Hisagi stood beneath the spreading branches of the cherry tree that was planted outside of the 9th's headquarters, and waited for Liaison Alejandria Castillo. It was almost seven, and the night was softly falling. He didn't hear her approach, despite those boots she wore.
"Good evening Captain Hisagi," she walked into the light cast by the lamps in the street.
"Hello… uh, Miss Castillo," he replied, wondering if she had a title, or a rank. Normally, he'd treat her like any other recruit fresh out of the academy, but technically, she was also a diplomat so that complicated things.
"It's not necessary for you to be so formal with me," she said, "You do know that you outrank me, right?"
"Yeah, well, that's one of the things we need to discuss…" Hisagi responded sheepishly, "I've never had a liaison officer before, what is it exactly that you do?"
Alejandria looked at him curiously. "You've never been briefed on international relations between our governments before?"
"Well… no, not really," Hisagi wasn't sure if he was supposed to tell people that. "I've only recently become a captain, and normal operations were kind of suspended, because of the war…"
For a moment, he saw a look of surprise on Alejandria's face. "Well, basically, the Spanish soul society hasn't been around for as long as you guys have been, so when Japan agreed to start negotiations on a trade agreement with the Spanish crown, they wangled a deal that I could come and act as a liaison between the two militaries. I'm here to observe the way you run things, and bring back systems that work to Spain. While I'm here, I'll act as any other officer, but obviously, I can't be promoted or take a permanent place in your daily operations."
"Oh, well, alright then." Hisagi cocked his head to the side, "So you're not a Spanish spy?"
Ever so delicately, the Spanish officer raised one eyebrow. "No."
He clapped her on the shoulder, "Good, because that could have gotten messy." He hooked his thumbs into his belt, "Now then, do you want to see the printing rooms and the office first, or the training grounds?"
"Printing rooms? You have printing rooms?"
"Printing rooms it is." Hisagi held open the door for Alejandria, "So you've never been briefed on Squad specialties before?"
"No." Alejandria inspected the office as she entered. Hisagi felt more confident now that he knew where things stood.
"The 9th squad is well-known for his concentration on the arts. We publish a newspaper called 'The Seireitei Communications' that provides weekly news, cartoons, and specialty columns for the whole seireitei."
Hisagi steered the Spanish girl around several corners and through another door as he spoke, "I'm the Editor-in-Chief, and most of the high-ranking officers are also editors or contribute in some way. We're one of the largest printing facilities in the soul society actually, though we have suffered some losses recently."
He smiled as Alejandria gasped with surprise as she walked through another door, and onto a balcony overlooking a large room filled with printers busily churning out paper.
"You're very lucky. Since today is Thursday we've started production in order to ship out copies on Sunday morning. Tomorrow I'll start on the layout for next week and next week's paper will be finalized by Wednesday, in order to begin printing next Thursday."
The captain was unaware that he sounded like a nerd at a Star Wars convention, happily spilling trivia about his favorite character.
"Impressive," murmured Alejandria, making Hisagi smile delightedly. He motioned for her to follow him back into the office hallway.
"I know you've already seen the office, there's a connection to the training gymnasiums over this way."
Alejandria followed him through the complex as he continued explaining some of the history of the 9th, and the locations of the different parts. She stayed mostly silent, and they didn't meet anyone until they entered one of the training grounds, and saw a small class of young shinigami drilling underneath Hisagi's fourth seat Mao Seki.
"Hello Captain!" he called, as the soul reapers paused momentarily in their training.
"Hey, Mao," Hisagi replied, casting an eye over the motley crew who were taking advantage of the short break.
"Even though everyone has graduated from the Academy, we still have to put some of them through remedial training. They work in five member platoons until they can accept solo missions." He explained quietly to Alejandria. Then he turned his attention to Seki, who had approached after setting the rookies into pairs.
"Good evening," he said, bowing to the captain, and looking curiously at the liaison.
"This is Liaison officer Alejandria Castillo, she's with the Spanish delegation."
Seki bowed shortly, "Welcome to Japan, Officer Castillo."
Hisagi wondered how he had come to terms with Alejandria's appearance so quickly. She had seemed at odds to him, her hair and her eyes were old, yet her face was young.
"Thank you." Alejandria's voice was neutral, "I look forward to working with you."
Seki paused for a moment, and then began filling Hisagi in on the present group of recruits. Hisagi listened attentively, watching the rookies as they sparred with one another; but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Alejandria leaning against the wall, another enigmatic smile flickering at the corners of her mouth.
"Um… Captain, if you don't mind me asking…" Seki murmured, casting a glance at Castillo.
"Go ahead," Hisagi could tell that his subordinate wasn't looking forward to having the Spanish officer within their midst.
"What will she even be doing? I mean," he went on hurriedly, "Not that we can't use her experience, but…"
Hisagi clapped his fourth seat on the shoulder to reassure him. "I'll think of something."
After leaving the training grounds, Hisagi took Alejandria to the butterfly menagerie, where the ninth kept the Seireitei's population of hell-butterflies when they weren't in use. Though her face remained politely stony, Hisagi had the feeling that she enjoyed the large glass conservatory with its winding and lacy metal walkways, and the multitudes of plants for the butterflies to roost in. Not to mention the swarms of charcoal black insects that floated lightly throughout the space. In Spain, the officer informed him, the "sociedad des almas" used hell-mice for messages.
After a quick tour of the office, her orientation was complete. However, the Spanish girl lingered beneath branches of the cherry tree outside of the division. Its leaves were falling with the onset of autumn, but she seemed to like their fiery hue anyway. In one quick, fluid motion, she drew the thin blade at her side and sliced through a couple of small branches. She had already sheathed her sword by the time they fell into her hands. Hisagi was impressed; she seemed far more comfortable with her weapon than the average rookie. Every student mastered the basics of kendo before being drafted into different divisions, but few reached an instinctive union between wielder and blade by the time they graduated. Either Alejandria Castillo was a natural warrior, or she had had an extremely good teacher. The ninth captain locked the office, and then plucked one of the girl's branches as he strolled past her.
"Stealing squad property already, are we?" he teased. The branch had been cleanly cut, attesting to Alejandria's skill. "I might have to court martial you."
"I have diplomatic immunity," Alejandria said off-handedly as she took her sprig of leaves back.
"Maybe," he replied wickedly, "But I can always give you more paperwork."
She was silent for a second before remarking, "A fate worse than death." He would have considered it a joke except for the fact that she said it so seriously.
Then she looked at him sidelong, hesitated, and handed him a yellow sticky note.
"If you don't mind, I can't find my apartment… if you could direct to me to this address, I'd be grateful."
The captain accepted the sticky note, it read: 351 Green House Sakura drive, 1052
"You're lucky," he said, "This is near where all of the high ranking officers live, so I know where it is."
"Thank you," Alejandria let him keep the sticky note.
"No problem," Hisagi let his feet take him on his normal route home; her address was very near his. His gaze strayed to the sword belted around her hips, as they walked.
"What kind of zanpakto is that, anyway?" he inquired conversationally.
"In her unreleased form, she takes the shape of an espada ropera," Alejandria answered, resting her hand on its hilt, "It's an early form of the rapier used in fencing." She drew her blade with the same easy motion as earlier, "The blade itself is slightly thicker than the rapier, and the hilt is not as ornate."
"Really?" Hisagi raised an eyebrow, "That hilt looks pretty fancy to me."
Her blade had a spiraling cross-guard in place of the Japanese tsuba, one curl of metal extended down towards the pommel to protect the hand. It resembled a lick of metal flame.
"I've seen dress swords in Spain that are much more extravagant." She said, sheathing her sword, "Too much laciness in the guard can cause two swords to get stuck on one another, so I prefer a simpler style myself."
"How do you fight with such a thin blade?" While the katana was smaller than the English broadsword, it was still heavy enough to deal a significant blow- Hisagi couldn't see a thin sword like the rapier to be of much use when fighting monsters.
"As you know, a zanpakto's strength relies on its wielder, so the shape of the blade has no relation to strength. While an espada ropera is not suitable for heavy combat in reality because of its lightness, as a zanpakto it's perfectly suitable."
"Oh, well that makes sense." By now, Hisagi had led them to a short lane with rows of small buildings.
"I've had to explain myself several times to the shinigami of your establishment." Her voice was dry. Alejandria then cocked her head towards a small house that, even in the falling twilight, was violently green. "I suspect this is it."
He squinted and checked the number on the gate, "Yup, its No. 351."
"It looks like a nice house."
Alejandria, he was sure, was appreciating the large trees shading the small plot; she seemed to be a plant person.
"I'm positively green with envy." His wit earned him a sharp look from the liaison officer
"Avocado?"
"Come again?"
"Are you avocado green, or simply emerald?"
Hisagi was nonplussed, "Uh…"
For the first time, her face showed a fleeting expression of annoyance. "It is nothing."
"Okay…"
Suddenly, Alejandria stopped short. And then, wonder of wonders, as Hisagi reflected wryly, she groaned out loud.