Episode 3 – Chains of Servitude

"Three!"

In their last ditch efforts to see who was the superior combatant, Matsuo and Yama launched their attacks simultaneously. Matuso flung Nisshoku with full force, and Yama fired a concentrated, fast-flying bolt. Both raced toward the single remaining Hollow, the only obstacle between either of the fighters and victory.

Then something unexpected happened. Matsuo had thrown Nisshoku in such a direction so that it intercepted Yama's reishi bolt mid-flight. The collision caused the bolt to burst, the force of which sent Nisshoku careening off course. It landed a few feet from the final Hollow.

Yama and Matsuo stood stunned momentarily, during which the Hollow took advantage of their hesitation and vanished through one of the portals it had arrived in. It was gone.

Matsuo gave a frustrated sigh and pulled Nisshoku back into his hand, returning it to the form of a katana. Yama dissipated his bow as well, and paused the music he had been playing.

"No sign of it left. Looks like we won't determine who's greater after all," said Matsuo.

"So it would seem," Yama agreed. "And I don't have time to go to the trouble of trying to attract more."

"Attract more…?" Matsuo muttered. "Wait – you mean to tell me you are the one who brought all those Hollows here?!"

"Wha—no!" Yama said, offended. "I sensed them all when they arrived. I came to put a stop to them before they caused too much damage. Finding you here was just a bonus!"

"I don't know if I believe you, but I don't have time to worry about it. I still need to take care of the girl's soul that was—"

Matsuo turned to where he had left the little girl's soul he had discovered. She was gone as well. He scanned the edges of the field, but she was nowhere to be seen. Matsuo couldn't even sense her presence anymore.

"There was another soul here?" inquired Yama. "Huh. I couldn't sense it over the reiatsu of all those Hollows. Tell you what, if I find her I'll let you know. Even I don't want souls to wander this world."

"Thanks," said Matsuo. "As a favor, I'll hold off on any further conflict with you until our next encounter. That is, assuming you don't arrive with news of that girl's soul."

"Fair enough," Yama consented. "Just know that the next time this happens… it won't be a simple killing spree."

"Good. This was too easy anyway." Matsuo grinned.

"Later." Yama waved as he pushed play on his music player and leaped over the trees.

Matsuo sheathed his Zanpakuto, and with a flash step, he vanished. He reappeared over the treetops, searching for the soul he'd found before.

Unbeknownst to either Matsuo or Yama, there had been a third participant in their little skirmish. From a distance away, prying eyes had watched with interest at the spectacle that had just come to a close. Well hidden in a thick part of the woods, the man smiled as the Shinigami and the Quincy went their separate ways. He lay back on a tree trunk with satisfaction, spinning a small, glowing chain link on his pointer finger. As he did, he glanced up at movement in front of him. A little girl met his eye with a dull, blank stare. He smiled and stood up, walking over to her.

"You did a good job today, my dear," he said, giving her a pat on the head. "Now we know who they sent to investigate. We even met the town Quincy as well."

The girl only gave a slight nod. The man walked past her toward the nearby college campus, pocketing the chain link as he went. After a moment, the girl followed behind him, keeping pace but not showing any sign of enthusiasm or restraint. The chain links on her chest jingled quietly as she walked.

"I think it's time… to pick up the pace a little bit," the man said, smiling to himself.

"Oh-ho, I love these!"

Koto smiled as he chomped on another apple. He sat back on Matsuo's bed, tossing the fruit up and down in his hand. A bit of juice dripped down onto his forehead, and he wiped it off, licking his fingers afterward. Then he realized he was down to his last apple.

"Gah!" he spat, accidentally spitting chunks of apple across the room. He quickly swallowed what was left in his mouth, and then rushed to the mini fridge. In his haste, he kicked Matsuo's pillow away and flung the sheets into a big wrinkled heap at the end of the bed. He stopped, turning back to try and straighten up the mess, but slipped on a notebook that was resting beside the bed. He fell forward onto the bed, sending the notebook flying into the air. Koto looked on with dread as it struck the small bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. Nearly all of its books fell onto the floor. Only one remained tottering on the shelf.

"No…no…!" Koto dashed to the other side of the room to try and stop the book from falling. But he only ended up slipping on another notebook, tearing the cover along with a few pages below it. They were flung into the air as Koto fell flat on his face. The book he'd so desperately been trying to save ended up falling right on top of his head. It was a hardcover novel.

"Owowowowowow…" he muttered to himself as he sat upright, his eyes scrunched closed in irritation. Opening them, he looked up to see Matsuo standing in the doorway, wide-eyed at the mess that lay before him. Koto gave an embarrassed grin.

"Uh… I-I can clean this up," he stammered.

Matsuo took a deep breath. "Just get out of my body already," he said, massaging his temples.

"Uh… sure," Koto said with a guilty laugh.

Matsuo straightened up his room and got Koto out of his Gigai, laying the body on his bed. Then he unsheathed Nisshoku, and placed it across his lap as he sat on the floor. He exhaled slowly, shutting his eyes.

Upon opening them, he saw a wide field where his dorm room used to be, vast and green, spreading for miles. Matsuo was sitting beneath a large tree, its branches covered with fresh leaves. The sky was pitch black and speckled with stars, but Matsuo could see the field as clearly as if it was daytime. A cool breeze flowed through the warm are, swirling the millions of grass blades below.

"Come to talk about what happened earlier?" asked a warm, calm voice.

Matsuo smiled, sitting upright to look behind the tree he sat against. There, a monk wearing golden robes was sitting with a warm smile on his face – Nisshoku's incarnation. He had a Yin-Yang pendant hanging on a chain around his neck. A tattoo of the sun could be seen on his right hand, and there was one of the moon on his left. Usually he had a sheathed katana at his side, but for now it was resting against the tree trunk. The monk looked back at Matsuo, his golden yellow eyes shining.

"What, I can't come here for a casual conversation?" Matsuo joked.

"Come now, if we were to just chat here, it would take ages," replied Nisshoku.

"Yeah, good point." Matsuo nodded, his expression becoming serene.

"This is about that little girl's soul, isn't it?"

Matsuo's brow creased. "Nisshoku…"

"You don't have to say it." The monk stood up, stepping toward Matsuo and placing a friendly hand on his shoulder. "You know I'm doing everything in my power to help you. I am a part of you, after all."

"Would you have any idea why so many Hollows would be gathering around such a small soul?" Matsuo asked, running a rough hand through his hair in frustration.

"I'm not sure," said Nisshoku. "Perhaps there is more to her spiritual being than meets the eye…"

"Yeah, mayb—"

Matsuo looked up suddenly, causing Nisshoku to remove the hand from his shoulder in surprise. "What is it?" he asked.

"More than meets the eye… her eyes!" Matsuo cried. "They weren't anything like the souls' eyes I've seen…"

"True," Nisshoku recalled, "they were rather dim… as if she wasn't completely herself."

"What could cause a soul to lose themselves?"

"Aside from becoming a Hollow, nothing comes to mind," answered Nisshoku. "Perhaps you should contact the Soul Society's research institute to see if they have any information."

"I was thinking the exact same thing," remarked Matsuo. "Hold on… Are you stealing my thoughts again?"

Nisshoku laughed lightly. "Not intentionally, I assure you. If anything, it's your thoughts that are reaching out to me."

"That's probably true." Matsuo grinned, and then rose to leave. He took a few steps away, looking up into the starry sky and giving a sigh. "I never get tired of coming in here."

"Well, it is your inner world," Nisshoku reminded him. "It should suit your tastes best of all – you know that."

"I know. I still love it," Matsuo said with a laugh. He turned back to face the monk, who was now leaning against the tree.

"Nisshoku," he said slowly. "Are you…?"

"Yes, yes," Nisshoku assured him. "It's all under control. I'll be here whenever you need me. With luck, I always will."

Back in the dorm room, Matsuo opened his eyes to see a big pair of pale green ones staring back at him.

"Bah!" he cried out, flying backwards in surprise. He jumped so far that he ended up against the back wall of his room.

"Oh, for goodness' sake, Matsuo!" A woman, the owner of the green eyes, stood up. She wore a uniform much like Matsuo's, but personalized to suit her own style. She was about the same height as him, with long dark brown hair that reached the middle of her back. Her unsheathed katana was held to her side with the light green obi sash around her waist, which was tied in a bow. The blade was pitch black, the guard in the shape of a silver crescent moon, and the handle was silver, wrapped in black ribbon. From the base of the hilt hung a string of black and green beads, smooth and shadowy. The woman raised an eyebrow at Matsuo as she looked down at him.

"C-Captain Haruhi!" he sputtered, breathing rather heavily.

"How many times have I told you – call me Michiyo!"

"Y-yes, ma'am!"

"Oh, come now! I thought you'd be happy to see me," the woman teased.

Haruhi Michiyo was the captain of Squad Seven of the Gotei Thirteen Court Guard Squads. They were known to live their lives to the fullest, and she certainly lived up to that trademark. Although she wasn't Matsuo's captain, she had become a reliable friend to him.

"I have an update for you from Soul Society," she announced, pulling a small scroll from her uniform. She handed it to Matsuo, who was still sitting on the floor trying to slow his heart rate.

"So," he managed to say after a moment, "what exactly does this update entail?"

"Put plainly, I and a couple other higher end Shinigami are going to be helping you with this investigation."

"The research center thinks the situation here is that dire?" Matsuo asked, glancing up from the scroll. "There haven't been that many abnormalities lately…"

"Not many?" Michiyo inquired. "What do you mean, 'not many'?"

"Well… um…"

Michiyo eyed Matsuo, looking annoyed. "Why so quiet?" she demanded. Then she noticed that his eyes were wide, and a small trickle of blood was dripping from his nose.

"What—" Michiyo began, looking down at herself. She soon realized what the problem was: her uniform had opened up slightly over her chest, revealing plenty of cleavage.

"Ah–!" she cried, her face turning red in embarrassment as she yanked her uniform closed. "You perv! Why didn't you say anything?!"

"I thought you would notice!" Matsuo replied, standing up and quickly wiping his nose.

"Why, you–!" Veins began to throb on Michiyo's forehead as her expression turned to one of rage. She pulled back her fist and punched Matsuo in the gut, causing him to fall over onto the floor, clutching his stomach.

"I'm sorry…" Matsuo wheezed.

Michiyo heaved a large sigh and helped him off of the floor. He sat down on his bed, groaning as he rubbed the area of his stomach that would doubtlessly be bruised later.

"It happened when you pulled that scroll out of your uniform," he told Michiyo. "Might want to keep that in mind next time you deliver intel…"

"Thanks," she said with a hint of sarcasm.

"So… who all has been assigned here?" Matsuo asked. "The spiritually densest area has got to be Karakura Town in Japan. Has been ever since those captains betrayed Soul Society."

"From what I hear from other captains who were around then, it's nothing today like it was back then," said Michiyo. "Now the main concern is the growing spiritual presence here."

"It's still growing? Even after all of those Hollows I killed?"

"How many are we talking?"

"Around thirty or so. The last one escaped…"

"How on earth did you manage to defeat so many without releasing your spiritual restriction?" Michiyo asked in surprise.

"The local Quincy lent a hand there," Matsuo muttered.

"A Quincy? Here? So they're acting on it too…"

"No, I think he just lives here. We'd have heard of him otherwise."

"That's probably true," agreed Michiyo. "Was he the one who lured the Hollows here?"

"I asked him the very same question. He says he didn't."

"Well, what else could possibly bring so many Hollows together?"

"The only thing I can think of is the…" Matsuo furrowed his brow in thought.

"The…what?" asked Michiyo.

"The girl," Matsuo finished. "There was a little girl's spirit there."

"You performed a Konso, right?"

"No, she vanished before I could," Matsuo admitted, leaning forward and folding his hands in front of him.

"That's strange…"

"She was an odd one, though," said Matsuo, looking up at Michiyo. "She had a really blank look on her face. Like she wasn't really seeing me."

"Shock, maybe?"

"That's what I thought at first, but no," Matsuo said. "She wasn't frightened…"

"And you couldn't find any trace of her reiatsu afterward?" Michiyo asked. She was quite puzzled by this story, and she began pacing back and forth from wall to wall of the room.

"None." Matsuo shook his head.

"Have you tried contacting the –"

"–research bureau?" Matsuo finished for her. "I'm going to. I was talking it over with Nisshoku before you scared the hell out of me."

"I was wondering what you were doing," said Michiyo.

"Anyway, we won't know any more about that until we hear back from the research institute," Matsuo concluded. "So who will we be working with?"

"Go ahead and check the list yourself," said Michiyo, motioning towards the scroll in Matsuo's hands. "I think you'll like who we have in store."

He unfurled the scroll and took a quick glance at the list of names. Before he could discern anything, however, a strong wind from his window blew the paper from his hands.

"You've got to be kidding me," Matsuo muttered. He stood and walked over to pick up the scroll.

That's when it occurred to him: How could there be wind in his dorm room? His window had been shut even before he'd met with Nisshoku.

Now, Matsuo spun around to see the window wide open. But it was the person sitting on the windowsill that truly surprised him. Michiyo was smiling.

"Now, what do you need that list for?" the man in the window asked playfully.

It was Matsuo's turn to smile. "Well, some of us have had more than their fair share of surprises today."

Michiyo chuckled lightly. "I didn't expect you to be here so early," she said to the man, crossing her arms.

"Hey, I make good time," he responded. "But I hope you don't mind me dropping in like this."

"Not at all," Matsuo said warmly, going over to the window to help the visitor into the room. "It's always good to see you, Ryuuhei."

END EPISODE 3

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