Hello, my wonderful readers. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. I'm really excited about this story. It's only my second, so reviews and (constructive) criticism are appreciated. I thought it was time Sajin got some love; he's one of my favorite Captains, so here we are. Oh, and before I begin, we meet my OC in this chapter, and her way of speaking may be a bit confusing. This is because I gave her more of a Carribbean accent, just a forewarning. :] So on with the story!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my OC and her Zanpakuto. The words for her release command come from a song written by Saosin. The Bleach universe is property of genius Tite Kubo.
Chapter One: Test
Captain Sajin Komamura sighed for perhaps the fifth time that hour. How on earth was he to get this work done when all he could smell was the faint scent of burning lemongrass? Thanks to his keen sense of smell, this scent was even stronger, invading his nostrils. It reminded him of that night, and his mind drifted back to the small child, who still to this day had yet to be found. The person responsible for the slaughter of her family had yet to be found, either. He found himself for years praying for her safety.
"Penny for your thoughts, Captain?" Tetsuzaemon Iba, his forever loyal Lieutenant asked. Sajin looked up, cursing the scent that was clearly taking over his head. He hadn't even heard the shorter man enter.
"Pardon?" he asked politely.
"It's a human phrase. I was merely asking what you're thinking about."
"I would be able to think much more clearly if I didn't have that smell lingering in my head." the wolf-like Captain replied. Unable to take much more of it, he stood at his full height.
"It's one of the new recruits, sir." Iba said, effectively stopping the giant of a Captain. "She's been burning lemongrass all night; says it keeps her calm."
"You let a female recruit into our Division, Tetsuzaemon?" the Captain asked curiously. It was apparent to even the Captain that Iba, who helped out with the recruiting process, looked for strong male recruits. This was almost uncharacteristically thoughtful of him.
"Didn't have much of a choice, Captain." Iba stated. "This girl was apparently brilliant in her academy years. She was only in there for about four years; didn't want to be placed in any Division except ours. Besides, if I didn't, I would have to endure nagging from the Shinigami Women's Association. I get enough of that already."
"Well, when you put it that way…" Captain Komamura began with a chuckle. "What is her name?"
"Can't remember off the top a' my head." Iba said. "All I can really remember is that she talked kinda funny, with a foreign accent. It sounded really weird unless you knew what the hell she was talking about."
Sajin was about to respond when both he and Iba froze at the sight of the glittery black and purple wings of a Hell Butterfly. He looked to his Lieutenant, who nodded, and then smiled to himself. "Great. Time to see what our new recruits can do." he said with an edge of excitement.
Iba met with the fifteen new recruits: fourteen very rough and sturdy Academy graduates… and one problem child. The only female recruit strode up and stood at attention. She was perhaps, next to Captain Soi Fon, the tiniest woman he had ever seen. The other recruits obviously dwarfed her mere five feet, and could've easily snapped her willowy frame like a twig. It was hard to describe her since she had a wide scarf that she wore around her face like a hood. From what he could tell looking at her arms, she had very fair dark skin. At the sash for her hakama, she had attached a small pouch, making Iba wonder what in the world was in there.
'This little chickadee won't last long before she'll want a transfer.' he thought. His thoughts were pushed aside as he cleared his throat to address the troops. "Alright, listen up." he said, putting on his most intimidating face and voice. "This is your first mission, but I'm not gonna sprinkle it with sugar for ya. You get hurt, you don't tell me, yer in for even more pain. You horse around; I'll put ya to work here while we're out on missions. You do as you're ordered. Don't try to be brave; in other words, don't be stupid. I'll not have any of you green-horns shaming the Seventh Squad. Is that clear?"
The courtyard was filled with a chorus of 'Yes, Sir'. Not feeling the need to say anything else, Iba turned and had the others follow.
The Kusajishi District's normal dismal atmosphere was made even more so by the arrival of Hollows. Able-bodied men who had tried to fight them only ended up being slain. Women ran in terror. Children hid and cried in the shadows of the dilapidated buildings. That was the scene around them when Iba and the new recruits arrived.
"This is it." he said. "This is what you've been training for, now go! Hold nothing back!"
The men raced in, and then Iba realized that the girl had not moved. He turned to her and found her not having moved from her position except to merely turn her head.
"Hey, didn't you hear me? I said-" He was interrupted when she held up her hand. Suddenly, Iba understood why she had stood still. Its spiritual pressure reeked of death and decay. The girl then crouched low and then took off at a high speed into the building before. "Hey, wait!" he cried. 'Dammit! She's alerted the thing of our presence!" He drew his sword and was about to go in when suddenly, one of the window shutters was kicked in and the girl leapt from it. In her arms, she carried a small child. In the other, she held a small bundle. Iba understood; she had noticed the spiritual pressure of the children and had gone in, knowing that she would also draw the Hollow out. She placed the small bundle into the little boy's arms and then ushered him away, drawing her sword as she turned to the Hollow.
"Lieutenant!" the other recruits cried. Iba's attention was drawn to the men when all of a sudden, a clawed hand reached out and slashed the Lieutenant across the abdomen. He fell injured.
"What do we do?" the men murmured.
"How can we do this without the Lieutenant's help?"
"Somebody's gotta step in for him." one of the men nearest Iba said lowly. All of a sudden, Iba's fist connected with the man's chin.
"I'm not dead, you idiots!" Even when injured, Iba maintained his gruff exterior. The girl stood at her full height and looked at the Hollow. With a deep breath, she started stepping towards it. "What're you doing?" he asked.
"Stay down, Lieutenant." she replied, failing to break stride. "You be injured; heaven forbid you become more so." She held her sword out at arm's length and then moved her arm in a wide arc. "Make light before my eyes, Chisana Hotaru!" She threw the sword high into the air, and in a flash of red light, it came down as three separate wakizashi blades. She caught two within her hand and the third in between her teeth and then rushed in.
"Wait, you idiot!" Iba cried out, but then winced in pain. 'Damn, how'm I supposed to get her out of this one? It hurts for me to move.' He watched then as the girl jumped up and attacked the giant Hollow. Before the creature could attack, she disappeared; it wasn't Shunpo. He didn't feel her spiritual pressure spike at all. The Hollow reared its head back, opening its mouth in preparation for a Cero. Iba tensed, both against the pain and the suspense.
Suddenly, the Hollow's Cero was interrupted as a loud blast filled the air. Iba and the others had to cover their ears. A bright flash ejected itself from one of the girl's blades. The Hollow attempted to swipe at her once more, but only got air again. Another bright flash ensued. The men were blinded, but behind his sunglasses, Iba could see the girl flashing in and out, alternating blades and shooting the beams at the creature. When the Hollow was on its last limb, she held the blades in her hands out and held the third in between her teeth. The other men stood in awe as a beam of light, equal to that of a Cero, hit the Hollow. All that was left was a chunk of its face that then proceeded to fade.
The girl landed lithely before the men and pushed her way through them.
"This wound need to be treated immediately, Lieutenant." she said, referring to a long gash that went from Iba's shoulder to his lower abdomen.
"Ya think I don't know that?" Iba shouted. She ignored him and reached into her little pouch. From it, she retrieved a small bottle of clear liquid and a handful of a green, powder-like material. "What're you doing?"
"We cannot make it to the Fourth Division before an infection kicks in. These herbs will keep the wound clean until then."
"How're you so sure?" he asked.
"Do not challenge my studies." she said with a deadpan look. She pressed the green powder to his gash and then spread the fluid over it. Iba cried out in his pain. "There. It be disinfecting your wound, but we may need to apply some pressure to it." She undid the wide scarf around her head, revealing tight coils of bronze held back by a red bandana. A simple, silver stud was imbedded in the left of her nose. Silvery eyes gazed back at him before drifting down to the long gash in his abdomen. Carefully, she tied her scarf around his shoulder and abdomen.
"You two!" she barked, motioning her head to the two new recruits that were holding Iba up, "get him to the Fourth Division. The rest of us will take care of this mess."
"But-" Iba interjected. The girl shot him a look.
"You be in no condition to argue these things, Lieutenant!" she barked back. He grit his teeth in annoyance, but did not fight any further. "As be for the rest of you, we will continue with the mission. You heard the Lieutenant; let us not shame the name of the Seventh Squad."
The men looked at each other and then at the little girl. Drawing their swords, they all rushed in to exorcise more Hollows.
Captain Komamura groaned as he was forced to endure another interruption from his paperwork that day. "Enter," he sighed.
A seated officer came in and gave a polite nod. "Captain Komamura, I thought it best to inform you that we have received information from the small team that was lead that Lieutenant Iba this morning."
"What is it?" the wolf-like Captain asked concernedly.
"Lieutenant Iba is now in the Fourth Division with a nasty cut in his torso."
"And the others?"
"Completed the mission and returned without any further casualties." the officer answered. "One of them is filling out the report as we speak."
The Captain let out a sigh of relief; uneasy as it was, he had developed somewhat of a friendship with his Lieutenant. It would pain him deeply if something had happened to Iba. Setting his paperwork aside, he got to his feet. He would be able to concentrate better after Iba explained what had happened. A myriad of questions burned within his mind: What had happened after he had fallen injured? Who had taken over?
He reached Iba's room after being guided by Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu; he seemed to be just fine now, not much of an injury anymore.
"Captain," he said, attempting to get up and bow as he usually did. He then winced from having moved too soon.
"Don't move, Tetsuzaemon." the Captain said gently. "That wound looks bad."
"It was a lot worse earlier, believe me."
"What happened?"
Tetsuzaemon then explained about the recruit who saved the two children, how they had prepared to get a giant Hollow when the other idiots appeared and distracted him enough to get him injured. He also explained how the female recruit took out the Hollow and took care of his wound.
"She just… took control. She acted like a natural leader."
"I see." Captain Komamura said.
The door slid open, and in walked the very subject of their conversation. She smiled as she walked in. "I be coming to check in on Iba-san." she said. "And, if he bring himself to part with it, get my scarf back."
"Go ahead." Iba said. "By the way, what was that stuff you put on me?"
"The powder be ground horsetail. The oil," she took a moment and retrieved the bottle from her pouch, "be tea-tree oil. The horsetail I use to stop bleeding; the oil be an antibacterial agent."
"That is a very proficient knowledge of herbs that you have." Captain Komamura said.
"That be my passion, Captain." she replied, looking up at him with silvery eyes. The Captain froze. Why did those eyes look so familiar?
"If ya don't mind, Captain, I be leavin' now." she said. She reached the door before Captain Komamura spoke up.
"Wait." he said. She stopped at the door. "What is your name?" Part of him just had to know if it was indeed…
"I thought that maybe you be recognizing me, Captain; after all, it be you who saved my life." Sajin's eyes widened.
"Itoshī hito…" he murmured. Deep within the recesses of his deep mind, he saw the tearful, frightened child he had saved from the fires of the Kawagari massacre. Somehow, she had survived for sixty years and stood before him now as a member of his Squad.
The last member of the Kawagari clan smiled and nodded. "I am Tsoa Kawagari."
So that's it for Chapter One, my dear readers. For those who don't know the song I used for Tsoa's Zanpakuto- name and release command-, it's Fireflies (Light Messengers) by the awesome band Saosin. I love that song. I hope to be updating again soon. Until then, I bid you all adieu.