Into the Tiger's Lair 4 : Hornet's Game

"Honestly, this is one of the times when I doubt that I really fit to be the Eleventh Division's captain"

Abarai Renji

"Ten o' clock, Madarame, Kurotsuchi", Komamura grumbled, "Let's just get this over with."

"Alright, let's just find those groups and have some fun", Ikkaku said commandeering.

"Expected from a low-life brain like yours." Kurotsuchi snorted. "Charging head on is the only thing you Eleventh Division have in mind."

"What does that suppose to mean?" Ikkaku snapped, vein throbbing.

"I mean, stupid bald-head, that your strategy will get us killed in no time! Apparently your brain's direct exposure to the sunlight destroys it", Kurotsuchi scoffed.

"You, watch it! You don't mess with the Eleventh Division and expecting to get out alive!" Ikkaku madly drew his zanpakuto.

"Madarame, just because your strength is equal to a vice captain doesn't mean that you're allowed to disrespect a captain", Komamura growled, "Kurotsuchi, we are expected to work together. Insulting one another is not a way to do so. We will make an easy target this way."

"Blame the stupid oaf, not me!" Kurotsuchi pointed his black nail at Ikkaku.

Ikkaku used his own finger as a reply.

Komamura grumbled under his breath, "Why did I even agree to this?"

----------------

Hitsugaya looked expectantly at Idaten. "Well?"

"I need to know something about them first", Idaten said.

"What is there that you need to know?" Hitsugaya asked impatiently.

"Their personalities...at least their most prominent ones."

Hitsugaya sighed, scratching his head. "I don't know them very well...but...alright."

"I'll just start with Hisagi's group. Hisagi Shuuhei is very brave and loyal. He seems to be the one to attack first then think about the plan as he goes on. Therefore, I think he will most likely just search for the targets then attacking with all that he has. In his team, he has Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Byakuya. Abarai is impatient, and he doesn't use his head too much in battles. He usually attacks with one particular pattern that is dangerous and purposed in damaging as much as possible. Kuchiki, though, is rather difficult to fight. You know that he's a bannougata. He alternates strategies quickly. He's generally no one to be looked down on. Seeing that he must obey Hisagi, though, I don't think that will pose many dangers. I do expect some disharmony in that group, but not much."

"The next is Kira's group. Kira Izuru is neurotic, but he can also be strong at times. I don't think he's exactly comfortable around the captains. He does seem to use his head more than Hisagi Shuuhei does. He doesn't strike me as the one to be able to switch tactics quickly: he's quite the rookie. He chooses Kyouraku and Ukitake as his teammates...heh, fitting for him. They are good-hearted, they'll most likely hear him out. Kyouraku Shunsui is basically lazy, but in battles you won't even find him blinking. Ukitake Juushirou, too, is no one to be underestimated. His body is weak, he may be struck by his sickness at anytime. I don't recommend relying on that chance, but if you wish."

"The last group consisted of Komamura, Kurotsuchi, and Madarame. Komamura Sajin is rather impatient. His attacks are frontal...I don't think he uses many strategies in battles. Kurotsuchi Mayuri is...well...crazy. He's always ready to sacrifice any lives he deems necessary for his own survival. He is also a bit cowardly...a bit. Madarame Ikkaku is what you can always expect from the Eleventh Division: mostly don't use brains, battles for fun, focusing on direct hits and brute strength...generally they are like bulls, powerful but stupid. Our advantage is that this group doesn't get along too well. Especially that there is no official leader, they will most likely spend their time bantering."

Idaten nodded slightly. "Thank you, taichou."

"By the way, are you sure that they won't kill each other just to get the statues?" Hitsugaya turned to Soi Fong, raising his eyebrows.

"Not really. I gave them to the people I trust would concern more about their lives rather than their pride, but", Soi Fong sneered, "I doubt some can cast aside their prides."

"You being one of them", Hitsugaya mumbled under his breath.

"What did you say?" Soi Fong retorted.

"Any ideas? We'd better start moving or the others will find us easily", Hitsugaya ignored the captain and asking the soon-to-be one instead.

Idaten stopped frowning. "I do have a plan, but it's a bit too risky."

"Don't use it then", Soi Fong cut.

"It might be successful."

"We'll hear about it first", Hitsugaya offered.

------------------

"Senpai, are you sure this won't get us caught instead?" Renji asked for about the third time since they began moving. The events of three months ago had given Renji a great irony : he still called Shuuhei as his senpai while Shuuhei called Renji a taichou. It was rather confusing, in Shuuhei's opinion, it was also not right.

"No, Abarai-taichou. Like I said, the others probably wouldn't expect us moving so fast. We can catch them off guard this time", Shuuhei explained patiently.

"I know that, but they have all concealed their reiatsu, it's...well...difficult to expect that we can catch them first", Renji persisted, leaping off the branch. He was never a good practitioner of Hohou in the first place. He regretted that part a bit; it would certainly made moving through the woods easily. Byakuya, of course, had no problems with that. Currently, Shuuhei made him sensing for the others. Actually, Renji had expected the Sixth Captain to do something to show his arrogance to Shuuhei, but apparently Byakuya just gave him an impassive nod and followed his commands.

"Well, that's something that remains to be seen", Shuuhei said nonchalantly. He abruptly stopped and called to his teammates.

"Stop moving! There's something wrong..."

"Of course it's wrong! Why would anyone reveal their reiatsu in the place and time like this?" Renji asked rhetorically.

"It's a trap", Byakuya stated simply.

Shuuhei scratched his head.

"Uh, senpai, we won't fall for it, will we?" Renji asked again. Somehow he got the feeling he was the whiner of the group.

"We will", Shuuhei muttered after a long period of thinking.

"We'll what?" Renji snapped, baffled.

"One of us will pretend that we got trapped, then the others will follow closely behind to trap the trapper", Shuuhei explained.

"Oh...kay...Are you sure that will work?"

"Not really, but it's not like we can just sit around and do nothing, right? Especially when there's a chance to win." Shuuhei pondered. "Renji, you go."

"What? Why me?" Renji blurted.

"Because Kuchiki-taichou is faster than any of us combined, I think he'd better stay behind as a surprise party." He seemed to realize something, and added, "If taichou doesn't mind, of course."

Byakuya's expression was unreadable as usual. Renji wondered how much it must have hurt his pride to take orders from a vice-captain, and attacking suddenly. Eventually, Byakuya nodded.

"Alright then." Renji sighed. "Here we go."

-----------------

Kira-kun and Ukitake were definitely cruel. They had left him, Kyouraku, to investigate the source of reiatsu--a trap, obviously--while they trailed silently behind, ready to make the plan backfire. Kyouraku hadn't minded being a bait, actually. He just wished he didn't have to be the one to be struggling the hardest. He hadn't complained. He just wished they had a better strategy (not that he could come up with one at that moment).

He cautiously, stealthily advanced through the woods, keeping his senses alarmed at the same time. His target was moving slowly, and was still exposing its large amount of reiatsu. It was a strange sensation, he decided, he couldn't identify whose reiatsu it was.

He should have noticed that everything around him got darker, but he was too deep in his thoughts.

He stopped abruptly. The reiatsu had stopped moving--no, it disappeared completely. Kyouraku panicked. When the bait was suddenly lifted it meant--

A very bright flash pierced the dark--previously bright--morning, forcing Kyouraku to shut his eyes. When the flash disappeared and the sky was bright once again, Kyouraku reflexively used both of his zanpakuto to block two other zanpakuto. The three wielders of the swords looked at each other before pushing away into some good amount of distance.

"Abarai-kun? Madarame-kun?" He asked, surprised. Judging by their expression, they too seemed to be nonplussed at finding two targets when they had been chasing only one. For a split second, they were all just staring at each other. Then, Ikkaku grinned.

"I see. So all of us had the same brilliant idea, then?" He said, tightening his grip on the hilt and the sheath.

"What are you talking about--Whoa!" Kyouraku stepped aside when Ikkaku suddenly slashed downwards in front of him. "Take it easy!"

"Howl, Zabimaru!" The whip-katana lashed out to Kyouraku diagonally. Kyouraku crossed his zanpakuto in front of him, catching Renji's in the middle of the crossing point.

"What are you doing? I'm not the one baiting you!" Kyouraku protested, throwing Zabimaru's tip back at Renji. The blade simply retracted itself.

"We know. But the less competition the better, isn't it?" Ikkaku smirked. Kyouraku saw--with enormous amount of dread--that it was the usual Eleventh Division's way of smirking when they got into a good fight.

"Eh, I doubt you'd want to waste time here and end up getting your teams easy targets", Kyouraku reasoned. He didn't think he would have trouble dealing with the both of them at once; he just didn't want to waste his energy (many people were adamant on saying that he was just being lazy, though).

"They won't. We're just the scouts anyway. Like he said." Renji pointed Zabimaru at Ikkaku. "Eliminating possible threat."

"Which is why we must fight." Ikkaku slammed the hilt of his zanpakuto and the sheath together. "Extend, Houzukimaru!" They extended into one naginata, which Ikkaku brandished menacingly.

Kyouraku sighed dejectedly, pushing back his straw hat. "Nothing I say can change that, can't it? Fine. Two against one?" He too, held the wakizashi and katana in his hands readily.

"One on one on one, right, taichou?"

Without waiting for Renji's reply, Ikkaku lunged into Kyouraku blade first. Kyouraku held his grounds. He deflected the blade aside. Ikkaku quickly swung the blade again, aiming for Kyouraku's head. Kyouraku ducked. As soon as he did that, he slammed the hilts in his hands into Ikkaku's guts, who lurched back. Kyouraku grabbed the middle part of Houzukimaru and drove the blunt edge forward until it met Ikkaku's chest. Ikkaku fell on his back, out cold.

Kyouraku had no time to celebrate as Zabimaru lashed out on him vertically. The Eight Captain leaned back; his nose narrowly evaded the cut. Renji withdrew the elongated blade, along with Kyouraku who dashed at him faster than the retracting Zabimaru. He was about to slash the defenseless Renji when the redhead rolled aside, leaving Kyouraku to carving a mark on the tree behind him. Renji quickly slashed at Kyouraku horizontally from middle range. Kyouraku deftly clipped it with both zanpakuto in his hands.

Renji gritted his teeth. With this, Zabimaru was deadlocked. Kyouraku seemed to think so, for he said, "I think this should be enough."

"Not yet!" It was Ikkaku who shouted that, and he emphasized his words with one single phrase, the phrase that was coveted very much in Soul Society. "Bankai!"

Renji grimaced. When Ikkaku used his Bankai, it meant he was generally pissed off, or felt the need to justify the balance of power, but it mostly meant they were in for some trouble.

"Ryuumon Houzukimaru!"

Ikkaku held the Bankai proudly, his mad grin of enjoyment settled back in.

Kyouraku stared at it, Zabimaru long forgotten. "I haven't even used my Shikai..."

"Then use it, taichou!" Ikkaku warned. He attacked so fast when Kyouraku realized it; his straw hat was cut into two. Kyouraku took off his hat, gaping at it. Renji and Ikkaku followed his example, unsure of what made the flamboyant captain frozen.

"This is the hat Nanao-chan gave me for my last birthday!" He wept, putting the hat back on his head, along with a determined look that his face was lacking of in the first place. "Alright, boys, if you want fun, then it's fun you'll have!"

"I hope you're happy, Ikkaku", Renji muttered sourly as Kyouraku began the procession of unsealing his zanpakuto.

"Aren't you, taichou?" Ikkaku asked cheerfully.

"Honestly, this is one of the times when I doubt that I really fit to be the Eleventh Division's captain", Renji uttered lamely, though he braced himself when Kyouraku wielded Katen Kyoukotsu.

"Are you ready?"

"Definitely!"

"Not really..."

----------------

"Alright, it's obviously a trap. An unusual trap, too", Kira murmured. "I've expected an ambush."

"What should we do with Kyouraku?" Ukitake asked worriedly. He had no doubts about his friend's power, but when it came to fighting two captain-level shinigami at once...

"You should just worry about yourself", Kurotsuchi taunted, showing up in front of them with Komamura.

"Just give your crest and we'll avoid bloodshed that way", Komamura grunted.

Kira gulped. He mustered out his courage to say, "You will have to fight for it."

Kurotsuchi rolled his eyes. "You're just a vice captain! What can you do anyway?"

"This. Show your face, Wabisuke." He confidently raised his zanpakuto.

Kurotsuchi mocked panicking.

"Stop playing around, Kurotsuchi!" Komamura scolded, his dislike for the mad scientist mounting up, "He's going to be a captain! It's not something we can take lightly!" While saying that, Komamura unsheathed Tengen.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'll end this quickly and painfully. Pillage." He pulled the sword dangling innocently in front of him. "Ashisogi Jizou."

Ukitake sighed wearily. "The fastest way of solving problem, eh?" He drew his zanpakuto.

"Every wave, become my shield. Every lightning, become my blade. Sougyo no Kotowari."

He held the twin blades out in front of him parallel to the ground.

"Right then. Winner takes all. Ready?"

"Whatever."

-------------------

Idaten winced at the heavy reiatsu around the place she had just left. "Guess we really created chaos, didn't we, Mitsurugi?" She mumbled, addressing the zanpakuto resting on her back.

"Interesting plan. So it was you who lured us out there? It was a very cheap tactic, by the way." She stopped in the middle of running and whipped around. Shuuhei was standing behind her, one hand on the hilt sticking out of his right shoulder. Idaten took tentative steps backwards.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura." And apparently, Byakuya was also behind her now, blocking her exit. Fortunately, Byakuya decided to use his sword as a threat. As far as she could tell, Senbonzakura was now still floating in front of him, ready to shred her to pieces.

"As I was saying, it was impressive, but it was also too easy to predict. All we need to do is to send our own bait", Shuuhei stated smugly, "Now hand over the crest. We don't want too much hassle, do we?"

"Not really." Shuuhei raised one eyebrow. The impassive way of her saying that made it almost as if--

"Bakudo 61, Rikujoukourou!"

"Sit on the frozen throne, Hyourinmaru!"

"Bakudo 52, Doukusari!"

Three white bands of Kidou restrained Shuuhei, one ice dragon struck in front of Byakuya, freezing the petals of blade, and two earthen chains jumped from the ground and captured Byakuya's wrists tightly. The next thing he knew Hitsugaya dropped between the ice pillar and the captain, and took the crest--a red phoenix--stuck in his obi and fled. Idaten followed him with Soi Fong hot on her heels.

Shuuhei blinked. Finally, realization dawned. "Uh, I guess we fell into a trap...within trap", he said sheepishly. Meanwhile, Byakuya had broken out of the seal and chased them.

"Eh, taichou? A little help?" Shuuhei said to the wind.

----------------

They were running away, the three of them, with Soi Fong at the back of the line.

"Running away, are we? How low."

The short captain managed to turn around before getting slashed by Byakuya, who had caught up to them in no time. Blood spurted out from her shoulder, and she was falling, showing her shocked face at Byakuya. Her teammates didn't even turn around.

That was when Byakuya realized he had divided a piece of clothing into two, and that a nasty kick had made him crashing into a tree.

"Bakudo 70, Shishienjin!"

Soi Fong, perfectly alive and healthy, cast the confinement spell on him, making four very high walls of fire rose around the Sixth Captain.

"Attacking from someone's behind? Have you abandoned all your etiquette?"

Byakuya's jaws tightened as Soi Fong disappeared; her smirk was still very clear in his mind.

----------------

"Alright, I think we've gone far enough."

After moving around for an hour, they finally stopped to a rest. Hitsugaya dropped to the ground and tossed the crest to Soi Fong, who caught it wordlessly.

Idaten sat down, leaning on a trunk. She hadn't been using this much shunpo before, and she was exhausted from it.

The three shared a long period of silence and resting.

"Soi Fong-taichou, when will this end?" Idaten asked.

"Due to the endless danger of the captains avenging their pride, I've arranged that at precisely three o' clock all activities will be stopped", Soi Fong muttered, shutting her eyes.

"How? It's not easy to stop any of childish old men when it comes to something like this", Hitsugaya argued.

Soi Fong opened her eyes. "If I say I had a way, then I do have one. Just wait for the time."

"One more hour. Any strategies?" Hitsugaya turned to their temporary commander.

"We'll just run around. It's better to avoid unnecessary fights."

"Unnecessary, eh? Aren't you a coward", Kurotsuchi drawled suddenly. They sighed, finally seeing the mad scientist, Komamura, and Ikkaku.

"Oh, apparently you've won the match, then", Hitsugaya commented, stretching.

"Actually, we lost it but Mad Doc here insisted to chase the weakest group: yours", Ikkaku said with a bored tone, "Personally, I think there's no fun fighting someone we already know is weak."

"Shut up you stupid buffoon! I didn't see you winning against Kyouraku anyway!" Kurotsuchi snarled.

"Eh, at least I had some fun, unlike you, who bowed in front of your opponent in no time."

"I didn't do it on purpose! I didn't know his zanpakuto's ability, that's all!"

"Be quiet you two!" Komamura growled for the umpteenth time that day.

"Weak?" Soi Fong repeated, one of her eyes twitching.

"Funny, I thought you'd be the weakest ones since you lost your crest to other group", Hitsugaya scoffed.

"Shut up!" Ikkaku shouted. "The Eleventh Division doesn't take that kind of insult lightly!"

"Does that mean the Seventh and Twelfth are allowed to be insulted?" Idaten uttered, the corner of her lips twitching.

"Who said that? I'll really kill you, Madarame!" Kurotsuchi bellowed.

"Enough! We'll settle this through a battle!" Komamura interjected angrily.

"Venting off your frustration to us? That's not very smart, Komamura. The blade is dulled by anger", Hitsugaya said solemnly.

"That's it! I've been patient with your smart-mouth for a long time! It's time to teach a kid how to be polite to adults!" Kurotsuchi brandished Ashisogi Jizou.

Hitsugaya sighed. "You know, I might do that, if the adults didn't act more childishly than I do."

They each held out their respective zanpakuto, the one side filled with anger, frustration, and throbbing veins, the other side with calm and calculating mind.

Then Idaten suddenly turned her back on them and ran away. Soi Fong and Hitsugaya looked at each other cluelessly, but decided to follow her anyway.

"Come back here, you cowards!" Kurotsuchi roared.

"See, Mad Doc? They don't even want to fight", Ikkaku said snidely.

"We have to get a crest, dimwit! After them!"

Disgruntled, Ikkaku and Komamura chased them.

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Note : Doukusari : earth chain

Shishienjin : four fire walls

Mitsurugi : light blade/ three swords, depending on the kanji (I think, that's what it means)

Obviously, they're made up.

Can someone with decent Japanese help me?