I apologize for not updating any sooner but a lot of stuff has been clogging up my life, namely school and my mother. Yeah, don't ask. But here it is. We're going to get out of Soul Society now and get on to some new arcs.
Enjoy!
Chapter 26
Kaito Gets Drunk
A new day had dawned upon Seireitei
The sun shone beautifully, the fluffy wisps of clouds artistically decorated the vibrant blue sky, and the wind blew with a ting of sweetness through the streets.
The Captain-Commander, in his old age, liked to take in the small moments of false serenity and appreciate them to the full, even it did only last a few blissful seconds.
He brought an aged yet strong hand up to his bare head and massaged the side of his temples. The last few days had been quite trying to say the least, so much had happened in such little time, and it was up to him as the leader of Seireitei to deal with it.
In his younger years, he might have moved a bit more smoothly, but now he felt the grim feeling of age upon his bones. True, he made a point to keep himself physically fit, and his mind sharp, but those aspects could not keep him safe from time.
The elderly shinigami took in a long breath of air, then calmly let it out.
He could still feel his newest scar tingling on his body. His mind wandered out to his battle with the former Commander of Seireitei's black operations.
Never before had someone like Kuroda stepped into the walls of Seireitei, since the Captain Commander himself had come as a young man. From the day they met, the Captain Commander could tell that Kuroda would be special, and he had been right.
The young man had started out as a seated member and worked his way up quickly through the ranks of his division, soon becoming a Lieutenant.
Many believed correctly that soon he'd be given command of a division himself. No one however, could have guessed that he'd be pushed into the black ops division.
Much less that he'd become its Commander in less than a year.
The Commander before Kuroda had died due to, unusual circumstances, as had nearly half the division on the same day. The Captain Commander had never asked Kuroda what had happened that day, though he suspected the worst.
Thinking of the man brought the elderly shinigami to the present, remembering the thing that needed to be done.
"Chojiro!" he called out,
"Yes sir?"
"Call for the Captains to come to our barracks, we have a meeting," he ordered,
"Yes sir!"
"And call for Kuroda Ryou as well," he added, "We have much to discuss with that one."
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Kuroda would very much like to go to a meeting, even if it was with the Gotei 13 Captains, and even if the Captain Commander himself would be there.
Yes, he would like to go.
If he wasn't still tied down!
Though, he supposed things could have been worse. Yoruichi still had yet to wake up from "taking advantage" of him. Her head was still snuggled against his shoulder, her breaths and the sound of her heart rather calming given his current situation.
To pass the time, he tried thinking of other things.
Such as where he'd get a new shirt
He was in fact naked from the waste up at the moment, save for the many bandages wrapped around his body, as his old shirt had been torn to shreds in his battle against Kenpachi. His cloak was still in relatively good shape amazingly enough, and his pants were nearly completely untouched, thank goodness for that.
Maybe there was still something in his old room at the Black Ops division, from what Rajin had told him before, his things had been left relatively untouched, or he could just buy something new. Then again, not a lot of places had clothing in his style.
His thoughts were interrupted by a small stir from the one sharing his bed. Yoruichi gave a small grunt as she opened her eyes.
She rubbed them a bit, then looked up at her victim.
An amused smile spread across her face, "morning,"
"Morning," he replied, "sleep well?"
"All things considered, yes, I slept very well," she answered, trailing a finger down his arm, "maybe you should get put in the hospital more often, you're very good at warming up a bed."
Kuroda rolled his eyes and didn't respond.
Yoruichi giggled, "you're not very good at pillow talk,"
Kuroda let out a groan of annoyance.
"Oh I see, you prefer to go right to the action," she continued, "I can do that to."
Her finger suddenly began trailing lower,
Kuroda's eyes widened in alarm
Thankfully, there was a knock on the door.
Yoruichi had enough sense to roll off the bed and sit down on one of the chairs before the door was opened.
Captain Unohana walked in, a bright smile on her face.
"Good morning Kuroda," she said sweetly, "and good morning to you as well Yoruichi,"
"Morning Unohana," replied the purple haired woman, "I just thought I'd check up on Kuroda early, why are you here?"
"I'm here to see if Kuroda has made any progress in his recovery," she replied, walking over to the side of Kuroda's bed, "how are you feeling today?"
"Fine," he replied, "can I go now?"
"Perhaps, let me just see how your injuries are doing," she said, the Captain of the 4th began to unwrap the bloody bandages that had been used to mend the man's wounds.
She took her time in examining each cut, using her well trained eyes to tell as to whether it need more time to close up, if it was infected, and if it would scar.
"It seems that all of your wounds have healed well, though many of them have turned to scars, unfortunately," she said, "if you like, I can try and remove-"
"That won't be necessary," he interrupted, "just untie me and let me go,"
"As you wish,"
Kuroda's straps were promptly removed from his limbs and Unohana gave him the go ahead to leave the hospital, she even gave him a spare standard shinigami top for him to wear, much to Yoruichi's disappointment. As to whether she was disappointed that she'd no longer get to see him without a shirt, or that he'd no longer be walking around without a shirt, he didn't know.
Kuroda put the feudal Japanese style shirt on, it was a bit too floppy for his taste but it would suffice for now.
"So," said Yoruichi as they exited the room and began to walk down the hallway, "what are you going to do now?"
"I don't know," he replied,
"That's no like you at all, usually you have everything planned out,"
"I'm sure something will happen to me today," he explained, "I just have to wait for it to happen."
"The food here is crap!" they suddenly heard, followed by the sound of breaking plates,
The two looked down the adjacent hall to see two men, most likely from the 11th division, shouting at one of the 4th division members.
"I-I'm sorry," said the 4th division member, "but t-this is the only food we have, please don't hurt me!"
"What? I don't believe that, can't you weaklings even cook decent food?"
"Yeah," said the other, "we were injured in battle! We're heros! You'd better start treating us better, or we'll-"
"Is there a problem here?"
The two 11th division members turned away from terrorizing the young 4th division member, to see Kuroda standing just behind them.
"Butt out, this isn't your business!" growled one of them,
"Yeah, best make trails unless you want to end up back in your room!" said his friend,
Kuroda remained silent and simply glared at them with his devil like eyes.
There was sudden unexplainable spike of fear in both men as this newcomer's stare pierced their reserves of bravery.
"H-hey! Say something!" one of them demanded shakily,
Kuroda's eyes narrowed dangerously,
The fear was quite evident with both men as their knees threatened to give way.
"Maybe you should apologize to the little one," suggested Kuroda, "after all, you are in this division's care. Though, despite their great prowess in healing, some of the patients that have stayed at the 4th division in the past have unfortunately, died"
The two men hugged each other and squealed,
"We're sorry!" they both screamed as they ran down back the hall and into their rooms.
Kuroda, satisfied that those two wouldn't cause any more trouble, turned his attention to the 4th division member on the ground.
"Uh…thank you very much sir!"
"You're welcome," replied Kuroda, without another word, he spun on his heel and returned to making his way to the exit, Yoruichi just behind him.
"Who was that?" asked the 4th division member,
"A very trouble man,"
"Ah!"
"Are you alright 7th seat Yamada?" asked Captain Unohana,
"Uh, yes! Thank you Captain,"
Hanataro began to clean up the mess, Unohana on the other hand stared off after Kuroda.
What did his arrival signal she wondered, for a man who was a servant of death left only calamity in his wake.
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"Never thought I'd see you play hero," teased Yoruichi,
"I wasn't, I just hate idiots," he corrected dryly, not even turning to face her.
"If you say so,"
"I do,"
Yoruichi smiled, "you know, despite what you are, you're a very bad liar."
Kuroda chose not to respond, instead picking up the pace a little, even if he didn't have a clear idea on where he was going.
As the two continued walking in some random direction, Kuroda's mind eventually began listing off the things that he should probably get around to.
Talking to Ichigo for instance, he had a great deal to discuss with the kid. The only reason he had waited for a couple of days was because he wanted to give the hero a break after going through so much in only a week.
Then there was his own issues, one of his bands had been cut off in his duel with Yamamoto. At the moment he improvised a third seal by wrapping the broken seal in a crude knot around his arm in addition to the still functional ones. It seemed to be working so far, though there was a notable leak in the patch work system. He could always ask that creepy 12th division captain to help him but, Kuroda didn't exactly trust the mad man. If anything, he'd probably take the bands off to study Kuroda's reaction.
The ex-commander sighed, why did life have to be so complicated?
"Hey, he's out!"
Kuroda heard the sound of two people dropping in behind them, he casually turned to face them.
"Glad to see you're out of that place Commander," smiled Rajin,
"Yeah, be a shame to lose you just when you got back," joked Kaito, the 3rd seat's eyes turned to Yoruichi, a devious twinkle lit in his eye, "so did you two share a room last night?"
"Kaito, stop right-"
"Sure did," replied Yoruichi,
"Oh, so you got into the Commander's bed while he was tied down and helpless, didn't know you two were into that kind of thing,"
"Kaito, that's disgusting," growled Kuroda, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation,
"I…agree," Rajin managed to push forth after ridding himself of some scarring images, "how about instead of talking about such vulgar topics, we do what we were supposed to do, Kaito."
"Fine, fine, buzz kill," grumbled the 3rd seat, "Commander, the old man has called a Captains meeting."
"Why are you telling me?" he asked, though he suspected he already knew the answer,
"The Captain Commander wants you to attend,"
Kuroda remained silent for a brief moment, mulling over the thought in his head
"I guess I shouldn't keep them waiting," he decided, "This was bound to happen eventually."
"Good luck sir," said Rajin,
"If you get attacked, we'll be there to back you up," assured Kaito,
Kuroda let a ghost of a smirk pass his lips before he began his journey to the 1st division barracks. When he was far enough away, Yoruichi asked the two shinigami, "you're not going to join him?"
"I've got prior arrangements that I have to fulfill," explained Rajin,
"Same here,"
Yoruichi let those words hang before realizing, "you two have dates."
Another pause before both admitted,
"Yeah,"
"Well, see ya!" Kaito disappeared in a flash of shunpo,
"Good bye," Rajin also disappeared,
Leaving Yoruichi by her lonesome self to laugh
"Men," she chuckled, "absolutely powerless to women."
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For none was that statement truer, then for Kaito.
The 3rd seat had run at top speed to meet his lovely date at the best cafe possible, after all, she did like to drink quite a bit. Just one of things he shared in common with her.
"Ah, The Happy Monkey, best place to get drunk, day or night," he said to himself as he caught view of the café.
He could recall the many times he'd met with friends at this café, both before and after he'd joined the Black Ops division. Kuroda had often reminded him on how the division looked down on needless alcohol consumption, but Kaito had always managed to slip around the Commander's gaze by waking up completely fine after every party, even the ones where he'd gotten ridiculously drunk.
Hang overs were like colds to him, they sucked, but they didn't stop him.
"Hello sir," greeted a hostess, "welcome to The Happy Monkey, how may I help you today?"
"I believe I have a reservation, under Kaito"
"Ah yes," said the hostess after scanning her books, "thank you for choosing us, your friend is already here! I'll take you to your booth."
The young hostess led the eager Kaito to his greatly anticipated date. Even though he'd gone on a date with the lovely lady twice before, he still felt giddy to meet her.
"Here you are sir, please enjoy your time with us," said the Hostess, opening the booth door for him,
"Thank you," he replied as she left,
Then, almost immediately rushed into the room,
"Hey there sexy," he said with an almost animalistic growl, "did you miss me?"
"Heh, considering I got the first copy of the calendar we made of you, I managed to survive,"
Rangiku giggled girlishly at her own joke, Kaito laughed as well.
"You compare me to a couple of pictures? I'm hurt," he said with feigned and over exaggerated sadness as he entered the room, "wouldn't you prefer the real me dear Rangiku?"
"Well," she pondered, her eyes gaining a playful twinkle, "there are certain things I can do with the real you that I can't with pictures."
Kaito blushed till his face was near cherry red, though unlike his commander, he blushed out of excitement instead of actual embarrassment.
"Come on now," she said, pouring a cup of sake, "get in here and have a drink with me,"
"Yes ma'am!" Kaito quickly walked in and sat down at the table and quickly downed the first cup of sake.
Rangiku poured herself a cup of sake and down the fiery liquid just as fast.
"Ah! Nothing like a good drink after a hard day of work," she said,
"What work? Don't you always skip out on the stuff your Captain gives you?" Kaito pointed out with a chuckle,
"Hey, last I heard you weren't exactly employee of the month either!" she reminded him,
"I guess not, I like having fun too much!" he laughed, then downed another glass.
Rangiku laughed along, "but since your boss is back, aren't you worried you'll have less time to drink?"
"Eh? Whatch ya talking about?"
"That guy," she replied
"With the black hair" she stroked her hair
"Angry eyes" she pushed down her eyebrows
"And big frown," she pushed her lips into an exaggerated frown
"HAHAHAHA!" roared Kaito as he looked at the woman's imitation of the Commander, "stop it! Stop it!"
"Nah, I'm not too worried," replied Kaito when he managed to get over the sight, "wait, how'd you know he was my boss?"
"I guessed," she admitted after drinking another cup, "you know, I've known you for a while now and I still don't know what you do."
"Uh…well, I'm a shinigami like you, what else do you need to know?" he asked,
"But you never tell me what division you're from," she whined cutely, while subtly shifting her robes around a little "can't you even give me a little hint?"
"Uh…" Kaito was a little too distracted looking at Rangiku's…well, ya know,
"Just one, little, tiny hint?" she pleaded, loosening her robes a little more with each word and leaning farther and farther over the table.
"Uh…"
Rangiku smirked. She really liked Kaito, she really did. But they'd honestly known each other for many years, and been dating for half the time. Never once had he disclosed what division he belonged to. Of course, despite what most believed, Rangiku was not stupid. She was in fact, quite bright. She knew that if Kaito would tell her, it meant that he was in something super-secret, and naturally she just had to find out.
She had no problems using her feminine wiles to get what she wanted. Problem was that Kaito, though not resistant to her in the least, still managed to stop himself and get a nice show at the same time. It was a bit infuriating, but kind of fun.
Kaito shook himself,
"that's not going to work on me" he chuckled, proud that he'd resisted and gotten to see more of the lovely Rangiku than any other man had.
"Not good enough," Rangiku said adamantly, she reached over the table and grabbed Kaito by the collar of his shirt, then stared directly into his eyes, "we're going to drink until your drunk enough to tell me!"
Kaito's eyes naturally drifted down and settled on Rangiku's…cleavage…again.
As such, he was entirely paying attention.
"Okay," he mumbled while still staring, "hey want to see something cool?"
Kaito pulled away and grabbed the entire bottle of remaining sake, then without warning, chugged the entire contents of the bottle down.
"Whoa, that was awesome!" said Rangiku, completely forgetting about her earlier promise, "I bet I can do the same in half the time!"
"You're on!"
The two ordered another couple bottles of sake,
"Ready"
Rangiku lifted the bottle to her lips,"
"Go!"
She lifted it high and began gulping down the wonderful drink until the whole bottle was empty.
"AH!" she let out as she wiped the residue liquid from her lips,
"Not bad, but it took you twice as long," Kaito pointed out cockily,
"Nu uh! You're bottle was only half full!" she accused,
"Oh yeah," Kaito snatched a full bottle, "then I'll prove it with this!"
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Kuroda was not the least bit happy. Why? Because he was going to the 1st division barracks for a meeting, and he wanted nothing more than to stay as far away from the damnable place as possible. The closest he'd wanted to get was his own division's barracks and even that was pushing it.
Still, this needed to be done.
As the great gates of the 1st division's meeting room creaked open to let him in, he felt a small tingle of sentimentality inch its way up his spine.
He'd entered this room many times in the past, but never through the front door, and never as the subject of the meeting.
Taking a deep breath, he walked in and let the doors shut behind him.
"Welcome, Kuroda Ryou"
Welcome, huh?
Kuroda scanned the ranks of the Captains that had remained loyal to Soul Society, noticing some familiar faces in the crowd.
Chief among them being the unmistakable Sajin Komamura, it was impossible not to recognize him after their fight. His building like frame towered over all the other Captains. The only surprising thing was the Captain's face, it looked like a wolf's.
Kuroda took note of the Captain's peculiar trait and moved on.
The next he recognized was Mayuri Kurotsuchi, the Captain of the 12th squad. Kuroda still remembered the brilliant yet mad scientist from when Kisuke had recruited the criminal from the Maggots Nest, a maximum security prison under the jurisdiction of the 2nd squad.
Kuroda noticed that the man's choice of facial paint had not changed, nor the peculiar hats the man chose to wear.
Then, there was the Kenpachi, a tall muscular and frightening man. His spiked hair with bells on the tips and eye patch were defining characteristics. As were the many scars that crisscrossed his body.
Kuroda gave him a nod of acknowledgement, Kenpachi returned it with a respectful nod of his own.
Further down was someone Kuroda had not met before.
A young white haired boy, with eyes an incredible turquoise color and his face and demeanor was of that many years his elder. The young Captain had the youth of a boy just into his teens, yet the aura of a veteran leader.
Kuroda made a note to watch that one.
The next two were ones that Kuroda did not need to spend too much time on. Shunsui and Jushiro, both gave him a smile as he continued forward. Shunsui with his lazy lips and his hat pulled over his eyes and Jushiro with his childlike innocence in a big toothy grin.
Next he noticed the two female members of the group mainly made up of men.
Captain Unohana, her motherly face and kind eyes followed Kuroda. The exile had felt nothing but respect for the woman his whole life, though the Captain of a non-combat division, she herself was a master swordsman and a dangerous force on the field of battle. In addition, she could save just about anyone from the brink of death, no matter how deep the wound or how much blood had been lost, she always pulled through.
Then there was Captain Soi Fon, focused, deadly were the characteristics Kuroda saw in her. The deceptively small woman boasted speed that surpassed any of the Captains present, save for the Captain Commander himself. In addition, the woman had no qualms of fighting dirty or using tricks. One did not become Captain of the 2nd by fighting fairly or by being weak.
Last, but not least, was someone Kuroda had not seen for a long time. Kuchiki Byakuya, as proud as he was as a child, but considerably less angry, a nice change that came with time. The man seemed to be the personification of nobility, despite the many visible wounds, he held his head high and kept his eyes focused. The air around him seemed to reek of confidence.
Kuroda gave the man a respectful nod, the noble man returned after a brief moment of hesitation.
"I believe, you know what we have brought you here to discuss," said the Captain Commander,
"Aizen, correct?"
Kuroda noticed the young Captain Hitsugaya flinch at the mention of the name.
"Correct," affirmed the elder shinigami, "his betrayal was a shock to all of us. It would seem that you came to Soul Society for this very reason. I have called you here, so that you may inform us, just how long Aizen has been a traitor."
Kuroda snorted, much to the confusion of the Captains, "Aizen wasn't a traitor, because he was never loyal to Soul Society."
And so Kuroda told them the story of Sosuke Aizen, former Captain of the 5th division.
Flashback
Kuroda lay in a pool of his own blood, the life emptying from his very veins.
His breaths were shallow as his lungs desperately tried to find oxygen, his eyes began to darken as he slowly felt death coming for him. But above all, he felt something no one should have to feel before they died, hate.
Undying amounts of hate.
His eyes fell on his betrayer, Sosuke Aizen.
He had been the one to do this, he had been responsible for the disappearance of all those citizens of Rukongai, he had turned Kensei and Mashiro into hollows!
Now, Kuroda was paying for his lack of attention. He'd been given Hiyori to take care of after she'd fallen in battle. Normally he would force it upon Lisa, who was lower in rank than he, but Kuroda knew how much Hiyori meant to Kisuke. So he took it upon himself to protect the girl.
Only for her to turn on him, he could still feel the massive gash on his ribcage that she'd given to him.
Now, the entire team was down. Love, Rose, Kensei, Lisa, Hachi, Mashiro, and Hiyori. Only Shinji still stood and he was barely holding together.
'Is this where it ends?' Kuroda asked himself as he heard Aizen gloat over his victory,
"I'm surprised, since when have you known, Captain Hirako?"
"Since you were in yer mother's womb," a defeated Shinji replied weakly but with plenty of venom, "I always knew you weren't a man to be trusted, that's why I chose you as my Lieutenant"
Aizen smiled, "indeed, I'm most grateful to you. Because of your constant doubting, you never saw,"
"What are you talking about," growled Shinji,
"This entire month, it hasn't been me who was walking behind you," Shinji gasped, "I can make my enemies see whatever I want them to. That is the power of my zanpaktou, I like to refer to it as 'Absolute Hypnosis'"
"Hypnosis?"
"If only you'd acted like the other Captains, and reached out to me. Instead, you kept me at arm's length at all times, always distancing yourself from me, because you didn't trust. If you had formed a bond with me and gotten to know me better, then perhaps you would have seen through my illusion."
"Aizen," growled Shinji,
"Do you see now, Captain Hirako? You didn't choose me as your lieutenant so that you could keep an eye on me. I chose to be your lieutenant so that I could keep an eye on you. You're comrades lay on the ground, because of you."
"Bastard!" Shinji rose from the ground to cut down his traitorous lieutenant, and he would have if not for the sudden fountain of white liquid that spewed forth from every pore of his face.
"It seems the hollowfication is quickened with anger," observed Aizen, "thank you for becoming provoked."
Shinji screamed with pain as the process continued; the entire right side of his face completely covered in the viscous substance. Soon it began to form itself, creating teeth, eye sockets.
The screams continued.
Kuroda grabbed at the dirt, his hands balling up in anger.
The process had started for him as well. His left side was burning as the hollow liquid enveloped his face. It began to stick to his skin and meld it's way around his eyes.
He looked to Hiyori who stood up in a daze, the demonic hollow mask keeping Kuroda from seeing her face.
"Shin-ji," she whispered,
Aizen took note, "Kaname,"
"Yes Lord Aizen," the dark skinned shinigami unsheathed his sword,
"No!" cried out Shinji, another explosion of hollow liquid dropped him to his knees,
Kaname calmly walked to Kisuke's lieutenant, he raised his blade.
Then was tossed aside like a ragdoll.
"Interesting," commented Aizen,
Kuroda had dragged his sorry self up from the ground and smacked Kaname away with his left hand and took the still dazed Hiyori in his right, slinging her over his shoulder.
"Stay away from her," growled the Commander of Black Ops,
A burst of white fluid erupted from his face, Kuroda felt only pain, but ignored it completely. If a mask was beginning to form, there was certainly no indication that it was. For what covered his face was more like a parasite, covering his face entirely in a simple white sheet that made his likeness unrecognizable to any who gazed upon him.
Only the two eye sockets were the only true pieces of that made it a true mask.
Kuroda could only feel the fluid covering about 2/3rds of his face, most of his left cheek was untouched and his left eye was still not taken.
"You brave hollowfication to save that girl?" asked Aizen, "how touching, I did not think you so attached to your comrades."
Kuroda remained silent, mostly because he refused to talk more than because his mouth was now entirely covered.
"Or is it because, Captain Urahara cares for her?" Aizen smiled, "you are an interesting man, Kuroda Ryou."
Kuroda opened his mouth and let out a long and chilling breath, which through his mask, sounded like a low demonic hiss.
Aizen let out a small chuckle, "just another path to power for you, isn't it. At least this one didn't end in the death of a loved one."
Kuroda's eyes flashed with fury. Suddenly, all reason was abandoned, he dropped Hiyori to the ground and charged!
End of Flash back
"I think you know how the rest goes," ended Kuroda,
The hall was silent as the Captain's digested this new information. Aizen had broken the barrier between Hollow and Shinigami already and tested it on 8 of Soul Societies shinigami, Captains and Lieutenants no less.
And for a whole century, no one had thought to investigate the matter. No one had unearthed Aizen's treachery.
The Captain-Commander was the first to break silence
"This is…most disturbing,"
"Indeed," started Captain Kuchiki, "if Sosuke Aizen has indeed been a traitor-,"
"Enemy" corrected Kuroda
"An enemy all this time," repeated Byakuya ,"then there is no telling how many of our own troops are under his influence, or what he has already accomplished in the Hollow world of Hueco Mundo."
"It is already clear that he has made some pact with the Hollows," reminded Captain Ukitake, "the Gillian saved him at the Soukyoku Hill. Then there was that attack that knocked away Kuroda, it was definitely a cero."
"I agree," spoke the Captain Commander, "Kuroda, Aizen has already performed his experiments on you?"
"He has,"
"Will you show it to us?"
"No," Kuroda replied immediately, "if the power of hollowication were so easy for me, I would have used it against you in our fight. The others have tamed their hollows, but mine is not so easily produced. I only use it in the most extreme of emergencies."
"I see," said Yamamoto, "can you at least tell us it's effects?"
"It increases all physical aspects of the user, strength, speed, endurance, reiatsu, all of it is doubled at the very least," said Kuroda, "it also allows us to use some hollow abilities, such as cero."
"Hollowfication of shinigami," said Captain Kurotsuchi, his long fingers thoughtfully stroking his chin, "such an interesting idea, why didn't I think of it before?"
"Don't be so eager to attempt something you couldn't possibly begin to understand," growled Kuroda,
"What was that? You dare to assume that I couldn't replicate Aizen's experiments?" Kurotsuchi yelled indignantly, "All I need is one test subject and I can even improve on Aizen's work!"
"I'm not assuming, I know you couldn't replicate hollowfication," said Kuroda, "because not even Aizen could do it, until he gained one key tool, Kisuke Urahara's Hogyoku"
The mention of that object, sent shivers through the entire room, silencing all the Captains, save Kurotsuchi who was practically exploding with contained rage at being insulted so.
"Kisuke's Hogyoku is no laughing matter. I don't know the specifics, but it let Aizen transcend the barrier between hollow and shinigami. In addition, Kisuke told me that it could warp the very reality of our world, it creates the holders wishes. It is spirit energy given sentient life,"
"What's the worst that Aizen could do with it?" asked Captain Komamura,
"When I was still in the world of the living, I and Yoruich came upon a rouge Shinigami, with two Arrancar to do his bidding," reaccounted Kuroda, "after we had defeated them, a new Arrancar came out. He was more powerful than either of the previous two, enough to give most of you trouble. The rouge shinigami, said that his master had given him the power to create Arrancar by injecting reiatsu into hollows, thus speeding up their evolution."
Every Captain in the room seemed to tense when they realized what Kuroda was getting at.
"There is no doubt in my mind that the master was Aizen, at best, Aizen will use the Hogyoku to create an army of Arrancar, at worst, he'll use it to destroy all of Soul Society."
((#)%#()%^*)#(%^)#(%*_#%_#%&*_#%&_))(#%^*)#)
"Heeheehee! This is so much fun!" said Rangiku through slurred words as she downed another cup of sake.
"Sake makes you feel so good, I don't know why more people don't drink it more often," agreed Kaito through equally slurred words, though he was noticeably more composed,
"Oooh! My cheeks are so warm!" announced Rangiku as she touched her flushed cheeks with amazement,
Kaito reached over and put his hand to one of her cheeks, "Whoa! You're right! Why do you think it's, it's, uh….that way…with the…not being cold"
"Um…maybe…maybe I'm sick!" realized Rangiku,
"That makes sense," said Kaito, "let me check your head temperature!"
Immediately he pushed himself over the table and pressed his forehead against the woman's, she felt hot, she felt really hot.
"You're burning up!" he cried,
"What do we do! I don't want to get sick!" wailed Rangiku,
Kaito, wanting to help his dear big breasted goddess, searched his intoxicated mind for an answer that might help.
'Commander's mom, if there were ever a time you're lessons could help me, now is the time!'
You can lessen the chances of getting drunk by not skipping work and by not going to the bar!
'No, that doesn't help'
When performing field surgery, make sure you use clean tools and not you're zanpaktou, people tend to die when you do that!
'Come on, give me something here!"
I hear if you stick a sleeping man's hand in a cup of hot water, they'll wet the bed!
'Uh, maybe I'll try that on Rajin later,'
If you get sick, you should bundle up tight so that you can be as warm as possible. After that just get comfortable and rest.
'For the love of God, give something I can-hey, wait!'
"I heard that if you get sick, you should bundle up tight so that you can be as warm as possible," said Kaito,
"Oh, but all I have is this scarf," Rangiku cried, holding up her pink scarf,
"I've got an idea, how about you come over here and cuddle with me, we can share body heat!" suggested Kaito, "and, you'll be comfortable against my rock hard washboard abs!"
For emphasis he loosened his shirt and exposed his bare torso for her viewing pleasure, sticking it out a little for good measure.
Rangiku stared hungrily with stars in her eyes, she literally tumbled over the table and pushed herself against the god like body of her companion. She literally rubbed her cheeks against his body, and sinfully enjoyed every moment of it in the name of making herself healthy again.
"This is such a good idea," she said as she wrapped her right arm around Kaito's waist.
Kaito smiled to himself gleefully as his own hand found its way onto Rangiku's curvy side, "you can always rely on me sexy"
"I think I was trying to do something before, but I can't remember," said Rangiku, "something about…about…"
"Maybe you should drink more sake, it might help you remember,"
"Yosh, sake always helps!" she agreed, grabbing another cup,
"Those voices sound familiar," said a voice outside of their private booth,
The door slid open, revealing the Lieutenant of the 3rd division, Izuru Kira, and the Lieutenant of the 9th division, Shuhei Hisagi.
"Oh, Izuru, Shuhei!" called Kaito as Rangiku continued to rub her face into his chest, "long time no see! Come in! Have a drink, or two, or a dozen!"
"Party!" declared Rangiku,
"Party!"
(()#*%)#(%*(#*%)(#*%)#*%^)(#*%&()#%&)#%*)
"This threat, reaches far beyond anything I could have imagined," admitted the Captain-Commander,
Silence reigned in the meeting hall, the Captains, each of them, completely shocked by what they had learned.
"Let us, now move on to other matters," decided Yamamoto, "Aizen is not the only reason we have met here today. We are also here, to talk of the unofficial Substitute Shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki"
Kuroda tensed his hands,
"It is true that Ichigo Kurosaki, stopped what would have been an unjust execution of Rukia Kuchiki. But it is also true that he illegally entered Seireitei, attacked our Shinigami, and destroyed the sacred Soukyoku spear," the Captain Commander paused, "we must decide, on this Substitute's fate"
"Therefore," continued the elderly shinigami, "I propose-"
"Before you continue," interrupted Kuroda, "let me tell you this: If any, single one of you, raises you're blade against Ichigo Kurosaki, or any of the humans, who risked their lives so that this already tainted White City could regain some scrap of dignity, I will not hesitate to kill any of you."
There was a long pause as Kuroda's words hung in the air. Many looked upon him with shock, who was he, to threaten them so boldly and in the middle of a Captain's meeting no less. But then, some of them saw the deadly gave the he settled upon the room, it almost seemed as if he had already calculated on which one of them he should kill first.
"As I was saying," continued Yamamoto, "I propose, that we put this matter to a vote. Who among us, say that Ichigo Kurosaki, should be released of any charge?"
Suprisingly, the first hand to be raised was Byakuya's. Then came Captain Ukitake's and Captain Kyoraku raised theirs.
Kuroda's hand slowly crept to AnShen's pommel.
"You, advocate his innocence?" asked Sajin Komamura, his question directed at Kuroda,
"I do,"
"Then, I shall support him," decided the Captain of the 7th, then raised one furry paw,
Without a word, Captain Hitsugaya raised his hand next.
That made it Five out of Ten.
"I do like the kid," said Kenpachi, "why the hell not."
Then raised his hand
Six out of Ten
Then came Captain Unohana's hand and lastly, Captain Soi Fon.
"Then, it is decided," said Yamamoto, "Kurosaki Ichigo, shall be named an official part of Soul Society and be pardoned for his actions."
Kuroda's hand fell away from AnShen, to be honest, he was slightly disappointed.
"Now, we come to the final part of our meeting," announced the Captain Commander, "our ranks have been thinned, three of our Captains have left the Gotei 13. This is a problem that must be remedied as quickly as possible. But, there are not many Shinigami in Seireitei that are in a position to take the spot of Captain."
Kuroda wondered what this had to do with him.
"Kuroda Ryou, will you retake your place among the Gotei 13, as Commander of Black Operations?"
End
A/N
Well, I hope you at least somewhat enjoyed that chapter. It was kind of short, and not that much happened. I'm truly sorry if you were disappointed, but I have a lot happening right now. It really sucks being in a school where you can be considered below average for having a 3.0 GPA, I have a 3.83 and I'm struggling to keep it that way.
Anyway, don't expect another chapter for a while. Again, Sorry.
Also, I've updated my profile. Some of you might know that list of story ideas that I kept on my page, well I've thrown out a lot of them and put up new ones. I also created a poll to see which ones people like the best, so if you could go there and vote, I'd much appreciate it.
Also, I'd like to recommend a story:
Scarlet Symphony by X Prodigy
It's a very well written story and he has a deviant art page where you can see an actual drawing of his OC.
Speaking of which, OC submissions are still open.
I think that's all I wanted to say, yup. Bye.