Disclaimer- I do not own Bleach

Chapter Seven - Kin

Third seat of Squad Ten Kin Soma awoke early and quickly dressed in her shihakusho. Then, once she'd pulled her hair up in her customary pig-tails, the young Shinigami grabbed her zanpaktou and tied the ice blue sash that she used to secure the sheathed sword across her back.

Everyone in Soul Society was worried about the winter war and the upcoming battle with the traitorous former Captain of Squad Five, Sousuke Aizen, and Kin was no different. It was true that she'd never met Aizen, she'd been in the Academy when the betrayal had occurred however she'd heard plenty of people speaking of his powers.

Kin knew that Aizen had defeated her Captain as well as Acting Captain Hinamori and had nearly killed them both. Then he'd gone up against Ichigo Kurosaki, who had already defeated two of the strongest Captains in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, and defeated his Bankai with a single finger. And as if all of that wasn't bad enough he'd escaped to Hueco Mundo while surrounded by several captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. No one had been able to stop him.

"And that's what we have to go up against," Kin thought to herself as she left her room in the Squad Ten barracks. "Plus there's his army."

Word had spread throughout Soul Society and everyone was well aware of the Hollow and Arrancar that Aizen had recruited to serve in his army. Kin had never fought against an Arrancar and had only fought a few Hollow in her short time as a Shinigami and she instinctively knew that she would have to train hard in preparation for the winter war.

"I will be ready," the young girl thought to herself as she made her way out to the training grounds. For the past few weeks she had been training on her own, without the aid of any of the other new members of Squad Ten. No one had wanted to train with her since that disastrous day when she had attacked Captain Hitsugaya and although her feelings had been slightly wounded Kin realized that it didn't really matter. She'd been virtually alone since the beginning anyway.

Called a prodigy and advancing rapidly through the Academy it was only natural that Kin had been an outsider to the other students. Kaiya had been the only one to stick by her and for that Kin would always be grateful to her best friend.

When Kin reached the training grounds she pulled her zanpaktou from the sheath that she wore secured across her back and held the blade parallel to the ground. The young Shinigami took a deep, calming breath and then raised her blade, calling out as she did so, "Sing to the clear winter moon, Youkai Ookami!"

The blade of Kin's zanpaktou turned from the silver of steel to the purest white as the silhouette of a wolf appeared over her head. The haunting howl of the wolf echoed in the wind as Kin swung the blade of her sword and unleashed a whirlwind attack of ice and snow. This was the most powerful attack that Kin had learned thus far in her training however once released the whirlwind was extremely hard to control and the young officer felt the pressing need to work on it.

"I have to get stronger," Kin thought to herself as she unleashed yet another whirlwind and then used her sword to direct the attack toward a bunch of targets that were positioned in intervals along the training grounds. Kin managed to use the attack to destroy four out of the six targets however that simply wasn't good enough for the girl. Growling low in her throat Kin used kidou to form several more targets, made of ice, and then she prepared for yet another attack.


Matsumoto was on her way back to the office after running an errand, and stopping to have a drink with Captain Kyouraku, and as she passed by the training grounds her roaming gaze fell upon a lone figure sitting beneath a tree. "Kin," Matsumoto thought to herself as she passed by the spot where the young girl was sitting, apparently lost in thought. She'd noticed that the other new squad members had been ignoring her as of late and she couldn't help but feel bad for the girl.

Shaking her head Matsumoto continued on her way to the office. She was already late, again and Captain Hitsugaya was going to be mad at her, again. Not that this was unusual or anything but the vice-captain had been making a conscious effort to annoy her captain less. Captain Hitsugaya was stressed out enough as it was.

"He needs to take a break from all that work he's been trying to do," Matsumoto thought to herself as she hurried toward the office. Besides the paperwork, which hadn't diminished even with the threat of war looming over everyone's heads, Captain Hitsugaya had been alternating training sessions between the new members of Squad Ten and the old. And as if all of this weren't exhausting enough the young captain also found time to work on his own training.

"The Captain definitely needs a break." As this thought went through her mind Matsumoto found herself once again thinking about Kin and she couldn't help but contemplate the similarities between the young girl and her captain. It was true that Kin and Captain Hitsugaya hadn't gotten off to a very good start however Matsumoto was convinced that the two of them would be good for one another.

"Hmm," Matsumoto thought, an evil grin appearing on her face. By this time Matsumoto had arrived at the Squad Ten office and she quickly slid the door open and stepped inside.

"Matsumoto," Hitsugaya snapped as he lifted his gaze and watched as his vice-captain walked across the office toward his desk. "Where the hell have you been?"

Matsumoto quickly forced an apologetic expression on her face. "I'm sorry Captain. I was on my way back to the office when I spotted something out at the training grounds and I had to stop and get a closer look."

"What was it?" Hitsugaya asked, curious to hear what excuse she'd came up with to cover up her tardiness.

"Oh I can't describe it," Matsumoto exclaimed, her blue eyes wide. "It's something that you just have to see for yourself. You should definitely go and check it out sir."

Despite himself Hitsugaya found that his curiosity had been piqued and the young captain got to his feet and walked across the office, toward the door.

Matsumoto smiled in triumph however the smile fell from her face as Hitsugaya called out over his shoulder, "I expect for your paperwork to be complete when I return."

"Captain!" Matsumoto called out in a plaintive voice.


After a short break Kin once again got to her feet and held up her zanpaktou. The girl was whole-heartedly dedicated to her training however in the back of her mind she realized that there was only so much she could do by herself.

"I'll have to see if Kaiya has time to spar with me later," Kin thought to herself as she swung her sword in an arch in front of her and summoned a violent snowstorm.


When Hitsugaya arrived at the Squad Ten training grounds he saw that the entirety of it was obscured by fiercely blowing snow. "Soma," he thought to himself, picturing the third seat officer of his squad. He knew without a doubt that she was the one responsible for this.

As Kin worked to control the blizzard that she had summoned with her zanpaktou she felt the arrival of a familiar reiatsu. With a fierce wave of her sword she banished the blowing snow and as it cleared her gaze fell upon Captain Hitsugaya.

"Captain Hitsugaya," Kin said as she lowered her blade. "What are you doing here?"

"As blunt as ever," Hitsugaya thought to himself as he gazed at the girl. Then he clenched his hands into fists as his mind called up the exchange between himself and Matsumoto. "She did this on purpose, I know she did."

"Sir?"

Hitsugaya was jarred from his thoughts by the sound of Kin's voice and as his gaze refocused on the girl he saw that she held a confused expression in her ice blue eyes. "I was walking by and I saw the blizzard produced by your zanpaktou," Hitsugaya replied in his usual, gruff voice. "Why are you training by yourself?"

A small smile appeared on Kin's face however Hitsugaya could see the sadness behind her eyes. "I think the others are scared of me now. Not that I can really blame them, after all my powers are kinda hard to fully control." A real smile appeared on the young girl's face at this point, one that reached all the way up to her eyes. "You should know that Captain, after all you experienced it first hand."

Hitsugaya's first impulse was to snap at the impertinent girl however try as he might he couldn't forget the sad look that he had seen in her eyes, the look that she was trying so hard to hide. The young captain thought back to Kin's file, which he had read upon his return to Soul Society, and he was almost certain that he knew the reason for the sadness that she fought so hard to hide. Kin's file had stated that she had graduated from the Shinigami Academy in a mere two years as opposed to the standard six and then she'd been the only new recruit who'd qualified for an officer's seat upon entry to the squad. Now Hitsugaya was no stranger to persecution and he knew first hand how difficult it was to be the smartest person in class.

"What's up with THAT look?" Kin demanded, breaking into Hitsugaya's thoughts.

Not having realized that his expression had changed the Squad Ten Captain immediately forced his facial features into a scowl. "What are you talking about?" he snapped.

Kin opened her mouth however quickly decided against what she was going to shout back at him. Instead she merely shrugged her shoulders. "Forget it." She knew that she'd seen a sympathetic look in his teal eyes however there was no point arguing with him about it because she also knew that there was no way in a million years that he'd ever admit to it. He would merely continue to deny everything and they would accomplish nothing. Kin wasn't big on pointless arguments so she gave up.

"So," Hitsugaya said in his customary, no nonsense tone of voice. "You wanna master that attack?"

Kin blinked her eyes a couple of times in surprise, unsure whether she'd heard him correctly. "Did he just offer to help me?"

"Do you want help with your training?" Hitsugaya snapped, deciding that he needed to make his intentions clearer. "Yes or no?"

"Yes!" Kin snapped, slightly irritated by his tone. Then she lowered her gaze and said, in a more polite tone of voice. "I would be grateful for any help you offer Captain."

Hitsugaya smirked as he drew Hyourinmaru from the sheath that he wore secured across his back. "Use your attack."

"But Captain," Kin stammered, blown away by how calm he was. "Th. . . that's the attack that I hit you with before, don't you remember?"

"Of course I remember!" the Squad Ten Captain snapped, his teal eyes narrowing as he recalled the day he'd first met his new third seat. "But that only happened, as you so delicately pointed out, because I stupidly flash-stepped into the middle of a battleground."

Kin's face flushed crimson as he recalled that exchange and although she still maintained that it was his fault she didn't need him to constantly remind him that it happened.

"I assure you that it won't happen again," Hitsugaya said, a smug expression on his face. "Now attack me."

Kin sighed as she held up her sword. If it was what he really wanted then she'd oblige, although they could both end up regretting it later.


Matsumoto was sitting in the office, trying her best to force herself to do the paperwork that Captain Hitsugaya had said she had to finish, when she heard the sound of someone knocking softly on the door. Happy for any distraction, Matsumoto glanced up and called out, "Come in."

The door of the office slid open and the Acting Captain of Squad Five, Momo Hinamori, stepped inside.

"Hello Momo," Matsumoto called out as the younger woman walked toward the spot where she was sitting.

"Hello Rangiku," Hinamori said in a soft voice. "I was looking for Toushirou. Isn't he here?"

A broad smile spread across Matsumoto's face. This was perfect. Captain Hitsugaya had said that she wasn't allowed to leave the office until the paperwork had been done and with Hinamori here maybe she wouldn't have to leave in order to get the information that she desired. "The Captain's out right now. Listen Momo, I need a favor."

"Favor?" Momo repeated, her tone slightly wary. "What is it?"

Noticing the wary expression on Hinamori's face Matsumoto offered the younger woman another smile. "Trust me Momo, you'll like this mission."

"Mission?"

Matsumoto nodded. "I sent the Captain out to the training grounds, where Kin was working. I told him that there was something there that he had to see to believe, which wasn't entirely a lie. Now I want to know what's happening but I have to finish this."

Smiling slightly Hinamori shook her head. "He's not going to be happy."

"Those two are perfect for one another," Matsumoto declared. "It's just. . . that they don't know it yet."

"If you say so Rangiku," Hinamori said as she turned to leave the office. Despite the fact that she knew Hitsugaya wouldn't be happy the Acting Captain of Squad Five found herself drawn to the battlefield. She had to find out for herself exactly what was going on. Making sure to keep out of sight Hinamori went to the Squad Ten training grounds and when she arrived she saw that Hitsugaya and the young girl Kin were seated under a tree.

"Aw," Hinamori thought to herself as she gazed over at them. "They really are cute together."

Smiling softly to herself Hinamori continued on her way. She would convey to Matsumoto what she had seen and the two of them would have to see what could be done about the situation.

A/N- And thus ends yet another chapter. Hope you enjoyed and feel free to review and let me know what you thought. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.