So I was working on a Spanish presentation on magical realism (translating words like synesthesia and juxtaposition, then explaining them in Spanish is NOT cool) and I was flipping through my big dictionary, and I get into the E's and I see 'espada' on the top of the page… and was like 'ZOMG!' in my head. It means 'sword', in case you were wondering/didn't know. It made my Saturday night at the library a little bit better. Also, did you know that Morita Masakazu, Ichigo's seiyu, is the Japanese dub voice of Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) for High School Musical?

I picture Ichigo running around a golf course, all angsty in his shinigami robes, singing 'Bet On It' with the gay jazz hands.

…if that doesn't make your day I don't know what will.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach… but I wish I did.


I was mixed up so confused

What did I just say?

I will regret this every day

-Sexy Mistake, The Chalets

It was, most definitely, going to be a bad day.

Suiren glared at nothing in particular as she entered her chambers in the ninth division. Not only had she slept with a captain, whom she did not know, but she had done it in a drunken stupor, left things awkwardly that morning, and now, to top it off, she felt like a complete moron for all of it. As she collapsed onto her futon, still made from the day before, she let out a long-suffering groan. She'd had enough issues with relationships in her relatively short life as a soul. Just as things were finally normal for her, she had to go and do something stupid.

She groaned again.

"You're telling me," a voice from her bedroom window agreed, and she quickly sat up, startled.

Hisagi Shuuhei was draped through her open windowsill, looking considerably worse for wear. His hair was sticking out at odd angles, flattened on one side, he had deep, dark bags under his eyes, and he was missing his customary choker.

"Ossu," he said, raising a hand in a lazily salute.

"Taicho," Suiren announced, smiling slightly at him, "you look awful."

"Wakatta," Shuuhei muttered, and he rolled his eyes. "I left with Kira last night, and we stopped at a bar with Kyoraku taicho and…" he trailed of, then shook his head. "Ready?" he asked, returning his focus to her, eyebrows slightly raised.

She had seen her captain in worse states before, and she was not at all surprised he still wanted to spar. In fact, she was rather glad he did—it would keep her mind off of her drunken decisions and Renji.

"Aa," she said, hopping up and grabbing her zanpakuto. She leapt through the window Shuuhei had vacated, landing lightly on her feet in a manner only a non-human could. Shuuhei was waiting for her, leaning against the wall, and he smiled at her as she drew up beside him and together they began to make their way towards their training grounds.

"And how was your night?" he asked conversationally.

Suiren glanced at him, blushing lightly. "What I remember of it?"

"So it was a good night!" Shuuhei said with a grin, smiling down at his third seat, taking note of the red tinge on her cheeks.

Suiren rolled her eyes at her captain, who laughed, apparently rather pleased with himself. She tucked her zanpakuto into her sash and then pulled the leather tie from her hair and then pulled all of it back, off her face and neck, twisting her locks on top of her head and securing them by tightly wrapping the base of her rather messy bun with the band she'd picked up from Renji's bedroom floor.

It took her a moment to realize Shuuhei had stopped following her, and she turned back to find him staring at her, eyes wide with a ghost of a grin on his face.

"Taicho?" she asked slowly, slightly worried.

Shuuhei continued to smile as he walked up to her. "Suiren, what happened to your neck?" he asked in a light, conversational tone, one that implied he knew exactly what'd happened to it.

Suiren's eyes widened and a hand immediately flew to her neck, covering what Shuuhei was fixated by.

How could she have forgotten?!

The red marks she'd received last night, courtesy of the new gobantai taicho… her gray eyes quickly narrowed, and she wanted nothing more than to give the man a good whack for marking her so. Her face quickly went scarlet.

Of all the people to notice…

"Aw," Shuuhei drawled, slinging an arm around his third's shoulder, steering her forward once more. "It's nothing to be ashamed of…who was it?"

"Shuuhei!" she all but exclaimed, turning her piercing stare to him. Her cheeks still burned and Shuuhei was only making her more embarrassed. She rarely referred to her captain by his given name in public, but his forwardness had startled her.

He only laughed again. "I'm only teasing you, Suiren," he said, smiling at her, though the gesture did not completely reach his eyes. "It's completely natural."

Sadly, for Shuuhei, the words did little to comfort his disgruntled third seat. Suiren would rather no one know of her previous nights' exploits, least of all Shuuhei. But he knew her— very well— and she figured it couldn't be helped in his case.

She grumbled incoherently as they reached the open courtyard the ninth division usually practiced on. Shuuhei stopped a ways in front of her, stretching his arms and legs before unsheathing his zanpakuto.

Suiren did the same, still glaring daggers at him. She slid her zanpakuto from its sheath, its slight weight a comfort in her hands. After a morning of new, odd, and awkward experiences and the embarrassment she now felt in front of Shuuhei, it was nice have something familiar to hold on to.

Her zanpakuto was a bit longer than most shinigami's, with a thin, lightweight blade. She smiled serenely as she looked down at her sword. Her zanpakuto had come to her very early, while she was still in her early years at the academy, before any of the students really knew how a shinigami actually acquired their own zanpakuto.

She'd been dreaming, a dream with a rather gorgeous man with pale hair and stark grey eyes, whose body seemed to always be surrounded in a nonexistent wind even when he stood stock still. She had fought the man in her dream, though she couldn't remember why, in a fierce battle that felt more real than imaginary. The fight seemed to last hours, and Suiren eventually found an opening in the quick man's defense and stabbed him straight through.

Only he did not cry out in pain, or even bleed. He only smiled down at her, placing one hand on the side of her face, and then simply disappeared.

Suiren had woken with a start then, covered in a cold sweat, her sheets and blankets kicked off from her body. She'd looked frantically around her room, not sure if she was actually there, and then turned her eyes down to her body, checking for the cuts and scrapes she'd received during her bout with the strange man.

It had taken her a moment to realize that she was clutching a sword hilt in her hand.

She'd stared at the weapon, turning it over and over in her hands, amazed that it felt so perfectly fit for her.

The guard was made up of twisting of curved metal strands, perfect for trapping others' blades, and was not rectangular in shape, but an oval. The hilt was wrapped with silvery-blue silk, the same colors the man she'd fought in her dream wore, spots of white dotting it down the middle. The two colors bound together in braided silk cords that hung a few inches from the hilt. She had been so completely amazed when she'd set the weapon in her lap that night, staring at it in disbelief.

Through her open window, the wind stirred her hair and nightclothes, and in a gentle voice, so much like that of the man in her dream, seemed to whisper to her: "Soyokaze".

Suiren eventually realized it was her zanpakuto she'd fought that night in her dream.

She'd learned after years of practice and meditation that her sword was a rather impatient being, which explained why he'd come out and called to her so early. Not that she minded. The early appearance of her zanpakuto had helped her quickly climb the ranks in the Central Spirit Institute and eventually the Gotei 13, her own personal motivation to keep reaching higher.

With a sigh, Suiren tossed her empty sheath onto a grassy section of the courtyard and turned back to her captain, who was waiting, leaning on his zanpakuto.

"Ready?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

She smiled, falling into position. She pulled her feet apart, her left foot forward, right foot back at a right angle. She raised her left arm—her sword arm—up and held her blade at an angle towards the ground, her right arm back behind her, her first to fingers held together as if she were ready to fire kido at him. Taking a deep breath, Suiren nodded.

"Aa."


"This is the last one."

Renji looked up from the box he was rifling through to watch Ichigo and Kira traipse into his living room and drop the boxes they carried down onto his rather modest pile of personal belongings still packed in cardboard.

"Oi, be careful with them!" Renji growled at the orange haired human.

Ichigo glared back, "Move them yourself, then."

Kira laughed, shaking his head. "Well, there aren't anymore left."

As Renji had expected, he had found Ichigo at the Kuchiki mansion. He had been shown into the dining room, finding Ichigo, Rukia, and Byakuya at a silent and incredibly awkward breakfast table.

Ichigo was glaring daggers at Byakuya, who was pointedly ignoring the boy—which served in angering Ichigo even more, something Byakuya surely knew— and sipped his tea with his usual calm and practiced grace. Rukia was looking between the two men, her face slightly pinched, as if she expected them to come to blows at any minute.

After the butler had announced Renji and the customary greetings had been exchanged, Renji flat out ordered Ichigo to come and help him move.

Had it not been for the awkward atmosphere, or Ichigo's obvious desire to escape the stuffy home, the orange haired shinigami would not have conceded as readily—or enthusiastically—as he had.

With exaggerated words of willingness, Ichigo had stood, said his goodbyes to Rukia, completely bypassing Byakuya, then grabbed Renji's arm and dragged him out of the room. Renji had proceeded to make fun of Ichigo, both for his discomfort and lack of alcohol tolerance the night before, both of which Ichigo vehemently denied.

The bickering pair had encountered Kira on their way to the 6th division compound, and they had little trouble convincing him to help as well. In fact, Kira had simply volunteered.

The entire process had taken them very little time, a few hours at most, and Ichigo and Kira collapsed onto Renji's couch, which had taken the place of the one that Renji had rested on earlier that morning.

Ichigo looked around the living room, taking note of the small array of personal affects Renji had placed around, making the place appear a little more homey and welcoming than it had been when they'd brought the first set of boxes over. It seemed odd to him the Aizen Sousuke had once lived in these very rooms, and he said so.

Renji stopped removing things from the box he'd been working on, a pensive expression on his face. "I never actually thought about that."

"Maybe you can relocate?" Kira suggested, a look of total disgust on his face at the memory and mention of the traitorous captain. He had come to terms with the betrayal of Aizen, as well as his own captain long ago. The memories still seemed to pain him however, and his eyes roamed the room with a mix of anger and pain. Renji knew Kira was still ashamed of the actions he'd taken during the time leading up to the betrayal.

Renji cracked a smile. "I don't think that would pass as an acceptable excuse."

"That you didn't want to live in a murdering, traitorous, bastard's old house? Sounds alright to me," Ichigo said.

Renji only shook his head.

"Oi, I'm hungry," Ichigo announced after a moment of silence, looking over at Renji.

Renji raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you expecting me to cook for you?" he asked flatly.

"Hell no. I wouldn't trust you to prepare me a decent meal," he replied, causing Kira to snort. "Lets go get something to eat. You can buy me'n'Kira lunch since we moved you here."

Renji glared at him. He was a very competent cook, thank you very much.

"And you have a captain's salary now," Kira added, "You can afford to take us all out."

Ichigo grinned and nodded his agreement.

Renji shrugged. He did owe them for helping. While he could have packed and moved everything himself, it was both quicker and more enjoyable with the help of the pair of shinigami who now sat on his couch. "Alright," he said eventually, removing the last of his belongings from the box in front of him.

"Good," Ichigo said. "I couldn't eat a thing this morning. That friggen' Byakuya…" he dissolved into muttered curses.

Kira glanced at him, amused, before he stood. "Shall we?"

Renji grinned and followed Kira to the door. Ichigo followed, still grumbling, and the trio made their way out of the court of pure souls and into the streets of soul society in search of something to eat.


Even if you'd asked him, Renji would have no logical response for how he had been shanghaied into buying lunch for a total of nine people. One of the nine was himself, so that explained one person. Ichigo and Kira took two of the other slots; both of whom he'd actually agreed to buy meals for.

But as to how Yumichika, Ikkau, Rukia, Byakuya, Matsumoto, and the small fourth division healer Yamada Hanatarou…he really had no idea.

The trio that consisted of himself, Ichigo, and Kira had left the fifth division and were headed out of Seireitei when they happened to run into Byakuya and Rukia. Byakuya was escorting Rukia back to the thirteenth division.

Rukia had finally been appointed the thirteenth's fukutaicho after the war, after Yamamoto had point blank refused to accept Byakuya's excuses for her not to be the 13th division lieutenant. She was officially Ukitake's fukutaicho the next week.

While Byakuya acted as if he was angered his wish to keep Rukia out of (more) harm was ignored, Renji had noticed that he was actually quite proud of his adopted sister. Rukia performed her duties as vice-captain with the poise and grace everyone expected of her, and, after six months, had nary a complaint against her.

Ichigo had spotted Rukia coming out of the sixth division and was quick to call to her. She'd turned at smiled at him, a rather apologetic smile—which confused to the poor human—as her brother came around the corner with her.

Renji shook his head, realizing once again Ichigo couldn't sense reiatsu unless his life depended on it.

"Yo," Ichigo said as they drew level with Rukia and Byakuya, less enthusiastic that he had been before spotting Byakuya.

"Done moving?" Rukia asked, glancing at the trio of men.

"Aa," Renji answered, "We're going to go get lunch."

"Renji's buyin'," Ichigo said with a grin, "as payment."

Renji rolled his eyes. Byakuya said nothing, though Renji thought he saw his former captain smirk.

"Want to come?" Ichigo asked Rukia, pointedly ignoring her brother, who stood directly behind her. "Renji can buy for you, too."

Rukia was about to open her mouth, looking between Renji, who looked like he wanted to slap Ichigo, and Ichigo. Before she could say a word however, Byakuya surprised everyone by speaking.

"That would be lovely, thank you, Renji," he said, gazing down at his former fukutaicho, before sweeping down the sidewalk.

Renji blinked, not entirely sure what had just happened. "Wha—? Uh, of course, Kuchiki taicho…" he said rather lamely as the group followed Byakuya. He figured two more people wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience.

But then Matsumoto, Ikkaku, and Yumichika, all of whom were on their way back from the salon, spotted them. Matsumoto, of course, invited herself, and Ikkaku and Yumichika followed suit, strolling beside Ichigo. Renji wrestled with denying them the invite, but then admitted to himself that he would feel like a complete ass if he didn't.

Once they numbered eight and Renji thought they were home free, Ichigo spotted Hanatarou, pulling him into the group. Byakuya, it seemed, was also in favor of including the healer, who he seemed to have some amount of respect towards. Renji figured that fighting closely against Aizen and his Espada would do that to someone. After all, he now included Ishida Uryuu as a friend.

And so, Renji and his eight freeloading companions departed the Court of Pure Souls in search of one of the better noodle shops in Soul Society. After finally agreeing on one—the argument stemmed between Matsumoto and Ikkaku over which shop had the best udon—the large group piled in and placed their orders. Renji came up last, regretfully shelling out the large amount of money to cover the rather extensive tab.

The large group ate outside, situating themselves on a grassy outcropping, directly under a cherry blossom tree. They ate in relative peace—Ichigo refrained from arguing with Byakuya, mostly do to Rukia's complete captivation of his attention. Matsumoto did flirt excessively, however, with poor Hanatorou until he swooned. He was quickly revived, and Matsumoto apologized, patting him on the head, which only caused him to pass out once more. Byakuya ordered that he simply be left alone.

Yumichika and Ikkau left the group at the cherry blossom tree, flash-stepping back to the eleventh division for their daily spars with their comrades. Matsumoto left as well, saying she desperately needed a nap on the couch in her office. Hanatarou woke soon after Matsumoto's departure, and he too was quick to scurry off, worried that Unohana taicho would scold him for disappearing.

"Che, I don't think Unohana taicho has ever scolded anyone," Ichigo scoffed as he stood. He couldn't think of a time when the woman hadn't look kind and serene.

"That's why she's so scary," Kira told him, following suit.

Ichigo looked like he was going to argue, but as both Rukia and Byakuya seemed to be in agreement, he said nothing. Renji simply looked on, amused.

The quintet made their way back into Seireitei in companionable silence, broken only when Rukia questioned Ichigo about their mutual friends in the real world. Byakuya left the group at the first division, announcing he had something to discuss with the commander general, and bid them farewell before sweeping into the first division compound. Kira split from them as well, heading back towards the third division.

"Finally," Ichigo sighed as he, Renji, and Rukia continued on.

Rukia shook her head. "I don't know why you don't like Nii-sama so much, Ichigo."

Ichigo looked appalled. "He was going to let you be executed!"

Rukia blushed, apparently surprised Ichigo still clung to the same excuse and touched as well. "Yes well… we understand each other now," she said rather softly.

Ichigo looked unconvinced. "Understand that he's willing to let you be executed?"

"No!" Rukia told him, then the pair dissolved into the pointless bickering that only they could achieve.

Renji sighed as he drowned out the nonsense spewing from both of their mouths, his mind wandering.

He wondered what Suiren was doing, then started slightly as he realized he was thinking about her. He figured he should probably not think about her, as it was clear she wanted no further connection with him. Not that he could blame her; their situation was awfully awkward.

Despite that truth, Renji still couldn't shake the feeling that she was still beneath his skin, drawing closer and closer towards him…

"Oi, Gobantai taicho-san!" a voice called out to him as he continued on with Ichigo and Rukia. Renji stopped and turned his head towards the direction of the voice that had called to him from down one of the many connecting pathways.

Hisagi Shuuhei stood a little ways down one of the paths, grinning at him. Renji noticed immediately that Shuuhei was not alone; his third seat stood next to him, her eyes wide in shock. Renji could feel her reiatsu spike as she saw him, and he resisted the strong urge to slap himself.

"Yo," he called back to Shuuhei, raising a hand. It would be entirely too obvious if he bolted from the scene, especially as Ichigo and Rukia were making their way towards the pair from the ninth division. He tried to send an unspoken apology Suiren's way, and then followed his two friends.

Suiren had faltered in her steps when she'd spotted the red of Renji's hair down the walkway. Shuuhei had stopped, glancing back and giving her an odd look, but she shook her head, mumbling about a rock in her waraji. Of course, after he resumed walking, her taicho had spotted his friend and immediately called out to him.

Suiren was positive she had offended some deity somewhere as she looked upwards to the clear blue skies of Soul Society and followed her captain. Try as she might, she couldn't keep her eyes from flickering towards the tall, red-haired captain of the fifth division.

She thought she saw Renji shoot her an apologetic glance as they neared; she could feel his reiatsu shift as she drew closer. She had been particularly privy to every fluctuation in his spirit power, no doubt due to their exploits the previous night, and it was hard for her to ignore his presence, even more so when he now stood before her.

Suiren followed Shuuhei, drawing up beside him a few seconds after he had met Renji, Ichigo, and Rukia in the middle of the path. Suiren tried to ignore the way Renji's eyes flickered towards her as her captain spoke.

Rukia smiled at her as Shuuhei began questioning Renji about his evening. "Konnichiwa, Tsukinai-san," she said politely, smiling at Suiren.

"Konnichiwa, Kuchiki fukutaicho," Suiren replied, returning the kind smile. She had always liked Rukia. Suiren was often in contact with the small shinigami, as Rukia took care of most of the thirteenth division's paperwork, and it was contact she always enjoyed. Rukia had a knack for making her smile with her occasionally off-color comments and sly humor.

Rukia glanced at Ichigo, who was standing awkwardly beside her. It was apparent that the pair had never been introduced. "Tsukinai-san, this is Kurosaki Ichigo," she said, pushing the orange haired boy forward. "Ichigo, this is Tsukinai Suiren, third seat of the ninth division—though she's pretty much Hisagi taicho's fukutaicho," she added.

Ichigo smiled at her, extending his hand. "Yo," he said.

Suiren took his hand, thankful for something to focus on other than Renji. Ichigo's grip was firm, and she smiled. "It's nice to finally meet you," she said as they broke their grasp.

Ichigo looked slightly abashed. "Aa, well… sorry I'm not running around and being flashy," he said. Suiren figured he was often assaulted by shinigami and souls alike in Soul Society. Being the instrument and hero of wars usually had that effect on people.

"I won't fault you for it," Suiren said with a smile.

"Oi— you've never met Kurosaki?" Shuuhei asked, pausing in his conversation with Renji.

Suiren's eyes flickered to Renji before resting on her captain. "No, but Kuchiki fukutaicho was kind enough to introduce us," she said.

Shuuhei winced slightly. "Yare, yare, forgive me," he said, rolling his eyes— then paused. "Matte—last night, you said you'd never met Renji. Well here!" His eyes brightened, as it appeared he was going to be able to redeem himself for failing to introduce his esteemed third seat to Ichigo.

Suiren smiled slightly. "Aa…"

Renji could practically feel the blush rising to his cheeks.

Rukia glanced at him, confused. He damned the fact she had always been so good with kido and had an uncanny ability to sense reiatsu. He schooled his features quickly, then bowed slightly and tried to act as if he had no idea who Suiren was. Though, as his mind was racing, he couldn't help thinking that was far from the truth.

"Suiren, this is Abarai Renji," Shuuhei said, playing the part of host, though he raised an eyebrow at Renji's bow. "Renji, Tsukinai Suiren."

"Konnichiwa, Tsukinai-san," Renji said.

The way he said her name, the manner in which it seemed to flow so smoothly off his tongue, made her mind flash back to earlier that morning.

Suiren watched Renji, taking a deep breath before smiling at him. "It's nice to finally meet you too, Abarai taicho," she said smoothly.

An awkward silence passed between the pair as they smiled rather blankly at each other. Ichigo glanced at Rukia, one eyebrow raised. Never had he seen Renji act so formal. Rukia shrugged a shoulder in response; she seemed to be just as confused as he was.

Shuuhei, however, looked between the pair, his gray eyes rather calculating, and slowly a look of understanding graced his usually stoic features. He smiled slightly, rather half heartedly, and then cleared his throat. "Well, as much as I would love to school you in the ways of being a perfect captain, Renji," he said, drawing a snort from his red-haired friend, "Tsukinai-san and I have to go and speak with Soi Fong taicho. Her paperwork has become downright awful, and I believe I know just who is responsible for the decline in quality…"

Oomaeda Marechiyo's face came to mind and Renji felt as if he should be smirking, but he felt so awkward standing before Suiren that he said nothing.

"It was nice to meet you," Ichigo said, offering a Suiren a slight smile.

"Aa, you too, Kurosaki-san," she said. "Kuchiki fukutaicho," she said, smiling, and then turned to Renji. His eyes had never left hers. "Abarai taicho, it was nice to meet you as well."

"Aa," Renji replied, nodding. "I'm sure I'll…see you around," he finished awkwardly.

Rukia raised her eyebrows at him.

Ichigo snorted.

"Bye!" Shuuhei said, unnecessarily cheerfully, then grabbed Suiren's arm and flash-stepped away, leaving a rather confused trio in their wake.

Shuuhei stopped when they stood in the center of the second division. He turned to Suiren, smiling a half smile. Suiren looked at him, somewhat abashed. She pursed her lips slightly and avoided his eyes.

"It was Renji, wasn't it?" he asked softly after a moment of silence.

Suiren glanced at him, their eyes meeting, and she said nothing. Slowly, she nodded her head once, just slightly, and then turned on her heel, leaving Shuuhei in her wake.

He sighed as he watched her go, a variety of feelings coursing through his body. With a look at the sky, Shuuhei took a deep breath and watched Suiren enter the second division's office. He replayed the awkward meeting between his friend and third seat in his mind and shook his head.

"Are they in for it…" he murmured before following.


...dun-dun-dun! Hopefully more of you are liking Suiren...she's rather disgruntled these first few chapters, but her personality starts coming out more and more. I'm having a fun time writing Shuuhei, too. We never really see him a whole lot in the manga or anime, and when we do he's very serious...but in the omake and stuff he'd pretty funny and perverted, too. I like the Shinigami Golden short when Rangiku comes in with pictures of her captain and Shuuhei gets all excited because he thinks she's got her paperwork...poor Shuuhei. He's sort of developed a bigger role in this story than originally planned, too.

I've been watching Bleach from the beginning when I have breaks in stuff and something occurred to me... Does anyone else think Zangetsu and Shunsui look alike? I think they're brothers. At least, in my mind they are.

-Luin