So here's the second chapter, which is mostly establishing character for Shuki and Eiji. I've been eyeing up the story stats and I'm grateful to everyone who's read – if you feel like leaving a review then please do, I'd be overjoyed. Again, this was betaed by Reecey-Boy, and Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite, not me.

Also, this fic has now been correctly formatted and scene breaks have been added in. I had no idea wouldn't take three hyphens.


Chapter II: Alcohol, Swordfights and Betrayal.

"Reporting for duty, Captain Higa!" Hinamori said as enthusiastically as she could, bowing.

It had all come out of the blue. When the butterfly had fluttered down to Hinamori and told her, she had called Hitsugaya immediately. He'd told her, with shock colouring his voice, that he hadn't heard anything about new captains. She'd heard him yelling at Rangiku to ask her, and then reported, a little sulkily, that she knew nothing either.

The butterfly had specified that she was to meet Captain Higa at the Fifth Division Training Grounds, so she'd washed, dressed and headed out to meet her there. Now she was there, Higa was – not what she was expecting, somehow.

(A part of her had expected a woman with fluffy brown hair, thick rimmed glasses and a comforting smile, but she had tried to quash that part of her.)

"Lieutenant Hinamori?" Shuki asked, turning around and discarding her haori. Hinamori noted that she was barefoot. "You're shorter than I thought you'd be. Younger, too. You looked older in the picture, somehow."

Hinamori knew the picture she meant. It had been taken during the record updates, after she'd woken up from Aizen's attack on her. Her eyes had been dull, her skin pale and blotchy, her hair unkempt despite her best attempts to tame it. Stress hadn't been kind to her back then.

"I didn't know we were getting a new captain," she said with a bright smile at Shuki. Shuki smiled back, putting her hands on her hips.

"Temporary captain. Eiji, Ginrei and I are only here until permanent replacements can be found," Shuki said. "We were called in very abruptly. Speaking of, avoid Captain Kougami Eiji like the plague. He'll try to seduce you, and a sweet girl like you deserves better."

Hinamori turned bright red. "O-oh. I'll, erm, I'll keep that in mind."

"Do. He's a fiend when he's drunk, and he's always drunk. He's even worse when he's on the opium at the same time," Shuki shook her head slightly. "Just tell me or Captain Kuchiki if he tries anything."

Hinamori blinked. "Captain Kuchiki?"

"Ginrei," Shuki clarified. "Not his grandson. Although I'm sure Byakuya would deal with him too, but I wouldn't want to inflict that on the poor man."

Hinamori was suddenly very concerned about Kira, if his options for captain were either a drunken drug addict or Kuchiki Byakuya's grandfather, whom she could only imagine was even colder and more steely than his grandson.

"So," Shuki said suddenly, moving towards Hinamori. "You were Aizen's protégé?"

Hinamori went cold. "Y-yes," she said, standing stock still as the taller woman moved past her. "Captain Aizen was my captain for a very long time."

"Captain Aizen?" Shuki asked, sounding amused in the same way that Hinamori imagined a lioness would sound amused by a baby gazelle. "Didn't he screw that up when he became a traitor? He's just Aizen now. Aizy to his friends."

"Y-yes," Hinamori stammered. "Just Aizen. I ... forget. Sometimes. It's not been long since he left."

Shuki came to a stop a little way behind her, looking up at the trees and blowing out a long breath. "It damaged you pretty bad when he betrayed you, didn't it? But you don't sound angry about it at all. Pretty weird, if you ask me. I reckon I'd be out for his head on a stake if he did that to me."

Hinamori frowned, staring at the floor. "Captain Higa ... did you call me here to talk to me about Aizen?"

There was a long pause. Shuki sighed quietly.

"No," she said, drawing her sword, "I called you here to kill you."


When Kira opened the doors to the Third Division barracks, the roar from within was almost deafening.

"Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink!"

Captain Kougami Eiji – he presumed from the white haori, at least – was downing a bowl of sake, while opposite him the Fourth Seat, a large and hirsute man with a heavy beard, downed his own bowl, his eyes fixed on the captain.

They slammed down their bowls at the same time with a loud clatter. The Fourth Seat wobbled in his seat slightly, glowering at the captain as several unseated shinigami hurried over to top up their bowls. Eiji lounged with his zanpakuto beside him and one arm propped up on a raised knee, smiling in a way that reminded Kira of nothing more pleasant than Ichimaru Gin.

"Want to place another bet?" Eiji's smile widened into a toothy grin.

"What're you offerin'?" The Fourth Seat replied.

"Captaincy over the Third Division!" Eiji said happily, "if you win. If I win, I get your wages for a month."

"Fine!" The Fourth Seat said, slamming down a hand. "Let's do this, prettyboy. One."

Kira just stared. Why was nobody speaking up about this? The Third Division wasn't the Eleventh, they weren't some chaotic rabble of drunk brawlers. The new captain had only arrived an hour ago.

"Two," the Fourth Seat said. "Three!"

"Drink!" The crowd yelled. "Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink!"

Both men downed their drinks. There was a long silence. Eiji shook himself off slightly. The Fourth Seat leant forward, as if to taunt him, and then kept leaning until he crashed into the table. A cheer rose from the crowd, although Kira had no doubt that they would've cheered just as loud if the Fourth Seat had won.

"Captain Kougami?" Kira asked hesitantly.

He turned, smiling at Kira. "Lieutenant Hangdog, I assume?"

"Excuse me?" Kira blinked. He paused, quickly gathering himself. "Lieutenant Kira, sir. I've been in charge of the Third until now. It's good to meet you. I look forward to working together."

Eiji grinned, gesturing down at the seat the Fourth Seat had been in.

"Ah," Kira started, eyeing it. "I couldn't. Really."

"C'mon, lad," Eiji drawled slowly, "relax, calm down, have a few drinks. We can get to know each other. Hey, it might even make you cheer up a little."

Kira blanched, but slowly eased the Fourth Seat out of the seat.

"So," Eiji said, "what're we betting?"

"We – we're competing?" Kira asked, feeling a slight tinge of panic set in. The captain had just drunk a man twice his size beneath a table, after all.

"Of course, man," Eiji chuckled, "don't worry, you have a massive advantage."


Shuki's sword whistled over Hinamori's head, cleaving through a tree. As it changed direction, swinging down diagonally, Hinamori raised her sword. The two crashed together with a shower of sparks, the force shoving her down onto her knees.

"What's wrong?" Shuki asked, her sword edging towards Hinamori's face. "Aren't you going to fight back? It's no fun killing you if you just let me."

Hinamori grit her teeth.

"Carriage of thunder, bridge of the spinning wheel," she said softly. Her eyes were stinging, and it was getting difficult to see. She could feel the edge of her sword scraping just lightly against her forehead. "With light, divide this into six. Way of Binding Sixty-One: Six Rods Prison of Light."

Light burst forth from her finger, arcing around into six wide beams of light and slamming into Shuki's midsection. Shuki froze, paralysed save for a twitch in her face, as Hinamori rolled away.

"Disintegrate, you black dog of Rodanini," she said, tracing a symbol in the air. Red light trailed from her fingers. "Look upon yourself in horror and then claw out your own throat. Way of Binding Nine: Strike." Red light surrounded Shuki, stilling the last vestiges of movement.

Hinamori took another step back, a hand raised defensively. "I don't understand," she protested, "I don't know why you're doing this, Captain Higa. I don't want to fight you."

She expected the burst of spiritual pressure from the captain, fragmenting the air as the red outline around her was overtaken with a burning purple light. The rods holding her started to crack, shards of light drifting off them. Before Hinamori could react, a wave of purple spread outwards, shattering the rods. Hinamori held her arms up defensively.

She raised her sword as she felt a rush of air, metal hitting metal as Shuki appeared in front of her. "You can do better than that, Hinamori," Shuki grinned. "Do you just bind all your opponents?"

Hinamori leapt backwards, holding her sword up. The words came out gratingly, forced from between her teeth: "Snap, Tobiume." Tobiume glowed pink, plum blossoms flitting off it as it widened, three prongs protruding from its side.

Hinamori flicked it around, fire rippling up the edge into a bolt of red-pink flame, rocketing towards Shuki.

"That's more like it," Shuki chuckled as she batted it away with her sword. Hinamori flickered out of view, reappearing behind her, another blast of flame arcing towards her back. She dodged, reappearing up in the trees. Another blast of flame came up from beneath her, scorching through the wood and leaves. Shuki vanished again.

"Way of Binding Four: Crawling Rope," she said, throwing out her three hand. A yellow rope wound out of it, snaking towards Hinamori.

"Way of Destruction Four," Hinamori replied sharply. "White Lightning."

The bolt of energy hit the rope in mid air, disintegrating it and whistling over Shuki's shoulder. "I always was terrible with the Demon Arts," Shuki admitted.

Hinamori swung her sword, levelling another fireball at her. Shuki dodged, flickering out of the way of another fireball as it whistled through the air.

"If you know those won't work, why do you keep using them?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's a distraction," Hinamori said, stabbing her sword into the ground. "Five points of light, connect and burn. Beast of the North, howl; Beast of the East, weep; Beast of the West, laugh; Beast of the South, speak; Beast of the Centre, be silent."

Shuki looked down. Where the errant fireballs had struck there were five perfectly spaced craters, each one now glowing with coloured light. "You clever cow. I like you."

Hinamori twisted her sword about. "Way of Destruction Seventy-Five: Five Pillar Convergance."

Five pillars of light arose, the central white pillar catching Shuki with a roar of energy. Around her, red, blue, green and yellow pillars moved in until they crashed in on her, burning brilliantly white, splitting the clouds open above them.

A few seconds later there was a rush of wind and the pillar disintegrated. Shuki's kimono was scorched slightly, her hair singed as smoke drifted off her sword. "Nice, lieutenant."

"Do I pass then?" Hinamori asked, sheathing her sword.

Shuki lowered an eyebrow a little. "How'd you know it was a test?"

Hinamori ducked her head. "Well, I didn't at first – but you never hit me. As a captain, I ... I suppose if you wanted to kill me you could've just released your zanpakuto and struck me down. You needed to connect swords with me to feel what I was like."

Shuki tilted her head back, grinning. "You're going to go far , Hinamori."


"I ... trusted him, yeah?" Kira slurred. "'Cause, 'cause he was my cap'n, and you're s'pposed t'trust your cap'n. An' he stabbed me in the back."

Two things were abundantly clear to Kira. Firstly, that even as he said this he would regret it as soon as he was sober. Secondly, that his captain had probably spiked his sake with something stronger, and that was probably how he'd been winning all the drinking contests so far.

"Aizen too. I liked Aizen. He was like, like, like a mentor to me. You know?" Kira said dejectedly. "And Tousen seemed nice. A bit intense. He – he talked a lot about justice. A lot. All the time."

"I read his column," Eiji said sympathetically.

Most of the Third Division had even fallen asleep or slunk off by now, when it was clear that the drinking contest had just turned into mutually companionable alcohol consumption.

"You just don't expect someone who, who talks that much about justice to stab you in the back," Kira said. He gulped down a little more sake. "Hisagi seemed to think he was a ... a ... really good guy."

"You can't trust people with highfalutin moral codes," Eiji said. "People with that many morals will always put their beliefs before people, you know? Now a drunk, you can trust a drunk with your life. Drunks are honest."

"You would say that," Kira said.

"I would," Eiji agreed distractedly, looking up at a black butterfly fluttering through the window to alight upon his shoulder.

"Captain Kougami, please report to a captain's meeting immediately."

Eiji considered this for a moment, before holding his sake bowl up to the butterfly.


"Three new captains?" Soi-Fon asked, folding her arms. "Who oversaw their examinations? Why were none of us notified? Why have we never heard of two of them before?"

"I oversaw their examinations," Yamamoto said, opening an eye. "Nobody else was necessary. They have Kuchiki Ginrei's faith, which is good enough for all of you."

"Forgive me," Unohana said, giving Yamamoto a sidelong look. "But this is very abrupt. Those captaincies have remained open for months, and now you appoint three temporary captains simultaneously, without using the usual methods. Is there something we should know?"

The doors swung open before Yamamoto could respond. Ginrei stood beyond, his students behind him, framed by the afternoon light.

"Maaan," Eiji said after a few moments of silent staring, lifting a sake bowl to his lips. "This is awkward."

Ginrei tilted his head, his expression steely as he surveyed the captains. "I understand that this is very sudden for all of you. But the Captain-Commander has made it perfectly clear to me that this is a situation of urgency,with a crisis threatening us," he stepped forward into the captain's hall, his arms folded behind him. "Rest assured, they are more than capable of serving."

"That is not the concern," Byakuya said sharply.

"If we need temporary captains, then Lieutenant Abarai and Substitute Shinigami Kurosaki could fulfil those roles," Komamura added.

"Who cares?" Kenpachi snapped.

"Allow me to explain," Ginrei said. "As you are all aware, there is no provision for retirement in the Gotei Thirteen, so I shan't have anyone accusing me of pretending to be retired. You were all," he gave Byakuya a long look, "completely aware that I was still serving in some capacity, and that whatever role I had taken on, it was secretive."

Byakuya met his gaze, one eyebrow rising by a microfraction of a millimetre.

"Upon my departure from the Gotei Thirteen, the Captain-Commander set me the task of locating and training talented shinigami to operate outside of the bounds of the Gotei Thirteen, to be drawn upon in cases of emergencies. With a smaller number of students, I could accelerate their training."

"These two are the products of your focused training?" Soi-Fon asked incredulously.

"They are young, arrogant, filled with vice and wouldn't be able to tie their shoelaces without causing chaos if I wasn't around to keep them in line," Ginrei admitted. "But their skill is undeniable, and if I'll be brutally honest – hiring practices have always been more about power than personality." His eyes flicked over to Kenpachi.

"What do Lieutenants Kira and Hinamori think about this?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Lieutenant Kira is currently sobering up, but he seemed very complimentary. Captain Kougami is apparently his new best friend," Unohana said mildly. She turned, smiling gently at Eiji, "Captain Kougami, if it isn't too much trouble, please don't throw any more of your parties again. My division barracks are full of your men having fallen unconscious, gotten into fights, or had accidents while intoxicated."

Eiji took a step back, stammering. "I – I – I mean, yes. Of course, C-captain Unohana."

"Dork," Shuki whispered under her breath.

"Oh, that's perfectly okay," Unohana said kindly, "but we will have to have words if it happens again, Captain Kougami. I'm sure you won't have any problem with that, Ginrei?"

"None at all, Captain Unohana," Ginrei said, bowing slightly.

Soi-Fon scowled. "This still doesn't explain why no other captains were informed - ..."

Yamamoto's cane slammed against the floor. "Silence!" He opened his eyes, glaring at the gathered captains. "My word on this is final."

Silence fell on the captain's hall again. It was Ukitake who spoke first, coughing nervously. "Well, now that that's dealt with: Captain Kurotsuchi. You were going to make a report to us?"

Mayuri tilted his head, eyes going wide, lips peeling back to reveal bright golden teeth. "Ye-e-es. I've been personally overseeing research on the composition of the red orb found in the Hollow that Captain Kougami and Captain Higa destroyed this morning." He flicked a hand, a transparent projection of several red shards appearing in the air. "The orb is a machine for drawing in particles of spiritual energy – part of the reason we were able to analyse it so quickly was because of similar work on the Quincy. When embedded with it, a lifeform becomes dependent on it, but in exchange their power and abilities are vastly increased by the ability to draw massive amounts of energy from their surroundings."

Ukitake frowned. "So the giant Hollow ... ?"

"A regular Hollow, physically altered by the power of the orb. When used on a Menos, the transformation would be quite catastrophic," Mayuri's grin grew a little bit wider, "my calculations suggest that a Gillian embedded with an orb would rapidly evolve into a Vasto Lorde."

Ukitake's eyes widened. "That's impossible."

Mayuri swung his gaze towards him, cocking his head the other way. "Well, there's always a margin for error."

"An ability like that could make an army of hundreds of Vasto Lordes," Soi-Fon said. "Soul Society would be torn apart."

"Captain-Commander," Ginrei said suddenly. "Permission to begin working with the Kido Corps and the Second Division to more heavily fortify the Court of Pure Souls?"

"Permission granted," Yamamoto said immediately. "Work with Captain Kurotsuchi and the Twelfth Division on it as well."

"Thank you, Captain-Commander," Ginrei replied, bowing his head a little. "We'll need to be well-prepared if there's the possibility of a Vasto Lorde attack."

"It gets worse," Mayuri said with obvious glee. "The Hollow that entered Soul Society earlier this morning entered during the patrol duty change, in a surveillance blind spot that had been created by targeted sabotage of our alert systems. My division has begun repairs on the alert systems already, but the sabotage allowed it to sneak very close before our alarms went off."

Soi-Fon tilted her head. "My division was in charge of adjusting the alert systems codes, locations and defences after Kaname Tousen's defection. The only people with access to both that information and the patrol duty rosters would be a captain."

"Correct," Mayuri said.

Yamamoto let out a long breath. "Then it is as I suspected. We have a traitor within Soul Society."


Okay, next chapter will be up in a week. Reviews are always appreciated, and thank you for reading.