1873
Although it was spring, the air was still chilly in Soul Society. I lounged beside Tōshirō on a rooftop of some food shop that smelled pretty dang yummy. Tōshirō rarely wore heavy coats despite the cold. At most, I could get him in a scarf, but even that took some nagging.
Worth it, though, 'cause he looked adorable in the red scarf I made him. I couldn't hold back my happy smile.
Okay, I might have been smiling for another reason besides getting to spend time with him.
Tōshirō gave me a dry look as soon as he noticed my smile.
"What?" I asked.
"You did something," he said.
"What? Naaahh."
In the distance, an explosion went off. A pillar of black smoke bloomed up into the air, eliciting screams of terror. I calmly took a sip of my green tea and chewed on one of the dangos we had purchased.
He used his own stick of dango to point at the smoke. His icy blue eyes narrowed. "You did that."
I took another long sip of my tea. "Maybe."
A second explosion went off. Tōshirō carefully set his dango back on the plate between us.
Tōshirō closed his eyes. "Rirī."
"Yes?"
"Why?"
A third explosion went off.
"Why not?" I asked in return with my usual smile.
"You behave nothing as a shinigami should, I'm amazed you even graduated," he said, a hint of accusation in his tone.
I beamed. "How'd you figure out I was a shinigami?"
"Mm... instinct?" he asked, tilting his head in curiosity.
"Does it bother you?" I reached forward to gently brush some of his white bangs out of his face.
"No," Tōshirō responded. His cutely chubby cheeks turned a pinkish hue as he glanced away. "Actually... I want to be a shinigami, too."
Leaning forward, I poked his cheeks. "Really? How come?"
Tōshirō tugged his scarf up to cover the lower half of his face. He mumbled, "'Cause you're one."
'Ooooh he is ADORABLE.'
"Well you are technically eighteen so you can enroll for this April," I said. "I can put in a good word for you."
"No," he immediately denied. "I want to get in on my own, not because I'm friends with someone who already graduated."
"Graduated?" I repeated blandly.
"You did graduate, right...?" Tōshirō's brow furrowed.
"Mmmm... no?" I tilted my head. "The academy was started after I became a shinigami."
Tōshirō's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Oh. I thought it was older."
"Uhhh, you're not wrong. Hey wanna play tag?"
Another explosion went off.
"How about you stop the explosions instead?" he said.
"I can't. They aren't happening purely for my entertainment," I said with a shrug.
He was incredulous. "Uh-huh. What are they for, then?"
"To make life miserable for someone else," I said cheerfully. "Namely—a new captain. Their first day is to patrol this area."
Tōshirō's brow furrowed as he frowned in concern. "Won't you get in trouble?"
"I'll be fine," I assured him.
"Rirī, I'm serious. Upsetting a captain can't be good for you. What if you get hurt?"
"Aww, are you worried about me?" I cooed.
I couldn't see the lower half of his face because he kept the scarf tugged up, but I noticed the tips of his ears had turned red. He muttered, "Shut up."
Another explosion.
"It's fi-ine," I insisted. "Come on, we should get out of here before the explosions hit the fireworks shop."
"Rirī, tell me that's a joke."
"It's a joke," I lied.
He made an exasperated noise.
(◕▾◕✿)
That evening
"Hehehe."
My head rested on Jūshirō's lap, my old student idly combing my hair. He had come by in the morning with a new tea mix he wanted to try with me.
Since Sōsuke and Sajin had officially become captains, my mornings had been quieter than normal. Gin now served as my lieutenant, and likely would remain that way for a couple of decades until he was strong—and experienced—enough to serve as a captain.
Jūshirō and I were on my engawa—the patio surrounding my inner courtyard garden—and enjoying the tea. The day had considerably warmed up, making it the perfect temperature that made it hard to resist the urge to nap. Especially since Jūshirō started to comb my hair.
"You're in a very good mood today, Teacher," observed Jūshirō.
"My Shiro is starting the academy next week," I said with a big smile. "He'll be a shinigami in no time."
"Ah. Many congratulations," said Jūshirō. "Did you tell him you're a captain?"
"Nope. He figured out I was a shinigami though—said that was why he was entering in the first place!"
Jūshirō smiled kindly. "No wonder you're so radiant today."
"Ehehehe, am I...?" I grinned. "I can't help it. I'm so excited. I've waited so long to see him again, I—as soon as he graduates, if he joins my squad we'll get to spend a lot of time together."
"I hope he graduates soon then," said Jūshirō.
"Hope who graduates soon?" asked Shunsui. I had felt his soul enter the barracks a few seconds ago.
"Shiro!" I chirped. "He's starting the academy next week.
"No kiddin! He's already eighteen? Where has the time gone...?"
"Slowly," I said. "Too slowly. When he graduates, I think I'll do the captain reveal and officially invite him to my squad."
Shunsui beamed. "That's fantastic."
"Are you here to join us for dinner?"
"No, no, um, I had something else to tell you," said Shunsui, tapping his chin. "What was it again...?"
"Captain Rirī," called out Gin.
Gin had done a bit more growing up in the past few years. No longer an itty bitty baby boy, he had successfully aged up to a teenager. His reiatsu had been steadily growing under my care—both from me feeding him raw reiatsu, and training him.
Gin stepped out onto the patio. He repeated, "Captain."
"Yes?"
"Captain Aizen is looking for you. He had his scary smile."
Shunsui clapped his hands together. "Oh yeah! I was going to tell you to run, Aizen figured out you blew up his district his first day."
"Took him a couple of hours," I said with a frown. "I'm disappointed."
"Well he probably had to, you know... stop the explosions," Jūshirō helpfully pointed out.
"Ahh. Yeah. Welp, time to flee. Bye-bye," I said, turning into a pink cat and dashing away.
"Bye-bye," they called out to me.
(◕▾◕✿)
Hide and seek with Aizen was fun.
In my kitty form, I could hide all over the place without being noticed. I could have made it harder and turned myself into a flower or something, but that'd be unfair. Gotta give him a chance, right?
For a week, Aizen and I played a dangerous game of hide and seek. To congratulate my evil lieutenant on his promotion, I harassed his district with sporadic bombs. Sometimes he'd catch them, and sometimes he wouldn't.
I only did that with Aizen. Sajin was instead rewarded with lots of BBQ because he had the foresight to specifically request BBQ as his promotion reward.
When I had asked Aizen he said with that same fake smile, "Anything you give me will make me happy, Captain."
"Anything?" I had asked with a grin.
"Anything," he said confidently.
So bombs it was!
I was giving him the greatest gift of all—strong memories. Centuries from now he'd look back on this reward with a fond smile.
Or maybe a grimace.
Oh well. Shoulda been specific.
Of course, I had to leave my cat form in order to celebrate Tōshirō's first day at the academy. I took him out to diner afterward and we went for a lovely walk around the area.
Unfortunately while on that walk we ran into three familiar faces.
Genryusai, Shunsui, and Jūshirō, without their captain haorirs.
"What are you three doing here?" I asked, suspicious.
"Looking for you," said Genryusai. "You've hid from the captain long enough."
"Captain?" Tōshirō echoed. "Rirī, are you hiding from your captain?"
"Ehhh. He's not my captain," I said. "But why are you three here?"
"Because two of us would not be enough to convenience you," Shunsui pointed out.
"True," I agreed. "I am way more likely to give into peer pressure."
"And this was the only time and place we knew you'd show up," Jūshirō added. The man smiled at Tōshirō. "Congratulations, by the way, Hitsugaya. Rirī's expressed how excited she is for you."
"Ah..." Tōshirō politely nodded. "Are you her squadmates?"
"We are her peers," said Shunsui. "Sorry to barge in on your night, but we really need Rirī to come with us."
"Did she do something?" Tōshirō hesitantly asked.
"They just want to talk to me about the whole bombing fiasco," I nonchalantly explained.
"Rirī!" Tōshirō glared at me. "Did you really destroy that much property for your fun? People could have been hurt."
"Uh—yes?"
"Apologize," he said sharply. "That wasn't a nice thing to do."
"Wha—but—" I wordlessly gestured to them. "Aizen started it!"
"That doesn't mean you should stoop to his level," he said reproachfully. "You're better than that."
"I am not!"
"Yes," he said. He reached for my hand, grasping it. He squeezed it firmly as he confidently said, "You are. You're a good person, Rirī. I know it. Good people don't hurt others just for their own little games."
"I..." I sighed. I turned to the captains and I... sigh... I bowed. "I'm sorry."
You would have thought they had witnessed the impossible with how they reacted. They loudly gasped. Genryusai clutched at his chest as his eyes bulged. Shunsui took off his hat and hung his head in respect. Jūshirō made little squeaking sounds as if his brain malfunctioned.
"He can control her?" whispered Shusnui in disbelief. He stared at my companion like a blind man would at seeing the sun for the first time—incomprehensible. "I never thought I'd see the day."
"I want him on my squad," whispered Genryusai.
"No, he's coming to mine!"
As the captains erupted into arguments, I felt Tōshirō squeeze my hand. Glancing at him, I found him giving me an odd look.
"Exactly how much of a hassle are you to cause this reaction?" he dryly asked me.
"Mehh," I said with a shrug and smile. "Do you think I'm a hassle?"
"If I did, I wouldn't be your friend," he pointed out.
I beamed.
(◕▾◕✿)
A month later
I returned to my barracks, surprised to find Sōsuke waiting for me. He was seated at a table with a pot of tea and some cookies I had made the previous day. He glanced up at my emergence, adjusting his glasses.
He asked, "Where have you been?"
"Hell," I answered.
He blinked. "What?"
"I was in hell," I said. "Had to do some... cleaning."
In this dimension, souls with too much power—too much reiatsu—had to spend time in hell after death before they could reincarnate. Hell was a heavily pressured dimension in this universe and it would condense and refine their reiatsu until it was small enough they could reincarnate. Kind of like hopping into a black hole for a massage. Not exactly a pleasant experience for some.
Plus... hell. The weak tended to get trampled on there.
I didn't want any of my friends to have a bad time in hell when they died, so I was working on a little side project there.
'When they go to hell they're gonna have such a grand time,' I thought.
I was kind of tempted to open a portal between this hell and another hell I knew if only to double the chaos and fun.
But no, no. Last time I merged worlds I accidentally created Snuggles and I promised Shaiapouf and Shiori I wouldn't do it again.
"... Are you going back to hell?"
"Every few years or so I'll pop by. Gotta make sure my cuddle buddies are doing well."
Sōsuke Aizen closed his eyes, counted to ten, re-opened them, and asked, "Who are you cuddling with in hell?"
"Shhh," I hushed him. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, were you waiting long?"
"A few hours," he said. "I wanted to discuss the budget for a side project."
I took a seat at the table. "Oh? I don't see any paperwork with you."
Sōsuke drummed his fingers on the table. "I'm uncertain if it would even be allowed."
"Anything is allowed for you honey," I cooed.
Sōsuke deadpanned, "I want a blank check."
"Aww, nooo... that is such a pain to deal with," I whined.
"I thought anything was allowed?"
"Allowed, yeah, but doesn't mean I wanna deal with it," I said. "Ugh. Promise you won't use it to get back at me for the, uh, ya know?"
Sōsuke placed a hand over his chest and smiled. "I would never. I admit I am partially at fault for requesting such a vague reward."
"Normally I would just hand over the blank chest but you said I would never after I asked you to promise. So, I mean it. Pinky promise. I will not have a repeat of what Genny did to me," I said, holding up a pinky. "Super pinky promise."
Sōsuke's lips twitched. He hooked his pinky through mine. "I promise."
"Okay. Yes, you can have your blank check," I said. I glanced at the clock. "Since it's getting late, would you like to stay for dinner?"
"I would enjoy that," he said.
(◕▾◕✿)
Anyone else see the brand new friggin chapter Kubo dropped? Hell arc! A canonical hell arc! I hope we can see more soon.
Also it was surprisingly hard to find an official picture of Tōshirō that didn't involve him being bloodied or using his zanpakutō.
Answer: Botany
Question: What would you do to celebrate something wonderful a friend did?
Reviews are love!