Disclaimer- I do not own Bleach, never have and never will.
Chapter Two- New Recruits
Her captain had departed for the world of the living earlier that morning and, much to her dismay, Squad Ten vice-captain Rangiku Matsumoto found herself once again in charge of the every day affairs of Squad Ten. She was seated at the captain's desk, forcing herself to work on the small stack of paperwork that Captain Hitsugaya had left behind when he'd left, when she heard a knock on the door.
Grateful beyond measure for the reprieve, however brief it may turn out to be, Matsumoto glanced up from her papers and focused her gaze on the office door. "Come in."
The door slid open, barely making a sound, and Head Captain Ukitake stepped into the office. He closed the door behind himself, made his way across the room, and offered Matsumoto a knowing smile. "How are things Rangiku?"
Matsumoto's first impulse was to complain about her current situation and she opened her mouth to do just that however one look at the Head Captain's face was enough to make her change her mind. Ukitake was doing a good job of leading the Thirteen Court Guard Squads however the stress of the job was plainly visible in his eyes. "Things are going alright sir."
Head Captain Ukitake nodded his head in understanding, fully aware of what she was doing. "I came to inform you that Squad Ten will be getting several new members. Due to the coming war the Academy's Advanced Program students have been working extra hard and several of them just passed the graduation exam. I'll bring them by tomorrow so that you can meet them and make plans for training schedules."
Matsumoto nodded. "I understand sir."
"Well that's all I needed," Ukitake said, glancing down at the paperwork sitting on the desk briefly and then focusing his gaze back on the Squad Ten vice-captain. He offered her an encouraging smile. "I guess I'll leave you to your work. See you tomorrow Rangiku."
"Good-bye sir," Matsumoto said softly, her eyes following the Head Captain until he disappeared. Then, with a heavy sigh, she picked up her pen and continued with the paperwork, thinking as she did so that now not only would she have the dreaded and much loathed paperwork to deal with but she would also have to work on training both the new members of Squad Ten and the old.
"I could really use your help with this Captain," Matsumoto thought to himself, a picture of her ever efficient captain appearing in her mind.
Early the next morning Matsumoto forced herself out of bed, literally, and made her way back to the Squad Ten office. As she opened the door it occurred to her just how strange an occurrence this was; her arriving at the office and finding no one there.
"I can do this," she snapped to herself, fixing a determined look on her face and walking quickly across the office. She sat down at the desk and when she heard a knock on the door a couple of hours later her paperwork was complete.
"Come in," Matsumoto called out as she straightened the stack of paperwork, pleased despite herself that she'd actually managed to get it all finished.
The door of the office slid open and Head Captain Ukitake once again stepped into the office, this time followed closely behind by a group of about twenty people. The group made their way across the office and then came to a stop in front of the desk behind which Matsumoto sat.
As the group walked toward her, Matsumoto's gaze focused upon a young girl who was walking at the front of the group. This particular new recruit stood out from the others because she was nearly the same height as Captain Hitsugaya, maybe even an inch or two shorter, and appeared to be roughly around the same age. The girl had strangely colored hair which seemed to contain every color imaginable, although the main color was a rich brown. The girl wore her hair cut short and partially pulled back into two pig-tails at the top of her head, and had eerie blue eyes, eyes so pale that they appeared almost colorless.
Despite her young appearance the girl walked with an air of confidence, unlike the rest of the group who were all making a conscious effort not to be in the front of the group, and when the group reached the desk she offered Matsumoto a friendly smile.
"Good morning Vice-Captain Matsumoto," Ukitake said cheerfully, gesturing toward the group of Shinigami that was assembled behind him. "These are the newest members of Squad Ten."
Having said this the Head Captain proceeded to introduce the group to their commanding officer however the only one that Matsumoto immediately committed to memory was that of the young girl who appeared to be around the same age as her captain.
Kin Soma.
After the introductions Ukitake sent the new recruits to wait outside in the courtyard and, once they were gone, he turned his attention back to Matsumoto. "Since Captain Hitsugaya is currently stationed in the world of the living I tested them all myself and only one of them was good enough to earn an officer's seat upon entry."
"Oh," Matsumoto said, thinking about how much work it was going to take in order to get the new recruits up to speed. "And which one was that sir?"
"Kin Soma."
Matsumoto's eyes widened upon hearing that the young girl was the only one in the group talented enough for a ranked position in the squad. "Really?"
Ukitake nodded. "I heard from her teachers at the Academy that the girl is somewhat of a prodigy and from what I witnessed it's obvious that she definitely has talent. Kin's good enough fresh from the Academy to be the third seat officer of Squad Ten."
"Hmm," Matsumoto said thoughtfully. "She'll fit right in here."
Head Captain Ukitake smiled. "Well now that you've all been introduced I'll leave them to you Rangiku."
Matsumoto nodded. "We'll get right to work sir."
This said Matsumoto quickly got to her feet and together she and the Head Captain left the office. They made their way out to the courtyard where the new recruits were all assembled and Ukitake offered them one final encouraging smile as he walked away, leaving them with Matsumoto.
"Alright," the Squad Ten vice-captain said, clapping her hands together and smiling at the group. "I know that the Head Captain already tested you and determined your rank within the squad however I want to see for myself what you're capable of so let's all go out to the training grounds."
"Yes ma'am," the group chorused in one voice, quickly falling into step behind Matsumoto.
When they arrived at the Squad Ten training grounds Matsumoto motioned for the new members to form a semi-circle and, once they had complied, she offered them another broad smile. "First of all I would like to welcome you to Squad Ten. Our captain is currently stationed in the world of the living which means that for the time being I'm in charge so if you have any problems feel free to come to me. Now, having said this, I need to assess everyone's skill level so that I can set up a training program that works for everyone. Is that okay with you guys?"
"Yes ma'am," the group all chorused once again.
"Excellent," Matsumoto said beaming. "Let's get started."
Matsumoto fought briefly with each of the new squad members, determining as she did so exactly what level they were on. All of them performed remarkably well considering the fact that they were fresh out of the Academy however Matsumoto was most impressed with the new third seat officer.
Like Captain Hitsugaya's Hyourinmaru, Kin's zanpaktou was also of the ice/snow type and she wielded it with amazing grace and skill.
"This girl definitely has promise," Matsumoto thought to herself as she watched Kin sheath her sword.
"Thank you all," Matsumoto said once everyone had had their turn. "You did very well. You may all take the rest of today off and we'll begin training around mid-day tomorrow. Is that understood?"
"Yes ma'am."
Matsumoto nodded. "Until then you're all dismissed."
As soon as they heard those words the group began to disperse. For the most part the new recruits broke up into smaller groups and began to walk away from the training grounds, chatting happily amongst themselves. The one exception to this was Kin. The young girl made her way toward the barracks completely alone, walking a few feet behind everyone else.
"So it's like that for her as well," Matsumoto thought to herself sadly as she watched the young girl walk away. Thinking that maybe Kin could use some words of encouragement Matsumoto took a couple of steps in the direction she was walking however she paused as Kin abruptly used her flash-step and disappeared. "Maybe we can talk tomorrow."
When Kin left the battlefield, instead of making her way to her new room in the Squad Ten barracks, she went to the entrance of the courtyard of Squad Five.
"Kin!" an excited voice called out as she came to a stop in front of the wall that enclosed the Squad Five barracks.
Kin's blue eyes shifted in the direction that the voice had came from and she smiled as her gaze fell upon her best friend. "Hey Kaiya. So how was your first day as an official Shinigami?"
"Not bad," Kaiya Maekawa told her best friend and former classmate. "I made fourth seat and our Acting Captain seems really nice."
"That's good," Kin said sincerely.
"So how are things in Squad Ten?" Kaiya asked, an excited expression in her eyes.
"I made third seat," Kin told her. "And Vice-Captain Matsumoto is great."
"Didn't you meet your Captain?" Kaiya asked, a questioning look in her eyes. Both young Shinigami had heard about the Captain of Squad Ten during their time in the Academy and they were curious about the young prodigy who had made it to captain in record time.
Kin shook her head. "Captain Hitsugaya is currently stationed in the world of the living."
"That's too bad," Kaiya said, shaking her head. "I was really curious whether all the stories about him are true."
"Probably not," Kin said with a smirk.
"Hmm," Kaiya said thoughtfully. Then she shrugged and offered her friend a smile. "Oh well. I guess we'll just have to hang in suspense for a little while longer."
Kin rolled her eyes in the direction of her best friend. "You are such a weirdo."
Kaiya smiled broadly. "Freak."
"Yes," Kin said. "Yes I am."
"So," Kaiya said, abruptly changing the subject. "I have the rest of the day off and from the looks of things so do you. Would you like to go out and train for a little while?"
"Of course!" Kin exclaimed. "Like I'd turn down a chance to beat you up."
Kaiya smirked. "You know if anyone normal heard half of our conversations they'd think that we were messed up in the head."
Kin arched a brow at that. "You mean we're not?"
"You have a point," Kaiya admitted.
"Of course I do," Kin said. "Now come on. I want to know if you've improved any since the last time I kicked your butt."
"It was two weeks ago," Kaiya said, rolling her eyes in the direction of her best friend and blowing out an exasperated breath. "So the answer to that question is no."
"Well I'm disappointed," Kin said with a long suffering sigh.
"You'll live," Kaiya assured her.
"Hmm," Kin said.
TBC. . .
A/N- And thus ends chapter two. Introduced a couple of new characters one of which will prove to be extremely important. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, feel free to review and let me know what you thought. Until the next time, this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.