Disclaimer: Hoping I wake up tomorrow owning Bleach. Probably not gonna happen though...(sighs)

Shinigami's office, Outside the southern 80th District...

Tourou, had been by Kasumi Saitou's side for nearly 200 years, a constant companion in many of her admittedly bloody adventures. In fact, that may have been a bit of understatement when she thought about the numerous hollow raids she had smashed, her swift cult purges, and the clean way she expelled possessed souls, and the crushing force she brought upon the teeming bandit rings, all carried out within the Rukongai over the years with it in hand. When they called her the commander, they did so for many reasons. Neutralization was her thing, and she did it exceedingly well for an unseated officer. Yes, her blade had seen her through each and every one of those missions reliably and without fault, but it was still worrying to know that she'd been so off on the sudden avenues of growth available to it.

Pacing back and forth in the hallways of her superior officer, Kei Hideki, the man in charge of the border of the southern 80th district, Kasumi racked her mind slowly for any reason she could come up with as to why she had missed something as crucial as what stood before her.

Character Rank Sheet

X: Average, X+: Skilled, X++: Exceptional, X+++: Mastered, X++++: Expert

(Above Captain Level) A, A+, A++, A+++, A++++

(Captain Level) B, B+, B++, B+++, B++++

(Lieutenant Level) C, C+, C++, C+++, C++++

(Seated officer Level) D, D+, D++, D+++, D++++

(Unseated officer Level) E, E+, E++, E+++, E++++

(Plus souls) F, F+, F++, F+++, F++++

(Each '+' symbolizes a leap in gains several times larger than the last)

Kasumi Saitou:

Physical Age: 38

Real Age: 389

Shinigami Soul

Base-Line Attributes

(Vit)Vitality: E

Your usual level of vitality is on par with an average unseated officer

(Rp)Kido/Reiryoku Points: E

The amount of reiroyoku in your body is above average.

(Str)Strength: E++

You have strength slightly superior to that of a skilled shinigami.

(Def)Defense Skills: E+++

You have the defensive capabilities of a master unseated officer.

(Spe)Speed: E+++

Your body moves with the speed of a master unseated officer.

(Agi)Agility: E+++

You have the flexibility of a master unseated officer.

(Int)Intelligence: E++

Your mental faculties rival that of a master unseated officers.

Traits

"Sharp-eyed"-You grasp and establish patterns rather that most would glance over.

"Sharp-mind"- Living in the Rukongai ghettos has made you very resistant to manipulation.

"Spartan"- The Rukongai life makes for efficient warriors.

"Politician"- You have some skill swimming in the realm of the silver tongued.

Items

"Shelter"- You have a bare-bones dwelling in the Sereitei, nothing to brag about, but it suites you just fine.

"Tourou"- Your trustworthy Zanpakto has been with you for many years, you never dreamed it was capable of all this…

"Armor"- Your bloodstained and durable armor has served you very well over the years. It's quite the upgrade over what the militia has to wear.

"Shihashiko"- The garment worn by those sworn in as shinigami is in your possession. Yours has some stains though...

Funds

5000 Kan- You should have more, but you drink…a lot.

This was different than what her mostly melee oriented blade had usually done before. It wasn't a disturbing development at all, but it would be a lie to say this new development wouldn't throw her off her game a little. And, that was not very appealing right now.

"Come in," boomed a deep baritone voice from the door in front of her.

Steeling herself for what was to come, she did as she was told, taking her place within the office of her superior, ready to stand as confidently she could in his commanding presence without loosing her nerve.

This was not someone to be trifled with.

You stood at attention in front of him, looking every bit as professional as you demanded from your underlings and answered as such,"Good morning, Sir."

With fingers clasped together, a reflection of his intention to bore into her and the mission statement she had delivered to him beforehand, he answered back with a simple, " Hello."

Combing through his clean-cut-all-business hair and bracing his shaven no -nonsense face with her eyes rapidly, Kausumi was able to discern that he might be pleased more than usual today.

This was not very common.

"I've read through your report. Seems you met up with a blood sucker in the outskirts. Is it worth putting on the black list though? "

She'd anticipated he'd ask something like this before coming, and gave her prepared response.

"Yes sir. I would recommend that the Hollow in question be recorded there. It showed enough tactical abilities to be a threat to seated officers, sir. And there was something off about the way it went about eating the villagers..."

"Hm, I see," he gave her a significant look before deflating in his chair," At ease, speak freely Kasumi," he said, as he truly felt her opinion on the matter was sound.

"I believe it and the pack it led were aiming to eat the villagers at first, but when my confrontation took me towards the rest of the villagers, the overwhelming majority were fine. It was a lot more than I could have wished for, to be honest."

He nodded once more, encouraging her to continue, " Go on."

"Well, as I was pursuing it, it used garganta to take itself out of my range repeatedly once some of its lackeys pulled the bunch I immobilized back into their home world. And the whole time I was using flash step, it was cackling the entire time in front of me, like it had lost it or something," she informed him, her voice laced with concern.

"You have a valid reason to be concerned, and I do believe you fought with an old one," he huffed out, clearly displeased at the entire situation. He looked back at Kasumi with resignation and went on further," Only thing is, I don't think your going to get a lot of vindication from the higher-ups precisely because of its whereabouts."

It took you a moment to realize that he was right to be so displeased. Who would take the word of a bunch of provincial country bumpkins that an old one had rampaged through a local village and left nearly everyone alive? The report was likely to be buried before long as well. Merit was the last thing that one needed to move up in the ranks; the nobles and low numbered Rukongai districts dominated those positions when it came to moving up and you'd have to be a freak or apart of squad 11 to have a fair shot. It was too bad death came there quicker than a promotion.

It was disheartening, but nothing new to Kasumi as she too seemingly deflated.

Seeing her obvious disappointment and lack of argument, herr superior, "Hideki the wise", caught her attention with a simple question.

"Have you tested the waters with that village yet? I'd like to know the reception that kid got, the one you said they rallied around. It might come in handy..." he smiled out, giving her with a significant look.

Catching on, she confirmed your suspicions, " Use them as a support base? You think they're worth it?"

He answered back with a humorous tone," I don't think they're quite useful as that yet, but a few years down the line could change things. I'm thinking that hollow has probably pulled the same shit on some nearby villages. I'll have to examine any records we have on it, see if I can match its profile up with what we have in the database. If it's as nasty as it sounds, I think that thing will be back later.

She stared at him with curiosity before catching on to what he implied with horror bared on her face,"It might have changed priorities once it saw its pack immobilized... Damn it! I should've seen that coming. I knew there was something funny about the rest that stood back in reserve too. Shit! It probably got some easy meals from me."

Her superior's quick admonishment relieved only some of guilt as he stood to leave.

"No, you couldn't have. Those things are rare for a reason and using ferals and beserkers is even more so. You couldn't have known. Besides, what's done is done. What I want to do now," he left his chair and gently ushered her through the door, "Is head over to the village. Can you show me the way?"

Standing at attention once more, Kasumi proudly answered in the affirmative. Whenever Kei Hideki was in as good a mood as he was today, it did one good to keep it so. As long as she'd been with him, she'd picked up on the fact that his happy moods meant he had a plan spinning around in his head, waiting to be put into motion.

And she was only too happy to assist in his brilliant and measured machinations.

Author's Note:

Hey guys got one more chapter go before I conclude arc 1. As you can see I'm making politics seep in here. Next chapter ends with Sosuke though, don't worry. As always, reviews are welcomed.