NaClO (By invitation, otherwise CLOSED)

[Armphid]

OOC

Hello all. At present this thread is closed except by invitation. If you're particularly interested, you can send me a PM and your application will be considered.

However, please feel free to read along and enjoy! We're looking forward to having fun with this one.

Disclaimer: Those participating in the thread do not own Bleach or any characters and setting material thereof. This is a fan-based thread meant solely for enjoyment and will not be used for profit or material gain in any way.


Name: Isamu Takeuchi
AKA: Gaijin, Whitey, Half-breed, White Boy, That Crazy Fucker
Age: Over 60 chronologically, appears to be 20
Occupation: Shinigami, Political Agitator, Columnist, Rock Star?

Squad Assignment: Squad 9 (formerly Squad 4)
Rank: 10th Seat

Appearance: Isamu grew up with a healthy diet and plenty of exercise. His time at the Shinigami Academy has only strengthened and honed his body. He stands at 6'1" and has a wiry, graceful build. Isamu is a Eurasian, his father is an American and his mother Japanese. His skin tone is noticeably more Caucasian than oriental, and his eyes look more rounded. His body is all taut skin and well defined muscle, though he does have a few scars; one on his right shoulder and one on his left thigh. His hair is a reddish brown, combed but styled only by the wind, falling almost to his jawline. His eyes are gold brown, and remind many who see them of a wolf's eyes. His features are strong and rugged, handsome to some, his skin a pale Caucasian hue. Though he has been "alive" for over 50 years, he looks as though he is in his early twenties due to his existence as a spirit.

He wears the typical shinigami robes but in the tradition of Squad 9 has removed the sleeves, leaving the arm holes a bit ragged and barbaric looking. His shihakusho are custom made and embroidered with a US flag on the back. He usually wears boots instead of the usual shinigami sandals.

Personality: Isamu is driven by principles of justice, fairness, and honesty. He is honest to a fault, willing to tell truth to power and say things that may not be kind or are unpleasant because it's true. He despises those who push others around, bullies most of all, and won't hesitate to stand up to such people. Isamu is direct and confrontational, rarely mincing words or backing down. His sometimes harsh and brusque manner hides an idealistic and romantic heart that is often disappointed with the reality of life. He loves to fight, possessing a love of battle that is like that of Squad 11. He tolerates teasing and playful insults from his friends or from pretty women (He has a real weakness for lovely females), but anyone else is likely to get punched.

Zanpaku-to: Isamu's soul cutter is named Hitoshirezu Daimyo (Veiled Lord) appears as a normal katana when unreleased; though the hilt is slightly longer than a normal katana. The hilt is wrapped in blue fabric with white enamel beneath. It weights about twice what a normal sword does for anyone other than Isamu that handles it.

Released Form The sword transforms into a Western European warhammer, of the style used in the 14th and 15th centuries. The haft is about four feet long in total, made of cherry that has been stained burgundy and brightly polished. Metal bands go down the sides of the about halfway, affixing the head and providing a harder parry surface. The head of the hammer is heavy and strongly made of brightly polished steel. On either side of the main body of the head, the symbol for "justice" is inlaid in shining gold. The hammer end of the head has four small flanges to maximize the force of impact and opposite is a long, slighty curved pick end that's seven inches in length. Atop the head is a hardy yet thin spike, perhaps five inches long.

Shikai : Hitoshirezu Daimyo has two powers (so far) when released.
- Kokou no Te (Hand of the King): By willing it, Isamu can change the weight of his weapon (actually changing the effective gravitational force on it, according to Squad 12's lieutenant) in an instant. He can reduce the weight to 1/100 or increase it to 100 times normal, usually in the instant before the hammer hits.
- Kokou Kusari (King's Chains): This power creates a gravitational attraction between Hitoshirezu Daimyo and the opponent, pulling the foe towards it at all times. This makes it difficult to get reach on or flee from Isamu and can be exploited to open holes in an opponent's defense or create openings for attack as the opponent's movements are constantly being pulled out of alignment; a savvy or skilled fighter can correct for it.
- Unnamed Ability: This power's name has not yet been revealed. Isamu strengthens the gravity between an object and his opponent, making the object "fall" towards them. At present, such objects "fall" at 1g and he can only use one at a time to attack with.

Abilities: Since joining the Gotei 13, Isamu has trained rigorously to improve his already strong swordsmanship and fighting skills. He has become a strong kidou user, though his destructive spells are much stronger than his binding spells. Isamu is also a trained medic and has learned some of the healing kidou of Squad 4 although his healing is mediocre at best. His time with Squad 9 has made him a good writer of in the editorial/opinion style. Isamu is also a skilled guitarist and talented singer. His training with Ikkaku Madarame and others has increased his skills and his power, making Isamu much stronger than his rank would imply; possibly lieutenant level.

He has begun trying to train for Bankai with Toushiro Hitsugaya but has made little progress.

History: Isamu Takeuchi is a second generation Japanese-American. His father fought on the side of the US in WWII in the European Front as part of the Nisei Regiments and his mother was a USO girl. The two settled on the west coast after the war, Isamu being born shortly after. Life was often difficult for the family; mixed-race marriages were viewed with outright disdain and the term “miscegenation” was applied often to Isamu’s existence. Faced with outright bigotry and prejudice, Isamu grew up learning and respecting the American values of liberty, truth, justice for all and being denied them at every turn. Rather than accept it, the youth constantly confronted those who were unfair and rankled against the injustices he saw and experienced. He was determined to live a life of consequence, to make society more just.

It was his tendency to confront lies and speak the truth that lead to his death. Isamu was sent to spend a summer in Japan with his paternal grandparents. During his stay there, he was accosted by a gang of boys who demanded that he, as an American, apologize for attacking Japan out of nowhere in World War II. The teenager refused, saying that Japan had attacked first at Pearl Harbor and that the atrocities they’d committed across Asia in the war had earned them destruction and defeat. One of the boys’ fathers’, a former naval officer, was so incensed when his son told him of what Isamu had said, so insulted that his denial of reality was being challenged, that he followed Isamu as he went to pray at the local shrine and murdered him. The crime was brushed aside as an “uppity foreigner who had spread lies about Japan and it’s honor getting what he deserved” but Isamu’s spirit lingered. He was well on his way to becoming a Hallow in his anger and frustration when he was confronted by a Shinigami who told him of Soul Society and that if he went there, he would find peace and contentment. Isamu relented and allowed the shinigami to perform konso.

It didn't take long in Rukongai for Isamu to see that he had been lied to, and been the victim of another injustice. Far from peaceful and happy, the people in his part Rukongai were poor, and life there was rough and often violent. All the while, the shinigami and the wealthy or favored lived in the seireitei while the masses suffered. The injustice rankled him, as did the inept handling of the many souls that drifted in. Deciding his death would have meaning where his life hadn't, Isamu pressed for change in his neighborhood, to the point of banding the neighbors together to run out the thugs who terrorized them. It was during this that he first accidentally created his zanpakuto. The people in his section of Rukongai, as thanks, pooled their resources and got him admitted to the Academy. Isamu entered, determined to become a Captain so that he could change Soul Society from the place of hypocritical incompetence to a place that was honest and just.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

IC

The wooden floors gleamed. The walls shone. The banners that bore the maxims and mottos of the Shinigami Academy were freshly cleaned and dazzling to the eye. Every statuette and shrine and piece of metal had been polished to gleaming. Today, after all, was no ordinary day. Today, a new class of young souls graduated and would be inducted into the sacred and mighty Gotei 13. Students would become true shinigami and stand in defense of both the living and the dead.

The graduates were assembled on the parade ground. Standing in rows at attention were a group of twenty six young men and women, most in their late teens but some older, all dressed in black robes and billowing hakama pants. White socks and woven sandals covered their feet. Each wore a white sash around their waist and tucked into it was a single sword in a plain black scabbard. The guards and hand grips of the swords were all different, even if the weapons were all of the same single edged katana style.

In front of the students, a large stage had been erected. Upon it were a number of men and women. Most wore uniforms similar to the students, save that they had a few personal affects. But it was the others there, those who wore outer robes of snowy white, edged in black, that truly caught the students imaginations.

"Do you see? I can't believe they actually came!"

"Real captains!"

"I see...Captain Ichimaru, Captain Unohana, Captain Aizen, Captain Kuchiki..."

"Wow! Captain Komamura is a giant! He's just...wow!"

"They say the only ones who've been captains longer than Captain General Yamamoto are Kyouraku and Ukitake there..."

"That haori is really tacky..."

"No, really. He wears those 'cause he's blind, it doesn't matter to him, you know?"

"No captain from 2, 10, 11 or 12...how disappointing!"

From the group on the stage, one figure broke off and approached a low podium set at the forefront. Immediately, all conversation ceased as it a switch had been thrown. The man who stepped forward seemed bowed with age. His head was bald, a large scar criss-crossing the dome, and his face showed many wrinkles where it wasn't hidden by his grand mustache and beard, both pure white. He wore the same uniform as the students under his white coat, a diamond shape on the back containing the simple, straight character that indicated his position. His withered hands held a tall and gnarled wooden walking stick. He tapped it lightly on the wooden deck and the silence that followed was deafening. "When I created this academy, so many long centuries ago," he began in a deep, resonant voice that was soaked with authority, "I dreamed of this as a place that would created bold and confident young shinigami, well started on the path to strength and success. In this class, as in the others that have come before you...I see that dream..fulfilled."

"But!" The word rang out sharply before any of the students there could start to cheer. "Though you have worked hard and grown far stronger than you were when you entered, the truth of the matter is that after all your schooling and training...you are weak and you know nothing." He took a breath, letting that sink in. "I say this not to insult you or belittle your efforts, but only to make you aware of the truth. You will have to study harder now, train harder now, be more diligent and obedient than ever before, if you are ever to even come close to true strength. Let this one lesson of the Academy go with you if nothing else does: only by continuing to improve yourself will you fulfill your potential."

The old man paused again. "Now, you are no longer students. You are shinigami of the 13 Court Guard Squads. You are the defenders of the Seireitei and it's order, perfect and immutable. You are the arm of the Central 46, august and wise. You are the shield of the masses of Rukongai and the living world. You are the sword that strikes down the wicked, the outlaw, the monster. You will protect all creation by slaying Hollows and purifying those souls who linger. Make no mistake that this path you have chosen is demanding and it is perilious. Many of you will falter, at some point. Some of you will die." All of them, probably. Young people were so pathetic. "Never forget what you have learned here, obey your superiors, and you will do well so that when death comes to claim you, there will be no disgrace to your life and it can end in a beautiful death."

The old man paused once more. "You will have many questions, I am sure. Watch and learn and they will be answered." He gestured to the people behind him. "The representatives of the squads will call out your names with your assignments. Once you know your assigned squad and have made arrangements with it's representatives, the rest of this day is yours. Tomorrow, your new lives will begin."

 

[HookerBoots]

Name: Amaya Kuragari
Age: 27
AKA: That Pink-Haired Chick, Little Miss Chaos
Occupation: Shinigami, resident butterfingers, cheerleader

Appearance: http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af108/fish_fiasco/shinigami1.jpg 5’6”, long pink hair, deep green eyes. Amaya is slender, but busty – which doesn’t help her clumsiness much. She is usually smiling. She wears her shihakusho almost as low in front as Rangiku Matsumoto, but wears a carved light wooden bracelet on either wrist and an oval pendant of a darker wood.

Zanpakto: Because Amaya hasn't unlocked her shikai release yet, is a regular katana, with a deep green jade pommel stone, carved in a compelling, seemingly random, pattern.

Abilities: Amaya is clumsy, so a lot of the time she tries to stay out of everyone else’s way when fighting. Her accidents rarely result in injuries for herself or her companions, but they are embarrassing, especially when she tumbles into someone mid-fight. It may have saved them from taking a crippling blow, but she still feels as though she messed up. She is, however, well-spoken and excellent at kido, which she studied intently as a way to keep from bumbling during battle. She is strong, having used a lot of her time in the academy to try and train to be less likely to break things. Amaya can and will use shunpo, but hesitantly. Her second time flash-stepping, her foot landed in a pool of water, and proceeded to land on her butt in front of her sensei and half of her class.

History: Amaya is an orphan from the 14th District, who had been moved into a small orphanage there after her parents were killed in a Hollow attack. She applied to the Soul Reaper Academy when she was old enough to be accepted – Amaya is no Toshiro Hisugaya, after all – and only had to apply twice before she was accepted. Despite her slightly difficult upbringing, Amaya has a cheerful disposition. Because of her time in the orphanage, she’s willing to help anyone who needs it.

~ ~ ~ ~​

The Captain Commander's words were followed almost immediately by a susurration of whispers among the new graduates. They would be called in numerical order by the squad that had chosen them - their names were submitted, along with a list of their grades and teachers' evaluations, to each captain - and some would be happy with their choice, while others would be disappointed. And if more than one squad had picked a student, and the captains couldn't - or wouldn't - come to an agreement, then the student was able to pick, if they wanted, or could let the Captain Commander select. Very, very few students turned the choice to the Captain Commander - he tended to look poorly on those that did.

Squad One never took fresh-from the academy students, so the first to call people up was Squad Two. However, Captain Soi Fon wasn't there, and there was no designate . . . until the sound of panting and heavy footfalls turned the eyes of the assembled to the side of the dais, where Vice-Captain Omaeda was making his way. The large man made his way to the top of the dais and stopped, panting, hands braced on his knees.

The silence in the room made him look around. "Aw, crap. I'm up, aren't I?" A cough from the students and a silent nod from Captain Unohana made him struggle to an upright position, fumbling a piece of paper from behind the badge he wore on his arm. "Squad Two accepts into its ranks the following students: Darei Koichi and Fujikuo Hashina." The paper crumpled in his hand, and the to students named - a tall, whip-thin boy and a sleek, graceful girl stood and bowed deeply. Omaeda stepped back, and the two students stepped out of the crowd of as-yet unassigned students.

Replacing Omaeda at the podium, silver-haired Gin Ichimaru smiled thinly at the crowd. "Yare, yare, yare! Such a fine group of youngsters!" He rubbed his hands together. "Squad Three is proud to accept into its ranks the following students: Amaya Kuragari, Hotaru Ikkanzaka, and Michiru Tomoe." Three girls stood up and headed for a section of ground near the two who had been recruited for Squad Two. Halfway there, however, the tallest girl with pink hair, tripped over apparently nothing and almost fell flat on her face. Before she could hit the ground, her new Captain was there, catching her shoulders and setting her upright again.

Amaya blinked, for a moment confused about why she wasn't on the ground hearing her fellow students laughing, then got control of herself and bowed, even though her face was still aflame, almost more than it would have been had she actually fallen. "Domo arigatou, Taicho."

Ichimaru looked at her for a moment, the smile still on his face. "That's what Captains're for, Amaya-chan." He used shunpo and was back on the stage in a heartbeat, taking his place between Omaeda and Captain Unohana. The raven-haired woman waited while Amaya took her place next to her new squad-mates before taking her own step to the podium.

Her smile was sweet and gentle, and her eyes looked over the assembled students with such pride that one might have thought they were her own children. "Squad Four is pleased to accept into its ranks the following students: Izuru Kira and Isamu Takeuchi." Under her watchful eye, the two boys stood, heading toward the growing ranks of the students who had been accepted into squads already. Amaya took the chance of making a small wave to both of them - they were both at least friendly acquaintances, and she was happy that they hadn't gotten saddled with a bad squad. Four wasn't high-profile work, but it was better than cleaning up piles of entrails for Squad 12.

As the lovely captain of Squad Four stepped back into line, Captain Aizen moved up the podium, adjusting his glasses as he looked down on the students with a kind smile. "Squad Five gladly accepts into its ranks the following students: Momo Hinamori and Renji Abarai." As the slender girl and crimson-haired boy made their way over to the others, the brown-haired captain smiled at them fondly, then stepped back, letting Squad Six Captain Kuchiki take the podium.

Unlike the others, Byakuya Kuchiki didn't smile at he looked at the students assembled before him, but he didn't seem to be frowning either. This was a duty he had to discharge, and it neither pleased nor displeased him to have to do it. "Squad Six accepts into its ranks the following students: Itsuko Tsunomaki, Otomaru Ishigano, and Soru Nakasumi." Without waiting while the named students made their way to the side of the area, he turned and walked back to the open spot in the line of captains.

 

[Armphid]

"Tch." Isamu Takeuchi shook his head as Captain Ichimaru announced the students he was accepting. "He's taking the cutest girls except for Rukia."

"He didn't take Hinamori either..." Mournful faced Izuru Kira said in his soft voice.

Kira's flame haired friend and total opposite, Renji Abarai snorted. "Maybe he likes girls with curves." He then winced as if expecting a blow...and looked sad when it didn't come. His eyes moved over to the far side of the assembled students to the dark haired girl who hadn't spoken to him since her adoption.

"Shh, all of you!" Momo Hinamori glared up at the boys fiercely. She hadn't seemed to hear any of their comments. Her face had been fixed on the kind expression of Squad 5's captain since his arrival.

Renji groaned as Ayama suddenly fell, "There goes Little Miss Chaos again."

Isamu had started forward but Kira grabbed his hand. "Don't. Captain Ichimaru has her."

"...Yeah." The young looking Eurasian grimaced. It shouldn't annoy him really, but it did.

Then she stepped up to the podium. One of two captains who would occasionally come to the Academy. She was ageless and lovely, her hair was silken and flowing, bound into a long braid down the front of her shihakusho. Her eyes were wise and kind and her smile made the assembled students all breathe a little easier. "Squad Four is pleased to accept into its ranks the following students: Izuru Kira and Isamu Takeuchi."

Renji snickered, "Have fun mopping, ladies."

Kira sighed at his friend's tact and walked out, Isamu following after giving Renji a hard look. He might have done more except that he could feel the serenity of Captain Unohana's gaze on him. God, she was so beautiful...

...Was he crushing on his captain? That probably wasn't a good idea.

He responded to Amaya's more or less hidden wave with a smile and a wink. Kira just blushed a bit and nodded. Isamu gave his friend a wry look. If Hinamori had waved, he's have turned scarlet. Izuru really needed to talk to the girl already. One of the few things he and Abarai had agreed on.

They took their places as the captains of Squads 5 and 6 claimed their recruits. There was the faint sound of wood creaking as the massive frame of Squad 7's captain came forward. He was taller than anyone the next tallest, Captain Kyouraku by more than two feet and was as wide at the shoulders as Unohana was tall. Alone out of all the captains he wore armor; heavy gauntlets, pauldrons, and an enclosed helm with a solid, almost boxlike design. From within came a deep, resonant voice. "Squad 7 accepts with honor the following students: Noato Mandaba and Reiko Takahashi." The youths who stepped forward were an odd pair; Mandaba slight and small and Takahashi a tall and homely girl. The giant waited for them to take their place before moving to his former position.

The captain of Squad 8 came forward, a pink and flowery haori draped over his clothes, and a plain straw hat atop his head. "My turn, huh? Hmmm..." Rather than call out names, he leaned over the podium. He pointed to Rukia, "You're cute enough...and...you, and..." He looked over at Ichimaru, "Oy, Ichimaru-san, can I have that pink haired girl?"

"Yare, yare." Ichimaru smiled, as he always did, and shrugged. "Didn't you choose ahead of time?"

Before Kyouraku could answer, his lovely and petite lieutenant was at his side, scowling. "Taichou, here is the list I prepared for you."

"Ahh, gomen, Nanoa-chan. But I'm happy to see your smiling face." He turned back to the students, waving one hand. Ise-fukutaichou's face was like a thundercloud. "Forget what I said. We're taking...Tenchi Masaki, Makoto Mizuhara, and Nanami Jinnai." He blinked as the three broke from the others, "Eh? Only one girl? Ahhh, well. It can't be helped." He shrugged and waved tot he assembled group, then walked back to his place.

The dark skinned captain of Squad 9 came up. His unseeing eyes stared straight ahead. "Squad 9 welcomes Seiji Date and Ryo Sanada to the cause of justice." The named students joined the others as the dark man returned to his spot.

The eyes of all the men in the area, save for Yamamoto, Tousen, and Kuchiki, followed the movement as the next person approached. She had reddish blonde hair cut close to her face and falling to her shoulders and the face of a model with large pearl eyes. But what drew the mens' gazes were her massive breasts, barely held in by her low cut shihakusho, the luscious orbs larger than her head. A silver chain dangled between them, and a pink scarf was over her shoulders. "Squad 10 accepts into it's ranks: Shiro Amada and Aina Saharin. Be diligent in your work and help out your lovely lieutenant!" She winked at the students before making her way back to her position.

A somewhat bulky man with wiry hair and a thin beard and mustache came to the podium. He wore neither a captain's haori nor a lieutenant's badge. "Uh, Squad 11 picks, I mean, accepts into it's...um...Baki Hanma." He smiled unconvincingly and moved back to his place in line.

The girl who approached next wore a wraparound dress with a short skirt that barely went to mid-thigh, the garment clinging to a pleasing figure. She was beautiful but her eyes were dull and lifeless. "Squad 12's new subje...recruits are Rei Ayanami and Motoko Kusanagi." She turned back before the girls rose and went back to the empty spot in line.

The next man was tall and lean. His skin was pale and his hair was a long,f lowing snowy white, at times indistinguishable from his captain's haori. He smiled as he approached the podium. "Squad 13 is pleased to have Rukia Kuchiki, Noa Izumi, and Asuma Shinohara. Welcome!" He returned to his place in line after the remaining students had taken their places.

The Headmaster of the academy stepped up, "This concludes the ceremony! You will all return to your new Squad's barracks tonight and will receive your duty schedules and times there. Good luck, and congratulations!"

 

[HookerBoots]

Amaya was happy for her friends - it was good that they'd found good squads. Even Rukia, who had only spent a little time with them before she had been adopted into the Kuchiki clan, had found a good place. The pink-haired girl refused to entertain the idea that Rukia's family had assisted in keeping her from the less suitable or favorable squads, which was an idea that many other students had expressed as possible even before today. She brushed her hair out of her face, waving a brief farewell to her new squad mates - girls she'd seen around, but never really talked to - before heading over to Kira and Isamu. "I can't believe," she started almost mournfully, "that I almost took a nose-dive in front of everyone!"

Kira shook his head. "But you didn't. Captain Ichimaru caught you, so everything's fine." He looked around at the milling studentry, that seemed to be at lose ends now. "Do you think we should head straight to our new squads?"

A large hand clapped his shoulder, and their eyes shifted to Renji. "Like hell, man! We have a party . . . til curfew," he amended, catching the surprised gaze of the others. "I'm not that crazy. And then we report to our squads!"

Amaya clapped her hands. "That's a great idea, Abarai-kun!" She beamed at him. "I'll tell the others that you're going to host a party!" His mouth dropped open, but before he could say anything, she turned, narrowly avoiding losing her balance, and headed off to another group of students to share the good news.

He watched the girl, and the reactions of the other students, and his face fell. ". . . dammit. I didn't mean everyone . . . and I didn't mean I'd spring for the whole thing."

Momo walked up, smiling her gentle smile. "It's all right, Renji. I'll help pay for it, and it's a nice gesture." Her hands clasped lightly at her waist, the dark-haired girl tilted her head. "I mean, we don't get any kind of celebration from the academy, and things aren't going to get easier from here on."

Kira nodded, trying his best not to stare or blush at Hinamori. "It'll be nice to have a chance to relax a little." He smiled slightly. "I'll chip in a little too, Abarai-san. It'll be all right."

As Amaya reached the last group of students, she smiled at Squad 13's newest members. "I just wanted to let you all know that Renji Abarai's having a party tonight!"

Asuma grinned. "Awesome! I bet he throws a great party, with all those tattoos!" Noa nodded her agreement, but Rukia looked down at the ground and shook her head.

Amaya almost reached out to touch her shoulder - the petite girl always looked so sad when she felt like she had to turn down invitations. "Kuchiki-san, it'll be a great time, just something to relax before we have to start working for the Gotei-13."

"Gomen, Kuragari-san, I can't. Nii-sama has asked to talk to me before I go to my Squad, and I don't know how long that will take." Rukia looked up, her expressive eyes wide. "I would ask you to convey my regrets, but I know how little Renji values excuses."

Nodding, Amaya waved to the three girls, heading back to her friends. There wasn't anything to say. It was sad, the way things had gone between Renji and Rukia. But it couldn't be helped, at least until something shook them both up. She bounced up next to Isamu, hands clasped behind her back. "Everyone knows, and most of them are going to show up! It'll be a big bash!"

With a sigh, Renji shook his head. "Can't stop it now, can I? Thanks for telling everyone, Amaya-chan." She beamed at him, and the gloomy expression he'd tried to foster melted. It was tough to keep grouchy when a pretty girl smiled at you. And at least Hinamori and Kira were willing to help him out with the cost.

~ ~ ~ ~​

Curfew was in five minutes, which meant that Amaya had to run to get to Squad Three's barracks in time. She made it, but just barely, sliding the door shut behind her just as the door on the other side of the room opened. Amaya scrambled into line with the other two girls, standing with her hands behind her back, eyes ahead.

The lanky, large-nosed man stepped in front of them, his smile a small echo of his captain's. "Good evening, ladies." He paused for a moment, then muttered, "That has less sting when they're actually ladies." His voice returned to its normal tenor. "Welcome to Squad Three. I'm Vice-Captain Saburo Kuroji."

He paused for a moment, and the three girls said, in unison, "Konbanwa, Kuroji-fukutaicho!"

The smile on his face broadened a little. "At least you all have manners." Clearing his throat, Saburo began to pace in front of them, studying them all intently. "You three have a pretty easy job for the next week. You'll be spending time here, filling out all the paperwork to make you official members of the squad."

Amaya suppressed a groan. Paperwork was usually a nightmare - she almost always managed to spill ink all over the papers, or herself, or the desk. But she'd take her time, and be extra careful, maybe things would be all right.

"After you've finished your paperwork," he went on, his eyes glimmering, "and if Captain Ichimaru and I think you're able to not be a liability, you might accompany a patrol." The door he'd come through opened slowly, and the vice-captain's mouth opened, ready to tear into whoever it was that dared interrupt his orienting of the new recruits.

It closed quickly, however, when a gleam of silver hair and the shine of a white haori stepped through the open door. "Ah, konbanwa, taicho!" He bowed as the fox-faced captain walked next to him and stopped, smiling broadly at the three girls.

"How's it goin'?" Ichimaru never took his eyes from the newest members of his squad - at least, they thought he was looking at them. It was so hard to tell with his eyes mostly closed they way they always were. "Ah, is it that time already? Be nice to the girls, Kuroji-kun, so they want to stay with us for a long time."

Saburo nodded. "Of course, Captain! I was just telling them that we would do our best to get them started as quickly as possible to aiding the Seireitei." He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Forgive me, Captain, but I thought you were having a meeting with Captain Soi Fon regarding the incident last week?"

The silver-haired man nodded. "I was just on m'way. But I wanted ta stop in and see how the girls were gettin' on." He bowed slightly to them. "Amaya-chan, I hope you're doin' all right after earlier."

While the other two smirked, Amaya felt her face turn beet-red. "Hai, Taicho. Thank you for your concern." She didn't have the heart to tell him that she tripped like that at least twice a day. It was a miracle that she hadn't fallen on her way here.

"No trouble at all," he said, stepping marginally closer to her. "It's a captain's duty to take care of those under him."

From behind him, Saburo cleared his throat. "Taicho . . . ."

"Right, right, Captain Soi Fon is waitin'." Ichimaru bowed again to the girls. "Ladies, I'll see you all tomorrow morning, bright and early."

 

[Armphid]

Mitsukake Myou hesitated before the door to the new recruit barracks for Squad 4. He could hear noise inside. Good. He smiled a bit; He'd intended to get there early and be waiting for the new kids when they were late because of that party he'd heard of. It had sounded like a real pisser too. But these two had made it back and early as well. Perhaps they had a real good set of kids this time.

Mitsukake was a tall man, with a broad shouldered, muscular body and a powerful build. His hair was dark and fine, cut short but spiked up with long, full, huge, massive sideburns that came down to his jaw. A pair of thin cloths were tied around his head like headbands, one a pale yellow, one a pale purple. Over one shoulder was slung the bag of supplies given to Squad 4 members in the field; the vice-captain rarely without it.

He slid the door open. "Konban wa, rec..." The two young men were standing next to another, mostly upright. However he was fairly sure the one on the right, the half-breed if he remembered correctly, was holding the pale kid up with one arm. He could smell booze on them both. He sighed, "I see. Are you two drunk?"

Isamu Takeuchi blinked and cleared his throat. "I'm not shure, fukutaichou." He looked at Kira. "Are we drunk?"

"I hope sho," the melancholy blond slurred. "Otherwishe we washted a lot of sha-sake."

Mitsukake reached into the pack on his back. Where were those? "Well, it's to be expected. You're actually not the worst I've-"

"Mew."

The vice captain froze. "Mew," came the sound again. And another. A faint purr was also coming from where the recruits clothes had been stored and there were the sounds of frenetic cat wrestling from beneath the writing desk.

He glanced down to see a young cat, small enough to fit in the palm of his hand rubbing against his leg. "What...is this?"

"Kittens, sir," Isamu responded seriously.

"...How did kittens get into the barracks?" Damn it. If one of the female members saw them, it was all over.

Kira and Isamu exchanged a look for several minutes. Then Kira let his head fall, shaking it. Isamu shrugged. "I don't know." There was a flapping sound and a chicken ran out from the closet being chased by a trio of kittens. "...I don't know about that either."

Mitsukake pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand, eyes closed. "Unbelievable." He held out his other hand, two pills in it. "Here, take these."

Isamu regarded them suspiciously. "What are they?"

"That's an order, recruit!"

"Hai, fukutaichouchou," both men said in staggered, drunken unison. They grabbed the pills and swallowed. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then Kira gasped and doubled over, grasping his stomach with one hand and his hand with the other, "Gaah!"

"Nn!" Isamu staggered back against the wall, slamming into it. "My head! It's splitting open! Damn you, fukutaichou! You've killed us!"

"I may throw up on you," Kira moaned.

The brawny vice captain grinned, "Baka. All I did was give you an antidote for the poison in your bodies. The booze. Of course, any side effects like a hangover, well..."

"You...magnificent...bastard," Isamu growled.

Kira was managing to straighted up, "Such cruelty..."

"That's enough. Line up!" Both youths winced but pulled themselves to attention. "Now then. This was your graduation day, so I'll give you a pass. But I guarantee this. If you ever, EVER, show up for duty drunk, and by drunk I mean I smell a whiff of sake on the breeze, you will BOTH be cleaning the Punishment Squad's holding cells for a year. Do you understand?"

"Hai, fukutaichou," came he answer in unison.

"Good." The big man crossed his arms over his chest. "Now, here's the rundown of what's going to go on the next few days." He felt tiny, jerking movements up his back and knew in his heart what it was. He sighed but went on anyway. "Tomorrow you will report for duty in the 4th Recovery Building. Until you're trained up, you'll both be reporting directly to 3rd Seat Isane Koutetsu." A wee paw appeared on his right shoulder. After a few moments, a second waved about in the air before gripping as well. "You will be given a full physical and kidou medical scan. Then you'll spend the rest of the day filling out the paperwork to make everything official. After that, you'll be issued your gear and your training in the use of our equipment and healing kidou will begin." He paused, and as he did so, the head of a tiny black kitten appeared between the two paws. "Given your grades and your power level...in any other squad, you two would be seated officers right now."

Kira and Isamu both tried not to look pleased at that.

"However. Since neither of you knows even a shred of the healing kidou powers that are essential to what we do, you've got no seat or position until you do. Understood?"

"Hai."

"All right." The kitten had now pulled itself up onto his shoulder fully. It was gazing about from it's mountain, thoroughly impressed. "Your duty call is early tomorrow, so get some sleep. That's all, recruits."

Isamu and Kira bowed, "Arigatou, fukutaichou." Mitsukake nodded and turned. As he closed the door, the two got a last glimpse of the black kitten jumping up onto the top of his head.

The young men stood there a moment. The chicken strutted past them. They turned and looked back into their room where several kittens were nestled into each of their futons. Isamu looked at the dour blond. "Well, you know at least we both got lots of cute pu-"

"Don't say it," Kira sighed.

~~~~~~~~~~​

Isamu tried not to squirm under the bright light. He was laying on a table and was naked except for a thin cloth sheet draped over his lower body. He was trying not to think about that. Or about the fact that the woman who was giving him his physical was his superior officer, hot, cutely nervous and shy, hot, tall and strong limbed, hot, and touching and inspecting his body all over.

Isane Koutetsu was tall, her eyes almost on level with his. She was also gifted with a happily curved figure, a pretty face, large expressive eyes, and soft hair the color of gray silk. She was also faintly blushing as she performed the physical. "Almost done, ah, Takeuchi-san. We just need to, ah..." She looked at her chart, "Oh." She looked down at him and blushed, then tried to smile weakly, "Gomen nasai, Takeuchi-san."

She blushed and lifted the blanket over his lap with one hand, reaching in with the other. She was trying hard not to look, trying to feel her way through the rest of the physical.

Isamu blinked and then closed his eyes. Think about something else. Think about something else. Think about...Amaya tripping the other day. Ohh, Amaya, all lush and...no, no, don't think about that. Think about Captain Unohana...not like that!

Isane blinked, freezing in place. "Huh? What's..." Her eyes went wide and her face went deep red. "...Ahh!" She turned and dashed out of the curtained exam area, "Gomen!"

Isamu sighed and looked down at his proud manhood, standing erect. "Damn it, man."

"What's going on, Isane-san?" Isamu froze, hearing HER voice out there.

"T-taichou, it's just, uh, Takeuchi-san, I was..."

"Oh?" And as if on cue, Captain Retsu Unohana poked her head in and looked at the young man. Isamu gaped at her lovely face; his cock actually swelling further to full hardness. "Oh, I see." She smiled, taking another long look at the young man's body. "That's a natural occurence in such things, Isane-san. I think it's nice to see though that we have such...healthy and vigorous young men joining us." She smiled again at Isamu and he swore she may have winked before pulling back.

Isamu lay back with a groan. That had not just happened. Tell him, anyone, that this was one of those naked dreams! He could hear Captain Unohana telling Isane that he was definately in fine shape down there and if the rest of the physical was done, he could get started on the paperwork.

Isane cleared her throat, "You can get dressed again, Takeuchi-san."

"Arigatou," he responded. Man.

There was a squeal from the far end of the building. "Kittens!"

 

[HookerBoots]

Amaya woke half a second before the little pocket alarm she kept on her all the time went off. Shutting it off as it started to make noise, she hopped out of bed, tugging off her sleeping robe and throwing on her uniform. The sooner she was dressed, the less chance of being walked in on in a state of undress. Just as she was placing her zanpakuto on the sash around her waist, the door slid open, the side of Kuroji's head, eye closed, filled the doorway. "Time to get up, ladies!"

The two other girls leaped from their futons, scrambling to hold their robes closed. "Hai, fukutaicho!" The door slid shut again, and Hotaru and Michiru turned blearly fierce gazes on Amaya.

She looked back at them innocently. "I was going to wake you in a minute! I'm sorry, I'll get you up when I get up tomorrow."

Michiru, her short, curly black hair sticking up all over her head, nodded. "It's all right, Amaya-san. We should have thought to set our own alarms. But thank you for the offer." She turned to the uniform folded neatly at the end of her futon, stripping off her sleeping robe as she picked up her underthings.

Amaya turned toward the door, then hesitated. "I should wait for you."

Hotaru shook her head. "No, Amaya-san, it's all right. You were smart and set your alarm, so it's all right for you to show that you did well to the Vice-Captain. Go on, we'll be out in a few moments." She also began to strip, grabbing the sides of her robe and opening them, to expose her smooth white curves.

Amaya looked at them both for a moment, unsure if she was thinking about whether it was fair to go out there before them or if she was thinking about how smooth their skin was, how unlike the few times she'd managed to sneak a peak at the male students' skin it looked. Then she shook her head. "All right. I'll see you out there, and let Kuroji-fukutaicho you'll be out shortly."

~ ~ ~ ~​

A heavy stack of papers dropped onto the low table, rebounding off the table and settling back in a slightly disturbed stack. Then another, and another.

The three girls kneeling behind the table blinked at the six-inch high stack of papers in front of each of them, then back at Saburo. He grinned at them. "Standard forms, as well as some that are specific to each of you." One thin finger tapped the stack in front of Hotaru. "Ikkanzaka-san, you are joining Tomitsu Karagai-san as the 20th Seat." Hotaru beamed, pleased to be a seated officer in her first assignment.

His finger tapped the stack in front of Michiru. "Tomoe-san, you will be replacing Isano Jiransho-san as 19th Seat, as he has moved to Squad 5." Michiru elbowed Hotaru, grinning broadly. It was an honor to be seated, no matter how low, right out of the academy.

He shook his head in resignation - girls would be girls. "And Kuragari-san," he tapped the papers in front of Amaya, "you will be taking the open position of 13th Seat." All three girls went wide-eyed, both of the dark-haired girls looking at Amaya in surprise. Saburo shrugged. "Captain Ichimaru's orders, ladies. So." He reached behind him and grabbed three carved wooden cylinders, each holding a vial of ink attached to a metal tip - a Soul Society pen.

Each girl took one, familiar with the construction from their time writing essays at the academy. Amaya could feel the carving on the wood in her fingers, and looked closely at it. It was small, detailed carvings of the marigold symbol of Squad Three, and she smiled a little. Each squad must get their own pens to use. How neat!

~ ~ ~ ~​

Three hours later, the three girls were roughly a third of the way through the paperwork as the door opened again. They all looked up, surprised to see a busty woman step through. She stopped as well, looking a little surprised. "Oh! I didn't mean to interrupt!"

Amaya looked at the other two, then bowed from her kneeling position. "It's no trouble, Matsumoto-fukutaicho. We were just doing our paperwork."

Rangiku nodded, eying the stacks in front of each girl. "I came to see Ichimaru-taicho, but I stumbled in here by mistake." With a grin, she added, "All of you seem to be adept at filling out boring forms, though . . . if you ever want to switch, Squad Ten needs good administrators."

She stepped farther into the room, plopping down on the other side of the table, picking up the top paper from Hotaru's stack and browsing over it. "Wow, you did that well on your first-year kido exams?" Rangiku set the paper down, and to the embarrassment of the other girls, started to rummage around in her shihakusho's bodice. After a moment, she pulled free a small flask. "Did any of you want a drink? I've got saaaaaakeeeeeee!"

From the open doorway came a male voice. "Rangiku-chan, why're ya pesterin' my new recruits?" Ichimaru stepped in, hands hidden in his sleeves as they often were. "They've gotta hurry and finish their paperwork so we can get them workin'."

She grinned at him over her shoulder and pulled the flask back from where she'd instinctively tried to conceal it and took a sip from it. "Well, you said we'd meet for lunch and then you weren't here." She tucked the flask away with far less trouble than it took to retrieve it, and stood up, giving all three of the girls a view that several males in the Seireitei would have paid a year's wages for in the process. "Let's go - I've got our new kids working on their files too, so we can take an extra long lunch."

Amaya, Michiru, and Hotaru had started to scramble to their feet when their captain walked in, but he waved a hand at them while Rangiku was talking and then stopped, all frozen between kneeling and standing until the two higher-ranked shinigami walked out the door again, shutting it behind them.

None of them picked up their pens again for a second, just sort of stared at the door. Amaya shook her head, turning her eyes back to a form that required her to answer questions about her food preferences, allergies, and dislikes. "Matsumoto-fukutaicho is certainly . . . distracting."

~ ~ ~ ~​

Three days later, the last form filled out, Hotaru, Amaya, and Michiru sat back on their heels, sighing and stretching and working their fingers. They looked at each other, all aware that Saburo was waiting in the room across the hall, waiting for them to tell him they were done, but none of them wanting to be the one to go there and tell him. Three delicate fists were extended, went up and down once, twice, and on the third descent, two went flat, palm out, while the third stayed balled.

Amaya groaned softly as Hotaru and Michiru chortled and slapped the top of her fist with their open palms. But she stood up, sticking her tongue out at them. "It's a Seated member's responsibility," she recited from one of the pages they'd been forced to read and sign to indicate their comprehension, "to look after the well-being of his or her subordinates." As she made her way to the door, she grinned over her shoulder. "I guess I should get used to having to help you two out, subordinates."

The other two girls stuck their tongues out at her, giggling until she opened the door and stepped into the hallway. Across the hall, Amaya found the Vice-Captain pouring over an open book, which he reflexively almost hid as the door opened. "Fukutaicho, we're done," she said softly.

He stood, tucking the book - she caught the bright colors of a manga cover - under a pile of papers. "Good, good. Go back in and wait for a moment, Kuragari-san, and the captain and I will be in to see you all."

As she knelt back down next to the other girls, Amaya said, "They'll both be here in a minute." As the door opened with those words, all three girls sat straighter, backs long and tall.

The two tall figures entered the room and stopped before the three waiting girls, Ichimaru smiling his usual smile, Kuroji with a small smirk on his face. "Yare, yare! Such quick work!" Ichimaru looked at the piles of papers on the desk. "It took our last recruits four days ta do finish their forms."

Kuroji nodded, hands clasped behind his back. "They look like they'll be a credit to our squad, Taicho."

The silver-haired man nodded once. "Now, girls, here's what's next. We're not up for patrol 'til two days from now. Since y'all finished so early today, you'll spend the time 'fore lunch sparring against some of our more senior squad members - y'all're no good for us 'til ya learn to release your zanpakutos, and the fastest way to do that is to practice with someone stronger than ya as an opponent." Ichimaru's smile broadened. "After that, y'all are free for the day. Tomorrow'll be a half-day of training with your swords, and then a half-day of rest for your first patrol."

 

[Armphid]

Isamu set down the latest of the forms he'd filled out, the paper deforming over the small, purring shape that had taken up residence on the completed stack he'd set up. A white kitten stuck its head out from under the paper and looked up at him reproachfully, mewling. "Hey, I didn't tell you to sleep there," he responded.

Kira shook his head, "How many of these things did we bring in?" He paused in his scribbling on a form about understanding the last will and testament policies of the Gotei 13 to unwrap a tabby kitten that had fiercely pounced upon his pen and was gnawing away.

The Eurasian sighed. "I've counted at least 15, including the one Matsukake-fukutaichou took home last night."

"At least we won't have to worry about rats for a while."

"You feeling all right? That was almost an optimistic statement." Isamu glanced over at his friend with a wry smile.

Kira shrugged, "Maybe I'm still hung over."

"That was a day ago, Izuru."

"...I drank a LOT..."

~~~~~​

It took days to finish the paperwork, particularly since it was broken up with being oriented on the nature of the equipment all Squad 4 members took into battle. They were expected to take their zanpakuto, of course, but each member of the Relief Teams also carried a back full of bandages, potions, ointments, pills, and an assortment of items.

Isamu pulled a tortoise shell kitten out of his kit before fastening it shut. "I think that does it for me."

"For me as well." Kira set his kit on the desk in their shared room. "Now we just need-"

There was a tap on the door before it slid open. Isane Koutetsu nodded at them, a faint blush coming to her cheeks when she looked at Isamu. "Have you finished your preparations?"

"Yes, ma'am." Isamu inclined his head, feeling a little pleased at the blush. It was kind of flattering to think that a woman like Koutetsu-san would be thinking of him, well his member anyway. "We are prepared for our joint patrol with Squad 3 in two days."

She nodded, "Good." The tall beauty looked to them. "We're going to spend the rest of the time before lunch going over your first healing kidou. After that, the rest of the day is free time."

"Thank you, Koutetsu-san," Isamu replied. "May I ask about tomorrow's schedule?"

"Tomorrow will be intensive kidou training in the morning and general duties in the afternoon." She paused a moment and looked at them both with a kind of shy speculation. "After that, new recruits are usually expected to study medicine, but..."

"But what, Koutetsu-san?" Kira's face was worried. Had they already gotten into trouble? Well, again.

The gray haired woman looked both ways and then stepped into their room. "We don't usually practice much with our swords, even those of us who are seated officers. But...some of us have started an unofficial practice in the evenings." She looked a bit embarrassed, "I, uh, happened to see your evaluations on Unohana-taichou's desk and saw that you both had high aptitudes for it, so I thought, maybe..."

"You honor us, Koutetsu-san," Kira said.

Isamu bowed to her, "We'd be happy to take part, if you will have us." He straighted up, grinning. Fantastic! The one thing he was worried about was getting rusty with his sword or that Abarai would beat him to shikai.

"Of course!" Isane looked relieved. "We meet behind the oldest hospital building. It's not used much because of its' age, so it's safe."

Kira's smile was thin. "Arigatou, Koutetsu-san, for your consideration."

She smiled back, "It's nothing, really. I just have the feeling that it'll be good for us all if you're there." Her eyes slid to Isamu and she flushed lightly again. "Anyway, let's go and start the morning training now that that's settled."

"Hai!"

~~~~~​

It was well into the afternoon when the two youths were finally released from kidou training. They set off into the seireitei without any real destination in mind.

Isamu yawned, stretching his arms up over his head, "So, what do you want to do?"

Kira looked thoughtful. "I should go and tell my parents about what's happened. It's been over a week since I visited them."

The American looked over at his friend but said nothing. It wouldn't help the matter any. "That won't take up all the time though. Come on, we should do something fun before-ooofff!" He reeled forward, someone having just plowed into him from behind. Isamu turned, the person still moving forward. He caught whoever it was by the slender shoulders, "Hey!"

 

[HookerBoots]

Kneeling miserably in Captain Ichimaru's office, Amaya looked at the mat underneath her. She'd just been made an official member of the squad, and she was going to be reprimanded. She just knew it. During the sword training today, she'd been assigned to work with 5th Seat Yamatsuki. Just as they'd started a pass at each other, Amaya had stumbled, and while she'd missed the others with her zanpakuto, she'd crashed into a nearby training dummy, snapping the wooden stand it was on and breaking it.

The silence had been deafening.

Amaya extricated herself from the pile of broken wood and tattered cloth that had been the dummy, her face as red as it had ever been. Everyone was staring - Hotaru and Michiru and their partners were looking at her, swords still poised for the attack that she'd interrupted, Yamatsuki-san was looking, a half-amused, half-appalled look on her face. Even Karoji-fukutaicho was looking, his face stunned and a little upset. Amaya brushed herself off, trying to avoid eye contact. "Gomen nasai," she managed, and that was what broke the stunned stasis the others were in.

Saburo started forward, then stopped himself. "Kuragari-san, please go inside to Captain Ichimaru's office and wait," he said in a calm voice. The others had been biting their lips to restrain the laughter, but she was out of earshot in a moment, heading for the door to the building that housed the stated office. And that was where she'd been ever since, waiting for the axe to fall.

Suddenly, the door slid open and Ichimaru walked in, leaving the door as Saburo followed him. The silver-haired captain shook his head, still smiling at Amaya. "So, Amaya-chan, I hear ya had an accident."

Amaya nodded and bowed low. "Gomen nasai, taicho. I'm clumsy, and I didn't mean to break anything. I hope that you can set a penance that will be suitable, but please don't throw me out."

Saburo shook his head. "Kuragari-san, we're not going to do any such thing." He laughed a little, rubbing one finger over the bridge of his nose. "You've saved us a great deal of trouble."

Her head snapped up, looking at them incredulously. "Gomen, I'm sure I didn't hear you correctly, fukutaicho."

Ichimaru tilted his head. "You heard right, Amaya-chan. You just saved us a lot of work and trouble." He nodded as she stared at him blankly. "That dummy ya knocked down was the closest to the squad housing, right?" She nodded. "Well, we found out - after ya knocked it over - that it had been infested with a parasite that could have gotten into the buildings and brought the roof down on everyone."

Blinking, the pink-haired girl kept herself from gaping by the thinnest thread. "Really? But I - I broke it." Breaking things was bad. Wasn't it?

Saburo nodded. "Yes. But you didn't do anything wrong. Have a good half-day off, Kuragari-san." As she bowed against and stood to leave, he added, "Feel lucky we're not putting you up for a commendation."

~ ~ ~ ~​

Free from the punishment she'd expected to get, Amaya tied her hair back and headed off into the seireitei, looking for something interesting. Maybe she'd get lucky and find something she'd be able to bring to the orphanage that raised her, as a gift. She wasn't looking where she was going, thinking about what she might find, and the next thing she knew, her foot hit an uneven paving stone, and she went flying forward.

Instead of crashing face-first into the hard stone path, she instead kept falling, tumbling into something soft and shinigami-shaped. Please, she thought as she tumbled forward and felt hands grip her shoulders, please don't be a captain.

Then she heard a familiar voice say, "Hey!" and grinned in relief. "Gomen, Takeuichi-kun! You know how I am."

A smile almost broke the normal expression on Kira's face. "Konnichiwa, Kuragari-chan. Did you get the afternoon off, too?"

"Hai!" Her face turned a little red. "After I crashed into a training dummy and broke it." As Isamu reached out to pat her shoulder, she added, "Well, to be fair, we got the afternoon off before that, but during ken practice, I fell over, and," her hands spread in what was supposed to be an explosion, "crash!"

The American nodded. "That sort of thing happens, Amaya-chan. What happened?"

She sighed. "Ichimaru-taicho told me it was all right, because the dummy had some sort of parasite that could have wrecked the squad barracks, and since I knocked it over, they could stop it early." Shrugging, she reached back to stoke her ponytail idly. "I still feel bad - I mean, I broke Squad Three property, shouldn't I have to pay for it?"

Kira shrugged, and the three of them started walking slowly. "Not really, Kuragari-chan. You probably saved a lot of money if not lives by knocking it over. Any money you saved the squad probably balances and then some with the cost of a new dummy."

Her face brightened a little, and she straightened up some. "That's a good point, Kira-kun. So," she said, looking at each of them, "where are we going?"

 

[Armphid]

Isamu grinned. It was hard not to around Amaya. She was so lively, spirited and sweet. And just gorgeous. She had a lovely form and dressed to display it, or so it seemed. Given that shihakusho tended to make most women look flat chested whether they were or not, the fact that she wore hers in that particular way was a delight to the male senses. "We hadn't decided, Kuragari-chan."

Kira's faint, almost smile fell into his usual expression. "You two should go and enjoy yourselves. I must pay my respects to my parents and tell them of all that's happened."

Isamu and Amaya both exchanged a look. Kira's frequent visits to his parents' grave were understandable in many ways but also a key component of his melancholy. For days after such a visit, he'd been even more quiet and subdued than normal. Amaya then looked at the pale youth, "That's a good idea, Kira-kun. We'll come with you!"

"Ah," he demurred, "That's not really necessary."

Isamu shook his head, "Hey, you embarrassed to introduce your friends to your parents?"

Kira blinked. "Oh! No, of course not, it's just-"

"It's settled then." Isamu winked at Amaya and clapped Kira on the shoulder, "We'll go and buy some incense to burn when we pay your respects and some food too. Then after we're done with your folks, we'll go by Kuraguri-chan's orphanage and surprise the kids with some treats."

"I don't know," Kira looked hesitant. "I mean, I'm not the best around children..."

"It's great!" Amaya beamed at Kira, who struggled mightily to stay depressing against the onslaught of her sunny smile. "The kids'll be so thrilled that real, actual shinigami are there!"

Kira looked as though he wished to argue but instead just nodded. "...Very well."

"Good then." The three of them started to walk again. "Hey, Kuraguri-chan, do you know if you're allowed to have pets in Squad 3? And how do you feel about cats?"

 

[HookerBoots]

Amaya thought for a moment as they stopped at a street vendor to purchase some incense. "I don't know about whether we're allowed to have pets, actually." She handed the stallkeeper some copper mon, the small coins that shinigami were paid in, and took some sticks of fragrant incense in return. "Here you are, Kira-kun. It's my graduation gift to you, grim though it might be."

The blond shinigami took them with a small bow. "It's quite all right, Kuragari-chan. I appreciate it, and I'm sure my parents will as well." It was a fact of life, dying, even though in Soul Society it typically took longer than in the human world. But it was even sadder because of that, and proper mourning was important. It never let him forget that fighting, no matter what you were fighting for, took a toll.

They walked on in silence for a while, trying not to think about what they were going to do. Almost out of no where, Amaya answered Isamu's other question. "I love cats, though. I'll ask if we're allowed pets when I get back tonight." She paused. "Why?"

"We ended up with an abundance of kittens," Isamu said, his face a little red. "And we're trying to unload them to people who might want them."

Amaya grinned. "I'd be happy to take one, if I can have a pet." She looked at them quizzically. "You got them from the . . . ?"

"Yeah," Isamu said. "Over a dozen. And a chicken."

They were all quiet for a moment. Then, Amaya said softly, ". . . wow."

~ ~ ~ ~​

The gravesite of Kira's parents was well-maintained and well-groomed. Both Isamu and Amaya stayed back a few feet while Kira went forward to kneel and light the incense. He spoke to the graves in a soft tone tinged with sadness. The other two stood quietly, hands behind their backs as they watched him discharge his filial duty.

As the sorrowful shinigami stood back up and turned back to them, dusting his knees off, the other two smiled a little at him. He smiled back very slightly, a bare curving of the lips, and said, "Arigato."

"No problem, Kira-kun," Isamu said, resisting the inappropriate urge to smack the other boy on the shoulder. "Now, let's go get something for the orphans."

~ ~ ~ ~​

Each of the three of them was weighted down with bags of buns filled with sweet bean paste and fresh fruit, and they made their way through the districts of Rukongai towards the small orphanage that had been Amaya's only home for most of her life.

As they turned down the street where the orphanage was, all three stopped. At the door of the orphanage, there was a tall, stout woman with graying hair surrounded by four tall, scar-faced men with thick barrel staves hanging from the ropes they used as belts. Amaya's eyes narrowed, looking at the scene fiercely. Them again.

Her bag of goodies dropped to her side as she stalked forward, her usual clumsiness lost in the predatory motion forward. She could feel the two boys keeping pace with her, and said from the corner of her mouth, "They're common thugs - tougher than usual for this area, but thugs. Always came around trying to get money or persuade Sanchiro-san to let them spend time with the girls." Her voice dripped with venom at the last bit. "I've been waiting for the day that I could chase them off for good."

 

[Armphid]

"The day's here," Isamu replied. His face was grim and his eyes fierce. From what Amaya had just said, these guys wanted to force the orphan matron to let them violate children. Monstrous. His hand tightened on the sheath of his sword, thumb eager to flick the blade free and allow it to be drawn.

"C'mon, obaa-san," the tallest of the men was saying, "We're tryin' to be nice here. Just let us each pick a girl, we'll have ourselves a good time for a while, and we'll leave."

The stout woman shook her head, "Never, you ruffians. Get out of my sight, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves!"

One of the men slammed a hand right next to her head. The old woman didn't even flinch as he leaned in, "But we ain't, obaa-san, and here's the thing. We're bein' polite to ask. 'Cause the truth is, you can't say no. We want 'em, we'll take 'em. Keep bein' a bitch and we'll give you a good time for your trouble too."

Kira whispered, "They have to make the first move. That way, anything we do is sanctioned."

Isamu nodded and was about to call out when Amaya beat him to the punch, "Hey, tiny dick!" All four men spun at once. She wasn't sure what it meant exactly, but when Hotaru-chan had called Hibashi-sensei that, he'd really hit the roof! "Leave the orphanage alone!"

"They don't know who you meant, Kuragari-chan," Isamu smirked, "I guess you should have been specific."

"I thought she was," Kira added.

The old woman gasped, "Amaya-chan, what are you doing? Get out of here!"

"Too late for that, obaa-san." The four men came down the steps, glowering, swinging their clubs menacingly. "I remember you. Never did get to have our party, did we, pinky?" He licked his lips. "Once we kill your boyfriends here, we'll all have a turn."

Kira's eyes slid back. "Takeuichi-kun-"

"I know. Yours?" Kira nodded. "All right." There was only one way punks like this were so bold facing three shinigami with their swords. That they had friends sneaking up behind the trio.

Amaya shook her head, "You won't last that long. I'm warning you to leave now. I don't really want to to hurt you-"

"I do," Isamu growled, fully loud enough to be heard.

"But I will if you make me," the pink haired beauty finished.

"Ain't you sweet," the leader scoffed. "Let's see how much boys!"

"HO!" The answering cry came from both in front of and behind the three shinigami. From the street the new soul reapers had traveled up, four more men charged, also swinging heavy staves.

The three shinigami leaped into action smoothly. Kira whirled back, his sword gleaming as he swept it in a cutting arc at a low level, cries of pain rising as crimson streaked the dirt street. Isamu rushed the leader head-on, only to juke right at the last moment drive the three men with him back, wild swings with his sword making them leap away. Amaya had charged up behind him and as Isamu broke right, she rose up and brought her sword down to slice the threatening man's cudgel off just above his hand.

Isamu grinned as he drove the thugs back, "Not so brave when you aren't threatening women and children are you?" He came to a stop, standing up straight, letting his sword rest against one shoulder. His golden eyes were wild. "Here, I'll make it easy. Don't disappoint me now."

The three men looked at one another and the seemingly totally open shinigami. Then they rushed him, clubs raised. They might as well have been moving in slow motion to the Academy trained monster killer. He stepped forward and to the side, rolling his sword down and then up, feeling the faint shock of contact as the razor's edge sliced open the lead man's shoulder where the arm joined. He continued the motion of the blade up and then brought it around, stepping in behind it and putting his other hand on the hilt as well. The sword swung in a glittering arc as he moved past the second man. A moment later, his head lifted clean from his body. Isamu pivoted on the spot and brought his blade down, disarming the last man cleanly at the wrist.

Kira looked up as he slammed the hilt of his zanpakuto into the face of one of the men, driving him to the ground. He looked up to see two new attackers rushing in on Amaya from either side. "Kuragari-chan!"

The pink haired girl ducked their swings, one hand stabbed right with her sword, sinking into the middle of one of the men, the other swinging left, her index and middle fingers held out as it pointing. "Hadou no yon! Byakurai!" There was a crackle and a hissing sound and a hole opened up in the man Amaya's fingers were pointed at, lighting blowing through his body.

The leader stared at the havoc the three shinigami were unleashing, stepping backwards and dropped his ruined club as Amaya stood up again. "Im..impossible..." There was a dark stain in his pants and he turned and ran.

"No, you don't!" Isamu leaped past the man cradling his stump and the other desperately trying to hold his arm on. He snatched up the fallen head as he did and whipped his arm forward. The horrific missile caught the ganger in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground. Isamu was on him in a flash. He threw the man into a nearby wall, grabbing the front of his grubby tunic. "You think you just get to walk away? DO YOU?"

"Takeuchi-kun!" He looked back to see Amaya looking at him. Her face was set and serious, her eyes clearing speaking to him.

He stared back, "They deserve it."

"It's okay. They've learned their lesson." She flicked the blood off her sword, sliding it back into its' sheath. "Enough. Please, Takeuchi-kun, the children."

"...Shouldn't see this." Isamu looked back at the man. He reached down and picked up the severed head. "You take this." He pushed it into the man's shaking hands. "And you tell everyone left in your gang, and every piece of scum in this district, anyone of them bothers the orphanage, if we hear one complaint or worry from them...you'll envy him."

He stepped back, letting the man go. He stumbled off, crying, weaving back and forth as he ran. Isamu watched him go and spat. "...Should've killed him."

Kira laid a hand on Amaya's shoulder, "Why don't you go inside and calm everyone down, Kuragari-chan? We'll clean up out here."

"Arigatou, Kira-kun, Takeuchi-kun." She looked for a moment at the fallen form of the man she'd used kidou on. So this was what it was to...to kill. She felt like...not now. Later. She had to be strong for the kids.

 

[HookerBoots]

Sanchiro-san was frightened, pressing her back to the wall of the orphanage. Over the years, she'd seen terrible things, children missing limbs and eyes and worse. But the chaos these three youngsters had just brought to the street . . . they trained them well at the academy. As they sheathed their swords, and Amaya headed towards her with an apologetic smile on her face, the orphan matron pushed slightly forward.

"Gomen nasai, Sanchiro-san," the pink-haired girl said, brushing a hand over her hair. "I'm sorry you had to see that, but," her smile turned a little hopeful, "I don't think they'll bother you again." Her expression was pure Amaya, an expression the older woman recognized from years of seeing it - the knowledge she'd made sort of a mess of things, but hoping that the benefit would be better than any harm caused.

"Of course, Amaya-chan." She cleared her throat. "It was nice of you to come visit with your friends," she said, struggling for normalcy. "Did you bring some treats for the children?"

Glad that the woman was willing to pretend that things were fine, Amaya nodded. "Yes. My friends will bring them in in a moment - we should tell the children that the noise was nothing to worry about."

Sanchiro-san nodded as well, opening the door behind her just enough to let Amaya and herself enter. From inside the building, there was a joyous, young voice. "Amaya-neesan!"

~ ~ ~ ~​

The children had been thrilled to get treats - fresh fruit was hard to get in this district - and they had been generous with hugs and thanks to all three of the shinigami. They'd also asked a ton of questions about being a shinigami, and how cool it was to fight with a zanpakuto and kido and what the Seireitei was like.

As the three shinigami walked down the streets in the burgeoning twilight, Amaya glanced at the others. "Thank you both again. For everything."

Kira flushed a little. "It's no problem, Kuragari-chan. Part of our job, really." He paused for a moment. "We're going to have to write one hell of a report, you know."

Isamu and Amaya nodded. They both knew any sort of skirmish would require a report, and one with fatalities even more so. "You can write ours, Kira-kun," Isamu said with a grin. "I'm terrible with reports, and mine would read like 'A bunch of asshole bastards got what was coming to them'." He shook his head. "Wouldn't go over well with Unohana-taicho."

 

[Armphid]

Retsu Unohana put the last of the two parchments down. Her serene face was placid yet thoughtful. "Very interesting. Their first day off and they have such an adventure."

"One that ends in bloodshed," Mitsukake grunted. The tall and brawny man was leaning against the door to the captain's office. "I'm sure you read between the lines of those reports as well as I did, taichou." She nodded and he continued. "I wasn't sure about that gaijin from the first, but perhaps we misjudged the Kira boy as well."

"You shouldn't be so hasty to judge, Mitsukake-san," she answered. "Our new recruits are fresh from the Academy and very excitable. They acted well and helped to prevent harm. They were, perhaps, more eager for battle than our typical squad member but that is not a bad thing in a battlefield medic."

"Unless they're more concerned with cutting than healing," he offered in response.

Unohana's smile didn't waver, her eyes remaining happy. "Mitsukake-san," she said, with a slight stress on each word, "You shouldn't be so hasty to judge."

The temperature in the room felt as though it had dropped ten degrees. The vice-captain had backed away a bit, "Ahh...of course, Unohana-taichou, you're right."

~~~~~~~​

"Have you double checked your supplies?" Isane Koutetsu was standing in front of Isamu and Kira. The tall and curvy woman had her gray hair back in a simple braid and her face was serious, though still gentle.

Both younger men were standing at attention, their swords in their sashes and their packs slung over their shoulders. "Hai, Koutetsu-san," they answered at once.

"Good. Let's get going then." She turned and began to walk, the new shinigami falling into step behind her. "We'll be meeting up with the members of Squad 3 at the East Shouryumonn. From there, we'll break into our combined teams and head into our patrol districts."

"Koutetsu-san," Isamu paused, "will we be with you during this patrol?"

"One of you will be," she answered. "Each of the combined teams will have a higher seat member commanding." Isane looked back, "Don't worry. Even if you're not with me, Squad 3's members don't usually give us much grief."

"Tch, if they do, I'll just...uh," He coughed, noting how Isane's expression had darkened a bit. "I mean, I understand, Koutetsu-san."

"Good. Let's hurry." She envied him, in a way. He was so bold! Was he like that in other parts of life? ...Don't think about that now, Isane. Unohana-taichou put her trust in you!

 

[HookerBoots]

Amaya and Michiru walked quickly and silently behind the two higher-ranked officers that were going to be in charge of them on this patrol. Hotaru had been forced to stay behind, as punishment for talking back to her sparring partner - who happened to be the Fourth Seat. She was spending the next week peeling yams for soup, and had been told that she would get to go on her first patrol when her kitchen duty was finished.

The other two, however, were thrilled that they'd be going on their first patrol, even with supervisory officers there. Koichi-san and Tsukibari-san had told them that Squad Four would have a few members as well, and that they'd split up for the patrol - lessen the confusion if something were to happen. Not that anything would, they were always hastily assured.

The Squad Three members reached the assigned meeting place at roughly the same time as their Squad Four compatriots, and exchanged greetings. Amaya found herself a little in awe of the Third Seat of Squad Four, and wishing that she could have that sort of ethereal loveliness instead of her own brand of clumsy ungainliness. But that wasn't constructive at all, was it? And maybe if she trained harder, she could learn to be as graceful as Koutetsu-san.

Koichi-san, Tsukibari-san, Koutetsu-san, and Yamada-san (who was the Vice-Captain of Squad Four) conferred briefly. Koichi-san and Yamada-san turned to their respective squad members. In neat, clipped tones, Kochi-san said, "Kuragari-san, you and I will be going with Yamada-san and Kira-san, taking the North and West sectors." She turned and pointed at the other girl. "Tomoe-san, you and Tsukibari-san will go with Koutetsu-san and Takeuichi-san to the South and East Sectors." Her pretty face turned stern. "I expect perfect behavior, Tomoe-san. You will not disgrace Squad Three, and if I hear a report from Koutetsu-san that you have acted in a way that does, I will see to it that you will be peeling yams for the next month."

Michiru nodded sharply, her eyes wide. If anything, she'd be so well-behaved that they'd barely notice she was there. "Hai, Third Seat Koichi-san."

"Good. Now, get going." She shooed them with her long hands. "We'll meet back here in six hours."

~ ~ ~ ~​

Amaya and Kira had been following close behind the more experienced shinigami, not talking much. Finally, she asked softly, "Did you two get into trouble after what happened?"

He almost jumped at her voice, then shook his head. "No, not at all. They accepted out reports and didn't even talk to us about them." A brief pause, and then he asked, "Did you?"

"Nope." She smiled at him brightly. "Ichimaru-taicho took my report, read it, laughed, and told me I'd done well for my first real fight." They threaded their way through the maze of buildings that created the structure of the Seireitei in the moonlit darkness. "So, no trouble for me, either." They leaped up onto a wall, following the other two, and walked along the broad top of it. "I'm glad none of us got into trouble for it."

They were going around the northern sector of the Seireitei, just making sure there was nothing awry, no shinigami getting drunk and rowdy, no Hollows breaking in. With a sigh, Kira nodded. "We were lucky."

She snorted. "We were in the right." He looked at her sharply, and she shook her head. "We were in the right, Kira-kun. They were bad men, who were flaunting the rules and acting in a way that created danger for others, including children. If they had been willing to listen to reason, it would have been wrong of us. But they weren't, and we had no other choice."

He was silent for a while. "It still seems as though we were lucky, that they were that foolish, but . . . ." Kira trailed off, his sad eyes going sharp as he looked off to the left.

Koichi-san and Yamada-san's eyes were already looking that way, and Amaya looked quickly. Her breath hissed between her teeth. "I can feel it," she whispered. She hadn't been able to feel things like that very well before.

Koichi-san nodded, and gestured. Amaya followed her as they jumped off the wall, running with the speed that only shinigami could reach. Behind her, she heard Yamada-san bark at Kira to stay where he was, that Squad Four's job wasn't to fight but to aid afterward.

From behind her, Amaya could feel, faintly, another Hollow appearing, and blinked. Even as they ran towards the towering, wicked reiatsu ahead of them, she wondered what the odds were that there would be two attacks at the same time, on different sections of the Seireitei. They couldn't be good.

From ahead of them, however, she could see a tall, gaunt creature that was blacker than the darkness around it, save the gleaming white mask that stood taller than one of the buildings. The mask was shaped like a fierce, snarling dog's face, and it bellowed at the moon as the two women ran towards it, unsheathing their swords as they came.

 

[Armphid]

Isamu and Michiru walked side by side, perhaps a dozen feet behind the two higher seat officers. They'd started out closer than that but Tsukibari-san had told them that it was unbecoming for subordinates to tread on their superiors' heels. Isamu had drawn himself up to say something but caught a faint shake of the head from Koutetsu-san.

He'd still almost done it.

He glanced over at Michiru. He had never really talked to her much in class. She was pretty enough, her dark hair immaculately combed and drawn up into two buns on either side of her head, each held in place with a decorated chopstick. She was shorter than Amaya by a hand and had the slender boyish yet feminine build of many Japanese women. "You okay, Tomoe-san?"

"Nani? Oh." The girl looked startled then relaxed, "I'm sorry, Takeuchi-san. I'm just..." She swallowed, "I'm nervous about screwing up. Koichi-san..."

"Yeah. She really bit your head off." He shook his head, "That pisses me off. People acting like jerks and thinking it means they're leaders."

Michiru's eyes went wide and swung to the two senior shinigami in front of them. Neither seemed to be noting, conversing in muffled tones themselves. "Takeuchi-san," she whispered, "You shouldn't say that about an officer! You'll get in trouble!"

He just shrugged, "That's all right. I like being in trouble. These higher-ups around here are too comfortable with their authority. That's why they abuse it. They could use someone slapping them in the face every now and then." The girl looked horrified. "Besides," he winked at her, "This way Tsukibari can tell Koichi that you behaved perfectly compared to me."

She blinked and then smiled, hiding it behind one hand to stifle a giggle. "Amaya-san is right about you. I always thought you were mean looking but you're actually a nice guy."

Isamu grimaced and was about to counter the point when there was a sudden shock of reiatsu. "That's-!" Michiru squeaked.

Isane and Tsukibari were looking east. "A Hollow, and it's no small fry," the grim faced man from Squad 3 frowned. He looked back at the recruits. "Tomoe-san, look sharp! Let's go!" He dashed off, Michiru darting after him, her small body startingly fast.

Isamu and Isane moved as one after them, though Isamu growled under his breath, "Idiot, what the hell did he think running ahead of us like that?"

Isane shook her head, "It's procedure, Takeuchi-san. We healers usually stay back behind the fighters."

"But we're fighters too...and you've got easily twice the spiritual pressure that guy does," he countered.

She blinked a bit, "You can...yes, well. Sometimes, other squads don't think of us as having any power at all other than healing." She was surprised, and a little pleased.

He heard the resonating roar so unique to Hollows ahead and felt the dire power and terrible malice roll over him. He felt a twinge of fear in his heart but it was dwarfed by the spark of excitement that blossomed as well. His first battle with a Hollow!

The two healers broke around the corner of a street that lead into a square with a small well. Michiru and Tsukibari were already there, blades out. The Hollow was hunkered over the well, lifting up after having just defecated in the water supply for the neighborhood. It had a long but solid powerful body with heavy back legs and longer, grasping front ones. It was covered in raggedy, shaggy fur that was a sickening swirl of shades of black. A long, flat tail lashed behind it as it lumbered towards the shinigami. The front legs were surmounted with grabbing paws that ended in wicked, thick talons that were well over a foot long. The head was surmounted by a chalk white mask that looked as though someone had stuck a saber toothed bear skull over the creature's normal head. It bellowed its' hate again, a second terrifyingly human mouth inside the horrible maw of the mask. It reared up, showing the perfectly circular hole that went through it's middle.

"Attack pattern delta!" Tsukibari cried out and lunged forward. Michiru hesitated, clearly having no idea what he meant, and then followed after him.

Isamu pulled his sword, and the ring as it came free made his blood sing in his veins. "How should we move in, Koutetsu-san?"

"We don't." The tall woman looked apologetic, "Gomen, Takeuchi-san, but you're too new. Stay back and take care of anyone who gets hurt!" With that the darted forward, her sword swinging out of it's scabbard.

"What? You're kidding me!" Isamu stared in disbelief. His first battle...and he was just supposed to watch? "Damn it!" He...hated even the idea. But he didn't want to...well, he didn't give a shit about orders actually, but he didn't want to make Koutetsu-san angry with him.

Tsukibari and Michiru danced around the creature, their blades biting into the fur and cutting free huge clumps of the nasty, knotted stuff. Yet they weren't doing any real damage. Tsukibari crowed, "Ha ha ha! Yes! This is the Death of a Thousand Cuts!"

Isane grimaced as she ran under the rearing form to leap up and slice off the claws of one hand, deriving the monster of one weapon.

"Tsukibari-san, we're not getting through the fur," Michiru called. "We need to target the mask!"

"Ha!" The older male shinigami swung a big overhead blow that cut off a massive hunk of fur and made the beast tumble over, bellowing. He turned to Michiru, "Don't tell me how to fight, 19th Seat! You just don't understand my sublime tactics!" Behind him, the Hollow's tail swung in, the arrogant fighter oblivious. "You should-"

Michiru leaped into action just as he turned and saw it coming. She threw herself into him, the weight of her small body just enough to bowl him out of the way. Her eyes grew wide as a wicked serrated edge sprouted from the flat end of the tail in front of her.

Isamu would remember that sound for years to come. It was like a cleaver hitting a raw roast; thick, meaty, solid, wet. Michiru couldn't even cry out as the shredding edge sank into her body. Her sword tumbled from her hands, her face deathly pale, eyes wide and unseeing. "TOMOE!" He was there to catch her as the tail pulled back. God. God, there was so much blood! "Hold on, Tomoe-san!" He pulled a few items from his bag, ripping her torn shihakusho open and beginning to do what he could.

The sounds of battle rang out around him, but he pushed it away. He had to save her. This was his classmate. Amaya-chan's squadmate. Her friend. A sweet girl put in harm's way by an arrogant ass. He worked fast, stopping the bleeding but not much more. His healing kidou just wasn't strong enough, but...

He looked back over his shoulder, "Koutetsu-san! I only know the 1st healing kidou! She needs you if she's going to make it."

Isane glanced over at Tsukibari. He nodded and she blurred into shun-po; appearing at Isamu's side in a flash. "I have her, Takeuchi-san." Those luminous eyes, so gentle, were clinical and aware. "You did well but you're right." She summoned her power, a green glow starting to emanate from her hands as she held them over Michiru's ragged wound. "Keep it off of me."

Isamu turned from the two women. The hand that gripped his sword was white knuckled. "I will. It won't get within five feet of you. On my life. And the best way to do that..." He didn't wait for it to come. He ran forward instead, his left hand dipping again into his bag of supplies, "...is to kill it myself!"

 

[HookerBoots]

Amaya wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to be doing, other than trying to not get herself killed. Koichi-san was darting in and out of the thing's range, her sword flickering in the dappled moonlight. That was actually her shikai - Reigou could thrust without her hand moving it, making her thrusts even more effective - and she knew how to use it well. But the stabs weren't doing much more than aggravating the beast, which roared terribly every time one of the sword stabs reached its hide.

It swung down with a powerful forearm, no hand or paw, but a limb that ended in a mass of writhing tentacles, just barely missing Koichi's darting form. Deciding as the limb pulled back up, leaving a length of crushed paving stones where it had landed, Amaya bit her lip and extended her hands. She wasn't great at kido, but with Koichi-san distracting it, she might be able to get the whole incantation in. "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march onto the South!" As the ball of red flame grew in front of her palms, she felt a surge of confidence. "Hadou 31, Shakkaho!"

The ball flew from her hands, sailing through the air and . . . the monster managed to interpose one of its tentacle-hands between the mask and the ball of fire. Amaya's face and heart fell. If it had hit . . . but it hadn't, had it? Koichi-san glanced over her shoulder with a grin. "Good try, Kuragari-san! Try 33 next, it'll have less chance of blocking the whole thiiiiiiiiiiiii-!"

One minute, the Seventh Seat was talking to her, the next . . . the next, her body was flying through the air backwards. Amaya was lucky that she hadn't been directly behind the other woman, or the creature would have knocked them both out at once. As it was, she dodged to one side a second before another tentacle-hand would have slammed down on her.

She wasn't ready for this. Wasn't ready for this at all.

So try something stupid, a voice said inside of her head.

She was so startled that she said "Huh?!" out loud.

Try something that'll never work. Or just call my name, 'maya-chan.

"But I don't know," she whispered, diving into a roll to get out of the way of a massive foot. "I don't know what won't work, or your name or anything!"

Stupid, it hissed. My name is $%#@%#@. But I bet you couldn't even fathom it, could you? So. What won't work? You know.

As Amaya gripped her sword tightly in her shaking hands, trying to avoid the searching gaze of the Hollow without letting it pick out Kira and Yamada, it came to her, like a bolt of lightning. It NEVER worked for her. Not one single time.

She stood up, her mouth moving as her hands went up, faster than she could have imagined them doing so, ignoring the sound of footsteps behind her, of a healing spell being chanted over Koichi-san. "Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat! Bakudo 9, Geki!"

And then she waited. It wouldn't work. Binding spells never worked for her, no matter how many times she tried them. She could even hold a Hell Butterfly. But this time . . . a red glow suffused the Hollow, and she could see from the way it was twitching that it could move. Not more than a twitch or a blink.

It had worked? It worked! But the fact that it could twitch meant that it was only holding the monster by a thread. So she had to act fast.

From behind, she heard footsteps again, and leaped into the air, her sword over her head, coming down in a powerful slice. From the corner of her eye, she could see another shape doing the same, and was pleased to see Kira at her side, cutting the monster down in the moment before it regained the power of movement. Two silvery blades descended, and the Hollow saw its own death coming.

In the panic of self-preservation, it managed, at the last second, to shatter the red glow binding it, one arm striking out madly and striking Amaya's leg as she swung. The pink-haired girl cried out in pain, but didn't check her swing. Both blades sliced into the porcelain-white mask as though it were made of water, splitting the mockery of a beast in twain. With a bellow that was as much rage as pain and despair, the creature vanished into dust.

The two shinigami landed, Kira almost gracefully. Amaya, however, landed well on one leg, but the one the creature had hit gave way under her, and she cried out again as she tumbled to one knee. "Oh, ouch! That hurts!" As Kira sheathed his sword and dashed over, Amaya pulled up the leg of her hakama, looking at the neat cut there. It was like the monster had had knives instead of tentacles, and sliced through the skin and into the muscle before it vanished.

The sorrowful shinigami knelt down next to her. "Gomen, Kuragari-chan. This is beyond my meager skill, but I can ease the pain somewhat. Yamada-san! When you've finished with Koichi-san, please come take a look."

 

[Armphid]

Isamu ran past the still shocked 9th Seat of Squad 3, "Out of my way!" He leaped at the Hollow, slicing wickedly with his blade. The beast lurched back with agility deceptive for it's bulk, his cut only taking off the end of one of the mask's saber teeth. He shifted his blade to block the tail as it swung in, keeping the stabbing edge at bay. The impact threw him back, the youth landing roughly almost ten feet away.

"Remember your place, healer!" Tsukibari laughed and then walked towards the Hollow, "You killed that silly girl, but you cannot stand my raging heat!" He leaped back, "Crisp him, Sumigenkotsu!" The blade of his sword suddenly flared into fire bright and dazzling. The fire faded after only a moment though; but the blade of his sword was now ash grey with cracks and lines running through it which glowed an orange-red. He swung it in an arc at the Hollow, fur singeing away as the heat from the sword reached it.

"Rise!"

Isamu looked around, "Who-"

"Rise!" He realized with a start that the voice was inside his mind. Before him, Tsukibari was laughing, driving the prehistoric looking monster back with the terrible heat from his blade. "This arrogant peacock has not the right to rule so! Stand up and put him to his rightful shame!"

He got to his feet. He'd love to. But the Hollow had managed to dodge his cut easily before. With its' bursts of speed and three limbs to attack with, he couldn't get close to it. "Then speak my name and we will hold him fast!"

Isamu ran forward again, dodging left as the Hollow saw him coming and batted a cart towards him with it's tail. "I don't know your name, so how can I-"

"I am $%#@%#@%$@#! Yet you are not fit to rule if you cannot hear even this in your heart!"

"Thanks a lot," Isamu growled at the voice. He almost felt it quiet in his mind. He may have insulted it. Worry about that later. The creature whacked the well it had defecated in earlier, sending a wave of foul water crashing over Tsukibari, the figure of the man vanishing as the water hitting his heated blade sent up a great cloud of steam. It charged through it, the man dodging madly, the heat of his zanpakuto momentarily quenched. "It's just got too many weapons, if there was some way to keep it still a second!" Then he blinked. Of course!

He reached back into his sash and pulled out a clay bottle. "Shinten." Isamu ran in from the side as the monster slapped Tsukibari out of the air and slammed the paw that Isane had damaged on top of him. Had she not cut the talons off of it, he'd have been skewered all over. The auburn haired half-breed threw the bottle...which shattered on the Hollow's mask, the contents splattering on it in a shower of green goo.

The beast reared back, shaking its head. Tsukibari scrambled to his feet as the monster pawed at the gunk that was dripping towards its' eyes. He swung his sword down at the thing's head, his blade barely scratching the front of the mask. The Hollow suddenly went rubbery and flopped down, eyes closed, it's bulk rattling the windows and doors of the surrounding buildings. Tsukibari stared and then laughed, "You see?" Then the Hollow twitched, causing him to dance back, "Eh?"

Isamu landed on it's head, driving his sword down through the mask with both hands. The thick carapace cracked and shattered, light bursting forth as the body began to slowly disintegrate and dissolve into sparkling bits of reiatsu that drifted on the breeze.

Tsukibari blinked and then nodded, "Ah, yes, well done, nearly as good as my first cut, which did the real damage, of course." He turned around, "Well, let's pick up the girl's corpse and-" A hand appeared on his shoulder, "Huh?"

Isamu spun the man around and slammed the hilt of his sword into the 9th Seat's face as hard as he could. "Bastard!" Tsukibari hit the ground hard, his eyes glazed over. Isamu grabbed the front of his shihakusho with one hand and lifted the stunned man up partway, lifting his sword hilt to bash him again, "You arrogant ass! She wouldn't have gotten hurt if it wasn't for you!"

"Ta..ke..uchi-san, don't..." The voice was weak but it cut through Isamu like a knife. Isamu looked over to see Michiru looking at him from the ground nearby. She coughed, reaching out a hand to him, "It's...o...okay..."

"...The hell it is." Isamu sighed and released Tsukibari, letting him fall to the ground. He looked down at the man and frowned. He'd gotten off light.

Isane stood up from Michiru, "We've done all we can for now. We'll meet up with the others and then take her to the hospital." She looked down. "...You know what a serious offense it is to attack a superior officer."

"Kou-tetsu-san, onegai," Michiru started to say, "He...was just...he didn't mean..."

"Yes. I did." Isamu looked back at Isane unflinchingly.

The 3rd Seat nodded, "It's good you were just trying to warm him about that last sneak attack from the Hollow." She stepped over and bent down to examine the unconscious aristocrat. The amazonian healer then picked him up and heaved him over one shoulder. "Right?"

Isamu blinked. She was..."Y-yeah. I guess I was just...too slow."

"Try to be faster, Takeuchi-san," she said soberly. Her eyes were merry though. "Protecting other shinigami is a duty of Squad 4 as well."

"Hai, Koutetsu-san." He bowed to her. She was saving his ass. Assaulting a serious officer could carry a death sentence.

"Good. Now, you carry Tomoe-san and let's find the others." Isamu bent down and picked up Michiru in his arms, the girl blushing a bit, feebly gripping the cut edges of her shihakusho and making sure she was covered. "...that was shinten you used, wasn't it?"

Isamu nodded, "I remember you said that a lot of it could knock out even a high seated officer as a topical anesthetic, so..."

Isane smiled, "I'll have to remember that. Good thinking."

 

[HookerBoots]

The gash in her leg was mostly healed, and Koichi-san's wounds were closed and wrapped in temporary bandages until she could be taken back to the infirmary. The small group of four was on the move again, lead by Yamada-san - the highest ranking member of their motley little crew - back towards the meeting place. He had told them, between showing Kira how to wrap a proper bandage and applying kido as needed, that it would be nearly impossible for another Hollow attack to occur tonight. The fact that there had been two at once was nearly unheard of.

Limping along behind him, Amaya thought that the very unlikelihood of what had just happened sort of increased the odds of something unlikely happening soon, but she kept her thoughts to herself. If something happened, though, at least she'd be prepared.

Thankfully, however, nothing untoward happened, and they made it to the meeting point without incident. The other patrol was already there, waiting, and they could see that the other group wasn't in any better shape than they were. A slender figure in Isamu's arms made her breath catch. "Michiru-san!"

Her limping gait brought her closer quite a bit faster than she'd thought, even though she heard Yamada-san tell her to slow down unless she wanted to hurt herself. Amaya looked at the dark-haired girl sadly. "Michiru-san, what happened?"

The other girl coughed weakly. "I was careless, Amaya-san. I'll be all right - Takeuichi-san and Koutetsu-san fixed me right up."

"Not even close," the silver-haired healer said sternly, in her best imitation of Unohana. "You and Tsukibari-san and Koichi-san," her eyebrow raised at Yamada, who nodded, "are all going to the infirmary until you're cleared for duty again.

Looking at the state of the new recruit's shihakusho, Amaya nodded. Those cuts were in a bad, bad place. "I hope you'll be back soon, Michiru-san. Hotaru-san and I will be lonely without you in the barracks."

Tsukibari stirred from his position draped over Isane's shoulder, muttering something incoherent about birds in springtime before he passed out. "What happened to him?" Secretly, she'd grown to dislike the 9th seat, but she was lower than he was.

Isane's face was bland. "Sneak attack, just before the Hollow was exorcised. He'll be fine, but I don't know how much he'll remember."

It was clear that wasn't the whole story, but Amaya's leg chose that moment to twinge, and she gasped. Isamu's brow furrowed. "Amaya-chan, what's wrong?"

She tried to brush it off. "It's fine, Takeuichi-kun. Just a little cut - the monster was stronger than I'd hoped."

 

[Armphid]

Before Isamu could say something he'd regret to the Squad 3 seated officer about how they prepared new members, Yamada spoke up, "Now that we're together, we should make arrangements. Koichi-san-"

"Will be fine with some rest," the female officer interrupted. The thin, rough looking woman tried to give him a glare. "I don't-"

"Are you trying to pull rank on me, 7th Seat?" The question was asked simply, even in a friendly tone. But Yamada's eyes were hard.

"Ah...no, Yamada-fukutaichou," Koichi backpedaled. "Whatever you think is best."

"Of course." He looked over, "Kira-san, take Tsukibari-san from Koutetsu-san. Then Koutetsu-san will Tomoe-san. She and I will use shun-po to get to the infirmary faster as she and Koichi-san's wounds are more serious that these." He looked back at Amaya. "...Kuragari-san will be fine once she has some sleep and the healing over time kidou I used takes effect. Takeuchi-san, you'll escort her back to her barracks and answer any questions the officers there ask before coming back."

Isamu blinked. He wasn't expecting that. "Huh? Uh, I mean, Hai. Of course." Kira now had Tsukibari over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. Isane stepped up and her hands slid along Isamu's arms before moving over to take hold of Michiru.

The delicate girl looked up at Isamu as the tall 3rd Seat took her into her arms, "Takeuchi-san...will you...come see me before..."

"I will," he answered with a smile. "Even if you're asleep, I'll stop by."

She smiled and nodded, a faint blush on her starkly pale cheeks.

"All right," Yamada said. "Isane-san, Koichi-san, let's go. Kira-san, keep up as best you can." The officers flashed away in a surge of reiatsu.

Kira laid a hand on Amaya's shoulder before he left, "You were great, Kuragari-chan. You saved he day." Then he nodded to Isamu and a moment later, was gone.

Isamu sighed, looking down at his shihakusho. Michiru's blood was still all over it. The sight of it filled him with renewed anger at Tsukibari. "Damn him," he growled softly, "he's exactly why I need to..." He remembered Amaya was still standing there. "..Gomen, Amaya-chan, I mean, Kuragari-chan."

He offered her his arm, "I know you can walk on your own. I just want everyone to see me with a cute girl on my arm while we walk back." He knew she'd know he was lying...well, a little. But he wasn't about to make her lose face. "And if you want...I can tell you what really happened. I know you saw through Koutetsu-san's story."

She wouldn't turn him in. ...Nah, she wouldn't.

~~~~~~~​

The trip didn't take too much time. As Isamu and Amaya entered, Hotaru looked up wearily from a report she was writing on the proper etiquette to use when speaking to higher seated officers. "Nani...ahh, you're back, Amaya-san." The girl looked tired, "Where's..." She blinked. "Your leg...what-"

"I'd like to hear the answer as well." Kojiru was standing in the door Isamu and Amaya had just entered through. Squad 3's vice-captain was looking stern. "I just got the initial report from Squad 4. All of our team hurt, one seriously enough to be in the infirmary receiving treatment for more than a week, and even our 7th Seat needing three days of rest and healing."

The man moved into the room, looking first at Amaya, "The report speaks well of you, Kuragari-san. Well done. I'll expect your report by the end of the day tomorrow." He looked at Isamu next. "You were with our 9th and 19th Seat, boy. How did they get hurt?"

Isamu bristled. "I wonder if you really want to know. I don't think you'll believe me, but I won't lie. Your 9th Seat was making an ass of himself, confusing the line of battle, and left himself wide open. Tomoe-san pushed him out of the way and took a hit that was coming at his back while he was chiding her for reminding him that you kill a Hollow by breaking the mask, not prancing around." This could be considered insubordination. Not that he cared a damn. "Tomoe-san knew what she was doing the whole time and she saved his ass. All he did was complain about her after she got hurt saving him."

Kojiru's face was grim. "I see. And then he let himself get knocked out by the thing at the end of the fight?"

Isamu hesitated, "He..."

The vice-captain held up a hand, "Don't tell me. The answer's written all over your face." He considered a moment. "...Are you willing to stay long enough to swear our a statement of what you just told me?"

"I...of course, fukutaichou, but I'm not sure why-"

"Because we've been trying to get rid of that jackass ever since his family pulled strings to make him 9th Seat," Kojiru supplied, shaking his head. "This might be enough to get him busted down to unseated or at least transferred out of our hair."

~~~~~~~​

Michiru's eyes snapped open and she whimpered. The Hollow! She was cut open! She...she blinked, taking in the dimly lit section of the infirmary she was in. Her bed was partitioned off with curtains to give her privacy. Her body had been treated further and wrapped in bandages that had powerful drugs and salves applied to them.

She could still feel pain along her body, but it had felt so real a moment ago, like it had happened all over again. It...she was scared. It was dark. It was so quiet. She knew the monster was dead, but...

A faint sound drew her eyes lower to the edge of the bed and she gasped. Isamu Takeuchi was leaned against her bed, his head laying back on the mattress partially. He was asleep, breathing softly, his sword and his backpack leaned against the wall beside him. He hadn't even gone back to his room...

She smiled and sighed, feeling the fear lessen. She was safe. The slender girl let herself fall back into sleep, where the healing of her own body and the magic could work best.

 

[HookerBoots]

Amaya watched as her squadmates were taken off to the infirmary. It was some strange luck that she, the girl that tripped over her own kimono half the time, had managed to be hurt less than anyone else. When Isamu offered her his arm, she hesitated for a moment, not wanting to show her weakness. But her leg was feeling the exertion of the walk there, and he had given her an out so that she could let him support her without feeling like an invalid. So she wrapped one of her arms around his offered one, letting his strength ease the strain on her injured leg.

"I would," she said softly as they made their way to her barracks again, "like to hear what really happened. Tsukibari-san has an . . . unpleasant reputation, so if you did something to him, I'd love to hear about it." He recounted the tale, his anger at the arrogant, foolish man apparent in every word. At the end, she let out an explosive breath. "Wow. I had no idea he was that bad. What a . . . I shouldn't say that about a superior officer. But . . . yeah, good job, Takeuichi-kun."

He shrugged. "If I'd had my way . . . I'm glad Koutetsu-san stopped me. I'd be gone in a heartbeat if I'd done what I wanted to."

Amaya nodded a little sleepily - Yamada-san had told her that would be a side-effect of the medicine and the kido he'd used - and rested her head on his shoulder. She could feel him tense up at first, but then relax, and they walked on in silence for a while. Then she laughed a little. "So, you and Michiru-chan, huh?" His flush was gratifying.

~ ~ ~ ~​

As Kojiru-san pulled Isamu aside to get his report taken down, Amaya sank down to the floor, sighing. Hotaru looked at her curiously, a little worriedly. "Amaya-san, what happened?"

The pink-haired girl shook her head. "Hollows. One on either side of the Seireitei." The other girl gasped, eyes wide. "I was with Koichi-san, and she took a hit, got knocked back. So it was up to me."

"Oh no!" Hotaru looked shocked. "Amaya-san, you beat it alone? That's amazing!" She sat forward, her face impressed. "But how could you have, with it defeating Koichi-san?"

"It didn't defeat her - it got in a lucky hit." Amaya leaned back, rubbing a hand over her forehead. "But I got really lucky; a binding kido worked, and Kira-san and I managed to destroy it." She sat up suddenly, hearing the door slide open. Isamu and Kojiru-san walked through, the older man clapping the shoulder of the younger.

"Well done, Takeuichi-san. I'm glad you were there to help Tomoe-san and assist in the exorcising of the Hollow." He smiled. "If Squad Four doesn't work out," and he didn't think it would; the boy had far too much fire in him to take the abuse a lot of the other healers did, "let us know."

As Isamu made his bow and said farewell to the girls, Saburo looked at Amaya. "Well, Kuragari-san, let's get your report made so you can go to sleep."

The girl struggled to her feet. "Hai, fukutaicho." She followed the tall man into the other room, where she was surprised to see Ichimaru waiting for them. It seemed that Saburo was surprised as well, since he stopped dead just inside the door. "Konbanwa, Ichimaru-taicho," she managed, suppressing a yawn.

"Konbanwa, Amaya-chan," he said with a smile. "Have a seat and make your report."

"Hai, taicho." She slowly adjusted herself to the proper stance for giving a report - she couldn't lounge, even if this position made her leg ache a little.

But he noticed, and shook his head. "Amaya-chan, don't hurt yourself. Sit however's comfortable."

Amaya did so, but she felt uneasy about it. But, with both of them watching her, she gave her report quickly and efficiently. By the end, she was struggling to keep herself up, the drowsiness that had started to creep up on her earlier becoming more insistent. "And that is what happened," she finished. "Takeuichi-san walked me back to the barracks, and gave his report as well, and then I came in to give mine."

Kojiru nodded. "Very good, Amaya-chan. It's lucky you were there, and had suck quick thought. You saved Koichi-san's life, I'm sure."

"No doubt," Ichimaru said, his chin resting on one hand. "I was right to have ya seated so high off the bat, Amaya-chan." He turned to his vice-captain. "Saburo-kun, go let Hotaru-chan that she can stop writing now, and then head to bed yourself. I'll help Amaya-chan to bed."

Why did that make her uneasy? Maybe it was the aftereffects of the medicine. But Kojiru-san walked out with a bow, and she could hear him talking to Hotaru, and she was alone with the captain. Who wasn't doing anything but sitting, studying her with that same smile on his face.

The silence stretched out until she was sure that she'd have to say something, anything, just to break it. Just before she said something that would probably be misguided and poorly considered, he stood up, extending a hand to her. "C'mon, Amaya-chan. Let's get you tucked in." He tilted his head at her. "I thought this'd give ya a chance to get ready for bed without having Hotaru-chan keepin' ya up with questions."

She nodded weakly, wondering why she was so much more hesitant to take his offered hand than she had been to take Isamu's. But in the end, she did take it, and let him walk her to the room she shared with Hotaru and Michiru.

 

[Armphid]

Isamu stood outside the white curtain dividers that had been placed around Michiru's bed to create her own "room" while she mended. He was on one side of the "door" and Kira on the other. One of the senior female members of the Squad was examining the girl, cleaning her wound, re-applying the salves, and re-bandaging before the two boys would apply her morning healing kidou. "Um," came Michiru's voice from inside, "Koutetsu-san has done this the last two days. Is she busy today?"

Kira nodded. Then, realizing she couldn't see that, he spoke up. "Yes, Tomoe-san. She's attending the ceremony that's officially changing over the position of fukutaichou from Yamada-san to Myou-san."

"Ahh." There was the rustling of fabric from inside the faux room that made both boys blushed as they imagined the pretty girl nude and starting to get dressed with the other woman's help. "I wondered why you had two vice-captains."

"Apparently it was because of some paperwork delay in Yamada-san's transfer to the Kidou Corps," Isamu shrugged. "So he was still fukutaichou, but Unohana-taichou had already chosen Mitsukake-fukutaichou as her new vice captain."

"You call him by his first name?" Michiru sounded incredulous. "I can't imagine-oh! That tickles!"

The two youths looked at one another and blushed again before looking quickly at the wall straight ahead. "Th-that's right," Kira spoke up. "He told us to. Apparently he doesn't like the sound of his family name much...he's an unusual man."

The senior healer walked out of the screen, "You may enter now. Takeuchi-san, you've been asked to use the 1st Chiyudo. Kira-san, you have been given permission to try the second." She nodded to them and moved on to check another patient.

Isamu sighed, "At this rate, you'll beat me to a seat in no time."

Kira shook his head as they walked to Michiru's bed, the girl laying back in her white infirmary robe, her new bandages visible where it was tied. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of the healing spells soon. You're good with kidou."

"...I'm good with hadou," Isamu corrected, "The rest..."

~~~~~~~​

Unohana's gentle blue eyes were thoughtful as she put the last of the reports down onto the stack with the rest. "I see." Her squad's reports had been turned in the day after, of course, but the ones from Squad 3 had just been made available. She looked up from her desk, her agelessly beautiful face serene. "Our new members did very well."

"H-hai, Unohana-taichou." Isane stood as stiff as a steel rod. She wasn't even sure why she'd been asked to come to this meeting. She wasn't a vice captain! She was just 3rd Seat! "I only witnessed Takeuchi-san but I was impressed with his quick thinking and boldness in saving Tomoe, as well as in realizing his own limitations."

"And then leaping into battle." Mitsukake was in his usual spot, leaning against the frame of the door to the captain's office. "He acted well, I'm not denying that. But..."

Isane looked at him curiously. "But...Mituskake-fukutaichou, I don't understand, you seem worried."

The big man sighed, running a hand over where his two headbands crossed over each other on his forehead. "I'm not worried, Koutetsu-san, just...concerned. These two have good instincts and hearts...I just don't know that they're the hearts of healers. Especially in Takeuchi's case."

Isane rounded on him, "He acted just like a healer should! He took care of the injured first, before fighting. When he'd done all he could, he let a more experienced healer take over and did what he could to save the patient."

Mitsukake grimaced. Isane wasn't usually so bold. It was good, actually, she needed to be more confident. But not in talking back to a superior. "It's part of a pattern, Koutetsu-san." He lifted a hand, ticking off points on fingers, "You've seen the reports from the Academy; most of them expected him to go to Squad 11. He has a high kidou rating for a recruit but he's been struggling to learn our healing powers. He has no problem with destructive spells though. He fights longer than anyone else in those secret practices you've been having," Isane stiffened, "and even in his free time he practices with his sword." He shook his head, "I'm not saying he isn't compassionate or that he made a wrong decision. I just don't think he has the right spirit to be one of us."

Unohana smiled, "It's good," she began, both of the others starting as though they'd almost forgotten she was there, "to have strong medics who can protect themselves, I think."

"Taichou," Mitsukake said, surprised. He then bowed his head, "I'm sorry, I know I...should not judge in haste."

"I know you didn't, Mitsukake-san," the master healer smiled. She nodded, "We will have to wait and see how they both come alone. Now, we have a meeting to go to." She rose, "Oh, and Isane-san...please continue your practices. I may come myself; I could use a little workout now and then."

Isane could have been knocked over with a feather.

 

[HookerBoots]

If she hadn't been told numerous times that she'd done well, Amaya might have started to worry that she was being punished. She and Hotaru were in the squad mess, the darker haired girl working on her assigned yams while Amaya worked on peeling daikon. It was a way for her to be useful without overexerting her leg - something that she'd been warned firmly against. But they had the chance to talk, and they were making serious headway through the piles of root vegetables.

"So you heard your zanpakuto's voice already?" Hotaru's face was envious as she scraped the skin off of another yam. "I can't believe it, I'm so jealous!"

Amaya tossed the daikon she'd finished peeling into the porcelain tub they'd been given for the purpose of their cleaned vegetables. "It wasn't any help, regardless. It called me stupid, and gave me some cryptic advice."

A stubborn bit of skin was sticking to the yam in Hotaru's hands, and she frowned down at it, deciding to cut it off instead of trying to shave it. As her knife dug in, she looked back at Amaya. "But it helped you anyway, right? You said it gave you the idea to do what you did."

The pink-haired girl paused in her work on the radishes, eyes thoughtful. "I guess it did," she said slowly. "Huh."

~ ~ ~ ~​

The pretty silver-haired healer looked up at Amaya with a smile. "You're all set, Kuragari-san." She rolled the leg of the girl's hakama down to cover where the cut had been. "It won't reopen on you, and it won't leave a scar."

Amaya smiled back. "Thank you, Koutetsu-san. I'm cleared for duty again, then?"

Isane nodded. "Yes, you can go back out and start earning new scars," she said with a sardonic smile. It was rare for the Third Seat to make jokes - she was normally tense, worried about making a good impression. But the pink-haired new recruit wasn't intimidating at all, so she didn't worry as much.

"I'll try to keep away from scars as much as I can, just to appease you, Koutetsu-san," Amaya said with a grin. She stood up, tugging at the hem of her kimono. "Thank you for the treatment."

Standing as well, Isane grinned ruefully. "You're welcome," she said, "and thank you."

"For what?"

"Well," the Amazonian woman looked down, "a lot of injured shinigami are rude to us, and don't seem very grateful." She shrugged. "It's nice to have someone who at least says thank you."

Amaya looked at the other woman with a smile. "I don't think it's wise on their part to take their healers for granted. And good work should be praised." She bowed. "Gomen, I should be heading back to my Squad to let my captain know I'm able to go back on patrol and practice." As she started toward the door, she paused. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, please give my greetings and thanks to Kira-san and Takeuichi-san?"

A small smile played on Isane's face. "Of course, Kuragari-san. Have a good day."

~ ~ ~ ~​

With a muttered curse, Amaya danced backwards, dodging a swing of Kojiru's sword. Since she'd recovered from her leg injury, she'd been practicing with him. His reasoning was that, since she was progressing so quickly, she needed someone even stronger to spar with. He was better with his sword than she was, and since it was sword practice, she couldn't fall back on kido. But she had been holding her own.

That was when she realized he'd been holding back.

It had been a hard realization, but Saburo's grin as he came at her again was pleased. She'd done better than he'd hoped. Kuragari wouldn't be 13th Seat for very long - he was already questioning whether or not she should be higher.

He pulled back for a moment, sword held almost negligently in one hand. "Come at me, Kuragari-san. Really try."

Amaya blew her hair out of her eyes. If she fell this time, she'd die of embarrassment. "Hai, fukutaicho." Raising her sword, she lunged.

 

[Armphid]

Kira rolled over and slapped a hand on the alarm clock a minute before it would have gone off. He sat up and yawned, stretching out his arms. Then he stuck out a foot and prodded Isamu's slumbering form. "Takeuchi-kun, wake up."

"Mfggh," came the eloquent reply, accompanied by a vaguely claw-like hand gesture.

Kira shook his head and stood up, walking over to the hutch the two youths had built in the one corner of the room. "Ohayoo, minna-san," he said softly. Inside the hutch, the chicken lounged, surrounding by the kittens that had not yet been adopted. The hen had taken to mothering the wee cats, who obediently followed when it came clucking at them to announce bedtime. He reached in under the chicken and removed two eggs.

Isamu was sitting up, blinking blearily at the door when his friend came over, "Two today."

The American yawned, "Good. Let's go make Unohana-taichou some fresh eggs for breakfast."

Kira nodded. "You know, some people might think we're kissing up."

Isamu stood up and yawned, "Yeah, well...they might be a little right. But I think we're just...building a rapport and showing our appreciation of our captain's inspiration."

Kira looked at his friend wryly, "Oh? And just what has she been inspiring you too these last few nights?"

"...I don't know what you mean."

~~~~~~~​

Michiru sighed as she lay on the bed. She was much stronger than she'd been a few days ago but she still couldn't leave. She felt...keyed up. Tense in a very strange way...and it got stronger when Takeuchi-san was nearby.

Isane looked up from where she was performing the healing technique, the green glow of medical magic flowing around her hands and to the knitting wound. "You're feeling it, aren't you, Tomoe-san?"

"Eh? What do you mean, Koutetsu-san?"

The gray haired young woman blushed a little, "One of the particular medicines we use has a...certain side effect. It makes patients, um, more...uh...excitable."

Michiru tilted her head. "I don't understand. I don't feel excited, really. Just...tense and...I want...something but I'm not sure what. And...Takeuchi-san...I feel that way more when...Oh!" Her eyes went wide, her mouth an O of surprise, a hand flying to it. "You mean...you mean that kind of excited..."

~~~~~~~​

"You're getting better, Takeuchi-kun." The two new members of Squad 4 were taking a breather during one of the practices Isane had set up. There were maybe ten people there, not counting them. Kira looked over at his friend, "You know...we're a lot stronger than many of the people who are seated."

"Yeah." Isamu reached up behind them to life a dipper of cool water out of the bucket that say on the wall of the well they were sitting against. He took a drink and then splashed the rest on his head. "But that's the way it is in this squad since they won't teach healing kidou in the Academy. Which is asinine. I mean, what the hell is wrong with every shinigami knowing some healing? Isn't that a good idea?"

Kira considered a moment. This was another of his friend's radical ideas. "I don't know. I wonder..."

Isamu rolled his eyes. "I know, I know, you don't want to talk about it." Hardly anyone ever did. Amaya did and Rukia would at least listen. He'd get in an argument if he mentioned it around Hinamori or Abarai. "But you know, if you think about, there'd be nothing but good that came from it. There aren't enough medics to go around. But if everyone knew a little bit, we'd have a lot less people limping back in pieces and having to be put up for longer times."

He was going to go on when a shadow fell over them. Isane looked down at the two of them, "Are you done for the day?"

Isamu was on his feet in a moment, Kira only a moment or two behind. "Not a chance!" Excellent! He had been hoping the 3rd Seat would have time to go a few passes with him! Not that way, of course, although...he really needed to not think like that. But she was pretty and well shaped and...he liked that she was tall and strong. And she'd seen him naked. "If you're feeling up to it, Koutetsu-san, I'd love to go a few rounds with you."

Kira snickered.

Isane opened her mouth to reply but just then her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. She blinked, then snapped her mouth shut. "U-U-Uno..."

"Huh?" Isamu turned around to be met with gentle blue eyes and a sweet, pure smile from Captain Retsu Unohana. "Ah! Unohana-taichou!" All action ceased, the members present staring for a moment before all hastily bowing.

"Such a lively group!" She smiled and looked around at them. "I'm happy to see that we are all training our bodies as well as our minds and spirits." She walked past Isamu and Kira to turn her smile on Isane. "Arigatou, Isane-san, for arranging this. It's a very good idea." She walked out into the area that had been set up for sparring and swung her long sword, the curved length almost as tall as her body, from her shoulder and into her hands. "It's been so long since I practiced, I must be rusty." She beamed at her stunned members, "Would anyone like to spar a little?"

Silence met her request. Raise their swords to their captain? Even in sparring the idea was worrisome, especially with the sweet gentleness of Unohana. Isane, the highest ranking officer there, sighed, knowing she should respond, "Taichou-"

"I will!" Isamu slid into the sparring area. He was smiling as well, the youth almost giddy with excitement. "If you will allow me the great honor, Unohana-taichou. I know I'm not even a seated officer, but...please." To a careful ear, there was a hint of almost eager desperation in his voice.

Unohana's smile didn't waver, though her eyes were thoughtful. "Of course, Takeuchi-san. Your records say you're quite the swordsman." One delicate hand took hold of her sword's hilt. "You'll be a nice almost warm-up."

"I'll do my best," he grinned savagely, "to make it worth your while."

~~~~~~~​

"Nnn." Isamu walked down the infirmary's main ward. It was night, the light's out. He rotated his shoulder as he walked. Damn...still sore from that last practice. But then, what did he expect? He'd gone up against a captain. Just watching her in action...amazing.

He was so crushing on his gorgeous, gentle, powerful captain now.

He paused in his patrol as he passed Michiru's curtained off room. He thought he'd heard something. "...Tomoe-san?" He stuck his head around the corner, "Is everything all right?"

"Takeuchi-kun..." The girl sat up in bed at the sight of him. Her dark hair was unbound and fell wildly about her face. "I'm fine, I...uh, actually...could you come in?"

"Sure." He stepped in and walked over to her bedside. "Is there something you want to talk about, Tomoe-san?"

"You don't need to be so formal with me, if you don't want to," she said with a light blush. "And...there is something I need from you, Takeuchi-san, but...it's not...talking." She pushed the blankets off and stood up in front of him, petite and lovely. Her hands went to the sask of her hospital robe and with a few quick motions, pulled it open.

Isamu stared, knowing it was wrong, but stunned by the blatantness of the move, "T-Tomoe-san, what are..."

"Onegai, Takeuchi-san," she asked, her cheeks flushed, "Please...help me again, won't you?" She stepped up to him, her small hands running up his chest. She pressed herself to him, "Please," she whispered.

Isamu's arms hung at his sides for a few moments, then lifted to fold around her. "Tomoe-san...are you sure?"

"Don't make me say it again."

 

[HookerBoots]

Isane made her way down the dark hallway as well, a pile of paperwork clutched tightly to her chest. Mitsukake-fukutaicho had asked her to assist him with some of the patients' files, especially the ones she'd had a hand in bringing in. So she was more than happy to help, but she sort of wished he'd done it earlier in the evening. As late as it was, she'd probably only get to two or three of them before she had to go to bed.

As she passed the infirmary door - any officer ranked 5 or higher had an office and room that was near the infirmary - Isane paused. There were noises coming from inside, and she wasn't sure . . . . The silver-haired Third Seat poked her head around the doorway, looking carefully around. It might be a mouse or something. Instead, she saw a dim light inside of the curtains surrounding Tomoe-san's bed, and a shadow moving. Was the girl in pain, or . . . .

"Ahh, Tomoe-san!"

Isane almost dropped the files she was carrying. Takeuichi was in there, with Tomoe-san? And they were . . . she bit her lip and backed up slowly. It would be improper to stay longer, and she certainly wasn't interested in watching. Of course not. So she made her way quietly down the hall again, sliding the door to her room open and shut as quietly as she could.

She sat down at the small desk, setting the files there and lighting the lamp that was sitting in one corner. Picking up a pen, Isane opened the top file, trying to read over what she needed to for it. But she couldn't concentrate. Unohana-taicho would be able to! Why couldn't she? Thoughts kept intruding, about the sounds she'd heard, and the outline of their bodies moving, and . . . finally, she gave up, setting the pen down. Maybe if she went to bed, she'd be able to forget.

~ ~ ~ ~​

Amaya was in the practice courtyard, working through sword forms alone. She'd been told to go out here and work on them until Kojiru-san came out to begin sparring with her, but she was also starting to think she'd been forgotten about. That had been over half an hour ago, and even though she wasn't getting worn out yet, it was still something that she had to work at. When she could forget that she was clumsy and apt to cut herself open, however, she looked rather graceful.

Suddenly, she sensed a presence behind her, and spun around, sword at the ready. Then almost dropped the blade when she realized who it was. "Gomen, taicho! I didn't mean to . . . ."

"It's all right, Amaya-chan." The ever-present smile on his face seemed made her feel a little better - if she'd really upset him, he wouldn't be smiling. Right? "I came out to see how you were doin'."

She bowed, sheathing her sword. "Arigato, taicho. I feel like I'm doing better than I had been."

"Really?" His smile broadened slightly. "I'm sure Saburo-kun will be out shortly, but would ya be up to a practice match? If ya do well, I'll give ya a treat."

Now she felt uneasy and uncertain. "I'm sure it wouldn't even be a contest, Ichimaru-taicho." It wouldn't be, at all. He could hurt her, badly. "Thank you for offering, but I don't want to waste your time."

He shook his head. "Nonsense, Amaya-chan. I promise . . . let's see . . . I promise not to release even my shikai, and we'll stop when you're tired."

There wasn't much she could say. If she said no again, she'd be close to insubordination. But she really didn't . . . if he didn't release, she might be able to at least not get too hurt. "All right, taicho. Thank you for this opportunity." She unsheathed her sword, her hands only shaking a little. But she could feel, as she'd felt so often lately, another entity in her mind, and she knew without knowing it was the same voice that had talked to her on her first patrol. There was a whispering sound that she couldn't understand, and she also knew it was trying to tell her something - probably its name - that she couldn't understand yet.

But she stood there, waiting for Ichimaru to draw his own sword, and he didn't. Finally, he grinned, showing even, white teeth. "Go ahead, Amaya-chan. If you can make me draw my sword, you'll get your treat."

She wasn't at all sure she'd be able to do that, but she could feel the emotions of the entity in her head swirling - amusement and indignation and excitement and all sorts of others she didn't have words for. So Amaya gathered herself and darted forward, sword swinging in from the side.

He stepped out of the way easily, and used shunpo to land behind her, leaving her rushing forward at nothing. Amaya turned, her eyes a little fierce, and he laughed. "I never said I wouldn't use shunpo, Amaya-chan. You've got to be faster, and less obvious if you want to make me draw my sword."

The creature in her head hissed angrily, feeling, as she did, that it was unfair of him not to have said so earlier. Instead of getting mad, however, she pushed the feelings aside and made another rush, trying to determine if there was a pattern to his evasions. If there was, that would make things easier for her to gauge. This time, however, he didn't side-step at all, instead flashing about a foot forward, just enough to miss her strike and tangle up her feet with his.

In the millisecond before she fell, Amaya flashed herself forward, using her momentum to roll as she landed and make it to her feet, sword out. Again, no kido for this fight. She'd have to do this herself, no reliance on anything other than her own coordination and her sword. Doomed, that's what it was.

But she knew now that she couldn't predict where he'd move. So she had to limit the possibilities, forcing him into a place where she could strike. And it was so infuriating, the way he stood there with that smile, hands hidden in his sleeves, as though he were at his ease. Gritting her teeth, Amaya shifted her grip on the sword slightly, and then, just as she started a forward run, flashed herself forward so that she was actually on his right flank.

He moved, actually having to move his arms out of the way of her sword, without even time to flash. If she'd been a little more accurate in her shunpo, she might have made him draw his sword. She skidded to a stop, turning quickly to face him again, as though he might turn on her like a snake.

"Better," was all he said, smiling a little more broadly.

This time, she did something a little fancier. Starting in a forward rush, she flashed backward, then to his left side. When he dodged backward again, she flashed back forward, her sword pushing forward, and finding . . . cold steel blocking it. Ichimaru had drawn his sword in less than the blink of an eye, and it stunned Amaya to the point where she stepped back. "I did it?"

From behind her, she heard a forceful male voice. "You did," Kojiru-san said.

 

[Armphid]

"Hmm?" Michiru woke as light coming in from one of the infirmary's high windows caressed her delicate face. She was warm and cozy and felt...so wonderfully relaxed. The tension she'd been carrying for days was gone. She sighed happily, tugging the blanket tighter around her...except that it wasn't a blanket.

"Nani?" She sleepily sat up, causing the sleek black shihakusho that she had been tucked in with to slide down the bed. She took hold of the garment and pulled it back up. It was warm and there was a smell on it that was...nice. His smell.

He wasn't there now and she hadn't expected him to be. They both knew what last night was and what it wasn't. But this was...more than she'd expected. He really was a sweet guy under all his strangeness and anger. "Arigatou, Takeuchi-san," she murmured.

She'd have to hide it before Koutetsu-san came. Next time Takeuchi-san visited, she'd...or would she?

A devilish smile slid over her face. Maybe this was more than a kind thought and a gesture of affection. Maybe...she'd just gotten a trophy.

~~~~~~~​

"Ufff!" Isamu fell back hard on the ground, shaking his head. Damn it! He gritted his teeth, furious with himself.

Isane shook her head, lowering her sword. "Are you all right, Takeuchi-san?" She hadn't gotten that good a result on him since that first day. He'd steadily improved. "I was surprised that connected."

"I'm fine. Nothing hurt but my pride." He stood up, his face flushed with embarrassment. "I keep hearing something...like someone calling my name from a distance or something. It's a real pain."

The amazonian healer considered a moment. He was hearing the voice of his sword already? Enough that it was a distraction to his fighting too. Remarkable. "It's the voice of your zanpakuto. You heard it before, right?"

He nodded. "During the patrol, yeah. But I couldn't hear it clearly then either."

She nodded, "Until you are strong enough and have a good enough relationship, it will be like that."

He looked downcast. "So...I'm just too weak."

"Takeuchi-san, that's...not exactly it." Isane's gentle eyes were a bit sad to see him so frustrated with himself. "It's impressive that you're this far along so soon, really. It..." She blushed, "It took me a lot longer to hear mine."

"It's all right." He looked up with a determined expression. "It just means that I need to be stronger." He rolled his head to crack his neck and then slid his feet apart, holding up his sword. "I've got a lot longer to go to reach my goal. Hearing my sword's name is just the first milestone."

Isane quirked an eyebrow, "Does that mean you have a goal in mind?"

"That's right." His eyes flashed, "I will become a Captain of the Gotei 13 and make Soul Society into a better place than the unjust and sloppy place it is now." His voice rang with conviction and certainty.

His superior's surprise showed on her face. Usually goals were much more vague in recruits. To be the best healer they could or to contribute well to the Squad's success. This drive...well, there was a lot that was unusual about him wasn't there. "I see. What do you think is wrong with Soul Society anyway?"

Kira grunted as he blocked a blow from one fretful looking female shinigami, and then a second from a reedy young man. These two were so timid about combat, it wasn't even a warm-up unless you took them both on. "Don't get him started unless you're done practicing, Koutetsu-san," he called out. "And have four or five hours to spare."

Isamu gave his friend a hard look. Then he looked over at Isane, "He's part right. We can talk about that later. For right now, let's train."

She nodded. "Yes." She raised her Itegumo with the point at his chest. "Let's help each other reach our goals then, Takeuchi-san."

"What's yours?" Isamu shifted his sword into both hands, holding it up by his head, upright.

She smiled. She was usually so timid and shy but around him...his strength was just infectious. "If you can push me out of the sparring ring, I'll tell you."

~~~~~~~​

Isamu looked up at the building before them. "Well, here we are." He turned to smile down at his companion. "I'm glad you'll be back in action but I'll miss having you around, Tomoe-san."

Michiru was in her shihakusho again, her sword tucked into her sash, hair again in her buns. She felt whole now. "I won't miss being in the infirmary, but I will miss your visits." There was a hint of a flush on her cheeks, an answering one on Isamu's. She looked around and stepped up to him, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Arigatou, Takeuchi-kun. For everything."

He smiled and nodded. "Like we talked about, Tomoe...Michiru-san. If you need something, you know where to find me." He bowed to her and turned to walk away. "Oh. Do you know what happened, um, to the shihakusho I...you know."

She shook her head. "One of the nurses must have taken it away to the laundry when I was asleep. Gomen, Takeuchi-kun."

"It's no big deal. Well, say hi to Kuragari-chan and Ikkanzaki-san for me."

~~~~~~~​

Hotaru looked over at her friend as the girls had a celebratory sweets binge in their room. "You know, Tomoe-chan, you seem...different."

The newly recovered girl shrugged, "Well, it was pretty serious. I would have died if it wasn't for Takeuchi-kun and Koutetsu-san."

"Pfft." Michiru blinked at the other girl's dismissal of her life threatening condition. "I don't mean that. You're, like, glowing. And you seem so...relaxed. Did something happen?"

Michiru looked both shy and sly at once. "Well..." She reached into the bag of her clothes and drew out a folded shihakusho that was far too large for her. She set it between the three of them.

Hotaru blinked, "That's a man's...Tomoe-chan! You..." At her nod, the other girl let out a squeal, "Oh, oh, oh! Tell us all about it!"

Michiru smiled, her cheeks still red. "Well, I won't name names. But, this is what happened..."

~~~~~~~​

Isamu stood on the slate roof of the barracks. The sky was dark but peppered with the gleaming lights of the stars overhead and the brilliant swath of the Milky Way cutting through it. He was watching the stars; it was a good night for it. The moon was barely a sliver, making it perfect to see the glory of the heavens.

He ran a hand over the hilt sticking out from the sash at his waist. "I know I don't know your name and I may not be able to hear it yet. But I hope I can soon. We have a lot of work ahead of us, together, to get this place where it should be."

There was a light step behind him, "Ahh." Her voice made him stiffen before he whirled to face her. In the starlight, she was even more luminously beautiful. Retsu Unohana smiled, "Gomen, Takeuchi-san. I didn't mean to disturb you. I thought you might be a practical joker from Squad 11."

"Unohana-taichou!" How did she keep sneaking up on him? Was that just her or was it a captain thing? "I know I shouldn't be up here, I'm sorry, but...I just, um..." He looked a little embarrassed. "I...like to look at the stars."

She smiled sweetly, "It's fine. It's good to have more in one's life than training, work, and healing." It was somewhat of a relief to see a new side to him, actually. "I will leave you in peace."

"Uh." Before he knew what he was doing, the words came out of his mouth, "Would you care to join me, taichou?" He blushed, though it was hard to tell in the dark. "It's a very nice sky tonight."

She looked up. "Yes, it is." She nodded and came to stand beside him. "Thank you, Takeuchi-san. I accept." She sat down on the beam of the roof and gazed upward.

Isamu sank down beside her, a respectful distance away, of course. His gaze, however, was split between two heavens.