Detective Shinigami
Three
Friendly Banter (Part One)
All the Division Captains left their barracks and mobilized towards the First Division, where their Captain-Commander - Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni - await for their arrival. Their usual meeting room was a windowless and high-ceiling room with two large and wide door that came together with it; the Captain-Commander himself sat in the middle, where a seated perch readied itself for his seating. Many of the Captains have already showed up, each lining up into six line at one end and another at the other while their loyal lieutenants waited in a different hall outside. They kept their eyes on the floor, waiting as more had gathered; Captain Kuchiki Byakuya, a noble, was also present. So was Captain Kyuraku Shunsui, Kenpachi Zaraki, Unohana Retsu, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Sousuke Aizen, Ichimaru Gin, Komamura Sajin, Tosen Kaname, Sui-Feng and of course, Hitsugaya Toshiro. Even Captain Ukitake Joshiro had shown up, despite his illness. Once all of them were accounted for, the door was shut closed and the meeting began.
Yamamoto was an old man with no hair on the top of his head and he had a very long eyebrows that fell down his face as well a mustache and beard that was tied up with a ribbon. He wore his Captain haori differently - it only rest on his bare shoulders like a drape. As the doors were shut close and all Captains from all twelve divisions had arrived, he took up his walking staff and tapped the floor. A secret door silently opened from the wall behind him and Tachibana slowly walked out; he then nodded at her with his eyes initially closed, but as soon as she stood by him, they were opened wide, signifying his full attention. He then quickly ran his fingers through his beard before he turned to the other Captains.
"This meeting now commences!" He gave a hollow shout. "Please, Tachibana, proceed to them what you have told me…"
The young lady responded with the slightest of nods - it was almost done by just a bat of her eyelashes; "Yes, sir," she returned and stared at each one of the Captains present, "Captains, firstly I would like to apologize for the abrupt nature of this meeting. This is an emergency and I will now brief you as to what's happened…
As of last night at twenty-three hundred hours and thirty-nine minutes, I stepped into the human world to study various things for my next article. Upon my arrival, I encountered a Body Reaper who appears to have shared its notebook with a human. It is without a doubt that this human have used its notebook for the massacre of many criminals in the Human World. At the same time, these criminals have created a sheer number of Hollows and there is also no doubt that if this continues, Hollows will be more than souls."
"So?" Sui-Feng interfered; she was the other female Captain present - wearing her simple uniform of the commander-in-chief of the Onmitsukido (Secret Tactics), which was under her haori - both are sleeveless, revealing her tan skin. Her hair was black in color and worn short with two long braids tied behind the back of her head, each with a white ribbon and ending in golden rings. As she moved slightly, her haori and hair flipped around; "I don't see why that's a bad thing! We'll just kill them off!"
Captain Kuchiki scoffed, "That's not true. One of my men has reported seeing the criminal's soul transforming into a Hollow. Depending on the criminal's exposure to this "Kira", the faster they can transform. From that I can surmise, the criminals' hollowfication are much quicker than usual because of their fear of "Kira's" judgement, which fills them with guilt. But it is also the sudden way that they die that aids to the transformation. Not only are they already evil, but the criminals do not regret anything that they do even up till their death… Besides, this "Kira" do not only kill those who do petty crimes, but also those who are on death row."
He was tall fellow, with shoulder length raven hair and dark platinum eyes; he had an heirloom of a scarf around his neck, worn together with the kenseikan hair clips from his noble family - one was on top of his head, holding his fringes into three locks, and another on the side, keeping it there. His poise and calmness was similar to that of Hitsugaya, but his was more adorned in his noble blood. It's no wonder Captain Kenpachi, who was brute looking with tan skin and long, spiky hair protruding at the back like a spinster looked very much out of place if directly compared.
"So what you're saying is that while he cleans up the Human World off thugs, he's filthied our world instead?" said Sui-Feng again.
"Something like that, yes."
Tachibana sheepishly nodded; "T-thank you, Captain Kuchiki. As you've already explained, the Hollows that exist rather recently are all the by products of "Kira's" false judgement and justice. Because of that, these criminals died unnaturally and untimely. This forces the hands of us shinigamis because at the increasingly rapid growth of hollows, the balance of the overall number if souls in Soul Society will also be forcing us to opt to genocide…"
"Don't be absurd, Tachibana! We all know we won't be driven to the edge by some unruly human! We won't be killing off anyone in Soul Society before their time just to ease the balance!" Argued Sui-Feng; she made a quick look over at Kurotsuchi before muttering under her breath, "Perhaps I was too quick to say that!"
True enough, the said Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi drew a deep breath and sighed, alarming everyone in the room; "Actually," he chuckled darkly, "What Tachibana and I had been saying is merely estimates… until now. She has been assuming the criminals have been killed much too many and too quickly, hence breaking the balance. I assumed that once the balance is broken, the Hollows - if not destroyed immediately - will take over the population of souls by consuming them and Soul Society will slowly rot, because souls no longer enter it thereby deteriorating its reishi and reiryoku.
Now, if this is impossible for you to understand, take it this way: Soul Society and the Human World is part of one balanced habitat and ecosystem. Just like an ecosystem, there are energy, producers, consumers and decomposers. If souls are prey or producers to Hollows, then Hollows are consumers or predators. What decomposers are to consumers is what Shinigamis are to Hollows and souls. The energy in our ecosystem is of course the reishi and reiryoku of everyone and everything in the ecosystem. And just like the ecosystem, everything will be in ultimate chaos if the consumers are more than the producers and decomposers don't do their job of easing the cycle."
Truthfully, Kurotsuchi looked more menacing than Captain Komamura Sajin for some reason - the latter appeared animalistic as he took the appearance of that a large canine while Kurotsuchi was human but covered up in so thick a make-up that he was almost inhuman. Not to mention, his amber eyes gleamed with murderous intent and in such dark curiosity tingled with desire; his dark blue hair was covered by his strange head piece that look like a bended hammer head. This was accompanied by protruding decorative devices from his ears and chins, imitating that of a Pharaoh's. His face was painted with black and white that covered the right places - only his eyes and teeth were spared. Indeed, every time one looked at him will always be a first; even for Captain Sui-Feng herself.
"So you're saying that what Tachibana said is true?"
"Yes, of course it is! And what's happened to the Dangai is not only part of that imbalance, but I do suspect foul play. Tachibana's usual stakeout in human world is being taking advantage of, because clearly souls do not travel through the Dangai and Hollows are appearing more than usual last night - clearly Tachibana alone cannot handle the Hollows so she has taken the task to the deal with souls instead."
Tachibana sheepishly nodded, "Yes, Kurotsuchi-san. That's what I did… There is no other way for the souls to escape from the Dangai but through the usage of the jigokucho (Hells' Butterflies) and with the aid of Shinigamis. I - "
"Wait, what about the Kototsu?" Said Sui-Feng again, crossing her arms angrily.
Kurotsuchi sighed again, "As of last night, it's not there. Well, technically, it only appears once a week and last night was not it's schedule… hence it is as I expected. There is foul play in all of that and Tachibana is just one of the victim, if not a collateral."
"That may be true but," Tachibana but her lips as she continued, "Granted, Captain Sui-Feng and I never got along. So if you refuse to rescue me, it's fine. I'd rather die for saving souls and as part of a collateral rather than let Soul Society rot and die at the hands of our invisible enemies. But at this rate, there are too many souls trapped and therefore that by itself is detrimental to Soul Society. Hence…"
She suddenly faltered from her standing post and that startled all the Captains there; Hitsugaya was one to note that her reiatsu had been fading from since he entered the room. But his silent, compassionate thought was quickly dispersed with disgust when Captain Kenpachi laughed and scoffed all about it.
"I can't believe we're hearing this from a very weak person like her," he ended.
Kurotsuchi looked as much annoyed as Hitsugaya did; "At least she's got a bigger brain than you, Zaraki."
"Brains are nothin'! Body over matter, Mayuri."
"Please, bear with her for a moment," spoke the Captain-Commander this time, "Tachibana has no time left."
Just as he finished, the Captains were silenced and resumed their cool expression; at this sight Tachibana recovered and added, "T-thank you, Commander… As I was saying, it is only safer that you rescue these souls. But I have to say, in order for them to enter Soul Society, the Hollows currently existing in the Human World must also be destroyed simultaneously. This is Kurotsuchi-san's theory after all: that any imbalance must be corrected by restoring the balance that once were and to do that, we must do the corrections simultaneously in both Soul Society and - "
"The Human World," finished Kurotsuchi as he noticed that she started to shiver and tumbled over again; she remained fidgeting with both her legs on the ground.
Hitsugaya quickly jumped on his feet as he watched her clenching her fists to the floor; "What's happening? Why is her reiatsu fading?"
His question was met with mere silence; before long, the Captain-Commander sighed and nodded at Tachibana. He then said calmly, "You may now reveal yourself…"
Tachibana too nodded her head; slowly she disappeared into that of golden sand and it collected to form a figure much smaller, just like that of a child's. When finally all the the sand and dust had settled, a young boy with golden hair and unkempt long fringes over his deep blue eyes stared at all the Captains. He then sheepishly blushed and got up from the ground, returning to his original posture.
"You… W-who are you?" Said Hitsugaya.
Kurotsuchi's dark eyes gleamed as he rolled them to the boy and then sighed; "That's Tachibana's zanpakuto spirit… Masayume."
"Heh!" Chuckled Captain Kenpachi, "I thought there was an intruder in the meeting! I would've just killed you right then!"
Masayume shrugged with a sweat dropping from his brow, "Yes, well, I have been warned of your temper and violence, Captain Kenpachi. Anyways, my time is almost out. For now, I trust you will obey your Captain-Commander as I have obeyed Tachibana's request."
"Of course," nodded another fellow Captain, Unohana; compared to Sui-Feng, her sense of femininity was definitely more. Her long, waist-length hair was tied into a braid that covered her body from her neck down. Other than the soft way that she glowed, she wore the same uniform as everyone else. "We will decide and follow accordingly. Please, if it means that Tachibana needs her reiatsu, I suggest that you leave immediately… before anything else happens."
"That's right," the boy turned to the Captain-Commander and smiled, "I'll be going then…"
Before Hitsugaya or Sui-Feng could speak against it, the boy diminished once again into golden whirls of sand and made its way out of sight. All the Captains turned to each other, wondering what just happened, but Kurotsuchi was perhaps the only one who knew.
"Masayume has an ability to create clones with his sands. But judging from his reiatsu, Tachibana may well be in grave danger as well," he commented plainly.
Unohana agreed with him; "Yes, I believe she is. Didn't Tachibana said that Masayume has a way of tranquilizing souls? Perhaps that's what she's doing in Dangai while we're here?"
"Highly likely," said Sousuke Aizen, "She's able to fill the air with drowsiness… as Masayume could turn into a tranquilizer and a probing tool since its sand based body allows it to enter the mind of its victim."
Captain Sousuke was the only Captain with glasses there; he had dark brown hair with fringes that hanged over his eyes, which was the same color, and a warm smile fashioned on his lips. The rest of his hair was slicked back from his forehead, showing his tidiness. He stood beside a fellow colleague called Ichimaru Gin, whose eyes also remained closed in a slanted position like that of a fox; his short silver hair was unkempt and covered his eyes with shadows, horrifying his strange smirk even more. The two were sometimes always seen together, but other times, it was rather normal to see Sousuke with his lieutenant - young Hinamori Momo.
Hitsugaya's ears suddenly pricked to that; "What does that mean? Were we tricked into believing it?"
"No, as its name suggest, Masayume is nothing but a dream come true. Its an illusion type, Hitsugaya-kun, among other things."
Captain Ichimaru Gin was naturally the only one laughing, "Let's hope for her sake that that wasn't a dream!"
"I can confirm it isn't, Ichimaru," said the Commander this time. "But let's put all of that aside. We must come to a solution to this problem."
Kyuraku raised his hands; as usual, he wore that silly looking straw hat over his long, wavy dark locks and unshaven face. His skin appeared darker than other parts as the hat's shadow, but besides that, he had darker skin than others. He also wore a pink and floral haori over his shoulders, just like Yamamoto did - except his was strangely… well, colorful.
"May I suggest that we go rescue her immediately?" He said gently with one of his flirtatious smirk, "Being a woman, it's not gentlemanly for us to abandon her after all her troubles to tell us what just happened."
"While I agree with rescuing her immediately, I also have issues to deal with like the Hollows appearance. Just as she and Captain Kurotsuchi has mentioned, it is detrimental to the restore the balance that corrections need to be established simultaneously in both the Human World and the Dangai," said their leader.
Kurotsuchi nodded, "While that is right, my way of dealing with this would be much easier and less troublesome. I say we'd abandon her anyway and kill off the Hollows. It saves the trouble of saving her!"
"But she is our ally!" said Captain Hitsugaya, almost in a hissing manner. "She may even gone through all the trouble just so you'd agree with rescuing her!"
"Ah, but it won't change my mind! I will still opt for the easiest option - no offense, Captain-Commander."
"None taken," replied the former rather indifferently; his eyes were shut tight, but his eyebrows showed slight discomfort, "I know very well what you would have wanted to do, but I have to admit, I do admire Tachibana's will to save those souls. After all, there has been deaths in Soul Society that amount to about the same souls that're trapped. So, if we allow her to die with them, we will allow our enemy to win."
"But what if this was a trap?" Sui-Feng interrupted, "I mean, there's no guarantee that there are no traps or tricks there in the Dangai, even if she went through that much trouble in telling us!"
"True, there is no guarantee indeed."
"Plus, this isn't about winning anything, now is it? This enemy of ours is all but confused: first to take advantage of Hollows' appearances and the many deaths here, and second, to utilize Tachibana."
"No, indeed not."
Suddenly, as the Captains silently thought of what Sui-Feng had argued, Captain Kuchiki cleared his throat and muttered, "All in all, I suggest we deploy immediately. Time is running out!"
"For what?" cooed Kurotsuchi in a rather musical tone.
"For both - to rescue Tachibana and purify the rest of the Hollows."
"Well, for troublesome matters - is what that is!" sighed Kurotsuchi, "Before the Captain-Commnader decides, I would like to opt out from the rescue mission. I have better things to do!"
"I agree! It's not a big deal to kill off Hollows anyway!" growled Sui-Feng as she uncrossed her arms.
"It is a big deal, both of you!" said Hitsugaya anxiously, "We're not just talking about imbalance here! While Captain Tosen and I were at his division's editing office, Tachibana did personally mention that there is a Body Reaper involved!"
Some of the Captain let out a low gasp while most widened their eyes at the mention of the name; old Yamamoto himself had his eyes wide opened. They have all heard about Body Reapers but because those things normally work outside their line of sight and target, hearing their appearance was even more rare than the appearance of the Zero Division or Royal Guard. This successfully piqued their curiosity as the Captain-Commander then turned to Captain Tosen and creased his eyebrows.
"Is this true?"
Captain Tosen nodded. "Yes, her next article has a session in which she claims that a Body Reaper's notebook has been used to kill the criminals."
"Then that explains it," said Captain Kuchiki rather gladly, "It's no wonder the transformation took much faster."
"But how does a Body Reaper's notebook got anything to do with this? Body Reapers just kill with their own choice, never like this - are you sure that what Tachibana reports is true?" queried Kurotsuchi eagerly; his previous doubts seemed to have left his expression.
"You will have to ask her yourself. She came up to me to hand in her article but also to request a serial publication of it. It would appear that the notebook has been in the hands of a human and they've been calling him "Kira", but there was only one person who stood in his way: L. He was a detective responsible for solving many crimes worldwide, but as of last night, he was killed by a Body Reaper. Unfortunately, Tachibana - no, Masayume in her place - has only told me that much," finished Captain Tosen.
"Perhaps," Sousuke suddenly spoke as he cupped his chin, "She saw that this "Kira" and the Body Reaper business will be continue even after L's death?"
"Yes, I believe so. But I think we'll never know what really happened unless we rescue her."
Kurotsuchi stepped out from his line and raised his hand; "Alright, I say we rescue her!"
"Just a while ago, he has just refused it," sighed Hitsugaya as he shrugged his shoulders with annoyance.
The Captain-Commander turned his frown upside down and smiled instead; "Good! Kurotsuchi, Hitsugaya, Kuchiki and Sui-Feng will proceed with the rescue! As for Kenpachi, Sousuke, Ichimaru and Tosen - you all deal with the Hollows in the Human World. For medical attention and welcoming party, I leave it that to Unohana and Ukitake."
"Eh? What about me?" jumped Kyuraku in disappointment, "I was first to volunteer for rescue!"
"You will have to remain here along with the others as a back-up in case anything unprecedented happens! We will commence a second meeting on the Body Reaper once Tachibana has returned and recovered."
"But Captain-Commander!" bellowed Sui-Feng, stopping the old man at his tracks. "I wish not to join the rescue mission! Please reassign me!"
"No, Sui-Feng. Unfortunately, I think it's about time that you deal with this, therefore I cannot dismiss you from the rescue mission. I hope this mission will mend your relationship with Tachibana."
"Damn it!" Sui-Feng growled quietly as soon as their leader disappeared into a secret wall; she glanced over her shoulders and caught Hitsugaya staring at her. "What?"
"Why are you so emotional over Tachibana? She's been nothing but helpful so far!" He protested, ignoring the others as Kenpachi, Tosen, Ichimaru and Sousuke stepped out.
She scoffed a little as she looked away; "That woman and I just never saw eye to eye… that's all."
Before he could reply, she walked off right after Kurotsuchi and the rest, leaving Hitsugaya, Ukitake and Kuchiki behind.
"She's still not over it, is she?" Said Ukitake with a slight chuckle; this was met with a sudden cough. For one with such rare and kind expression, Ukitake was a handsome man with long silver hair and deep green eyes. He always wore a smile on his face, even in his condition.
Kuchiki remained poised with his usual calmness as he nodded; "I do suppose they say a woman's fury is worst than Hell's."
"Even so," said Hitsugaya as he wrapped his arms to his chest, "Whatever was the reason for their past squabble, she shouldn't be like that… We put our mission first before ourselves! I mean, what was it that happened between them that was so unbearable?"
"You don't know much, do you, Shiro-chan?" Giggled Ukitake, "Tachibana once challenged Sui-Feng on all-out investigative match - they were always arguing that a spy is better at observing than a journalist and they both wanted to prove each other wrong. I guess you could say that the battle was over and done with before the war could begin! That was how they never saw eye to eye to one another and Sui-Feng bore that grudge deep in her heart… I suppose it's the same for Tachibana - that's why she prefers to lock herself up in her room all day! That way Sui-Feng will never come between her investigations!"
A/N:
The actual chapter was so long I had to cut it in two parts! xD
Just in case no one knows, I based most of my fanfictions (if not all) on the original make of the fiction (i.e. Bleach and Death Note were originally mangas hence it's based on manga-verse while Devil May Cry was originally a game hence my fanfiction are based on that!) I also like my readers to feel like they're just started Bleach or something, that's why I describe how each of them look…
Anyway, I was kind of rushing so pardon me for any errors! Will fix it up later!
