Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Zanpaku-to? ❯ Lost Timing ( Chapter 60 )

Why was the bird always right about anything which made him unhappy? He didn't mind climbing, didn't mind having Yachiru on his back, didn't mind the lack of light but it was taking so damn long. He was climbing, not fighting.

The steps kept descending, the smell from the sewer remained and anything he saw from the infrequent flashes of light didn't reveal much. For some reason he was pleased not to see the surroundings, yet it might reduce some of the tedium. Yachiru was singing quietly to herself, something about clowns being sent in. He didn't recognise the song, but she seemed to enjoy the song, breaking off to giggle occasionally. Her voice faded in and out so he kept missing some of the words.

"What's the song?" he finally asked.

Yachiru giggled. "It's called 'Send In The Clowns', Ken chan 'cause we're in mid air and the clown is already here."

"I see," he said not understanding anything but talking to her at least distracted him from the climbing and how long this was taking.

"Nearly there," he heard Abarai call out. Kuchiki quickly quelled his assistant captain with a few harsh and quiet words. Was their arrival meant to be a secret? Or was the man allergic to noise or information?

The man never let up. Probably reprimanded people in his sleep, or raised his eyebrow in that disdainful way he seemed to prefer. Yet, he must be a decent fighter. He had to be. Why did he constantly refuse to fight Zaraki? Was it because he was scared, or didn't he like fighting anyone who didn't belong to a noble house? If that was the case, why did he allow a street rat to remain in the position of his second in charge? If he looked at it closely and he may as well while climbing down the ladder with nothing else to interest him, Kuchiki was a mass of inconsistencies. Banging on about what was proper: actually capturing his sister, returning her to justice when accusations were made against her of crimes against the Seireitei, and then breaking all the carefully made rules on a whim.

While these thoughts flowed through his mind, his foot touched solid ground and the tension in his legs and arms he'd ignored until now vanished in anticipation of the fight to come, if he managed to get a fight. For some there was some doubt in his mind about the possibility of getting a good fight any time soon. The few battles he'd had recently had proved to be very disappointing either because they ended too soon or his opponent was dull or not challenging. Why couldn't the Old Man have only sent him to get rid of the supposed Super Hollows? At the very least, it might provide an interesting challenge for a time until the Hollows were defeated.

"So grateful you could finally join us," Kurotsuchi said softly.

"Yeah? It shows," Zaraki said shortly, scowling at his foe. "Can we find these experiments before we die of boredom or old age? Do you know which way we should take?"

Kurotsuchi glanced around as if seeking his bearing. "The holding cells are in that direction," he said gesturing vaguely.

"Provide more clarity in the path we need to take. You emphasised the urgency of the situation and now appear reluctant to take action. Are there some further details you omitted?" The Captain-General stood with folded arms.

"So formal. He is really irritated, isn't he, Ken-chan," Yachiru whispered in his ear. "Why is the Clown Captain acting like this? He is usually so superior but I think he's sweating."

Zaraki glanced over. After the exertion of climbing down the ladder, it might be natural for anyone to show some signs of the effect of the exercise but the makeup showed beads of sweat and some of the paint had stained the collar of his white coat. Instead of tightly pursed lips, as was normal for the man, his lips were apart and he was breathing heavily.

"Captain, I assure you I have omitted nothing important. I need to retain some of my secrets about this place or it will be worthless to me." As he spoke, Kurotsuchi's eyes darted as if seeking escape.

"Ken-chan, he is hiding something, I know it."

"Your lolly obsessed assistant captain is correct. My vulture senses indicate the man is very worried about something," Atonomatsuri broke in.

Vulture senses? What was the bird talking about? "Maybe the water affected his brain," he said to Yachiru, remembering the incident with the toilet and Kurotsuchi. For a few moments, he let a reminiscent smile curl his lips. Maybe they should have kept his head under water for longer. He sincerely doubted if he would ever be in the position of being able to extract retribution in that manner again.

"What water, Ken-chan?" Yachiru asked with a great amount of curiosity.

Zaraki then realised he'd never told Yachiru about the incident. This was possibly due to the other things, which had happened since the time, but she might enjoy hearing about the incident.

"Yachiru, if I tell you, you can only tell Madarame and Ayasegawa. Do you understand? No, I'll tell them, but much later."

"Tell me what, Ken-chan? Did you pour water over the Clown Captain? When? Why didn't you wait until I was there to watch? Did you take photos?" Yachiru was bouncing on his shoulder and drawing attention.

"Stop that," he said more harshly than he normally would. Her exuberance ended and she sat quiet and motionless.

"Sorry, Ken-chan. I forgot where we were," her voice was quiet and subdued. "Captain Frosty is glaring at me."

"Let him glare. He doesn't rely on skill, just his bankai and snobbery. Yachiru, ummm, sorry," he felt a touch of guilt in how his voice affected her.

"No need to be sorry Ken-chan, as long as you tell me the story. Will it make me laugh?" Yachiru sounded a little brighter.

Keeping his voice low, he recounted the story of what happened between Kyoraku, Kurotsuchi and himself. She began to giggle and placed her hand over her mouth to try to keep it quiet. This didn't work and eventually he felt her bury her head in his shoulder as her body shook with laughter. After he finished he let a few minutes pass as they continued to follow the increasingly agitated Kurotsuchi.

For some reason the Captain-General hadn't challenged the man again, though Zaraki noticed he was watching him carefully. While his face betrayed no emotion, through experience he was certain his superior officer was carefully evaluating the situation. The was no reason for any of them to trust the man. It was hard not to stare at him and he noticed most of the party were watching him also.

"Are you sure this is the fastest way to our destination." Unexpectedly, Kuchiki asked the question, his brow raised and a disbelieving look on his face. "I do not sense any Hollow reiatsu in this direction."

Instead of the expected denial, Kurotsuchi came to a complete stop and turned to face the Captain. "Why do you ask?"

"As I said, there is no Hollow reiatsu in this direction. No matter how mutated the Hollow is, they must retain some residue of that type of reiatsu," the answer was clear and the accusation implied.

Before the Clown Captain had a chance to refute the claim Captain Yamamoto nodded in agreement. "Captain Kuchiki is correct. There is no identifiable reiatsu ahead. I understand your may be experiencing concern about your private facilities being examined by fellow and superior officers but no one in the Seireitei is above investigation." The finality of his tone brooked no argument.

Kurotsuchi gulped. His Adam's Apple slid up and down in his throat a number of times as he looked wildly at Akon and then at the other members of the party.

Abarai, in his usual manner had his hand on the hilt of his zanpakuto before he spoke. "While you may be a Captain I don't like anyone wasting my time."

"Assistant Captain, do not question your superior officers," Captain Kuchiki admonished his subordinate.

"I agree with the Crimson Kamikaze," Yachiru piped. "We're here to fight Hollows, not playing Hide and Seek, though Hide and Seek might be fun. Is that what you're doing? Are the Hollows 'It' and we have to find them?" Her voice sounded uncertain and Zaraki felt her hands fist slightly on his back as they did when she was uncertain or becoming angry.

Akon looked at Yachiru blandly and said, "Science is not a game, nor is the pursuit of knowledge meant to entertain."

"You're mean and no fun." Yachiru said. "Why can't things be made fun? Why does it have to be serious and boring?"

Zaraki wanted to hear Akon's answer, but another voice intruded.

"Imagination is more important than Science. Does the Clown Captain have an imagination? Hey, Kenny, do you realise that the word conscience might be that all science is a con? Come on, laugh, it's a joke." Atonomatsuri was trying again. Very.

"Stop quoting Einstein at me and making bad puns. This is serious," Zaraki growled in reply.

"Why is it serious? The Clown Captain and Captain Frosty may not have a sense of humour, but have they sucked it out of you? Everything is funny as long as it happens to someone else," the vulture never gave up.

"It is happening to me and you. Everyone here is involved." Why did the bird fail to understand? One of their own, supposedly, was providing information, which wasn't correct and might even be exposing the others in the party to danger. Well, Zaraki wasn't in any danger because there wasn't anything here stronger than him, but some of the others might be noble, get in the way and get hurt before he had a chance to have a fight. Abarai, most likely. The guy liked to fight and took any opportunity to draw his blade.

Ignoring the insults being traded between Yachiru and Akon, with Madarame occasionally backing up his superior officer, Zaraki again, he contemplated how ill matched the Captain and his Assistant Captain were. One noble, the other from the gutter; one cool, the other on edge. The main thing they had in common was they both seemed determined to prove they were superior to the other in at least one aspect. Abarai started with a disadvantage. The other could rile him and wrong side him as easily as he raised an eyebrow. Maybe if the two worked together valuable lessons taught and learned by the other might occur, but it seemed unlikely.

Ill matched partners.

Like Zaraki and Atonomatsuri. The conversations with the bird had proven many times they were not compatible. If they were not forced to be together he realised it was doubtful if they'd be friends or even distant acquaintances.

However, the Captain and the Assistant Captain were divisible. At some point Abarai might obtain his own Captaincy, but Zaraki's bond to the bird wasn't breakable. There was no point in avoiding the truth.

He could try to find some method to negotiate with the bird and perhaps even form a tentative friendship.

Why was he even thinking about this? There were more important things to consider.

The few times they'd tried to tolerate each other were memorable. Both had traits, which infuriated the other, and neither was prepared to make allowances. From the looks of things, Kuchiki didn't permit any infraction or variation from the rules either he or his house had created and enforcing these rules created a distance and antagonism between Abarai and him.

It was hard to admit he didn't let the bird deviate from his expectations. Atonomatsuri wasn't a bird who believed in conciliation either. They were both at fault but all the arguing and resentment led nowhere except to prevent him from utilising the power of the zanpakuto. For now, he didn't really care about bankai. The people who had it used it rarely and kept the form of it a secret. What was the point of working toward the damn thing, taking up to 30 years to reach the agreement with the spirit only the be smug about gaining the power. If he managed to get bankai, would he become like the complacent idiots around him, not honing their skills but content to rely on both shika and bankai when things got difficult?

Shaking his head, he dismissed the line of thinking. They were here to hunt 'Super' Hollows and Kurotsuchi showed all the signs of having second thoughts about leading them to the holding cells.

It was hard to tell but it seemed Kurotsuchi was flushing under his makeup and the indications were it was from anger, rather than any other emotion. He hadn't been paying attention but it seemed the Captain-General had grown tired of the insults and asked some direct questions.

"It is rare for me to obtain superior Hollow specimens. The ones provided are usually weak and make poor experimental subjects. I have urged you many time, Captain Yamamoto, to obtain some of the more interesting and larger varieties for study, but none have been forthcoming. Imagine the amount of knowledge analysis of a Menos Grande would produce."

The Captain he addressed leant on his stick and seemed to be observing the floor closely. No one spoke, waiting to hear his response. "Nice try," he finally muttered. "You tried and failed with that attempt at diversion. No one has the facilities to hold a Menos Grande. The issue here is where are these Hollows and why are you reluctant to take us near them?"

Akon burst out, "We have spent years on this research and you want to destroy it."

"Akon, stop," Kurotsuchi actually showed some care for his subordinate in the warning. "It is true, we have spent years on this research, but they are a danger." He rubbed his face tiredly. "I'll do this Captain Commander if I gain an undertaking from you to provide me with better Hollow specimens for study."

A voice whispered in his ear, "I don't believe he's trying to do this."

Looking up at Yachiru, Zaraki frowned slightly and replied, "He's playing with fire."

Yachiru giggled slightly and Zaraki realised he'd unwittingly made a joke. "Yeah. I meant the joke," he said hastily.

"You are so funny. You gave him water, now Yami Ji gives him fire. Do you think he'll give him a hot foot?"

The Captain-Commander stood very straight and very still, looking at the man in front of him, his face, as usual, impassive. "You have no honour. To attempt to do this now makes me question your position within the Seireitei. Perhaps you would prefer to return to the Maggot's Nest?"

"No!" The word was extremely loud, but he already had everyone's attention. He spread his hands and said, "If you want information, I need the resources."

There was silence for a brief period and Captain Yamamoto said, "Once we dispatch the current threat, then we shall talk of this further. Now, lead us to the Hollows before you incur my full wrath."

Without uttering a word, Kurotsuchi turned and led then in the opposite direction, much faster than he'd been moving previously. They all followed.

"I want a drink after this," Madarame muttered.

"I want some kompeito. Or some Gummy bears. Ken-chan, have you any lollies for me?" Yachiru pleaded.

He had picked up some in case she asked, but was now the right time to give them to her?

"I'm hungry," she said, then paused and added, "Or bored."

A bored Yachiru was more dangerous than a hungry one. He quickly handed her one of the packets of kompeito he was carrying. "Here. Make them last and don't drop any in my hair."

She took the packet quickly, ripped it open and her reply was muffled by the amount of sweets she stuffed in her mouth. "I haven't dropped sweets in your hair for days, weeks even. Maybe." Then there was a brief, guilty pause. "Oooopppsss."

Why had he given in and provided the sweets. Trying to get sticky sugar out of his hair often required more washing and combing than was comfortable. "Yachiru!"

His assistant captain giggled and said, "Kidding Ken-chan. It fell to the ground."

As he lifted his foot, he found out where the lollies had fallen. Right in his path and he had stepped in them. Part of it had crushed under his sandal, the rest stuck to the footwear. Grunting, he dragged his sandal over the path, trying to clear the sticky mess from it.

"Not happy, Yachiru."

"But it's funny," she giggled.

"She's right," Atonomatsuri agreed. "The 'fearsome' Captain of the 11th Division scraping sticky sugar off the sole of his sandal. I wish I could take a picture."

"Yeah, you laugh at anything that makes it hard for me. What sort of zanpakuto are you anyway?"

"Yours," she replied shortly.

Short but succinct and unfortunately true.

The time taken to scrape the substance from his sandal had made him fall behind the others. Satisfied he wouldn't stick to the floor, he warned Yachiru "I'll run."

He felt her hands grasp his shoulders firmly and then he ran. It only took a few moments to catch up and aside from moving forward, nothing else had changed. Kuchiki looking superior, Kurotsuchi looking sullen, Abarai surly, the Old Man aloof and so on.

They walked on and then Abarai stopped. "I feel something ahead. It is like a Hollow's reiatsu, but different."

This, of course, meant the others wanted to stop and discuss the matter. Zaraki sighed. They could walk and talk, couldn't they? So? It was Hollow reiatsu, but different. What did it matter? As long as they found, fought and killed the creatures it wasn't a problem. This delay was interfering with his fight. His hand itched to wield his zanpakuto again, experiencing the fierce joy of fighting a worthy foe, or someone who managed to last a few minutes against his onslaught. At least none of them would dance around or fly away as had the bird, or cry and stumble while complaining bitterly, like Piecrust.

For an astonishing second he thought about Piecrust. What was he going to do with the idiot? If he had to remain in the 11th Division, his presence might prove to cause a problem with morale. All the others in 11th Division were there because they loved to fight and showed talent.

If he acknowledged the truth, Piecrust was scared of fighting. The idiot was scared of many things from the little Zaraki knew. When he'd accused the man of fear of fighting, he had only admitted to a fear of his Captain. When challenged, Piecrust seemed competent at martial arts, but each time he held a blade, he seemed uncomfortable and ill at ease. Why would anyone feel worried about holding a zanpakuto? Admittedly, his joy in his zanpakuto had diminished greatly since he'd begun communication with Atonomatsuri, but his distaste was growing less and one day he hoped to find the same bloodlust and pleasure in wielding it once more.

That wasn't right. Even when the man held a wooden blade, his uncertainty and lack of confidence was evident.

In his mind, Zaraki groaned. This was exactly the type of thing the bird delighted in. Tracking down reasons, usually psychological ones, for the way people behaved. Her attempts at analysing Zaraki wore him out, depressed and infuriated him, especially when some of the points she made showed a better understanding of him than he wished to admit.

Piecrust might have some deeply hidden memory about blades, swords, zanpakuto's or other weapons. His distaste for physical contact and hand to hand fighting might be another problem. Hell, the man was a total problem and a disaster as a Shinigami, but maybe there were reasons.

"Why am I even thinking like this," he wondered. "I'm on the way to a fight. Why think about some fool who can't see what he really is?"

"Like a certain Kenny Boy I know?" Atonomatsuri snidely commented.

This seemed unfair. "I know what I am, Atonomatsuri. I may not like what I was, but I accept it. It's either accept the situation and move on, or not."

There was a small silence. "You called me by my name," the bird said eventually.

"Yeah? So? Maybe you can do the same."

The bird fell silent and Zaraki put the strange thoughts he'd had about Piecrust to the back of his mind. When this was over and the 'trial' had finished there'd be time to talk about it. Again, he briefly wished his life hadn't become so needlessly complicated. The bird may not be the cause but she was the catalyst. He almost smiled at the very bad puns his mind presented to him at the thought of a bird being a catalyst, but soon grew bored of the feeble jokes.

Unmistakably he heard a different noise from the sound of sandals hitting the ground and a few whispered words and the strange rasping breathing Kurotsuchi was doing. They man might be either sick or depressed, or worried for him to breathe in that manner.

"We are close." It wasn't a question and Sasakibe almost seemed animated by the realisation.

"Ready for a fight, Captain?" Madarame asked.

"Always. Are you actually going to take you zanpakuto out?" he asked Yachiru.

She giggled. "Why? It's more fun watching you."

"It's fun to fight," he responded.

Yachiru frowned. "Ken-chan, I've watched you fight from the first day we met. You are the best fighter I've seen, bar none. If I watch the best fighter enjoy himself, why would I want to fight? You'd fight anyone for me."

Her words brought a conflict of emotions. Pride in being told he was the best fighter, arrogance that she didn't even consider Yamamoto his superior and a guilt that his prowess has caused his subordinate not to try. He knew she could fight, but she did so very rarely. The last time he knew of was when Piecrust had stupidly invaded the women's bathhouse. "Why don't you beat Madarame a few times?'

Yawning, Yachiru shook her head. "Too easy, Ken-chan. Besides, upsetting Baldy is much more fun."

He felt a sigh building. "You want training; you have to beat up Piecrust a few times."

Now his assistant captain pouted. "A dead fish is more of a challenge."

He tried to hide a smile. "Dead fish don't fight back, or carry zanpakuto's."

"He's as wet as they are," was her sullen response.

"We'll talk of this later," he said firmly. '"If you aren't going to fight, keep out of the way."

"Do you think I'm like Boobies? Wanting to be rescued by someone all the time?"

For a moment, he wondered which person Yachiru was talking about, and then remembered Ichigo's female friend. "Who rescued her?"

"You did. From the Clown Captain. You watch, Ken-chan. One day she'll be the Princess who has to be rescued."

It was an odd thing for Yachiru to say and he wondered briefly why she'd said it.

Before he could question her further, Kurotsuchi stopped at a large door. It was metal of some kind.

"Look away," Kurotsuchi demanded.

"It's too late to have secrets," Yamamoto said.

Zaraki winced. "Too late. Atonomatsuri. Urghhh," he thought.

Briefly, Kurotsuchi appeared to consider protesting but a glance at the forbidding faces that surrounded him made him turn to the door. He used a key, muttered some words, pressed him thumb against a pad, allowed a camera to take a photo of his eye and then breathed into a tube.

"Clown Captain is either very cautious, or incredibly paranoid," Yachiru whispered in his ear. "Or maybe both."

Zaraki nodded. Sure, it was wise to take precautions, but if Kurotsuchi died, how would anyone else access the room?

The door opened into a large open area. It was astounding there was such a large underground space, until Zaraki noticed there were large chunks of rubble on the floor.

"The 'Super' Hollows have broken a few walls in their attempts to escape," Captain Yamamoto commented dryly. "They caused the earth tremors."

The back of the door, which closed behind them, bore the marks of long scratches, dents and many other signs of attack. It had held.

"What the hell is it made of," Zaraki wondered.

Looking around it wasn't possible to identify the path the Hollows had taken or where they might be lurking. All the walls had suffered some damage and even the ceiling showed signs of attack.

A loud yell drew their attention to Akon who was hanging, apparently in mid air. It was impossible to see a large part of his mid section and he was struggling, as his arms appeared to be trapped which made it impossible for him to draw his zanpakuto or use kido.

Yamamoto had a pained and puzzled expression on his face as he too glanced behind. "Kurotsuchi, is there something else you need to tell us about these Hollows? For example: you made them invisible?"

Sometime (soon with luck) this story will be finished, which will be sad. Oh well, never mind. These things happen. The title is taken from the lyrics of 'Send In The Clowns'. The song was constantly going through my mind as I wrote this chapter, despite listening to other music, even by the Children Of Bodom. Yes, perhaps that experiment will not be repeated at full volume with headphones.

I hope that by the end of October most of the family issues, which have consumed so much of my time will end and then it will be fun dealing with the aftermath which already is taking up time. Nothing is simple or easy.

Please review.

MS