Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters as they belong to Tite Kubo, but I do own my Original Character in this story, Nozomi Ayase.
Chapter 1: An Introduction of Bloodshed
Gin Ichimaru always looks forward to new recruit day in Seireitei, which happened at the end of every May. Being taichou of division three, it's a requirement for him to meet the new shinigami fresh from the shinigami academy.
"Today's the day…"
He never considered it a job, though. It was an opportunity for him to seek out the strong, promising members form the weak and worthless ones. He was on his way to meet the recruits with his fukutaichou, Izuru Kira, following close behind.
"Are you ready to meet the new recruits, Izuru?"
Gin smiled almost sadistically as he asked this question. Izuru couldn't possibly feel the joy that his taichou was.
"You certainly are, Sir."
Ichimaru's grin was complemented by an equally creepy chuckle. True, it was velvety and smooth, but unsettling all the same.
Nozomi Ayase was, for once, a bit nervous. She had worked hard for six years to get into third division or any of the Gotei 13 for that matter. She had heard from other recruits that squad three was a little more difficult to get into than the other squads.
"Difficult? I wonder why I'm here, then."
Thoughts raced through the head of the blue-haired girl out of slight boredom. Her grey eyes scanned over the faces of the other five recruits on her left.
'Let's see…three men, two women. I remember her from the academy. He's pretty strong…'
Nozomi sized up her competition, not knowing that her new taichou was doing the same as he and his fukutaichou stepped outside of headquarters.
"Six in all…this should be fun."
Gin gave his condescending smile after saying those seven little words. The combination of the two had quite a reaction from the recruits. The men feared it, but tried to hide it. Two of the three women flinched at the sight, but Nozomi was not one of the two. Instead, she kept her blank stare fixed on her captain, wondering if he smiled that way on purpose.
"And your name, Miss?"
Izuru went down the line of recruits to check their names off of the list. Nozomi was the last to give an introduction to him.
"Pleased to meet you. My name is Ayase Nozomi."
She bowed after the most polite introduction was given. Gin found it odd that a girl as young as her had such manners. Although she was young, he couldn't have been much older than her.
"Well, why don't we start with your shikai? In a way, it is you in weapon form."
This is a chance for Gin to actually see why or how these people were put in this division. The first five people, unfortunately, didn't impress him much. Each of his reactions was either an unenthusiastic, "hmm…" or, "Interesting..." The last person was, of course, Nozomi. She drew her Zanpakuto from her back. With both hands gripped around the hilt, she closed her eyes with her katana pointed down.
"Blur my vision, Nenshou Namida!"
The Zanpakuto split into two elbow blades at those words. Their edges were like the sharp side of the blade all the way around. The center was wooden brown with two, thin, blue ribbons of paint crossing over with each other.
"Nenshou Namida…"
Izuru repeated the name of the girl's sword. Gin wasn't only fascinated by the name, but the fact that the apathetic girl now seemed to have a slightly sad expression on her face.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to test your power."
Gin approached the girl, asking for a fight. She was surprised at first because he hadn't asked the other recruits. Her eyes were staring at the ground to avoid her captain's smiling expression.
"Is it really necessary for me to prove myself?"
"I'm not sure you're worthy of this squad, Ayase-san."
Gin absolutely lied. He knew she was better than the rest of the recruits. Her spiritual pressure was twice as strong as theirs. He was simply eager to see how much damage she could cause.
"Hey, Taichou, how come she gets to fight?!"
One of the male recruits objected from the side. He seemed like a fight-loving, tough guy as he stood. Nozomi wondered why he wasn't put into eleventh squad. He'd probably love it there. Gin turned his head and looked at the man with a dark expression.
"Are you questioning my reason, recruit?"
Once again, Gin struck fear into the hearts of the recruits. And, once again, Nozomi wasn't affected by his look.
"N-no, Sir…"
The man backed down and sat quietly. All of the sudden, his toughness didn't compare to his taichou's threatening glances.
"If this is settled, Taichou, why don't you begin?"
Izuru tried to decrease the tension in the air. Gin nodded toward him then walked about ten meters from Nozomi. He drew his Zanpakuto from his left hip and smiled at her.
"Come at me with all of your power."
The girl stood in a fighting stance, but only for a moment before she charged at her taichou. Most of her attacks were close range, which is sometimes a disadvantage.
"A close range attack? How unfortunate."
Gin's smile turned into an evil grin as he pointed his sword at the girl running at him. It surprised the attacking recruit at first, but she stopped dead in her tracks as she pushed the wood of her right elbow blade into the point of his Zanpakuto once she was close enough. Her forearm trembled from using all her muscle strength to try pushing the blade back. Unfortunately, the wood base of her elbow blade was no match for Gin's Shinso and started to crack.
"Ah…no way…"
Nozomi looked at her weapon as her captain's blade drove deeper into it. She couldn't believe that any Zanpakuto had that much resistance. Then, the matters only got worse.
"Pierce her heart, Shinso!"
Gin used his Shikai command to make his sword grow longer and glow white, forcing the girl back and succeeded easily. At first, the blue-haired girl slid back a good five meters or so, but she then composed a bit more strength. She managed to push the point away before it split the wood of her Nenshou Namida and charged at her taichou once more.
"Ha…It's not that easy, Ayase-san…"
Gin got ready to use his Shinso once more, an easy way to end the fight, but got sidetracked by a left round kick coming toward his head. He bent back, easily dodging it, along with the series of punches and kicks delivered by the female recruit. As Nozomi distracted him from landing a front flip, she tried to use her right elbow blade to cut across his face. It wouldn't cause bleeding; however, it would scald with boiling hot water emitted from the blades. A cut across the eyes can temporarily blind an opponent. Gin turned his head to the right to hide his face. The girl didn't see his eyes, but was sure he was blinded from the way he put his hand up to them.
"Just easy enough, Sir."
Nozomi declared victory but-
"Slice her open, Shinso!"
Gin gave the recruit a good slice across the stomach. He smirked as the girl dropped to her knees from the intense pain she felt.
"Incredible…"
"She went down with one hit…"
"How can he be so hard on her?"
Comments arose from the crowd forming around the area to view the fight. Some of the watchers admired the man's fighting skills, while others sympathized for the girl. They knew a recruit, a female at that, couldn't possibly handle an opponent at a captain's level.
"Th-that was…a dirty trick."
Nozomi watched her blood spill on her shinigami robes. She gasped for air as she struggled to her feet. The crowd was astonished by her willpower. The man gave her a smile of admiration as she forcibly huffed for air. He chuckled as she recomposed her stance.
"A trick or not…you still let your guard down."
Gin took a good look at her. Bloody, half conscious, exhausted, but most of all, unguarded. Her eyes showed an array of emotions she had hid: Anger, sadness, fear, and determination. Now, they were out in the open.
"May he drown in the tide, Nenshou…Na..."
The girl started a command, but fell forward into her captain's arms. The large amounts of blood loss had caused her to pass out.
"Have you sent word to fourth division, Izuru?"
"They're on their way, Sir."
As Gin carried the young recruit to headquarters, everyone returned to their normal activities. The man glanced down at the girl he held. Her face wasn't neutral or blank. It showed what was in her heart. The one thing that drove her to become a soul reaper: pain.
(end ch. 1)
A/N:Wee!!! Blind Hope Chapta One!!! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Gin's gonna have a lot of action in this story. Nozomi gets her ass kicked in this chapter, but don't worry, she brings it later! Reviews would be nice, please?
BTW, SetoBatman is really nice and Betaread/ Posted this thing for her little fairy. :)