Chapter 7: Promotion

Lying sprawled across the floor in the main hall of the barracks, Kirara gave a low, dramatic moan. Most of the others in the room ignored her, well used to her antics by now.

"Are you quite okay, Kirara?" Yoruichi asked, sipping at her drink as she leaned back in her seat, looking up from the papers in her hand.

"It's too hot," Kirara's declaration was nothing but a whine as she didn't move. She lay on her back, limbs splayed out as she ignored the budget requests that she was supposed to be working on. "How are we supposed to work when it's this hot? This is beach weather," she complained.

"Didn't you just have a vacation?" Yoruichi's response to Kirara's complaints were in an idle tone. Kirara cracked open a blue eye to glare at her.

"It's been over a month since we went to the hot springs, Captain," she said, unimpressed with how little her Captain seemed to care. The purple-haired woman didn't respond, and Kirara just huffed, turning her gaze back to the ceiling. "This insufferable heat aside, it's been pretty quiet recently, hasn't it?" she asked, and Yoruichi finally lowered the report she'd been reading, moving to drop it near the work that Kirara was supposed to be doing.

"You sound almost bored, Kirara. Not enjoying the peace?" she asked, finishing her drink and handing it to one of the men near her. "Don't you have an investigation to do? I could always assign you to Hollow duty. Oh! How about in the World of the Living?" Yoruichi offered, her cat-like grin springing to her face.

"No thank you," Kirara's response was flat. "I'm not bored, and yes, I have an investigation to do. We just haven't turned anything up yet," she said, finally sitting up and adjusting the band around her bare arm.

"Still? Are you sure that there's anything even to investigate?" Yoruichi quirked an eyebrow. Kirara wasn't the sort to dwell where there was no information for too long. It was part of the reason why she'd chosen her to be her Lieutenant.

"There is. My source has never let me down," Kirara said firmly.

"I suppose you just want to drag things out, have an excuse to spend more time with-"

"Do not start," Kirara cut the woman off with a glare, unwilling to let her get started with her wild theories. She was too hot to put up with it.

Yoruichi laughed to herself, clearly entertained, and stretched in her seat before taking the now full glass off the man offering it to her. She then turned back to Kirara, who was yawning, still looking irritated.

"Have you finished the budget requests?" she asked, and Kirara shook her head, finally shuffling over to her work.

"Not yet. The Inner Court Troop keep asking for higher budgets. I think someone in the Detention Unit let slip their budget," Kirara sighed, pushing her messy black hair out of her face. "And if I find out who, they're going to wish they hadn't," she grumbled.

"Captain Shihoin," Yoruichi looked up as a messenger flickered into view, kneeling beside her. Kirara lifted her head to eye him irritably, as if she blamed the man for the demands of his division. He offered Yoruichi a letter, and as she took it, he vanished, not waiting for a reply. Kirara tilted her head, interested as the Captain read through the letter, and made a humming sound.

"What is it?" Kirara leaned forwards, her curiosity outweighing her misery over the heat.

"It's about Captain Hikifune…" Yoruichi's voice was light, only half paying attention to Kirara as she read over the letter again. "She's been promoted," she announced. Kirara's eyes widened.

"Promoted?" she repeated, a little stunned by the news. She'd never heard of a Captain gaining a promotion. For a long time she'd thought that the Captain rank was the highest rank that anyone could attain; the Head Captain seemed to basically be immortal at this point. "Where to?" Kirara pressed, eager to know. Yoruichi's golden eyes gleamed as she looked up to meet Kirara's gaze.

"The Zero Division," the words seemed simple, but Yoruichi's voice was serious, and Kirara was stunned into silence. Even after she'd learned that there were ways for a Captain to rise into even higher ranks, Kirara had never known anyone to make it into the Zero Division.

Whatever Kirio Hikifune had done, it had been incredibly impressive.

Yoruichi hummed to herself again, now fanning herself with the letter as she seemed to fall into thought. "I suppose they'll be needing a new Captain," she considered, snapping Kirara out of her thoughts. She eyed her Captain, suddenly wary.

"You look like you're thinking of recommending someone," she said slowly, not liking the look on her face. Yoruichi stopped fanning herself, and glanced over at Kirara, before laughing again. The serious, tense air that had fallen over them faded in a heartbeat.

"Don't look so eager to be chosen, Kirara," Yoruichi teased her, seeing just how unwilling Kirara was to even consider the idea of being promoted. "I have someone else in mind," she said, turning back to read over the letter again. Kirara breathed a sigh of relief, not even remotely offended that she was being overlooked for someone else. "I know you're as unwilling to become a Captain as you are to join Squad 11," Kirara's face scrunched up at the thought.

"Urgh, I'd rather go to Squad 4 than join those barbarians," she shuddered at the thought. Natsuki was her best friend, but their love of fighting that led to them beating the hell out of each other when they had some free time was not something that Kirara enjoyed in the slightest. "Besides, I wouldn't be eligible to become a Captain. Knowing Bankai is a requirement," Kirara gave a casual shrug.

"Uhuh," Yoruichi's drawled response made Kirara go red as she saw the knowing smile on the woman's face. She quickly looked down, trying to focus on the budget requests from the five divisions within the Onmitsukido. To her relief, Yoruichi left her to it.

However, the numbers faded to blurs for Kirara, who almost immediately lost her focus as her mind wandered to Captain Hikifune and her sudden promotion. She knew that the woman was smart, smarter than pretty much anyone else within the Seireitei, save for maybe Kisuke.

It wasn't as if the Captains had all been the same for some time - it had only been three years since the previous Captain for Squad 3 had retired, and Rose had taken his place.

"Squad 12 without a Captain…" Kirara mused out loud, her work basically forgotten at this point. "I guess that means Hiyori will be in charge until they find someone else," she considered, and immediately leaned back. While she wasn't particularly close with the Squad 12 Lieutenant, she knew how attached she was to Captain Hikifune. She'd admired her for years, from the moment she'd joined her Squad straight out of the Academy.

Sighing, Kirara got to the feet, lightly slapping at her skirt to smooth it down. Yoruichi's eyes darted to her for less than a beat, and then went back to fanning herself with the letter. She was suffering from the heat just as much as her Lieutenant was.

"Where are you off to?" she asked, sounding disinterested as she rested her head against her knuckles.

"Squad 12. I'll finish those reports when I get back," Kirara answered, bowing respectfully to her Captain before she flickered out of view. As she vanished, Yoruichi chuckled quietly to herself and closed her eyes.

"So soft-hearted," she mused aloud.

Kirara could tell before she'd even reached Squad 12's territory, which wasn't too far from her own, that Hiyori hadn't taken the news about Captain Hikifune well.

She was downright pissed.

Almost everyone was used to Hiyori's Reiatsu flaring at random. She had an awful temper and rarely a day went by without her getting angry at someone. It was just a normal part of the day, and so even now, with the red hot energy felt across the Seireitei, most just carried on about their day.

However, since she knew that Captain Hikifune was leaving, Kirara could tell that she was angrier than usual. This was more than just her getting mad at someone for telling her to be quiet, and it made her wince.

"This is gonna be fun," Kirara murmured, suddenly feeling a little reluctant to be there. That reluctance grew as she heard the yells of pain, followed by the dull thuds of bodies hitting the walls and ground. She shook her head, not entirely surprised. It was rare that Hiyori 'convinced' the rest of her squad to spar, and it always led to a mass trip to the medical bay, almost on par with what Squad 11 was capable of.

She found Hiyori in the training grounds, surrounded by a large crowd that made up the rest of Squad 12. All of them looked a little downcast, and Kirara doubted it was just because Hiyori was beating them senseless. Captain Hikifune was a popular Captain, and not just with her own Squad. It was no surprise that her leaving had them all in low spirits, unable to refuse their Lieutenant.

"Dammit!" Hiyori yelled, her anger seeming to only grow, rather than fade. Another Shinigami skidded along the ground, his nose bloody and a bruise over his eye already causing it to swell shut. Kirara shook her head, pushing her hair from her face again, and stepped out of the crowd.

Immediately the crowd grew hushed, and the spectators began to whisper amongst themselves.

"The Squad 2 Lieutenant?"

"What's she doing here?"

"Isn't she the Squad 4 Lieutenant's sister? I wonder if she's as savage as he is."

"Squad 2…yikes," Kirara ignored the whispers, her eyes on Hiyori instead as the short blonde eyed her with an angry glare. Yep, she was definitely pissed. Kirara didn't think she'd ever seen her so worked up.

"What are you doing here?" Hiyori snarled at her. Kirara opened her mouth, and paused. The two weren't exactly friends; Hiyori saw her the way a lot of other Shinigami saw her. An assassin, a killer.

Soul King above, Kirara really hated being called a killer.

"I'm bored," she answered simply, flashing an innocent smile. "Budget reports are killing me, and when I realised you were fighting anyone dumb enough to try you, I figured I'd get a workout going," Kirara said. Hiyori's brown eyes flashed.

"You really are lazy, you know that?" she told Kirara. The taller Shinigami didn't reply. Instead, she vanished, and reappeared behind Hiyori, who turned and moved around her kick. "And you're damn stupid too!" Hiyori shouted, but as she tried to counter the kick, Kirara vanished again.

"She's fast," one of the spectators whispered as they watched the two flicker in and out of view, trading blows. Neither used their weapons, but they managed to land painful blows all the same that made the crowd watching flinch as if they felt the attacks themselves.

There was a crash as Hiyori hit the wall hard enough to crack it, and everyone grimaced. However, Hiyori remained standing, and spat out a glob of blood.

"Huh. You give a better fight than you look," she said as Kirara landed back down on the ground.

"I'm not stupid enough to go easy on you, Sarugaki," she shrugged, and Hiyori gave her a long, hard stare as she studied the other Lieutenant. She was also bruised already, and there was a smudge of blood across her face from where she'd wiped it from her split lip.

Kirara had been in the position longer than Hiyori, and she had to admit, she'd always thought her a slacker. After all, she was frequently caught sleeping in trees, or on rooftops, occasionally in the Squad 11 barracks, and even a few times on the sofa in the Squad 3 Captain's office. Hiyori figured she never really worked, except maybe when it came to her other role as a member of the ruthless Onmitsukido.

But now, in a proper sparring match - hell, could it even be called a sparring match anymore? - she was giving a good fight.

Hiyori spat out another glob of blood that had pooled in her mouth, and wiped it with the back of her hand in a manner that would have Captain Hikifune scolding her for not being more delicate. The thought of her now former Captain returned her anger to the forefront, and she launched herself at Kirara with a yell.

Kirara resisted a sigh as she used Shunpo to step out of Hiyori's way without trouble. She said she wasn't holding back, but she rarely used her full speed in front of anyone who would talk. For a moment she thought Hiyori was starting to calm down, but then she'd managed to work herself up again. This was going to take longer than she'd thought it would.

Catching Hiyori's punch, Kirara tried not to flinch as pain raced from her hand up her arm like a shock. "Beating up your entire Squad is an interesting way to cope with the heat. Captain Hikifune too busy packing to talk you down?" Kirara couldn't resist asking. Hiyori's expression darkened even more, and a moment later Kirara was slamming into the dirt below. "Ooh…I deserved that," she allowed as she lay on her back. However, she wasn't given a respite, and she forced her sore body to move before Hiyori's foot could land a blow that would have definitely broken a rib or two.

"She's already gone," Hiyori spat, which took Kirara by surprise.

"Oh," the simple word made Kirara grimace at how lame it sounded. The other Captains had only just been informed, and yet she was already gone. She wondered if it was just a thing with the Zero Division.

Kirara wasn't able to dwell on it for long, and she bent backwards so far she was able to press her hands to the ground, to avoid Hiyori's knee as it came for her face. As Hiyori sailed over her head, Kirara brought her leg up in a hard kick, and the crowd parted quickly to avoid Hiyori as she sailed past where they'd been standing. She managed to right herself in the air and land, skidding along the ground from the force and kicking up dirt. However, as she managed to stop, Kirara was in front of her again, and Hiyori's eyes widened in surprise, not having expected it. She raised her arms in defence, but the blow was strong enough to throw her aside regardless. She crashed into another wall, cracking it.

"Oh, I hope that's not going to be a hassle for you to fix," Kirara said innocently, tilting her head and offering a smile.

"It'll be worth it to wipe that stupid look off your face!" Hiyori declared, rushing in despite her protesting limbs. She pushed herself to move faster, leaping up to kick Kirara.

Only for someone to step in between them.

Immediately Hiyori flipped, landing unsteadily as Kirara lowered her leg, which she'd been raising for a high kick, and both looked up at Captain Kyoraku, who now stood between them with a friendly smile.

"Alright, enough is enough," he decided. His tone was as casual as usual, and he sounded more amused than put out. "That was quite impressive, but I think you've shown off enough for one day," he told the pair.

"You're probably right," Kirara gave a cheerful smile back to the Captain, not letting on how relieved she was that he'd stepped in. She had no doubt that if he hadn't stepped in, the two would have been going until one of them ended up with a real injury.

"Y-yeah," Hiyori wondered just how Kirara could be so relaxed around a Captain, especially one like Captain Kyoraku, who'd been in the position for far longer than most, not including Captains Ukitake and Unohana, and of course the Captain-Commander himself. She envied her a little for it.

"A trip to Squad 4 might be in order, get those injuries taken care of," despite his behaviour, Kyoraku's eyes were sharp, not missing any of the cuts and bruises on both. Kirara's lip was stinging, still bleeding, and Hiyori was pretty sure at least one of her ribs was cracked.

"Idiots," as Kyoraku left, Love spoke up, having been watching from the sidelines with the other Captain. They'd been passing by when they'd heard the commotion, and had stopped in to see what was going on. Kirara just stuck her tongue out at the much taller man as Hiyori glared at him, her temper flaring again.

"Hey, wanna grab food?" Hiyori started at Kirara's question, and she turned back to the other Lieutenant, who was rubbing her arm were a particularly bright bruise had already shown up. For a moment, she didn't answer, staring up at her with a baffled look.

"Sure," she finally agreed, before looking around at the rest of her Squad, who were looking a little relieved that she'd finally calmed down. "What are you all doing just standing around for? Get back to work!" Hiyori snapped at them, and the Shinigami around quickly scattered, looking scared.

"Come on," Kirara was already walking away, and Hiyori hurried to catch up with her.

"Not going to the medical bay?" she asked, and Kirara snorted.

"No way. I don't want to have to put up with my brother's sadistic ways for something this minor," she shrugged. Her body was aching from the punches and kicks Hiyori had landed, but it wasn't anything that some rest wouldn't take care of.

"How you two are related is beyond me," Hiyori muttered, and Kirara nodded her agreement. They were similar in appearance - except for Seinosuke being far taller than her - but their personalities were wildly different.

The two walked in silence, as Kirara waited for Hiyori to drive any conversation between them. She'd managed to wear her down enough to stop her heartbroken rampage, but she didn't want to push her. Especially after goading her the entire time they were fighting.

"I think we might have trashed the sparring field," Hiyori finally broke the quiet with her gruff words, refusing to acknowledge anything further. Kirara grinned.

"Wouldn't be the first time I've done that," she said cheerfully. Hiyori gave a huff that was almost a laugh.

"Why am I not surprised?" Hiyori shook her head, her blonde pigtails swishing. "How you're not in Squad 11 is beyond me," she muttered.

"Rude," Kirara's feigned offence made Hiyori snort.

"Though seeing how damn fast you are…and your Hakuda…" Hiyori looked up at Kirara from the corner of her eye. She had a bland smile on her face, but it didn't seem entirely real to Hiyori. It was more of a mask, waiting for whatever comment Hiyori was building up to. "You're not so bad after all, I guess," she shrugged, not missing the tension that eased from Kirara's body as they kept walking.

"Glad you think so a month after we went to the hot springs together," Kirara answered smoothly, and Hiyori snorted again.

"Don't mention that night. I'm still not over that hangover," she muttered, and this time Kirara's grin was real.

At least, until they turned the corner and found their path blocked by Shinji, who looked just as surprised to see them. His eyes went to Kirara for just a moment - both remembering the last time they had encountered one another, when he'd found her snooping around his barracks - before he went back to Hiyori. He then rolled his eyes.

"That explains the obnoxious Reiatsu I felt all the way in my office," he said, and Kirara's scowled at him.

"So you went hunting for us? How interesting," she sniped, her tone defensive as she waited for his mocking comments.

"Don't flatter yourself, Princess," Shinji rolled his eyes again, ignoring her snarl at the use of the nickname she hated. "It makes it hard for anyone to get any work done when you two are being-" his words were cut off when Hiyori's heel slammed into his gut. He let out a choke as the air was forced from his lungs, and he crashed into a nearby wall.

"Good distance," Kirara said with approval as Hiyori landed.

"Shut it, baldy!" Hiyori snapped at him. "And you - we're getting food, remember? You're not making me wait while you and the dumb baldy fight!" she said when she saw Kirara's attempt to hide her grin. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!" she shouted, already moving off, and Kirara shook her head, laughing to herself before following.

"Yeah…that's a friendship I need to worry about," Shinji groaned as he rubbed his head where it had collided with the wall. He watched the two continue to walk. "Seems she's already calmed down from Hikifune leaving though…I thought she'd destroy half the Seireitei," he mused to himself. Sensing his gaze, Kirara glanced over her shoulder and met his gaze. For a moment, they just looked at one another. Then she pulled a face, sticking out her tongue.

Shinji, for all his maturity, responded in kind.

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