For once in Taidana's long career as shinigami, he did paperwork willingly and actively.
The whole issue with the ryoka was a mess. The Exodus of the Three Captains (as Taidana nicknamed it) had left the entire Seireitei in complete disarray, regardless of what division you were in. The captains wore a constant expression of stress, horror and melancholy. The vice-captains always looked panicked, especially Izuru, Momo and Shuuhei, as they found themselves having to step up into a seemingly impossible role, the ones of their captains. Taidana couldn't help but be concerned for them, especially Shuuhei. Shuuhei was the longest friend he's had and he barely sees him anymore, and when he does it's only for a minute. He's never seen Shuuhei so tense, and that worried him.
Taidana slapped the form he just completed into the OUT pile and slid a new one from the IN pile. Not long now. He could feel his eyes start to glaze over, and the words started to blur together. Taidana shook his head wildly. Not today, Taidama, he thought, this is to help Hitsugaya-taichou.
Hitsugaya hasn't acting the same since the ryoka invasion. Maybe it was the whole "best friend from childhood tried to kill you" part, but nevertheless he was pretty messed up. Taidana knew that he would bounce back in time, but for now, he was inconsoleable. Rangiku wasn't faring much better ever. The betrayal of Ichimaru-taichou went straight to her heart, but she was starting to repair herself already. Taidana always knew that she was tough, and this was testimony to it.
Taidana kinda wished he hadn't missed out on all the action of the invasion. For half of it he was napping in his office, and when he finally woke up he spent the rest of it wrangling the division into obedience, since they all wanted to go out and valiantly smite the perpetrators. Taidana had to call on all his patience, his rank and even had to play dirty and threaten a few people into subservience, but he finally did it. Hitsugaya told hm that he appreciated it, and that small bit of praise was enough for Taidana to be willing to do it all over again.
Another form done. Taidana started the next one. That's the problem with paperwork, Taidan thought wearily, it gives you too much time to think. The next few forms blurred into one another as Taidanas pen scratched form after form (Taidana didn't like the traditional ink and brush - too long to dry). It was only when his hand touched the wood of the desk was when he realised he finished.
Taidana marvelled at the stack of paper that sat on his desk. That's more than I'd do in a month, he thought. Hitsugaya-taichou will be pleased.
Taidana stood up, stretching his muscles. He shook his stiff left hand; he had to twist it into an awkward position to write. Him and his sinister left hand.
Taidana breathed a laugh as he picked up the stack of paper. He staggered a bit before heading out. He peered around to see if anyone was about. Just a few lower seated officers, and they were disappearing. He can't let the division know that he did such a massive amount of work — it disagrees with his frivolous reputation attitude. He darted around the corner, pacing quickly through the barracks. Turned the corner, the door to Hitsugaya-taichou's office in view. Nearly there-
"Third-seat Akuma?" a small voice said.
Taidana stopped and sighed. Busted. He turned around, smiling half-heartedly. "Oh hey..." he looked at the source of the voice. It was a young girl with brown hair neatly divided into braids that sat on her shoulders. She carried an asauchi zanpakutou, adorned with a small pink bow at the bottom of the hilt.
Taidana scrabbled his memory for a name. "Uhh, eighteenth-seat Kaya Kobayashi!" He had committed most, if not all the division's names to memory.
She smiled tentatively. "Uhh, would you like some help with your paperwork?" she asked in that same small voice.
"Ah, no thank you, I'm just dropping it off and I'm almost there."
Kaya blushed. "Oh! I had no idea! I'm sorry for distracting you! I'll just be-"
"Whoa, hey, it's okay." Taidana smiled kindly at the girl. "Thank you for offering anyway, that's very nice of you."
Kaya grinned. "I'd just like to help. If you need let me know and I'll come out right away!"
"I'll keep that in mind, thank you. Now if you'll excuse me..." Taidana nodded at the stack of paperwork.
"Oh, sorry! I'll go now!" She bowed slightly then dashed off.
Taidana chucked. Good kid, he thought. He went to the door of Hitsugaya-taichou's office and knocked quietly.
"Enter," a voice called out. Taidana nudged the door open with his foot, then slipped in. He grinned at his captain. "Hi sir, how are you?"
Hitsugaya glanced up at him. He was filling out paperwork like usual, with Rangiku lounging lazily on the couch. "I'm fine, thank you Akuma." He neatly stacked the papers and set them aside. He laced his fingers together and rest his head on them. His teal eyes stared straight into Taidana's red one, but Taidana was used to his intense stares.
Taidana gestured to the papers he was carrying with his head. "I filled out those papers you had left over."
Hitsugaya looked visibly stunned. "You... You willingly did paperwork?"
Taidana grinned. "I sure did."
Hitsugaya looked like he could cry in happiness, but he never, never would. "Thank you," he said, his voice breaking slightly.
Taidana walked over and dropped the stack onto Hitsugaya's desk. "I guess I'll be going now, might go see the unseated officers and help out with their training." Taidana enjoyed helping the unseated officers.
"No, Akuma, please stay," Hitsugaya said. It was a request, but there was so much authority in his voice that Taidana ceased moving completely.
"What's up sir?" Taidana asked. Hitsugaya studied him. Although he looked like a child, his eyes were the cold calculating one of a highly experienced warrior and leader. It was that look in his eyes that made him a captain, and for that Taidana would follow him to the ends of the earth. Maybe this is what Izuru-san and Momo-san felt, he wondered.
"Matsumoto-fukutaichou and I will be going on a mission to the human world," Hitsugaya announced.
Taidana smiled. "That's nice, sir. How long will you and Matsumoto-fukutaichou be gone for?" he asked.
"Indefinitely. Which means that during that time, you will be the most senior officer."
Taidana remained smiling. Then it hit him. The smile slipped uncharacteristically off his face. "But - but that means-"
"Yes." Hitsugaya stood up. "Whilst we are away, you will be the acting captain and vice-captain. You will have to attend both meetings and ensure that the Tenth Division doesn't fall into disarray in our absence."
Taidana's mind was reeling. What? Me, acting as both a captain and a vice captain? Me?! "Ah, sir, are you sure you want to leave the entire division with me?" he asked desperately. "Aren't you worried I'll screw up or something?"
Hitsugaya sighed. "Well, yes, but that is irrelevant." Hitsugaya looked him straight in the eye. "I have faith in you, Akuma Taidana."
Rangiku jumped off the couch. "Relax, it'll be fine! We probably won't be very long down there anyway, so don't stress." She patted his back soothingly. Her eyes were filled with pride. "I believe in you."
Despite all the compliments they were giving him, Taidana was still in a state of shock and panic. Yeah, let's give the entire division to the guy whose name literally means 'lazy devil'! That makes sense. "I uh, I don't know what to say," Taidana gasped.
"Thank you taichou, I will serve you well and I won't burn the barracks down?" Hitsugaya suggested.
"Thank you taichou, I will serve you well and I won't burn the barracks down," Taidana repeated almost robotically.
Hitsugaya smirked. "I bet you're curious as to why we're going. You deserve to know. A strike team is being assembled to protect the human world from the arrancars."
"Arrancars? I thought they didn't exist," Taidana frowned. He now saw why they chose to send a captain and vice-captain.
"They do. And they're attacking Karakura town, which is the town the ryoka came from," Rangiku added.
Taidana sighed. "Those ryoka certainly make things interesting, don't they," he remarked.
"Nevertheless, they've been attacked by two highly dangerous arrancars," Hitsugaya replied. "The soutaichou has decided that the Seireitei cannot sit idly, and we must protect them to the best of our ability."
"I guess that's why they're sending you two," Taidana said.
The corner of Hitsugaya's lip twitched at the compliment, evidently pleased. "Now we have to discuss the handing over of the division," he began. "There is a ceremony involved, and it requires the entire division to be there. Now, when you step up..."
The ceremony went well, thankfully.
In front of the entire Tenth Division, Taidana had to step up and draw his zanpakutou at precisely the same time as Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya then declared, "I, Hitsugaya Toshiro, hereby temporarily appoint third-seat Akuma Taidana my duties as captain of the Tenth Divison until my return." Taidana then replied, "I, Akuma Taidana, accept these duties." They then had point the tips of their zanpakutou at each other, all ceremoniously. The division watched dubiously, but none interfered with the ceremony. They all had a single thought: why was the captain leaving, and why would he put Akuma Taidana of all people in charge?
That's certainly what Taidana would think.
The ceremony felt drawn out, unnecessary and outdated. The Exodus of the Three Captains has turned everything that felt normal and traditional into something that feels just... unneeded. Izuru, Momo and Shuuhei didn't have this ceremony, so why should he?
On the evening of that same day, Taidana accompanied Hitsugaya and Rangiku to the gateway to the human world. There they said their final goodbyes. Hitsugaya gave a few more point of advice to Taidana in running the division, and Rangiku hugged him goodbye. As their hell butterflies flitted around them, Taidana bowed low in respect. Hitsugaya nodded sternly back, and they went through the gateway and disappeared.
And just like that, Taidana was left with a division.
Taidana trudged back home, taking his time to enjoy the fireflies that flitted in the evening light. Jigoku no Mon hung by his side. This is it, it whispered to him. This is your time to shine.
Taidana looked at his zanpakutou in his mind's eye. He saw two figures, identically hooded in grey gowns, their faces obscurred. They each had one pitch black wing: one had the left wing, one had the right. They always spoke in unison, and their voices sent chills through his spine.
I know what you're trying to say, he replied sternly. I like my position and I don't want to change.
But you have potential, they insisted. You could easily rise to vice-captain, even captain! You could be the most feared captain in the Seireitei's history!
What, and be like Zaraki-taichou? Taidana rebuttaled. Jigoku no Mon remained silent. Your silence answers my question, Taidana continued. Maybe one day I might debate it, but not today. And now life is going to be hard for me from now I, and I will need your support. Do I have it?
You will always have it, they hissed.
Taidana smiled. Thank you. Now please, let me have my thoughts to myself for now.
They nodded in complete synchronism and faded away.
Taidana sighed and stretched his arms above his head. Whilst he recognised that Jigoku no Mon is as much a part of him as his arms or heart, the fact that his soul has chosen to appear like that unnerves him. Even the name chills him: Jigoku no Mon. Gates of Hell.
"Hey stranger," a voice tore through his thoughts. Taidana glanced around him; it was Shuuhei. Taidana was now wandering the streets alone as they slowly started to fill up with young people.
"Shuuhei," Taidana grinned. "Great to see you bud. How are you?"
Shuuhei sighed, and that worried him. That sigh was filled with exhaustion, stress and anxiety. "It's been hard, but I've been managing. Stepping up into a captain's shoes is hard."
"I'd say," Taidana replied. He explained the situation he was currently in. Shuuhei looked shocked.
"Wow, you're in charge of Tenth Division? That's hard to believe, but I'm sure you'll do a great job." Shuuhei smiled.
"At least you have hope," Taidana said quietly.
"Hey, Hitsugaya-taichou chose you instead of someone from another division for a reason. Have some confidence in yourself, Taidana."
That was what Taidana needed: a close friend to boost his confidence. Taidana felt his mood lift up like a summer breeze. "Thank you," he said gratefully to Shuuhei. "I can't imagine what you're feeling now, but if you need someone to talk to, you know I'm always here for you."
Shuuhei slapped him on the back affectionately. His scarred face showed relief and gratefulness. "I know," he said.
They walked along, the silence sitting comfortably between them. They had experienced some hard times in the academy and when they joined the Gotei 13, but they always had each other's back. Taidana could never really describe how much he valued his friendship with Shuuhei, but he knew he didn't have to say anything.
Their pathways had to split, and they said their farewells. Shuuhei informed Taidana of a captain's meeting at midday tomorrow, and since their divisions were right next to each other Shuuhei said he would help him out. The captains were starting to get used to having ranks lower than captain at their meetings, but it'll still be a shock to see a third-seat. Taidana thanked him and walked off, farewelling him. He arrived to his accommodation with barely-hidden stares from the lower seats. Kaya rushed past and she stopped to say a breathless comgratulations, and to offer her assistance once again. Taidana thanked her once again, this time actually considering having her help him with the influx of paperwork he'll have to do. Just the thought of all that paperwork he'd have to do now made him cringe. He went into his room, changed and went to bed, curling into the foetal position.
A captain's meeting tomorrow. Oh man...
Thank you for reading. It was a bit shorter than the previous chapter, but I'll get into the meeting and aftermath next one, maybe even get him to do some training, hahaha. I'm working really hard to justify Taidana as a character and make him fleshed out and with depth, and I hope that shows.
I just realised that 'Akuma Taidana' sounds like 'Hakuna Matata'. But it means no worries, so that kinda fits with him, hahahaha.