Call Me Ranch Cause I Be Dressing

and heart breaking

She had gone out for drinks to go along with the bread that Orihime had so nicely brought to the Kurosaki home, when she felt the presence of a hollow. Her gigai with a chappy soul candy  was off getting the juice while she searched for the damned thing. Due to the previous night’s utter failure when she was swarmed and almost killed she was a little nervous, but it seemed as though this was only one hollow.  She didn’t pay any attention to the humans at all trying to pinpoint the location, but was getting frustrated. It was like the bastard was hiding waiting until she was distracted.  She kept her hand hovering over the hilt of her zanpakuto waiting for the hollow to show itself.

Head snaps in the direction of the yelling and her gaze lands on this small woman looking right at her. “Hah?” Head turns to look behind her and back glaring down at her. “I’m Shino and busy. We can talk later! You’re scaring people!”  

“Screw em!” Hiyori yells, now alarming even more humans who quickly scurry away from the seemingly crazy girl shouting at thin air. “They can’t even see you so why should you care if they’re scared or not?” The soul reaper doesn’t seem at all perplexed that Hiyori can see her, despite Hiyori having an outward appearance similar to that of a humans. Maybe she’s already encountered some humans with strong spiritual pressures already, Hiyori thinks.

She tilts her head as she considers Shino with a narrowed glare, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Shino’s hand hovering closely by her zanpakuto doesn’t escape Hiyori’s attention, but only heightens her anxiety and distrust.

‘She can sense me.’ A voice echoes intrusively from the back of Hiyori’s mind. There’s a curious flicker of spiritual pressure from the hollow that makes Hiyori’s skull pulse with a dull ache. As though the monster is so damn giddy of having it’s hiding spot right under the soul reapers nose it almost wants to bait her into attacking them. Hiyori grits her teeth into a snarl, trying to smother the spiritual pressure back into it’s hiding place.

There’s a new soul reaper presence in Karakura Town and Hiyori doesn’t trust it.

Hiyori glares at the black clad figure standing in front of her, clearly unaware of Hiyori’s presence, probably mistaking her for another human and casting their eyes out into the distance, almost willing for the hollow’s presence they can sense to manifest before their eyes. Other soul reapers are always dangerous for Hiyori, not just for the more obvious reasons, but because if they’re good, or at least halfway competent, they could easily mistake a Vizards spiritual pressure with that of a hollows and brandish them an enemy in an instant. Thankfully, the last officially registered guardian of Karakura Town was an idiot who couldn’t tell his head from his ass so Hiyori didn’t have to worry about him detecting anything even remotely Vizard related.

But staring at this new unsuspecting figure puts her on edge, especially because she has no way to gauge their power. She purses her lips as she considers her options. Hiyori isn’t really one for hiding, especially when said soul reaper is practically right in front of her, and if confrontation is a possibility (which it always is with a soul reaper), Hiyori might be able to take this soul reaper on. So, instead of going back to regroup with the other Vizards and report the presence of a new soul reaper in Karakura Town, Hiyori cups her hands around her mouth and takes a deep breath.

Captain and Lieutenant ceremonies are dull as shit and that fact seems to have remained unchanged since Hiyori’s long absence from the Seireitei. Hiyori isn’t even technically supposed to be here, she doesn’t hold a ranking anymore but they let her stand by awkwardly in attendance anyways. She’s just there to show solidarity for her idiot friends coming back to help the very same people that tossed them out in the first place, but whatever. It’s supposed to be a happy occasion, no point being a stick in the mud and bringing up old grudges. It’s not just Shinji and the other Vizards who are being reinstated, a bunch of other random soul reapers she can only recognize in passing keep stepping up to receive their fancy new robes and fancy new badges. One of them, especially catches her attention. A friend of Kurosaki’s, Hiyori thinks vaguely, she recognises her spiritual pressure from that one time Hiyori basically kidnapped Orihime at Hachi’s request. She accepts her position without any fuss or grand gestures, bowing politely and then stepping back into line, trying very hard not to smile as she keeps sneaking glances at Captain Ukitake, who gives her a big thumbs up and a cheery grin.

After the formalities are over, Hiyori manages to wraggle her way out of the hustle and bustle of flattery and congratulations. There’s too many new faces, too many unfamiliar names and places that Hiyori can’t place and can’t remember and it makes her head hurt. She just needs some air. As she steps away from the crowds, she sees the girl once again, a strangely sad expression on her face as she considers her new lieutenant badge. Hiyori narrows her eyes, wondering when the happen the expression she wore when she was inside in front of the captains was replaced by something so… doleful.

“Oh, haha, Lieutenant Sarugaki. I wasn’t expecting you.” She was right, it was usually Kiyone and Sentaro who accosted him in halls and spare rooms when his illness flared. Often against his wishes, but he couldn’t fault them for their concern. At her inquiry, he gave another weak chuckle, waving off the comment with a floppily animated hand. He hoped the motion would distract from his free hand gripping the wall with all its might. “They’re training with Lieutenant Shiba. Something about them not working as a team, but I’m not sure. I trust Kaien to do right by them though. Were you looking for them?”

Doubtful. 

She had inquired on his health, a grim reminder of how dubious he must look at the moment, but he ignored it. Hopefully, she’d let the impolite avoidance slide. Taking in the sight of the small lieutenant he couldn’t help but notice the ruined garment in her hands and the strange chemical smell that seemed to slowly permeate the corridor. “Pardon me…but what is that smell?”

Hiyori’s entire expression crumples into something downright murderous as she thinks back on the ensuing incident that lead her here, she brandishes the lab coat at Captain Ukitake with sudden aggression.

“Oh, don’t EVEN get me started!” She shouts, her anger not exactly directed towards him but just vaguely in his general direction. “My idiot third seat keeps trying to kill me! He spilt something on my coat today and it ate through the fabric like it was nothing! I could have been seriously injured if any of that shit touched my skin, but NOOOO, it’s somehow my fault! Because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like always! You know, I’d be willing to bet that if your third seats ever pulled something like this on Kaien, they’d never see the light of day, but somehow, that blue haired weirdo always gets a pass from my idiot Captain and I’ll never understand it so that’s what the bad smell is! The smell of dumbass authority and some truly messed up science shit I’ll never understand!” For emphasis, she throws the coat down onto the floor, glaring at it with all the intensity she can muster.

When her anger has subsided, just for a moment, Hiyori takes a deep breath and tries to collect herself, arms crossed tightly over her chest.

“I had to get out of the Twelfth before another idiot tried to kill me with their dumb experiment so I just stomped around until I wound up here. I wasn’t really looking for anyone in particular.” Hiyori answers. She glances up at the older Captain, her eyes narrowed in a glare as she considers him again. It’s a very well regarded fact that there is always something plaguing Captain Ukitake, it seems like every other week the guy’s come down with a bad flu that has him coughing up another lung or two. To the extent of Hiyori’s knowledge, she knows he’s taken a few sick days off more than most other captains should but actually talking to him and seeing him up close, he looks a lot worse for wear. It makes her feel bad, like she should run and get someone from the Fourth who is actually equipped to deal with him in this sort of situation rather than her clueless ass.