Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

"I'm going to fucking kill you," Asami Chiasa growled as she glared at her friend, Kagami Masako, who replied by slightly widening her small amused smile. "I'll start with breaking your bones. Then, I'll take ice, and freeze you individual limb by individual limb. Then, I'll cut you all over your body and watch you die from blood loss. Then-"

"You're making me sick," Kohana Miyuki groaned, looking a little green as she stared at the food before her. The Captains' Council had taken all morning, and the three friends were currently in a restaurant trying to eat lunch. She didn't even squeal when Asami flicked her in the forehead.

"Maybe we should take you to the 4th Division," Asami said, beginning to look concerned for her small friend. "What do you think, Kagami Sensei?"

"I am not done eating," Kagami replied simply. "I would like to finish before we do anything too drastic."

"We're taking her to the hospital. That's not exactly drastic."

"I am sure she is feeling sick because she visualized what you were threatening to do. She simply needs to learn mental control."

"I think I'm going to be sick," Kohana moaned, clutching a hand over her mouth and making Asami freak out.

"The bathroom is just across the room and down a hall," Kagami said, still calmly eating her teriyaki chicken on rice. Asami looked at her in shock, pausing in her curses and swearing. Her friend was kinda scary.

Kohana darted up and ran, Asami following with concern writtern across her face. Kagami simply sipped her tea before continuing to eat, smiling in amusement the entire time.

...

Hitsugaya looked down at his subordinate in concern. Kohana was currently lying on her back on the couch in his office, her skin slightly tinged green and her eyes closed.

"Ah! What did you do to her?" Matsumoto squealed, entering the room and immediately running to the small woman's side. "Shame on you, whatever it was," she said sternly to her captain as she fussed over Kohana's limp form.

"I d-didn't do a-anything!" Hitsugaya spluttered. "Her friends just dropped her off that way!"

Matsumoto rolled her eyes, smirking as she did. Oh, her poor, innocent, not to mention little, captain.

...

Kagami bowed respectfully, clasping her hands together. Unohana and Kuchiki both stared down at her. She had come to return her captain's haori and thank him, only to find Unohana there.

"I'm here to ask you to transfer to my division once again," Unohana explained. "Those healing techniques...what were they? I have never seen the like before."

Kuchiki's eyes narrowed slightly. He wanted to know as well. Maybe it would shed some light on his subordinate's dark past. He kept finding dead ends whenever he investigated her past, and he was beginning to reach the end of his patience.

"I am afraid I cannot explain them," Kagami said softly. "They simply come natural to me. I cannot teach others how to do them as well. I already tried teaching Miyuki and Chiasa, but they could not do them."

"Will you transfer to my division?"

Kagami shook her head. "Forgive me, Captain Unohana, but I have grown fond of this division. However, I shall be happy to assist your division in any way I can."

Unohana blinked, thinking. Then, she turned to Kuchiki. "What do you think about sharing her?"

Kuchiki blinked. "Pardon?"

"She would belong to both our divisions and share duties between both of them." She turned to Kagami. "What do you think?"

Kagami's smile widened marginally. "It sounds wonderful, Captain Unohana," she replied.

Unohana turned back to Kuchiki. She could be surprisingly forceful when it came to medical talent. "Well? What do you think, Captain Kuchiki?"

Kuchiki blinked. There was no use protesting. "Very well."

Unohana beamed at both of them. "Wonderful. I'll get the paperwork ready." Then, she vanished.

...

Asami groaned, too tired to smack Ikkaku like she so desperately wanted to. She was in a bad mood, having to deal with her sick friend she was forced to room with and having to deal with her annoying friend Kagami, who did nothing but smile like nothing bad was going on. Nothing affected her, and it pissed Asami off. She wanted to take a hammer and beat her until her armor shattered.

"Get off your ass and do the paperwork," Zaraki growled.

"You do it, bastard," she murmured tiredly. "I don't think I can move anymore. I nearly died, you know."

"You're a fucking weak woman if you can't stand a few wounds."

Asami just closed her eyes. "Maybe you're right," she murmured, covering her eyes with her arm as she rolled over onto her back. "I should've died like the pathetic person I am last night."

Everyone stared at her in shock. Had she been replaced by someone else? This wasn't the Asami they knew, the Asami that had challenged Zaraki on her first day as part of the Gotei 13.

"What?" Ikkaku asked in shock, staring at her as if she was an alien.

"I got defeated so pathetically, I should just resign from my seat and commit seppuku," Asami muttered, angry at herself. "Dammit! I was completely helpless!"

Zaraki got up and calmly walked to her. And smacked her. Hard. He broke the couch she was lying on.

"Fucking baka!" he snarled. "Go dump your depression somewhere else! I don't want to see it, you damn moron! Get out!"

Asami removed her hand and blinked up at him with a lazy smile. "I'm touched, Captain," she laughed.

Zaraki through a book at her, which made her dash for the door. Ikkaku watched her leave, still not quite sure why she had suddenly broken down and sounded so pathetic a minute before. Then, he realized what his captain had done. "You tried to cheer her up!" he shouted, pointing at Zaraki. "Who are you and what have you done to Kenpachi Zaraki?"

Zaraki rolled his eyes. "Fucking idiot," he scowled. It wasn't like he knew why he'd just said that.

...

All three women stared silently up at the sky. Asami lay lazily on a branch of a tree, her eyes closed as she sighed peacefully. Kagami sat at the base of the tree, her eyes closed as well as she relished the silence. Kohana's head lay in her lap, the small woman appearing to be asleep.

Asami sighed. "They're not going to come back any time soon, will they," she said softly, more of a statement than a question.

"That is what I think as well. You were lucky to survive last night. Have you thanked Amaterasu for her help in your recovery?"

Asami nodded. "Yeah."

"I thanked my zanpakuto as well," Kohana said, startling her. Kagami just opened her eyes and gazed down at the small woman who was using her as a pillow. "He was angry at me for getting hurt."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Amaterasu looked like she was going to spank me or something."

Kohana giggled softly.

There were several minutes of silence as the three women stared into nothing, their eyes glazed. Finally, Kohana broke the silence, her voice quiet. "Do you think we should tell them about what happened? They might understand what-"

"No," Asami growled, looking over the edge of the branch, her voice threatening. "We're not telling anyone. Right, Kagami Sensei?"

Kagami nodded, her expression subtly changing until she looked more sorrowful than amused. "Right now, we cannot trust anyone else with the truth," she said gently, looking down at Kohana. "Telling them would only hurt us in the end."

Kohana sighed, burying her face in her friend's shihakusho. "I don't like keeping secrets, though," she whimpered.

"None of us do," Asami breathed. Kagami simply nodded in agreement. Living in secrets did nothing but hurt.

...

"How strange," the first man mused. "Butterfly doesn't seem to be doing anything."

"That's because it's been six hundred years," the second man scoffed. "Like there's anything she could do."

The Sisters cackled. "Maybe if we gave her incentive-" the first one started.

"-she'd do something interesting," the second one finished.

"No," the third man said. The Sisters frowned, muttering curses softly, but they perked up when they heard his next words. "At least, not yet."