Juushiro left his room after another long night of little sleep. It was a good thing he was used to it. Starting, he brought a hand over his mouth, coughing hoarsely. Finally, they abated. He glanced at his hand. Once again, the fact that no one had heard him and no crimson drops lay in his hand calmed him. He sighed, closing his eyes. He needed to find a way to sleep, yet his fears...
A cold shiver slid over his heart.
Juushiro whirled around, eyes narrowing. The cushion where Sogyo no Kotowari lay during the night was empty. For a moment, he stared at the place, then his eyes closed, exhaling a longer, deeper sigh.
"I'm sorry, Sogyo no Kotowari. I'll find you soon."
Turning around, Juushiro left his rooms, heading for the storage sheds.
.......
"Sentaro, Kiyone-chan, wake up."
Sentaro bolted upright from his slouched position over the paperwork, ink marking his cheek. Kiyone squealed as she fell from her sprawled position in the window seat, sending a wave of documents to the ground.
"Taichou, we -" Sentaro began.
"This- this isn't what it looks like," Kiyone sputtered.
"We weren't spending the whole night together for our sakes."
"We weren't doing paperwork all night."
Juushiro set the cups of hot chocolate down on a clean spot of the low desk in the middle of the room. "We'll discuss that later. Drink this to calm yourselves and go to the barracks."
"We have work to do?!" Sentaro exclaimed.
"Is it an important mission, Taichou?" Kiyone asked, rubbing her eyes. She reached into the blanket for her shoes and zanpakuto. "Are we saving- Aaah!" Her head vanished underneath her blanket.
"What?" Sentaro called out, reaching below him. He jumped. "Where is it?!"
"They are gone, even mine," Juushiro explained quietly. The two looked to him with wide eyes. "That is why I want you to go to the barracks," he continued gently.
Kiyone nodded slowly, eyes watery.
Sentaro frowned. "I thought we were lucky," he muttered.
Juushiro nodded sympathetically. "After you gather everyone, join me at the storage sheds. We are going to spend the majority of the day finding an Asauchi for each member that will serve as a substitute until we get our zanpakutos back."
"Taichou," Kiyone inquired thickly. She wiped her nose. "Did you know this was going to happen?" she asked in a clearer voice.
"It was too much of a coincidence for it to end with only half of them to go missing," he replied. He knelt and set a hand on her blonde head. "Go and try to be brave. We will practice Kido and set up partners by degrees of strengths and weaknesses. I won't let you be unprotected."
"Hai," she nodded, smiling better.
Sentaro grinned. "We can handle this. "
"And we will get them back," Juushiro stated, rising. "Go with that message." He turned around and another pile of paper fell over. He chuckled. "After I fix this, which won't take long," he knelt and started gathering paper, "I will be in the mess hall, finishing up the hot cocoa. That will help with the nerves sure to start up."
"Taichou," Kiyone voice rose in worry, "are you getting sick?"
Sentaro's eyes narrowed, "You look more pale than usual."
A fleeting smile rose on the captain's lips as he responded as he should, "I didn't sleep long last night. I am fine."
Right now, he had to act as captain, not give in to his own worries.
