Psychic Chick

Part One: Becoming a Shinigami

Chapter Thirty Six: Inquiry

Main POV

"Renji," I felt myself calling out. I couldn't remember what I'd been dreaming, just that it was important I see him. "Renji," I croaked and rolled over, trying to free myself from the tangle I was in. "Renji," I said sitting up and throwing the blankets off of me.

"I'm here," he replied. "Tina, I'm here."

"Sorry," I said as I sat up. "Weird dream, I can't remember it but I had to find you. It was important."

"Well," he said. "Mission accomplished."

"Where are we?" I asked looking around.

"Your uh, Bykakuya, asked for a private room for you. It's usually reserved for captains but considering the circumstances it was overlooked," Renji explained.

"Was that circumstance he's Captain of Squad 6 and head of the Kuchiki clan?" I asked.

"That and you survived getting your chest blown open and your arm shot off," Renji countered. "They figured you could use some private rest. Oh, and because of that, by the way, if I have my way you will never see another battle field as long as you live."

"Thanks," I rolled my eyes. "You know I didn't plan things that way. Also, I don't even want to be on a battlefield ever again either. But you don't always get to pick and chose your battles."

"Ugh," Renji slumped back in his chair.

"Don't give me that, I promised I wouldn't go looking for trouble without you. I mean, I was under the impression you'd be there today. It's not my fault all those weirdos with cloaks showed up." I poked his knee. "Come on, you can't be mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you, I'm never mad at you," he sighed. "I'm just mad at the situations you're always in."

"What can I say, the universe just wants me to die," I shrugged. "Ow!"

"What?" He jumped.

"My arm, when I moved it just now," I looked at my shoulder. "Ah, I guess I never did fully heal it. I was just so distracted with keeping the hits off everybody else I sort of just reattached it and moved on."

"It's pretty gnarly, although it's been bandaged and treated really well," Renji commented peaking below the bandages.

"Can you help me take these off?" I asked pulling at the bandages. "If I use my shikai it'll be fully healed in a jiffy."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," he replied. "You've already used that power a lot in such a short amount of time. It could be dangerous to push your ability too far."

"So you're saying I should just sit on this gnarly wound?" I replied.

"No," he shook his head seriously. "Sitting on it would hurt."

"I hate you," I punched his arm and then instantly regretted it. "FUCK."

"Just rest a couple of days and you can heal yourself once you've regenerated some more spiritual energy," he replied.

"I suppose it's a good idea," I sighed. "How's my chest?"

"I didn't look," he replied.

"What do you mean you didn't look?"

"It's improper! You were unconscious!" He threw his hands up.

"Yeah it's improper to just perv on me. You were supposed to check for wounds!" I rolled my eyes. "My shirt was blown completely open, how could you possibly have missed it?!"

"I averted my gaze like a gentleman!" He yelled back.

"Oh is that what you're calling it?! I could have died due to an unattended wound because you were being a gentleman!"

"I'm pretty sure someone in squad 4 would have picked up on you bleeding to death!"

"Oh and how many of them were gentleman?"

I heard a knock at the door and someone clearing their throat. I looked up and over to see Captain Hitsugaya leaning against the door frame and Rangiku standing to attention beside him. I smiled softly and took Renji's hand in mine.

"Hey," I greeted.

"Have your wounds healed?" Histugaya asked.

"As much as they can," I replied. "The rest of the healing will have to be done the natural way since no one will let me use my zanpakuto."

"You should have it back from lock up in a few weeks at most," he soothed.

"What?" I looked at him funny. "Lock up?"

"You didn't tell her?" Hitsuguya looked at Renji.

"She woke up less than 10 minutes ago, what was I supposed to say? 'Hi Tina it's been 10 days by the way they took your sword'." Renji threw his hands up, letting go of mine in the process.

"10 days?" I asked, looking around for conformation. "What happened?"

"After the battle you used up too much of something. We're unsure if it's spiritual energy, psychic abilities or both, either way, it took too much toll on you and you passed out. You were brought back here for treatment, as you'd already healed most of your injuries it was mostly just to treat the minor things and let you rest. After a day and a half we began to worry that you hadn't woken up. Lieutenant Abari hasn't left your side since. Although this time it's with the permission of his captain," Histugaya explained.

"Okay," I nodded. "Makes sense, but what about my zanpakuto?"

"Until we were able to confirm you weren't a fugitive or working with the rogues that broke into the seireitei security measures were put into effect," he replied. "The same that would have been done with anyone, it's not because of who you or your biological father is. I said a few weeks because you're not allowed to be questioned until you're fully recuperated and I don't know how well your recovery has been."

"How could anyone think I was with those guys? They were going to hurt all of you," I looked at him seriously. "He said 'You've served your purpose to the cause. It's out with you, and the rest of the hierarchy'. That's all you guys. You're all captains and lieutenants. I couldn't let that happen."

"It's because of that line," Histugaya replied. "'You've served your purpose' and 'Without you all of this couldn't have happened'. It puts an air of suspicion over you no matter how clean your actions were. Which is why it has to be properly investigated."

"I imagine that's probably why he said it," I commented. "They're probably up to something right now. He said so himself, with all the attention on me he was able to slip by unseen. If that's the case than putting more suspicion on me now he's dead leaves whoever's left the perfect cover to work under."

"I thought the same thing," Hitsugaya commented. "But you got one thing wrong. He's not dead."

"That's one tough S.O.B," I replied. "We dropped a pice of the sōkyoku on him. Although I can't say I'm disappointed. That guy tried to kill me and almost succeeded. It'll be nice to see him go to prison for it."

"It's astounding what you don't know about the legal system here," Renji commented.

"Anyhow," Hitsugaya said. "This isn't really a social call. I was sent to see if you'd woken up yet. And if you had I was to escort you to the Captains and Lieutenants meeting being held for your inquiry."

"Captains and Lieutenants?" I asked. "Shit, this must be serious."

"Quite," he nodded once. "It's not often the two groups meet together. But due to the nature of the invasion, it's best that this is the course of action we take."

"Do you not think that could be what was planned?" I asked. "Maybe I've seen one too many movies but, right after an invasion where there was threat of a coup and a target has been placed on all the high ranking officers' heads you want to hold a meeting putting all of those people in the one room. It just seems fishy."

"I agree," he nodded again. "Which is why I need you to stay on your toes. You're sharp Kiseki. If they're not going to listen to you then you need to prove whatever it is, is happening. And for that you need to be ahead of everyone else. You did it in high school, and you can do it now. You just have to be aware there are people thousands of years older than you and are much more intelligent that your run of the mill high school students."

"And you believe in me because?" I asked raising a brow.

"I don't believe you're working with your father, and I don't believe you should be treated like a criminal until you prove to be one," he reasoned. "If you are constantly treated like one, you may be encouraged to become one. If we want you to become one of us, we should treat you as one of us."

"You're way less the bad guy than I thought you were when we first met," I said. "No offence."

"Likewise."

"Order! There will be order!" I could hear the Head Captain yelling and banging his staff on the ground from all the way down the hall.

"Keep your cool Kiseki, there are several in there that would try to rile you. Don't let them ruffle your feathers," Hitsugaya warned as we approached the doors. He knocked loudly and waited for them to open. It was like he'd done it a thousand times before. Maybe he had.

"Kurodo Kiseki," I heard the Head Captain say as the doors opened up and I was ushered inside by Rangiku and Renji. They took their places by their respective Captains and I stood in the middle of the two sides. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

I stood with my head down. I knew this was coming. I didn't expect my little training mission to go completely overlooked, even if I had been given captaincy. But I also hadn't expected an invasion or my apparent 10 day coma.

"Well," the Head Captain interrupted my thoughts. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Uh," I looked up. "About which incident? Me hiding out in a cave for two weeks or the invasion where I almost died twice?"

"Do not think you can smart your way out of this, Kiseki, you are in a great deal of trouble," the Head Captain warned me.

"What do you want me to say?" I asked. "I get the feeling you want me to confess to planning this whole thing. I ran off after an argument with Captain Kuchiki and when I came back things were already in motion. But it's not like I just ran and hid from it. As soon as I saw what was happening I acted.
Well, actually I was blown up first. But once I healed myself I was given plenty of opportunity to run, but I didn't. Surely that proves I didn't have anything to do with it. Why would someone on the same side as me try and murder me?"

"As reports state the leader of this group of rogues said you had served your purpose," the Head Captain replied. "What purpose was that? Do you deny helping them?"

"Obviously yes," I replied. "Their leader also stated with all the attention on me they were able to slip by undetected. All that proves is your so intent on vilifying me your putting your own people in danger. You let them intrude, even after you should have learned from the last Ryoka invasion. You realise they have threatened the lives of all your ranking officers. Your solution to this problem is putting them all in the same room where they're sitting ducks. I would never agree to assist in the harm of any of my friends, I was not apart of this invasion. If you're looking for someone to blame, look into your negligence."

"You dare speak to the Head Captain like that?!" Captain Soifon snapped at me. "The insolence."

"Are you ignoring my points because you know I'm right?" I asked her. "Do you want to know where I was for those two weeks leading up to the invasion?"

I saw Ichigo looking nervous. Silly boy, I wasn't going rat him out. I scanned the room as nonchalantly as possible. Hitsugaya showed no sign of anxiety and Renji seemed to be keeping a cool head as well.

"That is what this inquiry is about," the Head Captain replied.

"By the old division sealed inside Hachigyō Sōgai practising bankai," I replied cooly. "I can now successfully use it without limitations, it was how I managed to assist in the defeat of whoever that cloaked guy was."

"Why did you leave to train for bankai in secret?" I heard Shunsui ask. I turned to him.

"That was never really my intention when I left," I explained. "I left to get some space, everywhere I went I felt trapped. Constantly watched by everyone, just waiting until I do something horrible because of who my father was. It got a bit much, so after the argument with Captain Kuchiki I left for some air. I had questions about so many things, why I was being kept in the dark about so many things that seems common knowledge for everyone else I spoke to.
So when I found an old copy of the Ryoka edition of Seireitei Communication I read through it. I'd had enough of being left in the dark. So I decided to find a way to force everyone to be honest with me. To stop them from keeping me in the dark. It seemed to me that the best way to do that would be to become a captain.
Being one of the highest ranks in the seireitei it'd be hard to keep things from a captain. So I trained for bankai one of the many prerequisites for the job. Or, for a few of the ways to get it. I figured if I went back before I had achieved it that I wouldn't be allowed to train. That it'd worry those in power that I had gained more power because you were already so suspicious of me. So I trained in secret, the plan was to attract everyone to the old division when I was done to demonstrate my abilities and then gain a position of leadership to prove I was able to be trusted. To prove I was good, that I was truely one of you and not like my father."

"You do see the irony, right?" Shunsui asked. "Running away to stop being treated like a child when in fact running away is a childish act."

"Yeah," I nodded. "My actions, while may not have been the best choice for the goal I was aiming for, ended up working out for the better. Had I not been training for bankai that whole time I might not have been strong enough to help in the battle. And I certainly wouldn't have been able to heal myself after the blast. I try not to think about what could have been, because I know if I wasn't training, I'd be dead right now."

"Captain Hitsugaya," the Head Captain replied. "In your report you claimed you were one of the first responders to the injuries Kurodo received."

"Yes," he nodded once. "When I arrived to the battle she was laying in the tree-line, chest cavity completely blown open. Rib cage broken in half and missing pieces if not the whole of her internal organs. It was shear miracle that she didn't die on site. And she would have if not for the use of her shikai. Although that was just the first time. I was otherwise occupied when she injured her arm."

"I'm curious, Hitsugaya," Mayuri asked. "If like in your reports you were against Keiseki being allowed on the battlefield due to her inexperience, why were you not keeping a closer eye on her?"

"I was both battling rogues and creating ice for Lieutenant Hinamori and others to melt," he returned calmly. Seemingly un-riled. "The way Kurodo's bankai works is it draws all the available water in the surrounding area and converts it to spiritual energy, providing her with more power to take down an attacker. The leader of the rogues' attacks were so strong that in order to continue battling him her bankai needed constant resupply."

"I believe my lieutenant was closest to Kiseki when she was hit the second time," Ichigo interject. "Izuru, if you wouldn't mind."

"Ah yes Captain. I was near where she landed after the explosion, it was strong enough to rip off her arm even when she blocked it. She hit the ground beside where I was clearing for the piece of the old sōkyoku to be dropped. I looked over and her arm had been completely removed. She actually had to walk to the other side of the cliff to retrieve and reattach it," he explained. "Although I was skeptical at first that she would be able to manage such a feat."

"Why was your bankai eating up the energy so quickly Kiseki?" Ukitake asked me.

"I had been training with my zanpakuto to ration the use of my power so I would be able to use minimal resources while fighting but when I was being attacked by that guy I realised with the amount of people on the cliff I couldn't just dodge his attacks. If I did someone else was likely to get hurt. I'm not good enough at the shielding kido required to use it without the full chant and by the time I'd say it, someone or me would likely have been hit.
So instead I was using my water to counteract the blasts. It required a lot of power so I was constantly running out. That's actually why I lost my arm, I didn't have enough power left to shield the attack and it hit me," I explained. "Thankfully it wasn't long after I'd reattached my arm that Captain Kurosaki was able to drop the piece of the sōkyoku on him."

"All her idea by the way," Ichigo pointed out. "While she was fighting that guy she came up with a plan to take him down and immediately came to me and started directing people on what to do. It was her quick thinking that made sure we were able to get as many people out as we did."

"We have much to discuss, Kurodo Keiseki, you are now dismissed. A member of division one will be called to escort you back to division four's barracks where you will remain until we have made our decision or until such time as you no longer require recuperation," the Head Captain banged his staff on the floor. "Please bring in the Rouge."

"Head Captain, with respect," I started.

"You are dismissed," he repeated.

"I believe I would be beneficial to your inquiry regarding the rogue," I interrupted, ignoring his orders.

"Your arrogance!" Soifon yelled. "How could you possibly think that.."

"I can read minds!" I threw my hands up. "Would it not be beneficial to you to know if he's telling the truth or hiding something?" I asked. "I'm well aware I hold no position amongst your ranks but I'm offering my abilities anyway." The Head Capatian banged his staff again.

"There will be order!" He demanded. "Kurodo you may stay, please find yourself behind the lieutenants."