Sorry for the long wait! Two weeks, I'm really sorry :(
School just started like two weeks ago and everything just got busy you see. I know this ain't much of an excuse, but I hope you guys accept it anyway. I typed most of this on my phone so you can see that some parts might have spelling errors and such. I HAVE been thinking about the story just couldn't find the time get on the computer and sort everything out.
School's been so busy, the work's definitely piling up and the teachers aren't helping by telling me how many more days or weeks I have left till my international exams. Sigh, life as a student is just so difficult. I have a Chemistry and History test tomorrow and argh I haven't even studied oh no I might just flunk. But hey I think writing and sorting out my chapter sounds more interesting and that's why I'm here instead of being at that stupid desk burying my head into books and all.
Okay sorry for the rant, I just needed to get that out for a while. A longer chapter as a form of apology. :(
Disclaimer: Meh, Bleach doesn't belong to me. Never.
The Advanced Class of the Soul Reaper Academy proudly made their way to the deserted district of Rukongai. Word around had been that the Seireitei bought over that district, which was used solely for 'training lessons' such as Hollow extermination. No one was allowed to enter. Why it had no name was a mystery since there were supposedly only 80 districts. One could not help but wonder why they didn't call it District 81 instead.
It was around evening when the freshmen passed by District 78, Inuzuri. A girl with short black hair and purple eyes caught Namiko's eye. The girl wore a yellow-orange kimono with a black obi. It was dirty from the dust on the street and it looked a little torn. But what interested Namiko was the sound of the flute she was playing. It gave off a really soothing tone that calmed the heart. Why a girl so talented with the flute was doing in a District like Inuzuri was something Namiko didn't really understand. But the way she played the melody caught Namiko's heart. She turned to look at Byakuya, who was also looking in the same direction. Funny, Byakuya wasn't really someone who was interesting in people, much less people who came from despicable districts like Inuzuri. Perhaps it was the flute.
As they continued their way to District 88, and as the state of the streets looked grimmer and grimmer, something tugged at Namiko's heart. She never stepped a foot in Rukongai before much less Districts like 78, 79 and 80. Having been 'born' in the Seireitei, Namiko couldn't even begin to imagine how life was like in the dirty streets of Rukongai. Sure, she had heard stories from the soul reapers in her brother's squad about how horrible the state of living was in Rukongai and how thankful they were to have strong enough reiatsu to be a Soul Reaper. Having now experienced the gravity of the terrible standard of living, she couldn't help but feel a little bit mad.
Why aren't the Soul Reapers helping these people lead better lives? Even after having gone through how life was like here, can't they step out of their comfort zone as Soul Reapers and lend a hand to these people?
That day, she swore in her heart, that after graduating from the Academy, she would work hard and use part of her salary to rebuild the broken lives of the people living in the poorer districts.
"Alright students, we've reached District 88." Gengoro-sensei's voice broke her train of thought and she quickly regained her serious face.
They were told to rest a day in their tents and the actual extermination would begin tomorrow morning. Until then, they were free to do whatever they wanted as long as they stayed within the district.
"We should start discussing our tactics before we break." Hiashi suggested, no, demanded.
Namiko sighed, all she really wanted to do now was go to the river bank and watch the stars.
Earlier that day in Seireitei, Squad 9 had been given orders to investigate the cause of the evaporating souls in Rukongai. Until now, there had been no reports sent by the squad, which caused great worry among the other members of Squad 9.
It was already nightfall, if no one was reporting back, it meant that something happened to the team that was sent out to investigate. The Head Captain was wondering what to do when at that moment, a report came from the stealth force that the reiatsu of the team of investigators had completely disappeared. The old man commanded for word to be sent out to all captains to gather for an emergency Captain's meeting.
It was decided that Shinji, Love, Rose, Lisa and Hachigen would go forth and deal with the danger.
The tensions within the Seireitei started to rise as the Captains felt the pressure of the dire situation.
Meanwhile, back at District 88, Hiashi, Byakuya and Namiko were still discussing their 'strategy'. Not exactly discussing, for Hiashi was trying to be the boss of the three and give them instructions, since he was the oldest.
Namiko really thought that the guy didn't know his place. She wondered what Byakuya was thinking about, wondering why he didn't use his 'status' to shut the annoying Hiashi up.
When the meeting finally came to an end, Namiko grabbed onto Byakuya and dragged him up, asking that he should follow her to the river bank.
"Man, I couldn't wait to get away from him. He wouldn't stop talking and talking and talking! Who does he think he is anyway!" Namiko sighed in relief as they left far enough from the tent to not be heard by Hiashi.
"You sound confident." Byakuya spoke.
"Huh, what? Of course I do, I've been training, why wouldn't I?"
You were crying the other day. Byakuya didn't want to say anything, because he knew Namiko was trying hard not to bring that scene up and cause any awkwardness between the two.
"Hey Kuchiki! I noticed you were staring at a girl in District 78 today! Care to share?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Perhaps I should tell Daddy Sojun-sama!*" Namiko giggled. She really was a kid after all.
Byakuya simple ignored the girl and walked to the patch of grass near the bank. He removed his hair tie and laid on the grass, although it wasn't as comfortable as the one at the Kuchiki manor, nevertheless it was still grass. The idiotic girl had been right. He was intrigued by the petite, short-haired girl at Inuzuri. The way she played the flute was the way his mother had done so when she was still around. Father, or Daddy Sojun to Namiko, had kept his wife's flute in a glass casing in the Kuchiki manor. He hadn't heard the sound of a flute in a long time, and that girl could play it so perfectly. And she looked really beautiful playing it. All that time in the tent with Hiashi going through strategy after strategy, his mind had been stayed on the girl. He really should get Father to employ her for the cherry-blossom viewing session next Spring.
The next morning, the hollow extermination test began.
With a crush of a coin, hollows started appearing in District 88. The rules were to kill at least 3 hollows and the rest would be dealt with by the seated officers. Each group was bounded by a certain area and a barrier blockaded that location off.
Namiko's group was assigned to the Southern part of the District. She was worried, worried that she might not be as good as the other two but nonetheless she knew that if she gave her all, she wouldn't regret it. Namiko knew that she didn't want to disappoint Shinji - and Byakuya for that matter. She knew that somewhere deep down, Byakuya might actually hold some anticipation to see what she could do. This time, they weren't fighting against each other, they were fighting together.
"Alright, one down!" Miyako cheered for the team.
Despite the fact that no one actually listened to Hiashi's strategic plan, the battle against the hollows were actually going rather smoothly.
Namiko was trying her best to keep up with her two partners. Although Shinji had trained her up well, he did say that she wasn't at her maximum potential, but to be unable to keep up with even her team mates was just plain ridiculous. The way they gracefully swung their swords made Namiko look no less than a silly fool doing hand exercises.
She really wasn't cut out for zanjutsu and she knew that.
"Let's hurry, the next one is just nearby." Hiashi instructed as he jumped from tree to tree.
The two other students who had been trained to use shunpo, courtesy of Yoruichi Shihoin, zoomed off to their target, leaving the arrogant Hiashi's mouth hanging open.
Namiko turned to Byakuya and the two shared a look. Both of them flash stepped to the sides of the hollow and fired their kidou;
"Hado No. 33, Soukatsui!" Namiko yelled with victory in her eyes.
"Hado No. 4, Byakurai!" The seemingly alike name student spoke cooly.
The hollows that the bait attracted were really shaming the name of hollows indeed. They were so weak that the two kidou spells without incantations finished off one at a go. True, the duo who fired them were highly trained in kidou, with one being explicitly splendid at it. However, that also meant that they were higher than the rest of the other groups, who were struggling to take down their first hollow.
"Oi, what happened to the plan?"
"Hiashi-sama, no one gives a poop about your plan as long as we get to kill them!" Namiko rolled her eyes.
Hiashi gave Namiko an irritated look and scooted off to find the next Hollow.
Miyako chuckled from the tree. They were going to be outstanding shinigami one day. She could see it in their eyes. The power and the confidence needed to be instilled in all soul reapers represented the core of both Byakuya and Namiko's being.
Not far away, a dinosaur like structure was standing in the midst of the trees howling and slamming it's tail, crushing the rocky terrain in that area. It's white mask planted on it's head reached all the way to the back of it's tail, crafting it's shape into a t-rex. The hollow had dirty green skin and sharp claws protruding at the end of it's demon-like fingers. The howling hollow spotted and sensed the spiritual pressure of the hazel-browned hair girl in the vicinity and slowly made it's way to her direction.
However, Namiko was focused on locating the spiritual pressure of the hollow that she had sensed and failed to notice the creature that was approaching her.
"Should I step in now? Oh but this is part of the training right?" Miyako debated in her head.
"Namiko, behind you!" Byakuya called out.
Before she could even face the hollow, Namiko was sent flying backwards. She closed her eyes and waited for the impact, but it didn't seem to come. Instead, she could feel the masculinity of a body that her back was pressing against. And then it hit her that she had been protected from breaking her back and possibly injuring some organs in het body.
"Byakuya! Oh no, are you alright? Sorry!" Namiko gasped, concern in her voice.
Byakuya looked like he was pain, well obviously it had to hurt, having to shelter the impact of the punch from a hollow and Namiko's flying body, it wasn't easy.
Namiko quickly got up and allowed the boy to breathe properly. She realised that the hollows that they had been fighting we clearly the easier ones. They had been lucky, but this, the last one that they had to defeat, didn't look like it would back down without a fight.
"Hiashi! Where are you?"
With a swing of his sword, the hollow's arm flew in the opposite direction.
"Didn't I tell you all to follow the plan!" Hiashi hissed in annoyance as he 'came to the rescue'.
"Stop acting all high and mighty. We need to finish this fella off!"
"Hey Byakuya, are you alright to stand?"
Byakuya didn't reply, he simply got up. He couldn't let the arrogant older guy look down on him. He was in pain, but he had to bear with it.
"How bout we do this? You two can distract it from the front and meanwhile I'll fire my kidou at it from the back. However I need some time to do my incantation." Namiko suggested.
"Yeah whatever. We just need to finish it off and our quota is met right. Let's get this done and over with."
Byakuya didn't need to show his approval through words, he simply gripped his sword and moved towards the dinosaur-hollow to tell them that he understood the plan.
With one arm gone, the hollow was even more aggressive and started to swing it's tail and arm at the two students in front of it.
While the guys were fending off the hollow, Namiko prepared her incantation to fire her kidou.
"Bones of beast scattered far and wide.."
"Shit, we can't hold off much longer. It's so damn strong." Hiashi cursed under his breath.
"I will attack his arm and in that opening, you will thrust your blade into his side." Byakuya responded and begin battling against the hollow's remaining arm.
"Now!" He called out to Hiashi as he shunpo-ed back.
Hiashi shoved his blade into the chest of the hollow, throwing it into hysteria as it howled it's pain away.
"... Hado 63, Raikoho!" Namiko allowed the beam of yellow-gold energy ball fly into the back of the hollow, eradicating it's existence instantly.
"Yes! We're done!" She cheered in excitement.
"Well done all of you, the hollow extermination exercise is complete. You may now head back to your quarters, report at 8.30am tomorrow in class. You will be given your report slip on how well you have done today. You are dismissed."
Namiko rubbed her eyes as she made her way to the 13th Division and she stopped in her tracks. Something... wasn't right. It was too quiet for a cooling evening. Normally, soul reapers would be seen moving around at this time, either on duty or dead drunk. But it was just a quiet and eerie silence that filled the whole area. The fourteen-year old girl was terrified. She gripped the sides of her uniform tightly, afraid that something might happen if she didn't hold on to anything.
"Namiko." The girl jumped out of her skin before responding.
It was Byakuya. The boy looked as clueless about what was going on as she did.
"Shit Byakuya, what's going on?" Namiko was in a state of panic. She clung onto Byakuya's arm as tight as she could.
It could be an assassin prowling in the dark in Seireitei, or it could be a hollow. But then, if it was a hollow, it would have been howling. Something was going on and Namiko guessed that she probably wouldn't really like it.
"We should just head back." Byakuya decided and disappeared in a flash with Namiko holding onto his arm.
They reappeared at the 13th Division. There, she saw Kaien in the headquarters, trying to finish up all the paperwork that was left.
"Kaien-ni!" Namiko squealed as she released the grip she had on Byakuya.
"Oh Namiko." Kaien looked up, with an unreadable expression in his eyes.
"What happened?" Byakuya asked, sensing something was up.
"A lot. You should start by finding your brother at the 4th Division."
"Byakuya, please please please can you go with me?" Namiko requested with teary eyes.
He knew he couldn't say no. Namiko hardly pleaded for anything and maybe he would see his dad or grandfather on the way.
With that, they quickly left and searched for the captain of the 13th squad in the 4th division.
It was pouring. The rain was pattering against the windows and the brick roof of the fourth division. In fact, it was raining all over the Soul Society. The rain was never a good sign, not for Namiko at least. Rain was always accompanied with the melody of sadness. It always rained when someone died. It always poured when her heart was in turmoil.
As far back as she could remember, when Namiko was still alive in the World of the Living, it rained whenever something bad happened. The first storm of her life came when she had lost her dog, Kuro. They were out on a walk in the streets. She had sighted something that caught her eye. A daisy. She loved daisies, her bedroom wallpaper was filled with daisies and so were her bedsheets. Namiko couldn't resist the urge to pluck the flower from the patch of grass. She had let Kuro out of her sight when that happened. When she had plucked 5 stems in her hand, he was already gone. The hazel brown colored dog was nowhere to be seen. And then, it began to rain. Drops of water slapped her cheeks as she ran down the pavement looking for Kuro. And she never found him.
That was why Namiko hated the rain. Even now, when she had gone to the Soul Society. The rain was an omen. Something she really didn't want to see or feel for that matter.
"Ah, Namiko-chan." One of the squad 4 members greeted.
"If you are looking for Captain Ukitake, he is in the room on the left."
Namiko's eyes grew ten times bigger. Her brother was warded? What happened to him? He wasn't even on the front lines of a mission! Her brother had never really 'stayed' at the 4th division as much as she could remember. He was always in that room of the squad, lying on a light blue futon, resting with his white hair sprawled on the wooden floor.
Byakuya watched the girl beside him shake to the ground, and he didn't know what to do. What would be expected of the heir of the Kuchiki clan to do in cases like this he wondered. Was he supposed to say things like, "Don't worry, I'll call for the best treatment."? Wasn't the best treatment already Unohana Retsu? So what was he supposed to tell her then?
Instead of wondering, Byakuya did the only thing the fourteen-year-old him would have done. He put his hand on her shoulder and pressed her hand against his chest. It was awkward, but that was really all he could do.
They slowly made their way to Jyushirou's room. There laid the white-haired man, attached to a machine, which was supposed to help him breathe properly.
"Namiko-chan. You're here." Kyoraku Shunsui, the captain of squad 7 nodded at her.
"I suppose you want to know what happened." He asked in a matter of fact manner.
"Of course."
"Oh hey there Kuchiki. Didn't see ya back there." Shunsui acknowledged.
The two simply looked at him.
"Well, you know how Squad 9 was deployed to go find out what happened to the disappearing souls of Rukongai? The issue kind of got out of hand. Many people were killed in the process. That includes my dear Lisa too... Anyway, yo-
"Who. Who got... killed?"
"All of them. The ones who were sent before, and the ones who were sent after. Captain Hirako, Love, Rose... The lieutenant of squad 12..." He looked away as he recited the names.
Namiko fell to the floor as she heard the names. Shinji? And Hiyori? Weren't they just smiling to her a while back? Why.. Why did they disappear?
Shunsui took a breath and continued, "Well, your brother did try to go, but since it was such a chilly evening and he was already sick, then this happened."
"No.. no..." Namiko sobbed as she scratched the floor with her hands in frustration while Byakuya simply looked at her with confused eyes.
* Sojun Kuchiki is Byakuya's father for those of you wouldn't don't know. It's in the manga! Anyway, since we don't know much about Sojun, I thought I can play him into a loving-caring father character. Of course, since Byakuya and Namiko are close, in a way, Sojun treats Namiko like a daughter too. So yeah, hope you get the idea!
Can you all make a guess as to who that short girl is? I'm sure you all can figure it out! The fluffy stuff for Byakuya and Namiko will have to wait.. At least until someone passes away. -hint-hint-
We're almost done with the past part of the story. We're progressing to the Hisana arc of this story! I'm still quite excited and scared as to how Hisana will turn out for this story of mine. And do you guys think that I should include Hiashi in the further part of the story? I kind of just put him here to fill up the three-man team thing heh. So tell me whaddya think!
Oh, by the way, I made a slight edit to my first chapter about Namiko's training whereabouts, so that it'll fit this story. You'll understand as the chapters go, it has a big part to play with Namiko. And yes, the flute has something to do with the short hair girl and Byakuya as well! Just wait and see.