I do NOT own Bleach

The Principle was not impressed.

The Zaraki Squad was supposed to be the toughest in the Seiretei's Court Guard Squads, the best melee combat unit. And one of their Seated officers had just retreated like a spineless dog.

Then again, the girl had released 3rd Seat level pressure, forcing anyone with less into submission.

So he would have to send someone with equal spiritual pressure, someone who wouldn't be threatened.

He sent a request for the 3rd Seat of the Zaraki Squad, the bald Ikkaku Madarame.

Izumi was dreaming.

In her dream, she was surrounded by red-hot flames, but they never burnt her. The flames parted as she walked through them, as if she held some strange sort of power over them

"Izumi!" something screeched her name. Izumi looked around, searching for the source. A huge red-gold bird flew overhead –a phoenix. Izumi followed in its wake until it landed a few feet away before turning to her.

Its appearance shifted until 'it' became a 'he', dressed in red-gold armour resembling that of an ancient Greek hoplite. His arms had remained as wings, the same red-gold hue as the rest of his appearance. Izumi couldn't make out the colour of his skin, but his eyes burnt into her –a glistening beetle-black. They seemed so alien, and yet so familiar.

"Who are you?" Izumi asked.

"Don't you know?" the figure asked in response. His voice was deep and soothing. Standing in his presence and listening to his voice was like seeing and hearing an old friend. "I was born with you, and will be with you until you die. I am…"

Izumi was unable to hear his name –it was as though it was drowned out on the way to her ears. The man-bird saw this and sighed.

"So I still cannot reach across the void," he said. "I wonder how long it will be until you can hear me. Just know I will be beside you. It's up to you how long it takes until we can truly be together."

With that, he shifted his form again, returning to the shape of a phoenix and flew away.

Izumi tried to follow, but a curtain of fire rose from the ground and forced her back. She couldn't find a way past. She was trapped.

"Izumi, wake up!" Naomi shook her sister's shoulder before jerking away with a startled yelp –her sister's skin was radiating an incredible and painful heat. What was going on?

Ito stood back, watching. He had a vague idea of what was happening –Izumi's untrained mind was trying to find her zanpukto spirit. It was fairly obvious that it was a fire-based type –with the red aura and her sister's burnt palms, what else could it be?

"It's alright, Naomi," he said, dressing the burns. "Izumi's going to be fine."

"What's happening to her?" the girl sobbed from pain and worry. She was soothed slightly by this man's presence –he was a father-figure, just as Izumi was her sister.

"She and her zanpukto spirit are trying to connect with each other," Ito explained. "Right now, she's not aware of the world around the world around her."

"Will she be alright?" Naomi asked.

"She'll be fine," Ito assured her. "She'll be awake before too much longer."

Hands bandaged and calm again, Naomi sat beside her sister, watching her.

About ten minutes later, Izumi's eyes snapped open. She saw Naomi beside her, noticed her wrapped hands and realised she had hurt her little sister.

She drew Naomi into an embrace. She almost shrunk away from the arms, afraid of being burnt again. But while the hug was warm and caring, there was no longer any trace of it being an out-of-control fire.

"I'm sorry," Izumi whispered, stroking her sister's hair.

The dream was still raw and clear in the back of her mind –it was no ordinary dream. It had been a vision, or something like it. And it seemed that, while she had slept, it had been out of control in the physical world.

"So you're on the verge of achieving shikai (1), huh?" said a voice from the shadows. Ito immediately stepped between the unannounced intruder and the two sisters.

"Relax," the voice said. A man stepped out of the shadows. He was another Soul Reaper, a zanpukto in its sheath held in his hands. He had painted red marks on his eyes, but the most eye-catching characteristic of the man was the fact that he was completely bald.

"Shiny!" Naomi's eyes gleamed with childish mischief. One of the man's eyebrows twitched in irritation. Naomi would have tackled him if Izumi hadn't grabbed the back of her pink-with-blue-flowers yukata, jerking her to a standstill.

"Calm down, magpie," she said. Izumi turned her attention back to the man. "Just who are you?"

"I am Ikkaku Madarame, 3rd Seat of the Zaraki Squad," the man said. "I take it you're Izumi Kihara?"

"I am, and my answer hasn't changed," she said coldly. She knew that she didn't have the advantage of supreme spiritual energy in this situation, but that didn't mean she would roll over to his demands.

"That is a shame, because it means I have to force you into the Academy now," Madarame said, drawing his zanpukto. He kept his sheath in his left hand. Ito stepped forward, prepared to fight for Izumi.

"Stand down," Izumi ordered, and Ito blinked at the command. "This is my fight."

She drew the dagger from its sheath, raising her spiritual energy to allow her to fight on relatively equal footing with the experienced 3rd Seat Soul Reaper. Ikkaku grinned when he felt the energy that had forced the 10th Seat to the ground.

Izumi's training had taught her to be fast, flexible and powerful. She had always fought to win. Her analytical mind soon spotted the fact that Ikkaku moved and fought as though it was only for sport.

Ikkaku was grinning as they separated –he could see that her fighting style really was that of a Zaraki, and she had a great deal of potential. She moved well and fast, blocking his sheath whenever he used it for an assault with her arm, leaving her dagger free to attack with and counter his sword.

They clashed again, dagger and sword throwing up sparks with the force of impact.

"If you don't go to the Academy, you'll end up hurting everyone as your powers become more potent. You have so much potential. Why not leave Zaraki behind?"

"I can't," Izumi hissed back, angered by the fact that he was messing with her head, distracting her from the fight. "I'll learn to control it. And I won't abandon Naomi."

Ikkaku glanced over at the young girl. So she was the reason that Izumi stubbornly remained in Zaraki when she had such a bright future as a member of one of the thirteen Court Guard Squads.

He could sense slight reitsu levels around the girl. It was incredibly weak, as though the energy was leaking through a tiny crack in drips.

There was only one way to force it all out.

Knocking Izumi to the ground in a show of his full power, he leapt at Naomi. The hulking figure of the man with them was caught off-guard by his sudden and unexpected move. Naomi was wide open.

Panic ripped through both Izumi and Naomi. As Izumi scrambled to her feet, grasping for her dagger, Naomi screamed.

But it wasn't just sound that escaped Naomi –a blast of dense spiritual energy hit Ikkaku, blasting him backwards.

It wasn't exactly overpowering, maybe 6th Seat level at best, but it was still Soul Reaper level power.

Naomi stood amazed at what had happened, and both Izumi and Ito couldn't believe what they had both just felt –Izumi's little sister had spiritual powers as well.

"It looks to me like you won't need to leave your sister behind after all," Ikkaku said, breaking the awkward tension as he sheathed his katana.

(1) The first release of the zanpukto; Ichigo's zanpukto is constantly in its released shikai form.