Oblivion Member
- Last Seen: 8 yrs ago
- Joined: 11 yrs ago
- Posts: 139 (0.04 / day)
- VMs: 0
-
Username history
- Oblivion 11 yrs ago
Status
User has no status, yet
Bio
User has no bio, yet
Most Recent Posts
I'd like to reserve a spot, please~ I'm probably making a psychotic patient suffering from nightmare disorder but I'll have to postpone it till tomorrow, since it's currently nearly 1 am here.
Breathe.
Yuzuki was precisely three seconds away from reaching out and snapping the boy’s neck. Her constant state of agitation should’ve bothered her but so far, Yuzuki hadn’t noticed, having been in the same volatile state since leaving Seireitei. Too long had she spent in a gigai. Too long had she been walking as an invisible soul. Too long she had been alone.
And now, she had people. Humans, yes, but still people. They could see her. While she felt something akin to relief in the beginning, now she was about to pounce of the boy and rip his tongue out, silencing his complaints. Or perhaps shove the hands bearing a razor-sharp crystal into his face; that’d shut him up equally well. Or maybe not, she added as an afterthought, being in no mood to listen to bloodcurdling screams. Perhaps this was proof that she needed to return to Seireitei; she was certainly losing it and she knew it. And the kid would know soon too, if he didn’t shut his yapper.
“Yuzuki, this isn’t working…” The boy muttered, focusing his pale green eyes on the crystal in his hands. It was small, around 3 inches high and a silvery blue color, identical to the one hanging around his neck on a cord, albeit bigger. It vibrated slightly now and then, seemingly straining against its edges. It had failed to do anything, much less move.
Yuzuki gave him and exasperated look. “I told you you’re doing fine, considering you couldn’t do anything a few days ago. The fact that it’s moving even a little bit is a huge improvement, meaning you’re moving every singly atom inside it. I told you to go practice with Ciara anyway, didn’t I? And it’s Yuzuki-san!” The boy, Emmett, had an affinity for high-speed movement, something Yuzuki likened to Shunpo, and he thought himself too good already to practice. Naturally, that didn’t sit well with Yuzuki and she constantly nagged him about it, deliberately irritating him enough to make him throw down the crystal and stomp towards Ciara. Yuzuki smirked in victory and bent down, picking up the crystal and pocketing it, making a mental note to return it later.
“Go away, Emmett, you’re distracting me.” Ciara’s voice rang out between the trees, bringing Yuzuki’s attention back to the duo who, as always, were arguing about something or the other.
“I’m just standing here, what’s your deal?” Emmett shot back before his form blurred, accelerating towards the target tree and back again at the same time as Ciara, reaching his former position four seconds before the girl. Ciara noted this and stomped her foot, growling.
“Get away from me.” She hissed, eyes flaring. Her 6’2 form towered over Emmett’s shorter one but he didn’t back down.
He stuck out his tongue and sneered, “And what if I don’t? What are you going to do then? You can’t even catch me.” Emmett taunted, watching Ciara grow redder and redder by the second. The moment he saw her hands reaching out towards him, fingers bent in a claw-like motion, he ducked and ran off, turning back only to see her still far behind him.
He was yanked back by a strong hand on his arm, a grip that stopped him immediately and he flew backwards, straight into Ciara who was in a similar predicament. Yuzuki stood behind them, a hand gripping each of their arms in an iron-hold. Emmett struggled, trying to pry himself away from her but she was simply too strong, and it was obvious she wasn’t even exerting any effort from the relaxed stance her body took. Glaring at them both, Yuzuki waited until they stopped squirming and let go of their arms. She got hold of their ears before they tried to run off and dragged them both outside the forest, pulling them along with her like they weighted no more than a single feather and all the while grumbling at them, pushing down the urge to just abandon them in an alley somewhere and be done with it.
“You two need to learn how to behave. How do you expect yourselves to learn to become master Fullbringers if you behave like this? You need to concentrate! You need discipline and you need to put your differences aside along with those petty fights of yours! I swear to god, if killing you wouldn’t be counter-productive and against my orders, I would’ve done so a long time ago…”
Meanwhile, Ciara still struggled, obstinately dragging her feet along the ground in order to slow Yuzuki’s step. However, that proved useless as the woman maintained her steady pace with no problems. The girl huffed and glared at the grass, inwardly cursing Yuzuki to hell and back. Why had she even agreed to training with that demon? While Yuzuki had seemed approachable and level-headed at first, her ferocious temper had quickly taken hold and overpowered Ciara and Emmett. She couldn’t even believe the woman was over a thousand years old; why hadn’t she withered into dust yet? Yuzuki still had the appearance of a woman in entering her late twenties and not the hag she was supposed to be. Surely thousand-year-old women didn’t wear such weird ‘uniforms’, did they? They’d seen several other Shinigami and none sported the uniform Yuzuki wore. Ciara huffed again and dug her nails into Yuzuki’s spine, demanding to be let go. Yuzuki barely flinched, the thick material of her Shihakusho shielding her from the harm fingernails could cause.
“Let go! I’m telling the rest of the gang!” Ciara screeched, thrashing her limbs about in an effort to escape. Yuzuki abruptly stopped, turning her head around to lock eyes with Ciara. A chill ran up Ciara’s back, feeling Emmett’s chilly glare.
“There are others?” Yuzuki inquired, dumping Emmett onto the grass and whirling around to grip Ciara with both hands. It made sense. Why would there be only two Fullbringers in an area so large? It only confirmed her suspicions and proved that the humans had lied to her. They’d already showed their untrustworthiness to the extent where Yuzuki simply surveyed them with narrowed eyes.
Ciara stared back at Yuzuki, refusing to answer, perhaps trying to make up for her slip. However, the game was up. Yuzuki let go and turned around, starting to walk towards the Irish town. Emmett hastily picked himself up off the ground and reached towards Yuzuki, misinterpreting her intentions.
“Please don’t hurt them! They haven’t done anything wrong.” He pleaded, his hand closing around Yuzuki’s arm. She yanked her arm away and continued towards the town.
“I’m not going to hurt them. I need to know who they are and their abilities. I have orders to train you, allof you. The fact that you lied to me makes me less likely to listen to you now.” She answered, not once turning to look back at Emmett and Ciara.
“We were only trying to protect ourselves. We’re sorry…” Emmett’s voice trailed away as Yuzuki got farther and farther away from him, leaving the two humans behind. His helpless voice didn’t move Yuzuki in the least and she continued on her way, determined on uncovering the rest of the Fullbringers.
The cut on her arm throbbed and burned, prompting Yue to finally sit down and heal herself. Perched on an elevated platform underneath the outer walls of the Yukihiro compound, she placed her hand on the cut and watched it glow green, healing the injury underneath. Her mind, however, wandered back towards the agent that had visited her shortly before she’d entered the compound to alert the tacticians. The Onmitsukido agent had informed her of important information she couldn’t overlook; the documents sat in her office that very moment.
Once the cut was healed, Yue retracted her hand and the very place her injury had been was once again covered by smooth pale skin. Getting up, Yue dusted herself off and Flash Stepped towards the 2nd Division, taking care not to lose her balance as she raced across rooftop after rooftop, wall after wall. In a minute, she dropped down into the courtyard where the 2nd’s Shinigami had assembled pre-battle but was now empty and devoid of life. She picked up her haori that still lay at the locked doors and shrugged it on, once again settling her hands in their familiar, laced-together position. The roll-call and casualty count been taken care of by Hayan long back, leaving the statistics in her office as per her request. This was where she headed to, her steps inaudible on the tiled floors of the corridor.
Her office was housed in the 2nd’s Main Barracks, the building bearing a large ‘2’ on its front and the Division’s insignia on the heavy wooden doors. Momentarily extracting her hands from her sleeves, Yue unlocked the doors with a key that had miraculously appeared in her hand out of nowhere. An observant person, however, would note that it probably came from underneath her sleeves, hidden somewhere on her being. As she entered and closed the main doors, several other doors barred her way to her office and each time, she produced a key from somewhere under her sleeves. Finally, when the last door closed behind her, Yue slid the thin bamboo door open and entered her office. One would think that with all its defenses, doors and keys that this was where she kept all her documents and classified information but no. This was just a ‘dummy’ office of sorts, keeping only trivial information. This was unknown to everyone expect Yue herself, not even Hakkin knew. The folders with ‘classified’ stamped across their covers were only temporarily placed there, before Yue decided whether to leave them there or move them.
She picked up the folders and opened them one by one, first taking note of the casualty and roll-call folder. The casualty rates were average for such a raid, even lower than usual as they had taken a stealthy approach. Shutting the folder, Yue sealed it with a sticker across both ends and placed it in one of the massive filing cabinets lining the room, locking it after placing the folder inside.
Work was no doubt piling up. With her Lieutenant gone for the moment, Yue was met with yet another towering stack of paperwork, probably one she’d been neglecting for the past week or so. She didn’t hesitate to move it to the corner of the room where several other stacks lay, away from her immediate surroundings which made it easier to altogether ignore, as it didn’t nag at her as much. One of the room’s predominant features was the towering stacks of paperwork Yue neglected day after day. The essential paperwork she dealt with but everything else was usually left to her Lieutenant after being moved to his office. The six stacks of paper in the corner told her that a ‘move’ was due.
Shaking her head at the paperwork, Yue returned to the other folder in her hands, with several stamps of ‘important’ and ‘classified’ across it. Upon opening it, Yue inspected documents informing her of a hostage captured by the Sixth. She frowned – that was weird, the Sixth weren’t called upon to participate. So where had this hostage been captured. Sitting down at her desk, Yue carefully read through the contents of the folder, scanning it thrice for minute details and once she was sure every piece of information was extracted from the text in front of her, she quickly gathered the documents. She sealed them in a different folder marked ‘confidential’ to be given to Kuroda. With her mind running at a hundred miles per hour and the folder in hand, Yue stood up and left the barracks, emerging out into the darkness beyond. She surveyed the darkening sky with mild surprise – exactly how long had she been engrossed with the folder? It was long, but Yue didn’t see how it was sunset already.
Her answer came in the form of the battle. After the several hours occupied by the 2nd’s surprise attack, the 10th’s fighting had taken several long hours as well, nearly spanning in the double digits. Yue had, of course, remained there, watching the fight carefully. She had to admit, Osamu was an impeccable warrior with a blade and had cut down more foes than anyone but of course, that was understandable, as he was a Captain. However, his prowess in Zanjutsu had still taken her by surprise, aweing her for a split second before she turned back to the rest of the battle. However, the folder brought her attention back to the matter at hand (literally). There were several agents in the vicinity of the barracks and though they were well hidden, Yue knew them well enough to pick them out. “Takane?” She called out, her voice barely higher than her usual soft tone and the agent dropped from the roof and bowed.
“Yes, Captain?”
“There was a report left on my desk about a hostage your squad captured. Would you please elaborate on it, if it’s not too much trouble?” Yue’s unorthodox way of addressing Shinigami of a lower rank have been perceived as highly unprofessional on her part but it was apparent that the agent was already used to it.
“We captured him a few hours ago near the 22nd district during the battle earlier today.” Takane explained.
Yue nodded along, the bits and pieces falling into place. That’s why they’d returned injured, as was typical of a target-specific attack. Only this time, they’d left the target alive. “He should have been in the Maggots' Nest by now. Why isn’t he there yet?”
“The Enforcement Squad showed up near the end and when we tied the hostage down, they attempted to claim him as their hostage and fighting broke out. We took him to Seireitei and obviously the Enforcement Squad tried to take him to their Division and us to ours.”
Yue smiled at him, urging him to go along. He was admitting something wrong, as was evident by his slowing words. It was a known fact that Yue disapproved of the Sixth and Second’s childish squabbles but she said nothing pertaining to their rivalry. “But he’s in the holding cells now, is he not?”
“Yes, Captain. It was decided he was to be put under the Second’s jurisdiction, where he belongs, for the time being. We waited for your approval to take him down to the Maggots' Nest.” Takane said.
“Take him down. If he’s as important as the report says, you should put him in the maximum security cells. There are a few dozen or so free, aren’t there?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Thank you very much, Takane-san.” Yue gave him a bright smile and handed him the folder. “Please give this to Captain Kuroda.”
“Hai.”
This left Yue alone once again, standing the midst of a huge network of barracks and underground facilities. She turned towards the exit, intent on heading back towards the Yukihiro residence to retire for the night.
Yuzuki was precisely three seconds away from reaching out and snapping the boy’s neck. Her constant state of agitation should’ve bothered her but so far, Yuzuki hadn’t noticed, having been in the same volatile state since leaving Seireitei. Too long had she spent in a gigai. Too long had she been walking as an invisible soul. Too long she had been alone.
And now, she had people. Humans, yes, but still people. They could see her. While she felt something akin to relief in the beginning, now she was about to pounce of the boy and rip his tongue out, silencing his complaints. Or perhaps shove the hands bearing a razor-sharp crystal into his face; that’d shut him up equally well. Or maybe not, she added as an afterthought, being in no mood to listen to bloodcurdling screams. Perhaps this was proof that she needed to return to Seireitei; she was certainly losing it and she knew it. And the kid would know soon too, if he didn’t shut his yapper.
“Yuzuki, this isn’t working…” The boy muttered, focusing his pale green eyes on the crystal in his hands. It was small, around 3 inches high and a silvery blue color, identical to the one hanging around his neck on a cord, albeit bigger. It vibrated slightly now and then, seemingly straining against its edges. It had failed to do anything, much less move.
Yuzuki gave him and exasperated look. “I told you you’re doing fine, considering you couldn’t do anything a few days ago. The fact that it’s moving even a little bit is a huge improvement, meaning you’re moving every singly atom inside it. I told you to go practice with Ciara anyway, didn’t I? And it’s Yuzuki-san!” The boy, Emmett, had an affinity for high-speed movement, something Yuzuki likened to Shunpo, and he thought himself too good already to practice. Naturally, that didn’t sit well with Yuzuki and she constantly nagged him about it, deliberately irritating him enough to make him throw down the crystal and stomp towards Ciara. Yuzuki smirked in victory and bent down, picking up the crystal and pocketing it, making a mental note to return it later.
“Go away, Emmett, you’re distracting me.” Ciara’s voice rang out between the trees, bringing Yuzuki’s attention back to the duo who, as always, were arguing about something or the other.
“I’m just standing here, what’s your deal?” Emmett shot back before his form blurred, accelerating towards the target tree and back again at the same time as Ciara, reaching his former position four seconds before the girl. Ciara noted this and stomped her foot, growling.
“Get away from me.” She hissed, eyes flaring. Her 6’2 form towered over Emmett’s shorter one but he didn’t back down.
He stuck out his tongue and sneered, “And what if I don’t? What are you going to do then? You can’t even catch me.” Emmett taunted, watching Ciara grow redder and redder by the second. The moment he saw her hands reaching out towards him, fingers bent in a claw-like motion, he ducked and ran off, turning back only to see her still far behind him.
He was yanked back by a strong hand on his arm, a grip that stopped him immediately and he flew backwards, straight into Ciara who was in a similar predicament. Yuzuki stood behind them, a hand gripping each of their arms in an iron-hold. Emmett struggled, trying to pry himself away from her but she was simply too strong, and it was obvious she wasn’t even exerting any effort from the relaxed stance her body took. Glaring at them both, Yuzuki waited until they stopped squirming and let go of their arms. She got hold of their ears before they tried to run off and dragged them both outside the forest, pulling them along with her like they weighted no more than a single feather and all the while grumbling at them, pushing down the urge to just abandon them in an alley somewhere and be done with it.
“You two need to learn how to behave. How do you expect yourselves to learn to become master Fullbringers if you behave like this? You need to concentrate! You need discipline and you need to put your differences aside along with those petty fights of yours! I swear to god, if killing you wouldn’t be counter-productive and against my orders, I would’ve done so a long time ago…”
Meanwhile, Ciara still struggled, obstinately dragging her feet along the ground in order to slow Yuzuki’s step. However, that proved useless as the woman maintained her steady pace with no problems. The girl huffed and glared at the grass, inwardly cursing Yuzuki to hell and back. Why had she even agreed to training with that demon? While Yuzuki had seemed approachable and level-headed at first, her ferocious temper had quickly taken hold and overpowered Ciara and Emmett. She couldn’t even believe the woman was over a thousand years old; why hadn’t she withered into dust yet? Yuzuki still had the appearance of a woman in entering her late twenties and not the hag she was supposed to be. Surely thousand-year-old women didn’t wear such weird ‘uniforms’, did they? They’d seen several other Shinigami and none sported the uniform Yuzuki wore. Ciara huffed again and dug her nails into Yuzuki’s spine, demanding to be let go. Yuzuki barely flinched, the thick material of her Shihakusho shielding her from the harm fingernails could cause.
“Let go! I’m telling the rest of the gang!” Ciara screeched, thrashing her limbs about in an effort to escape. Yuzuki abruptly stopped, turning her head around to lock eyes with Ciara. A chill ran up Ciara’s back, feeling Emmett’s chilly glare.
“There are others?” Yuzuki inquired, dumping Emmett onto the grass and whirling around to grip Ciara with both hands. It made sense. Why would there be only two Fullbringers in an area so large? It only confirmed her suspicions and proved that the humans had lied to her. They’d already showed their untrustworthiness to the extent where Yuzuki simply surveyed them with narrowed eyes.
Ciara stared back at Yuzuki, refusing to answer, perhaps trying to make up for her slip. However, the game was up. Yuzuki let go and turned around, starting to walk towards the Irish town. Emmett hastily picked himself up off the ground and reached towards Yuzuki, misinterpreting her intentions.
“Please don’t hurt them! They haven’t done anything wrong.” He pleaded, his hand closing around Yuzuki’s arm. She yanked her arm away and continued towards the town.
“I’m not going to hurt them. I need to know who they are and their abilities. I have orders to train you, allof you. The fact that you lied to me makes me less likely to listen to you now.” She answered, not once turning to look back at Emmett and Ciara.
“We were only trying to protect ourselves. We’re sorry…” Emmett’s voice trailed away as Yuzuki got farther and farther away from him, leaving the two humans behind. His helpless voice didn’t move Yuzuki in the least and she continued on her way, determined on uncovering the rest of the Fullbringers.
The cut on her arm throbbed and burned, prompting Yue to finally sit down and heal herself. Perched on an elevated platform underneath the outer walls of the Yukihiro compound, she placed her hand on the cut and watched it glow green, healing the injury underneath. Her mind, however, wandered back towards the agent that had visited her shortly before she’d entered the compound to alert the tacticians. The Onmitsukido agent had informed her of important information she couldn’t overlook; the documents sat in her office that very moment.
Once the cut was healed, Yue retracted her hand and the very place her injury had been was once again covered by smooth pale skin. Getting up, Yue dusted herself off and Flash Stepped towards the 2nd Division, taking care not to lose her balance as she raced across rooftop after rooftop, wall after wall. In a minute, she dropped down into the courtyard where the 2nd’s Shinigami had assembled pre-battle but was now empty and devoid of life. She picked up her haori that still lay at the locked doors and shrugged it on, once again settling her hands in their familiar, laced-together position. The roll-call and casualty count been taken care of by Hayan long back, leaving the statistics in her office as per her request. This was where she headed to, her steps inaudible on the tiled floors of the corridor.
Her office was housed in the 2nd’s Main Barracks, the building bearing a large ‘2’ on its front and the Division’s insignia on the heavy wooden doors. Momentarily extracting her hands from her sleeves, Yue unlocked the doors with a key that had miraculously appeared in her hand out of nowhere. An observant person, however, would note that it probably came from underneath her sleeves, hidden somewhere on her being. As she entered and closed the main doors, several other doors barred her way to her office and each time, she produced a key from somewhere under her sleeves. Finally, when the last door closed behind her, Yue slid the thin bamboo door open and entered her office. One would think that with all its defenses, doors and keys that this was where she kept all her documents and classified information but no. This was just a ‘dummy’ office of sorts, keeping only trivial information. This was unknown to everyone expect Yue herself, not even Hakkin knew. The folders with ‘classified’ stamped across their covers were only temporarily placed there, before Yue decided whether to leave them there or move them.
She picked up the folders and opened them one by one, first taking note of the casualty and roll-call folder. The casualty rates were average for such a raid, even lower than usual as they had taken a stealthy approach. Shutting the folder, Yue sealed it with a sticker across both ends and placed it in one of the massive filing cabinets lining the room, locking it after placing the folder inside.
Work was no doubt piling up. With her Lieutenant gone for the moment, Yue was met with yet another towering stack of paperwork, probably one she’d been neglecting for the past week or so. She didn’t hesitate to move it to the corner of the room where several other stacks lay, away from her immediate surroundings which made it easier to altogether ignore, as it didn’t nag at her as much. One of the room’s predominant features was the towering stacks of paperwork Yue neglected day after day. The essential paperwork she dealt with but everything else was usually left to her Lieutenant after being moved to his office. The six stacks of paper in the corner told her that a ‘move’ was due.
Shaking her head at the paperwork, Yue returned to the other folder in her hands, with several stamps of ‘important’ and ‘classified’ across it. Upon opening it, Yue inspected documents informing her of a hostage captured by the Sixth. She frowned – that was weird, the Sixth weren’t called upon to participate. So where had this hostage been captured. Sitting down at her desk, Yue carefully read through the contents of the folder, scanning it thrice for minute details and once she was sure every piece of information was extracted from the text in front of her, she quickly gathered the documents. She sealed them in a different folder marked ‘confidential’ to be given to Kuroda. With her mind running at a hundred miles per hour and the folder in hand, Yue stood up and left the barracks, emerging out into the darkness beyond. She surveyed the darkening sky with mild surprise – exactly how long had she been engrossed with the folder? It was long, but Yue didn’t see how it was sunset already.
Her answer came in the form of the battle. After the several hours occupied by the 2nd’s surprise attack, the 10th’s fighting had taken several long hours as well, nearly spanning in the double digits. Yue had, of course, remained there, watching the fight carefully. She had to admit, Osamu was an impeccable warrior with a blade and had cut down more foes than anyone but of course, that was understandable, as he was a Captain. However, his prowess in Zanjutsu had still taken her by surprise, aweing her for a split second before she turned back to the rest of the battle. However, the folder brought her attention back to the matter at hand (literally). There were several agents in the vicinity of the barracks and though they were well hidden, Yue knew them well enough to pick them out. “Takane?” She called out, her voice barely higher than her usual soft tone and the agent dropped from the roof and bowed.
“Yes, Captain?”
“There was a report left on my desk about a hostage your squad captured. Would you please elaborate on it, if it’s not too much trouble?” Yue’s unorthodox way of addressing Shinigami of a lower rank have been perceived as highly unprofessional on her part but it was apparent that the agent was already used to it.
“We captured him a few hours ago near the 22nd district during the battle earlier today.” Takane explained.
Yue nodded along, the bits and pieces falling into place. That’s why they’d returned injured, as was typical of a target-specific attack. Only this time, they’d left the target alive. “He should have been in the Maggots' Nest by now. Why isn’t he there yet?”
“The Enforcement Squad showed up near the end and when we tied the hostage down, they attempted to claim him as their hostage and fighting broke out. We took him to Seireitei and obviously the Enforcement Squad tried to take him to their Division and us to ours.”
Yue smiled at him, urging him to go along. He was admitting something wrong, as was evident by his slowing words. It was a known fact that Yue disapproved of the Sixth and Second’s childish squabbles but she said nothing pertaining to their rivalry. “But he’s in the holding cells now, is he not?”
“Yes, Captain. It was decided he was to be put under the Second’s jurisdiction, where he belongs, for the time being. We waited for your approval to take him down to the Maggots' Nest.” Takane said.
“Take him down. If he’s as important as the report says, you should put him in the maximum security cells. There are a few dozen or so free, aren’t there?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Thank you very much, Takane-san.” Yue gave him a bright smile and handed him the folder. “Please give this to Captain Kuroda.”
“Hai.”
This left Yue alone once again, standing the midst of a huge network of barracks and underground facilities. She turned towards the exit, intent on heading back towards the Yukihiro residence to retire for the night.
Sounds interesting, I'm in.
Watching the battle from her vantage point was actually pretty easy; it allowed Yue to survey each and every part of the battle. Each part except for the factory. It went well for a while, even with the abnormally larger flow of Hollows than expected. Where were all the extra Hollows coming from? It was definitely strange, and Yue leaned in, scrutinizing the battlefield. It was hard to tell who was who so high up and the 10th's large number hadn’t helped either. However, when Osamu headed into the factories, Yue began to worry. It was impossible to see anything from up there. Even if she were on the ground, some of the Shinigami and Osamu were inside.
There were two plausible reasons why Osamu and some of the Shinigami had headed in, right in the middle of the battle. Admittedly, the first reason sounded completely stupid as she thought it over. Osamu could have waited until the end of the battle to inspect the factories and check up on their condition. The second reason, however, made much more sense, despite the fact that the first was a much better option concerning the battle. It seemed that there was an infestation inside of some sorts, an infestation that they’d missed. She inwardly berated herself for not sensing it earlier, though in their defense the Hollows were undetectable, at least until Osamu and the Shinigami had arrived. Yue hoped there were no Vasto Lorde inside or anything of the sort; otherwise, it’d be a battle to the death. A Vasto Lorde or even an Espada were the last thing they needed last now, though the thought of the Espada biding their time was more worrying than being attacked right at that moment. At least with two Captains there, said Espada could’ve been overpowered.
Her mind riddled with worry, Yue watched the factories closely for any sign, anything at all. For the several long minutes she surveyed they factories’ drab grey walls, there was no sign of anything, not even a sound as it was drowned by the sound of battle outside. Yue sighed, contemplating on what to do. Surely Osamu was enough to handle anything in there. The Hollows wouldn’t win this time. Just as she was about to retreat back towards where the 2nd was waiting, Hayan soundlessly dropped down next to her. Yue didn’t start and only turned her head slightly in acknowledgement.
“The 2nd is needed on the other front.” was all that Hayan said before disappearing off the wall. She turned to watch him go and sighed again. As much as this raid was causing her unnecessary grief, it was worth it. And it would’ve been worth much more only had the Captain-Commander listened to her family. Yue was one of the few who knew of the scandal it had caused within the confines of the compound. The outrage it had stirred was understandable and the decision not to use in-depth, special probability sheets for the Captain-Commander was understandable as well. After all, what was the point of showing them to her when she didn’t listen? Of course, Yue couldn’t say anything to the old woman, as she was bound by secrecy. Furthermore, it would’ve been out of place to tell the Kuroda to use her head.
With a last glance towards the battle raging behind her, Yue leapt off the wall and headed towards the second front, a point that had originally been intended for distraction and thus had only had minor defenses. However, Hollows had swarmed towards it like a moth to a flame, for reasons unknown and incomprehensible to Yue. Most of the Onmitsukido had gone back to their duties, the Damage Control Corps in particular. The left the Punishment force, the 2nd’s Shinigami and Yue to deal with the unnaturally large influx of Hollows.
She found her patience being tested by one self-regenerating Adjuchas and she hoped with all her heart it didn’t evolve into an Arrancar, as it’d be a royal pain to get rid of in Arrancar form. He slayed two members of the Punishment force after an hour of battle, making Yue personally go after him. However, it proved to have a significantly larger amount of intelligence than your average Adjuchas as it steered clear of Yue, avoiding her like the plague. That didn’t stop her from pursuing the large, lizard-like monstrosity. Without proper Shunpo, the Adjuchas eventually couldn’t escape the Kido-infused kick that sent it towards the ground mid-jump, smashing it flat. It dissolved into a pool of an acid-like substance, unlike the white dust normal Hollows disintegrated to. And that proved to be another of its special abilities; a second later, it had reformed and slashed Yue’s arm, leaving a long yet shallow gash. She leapt back away from the Adjuchas, landing several feet away before charging again, pumping more Kido into her arms and legs as she did. For a moment, it faltered and Yue feared it wouldn’t hold up – however, miraculously, it did and even as she ran her arm straight through the Hollow and it exploded into dust, the ground cracked and continued to develop fissures under the pressure of Kido. That prompted Yue to finally deactivate Shunko; it often damaged the surroundings equally.
However, with the death of the Adjuchas, the flow of Hollows finally seemed to slow, leading Yue to suspect that perhaps the lizard-like Adjuchas was the leader, of sorts. Obviously the Gillian didn’t have enough intelligence for that, nor did the normal Hollows that she eradicated with a simple kick. Compared to other Shinigami, it wasn’t a ‘simple’ kick but when considering what she’d come to do in the past few decades, it was simple enough for her. Eventually, despite seven more casualties on her side, the Hollows were defeated. None were allowed to retreat and they stopped coming, allowing the Shinigami rest. There were far more casualties in the Seventh, though not by entirely too much.
As the men recovered bodies and treated the wounded, a small group of Healers from the Fourth arrived to take care of the injured. After dealing with her own men – taking a roll call and sending the uninjured back to the 2nd Division barracks – Yue aided the Fourth’s medics wherever needed to avoid more death than necessary. Things continued in this vein until an Inner Court Troops agent arrived, informing her of her dismissal. Relieved of her duty, Yue stayed an hour or so longer, aiding the healers with the injured. There was a surprisingly large amount of injured, Shinigami that were wounded deeply by the offending Hollows. By the time they were over with, there was nothing more than could’ve been done and while most were going to recover, a few would be left with the lasting effects.
Yue bid the healers and Shinigami goodbye and headed back towards Seireitei, straight towards the Yukihiro compound. Inside, the vast network of barracks, living quarters, dojos, offices, houses and gardens were full of men, women and children, not counting the courtyards and the open spaces such as open corridors, etc. Though Yue found it hard to greet each and every single Yukihiro, she did her best, bowing and smiling and receiving both in turn. She headed straight for the tacticians’ offices deep within the compound and descended several flights of stairs down into an underground complex.
The area was dimly lit, yet it was only for effect. While four well-built men remained huddled around a large, round table laid out with close to fifty different maps and long, long sheets of figures and calculations, most of the actual work was done further in. However, Yue knew that she didn’t have to go in any farther; this was enough.
“It looks like we’re going to have to make some alterations, tell Kuroda if you will. Also, I believe that inspection Akira-san wanted is due.” Despite her voice’s light and gentle quality, as if it was nothing serious (though truthfully, it wasn’t all that serious either), three of the men got up and headed through a door leading deeper in. The last man remained seated on the table, still poring over figures before he looked up, his eyes landing on her minor injury. The slash had stopped bleeding long ago but her arm was smeared with blood from where other Hollows had disturbed the cut. He raised his eyebrows slightly, as if inquiring the reason. Yue shrugged and offered him a sweet smile instead before turning on her heel and exiting the underground chamber.
Yuzuki was beyond pissed. She glared at a couple of kids that literally ran right through her, seeing as she wasn’t exactly visible to them. It had been several decades since she’s last encountered a spiritually aware human. Even Shinigami were rare nowadays, the last contact she’d had being several weeks ago. Spending a hundred years in the same darn place wasn’t exactly fun.
She kicked at a nearby rock – or a boulder, as that was a more fitting term – and sent it flying, preferably crushing one of those irritating humans that always mistook her accidental meddling as ‘paranormal activity’. Of course, Yuzuki had had her fair share of accidents, often unknowingly upsetting a few items – unlike the boulder, which was completely intentional, she thought with a smirk – and subsequently spooking the inhabitants of the small Irish town. She was almost tempted to go ‘haunt’ a house, because it was certainly better than simply standing there, waiting for something. She didn’t even know what she was supposed to be waiting for and had been waiting for the past eighty years.
So when she saw a Hell butterfly directed towards her, and not the other way round, she jumped up and grabbed at the insect, nearly squishing it in the process. The butterfly gracefully evaded her clutches and instead landed on her cheek, transmitting the message from her Captain. She nodded along even though there was no one there to see her. After sending an affirmative reply back with the butterfly, Yuzuki stretched and headed towards the nearby forest.
It was a two hour walk to the woods that bordered the quiet town and all the while, Yuzuki stirred up stones and sticks with her feet, counting the number of rocks landing and sticks snapping. By the time she reached the edge of the forest, she had counted a number nearly double of her original. She headed inside, weaving amongst the trees in a rather strange pattern – appearing here, disappearing there; one would almost think she was playing a game.
Almost.
Yuzuki abruptly whirled around, her arms lashing out towards something behind her and coming in contact with a body. The body struggled in her iron grip as she held it in a tight headlock. Her height certainly lent a hand in the situation; being five foot seven and several inches taller than the body allowed her to grip the offender tight enough that no matter how hard they squirmed, they couldn’t get away. Yuzuki became aware of the human’s gasping but didn’t loosen her grip – how and why could they see her, much less follow her? Furthermore, she could feel their reiatsu, no matter how faint it was compared to her own much vaster one.
Another form emerged from within the trees, brandishing a rather ancient-looking spear. So these were the Fullbring Captain Akimoto was talking about. Yuzuki surveyed the newcomer for a while, taking note of her short burgundy hair and dark brown eyes. In her arms was a male, possibly the girl’s companion, a boy of average height and had shoulder-length messy dark hair with pale, pale skin, like he’d never seen the sun. He’d long since stopped struggling and instead dug his nails into her arm, which didn’t really faze Yuzuki. Glaring at the humans, Yuzuki loosened her grip ever so lightly so that the male wouldn’t suffocate in her arms.
“Who are you and why are you following me?”
There were two plausible reasons why Osamu and some of the Shinigami had headed in, right in the middle of the battle. Admittedly, the first reason sounded completely stupid as she thought it over. Osamu could have waited until the end of the battle to inspect the factories and check up on their condition. The second reason, however, made much more sense, despite the fact that the first was a much better option concerning the battle. It seemed that there was an infestation inside of some sorts, an infestation that they’d missed. She inwardly berated herself for not sensing it earlier, though in their defense the Hollows were undetectable, at least until Osamu and the Shinigami had arrived. Yue hoped there were no Vasto Lorde inside or anything of the sort; otherwise, it’d be a battle to the death. A Vasto Lorde or even an Espada were the last thing they needed last now, though the thought of the Espada biding their time was more worrying than being attacked right at that moment. At least with two Captains there, said Espada could’ve been overpowered.
Her mind riddled with worry, Yue watched the factories closely for any sign, anything at all. For the several long minutes she surveyed they factories’ drab grey walls, there was no sign of anything, not even a sound as it was drowned by the sound of battle outside. Yue sighed, contemplating on what to do. Surely Osamu was enough to handle anything in there. The Hollows wouldn’t win this time. Just as she was about to retreat back towards where the 2nd was waiting, Hayan soundlessly dropped down next to her. Yue didn’t start and only turned her head slightly in acknowledgement.
“The 2nd is needed on the other front.” was all that Hayan said before disappearing off the wall. She turned to watch him go and sighed again. As much as this raid was causing her unnecessary grief, it was worth it. And it would’ve been worth much more only had the Captain-Commander listened to her family. Yue was one of the few who knew of the scandal it had caused within the confines of the compound. The outrage it had stirred was understandable and the decision not to use in-depth, special probability sheets for the Captain-Commander was understandable as well. After all, what was the point of showing them to her when she didn’t listen? Of course, Yue couldn’t say anything to the old woman, as she was bound by secrecy. Furthermore, it would’ve been out of place to tell the Kuroda to use her head.
With a last glance towards the battle raging behind her, Yue leapt off the wall and headed towards the second front, a point that had originally been intended for distraction and thus had only had minor defenses. However, Hollows had swarmed towards it like a moth to a flame, for reasons unknown and incomprehensible to Yue. Most of the Onmitsukido had gone back to their duties, the Damage Control Corps in particular. The left the Punishment force, the 2nd’s Shinigami and Yue to deal with the unnaturally large influx of Hollows.
She found her patience being tested by one self-regenerating Adjuchas and she hoped with all her heart it didn’t evolve into an Arrancar, as it’d be a royal pain to get rid of in Arrancar form. He slayed two members of the Punishment force after an hour of battle, making Yue personally go after him. However, it proved to have a significantly larger amount of intelligence than your average Adjuchas as it steered clear of Yue, avoiding her like the plague. That didn’t stop her from pursuing the large, lizard-like monstrosity. Without proper Shunpo, the Adjuchas eventually couldn’t escape the Kido-infused kick that sent it towards the ground mid-jump, smashing it flat. It dissolved into a pool of an acid-like substance, unlike the white dust normal Hollows disintegrated to. And that proved to be another of its special abilities; a second later, it had reformed and slashed Yue’s arm, leaving a long yet shallow gash. She leapt back away from the Adjuchas, landing several feet away before charging again, pumping more Kido into her arms and legs as she did. For a moment, it faltered and Yue feared it wouldn’t hold up – however, miraculously, it did and even as she ran her arm straight through the Hollow and it exploded into dust, the ground cracked and continued to develop fissures under the pressure of Kido. That prompted Yue to finally deactivate Shunko; it often damaged the surroundings equally.
However, with the death of the Adjuchas, the flow of Hollows finally seemed to slow, leading Yue to suspect that perhaps the lizard-like Adjuchas was the leader, of sorts. Obviously the Gillian didn’t have enough intelligence for that, nor did the normal Hollows that she eradicated with a simple kick. Compared to other Shinigami, it wasn’t a ‘simple’ kick but when considering what she’d come to do in the past few decades, it was simple enough for her. Eventually, despite seven more casualties on her side, the Hollows were defeated. None were allowed to retreat and they stopped coming, allowing the Shinigami rest. There were far more casualties in the Seventh, though not by entirely too much.
As the men recovered bodies and treated the wounded, a small group of Healers from the Fourth arrived to take care of the injured. After dealing with her own men – taking a roll call and sending the uninjured back to the 2nd Division barracks – Yue aided the Fourth’s medics wherever needed to avoid more death than necessary. Things continued in this vein until an Inner Court Troops agent arrived, informing her of her dismissal. Relieved of her duty, Yue stayed an hour or so longer, aiding the healers with the injured. There was a surprisingly large amount of injured, Shinigami that were wounded deeply by the offending Hollows. By the time they were over with, there was nothing more than could’ve been done and while most were going to recover, a few would be left with the lasting effects.
Yue bid the healers and Shinigami goodbye and headed back towards Seireitei, straight towards the Yukihiro compound. Inside, the vast network of barracks, living quarters, dojos, offices, houses and gardens were full of men, women and children, not counting the courtyards and the open spaces such as open corridors, etc. Though Yue found it hard to greet each and every single Yukihiro, she did her best, bowing and smiling and receiving both in turn. She headed straight for the tacticians’ offices deep within the compound and descended several flights of stairs down into an underground complex.
The area was dimly lit, yet it was only for effect. While four well-built men remained huddled around a large, round table laid out with close to fifty different maps and long, long sheets of figures and calculations, most of the actual work was done further in. However, Yue knew that she didn’t have to go in any farther; this was enough.
“It looks like we’re going to have to make some alterations, tell Kuroda if you will. Also, I believe that inspection Akira-san wanted is due.” Despite her voice’s light and gentle quality, as if it was nothing serious (though truthfully, it wasn’t all that serious either), three of the men got up and headed through a door leading deeper in. The last man remained seated on the table, still poring over figures before he looked up, his eyes landing on her minor injury. The slash had stopped bleeding long ago but her arm was smeared with blood from where other Hollows had disturbed the cut. He raised his eyebrows slightly, as if inquiring the reason. Yue shrugged and offered him a sweet smile instead before turning on her heel and exiting the underground chamber.
Yuzuki was beyond pissed. She glared at a couple of kids that literally ran right through her, seeing as she wasn’t exactly visible to them. It had been several decades since she’s last encountered a spiritually aware human. Even Shinigami were rare nowadays, the last contact she’d had being several weeks ago. Spending a hundred years in the same darn place wasn’t exactly fun.
She kicked at a nearby rock – or a boulder, as that was a more fitting term – and sent it flying, preferably crushing one of those irritating humans that always mistook her accidental meddling as ‘paranormal activity’. Of course, Yuzuki had had her fair share of accidents, often unknowingly upsetting a few items – unlike the boulder, which was completely intentional, she thought with a smirk – and subsequently spooking the inhabitants of the small Irish town. She was almost tempted to go ‘haunt’ a house, because it was certainly better than simply standing there, waiting for something. She didn’t even know what she was supposed to be waiting for and had been waiting for the past eighty years.
So when she saw a Hell butterfly directed towards her, and not the other way round, she jumped up and grabbed at the insect, nearly squishing it in the process. The butterfly gracefully evaded her clutches and instead landed on her cheek, transmitting the message from her Captain. She nodded along even though there was no one there to see her. After sending an affirmative reply back with the butterfly, Yuzuki stretched and headed towards the nearby forest.
It was a two hour walk to the woods that bordered the quiet town and all the while, Yuzuki stirred up stones and sticks with her feet, counting the number of rocks landing and sticks snapping. By the time she reached the edge of the forest, she had counted a number nearly double of her original. She headed inside, weaving amongst the trees in a rather strange pattern – appearing here, disappearing there; one would almost think she was playing a game.
Almost.
Yuzuki abruptly whirled around, her arms lashing out towards something behind her and coming in contact with a body. The body struggled in her iron grip as she held it in a tight headlock. Her height certainly lent a hand in the situation; being five foot seven and several inches taller than the body allowed her to grip the offender tight enough that no matter how hard they squirmed, they couldn’t get away. Yuzuki became aware of the human’s gasping but didn’t loosen her grip – how and why could they see her, much less follow her? Furthermore, she could feel their reiatsu, no matter how faint it was compared to her own much vaster one.
Another form emerged from within the trees, brandishing a rather ancient-looking spear. So these were the Fullbring Captain Akimoto was talking about. Yuzuki surveyed the newcomer for a while, taking note of her short burgundy hair and dark brown eyes. In her arms was a male, possibly the girl’s companion, a boy of average height and had shoulder-length messy dark hair with pale, pale skin, like he’d never seen the sun. He’d long since stopped struggling and instead dug his nails into her arm, which didn’t really faze Yuzuki. Glaring at the humans, Yuzuki loosened her grip ever so lightly so that the male wouldn’t suffocate in her arms.
“Who are you and why are you following me?”
I'm still here~ I think I edited my post to exclude Essence's character but I'll check once more.
Leon hummed to himself, navigating the slippery rocks with all the grace of a ballet dancer. He kept his eyes on the offending slime that coated the rocks, whose very mission was to send the four humans careening into the muck. Trailing behind Hakuren, almost like a second shadow, Leon was careful not to get his shoes and jeans dirty, He’d have to look horrendous for days on end and that didn’t really sit well with the young lad. No, not at all, Leon decided, prancing from one rock to another and getting ahead of Hakuren and Leila.
He was just balancing himself on a protruding piece of bright blue stone when Mado ran off, wielding the whip she’d brought along with her. He ducked at the last moment, the whip missing him by mere centimeters. What on earth was this girl doing? Leon stumbled backwards, careful not to land in the disgusting muck. He wasn’t sure he could handle parading around in muck-covered jeans, that was for sure. His foot landed half a meter behind him on another rock, where it proceeded to slip from under him again. He frantically searched for another one before stepping onto another one, heaving a sigh on relief when he found stable footing. He liked this cave less and less. What being with at least one brain cell would come to these caves to leave clues? Or perhaps they were sadistic, annoying Nobodies that liked watching others struggle. He would’ve bet that somewhere up towards the roof, hiding amongst the stalactites was a Nobody or even the witch herself, somehow coming back from life.
His ridiculous thoughts went on in that vein for a while, until he saw Mado loose her footing and land in the very same muck he was trying to avoid. At least she had stopped brandishing the whip. Watching her made Leon nearly slip himself and he flailed lightly, regaining his balance before righting himself. He watched her land in the dirt and felt a little bit of pity for her. But it was interesting. Of course, until he saw that she was still wearing his jacket. His heart wrenched a little bit for his precious piece of clothing as Leon almost reached out to it, beckoning the jacket back to him, back to safety. Luckily, it wasn’t splattered with mud (or whatever it was).
“Mado-san, please try not to get my jacket dirty. It’s precious.” And pretty, Leon added to himself.
Inwardly crying, he turned towards Mado, intent on watching her so that she wouldn’t fall again, dirtying his jacket in the process. Of course, that threatened his face with the possibility of several whip-lashes but it was worth it. He did feel a bit bad about her shoeless state but he sure as hell wasn’t giving his shoes up this time. Instead, he slowed down, waiting for Mado to catch up.
“Hakuren-san, how much farther?” Leon was beginning to get bored. Playing hopscotch in a leaky, damp cave was fun for only so long. What were they even looking for?
He was just balancing himself on a protruding piece of bright blue stone when Mado ran off, wielding the whip she’d brought along with her. He ducked at the last moment, the whip missing him by mere centimeters. What on earth was this girl doing? Leon stumbled backwards, careful not to land in the disgusting muck. He wasn’t sure he could handle parading around in muck-covered jeans, that was for sure. His foot landed half a meter behind him on another rock, where it proceeded to slip from under him again. He frantically searched for another one before stepping onto another one, heaving a sigh on relief when he found stable footing. He liked this cave less and less. What being with at least one brain cell would come to these caves to leave clues? Or perhaps they were sadistic, annoying Nobodies that liked watching others struggle. He would’ve bet that somewhere up towards the roof, hiding amongst the stalactites was a Nobody or even the witch herself, somehow coming back from life.
His ridiculous thoughts went on in that vein for a while, until he saw Mado loose her footing and land in the very same muck he was trying to avoid. At least she had stopped brandishing the whip. Watching her made Leon nearly slip himself and he flailed lightly, regaining his balance before righting himself. He watched her land in the dirt and felt a little bit of pity for her. But it was interesting. Of course, until he saw that she was still wearing his jacket. His heart wrenched a little bit for his precious piece of clothing as Leon almost reached out to it, beckoning the jacket back to him, back to safety. Luckily, it wasn’t splattered with mud (or whatever it was).
“Mado-san, please try not to get my jacket dirty. It’s precious.” And pretty, Leon added to himself.
Inwardly crying, he turned towards Mado, intent on watching her so that she wouldn’t fall again, dirtying his jacket in the process. Of course, that threatened his face with the possibility of several whip-lashes but it was worth it. He did feel a bit bad about her shoeless state but he sure as hell wasn’t giving his shoes up this time. Instead, he slowed down, waiting for Mado to catch up.
“Hakuren-san, how much farther?” Leon was beginning to get bored. Playing hopscotch in a leaky, damp cave was fun for only so long. What were they even looking for?
Fox of Spades said
I totally didn't need to sleep tonight. Or for the next ten years. And Pach, why? ;____;
The 2nd’s courtyard, filled with various squads of men dressed in the same style of dress, continued to accommodate the steady inflow of squads. The Punishment Force was all there, standing in attention in uniform lines without a single sign of movement. They were dressed in the standard attire for a Punishment Force member, wearing a dark closed Shihakusho with a thin black sash. The sleeves and pants were wrapped tightly around their limbs to minimize rustling that would give them away; it was faintly reminiscent of a ninja uniform from the Human World. Veiled Patrol Corps poured in from a particular direction, only a dozen or so missing as they were doing their duty. The Detention Unit and Inner Court Troops weren’t present either, as their specific tasks didn’t allow for even a moment of disturbance. The Damage Control Corps were mostly all there, standing just behind the Punishment Force in similar but less sever uniforms.
At the head of them all stood the Fourth Seat who was arguably on the same level as the Third and Fifth Seat, all of them being Corps-Commanders. He surveyed the troops for several long minutes, the heavy folder in his arms thrown wide open as he took a roll-call. None of the Shinigami’s true names were called out – no, those were stashed deep within the Second Division’s underground chambers, the exact location known only to the Captain. Instead, he called out their codenames and received a “Present!” from the corresponding names. When met with silence, the Fourth Seat, who went by the name Hayan, marked them ‘On duty’. All in all, they had a good force.
Just in time, their Captain arrived and they instinctively bowed in a display of discipline, all bending in tandem. Yue bowed in response, offering them a reassuring smile. She turned to Hayan and took the paper with the final details from him, along with the squad division papers. Due to the sheer size of the Onmitsukido, they were to be split into squads of several dozen in each, while the 2nd’s Shinigami were to be split into different squads. She looked over the arrangements illustrates and turned the page, where an approximate count of the members was given. Underneath, a long string of numbers seemed incomprehensible to anyone who didn’t know what they were. Of course, Yue had requested aid from her family and had been sent a probability sheet from the tacticians, something she’d allotted to the different squads several days before and divided them up according to that, after viewing key Onmitsukido agents’ profiles.
Nodding in approval, Yue handed the sheet back to Hayan and said, “Go ahead and split them up, Hayan-san. Please try to hurry up, though, we’re running short of time.” Hayan was well aware that the 2nd Division was to go first in this raid; they were the ones to set the pace against the Hollows. There was perhaps no one better than the Second Division for the job; the Hollows wouldn’t even hear them coming.
In a few minutes, the Onmitsukido and 2nd Division Shinigami had split themselves into their assigned squads and stood in attention, waiting for the signal to depart. Hayan could faintly hear the sound of ticking from an obscure location. Glancing at his Captain, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. She was simply taking off her haori, neatly folding the material and placing it right between the courtyard gates, as was customary. She was to go last; due to her uniform’s revealing nature, her skin would’ve stood out like a beacon amongst all the black of the rest of the uniforms. It was nothing uncommon for the 2nd Division, as they’d seen her without her haori countless times. The other Divisions, however, hadn’t, just like how he’d seen his comrades without their masks but outsiders hadn’t.
His inner musings were interrupted at the sound of a soft beep. At that, Yue turned and smiled again. “Alright, off you go. Please take care; what you do today is crucial for this raid’s success.”
A collective shout of “Hai!” resonated across the courtyard as the Onmitsukido and Shinigami disappeared in an impressive display of Shunpo. Hayan disappeared along with them, taking his place in his assigned squad at the head of the assault. Yue followed last, trailing behind the Onmitsukido as they inconspicuously made their way out of Seireitei and into Rukongai, blending in with their surroundings eerily well. Of course, it could’ve been better had it been night but none of the Shinigami stationed to patrol in Rukongai noticed their presence, even if it was for a mere few seconds.
About a hundred meters or so from the factories, they stopped, inwardly preparing themselves and making last minute adjustments that lasted only a few seconds. At a sign from Hayan, the rest of the squads’ leaders mimicked it before springing forward, intermingling with the shadows that spanned from the massive factory’s walls. The walls surrounding the factory, separating it from the farms that lay beyond cast additional shadows to the already dark scene. It was two hours or so before dawn, giving them enough cover that wouldn’t have been sufficient had it been day. Of course, complete darkness would’ve suited them better but who were they to complain?
Squad after squad leapt over the walls and, at another signal from the men at the front, split up into different directions. Soon, the wailing of Hollows filled the air as the Onmitsukido set about brutally ending their existence. More and more Hollows poured in. An hour in and Hollows were constantly being beaten back, pushed away from the factory. Eventually, the Onmitsukido had cleared a large arc away from the factories which continued functioning. Gillian and Adjuchas fell one after the other as Yue impaled them with high-density Kido. The sound of Shunko’s screeching and the Hollows’ cry was deafening; it was something the reinforcements would be arriving to very soon. The flashes of blue-tinted Kido overtook the left side of the factory where Yue was tasked with keeping the horde of Gillian and Adjuchas at bay; several other Punishment Force members accompanied her, doing a good job of eradicating the monstrous creatures. An agent had left long back, informing the main force to come in and relieve the 2nd of their duty. The 2nd had struck hard and fast, as per their duty. The Hollows were driven back a respectable distance away from the factories which was their primary goal. No Hollow remained in the immediate vicinity of the factories – it now fell onto the 10th to get rid of the rest and avoid the rest from taking the factories back. As soon as they saw the reinforcements arriving, Yue shouted, “Retreat!” As per the strategic retreat often rehearsed, the Onmitsukido retreated and returned back towards the upper districts of Rukongai and back into Seireitei.
Deactivating Shunko, Yue instead stood on the sidelines as the main force advanced in, praying that it’d work. She could already see a dozen or so corpses of the Onmitsukido littered around the battlefield and her heart wrenched slightly for the loss of life. However, she knew it was necessary and didn’t dwell on it, instead remaining back to observe till the end of the battle. She was aware of the fact that he family was to be inspecting the aftermath and remained seated on the high wall out of view, waiting and scrutinizing the battle. Any information would be valuable at this point.
At the head of them all stood the Fourth Seat who was arguably on the same level as the Third and Fifth Seat, all of them being Corps-Commanders. He surveyed the troops for several long minutes, the heavy folder in his arms thrown wide open as he took a roll-call. None of the Shinigami’s true names were called out – no, those were stashed deep within the Second Division’s underground chambers, the exact location known only to the Captain. Instead, he called out their codenames and received a “Present!” from the corresponding names. When met with silence, the Fourth Seat, who went by the name Hayan, marked them ‘On duty’. All in all, they had a good force.
Just in time, their Captain arrived and they instinctively bowed in a display of discipline, all bending in tandem. Yue bowed in response, offering them a reassuring smile. She turned to Hayan and took the paper with the final details from him, along with the squad division papers. Due to the sheer size of the Onmitsukido, they were to be split into squads of several dozen in each, while the 2nd’s Shinigami were to be split into different squads. She looked over the arrangements illustrates and turned the page, where an approximate count of the members was given. Underneath, a long string of numbers seemed incomprehensible to anyone who didn’t know what they were. Of course, Yue had requested aid from her family and had been sent a probability sheet from the tacticians, something she’d allotted to the different squads several days before and divided them up according to that, after viewing key Onmitsukido agents’ profiles.
Nodding in approval, Yue handed the sheet back to Hayan and said, “Go ahead and split them up, Hayan-san. Please try to hurry up, though, we’re running short of time.” Hayan was well aware that the 2nd Division was to go first in this raid; they were the ones to set the pace against the Hollows. There was perhaps no one better than the Second Division for the job; the Hollows wouldn’t even hear them coming.
In a few minutes, the Onmitsukido and 2nd Division Shinigami had split themselves into their assigned squads and stood in attention, waiting for the signal to depart. Hayan could faintly hear the sound of ticking from an obscure location. Glancing at his Captain, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. She was simply taking off her haori, neatly folding the material and placing it right between the courtyard gates, as was customary. She was to go last; due to her uniform’s revealing nature, her skin would’ve stood out like a beacon amongst all the black of the rest of the uniforms. It was nothing uncommon for the 2nd Division, as they’d seen her without her haori countless times. The other Divisions, however, hadn’t, just like how he’d seen his comrades without their masks but outsiders hadn’t.
His inner musings were interrupted at the sound of a soft beep. At that, Yue turned and smiled again. “Alright, off you go. Please take care; what you do today is crucial for this raid’s success.”
A collective shout of “Hai!” resonated across the courtyard as the Onmitsukido and Shinigami disappeared in an impressive display of Shunpo. Hayan disappeared along with them, taking his place in his assigned squad at the head of the assault. Yue followed last, trailing behind the Onmitsukido as they inconspicuously made their way out of Seireitei and into Rukongai, blending in with their surroundings eerily well. Of course, it could’ve been better had it been night but none of the Shinigami stationed to patrol in Rukongai noticed their presence, even if it was for a mere few seconds.
About a hundred meters or so from the factories, they stopped, inwardly preparing themselves and making last minute adjustments that lasted only a few seconds. At a sign from Hayan, the rest of the squads’ leaders mimicked it before springing forward, intermingling with the shadows that spanned from the massive factory’s walls. The walls surrounding the factory, separating it from the farms that lay beyond cast additional shadows to the already dark scene. It was two hours or so before dawn, giving them enough cover that wouldn’t have been sufficient had it been day. Of course, complete darkness would’ve suited them better but who were they to complain?
Squad after squad leapt over the walls and, at another signal from the men at the front, split up into different directions. Soon, the wailing of Hollows filled the air as the Onmitsukido set about brutally ending their existence. More and more Hollows poured in. An hour in and Hollows were constantly being beaten back, pushed away from the factory. Eventually, the Onmitsukido had cleared a large arc away from the factories which continued functioning. Gillian and Adjuchas fell one after the other as Yue impaled them with high-density Kido. The sound of Shunko’s screeching and the Hollows’ cry was deafening; it was something the reinforcements would be arriving to very soon. The flashes of blue-tinted Kido overtook the left side of the factory where Yue was tasked with keeping the horde of Gillian and Adjuchas at bay; several other Punishment Force members accompanied her, doing a good job of eradicating the monstrous creatures. An agent had left long back, informing the main force to come in and relieve the 2nd of their duty. The 2nd had struck hard and fast, as per their duty. The Hollows were driven back a respectable distance away from the factories which was their primary goal. No Hollow remained in the immediate vicinity of the factories – it now fell onto the 10th to get rid of the rest and avoid the rest from taking the factories back. As soon as they saw the reinforcements arriving, Yue shouted, “Retreat!” As per the strategic retreat often rehearsed, the Onmitsukido retreated and returned back towards the upper districts of Rukongai and back into Seireitei.
Deactivating Shunko, Yue instead stood on the sidelines as the main force advanced in, praying that it’d work. She could already see a dozen or so corpses of the Onmitsukido littered around the battlefield and her heart wrenched slightly for the loss of life. However, she knew it was necessary and didn’t dwell on it, instead remaining back to observe till the end of the battle. She was aware of the fact that he family was to be inspecting the aftermath and remained seated on the high wall out of view, waiting and scrutinizing the battle. Any information would be valuable at this point.
Leon refrained from rolling his eyes at Hakuren’s remark but he couldn’t help but smirk. Hakuren was an interesting character, obviously smart and philosophic but at that moment, he was displaying several perverted qualities as well. Leon snorted to himself, inwardly attributing the addition title of ‘Slightly Perverted’ to Hakuren’s mental profile.
He grinned at the pair and dropped his eyes down to the bag that Mado held, noticing the sharp, sword-like edge sticking out through the material. Oh, that carrot. A laugh burst out from his lips as soon as Mado cuffed Hakuren’s hand and he nearly doubled over, committing the priceless image to memory for all eternity. This gave him endless ammunition to use against Hakuren, something Leon would be sure to tease him about for weeks to come.
He sniggered at Mado’s description of the items as ‘armor’. “Well, I don’t know how much protection a vibrating carrot would give you but the whips could surely be counted as a weapon.” He placed emphasis on the ‘vibrating carrot’ and nudged Mado’s bag with his leg as a way of pointing towards it. However, he must’ve kicked it slightly too hard because said carrot fell out and promptly started vibrating the moment it made contact with the ground. The vibrating made the thing shuffle in Hakuren and Leila's direction at a slow, ominous pace, as if threathing, 'I'm coming to get you,'. Leon hunched over slightly, his shoulders shaking at the effort of trying not to laugh. “You might want to switch that off, Mado-san, my bad. Unless you plan on using it.” Great, he was turning into a pervert too. Leon shook his head and grinned to himself, finding the situation amusing, even with Mado’s complete cluelessness towards the situation.
Raising his arms above his head, Leon stretched his arms and back, feeling his joints crackle and snap. His lack of a jacket was starting to bother him less and less; it had been ages since he had been out in only a shirt. His mind went back to the encounter with Mrs. Syook and the abandoned house; the abandoned house could wait for later, and Mrs. Syook’s interest in him could wait forever. “We found out some information from a sea urchin, though. I forgot her name but this is what she said.” His forgetting Mrs. Syook’s name was a minor lie, however, something Leon was conveniently going to ignore until he needed it again. Turning towards Leila and Hakuren, Leon recited the old sea urchin’s story word by word.
“Long, long ago, a terrible event took place that even the most educated of Nobodies knows the exact details and causes of. A woman was accused of being a witch, with several followers and animals that people demanded be executed. Instead, it was decided that the woman was to be drowned, this woman who everyone saw as a dangerous witch capable of untold things. And so the witch hunts began…”
Leon went on and on, describing the event in detail, only pausing here and there to let his companions soak in the massive amount of details. Except for Mado, of course, whom Leon wasn’t really sure whether she was listening or not at any given time. He could’ve proposed to her and he wouldn’t be sure whether she’d have a reaction, let alone a plausible one. However, he went on, his sharp golden eyes settling on Leila and Hakuren at random intervals. When he was done, he ended with a flourish and a small, warm smile. He had done his part, now for the caves.
“So, now that we’re all together, how does heading for the caves sound?” And with that, Leon skipped off towards the direction of the caves, not too fast that the others would lose sight and track of him. He was nearly prancing but the peculiarity of his gait didn’t bother him. A cool breeze picked up from the direction of the caves, allowing him to take in fresh, clean air. “Hurry up, would you? You guys walk so slowly…” He turned, slowing down as he walked backwards, beckoning the others towards him.
He grinned at the pair and dropped his eyes down to the bag that Mado held, noticing the sharp, sword-like edge sticking out through the material. Oh, that carrot. A laugh burst out from his lips as soon as Mado cuffed Hakuren’s hand and he nearly doubled over, committing the priceless image to memory for all eternity. This gave him endless ammunition to use against Hakuren, something Leon would be sure to tease him about for weeks to come.
He sniggered at Mado’s description of the items as ‘armor’. “Well, I don’t know how much protection a vibrating carrot would give you but the whips could surely be counted as a weapon.” He placed emphasis on the ‘vibrating carrot’ and nudged Mado’s bag with his leg as a way of pointing towards it. However, he must’ve kicked it slightly too hard because said carrot fell out and promptly started vibrating the moment it made contact with the ground. The vibrating made the thing shuffle in Hakuren and Leila's direction at a slow, ominous pace, as if threathing, 'I'm coming to get you,'. Leon hunched over slightly, his shoulders shaking at the effort of trying not to laugh. “You might want to switch that off, Mado-san, my bad. Unless you plan on using it.” Great, he was turning into a pervert too. Leon shook his head and grinned to himself, finding the situation amusing, even with Mado’s complete cluelessness towards the situation.
Raising his arms above his head, Leon stretched his arms and back, feeling his joints crackle and snap. His lack of a jacket was starting to bother him less and less; it had been ages since he had been out in only a shirt. His mind went back to the encounter with Mrs. Syook and the abandoned house; the abandoned house could wait for later, and Mrs. Syook’s interest in him could wait forever. “We found out some information from a sea urchin, though. I forgot her name but this is what she said.” His forgetting Mrs. Syook’s name was a minor lie, however, something Leon was conveniently going to ignore until he needed it again. Turning towards Leila and Hakuren, Leon recited the old sea urchin’s story word by word.
“Long, long ago, a terrible event took place that even the most educated of Nobodies knows the exact details and causes of. A woman was accused of being a witch, with several followers and animals that people demanded be executed. Instead, it was decided that the woman was to be drowned, this woman who everyone saw as a dangerous witch capable of untold things. And so the witch hunts began…”
Leon went on and on, describing the event in detail, only pausing here and there to let his companions soak in the massive amount of details. Except for Mado, of course, whom Leon wasn’t really sure whether she was listening or not at any given time. He could’ve proposed to her and he wouldn’t be sure whether she’d have a reaction, let alone a plausible one. However, he went on, his sharp golden eyes settling on Leila and Hakuren at random intervals. When he was done, he ended with a flourish and a small, warm smile. He had done his part, now for the caves.
“So, now that we’re all together, how does heading for the caves sound?” And with that, Leon skipped off towards the direction of the caves, not too fast that the others would lose sight and track of him. He was nearly prancing but the peculiarity of his gait didn’t bother him. A cool breeze picked up from the direction of the caves, allowing him to take in fresh, clean air. “Hurry up, would you? You guys walk so slowly…” He turned, slowing down as he walked backwards, beckoning the others towards him.
At Mado’s helpful suggestion, Leon snorted and shook his head. “I already have money so no thanks.” He shuddered at the idea of marrying that old, puffing urchin. No, he could definitely save that for… well, never. However, at that point, as he looked at Mado, he noted something definitely strange about her. The girl wasn’t ok, something was off about her, something that in turn made Leon step away from her with a weirded-out look on his face.
He ended up regretting that entire motion, however, when he finally noticed what the girl was wearing. Underneath his blazer was the leather outfit, all strapped up and form fitting that without the jacket, Leon would wager that even in Nowhere, Mado would’ve gotten arrested for indecency. His hand twitched and he clenched his fist, trying to suppress the urge. However, he had to do it— he facepalmed.
“Mado-san, you…” He started, unsure of how to break the news to her. “Your outfit is… weirdly flattering,” Where was all this coming from? “But completely indecent. I’m sure you don’t want Hakuren and the others seeing you like this. Where are your clothes?” Just then, he also noticed the bag she was holding and presumed her wet clothes were inside. Well, dry leather was better than wet cotton, he mused. However, something caught his eye. Clothes couldn’t have that sharp edges, could they? Leon resisted the urge to snatch her bag away and send it flying over the hills and beyond – the girl had brought along some of the previous house’s occupants’ belongings. Belongings he was sure nobody really wanted to see. But then again, he thought with a growing smirk, some of the humans’ reactions would be priceless. A perfect way to study their personalities. Some baffled him beyond belief, like Leila, with whom he had no choice but to appear brooding but worst of all, void of emotion as well. That last bit was perhaps him instead, a replacement for something he didn’t know about the dark-haired girl.
However, he just shook his head at Mado and pointed at a random direction, already having extracted as much information as he could. Mrs. Syook’s contribution was more than enough to bring back to Hakuren and Leila. “Let’s go that way, we need to re-group with the others.” He set off at a gentle pace, turning his head every once in a while to check on Mado. He still didn’t know what to do about Mado’s outfit – the rest were bound to notice. “So, you planning on changing anytime soon?”
As they walked through the nearly abandoned city, the houses grew less and less as they approached the border. Leon could already make out some faint, mysterious landforms in the far distance and presumed them to be the caves – certainly a very long walk from here. And Hakuren and Leila were still nowhere to be found. The houses grew more and more shabby, some nearly falling apart at their distorted wooden foundations as neon pink decay took over. It was a horrendous sight, Leon decided, and shifted his gaze back to the ground where tufts of blue grass grew between uneven rocks. Unexpectedly, he tripped, losing his balance for a second before returning a questioning glance to the ground, as if asking, ‘why did you do that?’.
Just as they were passing a house, Leon heard a faint thump. The house was in a remarkably better condition compared to its neighbours, its walls painted a dull blue color and a small white rickety fence surrounding the property. Surely no-one sane could be living there (but then again, you didn’t necessarily have to be sane in Nowhere to fit in) so that could mean only one thing: Hakuren and Leila. Leon backtracked a bit, still warily watching his step. “I think that’s Hakuren-san and Leila-san. Let’s wait here for them, I’m sure they’re nearly done knocking the house down.”
He ended up regretting that entire motion, however, when he finally noticed what the girl was wearing. Underneath his blazer was the leather outfit, all strapped up and form fitting that without the jacket, Leon would wager that even in Nowhere, Mado would’ve gotten arrested for indecency. His hand twitched and he clenched his fist, trying to suppress the urge. However, he had to do it— he facepalmed.
“Mado-san, you…” He started, unsure of how to break the news to her. “Your outfit is… weirdly flattering,” Where was all this coming from? “But completely indecent. I’m sure you don’t want Hakuren and the others seeing you like this. Where are your clothes?” Just then, he also noticed the bag she was holding and presumed her wet clothes were inside. Well, dry leather was better than wet cotton, he mused. However, something caught his eye. Clothes couldn’t have that sharp edges, could they? Leon resisted the urge to snatch her bag away and send it flying over the hills and beyond – the girl had brought along some of the previous house’s occupants’ belongings. Belongings he was sure nobody really wanted to see. But then again, he thought with a growing smirk, some of the humans’ reactions would be priceless. A perfect way to study their personalities. Some baffled him beyond belief, like Leila, with whom he had no choice but to appear brooding but worst of all, void of emotion as well. That last bit was perhaps him instead, a replacement for something he didn’t know about the dark-haired girl.
However, he just shook his head at Mado and pointed at a random direction, already having extracted as much information as he could. Mrs. Syook’s contribution was more than enough to bring back to Hakuren and Leila. “Let’s go that way, we need to re-group with the others.” He set off at a gentle pace, turning his head every once in a while to check on Mado. He still didn’t know what to do about Mado’s outfit – the rest were bound to notice. “So, you planning on changing anytime soon?”
As they walked through the nearly abandoned city, the houses grew less and less as they approached the border. Leon could already make out some faint, mysterious landforms in the far distance and presumed them to be the caves – certainly a very long walk from here. And Hakuren and Leila were still nowhere to be found. The houses grew more and more shabby, some nearly falling apart at their distorted wooden foundations as neon pink decay took over. It was a horrendous sight, Leon decided, and shifted his gaze back to the ground where tufts of blue grass grew between uneven rocks. Unexpectedly, he tripped, losing his balance for a second before returning a questioning glance to the ground, as if asking, ‘why did you do that?’.
Just as they were passing a house, Leon heard a faint thump. The house was in a remarkably better condition compared to its neighbours, its walls painted a dull blue color and a small white rickety fence surrounding the property. Surely no-one sane could be living there (but then again, you didn’t necessarily have to be sane in Nowhere to fit in) so that could mean only one thing: Hakuren and Leila. Leon backtracked a bit, still warily watching his step. “I think that’s Hakuren-san and Leila-san. Let’s wait here for them, I’m sure they’re nearly done knocking the house down.”
© 2007-2024