What Friends are For Chapter 2: The Hollow Threat, a bleach fanfic

Two Years Earlier

Nine captains stood, waiting.

Ten minutes after the meeting was set to begin Shunsui Kyoraku arrived, apologizing for his lack of punctuality. As he was far from the latest arrival, and as his tardiness was always expected, he was excused.

Twenty minutes later Mayuri Kurotsuchi arrived, claiming that there had been an emergency in his lab that had required his immediate attention. Head Captain Yammamoto demanded that he stay afterwards to explain more fully in private.

Fifteen minutes after that Zaraki Kenpachi surprised everyone by showing up for a meeting. Apparently his lieutenant had told him that combat, the only thing that interested him, would be the subject under discussion.

After waiting for a full hour, Toshiro spoke up.

"Ichimaru's obviously not coming. I think we should get started. I don't want to get back to my barracks and find the paperwork shredded again."

"Very well." the Head Captain said. "I have called this meeting to discuss a very disturbing matter. Over the past several days there have been two hollow attacks on villages in Rugunkai."

"You called a captain's meeting to discuss hollow attacks?" Soi Fon asked incredulously.

"The villages were completely destroyed in an instant." the Head Captain said gravely. "No survivors have been found and no building was left standing."

The captains broke their veneer of impassivity to exchange troubled looks.

"This hollow destroyed entire villages with one attack?" Ukitake asked.

"Yes. One instant they were there, the next there was nothing but ashes."

"What do you want us to do?" Toshiro asked.

"Each squad is organize its own search party and find that hollow. That is our top priority."

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"Man." Kyoraku said as they dispersed. "Thirteen search parties. This is serious."

"Do you think it's a Menos?" Ukitake asked. "Short of a cero I've never heard of a hollow having an attack that powerful."

"It's obviously a powerful hollow," Aizen said, "but if it was at the level of a Menos we'd have sensed it. At the very least, the Twelfth Division would have discovered it with their technology. They found the gargantas in the world of the living immediately, if you remember."

Toshiro looked back at the door to the chamber with narrowed eyes. "Kurotshuchi did say there was an emergency at his labrotory."

"Well," Kyoraku said, "I'd better go see if Nanao's finished today's paperwork yet. I'll never hear the end of it if I send her out with work unfinished."

Toshiro lingered after most of the other captains had left.

"What is it, Captain Hitsugaya?" Aizen asked "You looked like you wanted to say something to me a few times."

"Actually, there something I wanted to talk to you about. Ichimaru was your lieutenant for the better part of a century, was he not?"

"Yeah. Gin was with me for practically an eternity."

"Well this is ridiculous. He hasn't made it to the last four captain's meetings, this one an emergency session. When Kenpachi is more responsible than him, something's seriously wrong."

"And what do you want me to do about it?" Aizen asked.

"If he respects anyone-which I doubt very much, but if he does have a person he'll listen to-it'll be you. Tell him the Head Captain's begun putting out feelers for captain level Soul Reapers. It would not surprise me if he's looking to have Ichimaru replaced."

"I'll tell him. Thank you for sharing your concerns, Captain Hitsugaya."

Aizen smiled as he watched Toshiro walk away. "Oh Gin," he said under his breath, "what have you started now?"

The task force from the First Division, led by Chojiro Sasakibe, surveyed the first destroyed village, a small town by the name of Odo.

"There is nothing here." the lieutenant said, surveying the desolation. "The beast is long gone by now."

There were a few grunts of acknowledgement from Sasakibe's men. One new recruit turned to an older Soul Reaper standind nearby.

"I was expecting some action on my first mission."

The older Soul Reaper laughed. "If there is one thing you need to learn about Liuetenant Sasakibe, it is that he never, ever sees any action, no matter the mission. We're still debating if that's because he has great luck or lousy luck."

The task force from the Second Division was led, or rather followed by, Marenoshin Omaeda. As a force specializing in stealth, the large, sweaty lieutenant with the ball and chain Zanpakto would have slown them down if he had led from the front.

As it was, his men were certain that his incessant crunching on potato chips would alert anyone or anything along their path, ruining the value of stealth anyways.

While the task forces from the other divisions were out scouring the land for the mysterious hollow, Third Division Lieutenant Izuru Kira was only just putting his task force together. Gin Ichimaru had not told his subordinates about the order to find the hollow in question, as he had not been around to hear the order himself. Hira only found out after going to a lieutenants' meeting and finding himself the only one there.

Kira was now considering working more closely with either the Fifth or the Tenth Divisions in order to find out what orders his division had been given in the future.

The Fourth Division was the only squad not to send out a task force. Rather, two members of the division were sent with each of the other task forces as healers in the event that the hollow proved even stronger than expected. That was assuming, however, that the divisions in question let them. Only the First, Fifth, Seventh, Eigth, Ninth, Tenth, and Thirteenth Divisions allowed anyone from the Fourth Division accompany them.

The Fifth Division task force, under the command of Hinamori Momo, followed an unusual reiatsu down a winding river.

"D'you think this is the hollow we're looking for?" her third seat asked.

"No. It's too weak. But it's definately a hollow. We should still get rid of it before resuming the search."

The Sixth Division task force was perhaps the most cautious of all, having no lieutenant to lead them. They were the only ones hoping not to run into the hollow.

The Seventh Division task force, led by Tetsuzaemon Iba, ran through the countryside without any hint of worry.

"Let's go men!" Iba yelled. "We'll prove to everyone how good we are!"

He was answered by a loud "Hazah!" from his squad

The Eighth Division task force, under Nanao Ise, surveyed the scond village to be destroyed, taking careful, meticulous notes on the damage.

The Ninth and Tenth Division task forces stayed together, at the behest of Shuhei Hisagi, who was always eager to spend more time with Rangiku Matsumoto. Rangiku, knowing how her captain felt about Hinamori, made sure that they remained as close to the Fifth Division's task force while pursuing their own path.

The Eleventh Division did not send out a task force. Instead Kenpachi Zaraki and Yachiru went themselves to look for the hollow.

Within an hour they were completely lost.

The Twelfth Division task force, under Nemu Kurotsuchi, had attempted to find traces of the hollow's DNA and reiatsu at the sites of the attacks, to no luck.

"Father will be so disappointed." Nemu said.

The task force from the Thirteenth Division was stopped less than a half hour after it had left the Seretei because Kiyone Kotetsu and Sentarō Kotsubaki got into an arguement over whether to turn right or left.

The rest of the task force voted on turning around and going back to bed.

The Fifth Division task force continued for a kilometer downstream, slowly closing in on the small hollow.

"We're close." Hinamori said, unsheathing her sword.

"But I don't see anything."

"It must be under the water."

As the words left her mouth, the river exploded.

All the members of the task force leapt back and gaped at the monstrosity.

"Th-that's n-not a sm-all one." one man stuttered.

Hinamori gulped before springing into action. "Snap, Tobiume!"

The incredible reiatsu surge was sensed almost immediately by Rangiku and Hisagi.

"That's where Hinamori is!" Rangiku shouted, flash stepping away, to Hisagi's protest.

"Wait!" he yelled, to no avail. Half of their combined force followed her. He turned to the rest. "Come on!"

'This reiatsu is huge.' Hisagi thought. 'It feels like it's as strong as a captain!'

When Hisagi arrived at the battle, it was already over. Every member of the Fifth Squad task force was dead, scattered across the ground. Rangiku was frantically looking through the bodies.

"Hinamori! Hinamori!"

Hisagi glanced at each body. None were the right shape for the small liuetenant of the Fifth Division.

"I can't sense her reiatsu anywhere. She must have been thrown into the river."

"It can't be." Rangiku said.

"Did anyone see where the hollow went?" Hisagi demanded.

"No, sir." a member of the Tenth Division answered. "Even it's reiatsu disappeared."

"Strange."

"Lieutenants!"

Hanataro Yamada of the Fourth Division was examining the bodies. He called them to one body on which he found something unusual.

"What is it?"

Hanataro poited to a large gash in the dead man's side. "You see that wound?"

"Yes. What about it?"

"No hollow made that wound. That could only have come from a Zanpakto."