AHHH! Knock First! Gosh!

-KuroNerd ;D

It's hopeless.

This feeling,

It rips through my heart

And throws my nerves into chaos.

But it's all for you.

Chapter 10: Akane Junko

Kaoru walked toward the Squad Three district with a little more 'pep in her step' than usual. Behind her, Kaede stared and looked around in awe and took deep breaths of the familiar air and scent. She kept smiling without knowing it, and greeting passerby.

"We're here!" Kaoru announced. They both looked up at the gate and sighed. Bad memories bubbled up to the surface and Kaede coughed awkwardly and stepped toward the guard.

"Captain! We thought you had a meeting with the Head General?" The guard asked, bowing low.

"The meeting ended quickly. Open the gate." She answered curtly. He did as he was told and soon the large gate creaked open away from them.

"It opens inwards..." Kaede's voice trailed off, and Kaoru gave her a weird look.

"All of the gates do. Except the SekiSeki ones." She explained. Kaede nodded thoughtfully and led the way inside. They walked through the bustling streets greeting the passing members that scurried around. Soon, the pair reached the main building standing in the middle of the Squad Three district. The green tiles shone and reflected the sun on the roof. A man with blond hair and sad eyes was standing by the door.

"Captan." He bowed low to Kaede.

"Izuru. Why are you waiting here?" Kaede inquired, giving him an odd look. Kira's head shot up with a surprised expression.

"I...always did this for...G-Gin Ichimaru." He stuttered, a shameful blush rising up his neck.

"Oh...Oh! Well, um...if it's an inconvience I'd rather not have you wait like this, It could mess up your health and paperwork quality." She said, bringing back her 'Captain' facade. Kaoru giggled from behind her palm.

"Yes ma'am." He waited for them to pass before following like the little puppy that he was. When they reached the Lieutenant's office, Kaede stopped and watched Izuru until he got the message and went to finish his paperwork. Sighing in relief, the two girl's sagged and trudged into the main office.

"Hey, what are you doing in Captain Takeshita's office?" A girl with fiery red hair giggled from the couch. Kaede smiled cheekily.

"I am Captain Takeshita. The question is, what are you doing in my office miss Junko?" She said in a scolding voice. The three had a stare-down before bursting into laughter. After awhile, they calmed down enough for Kaede to notice Akane's haori.

"OI OI! You never told me you got promoted!" Kaede bonked her childhood friend on the head.

"Well, it's not all that great when Momo Hinamori is your Lieutenant." Akane grumbled, rubbing the top of her skull. The other two tensed, then groaned at the mention of the peach girl's name.

Speaking of which, Momo was the reason Akane was hiding out in Kaede's office. The annoying girl kept pestering her about keeping everything in the Captain's office and barrack exactly the same as it had been when Aizen had stayed there. After awhile it had made Akane so angry that she snapped at the bun-head girl and fled here, concealing her presence. As she explained, Kaoru and Kaede rolled their eyes.

"You're welcome to hide here, but if she ever finds you..." Kaede trailed off.

"I know I know. Don't mention either of you." The trio burst into giggles once more as Kaede sat at her new desk and ran a scanning eye over the small stack of documents laying in front of her.

"So...what's been happening with you and Captain Hisagi?" Kaede asked suddenly, causing Akane to blush.

"Sh-Shuhei? I don't know. I broke up with him." She responded, trying to shrug nonchalantly but failing because of the lump in her throat.

"Why? What happened?" The purple-haired woman's attention was now focused completely on the cherry. Kaoru moved to sit next to her, wrapping her arm around the fifth Captain's shoulders.

"Oh you know, the usual. I caught him kissing some girl outside of Maku's." She laughed a little at the mention of the bar he'd asked her out at. The situation to her seemed extremely ironic.

"I'll murder him. I'll run my sword through his soft abdomen!" Kaede stood in a whirl, and was out the door before Akane and Kaoru could stop her. If she hadn't ran into a solid body in front of her, she'd have definitely been having poor Shuhei for dinner.

"Relax demon." The obstacle told her, smirk evident in his voice. She looked up and met turquoise eyes for the second time today. Easily composing herself and stepping away, she met his gaze with her own as Akane and Kaoru came crashing through the door.

"I assure you Captain Hitsugaya, I am no demon. Whether or not I want to murder another Captain is not the deciding factor." She retorted cooly. He raised an eyebrow at her and glanced to the others.

"K-Kaede! You know the punishment for such an thing!" Akane exclaimed.

"And to do such a thing on your first day in office! What would Yamma think?" Kaoru added in.

"Or your precious Kommammura? Hmm?" Hitsugaya smirked at her, and she glared at him.

"Do not bring him into this. And as for you, Toshiro Hitsugaya, shouldn't you be in your district, or did you just make up an excuse to come and see me?" It was her turn to smirk while he glared. Then he pulled a small amount of papers from behind his haori and handed them to her.

"You could have sent Matsumoto-fukutaicho."

"She's drinking with Ikkaku and Captain Hisagi."

"What about a lesser member of your squad?"

"Why are you trying to overanalyze this?" He growled at her, unaware that Akane and Kaoru had retreated back into the office, giggling as they did so.

"You're making it too easy." She answered, a laugh in her voice. They stared at each other for a second before he huffed and turned to go.

"Next time I won't come." He threw over his shoulder as he swept through the corridor. She laughed at the suggestive phrase before going back into her office.