The captain of squad 11 had been summoned, along with his three highest-ranking subordinates, to meet with the head captain. No reason was mentioned, only the demand that they all came.
"C'mon! What the hell?" the particularly irritable 3rd seat comlplained loudly, "Why do we have to see the Old Man? We've got other things to do!"
"Oh, shut up, Ikkaku," his fabulous friend snapped back at him, "You're making such unpleasant noises."
"Yea, so what? I'm pissed off! I was gonna fight that kid who challenged me yesterday! Now we've got this stupid meeting, and we weren't even told why!"
"We're going because we were ordered to go, so deal with it." In truth, Yumichika didn't like the vagueness of the sudden meeting, but at least he was going to handle it with tact, unlike somebody he knew. Ikkaku does have a point, he thought to himself, Why did the head captain summon us? If there's something he wanted to talk to Captain Zaraki about, couldn't he just talk to him after the next captain's meeting? "Ikkaku has a point though, Captain. Do you have any idea what this is about?"
"I woulda told ya if I knew." Not being one for conversation, the captain said nothing else and the group carried on quietly, apart from Ikkaku's grumbling.
It didn't take too long to reach the head captain's office, much to everyone's relief. Captain Zaraki knocked and announced their presence, which was met with a prompt reply, "Enter." They all stepped inside to see Captain Yamamoto sitting calmly at his desk. In all honesty, it was a bit unsettling. "Good. You're all here."
"Are we in trouble?" Lieutenant Yachiru piped from her spot on Captain Zaraki's shoulder, "'Cause it feels like we're in trouble."
"No, Lieutenant, not today," the head captain chuckled, "I brought you here to introduce you to someone."
"Introduce-?!"
"Miss Asane, if you will."
"Hey," and unfamiliar voice suddenly spoke seemingly out of the air itself. The members of squad 11 looked around the room in confusion before the voice spoke again, "Oi, I'm up here!" They all turned around and looked up, finally spotting the owner of the mysterious voice. A young female soul reaper sat on top of a bookshelf near the door. She'd been so still and so quiet, none of them had known she was there. She was pretty, but somewhat plain, and wore the standard soul reaper uniform with the sleeves cut off at the shoulder. "I'm Yorumi Asane. Nice to meet you." Though her words were polite, her tone and body language said she was anything but.
"By my orders, Miss Asane has been assigned to your squad. She's your new fourth seat."
"Ha!" Ikkau barked rudely, "There's no way a chick would last a day in squad 11, let alone be good enough to be the fourth seat!"
Yorumi's lavender eyes flashed dangerously from her perch. "Wanna bet, Baldy? I could kick your ass into last year with both hands tied behind my back."
"Why, you-" Ikkaku growled, "Where the hell did you come from, anyway?! There won't be any graduates from the academy until next month, so-"
"I'm a special graduate," she answered cockily before he could finish, "I'm one of those particularly talented people that get picked up out in the Rukongai, but I was so good already that I graduated in less than a year." The arrogant smirk playing on her lips just made Ikkaku angrier.
"That's impossible! Nobody graduates that early! They teach way too much for that to be possible!"
"I'm a fast learner."
"Silence!" the head captain demanded, having had enough of their bickering. "I have assigned Yorumi Asane as squad 11's fourth seat because she is the kind of fighter your squad looks for, and possesses remarkable skills. You will accept her, is that clear?"
They all gave a quick "Yes, sir," some a bit more disgruntled than others.
"Good. You are all dismissed."
The new fourth seat jumped down gracefully from her spot on the bookshelf and bowed to the head captain with one bare arm bent so that her hand was over her heart in a salute. "Good day, Captain Yamamoto." Captain Zaraki walked out first, followed closely by Ikkaku and Yumichika before Yorumi stepped in front of them. Ikkaku glared and growled, "Get outta our way, newbie!"
She just turned her head and said with a with a cocky grin, "Haven't you ever heard of 'ladies first,' meathead?"
"Why, you-!"
"She has a point, Ikkaku," Yumichika interrupted, though he didn't like agreeing with the new girl, "Show a little decorum, woul you?"
"Glad to see at least you've got decent manners, pretty boy."
Was that an insult?
The walk back to squad 11's space was less-than-comfortable for some people. Ikkaku was silent and glaring daggers at the back of Yorumi's head and Yumichika found himself strongly disliking the new fourth seat's cocky attitude more and more by the second. On the other hand, Lieutenant Kusajishi was smiling and chatting away with Yorumi, and was happy as a clam, while Captain Zaraki couldn't care much less.
"Whoa! You really graduated in only ten months?" Yachiru gaped in awe at the statement.
"That's right," Yorumi gloated, "Shortest time ever!" Yumichika rolled his eyes at her arrogant answer. He could practically her the cocky smirk she undoubtedly had on her face.
"Wow!" Yachiru cheered, "That's so cool! And you're from the Rukongai, right?" Yorumi nodded, earning another cheer from the Lieutenant. "You know, me and Kenny are from the Rukongai too! I'm from Kusajishi and Kenny's from Zaraki."
"Ah, so that's where you got your names," Yorumi realised, to which Yachiru nodded. "Those are in the north Rukongai, aren't they?"
"Yep! Can I guess where you're from?"
"Go ahead."
"Hmmm..." Yachiru squinted at Yorumi like she was trying to look at something bright. "West?"
"Nope. South."
"Rats! Hm... Cue Ball! Help me!"
Yorumi snickered at the nickname, "Cue Ball? That's great!"
"Shut it, lady!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she stopped her snickering, but was very definitely not sorry.
"I bet you're from one of the inner districts, aren't you? You've got that 'better-than-you' attitude that all people from inner districts have!"
She just smiled at him. "Wrong!"
"What?"
"You guessed inner, and you guessed wrong."
"Liar!"
"Why would I lie about something like that?"
Before the two could start a fight, Yachiro piped up, "Are you from the middle districts then? Like around the sixties?"
Yorumi was right about to shake her head when Yumichika finally said something after being almost completely silent. "You're from district 80. Am I right?"
She turned around, continuing to walk backwards, and grinned at him, "Wow. Good manners, intuitive, and pretty. I'm impressed." Yorumi turned back around and laughed, "If only you actually looked like a man!"
Yumichika stopped abruptly and stared at Yorumi indignantly as she kept walking. "What did you just say to me?!" Ignoring his sense of decency, he reached out and harshly yanked Yorumi back by her collar. He spun her around and glared straight into her eyes. "If you're looking to be enemies with me, you're doing a pretty good job of it! What the hell's with you anyway?"
"Take your hands off of me." The playful gleam in her eyes and sarcatic tone vanished like they'd never existed. When he didn't, she warned, "I'll give you three seconds to release me. One..." Nothing. "Two..." He still didn't let go. "Three." In the blink of an eye, Yorumi tore Yumichika's hand away, kicked his feet out from under him, and had him pinned to the ground on his stomach with his arm held painfully behind his back.
"That hurts!" he yelled in surprise and pain, "Let go of me!"
Yorumi bent down closer to him and hissed loud enough for everyone to hear, "Don't test me. If you show such hostility and disrespect to me again, I'll snap this pretty little arm of yours clean off!" To emphasize her point, she bent his arm further backwards, earning a pained cry from Yumichika below her.
"Ow! Okay, okay, I'm sorry! Now please, let go!" Yorumi obliged and stood up. For a moment, it looked like she was going to say something, but any words she had prepared died on her tongue as she truned away and began walking again. Yumichika straightened himself up and rubbed his sore shoulder while glaring at his assailant. He hissed to himself almost inaudibly, "I officially hate that little bitch."
She stopped abruptly and turned her head just enough for Yumichika to see the glare she shot him. The quiet, low threat in her voice sent chills down his spine, "I can hear you, Ayasegawa."
There's something very wrong with this woman!
Having only a few possessions, Yorumi quickly moved into the room she'd been assigned. She expected no help and got none, though Yachiru had wanted to before Captain Zaraki went off in search of a fight with her in tow. Yumichika and Ikkaku stood further down the hall, watching her walk in and out of her room to carry in the belongings outside the door.
"I still can't believe you let her beat you like that," Ikkaku shook head head at his friend, "Seriously, she's a chick, and she had you on the ground before you could blink!"
Yumichika muttered "She caught me off guard, and she's stronger than she looks." In truth, he couldn't believe it either. He never would have expected a girl to be able to force him into submission like Yorumi did. Though he was bitter about the incident and didn't like her, he couldn't help but be soewhat impressed with Yorumi's skill. I wonder if she's that good with her zanpakuto?
"Whatever. You still got beat by a chick."
The two watched Yorumi carry in her folded-up futon bed. When she went in, they noticed an out-of-place package that had been concealed under the mattress: A long, narrow, shiny box made of black-stained wood. Even from a distance, they could see glints of silver tracing across its surface.
Ikkaku whistled, "That's a pretty fancy peice there! I thought only nobles could afford that kind of stuff."
"You're right," Yumichika agreed, "But she's from one of the poorest parts of the Rukongai. There's no way she got it there, or could ever even afford it." So how did she get it?
Yorumi came out and picked up the box, holding it much more carefully than any of her other belongings. She didn't seem to mind if her other possessions bumped into the doorframe or got jostled around. This box, however, was treated with a level of care that seemed almost out of character for her. She carried it carefully, as if it - or it's contents - would shatter if it recieved the tiniest bump. As she shifted the box to avoid the door, she finally noticed the pair down the hall. "Don't you have better things to do?" she snapped before disappearing into her room for the last time.
"She's gonna get killed here," Ikkaku muttered.
Yumichika agreed, "If that attitude keeps up, somebody's going to fight her, and she'll lose. She doesn't even have any spiritual pressure!" Once he said it, they realised that it was true. They couldn't feel any pressure from her, as if she wasn't there at all.
Ikkaku grinned at a sudden idea, "Hey, Yumichika, our new fourth seat hasn't proved herself to be worthy of her position yet, has she?"
"Right... Where are you going with this?"
"As high-ranking members of squad 11, shouldn't we give her a little test to see how good she really is?"
Yumichika smirked, completely understanding what his friend was suggesting. "Ikkaku, I think that is a fantastic idea."
