“This is a matter too important to leave to anyone else,” Lieutenant Ise had said during their one-on-one discussion, not long after their meeting with both the delegation from the First and the family of that poor nobleman. Nao had been invited to participate in the official brief at the request of her superior, knowing the seated officer’s deductive capabilities, so that she may get a better grasp on the circumstances surrounding this tragic situation. Nao was thankful for the opportunity, and also appreciative to have found herself under the authority of such a thoughtful, and might she add, intelligent, woman.
It was not a surprise that the Rukongai, to which her Division, the Seventh, was the glue that kept it all together, had gone to absolute shit; a reality that began during the tenure of her previous Captain, the Mad Dog Asakura, and for reasons obvious, persisted after his untimely demise. Though she may have not always agreed with the methods of the now deceased Captain, she held no ill-thought against him, for she respected his authority during the time she’d been bound to it. With his death a dichotomy befell the 7th, and in extension, Nao; the finality of death was a concern to which she gave deep thought, especially in the case of the ex-Captain of the Seventh, an unsettling affair that someone of his strength could fall under such mysterious circumstances. It is said that the night is darkest before dawn, something that Nao has found to be true time and again. The Division was ripe for the turning of a new leaf, a foundation sprouted by the efforts of the Captain Commander and Head Lieutenant Kasumi, a mission to which both Lieutenant Ise and Nao pledged to see through. It was time to rebuild the Seventh, and by doing so, to bring peace to the Rukongai.
The intelligence provided to her regarding the whereabouts of this kidnapped noble proved accurate, confirmed by her immediately as she came out of Shunpo, her frame materializing from nothing.
Sabitsura (錆面, Rusted Face), District 64 of the Eastern Rukongai, as marked. It was a faraway place from the Gotei 13, though nothing Nao couldn’t reach within a few steps. She stood before a large complex, multi-storied, her single-eyed gaze taking note of everything present. The degenerates’ nest, the final hive to which Nao’s orders were to exterminate; it had been years since she last had drawn her blade in matters to which she was given license to kill…but was the edge of
Umōmaru what the Rukongai needed? An idea yet balancing on the scales of contemplation in Nao’s mind. The sun had begun to set, dulled rays painting the land a lazy orange.
The building’s windows were sealed shut, the immediate area barren, with not a single Soul in sight. The residences nearby at initial glance seemed abandoned, their windows also shuttered, though Nao’s spiritual senses spoke to her a different tale. The people here were scared, living in perpetual fear of those who took to crime. It was a corruption that Nao knew could never be fully eradicated, though she would try none-theless until she could no more. Looking beyond the physical walls of the insurgents’ hideout came just as easy, the spiritual signatures of those within, no matter how faint, painted a colorful and exceedingly informative picture. The inside of the building came into view, one foundational pillar after the next, room after room, until the entire structure became her sight, hundreds of criminals littered throughout. The greatest of the signatures were paired; the room in which they resided formulated in her mind, the walls coming into view as they were painted, the chairs and tables, shelves and weapons, all illuminated. This was where the noble was being kept, alongside the ring-leader, and so this was where Nao needed to be.
Finally, the two signatures she’d sensed from miles away arrived some ways behind her. Their intentions were ever so clear, like reading an open book; they were simply two deprived souls, born into the harsh realities of the Rukongai. She listened to their hearts speak, their souls resonating the youthful desire to become a part of something greater, something thrilling and full of adventure. Ah, poor things…
“Oi, lady, what’re ya doing here?! Are you…a Shinigami?!” One of them muttered.
“Yea Kato, she’s a Shinigami alright…no one said anything about no Shinigami. All’s we heard was about a kidnapping,” the other replied.
Nao stayed put, her back still to the two young ruffians, the large sack of kan still draping over her Shihakusho. She peered up high into the sun-blazed sky, the tail of her ginger hair swept by the oncoming breeze.
“A good beginning makes a good ending.”
Her voice had been soft yet resounding, loud enough for the two to hear, the point driven home.
The two delinquents looked to one another with bewilderment, Nao’s words obviously running way past their understanding. They shrugged and began their ill-intentioned advance towards her.
Nao bowed her head.
“Scram!”
Just as the word came crashing down on them, in that fleeting moment, for a mere second, the world around the two brats was lit ablaze; Nao grew into a giant, peering down upon their feebleness just as everything turned into an inferno.
Snap.
Just like that, reality was returned to them, the two buffoons reeling from the shock of what had happened. Teary eyed and traumatized, they turned tail and ran back from whence they came. Two lives saved, two less corpses to deal with.
Nao took a deep breath, exhaled, a close-lipped, jovial smile forming as her gaze came to meet the barred door leading into the complex…
Listen While You Read
Kyo, the leader of the D-70 Muggers Gang, sat carelessly at the center table of the large space known to be the third and highest floor of their current hideout. In the corner, tied to his seat and blindfolded, the nobleman was slumped over in dehydration. Guarding the door was Kyo’s right-hand man.
“Going to be a big day for us, yea, yea,” Kyo said through bouts of laughter, “Can’t believe they’re going to be paying up a fortune for you.”
The noble groaned, which was all he could muster up.
“You hear that, Jun?! He agrees!!!! Hahaha!!!!”
A long stretch of silence.
“Jun?! Hello?! I’m talking to you?!?!”
No response.
Annoyed, Kyo got up violently, knocking his chair over, and made it across to the sliding white doors. He wasn’t expecting to be pulled by a force he couldn’t see as the door slid open, first backwards and then down, the jarring movements causing the contents of his stomach to rise up into his throat. The seat on which he found himself twirled round and round, skidding across the wooden floor, making its way toward somebody. Every revolution he would catch a glimpse of a red-haired woman seated at the end of the room, legs crossed. As his turns slowed, more of her came to recognize: a Shinigami, one-eyed, smiling, kinda hot, a Zanpakutō at her side…and what was that, a large bag? The kan? His heart was pumping with all kinds of dizziness. His chair came to a screeching halt just shy of the seated Shinigami, face-to face.
Nao watched the unshaven and rather stinking man regain his senses, peering at him in both the physical and spiritual. He was speaking to her on so many levels, she was learning so much about him, the kind smile on her face never leaving. When she thought he was ready, she finally spoke.
“So, we’re here to negotiate the ransom of this poor nobleman behind me.”
The criminal attempted to move, and finally came to realize that he couldn’t. Nao’s eyebrows rose with compassion.
“Yea? There’s no negotiation. You pay, and he goes free!”
Nao shook her head, giving him a heartfelt no.
“Fuck you! Jun! Boys!? HELP ME! COME GET THIS BITCH!!!”
The only response to his outburst was Nao sighing. She let the man come to terms with his circumstances, a puzzle even someone of his caliber could piece together. “Sir…what should I call you?”
Through gritted teeth he responded begrudgingly. “Kyo.”
“Ah, wonderful, Mister Kyo, please let me explain the terms. The nobleman will be set free, and no money will be paid.”
She gave him an opportunity to respond, of which he opted to not.
“Furthermore, you will disband this criminal enterprise, and look to assimilate into a more productive…and less degenerate work.” Nao pondered for a moment that a man of his conviction could make an excellent Shinigami, a thought pulled from her ears as his spit struck the left side of her face. She could feel it dripping down her cheeks, but it didn’t bother her, so she continued to smile. She cleaned up with a handkerchief, and nodded in acknowledgement. It seemed she was going to get to wet her blade after all. She leaned forward, tapped his knee, and said “It was your decision, my dear.”
Just as the words left her mouth, she was already making her way out of the complex, the noble freed and slunk over one shoulder, the ransom money over the other, and the immobilized Kyo dragging in her grasp. When they all made it out, it would come to view that no blood had been spilled; the hundreds of delinquents in Kyo’s employ had been seized and tied up through the use of Bakudō #4. Hainawa (這縄, Crawling Rope; Viz "Slithering Rope"). From his face, it seemed Kyo couldn’t believe it. Oh, this was as real as it got.
Nao tossed the ring-leader, his paralyzed body slamming dead center for all to see. She laid the weakened noble by a nearby tree, and the bag full of kan alongside him, and then calmly made her way back to where she had left Kyo. Some of the neighboring citizens began to make their way out of their homes, weary eyes watching the events unfolding. She gazed down at the grunting man with pity, but alas, the fire of change needed a spark.
“One life to save a thousand.”
The hundreds of gang members watched in silence, an occasional angry outburst heard as she put Kyo on his knees. Nao stepped back behind the black-haired man, ready to take a life. Umōmaru came unsheathed on its own, as if an invisible force had yanked it free of its scabbard. The Zanpakutō glided across the air, over Kyo, and then down to his level, the handle stopping inches from his neck. Nao studied the bewildered crowd as her blade did her bidding.
“Let this be a warning to those who look upon the Gotei, and see a weakened ladder of chaos to climb. There will be no place for crime in the Soul Society; seek to build where you once cared to destroy, seek to help where you once cared to harm. At this moment, many of you may not understand how, and that’s okay. That is why we’re here, the Seventh Division of the Gotei 13, to help you in this endeavor back to a functional path. We will help you…”
Nao gestured at Kyo with a gentle hand.
“...Mister Kyo was given a choice, much like I am giving you now. He chose to remain a criminal, and as such, he will die a criminal.”
Umōmaru glided across Kyo’s neck, slowly, deliberately, the edge of its blade cutting into his throat, red blood gushing out onto the dirt. When the blade’s edge finished its deed, Kyo’s spiritual restraints dissipated, and he fell face first into the ground.
Womp. Womp. Womp.
Umōmaru twirled in the air to rid itself of the criminal's blood, eventually flying back and sheathing itself at Nao’s side with a resounding clank. Gazing upon them with a sympathetic smile, Nao released their restraints, hundreds at a time. Slowly they got up, initially in singles and then dozens, gulps and nods following. Heads began to bow in understanding, whispered words exchanged, eventually the crowds dissipating. It seemed the message had been heard.
With that, Nao grabbed the money, picked up the noble in her arms, and started back toward the center of the Soul Society.
“Hadō #31. Shakkahō.”
Behind her, in the backdrop where Kyo’s lifeless body lay, an explosion of red fire rang. It would be inhumane to leave a corpse lying around. Nao looked down at the young noble in her arms, and smiled warmly.
