Chapter 10 Fundoshi Raid
The following Monday Renji made it into the office, feeling the events of the previous Friday far behind him. He walked into the sixth squad administrative buildings with his new clean gi. A lower ranking Shinigami, assigned as a secretary to the officers of the sixth squad told Renji that the captain wanted to see him.
Renji thought nothing of it and went directly to Kuchiki's office. Renji went in and Kuchiki was seated at his desk. The captain put down his pen and told Renji "Come stand here." He motioned to the area in front of his desk. "I have something to discuss with you."
Renji knew what this meant and suddenly knew he was in trouble. "Yes, sir!" Renji marched up to the desk and stood at attention.
Kuchiki sat back in his chair and waited a moment, considering his words carefully. "Over the weekend I had some time to think. I believe that Touichi-san has reached a level of sophistication in her education and you are no longer to keep tabs on her."
Renji was a little disappointed, but he understood. "Yes, sir!" Renji noted his captain was still angry. His grey eyes were cold as steel. "…Uh…sir?"
Captain Kuchiki then said "Does this upset you?"
'Why is he so stern?' "No, sir." Renji could feel Kuchiki's eyes running up and down him, searching for something,but what he couldn't tell.
"In addition, I also think you may have become too involved."
"Captain? What do you mean?" asked Renji out of turn.
"The incident on Friday opened my eyes to the inappropriateness of your connection with the students."
"They're in their last year, captain!" Renji was responding out of surprise, but yet, not disrespectfully. "They're practically—"
"They are students, Renji." Kuchiki did not raise his voice, nor seem to express any anger. He was stating a fact that was very clear to Renji.
"Yes sir" he said not arguing.
"This means you may not fraternize with them. I may have been the reason you crossed the line, so I will turn a blind eye towards recent events. Any further interaction with Touichi-san, those girls, or the young men who are always following her will not be tolerated."
'Following her?' "Yes, sir!"
"I am glad we are clear. You are dismissed, Vice Captain" said Kuchiki as he picked up his pen again.
Renji turned around and was about to leave when he said over his shoulder to his captain. "Sir, if you think you're the only person interested in Touchi-san's talents, you are wrong. Other captains have taken notice of what benefits there would be of having her in their squad." Then he left.
As he walked down the hallway towards his destination Renji's mind began to wander. 'I wonder what squad Touichi-san will choose. She's damned powerful, that girl. Atsumi's no weakling either, but it's more her will than anything. Pigtails is quiet and a bit mousey. She's stronger than when she started, but she never did answer me about what squad she was hoping for.'
Renji stopped when he reached the door to his own office, a room he spent little time in and opened the door. 'They're good kids.' Renji thought of his late friends from Rukongai and what fun he had with them back in the days of his childhood. He compared those feelings with the ones he felt when he was with this group of students. Then he felt a bit of an ache realizing these 'kids' had become his friends, and he one of theirs. He entered his office and turned on the lights.
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Captain Kuchiki sat at his desk in a boiling rage. Of course, his face did not show it and he continued on with his work as if nothing had irked him. He thought about Renji's words'…if you think you're the only person interested in Touchi-san's talents, you are wrong…' Kuchiki broke the tip of his pen off and a pool of ink began to ruin the document he was working on. He barely noticed.
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Tashi, Atsumi, and Eri all slept peacefully in their respective beds. Atsumi slept, snoring loudly on the top bunk. Her bare leg hanging off the side dangling down. Eri slept beneath Atsumi, curled in a ball. As the produce of years of training, Tashi was disciplined, even in her sleep. Tashi slept in the separate bed, on her back with her hands clasped over the blanket. As Eri stretched one of her legs out and Atsumi snorted and mumbled something in her sleep a dark figure appeared in their window.
The dark figure stealthily opened the window and entered the room. It was a young man on a mission.
Eri thought she felt something strange going on and her eyes slowly opened. At first she wasn't quite sure what was happening, but knew that the black clad figure standing in front of her dresser didn't belong there. By the time Eri sat up and screamed the figure was long gone, having stolen a pair of Eri's panties. Her favorites. The white bikini's with the yellow cherries.
When Eri screamed Atsumi bolted upright immediately slamming her forehead on the celing. "Oh, SHIT! Damned ceiling, WHAT THE HELL, ERI?"
Atsumi slid off the side of the bunk and jumped down then joined Eri who was crying next to the window and Tashi who was looking out the window, searching the yard for the thief. When Tashi looked back at Atsumi she said "That was weird. I've never heard of cat burglars taking a pair of underwear before."
Atsumi was grumpy and her head hurt. She climbed back up to her bunk and crawled back under her blanket. "It was a panty raid doofus! Shit, don't they teach you nothin' with all those fancy tutors you had?" she grumbled and quickly fell asleep again. "I'll think 'a something to get them back…"
Tashi comforted Eri and the girls made sure the windows and doors were all locked before they fell asleep again.
The next afternoon…
"You want WHAT?!" screeched Tahsi in the cafeteria.
"I want to do a jockstrap raid, to get those bastards back fro stealing Eri's underwear" said Atsumi, casually as she settled into her seat. "And you're going to help me."
What…I can't do that!" said Tashi.
"Oh yes you can and you will" ordred Atsumi.
"I've taken enough risks with you lately. I can't do this. I just…I just can't." Tashi seemed exhausted, but it didn't stop Atsumi from telling her she was helping.
"Now that you know, you have to help" said Atsumi as she crunched her apple. "Don't worry" she said with a full mouth "It's all mapped out. I just need someone else who's good at hiding their reiatsu and stuff. We'll go tonight."
"Not tonight!" protested Tashi "It's a school night."
"Fine, tomorrow night then" said Atsumi.
"So what's the plan?" asked Tashi, quietly.
"I told you, we're going to sneak in and take their fundoshi's and sneak out. Easy enough."
Tashi looked at her dumbfounded. "You must be kidding. There's got to be more to this than that."
"Well I figured since you and I can hide our reiatsu's pretty well that'd be enough of a plan" shrugged.
Tashi said "No, we need a plan. I'll think one up. You have a map? I don't know the male student's barracks all that well."
"Yep. Its' at the house. We'll go over it tonight" whispered Atsumi as she saw Eri approach. "This is going to be the perfect cri e!"
"No crime is perfect! It's just crime!" whispered Tashi, irritated that she'd once again gotten pulled into trouble because of Atsumi.
Eri came back to the table, unaware of what was being planned in her honor.
Eri put her tray down and looked at her tray then sighed. She saw something out of the corner of her eye and saw Tetsuo. "Why, Eri" she whispered again "It's your boy over there, looking for somewhere to sit."
Eri waved him down and Tetsuo joined them. "Whatcha whispering about?" he whispered.
Eri leaned in and whispered "Do either of you have an extra dollar? I picked up a crunchy peanut butter instead of a creamy peanut butter sandwich."
Tashi handed Eri a dollar and said to Tetsuo "We're talking about girl things."
"Oh?" said Tetsuo intrigued. "I like girl things. Whatcha chattin' about? Some boy?" he teased.
"Shut up, jerk" said Atsumi.
Tashi told Tetsuo "What she meant to say was that there are some things that are to be kept between ladies."
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Tashi shrouded her reiatsu and quietly entered the barrack. She found a long dark quiet hallway. 'There's like, no where for me to hide if someone yells out!'
Atsumi entered behind her, and Tashi was unaware until Atsumi put her hand on Tashi's shoulder. Tashi and Atsumi then went to work, splitting up and each taking to different rooms while the guys slept soundly. Then Tashi entered a room and nearly screamed when she saw who was lying in it. With the underwear safely, if a bit to her own disgust, tucked away in her gi. She collected herself and met Atsumi in the hallway. "Out Now!" she mouthed. Atsumi stuffed a fundoshi in her sleeve and then they moved out into the alley. "This is not the students barracks Atsumi!" whispered Tshi.
"Huh?"
"That map of yours was wrong!"
Tashi then held up one a pair of boxers she had taken in lieu of a fundoshi. It had flying toasters on it. The two of them gawked. Atsumi and Tashi flash stepped to their house and their bedroom. Eri sat biting her nails and soon found a fundoshi on her head.
She turned and saw the two of them. Atsumi was jumping excitedly yelping "We'll be LEGENDS!"
Tashi sat and dropped her head to the desk with a thud. "This is it. This is THE end for me, it really really is."
Atsumi explained where they had gone and Eri was floored that her two friends would have a fundoshi raid as revenge. She was flattered, but concerned. She didn't see why Tashi was so upset. Eri ignored Atsumi's hopping and cheering and she asked Tashi "Did you get caught?" Don't tell me they caught you!"
"No…no…that's not it…" mumbled Tashi, her words muffled by the desk.
Atsumi belly flopped onto the bed and whispered "It was not the students barracks! We took Vice Captain undies!" and waved Renji's boxers like a flag.
"Yes, Tashi, I think you're right. Didn't you guys say that Abarai had weird underclothing with strange machines on it?" asked Tashi, examining Atsumi's flag.
Tashi sat up and swiped the boxers out of Atsumi's hands. "Yes. They're Abarai's. It was his room…He snores loudly."
The girls laughed and Tashi sat down on the bed next to Atsumi who was stretched out on her back. "We have to hide all these smelly things" said Tashi.
Atsumi and Tashi then began to unload the fundoshi's from their clothing onto the floor.
"Holy…crap…guys" said Eri. There was quite a large pile of fundoshi's on the floor. The sun was rising and the girls decided to wash them, dry them, fold them and hide them under the floor boards of their bedroom untilt hey figured out what to do with them.