Hello readers, great to see you all again. It's been 'way' too long, over a month, since my last posting, and I've already pulled out most of my remaining hair over it. But, I've finally got the next chapter ready for you all.
A bit of good news for you all; my spring semester is over and I think I did fairly well, though not as good as I have been, on grades. Got an A, a B, and a C in the courses I was taking, but with how the schools were all shut down and doing things online, I guess that's still good. However, time is still highly restricted for me. It's not the Coronavirus, but a family member did get very sick with COPD, so now I'm looking out for him along with daily chores. So, sadly, no change to the hiatus on the story.
Had a couple reviews, one of them a simple understanding response to the 'Author's Note' from davidomega59. Thanks for your understanding, reader. No questions from Spades, so I'll do a quick response to the other review I got before moving on to the story.
Tyler Darkside: Thanks for the review, friend. Now that I look back a bit, it does kinda seem that Tim get 'bullied' a bit from everyone. But then, a lot of times he does kinda deserve it, being a 'crybaby' sometimes. Other times, he leaves himself open for the teasing. The last thing I wanted to do was to make Tim out to be this badass, 'I can kick all your asses', muscle idiot. But still, I do see a couple times where him being harped on was a bit overplayed. I'll try to tone it down a bit, and thanks for bringing that to my attention. Happy reading.
With that out of the way, on to the, LONG-awaited chapter.
(I DO NOT OWN BLEACH; ITS CHARACTORS, 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 46
(Recovering and Interrogations)
Las Noches Tunnels
Nel lifted herself from her crouch next to Timothy and Ichigo and, seeing the two now resting peacefully, started walking over to where Renji, Uryū, and Chad were discussing the group's next move.
Renji turned to her and nodded in the resting men's direction. "They doing ok?" he asked.
The woman nodded as she came to a stop next to him. "Yes, they're sleeping now while Rukia works on healing them. They were hurt pretty bad after that fight with Kaori." She informed.
The Lieutenant nodded and Chad turned to him. "What's the plan now?" he inquired in his low tone.
Uryū finished cleaning his glasses and returned them to his face. "Isn't it obvious? We wait for them to rest up a bit, then continue going after Orihime."
Nel gave him a concerned look. "Tim and Ichigo will need more than just a 'little' rest, Uryū." She cautioned worryingly.
Renji nodded firmly. "She's right. We try to go up there with them in bad condition, it'll only work against us. Rukia should be able to fix them up good as new, but her skills with healing kidō are not that impressive. It'll be a while before those two are back to full strength. Not to mention she'll need her own rest once she's done."
The Quincy gave him a firm look. "We can't waste any more time down here. Orihime has already been in that man's hands for a week now, and every second longer we take down here is a second closer to that man killing her, if he hasn't already." He pointed out.
"Uryū…" Nel called, getting the teen's attention. "I want to continue just as much as you do, but with Ichigo and Tim in the condition they're in, they can't go with us. And with Hikaru still around here somewhere, in the state he's in, we can't leave them alone down her to go search for her. I'm just as scared as you are for her, more so, because I know firsthand the kind of things Aizen is capable of; I've seen them." She stated then took a deep breath. "Let's give Rukia a full day to give them as much healing as she can, then maybe we can try to continue."
"I agree." Renji added. "Besides, none of us has had any sleep in the past five or six days, and we're all a bit exhausted right now. Let's use this chance to catch up on some much-needed rest and do this with fresh minds." He offered.
The dark-haired teen growled lowly in annoyance, but nodded. "Fine. We'll wait a day to rest up and heal, but no longer. Regardless of what condition those two are in, we can't afford to wait any longer."
Nel relaxed a bit with a sigh. "Thank you, Uryū." She said, then turned and walked back to sit down next to Timothy.
Uryū watched her as she left and a tap on his shoulder drew his attention back to Renji. "Yes?"
Renji crossed his arms loosely. "You think we've seen the last of Hikaru, or whatever he is now?" he inquired.
The teen glanced down the passage the, now mindless, man ran into. "I can't say. He was acting like a pure hunter, with only instincts to rely on now. It's possible those instincts may tell him it's too dangerous to try and hunt us, but then his hunter side may choose to do it anyway. The question I'm more worried about whether or not, in his current state of mind, he can still use those abilities of his."
A shiver ran up Renji's spine at the memory or the demented man's nightmare inducing zanpakutō. "I hope to God he can't. That was the worst experience I've ever had before, and I mean that literally."
Uryū narrowed his eyes in wonder. "What was it you saw, Renji?" he inquired.
The man held a hand against the side of his head. "In my dream, or whatever the hell that was, I was standing back on Sōkyoku Hill…" He paused to glance at his longtime friend, still healing the two men. "It was Rukia's execution."
Both Chad and Uryū's eyes widened. "You mean you were forced to see it again?" the larger teen asked.
Renji gripped a bundle of hair tightly and nodded. "Only this time…we failed to save her…and that it was 'my' fault she was being executed. The Captains, including Aizen, Tōsen, and Ichimaru, were all there…telling me she was gonna die because 'I' failed to stop here from committing the crime of giving Ichigo her soul reaper powers. They kept saying that I 'allowed' it to happen."
The two teens watched the man closely as he spoke in a whisper, trying to avoid letting the short woman hear him. "I was forced to watch as the Kikōō killed her, incinerated her body. The whole thing kept playing over and over, like a damn movie."
Chad reached up and placed a comforting hand on the man's shoulder. "It wasn't real, Renji. As you can see, Rukia is right here with us."
Renji shook his head. "I know, I 'knew' that when I was trapped in that…hell. But even though I knew it, it still didn't mean anything when it all looked, sounded, even 'felt' real. After the third time of going through it, I was pretty much convinced that the dream 'was' real. If Uryū hadn't have gotten us out of that freakish nightmare…I don't even want to think what would have happened. I'd probably be like Hikaru is right now, just a mindless zombie."
He turned his gaze to see Nel sitting down next to Timothy, holding his hand while the both of them slept and Rukia continued to work her healing kidō on Ichigo.
"It doesn't matter who you are, nobody, not even Aizen, deserves to be submitted to something as sadistic as that. The Soul Society shoulder have noticed his zanpakutō's abilities and have it destroyed." He stated firmly, earning nods from both teens.
Meanwhile, Nel sat down against the wall next to Timothy's laid out form, who was recovering from his first round of healing kidō. Looking at the short woman, she saw that she had returned for a second session of healing with Ichigo, laid out next to Timothy.
When the group had returned to their meeting spot, the short woman had started working on Ichigo, seeing how he was in the direst state. Once she had him stabilized enough, she did a quick session on Timothy to stabilize him as well, gave Nel a healing to her back and face to stop the bleeding, then turned back to working solely on the orange-haired teen.
Sweat was beginning to pour from the woman's forehead as she continued her healing, and Nel could see that after nearly an hour of straight healing, along with her encounter with Hikaru's abilities, the poor woman was clearly exhausted.
Turning her gaze back down to Timothy's sleeping form, her attention was drawn back to Rukia a few minutes later when the healing barrier around Ichigo faded and the woman's body slumped over in short breaths.
"You ok, Rukia?" the teal-haired woman asked in worry of her friend.
The shorter woman nodded silently at first, answering with words a few seconds later. "Yeah…just a bit…bit tired…is all." She answered between breaths.
Nel smiled reassuringly. "Why don't you take a break and get some rest, Rukia. Tim and Ichi are fine for now."
Rukia nodded again and slowly rose to her feet. "I think I'll take you up on that offer…at least for a few minutes or so. Mind waking me up in a couple hours?" she asked.
The Arrancar nodded back. "Sure. Go rest up, Rukia, I'll keep an eye on these two."
She watched the woman walk a few yards away towards the men and laid down next to the wall, quickly falling into a deep sleep. Letting out a small sigh, she turned her eyes back to Timothy and frowned a bit before tilting her head back against the wall and closing her eyes to rest them.
"You scared me, you know?" a low, hoarse voice spoke out in front of her.
She reopened her eyes and looked back down at Timothy to see him awake and staring emotionlessly at the ceiling. She blinked once at him and tilted her head in wonder at his words.
"What do you mean, Tim?" she asked calmly.
She waited as he took a long and deep breath, letting it out slowly, until he spoke again. "I'll be honest with ya, I act all 'big and tough' a lot of times, saying that I don't fear anything anymore, but that's all it really is for the most part; just an act. Granted, there's not really that much that does scare me anymore, and I refuse to be intimidated by others, but there are still a couple things I do fear. It's just that, in the past twelve…thirteen years since I first came to the Soul Society, I haven't been faced with any of those fears yet…Until today." He said in a low tone.
Nel blinked again, her confusion only growing. "What…What are you talking about?" she asked again.
He took another breath and rolled his head to look at her and she could see water in his eyes as tears began to form. "I'm saying that what happened earlier was the first time in several years where I was genuinely afraid, Nel. Very, truly, afraid." He stated.
Nel finally understood what he was referring to and she lowered her head in remembrance of the event that caused his fear.
Flashback, 1 Hour Prior
Kaori flipped through the air, narrowly avoiding the lethal blow that would have easily killed her, but not enough to prevent the gruesome punch to her jaw that clearly knocked a tooth or two loose.
Landing on her feet, the insane woman spit a single tooth and a small amount of blood out to the side and felt around with her tongue to feel that a second tooth was loose, but still attached to her throbbing jaw.
Snarling like a demented animal, Kaori glared at Nel's recovering form from the attack as she returned to a boxing stance. Unlike her, who now had several cuts and bruises along her entire body from the woman's punches, Nel didn't have a single scratch on her at all; something that thoroughly pissed the woman off.
"I don't have any qualms with killing you, Kaori, but that does not mean I want to. I'm giving you another chance to take your brother and leave us be. All we want is to rescue our friend, and then we will be gone from here." Nel stated calmly.
Kaori let out another low snarl as she wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. "I've already told you before, bitch, you all are my prey. Never, in the several decades of my hunting sprees, has anyone, or anything, I've hunted 'ever' gotten away from me. No one! Do you honestly think that I would let a bitch like you, after you've humiliated me like this, be the first one to get away? Not happening!" she growled.
Nel sighed heavily with a shake of her head. "I tried, Kaori, I really did. I could have easily killed you several times now, but I was holding back so you would see that you can't stand up against me and choose to leave. But now I see the fact that you won't, so I'm afraid this is where we must end this." She relented.
Kaori's eyes widened slightly when Nel's spiritual pressure began building, surrounding the former Espada in a sheen of violet energy, condensing around her fists.
"I will make this quick, so that you do not suffer more than you already have, Kaori." She said in a low tone.
The woman moved faster than Kaori could blink, and the woman refused to believe that sonído was not involved in the movement. She didn't have time to raise her claws in defense before an energy-infused fist struck he in her sternum.
Spit and bile flew from the woman's mouth as her body doubled over from the hit, her body being sent away at speed to collide with the nearby wall. Her body actually managed to crack and indent the powerful stone from the collision.
Nel was upon the woman before her body had a chance to fall to the floor, swiftly pressing a hand to the demented woman's chest and pressing her against the wall to hold her up as she started punching the woman's head over and over.
Kaori's body twitched and thrashed around with each successful hit. Her mind was so jumbled from the assault that she couldn't think clearly enough to even try to defend herself from the former Espada.
Nel continued her attack, pity and sadness of her actions pouring through her mind as she did. Finally, after beating on the woman for almost two whole minutes, stopped her assault and reared her fist back, charging it up with a decent amount of her energy.
"Will you submit, Kaori?" she offered one last time.
Kaori slowly lifted her head back up to her, pure evil and hatred filling her eyes as she glared at the woman in front of her, and spit the collected blood from her mouth into the woman's face. Nel's expression changed to upmost sadness as she sighed.
"I guess not. Farewell then, Kaori Morita." She whispered.
The beaten woman sneered back as Nel drew her fist back a bit more to deliver the ending blow. But the blow never came.
Kaori's eyes widened a bit in surprise when Nel flinched with a tight gasp. The energy in her fist quickly vanished as she brought her hand to, and clutched, her chest tightly, eyes wide in what appeared to be great pain.
Nel's legs trembled as the strength left them and the woman slowly fell down to her knees, flinching and crying tears of pain. Her hand that was holding Kaori against the wall dragged down her front as she finally came to her knees hunched over.
"No…Not…Not now…" she said in a tight and pained voice.
Recovering quickly from her shock, Kaori's mouth formed a malicious grin as she slapped Nel's hand away and gave her a harsh kick to the side of the downed woman's head. Nel's body fell over to the side, one hand still clutching her chest, and the other now holding the spot where she was kicked.
Kaori chuckled darkly and crossed her arms. "Well well, I wonder what's wrong with you, stupid bitch. And I'll admit that I'm actually curious as to what's going on with you. Not like I really care anyway, just that I find it a bit comical that fate pretty much said 'fuck you', right as you were about to kill me. But hey, I'm sure as hell not complaining."
She watched with satisfaction as Nel slowly got back up to her feet, obviously still in a great deal of pain. It was only when the woman was fully standing again that Kaori appeared behind her and ran both claws down either side of her spine.
Nel arched her back and yelled out in pain as blood began pouring from her wounds. In the near distance, Timothy, still watching over an unconscious Ichigo, was yelling out fear for her, but still in no shape to try and help.
"How does it feel to finally get cut up, bitch?" she asked in a sneer before coming around with speed and swiping a claw down her face and arm that was still holding where she was kicked previously.
Swinging her legs out, Kaori swiped Nel's legs out from under her and sent her crashing down hard onto the floor. Nel yelled out again as the full weight of her body pressed her two grievous wounds on her back against the cold, hard floor.
"I've waited for so long to finally hear your screams as I cut you down with my claws. And now that I have…" A shiver ran up the woman's spine and she let out a low moan of pleasure. "Oh, it's music to my ears. God, so good." She mumbled. She then looked down at Nel's writhing form and smiled coldly. "Yours is actually the best sounding yet, to be honest. You should feel honored, Nelliel."
"Get away from her, you crazy bitch!" Timothy yelled, trying to stand, but only falling back down to his knees.
Kaori glanced over her shoulder at him and chuckled. "Be quiet, fucker. You just sit there and wait your turn." She then snarled loudly at him. "I haven't forgotten about that pathetic trick, and that…vile…disgusting…bitch fox of yours! I'll make sure you die 'very' slowly! So, shut up!" she hissed in fury.
Turning back to Nel, she dropped down and held one of her claws in front of the woman's face. Nel looked back at her with fearful and pained eyes, as Kaori ran the other claw gently down her uncut cheek in a soothing manner.
"You said you'd make my death quick, right? Well, seeing as how I listened to the best scream of pain ever coming from you, I guess I'll reward you with the same respect you gave me, and make your end a quick one." She said in a soft voice. Removing the claw from in front of her face, still running the other in 'comforting' ways, she held the tips to her chest over where the woman's heart was. "Unlike all the other soul reapers, Nelliel, I never hated you because you were a hollow. That actually didn't bother me in the least. I just hated you, because of 'you', who you were. So I guess you can die with the pleasure of knowing you were killed by someone who hated you for who you were, and not 'what' you were. Goodbye, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck."
She pulled her claw back a bit, listening in glee at Timothy's shouts of horror, as she prepared to run the weapon into Nel's chest. Smiling maliciously, she thrusted forward…
But her body froze, and her head snapped back behind her when they all heard to most horrid and maddening of screams. Normally, such a delightful sound would have had Kaori moaning in pleasure, but it was who the sound was coming from that instead had her body shivering in fear.
Kaori widened her eyes in terror with a gasp. "Hikaru!" she yelled out.
She swiftly lifted herself from Nel and took off at a full sprint past Timothy and into the darkness. Coincidently, the pain in Nel's chest suddenly vanished, now leaving her only with the pains inflicted on her by Kaori.
Lifting herself up into a sitting position with hisses of pain, she looked over to see Timothy looking back at her with tears running down his cheeks, a look of upmost relief in his eyes.
She then turned to the darkness where Kaori had gone and sighed. "Who do you think that was?" she asked in a quiet tone.
Staring at her for a few seconds longer, Timothy turned around to follow her gaze. "No idea, but if I had to take a guess after seeing her just…take off like that, I would have to say her brother was screaming."
Nel nodded in agreeance and slowly got back up to her feet. "I think so too."
Walking over at a steady pace, she came to a stop next to him and started to lift Ichigo's body up. "Can you stand, Tim?" she asked as she got back up to her feet again.
The man nodded and slowly stood up on the opposite side of the teen. "Yeah. Here, let me give ya a hand with him." He offered, taking the teen's other arm over his shoulder.
"We need to hurry, in case the others are not done with Kaori's brother. There's no way they can fight both of them." She warned.
"I know. I think I'm good enough for a steady jog with us carrying dumb dumb here." He stated.
This was when Ichigo stirred and lifted his head with a low moan. "What the hell?" he mumbled.
Nel looked at him with concern. "You feel ok, Ichigo?" she asked.
He moaned again, but nodded. "Got a major headache, and my chest hurts like hell, but I think I'll live for now." He groaned.
Timothy snorted. "I hope so. I hate to see Rukia get pissed off cause she lost her favorite punching bag." He teased.
Ichigo side-glared him in annoyance. "Shut up." He shot back with little bite.
Nel sighed and shook her head. "Even on the brink of death you two can't stop arguing, can you?" Timothy opened his mouth to respond, but a sharp glare from her silenced him. "That was rhetorical, Tim. It didn't mean you actually answer. Of course you two can't stop your damn bickering!" she hissed.
The Lieutenant snapped his jaw shut, but Ichigo moaned loudly. "Whatever, can we just get going?" he pleaded.
The woman nodded, and her and Timothy carried the teen to catch up with the others.
Flashback End
Nel sighed as the replay in her mind came to a close before nodding. "I know…and I'm sorry I scared you like that. Truly…I am. I…I don't know what happened. I just…That pain from before… it hit me again, but much worse this time." She said, barely above a whisper.
Timothy turned his head away, his gaze returning to the ceiling. "You lied to me." He stated, getting her attention again. "You told me, the last time that happened, that you would be fine, that I didn't need to worry about it."
The woman flinched at his words, and they stung her deeply in guilt. "I…I know, Tim. I just don't want you to worry about me." She said as tears came to her eyes.
"It's my job, Nel. As your friend…and 'boyfriend', it's my job to worry about you endlessly." He assured.
Nel raised her eyes back to him in confusion at 'boyfriend', but a quick search of her memories later had her face turning a deep crimson. Slowly, she turned her head away in embarrassment with her head shrunk into her shoulders.
"Uh…I uh…didn't think my words through…before I said them. I was…worried she was going to kill you, Tim. It just…slipped out?" she offered timidly.
He was smirking slightly at her in a side-glance, watching her reactions with humor. "Uh huh. I don't know why you're so ashamed to call me such, Nel. I pretty much consider you my girlfriend at the moment. What? Does me being your boyfriend embarrass you?" he teased.
Hey eyes shot wide open as her head snapped back to him. "No!" she answered quickly, then turned more red and turned away again. "I mean…" She quickly gave up and took a deep breath to clear her mind and try again. "I still don't know exactly how I feel…about us, Tim. I mean, I really do like you, much more than a friend, and I want to become even more, but I just don't know what it is yet; where we are. Are we boyfriend and girlfriend? How do we know if we are? I'm still lost on this." She admitted.
He shrugged his shoulders with a hum. "Well, going by what we've done so far, you know, hugging, holding hands, kissing, even spent the night in the same bed once…" Nel's face, if even possible, went beyond red at the memory, as did Timothy's. "…Um…Well, I guess by human standards, we'd technically be girlfriend/boyfriend. So, if you want to, we can call each other such."
Her face still cherry red, Nel nodded slightly. "I…I would like that, if…if it's ok with you." She admitted.
Feeling a hand grasping hers, the woman turned to see Timothy holding her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, and smiling warmly. "I would. Just do me a favor; don't hide something, like what happened earlier, from me again. Please?"
She smiled back, but the smile quickly faded. "I didn't hide it, Tim. You were there the first time it happened. Remember?" she corrected.
He nodded with a sigh. "True, but you did hide how much of a danger to you it was, Nel. Had her brother's scream not pulled her attention away, you would be dead right now, Nel; all three of us. It was because of whatever that was, that the insane bitch switched things over on you. Just please promise me you won't simply disregard something that could be severe again. Alright?" he pleaded.
Nel sighed again and nodded. "I understand, Tim. I'm sorry I made you worry, and that I scared you like that. I'll…I'll ask Kisuke to look into it when we get home."
It surprised her, though she didn't show it, just how easily she had come to view Kisuke's little 'shop' as her home. It surprised her even more when she realized how willing she was to accept and admit it out loud. It almost brought a smile to her face.
"Please do, Nel. I'm not shitting you when I say that I'm really worried about you. My chest 'still' hurts from my heart beating so hard when that bitch was about to kill you. I honestly think I had a minor heart attack back there." He mumbled as he used his free hand to rub the spot on his chest over his heart.
Nel chuckled and shook her head. "I promise. As soon as we get home, I'll talk to Kisuke. Now, you should rest, Tim. Kaori did more damage than you think she did, and you need to rest as much as you can with what little time we have for it. I'll be right here, ok?"
The man nodded, giving her hand another gentle squeeze. He took in a deep breath and released it slowly as he relaxed. His grip on her hand loosened bit-by-bit as sleep swiftly took him. Smiling lovingly, Nel rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand before leaning her head back and closing her eyes.
Squad 2 Headquarters, Present
After reading through the form slowly, ensuring she missed nothing of importance, Suí-Fēng signed and set aside the form covering the latest scouting reports in the lower districts of East Rukongai.
It was late evening, and the majority of the squad's responsibilities, minus of course important Stealth Force missions and the guards posted at undisclosed locations, were complete for the day. All she had were the few remaining squad forms to inspect and sign before turning in for the night.
The best part, was that for the past two days she got to enjoy some peace and quiet for once, complements of her overweight and useless Lieutenant was still recovering in Squad 4. After running his mouth, yet again, and mistakenly making a comment to the Captain, she gave him the full 'Stealth Force treatment'. All she got in the end after having him taken in for treatment was a verbal slap on the wrist from Unohana.
The short woman smirked to herself at remembering the man's condition once she was done with him, but the smirk fell when it dawned on her that it wouldn't be but another two days at the most before he came back.
Signing her current form, she set it aside just as a Stealth Force member took a knee in front of her open office. Raising her head to him, she narrowed her eyes in agitation of being disturbed so late at night.
"What is it?" she asked in tight voice.
The member, Kazuya Sasaki, was one of her better officers, and one of the few she had a fair amount of patience and respect for. He was the second in command for the Patrol Unit, and the unit's 'acting commander' at the moment, seeing how the squad's 5th seat, who was in charge overall, was currently on leave.
Kazuya raised his head to meet her eyes. "Please accept my apologies for disturbing you this late, maam, but there is something I think you should know about." He reported.
Suí-Fēng sighed and nodded. "Report." She instructed.
The man glanced over his shoulder for a split second, making the Captain raise a brow in suspicion. Turning back to her, he narrowed his eyes.
"With your permission, Captain, I believe this would be better discussed in private." He warned.
She narrowed her eyes right back and gave him a firm nod. Kazuya stood and closed the doors behind him, closing the office entirely with the soundproof walls, and stepped up to her desk.
"Captain, while I was making sure the patrols switched out accordingly, I came across one of our members who seemed to be…a bit confused." He started. Suí-Fēng rose a brow in question, but nodded for him to continue. After taking a second to choose his words, knowing the wrong thing said would be very bad, he moved on. "I say confused, because the individual seemed to think today was Wednesday, and not Thursday."
Suí-Fēng glared at him with gritted teeth. With the man coming to her this late at night, knowing to only disturb her if it was important, with something so trivial, it had her blood beginning to boil.
"You disturbed me…because some idiot forgot what day it was?" she asked through her teeth.
Kazuya quickly held his hands up placatingly. "No maam. I would not disturb you over something like that. Please, allow me to finish." He pleaded in a calm manner.
Sometimes, the best way to converse with the short-tempered Captain was to maintain a calm presence.
Suí-Fēng slapped her hands up on top of her desk. "Then hurry up and spit it out!" she demanded.
Kazuya nodded and lowered his hands. "Yes, Captain. Returning to what I was saying, I didn't think anything of the matter and let it be. But it was only ten minutes later when I ran into another member saying the same thing, that today was Wednesday. I got a bit curious, so I asked a few others from the Patrol Unit that were going on shift what day it was. Basically, everyone agreed that today was a Thursday, except for the two prior, and two more."
Suí-Fēng narrowed her eyes questioningly. "Are you telling me that four of our members somehow got so out of it they forgot what day it was?" she questioned.
The man nodded. "Yes maam. But I don't think it's a simple matter of them forgetting the day. After finding the fourth individual, there was something poking my mind, telling me something wasn't right. After making sure the patrols were successfully switched out for the night, I went and checked the assignment roster for the past few days. When I looked up their names for Wednesday, it turns out that all four of them were at, or near, the same post."
The woman clenched her teeth with a snarl. "Let me guess, they were assigned to watch over the Communications Department, weren't they?"
Kazuya nodded, then did a quick check around him to ensure the room was secure before taking a knee in front of her desk, leaning in close to whisper.
"Captain, I think it may be possible that something happened to those men while on guard at Squad 12, and that it's possible Captain Kurotsuchi may be a part of it." He mumbled.
Suí-Fēng shook her head slowly. "No, there's no doubt about it, that damn bastard's involved."
"Should I have those four sent to Squad 4 to make sure there's nothing else wrong, Captain?" he inquired.
She thought it over for a moment, but shook her head. "No. Give them the next few days off and have them closely watched. If they start acting different, besides being confused on what day it is, report it to me immediately. I seriously doubt that bastard, Kurotsuchi, is aware that we know, and I'd like to keep it that way for now."
Turning her eyes to his, she gave him a fierce stare. "Do some digging. I'm guessing he incapacitated them to gain access to the Communications Department. I want you to find out what it was he was doing during that time. I'll leave the details on how you get that information to you. Also, I want you to take the person whom you trust the most, and have that person follow Kurotsuchi at all times. This will be our secret, so you are to speak to no one about this, Sasaki. And make sure the person you choose to follow Kurotsuchi understands that as well. Am I understood?"
Plating a fist on the floor and bowing his head, he responded. "Yes maam. I'll get started right away."
She nodded and waved a hand in dismissal. "You're dismissed."
The man stood and swiftly left the office. Narrowing her eyes, she turned her gaze to the wall in the direction of the Squad 12 Research Department.
"Whatever you're up to, Kurotsuchi, you won't keep it hidden for long." She mumbled into the air.
Las Noches Throne Room
Aizen sat comfortably in his stone chair, his calm and sinister smile lifting his face a bit, as he watched his Espada and their fracción file into the room and take their respective spots. Most of them had already arrived and he was only waiting on a few more before the meeting could begin.
His gaze transferred from one person to the next, eyeing most of them with disinterest while watching others closely; most notably Grimmjow, Barragan, and Nnoitra, who had shown great displeasure at the last meeting after learning about several intruders in their own home without being able to act on it.
Grimmjow had reacted the worst when Aizen had informed them, instantly jumping from his seat and storming towards the door. The only thing that stopped him was Kaname stepping in the way and a deathly gaze from Aizen. After only a few words of warning, the Sexta Espada finally, and very reluctantly, returned to his seat with a loud growl.
Finally, after Aizen was beginning to believe that he wouldn't show, Stark stumbled into the large room with his hands in his pants pockets and grumbling tiredly. Lilynette followed closely behind him, reprimanding him endlessly about his laziness and how all he did was sleep.
Aizen's gaze shifted to the small girl, where his smile grew but a fraction. He watched her as she went to stand next to her partner near the door, seemingly unnoticing the man's stare as she continued to berate the lazy Espada, who continued to simply ignore her.
He closed his eyes with a breathy chuckle before giving a last glance at the numerous Arrancar in the room as Kaname and Gin stepped up on either side of him. Kaname raised his hand up and the multiple whispers of conversation between Espada and fracción instantly ceased, their attentions focused solely on the dais.
Lowing his hand, Kaname turned to Aizen and gave him a quick bow. "Thank you, Kaname." Aizen returned.
The former Captain rose with a nod and placed his hands behind his back while Gin simply leaned against the large chair. Taking a calming breath, Aizen began the meeting.
"Good evening, dear Espada. I apologize for having, yet another, meeting so soon after our last, but it would seem there has been a new development regarding our expected guests." He began, then turned his eyes towards Grimmjow to see him clench his teeth in anger. "It would seem, with some moderate difficulty, that they were successful in defeating the Morita twins in the underground tunnels."
This cause quite a few brows to rise in mixes of wonder, astonishment, and disbelief; while a few others turned away in disinterest. A scoff was heard, and the former Captains turned their attentions to Grimmjow.
"What's the big deal? Those two were as insane as they come. So what if those two bloodthirsty brats kicked the bucket? As long as they didn't kill all of them, I'm happy. I wanna stick my own blade in those 'guests'' guts for breaking into my palace." He grumbled.
Nnoitra chuckled darkly, redrawing Aizen's gaze. "The brother was a wimp, but I gotta admit that I actually liked the sister. She may have been a crazy slut, but her addiction to killing and maiming was something I could respect." He added.
Aizen felt Gin shift his position against his chair and he turned a bit to glance at the man past his shoulder. "Aw, that's too bad; I kinda liked the brother. He was such a good conversationalist while those two were still around. I found his particular abilities to be quite…entertaining when he used them. Don't you agree, Captain Aizen?" he inquired with his trademark, foxlike grin.
Aizen let out a lighthearted chuckle. "Indeed. Hikaru Morita's ability to attack the mind directly was…very interesting. In fact, had it not been for his absolute devotion to his sister, I find it very likely that he would have remained among us. But that is of no matter at the moment." He said, then returned to the group below them.
"In any case, the two have been defeated, and our guests are currently recovering from their battle with the twins. It will be some time before they continue their mission to retrieve Orihime Inoue." His gaze returned to a small, lime-haired fracción and his smile grew. "Due to an…outside interference, our guests have learned the location of where Miss Inoue is being kept."
Lilynette's eyes widened a fraction in shock and fear. 'H…How did he know?! There's…There's no way he could know!' she fretted internally.
Next to her, Stark raised a brow in question. "What do you mean, Lord Aizen? Someone told them about where the girl was being held?" he asked.
Aizen closed his eyes, breaking contact with Lilynette, and smiled more. "Indeed. But it is of no consequence. In fact, this actually pleases me. The Morita twins were an…unforeseen occurrence, and their involvement had caused things to be delayed. This assistance has allowed things to return to schedule rather quickly. So, there is no need to worry about that matter. Now we must discuss actions beyond this point. Since their arrival, our guests have been splitting up into two teams, to make their search more effective. I am confident that they will continue to do as such once they have left the underground tunnels."
Pausing for a moment, he turned to the Sexta. "Grimmjow…" he called, getting the Espada's attention. "I am more than aware of how furious you must be; to have these individuals invade your palace and not be allowed to defend your territory. Rest assured, this time, I will allow you seek out and…entertain our guests." This earned him a wicked and amused grin from the Espada.
"Bout time you let me have some fun." He responded.
Aizen's gaze turned to one of warning then. "However, I do have a few restrictions." He stated, seeing the man's grin fall a bit. "First, you are not permitted to engage the group Timothy Durn is with. I have something special in mind for his group. Any other groups, should they split into more than two, you are free to engage. And second…"
He was interrupted when the large double doors to the throne room were pushed open, exposing a small figure wearing a full-body cloak, the cloak's hood up and covering the entire top half of the being's face.
The figure's size was the only thing that the Espada and fracción could discern, the cloak effectively preventing them from telling if the being was even male or female.
Aizen smiled calmly at the interruption. "Ah, yes, thank you for joining us, new comrade. Please, step forward, so that the rest of your brothers and sisters may meet you." He greeted.
The being stepped forward at a decent pace, and the way it threw its arms and shoulders about as it walked suggested that the being was likely male. The cloak clung tightly to the being's frame, and besides the tiny bit of mouth and chin, and the peeking of the solid-white toes of its shoes, he was nothing but clothed shadow.
All eyes followed the being as it walked across the vast, open area of the room, coming to a stop at the base of the dais. Aizen smiled in appeasement when the figure dropped to a knee, its head bowed, and returned the greeting.
"You called for me, Lord Aizen?" it said in a low tone, too low to truly discern the being's gender.
"Indeed, I did. And you have arrived at the perfect time, dear comrade. I was just explaining to the others about our guests, and the restrictions they must follow should they wish to engage them. Can I assume you heard?" he questioned.
The being nodded once. "I did, my Lord. If I may ask, if you do not wish for the others to interfere with this 'Timothy Durn', do you intend to leave him to wander around freely?" it inquired.
A low chuckle escaped Aizen's throat in amusement. "Of course not, dear comrade. I leave Timothy Durn's group to 'you'." He answered. Multiple brows rose in question at that. "Timothy Durn is quite the avid combatant, with very unique abilities. I believe this is the perfect opportunity to test your own skillset, and allow us to see how you compare amongst your peers. However, as I was about to inform to the others, neither Timothy Durn, nor Ichigo Kurosaki, are to be killed. You may do as you wish with the others, including the former Espada, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, who is working with them, but Kurosaki and Durn are important to the remainder of my plans."
He turned back to Grimmjow and gave him a stern, and serious glare. "Is that understood, Grimmjow?" he asked in a dark voice.
Grimmjow swallowed hard under his gaze and nodded. "Yeah, I got it. Don't kill the brat, but the others are fair game, right?"
Aizen's smile returned. "Indeed. What you do is up to you, but I would advise you hold off engaging them until you are sure that it will not interfere with your new comrade's own fight. I don't believe I need to inform you of what would happen should you make a mistake, Grimmjow."
The Espada swallowed again. "Nah, I think I got it. We got any idea how long till they show up?"
The former Captain chuckled in amusement. "Have patience, dear Grimmjow; they will not be too much longer."
"Lord Aizen…" the being called. Aizen turned back to him and nodded to continue.
"If I am not mistaken, you said that the lives of Kurosaki and Durn are important to you, but you are having me engage this Durn person anyway." He paused to glace over at Grimmjow, one side of his mouth raised in cunning. "I suppose that means that Grimmjow is also free to go after Kurosaki, as long as he still breathes when he is finished?" he questioned.
Aizen smiled and turned back to the Espada. "I suppose that would be alright. As long as he does not kill him, Grimmjow may engage Kurosaki as he sees fit."
Grimmjow glanced at Aizen in surprise, clearly expecting to be prevented from having a rematch against the orange-haired teen. Getting over his surprise quickly, he looked back at the cloaked being and gave him an animalistic grin.
"What's your name, 'comrade'?" he asked with interest.
The being gave a similar grin in return. "Sorry, Grimmjow, but for the exception of Lord Aizen, I only give my name to my enemies, or those who I have deemed worthy of knowing it. You haven't proved yourself to me yet, so you don't get to know it." He taunted.
Grimmjow laughed aloud and pointed his thumb at the being while looking at Aizen. "I think I like this guy already. Looks like you and I are gonna be good friends." He said, now looking back at the being. "Little word of warning for ya friend, watch out for that Tim guy's zanpakutō, both blade and spirit. She's one hell of a vixen, I gotta admit."
The cloaked figure's grin widened, exposing a full set of semi-sharpened teeth. "Oh, I don't think I'll have to worry about her. I know just what to do about her."
Las Noches Tunnels, 8 Hours Later
"I spy somethingggg… green." The woman next to Timothy spoke out.
"The grass." He answered, hearing a huff.
"Fine then, I spy something… red."
"'Johnny'." He answered again, hearing another huff from Kitsune.
"You're no fun anymore." She complained from her spot on the cathedral roof next to him.
He rolled his head to her with an unamused glare. "You're the one who wanted to play 'I spy' when there's hardly anything 'to' spy, moron."
She crossed her arms with another huff and turned away from him. "Yeah, well, there's nothing else to do besides spar, and we can't do that cause you need the rest, stupid." She returned.
After passing out in Nel's lap, he was quickly snatched from sleep and dragged into his inner world by the playful vixen, claiming she was 'bored out of her mind' because 'Johnny', like always, refused to entertain her with simple conversation.
Not that Timothy could really blame the spirit. After nearly four hours of being forced to play her little game of 'I spy', among a few other 'games' that he wished he could erase from his memory, he was truly starting to feel sorry for the red-clad spirit having to be stuck with her for the rest of his life.
"We could play '20 questions'." She offered.
He growled in annoyance before turning away from her. "No, cause knowing you, you'd come up with the most bizarre things that don't even exist, making guessing impossible." He pointed out.
She turned back to him with an offensive look. "I would not! Don't be stupid!" she defended.
Timothy turned back as well with a raised brow. "The last time I played that stupid game with you, your answer was a pink pachyderm."
"So? I was talking about the pink pachyderms from 'Dumbo', dummy." She retorted.
"And I asked you if it was a in movie or not and you told me 'no'!" he yelled.
She narrowed her eyes and held up a finger. "No, you asked if 'it' was a movie, not if it was 'in' a movie. There's a difference." She corrected.
He swiftly sat up and held his arms out wide. "No there fucking isn't! This is 'exactly' what I was talking about. You change everything up to make it impossible to freaking guess the answer!"
She waved him off nonchalantly. "Details; it's not supposed to be easy, dummy. But fine, I'll give you something easy this time."
Timothy slapped a hand to his face with a moan. "God, I hate you sometimes. You're like a forty-year-old child most times."
Kitsune held a finger up with a sly grin. "Forty-'three'-year-old, get it right, bud. I'm proud for every single year of wisdom I get, you know." She corrected.
"Ha!" he blurted out, rolling his eyes. "More like trickery to me."
She nodded firmly. "That too, more so, even." She then struck a pose, one hand on top of her head with her tail draped over the crook of her elbow, and the other on her hip. "And still looking sexy as ever too, right?" she asked, giving him a wink.
He glared dangerously and growled. "Oh, hell no! I am 'not' playing into 'that' fucking game again! Go flaunt your matted fur and crooked tail somewhere else, maybe for 'Johnny'."
Kitsune gasped in shocked and horror before turning and barraging him with her closed fists. "Take that back, you asshole! My fur is pristine and my tail 'perfect'! You're just jealous you don't have such immaculate looks yourself!" she accused.
He ignored her rampage with a scoff. "Yeah, sure, if it makes you sleep better at night." He mumbled.
She reached up and pulled down on her vulpine ears, growling in anger. "You are so annoying!"
"Hey kettle, I'm pot. You're black." He mocked.
"Oh, God, I hate you!" she hissed back.
"I'm sorry…for interrupting your…bonding experience…" 'Johnny' spoke out, getting their attention. "But it seems…your friends…are attempting…to awaken you." He informed.
Timothy held his hands up to the sky. "Thank you! Finally, a reason for me to get away from this damned fox! I don't even care if it's Uryū, I'm gonna hug whoever just came and saved me."
Kitsune snapped to her feet and stood behind him. "Well, then let's not keep your 'savior' waiting then. Bye, asshole!" she said, then gave him a harsh kick to his back.
His body lurched forward from the assault, making him lose balance and fall forward off the roof of the building. "Oh, fuuuuuucckk!" he yelled out.
"Have a nice fall, bastard!" Kitsune yelled out.
Timothy watched in horror as the ground came closer and closer, before suddenly being surrounded in light. His eyes snapped open and he launched himself into a sitting position with a yell, clutching his chest.
The rest of the group stared at the man in worry and confusion as he struggled to get his heartrate back under control. After a few seconds, he gritted his teeth and let out a low, dangerous growl.
"I'm gonna kill that fucking fox!" he hissed.
Looks of concern and wonder instantly turned to ones of disbelief. "Why am I not surprised that Kit had something to do with that?" Renji wondered aloud.
"Because it wouldn't be normal if she didn't." Rukia answered.
Timothy glared at the two. "Shut up, or I'll turn her loose on you two!" he threatened.
They held their hands up in surrender. "No thanks, we're good." They said in unison.
The younger Lieutenant shook his head and sighed. "So, someone tried to wake me up for something?"
"Yeah." A voice spoke to his left. He turned to see Chad kneeling down next to him. "I was trying to wake you for your shift of guard." He informed in hid low tone.
"I get that you're probably still hurting a bit, but seeing as we're not going anywhere for a while, you should be good enough to keep watch for a couple hours with Chad while the rest of us tries to get 'back' to sleep after getting woken up by your yelling." Uryū stated.
Timothy growled in annoyance and rubbed the top of his head. "Yeah, sorry. Didn't mean to do that. Damned fox."
A hand rested on his shoulder, making him turned back to see a worried look on Nel's face. "You ok, Tim?" she asked.
He sighed and nodded with a weak smile. "Yeah, Kit just scared the ever-loving shit outta me a second ago. I'm good, Nel." He grabbed her resting hand and kissed the back of it, running his thumb over it. "Go back to sleep, and sorry for waking you."
She smiled and nodded. "Alright. Sorry Kit gave you such a hard time." She offered.
Timothy waved her off. "Meh, I'll find a way to get that damned fox back later. Go back to sleep."
The woman nodded once more before letting out a yawn and closing her eyes once more, swiftly falling back asleep. He smiled warmly and gently shifted her body to lay against the floor before standing up to join the large teen on guard.
"Wake me up in a few hours, seeing as I'm the next one on guard." Rukia spoke out without opening her eyes, now sitting back-to-back with Renji and leaning against the wall.
"Yeah yeah, I got ya. Sweet dreams, dwarf." He teased as he joined Chad.
She scoffed lightly. "Whatever, idiot." She mumbled and went back to sleep.
He came to a stop next to Chad and joined him looking down one of the corridor's dark expanse with his newly formed 'kidō light' in his hand.
"So how you doing?" he asked the teen.
Chad hummed with a nod. "I'm fine. How are you feeling?" he asked in return.
Timothy rubbed a sore spot in his neck with a groan. "To be honest, like shit. That crazed witch really did a number on me and Ichigo before Nel got involved. Honestly, if she hadn't stepped in when she did, I seriously doubt I'd still be standing here. She really saved our asses this time."
The teen nodded in understanding. "Her brother wasn't easy to fight either. His abilities were…scary."
The Lieutenant side-glance the teen in concern. "I overheard something about that earlier. Care to explain?"
If he didn't see the chill that ran up the teen's back, he wouldn't have believed it if someone told him. "His zanpakutō allowed him to lock someone inside their worst nightmares, until it destroyed their minds. That's why you saw him acting the way he did in the end; Uryū forced his own attacks back on him."
A similar chill ran up Timothy's own back this time. "Geeze, talk about sadistic. And I thought the sister was bad. But you're still ok, right?" he pressed.
Another nod from the teen. "He didn't manage to hit me with his attacks, so I didn't have to experience it firsthand. Renji and Rukia though… they weren't so lucky. You could see the pain and suffering they were experiencing on their faces."
Timothy turned back to the darkness and sighed. "I wouldn't wish that kinda shit on anyone, but I'd have to make an exception for someone like Hikaru Morita. I've seen some crazy-ass shit in my life, but that was amongst the top."
Chad turned and eyed the Lieutenant for a moment. "Do you think we'll come across him again?"
Timothy shrugged a shoulder. "No idea, bud. All I know is that if he 'does' show back up again, I'll kill the bastard for putting my friends through that kind of hell. Now, with that subject outta the way, I got a question for you; that is, if you don't mind answering."
The teen nodded for him to continue. "Just out of curiosity, and I know you've already mentioned something about this before, but what do you really think about Nel? Do 'you' see her as another monster?"
Chad shook his head slowly. "No. I won't lie and say I trust her as much as you do, but I don't think that she is a monster. I think she is actually trying to start a new life, one not based on consuming souls."
Timothy nodded in understanding. "Do you have a problem with her helping us get Orihime back?"
The teen turned back to the corridor, not answering at first, but spoke up a moment later. "Like I said, I don't trust her as much as you, but I do think that her being here to help us is a good thing. Orihime seems to really like her, and I know she would be glad to know that Nel was here to help bring her home."
The Lieutenant snorted softly. "That girl is one of the biggest softies I've ever met. I swear, she seems like she could befriend just about anyone, regardless of what side of the fence they're from or what they've done. It's pitiful that she had to be the one to go through this."
Chad nodded firmly. "I agree. She's always looked out for others before herself. If it wasn't for Tatsuki, she would easily be taken advantage of in school."
"She another one of your friends?" Timothy asked.
The teen nodded again. "Tatsuki Arisawa is Ichigo's oldest friend; they've known each other since they were four. They used to be real close from what Ichigo told me, but after his mother passed away, they slowly grew apart." That got Timothy's close attention and the teen continued. "After Orihime's brother passed, she was picked on by the other kids at school, so Tatsuki took to defending her. They became best friends, and some of us even think they treat each other like sisters. Seeing as how Orihime doesn't have any living relatives living in Japan, Tatsuki's mother essentially adopted her and looks out for her when she can."
"Sounds like she's the perfect friend. I'll have to meet her sometime when this shenanigans is all over." The Lieutenant surmised.
"I think the two of you would get along well. Though… you might want to be careful around her when it comes to Orihime." Chad warned.
Timothy rose a brow. "Why do you say that?"
The teen gave him a concerned look. "I wasn't saying it lightly when I told you that she defends Orihime. Tatsuki can be… very dangerous if anyone was to upset Orihime or herself. It's widely agreed that Tatsuki's the second strongest, if not 'the' strongest girl in Japan."
The Lieutenant blinked twice in confusion. "The second strongest girl in Japan? Just what the hell does she do for a living?" he questioned.
"She's a blackbelt in many different forms of martial arts, and she has been known to… fight dirty at times." He cautioned, remembering the many instances she delivered a good kick or two to the boys' 'sensitive areas' when she was pissed.
Timothy got the message, a trail of sweat running down his forehead while his hand instinctively 'protected' his own area. "I'll… take your word for it. Thanks for the heads-up. So, Yoruichi's 'evil' side, got it."
Chad nodded quickly. "That would… probably be the best way to look at it, yes. Keigo, I would say, has been a victim to her wrath more times that I can count."
Timothy tilted his head for a moment in thought. "Keigo… he's that brown-haired goofball of a kid that's always ogling girls and acting the fool, right? Ichigo mentioned something about him one time; I think I remember meeting him once as well."
A drop of sweat appeared on Chad's head. "That… is a fair description, yes."
Another drop of sweat appeared on Timothy's head. "Knowing how teen's like him tend to act, I'm guessing he's been an idiot and tries over and over to hit on Orihime, or something along those lines?"
Chad looked down on him in surprise. "How did you know?"
"I had a couple of fools in college that acted the exact same way. One of em even tried to get with Kit, back when her and I were still going there. That one was entertaining as hell to watch." He said with a snicker.
"…I'm not sure I want to know." Chad fretted.
Timothy snorted. "It wasn't PG-13, I can definitely tell you 'that' much. Let's just leave it as they 'never' bothered her again, or anyone else for that matter. Even though her and I weren't dating yet, she had her eyes firmly locked on me at that time and wanted no one else. It was only a couple weeks later when she had had enough of my cluelessness and trapped me behind the administration building, going into an hourlong make-out session. But, I digress. To be honest, I'm surprised the kid's still alive after a beatdown or two from Tatsuki."
Chad hummed in agreeance. "You're not the only one. I don't think he will ever learn his lesson."
"Nah, he doesn't fit the profile of one who learns from his mistakes. I think he's cursed to be Tatsuki's personal punching bag for the rest of his life; or at the least, the rest of his time in school." The Lieutenant enforced, earning a chuckle from the teen.
"I agree. If I may ask, how did you and… Kit… meet?" Chad inquired.
"We met back when we were in elementary school. Her family moved in a couple houses down from us, and she was a wild little shit when we first met. She definitely didn't act like your typical sixties era kid."
"Hey! What did you expect? I was eight years old, asshole!" the spirit defended.
"Yeah, an eight-year-old who thought dollies was too 'girly'. You had more fun going swimming in the local pond without a lick of clothing on… oh wait, you 'still' do!"
The spirit was silent for a moment. "Ok, I'll admit to that one. But come on, I never saw you complaining when you were with me." She defended with a suggestive tone.
"Not getting into this discussion. Now be quiet."
"Killjoy."
Timothy sighed heavily and shook his head. "Anyway, looking past her tomboyish personality, her and I became close, graduated, and eventually went to college together. She always made sly remarks or 'suggestions' about the two of us, but I always thought it was just her… being herself. It was only after the fore-mentioned make-out session that I saw her real feelings, and realized that I had feelings for her as well. So, we agreed to get together and see how it went between us. Sure, we had a few arguments, mainly from her, but we loved each other and got married shortly after graduating college. Even after that, we still had our spats every now and then, but we stuck through it. All the way up until the night her and I got killed."
Chad's face fell a bit. "I'm sorry."
The Lieutenant waved him off. "Don't worry about it. As weird as it may sound, Kit and I pretty much agreed, once we looked past the 'dying' part, that what happened was for the best. Neither of us wants to admit it, but…"
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We don't want to admit it, but it was only a matter of time before we ended up breaking up. We loved each other to death, but our personalities just… didn't match up enough for a long-term marriage. Eventually, we would have fallen apart and divorced before too long. Neither of us would have wanted it, but it would have likely happened. But this way, with how we are now, we can still be together, and not worry about holding each other back. Does that make sense?"
The teen nodded. "I think I understand what you're saying. You weren't meant to be together in marriage, but were still meant to be together in life."
Timothy nodded firmly. "Exactly. It's confusing as hell, but it still, somehow, makes sense. It's actually making my head hurt just thinking about now."
Chad hummed lowly. "All that matters is that you two still have each other, even though Kit had to become what she is now."
Timothy heard Kitsune scoff lightly in his head. "Tell the big guy to stop worrying about it. I actually like my new life, thank you very much."
The Lieutenant growled under his breath. "You mean you enjoy torturing the fuck outta me endlessly."
"That too, but that's just a bonus. Having 'Johnny' around to 'torture' is another bonus as well, even though he's as emotionless as a rock."
"I resent…that statement." The mail spirit hissed.
Timothy could almost see her roll her eyes. "Oh, lighten up, 'Johnny'. I swear, 'both' of you boys are killjoys. I think that's the only downside to this whole thing."
Both men scoffed. "Yeah, well, sorry to disappoint… not."
"Whatever, big baby."
"'Johnny', do me a favor and shut her up, please?"
"If only…that were…possible."
"Oh my God! Quit crying so much, both of you!"
"You pushed me off a Goddamned roof, damned vixen!" he yelled.
"You made fun of my fur coat and tail, so you deserved that one! So shut up!" she defended.
Timothy sighed and shook his head. 'Maybe Aizen will accept a trade; let Orihime go and kill me instead.'
"Hey!"
"Shut up!/Shut up!" Timothy and 'Johnny' yelled in unison.
"Hmfp, assholes."
He sighed again and rested a hand on the teen's shoulder. "I pray to God that you never have to deal with an annoying, perverted, immature fox spirit in your head, Chad. If you ever do… my condolences."
Chad swallowed thickly. "I wonder how you have managed to keep your sanity for so long."
Timothy chuckled darkly at him. "Please, if you 'ever' find the answer to that question, 'please' let me know."
Squad 12 Research Department, 4 Hours Later
Kazuya Sasaki crept silently along the vaguely lit halls of the Research Department, keeping his eyes and ears open for movement and anything else out of place, as he followed the mumbling form of Captain Kurotsuchi.
At first, it took a while to even find the elusive Captain, much less get into position to keep tabs on him. Everyone who ever met, or even heard of the Squad 12 Captain knew how cautious and observant he was, so it took much longer than was normal for Kazuya to get where he was now.
When he first came upon him, the Captain was hunched over one of his large computer terminals, typing away in rapid succession and reading over the displayed data. Try as hard as he might, Kazuya was unable to make heads or tails of what was being displayed, guessing that it must have been in a language that only the Captain could understand.
He watched the Captain type away for about two hours, before the man stood up and swiftly left the room, followed closely by his Lieutenant who was standing near the door. He heard him issue a few incoherent orders to the petite woman before she turned and walked the opposite way, leaving him alone.
The Captain then moved on to what appeared to be a large storeroom, one Kazuya was unable to follow him into without getting caught. Luckily, the Captain was in the room for only a few moments, walking back out with what looked to be a couple of small, rectangular, containers before locking the door and moving on.
That was where the Stealth Force member found himself now, following the Captain in the direction where his private office resided. His hunch was proven correct when the Captain came to a stop in front the door to his office, entering a discrete code into a hidden panel before opening the door and walking inside.
Speed and perfect precision were what allowed the member to slip into the office behind him undetected before the door slid shut. A quick scan of his surroundings later, and Kazuya found himself crouched down behind a filled, standing shelf with numerous glass jars and other containers filled with unknown substances; substances he wasn't sure he wanted to know the identity of.
When he had his eyes on the Captain once more, the man was standing in the center of the room next to what looked to be an operating table. What's more, it seemed that there was someone, or something, lying strapped down on the table, unmoving.
Kazuya narrowed his eyes, curious as to who the unlucky victim was to whatever the mad scientist was up to. Judging by the multitude of instruments and cutting devices on the small rollaway table next to the Captain, it wasn't anything good, taking into consideration that 'nothing' that involved sharp objects and the Captain was good.
Fortunately, Kazuya didn't have to wait long, as the Captain turned and walked away, likely to go grab something, and the victim on the table was revealed. Kazuya's eyes went wide at quickly recognizing the victim as none other than the large, toad-like scientist, Hiyosu.
To say the green man was having a bad day would be a gross understatement. The skin on the top part of his skull was peeled away, exposing a large portion of his skull, where a three-inch by three-inch section was cut away, therefor exposing the man's surgically cleaned brain.
The telescoping crank for his eyes was removed, set aside on the small table that held the instruments, next to his left eye implant that was also removed. Had it not been for the occasional twitching of the man's fingers, strapped down at his sides, Kazuya would have thought the poor man to be dead.
"So now…" the Captain spoke up, returning to take a seat next to the table, but low enough along the man's body so Kazuya could still see his face. "You've proven to quite the tightlipped individual. Seeing as how you are quite well aware of how I normally do things when it comes to getting the information I want, I must admit, I am quite impressed in your mental fortitude when it comes to facing the inevitable. Wouldn't' you agree?"
Kazuya could see the look of absolute fear on the green scientist's face as he shivered uncontrollably. "I'm s… sorry Captain, b… but I c… can't tell you anyt… thing! After s… seeing what Aizen c… can do, I f… fear him m… more than I do y… you." Hiyosu informed.
Mayuri rose a brow, an interested smile on his face. "Oh? Now that is interesting. I wonder just what it is that Aizen is capable of to make you fear him more than myself. Tell me, just what was it that made you fear him so?"
Regardless of being held down, Hiyosu still managed to shake his head enough in fear of answering. "I'd r… rather be tortured b… by you than suffer by him!"
The Captain leaned back and scoffed. "Tsk, as if I would resort to such barbaric methods. If I wanted to torture you, I would have dumped you off on that worthless woman from Squad 2. No, I can easily acquire the information I seek at any time, as you are surely aware. But since you have proven to me many times in the past to be an acceptable underling, I thought you deserved the chance to come clean with the information before we had to resort to more… tedious procedures. But, I suppose it's no loss either way." The Captain then slid over in his chair, obscuring Kazuya's line of sight on the man, and picked up a small syringe from the table next to him, filled with a sickly yellowish substance. "So, shall we begin?" he asked with a maniacal grin.
Kazuya was forced to watch the whole thing, flinching in horror as the Captain pressed the needle into the man's cranium and pressing the plunger and expending the yellowish liquid inside.
Oddly, Hiyosu didn't scream or so much as flinch as the substance was forced into his body. Even more odd, was when the Captain was done with the syringe, he simply stood up and flexed his fingers, giving off audible popping noises.
"Now then, while we wait for that to take effect, let's get you all hooked up, shall we?" he said in a 'happy' tone.
The Captain stepped away from the table and walked over to another small rollaway table. This one had a small, computer-like device sitting on top with numerous wires and metal probes extending out the back.
"The drug I just administered to you is something I developed for an entirely different purpose, but, it should still suffice for our little project. I'm sure you are familiar with it; I gave this drug the designation TH-83225."
A gurgling noise suddenly came from Hiyosu, drawing Kazuya's attention to see the man flinching and fighting the straps on the table. Strangely, the man didn't seem to be fighting them in pain, and it didn't sound like he was choking, but rather he simply couldn't form the words somehow. Whatever the case, it was clear that the man knew exactly what the Captain was referring to.
The Captain raised his head to him and grinned. "Oh? Working already? As you must be aware, since you were one of the assistants who helped me develop it, I designed this drug to work on specific parts of the person's nervous system, cutting of everything except important life functions while still allowing the person to maintain consciousness. Afterall, infiltrating the brain and accessing the memory center can be such a hassle when the subject is fighting the probes, or even unconscious."
Kurotsuchi returned to his previous position and took a seat before inspecting each of the metal probes. "The drug was originally designed as a more 'effective' way of performing experiments on live subjects without causing traumatizing pain and putting the subject at risk during the procedures. But sadly, as we are both well aware, these effects are irreversible. Meaning that, while you will still retain a conscious, even still be capable of individual thought and feeling, once we are finished, you will be forever trapped in an unmoving, unfeeling, body. But then, I suppose it's a fitting punishment for turning on me and using my own creations against me. So then, let's see what has been on your mind these past few months, shall we?"
Kazuya's eyes were wide in absolute horror after hearing the Captain's disgustingly cruel treatment of the former scientist. But then again, the Captain did have a point; Hiyosu was well aware of the kind of treatment he would have likely faced from the Captain after turning against him, so he couldn't really feel 'that' sorry for him.
'But still… I guess there really is no line that insane bastard wouldn't cross to get what he wants. I need to get back to the Captain, and quick. Problem is, is how am I gonna get outta here without Kurotsuchi finding out?'
Turning back towards the door, he saw that it had a similar keypad as the one outside. Earlier, he was in a fortunate position to see the code the Captain had entered, so he knew what to press to get out. The problem was the door was in the Captain's line of sight if he turned around; which he was likely to do when he heard the door open.
Looking around the room, he noticed a small air ducted high above him. But that was also impossible without causing some noise, and how would he get up there when it was situated directly above the working Captain. So that was out of the question.
The office was in the center of the building, so windows couldn't be considered. So, really, the 'only' option he had was the office door. Meaning: he had to wait until the Captain was finished with Hiyosu and left himself before he could get away. However long that would take.
Realizing he was stuck for now, he looked closer for a more long-term hiding spot where he could still observe the Captain and gain any further useful information.
"I know you are there." The Captain spoke out, not looking away from his work.
Kazuya flinched and sank back further into the darkness. The Captain scoffed and turned enough in his chair to glance over his shoulder… directly at where Kazuya was hiding.
"Did you honestly think you could sneak in here, my personal office, without me knowing? Tsk. What kind of fool does your pathetic excuse of a Captain take me for? The nerve."
Knowing his cover was blown, Kazuya stood and stepped into the light. "How long were you aware I was here?" he questioned.
The Captain rolled his eyes and returned to his work. "'How long' indeed. Heh, I was aware the moment you found me in the primary lab reviewing research notes. I could have exposed you at any time; but truthfully, I decided it would be more beneficial to allow you to see the results of my hard work. That way, perhaps your Captain would mind her own damned business for a change and allow me to continue my work in peace."
The member eyed the suffering man on the table. "So, I assume he was the ringleader behind the traitors in your squad?" he inquired.
"Tsk, don't be ridiculous. Hiyosu is intelligent, but he is by no means a leader. He was only responsible for the breach in communications, as well as the occasional observation blackouts with the world of the living. No, someone else, who I am in the process of identifying, was responsible for coordinating everything. Once I find out who it is, provided it was not another one of my lackies, I'll be sure to pass the information along to your Captain."
Kazuya narrowed his eyes at the man, insulted that he had managed to detect him so quickly. "Did you have anything to do with those four squad members who suddenly found themselves to be behind an entire day, who also just so happened to be assigned to your Communications Department the same night?"
Kurotsuchi didn't stop working as he answered. "Hmm, I'm not exactly sure what you are implying. I simply 'acquired' their assistance for a particular matter; the results of which are lying on the table in front of me. Now, if you have no further questions…" He turned back around with an agitated glare. "I am a 'very' busy man, and have no time to entertain unintelligent buffoons such as yourself. So please see yourself out." He said with a dismissive wave.
Narrowing his eyes, Kazuya turned and walked calmly to the door, keeping a close eye on the Captain for any strange or sudden movements. Arriving at the keypad, he entered the code he observed earlier and almost relaxed when the door slid open.
He was about to step out when the Captain spoke up again. "Oh, and before I forget…" he called out, causing Kazuya to turn back to the Captain. "The next time I find you, or any of your 'friends' inside my personal spaces again, I won't be as accommodating. Good day."
He didn't dignify the man with an answer, choosing to simply leave while still had the chance.
It didn't take him long to go from one side of the Seireitei back to his squad on the other. It was still fairly early in the morning, but the first hints of dawn where starting to show themselves as the black sky glowed with a light purplish hue.
When he returned to the squad grounds, he could see that many of the squad members were already up and in the process of transitioning from night duties to day. He saw about a dozen or so of his own teammates from the Patrol Squad receiving instructions from another officer and nodded in affirmation when they all bowed to him in greeting.
Within minutes, he finally arrived at his intended location, the Captain's quarters. Unlike the rest of the squads, where the higher officers, to include the Captains, slept in the barracks with the rest of the squad, Captain Suí-Fēng's personal quarters were attached to her personal office, and was really nothing more than a small room with the basic necessities.
Kazuya came to a stop in front of the sliding door to the office and knocked. The woman was typically up and working by this time, but in the odd times she wasn't, it was still common knowledge to check first before entering and knocking on her bedroom door inside.
This must have been one of those odd days, as he received no answer after a short time. He took a deep breath and slowly pushed the door aside. Taking a peek just to be sure before upsetting his Captain, he made sure that the room was indeed empty.
This was where it started to get risky. Even though the protocol was to move on and knock directly on the door to the Captain's personal room next, with how furious she tended to be when disturbed from sleep, it was still highly avoided at all costs.
But the woman did tell him when she put him on this assignment to notify her immediately if he discovered anything, and what he witnessed back at Squad 12 was not exactly something that could wait either. He'd have to accept and take the risk.
Sliding the office door shut behind him, he moved across the office to the small door that led to Suí-Fēng's room and knocked. Only his highly trained hearing from years of service in the second squad allowed him to hear the faint sounds of the woman's footsteps as she approached the door.
The door slid open with a silent snap, revealing the short and petite Captain wearing a thick and slightly elaborate yukata, embroidered with the Fēng family's crest on the left side, over top her traditional sleep wear, and a highly annoyed look on her face.
She looked him over for a split second before 'some' of the annoyance fell from her face. "What is it?" she asked in a low and serious tone.
Kazuya gave her a respectful bow before anything. "Please, forgive the early disturbance, Captain; but I've just returned from observing Captain Kurotsuchi at Squad 12." He informed.
The woman rose a skeptical brow. "You found something already? Either luck was on our side for once, or Kurotsuchi has gotten careless."
Kazuya began sweating, fearing how she would take to what he was about to say. "Well… not exactly, Captain. It seems that, if anything, Captain Kurotsuchi has gotten more… observant."
Her brow dropped and she gained an angry look to replace her annoyed one. "What do you mean?" she questioned.
He bowed once more and held it in place. "Forgive me, Captain, but… it seems that Captain Kurotsuchi was aware of my presence ever since I started tailing him. I failed in keeping my presence a secret from him."
She growled in anger and gripped the edge of the sliding door tighter. "Where you at least able to learn anything?"
The man raised himself and nodded. "Yes ma'am. It seems Captain Kurotsuchi has been busy in trying to discover who was behind all the recent security breaches in his squad. Not only that, he managed to discover another of Aizen's agents, and this one surprised me."
Suí-Fēng rose her brow again in interest. "And who was it?"
"Hiyosu from the Communications Department, ma'am." He answered.
Her eyes widened a fraction in surprise. "That green toad? He was behind all of this?"
Kazuya shook his head. "I don't think so, ma'am. I was there when Captain Kurotsuchi was beginning his… I'm not really sure if interrogation would be the correct word, but, sparing you the… details… Hiyosu was not the person in charge behind the security breaches. Sadly, that was confirmed by Captain Kurotsuchi after he informed me he was aware I was there. The Captain went on to say that he had an idea who the person in charge was and was in the process on discovering his identity."
Suí-Fēng turned and delivered a light punch to the door frame in anger. "Damn him! I can't believe he somehow knew you were there all that time. He's mocking us! At least now we know that he's been snooping around in the Communications Department when he shouldn't have. The Head Captain with have his head for that." She said with a sneer.
Kazuya held a hand up slowly. "Captain, if I may make a suggestion?" he asked.
She turned back to him and nodded. "What is it?"
He lowered his hand and leaned closer to her. "When the Captain was… 'speaking' with Hiyosu, the man was adamant that he was more fearful of what Aizen would do to him than the Captain." He stated, getting a surprised look from her.
"He was more scared of Aizen than Kurotsuchi? Doesn't he know how twisted his own Captain can be?" she asked.
Kazuya nodded. "He was… reminded, but still refused to say anything. Either way, as much as we both hate to admit it, we can both agree that Captain Kurotsuchi will get what information he wants from him, regardless of his methods."
That earned a sigh and nod from the woman. "So what exactly is your suggestion, Sasaki?" she pressured.
He lowered his voice to ensure only she would hear. "Ma'am, I don't mean any disrespect, but I think we should back off on Captain Kurotsuchi."
She gave him an evil glare. "Explain."
The man swallowed thickly, picking his next words carefully. "Forgive me ma'am, but…" He paused, planning out his next words carefully.
"Just speak plainly, Sasaki, and get to your point!" she hissed, clearly upset at the man's suggestion.
"Forgive me. Ma'am, if Hiyosu was willing to suffer anything Captain Kurotsuchi could do to him to keep silent, I seriously doubt anything we could do would make him, or anyone else speak. I hate the fact I'm suggesting this, Captain, but I think it would be more beneficial to allow Captain Kurotsuchi a bit more room to work. I despise his methods just like you do, but with the kind of people we're dealing with, his methods may be the only thing that would work to get the information we seek."
Her brow rose again. "Say we do allow him more room to work, how do you suggest we get 'that' information from Kurotsuchi without him tampering it in some way?"
Kazuya leaned back and gave her a sly grin. "Like you said, Captain, he went against the Head Captain's orders to stay away from the Communications Department, even going so far to attack squad members to do so."
She gritted her teeth with a snarl. "So, he 'did' do something to those four!" she hissed.
The man sighed heavily shrugged. "I asked him about that, and dancing around the truth, he wouldn't openly admit it, but it's clear he was responsible for… whatever happened to them. But, going back to what I was saying, he openly disregarded the Head Captain's orders. That alone is more than enough to have his squad completely shut down. I think you should use that against him and force him to share anything he learns with you."
Suí-Fēng narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Are you suggesting we blackmail Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi?" she asked with a hint of repressed glee, her face twitching from trying to suppress a grin.
Kazuya's grin grew. "Of course not, Captain. I was only suggesting that we ask him to exchange information regarding some matters while offering to keep other information to ourselves. Nothing more. And, as a 'token of good faith', we'll allow him 'limited' access to the Communications Department for investigative reasons." He slyly corrected.
She held her chin in her hand for a moment, running the man's suggestion through her head. She had to admit that his idea 'would' work, but that meant that she would have to bend over and work 'with' the deranged Captain; something she was keen to avoid if at all possible.
But then again, Kazuya was also right in that anything Squad 2 could do to Hiyosu would pale in comparison to what Captain Kurotsuchi could do. And if the green scientist was willing to keep tightlipped under the threat of Mayuri Kurotsuchi, there was nothing that Squad 2 could do to break him.
At least not legally, that is.
As much as she hated to admit it, the man was getting results, and they were getting nowhere. And so, with a heavy and reluctant sigh, Captain Suí-Fēng was forced to swallow her pride and nod.
"Fine. We'll have a little chat with that bastard later, and see if we can come to some sort of arrangement. You've done well getting this much, so go on to your quarters and get some rest. But the stipulation still applies; speak of this to no one. I will come retrieve you when it is time to go speak with Captain Kurotsuchi." She instructed.
Kazuya bowed once more. "Thank you, ma'am. I'll await you summons."
She nodded and waved him away before closing the door to her room. She stood there in the darkness of her room, chin in hand, listening to the man leave her office and close the door behind him.
Her temper was reaching its boiling point faster and faster the more the thought of her working with Kurotsuchi flooded her mind. She needed to find some way to vent her anger before her temper boiled over and her quarters paid the price.
Problem was her usual target, a.k.a. her Lieutenant, was 'still' recovering from her last 'anger management session' with him, so that was out of the question. She could go to the world of the living and take out her frustrations on Kisuke Urahara, but then her former teacher would be very upset with her.
Captain Zaraki came to mind, but that idea was quickly shot down; she had no intention of getting in trouble for picking a fight with the oversized brute. The last option she had was a 'friendly' spar with her teacher, Yoruichi. But the problem with that was there was no telling where the woman was at any giving point. So, unless she magically appeared in the next few minutes, she was out of options.
"Damn it! Damn that bastard, Kurotsuchi! Can't believe I have to work with that man like this! Damn!" she seethed.
With no one else to turn to, she quickly got dressed into her Captain's garb and left the room to seek out her unfortunate Lieutenant.
So, not much happening, at least 'action-wise', in this chapter. Just a fight recovery with a bit of plot development involved. But don't worry; for those of you who are, by now, bored out of your minds with the 'tunnel arc' of this story, the tunnel portion ends in the next chapter, as the group 'finally' moves to rescue Orihime.
On the sidelines, we see Kurotsuchi is just as… sadistic… as we all remember him to be. I swear, coming up with a zanpakutō ability is hard, but trying to come up with a drug effect that Mayuri would use is… a nightmare. To be honest, that 'paralyzing' drug he used just… popped in my mind one night. He he.
Anyway, that's all for this chapter and I hope you all enjoyed. And, again, I apologize for the hiatus, or at least delayed, status the story is currently in. Please continue to be patient with me and I'll do everything I can to get this story finished as soon as possible for you all.
Laters.
