death is not goodbye. it is also not a part of this thread.

[Dizzy]

Lexi paused as she perused the old Seireitei archives. A large majority of the shinigami routinely avoided the grimy old library, and for good reason – she was hard-pressed to imagine anyone walking even a few steps into it without contracting asthma. Still, she pressed on, leafing through the dust-coated folders, searching for the file she most desperately wanted to see.

It was nighttime. Keiji had disappeared off to the living world after their stop at the 4th division, and after recent events, the girl honestly felt rather unused to him being away. It was like he was the Kaien to her entirely inelegant Rukia, and it felt unsettling to be alone after nearly dying twice.

The library was painted midnight blue, a streak of white emanating from her flashlight. There was a light switch near the far wall, but Lexi preferred the darkness. She always had. Her steps were silent on the tiled floor, and yet she still thought she could hear echoes bouncing around the cavernous room, with its tome-lined walls and domed ceiling. Her eyes wandered upwards to the vast space between her and the top, and she suddenly felt ridiculously small. It was pitch black and empty in here, perfect imagery for how she was feeling.

She continued poring over the dirty folders and papers, kept haphazardly in this ancient ruin of a library. The flashlight’s beam peeked in and out of the books, a disharmonic dance of illumination.

I know you’re in here somewhere. Where are you? … Where did you go? … And … and why did you leave me?

Lexi carried on searching. She’d be in there till morning, perhaps, but she’d find his file, she knew she would. And then she’d find him, go to Hueco Mundo, and personally execute him.

There is no excuse for what you did. None.

She nearly tore the paper when she saw his picture gazing out at her from the inked cell it was trapped within. At the same time, her flashlight fizzled and powered out, coating the room in blackness.

The now indistinguishable face stared out at her, and she at it. For now, it wouldn’t do to go charging into enemy territory. For now, she had to get stronger. Resolutely, she turned and walked up into the still-decimated training ground, the old, dilapidated files still clutched tightly in her hand.

-----

CLANGCLANGWHACKSLAMCLANG

Lexi grimaced as, one by one, the new recruits ran at her, each of their blades clashing with hers and making a resounding ring that echoed throughout the grounds. Broken shards of marble still littered the floor; nobody had cleaned up after Keiji and she had trained. She looked up just quickly enough to parry another recruit and swing the kid over her shoulder, and regained her stance for the next one.

She hadn’t done much thinking about that file. She had read it end to end five times before she’d had her fill. And nothing in it pointed to any answers. For now, all she could do was get stronger.

That’s right. I’m not going to let any stupid fuck of a hollow beat me, and certainly not that rat bastard of a former captain.

A girl tried to follow-up with a kick to the stomach, and Lexi beat her to the punch by delivering an uppercut that launched her up a foot into the air before she crashed down into a crumpled heap.

“Lexi, you need a better way to take out your aggressions.”

The green-haired girl turned around, her long ponytail swishing around her as she did. “I should’ve known you’d be coming. You and your common sense.”

By the doorway into the twelfth division offices stood a slight girl whose straight brown hair framed her face and fell to her shoulders. Wide, equally brown eyes completed an entirely ordinary face. Lexi turned to face her, motioning with her hand for the recruits to keep on going.

“How’s the fourth division treating you?”

The girl smiled sheepishly. “Not bad. I’m mostly just setting broken bones and stuff like that.

Lexi jabbed her sword upwards to deflect another. “Sounds pretty boring to me.”

“Maybe for someone whose sense of humor involves eating cow entrails and shooting deer and punching kittens …”

“Hey!”

“Sorry.”

“You’d better be.”

The other girl stepped up next to her. “I’m not, I lied.”

Lexi grinned in spite of herself. She’d been feeling a bit up and down that past few days – her office wall still had the dent marks to prove it. But she knew that as long as she was with her friends, she’d live through it. More than she could say for that wanker captain she used to know after what she was planning to do to him.

(The other girl's an NPC, named Lune Aurea, and Lexi's best friend. Just for the record.)
(Also, 25 pointed.)

[Dizzy]

It was like waking from a deep slumber.

Slowly, the darkness faded from her sight and the blurriness in her eyes sank away, revealing ... something black or vaguely green, she couldn't be sure of it.

Oh wait, never mind. It's my hair again, isn't it.

The girl sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes, brushing the cascade of green bangs out the way and regaining her vision. The next thing she knew, she was being enveloped in a suffocating tackle-hug.

Falling sideways onto some cushions - and what were cushions doing there, anyways? - she momentarily lost track of the world before returning to consciousness. An eyeful of dark brown hair meant that there was only one person that it could have been.

"Shit ... Lune? How did you get here?"

Pushing the other shinigami off, Lexi began to take in her surroundings. She appeared to be in the 4th division hospital, judging from Lune's presence and the fact that there was white as far as the eye could see (which to be fair, wasn't particularly far at the moment).

Her field of vision was enough to notice the following: Cushions propped up all over the place, a now-displaced blanket, bandages covering her entire body, and a vaguely downcast but still smiling Lune staring down at her, with evidence of crying having been haphazardly wiped off of her eyes.

It took Lexi a bit of time to process this information, thus explaining the pause before her next question.

"Fuck, come to think of it, how did I get here?"

"You idiot ..." Lune's face instantly rearranged itself into a sad expression. "You got beaten up by hollows again. How many times are you planning to get yourself nearly killed? ... I was worried, you know ... I have nightmares where you're dying and I'm just watching and ..."

Lexi's line of sight was slowly extending itself - she could now see the cabinets and most of the walls in the room. Still, she didn't see this coming.

"Lune ... fuck, I'm sorry. But we've had this conversation already. I'm going to get stronger, you just watch. I could've beaten ... fuck, what was I even doing before I passed out? I don't even remember."

Beaten up by hollows? That explains the bandages. I look like a fucking mummy in all of these.

Lexi's eyes wandered upwards to a ceiling she couldn't see.

... I remember Azul was there ... I thinking I was winning, too. I know I could've beaten her, I'm sure of it. But what else? All I'm getting is ... some kinda weird licking sensation, and it's creeping me out. That and ...

"Fuck, Yuki!" Lexi's previously inert body sprang up like a pogo stick. "Where did Yuki go? Is she okay? What the hell happened? I know she was bleeding all over the -"

"Don't worry about her," Lune murmured. "I healed her and got her to hospital, Keiji-san's orders."

"You? In the Living World?" At this, Lexi had to stifle a laugh, despite the other girl's evident depression. She simply couldn't imagine frail little Lune doing anything apart from healing. The Living World? Hardly a chance. "How did you end up there?"

"Keiji took me. I'm surprised you haven't talked to him yet, considering he's standing right in the doorway." Lune made a vague gesture behind her with her thumb.

"Eh?" Lexi looked in the direction Lune had pointed out and noticed, for the first time, a blurry black stain on the wall.

Maybe he'll know more about my misadventures, considering he was beating something up over my dying body the last time I saw him.

"Oi, Keiji! You have any idea what beat me up?"

[Mystic Serenade]

Heh, straight to the questioning

"Same thing that always beats you up, you know. That one hollow that has been giving us all trouble lately. Last time after it knocked you out, Nobuo and I were able to scare it off. Though Nobuo was still hospitalized afterwards, was in pretty bad shape too."

He took in Lexi's form again, all wrapped up like a mummy with only one eye visible. Heh, it was still an improvement though from the mess he first carried into the hospital.

"Anyhow, I actually did get the pleasure...," he said jokingly at first, but then corrected himself, "I mean I saw when the thing first appeared on my terminal back at Division Headquarters, had to rush over there pretty quick. Didn't see it firsthand, but the whole ordeal got recorded. That thing sure likes to get down to business, cleaned you up in a matter of seconds."

He stood quietly for a while to let her soak it in and process it. "You know, you're pretty lucky considering the condition you were in. Third degree chemical burns all over your body, multiple fractures in seventy-nine of your bones, all your rips included. Yep, lucky your lungs didn't end up getting punctured, would have been a real mess then."

He then placed his hand on Lune's head and ruffled up her hair a bit, "That was all after Lune over here was scrambling like her life depended on it to get you stabilized too. Also turns out your head got pretty knocked up, 4th Division's captain said you won't be seeing out of your left eye for a couple more weeks, co-ordination is going to be a bit off as well." He said all this in a rather calm collected tone.

He noticed that she looked slightly down. "Hey tell you what, after you get out of the hospital we can watch the entire thing on the big screen back at HQ, we can even make some popcorn."

The response he received was not really the one he was hoping for.

"Err, well tell you what. How about we head out for lunch or something, they said you're well enough now to walk, with assistance of course. You must have something you want to eat after only have nutrients given to you through an IV for two weeks."

[Dizzy]

"It was that hollow? Hmm, that'd explain a lot. You say 11th Division was beaten up too? Heh, sucker."

She involuntarily lifted up a hand you feel her left eye. "Awesome, I've got an eyepatch now."

Damn, that thing knocked me out for two weeks? That isn't too good. Explains the mummification and stuff though. Plus the fact that anything more than two meters away from me is indistinguishable from a flat color. Still doesn't explain this creepy licking sensation though. It's making my face feel all tingly and gaaaaah.

"By the way," Lune added, "if you're planning to take the walk, you'd better get some crutches, since one of your ankles was melted to the bone."

"Ahh, but of course. I should've guessed. Anyways, might as well take the walk, since my muscles are going to start atrophying if I stay in bed for much longer. Plus I can go out to Rukongai and scare little kids with the mummy getup."

Lune sighed. "Here's a spare 12th Division uniform, and your crutches are over there besides the file cabinet. Have fun with them."

She turned around, and as far as Lexi could tell, ushered Keiji out of the room and closed the door.

Guess she's still depressed over seeing me so beaten up. So why don't I feel any crushing despair, like the last time? I still haven't won a fight in about forever, so what's with me suddenly being all carefree with rainbows and butterflies and unicorns hopping around?

Maybe it's cause I could honestly have made that vow, the one where I told Azul I'd beat her, one-on-one. I felt I was strong enough to beat her, easily. There wasn't even any doubt about it. It felt ... good, for lack of a brilliant metaphor. Plus there's no chance in hell I was beating that one crazy hollow, ever, but lets focus on the positive side first.

Hmm, better try and gather up my memories ... what else might've happened? I know for sure that I showed up, Yuki-chan got knocked out, Azul tried to hold her hostage ... I had to save her and then I tried to evacuate her ... and then that hollow beat the stuffing out of me.

SO WHERE ON EARTH DOES LICKING COME INTO THIS? It's seriously creeping me out here! ... something about S&M, too. Maybe I should ask Keiji, he seems like he'd know a bit about that last bit.

She tied the sash on her hakama to finish her dressing and slipped her feet into the straw sandals that had been laid out beside the bed. The next part, standing up, would be the hardest.

Alright, gotta take it niiiice and easy. Don't feel like snapping my ankle today.

Slowly, she let herself rise off the bed, squinted behind the filing cabinet and saw the crutches, and hesitantly, she took the first step. She then collapsed backwards onto the bed in an ungainly heap.

... okay, that was clearly just a test. Better try again ...

She stood up again and stumbled over to the filing cabinet, falling over onto it as soon as she could reach it. It was harder than it looked, considering the dizzy spells, lack of depth perception, and lack of skin covering her ankle. Grimly, she reached over and hoisted herself up onto the crutches, before making her way over to the door.

"You sure took your time," came Lune's voice through the door.

"I'd like to see you try walking with half an ankle," came Lexi's retort as she opened up the door. Lune and Keiji stood against a wall, eyeing her as if she was a porcelain doll, about to shatter at any given moment. She rolled her eyes and whacked both of them upside the shins.

"Come on, you two," she declared. "We've got adventuring to do."

And with that, the trio vanished off into the night. Or maybe it was early afternoon. That would work too.

[Mystic Serenade]

Keiji made a small jump and started rubbing his shin a bit. "O, dirty move. Look just because your foot comes up just enough to hit me there doesn't give you the privilege to. Besides, you shouldn't be kicking anything in your condition, wouldn't want your foot shattering into a million pieces now would we," he snickered.

He then noticed that she had brought up one of the crutches to wack him. "Whoa," he grabbed at the lifted crutch with his hand, placing it back down to the ground, "wouldn't want them to confiscate these away from you for using them as tools for assault now would we. Because then you know, I'd have to push your ass around everywhere in a wheel chair," he stated humorously.

"So are we actually going to go get any food anytime soon?" inquired Lune.

"O right right, to 1st District of Northern Rukongai," he said pointing in that general direction. "I remember they had this nice eating district back from when I was passing through to get to the Academy."

Once they stepped out of the hospital he noticed Lexi started to blink a lot in an attempt to adjust her vision. It was bright out today, and all of sudden taking in that amount of natural sunlight after having your eyes closed for two weeks could do that to you. She attempted to cover her good right eye with one of her hands to block out the sunlight for a bit. She would have fell over if it wasn't for Lune keeping a safe watch from behind. He laughed a little inside at the sight. "Anyways, lets try and get something to eat before it ends up becoming dinner time. Try not to fall behind, Lexi."

With that he felt the hard rubber end of the crutch connect with the top of his head.

Despite Lexi's condition, it took them about forty minutes to get from 4th Division's hospital to the eating district of where they were heading. The journey was mostly uneventful, with Lexi chatting with Lune and an occasional wise crack from him. The medic girl sure seemed relieved now that her friend was doing okay. "Oh nice, looks like there have been some new additions since I've last been here," he stated once they arrived. "Alright, everyone meet at this table after you get your meals.

Of course there was only one stand he would be making his way to. Yes, that dango stand of course. He quickly addressed the young woman working the stand, "Yo Sayaka, how's my favorite dango girl doing." He soon felt the hard end of her fist connect with his nose. "O man that smarts," he yelped as he grabbed a hold of it.

"You jerk, don't visit in ages and then you come here without even addressing me properly."

"Aye, aye, I have a job you know, a pretty time consuming one nowadays in fact."

"Could still drop a line..." her cheeks puffed out a bit.

"Eh heh, sorry one forgets every now and then. Anyways, Sayaka-chan, I'll have the usual alright."

"Fine, fine, so how's work been?" she asked while preparing the meal.

"O you know the usual, fighting off insane hollows, sending souls here, monitoring little girls making sure they don't run off and get killed. Good stuff, good stuff." He picked up his order of mitarashi dango once she placed it in front of him. "Hey listen, I'll catch up with you later, I'm actually here with someone who just got out of the hospital."

"Oh...alright. Just make sure to try and keep contact more. My old man misses those stories you usually tell when you drop by."

"Heh, got it. See you around," he said as he turned back to head to the table they were all supposed to meet at."

"O and there's still no word about her yet!" the girl quickly yelled out as he was heading off. He turned around.

"Heh, thats no surprise, but I think I've found a clue lately. I'll let you know about it sometime." With that he finally headed out.

Once he arrived at the table he found Lune and Lexi already there. "So what'd you kiddies get hmmm?"

[Dizzy]

Exiting Keiji's presence and entering the crowd, the two girls had wandered around aimlessly for a while before setting their sights on a nearby sushi place. The dirt roads nearby were dirty and unkempt compared to the tiled ones in Seireitei, but the place was buzzing with locals and still had a neat atmosphere with it. As they waited in the lineup, both shinigami looked rather distracted. It was Lexi who spoke first.

"So anyways,” she murmured, "... sorry I made you worry so much."

"What's this? You? Apologizing? Since when have you started doing that?"

"I do believe it all began around the same time you started acting all worried and depressed."

"Well ... even though it’s pretty obvious you're just going to keep running into danger the same as always ... thanks, I guess."

"Excellent. Now let us never speak of this again."

"Good plan."

Lexi squinted upwards. What was formerly a blinding light had subsided to a vague glowing, though she was sure that if she looked any closer to the sun itself, her eyelid would explode in on itself and start oozing blood all over the place.

“Hey, the sun isn’t so bad now. If I concentrate, I can even kind of read the sign.”

“Well you’ll be needing that eye, considering your spare’s gonna be out of commission for a few weeks. I have to admit though, you’re moving pretty well considering how you don’t have any depth perception.”

“Eh, I do what I can. Anyways, it’s time to randomly change the subject. How’s your brother these days, still lording over 3rd Division with an iron fist?”

“Hmm? Who, Cres?”

“Well, last time I checked, you only had one brother.”

“I could’ve gotten a new one since then, you never know. Anyways, Cres is fine, I suppose. Maybe a bit overenthusiastic about training the childrens.”

“Heh, I know that feeling.”

They were at the top of the queue now, so Lexi ordered an entire container full of cucumber-based concoctions and Lune a bento box. Slowly, the two milled their way back to their designated meeting spot, taking in the sights and sounds of Rukongai while they did. Upon arrival, they noticed that Keiji was nowhere to be seen. Oh well, all the better, at least for the direction Lune was planning on taking the conversation.

“So … I’ve been wondering something …” she ventured, “is Keiji your new lover or something?”

Lexi instantly spat out the entire contents of her mouth. “My GOD, are you kidding me? Keiji? God, no! I have standards, you know!”

The healer gave her a sly grin. “Suuure, you say that, but …”

Lexi shook her head vigorously; her green ponytail swung back and forth and hit random passersby. “Never, not even in five lifetimes, I guarantee it.”

“If you say so …”

“Hey, I have crutches and I know how to use them. I also have information about you eyeing that new sixth seat …”

Lune stifled a giggle, and then fell silent with a look of utmost horror.

“That’s more like it,” grinned Lexi. “Anyways, we’d better finish up here quickly. I’m not going to miss any more than two weeks of training, or I’ll fall behind everyone again. Actually, I probably already have. Damn … playing catch-up’s going to be a total pain in the -”

Her expletive was censored perfectly by an annoying familiar interjection - “So, what’d you kiddies get, hmmm?”

Lexi rolled her eyes. “And here he is, the man of the hour. We’re pretty much done here, anyways.”

She gestured with her right hand to her and Lune’s empty dishes, smoothly transitioning it into an attack on the other girl’s face as she burst into fits of giggles.

“Please don’t ask, ever. Kittens will die if you do.”

[Mystic Serenade]

Keiji raised an eyebrow at the two. "Alright whatever you say," he commented as he took his seat. "Glad you guys could enjoy your meals, couldn't even wait for poor ole me," he said jokingly as he held both hands to his heart.

"I haven't eaten in two weeks, you really expect me to wait for your slow ass?"

"Aye, you never really did know how to be patient," he said as he leaned over the table to look her closely in the face. "You really should learn some restraint sometime," he ended his comment with a playful flick to her forehead while smiling. He momentarily glanced over at Lune who had broke out into a serious of giggles.

"Anyway, my slow ass and I will be taking its time to enjoy this meal properly," he stated as he bit into one of his dango. He sighed contentedly and then took a sip of his green tea. "Ah, nothing like some good dango and tea."

"I hope you choke on one of those things one day," Lexi had muttered under her breath.

"Hmmm you said something?"

"Nothing!" Lexi announced with a fake cheery smile, Lune laughing all the while. "Anyways stop being so god-damned slow, I have training to do!!! No way I'm falling behind everyone else again."

Keiji couldn't help but chuckle at this, he took another bite of his dango. Always about getting stronger for you isn't it. However he then adopted a more serious tone, "Only training will be on your hospital bed, that fight hurt you way more than you'd think. We don't need you falling over and exploding into a mass of blood on us now."

"But!!!"

"No but, you need your rest until 4th Division deems you in a good enough condition to get on the field again. Besides, take the time to try and connect with your zanpakutou, I haven't seen you talk to it in a while."

"Yes..."

He then took note that Lune had took the chance to whisper something into Lexi's ear.

================================================== ========

"Hey, I bet you wish he was helping you "train" on the hospital bed," Lune had said while giggling. A red-faced Lexi then attempted to hit her medic friend in the face multiple times.

================================================== ========

He could only sweat-drop at the scene before him. I don't think I want to know.

"Anyways, could you excuse us a moment Lune? I have a private matter I must discuss with Lexi," he stated calmly before taking another bite of dango.

"O sure thing Keiji-san," she began to nudge Lexi with her elbow and gave her a wink.

"SHUT UP!!!" she yelled at Lune who quickly moved herself out of earshot.

Just don't ask he thought to himself Just don't ask. He made a short cough to get Lexi's attention again. "Anyway, this is about your fight with that hollow earlier." He dug into his uniform for a moment and pulled out a photo. "You seemed a bit distraught earlier and I think I know why," he tossed a small photo in front of Lexi. "Any recollection of this?" he couldn't help but laugh a little at the thought of what was on that picture.

[Dizzy]

Lexi simply froze at that awful, hideous, seizure-inducing sight. Between all of Lune’s ‘subtle’ hints and needing to go beat something up, she had completely forgotten about that peculiar licking sensation that seemed to be haunting her. And at that moment, she was wishing very much that she had just let it out of her head completely and never, ever, EVER thought about it again for the rest of her life. Clearly, karma was not on her side today.

She instinctively lifted a hand to feel her cheek … and GAAAH it was almost like she could feel the tongue still on it, sliding downwards and leaving a trail of saliva that oozed downwards like some sort of primordial slime. In fact, she could now she it clear as day in her head – the extremely disturbing memories came rushing back like sewage out a burst septic tank. And now that she wasn’t suffering from extreme blood loss, she found it very strange that she could have been sarcastic about it at the time. Right now, it was just creeping her out, plain and simple. Lexi clutched her skull and tried to subside the oncoming migraine.

“Gaah, thanks a fucking lot, Keiji. Now that’s probably going to be embedded in my head until my godforsaken dying day. You SUCK. You suck so amazingly badly right now, GAAAAH.”

Great, looks like I’ve got a stalker now. One who just so happens to not only be a hollow, but also an S&M freakshow and completely and utterly nuts. Not only that, but she calls me ‘pet-chan’ and licks my corpse as I slowly bleed myself to death. What the fuck is that all about? And why one Earth did Keiji find the need to show that to me?

“Fuck you, Keiji. Hadou #1, Ignite.”

Dancing flames sprang up from the girl’s fingertips and consumed the picture whole. Ashes drifting away in the wind were the only remnants of that hideous, hideous sight.

“… ‘Scuse me, gonna go throw up now, you sick S&M freak.”

She turned around on her good heel and stumbled her way back to the table, where Lune was sitting. Grabbing the other girl by the wrist before she had a chance to protest, she stalked her way back up to the infirmary, ignoring Keiji’s protests from far back only once to throw one of her crutches at him.

“You know what,” she murmured to Lune as she crossed the gate on her now single crutch, “I think I’ve made up my resolution for the year. I’m going to feed Keiji his own zanpakuto. Check me out of the hospital, will you? I’m going to that underground place where certain dumbasses can’t find me.”

Lune meekly scuttled off to obey – she was smart enough to keep out of her friend’s way when the latter was on a rage-induced warpath. Hopefully, Keiji wouldn’t show up and question her on her friend’s whereabouts. Actually, she mused to herself, maybe I should just find a broom closet and hide for the next few days.

Lexi picked up her zanpakuto, slipped it into her sash, and ambled off into the forest clearing underneath Sokyoku Hill, where the steps that would guide her down into the vast underground cavern. The girl never had found out who had made it or where it had come from, just that it was there and that nobody seemed to have any clue as to its existence. She’d been careful to cover up anything that might give her whereabouts away to Keiji – wiping away footprints and shutting off her reiatsu output to zero until she was safely within the grounds.

You know, I think I’ve discovered a new fear of mine. Rape by hollow, think that’s pretty damned original. Chalk it up to my millions of other brands of paranoia. No way am I planning to overcome THAT; some sacrifices just have to be made for the good of the world. What a goddamned pain in the ass.

And if Keiji thinks a mummy costume is going to keep me from training, well he can go fuck himself. All I have to do is keep myself off this ankle and avoid sharp objects poking me in the eye. That’s easy enough. Maybe I can even incorporate the crutch into my technique.

She slid down the enormous ladder, completely ignoring the rungs. Once she landed, she abandoned her remaining crutch at the foot of the stairs and ambled over to those healing springs, a godsend to take her from the burns and bandages and ripped-open ankles and cyclopean injuries she’d suffered. Slipping out of her shinigami outfit, she slipped a toe into the bubbling water, and then submerged herself entirely, taking in the effect.

Sure Lune was a great healer – capable of bringing her back from the brink of death to merely having a few minor injuries – but Lexi needed speed. She couldn’t afford to waste a moment in rehabilitation; she had to get back to practice, the sooner the better. And there in the water, she closed her eyes and waited for her wounds to heal.

[Mystic Serenade]

Geez, try to give a girl a heads up and she goes ape shit on you, guess the experience was more traumatic than I thought. He caught the crutch as it came towards him. *Sigh* now she wants to break hospital equipment too...stubborn girl. He pulled out another copy of the picture out of his uniform and eyed it a bit. I seriously thought it was kind of funny...well minus the fact she almost got killed. I mean a hollow wanting a shinigami as a pet, who wouldn't laugh...then again maybe my sense of humor has been a bit off lately... He ate the last of his dango and went back to throw away the empty trays. "I should head back as well."

It didn't take long to get back to 4th Division's hospital when he could move at normal speed. He had caught Lune just as she was about to leave.

O crap, please don't ask about Lexi, please...

"Your shift at the hospital done already," Keiji inquired in a friendly tone.

"Ah...well...um, I just thought I'd head home early today, now that Lexi is alright."

"Heh, well you have been lacking in the sleep department lately, watching over her the way you did," he gave a small chuckle.

"Hey, you were checking in on her a lot too!!!"

"Ah, but it's only natural to be worried about a friend don't you think?" He placed his hand on Lune's head and ruffled her hair like he habitually did now and then. "Make sure you become a nice strong medic, we need more people like you with people like Lexi running around," he laughed. "Anyways see you around, make sure if you run into her she doesn't do anything stupid," he said as he turned back, heading towards 12th Division's Headquarters.

Once there he arrived he headed straight to his terminal. After pressing several keys he finally accessed it. Now lets see where she really ran off too. It's not like placing tracking devices on his friends was really something he liked to do, but when you had a friend like Lexi, one was bound to get worried and take extra precautions. Hmmm, Sokyoku Hill, why the hell would she be over there. Her vital signs seem to have been improving as well. Ah well whatever it is, better to give her some space. Idiot better not come back in worse shape than she originally was in.

With that he logged off his terminal, things had been quiet in the living world lately. There was no activity yet that merited any action on his part in a while so he didn't have many assignments lately outside of helping out with the paperwork that piled around. "Heh, maybe I should try inventing something in my free time."

After finishing a good chunk of paperwork he figured it was a good time to start training a bit. Though today, he would hold off on the physical training, the training he had in mind required that he devote a lot of time to it. He stepped out of headquarters into his personal garden he had constructed when he first became a seated officer. It was a relaxing place for him.

His thoughts drifted momentarily, he had a garden like this back when he was still alive as well. "She" had admired it a lot as well back then. I wonder what she's up to. It felt a bit nostalgic.

Anyways, it wasn't the time to think about those sort of things, he'd find out what he wanted to know soon enough. He unsheathed both of his zanpakutou and drove them into the earth. He then took a seat, placing a hand each on a zanpakutou. He then closed his eyes, letting the sounds of the soft trickle of the miniature waterfall, the feel of the cool breeze moving through the bamboo leaves, and aroma of irises calm him. He concentrated a bit and then he was finally pulled into their world. "Hey it's been a while, think you can tell me more about yourselves today?"

[Dizzy]

61 points to Keiji Otowari
66 points to Lexi Hunter

Now before everyone starts screaming bloody murder at me for being a biased asshole, RP threads with multiple players involved are worth more points, simply because of time reasons (anyone can type a couple hundred words by themselves in an hour or so), because they often tend to have a lot more content than individual threads, and to encourage player interaction.

So there we go.

[Dizzy]

Lying semi-conscious on the ground in a dank and dirty ditch at night is not often thought of as sanctuary for most people and usually, Lexi Hunter was no exception. The place was barren and muddy, with streaks of dark cloud cover blocking the stars from view. Eons of dirt and waste came oozing slowly out of a nearby sewage pipe, and clumps of grass popping out of the ground here and there were the only signs of life for perhaps a few miles. But on the other hand, she had just exited the presence of a nutcase S&M hollow whose hobbies included licking her and sticking her inside its extremely pointy ribcage. Therefore, the retreat to this place was a godsend.

Now all she’d have to do was wait for the many broken bones in her legs to heal and possibly to regain full consciousness, as she could not yet feel pain, or even see at all, for that matter. Still, she thought wryly, it was an improvement. Being splayed out in a crumpled-up heap on the mud couldn’t quite compare to sexual assault by hollow, especially the lack of ability to detect pain added to the dampening effect that concussions tend to have upon one’s tendencies to worry. Soon enough, the girl had drifted back to sleep.

---

Lexi’s mind was slowly being dragged out of the quicksand and back into awareness by some sort of glowing, golden light. Sleepily, she opened one eye – it was still dark, so too much time couldn’t have passed. It seemed that the light she had sensed was being emitted from someplace behind her. She tried to turn around, only to realize that her legs were suddenly screaming in pain for her attention, and that consciousness had erupted its way back into her head with a bang.

The first thing she did was scream – kneeling over her, still in his old uniform shinigami robes and that weathered captain’s haori, was that rat bastard traitor of a former captain. He didn’t seem alarmed at the sudden noise, or show any emotion at all. Felix Ronsse simply stayed there, hands weaving an intricate set of golden lines in the air, and looking extremely weary. His hair had grown, to the point where it was resting upon his shoulders. In a way, it still looked just like it always had – perfectly clean and elegant yet matted and messy, with streaks of red in an otherwise brown mullet. Apart from several glistening rings on his fingers, his clothes looked roughly the same as it had been when he’d left, barring the now badly ripped and torn haori.

His eyes were the biggest change. He had looked so young before, not a day over twenty-five. And now, he could still have passed for that age … but his demeanor simply had the air somebody who had experienced a million years of hardship, and it showed most of all in those eyes. Lexi almost felt pity for the man … and then she remembered that it was him, her captain who had betrayed Soul Society, betrayed her, and then she twisted her head around and spat right in his face.

Her captain merely took it, not even blinking, and still creating brilliantly shining symbols over her body. Lexi glared at him with a gaze seething with hatred and spite. If looks could kill, the man would’ve died twenty times over.

“What the bloody fuck are you doing here?”

“I’m healing you,” he replied placidly. It was by all means a true statement – she could feel the pain in her body decreasing quickly, and even feel the bones in her legs mending. Still, coming from her former captain … what on Earth could be his motive?

“Well that’s obvious enough. Why the hell are you doing it?”

“Lexi …” and now, he looked sincerely sorrowful, eyes unable to meet hers. “It’s because I don’t want you to die. I can’t expect you to forgive me for anything I’ve done … I can only dream of being able to make it up to you.”

Lexi hesitated. She had made a promise to herself … that she would grow stronger than her captain … that she would eclipse him and feed him his own zanpakuto. But now … seeing him looking like that and speaking as if he had lived through a thousand lives of agony … could she really bring herself to hate him?

“I did what I did because I had to,” he continued. “Soul Society is dead to me now. These powers vested within me … they led to my exile, despite everything I tried to convince them. You probably heard a different story, didn’t you. Seireitei’s public broadcast stated that I had sided with the hollows and had plans of universal domination.”

At this, he let out a dry, humorless chuckle. Lexi had no clue whatsoever as to what he was talking about, apart from a lack of morals on the part of Soul Society.

“What a bunch of jokers. That couldn’t be any further from the truth. You think the hollows would accept a shinigami? Those heartless creatures, take one of their greatest enemies in just because he presumably abandoned Soul Society? … No, I would never dream of seeking their aid, never. I was banished from Seireitei for my … condition, and nothing else.”

Lexi was becoming more and more confused. What simple … condition would lead to the banishment of a captain? She could understand it if it was due to some sort of sick, twisted experiment, or an invention that threatened to destroy the fabric between the five dimensions, but a condition? What kind of horrible condition could it have been that forced Soul Society to exile her former captain? Unless … unless he wasn’t being entirely truthful with her. She was sure that the man’s story had at least some grain of truth – she was rather adept at reading people, and nobody was that good of an actor as to be able to spin an entire fairy tale out of nothing and still look so distressed. The best thing to do for the moment would be to wait and let him finish his story, she supposed.

Unfortunately for her, the man appeared to be done, at least for the moment. He stood up abruptly and looked her up and down.

“You ought to be able to walk now, Lexi. I’ve mended your bones to the best of my ability, but you might want to have that friend of yours in fourth division to check up on you. I’m … I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you anything more, but then you’d be in danger, just like I am. Grow stronger, Lexi, strong enough to defend yourself from anyone and anything … and don’t take Soul Society’s justice at face value. I know it isn’t much of a parting gift, but … take this.”

With that, he thrust a dainty-looking parcel into her hands, and shyunpo’d away without a sound. The green-haired shinigami opened it up immediately … and inside was a ring, similar to the ones that Felix had taken to wearing. It appeared to be made of silver, and on the top was a shining emerald. A note dropped out of the package as well, and Lexi picked it up, eyeing it apprehensively.

Dearest Lexi,

With this letter, please find a ring attached to it. This is far from an ordinary ring, so please keep it safe for as long as you can, or if you don’t quite trust me just yet, please bury it here and mark the spot so that I can find it. If you choose to keep it, then by no means reveal its presence to anybody else, not even your most trusted friends, and certainly not any of the captains. A letter is quite possibly the worst way to provide information, but I don’t have very much choice in the matter, as speech is most likely far easier to track.
I must remind you not to wear it, but to hide it in a pocket or on that necklace I know you like to wear. As for its use, I can only say that it will assist you in your training and nothing more, until you’ve at least achieved your initial release.
Please destroy this letter as soon as you are finished reading it.

-Your favorite captain, Felix Ronsse

Certainly, it was an intriguing letter. This ring was presumably ‘far from ordinary’, and it was supposed to ‘assist her in her training’, whatever her former captain meant by that. She stared at the ring again … it let off a distinct aura of power, and as intangible as it was, it seemed that the gift was indeed powerful, and that Felix hadn’t been lying. Still, the man’s speech was laced with a distinct layer of misguidance … and he didn’t explain anything about his “condition” at all.

I suppose the answer rests on just one thing … can I trust him or not? … It’s funny how just a half-hour ago, I was ready to try and kill him … and now I feel all bad for spitting on him. Still, if I have to keep it a secret … maybe the power could be potentially devastating? Is that the traitor’s plan? To use me as a human bomb and let me walk into the heart of Soul Society before setting it off?

… Damn it! Why couldn’t he just tell me everything, rather than leave cryptic messages and this stupid letter? He’s probably paranoid about me being tracked … or maybe having bugs planted on me … knowing Keiji, he’d probably have done it for sure, that stupid bastard.

Can I trust my captain? The me of half an hour ago would’ve thrown the ring as far as possible … but if what he says is true … GAAH FUCK, I HATE THESE MORAL SELF-DEBATES. Why can’t everything be as simple as black and white? Where did all of these goddamned motherfucking shades of gray come from?

Lets weigh the factors here … if it’s a bomb, it’s a pretty damned unassuming one. The reiatsu signal that the ring gives off is nothing like an explosive, and you couldn’t even come close to storing something of that magnitude inside this puny little thing … I may have slept through the classes at the academy, but at least I know that much. And he sounded like he was truly sorry … and he never had a choice in the matter about abandoning me, did he?

Of course, he could just be pulling this entire story out of his ass. But then what about the ring? I can feel it … it’ll help me get stronger for sure. So if he’s being all sinister and evil plotting, what does he want? … He warns me against Soul Society … something about a condition he has … and this ring. A bribe, if you will … is he trying to recruit me? That would be it, wouldn’t it. He cares about me, I’m sure of that. … So he wants to get me out of Soul Society and into whatever he might be planning. … On the other hand, I won’t have to worry about that until I’ve at least achieved my initial release.

… So fine, Felix-san, I’ll trust you for now. You said this thing would help me get stronger right? And you said you’d explain it better for me when I get my initial release … and … you said you were sorry, didn’t you? You sounded like you meant it too, so … I think I can believe you for now.

"Hadou #1, Ignite."

The letter burnt itself to a crisp in her hand, meaningless ashes scattered away in the wind.

Lexi staggered up to her feet and stood there in the vast, gaping darkness that seemed to swallow her whole. The air was still full of unknowns, and her captain’s sudden reappearance after so long was just the peak of the iceberg, as did the reason why he would have passed on this ring. The shinigami stared back into the horizon … the sun would come up before long, and she’d rather be back in Soul Society before anybody started to worry.

As she sliced open the air and created the gateway back home, a passing thought struck her…

Since when did anybody store reiatsu in rings? And even more confusing, since when were rings capable of making people stronger? … Just where in the five dimensions did he get this thing?

Suppose I can just chalk it up onto my growing list of mysteries and find out after I get some fucking SLEEP.

[Dizzy]

Lexi Hunter stood solitary in that enormous underground cavern, and she stared into the emerald placed centrally on the silver ring that she had slid onto her finger half and hour ago. Thus far, it had yielded no answers as to just how it would help her get stronger, no matter whether she tried training with it on, tossing it in the air and catching it, or even the tried-and-true technique of smashing it onto the ground.

She stared at it once more, let out a small sigh, and sat down in a small patch of grass. She couldn’t remember what it was like outside … as far as she could tell, she’d been inside the cave for her entire life, and the sole purpose for her existence was to figure out that blasted ring.

“How the hell is this stupid thing supposed to work? Felix said it’d help me with my training, but wasting my time trying to figure it out isn’t helping! I’ve never even heard of a goddamned ring being an artifact of power before, what the hell is this thing?”

“… It isn’t a bomb or something, he would’ve set it off ages ago if that were true. But then what … just what could it be? It’s no ordinary ring … this reiatsu emanating from it isn’t like anything I’ve ever seen before, or even heard of, for that matter. But at the same time … it means I have no clue what to DO with it! This is just so frustrating!”

She stared all around herself, searching the world for an answer. The place looked the same as always – an empty sky, with a desolate, sandy terrain littered with dead trees. In fact, the most interesting thing in the room was right beside her. Her zanpakuto was lying still, next to her where she had left it. It looked like it was in bad shape … it was rusted all over, badly tarnished and scratched. That was funny … she’d usually never let her sword – or any possession of hers – become that beaten-up.

Upon further inspection, it looked as if it had been broken into several pieces and repaired by an extremely clumsy welder, all mismatched and asymmetrical. But she hardly noticed that over the suffocating reiatsu that suddenly seemed to pour out of nowhere. It was the exact same consistency as from the ring, and she hurried to pull it out from under her uniform to take a closer look at it, but as soon as she grabbed hold of it, it crumbled into dust in her hand. In fact, the entire fabric of space appeared to be collapsing around her. She grabbed her zanpakuto and leapt up to her feet, only to feel herself disappearing into this universal implosion. In her hand, her zanpakuto shattered.

Lexi rose from the ground, head aching horribly and barely capable of standing. She still felt groggy and semi-conscious, but not quite to the point where it could dull her migraine. The only word for the entire feeling was … numb, but it was something entirely different, a feeling where she’d been injected with several gallons of morphine and breathed in several rags full of chloroform. Shaking her head a bit to clear it, she opened an eye to survey her surroundings. Then she just stood there, mouth agape, taking the entire sight in.

It was like being inside the eye of a hurricane … a single, tiny island surrounded by tranquil waters, while turbulent winds spun their way around it, thrashing around and about and tearing the air apart. Resting upon the island, underneath a lonely palm tree, sat a solemn-looking maiden, dressed in a traditional white kimono with floral images down one side. Lexi walked over tentatively and addressed the woman.

“… Umm, hello?”

The woman remained stoic and silent, not even bothering to turn around.

“Err … well, hi, I’m Lexi. Would you have any clue as to where we - ”

“Foolish child, you fail to even recognize your subconscious? … And here I actually had hopes for you.”

The green-haired girl looked around. She had never imagined what her subconscious might have looked like, and even if she had, she wouldn’t have thought it to be quite this peaceful, or even quite so violent. She returned her gaze to the lady, only to find that she was staring back. She looked aristocratic in nature, with perfectly aligned hair adorned with a number of ornaments, and when she spoke, it was with the grace of a thousand angels.

“Pitiful, just pitiful … and you are supposed to be master of this domain?”

Lexi was beginning to get annoyed with this woman’s high and mighty attitude. “Just exactly who are you?”

“It feels so sad,” she continued on, “that children never take the time to get to know you, even if you’ve been their closest companion, fighting with them day in and day out - ”

“What are you talking about? I’ve seen even seen you before! Unless you’re Keiji in disguise or something … and actually, I wouldn’t put that past him … but still! Wouldn’t it be more fun if you just told me who you are and where this is?”

“Oh, you’ve seen me. Perhaps you don’t recognize me, but you’ve had me the entire time you’ve been a shinigami. In fact, we’re so close that you could say we’re … joined by the hip.”

Lexi blinked at that last statement, and then she was overpowered by a sudden sense of recognition. Her eyes hurriedly darted down to her right hip, where her zanpakuto was conspicuously missing. With one look back up at the supposed stranger, she suddenly knew who she was talking to.

“You … you’re my zanpakuto!”

The woman actually managed a slight smile this time. “Correct. I was getting worried that you’d never figure it out. If you hadn’t caught on to the last one, I might’ve had to pick the sword up and beat you over the head with it.”

… So, this is my sword. I’ve finally broken into my inner world … I suppose that’s what the ring was meant to do … I’ll have to thank Felix for that one later. And now I’m talking to her … does this mean I’ll finally achieve my initial release, like Felix said? And … and he’ll meet me again after I do. That would be nice … I need to pump him for some more answers, anyhow.

“So,” started Lexi, “would you care to tell me your name? I’m assuming you know mine already.”

“Such arrogance. Are you sure you are ready, child?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

“Very well … my name is Tempestas!”

“… Come again? Is this some kind of bad joke?”

“… It seems you are not quite strong enough to know my name just yet. What a pity.”

Lexi eyed the woman suspiciously … she couldn’t think of any reason that she shouldn’t be able to … but on the other hand, she hadn’t ever seen Keiji with one either, and he’d have gotten it faster than her for sure.

“Hehe, fine. I’ll get stronger, I promise you that. And the next time I arrive, I’ll be able to hear your name!”

“I’ll hold you to your word on that. Now hurry, child. Your continued existence is required.”

“Wha - ”

With a snap of her fingers, the woman had brought Lexi back to where she’d left off … spread-eagled in a muddy ditch. It was raining heavily, and the pitter-patter of raindrops was almost overwhelming for somebody who’d been out for as long as she had. The shinigami rose gently out of the mud and discovered that the acid burns and broken bones from her previous rendezvous with her S&M friend had disappeared … almost too convenient, she thought. On the other hand, she was soaking wet, covered with mud, and her uniform was still torn and ripped from the fight – apparently, her zanpakuto’s healing powers didn’t extend to her clothes. Overall, not the best of ways to wake up.

Hmm, guess the hollow just left me here … it feels like I’ve been vaguely violated while I was unconscious, though. Ehh, it’s probably nothing. I wonder how long I’ve been out. Anyways, guess this ripped-up thing is my daily attire. … Damn it, this mud is really going to be hell to get out of my hair.

She stood herself up on two unsteady legs, and after a quick scan of the area, headed off to the nearest souls.