The Gatekeeper(Open to all)

[Largo]

"I said get back here, damn it!"

Hanzou's feet pounded against the dirt. How his pursuer had made it over the wall, or how he could run faster than a shinigami, were completely beyond his comprehension. Hanzou had thought it would be a quiet day. Every day at division 3 was a quiet day. And he enjoyed the tranquility. Today however, it seemed like his luck had run out.

He had been kneeling some odd feet beyond the wall that divided Rukon and Seireitei. That's what he had always done. That was his job. Nothing but the sun shining on his back, and the walls of the great maze that made up Seireitei's heart behind him. He let his body relax, completely unaware of just how boring the job really was.
"Hanzou-kuuuuuun!"

And then it was over. A girl with dazzling red hair, in a ponytail that hung down her back, garbed in a bright pink kimono, speckled with red flowers and petals appeared behind him. Konjou Kuuhaku looked like something out of a spring catalog. The woman, seemingly in her lower twenties, appeared behind Hanzou and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I'm bored, Hanzou! Can't we do something fun?", the girl whined with an exaggerated pout.

Hanzou let out a sigh. This was normal. The spirit of his zanpakuto, Konjou Kuuhaku (Konjou for short) had a rather short attention span. It was not uncommon for her to interrupt him at work.
"Will you get off of me? You know I can't just run off somewhere. I was assigned a job by captain Shihouin. I have to guard this gate."

Konjou squeezed her partner tightly, hoping to make him crack eventually. She had always been unsuccessful, but always acted as if she had always had her way. She buried her face into Hanzou's shoulder.
"But I'm booooored, Hanzoooouuuu!"

Hanzou's hand waggled back at her, pathetically attempting to shoo her away. He knew it was useless. And perhaps deep down, somewhere, he agreed with her. It was true that he loved nothing more than to complete his missions. Yet admittedly, he sometimes yearned for something more than watching a blank wall. Looking back, these thoughts may have been what put him off his guard.
"Look, I know you-"

A black figure. Human sized. Hanzou's eyes traced it for only seconds as it cast a shadow over his head, and landed with a thump behind him. Springing to his feet, Hanzou's hand gripped the hilt of his zanpakuto. As Konjou instinctively vanished, preparing for battle, the man had already kicked off.
"Son of a... get back here, you bastard!"

Hanzou's feet pounded against the dirt. How his pursuer had made it over the wall, or how he could run faster than a shinigami, were completely beyond his comprehension. All Hanzou knew was that if he didn't catch him quickly, he would never hear the end of it from his captain.

"I said get back here, damn it!"

[Galihan]

"Please sir, *pant* Lieutenant Azuka! *huff* Please, we can't keep up, slow down sir *pant!*"

The cries of the few hopelessly tired members of Squad Two who the vice-captain had chosen for some early morning exercise consisting of a lap all around Seireitei were barely an echo at the pace that the lieutenant was moving. He was going to work those slackers to exhaustion, however, Tsuno had a better idea after he saw that one of the gates was being guarded by a fresh recruit. He was going to have some fun with the poor kid.

Even though he was the vice-captain in his squad, he was also an officer in the Executive Militia, and thus wore a completely different uniform than other shinigami in the Thirteen Squads. Some of the younger ones often mistook him as a ryoka it usually ended with some hilarity, and so why would this be any different? Lieutenant Azuka of Squad Two had a reputation of being a troublemaker with the new recruits but it was always in fun spirit, and he was about to have some fun with another noobie.

He saw that the kid was rather young, to be given such a prestigious job as guarding the gate must have meant that Captain Shihouin had a lot of confidence in the lad. He watched the kid for quite a while, and waited for him to begin to dose off. It was then that he went for it he went for the gate and ran up the giant wall for a bit and leaped off, to the person below it looked as if he was an intruder who got over top of the wall from Rukongai, and as expected, he tried to apprehend him.

"Son of a... get back here, you bastard!" the boy called to him, and he bolted off in towards the Seireitei. "I said get back here, damn it!" he continued, Tsuno being able to outrun the kid by a longshot but still he went slow enough to let him see which corner he turned into, where he quietly hopped to the rooftop and he waited for the kid to catch up. Then he'd make another dash and hide on another rooftop, or in an alleyway if he happened to be able to get on the roofs himself.

"Silly kid, you won't catch me!" Tsuno teased as he dissapeared from sight, surely the other would give chase.

[Largo]

Hanzou's heel dug into the ground as he skidded to a halt. Around the corner... the invader rounded this corner... he knew he saw it. So where was he?! Hanzou's eyes darted back and forth, frantically observing their surroundings.
Nothing.
But that voice... whoever it was, it was a man, and he was close by. He couldn't slip up now. If he let his first intruder get any further into Soul Society, the captain would have his head. So then... what tactic to use? The man seemed cocky. To call him a "silly kid", he must be the trouble-making type. Based on that...

Hanzou slid his blade out from it's sheath in a smooth and elegant motion. The sliding of steel bounced and chimed on the sorrounding walls. Gripping the blade with his left hand, he held it horizontally in front of him, the blade's end staring down the empty path in front of it. His voice was bold and confident, completely unlike that of a casual 13 year old.

"Intruder! Reveal yourself or I, Hanzou Momoji, third seat of the Third Division, will physically apprehend you!"

It was a technique that he had learned when he was still a living being. His mother had taught him that people who bully others only want them to retaliate. It was essentially the same concept. By calling the intruder, his overconfidence would surely get Hanzou some sort of response. At the very least, a verbal taunt of some sort. Hanzou waited silently for a reaction.

[Galihan]

"Intruder! Reveal yourself or I, Hanzou Momoji, third seat of the Third Division, will physically apprehend you!"

This kid sounds pretty serious, went through Tsuno's head, the toothy grin spread across his face drooping in disappointment, Third of Third? He's higher up than I gave him credit for, maybe I shouldn't get too carried away.

The vice-captain exhaled a deep breath, unsure of what to do next. He could just reveal himself to the kid, apologize for causing a hassle, but that'd be unpleasant for Tsuno to deal with. If he were to keep playing his game with Hanzou, there'd be a chance the kid'd get really ticked and release his shikai which could cause a deal of unrest and that would be very unpleasant for Tsuno to deal with. He could just give himself up as innocently as possible, but then still there'd a deal of explaining he'd have to do, especially if more members of Third showed up for reinforcements. In that case then he'd be sure to get a scolding from one of their captains if not both, and that'd be absolutely very unpleasant for Tsuno to deal with. Oh what to do, what to do? The choices put Tsuno into a headache. It wasn't that he wasn't a good thinker or that he didn't enjoy thinking, in fact quite the opposite seeing as he was very much so a strategist on the battlefield (or an opportunist, either one applied.) It was just that he realized he'd no matter what get some sort of scolding one way or another and he had to think what would be the best course of action in order to get out of as much trouble as possible.

Perhaps, nah, that wouldn't work at all, or would it? Tsuno thought to himself, thinking of what he had at his disposal. Could this plan actually work? His plan was simple, he'd simply do something to distract Hanzou and then do something to make it seem like he'd just entered the scene himself, but how?

I got it! He exclaimed silently, as he'd reached for a stone shingle on the roof he was hiding on top off. He broke a small piece off, and chucked it into the alley below.

... nothing...


Damn it! Oh well, I might be able to still do something, something with more bang... I GOT IT! He thought again, this time charging his reiatsu only slightly, and he began to recite an incantation very quietly. A small explosion burst from the hands of Tsuno as he charged a weak hado spell he had recently been trying to get working, only realizing too late that the entire idea was retarded on his part.


"Ye Lord, mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man, inferno and pandemonium, The sea barrier surges, March on to the south, Red Flame Ca- oh wait this is stup- oh sh*!"

The blast wasn't powerful at all, but it did send him tumbling to the ground below, not very far from where Hanzou was standing guard.

[Largo]

What the hell?! An explosion?! It looked like some kind of kidou...

These thoughts ran through Hanzou's mind only moments before a smoking body came tumbling from a roof. It took Hanzou a few seconds to comprehend what had just happened. He drew two quick conclusions in his head as his feet simultaniously began to advance toward the figure.
1. The invader either knows techniques similiar to kidou, or is simply untrained in the art of kidou.
2. The figure is not the invader, but an annoyingly placed shinigami, attempting to practice on his day off.

Konjou Kuuhaku extended roughly one foot above the man's head, as Hanzou stood before him. The smell of the smoke that rose off of him solidified his hunch; definitely a backfired kidou spell.
"Do not move. State your name and stay exactly where you- huh?"

The smog began to clear, and Hanzou's eyes flickered, struck with surprise and confusion. Of all of the scenarios he could have plotted, Lieutenant Azuka would not have been in any one of them. He lowered his blade immediately, as an act of respect to a Vice Captain.

Hanzou knew this man to a degree, though they had never conversed at all. In fact, it wouldn't surprise him in the least if Vice Captain Azuka Tsuno had never seen him in his life. He had a reputation for being skilled at what he did, and it was often said that he was excellent at training the lower seats. Hanzou thought he was quite admirable, although the two had never spoken a word to one another.

To be safe, Hanzou slid his zanpakuto back into place. Even weilding it in front of a Lieutenant put him at risk of being scolded. For the moment, the thought of an intruder completely slipped his mind, and only the reason as to why this man was wandering around the area casting kidou spells remained.

"Lieutenant Azuka...um...what are you doing?" Hanzou asked with as much curiosity as being respectful would allow.

[Shizuko]

A rather high-pitched giggling could be heard coming from the rooftop of a building nearby the very confused looking Third Division member and the smoking lieutenant. Matano Nekomi looked on in amusement at the two below with her chin resting upon her crossed arms over her knees.

“Well that was…. Interesting…” she mused aloud playfully.

Nekomi had wandered out in search of entertainment. The Court of Pure Souls was often so drab and boring, after all. There were rarely any confrontations, hardly any training, and, well, quite literally nothing of interest for a rather chaotic young girl like herself. As captain of Squad Eleven, she was often on the lookout for a good fight, and it was purely by coincidence that she’d even been nearby. As fortune would have it, however, the sound of this recent commotion had most certainly caught the petite shinigami’s attention.

It was Hanzou’s yelling which had alerted the young shinigami to trouble in the first place. While such an open order and challenge would likely have stirred feelings of apprehension and concern in the hearts of many a shinigami, Nekomi responded with a mischievous smile and a pang of joy welling up in the pit of her stomach. Finally, some action!

Nekomi had moved quickly and silently, placing herself in an advantageous position to monitor the two who had proven to be the cause of the commotion. Though it was a little disappointing for her to realize that there was no real confrontation happening in that moment, she had been rewarded with the funniest scene she’d witnessed in quite some time.

The captain felt comfortable in betraying her position now, as she realized that this was hardly a threat upon Seireitei. She’d managed to sneak up on the two simply by taking advantage of their focus on one another and taming her own reiatsu to a very low level. Only those of remarkable skill (as well as awareness at the moment) would have been able to recognize her as capable of power much above that of the average Academy student. She had always had a knack for using her reiatsu to throw people off and cause them to misjudge her, even in life.

The girl’s dark pigtails shook when she continued her laugh. The sight of the failed kidou had caught her by surprise and the sight of the poor Vice Captain on the ground at the gatekeeper’s feet was simply quite hysterical. She wiped a bit of moisture from her large, expressive brown eyes and composed herself. She simply had to hear how Tsuno would explain himself.

[Galihan]

What. The Hell. Was I Thinking? was all that the vice-captain could think to himself as his smoldering body lay in a heap flopped across the stone-paved street of the Seireitei. He knew he had no talent whatsoever in most kido and of course hado #31 was definitely not an exception, but for some odd reason he found himself frequently trying to practice the weak fireball spell as of late.

That said and done, Tsuno was laying in a smoky mess in the street after his attempt at weak kido backfires miserably. He twitched a bit, but in a moment he heard the voice of Hanzou call out to him.

"Lieutenant Azuka...um...what are you doing?" Asked the third seat of the 3rd Squad. Tsuno's only thoughts in his head now were simle,v and to the point.

Crap.

The lieutenant shot straight up in less than a heartbeak in a manner one could consider over-dramatic or something a person would expect to see in one of those anime-cartoons that were all the rage in the living world among kids and young adults.

How the hell was he going to explain himself to this new-recruit that he, the highly respected and well known vice-captain of 2nd Squad had been screwing around with the poor kid and his job as a gatekeeper? No, not screwing around, just making a game- no, a test! That's it! It was all a test! And he passed it, so it's not like he'd ever question being praised by a powerful vice-captain. Now just as long as nobody was here to witness what transpired just now-

"Lieu-ten-ant A-zu-ka! Where did youuuu goooo!" called the distant voices of the lowly members of 2nd Squad who Tsuno had forgotten about in the midst of having so much fun before ending up like this. Not to mention that he had a creepy feeling like he was being watched by a large pair of eyes some were nearby.

The Squad Two members were going to be here any minute now and he'd have to do something before then. He began to dust himself clean of soot and ashes, patting out some smoke that was smoldering on his hood. He also straightened out his shades, which were now bent and slightly cracked much to his dismay. It'd cost him too much to repair them but he couldn't just throw them away either, they had sentimental value as well...

"Err, umm, uh...," Tsuno was unable to think of anything smart to say at the moment, so all he got out of his lips was a rather suspicious sounding

"What am I doing? I was, (umm) I was just taking a few of my squad members out for some training when I heard you pursuing an intruder, and I, well... (umm),"

...oh no... he then thought to himself as the uneasy uneasy feeling was confirmed as in the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of what looked like a small child, and there could be only person who that could possibly be... the most dreaded and feared of all the thirteen captains in Soul Society, even more so than that bloodthirsty barbarian from Squad Nine... what was she of all people doing here?

[Largo]

He could feel them. The sense of two eyes staring at him from afar made Hanzou's body shudder. But from where? Wait a second... no, that couldn't be right. If someone was observing the two of them, there would be some kind of foreign reiatsu floating around. There wasn't even a bit of fluxuation... no one could mask their reiatsu that well. Regardless, Hanzou's eyes drifted lazily around, trying to locate it, if anything, without being suspicious.

Finding nothing, he shifted back to Lieutenant Azuka. His story seemed shakey. Not by it's liability; the story seemed to make sense. But the way he was presenting it seemed a bit odd to him. He seemed scrambled... as if he was either hiding something, or that blast knocked the sense right out of him. But why would he lie about that kind of thing? At this point, nothing made sense in Hanzou's head. He'd just have to play along with-
"Hanzoooou... why is that girl looking at us like that?"

Konjou wasn't visible, but Hanzou heard her clearly. To be specific, he heard her more than he wished too in most cases. But at least this time her words had some value to them, unlike the previous day's conversation about how she should wear her hair. There was someone else... and it was female. The term "girl" probably meant that she was young... oh! Lieutenant Azuka! Right!

"Did you see it too?! Do you have any idea where they went?! Please, Lieutenant Azuka! If I don't catch them, my Captain will hang my head by the fireplace!"

He had no reason not to believe him. As far as Hanzou could see, Vice Captain Azuka was either out of his mind, or a source of information. At any rate, he certainly didn't want to interrupt his training program.
"Huh? Oh! I know! It's that Captain lady! What's her name? Bahh. We've seen her around, Hanzou. Remember?"

Nekomi. Though like all of her descriptions, Konjou's was rather vague, it was enough to clarify just who was keeping an eye on them. There was only one young girl of a Captain, and that was Captain Nekomi of division eleven. Hanzou had seen her of course, but never really talked with her. This was mainly because, bluntly, she scared the crap out of him. She was even shorter than he was, and seemed to have a few screws loose. Oh well... better her to stare at them than a hollow, he supposed.

[Shizuko]

Nekomi smiled at the answer of the Vice Captain of Squad Two as he appeared to make up a story on the fly. The uncertainty and sluggishness of his answer suggested falsehood, but in all honesty, it all seemed rather harmless to the girl, so she, like Hanzou, played along. She also noted that both of the shinigami in her sights appeared rather hesitant to look in her direction or acknowledge her presence. She took this as a sign that her secretive entrance into the commotion had indeed gone unnoticed by the pair, and they weren’t sure how to react.

The petite captain stood up from her current position and moved closer, coming to a stop just above the two other shinigami. She sat down once more with her feet dangling freely from the roof’s edge as she got a better look at the other officers.

“So… are you training your squad to play hide-and-seek?” she asked Tsuno with a broad grin plastered across her face. It was an honest question, as it was apparent by their calls that his subordinates had no clue where he was or what they were to be doing. Also, Nekomi found it amusing to probe a little deeper into what she believed to be a less-than-truthful explanation of his crazy actions. She couldn’t help but think that it might be fun to watch him squirm a little.

Still, Division Eleven’s Captain was certainly not the type to tease people one at a time, so she then turned her attention to Hanzou. Kicking her feet in the air playfully, she asked him something else.

“Do you plan on chasing weird people down any time they call you out and leave your post completely open and unguarded?” Again, Nekomi asked an honest question, as she wasn’t entirely convinced that someone who would simply start up a wild goose chase and leave their assigned gate should really be guarding such an important area. Besides, if this guy was going to chase down any strange person he encountered, he would be chasing most of the Gotei 13. None of them could really be considered “normal” in Nekomi’s opinion.

Her tone was not accusatory and her mannerisms were not judgmental. The captain was simply curious to see how they would react. She merely liked to keep people on their toes. Besides, this had been the most action she’d seen all day. It would be a shame for it all to simply dissipate!

[Kovath]

"Going to be late! Going to be late! Going to be late!" were the only words going through Kovath Lanteri's mind as he raced across Seireitei at amazing speeds. "Why today of all days do I forgot my alarm clock, I'm going to miss that stupid exam!!" he thought frantically. He was just about to jump from a building when he noticed a peculiar sight. It appeared like some person screwed up the #31 kido, a moderately difficult kido move. He almost laughed in amusement that a graduated shinigami couldn't perform kido on such a easy level. That was until he realized that a little girl appeared out of nowhere with captain robes. "Wait, captain robes? Then she must be.." thought Kovath, that was until he realized he was too lost in thought and ran, with all of his momentum, into a shinigami who had 3 on his robes.

[Galihan]

In response to the tiny captain's query, he had no choice but to stretch the truth and sprinkle in a few dishonesties to make his answer a bit more acceptable for the girl's liking. He wasn't a dishonest person, but he did know how to tell a pretty believable lie, providing that he wasn't in a situation like earlier, involving a self-inflicted explosion. Now however he was probably able to pass off his story as being a game of manhunt.

As he was about to open his mouth, he saw what appeared to be a student from the academy bolting in this direction with amazing speed. He obviously looked lost but it would seem that he had witnessed his screw-up, which was just great. Then, distracted by the appearance of Captain Nekomi, this guy ran right into Hanzou at full speed! A large collision was heard from quite the distance, and sprawled on the ground were the tall academy student and the shorter and younger looking 3rd Seat.

All the while, the Vice-Captain of Squad Two watched on, dumbstruck, wide eyed, jaw hanging. He began to blink a few times, and wasn't sure what just happened asides from that somebody was gonna be sore in the morning. He coughed a few times, and began what he was about to say, although not quite as suave as he had intended.

". . . yes, ma'am . . . hide-and-go-seek . . . and now . . . this . . . what the heck . . . ?"

[Kovath]

"uhuhhh" moaned Kovath as he slowly got up and looked around. He was still a bit blurry but he noticed a small girl, and what appeared to be a lieutenant. He placed his hand on his head and groaned as he finally stood up. "Why would a lieutenant and a little girl be here?" Kovath muttered, oblivious to the female's power as he began to notice his surroundings.

He heard the lieutenant speak, "". . . yes, ma'am . . . hide-and-go-seek . . . and now . . . this . . . what the heck . . . ?" in a really nervous voice. His vision finally cleared up, though he still had a nasty headache, and he realized that he hit someone. "Crap! I'm sorry!!" Kovath said as he tried to help the person he ran into up. He finally realized the lieutenant was Squad 2's lieutenant Azuka. Then he realized he ran into the 3rd seat of the 3rd division. Then he turned his attention to the girl. He froze and realized who it was, "Umm.... I'm s-s-s-sorry Ca-Ca-Captain Nekomi, err.... I'll just take my e-e-exit now," Kovath stuttered as he straightened immediately. Then he began slowly edging away from the site, hoping he wasn't going to get killed....

[kruzy]

Sake was out for a stroll checking on the gates as it was his duty to make sure all was safe. And as the new squad 3 captain he thought there was no better way than formally introducing himself. Upon reaching the last gate of the day, nobody was their. "How unusual" Sake said to himself. He realized how bad it would even make him look if somthing would have happend if someone else tried entering.

With a quick hesitation, Sake focused on a consentration of reiatsu coming from a section of the society.
"I swear whoever is supposed to be gaurding this gate is going to get it, unless they have an excuse".. he said in an angry tone, as he reached into his robe and pulled out a hell butterfly.

"Squad members 8,9 and 10, report to my co-ordinates to protect the gate" He would leave no room for error, so he called for three members to protect the gate till he returned.

And then he was off. Sensing the reiatsu getting stronger from an alleyway a few blocks down. As he leapt from roof top to roof top, he finally landed amongst the group standing there.

"Captain of squad eleven i presume.." As he noticed the white robe and '11' on the back. "Sake Kruzyama.... New captain of Squad 3. Do you know whats going on, and why nobody's protecting MY gate by chance?" He asked in an arrogant tone. He wasn't the least bit worried about the others, or the captain at the matter, he was more or less upset with why he wasn't informed on the departure of the gates gaurd.

[GoldenKitten]

Moved to Dead RP's.