7. Freedom on Hold

Orihime found herself rid of Grimmjow earlier than five o'clock that afternoon. After stopping to buy a pair of rubber boots for his new job - a shopping venture that proved less painful than the first - and a quick late lunch, he'd left back for the Tsukiji fish market at four.

Once he was gone, she couldn't decide what to do ( Read more... )

25. Classics Photo Shoot

The sound of hammering echoed across Seireitei just as dawn broke that morning, sending a certain Quincy's hangover headache to a new level.

At the site of the noise was Jay Manuel, in jeans and a sesame colored cotton shirt, standing with Ikkaku and Hisagi as he oversaw the construction of the three outdoor sets. His ( Read more... )

17. Odds

Matsumoto awoke the next morning with her head still on the window sill of her bedroom. She hadn't slept long. The early morning sun was stretching long shadows into the room, warming her cheek as she raised her head. She looked out the window, but could only see Tenth Division's flag pole. From it waved the Division banner, solitarily.

By ( Read more... )

16. First Blade

Matsumoto and Junana didn't go straight to the detention center. Instead the lieutenant had them circle back through the Seireitei streets just outside Second Division, purposeless, with Matsumoto wanting only to put a little space and time between her and the man she'd spent most of her life with before seeing him again.

"A report ( Read more... )

14. Spectator

Isshin Kurosaki frowned at the sudden ripple in spiritual pressure, unable to determine its exact qualities, but aware it wasn't like anything he'd detected in years. Many years.

He answered the knock at the front door to his house before either of the twins could get to it, and found himself staring back at one of the last people he ( Read more... )

10. Failed Attempt

The arrival of the Quincys into Soul Society did not go unnoticed. Rumor had spread by the following morning that the twelve members of the joint Division expedition had returned, and the tribe of ten extant humans thought to have been destroyed sent contrasting ripples of speculation among the Seireitei streets.

Among the reports ( Read more... )

9. Closer than Here

Matsumoto was halfway to Second Division when she met Junana. She'd been awake long before the sun's first rays stretched across her back porch, long before most of the Seireitei was awake.

Soi Fon's delegation of Gin's interrogation to her sent the whiplash of seeing him into a new tailspin. The stacks of files left in her ( Read more... )

8. Bonds

After several moments of awkwardness upon Zaraki's shocking entry into the Quincy's quarters, the tallest of the youths had attempted to demand answers. He also proved to be the oldest, and introduced himself only as Yura, leader of the clan.

"I know who you are," he said to Zaraki, the biting tone in his voice unmistakable. "You're ( Read more... )

7. Remnant

Hitsugaya sat staring at the paperwork in front of him in his office, the lines and ink becoming nonsensical as his thoughts drifted from the Tenth Division building. His eyes slid to the paper dividing wall where his lieutenant's desk was vacant, for the third day in a row.

Now she gets help with her paperwork, he thought, sighing. Why ( Read more... )

6. Precedent

Hitsugaya waited as Matsumoto stepped out onto the back porch of her quarters, watching her from his vantage point of the rooftop. He knew she was up and about already; she'd been awake and moving around in the small house for a while. He wanted to speak with her, but not at the Tenth Division offices, and before the scribe from Second ( Read more... )