Save Me chapter 3
Kisuke Urahara sat pensively outside of his shop, quietly sipping a cup of tea. As the dawn broke,and the sun rose against the hazy blue sky, other shop owners were starting to set up. Fresh risen, the heat of the sun had not yet evaporated the thin layer of fog that had rolled in during the night. It was a rather picturesque scene to take in. Combining the beautiful day break with the heavenly mixture of aromas coming from the bakery,and coffee shop a block away, it was almost tantalizing enough for the habitually laid back Uraharah to entertain the thought of sitting back,and doing nothing. Unfortunately, though most could bask in the beauty of the day, the shop owner thoughts were preoccupied. The usually playful soul reaper sighed,and went to take another sip of tea, only to find his cup was empty. He turned slightly to call for another cup,but stopped upon seeing the fresh cup of tea sitting on a tray behind him. The sight brought a small smile to his face. Leave it to Tessei to know what he needed, when he needed it, without words ever being exchanged. "Thank you,Tessei" Kisuke mumbled,grateful for such a friend during these complicated times
Tessei's reply came in the form of a silent smile,as the shop assistant knew he was thanking him for more than just the tea. Really,there were no words his childhood friend,and shop assistant, needed to say. Kisuke picked up his new cup,and gave the top a light blow before taking a sip. A slight frown pulled at his lips, marking his features with a sulk, as he thought about the upcoming meeting his fellow ex-soul reapers,and friends had in just a few hours. Kisuke,and Tessei were both aware this day could only hide from view for so long, now the other shoe was dropping. Captain- Commander, Yamamoto,had come to a decision. Now, shit was about to hit the proverbial fan, and the only question was, what would become of the visordes after this. They just didn't know what the outcome would be, either way, lives would be effected forever.
Kisuke scoffed. His sneaky,and cleaver nature gave the impression that, Urahara had the low down on everything. For good reasons, seeing as he always had his fingers in the affairs of the soul society, manipulating things from behind the scene, While it was true, he had a general idea of what was going on around him,even more true was, he just could not read Captain Yamamoto. The man was an enigma, seeming to contradict him self, at one moment, the head captain could be understanding,and generous, even caring. The next moment, he would be as hard and, implacable as seki-seki stone. One thing Kisuke knew for certain, the head captain based his decisions solely on what he felt would keep the soul society safe,yet that was no comfort to the shopkeeper. Their ideology on what it meant to protect the soul society differed,and collided. He might see the visords as central 46 did, just hollows that needed to be ratified. Even worst, he could throw them in prison as traitors, leaving them there to rot for centuries. Kisuke could only hope for the best, that he will come to the decision to extend an olive branch, much like he did with Ichigo. The first two possibilities didn't sit well with the ex-captain,and he could guess how the visoreds would feel. Yet, even the most peaceful solution got the shopkeeper thinking about an entire new set of problems. How would the visoreds react to it? Most of them were level headed enough to at least think it through but some of them, Hiyori,and Kensei to be exact, were a bit more volatile. Thinking of his fireball of a former lieutenant, made him smile fondly, regardless of his train of thought. She was a spirited girl, ablaze with passionate rage,tied up in a miniature package. He knew what her reaction would be, she was impatient,and hot headed, so he hoped one of the others would step in to keep her calm.
Kensei was a different matter all together. Most of the time, he was well behaved, except when he was being a sour puss, and dependable. His time as a captain had helped in that regard. The problem with the silver haired visord was, his hollow. According to Shinji, even after a hundred years, none of them had perfected control over their hollows. Kensei had the hardest time, his lack of control,or acceptance over his emotions, made him prone to give into the hollows rage,and the hollows rage only made it more difficult for him to accept his emotions. It was a seemingly inescapable cycle. Shinji had jokingly called the man emotionally defective, while Kisuke had laughed at the time, he wasn't laughing now. Kensei needed to keep his hollow under control today, otherwise any hope of peace between the visoreds,and the soul reapers would vanish.
It seemed like that time had come. He could feel the ex-soul reapers approaching. In response, he carefully let his reiatsu out, testing the air surrounding the group. He sighed to himself swiftly, concealing his reiatsu back, when he sensed the relatively controlled temperament from the group. Not having control over a situation was a difficult pill to swallow. Those eight had learned that lesson a long time ago,and they weren't feeling particularly trusting,or amicable right now, they were determined to get this meeting over with,and have the ball back in their court. He just had to hope the head captain would let that happen.
Kisuke face donned a sly grin, at the sight of the approaching group rounding the corner. He quickly put down his cup of tea, waiting for them to approach.
"Kisuke." Shinji proclaimed in a dull tone, while not looking at the man in front of him.
"Good morning Shinji, Love, Rose, Lisa, Hachi, Mashiro, Kensei, how are yo-" Kisuke greeted each one of the visoreds but was suddenly interrupted by Hiyori's round house kick to the face.
"You forgot me,dumbass." Hiyori yelled.
Rubbing his now sore cheek bone, he spoke in a placid manner. "I see some thing's never change." Giving the girl a coy smile, he continued. "I didn't forget you Hiyori, I was merely saving you for last because you're special." the shopkeeper pleaded with the little visoreds vanity, knowing it was the quickest way to get her to calm down.
"She's special alright, a special kind of crazy" Shinji scoffed, as Urahara shook his head in dismay. Five minuets,and his plan was already out the window, he thought to himself, as Hiryori aimed her kick.
"Shut up baldy! No one asked for your opinion ,idiot!" Hiyori yelled,and stalked over to smack him with her shoe.
The familiar scene put a smile on Kisuke's face,but the normalcy was shattered rather quickly by a punctuated sigh ,that had Kisuke whipping out his fan to hide his grimace. As he looked towards Kensei, he eyed his tense posture. Even though,the man was staunchly looking away, Kisuke could tell Kensei was still in control,he just wanted to get moving.
"As they say, theres no time like the present. Let's get moving, shall we?" Kisuke said in a falsely cheerful voice. He waved for the group, as he turned around, and lowered his fan,snapping it shut. He led them to his underground training grounds, where Yoruichi Shihoin was waiting for them. She greeted the group with a nod of her head,and looked at Kisuke somewhat somberly.
"It's time." she stated, as the shop keeper nodded in reply, turning to the group behind him.
"This senkaimon." He pointed to the structure behind him. "Will take you directly to the Captain-Commander himself. No one else is to know you are there-" He started to explain,but was interrupted again, this time by Hachi.
"That will be very difficult, Kisuke. We were all told to leave our gigai's here,and you know, as soon as we set foot into the dangai, squad twelve will know. When we leave, our reiatsu will give us away,being so close to the Captain-Commander, others are sure to come to his aid." Hachi stated, looking to Kisuke for the answer, only he wasn't the one who spoke up first.
"Don't worry Hachi,the Captain-Commander has taken care of squad twelve for now. So, there is no need to worry about traveling through the dangai,as for entering into the soul society well ...that's what these are for." Yoruichi replied, drawing the attention of the group, while holding up a cloak, and modified limiter cuffs. "With these,the only one that will be noticed with the Captain-Commander is me." The ware-cat smiled,and continued. "I have been there enough that no one will think twice about it,and just to be safe,I will raise my own reiatsu to block out any power that gets past these measures." She winked at the big man,and tossed them all a pair of cuffs,and a cloak. The group examined their new gear;the cloaks all had the Shihoin family symbol on them, while the cuffs just looked like bracelets,or wristbands. They looked nothing like the usual ones the soul society used on criminals. They considered that a good oman. There was no way in hell they would go to the captain- commander looking like common criminals, even if they technically were. The group of visoreds all had superb control over there reiatsu, but some of the hollow power still leaked out. So, once they put the limiters on,they immediately could feel the difference in there power output. Upon donning the cloaks, unless you saw them, you wouldn't even know they were there.
"Now, if you are all ready, I will open the gate." Kisuke shouted in a loud sing song voice,that got him a blend of reaction from the group before him. Most just ignored his antics, Shinji rolled his eyes, while adverting them. Hiyori mumbled to herself, something about 'stupid shopkeepers being annoying', and Kensei just scowled at him. Sighing, the always strange,and cryptic shopkeeper proceeded to open the gate.
"Hold on a second, Kisuke." Everyone but Kisuke turned,and looked at the new comer.
"Welcome, Isshin. I see you finally made it. What can I do for you?" Kisuke asked, with a smile on his face.
"Cut the crap,Kisuke, it's better for someone else to open the gate for these folks!" Isshin Kurosaki stated, crossing his arms across his broad chest.. "You might be smart,but you sure tend to leave out some important details when no one thinks to ask!" Isshin concluded honestly, as he walked past the group,and stood next to Kisuke.
Kisuke traded his usually comical nature,for a more angelic temperament. Throwing him the purest,most uncorrupted, smile to ever be faked. "What are you talking about,Isshin? I sensed you coming,and was trying to stall long enough for you to get here. I wasn't going to let them start the journey, not until I informed them of the time limit. I might be a teensy bit of a prankster,but I am not that mean!" Kisuke smiled wickedly, hidden behind his fan momentarily.
"Uh-huh,sure" Isshin replied in disbelief,and without any further waiting,he unsheathed his sword,and struck forward the tip. Seeming to disappear into nothing, the sword commanded the door to open. Upon opening, nine hell butterflies flew out from the open doorway. "Looks like the Captian-Commader is trying to make your journey as easy as possible." Isshin commented, before turning his attention back to the visoreds. "Still, don't stay in to long. Remember, the cleaner is gone, so the time difference is more noticeable." The former captain of the tenth squad cautioned.
"Thank you Isshin. Kisuke, we will be back as soon as we can." Yoruichi stated in a cheerful voice,while shooting a side ways glance at the two former captain. With that, she disappeared into the door way, the visoreds following quietly,while the last sound Kensei,and Isshin heard was another long sigh from Kensei. Weather it was to calm himself, or a sign of hostility, they were unsure of. All they could do was hope for the best.
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At the sound of fluttering wings, Shuuhei looked up from his paper work, while he waited for the hell butterfly to land on his finger.
"All captains,and lieutenants are hereby summoned to an emergency meeting with Captain-Commander Yamamoto,I repeat all captain and lieutenants are summoned to an emergency meeting with the Captain-Commander."
Shuuhei sighed, stood up from his chair, stretched, and called for his third seat. Taking a moment longer to get his body loosened, his back,and neck muscles popped as he twisted arthritic form. His addiction with work had started causing debilitating effects, leaving his body creaky. Head spinning, he realized he couldn't remember the last time he had eaten. By the time Suzuki Nobu entered his office, Shuuhei had pulled himself together,and wasted no time in ordering the young man to have the unit ready for training by the time he came back.
"Yes sir." Nobu answered,while he turned to leave, ready to carry out his commanding officer's orders, only to stop just before leaving the office. He looked back at his captain,noticing how rattled,and flushed his face appeared. The trembling state of his legs,and hands were worrisome, it was as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. The third seat was concerned for his lieutenant. Nobu had deep reverence for this man. Shuuhei took on the ambitious,at times improbably, task of holding the squad together, which had been running like a fine oiled machine for last few months. Shuuhei did this without criticism,and ruled with a firm,yet fair, authority. Without complaint, he would do anything to help the young lieutenant out. His entire squad would, If only Shuuhei wasn't so prideful. Shuuhei never did ask for help. A few of the lower seated officers just shrugged it off,but Nobu couldn't do that, not anymore. Shunnhei was so stricken with malnutrition,and exhaustion, that he couldn't even affectively pretend there wasn't a problem. How could Nobu not say anything?"Pardon me for asking sir" He hesitated momentarily. "but are you alright? Do you need anything before you leave for your meeting?" Nobu asked tentatively, with worry in his eyes.
"I'm alright, thank you." He closed this eyes for a moment, trying to push through another dizzy spell. "You're dismissed." Shuuhei replied.
Nobu waited for a second before adverting his eye downwards. "Very well sir, I will have the squad ready by the time you get back." The third seat bowed,and left the room.
Shuuhei slowly let out the breath he had been holding, and leaned against the desk, while giving his trembling a break from the weight of his weak body. "Shit." Shuuhei exclaimed to the empty room. After taking another moment to collect himself, Shuuhei started on his way to the first squad meeting hall. His body felt like it was running on auto pilot, as he let his mind wonder for a bit. Not good, he had to focus, surely his frail stature would be a clear give away of weakening constitution. His own officers were starting to notice his slowly declining health. Most of them still thought it was do to all the paperwork,and responsibilities he had, and he wanted to keep it that way. He didn't want them to worry , but it was too late for that. People were already worried about him,and it wasn't just his friends. Little did he know, just how many people had noticed his slow decline.
The young lieutenant arrived at the meeting hall,only to stop,and grab onto the doorframe, as another dizzy spell came about, his mind became opaque. He blinked a few times, while he looked around, hoping no one had noticed his slip up. Then, he steadied himself before entering the room. He found Captain Kyoraku,and Captain Ukitake in a deep conversation with Captain Unohana,and Yoruichi Shihoin. The other captains,and lieutenants were all assembled, now waiting for the Captain-Commander's arrival.
"Good Morning Captain Kyoraku, Captain Ukitake, Captain Unohana, Lady Yoruichi." Shuuhei greeted,and bowed to each respectively. The three captains returned the greeting with placid smiles.
"HA! Shuuhei, you're way to stiff! Stop with all the formalities." Yoruichi chided the young lieutenant,and slapped him on the back, making him stumble forward awkwardly, despite the mild nature of the slap. He noticed the surprised looks on the captains faces, as their eyes cascaded over the lieutenant's weakling appearance.
"Sorry." Shuuhei recovered, clearing his throat. "I trained too hard yesterday,and I am a little sore" Shuuhei fibbed sheepishly. The lies came to easily to his lips now. Though, they wouldn't work anymore. Even he was starting to realize it, no one was buying his song,and dance. He knew it now more than ever, that he had to cure what had been ailing him. The only problem being, he had no clue how to do so.
"You might want to take it easy there, Shuuhei. You're looking a little pale. If your not careful, you might get paler than Jushiro." Captain Kyoraku teased in good humor, while studying the young lieutenant in front of him. Who did this young man think he was fooling? Certainly not Kyoraku. They had all noticed his spell upon arriving,but choose to ignore it. Not wanting to embarrass the man at such an impromptu moment. Too mush training my ass. The older man thought, as he looked to his fellow captains, seeing they were all coming to the same conclusion. This had gone on long enough,and if Shuuhei continued to refused to ask for help, they'd have no choice but to step in,and make him take a break.
"I will be alright sir. Thank you." Shuuhei emoted meekly, before he turned towards the front of the room, just in time for Captain-Commander to enter.
"Thank you all for coming so quickly." Yamamoto addressed the room,and continued speaking in his clear authoritative voice that brokered no argument. "The last few months have been very hard on you all,and I want to commend you all for your hard work,and detection in keeping the Gotei 13 running as smoothly as you have. Yet, a problem still remains, we have three empty captain positions that required filling. Today, those positions have been filled."
Every captain and lieutenant in the room tensed at these words, mixed with apprehensiveness,and excitement at the ideas of unknown new comers. After all the carnage left from the war, the captains couldn't help,but be cautious,and slightly nervous. It seemed impossible to trust anyone these days , the effects of the missing captains were yielded everywhere, people were at their breaking points. So, despite the skepticism, there were no complaints.
"Please enter, Squad Three Captain, Rojuro Otoribashi." The Captain-Commander called. The doors opened,then the long haired blond walked into the room, and bowed before taking his place in front of his lieutenant, Izuru Kira. There were quiet murmurs traveling around the room, but it was all just static to Shuuhei ears.
"Please enter, Squad Five Captain, Shinji Hirako" The Captain-Commander called. The doors opened yet again. In walked the lankly lackluster man, bowing before taking his place in front of his lieutenant, Momo Hinamori. The murmurs were not so quiet now, but still, Shuuhei heard none of it, as the static in his ears grew louder, and his vision became obscured once more.
"Please enter, Squad Nine Captain, Kensei Muguruma." The Captain-Commander called out. As the doors opened the silver haired man walked into the room, making eye contact with Shuuhei. The younger man had the look of a sick deer in the headlights before his eyes rolled up into his head, and he started to fall. The older man's face was a strange cocktail of happy, and sickly nervous. That changed quickly, his eyes donning shock,and concern at the boys limp body. His body moved before his mind even registered what he was doing. The man didn't bow to the assembly, instead, he flash stepped to Shuuhei's side,and caught him just before he hit the floor face first.
"The Hell kid?" Kensei swore at boy, then growled slightly, remembering Shuuhei was out cold.
"Please lay him down Kensei. I need to check his vitals." Retsu Unohana spoke gently,yet firmly. Upon looking over his shoulder, he saw the sweet smile,yet somehow intimidating eyes of the healer. Any protest he might have made vanished from his mind,as he quickly laid the boy down. The healer kneeled down,and sighed heavily. "You stubborn boy, why did you let yourself get this far?" Retsu chastised quietly, momentarily taking in his figure with sadness. She started to check over Shuuhei. When she was done, she stood up,and turned to Kensei. "I will be taking him to the Squad Four relief center for further healing. I believe you should come with me, there are a few things you need to know,and understand about your lieutenant." She spoke quietly, her words to be for his ears only. The healer turned to the Captain-Commander, and bowed. "I am sorry for the disturbance sir,but I need to leave with lieutenant Shuuhei,and Captain Muguruma." She apologized,yet leaving no room for argument.
"Sorry,sir." Kensei bowed, repeating the formality.
"It is alright. Go Retsu,and Kensei, take care of Shuuhei quickly. He is needed in his squad ...dismissed."
Kensei picked up Shuuhei bridal style,and Retsu gave him a quizzical look. He looked down at the healer,and frowned,waiting for her to lead the way. A tick started to go off in Kensei's eye, as she remained still.
"WHAT?" Kensei barked, finally loosing his patience. "It's not like i'm hurting him! He doesn't have any broken bones or anything! The stupid kid just fainted." He continued in a huff, but slowly lost his steam as the healer just turned,and motioned for him to follow.
When the doors closed behind them, more than one person laughed at Kensei's display,but none harder than Shinji,and Mashiro, who was just now getting noticed by the others. Almost as soon as it began, the laughter dissipated. Yes,they thought Kensei was funny,but Shuuhei's situation wasn't.
"Um, Mashiro, what are you doing here?" Captain Ukitake asked placidly. "Not that it isn't nice to see you."
The green haired woman didn't miss a beat when answering. "I am Kensei's lieutenant, aren't I? Where he goes, I go!" She proclaimed happily, as she touched a finger to her lips at the looks of shock,and anger mixed among the room. "Don't worry, I am not going to take his place. I am just here for the fun." She finished with a smile on her face, turing to flash step out of the room, leaving the assembly more than raddled by the meeting's events.
Tessei's reply came in the form of a silent smile,as the shop assistant knew he was thanking him for more than just the tea. Really,there were no words his childhood friend,and shop assistant, needed to say. Kisuke picked up his new cup,and gave the top a light blow before taking a sip. A slight frown pulled at his lips, marking his features with a sulk, as he thought about the upcoming meeting his fellow ex-soul reapers,and friends had in just a few hours. Kisuke,and Tessei were both aware this day could only hide from view for so long, now the other shoe was dropping. Captain- Commander, Yamamoto,had come to a decision. Now, shit was about to hit the proverbial fan, and the only question was, what would become of the visordes after this. They just didn't know what the outcome would be, either way, lives would be effected forever.
Kisuke scoffed. His sneaky,and cleaver nature gave the impression that, Urahara had the low down on everything. For good reasons, seeing as he always had his fingers in the affairs of the soul society, manipulating things from behind the scene, While it was true, he had a general idea of what was going on around him,even more true was, he just could not read Captain Yamamoto. The man was an enigma, seeming to contradict him self, at one moment, the head captain could be understanding,and generous, even caring. The next moment, he would be as hard and, implacable as seki-seki stone. One thing Kisuke knew for certain, the head captain based his decisions solely on what he felt would keep the soul society safe,yet that was no comfort to the shopkeeper. Their ideology on what it meant to protect the soul society differed,and collided. He might see the visords as central 46 did, just hollows that needed to be ratified. Even worst, he could throw them in prison as traitors, leaving them there to rot for centuries. Kisuke could only hope for the best, that he will come to the decision to extend an olive branch, much like he did with Ichigo. The first two possibilities didn't sit well with the ex-captain,and he could guess how the visoreds would feel. Yet, even the most peaceful solution got the shopkeeper thinking about an entire new set of problems. How would the visoreds react to it? Most of them were level headed enough to at least think it through but some of them, Hiyori,and Kensei to be exact, were a bit more volatile. Thinking of his fireball of a former lieutenant, made him smile fondly, regardless of his train of thought. She was a spirited girl, ablaze with passionate rage,tied up in a miniature package. He knew what her reaction would be, she was impatient,and hot headed, so he hoped one of the others would step in to keep her calm.
Kensei was a different matter all together. Most of the time, he was well behaved, except when he was being a sour puss, and dependable. His time as a captain had helped in that regard. The problem with the silver haired visord was, his hollow. According to Shinji, even after a hundred years, none of them had perfected control over their hollows. Kensei had the hardest time, his lack of control,or acceptance over his emotions, made him prone to give into the hollows rage,and the hollows rage only made it more difficult for him to accept his emotions. It was a seemingly inescapable cycle. Shinji had jokingly called the man emotionally defective, while Kisuke had laughed at the time, he wasn't laughing now. Kensei needed to keep his hollow under control today, otherwise any hope of peace between the visoreds,and the soul reapers would vanish.
It seemed like that time had come. He could feel the ex-soul reapers approaching. In response, he carefully let his reiatsu out, testing the air surrounding the group. He sighed to himself swiftly, concealing his reiatsu back, when he sensed the relatively controlled temperament from the group. Not having control over a situation was a difficult pill to swallow. Those eight had learned that lesson a long time ago,and they weren't feeling particularly trusting,or amicable right now, they were determined to get this meeting over with,and have the ball back in their court. He just had to hope the head captain would let that happen.
Kisuke face donned a sly grin, at the sight of the approaching group rounding the corner. He quickly put down his cup of tea, waiting for them to approach.
"Kisuke." Shinji proclaimed in a dull tone, while not looking at the man in front of him.
"Good morning Shinji, Love, Rose, Lisa, Hachi, Mashiro, Kensei, how are yo-" Kisuke greeted each one of the visoreds but was suddenly interrupted by Hiyori's round house kick to the face.
"You forgot me,dumbass." Hiyori yelled.
Rubbing his now sore cheek bone, he spoke in a placid manner. "I see some thing's never change." Giving the girl a coy smile, he continued. "I didn't forget you Hiyori, I was merely saving you for last because you're special." the shopkeeper pleaded with the little visoreds vanity, knowing it was the quickest way to get her to calm down.
"She's special alright, a special kind of crazy" Shinji scoffed, as Urahara shook his head in dismay. Five minuets,and his plan was already out the window, he thought to himself, as Hiryori aimed her kick.
"Shut up baldy! No one asked for your opinion ,idiot!" Hiyori yelled,and stalked over to smack him with her shoe.
The familiar scene put a smile on Kisuke's face,but the normalcy was shattered rather quickly by a punctuated sigh ,that had Kisuke whipping out his fan to hide his grimace. As he looked towards Kensei, he eyed his tense posture. Even though,the man was staunchly looking away, Kisuke could tell Kensei was still in control,he just wanted to get moving.
"As they say, theres no time like the present. Let's get moving, shall we?" Kisuke said in a falsely cheerful voice. He waved for the group, as he turned around, and lowered his fan,snapping it shut. He led them to his underground training grounds, where Yoruichi Shihoin was waiting for them. She greeted the group with a nod of her head,and looked at Kisuke somewhat somberly.
"It's time." she stated, as the shop keeper nodded in reply, turning to the group behind him.
"This senkaimon." He pointed to the structure behind him. "Will take you directly to the Captain-Commander himself. No one else is to know you are there-" He started to explain,but was interrupted again, this time by Hachi.
"That will be very difficult, Kisuke. We were all told to leave our gigai's here,and you know, as soon as we set foot into the dangai, squad twelve will know. When we leave, our reiatsu will give us away,being so close to the Captain-Commander, others are sure to come to his aid." Hachi stated, looking to Kisuke for the answer, only he wasn't the one who spoke up first.
"Don't worry Hachi,the Captain-Commander has taken care of squad twelve for now. So, there is no need to worry about traveling through the dangai,as for entering into the soul society well ...that's what these are for." Yoruichi replied, drawing the attention of the group, while holding up a cloak, and modified limiter cuffs. "With these,the only one that will be noticed with the Captain-Commander is me." The ware-cat smiled,and continued. "I have been there enough that no one will think twice about it,and just to be safe,I will raise my own reiatsu to block out any power that gets past these measures." She winked at the big man,and tossed them all a pair of cuffs,and a cloak. The group examined their new gear;the cloaks all had the Shihoin family symbol on them, while the cuffs just looked like bracelets,or wristbands. They looked nothing like the usual ones the soul society used on criminals. They considered that a good oman. There was no way in hell they would go to the captain- commander looking like common criminals, even if they technically were. The group of visoreds all had superb control over there reiatsu, but some of the hollow power still leaked out. So, once they put the limiters on,they immediately could feel the difference in there power output. Upon donning the cloaks, unless you saw them, you wouldn't even know they were there.
"Now, if you are all ready, I will open the gate." Kisuke shouted in a loud sing song voice,that got him a blend of reaction from the group before him. Most just ignored his antics, Shinji rolled his eyes, while adverting them. Hiyori mumbled to herself, something about 'stupid shopkeepers being annoying', and Kensei just scowled at him. Sighing, the always strange,and cryptic shopkeeper proceeded to open the gate.
"Hold on a second, Kisuke." Everyone but Kisuke turned,and looked at the new comer.
"Welcome, Isshin. I see you finally made it. What can I do for you?" Kisuke asked, with a smile on his face.
"Cut the crap,Kisuke, it's better for someone else to open the gate for these folks!" Isshin Kurosaki stated, crossing his arms across his broad chest.. "You might be smart,but you sure tend to leave out some important details when no one thinks to ask!" Isshin concluded honestly, as he walked past the group,and stood next to Kisuke.
Kisuke traded his usually comical nature,for a more angelic temperament. Throwing him the purest,most uncorrupted, smile to ever be faked. "What are you talking about,Isshin? I sensed you coming,and was trying to stall long enough for you to get here. I wasn't going to let them start the journey, not until I informed them of the time limit. I might be a teensy bit of a prankster,but I am not that mean!" Kisuke smiled wickedly, hidden behind his fan momentarily.
"Uh-huh,sure" Isshin replied in disbelief,and without any further waiting,he unsheathed his sword,and struck forward the tip. Seeming to disappear into nothing, the sword commanded the door to open. Upon opening, nine hell butterflies flew out from the open doorway. "Looks like the Captian-Commader is trying to make your journey as easy as possible." Isshin commented, before turning his attention back to the visoreds. "Still, don't stay in to long. Remember, the cleaner is gone, so the time difference is more noticeable." The former captain of the tenth squad cautioned.
"Thank you Isshin. Kisuke, we will be back as soon as we can." Yoruichi stated in a cheerful voice,while shooting a side ways glance at the two former captain. With that, she disappeared into the door way, the visoreds following quietly,while the last sound Kensei,and Isshin heard was another long sigh from Kensei. Weather it was to calm himself, or a sign of hostility, they were unsure of. All they could do was hope for the best.
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At the sound of fluttering wings, Shuuhei looked up from his paper work, while he waited for the hell butterfly to land on his finger.
"All captains,and lieutenants are hereby summoned to an emergency meeting with Captain-Commander Yamamoto,I repeat all captain and lieutenants are summoned to an emergency meeting with the Captain-Commander."
Shuuhei sighed, stood up from his chair, stretched, and called for his third seat. Taking a moment longer to get his body loosened, his back,and neck muscles popped as he twisted arthritic form. His addiction with work had started causing debilitating effects, leaving his body creaky. Head spinning, he realized he couldn't remember the last time he had eaten. By the time Suzuki Nobu entered his office, Shuuhei had pulled himself together,and wasted no time in ordering the young man to have the unit ready for training by the time he came back.
"Yes sir." Nobu answered,while he turned to leave, ready to carry out his commanding officer's orders, only to stop just before leaving the office. He looked back at his captain,noticing how rattled,and flushed his face appeared. The trembling state of his legs,and hands were worrisome, it was as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. The third seat was concerned for his lieutenant. Nobu had deep reverence for this man. Shuuhei took on the ambitious,at times improbably, task of holding the squad together, which had been running like a fine oiled machine for last few months. Shuuhei did this without criticism,and ruled with a firm,yet fair, authority. Without complaint, he would do anything to help the young lieutenant out. His entire squad would, If only Shuuhei wasn't so prideful. Shuuhei never did ask for help. A few of the lower seated officers just shrugged it off,but Nobu couldn't do that, not anymore. Shunnhei was so stricken with malnutrition,and exhaustion, that he couldn't even affectively pretend there wasn't a problem. How could Nobu not say anything?"Pardon me for asking sir" He hesitated momentarily. "but are you alright? Do you need anything before you leave for your meeting?" Nobu asked tentatively, with worry in his eyes.
"I'm alright, thank you." He closed this eyes for a moment, trying to push through another dizzy spell. "You're dismissed." Shuuhei replied.
Nobu waited for a second before adverting his eye downwards. "Very well sir, I will have the squad ready by the time you get back." The third seat bowed,and left the room.
Shuuhei slowly let out the breath he had been holding, and leaned against the desk, while giving his trembling a break from the weight of his weak body. "Shit." Shuuhei exclaimed to the empty room. After taking another moment to collect himself, Shuuhei started on his way to the first squad meeting hall. His body felt like it was running on auto pilot, as he let his mind wonder for a bit. Not good, he had to focus, surely his frail stature would be a clear give away of weakening constitution. His own officers were starting to notice his slowly declining health. Most of them still thought it was do to all the paperwork,and responsibilities he had, and he wanted to keep it that way. He didn't want them to worry , but it was too late for that. People were already worried about him,and it wasn't just his friends. Little did he know, just how many people had noticed his slow decline.
The young lieutenant arrived at the meeting hall,only to stop,and grab onto the doorframe, as another dizzy spell came about, his mind became opaque. He blinked a few times, while he looked around, hoping no one had noticed his slip up. Then, he steadied himself before entering the room. He found Captain Kyoraku,and Captain Ukitake in a deep conversation with Captain Unohana,and Yoruichi Shihoin. The other captains,and lieutenants were all assembled, now waiting for the Captain-Commander's arrival.
"Good Morning Captain Kyoraku, Captain Ukitake, Captain Unohana, Lady Yoruichi." Shuuhei greeted,and bowed to each respectively. The three captains returned the greeting with placid smiles.
"HA! Shuuhei, you're way to stiff! Stop with all the formalities." Yoruichi chided the young lieutenant,and slapped him on the back, making him stumble forward awkwardly, despite the mild nature of the slap. He noticed the surprised looks on the captains faces, as their eyes cascaded over the lieutenant's weakling appearance.
"Sorry." Shuuhei recovered, clearing his throat. "I trained too hard yesterday,and I am a little sore" Shuuhei fibbed sheepishly. The lies came to easily to his lips now. Though, they wouldn't work anymore. Even he was starting to realize it, no one was buying his song,and dance. He knew it now more than ever, that he had to cure what had been ailing him. The only problem being, he had no clue how to do so.
"You might want to take it easy there, Shuuhei. You're looking a little pale. If your not careful, you might get paler than Jushiro." Captain Kyoraku teased in good humor, while studying the young lieutenant in front of him. Who did this young man think he was fooling? Certainly not Kyoraku. They had all noticed his spell upon arriving,but choose to ignore it. Not wanting to embarrass the man at such an impromptu moment. Too mush training my ass. The older man thought, as he looked to his fellow captains, seeing they were all coming to the same conclusion. This had gone on long enough,and if Shuuhei continued to refused to ask for help, they'd have no choice but to step in,and make him take a break.
"I will be alright sir. Thank you." Shuuhei emoted meekly, before he turned towards the front of the room, just in time for Captain-Commander to enter.
"Thank you all for coming so quickly." Yamamoto addressed the room,and continued speaking in his clear authoritative voice that brokered no argument. "The last few months have been very hard on you all,and I want to commend you all for your hard work,and detection in keeping the Gotei 13 running as smoothly as you have. Yet, a problem still remains, we have three empty captain positions that required filling. Today, those positions have been filled."
Every captain and lieutenant in the room tensed at these words, mixed with apprehensiveness,and excitement at the ideas of unknown new comers. After all the carnage left from the war, the captains couldn't help,but be cautious,and slightly nervous. It seemed impossible to trust anyone these days , the effects of the missing captains were yielded everywhere, people were at their breaking points. So, despite the skepticism, there were no complaints.
"Please enter, Squad Three Captain, Rojuro Otoribashi." The Captain-Commander called. The doors opened,then the long haired blond walked into the room, and bowed before taking his place in front of his lieutenant, Izuru Kira. There were quiet murmurs traveling around the room, but it was all just static to Shuuhei ears.
"Please enter, Squad Five Captain, Shinji Hirako" The Captain-Commander called. The doors opened yet again. In walked the lankly lackluster man, bowing before taking his place in front of his lieutenant, Momo Hinamori. The murmurs were not so quiet now, but still, Shuuhei heard none of it, as the static in his ears grew louder, and his vision became obscured once more.
"Please enter, Squad Nine Captain, Kensei Muguruma." The Captain-Commander called out. As the doors opened the silver haired man walked into the room, making eye contact with Shuuhei. The younger man had the look of a sick deer in the headlights before his eyes rolled up into his head, and he started to fall. The older man's face was a strange cocktail of happy, and sickly nervous. That changed quickly, his eyes donning shock,and concern at the boys limp body. His body moved before his mind even registered what he was doing. The man didn't bow to the assembly, instead, he flash stepped to Shuuhei's side,and caught him just before he hit the floor face first.
"The Hell kid?" Kensei swore at boy, then growled slightly, remembering Shuuhei was out cold.
"Please lay him down Kensei. I need to check his vitals." Retsu Unohana spoke gently,yet firmly. Upon looking over his shoulder, he saw the sweet smile,yet somehow intimidating eyes of the healer. Any protest he might have made vanished from his mind,as he quickly laid the boy down. The healer kneeled down,and sighed heavily. "You stubborn boy, why did you let yourself get this far?" Retsu chastised quietly, momentarily taking in his figure with sadness. She started to check over Shuuhei. When she was done, she stood up,and turned to Kensei. "I will be taking him to the Squad Four relief center for further healing. I believe you should come with me, there are a few things you need to know,and understand about your lieutenant." She spoke quietly, her words to be for his ears only. The healer turned to the Captain-Commander, and bowed. "I am sorry for the disturbance sir,but I need to leave with lieutenant Shuuhei,and Captain Muguruma." She apologized,yet leaving no room for argument.
"Sorry,sir." Kensei bowed, repeating the formality.
"It is alright. Go Retsu,and Kensei, take care of Shuuhei quickly. He is needed in his squad ...dismissed."
Kensei picked up Shuuhei bridal style,and Retsu gave him a quizzical look. He looked down at the healer,and frowned,waiting for her to lead the way. A tick started to go off in Kensei's eye, as she remained still.
"WHAT?" Kensei barked, finally loosing his patience. "It's not like i'm hurting him! He doesn't have any broken bones or anything! The stupid kid just fainted." He continued in a huff, but slowly lost his steam as the healer just turned,and motioned for him to follow.
When the doors closed behind them, more than one person laughed at Kensei's display,but none harder than Shinji,and Mashiro, who was just now getting noticed by the others. Almost as soon as it began, the laughter dissipated. Yes,they thought Kensei was funny,but Shuuhei's situation wasn't.
"Um, Mashiro, what are you doing here?" Captain Ukitake asked placidly. "Not that it isn't nice to see you."
The green haired woman didn't miss a beat when answering. "I am Kensei's lieutenant, aren't I? Where he goes, I go!" She proclaimed happily, as she touched a finger to her lips at the looks of shock,and anger mixed among the room. "Don't worry, I am not going to take his place. I am just here for the fun." She finished with a smile on her face, turing to flash step out of the room, leaving the assembly more than raddled by the meeting's events.