“Captain Akimoto, sir,” his third seat, Hashimoto Daichi, called with a hastened voice. He was bowed deeply and remained there until he was finished relaying the message. “Captain Nakahara of the 8th Division has reported sighting a Vasto Lorde. Captain-Commander Kuroda demands you protect her personally.”

The papers piled upon his desk. He’d requested all documents from his Dojo and the Academy be sent to his barracks, since he was, more or less, locked up there. He and Yuzuki were always busy with paperwork, but they worked so well together he assumed they were keeping up due to the stagnation of the piles’ heights. Still, he always felt a twitch in his abdomen when looking at his office. 

His hands deftly shifted papers around the desk. “Thank you, Hashimoto-san. Please fetch Yuzuki-chan.” He commanded politely and the high-seated Shinigami fell in a bow and quickly exited the office. A hell butterfly was left upon his desk in the case he would need backup.

In one quick motion, his body spun up and around the chair while flinging his Haori onto his back. His Zanpakuto was then tied into the white sash keeping up his hakama. Once out the door, his Shunpo, which could barely be categorized as such, showed his image stretching across the roofs of the Seireitei. His Ken’in Ho was unique to him and most knew who was travelling in such a manner. 

The drums and gongs were sounded. The sighting of a Vasto Lorde meant grave ill for any single Captain. He hoped the two of them would be enough to drive it back. 

As he neared, the sounds of the battle were eerie and almost frightening. Screeches unlike any he’d heard before vibrated through the air and it sounded as if there were multiple of the same enemies in the area. Captain Nakahara would know the source better than any considering her information-gathering skills. What he didn’t expect was her to have her Bankai active when he reached them.

She was obviously on a losing end of the battle. The Vasto Lorde looked completely unharmed and the Captain was covered in cuts and gouges. Her uniform was in tatters and he knew he couldn’t have come any later. She immediately spotted him and he rushed in at the cloaked creature. She fell back in order to heal herself with her limited skills in healing Kido. 

When Akimoto met her with his Zanpakuto, she merely took the attack but was knocked back a distance. He was surprised to see there was no damage done to her cloak. Its Hierro stood up to his attack easily. Without pause, he rushed it again, aiming for the blackness under the hood. Its arm rose to parry the block and Akimoto’s Zanpakuto was knocked back enough to warrant an second strike. She flicked it away without difficulty. Nakahara approached from behind, intent on stabbing the creature. Both he and the Vasto Lorde saw this and Akimoto attempted a quick slash followed up by an Iktoranku. It seemed to go for a block behind and in front of it, but then noted Akimoto’s follow-up and had to use both hands to defend itself. It was pushed back into Nakahara’s blade, piercing it though its chest. 

The Vasto Lorde’s hand emerged from its cloak and grasped her neck. Tendrils flowed from the hood and began to lash at her face and upper body. Akimoto charged once more with his Zanpakuto sheathed and went for a Sōkutsu. Its other hand rose to block but was crushed under the power. She released Nakahara who fell limp onto the ground. It took the time Akimoto and Nakahara met in order to regenerate its lost limb.

“She is Chillida Temmor. She matches you in physical combat and can match you with weapons, hers being her hair,” she tried to explain through the intense pain she felt. Akimoto’s Iyashi no Namida from Taiyō no Fujō Fenikkusu began to flow slowly onto Captain Nakahara and heal what injuries it could. She accepted it but looked as if she was ready to embrace death. “She has three screams: Fear, Sway, and Calm. They petrify, paralyze, and control. She’s the one who’s been controlling the lost Shinigami.” She coughed up blood and whined from the pain. “She’s as fast as I am, but not at all nimble. You can overwhelm her with your Reiatsu.”

With that, her life escaped her and she laid dead on the ground. Akimoto’s body erupted in an intense orange energy that burned the ground around them and the dead Captain’s body. Chillida screeched, but under that screech was a taunt. “You have little hope here. Allow yourself to follow your friend and pain will not know you in this fight.” 

There were two voices saying the same thing at different pitches and tempos. He was thrown off by the level of fear he felt, but easily accepted it and charged at the creature. Her tendrils sprayed from her head and stretched further than he thought possible. His Zanpakuto wrapped them around its dulled blade and pulled hard. She screamed loudly, but not from pain. His ears burned and he winced. Her decrepit hand formed some kind of fist and pounded it into Akimoto’s chest. His Reiatsu burned her and she screeched from pain this time, but Akimoto could hardly stand from the volume and pitch of it. 

Trying to push through the pain, he charged her with an Ikkotsu, aiming for the weakened hand and hoping to crush it as before. But she disappeared as he reached her. Her image than appeared all around him. She was indeed quick, but she wouldn’t be able to get past his defense. The copies released their tendrils in order to strike at Akimoto, but his Reiatsu burst around him, burning the tendrils before they could reach him, and now held onto Taiyō no Fenikkusu no Owari. She screamed again and Akimoto had to cover his ears this time, though it didn’t seem to help. It made his bones tremble and quake from within him.

Under the scream, he could hear “calm” being said slowly and frighteningly. His bones started to vibrate violently until they locked shut. The screaming ceased and she then whispered in her double voice. “Ah, Captain Akimoto. I know you well. Nakahara prevented your death until now. You will feel how your subordinates feel before they are devoured by my spawn.” A dark cackle resounded but Akimoto responded by releasing all the Reiatsu he could in a single short burst. 

She was seared and pushed back far and his bones were once again under his own control. Iyashi no Namida could not heal the wide aches throughout his body and, instead, continued to swirl around him. He rushed her, bring his sword up over his head and crashing down onto her body. She slipped away before he could realize and a large crater was formed when his Zanpakuto met the ground. Again, her images formed all around him and before she had the chance to cast her spell, he burst out his Reiatsu, burning her again and knocking her down. Through this burst he moved and brought down his blade, that could hardly be called such, and brought it down on her torso. It cracked and then shattered, revealing a ghastly form that was once human but long dead. Her tendrils whipped from her head which he grabbed in one hand and pulled to bring her further pain. 

Though she screeched, Akimoto brought his blade up once more to impale the exposed body. Her hands grasped the blade, threatening to shatter it. Through the screams, he could hear the world “calm” being whispered once more. It was difficult to drown out the high pitch, but easy enough once done a couple times. He burst out his reiatsu, crushing her body and burning it in the process. Her open mouth took in some of the spiritual pressure and burned her throat, making it difficult to scream for the moment before regenerating. As he attempted to yank his Zanpakuto free, she kicked him back. Her Sonido brought her to a standing position but she was clenching her exposed torso in pain and wheezing in her double voice. 

Akimoto had to keep the pressure on and charged her again. She had to deflect his blade with her arms and protect her body. She hadn’t the energy to attack with her tentrils or Sonido away and, instead, focused her reiryoku in regenerating her lost Hierro. It would take much longer as she defended but she knew he couldn’t keep up his reiatsu bursts. He could still perform Ikkotsu at times. The more he performed them, the closer to shattering one of her arms and ultimately her defeat he was. 

But during a small pause between the two, he sent a Hell Butterfly to his Lieutenant, Yuzuki, to say he had the Vasto Lorde on the defense but wouldn’t be able to keep up for long and requested backup. Unfortunately for him, she had already done so and Hollow began to pour into the area. He immediately enacted Shin Sekatsu and with it, vaporizing hundreds of them due to the release of his Reiatsu. Once his showy release was done, the Vasto Lorde was nowhere to be found, but the Hollow were to be eradicated. His wings erupted when contacted with Hollow and his fists and feet worked to disintegrate them where they stood. The ground was scorched and empty. There was no sign of fatalities, especially the body of the late Captain Nakahara. 

The wings were almost completely molted when he sealed his Zanpakuto and fell to his knees. Yuzuki arrived shortly after. “Captain Nakahara is dead. Please tell the Captain-Commander. Also, send the Fourth to collect me and the Eleventh to hold this ground.” His head dropped to the ground and fell into a conscious sleep. The other Divisions were quick to act and he was retrieved and healed while the area was fortified with troops. 

A week later, he was summoned by the Captain-Commander for a formal briefing. “Captain-Commander,” he said with a deep bow. 

“Taiki-kun,” she said in her ancient voice, “what did you discover.” 

“The Vasto Lorde I encountered was more than enough to take out Captain Nakahara, one of the best Shinigami of the Gotei. Her name is Chillida Temmor and her weapon is her voice. Captain Nakahara believed she to be cause of the capture of our Shinigami. She has three different screams, one to petrify or paralyze, one to knock unconscious, and one to control the body. He weakness is interrupting the word necessary to cast these spells. However, her normal voice, of which she seems to have several, is disarming alone and her ability to scream brings pain to the most resilient of Shinigami. Her hair also works as deadly quick tendrils to lash at opponents, and this is how Captain Nakahara died. Her hierro withstands some of my strongest attacks but her Reiatsu and Reiryoku are poor, from what I could tell. She’s also just as fast as Captain Nakahara was. I managed to shatter a large portion of the hierro on her chest, but she was able to defend the tender insides without issue if only because of my exhausted state.”

“Thank you, Taiki-kun. I will relay this information to the Eighth and you are to return to your barracks for further rest.”

“Were we able to hold that district?”

“Yes, and we have expanded our reach since then,” she said without smiling. 

He looked down slightly solemnly and then bowed deeply before leaving.

“Get me Yasu-chan,” he heard her say before he was out the doors. Akimoto knew she was working with the Noble Houses if not within the Seireitei itself. She was as busy as any of the other Captains left. His own curiosity had him wonder the need of her so urgently, but it wasn’t his business to mettle, so he continued walking toward his barracks where he was met by Yuzuki.