Hello. Ok, so this part of the story is a bit AU. I found Bleach through the anime and have read only a handful of the manga. As I watched the anime, and saw the way it abruptly switched between the non-manga arcs and then the manga arcs, it kinda felt like there were two animes going on at the same time...if that makes sense? I started the story with the assumption that The Winter war happened in it's entirety, and then the non-manga arcs happened, and then the Fullbringer arc occurs. In this second part of the story, Erin is back home and this reality's version of events, the traitors have just recently revealed themselves as such. So, here's chapter 10 and I hope you like it.
326 years and 5 months later
You'll have to excuse the last couple months of entries. I've finally come to the conclusion that I'm back home. Really back home! Everything is familiar but different. I know I haven't written anything for the last couple months, but I've been busy selling all those items that I've collected over the years. The coins and stamps have sold the best and Ebay has been really helpful in getting a lot of items sold quickly. I'm actually closing on my own house today. I'm finding that being in the city is just unbearable. It's too noisy and there's just too many people.
Mom and dad have finally come to terms with the changes in me and they are finally at the point where they no longer think I'm crazy. Or, should I say that they no longer believe that I have somehow been tricking them.
I'm especially glad for all the stealth training I did when I was an assassin. When I first came back, I couldn't accept that there wasn't a mission to be done so I spent the first month back sneaking around the worst parts of the city looking for criminals to kill.
It's almost time to start signing papers. The house is a little bit large for just me, but the price was right and so was the location. It even has a large room I'm going to use for a workout/training room. Mom doesn't think I'm ready to move out with all that's happened to me, but I've been on my own for so long, living with them again just isn't right.
I've been moved in for four weeks now and all of my pouches are finally empty. It certainly took longer than I thought it would. It's a little weird though. For the past week or so it feels like I'm being watched and even followed. I've been followed before and I'm very good at figuring out who is following me and getting the drop on them, but I can't for the life of me see who it is! I know I've been through post-traumatic stress disorder when I first came back, but this is different. I can't describe how, but I guess it's just like I see something at the corner of my eye and then it's gone. I've tried evading who ever it is and getting up high to see them, but it's not working. I've tried every trick I can think of too. Maybe it's just because I'm living alone now and there's always been someone around.
Two men were in a small forest surrounding a lone dwelling waiting for another. Neither flinched as a gateway opened nearby and a large muscular man stepped out.
"Good morning, Captain. We weren't expecting you to come here. You don't seem to get out too much." One of the men said by way of greeting.
"Your report sounded interesting, so I promised the old man I couldn't do too much damage here. Where are we anyway? It doesn't look like there's anything other than that house there for miles."
"We're somewhere in North America. This region is typically dormant with very few people having spiritual pressure, so it's odd that hollows have been appearing here lately. In fact, they all seem to be coming to this location and the girl that lives here doesn't have a single drop of spiritual pressure. I have noticed some very odd things about her, Captain."
"Yes, you mentioned that in your report, but you didn't give any specifics. What's so unusual about a human girl?"
The other man took over, "Well, you see, Captain, we've both raised our spiritual pressure to their fullest around her and she doesn't even react. As a human with no spiritual pressure, she should react and she doesn't." Their captain made a non-committal noise in his throat. "That's not all, Captain. She trains with weapons daily and from what I can see, she's very good. It's not just with one type of weapon, but with many different types. If what I've seen is indicative of her talent, I would say she's a weapons master." The captain looked at him directly, clearly surprised at the news, but turned his attention back to the dwelling.
The first man took up the report. "There are 3 more items of interest, Captain. The first is that even though she can't see us, I think she can sense us. When we're around she starts looking around as though she can feel our eyes on her and when we've followed her, she's taken evasive movements to lose us and then look for us. She's been trained. It's rather obvious." The captain nodded. "Second, something has happened to her. She's missing 2 fingers on her right hand and even though she wears gloves and is covered from her neck to her toes in public, in private, she doesn't wear as much. Her hands are both covered in scars and there are more along the insides of her arms. I suspect there are more elsewhere on her body. She could have been tortured to the point that she can see us but not react to us or our spiritual pressure. How he could have done that in two weeks is beyond me and why have hollows come after her?"
"You think Aizen did something to her and she escaped?" The captain asked.
"It's possible. He's a sick bastard. Who knows how long he's been hiding things from us?"
"You said three things."
The other man spoke up. "She has a necklace with a pendant showing the 11th division badge."
"What?!" He roared.
"She usually keeps it tucked under a shirt. We contacted you when it slipped out of her shirt and we saw it for the first time."
The captain nodded. "Where have you been staying?"
The first man answered. "In the house. We took turns following her so when she was gone from the house, the one staying here could grab a shower. We've had to make trips into town with our gigais to get food though."
"Both of you, go back and make your report to the old man. Let him know I'm staying to investigate. Your initial report leaked to Korusutchi and he begged me to get a reading on the girl. I haven't decided if I will or not. Feel free to let him know that too. His device is so flimsy it just may crack when I hold it normally." His subordinates snickered. "Keep Yachiru out of trouble and keep the men in line."
When Ikkaku and Yumachika left, Zaraki strode to the dwelling before him. It had a decent size to it. Must be some rich bitch then. He entered the house and found it's inhabitant sitting on a couch with a cell phone on the coffee table in front of her on speaker phone. The girl was in a plain green short sleeved t-shirt and blue jeans. She had leather bracers on her wrists, but her hands were bare. She was muscled but not heavily so. What struck him was how tiny she was. Not only was she skinny, but she was short too. She almost looked like a doll on the couch. Had her arms and legs been stick thin, she would have completed the look.
"Tammy, I don't want to go to a club. You know I hate them."
"Erin, you've been cooped up in that house for a month. No one has even been by to see it yet. Come on out with me. You need to get out or we'll start thinking you went back into that PTSD haze you were in for months.
"Why did I ever get a phone?"
"Because your parents insisted and you didn't want to keep worrying your mom."
"So how did you get my number?"
"Because your mom gave it to me. She agrees with me, by the way. She thinks you need to get out more too."
"Tammy, you live an hour away now."
"Look, missy, you either get your ass down here, or I swear to God, I will hitch hike to your new place. Your mom gave me the address too."
"You would too. You would get in the car with some secret psycho and he would chop you up and then it would somehow be my fault."
"It would be your fault. All you have to do is come out to the club with me tonight. Besides, I feel bad that I wasn't around when you got into that bad car accident."
That was the lie they had concocted to explain the scarring and missing fingers to anyone that asked. It always left a bitter taste in her mouth whenever it was mentioned making her twist her lips in displeasure at hearing the lie spoken out loud by one of her old friends. "You were pursuing a relationship with that trucker boyfriend of yours. Why are you back here anyway? I thought you were getting married and were getting a house in Tennessee or something." She had found an old diary she kept before the traveling so had been able to catch up on her life before she left. The entries had helped to jog her memory.
"It was Kentucky, and it turned out he liked his cocaine more than he liked me."
Erin rubbed her hands across her face in exasperation. "Fine. But I don't drive cars anymore. I find them claustrophobic. Dress appropriately for a motorcycle. I'll be by tonight to pick you up."
There was excitement on the other end. "And you dress for a club! Or I swear I will dress you for you."
"You will take me how I come or you can fucking take your chances hitch hiking." She snarled back.
"Ok, ok. Fine. I'll see you tonight." She hung up before Erin could change her mind.
Erin picked up the phone and threw it at another couch. "Fucking Tammy. Am I ready to face old friends? Fuck it, they'll just think that car crash cover story will account for anything I do that's out of place. I need to work up a sweat." Zaraki watched as the girl walked to a bedroom, changed her clothes and entered another room. He didn't feel wrong for watching her undress and then redress. He granted her some privacy and at least only watched her back. Ikkaku was right. She was heavily scarred and judging by the type of scarring he could see, she was tortured. The question then became, by who?
He followed her into a room that made him smile. The walls were covered with weapons. Along one of the walls was a large mirror. The girl pulled out a sword belt and belted it on. She drew the twin weapons, a pair of scimitars, and began to go through a series of thrusts, blocks, parries, and counter attacks. The way she was moving suggested that she was practicing fighting against multiple opponents. He moved over to get a better look at her movements and to appraise her ability.
At that moment, she turned and looked up at the mirror and froze. Her swords clattered to the ground. "Kenpachi?" She turned around with hope in her eyes, but saw nothing. She searched the small room with her eyes and then, thinking he may have left the room somehow, ran to the hall and stood quiet, listening. "Where did you go? I should be able to hear you." She went back into the room and again his reflection caught her attention in the mirror. "You're not here then." She dropped to her knees. "I should have known better. You're in another world. So why am I hallucinating about you now? Over three hundred years later?" She looked up again. He looked like he was studying her. She couldn't take it anymore and tears began to roll down her face. She got up and ran out of the room.
She recognized me in the mirror, but she can't see me. She looked for me and even though I was right in front of her, she went right past me. Over 300 years ago? I've never met her before. She's fast though. Look at her run. He followed her as she ran into the forest and then climbed up a tree effortlessly. He jumped up to a tree near her to see what she would say or do but once she was up high enough, she just sat on a branch and stared out into space with tears continuing to run down her face. He tried talking to her and he tried raising his spiritual pressure to a level that should have knocked her out, but she continued as she was for several hours. Eventually, she wiped the tears from her eyes and went back to the house to take a long hot shower.
It was late enough that when her shower was done, she got dressed all the while feeling like she was being watched. She attributed it to the odd hallucination she had earlier and just ignored it. She threw on an old faded black t-shirt with a skull and cross bones on it, a pair of black jeans, and a pair of black leather boots. At the garage, she pulled a pair of leather chaps and a leather jacket out of a closet and put them on, along with a pair of thin leather gloves that had been created without the first and pinky fingers of the right hand glove. Once she was ready, she strapped a helmet onto the rear of the bike and put one over her own head. Zaraki followed after, sometimes falling behind on the highway, but she was never too far out of sight.
It was an hour later that they arrived at Tammy's apartment. Zaraki felt a little winded at the long run and at such high speeds. He was used to running. Hell, he ran just about everywhere, but running around in the Soul Society also meant frequent stops as they came to dead ends. He followed Erin up and waited as the girls chatted while Tammy got ready. He kinda liked Erin's attitude with this friend of her's. The friend would preen and pose and Erin would just stand there with her arms crossed, tapping her foot and threatening to leave if she didn't get her ass in gear.
It was another annoying hour before Erin was able to pull Tammy out the door and get her on to the bike. Tammy told her how to get to the club and they both left for it. At the door, they were let in quickly and while Tammy went off to dance, Erin plopped herself down at the bar and ordered a jack and coke. She wasn't worried about drinking and driving due to her high metabolism and healing factor. It meant that it took quite a bit to get her drunk.
Erin was on her third drink and Tammy was already in the lap of some guy, making Erin roll her eyes. As she was taking a drink, a hand started groping her ass. Zaraki was curious as to how she would react. She looked over to the owner of the hand who was staring at her. "Hey baby, wanna be with a real man?"
"Yeah, you see one around here?" She took his hand from her ass and dropped it away from her.
"You bitch, I'm the best thing that could ever happen to you, you three fingered freak." He put an arm around her shoulders. "You should feel honored I'm willing to fuck you."
She smiled as she grabbed his hand from her shoulder and gave a quick twist, braking his wrist. He screamed like a little girl. She tossed his hand away from her and he clutched it to his chest. "You fucking bitch! Who the fuck do you think you are?"
"I'm the woman that will kick your ass if you don't leave me alone. You think you're god's gift to woman but the truth is, you're just pathetic. So just get the fuck out of here before I toss your ass out."
He left in a huff and the bartender turned to her. "Here's one on the house." He slid another jack and coke over to her. "That guy bugs the women that come in here all the time. It's nice see someone not let him get away with it."
"He got off easy." As she finished the drink a bouncer came up to her with the man clutching his wrist to his chest.
"That's her. She broke my wrist!"
"Did you break this man's wrist, miss?"
"Did he tell you what he was doing or saying when his wrist was broken?" Erin asked, bored.
"It doesn't matter, so long as he wasn't physically harming you." The bouncer replied. "Just be glad he isn't pressing charges."
"He isn't pressing charges because he was sexually harassing me which is also against the law. You want to toss me, I'm fine with that. But I demand you toss him as well, for the safety of the rest of the woman here."
He turned to the man with him. "Is that true, were you harassing this woman?"
"Of course I wasn't! She just attacked me!"
The bartender cut in. "Danny, I saw the whole thing. He harassed her and she gave him a chance to leave quietly. He kept at her, so yeah, she broke his wrist. If you're tossing her, you gotta toss him too."
Danny turned to the two people in front of him. "You're both out of here. I'm not banning you, but you can't stay here tonight."
"Gladly." Erin replied. Erin called to Tammy, "Hey, time to go. If you're fucking him, have him follow us to your place. If you're not, then get your ass in gear." Tammy nodded and Erin went out to wait for her. She was leaning on her bike, looking towards the entrance of the club with her helmet in the crook of her elbow. She caught a motion in the shine of the helmet and looked down. Kenpachi was standing next to her. She gasped and dropped the helmet as she looked over to where he should be, but again, saw nothing.
"Why now, Kenpachi? I thought I was over you and a hallucination of you does this to me." She drew out the pendant from under her shirt and rubbed it as she had many times when thinking of him. She did not reclaim the helmet until Tammy walked over to the motorcycle, her new man in tow.
"Hey Erin, Jimmy's gunna take me home."
"No he is not. Get your ass on the bike. You know the rules when we go out. You go home with the person you came with unless both parties know the third party and it was agreed to before we left the house. I will allow him to follow us to your apartment, but I will know that you at least arrived home safe. Besides, you dragged me out here and I had to break some asshole's wrist. Put your helmet on and hop on."
"You're so grouchy now-a-days."
"Nope, just tired of cities. I warned you I didn't want to go to a club but you insisted."
"Fine, fine. Jimmy, just follow us, ok?"
"Ok."
He went to his car and Tammy came over to the motorcycle, put on the helmet and got in place. "Besides, Tammy. If he does end up being some killer, your apartment has video cameras on the outside and they'll catch his face. You will call me tomorrow and let me know you're alive."
"Yes, mom. You're such a kill joy."
"Yup. Deal with it." She drove back to Tammy's apartment, made sure she dropped her off in view of the camera and made Tammy wait until Jimmy was visible by the camera before letting her leave with him. She tied the extra helmet to the bike and then made the trip back to her place.
She had just parked her motorcycle in the garage and was headed out to the mailbox when Zaraki sensed it. It was a hollow and coming this way. He waited for it, giving himself some time to bounce back from the long run. It rushed at the girl as soon as it saw her. Zaraki rushed to intercept and caught it's claws on his sword. It was obvious that the hollow only wanted the girl as it kept on trying to get around the large captain. He quickly dispatched it and turned his attention back to the girl who never even noticed the fight.
After she went through the mail, which wasn't much, she went up to her room, got dressed in sleeping clothes and picked up the portrait of Kenpachi she had done while still living with him. She sat on the bed and talked to him. She hadn't done that in a long time, but with having hallucinations of him twice in the same day, she needed to.
"Why are you haunting me, Kenpachi? Why am I seeing you when I look in reflective surfaces? It's not even every time I look at a reflective surface. Why can't you be a hallucination right in front of me? Isn't that how hallucinations are supposed to be? And why today? Is there something special about today?" She sat with the drawing she had done that was framed, staring at him and remembering the time they spent together. Zaraki watched this strange scene and even looked at the drawing. It was a good likeness, but didn't understand how she had it and why she seemed to know him. He decided that tomorrow he would put on the gigai and talk to her and see what he could discover. When it looked like she was settling in for the night, he went to her kitchen, grabbed a few things to eat from the pantry and then holed up in one of the guest bedrooms for the night.
The next morning, he was surprised to find that Erin was already up and training; this time with battle fans. He snorted at what he felt was a wussy weapon and waited for her to finish, staying out of the line of the mirror. He waited and let her take a shower and get redressed before he left with his gigai, put it on outside and rang the doorbell.
The door opened slowly at first, but when Erin saw who it was, the door was opened quickly and Zaraki found that she had jumped up on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and was already kissing him and sometimes drawing in his lower lip to nibble on it like she knew he liked.
In between kisses which he was not returning, she asked, "Kenpachi! How did you get here?" It was then that she realized he wasn't kissing her back and his hands weren't on her at all. She pulled away and looked at him, putting a hand to his face. "Why aren't you kissing me back, Kenpachi?"
For the briefest of moments, he had thought about kissing her back and seeing how long before she realized he wasn't who she thought he was, but thought better of it. He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away which caused her to drop in front of him, landing in a crouched position. "I'm not who you think I am."
His hair was in the same bells and he still had that warrior look to him, so she knew he was still Captain Kenpachi Zaraki, but wasn't quite sure of what else might be true of him. He saw her look and so added, "You clearly know someone that has my name and my likeness, but I am not him."
"It was a true alternate world." She whispered, almost to herself.
"What was that?"
"It was you in the reflections I saw?" He nodded. "It's nice to know I wasn't hallucinating." She had her hands over her mouth in embarrassment, but lowered them as she replied. "Please excuse me, Captain Zaraki. Please come in and I'll make us some tea. I know you have questions and I'll try to answer as well as I can." She stood up and gestured inside.
She began walking into the kitchen so he closed the door and followed her. Once there, she set a teapot full of water on the stove to boil and pulled down a tea tin. He recognized the type of tea; it was the exact same he drank.
He sat down at the table and Erin sat across from him, waiting for the kettle to begin whistling. "Now, what did you say after you finished kissing me?" He rubbed his lip wondering how this woman knew he liked to be kissed that way.
Erin blushed and looked away. "I'm sorry, Captain Zaraki. Are you familiar with the concept of alternate worlds? Where a decision made by one or many can cause a branching of possibilities. In one world you turned right down a path and in another, you turned left. Each path leading you to still other possibilities."
"I understand so far."
The kettle had begun to whistle, so Erin finished preparing the tea and set a cup before the large man. Once they both had a cup in front of them and the tea pot had been set so they could refill if they wanted, she told him how she came to travel to different worlds, how she had met the other him and some of what happened, though leaving out the now obvious fact that she and the other Kenpachi had become lovers. She explained that this was the world she came from and had gotten back 6 months ago and had only just recently bought the house. Like the other Kenpachi had, he listened patiently and didn't interrupt her. She got up from the table and pulled out some fruit, cheese, and some precooked sausages. She chopped up the sausages, threw them in a pan to give them some heat, and brought the items back to the table.
"You probably haven't had a chance to eat very much. Snack away and I'll make something for lunch. And then you can tell me why you're here. You have no reason to have looked for me, so something must have happened."
He waited until she was done cooking. She set a pair of plates on the table and sat back down. He reached over the table and pulled the necklace free. "He gave you this?" She nodded, unsure of how to react to him. "A little over two weeks ago, three of the captains turned traitor. When hollows started coming here, a pair of my subordinates were assigned to take care of them, and find out what was attracting them here. They followed you, trying to find out why. When they saw that necklace of yours, they called me. They thought you had maybe escaped from Aizan. From what I understand, you never went out except to town for a few items and with you living so far from everyone, it made sense that you could be hiding. I came over and I took over the investigation. Just seeing you interacting with that friend of yours made me realize you had nothing to do with Aizan. That means only one thing then. He wants you. But why?"
"Aizan… That name is familiar. Those other two….Gin and…. Tosser?"
"Tossen. Did that other world have the same problems?"
"Yeah, but it had happened a while ago. He had already been defeated. Kenpachi didn't talk much about it except when we were in the world of the living and staying with Urahara. He had mentioned how he met Ichigo, but the issue was resolved, so I didn't feel the need to catch up on the history. All I really know about it is that they called it The Winter War and the names of the three captains who had defected."
"You said you're immune to spiritual pressure. Maybe he wants that. Or, for all we know, he knows you came here through a portal and wants to know how."
"I think you know I'm immune to spiritual pressure. If you're anything like the Kenpachi I knew, you are or have raised it as far as you can without your eye patch off and wonder how I can be conscious."
He chuckled, confirming her statement. "So you heal quickly?"
"You want to fight me but are still worried you'd kill me because I'm a human without spiritual pressure." She reached for her belt where he knew she had a knife and pulled it free. "Don't blink." She sliced her hand across the palm nice and deep so he could see that it was cut and then watch it heal. He grabbed her hand and looked at it, wiping away some of the blood that had come up. Her hand trembled a little in his hand.
"Are you ok?"
"I look at you and I see him. It's hard to remember that you aren't him. I know he didn't like people to avoid looking at him when talking to him, but you'll have to understand that will be hard for me to do." She had been keeping her eyes turned away as much as she could.
He smirked, but she didn't see it. "Wanna fight?"
"When we were in the world of the living, he said that the gigai wouldn't be durable enough for a real fight."
"From what you told me, he would have left the Soul Society without a limiter being placed on him. That much spiritual pressure would have put strain on the gigai, making it more fragile. I won't have that much of an issue. I have had the limiter put on me and I know how to compensate."
Erin nodded and led him to her training room. She belted on her scimitars as she knew he liked fighting against her with them. Or at least, her Kenpachi had preferred it. She gestured to the weapons on the walls, "Choose the one you want to use." He chose the same sword she had suggested to her Kenpachi when they had sparred in Urahara's underground training grounds.
As she had done with the other Kenpachi the first time they fought, they started slowly, testing each other's' defense and speeding up when they liked what they saw. The fight was over very quickly as this Zaraki had held back too much and Erin had not held back. He laughed and wanted to fight again. It was almost an exact replay of that first day she was out of the cells and healthy enough to fight him. After several fights, he still wanted to fight, but she did as she had before; she put the tip of her sword against his lower eyelid and told him to sit still while she saw to the wounds she had inflicted on him. He tried to protest, so she just pushed a little on the sword so he would feel the pressure against his eye.
"Captain Zaraki, even when I fought your counterpart, when his body was as damaged as yours is now, I made him get patched up before I fought him again."
He huffed but stayed still as Erin pulled out the healing ointment she had used on the other Kenpachi so many times. She pulled off his shirt and used the ointment on him and dressed the wounds. He watched as the last cut he gave her healed up. He had noticed that the cuts began to take longer and longer to heal as they fought. Her fingers trembled against his skin and she continued to avoid looking him in the eye. She had looked at him long enough to place her sword tip and avoided looking at him after that.
"You should be good as new by tonight. This ointment speeds up your healing. It's the last I've got of it though, so if you get injured, I'll have to stitch you up in the future."
"You can't make more?"
"I could if the key ingredient was available in this world. I've only ever seen it in a handful of worlds and earth alternatives don't ever have it."
"Give me the jar. I'll see if Captain Unohana or Kurusutchi can duplicate it." She handed him the jar, avoiding brushing his fingertips.
"I'm sorry about the shirt. I should have had you remove it before we fought. I can get you another if you like."
"No. We aren't going to be staying here long. I'm going to put in a report to the Head Captain and then I'll need to bring you back to the Soul Society. We can't protect you here like we can there. The other captains will have questions." Erin nodded and left to go pack.
Zaraki called in to the Head Captain and explained his findings. Yamamoto asked him if he had taken the readings that Korusutchi had requested and when he answered that he hadn't, he was reminded that it was important and to bring the girl in for questioning. When he hung up, he went to find the girl. She was couched at the corner of her bed and had the leg of the frame in pouch. He watched in amazement as she lifted and the bed just flowed into the pouch. She had mentioned them, but hadn't realized that was how they worked. After that, she threw in clothing and shoes. She decided to leave her gloves at home except for the padded ones she used when fighting. Kenpachi had said not to wear them when around him and even though this wasn't her Kenpachi, she would honor his wishes. She hadn't really been wearing them except when she was out of the house. She knew her mom especially preferred it when she wore them around her.
"How long of a stay do you think, Captain Zaraki?"
"I don't know. Plan for a couple weeks at least."
She nodded and pulled out her cell phone. She called her parent's house and put the phone on speaker phone so that the captain could hear both sides of the conversation.
"Hello?" Her mom answered after a few rings.
"Hi mom. I just wanted to let you know I was going on a trip and I'll be out of the state for a few weeks."
"Why, honey? And where are you going?"
"Mom, I just need to get away. There's just too many people who knew me and I hate lying to them. I think I want to do some traveling out west. Where were some of the places we went to when we went out there? I might check them out. I was too young to remember the trip." She made a face showing how much she hated lying to her mom.
"Well, we went to the Painted Desert, and the Grand Canyon, and the Corn Palace. Depending on where you're headed, we also went to the Bad Lands and Mount Rushmore."
"Ok. If I'm feeling like I can be around people, I'll check them out."
"Ok, check in every now and then. Please?"
"I'll try to, mom. I don't know what phone reception will be like."
"I love you Erin. I hope you find whatever you're looking for out there. You just haven't been the same. Like you're depressed."
"I am a little depressed, mom. Coming back hasn't been easy, you know. Twelve hundred years of always having to watch my back and now I don't. I look around and all I see are ambush points. I notice someone has taken the same couple turns I have, and I immediately want to take evasive maneuvers because I assume I'm being followed. It's going to take a long time, mom. Just bear with me, ok?"
"Ok, baby. Call me and let me know you're alive every now and then. Ba-bye."
"Ok. I will. Bye mom." She hung up and looked up to see the captain watching her.
"Are you finished packing?"
"Only thing left are my scimitars if you wanted me to bring them, Captain Zaraki."
"I would. You can grab them after I run a few scans I was asked to run on you. Hold still." She did so and he pulled the device out of his pocket and ran the scan, moving the device as the captain of the 12th squad had told him to. When he was finished, he pressed the button he had been told to press, and the readings went to the 12th division computers. He tucked the device away and nodded that she could get her swords. After she grabbed them she came back and stood in front of the captain, waiting for him to lead on.
Zaraki noticed that she hadn't been lying about being depressed. The only time he had seen her with any life was when she was fighting him and when she had kissed him. Maybe being in the Soul Society would perk her up? "This way." He led her outside. At the edge of the forest, he stopped and turned to Erin. "I'm going to get out of my gigai and open a gate right there." He pointed. "I don't know if you'll see it open or not. When you see the..."
She stopped him and held up a hand mirror and turned away from him. "I won't be able to hear you, but once you're out of your gigai, I should be able to see you this way." He smiled. He had forgotten about that. He nodded and got out of the gigai. She watched him take his sword out and insert it into something and then a gateway appeared. He entered the gateway and waited for her. She turned directly around and saw nothing. She walked forward and as soon as she crossed the thresh hold, she saw Zaraki again.
"Come. Climb on my back and I'll carry you. We'll have to hurry. The gateway will only stay open for so long." Erin paled slightly and took a step backwards. "Careful! Don't touch the wall. What's wrong?"
"Just let me run. If it becomes an issue, then you can carry me."
He narrowed his eyes at her odd behavior. He gestured ahead of them. "Set the pace. I'll keep up with you." She took off at a sprint and he followed, not expecting her to keep such a ground eating pace for long. She surprised him as they exited the gateway and she wasn't even winded.
"Did we need to go straight to the captain's meeting hall or did you need to send a hell butterfly and then go there?" The immediate feeling of being full settled over her. She had missed that, but didn't relish the thought of having to force herself to eat from now on.
"We can go straight to the hall and wait there for the rest of the captains to show up." Erin nodded and took the lead, proving to Zaraki that she had been here before. At the meeting hall, she waited for him to open the door and immediately handed him her dagger and pulled the scimitars from her pouch and then went to the spot he was going to direct her to and knelt. "You've done this before, haven't you?" She nodded but continued to avoid looking at him. He didn't like it, and he would have to find a way to get her to stop doing that. He sent out the hell butterflies and they waited for the other captains to arrive. He watched her and she just kept her head bowed and her hands in her lap as if she were resting.