A\N:I suppose in all honesty, I don't really need to be starting another fic, but I can't help myself! I've put off writing this for as long as I could, but I can't take it anymore! D: I'm a late bloomer as far as the Bleach fandom goes, I've only just started watching\reading it towards the end of last year (So I've really only been a fan for about 6 months... :D). So yeah, I'm a bit behind the times. One of the reasons I've put off writing this for so long is because I don't know the full Bleach storyline... I've been trying desperately to catch up, but it's not really working XD I figure if something in my story doesn't fit, I can just make it AU. The end. Feel free to leave feedback\suggestions\reviews... :D
PS- If you've read any of my fics before, you know that italics indicate a flashback. If you haven't read any of my fics: Hi, how are you? Thank you for reading, and italics indicate a flashback. :)
"Sayu," a voice called softly. Sayu quickly turned and stared into the face of her captain, doing her best to hide the schoolgirl blush that was creeping onto her cheeks. She was a bit irritated at her behavior, mostly because she felt that once she had graduated from the academy, things would be different. She was sorely disappointed, as her feelings of childish awe and reverence for her captain had only intensified.
"I have a job for you," Kisuke purred, "In the human world." Sayu was a bit shocked. She was so recently graduated from the academy; she hadn't expected to be on assignment so soon. Not to mention the fact that she wasn't seated, though this may have had something to do with her frequent (and awful) habit of taking naps under trees at inopportune moments.
"Captain, I- I'm honored," she mumbled. "You really think me to be ready for an assignment?" Kisuke laughed a little.
"I know you're ready," he assured her, "You've just got to work past your habitual laziness, and I'm presenting you with an opportunity to do so. Not that I'm one to judge; the noble Kyouraku family seems to enjoy an enviably peaceful existence," he winked. "Besides, Ito and Tojo were already volunteered by their captains."
Sayu beamed at the mention of her academy friends. Ito was from a noble family, they'd been friends from the moment they'd met. They'd caused their parents plenty of trouble; oddly, their families were somewhat relieved to learn that they'd both be enrolling in the Shinigami Academy. No doubt because they hoped their children would learn some sort of respect, duty, and honor. That isn't to say that Sayu and Ito were completely void of those qualities, they'd merely amplified their knack at causing trouble as young children, instead.
Tojo was a different story. Sayu hadn't met him until her academy days; Tojo grew up in the Rukongai, along with his adopted brother, Aizawa. Tojo had personal reasons for enrolling in the academy, and Aizawa, not wanting to be separated from Tojo, had merely decided to tag along. Tojo was far more straight laced than Sayu and Ito had been, or would ever be. He was pensive and shy, but kept their group going in the right direction.
"Thank you for thinking of me, sir," she smiled, bowing respectfully. She turned to skip away, but Kisuke quickly called her back.
"You're departing shortly, so I advise you to find Tojo and Ito. I'll be waiting for the lot of you." Sayu bowed once more, and departed to find her friends.
Seretei was a large place, and Sayu was running as quickly as she could. Her excitement had surely given her a needed energy boost. Through some miraculous amount of luck, Sayu- quite literally- ran into her friends.
"You've heard the news?" she asked, bubbling with excitement. Tojo merely nodded, his face not betraying any sort of elation at their first assignment, though Sayu liked to imagine that he was just as ecstatic as she. Ito, however, nodded with a bit more gusto. His face was lit up with his usual boyish grin, though it was a bit wider now than it was on most occasions.
"Then you're ready to depart?" she asked, grabbing Tojo's sleeve and pulling him with her. Tojo was immovable.
"We're waiting for one more," Ito said, stopping her. "Aizawa is coming, too," he informed. "Tojo and I didn't really want to go without him, so we begged for Captain Unohana to let him come with us. We told her that bringing along someone skilled with kido would be to our benefit. It's our first assignment, after all. Having someone that can help with injuries isn't a bad idea."
Right on cue, Aizawa walked up to the group, smiling up at the friends who towered over him. Aizawa wasn't alone, Byakuya was trailing behind him, looking a bit depressed.
"You've got your first assignment, I hear, Kyouraku," he called out to Sayu. She promptly released Tojo's sleeve and walked up to the boy, grinning widely.
"Isn't it exciting?" she gushed. Byakuya's expression informed her that it was not exciting. Not to him, at the least. "What's wrong? You can tag along, too. I can have Captain Kisuke talk to-"
"-Can't," Byakuya sighed. "I'm needed here. Besides, you've already got a pretty large group going." Sayu's smile turned into a scowl. She hated the idea of being separated from Byakuya, seeing as they'd always imagined going on their first assignment together. They had a friendly rivalry going, not to mention the two were rather… attached.
"Well, I'll tell you all about it when I get back," she said, grabbing his hand. "I'll set the bar really high so that you have no chance of performing as well as I did when you go on your first assignment." She winked, feigning cheerfulness.
"I'll have the benefit of more practice," Byuakuya retorted, scowling back. "Just do me a favor, Kyouraku, and don't get yourself killed."
"I wasn't planning on it," She grinned, pulling the Kuchiki boy into a tight hug. "I'll see you when I get back, alright?" she called over her shoulder as she skipped after her friends.
"You ready, Aizawa?" Sayu asked the spiky haired boy. He looked over at her, his face betraying some of his uneasiness.
"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess," he smiled widely.
"You'll do fine," Tojo assured him. "You're absolutely ready."
"Besides," Ito butted in, "We'll be there to protect you. What could happen?" Aizawa's smile brightened a little more.
"How long do you think we'll be here?" Ito asked, pulling his knees up to his chest. The firelight shone off his pale skin, but the warmth of the light seemed to bring back some of his boyish features. He looked at Sayu expectantly.
Sayu merely shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. We don't know where Aizawa is, or even what's happened to him." She let her gaze wander towards the firelight for a moment. Poor Aizawa… Surely he was scared, wherever he was. They had all been so sure he was ready. He wasn't, and they were to blame for bringing him along anyway, and yet, he had been far more prepared than any of them. He'd protected them diligently, but none of them knew if he was able to protect himself. She sighed.
"It tearing Tojo up," Ito mused, nodding his head in Tojo's direction. Tojo was sitting farther away from the rest of the group, studying the night sky. Tojo was handling Aizawa's disappearance better than either Sayu or Ito had expected. He was calm and incredibly determined to find his brother, but his emotions had appeared to remain stable. It was more apparent now that night had fallen, however, that Tojo was deeply disturbed by recent events. He was quieter than usual, hardly showing any emotion at all. "It makes me feel awful," Ito continued. "I want to find Aizawa, but I guess I don't have as much hope as Tojo. It's been nearly two months and we've only just begun our search. I just…" Ito paused, and let out a deep sigh.
"-Don't think he made it?" Sayu responded, filling in the blank he'd left for her. Aizawa was their friend, but he definitely was not the strongest member of their group. In the academy, he was always the one they protected during hollow training exercises. Kido was his strong suit, but Sayu didn't think it would do much good if it was used against whatever monster it was that had attacked them. It wasn't a Hollow, she was sure of it.
"Yeah," Ito said, numbly. "I guess… I guess I just don't want to waste too much time looking for him. I feel like I'm going to miss out on something, you know? Being a Soul Reaper was my dream. I hardly expected to be participating in a scavenger hunt when I got there."
"You're still a Soul Reaper, Ito," Sayu said, softly. "We still have our zanpaku-to, we can still perform Soul Reaper duties. We'll just be serving in a different capacity, I suppose. Think of it as an extended assignment."
"They're going to forget us, you know," Ito said, slowly. "If finding Aizawa takes too long, they'll forget us. I mean, I guess old man Yamamoto won't, and neither will your brother or Captain Ukitake, and maybe not Captain Kisuke. But our squad members will forget us in time. Most of them don't even know what we're doing."
Sayu bit her lip. In that respect, she'd been through more than she'd care to admit. Secretly leaving Seretei and the Soul Society for an indefinite amount of time was one of the hardest things she'd had to do. She knew she'd be forgotten, yet she knew that the people who mattered most would never forget her. Ukitake had agreed to help her keep in touch with Shunsui, so that was the least of her worries. But she'd had to lie to Byakuya. She'd left him without saying goodbye. Without telling him the truth. She'd left the explaining to her brother, though she knew what Byakuya was going to be told was not the truth. It was a lie merely designed to help him move on, to not worry about her. However, she knew that the decision to exclude him from what she was doing was going to haunt her for a long while. There was one thought that seemed to be enough to manage to keep her going. Sayu clung onto that thought desperately, as though it was her only lifeline.
"Aizawa is worth it though, isn't he?" she asked, repeating her lifeline aloud. Each time she asked herself that question, she knew Aizawa was. Aizawa had saved her life, and she knew that the least she could do was bring him home. If bringing him home was impossible, and it certainly seemed that was the case- at least at this point, then she would avenge him. After her goal was complete and she returned to the Soul Society, perhaps she would begin to think of herself again. Her current assignment seemed oddly fitting, anyway. On their first assignment, Aizawa had sacrificed himself for his friends. On their second assignment, they were sacrificing themselves, their progress, and their dreams, to find their little friend.
"Yes," Ito said softly, a new determination in his voice. "You're right. We've got to find Aizawa. We owe it to him."