Butterflies and Hurricanes

The girl sat watching another sunrise in another dimension. She was alone on the rooftop of a tall building near the coast of Kanagawa, the black of night sliding away into the horizon behind her as the blues and pinks of sunrise splashed themselves upon the sky before her. The sun was warm on her face as it lifted itself above the ocean, the bright orange circle rising beyond the meeting point of the sky and the water.

Despite her years, she was small; her age was in centuries and yet her body was that of a young teenager's. Her size had always been a source of ridicule and patronizing attitudes; it was something that came along with the ageless body, and a downside that she had been able to overlook lately. According to her boss, she was making great progress in this endeavor; as long as nobody explicitly made fun of her, she wouldn't grow angry.

The man she was meeting with always made sure to poke this weakness.

She could never remember his name. She knew that he was important to their mission, but she never really cared enough about him to keep his name in her brain. He was just a communicator, a messenger. He was the face of their current ally.

She had completed a mission issued he'd issued her last night and she was now waiting for him at a designated rendezvous point. He was late and she was growing more and more impatient as the minutes ticked by; for some strange reason, this guy just enjoyed agitating her. Ever since the first time they'd become correspondents he'd treated her like a child and she was getting sick of it. But she was trying to be calmer, more mature; she'd just been promoted and she was trying to act accordingly with her new rank.

Even if it killed her.

"Oi, kid," a gruff voice called out from behind. "Sorry I'm late. I had grown-up things to attend to."

Her teeth clenched down hard as she repressed the urge to unsheathe her zanpakuto. She turned to face him, hoping the anger in her face was not detectible; if he knew he'd made her mad already, he'd continue without mercy until their meeting was over.

Fortunately, it seemed as though the man walking across the rooftop was oblivious to her silent fury. He held a zanpakuto of his own in his gloved right hand; his left was hanging lazily at his hip. He walked up to her, stopping only a few feet away. She was much shorter than him, the top of her head only reaching his chest. She looked up at his face with displeasure.

"Whatever, old man," she replied, her control faltering slightly. "My mission's done. Can I go home?"

"Not yet," was his response. "I need details. How was the objective?"

"Easy," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "You had me hunt down a middle-aged human. Did you expect me to fail?"

"He is more than simply a human. You need to be careful not to let your preconceptions cloud your judgments, girl." He stopped, obviously waiting for her to blow her cool. When she maintained a still face, her pink irises shining up at him with indifference, he rolled his eyes and continued. "You left him alive, I assume?"

"Yeah," she replied sardonically, her eyes cutting off to the side. "That was the plan, wasn't it?"

He ignored her. "Any slip-ups I should know about?"

"Nope. Can I go home now?"

He smirked at her, his mouth pulling up at one corner as his light hair shined in the morning sunlight. "Yeah, I suppose we're done for now. Tell your boss that we'll be in touch with him shortly."

"Sure. Whatever."

She turned away from him and looked back towards the rising sun. Slowly, she stuck a finger out and jabbed it into the empty space in front of her. Jagged black lines spread out from each side of her fingertip before splitting the sky open, revealing a black portal. She stepped inside of the garganta, a bridge of white spirit particles forming in the abyss beneath her feet.

"Yo, kid," he called out once more, causing her to turn around as the maw of the doorway began to slowly close. "Don't go too far. We're gonna be needin' you again real soon."

Lilinette brushed the green bangs from her face before shooting the man a hateful glare. He simply smiled as the irritated Arrancar girl was swallowed up by the teeth of the garganta.

Soi Fon's eyes were open as she looked at the ceiling of her room. She smiled lightly as Grimmjow softly snored next to her, his arm wrapped lightly around her naked waist as he slept. He had been spending more time in her quarters than he had in his own lately; this was an occurrence that Soi was getting extremely comfortable with, even if he always slept later than she did.

She slid out from under his slumbering embrace, his arm coming to rest on the mattress as she walked away from the bed silently. She made her way into the bathroom and turned on the shower before glancing in the mirror. Her shoulders were covered in small bruises; the purple and blue crescents were signatures of her lover's teeth. She smiled contently as her hand reached up and rubbed one softly. At least he remembered to keep them beneath the clothesline, she thought humorously before she stepped into the hot running water of her shower.

Standing below the faucet, Soi Fon's mind drifted idly. There was a time when she and Grimmjow had tried to maintain a level of secrecy concerning their relationship. Some people already knew, but the pair still made an effort to keep themselves out of the mainstream. Soi Fon had been afraid of scrutiny at first, demanding that the two of them left absolutely no evidence of their lovemaking. Naturally, the ever-feral Arrancar and the dominant captain had troubles keeping that promise. They eventually settled on ensuring that the welts and bruises they left upon each other remained hidden from view. Even with all of Soul Society being accepting of their now very public relationship, Grimmjow still kept his bites beneath her uniform.

Old habits die hard, it would seem.

She hadn't slept much last night. Though Grimmjow had kept her awake for most of it, her true insomnia was due to the fact that her dreams had been busy with thoughts on the Vizards. She kept dreaming about the captain's meeting the next day, and her stance on the exiled shinigami.

Soi Fon felt as though aiding the Vizards would prove to be a beneficial move, even if tempers had yet to die completely. The group of hybrids was extremely strong and would prove to be extremely valuable to the Gotei 13. In her mental debates, she had seen no logical reason to deny their request for assistance; they were once shinigami, after all.

Yet there was something that kept her from being at ease with this choice. Soul Society had always been an overly-cautious place, and the recent betrayals had done a great deal to strengthen this already powerful sentiment. But Soi Fon wanted her reason to be more rational than her fear of treachery.

Perhaps it was xenophobia. Seireitei has always had problems when initially dealing with outsiders. While most foreign parties were eventually recognized as companions, Soul Society was far quicker to attack than accept. Once more she rejected this excuse, her head banishing the thought swiftly. If she was to vote against assisting the Vizards, she would try to argue a point more logical than stupidity and fear.

The door to her bathroom opened softly as Grimmjow walked in. She could see his shadow through the curtain as he approached the shower, his body ambling sleepily through the steam that was building in the small room.

"Mornin' captain," he said with a tired smirk as he poked his head into the shower, his eyes moving up her naked body. "Anything I can assist you with?"

"No," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Unlike you, I have somewhere to be this morning. I can't have you distracting me while I need to get ready."

"But captain," he said with a matter-of-fact tone, his body sliding through the fog and under the water with her. "I have lots of paperwork I'm going to continue to put off." He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him, her ass sliding back against his pelvis under the hot water. He bent down and began kissing her neck, causing her to absent-mindedly tilt her head to the side and close her eyes.

"Exactly," she murmured as his right hand slid down her wet stomach. "We are way too preoccupied to be—" She gasped softly as his fingers hit home below her waist. "To be wasting our time together in the shower." She managed to finish her sentence, even though her body was obviously disagreeing with her. She reached an arm up behind her head and around Grimmjow's neck, pulling his mouth down to hers. She began to move her back softly against him as his right hand continued to work, the left having joined in the effort as it made its way up to her breasts.

She turned quickly to face him, breaking the hold he had on her. She quickly claimed his attention as she reached down and grabbed him with her hand. Her eyes were only half open, but they maintained a demanding glare as she looked up at him.

"I need to get ready, Grimmjow," she said seriously, even though her hand was beginning to move below them. He smirked at her before leaning down and joining his mouth with hers, her hand moving faster and faster as his tongue wrestled with hers. He pulled his mouth away, the smirk returning as she continued to stroke him.

"I can see that you do," he said, his words sounding fuzzy as he became further distracted by her movements. He kissed her again, his hand reaching up and cupping the back of her neck. She broke the kiss with a soft gasp and sank down to her knees, trailing a line along his stomach with her tongue as she went.

Renji was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he walked down the streets of Seireitei toward the first division. He enjoyed being a captain, but the early morning meetings were starting to get to him. He tried to remember if he'd ever risen early enough to see the grey skies of early morning. He was rather certain that he hadn't— by his own volition, at least. He'd never been much of a morning person; even when he was a lieutenant, Kuchiki Byakuya had recognized that giving Renji assignments before breakfast was a waste of effort.

The fifth division's tattooed leader wished that the Captain-commander would get the message, too.

"Good morning, Captain Abarai," Richiki, his third seat, called out while walking in the opposite direction. Renji waved back at the young man before passing him wordlessly. While the boy had an odd sort of infatuation with him, going so far as to transfer into the fifth from the sixth, Renji still liked him. He was a sucker for admirers, Renji was. He was also really glad that the kid stopped getting tattoos after the first black line above his eyebrow; Renji wasn't so sure he could have handled a younger look-alike following him around.

When the winter war had ended, Renji had opted to join the Hueco Mundo search party in hopes of finding the hogyouku. After eleven long months without success, the group had returned to Soul Society empty-handed. Except for defeating a handful of Aizen-loyal Arrancar, the mission had been a waste of time. Renji had even killed the former Segundo Espada, an arrogant old man that had wept before his demise, much to Grimmjow's pleasure. But that had hardly been anything to celebrate— there were still two more of the Espada alive and unaccounted for, not to mention at least fifty or so Arrancar.

Immediately upon his return, he was asked to interview for a captain's position. He had protested the request at first, but Unohana had asked him in a way that had left him little choice; while the Captain-commander was extremely patient and forgiving, she had one hell of an intense glare. Renji doubted that anyone could win a stare-down with Unohana Retsu.

The exam for captaincy had been swift. It was already well established throughout Seireitei that he'd acquired and maintained his bankai, even having made it combat ready in under a year's time. He had passed the taishyu test and had been shocked when Byakuya, one of the three captains to witness the exam, heaped praise upon him. The other two captains were Hitsugaya Toshirou and Kyoraku Shunsui— both captains were acquaintances of his, either through missions or bar-talk, respectively, and both had vouched for his ability to lead.

In the twenty five years since then, Renji didn't really feel like he'd done much leading in his squadron. In fact, he felt like he'd done more paperwork than instructing. Aside from overseeing the tryouts for seated positions, he actually had little contact with his division members. He let Lieutenant Kuchiki Rukia handle that kind of stuff.

Hinamori Momo had politely declined maintaining her position as the fifth division's lieutenant, instead taking Hitsugaya up on his offer to transfer into the tenth. Renji had felt a small stab of betrayal; he and Hinamori had been friends for so long, he'd assumed that she would have stayed as his subordinate. But it made sense that she would want to leave the division. She had a plethora of bad memories under that roof.

In need of a new lieutenant, Renji had immediately gone to Rukia. His feelings for the girl aside, Kuchiki Rukia was his oldest friend. He extended the offer to her in full confidence of her acceptance, having already brought the fifth division's lieutenant badge with him. His jaw had hit the floor when she said no. She produced all sorts of excuses when he'd asked why, and none of them had made any sense to him. She wanted to stay in the thirteenth; she wasn't fit to be a lieutenant; she knew he was going to be a terrible captain and wanted nothing to do with it.

All ridiculous reasons.

After a year's worth of arguing and begging, Renji finally convinced her that he was indeed a capable captain and that she would indeed be a suitable lieutenant. Even though they yelled at one another a lot, they made quite a duo, and the fifth division continued to thrive under their joint leadership.

All Renji had to do was stop loving her and things would be perfect.

He turned a final corner and saw the group of captains waiting in front of the doors of the first division. Shunsui and Byakuya were talking with one another near the edge of the pack, each giving him a small nod as he passed them by, one captain's nod far more inviting than the other. Renji returned the gesture, but the two had already turned back to one another, so he continued forward.

Ikkaku was standing with his back leaning on the walls of the first division, Hoozukimaru propped up against his leg and his arms crossed. Renji made to call out to his old friend when he realized that the eleventh division captain was sleeping up against the wall. Renji rolled his eyes and looked over at Hisagi Shuuhei. His tattooed counterpart was squatting against the same wall, his eyes equally as closed as Ikkaku's. Last night's sake was not treating the two of them well, it would seem. Renji had a suspicion that Yumichika was suffering the same fate.

Soi Fon and Hitsugaya were standing together as Kira sat silently to the side of them. A small nod was issued from Kira, but the other two captains remained stoic as Renji passed them by. He couldn't help but wonder why Captain Soi Fon's hair looked wet as he continued along, stopping next to Captain Komamura before leaning against the wall silently.

Renji had just closed his eyes in thought when a small rock hit him in the forehead. He jumped forward from the wall, his hand rushing down to the hilt of Zabimaru in a blur of movement. Another pebble popped him in the nose as he looked around for the assailant. He didn't need to look very hard as a shock of bright orange hair entered his vision. Kurosaki Ichigo was walking up to the group, late as usual, while tossing another rock up and down in his palm with a devious smile.

"Renji," he called out in a cheery greeting. "How are you this morning?"

"How can you ask—" he began to reply when Ichigo snapped his wrist outwards, the rock slinging forward in a line towards Renji's face. He reached up and caught it in midair, gripping down hard enough to turn the little stone into sand as he grimaced.

"You think throwing rocks is funny, eh?" Renji said, his mouth turned up angrily in a fake smile as his fellow captain began laughing. He grabbed his zanpakuto and began to slide the blade from its sheath. "You know what else is funny?"

The doors of the first division opened then, the massive wooden slabs swinging outwards with a low groan. Ulquiorra stood expressionlessly in his white uniform as the doors continued to spread apart at his touch, his green eyes locking immediately upon the mischievous duo. Renji postponed his assault to look back at the lieutenant, dejectedly locking his sword back into its scabbard. Ichigo sauntered right up to him, his face beaming with amusement.

"It seems as though I got here right on time," the orange-haired shinigami said with a smile. "Wouldn't you agree, Abarai?"

Renji could only grind his molars angrily as he walked into the Captain-commander's meeting room, Ichigo striding merrily behind him.

"Why can't we leave yet?"

"Because."

Shinji was beginning to grow annoyed with Hiyori's unending questioning. It hadn't even been an hour since he'd answered that same question the first time, and he felt as though he'd answered it at least three dozen times since then. He knew that the captains would be deliberating on his request as early as possible today. He was sure that the meeting would be over by noon and he wanted to be back in Seireitei as soon as he could. He was thinking about how funny it would be to surprise Retsu by showing up on the same day as their decision.

Ignoring his blonde partner, Shinji leaned back on the warm grass and pulled his grey flat-cap over his face to block the sun. He hadn't slept at all the night before. He had been too busy squatting in abandoned huts while escaping the fierce rains that pelted Rukongai. He had no idea what Hiyori had done all night and nor did he care. While the young girl was normally his favorite person in the entire world, Hirako Shinji on sleep deprivation was a force to be reckoned with; every loud word that came out of her fang-toothed mouth was making his blood pressure rise. He just wanted some shut-eye. And after that, they would saunter into Soul Society and shock the hell out of the Captain-commander. Then he would be happy.

A small black butterfly suddenly fluttered up to the duo and landed on Shinji's tie, further ruining his mood as it addressed him in Unohana's voice.

"Shinji. Seeing that you are waiting patiently in Rukongai for our decision to be made, I invite you to join me for lunch in an hour. The captain's meeting will be over by then and I will have your answer."

He growled softly as he sat up, pissed to high hell that his prank had been ruined already. His smile faded as he sat up, ignoring Hiyori's questioning look. Leave it to Retsu, he thought bitterly as he stood and stretched before leaping up to the nearest rooftop.

"Wait up, you stinkin' geezer!" Hiyori called out angrily below as she hopped up after him, landing on one sandaled foot. She frowned as he continued to walk away from her along the top of the building. She began hopping after him, the remains of her left sandal hanging in her balled fist. "What's with you today, Shinji? You're being a freakin' jackass and it's startin' to piss me o—"

He reached out quickly, his hand slamming over her mouth. Her voice still came out in muffled and outraged screams, but his eyes were focused on a man limping quickly down the street below him. Hiyori noticed him as well, her voice stopping altogether beneath Shinji's palm. The man was dressed in all white, making the fresh bloodstains that covered his outfit even more apparent. His salt and peppered hair was disheveled and caked with dirt, and his pale skin was trembling with blood loss and fatigue.

He was headed towards Seireitei.

"Interesting," Shinji exclaimed quietly, his smile returning.

"Preposterous!"

Hisagi sighed impatiently as Mayuri hollered in the large room. He had really hoped, perhaps with a rather unbecoming naïveté, that this meeting would remain relatively civil. Or at least quiet, for the most part. Perhaps it was simply wishful thinking on behalf of his hangover. Either way, he was upset that they hadn't made it twenty minutes into the discussion without voices being raised.

Go figure it was Kurotsuchi Mayuri.

"Captain Mayuri," Isane said calmly, her voice sneaking out in the chaos. "I meant no disrespect toward you or the twelfth division. I simply won't deem 'scientific potential' as a practical reason to aid the Vizards."

"Captain Kotetsu has a valid point," Hitsugaya said, glaring up at the twelfth division's captain. "While it is unanimously understood that the Vizards have an untapped potential, assisting them for our own personal gain is not only selfish, but animalistic."

"And what would you know, child?" Mayuri yelled as he waived an excessively long fingernail in the face of his neighbor.

Hisagi tilted his head downward and closed his eyes, hoping that the scientist's rant would be short this time. His mind drifted back to Kensei Muguruma, the shinigami captain that had saved his life, the Vizard that was the source of Hisagi's conflictions.

Hisagi wanted nothing more than to be like Captain Kensei, going so far as to don one of the man's tattoos on his own cheek. He wanted to stand and be strong and save the weak. And because of that man, who was labeled as a traitor, Hisagi Shuuhei had gained everything he'd ever strived to attain. He wasn't just a strong leader, he was a shinigami captain. He had saved hundreds of people from hollows, just like Kensei had saved him. And his desire to help Kensei Muguruma was undeniable.

But his desire to reject the offer was equally as powerful.

Hisagi knew that he was not alone in his debate between logic and fear; he could see that Kira Izuru was also struggling with the terrors of betrayal. And despite the sorrow it filled him with, it also filled Hisagi with comfort to know that he was not alone in his inner disputes. The two captains were the one of the most effected by Aizen's defection; they had every right to remain cautious, even if only for their own protection.

Hisagi had been a shoe-in for ninth division captain. Unohana had almost given him the position without him attaining bankai. But he'd declined that offer, citing that he wanted to be the captain his division deserved and not the one that was the most convenient. He told the impressed Captain-commander that he would return to her when he felt he was worthy of the position.

He was close to acquiring bankai already, he simply needed to make amends with Kazeshini. The troublesome spirit had betrayed his trust long ago, on that fateful night during his mission in the real world. The night that Aizen Sousuke and Ichimaru Gin had saved his life. He had only recently learned Kazeshini's name, but he'd quickly become capable with his zanpakuto's released state.

When the giant hollows had attacked them, he'd reached out to the blonde boy-spirit. It was that night that Hisagi had met his zanpakuto's darker half. The feral child had refused to release.Kazeshini had told him that this was a test, to see if Hisagi was worthy enough to hold his hilt. After surviving that stunt, Hisagi trained with Kazeshini in silence for years, only releasing him when absolutely necessary.

It was apparent to him that the spirit wished to rekindle their relationship. Every time Hisagi would slip and allow his zanpakuto to appear before him, the spirit obviously remorseful in the lack of contact with his owner. Eventually Hisagi gave in to the pleadings of his sword, allowing Kazeshini to materialize for the first time. Bankai had come very easily after that, and had ended up being the only facet of the taishyu test that Unohana had required him to undergo.

And in the years of his captaincy, Hisagi Shuuhei had managed to be everything that he'd thought a captain should be. He was held in great esteem by both his peers and his subordinates. The Captain-commander continuously heaped praise upon him. He'd never been a part of a failed mission. Everything since the Winter War had been perfect for him.

Which made his decision on the Vizards even more dangerous. What if they were plotting to trick them? Hisagi did not want the blood of betrayal to fall upon his hands when his vote for them backfired. But he also despised the idea of leaving the former shinigami in their time of need. Hadn't they done enough damage?

"This is bullshit!"

Captain Kurosaki's angry cry shook him out of his thoughts. He leaned forward and looked down the aisle at the outraged captain, arching an eyebrow at the sudden outburst of expletives.

"I know these people, dammit," Ichigo continued, his eyes trained on Kuchiki Byakuya. "They're all good-hearted; they aren't out for vengeance!"

"And how would you know this, boy?" The noble captain asked, his usual disdain for the former ryoka as evident as the air in the room.

"Because they helped me control my inner hollow," he responded, his voice angry.

An odd silence befell the room, stopping Captain Kuchiki's argument in its tracks. Captain Kurosaki's hollowfication was a topic that was rarely, if ever, discussed out loud. Ichigo's status as a hybrid was a well known and accepted fact throughout Seireitei; it was this very ability that had enabled him to kill Aizen Sousuke. But for him to refer to it as what it truly was, as a hollow… the word left a sour note in the air and a putrid taste in their mouths.

"They've spent the last century hidden away from Seireitei," Ichigo continued, his voice becoming stable in the still air of the room. "Why would they all of the sudden come out of the darkness to attack us now? If the Vizards wanted to take us out, they would have attacked us right after Aizen was killed. Shinji is way too smart to ignore an opening like that."

"You know I don't like it when ya talk about me," a voice called out from the doorway, "Ichigo."

The entire room spun around to see the three figures silhouetted by the morning sun. Sarugaki Hiyori was leaning up against the frame of the large door, her arms crossed in anger, half of a sandal hanging loosely from her hand. Hirako Shinji had already begun walking into the room, his smile as wide as ever as he slowly drank in the shock of the room.

And slung over his shoulder was the limping and bleeding body of Ishida Uryuu, the Last Quincy.

author's note

after two days of straight snowboarding (with interspersed drunken adventures), what do i come home and do for you kiddies? write up a 5000 word chapter. almost broke my ribs coming of a jump on one of the black diamonds, too. don't worry, though; always keep in mind that i am invincible and will come right back and give you guys more chapters.

now tell me you love me.

got most of the next chapter floating around in my head, so be on the look out during the next few days. writing for all of these characters is a blast; sorry to all the grimm/soi fans out there. i'll focus on them more later on, i swear. for now you'll have to settle with that shower scene from earlier (idk why, but the two of them LOVE doin it in the shower. can't say i blame em, really :p).

as always, reviews are appreciated.

jta~!

butterflies & hurricanes - muse