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There was something…off about the new recruit.
Akon couldn’t put his finger on it but the man was weird. And that’s saying something considering he was a part of the 12th division!
This new recruit, Haruki was his name apparently, just showed up in their labs one day. Walking around in their uniform and taking part in their meetings. Now that in itself wouldn’t be strange. The 12th division always has new recruits walking around the halls, and sometimes, depending on recent events, it would be nothing BUT, new recruits.
But Haruki…Haruki was different. He didn’t join the latest recruitment batch. He just appeared in the lab one day, following the Director very closely behind. It was odd how close the two always were. Haruki had all but replaced Nemu as Mayuri’s right hand man, sticking close to the Director and following him around like a lost puppy. The two were always together it seemed, both on the clock and, more surprisingly, off the clock. Akon had seen them in places like the cafeteria, eating together (which was odd in the fact that the Director rarely ever wasted time to eat there), walking to their quarters and, one embarrassing night, Nemu had walked in on the two sharing a drink in Mayuri’s private room.
Clearly their relationship was beyond professional but just who was this man to gain such favor from Kurotsuchi?
Director Kurotsuchi hadn’t informed him or Nemu of any stand out students that he saw in the latest graduate list. Normally when he did he would tell the two so they could prepare tests for the newbie to see if they would be a perfect fit for the division. But with Haruki, it seems that the Director decided to just skip over that.
‘He was a star student in the Academy.’ Kurotsuchi had said while rolling his eyes, as if insulted that they dared even ask about the mysterious man. ‘The tests are unnecessary for him. I know he 'll be a perfect addition to the division.’
Akon supposed he could understand foregoing the tests if Haruki was just that good of a student from the academy, but he wasn’t!
Akon knows he isn’t because shortly after the mysterious man started involving himself in all their lab work, Akon and Nemu looked into his background and found something very interesting: the man didn’t exist!
They had looked over every graduation list and couldn’t find the name ‘Haruki Sappo’ on any of them. Nemu had suggested that maybe they search enrollment lists instead since maybe the man had started the academy but never finished for some reason. Akon entertained the idea. Perhaps it was a situation similar to his and the Director’s own where he had been forced into the Maggot’s Nest or some other similar circumstance after joining.
Yet, very quickly they came to the same results as their initial search. It seems this man was a ghost in the system. No classes enrolled in. No medical records submitted. No papers published. Nothing!
Akon leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. It was way past his shift but he and Nemu decided to stay back to once again look over the records, just in case they could have been wrong and overlooked him during the initial search.
“What do you say Nemu? Wanna call it an early night and pick up where we left off tomorrow?”
Nemu paused her search through old Rukongai reports and looked at him, frowning a bit. They only had access to these files for a few more days and she rather not waste time. Yet, she also couldn’t deny that she was getting rather tired. Not to mention her father would grow more suspicious the more she stays after her shift with little to no work to show for it.
“I suppose we can.” she answers with a curt nod. She begins to encrypt their files once more, preventing anyone else from getting in on what they were doing. Akon stands and stretches before he then reaches into his lab coat pocket to grab his pack of cigarettes only to pause when he hears footsteps in the hall outside. He and Nemu glanced at each other, wondering who could also be up in this area at such a time as no one else was scheduled to take over this lab after them.
The door opens and in walks the short figure of Mami, the division’s “mascot”, at least that’s the official title the Director gave the creature, walking in with a cart full of papers being pulled behind him.
Mami was odd as he wasn’t a creation of the 12th division nor was he even a normal soul. It was very obvious from looking at the round ears on his head and his bushy striped tail on his round, furry body that Mami was a tanuki. Yokai were rare in soul society as they had been banned from ever entering the realm over a century ago. Any remaining ones were quickly sent to the Maggot’s Nest to wait out their remaining days. Akon doesn’t remember seeing anyone like him during his time in the Nest but then again, he was a child. Honestly, he was just like Haruki, showing up in the 12th labs one day. Unlike Haruki, his presence caused quite the uproar, with many subordinates basically freaking out at the sight of him and running in on a rather delicate experiment to frantically tell them about the “Monster roaming about the labs”.
It was comical looking back now. Mami doesn’t even reach the knees of the average soul. Yet, because Yokai have been demonized so much, he was immediately seen as a threat. Eventually the three of them were able to corner the guy in one of less frequented labs and Akon had half expected the Director to kill it on the spot since he was technically enemies with its race.
But instead Mayuri just stared at it for an uncomfortable amount of time before gently scooping up the little tanuki and silently walking off. The next day he would announce that the division has a new “mascot” in the form of the creature now wearing his own small uniform and that he is not taking any questions about it. That refusal also extended to Captain Soi-Fon when word eventually reached her that they were harboring a Yokai. Akon couldn’t understand why Mayuri was so adamant to keep the thing. All it really did was sleep in the labs and eat all the vegetables it could get in the cafeteria. He would have thought it was friendly comradery between the two if not for the fact that Mayuri was a Kitsune and everyone knows Kitsunes and Tanukis hate each other. Whatever the case, they have a small tanuki mascot now that doesn’t even talk.
Akon felt a tug on his lab coat and looked down to see Mami holding a stack of papers up to him.
“Ah great. More stuff to look over tomorrow.” He sighed as he glanced over the stack.
He watched as Mami toddled to Nemu and handed her another stack of paper. She gave him a soft pat on the head, scratching behind his left ear. He watched as the creature then reached into the sack always tied around its neck and pulled out a piece of candy.
Akon eyed the sack in light amusement, knowing that inside was probably more vegetables from the cafeteria and sweets from Rin. He eyed the intricate pattern adorning the sack and something seemed to click in his mind.
“Say…. Mami, can you come over here for a sec?” Akon called to the tanuki. Mami nods and rushes back, eager for whatever task Akon asks for him. Instead, however, Akon kneels down and gets real close into the tanuki’s neck sack, seemingly inspecting something.
“Is something wrong with Mami, Akon?” Nemu asks as he continues to study the tanuki.
“It’s just… these symbols making up the pattern on his sack. Don’t they look like a crest?” Akon asks as he holds the fabric up to look closer. Adorning the sack were circles with what looked like two swords made from Tanuki tails clashing into an “X” formation.
“Crest?”
“Yeah...like a family crest. Kinda like Captain Kuchiki’s?”
“Are you asking if Mami is a noble tanuki?”
“Well not him per se but...didn’t the Director mention he was from a noble Yokai line or something? And that his family had a crest yeah?”
Nemu nodded. She had seen the crest herself, nine stylized fox tails enclosed in a circle, embroidered on to an old obi he had managed to bring from his old home. “All Yokai nobility have family crests.”
“Well in that case maybe we should look into this crest?”
Nemu tilted her head in confusion, “How will researching the crest on Mami inform us about Sappo-san.”
“Mami showed up like a week before Sappo did. I think they might be connected.” Akon explained. It didn’t make sense that a random yokai and a random person with no background just started working at the 12th out of nowhere with the Director's blessing of all things! Akon smelt something fishy about it all.
“Perhaps it is a coincidence.” Nemu reasoned. She knows they’re desperate to find information on this new recruit but she’s beginning to think that maybe Akon is getting a bit too obsessed.
“Maybe…” Akon mumbled “But it doesn’t hurt to look. If only to at least figure out what’s the deal with this little guy.”
He releases Mami and stands up. He grabs a scrap of paper and quickly jots down a rough version of the crest adorning the cloth. “Put in a word with the 2nd division to get some information about tanukis. They probably won’t question us if we say it’s for making sure Mami is properly cared for. I have a feeling he’s been sent here for something more nefarious.”
Nemu barely quirked an eyebrow “Such as?”
Akon nods to Mami, “Didn’t Mayuri mention powerful tanukis can summon small ones to spy on people? Maybe Mami is one of those spying ones and whoever summoned him is from the family with this crest. Wouldn’t be the first time we got a spy in our ranks that slipped past us.”
Nemu hummed. She didn’t really agree with the flow of Akon’s logic. It was too coincidental for her. Yet, they were scientists and if a new hypothesis has formed it was in their best interest to try and prove it null.
She watches as Mami quickly scurries out of the lab, dragging his cart of papers behind him “I will put in the request for Yokai documents tomorrow.”
As much as Nemu hates to admit it, it seems that Akon’s suspicions were correct. Upon getting permission to look at historical documents from a very disgruntled and very suspicious Soi-Fon, Akon was able to find a match of the family crest Mami wears fairly quickly. It was in a book focusing on the history and folklore of the Tanuki race. One of the earlier sections went over the different families that held the “Representative” title for them (Nemu vaguely remembers her father talking about that title when she was younger) and the last family listed had the crest with a very familiar name next to it.
“Sappo… I knew there was something weird about that guy.” Akon muttered as he read more about the family’s passage.
“It still does not prove that Sappo-san and Mami are connected.” Nemu reasoned, playing Devil’s Advocate. “Perhaps he is borrowing the name since that’s their representative family.” Nemu wasn’t really one to deal with circumstantial evidence, especially when it came to important claims. She was taught by her father to always deal with absolutes and she knows Akon was very much taught the same.
“Well even if that’s the case, it would still mean that Haruki is a Tanuki,” Akon said as he continued to skim through the passages, “And if he is, that’s not good for the Director.”
“That is true…” Nemu said as she opened another book about Tanukis. Everyone, whether Soul, Human or Yokai, knew that Kitsunes and Tanukis hated each other and if Haruki truly was a Tanuki, that would mean that he possibly knows that Kurotsuchi is a Kitsune. That, in turn, puts the closeness budding between the pain, under a suspicious light.
“Hey, come look at this.” Akon muttered as he pushed a book closer to Nemu. “Doesn’t this guy look familiar?”
Nemu looks down at the picture in the book. It seems to be a stylized portrait of a handsome Tanuki of noble background, if his clothing was anything to go off. Despite being nothing but a reprinted painting in a book, the piercing gaze from the familiar green eyes still struck Nemu. The man depicted was a splitting image of Haruki, from his large frame, to his black hair. The evidence of Haruki being connected to the Sappo clan in some way was growing more and more by the minute. She looked at the caption under the portrait.
‘Sappo Kanou; Current Council Representative of the Tanuki’
“Kanou…” Nemu mused out loud.
“There are two possibilities here: either Haruki is related to this guy or he is this guy. Either way, the director, and possibly even you, are in danger.”
Nemu let out a small sound at that. This was beginning to spiral into something far more than just ‘Random flirty subordinate.’
“I suggest that we keep an eye on Sappo-san for a bit more before we confront him on this.” Akon said as he closed the book.
Haruki was a lot of things, but one of things he isn’t, is an idiot.
He knows that his sudden appearance in the division is suspicious. He has no background in this place, fabricated or not! He doesn’t even have one of those fancy powerful swords like everyone else. Mayuri had assured him that it wouldn’t matter.
‘No one would dare to question my decision’ is what he had said. And it was true for the most part. His fellow subordinates did look at him with a questioning gaze every time he walked into a room or offered a suggestion but one glance from Mayuri had their remarks dying in their throats. That being said, people did still talk about him. He could see how they would whisper about him when he passed by. Mainly about his closeness with Mayuri which shouldn’t really surprise him. He does follow his friend around like a lost puppy, always at his beck and call should he need him. He never does, of course. He has Nemu and Akon as his right hand men to do the more grittier work.
Speaking of which, they were currently staring him down as they blocked the only exit out of the small lab. He smiled at them, if only to mask his worry. He was supposed to meet Mayuri in his quarters in about 10 minutes but from the looks those two were giving him, he could wave that meeting goodbye.
“Akon. Nemu. Are you here for the calculations Captain Kurotsuchi dropped off earlier?”
“No.” Akon’s tone was cold and clipped. It let Haruki immediately know that this was not going to be a friendly work conversation at all. “We’re here because Lieutenant Kurotsuchi and I have some questions for you.”
Haruki nods though he can feel the sweat starting to form on his brow. Still, he pushed forward with his facade “Questions? Is there something wrong with the results I handed in?”
“Why are you pretending to be a common soul?” Nemu asked. Ah, she’s always so blunt and straight to the point, just like her father.
“Wh-what are you talking about? I am a c-common soul.” Great, now he’s getting really nervous to the point of stuttering. He needed to compose himself and fast!
“See I thought that too, until I noticed something.” Akon said calmly as he walked over to the cadet.
“And w-what did you f-find?” Damn it! He was slipping and fast!
“That you don’t exist in the system.” Akon said as he set the file in his arm down in front of Haruki. “At first I figured that maybe you simply had not graduated but looking over all recent Academy enrollment lists yielded no name at all.”
Haruki audibly swallowed at the site of the file. “That’s because I was erased from the system.”
Akon cocked a nonexistent eyebrow at the statement. “Were you?”
Haruki quickly nodded and let out a sigh, “I… I used to be in the Maggot’s Nest before I joined the 12th division. I was deemed dangerous shortly before graduating the Academy due to my personal research and was sent there. Somehow Captain Kurotsuchi found out about me and recruited me to join this division’s team under the stipulation that I work closely with him so he can keep an eye on me.”
He leans forward and casts his head down in a deep bow. “I figured it was best not to tell anyone of my background in the Nest in order not to come off as dangerous. I wasn’t trying to deceive anyone! Promise!” It was a simple cover up story that he and Mayuri had come up with in the event that someone looked into his past. They just hadn’t factored in that it might be Akon and Nemu to be the one’s snooping. He glanced at the pair through his curtain of hair and it was clear they did not buy his story.
“Nice try, but if you were in the Nest your name would have come up when we searched their records.” Akon shrugged before opening the file on the table. “However, we did find your family name elsewhere Haruki. Or should I say: Kanou.”
Haruki straightens up and takes a small step back in shock “W-what!? How did you-!?” He stops himself from continuing and mentally kicks himself. All possibilities of getting out of this unscathed flew out the lab the moment he reacted. He fruitlessly glanced at the blocked exit once more, noting how Nemu’s hand now hovered over the hilt of her sword. Akon simply smirked smugly as he slid a page from the file in front of him.
“You recognize this right?” Akon asked.
Of course he did. How could he not recognize the familiar symbol that he grew up seeing everywhere.
“N-no I do not…” he said, feigning ignorance.
“Weird you don’t.” Akon continued, “It’s all over our roving mascot’s neck sack.”
Haruki mentally cursed. Of course the family crest would be on Mami sack! How else were people supposed to know who sent them! Perhaps he was so used to the design after all these years of dealing with the spies and he simply forgot about them.
“Honestly this crest was the key to helping us find out about you Sappo-san. We looked up old books on Tanukis to find out more about our dear mascot and came across an interesting picture. ‘Tanuki Representative’ is quite the high title, don't you think Sappo-san?” By now Akon had moved the file of the crest to the side and had now pulled out a file of a painting. Haruki’s eyes widened at the sight of the familiar face and finally took a step forward. He needed to clear his name, and FAST!
“N-now hold on! Yes, I am a Tanuki but I’m not Kanou!” Haruki reasoned “I’m nothing like him!”
“Hard to believe when you share a family name and look just like him.” Akon said, folding his arms. “I wonder if you share the same anti-Kitsune sentiment that the book mentioned, however.” By now Nemu has moved from the door and slowly made her way closer to the pair, hand ever waiting on her hilt. Haruki tries to inch away from her and looks at Akon with pleading eyes.
“Look, I don’t know what you read about him but I can assure you I don’t share the same ideas. Trust me!”
“Sorry, but we can’t risk trusting someone who is a potential threat to the Director.” Akon stepped away from the table, allowing Nemu full access to Haruki. Haruki squeezes his eyes shut as Nemu comes closer to strike him down. He only hoped she wasn’t as sadistic as her father and would make his death quick.
“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?”
Haruki opened one of his eyes to see Nemu standing over him with her zanpakuto ready to strike, and the only person that could possibly save him.
Mayuri stomped over to where they were located, anger radiating in his eyes, “Nemu! Put your sword away and explain why you were about to kill a subordinate immediately.”
Nemu followed her fathers orders and took a step back, “We were neutralizing a potential threat sir”
Mayuri balked at her as if she had grown a second head “Potential thr- What are you blabbering on about!? Do I need to do emergency surgery on your brain!?”
“It’s because he’s a Takuki sir.” Akon said holding up the file, “And we have reason to believe he’s their Representative, Kanou Sappou, and that he’s here to potentially harm you.”
Mayuri rounded on Akon, eyes wide and dilated like a feral animal and snatched the file from his hand. “He is not Kanou you idiot! He’s his son!”
For once during this whole encounter, Akon looked shocked.
“He...He’s his son?”
“So he is a Tanuki related to the Sappo clan.” Nemu mused.
Mayuri rolled his eyes “Obviously he is Nemu! As for “Harming me” Haruki wouldn’t dare to do that.”
“How can you be so sure Sir?” Akon asked, “Remember Tanukis and Kitsunes have a feud with each other.”
“You don’t think I know that!?” Mayuri snapped, “Do you take me as some type of small brained imbecile?”
“Of course not sir.” Akon quickly answered.”We simply were unaware that you knew of Sappo’s true nature. He did show up out of nowhere and we have been having issues of spies as of late. You can probably see where the Lieutenant and I’s concerns lay.”
Haruki could see Mayuri’s clenched jaw move a bit as he probably ground his teeth in anger. Funny, after all these years he still hasn’t kicked that bad habit. Mayuri glanced madly at the other occupants of the room before finally making a strangled noise.
“Haruki is an old childhood friend of mine.” Mayuri finally admitted. “He managed to find a way to the Soul Society and used Mami as a tracker to find me.”
The stunned looks on Akon’s and Nemu’s faces would have been comical to Haruki if they had not been trying to kill him earlier. Akon looks at him up and down. “I see. Still, how did he even manage to get here from Yomi undetected.”
“If I may? I can explain that” Haruki finally spoke. “I had found a broken shrine at an old hang out of ours-”
“Shrine?” Akon asked
“An old way to travel between realms. I won’t go into the details of it, but I was curious to see if I could fix it and see where it leads. It took me a while but eventually I got it to work and surprisingly, the shrine it connected to in the Soul society wasn’t too far gone, thus opening up a path for me. Once I realized I had a connection to the Soul Society, I remembered Mayuri leaving to live there all those years ago. I guess I never got over my friend leaving and sent Mami to find out any information on him. I didn’t expect to find out he was still alive and without thinking immediately came over to see him again.” Haruki looks between Akon and Nemu, hoping they’d believe his word. “I really didn’t plan to do anything malicious and honestly just wanted to see my friend again. I guess I was lucky Mayuri found me first and not that scary lady or else I would not be here right now.”
It wasn’t hard to deduce that “Scary lady” probably referred to Soi Fon. She's been hell bent on getting rid of Mami under the “No Yokai” rule and the existence of Haruki would have sent her into an overdrive that could possibly lead to a problem for Mayuri and Nemu.
“I was the one who suggested that he become a subordinate here. I couldn’t risk people finding him randomly with no reason to be here.” Mayuri explained. “I was under the assumption no one in this division would be stupid enough to challenge my word but it appears I was wrong.”
Akon winced a bit at the words but couldn’t argue with them. He technically was going against orders, even if he had a reason to.
“Now, since this has all been explained, I take it you two are done here?” Mayuri continued. His voice held no room to argue. The two simply nodded in agreement. “Good. Then you two are dismissed. We’ll discuss this breach of authority tomorrow morning.”
Nemu and Akon bowed before exiting the lab. Haruki waited until he heard the lab door lock behind them before letting out the breath he’d been holding since the first time Nemu and Akon cornered him. Inadvertently, he also let his ears and tail finally come out too. It was hard to maintain his disguise under stress and he was nowhere near as skilled at doing so as Mayuri seemingly was.
“I apologize for their overstep, Haruki. I didn’t know they would try and do that.” Mayuri said, coming closer to his friend. “We have had issues of spies joining this division in the past and I suppose they have been focused on preventing that from happening again.
“It’s… well not fine, but I get why they did it.” Haruki said, scratching the back of his head. “At least you stopped them in time.”
Mayuri just sighed and sat down at a table. “Yes I suppose so. I had gotten worried when you hadn’t shown up for our weekly meeting. I thought at first you were wrapping up work but the longer I waited the more worried I got. Luckily, Mami pointed me to where you were.”
Haruki sits next to him and chuckles, “To be honest. I was expecting that scary co-worker of yours to find me out first. Guess that’s on me for underestimating the skills of a Kurotsuchi child and mentee.”
“Yes, well they’re going to receive quite the disciplinary punishment tomorrow. But for now, let’s try and salvage the rest of the night. After, you calmed down and put your tail away, that is.” Mayuri suggested with a smirk.
Haruki flashed him a big smile at that.
Even after facing near death, he couldn’t help but be happy to be near his friend again.