Hello. This is my first time publishing a story here and I hope it will be well received. I appreciate critique. I want to become better at writing. I only have myself to proofread through these stories and I'm doing my absolute best, so I hope it's bearable. Otherwise, don't hesitate to give me a shout! Thank you!

Disclaimer: BLEACH and all it's characters belong to Tite Kubo. However, Ayame is a character of my own design, so please don't use her for yourself. Many thanks.

a little dictionary/guide: (most of them you probably already know...)

Reiryoku: a power aligned with the spiritual sensitivity and willpower of the user.

Reiatsu: the physical force/pressure that a person's Reiryoku creates when released.

Kido: A broad grouping of magic spells used by Shinigami which serve a wide variety of uses such as healing, defense, or combat.

Bakudo: ("Way of Binding") phrase used for binding-spells.

Shunpo: high speed movement technique of Shinigami.

Kyusho-jutsu: techniques of attacks on pressure points in various styles of japanese martial arts.

Ryoka: anybody who comes to Soul Society that was not sent by a Shinigami performing Konsō (Soul burial) on them is labelled as a Ryoka.

Shihakusho: (lit. "Garment of Dead Souls") is the uniform that all shinigami in the Gotei 13 are required to wear. The standard shikakusho is composed of the following: a white shitagi, a black kosode and black hakama, a pair of white tabi (socks), a pair of waraji (sandals), and a white obi (sash).

Kosode: a basic Japanese robe for both men and women. Worn as both an undergarment and overgarment, it is what most people imagine when using the much broader term kimono.

Hakama: type of traditional japanese trousers.

Haori: is a hip- or thigh-length kimono-like jacket, which adds formality to an outfit.


Chapter 1

'Man, this intruder-alarm really puts everyone on edge. Probably just an abnormal Hollow or something...' he thought as he lazily slouched against the wall surrounding the military quarters. He gave a heavy sigh and mumbled with a complaining whine under his breath, "I could have been sneaking peeks in the girls sauna instead of having to stand guard out here in the dark. At least the old man could have assigned me a cute little assistant to keep me company... huh?"

Something fluttered in a nearby tree. Something that didn't belong to the ordinary. Despite it being almost pitch black and late at night, there would normally have been the quiet rustling from various nocturnal creatures going about their business, but tonight it was as still as a grave. Except...

A minimal movement of his hand and he sensed the members of his squad get on guard.


She thanked her lucky star for the cloudy night. The darker the better.

She kept a careful eye on the seemingly drowsy guard by the gate, knowing she would be a fool for underestimating the professionals of Gotei 13, whether they were common soldiers or seated officers. She carefully shifted her weight, avoiding a sharp branch poking her in the side, but hadn't counted on the moon to glare gleefully at her through a small crack in the clouds.

'Damn!' she quickly shifted back when the moonlight for a second hit her face, illuminating what was visible of it, in the dark night. She noticed the guards getting alert and, whom she suspected to be their captain, looking in the direction of her hiding place.

They carefully surrounded the tree, deliberately leaving gaps in their defense to try and lure her out. She wasn't so easily fooled. Additional guards were stationed just a little bit further away, covering up the openings, catching anyone stupid enough who would try to sneak past the innermost circle of soldiers. Although it might be easier to fight her way through the alluring route, it was still not an option. She only needed parts from truly strong shinigami. The optimal targets were those of lieutenant and captain class. She slowly reached for the short zanpakuto strapped to her back.

To people unblessed with the ability to use shunpo it looked as if he had simply vanished into thin air. He was there, leaning casually against the wall, then he was gone.

'Crap!' she quickly ducked out from the attack coming from overhead, barreling out from the protection of the leafy branches. She landed with a roll on the ground, snapping out her short blade in defense as she turned around to face her attacker. Blade clanged against blade and her light body was pushed backwards from the force the man put in his attack. She gritted her teeth as she planted her feet to stop continuing gliding backwards and the muscles in her arms protested against the heavy pressure they had to withstand. With a hard thrust the large man sent her flying backwards, almost crashing against the wall he'd been previously leaning on. Using that force to her advantage she directed her feet against the wall when impacting, only to create a forceful counterattack pushing off the side of it, shooting back towards the enemy. She saw how he shifted his feet, preparing for the impact, right before she used her own shunpo to disappear from his view.


The captain noticed how his enemy was very quick and agile, reminding him of the specially trained members of the onmitsukido. Despite being small and lightweight, he was surprisingly strong. But why was he here? Who would send an assassin to Soul Society. And more importantly, how did the little bastard get in!

His opponent thrust himself off the wall for a direct frontal attack only to suddenly disappear from in front of him. 'Shit! Behind!' he twisted around to counter an eventual thrust but only met empty space. The thrust came instead from below, scratching his stubbly chin as he threw himself backwards to avoid getting skewered in the throat. 'Damn midget! Tricksy like a little weasel!' he grunted inwardly. 'Well, assassins aren't the only ones that have little tricks up their sleeves...'

"Seems like my zanpakuto likes you, kid. She wants to play..." he flashed an apologizing smile at the enemy before chanting, "Flower Wind Rage and Flower God Roar, Heavenly Wind Rage and Heavenly Demon Sneer," as he held his twin blades in a cross in front of him. When he pulled them apart they had transformed into a pair of large black scimitars.

"I apologize in advance, my little friend." he said as he got into position. "I was planning on simply putting you to sleep and present you to the intelligence department. I prefer not to deal with such troublesome matters as to torture children, but since my lovely girls here have come out to play I can't help if I accidentally kill you in the process. My sincerest apologies."


She watched as his zanpakuto released, trying to calculate his fighting style by watching his stance alone. She knew the usual way of fighting with two swords, but this man seemed unpredictable. She narrowed her eyes at him as he explained his intentions and even offered her an apology in advance.

Play. That's the word he used. 'Does he see this fight as a game?' She took a deep breath to collect her thoughts, noting how his team had closed in on them, creating a wall of flesh and bone and swords. 'Fine. If he wants to play, let's play!' She was the first to take action. She dashed around him and charged one of the many men surrounding them. A quick cut across the throat and the man collapsed in a gush of dark fluids. She quickly dashed off to the right, trying an attack on the captain, he easily blocked her short blade. But she saw how his eyes widened in surprise as he heard the gurgled cry of the dying soldier. He obviously didn't notice her detour. Again she took off, this time to the left, incapacitating another one of his men before trying to sneak an attack in on the tall man. Again he blocked, clearly noticing her as she got close enough. She repeated her pattern, planning on diminishing his squad further, they weren't important enough, but was suddenly stopped by his big looming figure in front of her. He swiftly and easily planted a kick in her chest that forced her breath away and sent her flying. She landed hard on the ground, gasping for air. Pain shoot through her body as she finally inhaled deeply and she realized that some of her ribs had cracked. She clutched her side and tried to calm her breathing as little dots floated in front of her eyes. Forcing herself up she clutched her sword firmly and glared at the enemy. He was strong. Strong enough to provide her brother with what he required for his medicine.

"What game do you want to play, kiddo?" he flashed her another smile, like you would to a small child that begs you to play with them. "Wait, I know! Bushogoma!" He spread his arms and rotated his blades around his body with a powerful stroke, sending gusts of wind in her direction. It was a fast attack and she didn't have any time to react before she was engulfed in a furious tornado. She raised her arms in front of her face for protection and didn't see her enemy storming through his own attack to punch her in the stomach hard enough to make her pass out.


Kyoraku Shunsui looked down at the pitiful enemy lying in a unconscious heap at his feet.

"I suppose I have to haul your little ass to the Intel department now then... sorry kiddo." he mumbled under his breath as he knelt down next to the small assassin. He grabbed the top of the enemy's black hood and easily pulled it off with one motion. The sight that met him made his eyes widen in surprise. "A girl!" The long blond hair that had been securely tucked into the hood spilled free across her shoulders, framing a young, delicate face. Shunsui put a large hand under her chin and raised her face to meet his. "A cute one at that." he sighed. "Why can't women just stay home. I prefer Not to beat up girls."


She dimly heard the clang of metal and the screeching and scraping of a gate and she awoke with a start as someone grabbed the front of her shirt and harshly pulled her up on her feet. She was pushed out into a corridor and she stumbled hard against the opposite wall. Her cracked ribs ached with each breath and she slowly looked around to try and figure out where she was. She seemed to be in a long prison corridor. Cells extended along both walls and apparently she had just came out from one of them. The light was dim and everything smelled faintly of moss and stagnant water.

"Stop gawking, brat, and get moving!" A brawny man in black clothing barked at her and pushed her shoulder to get her to start moving. He wore a sword tucked into his obi and she briefly wondered if it was worth it stealing it to kill him. She decided against it when she realized that even if she managed to defeat this one, there would be many more in a place like this. And with her broken ribs and otherwise tired body she wouldn't get far anyway.

The man lead her up a flight of stairs and out into a slightly larger room. It didn't smell as bad here but the light was still hardly existent. Another man broke out from the shadows.

"The captain is waiting. Room 2."

She managed to make out darker squares in the surrounding walls and realized they were doors. Question was, what was Behind the doors.

Her guard lead her to one of them and opened it. Sharp white light blinded her and made her cringe. She squinted hard as he dragged her inside and forced her down on a chair and then placed himself standing to her right.

The dark doorway she had been trying to focus her hurting eyes on, vanished as the door closed. A figure moved off the wall next to it and approached the captive and her guard. He was difficult to see in the overly white room with it's too bright light.

"Name?" The voice was dark and smooth and she got a strange feeling that if it didn't have such a hard and even cruel tone it might actually be quite beautiful.

She kept her mouth closed. 'Divulge no information. No matter what they put you through.' That was the basic rule for every assassin trained by the Shihouin household. Die with the secret or don't get caught in the first place. She focused her blurry eyes on her own dark trousers, letting her hair hang down the sides of her face, shading it.

"Is she deaf?" the interrogator asked her guardian harshly, as the big man in black denied it but sounded a little unsure. The white man placed himself in front of her, she could see his sandal-clad feet and white socks. 'Such small feet...' She noticed that he most likely wore similar black clothes as the big gorilla, but that he also had some sort of white coat. She wondered if it was part of the strategy. The room was pure white, so why not the interrogator as well?

It was easier for her to take in her surroundings at this point. Her eyes had adjusted more to the harsh light and she could see that there was a form of tiled pattern on the walls, there seemed to be several light sources in the ceiling and the man in front of her had two rows of buttons down the front of his white robe.

His hand screwed itself in her hair at the top of her head and forced her to look up at him. It was far from a gentle tug and she couldn't help but hiss at the pain as her head was forced backwards and she glared angrily into his turquoise eyes. 'What a youthful face...'

"I asked for your name, girl. It's a simple question and nothing strange about it. For your own sake you'd do good to just comply and speak up."

When she still didn't utter a single word he sighed theatrically and stared at the ceiling as he mumbled, "Why a woman? Why did it Have to be a Woman?"

The punch seemed to come from nowhere as it impacted with the right side of her face, flinging it hard to the left. She tasted the metallic taste of blood in her mouth from a cracked lip and her tongue ran briefly over the wound. It pounded like hell, but she did her best to seem completely unaffected by the treatment.

"Now. Let's try again, shall we?" He put his hands on her knees and leaned forward so their noses almost touched. "Name?"

She didn't even look at him. She put on a thoughtful look as she ran her tongue along her teeth, feeling for any loose ones after the hard blow. She then simply leaned a little to the side and spat a large bloodied splotch on the floor, clearly ignoring her interrogator. But she couldn't help but flinch just a little as her body reminded her about her abused ribs.


Hitsugaya Toshiro, captain of the 10'th squad also known as The Department of Intelligence, and main interrogator, was very, very annoyed. This girl simply did not know what was best for her. He screwed his eyes up and his hands clenched down hard on the girls legs as he tried to swallow his frustration.

His job was to get the prisoners to talk. He was usually very good at it and he had often gotten the comment from his fellow workers that he had a stare of ice. He depended on his frosty personality to get his victims to spill the beans. But this one didn't give jack shit about him!

He had noticed though how she flinched when leaning over. His brain worked fast as he calculated the different possible reasons and soon came to the conclusion that her left side was in agony, despite keeping a strong face plastered on. Broken ribs, huh? He could use that...

He straightened himself and gestured to the guard, who grabbed a rough hold of the girls arms, bending them behind her back so she couldn't move. Toshiro saw in the slightest shifts in her facial features that it hurt, but she still looked up at him without any emotion in her cool grey eyes and he couldn't help it but admiring her stubbornness

"I shouldn't have to do this just to get your name, you know." he told her a-matter-of-factually. "It's just a name. It won't tell me shit about why you're here, sneaking around our city. Nor where you're from or who you work for. So just be a nice little girl and give me your name so that I don't have to hurt you over such a trivial thing."

As he still stared into an empty face he sighed again. 'It's not fun beating up girls... it's a bit unsporting really...'


She had decided to be completely emotionless. If he can't get anything from her he'll probably put her back in the cage, right?

But her thoughts froze and she lost her composure as the man slipped his hand under her shirt.

'What the...!' His cool hand slowly teased over her left side, softly prodding her bruised skin. The next thing she knew, an intense pain shot through her as he found what he was looking for and dug his fingers in on her cracked ribs. She gasped in pain and convulsively leaned forward, eyes staring blindly at her spurning feet. The pain was momentarily blinding and she longed to scream but managed to bite back the sound so as not to give him the satisfaction. The pain decreased to a dull ache when he went back to softly stroking her skin and he put his free arm around her shoulders, almost embracing her in a hug. Her breath was quick and shallow and her legs wouldn't stop shaking.

"Name, please." he hummed in her ear and once again dug his fingers into her sore side.

This time she couldn't help but groan as she dimly pushed her forehead against his shoulder. Her eyes clenched shut so hard it flickered on the inside of her eyelids as if they were a kaleidoscope Almost involuntary she gasped out her name as she faintly heard a soft cracking as a rib fractured completely.

"Ayame."

Immediately he removed his hand from under her clothing and gently rubbed her shaking back.

"See. That wasn't so hard." he murmured in her ear. To the guard he gave the command that they were done for today. She was to have some water and being put back in her cell.

"See you tomorrow. Ayame-chan." his voice faded as the door to the white room closed behind her and the big guard.


She'd had an uneasy sleep, if any at all. He could tell so easily despite her efforts to hide it. Lines of pain and sleep-loss were etched around her eyes.

He had never been a person who cared much for people who wasn't family or very close friends and therefore he had never had any problem with his work. He didn't particularly enjoy it, torturing prisoners for some information or other, like many other interrogators often did. They seemed to get some sick kick out of it, seeing other people writhe in pain at their hand. He didn't. He didn't feel anything. It was just a job to him. And that cold attitude towards his work and the prisoners was what made them so afraid of him.

But here he was. In the regular white room that was his workspace. His arms crossed across his chest as he with the slightest frown on his face watched the girl on the chair. Hands tied behind her back she sat on the same cold chair as yesterday, starring blankly straight through him. And he felt a strange tug in his gut. Something telling him that he didn't want to hurt this girl. His instincts to protect her, or being chivalrous to her, seemed stronger. It wasn't the fact that she was a woman, he knew that. He'd interrogated women before. Perhaps it was that detached expression on her face. She didn't behave like the other women and most men usually did. Shaking, crying, kicking and screaming.

"Captain?" the assigned guard snapped him out of his confused thoughts. "Captain. Is anything wrong?"

"It's nothing. Just thinking." he replied calmly and the guard let out a guwafing laugh.

"I see, I see! Thinking up the best and most gruesome trick to make the bitch talk, eh! Hahaha! That's the genius captain for ya!" Toshiro just shot him an annoyed look and headed towards a small table by the wall. He picked up a small leather roll-up satchel and rolled it open. From it he took a small awl from the variety of tools tucked in to their own little pockets. From a deep pocket in his white coat Toshiro then fished out a little wooden box. The big guard looked at it with questions in his eyes.

"My own little mixture. Wait and see." the white haired captain said quietly and sauntered over to his victim. He dragged a chair over and placed himself behind the blond girl, balancing the little box on one of his legs, he grabbed a firm hold of one of her hands. Pressing his thumb into the palm of her hand he easily forced it open so her fingers spread. By adding a slight amount of spirit force to his grip she was unable to move it even a millimeter. The guard came closer, standing behind his captain and peered curiously over his shoulder. Much to the captains frustration.

Toshiro grabbed the thin awl and rested the sharp tip against one of the girls fingertips, just below the nail.

"Ayame-chan." his voice low and hypnotic. "I don't have to hurt you. I told you this yesterday. Do you remember?"

She didn't answer. When she didn't even move, he leaned over a little to the side, trying to reach some form of eye contact. Her head didn't move an inch, but she met his questioning look from the corner of her eye, her stare completely uninterested. Her grey eyes seemed to give him only one message: Go ahead. Give it your best.

"Why are you here?" She actually raised an eyebrow at him. Wondering if he was dumb. His own brows returned to their customary furrowed position and he continued, "In Soul Society. Why?"

Her eyes went back to starring straight ahead. Her mouth still shut. Hitsugaya Toshiro silently wondered how long it would take to get her to talk.


The pain in her finger was bearable. Painful but bearable. She'd seen the awl he'd picked from the table and could easily figure out what he did with it. He'd forced the sharp end in under the fingernail of her index finger. It throbbed from the pain and she could feel it getting hot from all the blood rushing there. But it wasn't enough to make her talk. Hardly even to make her gasp. She gritted her teeth as he slowly pulled it out.

She expected him to continue on to the next finger, but instead he thrust it in again, but this time it felt like her finger was on fire! She gasped from the pain and as her body involuntarily jerked, she accidentally bit down hard on her own tongue, making it bleed and giving her a bitter metallic taste in her mouth. The roaring in her ears almost blocked out what the torturer said next.

"My own mixture, Isaku. Pepper mixed in vinegar. These little wood splinters are soaked in it and when you put them in to a wound like this it hurts like hell. She probably thinks her finger's gonna fall off."

"Why don't ya just chop it off instead, captain? Surely that'd make her shit it and start talking."

'Bloodthirsty bastard.' she hissed in her head. 'I should cut him open when I'm free from here. He's worthless for what Onii-sama needs, but I'll gladly do it for good measure...'

"No. You need to break the mind. Not the body. It's the best way." he answered calmly.

She felt the so called captain grab her middle finger, getting ready to push the awl in as he once again asked her the same question. Why. And again she steeled herself for the pain, preparing not to say a word.

About two hours later Ayame was dripping with perspiration. Every time she swallowed she tasted blood and her body was shivering continuously as her muscles screamed from tensing up each time a new wave of pain washed through her. Her hands were on fire. She could feel the blood trying to seep past the splinters under each nail, making her fingertips feel warm and swollen, pounding in junction with every heartbeat. Even the slightest movement of her hands were painful. The white haired interrogator sat in front of her, his arms crossed over his chest, one leg crossed over the other, looking at her with those piercing turquoise eyes. She noted how his eyebrows were drawn down in a position that seemed natural to him and she wondered if it came from this job he had. Their eyes were locked in a silent struggle, similar to wolves trying to decide who's the strongest, that had been going on for at least fifteen minutes now. Ayame had to admit it was difficult trying not to squirm as his uncaring eyes relentlessly bore in to hers.


The captain on the other hand found this strange girl incredibly infuriating, but at the same time oddly intriguing. Outwardly, his face showed no reflections of his thoughts, but on the inside he felt like tearing something to pieces with his bare hands. After almost an hour and a half of slowly getting her sensitive fingertips tortured until she cried, screamed and almost threw up from the pain she still didn't answer a single question. And now she met his icy glare with a stare of cold steel. Who was she? Ayame. Ayame, who? After getting her name last night he had headed to the central library with his lieutenant in tow, trying to find anyone by that name and her looks, in the history of Soul Society. They had come up completely blank. The girl was definitely a shinigami. He could easily sense her reiryoku and at the time of her capture, 8'th squad captain, Kyoraku Shunsui, had handed over her short sword which had easily been established to be a true zanpakuto. So why wasn't she in the registry? He needed more information. He no longer cared much about why she was here, now he only wanted to know who she was. The mystery irked his curiosity but unfortunately she seemed to have an iron psyche. Breaking her mind wouldn't work, only option left was to break her in body. Unfortunately for her, this was the end of his shift. His replacement wasn't as nice as him, he knew that. He decided to try and save the stubborn girl the pain that surely was to come but she was indeed that. Stubborn. He refused to beg. That was much below his dignity as a captain and definitely not an option as a captor! Her continued silence was clear refusal to cooperate, and in the end there was nothing he could do. He removed the wood splinters from her fingers, noticing how rigid her shoulders had been as she suddenly relaxed a bit as she hung her head, taking deep breaths. Blood immediately rushed forth to drip in to a growing puddle on the previously pure white floor.


Ayame jerked with surprise as the door to the white room flew open and a large, scarred man walked in.

"Wha'? Ya still here capn'? What kinda monster do ya have in that ya can't break so easily?" his voice was loud and hard, making her ears pound. His appearance and aura made her automatically try to back further up on her chair and for some strange reason an icy chill trickled along her spine.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." the young captain murmured close to her ear before scolding the big man for not addressing him properly. "It's not 'capn', Mitsuru! It's Hitsugaya-taichou."

"Ah! Sorry 'bout that! But cap... eh I mean, Taichou... is this it? You couldn't break sweetie cakes here? You!" The new man stared at her with surprise over the head of his captain.

"Mitsuru! Manners please." the youngster barked. Ayame was surprised how much authority he apparently had, being able to boss around such dangerous looking guys, despite having the face and body of a teenager. "Mitsuru, how many warnings do you have now?" he grumbled, Ayame stared transfixed at the odd display in front of her. Mitsuru scratched his scarred, bald head, thinking hard.

"Ehum... I'm not sure, taichou. Sorry boss, I don't think I've been keeping count." he said with a sheepish grin.

"Well I know exactly how many you have and believe me when I tell you that there's not many chances left before I decide to throw you out of my squad for good." And with that he stalked past his subordinate and headed for the door.

"Y-yes taichou."

Ayame couldn't keep an amused smile from her lips and as Mitsuru saw it he growled and stormed at her. Her smile grew bigger and turned into a mocking grin as she noticed how easy it was to tick him off. With a roar he grabbed a fist full of her hair with his large hand and tore her off the chair, lifting her straight up. She couldn't help but utter a moaning cry. It felt like he would tear her scalp straight off.

"Mitsuru." the captains voice floating over from the half closed door had a sharp and cruel tone to it. "If she dies, you're next."

"A'ight, Hitsugaya-taichou. I just need her to start talking right?"

"Affirmative." And the door closed.


The last sound he heard, before closing the door, was Ayames pained cry as Mitsuru threw her small body into the white tiled wall. Stupid girl. Was her purpose so important she was willing to go through extensive torture just to keep her mouth shut?

More often than not, Hitsugaya Tôshirô did not understand women...


Ok. this first chapter have been up for a while, and I have just recently finished the 2'nd chapter. (sorry for the very long wait. _)

A few things have been edited in this text (not storywise, just grammar/spelling-wise) which is why it now looks a little more organized. =P

Feel free to drop a line in the comments section. ^_^ thank you!