Chapter 2: Short Staffed 1/2

Chapter 2 – Short staffed

It had been a tough first week for Kokoro Shiraki.

Life in the tenth squad was so different than the Third. For one thing, there was no comforting presence of her father Captain Kenji Shiraki or Lieutenant Hibiki Hamada close by.

She supposed she had been spoiled quite a lot to have the luxury of having such a close relationship with two high ranking individuals, but the Third Division was all she had ever known having lived there most of her life.

Sure, she had lived in the dorms at the Academy, however then she had always remained in close contact with her father, for the Third Squad Barracks were not actually that far from the Academy.

And now here she was, in shared barracks on the completely opposite side of the Seireitei to her father and the Third division. Though she tried to keep herself in check, Kokoro had ended up crying a little on her first night when everyone else was asleep.

She knew it was stupid of her to cry. She had signed up for this job and knew the compromises she would have to make, but still, it did not stop her from feeling homesick.

At least there were two things that made her life a little more bearable. Her best friend, Kimiko Shibata, was once again rooming with her and working alongside her. And secondly, the massive amounts of paperwork.

Now Kokoro did not actually like paperwork. In fact, she hated it just as much as any of the other officers. What she did like was how it kept her busy. The more she worked, the less homesick she felt, and the more exhausted she would be going to bed every day.

And so, she had made sure she kept as busy as possible throughout the day. Even if it meant running errands constantly for the lazy older officers that took advantage of the newbies, she would do it.

And speaking of lazy officers…

"Captain! Captain!" A feminine voice shrieked, and Kokoro turned her head just in time for her face to collide headlong into a pair of gigantic soft fleshy mounds half covered in black and white cloth.

She fell backwards from the sheer force, the stack of papers in her hands flying and scattering everywhere as a taller Shinigami woman with short strawberry blond waves and a pink scarf dashed past her yelling:

"Oh, sorry 'Scuse me-HEY Captain! CAPTAIN! Damn Bastard, where did he go?!"

"Ow…" Kokoro winced as she began to resettle her platinum blonde locks into place. Of all the times Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto had to cross her path it had to be now.

The woman was nice Kokoro supposed if only she would stop mowing her down with her ample cleavage every second day.

"Oh no." Kokoro deflated with a sigh as she caught sight of all the paperwork strewn down the hall. She had to deliver these to the sixth seat's office quickly to get the appropriate signatures before moving another stack to the Captain's office to get signed pronto.

Quickly she scrambled for each of the sheets, not noticing someone else's presence down the hall until their foot had almost stepped on a flyaway paper.

"Ah! Wait!" she squeaked as she reached out for the stray. The tabi clad foot paused mid-air.

"Oh, sorry" a boy's voice drawled in surprise.

Kokoro looked up and blushed with embarrassment.

It was the white-haired boy she had seen at the graduation ceremony. He looked even younger in the small-sized black kosode and hakama, but unlike scrawny, timid Kokoro, he already seemed to stand stern and proud in his uniform, as if he'd been wearing it since the day he was born.

"Sorry, I didn't mean-sorry" She mumbled as she snatched the paper beneath his foot, ducking her head down as the boy's turquoise eyes made their way down the long scar over her left eye.

"Let me guess," He deadpanned "You had a run-in with Lieutenant Matsumoto?"

"Y-Yes. Once again, I'm sorry. I'll just be on my way with these" Kokoro nodded, face still turned to the ground as she quickly tried to step around him and away.

She was stopped short in her tracks by a finger tapping on her shoulder.

"Ahem, excuse me."

She jolted and spun around like a frightened cat. The boy was behind her now, holding out a couple of pieces of paper.

"You forgot these,"

"O-Oh!" Kokoro's face was now almost as red as a beetroot as she accepted the papers from the boy and bowed gratefully "Thank you so much-"

She was interrupted as a nearby clock chimed the hour and she gulped. Oh crap, she was going to be late!

"S-Sorry, I've gotta-I need to-the reports-um bye and thank you!" She squeaked as she dashed down the corridor, leaving the white-haired boy standing there with his hand still raised in the air.

"H-Hey wait I didn't get your…name…" he trailed off lamely as he realised, he was now the only one left in the corridor.

"Tche! Whatever," He scowled as he folded his arms and trudged back the way he had come, not noticing the clouds in the sky darkening ever so slightly outside the window.

Three months later…

Kokoro tossed and turned in her futon.

It was the height of summer and the tenth squad barracks were sweltering hot.

Kokoro and her roommate Kimiko barely used their covers at all during the night and still, they could not keep cool.

Not that keeping cool would help Kokoro rest, not when strange dreams, or rather the same strange dream, kept plaguing her nearly every single time she shut her eyes that month.

Indeed, she was seeing it right now.

She was standing in the middle of a small clearing. All around her, a forest of tall and thick trees rustled as wind and mist blew through the branches. The canopy was so dense above her head that she could barely see the overcast grey skies.

"Hello?!"

She gulped as her shout echoed eerily around her, the sound bouncing off the tree trunks and reverberating in her ears.

"Hello!" she called again turning around on the spot to see if she could spot a way out.

There was none. There were only trees and grey mist.

Or was there?

Kokoro squinted. Was it her imagination, or had a shadow flickered behind the trees for a split second?

"H-Hello?" she gulped timidly "I-is anyone there?"

Nothing answered. Nothing moved, not even the mist.

She shivered. Wherever she was it was cold. It did not help that the overcast skies above began to swirl and twist ominously as thunder rumbled overhead and the wind howled-

"That's it lazy bones! Get up! Rise and Shine! Morning drill is in ten minutes! The last one to the training grounds has to do one hundred laps around the Barracks!"

Kokoro squeaked sitting bolt upright in her futon as the voice of Captain Shiba banged on her room door before stomping off to slam on their neighbours.

Captain Isshin Shiba was a man who liked to do things personally (or at least everything besides paperwork).

Every morning without fail, sometimes at the crack of dawn, he would stomp around the barracks and rouse all two hundred of his recruits by banging on their doors and shouting at them to wake up. If someone didn't leave bed on time then he'd open the sliding door and wake them up with a great big flying kick to the face if they were a man, or a loud yell in their ear if they were a woman.

Thankfully Kokoro was used to waking up early, what with her father being a strict early riser himself. Her roommate Kimiko on the other hand, was not so good with mornings. It was only thanks to Kokoro waking up on time to gently rouse her awake before the captain made his rounds did they ever make it on time to the morning practice drills.

"Damn that man! Does he have to be that loud?" the raven-haired beauty groaned into her pillow as she cracked open a bleary purple eye and saw that her younger roommate was almost halfway dressed already.

"Ugh! Okay, I'm up!" she had just about struggled to her feet when the captain came passing by their room door again.

"Yo! Anyone home! You've got five minutes to get to the training grounds or else I come in there and drag you out myself! Chop! Chop!"

"I'll show him the chop-chop!" Kimiko grumbled, mumbling under her breath as she tried hopping into her Shihakushō while at the same time trying and failing to tie her hair.

"Kokoro-chan help!" she whined and Kokoro couldn't help but smirk fondly as she strode over and began to fasten her friend's white sash, leaving the older girl free to tie her hair back into her twin pigtails.

They had both just finished dressing when the door to their room burst open.

"Alright, you two hurry up! We haven't got all day!" Captain Shiba barked and the two girls were quick to dash out of the room. However, Kokoro only made it two steps when she felt a large hand grab her by the back of her collar.

"Hey-Hey! And where do you think you're going?!"

"T-To the training grounds sir" Kokoro all but bleated in terror.

"Not with your hair like that you're not!" Captain Shiba scowled "Do you have a tie?"

"Y-yes, sir. It's here on my wrist." Kokoro gulped only to squeak as the band was wrenched from her limb and a second hand began pulling and bunching the Platinum blonde locks above her head.

A few seconds later, there was a hard tug, and most of Kokoro's hair was tied in a messy palm-tree ponytail with her bangs messed up and uneven in the front.

"Always make sure your hair is tied back before training! You got that?!" Captain Shiba scowled down at the girl.

"Yes sir."

"Good now go, get your butt over to Rangiku. She'll be taking your group through your drills! Go on now! Off with you" He slapped Kokoro between the shoulder blades to get her moving again.

As soon as she was out of sight across the courtyard, Captain Shiba's scowl softened to a confused frown as he looked down at his arms.

He was not sure whether the girl had noticed it or not, but her hair was frizzing ever so slightly and there was a subtle crackling white and yellow glow around her that flickered every so often in his sixth sense.

"That's interesting" he murmured yet even as he made to walk around a nearby post he yelped as a tiny charge zapped his finger.

He quickly looked down at his arms, all the hairs were standing on end and his skin had goosebumps from where he could feel little jolts of energy moving across it.

"That's very interesting."

Another four months later…

A couple of the other greenhorns sneered and sniggered down at the small head of platinum blonde now mid-back length hair barely visible over the top of the mountain of paperwork.

Being the smallest and youngest member of the squad, some of Kokoro's fellow Shinigami had put her in a tiny corner and had stacked piles upon piles of paperwork upon it, most of it theirs. She had been so busy with work for the past few weeks that her bangs had grown out and she had been forced to tie her hair back into a messy half ponytail to keep it out of her way as she worked and trained.

Alright so this one goes here, and this one is for the captain and the lieutenant to sign so that will go here under this sheet-

She bit her lip feeling her gut clench as the door opened and another squad member waltzed in, and loudly complained about a new batch of work he had been handed.

"Hey, why don't you put some of it on Scarface's desk! I'm sure she could get it done fast." one of the men smirked and the rest of his mates sniggered.

Behind her desk, Kokoro's fingers gripped her pen hard as she tilted her face down so that it was obscured by her bangs.

Just ignore them and do your work. Just ignore them and do your work.

She scribbled another signature onto a page and slid it amongst others of its kind. The idiots had not even bothered to sort the pages into groups or anything. Everything was just dumped.

"Hey, Scarface! You've got incoming!" her insulter from before barked as he all but slammed down another small pile of paper in front of her.

"But-but I-" she stammered as she looked up at the man. He was a rather plain if muscular individual with a short mop of brown hair and brown eyes. She vaguely recognised him from her time in the Academy. He had been in the class below her but had been one of the many that had mocked her. She knew his face, but his name escaped her. Was it Saru or Sabu?

Either way, it was just her luck she had to be stuck with him when her friend Kimiko was not there. Nobody ever dared insult Kokoro in front of her friend for fear of being ripped a new one.

"But what Scar? I thought you said you liked paperwork?" the guy sneered.

"I-I said I didn't mind doing it," mumbled Kokoro, much to the man's smugness as he petted her head like one would a dog.

"What was that freak I didn't quite catch that?"

"Yeah, you gotta speak up." One of his friends chortled behind him "Seriously are you a mouse or a Shinigami? I mean what are you gonna do? Squeak at the hollows?!"

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if her Zanpakuto was a mouse or even a flea" another man in the group snorted.

"Aw look I think she's gonna cry"

"What's the matter squad brat? Going to go and cry to your dad in Squad Three?"

Kokoro could feel her hands trembling, but not from fear this time. Her gut was rumbling and churning, and she could feel her reiatsu straining against her self-control. After nearly seven months of putting up with this crap, she wanted nothing more than to pounce on these morons and sink her teeth into their jugulars and then rip them limb from limb with her bare- no, she had to hold it in and ignore it. Violence was never the answer and these idiots were not important-

"Come on Scarface spit it out? What were you gonna say-AHHH!"

Captain Isshin Shiba and his lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto were both silent as they rifled through their stacks of paperwork at their desks.

It had so far been a quiet day. For once Captain Shiba was not running from his paperwork duties.

Normally he would be out the door and doing his best to find a good place to nap, lounge or look up at the clouds (or at the attractive female shinigami that passed him by). Or if he were not busy slacking off, he would be sneaking out to a bookstore to buy more new texts on modern medicine.

It was a strange hobby he knew, especially since he was not part of the fourth division which specialised in healing. But Captain Shiba had, deep down, a soft spot for all living things, and knew that there were more ways of protecting the lives of the innocent than simply slaying hollows.

However today, he was not in the mood to go out of his way to avoid work. He was a captain and he had to set an example, as his lieutenant and the Head Captain often remarked. Also hanging around the office gave him more time to assess the new batch of recruits that he had taken in last spring.

Now that all the rookies were all settling into their roles it would be easier to separate the ones with potential from the rest of the rabble.

He already had spotted one, the child prodigy Toushiro Hitsugaya, whom lieutenant Matsumoto had personally had a hand in recruiting after a trip into the Rukongai nearly three years ago. The boy had talent, that was plain to see, and was in possession of a phenomenal power over the element of ice. He already had gained his Shikai and was quickly learning to harness its abilities. It would not be long till he would be climbing up through the ranks and become a captain himself.

If only he could learn to lighten up a bit though. Seriously I don't think I've seen that boy smile even once since he arrived.

Captain Shiba sighed as he dipped his pen into the ink well again.

Apart from Hitsugaya, there were few other potentially powerful candidates. Captain Shiba's mind quickly conjured an image of another tiny child-like Shinigami, though this one was a girl with one scarred eye and platinum blonde hair.

Kokoro Shiraki. Captain Shiba frowned. He was not quite sure about that kid. Not that she was a bad person.

Oh no she was sweet, hardworking, and terribly shy. Not at all like her strict, stoic confident father.

Must be hard…living in his shadow constantly.

Captain Shiba mused with slight pity. Being from a great noble house himself (albeit a rather eccentric one) he understood the pressure of holding up the family pride only too well. But that girl was so shy in fact that she was suppressing her true abilities far too much for her own good. It was only a matter of time till she would bu-

A surge of energy, sharp and crackling pierced through the air. It had no sound, but he could feel the spark as if it had crashed through his soul and out the other end.

Matsumoto must have felt it too because she almost leapt out of her chair in fright her blue eyes wide and surprised:

"What was that?!" She cried out jumping to her feet.

"I don't know but it came from the lower offices." Captain Shiba stood up calmly though there was a small knowing smirk playing on his lips.

So, the bubble has burst. At least now I can see what we're dealing with.

"Come on, let's go check it out" he grinned.

"Captain-Aw crap not again!" Matsumoto groaned as her superior made to shunpo away.

She followed him deftly almost stumbling into him as her shunpo steps took her outside a door of one of the unseated officers offices.

"Sorry Captain-what the?" she gaped at the scene in front of her.

The room was a mess, paperwork was strewn everywhere, a couple of desks and chairs were blown aside and a pair of men were trying to clean it up while another pair tried to wake up two men that were out cold on the floor. Both were twitching and smoking slightly, their hair standing on end as small sparks of electricity visibly crackling off the ends.

On the other end of the room with her back to the back wall absolutely petrified, was a young girl with slightly frizzy platinum blonde hair, and a scar over one of her two sky blue eyes.

"Oy Sabu-san, oy Sabu wake up" the man trying to rouse the electrocuted guy hissed as he turned to face the terrified girl. "You, what the hell did you think you were doing?"

"I'm…I'm sorry" Kokoro's voice was barely audible as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Oh no, what had she done? This was not supposed to happen. She was supposed to be better than this.

Her heart sank even further when the man on the floor glared at her viciously.

"You freak, do you have any idea how much damage you've caused. You could have killed someone! Why when I get my hands on you-"

"HEY! That's enough!" a masculine voice barked.

Kokoro winced as she caught sight of Captain Shiba striding into the room hands on his hips.

"Captain?" the three awake men all leapt to their feet startled, while the two on the floor moaned and groaned as they finally stirred. It seemed their captain's spiritual pressure had proven to be quite the wakeup call.

"Captain we're so sorry-we just-she attacked us out of the blue-" one of the men spluttered only to fall silent as their captain glared down at him and began to yell in his loud dramatic shouts.

"Really? You expect me to believe that load of garbage? You didn't think I wouldn't notice you lot slacking off and leaving all the work to someone else? And to top it off you start bullying and picking fights with the one that's been carrying your workload and think you can get away without repercussions? What do you take me for an idiot?"

"N-no, sir! Not at all!" the men were now all quaking in their waraji as all hope for bailing out of this embarrassing situation began to slip away as their Captain turned to his lieutenant who had kept uncharacteristically silent as she watched the exchange.

Captain Shiba might have been a slacker with his work but he did not tolerate crap from his subordinates. So it was with a dutiful silent nod that she accepted the next order barked at her without question.

"Rangiku, get these two up on their feet and sure they help their friends clear up this mess. If they are too pathetic and cannot do anything then just make them go outside and assume the fetal position and tell them to stay out of the way!" Captain Shiba then quickly looked at the young girl still glued to the wall "You! Kid, you come with me, that's an order."

Kokoro nodded mutely dashing to follow the captain but being careful to keep her distance. This was it. She had finally screwed up badly, she just knew it. She had barely lasted half a year as a Shinigami. Her father would be so humiliated.

She kept her head bowed in shame as she followed Captain Shiba as they entered the Captain's and Lieutenant's shared office…only to walk straight through to the other side where a sliding door opened out onto a wooden patio and a courtyard.

"Uh…Captain where are we going?" Kokoro blinked, her surprise overpowering her fear for a split second.

"Back to the barracks so you can collect your Zanpakuto."

"M-my Zanpakuto?" Kokoro gulped. Why would he want her to get her sword? Was he going to take it away?

As if guessing her thoughts, Captain Shiba spared her a small amused chuckle.

"Relax kid, I'm not kicking you out because of that small outburst. Those idiots have been skiving on your coattails for months, they would've gotten in trouble at some point or another."

"H-how did you know I was doing their work?" Kokoro asked and Captain Shiba snorted with fake pompousness:

"I have my ways; I am a captain after all"

Kokoro was about to ask what he meant but stopped herself quickly as she realised how stupid her question had been. Of course, he would figure out it was her. Her signature was on nearly every single report that had been dumped on her.

They were quick to stop outside hers and Kimiko's shared room, but to Kokoro's slight disappointment her friend was not at home.

Well, it is her day off; she might still be out shopping. She is probably at the sweet store dragging everything off the shelves right now.

Kokoro sighed with fond glumness as she quickly retrieved her Asauchi from beside her futon. It was like all Zanpakuto Asauchi's very plain, the only defining features being the black and white hilt with a rectangular golden guard.

"You got everything?" Captain Shiba barked from the door.

"Yes sir," Kokoro said automatically as she stood up and secured her sword to her hip.

"Remember to tie your hair properly." Captain Shiba's smirk softened as the girl blushed. When her Reiatsu had blasted out from her in the office it had completely disintegrated her hair tie. Thankfully, she always kept an extra one on hand, so she quickly retied her messy hair back into a half ponytail.

"Say kid" he frowned as he looked over the blonde locks "Is that all-natural or is it dyed?"

"huh? Oh. I-It's natural sir." Kokoro glanced down to the ground as they walked, making sure to keep at least one respectful step behind him.

"Interesting," Captain Shiba stroked his chin thoughtfully but not unkindly "And the scar? How'd you get that?"

"Uh…I-I don't know." Kokoro bit her lip, wishing she could undo her hair so she could cover her face again "I-I've had my scars as far back as I can remember. I-I think I must've had them when I was sent from the World of the Living, but I don't know for certain."

"I see." Captain Shiba hummed as his eyes flickered down to the back of the girl's neck where he could see, just peeking out from the collar, the tips of a strange feathery burn.

"And that left eye of yours is completely blind I take it?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

"And it doesn't hinder you at all when you work or fight?"

"N-no sir it doesn't. My Otou-san used to have me train with a blindfold, so I'd get used to fighting without my sight." She was not sure why she had added that last bit. The captain would not likely want to hear her boasting about her meagre skills. After all, like her father used to say, a good Shinigami was always humble about their abilities no matter how strong they were, if only so that their enemies could not figure out their weaknesses.

But instead of looking put off, Captain Shiba's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"With a blindfold huh? Wow, I knew your old man was tough but that is hardcore. No wonder he's a Zanjustu master."

They had crossed out onto the grass outside the Tenth Division Compound and were headed to a small clump of trees nearby.

"Ummm…Sir…where exactly are we going?" Kokoro gulped as she followed her Captain into the thick vegetation.

"Eh, just a quiet space I set up for people to practice if they don't want to use the training field. Or if they just want a moment alone. Or if I just want to hide from Rangiku when she comes at me with paperwork, but don't tell her I said that." Captain Shiba added with a small conspiratorial wink and was pleased to see the younger girl relax a margin, though she still looked slightly nervous even as they arrived at their destination.

It was a large clearing surrounded by tall trees, that blocked out the view of the Sereitei and left only the clear blue skies above. It was quiet and peaceful and had Kokoro not seen the path from the division, she would have thought she was in a forest of the Rukongai.

The only sound apart from the chirping birds and the gentle breeze was a thin tinkling stream that ran through the middle of the clearing.

Kokoro sighed, eyes shutting as the much of the tenseness in her body disappearing as she sucked in a deep breath and was hit with the smell of fresh grass.

Beside her, Captain Shiba watched her carefully.

This was the first time he had ever seen the kid completely relaxed and at ease. Her whole being seemed to change and her reiatsu, though still fizzing in the air, had lowered down from a storm to a gentle simmer in the background.

His smirk softened into a thoughtful frown as he remembered the burst of energy he had felt earlier. Though the girl tried her best to be dutiful and demure there was a passion to her she could not contain no matter how much she desperately tried.

The Gotei Thirteen valued uniformity and discipline to keep running. It was expected for Shinigami to stick together and follow the rules without question, much like a pack of domesticated working dogs, Captain Shiba could not help but snort sardonically to himself.

This girl, however, was not a trained pup like most Shinigami, she was a wild spirit. Yes, she could be socialised to a degree and she would learn to co-operate with others, but she would never be completely tame like people wanted her to be.

"Alright Kid," Captain Shiba cleared his throat loudly and Kokoro jumped where she stood "now we're here, let us see what you got."

"Huh?" Kokoro blinked and Captain Shiba's smirk widened.

"Come on. We're gonna train and work off some of those nerves of yours. Trust me you'll feel a whole lot better for it." He walked into the clearing and unsheathed his zanpakuto from its sheath.

"O-Okay…" Kokoro gulped as she mimicked his actions and made to stand opposite him as he grinned widely.

"Right, LET'S GO!"

Kokoro sighed as she all but fell into her futon.

It was dusk and she had just come back from her marathon training session with Captain Shiba in the Tenth Division woods.

It had been a surprisingly pleasant afternoon following that disastrous altercation. Captain Shiba might have acted like a skiving loud pervert sometimes, but when he drew out his sword, it was clear for Kokoro to see how he became a captain. He was tough but he was fair and not above acting the fool to make people relax and come out of their shells.

Even so, she was not sure why Captain Shiba was being so nice to her. After all she was just an unseated greenhorn Shinigami.

Maybe it was because she was Kenji Shiraki's daughter. Yes, that would probably be it.

Kokoro sighed. She knew she should not look a gift horse in the mouth, and she loved and revered her father more than anyone else but even she sometimes got sick of being cast in his shadow. She had chosen to apply for other squads so she could prove that she could make it on her own merit. Yet still, his reputation followed her.

Oh well, at least she was no longer feeling hemmed in like before. She certainly felt calmer the moment hers and Captain Shiba's swords first clashed together in that first sparring match.

Despite her timid demeanour, she liked fighting. When she was holding a blade, she did not have to say a word. She was not expected to be sweet or polite or act like a good little girl. It was just her, her sword, and her opponent, nothing more, nothing less.

Though admittedly, she would prefer it if she could fight with two swords. For some reason, she had always gravitated to that style. Wielding a single sword required a lot of power and strength to push against your opponent and Kokoro was neither strong nor powerful, at least in the physical sense.

Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu. Two heavens as one. That was the style her father had taught her when she was younger, though she had not used much of the technique at the Academy for each student was only given a single Asauchi to wield.

Maybe I can rest for a bit before dinner.

Her eyes shut as she sighed once more. She really was tired after that training.

And so she drifted off to sleep, unaware of the storm clouds beginning to gather outside in the sky, even though there had been no sign of their existence till just now.

"Huh? A storm? But I could have sworn the sky was clear an hour ago. Shame I really wanted to go out for drinks later. Now I'll have to drink alone in my room." Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto groaned as she reclined back in her chair at her desk, filing her beautifully pink painted nails.

"Shouldn't you be signing those reports instead of drinking?" A young voice snapped waspishly.

"Ah if it isn't little Shiro-Chan, come to save me from the boring paperwork." Matsumoto turned and smiled as a short boy with a head of snowy white locks and narrowed turquoise eyes brimming with irritation, entered the room with a large file under his arm.

"As I said many times before I don't do other people's work." The young man dumped the file on the Captain's empty desk "And furthermore it's Hitsugaya-san, not Shiro-chan"

"Oh lighten up I'm just teasing." Matsumoto pouted tiredly "Besides, you wouldn't believe the day I just had. Some newbie jerks were bullying that poor little Shiraki girl and, surprise, surprise she got mad and blasted a couple of them with her reiatsu to teach them a lesson and turned the room upside down. I only just finished supervising those bullies in the clean-up and I almost chipped a nail."

Hitsugaya frowned. He had heard that there had been a small explosion in one of the lower division offices but had not listened in on the details. If there was one thing Toshiro Hitsugaya had come to detest in his time at Squad Ten it was the office gossip. However, Kokoro Shiraki was not usually a troublemaker and thus he could not help but curiously ask:

"And what happened to Shiraki?"

"Oh she's alright now, I think. She's with the captain. He took her outside to train and blow off some steam. They've been gone a while, hmm, hopefully, they get back before this storm starts up." Matsumoto shrugged though it was clear to see she was pleased to have found a listener to her tale of the day.

"She was still terribly upset about what had happened. Though honestly if someone dumped all their work on me and started calling me freak or scarface I'd blast them myself. Seriously the nerve of some people. It's not the poor kid's fault her cute face is half scarred!" She added, her voice softening slightly with sympathy.

"Scarface?" Hitsugaya murmured softly.

He had seen Shinigami with much worse scars on their faces when he had paid visits to the eleventh division to pick up paperwork, though most of those men were not that pleasant to look at, to begin with.