Chapter 2 - When the Mission is given

Seireitei

12th Division Barracks

"Phew...that was too close." the child shinigami sighed. He was resting at his own room, or at least, he claims it is. The other shinigami of the 12th division decided not to argue with that, besides, he has some authority even though he's just a child, and he's even younger than the 10th captain, Hitsugaya Toushiro. Lying on the bed, the purple haired kid gazed at the sky from his window, and wondered about the events that happened that day.

"That man...could see Shinigami? I thought Captain said that humans can't see us..." his questions were interrupted by a girl walking in. She was quite small and had black hair with slightly parted bangs and is pulled back into a long braid. She wore a black kimono and a white sash around her waist like him except she had a sort of armband on her left sleeve, with the sign '12' in kanji. She also wore a dark red chocker around her neck, but the kid didn't really know why she wore it. "How was your day at the Human World Hiko?" the girl asked him with her green eyes gleaming like she anticipated it was exciting.

"Okay...I guess." he sat up from his position. The way he said it damped the girl's spirits a bit, though everyone thinks that she holds no such emotion anyway. "You know Nemu, I met a human who could see shinigami!" he beamed. "Does that mean he's a special kind of human?" Hiko asked. The girl said stayed silent, which was pretty normal for Hiko and the rest of the 12th division. Finally, after thinking about how to explain, she spoke. "A small amount of humans may have higher spiritual energy than regular humans Hiko, the most basic ability they have if they do possess it is that they can see and interact with spiritual beings, mainly us Shinigami, Hollows and other souls..." Nemu saw that Hiko was just staring at her. "Hiko are you listening?"

"H-huh..? Oh um...yeah." he stuttered. "Few humans can see and touch us, got it." he simply stated.

"...you weren't listening at all weren't you?" the boy just smiled sheepishly. Suddenly, a black butterfly, or better known as the Hell Butterfly, entered the room from the window, landing on Hiko's finger. The little butterfly began to move slightly on his finger, relaying the message to the kid shinigami.

"What does it say?" Nemu asked.

"Something about the captain wanting to see us." the Hell Butterfly flew away after that.

"Captain? What is it about?"

"Dunno. But he wants us there right now so we better hurry." Nemu nodded and they both ran out of the room.

Seireitei

Shinigami Research and Development Institute

"Captain Kurotsuchi, Shimizu and Lieutenant Kurotsuchi have arrived." a shinigami reported to his captain. The two went inside the large room. It was filled with different colored chemicals and all kinds of machinery Hiko couldn't recognize at all, probably for experiments that the captain loves to operate on.

"Captain..." Nemu was about to ask when Hiko cut in. "Captain, what's up?" he said with his usual innocent and energetic voice. The captain had white and black make-up all over his face and body. He wore a large, white hat and had a long robe as well. His golden brown eyes seemed to take a glimpse at the two shinigami before returning to what he was working on, which probably is some kind of new invention to help the Soul Society.

"So...why did you call us captain?" Hiko asked again. All of a sudden he spoke in his usual tone, which honestly scared Hiko a bit. The kid shinigami never really got used to his tone, though Nemu did.

"You have been assigned to an area somewhere in the United States..."

"Um...somewhere? Where exactly?"

"Los Angeles."

"Eh?" he had confusion written all over his face.

"It's a city in that country Hiko." Nemu answered the confused boy.

"Never heard of it." she didn't show it, but she gave a small, faint smile at him.

"How about California?" Hiko shook his head.

"You don't need to know where you are headed. Just make sure you don't die. I still need to examine you after you come back from your assignment." the captain commanded.

"Yes sir!" Hiko made a salute and was about to go out of the room until he realized one thing. "Captain, how long am I going to stay there?" he paused before he answered him.

"Three months."

"That long..?" Captain Kurotsuchi didn't reply, which would be a yes. "...okay. I'll get ready."

"You leave in an hour." then that was the last thing he heard from him, because after that, Hiko and Nemu were escorted out of the room.

Seireitei

12th Division Barracks

Entrance

"'Kay I'm done!" he was carrying a light backpack with a bunch of healing items and emergency food in it.

"Are you sure that's all you're going to bring Hiko..?" Nemu asked.

"Yup! It'll be fine! I won't die, the captain told me so!" he flashed a big smile at her.

"Promise..?" only then Hiko noticed how long three months is going to be. He isn't going back to Soul Society for a while...

"Of course." then with a Hell Butterfly on his shoulder, he raised his sword and opened the Senkaimon, a gate used to travel between the human world and the Soul Society. Hiko walked in and turned before the gate closed.

"See ya Nemu!" he called while waving his hand.

"Good luck Hiko..." Nemu replied, and then the doors closed shut.