Disclaimer: Do not own Bleach or any related content or characters. Mitsuki Hadara is mine.
Note: This chapter won't be too long, I apologize. More on the way!
Mitsuki sat against the wall, on a roof of some abandoned building in a shitty district, feeling the sun beat down on her. She closed her eyes, listening to the wind for a moment, before she sensed yet another Hollow. This town seemed to be crawling with them. Sighing, she climbed to her feet, pulling the top half of her uniform back over her shoulders. It was hot.
She easily took down the weak Hollow, and once it was finished she stood for a long moment, holding her zanpakuto over her shoulders. This was boring. She didn't know why she'd ever agreed to doing this in the first place.
When Captain Zaraki had first assigned her, she had demanded a reason. It was like being banished, being sent to the human world to exterminate Hollows, regardless of who it was for, and what the reason was. She was a fighter, a killer, not someone to go running around killing pests for fun. They hadn't even sent anyone to replace her, or to switch shifts with. She was here for an "undisclosed" amount of time.
There was not a single Hollow she had come across that posed any challenge to her. Her zanpakuto, Dokueki, craved a good fight, a challenge. She knew the feeling all too well. The other members of her division called her sword happy. Nothing did please her more than a good fight.
It was beginning to get dark. Mitsuki had established the abandoned building as her place while she was stuck here. She headed there, walking instead of using shunpo, to get a better feel of the town. The day was full of people rushing, scurrying, everywhere: to work, to school, to some errand or other. The night was much more calm, more energetic, more fun.
Eventually she returned to the abandoned building, and went to the room with the least amount of ceiling leaks and holes. It even had a sturdy door. She had found an old futon and "borrowed" some clean sheets throughout the day, spreading them over it. Annoyed with her current predicament, Mitsuki removed her shinigami uniform and pulled on a white tank top and black pajama pants. She lit a few candles, and dug through her bag of measly possessions.
Zaraki had provided a small amount of the human world's currency, along with a list of information she might make use of. Written at the top of the list was a name and an address, with the word supplies written next to it, in Lieutenant Kusajishi's handwriting.
"Urahara, huh? That's interesting." Mitsuki mumbled to herself.
She didn't bother touching the meal Yumichika-kun had packed for her, and instead pulled out the bottle of sake she had bought just before leaving. It was the only thing that helped her relax, especially considering how irritated she was with the whole situation. After a few swigs, she reached deep into her bag, finding the old worn book at the bottom, wrapped quickly in a pillowcase from her room.
She pulled the book out and flipped it open, automatically to a page towards the back. An extremely worn sepia-toned photo was carefully taped to the page. She set the open book on her lap and continued drinking as she looked at the picture, running a thumb over it fondly.
"Hadara." The voice was so blunt and quick it nearly startled her, if she hadn't felt the spiritual pressure just moments before.
"Madarame-san." She said, quickly snapping the book shut and placing it back within the case.
Ikkaku entered the room quietly at her invitation, and plopped himself down right beside her. She handed the sake over, and he swiftly took a few sips before putting it back down.
"What did you do to get sent here?" Ikkaku asked, looking around the room.
"I was hoping you knew." Mitsuki replied, taking another drink.
Mitsuki had become fast friends with Ikkaku and Yumichika upon entering the 11th division. She was one of the first women to be in the 11th division in quite some time, and many of the men had challenged her upon arrival. Ikkaku and Yumichika also challenged her, but not as men against a woman, but simply to determine if she really belonged there.
While Mitsuki was quite skilled, she learned quickly that she was not the strongest or the fastest. Somehow, she became close with Ikkaku and Yumichika, and they helped train her, partly due to the fact no one else bothered with her. Together, they helped each other gain strength and speed, and over the hundreds of years, they remained friends.
"All Zaraki-taichou mentioned was that you could handle the place on your own." Ikkaku said gruffly.
Mitsuki sighed heavily. So not even Ikkaku knew why she specifically was sent here. There were plenty of shinigami above and below her that could handle this just as easily. So why her?
"I assume you've met Kurosaki and the others at this point?" He asked, taking another drink from the bottle.
"Yeah. They're a friendly bunch." Mitsuki said sourly.
Ikkaku just chuckled a little, and they continued to drink until the bottle was empty.
"So what are you doing here?" Mitsuki asked, frowning at the empty bottle.
"Abarai and I got sent in to check on some things. I'm sure you can imagine things are still a mess in the Soul Society, and everywhere else. No one is really sure what they're doing anymore. We're just following orders." Ikkaku said, sounding bored.
"So Renji's running around here somewhere and he didn't bother to stop and say hi?" Mitsuki replied, grinning for a moment.
"I'm sure he will before we go back." Ikkaku said, and grunted as he stood up.
He stretched and looked towards the single window of the room, but Mitsuki caught the twitch in his palm. It was so slight most might never notice, but she had been fighting him for so long she knew it from the corner of her eye. It was the slightest flex of the webbing between his thumb and pointer, but she saw it.
In an instant he was bearing down on her, his sword tearing through the wall right above her shoulder as she easily blocked her with her own.
"Really, Madarame? You think one day in the human world is going to slow me down any?" Mitsuki said, the slightest tease in her voice.
"Hey, don't start the party without me!" A boisterous voice filled the room, and the two grinned and Renji walked in.
"Party's over, we're out of sake." Ikkaku said, pulling his sword away.
Renji smirked and pulled a bottle from out of his uniform. The other two laughed.
The three shinigami spent the rest of the night drinking and sparring.
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