Chapter 14: Greet

On the day of her first official mission to the World of the Living, Yuki woke earlier than usual and got ready quickly. She calculated that she'd been a captain for about a week now and the thought seemed absurd. Since the party, nothing really 'exciting' had happened, but she'd gotten to know her Division a lot better and that was something.

'Captain,' Kira knocked on the door, 'Are you ready?'

Knowing that the Senkaimon wasn't scheduled to open for at least an hour, Yuki looked up from her book and frowned, 'For what?'

'The Division members would like to wish you luck,' Izuru was nervous, but he felt so much more comfortable around Kanashimi that he occasionally forgot that he was normally so much more melancholy.

'Right,' appearing at his side, which left the Lieutenant wondering how she'd gotten there, Yuki began walking towards the outdoor platform, haori fluttering out behind her. The area where the Division was waiting brought back memories that, while they seemed old, were only new – how tense the situation had been when she'd first stepped onto that platform.

'Captain Kanashimi!' the group bowed deeply, 'Good luck on your mission and we hope to see you back soon,'

'Thank you,' Yuki half smiled at them, 'I appreciate it,'

'Kanashimi,' Yumichika appeared behind her, 'We're leaving now,'

Realising that the gate must be opening earlier than previously planned, the captain turned and nodded, vanishing with him to appear at the Senkaimon.

'Okay everyone,' Toshiro's tone was one of long suffering, 'Behave, alright? Don't draw any unnecessary attention to yourselves. Don't run around Karakura in your shinigami forms much. Don't steal anything from anyone. Don't bash anyone up. Don't annoy anyone, including me,' suddenly seeing the sly look on Ikkaku's face, he added, 'And don't kill anyone!'

'Wha-,' the bald man was about to protest but Yumichika stopped him with a glare having just arrived.

Suddenly the man turned, wondering where Kanashimi had got to, until he saw her standing by the Senkaimon. He realised that she'd been there for a while, but nobody had noticed until now.

'Oh Captain Kanashimi,' Matsumoto skipped over to her, 'Isn't it a lovely day?'

Wondering about the woman's motives, Yuki just gazed at her expressionlessly as the group moved to stand before the gate.

'Well let's get moving,' Renji sighed, ignoring Rukia's glare, 'We wouldn't want to keep Ichigo waiting,'

'Just,' Toshiro's brow was twitching, 'Behave, alright!'

'Yes, yes, Captain,' Matsumoto nodded vigorously, 'Whatever you say,'

Before anyone could make him completely lose his temper, Toshiro hurried through the Senkaimon.

Kurosaki Ichigo stood before his friends and glared at them. It wasn't an unusual sight. The four of them – Ishida Uryu, Yasutora Sado, Inoue Orihime, and Kurosaki himself – were waiting in the field where, some time ago now, the first Espada had appeared. They'd been informed by Urahara that a team of shinigami were being sent to the Human World in response to the strange cloud patterns, and that they should meet them upon arrival. The enigmatic shopkeeper had had an evil smile on his face when he spoke, so none of them were really sure what was going to happen.

'So,' Orihime let the word linger in the air, then she grinned widely, 'Who's coming through this time? I'm excited!'

Ichigo sighed and rubbed the back of his head, 'I don't know, Urahara didn't say anything,' as he covered his face he added, 'Sneaky, evil, dodgy-,'

'We could be waiting all day,' Uryu glanced about the empty expanse of green grass as if the Senkaimon was just going to appear, unknowingly cutting Ichigo off.

'Patience,' Sado, or Chad, said slowly. He turned to look at Ichigo and noted the clear impatience in the orange haired teenager's expression. Orihime, whose attention could be caught by the smallest things, was staring at a small patch of pale flowers at the bottom of one of the nearby trees and murmuring to herself. Uryu was staring at the sky, eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he noted the new cloud spread.

They'd been changing every day, too rapidly to be completely natural.

'Look!' there was relief in Ichigo's tone when the gate began opening a few metres above their heads. The four of them hurried towards the middle of the field, trying to glimpse the emerging figures.

'Rukia!' Orihime and Ichigo spoke in unison as the petite shinigami jumped down to the ground, landing in a crouch.

'Hey Ichigo,' Rukia smiled at him, 'Orihime,' she jumped when the orange haired girl pulled her into a fierce hug.

'Matsumoto! Ikkaku! Yumichika!' for some reason Ichigo was yelling and it made Uryu want to cover his face in exasperation. Chad just watched on silently.

'Renji!' when the red head dropped down beside Rukia and Ichigo, the orange haired substitute shinigami shook him hard.

'Hey!' jumping backwards, the Lieutenant shouted at Ichigo, 'Watch it!'

'Stop making such a fuss,' the whole group turned to look back up at the Senkaimon when Toshiro spoke, 'I told you not to draw unnecessary attention to yourselves,'

'Toshiro,' Ichigo started to say something else when the white haired captain appeared before him, glaring fiercely.

'That's Captain Hitsugaya to you,' Toshiro was forever correcting the substitute shinigami about that matter, but it was one he was never prepared to overlook.

'Okay, okay,' holding up his hands in surrender, Ichigo suddenly stopped, realising that the gate hadn't closed.

'Who's that?' Uryu, who was very talented at sensing reiatsu, looked up at the Senkaimon, noting the silhouette of another figure, indistinguishable because of the angle of the midday sun.

'Oh,' Toshiro glanced upwards again, 'Everyone, please greet Kanashimi Yuki,'

Yuki hesitated at the edge of the Senkaimon, watching the familiar way everyone greeted each other. Even the cold way in which Hitsugaya reprimanded Kurosaki in was something that felt normal.

When the white haired captain did an introduction of sorts, she hid her lack of social knowledge and stepped from the gate, using shunpo to appear beside Hitsugaya.

'Kanashimi Yuki?' Ichigo noted the captain's haori she wore, 'Are you a new captain?'

'Of the Third Division,' Yuki nodded, lavender eyes studying the faces of each of the surprised group.

'Wow!' Orihime leapt forwards, standing before Kanashimi, who was about her height, and staring at her avidly, 'You're really beautiful! And you must be really talented to be a captain,'

Rukia sensed the surprise of the new captain so she pulled Orihime back a bit, 'Captain Kanashimi had been leading the Third Division for a week now,' smirking at Ichigo, she added, 'And she's a master of kido so be careful,'

Remembering how he'd broken out of Rukia's low level binding spell when they first met, Ichigo couldn't help but grin wryly, 'Got it,'

'You know who we are?' Chad asked suddenly, folding his arms.

'Of course,' Yuki glanced at him, then, turning to Ichigo, she said, 'Kurosaki Ichigo, substitute shinigami,' revolving further, 'Inoue Orihime, human whose powers are the ShunShun Rikka,' gaze falling on Uryu, she continued, 'Ishida Uryu, Quincy,' and then she addressed Chad again, 'Yasutora Sado, a human with Hollow-like powers, nicknamed 'Chad' by Kurosaki,'

'Hollow-like?' Chad was surprised that she knew.

Yuki just gazed at him, not letting on just how much she did know.

Author's Note:

Normally stuff happens when shinigami go to the World of the Living . . . right?