i don't own Bleach; enjoy!
She half-wondered if she could fall asleep standing.
Ever since the war had ended and the universe had entered into a lapse of peace, their weekly captain meetings had become increasingly dull.
Seriously, how long was this damn thing going to last?
It's not that she had pressing matters to attend to elsewhere; gods knew she dreaded paperwork (which coincidentally was easy, given most of the time a new batch of papers were brought to her desk by her lieutenant, she had to just skim through the reports or statistics and sign them off to be read later by the old man).
Most of her colleagues she familiarized with were occupied with the same mundane task, if seeing to a new batch of recruits for their division or patrolling the compound of their designated headquarters wasn't also on their plates.
Mildly glancing along the row of captains she was standing in, she silently assuaged their attention was in the same state hers was in: half was divided to Ojii-san's drabble (sometimes more monologue than drabble, given whatever the meeting was about), whereas the other half seemed to be off in their thoughts.
She let her eyes linger on the redhead captain of third that was standing at her left, Abarai Renji, coincidentally a hothead among the ranks (the pineapple-head had been transferred from fifth to eleventh and then sixth some decades ago); attentive at best, but elsewise he seemed to have toned down his infamous temper in the previous twenty years.
At her right stood the lycanthropic Komamura Sajin, one captain she could definitely call an ally. Even though he looked different than everyone else in Seireitei (diversity was a common trait in Soul Society, though, now that she thought on it…), that didn't make his intentions any different from the rest of her fellow captains. She thought he looked much better now than he used to with that damn bucket on his head, anyway.
To her far right was an old friend of hers that had been one of her mentors when she was training to control her… other side, Muguruma Kensei. The silver-haired stonewall had been a tinge more ruthless in her training than her ex had been, but he got the point across. Straightforward and ironically as sharp as the blade of his shikai, Tachikaze.
And to the farthest point on her right stood the behemoth captain of eleventh, Zaraki Kenpachi. She had never witnessed his feats or seen him in combat but some small part of her never wanted to witness such a sight. One would have to be punch-drunk and have a major death wish if they were to go up against the frightening captain. Though at the moment he looked as drowsy as she felt, something that momentarily took her off guard.
Mentally shaking her head, the blonde noted the position for thirteenth remained vacant, and that left her somber. Ukitake Jūshiro had been one of the kindest men she'd ever met, and to hear that his accursed illness had taken him ten years ago was hard, although it probably wasn't as hard on her as it had been for his faithful lieutenant, Kuchiki Rukia.
Of course Abarai was always there to comfort the girl… Ugh, damn the rumor mill.
She turned her gaze forward at the opposite side of the large meeting room, pretending to be staring into space while she was surveying the 'full-deck' row of captains.
Soi Fon, the woman who single-handedly commanded the Omnitsukidō (nearly; she never gave much credit to her 'blubbering buffoon' lieutenant, Ōmaeda) with an iron fist, stood attentive at the helm of the row, steely gray eyes emotionless as she listened to what Yamamoto said, silently processing the words. She could almost see the gears working in her agile brain.
To her left side stood the matronly half (moreso the better half between them both, in her book), Unohana Retsu, her cobalt eyes closed as she also was listening. Unohana had been her captain at one point before she was transferred to tenth, and she hadn't regretted being in her division; although the soft-spoken captain was rumored to be a frightening person to negotiate with or undermine, she had experienced nothing but kindness and patient reproach from the older captain.
In the middle of the row stood the solemn Kuchiki Byakuya, his cool gray eyes closed as well, mirroring his sempai. He had at one point given her advice regarding her lieutenant shortly after she had been promoted, and to this day she had a feeling he saw her as his equal in terms of rank and kidō expertise. Of course his lieutenant was there as his backbone (she doubted he ever needed someone to be his backbone, but then again…) and after knowing the both of them better during the last twenty years, she had been living with the theory that his lieutenant was the softer side of what he was behind the walls and stoic stares (what else was a wife for, in his case?).
To his left stood the flamboyant brunette man, Kyōraku Shunsui, who was often regarded as a flirt and 'seasonal' drunkard, the former aspect having curbed because of suspected relations with his bespectacled lieutenant (so said her sources); she supposed she should refer to him as her sempai, given he was one of the oldest captains present (Unohana and Ukitake had/ were in the same bracket (respectively), save Ojii-san, who was the oldest of the oldest).
Second to last stood her former captain, the 'shorty snow' often dubbed such by not only his lieutenant but by hers as well (of course she never called him 'Shiro-chan' in public, unless she wanted to be an icicle), Hitsugaya Tōshirō. Once or twice she would casually point out that she was taller than him by a few inches (was he really that short? Sheesh…), though it only served to make him irritated.
And lastly stood the creepy hatter-of-a-madman, Kurotsuchi Mayuri. She had never had a conversation with the man, mostly because he weirded her out more than she cared to admit. However Hat-and-Clogs left the R&D department in his mad-scientist hands was beyond her… One of these days she had to ask said blonde why the hell he picked Kurotsuchi.
A sharp bang on the wooden flooring of the room echoed and nearly made her jump in her spot, had she not kept her footing and stood still. Yamamoto looked at his captains, "That is all for today's meeting. Dismissed!"
The doors opened for the meeting room then as the captains dispersed from their rows and exited the room in pairs and some by themselves.
Yasakawa yawned and stretched her arms, shuffling after the throng of her colleagues and she rubbed the back of her neck. Geez, think I might've gotten a crick in the back of me damn neck…
"Oi, Mori," she blinked and glanced up to the side to see Kensei coming towards her, brown meeting garnet.
"Kensei, been a while. Something up? Don't tell me Mashiro-chan's driving you batty again…" She joked, smiling at him as she came to a halt.
He rolled his eyes, "Not lately, odd enough for her as it is. Y'know the new captain filling the position of thirteenth is supposed to be instated today, right?" He said, perking her ears.
"Since when did Ojii-san promote someone to fill in for Ukitake? I didn't get the memo." She asked, lifting a brow.
"I thought you were daydreaming again… Cripes, Mori." The usually-stern man groaned slightly, exhaling. "He mentioned it earlier during the meeting. Anyway, the greenhorn mentioned that he knows you. I was one of the captains to see to his captaincy exam a week ago so he told me to let you know." He informed.
She glanced away at the sprawling buildings of Seireitei with a slight furrow of her brow, "Huh, didn't know I was that famous… Thanks, Kensei. I'd better get back to the barracks, then, paperwork and all that crap… Ugh I'm dreading it. Tell Mashiro I said 'hi'." She smiled brightly at her former mentor, turning to leave the headquarters in favor of her own.
He huffed and shook his head in her wake. "Still weird, even after a few decades…"
:::::::: lol ::::::::
Now that she thought on it, she hadn't heard much from a certain strawberry.
She frowned slightly and sighed, slowing her pace; of course she wouldn't hear anything from him. He was probably enjoying his life, living a normal human's life… With a family and being just normal…
Something inside her recoiled at the idea that he had a wife and kids by now. Right after she had given him the time of day and stood by his side in that one instance of madness, watching his back for him while he tried desperately to get stronger, finding that it was easy being with him than it had with her ex… finding it as easy as breathing…
Wait, why was she getting all mopey about him?
She scowled determinedly before squaring her shoulders and huffing, picking up her stride as she made her way to the thirteenth division HQ.
No, she was going to move on, damn it! She was stronger than this, she wasn't going to let despair touch her, not again. She was bigger than moping over a once-in-a-lifetime crush!
… God she missed him.
"Oh, Yasakawa-chan!"
Dragging herself out of her thoughts, she halted to see a head of wavy black hair jogging to her side as she passed by the tenth division; she blinked at recognizing the blue eyes, the lieutenant's badge snugly fitted to the woman's left shoulder. "Kita, this is a surprise. What brings you here?" She asked curiously, arching a blonde brow.
The sixth division lieutenant came to a halt next to her, smiling, "Rukia asked me to come over to the thirteenth, said it was about something important. I guess she asked you to come too, then?" She answered.
The fifth division captain blinked again and then continued walking, the Kuchiki woman traipsing to flank her left, "Not really, I just wanted to see who the new captain was. Muguruma-Taichō mentioned someone had been chosen by Ojii-san to be the new captain."
Kita raised both brows in mild surprise, "No wonder Rukia sounded excited. Whoever it is, they must be skilled enough to take Ukitake's place." And must've somehow gotten on her good side, she silently added, recalling her sister-in-law's grieving period regarding her late captain.
"Must be, if Kensei approved. I wonder who else was at the captaincy exam… Kuchiki-kun might've been a judge too, knowing him…" Yasakawa mused, scritching the back of her head absently.
"Probably just them and Ojii-san; if Kensei's as much of a hard-ass as you said he was when you trained to master your hollow, and Byakuya being… well, Byakuya, then that's all he needs to be judged to pass." She joked.
Both women laughed quietly; somewhere in the depths of the sixth division HQ, a certain captain sneezed. Elsewhere in the ninth division HQ, another captain sneezed.
"Ooh Kensei, y'know that means someone's talking about you~!" His bubbly lieutenant cooed lightly.
He rubbed his nose gingerly, huffing, "Tch, shut up, baka."
He watched the subordinates file out of the meeting room, sweatdropping when his lieutenant managed to fend off any sort of argument from ensuing between his two third seats, Kotsubaki Sentarō and Kotetsu Kiyone. "Well, think that went well?" He asked the petite woman, plonking down in his assigned chair (which oddly reminded him of a throne).
The raven-haired woman noted the nervousness in his eyes had left and she chuckled, "Aside from leaving an impression on them because the infamous Mr. I-Saved-The-Universe is now their captain, yes." She jibed.
The redhead captain made a face at her comment, "Pssh, don't think too much on it. Still have to finish doing whatever it is captains do aside from combat." He remarked.
"I thought I heard the voice of a dumbass-strawberry." A voice called leisurely from the doorway that led to the courtyard of the barracks, making both heads of the thirteenth division perk up.
A woman with wavy black hair trailing down her neck and framing her pretty face nicely with blue eyes stood in the doorway with her arms folded over her chest; a cocky grin was on her lips.
"Kita!" He declared in surprise, hopping up to welcome his old friend, a grin splitting across his handsome face at seeing she had come to welcome him.
She embraced her old friend tight, letting go with a laugh, grinning up at his calm brown eyes. "It's been a long time, Ichigo." She said warmly.
"Yeah, it has. Gotta admit, it's good to be back… I was starting to miss this place." He chuckled, a wistful light shining in his stare as he recalled the years he had been away, not seeing his friends he'd made, the blonde kitsune he had grown close to… Hang on. "Hey, where's Kawa?" He asked, perking her ears.
She blinked once before her eyes softened and she turned her head outside, "Yasakawa-chan~," she sang lightly, looking up at him and winking.
Kurosaki Ichigo could swear time stopped when she came forward, brown eyes beholding the petite blonde captain, her lopsided hair do that framed her face in that strangely-cute way, her garnet eyes that once looked on him with warmth and unyielding loyalty and sheer determination that was Mori Yasakawa… He smiled happily. "Kawa, I…"
"BAKKERO!" A well-placed kick met his forehead and before he knew it, he was sent flying backward to land unceremoniously in a heap at the other end of the porch.
"Ow…" He groaned.
Both Kuchiki women sweatdropped. "Um, was that necessary…?" Rukia asked quietly; "In this instance, I believe so…" Kita said with a sagely nod.
"WHAT THE HELL, THAT HURT, KAWA!" And just like that, he was up on his feet, a vein twitching on his right brow as he stomped towards the blonde captain that stood tall with her arms folded across her chest.
"THAT was for not calling or even bothering to acknowledge me for the last few years!" She shouted back, garnet eyes defiant, glaring up at him.
This halted him in his tracks; he blinked once, dumbly, before remembering how stressful his life had been prior to that freak accident, how painstakingly close he had gotten to getting that masters' degree so he could run the hospital… His brown eyes sombered, and he noticed her hands that had crumpled into fists at her sides were slightly shaky. "I didn't mean to, I just… I didn't mean to ignore you, Kawa. I'm sorry." He said quietly, perking her ears.
By this time both Kuchiki women had conveniently left them be and retreated to the sanctity of the Kuchiki mansion, deeming the couple needed a moment alone.
She quieted and chewed her bottom lip, recalling the nights she wished he was there with her, the way he would smile or get flustered with the simplest of the decorum known as being in a relationship… She exhaled shakily. "I missed you." She murmured.
His face softened and he took a step closer, brown eyes warm. "I missed you, too." He gingerly, gently, lifted her chin with a finger, inwardly wincing at the pain that flashed in her garnet eyes that was slowly fading, loneliness following shortly… He released her chin to pull her into an embrace.
Yasakawa closed her eyes tightly and hugged back just as tight as he did, burying her cheek into his chest. "It's been a long time… I'm glad you're here, Ichigo." She whispered.
Ichigo squeezed protectively on her curvy waist, smiling happily once again, "I'm glad too, Kawa."
For once in the universe, her life felt complete.
as mentioned to crazykenz earlier, this is a continuation of where Konayuki no Yaiba left off. keep in mind i'm not following the current plot in the canon, this is just a plot i decided to dust off and rewrite. also, the size of the chapters might vary in the future. the first couple are short and sweet.. well okay, 'sweet' doesn't entirely describe what's in store for chapter two but still~ |D also, hopefully i kept everyone in character mentioned in this chapter.. /twiddles fingers
feel free to review; you don't have to say anything overtly sweet and fuzzy, just press the little itsy-bitsy review button below the story and tell me what you think, 'kay?
stay beautiful~