Post by Takashi Sakuma on May 2, 2018 12:34:31 GMT -5
With a transcendental light, a shoji screen door opened in the skies above a park in Setagaya, Japan. Six black-robed figures stepped out onto the air before leaping down onto the grass below. They all landed lightly on their feet, and despite the distance of the drop, they didn’t seem to be bothered by the height in the slightest.
Well, most weren’t.
“Mother of a Hollow,” one of the Shinigami complained angrily. “Couldn’t you at least make it so the door opened at ground level Ichika?”
“Sorry, it’s not like I’ve had a lot of practice lately,” Ichika snapped back.
“Alright that’s enough bickering you two,” the commanding officer of their unit, one of the seated members of the First Division, told them sternly. “We’ve got work to do.”
Takashi had been the last to exit the portal, and he watched as the door slid shut behind him before disappearing into thin air. Blue drops of condensed Reishi slowly drifted down from the sky, a faint pattern left by the velvet black wings of the jigokuchou.
We’re really here, I suppose, he mused to Kohaku, the hawk that perched on his shoulder.
It had been roughly six months after the Seireitei had lifted the quarantine for the plague, and it was Takashi’s first assignment to the Human World since then. Come to think of it, it was his first mission to the human world at all, excluding the brief training session about how to properly use the Senkaimon that he had once had in the past following his induction into the Gotei. As such, he took opportunity of his vantage point to glance around and take in the surroundings.
The skies were clear, and there was a stiff, cold breeze coming from the North, which he could feel beneath his feet. Even though the moon was only half full, it was bright enough to illuminate the rooftops of the sleeping neighborhood below. From what he could tell, the town below followed the “typical textbook” pattern for a Human World suburb: shingled roofs crossed by antenna and powerlines, street lights, laundry fluttering in the breeze, straight concrete alleys and snaking asphalt roads…
So this is the human world, he thought. But nothing could prepare him for the sight in the distance. As he lifted his gaze, he saw the towering outline of the skyscrapers against the backdrop of Tokyo Bay. There was a glow on the horizon from their electric glimmer, and Takashi tried not to gawk. He had never seen anything like it. The only proper “city” in the Soul Society was the Seireitei, and even though it had its fair share of towers and massive structures, they were never lit up like Tokyo was. He could see the reflection of the lights on the ocean even from where he stood miles away. To him, it looked like a living creature with jagged bones crouching at the edge of the water.
“Sakuma!” the sharp voice of his superior broke him out of his stupor, “What the hell are you doing? Get down here!”
He obeyed wordlessly and at once, joining his comrades in the park below.
“Alright, we’ll re-gather here in six hour’s time—at first light. Spread out as much as you can. The city goes on inward from here to the West, but head North and South as well. If you meet with any hostiles, by which I mean Hollows, try to avoid engagement. We’re here to finish our objective quickly, so don’t get caught up on side-missions. Am I clear?”
“Yes sir,” the Shinigami answered in unison.
“Alright then. Honda, since you and Kobayashi seem to be on each other’s nerves tonight, you’ll go with Sakuma. Everyone else stick close to your partners. Oh, and you should actually use the denreishinki to pinpoint the target’s locations. Soul King knows how much the Third spent on those pieces of shit… As for the rest of your instructions, they should have already been made clear before we arrived. Now move out.”
Like shadows, the Shinigami darted across the park before vanishing from the open, spreading out to search for the comrades who had been stranded for five years in the world of the living. Secretly, however, Takashi doubted they would find them. Enough time had passed for those Shinigami who had originally been stationed in the human world at the outbreak of the plague to have returned to the Soul Society of their own volition. As for the ones who hadn’t made it back, it had taken a massive effort to gather eye-witness accounts, track down names, and piece together a report of all those who had been killed in action, gone missing, or for one reason or another simply refused to contact the Soul Society after the lifting of the quarantine. Finally, however, the Gotei had managed to compile a list, and that’s why the search parties had been sent out: to gather up the remains.
“Are you picking up on anything?” Takashi asked Ichika. She held the denreishinki open in her hand and was absorbed in the screen, trying to catch a signal.
“Not yet.”
They moved at an easy pace across the rooftops, as it would have been pointless to use Flash Step until they had pinpointed something to track down. To any human who saw them from below, however, they were probably rushing past at a dizzying speed. That’s partly why they had come at night. Statistically, it was simply less likely that they would happen to be seen by a spiritually aware passerby.
Takashi relied on Ichika’s technological prowess to properly utilize the denreishinki. Meanwhile, he trained his senses on the horizon, widening the area of his Reikaku to pick up any sign of a Shinigami’s spiritual pressure.
There, Kohaku noted. Without warning, the hawk took flight, quickly speeding ahead of him and Ichika as she rose into the sky.
“I’ve got something,” Takashi told Ichika.
“Wait, what?” she stammered.
“I can sense the Reiatsu of a Shinigami to the North. My hawk is guiding us to the exact location.”
The other Shinigami scoffed. “As if I would believe that. Your bird can sense Reiatsu?” She was interrupted by a green dot that appeared on the screen of the tracker. The reflection of the blinking light shone off the lenses of her glasses, and she frowned. “So it can,” she noted. “Let’s pick up the pace.”
They cleared a gap between two buildings, and upon landing blurred out of sight by using a burst of Shunpo.
He seems to be alone, Kohaku told Takashi.
Odd. Takashi mused. But not surprising.
It was probably a better option to stick together as a group if one were stranded in the Human World. Personally, however, Takashi could see the advantages of going it alone. Less concentrated Reiatsu meant less of a beacon for Hollows and a higher degree of mobility. That said, he hoped that their target was simply uninformed about the current state of affairs in the Soul Society. Because if not…
Takashi gripped the saya of his Zanpakutou with his left hand, thumbing the brass-colored tsuba below the hilt as he considered the “if nots.” At the least, he hoped they would be able to start with a measure of civility. He wanted to ask questions, not draw blood, but if it came down to it…
They’re close now, Kohaku informed him. Coming up quick.
Takashi wondered who they were about to meet.
Word count 1,247
Well, most weren’t.
“Mother of a Hollow,” one of the Shinigami complained angrily. “Couldn’t you at least make it so the door opened at ground level Ichika?”
“Sorry, it’s not like I’ve had a lot of practice lately,” Ichika snapped back.
“Alright that’s enough bickering you two,” the commanding officer of their unit, one of the seated members of the First Division, told them sternly. “We’ve got work to do.”
Takashi had been the last to exit the portal, and he watched as the door slid shut behind him before disappearing into thin air. Blue drops of condensed Reishi slowly drifted down from the sky, a faint pattern left by the velvet black wings of the jigokuchou.
We’re really here, I suppose, he mused to Kohaku, the hawk that perched on his shoulder.
It had been roughly six months after the Seireitei had lifted the quarantine for the plague, and it was Takashi’s first assignment to the Human World since then. Come to think of it, it was his first mission to the human world at all, excluding the brief training session about how to properly use the Senkaimon that he had once had in the past following his induction into the Gotei. As such, he took opportunity of his vantage point to glance around and take in the surroundings.
The skies were clear, and there was a stiff, cold breeze coming from the North, which he could feel beneath his feet. Even though the moon was only half full, it was bright enough to illuminate the rooftops of the sleeping neighborhood below. From what he could tell, the town below followed the “typical textbook” pattern for a Human World suburb: shingled roofs crossed by antenna and powerlines, street lights, laundry fluttering in the breeze, straight concrete alleys and snaking asphalt roads…
So this is the human world, he thought. But nothing could prepare him for the sight in the distance. As he lifted his gaze, he saw the towering outline of the skyscrapers against the backdrop of Tokyo Bay. There was a glow on the horizon from their electric glimmer, and Takashi tried not to gawk. He had never seen anything like it. The only proper “city” in the Soul Society was the Seireitei, and even though it had its fair share of towers and massive structures, they were never lit up like Tokyo was. He could see the reflection of the lights on the ocean even from where he stood miles away. To him, it looked like a living creature with jagged bones crouching at the edge of the water.
“Sakuma!” the sharp voice of his superior broke him out of his stupor, “What the hell are you doing? Get down here!”
He obeyed wordlessly and at once, joining his comrades in the park below.
“Alright, we’ll re-gather here in six hour’s time—at first light. Spread out as much as you can. The city goes on inward from here to the West, but head North and South as well. If you meet with any hostiles, by which I mean Hollows, try to avoid engagement. We’re here to finish our objective quickly, so don’t get caught up on side-missions. Am I clear?”
“Yes sir,” the Shinigami answered in unison.
“Alright then. Honda, since you and Kobayashi seem to be on each other’s nerves tonight, you’ll go with Sakuma. Everyone else stick close to your partners. Oh, and you should actually use the denreishinki to pinpoint the target’s locations. Soul King knows how much the Third spent on those pieces of shit… As for the rest of your instructions, they should have already been made clear before we arrived. Now move out.”
Like shadows, the Shinigami darted across the park before vanishing from the open, spreading out to search for the comrades who had been stranded for five years in the world of the living. Secretly, however, Takashi doubted they would find them. Enough time had passed for those Shinigami who had originally been stationed in the human world at the outbreak of the plague to have returned to the Soul Society of their own volition. As for the ones who hadn’t made it back, it had taken a massive effort to gather eye-witness accounts, track down names, and piece together a report of all those who had been killed in action, gone missing, or for one reason or another simply refused to contact the Soul Society after the lifting of the quarantine. Finally, however, the Gotei had managed to compile a list, and that’s why the search parties had been sent out: to gather up the remains.
“Are you picking up on anything?” Takashi asked Ichika. She held the denreishinki open in her hand and was absorbed in the screen, trying to catch a signal.
“Not yet.”
They moved at an easy pace across the rooftops, as it would have been pointless to use Flash Step until they had pinpointed something to track down. To any human who saw them from below, however, they were probably rushing past at a dizzying speed. That’s partly why they had come at night. Statistically, it was simply less likely that they would happen to be seen by a spiritually aware passerby.
Takashi relied on Ichika’s technological prowess to properly utilize the denreishinki. Meanwhile, he trained his senses on the horizon, widening the area of his Reikaku to pick up any sign of a Shinigami’s spiritual pressure.
There, Kohaku noted. Without warning, the hawk took flight, quickly speeding ahead of him and Ichika as she rose into the sky.
“I’ve got something,” Takashi told Ichika.
“Wait, what?” she stammered.
“I can sense the Reiatsu of a Shinigami to the North. My hawk is guiding us to the exact location.”
The other Shinigami scoffed. “As if I would believe that. Your bird can sense Reiatsu?” She was interrupted by a green dot that appeared on the screen of the tracker. The reflection of the blinking light shone off the lenses of her glasses, and she frowned. “So it can,” she noted. “Let’s pick up the pace.”
They cleared a gap between two buildings, and upon landing blurred out of sight by using a burst of Shunpo.
He seems to be alone, Kohaku told Takashi.
Odd. Takashi mused. But not surprising.
It was probably a better option to stick together as a group if one were stranded in the Human World. Personally, however, Takashi could see the advantages of going it alone. Less concentrated Reiatsu meant less of a beacon for Hollows and a higher degree of mobility. That said, he hoped that their target was simply uninformed about the current state of affairs in the Soul Society. Because if not…
Takashi gripped the saya of his Zanpakutou with his left hand, thumbing the brass-colored tsuba below the hilt as he considered the “if nots.” At the least, he hoped they would be able to start with a measure of civility. He wanted to ask questions, not draw blood, but if it came down to it…
They’re close now, Kohaku informed him. Coming up quick.
Takashi wondered who they were about to meet.
Word count 1,247
