She grunted as her sword sliced through hollow mask, the resistance straining the muscles in her arms. As the hollow dissolved, she turned to see the rest of her division fighting the recent outbreak of hollows in the Soul Society. It was rare that hollows showed up here, but it had been happening more often as of late. Because these outbreaks were happening more often, each division was assigned an area of both the Seireitei and the Rukon districts to protect.

She turned to watch as Fuyu finally sleighed the hollow she was fighting, but didn't see the one coming up behind her. Ayame flash stepped behind her, shoving Fuyu out of the way as the hollow claws cut deep into Ayame's right hip, slicing diagonally upward all the way to her left shoulder. Pain ripped through Ayame's entire body even as her sword came down to slice through the mask, disintegrating the hollow.

"Ayame? Oh shit, are you okay?" Fuyu shouted, her voice full of concern.

"Yea, I'm fine," Ayame snarled as her vision blurred from the throbbing pain in her chest. "Just pay more fucking attention to your surroundings!" Ayame knew she was being a bitch, but the pain was so intense her knees started shaking. She steadied them as another hollow came after her.

Soon, it seemed as though she was swarmed with hollows. They were surrounding her, actually. It seemed as though they were specifically targeting her. Then she realized that they were attracted to the smell of the blood. Duh. She berated herself for being such an idiot.

"Mori, get out of there. They're too much for you. I'll slaughter them instead," she heard from above her. She glanced up to see her captain above her, sword rested on his wide shoulder, grinning happily at the prospect of more killing. She looked back at the hollow she was killing. When she glanced back up again, almost the entire squad was above her, waiting for her to move out of the way. Which meant almost all the hollows were surrounding her. She sighed, not wanting to use both her swords, but having no choice. She refused to be saved like some damsel in distress. She was no damn princess.

She reached for her other sword strapped to her back, withdrawing it from its sheath. Her swords made a beautiful whistling noise as she held them together. Her Zanpaktou loved when she used both swords, but she rarely did. It was a habit for her to try to never show how powerful she really was.

"Rise, Tsukiakari," she said, feeling her reiatsu swell around her as she released her shikai. The small iris's decorating the handle of her Zanpaktou seemed to grow, crawling from the handles to her arms, connected by vines. The blades elongated, turning a pure white that matched her hair. The whistling became even louder. She raised her sword as a hollow came at her, pain momentarily forgotten. She swung down, connecting with the hollow, thousands of tiny blades of wind exploding outward from the hollow, tearing it apart from the inside out, easily killing the hollow without actually touching the mask.

She heard a few murmurs of awe and curiosity from above her, probably because people couldn't actually see the small blades of wind, so it just looked as though the hollow had exploded at a touch of her Zanpaktou.

Soon, Ayame was whirling and slicking through hollows with ease. She was so graceful about it that it looked like she was flying through air, swords whirling and hair swirling. With each hit of her sword, the sounds emitting from her Zanpaktou became increasingly louder. Soon, Tsukiakari was singing her song. Ayame jumped, landing within the last hoard of hollows left.

"Shi no uta," she said calmly, spinning in a complete circle as she released all the energy the swords had gained with each swing. She felt the familiar caress of wind around her before it shot out from around her in a viscous circular blade of wind, slicing everything in a circle around her, killing all the remaining hollows.

She stood there, panting, as blood from her wound still dripped down her front. Everyone who had been watching her was completely silent as she locked her shikai away, sheathing her swords. She wanted to collapse, the pain swamping her once again, but she refused to look weak in front of anyone ever again. Suddenly, she felt the captain land beside her. She turned to glance up at him, her eyes a bit hazy from the pain.

"Why aren't you seated?" he asked suddenly. She thought he meant why wasn't she sitting down, but that didn't make sense, he wouldn't worry about people like that, he wouldn't care less.

"What?" she asked.

"Why aren't you a seated officer yet," Yumichika clarified for him.

"Why are we having this conversation when I'm bleeding all over the place?" she asked, a bit annoyed.

"What? That's just a scratch," Ikkaku said, joining the conversation. She flipped him off, turning to walk away when a rush of dizziness hit, making her sway.

"Ayame!" Fuyu said, going to grab her arm to help steady her. Ayame shoved her away, glaring at Fuyu.

"I don't need anyone's help," she growled out, turning her head to glare at everyone before turning to flash step to the fourth division to get fixed up. She felt little bad for snapping at Fuyu again, but she was a bitch when it came to pain. But what really bothered her was the look the captain had given her. She could have sworn he was looking at her with respect.

Ayame walked back to the barracks of the eleventh division much later, even though the fourth division had released her earlier, but she'd ended up lost for a few hours. Honestly, Ayame was surprised shed actually found her way back the barracks. By now everyone was already asleep, so she expected Fuyu to be asleep as she opened the door quietly, but was taken by surprise when a small body launched itself at her.

"Oh my gosh, Ayame, are you okay? I am soooo sorry. I'll make it up to you somehow-"

"Fuyu,"

"This is all my fault," Fuyu continued, ignoring Ayame. "Had I just been paying attention to my-"

"Fuyu!" Ayame interrupted, holding up a hand to stop her nervous babbling.

"What?" she asked in a quiet voice, looking as though she was expecting Ayame to bitch her out for something.

"It's fine. In fact, I should be apologizing. I'm really cranky when I'm in pain. Sorry," she said, smiling a bit sheepishly

"What? No way! It's my fault you got hurt in the first place. I'm sorry." She said, a stubborn look on her face, like she was determined to take the blame.

"Whatever. Let's just get some sleep. I'm exhausted and I'm sure you're tired too." Ayame said, giving Fuyu a smile when she nodded in agreement and yawned. Ayame laughed, going to her bed and flopping on it. She heard Fuyu lay back in her bed and say something, but Ayame was so tired she fell asleep almost immediately, despite still wearing the temporary uniform the fourth division had given her.

She woke up the next morning, remembering that she had had a horrible dream, but not quite remembering what it was. She let the memory drift away, getting up to change out of the dirty temporary uniform into her proper one, and cleaning up for the day.

She walked out of the bathroom to find Fuyu still asleep, snoring in a quiet, slightly adorable way. She left without Fuyu, leaving her to catch up on some sleep. She walked out to the training area, not really in the mood to eat breakfast. But of course, she got lost on the way there. She walked around the corner only to run into a dead end. Literally, ran into it.

"Dammit," she cursed, rubbing her forehead and opening her eyes to find that she hadn't run into a wall, but her captain's wall like chest.

"Lost?" he asked, his rough morning voice sending chills down her spine.

"Always," she said, sighing and turning around.

"Where are you going?"

"Training arena," she answered. Suddenly a huge hand grabbed her hand, turning her around to face him once again. Still holding her hand in his large, rough hand, he pulled her around the corner before releasing her hand. She was momentarily distracted by the goosebumps his collapsed fingertips had caused when they'd rather gently raked across her palm. Then she looked around his hulking frame to find the training arena behind him. She felt a fierce blush spread across her cheeks at how close shed been to her destination.

"Hopeless," he muttered as he walked away.

"Jerk," she said teasingly. He didn't even turn around. She spent the rest of the day training. She wasn't sure why, but the thought of being a seated officer wouldn't leave her alone.