"What?" asked Shuhei Hisagi as he stood dumbfounded before Head Captain Yamamoto. The young man had spikey black hair and steel-grey eyes. He was handsome with a sixty-nine tattoo on his left cheek and a blue-grey strip that ran the length of the left side of his face and stopped at the right side of the bridge of his nose. On the right side, running down from the top, over his right eye, and off his face, were three scars from a hollow. He had a sleeveless, lower cut uniform, with a chocker and two upper arm bands. Head Captain Yamamoto sighed.
"Very well, I shall repeat myself. Shuhei Hisagi, you are to be promoted to Captain of squad nine tomorrow morning at the Captain's meeting. You are to report to the meeting in your Capain's coat with your zanpakuto. All other captain's and lieutenants will be present." he told the stunned lieutenant.
"Sir, I don't think that I'm ready for such a promotion and besides, what about the Captain's exam?" Shuhei asked.
"We believe that you have proven yourself fully capable of being a Captain, and as such we have decided that a Captains exam is un-necessary. I asked all the Captains and out of the nine others next to me, eight agreed without a problem. We all believe you are fully ready for this promotion and you will be present for it tomorrow. The matte had been decided a week ago. Now you are dismissed." Yamamoto said. Shuhei was too stunned to move for a minute. Then he realized he was supposed to leave and ran out the door without further hesitation. As he ran along he nearly collided into Jushiro and Shunsui.
"Captain Ukitake, Captain Kyoraku! My apologies." said Shuhei trying and failing to regain his composure.
"Relax Shuhei, you're a Captain now, you can call us Shunsui and Jushiro." Shunsui said with a smile.
"I… I'm sorry Captain Kyoraku." Shuhei said, looking at the ground. Shunsui gave him a small smile.
"So where are you going?" asked Jushiro. Shuhei looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
"For a walk Captain Ukiatake." he said a little too quickly. The two Captains nodded and moved aside for the young lieutenant to pass. He started walking slowl at first, but then started to get faster until he begun to run, and then switched over to flashstep. He came to the north gate and the guardian opened it without hesitation. Shuhei passed through it, on his way to the district he had grown up in. Not long later he came to a familiar clearing, the place where he had seen his first hollow and soul reapers. The very location that had changed his life a hundred years ago. Sighing, Shuhei sat down on the ground at the base of a nearby tree. "Hey, you alright?" asked a voice. Shuhei looked up to see Momo Hinamori, Renji Abarai, and Izuru Kira.
"Yah, I'm fine." Shuhei said with a small smile.
"You rushed out of the Seireitei in such a hurry, we were worried you were hurt or something." said Momo.
"Yah, what happened?" Izuru asked.
"Nothing." Shuhei said. He really didn't want to go into it with them.
"It can't be nothing! Hey did you hear about someone being promoted to Captain! The Head Captain told us today that there will be a new Captain and all Captain and Lieutenants have to go to the promotion ceremony tomorrow!" said Izuru.
"Yah, I can't wait! I want to know who's been promoted though!" Momo said.
"Shuhei, are you upset that you didn't get the promotion?" teased Renji. Shuhei shock his head. "Then what's buggin' ya?" he asked, disappointed that his friend didn't trust him enough to tell him the truth or what was bothering him. Momo sat down next to him as Renji and Izuru sat across from him.
"It's nothing Renji. Thanks though." Shuhei said, and with that he stood up and started walking away. The three watched him go.
"What should we do?" Momo asked in a worried voice.
"The only other person that I know that he'd talk to is Sajin Komamura." Renji said.
"Then let's go see him." Izuru said.
Shuhei was almost back to the ninth squad barracks when a giant wolf blocked his path. "Captain Komamura!" Shuhei said in surprise. Sajin grunted.
"Shuhei, we need to talk." he said. Shuhei gave him a puzzled look. "You see, your friends are worried about you and asked me to talk to you. What's bothering you?" Sajin asked. Shuhei looked up at him with huge eyes. So Renji and the others didn't let the matter drop. "It's about you being promoted isn't it." Sajin said. Shuhei turned red.
"Yes Captain Komamura." he said after a pause.
"I see. Why are you upset about it?" he asked. Shuhei was still not talking.
"I just am, if you'll excuse me Captain Komamura, I still have work to do." Shuhei said walking away. 'I see what they mean. Shuhei is obviously bothered greatly by this promotion, but he won't talk to anyone and tries to pretend that nothing is wrong.' Sajin thought. 'Maybe the head captain will know what to do.'
Shuhei sat in his room. "I guess this is my last night in here." Shuhei said looking around the lieutenants courters. Then there was a knock at the door. Slowly Shuhei opened the door and jumped back in surprise. In front of him was the former Captain, Kensei Muguruma! "Captain Muguruma!" he said. Kensei strolled in and pushed Shuhei down so he was sitting.
"Alright kid, you're really a pain in the ass you know! You have everyone here worried about you! They got so upset that they had the old man call me here. Now spill!" Kensei growled. Shuhei nodded.
"I'm sorry Captain Muguruma that you had…" started Shuhei.
"Enough with the stupid crap and spill! What's bothering you!" Kensei cut over him. Shuhei looked him in the eye and Kensei saw what he hadn't noticed before. Hurt, fear, pain, and betrayal showed through his steel grey eyes.
"I'm afraid I'll fail! That I'll hurt the very people who look up to me! What kind of Captain would let his own men down! What kind of Captain would abandon his men?" Shuhei shouted. Kensei understood what he was talking about. Kensei and Tosen were Shuhei's heroes. They were the two people who Shuhei looked up to the most, and they both let him down, hard. It wasn't the promotion so much that was bothering the lieutenant; it was the trigger that upset him. What was truly bothering Shuhei was his bottled up feeling finally being released. "I don't know what to do Captain Muguruma! What if I let them down! What if I hurt the people who look to me for guidance and leadership! I can't put myself in that position!" Shuhei said, and with that tears came down his face. In all, Shuhei looked more like a kid then he did when they met! "So you tell me Captain, what should I do?" he asked. Kensei sighed.
"First, you need to stop calling me Captain Muguruma, I'm not a captain anymore. Next you're gonna man up! You are going to accept the position of Captain without any more complaints! You deserve the position and you're gonna make one damn good Captain! So suck it up and deal with it! Also, you're going to stop crying, it's annoying!" Kensei shouted. Shuhei stopped crying. "That's better!" Kensei growled. Shuhei looked up at him again. This time Kensei could see the pain and fear gone from his eyes. The hurt and betrayal were still there, but not as prominent as it was. That should have been expected though; he's not going to get over it all with a few comments from Kensei. Kensei ruffled Shuhei's hair. "Now take care of yourself, I don't want to have to come back here." he said opening the door. When he stepped out, he turned around one last time, "I'm proud of you kid, and I'm glad it's you who gets my old position." he said leaving.
Early the next morning, Yamamoto and Sasakibe stood in front of the room, with all the Captains lined around the room and the lieutenants behind them. "Where's Shuhei?" asked Renji. The doors opened, and Captain Shuhei Hisagi stood in the doorway with the captains coat for squad nine draped across his back.
"Glad you could join us Captain Hisagi, now let the promotion ceremony commence." said Yamamoto. Shuhei smiled.
I don't own Bleach and claim no rights to it! Thanks for reading my one-shot! I hope you liked it! Review if you want, all comments welcome!