"Oh… She's here!"

Natsu fluttered her eyes slightly open but they soon came back down shut as she didn't recognize any of the voices in the dreary depths of her dreams. They flew back open not a moment later as the wind left her lungs rapidly. Spiking up from the ground, she let out several grumbles as she rubbed at the spot on her chest that was most likely going to leave a bloody, red looking dot on the skin below her clothing. She blearily looked up to see a group was slowly coming up around her, minus a smug looking Renji who towered over her, before she cleared out the rest of the dreariness from her eyes. When she opened them more clearly she made out the several faces that she really hadn't gotten to see in her tiredness.

Renji grinned at her with his finger pointed down toward the ground. Curiously she peered down to see a small package had been the thing tossed onto her chest, slide down to her stomach, and was the root cause of disruption of her late evening nap. She turned back as he spoke, "Ayako's… She wanted to be here but she decided it was best if it was just us."

"Us?" Natsu questioned slightly as she looked over towards the group that was wandering up behind him. "Tha's lots o' people."

"You're in luck," Rukia chirped out as she flung herself into a seat right by her prone side, so close that their clothes swiped at one another playfully. "Everyone was in the celebrating mood… And this is the first night that we could all spare."

Natsu furrowed her brow slightly before she slid her head back around to see that people were setting up a large picnic blanket. She lifted her feet as Izuru beckoned her to do, and then set them back on top of the tan tarp as she crossed her legs. Her back still lay down on the grass, though she had to lift her butt into the air to make sure that the tarp didn't bunch underneath her lower back and disturb her. In befuddlement, she watched the proceedings, as some set out a few baskets with odd assortments of foods, plates, and other accouterments. Others placed down sake, which amounted to more than she had ever seen, or other types of drinks.

When it was all done, she stared at the grand group that was taking seats at various places on the tarp. It was the oddest collection of people she had ever witnessed, purely because she had very rarely ever seen them altogether, and probably the biggest group she had ever been around. Rukia sat by her with Renji on the other side of the young noble. Rangiku had taken to her right side, followed by Yumichika – a horrible choice - and then Iba and Ikkaku on the other side of the circle. At the other end of the looped circle were Izuru, Shuuhei, Momo, and then Isane to finish the link up by the red head.

"Wha's goin' on?" Natsu whispered over to Rukia again. She didn't even know most of the people at the scene, or more like she hadn't anticipated hanging out with most of them all in one go. The only ones she had no real interactions with were Shuuhei and Momo, whilst the rest she had presumed would take initiative to come and talk to her separately. "Ya interruptin' ma nap."

"Such a party pooper, Natsu," cheered Rangiku as the blonde woman wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her towards her bosom. "We're celebrating. That's all."

Natsu got her head free with a bit of pushing, and then a sly hand poking at the underside of the woman's breast. Rangiku let go of her in a joking whisper of being ticklish there which resulted in a strange, twisted grimace on her face. She then moved on to face the group who were branching into their own conversations easily and the sound in the area was slowly overtaking what had used to be just the minuet, octave-scurrying scream of cicadas. Her brows furrowed again and she found a small pout coming along her lips. It may not have been the best time for a nap seeing that it was close to a regular bed time; not that she had ever cared for a regular sleep schedule. However, she hated being woken up the most. She had specifically picked the clearing furthest away from the fourth division barracks for that very purpose. Though they were still on the territory of the fourth division, it was just on the cusp of the forested area that bordered with the second division, and hardly anyone ever went out this far since it was far from the actual buildings.

"Like I said, this is the first moment that people could really get together." Rukia broke through her thoughts and Natsu merely gave her a small glance.

Only four days ago the new captains had taken up their positions. It was true that there had been a small ruckus as everyone was trying to get acclimatized to the differences. Divisions three, five, and nine had been in near lock down and running twenty-four seven to speed up the process since there had been so much to cover apparently. It sounded like such a pain to her, and she had been so glad she wasn't in one of those divisions. Though, if she bothered to compare, she had probably spent more sleepless nights overseeing her patients cumulatively than all the members of all three divisions had in the past four days. She just didn't like to think of those nights, wandering in and out of her naps. No fun there. There was still tons more work to do, but if this gathering was anything to go by the initial days of the fever had finally passed. Now they could all take a much slower pace in healing themselves.

"Right! So drink up!" Rangiku spluttered into her ear.

Natsu titled away and pushed away the pro-offered glass. "Ya know I don't drink tha' stuff."

"You don't drink?" Renji questioned and Natsu turned to him with a narrowed look. "I'm not judging… Just curious. Especially since you're friends with Rangiku."

"When ya deal wit' takin' care of tha afta'ffects an' ever'one grumblin' 'bout hangovas o' upchuckin' ever'thin' they got in em stomachs, alcohol loses i's appeal." Natsu put out blandly as Rangiku made a show of showing that they had brought tea. Deftly she pointed to the bag that she wanted and the blonde was happy to make up her glass. "'Sides got drunk once an' tha' was a 'orrible nigh'."

The cup of tea was smoothly placed into her hands and then she was offered the assortment of sandwiches and other more traditional snacks that she had been prepared. Oddly she found herself wanting some of those breads she had just gotten a small taste of down in the human world. They looked like they would really suit a place in the wide spread of things that they had collected from onigiri to the skewers and hot meals.

"I had no idea you knew Ayako, either." Renji had a huge lump sticking from his cheek as he half chewed the food in his mouth while speaking. "But you guys must be pretty close… What she get you?"

Natsu slithered her eyes down to the brown package that had fallen in the large hole between her crossed legs. She lifted it up slightly and gave it a soft squeeze to feel that whatever was inside gave way easily to her. She had a faint idea from the smoothness of the package and how nothing was wrinkled. It also helped that she knew Ayako pretty well and had usually received the same things from her. The woman liked to give accessories given the fact that clothes weren't really a priority for Shinigami when they wore the same things all the time.

"Probably some type o' fabric," Natsu murmured under her breath.

Her fingers picked easily through the tape that the woman had used to connect everything together and make the package as compact as possible. Just the tips had to be cut up since the tape was the most durable at that spot, but then she was able to slink a thin digit horizontally so as not to rip the rest of the packaging. She only undid one end, and then let the fabric slid out and pooled into her lap as it unraveled.

The packaging stayed faithfully in tact in her one hand as she peered down at the turquoise scarf that had fallen out. Her fingers slowly ran over the cashmere, silken material. Unlike the other one that had been ruined, this one had the impress of squares along it, though it did nothing to get rid of the softness of the material. The end was slightly tassled which made the borders just a bit harder; something she only noticed when she rubbed the seems together and the faces remained completely in place where as if there hadn't been a strong border, the sheets of fabric would have distorted.

"That's very nice," Rukia commented softly.

Natsu gave a tiny hum and then placed the packaging down for just a little bit. She flipped the scarf out, doing her best to angle it away from the food and prying eyes, to see that it ran longer than anticipating. If she had to assume it probably would fall down to her lower back if she wrapped it just once around her neck and let the rest dangle. Then she went about folding it up into a neat square. Just as she was about to place it back into the package, her eyes fell down on the Kotomi clan symbol that had been sewed in. Her finger gave it a small trace before the entire piece disappeared into the tan package.

"You won't wear it?"

Natsu gave the girl a small shake of her head. "Don't feel like it, righ' now…. Pass ova tha inari, yeah?"

It was just about sunset and she could at least stretch back a little and get in some food while she watched the sun disappear into the trees. It wouldn't be a bad way to finish out a day. Not that she had really been doing much at all for the past four days except trying to avoid all the work that Isane, Yasuchika, and Unohana were trying to put off on her. But running around did get tiring.


When the sun had finally disappeared altogether, the moon came out of hiding from its shadowy spot in the sky. When that had happened, the very sensible Rukia and dragged Renji away from his drinking to put up a few lanterns so that they could keep the party going. Drearily, Natsu watched the proceedings. As the environment changed, so did the groupings that had initially been so peaceful. Rangiku had squirmed her way over to her normal drinking buddies of Izuru and Shuuhei. Thankfully none of them were too inebriated since they had stuck to tea for most of the evening, but they were just slightly tipsy now as the three began to grumble or let out a shout every now and again. Momo and Isane had stayed where they were, as had Natsu and Rukia. Although they had to shift just slightly as Renji decided to opt for the other side and join with all the eleventh division, or former eleventh division in Iba's case.

Things remained mainly quiet between Natsu and Rukia, though they had somehow maintained conversation even as Natsu tilted fully back and laid out. She had dumped her head into her hands as she wove her fingers into some sort of net to catch it before her skull touched the ground. Her legs had stayed loosely crossed, and she had shifted her pelvis down just slightly to lessen the tension. It got her a few comments from the chuckling group but she was waved it off with a semi-silent grumble.

"So you just left them like that?" Rukia stated with a small appalled look on her face. "What if the wounds got infected like that?"

Natsu snorted slightly and shook out her head, as she finally crawled over to her side and rested her hand in a propped up arm. Instead of holding her cheek, she tilted her head just slightly so that her fingers were wrapped around the back of her head. At that angle she could still make out the purple night sky and still see Rukia's face at the same time. Her knees tucked in slightly as she curled up, and her other hand had fallen forward to rest upon the grass that she was so used to.

"It was ta teach em somethin'…. 'Zuru was bein' an b—"

"I was not being an idiot, senpai," the blonde called over and she tipped just a bit to see over her shoulder at the faux-glare he was sending her. "It was unnecessarily cruel… Doing that your patients."

Natsu stuck of her tongue slightly. "Ain't ma fault ya dis'gree wit' ma bedside manner."

"It could do with a lot of work senpai."

"Jeez… Getting' 'igh an' mighty ain't ya." Natsu wagged her finger and then pointed at him with a finger. "'Cause ya 'ad ta do so much durin' tha war, maybe? Don't go thinkin' ya can jus' outdo me."

"Yeah, yeah," Renji suddenly spluttered out from her back and she tipped round to see him waving his hand with a grin along his features. "Cause you're so 'good', right?"

"Betta than ya… I beat three 'ponents in Hueco Mundo. 'Ow many ya get?"

Yumichika let out a small snicker as his own smiling face popped out from behind Renji's frame and he raised a small eyebrow. "That's an awfully eleventh division way of demonstrating your superiority, Natsu."

"Yeah. Thought you were a healer," Ikkaku supplied, though she couldn't make out his face. His tone was enough for her to make out the snide amusement.

"All ya care 'bout Ren, Yumi, an' baldie…" Natsu cut off as Ikkaku finally emerged from the group as he stood up and slowly drew out his sword. She wiggled her eyebrows just faintly before looking back at all the faces of the fighting group. "Is bein' figh' bokes…. Why should I use otha things ta 'xplain somethin' when ya ain't gonna listen ta smart reasonin'?"

"Are you calling me dumb?" All three put forth.

Natsu blinked slowly a few times and then grinned. Her eyes slowly traveled back over to Rukia as she put a hand over her mouth, and then let out a very loud whisper, "they actually go' tha'. Wha'cha think 'bout tha' Ru? Pretty surprisin' ain't it?"

Rukia straightened out her features and gave a very solemn nod. "I thought with the amount of words you used, it might have thrown them off."

"Now, now," Rangiku suddenly clambered in tipsy excitement.

Natsu jerked her attention away from the young noble to see that the blonde woman had traveled so that her tall body was standing behind the fighting group and was patting that back of Ikkaku's head. The quick, stingy slaps were strong enough to resonate through the entire group. The bald man's eye was twitching but he made no moves to swat it away, meaning that Rangiku must have said something to the man. Instead, Natsu paid little attention to that detail as she saw that Rangiku was slowly raising her sake cup up to the sky. Natsu furrowed her brow and heard the small sounds of shifting and turned around to see that Momo and Isane were passing out glasses of sake to everyone.

Her eyes trailed back over to the blonde woman who was grinning brightly as she began to speak, "there's no need to interrupt a celebration with a fight… So le—"

"Oh~ Retsu-san was right. Mind if we join in?"

The entire group paused and Natsu slowly titled even further onto her back so that she could look past Rangiku's frame to look at the new group. It was not just composed of Kyoraku, much to the sudden grating in her head, but several others which she could tell by the shifts in the grass. Ukitake was waving just slightly as he was coming up, while Yuko was between the two elder captains, creating some sort of diagonal line. Beyond them, the three newly re-invited captains were also walking up and each step they took seemed to loom as the grass underneath their feet crinkled more strongly.

There was a resounding set of shrieks or tiny yells as the fukutaichos were springing up or at least righting their posture to welcome the set of captains. Natsu dumped her head all the way backwards, letting the weight carry her onto her back, and tossed the sky a very intense glare. Her nose scrunched up at the emergence of that spice again by her nose and she tried to wiggle it out so as to get that itchy feeling out of her nose. She hated that feeling of just being on the cusp of sneezing. Faintly, she could make out the lion that suddenly let out a tiny growl which choked out to a very rough purr. She stamped down on the coddling feeling in her chest and whacked harshly at the lion's nose as hard as she could, as the curses rang out through her head like hits of a baseball bat. Somewhere off in the distance, Kyoraku's smart whines began to play out.

"Just this time, taicho," Rangiku ceded. "I really don't want Nanao-chan getting angry at me."

Yuko interceded before the brown haired man could say anything. "Don't worry about that. I'll keep him in line."

"Yuko-chan~."

Natsu let out a very long sigh which helped her to drown out the flirtation. It was surprising to see the two of them a couple, as she had only presumed their connection was close because Yuko had formerly been a member of the thirteenth division and the former captain had been rather close to Ukitake when she was there. Natsu thought that it had been rather platonic between Yuko and Kyoraku, but she had heard the rumor going around about them very shortly after Yuko was freed of her charges. They hadn't been purposefully trying to keep it secret or show it off to the world, but Seireitei was getting so much news that everyone was trying to eagerly grasp at whatever was new. The war had turned everyone into gossip mongers, but at least the Shinigami was mostly on the look out for positive things. If anything good came out of it, it was probably that Yuko was far more level-headed than the man and it appeared that she could reign him in effectively enough.

Natsu forced herself to get up into another cross legged position as everyone was moving around and she didn't want to be placed in a situation where she was sitting next to someone she really shouldn't be. Being next to a captain would just be too stifling. Also, people walking over her prone body was just rude. The captains took a seat on one side in a long row, and Natsu had very willingly given up the closer position on the mat to Rukia, who now acted as a gate keeper. She twisted around so that she was keeping her profile to the picnic, and was facing Renji most directly. She had a firm position on the grass and edged somewhere between the circumference of light from the lanterns, which also were used to keep any bugs away from the remaining food, liquids, and their own bodies, and the dark edges that were only illuminated by the moon.

She dedicatedly placed her chin into the hand closest to the mat to at least keep up the appearance and not give away that she was already half-way away from the conversation. In her other hand she carried her small sake glass, which she peered at curiously before turning over to the group. She found Rangiku easily, for the woman even when sitting stood out from everyone else, and got the blonde's glance with a small gesture of her hand. "Ya were sayin'?"

"Right," the blonde chirped out instantly and then raised her hand holding her own sake cup slightly. "A toast to a successful victory and the end of long, hard days."

Natsu stared at the glass for just a moment. It wavered up by her nose giving her a faint wiff of regret, and she was just about to pass it off as the relaxed mood had already disappeared with the captain's joining them. As the cup was traveling further away from her nose, her eyes closed in on the clear liquid. Within two seconds she found the liquid tipped over in her throat because some of the liquid was probably what she would need before she could find an excuse out of the slowly worsening situation. She let out a small grunt at the burning it trail the alcohol left and then gave an easy toss around Rukia's shoulders so the cup landed on the mat.

"Also," Isane suddenly put in and Natsu leaned on her arm just slightly to get a view of the fukutaicho around Renji. "Something a bit more personal… But, I mean it is why Unohana-taicho let us host this tonight… Congratulations, Natsu-san, on your promotion."

Natsu let out a grumble as her eyes flickered off to the dark. At least she had a small answer to why Kyoraku had been able to interrupt them with the assortment that was following behind him. He had alluded to it with his name drop, but now she had a permanent person she could really blame. Her eyes narrowed slightly at how not so innocently her captain must have passed along the information.

They were brought back from the darkened tree-line by the sudden bark from Ikkaku. "Who'd a thunk you were third-seat material?"

"That is true, senpai." Natsu snapped her eyes over to a slyly smirking Izuru. "You've always been so against it…. Will I have to actually call you fukutaicho soon?"

"Ya kiddin' righ'?" Natsu huffed out slightly and then smirked. "Tha 'mount o' work ain't a good trade off…. I'mma 'lready doin' ma bes' ta 'void tha 'mount righ' now."

"If only you put that much energy into actually doing work." Isane let out a small whine as her head dumped.

The entire group snickered as Natsu just gave a shrug bringing about another small whine from the female fukutaicho. Yuko asked the silverette a small question, to which the fukutaicho went on as close to a rant as Natsu had ever heard. It detailed the most recent attempt to avoid work, which included a strange version of hide and seek for nearly two hours. Then she had made a small excuse about having not eaten yet, and she couldn't possibly do work on an empty stomach. She disappeared for another three hours after that, only for Isane to find her dozing off on a roof in the thirteenth barracks.

"You couldn't have been nicer, Natsu?" Yumichika spoke out with a small wave of his hand.

Natsu gave another shrug. "I wanna sleep when I wanna sleep."

"That's all day for you, 'Miss. I need fourteen hours a day'."

"Shuddup Ren…. Need ma beauty res' ya know?"

"Oh I quite agree with that," Yumichika contributed. "Sleep is important for the complexion and keeping the face nice and youthful looking."

Renji thrust a nasty glare over to her to which she had stuck her tongue out since he caught on immediately to what she had done when Yumichika practically galloped away on the topic. Everyone else learned, even if they weren't curious, instantly why she had said that particular phrase as Yumichika went into a small tirade about the positive effects of a restful night, which was quickly broken up by Ikkaku. It resulted in a small squabble between the two, which at least helped to break the tension among the whole group and start up different conversations.

Natsu turned her head round at the call of her name and looked over at the brown haired man who gulped down another cup of sake. "It's a big jump. Twentieth, to shadow fukutaicho…. I was so certain you would do everything in your power to avoid something like this."

"Ya wanna go up 'gainst tha cap?" Natsu put out blandly to which Kyoraku immediately let out a sympathetic chuckle and nodded along. "Trus' me… I'd really ratha be sleepin' than doin' papa'work."

"So what exactly did you do to receive your promotion for, Natsu-chan?" She found her eyes narrowing slightly at the dreary grin that was spreading along that sly, captain's dopy lips. This was exactly why she had both respected the man and hated him at the same time. His demeanor wasn't faked but it was exactly as it should be for a conniving thinker. "Was it the work before, during, or after the war?"

There was an immense amount of viscous goop along her body; like thirty extra layers of bodies on top of her own. When she finally remembered that she had a body which she could actually move it took forever to register how to move exactly as if her body had short-circuited and had needed to re-boot to remember its coding. She dished out her struggling heart as it pulsed harder to get the adrenaline up, but she was wading through a deep cement that kept her mainly locked. Time seemed around her in that one instance, just like that moment when she saw Sekhmet lunging for her jugular, and everything became instantly so clear. The calls of the voices of the three new captains and their questions. The inclusion of all the voices as they eagerly retold war stories, or spy stories more like it. It was fallacy that helped to crack through the hard armor. They whispered only slim details of what had happened and the small trigger of rage started. She was only instantly grateful for the fact that everything sped back up, like rewinding a tape, and she could make out in real-time all the events going around now that the shock had passed.

"Tha ol' man said somethin' 'bout responsibility." Natsu pushed out and cut off all the other conversations. "Don't do well listenin' ta rambles from ol' men though… Say tha same thin's ova an' ova 'gain. Borin', ya know?"

"I totally agree~." The brown haired man twittered out as if he didn't know that he had led the elephant straight into the room from the moment he had come up to them, and then unleashed a stampede from his way of talking. His brown eyes, though, gave him away enough. "But I can't really disagree."

"It is well deserved." Ukitake suddenly cut through the tension and gave a small wave of his hand to blow out the fizzling contact between their two sets of eyes. "Your wo—"

"Don't care."

"You knew t-" Another gruff voice was climbing in.

"Oh!" Momo popped out suddenly and the entire group shifted over slightly to peer at the suddenly excited girl. A few looked equally startled as revelations seemed to dawn on their slackened faces but they remained silent - in their shock or out of understanding was unknown - as they let Momo become their voice. "It all makes so much sense now. I wondered why Hirako-taicho looked so familiar."

"Hey."

"I mean all your effort…"

"Hey."

"And you made sure that you were covered."

"Oi."

"And then taking the time at Cen-"

"Shut up!" Natsu snapped out. The girl turned two wide, brown eyes over at her and Natsu gulped down the rest of her poisonous spit.

There was a sudden clearing of a throat and Natsu trailed her eyes half way over the distance and stopped just at the legs of the man. It had only a been quick sound, just like what she heard in the human world, but now with it so close to her ears, it was hard to stand. His voice came out like half a dream as she tried to finally place that ever present Osaka-ben that she had copied for so long. It took a long time to make sense of the slightly deeper rasp and the smooth cut in the air that wasn't her's, since her voice had been the only voice she had ever heard with the accent, and now someone else was talking like her. Yet it was intensely familiar and it immediately had her body jerking and even her cell's responding as small bumps appeared along her skin. It tripped the blood in her veins into an intense rage that was painful to hear as it pounded and she wished that Tumula had kept her ears permanently deafened.

"Tha's wha' ya gonna say ta me?" Natsu whispered out. "Afta mo' than 'undred years ya think ya can jus' reprimand me?"

"I ain't reprimandin' as a fatha, but as tha captain o' tha fifth division. Ya can't go speakin' ta a fukutaicho, least all mine, like that."

Under the faint calls of reprimand from his friends, Natsu felt guarded enough to look up into the brown eyes. They were still easily half-lidded, covering up the hazel that were his eyes with his long lashes as he calmly observed her back. His face had stayed the same, with its angular cut, and the small pocket in his lips which showed his long, dazzling white teeth. His blonde hair, though, had been cut short into a bob length, and the fringe was longer over by his right eye creating a tiny diagonal cross through his forehead.

Natsu took a moment to realize that her heart had really stopped beating. As they stared eye to eye with one another, she had nothing. She felt a bit like the empty pockets she was also stuffing her hands into. Her eyes narrowed down as she thought of something she should feel in its place. Desperately, her flung herself out to catch for the crumbling structures that made up some sense. But the sense of sanity and resolution shook her to the bones as she realized that there had almost never been anything to grasp a hold of in the first place.

Tha's… Righ'. Tha's righ'. - Tha reason Kisuke destroyed ma life.

"Righ'," she finally whispered out and then flashed him a smirk which got her a tiny shift in the facial features. And she pounced as she saw the nervous glint that flashed behind his eyes. "Cause tha's all ya eva wanted ain't it? Ya wanted a fukutaicho ya could orda 'round… Nice i's a girl this time, ain't it?"

There were a moment of silence where the whispers of everyone's thoughts and the chosen reprimands, fell dead at her words. If anyone was thinking something, they kept it very tightly stuck in the back of their throats or stopped the process of creating words to sentences altogether. Natsu let out a small chuckle and then began to rise to her feet. She was followed by the eyes that were on her, but they had no power over her from the height that she reached. She slumped her hands into her pockets and gave a grin to the group before she singled out onto the man.

A small hum left her before her mouth started moving again. "Thank fuckin' god I'mma done wit' tha' bullshit. 'Undred years really changes shit. Tha only power ya 'ave is as a captain, ya know? So don't put tha sen'mental stuff inta ya sentences 'gain."

"I ca… I can't have you speaking to Hirako-taicho like that. - Even if you are his daughter."

Natsu slowly turned over to Momo who had also risen. Her eyes flickered down to see that Izuru was urging her to sit back down and remain quiet, but the brunette made no signs of moving. Instead her face remained resolute and set in that determined way to take on a battle, even if it was only words.

"Awfully eaga ta figh' fo' some person ya jus' met, ain't ya?"

Momo took in a deep breath and seated herself firmly in her resolution. "He's my captain and as fukutaicho of the fifth divison -"

"Yeah, yeah. I know all tha rules." Natsu waved away and then slumped down a bit more so that she could cradle that fire of rage in her voice. "I fin' it funny cause… Ya know, you ain't known 'im fo' very long. Duty talkin', righ'? Ya trus' tha system ta 'ave picked a decent cap fo' ya ta follow. An' ya gotta folla all tha rules an' trus' 'im too…. Got'cha all figured out. - Problem is ya talkin' wit' someone who ain't eva respe'ted any o' tha'."

"I... Na-" It was a frightened quake from the small girl that vocalized the abrupt worry of all those in the group.

"I's necessary. Can't think o' anythin' ta replace wha' we got so I can't really whine 'bout it…" Natsu raised an eyebrow and then let out a long chuckle to staunch her quivering lips. "But I only folla people stronga, an' tha' lines up wit' tha people wearin' tha coats. I's instinct, ain't it? An I'mma animal jus' tryin' ta keep livin'. Tha's the only reason I gotta play nice ta tha caps."

Natsu raised an eyebrow and then sighed out a small laugh at the harsh silence that surrounded her. She didn't bother looking around at the mimicked faces of the rest of the people, since it was all so accurately depicted in the distressed lines along Momo's face. "Don't ya think i's strange? Tha' I could so easily switch sides when I shoulda been followin' all tha white coats?"

Momo gulped down slightly and then let out a small stuttered, "duty."

"Duty? Nah…. Ain't duty." Natsu waved at the words and sent them tumbling down to the ground before they could fully reach her ears and send them burning. "I's called bein' objective an' tha' means I don't follow symbols. Jus' thin's tha'll impede ma way o' livin'."

"That makes no sense. Why would you do everything then?" Momo suddenly cried out with flinging arms, even as Izuru was trying to get her settle down again.

If it hadn't worked when the situation was just a little bit calmer, it wasn't going to work now, and Natsu fastened herself to that. "Cause i's tha best karmic turn 'round I've eva seen…. I liked tha idea of bein' able to stand on top and laughin' while seein' everythin' crumblin' f-."

"That's enough." Natsu titled her head just slight with her mouth instantly locking up at the sound of the man's voice. "You've said more than enough Natsu."

"Can't 'ave ya callin' me so familia-"

"Once up'n a tim', I rememba ya wantin' ta be a fuk'taicho unda me an' servin' yer du-."

Natsu sweeped down and flung the package straight at his face to block out the view that the words were giving her. He made no move as he let the package fall down right into his waiting hands, to display the tired look in his eyes. She glared directly at him and unable to swallow anything she thrust her finger through the air at him. "You have no right to speak to me… None. Who the fuck are you?"

He stayed absolutely silent for just one moment as his eyes roved over the situation. He slumped just slightly in his posture and let out a long sigh. "Someone ya used ta know."

"Exactly," Natsu spat out quickly. "You're just a man in fucking white coat and... An' ya think tha' gives ya powa ova me?" Her feet finally stuttered back to life and she rapidly stumbled away from the group. Her feet fell quicker than her brain could even process as she flung back words as if they were bakudo spells. "Fuckin' 'ate tha lot of ya… Nothin'. Ya ain't nothin' but fuckin' symbols."


A/N: Well that went well, didn't it?

Hahahaha, honestly, this was such a wonderful chapter to get to and, while I had difficulty with writing the chapter, I really was looking forward to it since when I started. I just couldn't have them getting along, and yes, Natsu is supposed to be crazy here. She's just a ball of messy emotions.

I hope you all found it realistic! I just don't want this to be mary-sue is all.

Only two chapters to go!