"You're shitting me, right?"
Hisagi was in complete and utter shock. He was a fukutaichou, for Christ's sake. How could the Seireitei expend such a worthwhile shinigami for this meaningless mission?
"Unfortunately not," the captain of the tenth division, Hitsugaya Toshiro, replied authoritatively. "We've been short-staffed recently. Former academy members are being recruited immediately after graduation, and none of them can handle something like this. We can't even afford to have a shinigami on guard in this area."
Hisagi sighed, scratching behind his head. Hitsugaya-taichou sure knew how to make up excuses.
"Isn't that Kurosaki's territory?" Hisagi questioned, subtly seeking a way to get out of this trivial mission.
"Yes," Hitsugaya quickly replied, almost in anticipation of that question, "but he has his hands full in Karakura town. It's only the next town over, but it's not like he can teleport there in an emergency."
Hitsugaya knew he had made an valid point, so he resumed casually flipping through the pile of paper work on his desk. Hisagi looked down, trying to think up another excuse as to why he couldn't accept such a pointless task; however, he was unable to develop one.
"Fine," Hisagi finally accepted, saying the word in a tone harsher than he had intended. "Are there any other details available?"
Hitsugaya momentarily stopped his apparently important paper-flipping task to rummage through a drawer in his desk. He pulled out a white envelope and handed it to Hisagi. "There are a few, but don't depend on them."
Hisagi inspected the blank envelope before turning to leave. "All right. Thanks, Hitsugaya-taichou."
"Good luck," the captain absentmindedly sighed.
Hisagi left the room in a fouler mood than he had entered. Not only was a sake-drinking session with the other lieutenants interrupted, his life would be temporarily disrupted by this tedious mission. The Gotei Thirteen had received word that a large gathering of gillians were planning to enter a town called Naruki due to a supposedly high spiritual pressure. Some officials guessed that the gillians were planning to enter Naruki and head toward Karakura town, where a higher concentration of reiatsu was located; however, gillians did not possess the level of intelligence to plan such a task, leading them to believe that someone was in charge of the menos grande hollows and planned the invasion.
Either way, in Hisagi's opinion, a third or fourth seat officer should have been fully capable of dealing with this sort of infiltration. Otherwise, they could've sent a lietenant that actually had a captain to leave in charge of the division. After Tousen's betrayal, a new ninth division captain had not yet been named, leaving Hisagi in charge of the division. He internally wondered if the third seat officer would be capable of handling the responsibilities of maintaining the division.
In spite of these reservations, Hisagi knew much better than to disobey direct orders from Yamamoto-taichou. He walked out into the open to summon a hell butterfly and travel to the world of the living, hoping to return as soon as possible.
Hisagi knew that he would return. Menos grande hollows were nothing to a fukutaichou, and he could handle a group of them easily. Whether or not he could return the same, however, could only be determined by the events to unfold.
"SHIOMI!" an obnoxiously loud voice called, causing said girl to spin around from her position at the kitchen table.
"Yeah, dad?"
"Where's your homework? I need to check it before you turn it in tomorrow!" a large man yelled. He must have been at least six feet tall, sporting a dark beard and matching sideburns, in spite of the fact that he was mostly bald. His stomach protruded over his trousers, hanging out to resemble a beer belly. Although his current appearance wasn't incredibly attractive, his look twenty years earlier most likely would have turned some heads.
"I haven't finished it yet. Soccer practice ran late today," Shiomi replied. She was a pretty, young teenage girl, having dark brown hair that fell to her shoulders and tanned skin, most likely the result of outdoor activities. Her chocolate eyes perfectly complimented the color scheme of her appearance.
"Then what are you doing here? Go get it done!" Shiomi's father yelled.
The girl sighed and stood up from her seat, grabbing her backpack. "Okay, okay..."
Sluggishly, Shiomi walked up the stairs to her room and closed the door with a loud thud. Although there was a barrier between her and the downstairs area, Shiomi could hear her mother shout at her father, "Why are you always so difficult with her? Soccer's important, too! You don't only have to focus on her schoolwork!"
The large man countered this argument, "Academics are more important! She'll never get into a top university with poor grades and the ability to kick around a ball!" Shiomi wondered why the neighbors hadn't yet complained about the volume of this household.
Shiomi sighed once more. Her parents were generally happy people; however, they tended to differ in terms of the importance of extracurricular activities relative to academia. Regardless of what her parents would say, Shiomi would continue to try her best at whatever she enjoyed, like soccer, or had to do, like schoolwork.
After completing her writing and math homework, Shiomi decided that a well-deserved break was in order. She calmly walked down the stairs, careful to avoid her grade-concious father, who was occupied with the newspaper. Shiomi slipped on a light cardigan and walked out the back door into the crisp, autumn evening air.
She crossed her arms at the gentle breeze. It was truly rare to have the opportunity to enjoy the environment like this, without any distractions, and she cherished every moment. A second year student at Karakura High School, Shiomi had much to focus on if she, like her father said, wanted to attend a good college. Although her father would only approve of an academic scholarship, Shiomi wished for the opportunity to play soccer in college. It was her passion, and she couldn't imagine living without it.
Like a few other students, Shiomi commuted to her high school. Her parents decided to live in Naruki, even though she attended Karakura High school, as it was closer to her father's workplace. Having moved to this city just a year ago was difficult to adjust to, but Shiomi had managed just fine. As long as she could play soccer, she could live wherever.
Shiomi smiled softly, feeling rather pleasant in this environment. She was rarely able to take a break, so she tried to experience each one to the fullest. She approached a small wooden bench only four blocks from her house and sat down, closing her eyes to be able to fully absorb all the evening sounds: the crickets, the cicadas, the rustling of the leaves, the shrill scream in the background-
At this sound, Shiomi's eyes opened wide and looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. A very uneasy feeling began to rise within her as she decided to return home. When she stood up and faced her destination, however, loud footsteps and heavy breaths could be heard from behind her. Turning around very slowly, Shiomi was shocked to see a monstrous creature with a pale, black body wearing an icy white mask. The creature was taller than most of the buildings in the area, and towered over her like she would to an ant. Just as she was about to run, the creature released a long, loud shriek.
Shiomi bolted away from the creature, but knew better than to return home-it would most likely follow her there, then put her family in danger. Instead, she turned at the second block in an attempt to lure the creature away. She should have been able to guess, however, that because the creature was so much taller than her, it could take longer strides, and, therefore, was much faster. A black appendage meant to resemble a hand reached out and pulled Shiomi's leg, bringing her closer to the white-masked phenomenon.
Shiomi couldn't even scream. Her emotions had reached a level beyond fear where any communication was futile. She was going to die, and she knew it. The very aura that this creature emitted smelt of death, and Shiomi could feel it embracing her.
She covered her eyes with her arms, not wanting to witness this hideousness devouring her. That point, however, never came, as the black creature's head fell to the ground, spewing blood in every direction. Shiomi was in too much shock to be disgusted, as the liquid splattered her figure.
She noticed another figure approaching from behind the falling body of the black creature and figured that this one would probably kill her, too; however, to her slight relief, the figure that appeared from the chaos was a rather attractive young man, holding a long samurai-like sword. His outfit was rather unusual for the time, but Shiomi didn't feel like judging the man who had just saved her life.
As the man approached Shiomi, his face came into full view. Two tattoos adorned his left cheek, one of the figure "69" and one a stripe. Three scars ran down his right eye, and Shiomi could practically feel the pain from them. His eyes were black and narrow in shape, and seemed to dominate anything that came into view. His spiky black hair seemed to compliment his punk-ish appearance. What Shiomi particularly enjoyed, however, were his exposed biceps, which she presumed provided him with enough power to save her from whatever she would need to be saved from.
Taking all of this in, Shiomi could definitely tell that this would not be the kind of man her father would approve of.
During her internal commenting, Shiomi's rescuer was able to reach her, even though he walked at a steady pace. He knelt to Shiomi's level and immeidately began to inspect her leg injury.
Feeling awkward, Shiomi felt the need to speak; however the only noise that came out of her mouth was, "Um..."
The man continued to inspect what appeared to be a large bruise on her leg, most likely from where the black creature grabbed her. In a dark, gruff voice, the man said, "It's not too bad. I think I can heal it for you."
Shiomi was in utter amazement. Not only could this man conquer a terrifying beast, but he was also a doctor? How did he manage his time so well?
"Wh..Who are you? And what was that thing...?" Shiomi asked, feeling more confused than amazed as the mysterious man began his work.
"You don't need to know," the man replied, placing his hands on Shiomi's leg injury. Suddenly, a light surrounded the wound as Shiomi could practically feel her skin cells healing.
When the man removed his hands, Shiomi's leg was completely healed and back to its tan, toned self. She twisted it around, inspecting it.
Unaware of how to respond, Shiomi simply said, "Thank you..."
The man stood up, preparing to leave, uttering the kind, "You're welcome," in reply.
Shiomi, however, didn't want this man to go. She felt some sort of inexplicable need to be near him. Perhaps her curiousity was piqued when he so easily killed something that would have easily killed her. Or maybe just the tought of doing something her father definitely wouldn't approve of thrilled her. Whatever the cause, Shiomi wanted to keep this man around.
She stood up, following him as he walked away. "Can you at least tell me your name?" she questioned.
"No," the man answered. Although his answer was brief and seemed ingeniune, his tone hinted at the fact that there were certain things better left unsaid.
"Well, then, can you tell me about that monster?"
"Sorry," the man replied in negation.
Shiomi huffed while walking more quickly than usual to keep up with the man. After walking with him to the end of the block, however, Shiomi stopped, knowing that this conversation was going nowhere fast. Before he left, though, there was only one thing she needed to know.
"Will I ever see you again?"
The man stopped and turned around. He looked Shiomi in the eyes with a straight face and said, "I'll see you around."
Hisagi left Shiomi with a sly smirk as he hopped from rooftop to rooftop to ensure that she couldn't keep up with him. He honestly didn't know if he would ever see that girl again, or even if she mattered. All he could do was thank God that there was a pretty brunette around the corner from his boring mission.