The Shiba Clan

The seasons began to change. After four long months, spring was just around the corner. The snow began to melt and the plant life began to flourish. Wildlife began their joyous celebration of springs arrival, a time of plenty. Until the Cherry Blossoms bloomed, however, spring was not official. But still the wild flowers began to bloom and life began anew. What the harsh winter took in death, the peaceful spring gave back in life. But there were some things that just simply could not be returned so easily. What all respect Vegeta still had for Levi was now gone. And whatever self-esteem the Squad 9 captain had left... was also now completely gone. He was now so timid and unsure of himself that only Toushiro seemed to be able to convince him to leave his living quarters or office. But even then the young captain had to work for it. The veteran human soldier, once called Humanity's Strongest Soldier with pride, was now a shell of his former self. There was one blessing that the source of the mysterious disappearances, which have been slowly rising, were creating. Hollows haven't been sighted for a while in the Soul Society, and the academy training trip was taking care of the hollows in the living world. So many of the squads had a lot of free time. Both Levi and Toushiro's squads were among the ones with plenty of free time, so the young captain spent most of his time trying to help his human friend.

Toushiro: "Come on, Levi... Cheer up! It's not good for you, ya know."

Levi: "I know..."

Toushiro: "Geez. Its like talking to a wall. Or worse, a stubborn saiyan with an (shouts at the door) ATTITUDE PROBLEM!"

And then, a faint chuckle. What a relief.

Toushiro: "There! Finally! God, I was beginning to think I'd have to kill someone to get a reaction other than moping outta you!"

Levi: "Yeah, I'm sorry... It's just... I don't know what happened... I've lost all confidence in myself..."

Toushiro: "Not to pile on, but that's been kinda obvious for a while now."

Levi: "Yeah, you're right... I'm pathetic."

Toushiro: "No you're not! You just need to get some of that confidence back!"

Levi: "How?"

Toushiro thought about that for a moment. What would be a good way of Levi getting his confidence back?...

Toushiro: (Snaps his fingers) "*Gasp* I got it! Come with me!"

Levi: "Where are we going?"

Toushiro: "To introduce you to two people who can help ya get your confidence back!"

Levi: "Can they really?"

Toushiro: "They helped Ichigo once, and you know how mopey he can get. Trust me, if they can't, nothing will! Now come on!"

A little hesitantly Levi followed. The two of them headed out into the rukon district where the young captain asked around about the location of the people they were looking for. Apparently they often had to change houses. Finally a lead and they followed that lead right to an interesting house. Giant arms holding a banner and a long chimney displayed prominently next to the house. Levi was a little confused but Toushiro just walked up to the door casually. Two huge guards named Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko escorted them in once they saw Toushiro. Once inside, Toushiro made their presence know.

Toushiro: "Hellooo! Anybody home or is the arm banner just for show?!"

Just then a busty woman, one Levi hasn't seen yet, came out and greeted them. Kūkaku Shiba.

Kūkaku: "Well now. If it isn't Toushiro Hitsugaya! Been a while."

Toushiro: "Yeah, I've got two extra responsibilities now."

Kūkaku: "So I heard. I'm happy for you, I really am. It's not often that siblings find each other after so long."

And then Kūkaku spotted Levi.

Kūkaku: "Who's he?"

Toushiro: "This is Levi, a friend of mine."

Kūkaku: "Really? Nice to meet ya."

Levi: "Uh, thank you, miss. It's nice to meet you too."

Kūkaku: "Wow, what a fruitcake."

Toushiro: "That's... kinda why we're here."

Kūkaku: "Say what now?"

Toushiro: "Uh, it'd just be a whole lot easier if I started at the beginning."

And so Toushiro explained to Kūkaku everything that has happened so far. It didn't take her long to piece everything together.

Kūkaku: "Ooh! So this is that Levi!"

Toushiro: "The same."

Kūkaku: "Man you're either stupidly brave or stupidly stupid. Fighting Titans, sparring against Vegeta, leading a massive evacuation of an entire population from one world to another... and just recently encountering the thugs of Kusajishi."

Levi: "You know about that?!"

Kūkaku: "Only those who dare to know what goes on in that village do, and that's not a lot. And now Vegeta's lost all respect for you and you have no self-esteem left, is that right?"

Levi: "... Yes..."

Kūkaku, who has been a little rude up to this point with her speech, sees the soldier's lack of confidence in himself... and takes pity on him. Sorta.

Kūkaku: "... Hey! Ganju!"

Suddenly a man came running in from the next room. It was Kūkaku's younger brother Ganju.

Ganju: "Yes, sis?!"

Kūkaku: "Have I got a job for you. Someone here needs a confidence boost."

When Ganju saw Toushiro, he immediately assumed that it was the young captain that needed the confidence boost.

Ganju: "Oh! So the Captain of Squad 10 needs a little confidence boosting, does he? Well you've come to the right place!"

As Ganju gloated about how great he was at such a task, Kūkaku was steadily getting annoyed. Until...

Ganju: "So how should we do this, huh? Gently? Or should I just go with the good old fashioned Beat-Ya-'til-Ya-Fight-Back method?"

Kūkaku: "You stupid ignorant dumb-ass!"

Bam! Kūkaku stomped her foot down on her brother's head!

Kūkaku: (While kicking him around) "You have got to be the biggest moron there is!"

Ganju: "AH! What'd I do, sis?!"

Kūkaku: "Take another look, dumb-ass!"

Ganju took another look and noticed Levi.

Ganju: "Oh. Toushiro's not alone."

Kūkaku: "You damn right he's not alone!"

And the beating continued! So much so that when debris started flying, Toushiro had to use a kido spell to shield himself and Levi and even Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko who were both cowering in the back.

Kūkaku: "I outta rip you a new one just for being so damn stupid!-"

Ganju: "-But Sis-"

Kūkaku: "No excuses! Next time look before you open that big mouth of yours, idiot! Understand?!"

Ganju: "Yes, sir..."

Kūkaku: "Ok, then."

Kūkaku turned around to face Levi and Toushiro just as Toushiro burst out laughing. Levi had a look on his face that suggested his brain had turned off for a moment.

Toushiro: "A-HAH-HAH-HAH-HA! THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE IS ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS, LEVI!"

It seemed that they were gonna have to take it a little slow.

Kūkaku: "Guess I overdid it. Koganehiko! Shiroganehiko!"

Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko: "Yes, sir!"

Kūkaku: "Let me know when there's brain activity in this one (Points to Levi). I'll be upstairs. Toushiro, care to join me?"

Toushiro: "If you insist."

The young captain followed the fireworks expert upstairs for some refreshments while they talked and waited for Levi to come back down to earth.

Kūkaku: "I wanna ask you something?"

Toushiro: "Sure."

Kūkaku: "I know Vegeta's been patrolling the districts ever since those disappearances started. Has he found anything?"

Toushiro: "Nothing yet. Unfortunately whatever's causing all this isn't leaving any clues behind as to their identity. So he's patrolling around, trying to find any clues or maybe even catch a glimpse of the cause. Why do you ask? Do you have something?"

Kūkaku: "I haven't found anything either. But I have noticed something. During the winter, the disappearances happened once every two to three weeks. But now they've increased to at least once every week. Think the thaw has something to do with it?"

Toushiro: "Most likely. Whatever's doing this is obviously trying to stay hidden. In the winter time there wasn't much cover to hide in, so the attacks didn't happen often. This also explains why the disappearances happened around thick cover. But now that the snow is gone and the plant life has started to flourish again, there's much more cover, much more places to stalk and hide. It's only logical that the disappearances have started to increase now."

Kūkaku: "Hmm... What do you think could be behind it?"

Toushiro: "Without any clues or evidence, I'm afraid I can't give you anything. What you know is about what I know. Not even the other captains have any ideas."

There was a moment of silence as Toushiro took a sip of tea.

Toushiro: "But... I can tell you this much. I don't think a person is behind this. No, the whole thing has the signature of an animal."

Kūkaku seemed a little shocked.

Kūkaku: "An animal?... You mean like a predator?"

Toushiro: "Yeah, and a fearless one at that. Vegeta thinks the same thing, I know it. Lately he's been asking for information on where exactly the disappearances have happened."

Kūkaku: "What'll that tell him?"

Toushiro: "Predators almost always hunt within their territory. The location of each disappearance may provide a clue as to the predator's hunting range and the spots it likes the best. Once we get an idea of this, Vegeta might be able to locate the den. All localized predators like to have dens to sleep in and store their kills. Or worse, hide its young."

Kūkaku: "I see what you mean. In that case I'll keep you informed on anything I find. A lot of us are trying to figure out what's going on, and we appreciate that you and Vegeta are trying your best to help us. It's actually hard to imagine that some still don't trust soul reapers after everything that's happened since he came around."

Toushiro: "Heh, yeah. By the way, how are the refugees from Levi's world doing? They've adjusted so much that I can't tell them apart from the normal souls."

Kūkaku: "Aside from a few typical bad eggs, they've become a blessing. We now have more farmers that actually know a thing or two. We have carpenters who know how to reuse materials and make houses stronger. We have more doctors. And, as I'm sure you've seen, we have craftsmen that have improved us all with just simple things like tools and even clothing."

Toushiro: "Yeah, I've noticed. The district I grew up in, Junrinan, has changed quite a bit from what it used to be. I'm glad they're all adjusting so well... to a world without fear of Titans."

Just then, the door slid open and there stood Levi, finally back to reality.

Toushiro: "Levi?"

Levi: "Uh... Sorry that I zoned out there for a while..."

Toushiro: "It's ok-"

Kūkaku: "Hey! Where are Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko?! I told them to inform me the moment you came out of it!"

Levi gulped, almost afraid to tell her.

Levi: "... ... Asleep."

Kūkaku: "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! IDIOTS! I'M SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS!"

And Kūkaku stormed back downstairs, leaving Levi shaken at the outburst.

Levi: "Holy crap..."

Toushiro: "And you say I have a set of lungs?"