AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter is known as a 'collaberation' and was half written by me and half written by a user called 'workthosestripes' on . I will divide areas where we change and label them with the character's name. Although written by two people, this chapter is still very interesting and part of the main storyline.
Kuromeiun Tenchuu
Seigi once more stepped inside the office filled with the dark bookcases, the file cabinets, the black desk. Except this time the feeling was not of uneasiness, it was of satisfaction.
"Sir, I have returned, the hollow has been slain," he reported to the man at the desk, his superior commander. Seigi attempted to appear impressive, standing in a very formal, straight position, hands pressed against his side.
"Good, good," Yakuin said, yawning and slumping his head into one hand. "So big Seigu took down a hollow." At the once more deliberate twisting of his name, a vain began to pulse in Seigi's temple. "You look proud. Could it be because you took down a hollow that had killed five men already? Let me get something through to you."
Seigi stood in the room, his posture still as tight as his strained willpower would allow. Inside, however, his pride had just been mercilessly shredded.
"We only sent you two screw-ups because those Third divisioners were even worse screw-ups. They thought they were amazing, got really cocky, and then didn't think before taking the beast. It was a task given to the Twelfth to clean up their mess, and I pushed it to the side as scraps for you two."
Seigi grinded his teeth. Such was the urge to leap across the desk and draw his blade at the fiend who sat in that chair. Surely, his position could not be justified. Why did he tear and tear at his subordinates?
"Anyway, you re in luck; you've been given a chance to make me shut my trap," explained Yakuin. "Oh, Rin!"
Seigi frowned. Was he calling someone outside?
Rin Logan
Rin frowned at the calling of her name. She had just got back from a job and she really didn t feel like being pulled into any paperwork right now. Now she was seated, that s what things like this usually were. But, as much as she detested it, she couldn t avoid it and so she stepped unwillingly into the small office. There were some other Shinigami in there; she wasn t really paying attention to them. It was best that this just got sorted as soon as possible.
"Yes?" she asked, trying not to sound too rude.
It was unfortunate that she had been caught in such a foul mood, but it was always this attitude that took over her after she returned from a mission she felt that had not performed her best in. It had been a simple mission this time, just taking out a Hollow, but she had gotten a bit confident. She had tripped over a branch It pissed her off a little that something so stupid had almost got her hurt. But, she couldn t let it get to her right now.
Tenchuu
Yakuin smiled as the seated officer walked into the room. Most unusually, he sat straight when she entered the room, and even combed his fingers through his hair, as if attempting to make himself more striking.
"Good to see you!" he said energetically. Seigi's eye twitched. "He was being nice to someone? I hope you're doing well! Anyhow, I believe you are here to get a new mission, hmm? Right, both of you, I have the details here."
As Yakuin spoke those words, Seigi began examining the woman he had called in, this Rin. Although short, her face held the youth of a woman in the prime of her life. She also had oddly unique features for a woman of her nature; short, brown, ruffled hair; thick, black eyeliner, which seemed to make her brown eyes bigger than the norm; and to top things off, she had a textured white handprint across her left cheek. He then turned his eyes to her weapon. Instead of a sheath, Rin had decided to tie a battered, old red cloth around it, held together with black string. Even the guard seemed irregular, composed of different ovular shapes. One thought struck Seigi about the Shinigami.
She seems a bit... odd.
"Right, Miss Logan, Seigu," spoke Yakuin after pulling out a few papers from the inside of his desk. Another vain appeared in Seigi's forehead. "Recently a new 9th Divisioner has gone AWOL and run off to Rukongai, where he has gone and killed many civilians. We know not of the motive, only that he seems to have gone insane."
"So you want us to kill him," Seigi said, attempting to appear impressive before the Ninth Seat. It was important he left a good impression on the higher-ups.
"No, Seigu," Yakuin replied, his expression dropping in annoyance. He turned to look at Rin. "Honestly, always jumping the gun, these recruits, hmm? No, your job will be to observe how a professional works. Rin will be doing the work, and you and your buddy Tenchuu outside will be sitting on the side." Seigi began to go red in the face. His idea had been turned on itself.
Rin
So, she was going to babysit and show off? Then again, she couldn't let the fact that she was seated get to her. She had once been in the same position as the other Shinigami, this Seigi, herself. It just didn t feel right that, the moment she gained more power than others, that she abused it so much. Then again, when had she started caring about how she treated others? She frowned. There was no point in suddenly thinking about how she acted, when she had never had such thoughts ever before.
"Is something wrong, Miss Logan?" the other guy asked. She'd forgotten his name. Apparently, however, he had taken her frowning the wrong way.
"Oh no," she explained, "What District is this guy in? Got a photo or something?"
The man pushed the paper that he had only just gotten out of his desk. Whoops, she hadn t noticed him do that. She really had to pay just a little more attention to what was going on, even if she didn t care all that much. She looked through the papers briefly. She didn t really care about any of the finer details, just what the guy looked like, what District he was in, which appeared to be the 34th, and whether he had Shikai. Which he didn't. Oh, fun. But, then again, the insanity thing might prove interesting and make it more of a challenge.
Although, she wasn't too keen on letting the other two just follow her and watch. How were they supposed to learn that way? No, she d make them join in, even if this guy, whatever his name was, didn't want them to.
"Okay then," she spoke, walking towards the door, "Shouldn't be too hard. You know me, I'm always up for killing someone."
"Yes I've heard."
Tenchuu
Seigi watched intently as the woman spoke to Yakuin. He could not decide whether the way she casually spoke about killing a fellow Shinigami was to be admired or frowned upon. He assumed this is how the cold-hearted members of the Twelfth carried out their justice.
"Anyway," Yakuin said finally, laying back in his chair. "Off you go, Miss Logan! Oh, and Seigu?" Seigi's eyes flickered to him as a false sign of respect. "In the unlikely event of your return, please don't forget to report in, I wanna hear what you learned, if anything."
Fighting down the incredible urge to throw an insult at him, Seigi nodded and left the room.
*
"Hey, Seigi," Tenchuu said as his partner came out from the offices. He then spotted Rin behind him. "What the... who the hell is she?"
Rin
This must be the other boy then. She couldn t remember his name either... Had she been told? For some reason the only name that seemed able to stick in her head was Seigi's. Although, she was already liking this Shinigami s attitude. None of this polite shit that others showed. He seemed ready. Ready to kill perhaps? No, she couldn't really tell from a few words. But, he didn't seem like the kind of Shinigami who would hesitate. Not like she had used to be. She wasn't sure about Seigi though, but then again, all members of the Twelfth eventually learned.
"Rin Logan, Ninth Seat," she replied, "And who are you?"
She didn't wait for the answer before continuing her walk down the halls. She was eager to get stuck into this mission, she was eager to go out there, find out what was up with the guy, fight him, kill him and then return back to the Division, a success story just waiting to be told. Although, perhaps it was only right that she let these two boys shine in this particular job? But, she did like getting the credit things. Oh dear. She was rather torn.
Tenchuu
When Rin spoke her rank, Tenchuu's mouth dropped open.
"Oops, forgive my manners, Ma'am," he said sincerely, closing his eyes and rubbing the back of his head. Man, I hate acting all polite. This is why I usually get Seigi to report to that Yakuin bastard. When he reopened his eyes he noticed Rin and Seigi had walked off down the halls. Damn! I m getting left behind! He rushed forward and caught up with them. "I'm Kuromeiun Tenchuu. So what's the mission, Ma am?"
Seigi hurried beside Rin and stuck close, aiming to get in her good books. This was a good time to impress the superior officers. Tenchuu seemed to be more relaxed about the whole thing. He hoped he wouldn t jeopardise her respect for the two.
Rin
"We're going to kill a crazy guy," she explained with forced enthusiasm, "Some Shinigami seems to have gone over the edge a bit. I'm supposed to show you guys what must be done, but I really think you should do something. It seems a bit stupid otherwise. How are you going to learn?"
She walked out of the building and the three were greeted by a sudden cold breeze. Rin shivered. But, it wasn t because she was cold. No, she wouldn t let something as stupid as the weather get to her. What was really bothering her was that the three of them were going to kill someone who had gone insane, crazy. Perhaps not to such an extreme, but she knew someone who was very similar to that. Yes, perhaps one day they would be killing her to. Although, was she really crazy if she was aware of what was going wrong? She wasn't sure. She just knew that things weren't right with her yet.
She shook the thought from her mind.
Tenchuu
"Some crazy guy?" Tenchuu repeated, smiling. "A fellow Shinigami, hmm? Sounds like we're getting serious, now!"
"Well, ish," Seigi replied, scratching his head as the three made it into the outside air. "We aren't really meant to be taking part, meaning Yakuin still doesn't trust us with big missions yet."
"I see," Tenchuu said. Seigi spoke to truth. He had wondered a long time why his friend was treated so poorly by the superior officer. "Well in any case, we ought to get moving, hmm, Ma'am?"
Rin
"Yes," she muttered, nodding more to herself really as she led the pair away from the Division, "He's in the 34thth District."
She did not talk to them as they walked towards the gates that separated Rukongai from Seireitei, there was nothing else to say to them. She was quick to dial an operator, opening up Charon's Road for the trio and stepping through it. Once she was through she turned around and waited for them to step through into the 34th District.
"The plan is," she said, not giving them even a breath of air before the mission began, "Is to search out for a stronger Reiatsu. Although, if you can't reach out with your senses that far, it makes more sense to just ask around, I guess."
Rin had also noticed that the people of the District, who walked with fear, but apparently they did not hold enough of the feeling to run as far as they could in the opposite direction of the source. And the source, if their looks towards the trio were anything to judge by, was certainly a Shinigami. More than likely their target.
But, no, he didn t appear to be in the area anymore.
She searched out, trying to sense the Reiatsu of a Shinigami, hoping that there wouldn t be any others in Rukongai that she could get mixed up with. Funny, the boy hadn t been able to sense the Shinigami, but she could easily feel the targets presence, near the edge of the District border. She had never realized that one could sense further away once they got stronger. Nevertheless, it seemed that, insane as he apparently was, their target had some brains. He was getting as far away from Seireitei as possible. But, he wasn't fast enough. Shame.
"This way," she said to the others, charging off towards the border. She turned her head back towards them suddenly, wondering whether she was supposed to be giving them any advice or something like that, "You'll probably be able to sense further when you're stronger."
Was that good enough? She had never taught anyone before.
Tenchuu
Tenchuu and Seigi waited patiently while Rin scanned the area for the target. They shared a hunch that the more experienced officer would somehow have better sensing capabilities, and detect him even if he was masking his reiatsu. Still, how would an insane man be able to think to do that?
As Rin beckoned them and began to charge off, the two snapped out of their deep thought and followed obediently. Tenchuu sighed at the Ninth Seats superior sensing skills. He then heard Rin's words of wisdom and a weak smile etched its way onto his face.
"I hope," he said simply, attempting to reach her side. Another few minutes into the run, the three had gotten onto the other side of the District.
"Hey, wait up!" Seigi cried from a few meters behind the other two, lagging behind and out of breath.
"Oh, crap," Tenchuu said, turning his head back. "I forgot to mention, Rin-Sama, Seigi doesn't particularly take to Hohou. He's a lot slower than me."
Seigi's eye twitched once more at Tenchuu's comment. Whether accidently or deliberately he had just probably tarnished whatever positive opinion Rin had of Seigi.
"Nevermind, we're nearly at the outskirts any-" Seigi began, but his was cut off very sharply and suddenly. A blast of massive reiatsu pressure swept the area, pushing many of the citizens down to the ground from strain.
"This isn't unseated-level!" Tenchuu shouted over the noise of the screaming civilians. "I thought the info we were given said he was unseated!"
Rin
Rin turned, surprised to see the two behind her distracted by the sudden blast of Reiatsu. Then again, she had probably grown more tolerant to such things since her first day out of the Academy, maybe it was more overpowering to the other two. Even so, it wasn t too much stronger than they were themselves and probably only the cause of their target s insanity. But, she didn t want to have to drag around Shinigami who couldn t even ignore such things
"He's not," she explained, "Just because he's stronger doesn't mean he's Seated. Some people aren't so lucky. Come on, we need to go kill this guy."
She turned around again sped off towards the source of the Reiatsu. Considering how these two were reacting, she was probably going to have to step him for sure in this fight, if it came down to one at all. Which begged the question of how they were going to get information out of an insane guy. Nevertheless, they would have to try.
Tenchuu
Seigi sighed at Rin's words, hitting his forehead with the palm of his hand.
Nice mistake, doofus, he thought, getting the urge to hit his partner round the back of the head. Way to show us up even more!
Tenchuu on the other hand had an expression of bewilderment on his face.
An unseated Shinigami can still be this powerful?! He thought. This must be why Rin was put on the job instead of us.
The trio continued on, and the spirit pressure grew in almost an parallel fashion to the closing distance between the Twelfth Divisioners and their target. The power was not enough to paralyse the two more inexperienced men, but it still unnerved them. They were close now.
Very close.
Rin
The three of them swiftly closed the distant between their target and Rin couldn't help but notice how unnerved the others were simply by the guys Reiatsu. It wasn't that impressive, but then again, perhaps she was just used to this way of life now. She wasn't sure, however, what would cause someone who was meant to be hiding to suddenly blast out all their Reiatsu. Crazy or not, this guy hadn t seemed to be unintelligent, if he had evaded Soul Society for so long It made her think
And they weren t just close anymore.
They were there.
They had arrived outside a large building, though one of poor design and build. The wood that held the place together was swiftly falling apart. It made her pity people who had to live in such conditions. Then again, she herself hadn t been that much better off. But, those days were not for her to remember.
She leaned against the door, trying to hear the inside, but all that was to be heard was a strange kind of panting. That was weird.
Then suddenly the Reiatsu stopped. She could still sense the man, inside, but he wasn t pumping his Reiatsu out anymore. That was strange.
And then the panting stopped, and all she could hear was crying.
What was wrong with this man? He didn't sound like he was crazy, he sounded like was on
"Well, this is your mission," she whispered to the other two inside, "Go and do what you have to do. But, I guess I'll still be keeping an eye on things."
She really was going against her orders. She was supposed to be showing them what to do, teaching them by helping them see. But, what was that going to accomplice? Nothing. They had to do this for themselves one day.
Tenchuu
Seigi and Tenchuu looked at Rin nervously as she told them to go inside. Their eyes slowly budged over to the door from which the weeping of the target came from. It was dark inside, and even the building itself seemed unstable.
The two suddenly realised they had a choice. Seeing as Rin was disobeying her orders by sending them in anyway, they could challenge her and stand on the sidelines as Yakuin commanded.
But then Seigi realised something. If they really were at a level so low they would resort to that action, make no wonder Yakuin always treated them like trash.
Maybe they were trash after all.
But... if they were trash how were they supposed to uphold justice?
"Screw it," Seigi spoke suddenly, stepping forward. "We ll go. You coming, Tenchuu?" He turned his head to face his partner, who believed that he was about to be the one to give up. Instead, he was the one encouraging the two to press on.
"Okay," was Tenchuu's simple reply. "You go first. If he attacks I'll have Earthen Maw ready."
*
Seigi crept through the building, nearly on his tip-toes. He always had one hand firmly rested on his zanpakuto. He slowly edged towards the weeping target, not speaking a single word. Although he could not lose the feeling that his presence had already been noticed.
Rin
The man's head shot up, eyeing the two Shinigami that were approaching him. Oh, they had thought that they could sneak up on him, that he wouldn t notice? Wrong, wrong. Soul Society sent the most stupid people. Haha. Oh! It had taken him a moment to realize it, but that meant that he had been found. They were going to catch him! No, they were going to try. It didn t mean they would succeed. No, no.
The man jumped to his feet with almost unnatural skill, pulling out his own Zanpakutou and pointing it towards the two before him, a big grin upon his face. He was lucky that they hadn t come earlier, he had no idea what he would have done in in that state.
He would kill these two first, then the one outside. Yes.
He charged at one of the Shinigami, kneeing them in the stomach before bringing his blade down towards their head.
Easy, easy.
Tenchuu
As Seigi was kicked, he raised his katana broadside to absorb some of the impact, but he was still put away from the monstrosity. Tenchuu pounced from his location and stood next to his friend, and made an action he has hardly ever done drawn his own zanpakuto.
The gold of crescent-shaped guard glinted in the small light that seeped in through the windows of the complex, and the vibrant purple wrappings gave it a sense of beauty.
"You know, Tenchuu," Seigi said, not being able to help it but take a glimpse at the weapon he has only seen once or twice in his life. "With such a nice blade, I m surprised you don t use it more."
"Zanjutsu isn't my style, you know that," Tenchuu said, taking the sword in both hands and thinking of a method to take the target down. "He seems to have a good deal of Kidou knowledge, too, typical for a Ninth Divisioner."
Then, without warning, the Shinigami's Bakudou was activated, and the whole area went dark. The two could not even see their partners right next to them.
"Damnit," Seigi swore. "We're vulnerable, now. Watch it, Tenchuu."
Although the two noticed they were in danger, they had no idea of the threat that was about to present itself.
Rin
It was such an odd feeling, certainly not what he had thought he would feel as he plunged his blade through the heart of one of his enemies. He had expected joy, relief or perhaps even a little sadistic pleasure in the kill, but not this strange numb feeling around his throat. No, that wasn t a numb feeling. It was starting to hurt! Ow! No! It hurt so much! He gripped his neck, suddenly aware of the pain, then the numbness returned and his vision began to fade. That wasn t how it was meant to be, it must just be the effects, continuing. Yes, this was all horribly wrong.
Before he fell he caught a glimpse of his bloodstained hand.
How strange.
*
The man slumped dead to the floor and Rin pulled her blade back out of his throat, splattering the walls behind her with his traitorous blood. There was no expression upon her face, though perhaps the faint hint of annoyance. This hadn t gone according to her plan at all; she hadn t wanted to step in. She enjoyed being a more experienced member of the Division, but she didn t want to be showing off, she didn t want to be showing people how to do the simple act of killing. They were supposed to have learned by doing it themselves, but they hadn t even managed to get through a few Kidou troubles.
She looked at the pair as the darkness of the man s Kidou wore off and sighed.
"He's dead now. Time to head back."
Tenchuu
Tenchuu and Seigi could not believe their eyes as the Ninth Divisioner fell to the floor, dead. Rin had acted so swiftly, so effortlessly, it made the two look like nuisances.
Tenchuu looked at Seigi with a distinct feel of anger about him. It was an anger only Seigi could detect, due to the two being such good friends. But the message was clear.
We can't let her completely upstage us.
Seigi nodded. He had already come up with an idea.
"Wait," Rin-Sama, he said, dashing over to the deceased target. "We should investigate the body to see if we can determine the reason for his betrayal." Tenchuu was all too eager to play along.
"Yes, we were told it is standard procedure," He lied, smiling, dashing off to examine the dead Shinigami with his partner.
Seigi sat beside the Shinigami and rummaged through his clothing, hoping to find maybe some sort of letter or journal. Although he was insane, the ramblings of a madman can usually contain valuable information.
Then he felt his fingertips brush against something. A piece of folded parchment. Grabbing a hold of it, Seigi pulled it out of the pocket it was held inside and opened it. The parchment was extremely old. On it was what appeared to be a doodle, as it was poorly drawn. Most of the ink had faded over time. It featured a single Shinigami standing in front of a door with the Ninth Division insignia on. The Ninth barracks?
"What do you think of this?" Seigi asked Tenchuu, passing the picture to him. "What does it mean?" Tenchuu took the parchment and immediately spotted something.
"A classroom drawing?" He said to himself, putting the image close to his face so that it nearly touched his nose. "Looks like someone was daydreaming." He removed the parchment and looked down at the body of the target. "I bet the man here was him." That was when Seigi pieced it together.
"This was a doodle he did while in the Shinigami Academy," Seigi concluded, bringing his fist down onto his open hand. "I see, now! He dreamed of being in the Ninth before he even became a proper Shinigami." However, Tenchuu spotted one flaw.
"Then if he was so loyal and was in the perfect division for him, why did he betray them?" He asked, scratching the back on his head in confusion. Seigi pondered for a moment and placed his head in his hands. Why indeed? Why would someone so loyal suddenly revoke his oaths and lifestyle to go kill innocent people far away? Tenchuu searched through the man's clothes once more looking for other clues.
"Ah, ha! Got something," he exclaimed, taking out a small glass container that was only as big as his middle finger. Inside was a pink powder. "No no way. What the hell! This can't be right!"
Seigi recognised the substance as well, and was utterly shocked.
"How did a Shinigami get addicted to Kusemono's drug?!" He asked, his eyes wide and his face pale. "This makes no sense!" A sudden revelation came to his partner.
"This man is from the Research division of the Gotei Thirteen. Perhaps the Ninth were given this substance and were to study it. This man, being a new member could have accidently stepped out of procedure and somehow got himself addicted to it," he suggested. "In desperation for more he travelled to Rukongai and looked for dealers, only to find he had no money. He began killing off dealers." Seigi rose to his feet immediately, startled.
It all fit! Kusemono was behind the whole thing, even if not deliberately!
Rin
Rin frowned. These two were rather eager and easily pleased; it was almost awkward to watch.
She had never really bothered with target information, except for what was necessary. Beyond their face and their reputation and skills, she quite frankly didn t care. There was no need to make them seem any more real than the dummies she practiced against back at the Division. Not that she had any reason to feel guilt over killing someone anymore... Not know that she knew. But, even then, she had never thought about finding out why she had to kill the people she did.
She didn t like thinking that way.
It was easier not to care unless told otherwise.
These two could babble on to her about their findings all they liked, but she wasn t the one to tell. If they wanted any credit for their findings, they could tell the higher ups or the guy, whose name she had forgotten, who had assigned them to this in the first place. Not her. She was quite content not caring.
"Save it for someone else," she told them, turning to leave, "I believe it's home time now."
Tenchuu
A vein in Tenchuu's forehead became visible as Rin spoke those words. He turned his head to look at her and was about to say something, but he found his partner shaking his head at him in the corner of his eye. He understood. She was too set in her ways.
"We better report this to Yakuin when we get back so the Second can have it investigated," Tenchuu finally said, standing up. "If it affects Shinigami, this is going to get serious very quickly."
"By we, do you mean me?" Seigi asked with a sigh, clearly bemused. Tenchuu's response was a grin and a look of sincerity. "Fine, whatever, it usually is me. But I agree this needs taking care of. We'd better head back with Rin."
Nodding, Tenchuu took one last look at the corpse that lay before him as Seigi headed towards the exit. He was the first Shinigami casualty of Kusemono s evil.
And he won't be the last.
