NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14: Chapter 13
Week 3: _ and Kenpachi Zaraki
Mission: Dress for Success – Kenpachi's Obsession
Day 1
She sat alone, thoughtfully gazing into a pond on the outskirts of the Seireitei. Somewhere she knew she was not likely to be disturbed. She needed time to think. Her mission was not at all what she'd expected it to be. In retrospect no one ever knew what to expect from Yoruichi and Rangiku so she shouldn't have been surprised. The question was; how was she supposed to get Captain Zaraki to give her five of the bells from his hair without him knowing who she was?
"Dress for Success," she said, repeating the week's lesson aloud.
'Samurai armor can't be easy to come by these days.' she thought. She wasn't sure if that would be considered dressing for success, but it was definitely dressing smart. Gods only knew what the crazed captain of the eleventh squad would do when he heard her request.
'I can see it now,' she thought. Good day captain Zaraki. I was wondering if perhaps you wouldn't mind letting me have five of the bells from your lovely yet very masculine and not at all ridiculously styled hair. 'After he stares at me for a few seconds, he'd reach up and snatch off his eye patch. If I wasn't completely crushed by his spiritual pressure that sick smile would spread across his face and he'd say, "I'll give you one for every time you cut me." After which, I'd bow politely, turn on my heels and haul ass, suddenly remembering that I liked being alive.
"Perhaps I could wear wicker basket on my head like Captain Komamura used to," she said to herself.
Of course the Captain of the eleventh division wasn't exactly what you would call bright, but surely he wouldn't be fooled by a simple disguise…or would he. 'Maybe, I could try…and if I suppressed my reiatsu', she thought, sighing as the breeze carried a loose strand of hair over her eye. She leaned forward, cupping her face in her hands. Coming up with a plan would be difficult, but she'd figure something out. Failure was definitely not an option.
Day 2
An idea came to her in the wee hours of the morning, waking her from a peaceful slumber. She knew she would need some assistance so she made up her mind to go see Lieutenant Matsumoto first thing in the morning. Everyone in the Seireitei knew shopping and being sexy was her forte. Looking at the clock she lay back down, feeling a little better about her mission.
When she awoke again it was a few hours later, but still rather early. Rangiku was not what you would call an early riser, but she just couldn't wait any longer. She decided to check the Lieutenant's room first. It would be best if running into Captain Hitsugaya could be avoided. She hoped she wouldn't raise any suspicion by being there. She wasn't exactly one of the Lieutenant's known friends. Of course she had the right to call on who ever she pleased and seriously doubted if anyone would say anything at all. 'I'm just being paranoid', she thought.
When she arrived at her destination, she found that she was hesitant to knock. This had the potential to be very embarrassing since she was known to be a soft-spoken and reserved person. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door of the tenth squad Lieutenant, hoping that Rangiku would not make this more uncomfortable for her than it already was. She waited a moment then knocked again…nothing. 'That's surprising. I know she's not gone already. It's too early. Maybe she's passed out'.
She turned slowly, trying to decide what to do next. Maybe she could talk to Captain Shihoin instead. Nodding to herself she decided that was probably the best course of action. As she turned to walk away, Rangiku's door flew open. She turned to face the surprised face of the blonde Lieutenant. If there had been any question as to why the men in the Seireitei practically worshipped the ground the Lieutenant walked on, she had the answer now. She definitely had an abundance of womanly…uh, charms. She had obviously just finished bathing and was wrapped in a towel that was straining to contain all of her…assets. Her dripping wet hair was hanging wildly around her face. She was beautiful, that was for sure. 'Why would she answer the door this way? What if I had been a man?' she thought. They stared at each other speechless until Rangiku finally broke the awkward silence.
"Fancy meeting you here," said the Lieutenant with her trademark laugh.
She invited her unexpected guest inside and closed the door behind her.
"I'm sorry to call so early, Lieutenant, but it was rather urgent that I speak with you." Rangiku nodded and took a seat on her bed giving the raven haired woman her undivided attention.
"I've done quite a bit of thinking about my mission, and I think I have an idea. The problem is, I need some supplies," she said with a small smile. Rangiku just stared at her obviously not understanding what the woman was asking. "I don't know where I would get the supplies, Lieutenant."
"Oh, ok. Well, what do you need? I'm always up for a shopping trip," she said, all of a sudden very excited. "Oh, we can go to the human world," she squealed, jumping up and quickly putting on her uniform.
"This will be so much better than hiding from my captain all day," Rangiku said, cringing at the thought of doing paperwork. "I'll handle everything. Meet me at Yoruichi's in thirty," she said as the woman bowed, smiling nervously, and then left. Today was certain to be interesting.
The two women arrived in the human world directly in front of Urahara's shop, which to everyone's surprise he was still able to maintain, even from the Soul Society. He and Tessai came back quite often to check on a much older Ururu and Jinta. Rangiku had Yoruichi call ahead to let the two know they would be stopping by to get their gigai. The two entered the shop and were met by Ururu who was sweeping up the already clean floor, probably out of habit. The teenager looked up to see her customers and ran over, jumping on Rangiku and knocking her onto the floor.
"At least someone's glad to see me," Rangiku said laughing.
The young girl, apparently remembering herself, released the blonde Shinigami, apologizing profusely.
"Oh, don't worry about it," she said standing and straightening her robe. "I guess you have everything ready? We're here on a top secret shopping mission," she said gesturing to her companion.
The smaller Shinigami stepped from her place behind Rangiku and gave the young girl a smile. Ururu bowed politely and apologized for not greeting her earlier. She was so excited to see Rangiku that she hadn't even noticed her. Ururu led them into the back where they could get into their gigai. Rangiku threw on the clothes Ururu laid out for her and threw her shopping partner some of Yoruichi's clothes since they were close in size. They stayed long enough to enjoy some tea with Ururu, and then began their adventure.
_____________________
Read more on-
patreon.com/rary01