Is it possible? Have I actually updated this story after almost a year?
Sorry for such a long wait, but I finally got around finishing it. Now this is a very long chapter, over 3500 words. It was actually longer (over 5000 words), but I decided to break it down into two chapters. I would have split it into three, but I thought that you guys deserve more than just a cliffhanger.
So enjoy!
Chapter 29: Running Interference
"Damn it!" Hisana hissed as she punched the roof of the building she was standing on. "Where did Ichimaru go?" she had been trailing that squinty eyed bastard for a while, cautiously keeping her distance in the process. Only to lose his sorry ass the moment he dodged into an alley.
"Do you think he figured out that we were following him?" Ryu materialized over his soul reaper's shoulder.
"That can't be. I was more than careful." She shot back. But that wasn't totally impossible. Gin was a fukutaicho after all. If Hisana couldn't sneak up on Byakuya, what were the chances that she could track someone of the same rank? She then felt Ryu tugging at her hair.
"Hisana," he whispered. "A taicho is coming." Quickly, she ducked down and laid flat on the roof.
Who is it? She asked as Ryu clawed over to the edge.
"I think it the taicho from the tenth division." Hisana looked around and spotted the man as he passed by. Was he the reason that Ichimaru ran away? But why was he here in the first division? "Maybe he's here for a meeting or something
"There's only one way to find out." she got and began to follow the taicho, cautious keeping inward to avoid being spotted.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, you idiot!" the small spirit shouted into her ears and she moved swiftly between the buildings. "Following Gin Ichimaru is one thing. But following a taicho in an area that is off limits to low level soul reapers is just plain stupid, even by your standards!"
I know but… She said telepathically. Something big was going down in the Seireitei. And her gut was telling her that she needed to find out what it was. Not only for her sake, but for Byakuya's too. I have to know what is happening. The dragon sighed. He knew that once Hisana had made up her mind, nothing would be able to change her mind.
"Just make sure not to get caught." He said as he wrapped himself around her neck. "Because in case you've forgotten; I'm stuck with you for the rest of my life and I would rather not spend that time in a jail cell." Hisana gave a slight nod as the two continued to follow the taicho.
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Hisana could fell every pore of her body sweating as she sat under a window, waiting for the taicho meeting to begin. Though she had casted two Kidō spells that hid her reiatsu and manipulated the light around her to make invisible to the naked eye, she felt that someone was about to sneak up on her and catch her. Even Ryu, who usually was running his mouth, was unusually silent; afraid to even utter a single insult .Why wouldn't they be? After all, she was trespassing in the first division and eavesdropping on a confidential taichō meeting. Who knows what kind of punishment this infraction would carry? She could locked up for years or even executed.
Come on already! She thought as she pressed her legs close to her body. Just start already! She just wanted to find out what was happening and get out of here.
"WHAT THE FUCK, YOU OLD FART!" an individual roared as the sound of doors smashing into the walls echoed throughout the area. The shock was so great, Hisana felt as if her heart had jumped into her throat. "YOURE WASTING MY DAMN TIME JUST BECAUSE THREE OF YOUR SHITTY GUYS DIED ON A DAMN MISSION!"
"Kenpachi Zaraki," Hisana heard Kuchiki taichō call out. "Even a barbarian such yourself should be capable some respect to the sōtaichō. You may be new, but that is no excuse to act a fool."
"DON'T YOU LECTURE ME, YOU FUCKIN' BAG OF BONES! Slowly she rose her head slightly; just enough to get a good view of this Kenpachi Zaraki. Her taichō was certainly right about the barbarian part. With his tattered shihakushō, unruly hair and demonic facial expression, he looked more like a savaged beast than a taichō. Her taichō must have had nerves of steel to scold a beast that cleared towered over him.
"ENOUGH!" the old man said as he banged his staff on the floor. The air suddenly felt heavy as he erected such a powerful reiatsu. The force was too great, it had Hisana sinking to her knees.
Such a terrible reiatsu! She thought as her whole body trembled. It felt as if she was going to pass out at any moment.
"Keep it together, Hisana! You can't give up on me now!" Ryu whispered into her ears. "Remember, you're doing this for that stuck up bastard!" Hisana just gave a nod and she rose once more.
"I will not have the two of you bickering like children during our meeting!" the sōtaichō said. "We have much more pressing matters to discuss. As you are all aware of, three soul reapers from the first division were attacked, and two bodies were discovered in the Rukongai when backup forces arrived. A third body was discovered as forced advanced deeper into the Rukongai. The corpse was decapitated."
"And what of it!" this Zaraki man responded. "People die all the damn time! What the hell makes your goddamn division so goddamn special!?"
"Zaraki taichō," Unohana taichō as she threw him a glare. "The first division has just experienced a great tragedy. Please be a little more sympathetic." Her tone may have been as soft as usually, but it was that unsettling frown on her face that sent shivers down Hisana's back.
"This is more than just the death of three of our comrades." The sōtaichō said with a somber face as he faced the others. "There are signs that they were in the early stages of Hollowfication."
"Hollowfication!" many of the taichō shouted in union. Hisana didn't know what hollowfication was, but judging their distraught looks, she could only guess that it was not good.
"Sōtaichō," a petite woman stepped forward. "Could that accursed Urahara be behind this?"
"No need to jump to conclusions, Suì-Fēng." Captain Grab-ass said. "After all, Kisuke hadn't given us any trouble yet."
"Do not be so ignorant!" she shot back. "Or have you forgotten what happened to Hirako and the others? How that damn mad man turned then all into hollows!" the sōtaichō once again tapped his staff, silencing the room once more.
"There is no proof that Kisuke Urahara or any of his companions are responsible for this." Not noticing Suì-Fēng frowning. "But The Department of Research and Development did report that a hollow, grade Adjuchas, was within the vicinity when the attack occurred. Unfortunately, the hollow's reiatsu disappeared into the human world. If there is a hollow that could cause Hollowfication, then we must act immediately to neutralize the threat."
Holy Crap. Three soul reapers dead. Hollowfication. An Adjuchas that could turn others into hollows. No wonder Byakuya was more uptight than usual.
"It is urgent that we send out our forces to destroy. Therefore the following four divisions will be sending their fukutaichō and another seated officer to the human world in four days."
They were going to send the fukutaichō into the human world to hunt down that thing. That thing that just killed three soul reaper. Then a horrible realization popped into her head. What if… Her hands began to tremble. What if Byakuya is one of them?
"The third division," The sōtaichō began.
Don't say the sixth… Hisana thought.
"The fifth division,"
Please don't say the sixth….
"The thirteen division,"
Please, please don't say the sixth….
"And the sixth division." Hisana fell to her knees as a grasp nearly escaped her lips. It felt as someone was squeezing the air out of her lungs. She could bare to listen anymore, she just needed to get away. She stood up and quickly ran away.
No… She shook her head as she ran. He can't go… he can't leave me! Hisana finally came to a stop as she reached the front gates of the first division.
"Hisana," Ryu appeared over her shoulder as she tried to catch her breath. "You shouldn't worry about Byakuya. He's pretty strong and I'm sure he'll be fine."
"You're wrong." she tightened her fist into a ball. "That hollow was able to kill three soul reapers from the first division. If they need to send four fukutaichō to take down one hollow, then you know that thing must be extremely strong. And I…I…" Her lower lip began to quiver. "I don't want to lose him to that beast."
"But what can you do?" Ryu nudged his head against her cheek. "It's not like you can stop."
"I know," she stood up straight. "But I can certainly stop Byakuya." she said as she raced off to the fourth division. She had a lot preparation to do in such a small amount of time.
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"Hisana…" Ryu said with a wary tone as the soul reaper was busy making rice balls. "I really think this is a bad idea." Normally, Ryu had no problem with Hisana cooking rice balls. It was one of the few times she was productive. But these were not just any rice balls. These rice balls were laced with a full bottle of medicine that Hisana had 'borrow' from Isane. Medicine that was designed to make the recipient as sick as a dog. And it just so happen that their intended recipient was to be Byakuya Kuchiki.
"What choice do I have?" Hisana said as she was making the last one. "I have to stop Byakuya from taking that mission somehow."
"Well, you can at least try to tell him not to go!"
"And admit that I was eavesdropping on a taicho meeting, which I may add, are confidential. That would just make him mad."
"And giving him a nasty case of the runs is a better alternative how?"
"Well um," she thought for a moment. "He won't know I did it. I'll just leave these on his desk. He'll eat them and get so sick that the taichō will have no choice but to exclude him from the mission. Do you have a problem with that?"
"I just assume that after that whole hollow incident, you weren't going to use anything that wasn't food on him again."
"Well, this is special circumstances. I'm only doing this out of concern for a friend and comrade. My intentions, though hasty, are entirely pure." Ryu just gave her doubtful stare. "Don't you give me that look, you stupid lizard!" she snapped back. "I only have three days to stop him from going to the human world and getting killed by some hollow. If that means I have to feed him a laxative laced rice ball in order to protect him, so be it."
"If you say so," Ryu leaped onto the counter. "You should definitely mention that to Byakuya when he's beating you into a coma." But instead of responding, Hisana shoved him over the edge.
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Hisana was walking to the sixth division while trying her hardest not to look suspicious. But it was difficult when she was walking around with a box in her hands.
Stay calm. She told herself. There was no reason why she should be nervous. The plan was simple. She knew that Byakuya usually had a rice ball or two as a midday snack. All Hisana had to do was find some way to lure him out of his office; Just long enough to switch out his rice balls with the ones Hisana had made. Since the medicine shouldn't take affect for a couple of hours, he would just assume that he had gotten some form of food poisoning from his lunch or dinner. Hopefully by the time that mission comes, Byakuya would be so sick and dehydrated that the taichō would force him to stay. Sure it wasn't the perfect plan, but at least it would keep him safe. Hisana was so deep in though that she didn't realize where she was going until she bumped into someone.
"Watch where the hell you're going, you brat!" someone shouted as he knocked her down. She looked up to see a couple of punks from the 11th division.
"Sorry," she said dryly. She was on a tight schedule and didn't have time to deal with these two dimwits at the moment. But as she reached for the box, the second idiot with the Mohawk snatched it up.
"What do we have here?" he popped the box open to reveal the rice ball.
"Those are mine, you dumb bastard!" she tried to retrieve the rice balls, but she was pushed back.
"Not anymore girlie." They pulled a rice ball the box.
"If you don't hand them over, I'll …"
"You'll what?" The bigger said as he puffed out his chest. "Are you gonna beat us up, little girl?" ".
"As if someone from squad 6 could take us down!" the idiot with Mohawk laughed. "I bet she's a shitty fighter, just like that old ass taichō of hers!"
"Or how about that girlie boy fukutaicho!" Hisana clenched her fist. How dare these stupid gorillas insult Byakuya. Sure, she would insult him on a daily basis. But that is because she earned the right to talk crap to him.
"You know what," Hisana calmly said as she turn the other way. "Help yourselves." And with that she took her leave.
"Great." Ryu said. "Now you have to come up with another plan."
Well, at least this one didn't go completely to waste. She thought with a smirk on her face.
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"What are you doing now?" Hisana's Zanpakutō asked as she was busy setting up her latest scheme at the top of the stairs.
"What does it look like?" she snapped back as she was putting the finishing touch on her trip rope trap. "I just going to trip Byakuya."
"Down two flight of stairs? Tell me, do you want Byakuya to kill you?"
"Well, how else am I supposed to stop him from being assigned that mission to the human world?"
"So instead of protecting Byakuya, now we're trying to kill him?"
"No dumbass!" she shouted. "Listen, this fall will merely injure Byakuya. Hopefully this will only break a bone or two. Isane said that fractured bones takes about four days to mend completely. That means he will be out of commission until after the mission had been assigned. Do you understand now?"
"I understand that you're a moron with a death wish." Ryu said as Hisana threw him a hard glare. But even Hisana had to admit that this plan was more barbaric than just getting him sick. But Hisana had only two days to prevent him from taking such a dangerous assignment. She could longer go with her original plan of just feeding tainted rice balls. If Byakuya was to get sick at the same time as those dumbasses from the 11th division, it would only be a matter of time before they were able to trace the rice balls back to her. But before she could retort, she could feel Byakuya's reiatsu approaching her. Swiftly, she dodged behind the adjacent wall and hid. She waited quietly as the footsteps grew closer.
"Umm Hisana…" Ryu tried to interject, but he was hushed by the girl. Hisana saw a foot and pulled on the rope. The individual came crashing down to the floor and began to tumble down the stairs. She listened closely until she heard them slam onto the floor.
"Did I get him?" she asked as she stood up.
"Yep." Ryu said vacantly as he crawled to the edge. "You successful incapacitated the third seat Saburo Hayashi. And look, you even got the fourth seat Haruka Bunya when she was coming up the stairs."
"What!" she said as she leaned over the rail to see the two unconscious soul reapers laying at the base of stairs. "How could I miss!?"
"I tried to tell you, Byakuya turned into another hallway as soon as you ran for cover." others soul reapers had emerged to aid their fallen comrades.
"Crap." Hisana quickly cut the rope and ran away before she could get caught.
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"I know I've said this to you many times before," Ryu said as Hisana made her way to Byakuya's office in the early hours of the day. "But this has got to be the stupidest plan that you have ever thought of! I mean, stealing Byakuya's Zanpakutō! Are you out of your damn mind?!"
"What other choice do I have?" Hisana had tried everything to keep Byakuya here, but nothing has worked. She couldn't get him sick and after the whole staircase fiasco, she couldn't injury him without it looking rather suspicious. She knew that stealing the Zanpakutō of her fukutaichō wasn't the wisest idea she had. Hell, this was probably the worst plan she had ever come up with. But at this point, she was desperate. She had a little more than 24 hours to do something that would prevent Byakuya from going to the human world. And disarming him was the only thing she could think of. Sure, Byakuya was probably going to give her a good lecture/beating and he probably wouldn't speak to her for months. But it had to be done. She couldn't risk losing another person she cared about. With that driving her determination, Hisana picked up a large stone and without giving it a second thought, she hurled it through Byakuya's window. As she heard the glass shattered, she rushed to the window on the other side of the building. She peered through in to see that Byakuya has left momentary to investigate the window. Quickly she jumped inside and took his Zanpakutō that was leaning against his desk before she dashed outside.
"What's the plan now?" Ryu asked as she bolted through the Seireitei.
"I don't know." She looked down at the sword, wondering what she could do with it. She couldn't hide it at her place for that would be literally the first place Byakuya would look. She could probably chuck it into that pit, but Byakuya would probably make her dig through the trash to retrieve it. She did not have the time to bury it and she couldn't hide outside the Seireitei as that area was off limits for the time being. She could throw it into the koi pond of the thirteen division. The pond was practically a lake. It was big and deep, it would take days before Byakuya could find it. And there would be no way that he would be able to pin it on her.
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"Hisana," Ryu anxiously said as they stood in front of the lake. "Are you sure you wait to do this? I can hear Senbozakura and let me tell you; she is very pissed off that some smelly commoner is handling her."
"Yes." She said as she tightened her grip on the Zanpakutō. She wanted to… No, she needed to protect Byakuya at all cost. It was the least she could do for him. She lifted his Zanpakutō over her head. "This is for your own good, Byakuya!" but as she was throwing it, she felt the sword being pulled away. Suddenly she felt something smacking her in the head. "Ow!" she cried as she rubbed her head.
"What on earth do you think are doing, Tsumura?" Hisana looked up to see her fukutaicho staring down at her; his eyes burning with anger.
"Byakuya!" she quickly stood up straight. "I can explain…"
"Save your excuses for someone else, Tsumura!" he snapped back as Hisana casted her glance downward. "I specifically told you to stay out of trouble. And from the looks of it, it seems that you did not follow my orders. You are quite fortunate that I have no evidence to link you to the 3rd and 4th seats' accidental fall."
"I'm sorry Byakuya."
"Do not apologize if you are not sincere about It." he said as he place his Zanpakutō on his hip. "I'm leaving for an important assignment tonight and I would like to leave knowing that you can behave yourself for more than a few hours."
Tonight! This mission wasn't supposed to be assigned until tomorrow morning. Whatever Hisana was going to go, it had to be done now.
"Byakuya, wait!" she said, stopping the soul reaper in his tracks.
"What is it now, Tsumura?" he said as he turned towards Hisana again. Hisana tried to find the right thing to say to him. But there was so much Hisana wanted to say.
That she knew about the assignment. That it would be dangerous. That he needed to stay in the Seireitei where it was safe. But most importantly, that she admired him, much more than he would ever know, and he needed to stay alive for her sake. But no matter how hard she tried, those words would die before they could reach her lips. Even now, when Byakuya's life depended on it, her accursed stubbornness had once again got the best of her.
"I'm sorry." Was all she could say as she lowered head to avoid looking at Byakuya. The only man who had gone out of his way to help her. The man she had just let go to his death. Byakuya simply responded with a heavy sigh as he flashed stepped away. As she looked up to watch him go, she felt a single tear run down her left cheek. This moment reminded her of when she abandoned her baby sister in the Rukongai. As she looked out into the distance, she wondered. Just like with Rukia, would this also be the last time she would see Byakuya again.
A/N: So there you have it! Bet you guys are thinking "Great, see you next year."
Well, like I said, I split the original chapter up into two parts. SO that means that the next chapter is just about ready. Just gonna give it a couple more tweaks and it should be out by April 1(No, this is not an April fools joke, I'm serious). I promise!
