***HI HI!!! It's me again!

I didn't know how to incorporate this into it, but this story takes place about a year after the Winter War. Aria and her classmates never learned anything it because no one wanted another Aizen running around killing everyone and betraying everyone and the whole conquest deal. I think it's because they think it's annoying having to clean up after him. (Lol)

Over the next few weeks, Toshiro learned a little bit more about his new subordinate.

Even though he only learned a small amount, he was grateful that he discovered anything at all. Aria didn't talk that much but her body language was possibly a lot more expressive than her speech ever could be.

First of all, he discovered that Aria was very good with her hands. Although they were small and a bit elegant, at the same time they were quick and efficient. Whenever the captain gave her paperwork to write on she would return the stack in a short amount of time, in neat handwriting. She seemed capable of fixing anything, even a cup that Rangiku broke that had shattered into so many pieces—many of the them tiny ones—that it seemed impossible to put it all back together again. Yet that's what she did, and the cup looked perfect. Toshiro could see where her skill in sword fighting originated.

But at the same time, she was incredibly clumsy.

Toushirou often wondered how in the world she got good shunpo grades whenever she tripped. If the girl was walking on a totally smooth, flat area then she would inevitably find something to trip over, probably her own feet. Not to mention they were always bad falls; she would always somehow get at least two big bruises each time she tripped. And sometimes she even took people with her; that was never a pretty sight. Toshiro wanted to chuckle every time he saw her fall, but he held it back, like always.

One day he decided to broach the topic with her.

"It's a wonder how you got good shunpo scores when you can barely stay on your own two feet," he joked lightly as he watched Aria painstakingly get up from tripping on the doorframe when her foot caught.

She grimaced slightly as she brushed herself off. "I took me a while to get those grades; don't ruin it."

Toushirou said nothing; he continued to stare at her, waiting for her to continue. Feeling his icy look Aria exhaled sharply and turned towards the captain.

"You see… every time I move to a new place… I have to adjust to it somehow," she explained, not looking at her captain as she fixed something on her robe. "My body takes time to adjust to new places, so it'll take some time before I'll stop falling over." She silenced herself after that.

Another thing to know about her: she never talked too much about herself.

Toshiro was slightly frustrated at this. She rarely ever said anything about herself personally. Hell, she barely talked at all. This was one of the few times that he actually got her to reveal something. He didn't even know her favorite color or something like that. It was as though she was keeping everyone out on purpose for some reason. He had consulted her file a few times, but her time in Rukongai was a bit skimpy and the entries were usually the same, always something about her destroying something with that extraordinary plant power of hers. What he really wanted to know was how she got to be so sad and introverted in the first place, but as usual Aria revealed nothing.

And then the graduation of the Soul Reaper Academy began.

The captain worried about having some of Aria's former classmates in his squad. He didn't want her to run into trouble and cause something to happen like on the day he met her. So far she showed no signs of concern as the day went by, but who could tell under those layers of sorrow? As he went over the new recruits, he began planning on how to take extra precautions on watching Aria and keeping her safe.

One day, a week after the graduation, while Aria and Toshiro were quietly laboring over paperwork, Rangiku in all her glory suddenly banged the door open.

"Morning, Captain! Mornin' Ri-chan!" she greeted enthusiastically. She was bemused at the scene before her. She was somehow reminded of two small children sitting at the same art table and doing their work, completely unaware of each other, which was a bit of the case.

"What is it now, Matsumoto?" her captain sighed.

"Captain, it's been weeks! Ri-chan rarely ever goes anywhere! I think I should show her around the Gotei 13 for the rest of the day!"

At the mention at her name Aria stopped writing for a moment and then continued.

Toshiro mulled it over for a few moments. On one hand, it would be a good idea for Aria to look around; she's in the office doing Rangiku's untouched paperwork too often. But then again it was that exact reason why he was a bit hesitant on letting her go. She's such a hard worker; she finishes the paperwork four times as fast as his lazy lieutenant. He decided to ask.

"Miyamoto-san, do you want to go?" he asked.

Aria jumped but began fingering her kimono.

"Well, uh, I guess…if it's okay with the captain…"

"Of course it's okay with him! Right, Captain?" Rangiku jumped in, looking expectantly at her superior.

Toushirou decided that Aria needed a break for all her hard work. Perhaps a little time away from all this paper would take away a little of that weariness away from her face.

"Go ahead," he consented with a wave of his hand. "You can deliver some stuff while you're at it. But when you get back, you, Matsumoto, will have to finish the paperwork that Miyamoto-san has been doing for you. I've been lenient so far, but if you don't do this, so help me, I swear I'll freeze your lazy bum to a chair until you finish it all!"

Aria looked at him with a thunderstruck expression. Rangiku was undisturbed.

"Ah, Captain, you're so mean! But alright, I'll do it. C'mon, Ri-chan, let's go have some fun!" Rangiku shouted happily, pulling Aria off her place on the floor.

Aria dusted herself off for a few seconds and looked back at her captain, taking a stack of papers he held out to her.

"I'll see you later then, Captain. And…thanks," she muttered quietly.

"C'mon, c'mon, let's go!" the strawberry blonde lieutenant whined, beginning to drag the small girl by her sleeve. Aria continued to look back at the captain with a mysteriously worried expression on her face.

Once the door was slid closed, Toshiro resumed his writing, pondering in his head the chances of getting Aria to replace Rangiku as his lieutenant.

"This'll be so fun, Ri-chan! We'll meet everyone, like Momo, Renji, Izuru…!" Rangiku-san chattered on as we trudged through the halls.

"Uh, Rangiku-san…"

"You'll get to meet all of my friends here! Not all Soul Reapers are total bums, you know. There are actually really, really nice ones!"

"Please… Rangiku-san…"

"And we might even get a chance to meet all the captains too! Isn't this great, Ri-chan? I bet no one has ever been on a full-fledged tour of the Gotei 13 in one day before! Especially the tour guide is moi."

Oof, I said in my head, hefting the large stack of papers that Captain Hitsugaya assigned me to deliver. I wish she would help me carry some of these…

So why don't you ask her? Kurobararyu asked.

I'd like to see you try. I can hardly get a word in.

True.

As she faded from my mind I began to think about other things while Rangiku-san babbled.

I was slightly worried about the captain. Would he be okay working on all those reports while I was gone?

Always worrying about others, even the tiniest things, as always, Kuro commented. I'm sure he'll be okay. After all, if he managed to get all that work done with her as his lieutenant before you got here, then I'm certain that he can go a few hours without you doing her work.

Yeah, I guess you're right… Oof, this is heavy…

It was times like this that I wish I was taller. I really didn't want to trip with all this paper in my arms.

Rangiku-san continued to happily chatter as we walked to who-knows-where. I knew the Squad 10 barracks pretty well but now I didn't even know if we were in it or not. I just hoped that the lieutenant's sense of direction was better than Lieutenant Kusajishi from Squad 11. (I picked that up from the captain.)

"Alright, here we are! Squad 13!" Rangiku revealed, spreading her arms wide. I craned my head around the skyscraper of papers in my face and saw a huge building with the characters for the number 13 painted on the wall. We only stopped there for a minute before Rangiku began dragging me against my will into the building.

We took a lot of turns, and I began to wonder if this place was built like the giant maze that the Seireitei is, until I realized that I was stepping on something soft. I looked down and I saw that my feet were on lush green grass.

Welcome…the plants around me whispered in my head.

Immediately I put down my stack of papers on the wooden floor behind me and looked around in amazement. Surrounding me was one of the prettiest gardens I've ever seen. The grass was a healthy green; there were variegated flowers everywhere along with healthy trees of all kinds. There was a cherry blossom tree, an apple tree…

Welcome to our home, Aria… Please make yourself at home…

"Thanks," I muttered quietly to myself.

"Do you like it?" Rangiku probed. I nodded enthusiastically.

"That's great! Let's go meet Captain Ukitake then!" I nodded again, having slight difficulty seeing where I was going, as usual.

There was a small house-like structure on the large garden that I didn't notice at first, but then I realized that Rangiku was leading me there. When we got close to it I heard the shouting.

"Kiyone! Gimme the kettle! I want to pour tea for the captain!"

"Too bad, Sentaro! I called it first! Besides, the captain likes it more when a proper lady pours the tea, right Captain?"

"As if you were a proper lady! You'd be better off being passed as a warthog!

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

I wondered who in the right mind would argue over something as trivial as that while Rangiku shook her head.

"That Kiyone and Sentaro," she said under her breath. Seeing me looking at her she added, "The third seats of Squad 13. Their captain is always sick so the lieutenant usually does the work. And since they don't have one it's those two who are running everything and they're always fighting over their captain. You'll see."

And I soon did. When the lieutenant burst through the door there were three people in the room. A woman and a man were shouting loudly right in each other's faces while there was one who was oddly sitting in the back, looking like he had a really bad headache. I don't blame him.

"Ah, Lieutenant Matsumoto, good to see you," the man in the back said, sounding like he was gladly welcoming the distraction. Surprisingly he had long white hair and a sickly pale face. I guess white hair wasn't as uncommon as I thought.

"Hello, Captain Ukitake!" Rangiku greeted back, bowing. I would have too, if it weren't for this blasted stack of papers.

"Oh? Who's this?"

"This is our newest recruit, Aria Miyamoto!"

The lieutenant presented me with a flourish and I gave a shaky, "Hi," to them all. Kiyone and Sentaro stopped arguing to notice my hair.

"Ah, you have white hair like the captain!" Kiyone cooed.

"Except the captain's is a ton better! And since you said that, I'm the captain's favorite!"

"I knew that, Sentaro! I was just stating a fact! And the captain has much better taste than to choose you over me! Isn't that right, Captain Ukitake?"

The long white haired captain scratched his head with an exasperated look as the two started to bicker once more, completely ignoring everyone else in the room. I suddenly remembered that I had paperwork to pass out so I sifted through the stack and presented it to Captain Ukitake. He gave me a warm smile and thanks, which gave me a warm feeling inside.

"Lieutenant, is the girl a seated officer?"

"Oh yes! She's our third seat! Did you hear that, Ri-chan? Since you're our third seat you get to hang out with Sentaro and Kiyone more often!"

I didn't know which I was more thunderstruck by: the fact that I would be in the company of those two constantly arguing or that I was a third seat in Squad 10 AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW. Maybe it was both.

Rangiku either ignored my mild gaping or she just didn't notice.

"Well, we'll be going now, Captain Ukitake!" she said, turning around and waving her hand.

"Wait, Lieutenant! When you get back can you hand some candy to Captain Hitsugaya for me?" he asked, holding out a rather large bag of presumably candy.

"Sure!"

I cocked my head. "Does the captain like candy?"

The lieutenant giggled. "Something like that. Let's go to the other squads! Hurry!" Before I could pay a respectful good-bye to Captain Ukitake I was again jerked out of the building.

We went to Squad 12 next, and let me tell you, I have never seen a stranger sight. Captain Kurotsuchi was… well… if you stereotyped him then he would be the mad scientist type in my opinion. But I had to wonder, how in the world does a soul get a face like that??? There is absolutely no way he could have looked like that in the real world. I swear, he is the most bizarre person I have ever met. I liked his lieutenant Nemu though. Quiet, wanting to keep out of the way. She took her stack of paperwork from me with an almost muted, "Thank you."

"Don't just stand there, Nemu, you idiotic girl, go put those back in the division," Captain Kurotsuchi snapped. Nemu bowed and hurried off without much expression.

Now, I'm not much of a feminist, but even I could tell that this kind of treatment was just plain wrong. I fought to suppress the flame of rage that threatened to envelope me, with Kuro soothing me. My face twitched and I could feel my mouth curling into a sneer. My fingers were itching to grab my sword and press it to the monster's neck.

I had actually been keeping a secret from the captain and the lieutenant ever since Rangiku had given me those hair ribbons. I decided to experiment and used my kido to place a seal on the accessories so whenever I wore them they would suppress my leaking reiatsu from going hectic. But the flaw was that since it was heavily connected with my emotions they were also heavily suppressed as well. My rage disappeared, thankfully, but I was left with only emptiness, and I think it was showing, because I often saw Rangiku giving me concerned looks at the corner of my eye.

Squad 11 was one of my favorites. As we were passing a building in the barracks all of a sudden I heard a shout, and then a guy came flying out of a window! I yelped and jumped back, wondering if the poor thing was alive after being busted up with glass. The lieutenant waved her hand, said something about a man named Ikkaku, and we moved on.

The moment Rangiku opened the door to the office something pink and small flashed towards her. Not at all startled, the lieutenant dodged and the figure landed neatly on the floor. It turned out to be Lieutenant Kusajishi, the one with the bad sense of direction. I actually liked her, despite the hyperactive personality.

"Look, Ken-chan, it's another Snowy-chan! And she's even smaller!" she cried out in delight.

Another one? If I was just another one, the others must be Captain Hitsugaya and Captain Ukitake. I wanted to snicker at the silly nickname but I held my tongue.

"I think I'll call you Seppen-chan!"

Snowflake? Great, now I had two nicknames. Not that I minded, really.

Then I got a good look at her captain. And to be truthful, he absolutely terrified me. It wasn't his enormous reiatsu, it was that maniacal grin on his face.

"So, looks like you've got quite some reiatsu, little girl. I look forward to fighting you!" he challenged with an insane laugh.

Immediately I hid behind Rangiku, eyeing Captain Zaraki warily. The two lieutenants laughed, one rich laugh and one high pitched giggle.

After Rangiku-san assured me that the fight-driven captain was not going to flay me alive and gave Yachiru all the candy, I handed them their papers and tried to be discreet in ushering the lieutenant out the door, ignoring her chuckles. I learned to steel myself against upcoming oddballs.

As the stack steadily grew smaller, I was amazed at the differences between the squads. Squad 9's lieutenant (they strangely didn't have a captain; Rangiku didn't explain) seemed very responsible of his squad while Squad 8's captain seemed to be a sake-addicted womanizer and his lieutenant was a little cold but analytical. I thought the Gotei 13 had to be the same to work efficiently together, but it seems that's not the case.

Rangiku warned me about Squad 6. She said that at first the captain and lieutenant could be pretty intimidating but once you hang out with them some more they're not so bad.

"Can't be much worse than all the other weirdoes here," I muttered in response. She laughed.

Indeed she was right. Lieutenant Abarai had a pretty scary expression on his face, like he was trying to tell everyone that he was the tough guy. Although Captain Kuchiki didn't have the same face his coldness sort of chilled me.

"Hi, Renji!" Rangiku cried, sliding the door with a bang. I sighed. You'd think I'd get used to that but…

"Yo, Rangiku. Challenging me to another sake-drinking competition?" the spiky red-haired lieutenant replied.

"As much as I'd love to, I have to show my squad's newest recruit around! Speaking of which, Renji, I'd like you to meet Aria Miyamoto!"

Renji glanced at me and said, "Wow, Squad 10 really has a thing for midgets… Gah! I mean, uh, well…Please don't tell Captain Hitsugaya that I said that! He'll freeze me into next century!" Rangiku laughed at this and I turned away, looking out at the window at the sakura trees. All this time my ribbons had been suppressing my reiatsu along with my emotions. I didn't like feeling all hollow inside but it was the only way to keep everyone around me safe.

Then I realized I was being watched.

Byakuya had noticed the reiatsu even before it was within six feet of him.

How could he not? It was leaking like a broken pipe and seemed to resemble fire and water at the same time. It flickered, grew and curled. He could tell that it had enormous density despite its size but it felt restrained somehow, as though it was being sealed off by something. The noble wondered if his lieutenant could sense it. How could he not?

Renji looked up from his work. "Rangiku's coming… along with someone else…"

Byakuya snorted internally. So his thick-skulled lieutenant had some brains after all, he thought. However he was surprised that he hadn't noticed the Squad 10 lieutenant earlier; he had been entirely focused on the other presence.

Sure enough, the busty lieutenant burst through the door and began to have a chat with his subordinate. The captain suddenly noticed a tiny figure behind Rangiku, looking towards the window at the sakura. Byakuya was mildly surprised at her long white hair and tiny size, but most of all he noticed those luminescent green eyes. The surface of them resembled emeralds; hard and unyielding. But he could tell that that was only a mask to cover something up. He noticed that her face was slightly devoid of emotion and the strange thing was that it didn't look as though she was hiding anything; it looked as though she was actually not feeling anything, as though she was empty inside. She noticed his stare and jumps when she looks at him, bowing to hide her surprise.

"Hello, Captain Kuchiki," she says quietly. Byakuya feels her reiatsu spike, only to have it muffled again by that mysterious force.

Seeming to remember something Aria grabs some papers and hands them to the captain, glancing back out the window.

"It's a good time to watch the cherry blossoms," she muttered to no one in particular.

This comment piqued the captain's interest, albeit slightly. He watches her while the two lieutenants continue to chat. Aria sits down and watches the sakura trees as they flutter in the wind with those piercing green eyes of hers.

With reiatsu like that, she can become very powerful, Byakuya mused. But if she couldn't learn to control it, it could end up causing a lot of destruction.

"Ah! Ri-chan, why don't you go wait outside for a minute! I'll be right out! And leave the paperwork here; I'll carry the rest of it." Rangiku suggests. The girl nods silently and walks out the room.

It is silent except for the captain's brush until Renji says, "Rangiku, who is that girl? She has a monstrous reiatsu; where on earth did you find her?"

The woman sighs. "We were inspecting the Academy when we found her. She's actually a very nice girl, I don't know why everyone over there is afraid of her."

"Afraid?"

"Her zanpakuto can control plants to a powerful extent, but she can't control her reiatsu very well, so when she gets provoked she pretty much busts everything up. She's so lonely though, it's no wonder she gets aggravated so easily…"

"What are you going to do about her?"

"The captain's training her for now, but something's different. Her reiatsu's been suppressed, but it's not the training that's doing it. I'm a little worried about her, but Ri-chan will turn out alright."

Byakuya looked out the door where Aria was standing. He didn't notice before, but now that he thought about it she had a lonely, sorrowful look on her face. He returned to his work, but he continued to wonder if Aria could really control herself before she loses herself.

After a few minutes of standing by the door the lieutenant came hopping out with those papers in her hands.

"Whoops, it looks like the captain gave us some wrong papers to deliver! You stay here, Ri-chan, while I run this back to Squad 10 and get the right ones! Later!" She flash-steps away, leaving me all alone.

Even though I've been here for a few weeks I still don't like being left alone, especially in someone else's squad. What if someone I knew from the Academy finds me here? Graduation week really stressed me because I kept panicking about seeing someone familiar. Now I don't panic but I still don't' like it. I'm not sure if bringing my sword was a good idea or not. Trying to gather the meager confidence that I had I began walking away from the Squad 6 office, searching for a way to go outside. I had been walking for a few minutes now before I heard something behind me.

"Excuse me?"

I cringed, hoping that that person was not talking to me. But my hope was dashed as I felt someone tap my shoulder. Trying to keep a straight face I turned around. Behind me was an older boy who was about a head taller than me, with spiky blond hair, glinting blue eyes and a huge grin on his face.

"Hey," he said. "You lost?"

I shook my head. "I'm only looking for a place to go outside."

"Oh, that's easy. Just walk ahead some more and take the last door on the left. Squad 6 has a huge courtyard you know. Oh, and by the way, I'm Takumi Sawahata, fourth seat of Squad 10." He held out his large hand and grinned even wider, showing his teeth.

Huh, he's in the same squad I am. I reached out and gingerly took his hand and smiled tentatively. "Aria Miyamoto, third seat of Squad 10."

He mock-grimaced and said, "Geez, how'd a shortcake like you get one rank above me? One rank! The world has gone mad!" He turned and threw up his arms, joking about how unjust the world was. My smile grew and became more genuine.

"Anyway, I was running an errand for Captain Hitsugaya so I'd better get back. Hope I'll see you around more, Aria! Good luck with the fresh air; don't get eaten by it!" he joked as he waved good bye, strolling back to the squad. I smirked a bit and waved back, and then walked out based on his directions. True to his word Squad 6 had a wonderful courtyard, full of sakura trees. I wondered if the captain has an affinity for the pink blossoms as I sat down at the trunk of a tree, closing my eyes and leaning back.

I would have liked to stay there for a while, but unfortunately my peace was stolen. Out of nowhere these men come stumbling out, carrying sake bottles and making a huge ruckus. I opened my eyes and realized in shock that they were some of my former classmates at the Academy.

Oh, bloody thorns! I cursed in my head. I sprang up and looked for the nearest exit, and what do you know, those drunken fools are blocking it! I bit my lip, frantically looking for a place to hide. With those three all drunk who knows what they could do to me if they see me? I was about to jump behind a tree—

"Hey!" a slurred voice said. I cringed and tried to take cover again.

"You're that witch monster from the Academy!" another called. I grimaced; there was no more use in hiding now that they had seen me. I'll just have to somehow get around them…

"Yeah, who'd let a monster in there anyway? Someone should put her in a cage or something!" The man who spoke downed some alcohol.

A cage? No… I never did anything on purpose…

Aria, don't you dare, Kuro hissed. Remember who you are!

"Monsters should be captured and killed! They don't belong with normal people!"

My fists clenched. I am normal! I am a human! I didn't ask for this! My mind was screaming these things while Kuro tried desperately to calm me down. My hair ribbons worked and repressed my reiatsu, but not all of it. My anger was like molten lava: sluggish but red hot. I tried to remember how the captain showed me how to control my energy, but it was useless.

"How'd you even get to be a Soul Reaper anyway? No one wants to be around a monster! You'll kill them all and then we'll have to kill the fiend! Everyone's scared!" The men whooped at this and drank more. I fought the urge to attack; my fists were so tightly clenched that my palms were beginning to bleed. I wasn't sure if the ribbons would hold against this torrent of reiatsu that threatened to flood out of me. Kuro was shouting in my head, which helped a bit. But I'll never forget what one man said next.

"You've been abandoned by everyone! Even your own family tossed you aside!"

My fury peaked.

Toshiro flashed around all obstacles, making his way toward Squad 6. He had just realized that he gave Aria some wrong papers and was heading over. Normally he would have sent someone else but he wasn't sure how others would react to her.

He was nearing his destination when he felt it. A sudden increase in a very familiar reiatsu.

I have to hurry! He urged himself. He followed the burst of energy like a beacon. Then, he sensed another reiatsu.

"Captain?" Rangiku's voice called out. The captain stopped abruptly in front of his lieutenant, who was holding a bunch of papers.

"What are you doing here, Captain?"

"No time to explain, follow me!"

The lieutenant obeyed without question and flash stepped behind her captain.

As they were getting closer Rangiku sensed Aria's furious reiatsu. I swear I'll skin the person who did it alive, she thought menacingly. The two rounded a corner and the captain practically ripped off the door in his urgency. What they saw was slightly a shock.

Aria had drawn her sword and was pointing it at three men cowering against a tree. Taking from some discarded sake bottles they appeared to be drunk. The girl's arm was shaking as she glared at the men. They didn't look injured at all, just scared. Before Aria could cause any damage, Toshiro used shunpo and appeared next to her and place a hand on her shoulder.

"Miyamoto-san," he murmured.

It was amazing how quickly my reiatsu was snuffed, how most of my fury had iced over.

My arm was still shaking as I held my sword dangerously close to the drunken men but Captain Hitsugaya lowered it. Was it his own captain-level reiatsu that smothered mine or was it the chilling quality of it that had extinguished the flame of rage that had burst?

Thank goodness, Kuro and I thought at the same time.

It was a good thing I had those ribbons or else those men would probably be in much worse shape. I suddenly collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily as what had happened registered. So close…

"Matsumoto, get these men to their squad leader and have them detained," the captain ordered. Rangiku nodded and gruffly shepherded the drunks, muttering something in a menacing tone to them. The captain's hand came back onto my shoulder.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a kind tone.

I was distracted by the coldness of his touch. It wasn't frigid cold, but it was cool, like the air around ice. It felt nice.

"Yes," I mumbled, getting up.

"Let's go back to the barracks. You can stop delivering things today."

I nodded, not wanting to talk, thinking back to what the man said.

"You've been abandoned by everyone! Even your own family tossed you aside!"

I shuddered. He didn't know how right he was…

***Wow, I hope I didn't make any grammatical mistakes in this.