Dislaimer: i do not own bleach or any of its characters, if i did the turn back the pendulum arc would have been longer and Shinji would still have long hair, oh and Aizen wouldn't have done that damn Superman copy (damn them for ruining an awesome character!), any rant over, i do however own Kyoko, Haruki and Kuma.
Some of this will vaguely connect to Hollowfication the Future, but only little things. Set in TBTP.
Hollowfication, the Past
Chapter 1
(101 years ago, somewhere near district 80 of Rukon District)
"Why are there so many of us out here again?" Rangiku asked as she struggled to walk in pace with the Captains and Lieutenants.
"It's already been explained to you two times now!" Hiyori practically shouted as she span to face the young tenth squad member, the little patience that she had quickly running out.
"I still don't get why there has to be seven squads out here" Rangiku continued, undeterred by the twelfth squad Lieutenant's anger.
"KYOKO!!!"
"I knew ya wouldn't last long" the Captain of the tenth division smirked as she used flash step to dart from the front of the group to the back, "that's another thousand yen ya owe me Kensei!" She called to the front.
"Like hell I do!" Kensei shouted back angrily, "I said she'd last ten minutes and she did, so you owe me money!"
"But Hiyori didn't last ten minutes; she lasted nine minutes and fifty five seconds. That means you lose, you owe me money and I won't stop harassin' you until I get it, along with the money from all the other bets ya lost," Kyoko grinned smugly at the expression on kensei's face.
"I don't owe you money! You always either cheat or come up with some ridiculous reason like you did just now!" Kensei's rant was cut short as his Lieutenant jumped in front of him, a frustrated expression on her face.
"Kensei-meanie, you still haven't given Kyoko the money for that fight you lost?!" Mashiro exclaimed.
"Lisa threw flower petals on the field!"
"Aww Kensei-meanie liked the pretty flower petals that's why he lost" Kyoko said to the group of Soul Reapers that was walking behind them, causing the ones from her own squad to burst out laughing.
"You lot shut up!" Kensei shouted, the terrifying look on his face stopping them all instantly.
"Now now quiet down" Shunsei called from the very front of the group, "we can't afford to alter the enemy that we are here; you can all make as much noise as you want when our job is done." There was a mumbled consent from the bickering Captains as all the regiments behind them quieted down and started to proceed more cautiously.
"Captain, you still haven't told me why the third, fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and twelfth squads are all out here at the same time" Rangiku continued after a few minutes silence.
"It's easier to stop a rebellion like this without hurting too many citizens if we have a larger force, with some luck most of them will catch a glimpse of half our men and go running to the hills with their tails between their legs," Kyoko answered, Kisuke, who was walking beside Hiyori, added to her answer with his own.
"Also, with half the Thirteen Court Guard Squads out here, if Seireitei is invaded and overrun there is still a sufficient force outside that can reclaim it and still have enough power to manage the damage."
"I doubt even this nutcase whose leading them would be mad enough to try and take Seireitei with just a handful of Soul Reapers and a rabble of civilians, not to mention that Captain Yamamoto is still there as well," Haruki said as he appeared from the army of Soul Reapers, Kyoko felt a twinge of guilty as she looked at the three ragged scars running down the right side of his face.
"Any reports from the scouts?" She asked him as he fell in step beside her.
"A couple of the enemies own scouting parties but otherwise nothing to report" he answered, he looked round and frowned when he didn't find what he was looking for. "Where's Kuma?"
"He went out scouting to, but he wouldn't let me come, apparently he said something about it being too dangerous" Rangiku put on a disappointed face, one that she often used on Haruki when she wanted something and her charms weren't working on the Captain.
"When he comes back ask if he'll take you on his next watch" Haruki said as he adjusted the belt that held his zanpakto on his back.
Rangiku nodded and decided that it was time to go back and talk to Gin for a bit, Haruki watched her as she disappeared into the crowd, a worried look on his face.
"Don't worry yourself Haruki" Kisuke said when he noticed the Lieutenant's anxious expression, "Rangiku's smart enough to stay out of trouble. Besides, she has that third seat friend of her's watching her back."
"I guess your right" Haruki sighed.
"Plus, the possibility that Kuma will let her out of his sight is practically none existent" Kyoko added to reassure him. "Speak of the devil," Kyoko continued as a low howl echoed through the trees. "That's Kuma's warning Shunsui" Kyoko called to the front, "we can't get much closer without riskin' bein' ambushed."
The Captain of squad eight stopped and looked up at the sky, the setting sun threaded red light through the trees, casting long ominous shadows.
"Okay we'll set up camp here and discuss how to approach this tomorrow," he said. The small grove of trees that they had chosen to set up camp in was suddenly alive with movement as everyone rushed to claim the best spots.
"C'mon Hiyori" Kyoko said as she took her arm, "ya gotta scare them all outa the best spot!"
OOO
"It's decided then, we'll strike at dusk tomorrow. Kisuke and Kensei will take their squads to the west, Love, Rose and Kyoko to the east, Shinji and I will take the south," as he spoke Captain Kyoraku put pins into the map of District 80 that they had brought with them, each pin indicating the location of the squads. "We'll leave the north open that way the smart locals can run into the hills."
"What about the Soul Reapers?" Rose asked.
"We can't afford to let any of them get away" Shunsei replied, a cold silence fell across the Captains; they all knew what no getting away meant. "All of you go and get some sleep; it's going to be busy tomorrow."
OOO
Kyoko stifled a loud yawn as she exited the tent that she had been sharing with Hiyori, Lisa and Mashiro. The stars still light up the sky as she hung water over the campfire to boil, she found the quiet of the early morning comforting as she thought about the day ahead. She couldn't figure out how such a large force had been gathered without anyone noticing, and the leader of the rebellion and his lieutenant were also causing her a lot of confusion, because they were meant to be dead.
Yukio and Jiro Watanabe had been twin brothers who had held the positions of fourth and fifth seat of squad five twenty years ago, when she had still been the Lieutenant. They had always been arrogant, often ignoring orders so that they could do things their way, it was this aspect of their personality that everyone had thought killed them. They had ignored orders from their Captain, Lieutenant and third seat, they ran off to fight a horde of hollows that had been spotted on the edges of Seireitei, and they had never come back.
Kyoko took two cups and poured boiling water onto the coffee beans at the bottom. She stood up and walked through the trees; she found him sitting on the edge of the hill, looking out at the lights from the town below.
"Starrin' at it isn't gunna make the problem go away" she said as she sat down, handing him one of the cups, "here, ya look like ya need it."
"Thanks Angel" Shinji said.
"How many time do I have ta tell ya not to call me that?!" She exclaimed, "what are ya doin' out here anyway?"
"It's just been botherin' me, how did they get away without even you sensin' them?"
"We thought they were dead."
"It doesn't matter what anyone thought" Shinji said as he stood up angrily, "you should have been able to sense them, the fact that you couldn't means..."
"... Someone's found a way ta bloke off even my senses" Kyoko finished quietly. He nodded.
"We'll just have ta be careful then" Kyoko continued as she glared down at the town.
"C'mon" Shinji said as he took her arm, "the others will be awakin' up now."
OOO
The setting sun was blocked from view by thick grey clouds as the third, seventh and tenth divisions moved through the shadows, surrounding the campfires before them from the east.
"What's the battle plan?" Rose asked his fellow Captains as they paused in a thick bundle of trees.
"Kyoko, can you sense how many enemies there are, and which ones are Soul Reapers?" Love turned to her as she jumped into the lower branches of the trees.
"I can only sense two Soul Reapers in our area," she replied after an unusually long silence. She shook her head, squinted her eyes and sighed heavily.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked, concerned.
"It's all fuzzy, like there's somethin' tryin' ta bloke my senses."
"Seki-seki rock?" Love guessed.
"No, it's similar but... Grrr, I can't place it" Kyoko pounded her fist against the tree in anger, she hated being so blind.
"Perhaps we should pull back" Rose said "I don't want to risk any unnecessary deaths, maybe it would be safer to send in a small scout to see if they can find out what's going on." Love and Kyoko both agreed that it was the best approach, so they quickly gathered together a small group of squad members, with Haruki and Kuma at the head of the group.
"Remember, no fightin', just find out what the land is like and more accurate numbers of what we are dealin' with" Kyoko looked pointedly at Kuma as she spoke, the wolf just grumbled and shook out his fur, an action that made the men standing behind him shift nervously. "I mean it Kuma" she continued sternly, "no funny business."
"Don't worry Captain" Rangiku said as she walked over and patted the wolf's side, "I'll make sure he behaves himself." Kuma bared his teeth and turned his head towards the girl.
"Don't look at me like that; Lieutenant Yamada said that I could come next time you go scouting."
"I told you to ask him" Haruki cried in his defence, before the horned wolf spirit call turn his frustration on him.
"Please Captain" Rangiku pleaded, turning on a new target, "how often is an opportunity to test myself like this going to come up?"Kyoko looked at the other two Captains who just shrugged their shoulders unhelpfully. She knew that Rangiku had a good point; she couldn't be denied the opportunity.
"Don't wonder off," Kyoko gave in "Keep the group in sight at all times, if you get attacked, take care of them before Kuma gets there, the last thing I want is to spend the next week cleaning up an avoidable bloody mess." Kuma snorted in objection as he turned towards the campfires.
"Everyone listen up," Love addressed all of their warriors, "when we do go in we avoid as many civilian deaths as we can, also, we should try and capture at least one of the Soul Reapers alive, there are questions that need answering."
"We won't be long" Haruki assured the Captains, in a whirl of Flash Step, he and the scouting party disappeared into the enemy territory.
Awww poor Kensei-Meanie, he has ta put up with crap from Mashiro and Kyoko lol.
I probably wont update again until half term (which is only a few weeks away so not that long) by that point I'll hopefully have 4 or 5 chapters ready to upload so it will be pretty steady update for a couple weeks after that.
You guys no the drill, plz review!
