Chapter 12:
"Here we are," announced Kensei, walking under the blue Noren hung above the entrance. Rose followed, holding his hand up to keep the curtain from brushing the top of his head and Shinji did the same. It was a restaurant they had been to before and was already packed with customers. Thankfully, they were able to get a table along the wall, away from the windows.
Shinji elected to have an enjoyable evening with his friends but was alert the entire time. He convinced himself that if Byakuya did try to make a meal out of them, there was safety in numbers so he might not try to target them. He was also confident that he would be able to smell Byakuya before he got within striking distance and could redirect his friends. He promised himself that he wouldn't have anything to drink. If they badgered him, he would only have one.
Though they got several dishes to share, Shinji ended up eating most of the food. He didn't touch the edamame but he ate every order of Karaage that was brought to the table. He tried to restrain himself after getting a few too many looks from his friends, but it was difficult. As he stuffed some fried tofu into his mouth, Kensei poured Shinji some sake. He nodded in gratitude but didn't drink it.
They passed the time chatting about the past and the present. Kensei complained about some of his duties and bragged about others. Rose talked about the plot of a new manga he borrowed, whining about how the issue ended on a cliffhanger and the next release wasn't for another three months. Shinji contributed to the conversation, leaving out anything related to what he was going through right now.
"You're not drinking?" Kensei asked, noticing his cup was still full. "Come on, I got a whole bottle here."
To appease him, Shinji drained his cup which was immediately refilled. He didn't drink it, changing the subject as a distraction. If he had been near a window, he would have flung it outside but he couldn't pour it on the floor without anyone noticing. He felt it was a crime to waste booze anyway.
Another hour elapsed and Rose's face was getting pinker and pinker. Kensei's cheeks were also a little red but not as much as Rose's. He tried to refill his cup but, finding the bottle empty, Kensei decided to call it a night. Grateful, Shinji drank what remained in his cup and chased it with some leftover chicken.
"That was fun, right?" Kensei asked, throwing an arm around each of them rather roughly.
"Yeah, great," said Shinji, hoping Kensei wouldn't start squeezing.
"Do you think the girl will choose to stay with the guy she likes, even if it means leaving her old life behind?" Rose asked. "She even said it was an impossible choice and I mean, if she can't visit, or go back and forth, it kinda is."
"That manga again?" Kensei asked, realizing what Rose was talking about. "Who cares?"
"I'm invested in the characters. And you borrowed Lisa's stuff all the time."
"I did not."
Shinji couldn't smell Byakuya anywhere but he was worried a couple of inebriated Soul Reapers would look pretty delectable if they staggered anywhere other than home. "Guys, let's call it a night. Rose might have overdone it."
"I did not. I'm still walking, aren't I?"
"For now. Let's get you home."
Shinji was able to see his friends off outside their doors before heading towards his own Division. Certain they were safe, he made a little detour towards the forest.
Shifting into wolf form, he met up with Hitsugaya and Hisagi who were already waiting for him.
"Sorry. The guys wanted to hang and I didn't want to raise suspicion by refusing."
"That's fine," said Hisagi. "We can live normal lives like this, can't we? Mostly normal, I mean."
"There's no reason we can't hang out with friends," said Hitsugaya. "We can't really isolate ourselves, considering we're pack animals."
As he said this, he wondered about something Akon had told him earlier that day.
"You good?" Shinji asked, noticing Hitsugaya becoming quiet.
Hitsugaya decided not to test any theories for the time being. "Yeah. Come on. Let's do a few laps around the field before the forest."
To Hitsugaya's surprise, a Captain's meeting was called that morning before lunch. He hoped it was unrelated to their situation.
Unfortunately, it was related, but thankfully not for anything too serious. In his dream, a meeting had been called after a Soul Reaper was murdered, so it was a relief to learn that wasn't the case in reality.
"Missing blood packs?" Kenpachi said, annoyed. "That's what you called this meeting for?"
"It's serious," said Unohana. "Several packs have already gone missing and one of my nurses was attacked. She may have caught the culprit in the act and they attacked her."
"Did she say anything?" Shunsui asked.
Unohana shook her head. "When she came to, she said she didn't remember seeing who it was. Either they surprised her from behind so she never saw their face or the attack resulted in mild memory loss."
Hitsugaya already knew the truth. After being bitten, the nurse probably falsified her report in order to protect Byakuya's secret. There was nothing she wouldn't do for him now. She was probably helping sneak blood packs from the sickbay for Byakuya since they were still going missing.
He looked around at the gathered Captains and saw Shinji eyeing him as well. His gaze traveled to every Captain there so that he could look upon Byakuya without drawing too much attention. Kensei didn't look too concerned and Rose rubbed the side of his head, trying to soothe his mild headache. Mayuri, on the other hand, looked overjoyed. Hitsugaya hoped it wouldn't turn into a scene.
"My, my. This is rather intriguing, I must say."
Soi Fon looked annoyed. "If it was someone from your Squad, fess up now so we can all get on with our lives."
"No one in my Squad would have use for something like that. If we did need to run tests on blood, we'd use our own. We've had to draw our own blood for experiments in the past and we don't need an entire pack. That would be a waste. A few drops is all you need to run a whole series of tests."
"Is this going somewhere?" she asked, still annoyed.
"My point is that we would have no use for something like that when we have our own resource. Why, to even suspect someone from my Division is laughable and insulting."
"You do some freaky stuff in that place," pointed out Shunsui.
Ukitake nodded in agreement.
"Why should we care about something like this, anyway?" asked Kenpachi. "Not really important enough for a Captain's meeting, if you ask me."
"No one did ask you," said Soi Fon.
"It is important," said Unohana. "We need those transfusion packs to treat the injured or the sick. They're vital. If too many go missing, we won't have enough for treatment. Plus, everyone has a different blood type. If we lose too many of one type, we cannot substitute. Putting the wrong type of blood inside a person would prove fatal."
"So you need 'em, is what I'm hearing. You ever think that they're missing because someone's being treated?"
"We keep a record of everything in the sickbay, including blood packs. If even one goes missing, we'll know. Usually in that case, it was misplaced or we were facing an emergency situation and didn't have time to catalog it. But for twelve to go missing in a matter of days… Impossible. Something's going on. I believe someone's stealing them."
"Who would steal blood packs?"
"Pfft, maybe a vampire," said Kensei with a smirk.
Byakuya's expression never changed. Hitsugaya and Shinji tried to remain indifferent and not look at Byakuya.
"Yeah," said Shinji, playing along. "Because the mummy's responsible for stealing all the bandages. Makes sense, he needed a distraction so he asked his vampire friend for help."
"This is serious."
"Then why are we bringing vampires into the conversation?" asked Shinji, putting on a good act. "We know those don't exist."
"Funny you should mention that," said Mayuri and Hitsugaya felt his stomach lurch. "As a scientist, we must be open to all sorts of possibilities. While we have yet to locate an actual vampire, there's still the possibility of one existing."
"Along with unicorns and raccoon dogs," said Soi Fon.
"Raccoon dogs are real," said Shunsui.
"Of course they are," added Rose.
"My point is, we shouldn't rule out any possibility. While there are more reasonable explanations, I'd just like to remind you to be more openminded."
Hitsugaya felt a little better now. It seemed Mayuri either knew what he was doing or quit while he was ahead. As long as he stopped there, he shouldn't alarm Byakuya.
"However…"
Hitsugaya flinched.
"What other reason would there be for blood packs to go missing?"
"That's what this meeting is about," said Ukitake.
"Yes, but blood packs are going missing with no clear explanation as to why. What other reason could there be but a vampire?"
"Or someone who wants us to think it's a vampire," said Rose. "We know those are fantasy but someone's trying to make it look like it could be a vampire. This is probably someone's bad idea of a prank."
"Stealing transfusion bags seems to be awfully far to go for a prank," said Ukitake. "Blood saves lives and someone's stealing them? That is no joke. It's like poisoning someone and destroying the antidote."
"And very shortsighted on their part," said Unohana. "Whoever's doing this seems to be trying to weaken us but they're at a disadvantage as well. With no transfusion bags, if the person gets injured, we would be unable to treat them."
"Comes back to bite them in the ass," said Soi Fon. "Serves them right for trying to harm innocent people."
"This could be an enemy attack," said Kensei. "What if the point was to weaken us so we would be at a disadvantage during an attack?"
"I doubt it," said Shinji. "We bumped up security here so no one from the outside is getting in without us knowing. Plus, if it was someone on the outside, how would they know where to go? They would be unfamiliar with this area. And I don't know of anyone on the inside willing to go this far, especially if it will hurt them as well."
"Then what do you think is going on?" asked Unohana.
"I don't know," said Shinji. "I'm just pointing out that I doubt it's someone trying to sabotage us. There are too many issues with that theory. And if we pay any attention to it, we'll all get paranoid and I'd like to avoid that."
"I think the problem is within your Division," said Soi Fon. "Captain Unohana, I think it would be best to increase security and do inventory throughout the day in order to track down the person responsible."
"I agree," said Ukitake. "You might even consider positioning a guard in or near that room and not tell anyone so you have the element of surprise if they do show up. They won't be expecting a guard."
"True. I might have to consider it."
"I'd be happy to lend you some men from my Squad to assist you until we can resolve this," said Soi Fon.
Little did they know the culprit was among them and heard everything they were planning to do so he would have the advantage. Now Byakuya knew what to prepare for in case he needed a blood pack. If he decided it wasn't worth the effort or risk, he might search for other alternatives.
Hitsugaya didn't know which was worse, a shortage of blood packs or lucid Soul Reapers. It was a difficult choice and wondered if Byakuya felt the same way.
Hitsugaya banged his head on the couch cushion in his office. It appeared Byakuya didn't suspect anyone knew the truth but the meeting could have had better results. Byakuya was either going to be even more cautious or throw caution to the wind and become irrational. This was either going to lead to more subordinates or someone getting seriously hurt.
If he was going to combat Byakuya, he needed to get more involved. For one thing, he needed to uncover more of his werewolf abilities. He couldn't hold back anymore.
His powers were already slightly different from those in his dream. Being unable to speak in his wolf form was just one variation. Perhaps he should have explored more of himself in his dream. Or do so now. He needed to be ready for anything Byakuya threw at him, and more importantly, know what he was capable of so that he could control it.
So far it seemed Shinji and Hisagi weren't as submissive to him as Byakuya's underlings. He told them to do certain things and responded the same way they always did: mixed results. Either they listened and did it in their own time, listened and complained every step of the way, took what he said into consideration or ignored him.
It seemed waiting to eat was the only thing that was different and related to that of an actual wolf pack.
Although, according to what he read about wolves, they all had different vocal patterns and each sound, including howls, meant different things. A howl was interpreted differently depending on the source of the wolf's intentions, ranging from a rallying cry to current location. It was sometimes used as a warning to rival packs that this was their territory. It was even suggested that wolves howled just for the fun of it.
To Hitsugaya, a howl sounded the same as any other but the book Akon was reading said that there were different pitches which suggested different intentions.
He did feel like howling. Just thinking about it brought on the urge, but he couldn't do it here at the office without drawing attention. Perhaps he should wait until tonight. But this feeling would not subside. He had to unleash it.
Hitsugaya left the office to try his little experiment and quell this feeling threatening to burst inside of him.
He made it to the edge of the street connecting to the open field and turned to face the buildings. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he unleashed a long, loud, howl.
Shinji was overseeing the training exercises in the yard alongside Momo. After nearly nipping at his sparring partner during practice, Shinji thought it was best to sit it out and simply bark orders. He didn't want to risk accidently biting someone when his wolf side told him to fight the way canines did during a game.
"A little higher on that thrust," he told a girl near the end of the first row. "You, don't hesitate. Your opponent won't give you a chance in a real battle. I saw that. Nice block. You, it helps if you bring your hand higher up the grip. Right up to the guard gives you better control."
Momo looked up at him with a smile. "They're all doing really well today. Some of these guys are new recruits."
He nodded. "Yeah, but even the veterans could use a few pointers. What worked for them back at the academy might have gotten them this far but they're going to be facing all kinds of things and need to adapt. I mean, I had to."
Momo wasn't sure if he was referring to being a Vizard or something else and didn't want to bring it up. Instead, she asked, "How much longer on the drills?"
"Once everyone's synced, I think we can move on to the next part before calling it a day."
Momo observed the Soul Reapers for another minute before addressing him again. "Everyone's in good form. I think we can start…"
Shinji abruptly looked into the distance.
"Everything alright?"
Shinji suddenly took off in the direction he was facing without a word.
Hisagi and Kira were having a conversation as they went over some documents.
"Does Kenpachi ever do paperwork?" Kira asked. "I'm not seeing anything from him."
"Can you imagine him hunched over a desk?" countered Hisagi.
"But even he has to do something. Granted, his Squad doesn't do much other than combat, but they still work. Organization, trips to the World of the Living. That involves some paperwork."
Hisagi pressed a piece of paper to his face and inhaled deeply. "Ahh…" he exhaled. "Rangiku actually filled something out. I can smell her perfume on the page."
"You can?"
Hisagi's nose was stronger now so he could pick up her scent more easily. He quickly put the paper down and resumed working without answering Kira's question.
Kira sprawled out over some of the files with a whine. "I'm still not getting anything from three different Squads. How are we supposed to finish this if people don't turn stuff in?"
"I know. Even Rangiku's stuff is always…" Hisagi stopped talking; head up, alert.
"You ok?" Kira asked, lifting his head to see why Hisagi had gotten so quiet.
Wordlessly, Hisagi stood up and hurried out of the room.
"Hisagi?"
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