"Listen well, all of you." Ordered the Sotaicho of the Gotei 13, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, banging his cane on the floor of the Taicho's meeting hall. The whispering of some Taichos conversing with those beside them came to a halt as they all assumed their positions.

"With the betrayal of three of our Taichos Aizen Sosuke, Ichimaru Gin and Tousen Kaname, we are left with three Taichos short. And with the outburst of arrancar activity in both Hueco Mundo and in the real world as confirmed by Urahara Kisuke has led me to the decision that we will need to fill out these applications as fast as possible. As such I had sent out a notice to all Taichos for recommendations for the positions of Taichos of Squads three, five and nine. I have received two. Three days ago Taicho Kuchiki, Taicho Ukitake and I have evaluated this candidate and found her to be suitable for the position and responsibility that comes with being a Taicho of the Gotei 13" said Yamamoto before stepping to the left, "You may come in"

The huge door separating the Meeting hall from the First Division Office opened to reveal a tall woman wearing the full sleeved Taicho's haori. The most striking feature about her was the long golden hair pulled back into a hip-ponytail. A sheathed sword hung from her waist tied to a traditional obi.

"It is with great pleasure I welcome you, Reiko Asakura, to be the new Taicho of the Third Division. As I have said before being a Taicho is a job of great responsibility, you bear on your shoulders not only the lives of your division but also the lives of many innocent souls outside the walls of the Seretei and also in the Real world. Do not let us down Taicho!" the last few words were accompanied by a loud bang of the cane once more as the new Taicho stepped forward and bowed to the Head Taicho before assuming her position beside the enormous Taicho Komamura who gave her a welcoming nod.

"And now, as you all will remember I spoke of two recommendations. This second recommendation from…Zaraki Taicho" muttered the Sotaicho distastefully glaring at the Kenpachi, "is rather problematic. Usually I would have discarded it without a second thought however in the wake of all that is happening it is my belief that Kurosaki Ichigo may…and I repeat, may, make a fine Captain"

Immediately the hall was filled with hushed whispers and cries of protest.

"Silence! I realize that this is a highly unconventional situation, which is why I am not prepared to take a decision without consulting the Central 46. But I wish to know how many of you support this decision."

Kenpachi Zaraki's hand went up at once. Very slowly rose the hands of Ukitake and Kyoraku, both grinning at each other. "Three Captains? Is that all?" asked Yamamoto as Hitsugaya's hand went up at the same time as Unohana's and Komamura's.

"I do not know if it is my place to say this but I feel Ichigo-Kun would make a fine Captain" said Shuhei Hisagi, the acting Captain of the Ninth Division.

"You have been selected to be a temporary Captain Hisagi Shuhei, do not hesitate to throw your weight about a little" said Yamamoto gruffly, 'Very well, it seems I have the support of seven Taichos and counting myself that makes an eight out of twelve, a majority, I will put forward the proposal to the Central 46 today itself and hopefully they will decide soon and…yes Captain Soi Fon? You have a question?"

"With all due respect sir, I do not see any way for Kurosaki to be a good captain" said Soi Fon, "He is rude, disrespectful, has no sense of duty, does whatever he likes whenever he likes, and always seems to leave a trail of destruction behind him"

"Not to mention the fact that he would probably disobey every order given to him if it went against his pestilential morals" added Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

"Ha! That's rich coming from you bastard" retorted Zaraki who stood opposite him.

"That is enough!" bellowed Yamamoto before turning to another raised hand.

"Even if the Central 46 should provide their permission how would we convince him to abandon his life on earth and become a permanent resident of the Seretei? From what I have heard about him he seems to have an exceeding amount of compassionate feelings for his family and friends" said the newly appointed Captain Asakura.

"I have considered each and every one of your questions Captains Soi Fon, Kurotsuchi and Asakura. It will be made very clear to Kurosaki that discipline is a requirement not only in a Captain but in a Shinigami in general. As for his morals, I do not see where the problem lies, we here at the Soul Society do not undertake unjust or useless violence. His life on earth may be problematic however we shall suggest it to him and see his reaction first before taking steps to counter that problem. Now, are there any more questions?" asked Yamamoto and as silence greeted him he turned, "Very well, meeting dismissed, we will all assemble here exactly one week from now to discuss the Central 46's decision."

And saying so he disappeared into the First division offices.

The sun shone right into his face as his eyes opened a fraction, adjusting to the light ray that peeped in through the slightly parted curtain of his room. Shifting slightly in his bed his eyes immediately turned to the woman sleeping peacefully on his bare chest, a blanket pulled over both of them. The woman moved a little reacting to his movement and muttered 'Chocolate salmon' before dozing of again.

Ichigo Kurosaki, gazed fondly at Orihime Inoue, his girlfriend of six months as he lifted his hand to stroke her hair, much like his but softer and a slightly different shade of orange.

Suddenly Orihime's eyes popped wide open and she sat up. "Oh, thank god!" she said before collapsing on Ichigo's chest again.

"What's wrong?" he asked with an amused smirk on his face. "I…I dreamt that I was drowning in chocolate…and then…these really friendly platypuses showed up to help me, but suddenly one of them turned into a flying snail and…"

She noticed the smirk on his face and punched him playfully, "Hey be nice! I have rights to be weird and still be told I'm great" she said burying her face in his neck.

"Not that I need to tell you that" said Ichigo turning them over and kissing her passionately. "I love you Ichigo" she breathed through his kiss.

"I love..."

Suddenly something shot through the window, completely shattering it and pinned itself to the wall. It was an arrow with a note attached to it.

"What the hell?!" cried Ichigo panting hard since the arrow had passed just in front of his face, in fact peeling a bit of skin off his nose tip. "This has Urahara written all over!" he cried getting out of bed and pulling on a pair of boxers. He went to the opposite wall and ripped the note from the arrow which was now deeply embedded in his wardrobe.

It read: "Kindly make it convenient to attend a super ultra-mega important meeting at the Urahara Shop at midnight. P.S. Or else! P.P.S If in the sending of this note anybody was pierced, beheaded, decapitated then the Urahara Shop Pvt. Ltd. Takes no responsibility whatsoever"

Ichigo crumpled up the note and grew it into the wastepaper basket muttering death threats for Kisuke Urahara as he crawled back into bed again and went back to sleep with Orihime in close embrace.

"Umm Captain?" muttered a scared looking Shinigami as Reiko Asakura looked up from her meditation and looked at him coldly.

"Yes?" she asked chillingly.

"The thing is…two of our men got into a brawl with some Squad 11 members and…well they were rather badly beaten up, we've had them escorted to the Fourth Division and Captain Unohana has asked for your permission to keep them there for two weeks to receive treatment. Usually I'd go to Kira-Fukutaicho but he's in the real world so…"

The cold glare did not shift an inch as Reiko held out a hand for the scroll with the Fourth Division's insignia on it. After reading through the documents she took out a stamp from the drawer and placed a seal of approval on it before wordlessly handing it back to the nervous man.

"Thank you very much Taicho" he said before retreating hurriedly.

Taking a deep breath Reiko Asakura stood up and placed her zanpakuto back in its sheath before leaving the third division barracks. Walking up to the cliffs she decided to spend some time there when a familiar reiatsu caught her attention.

"What brings you out here at this time of the day?" she asked him as he quietly came up and stood beside her.

"I have been visiting this spot for far longer than you can imagine, in any case, the same could be asked of you could it not?" he replied unemotionally.

"Indeed it could, and to the person asking my reply would be simple, I am merely taking a stroll to calm my nerves" she replied looking at the setting sun in the horizon.

"I was surprised to see you not voting for Kurosaki Ichigo to be a Captain today. I was under the impression he was a close friend of your sister's?"

"While it is true that my sister chooses to involve herself with Kurosaki Ichigo far too much for my liking I'm afraid she would not accept it if I told her to stop seeing him"

"Is that right? I for one thought you cared less for other people's feelings as long as the honor and pride of the esteemed Kuchiki clan was upheld am I not right?" came the derisive reply as his lips curled upward an inch.

"You have still not forgiven me for what has occurred in our past?" he asked quietly.

Reiko turned to give him a cool glare, "We never had an 'our' past. And as for forgiving you, why should you care if I forgive you or not? After all, I am not of noble blood like you, am I? Kuchiki Byakuya!" she said loudly before turning and stalking off.

He stared at her before turning back to the sun with a sigh escaping his lips.

As Ichigo sat down in Urahara's meeting room after yelling his lungs out at the laidback shopkeeper for peeling his nose off Orihime and Ururu had succeeded in pulling him off Urahara without leaving any permanent damage to his face.

Five minutes later Urahara hopped in on one leg being supported by Tessai and seated himself at the head of the table with Yoruichi sitting on his cap in her cat form.

"Man, that was a rough greeting Kurosaki-Kun!" he said breezily as Chad and Uryu entered and seated themselves alongside Ichigo and Orihime.

"The heck it was, you're lucky all you got away with was a broken leg you crazed freak." Cried Ichigo as Urahara merely flipped out his fan and began fanning himself nonchalantly.

"Anyways, the reason I called you all here, particularly you Ichigo, was because I've received a formal letter from the Gotei 13 with the insignia and signatures of every Captain as well as a stamp from the Central 46. This letter Ichigo…offers you the position of a Captain of the Gotei 13" said Urahara preparing mentally for the chaos.

…

Complete silence reigned over the small room for about two to three minutes before Yoruichi grew impatient and hissed, "What's wrong with you all? Cat got your tongues?"

"What…did you just say?" asked Ichigo quietly while Urahara took out a large envelope from his sleeve and handed it to Ichigo.

Ichigo accepted it and opened the intricately designed envelope and rolled open the letter inside.

"To Kurosaki Ichigo, Substitute Soul Reaper,

I, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto present to you Kurosaki Ichigo my warmest greetings. Despite your initial criminal status in Soul Society your actions during the execution of Kuchiki Rukia has helped expose the biggest planned treason witnessed by Soul Society. While we have made you Substitute Shinigami status and allowed you to keep your powers we at the Gotei 13 feel the need to show our gratitude. Also adding to that is the increasing arrancar activity taking place in Hueco Mundo. As such the three vacant positions of Captain have to be filled. While Hisagi Fukutaicho remains the acting Captain for the Ninth Division a new Captain has been found for the Third Division. However the Captainship for the Fifth Division remains vacant. Your name has been recommended to me by a Captain of the Soul Society and has been supported by eight out of twelve Captains along with securing a majority vote in the Central 46; thereby you are eligible for the post of Captain. On that note we ask you to attend a meeting, two days from when you receive this letter to discuss your answer. We look forward to your reply.

Gotei 13"

"No way!" cried Uryu reading over Ichigo's shoulders. Chad gaped in silent shock as Orihime's grip on Ichigo's shoulder tightened.

"They want…me…to be a Captain?" Ichigo asked disbelief evident in his voice.

"Obviously. I mean, what part of 'your name has been recommended' do you not understand?" scoffed Yoruichi as Urahara laughed his uneasy laugh and flipped his fan shut, "You see Ichigo the Soul Society has more faith in you than you believe. However I hope you do realize the implications of your decision don't you?"

"Implications?!" asked Ichigo in a puzzled tone.

Yoruichi hissed in annoyance once more as Urahara sighed, "Look Ichigo, if you refuse them your relation with Soul Society will become very rocky, for this matter to have gone to the Central 46 it must be a great deal, and as far as I Know the Head Captain, he will NOT like it if you refuse whatever he may say on the surface. Also you may note that there were eight Captains in support of this decision, they too will feel disappointed because something like this…doesn't really happen much. On the other end of the table though if you DO accept their offer it will mean setting up a permanent residence in Soul Society, which means you will become a full-fledged Shinigami, your life as a Human will come to an end, you'll have to leave your family and friends and live in the Seretei. Do you think you'll be able to manage that?"

Ichigo stared at the piece of paper and once more looked back at Urahara before sighing and putting the paper back in it's envelope.

"I'm gonna have to refuse them" he said plainly, "There's no way I'm leaving Yuzu, Karin, Orihime, Chad, Uryu and all my other friends behind to become a Captain. While it's nice of them I really don't…"

"Don't be so hasty to refuse Ichigo" came a voice from seemingly no where.

Ichigo looked around frantically, "Who…who's there?"

"I'm there you fool" said Rukia banging her zanpakuto hilt on his head.

"Ouch, damnit what was that for midget?!" he cried rubbing his head as everyone turned to face Rukia and Renji.

"Never mind that, what's with that hasty reply. At least think out your options well before replying. Do you know how many higher-ups are involved in this? The Head-Captain seems to think you'll accept but I've asked Nii-Sama to suggest that you won't be very easy to deal with. And besides, becoming a Captain is a matter of prestige" said Rukia seriously.

"But…"

"But Rukia-Chan, Ichigo's family and friends are extremely important to him to. Should he be asked to give them all up just for the prestige of becoming a Captain?" asked Orihime cutting of Ichigo's protest.

Rukia seemed speechless at Orihime's outburst.

"Orihime…I…"

"I think both of them are correct Ichigo" said Urahara with an air of pouring cold water over a raging fire, "It's unfair to ask you to take such a big decision so quickly, however when Rukia suggests you should think out your options well she is correct. You have two days anyway, think it over well Ichigo, this is a question of your life" he said finally shutting his fan which everyone took as a sign to leave.

As they trooped out Rukia grabbed Ichigo's hand and pulled him out to a side. "Look…I'll be honest; I really want you to accept this. No, listen to me, it's not as if you're going to lose your families, I'm sure the Head-Captain will allow you to come visit them or them to come into Soul Society whenever you want. So…please, just…just think about it okay?" she asked quietly before rushing of in the opposite direction.

My first Bleach story. Much appreciated if you guys leave me reviews!