A/N: Now, by the looks of this prologue, I would not be surprised if you assume that the rest of the story is just going to be about post-Aizen events with a bunch of IchiRuki or Ichihime and all that stuff, with an OC thrown in to spice things up. It is not. There will be action in this. Rest assured. If you want a romance fic, you're in the wrong place.
Prologue
Shinigami can love just as much as humans can. Sometimes, they can love even more.
One particular Shinigami loved a woman with all his heart, and his love was reciprocated. They had a child, but the Shinigami had to leave his beloved to do great things in the Gotei 13. He never heard his son laugh.
The boy never knew his father's name, for his mother died in childbirth. When the boy became an adult, however, he realized who his father was, for the boy was an intelligent person. He decided to follow in his father's footsteps. He joined the Shinigami.
He gave himself the name Taka.
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"Get away, Soifon!" Yoruichi shouted.
The negacion raced down from the hole in the sky towards Aizen and his fellow conspirators. Aizen smiled. The Shinigami would never see him again for some time.
"Ten Holy Lotus Petals!"
Yamamoto turned his head around in surprise. "You-!"
Ten oval-shaped beams raced towards the negacion. Clamping onto the pillar of light, the petals began to spin around, drilling into the negacion. Aizen's only hope of escape crumbled.
"Hachigen!" Yamamoto exclaimed.
Hachi looked at Aizen. "I developed that spell for the sole purpose of stopping negacions, Aizen."
Sensing a problem, Gillian began to stream out of the garganta.
"Blow it away, Tachikaze!"
A blast of white energy emanating from Kensei's sword tore the Gillians apart. Sluggishly reacting to the immediate danger, one of the Gillians slowly charged a Cero in Kensei's direction.
A flash of blonde hair appeared in the Cero's path. Shinji's pharaoh mask came down. "Cero!"
Shinji's more powerful Cero cut through the Gillian's and hit home, killing the hollow. Lazily, Shinji dissipated his mask and looked down at Aizen. Rose held his sword at Gin's throat. Love had Tosen restrained with a Bakudo and had Tengumaru's shikai poised to crush the blind man. Mashiro, Lisa, and Hiyori had their respective Zanpakutos hovering above Aizen's neck.
Landing softly at the ground in front of Aizen, Shinji raised his own Zanpakuto, leveling it with Aizen's forehead. "It's over."
Aizen just smiled.
The Shinigami had Aizen and his fellow conspirators imprisoned in a Sekkiseki cell in a matter of minutes. Aizen never said anything while he was thrown in jail. Neither did Gin or Tosen.
Aizen had wiped out the Central 46, so they had to fill in the vacant spots. Various prominent nobles were chosen. The first thing they did once they had replaced the Chamber was to give Aizen the death sentence.
The Captains were split over the issue. Kurotsuchi wanted to dissect the corpses, so he was all for it. The only problem was is that he had never vivisected on a captain-class Shinigami before, and was itching to try one out on Aizen. He didn't voice his opinion, though. It might prove… controversial. Both Gin and Aizen had made Hinamori bleed. Hitsugaya wanted to kill them with his own two hands, but as long as they were killed, it was good enough for him. When her captain declared his support for the execution in a captain-lieutenant meeting, Matsumoto almost opened her mouth. She didn't say anything, though. Neither did Hisagi or Kira.
Unohana opposed the execution. "Give them a chance," she said. "Understand them before you kill them."
Hitsugaya debated whether or not he should mention Unohana's frequent visits to Hinamori's bed. Then he shut himself up, feeling disgusted.
Hinamori didn't come out of her coma. Hitsugaya visited her every day, praying to whatever Gods there were for her to just wake up.
Then the execution day arrived. None of the captains, except for Yamamoto, who was required to attend, showed up.
As Aizen smiled at his executioner, the axe swung down, and Aizen died, followed by Gin and Tosen.
Renji was immediately promoted to 8th Division Captain. His position was only temporary, but Yamamoto would solidify it if Renji trained with his Bankai more. That left two vacant captain spaces: the third and fifth divisions. Out of the two, the fifth was in the most urgent need for leadership.
Yamamoto himself asked the ryoka, Kurosaki Ichigo, to take up the position as 5th Division Captain. Ichigo refused. He had to return to the real world to resume his life. He had come to Soul Society to save Rukia, and now that his job was done, he had no reason to stay. He would provide aid if it was needed, but he would not actively support Soul Society. He had two younger sisters to take care of, he had friends, and he had his whole life ahead of him. Yamamoto didn't stop him. Ichigo and his companions left for the real world the next day.
Kira and Hisagi trained day and night to become Captains. Renji, their friend, helped them in their bankai training. Of course, it was proving difficult. Renji had not achieved materialization very easily either.
And so it appeared that life among the Shinigami would continue on more or less the same. New captains would rise up to replace old ones. Senior captains would continue to get stronger. Of course, there would be the occasional heart-wrenching tragedy, but those were short and insignificant when compared to the bigger picture.
And then he arrived.
Taka was escorted to the Central 46, which was in charge of the captain applications. The Gotei 13's captains and lieutenants were all present as well, eager to witness their newest comrade.
Taka's appearance was not overly shocking to men and women who had spent the better part of a century looking at Kurotsuchi Mayuri. He had black hair, even longer than Zaraki's. It flowed over his back, almost reaching his waist. He wore tinted glasses that reflected the light in the chamber. He skin was relatively dark- nowhere near as dark as Tosen's, but with enough tan to make a couple Rukongai girls drool.
A member of the Central 46 spoke up. "What is your name?"
"Taka," he responded.
The Chamber assumed that it was a code name. They had dealt with Soifon's before.
"Why do you wish to become a captain?"
"My father was a Shingami," he explained. "All I desire is to follow in his footsteps."
"Your father," Yamamoto mused. "What was his name?"
Taka smiled. "I doubt you would remember him. He was only an unseated officer in the 13th Division. His name was Takeshi Manda. He was killed in a hollow attack."
Juushiro nodded. "I remember him."
"How will you become captain?" another member of the Central 46 asked.
"Through the trial," the man responded.
Yamamoto nodded. "Very well. The examiners will be chosen, by lottery, tomorrow. If you fail you are barred from every becoming a captain again."
Taka nodded in understanding. He smiled to himself. Making up stories was fun.
----
Hinamori woke up about an hour after the meeting ended. Hitsugaya started in surprise. "Hinamori!" he exclaimed.
Hinamori looked around, disoriented. "W-where am I?" she stuttered. "Where's Aizen-tai-"
A shadow fell over Hitsugaya's face. "Dead," he responded.
Hinamori fell silent in shock. She slumped back into her bead. "Hinamori?" Hitsugaya asked, apprehensive. "Momo?"
Hinamori smiled weakly. "I'm sorry, Toshiro-kun. I'm just a little tired."
Hitsugaya nodded. "Should I go fetch some water from Unohana-taicho for you?" Hinamori nodded.
Hitsugaya paused before leaving. "That man- Aizen was a traitor, you know."
Hinamori kept smiling. She laughed. "Don't be silly, Shiro-chan!" she exclaimed. "Of course I know that!"
Hitsugaya sighed, relieved. "I'm sorry, it's just that-"
"Don't worry about me, Shiro-chan," Hinamori chided. "I'm fine. Now go."
Nodding his head in acknowledgment, HItsugaya left the room. The instant that he was out of sight, Hinamori created a reiatsu dummy using an obscure Kido spell she had invented herself. Then she left the room as well. Aizen-taicho was not dead, nor was he a traitor. Hinamori would just have to find him and make him see the light.
When Hitsugaya came back and found her gone it took the combined strength of Unohana and Zaraki to stop him from killing himself.
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Review, please. I made the prologue shorter than I would make normal chapters.