A/N: *points* Look, a new chapter!
Ichigo was grumpily strolling along the marketplace roads of Seireitei, finishing up the reminder of his standard-issued breakfast(two pieces of triangular rice cake, a spring roll and a cup of sweet energy drink). He could see the rustles of the day starting up in places: half-asleep shinigamis with brooms frantically sweeping the sides of the road; colorful vendors setting up their booths; stray cats being chased out of garbage cans. So different it was here. Karakura's mornings that he was used to were eerily quiet, taking out his father's daily display of idiocy out of the equation.
Two of the road-sweeping shinigamis stared at him apprehensively from a distance. Ichigo's stared back, scowl deepening. The two paled and looked away before turning around and scuffling off.
Of course his reputation as a ryoka who threw the entire of Seireitei into a state of disarray, substitute shinigami who drew all of the captains out of Soul Society and current seated officer with unknown official power had receded him. Among many thoughts that came to him, one of them was that at least no one would dare to give him crap about the color of his hair.
When he had woken up in the morning, there were no trace of the wariness from the day before. Sky outside the living room window was full with pastel colors, sun starting to brighten up the day. He had a feeling that he had lost something important during the night, but didn't bother figuring out what since he had Zangetsu and nothing he could tell was missing from his traveling pack.
He had found a thick, tattered, grimy book the size of his school textbook at the foot of the front door. Lying on top of it was a small note that read 'Use it well. If you ruin it, you pay hell.' He didn't recognize the seemingly hurried, spiky scrawl it was written in; it was on the other side of the spectrum from the large cursive '15' on the note before. Kladias's this time? Kind of sounded like her.
Turning his attention back to the book, he saw the title: 'Seireitei: Detailed Guideline to Life as a Shinigami'. Nope, he didn't want to read it already.
He tossed the note on top of the dresser nearby and carried the book back to the couch, where he sat down and laid the book down onto the table in front. He opened the book halfway and started skimming through the tiny, crammed printing.
Half a minute later, he jumped up and threw the book down onto the floor with far more force than necessary, where it landed with a heavy thud. Was this a joke? Who needed to be taught with painstaking detail on how to open doors to senior officers' offices as not to interrupt the said officers inside? Or what to say in the case he was caught taking a nap while on duty? Or - heavens forbid - how to use the bathroom, female and male section of the facility both? Not him, that's for sure. Detailed Guideline. It was unnerving how literal the title of the book was.
'Well, she said to use it well, not to read through it all,' he thought to himself as he got up, secured Zangetsu to its place on his back and stepped out the front door.
Returning to the present - Ichigo was lost. He had walked past the length of the marketplace and entered the more desolate roads that seemed to lead to the Gotei 13 barracks. Fifteen minutes later, he hadn't bumped into a single person ever nor could he locate any familiar reiatsus anywhere near. It was if there was a thick barrier between him and his ability to sense. His heart dropped a little - was he that terrible when it came to sensing reiatsu in non-battle situations?
Endless starch-white walls on the either side of the road freaking him out slightly now, Ichigo was ready to double back to the marketplace when he saw two figures appear out of a corner fifty feet in front of him. He recognized the bigger one immediately - how could he not? - as Kenpachi. Ichigo shivered as Kenpachi locked eyes with him, a satisfied grin that had been gracing his sharp, demonic features widening.
To his surprise, he recognized the figure next to Kenpachi to be Kladias, who appeared to be muttering curses and flailing her arms trying to bat giggling Yachiru off of her head and shoulders. Yachiru was having great fun thoroughly one-upping Kladias, using shunpo to disappear and reappear just in time to dodge and tease the hands trying to grab hold of her.
Spotting Ichigo, Yachiru threw her hands up in the air, letting out a loud, painfully high-pitched "ICHIIIIIIIIIIII-BERRY!"
Before Ichigo had the time to tell her to shut up for the sake of his eardrums, Kladias saw her chance and took it; she stopped walking, and fastest he have seen her yet, her arm bolted up to grab Yachiru's ankle, lifted it up and threw the kid cartwheeling above the side wall in a whirl of black, pink and an even higher pitched squeal.
The second Yachiru's squeal faded, Kladias let out a loud shriek, annoyance apparent. Eyes closed, she ran a hand through the loose strands of her hair and sighed. Reopening her eyes, she caught both Kenpachi and Ichigo staring at her blankly and snapped,
"That thing's a pest!"
Kenpachi let out a bark of laughter, "Too bad she'll be back."
Right on the cue, Yachiru landed on Kladias's shoulders - one leg on each side - with a soft rustle of fabric. Kladias's arms shot up, but this time, Yachiru caught them midair.
She chirped, "Aw, com'on, Dia-chan! I won't move, I promise!" with that, Yachiru let go of the arms, looked upside down onto Kladias's scowling face and stuck her pinkie out in front of her face, obviously offering a pinkie promise.
Kladias scoffed, shook her head back so that Yachiru was forced to straighten up, and stuck both her hands into the pocket of her hakama. Yachiru squabbled about unfinished pinkie-promise but wrapped her arms around Kladias's head and rested her chin on it, and did stay still. So did Kladias.
Kenpachi looked mildly amused throughout the whole thing. Ichigo found it half horrifying and... funny, fine. Managing to keep his face straight, he found his voice,
"So, what have you two been up to?" he immediately hoped that he didn't sound probing or demanding.
Kladias opened her mouth, but it was Yachiru who giggled, "Sucking up!"
"Hey kid, I prefer to call it winning him over." Kladias glared up and growled.
Ooookay, that could mean a lot of things. He noticed the bandage wrapped around the full length of Kladias's neck and he blurted out,
"What happened to your neck?"
"He," Kladias jerked her chin towards Kenpachi, "happened."
She didn't, she possibly couldn't have... Ichigo felt his eyes widen and before he could stop, he blurted out yet again, "A hickey?"
The reactions were instantaneous: Kladias's dark eyebrows shot up, her dark red eyes wide, mouth bared her teeth and then let out a batch barking laughter, her shoulders shaking. Yachiru squealed when she almost fell off. Kenpachi's grin disappeared from his face, replaced by a grim look, and his steely gray eyes got to boring a permanent hole in Ichigo's own two eyes. All while a crimson blush consumed Ichigo's face whole.
Uh-oh.
Kladias had stopped laughing. She turned her head to take a look at Kenpachi. A grin formed on her face. Then she turned towards Ichigo(in all his scarlet glory), and the grin transformed into a full-face, ear-to-ear display of pearly white teeth.
"His sword happened, Kurosaki. I didn't to sleep with him to win him over. And I completely forgot that you're a hormonal teenager." she ended that with a widen of her already impossibly wide grin.
Oh. Ichigo cursed his face to turn back to normal. He covered, "Well, you should've made it clear. Implications were crystal."
Kladias mused, "Of course. Because it just has to happen everytime."
Ichigo scowled at her - was she being sarcastic, or was there truth to that? He still didn't know how Seireitei functioned...
Still feeling the death-glare boring into him(what was wrong with him? Ichigo made an honest, mistake!), Ichigo turned to Kenpachi with an apologetic grin on his face, his hands raised in front of him in sign of defeat,
"I... am sorry?" Lame, but true.
Shit, he was not, not looking for another fight with Zaraki Kenpachi. Last one nearly offed him.
Silence. Still an unwavering glare.
"AWWWWWW, you made Kenny mad, Ichi!" With that, Yachiru hopped over from Kladias's to Kenpachi's shoulder, earning herself the death-glare from him and returning it with a bright, happy smile.
To Ichigo's horror, Kladias chuckled and punched Kenpachi on the shoulder none too gently, "Loosen up, comrade. Grow a sense of humor."
"Che," Kenpachi finally closed his eyes and jerked his chin up, looking up to the sky. The reiatsu around him remained unchanged.
"Good. Then we'll get going, Later, Kenpachi!" with that, Kladias turned her head towards Ichigo.
Ichigo let out a surprised yelp as Kladias suddenly grabbed him by the front scruff of his shihakusho, running while dragging him backwards.
"The hell was that?" Ichigo exclaimed when Kladias finally let him down some minutes later.
Kladias started walking, gestured for him to follow, and then gave an answer, "One more second and he would've been ready to swing his damn sword. Again." she sighed, and resumed, "Mind you, I like fighting, but it kind of tires me out after 12 straight hours."
Catching up to Kladias, Ichigo repeated, uncertain if he'd heard that right, "12 straight hours you fought with him? What the hell for?"
"Fun." Kladias flashed him a grin.
Shaking his head in defeat, Ichigo mumbled, "You guys are unbelievable."
Face becoming serious, Kladias spoke, "Besides, I got him to agree to support the formation of the training division. Not too bad for 12 hour's work." She stretched her arms up to the sky.
Ichigo turned his attention to his surroundings - deserted roads again, unremarkable walls that he could easily get lost. Again.
Something occurred to him, "Wait a second - what support for the formation of training division?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Shitloads happened yesterday." Kladias groaned, and then continued,
"Idiots at the Central 46 are backtracking. They were freaking out because they found that there were some skipped measures when they signed the waver that agreed on the formation of the training division. The last time it was formed - some three centuries ago - it brewed up one hell of a fight among all other 13 divisions that led to a mass destruction. Only yesterday some undersecretary uncovered that piece of information.
"So, they don't want another fight, or at least want to cover up their own asses in the case one breaks out. I have to have official, written support from all 13 divisions' captains in order to let the show begin."
It made sense, Ichigo thought. Disclaimers were what organization lived by in material world too. "So what happens if you don't get the written support?"
Kladias snarked, "According to the protocol, the formation of the division is prohibited. I plan to argue a change in that."
Ichigo pondered and asked, "And you're the one who's starting up all the business with the training division?"
"Yup."
"Why? It's a mess."
Kladias answered with a grim face, "Seireitei needs it."
Ichigo was puzzled. It was all great and noble that she wanted to improve the standards of Seireitei's shinigamis. But why? She hadn't been here for any major wars, if she's been around for only a year. As far as he new, she didn't witness any of the unnerving events that shaped Seireitei into what it was now.
Pushing heavy thoughts out of his head, he grinned and mused, "Or you just like being called a captain; how would you be addressed as the ultimate apex of the power without forming a brand new division yourself?"
Kladias glared at Ichigo, growled, and rubbed an eye with her hand, "Nope, but it reminds me of one more thing - our titles may change pretty soon."
Ichigo wasn't expecting that, "How come?"
"Kuchiki wouldn't quit whining about it." obvious dislike when she said the name out loud.
Ichigo was pretty sure it wasn't Rukia, but asked anyway, "Which one?"
"The one with a stick stuck straight up his ass. Kept quoting one historical document after another until Captain-Commander waved him off with an agreement."
Yup, that'd be Kuchiki Byakuya for you. Despite the changes past two years brought to him, he and the protocols were still close friends.
"Then what'll be the new titles be?" Ichigo hoped for something good...
Kladias grinned, possibly relieving a good memory, "Well, I challenged Kuchiki to come up with the new titles. So he mustered up what I think was all the creativity he had in him and made a suggestion."
Bad feeling. "Anything good?"
"Guess."
"Tell me already!" Ichigo snapped, anxious to know.
"Trainer Kurozachs, Assistant Trainer Kurosaki. Trainer. It would've been funny if he hadn't been completely serious about that." Kladias chuckled.
Ichigo groaned. Not only it was the least creative title one could think of for... well, the training division, he would sound like he was assisting in training damn Pokemons for real.
"Tell me that didn't happen." Seriously.
"It did," seeing the horrified look on Ichigo's face, Kladias held up a hand, "hold on a sec. It happened, but the titles didn't pass. Good thing Commander General had a thing for eloquence.
"Colonel Kurozachs, Lieutenant-Colonel Kurosaki. How'd you like that?" Kladias grinned at him.
"Hell lot better than 'Trainer'." Relief.
Kladias chuckled and for a second, Ichigo saw a soft, genuine smile on her face - not a face-splitting grin nor all-teeth predatory one.
As if something had occurred to her, Kladias held up her right hand in front of her, palm facing up. Twitch of her fingers, and the hand held what seemed to be a large pocket watch composed of bright blue flames. Another twitch of the fingers, the watch disappeared.
"8 o'clock already? Lieutenant-Colonel, we're on a tight schedule." She broke into a run.
"What schedule?" Ichigo grumbled as he fell into his pace beside her.
"Paperwork's an unforgiving bitch, and you're about to fall to her wrong side." Kladias transitioned into a series of shunpos.
So, couple stuff. I don't hate Byakuya! Actually, he's one of my favorite characters. Nor I think he's that uncreative, but seeing his artistic abilities... ehh. Sort of fits. I needed someone with obsession with protocols.
And I obviously made up the titles Colonel and the Lieutenant-Colonel.
Bye 'till the next chapter!
