AMASUKI

甘好き

Risako Matsuki©

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Disclaimer: This work is entirely fictional. Any characters with resemblance to actual figures in real life are merely coincidental. While original canon characters such as Hisagi Shuuhei, terminology, concepts and certain story plots and items are original works owned by Kubo Taite from Tokyo TV and Shounen JUMP, original characters such as Kisaragi Anzu are owned by me, the authoress. Copying or ripping any of my original characters, as they are my original work, is highly prohibited.

Therefore; BLEACH © Kubo Taite ;; Kisaragi Anzu © Risako Matsuki

03: Guidance of the Constellations

She sat in the still of the silent morning, her figure poised, and her form perfect, flawless. Entrapped in the perfect triangular figure of the proper seating position 'seiza', arms tucked in by her sides, hands resting upon the surface of her lap. The folds upon her shihakuushou were ironed to perfection; each crease curved over the last in perfect symmetry, her collar straightened and acutely neat. Cherry-coloured hair was combed back in a tidy clump behind her ears, her bangs falling neatly in place, out of her eyes.

She was asleep for heaven's sake.

"Kisaragi!!" The call woke her up instantly, and she snapped back to attention, snorting a little on her own surprise of the sudden voice. Grinning sheepishly, she hunched her shoulders up while stifling a yawn, trying to stretch her tired and stiff limbs. "Pay a little more attention, would you?" The voice came again, a little more sternly this time. He scanned over her briefly, a tinge of annoyance building in his expression.

"Alright, let's cap things over. The essential components of being a regular in the Ninth Division, and the basic caste system on how to rank up, are as follows." Hisagi Shuuhei replied briskly, seated opposite of the younger girl whom seemed to have a knack of dozing off in perfect seating form. "As a new recruit to our Division, you are usually assigned to mundane tasks and missions, to mandatory chores to keep the Division clean and running. However, if you have been dispatched to a Ranked or a Seated-level mission, you climb up the ranking ladder by one step. Each mission one Rank level higher than your status, earns you that position in the Division. Are we clear?" He paused, letting the scarlet-haired girl intake and process the information once more.

She cupped her chin, stroking it with a finger, pulling off a rather childish smart-aleck attitude, much to his discontent. "Alright, continue on…"

Coughing, he cupped his mouth with his hand, and Shuuhei cleared his throat to continue. "However, when you reach the brink of achieving Seat 20 and onwards, that position in that range is entitled to yours only. For example, there can only be one 5th Seat, or only one individual whom assumes the title of being the fifth strongest in the Division. It can take up to a decade to achieve to the top twenty ranks, and even more so to achieve beyond Tenth Seat. Right now, you are Unseated, meaning you hold no real value in any rank, not until you receive some experience and achieve some missions."

She immediately raised her hand up, now more alert than before, her orange eyes focused on him. Good, he thought tiredly as he nodded at her. She seems to be concentrating after all. "What is it, Kisaragi?"

"What happens… if coincidentally, theoretically speaking… you and another member of the Division holds an equal amount of power in the top 20 range?" She questioned, putting her arm down and waited for him to answer. He nearly smirked at this. She was almost as tame as a kitten now, even to the extent of obediently asking such important questions.

"That's a good point. The rank will be decided by the amount of influence whomever holds the most over the Division. It's decided by tallied votes – and some recommendation from the Captain and myself. Though it's rare to have a case where two equals are in dispute for an equal rank – most of the power gaps starting from the top twenty are quite large, even from each other." He answered quickly, and she seemed to understand, coming from the expression of acknowledgement of her face, Shuuhei determined it was a good sign.

"I'm impressed that you actually do listen once in a while." He sighed sarcastically, and she shot him a wavering glare. "What do you mean by that? Of course I listen! If I don't understand my surroundings, I won't be able to move forward, won't I?" She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest in a small flare of temper. He sighed again, cupping his chin, letting his elbow rest upon his knee. "Oi, your face might stay that way if you continue to pout like a child." At his words, she instantly released her expression, genuine shock settling in quickly before it passed over like a wave in the sea. Replacing that ripple was a tide of annoyance of being so tricked easily.

"Oh! Hush, you!" She retorted hotly, cradling her legs together as she broke free from the rather painful seiza sitting position. Shuuhei scoffed lightly at her remark, handing her a small dish topped with numerous small onigiri rice balls. "Here, breakfast. The others have eaten already, so you better eat up before you pass out."

Taking a slice of rice, Anzu brought it up to her mouth, taking a moderately-sized bite from the sesame-sprinkled surface of rice and seaweed. Eyes widening, she quickly took another bite, her mandibles working furiously on the tasty snack she held in her hands. "O-O-Ooowuoah! This is so good! It has salmon-filling!" As she happily gorged her morsel down, Shuuhei flinched slightly when flecks of rice landed close by, his brow furrowed upwards as he watched her 'eat'.

"Don't you… have any dignity when you eat…?" He sounded a little exasperated, but took a large bite from his at the end, chewing on it thoughtfully as he watched her reach over for another helping. "Dignity? Isn't enjoying good food dignified enough?" Anzu laughed, before setting her jaws loose once more on the rice ball. Shuuhei didn't really felt like responding back, and swallowed the last bite of his salmon onigiri.

"Say, you said you grew up in Rukongai. Which area did you live in before you came to the Academy?" He questioned, fingering another onigiri before picking it up, weighing it lightly in his hands. She stopped her course of action, flecks of sesame seeds and rice grains attached to the corners of and general area around her mouth. Her orange eyes stared blankly back at him, before they focused back into detail, slightly downcast as if they were contemplating on an answer she was hesitant upon answering.

"Dunno." She shrugged, turning back to her onigiri. A vein popped close by his forehead.

"Oi, answer the question." He grumbled, bringing his own onigiri close by his mouth, waiting for her answer. She finished chewing, and swallowing, brought a wrist up to wipe her mouth. "Well… I'll tell you… if you tell me…" She paused for a moment, staring at his face intently. Feeling suddenly very self-conscious, overwhelmed by her gaze, he backed a little, a questioning look in his eyes. "W-What?" He asked uncomfortably, a tinge of anxiety present in his tone.

"I'll tell you." She smiled knowingly, bringing up a finger to brush away a fleck of sesame seed that was still present close by the corner of her mouth. "If you tell me how you got those scars. The ones on your right cheek." She concluded thoughtfully, turning to stare at him again. He froze, before a deep-set frown settled in his expression. Her smile disappeared, her warm eyes suddenly becoming lost in confusion – almost as if they were worried.

"I'll only tell you that, if you manage to get through this training successfully. So until then, it's a promise." He replied curtly, and she gazed at him with a questionable gaze, before fidgeting in her spot, her face becoming more serious by the minute. "Am I prying into something personal? If I am, you don't have to answer me, even if I go manage to get through this." She responded hesitantly, her figure becoming more passive as if she was withdrawing back from her usual prideful stance.

Shuuhei glanced back at her. He could see it – she possessed that determination to uncover whatever unholy secret he held concerning his scars, but she also held that humble respect for how he felt about the situation – about his scars – and he sighed, picking up an onigiri, and stuffed it into her mouth.

"Mmmmfrrphhh!!"

As she protested with muffled groans as she furiously tried to ingest the onigiri whole, he watched at her with a placidly plain, poker face, but he couldn't bring himself to say that he was amused. "I said it's a promise already, I don't back down on my words. You remember that as well – break no vow, break no oaths. Keep that in mind."

Swallowing the onigiri with much difficult, Anzu took in a deep breath of air, reaching for a cup of hot tea, washing down the painful bolus of rice that was now traveling through her esophagus like an uncomfortable lump . "R-Right. And don't try to kill me with onigiri next time, no matter how delicious they are." Sighing, she placed a hand over her chest to calm her rattling nerves. "Never knew they could be so dangerous at the same time…" She muttered darkly, throwing him a glare.

"Hey, don't complain. Let's get going already; it's nearing noontime, and you still haven't finished your morning exercise." He brusquely reminded her, motioning her to follow him out of the dining hall. Groaning, she quickly got up from the cushion seat from where she was occupying for most of the morning, rapidly dashing after her lieutenant.

- - -

"Ke-!!"

A rush of air and velocity soared past behind her, and she suddenly felt the hard ground and the tips of grass spearing the nape of her neck with futility, achieving nothing more than a tickle. She lost to gravity for a moment, a dizzying spell rushing through her head as her blood suddenly rushed up, then back down, her heart racing. Other than the unwanted vertigo, she felt sore all over her body, her limbs especially, from successful parries of his crushingly powerful blows. Weakly sitting back up, she rubbed her head, her hand smoothening over several strands of hair sticking up from her painful impact with the ground. Her sparring partner neared towards her, sheathing his sword, gazing at her with a rather worn and dejected expression on his face.

"You're really bad at this, Kisaragi."

"Oh shut up, I was never good at Zanjutsu back at the Academy." She muttered, picking up her Asauchi, struggling to stand up. Multiple grass stains were visible, especially close to her knee and elbow joints, to the point where even mud was caked around the spots. "Either that, or you're picking on me." She proceeded to dust herself, her other hand sheathing Asauchi back to its plain sheath. As Anzu brought up a hand to wipe her forehead, her eyes drifted over to his Zanpakutou, and she eyed it for a minute, meticulously picking up the details and absorbing it in.

"You'll get a Zanpakutou when I see fit. And don't even try to use mine, it won't work." He scoffed, realizing her intentions quickly. Blowing a quick raspberry back at him, she turned around, arms crossed. "Hmph, it was just a harmless thought." She mumbled, before turning around again, fingers curling around her Asauchi's handle. "So are we going to have another go at it? Maybe I'll get in a hit this time." She smiled, anxiously waiting for his response.

"Again?" He sounded drained, not from fatigue of practicing such vigorous physical activities, but from the futility of seeing progress from her. He sighed heavily once more. "Alright, but we'll have to take a break soon, since it's almost time for lunch. It's nearing past noon." Nodding, she readied her sword, settling in a loose kenjutsu starting stance, placing both hands firmly around the sword handle, her body facing opposite of Shuuhei's in central position.

She placed a foot back, steadily analyzing his stance. He stood loosely, his sword raised against her with one arm, a firm expression being held tightly in his features. Trying to judge a location in where she could strike, she finally made her decision once she sprang forth, feeling wind flitter past the voids of her body shape. Raising her blade to slash diagonally upwards head-front, she wasn't surprised when he expertly parried the strike, pushing her back with his own strength. Her foot jutted out again, catching her before she fell too far back to strike, and sprang forth once more, her eyes relentlessly as she searched for another opening. She dived down low, before lashing out her arm to strike him from below.

Clang! Metal met metal once more, and she sidled past this time, barely scratching her shoulder. Frustrated, she landed blows after blows, all of which were deflected back easily, before she herself collapsed upon the bed of grass in exhaustion, panting loudly when Asauchi had wriggled out of her grasp at the last hit, spinning wildly in the air before landing dangerously behind her crouched figure. The tip of his sword suddenly swung in front of her sweaty face, a victorious smile plastered upon her lieutenant's face. "It's still a bit early for you to make such frontal attacks, Kisaragi. You need to work on your footwork a little more."

"Right, right." She grumbled, scrambling to get back up to her feet, picking up Asauchi before promptly sheathing it. "So, what's for lunch?" She asked, picking up her water bottle from a pile of their things, chugging the cool liquid thirstily down. Shuuhei followed suit, sheathing his Zanpakutou quickly before sifting through the contents of his pack. "Whole cucumber maki, not pieces. I didn't have time to cut them, but they're easier to eat this way." He handed a full sushi roll to the cherry-roan-haired girl, whom accepted it gratefully without a word. "Ah, it's better than nothing. Thanks." She plopped down on the grass underneath the shade of a large tree, taking a bite from the sushi roll, staring blankly out at the distance while she ate.

For a period of time, the two of them ate in silence, merely enjoying the daytime scenery around them and the peaceful silence. After finishing her roll, Anzu finished by another large sip of her water, and stood up, stretching her limbs, yawning with a smile on her face, before settling back down on the grass, eyes half-closed from the drowsy spring weather that seemed to place sleep upon her like a plague. The pink shade of the cherry tree sprinkled some of its colour upon her face, and she sneezed instantly, petals traveling rapidly across the air.

"It's sure spring, all right." Anzu mumbled, sniffing as she watched the pink and white petals float back down upon the grass, which was scattered with millions of them. She shook her head from side, shaking off some of the sakura petals that had nestled themselves in her tresses. Shuuhei watched with slight amusement, noting how her hair almost blended with the cherries themselves.

"How long did you live in Rukongai?" He suddenly questioned, and she glanced over back at him, before giving a shrug of her shoulders. "I'm not exactly sure. I can't remember." She replied amicably, combing through the tangles of her hair with her fingers. "And I didn't know that your wounds were something not meant to be mentioned publicly. Most hotheads would boast them off to an entire neighbourhood with the scars you have." She picked at a sliver of skin on her fingers, quickly seizing in the grips of her nails before pulling it out quickly.

"Did it seem that way?" He replied, watching her trim her fingers before turning away to glance back at the scenery. "I'm not proud of them."

"Huh. Well, I guess I won't know until I pass your training course, right?" She briefly glanced back at him, mandarin-hued eyes reflecting what seemed like sympathy. Over the years, he had learned to hate the sympathy people held and gave for him for his actions, but how she gazed back with the purest intention of compassion, calmed him down a little as he thought over her words for a moment.

"Yeah, I suppose so. But this course is far from over yet, so let's get moving now. Lunch break's over." He gruffly hauled her upright by the collar of her robes, standing up in the process. Regaining her balance, she clumsily snatched her Asauchi along, securing her pack around her shoulders. She gazed at her lieutenant quickly, watching him sling the cloth bag over his shoulders with ease, tying the ends securely which acted like a strap of the bag.

And so began the long trek back home – their walk punctuated plenty with random bursts of wind that seemed to enjoy racing in the open meadows this certain afternoon, billowing the two with millions of petals. It was a bridge of pink in the blue air, casting over a sea of green grass.

- - -

A soft patter of pitch-black wings stirred the slightest of winds in the air, and it glided silently in the still atmosphere of the office. Finally, it stretched its long, spindly legs out, landing softly upon the equally soft flesh of a fingertip, and it twitched its antennae tentatively as it relayed its original owner's message in soft murmurs only audible to its holder. Finally, after a quick and brief moment, it took flight once more, lighter than air it pattered its way out from an open window, which spilled white light into the room. Hisagi Shuuhei stood up quickly, his feet already in motion as he headed for the door, picking up his Zanpakutou along the way, securing within the folds of his obi sash.

His feet pounded gently upon the floorboards as he quickly strode the down the long corridors. The chatter and din of conversation grew louder as the distance grew shorter, and he finally reached his destination, stating so when he abruptly pulled back the sliding screen door towards the dining hall. Every occupant in the room fell silent when they spotted their lieutenant emerging into the chamber, and their eyes became expectant of his next action. Clearing his throat, Shuuhei began to speak.

"I've received orders from First Division to take on a special surveillance mission. Some low-class Hollows have infiltrated into western Rukongai, surrounding Sectors 26 and 27. I've also received some additional information from the Twelfth Division concerning the types and number of Hollow that are present at this very moment." He paused, his eyes scanning over the entire room. Everyone seemed to recognize his word of order, and tensed up, ready to take some action.

"Squadron One; Kitano, you're in charge. Take five others with you." He quickly instructed, and the said shinigami nodded respectively as he stood up, along with a couple others, whom quickly grouped themselves with Kitano. "Handle the eastern border of Sector 26, fend off any stray Hollow that threatens to infiltrate any further." Nodding, Kitano and his group hurried out of the room, heading towards their stations.

Turning over to the opposite end of the room, he quickly picked out his next officer-in-charge. "Fumihara, you'll be in charge for Squadron Two. Same as Kitano, but handle the southern border for Sector 27. Be careful." Again, another group of shinigami quickly left, feet pounding quickly as they headed for the front of the headquarters to regroup with him. Finally, Shuuhei placed a steady gaze as he quickly calculated which members to take with him.

"As for my own enforcements, I'll take Orikasa, Miyano, Tohno, and Fujimori." He quickly listed, and the four stood up immediately, gazing back at him anxiously. "Meet me outside in front of headquarters; I'll brief you on what to do then." He calmly instructed once more, and they were soon gone, running like the others, heading towards the first checkpoint. "Everyone else," He continued, looking at the rest of his members earnestly, "Survey the surrounding areas. Keep your distance, and do not attack unless they pose a threat. We'll cut them off from entering Soul Society any further." Nodding, everyone soon disappeared in short time, as for the whole Division was on the move, things proved to be serious. All, except when only it was her, and him.

"Kisaragi, you stay behind. Keep the Division stationed here." He turned towards the shorter girl, whom looked back at him with an indescribable expression upon her face. "I… I want to go as well!" She burst out, orange eyes flashing. "We've trained a lot today, I can accompany at least the last group!" She tried to reason shakily with a smile, but he brushed her off by placing a hand on her shoulder, in an attempt to calm her down.

"No." He curtly replied, his gaze hardening. "It may not seem like it, but it's too early and too dangerous for you to participate in such missions. Stay back here, and send me a Jigoku-chou if the Twelfth Division sends any updates, you hear?" He responded quickly, but he knew she wasn't satisfied with the answer. Dipping her shoulder away from his grasp, Anzu backed away from him, scarlet-peach hair falling back, eyes livid.

"Kisaragi." He started, but she spoke up swiftly soon after.

"I understand already." Her words were short, knife-edged. Stepping over towards the side, she then quickly darted out of the room without another word, her footsteps echoing in the hallways. He had turned around to watch her leave, his brows furrowed downwards in a frown. Standing stiffly there for another moment, he then finally left the room, as wordless as he had when he came in.

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A/n: As I've promised, Chapter 3 is quickly released within two days of the last. Look forward to the fourth chapter! Hopefully it'll be in before the first week of September. School's true calling is looming up ahead; I'm in summer vacation and con withdrawal, OTL.

- Risako Matsuki