Into the Tiger's Lair 6 : Be the Tiger
What? No' what are vice-captains for' crap?
Hinamori Momo
A modern-day shinigami might call it a television, or worse, a fortune-telling orb, but it was simply known as the Chigandama. It was a dull transparent orb, seemingly full of fog, but when in use, it displayed images and scenes as perfect as though it happened right at that time, while its actual use is to view what the other orb, the Tengandama, had witnessed. Combined with the Kioku no Ki, they were the perfect tools to review an event carefully, the tree to arouse the subjective memories, the orb to show the objective memories.
That was precisely what Soi Fong was doing at the moment, letting the orb floating before her, while at the same time screwing her face to remember things.
It had been Yoruichi-sama's suggestion to use these orbs—after all, they were the properties of the Shihouin house—so that, as she had put it, Soi Fong wouldn't bother anyone else with her love for details, and so that should she make a wrong decision in the future, the blame should be on her own, not on the poor informant who—unintentionally, of course—could have misguided her.
At that time, Soi Fong had replied with silent indignity and obedience; she had never disobeyed her master before, nor would she did it at that time, especially when it was truthfully said. The advice was highly useful. The only problem with these kinds of things is that they asked for energy. A lot of reikyoku is needed just to recall the past. It was probably one of the reasons the Kioku no Ki wasn't so crowded in anytime of any day.
Which was why Soi Fong found it odd that someone else was there with her.
"You need not hide, Ukitake-senpai", she said dryly, grabbing the orb, which glow ceased, and stared at a tree bark. Out of its shadow came Ukitake, flushing, not from embarrassment of being found, but from the cold air of January.
"I didn't think you'd like to be disturbed", he muttered, trying hard to stay warm. Soi Fong seemed to notice this, for a fleeting sensation of pity dawned on her. Ukitake was soon convinced he was imagining it when she replied, "Your reiatsu already did."
"Right. I'm not good at concealing", he chuckled/coughed lightly. "But that's not important. I just wanted to say thank you for your help earlier."
The Second Captain blinked, looking at him oddly as though he was crazy. "Did you always do that? Caring about even the slightest of all actions when it is likely to happen at that time?"
Ukitake coughed again. "Well, I never recall you helping me like that on other similar occasions, so—"
"Being out in the cold doesn't seem to be good for your health, senpai", Soi Fong said over him, silently grateful it was in the middle of the night, "you should just finish whatever it was you were intended on doing."
"…I came here because I couldn't sleep…so unless you can somehow rid me of my insomnia…" He paused, coughing, not noticing that Soi Fong made the move to get closer to him and yet something invisible seemed to hold her back. During that moment, the orb received a little ray from the moon. Somehow, Ukitake took a great interest in it.
"Isn't that the Chigandama?" He asked curiously. Waiting for no answer, he connected the orb and the tree in front of him.
"I see…What do you think of it then?"
Soi Fong cocked an eyebrow. "Is that important?"
"Why, of course it is! Soi Fong-taichou was the one who proposed the idea; surely you should be the judge of it!"
"And this does not worry you…why?"
"Like every other captain, I have seen what she can do. Also, I have a trust in you."
It left Soi Fong rather dumbstruck. "What?"
"I know the path you'll always choose—A-A-ACHOO!"
The sneezing was expected, it was its loudness that wasn't. Soi Fong winced, expecting more to come, but after one more sneezing and few more coughing, she finally decided it was safe to approach him. Ukitake was too busy calming himself down to notice that now he wore two haoris. Soi Fong clicked her tongue impatiently, and suddenly he was aware of the extra heat.
"I will take you to the Fourth Division", she said firmly, grabbing his arm and half-dragged him.
"Whoa! There's no need to bother Unohana-taichou at this hour…" he trailed off when he saw Soi Fong's bare back. He stopped abruptly, loss at words. Soi Fong ignored both the cold weather and his silence.
"At the very least, stay somewhere warm…your room should suffice."
"Alright…I'll do it. Here. I can go back by myself", he said miserably, saving whatever pride he had left as he handed the haori back. "Er…thank you again."
Seeing her nodding stiffly just made him wonder even further what suddenly changed—perhaps the war, but—
Under the influence of the tree, a scene popped into his mind. Unconsciously, he rubbed his right shoulder as he, in his memory, jumped in front of a zanpakuto meant for someone else. Ukitake shrugged.
"You're welcome, Soi Fong", he announced, interrupting the captain who was, unknown to him, reviewing the same memory.
Before she could say anything, he was gone.
Soi Fong blinked twice, remaining frozen for a long time.
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The Shinou Academy was buzzing with joy, especially for the sixth graders, who were finally getting out of the academy and into their new life as shinigamis. Here and there, former students were seen bustling around, fussing about their shihakushous, looking around for their zanpakutos and whatnot. Idaten couldn't quite understand the need for that much hassle, and she was desperately trying to sneak out unnoticed when she found her usual 'gang' blocking the main entrance, and worst of all, approaching her. She just sighed wearily and made a resolution that she should at least show some hospitality to her figurative saviors.
"I suppose all of you make it into Gotei 13, then?" She said when they were gathered.
"It's glaringly obvious what these black garbs mean", droned Murasaki, jabbing at his shihakushou.
"I guess you're off to claim that title?" Akira asked rhetorically. "Oh, come on. Why are you still so nervous when it's about as sure as the sun rising in the east?"
"It's not that. I'm just unsure if I can do it. Never mind that. What about you?"
"Ah, us. Well, Ryu's going to the Eleventh Division like he dreamed every single night", Mika said, rolling her eyes ("Hey, I resent that!"). "I got Murasaki's securing a spot in the Seventh Division. I'm an unseated newbie of the Fourth Division…and Akira's in the Fifth."
"I had absolutely no idea we were saving a lost soul who'd turn out to be ordering me around", Akira emphasized.
"None of us did…You know, now that you mentioned it, I think that's who you were. A captain", spoke Ryu, followed by nods from his friends. Idaten suspected they had discussed this often.
"Not really. I don't think I was that great…the most I could get is probably a vice-captain's badge", she uttered earnestly. "Aside from that, we don't even know if I'm not a Hollow."
"Idaten-san, don't speak that rubbish", Mika said with a frown. "No Hollow is as nice as you are."
Baffled, Idaten stuttered, "Oh, uh—don't you think you all should move?"
"We do?" Murasaki looked around, and was startled to find that most of their classmates had left. "Hey, we do! We'll see you around!"
"Good luck, Idaten-san!"
"Show four eyes who's the boss!"
Akira rolled his eyes at the last comment. "Considering that I will see you soon—"
"Just go already!"
Akira smirked. "Hai, taichou."
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When Soi Fong told her that Yamamoto was going to have her showing her Bankai, Idaten had expected that only he would get to see it. A great sense of anxiety filled her when she saw two lines of captains and vice-captains, with Yamamoto in the front and center, and the other two would-be captains in the middle of attention. Obviously, she must chant the word 'Bankai' in front of all these staring people, something she wished she could avoid. Upon her arrival, most of the eyes present were already boring into her. Some like Hitsugaya and Komamura eyed her warily. Others tried to reassure her (in Kyouraku's case, waving so beamingly his vice-captain had to elbow him). Idaten purposefully avoided Kuchiki's gaze, for she knew she would probably looked away as soon as they locked eyes. While it was winter, and they were in the middle of First Division's garden, Idaten was quite sure her shivers weren't just because of the wind.
"You're late", Kurotsuchi remarked snappishly.
Idaten was spared the necessity to find an excuse when Yamamoto suddenly said, "Silence! Now we shall begin this ceremony. First, I'd like Kira-fukutaichou to begin."
The blonde twitched, but nonetheless held his zanpakuto firmly. "Bankai." He stabbed it to the ground. "Mito Komon Wabisuke!"
The zanpakuto didn't change shape. However, something seemed to flow down from the hilt to the tip in the ground. They were lines, shaped very much like the Shikai's shape, a great resemblance of question mark. The pattern touched the ground, and from there they crawled everywhere, most notably to under everyone's feet, where they remained looking like Wabisuke's Shikai stamp. At once, everyone was seen struggling to stand straight with much difficulty.
"People under the influence of my Bankai's stamp", Kira explained, no longer looking like the neurotic man he was, "should find it very difficult to stand straight, much less to move around and even reach your zanpaku to."
It was pretty much invincible, Idaten observed, struggling to lift her hand. If he managed to catch his opponent off guard, and due to the nature that zanpakutos needed to be held to be released, then he could end the battle very quickly. Unless…
"Hadou 4, Byakurai!"
A white light shot out from Idaten's difficultly-raised index finger, aimed straight at Kira's head. Instinctively, he raised his zanpakuto to deflect it. He immediately regretted doing so when the patterns under their feet disappeared.
"I see…your zanpakuto must remain stuck in the ground in order for its ability to be utilized…it must be difficult fighting without it", Shuuhei concluded.
"You will have to work on that weakness, Kira-fukutaichou", advised Yamamoto as Kira frowned, evidently didn't expect his weakness to be found so soon. "Hisagi-fukutaichou, please."
Shuuhei calmly raised his zanpakuto, and swung it. "Coil the earth, Orochimaru!"
What used to be a hilt now remained as a chain, a very long chain with the blade on the end. The blade sailed straight to Yamamoto, only to stop in front of him, floating in the air before Shuuhei spoke again, "Split, Orochimaru!"
It seemed as though the blade split into two, the other blade and chain being separated from the former only to be connected on the base, which was in Shuuhei's hands. The second chained blade soared to Kurotsuchi, much to the Twelfth Captain's fury. Other than that, the other captains didn't seem to be impressed.
"This is my Shikai. It can split into eight 'heads', each can move freely as I command. And now….Bankai."
Shuuhei placed the base on his back, and from then it enlarged and grew into eight gigantic chains, each ending in a gigantic serpent-like head/blade. The chains were attached to Shuuhei's back, who didn't seem to be weighed in any sorts.
"Kekkai Orochimaru!"
Again, most of them didn't look impressed. Shuuhei sighed slightly. "This Bankai is only an extension to my Shikai. It can act as a defense or offense, all according to my will."
As though fearing to annoy the captains with his apparently-casual Bankai, he dismissed it quickly.
"Very well. Kusanagi…-san?"
Idaten nervously nodded. "Create chaos, Mitsurugi."
The bright zanpakuto looked very much like two nodachi joined on the hilts. As some blinked and adjusted their eyes to the light, Idaten explained, "My zanpakuto depends heavily on the light around. It collects the light around us: you should find the sky rather dark. I can use the collected energy to shoot it as a projectile, or just use it like a sword."
"Wait, what will happen if it's night?" Hinamori asked, surprising those who knew her well.
Idaten automatically grimaced. "I will have to depend on the other branches of shinigami arts. Bankai."
Instead of expanding like it should be, the blade shrunk and disappeared, leaving only the ridiculously long hilt, glowing even brighter and reminding Renji disturbingly to neon lights he saw in the mortal world. Now the sky was nearly as pitch as night.
"Kokuten Mitsurugi."
Most of the shinigamis present now showed some signs of curiosity, even Byakuya looked (one would have to squint to see it) as though he wanted to know why a thing that small could be called a Bankai. No one noticed Soi Fong didn't look as interested as the others were, in fact, she had a plain expression on her face.
Idaten resisted the temptation to shake her head. She instead used her right fingers to pull something from the hilt, and soon enough an abnormally large bow in the shape of a bird made of light appeared. She aimed at the sky, and let go of the light bowstring in her hand. The phoenix-like energy soared into the sky, enlightening it for a few moments before the sky grew pitch again.
"Well, that's one of the things it can do…" Thinking that she was not meant to show off her Bankai, she dismissed it. She was almost dismayed when nearly all of them seemed to be impressed—and if her eyes weren't tricking her, Kira looked envious of the attention for a while.
Then Yamamoto broke the silence. "Yes, thank you. Do you swear on your souls that you will serve Gotei 13 with your lives, and bow to its rules unconditionally?"
There was a chorus of "Yes, I do." Idaten wondered how 'unconditionally' she could bow to the rules.
Now, if you'd all please sign this contract with your blood…"
His Vice-Captain brought forth an enormous scroll, and rolled it open in front of them. On the upper-middle of the scroll was the words 'Gotei 13' in red, and under it, from right to left, were the numbers of the thirteen divisions, under them were the names of the shinigamis who had been the captains respectively. The First and the Fourth had the shortest list of names, and the Eleventh had the longest. Kira stepped forward, using Wabisuke to tear his palm lightly. Under the number of the Third Division, and under Gin's name (he glared at it for a long time) he signed his name in. Next came Shuuhei who did almost the exact thing, except that he glared at Tousen's name shorter than Kira did. And finally, Idaten tentatively signed her name. When she looked up, she was quite shocked to meet Hinamori's furious glance. The First Division Vice-Captain picked the scroll, and showed it to the rest of them, and when his captain nodded with an approval, he rolled it and assumed his position besides Yamamoto. He rose from his chair, and moved in front of them. The three bowed their heads. The First Vice-Captain came back again, this time with three folds of white cloth in his hands. Yamamoto folded the cloths, looked at the number painted on the back, and put them on each new captain's back respectively.
"With this, I declare thee captains of Gotei 13, further on in charge of your respective divisions."
There was a faint noise of clapping, for only few bothered to do so.
"You may all return to your positions."
Abruptly the black and white mass moved, as though they had been itching to go away from the start, only Hinamori and Unohana lingered, who were both approaching Idaten.
"Congratulations, Kusanagi-taichou", Unohana greeted with a smile.
"Thanks…" Hinamori was still staring at her appraisingly, as if trying to find anything wrong with Idaten. Unohana noticed this, and she made a sign with her eyes.
"Uh, you can go back first", Idaten said quietly to her new vice-captain, who raised an eyebrow but followed the order nonetheless.
"I hope you don't mind", Unohana spoke when Hinamori was gone, "because unfortunately I am not able to explain everything due to the time in my hand. This is concerning your vice-captain."
"What's wrong with her?"
Unohana took a deep breath. "I suppose you know about Aizen?"
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The first impression his eyes made when they fluttered open was, it was so dark. Then, his brain caught up with his senses, and the first question was: Where am I?
Why am I here?
Who am I?
"Ah…you have awakened." A man's voice suddenly broke his reverie. "And I thought it would have taken at least a few more months…"
For some reasons, the man's voice felt very familiar to him. He struggled to remember why. "Who…what…?"
"Uh-uh-uh", the other man waved his index finger, "Don't do that. I'll explain to you everything later, but don't try to remember anything. Yet, anyway. Just have some rest, okay?"
Feeling heavily offended that he couldn't even know his name, he obeyed. He closed his eyes, but the questions just kept popping.
"Just, relax, okay? Trust me. Everything is just fine. Very much so. Just…sleep."
He did so. His observer chuckled lightly.
"Alrighty…more time for us. Huzzah. Oy, you! Tell them he has awakened! Who else, dumdum?"
"I think this is a bad omen, that something doesn't go well as planned", another voice said crisply.
"Nonsense, Toukan, it's very well as planned! Why, now we have even more time to plan things!"
'Toukan' didn't answer. He didn't even look at anything in particular.
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Idaten stopped short before the door bearing the number five. Again, it didn't seem entirely right…and yet, her logical reasons chided that it was her place now. She must have been standing in front of the shoji door for a long time since Hinamori slid it open and commented, "Why are you just standing there, taichou?" Waiting for no response, the short girl just went back to her seat, sighing heavily at the pile of paperwork. Idaten blinked, then automatically got into the office. She snatched a handful of papers and brought them to her supposed table. Hinamori threw her an odd look.
"Do you…know how to do them?" Hinamori asked, sounding as polite as possible. "I…heard you came straight from the academy."
"Unohana-taichou had explained briefly…and…" Idaten squinted, reading a piece of paper. "I can figure them out by myself."
What? No' what are vice-captains for' crap? Hinamori snorted inwardly. "You can always ask for my help."
Idaten looked up. "Really? I just thought that you have had too many tasks right now."
"I've been doing jobs for two well enough before", the vice-captain growled. Her own words bit her hard, for she loathed the idea of Kira and Shuuhei advancing as a captain while she did not.
"There's no need to push yourself so hard…and that's an order."
Silence struck the Fifth Division main office, save for the sounds of scratching.
"Ano…Hinamori, we missed the introductions, didn't we?"
Hinamori's head snapped up when she was addressed. She took one second to comprehend the sentence, then smirked. She stood, walked in front of her captain's desk and bowed.
"My name is Hinamori Momo, you may call me what you please. I will serve as your vice-captain."
Idaten did the same. "Kusanagi Idaten, your new captain. You may call me what you please (Hinamori shot her a startled look). I'm pretty sure the etiquette is to call me taichou, isn't it?"
"Quite true." Hinamori avoided scowling. Was this shinigami insane? Or was she just trying to win her affection? If that was the case, she would have to work harder, because Hinamori wouldn't buy any of it.
"Uh…I guess…I'll be pleased to work with you." Idaten offered her hand awkwardly.
That was when Hinamori realized her captain was wearing a sleeveless haori, but the shihakushou's sleeves were as long as her wrists, and under it she still wore black gloves covering her whole arms. Suppressing a frown, Hinamori politely took the hand and shook it.
Yes, it was a start. Anything else would have to wait for other times.
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Mito Komon : the name of a group that when is uttered in front of wrongdoers instantly brought them to their knees. It's historical in Japan. Can you see the connection with the Bankai?
Orochimaru :
Orochi : Japanese legendary eight-headed snake
maru : standard ending for male/sword names.
Has absolutely nothing to do with Naruto.
Kekkai : force field.
Chigandama : Earth eye ball
Tengandama : Sky eye ball
Lookie here… an arc done. The hit stats shows that many people at least hit this fic, but surprisingly the reviews are few. Please, review after you read. Tell me everything you think about this story, even if it's just to flame the crack pairings (crack? Where?).
