"These games are so exciting... I wish I could've watched them in person."
The shinigami woman sighs as she scrolls through the videos that other shinigami have uploaded onto Flutter. Many exciting scenes were being witnessed in person, especially in the Rukongai, and Nana Nokoribi had placed many hefty bets for all three of the tournament matches.
The Muken match had earned well over thirty-thousand kan when she’d split it evenly between Captain Mukuro and Captain Oda; in the Valley of Screams, Nana was a bit disappointed to have lost around five-thousand at Honoka’s disqualification but she still had ten-thousand on Captain Nakamoto. When it came to the four-man block, Nana wasn’t very sure about the amount to put into the pot, only because both captains in that block were considerably new in comparison to the others. It’d have been alright whether she bet or not, surely there was profit to be made.
Tapping away at the screen of her Denreishiki, Nana had switched over to the live-betting pool as it shifted and changed its totals in between the individual predicted to win the tournament overall. Surprisingly, the soul facing off against Captain Oda and Captain Mukuro was holding his own.
"Oh that’s interesting… Maybe I should have placed a bet on him too. Kusotare… Kusotare… Oh, there he is— Five-thousand Kan should be enough since there isn’t a lot of information on the guy."
A series of several blips suddenly chirped on her phone and her lively expression suddenly turned serious. Unfortunately, any further proceedings for the games would have to wait. As of this time, Nana was currently investigating Karakura Town with its numerous disturbances and sudden influx of Hollows. While Hollows weren’t uncommon, the rate at which they were pouring into the World of the Living was strange and dangerous. Yet another problem had surfaced before the events of the Hollow invasions.
Lieutenant Katsuo Oda's vitals had disappeared from the monitors.
It wasn’t as if their vitals had gradually depleted either; from what the shinigami who’d been monitoring the excursion party’s vitals, he’d simply disappeared, right out an existence, and the shinigami that had been with him save for one had followed in the same suit. While it hadn’t been long since she’d been deployed to investigate the incident, Nana was still disturbed by the events and its quick succession…
Other than what was happening in the games, the Shino’o Academy was lively, students either watching the games through their denreishikis, through the televised screens that covered all three fights at the same time or even through the Soul Society-wide Tenteikura or spent their essential free time to train or spend time with their friends. Everyone was excited, and perhaps the games would motivate the students to train even harder and educate them on the scale their superiors are judged on and the standard to which they are held to.
Nana had been one of the first Shinigami to have bet the moment the polls had opened. Unfortunately, she was unable to attend in person, so she was more than thankful for their electronic options that were only a few taps away. Yet just as she’d finished with her bets, her screen had immediately lit up with the Thirteenth Division’s Emergency line and she answered it without hesitation.
“Nokoribi answering the Emergency Line— What’s going on?”
“Fifth Seat Nokoribi, you are to be dispatched to Karakura Town immediately and investigate the disappearance of Lieutenant Katsuo and his patrol unit. We have one Shinigami unaccounted for and are currently sending another squad to locate her. There have been a number of hollows invading our jurisdiction. We advise you to use the utmost caution during your investigation; that secondary unit will support you in your endeavors after their success.”
Her device vibrates and causes her to pull it from her ear to look at the notification of the coordinates of the lieutenant’s last recorded position.
“That area is the last tracked location of Lieutenant Oda and his party. You will have to use Fifth Division’s Senkaimon since your location is closer to them than our own. Fifth Division has been notified of your arrival to allow you to smoothly transition into the World of the Living. That is all.”
Nana pocketed her phone the moment they’d hung up and immediately traveled from the Shino’o Academy into the Fifth Division barracks where their Senkaimon resided. As was said in her mission details, the Kido Corps members were ready for her arrival with the allotted Jigokucho and her departure followed soon after as she disappeared into the darkness and arrived shortly in Karakura Town.
“This is almost never-ending… When is the Secondary Unit going to find that girl and get back here?”
Tucking her hair behind her ear with her right hand, Nana swiftly flicked her left wrist and the blood that lingered on her tanto blade fell off of the slick surface as the large body of a Hollow crashed behind her before crumpling into spiritual particles. With luck, the majority of these Hollows were lesser beings, ones that could be dealt with swiftly, but their numbers were the problem. Since she’d arrived, Nana had been bombarded with swarms of Hollows since she’d stepped out of the Shoji gates. If not for her acute sense and durability, perhaps she too would have disappeared from the vitals monitor.
She’d started miles away from the lieutenant’s last recorded location, but soon enough found herself nearing it, but it seemed as though it was the heaviest concentration of Hollows, causing the shinigami to frown at the unsightly display. Just as she was moving forward to deal with the masses, the sound of several blades unsheathing themselves sound behind her and she stops in her tracks to face a group of black-clad figures, eight in total.
”Our apologies, Nokoribi-San! It took us longer than we expected to find the girl we were ordered to locate. We will handle the Hollows, so, please… Please find out about Lieutenant Oda.”
It seemed as though these shinigami had garnered a healthy relationship with their lieutenant. Nana simply bows her head and descends, those in the subunit following and spreading out to push the Hollows away from the coordinate point as far as they could and send them to the Soul Society. Left to her own devices, Nana landed soundlessly onto the street, ravaged and dirtied with the destruction caused by Hollows. The air around her was filled with blood; hopefully, she would get her answer quickly when she outstretched her hand and seemed to grasp onto something.
"What happened in this place..."
What Nana's eyes can see are flurries of ribbons floating all around her at this moment, constantly swirling and waving back and forth, with only just a handful of red tones in the sea of white. One by one, she'd picked apart the red out of the sea of white, and with each one, grew wearier and wearier as she sorted them from each spiritual signature. Nana's abilities of sensory perhaps pale in comparison to the likes of unit commanders or even their lieutenants, but her mastery in the subject allowed for the fifth seat to see
Reiraku (霊絡, "Spirit Coils"). Red ribbons correlated to shinigami reiraku while white ribbons were affiliated with any other signature. In total, she'd counted a total of nine ribbons, one which included her own within the coordinates given. Yet even before she'd reached the coordinates, Nana had repeated searching through the use of Reiraku and she could not find a single signature of red ribbons until the subunit had arrived.
So the worst reality had happened: Lieutenant Oda was no longer in Karakura, let alone this plane. He'd disappeared
completely as did his comrades.
This was a bad situation. This was bad for the Thirteenth Division and the Gotei Thirteen as a whole. Yes, Shinigami can die in the line of duty, but this was a Lieutenant of a division
with a patrol unit. Even if Hollows had come here and wreaked havoc, there would have been damage on both sides, but when she'd arrived, these Hollows had foregone any evidence of being engaged in battle. The lack of blood and bodies could also account for the anomaly, but what could she report at this time? She had nothing, but she would have to worry about that later. While the number of Hollows was decreasing, she wouldn't have any time to rest until the Watch Unit had confirmed no Hollows had strayed from the Thirteenth Division.
"The last zone has been cleared. The Secondary Unit and I have made rounds in the event we may have missed any."
Nana holds the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she sheathes her blade beneath her sleeve. She gives the surrounding area a second glance but finds nothing. Neither does the communication unit as they confirm that all zones are cleared.
"I'll be returning to the Soul Society soon. The Secondary Unit will stay back, but send an order for a Third Unit to replace them by the next twelve-hour rotation."
“Understood, Nokoribi-San. Has your investigation come to a conclusion?”
Nana exhaled softly. This wasn't something that she could hide, not for long, anyway.
"Lieutenant Katsuo Oda and his unit have been terminated. I was unable to find any trace of their bodies, or their weapons. Cause of death undetermined."
“Undetermined? Nokoribi-San what are you suggesting?”
"I'm not sure myself, but I don't think any regular Hollows could have done this, even with as many as there were... It's been a while since the last great disaster the World of the Living; maybe something bad is coming again, I don't know, but we need to find out before we lose even more Shinigami."
Nana stands at the top of one of the highest buildings in Karakura and feels the rush of the wind hitting her body. On the other end of the phone, the commentator is in stunned silence, but not even they can argue what Nana was saying. It isn't until she speaks again that they are snapped out of their stupor in order to answer her properly. With their lieutenant gone, Nana was the highest seat of authority in their division,
"The Secondary Unit said they had ten people in their squad, but I only received eight at the coordinate zone. The remaining shinigami found the girl and escorted her back, correct? Did she say anything at all?"
“She hasn't said anything, but what is strange is that those two from the Secondary unit had caught her coming out of Naruki City, Tenth Division's jurisdiction.”
Naruki City? Tenth Division? Nana could feel the frustration begin to rise and she pinched the bridge of her nose as if to quell the incoming headache that was surfacing. All of this information was a tad overwhelming. She'd have to report to the Captain-Commander, or even the Head Lieutenant in regards to Katsuo's death, and of the events that occurred in Karakura now that she was the highest authority in the Thirteenth Division. Eventually, she would have to approach the Tenth Division, or to be more exact, Lieutenant Hyouzoku, about the incident. It was his jurisdiction and to cross over unauthorized was punishable for both parties. A heavy sigh escapes and she finishes up with the last of the details with the communication unit and ends the call, though not before having the shinigami on the other end send a messenger ahead of time to alert the barrack guardsmen of Nana's incoming arrival and request for a meeting with the Head Lieutenant.
"I guess I should head back to Central."
Awaiting for the Senkaimon, Nana gives a final glance towards Karakura's horizon, sensing no further disturbances, and enters through the doors as it opens from behind her. Much has happened and only within the span of just several hours. Nana is unaware of what has transpired in her jurisdiction, but she felt as though she would find the answers soon enough. Though it seemed as though Naruki City was going through its own turmoil. If things went wrong, would she be able to learn about her superior's death?
TRAVELING TO CENTRAL SEIREITEI
