CH 14
"Waaaah~," Mashiro yelled excitedly. "Nao-chan this is fun!" The green-haired Vaizard's arm hung limply in the air encircled by fire, almost as if she were a marionette. However, the rest of her ran around, sending a barrage of kicks and punches at Naoko. Her insect-like hollow mask reminded Naoko of a popular cartoon character…Ultraman, was it?
Naoko panted hard, leaping out of the way and sending another wave of blue fire towards her friend. The flames wrapped around Mashiro's other wrist. "Freeze!" Naoko ordered, only to receive a light punch in the face. "Bwah!" She stumbled backwards, shocked.
Mashiro also paused, a look of disbelief on her face. "Huh, I guess I need to let out a bit more reiatsu…" she mumbled to herself. "That punch was kinda weak." Green hair fanned out as Mashiro turned quickly. "Neh neh, Nao-chan, your bankai is stronger than this right?" She pouted childishly.
Naoko growled, releasing more reiatsu. She had heard that Mashiro could keep up her hollowfication for 15 hours nonstop. They had been fighting for 2 hours straight already, and while Naoko's endurance improved just by sparring with Mashiro alone, she really wanted to win for once.
The amber eyed Shinigami watched as Mashiro's movements became jerkier. "Woaaah, Nao-chan!" Mashiro squealed. Finally, her movements stopped, her arms frozen in place. Sweat dripped into Naoko's eyes as her breathing became heavier. Forget Kensei, Mashiro was the worst opponent Naoko could be paired against.
The two paused briefly before Mashiro took a deep breath. "Yosh!" she exclaimed. "Time to go all out! MASHIRO SUUUPER KIIIIIIICK!"
Naoko cursed again as she watched the blue flame sputter out, freeing Mashiro from their hold. She put her arms up in defense against the bright orange roundhouse flying her way. "Stupid, self-sacrificing girl," Kurokitsune screeched angrily. "Use me!"
"Better my arms than you, Kurokitsune," Naoko mumbled. "I can't fix you if you're broken as kodachi." Before the kick landed, Naoko yelled, "AH MASHIRO WHAT'S THAT", pointed to the side.
"ara?" Mashiro turned her head slightly in the direction Naoko was pointing.
Naoko quickly stepped back and grappled Mashiro's leg. Mashiro let out a shout as Naoko swiftly pulled her off balance and onto the ground, quickly straddling the vaizard's hips with her legs and drawing Kurokitsune's blades against her neck.
"Are we done now, Mashiro?" Naoko grunted, her eyes hard, yet exhausted. The Shinigami watched as Mashiro's eyes went from pure shock to watery pools of chocolate brown.
"WAAHH NAO-CHAN YOU PLAYED DIRTY! NO FAIIIIRR!" The green haired vaizard wailed as she rolled on the floor, tossing up dust everywhere.
Naoko let out a sigh and recalled her bankai. She felt drained and sore after the prolonged fight with Mashiro. The Shinigami flopped onto the floor and started healing herself with whatever reiatsu she had leftover as she tuned out Mashiro's whining. Naoko pulled a relieved smile at Hachigen who dragged the green haired woman away to buy lunch for everyone else.
Naoko's amber eyes scanned the room as she rested on the concrete, raising an eyebrow as Ichigo's exhausted pants filled the room as his arms and legs swung back and forth rapidly. His face was a mix of fatigue and apathy as he went through the repetitive motions. She sympathized with him as he stared jealously at her.
"Oi, Sakahone," a voice whispered behind her. Naoko jumped, startled, and turned to meet Yadomaru Lisa's intense, sapphire gaze.
"Yes, Yadomaru-san?" An uneasy feeling settled into the pit of Naoko's stomach Lisa approached.
"You and Kensei are intimate, right?" She pushed her glasses up her nose, sunlight glinting off the lenses insidiously.
"Uh, yes?"
"Tell me, Sakahone-san," Lisa said, linking her elbow with Naoko's as she pulled her over to the side. "Have you two ever done the '69' position? Like his tattoo?"
Naoko flushed bright scarlet. Lisa smirked. "Eeh, you both are pretty vanilla, I take it?"
Naoko's face turned a darker red, her ears also taking on a pinkish hue. This was enough of an answer for Lisa. "Let me show you something," the Vaizard said, pulling out a pornographic magazine.
As Lisa flipped through the pages, Naoko's eyes widened as she felt her face get hotter and hotter. "Wait how does that work … he put that where?! … you can't put that in your mouth! ...Is that position even possible? Oh wow it is…." She muttered softly in horror and confusion.
"Lisa, you're the one on duty this week, right?" Naoko heard Kensei call out. "Make sure you keep a strict watch on that Shinigami guy, alright?"
Lisa replied without looking up, "I'm doin' it, so shut up."
Kensei looked up to see Lisa and Naoko looking at the magazine together. He saw Naoko's face frozen in shock as Lisa continued to defile the Shinigami's mind with raunchy pictures.
"The hell you are! The only thing you're looking at is a porn mag!" he yelled angrily.
"Shut up, go away, you're ruining it…" Lisa deadpanned.
Kensei rose and strode over to Naoko, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her away from Lisa. "She didn't show you anything weird, did she?" he demanded, veins bulging out of his neck and forehead. Large, strong, hands gripped her shoulders firmly, forcing her to face him. Naoko looked up at him, seeing his eyes narrowing suspiciously. She could see from the set of his square jaw that he was also gritting his teeth angrily. A picture from the magazine flashed in Naoko's mind, only instead of the models, it was her and Kensei. The mental image made Naoko blush brightly again as she hid her face in her hands.
Kensei groaned, "oh no" as he palmed his face in exasperation. "Dammit Lisa! Look what you did!" he yelled again.
"Whatever," Lisa shot back, waving her hand dismissively.
Kensei continued to yell at Lisa for being irresponsible, while she half-heartedly chanted 'one-two, one-two' at Ichigo as some sort of motivation.
Naoko rubbed her eyes, hoping to wash the horrifyingly perverted images seared into her memory. A faint buzzing could be heard from inside her shihakusho. "Ah!" Naoko yelped, reaching into her robes to grab her cell phone. "Yes, this is Sakahone!"
"Naoko-san, it's Shuuhei," the muffled, static filled voice said. "where are you? I can barely hear your voice."
"Oh sorry! I'm in an area with really bad reception! Give me a minute!" Naoko exclaimed, waving farewell to the group of Vaizards. She smiled as Kensei placed a small kiss on her forehead before sending her off with a playful slap on her rear. Before she stepped out of the warehouse, Naoko could hear a CRASH and Ichigo yelling about how stupid the Super Hiyori Walker was.
"Naoko-san, what was that!?"
"Nothing, nothing, Shuuhei-san!" Naoko sweat a bit, alarmed that he had heard the noise even through the interference that the barrier around the warehouse had created. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"
"Ahh, nothing urgent, but I'm going to need you to come back to the 9th," Shuuhei said, his tone a bit bashful. "I've been falling behind on our paperwork, what with this month's newsletter coming out and all…"
Naoko sighed lightly. Shuuhei had always been in charge of the newsletter, but seemed to forget about the administrative aspects of running the division in the absence of a captain in his pursuit of normalcy.
"And what about my assignment in Karakura town, Shuuhei-san?" Naoko shifted her weight to one hip and tousled her long hair in slight annoyance. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows on the cement as a cool breeze swept through, blowing strands of hair in front of her face.
"I got clearance for you to return tomorrow, the area should be safe enough with Hitsugaya-taichou and his team."
"Understood," Naoko replied, reluctance seeping into her tone. She hung up, snapping the cell phone shut in one hand. She sighed again, heavier, her shoulder slumping a bit. She felt Kensei come up behind her, his large hands grasping her waist and pulling her into his chest.
"You need to go back?" he asked, resting his chin on her head. He had overheard. Naoko could feel the vibrations of his voice rumble through his chest and into her back as she leaned into him.
"Yeah, fukutaichou needs help around the division," she answered.
"Hmph," Kensei huffed, amused. "100 years and you're still doing paperwork."
Naoko opened her mouth to reply before being interrupted by a loud yell. "OOIIIIiii, Kensei!" Shinji's voice rang out from behind them. "Get yer ass in here! We're starting the hollow submission now!"
Kensei turned his head and scratched his silver hair. "Ah shit," he grumbled. "This is gonna be a pain." Naoko turned around to face him, her face full of confusion. Cupping her face in his hand, he bent and pressed his lips against hers softly. "Go home and wait for me, I'll see you in an hour," he whispered huskily into her ear. Naoko shivered involuntarily as his warm breath ghosted over her skin, her abdomen clenching in eager anticipation at the implications of his words.
"mmh," she hummed and nodded her head slightly.
Kensei ran back into the warehouse as an enormous barrier went up around the building. The Shinigami stepped back to admire the intricacies of the spell and turned to return to her apartment.
The way back was uneventful, yet unsettling. Naoko, lost in her thoughts, felt a tingle up her spine as she trudged along the road as if she was being watched from the shadows. Much like the tension she had felt with Kensei before the Arrancar attack, this was another 'calm before the storm', and she absolutely hated it. There were many things she hated at the moment. She hated being unable to assist the vaizards and hated the governing body of Soul Society, those fat nobles behind their white screens, incapable of understanding the plight of the soldiers protecting them. Her frustration built up, bubbling angrily in her chest as she entered her small apartment. She let out an exhausted groan as she flopped face first onto the futon and kicked her feet into the thick padding to vent her ire. Naoko peeked at her clock, only 45 more minutes until Kensei promised to come. She let out another extended, aggravated groan.
Kensei knew this Kurosaki kid wasn't ready to have his hollow subdued yet. The 'Super Hiyori Walker' was not meant to help the kid, but rather it was a safeguard for everyone else who would have to beat the shit out of him later. Less reiatsu to start with meant a lower likelihood of anyone getting seriously hurt. "Hurt, huh," Kensei muttered to himself. He watched Rose pick up Ichigo and sling him over his shoulder like a sack of rice, following the other vaizards down below into their larger training space. Sitting in the circle around the barrier Hachigen put up around Ichigo, his mind wandered to Naoko, who he hoped would be waiting for him back at the apartment. Her training was going incredibly well, he recalled after watching her spar with Mashiro. But that was a no brainer, he told himself. She was smart. Maybe it was just the nature of her zanpakutou, which relied on stealth and deception, that helped her hone that gift.
Kensei's mind drifted further as time passed waiting on Ichigo's hollowfication to begin. He thought about the days when he was still captain of the 9th division, when he would specifically request Naoko to assist him with his work. The girl always had a smile on her face, her light amber eyes shining with an eagerness to excel and a professional maturity that he thanked the Spirit King for. Kensei huffed, maybe that's what set her apart from the other women he had to deal with, his eyes flicking to Lisa, Hiyori, and Mashiro.
I'm pretty damn sure it's not just her attitude and 'professionalism' that gets you all hot and bothered, Kensei, the hollow inside him sneered. His 'other side' flashed images before his eyes of Naoko naked, her face contorted in ecstasy. Kensei shook his head shortly, 'fuck off, you'
The hollow cackled and retreated into the corners of his mind. Kensei wouldn't deny it, Naoko was pretty in the past. But given a century she had blossomed into the alluring vixen that he saw glimpses of back in the day. Desire pooled into his stomach at the thought of seeing her tonight, but quickly disappeared as a loud explosion came from the inside of the barrier. His eyes snapped open in shock. The hollowfication was too soon.
"Here it comes," Shinji warned. They all stood, ready to fight, when Lisa came forward and volunteered to be the first to fight Ichigo. Kensei glanced at his watch, keeping time. They would all take 10 minutes each to fight the teenager, hopefully he would be able to get the hollow under control before they hit an hour.
Kensei watched coolly as Lisa fought hard against Ichigo. Dark brown eyes flicked back to the time, watching the minutes count down before he tagged in. At 3 minutes remaining, Kensei strode to the barrier. "Yo, Hachi", he called out. "Let me in!"
"Right", the large kidou master replied.
The minute the barrier opened, Kensei flash-stepped beside Lisa and elbowed Ichigo in the neck before she was seriously injured. "Time's up, switch!" he ordered.
Lisa retreated quickly to nurse her minor cuts and bruises.
Kensei took in the hollowfied teenager before him, the creature screeching bloody murder at him. "I'm Muguruma Kensei," he introduced himself as he twirled Tachikaze on one finger. "And I'm gonna kill you."