Hey People, it's me, Enma. This is my first fanfic, so it might not be really good. I still hope you enjoy it. My thanks to Sir Eagle for Beta-ing, and Tite Kubo for creating Bleach. Oh yeah, I came up with Enma before I made my profile, so my profile's named after him, and he's not based on me. It takes place after Aizen's betrayal, but I've still got to figure out what exact moment.

I do not own Bleach, and if any names might seem familiar, it's probably just coincidence.

Seireitei

A young man wakes up after a small hour of sleep, quickly sweeping a hand through his ruffled hair. His appearance was nothing strange, except for the colour of his eyes and hair, whereas the hair was a metallic grey, and his eyes were a bright yellow.

Enma Kasei, unranked 11th Division member of the Gotei 13, got out of his bed after a horrible night.

'Ugh, what a night,' he thought. 'I didn't sleep at all, with most of the other guys partying downstairs. I hope that they'll celebrate the captain's birthday elsewhere next year.'

The night before, Captain Zaraki threw a party, which had lasted all night... "Seriously, I do NOT like it here." he muttered to himself, a habit he developed during one of his missions where he had been alone for a week.

"I thought it would be fun here, but all these guys do is drink and fight. I always get these boring missions, usually stuff like standing guard. And after all these years, I still wonder what's with the weird dislike of Kido? I mean, what's so cowardly about it"

Enma had always been very fond of Kido, ever since he first used it during training. The sensation of power flowing through his arms and unleashing a powerful Hado spell, blasting a hollow to smithereens had always been kind of a kick for him.

"Well, enough thinking, I've got some training to do," he says to himself as he grabs his Zanpakutou and leaves his room.

After a few minutes of walking, he reached the training grounds.

"Seems they've already started," Enma muttered to himself as he walked into the training grounds. "Well, better get busy," he said, looking around for a suitable partner. Then he saw the vice-captain. That little girl still amazed him, even after all those years in the 11th Division.

"That must mean the captain is near too," he muttered, but then, as Vice-captain Kusajishi noticed him, she waved at him, jumped up and ran off.

'What was that?' he thought. Then he heard the bells. Acting on instinct, he unsheathed his Zanpakutou, blocking a strike from the giant man who was standing behind him. If he hadn't, he would have been slashed from neck to crotch. Quickly standing up (the power behind the strike had driven him onto his knees) he saluted the giant man standing in front of him.

"Nice block. Kasei, right?" Captain Zaraki Kenpachi asked him.

"Y-yes, sir," he replied. Ever since he first saw him, he had been scared of the huge man. He wasn't the only one. It kind of seemed that the only people not afraid of Kenpachi were the Vice-captain, the 3rd seat and the 5th seat.

"We've got a mission for you. Well, rather, I've got a mission for you," the captain said. "It's the substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"I'd like to go myself, as I'd like to fight him again. Too bad the Old Fart said I couldn't, 'cause he'd probably just run away as soon as he saw me." Everyone in the Seireitei had heard about the battle between the Captain and Kurosaki, as they almost killed each other. Kurosaki was the first person in a long time to be able to stand up against captain Zaraki.

"Ok, I'll go take a look, but what to do when I find him?"

"Fight him," Zaraki replied with a wicked grin.

"F...fight him?" Enma asked, shocked?

"Yeah, why not? I wanna see if he's still in a state worth fighting. He probably hasn't fought anything but random hollows for a long time." Zaraki said. "Why'd you ask? Scared?" He laughed, because an afraid 11th division member was a... "Coward! I'll find someone else."

Enma stared at the ground for a minute, his emotions and thoughts racing. This was his perfect chance to prove himself, maybe even obtain a seat. But fighting a guy who was the captain's equal? Did the possible reward weigh up against the risk? 'No, I shouldn't be afraid. This is my chance to prove myself.' he thought.

"I'll do it," He said to the captain. "I'll make sure you take those words back, captain. I'm no coward."

"Good. Now start packing, or I'll attack you again. You leave tomorrow, first thing in the morning."

Enma grabbed his Zanpakutou and walked back to the Barracks. 'I need a bottle of sake after this' he thought, a little shocked by the sudden request.

The next morning Enma left through the Senkaimon. As he arrived in the Human World, he suddenly noticed on of the things he never got used to. The gate's nasty habit of placing it's exit about 20 meters above the ground. As he started falling he focused his spiritual power under his feet, which allowed him to to walk on air.

"Phew," he said to himself "I will never really get used to that."

As Enma lowered himself onto the ground he wondered where he would have to start... At that moment he realized something he should have noticed a long time ago. The captain didn't tell him where to start looking for the kid.

Just as he was about to start looking, he heard someone scream. 'A scream, this early in the morning?' He thought. 'Something must be wrong.' Then he sensed the reiatsu. It was a hollow. "Dammit!" he yelled as he ran towards the source of the reiatsu.

As he arrived he saw a huge bat-like hollow attacking a young girl. As he came closer, the girl tripped, and just as the hollow was about to eat her, he unsheathed his Zanpakutou and lunged at the hollow. But before his blade reached the flesh, the hollow jumped off. Enma swore and ran after it. As he chased the hollow, he yelled:

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hado 33: Sōkatsui!"

As he finished the incantation, a large blast of light-blue energy shot out of his hand, towards the hollow. But then something happened that Enma didn't anticipate. Little green toad-like hollows crawled out of the big one's fur and jumped into the blue beam, taking the damage for the big one.

'Dammit' Enma thought. 'I've heard about this kind of hollow. They're supposed to be really smart. Let's hope I'm smarter...'

As he closed in on the hollow, he saw some of the little 'familiars' sitting on a wall. All of a sudden, they started shooting leeches from cavaties in their heads. As Enma tried to dodge them, one of them struck his leg, and another one struck his arm.

The hollow laughed, and turned around to face Enma. "Hah! You've fallen straight into my trap," it spoke.

It stuck out his tongue, and as Enma wondered what sort of childish gesture that was, he heard a sharp sound. Suddenly, the leeches exploded, and pain shot through his right leg and arm. "Those leeches are bombs, you idiot! They respond to the sound of my tongue. I make the sound, they go BOOOM! How do you like it?" The hollow moved in closer, as he tought Enma didn't pose any danger, with his sword hand wounded. "I've eaten a Shinigami before... I must say, he was deeee-licious. I hope you'll taste the same..."

Enma chuckled. "What's so funny?" The hollow asked.

"Your stupidity." Enma replied as he suddenly got up, slashing the hollow though half.

"Phew... Those bombs hurt, but luckily he didn't harm me seriously." he said to himself as he rubbed his painful arm.

He walked back to the girl who was being chased. As he got closer, he noticed something. She wasn't dead, because there was no chain hanging from her chest. He got a good look at her. Short black hair, brown eyes and a school uniform.

"Hey, you ok?" he asked, both to find out if she really was alright, and to see if she could actually see him. "Yeah," she replied.

"What's your name?" Enma asked, a little surprised she really could see him.

"Arisawa Tatsuki," She replied. "Thanks for helping me."

Enma smiled. "No problem. It's my job, and I couldn't just stand by and watch a young girl like yourself get hurt. I'm Kasei Enma. Nice to meet you."

He sat down next to her. Then something popped up in his mind.

"Hey, you can see me, right? Do you know someone by the name of Kurosaki Ichigo, by any chance?"

"Yes, I do. Are you looking for him? I could give you some directions if you would like?"

"If you could, I'd appreciate it." He said with a smile. As she told him where to find Kurosaki, he thanked her, and walked off.

Well, So far for the first chapter of my Fanfic. If you've got any tips for me, review or PM me.

Once again, thank you Sir Eagle. I hope y'all are looking forward to the next chapter!