Chapter 8: Her Other Job
It was an odd time, having one less Captain around. Even if it had only been almost a week, there was an odd feeling in the air. Hiyori didn't have the time to attend the Lieutenant's meetings, sending a report in her stead that Lieutenant Iba would read out.
Even Yoruichi felt that there was an oddness around. Perhaps missing Hikifune, who was a friend of hers and had left without so much as a goodbye to anyone, even Hiyori.
At least in Rose's office, there was a sense of normality. He was playing his violin, which was finally repaired, and Kirara was sitting on the sofa nearby with her cup of tea as she listened to him play. It was beautiful, and even Lieutenant Iba hadn't crashed in to tell him to stop and get back to his work.
Beside her cup of tea, Kirara had a few pieces of paperwork - the most she dared bring out of the Second Division barracks, considering the information that it contained. While she trusted Rose, there were too many people who might stop by and see it.
Leaning back in her seat, Kirara surveyed the small map on one of the pieces of paper in front of her. Circles and crosses were scattered around, marking certain areas on the map, and she had a faint frown on her face as she used a pencil to add to it. Rose didn't question it - part of him didn't want to know what she was doing anyway.
Kirara lost track of what she was doing before long, as the music Rose played earned her full attention. She closed her eyes, appreciating the melody. She let it take over, her mind clearing for once and her body relaxing.
'Music is quite a powerful force, is it not?' Kokoro no Kage wondered, and Kirara wondered if her Zanpakuto spirit was enjoying it as much as she was.
"I see you in here so often, you're almost part of the furniture. Either that or you're planning a transfer," Kirara was pulled from her thoughts as the music ended, and both looked at Love as he peered inside with a grin.
"Captain Aikawa, good to see you," Kirara bowed respectfully to the Captain, as Rose smiled faintly at him. "I can't help it if Rose makes his office so hospitable. And let's face it," Kirara's eyes gleamed a little. "Lieutenant Iba would fit the image of the terrifying 2nd Division Lieutenant far more than I do," she said, and both Captains laughed at her words, unable to fully disagree.
"I don't know. I saw your so-called sparring match with Sarugaki the other day," Love shrugged. Kirara grinned. Yoruichi had not been happy to receive complaints from other Captains about the chaos that Kirara and Hiyori had created, and had told Kirara to at least be discreet next time so she didn't have to deal with the mess afterwards.
"It was either that or whoever the next Squad 12 Captain is would have had to deal with finding replacements for every member of the Squad, since Hiyori was hellbent on beating them within an inch of their lives," Kirara defended, but there was something in her tone that made it seem like she had thoroughly enjoyed it.
"Right," Love said with a dry tone, not entirely believing her. Kirara just smiled politely and took a drink of her tea. She went back to her work as Love and Rose started to talk about a collaboration between their Squads - for what, Kirara had no idea and wasn't particularly interested.
As she crossed out another small circle on the map that was mostly green with trees, Kirara heard Love call her name again, and looked up. "So any ideas who the new Captain is going to be?" he asked. Kirara's eyes gleamed.
"I have one person in mind," she answered, and shrugged. "But I think I'll keep that to myself," Kirara decided, and Love groaned. Rose tried to hide his smile. He wasn't as invested in finding out as Love seemed to be. Instead, he just watched the two converse. He always enjoyed how Kirara got on with other members of the Gotei 13. Or at least, most of them.
"Come on," Love complained. "I can't find any info on who it's going to be," the large man said, which only made Kirara's smile widen. Love made it far too easy to taunt him sometimes, and she wasn't above showing him mercy.
"It's a good thing that I'm the one who specialises in gathering intel," she said, smug. "Unless you have someone to recommend for the position, I'm keeping my mouth shut. Who knows if they even pass the exam," Kirara shrugged, and Rose chuckled as Love huffed out a breath.
"You're no fun," he complained. Kirara smirked.
"I've been told the opposite many times," she said, unable to resist the devious smile. Love just started laughing as he left them to it.
"You truly are a terror amongst the Gotei 13, my dear," Rose told her honestly.
"Thank you!" Kirara responded brightly. Still smiling, Rose lifted his violin, and continued to play. Kirara didn't interrupt, as she went back to the map and other paper in front of her to continue her work.
'Specialises in gathering intel, huh?' she mused to herself, and could have sworn she heard Kokoro no Kage laugh somewhere in the back of her mind.
When finally Lieutenant Iba's patience ran thin and she came to chide Rose for playing music instead of working, Kirara made her escape. She fled the Squad 3 barracks and made her way back to her own - she'd already gotten everything she could down on paper.
It wasn't a long walk back to the Second Division. The moment she stepped through the large gates, Kirara took a quiet breath and stopped.
"Satoru," she called gently. Moments later, the familiar figure of her friend appeared and knelt beside her.
"Commander Yamada," Satoru murmured a greeting. He knew why she'd called him. It was why he had been waiting for her.
"Here," Kirara held out the small pile of paper to him, and Satoru took them from her without rising. "I've marked some new areas, and crossed out some that are either unsuitable or already cleared out. As soon as you find anything, come to me or the 3rd Seat," she told him.
"Yes, Commander," Satoru nodded, and vanished in a quick use of his Shunpo. The corner of Kirara's mouth tugged up. He'd improved since their last lessons. Either out of fear or actual learning, Kirara chose not to guess.
When he was gone, Kirara took another deep breath, closing her eyes to raise her face to the sky. It was a beautiful summer day; not a cloud in the sky. Yet Kirara couldn't bring herself to fully enjoy it.
After a long moment of standing there, Kirara opened her eyes and kept walking, a placid smile on her face as she did. Her footsteps barely making a sound on the wooden flooring of the walkways around her Squad barracks, Kirara returned to the main hall.
Yoruichi took one look at the smile on Kirara's face, and though her expression didn't change, something sharpened in her eyes.
"Just in time, Kirara," Yoruichi leaned back in her seat. "I was hoping for another game," a feline grin spread across her face. Kirara lost the placid smile, and groaned loudl.
"Can't you get Soi Fon to join you?" she complained as one of the men nearby brought over the checkers board for them and vanished. Yoruichi shrugged, looking bored.
"She's out somewhere," she said, and Kirara's eyebrow twitched upwards in surprise. It was rare that Soi Fon ran off by herself. "Come on. If you beat me, I'll reassign the Hakuda class to someone else," Yoruichi offered. Her Lieutenant didn't move, but Yoruichi could read her like a book. The offer was tempting. Too tempting, even though she knew she wouldn't win, the offer was like bait.
"Fine," Kirara rolled her eyes with a huff. She sat down in front of Yoruichi, putting her focus into the game in front of her and pushing thoughts of the info she'd given Satoru out of her mind.
Yoruichi alternated between moving her pieces, and watching Kirara. The forced smile had gone from her face, and although it was replaced by a frown of concentration, it was real. The Captain resisted a sigh.
At least the game wasn't too difficult. Kirara was talented at many things - the reason why Yoruichi had recruited her the moment she'd finished in the Academy - but she was notoriously bad at strategy games. Not once had she managed to defeat Yoruichi in a simple game of checkers. But coming up with different ways to trap and tease Kirara was half the fun, and so Yoruichi continued to entice her to play.
It finally ended the same way as usual. Kirara falling backwards and cursing as Yoruichi laughed.
"I can't believe how many times you fall for that," Yoruichi teased her, and Kirara gave a whine.
"It's a dumb game!" she complained, frustrated at yet another loss. Yoruichi just continued to laugh at her loudly.
"Again, Kirara?" Kisuke's amused voice cut through their chaos, and both looked up as the blonde-haired 3rd seat approached with a friendly smile.
"She's bullying me," Kirara complained as she sat up and scooted over to the side. "You entertain her," she told him. Kisuke laughed, well used to their antics by now.
"What brings you here, Kisuke?" Yoruichi asked her childhood friend, who sat down and studied the board in front of him. He stifled a smirk, but judging from Kirara's glare, she saw his amusement.
"I was hoping to borrow Kirara for a while," Kisuke's confession had her eyebrows lift, and the embarrassed glare vanished.
"By all means," Yoruichi gestured lightly as she leaned back in her seat. "I've embarrassed her enough here," she smirked. Kirara rolled her eyes and got to her feet, smoothing down her skirt as she did.
"Let's go then," Kirara said, gesturing for Kisuke to take the lead. Yoruichi's golden eyes burned into their backs as she watched them, her expression unreadable.
"Your work lately has been helpful with corralling our misplaced…friends," Kisuke said, keeping his voice low and his expression neutral as they left the large main hall and walked along the wooden corridors. Kirara's face was schooled into a similarly neutral look, making her seem bored.
"But still no luck?" she guessed, and he nodded. Kirara sighed. "I'd be impressed, if it wasn't so annoying. And considering what's going on tomorrow…" she trailed off. For a moment, Kisuke lost his blank expression as his eyebrows furrowed. When he didn't respond, Kirara let out a quiet breath. "Okay. Leave it with me. You keep doing what you're doing, and I'll do some work on my end," she told the third seat.
"You sure?" Kisuke's eyebrows raised. "I'm sorry Kirara, this isn't-"
"Don't worry about it," Kirara waved off his apologies. She then forced a grin back to her face. "If you pass this exam tomorrow, you're going to have to learn to delegate a lot more," she smirked, and stayed just long enough to see the exasperated look on his face before she vanished in a Shunpo step.
Every time Kirara took on another job, her office seemed to get even messier. Of course, if anyone saw it, she claimed it was entirely intentional - that there was a harmony to the piles of paper that she said were definitely filed correctly.
To nobody's surprise, they were not.
Muttering to herself as she worked, Kirara walked around her office lifting files that she'd forgotten to put away, thumbing through them.
"Damn, I can't tell who has worse writing; me or Kisuke," Kirara muttered as she stared for a long moment at one piece of paper, before going to the map that was spread over the small table by her sofa. Her desk, as always, was a graveyard for abandoned paperwork, so she utilised the rest of her office to work.
Scrubbing at her face, Kirara ignored her growling stomach. She'd been working practically since she'd left Kisuke, but she couldn't bring herself to stop even after night fell. Nor could she ask anyone to help her - they were busy with the rest of the work she'd dropped on them.
Kirara continued to mutter under her breath as she marked an area on the map, surrounded by a bamboo grove. It was on the absolute outskirts of the Rukon; so far out that most bandits avoided it. She hummed to herself, arms folded as her mind worked rapidly to try and help Kisuke out on what was possibly his last mission as the Commander of the Detention Unit.
So focused on her work, Kirara didn't notice the messenger until he cleared his throat a second time. She jumped, barely managing to keep her reaction concealed as she looked around at the man kneeling nearby. His face was mostly concealed, but she was the apologetic smile on his lips.
"Sorry for the disturbance, Lieutenant Yamada," he bowed his head as Kirara let out a breath and approached. "A message, deemed urgent," the man held out the piece of paper. Kirara took it quickly, reading the rough, vague words on the page.
"Thanks for that," Kirara thanked the messenger, who nodded once and vanished. "I definitely owe them that budget increase," she told herself with a faint laugh, reading over Kuroro's vague words once more. She'd sent a Hell Butterfly to the man. How he always got the messages back to her was something she still didn't know.
Kirara then shook her head, repeating the vague words in her head as she tore up the paper and threw the pieces into the bin by the desk. "Back to work," she muttered, shaking away the cobwebs to focus once more.
The sun blazed down in the Rukon with no pity for Kirara's strained eyes, forcing her to raise a hand to shield them as she walked through the busy streets. Most of the people walking by paid her no mind, well used to Shinigami coming and going by now.
A few kids ran by, with some staring openly at the woman as she walked. She flashed them a smile, watching as their eyes grew larger, and she chuckled to herself as she kept walking.
Finally she reached one of the larger buildings in that district. It was as poorly made as the rest, if not moreso, and Kirara resisted a grimace as she gave it a careful look over. It looked ready to collapse, and the smell of stale smoke and beer reached her even before she set foot inside.
"If this is how I go…I'm dragging Kisuke with me," she muttered under her breath, and finally stepped into the bar.
It was loud inside as people shouted and laughed and drank the morning away. With so much din, it was almost impossible to hear anything unless you were right up beside a person. It made Kirara smirk a little.
"Impressive place you've chosen," she called, and Kisuke glanced at her. He smiled faintly, looking just as tired as she did. Kirara doubted he'd gotten any more sleep than she had.
"You'd think even you would wear shoes in here," Kisuke replied, and Kirara raised an eyebrow in a look that almost made him laugh. She moved around Kisuke, noting the men who sat around the table with him, looking just as relaxed as he did as they all nursed drinks they had no intention of finishing. As Kirara moved, she slipped a paper to him, and Kisuke handled it with as much sleight-of-hand as she did.
"It's not much, but it's new info, so it might help link them to their current…abode," she said, keeping her smile on her face as the people around them paid no heed. Content to drink away their time, most were already drunk.
"Thanks, Kirara," he offered her a smile, and got a shrug in response.
"Don't worry about it," she said, repeating her words from the previous day. Kisuke's smile grew more genuine. "I better go. I have some other work to handle, and seeing a Lieutenant around here with you might raise some suspicions," Kirara glanced around. Most were still ignoring them, but a few had noticed the insignia tied to her arm. "I'll see you around. And if I don't…good luck," she grinned, and Kisuke shook his head.
"How you found out is beyond me," he complained. Kirara's snort was barely audible over the din.
"Finding things out is my job, Kisuke," she pointed out as she walked away. He chuckled, and turned back to the group sitting with him as she walked away. Kirara earned a few more looks from the patrons, but ignored them as she stepped out of the bar and took a deep breath of fresh air. She then sighed heavily. "I'm going to need another bath…" Kirara complained as she smelt the smoke that clung to her.
Before leaving, Kirara turned quickly, but saw nobody in the doorway to the bar. The faintest of smirks flickered across her face as the feeling that she was being watched started to subside, but instead of chasing her, Kirara turned and left, knowing that she needed to eat and bathe before she got back to work. She yawned. "I need a break," Kirara complained to herself.
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