Rukongai.
"They've appeared over there again! Hurry!"
The voice came from around a street corner, urgent and breathless.
"Go back them up!"
Several Shinigami ran past Yan Si, the hems of their Shinigami uniforms kicking up dust.
They held their Zanpakutō, blades still sheathed, but their fingers were clenched around the hilts.
Yan Si stood where he was.
Several Ninth Division members followed behind him, all temporarily assigned to him recently.
Their faces were tense and uneasy. They stared toward the voice, their feet already taking an instinctive half step in that direction.
"Captain Kensei doesn't need our help over there."
Yan Si's voice was calm and deeply reassuring.
The squad members stopped. "We'll go the other way." He turned and headed in the opposite direction.
They exchanged looks, hesitated for two seconds, then quickly followed.
Their footsteps fell back into rhythm, their scabbards knocking together at regular intervals.
Gin Ichimaru walked beside Yan Si, half a step behind.
A smile hung on his face, but his eyes opened a sliver as he looked at Yan Si.
"Big brother," he said quietly, "what about Rangiku and Lieutenant Kyunnan Shiro..."
"They'll be fine." Yan Si didn't look back.
"Lieutenant Kyunnan Shiro is strong, and Rangiku already has the strength of a Seat Officer. Nothing will happen to them."
Gin nodded, his smile deepening.
Yan Si had originally wanted Gin to accompany Kyunnan Shiro's group too.
Although it hadn't been made public yet, Gin had already used the Tenshintai to learn Bankai.
If he launched a surprise attack now, even several of the captains probably wouldn't react in time. That was Gin Ichimaru, a genius among geniuses.
But Lieutenant Kyunnan Shiro had insisted on forming an all-female squad, and their patrol area was toward the front, where it was relatively safe, so