1.10

Hajime sat behind his desk doing paperwork with Shuhei helping him.

Peacefully, a hell butterfly flew through the window and landed on the nearest target, that being Shuhei.

"A hell butterfly?" It landed on his finger, "The following is an urgent message for all Squad Captains and their Lieutenants." He recited what the hell butterfly was reporting. I looked up as he continued. "A change has been made regarding the execution of Kuchiki Rukia. Be advised that this convicted prisoner's execution is now set for... 29 hours from now. This decision is final and irrevocable. There will be no further changes to the exaction date. That is all." He finished talking, the hell butterfly escaping out the window.

After the new information was received, the same announcement was made over the intercom.

"So, tomorrow at noon?" Hajime muttered, "Isn't this advancing a little too fast?" He sighed before standing up, taking his blue haori and zanpakuto.

"Captain?" Shuhei asked.

"Come." Hajime ordered before exiting the office then the barracks. He shunpo'd to Jushiro's squad barracks, knowing Shunsui would do the same.

Hajime arrived in the room full of seated officers after using shunpo, Shuhei arriving only seconds after. Hajime's lieutenant looked rushed and confused as he watched his captain, along with Captain Ukitake and Captain Kyoraku, go in a separate room to talk, leaving their lieutenants to stand awkwardly in the room.

"We only have 26 hours," Jushiro worried, wondering what they should do to save his subordinate.

Shunsui and Hajime glanced at Jushiro with concern; however, both men had a vague plan.

"The Shihoin shield," Shunsui mentioned, "can destroy the sokyoku."

Jushiro seemed to lighten up at one possibility.

Hajime glanced at his best friends and considered the idea, "I could contact Yoruichi and ask for the location."

Shunsui and Jushiro nodded. Out of all three of them, Yoruichi was the closest with Hajime. However, all five Captains are friends.

Shunsui nodded, piecing together plans and possible outcomes. "It won't go unpunished," he stated the obvious.

Hajime gave the man a well-no-shit look while Jushiro scolded Hajime's sarcasm.

Shunsui chuckled and began to discuss the plan. "Hajime, find Yoruichi and the location of the shield then flare your reiatsu. I'll infiltrate and retrieve the shield. Jushiro, we'll rely on you in unsealing it."

Hajime and Jushiro nodded in agreement, stern looks on their faces.

Hajime and Shunsui exited the room, catching the attention of the Lieutenants and third seats.

"Captain!" A chorus of voices shouted.

Hajime jerks his head in a direction, signaling Shuhei to follow him before he shunpo'd out of Squad 13.

Shuhei effortlessly followed his captain as Hajime shunpo'd to an obscure place. Hajime stopped on a the ledge of a cliff and turned to Shuhei. He motioned for the Lieutenant to come closer.

Shuhei unhesitatingly stepped forward, "Captain?"

Hajime lifted his fingers to Shuhei's chest before forcing the man's reiatsu to concentrate in that spot, effectively sealing off his reiatsu to that of a small creature. Hajime turned around and allowed his fourth and final reiatsu seal to activate, matching his reiatsu levels to Shuhei's.

Shuhei's eyebrows quirked in confusion, turning to his captain, "What are we doing Captain?"

Hajime turned to glance at his lieutenant before turning forward and shunpoing to his destination, explaining the situation as they travelled.

Captain and Lieutenant arrived at a steep cliff with many mountain jags and rocks. A perfect place for a hideout, Hajime mused. Hajime wondered around the area before finding what he was looking for. Squatting down, Hajime lifted a hatching that was invisible to the eye unless a person knew what they were looking for. "Let's go, Shuhei," Hajime jumped through the hatch; Shuhei following him with the door closing behind him.

The two landed in a rocky biome. Many swords littered the ground while two people were fighting. Hajime noticed Strawberry and deduced that the person he was fighting was his zanpakuto.

"So," a voice echoed through the room, catching all the occupants attentions, "you finally decided to drop by."

Hajime turned to the voice, "Nice to see you again, Yoruichi."

Yoruichi smirked before coming around Hajime and swinging her arm over his shoulders. Shuhei and Strawberry gawked at their interactions. The two watched at the two Captain-level shinigamis talked. Hajime was faintly smiling at the woman, while Yoruichi was giving the man a noogie.

"I assume you're not here to chat?" Yoruichi finally asked, pausing in her assault.

Hajime smoothed his hair out before sighing, "You know what we want." He simply said.

Yoruichi let out a bellowing laugh, "Of course I do!" She smiled, "I wouldn't be you guys's friend if I didn't."

Hajime smiled at the woman while Yoruichi recounted the steps to retrieve the Shihoin shield. "Thanks Yoruichi."

"HEY!" Strawberry yelled, "Who the hell is that?!" He pointed the current sword he was holding in his hand at Hajime.

Yoruichi quirked her eyebrow when her student had to quickly move out of the way to avoid his zanpakuto's attack. "He's an old friend of mine when Kisuke and I were here. His name is Saito Hajime and Captain of Squad 9." She explained to the teen before turning to Hajime, "He's my new student, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Kurosaki seemed to perk up at the mention of Hajime being a Captain and a friend of Yoruichi and Hat n' Clogs.

Hajime's chin inclined, he finally learned the teen's name. "I see you're using this training method," he noted.

"It was the best option." Yoruichi replied.

Hajime agreed but paused when he noticed his swords vibrate.

Yoruichi quickly noticed, causing her to smirk, "They want to play?"

"It's seems so," Hajime sighed before grabbing his zanpakuto's hilt and unsheathed it, revealing 6 inches. "Umi no Kami." He called his zanpakuto out.

Kurosaki paused his fighting to watch, even his zanpakuto stopped with interest. Shuhei awed over his captain's performance. The blades that were previously showing were slowly turning to mist. The mist escaped the scabbards and swirled around on the floor, forming two bodies. Soon, two children with blue hair formed from the mist. One was laid back and didn't show a care for anything while the other was bouncing on her feet, her eyes shifting to every detail before stopping at Kurosaki's zanpakuto.

"Hey!" Umiko shouted, shunpoing straight down and in front of one of Kurosaki's many zanpakuto duplicates. "Are you that kid's zanpakuto?"

Aoi sighed at his sister's excitement but still observed the zanpakuto present. He raked his eyes over all the swords on the ground before pausing at a black blade.

Hajime's hand reaches out and turned his zanpakuto's attention elsewhere, "Go on," he urged, knowing Aoi was interested in the strong zanpakuto.

All the shinigami watched the zanpakutos's interactions as Umiko asked for the zanpakuto's name.

"Zangetsu," he responded.

Umiko smiles and motioned to her brother that was observing Zangetsu, "We're Umi no Kami."

Kurosaki's eyebrows raised, this was the first shinigami he meet that had two blades as their dormant state.

"So," Aoi droned, "you're pretty strong, huh?" He sized up the zanpakuto much taller than him.

"You as well," Zangetsu acknowledged.

"Captain," Shuhei interrupted, knowing how his captain can be," 23 more hours."

Hajime nodded, catching Kurosaki's attention.

"Hey!" Kurosaki shouted, annoying Shuhei," 23 hours until what?!" He waved the sword in his hand.

Shuhei grew a tick mark at the restless teen, "23 hours until Kuchiki san's execution," he said.

Kurosaki became rigid when he heard what Shuhei said. He quickly turned to his zanpakuto who were conversing with Hajime's. "Hey!" He shouted, "Zangetsu, let's go!" Kurosaki became more energized.

Hajime called his zanpakuto, "Umiko, Aoi, we need to leave.  The two muttered before their bodies started to disappear, a noticeable surge of reiatsu reappearing at Hajime's waist. Hajime turned to Yoruichi, "We'll see you soon," he said before leaving with Shuhei behind him.