Journal 22 - Entry 11


I saw something today that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Me and my squad Razor Edge have been on the frontlines for the 10th Division, 2nd Brigade since the Wandenreich crossed the Abyssal Scar. We set up a trench line and dug in at a rock formation known as the Devil's Tower about 30 kilometers southeast of Las Noches.

We'd managed to halt the Quincy's advance on this front, but they had recently received another battalion of reinforcements. Thankfully the fact that they could only use sand dunes as cover against our trenches gave us a massive advantage when they tried to advance, because if they tried to advance on us we could open fire on them with impunity.

However, last week we lost the forward trench, and they were able to install there, creating a no man's land between the trenches. We've been very fortunate that our front hasn't seen the arrival of a Sternritter, but they seem to be focused on the main incursion point in the west. It was assumed that the gate at Torre Del Sol, on the far side of the Abyssal Scar, was the only way they were getting into Hueco Mundo, but these smaller incursions are becoming more frequent, which is worrying.

That's well above my paygrade though, my job is to hold the line, simple as that.

Thankfully as our lines were close to breaking, we received much needed reinforcements. And not just any reinforcements. It seems the higher ups want this battle dealt with ASAP. Lieutenant Matsumoto herself was sent to repel the Quincy in this sector. It's rare for a Lieutenant to be deployed to a location that doesn't have a Sternritter present, but that just goes to show how badly this front needed to be held.

Us regulars among the 10th didn't see the Lieutenant or Captain too much these days, but back before the war, Lieutenant Matsumoto was always a bit of a layabout, and would even occasionally go out drinking with us regulars, which is rare for a highly ranked officer to do. Her and the Captain complemented each other well, and despite them being complete opposites, that fact seemed to make them one of the most compatible Captain-Lieutenant combos in the Gotei. We were all certainly proud to be serving under them.

We stopped seeing much of them once the war started, for obvious reasons, but we heard through the rumor mill that all the Lieutenants had pushed themselves to learn Bankai in order to make up for how many high ranking officers were lost at the start of the war.

The thought of Lieutenant Matsumoto working hard enough to gain Bankai was a bit of a humorous thought. She always seemed to be content with her position, but desperate times and all that.

Her arrival here at Devil's Tower was the first time that a lot of us had even seen her since the start of the war. And her arrival was spectacular. An enormous explosion shook the battlefield like the detonation of a cero. I'd never seen a Hadō above #40 used before, but she just dropped in with Hadō #72: Kongōbaku, before falling into their trench and cutting them down one by one.

We weren't passing up the opportunity she bought us and charged across no man's land and before long retook the position. What was left of their forces retreated back to the base they had established. Major Nouzen took the time to brief the Lieutenant on the situation. With the arrival of their reinforcements, we were still outnumbered five to one, as they had a full regiment.

The Lieutenant wasn't fazed at all. It was odd, she still wore the smile we were used to, and the same energy, but for those of us observant enough, she was putting up a front, likely to keep morale up. You could see it in her eyes. I was always a little jealous of her beauty, all the ladies in the squad were. How could you not be, but she was impossible to really dislike, and we all were always too down to earth for us to hold anything against her. She always had pretty eyes, but rather than the silver of before the war, now they were reminiscent of steel.

Enough of that though, Shortly after we retook the trench, our scouts reported that the Quincy were marching in force with the intent to completely overwhelm us. Usually a force that large was too big for even a lieutenant to handle on their own, but Lieutenant Matsumoto didn't look shaken at all. She just responded with a single word. "Good"

As soon as the first of the Quincy soldat crested the dune, we opened fire with our rifles, but with Hirenkyaku they were closing fast. Lieutenant Matsumoto didn't step out of the trench like we expected. She drew her Zanpakutō, and held it vertically, even with her face, and said a word that neither me, nor anyone in my squad had heard in person.

"Bankai: Shizukana An'un Haineko (Calm Dark Cloud of the Ash Cat)".

It honestly didn't seem all that impressive. Everyone in the Seireitei felt the old Head Captain's Bankai during the Fall, and once I got a glimpse of Captain Hitsugaya's. But here, Lieutenant Matsumoto's blade simply disappeared into ash, much like her Shikai, and floated up into the air. But then we noticed a cloud had started forming above us, and was slowly expanding out high above us, towards the Quincy lines. It was blotting out the sky of Hueco Mundo, and like snow, was starting to slowly float down from the cloud.

Lieutenant Matsumoto gave her next order. We were to hold the line as long as we could, for at least 20 minutes. We didn't really understand, but we all had been under her command long enough to trust her, so we lined up at the edge of the trench and opened fire as the Quincy closed in. Lieutenant Matsumoto had sat down cross-legged on the ground and closed her eyes, almost as if she had entered Jinzen. We didn't really have time to contemplate it though.

It was strange, the ash seemed to be floating around all the shinigami, as if we had a bubble around us. After about 15 minutes had passed the first Quincy were entering the trench, and we were barely holding on. Some of them were coughing, clearly struggling with the air, but it seemed it was more of an annoyance to them.

We started taking losses. Tohzan got shredded by a burst of Licht Regen when one of the bastards got above us. Daiya got revenge right after. Ochi poked his head over the trench for a second too long. I don't want to describe what happened next. Falx Squad, who was holding the post to our right was already overrun, Theo took Rin and Mina and went to try and keep that flank from collapsing. They just barely made it through.

We were just about to call a retreat when Lieutenant Matsumoto stood up and jumped high into the air. We could barely hear her among the swirling ash but what happened next was almost unbelievable.

"Chissoku (Suffocate)"

Every single Quincy, it seemed like the whole regiment of them, fell to the ground holding their throat and coughing up blood. It was a slaughter. I'd been in quite a few battles since the war started, and frankly, I'd seen some shit. But this was way beyond the pale. Corpses as far as I could see. A few of the men lost their stomach, I couldn't blame them, I almost vomited too.

We were briefed after the battle about exactly what Lieutenant Matsumoto's Bankai did. The time that we had to stall was needed in order to have the Quincy breathe in a certain amount of the ash. Once enough was in their lungs, Lieutenant Matsumoto would activate the Bankai, turning the ash into thousands of tiny blades inside their lungs, shredding their respiratory system from the inside. Horribly brutal way to die. Almost feel sorry for them. Almost.

A Bankai is supposed to reflect a part of a person's true self, right? For how easy-going and free-spirited she has always been, it was shocking that Lieutenant Matsumoto would have such a brutal Bankai. It's not my place to wonder about a person's past, but for her to possess such a thing…

After the battle she was back to her old self, though. Even had booze brought out to us from Las Noches. It was a massive morale boost and something I personally really needed. Me, Kairou, Rin, and Mina got absolutely trashed! It was the best night we've had in months.

With the Wandenreich retreating on this front, we are going to get redeployed to another front. Don't know where yet, but we're going by Las Noches to add some new troops to our ranks. Nothing like breaking in some newbies. We'll have the gang in Razor Edge back at 100% and ready to roll out.

There's rumors swirling about something big coming up, maybe we'll get assigned to that. We start the march back tomorrow, some R&R is definitely going to be nice.

.

Kaie Taniya

10th Division, 2nd Brigade

Razor Edge Squad

April 12, 2006


Author's Notes:

Rangiku's Bankai! Thanks to MrTommo's newest theory video about that for giving me the inspiration for this chapter.

Real quick I want to address something that I mentioned in a previous note, but I want to reiterate. When it comes to background or one off characters, I like using characters from other shows and stuff to fill in rather than random OCs. If you happen to recognize a name, the only thing that character shares with the one in their source material is a name and face (If you know what Kaie is from you have great taste). I may use an ability they have in their series as inspiration for a Shikai or something (see Sternritter F in the Ikkaku chapter), but they're still unrelated enough that I don't consider it a crossover.

The focus will always be on the canon Bleach characters. For example, this chapter is from the perspective of a character named Kaie, but it is, in essence, a Rangiku chapter.

One last thing, I'm going on a vacation with family, so there will be a brief hiatus, probably a week to a week and a half before another chapter, so just a heads up.

Thanks for reading guys!