16 Chapter 16: A Disturbance
"What's with the commotion in the station?" I ask Kaien.
"There haven't been any Hollow sightings for days." He asks musing over the situation. "I don't care how much we've raised our defenses. There should've been at least one out there, but there just aren't any! It's weird and unnatural."
"Why do you suppose they aren't showing up?" Matsuri asks as I start to zone out of the conversation.
Something else attracting my attention. A brown-haired Shinigami with glasses on. 'Aizen Sosuke. The captain of the fifth division when Ichigo invades Soul Society.' I use my talent scrying ability to see how he matches up to the others. His aura a dark purple with the sounds of swords swinging and a watch ticking. 'What does that mean...'
He turns to me with a smile and giving me a friendly nod. I return the nod and turn back to our conversation.
"-rumors, that someone a long time ago could do that." Kaien finishes saying. A few moments later Shinji walks into the room.
"Line up."
Captain Suzunami entering the room behind him. "As I'm sure you've all heard the Hollows have been oddly quiet lately. Looking at past records, we see that something like this happened before. By all indications, this is a bad sign." He takes a breath as he turns to face us with his back straight. "But one thing I do know. We will not be beaten. Protecting Soul Society from all enemies, that is the sworn mission of the Shinigami, of the Gotei 13."
"I want each of you to prepare yourselves for battle." He says finishing the speech as he walks away.
'If it has all the captain's up in arms over it… I can't even think of what it could be. It shouldn't be the Quincies… they attack later. An incident that had the captains riled up…'
--
"My goodness." Lady Konoka says hearing the speech.
"Lord Seigen said he won't be able to come home for a while." Matsuri says with a smile trying to reassure Lady Konoka.
"It's really the two of you I'm worried about. I wonder if I can ask Seigen to have you two stay behind and guard the squad station instead…" Her face showing her fear of losing us.
"Lady Konoka, we want to do our part as well. You don't need to worry about the two of us. I have Matsuri watching my back and I'm watching hers." I speak up.
"Seigen can take care of himself. But you two! I'm beside myself with worry." Her face maintaining a frown.
"Are we really that incompetent?" Matsuri dejectedly asks.
"No, what I'm worried about is you two trying to overextend yourselves and getting into a dangerous situation." She says as she pulls Matsuri into a hug. "Nice kids like you try to do too much when the going gets rough. That's what I'm afraid of."
"Gee, Lady Konoka…" Matsuri says depressed a bit.
"Seigen was the same way too. When he first became a Shinigami, he tried too hard and often sustained very serious injuries. And you two are just like Seigen when he was younger." She rubs Matsuri's head.
"It's hard for me. The only thing I can do is hope and pray you'll be all right."
--
(A Few Days Later)
"The stealth force has been trying to trace their movements, but they haven't been able to locate anything yet. I want you all to prepare for the worst, keep your Zanpakuto with you at all times, and be ready to respond to an emergency call." Suzunami turning to Shinji who finishes up.
"We expect you to react with speed and precision."
Dismissing us we walk outside. Matsuri looking a bit down at the idea of an emergency call. "Matsuri." She turns towards me. "I want you to know, if you ever feel like you're in a situation you can't get yourself out of call for me. I'll come running." Pulling her into a hug.
She nods. "You too, Takashi. If you feel like you can't handle it, I'll be right by your side!" Reenergized by my trust in her she gains back a little pep in her step.
"Don't worry. It's not like they're going to put you on the front line or anything." Kaien says looking at Matsuri. His eyes not hiding his worry when he looks at me.
"It'll be fine." I say with a smile. "Captain Suzunami won't let a single one of his Shinigami fight a battle he can handle for him. He'll be up there with us making sure we get home."
--
Spending the next few days on patrol we don't encounter any Hollows. Having a day off we decide to walk around the Rukon District. While walking around we encounter a familiar face.
"Kaien, what are you up to?" I ask from behind him.
He jumps a little bit as he turns around. "You need to start making louder footsteps. You're not part of the second division." He says with a glare. "I was about to head over to visit my brother and sister. Neither of them are all that bright, to tell you the truth. They're the type to leap before they look. I wonder where they got that from."
Matsuri and I both give him a glance and shake our heads.
"What was that?" He says glaring at both of us.
I let out a little laugh as he starts up.
"Well, it's better to jump in rather than beat an idea to death without ever doing anything about it. At least they take action, even if it's not always wise."
"Did you always live in the Rukon district?" Matsuri questions.
"Well, we were once part of the aristocracy. Though that was a long time ago. It doesn't have anything to do with me, really. I'm not even the aristocratic type. Besides, things like name and rank don't mean much, anyway."
"What means most to you?" I ask him.
"Living a life I want." He says with a straight face as if it was the only answer in the world.
I nod at that smiling at the idea. "Really!?" Matsuri says from my side.
"See you two around!" Kaien says ignoring Matsuri and running off.
--
(A Week Later)
Kaien invited us to go somewhere special to him. Meeting him first thing in the morning on our day off we reach the meeting place.
"Good, you're here. Let's go!" He says as he starts marching off immediately.
"Where are we going?" Matsuri asks.
"To my home in the Rukon District. I told you I have a brother and sister there, right? I thought it would be good training for you."
"I thought we were going for a visit?" Looking at Kaien like he grew two heads.
"A visit to my house IS training."
"What's your house like?!" Matsuri shocked at the revelation.
"I'd say it's best summed up as survival of the fittest."
"Oh, this might be fun!" Grinning I follow him.
--
"Huh. It was right around here…" Kaien says looking a grassy area.
"Well if it isn't Mr. Shiba!" A young man walks over to him.
"Hi, good to see you again. This may seem like a strange question, but my house was here, wasn't it?"
"If you're talking about Kukaku and Ganju, they moved away quite a while back."
"What?! They moved without telling me again!" Kaien says pissed. "I just have to hunt em down again."
"With no address or general direction?" I say with a small smile.
"Yup." He replies as we start our search.
--
"Hm…" Kaien says looking at the sky turning orange from the sunset.
"It looks like we're not gonna find them today." Matsuri says.
"I told you this would be training." Kaien says grimacing.
"You weren't kidding." Matsuri says as she looks to me. "How come you're not tired?"
"I naturally train my stamina to be able to fight. So, walking isn't much of a problem for me." I reply with a smirk.
