AN- ok i'd like to apologise in advance, this chapter hasn't got much in the way of humour. this is where things get nasty. I seriously doubt that in a millitaristic society like the seiretei the owers that be would not resort to violence to try and keep control. I put this off for as long as possible, but at some point things had to get brutal, and i find it hard to find much humour in strikebreaking. Hopefully the next chapter will be more fun. I didn't really enjoy writing this but its vital to the plot, and the plausibility (ok this story is a bit implausible but it has internal logic)

I don't own bleach and if I said I did nasty men would drag me into dark alleys and beat me up for angering the corporations!

Chapter 10- Strikebreakers

Hanataro and Rin were on their way back from the pub, when the Seiretei establishment struck back. They had decided to go out for a couple of drinks to celebrate how well the strike was going. Looking back they were probably tempting fate. Hanataro had had a few too many, and Rin had had a few more so they were leaning heavily on each other and singing inappropriate songs rather than being alert and prepared for an attack. They were both taken totally by surprise when they found themselves surrounded by about five squad two members. Rin was still giggling and trying not to fall over but Hanataro found himself sobering up rather quickly at the look on the other guys' faces. It was a look he was all too familiar with, and in his experience usually ended with him being beaten up. Then Rin had to go up to one of them and offer them a packet of the more interesting chemicals squad twelve had been trying to sell squad five. Squad two looked horrified, in a lot of ways they took after their Captain. No sense of humour and an obsession with enforcing the rules. Their leader cracked his knuckles and declared

"It's time you maggots learned your proper place in the Seiretei. You've been abandoning your duties and defying the chain of command and look what it's done to this place. Weaklings should accept their place in the natural order of things. Otherwise the whole of society disintegrates"

Later Hanataro would blame it on the alcohol. Certainly talking back wasn't the smartest move he'd ever made, but he just couldn't help himself. "Maybe that's a good thing, because in the society we have, good people's hard work is taken for granted. Maybe shaking it up will lead to the afterlife being a better place to live because right now even you can't claim this is heaven. And if we've got you lot worried enough that it takes a gang of five of you to take us down when we can barely stand we must fucking terrify you. Guess that shows we're not so powerless after all"

The other man's face darkened with anger "You're the ones who should be fucking terrified" he growled, cracking his knuckles.

Hanataro's last clear thought was "Oh shit, now we're really in for it" and then the world exploded with pain.

They were found battered and unconscious an hour later by Lieutenant Kotetsu, her healers training allowed her to overcome her initial horror and shock to rush them back to the squad four picket lines.

Their appearance was a shock to all the strikers. They had been badly beaten. Rin had three broken ribs, extensive bruising and a punctured lung. Hanataro was even worse off, with internal bleeding and a serious head injury as well as three missing teeth. Luckily Lieutenant Kotetsu had found them not too long after the beating and the large numbers of healers on the picket lines were able to fix most of the damage fairly quickly. However the whole thing had a sobering impact on the mood of the strikers, they knew it could have been any of them and now that the supporters of the status quo in the seiretei had begun to fight back against the strike it was likely that more of them would be targeted. Possibly the most terrifying thought was that it could have been a lot worse. The beating had been brutal and without finesse, there was no clear killing intent, but nor was there any concerted effort to avoid fatal injuries. A blow in the wrong place could have killed or crippled either of them, and it was doubtful that there would be any repercussions for the perpetrators. They might even have been acting under the head captains orders and if not then they certainly had his unofficial approval. A few of the strikers started to have second thoughts but they were in too deep now. They knew that whatever they did there would be consequences, so their best chance was to see this through to the end. All the same the mood on the picket line was grim when Hanataro woke. After asking to make sure Rin was ok, he called an emergency strike council.

"Right guys" He cut straight to the chase "I'm sure you all know why I've called this meeting"

There was a murmur of assent

"Firstly I am going to make it abundantly clear we are not going to back down. If we let them win by threatening and attacking us, then who's to say they won't carry on like that when things are back to normal. We can't afford to back down now." There was a rumble of agreement

"But we also can't allow any more strikers to be attacked in this way, so I have thought out a few measures to keep everyone safe. First of all no-one is to go anywhere alone or in a compromised state. If me and Rin hadn't been drunk we might have stood a chance, but we could barely stand let alone defend ourselves. There's nothing wrong with drinking, but if you are drinking then stay in a safe area. Secondly we designate safe zones around all of our picket lines and the meeting room used by the SSA, everyone will take it in turns to patrol these safe zones and stop thugs like those from getting in. Thirdly this is now an occupation. This serves two purposes, not only does it ensure we are all in one defensible location, safety in numbers and all that. It also sends a clear message that attacks on any of our members will result in escalation, that there will be consequences to their attacks. Do I have your support on these measures?" There was a general chorus of yeses.

"Good." He smiled grimly "Can someone send messengers out to the other striking squads with my recommendations. I'm sure they'll agree once they hear what's happened. Oh and tell squad twelve that Rin should be recovered enough to resume his duties by tomorrow."

"Who shall we send?" Ryuu asked, worried about the possibility of the messengers being attacked

"I don't care, send people that are strong enough to defend themselves and send them out in pairs. Aside from that use your judgement."

After the rest of the committee members left, Hanataro allowed himself to feel afraid. Things were going to get messy before all this was over.