Behind Enemy Lines

Chapter I

'Warlords of the Rukongai'

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Summary

Sun-Sun has been given a special order from the highest echelon of Las Noches. In a time where the arrancar weren't common knowledge in Soul Society, an arrancar could easily disguise herself to be one of the shinigami and relay information vital to Aizen's plan. Sun-Sun's mission is to attend the shinigami academy, and find a position in the Gotei 13 where she can easily gather information. She was chosen for cunning, strength, and her non-hostile personality. She now resides in a field north of one of the northermost areas of the Rukongai, Kusajishi.

I stepped out of the garganta in a plain field of pink flax. It was a wonderful sight. Pink was a delicate color, a color I secretly loved. On the other hand, the field was also surrounded by a forest of trees. The daylight shone over the field very brilliantly. Though the brilliance of the field distracted me enough to let a band of small children playing run right up to me and surprise me. I reflexively drew my sai, and the children stopped to see me with a weapon.

The kids ran off in a fit of crying. I quickly withdrew my knife hoping that no one saw what happened, "I must be more careful..."

I decided to walk towards the direction the kids ran off to. After a few minutes of walking, I stepped out of forest and into a town of sorts. Well, more to me like a disgusting hole of festering men and women. It was more like a slum than I could have imagined. I walked along the street of Kusajishi, and understood why the kimono Aizen had given me was so ugly.

Though I tried to fit in, I unknowingly was being watched by a pair of gangsters. My mission wasn't to kill anyone, so I tried to ignore their glances. It didn't seem to work, but only seemed to provoke them as the moved from the ground and began to follow me. It seemed that even though I wore the same clothing as these people, I was still the most attractive thing within twenty miles.

Well, as much as I didn't want to jeopardize my mission, I did want to have some fun. I walked into a space between an alley, and watched as they foolishly followed me. I finally stopped in between some houses, and watched them walk up to me.

"Hey there, pretty girl. Your quite the catch. Mind if we sample?", one with brown hair asked. What he asked was outrageous, and I was quite shocked at the bad manners.

"Excuse me?"

The other bandit had the ego to tell me what it meant, "It means we want to screw you."

I was appalled at these two bandits! They had just done the unimaginable! If anyone had asked me that in Las Noches I would have blown them to pieces on spot!

The bandits, knowing that I obviously was going to reject their proposal, drew their flimsy swords.

"That isn't a good idea", I said calmly.

"What are ya gonna do about it?", the brown haired bandit said with a sarcastic tone.

"Fool, why did you think I lead you back here.", I said as I drew my sai. They faltered a moment, but continued to pace closer to me after they shrugged it off as a simple threat.

Just as I was about to kill them, A quiet feminine voice called from the top of the roof, "How disgusting."

The two bandits, and I looked up at the figure on the roof. Black robes hung off of his form, "Trying to force yourself on a beautiful woman!"

"What's it to you pretty boy?", one of the bandits foolishly said. The alleged 'pretty boy' pulled out his katana, "Disgusting bandit, I will show you what it is to me."

He jumped off the roof and landed perfectly between me and the bandits. The bandits tensed and attacked the man, but he easily landed a blow on each of them. I was impressed to say the least. He was not only quite the gentlemen, but he was also Clean.

"Are you alright miss?", he asked me. I couldn't help but blush, "Yes, thank you."

The man nodded and walked off, but I needed to know who he was, "Excuse me."

"Yes?", he turned slightly to look me in the eyes.

"Could I know your name? If possibly just to know who my saviour is?", I didn't mean saviour, I could have easily handled them single handedly. I just wanted to inflate his ego. My sleeve moved to my face as I waited an answer.

"My name is Yumichika Aesagawa, 5th seat of the 11th squad.", he said. He then turned to walk small distance.

"Excuse me.", I asked again.

"... Go on.", he seemed annoyed, but I just had to know, "Why are you in this part of town."

Yumichika smiled, "Why, I was born and raised here."

He strolled off, and left me confused. How could someone so clean come from some place so dirty. It was almost a miracle.

I wanted to get to know him more, but my hollow side kept telling me that he was just another shinigami. I battled my conscious momentarily as I daydreamed about this 'Aesagawa'.

I needed to know more about him. I needed to join the academy! First I needed to know how. I walked back onto the streets looking warily for eyes that watched too long.

I wandered aimlessly through the streets, wondering where a suitable space for sleep could be.

I was eventually snapped out of my daze when a passerby tried to catch my attention, "Excuse me ma'am."

I stared at him a moment before answering, "What is it?"

"I was wondering if you could work for me.", he said with closed eyes. He seemed to have been praying hard.

"Why?", I asked. Working wasn't a bad idea, but I wasn't going to sign up without a reason.

"I run a bar several blocks down the road, but recently my business has been floundering. There is no one as pretty as you in all of rukongai! Please! I beg of you! You will attract so much business!", the man dropped to the ground almost as if he was worshiping me.

"Fine... I will need a place to rest though. I will also need food.", I told the cowering man.

"You mean you don't want money?", he asked.

Money? What was that? I didn't understand, "No, I don't require money."

The man seemed to be incredibly glad. He jumped up and down in joy. It was quite unsightly, and brought quite a bit of unneeded attention.

He lead me through the streets to his humble bar. It was small, but It was in a slightly cleaner part of town. It was close to a large wall. The wall must have been the entrance to Seireitei. I took a moment to look at the wall, and the bartender saw my concentration shift.

"That's where the shinigami come from. I wanted to become a shinigami, but I didn't have enough reiatsu to pass the examination.", he said.

"What else do you need on a test like that?", I politely asked with my sleeve covering my mouth.

"A large reiatsu, and common sense I guess. I had enough common sense, but I didn't have the reiatsu to enter the academy. Heh, that was fifty years ago though...", he was distracted by memories. I took one more look at the wall of stone, and then walked into the bar.

For the rest of the day, he taught me how to wait tables. I grasped it easily, coordination was my strong suit. I could easily balanced plates in my hand. The proprieter of the bar seemed satisfied, "Just a few hours, and your already for evening shift! I landed on a pile of gold!"

Whatever he was talking about didn't matter. I would not be here for long. I needed enough time to gather data about where these 'exams' were held.

Less than an hour later, I was waiting a large amount of customers. Many of them were rude, and had nasty tempers. Nastier than Apache even.

I noticed many of them tried to put their hands on my butt. Of course, I used a short distance sonido to avoid each attempt. I continually wondered if these people deserved to live.

Around Nine O'clock, the customers got meaner and meaner. Most of them were bandits cashing in loot for alchohol. It wasn't until a certain large man entered the bar that the real trouble started. He was large and fat, truly grotesque. He sat down in a booth, and immediately began ringing for service.

"Welcome, what do you desire today.", I asked with a monotone face.

"Hello there chick! I'm here for a spot of rum, and some ass!", the large man said. His suboordinates began to laugh.

It seemed to be another pervert. I wrote his first order on the list, and went back to get his rum. I quickly returned to find that the whole bar had been cleared out. The only man left was the large man and a bunch of shady people.

"You're alchohol, please enjoy.... your stay...", I said. He replied with a ridiculous pick-up line.

"You've got the purdiest eyes I have ever seen.", he shuffled while smiling at me.

"You have the most disgusting eyes I have ever seen. Is there anything else you would like to order?", I asked. I smiled inwardly as a vein buldged from the mans large forehead.

"What did you say slut?", the guy rose from his seat and drew his sword. So did his cohorts.

"I said your repulsive, now sit down and enjoy your drink.", I repeated. He must have been a type-A personality because as soon as I said that he had swung his sword at me. I raised my hand to grab it. My hierro easily blocked his weak reiatsu and deflected it.

"Is everything alright back there?", the bartender came out of the kitchen to find his new waiter getting attacked by Rukongai's third strongest Warlord.

"...Sun-Sun. Do you know who that is? It's Raiden Jouto! Lord of Kusajishi's underworld! Run!", he begged. I simply stared at him, "I don't care who he is..."

"I'm going to kill you!", the man said as he swung the sword down again. I saw the bartender flinch as he struck my shoulder with the sword.

The Warlord saw that his sword did not even cut skin, and backed off, "What? What kind of monster are you?"

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave.", I raised my hand to his chest and held it there. I could see fear well in his eyes. I then curled my pointer finger, and flicked it at the large man. There was enough force in my finger to send him out of the bar door.

The other soldiers broke out the door to drag their master away.

"H-how did you do that?", the bartender seemed to be a mix of happiness and fear.

"Oh, I took classes... or something.", I said as I cleaned the table the bandit warlord had sat at.

The rest of the night was uneventful, and I eventually was shown to my room. It was a quaint little dirt-hole. Why did everything have to be so dirty? I bared it for at least a night.

However, later that night. I heard crashing and yelling within the shop. I yawned, and got up from the bed roll. Walking out I called to the bartender.

"Hello?", I called out. I used a passive pesquias to look for lifesigns. There were none, except for two souls who were waiting at the front of the bar. I quickly put my sandals on, and shuffled out the door. The bar was empty, and all of the alchohol was taken. A note was left on the table.

I picked it up and read it. The writing was bad, but legible. It was a ransom note.

I quickly stepped outside, and confronted the two men. Both of them immediately attacked me, and I dispatched them both with my hands. One of them was still alive, and I lifted up his collar.

"I want some answers, and I want them now.", I commanded. The man was obviously scared. He mumbled something quietly.

"What was that? Say it louder or I'll cut your throat.", I commanded. This time he said it clearly, "T-the boss is in the tall building four blocks south! Spare my life, please!"

I threw his body to the ground. He immediately ran off like a bat out of hell. I looked around Kusajishi until I saw a small tower in the distance. I ran towards it as fast as I could without the use of sonido, and arrived in under a minute.

Standing outside were two more soldiers who had already identified me and attacked. It was a simple task to knock them out without any weapons or reiatsu. I slid the front door open, and walked in.

The inside of the first floor of the tower was littered with hired arms.

"How are ya miss.", one of the brutes called. He was busy guzzling sake. He then took a piece of from his sash and looked at the picture.

He then looked at me, "Eh? That's her boys. Kill her."

Three men were the first to jump me, but my sai left my sleeve and sliced them all at the throat.

"I believe you have someone that runs a bar several blocks to the south... Give him up now.", I bartered. The brute who had addressed me earlier did so again, "A-alright... We won't stop you. The boss has him upstairs.

I slowly walked by the hired arms, and watched as they all ran out of the room.

Withing a moment I had reached the upper level of the wooden tower. I entered a lighted room with several people. At the end of the room with a sword to the barkeepers head was the Bandit Lord himself.

"Alright, step back or the barkeeper gets it.", the bandit warlord smiled when I stepped back.

"I wonder how fast it takes you to cleave his head from his shoulders...", I mused aloud. The bandit lord was confused, but his confusion ended when I had appeared right in front of him. He still tried to cut the barkeeper's head despite her distance, and was stopped by my hand, "Surrender now, or die. It's simple, even for someone of your intelligence."

"Hah, you won't get away with this. Even if I let him go, I will hunt you down!", the putrid man claimed. If this was the case, then I had no other choice. I pierced his kneck with my blade. I could hear his throat gurgle as the blood filled his mouth.

"The boss... he's dead!", one of the subordinate said from behind me. I could hear rapid footsteps leave the room, and realized that the battle was over. I threw the body of the large man aside, and untied the barkeeper.

"My god, you actually killed him...", the barkeeper was shocked, "You're, you're powerful."

"It is good to see you unharmed for the most part.", I lied. My sleeve covered my face.

The only reason I went after him in the first place was because he had information on where the shinigami entrance exams were located.

"I owe you my life, and since the Kusajishi gang has been destroyed, my business has also been saved! What could I possibly do to repay your kindness!", the grateful man said.

"Tell me where the shinigami entrance exams are, and I will call it even...", I ordered.

"Of course, I should have realized it! With your current skill you could really be a powerful shinigami!", the man complimented.

The next day, the man sat down with me and told me everything I needed to know about the entrance examinations.

"They are held in a certain area of Rukongai, more specifically Hokutan. They hold it in the mountains every week. Those who apply are charged at least ten thousand yen unless you demonstrate a high level of power.", the man scratched his head.

"How would I acquire ten-thousand 'yen'?", I asked. It seemed like a huge amount of this 'money' substance.

"Only the fairly wealthy manage to really become shinigami unless your strong as hell. If you are, you usually are given a ticket which is instant admittance."

"So that means I have to prove myself in some way?", I asked. I didn't know how to use anything other than cero, or bala so free admittance would be impossible.

"Hah, you saved my life, Sun-Sun. I owe you one, so you can have mine.", the man pulled a small ticket from his pocket. It was incredibly old, and decrepit.

"You said you failed the entrance exams....", at least that was what he told me.

The barkeeper laughed jubilantly, "No, I could have passed it easily, but instead I never went. I didn't think I had it in me at the time. I still don't to this day."

"So then you'll give it to me?", I asked. He nodded, "Least I can do. You'd do better as a shinigami anyways."

I almost felt really happy. Almost if it was a gift, and not something through barter, "Thank you."

"Something tells me you will go far. Even maybe vice-captain. Good luck out there, you will need it."

We parted ways a final time, and I began my journey to Hokutan. I could tell that each section of Rukongai I passed the towns got cleaner.

It took me a few hours to make it to Hokutan. The streets were clean here, and it was very peaceful. It was then that I saw where the test was held, and based on the door the next one was tomorrow.

Tomorrow I would take their tests, and fulfill Aizen's wishes.

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