Well, let's see if we can get the old ball rolling again. :)

Blood of Spring: Special Girl

Chapter One

Feet stomped throughout the Ninth Division. The sun was shining bright this morning, and the brewed tea smelled strong, a good tinge of lemon striking the air for those who were hungover. Most people of the Ninth, even their Fukutaichou, would be barely awake at eight in the morning, and were all sluggishly making their ways to their offices or duty stations. The exception came for the new Sixth Seat, who made it her job to rush past any and all she saw so that they'd wake up, save for those who were carrying stacks of papers.

She stood at 152 centimeters, and had long black hair with red streaks all throughout. Her eyes were teal, and her skin was a light cream. She had a good figure for being this short - she certainly wasn't petite by any means. Her uniform was a bit different than the average Shinigami - with slim sleeves, a red sash around her waist, and two turquoise arm bands on her forearms. She had on small hints of makeup as well, a shimmering gloss and light teal eyeshadow that you could barely notice, and her zanpakuto was almost hidden by the sash she wore - many people didn't even notice it. It was a regular katana with a black handle wrapping, a turquoise guard in the shape of an eight-pointed star, and a red sheath.

She rushed into her office and slammed the door shut just before her subordinates could nod off or take a sip of their morning coffee, a rush of air blowing past them, but nowhere near as bad as those the Sixth Seat had ran by a few moments ago. "Ohayou," she said as she began to organize her desk, signing the last of paperwork she had leftover from the night before and putting it in her finished stack. With the exception of the bottom five, seated officials shared offices - three to each office. And ever since she was dubbed Sixth Seat, she made a habit of finishing most of her work in advance. Especially if it was due before eleven in the morning.

"Ohayou, Ayasegawa-kun," her seventh and eighth seat said in unison as she grabbed the large bag on her chair and rushed out the door again. She raced through the hall towards her vice-captain's office, the speed of a demon at her side. The Ninth Division rumbled, making Hisagi hold his tea cup in place so it wouldn't spill over. At least he was able to poor his cup before she got in.

The rumbling stopped just outside of his door. "Come in, Haruchi." The door slid open as Vice-Captain Hisagi gathered the last of the papers and handed it to her. "The rest are on the coffee table," he said.

"Arigatou, fukutaichou," she said, bowing to him before going to the coffee table and organizing the paperwork into folders labeled with the division symbols.

Hisagi sighed, closing his eyes. "You know, I told you that you didn't have to call me that. I know I'm not the closest family friend, but that doesn't mean you gotta be so formal," he said, looking at her.

She finished filling in one of the folders marked for the first division before looking at him. "All the more reason to be formal, actually," she said before going through the next stack.

Her fukutaichou groaned, putting his head in his hand. "Don't tell me all those rumors are still bothering you. I wouldn't give you Sixth Seat if you didn't deserve it, Haruchi. That should be enough for you."

Haruchi's eyes hardened, her vein popping as she she began scowling at the wall. "It's not a matter of knowing, it's a matter of people recognizing it. And where some of our colleagues respect your choice, others doubt its integrity. That's what's so damn annoying about it!" She straightened the papers as loud as she could allow without ruining them. "Being called "The Eleventh Division's Brat" isn't an improvement, either."

Hisagi straightened up a bit, his eyes wide. "If that's happening, then you should be able to handle it. You are in a Seated position, you know?"

"For people who aren't my subordinates?" She asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Report them to me. I'm able to handle them."

"For people who aren't your subordinates?" She said, turning her attention back to the paperwork she was organizing.

He blinked, shaking his head before saying: "Haruchi, Captain Kurotsuchi is insane. We've been over this."

She scoffed a bit. "I wasn't talking about Captain Kurotsuchi," she said, finishing a stack for the Third Division. "Seems as though Captains Suì-Fēng and Kuchiki share his opinion of me," she said as she got another batch for the First Division organized, feeling the vice-captain's stare on her back. She finished the next folder and sighed, putting on top of the first one she made for the division. "I don't know what was harder to take: Captain Suì-Fēng saying it to my face or Captain Kuchiki saying it behind a closed door to Abarai-fukutaichou."

A silence dragged on for a bit, aside from the sound of Haruchi organizing the paperwork. She kept her face calm, all while Hisagi stared at her, trying to think of something to say. As she finished putting one of the final stacks in a folder, the silence was broken. "Haruchi," Hisagi said, his voice soft, "You can't expect everyone to respect your position just yet. You were given this position after you graduated, and that was five weeks ago. They haven't seen what I saw in you at the academy."

At first, she said nothing. Haruchi just started bundling the folders together so she wouldn't mix them up. Last thing she wanted was to give someone like Captain Kurotsuchi paperwork for the Eleventh Division. She'd never hear the end of it. After tying the fourth stack of folders, though, she sighed. "Maybe. But if I wasn't Ayasegawa, I get the feeling they wouldn't question it as much."

With that, she finished tying off the folders and put them in the bag she had around her shoulder. She bowed to Hisagi and ran out of the office, for once not saying the usual "Have a good morning," that she'd come to say to him ever since joining the Ninth Division. It made the vice-captain sigh heavily, leaning in his chair and folding his arms behind his head. "I wonder what Yumichika's said to her about this."

It was 8:15 am on-the-dot when Haruchi left her vice-captain. All sixth seats were required to take paperwork from their division's captain and vice-captain, and deliver them to the head officials of the other divisions. The morning load had to be handed to all officials by 10 pm, while the afternoon load had to be delivered by 6 pm. The sixth seats also acted as personal reminder boards for their superiors and would occasionally pick up certain documents for their division leaders. For the most part though, this last function would be carried out by their Seventh Seats.

Over the course of five weeks, Haruchi had come to learn some of the captains' routines, making it easier for her to decide when she should have the paperwork ready. If she went through the divisions quick enough, she could drop off the work for the Twelfth Division before their captain even came in, if only to avoid him calling her "brat." If there were any captain she'd prefer it coming out of the least... well, actually it would be Zaraki, but Kurotsuchi was almost worse.

Her deliveries began in descending order, starting with the Eighth Division. It didn't have to start this way, but she found the captain's laid back nature a welcoming and comforting start to her run. His vice-captain was also very respectful and appreciated Haruchi's promptness, so the two of them always got her back in a good mood. Sometimes, she even got to see them interacting in some hilarious way, usually with Ise-fukutaichou getting annoyed at her superior. It was chance that allowed that. With other superiors she'd resist the urge to laugh at them, but never these two. Something neither of them seemed to mind too much.

Haruchi smiled as she ran up the stairs, her steps echoing loudly and scaring every Shinigami in the vicinity. Those who were in the Sixth Seat's way jumped back or dived out of the way in a frenzied panic, including the guards at the entrance. The sound of her arrival was enough to wake up Captain Kyouraku from his morning nap, putting a small smile on his face. "She's causing such a panic," Nanao said sighing, adjusting her glasses. "Why haven't you said anything to her about it, Captain?"

Kyouraku sat up, tilting his straw hat a bit. "Come now, Nanao. You know as well as I do that she's headstrong to prove herself. Besides, if she was really causing that much trouble, she wouldn't run at half that speed." Nanao sighed again, about to add something before a knock came at the door. "Come in, Haruchi-chan!" The captain called.

It was a couple seconds before the door opened, but when it did, Haruchi walked in slowly, blushing a bit. "Gomenasai, Taichou, I wasn't expecting you to call me that," she said, her eyes still wide. Her head was also lowered, and her hand was scratching the back of her neck.

The Eighth Captain laughed at her loss of words. "Is it all right if I call you that? I feel like Ayasegawa-san's a bit too strung up, especially since last week," he said, getting a small snicker out of Haruchi as she looked away. Last week he had Nanao playing mystical-sounding music out of a boom box and throwing rose petals while he was relaxing in the courtyard. The track had changed into a more upbeat track, and when it did, Nanao dumped the petals on him and turned up the volume on the speakers. It left Haruchi on the ground, she was laughing so hard. "By that then, I take it it's ok then."

Haruchi lifted her head, a smile on her face. "Hai Taichou," she said, grabbing the folders she had for the Eighth Division and walking to Kyouraku's desk. "The topics for Saturday's meeting are on top, followed by the reconstruction in District 17, then upcoming events run through the Gotai 13," she said.

"Thank you," he said as she walked to Nanao's desk.

"There are a few files my fukutaichou needs ready before the meeting tomorrow afternoon. I put that after the transfer forms and financial reviews." Nanao nodded at her. "Is there anything you need, Captain?" Haruchi asked before leaving.

The Captain tipped his hat at her. "Just for you to have a good day. Try to breathe past whatever's bugging you, okay?" Again, Haruchi's eyes widened. She almost asked the Captain what he was talking about, but resigned to thanking him and leaving. She had to remind herself that he had been a captain for a while, it shouldn't be a problem for him to read her. Especially with Nanao as a vice-captain.

Haruchi continued her run, dropping off the folders for the Seventh Division before heading off to the Sixth. Depending on the morning, Captain Kuchiki may or may not be in the office with his vice-captain. Most mornings, she wished him to not be there, though. Mainly because it allowed her to talk with Renji for a few minutes. So when she knocked and heard the vice-captain call out to her, she couldn't help but grin.

"Hey, Renji," she said closing the door behind her, just in case the captain walked in.

"Hey, how ya been?" He asked, a forced grin on his face.

"Despite being in a division whose captain thinks I'm a brat, I'm pretty ok."

Sweat dropped on Renji's forehead and he frowned. "Oh... you heard that, huh?"

She looked over her shoulder as she placed some of the folders on Captain Kuchiki's desk, saying: "To be fair, he wasn't exactly being quiet about it."

More sweat dropped from Renji's face as a nervous chuckle rose from him. "Yeah, true..." he said as she gave him his folders. "You're not taking it too personally, are you?"

Haruchi hummed it over for a bit, eyes looking away from Renji as she mulled it over. When she stopped, she closed her eyes and shrugged. "I'm taking it a little more personally than when I hear Captain Kurotsuchi say it, but that's only because he said it to you behind a closed door. I can't really argue with him on that until I'm allowed to take a Performance Test, and that's over ten months from now," she said, closing her bag and walking towards the door.

Once she was about five feet away, the door opened and Captain Kuchiki stepped inside. She stopped and bowed. "Ohayou gozaimasu, Kuchiki-taichou," she said, waiting for him to walk past her before standing straight. When he did, she continued on her way out, not bothering to tell the captain what folders had what. He outright told her that he didn't need her to point out the obvious, and since then, she stopped explaining what was what.

"Sixth Seat Ayasegawa," Captain Kuchiki called just before she was out of earshot.

Haruchi froze, turning around and trying to maintain a composed smile. The Captain was now at his desk, preparing ink for his brush while looking at the first paper from the folders she left him. "Hai, Taichou?"

"To be fair," he said before looking at her through the corner of his eye, "you weren't exactly being quiet about it, either." Both her and Renji straightened their backs and could feel beads of cold sweat dropping down their faces in an instant. The captain stared at her for a few moments, before turning back to his paperwork with a smirk. "I look forward to seeing the results of your first Performance Test."

It was quiet for a few moments, Haruchi's face still-startled face betraying the tones of her inward cursing. Shit! He's gonna let me live this down, she thought as she fought to recompose herself. When she did, she closed her eyes and bowed saying: "Arigatou, Taichou" before sliding the door shut. As she raced onto the Fifth Division, there was this innate desire to punch something, but she didn't have time this morning. It was almost 8:30 in the morning, and Kurotsuchi got to his office in only fifteen minutes.

So she rushed with as much grace and professionalism as she could allow. She didn't even have time to say hello to Captain Ukitake, much to her annoyance. She'd have to take extra time for that later, but she didn't regret skipping the usual greeting. It was 8:41 am when she got to the captain's office. After being let in by Nemu, she quickly dropped off the files before exiting - sensing Captain Kurotsuchi just around the corner. It was the closest call she had in weeks.

After leaving the Twelfth Division with greater speed than she'd normally allow herself, Haruchi slowed down into more of a fast walk as she moved towards the Eleventh Division. As she walked inside, she felt like she got to a semi-good part about her morning runs, despite Zaraki not wanting any of the paperwork she had to drop off for him. But, at the very least, she could finally blow off some steam.

"Hey! It's Haruchi!" One of the regular members of the division said before a whole group of them charged at her. She let out a sigh, a grin on her face as she dropped her bag and turned towards them, cracking her knuckles.

In the captain's office, Yumichika, Ikkaku and Zaraki were all looking over incident reports in the Rukongai and trying to decide how to dispatch men while Yachiru ran around the office with a pinwheel, laughing. "I don't know. Hardly seems worth sending out actual seated officers for," Yumichika said to Ikkaku after he suggested going into the field.

"What, you wanna just stand here and do nothing?" He asked, their captain looking away with disinterest.

"No, I'm just saying-" A loud crash and a large number of screams interrupted Yumichika's sentence, making everyone's heads perk up before looking at the door to the office. Then Yumichika looked at the clock and sighed, a grin on his face and a hand on his waist. "My special girl's arrived," he said.

"Yeah, and now we have to get the Fourth Division for a new batch of idiots," Ikkaku said, a vein popping in his forehead as he placed a hand on his face.

Their superiors stared at the door more before Yachiru spoke up. "Wow, Ruchi must be having a really bad day if she's playing that much," she said, grinning.

The crashes got louder and made Zaraki sit up a little straighter. "Yeah, now that you mention it, she's throwing more punches than usual," he said in mild interest, looking at Yumichika, "what the hell happened to her this time?"

The Fifth Seat shrugged. "Aside from two more captains calling her "The Eleventh Division's Brat," I have no clue. She was fine when we left home this morning," he said as wood snapped down the hall.

A few more screams came, but after that, just a few groans could be heard from where they were. They all stared at the door, waiting in silence as footsteps came down the hallway. When they stopped, Zaraki yelled: "Just open the door, Haruchi."

The door slid open and there the Sixth Seat stood, not a scratch on her but her hair a complete mess. Enough to make Ikkaku laugh. "Hey Yumi-nii, you got a spare comb on you? They broke mine," she said casually, walking inside and shutting the door, trying to fix her hair.

Her brother scoffed at her. "Is that supposed to be a question? Who do you take me for?" He said, reaching into his orange sleeve and pulling out a comb for her.

"Thanks, Nii-sama!" Haruchi then kicked Ikkaku to the other side of the room, getting Yachiru to start giggling. "For fuck's sake, Ika, it's not that funny. Not even Ya-Ya was laughing," she said, a firm scowl on her face.

Ikkaku sat up with a growl, reaching for Hozukimaru. "You're really just asking for trouble, aren't you?"

Haruchi's eyes got dark. They narrowed into slits as she looked down at the man. Yachiru started laughing again and Zaraki smirked at the sight of her grabbing her sword. The elder Ayasegawa got out of the way, knowing this side of his sister too well. Ikkaku soon found himself regretting his words as the Sixth Seat said in a menacing tone: "You sure you wanna try your luck, Cue Ball?"

Ikkaku stayed on the floor, his being shaking and sweating profusely while he tried to form a sentence. The other three in the room just sat there as the atmosphere in the office got more tense and Haruchi's eyes grew more deadly. After a bit of stammering though, Ikkaku finally managed to say something. "N...no, Ma'am." It took a few moments, but the younger Ayasegawa did calm down. Once she did, she returned to combing her hair.

Yumichika snickered to himself. "You earned that one, Ikkaku." He then turned to his sister. "What happened earlier? Did Captain Suì-Fēng call you a brat again?"

Haruchi groaned, lowering her head and closing her eyes. "Yeah, but all that did was worsen my mood. Captain Kuchiki's the one that pulled a fast one." She took a few minutes to tell them about what happened in the Sixth Division, when it came to the scene of her leaving the office, everyone began laughing, even Zaraki. "It's not funny!"

"You're right, that's priceless!" Ikkaku laughed out, only stopping when he noticed Haruchi glaring at him again.

Yumichika let out a few snickers of his own. "You know, Special Girl, you have the ability to stop all of that. Why don't you?"

His sister groaned. "To get my hands dirty. Maybe after a year I'll do something about it."

Zaraki shook his head. "You're wasted as a Sixth Seat."

She chuckled, putting down the folders for the Eleventh. "You said that when I graduated, Uncle Ken."

"And I'll keep saying it," he said, shooting a serious look at her as she backed towards the door. "You better get a promotion soon."

"Ten months and three weeks to go, Uncle Ken!" With that, she ran out of the office and raced out of the room before he could grab his zanpakuto. She loved her uncle, but she had no intention of rising as soon as he liked. Especially not now, when she had to get to Matsumoto-fukutaichou before she snuck out of the office. Her captain was gonna be gone for another seven weeks and she was the only officer that got the woman to work at all.

Well, that was an interesting experience. This may take a while to update, fair warning, but... it feels good to be back. Let me know what you guys think of this. I've got at least two stories planned with this new character of mine.

~ K. Fang-sama