Disclaimer: The works of Bleach rightfully belong to Kubo Tite.

Disclaimer 1: All new characters are rightfully my property and I take full responsibility on their behaviour in this story.

Author's Notes: I have some distinctions between different words in this story. Terms such as asauchi and zanpakuto are also in use when referring to swords, while Kido refer to spells. The term Shinigami is loosely based on plural terms. When referring to a group of two or more: shinigami, when referring to an individual: Shinigami. Just please keep these in mind.

The Aftermath

"Nezu… mi…"

Red eyes peered down at her from afar. Her best friend, her older sister, swung the chain above her head in patience, waiting for her to stand on her own two feet. Everyone was watching them. The courtyard was open for many passersby to witness the onslaught before them, and the Spiritual Pressure that emanated from the two in the fight was something that could not have been ignored. Her friend grinned at the sight of her body, riddled with torn flesh and blood. It intimidated her, but she knew better that Nezumi was lost to something inside of her.

"Release it," spoke Nezumi in an eerily serious tone, the grin still plastered on her face. "Release your zanpakuto."

She knew that this was not her. They grew up together, trained together, and lost together. She began to stand on her two feet, her arms hung by her sides, having received the most damage in the fight. Her sword, her asauchi, was sheathed, having decided to not fight her friend midway through the course of this 'sparring session'. She breathed through the pain, her Spiritual Pressure wilting from the strong presence before her. She looked up at Nezumi, seeing those eyes again, reflected by the Spiritual Pressure that radiated off of her friend's body. For a while, there was silence. It was all she could hear, except for Nezumi's voice that seethed with impatience.

"Now!" yelled Nezumi, her grin diminished from her face.

The hook upon Nezumi's chain spilt blood with every swing: her blood spraying on the white-washed floor. Through the pain, the heavy breathing, she raised her head and looked into Nezumi's eyes.

"I don't… have one…" she replied through heavy breaths.

Nezumi's Spiritual Pressureexploded around her. Her red eyes stared down at her little sister before her, swinging the chain faster in her hands.

"Liar!" she yelled, throwing the hook towards her little sister, her only best friend.

She watched as the hook flew towards her with ease, watching as the glint of the steel shone towards her face. She had not given up on Nezumi, but she no longer had the strength to move out of its way. She closed her eyes and anticipated the attack, waiting for the final blow. She only hoped Nezumi would snap herself out of it before it connected.

All she could hear was silence, but she was aware of what was happening around her. There was a clamour of noise, a raucous of voices, and the scuffling of footsteps. Although her senses were drowned in haziness, she was still slightly aware of her being carried, of walking towards a place where hands grabbed for her and laid her to rest. Was this what it felt like to die? To feelas if nothing was there at all? She wasn't even sure what had happened after her last words. The pain was gone, and she felt more relaxed. But her head was swimming in an empty haze. She thought she truly was dead.

"Ugh…" she groaned as she opened her eyes in a dim-lit room, her vision blurred. "Am I dead?" She heard laughter in the room, turning her head towards a figure in white. With her vision clearing, she saw a Captain's uniform sitting by her bed.

"Captain Unohana?" she spoke with grogginess lacing her voice. Her vision began to return to normal, witnessing the Captain indeed sitting by her bed. She found herself covered in bandageswhere the injuries once laid, looking down at her now recovered state.

"Ah, so you've recovered quite well Itagaki-chan," spoke Unohana, reaching out for a first-aid kit beside her. "I just came in to see how you fared today and it seems you've begun to wake." The Captain of the Fourth Division placed the first-aid kit upon her lap, watching her patient rise from her bed. She smiled at the dumbfounded look on her patient's face as she looked upon her arms and body.

"It's been two weeks since you lost consciousness," she continued, smiling at her patient who, having heard the amount of time looked at her wide-eyed.

"T- Two weeks?!" exclaimed Itagaki, shutting her mouth with her hands afterwards. She realised how quiet the room really was, feeling slightly embarrassed and disrespectful towards the Captain before her. Instead, she was given a smile by the Captain, who rose from her chair and walked towards her.

"Now, now, you shouldn't be stressing yourself too much," spoke Unohana, holding a hand towards Itagaki's forehead. "The courtyard is not a place to be settling scores or the like in the first place."

The courtyard. Her earlier memories began to return to her. Nezumi's eyes indeed had intimidated her, but she wondered why she had suddenly changed like that. It was an innocent sparring session to remember old times. But something changed, and she had released a zanpakuto of her own. Itagaki had not known about Nezumi's acquiring of one. Though she may have been proud of her in a perfect world, this was different.

"Nezumi?" she questioned, warranting Unohana to look at her. "How is she?"

With a smile, Unohana merely replied: "I'm not quite sure who you're asking about dear."

It was then and there that Itagaki knew Nezumi was not housed in Division 4. It came as a relief and a dread, fearing that her friend may have suffered consequences to her violent behaviour. She thought about how she sheathed her sword to show her that she no longer wanted to fight. But Nezumi refused the gesture, ending Itagaki here under the care of Unohana herself.

"Luckily, you got here in time," spoke Unohana once more, breaking Itagaki's train of thought. "You've lost a large amount of blood when you arrived here. Sending you back to your Division any earlier than today would've been dreadful for your health." Unohana then walked away from the bed, picking up her first-aid kit and looking within its contents to find new bandages.

Itagaki was once again in thought, remembering how much Nezumi's bladed hook spilt the blood from its steel. It was true. She knew through the pain that she had lost a fair amount of blood, but she tried to reach through Nezumi without having to resort to hurting her. Her last memories of her standing there motionless were her only memories to go from. It was from there that everything blurred by her in a haze. Just like the last time.

Unohana returned to her bed and started to remove the old bandages, inspecting the wounds that had healed remarkably well from a two-week coma. Itagaki watched as she renewed the bandages, wrapping fresh ones around the body to ensure no infections would occur. Despite the silence between them, Itagaki had a thought in mind.

"Captain Unohana?" she asked, warranting a quizzical hum from the Captain, who still continued putting new dressings on her body. "How did I get here?"

Unohana wrapped the last needed bandage around her shoulders, packing the old bandages into a sanitary bag and her medical utensils in the kit beside her. She smiled genially at Itagaki when closing her kit, replying: "Your Lieutenant brought you here."

Itagaki replied with a surprised exclamation, again warranting another smile from the Captain.

"You were barely conscious," she continued, rising from her seat beside Itagaki's bed. "Yet amazingly, you still seemed aware of what was going on, even after sending you to one of our squad members. But rest assured your long nap has healed your wounds up nicely. You may leave soon today if you wish." Unohana smiled down at Itagaki, who was staring ahead in thought. She heard a sigh from her patient who looked to her with a smile of her own on her face.

"Thank you Captain Unohana," she replied.

After a few hours of rest, Itagaki checked out from the Fourth Division, thanking Unohana and the rest of the Division for the aid she received while hospitalised. She wandered through Seireitei, both anticipating and dreading what she may hear from others about the strange incident two weeks ago. The new bandages on her body have given her some means of movement, having only been placed on her shoulders where most of the damage persisted. She held onto her right shoulder, looking down at the ground in thought once more, her eyes fixated on each step she took.

"Nezumi..." she spoke under her breath, worried about her friend's well-being. Nezumi was family to her. An older sister she looked up to. But everything played out wrongly. What had happened to her?

"Haruka!" called out a voice from behind, breaking Itagaki's train of thought. She turned around to find a group of familiar faces heading her way, stopping before her with worried looks.

"Haruka, you're out of the medic already?" asked one of the girls before her with a surprised look.

Itagaki nodded in reply, smiling slightly to reassure the others of her well-being. The group before her sighed in relief, happy that their comrade was able to walk again. She eyed their uniforms, noticing their Division insignias were shown noticeably on their sleeves. She had a feeling there was training today after all.

"Wow," spoke a young man behind the girls, rubbing the back of his head. "I can't believe that Nezumi would attack you like that."

"Are you all right?" spoke another girl, looking at Haruka with earnest eyes.

She smiled again and waved her hands in front of her in embarrassment, replying: "Yeah, I'm okay. Captain Unohana said that I healed quite well. I should be able to attend practise today, if I'm up to it."

"What a relief," commented the other girl, holding her hand to her chest. "But that was scary, what happened two weeks ago."

"Nezumi and you were so tight together," continued the other girl. "How come she suddenly all-out attacks you?"

Haruka's face saddened at the thought of Nezumi, wondering how she had coped after the incident. She looked towards her fellow comrades with concern. "Where is Nezumi anyway?" she asked, warranting looks from her three comrades before her.

"Nezumi?" repeated the young man, folding his arms behind his head. "Well, since Lieutenant Abaraifound out she had a zanpakuto, he's training her to control it."

"Lieutenant… Abarai…?" asked Haruka, confused at what she had heard with her own two ears. She received nods from all three of her comrades at the same time.

"Yeah, she did get punishment for what she did," commented one girl with her finger poised matter-of-factly. "But training under Lieutenant Abarai would be punishment enough. Don't you think?" With that the group began to roar with laughter and conversed about how Nezumi would've fared by now. Haruka smiled at herself, thinking to the back of her mind about Nezumi's situation.

'Hmm…' she thought to herself. 'I guess she got her wish after all.' She began to laugh with the others, who directed her towards the training grounds where Division 9 were to start their sessions for today. On the way, they kept Haruka up-to-date with the news from the past two weeks, both informative and amusing. Much to her dismay, nothing interesting occurred, but her comrades, especially the girls, poked fun at her on how she was rushed to the Fourth Division's medic facility by their Lieutenant and acting Captain. Although she had received the news from Unohana herself, hearing it again just made her feel more self-conscious for the fact that she was part of something against normal standards in training. She worried about paying the consequences herself for being a part of fuelling the wanton and unnecessary violence. She was tempted on asking what Nezumi's punishment was, only so she could expect the same treatment as well.

Eventually, the four of them reached the grounds, seeing the other shinigami from their Division already grouped together in a large mass. They all conversed with each other, their voices echoing amongst themselves as they waited for their Lieutenant to arrive on the scene. The day was typical: cloudless skies for a perfect training session. Haruka felt slightly nervous all of a sudden, feeling the pit of her stomach swing low inside. The idea of being punished after what happened lingered in her mind.

"Well, time for practise guys," spoke the young man, who had been walking ahead of the girls in the group. With that, he jogged towards the mass, meeting up with a few others and chatting up a storm, while Haruka and her two female comrades continued walking towards them at a steady pace.

Haruka wished it could've been like any other day, where training was just a normal day out with friends. But the feeling in the pit of her stomach began to drop much lower, worried about what would happen afterwards. She began to wish staying back in the Fourth Division just to avoid today, or at the very least, getting back to her quarters just to think to herself and not worry about the consequences for a while.

"Haruka?" asked one of her comrades, looking at Haruka with concern. "Are you sure about practise today?"

Haruka, snapping herself out of her negative rut, looked at her fellow comrade and smiled, replying: "Of course. Captain Unohana did say to take it a little easy. But I think I'll manage practise. Besides, two weeks out of commission isn't good for the body."

Her friends smiled back at her with reassurance and led her to the grounds, merging into the mass together. With Haruka back into the Division, a few others turned towards the low-level Shinigami and asked about her health and well-being. Haruka replied to all of them in the same way she had her friends. She was fine. Although she wouldn't admit it, she was afraid of any repercussions that may occur in the near future, hearing a lot more about Nezumi and her predicaments in her Division. The pit in her stomach began to sink even lower.

Eventually training commenced when their Lieutenant/acting Captain arrived on the grounds along with their seated officer. Everyone began to pair with somebody else for their training partner. Her two female comrades paired with each other as per usual, while her male comrade paired with another friend of his in the Division. It was often like this. Haruka would be one of the few leftovers of the group who would be paired with anyone who had no partner for the session, or was willing to train with her. She didn't impose on her fellow shinigami. She often waited without a partner, and sometimes would train on her own if necessary. However, it wasn't long until a fellow male Shinigami asked to train with her for this training session. She gladly obliged, the both of them finding a spot to train each other amongst the others on the grounds. She walked a few strides away to give a good starting point, but was interrupted by her training partner from behind.

"Haruka," he asked, gaining a quizzical look on her face. "You really should rest. We don't have to train if you don't want to."

Smiling at his concern over her health, she unsheathed her asauchi and held it at a defensive pose, readying for the session today.

"I've been resting for two weeks now," she reassured, swinging her sword to make sure her arms were at the very least useful for training. "I think I can handle a little."

Training passed like a breeze. As soon as it had started, it had ended, with many of the shinigami pleased with their efforts for today. Haruka thanked her training partner for not going easy on her, despite the injuries she received, and hoped that his usual partner would return to training without illness. Waving her training partner goodbye, she caught up with her usual friends in the Division and they all conversed about today's session, often teasing each other on their skills. As they all were about to walk away from the grounds with the rest of their fellow shinigami, wanting to return to their quarters, Haruka felt a firm grip on her shoulder from behind.

"Itagaki," spoke a commanding voice, making Haruka's body stiff from anticipation and fear. She turned to see her Lieutenant and acting Captain, Shuuhei Hisagi, standing there with his eyes looking down at her, holding her by her shoulder. Haruka's friends stood before her in awkwardness, feeling some tension in the atmosphere.

"Well… Haruka," spoke her male comrade, attempting to break the silence. "… Have fun."

With that, she saw her friends dash off in the opposite direction, leaving her alone with their Lieutenant. A small eep escaped her throat, but not loud enough for Shuuhei to hear. She turned around to face him, bowing in respect to her superior.

"Yes sir?" she asked, standing before Shuuhei with her head low. A short silence followed afterwards, making her feel even more nervous about the situation. She knew it. She was going to get punished. This would've all been avoided if she thought straight about Nezumi, or else she should've stayed in the Fourth Division a little longer. The pit in her stomach just seemed to sink even lower. It felt non-existent at this point.

"How are your wounds?" he finally asked, surprising Haruka with his concern.

Haruka looked up at Shuuhei who still looked at her with his hard gaze. She straightened herself up, placing her hands before her in respect to her Lieutenant.

"I'm quite all right, Lieutenant Hisagi," she replied, keeping her gaze on her Lieutenant for any sign of tolerance from his body language. "Thank you." For a while, after entering into the Gotei 13, into Division 9, Haruka became a little more aware about her superiors. She came to the conclusion that her Lieutenant, Shuuhei Hisagi, was hard to read. She wasn't aware if he was angered, concerned, or even amused at anything. It was that type of person that made her feel too wary.

Shuuhei crossed his arms and closed his eyes, before looking back at Haruka with his hard look. "Would you mind telling me what it was all about?" he asked again.

"Sir?" she asked with a quizzical look on her face, still keeping her eyes on him. Haruka could never get used to her Lieutenant's gaze. That hard look Shuuhei seemed to show everyone made him all the more intimidating to his subordinates. But behind that hard look was a sense of concern, or at the very least, an interest in the matter.

"We were merely sparring at first," began Haruka, lowering her head from her Lieutenant's gaze. "Kind of reminiscing our academy days together." She looked back at her Lieutenant, noticing that he was looking elsewhere but still held an attentive ear. "But something happened midway and Nezumi lost control of herself. Before I knew it, she had unleashed a zanpakuto." The memories came back to her again of Nezumi's release. She was acting strange before doing so as she began reliving their sparring days together. Yet the sight of her blade transforming around her, shocked and frightened Haruka.

"But sir," continued Haruka, with a pleading tone in her voice. "She's normally not like that-"

"What was she screaming about?" asked Shuuhei once more, interrupting her plea.

Realising her sudden change in behaviour, Haruka retained her composure and continued to gauge her Lieutenant's reactions. He still looked away from her with his arms crossed before him, which made her feel more nervous.

"She believed I had a zanpakuto as well, and wanted to see it," she answered with her voice laced with slight confusion. "To fight me with it." She held her hand upon the sheath of her asauchi. Even she was puzzled about Nezumi's commands during the incident. She had never achieved a zanpakuto at all and still held steadfast to her asauchi that hung by her sash. Her last recollection about Nezumi was that she too had an asauchi. They both did.

Shuuhei turned his attentions back onto Haruka, who stared at the floor before her while in thought, her hand still holding upon her sheath beside her. He uncrossed his arms and bent low to face her, snapping her attentions away from her thoughts.

"Are you hiding something from me?" he asked, gauging her reactions to his question.

Haruka, realising how close her Lieutenant's face was to hers, looked at him nervously with a stiff demeanour. "No sir!" she denied, waving her hands in front of him. "Nothing at all!"

Shuuhei closed his eyes with a hum and rose back onto his feet, walking past a flustered and nervous Haruka who still held her hands before her.

"Follow me," he simply ordered, continuing to walk away from Haruka.

Haruka looked back to see his form slowly walking away from her and began to catch up to him from behind while still keeping a fair distance away from her superior. She looked at him with concern, now unable to gauge him with his back towards her. If this wasn't the route to punishment, Haruka didn't know what else it could be. As they began to walk through Seireitei, Haruka began to look towards the pavement before her, seeing each white-washed tile pass her and her Lieutenant. She remembered how red the floor was, painted by her blood that sprayed from both her body and Nezumi's hook. She inwardly sighed and started to recollect that time, to get her mind away from possible punishments ahead.

How did everything lead to this?