Just a little something I wrote last summer.
Some Japanese words that you might need translations for:Juusan - thirteen (13)
Juuyonbantai - the number fourteenth (14) squad
Seireitei - Court of Pure Souls
Soutaichou - head captain
Taichou - captain
Some Japanese names that you might find interesting:
Kuroma Yuichi (黑魔勇一) - lit. black demon the brave one
Nakamura Futaro (中村風太郎) - lit. first born son of the wind in the village
Shimizu Ryuusuke (清水龍介) - lit. clear water of the dragon
Takahashi Mitsuki (高橋美月) - lit. high bridge beautiful moon
Striving to Protect
Part 1
They say the will to protect is strong, but who could have guessed that it remains strong, even after death.
All is quiet in the Court of Pure Souls. Disturbingly quiet almost. The only source of sound came from a remote corner of the spacious complex. If one listened carefully, he might just be able to tell that it was a conversation between two disgruntled shinigami.
“Bo~ring~.” one complained. “If only those guys didn’t have to go off on assignment.”
The other scratched his forehead and said, “Yeah, well, if they didn’t do it then no-one’s ever gonna. Our squad always gets this kind of shitty job.”
“The Central 46 and Yamamoto soutaichou always dump the dirty work on us,” replied the first, who was a head shorter than his comrade. “Yet it’s always the Gotei Juusan. Whatever happened to us, the Juuyonbantai?”
The taller one started, “Taichou’s been sending letter after letter to the Committee telling them to change the godamn name, but the answer is always-”
“-’We will take that into consideration. You will be notified of any changes.’-” The shorter man finished. “Everyone’s heard this at least a thousand times, Kuroma-san.”
“Yeah, well, I say we give ‘em a piece of our minds and quit. They’ll come begging for us to rejoin. Then in return for our service, we’ll demand for them change the name. They won’t have a choice but to oblige.” The taller man seemed pleased with this plan.
“If we do that then they’ll never change the name, ‘Kuruma’-san.” His shorter partner mocked.
“…Nakamura, you bastard…”
Talk about adding fuel to the fire.
[in case you didn't get that. Kuroma's kanji is 黑魔, meaning black devil/demon. The pronounciation "kuroma" can also take the form of the kanji for car/vehicle.(usually pronounced 'kuruma') Nakamura (中村) is making fun of Kuroma's name.]
If there was one thing in Soul Society Kuroma hated most, it would be people mispronouncing his name, be it accidental or intentional. ‘Oh? Your name is Kuruma? You must be very mobile, no?” Despite the number of times that had happened to Kuroma, he was never, ever going to get use to it. Nakamura had crossed the line this time, and since it wasn’t just a slip of the tongue, by a helluva lot, too.
Without warning, Kuroma leaped onto the desk and attempted to strangle his conversation partner who was now running for his life. When Kuroma got serious, he got serious. Everyone in the squad knew that. A thousand sorry’s won’t be enough for Nakamura to redeem himself. A million might, but in this case, not likely.
Five minutes of screaming, running, and generally just things breaking ensued.
It was only when the duo became aware of the sound of approaching footsteps that they halted and listened. Clearly, it was getting increasingly louder. Someone was on their way to the Squad 14 team lounge.
Sensing this might be a chance to evade his almost-certain doom, Nakamura quickly tried to divert Kuroma’s attention from “Kill Shorty” to “Who’s coming.”
It worked.
“Probably some new guy who got lost, or one of ours coming back from assignment.” Kuroma answered. There was still some murderous intent left in the taller man’s eyes.
Nakamura wasn’t a man willing to take risks. Especially when it came to his physical well-being. “You think maybe he’s a spy or something? Like from that Aizen guy after he got rescued by the Hollows?”
Kuroma dismissed that theory with a wave of his hand. “Nah, even if was a spy, why the hell would he be doing here? Nothing to see except two idiots hanging around doing nothing.”
That’s some honesty. Nakamura thought to himself.
The door of the squad lounge suddenly flew open and both shinigami instantly jerked their heads in that direction. Standing in the doorway was another shinigami. He looked to be in his mid or late twenties. His jet black hair gave off a faint blue tinge. A zanpakutou was tucked into his waistband. His dark maroon eyes reflected an aura of strength and determination. Slowly, they settled on Kuroma.
“Yo.” Kuroma greeted the newcomer with a lazy salute. “Back awful early this time around, Shimizu.”
Nakamura was almost ecstatic after seeing who it was. “Shimizu-senpai! Long time no see!” he bowed.
Kuroma gave the shorter man a look. “It’s hardly been a month. The guy’s usually gone for at least six at a time.” He then turned to Shimizu, “What brings you back so quickly anyway?”
“Lack of Hollows in the assigned region.” Shimizu muttered, sounding almost disgusted.
Kuroma gave a soft whistle. “Tense as always, ain’t ‘cha.”
After taking a few casual glances around, Shimizu eyes settled once again on Kuroma. “Yuichi, what happened while I was away?” he questioned.
Kuroma Yuichi gave another whistle, louder this time. “And sharp and perceptive as always.” he admired, “Some ryoka got into the court, messed up some stuff real good, then left. Aizen Sousuke, Ichimaru Gin, and Tousen Kaname were all apparently traitors affiliated with Hollows. Other than that, everything’s just peachy.”
Kuroma didn’t particularly like the guy, but he didn’t really dislike him either. If anything, Shimizu Ryuusuke was a man that got things done. All the missions that he had received, he completed them to a satisfactory, if not outstanding level. The term “socializing” was lost on on this shinigami. Kuroma realized that on the first day he met him after several failed attempts to strike up an conversation. From what Kuroma could tell, the stubborn bastard hadn’t changed a bit since the day he was assigned to the Juuyonbantai. Although he did like that fact that Mr. Solitude always called him by his first name.
Shimizu frowned. “The ryoka could not have caused so much chaos alone. Were they in any way related to the Hollows as well?”
“Nah, just those three taichou. The ryoka actually helped.”
Shimizu’s frown deepened. “I see.”
No, you aren’t just ’seeing’, you sly sonovabitch. Kuroma thought with a smile.
Just as Ryuusuke was about to fire off another question at his squad mate, the court alarm suddenly sounded.
“Emergency situation! Hollows have infiltrated the North quadrant! I repeat! Hollows have infiltrated the North quadrant!”
The three shinigami were stunned. Hollows in the Court? How is that even possible? The ryoka entered the Court only with the aid of Shiba Kuukaku, the brilliant fireworks master. Simple Hollows would have no chance at forcing their way into the Seireitei. So how was this possible? Was this some sort of mistake? Hundreds of questions flew through their minds as they considered the plausibility of this new situation. However, their train of thought broke as a seemly disembodied voice snapped them out of their trances.
“Kuruma and Nakamura, hurry up and get your asses in gear!” Not surprisingly, Kuroma was the first to come back to reality.
The doorway of the squad lounge was now occupied by another figure. A young woman stood in the entrance of the room in full shinigami attire and a zanpakutou in her left hand. The look on her face quickly erased any doubt the trio had about the validity of the alarm.
Both Kuroma and Nakamura immediately saluted the young woman. “Takahashi fukutaichou-dono!”
Shimizu followed suit after a few seconds.
“Yeah, yeah, just grab your swords and let’s go.” Takahashi waved her free hand at them signaling them to hurry.
Shimizu was already combat ready, so he headed toward the door attempting to leave. Takahashi blocked his way.
“Shimizu Ryuusuke, you are to remain here at the lounge. Do I make myself clear?” the vice-captain declared. “That is an order.”
The black-haired man tossed her an emotionless glare.
“You two fucking slow-pokes, let’s move it!” Takahashi Mitsuki yelled toward the two shinigami fetching their swords, completely ignoring Ryuusuke’s silent discontent. On their way out, the young woman turned to Shimizu and ‘whispered’, “Rest up. You’ll need it tonight when I come back.” then gave the man a wink.
Kuroma and Nakamura sighed in unison. At a time like this she can still think up such a dirty joke.
Long been use to this kind of teasing, Shimizu hardly even raised an eyebrow.
Soon after the three’s departure, Shimizu followed. It didn’t take long for him to catch up with his comrades.
He disregarded my orders again. Mitsuki thought with a sigh. But for some reason, she was also glad that he did what he did.
No one said anything on the way to the location of the incident, but all of them were thinking about the possible battle ahead. If these invaders were indeed Hollows, then they’ve got a hell of a battle on their hands. At this point, Hollows weren’t really their enemy yet. It was fear. If they gave in to fear before even meeting the real enemy, then the battle was already lost. Each struggled to control his and her own emotions as they headed for the North quadrant.
They were completely unprepared for what they were about to witness. Shinigami. Dozens of them. Their bodies littered the court ground. Their blood stained the once-brilliant tiles of the majestic Seireitei. Amidst the carnage and debris four Hollows materialized out of the chaos. Their bodies and faces splattered with fresh, dripping blood.
This was the enemy.
This concludes part one of the story. Will there be a part two? Maybe…
