Fic: Static (5/?). Hisagi/Kira.
Title: Static (5/?)
Author: winteraconite
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Hisagi Shuuhei/Kira Izuru
Notes/Warnings: Yaoi. Violence.
General Summary: Betrayal is a blade that cuts deep, and you have to wonder who you can really trust. For Hisagi and Kira proximity takes its toll, and things take a turn for the worse as Hisagi tries to fix what was never broken. Now Kira's life is in peril and a guilt-stricken Hisagi is going to have to fight hell and high waters to save his friend's life.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its sexy characters. I just borrow them and make them do my nasty bidding. They like it. A lot. >:)
Chapter One: Hisagi helps a wounded Kira and proximity takes its toll.
Chapter Two: Things fall apart as Hisagi tries to fix what isn't broken.
Chapter Three: Pride doesn't pay.
Chapter Four: Things take a turn for the worse.
~A/N: Words cannot express how sorry I am that it took me eight whole months to cough up another chapter. Let me just say one thing: MED SCHOOL SUCKS.
This is for ceestar. ♥
In the previous chapter:
“Tell me,” the 9th Division Lieutenant ordered, tightening his grip on the man.
Harada nodded and reached out to take the lieutenant’s arm. Hisagi’s hands started to shake.
“Kira-fukutaichou...” the man said, and Iba held his breath as he suddenly felt himself grow cold.
“We lost Kira-fukutaichou.”
~
Static: Chapter Five
Hisagi didn’t know Akon that well; no one did. Other high ranking shingami went to battle-to the front lines-and fought alongside him, but Akon? No. The Head of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute stayed in the control room, monitoring the progress of every mission, and watching friends and strangers alike live and die-just a droning voice relaying instructions, unfazed by the fact that his voice could be the last thing you hear. Akon was a cold, distant individual, and Hisagi supposed he would have to be as he felt his own pulse quicken in response to the blind panic in the control room.
“You have to give me clearance to go down there,” Hisagi said as calmly as he could amidst the turmoil. It wasn’t easy; everywhere he looked, whether it was at the screens showing the last of the shinigami still in the transient world trying to escape or the shinigami in the control room struggling to save their lives, he saw chaos. The sound of dozens of desperate voices all speaking at once assaulted his ears and it made him wonder how anyone could survive in the 12th Division with his sanity still intact. It reminded him why this Division was at the bottom of his list when he first joined the ranks of the Gotei 13.
In the centre of all the confusion stood Akon, raising an eyebrow at the young lieutenant. “You mean send you down there?” he asked slowly, as if speaking to a small child. Behind him Rin was monitoring frequencies, his fingers a blur over the keyboards as the panicked demands for reinforcement and rescue from the shinigami still in the transient world were cut off before they could even respond. Akon glared at Hisagi. “I’m trying to get people back.”
The Head of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute glowered and pushed past the young lieutenant, stalking to his console and scanning a dozen screens at once. He’d long since run out of cigarettes since the mission took a disastrous turn and his fingers twitched, a headache already brewing as three hours’ worth of blaring alarms and hysteria started to get to him. He stared at the largest screen in the room, the one that currently displayed the remaining shinigami making their last stand against the hoard of hollows. It did nothing for his terrible mood.
“Are you sending reinforcements?” Hisagi asked behind him and he ignored the other shinigami, turning to Rin instead. “How many people are still outside of the perimeter?” He demanded, asking what he already knew.
“At least two dozen, sir,” the young tech replied, wide eyes glued to his screen. “We’re losing them fast! More hollows have surfaced and are making their way toward base camp!”
Akon cursed under his breath and his mind worked furiously to find a solution and salvage the mission somehow. There were dozens of shinigami still down there, vastly outnumbered by Hollows by at least eight to one by his calculation, and the Hollows came from underground so there was no way to detect them until it was too late. The perimeter was their last defence and it wouldn’t hold for much longer; anyone outside of it was as good as dead. To top it all off he hadn’t heard from either of the two Lieutenants leading the assignment. Akon cursed again. He had nothing; the mission was lost and waiting for a miracle was only going to cost more lives. He had to get those people out of there. “Give the order for an immediate evac,” he commanded. “Unlock the senkai and get them out of there.”
Hisagi suddenly stepped up beside him. “There’s still time to get down there, Akon-san,” he said. “I can go; I can go now and get there in time to-”
“To what? Get yourself killed?” Akon spat, his patience at its end. “Listen to what’s happening down there, Hisagi! People are dying!”
“Damn right they are and my friends are out there!” Hisagi shouted, grabbing Akon by the front of his white lab coat. Standing there listening to panicked pleas for help and not hearing either Kira’s or Matsumoto’s voice was too much for him to take. “You have to give me clearance! There’s still time!”
Unfazed by Hisagi’s outburst Akon glared at the Lieutenant, the horns on his forehead making him look even more sinister. “Vice-Captains Kira and Matsumoto have neither been seen nor heard from in over two hours,” he said coldly. “We don’t even know if they’re alive.”
Stunned, Hisagi faltered with his next words and Akon shook himself free from his grip. He didn’t have time for this. “I’m sorry,” he said. “We’re doing the best we can-”
Akon cut himself short when Rin’s comm beeped and a woman’s voice called out desperately. “Mayday, mayday! Can anyone here this?” He pushed a button on the console before Rin could even react. “Roger that,” he replied. “Go ahead.”
“Sir!” They could all hear the fear in her voice. “Fujioka from the 10th, sir. The Hollows have breached the perimeter! We’re under attack!”
“Any word from Lieutenants Kira and Matsumoto?” Hisagi blurted out into the open channel and Akon glared at him. Fujioka didn’t seem to hear him.
“Requesting back-up,” she continued desperately. “We’re taking heavy casualties. We’re sitting ducks out he-Kami-sama, the Hollows are here!”
Static interfered with the rest of the transmission and Akon frowned. At first he thought the last statement was meant to reiterate her plight, but then he heard an all-too-familiar howl, followed by a scream, and then...nothing.
Rin took over. “Fujioka? Fujioka!” he shouted into the comm. There was no response. He checked the channel and saw that the line was still open. The transmission was still active, only there was no one on the other end. Not anymore.
From the far corner of the control room another tech called out saying more hollows had surfaced just outside the perimeter and were coming in fast. “Sir, the perimeter has just been over-run! Our men are scattering!”
Rin swung his chair around and looked at the two brunets towering over him. His face was grim as he struggled with what he had to say next. “Sir, at this rate any reinforcements we send won’t make it there in time.”
Silence fell throughout the control room save for the desperate voices still coming in from the open comm channels. They all stared at Akon expectantly and this-this-was the worst part of his job, to call the shots in life and death situations at a distance and make decisions that he felt he, being nowhere near the battlefield, had no right to make.
“How many people have gotten through?” He asked.
Rin turned back to his console and started typing. “Counting the few that returned through the unauthorized senkai under Kira-fukutaichou’s orders...less than half of the men we sent out.”
“They’re headed for the senkai!” A tech called out.
No one made any indication that they had heard him, but his last syllable seemed to echo throughout the control room, bringing with it a sickening cold feeling that made Akon shudder and his stomach churn.
“Akon-sama...” Rin prompted after a few moments and Akon took a deep breath. His face was devoid of all emotion.
“Withdraw the reinforcements,” he said. “We’re closing the senkai.”
~
“Way of Destruction number 31: Red Flame Cannon!”
Rangiku blinked several times as bright red light suddenly replaced the darkness. She looked at the ball of red light in her trembling hands and smiled.
“The last time I did this I blew up an entire wall,” she said to Kira who was leaning over her with a worried look on his face.
The younger shinigami frowned and muttered “I should have thought of that” before reaching for the light she had in her hands. “May I?” he asked and she nodded. There was a brief pulse of the younger blond’s reiatsu and then the red ball of light split in several smaller spheres that rose up to float in the air and scatter around them, spreading the light farther out into the darkness.
“You people and your kidou,” Rangiku teased even as she stared at the glowing orbs in awe. She had been knocked unconscious when she landed and had no idea how long she had been out. When she finally came to, it was to pitch blackness and sharp pain in her leg. Kira had apparently been conscious the whole time and had been tending to her injuries in total darkness with nothing but the faint light radiating from the power of his healing spell for illumination.
She hissed when Kira’s hands returned to the wounds on her leg and the pain did well to back her to the reality of the situation. Now that she could see she tried to take stock of their surroundings. They were surrounded by rocks and dirt, encased in a small cavern barely big enough for either of them to stand, and she knew that it was only out of sheer luck that they hadn’t been crushed to death or killed in their fall. The earth shook around them oddly, almost rhythmically, and something told her that didn’t bode well.
“The hollows are trying to dig their way to us,” Kira answered her unasked question and Rangiku’s mouth went dry.
“How close?”
“Not so close,” was all Kira said. Not yet.
Rangiku had no idea what to say to that. Neither of them spoke and minutes passed in silence as she let Kira concentrate on healing her leg, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists in the dirt at the pain. She didn’t ask about her men, and Kira didn’t mention his. Neither of them spoke about their predicament, and Rangiku fought to quell the panic that grew inside her with each passing minute.
Finally Kira was finished and she was able to move and sit up with only a minor twinge of discomfort.
“How far down do you think we are?” She asked and the younger shinigami sighed.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Far enough that I can’t get through to Akon on the comm link. And I can’t feel anything but the hollows’ reiatsu.”
Rangiku nodded and tapped her own comm link. She got nothing. Then she reached out with her own reiatsu and true enough she could only sense the hollows’ ominous presence looming over them. And they were getting closer by the second. Dust rained down on them from the ceiling and Rangiku swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath.
“How long until they get here?” she finally asked and the younger blond shrugged.
“How do we get out?”
Kira shook his head and said: “I have no idea.”
~
In the Mission Control Room the techs all sat slumped in their chairs. Their headsets were still placed firmly over their ears straining to hear, but nothing was coming from the frequencies. They heard nothing but static. They were all tired but tense, and Nemu admired them from where she stood observing them from one side of the room. It seemed as though they hadn’t given up on the failed mission in the transient world. Or that they had, but didn’t want to show it.
Her attention was momentarily diverted when she heard shouting and the tell-tale sounds of a scuffle come from the other side of the now closed steel door. She tore her gaze from her men’s tired faces and turned to Akon.
“Was that really necessary?” She asked him and the Head of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute frowned.
“He was being insubordinate,” he answered curtly. “He’s lucky I didn’t have him thrown behind bars.”
Nemu nodded, knowing it was the truth. Then she reached out and touched the corner of Akon’s lips. “You’re bleeding,” she said and he shrugged and shied away from her touch.
“The man can throw a punch,” was all he said.
“He is worried about his friends.”
“That’s no excuse to lose his head,” Akon glowered and then sighed. “I had to make sure the hollows wouldn’t reach Seireitei,” he said, almost to himself. “Sending anyone down there would have only meant more casualties.”
Nemu didn’t have to give the situation anymore thought to know that was true and Akon turned away from her as though in shame. Sighing, she reached into her pocket and procured a pack of cigarettes, offering it to him. He took one gratefully.
In front of them the screens were all blank. There was nothing they wanted to see in the transient world. Akon only kept the frequencies open because they had long gone silent, which meant that any important transmission-anything worth listening to, such as a whispered plea from a survivor-would get through and be heard immediately, because they couldn’t send anyone down there unless there was anything to save.
So they all waited, and they listened.
~
“Ready?” Kira whispered urgently and Rangiku shook her head no, but before he could reassure her the ceiling split open over their heads and a hollow forced its head in. Its roar made the walls of the cavern shake.
“Shakkahou!” Kira cried and the spell hit the creature right in its face, killing it. He wrenched its dead body from the opening of the tunnel it had excavated and shot another red flame canon into the passageway before climbing in. Rangiku went after him.
By now it was pitch black again. Neither of them could concentrate enough to maintain any source of light around them as they fought for their lives.
Rangiku crawled through the tunnel as fast as she could, wishing there was some way she could help Kira clear a path for them. She could hear him sending wave after wave of kidou, blasting hollow and rocks alike, and for a moment she was afraid the tunnel would collapse and crush them. Quelling her fear she followed her friend, fervently hoping that the light brought forth by his spells wouldn’t go out.
But it did disappear and her heart gave a painful lurch in her chest. Then she heard Kira’s voice from somewhere farther ahead of her and she suddenly found herself at the end of the tunnel, climbing out into wider space.
“Matsumoto-san! Run!” She heard Kira shout. Heard him, but couldn’t see him. She couldn’t see anything! It was utterly dark, the sporadic bursts of red light from Kira’s desperate attempt to cover her retreat revealing very little of their surroundings. But where her sight failed, her hearing more than made up for. She had no idea where the creatures were, if they were farther behind her or so close that they could almost reach her, but she could hear them howling and chasing after her with frightening clarity. She didn’t dare look back.
A kidou spell shot past her and she ducked. The loud explosion that followed told her that Kira’s spell had hit its target and the flash of red light from the spell was all she needed to find her friend.
“Kira!” She cried when she finally reached him. For a brief moment their eyes met, and each could see the fear on the other’s face. Then the light faded and they were once again plunged into darkness. But at least they were together.
Rangiku unsheathed her zanpakutou and called forth Haineko, creating a deadly twister of tiny blades around the two of them to buy them some time. “You better think of something fast! We can’t fight what we can’t see,” she told the 3rd Division Lieutenant. Already she could hear him muttering a kidou spell under his breath and felt reiatsu gathering around them. Somewhere to her right she heard a pained howl and the sickening sound of flesh being shredded by her zanpakutou. That meant the hollows were close. For a moment Rangiku thought she could hear them breathing around her, but she wasn’t sure. She didn’t want to know.
Another howl and the same terrible sound of Haineko tearing into flesh rang out, followed by several more. Rangiku felt something warm and wet splatter over her, and that’s it. She wasn’t waiting for Kira.
“Shakkahou!” She cried out and the spell burst forth from her hands in an instant. Without waiting to see what her spell had hit she spun, searching for a way out only to find that they had none. The hollows were everywhere, surrounding them. Only the deadly ash cloud of her zanpakutou kept the creatures at bay, and Rangiku knew Haineko couldn’t hold them back for long.
“Kira!” She cried out in warning but he was already up, his open palm facing directed right at her.
“Hadō 4: Byakurai!”
Blue lightning burst from Kira’s fingers, narrowly missing Rangiku even as she dodged to the right, and slammed through Haineko’s ash cloud and into the hollows on the other side. Bright blue light replaced the darkness as Kira maintained the steady flow of concentrated energy and directed it along a graceful arc, methodically incinerating hollow after hollow. Through the ensuing brightness Rangiku could see that they were in an underground chamber. Tunnels and fissures marred the rock face all around them, inky black against the gray walls that now reflected the light from Kira’s spell, and she shuddered, thinking about where they would lead or what could possible come out of them.
Kami-sama, what kind of hell hole is this place? She thought to herself. She quickly gathered Haineko closer around her and used the ash cloud to finish off the remaining hollows. Kira had gotten most of them; there were only a handful left. Maybe we can still make it out of here, she told herself, daring to hope. Then find our way back to the surface and-
A hollow suddenly leapt out from one of the tunnels, heading straight for the 3rd Division Lieutenant and bowling him over before she could even shout out a warning. Kira’s spell swung dangerously, cutting deep through the rock walls before going out and immediately plunging the two lieutenants into darkness, but not before Rangiku saw Kira go down and a pack of hollows swarm over him.
“Kira!” she screamed but even as she ran to his aid she heard his voice ring clear above the snarls of the hollows shout “Bakudō 39: Enkosen!” and saw the faint yellow light of the arc shield through the silhouettes of the creatures swarming her friend. Acting on instinct she fired three successive bursts of shakkahou at the hollows, clearing a path so she could reach him. Summoning Haineko into a single solid blade again she decapitated the lone hollow still pinning Kira down.
Kira was on his feet in an instant. “Hadō 33: Sōkatsui!” He cried, and lightning shot forth from his fingers again-even stronger than before-and he struggled to control the surge as he levelled it at the remaining hollows. Rangiku could feel the power radiating off him in waves. But that wasn’t the only thing she could feel.
A low rumble came from the ground beneath them, and Rangiku was very nearly overwhelmed with terror when she realized the hollows were going to tunnel out from right underneath them the way they did in the surface. But something in the way the earth trembled struck Rangiku, and it wasn’t until a massive rock crashed down from above mere feet from where she was that she understood why.
“The chamber is collapsing!” She shouted to Kira who glanced back at her with wide eyes. A huge section of the rock wall to their left sheared away, and rocks and boulders started to tumble down as if to confirm it. Rangiku’s mind raced as she thought of a way to survive this catastrophe and she remembered the numerous tunnels and fissures she saw from earlier. “Follow me!”
She dashed across the chamber, taking out the hollows that got in her way and only barely escaping being crushed by falling rocks. Kira was right behind her covering their retreat, which she was thankful for because she needed the light to find her way. Her vision narrowed to the largest of the gaping entrances to the many tunnels around them and she ran for her life, trusting Kira to keep up.
Switching to shunpo, she leapt and soared through the air, landing on the lip of the cavern. Kira landed beside her and Rangiku started scrambling to get farther into the tunnel.
And then she heard it. Static coming from her comm link!
Kira must have heard it, too, because he immediately started shouting into his own.
“This is Lieutenant Kira Izuru!”
Rangiku turned and took over covering their escape as the younger blond continued to shout into the comm link.
“Can anyone hear me?! We’re alive!” she heard Kira cry. “Matsumoto and I are alive! We’re underground! Is anyone there?! This is a distress call! Request immediate rescue from anyone receiving this signal!”
Rangiku hoped with all her heart that someone was on the other end.
“I repeat: Matsumoto and I are alive-”
The ground twisted beneath their feet and Rangiku nearly lost her balance.
“Kami-sama...Go!” Kira cried, speaking to her now and pushing her along the passageway. “Ran, go!”
Rangiku scrambled deeper into the tunnel, which sloped upward. Kira resumed covering their retreat while still shouting into the comm link. A rock crashed down, missing her by only a few feet and she screamed. Kira ran into her from behind and they both went down and hit the ground with pained grunts. It was pitch black again. The tremors from the ground flowed through them, making them dizzy, but Rangiku forced herself to get up. Reaching out blindly into the darkness for the 3rd Division lieutenant she hauled him up with her and together they staggered as fast as they could up the tunnel.
They were forced to a halt when the ground became even more unstable and dust spewed out into the air around them, making it difficult to breathe. A deafening crash came from somewhere above them and Rangiku heard the frenzied shrieks of hollows not too far from where they were.
Another rock fell by them, closer this time. Rangiku felt Kira’s hand take hers, but he stayed silent so she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. Then Kira grabbed her roughly and pushed her hard out into the gloom. She screamed again as she fell forward, reaching back for Kira but touching only air. She landed painfully and quickly started to skid downward. She had gone over a crest in the tunnel and was now on the other side of the rise! Her hands scrabbled at the ground for purchase, trying to slow herself down but it was no use.
“Kira!” She screamed but he didn’t respond. There was no sign of him. She screamed for him again and thought she heard him call out in response, but it was difficult to tell in the chaos. Then her descent was abruptly halted as she crashed into something. The breath was knocked out of her and pain exploded all over her body. She tasted blood.
Dimly she heard Kira cry out through the comm link, and then everything went black.
~
In the Mission Control Room, Nemu watched Akon pacing slowly by his console, smoking his 5th cigarette. The anxiety had dwindled somewhat as the situation became bleaker as the minutes passed. Slowly, but surely, they were starting to give up. The crackle of static was starting to grate on even her unfeeling nerves.
Most of the tension came from Akon, who tried to look calm and aloof, but was obviously still edgy.
Because he feels responsible, Nemu reminded herself. Akon was still waiting, determined to stick the mission out to the very end, and she knew that no one had the power to make the Head of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute do otherwise. Nemu looked at him with pity.
Then one of the men suddenly perked up and his hand flew to his headset, pressing it closer to his ear. Covering his mouthpiece with one hand, he turned to everyone else in the room. “I’ve got something!”
Akon flicked a switch on his console and ordered the tech to feed the transmission into the mainline but with the superior hearing Captain Mayuri had given her, Nemu could already hear the transmission as if she were wearing the headset over her own ears and she tensed. The speakers crackled to life and a familiar voice was heard.
“This is L...tenant Kira Izu...” Interference disrupted the rest of Kira’s message.
Akon pushed a few buttons on his console and tapped his own headset. “Repeat transmission, Lieutenant Kira,” he said but their comrade in the transient world didn’t seem to hear him.
Kira’s voice continued to crack and spark from the speakers. “Matsumoto and I...alive...underground...” More static. “...distress call! Request immediate rescue...kami-sama...”
Frustrated, Akon punched a fist against his console. “Come again, Lieutenant!” Again Kira didn’t seem to hear him. “Why aren’t I getting through?!” he asked Rin. He was all but exploding with anxiety.
“The interference, sir!” The tech exclaimed. “It’s disrupting the transmission!”
“Sort it out,” he ordered Rin, who started typing frantically on his keyboard. From the speakers the transmission started to play on a loop. From the sound of the Lieutenant’s voice and the way the transmission crackled they way they did when the signal was too weak they wouldn’t be able to get through to him in time, but Akon kept on listening and struggled to understand Kira’s message. They all listened with bated breath to fragments of Kira’s distress call, hearing the panic in his voice interspersed with the horrible crashes and screeching hollows in the background.
“I can’t get through,” Rin cried. “There’s too much interference!”
“Just clean it up for me,” Akon said urgently and Rin flicked one last switch and finally Kira could be heard loud and clear.
“This is Lieutenant Kira Izuru! Can anyone hear me?! We’re alive! Matsumoto and I are alive! We’re underground! Is anyone there?!”
The techs reeled from the fear they could hear in Kira’s voice. The crashing they could hear in the background was getting louder by the second. Somewhere in the background they heard Lieutenant Matsumoto scream and Akon thought he was going to be sick.
“This is a distress call!” Kira’s voice continued to shout throughout the room. “Request immediate rescue from anyone receiving this signal! I repeat: Matsumoto and I are alive-kami-sama...Go! Ran, go-”
There was a deafening crash and then the rest was lost in static. The transmission played into another loop and Rin swivelled his chair around. “Lieutenant Kira’s line has been cut off, sir.”
Wrenching his headset from his head, Akon tossed it aside and slammed his hands on his console. His face was unreadable, like a stony sculpture of the real thing.
Nemu stepped up beside him. “They could still be alive,” she said. When he didn’t respond she walked past him and started typing on his console.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Retrieving the coordinates form that last transmission.” She spoke perfunctorily and without looking at him. “Kira Izuru and Matsumoto Rangiku are Lieutenants in the Gotei 13. We cannot simply abandon them,” she continued. Then she turned around and looked at Akon coolly. “Or would you leave me to die if it was me down there?”
Akon stiffened. “Of course not, fukutaichou.”
Nemu smiled.
Akon returned it briefly before grabbing the nearest tech. “Get me Hisagi Shuuhei,” he ordered and the tech hastened to obey. Turning back to his console he brought the screens and monitors back to life, opening all channels in all frequencies. The others did the same and soon the room was buzzing with activity. In the main feed Kira’s transmission was still on a loop.
“This is Lieutenant Kira Izuru...”
Akon sighed. Behind him Nemu quietly exited the control room in search for more cigarettes.
It was going to be a long night.
TBC.
A/N: So I had about a third of this chapter collecting dust in my folders since March, was able to write up most of it back during my semestral break last October, but only managed to finish it today. I doubt anybody is still reading this, but to the readers who are still with me I'm sorry it took me so long. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as ridiculously long! Keep your fingers crossed!
I also want to thank those who actually went out of their way to get in touch with me, asking for an update and encouraging me to continue. I coudln't have coughed up another chapter without your (guilt-tripping nyahahaha) encouragement. :D
So...CAN I HAS ME SOME SKIRT NOW?! >:D
Author: winteraconite
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Hisagi Shuuhei/Kira Izuru
Notes/Warnings: Yaoi. Violence.
General Summary: Betrayal is a blade that cuts deep, and you have to wonder who you can really trust. For Hisagi and Kira proximity takes its toll, and things take a turn for the worse as Hisagi tries to fix what was never broken. Now Kira's life is in peril and a guilt-stricken Hisagi is going to have to fight hell and high waters to save his friend's life.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its sexy characters. I just borrow them and make them do my nasty bidding. They like it. A lot. >:)
Chapter One: Hisagi helps a wounded Kira and proximity takes its toll.
Chapter Two: Things fall apart as Hisagi tries to fix what isn't broken.
Chapter Three: Pride doesn't pay.
Chapter Four: Things take a turn for the worse.
~A/N: Words cannot express how sorry I am that it took me eight whole months to cough up another chapter. Let me just say one thing: MED SCHOOL SUCKS.
This is for ceestar. ♥
In the previous chapter:
“Tell me,” the 9th Division Lieutenant ordered, tightening his grip on the man.
Harada nodded and reached out to take the lieutenant’s arm. Hisagi’s hands started to shake.
“Kira-fukutaichou...” the man said, and Iba held his breath as he suddenly felt himself grow cold.
“We lost Kira-fukutaichou.”
~
Static: Chapter Five
Hisagi didn’t know Akon that well; no one did. Other high ranking shingami went to battle-to the front lines-and fought alongside him, but Akon? No. The Head of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute stayed in the control room, monitoring the progress of every mission, and watching friends and strangers alike live and die-just a droning voice relaying instructions, unfazed by the fact that his voice could be the last thing you hear. Akon was a cold, distant individual, and Hisagi supposed he would have to be as he felt his own pulse quicken in response to the blind panic in the control room.
“You have to give me clearance to go down there,” Hisagi said as calmly as he could amidst the turmoil. It wasn’t easy; everywhere he looked, whether it was at the screens showing the last of the shinigami still in the transient world trying to escape or the shinigami in the control room struggling to save their lives, he saw chaos. The sound of dozens of desperate voices all speaking at once assaulted his ears and it made him wonder how anyone could survive in the 12th Division with his sanity still intact. It reminded him why this Division was at the bottom of his list when he first joined the ranks of the Gotei 13.
In the centre of all the confusion stood Akon, raising an eyebrow at the young lieutenant. “You mean send you down there?” he asked slowly, as if speaking to a small child. Behind him Rin was monitoring frequencies, his fingers a blur over the keyboards as the panicked demands for reinforcement and rescue from the shinigami still in the transient world were cut off before they could even respond. Akon glared at Hisagi. “I’m trying to get people back.”
The Head of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute glowered and pushed past the young lieutenant, stalking to his console and scanning a dozen screens at once. He’d long since run out of cigarettes since the mission took a disastrous turn and his fingers twitched, a headache already brewing as three hours’ worth of blaring alarms and hysteria started to get to him. He stared at the largest screen in the room, the one that currently displayed the remaining shinigami making their last stand against the hoard of hollows. It did nothing for his terrible mood.
“Are you sending reinforcements?” Hisagi asked behind him and he ignored the other shinigami, turning to Rin instead. “How many people are still outside of the perimeter?” He demanded, asking what he already knew.
“At least two dozen, sir,” the young tech replied, wide eyes glued to his screen. “We’re losing them fast! More hollows have surfaced and are making their way toward base camp!”
Akon cursed under his breath and his mind worked furiously to find a solution and salvage the mission somehow. There were dozens of shinigami still down there, vastly outnumbered by Hollows by at least eight to one by his calculation, and the Hollows came from underground so there was no way to detect them until it was too late. The perimeter was their last defence and it wouldn’t hold for much longer; anyone outside of it was as good as dead. To top it all off he hadn’t heard from either of the two Lieutenants leading the assignment. Akon cursed again. He had nothing; the mission was lost and waiting for a miracle was only going to cost more lives. He had to get those people out of there. “Give the order for an immediate evac,” he commanded. “Unlock the senkai and get them out of there.”
Hisagi suddenly stepped up beside him. “There’s still time to get down there, Akon-san,” he said. “I can go; I can go now and get there in time to-”
“To what? Get yourself killed?” Akon spat, his patience at its end. “Listen to what’s happening down there, Hisagi! People are dying!”
“Damn right they are and my friends are out there!” Hisagi shouted, grabbing Akon by the front of his white lab coat. Standing there listening to panicked pleas for help and not hearing either Kira’s or Matsumoto’s voice was too much for him to take. “You have to give me clearance! There’s still time!”
Unfazed by Hisagi’s outburst Akon glared at the Lieutenant, the horns on his forehead making him look even more sinister. “Vice-Captains Kira and Matsumoto have neither been seen nor heard from in over two hours,” he said coldly. “We don’t even know if they’re alive.”
Stunned, Hisagi faltered with his next words and Akon shook himself free from his grip. He didn’t have time for this. “I’m sorry,” he said. “We’re doing the best we can-”
Akon cut himself short when Rin’s comm beeped and a woman’s voice called out desperately. “Mayday, mayday! Can anyone here this?” He pushed a button on the console before Rin could even react. “Roger that,” he replied. “Go ahead.”
“Sir!” They could all hear the fear in her voice. “Fujioka from the 10th, sir. The Hollows have breached the perimeter! We’re under attack!”
“Any word from Lieutenants Kira and Matsumoto?” Hisagi blurted out into the open channel and Akon glared at him. Fujioka didn’t seem to hear him.
“Requesting back-up,” she continued desperately. “We’re taking heavy casualties. We’re sitting ducks out he-Kami-sama, the Hollows are here!”
Static interfered with the rest of the transmission and Akon frowned. At first he thought the last statement was meant to reiterate her plight, but then he heard an all-too-familiar howl, followed by a scream, and then...nothing.
Rin took over. “Fujioka? Fujioka!” he shouted into the comm. There was no response. He checked the channel and saw that the line was still open. The transmission was still active, only there was no one on the other end. Not anymore.
From the far corner of the control room another tech called out saying more hollows had surfaced just outside the perimeter and were coming in fast. “Sir, the perimeter has just been over-run! Our men are scattering!”
Rin swung his chair around and looked at the two brunets towering over him. His face was grim as he struggled with what he had to say next. “Sir, at this rate any reinforcements we send won’t make it there in time.”
Silence fell throughout the control room save for the desperate voices still coming in from the open comm channels. They all stared at Akon expectantly and this-this-was the worst part of his job, to call the shots in life and death situations at a distance and make decisions that he felt he, being nowhere near the battlefield, had no right to make.
“How many people have gotten through?” He asked.
Rin turned back to his console and started typing. “Counting the few that returned through the unauthorized senkai under Kira-fukutaichou’s orders...less than half of the men we sent out.”
“They’re headed for the senkai!” A tech called out.
No one made any indication that they had heard him, but his last syllable seemed to echo throughout the control room, bringing with it a sickening cold feeling that made Akon shudder and his stomach churn.
“Akon-sama...” Rin prompted after a few moments and Akon took a deep breath. His face was devoid of all emotion.
“Withdraw the reinforcements,” he said. “We’re closing the senkai.”
~
“Way of Destruction number 31: Red Flame Cannon!”
Rangiku blinked several times as bright red light suddenly replaced the darkness. She looked at the ball of red light in her trembling hands and smiled.
“The last time I did this I blew up an entire wall,” she said to Kira who was leaning over her with a worried look on his face.
The younger shinigami frowned and muttered “I should have thought of that” before reaching for the light she had in her hands. “May I?” he asked and she nodded. There was a brief pulse of the younger blond’s reiatsu and then the red ball of light split in several smaller spheres that rose up to float in the air and scatter around them, spreading the light farther out into the darkness.
“You people and your kidou,” Rangiku teased even as she stared at the glowing orbs in awe. She had been knocked unconscious when she landed and had no idea how long she had been out. When she finally came to, it was to pitch blackness and sharp pain in her leg. Kira had apparently been conscious the whole time and had been tending to her injuries in total darkness with nothing but the faint light radiating from the power of his healing spell for illumination.
She hissed when Kira’s hands returned to the wounds on her leg and the pain did well to back her to the reality of the situation. Now that she could see she tried to take stock of their surroundings. They were surrounded by rocks and dirt, encased in a small cavern barely big enough for either of them to stand, and she knew that it was only out of sheer luck that they hadn’t been crushed to death or killed in their fall. The earth shook around them oddly, almost rhythmically, and something told her that didn’t bode well.
“The hollows are trying to dig their way to us,” Kira answered her unasked question and Rangiku’s mouth went dry.
“How close?”
“Not so close,” was all Kira said. Not yet.
Rangiku had no idea what to say to that. Neither of them spoke and minutes passed in silence as she let Kira concentrate on healing her leg, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists in the dirt at the pain. She didn’t ask about her men, and Kira didn’t mention his. Neither of them spoke about their predicament, and Rangiku fought to quell the panic that grew inside her with each passing minute.
Finally Kira was finished and she was able to move and sit up with only a minor twinge of discomfort.
“How far down do you think we are?” She asked and the younger shinigami sighed.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Far enough that I can’t get through to Akon on the comm link. And I can’t feel anything but the hollows’ reiatsu.”
Rangiku nodded and tapped her own comm link. She got nothing. Then she reached out with her own reiatsu and true enough she could only sense the hollows’ ominous presence looming over them. And they were getting closer by the second. Dust rained down on them from the ceiling and Rangiku swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath.
“How long until they get here?” she finally asked and the younger blond shrugged.
“How do we get out?”
Kira shook his head and said: “I have no idea.”
~
In the Mission Control Room the techs all sat slumped in their chairs. Their headsets were still placed firmly over their ears straining to hear, but nothing was coming from the frequencies. They heard nothing but static. They were all tired but tense, and Nemu admired them from where she stood observing them from one side of the room. It seemed as though they hadn’t given up on the failed mission in the transient world. Or that they had, but didn’t want to show it.
Her attention was momentarily diverted when she heard shouting and the tell-tale sounds of a scuffle come from the other side of the now closed steel door. She tore her gaze from her men’s tired faces and turned to Akon.
“Was that really necessary?” She asked him and the Head of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute frowned.
“He was being insubordinate,” he answered curtly. “He’s lucky I didn’t have him thrown behind bars.”
Nemu nodded, knowing it was the truth. Then she reached out and touched the corner of Akon’s lips. “You’re bleeding,” she said and he shrugged and shied away from her touch.
“The man can throw a punch,” was all he said.
“He is worried about his friends.”
“That’s no excuse to lose his head,” Akon glowered and then sighed. “I had to make sure the hollows wouldn’t reach Seireitei,” he said, almost to himself. “Sending anyone down there would have only meant more casualties.”
Nemu didn’t have to give the situation anymore thought to know that was true and Akon turned away from her as though in shame. Sighing, she reached into her pocket and procured a pack of cigarettes, offering it to him. He took one gratefully.
In front of them the screens were all blank. There was nothing they wanted to see in the transient world. Akon only kept the frequencies open because they had long gone silent, which meant that any important transmission-anything worth listening to, such as a whispered plea from a survivor-would get through and be heard immediately, because they couldn’t send anyone down there unless there was anything to save.
So they all waited, and they listened.
~
“Ready?” Kira whispered urgently and Rangiku shook her head no, but before he could reassure her the ceiling split open over their heads and a hollow forced its head in. Its roar made the walls of the cavern shake.
“Shakkahou!” Kira cried and the spell hit the creature right in its face, killing it. He wrenched its dead body from the opening of the tunnel it had excavated and shot another red flame canon into the passageway before climbing in. Rangiku went after him.
By now it was pitch black again. Neither of them could concentrate enough to maintain any source of light around them as they fought for their lives.
Rangiku crawled through the tunnel as fast as she could, wishing there was some way she could help Kira clear a path for them. She could hear him sending wave after wave of kidou, blasting hollow and rocks alike, and for a moment she was afraid the tunnel would collapse and crush them. Quelling her fear she followed her friend, fervently hoping that the light brought forth by his spells wouldn’t go out.
But it did disappear and her heart gave a painful lurch in her chest. Then she heard Kira’s voice from somewhere farther ahead of her and she suddenly found herself at the end of the tunnel, climbing out into wider space.
“Matsumoto-san! Run!” She heard Kira shout. Heard him, but couldn’t see him. She couldn’t see anything! It was utterly dark, the sporadic bursts of red light from Kira’s desperate attempt to cover her retreat revealing very little of their surroundings. But where her sight failed, her hearing more than made up for. She had no idea where the creatures were, if they were farther behind her or so close that they could almost reach her, but she could hear them howling and chasing after her with frightening clarity. She didn’t dare look back.
A kidou spell shot past her and she ducked. The loud explosion that followed told her that Kira’s spell had hit its target and the flash of red light from the spell was all she needed to find her friend.
“Kira!” She cried when she finally reached him. For a brief moment their eyes met, and each could see the fear on the other’s face. Then the light faded and they were once again plunged into darkness. But at least they were together.
Rangiku unsheathed her zanpakutou and called forth Haineko, creating a deadly twister of tiny blades around the two of them to buy them some time. “You better think of something fast! We can’t fight what we can’t see,” she told the 3rd Division Lieutenant. Already she could hear him muttering a kidou spell under his breath and felt reiatsu gathering around them. Somewhere to her right she heard a pained howl and the sickening sound of flesh being shredded by her zanpakutou. That meant the hollows were close. For a moment Rangiku thought she could hear them breathing around her, but she wasn’t sure. She didn’t want to know.
Another howl and the same terrible sound of Haineko tearing into flesh rang out, followed by several more. Rangiku felt something warm and wet splatter over her, and that’s it. She wasn’t waiting for Kira.
“Shakkahou!” She cried out and the spell burst forth from her hands in an instant. Without waiting to see what her spell had hit she spun, searching for a way out only to find that they had none. The hollows were everywhere, surrounding them. Only the deadly ash cloud of her zanpakutou kept the creatures at bay, and Rangiku knew Haineko couldn’t hold them back for long.
“Kira!” She cried out in warning but he was already up, his open palm facing directed right at her.
“Hadō 4: Byakurai!”
Blue lightning burst from Kira’s fingers, narrowly missing Rangiku even as she dodged to the right, and slammed through Haineko’s ash cloud and into the hollows on the other side. Bright blue light replaced the darkness as Kira maintained the steady flow of concentrated energy and directed it along a graceful arc, methodically incinerating hollow after hollow. Through the ensuing brightness Rangiku could see that they were in an underground chamber. Tunnels and fissures marred the rock face all around them, inky black against the gray walls that now reflected the light from Kira’s spell, and she shuddered, thinking about where they would lead or what could possible come out of them.
Kami-sama, what kind of hell hole is this place? She thought to herself. She quickly gathered Haineko closer around her and used the ash cloud to finish off the remaining hollows. Kira had gotten most of them; there were only a handful left. Maybe we can still make it out of here, she told herself, daring to hope. Then find our way back to the surface and-
A hollow suddenly leapt out from one of the tunnels, heading straight for the 3rd Division Lieutenant and bowling him over before she could even shout out a warning. Kira’s spell swung dangerously, cutting deep through the rock walls before going out and immediately plunging the two lieutenants into darkness, but not before Rangiku saw Kira go down and a pack of hollows swarm over him.
“Kira!” she screamed but even as she ran to his aid she heard his voice ring clear above the snarls of the hollows shout “Bakudō 39: Enkosen!” and saw the faint yellow light of the arc shield through the silhouettes of the creatures swarming her friend. Acting on instinct she fired three successive bursts of shakkahou at the hollows, clearing a path so she could reach him. Summoning Haineko into a single solid blade again she decapitated the lone hollow still pinning Kira down.
Kira was on his feet in an instant. “Hadō 33: Sōkatsui!” He cried, and lightning shot forth from his fingers again-even stronger than before-and he struggled to control the surge as he levelled it at the remaining hollows. Rangiku could feel the power radiating off him in waves. But that wasn’t the only thing she could feel.
A low rumble came from the ground beneath them, and Rangiku was very nearly overwhelmed with terror when she realized the hollows were going to tunnel out from right underneath them the way they did in the surface. But something in the way the earth trembled struck Rangiku, and it wasn’t until a massive rock crashed down from above mere feet from where she was that she understood why.
“The chamber is collapsing!” She shouted to Kira who glanced back at her with wide eyes. A huge section of the rock wall to their left sheared away, and rocks and boulders started to tumble down as if to confirm it. Rangiku’s mind raced as she thought of a way to survive this catastrophe and she remembered the numerous tunnels and fissures she saw from earlier. “Follow me!”
She dashed across the chamber, taking out the hollows that got in her way and only barely escaping being crushed by falling rocks. Kira was right behind her covering their retreat, which she was thankful for because she needed the light to find her way. Her vision narrowed to the largest of the gaping entrances to the many tunnels around them and she ran for her life, trusting Kira to keep up.
Switching to shunpo, she leapt and soared through the air, landing on the lip of the cavern. Kira landed beside her and Rangiku started scrambling to get farther into the tunnel.
And then she heard it. Static coming from her comm link!
Kira must have heard it, too, because he immediately started shouting into his own.
“This is Lieutenant Kira Izuru!”
Rangiku turned and took over covering their escape as the younger blond continued to shout into the comm link.
“Can anyone hear me?! We’re alive!” she heard Kira cry. “Matsumoto and I are alive! We’re underground! Is anyone there?! This is a distress call! Request immediate rescue from anyone receiving this signal!”
Rangiku hoped with all her heart that someone was on the other end.
“I repeat: Matsumoto and I are alive-”
The ground twisted beneath their feet and Rangiku nearly lost her balance.
“Kami-sama...Go!” Kira cried, speaking to her now and pushing her along the passageway. “Ran, go!”
Rangiku scrambled deeper into the tunnel, which sloped upward. Kira resumed covering their retreat while still shouting into the comm link. A rock crashed down, missing her by only a few feet and she screamed. Kira ran into her from behind and they both went down and hit the ground with pained grunts. It was pitch black again. The tremors from the ground flowed through them, making them dizzy, but Rangiku forced herself to get up. Reaching out blindly into the darkness for the 3rd Division lieutenant she hauled him up with her and together they staggered as fast as they could up the tunnel.
They were forced to a halt when the ground became even more unstable and dust spewed out into the air around them, making it difficult to breathe. A deafening crash came from somewhere above them and Rangiku heard the frenzied shrieks of hollows not too far from where they were.
Another rock fell by them, closer this time. Rangiku felt Kira’s hand take hers, but he stayed silent so she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. Then Kira grabbed her roughly and pushed her hard out into the gloom. She screamed again as she fell forward, reaching back for Kira but touching only air. She landed painfully and quickly started to skid downward. She had gone over a crest in the tunnel and was now on the other side of the rise! Her hands scrabbled at the ground for purchase, trying to slow herself down but it was no use.
“Kira!” She screamed but he didn’t respond. There was no sign of him. She screamed for him again and thought she heard him call out in response, but it was difficult to tell in the chaos. Then her descent was abruptly halted as she crashed into something. The breath was knocked out of her and pain exploded all over her body. She tasted blood.
Dimly she heard Kira cry out through the comm link, and then everything went black.
~
In the Mission Control Room, Nemu watched Akon pacing slowly by his console, smoking his 5th cigarette. The anxiety had dwindled somewhat as the situation became bleaker as the minutes passed. Slowly, but surely, they were starting to give up. The crackle of static was starting to grate on even her unfeeling nerves.
Most of the tension came from Akon, who tried to look calm and aloof, but was obviously still edgy.
Because he feels responsible, Nemu reminded herself. Akon was still waiting, determined to stick the mission out to the very end, and she knew that no one had the power to make the Head of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute do otherwise. Nemu looked at him with pity.
Then one of the men suddenly perked up and his hand flew to his headset, pressing it closer to his ear. Covering his mouthpiece with one hand, he turned to everyone else in the room. “I’ve got something!”
Akon flicked a switch on his console and ordered the tech to feed the transmission into the mainline but with the superior hearing Captain Mayuri had given her, Nemu could already hear the transmission as if she were wearing the headset over her own ears and she tensed. The speakers crackled to life and a familiar voice was heard.
“This is L...tenant Kira Izu...” Interference disrupted the rest of Kira’s message.
Akon pushed a few buttons on his console and tapped his own headset. “Repeat transmission, Lieutenant Kira,” he said but their comrade in the transient world didn’t seem to hear him.
Kira’s voice continued to crack and spark from the speakers. “Matsumoto and I...alive...underground...” More static. “...distress call! Request immediate rescue...kami-sama...”
Frustrated, Akon punched a fist against his console. “Come again, Lieutenant!” Again Kira didn’t seem to hear him. “Why aren’t I getting through?!” he asked Rin. He was all but exploding with anxiety.
“The interference, sir!” The tech exclaimed. “It’s disrupting the transmission!”
“Sort it out,” he ordered Rin, who started typing frantically on his keyboard. From the speakers the transmission started to play on a loop. From the sound of the Lieutenant’s voice and the way the transmission crackled they way they did when the signal was too weak they wouldn’t be able to get through to him in time, but Akon kept on listening and struggled to understand Kira’s message. They all listened with bated breath to fragments of Kira’s distress call, hearing the panic in his voice interspersed with the horrible crashes and screeching hollows in the background.
“I can’t get through,” Rin cried. “There’s too much interference!”
“Just clean it up for me,” Akon said urgently and Rin flicked one last switch and finally Kira could be heard loud and clear.
“This is Lieutenant Kira Izuru! Can anyone hear me?! We’re alive! Matsumoto and I are alive! We’re underground! Is anyone there?!”
The techs reeled from the fear they could hear in Kira’s voice. The crashing they could hear in the background was getting louder by the second. Somewhere in the background they heard Lieutenant Matsumoto scream and Akon thought he was going to be sick.
“This is a distress call!” Kira’s voice continued to shout throughout the room. “Request immediate rescue from anyone receiving this signal! I repeat: Matsumoto and I are alive-kami-sama...Go! Ran, go-”
There was a deafening crash and then the rest was lost in static. The transmission played into another loop and Rin swivelled his chair around. “Lieutenant Kira’s line has been cut off, sir.”
Wrenching his headset from his head, Akon tossed it aside and slammed his hands on his console. His face was unreadable, like a stony sculpture of the real thing.
Nemu stepped up beside him. “They could still be alive,” she said. When he didn’t respond she walked past him and started typing on his console.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Retrieving the coordinates form that last transmission.” She spoke perfunctorily and without looking at him. “Kira Izuru and Matsumoto Rangiku are Lieutenants in the Gotei 13. We cannot simply abandon them,” she continued. Then she turned around and looked at Akon coolly. “Or would you leave me to die if it was me down there?”
Akon stiffened. “Of course not, fukutaichou.”
Nemu smiled.
Akon returned it briefly before grabbing the nearest tech. “Get me Hisagi Shuuhei,” he ordered and the tech hastened to obey. Turning back to his console he brought the screens and monitors back to life, opening all channels in all frequencies. The others did the same and soon the room was buzzing with activity. In the main feed Kira’s transmission was still on a loop.
“This is Lieutenant Kira Izuru...”
Akon sighed. Behind him Nemu quietly exited the control room in search for more cigarettes.
It was going to be a long night.
TBC.
A/N: So I had about a third of this chapter collecting dust in my folders since March, was able to write up most of it back during my semestral break last October, but only managed to finish it today. I doubt anybody is still reading this, but to the readers who are still with me I'm sorry it took me so long. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as ridiculously long! Keep your fingers crossed!
I also want to thank those who actually went out of their way to get in touch with me, asking for an update and encouraging me to continue. I coudln't have coughed up another chapter without your (guilt-tripping nyahahaha) encouragement. :D
So...CAN I HAS ME SOME SKIRT NOW?! >:D