Bleach: Azashiro

"Please wait here, the others have already been informed and will arrive soon" bowing to me, the messenger, and it was he, left.

He was wearing a burgundy long-sleeved kimono over black tight-fitting clothing, a hat that covers his upper face and backpack. Atypical clothing for shinigami. Such a hat greatly narrowed the view, and therefore all Shinigami, if they want to hide their identity, wear masks, covering the lower part of their faces.

I looked at the strange shinigami in the back for another couple of seconds and lost interest in him. What do I care what he's wearing. This is the place where he brought me, quite remarkable.

The landfill, divided into three parts, is five hundred to seven hundred meters. It was less than what I had seen before. But it was better equipped.

On the right is a field of hundreds, maybe more, of iron pillars, for practice. Each pillar had a different height, as opposed to a training ground for privates. Different pillar heights are used for training by experts in Hoho. At one time, I jumped around the same house.

The other part imitated a small forest, green lush trees, slightly yellowed grass and bushes. It was most likely used to train stealth and detect at the same time.

The last piece of land was nothing - just bare earth. I think it was a kind of arena for sparring or sword training.

- Hmm. - examined the pillars rising above the ground. I guess I'll. It is unknown how long I will have to wait here, but at least I will occupy myself with something.

***Shika Shihoin***

Having gathered the members of our squad, we all headed together to the training ground, which was supposed to be my personal one. But why do I need her? I'd rather eat. And sticking underground is a dubious pleasure.

Aki will need to be invited to live with us, otherwise his skin is already pale. He needs to be in the sun more, and dungeons don't contribute to this.

"Hopefully he won't be inept like the last one." she heard. Toshi and Meat were talking and apparently discussing the new guy.

"Either the year before last, he's generally a pompous turkey: he died on the first mission, but he said how much, ugh". - Meat expressed his thoughts.

Well, here they will be satisfied. Aki strong. Throughout Seireitee they have been talking about him for several years now. The most talented aristocrat. That's what they call him. Aki predict banking by the age of one hundred. Most likely this will happen, but I think he can surprise us all.

- Captain, you know who was assigned to us. Maybe you can share it already? - Mita's question interrupted my thoughts and I turned my head and looked at him.

"Meat, you were rather assigned to him here". - giggles, it will be funny to watch them try to check on him.

They always attack the new ones. Not to say that this is good, but you still need to check the combat effectiveness of the newcomer. I watched from the outside and stopped them if they went too far.

Perhaps this time it would be worth slowing them down a little. If they attack Aki as usual, then he can apply a high-level kido. But you need to knock the arrogance off them, and therefore I will leave everything as it is.

"Hey, Toshi, maybe immediately with a shikai?" - not receiving the desired answer, he spoke to his brother again.

"Yeah, since the captain appreciated him so highly, it's possible with a shikai". Toshi replied, looking at me, trying to understand something from my reaction to his words.

This won't save you from being beaten. I don't think it will be difficult for Aki to deal with them. Of course, I don't know how strong he is. But my father said he killed Adjukas five or six years ago. Now, after so long, Aki should have become stronger.

"Let's start, Henka Suru". - activated his shikai Toshi. Now in his hands he held an unusually shaped blade, with a hook at the end.

- Blow up, Bakuhatsu Shuri. - Meat kept up with him and activated the shikai as well. Unlike his brother, his blade did not undergo any visible changes, remaining the same ordinary katana.

And so we approached the iron door leading to the training ground. Toshi touched the door with his sword and walked through it. Following him came Meath and I.

Each of us hid our reatsu. Wanting to find the best vantage point to watch the show, I went to shumpo. I landed on one of the strong branches of a tall tree, from where there was a view of iron pillars.

Akihiko had not noticed us yet and continued to jump from one pole to another. At the same time, two saboteurs came closer and used their abilities on one of the pillars and hid.

It will be interesting to watch how Aki gets out of such an ambush. If you don't know about the brothers' abilities in advance, they can cause a lot of trouble, especially working as a couple.

At some point, he stopped next to the trap and looked down, where two brothers were skillfully hiding among the pillars.

"Hmm, let's see what you're capable of." said Akihiko, with his ever-calm face.

- Hado №32: Okasen

And putting his zanpakto in front of him, he launched a wide horizontal black arc, hiding in a pair of shinigami.

*Boom*

Two brothers got out of the smoke. They managed to react in time and retreat, but...

- Bakudo №63: Sajo Sabaku.

Akihiko had no intention of stopping. Pointing his open palm at Mita, he clenched it into his fist, releasing the kido.

Yellow energy appeared from the air, from which chains were formed and wrapped around Meath's torso, securely shackling it.

"Damn." cried Meath.

- Bastard! - Toshi echoed him.

Seeing his brother's plight, he did not go to his aid, but decided to take advantage of the moment and stab him in the back. Forcing Akihiko to turn around and block someone else's attack with his zanpakto.

"Ha, gotcha." said Toshi, and hooking his opponent's sword, pulled down.

Akihiko, quickly realizing what was what, changed his grip to the opposite and...

- Hado №58: Tenran.

... aerial tornado throws Toshi away from him.

- Bakudo №61 Rikujokoro.-

Six thin but wide yellow rays crashed into Toshi's torso, paralyzing and shackling him.

Akihiko, in this short battle, did not even move, still standing next to the trap prepared for him.

I was so interested in watching my subordinates beat me up that I relaxed too much. How did I understand this? The kido flying at me speaks about it better than any words. Shumpo.

-Hey, hey, I'm all giving up. - immediately raised her hands as soon as she landed five meters in front of Akihiko.

*Boom*

Poor tree, I liked it so much.

Looking into Akihiko's eyes, I felt uneasy. His indifferent gaze of half-covered eyes was cold. Feeling like he's deciding whether to slam an annoying fly.

I would never have thought that the eternally calm Aki could look at someone like that. I have already seen such a look, but my uncle and father had it.

"Who are you?" his calm voice brought me to my senses. That's right, I wanted to surprise him and put on a mask, you bastard.

"Didn't recognize?" I answered, lowering my mask.

In the look directed at me, a trace of recognition and surprise flashed. Well, yes, the fool herself decided to play it. But it was worth it. Now I won't worry about him on assignments. Such a cold, indifferent look does not arise on its own. Apparently, the incident six years ago changed it a lot. We'll need to find out what happened then.

It's a pity I didn't know him before. Maybe I could see him laughing.

"Shika, what are you doing here?" asked Akihiko.

I don't let my subordinates be killed, I wanted to answer him.

"Hmm, by the way, I'm the 1st officer of the covert operations squad". - resting her hands on her sides and standing in a pose, answered him. - Actually, come down.

"Have not seen each other for a long time". - landing in front of me, he said.

"Yes, yes, a long time ago". - looking at the constrained brothers, I said. - Maybe you'll free them already.

"Is this an order?" was it a joke!?

"Are you joking now!?" bulging her eyes at him, I asked in surprise. - Aki, do you know how to joke?

"Haa, I'll free you now". - sighing tiredly, he dispelled the bakudo.

Wow, it's some kind of day of surprises. Now he's trying to joke. I would still work on facial expressions, otherwise you won't fully understand with his calm face whether he's joking or seriously.

"That pair of puny brothers of bad guys – Toshi and Meat" - after waiting for those bad guys to come closer, I introduced them to each other.

- Mit. - Meat introduced himself.

- Toshi. - repeated after Toshi's brother.

"And this is Akihiko Azashiro – heir to the Azashiro clan. - standing next to Aki and placing her hand on her shoulder, she introduced him. - Quite strong shinigami, as you may have already noticed.

Still, I couldn't resist getting stuck. Well, sooner or later it had to happen. There's no point in attacking every newcomer from an ambush, damn inspectors.

"Nice to meet you." Akihiko said.

*Boom*

There was an explosion behind me, a dump. Bouncing a few meters, I looked at the pillars crumpled by the explosion. While sheathing zanpakto, she headed towards two idiots who did not cancel their abilities before turning off the shikai.

-You two idiots, what the fuck...

***Akihiko Azashiro***

While Shika was busy yelling at the brothers, I examined what was left of the pillars. The explosion was strong, since not a single intact pillar remained. Although, the shock wave was surprisingly weak. I was barely blown away by the winds. Strange.

I wonder what can be used to create such a trap: delayed explosive ability, mine, printing, zanpakto ability, kido?

I don't know, I'm not sure. The feeling from it was similar to the kido held before release. Although, Shika was shouting something about the shikai, it still means it's unlucky. And there are also activation conditions. Otherwise, I don't understand why they didn't blow up their trap earlier. I stood close enough to get within the blast radius.

Another reminder that the diversity of abilities in this world is simply enormous. Initially, I thought it was something of a shackling kido. From now on you should be more careful.

Hmm, how they came in, what I didn't even notice. Door? No, opening door, I wouldn't miss it. Secret move? Quite possible. Maybe teleportation? No, it's too extravagant for a simple check and I definitely couldn't help but notice this.

They're quiet for some reason. Looking in their direction, I saw how Shika no longer screamed, but hissed at them. Apparently this will last for a long time.

In general, I'm surprised. He didn't expect to see Shika in the role of his boss. What about the boss, I was surprised by her rank of 1st officer. All the time we met, I thought she was just an ordinary girl who sometimes trains, that's it. And that's how it turns out. The third strongest officer in the covert operations detachment. Although, maybe not the third, there are still a bunch of other units.

Now that she is not hiding her reatsu, I can say that she is approximately two to three times greater in terms of spiritual strength. And it's surprising. Now I have a reirek, like a weak captain. Shika, on the other hand, has a volume of spiritual power comparable to that of Sato-sensei.

"Akihiko, come over." Shika called me.

Approaching, he looked at the guys who were furtively looking at me. But when our eyes met, they quickly lowered their heads or looked in the other direction. What did she tell them that they were afraid to look me in the eye.

-Have fun and that's enough. Now about business. - I would argue about fun. I think these guys will support me in this, but I'd rather remain silent.

"We've been given two assignments for tomorrow". - said Shika seriously, looking around everyone. - We don't have time for a normal acquaintance. Therefore, everyone talks a little about themselves and their abilities in order to at least roughly imagine what can be expected from each other.

Hmm, what can I tell them. I didn't want to put all my strength on display, even to my allies.

- Toshi, serving in the unit for forty years. I own a kido up to and including level 30. Ability of zanpakto: I can make physical objects temporarily intangible. I have a good command of my steps and hakudo. - Toshi said, taking off his mask.

- Meat, serving in the unit also - forty years. Capable: kido up to level 45, zanpakto ability: creating explosive marks. "I'm good at my step". said Meat and, repeating after his brother, pulled the mask off his face.

- Shika Shihoin, in the unit for fifteen years. In kido, I can use spells up to level 70. I own shumpo and am good at hakudo. About zanpakto: well, my ability is called "Oitsuku" - lifting my chin, Shika said.

Hmm, we're having a good team. The guys' powers are quite interesting. What surprises me most is Toshi's zanpakto ability. The opportunity to interact with reishi in shikai is my first time. Surely there are limitations, but his potential is simply enormous. You will need to learn more about the limitations and conditions for using his ability, and they simply cannot but exist.

But with Shika, not entirely unambiguously. She's strong, of course. Kido, come on, hakuda - she's good at everything. But her ability to do so raises questions for me. Catch-up, that's what it's called. I can't even imagine how it works and what it does. But I'm uncomfortable asking her. Chike-san may refer to?

"Aki, it's your turn." said Shika, inflating her cheeks.

- Um, Akihiko Azashiro. I can use all the kidos up to level 80. I handle the sword well and can use shumpo. - I said, slightly underestimating my capabilities, but it will be better this way. - Zanpakto ability: control with black liquid.

-Only water? What features does she have? - Toshi asked a question.

Hmm, what is he doing. It is not customary to ask shinigami about his abilities, especially zanpakto. Therefore, simply ignoring his question, I looked at Shika.

-You moron!? - in a loud voice, she asked a completely logical question.

The guy under her gaze was shy and squeaking something.

That's not what I expected when I joined this detachment, oh, that's not what.

"Where do you come from, idiot". - she still didn't let up.

- Haaa, how difficult it is with you. Tomorrow at six in the morning, ready to be here. - we nodded unanimously at her words. - Free.

"Aki, wait. - I already wanted to go, but I was stopped by one lively lady. - Let's go for a walk. I haven't seen you for so long.

- Okay. -nothing to do anyway.

***Pov Toshi***

-Fucking aristocrats, bitch. How dare she talk to us like that!!! 1st officer, but of course. The same Shinji-san will kill her in no time. Infuriating. - plopping down on the bed, I tried to calm down.

Alas, this fucking world is unfair. If you are unlucky enough to be born into a noble family, you will be considered a second-class citizen.

Harassment, they're everywhere. Even here in the covert operations squad. Of the entire officer corps, only two people are from Rukongai. The rest are aristocrats and servants of noble families. According to the rules, having reached the shikai, you must be awarded the rank of officer. Of course, for second-class citizens, the rules do not apply. That's why my brother and I remain privates. Freaks.

But this Akihiko was immediately given an officer's room as soon as he arrived. Surely in a week he will already be an officer, moving Shinji-san, otherwise, a commoner is an officer. Not order.

-Don't get excited, just be patient. You know Kumoi-sama needs a little more time. We have endured for more than two hundred years, another fifty to a hundred years and everything will change, Meath said.

-You're right, sorry. -

"Nothing, you'll need to let Kumoi-sama know about it to Akihiko". I don't like him. - here I agree with him. Another pompous aristocrat on my brother and I's head.

"Yes, tomorrow on the assignment you will need to find through whom to send the message". - I said.

"By the way, why did you go to him with questions?" asked Meat.

"Well, we told him, and he's a liquid". - I answered, grimacing.

- Well... what's not ability? For some, the fire is controlled, but here the water is simple. So let's inject yourself, why did you climb towards him. - Catching the gaze of his brother's attentive eyes, he was embarrassed. - And you understand a lot about zanpakto?

-I... yes, sorry. - shit, I don't understand what I attached to him myself. Maybe his calm face just infuriates him.

"Okay, just don't get in on him from now on". Just spit on him, that's not what we're here for.