The Story of Bleach told through the eyes of one Hara Setsuna, Captain of the 14th. As a Captain do not expect her to be all sunshine and roses. Eventual Byakuya/OC although not for a long time, the only other paring is OC/OC. Expect spoilers of all Japanese Manga chapters eventually.

[] = denotes flashback*

*Flashbacks not in Order

A/N: I'm willfully vague about a few small things in the coming chapters and all I ask is that you stick with it as most of the vagueries are intentional.

Not Mine

Book Three

Sonnet to the Coming Days

Setsuna sat on the top of Ichigo's house, legs crossed as she waited for the boy to come home. He couldn't see her anymore so she allowed herself the freedom of being out in the open like this. However she wasn't masquerading at his school as a teacher like last time anymore. To appear to him in that form would be too cruel. As someone who might never see them again, the idea of showing him her face just to take it away at any moment seemed unnecessarily mean. So instead she rested at the top of his house - occasionally following him when she felt that he needed to be followed. Which she hadn't felt the need to do almost at all. For the most part his friends had done a good job of cleaning up Hollow attacks in his absence. If it wasn't Chad it was the grumpy Quincy boy. Recently however, things seemed to be picking up. The Quincy child had been attacked and while she tried not to let it get to her, she knew that it was slowly getting to Ichigo. It might be time for her to start an investigation she mused, though it didn't seem like a Shinigami problem quite yet.

She yawned and glanced upward at the bright blue sky. Besides that, things here were boring compared to how it had been during Aizen's reign. But someone had to watch Ichigo, and when Miya had straight up turned it down. Well - there had only been one way that the assignment for his watch was going to go down. As she stared at the sky she heard the sound of someone climbing onto the roof behind her and settling down next to her, "It's a wonderful day isn't it?" Isshin's voice cut into her lethargy.

"Nice enough."

He slammed a thing of sake between them, and then put down two small cups. He then proceeded to pour himself a small cup, "Have some."

"I don't think I could. Wouldn't that be considered drinking on the job?"

Isshin slammed back a cup and smiled at her, "You've always been so uptight Hara Taichou. Relax relax."

She didn't have the heart to correct his blunder so instead she reached for the cup he had put next to her and held it out for him to fill, "Fine. I'll have a few, but I don't plan to get drunk with you."

Taking a small sip she moved forward so that the two of them were sitting side-by-side, overlooking the street. A black cat walked past the house and Setsuna waved. As she did the cat looked her way and then, as if it was shocked to be caught - quickly scurried away. Isshin let out a belly laugh, "I wouldn't be surprised if Kisuke sent her. Everyone seems to want to watch over my son these days."

"You should be proud of that. People want to protect him because of what he did for us."

She yawned, the warmth of the day was truly making her sleepy. Or perhaps it was the sake, either way these last couple of months had been peaceful months. With each day that passed Setsuna felt like the world was slipping away. But it wasn't a bad feeling, it was almost beautiful how each day went by with little to worry about. What would interrupt this peace she wondered. A Shinigami's life was never this dull. Not even in peaceful times. There was always something to fight, something to slay, something to be done, "My son has been sneaking out of the house more regularly these days. I think he's growing restless."

"I'm surprised it took this long."

Setsuna hiccuped, she must of had more sake than she had originally planned. Or maybe it was stronger than the kind she sometimes indulged in back home. Either way she could feel a tiny heat crawling up her cheeks, tickling her and making her a blush a pale pink color. Under the influence was never a good way to do work. However if Ichigo was sneaking out - and he had seemed more shifty than normal, Setsuna was going to have to follow him and figure out what was going on. It could just be that his new job was taking up a lot of time, but she doubted it. Ichigo had this drive inside of him to protect people, and while he still could save people from human things, he knew the true dangers now, "Are you going to look into it?"

"It's my job isn't it? I hope it's nothing, and that your son is the outstanding citizen I know he's always been." sarcasm crept into her voice.

"Ha. You're mocking him, don't mock my boy. He's a little reckless but he's got a good heart."

At that Setsuna laughed softly, "Sounds like the person sitting next to me."

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm a responsible father, just ask my wife!"

"You mean the giant picture of her? I decline."

It couldn't help to have one more cup of sake before she headed out Setsuna decided. So she poured herself one more small drab for the road. She sipped it slowly savoring the taste. If trouble was coming, then whatever this was, she was sure it was only the beginning. Wherever Ichigo went, problems seemed to follow, "He's a good kid. Try to not be so hard on him, whatever it is he's doing." Isshin requested.

"Because of your son I have found my judgement a little bit more lax, everyone in Serietei has found themselves more at ease. Even the people who were once tightly wound have fallen prey to whatever spell he cast upon us."

"The Captain Commander?"

"Him especially." she told him.

"Ha! What I wouldn't give to see him in looser state."

"I feel like you would enjoy it."

A warm breeze wafted in front of Setsuna's face and she sighed. Taking a final sip she finished her sake and then stood up. It was time to do her job, she couldn't put it off any more. She stepped off the roof of the house and waved to Isshin, "I'll be back. Time to see what your son's up to."

Having said what she needed to say she flash stepped away. Ichigo had been hiding something, and it was time she discovered what.

[Setsuna wasn't surprised when the order finally came down. Someone had to go watch Kurosaki Ichigo (even if was just for a small period of time) to make sure that nothing bad happened to him. However she knew that this mission would be a longer one. Maybe it would last a year, maybe it would last ten years, no one knew really. But watching Kurosaki Ichigo was high priority now, and until they were sure that he could stand on his own two feet it was a necessary step. So a few months after Aizen had been defeated the order landed on her desk. It glared up at her, taunting her with it's words. The letter laid out a the plan of action that would be taken in watching him. One person would run point for most of it with the ability to take weekends off, or if was called for, they would be allowed to take a little bit more time off too.

From out of the corner of her eye she watched Miya working, "I have a mission for you."

"No."

She looked at Miya, "What?"

"I said no."

Of course Miya wouldn't be that dumb. He knew what the letter was, and everyone knew that the person who was put in charge of the project would be committing to a life of even more excess boredom, or if it were to happen and Ichigo was to get into trouble, the task of cleaning up after him. Only someone who had either the spare time, or fortitude could take this job. Setsuna stared at him, "I'll give you a larger budget for your dresses."

"Nothing you say could make me take that offer not even beautiful silk. Everyone knows that Soutaichou wants you to take it anyway." He licked his thumb and flipped over a paper in the large docket he was working on.

"Someday I will be allowed to stay here for an extended period." she sighed.

Miya shrugged and continued to pointedly not look at her, "You had enough time to plan that thing you won't let anyone call by name. I'd call it a win."

That he was correct about, and she thought about the coming weekend fondly. If everything went off without a hitch her life would be finally what she wanted to make of it, but she couldn't think of that yet. When she did she got butterflies and had to contain her budding worry that everything would go horribly wrong, "Your wisdom knows no bounds."

"Of course it doesn't. I'm the great Miya, wise and kind."

"Lazy and a drunk, is more like."

"Rub it in will you."

Completely serious she looked at him, "I am going to depend on you to do all the work that I would normally do while I'm gone."

It was petty but watching the blood drain from Miya's face gave her a small amount of satisfaction. Still, what she had said was true, and she wouldn't let Miya forget it, "All of it?"

"I don't know how long I'll be gone, so yes, all of it. I will ask if you can represent me at Taichou's Council. You'll have something to brag about to Rangiku then."

Hearing that he would get to go the Captain's meetings made Miya brighten immeasurably. It wasn't often allowed but when a Captain was going to be gone for long periods of time, and had given permission, lieutenants sometimes were given the right to listen in. If Miya was ever going to be given the kind of leadership she was sure he desperately wanted, but maybe wasn't completely cut out for, he would have to be allowed to go to a real meeting at least once. And it wasn't a terrible idea in the long run, with the return of the old Captains who were just getting used to their home again, it would do him well to get used to the new structure of control, "Really?"

"I'll see what I can do. No promises." she paused, "And if I've heard you've drunkenly told anyone before it's official I will personally withdraw the request, no matter if the answer was already yes."

"I'll do my best." He told her seriously.

"Good."

After that conversation they got back to working. Later that night Yori came to take Miya out for a very late dinner, the two of them laughing as they went. This left Setsuna who tidied up the office before closing shop for the night. The coming weekend loomed in front of her, full of unnamed promise.]

Staring at the man Ichigo was talking to almost made Setsuna sad. It also made her wonder how she had missed his reiatsu. A reiatsu known for burning so deeply, that one could feel it even deep underwater. Ginjo smiled in a way that would have made her nostalgic if she didn't know how dangerous the man actually was. She stayed behind them, hiding herself from view and keeping her reiatsu levels at that of a human, for fear of being discovered. As she did so she listened to their conversation as they walked, "Once you get your powers back, and we will get them back, you'll be able to protect everyone again. If you hunker down and just follow my instructions I'm sure it will come faster."

There was a hint of truth in his words, but she also sensed something more sinister. Another hidden plan, behind his words. In fact she would put money on him being the one to have put the Quincy in his comatose state. If that was true then this had suddenly gone from something that she could ignore to something that was definitely Shinigami business, after all Ginjo had almost been one of them. Once upon a time, "Then what are we waiting for?" Ichigo said excitedly.

"Slow your roll Kurosaki, food first, then work."

Something in Ichigo hesitated, even if he didn't know it, he too could sense that something was wrong. Setsuna wasn't even sure how Ginjo was able to keep the sinister sound out of his voice. It was more than that too. This man was different from the Ginjo that she had known all those years ago. The angry man who had just wanted to be a Shinigami more than anything. Who had bleed sweat and tears to try to accomplish full Shinigami status, something which had been denied to him. Ginjo then had been scary and powerful though on the race occasion - kind. For a small time he had even been someone that the Gotei 14 had come to lean on. But that was in the past, and what she was looking at was a man with a potential scheme that could harm Ichigo if she let whatever it was continue to play out, "Can we at least get hamburgers?" Ichigo finally asked.

"I fucking love hamburgers." Ginjo said.

Ginjo ruffled Ichigo's hair in what would have been a brotherly gesture had Setsuna not known him personally, and the two of them turned down one of the streets in front of them. As they journeyed to the nearest fast food place they continued to talk about ways to return Ichigo's powers to him. In all honesty Setsuna was surprised that Ichigo had lasted this long. These powers that Rukia had given to him and then Serietei had come to approve of were something that Ichigo could no longer live without. Setsuna didn't know what she would do without her own powers, they were like a second skin to her. Ichigo must be feeling some of that too. After all, his father was a Shinigami so those powers that he had come to foster were not fake. They were truly part of him, like they were part of Setsuna. After a time they came to a wider, more used road and Setsuna was forced to stop following them. It wouldn't do any good to let Ginjo see her yet. Putting herself out in the open could cause complications, and make it harder to work behind the scenes.

While she had never considered that it would come to the thing that she had suggested to Urahara a few months back, the item she had lovingly called that, she knew that the fate of Ichigo and the Shinigami now rode on it. Now only the Captain Commander's go ahead stood in the way of Ichigo and it's use on him. Setsuna sighed, maybe she should consider getting back up for this mission. Which would mean asking Urahara and Isshin for help, and knowing Urahara he would want take over the whole operation. It wasn't that she wasn't okay with giving up control, it was just giving it to him, that she wasn't always okay with. Taking off back to where she had come from Setsuna pressed herself to go faster, time to rally the troops.

A/N: All sorts of small moving parts begin slotting into place in this chapter. Hopefully the pay-off is worth it.

Reviews are helpful but not necessary. I understand that this is an OC. If that is not your cup of tea then do not leave a comment saying all OC's suck, that is not helpful and will not make me delete the story. I too understand that most OC's suck, and yet I write anyway