Chapter one: The seeking

Word count: 1,270

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Bleach is not mine. Neither is Byakuya Kuchiki, however much I wish that that were the case. Ah well, at least I get to play with them a bit.

Surely one day, Yachiru thought to herself, I'll actually start to look older.

Physically, Yachiru had not changed since becoming a shinigami countless years ago. In fact, nothing appeared to have changed at all. She was still short with bright pink hair and rosy cheeks. She still expressed the same amount of enthusiasm in all of her endeavors. She still frequently rode around on Kenpachi's shoulder. She still sought out members of her own division willing to play with her. And of course she still loved candy and consumed it at every opportunity.

But for Yachiru, something was changing. Although it was unnoticeable physically or based on her conduct, she was no longer a little girl. She was beginning to feel that something was changing, she was growing up and she felt older mentally. Or at least, she was starting to. It wasn't that she wanted to be taller necessarily, it was just that she wanted her body to reflect her mental state, she wanted to look more mature.

The way her thoughts had been straying lately provided her with irrefutable proof that she was indeed growing up. She was starting to get all of the lewd jokes exchanges between members of the eleventh division. She knew what was going on between her taicho and the fourth division taicho, or at least she very strongly suspected based on the noises she heard at night. She watched how things were playing out between the tenth division taicho and his fukutaicho. Maybe whatever happened to him following his most recent growth spurt that made him give in to his fukutaicho was also happening to Yachiru. That could be it. Although Yachiru was actually slightly older, Whitey-Taicho seemed to be aging much more obviously. But whatever the source of these changes was, she couldn't deny that something was changing: Yachiru was starting to notice shinigami of the opposite sex.

Of their own accord, her eyes had recently taken to following shinigami men that she wouldn't have looked twice at before. She had heard that it was normal for people of her age to experience this, but for her, it was an entirely new phenomenon. Yachiru had also heard that it was during this period that one started searching for a significant other.

While she waited to grow up physically, she might as well entertain herself by thinking about who she could pursue later, or if she felt like it, who she could already start pursuing. She was old enough, it was just that her body had yet to reflect her age. Who should she go after? Yachiru decided to list all of the potential men she could think of who might possibly be right for her. She spent most of her time in the company of men, so this shouldn't be that difficult.

In her own division, she spent most of her time around Kenpachi, Ikkaku, and Yumichika. She ruled out Kenpachi straight away. He was family and anyways, he was already taken. Ikkaku was…not her type. Yes, she did enjoy gnawing on his head from time to time, but she felt more attracted to men with hair. And Yumichika? Well, he was certainly attractive enough, but she wasn't sure that he was attracted to women, so it probably wouldn't work. The rest of the men in the eleventh division would never survive a relationship with her; most of them didn't even last a few seconds when she decided to play with them.

Who else did she know who would survive a relationship with her? Who else could play with her without passing out after a few seconds? There weren't too many options within the Gotei 13; she would think about those outside of it first.

In the living world, there were Ichigo and his friends—definitely worthy of consideration. Ichigo would probably last at least a few hours while playing with her. But he was most likely already taken. (Unless of course Rukia was willing to share him. That could be interesting.) Ichigo's friends the Quincy and the Mexican would probably keep her entertained, but they lived too far from Soul Society and didn't visit often enough. It would never work. Yachiru decided it would be best just to stick to options within the Gotei 13.

Yachiru closed her eyes to concentrate. Who within the Gotei 13 would be a good option, who wouldn't bore her eventually? Which eligible man would last more than a few minutes when she decided to play with them? Probably just taichos and fukutaichos. Which division had a taicho or fukutaicho that would appeal to her? She pondered all of her options.

1st Division: No. Humorless old men who couldn't take a joke.

2nd Division: Ew, no.

3rd Division: Kira was way too timid for her. He couldn't hold is liquor and she'd be able to crush him too easily any time they played.

4th Division: The only men there were way too fragile.

5th Division: Worthless traitor.

6th Division: Renji could potentially be an option. His personality was interesting enough and Yachiru like teasing him about his tattoos or playing with his hair. But the last time that she had really played with him, he hadn't even lasted a minute. Maybe he would have gotten stronger since becoming a fukutaicho, but she wasn't sure. He would probably not be enough for her. And Byakushi? That might work. He frequently gave her candy, he reacted well to her teasing, he had a really fun koi pond, he was as pretty as she was, and she loved his hair (except for that unsightly kenseikan, that had to go, maybe she could arrange to have something happen to it). Maybe Byakushi would work for her, but maybe not. He was awfully serious all of the time.

7th Division. Yachiru liked dogs, but she wasn't sure it was legal to like them that way. So, no. And the fukutaicho was not even worth mentioning.

8th Division: No. An old alcoholic in flamboyant robes either too drunk or too enamored to see past his own fukutaicho.

9th Division: Hisagi…did not really appeal to her. Although he wasn't bad looking, he didn't like candy at all. But that 69 had to count for something. Maybe if she was really desperate…

10th Division: Already claimed :(

12th Division. No way in hell.

13th Division: Ukitake liked candy and in fact, he often provided it for her. He was always nice to her, he had a sense of humor, and he was fun to play with—when he wasn't sick. But he never reacted well to Yachiru's antics. His zanpakuto had desensitized him to all but the most extreme jokes and pranks. He was too calm for Yachiru, she needed someone much more lively.

According to her list, there wasn't anyone perfect for her. So she went back over the most promising. Between Renji, Byakushi, Hisagi, and Ukitaki, which one would be the best for her? Renji was too weak, Byakushi was too serious, Hisagi was too boring, and Ukitake was too imperturbable. Which of these traits would be the easiest to work with? Yachiru was cunning enough to crack through even the most serious of façades. So, she decided on Byakushi.

Yachiru smiled. Byakushi was rich, so he would always be able to buy her as much candy as she could want. Sure, he was too serious, but Yachiru had the means to remedy that. He was single and absolutely gorgeous. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. She had picked the right person.

Let Operation Byakushi begin.

A/N: This story is loosely a translation of my oneshot "Opération Byakushi" from French to English. I originally wrote it as a challenge to myself—could I actually write a decent oneshot in my second language? Honestly, being certified to teach a language, even after having lived in France for a year, does not guarantee fluency and capability. So, I wrote this oneshot in French as a way of proving to myself that I could actually do it. Speaking of which, if anyone reading this speaks French even a little bit, please go read that (find it on my profile), it needs feedback and I'm curious about what people think of it. Seriously though, if you read French, please go read that right now, before reading the rest of this fic. *Shameless plug end*

Getting back to this version of the story. While writing this story in French, I kept thinking of phrases in English that expressed perfectly what I wanted to convey but that absolutely did not translate into French. So, instead of trying to wrangle untranslatable English phrases into French, I decided that I would just write a separate version of this story in English.

But as I began writing the English version after completing the French oneshot, more and more differences began to emerge. First of all, this version is quite a bit longer and will be told in approximately five or so chapters instead in a oneshot. Secondly, this story ends differently. It follows the French oneshot until near the end of the second chapter, where it deviates with the ending. After that, it's totally new material. So if you think that by reading the French version, you'll find out what happens in this story, sorry to disappoint, but you're just going to have to keep reading this version;)

Please let me know what you think of this story. I already have the next few chapters planned out, so I should be updating soon. Any feedback would be welcome.

Next chapter: Yachiru stalks her prey.

Until next time!
-Kitakana