Investigation of the Structure.~Plot Mission 2.~

Shiro follows altria, making his best effort to look casual.

Soon a forest appears in view and after 20 more minutes they reach its edge.Relaxing slightly she nearly jumps in surprise when there's a low chuckle from behind them.Turning around,there's a group of twelve men,fanning around to surround them in a circle.

shiro's eyes flick to one side, then whispers to altria.

"on your guard.... we have some company."

"Yeah.Be careful not to use your powers or they'll notice." Placing one hand on the hilt of her zanpakuto she took a step forward."So,who's the leader of your merry bunch?" There's another chuckle and a man walks forward.Towering over others with impressive height and muscle,his bare torso crisscrossed with scars,he makes an imposing figure."Not only we caught a well to do fish,it's also pretty.Those shinigami sword of yours will catch a good price on black market."

Shiro steps infront of altria protectively, and looks up at the man.

"allow us to pass.... and be on your way... we want no trouble."

"Oh,you can go.Just leave your sword here,same for that boy there as well.But the girls we'll keep." At those words the whole group breaks into laughter.
Starting to get annoyed she points her hand at the leader,"It seems trash like you has gotten out of hand again..let me show you the difference.Guys,feel free as well.." Flash stepping behind the leader she lands a kick on the back,sending him crashing into the trees."I can take scum like you barehanded."

"I wonder how these guys are raised."

shin carried one of the men and threw it to the other guy...

"They're not..struggling to survive here creates low life like these.." Kicking another man in the stomach and sending him into two more rushing over,they topple to the ground in a heap."Six left.." Smirking she cracks her knuckles,elbowing the one tying to sneak behind her.

shin is evading one of the men's attack as he use his knee to knock it down after.

"sigh, minutes of my life being wasted."

Grabbing the arm of the man trying to hit her she ducks under it,flipping him over.With the other hand she grabs hold the blade of a sword,sending it spiraling out of its owners hand.The two remaining man gulp and beat a hasty retreat.Watching them leave she shakes her head,"Cowards." Looking around at the crumpled figures on the ground she readjusts the backpack before continuing into the forest,"Let's go guys,we wasted enough time on trash."

shin then follow through to continue the mission

"hmph... does this always happen?" shiro relaxes slightly and removes his hand from okamaru's hilt.

"Well..."

shin then continues to walk

Shrugging she pushes away tree branches,clearing the way."It does,we were lucky those guys were wimps.If it was one of the ruling groups,like The Crows,things would have gotten messier.We could still take them but getting gang uped on isn't fun." Absentmindedly rubbing her upper arm she pushed through the bush,coming out beside the mountain wall.Looking around she spied an opening in the wall."So,that's our target." Walking towards it she looked in.A few steps cut out of the rock leading down into an empty room,lit up with sunlight streaming through the opening.

"Eh? I never knew places like this existed here."

shin is trying to observe the area...

"No one did.A group of kids was playing around here and accidentally pushed some hidden lever,causing this room to be revealed.Though according to the report the room is completely empty.." Carefully walking down the steps and into the room she looks around.It's an empty room with the way they came in being the only way out,layers of dust settled on the floor.The walls are completely bare except for two torches in iron holders on the left and right walls."Weird..why would anyone make one room.."

"Hm..a hideout,huh.That's possible but then,why is it empty?If I was making one it would be stocked with emergency supplies..and this room isn't all that big either.I can tell you why here though..no one would bother to look.The outskirts of Rukongai are dangerous and lawless,no one would pock their nose in here..so it's perfect if you value privacy." Stopping by one of the torches she inspects it before walking to the other one."Huh,this one is positioned slightly lower.."

Continuing her inspection of the torches she taps the wall behind it."Not necessarily,it could be some gang or nobles trying to hide something..but it being shinigami seems the most logical...ah,there it is.." Grasping the torch holder she tries to pull it down without much success."Tch,seems like it rusted..hey Shin,could you give me a hand with this?"

shin went over to altria..

"Sure, what is it?"

"This torch holder,I think it's actually a switch.See how it's positioned slightly higher then the other one?Let's try to pull it down and see what happens."

"oh, okay."

shin then puts his hand to the torch

"Let's do it."

Grasping the rusted metal tightly she pulls it down.Under their combined weight it slowly gives way,sliding down with a shrill,metallic clang.As it clicks into place there's a creaking sound behind them and the back wall slides down into the floor,revealing a secret section of the room.It's also completely bare except for a handprint indentation in the wall and a faint,large square outline on the floor,covered with thick dust."Interesting,it seems no one has been around here in a long while.." Walking further in she traces the hand print,"What is this for.."

Shiro sences something farther down the tunnel, looking into the darkness he begins to feel uneasy. He lets out a low hissing sound then turns to altria.

"i have a bad feeling.... what ever it is, it's causing my heart to race." he stares back into the blackness.