She was walking to the store to pick up some food for supper and her cat. Just before turning the corner she stopped. There was a high pitched scream and she took off in that direction. ~What the hell is that?~ she thought staring at the huge monster. Then she saw the small child sitting in the sand box unaware. "Hey kid!" she yelled. "Get away from there!" The kid gave her a puzzled expression while the monster continued to come closer. She began to run towards him. "Please! Run!" The kid stood slowly but by that time the monster was almost upon him. She jumped forward just as the monster attacked. The kid flew out of the way as the monster bit down on her torso. She felt a sharp pain and all went black.
Tsumori sat under the apple trees with music blaring in her ears. She wasn't paying attention to the man who had just walked up to her. "What are you doing?" He noted that she wasn't listening and pulled the headphones off. "What was that for?" She gave a side-ways glance at Hitsugaya. "1. You have a meeting to get to before you're late. 2. Jushiro needs to see you later for treatments." She stood and watched Hitsugaya's expression, he hated being so short. Tsumori left him standing in the grass without a second thought. "I'm here!!" She flew into her chair. Some days she hated being a doctor. "Got any new information for me?"
She opened her eyes and closed them again against the light. She covered them with her hand and groaned. She slowly tried to sit up without making herself too dizzy. It didn't work too well. She groaned again. Her eyes had finally adjusted to the light and she look around. ~Where am I?~ The area surrounding her was completely unfamiliar. As she remembered what had just happened she looked down at herself. ~How am I alive?~ she thought as she continued to check for any missing limbs.
They handed her a book, a box, and a bunch of papers "These are the papers you requested." She was shocked at the amount of stuff that they had managed to find. 'Wow' "Is this it?"
"Yes" She got up and left. She took the papers to her house before grabbing her stuff from the clinic. Jushiro had been her patient for the past year and a half and they were close to finding a cure for his tuberculosis. They hadn't tried blood transfusions and she had intended to keep that as a last resort."Tsumori-chan it's a good thing you're here, Jushiro-chan isn't doing very good. Please come with me"
She was finally feeling better and decided to try and stand. She managed without getting too dizzy. Looking around again she saw a huge white wall. It was still a ways away but it was the only sign of humanity she could see. ~I should probably head there to see where I am.~ She thought as she headed for the huge wall. She became lost in thought about where she was, how she got there, and why she wasn't dead.
She took her shoes off and walked to Jushiro's room, where she knew he would be. She found him stretched out on the bed, his eyes open. She took his blood pressure and heart rate, they seemed to be fine. "We'll there's only one thing we haven't tried."
"And that would be?"
"Blood transfusions, so I hope that you intend on taking some time off of work." He sat up against the pillows and watched her. "We'll start tomorrow if that's alright with you?" He smiled. "That's fine" He closed his eyes and lied back on the pillows
Her head hurt from thinking too much and she was very board. "Hello!" She called still a ways away from the huge white wall. "Is anybody there?" She sighed and continued walking. ~I wish there was a faster way to get around.~ She wiped the sweat off her forehead and her stomach growled. ~I hope I get there soon. I'm starving!~
"Hey!" Not even 2 feet from her house her best friend Rukia showed up out of nowhere. "What's got you so preoccupied lately?"
"Nothing much" Tsumori turned away to go inside but Rukia just wouldn't give up.
"Don't lie to me, Tsumori. I know something's wrong with you. Now tell me what it is!!" Tsumori turned away, not wanting to have this conversation. "It's one of my patients" Rukia started to prance around her.
"Ahh, Tsumori has a boyfriend" She slightly blushed
"Do not" Rukia stopped her prancing and watched her.
"Tsumori, you know what you need, you need some sake" Tsumori watched Rukia. Rukia knew that even though Tsumori could out drink anyone in Soul Society even though she didn't like to drink.
"Here's the deal, let me get set up for tomorrow and then I'll go drinking with you" Rukia jumped into the air and then ran in to Tsumori's house to help her get ready.
Finally she could see the houses. They were small and ruddy but houses non the less. Her stomach growled as the smell of cooking wafted on the breeze. "So... Hungry... Need... Food..." She said in an overly dramatic voice. As she walked through the streets the inhabitants gave her odd looks which she ignored. Before she knew it she was standing at the huge, white gates. "Hey! Hello! Is anybody there!" she called desperately hoping someone would come get her. She didn't want to be left out here all alone with nowhere to go.
"What would you like?" Rukia gave the man an incredulous look.
"2 glasses of sake" He handed her the glasses and she brought them to where Tsumori was sitting. "Hey Rukia! Guess who just walked through the door." Rukia stood up to see over all the people.
"You got to be joking!!" Her older brother started looking around then he spotted Rukia.
"Rukia! Sit down and stop drawing attention to yourself!" Tsumori grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her down. Every female in Soul Society had a crush on Byakuya Kuchiki, everyone except his younger sister Rukia even though they weren't biological siblings. Right after Byakuya came Hitsugaya followed by Zaraki.
"Let me in!" she yelled banging her fists on the gate.
"What do you want?" Came a voice from the other side of the wall.
"I want food and an explanation!" She yelled back. There was silence for a minute before the gate opened just enough to let her in. The man that let her in was about 5' 11" with dark purple hair and the number 69 tattooed on his cheek.
"Come with me. I'll get you food and explain everything." he said leading her farther into the white city.
Byakuya spotted Rukia and grabbed a place at our table, the other two followed. Tsumori pushed a plate of watermelon towards Hitsugaya. "I didn't expect to see my little sister here and with a doctor no less." Rukia perked up "Yeah well Tsumori needed some cheering up" 'I needed to get the rest of my work done' Tsumori muttered under her breath but kept quiet at her friends efforts.
"She seems just fine to me" Zaraki nuggied Rukia. "Well I have to go and check up on my division" Zaraki got up and left.
"I think I'm going to head home too" Tsumori got up and left a half filled glass of sake on the table which Rukia quickly drank. Outside she saw Hisagi and a strange woman with him. She knew every shinigami in the city. She gave them a quick glance and headed in there direction.
"Um... There's a woman walking towards us." she told the man escorting her.
"I see. It's okay she's the doctor here." They stopped and watched as the woman approached.
"Is she going to be mad that I'm here?" she asked a little worriedly.
"No. She shouldn't be. All people that are new here get an explanation by a shinigami." he explained. She just nodded.
Tsumori just looked at the girl for a long moment before turning to Hisagi. "Well, well. You've really out done yourself this time, Hisagi. Bring her to me tomorrow so I can do a check up. I'll be back at the clinic around 3. I have a patient to see tomorrow morning." She turned the corner before yelling over her back. "Good luck Hisagi!" She was home not even 5 minutes later. It was always nice to return home after work. The elders of her house were always bugging her about not being married at her age but right now she liked being alone. She got undressed and climbed into bed.
"Um... What was that about?" she asked slightly confused.
"She thinks you're my girlfriend." he explained a little embarrassed. Her mouth dropped in a little 'oh'. "Anyway, you are still hungry right?"
"Of course!" she said her stomach agreeing with her. Hisagi chuckled and continued to lead her back to his office.
"Any questions you have for me before we get there?"
"Yes! Where am I?"
"You are in Sereitei. This is where all the people come where they die." he explained.
"So I'm dead?" she asked still confused.
"Yes."
"Just checking."
The next morning Tsumori was woken by a loud banging on the door. "Can someone please get the door!" She turned over and hid her head under the blankets.
"Mam you have a guest" one of her servants said from the door to her room.
"Who is it?" She slightly moved the blankets farther down her body.
"It's Byakuya-chan"
"Let him in" She got up and quickly got dressed.
"Nice to see your awake" She was startled to see him look so happy sitting at her kitchen table. "You caught me off guard, so to what do I owe this visit?" He looked a little upset at the question.
"Am I not allowed to walk a friend to work, considering we're going in the same direction anyway?"
"I'm cool with that but I'm not heading to the clinic first. I have to go see Jushiro first thing and then I have an appointment after that." She knew something was up because he changed the subject right after
"Did you hear about the new girl that showed up out of the blue last night?" She almost started laughing
"Yeah, she was walking with Hisagi last night and I bumped into them on the way home from the bar, and she's the second appointment that I have today. You don't think that there's something going on between them do you?" Byakuya just stared, they both shook their heads.
"Are you going to the festival tonight?" It was time for her to go back to asking the questions. "I'm not sure yet, why?" She gave him an incredulous look for being so dim-witted "They want me to sing but I'm not sure if I really want to go." Byakuya downed the last of his tea. "Jushiro was planning on going." She couldn't help but blush and he knew that he had hit the right spot. Jushiro loved to hear her sing and often times she would on their visits, just for him. They had been dating for just over 2 years.
"Morning." Hisagi said happily as she walked out from his room. "Did you sleep well?"
"I did thank you." She said sitting down at the table. The smell of bacon and eggs wafted to her and her stomach grumbled loudly. "Though I still feel bad about making you sleep on the couch."
"Don't worry about it." he laughed while putting the food onto plates. "It's only because you turned up so late in the night."
"Well I had to walk for hours to get here. That's why I was so late." she explained. He looked at her puzzled. "What?"
"People usually land close to town. I wonder why you ended up so far away?" he thought handing her a plate. She waited for him to sit down before eating.
"Jushiro, what's wrong with you, your squirmy this morning." She gave him a glare. She stood there with a needle in one hand and a bag in the other. She finally got him pinned long enough to get the needle into him. "There that wasn't so bad now was it?" He gave her a pout. "I'm still going to the festival tonight and there's no way in hell your going to stop me"
"You can go on one condition, I'm going with you." He lied down a shook his head.
"I was going to bring you with me anyway. So are you staying here?" Tsumori sat in one of the vacant chairs "Until the bag's empty." 2 hours later she got up and took out the needle and grabbed the empty bag. She turned and left her sleeping boyfriend on the couch.
"That was good!" she said leaning back in her chair.
"I'm glad you liked it." He said with a smile. There was a short silence when she thought of something.
"I don't know your name." she said slightly bewildered. He chuckled as he realized he hadn't introduced himself.
"My name is Shuhei Hisagi. And yours?"
"Tali." she said with a smile. "So what am I doing today. I'm sure you're busy with a lot of things being the lieutenant of a division."
"Before I start working I'm going to take you to the Academy so you can become a shinigami. Or should I just find you a family so you can live a normal life?"
"No way! Sign me up! I'm sick of the normal, boring life." she said jumping up.
"I like your enthusiasm. I bet you'll do great at the Academy."
She threw a stack of papers on her desk and looked at a newly placed pile that urgently needed her signature. 'Why is it that I still end up with over half the paper work. Isn't her lieutenant supposed to do this?' "I guess I should get these finished so I can go home early, wait a minute, I still have one appointment that hasn't shown up yet. If I have to go get her, Hisagi is going to be in for it. He's the one that's supposed to bring her here."
"Before we go I have to bring you in to Tsumori-chan's office. I don't remember why but ...Yeah."
"You sound a little unenthusiastic Hisagi." she said with a tiny chuckle.
"Well Tsumori isn't the nicest of people when she's angry and we're already running a little late." he said slightly nervously.
"Then we better get going!" She said jumping up.
"Alright." And they headed towards the 2nd division. After a few moments of silence Hisagi decided to start a conversation. "Are you going to the festival tonight?" he asked. She looked at him confused.
"What festival?" she asked.
"We're having a spring festival that also commemorates the defeat of the traitor Aizen." he explained. She nodded her understanding.
"I don't know. I don't really know anyone here. It would be a little awkward."
"Well you could always come with me." he said not looking at her. She was a little speechless.
"Sure." she said with a slight blush.
"Good." he said with a big smile. "We're here. After this we go to the Academy to sign you up!"
Tsumori heard a knock on the door and looked up from behind a stack of papers. "Come in and take a seat." She finished up the paper she was working on a grabbed a clip board from the drawer. She handed it to the girl along with a pen. "I need you to fill these out before we begin" She turned to Hisagi. "Your gravely late. I do have other things that people are expecting me to do today, so this is going to be as fast as I can make this. Then the report will be sent to Yamamoto-san."
"Hey give me a break." Hisagi shrugged. "I came as fast I could. I still need to take her to the Academy before I can get to work." Tali sat down and read over the papers before filling them out.
20 minutes later they both came out from the back. "Everything looks fine. I'm just going to wait for the blood work to come back but you can take her home and I'll call you two back if there's anything wrong.." She yawned and sat behind her desk and started to flip through Jushiro's file.
Tali nodded and left with Hisagi. "She's kinda scary." Tali said. Hisagi nodded.
"I told you." he said.
"So where to now?" Tali asked.
"To the Academy." Hisagi said and she went silent. When they got there Tali hid behind Hisagi as he talked to the secretary. She peeked over Hisagi's shoulder and saw her write her name on the long list. She squeaked and hid behind Hisagi again "What's wrong Tali?" he asked.
"I'm nervous. I don't know anyone. I mean there's so many people and I'm going to have to share a room." she said digging her toe into the floor.
"Don't worry you'll be fine. You can tell me everything that happens when the captains and lieutenants come for their yearly visit. That's about half way through the year. And you never know, maybe I'll come visit sometimes." This made Tali smile.
"Thank you for everything Hisagi."
"Anytime. I'll show you to your dorm room." They headed there in a comfortable silence. He opened the door for her and entered.
"Hisagi? What's this?" she asked holding up a long, dark sword.
"That's your Zanpakuto." he explained.
"My what?"
"Your weapon." he said pointing to his hip where his sword hung. "They are unique to everyone. I'll give you a tip. Spend lots of time talking to it and do your best to find out it's name." he said with a knowing smile.
"What?"
"It will be explained better in class. Don't worry." he smiled. "But now I have to go. I'll see you around." She nodded as he left. When the door was shut she curled up on her bed and dreaded the moment her roommate would arrive.
"How are you feeling?" Tsumori sat beside Jushiro on the couch.
"Better and I was hoping to take a walk in the sakura orchard before the festival" he replied. She sat and thought for a minute.
"I'd really like that." He got up and grabbed a blanket from the hall.
"Are you ready to go then?" She stood.
"Of course!" There was a small river that ran through the orchard and they picked the closest tree to it to sit under. She leaned against him and closed her eyes.
"Tsumori, is something wrong? You're offly quiet" She looked up at him.
"Nothing, It's just been a long day for me." They sat and watched the rest of the sunset together and then headed to the festival. They meet up with Rukia, Byakuya, Hitsugaya, and Ichigo when they got there and picked one of the best places to sit.
There was a knock on the door and she sat up, groggily rubbing her eyes. "Who is it?" she asked.
"Hisagi." came the voice.
"Hold on I have to get ready." She said as she frantically ran around the room. She put on her black halter dress put her hair up so it fanned out behind her and out her on her makeup.
"Sorry for making you wait so long." she said opening the door. His eyes went wide as he saw her.
"Not at all. It was worth it." he said offering his arm. She linked hers with his and they headed over to the festival.
"Hey! Hisagi, Tali! Get your asses over here!" Tsumori smacked Rukia.
"If they want to come sit with us then it's their decision, they don't have too if they don't want to." She turned to Jushiro, who had a blank look on his face.
"Hello, is anybody home?" She waved her hand in front of his face and when he didn't reply, she smacked him.
"What was that for?" She gave him an evil smile.
"If you'd stop day dreaming then I wouldn't have to do that." He got a look of utter surprise "When are you singing?"
"Soon" she replied and went back to drinking the sake in her glass. This time Rukia wasn't getting any.
Tali looked down nervously. "Don't worry. She seems to be in a good mood and the others are nice. The silver haired one is Ukitake and he's hilarious." Hisagi said. "You don't have to be so nervous."
"I'm sorry." She said. "Are we going?"
"Only if you want to." Tali nodded and they headed in their direction.
"You weren't this nervous when we first met." he stated.
"I was lost, confused an hungry. I couldn't afford to be nervous." she explained. Hisagi nodded his understanding.
"Hey guys! This is Tali." he said motioning towards her. "Tali you've already met Tsumori. This is Rukia, and this is Ukitake - taicho, and Byakuya- taicho." he said pointing them out in turn for her.
"Ohaiyo. Nice to meet you." she said shyly.
"Hi" they all said in chorus.
"Well are you two going to sit with us or not?" Rukia stuck out her tongue at them.
"Hold that thought, we have a pervert alert." Tsumori moved to get a better look while Rukia turned around to see Kyoraku-taicho coming their way with a bottle of sake in his hand and Nanao right behind him. "You really don't need any more to drink, my friend" Tsumori reached for the bottle but Kyoraku side stepped just out of reach. Nanao hit him over the head with her book.
"She's right, you know." Jushiro looked up then at Tsumori
"look up." Everyone raised their heads just in time to see the start of the fireworks.
Tali looked up and gapped in awe at the beautiful fireworks. It was her first time seeing them since her brother died. Hisagi looked at her and put his hand on Tali's shoulder. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing." she replied. "It's just this is the first time I've seen fireworks since my brother died." Hisagi put his arm around her and held her to his chest.
"Well then, let's make this memory a good one." Tali smiled thankful for the friend she had found.
"Thank you."
Tsumori got up and left the table. Only two of the people remaining knew where she was going. Jushiro and Byakuya were the only two that never missed a festival and most shinigami would say that they only came to hear Tsumori sing. Yes, in Jushiro's case that was true but Byakuya had a hidden reason for going. One he wasn't about to tell anyone."Where did Tsumori go?" Rukia looked around for her friend but she was nowhere to be seen. She turned to Jushiro, who was watching the bands set up. "You'll see" was the only thing he said to her.
Tali stood there silently, watching the bands set up. She didn't know what to do. The only person she knew was Hisagi and she had no idea what to talk about with the other shinigami. I mean she wasn't even a shinigami yet. She felt like she had no right to be there. "Calm down Tal." Hisagi whispered to her.
"But Hisagi-kun I have no right to be here with all of you." she whispered.
"Why do you think that?"
"Well I'm not even a shinigami yet. I just feel so out of place." she said looking at the ground.
"Don't worry about it. We don't care. People aren't going to not like you because you're not a shinigami."
"Okay." Tali mumbled.
After a few more minutes Jushiro perked his head up as Tsumori started to sing one of her favorite songs from her homeland. Not once did Jushiro move his eyes and many more single men stood there and listened. When she was finished, she jumped down to rejoin her friends. Byakuya and Rukia both had an evil smile and that could only mean one thing. They tried everything they could think of to try to get Tsumori and Jushiro to kiss but they wouldn't budge. After they stopped Jushiro pulled her closer to him. "We might as well." both just smiled and then they finally gave in and kissed. Rukia perked up"See that wasn't so bad"
"Rukia, you act like a child sometimes" Tsumori sat back while Hisagi and Byakuya just laughed. Jushiro turned to her. "I'll walk you home tonight."
Tali had to admit that Tsumori had a beautiful voice. She herself could never get on stage and sing. Especially with so many people watching her. She felt a gentle elbow in her ribs and saw Hisagi looking down at her. "Brighten up!" he said. She gave him a sweet, shy smile and he smiled back.
"Well I'm heading home" Tsumori yawned and turned to Tali "Good luck tomorrow." Tsumori and Jushiro got up and left.
Tali waved. "Thank you!" she called. Hisagi waved also.
"So time to go home as well I guess." he said. Tali nodded and they headed home. She was slightly nervous because she had yet to meet her roommate and class started tomorrow. She was never going to get to sleep.
Jushiro walked her to the door then stopped her. He went into his captain robes and pulled out a chain with a ring on it. He put it in her hands and then put his hands around hers. "Will you marry me?" She gave him a blank stare before shaking her head. She threw her arms around his neck. "OF COURSE I WILL!" He kissed her cheek and then left. Half hour later Rukia knocked on the door. Tsumori opened it with a sheepish grin on her face. "What 's made you so happy?" Tsumori couldn't even open her mouth so she showed her the ring. When Rukia finally got Tsumori to say something all she said was "I already know that your brother knows because I saw the grin on his face" After some tea and a lot of conversation about the wedding Rukia left for the night.
That morning she got up late and her roommate was still snoring peacefully. "Excuse me but we need to wake up." she said trying to wake up her roommate.
"Huh?" the girl sat up slowly and stared blankly at Tali.
"We're going to be late for class." the other girl shot out of bed and began to frantically run around the room attempting to get ready. When they were both ready they headed for class. The teacher lectured them about the importance of being on time before sending them to their seats.
"Hisagi- san would laugh at me." Tali grumbled.
"You know Hisagi fukutaichou?" she said surprised. Tali just nodded. "My name's Maya." she introduced randomly. Tali looked at her oddly.
"I'm Tali." The rest of the Kidou class was boring.
"Rukia, what are you doing in my office?" Tsumori went to the filing cabinet.
"Umm, it's almost lunch time." Tsumori was looking for a file and wasn't particularly paying attention.
"That's nice"
"Just wait till the wedding, You'll get an entire week off." She gave Tsumori a mock pout.
"We haven't even decided on a date yet, Rukia will you stop bouncing around my office. If you're going to do that, go else where. I have a surgery in an hour." Tsumori was the only one in the 2nd division who didn't give up being a doctor in less then a week. Rukia almost fell off her chair and Tsumori turned around to see what was going on. Jushiro was climbing in her office threw her open window.
"I do have a door you know."
"Yeah well Yachiru is reeking havoc in my division Someone gave her sugar again. Hey Rukia" Rukia smiled and left just as a high pitched yell from just outside the window and Jushiro ducked behind Tsumori's desk. The pink haired girl landed just inside the window. "There you are, Ukitake-taicho!"
"Yachiru out of my office NOW!" Tsumori pointed to the window. She pouted then left.
She was sitting with Maya under the Sakura tree outside. It was finally lunch and Tali was so happy. She thought she was going to die sitting in that boring Kidou class. The next one should be better because is was the Kendo class. She was thinking about her day when a shadow came over her. She looked up to find Hisagi standing there. "Hey Tali."
"Hello Hisagi- san. What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Well I'm taking a break from work and thought I'd come see how your first day was."
"It was okay so far. All we've done is kidou and it was so boring." she said smiling at him.
"Teacher just talk the whole way through class?" he asked. Tali nodded and he laughed. "It'll be like that for about the first week. You wont really do anything."
"That's boring!" She pouted.
"Yeah but after the first week things pick up pretty fast."
"I'm excited!" she said happily
Tsumori sat back in her desk with her eyes closed. She opened them when she heard a knock on the door. Rukia came in. "I'm here for my check-up." She sat up.
"Your not due for another week."
"Oh." She turned around and winked before leaving. Tsumori knew exactly what she wanted and wasn't going to let her indulge in the conversation. They had decided that the date for the wedding would be June 25 and they were happy with that date. Both the 2nd and 13th divisions were invited plus a few others. 'Maybe I should go home and take a nap' She got up, locked the door and left.
The two girls walked to class with their zanpakuto on their hips. Once in class they were told to sit down by themselves. "You need to learn how to communicate with your zanpakuto. This will help you and most likely save your lives. You probably wont achieve that this year." Tali zoned out and concentraited on her zanpakuto but to no avail yet.
"Your going to what?" Tsumori's jaw dropped and she glared at Hisagi. "You know personal training at her stage of training isn't allowed unless Yamamoto-san asks" He gave her an exasperated look.
"Most of them are having trouble and a lot of the captains have been asked to do a couple of training sessions with the students. And here, look." He picked up an envelope off of Tsumori's desk. "You've been asked too." She grabbed the letter "huh?" She read it over. All the captains had been asked and all but Zaraki had agreed.
"Wow! They really must be having trouble this year. I guess I'll go because we're doing this for the first year students." She grabbed her zanpakuto (which she hardly used) and left with Hisagi. 'Let's see how many of them know that I use my hands better than my zanpakuto.'
Tali was having no luck in contacting her zanpakuto and she was getting a little frustrated. She didn't even notice the captains walk in until Hisagi tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped and looked at him with wide eyes. "Hisagi -san! I didn't see you there. What are you doing?"
"Actually, I'm not the only person here." he said pointing to the doorway where a bunch of the captains and lieutenants stood. She stared in awe. This was definitely not something she had expected.
The teacher had them pair up with a student and teach them the basics. Most students found it really boring as it involved a lot of talking but then the captains and lieutenants got into groups of 4 to teach about group fighting. Tsumori and Hitsugaya ended up pair together with their students. Tsumori caught her's off guard by poking him rather forcefully in the stomach. After an hour the class started to get ready to leave. Tsumori found Tali and asked her if the one on one training helped.
"I found it a lot better." she explained. "It was so much easier when there are experienced people explaining everything. I was so glad to find I was paired up with Hisagi." she smiled happily. It was a good thing her class wasn't boring. She probably would have gotten frustrated and left class. That would have gotten her in trouble.
Tsumori went home and had a quiet dinner. Half way though Jushiro knocked on the door. "Am I too late to join you?" She smiled.
"Not at all." She grabbed another bowl, filled it with rice, put it in front of him and kissed his cheek. He smiled back at her. They spent awhile in silence. "How did the training go for you?" He looked up. "Not bad but they have a lot of work to do. You?" She almost started laughing. "He let his guard down and I sucker punched him in the stomach." He gave her a look of awe. He knew she was capable of doing it but she had never done it before. "Are you done?" He nodded and handed her his bowl. "More?" she asked. He shook his head. She filled the sink with water and started doing the dishes while he put them away. "Let's go for a walk later." It was always like him to read her the way no one else could. "I'd really like that." She handed him a pot then started to drain the sink.
"That was really odd." Maya said as they sat in their room. "The captains don't come until half the year is over. And we never get to train with them!"
"Calm down." Tali said as she stared at the ceiling. "It was a good thing it happened otherwise we would have been sitting there doing nothing."
"True. But tomorrow should be boring. I mean they can't come everyday." Maya said. There was a moment of silence before Maya spoke again. "Did you see the look on Hitsugaya-taichou's face. He looked pissed." she started laughing. Tali smiled as she pictured what had happened earlier.
Hitsugaya paced in his office, still fuming. The student he had had outwitted him, not once but twice. He had gotten him back by hitting him in the head for a stupid and very dangerous move. If that boy had been fighting a hollow, not only him but the whole division would have been killed. He sat down when he noticed he was leaving deep footprints in the new carpet.
"I'm bored..." Tali said still looking at the ceiling.
"Do something." Maya replied.
"Like what?" Tali asked turning her head to look at her roommate.
"I dunno." There was a pause as they thought. "Let's go visit Hisagi. We haven't seen him in a while except for that sparring match today."
"Alright. Let's go." Tali said getting up.
"Would you stop that!!" Jushiro had taken to spraying water at her.
"You know what I want and I'm not going to stop until I get it." He pulled her into his arms. "The wedding's next week. You can wait until then." They smiled at each other.
"Oh, but I can't wait until then" She gave him a dirty look.
"Thanks to you, I have to go and get out of these wet cloths." She knew he would jump at that opportunity. He followed behind her but made it look like he wasn't. When he came in, she jumped on his back and flattened him to the bed.
"So... Is there anything going on between you and Hisagi?" Maya asked as they headed their way over to the 9th division base.
"No. Why?" she asked looking over at Maya curiously.
"It just seems like it." She said with a shrug. "I mean you're always together, he skips out on work to go see you, he helps you with school. You haven't even been here long and he's hanging all over you. It just seems like there's something going on." she explained. They had just entered the 9th division grounds and were on their way to the house in the center.
"Well there's nothing going on. He was the first person I met here so I guess I've kinda taken a liking to him. Like a brother sort of thing, you know?" Tali said trying to clear up the situation.
"Okay."
Tsumori snuggled with Jushiro for almost an hour. The sun had started to set and it was getting cooler. She just wanted to lie there in his arms. "Don't you have work to do?" she asked. The question was more to wake him up then to get a straight answer. He just groaned and mumbled something to the affect of his two 3rd seats would take care of the reports. Some days she didn't know what to do with him. She closed her eyes and listened to his soft mumbling. She soon fell asleep.
Tali knocked on the door of the 9th division lieutenants office. A tired looking Hisagi opened the door ready to yell at whoever was knocking on his door, but as he saw the two young students he brightened. "Tali, Maya! What are you guys doing here?"
"Sorry if we're interrupting Hisagi-san." Tali said with an apologetic bow.
"Don't worry about it." Hisagi said motioning for Tali to stand normally. "And stop it with the -san stuff." Tali smiled slightly and bowed again. Hisagi sighed.
"We were bored and wanted to come see you." Maya said happily.
"We'll that's nice." he said with a smile. "C'mon in." The walked in and sat at the kitchen table. "You want anything to eat or drink?"
"Food?" Tali said perking up. Hisagi chuckled setting a bowl of fresh fruit in front of them. Tali dug in hungrily.
Tsumori woke to find and empty bed. 'Were did Jushiro go?' She flipped over and stuck her head under the covers. She could hear footsteps in the hall, probably one of the servants. Her feet were uncovered and she realized that was a big mistake. The footstep didn't belong to one of the servants but to Jushiro. Who decided to take advantage of her uncovered feet by trying to tickle them. She kicked at him and groaned. "What time is it and what's got you in such a playful mood?" She pulled the blankets off of her head, while he climbed up beside her and lay down. "Well, It's quarter after 4 and I have no idea."
"Quarter after 4 in the morning?" He smiled at her
"You wish!" he said and he pulled her up against him as he rolled on the bed.
Hisagi sat at his desk watching Tali inhale the fruit. "Is it good?" he asked with a chuckle. Tali stopped eating for a second to turn and nod. Hisagi noticed there was fruit juice dripping down her chin. Maya sat there looking at Tali in awe. When all the fruit was gone Tali turned to Hisagi and asked, "So why are you so tired?"
"Well I've been working all day. I had to get up, that the hardest part of the day, then I had to do paper work, train you, come home and do more paper work. This is a good break for me." he said sighing in relief. He looked down at his desk and sighed again. This time in annoyance. "Though I still do have some work to do..."
She sat up in bed when a servant knocked on the bedroom door. "Mam, there's someone here to see you." She yawned.
"Who is it?" The servant looked a little distressed by the question.
"It's Hitsugaya. He says he has an important message for the both of you." She quietly got out of bed and left Jushiro were he was sleeping. She decided not to wake him until she knew what was going on. She grabbed a robe of the floor and went to meet Hitsugaya in the hall. "All the captains are called to an urgent meeting." Hitsugaya puffed. He had obviously ran all the way here. "Alright. Give me a bit to wake Jushiro up and get dressed." He nodded and ran back out the door.
There was a knock at the door and Hisagi groaned. "Who is it now?" he asked standing.
"I'll get it." Tali offered but Hisagi shook his head. He opened the door to reveal Hitsugaya Toushiro. He was breathing a little heavy making it obvious that he had the tedious mission of informing all the captains that there was an urgent meeting.
"How many divisions left?" Hisagi asked. He already knew what this was about.
"This is the last one." Hitsugaya replied curtly.
"Well, then stay while I get ready. The girls will keep you company." Hisagi said as he left to get ready. It seemed Hitsugaya had no choice.
Tsumori grabbed one of the chairs and sat down, Jushiro and Byakuya on either side. "Does anyone know why we're here?" She yawned, making it evident that this meeting had disturbed her sleep. Many captains were groggy eyed. Most had either been sleeping or drinking. Yamamoto-san walked in and signaled for everyone to be quiet. "You are probably wondering why I called you here." Some of the captains had gone back to dozing in their chairs. Yachiru had no food in her mouth but was unusually quiet. She was sleeping on Zaraki's shoulder. "We have a problem. Aizen has been spotted again but we cannot do anything until he attacks. I want you all to keep your eyes open. Your dismissed" Yamamoto could see many people were not happy being bugged about such a short meeting. Most were just happy to get back to bed. "How can I keep my eyes open when I haven't had enough sleep to do so." Tsumori yawned on her way out the door. Byakuya and Jushiro just looked at each other. Both had to fight to keep from laughing.
Hitsugaya sat at the table with the two girls. The one with the violet eyes wouldn't look at him and the other one was staring at him. He didn't know what one made him feel more uncomfortable. "Aren't you going to say something?" Maya pipped up.
"No." was his curt reply.
"I'm sorry Hitsugaya-taicho. Maya-chan just doesn't know when she should be quiet." Tali said making the best attempt at a bow while sitting.
"You are?" he asked softening his gave ever so slightly. If you didn't know him you wouldn't have noticed.
"My name is Talia." she said with another bow and he nodded. The girl beside her, Maya, seemed to glare slightly at her. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Hitsugaya, Hisagi came out.
"Ready?" he asked. Hitsugaya nodded.
"See you girls tomorrow?" Hisagi asked.
"Sure!" They said and the boys left.
"Don't you think it's odd that we're going to this meeting while everyone else is going elsewhere?" Hisagi asked watching the people walk past him.
"We probably missed it." Hitsugaya said grumpily. He had never missed a meeting.
`Tsumori spotted them and stopped to fill them in. "Yes, you missed the meeting, but no you didn't miss much. We were told that Aizen had been spotted and that we need to keep our eyes open incase he decides to attack us." She covered her mouth to stifle a yawn. "Now excuse me, I'd like to go back to bed."
Hitsugaya's heart broke. Hadn't he killed Aizen a year ago? Hadn't Aizen been bleeding on his zanpakuto with that evil smirk on his face. This couldn't be happening to him. This would mean that even in death he'd failed Hinamori. Hitsugaya took off back to his division without a word to anybody. Hisagi just shrugged and headed back to his own division. Though he was slightly worried. He'd keep this from the girls for as long as possible. He didn't need them worrying. Especially not Tali. She had a tendency to get too worked up over everything.
The next morning, Tsumori woke with a start. The information from the meeting had worried her and she wanted to do some poking around before work. She got dressed and left without waking anyone else and went to the main gate. She wasn't sensing anything different here. She moved on as fast as she could until she came to a clearing. She got a strange vibe coming from this place and she knew she shouldn't be there but something seemed to pull her in. Meanwhile, Byakuya had just gotten up. He knew something was wrong. He headed in the direction of the 13th division. "Jushiro, have you seen Tsumori?" Jushiro looked up from the papers he was reading. "No, why?" Neither said anything as they left to go find her.
Tali awoke with a bad feeling. Tsumori was still snoring and she didn't want to wake her. ~What's going on?~ she thought grabbing her zanpakuto and heading out to see Hisagi. He would probably know what was going on. He opened the door still in his Pjs. "Tali?" he asked groggily.
"Did I wake you?" she asked slightly nervously.
"Don't worry about it." he waved it off and motioned for her to come in. They sat at the kitchen table across from each other. "So what's all this about?" he asked.
"I woke up with a bad feeling is all." she said looking at the table.
"A bad feeling?"
"I don't know what it is... Maybe something bad is going to happen?" she said looking at him. She knew he knew more about this then he was letting on.
"I know what it is." Hisagi finally gave in. "Aizen has been spotted again." he said gravely. She gasped.
"Poor Hitsugaya-taicho." she whispered thinking of what she was told.
Somehow Tsumori could feel vibrations from the earth. She wasn't sure what was going on but she was praying that it had nothing to do with Aizen. Byakuya was the first to find the clearing. He got a weird feeling from it and when he looked around he found Tsumori passed out in the grass. He went to find Jushiro and tell him the news. When they came back, Aizen was standing over her. Their bad feelings had been right. "What did you do to her?" Jushiro never got like this. And all Aizen did was look up at him.
The bad feeling just kept getting worse and worse. She was fidgeting and staring at the table. ~Go now. You're already late.~ the voice said. Tali nodded.
"I'm leaving Hisagi-san. Please come with me."
"Where are we going?" he asked standing.
"Wherever this feeling takes me." she said running out the door.
"Chotto matte!" Hisagi yelled as he chased after her. They ran around Sereitei for a good 10 minutes at least until they reached a clearing. It was already filled with a gathering of captains. Hisagi gasped. "Aizen..."
"That's Aizen?" Tali asked looking at the calm man she had never seen before. Hisagi nodded. Tali grabbed the hilt of her sword and waited to see what was going on.
Jushiro yelled for them not to attack. He wasn't about to loose Tsumori to anybody. Aizen picked Tsumori up and moved her so she wasn't in the way. He looked at the captains. "Well, if you want a fight then a fight you'll have but I'm taking her with me either way." He pointed to Tsumori who was still out cold. Jushiro nodded to Byakuya to get ready to grab her. Aizen's calm demeanor faded as he charged at Jushiro. Jushiro was ready with his zanpakuto and blocked his attack. Most of the other captains jumped in and Byakuya sneaked off to go get Tsumori.
"Hisagi, what do we do?" Tali asked gripping her zanpakuto tighter.
"Nothing yet. Jushiro should be able to handle it but if he can't... That's what we're here for." he said watching the battle sadly.
"We aren't going to fight him?" she asked in wonder watching.
"Not yet. Right now we have a higher chance of hitting our own allies then hitting Aizen. But be careful. Just because he isn't fighting with us doesn't mean he wont attack us. He uses mind manipulation to fight to so don't believe everything you see." he explained never taking his eyes away from Aizen. Tali nodded and just continued to watch the fight.
"What has he done to you?" Byakuya picked her up and bought her back to the other captains. Jushiro was starting to get tired from the fighting and Hisagi and Hitsugaya jumped in. Jushiro was determined to rip Aizen apart for what he did to his fiancee. Aizen wasn't about to give up. "Give me the girl and maybe I'll let you live." Aizen made another swipe at Jushiro's head but missed. "Not a chance" The captains knew Aizen wasn't going to play fair and neither were they. More and more of the captains started to jump in as they could see that the fight was becoming one-sided.
Tali stood there nervously. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to jump in because she would probably just be a hindrance. She was only in her first year at the academy after all and she didn't even know her zanpakuto's name. There was nothing could she could do for anyone but stand there and watch. Carefully she walked over to Jushiro. "Are you hurt?" she asked softly not looking at him.
"No, just tired." He turned to Tsumori and gently picked her up in his arms. Byakuya yelled for him to take her home. They had enough fighters. Jushiro motioned for Tali to come with him. He sat Tsumori on the couch when they got there while he grabbed a bowl of water and a couple of towels. Tali sat in the chair and watched as he grabbed a blanket and put it over the seemingly sleeping woman.
Tali sat there with her hands folded in her lap. She was staring at nothing and was completely lost in thought. She was useless. She couldn't fight, she couldn't protect anyone. She was a coward. Her eyes started to water but she blinked back the tears. She didn't to add crying to her list of humilities. She definitely didn't deserve to be a shinigami. She didn't deserve friends like Hisagi. She didn't deserve anything. She was just useless.
"Your not useless." Jushiro had read her expression. He was good at doing that and most people hated it."I'm going to need your help waking her up before the others get here. I don't want her seeing a large group of people right away." He sat down. He wasn't sure what to do. This was her area of expertise not his. Maybe this was better left to a female. "I'll be back in a minute." He got up and left.
She shoved her hand into the pouch on her hip where she kept her medical equipment and pulled out her smelling salts. This should wake her up. She waved it under Tsumori's nose as she inhaled.
Tsumori wiggled her noise and sneezed. She sat up and saw Tali sitting there with a bunch of smelling salts. She grabbed her head. "Where's Jushiro?" She stopped when she heard loud talking outside. It was Jushiro, Byakuya and Matsumoto. She sneezed again.
"Sorry Tsumori-san." she said with a small bow. "Jushiro-taicho is a little busy right now. He should be here any moment." she folded her hands in her lap again and looked at the ground. She was even more nervous now because she was with people she had only met a few times and Hisagi wasn't around.
She sneezed again."That's ok." Jushiro came in with a surprised look on his face. 'I didn't think she'd get up so fast' Tsumori looked at Jushiro. "What happened to me?" He sat down beside her. "We were hoping that you could tell us." She told him of the feeling that she had when she woke up and how she went to investigate. Then how she ended up in the field. "The last thing I remember was seeing Aizen there in front of me but when I tried to attack I blacked out." Jushiro looked at Tali and then at Byakuya. Matsumoto hadn't been there. She looked at Jushiro. "What happened to Aizen?" He hugged her.
"He took off as soon as we started getting the upper hand." She was upset that she had put everyone in danger by not saying where she was going. Jushiro looked at her. "Right now you need to be careful, he's after you." She remembered the stories that her mother used to tell her. So far, those seemingly harmless stories were coming true. When Jushiro asked what was wrong, she shook her head and said that she needed a nap. "Not here your not. Your coming home with me." He had that stubborn look an his face and everyone started to crowd around her.
"Fine." They all left the house.
Tali walked home still depressed about being useless. She knew today was going to be a bad day when she woke up with that feeling. She was surprised nobody got hurt while fighting Aizen. The only thing she was good at was healing. Otherwise she was useless. She would have to try harder during classes to be able to help.
Tsumori yawned and stretched. She had slept for almost an hour and could still hear people outside. She got up and opened the door to find Jushiro sitting outside. "Come sit with me." He waved her over and she took the offer
"You're not going to work?" He put his head in his hands.
"Not until this is cleared up." He looked at her.
"I'm not leaving you as an open target for him. I refuse to loose you." Rukia walked over.
"Nice to see your awake" She smiled at Rukia. She hadn't told anyone what Aizen made her see and right now, she wasn't going to. She got up and started to walk away. "Where are you going?" Rukia and Jushiro said together. "To go find Yamamoto-san" They looked at each other and then followed her.
Tali lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. She sighed and looked around the room. The only interesting thing around was her zanpakuto. She sat up and placed it on her lap. The metal was smooth and had a blue tint to it. She closed her eyes and thought about what the teacher had told them about talking to your zanpakuto. ~Hello?~ she called uncertainly.
~Hello.~ said a deep airy voice. Tali was so surprise that she almost dropped it. ~I thought you would never speak to me.~ it said with a chuckle.
~Well I never thought you would answer me.~
~I'm here to protect you. Of course I would answer you.~ it said seemingly hurt.
~Then may I ask a question?~ she asked nervously.
~Of course.~
~What's your name?~ there was another chuckle from the deep voice.
~You need to have more confidence in yourself.~ the voice faded leaving her alone once again.
"Yamamoto-san is expecting you." They followed the girl down the hall.
"Do you want me to go in with you?" She shook her head.
"Not this time." She hugged him and went to in Yamamoto's room. She sat and told him of the stories that her mother told her when she was little and the visions of her parents death that she had to watch because of Aizen. He stopped her mid-sentence. "I know why you have visions and I have a plan to get Aizen out of hiding but Jushiro isn't going to be happy" She gave him a questioning look. "You're a seer and it's very rare to have those gifts and as for Aizen, you're going to have to be bait"
She tossed and turned in bed too awake to sleep. She needed to do something or she was going to go crazy. It was time she checked up on Hisagi. She hadn't seen him since the episode with Aizen and she wanted to make sure he was alright. The walk there was different than normal. There was a high tension in the air and it was too quiet. After what seemed like forever she was finally standing in front of Hisagi's quarters. She knocked and waited but there was no answer. "Where could he be?" she asked allowed.
"No!" Jushiro had that stubborn look on his face.
"You're going to be there with me so why not."
"Because there's always the chance of you getting hurt"
"Well" Tsumori put her head to his shoulder "We could always let him live and then live in fear ourselves. Besides it's me he's after." He had to admit that she was right about this. Maybe they would finally kill him this time. "Alright but I'm going with you."
"Well, duh!" She smiled, turned and left him standing in the hall.
Tali sighed. There was no sign of Hisagi. That meant he was either sleeping, in a meeting with a captain or out getting drunk with Matsumoto. Though the last one was highly doubtful under the current circumstances. She sighed again and decided to go for a walk around Sereitei. She lost herself in her thoughts of what her zanpakuto had told her and before she knew it she was standing by a lake surrounded by trees. "It's beautiful." she whispered as she sat down. It was the perfect place to think and not get into too much trouble. There were signs of other people being here but none were too recent. She felt safe here and began to sing softly.
She started to hum as the walked along the deserted street '12 days' she thought. It was 12 days until their wedding, so they had to catch him now. They walked out into the field where they last saw Aizen and Jushiro stopped. "Tsumori do you hear that?" She could hear singing but just barely. She started poking around and found Tali sitting by the water. "Tali move" was all she could say. She had a really bad feeling and it was apparent that Jushiro was feeling it too.
Tali looked back startled. It was Tsumori and Jushiro but there was something wrong. She stood up and walked towards them. "What's wrong?" she asked. She hadn't felt the change in atmosphere because she was lost in thought. Her song drowning out any worries had made it so she hadn't noticed.
"There's something very wrong here" Her eyes scanned the surface of the water. "Look, over there!" She pointed to a spot not far from the shore but far enough for someone to drown. Jushiro spotted the hollow that was lurking just under the surface. "Where there's a hollow, Aizen's not far behind"
"No I'm not" Aizen grabbed Tsumori from behind in such a way that no one could hit him without hitting her. "What a beautiful thing she is, too bad you're not going to get to have that wedding of yours" The hollow came up from the water and Tsumori squealed.
Tali froze. She wasn't trained in live fighting yet. All she could do was watch as she stood there, her zanpakuto hanging uselessly at her side. "Move, move, move." she chanted in a whisper to herself. She refused to let herself stand here uselessly. "Move, move, move!" but her body refused.
There wasn't enough experienced fighters there to fight both Aizen and the hollow. One was going to get their way. Everyone froze when they saw sakura petals in the air. Byakuya and Rukia came in but not in time. Unfortunately it created enough of a distraction for Aizen to get away with Tsumori. Jushiro knelt in the grass. He knew this wasn't a good idea but Tsumori could handle herself and generally didn't have this problem.
~Damn it!~ Tali yelled at herself. ~Yet again I'm useless!~
~Calm down.~ he zanpakuto spoke. She mentally glared at it.
~Don't tell me to calm down! I couldn't even do anything to protect her!~ she said pacing in her mind. A blue wolf with violet wings sat in her way. She stared at it in wonder.
~My name is Kinzotsume. Remember it and use it well.~ he said walking away. ~Next time you wont be so useless.~
"Where am I?" She sat up and looked around. Nothing was familiar to her and the room was completely empty. She got up and walked to the door. She could hear yelling from outside and when she went to investigate, she found Aizen cursing at a bunch of hollows. He walked up to her."It's good to see that your awake." He tried to kiss her but she moved away. "It doesn't matter how long it takes. I will have you." She didn't have the energy to fight and she could feel the other shinigami's distress at her kidnaping. She would allow him to play around for now. She followed him inside and went back to sleep.
She was moping around Sereitei when she found Maya. "Tali there you are!" she yelled running over to her. "What's the matter?"
"Tsumori was kidnaped by Aizen and I couldn't do anything but watch." she pouted.
"It's not your fault you couldn't do anything about it. I mean if the captains can't do it then you probably can't either. Plus, I bet something good came out of it." she said nudging Tali in the ribs.
"Yeah Kinzotsume and I had a good conversation." she said still not too happy.
"You learned his name!" Maya yelled dancing around her.
Everything seemed to be closing in on her. Why now did Aizen choose to take her. He could have had her before Jushiro proposed. He had confused her and she was worried about it. She cornered him. "Why didn't you just tell me at the beginning. You could've had me then." He knew it was his fault for not saying anything. And all he had the guts to say was never mind. Aizen sure knew how to get on Tsumori's nerves. She went and sat outside. Hopefully this feeling would go away. Hopefully.
"Tali if you feel so bad about why don't you go and save her?" Maya asked watching Tali mope around the room.
"Because that would be suicide. You know I'm not that powerful." she said looking at Maya like she was crazy.
"I didn't mean go alone. Ask some of the Captains and stuff. I'm sure they'll help you out." she said sitting up on the edge of her bed.
"Like they would. They would probably just give me a speech on how it's a foolhardy idea and that I should just return to my room and let the captains deal with it." Her voice was getting louder as she forced the words out.
~Calm down.~ Kinzotsume said with his soft, airy voice. Tali took a deep breath.
The hollows had decided that they were going to corner Tsumori. "So this is Aizen's new girl." Ulquiorra was standing on the other side of the ring of hollows. Tsumori closed her eyes. "Back off or get your asses handed to you."
"And just what are you going to do about it.?" Tsumori was going to wipe that amused look off of Ulquiorra's face. She pulled out her zanpakuto and cleared off most of the hollows with one swipe. Ulquiorra's expression turned from amused to furious. Aizen wasn't going to be happy with this. Not at all.
Hisagi had just gotten home from a visit with Komamura. He sat at his desk with a sigh and looked at the paper work he had yet to finish. Half an hour later there was a knock on his door. He sighed and went to open it. "Hello?" he said with a yawn.
"Hello." Hisagi looked down to see Tali. Her voice was different and her eyes weren't as soft.
"What's the matter?" he asked as he motioned for her to enter. She sat at her usual spot at the kitchen table.
"I'm useless Hisagi-san." she said not looking at him. "I refuse to be useless anymore."
"What happened?" he asked worried. This so unlike the Tali he knew.
"Aizen attacked again and took Tsumori. I just stood there and watched helpless." she said with a held back anger.
"Then we have to go get her!" Hisagi said heading for the door.
"It's not that easy." Tali said not moving. Hisagi turned around to look at her stunned.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"The captains wont rush into this like you will. They will just say it's pointless when they don't know where she is or the area in which we'd be in. Plus they wouldn't bring me along. I'm still an academy student remember?" she said finally looking at him.
"I'm going to talk to Jushiro." Hisagi said heading for the door.
"What?!" Jushiro was not in the best of moods. How could he let himself get fooled. He opened the door to find Tali and Hisagi standing there. "I know and going to get her right now would be suicide. We're having a meeting in 20 minutes to decide what we're going to do." Jushiro motioned for them to sit. Hisagi was the first to speak.
"So the hollows were a distraction and it's more then likely that there's going to be a lot more over there." The captains and lieutenants that were involved in the first battle with Aizen all knew where Tsumori was and they weren't going to rush in blind folded.
"I'll give you two more news when I find out what's going on." Hisagi nodded in reply and Jushiro left for the meeting.
"She what?!?!" Ulquiorra knew this was going to happen. He was supposed to be in charge of the hollows. "Why didn't you stop this?" Aizen wasn't happy.
"Because she would have chopped my head off instead!" Aizen got the most evil look on his face. "Well. There's a cure for this. Grab her. We're making a trip to the living world."
"See. Told ya." Tali said as they walked back to Hisagi's place.
"Shut up." he said pouting.
"You can't just run into these things. You need to think through them before jumping in or you're going to get yourself killed." Tali scolded.
"Is the little academy student scolding a lieutenant?" he asked. She gasped. She never thought that he would stoop so low as to bring that against her. "I'm sorry." he said right away. "This whole thing is just getting to me." Tali just nodded still upset.
"Whatever."
"What are you doing?" Tsumori had very little energy and could hardly stand.
"We're taking a little trip." the edge in Aizen's voice didn't sound too nice. "Let's go." He nodded Ulquiorra to pick her up but she nudged him off and walked on her own. When they got there, Aizen pinned her hands to a tree. "Maybe this will teach you not to pull that little escapade off again." He walked away and left her there.
Yamamoto-san had everyone sit. "We have some good news. We can go and get Tsumori. Right now she's in the living world. So I have a job for all of you. Jushiro, you, Hisagi, and Byakuya are going to go and get her. Everyone else is going after Aizen." Jushiro bowed his head and left. They knew that this was what Jushiro wanted to hear.
They stopped as a hell butterfly flew towards them and landed on Hisagi's hand. Tali waited for a few minutes until Hisagi nodded. "What did it say?" she asked.
"Jushiro, Bayakuya, and I are to go to the human realm to save Tsumori. I'm supposed to head to the gate right now." he explained.
"So I'm not coming, and I loose my best friend for a while." she huffed. He looked at her apologetically. "Just promise me you wont go and get yourself killed."
"I promise."he said giving her a smile. She just nodded and began the walk home alone. Hisagi watched her go feeling horrible before heading to the gate.
3 days. It had been 3 days since Aizen had nailed Tsumori to the tree. How long did he intend on leaving her there. She ached everywhere and had lost a lot of blood. She stopped groaning when she saw a hell butterfly fly towards her. It brought good news. Jushiro, Hisagi, and Byakuya were coming to get her but she knew that Aizen wasn't going to give up without a fight. Her head dropped and she passed out. She wasn't sure if it was from lack of blood or lack of sleep.
They stood and looked up the deserted street. It was night and it was poring. They had to find her. They stopped when they heard a cry of pain. Jushiro became alert. "It's Tsumori."
Tali sat on her bed thinking about the mission. ~This isn't fair!~ she yelled at herself.
~Actually it is.~ Kinzotsume said. ~You are after all only a student. You would probably only be a hindrance.~ Tali mentally glared at the wolf.
~That was a low blow.~
~It's true. You don't even know how to wield me properly.~ Kinzotsume said slightly hinting that she should learn.
~That's what I should do.~ she thought. ~I should train to get out this frustration then I can learn to wield you properly at the same time.~
~You'll be a great shinigami in no time.~ Kinzotsume said slightly proudly.
"Tsumori, look at me!" Jushiro grabbed her face while Hisagi and Byakuya pulled out the nails. She collapsed into Jushiro's arms. When she woke up she was in a white room. Unohana and Jushiro both looking down at her.
Tali went to the lake and started to train. She went through the training exercises that she was taught at the academy with guidance from Kinzotsume when Hisagi rounded the corner.
"Where's Tsumori?"
"She's with Unohana and Jushiro. If we had arrived any later she would have died"
Hisagi had a worried expression that showed he wasn't sure if she would even now.
"Shall we go home or do you want to stay and train some more?"
Tali nodded and followed Hisagi. She wanted to hear the whole story.
Tsumori flipped over in the bed and looked at Jushiro. He looked so peaceful sleeping in the chair that she didn't want to disturb him. So she got up and walked out the door. No matter how much pain she was in she was going to find that bastard and kill him herself even if it killed her.
Hisagi and Tali passed Tsumori on they're way home.
"Where's she going?"
Tali looked up at Hisagi but let the question hang there. They just watched her until they could no longer see her. About 15 minutes later there was a knock on Hisagi's door.
"Captain Ukitake, what's wrong?"
"Have you seen Tsumori? I can't find her"
"She went that way"
Hisagi pointed towards the gate. He couldn't fit in another word as Jushiro went to the gate at a brisk walk.