Never Enough
Chapter 4
Yamamoto dismissed the Captains when the announcements had been made. There was almost nothing to announce, apart from some statistics of the frequency of Hollows appearing in the Real World. It was slightly higher than usual, and he had left it to be investigated by the 12th Division. That was all, nothing new.
As the Captains all left the Division, he made no sign of movement. The spot of 2nd Division Captain had not yet been filled in. He had turned down all the recommendations, for he had saved up the spot for Soi Fon, and that he could tell that no one could take over her. He had been questioned as to why he refused to select a new Captain, and he would always reply that he would think about it another time.
Remembering the last time he saw her, her eyes were filled with fear and uncertainty, no matter how hard she had tried to cover up. It had been a while since she had left, and he wondered about the well-being of her. The town that he chose was the best place he could think of for her to train and settle down. He had given orders for the ones that he had saved to help his Captain to recover, hopefully they did, and hopefully she did not kill them all in the process.
Soi Fon stirred slightly in her sleep. Her brow was furrowed, and she was breaking out in cold sweat. Yune seemed to realize it as she kneeled down beside Soi Fon's futon, shaking the girl lightly. The sleeping girl shifted, but still did not wake. She tried again, shaking her slightly harder this time round. Yune felt that body jerk, and saw the eyelids sprang open.
"Soi Fon-san, are you feeling alright?" Yune questioned gently.
There was no reply to her question, only heavy breathing coming to her reply. Yune realized that though Soi Fon's eyes were open, it was unfocused and dilated. Feeling worried, Yune placed her hand on Soi Fon's shoulder.
"Soi Fon-san, are you alright?" she tried again.
Suddenly, Soi Fon's eyes widened, and she jerked up into a sitting position. Yune fell back in surprised, and could only watch as the girl grabbed her Zapakutou that was laid beside her and flashed out of the window.
After a minute, she seemed to recover her composure, and sprinted out of the room that she had shared with Soi Fon, and went running into the shop owner's room.
"K-Kingi-san! Soi Fon-san, she… she…" Yune gasped for breath, unable to finish the sentence.
The shop owner sat up and stood, wondering what was happening exactly.
"Soi Fon-san, she left with her sword. I'm not sure what happened, she did not say a single word before she left!" Yune exclaimed all in one shot.
The ramen shop owner gasped in shock. What could have happen that an ex-Shinigami Captain would have woken up in her sleep and chased after it?
Could it be…?
"I will notify the rest of the town, Yune y-"
Before Kingi could finish her statement, a huge blast could be heard from the outskirts of the town. Knowing fully well the cause of the blast, Yune could not help, but to run out of the shop and towards the forest as quickly as she could. She did not even slow down when she heard the shop owner shouting for her to not go on her own. All she could think of was that her friend of 11 years was in trouble, and she would do whatever she could to help.
Soi Fon had felt a strange reiatsu when she was sleeping. She had put it off as part of a dream, since it was impossible for anyone to have reiatsu to be near this town. But when Yune woke her up, the reiatsu became stronger and clearer, and she had left straight away to search for the owner of this reiatsu. After all, she would do whatever she could to protect this town.
Flashing from tree to tree, Soi Fon could make out a figure standing on a tree not too far away. Increasing her speed, she flashed to the tree within a second.
"Who… Who are you?" she asked suspiciously.
Doing a brief glance at the intruder, there was no hateful white mask on any part of his visible body. But she could not confirm about the areas covered by the clothing. He had bright green hair; his face looked like a typical human being, or more possibly a living soul. He wore a white cloak over white hakama.
"So… I take it that you are the only one that is capable of fighting? Ah, how boring. I was looking forward for some excited fights," the intruder spitted.
Soi Fon narrowed her eyes. "You have yet to answer my question. Also, how did you manage to break through the barriers around this town? From what I know, it is not possible for one to do that. Just, who are you? Are you… an Arrancar?" she asked the last sentence slowly and carefully, while observing him closely. He showed no visible change of reaction, keeping that maniac smile of his all the time.
"Arrancar? Tch, don't compare me with them! Which part of me look like those lowly Hollows to you? How disappointing, warrior-san," the intruder faked a frown, before laughing out loud.
Soi Fon's hand moved to the hilt of her Zapakutou, but the intruder merely laughed harder.
"Alright! I'll not waste any of our time already. My name is Fujiwara Hatsuharu, the leader of the 5th Squad in the Zero Division, which is also called the Royal Guards, in the Shinigami terms. The Zero Division consists of former Captains that had been promoted. The members in this Division have to have considerable power and tactical knowledge. Ah, we are the highest class of Shinigami, that even the Central 46 has no rule over us!" Hatsuharu grinned.
Z-Zero Division? No wonder he could break through the barriers. But why was he here? Could it be… "So why are you doing here?" Soi Fon asked carefully.
He chuckled. "Don't tell me that you don't even have a hunch about my presence here. We're recruiting. And you're the perfect choice, Soi Fon-san."
Soi Fon stared in disbelief, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Of course, you'll have time to consider. We understand that your position of the 2nd Division Captain still awaits you, but…"
Hatsuharu took out his Zapakutou from nowhere, or perhaps it was so fast that Soi Fon didn't see it. He unsheathed it, gave a wave towards the east lazily, and the whole area was cleared instantly. The trees didn't just get uprooted. They were, from what it seemed, torn and tattered into a million pieces that were too fine for naked eyes to see.
Soi Fon gasped. This guy from Zero Division just had to have insane power! She knew no one, not even the Captain Commander could just burn down the whole area of trees like this without incarnation of any sort. Judging from the way he did it, it was as if he was just unsheathing his Zapakutou, and yet…
"That's the power that the Zero Division promises you to have. Every single member of the Royal Guard would have to go through a probation period, the duration depending on their abilities of attaining new skills. Perhaps you would like to go through the probation period before deciding? Because, the training is complete hell." Hatsuharu lowered his voice when he said the last sentence.
"You're saying… that I have the right to reject the offer after the probation period?" Soi Fon said, making sure not to leave any loopholes.
"Ah, a smart one. Actually, no. Once you've entered the Zero Division, you're in. Depending on how you fare during the probation, you would be assigned to various jobs. Of course, there were some of them that got the jobs of janitors…"
Soi Fon frowned. Captains being janitors in the Zero Division? That's completely ridiculous!
"I'll be back looking for you soon. Please do have your reply by then, okay? I look forward in seeing you in the Zero Division, Soi Fon-san!" Hatsuharu stated, before waving and turning around, teleporting to somewhere else, probably back to the Zero Division to report.
She noticed the word 'Zero' written in Kanji on his cloak, and the word 'Five' in a smaller print beneath. Unlike the Shinigami's Captain Haori, the Zero Division wears cloaks.
So, what should I do?
"S-soi Fon-san!" Yune's voice came from not too far away.
Oh, right. I left without telling her anything.
Soi Fon jumped down from the tree and Shunpo towards Yune. Appearing right in front of her, she smiled.
"Hey, sorry for running off just like that," Soi Fon apologized.
"No, it's okay. What was that blast? I could even hear it inside the Ramen shop. Are you okay? Who was that?" Yune bombarded Soi Fon with questions.
"Blast? Oh… He is an… acquaintance of mine. He had to blast the barrier away, that was it," Soi Fon lied. She figured that it would be better to not let other people know about her encounter with the Zero Division member. After all, the Zero Division is a Division that only the high leveled Shinigami knew.
"Sure… Let's go back. I think Kingi-san must be worried."
They walked back in silence; with Soi Fon deep in thoughts about the offer she was given.
She knew that if she chose to accept, there was no chance of her leaving. What about her position as the 2nd Division Captain? Most importantly, what about Yoruichi-sama?
A/N: The Zero Division and Royal Guard materials came from Bleach wiki. As for the attire and so on, I made them up. Also, there's a change of plans. It's more of a Soi Fon centric fic. Of course, it'll still be YoruxSoi ultimately. Sorry for the changes.
R&R, please.
