To those just starting to read this story, I hope you enjoy. To those coming back to this story, I want to apologize for not updating in forever. I really am sorry. Between work, school, and the death of my best friend, I've had a lot on my plate. But I plan on updating in a timely amount, as long as I don't get a writers block. Also know that I redid the entire story, and while you don't have to reread all the chapters, I think it flows better now. And for those who have already reviewed, thank you :) I took the comments about my OCs to heart, and I've put a bit more description in there this time. Thank You for being such loyal followers. Enjoy :)
She looked around her new room in appraisal. It was small, but kinda homey. The only bad thing was her new roommate. He was annoying as hell, complaining about every damn thing. She wasn't one to give in to violence, but she defiantly wanted to knock him upside his head.
She had just finished her tour of the barracks of squad 11, and so far she loved it. There was plenty of fighting, which she only did when necessary, quite a bit of drinking, which she never indulged in, but it was also one of the cleanest and most beautiful as well. Which was odd, because, as of today, there were only three woman in the squad. Well, more like two new woman and one girl. The pink haired, rather bubbly Yachiru would be the girl.
She was still musing about her new home when someone came down the hall of rooms, pounding on the doors and yelling something about new recruits to the training area. Her and her new roomie walked outside and followed the rest of the new recruits to the outside training area. It was just a dirt lot with a spattering of trees and a few rocks, and some of the seated officers sitting on the edge of the area.
"All right, newbie's, listen up!" a bald man with red marks on the outside of his eyes yelled out. "We're here to see your abilities, not to make friends. Yumichika here will call out two names and your gonna fight." There was some murmuring by the other members, excited by the prospective fights. She just sighed. She really didn't like to fight, but would do so if needed.
A man with shoulder length black hair and weird eyebrow thingies stood up and called out two names. Those two stepped forward and proceeded to fight. Once they won, the next couple stepped forward and this continued on once they were done fighting. About half way through the fourth fight, she felt someone with a huge reiatsu coming towards her. Her head shot up and she watched as a huge man walked into the arena. She noted the captains haori he wore, the spiky hair, and the bells on the end of those spikes. So this is our captain, she mused, watching as he sat down between the man named Yumichika and baldie with a bottle of sake. She looked at the sun noticing it was barley noon and he was already drinking.
"Mori, Ayame and Ikeda, Dai," Yumichika called out. She had been so busy observing the captain she hadn't even noticed the last match had ended. She stepped into the center of the arena and everyone fell silent. Then some of the other recruits started to laugh, as if they doubted her skill merely because she was a woman. She narrowed her eyes, placing a hand on her hip and leaning mostly on one leg, her body language just daring them to keep laughing. When the laughter died down, the man named Dai, a huge, burly man, stepped forward and withdrew his sword from his sheath.
"We'll this'll be done quickly," baldie muttered to the captain. "That little girl will never last a minute against that man." She felt some anger blaze up from that comment, but she ruthlessly pushed it down. She knew he only said that because she was hiding her spirit pressure, and not because she was a woman. She withdrew one of her two swords, keeping it pointed towards the ground. We stood this way for a moment longer before she grew annoyed.
"Are you gonna stand there and look stupid all day or are you actually gonna attack me?" she snapped out.
"My momma told me to never attack a girl," he growled out.
"Then she'd probably have a problem with me attacking you, wouldn't she," Ayame said smugly. He frowned stupidly, not really understanding the barb, but when others laughed a little, he seemed to understand he'd been insulted and charged.
She easily blocked his sword and swung hers down in a graceful arc and was rewarded with a small spray of blood from his shoulder. He cursed and brought down his blade. She blocked his sword then lifted her foot in a kick that sent him flying across the area. He got up and charged like a wild bull, infuriated that he couldn't get a one up on her. He swung sideways as soon as he got within range, and she quickly jumped straight up, landing on his blade, and bringing her own blade up to his throat in the span of a few seconds. There was some gasps of shock around her, as apparently baldie wasn't the only one to doubt her skills. She turned to glare at baldie, still standing on Dai's sword.
"Yea," she drawled slowly, "so what was that you were saying about this little girl?" she asked him, the last part a snarl of anger. She was no little girl, and he had best learn that now. His mouth flew open in rage and he stood up. She quickly flipped off the blade to land in an offensive position.
"Now Ikkaku, don't be so ugly. You did mock the poor woman." Yumichika said. Ikkaku glared at her for a moment before sitting down.
"What was your name?" a deep voice asked her. She shifted her gaze to the man who asked, Captain Kenpachi.
"Mori, Ayame, Captain," she said, bowing lightly.
"When we say were going to test your skills, you actually need to show us you true fucking strength," he growled out. She stared at him in shock, surprised he had realized she had been holding back. She then nodded slowly and stepped out of the ring as Yumichika called out the next two names.
After almost all the new recruits had fought, she watched as the captain got up and walked away, to where she assumed the dining area was. This place was so damn big and her sense of direction left something to be desired, so she couldn't quite be sure exactly where he went. She tried to watch the rest of the fights, but found herself to busy thinking about the captain. Did he not care about the rest of his new recruits? And how had he known she was holding back? He was supposed to be really bad about sensing spiritual pressure, right?
After everyone was finished fighting, they all went their separate ways. She went to follow where the captain had gone, passing by her roommate as he complained about how much he hurt. She sighed, what a wimp.
After wandering around for a bit (getting lost) she came upon two sliding doors and vaguely remembering this was the dining area, she slid them open to see a few other recruits had made it to the dining area as well. She glanced towards the front of the room to see the captain sitting down, drinking sake, and looking bored.
"So you're the other one, huh?" she heard a voice ask. She turned around to see a short woman, about five three, with shoulder length curly brown hair and a pixie face. A complete opposite of Ayame with her six foot height and long, pure white hair. She smiled at the shorter woman.
"Yea, I suppose I am the other woman, aren't I?" She held her hand out to the brunette. "Mori, Ayame." The shorter woman grabbed Ayame's hand, shaking lightly.
"Tanaka, Fuyu," Fuyu responded. As they walked to the table in the back to grab some food, she tried to remember what Fuyu had been like when she fought, but to her irritation, found she had been too distracted by the captain. "I'm famished," Fuyu said, interrupting Ayame's self-berating thoughts.
"Yea, we haven't eaten all day. And I have a feeling this might be a regular occurrence," Ayame muttered. Fuyu laughed.
"I hope this happens all the time. Well, the fighting, not the starving," she clarified, sighing lovingly as she looked at the food she was grabbing from the back table. "I do so love my food. And sake. And fighting." Fuyu continued as we headed for an empty table.
"Wow, you fit right in here, don't you?" Ayame asked as they sat down.
"What, and you don't?"
"Not really," Ayame said, shrugging. "I don't particularly like drinking and I'm not all that fond of fighting either."
"What?" Fuyu practically shouted, standing up slightly and gaining the attention of everyone there in the dining hall. "How are you in division eleven if you don't like to fight?" she continued in a loud voice. Apparently little Fuyu was a bit overly dramatic.
"Eh, shut up," came a deep voice of the captain before she could even respond. Ayame turned to find the captain glaring at them. Fuyu blushed bright red and immediately sat down, finding her food incredibly interesting. And while Ayame wasn't all that fond of people quite so dramatic, she found she had an instant liking of Fuyu and didn't like anyone talking to her like that.
"There's no need to be so harsh," Ayame said in a neutral voice, not taking her eyes of the food she was eating. Everything immediately got really quiet.
"What was that?" The captain asked. Fuyu elbowed Ayame in the side, hissing a quiet 'don't'.
"I said there is no need to be so harsh with her," Ayame said, ignoring Fuyu to look up and glare at the captain.
"Where's your respect for your captain, newbie?" Ikkaku asked as he walked into the room.
"Maybe I'd have more respect for him if he didn't start drinking before noon." She thought she had insulted the Captain, so she was surprised when he laughed, giving her a rather predatory smile.
"If I don't drink, how the hell am I supposed to deal with brats like you?" she was pretty sure shock showed on her face before she covered it up, turning back to her food. She had obviously not been expecting such a comment.
After that, she and Fuyu finished their dinner and walked out together without another incident. They said there goodnights, and Fuyu went to the left. Ayame turned right, heading for the garden she had seen earlier instead of to her room. She was strangely restless. The only problem was she ended up getting lost. And of course, the first person she would stumble upon would be none other than the captain.
"What, you stalking me now?" he asked, taking a drink of the ever present sake. It was so weird that despite all the alcohol he'd consumed, there wasn't even the slightest slur.
"Not likely. I was looking for the garden, but sadly, I got lost…" he chuckled as she trailed off.
"No sense of direction?"
"I think I have less than lieutenant Yachiru," she said, laughing a little. He grinned, and for once, it didn't look like a wolf grinning down at its prey. It was a generally happy smile. She sighed, her curiosity once again spiked. "But what are you doing out here, Captain Zaraki?" She asked, adding his last name to add a little respect to make up for her attitude in the dining area.
"I don't like being around morons." He said in that low, rough voice of his.
"Oh. Well, do you think you could point me to the garden I seen earlier?"
"Ah, Yumichika's garden. Yeah, well if you're anything like Yachiru, you need a guide," he said, standing up and throwing his sake bottle straight into the trash can. He then started walking back the way she had just come from. She turned and walked slightly behind him, slightly nervous about earlier. She shouldn't have let her temper get ahold of her so easily. She always said things she shouldn't when angry. Or throw things.
They were silent until they got to the garden. Then she drew in a short gasp. There were all sorts of flowers blooming that weren't there earlier this morning. They were night flowers, and she knew they were incredibly hard to keep alive with other flowers blooming in the same garden. She could feel the captain looking at her and turned to see him. The lit candles along the pathway threw dancing shadows off the hard planes of his face, making his scar stand out.
"Um, thank you, Captain Zaraki," she said, bowing lightly. He didn't say anything, just turned and walked away with his long strides. She watched until he turned a corner before turning around and walking into the garden. It really was beautiful. Finally, she came upon a little bench and sat down, bringing her knees up to her chin and wrapping her arms around her legs.
She sat like that for a while before she heard someone walking through the garden. She didn't move, waiting to see if he would talk to her or just keep walking.
"Well, well, someone's actually in my garden. That's something new," Yumichika said. She turned to him, smiling.
"It's gorgeous," she said.
"Thank you. And if I must say so, you fight beautifully," he said, sounding as if he were a king complementing a peasant.
"Ah, thank you," she said, trying not to sound too awkward as she stood up. "Well, I should get to bed. I have a feeling us 'newbie's'" she said, quoting the third seat, "will have to get up extra early tomorrow." He laughed.
"Good guess. We have to whip you idiots into shape somehow, don't we?" She laughed, then waved goodnight as she walked off. As she walked towards her room, she once again passed her captain, sitting by himself drinking.
"Hey," he called out as she passed him. She turned, wondering what he had to say to her. "Your room is the other way," he said, nodding his head to her left. She blushed a deep red, once again embarrassed by her lack of direction.
"Again, thank you," she said, bowing. She walked the way he had directed her, finding her room quickly. She walked in, yawning, only to find her roommate snoring away. On her bed. With a growl of frustration, she lifted his body up, careful not to wake him, and walked out of the room. She thought for a moment before flash stepping to Yumichika's garden, to the small pond she had seen earlier. She set him in the wet mud near the pond, grinning. That would teach him to sleep in her bed, the ass hat. She then flashed stepped back to her room, thanking her lucky stars that she didn't get lost. After cleaning her bed of all his nastiness, she finally laid down, falling asleep rather quickly.
