A/N This is my first bleach fic. It centres Hitsugaya Toushiro, Hinamori Momo and the new girl Yuriko Mitsuki. Yuriko Mitsuki is a COMPLETELY made-up character.
Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach
A young girl stood by the small pond at the corner of the yard. She silently stared into the water watching the fish sway from side to side. Her violet eyes reflected how deep she was lost in her thoughts. She brushed aside a stray strand of black hair and snapped out of her thoughts the moment she heard a familiar voice.
"My my, it seems that young Miss Yuriko is lost in her complicated thoughts once again. You shouldn't burden yourself with such thoughts Mitsuki. You are still very young and have many years to live, death shouldn't be of a big matter to you yet," the silver haired man said as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "You have a good head on your shoulders, but you think too deeply about things you shouldn't have to worry about." He said with a reassuring smile.
"Captain Ukitake! I'm sorry, I was slacking off!" she said as she stood up straight.
"Don't worry, you need a break after so much paper work. Go home, have a nap. We'll be fine. You've done enough to last the week." Her captain said as he started to walk her towards her home.
"Thank you captain, but really I'm fine!" she objected.
"As your captain I order you to take a day off 5th officer Yuriko," He ordered as he patted her head. "You're just a young woman learning to get along with the world. To have become the 5th officer in my division within less than a year is quite amazing enough for a girl the age of 15." He stopped at the door covered with rice paper.
"Um… Thank you, Captain Ukitake." She said as she slightly bowed her head. He smiled and waved and walked off towards his office. 'Maybe I do need a rest. Just to clear my mind…' she thought as she slid the door open and closed it behind her. Her eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the darkness; the small table sat by it's lonesome in the corner of her room. She opened the closet and pulled out the sheets and laid them on the wooden floor. As she lied on her back staring at the ceiling she found herself thinking too deep again. Mitsuki forcefully shut her eyes and fell asleep.
"She is an excellent officer who is willing to learn from her superiors and is very hardworking. Her only weakness is that she tends to space out often leaving an opening for her enemies," Ukitake described as he sat across from the 10th division captain. "My division has become quite attached to her. She is like a younger sister to many officers in the 13th division…" he trailed off.
"So? What does this have to do with me?" The boy asked impatiently as he tapped his fingers on his desk.
"Take care of her for me." With those words Ukitake left Toushiro's office. The white-haired boy sat with a puzzled expression. 'Take care of her…' he repeated to himself in his mind.
"Old men and their nonsense…" He told himself silently as he put aside the stack of paper.
The silence was sincere and welcomed her back to the world. Mitsuki had no idea what she just dreamt about, but her hair clung to her damp face and she was breathing heavily. This hadn't been her first encounter with such an occurrence. She threw aside the heavy duvet and sat up, still half asleep. An image of a Hollow with a human figure flashed in her mind. Maybe that Hollow was the cause of her waking. She forced her eyes shut and tried to put herself to sleep, but the vague image of the Hollow remained and a small voice in her mind told her to stay awake and go outside. There were a few hours until sunrise and not many of the other residents of Seireitei would be awake except for the watchmen would be awake at this time. After a moment's hesitation the young officer pulled herself up and dragged herself to the door.
The outside was still dark but after a while the sun would poke it's head out over the horizon. The unique colour of orange, red and pink would spread across the ocean, then to the sky until everything in sight reflects those colours. But sooner or later the sky would change without her knowing and it would be a light blue. Then everything would go just as the day before until it was nighttime again and the cycle will continue. Analyzing such things again Mitsuki learnt her inferiority. She was only a tiny piece of something so immense.
"Ukitake did say you zone out often. But who knew it'd be bad enough for you to not have noticed my presence?" a voice came from behind and the girl spun around to be met by a pair of icy green eyes and white hair that stood out in the dark. Toushiro Hitsugaya stood waiting for a response.
"I'm sorry! I just thought since it was so early and all that there wouldn't be many people awake at this time." The girl replied as she regained consciousness. But the captain just scoffed and turned around.
"Come with me," he said as he started to walk in the opposite direction. "That's an order officer Yuriko." He added when he heard no footsteps behind him.
"Sorry!" the girl said as she followed close behind him. "But, where are we going?" she asked as she realized she didn't know where she was being taken to or why. When she heard no answer Mitsuki assumed that he didn't hear her and decided to forget it. Toushiro entered his office doors and spun around to meet her again.
"I need your help for some of the paperwork about the Sosuke Aizen incident." He said as he handed her a stack of paper and sat her down in his lieutenant's desk. Matsumoto was never there when she was actually needed. His lieutenant was probably off at a drinking party or something useless like that. Mitsuki didn't complain but just sat down at the desk and signed off the sheets.
After what seemed like an hour a drunken Matsumoto burst through the doors of the office. "Captain Repurting four dooootie" she sang as she threw herself on the coffee table. "Kiraaaaaaa, ddoonn'tt dreeenk so much!" She said as she swung her arms around. Mitsuki sat still partly in fear and partly in surprise. "SAKE! SOMEONE GET MORE SAKE!" she hollered one final time.
"This is why I need a new lieutenant… Matsumoto the office isn't your bedroom." The young captain said starting to loose his temper.
"YOU! You're not the boss of meeeeeeeeeeee!" his lieutenant said as she stood up straight, or at least attempted to. She glared at him still not realizing her mistake.
"Uh… May I go now?" Mitsuki asked as she inched toward the exit.
"No, you're staying. Matsumoto go home." The captain ordered. Then as if she finally processed everything she laughed nervously and walked out the door.
"Good, take this to Ukitake," He ordered as he pulled out a folder from his desk. "He'll know what it is. Well then Yuriko you're dismissed." He quietly returned to his desk and Mitsuki made her way back to the 13th division area toward the main office. The sun was up now and there were a few people out on the streets now.
A/N This is it for today I'm working on the second chapter leave a comment but please no flames. If you have any suggestions for the fic leave a review or e-mail you suggestions to title your e-mail "When Winter Ends". Thank you and goodbye.