Pairings: This chapter contains slight Hisagi x Hinamori, slight Kira x Hinamori, slight Ikkaku/Yumichika, and Renji x Rukia
Rating: M
Warnings: There is also slight OOC, language, talk of violence, blood, and minor sexual material
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach Tite Kubo does.


The 11th Division was silent as they walked through the entranceway. All they could think about was their depressing fight up against Tousen when they had come back to the Soul Society. Ayasegawa Yumichika and Madarame Ikkaku were the talk of the whole division, being labeled as "weak" and "useless". The fear that they would one day be taken out of the 11th Division haunted them everyday, driving them mad.

They walked into the office fearing what their captain was going to say. They couldn't stop thinking about their termination. Zaraki, for the longest time, gave them stares, as did everyone else in the division. They knew that it was coming; they could tell from the second that they were summoned that they would be terminated.

They entered the office, looking at their captain sitting on the floor in the corner. Every step went through them like a shockwave, going through their bodies like knives. Their captain didn't take failure. Their captain didn't take weaklings. Their captain didn't tolerate people who fell in the most important battle of their lives. Their captain didn't accept them.

"Come closer," Zaraki announced as he looked up at the officers.

This wasn't the usual tone that he talked to them in. All of the respect had vanished. As Ikkaku and Yumichika moved closer to their captain, they could feel that this was different than any encounter they had ever had with this man. The stare was empty, full of hate, hate that the 11th Division only showed to those who were weak. It sent shivers down their spine. It shook them to no end.

There was talk that the 11th Division had started to hate both Ikkaku and Yumichika for what happened when Aizen returned. No one looked at the 3rd and 5th seats the same, thinking them to be cowards. The time had come faster than they had hoped; the rain starting before the clouds even became black. As they stood before him, Captain Zaraki Kenpachi looked at them with a look filled to the brim with disdain.

"You think I've forgotten about that day?" the captain asked.

Yumichika looked away from the captain as Ikkaku answered quietly. "No, we haven't."

"Then you know why you're here?" the captain asked, his voice filled with acid. "I don't need to explain to you what you've done…"

"With all due respect, sir," Yumichika tried to explain. "We were ambushed…"

"I don't give a damn if you were sliced in half! I don't ever want to see my 11th Division like this again!" the captain yelled. "There's only one thing to do: get rid of one of you…"

Both of the officers froze as they heard those words, one of them was going to leave. They looked at each other, were they going to have to pick the one that goes away? They moved closer to one another, so close that they could practically feel the fear radiating off of them. This was it; the 11th Division was everything that they asked for and more. This was the future that they always wanted together; this was the future that they had dreamed of. Now it was all gone…

"How will you decide?" Yumichika asked.

"I already have," Zaraki answered.

"Already have?" Yumichika asked. "How did you come to that conclusion…"

"The division had a vote…"

Yumichika's heart stopped as he heard those words. "A v-vote? You mean they got to pick who stays and who goes? What about Ukitake-soutaichou…?"

"Ukitake said that I can do as I wish as long as no lives are taken, a very difficult task for me. But then I realize that I will give the one who leaves the worst punishment of all… you will live forever…" Zaraki looked at Ikkaku. "Ikkaku… you get to stay."

Yumichika froze as he heard those words, looking over at Ikkaku; there was a smile of relief on his face. At that moment, Yumichika knew that nothing mattered between them anymore, neither of them were the men that they were before, Ikkaku had become just like the division who had betrayed him, the division who had taken part in this cowardly game. He walked away from the man that he had once referred to as his other half, not recognizing him as he backed into a world that he did not know.

"That means I want you out, Yumichika," Zaraki continued. "Or I will have you arrested by the 2nd Division…"

Yumichika started to walk away, looking at Ikkaku one last time, seeing the man come to his senses too late. He submerged himself in betrayal, not wanting to see how anything else could be a truth. All that he knew was leaving him in an instant as he walked toward the door. It was over. The dream had ended. He no longer knew where to go. He no longer knew who he was.

"Yumichika!" he heard a voice yell as he sank into the darkness. "Yumichika!"

He turned to see that Ikkaku had followed him out of the division into the outside world, the light from the sun fading as dark clouds started to fill the sky. They gazed into each others eyes, Yumichika no longer knowing the man who was standing before him, his heart breaking as he was being teased with the Ikkaku that he knew.

"Yumichika…" he breathed.

Yumichika closed his eyes and shook his head. "Go away, Madarame…" Ikkaku gasped at the way that his friend said his name. "Don't come any closer… I'm worthless. You should be happy that they picked you."

As Yumichika turned away, Ikkaku yelled to him. "This was a coward's game! They didn't think of honor or dignity at all. They didn't think of what separates us from Ukitake-soutaichou himself. We have the will of the warrior; you have the will of a warrior."

"I don't!" Yumichika answered, his voice cold. "I never did…"

"What are you saying?" Ikkaku was confused by his friend's words.

"There's something about me… something I didn't want to tell you, but now that there's nothing left, I don't see why not," he took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, a single tear forming in his eye. "I have a kidou type zanpakutou. It doesn't have a direct offensive attack. I was worthless from day one…"

Ikkaku took a step forward. "Yumi…"

"Let me go! Please… I'm worthless to you and this division. Let me go…" he started to whimper as the first drop of rain fell. "Please, don't even spare a glance at me. Just keep walking…"

Ikkaku took a step forward as more rain started to fall. "It won't be the same…"

"You'll manage…" Yumichika answered as he moved away from the 11th Division 3rd seat, trying to forget everything that they had together. Nothing mattered anymore. There was nothing that would ever make this pain that he was feeling go away. It was all over.

He walked deeper into the rainy distance, closing his eyes tightly. The dream had ended and the nightmare was only beginning.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"So you don't remember what happened that day?" Ukitake asked as he looked at Kuchiki Byakuya. "You don't remember what he did to you?"

It had been hard getting information out of those who had been attacked; Kyouraku still didn't want to talk about what happened to him on that day. All they had were pictures and Ichimaru and Tousen's testimonies before they left. Yet all was lost if they couldn't get a testimony from Aizen. The words rape radiated through everyone's head as they looked at the case file, Hisagi and Renji finalizing that it was the most likely suspect. Aizen had hinted at it, but nothing was carved in stone.

"You don't wish to speak about it?" Ukitake asked.

"Would you?" Kuchiki answered.

Ukitake took a deep breath. "I don't know why he targeted you… I don't know what he was trying to do that day. He should have gone after me…" Ukitake breathed. "I don't know if it was to turn Abarai-kun against us or if it was to bring Rukia to the Seireitei again, but whatever it was, you should speak about it."

"I don't know what happened that day," Kuchiki breathed as he looked at the soutaichou.

"You haven't been yourself since that day. I think that trauma finally got to you. I just want to know what he did to you…" Ukitake breathed.

Kuchiki sighed as he looked at the higher ranking shinigami. "I think it would be better if you didn't know. I don't want to ruin your outlook on the peaceful world that you have made for yourself. Looking on the past that tried to tear us apart will do nothing for your motives."

He started to walk toward the door. It had been months, but he could still feel Aizen having power over him. He closed his mind from that day, trying his hardest to make it so the day never existed. Everything that had happened to him was to stay in the past, a past that he soon wanted to forget.

As he walked into the rain he saw a man walking toward the gate. "Where do you think you're going?"

The man turned to him, revealing himself as the former 5th Seat of the 11th Division. "I just got eliminated from my division. I have to leave at once."

Kuchiki walked toward him, looking to his left and his right as he walked toward the former officer. "Zaraki let you go? That's absurd!"

"He did…" Yumichika breathed as he took a step forward. "Now I must go."

The 6th Division captain looked at the former 11th Division shinigami thinking back to Renji. Renji was the best lieutenant someone could ask for, he was loyal, dedicated, everything that everyone had always dreamed of in a lieutenant. He was now the captain of the 13th Division. Looking at Ayasegawa Yumichika made him remember what he had lost; it made him long for the same dedication. Renji was once part of the 11th Division, they made the perfect lieutenants.

"Wait," Kuchiki cried out. "I want you to come with me…"

Yumichika raised an eyebrow as he looked at the captain, he was different than those cowards, he felt like he could trust them. He took a step forward. "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to come into the 1st Division with me," Kuchiki answered. "There's a request I would like to make…"

0o0o0o0o0o0

"So they just kicked him out?" Renji asked as he looked at Ikkaku. "Just like that?"

"Yeah," Ikkaku breathed as he looked at the captain take a long sip of sake. "I don't know what to do. It's not going to be the same."

Renji hissed as he put the bottle down. "Cowards, every last one of them is a coward. Back when I was in the 11th Division, no one would do that to a person," he looked down at the bottle. "I don't know what's going on anymore."

"You've probably changed your view since you've been to four different divisions in your life," the 3rd seat sighed. "And now you're a captain, Abarai. You've come a long way."

Renji closed his eyes as he heard those words; he had come a long way. He remembered when he was in the 5th Division, he was so young, he was so new to the world of being a shinigami, it was like heaven to him for the start of his career. Looking back on it, he knew that it was all a lie, Aizen never cared about any of them, not even for a moment. He then moved to the 11th Division where he learned the will of honor and duty, a new ounce of heaven that he never thought that he would ever feel. He now looked back on it and saw that he never fit in with them, they were all cowards. The 6th Division was a rocky start, he never thought that he was going to live a life of a lieutenant, and although it was short lived, he thought that it gave him a slight ounce of bliss. He then changed where he was. He was a captain now, his own division bending at his every whim. He was with Rukia and he thought everything was well, but he wasn't sure.

"What's wrong?" Ikkaku asked. "Something on your mind?"

"Rukia," Renji breathed. "She's been acting weird, distant. She's become ill and I don't know what to do with her anymore. I'm worried that there could be complications in our relationship."

"She doesn't talk to you?" Ikkaku asked.

"She doesn't talk to anyone," Renji answered as he took the bottle. "I'm her fiancée and she doesn't tell me anything."

"Could be worse, you could be like Kira and Hinamori."

Kira and Hinamori, they were dying fast. Kira had always thought that there was infidelity, but now as he looked at her he knew that there was something going on behind closed doors. Infidelity was in the air as he looked at the 5th Division captain. Everyone knew of her relationship with Hisagi, how it was a dangerous path to choose. It was all fading before them. The relationship that Kira had always dreamed for was nothing. Renji thought about the love that Kira had hoped for and how it all went away in an instant. He never wanted that to happen to him.

"I never want to be like that…" Renji breathed.

"You never know," the 11th Division member stated as he looked Renji in the eye. "One moment you have everything that you ever wanted with someone and it seems like it's going to last forever and then in an instant it can all be taken from you. I know that better than anyone else does."

"You can look for him tomorrow," Renji breathed. "I'll help you find him, as a captain I have more power than you think I do…"

"I don't know if he'll even be here tomorrow… Zaraki-taichou gave him specific orders to get out of the Soul Society unless he can find another squad who wants to take him… that's very unlikely…"

0o0o0o0o0o0

"What do you mean you want him as your lieutenant?" Ukitake asked as he looked at Kuchiki Byakuya.

"Exactly what it sounds like, I want Ayasegawa Yumichika to be moved from the 11th Division into the 6th as soon as possible," the 6th Division captain looked back at the former 11th Division member. "I want him as my lieutenant."

Ukitake couldn't understand what had happened to Kuchiki Byakuya. He never thought that he was going to ask for another lieutenant after he allowed Renji to be promoted from the 6th Division to the 13th Division captain. Now he was before him, with another man, asking for him to become his captain. The new captain commander sighed as he looked at Yumichika.

"What happened, Ayasegawa-kun?" Ukitake asked.

Yumichika didn't have to hide anything; he could be blunt to Ukitake. "Zaraki-taichou evicted me from the 11th Division…"

"He was serious about that?" Ukitake asked as he shook his head. "I thought that was all just mindless prattle?"

Yumichika shook his head. "He was serious, and I was the one he eliminated. He wants me out of the Seireitei."

Ukitake took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. "Well that's not going to happen…" he looked at the shocked expression on the former officer's face. "I'm in charge of the Gotei 13 whether Zaraki Kenpachi likes it or not."

"Ukitake-soutaichou?" Yumichika asked as he looked at the captain commander.

"You want a lieutenant?" Ukitake asked Kuchiki. "You have one," he pulled out a piece of paperwork and signed it quickly, the shocked expression never leaving Yumichika's face as he watched the captain of the 1st Division. "I won't be undermined by the 11th Division, I will make the decisions."

This was a different Ukitake, one that the Soul Society thought that they would never see. He had transformed from a man who just wanted peace to a man who demanded respect. Everything that he did was in the memory of Yamamoto, his departed sensei. But unlike Yamamoto, Ukitake was fair, he was kind-hearted, he put himself in everyone's place and fully understood what the situation was. He was better than Yamamoto. He was stronger than Yamamoto. He was everything that Yamamoto wanted as he left him behind. Ukitake was the hope that he wanted to preserve.

"From this moment on, you are the lieutenant of the 6th Division," Ukitake smiled as he handed them the piece of documentation. "Congratulations."

"Thank you…" Yumichika smiled weakly.

"You have some big shoes to fill though," Ukitake smiled as he looked at the officer. "Abarai-kun was an amazing lieutenant."

Yumchika nodded as he walked after his new captain. I will never look back on the 11th Division again… I'm above them.

He didn't look back, he never would. All he would think of as he heard the words 11th Division was hate and scorn. They let him go, so he would do the same. He never wanted anything to do with them. He would rather die.

Never again… he walked out the door into the darkness toward the 6th Division. Never…


This chapter goes into more depth about the 11th Division and how they are reacting to all of this. It's all to get everyone a lieutenant. I'm also sorry for the wait, school has been pounding me in the rear. I'll get the next one up sooner.

Don't forget to take my poll asking which pairing you like better: Hisagi x Hinamori or Kira x Hinamori!

Happy Halloween!