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Prize of Victory 2
By : NovaAlexandria
Category: Bleach > General
Views: 56251 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story
Chapter List
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This was actually part of the last chapter but 25 pages is a bit too large to post frequently, so I broke it into two chapters for easier reading. Enjoy the technically triple update.

Family History

The next three days and nights fell into a strange pattern. She would leave on patrol at sunset, return at sunrise, and check in with her Mistress first, then check in with her Fukutaichou. When she explained why her arrival was later than the rest of those who had similar patrols, the current second-in-command simply shrugged and asked for her report. Either her Taichou had given him a head�s up, or he had decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. Hana hoped it was the latter. She didn�t want to seem as if she had special privileges and the usual rumours, about her sleeping with her superior officer, didn�t help. The last thing she wanted was to pour more fuel on that particular fire.

She ate in the mess, dealt with the minimum paper work required of those on night patrol duty and then promptly curled up in the spot she�d managed to excavate in her �official� quarters for a few hours of rest. At least, while on night patrol, she was exempt from battles. When the attack came on the second day following her run-in with the Escapees, she slept through it, waking an hour before sunset to find that she was only one of a handful of those lucky enough to have been officially excused from the battle. She caught Hitsugaya-Taichou slogging back through the Division�s door, covered in ichor and reeking of exhaustion and recent violence.

�Sir?�

�I�m headed for the showers if anyone asks. Our 4th Seat will be in tomorrow with the tally of the dead. Go to your patrol as usual and see if you can find any stragglers while you�re at it. If you do, kill them, no exceptions,� he ordered blearily and ran a hand through his grime and guts-covered hair, then made a face and disappeared into his office. Following him to ask him any questions, Hana knew, would be a bad idea.

Her patrols yielded nothing, even on the eve of the latest battle. The only thing she saw going on involved the mop-up squads, civilian and Shinigami, carting off their own dead and injured or dragging the carcasses of the fallen Swarm to be burned. Everyone, Shinigami and Arrancar alike, had the same worn out expression. The Swarm�s latest tactic seemed to involve grinding the Seireitei�s defenders down, leaving them only the barest chance to recover and regroup for the next round of attacks.

She saw no one she knew, other than in passing from her own Division and she didn�t encounter Ajuga or Diaemus, even though she knew they would be on the field at the end of the day, when the risks were lower. Hana encountered none of the Espada either, but that was no surprise. Starrk and Lilinette usually ended up coming back to the Estate very early in the morning after the obligatory after-battle meetings, with �take-ji in tow.

Thoughts about the First, her mother and her adoptive uncle, even Ajuga and Diaemus, usually led to a feeling as if someone was sitting on her chest, trying to keep her from taking a good, deep, needed breath. She�d never been away from the Estate for this long, even while attending the Academy, as her mother�s position, not as Taichou, but as Starrk�s fraccion, allowed her to remain at home throughout her education. She�d never been away from any of them for this long and it was disconcerting to wake up to a strange ceiling, surrounded by filing boxes and old accounting papers.

Hitsugaya-Taichou informed her that he�d met with her mother, and with Harribel while she�d been holed up, asleep in the barracks, a pillow over her head to keep the light out. While her mother had been upset to hear about what had happened on Hana�s patrol, she was glad that her daughter was fine. The Third had been the one to suggest letting Hana have the time she needed to come to terms with her sudden and unexpected exposure to the truth, and that she and her girls, as well as Hitsugaya-Taichou, would keep an eye on her while she worked things out.

He also let her know something that brought her no end of relief: there were no reports the morning following the run-in with Shihoin Yoruichi or Sarugaki Hiyori that made any mention of either of them or Starrk. The collective First had simply finished the patrol and then come home and promptly went to bed without a word to anyone. It would seem that they�d all dodged a proverbial bullet, considering Aizen�s mood of late.

Concentrating on her work made Hana feel less like a child, less adrift. Losing herself in the never-ending task of paperwork organization was second nature to her, but as the week went by, she began to miss the small things she�d taken for granted at the Estate. Living in the barracks with the majority of her Division was eye opening, to say the least. In the course of a few days, Hana came to realize just how oddly privileged she�d been, growing up in the shadow of the First.

She took that, as she did all of the other input in the last week and tried to add it to the equation forming in her head that represented Starrk and Lilinette and what they�d done fifteen years ago.

They�d taken on four opponents and defeated them all.

They�d killed Hana�s father, then Claimed the two people closest to him as war trophies

They�d probably saved the lives of those two people and hers in the process, considering how she had heard many of the others had treated their own �pets� way back then.

She�d grown up in a house filled with conquerors, like Starrk and Grimmjow and the conquered, like �take-ji and Karin and Nanao, and yet no one acted as if they were either slave or master within the Estate�s walls. They had acted as a family.

If Starrk and Lilinette had failed and fallen during the battle, Hana would have grown up knowing her father, on the Kyoraku Estate as a high born Noble.

If Starrk and Lilinette had not won, she would not be friends with Ajuga and Diaemus, as the two hybrids would mostly likely not exist.

On the Friday of that week and once back on a day schedule, she found herself sitting on her Taichou�s sofa, staring at a blank ledger page, brush poised in midair for at least five minutes while all of the different possible outcomes swirled around in her head, in place of the calculations that ought to have been there. The ink filling the brush was probably dry by now and it was her own fault, for letting her mind wander. Hana had to admit that Harribel had been right� dwelling on might-have-beens had gotten her nowhere. The equation in her head had too many �what ifs� on either side to balance properly and she either needed to discard some irrelevant data, or acquire better information.

The only person she knew that might have the information she needed and remain objective was busy filling out forms and scowling down at the paperwork in his �in� box.

�Stuff multiplies like rabbits�� she heard her Taichou say to himself as he hunched over his desk.

Giving up on filling out last month�s expenditures and transcribing receipts, Hana leaned forward and rubbed her eyes. The tea she�d made was still in the pot, untouched, gone cold while they�d struggled to catch up with the inevitable reports and paperwork backlog before the next attack occurred. As much as she disliked reheated tea, it would take too long to make a fresh pot and at least this way it would be strong. She pulled the clay pot into her lap, gently warmed the liquid within it with Kido until it started to steam a bit from the spout, and poured two cups. Taking one, she put the other in front of her superior officer, startling him out of what looked like a serious funk.

�Here sir. It�s probably too strong��

He surprised her by taking it, tossing it back and grimacing a little.

�Just a bit. Doesn�t matter. I�ve had worse. Much worse.�

�You did?�

�My old Fukutaichou�s tea could peel paint from the walls. I think we used it for that exact purpose when we last needed to refinish the wood floors.�

�Oh.�

Hana hesitantly took a sip from her own cup. It was overtly bitter from having steeped for too long, but maybe she just had a spoiled palate for tea, since Ajuga had taken over as the Estate�s tea expert. Cradling her cup in her hands, she glanced at the man behind the desk.

�Sir, if you don�t mind, I wanted to ask you something.�

He looked at her, raising one pale eyebrow and his brush stopped moving.

�Go on��

�Did you know my father well? Mother and �take-ji never really talked about him, though mother wears that pink haori of his every year, around mid-December.�

She bit her lip again, a habit she was going to have to try to break if she didn�t want a permanently bruised mouth. Her Taichou put his brush down on its stand, laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them, considering her question. His expression seemed neither happy, nor unhappy. If anything, he seemed truly fatigued and Hana began to regret asking him anything when he spoke again.

�Yes, I knew him.�

�What was he like?�

The white-haired man closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he looked straight at her, his turquoise gaze cool and brooding.

�Do you want the truth?�

That he�d say this made Hana frown.

�Of course! Weren�t you friends?�

�Hana, we were colleagues, fellow Taichou and he was a great deal older than I was. I wouldn�t exactly say we were �friends�. There were a lot of things I admired about him including his skill, his Bankai, how powerful he was� but he had some serious character flaws as well. I don�t want to ruin any image you might have built up in your head, because you�ve already had a shock this week and I don�t want to force another on you before you�ve dealt with this one.�

He sounded very serious about this and Hana gave the warning some thought before she nodded. He took that as a �go ahead� and rubbed his eyes.

�If there was one word that springs to mind when I think about your father, off the top of my head, I�d have to use the word �inebriated�.�

Hana choked on her mouthful of tea.

�Sir?�

�I think I can count on one hand the number of times I saw him completely sober and have a few fingers left over. The next word I�d use would be �lazy�. If memory serves, your mother, his Fukutaichou, was the one that did all of the heavy lifting around the 8th Division. From what I saw, Ise Nanao ran the place, and tried to keep your father, her Taichou, upright and focused on his job. I don�t think he ever met a horizontal surface he didn�t try to use for napping purposes and no sake bottle was safe from him.�

Bewildered, Hana sat there while her Taichou rose from his seat and went to stand next to the window near his desk, his back turned to her as he looked out onto the 3rd Division grounds.

This wasn�t what she�d expected to hear.

Father was a drunkard�

�He was constantly and shamelessly flirting with any and all females who would pay attention to him and he had quite a reputation with the ladies. The man could walk into any meeting, including the Soutaichou�s, and turn it into a bloody party. Failing that, he�d sleep through it, hiding behind that ridiculous hat of his so that no one could tell his eyes were closed.�

�and a slacker and a womanizer as well?

The young man at the window had his hands clasped behind him and he seemed oblivious to Hana�s shock.

�Officially, he and Ukitake Jushiro were the Soutaichou�s students, his best ones and the most powerful of the Taichou, with the exception of Unohana-Taichou. He had little use for Central 46�s edicts, but he upheld them, only as much as he had to. He came from a Noble family but there was some� distance between he and his relatives if I recall. I don�t think he cared much for the Noble lifestyle and obligations and they didn�t care much for his �three-sheets-to-the-wind� approach to life.�

He fell silent for a few minutes after that, which was just as well. It took Hana that long to sort out everything he�d said. The image she put together, from her Taichou�s description, wasn�t particularly flattering and left her very confused. The young Shinigami couldn�t imagine her efficient, order-loving mother putting up with such behaviour from anyone, let alone falling in love with someone that sounded like a complete scoundrel. Maybe Hitsugaya-Taichou�s description wasn�t as objective as she�d hoped it might be, or worse, that it was more accurate than she�d anticipated.

�That being said,� he continued, still gazing out at the clear blue sky beyond the windowpane, �I don�t think there was any other Taichou as committed to the ideals Yamamoto-Soutaichou put forth for the Gotei 13 than your father. That and his troops loved him. I think they�d have followed Kyoraku�Taichou over a cliff if he�d asked them. He had that kind of charisma. People liked him, because he put them at ease and because he didn�t stand on formality or put himself above them. There were rumours that if anything were to happen to the Soutaichou, your father would have been a strong contender to succeed him in the First Division. Personally, I think he would have done everything in his power to keep that from happening because it might actually require him to put in a full day at the office.�

�You sound as if you didn�t like him, sir.�

Her Taichou�s back stiffened, but he didn�t look around.

�I said he had some serious character flaws. Most people do. I never said that I did not like and respect him for the good qualities he had. He was one of the first Taichou to treat me as an adult, with the full regard that came with the office, back before it was just window-dressing for Aizen�s demented ego,� he said in a quiet voice. �He was, in his own way, a fine man and a decent Shinigami when he chose to be.�

�Sir!�

Hana sat up straighter and cast a worried look at the door. He didn�t seem to be that concerned that his words would get back to the leader of the First Division, however. Still, he signed and finally turned to look at her.

�Ukitake-Taichou could tell you more about your father, at least on a personal level, than I can. I�m sure what he might tell you would put what I�ve just shared with you to shame. After all, I believe that they went through the Academy together.�

Then she realized what he was really trying to tell her.

�Do you think I should go home and talk to �take-ji.?�

Her Taichou ran fingers through hair that she�d noticed was getting a little on the long and shaggy side. Glowering irritably at his bangs, he brushed them aside and looked at her squarely.

�That�s not for me to decide. I only suggest it because the people who would be best able to answer your questions aren�t currently in my office. In addition, I think there�s something that you might want to consider when it comes to the First Espada.�

His brows knitted into a frown, a normal expression for him, so she waited for him to continue while she helped herself to another strong cup of too-strong tea. At the very least, it would help fight off the mid-afternoon drowsiness. Her Taichou appeared to be mentally arguing with himself, or maybe, his Zanpakuto, since his hand was resting on the hilt.

�What I tell you does not leave this room. That includes sharing it with your Mistress.�

�O�Okay. What is it?�

Hana wondered what could be so important that she couldn�t share it with their shared Espada.

�While the obvious casualties of the loss of the War are we Shinigami, I think Aizen might have created a separate set of victims when he went scouting for allies in Hueco Mundo. I�m not sure it applies in all cases,� he cautioned, speaking in a low voice that she had to lean forward to hear, �but he�s made some very manipulative promises that I�m not sure he intends to honour.�

She must have looked utterly lost at sea at this point, because he grumbled a little and then tried again, returning to his desk, taking a seat and another sip of tea. When he�d finished grimacing, he asked, �Hana, what makes a Hollow a Hollow? This ought to be rudimentary for you.�

�Negative emotions, the lack of a konso coupled with unfulfilled desires tying a soul to a life that has ended,� she answered promptly, from memory. He nodded, and then looked at her pointedly.

�A textbook answer. Now, tell me, what is the difference between a lowly, garden-variety soul that has turned into a Hollow and a full-fledged Espada?�

�Their form, their size, their intelligence, how they look, their power��

He shook his head and held up one, ink-stained finger.

�Power is the only important difference, Hana. The negative emotions and unfulfilled desires that created both sorts of Hollow remain at the core of the soul in question, no matter the power they wield. The rest is superficial. I had an epiphany the other day: discover out what lies at the heart of what drove them to become or made them what they are and you�ll find out how to relate to them.�

Hana stared at him, digesting what he�d told her. Was he telling her to forgive the First? She didn�t feel she was ready to do anything like that, let alone go back to how things had been before she�d discovered the truth.

�What does this have to do with Mistress Harribel, other than the fact she�s an Espada?�

Her superior officer rubbed his forehead and then rested his chin on his clasped hands, elbows on the desk.

�She shared a few things with me that made me decide that the woman holding my Claim is worthy of a great deal of compassion. Perhaps you�ll find something similar if you dig deep enough with the First.�

�Are you in love with Mistress Harribel?�

Hana had no idea where the question had come from and she immediately held up her hands in apology when he gave her a hard look.

�I�m so sorry! It�s none of my business and I�ve overstepped my bounds and I��

�Maybe.�

Hana realized she was hiding behind her teacup, babbling, when he said this and peeked over the rim at him. His face was a study in both resignation and resolution.

�I�m not sure if you�re truly aware of this, Ise Hana, but outside of this Division and your role in it, you outrank me as a fraccion attached to my mistress. In theory, you�ve every right to ask that question and expect an answer.�

She�d never thought about it that way, but when she considered his status as a �pet�, even if he didn�t act like it with Harribel, Hana reluctantly had to agree with his self-assessment. Still, it had been an incredibly rude thing to ask.

�I apologize, Taichou. I just� the other night, you two seemed� well, you two seemed a lot like Karin and Grimmjow, in that you�re really close� uhn, I mean� ah��

It did not escape her notice that he buried his burning face in his folded arms on his desk as she made the comparison and she kicked herself for opening her mouth a second time and adding another foot already there. Maybe, she thought, she should just drop it, for both their sakes. He seemed to be of the same mind, because he glared at her over the top of his arms.

�Those ledgers aren�t going to balance themselves and I�ve three more folders of requisition receipts to throw at you once you�re finished with what�s in front of you. You�re aware of the notice from the First Division that our accounts need to be up to date and our books in order by the end of the month?�

Hana gaped at that as he grumbled it out, effectively changing the subject.

Well that was unwelcome news. She could only imagine the panic-fest going on right now in every other Division, but for Aizen�s and theirs. The 3rd Division�s accounts were at least up-to-date through the last month, she thought with some justifiable smugness.

�No sir� Masahito-san didn�t tell me when I saw him at breakfast. I think he was half-asleep though. He had his face in his coffee cup and I�m not sure if he was drinking it or napping in it.�

�Well, you�re aware of it now.�

�Yes, sir. I�ll try to have as much done by tonight as I can.�

When he put things like that, there was little to do but get back to work and hope that she had every receipt. Hana hated chasing down bits of information or stray slips of paper when the accounts were due.

Unfortunately, where it came to her personal dilemma, she knew that her Taichou was correct and where she had to go to find a resolution. Hiding in the barracks wouldn�t get her anywhere.

Okay, there we go. Took three Chapters, but I felt this should all be tackled at once. Unfortunately, the pain is not over yet. Next chapter brings about a catastrophe for another couple in love. As I said to Kain, who needs a soul? /snicker.

So, Black Fox and I were talking about the latest chapter of Bleach and we were like, damn, I guess it�s a good thing Szayel didn�t Claim Ishida. He would have died pretty horribly.

This Weeks Question: Do you have any plans for Halloween? I am throwing my usual Halloween party. This year for dinner I think I am going to mould a meatloaf to look like a rat with spaghetti whiskers and potato chip ears. I made meatball mice last year with radish slices for ears and they were absolutely adorable! I think I am going to stuff a pumpkin with spaghetti for �brains� and cut out bread shaped like ghost for garlic bread.
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Prize of Victory 2	By : NovaAlexandria Category: Bleach > General Views: 56251 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story

Prize of Victory 2