A Sleepless Night [Tsukiko, Mie]

[Kuchiki Rukia]

Sayuri stepped onto the chilly streets of Karakura. This was one of the very rare moments when she decided to train herself not in the comforts of Soul Society. Perhaps she had already become tentative to the forest surroundings on the outskirts of Gotei 13. She hoped with desperation that someone; anyone would show up to train with her. The thought of training alone with Hikari had become more and more of a burden as time went on. Of course, she loved training with her spirit but just the two of them all the time seemed slightly boring. The woman walked down the streets, aware of the wind that had started to pick up.

The Shinigami Captain wore her fifth division haori, a rare sight to see especially when she patrolled Karakura. She disliked wearing the captain robe for two reasons: one because it showed the high status and level given her rank which she did not believe reflected her actual abilities and two because people often felt intimidated for conversing or training with a taicho. She vowed that once she reached the forest area of Karakura that she would take off her haori. Her Zanpakutou was strapped tightly under her waist, her fingers often fingering it unconsciously as she walked. Sayuri looked left to right, her head turning ever so slightly at the faintest noises. It had become a natural habit for her to become perturbed by a slight disturbance.

No need to be so careful, Sayuri.

That statement hung true to her mind but something had the back of her mind still nagged at her. It was true that given her rank and her abilities there was little to worry about but she was always someone to be on her guard. Therefore, Sayuri only smiled at Hikari’s comment, oblivious to the fact that some parts of her simple statement were true. Ever since the death of her lover Hiroshi, she had not let her guard down even within Soul Society. Then the captainship testing had come almost immediately after. A part of her had thought that she would have failed because of the pain and grief that she felt for someone who she could no longer see and no longer love.

Sayuri made a turn on one of the side streets and headed for Karakura’s forest area. It was vast and the light from the moon cast little comfort to the surrounding darkness. But through experience the young Shinigami had already grown at ease with the dark. She rather liked the dark because it gave her the feeling of protection that she couldn’t get during daylight. That was one reason why she preferred training at night; when all was dark and close to everyone was asleep. The shadows and the wind made her shiver but it was definitely not from fear. As she walked deeper into the forest, she wondered again whether someone would be there to train with her. The need and desire to have someone there with her in the darkness of apparent.

You really think that people will be here at this time of night? Not everyone is a maniac like you!

She only smiled at her spirit’s words. Indeed she was often looked upon as insane because of her interesting ability to not sleep during the night and still be able to focus her attentions on daily matters during the day. Through the sleepless nights following Hiroshi’s death, she had grown to make use of her time. Thus, she rarely needed sleep nor did she desire it. Sleep was only an escape; an escape to another dimension of nightmares. Once she did manage to fall asleep, she would be enveloped in the nightmares which detailed the final moments of Hiroshi. It was almost painful to fall asleep so she willed herself to continue well into the night either training or just walking.

[Tsukiko]

Tsukiko sighed she had just finished with the paper work and had then been sent to the human world. She wanted to just sit and watch the boats that floated by in the water. Thankfully since she had been here she hadn't met anyone that wanted to fight. She just sat back against a tree and looked at the water. The sun was in the ski over head and there wasn't any clouds out. There was a nice breeze out as the side of the river hit the edge. It was about 3 in the after noon and soon the humans would be on there way home and the kids would be getting out of school. She would be hearing them screaming and yelling as they walked with there friends back to there houses. But that also meant that the hollows and arrangers would be out looking for them.

She didn't want to know what would be happening to her once she got back to Soul Society. Most likely she would have to work on more paper work that wasn't finished.Going to the human world for a while was supposed to help her relax a little. But she would also have to fight arancars and hollows and anything else that would want to attack her. She had just wanted to relax but sooner or later she would be interrupted by someone or something. She just hoped that it was a shinigami and nothing more. If she had to fight so help her she was not going to be in a good mood.

"Well I guess relaxing then going back to Soul Society will be fine, though I'm not supposed to go back for a month. By the time I get back there will be a pill of paper work for me. Then there's the running around helping the other captains and then trying to find my dang sister that likes running off with out telling people," she sighed, she hated when she was off work there was always so much to be done and it just was a pain.

She was already starting to get worried about how much she would have to work, on the paper work. She was gone for one day and the corner of her room was full of paper work that people had needed her to do. It was nice being in the 1st division and being the 3rd seat. But then she had all the work she had to do for Marmot. She sighed and hide her reiatsu and just keep an eye out for people. What to do now though was just sit and relax. Relaxing and not worrying about work would be good for her. She looked over at the river and noticed that there was only 4 sail boats out. It was a little weird cause there had always been more out around this time.

She jumped up on to a branch in the tree and looked around but didn't see anything. Another breeze slowly blew in front of her as she noticed that the boats where slowly going back to the docks. Maybe there was a storm coming and she just hadn't heard about it. Though she didn't have a radio nor a thing that the humans called a t.v., but she had always noticed if there was a storm coming. So seeing them go to the docks made her feel uneasy. Usually the teens would be coming out and there would be more then 15 sail boats on the water. She sighed and sat down trying not to worry about it to much. If there was something that was going to happen she would have to watch herself.

But nothing came and for once in her life it was peaceful out side, soon day turned to night. There was nothing really to do know though most of the humans where sleeping by the time she decided to get off her ass and walk around. She entered the woods near where she had ,looking around and making sure that there was nothing that she would have to worry about. The night air was cool and the sky was clear. There was no sign of life other then the chirping of the frogs and a little russell from some of the wild animals walking around the forest. She wasn't one to sleep and she really wasn't int eh mood for train as she started to think of everything she would need to finish when she got home. She stopped what she was doing and turned walking out of the woods and heading back to town. But as she walked in to town she felt a small portion of reiatsu coming near her and she stopped waiting for the person to appear in front of her.

[Chisaki Mie]

The reptilian Hollow gave one more desperate screech of pain before its bony, white mask was cleaved in two like a knife through butter. Panting slightly, a strangely-garbed Shinigami landed on her feet behind the rapidly dissolving monster with her arms outstretched in front of her. Her hands were tightly clutching the hilt of her Zanpakuto, which was stained crimson with the creature's blood. Behind her, the Hollow's dying roar was cut short as the rest of its broken body vaporized into thin air.

Satisfied, Chisaki wiped her blade on the grass to clean off the dark liquid before smoothly sliding it back into its scabbard in one quick motion. All around her, people had gathered to watch the frightening display. However, they would've seen neither the small Shinigami or the large, lizard-like Hollow. To them, their quick fight had simply been a bunch of broken trees, some indents in the ground, and a cloud of dust. The two spiritual beings were completely invisible in all five senses.

With a single leap, she cleared the entire croud of spectators, landing behind them without so much as a grunt of effort. She was perspirating heavily despite the fight being so short and easy. The main reason was the hot, afternoon sun shining harshly down on her neck, heating up her dark shihakusho and burning through her sleek, black hair, which had been tied up in a bun for today's special occasion.

She was surprised at how fast the rest of the afternoon and evening went by, even though she spent most of it simply watching the clouds go by after having taken a shower in a nearby apartment. Lying on an angled roof with her arms behind her head, she watched as the sun slowly drifted across the sky, finally resting at the horizon and sending fiery rays of gold and marmalade sparkling across the city. Chisaki had to admit, she admired how the sunset drenched her normally pale skin in a million variations of orange.

When the temperature began to drop, she reluctantly hoisted her petite body off of the shingled roof, balancing while surveying the area for something to do while she waited for another Hollow to rear its ugly head. Her gray eyes locked with a huge forest to her right, not too far away from her current position. With a few well-placed jumps, Chisaki guessed she could easily reach it, and she wouldn't even have to leave her assigned position. A pleased grin flickered over her attractive features like a ghost before fading away. Life in the real world was better than she could've imagined.

It took her barely a few minutes to reach the woods, and even by then, it was well into night. The sun had long since disappeared beyond the horizon to light up the other side of the world, and in its place, the moon had reappeared. Under the silvery moonlight, her pale skin glowed bone white, highly contrasting against the obsidian black of her uniform and her ebony-colored hair.

Chisaki was about to step into the depths of the woods, following the gravel path of course, when a sudden burst of reiatsu hit her like an avalanche. With widened eyes, she whirled around to see who else was there. Unfortunately, an empty park met her eyes. Had she imagined it? No, the pressure was definitely there, and she could feel it. Not only that, but just from the enormous size alone, she could tell that whoever it was, they had at least a captain's amount of spiritual energy.

Paranoid, frightened, and slightly curious at the same time, she reached back and let her right hand hang loosely off of her Zanpakuto's hilt, should something unexpected happen for the worse. She crept around the edge of the forest with relative ease, and to her surprise, her narrowed eyes locked with well-known figure of Sayuri, one of the captains back at Seireitei. Although she was shocked, it took Chisaki less than a few minutes to recover.

She approached the figure hesitantly until she was sure that she was in Sayuri-Taichou's vision range. Chisaki doubted that she would have to call out for the captain's attention, as her own reiatsu, dwarfed in comparison to the other's, would be enough to alert Sayuri of her presence. Silently, she knelt down on one knee in a bow after relasing Mizunezumi's hilt from her right hand's grasp.

"Sayuri-Taichou, what are you doing here?" Her words might've had an accusatory tone to them, but the voice was more out of surprise than suspicion. "I didn't know that there would be others in Karakura Town during my patrol time," she admitted hesitantly. Although most captains were required to treat their subordinates nicely, Chisaki hadn't spent enough time in Sayuri's presence to know if she upheld that rule or not.

[Kuchiki Rukia]

Sayuri stopped abruptly at the distinct rieatsu she now felt. There were many different things and people that were around her at this time which made her feel slightly uncomfortable. She felt two Shinigami reiatsu, both unknown to her possibly because of her isolated personality had not allowed her to meet them even as a friend before becoming a taicho. Sayuri then sensed Hollow reiatsu although it quickly diminished. Good, someone must have purified it. Satisfied, she resumed her walk down the wide streets, her distance nearing the woods.

As she turned a corner, she came face-to-face with another Shinigami. Her fingers were now at her sides, having been fingering her Zanpakutou at the scent of the Hollow only moments before. Sayuri gave the other Shinigami a nod and a small smile, indicating that she had no bad intentions. She had not expected someone to be there at this time of night but she was secretly very glad to see her. She walked closer to Tsukiko, not sure how to proceed. She wanted to ask why the other was there but found it rather pointless. No doubt she was there for patrolling. That was the job of every Shinigami in Soul Society. Nearing her, Sayuri whispered in a small voice.

“Nice to meet you, although the circumstances are rather odd…my name is Fujiwawa Sayuri.”

With that came a wider smile as Sayuri tried to put the other girl at ease. She remembered her days as an unseated and seated member of Gotei 13; how she had been intimidated and rather frightened every time she saw a captain-ranked officer walk by. Therefore, she had deliberately not told her that she was taicho of fifth although the other could probably guess based on her haori. She was still waiting for the girl’s answer when the second Shinigami reiatsu caught her attention. Sayuri turned her head to the left and saw another girl. Before she could continue however, the girl was already on one knee; a formal gesture that again placed her not at ease. Her smile still intact, she waited for the girl to finish talking before responding, her voice never rising above a small whisper.

“Please do not bow like this. We are at Karakura, not in the boundaries of Soul Society. Such formality is not needed. I admit that as a captain, I have been lazy in my patrolling and training. Because of this, I have decided to come out of the luxuries of the division headquarters and act upon what I have not done in awhile. I was also expecting that not many people will be here given the time but I have been proven wrong.”

She again broadened her smile, happy to have some company at last in this dark and weary night. Sayuri then motioned for the girl to stand up. Her eyes swept from one girl to another, an idea popping to her head. She looked up at the stark-clustered skies and heaved a sigh. Then, she resumed her speech, hoping that the offer she was about to make to both of them did not reflect the selfish desires that she had always wanted to fulfill.

“Since it is almost daybreak, I must propose an offer. As I said before, I have neglected training for a long time especially after the promotion to taicho. If you don’t mind, would the two of you wish to train with me? It’s been awhile since I’ve trained with anybody aside from my Zanpakutou spirit…Also, please just call me Sayuri, the honorary suffix of taicho need not be used.”

[Tsukiko]

((sorry it was short im having a ruoph day))

Tsukiko didn't place a hand on her blade nor did she worry about what was coming around the corner she knew very well that it wasn't a hollow so she just stood there and waited for a few more seconds before the person that had been walking around the corner had been. Tsukiko smiled as she realized that it was no one other then the taicho, Sayuri. Tsukiko knew this taicho like she knew every other taicho in Soul Society. She sighed and then looked over at her smirking not even taking a knee to say hi or even speaking to her. She then noticed another girl girl walk up to Sayuri and bow saying hi and a few other words before Sayuri spoke, as Tsukiko listened she did nothing but smile at the girl. Apparently she wasn't going to be able to just walk around but then again she couldn't remember the last time she actually unsheathed her sword. It had been a while and her spirit seemed to not like the idea that she hadn't left the city for a while to train. that was one of the entire reasons she had been aloud to take a few weeks off. She would find a way to get back in Soul Society but for now a few hours of training wouldn't hurt anything.

Tsukiko smiled at Sayuri and shook her head yes. "It has been a while since I was able to train and I'm sure that Dankou would like training to. The names Tsukiko though I'm 1st division 3rd seat, Yamaji sent me here for a vacation. Said I needed one after working with him for a while," she smiled and shrugged. "I've met you several other times but you where just talking to your division so I just left it at that. But its nice to be able to meet you at last," she looked over at the other girl and smiled ."And you would be?"

[Chisaki Mie]

The unexpected request for informality brought surprise to her normally calm features. Didn't the 'higher-ups' enjoy that kind of treatment? She personally thought that it would be amazing if others would consider her as an important part of the Gotei 13, let alone her division. However, Sayuri-Taichou seemed to disapprove of such formalities and traditions. Perhaps there was more to being a just captain than she thought?

Chisaki jumped to obey orders, hastily straightening up to satisfy the captain. She didn't have the courage to protest, and even if she did, she didn't see a point. Fujiwawa Sayuri obviously had her preferences, and a lowly 6th seat like her had no place to contradict them. Thus, she merely nodded to show her acknowledgement of the request.

Another voice spoke up in the background, causing the petite Shinigami to turn her head to face the newcomer with mild interest. Her gray optics linked with the slim figure of yet another Shinigami, who quickly revealed that her name was Tsukiko. A third seat from the 1st Division? Chisaki guessed that she was a decent fighter, given the powerful squad assignment and the high ranking.

Once again, she felt dwarfed by the two powerhouses standing in the proximity. Why was it that she never seemed to be on top of things? Even in her division, she had to face the 3rd, 4th, and 5th seat who had already deemed themselves numerous times in Soifon-Taichou's eyes while Chisaki was always shoved to the side. Although her ambitions weren't exactly high, she wanted to at least be seen as worthy in her captain's ridiculously strict eyes.

"Tsukiko, ne? I'm Chisaki Mie, 6th seat of the 2nd Division." Her greeting sounded a bit emotionless, perhaps out of jealousy, but the meaning had been passed along nonetheless. She had never been one for conversations, despite being in a group this time, especially when it was night time and she was feeling another burst of low self-esteem. Besides, she had to prove herself not only to a captain, but to another Shinigami? Her desire to appear impressive was undeniable now.

At the request of a spar from Sayuri, Chisaki's mouth promptly dropped open out of pure surprise. Realizing her rudeness, she quickly closed her jaws. A practice fight with a captain and a 3rd seat was a complete, immediate 'no' by default. Firstly, she doubted her own skills, which were probably miniscule in comparison to the higher ranked Shinigami. Secondly, she could already see disaster concealed in the request. It had already been decided by fate that Chisaki would be too distracted by any captain's presence to fight anywhere near them. Lastly, she knew she would get her ass whooped and there was no point trying to avoid the fact.

They were strong, and she was not. End of story.

The doubt on Chisaki's face was enough to speak her answer without words, but she proceeded to use them just for clarification. "Ano, I'd really rather not, Sayuri-Taichou. I'm sure that Tsukiko-san would be much more suited for such a spar, no?" she stammered nervously, indicating the other Shinigami with a tilt of her head.

Meanwhile, as she waited for Sayuri to divert her attention to Tsukiko, Chisaki took the time to sum up the young Shinigami's appearance. Just from the way Tsukiko fit in her shihakusho, she could tell that the female was fit and athletic. The general complexion of her face appeared to be more of a teenager's than an adult well in her twenties - like Chisaki. She also noticed the way that Tsukiko held herself. The female death god seemed to be confident and hardly modest about her appearance, what with her head held high and whatnot. Once again, Chisaki felt another pang of envy in the pit of her stomach. Why couldn't she be as self-assured as her?

A sudden feeling of overwhelming self-consciousness hit her like a ton of bricks. Here she was, pale skin, midget-like figure, and all in the presence of a captain and a 3rd seat, who might as well be a lieutenant anyways. The Zanpakuto tied firmly to her back seemed no more than a silver stick hanging loosely from what was now a dull, tan sash. In her mind's eye, she was tiny, miniscule, even microscopic compared to them.