• • •
"Hisagi-Fukutaicho really wasn't going easy on me, was he?" I questioned out loud, wincing as I nestled myself on top of a large boxed in crate.
Not too long ago I had run from the scene of the battle, knowing that countless Shinigami would probably show up soon. After all, I'm sure they had sensed Hisagi-Fukutaicho's reiatsu flare throughout the fight, and mine as well. Because of that, they'd probably see what was going on and find that section of the Ninth Division battle torn.
It probably wasn't a great idea for me to stay in Ninth Division, but I don't think that I would have been able to make it too far away. Besides, hopefully, they'd think that I'd want to get as far away from here as possible. So it makes since that they wouldn't search the Ninth too closely.
"What did you expect?" Ankoku-Tatsu questioned, echoing voice devoid of emotion. "He was a Fukutaicho. It was reckless to go against him by yourself. He's probably the strongest Fukutaicho of them all; or did that fact slip your mind?!"
"Well, sorry." I sang, rolling my eyes. "What did you expect me to do? Back down from the fight? Run with my tail between my legs?"
Anko's sigh weighed heavily in my mind. "No, you're right. I guess I'm just worried that you got so cut up."
"There's not much to worry about; I'm sure you'll be able to fix me in no time," I laughed, smile tugging at the corner of my lips.
"You think I want to heal you every time you come back cut up?"
"Um, yeah?" I hedged, feeling my eyebrows furrow. "I mean, would you really just leave me bleeding everywhere?"
"…No," The Zanpakuto spirit sighed. "I was just trying to make a point."
I could almost picture the sweat-drop on the back of my head. "Well, I don't get your point."
"I can tell."
An awkward silence ensued, causing me to sigh. As I sighed, I plucked the hairpins from my hair and let the rest of my bangs fall down and frame my face. I didn't think it was a good idea to let my ponytail down. I didn't want my hair getting into my shoulder wound.
"I've managed to slow the bleeding down, but it'll take a bit longer before I can get it to stop completely…" Ankoku-Tatsu informed.
"I know I don't tell you this often enough, but thank you." I whispered, staring off into the distance as I twisted my fingers in my ponytail and played with the strands of hair. My eyes closed as I exhaled, "Thank you, for everything. I don't know what I'd do without you, Anko."
"You'd be in big trouble if I weren't around." The Zanpakuto spirit laughed, "Without me you'd probably be a goner."
"Don't I know it," I chuckled.
"Don't you know what?"
I yelped, spinning around and facing the doorway to the storage shed as my hand flew to my Zanpakuto's hilt.
"M-Matsumoto-Fukutaicho..?" I questioned, eyes widening when they landed on the Fukutaicho of the Tenth Division.
Tenth was close to Ninth, so it would make sense that they'd send her over anyone else… But would I be able to survive a fight against another Fukutaicho? Especially since my sudden jump and movement to grab my Zanpakuto had reopened my wounds.
"Kokawa Junko! What have I told you about sounding so formal?!" The busty strawberry blonde woman asked, placing her left hand on her hip as she glared at me. Her right hand was holding a small box.
"S-Sorry, Rangiku!" I stiffened, eyes widening as soon as she glared at me. However, I felt my muscles relax when the stern look faded from her face and a lopsided smile replaced it.
Rangiku made her way over to me, a frown tugging at her lips. "Shuhei really did a number on you, didn't he?"
"Eh, just a bit." I sheepishly laughed while scratching my cheek. "But I eventually took him down. And if you don't mind me asking, why are you here, Rangiku? Aren't you a Fukutaicho? You should be arresting me, not talking to me."
"I'm not here as a Fukutaicho," The strawberry blonde sighed. "I'm here to check on you. I've been searching for any sign of you for hours…"
"I guess I wasn't careful enough if you managed to find me."
"I caught a bit of what I thought was your reiatsu, but it wasn't strong enough for anyone else to detect." Rangiku explained, sliding the door shut behind her as she fully walked into the storage shed.
Sighing in relief, I plopped myself down onto one of the crates. "That's good news."
Rangiku grew quiet after a few seconds, her finger tracing the edges of the small box as she stared at the ground.
"Is something wrong, Rangiku?" I asked, feeling my eyebrows furrow in confusion; I'd never seen the woman so quiet and reserved before. Normally she was jabbering away, avidly waving her hands about as she spoke.
"I can't but help thinking that it's my fault…" She sighed, "I mentioned that you were probably among the Ryoka during our Fukutaicho meeting. Shuhei was there… That's why he fought you right when he found you…"
"It's not your fault," I argued, cutting the woman off as I shook my head. "Even if you didn't say anything, I still would have been found out at some point. I might have been attacked by someone much worse that Hisagi-Fukutaicho. You never know." I explained, leaning back a bit and putting most of my weight on my uninjured arm. "I don't blame you; you probably did the right thing. I'm no longer allied with Soul Society. I'm here to save Rukia. That's it."
A soft sigh left her lips, "That's what I thought. I knew if they were here for Kuchiki you'd be with them."
"And you're probably not the only one to think so either." I said, bringing my left hand up to flick my hair out of my face. "I bet the Taicho's know that I'm one of the Ryoka by now, too. They knew I was still in the World of the Living somewhere. They didn't find me before they took Rukia back. We knew we were gonna have to face strong opponents, so I don't blame you for anything."
"…Thanks," Rangiku mumbled, before her head snapped up and she grinned at me. "At least let me tend to your wounds!"
"Won't you get in trouble for that?" I questioned, eyes wide as she skipped over to my side.
A feral grin spread across her face, causing me to blink in surprise. "They don't have to know that I helped. They don't even know that I'm here right now!"
"You sure about that? That Taicho of yours seems to know everything..!" I muttered, wincing as she began to remove my kosode from my injured shoulder.
"He really sliced you good…" Rangiku whistled.
Scoffing, I rolled my eyes. "No duh. His Zanpakuto is a sharp death trap when released..!"
"He released his Zanpakuto?!"
"Yeah," I answered, wincing once more when she gently tugged on my shitagi, removing it from my shoulder and prying it away from the wound. The entire left shoulder of the garment was stained crimson.
My eyes trailed over to the box that Rangiku opened, revealing medical supplies.
"Is Hisagi-Fukutaicho alright?" I hesitantly questioned.
Rangiku nodded, pulling the medical supplies from out of the box. "Yeah, he's alright now. Resting in Fourth."
I let out a sigh of relief, only to hiss as Rangiku proceeded to clean the large laceration on my shoulder. "That's good. I didn't want to hurt him too bad. I just needed to stop him and get away."
"Unohana-Taicho noticed," Rangiku said, grimacing a bit as the blood still continued to ooze from the wound. "His wound wasn't life threatening and there was evidence that Hakufuku was used to knock him out. If that was the case… he had to have been fighting against a Shinigami. The Ryoka are human, they can't possibly know Kido."
"Yeah," I nodded, tilting my head to the side to give her more room. I reached towards the box, pulling more stuff out. I flinched as I pulled my sock back from the wound on my upper thigh; I needed to clean and bandage it as well.
"You guys have caused a lot of trouble, you know that?" The Fukutaicho lightly chuckled, pressing the bandage to my wound before she pulled out the gauze to wrap around it. "Two of our Fukutaicho's have been struck down. Not to mention reports are coming in that the Eleventh Division has been almost completely wiped out…"
"Another Fukutaicho was injured? Who? Are there any reports on who they fought?" I rapidly questioned, my icy eyes meeting Rangiku's.
"Renji." She answered, not meeting my gaze. "He was promoted to Fukutaicho just after you left for the World of the Living. He was badly injured, and he hasn't regained consciousness yet."
"…Ichigo," I breathed, tearing my gaze away from Rangiku as I took to wrapping the gauze tightly around the bandage. "He'd be the only one who could take Renji down."
"Whoever it is, they'd better be careful. All of you." The strawberry blonde warned, tying the gaze around my shoulder in place before she pulled my shitagi and kosode back up. "With two of our Fukutaicho's down, security is going to tighten. I'm sure they'll begin sending the Taicho's out next."
"Yes, I know they would." I nodded, "If we've already managed to take down two Fukutaicho's, probably the strongest ones, it'd only make sense that the Taicho's would be ordered to hunt us down. They're the next step above the Fukutaicho."
Rangiku took her time straightening the supplies left in the first-aid kit, not meeting my questioning gaze. She was silent again; I knew this couldn't be good.
"Rangiku, thank you." I said, slightly smiling up at her as I leaned down to untie my zori straps. I had to get these socks off; with one shredded it wouldn't do any good to walk around in them. "But I think you should go before they find out where you've been. I don't want to get you in any trouble."
"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Rangiku sighed, bringing up a hand to run it through her loosely curled locks.
"Do you think you could do something else for me?" I asked, an idea running through my mind as my eyes collided with the white bandana wrapped around my left arm. Surprisingly it was still stark white; none of my blood had seeped into it.
Rangiku blinked, shrugging her shoulders. "Sure, I don't see why not."
"Can you give this to Renji?" I asked, untying the bandana and unwinding it from my upper limb. "It was his originally… But after all that's happened I don't think he'd be too keen on the idea of us still being friends. Can you tell him sorry?"
"Sure," The Fukutaicho assured, her eyes softening as she reached and grabbed the white bandana and held it between her hands. "I'll leave it with his robes, and I'll be sure to write a note if he's still unconscious."
"Thanks," I sighed, craning my neck to the side to get it to pop. I felt too stiff and worn out.
"It's no problem." Rangiku smiled, placing her hand on my head and ruffling my hair. "Just stay safe, alright? I can't do anything if a Taicho finds you."
"I know," I nodded, rolling my eyes as I reached up and yanked the hair-tie out of my hair. My hair splayed across my shoulders as I ran my hands through it, working the knots out. "I'll try, but I'm not making any promises. You know me."
"I do, I do." Rangiku grinned, laughing at my dry sense of humor. "I'll try and see you again later, after this madness has quieted down."
"Alright, I'll see 'ya later!" I smiled, waving at Rangiku as she left the small storage shed. "And I'll try to stay out of trouble!"
As the door slid shut once more, I sighed and felt my shoulders slump. It was a pleasant surprise to have Rangiku visit and help, even if she was a Fukutaicho. I knew I could trust her; we'd been friends before I left for the World of the Living. She knew how Rukia was my best friend, practically family even. She knew I'd do anything for Rukia. I think Rangiku respected that.
I slid back against the wall, bringing my legs up to my chest. Resting my chin on my knees, my eyes roamed around the storage shed. This was boring, just waiting like this. But I know I've already lost too much blood to me moving about. I wouldn't make it very far before I'd get dizzy and pass out.
"I wonder how Ichigo and the others are doing…" I murmured.
"I'm sure they're doing fine. I've sensed no major difference in their reiatsu; we can assume that they're okay." Ankoku-Tatsu reminded me. "But I was surprised when Matsumoto came to help you. Are you sure you can trust her? She is a Fukutaicho after all…"
Yawning, I closed my eyes as I shifted a bit to get comfortable. "I have no reason to doubt her."
"She's a Fukutaicho!"
"But she's also a friend." I argued, opening my eyes briefly to glare at a nearby window. The moon was crescent shaped, illuminating the small storage shed. "We might not have been too close, but it was clear that she felt guilty for telling Hisagi-Fukutaicho about me. She had multiple chances to attack, but she never drew her Zanpakuto."
"Right," Anko scoffed. "And if people find you because she snitched, then don't come crying to me."
"Rangiku won't snitch. She might gossip all the time, but she'll keep me being here a secret." I argued, rolling my eyes once more before I closed them. "I'm going to try and get some sleep. I need to rest awhile from losing so much blood."
"Fine." My Zanpakuto spirit shrugged. "You're a heavy sleeper when you do sleep. I doubt even I could wake you if Shinigami came."
"Goodnight, Ankoku-Tatsu."
• • •
"Where were you yesterday evening, Matsumoto?" The small, white haired Taicho of the Tenth Division questioned, his hands hidden in the sleeves of his kimono in front of him. His sea colored eyes narrowed at his Fukutaicho. "You're still not finished with your paperwork!"
Rangiku blinked, moving her arm from its previous position where it had been covering her eyes as she lounged on the couch in the center of the office. "Whatever do you mean, Taicho?"
A snow white eyebrow rose, conveying his amusement. It would have been amusement, if only Rangiku didn't do things like this on a daily basis. No, scratch that, on an hourly basis.
"Just finish your paperwork already." Hitsugaya Toshiro ordered, heaving a sigh as he removed his Zanpakuto and sat behind his desk. His deep turquoise orbs eyed the stack of papers that rose above his own head.
"But, Taicho!" The strawberry blonde whined, sitting up on the couch and pouting at her captain. "Is now really the time to be doing all this paperwork?"
"Yes!" Hitsugaya-Taicho answered, vein throbbing on his forehead as knuckles turned white because of his death grip on his pen.
A jigokucho flew into the room, landing on Rangiku's extended index finger.
"Sorry, Taicho, but I have a Fukutaicho meeting to attend! See you later~!"
With that, Rangiku hopped to her feet and literally skipped out of the office while happily humming a tune.
"MATSUMOTO!"
• • •
"Iyaaaaa!" The Fukutaicho of the Fifth Division screamed, her eyes wide and lifeless as she stared up at the body pinned to the wall.
Tears pooled in Hinamori Momo's brown eyes, which were widened in horror as she stared up at the body pinned to the wall before her. It wasn't just any body pinned to the wall, though: it was Aizen Sosuke, Hinamori-Fukutaicho's Taicho.
The Fifth Division Taicho was clearly deceased, immobilized to the wall by his own Zanpakuto through his chest. Blood was splattered all across the wall, much of it pulled downwards due to gravity. However, the splatters that surrounded his form gave the image of a flower.
"Aizen-Taicho! Aizen-Taicho!" Hinamori-Fukutaicho screamed, shakily stepping forwards towards the wall. "No! This isn't real! Aizen-Taicho!"
Aizen's eyes were dull, no trace of life shown. There was even a deep gash across his cheek that had been bleeding. Many other Fukutaicho's had come running once they heard Hinamori's screams. Kira-Fukutaicho, Iba-Fukutaicho, and Matsumoto-Fukutaicho stood behind her, staring up at the wall as well.
"What's goin' on? Who's screamin' so early in th' mornin'?"
Hinamori-Fukutaicho's eyes widened, her body turning rigid as she turned towards Ichimaru-Taicho. The Taicho walked towards the gathering of people, fake smile stretched full across his face with his eyes squinted shut as always.
"It was you!"
• • •
"Jun! Junko! Kokawa Junko, wake up!"
Groaning, I forced my eyes closer shut. Sunlight was streaming in through the window, but I didn't want to get up yet. I was still groggy and actually wanted to sleep some more. My entire body felt stiff; although, I bet that's what you'd expect when you slept on a crate and leaned up against a wall.
"Junko! Up, now! I can sense Shinigami coming towards us!"
Cracking my eyes open, I winced at the bright light coming in through the window. The warmth was nice on my face but I didn't appreciate it shining in my eyes.
"How many?" I slurred, rubbing my eyes and lightly stretching out my cramped muscles.
"I can tell it's a group; maybe eight or nine of them." Ankoku-Tatsu replied, sounding pleased that I had actually woken up. "How are your wounds? Can you take them on or do you need to run?"
I blinked, my right hand trailing over the wound on my right thigh before it moved to the huge wound on my shoulder. "They're still a bit tender, but they're closed. I can even feel them coming now, so it's probably too late to run; I'll have to face them."
Slinking over towards the window, I peered out. Shinigami were surrounding the storage shed, a few with their Zanpakuto drawn. It looked like a few were going to storm in, so I jumped on top of a large stack of boxes near the door.
Slamming the door open, they charged.
"Bakudo #4! Hainawa!" I exclaimed, focusing my reiatsu to the Kido spell. {Way of Binding #4: Crawling Rope!}
In my hands, the reiatsu began to glow a bright yellow color. It seemed highly unstable; it continuously crackled and sparks seemed to fly off of it. Once I released the spell, it shot out as a rope and circled around the three Shinigami that had charged into the building. Before they knew it, they were unconscious; I had flash stepped beside them and knocked them all out with individual blows to the back of the neck.
"Seven more," I muttered, feeling much more awake now that I had a nice jolt of adrenaline running through my veins. I could sense the Shinigami's reiatsu much easier now. Smirk tugging at my lips, I grinned. "Time for some fun."
"You sound like you should be in Kenpachi's Division with that kind of attitude." Ankoku-Tatsu admonished as I used Shunpo and appeared in front of the enemy Shinigami of the Ninth Division.
A feral grin crossed my face as I charged at them, going at it with hand to hand combat; a specialty of mine. I felt much more at ease with Hakuda than I did wielding a sword, no offense to Ankoku-Tatsu. It's just…Urahara had trained me in this first, trying to up my physical stamina before he tried to turn me into a Shinigami.
"Maybe you do belong in the Eleventh Division…" My Zanpakuto spirit sighed, mentally shaking her head as she surveyed the damage that I had done.
Without once unsheathing my sword, I had single handily taken down the remaining seven Shinigami. I was proud of myself because I didn't re-open any of my wounds. In fact, five nearby Shinigami heard the scuffle and ran over but they were taken down just as quickly.
"Nah," I shook my head, dusting my hands off before I placed them on my hips with a triumphant grin. "The Thirteenth Division will always be my home. That is, as long as Ukitake-Taicho will have me."
Running my hands through my hair, I sighed. It was getting tangled, which was something that I didn't like. Needless to say, I instantly bent over and tied my hair up once more.
"There, now we're ready! Towards the Senzaikyu!" I announced, my face set in determination. "Now, just where is it?"
The tall white tower, that's what I was looking for. Supposedly it was in the center of the Seireitei. So all I needed to do was head for the center.
Gasping, I halted midstride. I fumbled from my position on a rooftop, my eyes wide as I stared around.
"What is it, Jun?" My Zanpakuto spirit asked, sensing my unease.
"Chad's reiatsu!" I exclaimed, closing my eyes to try and sense it. "It disappeared! He's in trouble!"