To be a member of the Second Division is to listen to every order given to you by your superior. To be a member of the infamous Onmitsukido, the boogeymen that adults in the Rukongai will tell the kids to scare them to go to their beds at night, is to erase your presence and sense of self. You are nothing but a tool for the Gotei 13. You are expected to throw away your own life if need be.

Omaeda Marechiyo knows he is a coward. He knows he is a cowardly, loud, vain, elitist, snobbish, greedy, and even a sluggish person. He shows off his family's wealth and status at every available opportunity. He knows he is arrogant and he is not the brightest tool in the shed, but he accepted his own shortcomings with pride. Yes, he has his flaws. So what? He still managed to earn the rank of a Vice-Captain with his own power, didn't he?

He also knows for a fact that he is absolutely loyal to Soul Society and to his Captain, Captain Sui-Feng. If she orders him to die on a suicide mission to ensure its successful completion, he will do it without a second thought. Yes, such actions are viewed as dark and morbid even by Shinigami standards, but this is the way of the Second Division. It is not a place for the weak hearted.

Still, he wished his Captain didn't just send him out on this shit job.

Assess the Kuchiki princess's abilities. If you find her satisfactory, find a way to recruit her into the Second Division. You have one day to finish this assignment.

Even simply speaking Kuchiki Kurui's name gives him a massive headache. Her weirdness is widely known among the Shinigami populace and her boldness is something that belongs to the legends. He doesn't know how, but the story of how she infiltrated the First Division barracks to borrow the Captain Commander's tea set (is she even sane at this point?) had somehow twisted to her trying to… assassinate the aged warrior? Because he accidentally killed her pet cat when he accidentally sneezed and the cat caught fire? And then it somehow turns into the Captain Commander adopting her as his surrogate granddaughter because… flying monkeys eat pudding?

What even?

The stupidity of his fellow Shinigamis really left him speechless at times.

There is a good reason why his Captain sent him out on this mission. The Captain Commander had once asked the Kuchiki princess to secretly test the security of every division by infiltrating it and come back with proof of her successful infiltration. It was a personal job handed to her by their leader and it was a successful attempt on her part.

He could still remember the day when the aged Captain suddenly called the entire squad of Captains and Vice-Captains of the Gotei 13 for an urgent meeting. He showed them stuffs ranging from, and not limited to, Captain Sui-Feng's lingerie, Captain Ichimaru's personal stash of dried persimmons, Captain Unohana's favourite book, Captain Aizen's spare glasses, Captain Kuchiki's favourite scarf that he never allowed Kurui to touch, Captain Komamura's spare helmet, Captain Kyoraku's very expensive pinwheel hairpins, Captain Tousen's journal which he documents his secret recipes, Captain Isshin's very descriptive pornography novels, Captain Zaraki's spare eyepatch, Captain Kurotsuchi's bottle of face paint, and Captain Ukitake's favourite bottle of sake.

Needless to say, the Captains were either furious, appalled, amused, or embarrassed at the items on display during the meeting when the Captain Commander took them out from a rucksack one by one like items on auction. Also, every single one of them were chewed out by their enraged Captain Commander for being so lax in their division's security that a mere girl can literally stroll into their barracks and paint graffiti on the walls of their barracks to mock them. The girl even took video footages (from wherever she found a video camera from, Omaeda has no idea) as proof that showed how she walked inside each of their Captain's rooms and took her own sweet time to choose what to steal. Her cheerful commentary throughout the entire video isn't helping with their Captain Commander's already volatile temper during the entire duration of the 'memorable' meeting.

Some of the Captains laughed the incident off. Others like Captain Kurotsuchi and his own Captain aren't so forgiving or lenient, but the Captain Commander is on Kurui's side so none of them can do anything about the infuriating Kuchiki. However, that doesn't stop them from literally implementing a 'kill-on-sight' order if Kurui was spotted wandering around their barracks. Kurui had taken that as a challenge the moment she knew about it. The result?

The Second Division is now painted in a bright neon orange within a single night. How she managed to paint the entire division without anyone knowing or catching her in the act is anyone's guess. And if you are wondering about the Captain Commander's reaction to her actions? Do you even need to ask?

Captain Sui-Feng was given a good tongue-lashing by the Captain Commander in front of her entire division for being so lax on her men. It was a humiliating experience for someone as prideful as her.

Despite the amount of hate his Captain have for the annoying midget, she is a Captain who can see the bigger picture and the larger scheme of things, something that Omaeda can respect. Kuchiki Kurui is good at what she does. To be able to slip past the entire division's senses undetected to do something as outrageous as repainting the entire division shows that she has some mad skills in the stealth department. Captain Sui-Feng doesn't like Kuchiki Kurui all that much as a person, but she values Kurui as a fellow Shinigami.

Kurui will flourish if she is in the Second Division and personally taught by his Captain. Kurui being a member of the Seventh Division is a huge waste of her talent. She can do so much more in the Second Division.

Hence, the mission he was given.

It still doesn't make it any easier for Omaeda, because how on earth will he go about recruiting that irritating weirdo into their division?! How is he supposed to convince her?! It's not like he can use his family's wealth and influence to aid him to coerce her because Kurui is a Kuchiki. Her family's status and wealth put even his to shame. Her brother, the Captain of the Sixth Division, is also notoriously protective of Kurui. Anyone who shows even a hint of hostility towards her can expect to be on the receiving end of the terrifying sakura petals within the next 24 hours. It got to the point that 'Raining Sakura' is actually a legitimate term used in their weather forecast department. Ridiculous, right?

Thus, the only way to safely go about recruiting Kuchiki Kurui is for her to willingly transfer herself to his division. He needs to convince her that the Second Division is better than any other divisions out there. But how?

After an entire sleepless night of planning and contemplating on how he is going to go about to complete this impossible mission, he decided that he needs to first gather some reliable intel on his target. Covert ops is what the Second Division is best at anyway.

And so, like a true member of the Onmitsukido, Omaeda commenced his mission.


He is already outside Kuchiki Kurui's bunk even before the crack of dawn. Sneaking past the Seventh Division's guards is no problem to a Vice-Captain like him. He needs to find if there is a set pattern to her daily activities, find out her likes and dislikes, what makes her tick and what she avoids. Only then can he start to formulate a proper argument to convince her to join his division.

From where he is hidden behind the dense foliage of leaves at the top of the tree and spying through the open window of her bunk, he can see Kuchiki Kurui sleeping peacefully without a care in the world covered by a blanket. Omaeda can't stop the twitching of his mouth. Even in sleep this damn Kuchiki seems to be mocking at his plight. Look at how carefree she is as compared to him, freezing up in the treetops thanks to the cold morning breeze while she is snuggled comfortably in that warm blanket of hers.

For someone who is renown for her laziness in doing her work, she sure wakes up surprisingly early.

She caught his attention when she squirmed a little in bed before giving a lazy stretch similar to those of a cat the moment she woke up from dreamland minutes later. He focused his gaze as the Kuchiki princess sat up on her bed with a yawn, the blanket slowly dropping off her. Omaeda's gaze lingered on her chest area when he saw that she is only wearing a loose robe on her person that is nearly slipping off her shoulders, showing off a lot more skin that she will not usually display. Just a little more and…

GAH! FOCUS, OMAEDA MARECHIYO! NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE OGLING AT GIRLS!

In his disappointment (although he will never admit it when asked), Kurui pulled her robes back up just right before it fell off her shoulders. She disappeared from view when she jumped off her bed to do her morning routine. Fifteen minutes later, the properly dressed Shinigami exited her bunk in her Shinigami uniform with her zanpakuto slung across her back. Omaeda followed after her a set distance away, out of sight and out of her detection range, just like what is expected from a member from the Second Division.

Unexpectedly, the first place she headed to even before she had her breakfast is the Eleventh Division.

From where Omaeda secretly perched himself on the roof of the Eleventh Division's barracks, he can see with perfect clarity what the little Kuchiki did the moment she entered the Eleventh Division barracks like it is her own home.

"YUMI-CHAN! MADA-CHANNNNNN! WAKE UPPPPPPPPPP! RISE AND SHINE COS IT'S REMATCH TIME!"

Her hollering could have woken up the entire division and he wouldn't be surprised.

A loud war cry that sounded more animal than human was her only reply when a figure with shining bald head appeared in a burst of speed and proceeded to hack at her with his own zanpakuto.

"About damn time, Kurui!"

"Nyeh~ Come catch me if you can Saitama-chan!"

After childishly making a face at the Third Seat of the Eleventh Division, the Third Seat of the Seventh Division began a dance of swords with the battle crazed Madarame Ikkaku. More and more of the Shinigamis from the Eleventh Division began to pour out from their bunks and crowd around the courtyard where Ikkaku and Kurui are having their violent spar, cheering them on with uncouth hoots and shouts.

"Stop running away like a fucking coward! Be a man and face me!"

"In case the lack of hair somehow killed your brain cells, I am a woman you stupid one punch man!"

"What the hell is one punch man?!"

"Someone who becomes a hero just for fun! All you need to do to get there is to complete 100 daily push-ups, sit-ups, squats, plus 10km of daily running and bam! You become a Saitama!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

Whatever Omaeda was expecting, he wasn't expecting Kurui to be this good in combat. Sure, he knows she must have some nifty combat skills to get herself promoted to Third Seat, but he wasn't expecting to be Ikkaku's equal in a fight.

"Oh, hiya Captain Zaraki!"

The Captain with the most intimidating presence bar the Captain Commander himself gave a grunt as his only reply to Kurui as he watched with sleepy interest at the fight unfolding in front of him.

"Go Rui-chan! Kick Mada-chan's ass!"

Vice-Captain Kusajishi's encouragement got Kurui to increase the pace of the battle with a smirk on her face.

"Watch it, Mada-chan! Lo and behold! Here I come!"

Omaeda watched in awe as Kurui did something that he only saw his Captain had done before.

Many illusionary copies of Kurui formed as they surround Madarame Ikkaku in the centre. This version of high-speed movement using Shunpo is not easy to attain. How did this midget learn to do this?!

"Parlour tricks won't fucking work on me, Kurui!"

"We will see about that, one punch man! Prepare for trouble, and make it double! To protect the world from-"

The chorus of replies from the clones was the signal for Ikkaku to try and decimate the clones with a powerful swing of his sword, cutting Kurui's dramatic words off prematurely. The battle hungry idiots on the ground may not be able to see it but from Omaeda's vantage point, he can see that the real copy is right behind Ikkaku, in a squatting position with the tip of her sword's sheath pointing at the unknowing bald-headed warrior as she held it with both hands, her own zanpakuto stabbed into the ground since its wielder's hands are now occupied with something else.

The ominous look on Kurui's face together with the sinister glint in her eyes gives even Omaeda the chill. The evil smirk she sports makes him want to turn around and hightail out of here. What is she planning to do? Some super-secret Kuchiki clan technique?!

"Kuchiki Clan Secret Taijutsu Technique!" Kurui shouted out as she shot forward towards Ikkaku with speed too fast for even Omaeda to see clearly. The tip of her sword's sheath found its mark when she jabbed it at the centre of Ikkaku's ass in a forceful manner at the place where the sun doesn't shine.

"ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH!"

WHAT IN THE EVER-LOVING HELL?! AN ASS POKE?!

The birds in the surrounding area scattered frightfully when Ikkaku's painful scream resonated across the entire Eleventh Division. Everyone who were witnessing the fight all clenched their buttocks unconsciously with their hands protecting said area. Ikkaku flew into the air from the painful thrust to his anus, his propelled flight is very much like those of a cannonball and to Omaeda's growing horror, is flying straight to him.

Need to run need to run need to run-

At that unfortunate moment, as if some unseen force is interfering with him, Omaeda somehow slipped on his feet. He can only watch as the unavoidable missile known as Madarame Ikkaku slammed into him with his bald head and tears of pain streaming down his face.

What a way to start off his mission.


Thankfully, Ikkaku was rendered unconscious immediately after that traumatising ass poke, so the Third Seat of the Eleventh Division didn't know he collided into Omaeda. Omaeda's cover isn't blown yet.

Omeada gave a sincere silent prayer to the fallen Shinigami before he made his leave to continue his spying on Kurui. No one should have gone through something as traumatising as that. That was something that even Omaeda won't wish on his most hateful enemies.

When he finally located Kurui again, the teenage girl had already changed location and is moving towards another area. From the looks of it, she is heading to the Thirteenth Division. The sun had rose by now. More and more Shinigamis are now up and about doing their daily activities, making it harder for him to remain stealthy.

Still, that would not pose a problem to someone of his skill level. He is the Vice-Captain of the Second Division, no matter how un-stealthy he looks.

"Good morning Captain Ukitake!"

Upon spotting Kurui, Captain Ukitake waved a welcoming hello to her as well.

"Kurui-chan!"

The little Kuchiki hopped over to the Captain of the Thirteenth Division like a bunny as she allowed the sickly Captain to pet her on the head.

"I was just about to have breakfast, would you like to join?"

"Yay! Free food!"


Omaeda is miserable. Absolutely miserable. He had never felt more miserable in his life.

About thirty meters away from his target, Omaeda is hiding his presence by skilfully masking it with the secret techniques only passed down to the higher echelons of the Second Division. Techniques that can hide his presence even from Captains. Meanwhile, he is sorrowfully munching his cold rice ball in small reluctant bites. The bland taste in the sorry excuse for food he is eating isn't helping with his appetite. If it wasn't for the fact that his stomach was growling so loudly that he has to find a way to stop it from making a symphony, he wouldn't want to even touch this distasteful rice ball.

In stark contrast, approximately thirty meters away from him, his target and Captain Ukitake are enjoying a steaming, piping-hot meal complete with his favourite snack.

Fried Rice Crackers.

Not just any fried rice crackers too, but the one that is sold in the store three blocks away from the Ninth Division barracks. It is so popular that all the fried rice crackers are sold out within two hours after the store's opening every single day. Even he has trouble trying to get his hands on some of those mouth-watering rice crackers.

Oblivious to his internal crisis, the white-haired Captain and the black-haired princess ate their meals with a content expression on their faces. As if rubbing salt on his already aggravated wound, the Kuchiki munched on her rice crackers in a loud and obnoxious manner, occasionally giving out content 'mmmpphhs' and 'ahhhhs' at the heavenly taste. If he didn't know any better, he might have thought that the infuriating girl is doing this on purpose.

WHY?! WHY IS HE UNDERGOING THIS TORTURE! THIS IS SO TORMENTING!

"Slow down, Kurui." The Captain chuckled upon seeing how the girl of noble birth ate without any sense of manners or decorum. "No one is here to snatch your food away from you."

'If only you knew, Captain.' Omaeda thought with bitterness as he watched as the small plate filled with rice crackers diminishing at an alarming rate. It is taking all of Omaeda's willpower not to go out right now to rob the plate filled with the legendary fried rice crackers, his mission be damned. 'If only you knew.'

"But Captain~~" Kurui gave a childish whine. "These rice crackers are to die for!"

At least that is one thing he and Kurui can agree on. Leave some for him, please! Even crumbs will do!

"Well, if you really love them that much." Captain Ukitake took out five packets from his robes and passed it to the delighted Kuchiki. "I do have a few packets with me, eat them at your own leisure."

NOOOOOO! These are the special edition fried rice crackers that are only sold once a month! AND CAPTAIN UKITAKE HAS FIVE PACKETS OF THOSE?!

"Woohoo! Watch me finish them all, Captain!"

Omaeda turned around, closed his eyes, and forcefully close his ears shut with his palms the moment he heard the tempting crunching sounds. He held back the tears threatening to spill out of his eyes as he imagined the rice crackers disappearing into Kurui's mouth as she ate it in that obnoxious manner of hers.

Crunch, crunch, crunch

"This is really good, Captain! You sure you don't want some?"

GAHH! DAMN THAT MIDGET! STOP MUNCHING SO LOUDLY! WHO EVEN MAKES SUCH A HUGE RACKET WHEN EATING FRIED RICE CRACKERS ANYWAY?!


As Omaeda sneakily followed Kurui out of the Thirteenth Division's barracks after her breakfast with the sickly Captain, he mentally summarised what he had learnt so far about his target.

1) Kurui is execeptionally skilled in combat, 2) Never let her get to your back if you want to protect your backside, 3) She is on good terms with the people in the Eleventh and Thirteenth Divisions, including the Captains.

Ignoring the fact that all of his intel on Kuchiki Kurui seems close to useless at first glance, his information about her also shows that this is overall bad news for him. His chances of persuading her to transfer over to the Second Division seems slimmer now.

"Shuhei!"

Kuchiki slapped a tall man on his back from behind in the crowded street they are at, prompting the Shinigami to turn around.

"Kurui!"

Is that her friend? He seems familiar. Oh, he is from the Ninth Division, right? The up and coming rising star of his Division?

"Come on, let's go say hi to Aoga and Kanisawa!"

"Wai-"

The poor bloke wasn't given time to reply before he was forcefully whisked away by the energetic ball of energy. Where is she heading to this time?


"-And this complication is why healing Kido cannot heal wounds of this kind. To get around this issue, you need to-"

Omaeda is trying his best to stay awake and not nod off from the sheer boredom he is experiencing. He is trying his best, really. He swears on his family name and his honour that he is really trying to complete the mission given to him by his Captain to the best of his ability.

Unfortunately for him, Captain Unohana is also known for giving long boring lectures when it comes to the subject of healing. Her long lectures are known to put even the most awake of Shinigamis to sleep. There is a saying in the rumour mill that if anyone ever suffers from a case of insomnia, then attending Captain Unohana's lectures might actually help.

This is so boring.

Right now, his target, together with her friend Shuhei, are attending a lecture on healing Kido personally conducted by the Captain of the Fourth Division, Unohana Retsu. Another two Shinigamis who went by the name Kanisawa and Aoga are with them as well. Apparently these two are also friends of his target and Shuhei. The latter two joined the Fourth Division after their graduation from the Academy.

It has been a long, agonising three hours of lecture thus far and the only people still awake in the lecture (discounting him since he is still in stealth mode) are the four that he mentioned earlier, who are still listening attentively to whatever Captain Unohana is spewing from her mouth. Even then, the self-proclaimed vigilant and always alert Omaeda cannot stop the uncontrollable nodding of his head as he fought the uphill war with his current nemesis in the form of sleepiness.

At least he now knows that his target has an interest in healing Kido. Another thing to note down in his mental list.

"-And this concludes the lecture on healing Kido-"

Omaeda did a mental cheer and a happy little dance in his head upon hearing these words. FINALLY!

"-And we will now move on to how to heal wounds without Kido-"

As quickly as his mood had rose, it plummeted just as fast. Is giving up on this mission an option? Is it worth it to get himself skinned alive by his Captain for purposely failing this mission given to him?

"YAY! More things to learn!"

If only he can share his target's enthusiasm in this subject.

"You should visit my Division more often if you have such a keen interest in healing, Kurui." Captain Unohana spoke in a motherly tone in Kurui's direction before her voice descended into an ominous dark one as she directed her next sentence to the rest of the class.

"At least you and your friends listened my lecture right till the very end, unlike CERTAIN PEOPLE who dozed off halfway into my class."

As if on cue, the rest of the class who were sleeping the entire time all jumped up on their seats with their backs ramrod straight, now fully awake.

No kidding, even Omaeda himself is now fully awake after that terrifying display and he isn't even right there in the classroom itself.

"Right, since now I have everyone's undivided attention." Captain Unohana's facial expression immediately went back to her usual gentle visage. Any traces of her scary demeanour had mysteriously vanished. "We will now move on to-"

Omaeda gave a frustrated sigh in the confines of his mind. There it goes again. Of all days Kurui had to go for Captain Unohana's lessons, why must it be today?!


"CAPTAIN SHIBA!"

"KURUI-CHAN!"

"CAPTAIN SHIBA!"

"KURUI-CHAN!"

Omaeda watched with his mouth opened in disbelief as his target and Captain Shiba Isshin, the Captain of the Tenth Division, stand about ten meters in front of Kuchiki Kurui with his arms spread wiiiiiideeeee open in a 'come-to-me' gesture. Kurui is doing the exact same thing. The two of them are just shouting each other's name loudly in front of the Tenth Division's barracks in that same gesture. Even now, he cannot bring himself to believe that he is seeing what he is seeing from where he is hiding himself.

"CAPTAIN SHIBA!"

"KURUI-CHAN!"

"CAPTAIN SHIBA!"

"KURUI-CHAN!"

Would you believe him if he said that these two idiots have been going at it for the last half an hour? Judging by how no one is coming out to stop them and how no one is giving them even a passing glance as they walked by, Omaeda surmised that this is a common occurrence for the Tenth Division by now.

Correction, there is still one person that is still unaccustomed to this madness.

"Oh for crying out loud!" A white-haired boy that is even shorter than Kurui stormed out of the Tenth Division's barracks, marching in fury towards his Captain who is standing opposite Kurui right outside the barracks in a comical manner. "Would the both of you just SHUT UP?! There are people trying to do their own work here!"

"CAPTAIN SHIBA!"

"KURUI-CHAN!"

As if breaking a spell, Hitsugaya Toshiro's words got the two idiots to sprint towards each other in slow motion with tears pouring down the sides of their faces. And why the hell are they sparkling as they run?

"CAPTAIN SHIBA!"

"KURUI-CHAN!"

Omaeda was temporarily blinded by an unknown source of light when the pair hugged each other and wailed like new-borns. Wait. Why is there an image of the sunset at the beach at the background? Where did the beach come from? What sorcery is this?!

"Captain Shiba! Shiro-kun is so unyouthful! This cannot be allowed to continue!" Kurui said in a dramatic fashion as she wailed at the 'loss of youth' in Toshiro, whose head is now held low with the shadow of his bangs covering his eyes, blocking anyone's view of them. However, there is an unmistakable shaking of his small frame.

"You are right, Kurui-chan!" Captain Shiba said his words just as loud as he clenched a fist while looking up at the sky towards the blazing sun, his tears somehow still flowing rapidly that could have filled buckets. "We need to make Shiro-kun youthful again!"

"It's Hitsugaya-san to you, Kuchiki." Hitsugaya Toshiro hissed out as the temperature around him starts to drop, his own fists clenched in both annoyance and anger.

"Awww, Shiro-kun is still so shy!" Kurui cooed out in that annoying voice of hers as it went up at least an octave higher. "And I thought we were friends, Shiro-kun! Fellow geniuses have to stick with each other!"

"Do NOT call me by THAT."

"Captain~~~" Kurui whined as she faced Captain Shiba with flailing arms as she flapped it animatedly. "Shiro-kun isn't cute and youthful at all! Wahh~~"

"I must have made a mistake in raising him somehow!" Captain Shiba replied just as comically. "Yosh! As of now, we will both accompany Toshiro whenever he walks around the Seireitei and we will walk with our hands-"

"-while wearing a green spandex jumpsuit."

"-while wearing a green spandex jumpsuit." Captain Shiba added upon Kurui's helpful reminder. "And if we are not able to complete it, we will do another extra ten rounds-"

"SIT UPON THE FROZEN HEAVENS, HYORINMARU!"

"EEEK! Get the ice off my hair! This is most unyouthful, Shiro-kun!"

"DON'T. CALL. ME. THAT!"


"Captain Commander!"

"Third Seat Kuchiki." The aged leader gave a subtle nod in her direction the moment she entered his office through the opened window. "I see that you have successfully infiltrated my Division's barracks once again."

"Captain~~ There is a creep following me the entire day! The ENTIRE day!" Kurui spread her arms wide out in a semi-circle arc to further emphasise her point. "I need help!"

Yamamoto merely gave an amused chuckle. If Kurui really wants to lose her tail, she could have done it at any time she wished. She is just here because she thought that it would be more fun to drag him into this. Of course he sensed Vice-Captain Omaeda trailing after the girl long before she reached here, the girl he took to viewing as his granddaughter. The dense Vice-Captain of the Second Division had wisely stayed outside his Division's barracks, not daring to take a step inside.

"-I know he was watching me sleep even before the sun rose! Can you believe it?! I was barely dressed too! Who knows what else the creep might have seen-"

Yamamoto can feel his anger slowly simmering at the thought. Omaeda had dared to what?!

His anger was temporarily appeased when a stroke of genius struck him. He is the Captain Commander and him personally punishing Omaeda would be overkill. There are things that he avoids doing due to his status. However, if the person doing the punishing is someone who is an overprotective older brother and has a serious case of sister complex…

"-And what if I am unable to get myself married in the future because I was peeped on?! I might need to commit seppuku to prove to others that I am an upright maiden and not a dirty whore-"

And Yamamoto cannot bring himself to pity the poor fool for incurring his wrath no matter how much he tried. That buffoon got what he deserved for even daring to peep on Kurui, even it is more likely that Sui-Feng had sent her clumsy subordinate to spy on the young Kuchiki for whatever reasons. Most likely to recruit Kurui after her wonderful performance in troubleshooting the security problems among his divisions.

Yup, that person is a more suitable candidate to dish out whatever punishment he deems fit on Omaeda. For now, he will just appease the dramatic girl with her favourite mochi snacks.


"Report."

Omaeda got down to a single knee at the command of his Captain. His hair, whatever little is left on his head, is messy and his clothes are dishevelled. There is even a thin layer ice clinging onto his uniform.

"After following the target for an entire day, I found out that she has personal connections to at least half of the Captains in the Seireitei. She is strong enough to defeat Third Seat Madarame with her sword's sheath in a single strike from the back. She is also very close to Captain Ukitake judging from how he gave her the rarest fried rice crackers-"

"I SAID REPORT ONLY THE USEFUL THINGS, OMAEDA! I have enough of your stupid rice crackers!"

"R-Right." Omaeda shivered on the spot as he starts to sweat profusely from the increase of Reiatsu his Captain is leaking. "T-Target is also keen on learning healing Kido, as can be seen from how she attended six hours worth of lectures conducted by Captain Unohana on the subject. T-Target is also able to fight off Third Seat Hitsugaya before making her escape and subsequently infiltrated the First Division's barracks. I wasn't able to follow her in b-because…w-well…i-it's the First Division and the Captain Commander-"

"Save it." Sui-Feng bristled. "I shouldn't have expected you to find out anything useful."

"C-Captain? If I may add?"

"Speak."

"I-I don't think the target is a good addition to our division due to her personality."

His Captain seemed to ponder upon his words as she frowned in thought. At least she values his input.

"Is that your honest opinion?"

"Yes."

"Fine. Then we will give up on trying to convince her to join us. For now."

Omaeda let out a sigh of relief the moment he was dismissed. It's over.

It's finally over and he can now go back to his sweet, comfy bed and knock himself out until tomorrow comes.


"Vice-Captain Omaeda Marechiyo."

Omaeda turned around to see who had called out for him in the middle of the street. He tried his best to not let his face turn white upon spotting him.

Kuchiki Byakuya

"G-Good morning, Captain Kuchiki!" Omaeda tried his best to not squeal in fear as the wielder of the sakura petals of doom approached him. "How may I help you?"

"I had heard from the Captain Commander that you are a very diligent person." The Captain spoke in a cold monotonous tone. "To the extent that you are willing to get your intel on your target at whatever costs necessary."

"I-It's the way of my Division, sir." Omaeda squeaked out. Did Kuchiki Byakuya find out about what he did yesterday? That couldn't be, right?

"Usually, I don't care who and what you spy on." Byakuya growled out as his Reiatsu suddenly blasted out in a suffocating manner, dropping Omaeda onto his knees. "But you do know the consequences of spying on my sister, don't you?"

"I-I-"

Just at that moment, the broadcast system installed in the Seireitei sounded out.

"Attention all souls, today's weather forecast is 'Raining Sakura'. All unrelated personnel are advised to find shelter and stay there until the storm has passed. This announcement is brought to you by the Seireitei's Weather Forecast Department. Attention all souls,-"

No wonder there aren't anyone walking about today. He should have checked the damn weather forecast before he exited his house this morning.

"I hope you are prepared to die, Omaeda Marechiyo."

"W-Wait! I can explain!" Omaeda exclaimed as he fought through the suffocating pressure to even speak and held his in front of him in a placating manner.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

And for the entire duration that Omaeda Marechiyo is screaming like a pig on slaughter and running for dear life, he missed a certain raven-haired girl gleefully snapping pictures with a camera while cackling out loud and recording the entire thing on video at the same time. It was only a month later when he was finally allowed to get himself discharged from the medical facility in the Fourth Division did he get wind that Kurui had known right from the very start that he was watching her.

He had been played like a fiddle the entire time.

It was from then on that 'Kuruiphobia' became the new legitimate phobia in the Fourth Division's medical books, at least for the case of Omaeda. Word has it that wherever direction the girl comes from, Omaeda will slip out in the opposite way. Word also has it that the poor guy will scream in fright every single time he spotted a sakura flower or even see anything remotely pink in colour. Captain Kyoraku was saddened at the fact since he cannot wear his favourite haori in Omaeda's presence lest it accidentally drives him insane. When Captain Unohana was interviewed for her thoughts on this matter, she only stated that Omaeda was lucky to have faced Byakuya instead of her. The Shinigami Women's Association were defending Kurui's and Byakuya's actions with righteous fury, citing the fact that it is wrong for Omaeda to even peep on Kurui in the first place.

Throughout it all, Omaeda bear the brunt of the reactions in stride, not disclosing the truth of his peeping that is in actuality a spying mission given to him by his Captain since it must be kept secret. Such is the way of the Onmitsukido. To do the unappreciated dirty work of Seireitei even at the cost of your reputation. The mission always comes first.

"O~mae~da~"

Omaeda ran for dear life the moment he heard Kurui hunting for him like a cat does to a rat. He called out to the one other person that knows the full truth, the person that can save him from the demon known as Kuchiki Kurui. Kurui is bad news for him. Things had never gone well for him whenever she is involved.

Thus, ignoring his carefully maintained image that he had painstakingly carved for himself for centuries, he called for help in a very undignified manner that is unbefitting of his status. His survival is the most important thing after all. The rest doesn't matter as long as he is save from Kurui's evil claws.

"CAPTAIN SUI-FENG! SAVE MEEEEE!"