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| - Confusion wasn’t really the word Naoko was looking for right now but it was the only one that fit with her situation. Yes, she understood that the eleventh division had received a crazy amount of duties to perform and investigations to carry out lately, and that that had caused the personnel to be pulled thinly to meet with the expectations, but what she didn’t understand was why they -- mere graduates! -- were being trusted with so much, and so soon! It made her feel a little dizzy to be honest. Here she was on an assignment given to her by the Captain himself! She had hoped her career as a Shinigami would launch quickly so she could make a name for herself, but this early? She hadn’t factored in that possibility, and now that it was presented to her, she wasn’t really sure what to do. At least Kazeshini was with them and while she was loathed admitting it his presence calmed her nerves a great deal. Her companions talked quietly amongst themselves except for the zanpakutō spirit, who preferred to keep his distance. It gave Naoko all the time in the world to think things through. Fourteenth Seat Yuri had said that she’d come up with a plan that would include effective use of Kazeshini and his… unique talents… but what if she couldn’t? What if they failed this assignment because of it? What would happen if her lack of experience jeopardized the entire assignment? She chewed her bottom lip with worry. ‘I wonder who we’ll be facing.’ Yori asked of Hoshi. ‘What does it matter as long as they’re strong?’ Ever like her father. Naoto wished she could face things with the same attitude as her companions. She knew better however. Sometimes to her it seemed like Yori and Hoshi lived in a different world. Rarely did they ever worry about anything. Hunting Hollow? They where fearless! In training? They where flawless! Maybe it was simply in their nature. Both seemed to have that prevalent attitude that basically said ‘everything will be alright’. If only things worked out that way. Inuzuri, the South Alley of Flowing Spirits, was quite the trek away. But use of the Senkaimon sped them on their way. When she finally decided to cease feeding her doubts she looked around at their present location. A pleasant breeze blew upwards from the two below which carried the smell of fish. From a high cliff edge the three companions looked out over the scene beneath them. Rows of houses lined their sight, while adults and children alike through the streets. Boats fished in the river beyond. Behind them stood three mounds of earth with three wooden sticks in each to mark what could only be graves. She took a moment to pay her respects to the unknown dead before she walked along the edge of the cliff face with her friends. The sun was beginning to rise in the east, which made the horizon look as thought it where on fire. For a time she wouldn’t have known the difference. But the addition of smoke rising from the homes below was enough for her to gasp in astonishment! A group of three stood upon the rivers surface. From this distance they weren’t anything more than figures. Aside from their clothing little could be discerned. All three were men however. The one on the extreme right was tall with a black outfit supplemented with red armour with shades of black. The man to the extreme left wore something on his face -- probably glasses -- with a long white coat that had a high-collar. The one in the middle however was slightly shorter than both, with a white shirt and black trousers; yet it was him who gave her the greatest feeling of dread. ‘… There’s our target,’ Kazeshini whispered in what Naoto could only describe as elation. What!? The time for making the plan had come already? Oh, what was she going to do? She hadn’t thought of anything yet… and there was only supposed to be “an individual”. As in one person and not three! The decision, thankfully, was taken out of her hands. The individuals in the centre and to the left vanished through a black gateway, leaving only the man clad in red armour. He walked towards the settlements, hand extended. What Naoko could only describe as a red mask with a big swirl pattern on it appeared to cover his face. Mere seconds after a red beam of spiritual power tore through the buildings amassed before striking the cliff all three where standing on! The ground beneath them roiled as though it threatened to give way, which it eventually did. Naoko, Yori, and Hoshi screamed as they tumbled to the floor below amongst a pile of dislodged stone, mud, and strands of grass! Kazeshini, however, faired much better. He leapt from one piece of earth to another before bending his legs and shooting forward! Naoko could hear his battle cry even as she fell. A bladed sickle with the appearance of an inverted fan whizzed through the air straight towards the masked man, who deftly punched the blade as it neared him! Pulling on the chain Kazeshini brought the weapon back, spun, and threw again. This time when contact was made a shockwave was loosed from the edge, and Kazeshini was there, attacking like a madman! He slashed, dodged, slashed, vaulted, ducked and finally side-stepped as he and the masked man traded blows. All the while the sadistic zanpakutō spirit smiled with a face full of rapture at the mere thought of cutting something, which was kind of frightening. ‘Shakkahō,’ the explosion destroyed the earth surrounding them, where Yori proceeded to cushion their fall with Tsuriboshi; which cradled them like newborns. Meanwhile Kazeshini flew through the air to collide with what was left of the cliff face, where he snarled like a crazed beast. The words came to Naoko’s lips unbidden. ‘Yori, you and I will lay done some cover. Hoshi, Kazeshini, attack him as we do.’ Surprisingly Kazeshini did as he was told! She knew Yori and Hoshi would follow her lead, but never did she think the zanpakutō spirit would. Yori began the offensive by shrouding the area with Sekienton, which produced a red smoke throughout the streets and rubble; completely obscuring the party. With her movement hidden Naoko began chanting. The words came easily to her, even though the eleventh was strictly a swords-only division. Regardless of that fact Captain Tadashi had encouraged her to keep training her Kidō skills regardless, so she did. Streaks of green light burst from the smoke, which the individual promptly diverted with a slash from a large war-fan which he took from his back. Hoshi and Kazeshini worked their way through the smoke towards the river, while Yori chanted the incantation for Sōkatsui in conjunction with Naoko’s own. Two streaks of blue fire assaulted the man who merely grunted in reply, before a sickle blade burst from the smoke to slash his cheek open beneath the eye. In addition Hoshi crossed blades with him before being pushed back by the zanpakutō spirit, who slashed as he moved, forcing the man back! ‘Enough of this,’ a calm voice broke through the clamour of battle, and Naoko, Yori, Hoshi and Kazeshini where immobilized by chains which appeared around their frames suddenly! The speaker was the white-coated man from before. ‘Come, brother. We have overstayed our welcome.’ The larger of the two men merely grinned however. Before his brother could restrain him he loosed another wave of red spiritual energy. Red gave way to black, and Naoko wasn’t sure whether she was alive or dead… He liked the idea of getting a few more hours shut eye. But his sense of duty wouldn’t allow him to sit comfortable in a bed while his friends where out there working. So he got to his feet and dressed in the staple Shinigami garb provided to him, strapped on his zanpakutō, and walked from his sickroom. He saw that the fourth division was as busy as always. The terminally ill, the recently wounded, and the elderly simply getting a check-up were all being dealt with in a calm and organized manner. His father could learn something from this. ‘Uh… should you really be up, sir Kori?’ The nurse who spoke to him was a recent graduate of the Shinō Academy with short cut pink hair, a descent cup size and generous hips. But this wasn’t the time for flirting. He had his work to do and it was the type that wouldn’t do itself. It was sad really. She really was a pretty one too. ‘Sorry, but I’ve lay around in a bed for too long as it is,’ he said to her as he passed. ‘Don’t give me those sad eyes. You’re reminding me too much of my sister,’ whom he hadn’t seen since the influx of assignments almost a week ago now. The members of the fourth buzzed like flies around a bad smell and all of them asked him the same questions. ‘Should you be up’ and ‘aren’t you tired’ and ‘get back to bed mister!’ He even got his personal favourite ‘who told you that you could be up?’ Himself that’s who! He had a bloody job to do, and it wasn’t going to get done sitting here on his backside staring at the walls all day long! He met Heiwajima at the exit and pulled up sharply. ‘Wow, there, Hei! You nearly ran right into me!’ He asked jokingly, but quickly dropped the act for a serious cast. ‘What’s happened?’ Hei looked utterly distraught. ‘Three of our newest recruits just got hospitalized.’ He said in a whisper. ‘Naoko, Yori, and Hoshi where dragged back here by Kazeshini; who was as beaten as the rest. He collapsed the moment he passed through the southern gate.’ Itazura was at a loss for words. What sort of assignment had they been given!? ‘Are they going to be alright?’ ‘With treatment, yes,’ Hei replied. ‘I’m only back from surveying the scene, Zura. Whoever it was they fought left two massive rends in the earth -- like an energy wave had bee fired. Roughly thirty percent of the souls within Inuzuri have been killed.’ It was a testament to Hei’s emotional state that he said such things in public. Thankfully he had been whispering, but Itazura wasn’t going to take the risk again, just encase someone overheard. He directed his friend to the room he had vacated and set him down on the bed. ‘This is unbelievable!’ Itazura tightened his fists as he spoke. ‘There has to be thousands of souls living in Inuzuri… Fuck it all!’ ‘It was the work of a Visored,’ Hei continued. ‘Judging by the reiatsu a man known as Shuhen Kohai was among them, though it wasn’t him that did this.’ Hearing that name again after almost sixteen years was like getting punched in the stomach. It was Shuhen who had been the mastermind behind the events surrounding his visit to Heisekai. It had been him who ordered Yasuhiro to kill him. He touched the scar where his heart was and growled like a beast. His life had been saved that day by Fujimoto Nakamura, otherwise he would have died. ‘… Go to my uncle, Shin, and tell him everything you just told me.’ Itazura said at last. ‘Does my father know about this?’ Hei nodded. ‘Good.’ ‘Where are you going?’ ‘To see my father,’ if he was right then Shuhen didn’t care about being hidden anymore. He’d have taken greater care to conceal his presence had he not wanted to be found. And Itazura had a sneaking suspicion he knew just what it was he was looking for… Next Story > Countermeasures.
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