Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Brothers to the End.
Chapter 2: The Gotai and the Gurren.
Rest in peace. A common phrase to describe death. The silence of the grave, the eternal sleep, all ways of describing the serenity of the afterlife. Unfortunately, none applied the Soul Society.
It had never been a quiet place but since the defeat of the Anti-Spital, silence and peace was a mere memory. Team Dai-Gurren had seen to that.
A cold wind that brought goose bumps to the skin blew through the spacious hall that sat in the centre of the vast white city of the Seireitei. The combined captains of the Gotai 13 were gathered there before the cold glare of the young, white haired Head Captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya.
Before him stood the impressive figure of the hero of humanity, vanquisher of the Anti-Spiral, superstar of the masses and badass leader of Team Dai-Gurren, the one and only Kamina.
Toshiro was visibly agitated as he spoke. "How many times do I have to tell you? You cannot create a fourteenth division."
"Come on!" shouted the blue haired young man enthusiastically. "You know the power of Team Dai-Gurren. Together in a single squad we would be a badass and unstoppable force."
"There have been thirteen divisions since the creation of the Seireitei. I will not be the one to change that." answered Toshiro. He had participated in this debate too many times.
"Fine! Then we will for our own group, like that Ishida did, and it will rival the very strength of your divisions. Two organisations, the Gotai and the Gurren. You know it sounds epic."
"No. Ishida was a special case since he was a quincy. He trains quincy, we train shinigami." Toshiro pointed out, not for the first time. Getting a message through to Kamina was like trying to talk to a wall.
"Yeah, well I'm half hollow. That's pretty special." pressed Kamina stubbornly, indicating the small triangular bone fragments that sat between his eyes and ears. A lot had happened since his death, he thought absently.
"I don't doubt your strength, leadership or…er…your…uniqueness. You are rising through the ranks pretty fast and I have no doubt that someday soon you will become a captain. When that day comes, then you can choose whatever men and women that you want, until then, I'm afraid that you just have to be patient."
"Just who the hell do you think I am!" bellowed Kamina.
Toshiro snapped. "You've said that in every single damn conversation in the past sixty years! We know who you are. We get the point. I don't need reminding every other sentence."
"Killjoy." muttered Kamina as he turned his back on the head captain. Without waiting to be dismissed he strode out of the hall, pausing at the door just long enough to shout back in his loudest voice, "JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM!"
The room grew even colder. Hitsugaya stared icily at the doorway, forcing his face to remain calm. "My biggest nightmare is that he will inevitably become a captain. He won't listen to anyone at that point." he said tiredly. His attention turned back to his captains. "You have your orders. Dismissed."
The most powerful souls in the Seireitei filed out of the room, most struggling to keep a straight face after Kamina's performance. One hung back, wanting to address the head captain alone.
"Head Captain Hitsugaya, may I speak with you?" asked the sweet monotone voice of the captain of Squad Twelve, Nemu Kurotsuchi. Her hair had grown longer since her promotion to captain and an air of confidence and pride hung over her shoulders like the captain's robe, both of which would never have been possible before Kamina's arrival.
"Of course, Captain Kurotsuchi." replied Hitsugaya softly. His face grew serious though. He knew that Nemu was still meek when it came to authority figures, and that she would only approach him alone if something was troubling her.
"Sir, I have been getting some rather unusual readings over the last few days. Spiral energy levels have risen sharply both here and in the human world. The precautions that were set in place to prevent the Spiral Nemesis seem to have been broken." she said, bringing out a device from her robes with figures and statistics running down the screen.
The hall was silent as Hitsugaya soaked in this information. He cursed faintly under his breath. "Do you have any idea of the source?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
She shook her head slightly. "No. It appears to be a universal problem with no direct place of origin. I cannot say for sure, but at its rate of increase, the Spiral Nemesis could occur within a single year."
"That soon?" Hitsugaya gasped in shock. His mind raced to analyse every detail and create a plan for every problem and outcome. "Have your most loyal men work around the clock to try and find a root to the energy increases. Try and keep this a secret. If it is revealed too soon then it will only spread panic. Find out what you can, I will call another captain's meeting in a week to inform the others."
"Yes, Head Captain."
000
Kamina walked through the brightly coloured buildings of the Seireitei, his cape flapping and his signature orange glasses glinting, soaking up the sun and basking in the admiration of those that he passed. It had been around seventy years since his death and he had seen the city destroyed and rebuilt, contributing a fair amount to its current appearance.
The city had grown exponentially since then. The shanty town that had surrounded the main white spires of the Seireitei had been rebuilt as a part of the city, the old rusty shacks becoming beautiful cottages and lodges. The formally ragged and poor population of the Rukongai now had a far better standard of living then they ever had before.
Without conscious thought, his sandaled feet trod the familiar path toward the Thirteenth Division's barracks. As he passed by a group of young women he made sure that his blazing red cape didn't obstruct their view of the band that wrapped around his right arm displaying the symbol of Squad Thirteen Lieutenant.
Kamina had been happy in his old squad under Captain Kenpachi Zaraki. The mens' brash nature and fighting spirit suited him perfectly but there had been no chance for advancement. Kamina could never replace Ikkaku or Yachiru, he was sure of that.
So when the 13th Division captain, Elie Elric, had offered him the position of Lieutenant, he had leapt at the chance. He was now but a single step away from becoming a captain himself and once again lead men to glory.
The other members of Team Dai-Gurren that had passed into the Soul Society were distributed among the other squads, each a highly seated officer unable to find an open position as a lieutenant. Nia Tepplin, Simon's wife, had faired best, reaching third seat of Squad One. Her power came in surges though, no doubt through the remaining Anti-Spiral taint upon her spirit.
The muscular twins Jorgun and Balinbow were joint fourth seat in Squad Eleven, taking Kamina's old position. Kittan served as Squad Three's third seat under Captain Renji Abarai, while Zorthy, Iraak and Kidd were fifth, six and seventh seats respectively in Captain Ichigo Kurosaki's Fifth Division. The quiet but dependable Makken had found his place as sixth seat in Squad Six, his demeanour making him a good choice for the order loving Byakuya Kuchiki.
As Kamina passed into his division's grounds, his captain caught up with him, her long strides easily outpacing Kamina's idle stroll.
"I don't know how you do it." she commented with a smile as they drew even. Her long blonde hair hung loose down her back, her amber eyes drifted slowly across their surroundings, admiring once again what a good job she and her men had made of the barracks and garden.
"If anyone else spoke to the Head Captain like that then there would have been some real trouble. Between you and captain's Kurosaki and Zaraki, I have no idea how our chain of command is still effective." she said with mock seriousness.
Kamina yawned expressively as he spoke. "Naa. Shiro likes it and he knows it. It keeps him on his toes. Why do you think he has kept Rangiku as his lieutenant all of these years?"
"You're smarter than you let on, don't deny it." she accused. "And on a related topic, how is that important paperwork I gave you coming along?"
"Delegation!" announced Kamina proudly.
"That's what you are there for. I get the papers that I don't want to fill in, so I delegate to you. Who then is doing the work?"
"No idea." grinned Kamina. "The beauty of delegation is that it can go on near indefinitely. Last time I checked, the paperwork was being done by the sweeper."
Captain Elric frowned. "You mean that our divisions organisational and secret documents are being filled out by our cleaner?"
"Yup. Good man. This squad wouldn't function without him." replied Kamina dismissively.
Elie shrugged. "Well in that case, I don't suppose there is much to do. Go on, get out of here. Enjoy yourself while I have some well earned peace and quiet."
Kamina laughed aloud. "Well earned? I haven't seen you ever do any actual work."
The captain moved to punch him but he sidestepped out of her reach. He waved over his shoulder without stopping, leaving the compound behind and setting off for his usual out of hours haunt.
In a secluded section of the city stood a small building that looked to have seen more than it's fair share of fights. Its walls had been painted crimson and a white flag bearing the Dia-Gurren symbol hung from the tiled roof. It had once been a shady bar for the less savoury characters that had come from the old Rukongai but Kamina had requisitioned it for his own use.
He pushed open the battered door and entered into the gloom beyond. The room was a lightless corridor that Kamina passed through without pause. A second door was pushed open and he stepped into the warm glow of an open fire. Tables were arranged around it while private booths lined the wall to his left and right. Straight ahead of him was a bar with an impressive stock of alcohol.
Sat around the bar were the other members of Team Dai-Gurren in varying levels of drunkenness. Apparently it was a slow day for all of the squads. A few other people littered the room, some shinigami, others normal souls.
The old man who tended the bar saw Kamina approach and had a drink waiting by the time he seated himself between Kittan and Zorthy. Before anyone even spoke, Kamina had downed the drink.
"Still no luck?" asked Kittan between gulps. He had cut off the sleeves of his shinigami robe, leaving his scarred arms bare. His hair had grown slightly after his death, giving it a slightly more wild appearance.
Kamina shook his head. "Don't you worry though. I'll get us a squad one way or the other. Hell, together, we members of Team Dai-Gurren could bring the Gotai Thirteen to its knees. We're all at lieutenant level now and we're showing no sign of stopping. All we need is some real fights to test ourselves. This lovie-dovie peace crap is getting old. Even the hollows barely show their faces anymore."
"I guess men like us can't be happy except when we're fighting for our lives." sighed Zorthy reminiscently.
"Or in the arms of a beautiful woman." grinned Kidd wolfishly.
At those words, memories of Yoko surfaced in Kamina's mind. It had been a long time now, but she was always in his head, as vivid as when they had shared their first kiss. To get his mind off of her he turned his attention onto Kittan, who had blushed and quickly glanced over to a group of shinigami nearby. At their centre was the vivacious and voluptuous Rangiku Masamoto.
Kamina smacked him hard across the back with a laugh. "Badass Kittan, scared to approach a woman."
"Shut it!" snapped Kittan, blushing further. The other Dai-Gurren members sniggered at him. He took another large gulp of sake. "She's out of my league so what's the point."
"She's out of everyone's league. That's why you stand a good chance." reasoned Kamina. "Look, if you like her, go show her. You aint going to get anywhere sat gloomily staring at her from the distance. Be a man!"
Kittan made no attempt to move, instead grabbing a fresh drink and sipping at it moodily.
Kamina took matters into his own hands. He stood up on the bar and began to shout. "Hey Rangiku! Kittan here really likes you but is too shy to tell you. Bless his innocent little heart, eh. Wanna help him out?"
Kittan turned bright red and downed the full drink in one large gulp. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the strawberry blonde lieutenant rise, chuckling to herself. A few catcalls erupted across the room.
Reaching over, Kittan downed Kamina's drink too, then got shakily to his feet. Under the amused stares of his companions he pulled himself together and took his chances. In two large steps he was stood directly in front of her. Caught up in the moment he grabbed at her hand.
"Rangiku, while the dangerously high levels of alcohol are still coursing through my veins, I will take this chance to show you a night you won't ever forget!" he slurred.
Rangiku cocked an eyebrow, smiling seductively. Team Dai-Gurren offered up a round of applause. Kittan suddenly didn't look as confident. He stared at Kamina pleadingly but Kamina only smiled and waved.
"Oh no you don't." purred Rangiku in his ear. "You've charmed me, so now you have to at least take me out somewhere." she beamed as she dragged him out through the doors.
Kamina raised his arms in triumph. "Just call me the love doctor."
Just then, the door opened again and Nia entered. Her shinigami robes were unique in that she had replaced the white under layer with a pink one. She dreamily made her way to the bar and placed herself on a spare seat beside Makken.
"Why is Rangiku pulling Kittan down the street? It looked very strange to see him so nervous." she queried, once again missing the obvious implications. The barkeeper poured her a glass of juice, knowing her dislike of alcohol.
"He'll be fine. Rangiku isn't as playful as she seems. If she likes him too, she'll go easy on him." Kamina said, avoiding offering any real explanation to the young woman. Wanting to move the subject along, he changed topic. "How is you're mission going?"
"Toshiro won't budge. He told me that you are all bad influences on me." she explained simply. She smiled sweetly the entire time.
"Don't listen to him." said Kamina as he got to his feet and walked over to her. "We raised Simon, so you know that we are actually good influences." He finished off another sake as he slung an arm around her slender shoulders.
A burly man approached him and tapped him on the shoulder with a podgy finger. "You were flirting with my woman yesterday, bastard!"
"I am trying to have a conversation here!" grunted Kamina, whipping around and slamming his fist into the man's ugly face. He flew across the bar and smashed into the opposite wall with a crash.
The man's friends all jumped to their feet, bristling with anger. Kamina cracked his knuckles. "You guy's want to interrupt too? Ha! Just who the hell do you think I am!"
The men charged and Kamina met them head on. The other men of Team Dai-Gurren followed closely behind. Within seconds the room was in chaos, sections of tables and chairs flying in every conceivable direction.
Nia sat and watched happily, sipping on her juice and clapping in support with every blow struck by Team Dai-Gurren. This was Simon's family, her family. This was the way that Team Dai-Gurren rolled.
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A/N: And so the mighty Kamina returns! The chapter might have been a bit slow but it is an introduction chapter and I'm pretty happy with it. I hope you all are too.
Now that we are into the story, I am reopening the legendary omake competition. The best review for this chapter gets to choose what I write about in a short midweek update. Anything goes as anyone who read the previous story will know so whatever idea or curiosity you have, fire away regardless. Just make sure you review about the chapter and not just say that you want me to do so and so.
All main chapters will be released on Fridays while Omakes will be Wednesday so you can expect two updates a week. This is British time though so adjust accordingly.
So once again, please review, favourite or whatever. All comments/criticisms/questions are welcome. Any questions will be answered ASAP so don't fear to ask. A big thank you for all of you that reviewed, subscribed or favourited last chapter. Thanks for reading.
-FWF.