Chapter 1: Frightening Little Girls
She grew up on stories of Soul Society and it's wonder. Of the Winter War, the war with the once-dead Quincies, mainly the tales she heard were about all the wars. Sometimes they were about the almost-execution of Kuchiki Rukia and her savior-Soul Society's savior in a way-a substitute shinigami. Sometimes they were about the death of the old 13th squad lieutenant. Sometimes they were about nasty hollows and the even nastier creations by the Captain of the 12th Squad. She supposed all these stories were supposed to impress people but it mainly made her think that whoever was running the place did a hell of a shitty job. Unfortunately; recruiting was one of the main things they remained thorough about.
Rey-Jin didn't like the way she was being stared at by the other students. Sure, she didn't really have any friends among them and she surely didn't particularly care about anything they thought of her, but she wasn't a fan of being stared at. It'd been a developing trait ever since she lost her right eye. It was probably because she didn't keep the socket covered. But again, she couldn't find it in her to care if she was disturbing anyone. But could people even be any less subtle?
From the stories she figured shinigami recruits would do poorly with weak stomachs. She was practically doing them a favor.
But that wasn't the case for the staring this time. This time it had more to do with the rumors she was graduating early, being assigned a squad, apparently the fastest person to go through the Academy since Ichimaru Gin. Of course, combined with her looks and negative attitude, the rumors went further to the suspicion that maybe she was just as evil too.
Or not evil. From where Rey-Jin stood, Ichimaru Gin had been more fucked up than anything. Not that that was any better. But she'd take fucked up versus evil any day. Besides, there was no fun in being normal.
"If you don't close your mouth you'll swallow a fly, Etsuko-san," she murmured to her roommate. Nanashi Etsuko was a rather kind girl, the type of sweet that Rey-Jin usually didn't like, but having been forced to spend a year rooming with her, the sweet girl had grown on her. It was more of a 'I'll tolerate your presence' type of growth, but still growth. She wondered where exactly she would be placed-if anywhere-once she graduated. Rey-Jin had never really seen her roommate fight, mainly because she seemed to have a problem spilling blood, but she was proficient enough with kido and even better at healing. She would do well with 4th if nowhere else. Rey-Jin made a mental note to skewer anyone who might bother her soon to be ex-roommate if that was the case. Perhaps the girl had grown on her more than she thought. Even so, she couldn't have people badmouthing her ex-roommate.
She might've not had many people she called friends, but she certainly did care about at least one person's wellbeing.
"I'm sorry," Etsuko had that huge smile on her face, the type that went from ear-to-ear, "I'm just gonna miss you and you're graduating already and who knows what Squad you'll end up in? I mean, Squad 13 is led by a war hero and Squad 1 is led by that creepy guy in the woman's kimono and I don't think I've ever seen the Sixth's Squad's captain make any type of facial expression. I would be so nervous if I were you!"
"Luckily, you're not me. Thus there is no reason to be nervous. Though if you were me, you probably wouldn't be nervous either." They called Rey-Jin stoic enough to rival the captain Etsuko said never smiled but in reality, it wasn't that she was stoic. It was more that her zanpakuto had stolen whatever little emotional expression was left in her. If she didn't want it to go crazy, she was going to have to manage her emotions very, very carefully. That or she was just a sociopath by nature. She wasn't entirely sure where the zanpakuto's spirit started and hers ended.
In truth, she suspected that the zanpakuto was probably more of the reason why everything was so rushed. Not that she knew it's name or that she had a shikai. It was more the nature of the sword itself, the ability within it, and what it might mean for her. If the zanpakuto was the manifestation of the soul then Rey-Jin was pretty sure hers was rather fucked. Perhaps this whole meeting thing for the graduation and whatnot was merely a guise to see if she was sane enough to be in Soul Society or if they needed to lock her up and throw away the key. She would not blame them if that happened. Soul Society had enough resident madmen already.
"Sometimes I'm not sure if you're lucky or incredibly unlucky, Jin-chan," Etsuko said.
Rey-Jin didn't bother to correct the nickname. She'd tried for the better part of the year before admitting defeat. "Sometimes I'm not sure either." she said.
She glanced at the clock on the wall of their small dorm room before rolling off the bed and straightening her Academy uniform. "Well, I'll let you know how it goes." Hopefully. She added mentally.
With her chipper roommate wishing her all the luck in every world, Rey-Jin headed down to one of the conference rooms/gyms that were serving as her meeting room. In all honesty, she wasn't entirely sure what to expect. The letter she'd received had been quite brief and she wasn't entirely sure if they would make her do a release or something drastic. She could have to bounce a beach ball on her nose for all she knew.
She entered the room to see the First Squad's captain-a.k.a the guy Etsuko thought was creepy-, the captain of the Ninth, the acclaimed war-hero of the Thirteenth, and the vice captain of the Sixth. She didn't fail to notice how close the last two were and remembered a snippet of gossip about them having a child who was almost Academy age. From the serious look on the girl's face and the cocky grin on the man's, she had a feeling whoever their child was was going to give their instructors a run for their money. Heh. She would've liked to see that.
Rey-Jin bowed before the people in front of her, unsure exactly what to do next. Unsureness was still one of the emotions Rey-Jin allowed herself to feel but it really wasn't one of the better ones. It was just one that made her zanpakuto shut up from whatever rant he was currently going on.
"Ah ah," The First's captain waved his hand in a incredibly un-captainlike manner and smiled. "No need for such formalities, we're all equal here." The woman standing beside him who was carrying a clipboard smacked the captain on top of the head. The captain groaned. "You hit really hard Nanao-chan."
Rey-Jin caught the shared glance all the other shinigami gave each other. It was the type of look of someone who dealt with certain shit way too often and with way too little alcohol.
"Serves you right. You should be more considerate of your rank." Nanao pushed her glasses up.
The redheaded man laughed. "If that type of hitting was what made you rise in rank Rukia would've made Captain right after she graduated."
The Thirteenth Captain, Kuchiki Rukia, responded by kicking the redhead in the shin.
Rey-Jin just stood there watching the scene unfold. If she wasn't sure of what would be going on before, she was definitely unsure now. She cleared her throat and the bickering captains turned to her.
"As I was saying, we've seen your test scores and they're remarkable high. Although, ah, your teachers are a little worried about you...how did they put it..."
"I believe the quote was 'intense dislike of authority bordering on a misconduct disorder'." she said. "Also 'keep away from fire'." She remembered that day well. The Kido instructor had told her to create a fire. He hadn't specifically mentioned how much or where.
The stubble-bearded Captain of Squad One continued. "The thing is, we've heard reports of you-often, and to be honest not always in the brightest light."
Rey-Jin snorted. That was obvious. "What do you wish of me, Captain Commander?"
The Captain Commander's expression grew serious, the joking light out of his eyes. It was like the weight of the air in the room intensified and her throat constricted at the reiastu. "I've found in the past that those considered mad can be valuable allies if they're properly cultivated."
Rey-Jin raised an eyebrow. This was new. "You wish to...cultivate me?" She noticed the looks on the other Captains and Vice Captains faces. They didn't seem pleased at the turn of this conversation. Maybe they hadn't even been aware of what was going to happen. Maybe they came as muscle in case they needed to drag her into some deep, dark prison. Though she doubted she could take on a fifth seat, much less two Vice Captains and three Captains.
"You've yet to exhibit signs that would pose you as a danger to the Soul Society. In the past we've either jailed those people, killed them, or ignored them."
"And how did that work out for you?" She couldn't stop the question coming out of her mouth or the dryness that came with it.
The broad shouldered, white-haired Captain of the Ninth started to say something but the Captain Commander raised a hand to quiet him.
"I think you know the answer to that," he said. Rey-Jin took a second to study the man before her more closely. Underneath the fancy woman's kimono, the stubble, and perpetual smell of sake, there was some cold shrewdness, a type of pragmatic calculation she hadn't seen before. Etsuko-san was right, in a way. This man was scary. "It's no secret we need to rebuild our ranks, that we've barely finished rebuilding Soul Society in general. I think letting power slip out of our hands before we're able to mold it would be a very bad idea."
She didn't like the sound of that-she wasn't clay to be molded or sculpted. "You can speak plainly, Captain-Commander-san. I won't be insulted by anything you have to say."
"What I'm saying is that I want to see if we can turn a madman into a valuable asset. It'd be a shame to throw away someone with such potential but it would also be a shame to let them go unchecked." The man turned to the Ninth Captain. "Kensei-san will explain, won't he?"
The man towered before her-Rey-Jin was not particularly known for her height-with a scowl on his face. She met his eyes plainly. "You will come to the Ninth under the guise of graduating early and being assigned. You will train with us, learn our philosophy, and for your sake, become something valuable to the Gotei Thirteen. If you can prove to yourself and us that those like you can become productive, valued members of the Soul Society, you would save a lot of lives."
She nodded. "You want to see if you can have members of the Gotei Thirteen who exhibit traits shown in past enemies, ones that led them to outthink and outmaneuver you, use their traits to the benefit of the Soul Society. You want me to be your madman."
Kensei laughed. It was a harsh, bark-like sound and despite herself Rey-Jin startled. "You're our madman or no one else's."
"I accept." There was really no other option at this point, she knew it, they knew it. Hell, she doubted they thought it was going to go well. Perhaps that was why there was so much power in the room. The Captain Commander nodded to Kensei and Rey-Jin watched as the rest of the members of the meeting party left the room, leaving her with the tattooed, white-haired man.
"I understand you have a release," he said once the others had left.
"Yes," her voice was uncharacteristically quiet. She disliked talking about her sword for reasons she felt were about to become very, very obvious.
Kensei either grinned or bared his teeth, she wasn't entirely sure. "Let's see it."
Rey-Jin closed her eyes and took a deep breath, unsheathing the wakizashi on her side. She turned it sideways and pierced the palm of her opposite hand until dark red blood dripped down her arm.
"Eat your young, Surīburaindomāku*."
(AN: Hello everyone. I've never really written Bleach fanfiction before but I've been chewing on this idea for a while. Since Kyoraku is Captain Commander now and has proved to be quite pragmatic, I thought he would possibly change some of the ways Soul Society is run in order to benefit them-for example, seeking out potential recruits who bear the traits their enemies possess and try to see if they can be turned into allies and soldiers. Basically, having the madmen and geniuses and the mix be on their side. Rey-Jin is the first one they're trying it with so it's almost like a sociological experiment-nature versus nurture or if the nature of the character can be manipulated for good with the correct nurture, etc. I chose Squad 9 because of their stance on battle, on fear, and fighting, and because I thought that my OC would do well with characters with those values. Obviously, I'm not the best writer of fanfiction around and I probably have a lot of flaws so please let me know what you think! I'm open to criticism. Well I mean, don't tell me I suck and to die in a hole but otherwise we're good. Let me know if you're interested in the continuation of this! And I'm always open to recommendations of other wonderful Bleach Fics!
*Surīburaindomāku means "Thrice Blind Stigmata" or literally; "Three Blind Marks"
Lastly I obviously do not own Bleach because if I did there would be a lot of different stuff!)