I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment proposes only, no money involved.
(Danny)
"Ganju you really need to stop moving. You're only making things worse." I told the younger of the Shiba's as he lay on the ground with multiply broken bones and some missing teeth. "What the hell were you thinking? Peaking on the girls like that. You should feel glad they didn't kill you."
"I could have died happy… unfortunately you refuse to let me die." Ganju groaned coughing up some of the blood that had entered his lungs before I had repaired them and his broken ribs.
We were ending our sixth day of construction and the girls were all taking a bath in the hot spring that Ganju stumbled across will he was hollowing out the earth for the underground school. He managed to get away with a few minor burns but it was a good discovery. It was access to clean water that could be used in radiators to heat the rooms. And after I was done maneuvering it to the piping we had running water. Not sure how important that is when people don't eat and so they don't have to poop but it is still nice to have.
Kukaku also used it to make outdoor baths in the style of those you hear about in Japan. But Ganju had the suicidal idea about peeping in on Sam and Momo as well as some of the other woman from Squad 5 and the West Rukongai Districts. Let's just say that Kukaku caught him and that if god was merciful he would have let Ganju die, but I am not god, so he didn't.
"You really should try to be a better role model. Kids are already starting to move into the main building. Do you want them to follow your lead?" I said trying to convince him to think before he acts.
"They will see what happens to me and never try it. I am being a good example of the consequences so that they don't have to. Besides… one of them dared me to." He said miserably trying his best not to look at me. I couldn't stop myself from laughing at him.
We had finished making the beds and setting up the rooms for the above ground building the night before. At the end of the contest one of the kids whose favorite idea had only made third place pointed out that there were twelve hundred rooms and that there was no need to make them all the same. So we picked the six best and made two hundred of each.
The six that were chosen were; an idea on of the mothers from town came up with that involved wall paper that you could draw on and was easy to erase, my idea for a room that looked like the night time sky in the Soul Society, Kukaku's room that had images of fireworks all over and the bed framing was made of model launchers, a room that Yachiru and Gen'ei worked together on that had a candy land theme going on, one that one of the children had came up with that involved lots of pictures of birds (the kid was a good artist), and surprisingly the most popular was Momo's that had pictures of cookies on the wall and the entire room smelt of peaches.
Looking over at the building it was still had to believe the whole thing was built in only six days. I chuckled at the biblicalness of the whole thing. Then remember what was supposed to be on the seventh day. "My group in the squad has its day off tomorrow. What do you say we all threw a grand opening party?"
The previously too injured too move Ganju shot up like a bullet. "Now you're talking, I will get Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko, and start setting things up."
I smiled and joined my Squad members and explained that there was going to be a party tomorrow to celebrate the completion of the above ground structure. They were still not exactly comfortable mingling with people from the Rukongai District, but things were getting better. We all returned back to barracks where Momo and I went and rushed through all the squad paperwork.
The paperwork wasn't all that bad when you get use to it. All of them were pretty much the same day after day. "Danny, look at this!" Momo shouted bring one to my attention.
I looked at it and knew what it was immediately. "I thought everyone was done transferring out." I said more than a little disappointed. "The Squad seemed happy enough to me. Maybe they really would just rather have a respected Captain call the shots rather than work with a kid." I couldn't help it if they saw me as just some kid. Even Toshiro was really more than twice as old as I am. I guess the people couldn't handle someone who is more than fifty years younger than them being a leader, even if only in title.
"No Danny, no one is transferring out. It is a request to be transferred into the squad from Squad six." Momo said excitedly.
It took a second for these words to sink in. "I guess the squad is coming back then." I said with a smile. "Another good reason to celebrate tomorrow." I then turned back to the mountains of paper work. "Come on, we need to get through all this stuff if we really want a real day off tomorrow." I then thought for a second. "That is going to have to be something we are going to need decide though." I said to Momo.
"What?" She just looked at me not understanding.
"How the current group system will work with bringing in and training new members." I said with a smile. "Or do you thing that this is going to be the last person that ever comes to our squad?" Momo smiled and nodded I could see tears coming to her eyes. For the first time in over a month there was a sign of hope for her squad.
(next morning)
"Come Danny hurry it up. Kukaku will kill us if we're late." Momo shouted. We had more paper work turn up in the morning and had to rush through it all.
"That this point I just want to find the man who invented paper all strangle him." I groaned running after my lieutenant. But as we were leaving the front door of the office we bumped into someone. "Can we help you?" I asked the man. He was rather scrawny but that doesn't mean much.
"I… I'm Raku Machiru… and… and I just transferred into the Squad." He was a nervous one. But I guess his last Captain was Byakuya, not exactly the easiest man to approach. "It… it is an honor to work under you Cap… Captain Phantom. Please take care of me!" he finished bowing.
"Alright then, you can stand up straight now. You don't need to call me Captain unless there is an emergency situation." I gestured for him to follow us out the door. "You're going to be joining my group for now. Someone will explain how everything works around here to you later, but the main idea is that unless the Seireitei is under attack there are no ranks. Everyone should be treated equally in the squad. Now if only I could convince my superiors of that then maybe then wouldn't give me all the paperwork." I joked scratching my chin.
"Anyways, today is our group's day off. And we have been spending our hours outside of the work schedule to help build an orphanage slash school in the West Rukongai District." Momo said to the newbie. "We completed the housing area so we are having a party to celebrate. You are free to join or you can just walk away right now and come back tomorrow."
"I… I will join you, I think. It will… be a good opportunity to get to know the team I will be working with… and the Captain of course." He said throwing looks at me.
"Danny… Momo… hurry it up!" a shout came from the front gate. The rest of the group was waiting for us. It had taken them a will to convince them not to call me Captain but it eventually get through to them.
We ran forwards laughing a little at the new guys shock at the lack of formality. "Sorry, sorry, we had last minute things to do. Now let's… oh you have got to be kidding me." I said sulkily as a hell butterfly flew down and landed on Momo's finger. "A Captains' Meeting?" I asked. She nodded looking sorry. My head dropped. "Great, on my day off to." I mumbled. "You guys go ahead. I will catch up as soon as it is over."
(Meeting)
The meeting has been going on for about an hour. So far it has just been complaints and deciding how to handle the guard at some event or other that the Nobles are holding. In the end it was decided that Squad 8 would handle it, something about not having the Kuchikis look like a military force at it since Captain Kuchiki was supposed to attend anyways. That and having the punishment force there would be the wrong vive for a wedding.
"Next order of business will be the matter of the Rukongai District that Captain Phantom has brought up." The Head Captain said.
"So you are going to put a stop to that waste of resources?" Kurotsuchi said glaring at me.
"How is helping people wasting resources? And last I checked it was a volunteer project by people that have finished their normal duties. The Thirteen Court Guard Squads aren't putting any resources into it." I said back glaring at him.
"What is the point of helping those insignificant worms?" Kurotsuchi said shaking his head. I really hate this guy… I really do. He has all the worst qualities of Vlad and Technus combined.
"You would understand that if you had just read his report, Kurotsuchi." Captain Suì-Fēng said shaking her head. "The Rukongai District is a cesspool of discontent and hatred for us. The only reason that they haven't raisin up more in the past is lack of leader ship."
"They are just weaklings anyways. What does it matter?" Kurotsuchi scoffed.
"You should have read the report about the statistics." Ukitake said. He had worked with me in gathering the information and we went behind Kurotsuchi's back to talk to the other Captains ahead of time. "The Rukongai District provides us with 98% of the food we use. Considering the fact that they do not need to eat, what are we going to do if one of our enemies convinces them to just stop working. We would starve in a matter of weeks."
"Not to mention the fact that they provide us with all the raw materials and tools for everyday life that doesn't involve killing things." I added. "And the fact that they out number us a thousand to one."
"So what are you suggesting, that we just open the doors of the Seireitei wide open?" The Head Captain asked.
"Nothing so drastic. Just show them that we at least care about their lives. Most understand the importance of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads in order to protect them from Hollows, but we need to treat them fairly in order to avoid making enemies." Ukitake said. "Captain Suì-Fēng, can you share the information we gathered on former Captain Tōsen."
"When we did a more thorough background check we discover that he made quiet a fuss before he had joined the Court Guard Squads do to the murder of his dearest friend at the hands of a Soul Reaper, one that was never brought to justice, because of the nature of the courts." Suì-Fēng said angrily. She hated when the punishment force couldn't do its job do to red tape set up by the noble houses to protect themselves. It was even worse because of the friend in question was also a Soul Reaper, and the man that had killed her was her own husband.
The whole thing was enough to make even me sympathetic for old Captain Dreadlocks. "So the main idea is that the most effective way of fighting our enemies is to simply stop making them in the first place." Head Captain Yamamoto nodded. "I understand completely. So I will grant your request of a databank system to help with your project to reunite the families, as well as yours and Captain Zaraki's missions to go into the higher number Districts to move the children out of danger."
Kurotsuchi was beside himself do to the fact that he was the only one with electronic databanks, so we would be getting them from his department. But it was simple the easiest way of doing things. Not that it would have mattered if they had turned me down. I had a back up plain involving Urahara in exchange for information on Ghost politics.
Ghost politics were pretty straight forward though. There were the High Council, which were mostly the Observant that really didn't do anything, and they were in charge of Clockwork and the Five Noble Kingdoms. The Five Noble Kingdoms set down the law in there sections of the Ghost Zone. Other than that, most of the decisions in the Ghost Zone were made through one on one fights. There is even a law that clearly state that if a Ghost can beat the representative of the Kingdom, then that Ghost become its new king.
"Phantom, ever since you got here you have been speaking out against our pervious ways of dealing with interacting with groups outside of the Seireitei, and for the most part… your right. So, for now I am placing you in charge of foreign relations." The Head Captain said throwing me for a bit of a loop. "That is to say; negotiating with groups such as those in the Rukongai District, the Bounts, and… Ghosts."
I had to blink a few times before the message sunk in. "You want to try to make peace with the Ghost Zone?" The idea was a little shocking. The Soul Society was notoriously afraid of Ghosts. There was little they feared more than the day that the Ghosts would return to the Soul Society to take revenge for the genocide of the earliest ghosts.
"That bridge may have been burn a long time ago, but it wouldn't hurt to try. You know more about Ghosts and there ways than any Soul Reaper. If something does accrue between us and the ghosts, we would have to turn to you in order to try and stop them." The Head Captain said simply.
So that was the real reason they made me Captain. I really didn't feel that insulted. There have been many Ghosts in the past that would do me favors hoping that I would help them deal with their problems with Humans. And the Bounts did the same when it came to avoiding being killed by the other Soul Reapers. I never really minded playing peacemaking.
"If I can convince three of the Five Noble Kingdoms in the Ghost Zone to open up communications, then more than likely the others would fall in line." I admitted earning some looks from the other Captains.
"The Ghosts have Kingdoms and Nobility set up?" Kuchiki said in wonder. "Is it like our own?"
"Kind of." I said but the truth is that I don't understand anything about the Seireitei's Nobility.
"What are the chances that you could get the support that would be needed?" Suì-Fēng asked.
"Pretty high really." I said rubbing the back of my neck. "I am pretty well respected in the Far Frozen. Pandora still owes me a favor from the time her sacred artifact was stolen. So that's two right there, and the Kingdom of Aragon would have lost its status as a Noble Kingdom if I had not agreed to be its Champion. After all it was the only one that doesn't have a First Generation Ghost on the throne. But I have never really had any contact with Cloud Tower or The Deep Roads. I have no idea what their leader are even like." I admitted.
"So… you really can do it?" Kyōraku asked. I simply nodded.
"You said something about a First Generation Ghost, what do you mean?" Suì-Fēng asked.
I hesitated looking at Kurotsuchi. I really didn't want him to know about ghosts, but it wouldn't tell him anything about how to fight or capture one, so there was no harm. "A First Generation Ghost is one that was born from the death of a living being." I said after a little while. "The children of a First Generation are the Second. Kids of the Second are the Third and so on." I said. "As far as power goes, if your Third Generation and up Ghosts are your normal Souls, then Second Generation are your Soul Reapers." I said comparing their strengths. "And First Generation would be your Captains."
"How many First Generations are there?" Kenpachi asked with a grin.
"About a hundred are free. Most have been locked away for abusing their powers or were killed by other ghosts in power struggles." I said shrugging. "I have met only a few. The only weak First Generation Ghosts I have seen was the Dairy King's Ghost and Poindexter. Cujo is also a First Generation, but he usually doesn't show it."
"So a Kingdom without a First Generation Ghost would be like a Squad without a Captain." Captain Kyōraku made the comparison.
"It's worse than that, because a Kingdom could be overthrown if someone beats there representative in single combat. So without a First Generation Ghost in charge another Ghost could come in and take over." I said thinking about how I could have ended up the leader for beating Aragon if it wasn't for the loophole that I wasn't really a Ghost.
"Good then. Phantom, I want you to try to arrange the peace talks. And you and your Squad will also be in charge of everything to do with ghosts." Head Captain Yamamoto said. "The only other news is that we have found a replacement for the Squad 3 Captain, he will be announced at next week's meeting. Now you are all dismissed."
It was strange that the Head Captain was trying to sneak the bit about a new Captain by us, but I am not one to judge about that kind of thing. I didn't exactly come in to the job with an open decoration of who I am and what I was capable of.
I smiled on my way out of the room. Things would be going well for the time being. But everything could wait. I had a party to get to. I began to Flash Step away not paying too much attention to the gossip of the other Captains who were speculating on who the new Captain would be, except for Kuchiki and Zaraki who either knew or didn't really care.
(At the Orphanage)
I arrived to find that there was no party. Everyone who was gathered had a look of depression and some of the children were crying. "What's going on?" I asked Raku that new member of the group.
"Oh Captain. There has been…" He just fell off and looked down depressed.
I moved on to Momo who was trying to comfort a little boy who and been around a lot of the last two days. "Momo, what's going on?" I asked again.
She looked at me and shook her head. "A group of men came into the town last night and kidnapped several people from the village." She said glumly. "We think that they are being taken to a slave camp, but no one knows where they went."
"They… they took my Daddy." The little boy cried.
"Those slavers are the scum of the Soul Society." Kukaku Shiba said. Her prosthetic arm was glowing red hot from her fire attributed Spirit Energy.
I could feel my own eyes began to glow their venomous shade of green. "So then… it sounds like we should teach them a lesson." I said my voice as cold as ice. The boy stopped crying at the sight of my eyes. "Your father was the one with that funny homemade hat that looked a little like a birds nest right?" I asked the boy.
He sniffed and nodded. "I made for him… myself." He said.
Everyone looked in my direction as I called out all of my Soul Reaper spiritual pressure. I looped it around and focused it until I had created the spirit ribbons, the trails of spiritual energy left by all Souls and Humans. Everyone stared as the hundreds upon hundreds of spirit ribbons came into being.
'Gen'ei, help me sort them out.' I asked my Zanpakuto. We began to move through the ribbons; First removing my own dark green ribbon, followed by the red ribbons of all the Soul Reapers and the deep bluish purple of Sam and Kukaku. Then all the others that were in the emendate area leaving only the weakest of the soul ribbons.
Focusing them more I improved their quality until I could tell the minuet differences in between the ribbons like I had been taught by Daichi Yamada, the old lieutenant of Squad 4 that left after helping Kisuke and Yoruichi get out of the Soul Society after Aizen made his move a hundred years ago. He had told me to always be observing the spiritual energies of those around me. Something I only took to heart after Uryū had been kidnapped when his spiritual pressure was too low to track from a distance. And now that I left Cujo in the World of the Living with Dani, I needed to be more self reliant on my own tracking skills.
Soon I spotted the spirit ribbon that I knew belonged to the father of the boy. I smiled. "Found him." Whispers went through the crowd of people. I had already demonstrated my strength in front of them will working, were I would pick up several times my own body weight, but this was the first time they had seen my spiritual energy.
"Then what are we waiting for. Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko, prepare the firework cannons, the Shiba Clan is going to battle!" Kukaku shouted.
"What are your orders, sir?" One of my group members asked from behind me. I turned to see them all standing at the ready.
"You don't have to get involved. This is not part of your Soul Reaper job. You can walk away if you want." I said looking at them all. None of them budged. "And as such I am not your leader. How many times must I tell you all too just call me Danny?" I said with a smile.
"So what is the plan?" Momo asked.
"First thing we need to do is get to the camp and set up a perimeter and map the area." I said looking around. "I don't want them to know we're there until everything that even looks like a hostage is out of there."
"That means we will need an infiltration team. Who's going to be on it?" Sam asked.
"We are going to have to be taken in as new slaves." I told them. "It will have to be a small group that can operate without weapons. I will go in with Momo and Tenshin, they are both well versed in Bakudō and it will make the job easier."
"What what about us?" Ganju said angrily. Sam and Kukaku also seemed angry about this.
"There isn't anyone around here that couldn't recognize you and your sister from a mile away. You have made too big of a name for yourselves and you look to different to try and blend in." I said while using my Phantom Phrost to stop Kukaku from burning my head off as she grabbed me with her flaming prosthetic.
"What about me?" Sam asked glaring at me.
"Our telepathic link will make it better for you to be on the outside so we can tell you when the plan has gone to hell." I said simply.
"Don't you mean if the plan goes to hell?" Tenshin the man from my group who I had volunteered asked.
"I know what I said." I looked over at him. "There is a higher chance that Sam will go on a date with Ganju then there is that one of our plans won't fall to pieces." Sam hit me on the back of the head. "What we got a track record of everything of that can possible go wrong going wrong." I said with a shrug.
"Alright everyone let's get moving!" Kukaku shouted to the Soul Reapers who all fell in line behind her.
"Don't worry. We'll get your Dad back." Momo said patting the boy on the back. Gen'ei jumped up on my shoulder and we were off.
I wrote this back before I abandoned 'The Phantom in the Soul Society' in order to see if it would motivate me to continue. But it didn't so I didn't. But I figure that since I wrote it I might as well put it up. Not really motivated to go back to this story anyways. Its too long.
PS. Someone did adopt "The Phantom in the Soul Society" they just haven't done anything yet.