"It's nice to see he's still got spirit in him." — Gin Ichimaru.
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The day was slower than any of them would have liked and despite them being long-lived spiritual beings, a slow day got to them just like it did any other.
And the worst part was that they could do nothing about it.
Gin and Junpei both, did nothing but remain in silence in their bid to pass the slow days that came and went. Slowly.
It has been a week and yet there was nothing to show for the progress of their mission. Other than the usual occasion of Junpei riling up Gin and Gin reciprocating with veiled insults, and the few Hollows they killed, nothing seemed to be different but that didn't mean their guard fell low.
"Those Hollows, the last ones…"
"Yeah."
It wasn't a note worth mentioning but the fact that they were sent here meant that they were supposed to find everything suspicious and the fact that the last group of Hollows they fought were a step higher in strength was more than enough point for them to be suspicious.
But that wasn't the main issue.
"It seems like we aren't the only ones killing Hollows in town." While an interesting info, it wasn't all that important. All in all, things were relative.
They still kept themselves hidden, except during an Hollow attack, but so far nothing was distinct enough for it to be the reason they were in this mission.
And so they remained hidden.
They kept to themselves for the next two weeks as they watched the town and all the spiritual happenings around it, yet nothing warranted a report back to their Captain. Until the third week.
They had begun sniffing out the distinct scent of a trail with the last few Hollow attacks and even confirmed the identity of who else apart from them was responsible for fighting off the Hollows.
And the person's identity came as a measure of surprise to them.
A Quincy.
A particularly skilled one at that.
They didn't show themselves when they finally tracked him out and instead settled for watching his every waking moment, sometimes even letting him fight off the increasingly regular Hollow attack.
They watched to see if there was a congregation of Quincies nearby but it turned out to be only the man's direct family. It was just him and his estranged son.
The Quincy aside, Gin had been the first to speak out on the increasing patterns of the Hollow attack.
"Hollow bait."
"What makes you say so?"
"I've used it enough times to know how to decrease or increase its potency. It's too periodical and while the Hollows may seem random, the fact that they always arrive in groups makes it obvious. It's either a bait or something in Hueco Mundo is being testy, which is very unlikely."
"So we're right. Whoever they are must be stalking the local Quincy and his family." Junpei added. "And given that the Shinigami who arrive always arrive late or are below the strength threshold to clear them means that someone up there is being finicky. I hate this."
"Not as much as I. Thankfully we can leave this to the Captain to take care of."
"We can, but unfortunately the mission isn't over yet." That got a loud groan from Gin.
From where he sat he could not see a conclusive end for the mission with them being here in the World of the Living but he wouldn't want to be the one to tell the Captain that.
The more time they spent in this the more it became clear that the Captain just wanted them to find where the thread led.
They weren't here for the Quincy family, neither were they here for the periodical Hollow attack. Frankly they were not here to kill anything or even meet anyone. It was a purely stealth mission.
It would change if they were able to confront the person behind this but until then, their main job was to observe. Which they did. Neither the Quincy nor the Shinigami were able to sniff out their presence even when they sniped out Hollows.
"So we're not doing anything about the Quincy? Gotta be important if someone is keeping an eye on him." Gin said.
"Other than reporting their presence, no. It's not our business if he has enemies that are watching him. It became our business when they disrupted the natural flow. Letting Hollows run rampant in the Living World is a grave crime." Junpei answered.
It was probably a written rule somewhere in whatever laws governed the Soul Society but anything that disrupted the natural flow in the World of the Living especially one that was perpetuated resulted in extreme response from the Seireitei.
It was better to attack the Seireitei on your own than for you to attempt some kind of power play in the World of the Living as most offenses result in the death of the guilty party.
Attacking humans or human souls would net you the same response that Hollows receive. It was just that simple.
"Ugh, so three weeks of doing nothing and we still have to spend more time here. Why did I even agree to take this mission?"
Junpei snorted. "Because you didn't have a choice."
"Yeah. That would do it."
Junpei laughed. It still pleased him every time he saw Gin's distraught expression. It was like cold water on a cold night. A guilty pleasure that was just as damning as it was addicting.
"About that Quincy, what do you think about him?"
"Who cares?" Gin looked at him with raised brows.
"I do. Just humor me, it's the first time I'm seeing a Quincy." Junpei said. With his ever curious nature, seeing the Quincy made him want to watch the man even more. How their particular abilities worked and how different they were from Shinigami.
Gin sighed. "I don't care either way. They are not all that different from Shinigami, even if they can shape Reishi. He's not a threat or a name on a list, so I couldn't care less what he got up to."
Junpei could only shake his head at that. This was one of Gin's habits that grated on his nerves. And no, it wasn't the nonchalance. It was the fact that Gin tended to separate people into two strata: if their names were in a list or not.
He wasn't one for intrigue or surprises or new elements. Gin was one of those Shinigami who preferred if everything remained as there were. Still, slow and unchanging.
He was the stereotypical Shinigami, except that he was in a way that was entirely different from the others. It was hard to understand that even after years of knowing the guy, he still remained one of the people Junpei had trouble reading.
And Gin knew this so he would always make sure to give Junpei that particular creepy smile of his.
They stayed where they were, the small park under a tree shade, and let their senses paint a picture of the town as they watched.
It was a slow day, just like it had been the day before and the days before that. There was not much they could do other than watch and listen to a town that never moved. Junpei didn't like it here all that much, Gin didn't care either way, just didn't want to be here in the first place.
"I'm bored." Junpei suddenly said after a few hours of shared silence.
"Run around. Whatever you do, just leave me out of it."
"You mean you don't want to walk around and check out this place?"
Gin remained silent, causing Junpei to sigh once more. It really was hard talking to Gin if it did not concern the mission.
"So you're just going to stay there all day?"
"If I have to until the mission ends, then yeah."
"Well if you– ah, another Hollow showed up. Thirteen of them actually." Junpei said.
"So it would seem." Gin idly muttered, doing his best impression of trying to fall asleep.
"The Quincy is going to fight them."
"So it would seem."
Junpei focused on the battle happening and didn't take much time to ascertain that the Quincy would not need any type of discreet help from them.
"He'll kill them all with relative ease. If we're right then the next time Hollows show up they'll be of a stronger bunch."
"So it would seem."
Junoei sighed, loudly this time. "Are you not going to say anything else but that?"
"…. So it would seem."
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