Ok sorry this is taking so long! I'm truly sorry I just couldn't think of what to do next! I'll try to get as much as I can written to make up for the wait Chitsukee and hopefully a long chapter will help. I'm going to try to give everyone a place in this chapter! As always RnR!
Chapter 8...Little Bit of Everything.
Unohana went into the room set up for Kato the girl from 6th. The girl's fever had increased over the night she'd been kept and it hadn't gone down in over a week. It was a strange illness, one that none of the medicines she tried helped. It wasn't like she could just heal it away with kido. Not something like a common illness. She was glad Shinigami didn't get sick very often. It would make her feel useless and she'd probably end up going back to how she used to be. She gave the girl her usual slew of fever reducers and cough suppressants, the only thing helping the poor girl. Then she left. She wrote a letter to 12th, requesting Kurotsuchi to come up with a better formula of medication, and sent it out. She leaned her head into her hands, sighing. She shuts her eyes, trying to think of how to help the poor girl. Suddenly, her door flies open. It had been a more common occurance for the 11th Captain to storm in, now that Ikkaku's bankai had been revealed. Especially this week. She'd seen that Ikkaku had been admitted for severe injuries that morning so she shouldn't have been surprised that Kenpachi would show up. But strangely she was. She stood, then saw his blood soaked clothing. Kenpachi's Lieutenant leapt over his shoulder and rushed over to Unohana. "Kenny said he was dizzy to I made him come. I'm going to go back to the squad now, just patch him up and send him home ok?" the little pink haired girl said sweetly.
"Of course Yachiru," Unohana replied. She immediately made him sit once the pinkette had left. She checked his wounds and began the healing. She called out the door for orange juice, steak, and a slice of whatever cake the division was serving that day to be sent to her office. Kenpachi just looked bored as Unohana's healing hands drifted over his chest and back. The food arrives and the 4th Captain demands that he eat it all. So that the sugars and proteins would build up more blood cells. She wasn't worried about life threatening blood loss, if it had been that bad she would have had to go to him. Still, she had made sure his wounds had closed up thoroughly. He'd rip them open the next day if she hadn't. Drained, she dropped into her chair. "I know you don't want to hear it, but you need to take it easy. Your body isn't able to keep up with the blood loss. If necessary, take a day away from the division." she said. Kenpachi scoffed.
"What would I do if I wasn't fighting?" he asked. Unohana smiled kindly. She remembered the time when she'd shared the same thought.
"Take Yachiru out to where you found her. I'm sure she'd like to be reminded about how she met you. Its been so long for both of you. Since either of you went back to where you came from. Don't tell me anything about sentimental crap. Just do it. It will be good for you." Kenpachi stood, towering over her by almost a foot. He examined her expression, and something changed just slightly in his. He left quickly after. Sadly, Unohana realized he may soon remember her. And that would be the end for one for one of them.
Soi Fon stared down at the paperwork on her desk. There was a letter of complaint from her 7th seat. He disliked that she'd allowed a hybrid among them, a former Espada especially. The letter wasn't the only trouble she'd had in the past week. Some of the lower ranked members had blatantly disregarded everything to do with Grimmjow. To be honest, it was time to step in, but for all of the disrespect, taunts and name-calling being done, Grimmjow was holding up well. Crumpling the letter in her hand, she walks to the training grounds where she had Grimmjow running the drills for the day, covering for her ill 3rd seat.
She hears a commotion, some yelling and the telltale sound of a weapon being drawn. Not uncommon for drills training, but it made her quicken her pace. She arrives just in time to see one of her squad (the 7th seat whose letter she still held) swinging at the new Lieutenant. She flashes over, latching onto the 7th's arm just as Grimmjow had. Releasing her grip, she holds up the letter for all to see. "I don't believe any of you have been trained to behave this way. Perhaps I should just cast out the lot of you and start all over with my squad. None of you act like you belong here anyways. What are you children? Jeagerjacks is a part of the squad now. A Lieutenant. And you will do well to listen to and obey his orders. Next whiner will receive a transfer notice. That's all." she says. She steps away from the group of training Shinigami and flashes into a tree to continue observing. After a while when there is a break in the drills, Grimmjow joins her. She scowls at him.
"I can handle whatever they throw at me Bee," he tells her. "But thanks for your concern." Grimmjow throws her one of his signature grins and Soi Fon narrows her eyes.
"My concern is not for you but for the disobedience of my squad. I do not allow my division to behave in this manner and they will surely regret it if they continue," she replies. Grimmjow laughs at her and drapes an arm over her shoulder which Soi Fon immediately flings off. "You'd do well to do the same Lieutenant. I don't except unruly behavior from my Lieutenant either. Or sexual harassment." with that said, Soi Fon drops from the tree and walks back to her office.
Kyouraku was in his bed sleeping off a hangover. It was a good one. He'd woken at daylight and had to cover the window quickly before the light gave him a migraine. Then he'd crawled under the covers and gone back to sleep. But some crazy persistent person was banging on the door...banging on the inside of his head, and urging him to 'open the door' and 'come be a captain for once'. With a sigh, Kyouraku tells the person to come in. The person being his uptight Lieutenant. Groaning in disdain, Nanao walks over to his bedside and begins to shake him. "Wake up Captain! I don't care how drunk you got last night that is no excuse to sleep all day!" she says in his ear. Kyouraku groans and flips an arm over Nanao, rolling and effectively shutting her up and he pulled her into bed beside him.
"Be quiet Nanao, my head hurts," he tells her, at the same time, he smiles. Her face reddens and she begins sputtering.
"But Captain we have lots of work today and no matter what I'm not doing your paperwork again so you must come to the office!" Nanao says, hoping to get him to let go of her. Kyouraku shakes his head slightly and grips her with both arms. She begins to push and shove trying to get away. "Captain this is indecent!"
"Nah but I like holding you Nanao!" Kyouraku scolds. "And haven't you heard of a day off? Something both of us were supposed to have a long time ago? Too bad for you we are taking one now, the 3rd seat can handle it for the day. You go tell him that, and that's an order Nanao. Then you come back here and we will talk about what we are going to do with our free time," he says. Nanao glares at him but leaves the room to carry out his orders. Grinning happily for getting rid of Nanao's nagging for the moment, he returns to sleep.
Rangiku sat at her desk sighing loudly. Captain Hitsuguya was just sitting there watching her. Making sure she did her paperwork. Her thoughts drifted to Gin, who she was supposed to be meeting at this time. Rangiku pouts and rushes through a few pages before checking the clock. 10 minutes late. She grips the pen in her hand tightly, snapping it. "Oh no! I broke my pen, I have to run to the supply closet to get more!" she gasps, and flashes out of the room. She could hear Toshiro yelling at her from the office, but she keeps running til she stood next to Gin, chest heaving. The silver haired Captain just laughs.
"Wha' did he have ya doin'?" he asks her. They start walking to the place they were going out to eat at. Rangiku pauses to kick a rock that just lay there on the ground. She hesitated to answer so that could only mean one thing. "He was makin' ya do ya paperwork wasn' he?" Gin asks. Rangiku nods. Gin laughs. "I'll jus' have ta send ya back early then," he finished. He couldn't help but notice the near pout on Rangiku's face. They arrive at a small out of the way restaurant. They enter and Rangiku looks confused. "I swear its the best aroun' here." They are shown to seats and place their orders. Gin reaches his hand across the table and lays it on hers. She smiles at him and he returns it with one of his real smiles.
Coyote Stark was having one of those rare days where he was able to stay awake. And he was bored. Lilinette was no where to be seen, which was unusual. Had she told him at some point she was going somewhere? He walks around their Division and feels around for her reiatsu. And was appalled to find it quite some distance away. Sighing he realizes she was out at 9th again. Turning away, he searches out the reiatsu of Tia. He sonidos over to her side to see her training with Apache. He waits for them to take a break and walks over to them. "Hi," he greets them. Tia's eyes meet his and he can tell the strain it was causing her to have her other two former fraccion away from her. They walk side by side towards a shady spot by the tree. The day must be swelteringly hot to the water oriented former 3rd Espada. They sit and there was still silence. It was comfortable for them though, and a common occurrence. "Lili's out at 9th again." Stark says.
"She told me before she left. She's been hanging out with the Lieutenant there. Although she told me that she would be meeting select members of the division today. Testing the waters to making you two additions to 9th. The lieutenant had heard Grimmjow was having some trouble over there, and wanted to make sure it wouldn't happen there. Of course Orihime says it will still be a while before any more of us are sent about." Tia says. Stark just nods.
"And what about you? Have you given any thought to where you are going to go?" Tia shakes her head. "Maybe you could come to 9th. Be third seat. Then we'd both have our numbers back." they both chuckle at that.
Neliel was in the cafeteria feasting on some sweet things, something that had staid over from her days as a small child. She hears the scraping of a few chairs, and glances up to see a couple of the hybrids leaving. Because at that moment, in walked Nnoitra. He grabbed something off of the buffet table, likely a steak or something with meat, and glanced around. With hardly a moments hesitation, he heads in her direction. He pulls out the chair across from hers and sits in it, his long legs stretching out on either sides of hers. Nel nearly leaves, but forces herself to stay. Sometimes being around him made the crack in her mask ache. This was one of those days. "Bitch," Nnoitra said by way of greeting. Nel just nodded at him. She watches him dig into his steak with disgust. He was like an animal. She zones him out as he says something demeaning or cruel.
"You know, if we go by school children rules, it would mean you have quite the crush on me," she tells him. He pauses, then looks up at her and glares. She cuts him off before he can reply. "Is that what you are? A child?" she asks, and stands. The pain in her mask was too much to bear now. She rushes away, and goes to her room.
Lilinette was nervous for the first time since arriving at 9th that day. She didn't feel like she was ready to meet the division, even just a few of them. Its not that the shinigami she'd met so far were unfriendly, but just that none of them had had to really look at her as a potential squad member. Shuuhei smiled at her just a little, before opening the door and calling in the few individuals he'd decided to have meet her. He introduced her and told them about both her and Stark. About the roles he'd decided to have them fill. Her being an unseated officer was something she'd expected, due to her abilities. Or lack thereof. But what she hadn't expected was welcoming smiles of the few she'd been introduced to. She tried to smile back and be plenty nice. One asked where Stark was. "Probably sleeping," Lilinette said with a scowl and it made the others laugh. Which sort of sealed the deal with them. They all invited her to go hang out and have a drink or two which she refused. Shuuhei waved them out of the room after a bit he kicked back in his chair at his desk, and Lilinette stood there not knowing what to do. "I'm gonna head back to Stark," she says, stepping towards the door. Shuuhei flashed over to her.
"I'll at least walk to you the edge of my district," he said. So he walks with her to the edge of 9th. They didn't talk, which was awkward, but neither knew what to say. Lili was actually a little embarrassed by Shuuhei's offer. But she hadn't wanted to refuse. They paused at the edge, and Lili smiled at him. She waves, and then dashes off.
Orihime was cleaning up her desk for the evening, so that she could start the morning with a clear space. She walks over to Ulquiorra's desk. He was just waiting for her to finish, something he'd done every night lately. "So Ulquiorra-san, have you given any thought to where you are going to go when 14th is gone?" She asks as he stands up. He glances at her, most likely decided if it was a question that he had to answer.
"With you of course Onna," was all he said. Orihime looked stunned. His answer had kept her quiet all the way until they had reached the door of her room.
"But what about staying here with the others? This is your home now. You don't have to follow me anywhere. I'm just going back to Karakura town. If its my safety you are worried about, Ichigo is there, and Chad and Tatsuki and Uryu." she says smiling. "And what about 5th? They need a Captain, and I thought you'd be doing that. Because you're the strongest." she finished. Ulquiorra shook his head no at her deciding not to answer. Because saying that he didn't feel she was safe unless she was with him sounded like he cared about the woman. And because saying that he didn't care to be responsible for an entire division of people, including one destroyed lieutenant, wasn't like him. "Goodnight Ulquiorra-san," Orihime said. He had to stop himself from saying goodnight back.
Rukia walks through the halls of 6th. It was late evening and her brother had yet to return to the manor. So with a large basket of the still warm remainder of what the servants had made for dinner, Rukia had returned to the Seireitei and to her brother's division. She knocks on the door to his office and is nonchalantly bade to enter. She does and sets the basket before her brother. He merely glances inside, pulls out one wrapped parcel of food and waves her and the basket away. "I won't be too long. Have the servants light the lamps in my garden for when I return." Byakuya tells her. Rukia nods. She begins to leave, then decides to take the left overs to Renji. The servants would only throw them away might as well feed her friend.
She knocks on the door to his room and it slides open softly. Renji was staring at her in surprise wearing his only his hakama. Not only that but his hair was down and dripping. He must have just gotten out of the shower. Rukia's eyes travel over Renji's chest and abdomen before jumping back to his face. Embarrassed, Rukia shoves the basket against Renji's chest. "Hear eat this. I figured you didn't have anything good to eat. You probably can't even cook," she said, using her most annoying tone and smirk.
"I can probably cook better than you. Or at least even draw better," Renji said, grabbing her arm and pulling her inside. He sets the basket on the table and walks to his dresser, pulling out a shirt to wear over his hakama. Rukia opens the basket and starts putting away the contents in a small refridgerator. She scoops up the empty basket and backs towards the door.
"I should probably leave," she says, "I have to give the servants nii-sama's orders." she says sliding open the door. Renji's face falls into a hurt expression for just a second. Then he smiles, and grabs Rukia, hugging her. Then he waves good bye. Rukia hurries through the districts and then to the Kuchiki manor. When she's safely in her room after ordering around the servants for Byakuya's sake, she sighs. She hated when Renji gave her that look. It made her feel bad. But it didn't matter that she liked him. Because she could never be with him to protect him from nii-sama.
Soi Fon stood out alone in the wooded area outside. She crouched down before a small grave. She'd fought his family to have him buried there, in the Seireitei away from his family, but she'd argued that he'd died in the line of duty and therefore his body belonged to them. It wasn't accurate, but it made for convenient, not obvious visits. She didn't want her squad to think her sentimental. She had in her hand a bag of potato chips, his favorite, which she ground into dust in the bag. Then she emptied the contents over his burial site. She knew his body wasn't actually still there, that it had turned to the reishi that made up the Seireitei, but it made her feel better. Maybe if she'd been paying just a bit more attention, he wouldn't have died. She could never get that out of her head. She picked up the bundle of flowers leaning up against the small cross, and sat them inside the chip bag. It wasn't the most elegant way to have the flowers there, but it gave the grave a little bit of his personality. She glanced at the top of the cross, where his badge had been tied. Sighing, she took it, intending to finally give it to Grimmjow.
Sorry it took me so long again! I've been working a ton of hours this week and then I also had to think of what I wanted to write.
Also, I wanted to let you guys know how I imagine the Seireitei to be laid out. In the center, there is Division 1. There is also the Soukyouku Hill. Around 1, is 2. Then there is the heavily wooded area where Soi Fon fought Yoroichi (Rescue Rukia Arc). That is also where the Hive is hidden. Then there is the space around the center and divisions (as seen just before Ichigo fought Renji in the Rescue Rukia arc.) and then there is third and so on. So the way I have it is that the divisions are rings. It's kind of awkward, but it kind of makes sense to me with the Seireitei being in a round shape (shown by the illustration of how the gang was going to use the flower cannon to enter the Seireitei (also in the Rescue Rukia arc.)
Hope you enjoyed!