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It all happened very quickly, but she made sure not to miss any of it, watching closely as the clouds seemed to materialise from his zanpakuto. Not entirely sober yet, it took a lot of concentration to stay awake, but she wanted to see what would happen next.
The sharp crackle shot through the air from her friend’s blade and struck the dummy in the form of an bolt of lightning. The electricity hit with a bang and bright flash of light that made the girl squint and jolted involuntarily to the unexpected sound. It was loud and thunderous, a perfect reflection of Shiro’s personality, the explosive clap still ringing in her ears long after it was heard.
With her eyes now wide, Lenalee stared at the dummy it smouldered, suffering the effects of such immense heat and electricity concentrated on one specific spot.
“Yeah!” She shouted back before giggling, having difficulty regulating her volume after such a loud bang. “I did see it! It was awesome!” In that moment, all jealousy seemed to be washed away and replaced with awe and amazement. Next came the excitement for when she would have access to her own shikai too - when her weapon would finally start cooperating.
“Who are you going to show it to next?” Lenalee knew her mother might be interested in seeing it, but perhaps for the wrong reasons. A part of her wanted to ask Shiro to show it to her captain, maybe it will prompt him to give her more meaningful tasks than babysitting Eri-chan.
That moment of confirmation was all Shiro needed from the young woman to dispel the pit in his stomach. The Shikai that almost perfectly reflected his personality as impulsive and quick was one he was going to show and use with pride, though one thing could be said… it was absolutely not a good fit for Division two and its stealth corp.
“Next?” Shiro hadn’t thought that far ahead yet, he was in the here and now and had been all night. Giving all of his attention to Lenalee and their dinner was the only thing he let himself do as a method of relaxing, that was torn away by his Zanpakuto but it could be forgiven! “Yeah, Captain Saeki next… The squad… I know Nene would love to try and get a sample of it-” Shiro was cut off as he felt eyes, not just a singular pair but countless in the shadows and darkened doorways. It seems his loud and proud display had garnered more attention than he anticipated.
“Shiro!” Shizu called out, her feet causing a pitter patter on the wooden walkways as she charged out of their lab. “What was that explosion? Are we under attack? Why does your Zanpakuto look funn…ie?” Her bombardment of questions stopped as she and her frazzled pale green hair realised what was going on and a great grin appeared on her face.
“Meet Rairyu. Shizu. He is my Zanpakuto and dinner with Lenalee was what earned me his name.” He explained… a bit louder than normal so he wouldn’t have to keep explaining it to all of those extra sets of eyes that had appeared to watch the show and see if anything was going on. Most of them slinked away now, returning to their projects or their dinners, a good number remained where they were but there was no harsh questioning animosity in them now, only a curious gaze to find out more.
“Wow! Just like you your Zanpakuto is so cool…” Shizu replied, her nasely tones full of wonder and pride that her officer and superior managed to unlock his Shikai.
Lenalee nodded when he mentioned the people he’d be showing his Shikai to next, starting from her mother. However, their discussion was interrupted by Shizu, who came charging out in their direction yelling about an explosion.
The girl smiled, proud of her part in him discovering his zanpakuto’s name and nodded as he explained all about it. Looking around her, she scanned all the faces that she could see gathering around them like an audience eager to find out more about a spectacle they had just witnessed - or, in this case, just missed. In her mind, she could imagine them calling out for an encore, and it made the girl giggle, before turning back to Shizu and Shiro.
The captain’s daughter rolled her eyes at Shizu’s comment but let her have that moment without a snarky response from the sharp-tongued girl.
“Anywho~” Lenalee spoke with a little shrug. “I should get myself to a bed now or I’ll fall asleep on the wooden floorboards of the barracks.” Significantly more sober now, she offered a genuine smile though her cheeks were still rosy at the effect of the alcohol. “Congratulations, and I will see you... when I see you!”
Their dinner was nice, but neither of them seemed to be in the habit of planning ahead, nor did she know when she would be given the chance to enjoy so much free time by her captain again - or he by his, for that matter.
With a gentle wave, she waddled past him to head to her own barracks for the night.
The young officer was baring a proud grin as he heard the compliment come from his subordinate, more of his squad had made their presence known as they emerged to get a closer look at the Zanpakuto that was still billowing these storm riddled clouds that rumbled softly, it was quieter now that Shiro was calm but he and the people around him still had to raise their voices somewhat to hear each other.
He returned a few basic compliments with nods and some simple thankyous, and noticed when his dinner partner had made a move to back away, he had heard her voice perfectly clear despite the rumbling thunder and the chattering of people. As she was mid waddle, he moved his free hand out and placed it gently on her shoulder to make her stop.
“That’s how you’re ending the night? Nah we are doing this with style.” He announced with that same bright grin before raising Rairyu up high. With a moment of stunned calm from his squad mates that made the area silent before a brilliantly blue bolt shot into the darkened sky and hit a cloud. The sparks danced along the wispy surface in a brilliant display of light.
“Let me walk you home, Lena. Least I can do after embarrassing you in front of Lieutenant Honda and Captain Kurogami.” He said as his Zanpakuto reverted back to its normal form, and he slid it into his scabbard. He was not paying attention as he moved to walk forward and forge a path for Lenalee to follow to get out without bumping into people. Most of the audience were still staring into the cloud above as if they were expecting other effects and others had dashed away to furiously make some notes on the potential of the ability.
He leaned down and made a whisper now the rumble of thunder was gone. “If we hurry we can escape before your mum haunts the doorway to tell me off for making too much noise after dark.”
Feeling a hand placed on her shoulder, Lenalee came to a halt and turned to look at him. At his offer to make it up to her for embarrassing her in front of Lieutenant Honda and Captain Kurogami, she rolled her eyes.
“First of all, it’s going to take more than just walking me home to make up for that mess, and secondly, I doubt it will be the last time you embarrass me in public. It certainly wasn’t the first.” She teased with a playful smile and stuck her tongue out at him, before spinning on her heel and leaving with him, ignoring all the people that they passed.
“Yup, that is definitely something we should both want to avoid!” The girl laughed and skipped the next step to pick up the pace and move more briskly. She was eager to avoid any lecture from her mother as well as any interaction altogether, having avoided the woman since she was placed on a different squad that wasn't hers.
Walking faster now, she would occasionally look back to see if her mother would appear behind them, which she thankfully didn’t. With a sigh of relief, she looked up at Shiro and grinned. “That was pretty neat. Congratulations.”
Hearing the small woman’s teasing brought a brighter smile to his face as they started to walk to the squad thirteen barracks. He stuck his own tongue out back at Lenalee and shook his head with a soft chuckle, it was easy to see that she was avoiding her own mother still and he was hoping to try and smooth it over. He could never see himself being this mad at the woman who had raised him, Asami. Hell! He had only ever gotten mildly annoyed at Ohashi when she left to become a soul reaper before him.
Shiro didn’t need to change his gait much to keep up with Lenalee’s advanced skipping as one of his longer strides still equalled nearly two of hers. But at her grin he grinned back and nodded. “Yeah, it was! Squad Eleven would have kicked me out for having a Shikai this cool! I can shoot lightning!” He replied, buying into his own hype for a moment.
He turned a corner and kept walking, now that the sun had gone down and all of the buildings around them had their lights on the Seireitei had a vastly different feel. It was a new kind of beauty that the tall officer could never quite put into words, seeing such a wonderful architecture lit up in a peaceful way, it made his original home feel more ramshackle than it was. “You’ll get yours soon! I promise! I’ll come by every night when I’m off duty to help. I am sure Captain Adachi will let us practice and give you time away from his girl.”
The girl giggled at the idea of him being kicked out of a squad for his kind of Shikai. “Yeah, maybe… but who wants to be on Squad Eleven with that psycho, anyway? If you get kicked out of that squad, I would bet my life on it being because Captain ‘I’m an insane bitch’ feels threatened.” Lenalee rolled her eyes and shrugged, having nothing positive to say about the woman who nearly got them killed in the exam.
As she walked with an old classmate that she could now call her friend, she also grew quiet as she took in the scene and grew to appreciate the colourful blanket that fell on the buildings and path they walked. It was a lot more beautiful than she’d ever really taken the time to notice and she assumed most people would miss it too.
Lenalee glanced at Shiro when he spoke and nodded with a smile. “I know I will. I guess it just needs more time…” she uttered, followed by a soft sigh. It wasn’t a sad sigh, but more of a confounded one. She wasn’t quite sure why her sword remained so uncooperative with her from day one. She had tried all the different textbook approaches to get it to warm up to her, but nothing seemed to work. Shaking her head, she didn’t want to think about it too deeply.
“Yeah, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind giving me more time to practise with it, I just don’t know how you can help me with getting its name. I feel I have to figure that out myself first.”
Shiro let out a long and loud laugh when Lenalee ranted on about the captain of Squad Eleven and her insane ways. Captain Yorutatsu was apparently nothing compared to her predecessor Captain Arashi Asami. She was defeated in a challenge by a woman who wasn’t squad eleven and then retired into a noble house… some say it is why Yorutatsu is so damn bitter to the world.
The quiet that enveloped the pair the young officer considered a few truths about himself, truths that before tonight’s dinner, the “calm before the storm”, he would never have seen. His Zanpakuto reflected him quiet well and he could see those parts mirrored blown out of proportion. The same could be the case for Lenalee and others, the Zanpakuto was a part of themselves after all.
“Lenalee,” he said stopping as he leapt forward and stood in her path. “Your Zanpakuto is you, a part of you condensed into the blade. To know your Zanpakuto is to know yourself… ” He uttered, his hand caressing the scabbard of his own weapon. “You’re a smart and brilliant woman, short tempered and thick skulled. You have a plan for everything but… you don’t look after yourself. I think you need to do what is best for you, not your mum or Captain Adachi’s kid.”
“Tookasho! Well said!” A booming voice said from behind him, from around the corner a man in a captains coat strode forward with a brilliant grin on his face. Captain Adachi stopped and nodded to his subordinate as Shiro turned and bowed his head. “No need for formalities, I was just walking Captain Saeki back to her barracks after stopping by for Tea at ours.” He explained and stepped aside as he gestured around the corner.
Shiro stood back up tall and wore a hard face, the soft redness in his cheeks from their earlier drinks starting to fade as his hand removed itself from his Zanpakuto. “I was escorting Lenalee back to her barracks as well, Sir.”
Lenalee looked up at him, her pout reappearing when he gave his two cents on the matter. She knew he was right, but focussing on herself was a more difficult task than she’d care to admit. Despite her coming across as selfish and egocentric to some people back at the academy, few understood that her reasons for appearing so was not her own desires, but rather an urge to please somebody else. Always. If it wasn’t her mother, it would be a sensei. If not a sensei, then the head of the academy, or some ridiculous record that she felt she needed to surpass to wow a crowd.
Sighing, another voice spoke up before she could, and that was Captain Adachi. The way the man pronounced Shiro’s last name irked her, but she thought it wiser not to correct a captain. Shiro was there after all, if it was a problem, surely he would point it out. Straightening up, she bowed her head respectfully to her captain, and then just watched him.
His gesture made her frown, however, as her gaze shifted to the corner that he indicated, her heart racing with anxiety for a moment as she was afraid she’d suddenly find herself face to face with the person that she wished to avoid the most. Thankfully, Azai did not emerge and Lenalee turned back to her captain.
Forcing a smile, she couldn’t help but ask, “My mother just had tea at your barracks?” Lena wondered what that was about as she thought it was quite odd for the woman to engage in any social get-together, and a part of her curious to know if she was, at any point, the topic of their conversation. The idea filled her with dread and it made the girl lightly shake her head.
Shiro explained what they were up to and Lenalee gestured toward him, then pointed in the direction they were going. “Yes! So, uh… we should probably carry on then. Have a nice evening, Captain!” With a nervous smile, she tried her best not to sound rude or disrespectful, but she didn’t want to linger around any longer than she had to, especially knowing that her mother could be anywhere, nor did she want to make small talk with her captain who seemed to have just heard Shiro tell her to focus less on his daughter and more on herself. Oddly enough, the man seemed to be in agreement.
Captain Adachi nodded to answer his subordinate’s question and kept a smile on his face as he stepped aside to let the woman in question reveal herself. “Oh, before you go. Did you feel that explosive spiritual pressure just a short while ago?” His eyes moved and looked to Shiro who got a sheepish look on his face. “There was also thunder, but the clouds didn’t look particularly stormy at the time. Quite strange.” He looked behind the corner he had walked out from.
Shiro chuckled nervously as he patted the back of his own head and let his hand mess up his hair. “Well…” He started. “Captain, Sir. While I was eating dinner with Lenalee my Zanpakuto saw fit to just give me its name.” He chuckled again, somewhat embarrassed that he and his lack of control was noticed so far away by the captains.
“Ah, Congratulations son. Getting your Shikai is quite the achievement. Isn’t Captain Saeki?” He asked and looked back again.
A small pit formed in Shiro’s stomach as he knew Lenalee was wanting to avoid the woman at all costs, and he himself was not exactly ready to tell his captain of his new capabilities. Alcohol was still in his system, and he was fairly sure that there was a rosy tint to his own cheeks. “Ah Captain!”
The shorter of the pair offered a nervous smile as she was quite proud of her partner. While it was really only his achievement and she wished that she reached that same goal as well, she had no intention of taking any credit for it whatsoever, or bearing any ill feelings toward him. She was truly happy for Shiro, regardless.
However, watching her own captain address Captain Saeki, her own mother, Lenalee’s blood ran cold. She wasn’t keen on seeing the woman, and despite knowing that delaying their encounter would only make matters worse, she was eager to do just that. Had this been anyone other than her captain, she would have turned and hurried off with a quick excuse, but this was a man who demanded her respect.
Luckily for her, it seemed that Azai shared a similar thought to her daughter, as she hadn’t stuck around to be a part of the conversation that ensued. Rather than wait around the corner, she did indeed keep walking the rest of the way to her barracks alone.
Relieved, Lenalee let out a sigh and her shoulders slumped forward just a little bit as she could finally relax, the anxious anticipation of a confrontation having been eating away at her.
“I’m sure she’ll have something to say about it tomorrow…” she muttered, though whether it was intended to be a warning to Shiro or reassurance to Captain Adachi, she wasn’t quite sure...
Shiro watched as his own captain carried on walking, ignoring the situation as best she could because she seemingly wanted no interaction with her own daughter as of yet. While this made his companions blood run cold, he felt a jolt of electricity begin to boil his. His unchecked emotions behind the fading smile caused his barely contained spiritual pressure to sky rocket for just a moment as he turned and moved to start walking to chase the woman down but stopped himself when Lenalee said something, it sounded small like a whisper in a tempest but he heard it as clear as a calm sunny day.
Captain Adachi raised an eyebrow at the display but shook his head and sighed. “Lenalee, I hope you had a good night to relax.” He said changing the topic of conversation, bringing his fatherly smile back to his face and nodding to the pair. “And you, Howaito. Congratulations on the Shikai, I’ll hold you to that promise of helping Lenalee with her own.” He said, giving Shiro yet a new pun of a name.
The young officer nodded as he bowed his head to the captain and then looked to Lena now that his anger had simmered away. His own captain had vanished rather quickly to either avoid Shiro pushing the situation when the mother and daughter clearly didn’t want to broach the topic or just go back to her research. “Thank you, sir. I will, she is the reason I got Rairyu’s name.” He replied, bowing his head to the shorter man.
“Thunder Dragon, huh? Now that is apt.” The captain mused as he turned his back and waved. “You’re welcome to walk with me Lenalee, or enjoy the rest of your date.”
Lenalee had no real issue with her mother walking away. It was clear that neither of the two were ready to talk yet and she had learnt how to deal with her mother’s social struggles from a young age. She’d dealt with them all her life and had grown to accept them as a part of her personality - which they were - but most people didn’t see that.
As Adachi spoke once more, she smiled and nodded to him, “Yes, Captain, I did. Thank you,” she uttered, respectfully, until she finally couldn’t take it anymore and blurted out something that she’s been dying to say for a long time to the man.
“His name is Shiro, Captain…” she spoke in a quiet voice, as correcting somebody of such high rank above her felt awkward… but it seemed it needed to be done in order to nip this recurring behaviour in the bud before the Captain’s habit became impossible to unlearn.
“And it wasn’t a date, we were just hanging out and decided to grab dinner together,” the girl was on a roll, perhaps due to the bit of alcohol left in her system giving her more confidence. What she was not prepared for, however, was a talk with anyone about sober matters - or about Captain Adachi’s daughter. “Thank you for the invitation, Captain, but I really should hurry back to my room and call it a night. Shiro will drop me off on his way.”
It was a fun evening spent together, but an exhausting one, and she was ready to crawl into bed and drift away to sleep.
Shiro was feeling somewhat accomplished now that one captain had heard of his success in attaining a Shikai release. He was about to speak up saying this wasn’t a date when Lenalee beat him to the punch with a comment about Shiro’s name and how the captain was getting it wrong. His words fell away as a smile graced his face.
The captain heard the outburst and turned to face the young woman who was on his squad and a fatherly smile came to him. There was no look of shock, malice or annoyance in the man, but there was a tinge of pride in his eyes as nodded. “Then I believe you and Shiro should be going then.” He said with a bow of his head to show his apology. “It’s good to see you finally put your foot down.” He spoke before turning on his heel and beginning his walk.
Shiro looked down at Lenalee and chuckled. “Your captain can read you like a book, Lena.” He joked softly and gestured for her to start the walk back to her room. He was going to let her get back to her room like he promised and then head back to either crash or get dragged around by his squad to show off his Shikai some more or just celebrate. For a bunch of scientists, they loved a good reason to party, despite their captain’s lack of celebratory spirit.
As they stopped by the door to Lenalee’s room in the barracks Shiro smiled down to her, looking into her eyes for a moment. “I enjoyed tonight. Thanks for coming along.” He said to her, radiating a calmness now that he had a chance to calm down after the events. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” He asked. “For Shikai training… of course…”
Seeing such a gentle response from the captain who was just corrected surprised Lenalee, as she expected to be met with something more aggressive for having such a nerve. However, she should have known better - this was Captain Adachi, after all. He has always been kind and the fatherly smile on his face seemed to be his default expression… toward her anyway.
Politely saying her goodbyes and goodnight, she turned to walk with Shiro, but rolled her eyes at his comment. “Whatever,” she didn’t really agree with his observation, but was too tired to argue about, nor did she see the point.
Glancing up at her companion, she could feel the eagerness emanating from him to show more people his Shikai. She couldn’t blame him, she would want to do the same thing if she were in his shoes! It was a pity that he didn’t get to show it to his captain tonight, but she was confident that, when the time was right, she would give it all the attention it deserves.
Upon reaching the door to her room, she stopped for a moment, gesturing toward it as if to say it was her stop. “Yeah, tonight was… more fun than I expected it to be,” she giggled, looking up at the tall giant, her rosy cheeks accentuated by her smile. “Tomorrow? Yeah! Yeah, absolutely. For Shikai training…” nodding along, she playfully punched his arm. “Can’t let you have all the fun with a fancy Shikai, I need to get mine too to keep your ego in check, Tagachi!” The rare sound of her genuine laughter filled the air around them, though it was quiet so as to avoid waking anyone who hadn’t already stirred.
“Have a good night…” one hand on the door, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with her free hand while she watched him walk away. Entering her room, she crawled right into bed, her smile still present.