When Friendship Never Seems to be Enough
By: maliciousfate
Chapter: Two
"The Encounter"
Hisagi had politely excused himself when he was called elsewhere, but he left promising to see me later on. And oddly, that left a smile on my face.
I stared back at the large door before me. For some reason I had just gotten really nervous. I'm never nervous, like ever. So to me this wasn't a good sign. I didn't know why meeting my captain would make me so nervous; I've met a few already while I was back at school. I wasn't nervous back then, so why now?
I took a deep breath and knocked twice on the door. It was a second or two before someone answered.
"Enter." The muffled voice said and I couldn't help but notice it sounded vaguely of a woman. I never thought of the name Toushirou as a woman's name, but who knows. I pushed the door open and closed it quickly behind me.
I glanced only briefly at the woman whom was seated at a large oak desk, she was clearly buried behind mounds of paper work. It was vague, but I did see the shimmering sight of bright orange hair upon her head before I bent my body towards her. I made sure my bow was deep as I could manage it without having my nose touch the ground.
"Such respect and I am only a vice-captain! I could get used to this." The woman laughed and eagerly dropped the pen she was using to sign a paper. She swiftly left her seat and came around the desk to stand before me.
"Ruki Nagai I presume?" She asked as I rose from the ground to meet her gaze. When my eyes held her I noticed instantly the woman was clearly not modest. Her robes were designed to show off an extreme amount of cleavage that she seemed to flaunt.
"Yes, Vice-Captain Matsumoto." I replied remembering the vice-captain's name from the paper now stuffed away in my shinigami robes.
"Oh, no need to be so formal with me Riku, Rangiku will do fine." She said with bright smile, I nodded with a slight smile as well.
"The captain is off on some, well I'm assuming important business at the moment. So he's making me fill in." She said sarcastically as she began to walk lazily to a couch that was pushed up on the other side of the room. She fell onto it with a loud sigh.
"I'm just glad to be out of doing that damn paperwork." I smiled at this, Hisagi did tell me the vice-captain had hated the overload of paperwork her captain had supplied her. He definitely wasn't kidding.
"I see you've heard this division is filled with paperwork." She laughed and rose from the couch. "-But sadly, it is as true as what you've most likely heard. But luckily for you you won't be given as much as some of us." I laughed lightly at her extreme sarcasm; I was already beginning to like her.
"Well enough of this, if we don't hurry to the training grounds now Toushirou will be fuming, and that's not something you would like from him. That kid is serious enough as it is!" She let out another sigh and walked herself out of the room with me following closely behind.
As we walked I found it odd that we didn't run into anyone, not a single soul. I could hear my soft footsteps echoing off the surrounding walls but nothing more. Even the light conversation Matsumoto and I were having didn't seem to dent the deafening silence engulfing me.
"Uhm, Vice Ca- I mean, Rangiku. I couldn't help but notice we are the only ones out in the Seretei today. Where are all the other squads and captains?" I asked as we turned another corner on the still silent street.
"Ah yes, I almost forgot about that. Well all the captains are most likely in a meeting because they always are. And the other squads are off patrolling other parts of the Seretei since this part is patrolled by our division. But don't get used to the silence, it's never this quiet." I nodded my head, understanding.
It took almost seconds later that the normal stone barracks opened up into a grassy field with trees, an icy blue lake, and fresh air. Oddly, this placed looked very familiar but I had a hard time figuring out why.
"Alright, this is a simple exercise that will determine your place in our squad." Rangiku began as she grabbed a scroll from her robes. "-It's nothing to worry about either. I'll call on some hollows and you'll destroy them. Simple, right?"
"Very." I replied liking the idea of being about to do some one-on-one combat after all my days studying hard on books.
"I'm already starting to like you!" Rangiku exclaimed as she unraveled the scroll by tossing it into the air then she pounded her palms into its center. Nothing happened at first, and I was beginning to get doubts on my task. But a few loud screeches from behind told me my doubts weren't needed. Four large hollows had appeared and were already closing in.
Instantly I grabbed for my zanpakutou, unsheathing it in a fluid motion.
"Now what do we have here? You sure do smell good." The more bug-like hollow said from my right as he toward over my form.
"I see you're a new one aren't you? Inexperienced, untrained, and unprepared." The hollow began to laugh loudly, throwing his head back. Even the other hollowed chimed in.
My only reply was a huge smirk before I jumped high into the air and brought my zanpakutou down onto the unprepared bug-like hollow's face. Shattering its mask and killing it instantly.
Its' scream still lingered around us as the other two hollows dove for my still air-born form. I was quick to dodge the first, rolling onto the ground, but I hadn't expected the second to know how to flash-step. It succeeded in giving me a small cut on my left cheek. Nothing serious, but pissing me off none-the-less.
"Bad move." I whispered as I jumped again bringing my sword down onto the hollow that had cut my cheek. He tried to stop the blade with six of his ten arms, but only succeded in slicing them off.
It screamed out in pain, falling to the ground. The second one was quick to launch out while its comrade lay injured. With many grabs at me with its long claws it succeeded in only getting itself killed.
I didn't even need to bother with the other; all I had to do was walk up to its still screaming form and stab its mask. And it was gone along with the others.
I sheathed my zanpakutou and wiped the small amount of blood from my cheek gritting my teeth at my clumsiness. I let a weak hollow leave an injury on me, and it even surprised me. I mentally shook my head before turning to see not only Rangiku but also a newcomer.
I had to scream at my legs to move as I stared at the man besides my vice-captain. He was considerably shorter then Matsumoto, as was I, but it was his eyes that stood out most for me. They were a deep emerald green that seemed to reflect off of the sunlight that was casting over the field. His hair was a magnificent snowy-white that swayed slightly in the light breeze. As I approached the two, it was Rangiku that was first to speak.
"You sure as hell can kick some ass Ruki. Not once calling upon your zanpakutou's name, that's some pretty amazing skills you posses." She praised me with a bight smile that I could only fake back one in return. My eyes were still fixated on this unknown man.
She was quick to notice my confused gaze and soon answered my question in a reply that would leave me stunned.
"Oh yes, this is Hitsugaya Toushirou, our Captain."
I bit down on my tongue. A squad member should never show feelings towards their captain besides pure loyalty. It was unheard of, and I would abide by that rule. Hitsugaya Toushirou was my captain and I was his squad member, nothing more. Ever.
"Pleased to meet you Captain Hitsugaya." I said bowing just as low as I had with Rangiku. I heard a light chuckle before Rangiku spoke again,
"There you go again with your over-the-top formal gestures. I already told you there is no need for that here, Ruki." However, I did not rise from my bow I wanted to wait for Toushirou himself to tell me this.
"Hm, you may rise Nagai." I did as I was told but not without the reminder that he had not called me by my first name. I needed to earn his respect, that much was obvious.
"You are dismissed to go back to the division. Rangiku, make preparations for her placement." He stated with a stone-face never once looking at me.
I gave a short nod before I left, hearing Rangiku calling our captain a "tight-ass" as I did.
A breeze tossed my hair into my eyes as I calmly walked back to the division while my stomach twisted.
A squad member should never show feelings towards their captain besides pure loyalty. Ever.
I bit my lip.