Tower of Night: The Beginning

This article, , is the third chapter of the Tower of Night series; depicting Kenji as the POV character and Naoko Izuru as support.

Kenji Hiroshi walked through an area of London that had previously been unknown to him. His surroundings included tall buildings and people in suits, going about their business. It was quite different to his base of operations. This time the Soul Society had placed them in a small island on the River Thames that had a number of private businesses and a small number of residential property. The island itself only had a population of around two-to-three-hundred and there was only one little shop, but because of the small size Kenji simply couldn't lose himself like he did the last time. London was a much bigger place to look for some deserved peace and quiet.

“Hey! Wait up, Kenji!”

He froze. He had had a feeling all day that he was being followed, but he'd put it down to paranoia and subsequently paid it no heed. Now he wished he had walked a little faster. Naoko Izuru ran to catch up with him and fell in beside him. She had her hands on her knees and was breathing somewhat heavily. Today she had her hair combed back and held with a ponytail. Her clothing consisted of a dark blue skirt and a white camisole with frilly spaghetti straps. It made Kenji's blue denim jeans and black T-shirt look almost scalding in comparison.

“You shouldn't wander around on your own, you know.” Naoko said at last. “Something might happen.”

“Like what?” Kenji asked, confused.

“Increased Hollow activity.” Naoko reminded, smiling. “Oh! Is that an arcade!?”

She grabbed Kenji by the hand and dragged him towards the building at near-break-neck speed! She pulled him through the door and stood in utter amazement at all the blinking lights and sounds of the game machines. She tapped the closest – which was a fruit machine – and seemed disappointed when nothing happened.

“I think it's broken.” She said, saddened.

“It needs money you numpty.”

He proceeded to show her to operate the game. But he didn't stop there. He explained to her that it was a gambling game and then the rules. In no time Naoko was playing happily with a big grin on her face.

“What's that one!?”

She ran straight towards an air-hockey table and inspected it from every angle. Kenji was starting to think she was more than a little off in the head. No one in their right minds reacted that way to an air-hockey table. It just wasn't natural. He put in the money and retrieved the puck before tossing the second mallet to her.

“Try and score against me.” He said, tone neutral.

Their game was over quicker than Kenji would have thought. She took to the game with unreal speed and was soon firing pucks at him with impunity. She hit one of them so hard it bounced up off the table and smacked him flush between the eyes! Kenji grunted and staggered back, anger clear in his blood-shot eyes, but he counted to ten and calmed himself. No point losing the rag here. But he'd get his own back.

“I'm sorry.” Naoko said again. “I didn't mean to.” She hung her head.

It wasn't that he completely loathed conversation or company... he just preferred the quietness and isolation he had known since childhood. But he had to admit he had fun today; even looking back at the puck incident was funny to some extent. Ah, hell. Maya and her bloody spirited nature must have rubbed off on him the last time they where here.

“Hey, you hungry?” He asked.

“Why, Kenji, are you offering to take me to dinner?” Her eyes glistened.

He waved it aside and chuckled. “Whatever floats your boat, Naoko.”

He wasn't particularly caring what he ate. He'd sampled a fair bit of the local cuisine during his previous stay and his favourite had been Chinease takeaway. The things those people could do with noodles! The thought had him drooling. You could imagine his delight when Naoko decided upon a high-class Chinease restaurant. Kenji danced a jig as he walked through the door.

“I've never been to a place this fancy before!”

The restaurant was dimly lit with a welcoming atmosphere. Waiters and waitresses moved around with purpose and in quick order the duo had their food ordered and ate. They talked of nothing in particular until Naoko asked Kenji if he had any family.

“... Afraid not.” Kenji replied. “My old woman died giving birth to me, and if my old man is alive I've never met him. Don't know if I have any siblings either.”

“I'm so sorry!” Naoko exclaimed.

“Don't be; I'm not. So... you've been firing off questions at me all night. It's nearly my turn: why did you follow me this morning?”

“... Curiosity...” Naoko whispered.

Ha! This was just fantastic. He'd been the target of a few young girls affections in the past because, according to Maya, some people found his loner attitude mysterious and apparently mystery added spice. If it where true he wasn't going to complain. He was about to say something when their phones beeped inside their pockets.

“Duty calls.” Kenji said instead. “I'll sort the bill.”

When he joined her outside he popped a soul candy and entered his spirit form. Naoko and he leapt skywards and proceeded based on the directions Naoko called. It was only when the two got into the air that they realized how late it was. Darkness had already descended and a familiar dread set in. They weren't alone.

“Thanks for today, by the way. I had fun.” Naoko said.

She was looking at him but that meant she wasn't paying anything else any heed. Thankfully Kenji caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

“Move!”

He brusquely shoulder barged Naoko clear of an incoming stream of watery liquid, which instead of hitting her streaked across Kenji's left arm. The cloth was seared clean off and the skin on his arm was burned, resulting in a grunt of pain. The source of the attack was a Hollow seated atop a tall building that had been firing blindly until the arrival of two Shinigami.

“You're hurt!”

“Focus on that Hollow!” Kenji called, holding his arm.

Naoko moved to strike the Hollow and released her Shikai with the command Lower your Head, Kan'yōtsu. She struck the Hollow six times before moving away, at which point she told Kenji to strike. He did so with a long-range Byakurai launched from his fingertip. On its own he didn't expect it to do much... but the moment the spell struck the Hollow shattered like a piece of glass smacking the floor! Kenji had moved to follow-up with a solid punch but instead he slid to a stop where the Hollow had been mere moments before, looking confused.

“My Zanpakuto halves the weight of anything it strikes but more than that it also weakens defensive power by roughly half, and I struck it six times. That Hollow didn't stand a chance.”

“... Nice,” Kenji acknowledged. “But we're wasting time; we need to get back to the others.”