Training Days

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. If I did, it would suck.

So we are back to the future. Ryuu Akai has been called back from duty in the living world after 80 years of exile. At this time she is learning from the other captains, we have to remember that she has missed a lot. There are hints for upcoming chapters here, hurrah!

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Sunlight sprayed across her eyes as she groaned and tried to roll away from it. This was only her third day as the captain of the 3rd division and she was already through with it. She had spent a day with Soi Fon, another female captain, on her first day. The way that woman stomped around was incredibly annoying, despite the fact that she had given her some pointers on getting respect as a woman in charge of a squad full of men. Yesterday her day was spent at the fourth division, with Unohana, who she was already very familiar with. Unohana was on familiar terms with anyone who had once served in the 11th division. From what she gathered, Unohana had also remained very familiar with a certain 13th division captian, but that was just from what she observed.

Ugh! Today she had to follow around the 5th division captain, who she was not really familiar with. Judging by his name he must be the offspring of Kurosaki Isshin, but who knows, this is the soul society. Everything in her was hoping that Kurosaki Ichigo was not as… flamboyant… as the other Kurosaki that she had once known.

After she had bathed and braided her long hair, she decided she could not avoid it any longer. Leaving her new division she walked leisurely to the headquarters of division five. She had been filled in on what had happened with the previous captain of this division. Despite being secluded in the icy wilderness she had been briefed on the war, and was ready to be called to fight in it. The call had never come, whether it was because she was not needed, or there was no time. Now the hero of the war, Kurosaki Ichigo had taken up the division of the man that apparently only he could defeat. To say that she was curious would be wrong, she was actually incredibly intrigued. Nothing could prepare her for the scene she would walk in on though.

To say that the tiny, raven haired woman was kicking his ass, might have been an understatement of the current situation. The tall, orange headed captain was face down on the floor, with the woman standing, one foot on his back, the other on his head. She had his left arm pulled into a painful looking position as she yelled at him like some sort of banshee from Hueco Mundo.

"Ichigo! You fool, why do you have to provoke him so much! You know that brother's state of mind has been altered lately!" The small woman's voice was shouting as she totally schooled the young looking captain.

A muffled scream came back from the face that was firmly embedded in the floor.

Akai decided this was as good of time as any to interrupt what was happening in a captain's office. She coughed loudly, earning the wide violet eyes of the tiny woman to be turned towards her. For a split second, only a split, Akai wondered if she should feel fearful of the mighty woman who was totally owning the war hero, Kurosaki Ichigo.

Then the woman smiled lightly and sighed at her, releasing her grip and walking away from the prone man with only a light kick to his ribs.

"Sorry about that, I am the fuko-taicho of the thirteenth division, Kuchiki Rukia." Her eyes were bright and happy looking and she spoke with a genuine tone. Her last name though… was Kuchiki, and if there was one thing that Akai had learned the hard way, it was that friendly and "Kuchiki" did not go hand in hand.

With a slight bit of hesitation Akai rose her chin and stated, "Taicho of the third division, Ryuu Akai, reporting for training with Kurosaki taicho."

"Tch! He is a fool!" The Kuchiki stated with all of her cold nobility, but then her face softened, "But, he is a good leader, Ryuu taicho." With that the young woman bowed lightly and walked from the office, leaving two bewildered captains in her wake.

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Kurosaki was nothing like she expected, he was young, respectful, and very humble for the fact that he had single handedly saved the world. Akai had to admit to herself, that she would have probably been more cocky if roles were reversed. However, Kurosaki had lamented to her about how boring paperwork was, how tiring captains meetings could be, and how lame seireitei politics really were. For the first time since returning she felt herself actually wanting to smile due to the strangely charismatic young man. His questions to her were straight forward and it made her feel open to trusting him with honesty in return.

"What division were you in before this?" The deathberry asked as they leaned on the railing overlooking the 5th division training grounds.

"Eleventh"

"Ah! So you know Kenpachi and Ikkaku?"

For the first time in many years her lips tilted in a half smile, "No, this Kenpachi is a new one… although I am interested to meet him. It seems as though he has brought the pride of battle back to the eleventh."

"Tch! If you call running all over the seireitei challenging me to fight to the death a return to pride!" Kurosaki mocked with his own half smile.

They both laughed lightly and returned to watching the squad members run drills on the training grounds. He had really set up a great training system and all of his subordinates really respected him. She snuck her eyes to the side to study the young man. The first thing that set him apart was his ridiculous orange hair, with all of its messiness blowing about in the light breeze. His brown eyes were deep and thoughtful as they took in what was happening on the field. While he had an air of youth about him, there was definitely the quietness of a mature man that was not to be missed, and he was definitely not unattractive.

She shook her head with her eyes closed as she turned from the field, "So, a Kuchiki huh? You seemed smarter than that."

"Huh? Oh… yeah, Rukia." He reached to rub the back of his head. "She is a Kuchiki, but she is different. Byakuya adopted her, because of his wife."

"Wife?" It spilled out of her mouth before she could stop it. Somehow it just didn't seem like anybody would want to marry the pompous man.

Kurosaki closed his eyes and sighed, "I don't know if it is my place to talk about it really. I don't really know that much. She was Rukia's sister, she was from the Rukon District, and she didn't live very long. To be honest I don't think that Byakuya has ever gotten over it, but I didn't know him before, so who am I to say." He had spoken fast without pause for breath, as he finished his face was scowling.

It seemed like a place to insert an insult to lighten the mood, but she was rendered temporarily speechless. No matter what he had ever done to her, she would not wish something like that on her worse enemy. It was easier to lose one's life, than the life of a loved one. A lot of things had changed in 80 years, and she had a lot of ground to gain yet.

"Oi!" She exclaimed to lift the strange melancholy that had fallen, "Kurosaki Taicho, do you like sake? I used to know a great little bar."

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Once again the early morning did not find her with an optimistic attitude. Today she was supposed to report to the sixth division. The memory of the captains meeting was weighing heavily on her mind though. Kuchiki had made it quite clear that he did not want her to come anywhere near his division. Immediately memories shoved up against her mind, and she remembered the look on his face as she had pushed her blade against his neck. There was not enough sake in the world to erase that from her conscious. Eventually she was going to have to confront him and it might as well be today, she thought straightening her haori and pushing her hair around.

It had been about twenty minutes standing in front of the sixth division headquarters, before she finally saw someone exit the building. He was tall with outrageous red hair and lots of tattoos. In turn, he stopped next to her and stared, as she gazed emptily at his division.

An eyebrow quirked towards the red mane, "Errr…taicho…?"

Without turning her head from the sixth division insignia on the building she slid her eyes towards him, noticing his fuko-taicho badge.

"Is Kuchiki in there?" She asked, hoping her voice did not have as much apprehension in it as she had felt.

"Hai Taicho." He replied with a bit of confusion.

Akai simply grunted at him before flash stepping away, and into the division. Flash step took away her chance to hesitate, or to think. Within a blink she was standing in front of his desk, as he simply continued doing paperwork without looking up.

"What are you doing here?" The monotone voice asked.

Her eyes narrowed, it took less than three seconds and he had already pulled his condescending bullshit on her. A deep breath surged into her lungs as she remembered; she had 80 years in ice hell to teach her to not let emotions get the best of her.

"It's my duty to be here, and your duty to teach me… Kuchiki" his name was strangled as it came from her lips. But she held her shit together dammit!

"No." Was all he replied with, without even looking up to meet her eye.

The old rage washed through her body as she glared at him. Of course he was going to make this difficult for her! There was no fucking way she was ever going to apologize to him! Yeah, she had lost her cool and thought about killing him, but he was the one who attacked. He was the reason she lost 80 damn years of her life!

"Kuchiki, look me in the eye when you speak to me at very least." She managed to keep her voice level and calm.

His eyes shifted up to her, and that was when she saw it. Nothing. There was nothing there anymore. No anger, no hatred, no fire, no emotion at all, as if he were wearing a perfectly chiseled mask of the Kuchiki Byakuya that she had once known. It took her a second to realize that he was waiting for her to speak her mind, his eyes had just caught her off guard.

"Kuchiki, you and I are required by duty to be comrades now. I am no happier about it than you are, but we have to find a way to at least be polite to one another."

"It was my swordsmanship that you hated, am I right Ryuu?" His hands had folded together in front of him as he looked at her with those creepy blank eyes.

"While I would never trust your swordsmanship to save my skin, Kuchiki, what has always bothered me about you, is you." Surprise tinkled at the back of her mind as she commended herself for keeping such an even tone with this man.

"Seven tonight, the clearing." Upon saying those words he returned his attention to the paperwork on his desk.

She knew exactly what clearing he was talking about, and she knew that this was a direct challenge.

"Planning on having me exiled again, Kuchiki." She snarled at him.

His head snapped up and his eyebrows were knit together, and in those blank eyes stirred just a small amount of fire, it may have only been smoke. She smiled sarcastically at him before turning and stalking out of his office. It would be interesting to see how much his swordsmanship had changed in the last 80 years, perhaps now he could land a real blow.

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Well there it is. Chapter three. Whew. Big things happening in the next chapter which is titled "When Push Comes to Shove." Hopefully I will have it up in the next day or so. Depends on if I get some more Sake to help with the creative process.

Song for this chapter

"You wanted More" By Tonic (of the "Sugar" album)

Love is tragic, love is bold
You will always do what you are told
Love is hard, love is strong
You will never say that you were wrong
I don't know when I got bitter
But love is surely better when it's gone
'Cause you wanted more
More than I could give
More than I could handle
In a life that I can't live
You wanted more
More than I could bear
More than I could offer
For a love that isn't there
Love is color, love is loud
Love is never saying you're too proud
Love is trusting, love is honest
Love is not a hand to hold you down
I don't know when I got bitter
But love is surely better when it's gone