Bottled Souls.
It was a weird day. The sky was blue; the clouds were perfect fluffy balls of cotton floating across the vast space across Seretei. Despite of this something just didn't feel right.
Hitsugaya Toushiro awoke with a start. He felt a shiver prickle down his slender arms leaving a trail of gooseflesh. Weird. It was a warm July morning, and the young-looking captain was very accustomed to cold. Toushiro shrugged off the uneasy feeling as the remnants of a bad dream and pulled himself reluctantly out of his futon. Today was a Monday which meant he had to deal with a hungover Matsumoto; who can only be described as having a temper like a bear with a sore backside every Monday morning.
When he reached the squads office he was greeted by a surprisingly cheery "Ohayō taichooooouuuu!"
He looked up at the desk (his desk) to find an apparently sober, un-hungover looking vice-captain. To shock the captain more the she had already started the mountain of paper work that had begun piling up on her desk, assigning squad members to various missions. Hitsugaya taichō's knees almost bucked from the shock.
Weird. Something is definitely weird. Toushiro thought. He walked over to the open window and looked over Seretei. No matter how peaceful it seemed he couldn't seem to shake the uneasiness gathering at the pit of his stomach. What was causing this? Was it just the dream? He was so lost in thought he never heard his busty fukutaichō sneaking up behind him. She through her arms around him covering his eyes with her slender fingers. Her huge breasts enveloped his little white head, squashing his cheeks together. If only he wasn't perfect chest hight.
"MATSUMOTO!" His familiar morning yell appeared, but he couldn't stop himself from smirking. It was indeed the normal Matsumoto and not some imposter. But it was a Monday morning so why didn't she smell of sake? And why was she already at work? Then everything clicked into place in the young captains head. He couldn't believe it had taken him so long to figure it out. She wants the afternoon off.
"What is it Matsumoto?"
"Well, I've been feeling a bit weird, can I get the afternoon off?"
"NO."
Kuchiki Rukia felt odd. It was almost as if she felt afraid. However she felt no odd reishi or even anything worth noting. She noticed a hell butterfly fluttering its way towards her. She let it land on her finger. The fourth squads voice could be heard from the butterfly. Unohana taichō's voice rang with urgency.
"All squad captains and vice-captains are to attend an emergency meeting immediately."
What's going on? Rukia wondered if it had anything to do with the uneasiness she was feeling.
All of the 13 vice-captains lined up, all 26 eyes staring expectantly at the member of the research and development bureau, who stood shoulder's slumped in the center of the room.
"You have all been called here today to initiate emergency investigations both in soul society and the real world." He stuttered, took a deep breath as if gathering courage and then continued.
"There have been an extremely large number of souls apparently disappearing from the real world. It is thought that these souls have been somehow transported to soul society, thus upsetting the soul balance.
Abarai Renji's face crumpled into a frown.
"But wouldn't the souls be born again and naturally balance out?" He protested. This was obviously going to get far too complex for him.
"Yes, ordinarily. However, it seems that these souls haven't died and naturally come to soul society; they have been extracted from living humans and brought through the precipice world. This means that someone is making a weapon. A weapon powerful enough to pull soul society and the living world together and destroy them both.
Stunned silence fell upon the room. The geeky shinigami continued.
"As of yet the research and development bureau cannot pinpoint the location of the stolen souls. It is your mission to find the souls and stop the extraction in the living world."