Pairing: This chapter contains Kira x Hinamori and slight Kyouraku/Ukitake
Rating: M
Warnings: There is also slight OOC, minor language, blood, and violence.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, Tite Kubo does.
He put his haori back onto his shoulders as he thought about what was going to happen tonight, tonight was the night when Kira would be evaluated by the other captains of the Gotei 13. He knew that it wasn't going to be a problem, they didn't even need the other captains to agree anymore, Kira had passed the bankai test, this was just to see how justified the choice was. Ukitake had no fear that this was going to explode.
"You seem excited," Kyouraku stated as he walked through the door looking straight at Ukitake. "This is big night for everyone in the Soul Society, not just you and Kira. We're going to regain power."
"I know," Ukitake breathed. "Nothing can wreck this excitement, it seems like for once in my life, I'm finally helping something," Kyouraku walked closer. "After all of this time, I can show them what Kira Izuru can do."
He felt Kyouraku's arms wrap around him as he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Everything was starting to stand so still that for a moment he felt like he was no longer dying. For once in his centuries of life he felt like he was invincible, he truly felt truly alive. Kyouraku was the only one who ever made him feel close to this, he was the only one who would bring him joy.
A knock then came upon the door. "Who is it?"
"It's me," a voice called out, it was Kiyone, she seemed to have won the fight to be the one who told the captain that it was time. She and Sentaro weren't even getting along today. "It's time, taichou…"
"Kira-fukutaichou has arrived as well," Sentaro answered as he moved closer to the door. "He's waiting for you…"
Kyouraku released Ukitake as he helped him walk toward the door. "This is going to be the most beautiful night of our careers. Yama-jii said he was so proud of you. You always were his favorite…"
Ukitake smiled as he knew that it was going to be a glorious night, there was going to be no one that tried to destroy it for any of them. This was a night that he would remember for the rest of his life, a night that the Soul Society would never forget.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Kira took a deep breath as he walked through the door, Ukitake and Kyouraku next to him. He had never seen all of the captains together like this, in a casual laid back manner. They weren't talking of war, but of peace and smiles were upon many of their faces as they mingled with one another. Yet as he watched Hisagi look at Matsumoto, he knew that there was something underneath all of the smiles going on. Hisagi who was standing with Hinamori had made the purpose of his evening to watch Matsumoto, who still after all of this was not able to look at Kira or Ukitake.
"I need to speak with Kuchiki-taichou for a while," Ukitake announced, walking away from Kira. "Byakuya!"
Kira then watched as Hisagi finally noticed him, walking closer as a smile went across his lips. The 3rd Division lieutenant smiled as he watched his best friend walk closer, the tension between him and Matsumoto finally clearing up. He smiled back as he was right before him.
"I'm glad to see that you're doing better now," Hisagi answered, hugging Kira briefly. "I know that this is an important night for you. You have every right to be nervous; I just want you to know I'm proud of you, no matter what happens."
Kira's eyes looked at the 10th Division lieutenant, watching her continuing to look away from him, his body freezing at the thought of what might happen. "What's with Matsumoto-san?"
Hisagi moved closer to him, his chin resting on the other lieutenant's shoulder. "It's nothing," his voice was the lowest whisper that Kira had ever heard from him. "I talked to her, you shouldn't worry about it."
Hisagi was lying to him, he never talked to Matsumoto. He, like everyone else, just wanted Kira to go through this without being nervous; he wanted to see him become a captain. Yet a part of Kira felt that this was suspicious, all of the people who were close to him were acting strangely, not only Matsumoto. He knew that they were all being closely watched in case an assassination broke out.
His eyes then fell on Hinamori who was standing by herself, a smile rolling across his lips. "I have to go, Isai-san," Kira smiled broader as he walked toward Hinamori.
Hisagi grinned as he looked at his friend. "It's about time. Go get her…"
Kira walked closer to her, watching as her eyes looked upon him, a smile rolling cross her lips as he returned the glance. Everything inside of him disappeared, all the paranoid suspicions that he had of his comrades were gone as he looked at her, all the nerves disappeared, all he could see was Hinamori. All he could breathe was Hinamori as he moved closer still. He had to tell her tonight.
"Hinamori-kun, I have something to tell you…" he breathed as he looked into her eyes, watching her smile back at him.
"I would love to hear it, Kira-kun," Hinamori answered with a broad smile, his heart racing as he thought of the words that he would say to her.
This was like nothing he had ever felt before; this was the moment where he knew that told him that he had to do this. Renji had told him that if he didn't do this now, then he was going to tell her later on that night. That would be mortifying. He looked over at Renji who was standing next to his captain as Kuchiki conversed with Ukitake, his eyes telling him to "do it now, or else." Right when he was about to profess his feelings, he was interrupted by the room going silent.
"Captains of the Gotei 13, and lieutenants, tonight we are gathered here to not only relax after months of hard work, but to discuss an important issue," Yamamoto announced. "As you all know we have three lieutenants that don't have captains to uphold the power of their divisions since the departure of Aizen Sousuke, Ichimaru Gin, and Tousen Kaname. Tonight we will replace one of them…"
Everyone in the room started whispering the same name: Hisagi. Kira sighed as he heard everyone say that name, watching as Kuchiki stayed silent, glaring directly at the 3rd Division lieutenant; he knew that it was him.
"I know that you all believe the one being replaced is Tousen Kaname with Hisagi Shuuhei, but that's not the case," Yamamoto looked down at Kira, the lieutenant stiffening at the overwhelming power that was surging throughout that glare, his heart nearly stopping in his chest as he made direct eye contact. "We are replacing Ichimaru Gin with Kira Izuru."
The room broke out in questions, the 6th Division still remaining silent as they watched everyone ask what Kira had done to become a captain. At the moment, Kira wished that lightning would come from the sky and strike him down; he wasn't sure how much more of this he could take.
"Kira-fukutaichou has already achieved bankai and has passed the test, but due to the traitorous captains, we need to understand that trust is an issue, if we do not trust a person who is captain, there is no reason to make him such," the 1st Division captain then looked around the room. "Who here of captain level will allow this change to go through?"
The first one to step forward did not surprise Kira; it was Ukitake, a smile on his face. "I will accept him as a captain, sensei."
Kyouraku smiled as he walked to his friend's side. "I will also all this to go through, the boy has already passed the expectations that we need to meet to become a captain, if not surpassed them."
"I too will allow this," Kuchiki answered with the most earnest look upon his face, his eyes closed, Renji rolling his eyes at how regal he was acting.
The 10th Division Captain Hitsugaya walked forward as well. "I agree with this as well, soutaichou," Matsumoto shook her head as she watched her captain step forward, chills running down Kira's spine.
Unohana then stepped forward. "I agree as well."
Kira smiled as he counted who had said this was going to be alright. He had Yamamoto, Ukitake, Kyouraku, Kuchiki, Hitsugaya, and Unohana. That made it six out of ten possible captains who said that he could be a captain, he looked over at the ones who had not agreed, waiting for this night to be over. His body started to shutter as he feared rejection.
"I will agree with this as well, Genryuusai-dono," Komamura stated, Hisagi smiling at that, there were only three captains left who had to agree with this to make it unanimous leaving no doubt in anyone's minds.
Soi Fong sighed as she looked at Kira. "I'll go with it as well."
Kira looked at the two remaining captains: Zaraki Kenpachi and Kurotsuchi Mayuri. He knew why they were silent. Zaraki most likely didn't care enough to say anything, regarding the blond lieutenant as a weakling. As for Kurotsuchi, he never really like the 3rd Division. When he looked at Kira he probably saw nothing more than a "mini Ichimaru" that was trying to clime the ranks. Everyone knew that Kurotsuchi could not stand Ichimaru Gin.
The door then swung open. "Taichou!" Kiyone yelled as she ran in with Sentaro, both of them running to Ukitake's side, the whole room going into silence. "Taichou!"
"Kiyone? Sentaro?" Ukitake asked. "What are you two doing here? I told you to stay at the 13th Division…"
"I will accept the punishment later," Sentaro answered, Kiyone rolling her eyes. "But there's a hollow attack in the outskirts of the Soul Society. It's broken in and it looks strong."
The room filled with a gasp, Ukitake's eyes growing wide as he looked at his 3rd seats. There was a hollow and they were all too busy here to know that it was coming. Everyone started to whisper about the attack, until Yamamoto slammed his cane to the ground.
"Silence!" the whole room became silent. "Right now what we have to do is figure out who we are going to send to take care of this problem. Who is going to go and eliminate this hollow as quickly as possible?"
Komamura stepped forward. "Kira could do it; it could be his first task as an unofficial captain…"
Ukitake swallowed hard as everyone started to say that was a good idea. "Sensei," he breathed as he moved to be in front of his teacher. "Please, allow me to go with him. I trained him; if anything goes wrong, I want to be there to help him…"
Yamamoto looked into Ukitake's eyes. "Ukitake…"
"Please, Genryuusai-sensei," he closed his eyes as he bowed. "I'm begging you, please let me do this. Please let me go with him…"
Yamamoto nodded. "I'll allow it…"
"Soutaichou!" Kyouraku yelled in protest.
"I'll allow it," Yamamoto answered. "Take the hollow out as fast as you can, I have no doubt that you two will do it," he looked away from Ukitake. "You have my permission to go, Ukitake-taichou, Kira-fukutaichou. Kotsubaki, Kotetsu, you go with your captain as well."
The group starts walking out of the room, Kyouraku grasping Ukitake's arm pulling him back, until their noses were practically touching. Ukitake looked into his friend's eyes seeing the fear, his body trembling up against his. The 13th Division captain closed his eyes as he tried to back away.
"Shunsui…" Ukitake breathed.
"I want you to come back safe," Kyouraku whispered as he pulled the captain even closer to his body. "Promise me that you'll come back to me without a scratch on you…"
"It's just a hollow," Ukitake smiled. "I can take a hollow…"
"I'm not joking; I want you to come back safe. You don't know how strong this hollow is, he could rip you into tiny pieces of confetti, I don't want to find you mangled so horribly that I can't recognize you…"
"I'll come back to you," Ukitake breathed with a smile. "I'll be back before you know it, Kyouraku."
As Ukitake walked out the door, Kyouraku felt as though a piece of him was being torn from his body, burned right in front of him. Part of him wanted to run after him and go in his place, but he knew he couldn't. His body continued to shake as he thought of what was going to become of his friend if this continued.
"Please," Kyouraku breathed. "Come back safe…"
0o0o0o0o0o0
Kira sighed as he looked over at Ukitake. "I don't know if I can do this, sensei," he looked over at the expression of fear on Ukitake's face. "You don't even look sure yourself, so how do I know that we all aren't going to die?"
Ukitake was silent as he thought of the promise that he had made to Kyouraku. He had to come back to him in one piece, there was no time to hesitate, one strike could be the end. He didn't even know how strong this hollow was. His eyes then fell on the beast as his whole body froze. It was huge.
Kira's body froze as he looked at it, reminding him of the days of the Academy, but the power that was leaking off of the hollow was different, it was stronger. He gulped as he grabbed the hilt of Wabisuke, his whole body shaking as he took a step closer, his eyes falling onto Ukitake and the trembling 3rd seats. The look in his teacher's eyes made him understand what he had to do.
"Sensei?" Kira asked.
"Do it," Ukitake commanded. "One hollow shouldn't be too bad. After we finish this, we can go back and properly make you a captain, and prove to Zaraki and Kurotsuchi that you can do this."
Kira then raised Wabisuke. "Raise your head, Wabisuke," he commanded as he ran closer to the hollow, his heart racing with every step that he took, the faces of the ones who were close to him rolling through his mind. The various faces that ran through his mind then transformed into a pair of red eyes that stared endlessly at him, driving him insane. He screamed out as he hurled his blade at the hollow. "Take this!"
His body was then thrown back with such great force, his eyes watering as pressure took over his body. He slammed into Ukitake as the two of them fell back onto the ground.
"Taichou!" Kiyone yelled running forward.
"Stay back," Ukitake commanded. "It's too dangerous," he struggled to his feet as he watched Kira move to the hollow again, his grip on Wabisuke tighter than it was before, the lieutenant was finally starting to get serious about all of this.
Kira ran forward again to hit the hollow again, the result being different than it was before. This time he was not thrown back, he was slashed across the arm. The pain that rolled through his body was the catalyst for his understanding. He was going to have to get even more serious.
"It seems as though shikai won't work," Kira closed his eyes as he walked closer to the hollow, ignoring the blood that was dripping from his arm, his body tightening as Wabisuke shook in his hand. "I wish that you would have listened to reason and let me kill you. Now I have to endanger everyone," he took a deep breath. "Bankai!"
His whole appearance changed quickly as Wabisuke transformed into a scythe. Kira took a deep breath as he looked straight into the eyes of the hollow that he was about to destroy. He closed his eyes tightly as he started to float off of the ground, his body confused to how the technique worked.
He realized that he was lighter than everything that was around him. Wabisuke was all about weight change, not only could he make the strongest solids crumble, he could also make himself almost weightless.
"You're finished," Kira announced as he moved closer to the hollow, the scythe nearly making contact with the hollow, his heart racing as he knew that he was going to win this. He drew first blood as he slashed through the hollows head, even if he didn't disappear. He smiled as he was covered with the hollow's blood; he was going to win this.
Then the outlook changed as he was grabbed by the hollow, the grip tightening around him until blood started to roll out of his nose an mouth, his whole body shaking as he started to die in the grip. He couldn't breathe as his vision started to cloud, Ukitake calling out to him. He was then released, his body falling to the ground. As he hit the surface, there he lay at Ukitake's feet, bloody and unconscious.
"Kira-kun!" Ukitake yelled as he knelt down next to him, his eyes wide as he realized how strong the hollow was. He dipped his hand into the blood that was rolling violently from his lips. "You're strong," he took a deep breath, grasping Sougyo no Kotowari. "I guess I have to step in."
"Taichou!" Sentaro called out.
"Sentaro! Kiyone! Take Kira-kun to the 4th Division and inform the other captains to come here for back-up," Ukitake took a deep breath. "I can take care of this before it gets too out of hand."
"Okay," Kiyone answered as they lifted Kira and walked away, Ukitake's eyes still on the hollow as he walked closer to it. He took a deep breath as he ran to the hollow, extending his sword.
"Every wave become my shield, every thunder become my blade," he took a deep breath as he want closer to the hollow. "Sougyo no Kotowari!" he ran closer to the hollow beginning to fire a blast as he looked at the hollow starting to move.
A single claw them moved forward, cutting through the layers of flesh and bone that was his body, his heart stopping for a second as his breathing halted. His clouding vision looked down at the claw that was going through his stomach, his heart racing. His eyes looked up at the hollow.
"Who sent you…?" he coughed up a splash of blood. "Was it Aizen?"
He closed his eyes as his hand tightened on his zanpakutou, his body freezing for a moment. I'm sorry, Shunsui. I lied to you… he then looked at the hollow, his body shaking as he knew that he would never be able to allow himself to die here. He had to finish this before more people suffered.
"Bankai!" he then moved his sword forward for one more attack, more blood falling to the ground as he coughed once more.
That was kind of a cliffhanger, but I thought that was a good spot to stop. Told you it would be more like the summary...