Obviously, I don't own Bleach or any of its amazing characters. I do, however, own Saori and other original aspects. Enjoy!
"It's a lovely day, isn't it, Saori?"
Looking over her shoulder, Saori saw the kind older woman who lived a few shacks away. "Yes, it is, Akira. So lovely, that I decided to spend the day outside," she replied with a gentle smile.
Sliding her door shut, Saori waved goodbye to her neighbor and headed out to her sacred lavender field. Whenever she'd wanted to just spend time thinking or enjoying nature, Saori had always traveled to the seemingly magical field that she'd found while exploring as a child. Even though it was only twenty minutes from the home she used to share with her brothers, even they didn't know of its existence. To her knowledge, no one did.
When she finally reached her destination, she took her usual spot sitting near the edge of the lavender. She loved to watch the wind play across the field, like an ocean of purple, swirling waves just for her enjoyment. The most peaceful place in her world, she let her body relax, and remembered the last time her brothers had visited.
The two had moved out sometime ago, a few years after Saori had become an adult. They entered the Soul Reaper Academy, one wanting to follow a powerful man, the other wanting to follow his best friend. Yumichika Ayasegawa, the brother of her blood, and Ikkaku Madarame, the brother of her soul. Saori had been with them ever since she could remember, but the last time was about a week ago when she'd gotten into a fight with them…
Ikkaku was sitting up against the wall, his zanpakuto in his lap leaning against his shoulder. Yumichika was sitting on the bed behind Saori, who was sitting on a stool while her brother fixed her hair. On the sides of her temple, he'd taken two small locks of hair, one an inch above the other, and braided them, pulling all four back with the rest of her hair into a cute ponytail. This was her usual hair style, her bangs being left out to frame her face, but it always looked better when Yumichika did it. When they all still lived together, they would sit like this every morning, something Saori had taken for granted. Now, these were precious moments that were becoming increasingly few and far between, especially with their promotions to Third and Fifth seat of the Eleventh Court Guard Squad. As much as she wanted to keep this beautiful, peaceful moment, she'd had something brewing in her mind for some time now.
"Ikka?"
"Hmm?"
"Umm…can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Why do you fight?"
"Eh? I fight to get stronger, you know that."
"Hmm…Yumi?"
"Yes, Saori?"
"Why do you fight?"
"I only fight when challenged, and that is to uphold my honor and beauty."
Being finished with his sister's hair, Yumichika got up off of the bed and knelt down in front of her. With a serious look on his face, he asked, "Saori, why are you asking this?"
"Because, I'm trying to figure out why I want to fight," she replied with pure innocence.
Shocked, Yumichika flinched while Ikkaku's eyes flew open to glare at his little sister.
"There's an easy answer to that," Ikkaku said, "you don't."
"But, Ikka-"
"Absolutely not, Saori." Yumichika whispered.
"But Yumi, I really think that I want to protect people, to be able to protect myself!"
"I said absolutely not! If you need protection, we will protect you. You need do nothing more than live out your life in peace and happiness!"
"But-"
"Saori, stop!" Ikkaku had jumped up from his seated position. "What's gotten into you! Why this sudden interest in violence?"
"Why not!" she screamed, rocketing to her feet, knocking the stool over in the process. " I've grown up around it, haven't I? I share the same blood as you, Yumichika, and you're a fighter! I've shared my life with you, Ikkaku, and you're a fighter! Did it never occur to the two of you that I would share similar characteristics, wants, needs, desires? Why is it so bad?"
With tears streaming down her face, Saori pleaded with her brothers, begging them to understand. Instead, the two glanced at each other, mumbled that they would return to visit again soon, and left the house, their sister sinking to the floor, shoulders shaking with sobs.
Coming back to the present, Saori tried and tried to understand why her brothers had gotten so angry, but she just couldn't. However, something else was grabbing her attention; someone was behind her, leaning against a tree just nine yards away…
He hadn't meant to sneak up on her, but Shuhei Hisagi finally had a day off, and had planned on spending it relaxing in the field he'd used to play in as a boy, but on the way he'd gotten lost in thought and had come out of his reverie when he felt someone's presence. Looking out to the lavender field, he spotted a young woman sitting just inside the edge of the flowers. There was something about how she held herself, perhaps the slight slump of her shoulders, that inexplicably drew his attention. Leaning his right shoulder against a tree, he watched the wind play with the hundreds of purple stalks.
"You can come sit if you'd like. I'm not so rude as to turn others away from such beauty."
Startled, Shuhei blinked, refocusing his vision on the young woman who was now looking directly at him. He straightened from the tree and walked over, taking a seat beside her. Being closer, he could see that she was quite pretty, yet looked somewhat familiar. "Sorry if I scared you, I wasn't really paying attention," Shuhei explained.
"I think I'm the one who scared you," she giggled. "My name's Saori, it's nice to meet you."
"The name's Shuhei. It's nice to meet you, too," he replied. "So, how did you know I was there without turning around?"
"That's a silly question. I felt you of course."
"You mean, you felt like there was someone behind you?"
"No, I mean your spiritual pressure."
"What? But…how? I had it completely suppressed, I'm sure I did."
"You did," Saori simply stated.
"So, you're saying that you can feel someone's power whether or not their hiding it?"
"Yes."
"That's amazing," Shuhei whispered, stunned.
"Is it? I just assumed it was normal…"
After admitting it so honestly, Shuhei could do nothing more than stare.