I gasped, sitting up in bed fully alert. I took a deep breath, trying hard to calm myself down. A dream, that's all it had been. Just a nightmare, nothing more. I couldn't make myself see it that way though, he was trying to get stronger. He wanted control of me, he wanted to force his way out like he used to, but I wasn't going to give in. I was stronger than him, I knew I was, and I always would be. I wouldn't allow him to take control of my life like he had before. Still, as I sat in the darkness, all sorts of doubts began running through my head. Before I could begin questioning myself like I did on a daily basis, I tossed the covers off my body and made to get out of my bed. My bare feet touched the cold floor, but I managed to ignore the feeling like I always did. I walked across my room, trying not to wake up the other eight people in the warehouse, and out the door. I walked down the hallway as silently as I could, before I finally made it to my special window. I climbed out the window and hopped up onto the roof of the warehouse.

I inhaled the night air, ignoring how chilly it was out here, and sat down on the roof. My hair was touching the roof since it was so long, there was no way I'd cut it after all these years of growing it out though. My legs were bare, if you didn't count the sunshine yellow, slightly above mid-thigh length shorts I was wearing. Within seconds, goosebumps began forming across my legs because of the cold metal against them. I rubbed my arms absentmindedly, before I titled my head up towards the heavens. I sighed, staring up at the stars with a serene look on my face.

The night always seemed to have this calming affect on me, it always had been my refuge. Now, it seemed like I needed it more than ever before. Times like these reminded me of when everything had started, when we'd all realized what we had become. Soul Society had abandoned us, they were ready to kill us when they found out about us attaining Hollow powers. It hadn't been our fault though. They should have recognized that, but they hadn't. For that reason, I knew I'd never be able to forgive them for this exile.

I shivered at the feel of the wind against my skin, my spring green hair flew all around my face. I sighed again, not even bothering to mess with my hair. Once the wind stopped, there'd really be no point in it. I wiggled my toes, trying to keep the blood flowing, but they were stiff from how cold it was out here. I guessed it was a good forty-seven degrees, but I didn't think too much on it; I never had so why start now? I wrinkled my nose and reached down, rubbing my feet. I stared at my skin, marveling at how pretty it looked in the moonlight. Normally it looked too pale for its own good, but out here in the moonlight it looked like a white creamy color. Absolutely gorgeous if you asked me.

I let a soft sigh pass through my parted lips, not bothering to turn around hearing the familiar light footsteps across the roof. I already knew who it was, and I always wondered why he couldn't just let me stay up here on my own sometimes. He must've guessed something was wrong, I always came up here when there was something on my mind. I never could stay in my room when things were bothering me, and he knew it.

I glanced over, watching the former taichou of the fifth division sit beside me. He didn't look at me for minutes, only stared up at the stars. His short cut blonde hair moved crazily in the wind, just like my own hair was doing at the moment. I looked back towards the stars, mentally cheering for myself when I found all sorts of different constellations. The wind finally stopped, my hair fell all around me like a halo. My bangs fell slightly infront of my eyes, but I didn't push them away. That's just how I was, too lazy to move my own hair out of my eyes.

"Kaori, what're ya doin' out here again?" Shinji finally asked, my olive green eyes locked with his grey ones. I shrugged in response, looking back towards the stars.

"Thinking." I said nonchalantly, I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye.

"What's botherin' ya?" he asked.

He always knew, I didn't understand how but he just did. I always managed to hide it from everyone now, including my brother, but Shinji was a different story. He always could see through my lies, but he never said anything around anyone. He always waited until we were alone to talk to me about it. After years of putting up with me, I would've thought he'd get tired of it. He hadn't though, and I thanked him for that. I loved how he was always there for me, sure he was a pain in the ass but weren't we all at times?

"I'm scared." I said softly. He finally turned his head in my direction, and our eyes locked with each other's. He scooted closer to me, still staring into my eyes, and put his hand against my cheek. I smiled at the warmth of his hand and leaned my cheek into the palm of his hand. "I think…he's getting stronger." He nodded, understanding what I was talking about.

"I know it's hard Kaori, we've lasted this long though. I know he'll never be able ta over-power ya." he said, I smiled a little at the support.

I always could count on Shinji for support, even when I didn't really want it from anyone else, I'd accept it from him. We all had our inner Hollows screaming at us, trying to fight their way through our strength, trying to break us down all the time. Shinji had always been the strongest out of us, supporting everyone while taking care of himself as well. Everyone didn't really acknowledged the support, telling themselves that they got through it on their own, but they were wrong. Shinji was the real reason we'd survived like this, and I suppose I was the only one grownup enough to admit it. He was our leader, no one would admit that either. Kensei seemed more like a leader, with his strong muscles and all, but he wasn't. I knew he wouldn't have been able to support everyone the way Shinji had, and again…I was the only one that seemed to acknowledge it.

"Arigato Shinji." I said, tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear.

He nodded, giving me one of his rare serious looks. It was more common with me though, he wasn't really all that serious around everyone else; I was an entirely different case though. Shinji had always been able to be this serious with me, even back when we were in Soul Society together. Nothing had really changed between the two of us besides getting far more emotionally closer. I giggled to myself when he put his arm around my waist, pulling my back against his chest. Ok, emotionally and physically. I smiled to myself, leaning against him, and he moved my hair over my left shoulder. My smile widened feeling his lips against my neck and I turned, pressing my lips against his cheek. He chuckled, playing with a strand of my hair as we stared up at the stars together.

"His reiatsu is crazy." Shinji mumbled against my ear. I nodded in agreement, rubbing my hands up and down my bare legs.

"What's going on with him and his little gang anyway?" I asked, feeling rather melancholy at the moment

"Kisuke mentioned somethin' about these creatures called Bounts." Shinji replied, I looked at him curiously. Bounts?

"What're they trying to do?" I asked interested, tying my hair with the ribbon around my wrist.

"Break inta Soul Society usin' the powers of a Quincy." Shinji replied, setting his chin on my shoulder "They're wantin' revenge or somethin' of the sort." I chewed on my lower lip, wondering how this battle would turn out.

"You think they'll manage to?" I asked, he shrugged.

"This kid's reiatsu…it seems ta be increasin' everyday." he told me "If it's goin' like this, I'm pretty sure the Bounts won't succeed; he's strong." I clicked my tongue, thinking a little about this Kurosaki Ichigo guy.

"When we gonna recruit him?" I asked curiously "Surely not while these Bount things are running around all over the place." I looked towards him to find him shaking his head.

"Nah, we'll wait a lil while longer. Study his reiatsu a bit more." I nodded, playing with a few strands of his blonde hair. He grinned at me, kissing my forehead. "Don't look so down love. We'll be gettin' back at Aizen during the winter battle." I glanced up through my lashes, finding his eyes.

"We've waited so long." I whispered "I'm tired of waiting." His grin slid off his face, and he leaned his forehead against mine. He stared straight into my eyes, stroking my cheek with his thumb.

"Kaori, it's just a lil while longer. We'll get our revenge." he said seriously. I nodded, absentmindedly licking my dry lips.

"I know." I said quietly. He smiled one of those sincere smiles I was so used to and gently pressed his lips against mine. I shivered, feeling the wind against my skin, and pulled Shinji closer for warmth. He smiled against my lips before breaking the kiss.

"C'mon. Let's get inside for ya freeze ta death." he said with a playful tone, I glared slightly.

"Oh like you wouldn't freeze to death?" I teased, he laughed helping me to my feet. God they were freezing. My hair fell down my back to the very top of my hips, I pulled the ribbon out of my hair, knowing it would end up being blown away by the wind.

"Course not my little love." he said sarcastically. I stood on my tiptoes, flicking his forehead before I walked across the roof. Damn him and being over half a head taller than me.

He came up behind me, casually slipping his arm around my waist. I smiled slightly, swinging back into the warehouse. Shinji followed me in, taking my hand and leading me back to his room. We slipped inside his room as quietly as we could, making sure not to wake everyone, and got under the covers of his bed. I smiled, laying my head on his chest. He put an arm around me, keeping me close to him and the other behind his head. I snuggled into the warmth of his body, closing my eyes. Somehow I'd managed to stay happy after this catastrophe, perhaps it was just because of Shinji. Perhaps it wasn't. I didn't really know, just thinking back at everything…it seemed like everything concerning my past in Soul Society had all been some wonderful dream.


The pendulum swings back.

The story barreling towards the future will stop for an instant, so that we may peer into the past.

Though it was only the briefest of moments, its effects were wide-spread and long-lasting.


"Otoribashi-taichou?"

I glanced up hearing the voice of my fukutaichou and motioned him closer with my index finger. He entered the office bowing his head in respect, sliding the door shut behind him, and crossed the floor of my office. He stopped infront of my desk, handing me a report seconds later. I flipped through the report boredly, not really taking in what I was reading. I didn't have time to read this thing…or the patience.

"What's it about again?" I asked impatiently, just throwing the report on my desk.

"Ano…all the weird activity going on in Rukongai district sixteen-" he rambled, I waved my hand.

"Well that's boring." I said, scratching my head. "I'm not reading it then."

"Demo taichou!" he exclaimed. I raised an eyebrow, immediately shutting him up.

I flipped my green side bangs out of my eyes, pulling my slightly below shoulder length hair out of the low ponytail. I shook my hair around, giving it a slightly messy look to it. My layers needed to be re-cut though, they were getting too long to even look like layers anymore. I ran my hand down my face tiredly, I was getting sick of all this paperwork. Having a newly appointed fukutaichou required that I did most of it though, he was still new to his job so I basically had to do everything until he started getting in the swing of things. I played with my necklace boredly, Shinji was the one that had bought if for me. The necklace was rather gorgeous, I wore it everyday. It had a silver chain and the charm was a silver spider web with a black spider on it. I focused my thoughts away from my necklace, trying to think of something for the kid to do. I needed some alone time right about now.

I glanced up, studying his black scene cut hair, bright blue eyes, and thorn vines tattoo starting at his wrist and rapping his way up to his upper arm.. He was such an adorable kid, I couldn't get over how adorable my fukutaichou was. Even though I'd referred to him as a kid, he really wasn't. He was an adult, younger than me so I considered him a kid. He was taller than me too, the top of my head barely reached his shoulders. In a twisted way, it looked like he was my bodyguard when we were walking around together…weird. I knew for a fact that half the women in my squad were jealous I got to spend so much time with someone as sweet and nice as him. Well, I guessed that was their own fault for not being powerful enough to be a taichou. I scratched my head in thought and finally said

"Youta."

"Hai Otoribashi-taichou." he said immediately. I rolled my eyes, he really needed to lighten up though.

"Take the copy to Yamamoto-Soutaichou." I instructed, holding out the copy of the report he'd just given me.

"Hai taichou."

He took the copy from my fingers, bowed in respect, and bolted out of my office. I sighed to myself, propping my feet on my desk., and put my hands behind my head boredly. I closed my eyes, doing some serious daydreaming. Being a taichou was such hard work, I'd been doing this for a good ten years and everything about it still drove me crazy. I was hoping my brother was managing to survive and was doing a better job of it than I was. Speaking of my brother, I was having the feeling that something was bothering him. I knew immediately that it was the loss of his fukutaichou, Mikoto. Although he'd never admitted it to anyone, not even me, I knew he'd been in love with Mikoto. When she'd been killed in battle, I knew it was like a stab to his heart. I could feel his pain, just like it was my own.

Just so you know, I'm the younger sister of Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō; I'd called him Rose ever since I was a little girl though. Everyone seemed to call him that after I'd started, can someone say trend setter? We were actually twins, but I was the younger one by a good four minutes. There was this saying that twins had some sort of weird mental kind of connection, and Rose and I were no exception. I always knew when he was in battle, when he was hurting emotionally, even when he had something sneaky planned. In reverse, he knew all the same things about me. We were tighter than most siblings were, we'd never been jealous of each other. Even when I'd been promoted to taichou of the tenth division a good eight and a half years before him, he hadn't gotten jealous. That was the thing I loved about him, he was so carefree and laidback all the time. I knew he hadn't really wanted the position of taichou, but when he was nominated he didn't complain or get overly excited. He merely nodded, smiling a bit, and continued plucking on that accursed guitar of his. I never would understand why he loved that thing so much.

I smiled, thinking about Rose, and coughed hearing my door slide open.

"Don't even think about it Shinji." I opened one eye, looking at the blonde taichou standing in my doorway, and he groaned.

"Damn it, ya always catch me." he complained, I closed my eye giggling.

"After you scaring me the first thirty times, I've gotten used to you sneaking around." I stated in amusement.

"Ya can't let me have any fun, can ya?" he asked, sliding the door shut.

I pretended to ponder over his question for a moment and opened both my eyes to find him leaning forward against my desk. Did he love flirting with me or what? I raised an eyebrow, smirking a bit. I knew exactly how to handle this situation. After years of dealing with Shinji, I'd grown accustomed to his constant harassment. Weirdly enough, the idea that Rose was my older brother didn't bother him like most guys. That's the thing I liked about Shinji, he didn't care and would approach me nonetheless. Even though Rose and Shinji had been friends for years, it didn't bother Shinji in the least to hit on his friend's younger sister. Now if Yamamoto-Soutaichou had been my grandfather or something, that might've changed things.

"Nah." I replied shortly, he rolled his eyes. "Whacha doin' here anyway?"

He smirked, watching me remove my feet from ontop of my desk. I folded my arms across my chest, giving him a skeptical look. He moved his hand across the desk, pushing my side bangs out of my eyes. I forced myself not to blush, I didn't want him knowing how nervous he made me…especially since I didn't even understand it myself.

"Arigato, now why are you here?" I asked, slapping his hand away. He chuckled saying

"I'm surprised ya didn't smack my hand away sooner."

"Eh, I needed to move my bangs. I was too lazy to do it myself. You just saved me some energy." I stated, scratching the back of my neck boredly.

"Yeah? I think ya just liked me touchin' ya." he said, still grinning that same grin. I rolled my eyes at that, trying to seem not as obvious about how confused I was over him.

"Mhm, definitely. I love it when a womanizer touches me." I said, lacing my words with sarcasm. "Turns me on."

He clenched his jaw, not looking amused in the least. I sure was though, I loved getting him all upset like that. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. That, and it made me feel more safe about my confused feelings towards him. I couldn't let him find out about how frustrating I found him. I never had understood why he made me all nervous and flustered. I just had to act like it didn't effect me, even after all the years of still not being able to figure it out. Liking him had crossed my mind a time or two, but I didn't really think much on that. Especially since I knew for a fact he didn't have those feelings towards me. He saw me as a little sister, and that was it. He just flirted with me because he did that to every female…well…except Hiyori that is.

"Yer such a bitch Kaori." he muttered, I nodded in agreement. There was a wide smirk plastered across my face.

"This isn't new information to me, I've known for years that I'm a bitch." I said, still smirking at him. He rolled his eyes, not surprised that I'd say something like that. "So what's up? You've avoided my question for a good five minutes, there has to be some reason you're here." A grin stretched back on his face.

"Ya never miss anything, do ya?" he asked, I shook my head still smirking a bit.

"I've known you for years, course not." I replied, looking down at my nails boredly.

"Alright, I'll let ya in on the secret." he said, my head snapped up from my nails.

"Secret?" I asked excitedly. "What secret? Tell me!"

He chuckled at my reaction, I got so excited over secrets. I didn't know why, but I always had. I loved knowing stuff that other people didn't know, it made me feel a little more superior I guessed. That…and I liked skipping around singing 'I know something you don't know.' That always managed to piss Hiyori off, but she'd never hit me. Her anger always directed itself towards Shinji…which made it even funnier to sing the song infront of her when he was around.

"Come on Shinji, spill your guts." I demanded, still bouncing around all excited. He rolled his eyes a bit.

"It's not that kinda secret Kaori." he said seriously, I narrowed my eyes a bit.

"What's up?" I asked, being completely grownup for once.

He looked around my office, making sure there was no one outside the door, and looked back at me. I could tell by the way he was looking at me, how serious he was about this. Our eyes just some type of weird connection when he was being this serious. It was rather rare for him to be so serious with everyone else, but he'd always been more serious towards me. We trusted each other, with some of our deepest thoughts and concerns. All in all I could say that I was the closest person to Shinji, and I was able to say it with complete and total honesty.

"It's about Sousuke." he said, I let out a sigh.

I loved Shinji to death, don't get me wrong, but him and this Aizen thing was really starting to get annoying. He'd been thinking Aizen was up to something for years, but he had yet to figure it out. I thought he couldn't figure it out because there was nothing to figure out, Aizen was a nice guy. A little creepy how he'd pop out of nowhere sometimes, but a nice guy other than that. With Shinji being who he was though, he wouldn't believe that. And with how great of friends we were, I'd listen to him ramble about Aizen. I'd throw my own opinions in the mix every now and again, but besides that I'd keep my mouth shut. Shinji was a smart man, and even though I didn't want to admit it…he might've been on to something. I'd support him until he was proven wrong though, that's just how I was.

"What about Aizen?" I asked, licking my lips.

"I think I've almost figured out what he's up to." Shinji said, I sighed to myself.

"Shinji, have you considered that maybe you're blowing this all out of proportion?" I asked, trying not to anger him.

"No." he exclaimed. "He's up ta somethin, I know it." I nodded, not wanting to really believe it.

"Shinji, you're an intelligent man. But have you ever stopped and wondered if you're over analyzing everything?" I asked, tilting my head a bit.

"Kaori, come on. He's a sneak, and he's up ta somethin. I don't know what yet…but I will." he said, looking me straight in the eyes. I gazed into his eyes for a moment, before finally nodding.

"Alright Shinji, whatever you say. He has seemed rather stalker creeper lately." I said, remembering when he popped out of nowhere when I was walking with my fukutaichou from just visiting Rose. "I think he's stalking me." Shinji rolled his eyes and said

"Who'd wanna stalk you?" I wrinkled my nose playfully, what an insult.

"Apparently you." I said, spinning around in my chair. "You're in my office every bloody day."

I made an eep noise when my Shinji grabbed the armrests of my chair, leaning over me, and looking straight in my eyes. I literally felt blood rushing to my cheeks for the first time in a while at how close he was, he normally never did something this bold towards me. I stared into his eyes, feeling extremely flustered, and he finally smirked.

"Hehe, ya look rather cute when yer blushin' like his Kaori-chan." he cooed. I finally regained my bearings and managed to glare at him.

"Get outa my face Shinji." I warned.

"Aw, but I was just startin' ta have some fun." he complained, I glared again. He sighed, moving out of my face, but not before he planted a huge kiss on my forehead.

"Gah! Sexual harassment." I screamed, hiding my blood red face.

He let out a hearty laugh, taking my hands in his, moving them away from my face. I nervously looked up into his eyes, wondering how he could get a reaction like this from me of all people. Why did it have to be me? He chuckled, still staring into my eyes.

"Shinji?" I questioned, his grin widened. "Ya know, people might get the wrong idea if they saw this." He chuckled shrugging a bit.

"What's the wrong idea again Kaori?" he asked amused, I rolled my eyes.

"That we're together or something." I said, he moved his face closer. I eeped again, moving my head back. I bumped my head against my seat, letting out a small yelp of pain.

"Itai!" I exclaimed, he laughed at me.

"Well if ya wouldn't have moved-" he started.

"And let you sexually harass me again, I don't think so." I interrupted, managing to slip my hands out of his grip.

He rolled his eyes before straightening up and looked over towards the door to my office. I rubbed the back of my head, mumbling to myself, and adjusted my top since it was being rather troublesome at the moment. Oh by the way, my uniform was an original design of my own, I wore a black halter top with a white layer sewed under it. The bottom flared out a bit, since it was layered that is. My pants were designed the same way Yoruichi's were, and I had black with white outline ballet flats on. I liked being original…people didn't really seem to like it though. Who cared, not me. I heard the door open and looked up to see Youta hurry back in the room. He stopped, most likely thinking that me and Shinji were talking about some taichou stuff, and bowed.

"Gomen Otoribashi-taichou, I didn't know you were speaking with Hirako-taichou." he said quickly, looking extremely nervous. I smiled at my fukutaichou, shaking my head a bit.

"Lighten up Youta, no big deal." I said, still smiling. "He was just leaving, right Shinji?" Shinji looked at me with a look that said 'oh you little liar, I'm going to get you later for that' and nodded in agreement. He walked away from my desk, saying

"Yeah, it's no prob. See ya later Kaori."

I nodded, watching him walk out of my office before looking back at Youta. I couldn't believe he was still bowing. He really needed to lighten up, loosen up, take it easy, whatever you wanted to say that had to do with not being as serious.

"So, did Yamamoto-Soutaichou have anything to say?" I asked, waving my hand a bit.

I was tired of watching that kid bow, it was seriously getting on my nervous. He quickly stood straight, looking at me but avoiding my eyes at the same time. It started making me wonder if my eyes were that gross looking…or if I just looked mean person. I glanced over at my mirror on my desk, shaking my head to myself seeing my reflection. I didn't think I looked mean…I looked extremely nice if anything. Eh…oh well.

"Hai taichou, he said there would be a meeting with all taichou's tomorrow." Youta said, almost sounding like a robot.

I nodded, running my fingers through my hair boredly. Another taichou meeting, how fun…I hated those meetings. They were always so boring, I mean…yeah. Yamamoto-Soutaichou was awesome, but he always brought up some of the most boring shit. I'd barely be able to keep myself awake during them. I giggled to myself, remembering the one time I'd fallen asleep standing up. It'd been pretty funny until I fell face first on the floor, then it hadn't been so funny. Everyone else had laughed in amusement, but it hadn't been funny for me. My forehead had been sore for a good three days, and the headache I had afterwards wasn't fun dealing with. Also, that nice little scolding from Yamamoto-Soutaichou hadn't been pleasant to endure either. Then there was all the other taichous teasing me afterwards, every meeting now they always asked me if I was going to fall asleep again. Those assholes.

"Fukutaichous coming?" I finally asked, looking up from my mirror. He nodded, I flipped my bangs out of my eyes. "Alrighty." I said sighing. "This is gonna be fun."

"Taichou?" he said, I looked up curiously. "Ano…"

"Go on." I encouraged, he smiled slightly.

"Ayane told me of an incident when you were at a meeting." he said, still smiling. I raised an eyebrow, wondering what he was going to say. "Please don't fall asleep again." I laughed loudly, news sure traveled all over the place.

"Right…I'll try not to Youta." I said amused, he chuckled. "You'll just have to keep me awake or something I guess."

"I'll make sure I do." he promised, sounding like he wanted to laugh.

"Go ahead and laugh about it, I still do and I know everyone else does. You're no exception, so laugh damn it. It was funny." I said, trying to get him to lighten up.

He nodded, finally letting out a long, loud laugh. I giggled, happy that he was finally relaxing a little more around me, and I got around to grabbing some unfinished paperwork. I waited for him to calm down and motioned him to my desk. He stood beside me, still chucking a bit, and I felt a smile tug at my lips.

"Alright Youta, unfortunately we need to be serious now." I said, scratching my cheek absentmindedly. He nodded, looking down at the closed file. I opened up the paperwork, sighing to myself. "Alright, now you fill this part out like this."

So began the teaching of paperwork to my fukutaichou...for a good three hours; even better.


Author's Note: Alrighty, so I know a bunch of you have been waiting for this story since the preview appeared in the last chapter of His Real First Love so here it is. You all know my drill on new stories, so review or no update. I'm pretty sure you wanna know what happens, no? FIVE REVIEWS=UPDATE. Updates will be a little slower than you all remember, probably one a week since the chapters are so much longer than the ones for my other story.


PREVIEW: CHAPTER TWO

"Holy shit! The meeting starts in five minutes, fuck!"

I jumped to my feet, grabbed my haori from where it had fallen in the floor earlier, and jerked my arms through the sleeves. I shunpoed to the door, jerking it open, and ran out of my office quickly closing the door behind me. I ran across Seireitei as fast as I could, using shunpo at random. It was too early though, and after just waking up I knew shunpo wouldn't want to cooperate with me. My white taichou's haori flying all around me as I ran, I needed to speed things up.

"Ohayou Otoribashi-Taichou." someone said.

"Ohayou." I said, still running.

"Ohayou Otoribashi-Taichou." another person said.

"Ohayou." I repeated, running around a corner.

"Running late again, Otoribashi-Taichou?" someone asked.

"Shut it." I snapped, still running. Stupid people feeling the need to mock me, why was it always me?

"Ohayou Taichou." another voice said.

"Yeah yeah." I said, getting slightly annoyed with all these lame ohayous. This was not starting out to be a good day for me, so why did people have to act like it was starting out perfect?