Chapter 3 - Secrets Revealed

Chapter 3 – Secrets Revealed

Renji was sitting in his office, wishing that being a fuku-taicho didn't involve doing so much god damn paper work. He had just read over and signed off five different reports for missions that his division had done, and he would have to take them to his captain so he could sign them off. But he could do that tomorrow, it was his birthday and he really didn't feel like staying late. He just wanted to go home, have a drink and relax.

As soon as Renji finished that thought, a figure dressed entirely in black, leapt up to land on the window frame. The figure looked around and saw him, then flew at him. His zanpakuto was on the desk, and by the time he realised it, it was too late. They circled each other around the desk for a few moments, and Renji waited for the right time to grab his zanpakuto. Before that time came, the person jumped over the desk and lunged at him. They wrestled for a few moments, and the person eventually pinned him down.

Next thing he knew, he was being thrown over the person's shoulder, who he now noticed was actually rather small, considering their strength and ability to take down someone who was probably a whole third bigger than them. The figure dressed in black jumped onto the window frame again, and they began to glide over the rooftops. Renji didn't bother struggling much because he wasn't in much of a position to make a good counter attack.

Also, he hadn't felt any legitimate fear for his life of safety whilst fighting his attacker, and they seemed to pull their punches quite a bit. For someone that could overpower him, he was relatively unscathed.

Several minutes later (which felt more like an hour to Renji) they stopped on a rooftop to a big house somewhere in Rukongai, and leapt down to land at the front door. Renji quickly tried to recognise and memorise anything he could, so he might be able to make his way back here after he escaped. If he could escape, that is. The person put out their hand to make contact with an orange coloured barrier and slipped straight through it and opened the door to the large house.

The mystery person dropped him very ungracefully on his butt in the middle of the room, and he was starting to feel the effects of being stunned wear off. He tried to get a good look at the person from what he could see in the minimal light. They were small, maybe only 160 centimetres or so, and they had...breasts? He got beaten up...and abducted...by a woman...on his birthday. He couldn't see much in the space of the outfit that was for their eyes, but it looked like they were quite pale-skinned.

"SURPRISE!" yelled a chorus of people very loudly, and they jumped out from behind doors, and from behind couches. The light turned on as well, and it took his eyes a moment to adjust before he could make out the people in the room.

"Rangiku-san! Iba-san! Kira-san! Ikkaku! Yumichika! Hisagi-san! What are you guys doing here? What the hell is going on?!" he said, utterly confused at this whole situation. He looked back at the person dressed in black who took off their face mask and revealed themselves. "SIREN?! You beat me up and abducted me?!" he asked with a slightly shrill tone, and a hint of embarrassment.

"Welcome to your surprise birthday party, Renji." Siren replied simply with her arms crossed and a look that said that she found this situation very amusing.

"If this is my birthday party...why did you beat me up and bring me here?!"

"Because it was a surprise, and it was more fun this way. And this is where we are having the party." Siren gestured with a smirk to the house around them. The place must be huge, at least five or six bedrooms.

Renji laughed incredulously at the situation, and slowly came to terms with the fact that this is probably exactly something that Siren would do. Especially the beating him up part, probably to make up for her generosity. He was feeling alright now, and he stood up and shook his head as everyone came out from their hiding places and brought bottle after bottle after bottle of sake with them as well as lots of food.

They all sat down on the floor and the couches and began opening bottles, eating, pouring drinks and talking. So much for a quiet one, Renji thought but he knew that this was much better than sitting at home and having a few drinks by himself. Everyone probably put a lot of effort into this and he was really grateful that they went to all that trouble just for him. It had been a while since he had a proper birthday celebration and this was perfect. His friends were here, gathered together for him.

"Hey guys, can I say something for a second?" Renji got everyone's attention and they all quietened down and waited for him to speak. "Uh, I just wanted to thank you for going to this much effort for me. You didn't have to, but I won't deny that it isn't awesome... By the way, what's with this house? It's huge!" he asked, looking up at the high ceilings. Siren popped out from one of the doors, back in her normal shinigami uniform and spoke before anyone else could.

"That was pretty lame, Renji." he turned around to look at her and mock-glare at the woman who seemed to be even more amused by his embarrassing comment. "And the house? Well...I bought it."

Everyone's thoughts seemed to run along the same tracks and they all spoke in unison. "What?!"

Siren chuckled at the reaction. "Well, I'm a captain, and we do make a fair bit of money. I haven't had anything to spend it on, and this place was up for sale for pretty cheap...so I bought it, figuring that we could all use it."

"Really? You did that for all of us?" Matsumoto spoke up, in awe of the subtle kindness the green-eyed captain showed for them all.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it, it's nothing." Siren waved her hand to try and take the attention away from her gesture. She was never one to like being put on the spot, whether it was in a positive or negative way. She much preferred to hang in the background and stay away from the centre of attention.

"Are you kidding? Siren, this is a lot more than nothing!" Kira said, moving his hands around to show that he was speaking about the house that they were all allowed to use. Both Ikkaku and Yumichika voiced their agreement and they all began to talk at once about it.

"Can it, the lot of you! This is Renji's night, so let's drink up!" Siren was relieved to finally take the attention off of herself, diverting it back to the birthday boy.

"So, a toast to Renji...Good on you for getting beaten up by my captain, who is a girl half your size!" Hisagi said with barely restrained laughter and raised his cup.

"Shut it, Hisagi! She's strong! She carried me over her shoulder the whole way here!" Renji retorted sharply, trying to make excuses for himself.

"I'll drink to that." Siren said with a chuckle, and shrugged when Renji glared at her. "Anyway... to Renji! Happy birthday, man. Kanpai!" Siren raised her cup and everyone did the same, and they all drained the contents and put their cups back down on the table.

About two hours later, everyone was feeling the effects of the alcohol and Kira already looked like he was nearly about to pass out. Iba had decided to stop drinking after one bottle as he had a lot of work to do the next day and didn't want a huge hangover. Yumichika never had much as he didn't think it was 'beautiful' to get drunk, but that also meant that his tolerance was low. Ikkaku was probably one of the most sober as he had a pretty high tolerance. Hisagi, Renji and Matsumoto were at about the same level of intoxication and Siren was probably the most sober of them all. After being drinking buddies with a renowned alcoholic, Captain Kyoraku Shunsui, for so many years, it was only natural that she had a really high tolerance.

"Everyone, may I have your attention please." she said and she got up and stood at the front of the room so everyone could see her. "It is time for a game that I learnt about in the real world. It's usually played when everyone is quite tipsy, and so I believe it would be appropriate to play now."

"Heeeyy...I-I'm not tipsy!" Kira slurred loudly and hiccuped several times.

"You just keep telling yourself that Kira." Hisagi said with a laugh. "So, what's this game?"

"It is called 'Truth Or Dare'. One person starts and chooses someone to either do a dare, or answer a question truthfully. Then the person has to do the dare or answer the question and then they choose someone else, and it just keeps going and going. So firstly, let's all sit in a circle on the floor." Siren explained and pulled the table with the bottles and cups over slightly so it would be in the middle of the circle and they all sat down around the table.

"Okay, I'll start since I proposed the idea." she looked around the circle and tried to decide who she would pick. Her gaze landed on the red-haired, tattooed man sitting directly across from her "Birthday boy! Truth or dare?"

Renji thought for a few moments before answering. "I think I'm going to take truth. I don't trust you to make a dare that won't be too bad."

"Damn, 'cause I had a really good dare lined up for you. Alright, answer me this Renji... How do you feel about...Kuchiki Rukia?!" Siren said so quietly that everyone leant forward subconsciously to hear better. Renji tensed visibly and blushed violently until he was as red as the hair on his head. Everyone was silent and looked at him, waiting for his answer.

"Shit...I like her, okay? I've liked her for ages. But I'm pretty sure that she's got no idea how I feel and besides, her and Ichigo are going to be together before we will ever be, so I'm getting over it." he said, and blushed even redder, if that was somehow possible.

Everyone but Siren either gasped or dropped their jaw in response to the revelation. Siren had known all along. Every time he talked about Rukia, he always got this little glint in his eye. She would admit that it could just be easily mistaken as love for a close friend who he had grown up with and spent most of his life being around, but Siren knew better than that. Renji was pretty easy to read after a while. But it was also true that the orange-haired substitute shinigami and the petite, black-haired Kuchiki cared for each other and maybe just not in a friendly way. Renji was probably right about them, and they would more than likely end being something other than platonic.

"Alright, my turn. I'll choose Rangiku-san." Renji said and pointed to her, who looked quite excited at the prospect of being picked. She chose dare and Renji thought for a moment before a wicked smirk came across his face.

"I dare you to...peck Siren on the lips." he said, triumph evident in his tone as if he was getting vengeance for his earlier embarrassment.

Matsumoto and Siren turned to look at each other, they both shrugged nonchalantly, as if the whole thing didn't bother them at all. Matsumoto giggled as Siren turned her body around to face her fully and they both leaned forward, and every other person in the room scuffled around so they could see better and their jaws dropped as the lips of the two beautiful women in front of them made contact. When they pulled back, there was a few quiet groans of disappointment and the two women just laughed at everyone's expressions. It was quiet for a few moments before Matsumoto spoke in her melodic voice.

"Shuuhei, truth or dare?" she asked and Hisagi's expression changed from 'Oh my god...did that seriously just happen?' to a more contemplative one.

"Well, we've just had two dares, but I'm going to pick dare anyway." he replied, his mind still a little fuzzy from what he'd just seen.

"I dare you...to kiss Siren" she said, with a slightly evil glint in her eye that didn't go unnoticed by Siren.

"Hah! Well, aren't I the popular one tonight!" Siren asked rhetorically while scratching the back of her head. This was getting a little bit too much for her, but she had been the one to suggest the game, so she knew she couldn't back out now.

Hisagi took a deep breath and sighed quietly, knowing that he'd probably pay for having to do this later on. He turned to Siren, smirking faintly but relaxed slightly when he noticed that Siren didn't seem to care one way or the other about the whole thing. She seemed completely nonchalant and casual about the whole thing. Sounds about right, she just wouldn't care since it's a game. But still, I do get to kiss the new most attractive woman in the Gotei 13,he thought briefly as he shifted towards her.

"You going to keep me waiting, Hisagi?" Siren's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and she was looking at him with an expression that said 'You don't have to be so embarrassed. We are all adults here'.

He gently, yet firmly placed his hand around the back of Siren's neck, and swiftly pressed his lips against her soft ones. He wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her closer, but pulled back quickly after, not wanting to lose himself in the moment. Everyone roared with laughter at the sight.

"Please don't kill me for that later." he said cautiously as he noticed Siren's unreadable expression. He couldn't see that slightly evil look in her eye that signified that she was about to do something to him, like when he accidentally called her 'taicho' she would usually enact some sort of violence on him. He had actually been chased around their division's barracks several times, though it never took long for Siren to catch him and she laughed maniacally at his terror when he got caught.

For at least the next hour, they all sat around talking, laughing, daring each other to do stupid things, and answering or asking embarrassing questions. Soon enough, Kira had passed out on the floor so they put him to bed and decided to stop playing. Siren told them about which rooms the rest of them would be staying in. Matsumoto would stay in with Siren, Hisagi would be in with Kira and Ikkaku and Yumichika would share a room as well, and Renji and Iba had their own room. She also told them that she had some help from a friend who taught her how to make a good barrier, which she put around the house and it only allowed their reiatsu in. They all thanked Siren for doing all this, who just dismissed the comments with a wave of her hand as usual.

Iba, Ikkaku and Yumichika decided to call it quits for the night and Matsumoto, Renji, Hisagi and Siren decided to stay up for a while longer. None of them minded loosing a little bit of sleep to hang out and get to know the new captain a bit better, but outside of a professional situation. Matsumoto and Hisagi began talking about how Siren was as a captain and how they worked together. Renji and Siren were talking casually, but a few minutes later, Hisagi noticed that it seemed like the two were flirting. Siren didn't seem like the flirting type, but you never knew with her.

Renji had a look on his face as if he seemed a little embarrassed, but didn't seem to slow down on the conversation they were having. Hisagi recalled how he said that he was trying to get over Rukia, and he realised that he might be trying to flirt with Siren to forget her. He knew that her and Renji met long before she came back to Soul Society, and he couldn't help but wonder if something happened between them. Siren did hang out with him quite often, and this thought just made him more suspicious.

He had no idea why, but jealousy began to bubble up inside him. Jealousy and alcohol never went well together, as he decided to do something quite rash. A stray bang fell over Matsumoto's face, and he gently pushed it out of the way and whispered something in her ear, hoping that Siren would notice.

What he didn't know, is that not one thing Hisagi had done that night went unnoticed by Siren. He pulled back and Matsumoto looked like she was quite amused by something. And she couldn't help but become rather infuriated by the display.

Seems like someone's a little jealous, yeah? Why don't you let me out, and I'll tell 'em all how ya really feel about him doin' that to her?

Can it, Utsuro. This isn't the time for your shit. I shouldn't be jealous or angry about it anyway. It's not like I'm dating Hisagi or something. I don't even like him as more than a friend!

Are ya sure about that though? You two have been hanging out a lot. Crashin' at his place, you both sleeping in your office and such.

Ugh, I really hate you. We work together you fool. Of course we're going to spend a lot of time together and all that. I've had enough of you. Piss off.

It was amazing that she was able to keep up her inner conversations and her external one at the same time, but after putting up with it for the last 30 years, it wasn't too hard for her any more. Siren covered it up by saying she was going to head off to bed and Renji decided to as well. They walked down the hallway out of Hisagi's sight so Siren could show Renji to his room, but Hisagi couldn't help but think she was going there for something else. A few minutes later, Matsumoto decided to crash as well, but instead of heading towards Siren's room, she just went straight into Kira's which was the closest and fell asleep on the futon that he was supposed to be sleeping on. He decided to stay up and wait to see when - if - Siren ever came out of Renji's room.

If only he knew what was really happening...

"Renji, seriously. I don't get it but as soon as he started getting all flirty with her, I just instantly became really pissed off and jealous. I don't even like him!" Siren whispered angrily trying to explain to Renji why she went suddenly extremely quiet and pensive.

"Usually people don't get pissed off and jealous unless they do like the person. It doesn't matter if you do like him, Siren. No one would think any less of you for dating a subordinate if that's what you're worried about." Renji whispered back pleadingly, hoping that he could through Siren's stubborn front.

"I've only ever had feelings for one person in my life, and that was when I was back in Soul Society however many years ago it was. He got killed on a mission and I got over it. End of. I don't feel that same way about Hisagi." she was a little frustrated at the tone of conversation, and Renji could see it but he knew that something wasn't exactly right with how she acted around Hisagi.

There was plenty of other guys that she was around all the time, like himself, and he had known her for a long time. He knew that she had never gotten jealous over him, or jealous of Urahara and Yoruichi's relationship. She just needed to stop being so stubborn and let her heart think for a change.

"Siren...speaking from experience here, liking one person and liking another person always has a different feeling. In a lot of ways, yes you do feel the same, but it's different because it's someone you haven't liked before and you like them for different reasons. I really used to like Rukia, but now I like someone else and I'm trying to get the courage up to tell them how I feel. I do like her the same way I liked Rukia, it isn't the same feeling as when I liked Rukia."

"Yeah, yeah. But I'm telling you that I don't feel anything for Hisagi! Just because it would be different from liking him to liking Tenka back in the day, it doesn't mean I like him!"

"I guess that's true. We're both as stubborn as each other." Renji said, shaking his head.

"Fricking Utsuro isn't helping either" Siren mumbled barely audibly, and it if it wasn't for Renji sitting right next to her, he wouldn't have heard what she said. He raised an eyebrow and Siren looked slightly horrified as she realised her mistake. "Heh, I probably should have told you before, but now is as good as any time. I'm a vizard...ta-dah!" she shook her hands in a sarcastic manner to emphasise the 'ta-dah'.

"Really? And you're allowed to be a captain? Awesome." Renji said, not being bothered much by the news since one of his good friends - even though he'd never admit he was friends with the orange-haired bastard - was a vizard. "Anyway, we can discuss all this later on when they're aren't several other people around trying to sleep. I'm going to bed." he got under the covers and rolled over, his back facing Siren.

Without another word, Siren left his room to walk back out into the living room to find Hisagi, sitting on the floor, drinking. She asked where Matsumoto went, and he said that she passed out in Kira's room, but he was being very short and cool. Not thinking much of it, figuring that he was pissed because he wanted to talk to Matsumoto more or something, she headed off to bed, and reminded him that he could just crash on the spare futon in her room.

Hisagi just sat in the living room, with no intention to stop drinking until he passed out right there on the floor. He knew that he would regret it tomorrow, but he wasn't planning on leaving his office, so it wouldn't be so bad if he had the worst headache possible and felt like he had been hit by a train.

It only took him half an hour to drink another two bottles and crash out on the floor of the living room.

#

The next morning, Siren woke up early, and found that nearly everyone was gone. Kira and Matsumoto were still sound asleep, but they both had the day off, so she just left them as they were. Iba would have been gone much earlier than anyone else, probably to train with Komamura, and Ikkaku, Yumichika and Renji would be long gone as well.

She got ready for the day and headed over to her office at a very casual pace. She considered stopping off at Ukitake's since she hadn't seen him in a few days because she'd been so busy, but decided against it when she remembered how much paper work she had to complete. A groan escaped her as she frowned about the thought of paperwork.

So for the next three hours, she worked, signing, writing and everything in between on the large stack of paper work that had been dropped off to her yesterday morning. She finished a few reports that she had to get Hisagi to sign, and she figured it would be a good break to go over and give them to him, and also to talk to him about last night. She had noticed that the futon next to her hadn't been used and guessed that he probably just passed out in the living room.

Before she knew it, she was at his office and she knocked once before entering. It was across the hall and down a few metres from her office. She greeted him casually, not looking up from reading over the papers making sure she had fixed everything she had to. He didn't reply, just kept his head down, looking at the papers in front of him, and she put the paper work down on his desk and slapped the table loudly to get his attention. He slowly looked up at her with a displeased look and she just guessed his mood hadn't changed.

"What's up with you, huh?" she asked, leaning over the desk to rest both her elbows on his desk and rest her chin on her hands. He narrowed his eyes at her, and she just raised an eyebrow. Was he mad...at her?

"Nothing, just tired." she didn't moved or change her expression so he rolled his eyes and continued. "You think about it for a while. I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually." he said coolly, and looked back down and continued his paper work. Well, that confirmed her thoughts. He was pissed at her.

That kind of thing always bored Siren. She wasn't the kind of person who liked the confrontation and attention of being complimented or thanked, she could tolerate confrontation when it was solving a problem, especially between two people who may have just had nothing more than a simple misunderstanding. She just rolled her eyes like he did, which Hisagi only just saw and she put her hands in her pockets as she usually had them and walked out of his office.

The black-haired woman strolled out of the barracks, feeling quite tired of doing paper work, and she figured that she could do it later. She went to her favourite place in Rukongai mountains and sat in her usual spot, even though it was an overcast day and it probably would rain soon. It was only when she got there did she take Hisagi's advice and think about what she might have done. It couldn't be anything that happened when they were playing Truth Or Dare, as he seemed pretty pleased with himself that he actually got to kiss her.

Crossing most of the previous night's events off of her metaphorical list, she eventually came to the one part that may actually could possibly make sense. When she was teaching Renji some moves and pick-up lines to use on his new crush that she had used on her in the real world, it may have looked like they were...flirting. She almost cracked up out loud at the idea, but realised that he only seemed pissed off when she came back out from talking to Renji about her being jealous that he was paying such intimate attention to Matsumoto.

When she thought it over, she considered that may have seriously been the reason and her amusement faded instantly at the revelation. She hated the fact that he might be so angry at her over something like that, but she also realised that her being upset could signify some sort of deeper feeling. Maybe Renji was right, and she did like him.

As if the heavens feel her despair, it began to rain. She looked up and narrowed her eyes at the sky, even though she knew it wouldn't help. Soon enough, she began to feel worse about the whole thing as she continued to dwell on it. It was normal for her, since a lot of her negative feelings originated from her being a vizard. Fiddling with her reiatsu sealing bracelet, as she had somehow made a habit of doing when she was thinking, she sighed.

Accidentally, she popped open the clasp on the bracelet. Her fast reflexes did nothing as the wet metal slipped right through her fingers, and down the mountain side. She knew that now that meant she would have to keep a strangle-hold on her reiatsu, or someone may sense it and figure out what she really was. That would add to her list of problems that just seemed to be growing lately, instead of slowly shrinking.

Siren had never dealt well with these kinds of things. She had too much work to do, and barely any free time, keeping her hollow side a secret, and now she had troubles in the men department, which could also cause problems in the work department. She was always the laid back and carefree type, and just solved one problem at her own pace, but this wasn't the kind of situation she could do that in. Her frustration with the predicament increased and unconsciously, her reiatsu began to leak out, which was bad, especially with weather like this.

Gradually, the small rumbles of thunder got louder and louder, and lightning began to appear in the clouds. A particularly loud clap of thunder snapped her out of her reverie and she immediately suppressed her reiatsu, realising that she was causing the sudden severity of the storm. A scarily familiar tingle appeared as she sensed a Garganta opening nearby, about three or four districts away. She guessed that her reiatsu was what drew whatever was about to come out of it. She growled irritably and knew that someone else would be there soon enough. Her current emotional turmoil would make it too dangerous for her to be there using her reiatsu with whoever was ordered to eliminate the hollow.

Back in the Seireitei, the emergency alarms were going off.

"Gotei 13, emergency, emergency! Hollow have appeared in East Rukongai, District Fifty-Four! There are twenty Gillian and one Adjuchas!" At the sound of the announcement, everyone in the Seireitei stopped to wait for the orders of their Captain-Commander, who's voice boomed out only a minute later.

"Attention. Ninth Division is to eliminate the infiltrating hollow! Complete all preparations for battle and mobilise immediately!"

Hisagi was still sulking in his office when he heard the message, and several members ran to his office to wait for orders. He had no idea where Siren was, but if she was in the Seireitei she would have heard the orders, and if she was in Rukongai still, she probably would have felt the Garganta open. Even though they were going up against strong and multiple opponents, the Ninth Division were well known for their efficiency and planning and he figured that they would be fine without the command of their captain.

Gathering together the fourteen shinigami he deemed best for the job, excluding himself, they set out immediately in the direction of East Rukongai, District Fifty-Four. They arrived there quickly to find the twenty Gillian standing around in a daze as usual and the Adjuchas was looking around at it's surroundings. On sight of the approaching enemy, it commanded the Gillian to begin firing Cero after Cero at them and luckily, most of them were able to dodge the red bursts of concentrated reiatsu. After a few minutes, they had two injured, and had only taken out four of the twenty Gillian. Hisagi drew his zanpakuto and charged into battle.

Up in the mountains, Siren made sure to keep a close watch on the fight to make sure that if something was going seriously wrong, she would fulfil her duty as a captain and get down there immediately. She could sense the different spikes of shinigami and hollow reiatsu. Then, she noticed the sudden drop in two shinigami reiatsu and a moment later she felt a sudden surge from the all too familiar reiatsu of her lieutenant and realised that it must be her division down there.

There was a strong pang in her chest when she felt Hisagi's reiatsu, and her breath hitched in her throat. It seemed like time stopped and her feelings of concern and fear for his life and his safety became too much to bear. She had to know if he was okay. She had to get down there. Now.

She used her full speed shunpo to get down from the mountain as quick as possible and was at the scene of the fight within one minute. Two of the injured noticed her there, and called out to her. She went over and looked them over, and after seeing that they looked like they had been hit by a Cero but their lives weren't in any danger, she used shunpo to move them back out of the way.

Drawing her zanpakuto, she called out over the sound of the rain for the twelve others to pull back immediately. The ones at the back heard her, and passed on the message to anyone who hadn't heard. At the sight of their captain drawing her zanpakuto, they all fell back and Hisagi noticed everyone vanishing and turned around to see Siren standing there, soaking wet with her zanpakuto in hand.

It was then that a Gillian powered up a Cero aimed directly at him, which Siren noticed. Her eyes went wide and her heart stopped beating within her chest. Without realising it she was in front of Hisagi with her mask on and hitting the Cero away with the back of her hand. If it wasn't for the rain, she would have heard the various gasps of the members of her division at the sight of their captain with a hollow mask on, and her reiatsu feeling scarily more like a hollow than a shinigami. Siren told Hisagi to hold them off for the moment, took off the mask, and disappeared only to reappear where everyone had gathered.

Hisagi was too busy to hear his captain acting just like her title suggested. She gave out the orders for everyone to get in groups of three or four and to surround and concentrate on one Gillian at a time, and told two of the others to protect the wounded and do any first aid that they could on them. In the rush, everyone forgot about what they had just seen and acted on her orders immediately. Within the next few minutes, five Gillian had been taken down, and there had been no more injuries.

Siren concentrated hard, looking for an opening on the Adjuchas commanding the numerous Gillian. It had commanded them all to stand in front of him, and in essence, create a large barrier around him to protect him. Another minute passed and there was still no way past the 'barrier'. She lost her patience, and yelled out for everyone to fall back again. After they did, she ordered Hisagi to make sure that anything that past her, didn't get past him. She released her zanpakuto and it changed from the normal katana to the silver scythe that was as big as her, put on her mask and charged. Everyone knew already, and if they got too tired to keep fighting, that would only cause injury and death. She wouldn't risk their lives if she could avoid it.

She used her full speed and within moments half the Gillian were gone and she charged up her own Cero to counter the two that were being aimed at her. Her green-coloured Cero blast easily through the two and the Gillian that fired them disintegrated after being hit. Within another few moments, the remaining Gillian were killed by strikes of lightning that Siren had conjured, and all that remained was the Adjuchas standing, now by himself, looking shocked at the sight of a shinigami wearing a hollow mask.

"What's your name, shinigami?" the Adjuchas spoke above the rain.

Siren rested the large silver scythe on her shoulder and replied. "Gotei Juu-san, Kyubantai taicho, Siren. And I'm no shinigami, Adjuchas." she spoke through her masked in that shaky, hollow voice.

Using every ounce of speed she had, she disappeared and momentarily appeared above the Adjuchas and swung down her scythe to slice straight through the hollows head. It disintegrated and Siren landed silently where the Adjuchas stood moments ago. If Siren thought that her accidental reiatsu release earlier was bad, it would end up being nothing compared to the one that was about to take place. She turned to look out the corner of her eye at her division members, just like she had done with Hisagi that day that he had found out about her being a vizard. The moment she saw their mix of fearful, shocked, judging and almost angry expressions, there was a deafening clap of thunder and a bolt of lightning struck a tree nearby.

Hisagi realised when she was fighting that her power must be the manipulation of lightning, and he knew that this could end bad if she didn't calm down. He already had a pretty good idea of what the division's initial reaction would be to this, considering that their last captain had betrayed them and ended up being more hollow than shinigami, and he knew that Siren wouldn't be able to deal with that negativity. He started to walk forward but stopped as Siren re-gripped her zanpakuto in warning for him to stay away.

She couldn't concentrate on anything but the feel of misery emanating from her chest, which physically hurt from the pain and worry. She was convinced that her division would hate her, and that was a hard pill to swallow. But Hisagi hating her? She just couldn't handle it. She could not fathom the man she had truly come to

Before anyone had realised it, she was gone, leaving only the destroyed tree in her wake.

#

It had been two days since the event. No one knew where Siren went, and no one had found her. And the storm that started the moment Siren saw the look of shock on her division members faces still hadn't let up at all. Yamamoto was quite angry at her disappearance, but Ukitake, Shunsui as well as Komamura assured him that she just needed some time. Ukitake had also taken to inform the Ninth Division personally as well as every other division about the circumstances surrounding Siren's transformation from a shinigami to a vizard. The Ninth Division were very honourable and surprisingly open-minded and had a new found respect for their captain for doing so much for Ukitake. Everyone loved the white-haired captain, and they all couldn't deny that without Siren's sacrifice, he wouldn't be around, and for that they had accepted her for what she was.

Yamamoto had ordered Soifon to have members of the Onmitsukido and the Second Division who weren't busy to search for her, but they found absolutely no trace of her. Even Soifon had to admit that she certainly had exceptional skill at concealing her presence and leaving no trail. Something that only an ex-Onmitsukido and ex-Second Division member who was very skilled would have been able to do.

When another day had passed, Hisagi became even more worried. He couldn't help but wonder if Siren had fled to the real world, and he knew that if she was there, they would probably never be able to find her. The rain had let up for a while, and even though it was going to get dark soon, he was wandering around the area where it all happened. He didn't expect to find anything that might help, but it was worth a try. He'd been searching ever since she ran off, and he probably only had about six hours sleep and only ate something twice. Suddenly, the rain started coming down in buckets and the thunder became incredibly loud again, he took shelter under a small overhang at the base of a mountain nearby. Something shiny glinted out the corner of his eye a few metres away, and for the sake of plain curiosity he went to see what it was.

It was Siren's bracelet.

He picked it up, and dusted off the dirt that had collected on it. He clutched it so tightly that it left marks on his palm and his breath shook with strong emotion. On a whim, he looked up at the mountain, and guessed that if he looked and found nothing, he'd just be back where he was. After about half an hour of climbing and exploring, he was nearly at the top and he noticed what looked like a small path through the bushes. He pushed them aside as he climbed through, and came out to a large flat slab looking over the Rukongai. It was an amazing view. He walked out further onto it, and just barely noticed movement in his peripheral vision.

There was a small, soaking wet white bundle on the ground. When he noticed a tuft of wet, black hair coming from one side, his earlier thoughts were confirmed.

"Siren? Is that you?" he said, and ran over when the bundle began to shift.

She sat up shakily, and Hisagi took in her appearance. She looked terrible. From what he could see through the wet hair that stuck to her face, it looked like she hadn't slept in a month and she was even paler than usual. She also looked rather skinny and gaunt. He bent down on one knee in front of her, but she seemed adamant about keeping her head down.

"How the hell did you manage to find me?" she asked, her voice faint and raspy from not using it for so long, feeling that pain in her chest - something she had become intimately familiar with over the last few days - intensify as he got closer to her.

"Your bracelet was at the base of the mountain. Lucky that I bothered to check up here." he held out his hand with the bracelet in it, and with the other, gently took hold of Siren's wrist and put it on. Almost instantaneously, the rain let up and the rumbles of thunder and lightning slowly disappeared.

Siren looked down at the bracelet and lifted her head slightly to look at Hisagi, who was seriously considering just using a Bakudo on her and taking her to the Fourth Division barracks. Knowing her, she would be too stubborn to go willingly. When he saw her looking up at him with eyes so sad, he just melted on the spot. He tilted his head as if to ask her to come with him, and reluctantly, she nodded and got up on shaky legs. Hisagi carried her down the mountain and through Rukongai, since she didn't seem to have the strength. They walked all the way back to the Seireitei and Siren finally had enough of being carried.

With a laugh, he put her down, and as they walked, it was only Hisagi's gesturing for anyone who noticed Siren to leave her be for the moment that stopped her from being bombarded by random shinigami. She occasionally looked like she was going to fall, but stayed steady. Renji just happened to be walking by and noticed the small form of Siren walking next to Hisagi, who looked like he was ready to catch her if she showed any signs of fainting.

Hisagi shook his head and mouthed 'Later' to him, and Renji just nodded in response and started walking again. He knew that he would see Siren soon, and by the looks of her she was probably going to be put in the Fourth Division. After a few minutes of slow walking through the Seireitei, they came to the First Division barracks. He had no idea what Siren was doing here, but if he had to take a guess, she was probably going to see the So-taicho. He knew that she was feeling terrible right now, and was worried about the punishment the resolute old man would dole out. If she got fired from being a Captain, it would break him.

"I'll only be a minute." she said over her shoulder and walked into the building. She knew that the old man was going to be really pissed with her, but she figured that going and seeing him when she looked like this might help her play the sympathy card. She might even pretend to pass out or something just to make it look really good and legitimate. Though she tried to make light of the situation to ease her anxiety, she just couldn't fool herself, and her stomach dropped in preparation.

Every person that she walked past watched her silently with shock, leaving wet footprints behind her. It was quite unexpected for her to just turn up randomly when every effort they had made to find her had failed. She went to Yamamoto's office, and no one contested with her, let alone say a word to her. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door to find him sitting at his desk, doing something or other that didn't concern her right now. He looked a little surprised to see her and she basically dragged herself until she stood in front of his desk, kneeled down and bowed respectfully.

"I apologise for my irrational behaviour. My own emotional turmoil made it too hard to come back here after what happened. I did not wish for anyone to think that I was betraying them in any way. Again, I sincerely apologise for the extreme inconvenience I have caused. I will ensure any work needing to be done over the last few days will be handed in promptly and without error." she said quietly with her weak voice, but as professionally as she could.

Yamamoto didn't get the chance to say anything as the door opened abruptly and in burst Ukitake and Kyoraku. They looked rather shocked at her appearance and they both let out the breath that they had both been holding since she disappeared. They both knew that she would come back soon, but they couldn't help but become a little worried about her especially with the severity of the weather. It had always been a big hint to figure out how she felt.

"Genryusai-sensei, I'm sorry for the intrusion but I think we should get Siren to the Fourth Division barracks immediately." Ukitake spoke with urgency, and with every hint of worry that he had experienced these past few days.

The old man nodded, knowing that this was probably the last place she should be until she was in good health. He did appreciate her coming to apologise to him first, but at the moment it ranked second to her being healthy again. If she was to stay on as a Captain, she needed to be healthy again. Ukitake and Kyoraku led Siren out of the office and Hisagi was waiting there. Without a word to either of the two captains, he picked Siren up bridal-style and began to carry her out of the First Division barracks and to the Fourth Division.

It didn't take them long to get there, and luckily Unohana was walking through the hallway and noticed Ukitake, Kyoraku and Hisagi carrying the small, wet, sorry bundle that was the Ninth Division's taicho. She walked briskly to meet them and showed them to one of the private rooms that was usually used for higher ranking shinigami. Hisagi laid her down on the bed, and within moments, healers were buzzing in and out of the room, performing whatever tasks they needed to. After examining Siren for a few minutes, Unohana made a diagnosis.

"She has severe dehydration, as well as being sleep deprived and quite malnourished. After staying here for a few days of rest, she'll be perfectly fine." Unohana said in her kind voice before excusing herself and leaving the room to do sort out Siren's treatment. She came back in after a moment, bringing Siren some warm, dry clothes and a towel, and Siren quickly changed in the bathroom before laying back down on the bed.

"Siren-chan, you shouldn't have made us worry so much! We had almost half of the Onmitsukido and Second Division out searching for you! We told Soifon not to worry, because we knew that they wouldn't find you, but she insisted." Shunsui said, and even though the connotation was scolding, his tone held nothing more than relief.

She was quiet for a few moments before she inhaled and asked the question that had been the thing preventing her from coming back. "Does everyone know?"

"Yes. I personally explained the circumstances to every single division." Ukitake answered softly, indescribably glad that his surrogate daughter was alright.

"And?" Siren asked quietly, even though she was quite certain she didn't want to know the answer.

"You'll just have to find out for yourself." Kyoraku said cryptically, though his tone hinted that everything would be fine.

The flamboyantly dressed man had noticed that Hisagi looked very worried about her when they saw him waiting out the front of the First Division barracks and it was only now that he had seemed to calm down. Over the last few days, he had come to see both him and Ukitake at least once every day, asking if Siren had come by, or if they had thought of anywhere that she might be. It seemed like he hadn't slept or eaten since she had disappeared, and he knew exactly why he was so worried. Not just because she was his Captain.

Being as old as they were, it was quite easy for them to realise that Hisagi was very much fond of Siren, and he had been so worked up about her disappearance. It was highly possible that he was more worried than the two of them were. They both knew that it was just like Siren to run off in those situations, not because of a lack of courage, but because she had always been very considerate of everyone around her, and she wouldn't be able to stand anyone she cared for thinking badly of her or disappointing anyone. But Hisagi hadn't know her for as long or as well as they did. Shunsui looked at his white-haired friend, and they knew what the other was thinking right away.

"Well, now that we know you're okay, we'll take our leave for the time being. Either of us have barely slept since you disappeared, so we'll get some rest and come to see you again soon." Kyoraku spoke and gestured for Ukitake to follow him. They both said goodbye to Siren who made a sound of assent in reply and Hisagi, who said good night and bowed to them both respectfully, being the ever-professional Lieutenant.

A few minutes of silence past, and Hisagi finally decided to speak up. "...you have no idea how worried I was about you. I thought you might have gone to the real world." he said so quietly it was more like a whisper, and he sat down on Siren's hospital bed.

"Sorry." she replied just as quietly. She let her head fall back, and rested it on the comfortable pillows and shut her eyes. She felt Hisagi shift for a few moments and opened her eyes to find him laying down next to her, looking like he was struggling to stay awake.

She moved over to make room for him and he laid down on his back and exhaled contentedly, glad that he could finally stop worrying about the girl who's presence he had dearly missed, even though it was only for a few days. He put his arms behind his head and shut his eyes, but they snapped back open when he felt Siren's still cold body much closer to his than it was before. She laid her head down on his chest, and put her arm over him and sighed sleepily. He brought his arms out from under his head and put one hand on her waist and his larger hand over her smaller pale one that was sitting on his stomach. He smiled sleepily and pulled her closer to him.

Within moments, they had both fallen asleep.