Hi guys. Apologies once again for this late post. Been rather busy lately. Well, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Chapter 10: Unprecedented
I was finally well enough to resume my duties again, albeit I wasn't at a hundred percent. Numerous bandages were still wrapped around my torso for the wounds hadn't completely healed yet and a few bruises still remained. Nonetheless, I tried not to let that bother me too much and I just carried on doing what I did. I patrolled the 2nd Division's designated area with my subordinates and occasionally, Soi Fon taichou as well. Although it was of utmost importance that I carried out my duties, it was still the most mundane of tasks as nothing happened…what a bore…..
It was around noon and the division was having our meal together when my sister came and sat down next to me.
"You feel it….no?" she said.
"Yeah….I do…"
"You know, you shouldn't let that show on your face…we don't want to let the rest find out."
"It's…..that obvious?"
"Yeah. The way you walk, the way your face looks. Calm down more…..ok?"
"Yes ma'am."
With that brief conversation done, we proceeded to continue with our meals. I hadn't notice that about myself, letting what was going on in my heads show through my actions. It had been a while since intel reported any strange activities coming from Kaede and it did get the Captains and Vice Captains worried. We thought that he was preparing to finally go on the offensive and we had no idea what exactly he was capable of. However, I took Soi Fon taichous words into mind and tried to keep my emotions in check, anyways, as we ate, the division shared a moment as a few of my subordinates began to gossip.
"Did you hear, did you?"
"Yeah I did! Apparently, they say that he's been eyeing her for quite a while now."
"Since when?"
"The assessment day, from what I heard."
"That long?"
"Yup!"
They continued on for a while and I realized that soon after, Soi Fon taichou began to smile to herself and giggle a bit. Clearly, I was missing something and I just had to ask.
"Uh…what are you guys talking about?"
"Nothing ma'am….nothing!" he replied me.
His reply didn't seem convincing at all and so I probed.
"Come on, you're lying."
"Really ma'am!"
"Why do you insist on withholding the truth from me?"
"Uh…..uh….."
At this, this particular subordinate of mine began to perspire slightly due to his nervousness. He was shaking about and stared around at his fellow subordinates for answers as I focused my gaze on him and was probably afraid that I was going to get angry. But, I was more frustrated than angry. I mean, if it did involve me, I deserved to know. I continued to stare him down and he continued to withdraw into a reclusive shell he had built around himself. Before long, Soi Fon taichou spoke.
"It's alright, I'll tell her."
"But ma'am….."
"What's going on?" I said as I turned my attention towards my sister.
"Rumour has it that someone's got an eye on you," she said as she winked at me.
"What?"
"You heard me. Apparently, while you were still unconscious, he was the most frequent visitor you had, according to Unohana taichou."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Who is this guy?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that.
"Why not!? After what you just told me?"
"Well, you deserve to know the facts, but I wouldn't want to harm that guy's confidence or anything if you were to know who he was."
"But ma'am….."
"No buts."
"Hmph…fine….." I said as I conceded defeat and blew the top of my fringe.
There was no way I could break Soi Fon taichou so I decided to just leave it. Still, it was flattering to know that someone had their eyes on me. It was, in a way, comforting with all the chaos going on. But, of course, I wasn't going to find him or anything. It wasn't the right time. Besides, I wasn't supposed to know so like what my sister said earlier, I didn't want to ruin his confidence. Well, I guess I just had to wait for my mystery man then. Anyways, I was just about done with lunch and so I left the table and headed off to our makeshift headquarters. It had been a long time since I got any training done so I decided to grab Sharpshooter and made my way to the edge of the Gotei 13's improvised training area.
"Right," I said to myself. "Let's get to it!"
One by one, as soon as the target boards got up, they were downed in an instant and with the robots charging towards me, I was more than able to take them out with my bare hands. Of course, it required some dodging and other evasive maneuvers to do so but it was all too easy. As I landed from finishing off the last robot, I sensed a presence from behind me. I turned to face this person and I tried to take aim at one of his or her limbs, I couldn't tell if it was a guy or girl yet, to disable him or her before I would go on to carry out an interrogation. Alas, the masked person was too quick before I knew it, Sharpshooter was knocked out of my hand.
"Damn, this bitch is fast."
The assailant, without hesitation, charged towards me. I managed to grab hold of her, well, I was pretty sure now that it was a her after making contact, arm and threw her against a tree. But, with cat like reflexes, she managed to use the momentum to turn and land with all fours on the tree, before pushing off to launch herself towards me. I didn't see it coming and soon after, I was at the end of a hard cross from the masked assailant. I landed hard on the ground behind me but I recovered quickly and performed a kick up before I crouched to take up a defensive position. She came at me again but this time, I was ready for her. Charging at me, I managed to use her own momentum against her and grabbed both her arms and I lay down so that fell down with me before I raised my leg to kick her in her stomach area which caused her to make a 360 flip in the air before she crashed her back against the solid ground. I wanted to pounce on top of her but boy was she fast. She had already gotten up from the fall and she aimed a series or rapid front and side kicks at me. I sued my arms to block her attacks but they started to bruise with the kicks coming at me with such force. I finally found an opening to go on the offensive and with one swift uppercut to her jaw, she was stunned and I proceeded to deliver a series or rapid pinches to her chest area. Strike after strike, she managed to step back and avoid contact each and every time…..she was really fast…..I continued the attack and patiently waited for an opportunity to present itself. Before long, a split in her movements was exposed and I took this chance to deliver a front kick to her mid-section before I delivered a standing roundhouse kick to the side of her cheek which sent her flying. I wanted to just beat her senseless but as soon as I had pounced on top of her, she spoke.
"Stop!" she said in a firm manner.
That voice….no…no…..it couldn't be her….
I got off her and took a few steps back in astonishment. As I stared and backed away from her, she pulled off her mask, revealing herself to be none other than Soi Fon taichou.
"Surprised you, didn't I?" she said with a chuckle.
"Taichou!" I screamed in shock. How could I attack my captain….my sister no less…..that was totally unforgiveable!
"Taichou, forgive me!" I said as I genuflected and bowed my head in apology. There was no way I was going to get off the hook this easily…
"It's alright," she said as she helped me to my feet. "It was just a test to see your hand to hand combat skills. They've improved by leaps and bounds. You should be very proud."
"Ma'am?"
"I wanted to fight you to test you. Of course, I went slightly easier on you but still, very impressive. You can take it easy. Don't worry, I won't punish you."
"But…but….I laid my hands on you…"
"Which I wanted you to do. You'll be better than me in no time at all. Relax, alright?"
"Ye….uh…okay ma'am."
"I still love you," she said as she came over to hug me.
"I love you too," I said as I reciprocated her gesture with a hug of my own.
With that, we walked together out of the training area and made our way back to headquarters to rest. Thankfully, I wasn't going to be punished for my actions, which I still deemed unforgiveable and deeply regretted. Nonetheless, it was all over and I was glad that my sister was happy. But please taichou….don't scare me like that again…..
Later That Evening
We were just done with our dinner and I knew it was about time to head out. Soi Fon taichou and I were heading back to our makeshift headquarters to get ready.
"Alright, Keiko, I'll see you in an hour. Don't be late!"
"Yes ma'am!"
As she left me, I headed off into my private quarters to prepare for my duty and rest up a bit as well. Funny, despite me being in pain whenever I moved due to my injuries which hadn't completely healed yet, I felt nothing at all whenever I was battling. Boy did I need that adrenaline rush. Tossing myself onto my bed, I took a quick nap and before I knew it, it was already time to meet my sister. So I got up, grabbed my gear and proceeded to meet Soi Fon taichou as instructed.
"Had a good nap now did we?"
"Ma'am?"
"Your hair is in a mess," she said with a smile.
"Oh….ah…." how embarrassing I must have looked. I glided my fingers across my hair to indeed feel that it was all frazzled up.
"Let me get that for you," Soi Fon taichou said as she came over to comb my hair.
"Much better."
"Th…th….."
"You're welcome," she said as she smiled at me once more.
I started to realise that Soi Fon taichou was always smiling when she was with me. at other times, she was always this stern looking woman who never seemed to know the meaning of fun. Despite this, I couldn't help but think of how embarrassed I must have looked just now….why did this have to happen….but I guess I was glad that it made my sister happy…
"Let's get a move on!"
"Yes ma'am!"
We started our patrolling duties and what a bore it was…nothing happened. We passed the time by having some small talk here and there but that was pretty much about it. We were about to head back and that was when things started to get funny. Behind from where we were, a strange aura could be felt and neither Soi Fon taichou nor myself could figure out what it was.
"Let's go investigate," she said.
"Alright."
Cautiously, we approached the source of this aura only to find that it was a mysterious glow coming from the barrier that surrounded Sereitei.
"Ma'am! What should we do?" I asked with concern.
"Let's back off and report this to….."
Suddenly, the glow got more intense and it started to enlarge at a rapid pace. Before we knew it, we were engulfed by this large mass of energy.
"What…..what's going on?" I yelled in fear.
"Just calm down let's….."
Cutting my sister off mid-sentence, the energy we were surrounded in got even stronger as she let out a huge gasp. We were both taken by surprise. At this, we huffed and puffed as we struggled to try and break free of this hold. Try and try we did but to no avail and before we knew it, we both blacked out and we couldn't recall what happened.
Soi Fon taichou regained consciousness first and immediately, she tried to wake me up.
"Keiko! Keiko!" she tried to shake me awake. "Wake up!"
My eyes stared to slowly flutter open and I was taken by surprise. I removed Sharpshooter from his holster and just took aim.
"Who goes there?" I said in fear of what had just happened to me.
"Relax," Soi Fon taichou said as she hugged me to calm me down.
"Ma'am?" I shot her an inquisitive look and placed Sharpshooter back into his holster.
Slowly distancing herself from me, she looked around us to try and figure out where exactly we were.
"Are we in…."
"Sereitei," I completed her sentence for her.
"That means…the glow just now…..a portal to the inside?"
"Looks that way."
"Hmm…," Soi Fon taichou said as she paused to think. "Alright, let's try and break the barrier!"
With that, my sister and I tried our best to break the barrier from the inside. Slash and slash and shot after shot, the barrier showed no signs of breaking at all.
"No good," my sister said. "It's still as strong as ever."
"Then….what should we do?"
"Looks like we don't have a choice. To cover more ground, we should split up and search for anything that might be beneficial to us."
"Alright...then….how long should we search?"
"Hmmm…..let's meet back here in an hour and we'll report if we find anything suspicious."
"Yes ma'am!"
"Take care, Keiko."
"Thanks, you too ma'am!" I said as I ran over to hug her.
After saying our goodbyes, we went our separate ways and proceeded to search this unfamiliar place which we once called home.
That's the end of Chapter 10! Thanks so much for reading! I'll try to update the story as soon as I can. My schedule isn't clearing up yet Anyways, as usual, do let me know what you guys feel!