Stomping Grounds

Getting the Hang of Things
"Raaaaaaaaaah!"

A Hollow's chilled roar ripped through the daytime sky. It landed firmly on the ground, its' long tail sweeping over the lush grass of Central Park, the blades of grass bending under the small gust. To its' left and right flanks were the beast's considerably smaller pair of companions. The creatures snarled as they surveyed their surroundings.

Three figures suddenly appeared several yards before them. The hollows roared again, their eery screeches resounding all around them. Hizen drew his sword swiftly, keeping his eyes on the newest source of trouble. "It would appear these are the hollow connected to all those ghost attacks, " He said slowly, "They've been nothing but trouble as is to be expected."

Liza nodded, "The media can't make heads or tails of what's going on, but they're damn sure enjoying the surge of public interest."

"Heh, that's the job of media, " Hizen laughed, "To churn out what's interesting. You humans are an interesting bunch."

The hollow to the left inched forward. With a body shape resembling that of a wolf, it looked ready to pounce. In that instance, it lunged towards them speedily. The ground beneath it was tore asunder by the beast's claws as it bulleted towards them.

Suddenly, a figure flashed past them. A flash of glimmering steel caught Hizen's eye, earning a satisfied smirk from the shinigami. The hollow howled as it fell to the ground, struggling to raise itself up. In seconds, it disappeared with the wind.

"What a show off, " Liza muttered to herself, shaking her head.

Hizen gazed up to see a figure appear in the sky. His trench coat billowed with the strong breeze. The young man's blue hair followed in suit, flowing with the afternoon breeze.

Hizen smiled. "The outfit really fits you, Sannoto" He shouted. "I'm just surprised this kid got the hand of shunpo so quickly and can use it so well for a rookie." Hizen was pleased with their newest ally's development, it seemed that the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

"He's a quick learner, " Raiho said, reaching into his coat.

"Oi!" Liza shouted, shaking her fist. The red haired girl stomped closer towards his position, completely ignoring the two remaining vicious hollow before them. "Don't go showing off just because you got those shinigami basics down so quickly! You're still the biggest rookie in Avenon, Sano!"

Before Sannoto could respond, one of the hollow charged towards Liza. She turned to see the rampaging hollow racing towards her. Yet, her eyes spoke nothing but calmness and total control. Sannoto narrowed his eyes at her, he could finally see her power. Liza touched the pendant around her neck.

"Guillotine of Sorrow."

Her pendant morphed in an instant from a simple piece of jewelry into a sizable scythe. The blade itself being a deep, blood red, was poorly proportioned seeming a bit too big. She swished the scythe around her gracefully. "Begone, " She said softly. Liza shot forward and in one clean sweep, slashed through the hollow.

She looked back to see it disintegrate into the wind just like its' companion. The remaining hollow roared once more. Liza smiled, the beast's attempts to intimidate them was nothing more than a joke.

Sannoto stroked his chin, eyeing Liza's weapon. "So your fullbring gives you that thing, " He said through a quizzical look, ignoring her annoyed glance. "I guess a scythe fits a chick like you."

"What the hell are you trying to say, asshole!" Liza shouted angrily.

Sannoto shrugged at the question. Suddenly, the last remaining hollow shot towards where she stood. He slipped a hand to his hilt. "Liza! Watch ou--" Suddenly, the beast let out a howl and fell to the ground. Sannoto squinted to see two puncture wounds on the side of its' neck. He smirked, "Quicker than usual, impressive, Raiho."

"While it's interesting to have a rookie compliment me, I think we can call it a day here, " Raiho said. The hollow shattered before him. It was just a typical group of hollow, nothing special. However, they had made quite the mess of things.

"No more headlines on ghost hysteria for the media, " Hizen said with a small smile. "You seem to have gotten the hang of things well, Avenon's found itself an impressive new comrade." He watched as the young man dropped to the ground.

Sannoto sighed, "Loosely."

"Loosely, what are you on about this time?" Liza asked quickly.

"I'm only loosely affiliated with you people, " Sannoto replied, shaking his head, "Consider me a part-timer. Why would I just up and join you all unconditionally. That would just be stupid." Was it such a shock? He wasn't going to just blindly join simply because they know a few things he doesn't. The surprise in Liza's voice only daunted him.

"In other words, you don't full trust us?" Hizen asked sternly. "I can't say I'm surprised."

"Pretty much, " Sannoto nodded in agreement, he knew Hizen would understand. "Until I have a reason to, there's no reason for me to act like it's all good. I barely know anything about Avenon."

Liza let out an annoyed sigh. "We already told you," Liza said, "Slaying hollows in places usually ignored by the Gotei 13. They don't police the entire planet. They should, but that's another topic."

"Ahem," Hizen coughed, cutting in. "Sannoto doesn't need to be all in just yet, or ever. He didn't seek us out, we sought him out—big difference. The leader gave us orders to help develop his skills, and that's what we are doing." He gave a nod to Raiho, who disappeared in a flash.

"One more question before we go, " Sannoto said. Liza was currently shooting him a burning glare, but when wasn't she? It was a miracle that he could keep his cool with the girl, she was as fiery as her bright, red hair. " This leader. Where is, who is he, and why have I not seen him?"

"His name is Azashi, " Liza said, raising a finger. Her scythe was back to its' normal form, a small neck pendant. " Only Hizen has seen him, Hizen and the other three senior members of Avenon. The guy's been sickly for a while apparently. You'll probably never meet him for a while, just be happy to actually meet him."

Sannoto shook his head, this was a tad ridiculous. How could anyone just blindly follow someone they haven't even seen a picture of? "And you wonder why I don't trust you all, " Sannoto muttered, frowning. " That's why they say to trust your gut."

Hizen clapped his hands. "Okay, okay, enough. We'll be heading out now, " Hizen said. "Oh, and how's your artificial soul settling in?"

"That's total bullshit. He acts stoic, but he's damned stupid, " Sannoto moaned, no sort of amusement visible on his face. "He totally bombed my exam for Cal, couldn't even pull a D. Are there no smart ones?"

"Ha! Well, skill in multi-variable calculus was not kept in mind during its' development, " Hizen laughed, patting Sannoto on the shoulder. It was the least he could do. "There really isn't anything I can do, sorry."

From the Heavens
Sannoto had planned to get a bite to eat then quickly realized his current dilemma—his real body was in his mother's apartment probably doing nothing productive and his starving self was little more than a ghost passing over the crowds. It was problematic.

He zipped over the buildings, wind blowing through his hair. Sannoto's mind dialed back to what Hizen had mentioned about trusting them. It wasn't that he didn't want to fully place his trust in them, rather there was no reason to. How long had he known them? Not very long, he knew that for sure. Sannoto figured caution was necessary for now. Especially after hearing that bit about this leader called Azashi, there was less desire in him to totally commit to this group of spiritually aware whatever.

Sannoto sighed, his life had really changed in the last weeks. This shunpo ability was very handy, beat any taxi or subway ride. He'd have to try it in his real body one of these days, how that would pan out is beyond him. Suddenly, a shadow passed over him. Sannoto looked up in confusion. "What the hell was that?"

He flew down onto the roof of a building. Whatever had passed over him had been moving fast. Sannoto turned as he looked around him, nothing in strange in sight. Maybe he had been seeing things? Sannoto stroked his chin, that couldn't be it, ever since he got into this shinigami business it was becoming obvious that when something feels just a tad off, it's something to look into.

"Ahem."

Sannoto turned on his heel to see a young woman standing across from him. She was clad in black robes and strangely enough had an eye-patch over her left eye. Was it Halloween? His eyes fell down to the sword on her hip, in that instant, his hand glided over to his own weapon, muscles tensing.

The young woman coughed, raising a hand to catch his attention. "Stop, just s-stop. No one's going to attack you, " She coughed, massaging her throat. Sannoto stared in silence, not sure what to make of things. "Just a moment."

He raised an eyebrow as he watched from afar. It was awkward. "Need some water, " Sannoto said slowly, "Or are you feeling under the weather?" She may have been a complete stranger, but his mother did raise him to be considerate.

She exhaled softly, a smile coming to her face. The young woman laid her hands on her hips. Sannoto couldn't imagine her being any older than he is. "I hate it when that happens, " She said, earning a questionable look from Sannoto. "Without further ado...."

"Wait, " Sannoto raised a hand. "Are you a shinigami? Just answer that before anything else, seeing as it looks like you have a zanpakutō with you."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "There usually isn't any spiritual trouble around these parts of the world, but you seem rather good at finding trouble. You're a hazard to your own health, " the woman said, shaking her head. She stood up straight, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Tsuzuya Mizutani, third seat of the Ninth Division of the Gotei 13."

"Well, she's a real trooper, " Sannoto sighed. "Well, Tsuzuya Mizutani, what brings you to NY. Looking to go sight seeing?" This was the first time he had seen someone currently in this organization his father once served in, the strongest military force in the Soul Society. Hopefully, she wouldn't pull anything funny.

Tsuzuya sighed, "Didn't you hear me? Weird spiritual activity, though all the hollow targets seem to be dead."

"Not very specific," Sannoto replied with a shrug. "And yes, I and some acquaintances of mine dealt with them. If that's what you were--"

"Acquaintances, who?" Tsuzuya cut in. She took a step forward towards him, her face filled with curiosity. "Who taught you how to use your zanpakutō?"

Sannoto arched an eyebrow, "Why am I being interrogated?" Now he was feeling a bit nervous, that wasn't normal for him. "I thought you were just here for some hollows, not me."

"My primary objective is that, yes, " Tsuzuya said, taking a few steps closer.

"Why is what I said so important to you? Just come out and say it," Sannoto asked through a questionable look. If he needed to take action, so be it.

"What you say implies some group outside of his knowledge made contact with you. You are the son of a fugitive, Sannoto Nageki, yes...I know your name, " Tsuzuya said slowly. Despite the eye-patch, she had a soft look to her in a way. "It'd be nice if you said something, I'm not going anywhere till you do."

Sannoto sighed, feeling his muscles relax. This was silly. "So, you guys don't know about Avenon? They really are decent at keeping secrets, " He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Also, you know all about my dad?"

"Not much. The man, your father, Kai Nageki is way, way before my time and the archives don't have much on him besides the obvious stuff, " Tsuzuya answered, lifting a finger. "He's from the same era that the three oldest captains after the Captain-Commander first started up, so I can't say much. He probably fought in that war with the Quincy all those decades ago. I guess Shunsui-taichō would know all about him now that I think about it."

He stroked his chin, "They have archives in the Gotei 13, fairly sensible."

"Oi! Did you even get a word of that?" Tsuzuya huffed, stomping her foot.

"Haha, calm down, got every word of it. Just joshing you, Tsuzuya, " Sannoto laughed. He walked forward towards his newest strange guest, finally closing the distance between the two of them. He stretched out his hand, "Nice to meet you, Tsuzuya. I don't really do honorifics, by the way."

She sighed, a small smile escaping her. "Very funny, aren't we? " Tsuzuya said, shaking his hand.

"Is there anything else about me you care to pry into," Sannoto asked with a knowing look.

Tsuzuya tapped her chin, "Well, if I could meet your moth...."

"Not a chance, " Sannoto interjected sternly. "Not complying with a request like that. She's technically a fugitive too, well, an accomplice if your legal system works remotely like ours. I won't jeopardize her safety like that." He stepped away from her.

"Look, I'm not here to arrest anyone," She said, "Your defensiveness isn't, eh, where are you going?"

Sannoto hopped onto the ledge of the building, the clogged streets below him. The sidewalks were no less filled to the brim, with people moving to and fro in droves like ants. "I think I've heard enough and I doubt this is the last time I'll be seeing you....and I'm starving, " Sannoto said, shrugging. "Anyway, I'm out." In a flash, he vanished.

Tsuzuya narrowed her eyes, his skill with shunpo was impressive considering the circumstances.

"This is going to be an annoying job."

Sound the Alarm
The door of the warehouse slammed closed, as a figure trudged over the cement floor towards the sole table in the grand room. The individuals seated watched as their newest guest came to a halt before them, huffing and trying to catch his breath. There was a short silence between them, the crickets outside could be heard loud and clear.

"What the hell was so important that I had to wake up and run all the way over here? It's 2 am!"

Hizen closed the manila folder in his hands and directed his attention towards the groaning youth. "Ah, well, duty calls, " He gestured to the empty chair across from him. Sannoto plopped down into his seat. "You got here pretty quick considering you're still in your gigai, not bad."

Sannoto ran his fingers through his fringed bed hair, shooting the man a glare. "You have 2 minutes, folks, " He said through a frown, "Make it good. I shouldn't be up at this hour, I have an exam tomorrow." In corner of his eye, he noticed a change of expression on Liza's face.

"Well, " She said, tapping her finger on the table. It was best to be straight about things. "You won't be making that exam, Sano."

Sannoto groaned, "I'm not in the mood for this nonsense, I don't have the energy."

Liza looked at Raiho, who was conveniently occupied with the wall, and then at Hizen. He gave a shrug. She sighed. "Okay, I'll do the explaining before she steps in, " Liza said, turning back towards Sannoto. "You know our purpose, right, as an organization?"

"Uh, of course, " Sannoto moaned. "Slaying hollows in areas not properly monitored by the Gotei 13, yada yada, and protecting humans and crap. Why would you ask me that?"

"Well--"

"As you can imagine, " Hizen interjected quickly, "That would obviously involve some traveling, like on the fly trips."

"Where?" Sannoto asked plainly. Patience had its' limits. "I'm tired and again, I have an exam tomorrow. Sweet shit, where to and when?"

"Hmm....so, when you're tired that calm air about you just disappears--" Hizen stopped himself under Sannoto's glare. "France, " Hizen laughed.

Sannoto shook his head, tapping the table. "How am I supposed to tell my mom about this anyway? And you guys better be paying for this, flights to France aren't cheap." It was one thing to call him down here at 2 am, but it turned to an entirely different affair when he was expected to go off with them to France, not even another state—but another country, on another continent, on the other side of the Atlantic.

"Just wait, we got you covered, " Hizen said, raising his hands. "Well, covered per se.

Sannoto's eyes widened, "Per se?"

"Relax, goddamn, " Liza shot back through a smirk. "I didn't expect Sano to be so wary of his mommy, how cute." She locked eyes with Sannoto, matching his glare with a smug smile of her own.

Sannoto rolled his eyes. "My mother is alot of things, but she's no fool, " He replied. "And I'm pretty sure she's aware of y'all involvement in my seal being broken. If I leave the country, well, that's looking for trouble. Unless....."

"No, you can't leave your gigai like that, " Raiho said abruptly. All eyes turned on the normally quiet man. His mask was on as usual, not revealing anything but his eyes to his "comrades". "We're going to need to talk to locals about what's going on there. Most humans can't shinigami, remember."

"However, if need be, " Hizen said sternly, "We will send your gigai back with King in it, to at least keep up appearances if the job goes longer than expected."

"That guy can barely keep up appearances, isn't particularly bright and I find myself explaining my, quote on quote, weird behavior, " Sannoto said with a frown. "What would it kill for the Soul Society to have developed a more impressive batch of those things." Memories of incidents throughout the past few weeks flooded his brain, it was not enjoyable for him in the least. "Oh, and Liza." He turned to the red haired girl.

She arched an eyebrow, "What?"

"Don't give me that look. You mentioned a she, " Sannoto said. "Now, who were you referring to?"

"That would be me, Mr. Nageki."

Sannoto looked about in confusion. "What was that?" He asked, turning to Hizen. He had heard a voice, but it was not one he was familiar with. Yet, he saw no one else. Was he hearing things, were these new-found spiritual abilities of his throwing his head out of whack?

"Relax, Sannoto, " Hizen said quickly, laying a hand on his shoulder. "He's not very familiar with your skill after all, Asuna-chan."

"Right, right. Sorry about that, well, if you haven't guessed it already....I'm what is called a telepath by many."

"Damn, " Sannoto muttered. He rubbed his temples, sorting through his thoughts. It was one discovery after another. "So, telepathy is real. Wait, so where are you then?"

"Asuna can reach across nations, across continents," Liza answered through a stern look, "She's probably where we are heading at this very moment."

"Flattering, really, Liza, but it's not without its' limits. You'd be surprised the difficulty of communicating telepathically with normal humans, it's the spiritually aware that I can easily communicate with."

Sannoto turned towards Hizen, peeling his hand off his shoulder steadily. He shook his head much to his new teacher's confusion. "Okay, she's telepath. I'm gonna ask this once. If there are "telepaths", then I'd take it you know the truth behind a number of urban legends and myths. Does magic exist too for Christ's sake?" He asked. There was little reason not to press the question, if anything.

Hizen smiled. "You're catching on quickly as expected, but," He replied with a sigh, "Let's focus on the task at hand. France. Now that introductions have been made, let's allow Asuna-chan to fill us in on the situation."

"Thank you. Now, you guys will be leaving for France shortly. Near the countryside of Lyon, there has been some odd anomalies. It's best that we prevent the citizens from coming in contact with any....vicious hollow."

"Sounds like the usual deal, let's get going, " Liza said. "Sano, just say you're staying at a friend's place. And you're 19, so...."

"...So what? It's not as simple as leaving and not saying a word, oh forget it, " Sannoto said with a smile. "When's our flight?"

"Plane leaves in an hour, sorry to press you for time like this, " Hizen replied.

"Good luck, guys. Be careful."

To be continued.

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