First story of the year. I've been writing other things, I swear. But this has been the first piece that feels right at all. I hope you enjoy.
I. Sui-Feng
Her alarm didn't go off.
Sitting up frantically, Sui-Feng let out a gasp, seeing the time. She made to throw the covers back, but, as she leapt out of bed, the sheets tangled up her legs and she fell to the ground with a loud thunk. Groaning, she allowed herself only a moment to resign herself to the headache she would bear for the day before she untangled herself and continued in her rush.
Dashing into the shower, she scrubbed herself down faster than she ever had in her life, washing her hair and growling when it became tangled in her fingers. Today is not my day… oh; Yoruichi-sama is going to be so mad… She got her fingers free and turned the water off, grabbing her towel and wrapping it around herself just as she ran into her bedroom, running her hairbrush through her hair all the while.
Donning her uniform was a difficult task. She snarled at it and lost her balance, falling backward. Roughly, she tugged the rest of it on and scrambled up from her position on the floor, running back into the bathroom and brushing her teeth, then grabbing her things and rushing out the door. Then she doubled back and tugged her shoes on, irritated with herself and everything in her home. Then she rushed back out.
"Sui-Feng!" someone called in surprise.
"I'm late!" she called back, waving her arm and taking off in a flit of Shunpo as soon as she was out of her family compound.
As soon as she reached the Second Division barracks, she was accosted by the fifth seat, who demanded her signature on way too many papers. "Why are you asking me, you dimwit?" she demanded, trying to brush him off. "Yoruichi-sama is the one who signs the papers around here! I'm not even a member of this division…!"
He fluttered the paper stack in front of her, keeping pace with her easily as they moved in the direction of the captain's quarters. "Yes, yes, but…" He seemed to fumble with words, and, two hallways from the captain's quarters, Sui-Feng whipped around and put her hands on her hips.
"Yes, what?" she snarled. "Spit it out!"
He shrank back in the face of her rage, but still managed to squeak out, "Our fukutaicho is on a mission and no one has seen our taicho all day! She has given orders before that your signature can replace hers, should the need arise…so…" He shoved the papers in her face again.
A crease in her brows, she took them, then turned around and stomped to her captain's quarters, thrusting the paperwork to the third seat along the way. He took them without complaint, looking downright bewildered as he did so. She picked up the pace as the words of the fifth seat ran through her mind again. She doubled back.
The third seat was more or less in the same place, and she grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "What's going on?" she demanded, a sinking feeling in her gut. Something had been feeling distinctly not right for a few days now…
He blinked at her. "Rumors, facts, feelings, anything, you fool!" she shouted.
A distressed looked crossed his face. "Several captains were put in jail last night, but our taicho wasn't one of them. But they were her friends. She might have something to do with them."
Her eyes widened. She took off again without a word, her short black hair flowing behind her as she raced through the hallways.
She came to a stop outside of the captain's quarters. Outside, reiatsu fluctuated alarmingly from all over, but she ignored it and flung open the doors to the room.
It was empty.
Only the chair and the table remained.
Sometimes I feel like you're my younger sister.
Someone like me is undeserving of such words.
...I will always be by your side to protect you. Forever.
Yeah. It's a promise.
As Sui-Feng stared into the room, she took a few steps forward. Then a few more, until she stood in front of the empty chair. Never had she stood here, and not bowed. She had always been on her knees.
"Liar."
II. Ise Nanao
Ah… I'm afraid Lisa-chan isn't here.
Where is she?
She's on an important mission. But I'm sure she'll be back.
The office was impeccable, as always. Nanao closed the door behind her and crawled onto the chair behind the desk, setting the book on the wooden top. She swung her feet back and forth.
She would wait for Yadomaru-fukutaicho to return. Then they could read together.
As she waited, she listened to the clock on the wall; tick tock, tick tock, tick tock…
She started humming, but the sound was too loud in the echoing silence. She stopped humming and looked around, noticing an unlit candle in the far corner. A few sticks of incense sat in a jar next to the candle. She jumped from the chair and made her way over to the candle, finding the lighting stick on the windowsill next to the scented objects. Scraping the stick over the wall, it lit itself, and she lowered the stick to the wick of the candle and held in there, transferring the flame to the candle. Smiling, she blew out the stick, watching the smoke curl upwards and disappear.
Once again, Nanao looked around the office, taking in the bookshelf on the far wall, and the top shelf that Yadomaru-fukutaicho never let her look at. Curiosity struck within her, she walked slowly to the bookshelf. The top shelf was a lot farther away when she was up close to it. Huffing, she stood on her tiptoes and reached upward, tugging at the spine of one of the colored books. She jumped a little and grabbed a hold of it, and, too early, she smiled in victory.
Then gravity took hold.
The entire top shelf collapsed under her arm, and the books came quickly down on top of her, some landing around her but most crashing onto her head. Groaning, she hoped that no one heard that, though the rational part of her reminded her that no sane person would travel to the captain and lieutenant offices and quarters at this hour.
Recovering, she looked down at her prize, and felt her eyes widen and her cheeks heat up at the title alone, never mind the cover art. She had seen such books in stores, usually in the arms of adults, but it never crossed her mind that Yadomaru-fukutaicho would have such a collection. Guilty but too curious to care, she flipped through the books, taking in the drawings and the words, learning much more about average bedroom behavior than she would have cared to.
When she reached the sixth book, she pursed her lips and shoved the entirety of them away from her, crawling instead up to the desk and perching in the chair. She glanced at the pile from time to time, still curious but worried about what Yadomaru-fukutaicho would think when she returned.
She leaned her head back against the chair.
Heat on her face startled her, and she sat up with a start, her glasses knocked askew. Fixing them, she looked around, a little worried when she noticed no change to the room. The candle burned on. The books were still haphazardly piled in the corner.
But the sun was shining brightly, and from the looks of it, it was a little after high noon.
Despite herself, she jerked again and dashed from the office, running straight into her captain right outside the door. "Ah… Nanao-chan," he greeted, steadying her. There was a forced cheerfulness to his voice, and she looked up at him in alarm. He caught that pretty quickly, and the smile faded from his face. "Ah…Nanao-chan," he repeated, sadly, regretfully, "I'm afraid Lisa-chan won't be returning to us," he finished.
Understanding but not wanting to, all she said was, "What?"
"She'll be executed tomorrow at dawn. There was nothing I could do. No visitors are permitted," he murmured quietly, and Nanao felt her heart jerk at the words.
"What?" she repeated stupidly, in a voice so quiet she hardly heard herself.
"Her and everyone else on that mission. Others are being thrown in jail. There was nothing I could do." His eyes became distant, and he almost seemed to forget she was there. "There was nothing I could do."
Feeling like crying, she opened her mouth to ask why, but her captain turned and walked away. He opened the door to his personal quarters and slipped inside. She heard the door lock behind him.
And that left her standing alone in the hallway that suddenly seemed so much bigger than it ever had before.
"But…" she muttered to empty air. "You promised."
…