Chapter 5: Mistrust

Kirara was silent save for her breathing, staring up at the man who had caught up to her. His eyes were cold as he met her gaze, and to say he looked unimpressed would have been an understatement.

"Well? Why were you there?" Shinji demanded, voice low as he didn't let her go. Kirara avoided his barracks as much as possible, save for when she was delivering reports or paperwork to Lieutenant Aizen, and he was very glad of that. The less he saw of her, the better.

So for the 2nd Squad Lieutenant to be skulking around in the middle of the night, didn't bode well in the slightest. It was almost a bad omen, and he didn't like it.

Kirara swallowed, still not speaking. This was exactly what she didn't want to happen. She cursed herself for being caught. It hadn't happened in years, not intentionally anyway. She'd panicked at the sight of him, and slipped up.

"Let me go," finally Kirara spoke quietly, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Tell me why you were there," he didn't release her, watching as her irritation grew. He wasn't about to do as she asked, if she wasn't going to do the same.

"No," Shinji had to admit, her response did surprise him. Not that she was refusing to answer him, but that she straight up denied him, rather than making an aggressive comment. "Let me go, Hirako," Kirara requested again, her fists clenched at her sides.

"And if I pull rank and order you to tell me?" Shinji asked, and Kirara tilted her head.

"Even I thought you were better than that," she snorted. Suddenly she moved, letting her kosode loosen until he released her, startled. "I'd still say no. Take it up with Captain Shihoin," Kirara said as she fixed her uniform, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. She almost flinched as his hand slammed against the wall beside her head, and he leaned closer to her as she straightened up.

"If you ain't going to tell me, then stay the hell away, Princess," he warned her.

"Don't call me that, asshole," Kirara's cold, indifferent facade slipped and she snarled at him. She glared up at the much taller Captain through her mess of black hair, fists clenched tightly.

"Then don't act like an uptight Princess," Shinji shot back, before lifting his hand and straightening up. Spitting a curse, Kirara shoved past him. "I mean it, stay away from my barracks if you're keeping secrets that I should know about," he warned, letting her walk away. Kirara stopped, tilting her head to glare at him from over her shoulder.

"Maybe it's not a secret you should know about," with that, she walked off, and he watched her, wondering just what she was involved in, and just what it had to do with Squad 5. Turning away as well, Shinji shoved his hands back into his pockets and started walking back to his barracks.

Yawning widely, Kirara didn't even try for a cheerful smile as she spoke with her Corps, discussing what work needed to be done for their latest investigation. She was all but convinced that the man she'd been watching the previous day was a risk if left alone, but she needed further investigations into him.

"Commander Yamada?" Satoru called her name, and she blinked, returning to the present. "Is everything okay?" he asked her.

"Of course," Kirara managed a smile at last, but he could see how tired she was. He wouldn't have been surprised if she'd gotten any sleep. After all, they worked best in the dark, which led to plenty of sleepless nights. "You've all got your orders. Once we have all the information about who they are, we'll get the Detention Unit involved," the team bowed to her, before all but Satoru vanished.

"Commander, you-"

"Lieutenant Yamada," before Satoru could press Kirara for an answer, a messenger appeared, kneeling respectfully. Out of habit, Satoru fixed his mask to hide his face from the man, whose upper face was hidden as well. "Captain Shihoin has requested your presence," Kirara groaned, raising her gaze to the sky.

"Probably got wind of me delegating. I'll be right there," she answered, and he vanished in a blink. Kirara then turned her tired smile back on the man who'd been a member of the Patrol Corps longer than Kirara had even been in the Onmitsukido for. "Trust me, I'm fine. It's just the results of another long night," she insisted. Satoru hummed, not entirely pacified. "Be careful of this guy," Kirara warned.

"I will," he bowed to her, before disappearing as well. Kirara then sighed, turning in the direction of the main office.

"Well, I may as well get this out of the way," she murmured, using Shunpo to travel quickly back.

Yoruichi was alone when Kirara arrived back, or as alone as could be. If she really focused, Kirara was sure that she'd be able to detect the flicker of someone's presence. Even as the Commander-in-Chief, she was still a member of one of the Five Noble Families. There was almost always someone around to help keep her safe.

And of course, Soi Fon wouldn't be too far from her precious leader.

Resisting a snort at the thought, Kirara walked inside, calling out a greeting. "Morning, Captain," she then yawned again as Yoruichi looked up from the papers in front of her, spread across a small table.

"Morning Kirara. Looks like you had an interesting night," she commented as Kirara took a seat near her, stretching her legs in front of her. She reached over and swiped a bottle of water sitting beside the Captain, who didn't even blink at the theft.

"So, am I in trouble? Or do you have work that you're planning on dumping on me?" Kirara didn't acknowledge the comment, sitting up properly and crossing her legs as she took a drink.

"I'll take that as a very good night, if you're in a grumpy mood," Yoruichi grinned, and Kirara rolled her eyes at her. "I know that you've already got your team working hard," she commented idly, leaning back in her seat.

"I swear, I'm going to find out how you hear all these things," Kirara threatened, but wasn't surprised in the slightest.

"Well I suppose it's necessary, with Shinji on the warpath," Yoruichi shrugged, going back to her work as Kirara cursed. "Not like you to be caught, Kirara," the Captain smirked without looking up. Kirara shrugged, taking another drink of water. "I suppose being in love can cause lapses in judgement," Yoruichi sighed, and her words made Kirara inhale sharply in surprise. She choked on the water, spitting it out everywhere before coughing violently.

"You're…insane…" Kirara managed to say between coughs, before finally catching her breath. "You're even more insane than I thought, if you think that's how I feel!" she exclaimed, getting to her feet as her face burned red. Yoruichi was now laughing loudly, and Kirara was reminded of her teasing towards Soi Fon about Kisuke.

"That's exactly what he said!" the childish Captain laughed, leaning back in her seat as Kirara glared at her. "Definitely got him to back off about you, that's for sure," she continued to laugh, and Kirara rolled her eyes.

"Deluded," she hissed under her breath, turning away.

"Oh, Kirara, that's not all," Yoruichi sobered, but was still grinning wildly as she stopped her Lieutenant from storming off. Kirara stopped and looked around, eyes still narrowed in a dark expression. "Remember what I mentioned a while back? About a Hakuda class?" she asked, sifting through her papers.

"Uh...yeah?" Kirara vaguely recalled her saying it in passing.

"Congratulations, you'll be teaching a class in the Spring!" Yoruichi announced, and Kirara groaned loudly.

"Let me guess, they asked you and you're too busy?" she asked, now even more irritated. Yoruichi only shrugged in response. "Make Kisuke do it. He's better than me anyway and I have too much work to do," Kirara told her half-heartedly, but she knew that she had no choice.

"You'll enjoy it, Kirara," Yoruichi held out a file to her, and with a mutter of a curse under her breath, Kirara went over and took the file from her.

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed.

"Ouch," Natsuki winced sympathetically as Kirara finished ranting to her. After she'd finished, she had slumped over the table they were sitting at, causing their drinks to rattle a little. Natsuki lifted her hands to steady them, concerned, before sitting back. "You really do work a lot y'know. I get tired just watching you," she commented. Kirara lifted her head, looking sceptical.

"Explains why your Squad are either sleeping or fighting," she said, taking her glass and lifting it as Natsuki shot her an offended look.

"Hey, I do work you know. Someone has to," she muttered as she grabbed her own drink and took a gulp.

"That's what you get for being the Lieutenant for the barbarian Squad," Kirara shrugged, showing no sympathy. Natsuki pouted at her.

"Hey, I was being nice to you. Teaching a bunch of green Shinigami Hakuda sounds awful," she commented, and Kirara had to agree. Training those in the Onmitsukido was bad enough, but new students with no clue how things worked was going to be a hassle. "Though considering how you 'teach' people, you'll probably last a day before they find someone else," Natsuki grinned at her.

"Hey," Kirara looked offended. "There's nothing wrong with how I train people. I teach people the same way I was taught," she shrugged, not seeing what was wrong with her way.

"When you tried to teach me I was covered in bruises," Natsuki reminded her.

"Then you should have learned faster," Kirara replied, sticking out her tongue. She then yawned widely again. "Urgh, I need a break," she complained, slumping back in her seat.

"Maybe if you slept during the night, you would be okay," the blonde sitting opposite her suggested. Kirara's brow rose, disappearing under the mop of dark hair that fell into her eyes. "I know, it's a revolutionary thought," Natsuki giggled.

"That's a big word for a Squad 11 thug," Kirara shot back, but there was no humour lost between the two. They'd always bantered about their Squads from the moment Natsuki was placed in Squad 11 and found herself thriving there.

"Though…" Natsuki looked thoughtful as she didn't rise to the jab. "A break does sound nice…" she considered aloud, and Kirara watched her as she seemed to fall into thought with an amused smile. Even just trading barbs with Natsuki cheered her up. "Oh, why don't we go to the hot springs this weekend? We haven't been in forever," Natsuki suggested as her brown eyes lit up. Kirara's smile widened at the idea.

"That sounds great. I'll tell Lisa about it, we can make a weekend of it," she suggested, and Natsuki cheered. She earned a few irritated looks from the others in the small shaded shop they had hidden away in, and Kirara grinned. "Try not to get into trouble before we go and get the trip cancelled again, huh?" she teased, and Natsuki stuck her tongue out.

"One time," she grumbled, making her friend laugh. "I should get going, we've another tournament and I have at least seven faces I want to smash in," Natsuki decided, downing the last of her drink before standing up.

"Nobody would guess your background," Kirara told her, and Natsuki shrugged.

"Good," she replied simply. "It's always a hassle explaining why I'm friends with you when they do," with that, Natsuki walked off and left Kirara to nurse her drink for a little while longer.

Finally she took a deep breath, suddenly slapping her hands to her cheeks hard enough to send a jolt through her. As they stung a little from the pain, Kirara stood and set her empty glass down.

"Well...back to work I guess," she said to herself.

Before long, Kirara was back at the main office with Yoruichi. She worked away, clearing the paperwork that she'd let pile up while away on her last mission, keeping her focus on the papers.

Unfortunately for her, however, she was all too aware that Yoruichi was watching her with her sharp golden eyes. Kirara did her best to ignore the Captain, who was clearly bored with her own work, and kept scribbling away.

"Don't you have your own work to do?" Eventually Kirara couldn't take it any longer, and as she signed off on a report, she looked up. "I might be cute, but I ain't your type," she commented, passing the Captain the report. Soi Fon scowled at the comment, having returned and was sitting nearby.

"You make it too easy to tease you, Kirara," Yoruichi told her. She skimmed through the papers quickly before signing them. Kirara grumbled to herself, going back to her own work.

"Don't forget there's the meeting with the last lot of new members of the Squad, you wanted to check in on their extra training with Squad 3," Kirara ignored the comment, instead reminding the Captain.

"Oh yeah…" she leaned back in her seat, thinking about it. Yoruichi then stood up, and stretched with a loud groan. "Well, let's go," she said as she looked down at her Lieutenant, who paused mid-sentence. It took another moment for Kirara to look up, looking weary and unsurprised.

"Why not?" she gave in instantly and got to her feet. Yoruichi took her haori from someone kneeling nearby, and slung it back on over her uniform, leading Kirara out. As they walked, Kirara yawned widely, and Yoruichi shot her an amused look. "What? You can't expect me to be more awake than this if you're dragging me around," Kirara defended herself, blushing a little.

"Sure, sure," Yoruichi shrugged. Walking in comfortable silence, the two left their barracks and headed for Squad 3, where some of the new recruits were training with new members of the other Squad.

Kirara was grateful for the walk, even if she wouldn't admit it to her Captain, as it slowly woke her up and let her move around. While she could easily stay still for a long time - which was a benefit when she was behind on her overdue paperwork - she didn't particularly enjoy doing so.

Stretching as she walked, Kirara let a groan slip past her lips and followed Yoruichi along. It was one of the quieter days, with only a few others around. They would sneak glances at the two, watching the head of the Shihoin House and her Lieutenant. While Yoruichi was the picture of grace, holding herself high with elegant ease, Kirara was a stark contrast with her messy hair, bare feet and tired eyes.

"Oh? Well, well. I don't often see you two out and about together," as they turned a corner, they were spotted by Kyoraku, who was walking with Lisa. Kirara bowed as Yoruichi cracked a smile, giving a lazy wave.

"It's hardly a special occasion. Just stopping my lazy Lieutenant from sneaking off for a nap," she said casually, earning a glare from Kirara as Kyoraku chuckled.

"What a coincidence. I was doing the same thing," Lisa said dryly, wiping the smile from his face. He shot her an exasperated look.

"I've asked you not to talk so casually to the other Captains," he grumbled, and Lisa shrugged, unapologetic.

"It's good that you have a tough Lieutenant to keep you in check, Captain Kyoraku," Yoruichi grinned at him, and he grumbled to himself. "Besides, I have the same problem with my own Lieutenant's casual behaviour," she added, and Kirara put a hand to her face.

"Have I done something particularly terrible to you today, Captain?" she complained.

"You see what I mean?" Yoruichi shrugged, looking exasperated. Kirara stuck out her tongue, wondering why she was even surprised. Yoruichi loved teasing her, especially in front of other Captains.

"You're too easy to bait, Kirara," Lisa told her.

"I get enough of that from Captain Shihoin, I don't need it from you too," Kirara shot back at the stoic Lieutenant.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that strange Hollow you encountered, Lieutenant Yamada," Kirara straightened a little as Kyoraku addressed her. "The report said that it lured in other Hollows and those with small amounts of Reiryoku?" he asked, curious.

"That's right. It was weak itself, just your garden-variety Hollow," Kirara answered him seriously, pushing her hair out of her face. "But it had all the other Hollows defending it. Never come across that before," she admitted, and he hummed to himself.

"We haven't much of an idea of the extent of a Hollow's abilities, especially the stronger ones that don't tend to leave Hueco Mundo," Kyoraku hummed to himself.

"If it was so weak, it makes me wonder, just why it chose to remain here, in the Soul Society, rather than go to the World of the Living," Yoruichi added in, having been just as curious about Kirara's report when she'd heard it. Unfortunately, they'd not seen anything similar since, despite Kirara keeping some time aside for her own investigation into it.

"Let's hope that it was a one-off," Kyoraku gave his usual friendly smile. "We had better get moving. It's always a pleasure to see you lovely ladies," he tipped his straw hat to the pair. Kirara bowed again as Yoruichi gave a light wave, and the two started moving in the direction Kyoraku and Lisa had been walking in as they went another way.

"Do you really think that it'll be a one-off, Captain?" Kirara asked Yoruichi, unable to hold in her curiosity. Yoruichi was quiet for another moment longer, before giving a shake of her head.

"No. And I don't think Captain Kyoraku does either," she answered.

"Me neither," Kirara admitted quietly. Yoruichi stopped, and turned to her, looking oddly serious. "Captain Shihoin?" Kirara tilted her head, looking up at the taller woman, and was surprised when Yoruichi put a hand on her head.

"You put too much work on yourself. There's a reason we have both the Onmitsukido and Squad 2 to work with," she gave a soft smile that somehow had Kirara relaxing a little. "It'll be fine," Yoruichi said confidently. Kirara was quiet for a moment, cheeks warm at the tender moment. Finally she pushed Yoruichi's hand away.

"Is that why you keep putting all your work on me?" Kirara challenged, trying to look irritated, but her blushing made it hard to do. She then watched as the gentle smile turned into something more mischievous.

"If I say it's to help you learn how to delegate, would you believe me?" Yoruichi asked, and Kirara sighed.

"Not in the slightest," she responded, making her Captain laugh loudly as she couldn't help but smile too.

Turns out going to a good old-fashioned convention also means getting good old-fashioned con flu! Still a bit run down but getting back to normal.

Anyways. I hope you like it!