Crows x Souls

"Your powerless friends are just weights that will break your legs." — Sōsuke Aizen. 

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Five days into their way-too-abnormal Hollow eradication expedition and the three groups of students were already looking like they were at their worst. 

Not one of them could say they had it better, but a lot of them could say they had it far worse than others. 

They had begun sharing tips on how to make every battle less draining by the second day but unfortunately for them, whatever boost in efficiency they were looking for was nowhere to be found. It didn't make the days and the battles that followed any easier, and if it did, then well, they just couldn't see it. 

In theory, learning to breathe less and expend more energy in battle was easy, self explanatory even, but putting said theory into practice in an active battlefield where hungry manic Hollows ran rampant and were blasting Cero every which where was a very daunting task, and that was without tying in the death factor that every single Hollow represented. 

For an overall conclusion: every single day has been a hell worse than the one before. 

"Can't we just, I don't know, give up?" Someone asked timidly. "They'll have to send in a real squad if we can't get it done, right?"

A few groans and murmurs were the answers the voice got. It wasn't as if they hadn't all thought of it. It was common sense that the Seireitei would send in a few squads to exterminate the Hollows if they failed to. So why hadn't they patted themselves on the back and bid adieu to the damned exercise? 

For one, Third Seat Junpei would appear at the end of each day and would give them an evaluation of how each group performed before leaving. Never spending more than five minutes with them every day. 

It kept them grounded and subconsciously got them used to his absence so that they wouldn't think of him as a lifeline in the event things go horribly wrong. 

Secondly, in their limited time in Junpei's presence, the Third Seat would make subtle insinuations that dealing with things like these, but on a higher scale, would be their average life immediately after graduating. 

Suddenly, the death rate they heard so much about started making so much sense and looking way too real for their mental comfort. 

He made them realize that they were much closer to becoming a statistic in their first decade than they were in graduating with all round good grades. 

Now, wasn't that a good way to keep them motivated? Junpei would agree it was. 

"Who knows if we have even gotten halfway through?" Someone mused out loud and another wave of depressed groans swept through their camp. 

All they were told was that the Captain will only tell them when they are done with the entire exercise, not before. 

"Somehow, in the span of a few days, my goal of becoming a Seated Officer now seems even more harder than not dying." A girl said half-joking and half-serious and the entire camp became a cackle of snickers and short laughs. 

It was the exact type of humour they needed. One that perfectly described their waiting futures should they survive this one. Dark humour. 

"Hey, at least I can cast Kidō under #20 seamlessly with my Zanjutsu. Small victories, amiright?" Voices echoed out in agreement and hype. 

This was how they kept themselves sane after every new day in a new hell: Coping. 

The camp fell into a lull of silence that failed to last long when someone spoke up, sounding healthily uncertain when he did. 

"Um, guys... I think I just saw a crow watching us. It must have disappeared when I blinked."

The entire camp reacted in a way the speaker expected. 

"Huh?!"

"Are you trying to scare us to death?"

"You sick deviant!" 

"What the hell, man?!"

"What kind of sick pleasure did you get from saying something like that? You perverted psycho! Keep away!"

"What the actual fuck, man? And there goes my sleep."

"What kind of bad omen is that? Are you trying to get us cursed or something?"

"I no longer feel safe."

"Does anyone want to hold hands? I'm scared..."

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..... 

. 

Itachi was currently sat on a high ground clearing with his hair let loose and blowing freely into the wind. 

However, he wasn't alone as perched on his fingers was a crow he was caressing softly. He was staring into the crow's eyes with his left eye closed. 

"You did well. Thank you." He said softly while running his fingers over the tucked wings of his ebony avian companion. 

"You know you scare them a good lot by just standing still, right? There was no reason for whatever you just did, sir."

Itachi ignored Junpei's words and instead was taken with petting the crow on his finger. As if sensing Itachi's current attention, the dark bird proudly flapped its wings. 

As if answering the telepathic call the flapped wings sent out, five more crows appeared and flew towards Itachi and then around him as they started cawing out a harmonious song. 

The song was a short one which ended with soft caws and them finding a perch as they ended their flight dance. The perch in this case was Itachi who didn't seem to mind that one perched on his head while the other four took residence on his shoulders. 

Junpei who silently watched all this couldn't help but admit to himself that the current picture of Itachi sitting under the waning moonlight with his crows perched about him was one of natural serenity. 

He might as well have joined the crows in their little dance. 

"Junpei, report." Itachi words snapped Junpei to focus and subconsciously made him stand in rigid attention. 

"The Hollows have all been herded away from the settlements."

Itachi nodded in satisfaction. "Make sure the others triple check every few hours."

"Already did that, sir."

Itachi gave a pleased hum that somehow managed to sound like a dismissing one but thankfully Junpei wasn't one of those who couldn't tell the difference in his Captain's hums, grunts and stares. 

"I see." Itachi remarked offhandedly. "Then we have nothing else to do but sit and wait until the sun comes up."

Junpei couldn't help the pitying smile that crept over his face when his eyes trailed the direction of the student's camp. 

"They are about to have one of their worst mornings yet." He could only shake his head with a small laugh. "If I did not know you as much as I did, I'll never suspect you could be this sadistic, sir. Luckily for the both of us, I know better."

Itachi did not react to Junpei's thinly veiled jab with an equal quip of his. He instead settled for a factual retort. 

"And those who know you less will remain ignorant of the fact that you are silently but heavily disgruntled by what you see as them getting an easier test than the one you went through."

Junpei didn't deny it. "They are having an overall easier time at fighting the Hollows as a group that they don't seem to realize. I can be both petty and bitter at the unfairness."

"Of course you can." Itachi nodded in agreement. "That is also why the quantity of Hollows they've fought in the last two days were double the supposed average, is it not?"

Junpei remained silent, internally grateful that his Captain let him off the hook by gracefully dropping the topic, and went back to being entranced by his crows. 

"Tengu." 

The crows on Itachi's shoulders looked at Junpei who was now on one knee behind Itachi. 

"Keep an eye on Sōjirō Kusaka. I want an immediate report on any changes around him."

The wind blew after Itachi's words and with the departure of its gentle wave, Itachi was once again left alone in the company of his feathery companions, seemingly entranced. 

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