Hello my friends! Saturday has come again, and with gifts! Or rather…'a' gift, the gift of a new chapter. Yet again, I ran across that stupid canyon known as 'writer's block'. The second time I jinxed myself this month, so maybe I need to learn to shut my big mouth. Lmao. But, I managed to find the bridge across it and get my story back on track. So, again, crisis averted.
Anyway, I received a PM a few days ago from a reader asking me a very good question about how I design my chapters. He, or she, asked me if I try to set any 'goals' for each individual chapter, and the answer is yes. In case some of you may be wondering the same thing, I try to include one of three things in every chapter. Those are fighting scenes, comedy, or plot development. The last thing I want to give readers is a chapter that has no point behind it, so that is what I'm going to avoid.
So, on to the, sadly, only review from this week. (A stray tear falls down cheek.)
xXSpades231Xx: Thanks for the 10 on your rating scale, my friend. Greatly appreciated. I thought you might do a back flip on that little twist, heh heh. Anyway, questions!
1: Already discussed that with you via PM. And before you decide to ask later, the above PM question was from another reader.
2: I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there won't be any forth wall breaks in this story. Sorry fellas, I do find wall breaks to be funny, but just not in this story.
3: Very tricky to answer. In short, poorly. Granted, it 'did' give us a bridge to cross between the time Ichigo lost his powers to getting them back, but I personally didn't much like the concept. But, that is just 'my' personal opinion on the matter. Can't really say that I'll include it in a later story, but that's way down the road.
4: The Quincy Arc was very great, although it felt a bit rushed towards the end. But, from reviews I have seen online, a lot of people feel the same way. For those who are wondering if that Arc will be included here; no, not in 'this' story. This story is only going to follow up to Aizen's defeat, then a little bit in the aftermath. I am going to try and make a story that follows after this one though.
5: Some were ok; others, not so much. If I had a choice, I would have preferred Kubo to have avoided the fillers and give us the Thousand Year Blood Arc in the anime. (Still waiting for the series to continue with a 'thousand prayers'.)
6: I honestly have not the slightest clue, bro. A fox? Lmao.
(On a side note Spades, I'm beginning to think you're stalking me. Rofl!)
Anyway, time for me to shut up and give you fellas the gift of Saturday; a 16,144 word chapter! ('Not' including all of my blabbering and review answers, lol.)
(I DO NOT OWN BLEACH; ITS CHARACTERS, NAMES, LOCATIONS, OR STORY! THAT HONOR BELONGS SOLELY TO TITE KUBO AND HIS TEAM! ONLY THE OC, AND RANDOM NAMES NOT MENTIONED IN THE BOOKS OR ANIME ARE MY OWN!)
Chapter 7
(A Fox's Cunning.)
Squad 7 Barracks, Seireitei, Present
Many relieved, and worrying thoughts were putting constant pressure on Timothy's mind. For so long, he had managed to keep the secret of his and Susan's past just that, a secret. He always knew, without a doubt, that if his secret was discovered, someone would try to take her from him and most likely destroy her.
For so long, he had felt that it was his fault, that he had caused her to be in the state that she was in. But after hearing the words from the spirit of his zanpakutō, he steadily started to see reason. He started to see that, regardless of what he did, the outcome would not have changed.
But over and over as he tried endlessly to sleep the night before, his thoughts kept reverting to what the spirit had labeled as his hatred.
The hatred he felt towards Aizen.
But what could he do? How could he possibly not hate the man who had destroyed his and Susan's life? That left her in such a state? And his despair, how could he not feel sadness for the people he had lost? Such feelings were not only normal, they were instinct.
He may still have Susan's soul with him, but she was now trapped in a world without feeling. He could talk to her, but he could not feel her, hold her, comfort her. He had thought, on some occasions in the past, to release her and let her fade away; but neither of them knew if that would let her soul go to the soul society, or if she would disappear for eternity.
And now, after seeing her next to him in front of the Captain and having to send her straight back to her 'prison' again, he was beginning to contemplate these thoughts again as he walked back.
Timothy had walked into the barracks to find that the common area was, for the most part, vacant. There were a couple members sitting down and either having breakfast or enjoying simple conversation.
But then, being a squad rest day, most of the members were either still in bed sleeping in, or just out and about; so, it was expected for the common area to be quiet at this hour in the morning. But as he walked further into the room, he happened to turn and see Hinata, Issei, and Kenta sitting together at a table talking.
Timothy gave a quiet, amused scoff as he noticed that Issei looked half asleep, and Kenta was vigorously rubbing his temples. Clearly both men had been drinking the night before and were suffering from a mild hangover.
His amusement slightly turned to pity when he looked to see Hinata with a tired and annoyed look on her face, evident that she most likely had to babysit the two men.
Timothy wanted to return to his room and think about his/Susan's upcoming fight, and to also contemplate on what he had done. The Captain and Lieutenant now knew about Susan, and he was inwardly pleading to any and all forms of higher entities that they would keep his secret.
But as he slowly walked through the room watching the friends, he thought that it would be a good idea to sit and talk with them to help get his mind off of the matter for a bit. He passed the notion in his head and turned back towards the friends just before he got to the stairs.
As he got closer to the table, he began to hear Hinata's voice, very clearly annoyed.
'Must have been a rough night…' he thought. In the back of his head he was starting to dread the story that was most likely to come.
Just before he made it to the table, Kenta slowly looked up to see him and rose the fingers on his hand in an attempt of a wave, still rubbing his head. His action got Hinata's attention, and she turned to see what he was looking at. Her turn stopped when she saw Timothy and she gave a slow and tired wave as well.
Timothy waved back at the group as he arrived at the table, trying his hardest to hold back a laugh.
"Morning guys." he greeted. He got mixed reactions back; from Kenta nodding, Issei 'moaning', and a depressed sigh from Hinata.
"Morning Tim. How are you?" Hinata asked in a low voice. It was now very obvious that she was very, very tired.
"It's another day, not much else. And how about you?" he asked as he looked at Hinata with a knowing grin.
Hinata slowly looked back to him with an annoyed look on her face. She didn't say anything, she simply stared at him with eyes that pretty much told him the whole story before he heard it.
Maintaining her stare, Hinata slowly patted her hand on the seat next to her, gesturing for Timothy to join them. He walked over to her and sat down with a heavy sigh. Timothy then set one arm and his other elbow on the table, starting to rub his own temples in preparation for an evaluation of their night.
"Alright…what happened?" Timothy asked in a voice of pity.
Hinata, still staring at him, then turned and glared daggers at the two men, one at a time. When her glare met each of them, they both flinched in fear of her. A tinge of fear was starting to grow in the back of Timothy's mind. She wasn't annoyed, she was mad!
"I think the question you should be asking is, what is 'going' to happen. And the answer is: a funeral." she answered with a hint of anger, causing both men to slightly back away.
Timothy was now struggling with trying not to laugh, chuckle, or even smirk, knowing that she would most likely turn on him as well in her current mood. He turned to Kenta and raised a brow, but the man just lowered his head in shame. He then turned to Issei, who in turn set his head on the table.
Timothy crossed his arms and tilted his head back as he took a deep breath, thinking on how to approach this without earning her wrath as well.
"Do I even 'want' to know?" he asked, his voice now low as well.
Hinata turned back to him and growled. "Something that better not happen again." She hissed at him.
Timothy opened his eyes, and without moving his head, turned his eyes to her. His eyes widened when he saw her with a look that could probably kill a Captain. He slowly turned back to Kenta with worry flooding his face.
'What could they have possibly done to piss her off so badly?!' he quickly thought.
He remembered the night that he spent drinking with them, and it was true that Issei did act a little retarded before they called it a night, but they couldn't have done anything that bad…could they?
"What did you do?" Timothy asked in a moan.
Kenta raised his head just enough to be able to get his eyes on Timothy. He was wearing a look of absolute shame and guilt, causing Timothy to fret.
"What?" he reluctantly pressed again.
The only answer he got from the man was his head dropping back down. Hinata then turned her gaze back to Kenta and growled again.
"…He…stripped me…" she answered with a very, very furious tone.
Two things happened; Kenta dropped his head onto the table with an audible thud, and Timothy about choked in shock as his breathing stopped. He quickly turned to her with a face of complete shock and disbelief, then back to Kenta, then Issei. After a second, he turned back to her, trying to figure out if she was joking.
He could see her face turning bright red as she began blushing from embarrassment, still maintaining her evil glare at the culprit.
She…was 'not'…joking!
'She couldn't possibly mean…did he…?!' Timothy quickly tried to summarize before quickly turning back to Kenta.
"Y…you guys didn't…" Timothy tried to ask, but he was too shocked to get his words out.
He didn't want to even consider that the two of them would do such a thing, especially to Hinata. But everyone knows that being drunk beyond all reasoning can cause such…incidents.
Kenta quickly raised his head, causing his hangover to hit him again. He clutched the side of his head with one hand while waving furiously with the other in defense.
"No no no no! It wasn't like that! I swear!" he quickly, but quietly pressed.
Timothy remained frozen, staring at the man, trying to recover from what she had told him. But he somewhat recovered when he heard Hinata give a low growl and banged her head on the table as well. He turned to her and slightly lowered his shocked look.
"Soooo…what happened?" he asked once more, but now in a tone of pity.
Knowing Kenta, Timothy now knew that, whatever happened last night, it must have been an accident; just a very…embarrassing one.
Hinata rose her head, her blush still plastered on her face, and started rubbing her face.
"It was an accident…so I can't hate him." she started, but quickly returned to glaring at him. "But I won't forgive him!" she hissed.
Timothy twitched at the sound of her tone and began to sweat from fear.
'Oh dear god.' Timothy inwardly moaned. He then turned to Kenta.
"For god's sake, what the hell did you do?!" Timothy demanded from him, causing him to now blush.
Hinata let out a very deep sigh, then turned back to Timothy, getting him to return to her.
"We were drinking last night…" she paused, and Timothy looked at the men.
"So I see." he confirmed, getting a headshake from her.
"I was the guardian for the night, so I was keeping an eye on everyone. Yuka and Junya were there as well." she continued, but Timothy quickly interjected.
"But not Narumi, right?" he asked, getting a hesitant and slow nod in return.
"…Yes…And that is what made it the worst…Anyway, it was late, these two idiots were toasted, so we called it a night. Junya wasn't that far gone, so I asked him to help me get these two back to their rooms." She paused for a moment to see if Timothy was following her.
He gave her a nod to continue. "Well, he had Issei, and I picked Kenta up to his feet. He was just barely standing on his feet, when he started to wobble. I tried to catch him before he fell…but…" she paused and lowered her head, the blush returning. "He fell over before I could catch him…and…he g…grabbed me…" she half answered.
Timothy rose a brow, trying to put the pieces together. He was starting to see what she was getting at, but this was not a time to make quick assumptions.
"He…grabbed you…?" Timothy tried to press for clarification.
Her blush got even redder. "He…grabbed my…my robe…as he fell…" she added.
Timothy's prediction had turned out to be true and he instantly felt sorry for the poor woman for her accident.
"Y…you mean that…?!" he started, and she nodded.
"He…pulled my kosode down…" she finished.
Timothy's jaw dropped, and Kenta started to repeatedly bang his head on the table. Timothy quickly turned to Kenta with the same look of shock and stared.
Timothy was now fighting a steadily losing battle trying not to laugh. He couldn't help but feel sorry that she had to go through that, but just picturing it in his mind, unintendedly, he also wanted to laugh.
He suddenly felt his composure break and he quickly slapped a hand over his mouth to contain the laugh. It did not work. He was now laughing through his hand and Hinata quickly turned to him with an evil glare.
"It. Is. Not. FUNNY!" she seethed, her face now beet red.
Timothy didn't want to be mean, and he sure felt terrible for her, even more so that he was laughing about it, but no matter what he did, he simply couldn't help himself.
Unfortunately, the situation kept playing in his head, and every time it did, it just made his laughing worse. He kept on laughing uncontrollably, and Hinata was getting really mad now.
"Shut up!" she demanded, but to no effect.
After a few moments more of laughing, she had had enough. She suddenly, and quickly slapped the back of his head hard, causing his head to spring forward from the force and slam on the table with a loud thump.
"Ow!" he yelled as he slowly raised his head and held a hand to the impact area.
Hinata turned away from him and crossed her arms, pouting. Meanwhile, Kenta and Issei started laughing up a storm of their own at Timothy's misfortune.
They both looked to see that Timothy now had a bright red spot on his forehead from where it had hit the table, causing them to laugh even more. Timothy hissed as he touched the spot, then turned to her.
"What was that for?!" he quietly yelled at her and she simply turned her eyes to him.
"I told you to shut up. Maybe next time you won't laugh at me." she growled as the other two men kept laughing.
Timothy moaned in pain as he turned forward and held his head. He set his elbows on the table and rested his aching head in his hands.
"Damn you've got a mean swing, woman!" he stated a little 'too' loudly.
She quickly turned to him and slapped his head again, causing him to, again, slam his head on the table.
"OW!"
Kenta and Issei were hugging each other, trying to support each other with how hard they were laughing.
Hinata then turned to them with her glare, but they ignored her and kept on laughing. Timothy raised his head and the two men now saw that Timothy had two red spots on his head. This proved to be too much as Kenta leaned back from laughing and fell off the chair onto the floor.
Hinata quickly looked over the table to see that he was holding his stomach, still laughing. She sat back down with a huff.
After a moment of listening to the two men laugh up a storm, she turned to Timothy to see the two spots. She smirked, then chuckled, then started laughing herself, forgetting last night's 'event'.
Timothy slowly turned to her and growled. "Shut up." he moaned, causing her to laugh harder.
"I…I guess…we're ev…even now!" she said through her laughs.
Timothy gave an annoyed moan and returned to cradling his head.
After a while, the three friends finally calmed down and Hinata gently patted his back.
"I hate you all." he moaned, getting a chuckle and a nod back.
"I bet." she acknowledged.
He really didn't 'hate' her, but he was most definitely 'not' happy with her at the moment. His head was now killing him, and he was also confused on how his, and the two men's roles suddenly switched.
Hinata saw his pain and was beginning to feel a little bad for doing it, but it was such an embarrassing moment for her, and he was laughing at it, even though he couldn't help it. She gave him a couple more soft pats on his back and sighed.
"I'm sorry Tim." she said, getting a moan in return.
Kenta picked himself up after he could breathe again and sat back down in his chair. "Yeah…sorry." he followed.
Timothy simply waved them off and tried to sooth his headache. The red spots were starting to fade, but not the pain.
"So how is your morning going so far, Tim?" Issei inquired.
Timothy needed a moment to let his headache sooth a bit before he could try to humor him with a decent answer.
"It 'was' fine, until I got my head bashed in." he answered in a very displeased tone. "And yours…besides the incident?" he followed in a question.
Issei raised his hand level with the table, tilting it side to side to state that it was alright. Timothy slightly nodded as Hinata turned back to him with a small smile.
"Ok, so besides this 'incident', how is your day going?" she mocked.
Timothy turned to her with a foul look. "It took me long enough, but I finally realized something." he paused, getting her full attention. "You're evil."
She replied to him with a simple shrug of the shoulders and a grin. "And proud of it." She announced.
He then remembered something that caused him to pause and grin back. "So, tell me…" he started, causing the woman to begin fretting at him sudden chance in demeaner. "…How did it go once Narumi saw your little 'incident'?" he inquired with a cheeky tone.
Hinata froze and turned a bright red with wide eyes. She had 'prayed' that he had forgotten that detail. But fate, as it were, decided to be cruel to her for some reason.
"Uh…" she started, but couldn't finish.
Unfortunately for her, Issei was all to glad to elaborate. "Oh, let's just say that she 'really' enjoyed the show." He said, then snickered.
Kenta was quick to follow, if only to get back at his friend. "Yeah. So much in fact, that she passed out from her enjoyment and collapsed on the table, taking it out as well."
Timothy snorted from trying to hold back a laughing spree, and luckily managed to do so. "Junya and Yuka had to check on her just to make sure she didn't actually die." Issei stated.
The young 5th seat's resolve then broke. He slapped a hand on the table as he bawled out laughing, along with his two male friends while Hinata buried her face in her hands to hide her, now scorching red face.
"I hate you all!" she whined into her hands.
Timothy then patted her on the back in a soothing gesture and began to calm down from his painful laughter.
"It's alright, Hinata. You can have Kenta and Issei keep her at bay as payback for what happened." he offered, causing the two men to suddenly freeze from the thought.
"Y…You can't be serious, Tim!" Kenta demanded.
Timothy simply looked at him and shook his head. "Nope! But anyway, I just got back from talking to the Captain." he returned in a calm tone.
This caused everyone's brows to raise slightly and Hinata to turn to him. "What for?" Kenta asked.
Timothy simply sighed heavily. "To get bullied." he moaned.
"…Bullied? How?" Hinata followed, causing Timothy to glare.
"I got bullied into an officer's position." he returned in a tone of annoyance.
All of his friends widened their eyes in surprise and shock at hearing his answer. Not because they didn't think he could do it, but because of how quickly he got it, being there for only a little over a week.
They had all seen him training endlessly and excessively for the past couple of days, so they all knew that he had improved since his fight with the Captain the day he became a member. But to be offered an officer's position after only a week as a soul reaper, it was almost unheard of. Hinata simply couldn't believe it and thought he was joking with them.
"You're lying." she stated, getting nods from the two men in agreeance.
Timothy continued his glare, a serious expression glued to his face.
"No…I am not." he flatly, and sternly replied.
All three of them stared at Timothy with jaws dropped and unable to speak. After a moment, Kenta finally managed to find his voice as he shook his head.
"I don't believe it…I mean, congratz to ya, but…wow." he said as he ruffled his hair.
"So…what position?" Issei asked and Timothy turned to him with a displeased look, with a hint of sadness.
"The 5th seat…Hetoku's place." Timothy answered.
All four of them sat silently at the mention of the man's name. Even though he had passed a few days ago, his death was still very fresh on everyone's minds. Finally, Hinata raised her head back to Timothy and slightly smiled.
"That's good Tim. We're all happy for ya…sir." she teased, and he quickly turned to her.
"Don't you start…I didn't even want the damn job to be honest." he warned, getting a chuckle.
"Alright, but still, you are a seated officer now, so we still have to show you the respect. You know how it is." she offered.
"True, but you know that I am not all that respectful myself. So, let's just go with this, ignore the title and 'sir' part and just…do what you're supposed to do. At least 'try' to make my life less painful." he pleaded.
All three of them nodded in understanding, then Timothy rose to his feet.
"Well, sorry to leave you guys so soon, but I have some things to take care of this morning. I guess I'll catch you guys later. And Hinata…" he paused, getting her attention.
"Don't kill him." He finished as he pointed at Kenta.
She glared at the said man again, causing him to flinch, then back to Timothy.
"No promises." she offered, causing him to moan.
They all said their goodbyes as Timothy began to return to his room. Once he got to the top of the stairs, he went to the railing overlooking the common area and the table where his friends were.
"Hey, Hinata." He called out, getting her attention. "Say hi to your new girlfriend for me, will ya?" he teased.
Before he knew it, she was on her feet and running towards the stairs. "I'm going to kill you, Tim!" she yelled.
He quickly bolted away and ran down the hallway, only slowing to a walk once he realized that she wasn't actually chasing after him. He chuckled and turned back to the front. He started rubbing the side of his head again as the pain was still there from his 'forced introduction' to the table…twice. But at least it was not as bad as it was before.
His thoughts went back to Hinata's story about the night before and he chuckled again as he slightly shook his head in disbelief.
'That idiot is going to be the cause of many headaches to come, I know it.' he thought.
Once he returned to his room, he walked over to his bed and plopped down on it with a sigh. It was still early morning, and yet he was already mentally exhausted.
He laid there looking at the wall as he tried to come to terms with what had transpired earlier that morning, again contemplating if he had made the right decision in telling the Captain and Lieutenant his secret.
"Tim…are you mad at me for accepting the Captain's challenge?" Susan asked in his thoughts.
Timothy closed his eyes and sighed.
"I really don't know. I can't say I'm mad, but I'm am definitely not happy about it either." he replied with a depressed tone.
"I'm sorry Tim…I guess I should have asked you." Susan admitted, getting another sigh back.
"It's fine I guess. Just don't make it a habit." he half asked, getting a chuckle back.
"Alright, I won't."she replied.
"Are you sure you can handle it? I just…I can't afford to lose you…you're all I have left." he thought as a lone tear began to form.
"One, I'll be fine. And two, I'm not all you have left. You have your friends downstairs. You also have the Captain and the Lieutenant." she advised, getting another sigh.
"Yeah…I guess you're right. Just don't push yourself, please?" he pleaded. He knew that if he lost her, he would very likely break down and lose himself.
"Don't worry, I won't. I'm just glad that I finally get to have some fun for once." Susan stated with a happy voice.
"Bloodthirsty witch." Timothy moaned.
"I am not bloodthirsty! And I am not a witch! Take it back!" she demanded, and Timothy scoffed. Normally, she was the one who was causing him grief, but on the off chances that he could get the better of her, he tried to savor it.
"After all the times you teased me? Nah." he retorted, getting a growl in return.
"I think I'll go after you instead of the Captain." Susan threatened, getting a chuckle.
"I'm immune to your flames, remember?" he taunted, annoying her.
"I hate you." she hissed.
"I thought you 'loved' me?" he teased.
"Oh, I do…it's just too bad I can't 'physically' show it to you." She replied in a suggestive tone.
His eyes then widened, and he blushed. "Fuck you, you seductive vixen!" he retorted.
He then heard her snicker. "Oh, I'm sure you'd 'love' to do that, wouldn't you?" she shot back. Although he couldn't see it, he just 'knew' she had to be flashing her brows at him suggestively.
"…I hate you." He finally said after a few moments of silence.
Yet again, the woman 'somehow' managed to turn a win into a cataclysmic defeat for him. After twelve years…scratch that…'twenty-eight' years, if you included the twelve years of being in the soul society, six years of marriage, and the ten years that he knew her before that, that he knew her, she 'always' managed to turn the tables on him; on 'everything'.
"But I thought you 'loved' me?" she teased.
"Shut up!" he yelled.
He then sat up, and was about to get up to walk to the Captain's office, but instead decided to sit for a moment longer and clear his thoughts. He started to take deep, yet mellow breaths as he began to calm his nerves and prepare himself for the worst.
All it would take is a single moment where he wasn't watching closely, and Susan could be gone forever; a horrid thought that he didn't even want to consider happening.
After a few moments, he took a final breath, then stood up and straightened his robe. 'I hope you're ready for this.' he thought to himself as he walked to the door.
As he entered the hallway and slid his door closed, he turned back to Susan's blade.
"So, what's your plan?" he asked, rhetorically as he started walking down the hall.
"Simple, hit them hard, and hit them fast. That way I won't have to fight a prolonged battle and worry about my energy."
"Sounds like a good plan, but that still doesn't make me feel better about all this." He stated, then walked down the stairs into the common area.
As he was walking down, he saw that his friends were still there and had noticed him, now waving.
"Hold that thought…" he paused. "Hey guys, I'm off for now." he called out, getting nods back.
He then pointed at Kenta. "No stripping." he mockingly ordered, causing Hinata to blush and glare, Issei to laugh, and Kenta to quickly shake his head with wide eyes.
"Don't you worry, Tim…I 'will' kill you later!" she hissed.
He chuckled and waved again as he left the common room towards the rear doors.
"Anyway…" he continued inwardly. "All I'm asking is, don't do anything stupid, and please be careful. Please?" he pleaded.
"Stop worrying, I'll be fine. Just let me do what I need to do." she demanded, and he sighed.
"Alright." he finished, closing the debate. He continued his walk towards the headquarters in silence.
Squad 7 Headquarters, Seireitei, Present
Sajin sat at his desk with Tetsuzaemon in front of him as both men sorted through the stack of papers. Even though it was a rest day for the squad, that had no effect on the amount of incoming paperwork.
Sajin absolutely loved his squad, and he enjoyed being its Captain; but like any officer, he 'hated' paperwork. Day after day without stopping, the paperwork kept coming.
"Tetsuzaemon, please have these sent out with the morning reports." Sajin instructed as he handed him about a dozen papers.
The man nodded and stood up as he took them from the Captain, then turned to the door. But the man stopped as they heard a knock.
"You may enter." Sajin answered without looking up as he finished signing a document.
The door opened, and Timothy slowly entered, closing the door behind him before he bowed. Sajin nodded and gestured him to step up, so Timothy rose and began walking towards the desk.
"I'll be a few more minutes Tim, I need to finish a few inquiries." Sajin assured as he gestured further for Timothy to sit down on one of the couches.
Timothy nodded and walked over to the right side, near couch as Tetsuzaemon walked by to complete his task. Timothy was a little surprised at how comfortable the couch was, and slowly leaned back to relax a moment as he waited.
Sajin glanced up at him without moving his head to see a distressed look on the man's face. He set his hand down and turned his head to him.
"Is everything alright?" he asked.
Timothy let out a deep sigh and lowered his head, keeping his back against the couch.
"To be honest, no. The thing is, I really don't want to do this, but…you know she said she wanted to." he admitted.
Sajin took a breath and gave him an understanding nod. "So, am I to assume that the duel is called off?" Sajin asked with a hint of disappointment.
Timothy sat there and could feel Susan getting mad at him for what he was saying.
"No…the duel is still on. Truth is, she would probably kill me if I said no. I'm…I'm just worried is all. I don't want to lose her, sir." he finished as he laid his head back.
"I understand. You don't need to worry, we will not bring any harm to her." Sajin reassured, but Timothy rolled his head to him.
"If you are hinting that you will try to hold back some, you better drop that thought right now sir. I was not kidding, or even exaggerating when I said to go all out. If you hold back, even the slightest, she will put you down." he stated with a serious expression.
After getting a nod from the Captain, he rolled his head back and sighed.
"I don't even think the duel will last more than a couple minuets." Timothy added, still keeping his serious tone.
Sajin rose a brow. "So, are you 'hinting' that I should start out in my Bankai?" Sajin asked with a slight bit of amusement. But he was surprised by the man's answer.
"I highly recommend it, Captain." he confirmed.
It was at this time that Tetsuzaemon walked back into the office and returned to his seat.
"I handed the reports to Ikeda, Captain. He'll have the paperwork turned in within the hour." he stated in his usual gruff tone.
Sajin nodded and set his pen down in its holder. "Very well." he answered, then stood. "Then shall we be on our way?" he asked towards Tim.
Timothy threw himself forward, stood up, and nodded back. Tetsuzaemon set some papers neatly to the side and stood as well, turning to Timothy. The man turned to the Lieutenant as well with a serious expression.
"I'd be careful, Lieutenant. As I said to the Captain, she's going to take this seriously." he said again, getting a slight chuckle.
"We'll see." he retorted.
Timothy turned back to Sajin. "Well, I guess I'm ready if you are, Captain." he stated, getting a nod before Sajin walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder; all three of them disappearing in a flash step.
South Rukongai, 80th District, Crushed Hope, 20 Minutes Later
Far to the south near the border of Rukongai, the three men stepped into a sizable clearing in the woods. Timothy took a moment to look around and listen, but saw and heard no one around.
"Where are we, Captain?" he asked, getting the man's attention.
"We are in the 80th district, known as Crushed Hope. This is as far from the Seireitei as you can get in the southern regions of Rukongai. We shouldn't have any observers here." he answered with an assuring tone.
"So…what's life like here for the residents?" Timothy asked, but he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer.
"For lack of an appropriate term…pitiful." he returned, now in a saddened voice.
Timothy closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. "Why doesn't anyone do anything about this? That's just…not right. I thought this place was supposed to be a wonderful place to be after death." Timothy stated with a heavy voice.
"I guess a simple answer would be lack of funds and manpower. We simply cannot maintain the vast amounts of territory and souls. The further you get from the Seireitei, the higher the district, and the higher of the amount of souls." Sajin answered in a similar tone.
Timothy lowered his head in shame as he crossed his arms. He had lived in Fallen Tree, the 67th district, for twelve years, and the crime was bad there. He didn't want to even begin to imagine what the crime and living standards were here in District 80.
After a few moments, he let out a sigh has he pushed those feelings back and turned to Sajin.
"Well…let's get this over with." he stated, getting a nod from the two officers.
"Very well. I assume that…Susan…can hear me?" he asked.
"I can." she confirmed.
"Alright. Rules are simple. Obviously, no killing, or permanent damage. The combatant is done if that person can no longer fight. Understood?" he asked her.
"Got it." she again confirmed, getting a nod.
"Very well. Tim, you will start the match." Sajin instructed. Timothy sighed, then nodded.
Both officers nodded, then flash stepped a distance away from Timothy has he drew his sword. His mind was currently haunted with thoughts and worries of the many way that this could end badly.
"You ready?" he asked her in a low tone.
"Yeah, I'm ready." she answered, and he nodded.
"Release." he commanded.
Like before, the blade burst into flames, dancing for a moment, then left the blade to float next to him and begin to take shape. After a few seconds, Susan's flaming form stood next to him, facing the officers.
"I know I've already said this…but please be careful." he pleaded once more.
She simply smiled and set a flaming hand on his cheek. "And I know I've already said 'this', but I'll be fine. Now go away and let me have my fun." she instructed.
Timothy shook his head at her. "Just don't kill em." he retorted and began walking towards the edge of the field between the two teams as he sheathed the now empty blade.
As he walked, Susan turned to the officers. "I hope you boys are ready to get your butts kicked!" she yelled across the field.
"Bring it on, princess!" Tetsuzaemon taunted back, causing her to grin.
"Oh…I will." she whispered in a happy tone. "Thanks for the acknowledgement of my title, but I already have a man of my own, sweetie." She then teased in a normal, yet seductive tone at the man, causing him to flinch and Sajin to raise a brow in surprise.
Timothy shook his head at her usual antics as he made it to the middle of the field and turned to take a quick look at the duelists. He looked over to Sajin.
"Ready?" he hollered, getting nods. He then turned to Susan. "Ready?" he hollered again, getting another nod.
'God, why do I have such a horrid feeling that something is going to go wrong?' he wondered as he sighed and held a hand in the air. He took a last glance at Susan, then to the officers, then threw down his hand.
"Fight!" he yelled.
In an instant, the entire field began filling up with numerous floating flames, many more than when Timothy had used Susan's power while sealed. Close to a hundred flames now littered the field, surprising the officers.
"Captain…I can now say that I believe Durn when he said not to hold back." Tetsuzaemon commented, amazed at the sheer number of the flames,and getting a nod from Sajin.
"I agree." Sajin added.
Both he and Sajin knew how effective those flames were for Timothy, but now there were more than twice as many of them. Something that did catch their eyes though, was the fact that Susan did not have a weapon. She had both arms hanging limply at her sides as she gave them a simple stare.
"It seems she is waiting for us to make our move." Sajin offered, getting a nod form Tetsuzaemon.
Something then caught the Lieutenant's attention, so he turned to the left. He saw one of the flames slowly moving towards him, but still a few feet away.
"Since when do they move?" he asked, getting Sajin's attention.
Tetsuzaemon turned and got into a stance, ready in case she decided to show up at that flame. Slowly, but surely, the flame inched its ways towards the Lieutenant, until it was now almost next to him.
"Alright, enough of this." he stated.
Tetsuzaemon raised his zanpakutō high, then swiftly swung down at the flame. The blade simply passed through it, but as he swung, the sleeve of his shihakusho touched the flame. In an instant, the spot where his sleeve touched the flame caught fire and was burning furiously. Sajin quickly turned with eyes wide as Tetsuzaemon grabbed the sleeve and started to rip it off.
Meanwhile, Susan stood there, patiently, watching the Lieutenant panic trying to rip the sleeve off. A large grin started to emerge on her face, exposing her pointed teeth.
"Guess I forgot to tell you!" she yelled, getting the Captain's attention.
She spread her arms out wide. "All of these flames are part of my fox fire! A single touch to any of them, and you'll become barbeque." she taunted as Tetsuzaemon finally got the burning sleeve off of him.
Both men's' eyes grew wider at the statement, then they quickly flash stepped away from the flames. Susan spawned a flame next to her and reached her hand into it. Both men watched in shock as the flame shrunk in size and lengthened in her grip to form a flaming sword. She then spawned another flame next to her, then disappeared.
The officers quickly got into a combat stance with their backs to each other.
"Be careful Tetsuzaemon. Don't let those flames come into contact with you. It is safe to assume that her weapon will also have the same effects." Sajin warned, getting a nod back.
Both men watched cautiously as the numerous flames slowly moved about on the field. They now realized that they were not only going to have to watch where she goes, but also where they go.
Because they had both fought Timothy in the past, they had some personal experience with his fighting style. However, this was a whole new level for them as a single misstep would end the fight for them.
They kept a close guard as a few of the flames came close to the pair. Sajin kept his body straight, but turned his eyes to keep watch on the approaching flames. The flames steadily got closer and closer, but when they got only a few feet away, they suddenly vanished. Sajin rose his brows in surprise and confusion.
'They disappeared…but why? She would lose the ability to appear and attack…something's not right…' Sajin thought as he tried to put the pieces together.
"Captain! Watch out!" Tetsuzaemon yelled, causing Sajin to quickly turn around to see two flames mere inches from his right side.
Both men quickly flash stepped away, now ending up several feet from each other. Sajin quickly recovered and returned to his stance, but then swiftly turned to block a low swing from Susan, who was waiting for him.
Tetsuzaemon saw the attack and flash stepped over to swing down and across Susan's back. His blade was just about to make contact, but she quickly vanished, leaving one of the flames behind.
He then realized his mistake and quickly pulled back the swing just before he touched the flame. The flame started to move towards him, so he deftly jumped back and returned to his stance.
Sajin slowly stepped back away from the flame as well and took a quick glance at the battlefield. The flames were still slowly moving around, but he noticed that they were in small groups.
'She's gathering her flames into clusters, trying to force us to appear next to them and trap us. Clever.' Sajin mentally concluded.
He turned back to his Lieutenant and flash stepped over next to him.
"Tetsuzaemon, she's trying limit our movements and make us predictable. She steadily pushing us into a trap. Keep your guard up and mind your surroundings." Sajin instructed.
"Sir." the Lieutenant responded. He was also starting to come to that conclusion as well.
So far, she had only tried to attack them directly once in order to gain the upper hand, but has mainly been forcing them to constantly change their position. Susan then appeared next to Tetsuzaemon, and he turned to see that she wasn't trying to swing at him, she was reaching out to him to touch him with her hand.
He swung at her outstretched hand, only to be blocked by her blade as her hand got closer. Sajin quickly turned and kicked his armored foot out, catching her in the side and throwing her into one of her flames, disappearing.
Because of the armor on his foot, the flames surrounding her body didn't burn him or catch fire, but it did leave a black scorch mark on the top of the armor and was slightly smoking from the heat. He then set his foot back down as Tetsuzaemon returned to his guard. Susan then reappeared a few yards away with her arms to her sides.
"Nice reflex Captain, and good call using the armor on your feet." she complemented, getting his attention.
"You are doing well yourself, trying to force us into a cluster of flames and trap us." he added, getting a raised brow.
"Oh? So, you caught onto that, huh? Observant, but aren't you forgetting something?" she asked, getting a cautious stare back.
"And what would that be?" Tetsuzaemon scornfully returned, getting a grin from her.
"Didn't you ever wonder where those flames from earlier went?" she replied, her grin getting wider.
She then swung her flaming blade twice in quick succession, sending two fireballs at the two men and shocking them. Tetsuzaemon flash stepped away, but Sajin simply jumped back out of the way…but his right arm was caught by Susan when he landed, who was now right behind him. His sleeve then burst into flames as she smiled at him.
He quickly turned and threw a punch at her, hitting her blade as she blocked. The force that he put behind the swing pushed her back several feet, and he used this time to briefly pat the flames away with his armored hand as he stared at her.
Tetsuzaemon then appeared next to him in a guard stance as Sajin continued to put out the fire. After a few seconds, the fire was out and there were now a few small holes in his sleeve, exposing some of the underlying, lightly singed fur on his arm.
"So, you can use your flames as a projectile as well? I can see that this is going to turn out badly for us if we don't get serious about it." Sajin concluded, getting a scoff from her.
"Tim warned you over and over to take it seriously, and to be honest, I knew you wouldn't start off going all out. It's just not the way you fight. That's why I held back as well, out of respect. Unfortunately, time is something I don't have; so how about we quit fooling around take this to the max?" she retorted, getting a nod in return.
"Agreed. Tenken!" Sajin hollered as he held his zanpakutō high above his head.
As he said his release, a giant, ghostly arm holding an even larger sword appeared above them. Sajin then swung down, causing the arm to do the same.
Susan's brows rose in surprise as this was the first time the 'she' had seen this technique. Afterall, while she is sealed in the sword, she can hear everything around her, but she cannot see anything. But although she couldn't see the attack last time, she knew what it did to her flames once it had struck the ground, blowing a large number of them out.
She watched as the large sword came hurling towards her at a monstrous speed, giving her little time to react. She quickly disappeared using the flame next to her, while at the same time extinguishing as many flames as she could.
By the time that the large sword hit the ground, only a few dozen flames remained. The force of the impact spread out in all directions with a large amount of force.
On the sidelines, Timothy's eyes went wide as he quickly held a hand out in from of him.
"Bakudō #81, Dankū!" he yelled, causing a kidō barrier to appear right in front of him just as the shockwave got to him.
Luckily, the barrier held strong, causing the shockwave to go around him and continue on into the woods.
As the shockwave ended, Timothy could now see that the entire field was covered in dust; leaving him unable to see any of the combatants, or any of Susan's flames. This was starting to worry him. Neither him, nor Susan knew what would happen if all of the flames were put out while in transit. For all he knew, it could kill them.
No actions were taken as the two officers stood back to back, waiting for the dust to settle and trying to sense her spiritual pressure. It only took a minute for the dust to start blowing away, but for the officers, and especially Timothy, it was the longest minute of their lives.
"You think you got her, Captain?" Tetsuzaemon asked, keeping his guard.
The Captain didn't answer at first, he stood perfectly still, eyeing the field as their vision started to clear. So far, he couldn't see any flames around them, but he still had the uneasy feeling that something was not right.
"I don't think so, Tetsuzaemon. I think she is still here somewhere. Keep your guard up." he instructed.
After a few more moments, the dust cleared enough, and Sajin could now see Susan standing several feet away…smiling. He narrowed his gaze at her, but rose a brow when she slowly raised her hand next to her head, pointing up. Sajin's eyes went wide as it came to him that he had been played.
He quickly looked up to see several dozen flames right above their heads coming at them. Knowing that the Lieutenant had not noticed them yet, Sajin, as quickly as he could, gave the man a swift, and powerful kick, tossing the man away from him and across the field several feet.
The flames fell down upon Sajin and he found himself now trapped in a cocoon of fire, his shihakusho instantly catching fire in numerous locations as many of the flames came into contact with him.
Tetsuzaemon stood back up from where he landed and quickly turned to see the horror of his Captain being consumed by the flames.
"Captain!"
Throne Room, Los Noches, Hueco Mundo, Present
Deep within the heart of Los Noches, the fortress of Hueco Mundo, former Squad 5 Captain Sōsuke Aizen sat in his large marble chair in the throne room.
He was a man of just under average height with brown, mid length hair, and an intellect that far surpassed anyone within the soul society.
For well over a hundred years, he had managed to remain a part of the 13 Court Guard Squad's ranks, keeping his true intentions hidden as prepared his plans.
Even when he had faked his own death and murdered the entire council of Central 46, no one had ever suspected him. In fact, everything that had happened leading up to him leaving the soul society had gone exactly as he had planned.
However, it was not only his intelligence that played a key role in deceiving the 13 Court Guard Squads, but also the unique power of his zanpakutō, Kyōka Suigetsu. But the power of Kyōka Suigetsu was not in its attack, but in its ability; complete control over the senses of an opponent.
By controlling the individual's senses, Kyōka Suigetsu could make a person see, hear, feel, taste, and even smell things that were actually not there, or were different than what was actually there. Aizen had labeled this power as 'complete hypnosis'.
It was because of this power that Aizen was able to fake his own death, causing the soul reapers to 'see' his dead body. But in truth, it was nothing more than an illusion.
Aizen was currently sitting in his chair, leaning to the side and propping his head up with his fist while his elbow rested on the arm of the chair. He had his other arm resting on the opposing arm while his left leg was hung over his right.
He had a slight smirk on his face with his eyes closes in thought. He was happy and content, because even now events were unfolding exactly as he had planned.
Over to his right, another man, just as tall as him, walked into the room with his arms folded into his sleeves, a very wide grin etched onto his face.
The man was Gin Ichimaru, the former Captain of Squad 3 and one of the other Captains that had left the soul society with Aizen. The man was well known for his silver hair and always present grin, a grin that resembled the smile of a cunning fox.
Gin always had a 'playful', and happy demeaner. When he was still the Captain of Squad 3, he liked to take things easy, sometimes even abandoning work to relax. But he also had a yearning to cause trouble for people.
He was also quite intelligent himself, although nowhere near the level of intellect that Aizen possessed.
Gin walked across the empty halls of the throne room with his calm and 'happy' face as he came to the steps leading up to the chair in which Aizen sat.
"Good morning, Captain Aizen. You seem to be quite happy today." he greeted as came up to the man's right side.
"Good morning to you as well…Gin." Aizen answered as he slightly opened his eyes to the man. "And what makes you say that?" he asked in return.
Gin came up to now stand in front and slightly to the side of the man, keeping his grin while Aizen looked at him with calculating eyes.
"Isn't it obvious? You seem to be smiling more than usual. Did something happen that pleases you?" Gin pressed with his amusing tone.
Aizen stared at him for a moment longer before he smiled even more closed his eyes with a slight chuckle.
"Now that you mention it…I am happy. I have found recent events to be rather…amusing." Aizen stated in his calm voice.
Gin tilted his head slightly to the left. "Are you referring to that boy, Ichigo Kurosaki?" he inquired.
"Indeed. Along with other…current events." Aizen answered as he opened his eyes back to the man. "It would seem that our failed experiment could prove to be quite useful." he added as he sat straight up.
"What do you mean by that, Captain Aizen?" Gin asked, leveling his head.
"You should not ask about things that do not concern you, Gin." a low, shadowy voice spoke from behind the silver haired man.
Aizen shifted his gazed as Gin turned around to see Kaname Tōsen, the blind, former Captain of Squad 9.
A man slightly shorter than the other two former Captains, Tōsen was the last of the three men who had deceived and left the soul society.
Although the man was blind, and had been all his life, it made no difference to the man as his ability to detect spiritual energy was much stronger than most, allowing him to sense his surroundings and others around him with ease.
Tōsen was once a very close friend to Captain Komamura and could frequently be seen with the furry Captain. He had an absurdly strong sense of what he determined to be justice, and it was because of this sense that he had join Aizen in his deceit.
He continued walking up the steps towards the chair where Aizen was sitting, stopping right next to Gin.
"Ah, good morning Captain Tōsen. What ever could you mean?" Gin asked in a 'fake' surprise.
Tōsen did not turn or even glance at the man.
"Lord Aizen has already told you everything you need to know, Gin." Tōsen clarified.
"It's alright, Kaname. It is nothing of importance, however it would be wise to keep a close eye on this matter." Aizen gently corrected.
"A little concerned are we, Captain Aizen?" Gin inquired, getting a light scoff back.
"I am not sure what you mean, Gin. I am simply saying that this could work towards our goal. Therefore, that makes him a subject of interest." Aizen as he slowly stood up and began walking towards the steps.
"Shall I send someone to monitor him, Lord Aizen?" Tōsen asked, keeping his low tone as Aizen kept walking down the steps.
"That won't be necessary. Even if I were to include him in my plans, it would be some time until I do so. We will observe him for now." the calculating man finished as he left the room.
Tōsen turned to where the man left the room. "Yes, Lord Aizen." he acknowledged in a bow.
South Rukongai, 80th District, Crushed Hope, Present
Timothy stood on the sidelines, recovering from Sajin's shikai attack as he watched the myriad of flames encircle the furry Captain. Tetsuzaemon stood in his place, shocked at what was occurring right in front of him. He wanted to help the Captain, but he knew that there was no way he could get to him.
If he tried to get near him, the flames would set him on fire again. He could try to use kidō, but he was afraid that he might hit the Captain as well, and he couldn't get a line of sight on the Captain to use a Bakudō.
He turned to see Susan was now facing the rampage of flames, but also looking at him, waiting for him to make a move. The Lieutenant got into a ready stance as he tried to plan his next move. Whatever it was, he knew he had to act fast, or the Captain would be quickly defeated.
'Damn, she's got the Captain pinned, and I can't get near him. I'm gonna have to try and keep her attention on me and hope the Captain can break out.' the man thought as he got ready to flash step to her.
"Bankai!" the fighters heard a voice yell. "Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō!"
Both of them turned to the flames to see a sudden burst of spirit energy, just slightly pushing the flames back a bit, allowing Tetsuzaemon to now just barely see the Captain. Behind the entire group, surprising Susan and Timothy, a gigantic, ghostly, armor clad warrior rose from the ground and stood tall.
Both Susan and Timothy were absolutely shocked at the sheer size of the being. It stood almost three hundred feet tall. It looked similar to an ancient samurai, clad in dark colored armor, wielding a sword that Timothy had to guess was around two hundred feet in length.
Susan became frozen in shock as she looked, almost straight up, at the demonic face of the giant.
Tetsuzaemon knew that now was the perfect opportunity to try and rescue his Captain from the fiery prison. He quickly held out his two main fingers of his left hand and pointed them at the Captain.
"Bakudō #9, Hōrin!" he yelled.
An orange, rope-like, energy shot from his fingers and sailed straight at Sajin. He wrapped the energy around the Captain's waist, then quickly yanked, pulling the man out from the ball of flames.
Sajin flew back and landed on his feet right next to the Lieutenant, the man releasing the spell as soon as Sajin landed.
A good portion of his uniform was burned away, exposing multiple patches of fur, while already exposed fur was singed even further. His Captain's haori had a few black soot marks on the back, and except for a few slightly singed edges, was relatively in good shape.
"Thank you Tetsuzaemon. It was starting to get a bit hot in there." Sajin offered, but the Lieutenant simply scoffed.
"A cheap trick if you ask me." he returned, but Sajin shook his head.
"No, she is very cunning, and we played right into her hands. But we won't make the same mistake again. Are you ready, Tetsuzaemon?" Sajin asked as he glanced at the man.
"As ready as I'll ever be, Captain." the Lieutenant confirmed.
They both looked to see Susan was still gazing at the giant, clearly distracted. It was then that Sajin got an idea.
"Tetsuzaemon…" he started, getting the man's attention.
"I have something I want you to do, but you need to make sure you get it right, understood?" Sajin asked, getting a raised brow, then a nod.
Meanwhile, Susan was trying to recover from her shock as she tried to figure out a plan on how to defeat the giant.
Her senses suddenly kicked in, causing her to quickly turn and hold her weapon in a block, catching Sajin's sword. Her eyes then widened, and she quickly turned her head back just in time to see the giant swing down on her, exactly the same way Sajin had just done.
"Shit!" she growled.
Luckily, she had one of her flames nearby, so she used it to instantly vanish just as the giant blade struck the ground. It didn't hit as hard as last time, so the shockwave wasn't as bad, but it still managed to blow out a few or Susan's flames.
She then reappeared and swung her blade three times in rapid succession towards the giant, sending three fireballs at it. The projectiles struck the giant in its chest, having no effect on its armor, not even burning it.
The giant swung down at her again, but she quickly vanished again as the giant blade impacted the ground a mere second afterwards. She suddenly reappeared thirty feet to Sajin's right, an evil grin on her face.
"Well, that was close…didn't expect that." she stated as she turned to the giant for a moment, then back to the Captain. "Guess this turned into a three-on-one, huh?" she inquired.
Sajin kept his arms to his side as he stared at his opponent. "This is my bankai, Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō. So yes, in effect, this has turned into a three against one battle, Susan. You wished for me to not hold back, so I won't. Prepare yourself." He said, then got into a fighting stance, as did the giant being.
Susan smiled, then vanished before reappearing right in front of Sajin in a low stance to strike upwards. The Captain blocked the attack with his zanpakutō, stopping her blade, then threw a fist out at her head.
The move was predictable enough for her to tilt her head to the side, letting the man's fist pass by. She then tried to reach out and grab his outstretched arm, but then gasped with wide eyes as she saw the giant's own fist sailing right for her.
She didn't have enough time to use her flame to vanish, which allowed the mountain sized fist to collide into the ground where she stood. The impact created a decent sized crater and kicked up a mountain of dust.
Her body was thrown away from the site and sent crashing and rolling along the ground several feet before she regained her footing and slid to a stop. Timothy was calling out to her in worry, but she ignored him and got back into a fighting stance with a grunt of pain.
Sajin turned to her to see that her body was a bit bruised up and her flaming fur matted up. Susan looked at him, then the giant for a moment before returning to him.
Something just wasn't adding up. Why would the giant use its fist against her instead of its ridiculously large sword? If it had done so, she would have easily been defeated, or at least been severely hurt and unable to continue for much longer.
The more she thought about it, the less it made sense. But then, something dawned on her.
'If I'm not mistaken, that giant acted the same way he did. He punched at me, and so did his giant. Unless it's a coincidence, that being seems to do exactly what 'he' does…like it's an extension of him. Only one way to test that theory out.' She thought quietly.
She got into a low ready stance and quickly vanished, reappearing right in front of Sajin with the giant to her right. She swung at him, expecting him to block, but he did so with his armored bracer.
Sajin then swung down at her and she quickly glanced to see the giant acting the same way he did. She could see that the giant's arm was held up, same as Sajin's, and it was swinging down just as Sajin was.
'So, I was right!'she thought and quickly vanished just before the giant's blade made contact.
She was now back in her previous spot and watched as the giant's sword landed exactly where she was just at a second ago. She stood there and watched for a second longer as Sajin and the giant stood back straight and turned to her.
'Every move that he makes, that giant makes, so that means that it 'is' an extension of him. But, I wonder what else is affected by him…' she thought as a plan started to come to mind. 'Let's find out.'
She looked at some of her flames and started to dissipate some of them. Sajin turned and watched as she did so, confused as to why she was doing it.
"You're not going to give up, are you?" he asked in a relatively calm tone.
She turned back to him and gave a slight smirk. "Not quite." she stated.
She quickly respawned a flame next to him and vanished to reappear at that flame. Sajin quickly turned and blocked her weapon, but she suddenly stepped to the side and ran past him, brushing her hand across his side as she did.
She glanced at the giant to see that its side, in the exact spot that she touched him, suddenly burst into flames. Her eyes slightly widened.
'So…any damage 'he' receives, the giant receives as well! If that's the case, it should be the other way around if I attack the giant. But it's covered in armor, so my fox fire won't affect it, meaning I can't fight it…Except…' she inwardly concluded.
She ran right into one of her flames, disappearing, then reappeared right behind Sajin at the previous flame. She swung across at him, but Sajin was expecting it. He quickly half turned, blocked the swing with his zanpakutō, then grabbed her blade with his left hand, the armor instantly starting to smoke.
Her eyes slightly widened at his action as he readjusted the blade and got ready to swing again. But he suddenly stopped, letting go of her blade as he quickly backed up and started swinging his left hand all around his face, growling in pain.
He quickly turned to see the giant warrior with Susan's flames all around its face, burning it. He then yelled and swung his free hand into his face, crushing some of the flames, then got ready to hit the other side.
Seeing her chance, she quickly leaped forward at him, ready to swing across his midsection.
"Hadō #33, Sōkatsui!" a voice rang out to her right.
She quickly glanced to her right to see multiple blue energy bolts heading right for her from out of nowhere. She had no flames nearby, and was in midstride and unable to stop. The bolts struck her in the side, tossing her away from her target.
She landed on the ground a few feet away and came to a stop on her knee. She looked at where the kidō came from, but saw nothing there.
"What the…" she whispered.
See turned back to the Captain to see that he had managed to get the flames of the giant's face and was turning back towards her.
She could see that his facial fur was singed in multiple places, and he was clearly mad. She slowly got back to her feet, but was beginning to feel that she was running low on energy, meaning that she needed to finish this quick.
"I see that you've figured out my bankai's weakness." Sajin commented, getting a light smirk from her.
"It took longer than it should have, but I discovered that any damage you take, it takes. So, I made a bet that the effect was the same in reverse. Not that it did much good." she confirmed.
"I'll admit, I wasn't expecting you to purposely go after Tenken to get to me." Sajin added, getting a scoff.
"Yeah, but what I want to know is where the hell that kidō came from." she demanded, but Sajin didn't buy it.
"You should pay more attention to your surroundings." he jabbed back, getting a growl.
"Whatever, the fact is, is that I ain't got much time left, so I'm gonna have to finish you off quickly." she finished.
As she did, she spawned all of the flames she could muster all around them, now numbering a little over a hundred. She got herself into a stance, ready the use one of her flames, but something caught her attention…or that is, a 'lack' of something.
'Wait a minute…'
She quickly looked all around the field, but saw that something, or someone, was missing.
'Where the hell did the Lieutenant go?!' she thought, and then she remembered the kidō from earlier. Her eyes widened as she realized what Sajin was talking about with her surroundings.
'The Lieutenant fired that kidō! But if I can't see him, he must be using another kidō, or something similar to hide him! They pulled me right into a trap, and I fell for it…' she mentally berated, then turned back to Sajin.
"I got it now…you had the Lieutenant hide somewhere and wait till I was wide open, then send a kidō at me. You used my own tactic against me…very cunning, Captain." she stated, getting a slight smile back.
"I'll take that as a compliment. But as you said, you don't have much time left, so how about we finish this?" Sajin taunted, causing her to grin.
"My pleasure, handsome." she answered in a sweet tone with a wink, causing the man to give her a deadpanned expression.
Sajin turned to Timothy. "Is she always like this?" he asked.
Timothy followed the man's expression with his own. "Unfortunately." He moaned back.
"…My condolences." The Captain returned in a similar voice.
"I am not that bad!" Susan yelled.
She then quickly vanished and reappeared right in front of Sajin, regaining his attention and swinging down. He blocked the swing and thrusted his body at her, forcing her back as he readied a swing of his own, causing the giant to do the same.
He swung down at her, but she quickly transported to his right, ready to jab. She pressed forward, but he quickly turned, adjusting his blade mid swing to toss her blade away, causing the giant to 'sweep' the ground just over their heads.
She dropped down to the ground for a sweeping kick, but he simply turned and raised his foot up, stopping her kick.
"Hadō # 31, Shakkahō!" a voice yelled.
Susan glanced to her right in time to see a large mass of fire hurling towards her. She swiftly rolled back and hopped further towards one of her flames, vanishing and reappearing several feet away. She took a quick glance over to where the kidō came from.
'He's over there somewhere…' she thought as she held back from sending a barrage of fireballs in that direction.
She knew the general vicinity of where the Lieutenant was hiding, but her fireballs were only effective if they actually struck the target, not near it. The Lieutenant would obviously expect that move and flash away, finding somewhere else to hide and starting the whole thing over again.
The only option she had, was to avoid him entirely and keep dodging his attacks until she could pinpoint 'exactly' where he was at. She didn't like the idea, but considering the amount of time she had left, it really was her only option.
She transitioned back to Sajin and returned to swinging at him a few times, but tried to give the Lieutenant a few openings while she kept glancing over to where the kidō was coming from. Sajin swung down on her and she quickly blocked with her weapon over her head. The giant's blade was on its way down when an idea hit her.
She quickly vanished, her resistance against Sajin's blade now gone. Because he was putting some force behind it, his sword suddenly dropped down, causing him to slightly lurch forward.
Susan then appeared right behind him and she gave him a hard kick to his back, forcing him forward, right into the path of the giant's blade. The blade crashed down and kicked up dust, obscuring her view.
'Now to draw 'him' out.' she thought and transported a few feet away.
She now, intentionally, had her back to where she thought the Lieutenant was hiding. She had her face forward towards where Sajin was, but her eyes towards the suspected location.
'Come on…don't choose now to be shy…where are you…' she thought as she waited for either the dust to clear, or for the Lieutenant to act.
It turned out that the dust clearing happened first. She glanced to see that Sajin was a little scratched up and was breathing a little heavier, but otherwise in decent shape. She could really feel the drain in her energy now, and if things kept up as they were, she had about five minutes before she would have to call it quits.
She took another quick glance around to see that she didn't have that many flames left, only about a third of what she could gather.
It was just enough to set a trap, but the problem she faced was the invisible Lieutenant, and the lumbering giant behind the Captain. If she could figure out where exactly the Lieutenant was, she could trap him, but she would need to get him to fire at her.
But that was a problem in itself, he wasn't taking the bait. She left herself open plenty of times for him, but he never acted on them.
Then an idea hit her; a risky one, but better than nothing. She gave the Captain an evil grin. "Time to end it!" she growled, getting one in return.
"I am waiting." Sajin taunted.
Susan opened her right hand and let her weapon revert back into a flame. This confused the Captain, but what she did next froze him. She held both of her hands in front of her, palms facing him, and began chanting.
"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh…" she started causing Sajin's eyes to widen.
"You're bluffing. You can't use kidō." he flatly stated, but she just grinned even more.
"…all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" she continued, freezing Sajin's blood.
He was about to move to stop her, but his hesitation was all the time she needed, and she suddenly spawned multiple flames around him, keeping him in place.
"On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus!" she continued further.
Sajin was now unsure if she was bluffing or not, but he couldn't take that risk. She had him pinned now and flash step wasn't going to help him. He only had one action he could take.
He raised his zanpakutō high and began swinging down towards Susan, causing the giant to follow. Just before the giant blade hit her, she transported over next to him, evading the blade, and getting close enough that she couldn't possibly miss with the kidō.
"In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens!" she finished, Sajin's eyes now wide as saucers.
She gave him one final grin, showing him all of her pointed teeth as she glared in his eyes.
"It's over." she stated. "Hado #73…"
She was interrupted by a sudden burst of blue energy bolts soaring towards her location, but she was watching that area in her peripheral view, so she saw exactly where it came from.
'Found you!' she thought as she quickly vanished.
The flames around Sajin suddenly dispersed and freed him, then respawned in a large cluster near the middle of the field in a wide, but closed off formation. Susan reappeared near the cluster with her hands still facing Sajin and kept an eye on him as the cluster of flames slowly closed together.
"I know you're in there, Lieutenant! Yield now and save yourself the pain! There is no chance for you to get out! And if the Captain makes a single move, I'll roast him! This is a full incantation 70s level hadō, so there is no chance to escape it!" she threatened.
The two combatants entered a near-endless contest of staring. Sajin still trying to determine if she was bluffing, and Susan waiting for them to submit. Time simply ceased to exist for the two as the flames crept closer and closer.
Second after second the ball of flames closed in until there was very little space inside left with Sajin switching his glares between her and the chamber of fire. Finally, after a deep sigh, he lowered his zanpakutō, causing the giant to slowly disappear, and closed his eyes.
"Tetsuzaemon…yield." he ordered.
Susan glanced to her right to see the man in question slowly appear. He gave her an angry look, but finally got down onto his knee.
"I yield." he announced very reluctantly.
She turned back to Sajin and nodded, before dispersing the flames and lowering her hands to her sides. She took a deep breath, smiled, then took a single step forward. But her energy suddenly left her, and she fell down to her knees, holding herself up with her arms.
Back on the sidelines, Timothy's eyes went wide as he saw Susan collapse on the ground. He quickly bolted in a dead sprint to her as Sajin flash stepped next to her with worry in his eyes. He wanted to try and help her, but with her body covered in her flames, he didn't dare touch here.
Her breathing was starting to pick up and she clutched her chest in pain as she lowered her head while the flames on her body were starting to go out. Sajin was beginning to curse to himself for being unable to help her.
"Susan!" Timothy yelled as he ran across the field, but still a good distance away.
Tetsuzaemon quickly stood, flash stepped to him, placed a hand on his shoulder, then flashed back next to Susan. Timothy quickly drew the empty sword and held it to her.
"You damn fool!" he growled, then began his seal enchantment. "Breaths of wind sweeping the plains. Calm waters flowing smooth. Life of the sun during the day. Light of the moon during the night. All come together, creating harmony. Tengoku shīru." he finished.
Susan's body began reshaping into a small, blue, and very weak flame as it slowly got pulled into the sword, the spell resealing her soul inside. Once she was fully inside, he quickly sheathed the sword and lowered his head.
He dropped his hands to his side and stood there for a moment while the two officers sheathed their zanpakutōs. Timothy started running his hand through his hair and sighed.
"You just 'had' to overdo it." he remarked to no one in particular.
"I told you not to worry, I'm fine, aren't I?" Susan retorted, getting a glare from him.
"You 'almost' killed yourself stupid! I need to find a way to put a leash on you!" Timothy yelled back.
Sajin walked up and set a hand on his shoulder, getting his attention. "Calm down Tim, she's still here. She told you she would be fine." Sajin tried to comfort.
Timothy wanted to say something, but he was not in the mood for any arguments, so he let it go.
"Alright, fine." he surrendered.
Sajin looked down to Timothy's sword. "You fought quite well, Susan. I never expected you to use kidō to force Tetsuzaemon's hand." he complemented, getting a nod from the Lieutenant.
"I agree. I still can't believe I let you trap me like that." he added begrudgingly.
Susan started laughing while Timothy slowly shook his head, confusing the two officers.
"I still can't believe you fell for it." she remarked, causing the Captain to glare at her.
"You can't use kidō…can't you?" he asked, knowing the answer.
"Nope. I was just trying to make you two panic. I was really trying to draw the Lieutenant's fire, so I could figure out where he was. But once I saw the look of belief on your face, I played it off." she answered.
Both of the men growled and lowered their heads in shame, shame for falling for such a lousy trick.
"By the way, how the hell were you hiding like that?" she asked in a chuckle.
"Bakudō #26, Kyokkō." Timothy answered, getting Sajin's attention. "It's a kidō that allows the user to hide their appearance, as well as their spiritual pressure, as long as they don't move from that spot."
"I'm impressed Tim. But then again you did use a 60s level hadō yesterday, so a 20s level Bakudō should be fairly easy." Sajin stated.
Timothy nodded and crossed his arms. "Well, are you satisfied Captain?" he asked.
"I am. It was an…interesting battle. I'm very impressed. As I said before, your secret is safe, we will not tell anyone. Now, it is time we returned to the Seireitei." Sajin instructed.
Timothy gave a nod and drooped his hands as Tetsuzaemon placed his hand on Timothy's shoulder. The two officers flash stepped away, carrying Timothy away.
Squad 7 Headquarters, Seireitei, 20 Minutes Later
The three men flashed back to the headquarters, then walked inside and into the Captain's office. Sajin walked around behind his desk and began pouring some tea while Tetsuzaemon and Timothy sat down in front. Sajin turned back around and handed each of them a cup before sitting down himself.
"Now, with that out of the way…Timothy, I would like you to find 7th seat Minato, he should be here in one of the offices. Ask him to show you how to handle paperwork." Sajin instructed.
Timothy gave him a slight nod and took a sip of his tea. "Anything else sir?" he asked as he set the cup down.
"For the moment, no. Tetsuzaemon and I need to change, as well as finish some of this paperwork here. This evening we will talk about what you asked earlier." Sajin answered, then took a sip.
"And no more trying to kill yourself Durn." Tetsuzaemon added, getting a moan back.
"Don't start that again." Timothy pleaded, earning a glare from the Lieutenant, and a smirk from the Captain.
Timothy drank the rest of his tea, then stood up and bowed. "Thank you, sir." he stated, getting a slight bow back.
Timothy rose, then started walking towards the door as the two men started sifting through paperwork. He continued into the hallway and closed the door behind him before setting off to find Minato.
The headquarters was quite large, so Timothy thought it best to ask one of the clerks if they knew where the officer was. He turned to see a man sitting at one of the numerous desks and started walking towards him.
"Excuse me." he addressed when he came closer.
The man turned to him. "Yes?" he answered.
Timothy walked up and stopped next to him. "I'm looking for 7th seat Minato, do you know where he is?" Timothy asked politely.
The man nodded and pointed to the floor. "He's downstairs. When you get to the hallway from the stairs, make a right, and it's the second office on the right." the man answered.
Timothy nodded. "Thanks." he replied, getting a nod back before the man returned to his work.
He followed the man's directions as he went to the first floor and made a right, now looking for the appropriate office. Once he came to the door, he spotted Minato sitting at a small, six-seat conference table with another man looking at paperwork.
He walked into the office and continued towards the officer, greeting him once he was within earshot.
"Hey Minato." he greeted, getting the man's attention.
Minato smile and waved. "Hey Timothy. Are feeling better than yesterday?" he asked, referring to the numerous conflicts he had with multiple officers.
Timothy rubbed his neck and nodded. "Yeah, a little. Anyway, the Captain sent me to find you so you can show me how to handle paperwork." he stated.
Minato rose a brow. "Ok, I wonder why." he stated nonchalantly.
Timothy sighed and scratched his head. "Probably because I'm the new 5th seat." Timothy flatly answered.
Minato rose both of his brows in surprise. "Is that so? Well, congratulations Timothy." he happily stated, getting a nod back.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, could you help me?" Timothy asked.
Minato nodded and gestured for him to sit next to him. Timothy nodded back and sat down with a heavy sigh. Minato grabbed a couple sheets and slid them over to Timothy, who glanced at them to see that they were some sort of financial papers.
"What have we got here?" Timothy asked to himself.
"These are the forms we use for handling the squad's finances. Every month, the squad is allotted a set amount of funds, and these forms record what those funds were used for." Minato answered.
Timothy took a moment to look them over, but he didn't even need that much to become agitated. He could see that there were many expenditures listed on the form; ranging from training expenses, building repairs, salaries, and a few other items.
"Well, this seems simple enough. Could use a little tidying up though." Timothy commented.
Minato glanced at him with a raised brow. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Timothy set the paper down as he turned to him. "I was an accountant for a small company when I was still alive, so I'm sort of used to looking at numbers all day." Timothy clarified.
"Ok, but what did you mean by it could use 'tidying up'?" Minato pressed.
"It looks good for the most part, but with the way its jumbled up, it makes it a little confusing to read. My suggestion is to rearrange the items by either how much you spent on them, or put them alphabetical order. Looking at these few papers, there don't appear to be a set order, so it makes comparing a little difficult." Timothy suggested.
Minato took a look at the papers for a moment, then nodded. "Actually, that's a good idea. Thanks for the advice. Does that mean you're volunteering to handle 'all' of the financial papers?" Minato joked.
Timothy gave him a deadpanned look. "Uhhhh…no!" he flatly answered, causing the two men to chuckle.
"Right. Anyway, let's get to work. It's our job to get all the information together and put it down on the forms. Once that's done, we check them to make sure there aren't any mistakes, then they are turned in to the Captain for final review. It's the same procedure for all of the forms." Minato instructed, getting a nod.
"Ok. So, another question. Does everyone handle all types of forms?" Timothy asked.
"What do you mean?" Minato returned.
Timothy rubbed his chin for a second before answering. "Well, what I mean is, does everyone who handles paperwork handle all of the types of forms, or do they focus on certain ones?" Timothy clarified.
"Oh, well we all handle the same paperwork. We first go to the offices and pick some of the paperwork up, and get to work on it."
"Isn't that a little…counterproductive?" Timothy asked, giving the man an odd look.
"Not that I know of. What would you suggest?" Minato asked as he set his paperwork down to give Timothy his full attention.
"Well, when I was working for the company, we had certain offices that handled certain aspects of the company. For example, we had an office that handled finances, and finances only. Then we had one for human resources, and that…" Minato interrupted him.
"Human resources?" he inquired.
"Yeah. In other words, it handled the management of personnel. Hiring, firing, reassignments, stuff like that. Anything that has to do with managing the people that work for the company." Timothy again clarified.
"So…would that include training?" Minato inquired more.
"It could, but in this case, it would be better to have a separate office for that. But anyway, I would recommend splitting the paperwork into their own offices. That way, certain personnel can focus on one aspect of paperwork, instead of multiple. It also eliminates the chances that paperwork can get mixed up, or lost." Timothy finished.
Minato leaned back with his arms crossed, thinking about Timothy's advice. After a moment, Minato turned back to him.
"I like the idea. I think you should bring that up to the Captain. First day as a seated officer and you're already trying to make changes." he finished in a joking tone.
Timothy thought of a way to get back at the man, so he gave him a grin.
"I'd be careful how you speak to others, '7th' seat." he emphasized the 7th part in a mock serious tone.
Minato looked at him with wide eyes, realizing that he just got put down by him. He recovered quickly and gave a slight bow.
"My apologies, 'sir'. he returned.
Timothy snorted and shook his head. "Wiseass." he remarked, causing the two men tow laugh.
"Anyway, let's get this done. So, what's next?" Timothy asked.
Minato slid him a different form and started pointing out the different parts of the form. Form after form, Timothy would get a quick lesson on them, then try to fill them out accordingly.
The three men sat in the office filling out papers for a while until they had finally finished. Timothy, although he was somewhat used to paperwork from the past, quickly became annoyed by the sheer amount of it.
Minato grabbed all of the papers and started sorting them out by type as he put them in a neat pile. He then stood up, causing the other two to follow suit, then picked up the stack of papers.
"Alright, now we turn these in to the Captain for his final review. I'll take care of it, so I guess you can head to the barracks and take it easy for a bit. There's not much else going of today." Minato explained.
Timothy gave him a nod and began to walk out of the office, but he stopped when something came to mind. He turned back to Minato and held a hand up slightly.
"One more thing, how are the other members assigned? Are certain members assigned to certain officers?" Timothy asked, getting a nod.
"For the most part. Every officer is responsible for every member, but they do pay closer attention to certain members to make training and assignments easier. I'll get you a list of the members that Hetoku was taking care of." Minato answered.
Timothy nodded and waved as he turned back to the hallway. Once he entered the hallway, a thought came to him that he should practice his flash step. He only got to practice it once, and that was with Hetoku.
He thought that it had to be embarrassing that he was a 5th seat, but couldn't use shunpo. If word of that got out, not only would he feel bad, but it would most likely bring embarrassment to the squad and Captain as well.
He continued on these thoughts as he walked out the rear doors of the headquarters and turned towards the training grounds. As expected, the grounds were empty, so that meant that he could practice without people watching him make a fool of himself.
He made it about halfway to the grounds before someone flashed in front of him. Timothy stopped and looked to see it was Tetsuzaemon with his hands on his hips and a smug look on his face.
Timothy slightly fretted inside, wondering what the man could be upset about now. Before Timothy could speak, the man placed his hand on his shoulder.
"We need to have a talk." he stated in his usual gruff voice.
Before Timothy could reply, the Lieutenant flashed away taking Timothy with him.
West Rukongai, 3rd District, North End, 5 Minutes Later
The large town of North End was a bustling combination of simple residents, shop owners, and the occasional noble. Unlike the lower districts like Fallen Tree and Crushed Hope, North End was one of the highest districts.
Because of this, the district was considered to be very wealthy, and possessed very little, if any crime. The population in the higher districts were considerably lower than the lower ones, and it was also here that most of the higher and middle ranking noble families resided.
On the edge of the street in the middle of town was a smaller soup shop, where the owner was wiping a small stack of bowls with a rag and humming. He turned to the front of his shop as two men, soul reapers, flashed into place.
The two men spoke for a second, then the black-haired man gestured towards his shop, leading the shorter man. The two men began walking towards him, so he set down the bowl he was working on and stepped out from behind the service window.
He stood there and waited until both men walked inside and gave them a bow.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen. What will it be today?" he asked in a polite manner.
The black-haired man with shades held up a hand with two fingers.
"Two specials." he answered simply.
The owner nodded. "Two specials, yes sir." he replied and returned to the kitchen to begin preparing the order.
Meanwhile, Timothy and Tetsuzaemon found a seat near the service window as the owner's coworker walked out with a tray carrying two small cups and a clay tea pot. She set the tray's contents down in front of the men and gave a slight bow before returning to the back.
Tetsuzaemon poured both of them a cup of tea and handed one to Timothy.
"Thank you." Timothy replied, then took a sip before putting the cup down. "So, what is it that you wanted to talk about, Lieutenant?" he asked as polite as he could.
Tetsuzaemon took a sip as well, then set his cup down and turned to him.
"We need to clear the air between us." he stated in a gruff, but lighter tone.
Timothy gave him a nod. "I would have to agree." he returned, then took another sip.
"First, you need to keep a better control on your attitude. I've been biting my tongue trying to let you get used to how things are done in the squad. But now that you're an officer, that goes out the window." the Lieutenant stated.
Timothy gave a quick sigh and nodded. "I understand, but you also have to understand where I come from as well. Even when I was still alive, I had little patience for people's nonsense. But after living in Fallen Tree for twelve years, my patience only got worse. I understand what you're saying, Lieutenant, and I am trying to keep my mouth in check, but you should know that habits are hard to break. Nonetheless, I promise that I'll try to watch my attitude."
Tetsuzaemon took a sip and refilled his cup. "Good. Next thing is that you need to respect others. Your outburst with Captain Zaraki yesterday was inexcusable. To be frank, you're lucky that neither of the Captains decided to punish you. The only reason our Captain didn't do anything is 'because' of what you said to Captain Zaraki." Tetsuzaemon finished with a slight smirk.
"What do you mean?" Timothy inquired.
"What I mean is that you had the guts to talk down on Captain Zaraki and call him out for his deficiencies. Truthfully, Captain Komamura was impressed with your lack of fear for the man, and while we're being honest, so was I. It's not every day that someone talks like that to Captain Zaraki, besides another Captain. Even most Captains won't speak like that to the man." The man took another sip, as did Timothy.
"Well, thanks for the…complement. But I should warn you, if he wants to act like that again, I'll gladly show him the same response as last time. That man is nothing more than a bloodthirsty ogre." Timothy remarked, getting a chuckle from Tetsuzaemon. "Well what do you know, I managed to make you laugh." he teased, getting a scoff back.
"Well, I can't disagree with you in that matter. But with that aside, you also need to get respect from the men. You're an officer now, so they need to respect you as such. So, you need to start talking with them and get their respect, even if you have to demand it." He took another sip.
"Now that's where I disagree." Timothy flatly stated.
Tetsuzaemon turned to him with a raised brow. "I won't 'demand' anything. If I want the men's respect, I'll 'earn' it. Sure, they need to show the common respect such as sir, bowing, and things like that. But when it comes to them respecting me as an individual, I plan to earn it. By demanding it, they're only going to respect me less." Timothy corrected.
The Lieutenant stared at him for a moment, then finally smirked. "Now that's more like it." he stated without his gruff tone.
Timothy rose a brow at him. "You were testing me…weren't you?" he asked in an annoyed tone.
"And you passed. I think you might possibly make a decent officer yet." Tetsuzaemon commented. Timothy gave him a growl.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Timothy now felt insulted.
"Nothing at all." the man returned with a grin and took another sip. But his grin fell, and he then looked at Timothy with annoyance. "And please do something about that flirtatious woman of yours!" he demanded.
Timothy face then faltered. "I've been trying to do that for twenty-eight years, Lieutenant. I really hate to say it, but I don't think it's possible to do anything about it. At least you're not 'stuck' with her in your head, so be thankful for that." He moaned, earning a look of slight pity from the Lieutenant.
"I am 'not' that bad, Tim." she pointed out.
He then dropped his head onto the table with a thump. "Yes…you are." He growled.
Both men turned as the woman came back with a tray carrying their orders. She set the bowls on the table and gave them a slight bow.
"Please enjoy." she stated before she rose and returned to the kitchen.
Both men then began eating in silence.
Whew…long one here. So, now we have an idea as to what Susan can do when she's been released. In case anyone is wondering about how her powers work in conjunction with her release, the seal keeps her soul sealed inside the sword, along with the vast majority of her abilities. When she is released, she can use those abilities to full effect.
Hmmm…I wonder what this could mean for Kenpachi… You know what, this gives me the perfect opportunity to start another poll! Who would win, Timothy 'and' Susan, or our favorite, bloodthirsty Captain?! Why not let you guys vote on it?
Tell you what, I'll even make it interesting for everyone. If I get more votes towards the winner by the time I release the chapter for the fight, that weekend will be a double feature! One chapter on a Saturday staring the fight, and another one on Sunday! And as a reminder, all votes are anonymous and not even 'I' can see who voted for what. So please don't be shy, as I would love to see what my audience thinks.
Hope you all enjoyed, and look forward to your votes!
(Side note: Understandably, FanFiction won't allow those who are not registered with the site to vote. I did some research to see if there was another way to allow nonregistered readers to vote, but with no success. I apologize to everyone who is unable to vote on this long awaited matter. For those who can, here is the link to my profile so you can access the poll easily. ( u/6843912/Greivous166))
