Chapter 2: Training and Comradery
"Looking for something I've never seen
Alone and I'm in between
The place that I'm from and
The place that I'm in
A city I've never been."
-The Fray "Trust Me"
Nina awoke to the sharp, annoying sound of her alarm clock along with the irritating morning sunlight pouring into her room. She opened her eyes but then squinted against the blinding brightness of the sun as she held up her hand to block it. Nina grumbled, flopped over onto her side, and reached her hand over to smack the snooze button. She lay there a moment more before deciding that she ought to drag herself out of bed.
After dressing and putting on her makeup, Nina grabbed her zanpakuto and left behind the comfort of her quarters and her still-unpacked belongings. Her zanpakuto, Kiyohime, was not as remarkable as some zanpakuto were rumored, but then again, she did not have to be. Kiyohime in its sealed form was a normal silver bladed katana with a maroon sheath. Its guard was a brass rectangle, and the hilt was black and maroon. It was lightweight and feminine, and the spirit within the zanpakuto shared a good relationship with Nina, and a good relationship with your weapon was preferable.
She made her way along the streets within Division Five with the mess hall on her mind. Breakfast and tea sounded good about now, and she would need the energy for the training grounds. Lieutenant Hinamori intended to assign her a unit of unseated officers today, and she had a full day of learning her new duties on top of that.
"Hey, are you new?"
Nina turned to find a bob-haired man approaching her. She offered a timid smile. "To Division Five? No. Today is my first day as Third Seat."
The young man stopped and regarded her. Nina could see that he had healthy looking skin, violet eyes, and colorful feathers attached on his right eyelashes and eyebrow. His black, jaw-length hair was shiny. Physically, he was a rather feminine-looking man, but cute nonetheless.
"Oh, you're a new promotion. Congrats."
"Thanks," Nina responded. "Is there something I can assist you with?"
"No, no," he replied. "I was just here to run an errand." He turned back to her and bowed politely. "Yumichika Ayasegawa. I'm the Fifth Seat in Division Eleven."
"What sort of errand were you on, if you don't mind my asking?"
He shrugged. "Delivering some paperwork. I swear I'm the only person that does anything in my division. But your Division was the last, so I was just on my way. I take it you were unseated before or were you a lower seat?"
"I was unseated," Nina told him humbly. "Captain Aizen seems to think I am qualified for the position."
"Do you not think you are?"
"I don't think anyone really believes they are qualified for such a promotion, Ayasegawa-san. I'm still letting the reality sink in."
"Yes, I suppose you're right. Unless you're in my division. Then everyone's just a braggart about it."
Nina offered a soft giggle. "I would imagine it no other way."
"Well, I suppose I ought to be going," Yumichika said. "I'll probably see you around."
Nina watched him leave, and then she was at last able to make it to the mess hall for some breakfast. She took her time eating and drinking her tea, but she did not sit with anyone. She wasn't much of a socialite, especially over breakfast. Were she to have her sketchbook with her, she might have been sketching out some sort of abstract design, animals, or faces. Expressions, in her opinion, were so hard sometimes.
After breakfast, she found her way to the main training grounds where her fellow division members mustered. Already, Hinamori was already there and gathering the unseated into groups.
"There you are!" Momo said when she noticed Nina approaching.
"Am I late, Lieutanant?" Nina asked.
Momo simply smiled and shooed her onto the field, thrusting a shinai into her hands. "No, Seito-san. You weren't late. I'm just a little early." She gestured to a group of about twenty shinigami. "Your assigned unit is there. You should make their acquaintance, Seito-san."
Nina nodded and hopped down to meet everyone in her division. She spotted a lone man several yards away, and she approached him. "Hello. Why are you here by yourself?"
"I don't have anyone to pair with. My friend I'm usually with is injured."
"Then perhaps you may join our unit until your friend is better. Would you mind?"
He smiled. "No! Not at all! Train with me! I'm Keitaro Yoshida."
She bowed politely and then glanced around for Captain Aizen. Normally when Nina trained with her division, Captain Aizen was present. Today, he was not here.
"I wonder where Captain Aizen is. He is usually here when we train."
Keitaro shook his head. "He usually does, but I guess he's been busy lately. He might be catching up on paperwork. I'm sure he'll join us later, though."
Most of the morning was spent in training, and the members of her unit found out quickly just how skilled Nina truly was at handling her weapon; she was definitely worthy of her recent promotion. It took Nina most of the session to get used to being in a position of leadership, and she was so busy thinking about how best to lead this group that she did not notice that Aizen approached and was watching intently as Nina sparred with her group. She blocked a swing from Keitaro's sword before turning a wind-based kidou spell on him which sent him flying.
Captain Aizen applauded, and Nina looked up, startled. "Very good use of kidou," he said. "Truly you are worthy of your promotion. I commend you."
Nina bowed. "Thank you, Captain."
She felt a hard slap on the back from Keitaro that made her step forward to keep from losing her balance. "Nice job, Seito-san!"
"Ah, thank you..." she said quietly, regaining her balance.
"You all may be dismissed for the rest of the day," Aizen pleasantly said. "You've all worked hard. Thank you."
Nina began to file by with the others, but she was stopped by a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You especially, Seito-san. You'll do splendid things if you keep working at it."
She glanced up at him humbly, not quite making eye contact. "I try to do my best, Captain."
* * *
The rest of the day was spent in her quarters arranging her things. Nina had not brought very much with her to put in her quarters because she did not own much to begin with. Once her living area was arranged, however, she was ecstatic to open a box and find all her art supplies inside. Immediately, Nina drew out her sketchbook, charcoal, pencils, kneaded erasers, and her smudgers. She found her familiar messenger bag in which she carried her supplies and drew it out happily, filling her bag with the items and throwing in a box of colored pencils for good measure.
Art was a form of expression for Nina and a means by which she familiarized herself with people and places, and what better way than to utilize an afternoon in early summer when it was still quite warm? She pulled the bag over her small frame and set out to look for subjects to draw. Eventually, Nina settled beneath a tree in the shade that was out of the way where no one could bother her, and she began to draw scenes of people as they walked by as well as subjects from her imagination.
Nina leaned her head back on the tree trunk after a few hours and took a deep breath to draw in the fresh air. It was such a shame that summer didn't last. Her stomach grumbled; it had been hours since she had eaten. Nina stood, stretched, and put her bag on. She found the dining hall where she ate her mid day meal. Afterwards, she ventured out of the division compound and into Seireitei. She did not speak to many people – some nodded at her and waved – but eventually she came across the library.
She smirked to herself. " I wonder whether they have anything new."
She ventured inside and was greeted with countless sections and rows of old books, some of which were first editions. Libraries always had a distinct smell of paper and ink. She blinked up at the tall shelves in the fiction section and browsed the volumes that resided there. Some of the books she found were actually manuscripts from the western culture – Dickens, Longfellow, Bronte – many of her favorite authors. She removed a thick tome from a high shelf – a Charles Dickens volume – and took it up to the circulation desk.
She handed the book to a girl at the desk. "I'd like to check out this book."
The girl took the book from Nina and stamped the due date in the cover. "Please bring this back in two weeks. If the library is closed when you bring it by, place it into the book deposit outside," the other girl told her. She started to go back to work, but then she looked up. "Oh, you wouldn't happen to know if someone would be available a few days a week to work here, would you?"
"N-no...I don't think so," Nina admitted. Wait...the library would be the perfect place to draw people, and it was not very difficult work. Plus, she liked to read, and she'd get first pick of all the new books. "Actually, I would consider it."
She smiled. "Really? It won't be but a few days a week, and all you have to do is keep track of the books and put them away as they come in. Come back if you decide to do it for sure."
Nina nodded. "I will. Thank you."
She started to leave, but a sign caught her attention: Archives Room.
She pursed her lips; she had never been down to the archives. She ventured through a doorway that led to dimly lit stairs that descended into a basement. There she found a proliferation of shelves filled with very old manuscripts. Many of the pages were yellowing with age and tattered from use, and she wondered what kind of valuable information these ancient tomes held. Nina's curiosity was piqued. As she rounded a corner, she bumped into a figure carrying a stack of documents.
Startled, she looked into the face of the man she had met earlier. "Oh...um...sorry!"
"I thought I sensed someone else down here..."
"What exactly is this place?"
"Oh, this is Soul Society's archives room," he explained. "This is where all the records of Soul Society's history are kept, including academy yearbooks and division records." He put a volume on the dusty shelf. "Quite fascinating stuff, really."
"It sounds like it."
He glanced at the book. "What do you have there?"
She looked down at it. "Oh, um, something by Dickens."
"Western literature. You should talk to Lieutenant Ise over in Eighth Division. She hosts a book club, and she could always use more members."
She smiled softly. "I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."
"Not a problem."
"Um, you look busy. I'll let you get back to work. Sorry to disturb you."
He shook his head. "Oh, it's fine. I was kind of glad for the company, actually."
Nina bowed. "Then maybe we'll run into one another again. I'll be going now."
Yumichika smiled and watched her leave. She was definitely someone he wanted to talk with more. She was actually rather lovely, and Yumichika only liked talking with lovely people.
By the time Nina returned to her division, it was around dusk. She adjusted her messenger bag over her shoulder and rounded a corner as she glanced through the primary pages of her borrowed book and not really paying attention to where she was going. She suddenly bumped into the solid form of someone else rounding the very corner going the opposite way. She fell back on her rear, dropping her book.
"Oh, I'm sorry about that..."
Author's Note: About the library: Soul Society has such an extensive history, and there are so many shinigami enlisted within the ranks of the Gotei Thirteen that I thought, "Why not give them a public library?" Although I realize it seems unusual to mention Western authors such as Dickens and Longfellow, I thought that since Seireitei seems to have many modern amenities, including washing machines, public restrooms and bath houses, then why not have a library filled with books from every corner of the world? Lieutenant Sasakibe himself was fascinated with Western culture, and I am certain that other shinigami are as well. In fact, who's to say in my universe that Sasakibe didn't begin the Seireitei Public Library for the benefit of all bookworm shinigami?