Gateway 39

My anger had dulled down to a faint simmer during the following week, not because I had given up on having my vengeance over being tricked into being the division’s paper pusher, but because there wasn’t anything I could do short of murder that any of them would care about.

I had tried using violence, but Yachiru kept hiding behind Zaraki, and Ikkaku not only accepted the beatdown, but he thanked me for it and asked about the next time. And I couldn’t exactly force Zaraki into anything he didn’t want to.

At least I got Yachiru and Ikkaku to help me out where they could. Ikkaku taught me all about the paperwork, and Yachiru about the other Lieutenant obligations I now had.

Thanks to that, after the week was past, I had already finished with the backlog of paperwork, with my last signature being on my Lieutenant promotion documents.

Of course, the reason I didn’t have anything new in my inbox during that time was because, after reading the first damage report and how much it’d be taken from the division to fix it, I ordered Ikkaku and Yumichika to act as enforcers to keep the rest of the division in line. The fact that that’d reduce my future paperwork by 90% was just a nice bonus.

But I didn’t spend my week just doing paperwork, I only did that in the mornings. My afternoon was dedicated to training with my Zanpakuto, and at night, I studied magic and talked with Luna before bed.

I still hadn’t read Severus’ book on dark magic. His warning weighing heavily on my mind, I put off doing it until I firmed my intent, something that I couldn’t see talking too long to happen, considering how overbearing Zaraki was about it.

And wasn’t that something unexpected? Zaraki was overbearing.

Not in the typical sense of a parent wanting to make sure you do your chores, but in a military commander's way of wanting his subordinates to be strong enough to not only survive, but thrive amidst conflict and violence.

For most members of the 11th, this showed by how he bullied them into training harder, he made them want to become stronger, if only so they could force him to shut the fuck up about how week he thought they were.

But for me? My problem wasn’t exactly simple, so Zaraki decided on a compromise (with himself) and started randomly sneak-attacking me whenever he was bored.

According to him, that was the best way to make sure I always struck with intent. And I couldn’t say he was wrong, because as the week progressed, I could feel my blade become sharper and my strikes more confident.

I was learning, growing, and if I kept up the pace, I could see myself being able to fight with Doni without him needing to hold back when I got back.

Thinking about Doni, I was at the same time happy and sad for not bringing him with me.

On one hand, this place was perfect for him. So much so that I doubted he’d ever want to go back home if he ever came here.

On the other hand, if he were with me, things would be much more complicated and annoying for me. As a start, the excuse of my being found just as I appeared on Rukongai would have been much harder to accept if there were two of us. Something that, as I learned from Yachiru, could bring the Onmistukido, the Stealth Force, down on my head.

And while I normally wouldn’t be that worried about it, especially with Doni at my side, the thought of making enough noise that the Captain-Commander, the guy that Zaraki admits is too strong for him to bother fighting, might take personal interest in me, was enough to assure me that I made the right decision leaving Doni home.

Not that I wouldn’t pay him back, I was already planning on at least getting him an Asauchi and, depending on how things went when I left, to bring him with me the next time I came.

But those were thoughts for later. I had a full day ahead of me, and not much time after it got started. So I got ready and headed out to see what I could do with the free time I now had in the mornings.

___

My hopes were completely dashed in the first 15 minutes of my search.

Apparently, most of anything that one could do in the Seireitei happened in the afternoons or nights, with the mornings normally being used for personal training.

That explained why I only ever managed to get Ikkaku or Yumichika to train me in the afternoon. Thankfully, I didn’t expect to need it for too much longer. Between their specialized training and Zaraki’s random attacks, my sword skills had increased dramatically.

But that didn’t change the fact that I didn’t have anything to do in the mornings, and I was bored with that already.

So, with nothing else to do, I decided to explore.

___

An hour or so later, I decided to settle down on a nice little green spot I found not too far away from the 11th.

The small, outside garden was full of vibrant green grass, plenty of bushes spread about, a few trees to provide shade, some rocks dotted around in perfect shape to serve as seats, and a small pond with a couple of small fish.

I sat down at the base of one of the trees and pulled out the book I started reading the night before, about healing, and tried to enjoy the rest of my morning in peace.

It was still relatively early in the morning, as I had a penchant to wake up with the sun, so I could see the rest of the Seireitei waking up.

Not like there was much movement in the area, but I’d seen someone from the 4th division carrying a basket of laundry and a small group from the 11th walking around after their early morning training, so it should still have been around 9 am.

I refocused on the text. Healing magic in the Wizarding World was bizarre most of the time. Half of the book was dedicated to the best ways to counter external and internal magic that might have been affecting the patient, while the other half listed a variety of extremely specific spells that were useless for any case but the one they were invented for.

Of course, knowing how the Wizarding World operated, I wouldn’t doubt that those cases happened at least once a week.

I was just getting into the history of a spell made to digest food in the patient’s stomach when I felt a change of pressure in the area.

Instantly, I was alert, one hand on my Zanpakuto and the other ready to cast whatever it took to make Zaraki back off.

But it was not needed, this time.

The person I felt coming was a tall man with long white hair, he had a tired but kind face, and he was carrying with him a small tray with a tea set on it.

Oh, and he was a Captain, something that I should have expected considering how Campione's luck works.

“Sorry about that,” I said, releasing my Zanpakuto and nodding at him before relaxing back against the tree. “But you never know who could be coming.”

“You expect attacks while in the Seireitei?” He asked in confusion.

“Expect? I am attacked at least 3 times a day, usually more if Zaraki’s day is too boring,” I huffed in exasperation.

“Zaraki? Why would he be attacking you? Are you a new member of the 11th?” he wondered, sitting down beside me and setting the tray on the grass. “I heard that something had changed in the division. Debts for damages were cleared, and a backlog of paperwork was filled.”

“Yeah, that was me. Alexander Lupi,” I said, suppressing a groan at my failing to properly introduce myself before. Thanks to the 11th’s overall demeanor, I hadn’t actually experienced much of proper Japanese etiquette to be able to follow it. “And he’s attacking me as training, I’m not completely against it, but the paranoia that any movement could be an attack gets old pretty fast.”

“Jushiro Ukitake,” he said with a smile. “You must be pretty powerful if he’d go that far to train you,” he poured some tea for himself before looking at me. “Tea?”

“Yes, please,” I said, feeling compelled to accept by the sweet aroma.

As I took a sip of the hot tea, I felt myself relax for the first time since I’d arrived there. The taste was a mix of red berries with a hint of lavender that hit just the right spot for me to fully let my guard down and enjoy the moment with Captain Ukitake.

“Thanks for that, Captain Ukitake. I really needed this,” I said, closing my eyes and enjoying the ambiance.

“Haha, think nothing of it! It's nice to have someone to talk to around here every once in a while,” he laughed.

A rustle of bushes and a subtle change in pressure were all that was needed to kill the moment. Instantly, Captain Ukitake and I Flash Stepped out of the way of a violent attack that left a small crater in the dirt at the base of the tree we were sitting by, kicking up enough debris to cover our attacker.

Quickly throwing my empty cup to Captain Ukitake, I immediately Flash Stepped back in, sword drawn and heading directly for where Zaraki’s throat should be.

Immediate stop and the sound of clashing metal, I side-stepped the path his sword would take and Flash Stepped behind him, arm already a blur of motion to make the hit hurt.

I jumped back when I hit nothing but air, waving my hand to clear the debris so I could see Zaraki’s next attack coming.

But he wasn’t moving, worse, he was staring at me with that big psychopathic smile of his.

I gulped, firming my hold on my sword as I mentally prepared myself for an actual fight instead of the normal few clashes before Zaraki fucked-off somewhere else.

He launched himself at me, laughing as he tried to cut me in half.

Only for a sudden, crushing spiritual pressure to stop both of us in our tracks.

“I think,” Captain Ukitake said, smiling serenely as he looked at us. “That I’d rather like to still have this garden tomorrow.”

“Why would us fighting here would remove the garden?” Zaraki asked in confusion.

I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh, cry, or stab that motherfucker in the skull. It hadn’t taken him more than a week for him to take my repairing of the places he ambushed me in for granted.

Maybe if I created a curse to make him back off when it got to be too much? It would have to be cruel and unusual to actually get to him, but not overt enough he just powers through it to keep the fight going, something annoying, something new.

Noticing how lost Captain Ukitake looked trying to get Zaraki to make sense, I sighed as I pulled out my wand and started casting Repairing charms around.

I looked around to make sure I got everything, saw the teapot had its handle broken in the confusion, never mind how the Captain managed to save everything in the time it took me to move away. So I cast it on the entire set to make sure nothing else was damaged.

Captain Ukitake watched in fascination as the pieces of the teapot seamlessly merged back together, leaving it looking as if nothing had happened.

“Amazing,” he said, closely examining the teapot for any hint of the previous damage. “I’ve never heard of Kido like this.”

“Not Kido,” I said, stowing my wand back in the expanded pocket inside my Shihakusho. “That’s human magic that I had while I was alive.”

“Huh, I’d love to learn more about it,” he said excitedly. “It sure would help dealing with all the things my Lieutenants break with their competitiveness…”

“Well, I’m just waiting for Lieutenant Kotetsu’s word on the day her friends will be available for us to work out how my magic and Kido interact,” I said.

“In that case, I look forward to what you find!” Captain Ukitake said.

“Speaking of her,” Zaraki said, “She came by a little while ago looking for you,” he pointed at me. “So I set out to find you, that was at least half an hour ago.”

I cursed internally before turning to Captain Ukitake.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Captain Ukitake, and thanks for the tea!” I said, giving him a perfect 90° angle bow before standing upright and looking at Zaraki.

“Next time my sword is going up your ass,” I said, only staying long enough to hear the start of a propper laughing fit coming out of him before I Door’d to my office.

___

I found Isane sitting in Zaraki’s office, eating sweets with Yachiru.

The two of them were animatedly talking with each other, with Yachiru wildly gesticulating all over the place.

“...And then Yun-Yun and Baldy beat them up and made them apologize!” Yachiro said excitedly.

“Wow, I heard from Ayako that those two had started cracking down on the bad behaviour of the lower ranks of the 11th, but to think they’d go as far as making them apologize…” Isane said, looking like she still didn’t quite believe what she was hearing.

“Yeah!” Yachiru nodded fiercely. “Lupinin told them to! He said that they ganging up to bully someone weaker than them made the 11th look pathetic, and that it was Yun-Yun’s and Baldy’s job to fix that.”

“Lupinin? I don’t think I heard of them before,” Isane said, staring curiously at Yachiru.

“Ah, that’s me,” I said, finally announcing my presence.

“Alex!?” Isane exclaimed.

“Hey,” I said, sitting down beside Yachiru and stealing one of her sweets. “How’s it going, Isane?”

“I’m fine, but how come you can order Ikkaku and Yumichika around? Did you get the 3rd seat!?” She asked, progressively getting more excited as she talked.

I tried to steal another sweet, only for Yachiru to take it before I could.

“I wish,” I said morosely. “Her,” I pointed at Yachiru, “the Captain, and Ikkaku tricked me into Lieutenant.”

“Tricked you into…?” Isane muttered. “Why would they need to trick you into a high-ranking position?”

“That’s what I thought,” I nodded in agreement, quickly snatching a sweet before Yachiru could notice. “But think for a moment, who does the paperwork in the 11th division?”

“Well, obviously the Cap- Surely the Lieu- Maybe the third sea-” She stopped in horrified realization.

“Yep,” I said, popping another sweet in my mouth. “The only paperwork that ever got done was about missions. Everything else? It went to the pile in the Lieutenant’s office, my office.”

I tried to get another sweet while I let Isane process that information, only for Yachiru to bite my hand, hard enough to draw blood.

“Ouch,” I winced, prying Yachiru off to let the wound heal. “What’s your deal?”

“Stop stealing my sweets!” She exclaimed, standing protectively in front of her pile of candy.

“Hell no! Who do you think made the order to stock them in the division in the first place? I should be allowed to eat them as I damn well please!” I exclaimed back.

“Wait, you’re the one who got them in the cafeteria and the break rooms?” She asked, looking at me as if I were an entirely new person.

“I mean, yeah? You’re literally always eating them, so I thought it’d be easier to just have them around,” I said.

“Thanks, Lupinin!” She said, launching herself to hug me.

“You’re welcome, pipsqueak.” I replied in amusement.

She might have been decades older than me, but she was still a kid.

“So, what brought you here?” I asked Isane after Yachiru let me go.

“Momo and Nanao finally managed to find a day we could get together to talk shop,” she said, fond amusement in her face from Yachiru’s reaction.

“That’s great!” I said, excitement bubbling inside of me. “When is it?”

“This weekend at the 5th’s barracks,” she said, a glint entering her eyes as she looked at me. “I just hope you’re ready to deal with them, they can get a little bit fanatic when it comes to Kido.”

“Eh, it’ll be fine,” I waved her off. “It’s not like I don’t get like that either.”

“If you say so…” she muttered. “Now, why did it take you so long to get here?”

“Ah, I was drinking some tea with Captain Ukitake when…”

___

A/N: And that’s that for this week.

If everything goes right, next week will be the start of a head-on plunge into the plot of this arc.

As always, thank you all for the support, and see ya’ll next week.