TITLE: Life's Curveballs
SUBTITLE: How to Become a Lieutenant in 100 Days
AUTHOR: DreamStar14
SUMMARY: When Yuki Suzuki is accepted into Squad 10 of Hell, she finds that not everything in life is handy-dandy, especially when she sees how hardcore Hell really is. Back Story of Hell's War by randomguy24.
OC CREDITS (IN ORDER THEY APPEAR)
Yuki Suzuki – DreamStar14 (Me)
Samanosuke Fuura – Drake Nolsa
Shouta Suzuki – DreamStar14 (Me)
Tsubaki Tomoharu – randomguy24
Alexander Powell – randomguy24
Mizu Saki – Angeltwin07
Nickel Shard – randomguy24
Natsume Tomoharu – randomguy24
Warren "Zephyr" Lance – the GrimDivide
Erica Carns – randomguy24
Kanada Arlong – Mareo and Anime
Dean "Lucifer" Shard – randomguy24
A/N: Enjoy! I hope it's alright! For reference, read Hell's War by randomguy24. Sorry if the characters are a little OOC.
~10~10~10~10~
DAY ONE
Yuki Suzuki walked down the streets of Hell's Eve with two men at her side.
She had sky blue, shoulder-length hair and silver eyes. She wore the standard red shihakusho of a Hell's Guardian. She had her head bowed slightly and she was clutching a piece of paper in her hands.
Yuki Suzuki, you have been placed in Squad 10 under Captain Nickel Shard and Lieutenant Alexander Powell.
"Yuki, will you relax? You're making me nervous," a black haired, red-eyed man said. He was five feet, eleven inches tall. On his right cheek, he had three stars crossing each other. His left arm was covered in scars, and he wore the standard red shihakusho of Hell. He was punched in the face as soon as he said that comment.
"Shut the hell up, Samanosuke Fuura!" The other guy said. "I know how she feels. You're not the one who's nervous, she is." The guy was five feet plus a mere inch tall. He had spiky, light blue hair and black eyes. He looked like the guy that worked out all the time, and he was also wearing the red shihakusho.
Samanosuke fell silent.
"Shouta, Samanosuke, can both of you be quiet?" Yuki politely asked. "I'm trying to think here."
"About what?" Shouta asked.
"Um…random things…"
"What kind of random things?" Samanosuke was again punched in the face by Shouta. Samanosuke immediately thought of a comeback and jumped into action.
"Hey! I'm third seat, you're fifth! You can't do that!"
"Unfortunately for you, I can…" Shouta was stoic.
"By who's authority?"
"Captain Saki's…"
"WHAT? Why me? I'm next in line for Lieutenant. Why would she do that to me?" For the third time that day, Samanosuke experienced pain in his face.
"My God…don't you ever shut up?" Shouta muttered. He turned to his sister. "Well anyways. It's okay to be nervous, Sis. Everyone's like that."
"Positive?"
"Absolutely." Yuki smiled.
After a couple minutes, they arrived at Squad 10, the Squad with the best training facilities, the best cooks, the largest headquarters, the best beds and housing, and the highest budget. Basically the best everything.
Yuki gave a blank stare at it and said, "It looks so big…"
"You sure you don't need help finding the Squad 10 office?" Shouta asked his sister.
"I'm a big girl now, Shouta. Yes, I'm sure," Yuki said, determined to get these two off her back. She wanted to do this by herself. She didn't need her brother breathing down her neck every second, which at times could be annoying. She wasn't a baby anymore. She could handle herself just fine.
"Okay," Shouta said. "Just be careful!" And he and Samanosuke disappeared from sight.
Things weren't going as planned for Yuki. The place was so big, she got lost eleven times, maybe more than that. She stopped in the middle of the street.
"I really hate to say this out loud," Yuki mused to herself, "but I feel so small." She looked around, and sighed. "I need a map."
"That is a really good idea, actually. But you're not the first to make that suggestion."
Yuki turned around to see who was talking to her. It was a woman about five feet three inches tall, with shoulder blade length brown hair that had red and green highlights that were dyed in. She was carrying a stack of paperwork, and she had a stoic expression on her face.
"Uh…Who are you?"
"Fifth Seat of Squad 10, Tsubaki Tomoharu," she said. "And you?"
"Yuki Suzuki, I'm new here," the blue haired girl said softly.
"Figured as much. Where you headed?"
"The office…wherever that is…" Yuki bowed her head in embarrassed. Her first day just started and she was already messing up. She mentally slapped herself.
"Oh, cool," Tsubaki smiled a little. "That's where I'm going too. I have to deliver this paperwork to Lieutenant Powell. Come on, I'll show you the way. Follow me…"
Yuki gave a little smile of her own. Finally, someone that'll help me. Yuki followed without looking back.
When they reached the office, Yuki's face turned strawberry red. "…I passed by this ten times. I am an idiot…" Yuki hated herself for doing that.
"Don't worry. I did that my first week here. Don't blame yourself. It's a pretty big place," Tsubaki said as they entered.
The office was pretty big too. There were two desks, one for the Captain, which to Yuki's disappointment was empty, and a desk for the Lieutenant, which was occupied by a man about five feet seven inches tall with short, orange hair. He was blind in his left eye while his right eye was a yellow-green color. He was writing some reports.
Tsubaki went up to the desk that was occupied. She set down the stack of paperwork on it and said, "Lieutenant Powell, here's the stack of paperwork from Squad 2, and we have a new member. Name is Yuki Suzuki."
"Yeah, sure, whatever." He placed a small piece of paper on the desk, which Tsubaki took. "Now get out of my sight, and don't let me see you for the rest of the day!"
Yuki's heart skipped a beat. How could anyone act like that to their own subordinate? It was just horrible.
Yuki saw the world as a nice place. She didn't like anyone fighting. She didn't like any serious yelling. She didn't like lives being destroyed. People said her heart was soft. People said Yuki was emotional. They said that those were the two major signs of weakness in Hell. So she had no friends in the Academy, because she was viewed as the only one in Hell who saw the world a beautiful and kind place. And that's why she wanted to become stronger, to show them that she wasn't weak. She was aiming for the Lieutenant position. She didn't want to become Captain. She thought it was too much responsibility. In her eyes, Lieutenant was the best position anyone could have.
Tsubaki quickly led her out of the room. She didn't stop until she got to the living quarters. Tsubaki stopped in front of a door that said Room 141. She typed in a code.
"This is your room," Tsubaki said opening the door and handing Yuki the slip of paper. "That's your code to get in. Don't share it with anyone. Remember, this is Hell. Anything can happen."
"Yeah…anything…I've kept that in mind since my first day at the Academy…" Her silver eyes filled with unshed tears. She wiped them away before Tsubaki could see them, but it was too late.
"What's up?"
Yuki couldn't answer for a minute. She shook her head and said, "N-N-Nothing…" She said a quick thank you and ran off, leaving Tsubaki in utter shock.
That evening, Tsubaki found Yuki on the roof, gazing at the beautiful sunset. Her silver eyes were watery and it looked like she was crying.
"I see you didn't need a map to find the roof," Tsubaki said.
Yuki turned around in a spilt second and immediately wiped the tears away. "What do you want, Tsubaki-san?"
"Just Tsubaki is fine. And I came because you need to explain something to me. Why did you run away like that? I'm just curious."
'Yesss, she'sss curiossss…' Sendo Hebi slithered.
"Well you see…I'm a loner! I'm the only one in Hell who has my personality! I don't like to fight, and I don't to argue. And I definitely hate it when people yell at me or even others! It's wrong!" Yuki impatiently wiped her new tears away. "People say that I'm weak just because of my personality. That's why I became a Hell's Gaurdian. To show them I can be strong like them. As a matter of fact, stronger than them…"
"I heard from Shouta that you became a Hell's Gaurdian so you could follow in his footsteps."
"…That's not the real reason...The real reason is because I'm aiming for the Lieutenant position. Only problem is, they're already in the seated positions and it's only their first day in their new squad, and I'm still unseated."
Tsubaki patted the younger girl's shoulder in a comforting manner. "Don't let others push you around just because your different than everyone else. Sometimes different is good. Different usually means you'll make a change in the world, or in this case, Hell."
Yuki smiled for the first time that day.
That night, In Squad 5, Captain Mizu Saki was up late, figuring something out. She heard a knock on the door. "Enter."
The door opened and their stood Fifth Seat Shouta Suzuki. "You wanted to see me, Captain?"
"Yes, I did. I have thought about this for a whole week. I couldn't find anyone, until I came across you. I'm promoting you, Shouta Suzuki. I'm counting on you to make the best of this. You have become my new Lieutenant from this minute onward..."
Lieutenant Shouta Suzuki nodded. "I will, Captain. I swear…"
DAY 2
Early that morning, Tsubaki got Yuki up and both went to the training grounds.
"Can't I sleep in, Tsubaki?"
"No, you can't. If you want to make Lieutenant, you have to train."
Yuki followed her reluctantly.
The sun was finally up when the two stopped. Both were panting heavily, but neither was damaged in any way.
"I have to say…you've surprised me…you should be higher than unseated…you deserve to be higher than unseated…"
"Thanks…I try my best…you're not so bad yourself…"
After a while, the two were walking to breakfast. Suddenly Tsubaki said, "Aha! There he is!"
"Who?" Yuki asked, looking around frantically.
She walked up to a boy about four feet eleven inches tall with light blue hair with a red snowflake design in it with ice blue eyes talking to another boy as tall as Yuki that had short black hair with a lock of black hair over his right shoulder and gray eyes.
"I hate to interrupt, Captain, but I don't think you've met our latest addition." Tsubaki turned to face Yuki. "Well, come on, damn it!" Yuki hurried over. "Captain, this is Yuki Suzuki. Yuki, this is Captains Nickel Shard of Squad 10 and Natsume Tomoharu of Squad 3."
Yuki bowed respectfully to both Captains. "It's nice to meet you both."
"How tall are you?" The black haired kid Captain asked.
"…Four foot three…" Yuki said softly. She hated to say her exact height out loud.
To her surprise, Captain Tomoharu didn't tease her about it. Instead he said, "Me too!"
Yuki tried to hide her light blush.
The day passed by slowly, and by lunchtime, Yuki was getting to be well known in the Tenth Squad. Some people liked her, and like always, some people hated her and teased her. But she didn't let them get her down. She wanted to show that she was tough.
Tsubaki and Yuki were eating lunch together, because no one else would sit with Yuki.
"Tsubaki?" Yuki asked out of the blue. "How come Lieutenant Powell is so…"
"Mean and cruel? Because that's the way he is." Tsubaki leaned in and lowered her voice to a whisper. "He and Captain Shard have fights, all the way to the swords-in-shikai fighting level. They hate each other. You'll get used to it. I did."
"Oh…" she saw Captain Shard by himself at his own table. "Maybe we should ask him to join us."
"No."
"Why not? What's wrong with showing a little courtesy?"
"Captains don't want courtesy, they want respect. If he wants to join us, he ask us to join him, not the other way around."
Yuki thought it was nonsense. But then she realized that it was her kind heart speaking out for her, and mentally cursed at herself for thinking such a thing.
DAY 3
The next morning, Captain Nickel Shard slowly walked to his office. He happened to pass by the training grounds while doing so. He saw Tsubaki and Yuki training like they did yesterday. And he was surprised at what he saw.
Yuki actually looked like she was winning. Tsubaki was barely struggling to keep up. Both broke away and panted heavily.
"I stand by what I said yesterday," he heard Tsubaki say. "You deserve higher than unseated. I only wish Captain Shard could realize that."
I consider it, Tsubaki, Shard thought, before turning away to continue his route to the office.
DAY 10
Nickel Shard finally made up his mind. Yuki was promoted this morning to Tenth Seat. What helped make up his mind is that he saw how she stood up against people that didn't like her, and most importantly, how strong and smart she was.
Yuki was running down the streets of Squad 5, trying to find her brother. He found him talking to Lieutenants Warren "Zephyr" Lance of Squad 7 and Erica Carns of Squad 4.
"BROTHER!" Shouta turned when she called him.
"Hey, Yuki! What's up?"
"I got promoted!" Yuki said as she hugged her brother tightly around the waist.
"Already?"
"Tenth Seat! Isn't it great?"
"You know," Warren said, "that's actually pretty impressive. Tenth seat on the tenth day."
"Agreed," Erica said. "Soon she'll be Lieutenant, just like you, Shouta."
"I hope not," Shouta quickly. "Lieutenants have a lot of responsibility and they get pretty hard missions."
"When did you reach Lieutenant?" Yuki asked all of a sudden.
"Ten days ago. Why?"
"…No reason…" Inside, Yuki's hardcore side was bubbling up. "Why the hell am I the last to know everything?"
"It's probably because you're the youngest," Warren teased.
"Shut up, Zephyr," Yuki said, playfully slapping said person on the arm.
DAY 32
Days passed and Yuki was getting respect all over the place from all Squads. There were still some people who hated her guts, but she didn't care. She was glad that Captain Shard finally saw her potential. He had gained her trust because of that. That meant someone else was on her side, whether Captain Shard knew it or not.
But this day, she woke up by herself. Tsubaki was nowhere in the room. Usually Tsubaki would be here, waking Yuki up. But she wasn't.
She went to breakfast, and still no Tsubaki. She was starting to get extremely worried. And the weird thing was, the Squad was quiet. Unusually quiet, in fact. There was no Lieutenant Powell either. And she starting to worry about him now too.
However when she went back to her room that day, she found a note tacked up on her door.
Yuki Suzuki,
I have transferred Tsubaki Tomoharu and Alexander Powell to different Squads. If you would still like to visit them, Tsubaki will now be in Squad 7 and Alex in Squad 8.
Captain Nickel Shard
There came relief in her emotional heart. They're okay…At least now I don't have to worry about the Lieutenant spot being taken already.
DAY 75
Shouta and Warren became good friends as the days passed. Both started to trust each other sometimes were inseparable. But the Suzuki sibling that Warren was stuck to was Yuki. He liked her, and both were similar in various ways.
"Warren, I need to tell you something about Yuki."
"Shoot away, Shouta."
"Tell your Squad members that hate Yuki to take it easy on her. She's had a rough life so far."
"I'll keep it in mind. Tsubaki said something about people teasing Yuki when she was in the Academy because of how she viewed the world or something."
"Yeah, and all that's true, but Yuki's life in the city was worse than that. Our mother died while giving birth to Yuki. Our father died when Yuki was two. She was attacked and almost murdered when she was four. And she still has to live with that scar she received. And then there are those Academy years."
"That is sad. How old are you compared to Yuki?"
"In human years, I would be eleven years older than Yuki. But I'm actually 36 years older than her because we live forever. Remember?"
"Yeah, I know," Warren said. "She must depend on you greatly."
"She does actually. And I don't want to lose her. Not after what happened to our parents… I couldn't bear it. That's why I don't want Yuki to become Lieutenant. I don't want her to die."
"Don't worry. It's okay."
"I hope so…"
*Shouta's Flashback*
Four-year-old Yuki was walking beside her older brother down the streets of the city at night. Shouta kept Yuki close to protect her. Yuki saw a field full of flowers and she ran to it. She was busy picking a flower for her parents' graves when Shouta saw something behind her.
"Yuki! Look out!" But it was too late. The thing bit Yuki's neck, and when it let go, Yuki landed on the ground hard, blood pouring from her neck.
The moon had finally shown its light on the creature. It was a werewolf with black hair and red eyes. The thing ran off.
"WAIT! Come back! What did you do to her?" He started to run toward its direction, but he stopped when he saw Yuki. Her face was pale and he could tell she was fading fast. He had no voice but to take her to the hospital.
But somehow Yuki was fine when he reached the place. Her eyes were open and she was breathing normally and her color was back.
Shouta never understood how that happened.
*End flashback*
And he probably never would.
DAY 80
Today was probably the greatest day of Yuki's life. Today, she made it. Today, she became to youngest Lieutenant in history and set the record of the shortest period of time before becoming Lieutenant. Eighty days. It was incredible.
Now she was hunting down her brother again. When she saw him, he was with Warren. "Brother! Zephyr! Guess what?"
"What?" Both said simultaneously.
"Guess who the new Lieutenant of Squad 10 is? Me!"
"That's great. You should be proud of yourself, Yuki. You did great," Warren said.
"That is great," Shouta said, awkwardly, but thankfully Yuki didn't notice. But Warren knew of his true feelings. Inside, Shouta's heart was broken. But if Yuki was happy, then he was too. But that still didn't help the fact that she now had an 80% chance of dying when on a mission. "But be careful."
"I will, brother. Don't worry!"
I can't. It's my job to worry, Yuki.
DAY 82
Another demon escaped from Hell again. This time, Nickel won the argument between him and Mizu and took this mission for him and Yuki both. They were now in the World of the Living, at nighttime, hunting this thing down.
"There," Yuki said, pointing in the direction where a shadowed figure was wrecking everything in sight.
"Good job. Let's go." Nickel shunpo'd off. Yuki followed.
The demon resembled a large ferret. It had a horn on its forehead and its eyes were red. It seemed to notice the two Hell's Guardians right away.
"Hey, get out of my way, and stay out!" It aimed its paw to swipe at the two. But both warriors got out of the way by jumping up.
While in the air, Nickel shouted, "Split up, Yuki!"
"Already on it, Captain!" The two went their separate ways.
Yuki went behind it. It saw her coming. She looked at her Captain for a split second and could tell that he was getting ready for an attack. He already had his zanpaktou, Akai Kousetsu, in shikai. She looked back at her opponent, who slapped its large paw into her stomach hard.
"You're going to have to do better than that!" The thing laughed.
"Alright. Freeze, Suzushouka!" Her sword turned completely light blue, including the ribbon it grew. Silver bells on the ribbon appeared and so did a softball sized bell on the tip of the ribbon. "Try this. Some no Uta: Shirafune!" The blade turned completely to ice, inside and out.
Yuki trying to slice the demon in half, but no avail.
"Ryuumon Kousetsu!" A red ice dragon flew at the demon. The demon swallowed it and reversed it. The red ice dragon roughly hit the Squad 10 Captain, who was unable to get up.
"CAPTAIN!" Yuki yelled, tears flowing freely from her silver eyes. "THAT'S IT, DAMN IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!"
Her eyes glowed yellow and changed from white and silver to dark blue whites and light blue irises. Her face turned into the shape of a wolf, and her fingers slowly turned into claws. Her body slowly transformed into a wolf, larger than her human form when standing up, with white and sky-blue fur.
"You stay out of our way!" Her voice was deeper and sounded like an echo. Both of them had a cat fight. Both got scratched, but only Yuki drew blood, a little too much in fact, while the demon's wounds were covered in ice.
And little did Yuki know, Captain Shard had witnessed her transformation.
The demon shivered. "It's s-s-s-so c-c-cold! What degree is this?"
"Does it really matter?" Yuki asked coldly. Nickel could've sworn Yuki had taken away twenty degrees of the current temperature at that split second, because his breath came out in puffs.
"You'll never beat me!"
"Oh yeah?" Yuki was outraged. "Prove it! THIS IS FOR INJURING MY CAPTAIN!" she scratched the demon's stomach and ice formed and grew from that wound and spread all throughout the body, inside and out. The ice shattered with the force of a small anti-infantry bomb, killing the demon.
Werewolf Yuki fell, turning back into a human in the process. As soon as Nickel's Lieutenant hit the ground, she was out cold. He ran to her and felt her pulse. It was weak. He observed her wounds. She had cuts all over her body, large and small, narrow and deep. Her shihakusho was stained with blood and so was her hair. She had a fairly large cut right by her left eye that was bleeding. So he took her back to Squad 4 as the Hell's Gate opened and scooped up the demon's remains.
DAY 90
Yuki woke up to strange voices. Her eyes were still closed and her hearing was faded, so she tried her best to tune her ears in, so she could find out were she was.
"Do you think she's okay, Captain?"
"Of course, Erica." Erica Carns was here. That's all Yuki knew for the moment.
"Are you certain?"
"Erica, I'm the Captain of Squad 4. Of course I know if someone's in danger of dying. And young Suzuki's not." She was in Squad 4. She trusted them enough to open her eyes and groaned because of the pain it brought.
Erica was immediately at her side. "It's alright, Lieutenant Suzuki. You're still alive."
"…Who brought me here?" Yuki voice was hoarse, and it only made her worse.
"Captain Shard did," Arlong said.
"Speaking of whom…I need to talk…to him…" Yuki's wounds were still bandaged and they were getting worse still. Her hysteria wasn't helping very much.
"Calm down, Yuki," Erica said. "Captain Arlong's off to get him right now."
However, when the two Captains came back, Yuki was out cold again.
Erica simply said, "Captain, she got hysterical. It made her condition worse."
Arlong nodded. "Got it." Erica exited the room, and so did Arlong. However, Nickel Shard stayed behind.
DAY 95
Yuki woke up feeling much better. She felt very little pain. The room was somewhat dark, so it must've been about sunset. She saw a shadow against the sun and looked closer to realize it was Captain Shard. She looked at him bewildered.
He simply said, "You said you wanted to speak with me?"
"…Yeah…"
"Well, fire away."
"Captain, I'm a were-"
"A werewolf, I know. I saw it. I saw you transform."
"You aren't going to tell anybody, are you?"
"I'm afraid I had to alert the Head Captain of it. You know werewolves were hunted down and killed for no reason, and still are."
"But…" Yuki voice visibly cracked. "I'm not a criminal. I haven't done anything wrong…" She let her tears fall freely.
"I know you aren't. And I believe you. But the Head Captain needs to know."
Right on cue, Head Captain Dean "Lucifer" Shard appeared at the door. Yuki quickly brushed her tears away.
"Lieutenant Yuki Suzuki, it's good to see you awake." Yuki lowered her eyes down to her feet. "Your brother has been worried sick about you. She cares for you greatly."
"I know…He didn't want me to become Lieutenant, but I did anyway."
"I know. But that's not why I'm here. How did you become a werewolf?"
"Shouta says I was bitten in the neck when I was four. He thought I was dying, but when he reached the hospital, he said I was just fine. But the scar never faded." She lowered her left collar of her yukata to reveal to faint puncture marks where the werewolf bit her so long ago.
She told the two Captains everything, the whole story.
It hurt every time she transformed. But she put up with it. Every time. She had someone to protect, always. In the most recent case, her Captain.
When she was finished, there was a short silence.
"Well, Dad?" Nickel said aloud. The head Captain immediately threw his own son a look that said, 'Shut-the-hell-up!' But his son gave him a cold stare right back saying, 'I know-what-I'm-doing!'
"…Dad?" Yuki asked.
Nickel turned to his Lieutenant. "You'd shut your mouth and keep it a secret if you knew what was good for you."
Yuki nodded obediently.
"Son, your Lieutenant will not be put to death. So don't worry about it. It's our little secret, Miss Suzuki. Who else knows?"
"Just Shouta, and know you two. Why?"
"That makes it easier to keep it a secret. The less people who know, the easier it is to keep it a secret. At least they're people you can trust."
Yuki smiled for the first time in days.
"Thank you," she said softly.
DAY 100/FINAL DAY
Yuki was finally let out of Squad 4 that morning. Her left arm was still bandaged, but she was fit for duty. Nickel Shard led her out of the Squad 4 barracks and back to Squad 10.
"Captain? Why'd you tell me your secret? I noticed the Head Captain glare that he gave you when you said it. Why? And why couldn't you just tell me?"
"Because you told me your secret. And you told me in a way that was totally unexpected. Why do you ask?"
"Why?"
"To make us even. You seemed to trust enough to tell me your secret, so I trusted you enough to tell you mine."
"…I didn't know you were still awake, Captain…" Yuki said with a sweat drop and her face red.
"Oh, really. I wasn't aware you were listening," Nickel said in a teasing voice. Yuki's face turned darker and then she giggled.
"Oh, that was the case, was it?" Yuki shot back.
"You really think so? I thought you showed me out of trust and respect."
"…" Yuki was finally at a loss for words.
Nickel smirked. He leaned in close to her face, which immediately turned ten shades of red, growing darker with each shade change. "…Gotcha…" he whispered, sending shivers down her spine.
"…Don't…do that!" Yuki gasped for air.
"I'm trying to get you back on the ball. Just because your injured doesn't mean I'm not going to take it easy on you. You're still the Lieutenant of Squad 10."
"Is that a challenge? Oh, bring it on, Captain! Give it all you got!"
Nickel laughed out loud, and Yuki was forced to laugh with him.
~10~10~10~10~
A/N: I hope it was alright! Was it good? Bad? Feel free to tell me.
To The People Who Read Hell's War: Tell me if I made any mistakes with anything, please!
Everyone see that lovely blue button down below? Click it, please. Feedback is one of my five favorite things.