Bleached

Chapter 18: The beginning of the end

Disclaimer: Noidontown.

§ 10th division, a few months after Ichigo's induction §

Toshiro looked at the clock. 17:25. That meant he had 5 minutes to prepare the afternoon Ichigo would no doubt be looking forward to. With a sigh he got up and got to work. Ever since the Reio had instated Ichigo as a High Member of C46, things had changed. To start with, the Seiretei had become much more in touch with the modern world og living. One could say they were somewhat ahead of the humans, as Kisuke Urahara had made a lot of advances that the humans undoubtedly weren't capable of. Now, the people of Seiretei had a much better living standard. All thanks to the 10th division Captain.

Along with modernising the Seiretei, Ichigo had also forced the C46 to see the damage they had wrought upon the Rukongai. Toshiro snorted. Apparently,the old geezers had simply looked down their nose, and acted all haughty. Ichigo had snapped, losing control of his reiatsu. The whole of Seiretei had felt it. That had been followed by a, how to put it, severe tongue lashing. The bad living conditions had long time effects on souls, as they left a bad imprint on ones memory. The tortured souls often became criminals when they reincarnated, and subsequently hollows. Not to mention the crime rate in the higher numbered districts. Toshiro shook his head in disgust. The sheer brutality of the crimes comitted had been enough to make one Central member vomit. And Ichigo was listened to. Toshiro couldn't say that, for example, Inuzuri was a good place to live in, but it was far better than what it had been. At least the kids had shelter. And regular patrols were sent. From what the fukutaicho had heard, Yamamoto had a good laugh over the C46's position. The white haired man could swear he'd heard someone cackle once he'd passed the 1st division barracks.

The white haired lieutenant looked at the clock. 17:29. Toshiro began the countdown.

3..

2...

1

BANG!

"Tea, Toshiro." was the command of his captain. The fukutaicho silently handed the obviously frustrated man his tea, and wnt back to his work, silently waiting the onslaught. This had somewhat become a habit. Every time there was a C46 meeting, the orange haired man would come into his office, demand a cup of tea, fume silently for a couple of minutes, before going on a long spiel about the 46s' general stupidity. Emphasis on "long" and "stupidity". In all honesty, Toshiro was astounded that the old geezers were able to function as normal beings with the amount of idiocy that was in place in their brains. The white haired man's attention was brought back to the resent as he saw that Ichigo tiredly dragged a hand through his hair. That was never a good sign. Toshiro prepared himself.

"Toshiro...am I stupid? A plain idiot? Batshit insane?" said man blinked in surprise. Hesitantly he answered. "No, Captain. I would say you are very intelligent. May I ask what brought this on?"

"Oh, I don't know. But for the past 6 months, I have been trying to get my points across to people who are older, more experienced, and evidently, smarter than me. That they don't get my points, must obviously mean that there is something wrong with me, doesn't it?" Toshiro winced at the sharp sarcastic edge inThat they don't get my points, must obviously mean that there is something wrong with me, doesn't it?" Toshiro winced at the sharp sarcastic edge in his Captain's voice. This didn't bide well for his ears.

"Do you want to know what happened today? I had the nerves to suggest that, oh now that we are actually checking on those unlucky Rukongai bastards, maybe e should offer the children there school and build some infrastructure and shit. Do you know what they replied? That they didn't any motherfucking funds! HAH! Lack of funds! Like I don't know about all the money they get from their job, and add that to their extracurricular, barely legal, businesses, and you have 45 fucking business empires. Okeri, the bastard I executed on my first day, had enough money to support a relatively big country. And he was considered small fry! MOTHERFUCKING BUREAUCRATS!" Toshiro was stunned at the end of the tirade. Ichigo never swore. Let alone that much. An stunned silence had taken place in the division, indicating that everyone had heard. Toshiro sighed inwardly, before he hesitantly approached the caged lion that was his Captain.

"Do you want more tea?"

"Pour it."

Toshiro watched silently as his captain sipped his tea, trying to come up with a suitable topic to talk about. He had never had to deal with an angry, cursing Ichigo before. Luckily he was saved from further trauma as the shoji doors slid to reveal Byakuya Kuchiki. The man silently sat down, and Toshiro offered him some tea, which the newly inducted Clan Head gratefully accepted. Byakuya turned towards Ichigo, who had given no indication of noticing Byakuya's arrival. The Kuchiki sighed.

"I know that they pissed you off, but was scaring them that much really necessary? And why in the Seven layers of Hell did you think that destroying the Head of Council's chair with him in it would do any good?" Byakuya sounded intrigued more than anything else. Even Toshiro raised an eyebrow. Ichigo twitched.

"Yes, it was necessary. And the old goat-fucker was pissing me off. Do you know what he had to say about the children of Rukongai? That they were cannon fodder, unimportant souls with no past or future. Apparently he doesn't remember the fact that he too comes from the Rukongai. And it's not like he was hurt. The crafty geezer was Yama-jiji's training partner after all." A silence fell as Byakuya mulled over the information. Ichigo rose, surprising the occupants of the room.

"Wanna spar, Kuchiki?"

"With you in a mood to destroy the realm? Of course."

With that, the two departed, leaving a befuddled Toshiro. He shook his head, and sent a Hell-butterfly to the fourth. Ichigo was still pissed off, after all. And they couldn't have the Kuchiki-head dying from a spar, could they?

§Elsewhere§

Byakuya felt a chill run down his spine as he watched Ichigo get ready.

"This was definitely one of your less wise decisions, Byakuya-sama." his ever so-faithful zanpakotou commented. Byakuya rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but agree.

Ichigo powered up, and Byakuya winced at the malicious intent in his reiatsu. Definitely not his best idea. There was probably a bed in the Fourth with his name-plate on it. As he saw his best-friend get into position, he knew that h was going to be pummeled. Thoroughly.

Oh, well, he thought as he drew his sword. Might as well try to enjoy it.

Inside his wielder's mind, Senbonzakura winced. Barely 5 minutes into the match, and Byakuya had already entered bankai, while Ichigo hadn't even drawn his swords, preferring to fight with kido. This was going to be a long, long, day.

In the 4th division barracks, Unohona felt a chill down her spine.

Next: Year 2005 AD

AN: And that's a wrap! Sorry for the delays, and the shorter chaps, but Uni is hard, man.

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