watch, as well as regulate the flow of Hollows. Most of it had been nothing but child’s play to her but it now served to bore her to hell and back. She sighed idly, playing with the blade of her Zanpakuto.
When could she return back to Seireitei? She missed working in the Fifth Division, doing paperwork and monitoring the rest of the Shinigami. ’Even socializing was better than this,’ she thought with a shudder. Yuzuki knew they were having a hard time in Rukongai, so why not send her in to help? Couldn’t a lesser Shinigami do the same job here while she hacked away at Hollow after Hollow?
