Disrupted🪭

19 - Received In Different Ways

Byakuya waited for Shinji to quit laughing as he stared at the captain impatiently. There were other things he could be doing and he felt the Hollow inside him beginning to pick at his brain again. He didn't have time to argue or be made fun of. Finally, Shinji stopped laughing and looked at Byakuya.

"You're really funny, Kuchiki-san; I never knew you were secretly a jokester."

"I am not joking, Captain Hirako. I do not joke."

Shinji frowned a little and stuck his hands in his sleeves, thinking for a moment.

"So... you were there at the same time that Aizen tried to turn us into Hollows? How is that possible?"

"Another Hollow appeared that night close to where Aizen used the Hogyoku and I was near it. I was attacked by it and I crawled behind a bush to keep out of the way. When I did, it so happened to be next to the experimentation that Aizen was doing. I was infected as well but it was not enough to cause Hollowfication immediately."

"I see... so you're telling me that now your Hollow is starting to take over your body? Damn, kid, you must have good resilience."

"The Hollow was disguising itself as my zanpakuto."

"Ah..."

"I have been informed that I should ask you to help me learn how to control my Hollow."

Shinji rubbed his chin as he thought for a moment. "Well, I can't teach you here... I'll give Hiyori a call and see if we still have the warehouse downtown in Karakura Town. I'll let you know what she says."

Byakuya bowed slightly. "Thank you, Captain Hirako."

He turned to leave but Shinji called out to him.

"Hey, Kuchiki-sama?" Byakuya looked over his shoulder. "Why isn't Ichigo teaching you?"

"He said that each one must learn on their own. His technique is too sporadic and his abilities seem to have been there already for him to develop. I am not that way."

Shinji nodded. "That's true. Our techniques didn't work on him like it should have... Yeah, I'll let you know what Hiyori says and if she says okay, then you're going to have a long road ahead of you, Kuchiki-san."

"I am aware of the difficulties."

He walked away to go back to his barracks.

Along the way, someone ran into him and he stopped as the girl sprawled out on the wooden path.

"Sorry..." He looked at her appearance as she looked at him and she smiled nervously. "Captain Kuchiki, what a surprise."

"Lieutenant Ise."

"Sorry about running into you. I was thinking..."

Byakuya nodded and moved around her to get to where he was going.

Nanao watched him from the ground and picked up her stuff, putting it back in a nice pile when a shadow loomed over her. She looked up as Matsumoto loomed over her.

"Hello, Matsumoto-san."

"You ran into Byakuya-san, I see." She said with a smile, twirling her hair in her fingers. "That is a classic trick. I'm glad that you actually have tricks like that."

"What are you talking about?" Nanao asked, pushing up her glasses as she picked up her stack of papers. "I just ran into him."

Matsumoto laughed and smacked Nanao on the back repeatedly.