Chapter 1.2

The lieutenant, Isane, with her silver hair and unbelievably scary (in Ohka's expert opinion) eyes, nearly lost it, then.

Veins were rising above the skin on her forehead and her eyebrows twitched.

"But… Ohka… where's your uniform…"

A blank look was on his face, as he tried to process what she said

"It's hanging out to dry… right now… uhh… Ma'am."

The obliviousness from Ohka filled her with a confusing mixture of rage, finding him cute and disappointing.

"I don't remember you doing any sort of training to get sweaty enough to do laundry though…"

Still squatting with the brush, he made random motions with his hands, while replying with:

"I went to the Rukon district earlier to see how everyone was doing there… I played with some kids… which ended up with me getting splashed with water."

Isane's face relaxed when he explained why, changing to a dead fish expression.

"Ohka, the next task for you… is you're going to scrub the ceiling with a brush after you're done with the tatami mats.

Isane's only really ever showed this side to him, leaving the rest of the squad to believe she was a saint.

Pulling his slowly falling hair away from his field of vision, he meekly replied with:

"Understood… Ma'am…"

With no response, Isane began to take her leave.

Her geta made a scratching noise as it went against the tatami mats.

Watching her spin and walk away, Akane's smile dropped.

It was replaced with an empty expression, where the only muscles on his faced that moved was his mouth.

"Can't I just be left alone… for once..?"

Frowning, with a face signifying hatred and disdain at his own situation, he continued to push the brush back and forth.

*****

Wiping sweat from his forehead, Akane was upside down, dangling from the ceiling, with a brush in his hand.

There was no way of telling the time, but he was sure that two hours had passed by now.

"I think… that's everything…"

Turning his head left and right, he checked the area.

He had thoroughly cleaned over 30 rooms at this point.

"I think I can slip out now…"

Thinking of nothing, but getting to go out and visit a bar now, he sighed.

Walking back to his own room in the barracks, he thought of his time Shin'ō Academy.

He was the top of his academy in Kido, and all of its paths… but nothing else.

Akane was nearly absent of Reiatsu.

He was cursed to be at the bottom of the ranks in soul society.

His geta dragged across the floor.

It were the only thing he could hear.

Everyone else was off having fun for the rest of they day.

Downtrodden, Akane whispered to himself:

"This is infuriating…"

The brown locks of his hair slightly swayed with the weak breeze.