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| - You’d think that he wouldn’t be surprised in the face of mysteries anymore. But nothing was farther from the truth. Itazura still looked as surprised as the others, if not more so, considering the nature of the subject. Spread out before them on a circular table in the eleventh division barracks was a piece of cloth with a symbol of a cloud with a viewing scope in the centre sown on the front. Itazura recognized the symbol immediately! Seeing it again after almost sixteen years brought all the memories of that month flooding back. For a time he was an academy student again in a courtyard with Fujimato Nakamura, Hiei Yamashin, and Shiro Natsume instructing him in combat drills. The symbol denoted the Shuuten which was Heisekai’s equivalent to the Gotei 13 of the Seireitei. Itazura answered the question Tedasuke Shiba posed. ‘It’s the symbol of the Shuuten, sir,’ he said, finding his voice. ‘The Shuuten means “The Full Scope of the Heavens”, hence the cloud and viewing scope.’ Tedasuke wasn’t the only one who regarded him with confused stares. Hei and Fox were the only ones who nodded their heads. Good. That meant the two had connected the dots. ‘Then the question we need to be asking,’ the noble Taira said, ‘is not where it came from. Itazura provided that answer rather swiftly. What we need to find out now is the why.’ ‘If someone brought it with them, why was it left behind?’ Yuri raised an interesting point. The stitching indicated that it hadn’t been cut off. The ends where much to frayed to be a clean cut. That told Itazura someone had ripped it off. ‘It’s been ripped,’ Itazura provided, sharing his thoughts with them. ‘The way I see it, we’ve got two or three possibilities. One: the owner is a member of the Shuuten, and was attacked, within the Seireitei. The emblem was ripped off in the attack. Two: someone wants us to think the owner was a member of the Shuuten, meaning the emblem was left behind on purpose.’ ‘So it could be a decoy to draw our attention elsewhere then?’ Tedasuke asked. ‘But if the owner was attacked within the Seireitei, then why didn’t the twelfth division report as much?’ Fox interjected. ‘As far as I’m aware they haven’t filed any such report.’ Hei nodded his agreement. ‘It could also be something else entirely. I know of a group within the Rukongai that use a cloud as their standard.’ He meant a group of vigilantes who’d had enough of being attacked by remnants of Averian’s army nearly sixteen years after their master’s demise, who decided to take matters into their own hands. ‘They like to think that they oversee the Rukongai, so the addition of a viewing scope to their cloud is quite possible.’ ‘This was found where, again?’ Tedasuke asked, holding up the emblem. ‘It was found within the Seireitei, sir, near the fifth division.’ Yuri answered. ‘Itazura’s been the only one to identify it, sir,’ Fox continued. Tedasuke rubbed his temples. Lately the eleventh division had been worked to the bone. As combat specialists they had been tasked with the final destruction of Averian’s army, and where working in tandem with the third division of the Ryū Order to help bring the army to an end. They’d also been tasked with dealing with Heisekian matters, mostly because Itazura was the closest thing to a specialist the Gotei 13 had on the reclusive realm. In addition anything concerning the Ryū Order was also dealt with by them, because of Tadashi’s past relations with the Order’s leadership. They were all tired both mentally and physically. Itazura himself hadn’t slept in the last three nights, and judging by how drained Tedasuke was, he hadn’t caught more than a few hours in the last week. Hei and Yuri also looked dishevelled and equally as drained. Hei’s black hair was ruffled and messy, which marked one of the few times Itazura had ever witnessed the noble Taira clansmen dishevelled. Fox looked a little better, though she had six hours to sleep earlier in the day. Itazura and Yuri had spent those hours dispatching a group of Hollow commanded by an Adjuchas; which was why their Shinigami garb was scuffed and tattered. This mystery, in addition to Averian’s splintered army causing all forms of mayhem, couldn’t have been worse timed. Itazura took charge before his former instructor could open his mouth to give the orders. He was only the eleventh seat, while Tedasuke was the third, but he’d understand. It was the least he could do. Tedasuke looked ready to collapse. He’d fought off multiple groups of Hollow, hadn’t nursed his injuries, or took the time to rest his body in days. His breathing didn’t even sound healthy! ‘Whatever it is, it’s high time we all found out the truth. Hei,’ the Taira clansmen looked at Itazura expectantly, ‘would you follow up your own suggestion and find out if it is this group of vigilantes? If it is, we’re worrying over nothing.’ That would be the best scenario. Tedasuke was watching him with a little smile on his face though. ‘Yuri,’ the Hiroshi clansmen leaned off the wall and straightened his posture, ‘contact the Dragonforce. Tyrell has eyes and ears spread throughout Heisekai. If anyone belonging to the Shuuten decided to book passage to the Soul Society for whatever reason, he’ll know.’ Finally he turned to Tedasuke. ‘I’m sorry, sir, but you need to rest.’ ‘You do look as though you are ready to fall over, sir,’ Hei added. ‘Leave this to us.’ Yuri concluded. ‘We’ll get the job done,’ Fox said, adding her voice to her companions. With a sigh Tedasuke collapsed back into his chair. He appeared to visibly shrink. ‘… Very well, you win. I’ll catch a few hours sleep in the meantime. But just to ease my thoughts… what part will you play, Zura, Fox?’ That was an entirely different headache. It wasn’t just Hollow attacks and mysterious emblems that had the eleventh division tripping. Six members of the advanced spear unit had turned up with their spiritual energy absorbed from their bodies, and their organs missing. To top it off their zanpakutō had also been drained of their powers. Usually when a Shinigami died the zanpakutō spirit died as well, but there was always some lingering residual reiryoku that could be analyzed to establish the how and why. That was basic academy knowledge. In this case not even that was true. There was nothing to track. No reiryoku trace, no trace in the surroundings, or even an eyewitness testimony to go on. ‘I’m going to take Fox with me and start the investigation on why our advanced spear unit turned up as wrinkled husks.’ The bodies looked as though they had been mummified. Fox nodded her head, red hair swishing. ‘Hopefully it’s got nothing to do with this emblem.’ They went their separate ways, with Itazura and Fox walking down the corridor from the meeting room. ‘Got any theories?’ He asked his red-haired companion. ‘One or two,’ she revealed with a sigh, ‘but I won’t be sure until I see for myself.’ She studied him carefully for a few moments as they walked. ‘Are you alright? You’re limping.’ He was? Huh. He hadn’t even noticed. The Adjuchas must’ve hit him harder than he’d thought. ‘I’ll be fine.’ He said reassuringly. ‘A good night’s sleep would help, but since I don’t see much of that on the horizon, I’ll poke my head into the fourth division when we get back.’ ‘Not good enough,’ Fox replied. The duo emerged into one of the many training doju’s within the eleventh’s barracks. There wasn’t much training being done at this late hour however. Everyone was either sleeping or going about their individual tasks. ‘Here, sit.’ She directed him to a bench and pulled up the cloth hiding his ankle. The wound spanned from the back of his heel up to the base of his knee, and snaked from the back of the leg around to the front. ‘Tut,’ she sounded vexed. ‘Did you kick a hook!? Oh, boy. This needs treatment- sit down!’ He did as he was told. She began with a simple trickle of Kidō to break apart the dried blood and cleanse the wound, where she proceeded to run a glowing green palm the whole way around his shin. He laughed at one point because it tickled, but he didn’t have to endure it much longer after that. ‘That’ll do for now,’ she told him. ‘But it’s only temporary, so don’t overexert yourself.’ He laughed at that. ‘I haven’t slept in three nights, and I don’t think I’ll get much in the next three. Overexertion seems to be routine these days.’ Even Fox couldn’t argue with that. ‘You know what I mean. Just be less foolhardy than usual.’ ‘Why, my dear Fox is that concern for me I hear? Well, you can go ahead and colour me flattered.’ Instead she hit his arm gently. ‘Ah, don’t hit me.’ He cowered for added effect, ‘I’m brittle enough, thank you.’ Their mission took them to the district known as Kitagun. It sported a large landmass, with a large canyon many Shinigami used as a training venue. Itazura himself knew the area well, for he’d tracked Raiden through the area numerous times before. Boy, how that brought back memories. He’d been nothing but a boy back then. Now he was taller and broader through the shoulders. He’d also lost most of his feminine look, which he was especially grateful for. Kitagun was the twenty-fifth district of Northern Rukongai. The bodies of the advanced spear unit had been found by patrolling Shinigami at the bottom of the canyon. As such the canyon itself had been sealed off. When the two arrived the area was teeming with members of the Kidō Corps in white hoods, while members of the seventh stood by as security. Due to his being a seated officer Itazura was allowed passage, where he found his mother, Yukimura, overseeing the scene. ‘Ma’am,’ he greeted respectfully. ‘We’re here on behalf of third seat Tedasuke, who sends his apologies.’ He grinned then. ‘He was ready to collapse.’ Yukimura waved off those she’d been speaking to and took her son aside. ‘And you do not?’ She asked him. He couldn’t very well tell her a lie, now could he? He was tired. ‘Regardless,’ she relented, ‘we’ve made some headway here. This was done by an Arrancar.’ That surprised him. The only Arrancar he’d ever known to absorb the spiritual power of his victims and their zanpakutō was Averian, and no one wanted a repeat performance of that! ‘We found Arrancar reiryoku on the scene. It seems that he fired a Cero.’ Yukimura walked back towards Fox, and shared her observations to bring her up to speed. ‘From what we’ve been able to gather, he isn’t as strong as some Arrancar we’ve encountered in the past, but if he really can absorb peoples spiritual power…’ ‘… Then we’re all in trouble,’ Fox finished. ‘It’s safe to assume he’s a self-made Arrancar then. They usually lack the power of Arrancar like the Espada.’ ‘Ah, but Averian was self-made, remember?’ Itazura interjected. ‘We can’t assume anything other than that we need to treat this new threat seriously. I take it we haven’t established a trace yet?’ ‘We’re working on it,’ Yukimura revealed. She swept her hand towards the members of the Kidō Corps. ‘We should have something to go on soon.’ ‘Thank you for the information, Ma’am!’ Fox intoned. ‘You can head back now,’ Yukimura ordered. ‘The three of us here isn’t necessary, and judging by how busy you’ve been lately, you’ll have other assignments waiting for you at the barracks. I'll handle this.’ He nodded enthusiastically, even though he dreaded the thought of returning. ‘I’ll leave this to you then,’ he said at last after some difficulty. ‘Please, mother, send for me when you go after this guy. He killed six of my squad-mates.’ He didn’t give her time to reply but he felt her eyes drilling into his back. ‘So, we’ve got an Arrancar on the loose within the Seireitei?’ Fox asked rhetorically. ‘Perfect,’ Itazura kept his silence right up until they re-entered the Seireitei. His thoughts couldn’t be right… could they? ‘You remember when you said earlier that the twelfth division didn’t file any report about attacks in the Seireitei, or even reiryoku signatures?’ Fox nodded. ‘This is only my theory, but what if the owner of that emblem had their spiritual power absorbed, too? There wasn’t a body left behind, nor was there a trace of reiryoku…’ ‘… If it was absorbed, then there wouldn’t be any.’ Fox concluded. She shivered visibly. ‘Yeah, my thoughts too,’ Itazura agreed. ‘Just what the hell is going on around here?’ He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out. Next Story > Action amidst Uncertainty.
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