Gateway 49

I was still at the statue in confusion when Yachiru started pulling on my cheek.

“Hey, Lupinin, what do you think?” She asked, changing her position on my shoulder so I could see her face. “Kenny had to put a rush job on it, but it came out exactly how we imagined it!”

“I’m just confused. Why would he do it?” I said, eyeing the statue. “It’s not like what I did was that big of a deal.”

Yachiru rolled her eyes and looked backward at the sound of Zaraki’s footsteps approaching.

“Because we like you, silly,” She said it in a way that made me believe she thought I was stupid for not seeing it. “You never complain about training with Kenny, you made sure I always have sweets everywhere I go in the division, you gave Ikkaku and Yumichika something to do to help the rest of the division besides more paperwork, and you put an end to most of the paperwork we have to do for like, forever.”

She threw her arms open, a smile firmly attached to her face.

“What she said,” Zaraki said, his normal bloodthirsty smile in place, stopping a few feet in front of me. “Also,” he looked back at the statue. “It looks cool.”

I found myself smiling with them, wondering why I was mad at them in the first place.

And then I remembered. How the entire division snubbed magic as ‘useless’.

My smile morphed into a challenging smirk, and both of them instantly felt the shift in my mood.

“Well…” I said slowly, dragging out the ‘e’ just a little too much. “I guess then that I have no other choice but to pay you back for the honor you gave me by having that statue made.”

“Yeah?” Zaraki said, his smile widening. “And what do you have in mind?”

“You, me. Somewhere with a lot of space. One fight. All out. You don’t use your eyepatch or the bells, and I don’t hold back on my magic. The whole division is obligated to watch. What do you think?”

The question was rhetorical. I could feel him vibrating in excitement. I knew he’d been wanting it for some time, and now I had a reason to want it just as much.

My plan was simple: I just wouldn’t use my Zanpakuto. I had plenty of Runic Arrays and spell combinations I had been holding back for one reason or another, mostly because they were too instantly lethal and destructive for most fights I got in. But Zaraki could take it, and I wanted to try them out on a live target, so it all worked out in the end.

“What are we waiting for!? Let’s go!” He said, reaching out to take my arm.

But I stepped back, looking at him with an eyebrow raised. “Not now, though. I still have shit to do today, and I’ll have to talk with the Captain Commander to see if he knows anything about something I’ll have to deal with.”

I may have wanted to kick Zaraki’s ass, but the problem with Luna and my’s souls took precedence. I had put it out of my mind in the 80th, trusting my Zanpakuto’s spirit that it could handle it, and where I couldn’t do anything about it. But in the Seireitei, I had plenty of options. And I couldn’t risk not taking the issue seriously, so going directly to the highest-ranking person from the outset was my best bet for finding a solution in a timely manner.

Zaraki seemed to be fighting between accepting what I said and starting the fight right then and there, and even Yachiru looked bummed out. So I decided to make it easier for them.

“If we fight now, I won’t be able to put in my all because I’m worried about other things, let me deal with that so I can go in with a clear head,” I said, rolling my eyes at how fast their faces brightened at having an excuse to hold on to.

“Also, I wasn’t lying, the entire division’s presence is mandatory, I’ll do a headcount before we start, and if anyone’s missing, we’ll wait until they arrive.” And like that, I wouldn’t be the one needing to enforce everyone’s presence.

“Fine,” Zaraki said, grin back in place. “But you better give me a good fight!”

“Oh, believe me, I will,” I said, with a matching grin on my face.

___

With my talk with Zaraki finished, I returned to Isane and Kie’s room at the infirmary, with a detour to my office so I could get some things to write my report to the Captain Commander while waiting for Kie to wake up.

Thankfully, Captain Komamura had already left when I got there. I had a feeling he was the type who used the “strong and silent” persona to hide a softer side, and I was not in the mood to see a 3-meter-tall man be overtly emotional.

So, I took my seat between Isane’s and Kie’s beds and started writing my report, making sure to word things in such a way that he’d know as much as I did about the issue without revealing any non-pertinent information.

Ignoring Isane’s smug stare, I sent the report and relaxed. She wanted me to ask why she was looking at me like that, but I had no intention of doing so. I’d find out sooner or later, better enjoy the quiet while it lasted.

___

A few hours later, already deep into the night, I was reading a book about the animagus transformation. It was more for academic curiosity than anything, since I didn’t have the ingredients to do the ritual in this world, but it was nice information to have for when I got back home.

Isane had gone to sleep a little bit after dinner. She might have been fully healed by her Captain, but she still needed rest.

She kept her silence on what she was smug about, although she let off the act for us to talk.

Apparently, I was somewhat wrong about Captain Komamura. While he had a softer side, he was calm about it. Focused more on how Isane was doing and what she wanted than anything else.

As the Captain of the deceased, he was responsible for arranging the funeral. But, as a red-faced Isane explained, even though their relationship had never been officialized, for all intents and purposes, she was the widow, so what she said about the subject was law as far as Captain Komamura was concerned.

It was cute how embarrassed she was about telling it, but it also reminded me that although most Shinigami I interacted with were ten times my age, they were still remarkably human. It didn’t help that I still hadn’t figured out how aging worked in Soul Society. Isane could easily be around 200, and even Kie could be anything from 10 to 40 or 50.

I memorised the page I was in and closed the book as I heard movement from Kie’s bed. Standing up and looking over her, she seemed to be slowly coming through.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” I said.

Kie’s eyes snapped open, her arms windmilling as she rolled out of bed with a Buhwa sound while tangled in the sheets.

I snorted and cast the Levitation charm to put her back in bed. Luckily for her, I trained quick-drawing my wand out of boredom after Isane fell asleep, so I was able to cast a Cushioning charm on the ground before she could hurt herself.

“Easy there, kid. How are you feeling?” I asked, conjuring a glass of water and giving it to her.

She drank almost all of it in one go, before looking at me and saying, “I’m fine. But, what happened?”

“What do you remember?” I said, sitting back down as I heard the room’s door opening.

“Yes, I would also like to know that,” Captain Unohana said, closing the door behind her.

“Who are you?” Kie asked the Captain, her eyes wide with curiosity you only really see in children.

“I’m Retsu Unohana, Captain of the 4th Division of the 13 Court Guard Squads,” she said with a motherly smile as she approached the other side of Kie’s bed. “And who might you be?”

“I’m Kie!” she said excitedly.

“Well, Kie,” Captain Unohana said, leaning down to take a better look at the kid. “I’m in charge of healing you today, so I’d like to know how you are feeling and what you remember.”

“I feel fine!” She said with a smile, before a look of confusion washed over her face. “But I don’t really remember what happened. I was eating while Alex went to talk with someone outside, and then I was attacking that lady with my knife! And then I woke up here.”

“That’s fine, dear,” Unohana said, before looking at me with those cold eyes of hers. “Lieutenant Alex, you can go away now. But come back tomorrow morning so we can finish things up.”

I looked at Kie to see if she was fine with that, but she wasn’t looking at me. Instead, she was paying attention to Captain Unohana.

Feeling the Captain’s glare intensify, I said a quick “Yes, Captain!”  before leaving the room. Captain Unohana was scary.

___

The next morning, I entered the room to a bizarre scene.

A tall, fat man in a shihakusho with a purple collar and wearing way too much jewelry was flitting around Kie’s bed in a dotting manner while Isane, Captain Unohana, and a small woman wearing a sleeveless Captain’s haori looked on in confusion, amusement, and annoyance, respectively.

I nodded at the Captains when they noticed my arrival.

“Captain Unohana, Captain Soi Fon,” I said. I hadn’t met Captain Soi Fon yet, but it was easy to recognize her from a simple description.

“Lieutenant Lupi,” Unohana nodded, before looking back at the man making a fool of himself to get a laugh out of Kie.

“So you’re the 11th’s new Lieutenant,” Captain Soi Fon said, giving me the side-eye.

“Yes?” I said, looking at her in confusion.

“She’s annoyed by how easily you disappear and reappear from the Seireitei without her notice,” Unohana said.

Captain Soi Fon looked at her in betrayal while I sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck.

“Ah, sorry about that,” I said.

“Don’t be,” Soi Fon said with a huff. “If my men can’t keep track of you, they should just get better at their jobs.”

I doubted any amount of skill would let her subordinates track me when I teleported around, be it with apparition or my Doors, but I’d let her figure that out on her own.

“Captain Soi Fon has been looking for an apprentice ever since she became a Captain,” Unohana said. “So, from what you’ve told me about how fast Kie learnt, I decided to see if she would like to take her in.”

“That’s great!” I said with a smile. Personal training from a Captain would be great for her. “So, what do you think, Captain Soi Fon?”

The Captain sighed, waving in the direction of the fat man. “Anything is better than Omaeda. Maybe Kie’s progress will make him start doing his job properly for a change.”

She stopped for a moment before shaking her head with a snort. “I give Kie a decade before she has his job,” she muttered.

“Well, at least I don’t think he’ll be mad at that,” Unohana said, looking at the man, Omaeda, interacting with Kie.

“Yeah,” I said, turning my eyes to the Captains. “What’s up with that?”

“Kie bores a striking resemblance to his little sister,” Soi Fon rolled her eyes.

___

I left the 4th a little while later. Kie would need to stay a few more days on Unohana’s orders, but Captain Soi Fon and Lieutenant Omaeda had taking care of her covered. So there was one less thing for me to worry about.

As I arrived in my office, I noticed a sealed letter in the middle of my desk.

Quickly reading through it, I felt my blood turn to ice.

The Captain Commander had invoked a meeting between himself, me, and the Captains of the 8th and 13th divisions for the next morning.

That his response was so fast was already a sign that things were more serious than I expected, but the fact that he called me to a meeting between himself and his two protegés meant it was urgent.

I sighed. I tried asking for more information from my Zanpakuto spirit, but he didn’t know either. All he could do was show me the spell he used to keep things calm in my soul, and it wasn’t anything special, just a hyper-specific barrier spell mixing the various magic systems I knew.

With nothing else to do but wait, I cracked open a book and started reading.

This was going to be a long day.

___

Ichimaru Gin

His steps echoed in the darkened room, slowly approaching the form of his ‘leader’, seated with his back to him while looking at various screens monitoring those he considers ‘interesting’.

Gin always thought Aizen’s flair for the dramatic funny. The man who prided himself on his intellect and power couldn’t help but make himself the center of attention whenever he had the chance. Be it when recruiting new Hollows or giving calligraphy lessons at the Academy.

But recently, his movements became slightly erratic. Not enough for him to take advantage or for anyone else to notice, but it broke a pattern, and that had value to him.

He knew it had something to do with the new Lieutenant, but what exactly was still a mystery, for now.

“Ah, Gin,” Aizen said, turning his chair around to look at him. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Captain Aizen,” Gin nodded in deference. “I heard about the new Lieutenant and I was, curious, about him.”

“Lieutenant Alex, yes,” Aizen nodded, turning back to the screens and pointing at one.

In it, Gin saw the new Lieutenant with Yumichika Ayasegawa from the 11th division, fighting a group of low-level Adjuchas. Or, as he saw, the Lieutenant easily defeat the Hollows while his subordinate struggled with them.

“Are these, the runners?” Gin asked, dark amusement lacing his voice.

“Indeed,” Aizen nodded. “They made their way to the 64th district and were using a valley as a base while traveling to Hueco Mundo to eat. As you can see, Alex made short work of them.”

“Oh ho! That’s impressive for a new Lieutenant,” Gin said truthfully.

“And this,” Aizen pressed a key on his keyboard. “Is him testing a few of the spells we devised together.”

There was no sound to the image, but he could still see what could only be the lowest levels of Bakudo, cast with almost negligent ease, capture what he assumed was an entire village in about the same time it’d take him to activate his Shikai.

“Did you say, ‘spells we devised together’?” Gin asked, dread pooling on his stomach.

“Yes,” Aizen said. And even if it was tightly contained, Gin could still feel the glee on his face.

“Well, I think I should meet with him, then. He sure sounds like an interesting individual.” Gin said, turning to leave.

“No.”

Aizen’s voice froze him on the spot, the previous dread now turned into outright terror at being found out.

“Leave the first contact to Tosen,” Aizen sighed. “We both know you’re too confrontational to turn anyone to our side.”

With a supreme effort not to show his relief, Gin looked back and snorted. “And you think Tosen preaching at him about ‘Justice’ will do it?”

Aizen laughed. Laughed.

“No,” he shook his head, mirth still on his face. “If anything, I’m the one more likely to recruit him.”

“So, what? You’re sending Tosen to annoy him?” Gin asked, incredulous.

But Aizen didn’t respond, already too engrossed in staking the new Lieutenant to answer.

As Ichimaru Gin got back to his barracks, he had to wonder.

‘What the hell is going on?”

___

A/N: And that’s that.

As always, thank you all for your support, and see you next week!