Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach on any Character contained within. I also do not own any of the Characters contained herein who were barrowed from various other manga. All rights go to their respective authors. Please support the official release of all Manga in the Unite States. The only character I claim any rights to is Uri Takeda a character of my own invention, any similarity he has to any persons, real/fictional/living/dead is complete coincide.

Note: Wow, this has been up only two days and I already have five reviews. Thanks Everyone for your support and criticism. Ten points to anyone who can name which four Manga I am barrowing Characters from.

Chapter 1: A New Day

Hinamori opened her eyes on a cold winter day in the early morning. It was not the first time she had woken up, in fact it was the third time that night. The last few days had been hard on her, since she had regained consciousness. She had half expected to wake up and find that everything had been a long bad dream and that she would see Captain Aizen in his wide brimmed glasses sitting by his desk like he had on that last fateful night. He wasn't. Instead she was still trapped in the Fourth Squad's medical center. She was still trapped in a world without Aizen.

She had been in a world that was lacking Aizen for a few months by that point. Ever since he had stabbed her and left Soul Society it had seemed like there was one giant hole in her heart where he should have been. She tried her best to get on with her duties and the other captains had been very kind to help her out, but it was almost too hard. Now it was nearly impossible. She wasn't just in a world where Aizen was gone, she was in a world where he was dead and never coming back. She had heard that news four days before when she first regained consciousness. She still couldn't believe it, that a whole week had passed since Aizen's death. She couldn't stand it.

Her dreams didn't really help her out either. They haunted her every night, and nearly every morning. She had the darkest nightmares of that most horrible day when the last of the solid ground she had built her life on had slipped away. After Aizen had left the only thing that she had, had been her friends and the other captains, especially Toshiro. But on that last final day, the first time she had seen Aizen since he left, she was attacked by Toshiro and the other captains and now she was broken. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see them coming. Warriors stronger then she could imagine cursing her and charging her with all their strength and that last horrible moment when Toshiro cut her down. It hurt just to think about it.

So she didn't think about it. She refused to sleep or to let her mind wander. She focused on other things. Like what she would do tomorrow when they finally let her leave and get back to work. She thought of all the things she would have to do for her squad. All the paper work that would be piling up, and all the assignments that had be given out; it was a lot of work but there was no one else to do it. So she lay in her bed and quietly thought over everything she would have to do in the coming morn.

The sun rose the next morning very slowly as if it had much better things to do that day then provide the Soul Society with light. As it crested the horizon all the members of the fourth squad made their way in and started to divide up their chores. Captain, Unohana came in to personally check on Hinamori's wounds and then sign her release forms. After that Hinamori dressed herself very quickly and left the medical center. She was careful to only walk back to the fifth Squad barracks like Unohana had ordered her to. She was surprised that no one came to meet her as she made her way back. It made her feel rather lonely and kind of depressed.

The Fifth Squad main office was empty, but it was already late in the day by the time she got there so most of the Death Gods would've already received their assignments or retired to the barracks for the day. She made her way over to the main office to get started on her paper work. She was surprised to see the light on in the room and the door slightly ajar, inside she saw the Fifth Squad third seat: Guts Griffith seated at the main desk quietly doing paper work.

Griffith was a man of a man. He stood well over six feet tall and he body was a patch work of old cuts, bruises and well defined muscles. He had black hair and dark eyes with a sharply defined face. He always closed his right eye and squinted through his left. He wore the standard Death God uniform of a black Kimono and kept his sword tucked on the inside of his cloak. He was missing his left arm and had a look of frustration on his face as he struggled through his paper work with only one hand. He made no attempt to either great or recognize Hinamori as she entered and only looked up when she first spoke to him.

"Good morning Guts, need any help doing my paper work?" Hinamori asked in as chipper a voice as she could muster. Guts glared at her with a look that could've sliced through stone. He had lived with his disability since he first went to the living world forty years earlier; he had never allowed it to keep him from doing anything.

Hinamori laughed to herself and took the seat opposite him and got to work. After a while he calmed down a bit and spoke to her. "I heard you were out of the hospital, I didn't think that you would come here so quickly. You should go visit with some of the other Vice Captains I can handle things here."

"I am surprised you're doing them at all, it's been years since I last saw you file a report." Hinamori responded avoiding much of what Guts had said.

"It's one of his changes." Guts hissed to her without thinking about what he had said.

Hinamori caught it though and asked, "Whose changes?"

"They didn't tell you?"

Hinamori shook her head, none of the captains or many people at all had visited her in the medical center. She hadn't heard heads or tails of anything that had happened since the battle, other than Aizen's death.

"The Commander decided it would be wiser to cover up Aizen's rebellion then to deal with it. All information about the last few months has been covered up. The official statements say that Kaname Tosen has been promoted to the Royal Special Forces and that Aizen was challenged to a dual by the substitute Death God Ichigo Kurosaki and slain in fair combat. Ichigo has since taken over the Fifth Squad. Aizen will be given a full military funeral this afternoon."

Hinamori was stunned. She had known that Aizen would be replaced for betraying Soul Society but she hadn't thought that it would come so quickly and she had never imagined it could've been a former intruder. It didn't seem fair. Aizen wasn't even buried yet and they were already giving his squad away to some newcomer. But she tried not to let this show on her face.

"That's good." She said calmly, "Aizen will be remembered for all the good work he did, it's too bad I can't go to the funeral though. I'll have to do a lot of work to get the squad ready for Ichigo's new Vice Captain, and I need to put in a transfer request to seventh squad. I hear they need a new Vice Captain soon. And I'll need to…"

Guts interrupted her: "Ichigo has actually requested that you stay on a Vice Captain here. He thinks at least one person in the command structure should know what they're doing."

Hinamori was stunned again, she thought that Ichigo had a thing for Rukia Kuchiki, or at least that's what all the rumors said. She wasn't sure she liked this though. "Well then I need to get ready to meet my new captain. When will he get here?"

"Not till the late afternoon. Ichigo still lives in the living world. But he comes in every day at four o'clock or so. But he told me yesterday that he doesn't want to see you till tonight."

"Why not?" Hinamori said a little concerned and relieved at the same time,

"He's ordered you to go to Aizen's funeral and get some 'closure' with him. He said he doesn't want to see you till you're ready." Hinamori was silent. She was eager to go see Aizen one last time and at the same time she dreaded it. Guts continued, "It'll start in about twenty minutes you should get going."

She paused for a moment still not entirely certain of what to do and then she said, "I will be back as soon as it's over to meet with the new captain."

"Don't bother, the Funeral won't end till five and by then the captain and I will already be over at the Academy for an official inspection and he doesn't want to be disturbed during it."

"But the Academy was closed when Aizen left, when did you all reopen it?"

"We sent runners out this morning. They all should be there by now."

"A lot of students won't be ready, what was he thinking? Aizen wouldn't have…" Hinamori caught herself just before she uttered what she was thinking.

"No he wouldn't have," Guts said finishing her thought, "Aizen assumed you were weak till you proved that you were strong. Ichigo assumes you're strong till you prove him wrong."

"That's strange." Hinamori said grasping for something more to say.

"He's strange. He complains all the time about the work he has to do, but he does it all extremely well. He's slow to start doing anything, but once he starts he does it quickly and single-mindedly. He's impulsive and a bit reckless but he's also impossible to stop. It's like he doesn't know how to do anything any other way then perfectly, and he assumes that you don't either. You'll see what I mean later."

"I probably will. I should get going. See you later Guts."

"See you later Momo."

Skip

Earlier that morning several members of the Fifth Squad went out and ordered all of the teachers and students of the academy to prepare to return to class later that day. For the most part the operation went without a hitch. They showed up and were answered by an adult of one kind or another said what they had to say and left before everyone started complaining. But there were a few incidents of note. The first happened at a building that couldn't be called a house in the same sense the Mt. Everest can't be called a hill.

Most houses are places where people live, but this was a building where places lived. It was huge. It dwarfed every building around it and was itself full of many kinds of buildings and all kinds of different room. It had a lake, a garden, a game room, dozens of bed rooms, a bath house, a zoo, several dining rooms, two forges, three visible kitchens and not many people at all. The messengers had knocked on the door and it had opened up without there being any one there. They came in and no one greeted them, they wandered around and no one scolded them, they called out and no one answered. Eventually they saw some smoke rising from a distant chimney and rushed over to it.

At the chimney they found a large open kitchen that seemed as if it could've housed an army as well as fed one. There were dozens of ovens, several of which were lit and all joined together into one giant chimney. There were a dozen boiling pots and several red hot frying pans. There were two sinks full of dirty dishes, and several stacks of clean dishes. There was also one boy moving amongst the whole thing. The boy was not moving faster than the eye could follow but he was moving far faster than the mind would believe. He did not run, he did not disappear between steps either. He walked far faster than a sprinter could've run as if he was crossing less space then he seemed to. He moved and he arrived and very little time passed between the two.

After a few moments one of the two men spoke, "Is this the residence of Hayate Ayasashi?"

"Speaking." The blue haired boy said as he froze mid dash, with two red hot frying pans in his hands, a pot of boiling water on his knee and a half dozen plates, two glasses and a tea pot balancing on his head. All of which didn't seem possible since the boy was barely five and half feet tall and was built like a twig with a fairly effeminate face.

"Is this also the residence of Nagi Sazenin?"

"Yes but she's still asleep."

"Is there anyone else living here?"

"No."

"Then why are you cooking so much?"

"If I do all the cooking for the week this morning then I have more time to clean the rooms, fish out the pond, tend the smithies, do the laundry, replace the winter furniture with the new spring furniture, feed the animals, tend the garden, and…" Hayate explained as he set the pot of boiling water down on a stove, removed his shoe and started flipping a frying pan full of rice with his foot.

"And what does Nagi do during all of this?" One of Death Gods asked sensing that this could go on.

"She studies and reads up on current events."

"That seems a little one sided doesn't it?"

"Well I can't study for her now can I? I believe you gentlemen have something to tell me."

"Ah yes, we have been sent to tell you, that by order of Captain Ichigo the Death God academy is to resume classes to day and you all are required to attend."

"Oh good, I am certain that Nagi will be happy to hear that. Thank you gentlemen, now if you'll pardon me, I have to get back to work."

"Right then, sorry to bother you." The Death Gods said as they quietly left and Hayate resumed his dashing run.

A dozen streets away another pair of Death Gods came upon a much smaller building and knocked on the door. They were greeted by a teenage boy who had black hair and sharp green eyes. He was wearing very little and looked like he had just woken up.

"Is this the residence of Takashi Kumori?"

"Speaking." The boy responded as he yawned.

"By order of Captain Ichigo the Death God Academy will resume its classes today and you are required to come."

"Who the heck is Captain Ichigo? I thought that Aizen was in charge of the academy."

"He was. Ichigo defeated him in a dual and has taken control of the squad."

"That so huh? Well you hear that Rei? We're going back to school."

Behind him a girl sat up in bed also with rather little clothes on and smiled at Takashi and said, "Oh good, I will get dressed right away."

The Death Gods turned red when they saw her, but quickly recovered themselves and said to Takashi, "Wait a minute are you sleeping together?" They demanded to know.

"What?" Takashi said, pretending not to hear properly, "You're sleeping together. Well congratulations."

"No, we asked if you're sleeping together."

"Wow, that's a big confession for two men to make even in this day and age. But why do you think they're telling me this Rei?"

"Maybe they want you to spread the word for them." Rei suggest snickering to herself.

"What a bother, why can't two gay guys tell their friends themselves. Well I guess we can make some flyers and spread them around the court of pure souls but it seems like an awful lot of work." Takashi said as he closed the door in their face.

"Wait a moment don't you close this door!"

"What? Did you say your wife's a whore? Well I'll tell her that to if you insist."

One of the Death Gods gripped his sword and swore under his breath, the other one simply laughed and called his friend away. There was no point going any further with a couple like them. A few streets further on they came up to another house and banged on the door. But there wasn't an answer, so they banged again. Still no answer. So they turned to someone nearby and spoke to him.

"Is that the house of Uri Takeda?" they asked

"It is." The old man responded.

"Could you tell us where he is we have a message for him."

"Oh, he's still home, just shout at him and he'll answer, soon or later."

The Death Gods shrugged and turned back to the house, cupped their hands together and shouted, "URU TEKADA! BY ORDER OF CAPTAIN ICHIGO THE DEATH GOD ACADEMY IS TO RESUME CLASSES TODAY! YOU HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO ATTEND."

There was no response from the old shack of a house. The Death Gods looked at each other and repeated the message. Still there was no response so one of them yelled, "THAT MEANS YOU HAVE TO GET READY AND LEAVE!"

"Do you think he heard us?" One asked the other.

"I don't know, maybe we should go in."

"And risk walking in on a situation like the last house? No thank you. Just shout it again."

The other one cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled "URU TAKEDA…."

Just then the door opened and a tall boy with short red hair came out dressed in the typical white and red uniform of male students yawning to himself. He walked past them scratching his head and turned to them and mumbled to them, "I heard you the first time." And then he left.

Skip

Hayate finished preparing that week's food shortly after the Death Gods had left. He honestly enjoyed his work. He felt that hard work was the salvation of his soul and he was always happy to get to do any work at all. In his life his family had been gambled into incredible poverty, he had worked hard to feed himself but his parents even gambled away that money. He had died alone, poor, over worked and hungry. He had hoped that the afterlife would be different but when he first came to soul society it had been a huge let down.

Most people never got hungry in soul society so most people didn't have to work. Since few people worked few people had money to buy anything. Since no one really bought anything there weren't many jobs to go around. Hayate had spent more than a year trying to find a job, at first he wanted to keep busy but later on he started getting hungry and then he really got in trouble. He probably would've starved to death in a land without hunger if it hadn't been for Ms. Nagi. Nagi had found him on the streets and given him food. After finding out the story of his life and after life she allowed him to come and work as her butler and for that he was eternally grateful. It was that gratitude which allowed him to put up with a lot of things about Nagi which would've broken any lesser worker. Like her impeccably good throwing arm and surprising accuracy in the early mornings.

"It's too early!" Nagi said groggily as she threw a small bust at Hayate at a speed which a quarter back would've been jealous of.

Hayate dodged to the side as the bust flew out the window. "You have to get ready for classes Nagi, or else we'll be late."

"Classes have been canceled for months." Nagi countered as she grabbed the fire poker and hurled it like a javelin at her caretaker.

"The Captain said to come back this morning and so you have to come." Hayate said as he caught the poker an inch or so away from his eyes.

"You can't make me!" Nagi declared as she grabbed her throwing pillow which was had a seven pound led weight in it.

"Good Morning Ms. Nagi!" A crystal clear voice called out from outside the window. In a flash Nagi rushed over to the window and glared out of it down into the courtyard beneath. Down there, just outside of the compound itself was her eternal rival. Hime Lillian was the second daughter of a powerful noble in the western court of wandering souls. They had known each other their whole lives and had fought over everything. Any other pair would've slugged it out by now, but since they were both nobles they had to be chillingly and icily polite to each other instead.

"Good Morning Ms. Hime! My don't you look lovely this day!" Nagi called out as she waved to her 'friend'.

"Not as good as you Nagi! Is that a new pair of PJs? They look so good on you." Hime responded, she had blond hair and deep blue eyes. She radiated a calm attitude but her words had been carefully chosen. Behind her stood a normal looking boy who only smiled awkwardly at Hayate as if to ask for his patients with her. Hayate returned the look.

"Thank you! I see you're wearing out spring uniform, so it's off to school for you?" Nagi asked as she smiled brightly.

"Oh yes, I am sure to see you there. Well bye for now Nagi." Hime said as she left.

Nagi's smile died in an instant as she quickly turned to Hayate and swept through the room. She grabbed her School uniform and changed in an instant as she threw her old clothes to him.

"Burn these." She ordered and then went down stairs to eat.

"Yes Ms. Nagi." Hayate said sighing to himself. But instead he buried them in her closet once she had left. He knew her better than she did in truth. A few moments later he came downstairs and the moment he hit the floor Nagi jumped up on his back.

"Carry me to school." She ordered, "We need beat those two there."

"But Ms. Nagi they already have a five minute head start and I can't flash step."

"Yes but you can out run Takashi who can without it. Now get us there before they do."

"Yes Ms. Nagi." Hayate sighed and took off at a run. It wasn't flash step to be certain. Flash step doesn't lift up a girl's skirt when one goes by. Hayate could close and open doors as he went past them.

Skip

Maka Alburn sat on top of the south gate to the academy. The south gate faced the court of pure souls so not many people used it except for people that Maka happened to like. Once such person was Uri Takeda. Why Maka like Uru was beyond any of the teachers. Maka was a genius, and a dedicated worker to boot. She was the youngest sixth year student and stood out in a crowd no matter which way one figured it. From her blond hair to her authoritative walk and attitude Maka was a born leader. Uru was a born rebel. He never worked unless in a pass or fail situation. He never studied even then. He had been at the Academy for over seven years and tended to blend into a crowd with his black hair and bad hunch. But they liked each other nonetheless.

As the clock came closer and closer to sounding the start of classes, Uri turned to Maka and said, "They're not going to make it."

"Yes they will." Maka answered without looking up from the encyclopedia sized book she was holding.

"Nagi and Hayate will make it here first." Uri added.

"No they won't." Maka denied.

"I'll bet you my lunch they will." Uri said.

"You're on." Maka confirmed. A few moments passed without much event till Maka looked up and said, "Here they come now."

From up the road came Hime and her shadow walking slowly down the south road. They could've come through the north gate far faster but they never did, they preferred the south gate.

"Good morning Hime." Maka called out as she saw them.

"Good morning Maka, did Uri bet on me or on Nagi this morning."

"He bet on Nagi."

"Bad bet."

"I wouldn't be too sure Hime." The boy behind her said as they approached, "The bets not over till we cross the gate."

"To true Hiro." Hime responded, "But Maka never loses a bet." As if to prove Hiro's words Nagi and Hayate came charging out from down the road and quickly started to overtake Hime and Hiro who were just feet away from the main gate. Victory for them should've been impossible but Hayate came at them at full speed and crossed they huge distance between them in mere seconds. For a moment it seemed that they would pull a come from behind victory when disaster struck.

"Maka Chop." Maka said calmly as she brought her book down on Hayate's head driving him into the ground mere inches away from victory. Hime and Hiro crossed the gate a second later to secure victory yet again.

Uru didn't even look up, he simply said, "that's cheating Maka,"

"No it's not." A new voice declared as Takashi and Rei rounded the corner and spied out their friends. "Hime crossed first so you owe Maka your lunch."

"She interfered." Uri responded.

"Hayate should've ducked." Rei said. The group laughed as the warning bell rang and they entered the academy grounds.

"Not a whole lot of people here." Rei observed,

"They didn't give us a lot of time to get ready." Nagi explained.

"That's rather unlike captain Aizen normally he gives us fair warning before the break ends." Hiro commented.

"It wasn't Aizen, it was some new captain named Ichigo." Takashi explained.

"What happened to Aizen?" Hayate asked who now remembered that the Death Gods had said something similar to him.

"I heard Ichigo killed him in a dual." Takashi said, priding himself as the source of information, but the look that Uru sent him could have melted ice. It was too late though, Maka had heard it and she started to look depressed.

"Don't worry Maka, I am sure that Aizen is fine, he probably got promoted." Hime said encouraging her friend.

"Yeah after class we'll find out what really happened." Nagi said to reinforce Hime.

"Speaking of classes," Uru said just as the thirty second bell rang, "We had better hurry."

End Chapter 1.