5 - Healing past wounds - Complications

Sparks flew in all directions. Shuunske ran, his small weak body not able to keep up with the pace he wanted to go at. A sword was in his hand, and tears coming from his eyes. Fire ran up the walls everywhere around him, spitting at him like snakes with their tongues. The tears came heavier and heavier. Screams echoed through and through out the hall and rooms. He was scared.

Looking from left to right all he could see was fear in the void walls that surrounded him. He was fearful. Angry. Confused. All of the pain welled into one ball and then exploded, tripping him on himself. Falling onto the ground, Shuunske bit in the physical pain that shrouded his body. He did not know what was confusing. Then he saw it.

He saw her. Yuki. For a second he was fine, happy, and wanted to laugh. Then he looked closer, he saw her face, he saw the mutual pain that was in her and him alike. He saw her fear, her confusion. He saw it all, and it made the tears come harder, like her own, flowing from her face. She held her small pink dress, now ripped, and then dirty, covered in soot and losing its pink flare along with smudging out the small sakura blossoms that were on her.

Moving, Shuunske got up, looking down to secure his footing. When he got back up, and looked his face dropped all the color it had left, and his mouth dropped with it. There, were she had been, where Yuki had been, the girl of his dreams, and the love of his life, was only a small and reduced pile of blood and her body. She was gone. Just like that. There was nothing he could have done. There was nothing he could ever do ever again.

Illusion snapped into reality as Shuunske shot up from the bed he was in, a large bed that had silk and tapestry all over it. The royal bedding of this safe house. Sweat came down from his forehead. He had been dreaming. Closing his eyes, he moved his hands to them, in order to rub the visions of what he had just been seeing away to find actual tears coming forth. It only hurt more. More and more tears came from his eyes. Sitting quietly, Shuunske curled himself into a ball, and sobbed.

The memories ran through his head. He hated being here. He hated being this close to all the ties and memories he had with this place. He hated it more than anything. Clenching his fist, Shuunske tensed his body for a brief second before letting it all go, and relaxing into the sobbing tears that wet his pillow.

No one understood, because he did not tell anyone. He did not want to. He could not. And he knew that. He had lived his life trying to be as strong as possible so that he could one day have another shot at protecting her. Yuki, princess of the snow. His forever princess.

Opening his eyes to the real world that he hated, Shuunske moved to the edge of the bed. His body hurt as he moved, as if he was aching in pain of what he had done to carry the bodies. He was embarrassed. He was supposed to be the captain of the 11th squad, and all he had done thus far was lose men, and get beaten to the point where he had to run away with his tail in between his legs. With his vice captain injured, and he didn't even know about Hiiro. She had made it back and given Kasumi over before he saw anything negative happen to her. At least she was fine. But what was he going to do about the loss of men and the loss of moral.

He would have to get more men to come here. He would bring his seated officers. Quantity was not what mattered in this case as was shown by the recent turn of events. He needed his 3rd and 4th seat here with him. This type of mission was simply not suited for a 5th seat member, although she was handling it perfectly, as the only one that had not been hurt. Ironic. The 5th seat taking the least amount of damage.

Placing his legs on the floor, Shuunske saw that they were bear, as they moved from the cover of the blankets. They were barren of ay bruises or any marks that would have proven that he was in any fight what so ever, and simply retained their youthful perfection. Pushing the rest of the covers off of himself, Shuunske found the soft white fabric of a silk tunic like piece of clothing, opening down to the bottom of his stomach, exposing his entire chest, tan and muscular for his age, down to where the same white silken fabric created a waist band that held the small shorts, and where the tunic closed up.

Shuunske stood, and received the first rush to his head that caused him to fall back on the bed, falling back on his back, and sending his hands back over his head. His eyes glazed for a second, as his vision was lost to the white swirling that meant he had exhausted himself earlier. Amidst all of the confusion that surrounded him, three knocks came to the door, followed by the voice of the 12th captain: “I see your up, oh captain Shuunske-sama. I hope your feeling better...”

With that the door opened, and the 12th captain walked in, his haori flaring as he moved with his great confidence, and his eerie energy. He smiled at Shuunske, and the pose he was in, laying back in the silken short tunic that rose above his knees, and his bare arms over his head, with his chest revealed. Shuunske did not notice, his innocent mind not allowing him to make anything from the situation.

Muriasachi, the captain of the 12th division, looked over the boy, his smile not subsiding. Shuunske's arms moved once again, propping him up. Muriasachi's smile faded, and his attention moved back to a clip board he was holding. Fingering for something that lay on top of the board, Muriasachi turned suddenly and shoved a glass thermometer in Shuunske's small mouth, saying “Say ahhhhh,” as he did so. Shuunske only had a moment to react and open his mouth. Shuunske's mouth frowned into that of his feelings of disgust towards this captain. He did not trust anything about him, especially not him shoving something in his mouth.

“Well you seem to be doing fine little Shuunske-sama,” he said in a sing song melody, belittling Shuunske as he always did, making reference to his size. Shuunske hated it, but to get mad would only solidify the mocking remarks he made about him. He had to take it in. Breaking down and getting mad was exactly what the 12th captain wanted him to do so that he could feel more powerful. Shuunske could see straight through the manipulation. And he was not going to fall for it, even though all this captain had ever said to him was full of remarks that tried to make him seem more powerful, all because he knew that in a battle arena, he did not compare to Shuunske. He never had.

“That is because I was only tired, Muriasachi-san. I don't need to be cared for like this. Where is Kasumi?” Shuunske's voice had a hint of anger in it, but mostly that of frustration that was dangerous against the 12th captain. The thermometer started to beep, but only beeped once before Muriasachi's hands grabbed it and clicked it off. “Your temperature is normal little Shuunske-sama.”

Shuunske could not take it any more, and stood up. The rush hit him again, but he could take it this time. He was used to it now. His feet shuffled once before he felt the hand of the 12th captain against his bare chest, pushing him back onto the bed. “Stay down little Shuunske-sama. You need to fully recover before you start moving and walking. That being said, you have recovered from a near rieatsu outage much faster than I would have expected. I wonder...” His thoughts trailed off, as his eyes once more searched Shuunske's small frame.

“I am fine Muriasachi-san, all I need is to walk it out!” Shuunske asserted himself. Muriasachi's lips curled into a smile. “And so the little Shuunske-sama starts to boss me around, fine, get up. Your 5th seated officer, Hiiro Takaniki is fine, she has been walking around for a day or two now. You were only out for three days yourself, quite remarkable if I may say myself.” His sentence ended abruptly as if he was going to say more, but stopped.

Standing for the last time, Shuunske pushed past the rush that hit him, and stumbled to the door, grabbing the Haori that had his division symbol on it. Pulling it from the hook that held it up, Shuunske through it around him, and opened the door, stepping or falling out into the huge room with the domed roof. His senses were not completely returned, and he could not access his rieatsu at all. He felt like he was more useless then ever. His haori opened, so that his short white tunic and shorts could be seen. He pulled it over them, but was too tired to care really, especially with no one in the room.

Shuunske walked to the room in the center of the room and touched the handle to the door that opened into it. Biting his lip, he opened it, and pushed his way in. At once he was taken away by the scenery. It had been so long since he had been in here. It had not changed. The inside was a huge garden that, due to a constant ability to create a kido revolving garden, was able to replicate the weather on the outside in perfect symbiosis. Snow fell from the ceiling that also looked like it did outside, meaning it was night time outside, because the room was getting dark. He guessed it was about 9:00 or 10:00

His eyes scanned over the small shrubs and trees that, upon the official change of the seasons wold change to replicate the outside, making this room the most beautiful in all of his safe houses, and houses alike. But it was also his least favorite. His eyes scanned until they fell upon the stone that stood right in the middle of the room, separated by the stream that was now frozen and cold with the snow falling on top of it. The stone was barren of anything except the name.

“Yuki”
...

Shuunske's eyes rested on the stone that held the name on it, his bare legs coming from his haori, the large cloak looking much too big for him without his entire shinigami uniform on that made him look so much grown up than seeing him with his body exposed, revealing how small he actually was, and yet how perfect he was. His perfect skin carved out the perfect face, and like wise producing the most perfect chest, and muscular frame down until the fabric hid him under its silky white.

Shuunske's eyes were glassy, but not from tears, from the state of mind he was in. That of seeing memories in his head, the most important and plentiful part of him. That was who he was, many memories stacked up into one little frame, that made him. Without memories, he would be nothing. No. less.

His peace of mind seemed undisturbed until the handles of the door almost opposite him began to turn. Even through the simulated snow, Shuunske saw it happen. He tried but failed to sense who it was as he normally could, his ability to read peoples rieatsu signature completely weakened to the point of failure and inability.

As soon as it opened however, Shuunske saw Hiiro standing in the door. His heart missed a beat. It gave him a sense of happiness knowing that he had managed to protect at least her to a perfect degree. She had not suffered anything like Kasumi or himself. Although, Shuunske did not remember much pain in his experience. He did not care.

Even so, he did not make a move, other than the small move that tried to cover himself up, slight pink running across his face for being almost naked. He was not in a proper attire to socialize with his teammates. She started to run over, her face looking as if she was replicating a similar feeling to the feeling he first saw when he had seen her.

As she came over, Shuunske saw her stop abruptly, as if telling herself how to behave when around her captain. He smiled at her, a sad smile that held no happiness in the least. It quickly fell back to melancholy as he shifted his head back down to the ground.

“I am glad to see you better 5th seat Hiiro-chan. How is Kasumi. I suppose you know?” Shuunske said all of this while holding his haori in place, as if trying to hide what was perfection, but he saw it as nothing more than body, and body that was nothing more than a nuisance.

“Have you made contact with Soul Society that you know of, informing them of our situation? We are going to... we are going to need more... men...” Shuunske's voice filled with shame, as if echoing his previous failure. He was still so new to this all, and yet, everyone had such faith in him as a captain.

Standing up, Shuunske looked Hiiro in the eyes and smiled, this time his smile holding all the happiness he could muster at a time like this. His glassy eyes not clearing up in the slightest. The hoari that he had been holding tightly around himself fell loose, showing the tunic like kimono that hung close to his body, parted down the middle, revealing his chest, and stomach, along with the red mark of a hand that had been stamped onto him when Muriasachi had pushed him back onto the bed. It was fading, but still there.

“I am glad that yo managed to be alright. At least someone came out of this fine. Thanks for being strong 5th seat Hiiro. You are a good officer to have in the squad at a time like this.”

Breaking the soft moment, the handle turned again, causing Shuunske's eyes to dart to the door once again. Just before the door opened, Shuunske received a potent dose of the rieatsu of the Muraisachi, meaning that he had regained or was regaining his senses and abilities. Unfortunately however he was right, and the white skinned snake like Muriasachi walked in, that sly devious expression on his face as if he was up to trouble.

Shuunske's bottom lip gutted out a slight bit as his nostrils flared. He hated the vision of that man. His thin hands, white as could be jutted from his haori and shinigami uniform, slightly altered with creative design as was Shuunske's.

“Ahh. So you are here Hiiro, not spying on Kasumi sleep I see. Well this is new.” As soon as he was done speaking, his eyes fluttered over back to Shuunske, looking him up and down. Shuunske turned slightly so that the haori would cover him, but it was nothing better. He was one of the last people that Shuunske wanted to see at this moment in time. And who did Muriasachi think he was, marching in on this room, a room for royalty, and members of the 11th division only. He loved breaking the rules didn't he.

Shuunske bit his lip with frustration. “And as for you,” Muriasachi continued, “as soon as you heal you come in here, just to stare at that god forsaken rock..”

At that Shuunske's eyes widened, and for a split second the room rumbled as his rieatsu poured out in a sudden burst, heavy enough to throw Hiiro to the ground. Within the next moment he was next to Muriasachi, his hands pressed at his back in the form of two fingers poking Muriasachi's back bone. Shuunske hit him three times, almost too fast for the eye to pick up and Muriasachi went limp, but only for a second before a low laughter came from him.

Turning his head almost 180 degrees to face Shuunske although his back was to him, he smiled, and started speaking: “As perfect as ever. Your reaction time is flawless, your attack is flawless, and your...”

“Please leave captain.” Shuunske stated in a demanding tone. Perhaps the most demanding he had ever used. Muriasachi looked to his zanpakutou only to see that is was on the ground, buried in the white snow that held no temperature, under Shuunske's foot, where Shuunske had unlatched it and kicked it during the first split second of his movement. An only increased smile spread across Muriasachi's lips.

Shuunske was done. He did not need to start a fight within the quarters of his fellow shinigami when there was another going on between shinigami not on his side. He needed all the help he could get.

Muriasachi stood up, the effects of Shuunske's nerve attacks having little to no effect on him, simply because of his heavily modified body that probably had sections of nerves removed. It made attacking him hard, but that was not what mattered.

“As you wish lil' cap'n...”

“Have you made contact with Soul Society that you know of, informing them of our situation? We are going to... we are going to need more... men...”

“I am glad that you managed to be alright. At least someone came out of this fine. Thanks for being strong 5th seat Hiiro. You are a good officer to have in the squad at a time like this.”

".... Yuki"

The rieatsu started to slink away from the room until it was gone completely, washed out by Shuunske's stronger energy. His head hung low. How would anyone have the nerve to say something like that? To insult something to dear and sacred to him. To challenge him in his own house, after Shuunske had risked his life to get him the bodies and samples of rieatsu that he had needed. And all he could do was insult the most dear thing to him, and not even say anything close to an apology. Shuunske's teeth ground together with anger, and then his jaw relaxed as a soft sadness came over him. He had never stopped thinking about her. He had finally found her again. Only, she was an empty shell. A girl that he loved but that could not love him. He was nothing but a stranger to her. Nothing but a young boy that could even begin to explain anything about his feelings. It ate him from the inside.

His rieatsu was returning, meaning he would be able fight soon, meaning, in turn, that he would be able to return back to her. His head still hanging, he turned back to see Hiiro's eyes, a dash of fear, mixed with concern in them, making him feel as though he had another friend. He had only just started to get to know her, and yet he was so connected to her already. He guessed that it came with having a seated officer, or a teammate at all really.

Those feelings snapped into different ones, bringing back the sadness of his dreams and memories to the surface as she asked who she was, and if they were close. Close was not even a comparison to what they were. His softened jaw clenched again, this time biting his lip in anger. Anger that he had not been able to protect her.

“Her name was Yuki...” Looking up, Shuunske saw Hiiro's finger touching the stone. His eyes flared for a second, and in a second he was only inches away from her, the snow kicked up from where he was only a moment ago, carried by a faster shunpo than he had ever accomplished. His hand reached out and grabbed her wrist quicker than a cobra striking its pray, his grip like steal, clenching down on her wrist only soft enough not to bring a bruise to her skin. After a second he loosened his grip on her, and only had his hand remain on her wrist with a light touch. She could pull free any moment.

Silence poured over the room, the silence more profound than anything that he could have heard. His haori flapped back down around him, and ceased moving. It had all happened in less than a single second. His white tunic settles, opening the slightest bit more. Shuunske made no move to close it this time. He did not care what she saw. He was covered anyways. That was not what was important in this moment.

Removing his hand after another second, Shuunske took a step back, stuttering as he did so. “S-sorry. I did not mean to... I did not mean to hurt you. Just please... don't... please don't touch that. To answer you question, yes. Yes we were very close.” Shuunske's head turned form pointing down to looking up at the ceiling as he searched for the best way to try and describe her. Yuki.

“She was also from a royal family. There are many boundaries and lines that we have to stay within as a royal family, but we found a way to always be together. In fact, I don't remember a time that we were not together. Always laughing, always having fun, despite the image we both had to live up too. I was to become the head of the royal family as I am now, and she was to become the lady of her own.

We went into the academy together, both of us specializing in different things, her in the medical kido, and me in the ways of battle, and defensive and offensive battle type kido. We were like two halves to one whole. We both excelled, and we both loved it, spending all the time we could with each other. Still laughing.

But, as I said, there were prices to being from the royalty. I lost her. I lost my joy with her. We were attacked by another family, and, they did not even have the heart to leave her alone. No. They had to take everyone. They had to take her, an innocent young girl. We were so young. I remember it all clearly. I am... I am always reminded of how I was too weak to protect her...”

A tear dripped down Shuunske's cheek and fell into the snow, followed by another that took a short refuge on his lip, before too falling. A seconds pause came too him, and then more tears came.

“I am so sorry Hiiro-chan, I am sorry that you have to see this from your captain. But it turns out that I am no stronger than anyone else. Captain is just a title. I feel things just as anyone else does, and yet, I have not had a chance to express anything. I wish I could be stronger. I wish that I could be a statue of hope that was... indestructible, unbeatable. But I am not. I am only a boy...”

Shuunske looked at Hiiro for a second, but could not bring himself to look for any longer than a second. He felt ashamed that he was letting his 5th seated officer see this.

“She died right there.” Shuunske pointed to the grace stone. “She died right in front of me. I was unable to do anything but watch. I tried to move, but I could not...”

“Please forgive me Hiiro-chan. I will not be this weak again. I promised that to myself. I keep promising it to myself. And this time I will keep it. I am going to protect everyone around me, no matter if it kills me. I am stronger now. I can do it...”

Shuunske wiped the tears from his face, and looked up, looking Hiiro straight in the eyes, his watery eyes bright blue and powerful beyond belief. It wold almost send someone staggering back if they were new to his energy.

“I will not fail again...”

”I will not fail again”

‘How many years Shuunske-sama. Have you killed yourself thinking that what happened to Yuki was because of you?’

Even from looking down Shuunske's eyes widened and he was surprised or taken aback when he felt Hiiro's arms wrap around him, his arms pinned downed and his face, held down, pressed to her chest, and collar bones. What was she doing? She was disobeying rational protocol, but that being said, he was glad that she had the ability to snap out of that place of command and receive. He smiled, a pitiful smile that hung sadly on his face. It was the type of smile that only caused more tears to pour from his eyes.

His smile quickly turned into only what it was before, a clenched mouth biting his lip. He was being hugged by his 5th seated officer. Was he that weak? Did he need this. The answer was yes. He needed a way to let this all out, but he could not accept that this was the way to achieve that goal. He wished that he could just deal with it as he had for the years, and not tell anyone. He wished that Hiiro had not seen him like this, that she still thought he was Shuunske, the most famous captain in Soul Society. He wished he could start over.

Moving his head so that he had it side ways against her, Shuunske stopped thinking and let the remaining tears come, hot down his face. Why was Hiiro so able to empathize with him. Him and Kifuume had practically been enemies in the academy, and she had been friends with Kifuume, not him. And yet, here she was, compromising her rank, and everything just to comfort him, and be there.

Her uniform was soft against his face, and he loved the feeling of it against the bare skin on his chest. The female uniform had always been softer. Her words started to blur together as he closed his eyes. That is until her heard the name Yuki again.

Without hesitation, Shuunske pulled back, the pained look on his face once again, as if the pain she had been taking away had been stabbed back into him, and another fire of self doubt and misery had begun. “How do you know what she would have been proud of? You never knew her. Don't speak for her.”

More tears came, and he fell back into her arms, realizing that there was no reason to lose his ability to cope with Hiiro. All she was trying to do was help. She just did not know him that well, and she seemed to have a knack to step on the lines that he set up for no crossing.

Closing and opening his eyes again, Shuunske saw the snow falling down, as real as any real snow and as beautiful as well. A shiver ran up his spine, acting as marionette strings that caused his arms and hands to clasp over each other, as if he was hugging his arms, and holding on to his elbows. Her arms were still around him, offering the little warmth that they could provide.

Shuunske felt her shaky breaths against his own shaking exhales and inhales. Their breath made the air born fog, even though the temperature was not much colder than that of outside the room, aided by the kido to help the effect seem all the more realistic. Even so, the cold was creeping up on him, causing his skin to receive goose bumps, which then faded back into perfection.

Hiiro gave him one more tight squeeze, and then let go of him. With his hands finally free, he moved them to his face, and wiped his eyes, their glassy and blue colored flawlessness looking back at her. Her hands remained on his shoulders. He felt small. He hated that feeling. He felt as though she was talking down to him, even if she was older. The hands on her shoulders made him feel as though he was being talked to by an adult that did not know he was a captain of the 11th division.

But as soon as he saw her smile, he stopped caring. It was not one that was meant to belittle him, but one that showed him how caring and honest she was. She was trying her best to be the best 5th seat possible, but she was trying even harder to be the best friend ever, both to her and Kasumi.

However a best friend was not going to help them. If she was right, and they truly were alone from here on in until they secured contact with Soul Society, than he needed her to be much stronger. Otherwise he would not use her in combat, and he needed all the combatants he could use. He knew already that asking 12th captain and Jun was inevitable. They were both strong enough on the battle field, and Muriasachi was, after all, a captain, even though Shuunske hated the though of being in the same level playing field as him.

Another shiver went up his body, sending chills back down like like a game of tag up and down his body. Shuunske had not realized how warm Hiiro truly was. In fact, it seemed as though she had kept him warm completely off of the hug she had given. Looking down, Shuunske, for the first time took in what he was wearing. The thin and almost see through tunic was now completely open on his front, aside from the very very bottom that was closed over his waist, covering him. His haori hung over him, however falling off as the silk made it hard to stay on. His entire chest was bare, and just looking made him start to shiver. His teeth started to chatter.

He looked up at her, his eyes still glassy, but the tears gone from his face, with an almost guilty grin on his face. “I am cold Hiiro-chan.” The smile that came after words, the awkward and cute smile that followed was that of which the many fan girls that Shuunske had talked about. It was enough to make any girl want to hug him again, and fall in love with him. A cute little pulled in smile that was sprung from his petite little mouth.

“And I want to go check on the communications bay. I need to clarify on this matter. I want a minute here alone. In that time, please get me my proper clothes, and return here.” His energy shifted from that of sadness to once again the commanding and exciting energy of Shuunske, tainted with the melancholy sadness that always had stained his words. That same sadness that cause the mystery that all the girls and boys both craved to learn about. One of the many reasons he was the most talked about captain in Soul Society.

”I am cold Hiiro-chan”

“Don’t you have needless time to waste watching Kasumi-dono?”

His silence was broken by the small voice of Hiiro, his fifth seat, that seemed to want to be able to endure anything for either him or Kasumi. His eyes very slowly opened. He had just been remembering now. But not in a way that made him more sad than he was. He had snapped out of that phase, for the good of the remaining shinigami on this mission. Although, that is not all he was doing.

He had been pondering. Hiiro had said that all communications had been cut off, and that only static was coming through when they tried to contact Soul Society. Then she accused the shinigami they ahd just fought, an opinion that had obviously not come from her, as she, as smart as she was, knew nothing about a communications bay. Meaning that either Jun-chan, or Muriasachi-san had said it. And that meant it was probable, and not just a random opinion.

But if that was the case, then what else could they do. How were they pulling off all these technical feats that could and should not be able to pulled from the oustide. For one, they had removed themselves from the Soul Society without leaving any trace of ever existing, even in the royal archievs, and furthermore, had left nothing about how they left, even in the 1st Division reports. And now the communications was being cut off. None of it added up.

It might be possible to erase all history of yourself given the proper squad, and that amount of ability, although that would be very hard feat to pull off, but to leave nothing and some how come from Soul Society to another demension - the real world - without leaving through a senkai gate, or showing that they had in any ways.

It was only logical that they had another man on the inside. But no one knoew anything about them. They were like invisible. Furthermore, for the communications to be cut off just like that after an attack that left them immobile, and in bad conditions. It was too unprobable. And there was no such thing as a kido attack that had done that. Not in the bakudo that a shingiami learned, and he was surely fighting another shinigami back then. There was no going against that fact. They had a Zanpakutou, and fought in the way that was taught in the academy.

He needed to hear the status report from Jun-san before he could fully make any opinions. But it was all getting too fishy. But what would someone helping these nemises shinigami gain from anything. It all seemed to not make sense.

His vision was blurry from the earlier crying. Shuunske snapped back to reality, and stood slowly, the haori falling to ground. Reaching backwards, Shuunske grabbed the shinigami uniform from his 5th seats hands. Closing his eyes again, and leveling his mouth to the perfect inbetween of a smile and frown - a straight line - he pulled the opened silk shirt off of his shoulder.

The ability to change in front of your officers was not a rare one, however, Shuunske had never had a female officer before. Hiiro might turn the other way and might not. If there had been any other girl in the room, he would have asked, but she was different, and was his officer. Plus, he had his back to her, and it was easier to be seen from that perspective than another.

His skin was almost shining with perfection as he slipped the top part of the small tunic off, causing it to fall back behind him, kept on by the small sash that was around his lower waist. Biting the inside of his lip with nervousness, Shuunske pulled the tie of the sash, and the tunic fell away completely, leaving him naked. His back end exposed to her. It was normal for an officer to have to be able to get used to this. And Hiiro turning away would only make things more awkward now.

Shuunske's face, not able to be seen by Hiiro, turned pink when he though of her looking at him. His back shone in perfection, each muscle perfectly toned, and just where it should be. His small body, just as tall as Hiiro, and by that, very short, was in complete grace for that of his 15 year old looks, despite his actual age which left him about 16 and a half.

It was not a far shot at all to call his body that of perfection. The dim lighting from the room only helped to further bring out and define the muscles in his back, and legs.

Separating the top from the bottom of the undergarments of a captains robe, slightly different than the average shihauksho. When his small fingers wrapped around the top, he let tha pants fall to the ground. Raising his arms up, he let the shihauksho top fall out, perfectly ironed and everything just as he expected from the 12th division men and women, those that feared the captain class for all that Muriasachi was. he would be shocked if they had not ironed it as well.

With his arms still raised in the air, Shuunske let the shirt fell over him, it being completely open in the front, and thus not hiding anything from him on the front side. Taking the small ties, he tied it all until it fit him properly, falling over his croth and hiding everything private from view. After that, he turned slightly, so that he could see Hiiro.

Bending down to pick up the pants, Shuunske hesitated for a second before lifting them to find his under garments - or underwear. Biting his lip a little more, his face completely flushing into pink, he pulled them out. They were not anything special, but the thought of performing his dressing process in front of a girl was one that he wouls going to have to get used to if he was going to have her as an officer.

Pulling them over his legs first, the tight fitting cloth slung to his legs, until they were done, and they were in place. Shuunske put more pressure on the teeth biting his lip, before letting them go.

With the pain free from his lip, Shuunske bent down once more, to grab the pants, and pulled them on, adjusting the ties so that they fit him as well. And finally, bending down for the last time, Shuunske picked back up his haori and pulled it over him. After putting it on, he felt something missing. He felt some weight gone.

It took him a second to realize he was not with his Zanpakutou at the moment. The thought made him cower. He felt weak without it, and, as if he had had his shinigami abilities ripped from him. He loved his zanpakutou and the zanpakutou spirit that resided within. They had always been able to bond easily, and form a relationship. That was why he was able to achive bankai so quickly.

Takinf a deep breath and raising his hand, Shuunske activated a very simple kido spell he had created back in the academy and never gotten bored of using, where he wiped the residue of the kido inflicted snow from his haori, and made it dry. The spell just wiped rieatsu clean from him. It could not repal a kido in any way, just clean the area of rieatsu. He had done it in his room before he had left, in hope of clearing out Muriasachi's filthy rieatsu. But he knew that he would just smog it back up as soon as he left.

"Come 5th seat Hiiro-chan, I need to check on what you siad about the communications."

Shuunske believed her, but wanted to know the details. Slipping his feet into the straw woven sandal like shoes that the shinigami wore, he started walking towards the door.

Taking one more breath of the room in before he left, Shuunske smiled back at Hiiro, who followed him. She had been such an awesome officer, but more so a friend. Shuunske had never had true friends. It was either fans, or those who were jealous of him and thus did not like him. Either way, both were superficial, and there was nothing he really gained from it, other than the title of "Soul Society's most famous captain."

Closing the door behind him, Shuunske took a double take. What had the red mark on Hiiro been? Was the cold affecting her to such a degree that it was making her red? Turning again, Shuunske saw the mark on her, the mark of a hand that was fading ever so slightly from the time it had taken him to notice.

"5th seat Hiiro-chan, who did this to you?"

Shuunske knew before he even asked. Muriasachi had done that. As if insulting Shuunske and what he was doing at a sacred place was not bad enough, but no, he had to slap his subordinate. Shuunske wished he had his Zanpakutou more than ever now.

"That stuck up prick!"

Takinf a quick step that lead into a fast pace, Shuunske turned in the opposite direction. The info would not go away, and he was to act on his current anger. He would not tolerate this kind of behavior from Muriasachi.

It was only a mere number of seconds before Shuunske opened the door into his room, causing it to slam against the wall outside. Sure enough Muriasachi was standing there, opposite him, clearly amused by the look on Shuunske's face. He liked seeing others angered.

"That door has been through a lot Shuunske-sama," Muriasachi said with an evil presence.

"Silence Muriasachi-san!" Shuunske knew that, them being on equal shinigam rank did not allow him to command anything of Muriasachi, but the difference in social standing, in Shuunske's house, made up for this. Muriasachi's mouth closed, still grinning.

"No matter what rank you are, Muriasachi-san, I will not tolerate you treating my subordinates being treated like this for nothing..."

Muriasachi cut him off with a sly insertion of though. "It was not nothing. She sent a commant to me, Shuunske-sama..."

Biting his lip again so as not to strike Muriasachi, Shuunske replied, fighting fire with fire. "As well she should have. If I get another report of this behavior Muriasachi-san, I will demonstrate less pleasure and forgiveness than this time. Consider yourself warned!"

Muriasachi started to giggle. "It is funny seeing a child so worked up about his girl friend being hit. And to think..." He could not finish that sentence. Before he could, Muriasachi was cut off by Shuunske raising his arms, and, without even saying the kido number or anything, activated a kido spell that he had made up in the academy as well. It was a simple bakudo that restricted the neck from being used for about twenty minutes. Muriasachi's voice cut out.

"Leave my room, and only come back if you have reason pertaining to this mission. Understood?"

Muriasachi nodded, and started moving. His eyes still on Shuunske, undressing him as normal. Shuunske simply stood and glared until Muriasachi had left the room, not closing the door. Shuunske did it for him, not slamming it this time.

Then looking at Hiiro, Shuunske took a step forward, until Hiiro was in reach. "You should have told me Hiiro-chan." He smiled at her, and placed his hand on her cheek, his own face turning slightly pink. His thumb brushed over her face soflty, as a lover would do just after a kiss, minus all of it but the feeling of protectiveness over her that he had as his officer, and new friend.

"Thank you..."

"Come 5th seat Hiiro-chan, I need to check on what you said about the communications."

”That stuck up prick!”

“Silence Muriasachi-san!”

”You should have told me”

Shuunske's face bent into a caring smile, and a small protective blush came over his face. His neck tilted a small bit, and the energy had switched again. It was always at this medium where it could switch. At one point she was almost like an older sister or at least the one protective over him, and now, the energy had switched. He was her captain and she was the 5th seated officer in his squad, only more between them could be shared now. She was more than a 5th seat. She was a teammate. And a valuable one at that. Although she was not strong at the moment, she had shown great potential to greatness during her time at the academy, and any shinigami straight from the academy did not have great expectations from the start. She had shown an excessive ability to control kido spells, mainly bakudo and protective spells, but not bad at the way of destruction spells either. Hado.

Looking up into Hiiro's face, his face turned slightly more the color of a fading rose, pink enough to display his hidden protectiveness over her for more than just a teammate – but as a friend. “Hiiro-chan, please, your well fare and comfort are not trivial to me. They never have been. Don't say things like that. It makes me worry I am not doing my job well enough. I will do anything to ensure your comfort and safety. Don't feel scared to ask my anything or notify me of anything in the future. Okay?”

Shuunske's hand was still on her face, he looking straight into her eyes, past them. An understanding feeling portrayed like a master painter painting on the canvas that was his eyes. A small smile created a small upward pull on the edges of his mouth. The smile and the light blushing made Shuunske look himself, caring, and young.

Shuunske looked away, his hand falling from Hiiro's face, his thumb brushing over her cheek once more, her temperature warmer than the average, and thus leaving a warm feeling on his hand. “Yes Hiiro-chan, please take me there. I need to know what this all means from Jun-san. If you are ready?”

Shuunske placed his hand on her back, and gently turned her towards the hallway that lead out of the giant room, and into the entrance hall, which then again connected to the rest of the small yet royal safe house.

His foot steps startled him. He fell on his feet harder than normal. He was still weak from the rieatsu loss, and thus felt very tired. He should refrain from using kido or any source of the rieatsu that occurred naturally in him for any reason until he was back at his full powered state. Rieatsu was a dangerous thing to go out without. Not many shinigami had died from rieatsu exhaustion, but it was a notable death, and although not common, still a death to look out from. Especially from one who used kido as much as he did.

Looking back up into the eyes of reality, the rooms passed in silence, until he broke that awkward feeling. “Hiiro-chan, when you and Kasumi were fighting that girl, did she say anything? Was there anything at all that we gained from that encounter with those two?” Then it dawned on him, she had probably not even heard of his fight with the captain class zanpakutou wielder. She probably assumed he was doing something, but probably did not know he had been fighting another zanpakutou wielder at a captain's level. Or furthermore, at his own level. And that was different.

He knew that the girl Hiiro was fighting had not said anything or else Hiiro would have already reported on what it was to him. If anything of use was to be told, she would be the first to tell him as long as Kasumi was out. It was her job as a 5th seat.

Shuunske almost did not want to here her say that the crazy girl had said nothing. He felt so useless. All he had done was killed and injured his men, and gained nothing. And in the snow, he could hardly fight the other man. And obviously it was difficult for Hiiro and Kasumi to take on the other girl. Were had they come from, and what were they doing? He also wondered that, based on their training and way of fighting, they were definitely from Soul Society or trained by another from their. But if this were the case, what ranks were they by official class. Because both the opponent he had and the girl were strong. The girl had broken free of his kido before he had willed it, and was able to escape from him. One could only do that with a very dark and powerful rieatsu and will power. It was remarkable. Even if it was a weaker kido spell – or rather, the weakest bakudo spell. Even so. She should have been held long enough to hold her for another stronger spell.

Taking the last bend before the communications bay, Shuunske looked up to the ceiling. Everything was still white, just like they had always been ever since this section was added on after the fire. The fire. The one that took everything from him. Shuunske bit his lip and winced back down to the ground. He wished that his mind would not always lead a comparison from the present to his dark past.

Hiiro looked back, and they shared a moment of smiling. Their eyes met, as they were similar in height. He was only a small bit taller than her. “Thank you Hiiro-chan. Thank you for being strong!”

With that, Shuunske stepped in front of her, beating her to the door, only to open it for Hiiro, as a normal person would open the door for royalty based on normal protocol. Only once again the roles were muddles between them. He smiled at her, and let her pass through.

Looking into the room, Shuunske saw nothing had changed. It was still a a large room perfect for training with a large open flooring, and on the back, a huge screen that took up the entirety of the large wall that was used for a video calling reference. With this machine, they were supposed to be able to connect to another dimension. Jun stood in the very center of the room. Her head bent backwards to see who it was. As soon as she saw the captain, her entire stern and powerful steadfast presence changed into that of a humble servant.

Turning gracefully, she pivoted on her foot into a bow, a very low bow that bent her head down as well. “Greetings Captain Shuunske-sama. I am glad to see you well again.” Her monotone voice held little to no emotion. Even so, Shuunske enjoyed her. She was very complex and had many things different about her. He had wished that he could have had her as another seated officer ever since he had come into the office as a captain. He had asked Muriasachi, but the bargain was not in his favor. Even so, she was too connected to Muriasachi to act in the same way without him. He knew that. An unnatural connection to her captain was what she had. He had tampered with her body until he connection seemed to be in her DNA. It was a creepy idea, but one he had thought about many a times.

Shuunske nodded his head as he walked back up, leaving Hiiro at the door, were she would stay unless told to enter further by either of the two higher ranked shinigami. “5th seat Hiiro-chan has informed me that our communications have been knocked out as well. Although she could not give a detailed description on the problems. Can you do so please.” It was less of a question and more of a command as Shuunske fell back into his captain mode as he was no longer socializing with friends, but other shinigami. And shinigami from the 12th division even. There was no room to show his inner tenderness to them without being judged as weak. Especially by Jun who based everything on protocol.

“I will do so immediately sir. After the assault here, the same that created the issue of all three of you, Hiiro-chan, and Kasumi-san being bed ridden and injured, along with wiping out all of the guarding men form your unit, we made contact with Soul Society to update them on the status. It was a completed transaction of data, although we could only collect a small amount from the bodies that were brought in. They seemed to be killed without the use of a sword in many cases, and they had their organs, and important tissues ripped out and were left to die with aided cause from whom ever they were killed by. Also, because of the shields you placed on them, we were able to trace the rieatsu of the killer, but nothing compared to it in the data files. Same story back in Soul Society with Kifuume and his squad. If these shinigami have ever had any data posted on them it has been erased, or they have simply existed in secret, and avoided any data on them. Which of these options we don't know yet. But we are further looking into it. We wanted to run the rieatsu through the Kuchiki data base, and thus we tried to make another connection with Soul Society, and that was when we realized that we had no ability to connect to Soul Society. Ever since then, we have no ability to diagnose the problem that is keeping us from connecting. Not even captain Muriasachi-san was able to do anything, and granted this is a different model of machine than he has ever dealt with before, if he could not do, it is gloomy to hope that we can do anything but trust. He had made the statement that it might be the shinigami that you encountered back in the snow using kido barriers to block our connection. That is our current status update sir. Furthermore, we are stuck here, and have been encountering more and more traces of the shinigami growing closer and closer to this location. It is only a matter of time before they find us sir.”

Shuunske thought for a moment. “Thank you Jun-san. As thorough as always.” He smiled, trying to make light of the problem. Before his smile faded back into his normal expression, Shuunske moved forward in the room towards the huge screen. Moving to the far right side of the machine, at the far right side of the rectangular room, Shuunske knelt down onto his knees. He was not anything near a pro with machines, but he was not satisfied with Jun's explanation of the inability to diagnose anything about the lack of connection.

“Sir, captain Muriasachi has already tried, I am sure that his answer is as good as...” She stopped unable to finish her sentence before the screen blitzed into static. Black lines moved up the screen and a faint noise came from the screen. Jun was silenced, and just watched. The screen noise peaked for a second before it all went black again, the words “NO SERVICE TO LINK TOO.”

Shuunske stood back. Looking at Jun he smiled a competitive smile that was only seen rarely. “Just because one cannot do it, does not mean another cannon Jun-san. Never place all your hopes in one person. Always allow the possibility to change in there.” He was not reprimanding her in any way. He was simply speaking philosophy.

“Now. This 'no service to link too' means that the problem is not coming from out side. This disproves Murisachi's theory. Also, a kido related connection blocker is not taught to shinigami and I have never even heard of that being developed in the kido corps. The thought that these shinigami, as powerful as they are, could use this level kido is hardly possible.”

That is all he wished to hear. Or at least all he knew he could hear. There was so little that he could hear, as the knew hardly anything as a collective team about the enemy at the moment. It would take another fight in a more proper place to distinguish these shinigami's abilities. And to do that, he needed to heal fully first, along with waiting for Kasumi to heal, and Hiiro to recover. Also, Hiiro would need to become more advanced before an all out fight.

Running over the fight they had, and his experience with both of the shinigami, they had all relied on great speed, and used flash steps that were faster than the normal shinigami. Hiiro did not even know a low level flash step. This needed to be remedied. She needed to be able to use the flash step to keep up with the shinigami., and be able to react to high speed movement. They could not have to worry about protecting her another time. That only led to more pain and casualties. But he had faith in her.