August Challenge Prompt: Devotion
Pairing: ByaHisa
Gift for: Jirachi

Constantly Challenge Yourself.

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The fire was unbearable.

It engulfed them, circling swirling smoke and ash. She tried to limit the amount she drew into her lungs, still, she had to breathe. With each breath came a sharp stabbing pain in her chest. Her arm held the wooden beam that had them pinned as she tried desperately to scream for help.

The fire was dancing in scorching waves that licked the very wood that held her pinned. As a trained professional, she knew the outcome of her situation.

There was no way she was making it out alive.

The dark twilight colours morphed in her vision, embers swirled and through them a figure stepped toward her. She couldn't make out much of him. The spots in her vision made it impossible to see, it was too late.

'SAVE HER!' Hisana shouted at the approaching man, 'please!'

Her desperate cries, earned her another mouthful of ash and fire. She was coughing hard now, pushing on the beam to unpin the tiny toddler she'd been shielding below her body.

'Please!' she tried again. Everything was growing darker, but nothing matter more than the precious little life that she was struggling to save.

'Save her…'

Then everything went dark.

༻❁༺

Hisana sat at the front of large auditorium, her ink pen tapping idly off the side of her desk. Under it, her leg bounced in apprehension. She'd been astounded when she was approached in the Rukongai by a rather formal and stern looking Shinigami by the name of Eiko Sakurai, who had informed her she'd been accepted into the Spiritual Arts Academy. The request had come only two days after she'd used her chaotic spiritual pressure to blow up a neighbour's hut following a row over drinking water.

Toki wandered into the room. She'd been Hisana's caveat for coming along to the academy. The truth was, Hisana had no interest in becoming a Shinigami. She'd heard all the stories in the Rukongai about the wars and all the destruction they caused. They were supposed to help the balance between the world of the living and the dead, and yet, from all the stories she'd heard, they'd been responsible for most, if not all, of their own wars.

'How do I look?' Toki gave a twirl in her new uniform. The red hakama pants and stripes against the stark white of her kosode brought out the blood red colour of her short hair and dark brown eyes.

'Good, as always,' Hisana said with a fond smile. Toki laughed and slipped into a seat beside her.

'Can you believe they have pens?' she held one of them up and gazed curiously at it.

'Apparently the ink was difficult to remove off the white school uniform,' Hisana repeated the very words she'd heard one of the instructors saying to a fifth year.

'Is that right?' Toki frowned down at it.

Hisana went back to tapping hers against the desk.

'What's got you so on edge?' Toki asked.

'Nothing,' was her default response.

Toki gave her a levelling look and Hisana sighed.

'It felt too easy,' she said.

'What? Getting the pen?' Toki looked puzzled.

'No, getting into this Academy. Isn't it meant to be really difficult? Aren't you meant to take entrance exams?' Hisana glared up at the large viridian coloured chalk board that took up most of the wall at the front of the class. Upon its dusty surface were etched a few warm words of welcome and heartfelt congratulations on getting access. The message did nothing to ease Hisana's growing unease.

'I guess…' Toki leaned back against the desk behind them, 'I just thought the explosion was evidence enough you needed to get a handle on your powers.'

Hisana continued to look at her friend who grinned back.

'And I'm like your pet. Its fine, you're reading too much into it,' Toki chuckled.

'I can't help but think…' Hisana trailed off as the Chief Instructor walked in.

'Welcome,' he said in a very gravelly voice, not sounding very welcoming at all. 'I am Gengoro Onabara, you may call me Sensei or Onabara-san. This is the special accelerated class, congratulations on getting in.'

Hisana glanced around the almost empty room. It was surprising that so few had made it into the advanced class, and even more alarming that both she and Toki were in it, given their blatant lack of entrance exams.

'Did you know we were entering the advanced class?' Toki whispered to her, sinking down in her seat as if trying to make herself as small as possible.

'No,' Hisana replied. Each moment that passed her sense of foreboding increased.

'Should we ask?'

Before Hisana could stop herself, she'd raised her hand into the air and watched the expression on Onabara's face dawn in recognition.

'Onabara-san? I think there's been a mistake, I don't think Toki and I are in the right class,' Hisana frowned.

Onabara considered them both for a moment before he replied, 'no, you're where you should be. We rarely make mistakes here. You're in this class through personal recommendation.'

Hisana wanted to ask, from who? But it was clear from Onabara's tone she weren't to press the matter when he was trying to start the class.

Instead she put her head down and did her best to keep up with everything their instructor was telling them.

Onabara explained in depth the balance between the world of the living and the soul society. He spoke briefly about Hueco Mundo, promising to return to the topic in more detail another time. Hisana paid particular attention to the theories behind where Reiatsu manifested itself.

'It seems souls who dedicated their lives to helping and protecting people as humans, will be granted higher Spiritual Pressure as they move on to the other side,' he concluded, 'of course this is just a theory, but so far it has yet to be disproven. We have more evidence that supports it than doesn't.'

The morning lesson was followed up by a modest lunch. Bowls of rice, grilled mackerel and udon were served which had Hisana's mouth-watering. Food was scarce to come by, and she and Toki had to steal to stop them passing out on the streets and a much worse fate befalling them in the Rukongai. The Academy didn't serve the finest food, but it was warm and filling and was fine enough fuel to keep them going. After lunch they took a tour of the grounds, the large grass pitches devoted to Kido practice and the correlating sandy terrain where Hakuda, Hoho and Zanjutsu were taught. The rest of the day was taken up with introductory demonstrations of each from some of the older students.

In the vivid orange light of the setting sun, the white buildings looked like they were bleeding. It was Hisana's least favourite time of day. They were heading back toward the grand academy to pack away their things when they saw a few of the older students running around and looking excited.

'One of the Captain's is here,' Hisana and Toki overheard an older student saying to his friend as he dragged her away to investigate. Ever the curious soul that she was, Hisana shared a brief look with Toki and ran to join them. As they approached the crowd they heard excited whispering.

'Captains almost never visit the academy!'

'That's not true, Captain Hirako comes every year!'

'Only because he's so desperate for people to join the fifth.'

'What's wrong with the fifth?'

'Some nutter used to run it.'

'Who's the Captain here now?'

'Not Captain Hirako it's someone else.'

Hisana pushed her way to the front of the gathered bodies, using her skinny elbows as deadly weapons. She hated being out of the loop and eventually made it to the front.

Nothing exciting was happening, the gates to the academy were still closed, but the instructors were very clearly instructing the students into more formal lines. Hisana fell in between two male third years, feeling tiny with the height difference, but not intimidated. When the doors to the academy opened, she saw three figures walking up the makeshift path. She'd been expecting a whole production team, but there was a modest air of power that shrouded the travelling souls. In front was a tall lean man, and behind him were two shorter seated officers.

Hisana was looking more closely at their uniforms, trying to decipher which squad they were from, she barely paid any attention to their faces until they drew closer to where she stood.

'Captain?' one of the men, wearing a standard Shihakusho asked. Hisana noted that he wasn't wearing an arm band, so couldn't have been any higher than a third seat, but was startled out of this stupor when she realised he'd been speaking to her.

Hisana gazed up into his brown eyes, blinking in confusion.

'No,' he frowned.

The procession had stopped, and Hisana's confusion grew by the second as everyone else peered curiously at her as well.

'My mistake,' he rubbed the back of his neck and looked as bewildered as Hisana felt. He turned back to his Captain who had stopped walking to observe the exchange. Hisana shifted her focus to look at him.

And time stood still.

His ethereal features were delicate but sharp. Pale pallid cheeks hollowed to a pointed chin and high cheekbones framed an intelligent stony gaze, darkened by thick black lashes. His expression was unreadable, one would maybe say callous. Ebony strands of silken hair blew around his eyes, held in place by the three kenseikan on his head.

Hisana was sure she'd never met him before, very sure in fact. He was clearly of nobility and high rank, probably the head of his clan. He held himself with a proud, dominant air of a man who knew only power and service.

Realising she'd been staring at him, trying to work out where her deep feelings of déjà vu were coming from, she hastily corrected herself and bowed. Around her, she could feel the movement of the other students as they hastened to copy her, as if they too, had been holding their breaths waiting for something to happen.

When Hisana glanced back up, the Captain was moving away. He didn't saunter nor stride, but seemed to glide up the pathway ahead of his two seated officers. Next to him, the two seated officers looked bulky and ungraceful.

Hisana pitied the poor woman who had to marry someone so elegant. She'd spend half her time worrying she wasn't good enough if it were her.

'Captain Kuchiki, what's he doing here?'

'I've only heard rumours-'

'Head of the Kuchiki clan!'

'Captain of the Sixth!'

'Isn't his sister a Captain too?'

The murmurings broke out once more and Hisana loosened her body. She'd subconsciously tensed all her muscles, especially her shoulders when those slate grey eyes had pierced her own.

'Hisana!' it was Toki, catching up to her now that the crowd was dispersing, 'did you see him? He was gorgeous.'

'Ever the voice of reason,' Hisana smiled warmly at her friend who laughed heartily at the tease.

'I think I have a sudden urge to train up to join the Sixth Division,' Toki smirked.

'I'm glad you're feeling inspired,' Hisana replied as they walked their way back to the barracks.

'Do you wanna join with me?' she asked.

Hisana didn't outright saying no to things. She always felt there was wasted potential in a day when the word "no" was used too often. 'I'll consider my options,' she replied with instead.

Toki rolled her eyes, but chose not to say anything.

As Hisana fell asleep that night in the crowded women's barracks her mind kept returning to those steely grey eyes of the illustrious Sixth Division Captain, and each time they infiltrated her mind they brought an overwhelming sense of unease.

This is my first time ever writing for this pairing, I was heavily inspired by a friend of mine who wrote an amazing ByaHisa piece called "Her Other Half" which is amazing and I suggest you all go and read it. Her name is Broken Town on here.

The Seireitei August challenge (which was to write for a pairing or character we've never done before) seemed like the perfect opportunity to try this pairing out.

Overall the chapters are very short, pocket sized :D and I will update them when I can. Most of it is written, and I don't see the whole story being anymore than 20k or so.

If you enjoy it, let me know by leaving a review!

If you want to join our Bleach fan fiction discord, the link is at the bottom of my profile!