A/N: Alrighty guys! I decided to delete all my other stories, sorry if you liked them, in hopes that I could focus all my attention onto one. And here it is! This is, obviously, a Shinji Hirako story and it's going to start after the Winter War. So, Ichigo won't be in it much until my plotline catches up to the current MANGA plot. I repeat, this story will be going off the MANGA because the anime stopped after the Fullbring Arc which gave us only like 5 minutes of Shinji and didn't give us any indication as to what he had been doing as a Captain. Therefore, most of this plot is mine but some of it will connect back to the wonderful Tite Kubo's work. As always, read, review, and ENJOY~

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BLEACH OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS/PLOT. I ONLY OWN MY OC AKANE KAHAE.

Chapter One: Homecoming

A defeated sigh sounded through the Squad Five barracks as the new captain, Shinji Hirako, collapsed onto the large bed within the Captain's Quarters. It has been so long since he had been in the Soul Society that the blonde had almost forgotten how much work there was. He hadn't missed paperwork one bit, but the Vizard couldn't deny that he had gotten homesick during those one hundred years spent in hiding. Although, Shinji also couldn't deny that he missed the rest of the group, even the small blonde devil known as Hiyori Sarugaki. They hadn't been too keen on the idea of separating, but the rest of the Vizards, minus Kensei and Rose of course, didn't agree with the idea of rejoining the Gotei 13. That had left just three of them to return home.

Home. It was such a foreign word and left a bittersweet taste in the Captain's mouth. Captain. That was a strange word too. Shinji couldn't forget everything that had happened, but at the same time, he didn't want to keep dwelling on the past. After all, it was Sosuke Aizen bound to that chair, not him. A smirk made its way onto Shinji's lips and he let out a sly chuckle. "Guess ya can't rub it in m' face anymore, can ya Sosuke?"

Shinji continued to smirk and rolled over, shoving his face into the pillow. He kicked off his shoes, but didn't bother to change out of his human attire. He was too tired. The blonde closed his eyes and slowly began to drift off, ignoring the sound of footsteps in the hallway outside his door. He would be formally inducted tomorrow, along with his two friends, and it was then that he would be introduced to his squad. There probably wouldn't be any familiar faces, so it would be as if he were brand new to this position, though he knew all too well how every day on would go.

Or at least, that's what he thought.

"Good morning, Third Seat Kahae." Purple eyes flickered to the left and Akane gave a polite smile, waving at the lower officer. She was surprised to see anyone up as early as she was. It wasn't even dawn yet, but that was how she liked it. She liked the quiet. The crimson-haired soul reaper hummed quietly as she made her way to the office.

Over the last year, she had been helping the Lieutenant with paperwork, though now that Squad Five was receiving a new Captain, she wouldn't be needed as much. Knowing this, Akane felt the need to tidy up and organize some things so the office was presentable. She stacked the papers that needed to be signed, and grabbed the ones that had already been taken care of. All that was left for the new Captain was a list of everyone's names and a couple papers that needed his signature. The violet-eyed woman smiled happily and nodded to herself as she looked one last time into the tidy office and turned on her heel. "Alright. Now to take care of these papers and wake everyone up!"

She shunpoed to the Squads that the papers belonged to and then quickly came back to Squad Five just as the sun was rising. A small hand knocked on each of the doors within the barracks until coming to the Lieutenant's. Akane knocked lightly and the door opened quietly to reveal a very much awake Momo Hinamori. The higher ranked woman gave a smile, "Good morning, Akane-san."

The taller woman smiled back and nodded, "Morning, Lieutenant. I wasn't sure if you wanted me to wake up the Captain, so I left him sleeping."

Brown eyes widened and Momo smiled brightly, shaking her head lightly. She fully opened the door and stepped out, shutting the door once more and looking back at the third seat. "Akane-san, would you mind getting everyone ready while I go wake up the Captain?"

Said woman nodded and bowed slightly before shunpoing to the main hall where everyone else was. She nodded to the squad members and they all aligned themselves accordingly, leaving her to stand on the side just in time for Momo and a tired-looking blonde man to walk up. Momo smiled and motioned towards the half-awake man, "Everyone, this is Captain Hirako. He'll be in charge from this day on and I hope we can all make an effort to get along with him."

A bunch of murmured greetings echoed through the hall and everyone bowed. Shinji's gaze flickered to the pretty woman on the other side of his new Lieutenant and they locked gazes, Akane giving a supportive smile. The blonde Captain made sure to note her strange attire. The third seat was clad in the standard black kimono, though it was slightly longer than normal and reached about halfway down her thigh. A pair of white thigh-high socks covered a good majority of her creamy skin and around her neck was a dark violet scarf, reminding him of the bright orange one that Mashiro wore. The woman stepped forward and bowed once more, "It's a pleasure to serve you, Captain Hirako. I do hope you'll feel welcomed."

Caramel-colored eyes narrowed at the woman's emotionless tone and Shinji felt his stomach turn. The way she acted reminded him so much of Aizen. The way she spoke. The way she smiled. Even the way she bowed. It was disgusting. Shinji was sure she could feel his reiatsu shift angrily and she stood straight, a faint trace of surprise in the depths of her gaze.

Momo could feel the tension and she cleared her throat, "Now then, Captain Hirako, would you like to say a few words to help us get to know you?"

Shinji gave a bored look and his hand rose in a wave, "Yo. Name's Shinji Hirako but ya can't really call me that 'cause I'm kinda yer Cap'n now. This ain't my first time bein' Cap'n, so I'm already used to th' way things run 'round here but if ya got any questions, don't be shy. I ain't gonna bite ya. I know Momo-chan here's been workin' real hard to keep this place goin', but ya ain't gotta worry 'bout that anymore. I'm yer Cap'n, so it's my job to take care of ya."

Akane giggled slightly at his introduction and Shinji glared, "Somethin' funny?"

The maroon-haired woman jumped a bit before gulping and shaking her head, "No sir. My apologies."

Shinji scoffed and turned around, his brand new haori fluttering behind him as he walked away. Momo just smiled, giving Akane an apologetic glance, "Alright! Everyone to work!"

Everyone went to start their jobs, leaving Akane standing there in bewilderment. Had she done something wrong? She only giggled because of his cute accent. She in no way had meant the man disrespect, though he seemed to hate her as soon as they had met. The woman frowned and shook her head, getting right to work.

The day had gone by slowly and Shinji leaned back in his seat in the Squad Nine office. He, Rose, and Kensei had decided to meet after their first day. Everyone seemed fine, but the other two men could see something was clearly bothering the Squad Five Captain. Rose was first to voice his concern, "Is something wrong, Shinji?"

Tan eyes widened and said blonde shook his head. Rose gave a nod, not believing him but deciding to drop the subject. Kensei, however, didn't like that idea. "Spill, Hirako. Obviously something's bothering you. We're not blind."

Shinji sighed and shook his head again, "Nothin's wrong. I'm just tired."

Brown eyes narrowed and Kensei's eyebrow twitched. He stood up quickly, chair falling to the floor with his abrupt move, and stood in front of his friend. "Look, Hirako. We've all known each other for over a hundred years. We're not stupid. You're not tired, you look pissed. What the hell is bothering you?"

The former de-facto leader leaned back in his seat, hands resting behind his head. He bit the inside of his lip, not sure how to voice his thoughts. He finally gave up and just spoke, "My new third seat. Somethin's off 'bout her. She reminds me of Aizen. Just, the way she acts 'nd everythin'. I don't know."

Rose joined back into the conversation, "I think you may be overthinking all of this. If any of us changed the most throughout our entire experience, it was you. Maybe you just need to get back into the rhythm of being here. I highly doubt she's anything like Aizen."

Kensei nodded in agreement and folded his arms, waiting for Shinji to speak again. The short-haired blonde nodded and stood up, walking towards the door, "Yer probably right. I just need t' stop thinkin' so damn much. Now, let's go get some drinks."

He left and Rose and Kensei glanced knowingly at each other. Both men knew Shinji well enough to know that he didn't let things go that easily. No. Shinji would never stop being suspicious. Not after everything they had been through.

The three men walked into the familiar bar and a waitress immediately rushed over to them. She bowed, a tray placed flat against her legs, and smiled. "Welcome to the Golden Dragon! Would you like a table or do you prefer a private room?"

They all looked at each other before the silver-haired man spoke, "Table's fine."

She nodded and led them to a large table somewhat in the back of the room. They each sat down, Shinji's back towards a majority of the room which was lucky for a certain red-haired woman. Her eyes had widened as soon as the three men had walked in and she had rushed back into the kitchen, peering around the corner. Fortunately for her, the table they were at wasn't one of hers, but still. Akane bit her lip and shook her head. "Dammit."

She grabbed her tray, four cups and two bottles of sake balanced atop it, and stepped out before walking towards her table. Her back was kept turned towards Shinji the entire time, but that didn't mean the other two didn't notice her. In fact, Rose had noticed her immediately after she came out of the kitchen. His violet gaze followed her across the room until Kensei finally noticed. "How long are you gonna drool over that waitress?"

Rose jumped slightly, tearing his gaze away from the beautiful redhead and looking at his friends. He shook his head, "I wasn't drooling. I was simply taking in her beauty. It'd do you good to take a second to notice the beauty around you as well."

The muscular man scoffed and rolled his eyes, looking towards Akane as she bustled through a large group of seated men. "Sure, she's pretty, but take a look at where she works. She probably has a million men hit on her every day. What makes you think she's going to fall for you?"

Rose smirked and held a particularly distinguished air, "I've noticed her looking over here as well. She obviously has good taste."

Shinji put his drink down and laughed at his friend. He shook his head and turned just as Akane's back was facing him. Her uniform consisted of a short purple kimono and her hair was up in a bun at the nape of her neck. He didn't even recognize her from behind. "Ya know, ya ain't the only one at this table. Maybe she's checkin' one of us out."

Rose glared slightly until Akane was right beside him, being nonchalantly hit on by a couple of wasted men. She spoke quietly, though loud enough for them to hear, and her back still faced them. "I'm sorry sir, but we're going to have to ask you to leave. Some of the other guests are uncomfortable."

The man smirked, and placed his hand on her bottom, squeezing slightly and making her squeak in discomfort, "Sure. I'll leave. Only if ya come with me, though."

Akane struggled under his grasp and tried to pry his hand off of her clothing, "Sir, please. You're making me uncomfortable. Please stop."

The man paid no attention to her pleas and his other hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her body against his and making her drop her tray. Akane squealed and struggled against his strong grip. His other hand moved from her bottom to under her kimono and trailed up her bare thigh and dangerously close to her underwear. Akane struggled more and pleaded until the man's hand was grasped and she was yanked away, "I'm pretty sure she asked you to stop."

Rose held the frightened woman close as Kensei pummeled the guy, the entire bar erupting in a fight. Punches were thrown and tables were knocked over, glass shattering. Somewhere throughout the struggle, Akane was pushed out of Rose's hold and into another pair of arms. She peeked up and her shocked gaze locked with a pair of also-shocked tan orbs. "C-Captain H-Hirako..."