Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Whispers Ride the Wind ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

Disclaimer: Bleach and all its characters are property of Tite Kubo. Thanks.

 

Whispers Ride the Wind

-*- Prologue -*-

 

 

Whispers...soft like the wind yet cutting like the strike from a zanpakuto.

 

Wasn't it their very nature to be said without being overheard? He was obviously misinformed on the subject.

 

Hitsugaya Toushiro had overheard so many of these quietly said words since memory became of use to him. He often wanted to make it an official decree to all of Seireitei and Rukongai…whispering around him was pointless. POINTLESS…as in, `why bother at all—I can hear you clearly'. He will definitely bring this up with General Yamamoto when they next met for tea.

 

“Taichou, I finished compiling the reports for the Hollow activity outside of Rukongai in sectors 10 through 20 for all THREE MONTHS. May I PLEASE have a break?” implored Lieutenant Matsumoto Rangiku on her knees, clutching her hands together in fervent prayer to deities that she knew didn't exist but didn't hurt to try just in case. Desperate times called for very extreme desperate measures…

 

Staring outside at the scenery from his perch on a high windowsill that overlooked his division's garden courtyard, he shifted comfortably in his seat, feeling the warmth of the setting sun grace his face. Sighing heavily as he looked down, he mildly frowned. The leather-bound book he held in his hands and that he was writing in before being rudely interrupted was an unexpected gift shoved into his hands back in the world of the living along with a pen that supposedly had a lifetime warranty, whatever the hell that meant. How can an inanimate object have a long life? Lifetime warranty…he was pretty sure he'd outlast the writing implement, so this `warranty' must be a joke on the gullible consumer foolish enough to believe it.

 

Still, being considerate of Orihime's gift, he put the journal to use…as a paperweight. Later, Orihime and his lieutenant were adamant that he keep up with his journal and write down his private thoughts…according to them, it was only proper of someone of his position to do so. He has yet to see any of the other captains keep a journal, but then again, if it were a private matter, he wouldn't see them writing in their journals, would he?

 

And in any case, why would he write down his private thoughts if they were PRIVATE? He didn't need a journal lying around that could be scooped up by who knows who (he had a suspicion that his lieutenant was keen on distributing copies of his journal) and read aloud for their enjoyment. Talk about a security risk…

 

`No, I took care of that…my kidou spell has this book's contents visible only to my reiatsu. No one else can ever read it.' Hence why he relented some time ago and began writing whatever struck his fancy at the moment. It was nothing spectacular…he wrote down if it was hot or cold outside…if Matsumoto managed to break records with another late arrival at the office…if his watermelon was sweet this time around… He often wondered if he would ever re-read these private and often trivial thoughts once they were written. He didn't really care to since he strived to live in the here and now…why bother with yesterday if today is what mattered?

 

Today. That's right…while Matsumoto zealously worked on her overdue reports, he had been writing in his journal for that past few hours about times past. What had happened earlier today sort of gave him the inspiration to write down those long ago, hardly revisited memories. For good reason he had kept them far and away from his foremost thoughts…

 

And now, thinking of the present…

 

“Sure… You worked very hard for the past five hours on three months of work.” Yes, there, he saw her spark of hope flare up very beautifully. How splendid it would be to crush it. With a smirk, he went on, “But those reports were for the three month period from LAST YEAR. I recall many more reports since then from those sectors.”

 

Prostrate on the floor in full begging mode, Matsumoto beseeched to her superior for mercy. “Taichou…PLEASE!!!”

 

“Tough…your punishment stands until this is ALL up to date.” His friendly smirk turned to a hard stare that left her gulping for air. “So…go ahead…take your break. I'm sure your drinking buddies are all eager to greet you with open arms.”

 

Cruel. Frightening in its intensity… Then again, this was also usually referred to as revenge. She never thought she'd come to know the day in which her exalted captain would ever be like this. Sure she had done (or not done as is usually the case) many things that would spike his ever-ready temper. Yet his ire was always likened to a lit match…quickly struck but just as quickly extinguished. He was much like a child in that way...and then it struck her only then. This whole mess was really a tantrum of sorts, a very complicated and completely blown-out-of proportion sort of tantrum, but it is what it is. Not that she would EVER, even in the most remote parts of Soul Society, EVER say it.

 

How silly and ultimately stupid of her…she had forgotten about the smaller detail of his nature that usually didn't reveal itself. Who he is was never far from her mind…her superior, her leader on all matters regarding their division…extremely responsible and overly mature…highly regarded by most of his fellow captains, including the old General. And, of course, exceptionally gifted with wielding his unusually high spirit energy and the prized Hyourinmaru. He's all this and so much more, easily overriding perceptions of what he is, and forcing others to see him as who he is, not by what he is.

 

Still, no amount of maturity in behavior and in acts can remove that particular aspect of reality…a reality that sometimes makes itself painfully aware under excessive duress. He is who he is, but also he is what he is…those were the General's own words to her when he first made the decision of appointing Hitsugaya Toushiro as her captain and informed her directly of it.

 

And just what is he? Simple…he's the youngest amongst them and he is her captain. A child in all sense of the word is her captain. And she managed to royally piss him off this time.

 

`Damn it all! The guys will be more than `eager' to see me…they'll be ready to LYNCH me in cold blood! Kyouraku-Taichou will never speak to me ever again because of this! I never knew such a kidou spell existed that could be used like this. It should be outlawed! How in the world did Taichou do it? From Seireitei to the outer reaches of Rukongai…all the sake…every drop of my life's blood…ALL OF IT, FROZEN SOLID! NO ONE CAN THAW THE DAMN STUFF!!!'

 

“Sake isn't your life, Matsumoto. It's a venomous addiction, and you should know better than to let it overcome your common sense. You are my lieutenant, not a drunk in a bar. So until you understand that, all your sake bottles here and any drop of sake in the whole of Soul Society will remain frozen. And don't even THINK about sneaking any in from the world of the living…it will immediately come under my spell.” Turning his glare back to his written pages, he took his pen and began writing away in the fading daylight, ignoring the defiant stare from his subordinate.

 

“Look here, Hitsugaya-Taichou,” she growled lowly, making the rebellious Haineko purr with contentment from its stand at her desk, her anger fueling his defiant temperament. She would have tried to reason with her captain, or at least, manipulate her way into getting what she wanted. But no, this was personal and she sure as hell will push back. She needed her damn drink and she needed it NOW. “I am NO DRUNK. I take my drink how I like it when I like it. If you can't stand that, then you should try to GROW UP just a LITTLE BIT to understand what I as an ADULT go through day in, day out as YOUR lieutenant. I want my drink…I NEED my drink as do others so just LET IT GO ALREADY!”

 

Their office's room temperature dropped like a rock in a river…cliché but unfortunately true. It soon had its ripple effect throughout the division as many of those within the division walls shivered with the oppressive spirit energy of their captain, tinged slightly with that of their lieutenant. They knew well not to venture into their division's headquarters at this time. It became so frightening that the third seat officer took to the rooftops to locate the one person that was capable of calming them both down.

 

The remarks were only made to prove her right…to confirm what she knew to be true. And he was so tempted to prove her right…to lose his temper and start a screaming match with her. Instead, though, he continued writing furiously in his journal, his lips formed in a tight line, letting the words sit in his mind before he dared utter one word.

 

He finally closed his journal and leapt down to meet her face to face…relatively speaking. His spirit energy was enough to let her know that he was beyond angry, frustrated, or even pissed off. And then just as it was about to burst forth, his reiatsu was snapped back under its lid, leaving a void that was just as stifling as his mighty reiatsu. Matsumoto was definitely caught off guard as she looked taken aback at the change.

 

“If you're such an ADULT, then you should know better than to drink yourself into a stupor. As an ADULT, you should know that I know what you go through as MY lieutenant. Yet YOU the ADULT did drink yourself into OBLIVION, blabbing to the whole bar and a few sane bartenders about MY DAMN BUSINESS! As my LIEUTENANT, you're supposed to keep that mouth SHUT! I WILL NOT LET IT GO!”

 

“I SAID I WAS SORRY ALREADY, TWENTY-TWO TIMES AND STILL COUNTING, SO LET IT GO! You're starting to act like a CHILD, Taichou!”

 

“WELL IT BEATS BEING AN ADULT WHO'S A DRUNK AND CAN'T KEEP HER TRAP SHUT!”

 

“WHY ARE YOU MAKING SUCH A BIG DEAL ABOUT THAT PART OF YOUR PAST ANYWAY?! IT'S NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF! WE UNDERSTAND—”

 

“YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! IF YOU DID, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE SAID ANYTHING…EVER! ARGH…DAMN IT!!!! Damn it…why can't you, just once—”

 

He bolted. Swiftly he found all the bottles of frozen sake that weren't already shattered in their flasks all around her side of the office…drawers, shelves, under her desk… He tightened his hold on his flaring reiatsu that had slowly surfaced itself once more while collecting all the sake in a box.

 

She was admittedly stunned silent, unsure of what he was exactly doing. Was he now going to hide the sake from her? Was he going to retrieve all the sake in Soul Society, too, to prevent her from taking a lick? She didn't say a word, aware that she was bracing herself for what was about to explode in her face, not that their heated argument earlier wasn't an explosion of sorts. She felt his reiatsu surface but barely as their tiff escalated…he really did refrain himself well.

 

She had to test the waters…the exasperated expression on his face that she had last seen was bordering on annihilating her on the spot. “Taichou—”

 

He was mad as he fairly slammed bottle after bottle into the box, his fists tightening their hold on frozen sake flasks. And then, upon hearing her soft call to him, a sigh heavy with exhaustion and defeat left his lips. With shoulders slumped he dropped the box soundly on the floor, caring even less that more than a few bottles shattered on impact. Turning on his heel, he quickly retrieved Hyourinmaru from its stand and his journal before sweeping past his silent lieutenant to exit the office.

 

“Come on, Taichou, don't be like that…” she delicately called out, hoping her gentle tone would appease his apparent sulking.

 

“Leave me alone.”

 

She stopped dead in her tracks as he vanished with the breeze blowing outside their courtyard. She would have followed him if it were only his frustration as a captain weighing him down that made him vent in such a way. But she heard the underlying tone…the one few if any knew that existed. She worked so closely with him, how could she not sense its existence? And this time around she sensed that which rarely surfaced…

 

The General was right…as she should have known. Her captain's a child…and just now, it had spoken.

 

He flew into the night at speeds he didn't ponder on—wherever his feet took him, he went unwaveringly. Quick and sure were his steps and leaps, further and further away from Seireitei and beyond the great wall surrounding it. And then he arrived in a remote location. In the dwindling sunlight, he sat down heavily on a branch of a tall tree…and began to slowly write in his journal with his sword by his side.

 

Soul Society may be a large place with an infinite number of souls running around, but it certainly shrinks to the size of a ball when it comes to news spread about him. Thusly, he has had ample opportunities over the years to overhear many such generously offered comments from those that would shy away from directly coming in contact with him but quickly lost their timidity when gossip relating to him circulated the streets. These hushed commentaries didn't have specific origins…they came from all directions from all levels of Shinigami and simple citizens of Rukongai.

 

It was never about just one thing…the topics varied, evolving over time as he aged and his circumstances shifted. There were many memorable whisperings that were caught on the proverbial wind so that he could hear them clearly…

 

~*~*~

 

Kat's Corner (09-17-07):

 

To those new to my works, welcome and hello! I'm HelloKat, fanfic writer of three years and still counting! Mainly my works are with the Fruits Basket fandom, but since I'm in need of expanding my creativity in other areas to help with my Furuba writing, here I am!

 

To those already familiar with my work and wondering what I'm doing, never fear. I'll be working on the next chapter of my epic fanfic novel very shortly. That fanfic is moving forward, and really, I'm just gathering my wits together once more take on some research related to the subject matter in my next chapter. I hope you don't lynch me just yet for having spent time on a fic that wasn't even remotely related to my other works!

 

Why choose now and with this character? Eh, well, now seemed good to try out my `pen' on something completely light-handed…my other fanfic is really heavy-handed, and I honestly needed a little creativity break from it. As for why I chose Hitsugaya Toushiro for my first Bleach fanfic, well, let's be honest. There are loads of goodies I can work with on this character, his personality and background, or lack of as is the case. Until it's all revealed by the manga-ka, I'm fairly certain I can move forward with this fic without getting too involved with contradicting manga canon or even anime.

 

As said before, this fic is of the lighter-fare variety…it won't have an expansive story or plotline. It will mainly focus on recollections by our dear tenth division captain along with present events occurring at the same time. Let me know if I confuse any!

 

Here, in our very first chapter, we have Matsumoto in dire circumstances! There are a few holes here and there, especially as to what it was she had said to have started all this, but that will be revealed at a later date. In the meantime, let me know if my honorifics are wrong or anything out-of-character occurs. I think with this first chapter it may have bordered on the OOC, but as I said, it'll be explained later.

 

I will now let loose my breath and await the verdict on my first piece of work out of my comfort zone of Fruits Basket. If you'd like to see my other works, to grade or degrade (;_;), then click the link to my profile page. They're all listed there!

 

See ya soon everyone…ja ne!