Hello to all my lovely readers. Firstly I would like to apologise for a much later update then usual. I'm terrible in summer, I just like to find the coolest spot in the house and curl up with a good book. I'm much more productive when its cooler weather - I HATE THE HEAT! Anyway I would like to thank Prince of Winter Dragons and Moonstar2015 for reviewing every chapter of this story so far. Your comments help to encourage me to carry on with the story ^_^. Also I would like to thank StrawberrySkies for leaving a wonderful review on STLO, I wanted to send a message to thank you unfortunatly you dont allow PMs, so hopefully you will see this =) Enough babbling from me, happy reading ^_^.
Someone To Watch Over You Chapter 10
Childish squeals and laughter floated in the air and reached his ears through the open office window, along with several loud claps of thunder and the rush of heavy rainfall. The Seireitei had been in the midst of an heatwave all week and he was thoroughly enjoying the refreshing cool breeze the thunderstorm had brought with it.
"Kotaro Hitsugaya! You get back in here right now young man."
"You got to catch me first Mummy!" Kotaro called back chuckling playfully as he dashed past the open office window.
Toushiro smirked to himself as he signed off another report, he knew full well Rangiku hated thunderstorms. Yet his son seemed to love them and would always try to play outside during a storm.
"Kotaro! Get back here you little snot."
Kotaro replied with more squeals and chuckles.
It sounded like Kotaro was enjoying himself by jumping in various puddles and making loud splashes while at the same time trying to dodge Rangiku.
So for the next ten minutes he listened to the sounds of Rangiku chasing down Kotaro, as she tried to catch him and get him back inside, while he ploughed on through that days paperwork.
It wasn't until he heard a particularly loud sludgy splash did he pause and look up from his work. Everything had fallen quiet outside and seconds later Kotaro's scream pierced the silence.
"Mummy! Help me!" He cried out.
"Kotaro!" Rangiku gasped, running over to him.
Toushiro jumped to his feet and was beside the window a second later. He looked out into the enclosed garden and saw Kotaro chest deep in a large muddy puddle, arms flailing around. He flashed out of the office abandoning his work and was beside Rangiku in seconds.
"Daddy I'm stuck!" Kotaro cried when he caught sight of Toushiro.
"Its OK little man, stay perfectly still and we'll have you right out," Toushiro replied taking a cautious step forward. He inched himself closer and reached a hand out and held Kotaro's upper arm firmly. He gave one quick tug and plucked Kotaro right out of the puddle and set him back down on his feet gently. It was lucky that Kotaro was so tiny and hardly weighed anything.
"There you go little man," Toushiro ruffled Kotaro's soggy hair out of habit, "You should go back inside now and get cleaned off." He took in Kotaro's muddy appearance and smirked when he had an idea. He rested both his hands on Kotaro's shoulders and bent down so their eyes were on the same level, "Kotaro," he said in a low hushed voice.
Kotaro looked at him through dripping wet hair that was plastered to his forehead "Yes Daddy?"
Toushiro leant closer and whispered in his ear, "I don't know about you, but I think Mummy could do with a hug now."
Kotaro looked around Toushiro and smiled innocently at Rangiku, "OK Daddy," Kotaro replied looking back at him, his face all lit up with mischief.
"Kotaro sweetie are you all right?" Rangiku asked once Toushiro turned to face her.
She took in his muddy appearance and couldn't help feeling a little guilty. Apart from his shoulders, face and a small patch of his white hair, Kotaro was completely covered with mud.
"I'm sorry Mummy," he replied with puppy dog eyes, before breaking out into a grin and charging at Rangiku.
"Wait!...No Kotaro!...STOP!...Ewww!"
Toushiro smirked as Kotaro launched himself at Rangiku and hugged the life out of her while smearing her with as much mud as possible, "I'm a mud monster Mummy! Roooaar!"
Toushiro cursed loudly as the train beneath his feet lurched sharply to the left and wrenched him away from his thoughts. He stumbled slightly but soon regained his balance.
He pulled his phone out and sought out Rangiku's pink dot, which was situated on the other side of the subway, he guessed they were about fifteen minutes away from each other. So far they'd been riding the trains for almost an hour and they'd encountered nothing out of the ordinary.
The Captains meeting were still ongoing, however Kurotsuchi had deactivated the holograms after explaining how they worked which pleased Toushiro greatly, but had left the audio channel open so Toushiro could still listen in.
His phone suddenly bleeped loudly and erratically and when he checked the display he saw three red dots flashing away just around the next bend. As he stashed his phone away the strong stench of Hollow filled his nostrils.
He could tell they were only lesser Hollows and no where near as strong as the Hollow they were seeking, but still they needed to be dispatched. He gripped Hyourimaru's handle and slid it out of its sheath ready.
"Rangiku I have lesser Hollow activity over here."
"Understood Toush...Captain," Rangiku quickly corrected, momentarily forgetting about the room full of Captains listening in.
As the train sped around the bend, Toushiro's phone beeped frantically in his pocket alerting him to the incoming threat. Once the train cleared the bend and was back on the straight, two Hollows materialized before him while the third and largest Hollow appeared behind him.
The larger of the three Hollows roared at him in an attempt to intimidate him, "I thought I smelt a Shinigami, and a Captain at that. This is going to be such a fine meal."
Toushiro rolled his eyes, he always seemed to attract the mouthy Hollows.
"Although judging by your shrimpy size I doubt you'd even make a satisfying snack," the other two Hollows laughed loudly at that comment.
In answer to the Hollows taunts, Toushiro slashed behind him quick as lightening and with supreme accuracy, cleanly slicing through the Hollows mask. Before the other two Hollows even realized what had happened, the larger Hollow had already disintegrated into nothing.
"Oh he knows how to use that butter knife of his," one of the other Hollows commented.
Toushiro slashed out in front of him in one wide arc and caught both of the Hollows before him, they both shrieked loudly as they too disintegrated into nothing. He flicked his sword to the right then placed Hyourimaru back in its sheath.
"Captain.." He could barely hear Rangiku's voice over the static, "...llows."
"Rangiku, you're breaking up, please repeat."
"... encountered sever... level Holl..." Rangiku's voice was completely drowned out by the static.
"Rangiku?" Scowling he wrenched his phone out of his pocket, as he glanced at the display it suddenly lit up and screamed at him with one long, loud continuous beep.
Surrounding Rangiku's pink dot were five red dots and with a jolt to his stomach he noticed seven more waiting much further up the track from her position. He focused on the group of seven and noticed that six of the Hollows were surrounding the seventh almost like a protective shell.
"Damn it!" He cursed loudly, he was certain that the seventh Hollow was the big one they were hunting and it seemed like it had rounded up a bunch of other Hollows to help ambush the train. It was clear what they had to do. They needed to stop that train before it arrived at the larger group of Hollows. "Rangiku, if you can hear me I need you to stop that train at all costs."
He picked the fastest route that would take him to Rangiku, then quickly snapped his phone shut and took off after her. 'Hang in there Rangiku.'
Rangiku frowned at the crackling static in her ear, she knew whatever Toushiro was trying to tell her had to be important but she could only pick out a few words.
Unfortunately she didn't have the time to dwell on it too much as she focused on the small herd of Hollows before her.
Rangiku lifted Haineko up and blocked the set of claws that tried to swipe at her head. She shoved the Hollow back and ducked down as a second Hollow tried to take her head off too. She spun her left leg out and swept the second Hollows legs out from under it, which sent it sliding off the trains roof. She heard it shriek as it got dragged under the train and crushed by its heavy wheels.
One down. Four to go.
The first Hollow came lunging towards her again, so she stepped to the side and spun, bringing Haineko around in a wide arc and sliced cleanly through its mask.
Two down.
The other three seemed to be acting a bit more cautious compared to the first two and they were hanging back a little bit. Rangiku glanced between the three deciding which one to pick off first. She'd just decided to take out the Hollow on the left and was just about to take a step forward when the train lurched to the right, unbalanced she staggered to the left. The three Hollows took advantage of her little stumble and all of them charged at her at once.
She flash stepped and landed a few metres further up the train, facing the Hollows she raised her palm and yelled "Hado 31.. Sokatsui."
The whole tunnel glowed a ghostly blue colour as the kido spell burst fourth from her palm and shot towards the Hollows. On impact it exploded and took out two of the Hollows.
Four down.
Before the fifth Hollow could get its bearings and make a move, Rangiku leapt into the air and brought Haineko slicing down towards the Hollows mask cleaving it in two. With a final shriek the last Hollow disintegrated and the foul pressure lifted. The static in her ear cleared and she could hear the Head-Captain talking to the other Captains in the background once again.
Remembering that Toushiro had been trying to tell her something before the Hollows attacked, she tapped the small earpiece "Captain can you hear me now?"
"Yes Rangiku, what's the situation over there?" Toushiro's voice sounded like he was right next to her again.
"I've just dispatched a small group of lesser Hollows Captain," Rangiku replied pulling out her phone.
"Good work, but there seems to be a large group of higher level Hollows congregated together further up the line. I'm certain they are waiting to ambush the train when it arrives there," Toushiro's voice was as cool and calm as ever, "I'm still a few minutes away from your position, so in the mean time I need you to try and stop that train from arriving there."
Rangiku saw the seven red dots clearly on her screen. Judging by the speed of the train she guessed she had about five minutes to halt the train, "Understood Captain."
She flicked her phone shut and pouted, just exactly how do you go about stopping a speeding train.
Rangiku stood for a few moments on top of the train aware that every second she delayed, the train would be a second closer to becoming lunch for the band of Hollows.
She was just asking herself what Toushiro would do in this situation when the answer struck her. Surely these things would have been built with some sort of manual brake for use in an emergency. Where exactly she couldn't be sure, but she knew for certain it wouldn't be up here on the roof. It would have to be where passengers could access it easily enough.
Not wanting to waste any more time she flashed off the roof and reappeared inside the train landing at the front just outside the drivers cockpit. Quickly glancing around the packed train her eyes sought out any sign of a lever or button.
Seeing nothing she began to move towards the back of the train, walking past many businessmen dressed up in suits and ties, past the group of teenagers laughing amongst themselves and past several mothers jiggling their babies on their knees.
And then she saw it. A big red pull lever with a big warning sign stating "Do not touch! Only to be used in the event of an emergency!' situated on the wall behind the last set of seats, right next to the emergency exit.
Rangiku hurried over skirting past an elderly couple and past a lone sleeping man who stunk like a brewery. She reached her hand out and pulled the lever firmly. The whole trained lurched forwards and the squealing of the trains wheels confirmed that the brakes had kicked in and gradually the train ground to a halt.
There was a moment of collective silence before whispers broke out amongst the passengers, which quickly grew louder as people began to speculate what had happened. The drivers cockpit door slid open and a harassed looking man she took to be the driver came out shouting "Who the hell pulled that emergency brake! Damn kids!"
Her work done here Rangiku grinned and flashed back onto the roof.
"Good work Rangiku."
"Captain!" Rangiku spun on the spot to see Toushiro standing behind her with his arms folded into his sleeves and with a slight frown on his face. She smiled at him before asking, "So what's the plan now? I assume you have one already?"
Toushiro nodded at her before pulling his hands out of his sleeves. In his right hand he was clutching some sort of circuit board with a few wires spiralling off in different directions.
Rangiku raised her eyebrows at him, "What's that?"
"I'm afraid due to a... technical fault, the train has broken down and unfortunately wont be able to resume its journey for a little while," Toushiro replied with his perfect poker face. Rangiku was certain she saw the corner of his lips tug up slightly in a smile. Who would have thought he would enjoy being such a vandal.
Rangiku smirked back at him, "That is very unfortunate indeed."
Toushiro turned his back on her and began walking towards the back of the train. He stopped just short of the edge and raised his palm muttering some sort of complex kido spell. Rangiku felt the spell peak and recognized it as a high level kido barrier. Toushiro flicked his wrist and a barrier sprung up two metres away from the train stretching from wall to wall and floor to ceiling.
"Are you sealing the train in?" Rangiku enquired.
"Yes. I don't want to risk any Hollows attacking the train while we're not around," he stepped around her and began walking towards the front of the train but paused when he heard a grinding noise coming from below. They poked their faces over the side of the train and saw that the humans had slid open the emergency door and were peering out onto the track. "Or letting any of the humans wonder around down here."
Rangiku nodded her agreement "Its for their own good."
"Come Rangiku, I want as much distance as possible between us and this train before we engage that pack of Hollows. You can be certain once they sense the train has stopped they will make a beeline for it."
Toushiro made sure the train was several metres behind them before he turned on the spot and created another kido barrier, essentially blocking off this portion of the tunnel. He were confident it would be strong enough to keep the humans in and the Hollows out.
"Right lets go, according to my readings the pack is about one mile ahead," with that said Toushiro flashed stepped away, Rangiku following him one step behind.
The Captains meeting as Ukitake had expected, had started out with each Captain giving the Head-Captain a brief report on the running of their squads. Everybody else had given their reports, except Toushiro who was occupied with his investigation. So now they were all listening politely as Soifon delivered the final report.
During the meeting Ukitake had been keeping a close eye on Shunsui, who held himself so still he could have easily passed himself off as a statue. Every now and then Ukitake noticed his eyes wondering to the doors, as if he was about to bolt any second. When Shunsui had been delivering his report, he'd done so in a dull monotonous voice which lacked his usual flair and a couple of times he'd stumbled over his words.
Ukitake was worried about him, he was acting so out of character lately. He was also worried about Nanao and the bruising he'd seen on her. What worried him the most though was Shunsui's reaction when he'd told him Nanao would be watching over Kotaro. The look of horror on his face had been alarming.
The Head-Captain cleared his throat and Ukitake returned his attention back to the meeting.
"Now onto the final topic for today," Yamamoto paused and glanced around the room ensuring everyone were paying attention, "I believe it is time we addressed the issue of squads Three, Five and Nine. Ideally I would like to fill the spaces with capable and trustworthy people and I request that each of you put forth any recommendations you may have. However I must note that thus far we have coped well despite the gaps in our rank and so I may consider disbanding those divisions altogether and having just the ten squads. That is only if we are unable to find the right candidates."
"What would you do with those divisions members and Lieutenants if the squads were disbanded?" Komamura asked.
"Naturally we would share the squad members out amongst the other squads, as for the Lieutenants," The Head-Captain opened his eyes slightly, his heavy gaze falling upon Ukitake, "Rest assured they will be offered a suitable placement, which brings me to another issue. Juushiro you have been without a Lieutenant for many many years now, I believe it is high time that position is filled."
"Head Captain-" Ukitake began to protest but was promptly cut off by Yamamoto.
They'd had this conversation many times before privately. It had taken him quite awhile to persuade his former Lieutenant, Kaien Shiba to take the position. He'd been a Captain for hundreds of years and one thing he'd learnt in that time was – it took time to find the right person for the job. It didn't help that he was incredibly picky when it came to his second in command, but he believed the right bond between Captain and Lieutenant was paramount to a happy, successful and harmonious division.
"Juushiro I'm giving you one month to find a Lieutenant, however if you haven't picked one in that time I shall assign a suitable person to the position."
"I believe I've mentioned an ideal candidate several times already, Head-Captain." Ukitake replied stubbornly.
"Hmm," Yamamoto switched his gaze from Ukitake to, "Captain Kuchiki."
"No," Captain Kuchiki replied in a frosty tone, "Absolutely not."
"Byakuya be reasonable," Ukitake realised he'd unintentionally raised his voice "She has proven herself several times that she is a strong and capable Shinigami. Is it fair to her that you keep holding her back from reaching her full potential?"
"I don't believe that is any of your business Ukitake," Kuchiki replied with his usual air of arrogance.
"She is in my squad and I'm her Captain, of course its my business."
"Enough!" Yamamoto slammed his wooden staff onto the hard floor, "Captain Kuchiki I'm aware of your opinion, however I'm over ruling you on this matter. I have to agree with Juushiro, its about time we allowed Miss Kuchiki the chance to reach her potential," the Head-Captain switched his gaze back to Ukitake, "Juushiro I expect the appropriate paperwork to be on my desk by the end of this week, provided Miss Kuchiki accepts the position."
"Yes Head-Captain," Ukitake replied feeling happy at the sudden change. He was pretty certain Rukia would accept his offer.
"Good, I believe that is all for today," Yamamoto slammed his staff on the floor one final time "Dismissed."
Ukitake turned to Shunsui but as soon as Yamamoto had dismissed them, Shunsui was already hurrying for the door.
"Shunsui," the Head-Captain called across the room, "I want a word-"
Before the Head-Captain could finish his sentence Shunsui had flashed away already.
"Shunsui!" Ukitake called after him, completely baffled by Shunsui's sudden departure.
"Juushiro, Retsu, I wish to speak with you both."
Ukitake turned to face Yamamoto and walked across the room to stand before him, Unohana joining him by his side. The Head-Captain waited while the rest of the room emptied before clearing his throat, "What's the deal with Shunsui, and how did he get those injuries?"
Ukitake deciding to keep quiet for now about his speculations on the matter, and just stick with the facts he knew, replied "We don't fully know what happened to him yet Head-Captain."
"Hmm," The Head-Captain peeked one eye open and peered at the two of them, "Why don't you tell me what you do know Juushiro."
"Its not much. Shunsui sent me a message requesting help and when I arrived at his quarters I found him in a pretty bad way," Ukitake paused and looked at the Head-Captain, who just gave a tiny nod for him to continue, "I sent for Retsu to come and check him over, his injuries seemed pretty severe. Naturally we asked him how he managed to get in such a state."
"And his answer was?" Yamamoto asked in his usual gravelly voice.
Ukitake shared a look with Unohana who prompted him to go on "He slipped."
The Head-Captain opened both of his eyes fully and looked between them before blowing air out his mouth in exasperation "That idiot. Couldn't he even be bothered to come up with a semi plausible excuse."
Ukitake sighed "Its all we could get out of him."
Beep Beep.
Yamamoto turned his gaze onto Unohana "Retsu, you tended to his injuries. Do the injuries match up to his excuse?"
"No Head-Captain," Unohana answered truthfully.
Beep Beep.
The Head-Captain closed his eyes obviously thinking over the information, "Very well. Juushiro, Retsu I shall leave the situation in your capable hands," Yamamoto sighed wearily, "Also while you're at it, I want you to find out why the Eighth hasn't handed in their quarterly budget form yet, it was due on my desk five days ago."
Beep Beep.
Ukitake's eyes narrowed, that didn't sound like Nanao at all. She would never be late with paperwork, especially with something as important as the monthly budget, "I'll ask Nanao about that. I'm sure its probably just been misplaced."
Beep Beep.
Yamamoto grunted at Ukitake's reply, "In fact while you're at it, find out why none of the Eighths paperwork has arrived here for the last four days."
Beep Beep.
"What! None at all?" Ukitake cut in sharply.
Beep Beep.
Yamamoto slammed his fist down hard on his arm rest "And what is that beeping noise?"
Beep Beep.
"Sounds like a tracker on a soul phone," Ukitake supplied, "Hey Toushiro can you still hear us?"
"Yes, sorry," Toushiro's voice crackled slightly over the open channel, "It seems Kurotsuchi may have forgotten to close the audio."
"Captain Hitsugaya," Yamamoto began, "How goes the investigation, can you give me an update on the situation?"
As Toushiro walked along the train tracks, heading in the direction of the pack of Hollows he quickly filled the Head-Captain in on their progress. He'd just finished telling him about sealing in the train full of humans. The whole time he'd kept a close eye on the tracker, they were barely thirty metres away from the pack now. But oddly enough neither Rangiku or himself had made a sighting yet.
"And now we are closing in on the group of Hollows, we should be engaging them within the next few minutes."
"Hmm, just as I expected, very quick work on your part," The Head-Captain was silent for a few moments, "Report back to me when you have dispatched the group of Hollows and we'll arrange an earlier return back to Soul Society for you."
Toushiro's phone began to beep erratically. According to the tracker they were at the location of the seven Hollows. Rangiku's phone was also going crazy, yet glancing around the tunnel the only occupants were themselves.
"Rangiku do you have a visual?" He called over his shoulder to Rangiku who'd been trailing behind him a few metres.
"Negative, but according to these readings they should be right on top of us."
Toushiro gripped Hyourimaru's handle and pulled it from its sheathe. He heard a scrape of metal and knew that Rangiku had done the same with Haineko. He backed up a few paces and bumped into Rangiku's back. As always she had his back, just like he would always have hers.
Both of their phones were beeping furiously away until the beeps dissolved into one long continuous alarm.
Where are they? He thought gritting his teeth and slipping into his battle stance. He dropped his phone choosing to discard it in favour of an extra hand gripping the hilt of his sword.
The floor beneath his feet began to rumble, like an earthquake had just decided to strike. The walls were shaking and dust was floating down from the ceiling above. Both his and Rangiku's phones suddenly fell quiet, he was just about to turn to her when the walls either side of them and the ceiling above suddenly exploded, pelting them with large chunks of concrete and bricks.
Choking on the dust cloud, he peered through the gloom to see six large menacing Hollows surrounding them on all sides, glaring back at them.
"Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyourimaru!"
"Growl, Haineko!"
There was a tiny moment of absolute silence, before one of the Hollows shrieked. The other five followed up with equally deafening roars.
Then all at once, they jumped Toushiro and Rangiku.