Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters as they belong to Tite Kubo, but I do own my Original Character int his story, Kohana Hisakane.


The girl had seemed happy for the first time in her life. She seemed happy, but she wasn't truly happy. She never would be. Any days she had off would be spent by a small pond she found quite enjoyable. It was small, quiet and no one bothered her. She would sit and cry and cry and cry until she couldn't cry any more. She sat by the pond's edge one day, continuing her routine until she heard a voice.

"Who is that?"

She wondered. The girl stared at her Zanpaktou.

"I am the only man who ever loved you..."

At that moment, her tears completely stopped. She didn't feel like crying anymore. Each word she heard made her heartbeat faster.

"It can't be..."

She tried over and over to deny what she had heard.

"Y-You're dead to me!"


Ch. 3: Wishing Flower

"Bald Eagle! Graceful Swan! Come in Bald Eagle and Graceful Swan! Can you hear me?"

"Graceful Swan here! I hear you loud and clear, Pink Swallow!"

"...Eagle here. I hear you fine, Yachiru..."

"It's Pink Swallow, Bald Eagle! Pink. Swallow. Use your full code name, too, otherwise we won't know if it's you!"

Ikkaku, Yumichika and Yachiru lurked around the streets of Seireitei. Each one was assigned a Walkie-Talkie by Yachiru, much to Ikkaku's displeasure. Each one also had a code name and that was also very much to Ikkaku's displeasure.

"I just don't get why we have to have these stupid code names anyway!"

The bald man protested into his Walkie-Talkie as he pushed through a busy crowd of shinigami. He didn't mind having code names, but his code name was just unbearable. Bald Eagle? It was so embarrassing saying it out loud. Thankfully no one could care about a third seat talking into a Walkie-Talkie and using embarrassing code names today. Today was special. Today was the annual Tanabata Festival.

"Well, Bald Eagle, it's because Pink Swallow secretly wants to get Black Dove and White Crow together for Tanabata. Did you forget?"

Yumichika said into his Walkie-talkie. He paused as he looked for Ikkaku in the crowd of Shinigami. The pretty man didn't really care too much for the plan, but since Yachiru had let him pick the code name "Graceful Swan", he was more than happy to help.

"But couldn't we do this without code names!"

"No. They're important. Now commence operation Ken--I mean, White Crow!-- and Black Dove's Tanabata love fest!"

All three division eleven members were in position. Yachiru had paused near a a small clothing shop. Ikkaku and Yumichika had each other in sight. Both men still couldn't believe they had agreed to help their pink-haired fukutaichou in her shenanigans.

"Bald Eagle! Graceful Swan! You two will close in on White Crow! I will be working on Black Dove. Call me if you need backup. Roger?"

"Roger, Pink Swallow!"

With that, Yumichika and Ikkaku were over and out.


"Yo! Zaraki Taichou!"

Ikkaku and Yumichika had met up and were on their assignment: Confirm Kenpachi Zaraki's feelings about Tanabata. Every one new that Kenpachi was going to the festival, but it was only because of Yachiru that he was going.

"Huh? Yumichika? Ikkaku? Whatch'ya doin' here?"

Kenpachi turned around. It was obvious that the Large Taichou was walking back to his office for an early morning bout of paperwork.

"Well, Yachiru wanted to know if you were going to Tanabata-"

"Of course I'm going to that damn thing with her!"

A long silence filled the air between the three men. So he didn't like Tanabata? Well, that was also pretty obvious, but maybe it wasn't so to Yachiru. The pink-haired fukutaichou also wanted Ikkaku and Yumichika to inform Kenpachi of how Kohana would be attending the festival with them.

"Hey, ya do know that Yachiru's bringin' Flower Girl, right?"

Kenpachi's eyes widened. Flower Girl? Yachiru didn't tell him that she was bringing Kohana. Was she serious about getting a "family"?

"Really now? Tanabata might be more interestin' than I thought."

The large man smirked as he turned back around to go to his office. That girl was interesting. Tanabata, however, was not. Being with her and Yachiru later on would definitely brighten up his boring day.


"Hana-chan! Hana-channnn!"

Yachiru yelled, playfully running up to meet Kohana. The pink-haired woman stopped dead in her tracks upon hearing her fukutaichou's small voice.

"Oh, Yachiru? What do you want?"

"Are you going to Tanabata tonight?'

Kohana turned to look at Yachiru. Her face was a mixture of shock and confusion. It was like the word "Tanabata" harbored a deeper meaning behind it in her mind.

"Tanabata? I'm sorry, but I don't like fes-"

"But nothing! You have to go, Hana-chan!"

The two pink-haired girls stood still for a moment. Their eyes locked as if they were having a staring contest. A small silence was followed by a loud chuckle as Kohana couldn't keep a straight face.

"Really? Why do I have to go?"

Yachiru held a finger to her own lips. It looked as if she was thinking long and hard about something.

"Cause' Ken-chan will be lonely without you!"

The absurd statement that came out of Yachiru's mouth made Kohana laugh even harder.

"Ha-ha. I seriously doubt that, but I guess I'll go. I don't want my Yachiru-chan getting lonely on me, do I?"

Kohana knelt down, placing a hand on Yachiru's head. The two girls laughed as if they were sisters, the two girls embraced as if they were mother and daughter and then two girls then smiled at each other like they were the best of friends.


"Sasa no ha sara-sara, nokiba ni yureru. Ohoshi-sama kira-kira; Kin Gin sunago..."

Everyone's favorite pink-haired Fukutaichou ran about the festival streets singing the traditional Tanabata song. She wore her best yukata, her pink, adorable one. The one she only wore for special occasions.

"Yachiru has a great singing voice. Don't you agree, Taichou?"

Kohana watched Yachiru zig and zag between various festival stands. The pink-haired woman wore a very different yukata than the smaller girl. It was a deep red and matched the bottom portion of her hair. She didn't look much different. The only thing different about her was her clothes. "She didn't try too hard to impress me, did she?" Kenpachi thought as he gave a large growl.

"Yeah. Yachiru sure does."

The large Taichou responded slowly. He despised festivals, but festivals never felt the same way. Whenever he was with Yachiru, he was drawn to Festivals. His yukata even expressed the exact feeling he felt when going to them: Black, plain and boring.

"Hana-chaaan! Ken-channn! You two need to have more fun!"

Yachiru yelled from a nearby stand. In a split second, she was gone and back in front of their eyes. The pink-haired girl quickly grabbed Kenpachi and Kohana's hands and pulled them into a crowd of partying shinigami.

"Oh, look who it is, Ikkaku!"

Yumichika gracefully walked out of the crowd. Ikkaku stumbled right behind him as he made his way through the crowd of other high-ranking officers. They looked to be writing their Tanabata wishes.

"Ya three should grab a tanzaku and write your wish or before ya know it, it'll be midnight!"

Ikkaku seemed to be half-way to being intoxicated completely.

"Good idea, Pachinko head!"

The pink-haired Fukutaichou said as she jumped over the bald man to get three tanzaku. She already knew her wish, but was ecstatic to finally be able to write it down.

"Now, now, Yachiru...You still have until midnight to write your wish. Don't be hasty."

Kohana tried to hold back a laugh as she watched Yachiru jump on her bald rival's head again. This time, though, she held three tanzaku and wore an even larger grin. She smiled intensely as she handed Kenpachi and Kohana each a tanzaku.

"Silly Hana-chan! I already know my wish!"

Yachiru looked around for the nearest writing utensil and as soon as she found it, she stole it. She then quickly wrote her wish on her small piece of paper. Without hesitation, her wish was then held up for everyone to see.

"Make Ken-chan and Hana-chan fall in love?!"

Kohana yelled Yachiru's wish loudly while Kenpachi tried to take a more "I'm not here. I'm not here! Please, no one notice me!" approach. This was news to Kohana and more serious than Kenpachi thought. Yachiru wasn't serious. She was damn serious and she probably wouldn't stop until she got her way.


"Hana-chan, it's almost midnight and you haven't made your wish yet!"

Yachiru stated the obvious. It wasn't that Kohana didn't want to make a wish, but that she had no idea what to wish for. What could she possibly want? Money? No. Power? No. Love? Definitely not. What could she wish for? She had everything she could possibly want, but...

"Wait! I got something!"

She finally came up with a good wish.Kohana looked around as she grabbed the pen Yachiru graciously offered her. Her unfeigned smiled glowed in full effect as she wrote one word on her tanzaku.

"You should hang it next to Ken-chan's!"

The smaller pink-haired girl pleaded. Kohana's smile widened to a smirk. "She really does want us together, huh?"

"Oh. Zaraki Taichou already made his wish?"

The two girls hurried to the bamboo which held both Yachiru and Kenpachi's wishes. With around thirty minutes until midnight, most people had already made their wishes. Kohana was one of the few who hadn't made their wish.

"Yep! Ken-chan also makes the same wish every year!"

Kohana reached up so she could finally place her wish on the bamboo. She smiled as she placed her wish next to Yachiru's and not next to her Captain's.

"Every single year Ken-chan wishes to find strong people! He makes the same old, boring wish every year, but-"

"Oh really? I don't make the same wish every year!"

Division eleven's Taichou wandered over to Yachiru and Kohana. He clutched his head as if he had a very large headache. It was probably true considering how Yachiru's normal 9 o'clock bed time was extended thanks to huge amounts of sugar and festival hijinks.

"In fact, this year I wished that you'd grow out of this whole "family" thing."

Yachiru frowned at this statement. She really really really wanted Kenpachi and Kohana together. She gave a large yawn to look as if the effects of too much candy had worn off.

"Hm. I don't think it'll work, Taichou, but your efforts are greatly appreciated."

The pink-haired woman quietly giggled. Kenpachi shook his head, knowing she was absolutely right.

"Hey, Yachiru! Over here!"

The large shinigami looked up to see Yumichika carrying a passed out Ikkaku. He had called out for Yachiru and the latter ran to him as quick as she could. Dammit. This was one of her schemes to get him and his subordinate alone together.

"Damn, she's good. I wish I was as smart as her when I was a kid."

Kenpachi noted the sadness in the female shinigami's voice. She wasn't overly happy, like she was when she was with Yachiru, and she wasn't acting tough, like she was when she was around most all of division eleven. Was this her real self?

"She may be bright, but she can be damn annoying."

A long, awkward silence filled the air between the two shinigami. While Kohana was nervous about what to say, Kenpachi had no idea what to say. It was a very awkward time for both of them.

"Kusajishi. That's the district she's from, right?"

Kohana stared deeply up at the sky. She didn't want to look at her Taichou and the sky was quite amusing. It looked cloudy, even though it was night.

"Yeah. I found her there."

A longer silence mingled in between them. It was a tenser silence that made Kenpachi question why the pink-haired woman was so fascinated by the sky.

"Hey, Zaraki? You know the legend behind Tanabata?"

"Nah. I'm not in to that kind of stuff."

"Hmph. Really?"

Silence twist and turned in the sky. The faint summertime sound of crickets and frogs chimed in when no one spoke.

"A young girl named Orihime sat by the the river of heaven as she weaved cloth for her father, the king of heaven. She worked so hard to please her father, that she never had time to fall in love. Her father grew concerned about her and so he arranged for Orihime to meet Hikoboshi who worked on the other side of the river. They fell in love and married, but once married Orihime refused to weave cloth anymore and Hikoboshi let his cows run all over heaven. Orihime's father was so displeased that he forbade Orihime and Hikoboshi from seeing each other. Eventually, though, Orihime had cried so much that her father agreed to let her meet Hikoboshi, but only on the seventh day of the seventh month and only if she did all her work."

Kohana smiled as she continued to stare up at the sky. A single raindrop fell from the dark sky and in seconds her once unfeigned smile was wiped clear away.

"The first time they met, there was no bridge. Orihime cried so much a flock of Kasasagi came and promised to make a bridge so she could cross the river of heaven and see Hikoboshi."

The female shinigami sighed as she felt more raindrops splash her head.

"If it rains, the Kasasagi can't come and Orihime and Hikoboshi have to wait until next year..."

Kohana's eyes finally came off the sky. She looked down and pulled the left sleeve of her yukata just enough so she could see her watch. It was five minutes until midnight and raining. Kenpachi sighed. He wasn't in to moments like this.

"Guess we should go find Yachiru. Right, Hisakane?"

The pink-haired girl stared at the bamboo that her wish dangled on. "It was such a good wish, too."

"Huh? Oh yeah! Let's go."

The wind picked up as the rain fell harder and harder. As the raindrops played with the soaking wet grass, the wind decided to dance with the tanzaku. The marvelous dance of the tanzaku revealed one word, Kohana's wish:

"Acceptance."

-end ch. 3-


Translation Notes: Tanabata Festival- Star Festival

Yukata- Relaxing clothes.

Tanzaku- Small pieces of paper

Kasasagi- Magpies

"Sasa no ha sara-sara, nokiba ni yureru. Ohoshi-sama kira-kira; Kin Gin sunago..."- "The bamboo leaves rustle, rustle, shaking away in the eaves. The stars go twinkle, twinkle; Gold and silver grains of sand..."

A/N: Sorry for not updating quick. I've been busy. I hope this long chapter makes you forgive me. Anyways, I enjoyed this chapter. I thought it would turn out bad, but I like it now. I wanted to make it clear that it was summer, so I did a festival scene. I love festival scenes! I also love the code name scene. That was so fun to write. Ugh. That story in there is true. I did some research behind Tanabata and I found that. It's so sad. Read and Review! You don't know how happy good reviews make me!