Mori: (cries) WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! REVIEW! (cries more)

M O O N

Renji was pissed. Not just mad, he was genuinely pissed off. She had violated orders (not that he cared very much) and gone outside of seireitei. Normally he wasn't one to care very much, but they had sent him to go and retrieve her when he finally got his break for the day! He was going to kill her when he found out where she was. He sensed her spiritual pressure just slightly. He took no chances and went followed it.

Renji landed by a local resident and hid in its shadows. He was about to jump out and yell at her, when the sudden image caught him off guard. Tsukiko was laying back comfortably against the tree in one of the high branches, singing to herself. The setting sun illuminated her skin and almost seems to sing along with her. The sky turned a mix of many colors. From orange, to pink, to red, to purple. Renji couldn't help but stare in awe at the sight before him. Her gentle voice rang in his ears with ease, hitting each note at their precise tone. Once her voice died down, he snapped out of his little trance and blushed. He cleared his throat and stepped forward. She still didn't notice his presence, despite his attempt to get her attention.

He used shunpo and appeared on the branch opposite of her, "Yo," Tsukiko, surprised by his sudden appearance, screamed and was close to falling off the branch. She would've fell off the branch if Renji hadn't of reacted as quickly as he did. Tsukiko sighed with relief, knowing she was saved, and noted that Renji was pretty strong to hold her around the waist with one arm, "Ya know," He struggled to pull her back up, "You're heavier than you look," He set her down on the same branch.

"What was that?! You jerk! You don't just say that to someone! Especially to a woman!" She raised her fist to him.

"Well excuse me! Aren't women always going on about how dishonest men are?!" He threw at her, "Suck it up! You're not all that sensitive," He folded his arms inside his kimono and turned his head away from her.

"Hpmh. Fine. Whatever," She did the same and turned her head away from him as well.

"You're in a hell of a lot of trouble," He finally said after a moment of silence, "You weren't supposed to leave the seireitei walls,"

"Please," She scoffed, "It's not like I got anywhere else to go. What good what it do me to run away,"

"I can see that, but unfortunately for yourself you'll have to follow the orders given to you," He explained with a serious tone, "You can just go run off without permission. Even we're not allowed to go outside seireitei without permission,"

"Then why are you here?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"They sent me over here to get your stinkin' ass," He glared at her, "And while I was on my only break for the day, too," He closed his eyes in annoyance and grit his teeth.

"Oh c'mon!" She waved it off with a grin, "It can't be all that bad! Look," She threw her arms up in the air, "See! The day's almost over!"

"You have no idea. Being a vice captain…sucks,"

"Then why are you one?" She tilted her head to the side slightly.

"Because it's a much high level in power on the food chain, Tsuki,"

"Eh? 'Tsuki'? What gives you the right to call me that?!" She pouted.

"Well you refuse to call me 'Abaria fuku-taichou' so I'll refuse to call you by your given name," Renji smirked.

"Yeah well at least I still call you 'Renji' and not…." She stopped dead in her tracks.

"What?" He looked at her crimson eyes, seeing a mischievous glint in them, "Hey, what's with that look? I don't like it,"

"Nothing…." She turned her head away and smiled mischievously, "Ren-kun,"

"WHAT?! Why you…" Renji's face turned red with anger, "You…you…"

She laughed at his reaction and hopped down from the tree. Renji didn't fail to notice the bright shade of red ribbon waving around in her hair as she jumped off. He followed suit and looked at her with his expression back to normal, "Where did you get that ribbon?"

"Hm? Oh, I took it!" She fiddled with it a bit, "I don't think this shad of red goes very nicely though. It clashes a bit too much with my hair and eyes,"

"You…took it…?" He said almost as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"Yeah, why? I didn't get caught or anything!" She added quickly.

"That's not the point!" He grabbed her arm and took the ribbon out of her hair, "Jeez! If you needed one you could've just asked someone around seireitei for one!"

"Hey," she yelled in protest as he began to drag her down many streets, people watching them all the while, "Where are you taking me? And give back that ribbon!"

Renji let her go roughly and walked up to a counter full of many different kinds of hair ties. He slammed the ribbon down on the counter, "I'd like to buy this please," Renji's voice was pained. As if he couldn't believe he was buying something for this girl. He paid for in and the man wrapped it up in a bag, neatly, and handed it to him.

"Here," He threw it in the air so she could catch it and began to walk off. Tsukiko fumbled with it, but caught it. She ran up to him, ribbon in her mouth, and attempting to put up another ponytail.

"Why'd you do that? He never would've known!" Her speech was muffled by the ribbon held fast on her lips.

"You don't just take things, Tsuki," His voice was annoyed, "The people out here have almost nothing. Don't make it worse for them,"

Tsukiko couldn't care less, because she had been one of them. She knew the difficulties of surviving, but also how much easier it was than living properly. That wasn't the reason she felt a bit guilty, "You were saving up for something…weren't you?"

Renji glanced down at her, slightly surprised, "Yeah so? How'd you know that?"

"Your wallet was packed with money," She stared straight ahead to avoid his gaze, "And you didn't seem to happy about buying it," Her ponytail was now complete and its spikiness surpassed even Renji's ponytail, "So I kinda figured as much,"

"Hm,"

"Sorry,"

"Don't be," Was all he said before the gate to seireitei opened before them. As they were walking through squad barracks, Tsukiko hatched an idea.

"I know!" She clapped her hands together at the thought.

"What?" He looked at her strangely.

"I'll help you finish the rest of your work as payment for the ribbon!" She turned and smiled at him.

"What?! Are you insane? Do you even know how the organizing system works?"

"No, but I'm sure I can learn in no time at all! I'm a pretty quick learner,"

"Nuh-uh! No way!" He crossed his arms in an 'X' pattern to emphasize his rejection, "I don't have time to be teaching you shit! You'll only make my paper work more difficult for me! Go help squad four. Maybe they'll teach you a thing or two if you're lucky," He waved her off.

"But-"

"No! I've got work to do! Bye," He shunpoed out of her sight before she could say anything else. Without even realizing it she was already at the fourth division. She sighed heavily and went in. She dragged her feet heavily on the hardwood floor. Tsukiko looked up, suddenly noticing curses floating out of one room in particular. Cautiously, she made her way over to the door.

She peered inside. At a paper flooded desk, was a man with blonde hair slicked back and box framed glasses. His jaw was tight and square; curse words flowing out of them ever other second. Tsukiko cautiously stepped inside.

"Ano…"

"WHAT?!" He shouted out, but his face quickly reverted back to normal seeing she didn't have any more paper work with her, "Ah, sorry. I mistook you for a messenger. Did you need something, Miss…"

"Tsukiko,"

"…"

"The ryoka girl," She gave her other nickname for his blank expression.

"Ah! Yes! I remember you! The bleeder, yes," He adjusted his glasses and resumed to write out his paper work, "Need something?"

Tsukiko got over the irritation of being labeled 'the bleeder' as well as 'ryoka girl' and turned her attention back to him, "No. It just looked like you were having a bit of trouble….need help?"

He looked up, stopping his work suddenly, "Why would you want to help? No offense,"

"I dunno," She shrugged, "I'm kinda bored for one thing and for another I feel kinda useless just wondering around all the time while everyone else is kinda busy," He looked over her carefully, but sighed and quickly gave in. He was in no mood to argue with anyone over the mountain of paperwork he had in front of him.

"Very well then," He gestured to the chair closest to his desk, "Do you know the organizing system?" Tsukiko shook her head, "The documents are organized by dates and squad numbers. Put them in highest to lowest. Highest squad being number one lowest being number thirteen. Dates from latest to recent. Understood?"

"Hai!" She gave him a determined nod and got to work on organizing the mess while he grabbed a random paper from the pile and continued to look through and approve it for his own captain and vice captain, "This isn't so bad," She said aloud, "I don't know what Ren-kun was complaining about not having time to teach me how to organize these things,"

"Ren-kun?"

"Hai! Abarai Renji-kun! Ren-kun!"

"You address him in such a manner?"

"Why not? He doesn't seem to show me any more respect than I do him," She shrugged off his annoyed tone as more curious.

"And why's that?" He had to admit that he was genuinely curious. Tired, but curious.

"Beats me! One minute he's yelling at me because of my zanpakutou and the next he's walking away saying 'it's nothing'," She mimicked his expression and tone.

"Really? What did he say exactly?" He continued to listen but work through his stack of papers at a much slower pace.

"I dunno, something about the command I used to release my zanpakutou. He was getting all upset over it," She frowned as she moved on to another stack of papers.

"What's your command? If you don't mind me asking,"

"'Howl'. Why? Hey, uh…Mister? You okay?" She looked over at the man she was helping as he had froze in his place.

"You're telling the truth right?" He looked up at her seriously.

"Uh…yeah…" She was afraid of the sudden change in the atmosphere.

"I can see why he'd be upset," the man chuckled, "That's the same command Abarai fuku-taichou uses for his own zanpakutou,"

"Really?" She stopped filing out of interest, "But why would he get all upset? If you as me I think he's a no good perverted jackass," She crossed her arms in annoyance.

W I N D

"ACHOO!" Renji sniffled and grabbled a tissue from the box nearest to him.

"Are you getting sick, Renji?" Kuchiki asked him from his desk across the room.

"I hope not. I was feeling just fine a minute ago," He grabbed another tissue as he felt another sneeze coming on.

"Just don't get me sick,"

"Y-Yes, Sir," Renji sneezed again into the tissue.

W I N D

"I mean what the hell kind of person looks at your chest when your talking to them?!" Tsukiko continued to rant, "Only a no good male pervert, that's who!"

W I N D

"ACHOO!"

W I N D

"Ugh! And those funky eyebrows! Who the hell did his tattoos? Or maybe he did it himself! HA"

W I N D

"ACHOO!" Renji laid flat across his desk, suddenly feeling all the energy drained from his body.

W I N D

"Ah…I'm sorry!" Tsukiko laughed nervously, "I'm over here ranting away and I don't even know your name!"

"Iemura Yasochika, third seat of squad four," He said proudly, "If I remember correctly you said your name was 'Tsukiko' correct?"

"Yep! Nice to meetcha! Well, I'm done filing so if you don't mind I'll take my leave," She bowed respectfully.

"Ah, wait just a moment please," He said quickly before she left the room. He dug through his desk and as soon as he found what he was looking for, he threw it to her, "Here. It payment for helping me out today. It's not much, but please accept it. And also, if you want to know why Abarai fuku-taichou was so upset earlier I suggest you ask someone about it. They'll probably know the story better than I do,"

"Ah, thank you!" She smiled brightly and bowed to him once more and left the room in a hurry. She didn't really know what he meant by 'story', but she figured he needed to get back to work so she left without another word to go find someone around to talk to. Turning the corner she bumped heads with someone and staggered back slightly.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I wasn't paying any attention to where I was walking!"

"That's okay," Tsukiko looked to see who had run into her. Her hair was a natural white color. Much longer strands of hair (it was more of a boy's cut than anything) drifted out in certain places and were held fast with yellow clips, "Um…I'm Tsukiko,"

"Oh!" Her face lit up, "I know you! You're the ryoka girl!" She laughed slightly.

"Yeah," Tsukiko laughed nervously so as not to be rude.

"I'm Vice Captain Isane Kotetsu! Nice meeting you," Tsukiko concluded that she was friendly enough.

"Ah…I suppose you're a bit busy then, being a vice captain," Tsukiko held her fist to her lips to mentally block her shyness.

"Actually, no I'm not at the moment," Isane smiled, "Is there something you need?"

Tsukiko waved her arms around frantically, "No! No! I just- I was just wondering if you'd spend a few moments with me is all," She blushed at the way it had come out.

Isane laughed whole-heartedly and agreed, "Come. Lets sit outside on this cool night," Isane slid open a nearby door and sat on the small ledge, "What is it?" She looked at Tsukiko's hesitant form, "Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing!" Tukiko replied quickly and sat down next to Isane. Isane saw her worried expression as her eyes darted left and right before sitting down, but she brushed it off and decided not to ask.

"So did you wanna ask something in particular or just talk?" Isane swung her legs back and forth over the ledge and leaned back on her hands.

"Ano…I kinda wanted to ask about some story,"

"A story?"

"Hai. Iemura-san said something about a story concerning zanpakutou," Tsukiko folded her knees to her chest and hugged them as she watched Isane look up at the endless sea of stars and ponder a bit on the question.

"I know one or two stories. There's one concerning true love,"

"What's that one about?" Tsukiko's interest was suddenly peeked. She'd seen people together while in the process of 'surviving' and often wondered about it. She would see them look into one another's eyes and watch as their lips slowly met and often thought about what it felt like. She was uniquely interested in the subject she didn't know much about.

"Eh? Uh…well lets see," Isane folded her legs, but continued to lean back, "It goes something like this: At one point, a long time ago when even the shinigami academy didn't exist, there was a man who's life goal was to be the strongest of all the shinigami. He worked day and night to improve his fighting skills and would take any opponent that challenged him. At night he sharpened and polished his zanpakutou back to perfection. Many women loved him for his gorgeous looks and incredible strength, but he refused to love a single one,"

"Why's that? I bet he could've gotten one easy," Tsukiko rolled her eyes at her version of the typical male.

"True, but whenever a woman would ask for his love he would reply to them 'Unless I grip the sword I cannot protect you. While gripping the sword I cannot embrace you' (1). With that said he shooed them off and continued to practice with his zanpakutou. One woman however, refused to give up. She had truly fallen in love with the man and wanted to be by his side even in death. So she made her decision to train to become as great a warrior as he and fight by his side. Day and night she tried her hardest to become strong enough for him to notice her. Not once did he look her way,"

"What did she do then?" Isane paused and smiled at how childish Tsukiko was beginning to sound.

"Well. One day an arrancar attacked the man,"

"What's an arrancar?"

"Haha! It's a much stronger hollow that can control menos. So anyway an arrancar attacked him. He did what he would normally do and began to fight it off. It wasn't long before he began to think that he was no match for the hollow. His body had many cuts and bruises and he was greatly fatigued. He thought he was finished when a command rang in his ears. The girl came rushing in with her own zanpakutou and charged at the monster. For a moment the man was furious. She had stolen his zanpakutou's release command and interfered in his battle. But as she was fighting, he began to notice how graceful and beautiful she looked. He was even impressed with her fighting skills. However, the arrancar grew frustrated with the woman and summoned several menos from the hollow world to assist him. The man, with a new desire to protect her, jumped in and turned his back to hers. Surprised, the woman asked what he was doing. 'I am allowing you to fight by my side as an equal' he said. The woman couldn't find the right words to express her gratitude. She was so happy that she had gotten what she'd wanted in the first place. Saying no more, they fought together. Their battle was long and brutal. They eventually drove the menos and arrancar off, but died together in the process," Isane finished.

"…"

"What?" Isane looked over at Tsukiko, who was still hugging her knees.

"That wasn't a very happy ending! I thought stories were supposed to have happy endings!" She whined.

"Haha! It's not just a story! It's a legend! Not all legends have great endings!" Isane laughed lightly at her expression, "Besides here's something that I think you'll find interesting!" Isane winked and held a finger up to make a point.

"Hm?" Tsukiko was suddenly curious again.

"They say that if two people have the same zanpakutou or zanpakutou release command, then they're the reincarnation of the two lovers!" Isane blushed slightly.

"What?!" Tsukiko's face turned red with embarrassment. Thankfully Isane didn't know why, "That's kind of stupid,"

"Hey wait! Where are you going?" Tsukiko looked at Isane get up and stretch.

"I'm a bit sleepy if you don't mind!" Isane smiled and waved goodnight, "'Night!"

Tsukiko pouted and sat there. She sighed after a few moments of silence and figured pouting would get her nowhere, especially since there was no one around. She thought about the story Isane told her and wondered if it was true at all. Tsukiko shook the thoughts out of her head. There was no way it could be! If that was true then that would make her and Renji…lovers? Tsukiko shook her head again in protest of the ridiculous thoughts entering her mind.

She looked up at the vast sea of stars, not a moon in sight, and sighed.

'Still' She thought, searching desperately for the moon, 'It'd be nice to have someone to make these moonless nights a bit more bearable.'

Tsukiko jumped. Suddenly seeing something from the corner of her eye. She turned her head sharply and found nothing there. She looked around the court yard a few times frantically, before scooting back into squad four, her hand on the hilt of her sword the entire time. Once she was inside, she shut the door and swiftly headed back to her room. She locked her doors and sat against the wall with her hand on the hilt of Amaterasu. Waiting, silently watching, incase something decided to attack her.

C H I L D

"Tsukiko-neesan! I have breakfast for you!" Hanatarou tried the door but found it locked, "Tsukiko-neesan?" He heard the door unlock, but didn't expect what happened next. She darted out of the room, leaving him to try and balance the tray of food.

It was barely dawn and the shadows were receding slowly, but she knew they were still out there, waiting for a chance to strike her down before the sun rose. Tsukiko's eyes were bloodshot, aside form their usual crimson color, and had bags under her eyes, complete with dark circles. It was clear she hadn't gotten any sleep. She pushed several people out of her way and sliced open a wall next to them. For a moment the spectators were confused by her actions, but didn't have too long to think before having to cover their ears. A horrible shriek filled the air and broke several eardrums.

From the shadows emerged several more of the creatures. They had no definite shape, but were shadows nonetheless. They glared at her with spite and shrieked again. Tsukiko was on the verge of falling asleep, due to the high pitched frequency they emitted and the fact that she didn't sleep at all last night in the first place, but she stood her ground and unsheathed Amaterasu.

"What are they?" One of the shinigami asked in awe.

"They don't look like hollows," Another one added.

They shrieked again as they moved forward to attack her. Raven smirked, "Gotcha," she muttered to herself and held Amaterasu over her head, "Howl! Amaterasu!" Instead of swinging Amaterasu at them, she remained still and allowed Amaterasu to illuminate the area. The creatures gave off a horrible cry of pain. One disintegrated, while the others quickly escaped to the hollow world before they ended up just like their partner.

"Whoa. No way," The small crowd of shinigami that had witnessed the spectacle before them, stared in awe.

"Her zanpakutou's awesome!"

"Who is she? What squad did she come from?"

"Isn't she that ryoka girl?"

"Hey, I heard her say 'Howl' as a command!"

"What? Isn't that Abarai fuku-taichou's command for his zanpakutou?"

Tsukiko heard ever word they said and the exact tone of voice they used them in. The problem was that she was too tired to care enough to turn around and yell at them. She staggered slightly, struggling to remain conscious, but failed. She fell to the ground on her knees, then landed on the ground completely. As soon as her head hit the floor, she was out like a light, taking comfort in sleeping in the warm sun. Faintly, she could here panicked voices.

"What's going on here?!" A feminine voice called out.

"Hinamori fuku-taochou!"

"What happened? Why is the ryoka girl on the floor?!"

Tsukiko loved the sound of silence.

B E C K O N I N G

"Is she going to be okay?What happened?" A masculine voice asked, his voice extremely calm, but hiding a bit of worry.

"She's fine. I think she's just exhausted. She can stay here and rest if she wants," Hinamori smiled gently at Renji, "By the looks of it she hadn't slept all night,"

"That's fine but…" Renji clenched his fist and grit his teeth, "Why did you call me here?!"

"We've decided to list you under emergency contacts!" Hinamori stated with a finger in the air to indicate her point.

"What?! Why me?!" Renji asked in a sudden outburst at the top of his lungs. Tsukiko, sensing a slight change in the atmosphere, jolted up right.

"Renji! Now look what you did! You woke her up! Geese!" Hinamori gave him a warning glare and went to Tsukiko's side, "Are you alright, Tsukiko-san?"

"Hm? I'm fine," Tsukiko replied groggily, "Who are you?"

"Vice captain Hinamori Momo! Nice to meet you!" She smiled sweetly. Tsukiko smiled at her childish face. She looked up further, sensing someone else in the room.

"Ren-kun? Why are you here?" Tsukiko was still groggy. Before Renji could throw out a reply at her, another man entered the room. His hair was short, wavy and a light brown color. His thick box framed glasses held most of the hair out of his face, revealing dark brown eyes. Over his shinigami robe was a captain's cloak.

"Ah, good you're awake," He smiled at Tsukiko, "How are you feeling, Tsukiko-san?" Tsukiko jumped slightly at the use of her name, but nodded, "That's good. I am Captain Aizen Souske of the 5th Squad Division. It's nice meeting you,"

Tsukiko thought he was extremely polite and kind, but there was something about him that irked her. Ever sense in her body told her to stay away from him. She could almost hear Amaterasu growl from her sheathed position.

"I'm sorry to have to inform you of this, Tsukiko-san, but we've all been called to another meeting due to the attack earlier today. Yamamoto-taichou wishes to speak to you as well, upon hearing several reports from the witnesses," They nodded and followed him to the meeting room.

Tsukiko, though a bit more rested than before, was still extremely tired and having trouble keeping up with the rest of them. Twice already she almost tripped over her own feet. Renji was getting slightly annoyed with her, but said nothing as he looked at her exhausted face ever so often.

Even after they were in the hall, the cool temperature in the room kept trying to lull her to sleep. She continued to nod off, no matter how many times Renji nudged her or how many glares Kuchiki sent her way.

"Tsukiko-san!" Tsukiko jumped at the sound of her name and froze on the spot.

"H-Hai?" She looked in the 1st captain's direction.

"My apologies for you having to listen to an old man rant," His tone was somewhat bothered by her constant nodding off, "But I asked you a question,"

"My sincerest apologies, Yamamoto-taichou," Tsukiko bowed to him.

Yamamoto sighed inwardly and repeated himself, "What attacked you today earlier at dawn?"

"I don't know," She answered honestly.

"But yet you know how to fight them, find them and even sense them?"

"I've encountered them many times before,"

"And you don't know what they are," he said in a matter of fact tone.

"No, I do not," A small gasp emitted from the group.

Isane stepped forward, "Yamamoto-taichou, please forgive my rudeness! But if I may ask one question to Tsukiko-san,"

Yamamoto nodded, "Very well then,"

Isane turned toward Tukiko with a serious expression written on her face, "Tsukiko-san, last night when I talked to you, I asked you to sit with me just outside of the building. I noticed you acted a bit strange and even…cautious as I asked you to sit with me. Was the reason you were so reluctant to do so the same as what happened this morning?"

Tsukiko silently cursed her for being so observant, "Yes," There was a hushed mutter of whispers floating in the air.

"Are you saying you knew about them, Tsukiko-san?" Yamamoto asked, annoyed.

"Yes," Tsukiko was also becoming annoyed, "As I've said, I've encountered them before,"

"Failing to warn the seireitei about an opposing threat violates several different laws, Tsukiko-san!"

"It's not a threat!" She snapped. The room stood quite still. Most of the people in the room hadn't heard someone yell at Yamamoto-taichou, "At least not to you it isn't. As far back as I can remember, these things only go after me and no one else, even if the person happens to be two feet away! I don't know what they are, but they are definitely smart enough to learn!"

"How so?" The old man was now quite interested.

"At first they came out at me every night. They apparently don't like the light," She smirked remembering earlier that morning, "But as time went on they began to thin out their groups. Some would attack on a regular night, but…" she hesitated in continuing, "They mainly make their appearance during the night of a new moon, when the night is darkest,"

"Hmph. And why should any of this matter to them?" Kuchiki asked, sensing something hidden in her words.

The room was silent, waiting for her answer. Tsukiko bit her lip and sighed, "My second zanpakutou," she placed her fingers on the hilt of the blue and black sword, "It's name is Tsukiyomi. And it loses almost every ounce of power on the night of the new moon," She looked up angrily at Yamamoto, "This is why they corner me every new moon, or at least try to,"

The room was silent for a long time. There where many questions that hung in the air, but no one dared to speak.

"Normally, I wouldn't leave this situation be," Yamamoto began, "But if it is as you say, then seireitei will increase the power of the sekkiseki that surrounds it. If the creatures still appear by then, then I will dispatch several members of squad two to figure out the source of these creatures. But for the moment," His expression softened a bit, "I have a bit of important news. Both Central 46 and I have agreed to allow you into the Gotei 13, seeing as you yourself mean no harm. However, your actions will be monitored for a certain amount of time, to be sure of this decision,"

Tsukiko's eyes lit up at this announcement. Though she hadn't originally wanted to be a shinigami in seireitei, she had come to like the place and even grow comfortable with living there. She even grew fond of a few people she had come across.

"Thank you for such a generous decision Yamamoto-taichou!" She bowed low.

"After much thought. I, myself, have decided to assign you to squad eleven," As soon as the words left his mouth, the entire room froze over. If it weren't for the enormous amount of self control in most people, some would've shouted out in surprise. Yamamoto waved his hand to indicate he was done with announcements. Tsukiko looked around, slightly confused.

Renji walked up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder, "Good luck, Tsuki," He said grimly, but it grew into a smirk with the last few words.

"Renji, don't tease her!" Hinamori swatted at him, "Don't worry," Hinamori hugged Tsukiko close to her and began to whisper in her ear, "Stay away from the guys that give you funny looks, don't ever leave your doors unlocked, and don't let your guard down," She pulled away from Tsukiko and smiled, "Got it?"

"Uh…yea…I think so…he," She scratched her cheek and laughed nervously.

"You," Tsukiko heard a rough, masculine voice behind her as his shadow lingered far over her head, "You're the one he just placed in my squad right?" Tsukiko turned around and saw the man with the spiky bell hair and eye patch again.

'Ah. I remember him' Tsukiko thought as she looked up at his towering form 'He's the one that spoke out in my room because he was so impatient…'

"Well?"

Tsukiko snapped out of her thoughts, "Yeah! I am. I'm Tsukiko," She bowed her head slightly.

"Zaraki Kenpachi-taichou," He introduced himself. The little girl on his shoulder smiled brightly at her and waved.

"I'm Kusajishi Yachiru fuku-taichou!" She introduced herself in a bubbly manner and held out her little hand. Tsukiko just stared at it, "What are you staring at? Shake my hand! C'mon, shake it!"

"Ah…ok," Tsukiko shook her hand awkwardly.

"Yay! I like you, Tsuki-chan! Ken-chan, lets kick out baldy and make her third seat!" She turned to her captain.

"Hmph. We'll see how strong she is, but to do that we gotta get back to our squad," He turned away, "Hurry it up! I haven't got all day!" He called back to her.

"Hai!" She was about to run off with him when Renji held her back a moment, "What is it, Ren-kun?"

His expression was serious as was his tone when he spoke to her, "If any of them try anything just let me know,"

"Yeah, sure," She hesitated in answering back.

"Also there's a guy named 'Ikkaku' in your squad. He's a buddy of mine. You can trust him," Why was he giving her this information in the first place?

"…"

"What?" Tsukiko smiled sheepishly.

"Aw! Ren-kun! If you were gonna miss me you coulda just said so!" She said aloud and hugged him.

"What?! I never-!"

"Later, Ren-kun! I'll be sure to visit!" She called as she ran out of the hall, "You too, Kuchiki-taichou! I'll come visit you too!"

"Don't bother," He said under his breath; brow twitching in annoyance.

Once Tsukiko caught up with her new captain and vice captain (who were already leaving without her) she began to ask questions, "Who's 'Ikkaku'?"

"Baldy! He's the third seat! Why?" Yachiru answered and asked curiously.

"Ren-kun said they were friends," Tsukiko's foot almost slipped off the roof, but she regained her footing and caught up to them once more.

"You're clumsy!" Yachiru giggled.

"Hey," Tsukiko whined.

"Not to mention slow," Kenpachi complained, "Get on my back like Yachiru is," He ordered.

"What?! But-"

"That was an order," He glanced over to her with his good eye, scaring her into doing it.

"Hai," She swallowed her pride and latched onto his left shoulder (as Yachiru was on his right) and immediately she felt him go faster. He hopped to the ground on one foot. Tsukiko, feeling him stop, opened her eyes (which she wasn't aware that she had closed in the first place).

"Oi! Taichou! You've been getting called to a lot of meetings these days!" A rather annoyingly loud voice called out.

"Be quiet, Ikkaku, you got a new squad member to seat," Kenpachi walked up to him.

Tsukiko was about to look over his shoulder, when she was immediately being dragged down very forcefully. Yachiru was swinging on her back, attempting to get her to fall off, "Y-Yachiru-chan!" She whined, clutching harder to Kenpachi's cloak.

"Eh? What's going on out here?"

"It's so noisy! Is Yachiru fuku-taichou back already?" More and more men began to appear, curious as to what was happening.

Finally, Tsukiko couldn't hold on any longer and fell off to the side (in the direction of Yachiru's last swing). She landed on her lower back, mostly, and sat up a little more, grunting several curses in pain.

"A woman! Hey! She's got nice tits!" One of the men yelled.

"What squad is she from?! I've never seen her before! She looks pretty juicy!"

Tsukiko closed her eyes in annoyance and held up her fist at some of the comments.

"Shut up, you idiots! I'm trying to talk!" Kenpachi yelled, immediately followed by silence, "This girl's gonna be in our squad from now on. Ikkaku, I'm leaving you to find a placement for her," Kenpachi turned on his heel and walked off. He simply couldn't be bothered with such tedious things. Yachiru was hot on his trail.

"What!?" A man with a very shiny bald head yelled out. His eyes were sharp and at the corner of his eyes were pink marks that looked like a thick strip of paper. If not for his vicious appearance, he probably would've looked more like a monk, "This girl?!" he pointed to Tsukiko as she attempted to get up off the ground, but slipped on a rock and ended up on the ground once more.

Tsukiko saw the men looking at her spitefully and took a sitting position on her knees. She put her hand behind her head and laughed nervously. The man with pink eye shadow grunted , scratched the back of his neck and sighed.

"What's your name, kid?" He asked as she got up and dusted herself off.

"Tsukiko,"

"That it?" He walked up to her. She could see how short she was in comparison to him.

"Yep," He rolled his eyes at her, but continued.

"Name's Madarame Ikkaku," He introduced himself, "I'm the third seat of this squad and it looks like I'll be the one to assign you a seat," He jerked his head behind him, "Follow me," Tsukiko did as she was told, but couldn't help but feel that many eyes were upon her backside. She jerked her head around and saw only one man standing behind her. He had short, silky black hair and two feathers of two different colors sticking out from his right eyelash. Instead of the standard shinigami uniform, he added an orange neck piece and wrist bands.

He looked up at her suddenly, feeling eyes upon him, "Eh? What?" He blinked at her several times.

"Nothing," she turned back around, "I just got the feeling of being watched," The man chuckled slightly and walked by her side this time. He tapped her on the shoulder lightly and, as soon as he got her attention, he made a gesture with his eyes to look back. Tsukiko looked behind her and saw a horde of men, attempting to catch a glimpse of their new squad member from behind doors and windows. As soon as they saw the surprise in her face, they dispersed as if they were never there.

"Don't act surprised!" The man laughed, "You are a woman in the 11th Divison after all!" He looked at her horrified expression, "Don't worry! You're pretty cute, not as beautiful as me of course, but cute enough! I'll help you out every so often…um…Tsukiko…was it?" She nodded, "What a beautiful name! Too beautiful for you if you ask me! I'd at least expect you to have blue streaks and not red!"

"And what may your name be?" She was getting annoyed by how narcissistic the man was.

"Yumichika! Ayasegawa Yumichika!" He said cheerfully, "5th seat! I originally wanted 3rd seat because three's such a beautifully written number, but Ikkaku took that, so I took number five instead! It almost looks like three! (2)"

"Well, Ayasegawa-san, I didn't necessarily choose the color of my hair, thank you," She folded her arms as she walked, still following Ikkaku.

"Eh? But it's in a strange pattern! Surely you must've dyed it!" He look surprised.

"Nuh-uh. This is the way it's always been," She answered truthfully, "I never comes out so it can't be dyed!"

"How strange,"

Tsukiko was about to say something about him, when Ikkaku had announced they had arrived at the training hall to their division.

"You ready, kid?" Ikkaku looked back at Tsukiko, giving her a malicious smile.

M O O N C H I L D

Mori: Whew! Long chappie! Please review!

1: A quote from bleach at the beginning of book five…or six…I can't remember which one. I'm pretty sure it's five.

2: The numbers in Japanese are written differently (obviously), which is why Yumicha said that 5 looks like a 3.