Welcome back everyone, and sadly, goodbye to one of my readers. Got a message last week saying that one of you fellas will have to leave for a while due to personal reasons. Not something bad, just something that would prevent that person from enjoying the story for a while. Good luck to ya, and I really hope to see you back in the future.

Besides that, nothing new going on, besides finals this coming week. Fingers crossed. Sadly, no reviews this week. (Hollers into the distance "Where did you go, Spades?") Lol.

So, with no reviews to answer, I guess it's straight into the story. Enjoy.

(I DO NOT OWN BLEACH; ITS CHARACTORS, NAMES, LOCATIONS, OR STORY! THAT HONOR BELONGS SOLELY TO TITE KUBO AND HIS TEAM! ONLY THE OC, AND RANDOM NAMES NOT MENTIONED IN THE BOOKS OR ANIME ARE MY OWN!)


Chapter 13

(Paperwork Problems and Hinata's Training)

Squad 7 Headquarters, Seireitei, The Next Morning

It was a calm and peaceful morning in the Seireitei; the air was just a bit nippy, and there was a thin blanket a fog hovering at rooftop level. There were a few random soul reapers patrolling the streets, but otherwise they were still vacant.

It was still a little early and the sun had not risen yet when Timothy had walked into the Captain's office to get a head start on the late-night turn-ins of paperwork. Afterall, he had always been an early riser, wanting to get work done early.

He walked out of the mini kitchen with a tray in hand; a small clay pot filled with tea and two small cups. He set the tray down on the edge of the table, that had become his desk, and let out a deep and long yawn as he walked over and sat on the couch.

He finished his yawn with a swift head shake, then reached over and poured himself a cup of tea; blowing on it a few times to cool it before taking a small sip and setting it down in front of him as he picked up the first form from the pile.

He scanned it over for a minute, then rubbed the rest of the sleep from his eyes before grabbing his brush and signing his name on the bottom. He set the form aside and grabbed the next one. He scanned it over, but noticed something was off.

"This ain't right…" he mumbled, and picked up the following form, checking it over as well. "What?" he mumbled further.

He looked over the numbers and entries, trying to find out where it had gone wrong, then glanced at the top where the primary squad information was written down. He then saw why everything was wrong.

"Crap." He said with annoyance.

He set the two forms down and sifted through the rest of the uncompleted paperwork, noticing that about a dozen of the following forms had the same issue.

"Those idiots." He moaned.

The problem that he had was that somehow one of the night clerks had grabbed the wrong forms, the forms that belonged to another squad.

"Squad 8…Squad 8…Squad 8…" he said as he looked at each of the misplaced forms.

In all, he counted sixteen documents that belonged to the eighth squad. "Don't tell me…" he slightly whined as he started looking through the rest of the documents. "Damn it…" he whined further as he saw that some of the squad's night forms were missing.

"Damn." He said, then leaned back with a growling moan and started rubbing his face. "Not' how I wanted to start the day." He complained, then sighed heavily.

He leaned back forward and rested his head in his hand as he growled again. The door to the office then opened and Sajin walked in. The furry Captain turned to Timothy, surprised to see him there ahead of him.

"Tim? You are here early this morning." He stated.

Timothy rolled his head back in his hand, glancing briefly at him before returning to the forms in front of him.

"Morning Captain." He answered in a low, still annoyed tone.

Sajin rose a brow at the man's voice. "Something wrong?" he asked.

Timothy sighed and lifted his head, dropping his hand on the table. "Some idiot back at Squad 1 mixed up our paperwork; we ended up with some of Squad 8's night work, and I'm willing to bet that they have ours." He answered with a moan.

He reached over and began pouring a cup of tea for his Captain as Sajin walked over and picked up one of the misplaced forms.

"I see. It sometimes happens, Tim. We'll just have to send someone to take this paperwork to Squad 8 and return with ours. For now, we can complete the forms that we have." He advised as he set down the document and accepted the cup of tea from Timothy.

"Yeah, but it's still annoying. I was hoping to get this stuff done early today."

Sajin took a sip of his drink and nodded. "It is, but as I said; it happens. So why are you here so early? Even if you complete all of the late-night paperwork, it will still be a while before the first batch of morning forms arrive."

Timothy leaned back on the couch and sighed. "Well, I was hoping to get it done quickly, then show Hinata how to fill out some of the paperwork."

Sajin rose a brow. "Do you mean Hinata Ogawa?" he inquired.

The Lieutenant nodded. "Yes, she's one of the people I mentioned yesterday about leadership training. I talked to her yesterday, and she accepted." He answered.

Sajin nodded back. "Who else have you spoken to about it?" he inquired further.

"I asked her, Junya Sano, and a couple of the lower seated officers, but the rest declined. Junya didn't want the responsibility, and the other officers didn't feel that they were ready for it yet. So, Hinata is the only one." He gave a soft chuckle. "She's a good woman; a bit violent when she's mad, but a good person that I think has the potential." He added as he rubbed his head where her paper bound weapon had struck him.

Sajin chuckled as well. "I see that you have come into contact with her 'violence'?" he observed.

Timothy quickly nodded. "Oh yeah, a few times actually. And I learned the hard way not to try and get back at her."

Sajin lightly laughed at the man's recall of yesterday's event. "Well, it seems that she'll be able to keep the members in line at least."

His Lieutenant scoffed. "I almost feel sorry for any hollow that crosses her path when she's mad. Hell, her fury filled glare would probably be enough to kill it." He joked.

The Captain shook his head and began walking towards his desk. "Have you spoken with 6th seat Minato about helping her with training the other members?" he asked as he sat down behind his desk.

Timothy leaned forward and picked up the next form, checking again to make sure it was 'their' squad's paperwork. "Yeah, I spoke with him yesterday about it, and he was happy to help. He feels the same way I do about the matter; we need to fill those positions. I plan to show her how to handle the paperwork after I'm done here, then Minato will sit down with her and they'll both continue filling out the forms."

He signed the form in his hands and grabbed the next. "After I'm done with showing her how to do the paperwork, I'll run over to Squad 8 and switch the paperwork back." He added.

Sajin hummed in understanding, then turned back to the window behind him; watching as the sun came close to creeping over the horizon. He took a long sip of his tea, then took a deep, relaxing breath.

"Have you spoken with your zanpakutō about your…situation with Susan?" he asked hesitantly.

Timothy rose his head to him a moment, then dropped his head with a sigh. "No…and I haven't spoken to her since I found out about the…whole ordeal."

Sajin glanced over to him. "You have not talked to her?" he asked worriedly.

The Lieutenant lightly shook his head. "No, I'm still a little upset that she kept the part about her…dying from me. I just can't get around that she would do that." He glanced back at his Captain. "I know that she didn't want me to worry, but it still wasn't right to do that. My trust in her was a little…shaken up after that." He said in a low tone.

Sajin hummed and turned back to the window. "I can understand how you feel about it, Tim; trust me. But don't hold it against her. We all have secrets that we do not wish others to know about."

Timothy rose a brow at him. "Even you, Captain?" he pressed.

The furry Captain chuckled. "Yes, even myself." He turned back around to his desk, setting his cup down on it. "She may have kept the secret of her…dying away from you, but even you should be aware that she did it with good intentions. She is a kind soul, and I can see that she would never intentionally hurt you, Tim. It's understandable to be angry or upset when things do not go our way, but we must push to see past it and overcome it."

Timothy sighed and leaned back, resting his head against the back of the couch. "I understand. Perhaps I'll speak with her later today; but right now, I need to get this stupid paperwork done." He finished as he leaned back forward, grabbing another form.

Sajin nodded with a small smile, then turned back to the window after grabbing his cup.

"There is a Captain's meeting later this afternoon, so I will not be in the office later." He stated, then glanced over his shoulder to Timothy. "And as Tetsuzaemon said, please do not burn down my squad while I am gone." He teased.

Timothy's head shot to him with a scowl on his face. "Don't you start that shit too, Captain! I didn't peg you to be one with so little faith!" he shot back.

Sajin laughed at his outburst. "I have faith in you Tim, but you do have a bit of a temper."

His Lieutenant growled at the remark. "I do not! I may get agitated, but I do 'not' have a temper!"

The Captain then pointed at him accusingly. "My point has been proven." He returned.

Timothy sighed in defeat after falling for the man's taunt. "I'm not in the mood to argue, Captain. I think I'll go ahead and take care of our botched paperwork problem now." He said as he grabbed the said paperwork and stood up.

"Could you please confirm with Captain Kyōraku about the Captain's meeting while you are there? I am sure he knows, but it is always better to be on the safe side." Sajin asked.

Timothy nodded and walked towards the door. "Yeah, I'll give him the reminder, sir. Be back in an hour." He said, then left the office.

Sajin chuckled again as he stood up and walked to the table Timothy was using to refill his cup from the pot of tea.

Squad 8 Headquarters, 15 Minutes Later

Timothy flashed into place in front of the headquarters for Squad 8. His shunpo was getting much better, only tripping once on the way, and he was steadily getting faster as well. He shifted the paperwork in his arm and walked into the building.

The building was quite different on the inside compared to Squad 7's, and slightly larger as well. He walked into one of the offices and up to the lone clerk; clearing his throat to get his attention.

"Excuse me, but where can I find the Captain's office?" he asked politely.

The man gestured to the hallway with his hand. "Go towards the rear doors, you'll see the staircase to the second floor. As you walk out, walk straight ahead to where you are directly above us. The Captain's office will be right in front of you." He instructed.

Timothy gave the man a slight bow of the head and smiled. "Thanks, have a good one." He said with a wave.

The man waved back as he returned to his work.

Timothy did as the man instructed, going to the second floor and walking down the hallway until he was in front of the similar, large, white double doors with the large kanji for '8' painted in black on it.

He cleared his throat again and knocked on the door twice. After a few seconds, he heard a stern, feminine voice answer.

"Please come in." the voice said.

Timothy pushed the left door open and walked in to see a medium length, dark-haired woman wearing glasses sitting behind, what he assumed was, the Captain's desk. She was looking down at the forms in front of her and had not looked at him yet.

"Morning." He greeted.

She then glanced up at him with a stern look on her face. "Good morning. Can I help you?" she asked.

Timothy gave her a decent bow and rose. "I'm Timothy Durn, Lieutenant of Squad 7." He answered.

She rose a brow at him a moment. "Squad 7? So that means you must be the one who fought against Captain Zaraki, right?" she pressed.

Timothy sighed at her question. "Yeah, that's me." He moaned.

Her brow lowered, and she smirked at him. "I see." She returned, then stood up and walked around the desk towards him, stopping at arms distance and giving him a head bow. "I am Nanao Ise, the Lieutenant for the squad." She introduced.

Timothy held out a hand to her, which she took, and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Lieutenant." He replied.

She removed her hand and waved him off gently. "Please, just address me as Nanao; we are both Lieutenants." She insisted.

The man nodded. "Alright, then just call me Tim." he returned.

She nodded back. "Very well. If you are looking for my Captain, I'm afraid he's…unavailable at the moment." She dodged.

Timothy chuckled lightly at her statement. "I can imagine; I've heard the stories about his…shall we say, demeaner." He joshed.

She chuckled back. "I'm sure you have."

He shook his head lightly. "Anyway, I not really here to see him exactly, just to hand over some paperwork of yours that somehow ended up with ours." He said as he held out the said forms.

She took them and gave them a brief look over. "I was wondering where these had ended up at. I noticed they were missing earlier, and we ended up with some of your documents as well." She notified and began walking back to the desk.

She set the forms in her hand down and grabbed a different pile before walking back to him. "Here you are." She said as she handed him his forms.

He looked them over as well for a moment, then gave her a brief nod. "Thanks. I was hoping to have it all done earlier, but karma I guess decided to say 'nope'." He said with a light laugh.

She laughed as well and pushed her glasses back further on her nose. "Yes, well, how are you adjusting to your new position?" she asked with a smile.

Timothy shrugged his shoulders. "Alright I guess; lot of paperwork, but not too bad. Just a bit of a pain with the shortage of officers we have. But Tetsuzaemon's got it much worse from what he told us yesterday."

She nodded at him. "Yes, we received Squad 5's 5th seat two weeks ago. I've also heard that many of the top officers had transferred to other squads. It seems that Squad 5 is falling apart." She stated with worry.

He gave a heavy sigh. "Yeah, I guess Aizen had done more damage than we thought. I wonder how Squads 3 and 9 are doing; probably not much better." He wondered.

She sighed as well and crossed her arms. "They are doing alright for the moment; most definitely not as bad as 5. Izuru and Shūhei are managing to keep their squads in order, but Squad 5 really fell apart with no Captain or Lieutenant for guidance. It is a good thing that Lieutenant Iba was sent there to get the squad back on its feet."

He nodded in agreeance. "Yeah, it is. But he was not in a good mood when he came by yesterday." He stated.

They were interrupted by the office door opening and the calm-mannered Captain Kyōraku walked in with his arms tucked in his sleeves, wearing his pink floral kimono and straw hat.

"Good morning, my little Nanao." He greeted with a smile.

Her face dropped a few notches. "Captain." She returned in annoyance.

Shunsui walked up to the pair and stopped to look at Timothy. "Well, if I'm not mistaken, you must be the new Lieutenant of Squad 7; am I correct?" he asked calmly.

Timothy gave him a polite bow. "Morning Captain, and yes I am." He rose as he finished.

Shunsui nodded his head to him in return. "I see. So how is old Sajin doing today?" he inquired.

Timothy gave him a slight smirk. "He's doing good, at least from what I've seen." He answered.

The Captain tilted his hat a bit to the side. "Well that's good. And how about yourself? Adjusting to the world of a Lieutenant alright?"

The shorter man gave a quick tilt of the head. "Yeah, for the most part. Lotta paperwork and such, but okay."

Shunsui gave a smile in return. "That's good. So, what brings you here this morning, Lieutenant? Care to join me for a drink or two?" he offered.

Timothy rose a brow at him. "It's still morning and you're already starting?" he asked in surprise.

Nanao turned to him. "It's always like this with him." She informed.

The younger man sweat dropped. "I…see."

Shunsui turned to her. "Now don't be like that, my little Nanao. You shouldn't deny a man the simple pleasures in life." He whined.

"At eight in the morning?" Timothy mumbled in disbelief.

Nanao sighed in defeat and turned to Timothy. "Thank you for returning the forms, Tim. If you would excuse me, I must return to my work." She stated in annoyance, then walked back towards the desk.

Timothy turned to Shunsui. "I'll take my leave now, Captain. But before I forget, Captain Komamura asked me to remind you about the Captain's meeting this afternoon."

Shunsui nodded. "Thank you for the reminder. Have a good day, Lieutenant."

Timothy bowed to the man once more and rose. "To you as well, sir." he returned, then turned to Nanao, now behind the desk. "See you later, Nanao." He said with a wave.

She nodded at him, keeping her stern face. "Until next time, Tim." she returned.

The younger man nodded and walked out of the office to begin his trek back to his squad. Shunsui turned his head to his Lieutenant with a smirk.

"Well he seems like a good kid." He observed.

Nanao nodded in agreeance and sat down. "Yes, he does. I am impressed with how he has made Lieutenant so quickly." She admitted.

Shunsui walked over to stand in front of 'his' desk and smiled. "That's true, but he's got a good Captain pointing him the right way. Sajin's a great leader. He'll have the job down in no time." He stated calmly.

"I'll have to agree with you on that, Captain. If it is true that he has managed to attain a Bankai state in that short amount of time, he should do quite well as a Lieutenant. Now, if you have nothing further Captain, I have work that needs to be done." She said as she shooed him away with her hand.

"Aw, don't be like that, my little Nanao. You should take time and relax." He pressed.

She glared at him with her stern eyes. "If I did that, then the work would never get finished, Captain. I can't rely on you to do it, afterall." She pointed out lowly.

Shunsui gave her a mock look of hurt. "Must you always be so harsh on me, little Nanao? That face doesn't suit you, you know." He teased.

She maintained her glare, unmoving. "Please let me get back to work, Captain." She half pleaded.

He chuckled and began walking towards the door. "You are sure bossy this morning, sweet Nanao." He teased further over his shoulder as he walked.

She slammed her hands on the desk as she stood up with a face full of anger. She then pointed to the door. "Get out!" she hollered in annoyance.

Shunsui didn't answer her, but instead waved over his shoulder as he left the office. She growled before slumping back down in her seat and sighing. "That man is so lazy." She mumbled as she pushed her glasses back along her nose again. "What am I going to do with him?" she wondered aloud as she picked up one of the forms in front of her.

Shunsui then poked his head in the door with a smile. "Have a good day, my little Nanao." He stated.

She again slammed her fists on the desk and evilly glared at him. "Out!" she yelled back.

Shunsui quickly ducked away and left the office, for good this time. She growled yet again and looked down at her cup of tea that had tipped over when her fists slammed down, now running over a few of the forms and ruining them.

"Damn that man." She seethed before taking a 'very' deep, calming breath and standing to go to the kitchenette and grab a towel to clean the mess. "Tim just 'had' to bring his curse to me." She moaned further as she started pulling the ruined forms away and wiping the desk.

Squad 7 Headquarters, 10 Minutes Later

Hinata and Minato both sat at the round table in one of the second-floor offices; Minato showing her the different forms and how they were to be filled out. Minato could already tell that she absolutely 'hated' paperwork.

"This is ridiculous, how can there be so much stuff to go over and write down?" she complained.

Minato chuckled lightly at her antics. "It is a lot, I'll agree; but the Head Captain I guess wants to know every single detail and happening in the squads. You'll get used to it; it just takes a while. But look at it like this…" he paused, getting her attention before turning to her as well. "…you only have a part of the overall amount of paperwork; Tim and the Captain have to review and sign 'all' of it, each."

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Is it too late to change my mind about this?" she asked in a depressed manner.

He chuckled again just as Timothy walked in with the forms he retrieved from Squad 8. He stopped next to them and looked at Hinata's woeful state, then to Minato.

"Hating it already I see." He observed.

She glanced up at him with 'puppy dog' eyes. "Please…save me." She pleaded.

Both men laughed a bit before Timothy lightly shook his head. "Sorry, but you're the one who agreed to it, Hinata." He pointed out.

She slapped a hand on the table with a glare. "You never told me that there was 'this' much paperwork! You tricked me!" she accused, pointing at him.

Minato placed a hand over his mouth to avoid blasting out in a loud laugh as Timothy scoffed. "No, you should have known that paperwork would be involved. Not 'my' fault you failed to think about that." He teased.

She turned and slapped him on the arm with a growl. "Evil bastard." She said in a hateful tone.

Timothy shrugged his shoulder at her. "Perhaps, but my point still stands." He stated, causing her to slap him again.

"I hate you." She said and turned back to the forms in front of her.

The Lieutenant shook his head, then turned to Minato. "So, how's it going with you two this morning, besides the paperwork?" he asked.

"Pretty good so far. Just got started a couple minutes ago." Minato answered.

Timothy nodded and turned to her. "I've gotta get this night paperwork done, then I'll come give you guys a hand. Hinata…" he paused. She looked up at him. "…you and Minato are gonna be training with the squad members this afternoon for an hour or so, then we'll break off and do some team training for a while. We'll need to get used to working together in case we're called out." He instructed.

Her and Minato both nodded. "Alright. So, I guess 'I'm' the one doing the training then?" she asked.

The Lieutenant nodded. "Yeah, while Minato watches ya and help you out along the way. I'll also have you do some of the training for the team; seeing as how I'm not allowed to do anything, at least until tomorrow." He added.

She nodded back and sighed. "Fuuuunnnn." She moaned.

Minato lightly chuckled. "It'll be alright Hinata; like I said, you just gotta get used to it. Once you have, the work becomes easier." He reassured.

She scoffed back. "Yeah, thanks." She returned in a skeptical tone.

Minato turned back to Timothy. "So where did you go to, Tim?" he asked.

Timothy gestured behind him with his thumb. "Had to fix a mishap with the paperwork. Squad 8 ended up with some of ours, while we ended up with some of theirs. Otherwise I would have had all the night work done by now. So, I guess I'll leave you two and get this done so I can give you a hand." He stated.

He nodded to him as Timothy turned to leave, waving behind him as he left.

"Don't take too long." Hinata called out.

Timothy stopped in the doorway and glanced over his shoulder. "Nah, I think I'll take my time and let you suffer." He teased.

She growled and stood to chase him, but stopped when he quickly left to go back to the Captain's office. She stood there with her fists balled and shaking.

"I swear I am going to kill him one of these days." She threatened.

Minato snickered and tapped on her seat. "Later, but for now, let's get back to this. Come on." He pleaded.

She growled again, then turned back and returned to her seat with a huff. She picked up the form she had before and started filling it out.

"He must not value his life very well if he thinks it's a good idea to keep pissing me off." She observed. Minato snickered again, getting her attention. "You want a part of this too?" she asked with a glare.

Minato held both of his hands up in surrender. "Nah, I'm good." He placated.

"Then keep quiet." She cautioned.

He raised a brow at her. "You threatening an officer?" he teased.

She then held a fist up. "Let me put this in your face really quick and see if that answers your question." She threatened again, her face starting to turn red.

His eyes widened, now knowing that she meant to go through with her threat if he kept it up. He then quickly shook his head.

"Nope! I'm good!" he said in a retreat.

She lowered her fist and returned to her paperwork. "Good." She finished and continued filling out the form. The quiet only lasted a few moments before she slammed her fist on the table and growled. "Damn it, Tim!" she hollered.

In the Captain's office, Timothy was now sitting back on his couch and looking over the forms from earlier. Sajin was doing the same thing on his side, when the walls suddenly started to vibrate as a loud voice echoed through the halls.

"Damn it, Tim!"

Sajin looked at the door with a confused look, then turned to see Timothy snickering. He rose a brow at him.

"What was that, Tim?" he asked, worried.

Timothy snickered more and turned to him. "Hinata's pissed, likely from the paperwork…and me." He offered.

Sajin turned back to the door a moment, then shook his head with a heavy sigh. "It seems that if 'you' don't burn the squad down, 'she'll' only demolish it instead." He remarked, causing Timothy to start laughing.

"I told you about her temper, didn't I?" he said.

The furry Captain glanced at him with a stern look. "I did not figure that you meant it like this, Tim. I am starting to worry about the safety of the other members now." He pointed out.

Timothy scoffed and shook his head. "She'll be fine, she's just having a hard time getting used to it."

Sajin narrowed his gaze at the man. "She better be, Tim; I'd rather not have to pay for any structural damages or health costs." He warned.

His Lieutenant took a deep breath. "Yes sir." he said, dropping the subject.

The Captain sighed and pinched the large bridge of his nose as he shook his head. "What have I agreed to now?" he mumbled in wonder.

Timothy glanced at him. "A side show?" he teased.

Sajin groaned and stood up, walking towards the door. "I am heading out for a while; I am starting to feel a headache coming. I will return after the meeting." He stated and opened the door, stopping to give Timothy a last look. "And the squad had 'better' still be in one piece when I return, Tim." he finished with a serious glare.

Timothy held up his right hand. "I swear I will not, nor will I allow Hinata, to destroy, or damage the building sir." he promised.

Sajin growled and left the office. Timothy dropped his hand and shook his head with a smile. "Oh, ye of little faith' Captain." He quoted, then returned to his work.

Meanwhile, Sajin walked through the hallway towards the stairwell and turned to see Hinata and Minato both sitting down, working on their respective forms. He stopped his walk and watched the two of them for a moment; seeing Minato pointing out certain spots on the form she was holding and, he guessed, telling her what to do.

He let out a sigh and turned around to enter the office, her and Minato turning to face him and giving respectful bows of the head.

"Morning, Captain." They both greeted in unison.

He returned the gesture and stood by the doorway. "Good morning. I trust everything is being handled properly?" he inquired.

Minato nodded at him. "Yes sir. Just showing Miss Ogawa here the forms and how to fill them out." He answered.

Sajin nodded back. "Very good. And how are you fairing, Miss Ogawa?" he asked, now looking at her.

She shifted a bit in her seat, but stood firm otherwise. "I'm doing alright for now, Captain. Though, you might want to ask me again later; the answer would probably have changed by then." She half joked.

Sajin chuckled at her response. "I heard, along with the rest of the Seireitei I believe." He stated calmly.

She then turned red from embarrassment. "Uh…sorry about that, Captain…I got…uh, a little…upset?" she offered.

Minato started to snicker, but stopped when she turned to him with a glare. The Captain lightly laughed at the event. She turned back and lowered her head a little.

"It's alright, Miss Ogawa; I understand your frustration." He comforted.

She gave a slight moan. "I'm not so sure I can handle this, Captain." She stated.

Sajin shook his head at her. "Don't be too quick to give up, Miss Ogawa. Tim believes in you, and I'm trusting him with his decision. From what he has told me, and from your 'authoritative' behavior just now, it would seem that he has made the right choice." He reassured.

She lowered her head further at the word 'authoritative'. Sajin walked up and placed a large hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him.

"Do not lower your head to something that is good about you, Hinata." He instructed sternly, causing her eyes to widen a bit. "You must stand tall and believe in yourself. Do not shy away when someone points out a strong suit of yours; not even when one of your weak ones are. Stand up and face the challenge ahead; fight for something you know you can be better at." He demanded calmly, then dropped his hand and folded his arms, maintaining his stare.

"Tim also had problems of his own when he had first come here; rude behavior, temperamental, and impulsive. Being a friend of his, I am sure that even you have seen this, am I correct?" he paused, getting a nod from her. "Well, as you can see, he has improved greatly after being forced into more demanding situations. And from what I can see, you require the same push as well. Tim has given you this chance to become a better person; and we both know that he does not make a decision lightly, right?" he paused again, getting another nod from her.

He dropped his arms to his side and spoke softly. "Then trust his judgement, as I do." He finished, then turned and started walking away.

"Captain…" she started, causing him to stop and glance at her. She took a deep breath and sighed. "Thank you for your words." She finished with a bow of the head.

He nodded back to her. "Be sure not to forget them." He instructed, then turned and left the office, again stopping before he was out of sight and glancing back to her. "And make sure that neither you, nor Tim tear the building down trying to kill each other." He joked, then left.

She sweat dropped at the remark as her mouth twitched. "I'm gonna kill him." She whispered.

Back in the Captain's office, Timothy suddenly felt a dark and cold presence surround him, causing him to shiver.

"Why do I have the sudden feeling that my life is in danger?" he mumbled to himself, then returned to his work.

Later That Day

After having finished signing the final form, Timothy grabbed the completed pile off his 'desk'; walking over Sajin's and setting them down evenly with the rest of the Captain's incomplete paperwork.

He took a brief moment to stretch his arms out in front of him, then across his chest to loosen up his stiff muscles. Sajin was currently in his meeting, and Minato had taken Hinata out to the training grounds to help her with training the other members.

For the moment, all of the morning and early afternoon paperwork was done, waiting for the Captain's signatures; and it would be another two or three hours before the evening forms came in. This meant that Timothy now had a little bit of room to relax a moment.

He still needed to work with training the team sometime in the next hour or two; only now did he realize that ever since he was assigned to the team, they hadn't practiced even once. That needed to be fixed, today.

He relaxed his arms with a heavy sigh, then began walking towards the door to head out to the training grounds; but he stopped when he noticed a small black butterfly fly in through the open window behind Sajin's desk.

Timothy rose a brow as the insect came to a stop in front of him and began fluttering in circles around his head.

"Ok…this is new." He mumbled to himself.

He held out a hand to try and catch it gently, so he could let it loose outside. But as his hand came close to grab it, the insect suddenly landed on his primary finger. Timothy flinched when he suddenly started to hear a familiar voice coming from the butterfly.

"Tim, a few things have come up after the meeting that require my attention. I will not be able to return until the morning. Please leave the completed forms on my desk, and I shall review them when I return. For now, continue on with normal squad activities." The voice of the Captain sounded.

Timothy rose a brow again in surprise. "Ok…that's just a whole new level of weird." He observed as the hell butterfly left his finger, its message delivered, and flew back out the window.

"Weird and cool. I have 'got' to get him to show me how to do that." He mumbled further, then continued walking out of the office.

Moments later, he left out the back of the building and looked out to see a medium sized amount of the members huddled around two people, who he assumed to be Hinata and Minato. With a quick step of shunpo, he was now standing a few feet behind the officer and 'trainee'.

They both turned back to him, where he waved. "Hey guys, how's it going so far?" Timothy asked.

Minato started scratching his head, while Hinata dropped hers. "Uh…could be better." Minato admitted.

Timothy gave a quiet sigh, then gestured them to come over with his hand. They both walked up to him and he spoke in a whisper.

"Ok, so what's wrong then?" he asked.

"They don't really listen to me; I guess they don't like taking orders from a woman." She complained.

Minato turned to her. "No, I've told you that you were being too soft and quiet. Of course they aren't going to listen."

Timothy turned to her. "He's right, Hinata. You need to make them 'want' to listen to you. And if you're soft and quiet, they won't. And I know just how to fix it." He stated, then gestured to the small forest behind him. "Head over there for a moment."

She let out a depressed sigh, but nodded and disappeared with a flash step. Timothy then walked over to the members, still huddled around, and gestured for them to come closer. Minato watched as his Lieutenant spoke very quietly to the members.

After only a few seconds, the members started looking at each other in confusion, then back to Timothy, who nodded. He then said something further for a moment, then walked back over to Minato.

"Well, now we see if this works." He said, then waved out to Hinata, who then suddenly reappeared next to them and sighed again. "Alright, let's try this again, shall we. Hinata, have them run twenty laps on the track while they practice the barrier I taught them last time." Timothy instructed.

She sweat dropped. "Twenty? If they didn't listen to me before, do you 'really' think they will now?" she asked.

Timothy shrugged a shoulder at her. "I'm guessing that, here in a moment, they won't have a choice." He clarified.

She moaned and growled as she started walking back towards them.

"And Hinata…" he called, getting her to turn around. "…if you leave before all of them are done, I'll have 'you' run fifty." He threatened.

She widened her eyes. "The hell you will." She seethed, and he rose a brow.

"I suggest you don't leave then, and I'll be watching." He warned further.

She turned back around and continued walking, mumbling under her breath, as Timothy turned to Minato. "And it would be a 'very' good idea if we left the immediate area." He advised, then flash stepped back to the headquarters' doors.

Minato followed suit, stopping right next to him. "So…why are we here and not down there?" he asked.

Timothy glanced at him. "You'll see in about five seconds." He answered, then they both turned back to the field.

Sure enough, five seconds later, the two men heard a loud, and unanimous set of voices. "Make us, you witch!" they heard 'all' of the present members shout.

Minato quickly shot to Timothy with wide eyes. "You didn't?!"

They then heard a loud commotion and looked to see all of the members now running on the track…with Hinata chasing after them and yelling at the top of her lungs.

"I did." Timothy confirmed.

Minato glanced at him with worry. "You know she's going to literally kill you later…right?"

The Lieutenant shrugged his shoulders without looking at him. "More than likely, but at least now they know to respect her…the hard way."

Minato rose a brow. "So…this was a lesson?" he asked.

Timothy nodded. "Yeah; for her, because now she knows that she has to prove to them that she is not a pushover; and them, because she was put in charge, and they didn't listen. It don't matter who the person is, or what they are like; if the person in charge gives you an order, or a set of instructions, you follow it. Period."

Minato nodded back. "Makes sense. But I still think you're gonna die later."

In the distance, Hinata suddenly stopped her pursuits and stared at the two men from the grounds, shaking a fist in the air.

"You are dead, Timothy Durn! You hear me?! DEAD!" she blared out.

Timothy then frowned. "Yyyyeeeeaaaahhhh…fuck." He moaned as a multitude of horrifying, and gory images of his death began to pour through his head. "Maybe…that wasn't such a…good idea." He concluded as he started to think of any possible hiding spot he could use.

The Next Morning

Sajin strolled through the hallways of the squad's headquarters at a relatively slow pace. He had spent the rest of the day before, and a good portion of the night at Squad 5 helping Tetsuzaemon try to catch up on its paperwork; returning to his room an hour or so after midnight for a few hours of sleep.

He let out a long, bestial yawn as he entered the stairwell to the second floor. He was still deadly tired from the night before, and he felt like one of those human fantasy creatures that they called a 'zombie'.

As he walked out of the stairwell, now on the second floor, one of his clerks was about to enter an office, but stopped to give him a respectful bow.

"Good morning, Captain." He greeted.

Sajin grunted and waved as a response; not to be disrespectful, but he was sleep deprived enough that he still needed some time to fully wake up. But he had at least had his morning agenda made out, and it consisted of one thing: a hot cup of tea.

He yawned once again as he came to his office door and pushed it open. He slowly walked inside, noticing Timothy sitting on the couch as he normally did; going through the morning paperwork.

"Morning Captain." He droned out in a low tone.

Sajin grunted again and walked on towards his desk…but he then suddenly stopped. 'Wait a minute…' he thought, then slowly turned to look at Timothy more attentively. His eyes widened a bit as he took a good, careful look at his Lieutenant.

The man's shoulder length hair was in complete disarray; he had a swollen cheek that looked like he had a walnut inside his mouth, a split lip, and a solid black eye that was barely open. The man also looked to be extremely pissed.

Sajin turned to him fully and walked over to stand in front of him. The man's movements got his attention, so he looked up at the Captain with an annoyed face.

"Don't. Ask." He simply instructed in a low voice.

The Captain closed his eyes and moaned. "Is anyone dead, dying, or in the medical center?" he returned as calmly as he could manage.

"No…unfortunately, I'm the only victim. There's hot tea in the kitchen, Captain…it looks like you really need it too." Timothy observed.

Sajin pinched the bridge of his nose with a growl. "I 'must' accept that offer. Please tell me that I will not have to hear of this later." He pleaded.

Timothy set his form down and sighed. "No…I doubt that you'll have to…She gave me a pretty good beating, so I believe she thinks I learned my lesson."

The Captain lifted his hand from his face to stare at him disbelievingly. "Ogawa, alone, did this?!" he asked in surprised.

His Lieutenant flinched, then moaned with a swift nod. Sajin slapped the hand back to his face and pulled it down along his fur with a sigh.

"Did she try to 'kill' anyone else?" he asked in worry.

Timothy shook his head. "No, she chased them around a bit…then found me…aaannnnd…yeah, you can see the result."

"Do I even 'want' to know?" Sajin half asked.

Timothy turned to him with a stern gaze. "No, you don't. And in my opinion, it should be left at that, Captain." He insisted.

Sajin waved him off as he turned and walked to his desk. "It is as I said; this is 'your' responsibility. I see that I should have specifically stated that it included the repercussions of each action as well." He stated

"I just hope that Captain Unohana doesn't find out; she'd put me back in one of those stupid beds as a punishment, rather than for recovery." Timothy commented.

Sajin poured himself a cup of tea and sat behind his desk with a heavy breath. "I thought you told me you do not fear her." He inquired.

Timothy looked at him. "I don't; but I'd gladly face off against Captain Zaraki 'and' the Head Captain at the same time than go back to being figuratively strapped down to that goddamned bed again." He said with a stern look, then returned to his work. "By the way, yesterday's paperwork is on your left, Captain. I looked over it twice, so a quick glance should be enough for you to sign away on it. Also…" he paused, returning to Sajin and getting him look at him as well.

"I'll be leaving the office early today to get some training in before I work with the team. Five days of not getting any physical work done is killing me." He stated.

Sajin nodded in understanding. "That will be fine. So how did Miss Ogawa's training session go yesterday?" he asked, then took a long sip of his tea.

Timothy sweat dropped. "For her, rough at first, but a little push got her in the right direction. For the members…well, let's just say they learned the hard way to show her respect."

Sajin rose a brow and set his cup down. "If your current condition is anything to go by, I would have to agree. So where is she now?"

His Lieutenant gestured to the outside offices with a jerk of his head. "Working on the morning forms with Minato. She'll be heading out when I start the training with the team. So, they say anything interesting in your meeting?"

Sajin slightly shook his head and grabbed his first form. "Nothing of particular interest; simple reports and any new information regarding Sōsuke Aizen. I notified the Captains of my intention to disband the response team at the end of the week, but nothing further than that."

Timothy nodded. "So, what kept ya yesterday, if I may ask?"

Sajin signed the form and set it aside before grabbing another. "I was assisting Tetsuzaemon with his backlog of paperwork. I did not return until very early this morning."

"So that's why you look like you're about drop on the spot." Timothy observed with a glance.

The Captain moaned as he drew his hand down his face again. "It was much worse than he had led us to believe. The paperwork was behind by six days."

Timothy gave him a shocked look. "Six days?! Damn that's bad! Now I 'really' pity him!"

Sajin sighed and nodded. "The 3rd and 4th seats for the squad were not prepared for this at all. But, now that it has been caught up, I am hoping that Tetsuzaemon can keep the squad going."

Timothy rose a brow. "Shouldn't the paperwork be the same as if he was here? I mean, it's just there won't be a Captain to sign in the appropriate spot."

Sajin shook his head. "That is true, however it is only him that can do the reviews, instead of two officers. If he turns in an incorrect form, it could have poor consequences for the squad. So that means he has to spend more time looking them over to ensure that they are correct."

The Lieutenant sighed and nodded. "Yeah, that does make sense." He commented, then ran his fingers through his hair. After a minute, he growled and slapped both hands on the table. "Hell with it." he said sternly and stood.

Sajin looked at him curiously. "Tim?"

Timothy turned to him as he grabbed his zanpakutōs. "Come on Captain, let's get a little workout this morning." He politely demanded as he tucked both weapons into his sash.

Sajin chuckled and lowered his head. "No, I do not believe that would be wise." He pointed out.

His Lieutenant walked up and stopped in front of his desk, hands on his hips with a stern look. "We're both in a piss poor mood this morning and need to blow off some steam, Captain. So, either get up and duel it out with me on the grounds, or we can do it in here."

The furry Captain rose a brow at his tone. "I ask that you watch your tone, Tim." he cautioned.

Timothy rose a brow in return. "Reprimand me later, but right now we both need this. So, get your furry ass up and let's go." he demanded.

Sajin glared at him, but finally sighed in defeat. As usual, the man had a point. They were both in foul moods; and perhaps a little physical activity would relieve the stress that they were both feeling.

"Very well, but let's try 'not' to destroy the grounds this time." Sajin accepted.

Timothy waved him off. "Nah, just a simple blades-only match. No kidō, no releases, just skill. First to land three hits." He offered.

Sajin nodded in acceptance and stood up, following the man to the door. "Besides…" Timothy spoke up as he opened the door, stopping to glance at him. "…if you flash your spiritual pressure, Captain Unohana will 'definitely' figure out something's up." He commented and left the office with Sajin in tow.

"Agreed, neither of us would like to explain this to her this morning." Sajin added.

Squad 7 Training Grounds, 5 Minutes Later

Both officers came to a stop in the center of the field, Timothy holding out his right hand to the Captain.

"Like I said; no releases, no kidō. First to three blade strikes." He reaffirmed.

Sajin nodded and took his hand in a shake. "Agreed, first to three."

They broke hands and walked away from each other, twenty feet separating the two men. Timothy drew his 'unnamed' zanpakutō as Sajin drew Tenken. Sajin lowered himself a bit into a wide, one-handed stance, while Timothy leaned forward a bit with his weapon in his right hand, outstretched behind him; ready for a charge attack.

"Are you ready?" Sajin asked.

Timothy nodded. "Ready. Count together?" he proposed, where Sajin nodded back.

"3" Sajin started.

"2" his Lieutenant followed.

"1" they spoke in unison.

A split second later, both men charged at each other, Timothy swinging up, Sajin swinging down. Sparks flew as their blades clashed together, but Sajin's immense strength forced Timothy's blade back down.

Timothy twisted his body a bit to the left, letting Sajin's strike go past his right shoulder. He then twisted around to the right, bringing his blade around with him towards the Captain's flank. Sajin turned to the right as he pulled his blade up, blocking Timothy's own.

The Lieutenant lifted his left leg and swung out with a kick to Sajin's side, only for it to be blocked by the Captains armored wrist. Timothy pulled his leg back quickly as Sajin tried to grab at it, then pulled his blade straight back.

He twirled it around to bring it high above his head, grabbing the remainder of the hilt with his other hand. He swung down hard on the larger man's arm, getting blocked by Sajin's other armored wrist.

Sajin attempted a side swing at the Lieutenant's exposed side, but he pushed down harder on his blade as he jumped back, narrowly missed by the Captain's strike as he leaped into the air. He landed in a low stance with his blade held to his right side with both hands and quickly re-engaged with a low charge.

Squad 7 Headquarters, Present

Minato and Hinata, again were sitting in one of the offices on the second floor, filling out the last of the morning paperwork. She was still thoroughly pissed at Timothy's actions from the day before, and Minato could sense the dark aura surrounding her.

After an hour of silence since they first came in, Minato finally broke it with a sigh. "Hinata…" he started.

She glanced at him with fury filled eyes. "Yes?"

He swallowed hard. He needed to calm her down and explain to her why Timothy did what he did, but he needed to be 'very' careful about what he said; lest her fury be turned onto him.

"Look…about…" he tried to continue, but two of the clerks running through the hallway caught his attention.

She rose a brow, having not noticed the clerks yet, but turned when she heard more running to see another clerk running towards the stairs as well. Minato raised a hand high and called out loudly to get the lone clerk's attention.

"Hey!" he yelled, getting the man to stop and peek in the doorway. "What's going on?"

"The Captain and Lieutenant are fighting again!" he announced before going on his way.

Minato and Hinata quickly looked at each other with shocked faces. "Oh shit!" she said with worry.

Minato nodded, then they both quickly shot up and ran towards the stairs as well.

Squad 7 Training Grounds, Present

Timothy landed roughly on his feet after being forced back by Sajin.

"That's one, Tim." Sajin stated.

The Lieutenant now had a small cut on the top of his left shoulder, now starting to bleed slowly. He held his blade in a cross guard across his chest as he darted forward. Sajin swung down on him as he came close, but the man held his blade up while still moving forward, catching the Captain's blow.

Keeping his momentum, Timothy used the force of Sajin's strike to force him down to the ground, sliding under the Captain's legs on his back and running his blade across Sajin's inner calf. The Captain grunted in a wisp of pain and turned to try and catch Timothy as he came to a stop.

Still on the ground, Timothy held his blade up with his left-hand bracing against the back side of his blade; catching the large man's blow.

"That's one for me!" he commented, then lowered his left hand. His blade tilted down, letting Sajin's glide along its length and towards the ground. Timothy then placed his hand on top of the back of Sajin's blade, rolling himself around and up into a handstand on it.

He swung his right foot out and managed to catch Sajin in the side of the head. But Sajin used the momentum of his body to grab Timothy's ankle and pull him out of his stand. Twisting his body, Sajin pulled Timothy along in the air, throwing him as he swung up.

Timothy flew a few yards and landed on his side, but rolled a bit further before stopping in a low stance.

"And that makes two." Sajin said as he turned to face him and return to his stance as well.

Timothy now sported a wide, but not deep slash on his left flank, but he merely grinned at the man.

"For both of us." He added, pointing at Sajin's head.

The Captain's eyes widened a bit, then he reached up with his free hand to his right canine ear. He touched the furry surface and felt that his ear had been split. He held his hand in front of him and the sight of blood on his gloved hand confirmed the hit.

He then looked at the Lieutenant. "Impressive reflexes, you have improved since our last match." He complemented.

Timothy nodded. "Thanks, but now it comes down to whoever gets the next hit."

At the edge of the field, Minato and Hinata came to a stop and slightly gasped to see Timothy with a gash on his side and shoulder; and the Captain with a bleeding leg and cut ear. Minato then turned to one of the other spectators.

"What's going on here? Why are they fighting?" he asked.

The woman turned to him. "I don't know, sir. I just got here a minute ago." She admitted, then turned back to the fight.

Hinata looked closely at the two warriors, then breathed a sigh of relief. "I think they are just having a simple duel; it looks like they are both holding back as neither of them have released their zanpakutōs." She observed.

Minato looks closely as well, then nods in agreeance. "You may be right; neither of their injuries are that bad as either." He adds further.

Hinata glances at him. "Care for a bet?" she offers, getting his attention.

"I'm listening."

She smirks at him, then turns back to see Timothy charge at Sajin. "My bet's on Tim; loser has to do the rest of the morning paperwork?"

Minato looks at the fighters, watching as Timothy hurls a series of three consecutive attacks at the Captain. Sajin was holding firm, not giving an inch of ground at the Lieutenant's attacks.

"I'm good with that; I'll put mine on the Captain. Tim has the better zanpakutō, but they are not releasing, and the Captain's strength is not something to take lightly. I'll give it another two…maybe three minutes before he puts Tim down." He commented.

"Deal." Hinata confirms, holding her hand out to him.

He glances at her with a smirk, taking her hand and giving it a solid shake. "Enjoy the extra work, Miss Ogawa."

She smirks back at him. "I should be saying that to you. Have you no faith in our mutual friend?"

He raised both brows at her. "Oh, I have faith in Tim, don't get me wrong on that; but when it comes to simple blade skill, the Captain is definitely the better fighter." He clarified. She scoffs at his comment, then they both turn back to see Timothy now on the defensive. "See, told you." He commented

Timothy was stepping side to side, backing up a bit with each step as Sajin swung down, sideways, down again, up, then diagonally in rapid succession; tossing in an occasional swing of his fist in an attempt to throw Timothy off.

"Use his next fist throw to your advantage, Tim." Susan spoke up for the first time in days.

"Not now, I'm still not in a good mood with you." He tossed back

He heard her scoff in annoyance. "I'm aware of that, but you can put that aside for now in order to win against him." She pointed out.

Timothy grunted when Sajin wailed on him with an overhead attack, putting a great deal of force behind the strike. He then noticed the Captain rearing his arm back in preparation for a punch.

"Worry about this shit later, Tim! Dodge to the side and grab his wrist, twisting to the side as you do! Now!" she demanded.

He scoffed again, but did as she instructed. As Sajin's fist thrusted forward, Timothy took a swift step to the side, letting the extended arm swing by on his left. Reaching out and grabbing tightly on the larger man's wrist, Timothy twisted around to the left, ducking down a bit as he did.

Sajin's eyes widened a bit at Timothy's sudden move, seeing what he was about to do. He rotated his blade around and thrusted down and across his chest towards Timothy's side.

Timothy swung out at Sajin's leg, but caught the man's incoming blade. He released the man's wrist and rolled to the side, hopping back a few times when he came back to his feet where the two of them were now yards apart.

He takes a moment to catch his breath as Sajin turns to face him, his zanpakutō held to his side. Timothy looked at the man's leg where he had swung at; but saw that he had only managed to rip open the sleeve on the large man's hakama.

"Tsk, should that count as a hit?" Timothy mocked.

Sajin grunted back and pointed at him. "Only if that does as well."

Timothy's eyes widened at his words. He raised his sword arm high and reached across, pulling the fabric of his kosode around. He looked behind him the see two small rips, about six inches apart, on the back of his top; obvious that he was just barely missed by a stab from the man's blade.

"Damn." He mumbled, then released his top and turned back to the larger man. "You got me too." He observed a little louder to him.

Sajin nodded in returned. "So, do we both win, or do we both lose?" he inquired.

Timothy stood straight, letting his sword arm drop to his side as well with a smirk. "Weelll, I was in rough shape when we started this match; so, considering that, I guess 'I' win."

Sajin narrowed his gaze and pointed at him. "You know that does not count, Tim. Do not try to play that game with me; or would you prefer to go another round?"

The Lieutenant snickered as he sheathed his zanpakutō. "Nah, I'm good with a draw for now. Perhaps another day, Captain." He offered.

Sajin nodded with a grunt, then sheathed his blade as well before walking up to the Lieutenant, holding his hand out.

"Well done, Tim. I am impressed with the improvement of your raw skills." Sajin complemented.

Timothy took the large hand and shook it. "Thanks." He returned, then dropped his hand. "Well, now that we got our stress out of the way, I think we should get back to the mountain of paperwork waiting for us."

Sajin nodded in agreement, then disappeared with a flash of shunpo. Timothy was about to follow him, but stopped when he saw Hinata and Minato walking towards him from the dispersing crowd.

"Hey Minato…Hinata…" he greeted, her with a low mumble.

She gave him an evil glare as the two came to a stop next to him. "You know I'm still mad about yesterday, right?"

Timothy sighed heavily as he waved her of nonchalantly. "Yeah yeah, you'll get over it." He moaned, then folded his arms in his sleeves. "So how you two doing this morning?" he asked to Minato.

The male officer raised his hand, tilting it side to side. "Going ok I guess. So, what was that all about?"

Timothy shrugged his shoulder. "Just a bit of stress relief, that's all. Little bit of fun to lighten our moods. The Captain had a pretty rough night last night; helping Tetsuzaemon out over at the 5th."

Minato nodded. "That bad huh?" he inquired.

Timothy rose a brow and nodded quickly. "Oh yeah. By what the Captain tells me, he was backed up by six days."

Minato whistled with eyes wide. "Wow! I feel really bad for him."

The Lieutenant scoffed. "Don't we all? Anyway, could you give me and Hinata a few minutes? She'll be back up there shortly; I just need to discuss the team training for later today."

The 6th seat glanced between the two a few times, then Hinata spoke up. "I'm not going to kill him; I think he got what he deserved." She said with a mean look directed at Timothy, who quickly nodded.

Minato sighed in defeat, then turned to her. "See you back in the office." He stated, then disappeared with shunpo.

Hinata turned to Timothy as she crossed her arms with a heavy sigh. "So, what is it you wanted to discuss about the training?" she asked with an annoyed tone.

Timothy groaned. "Well…I didn't. I actually wanted apologize for yesterday." He admitted, where she rose a brow at him. He sighed again as he prepared his next words. "I know that that was a little…" he started, but her narrowing gaze made him rethink his words. "…I mean, a great deal too far. But in all honesty, you needed the push, and the guys needed to see for themselves not to take you lightly. I did that so you would get past your being timid, your stage fright, or whatever you want to call it; so that way you would be more assertive when dealing with the members." He informed cautiously.

She closed her eyes with a heavy sigh. "I accept your apology, and I thank you for helping me; but you could have found a better way to do it." She pointed out.

He nodded at her. "That's true, but unfortunately, it was the most effective way, instead of spending days trying to get you to get past being shy while 'in the spotlight."

She rose a brow at him. "In the spotlight?"

He sighed in defeat. "It's a term, meaning being put on the spot. I thought you were only here for seven years?" he inquired.

She nodded. "Yes, but remember, when a soul passes on from the world of the living to the soul society, that person losses all memories of their previous life. It's a very rare case that someone will ever remember anything about their life before here. In fact, you're the only person I know that kept his memories from the previous life." She clarified.

Timothy nodded back. "Yeah, that's true. I actually know of one other person besides myself that kept his memories."

She tilted her head a bit. "Really? Who is that?"

Timothy chuckled with a small smile as he lowered his head. "Another soul from Rukongai. His name is Albert Müller. I never thought of him as much of a friend while I was there, but now that I look back, he actually is a good friend. We stayed together while I lived in Fallen Tree. He tended to be annoying, but no matter how much I tried to keep my distance from him, he always looked out for me."

She gave him a small smile. "Sounds like he's a good friend." She observed.

Timothy nodded. "Yeah, he is I guess. Anyway, let's get back to work. We'll do some team training here in a few hours." He notified.

She nodded back. "Sounds good." She concluded, then they both vanished with shunpo towards the headquarters.

World of the Living, Karakura Town, Present

The wind blew gently while the birds sang their tunes at the small shrine where Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck rested after her ordeal in Hueco Mundo. She was still in the same spot where she had fallen asleep several hours before.

A few small tree birds hopped around the floor, pecking at any random seeds or twigs that had blown into the open building. One of the birds hopped over, now standing next to Nel's sleeping form, and started to peck at her loose, teal hair that was spread out on the floor.

It hopped a few inches closer, now next to her face, and pecked once at her cheek that had dirt on it. Her eyelids flinched with the small bit of contact, but she still slept. The bird pecked twice more at the piece of dirt, this time drawing her from her sleep.

Her eyelids flinched again, then slowly opened, revealing her hazel eyes to the warm beam of sunlight that came through a hole in the ceiling. She blinked a few times to clear her vision, then halfway opened them to see through the door that it must be sometime in the mid-morning.

The bird pecked her cheek again, annoying her; so, she raised her hand and gently brushed the creature away. It jumped up and quickly flew out the open door with the rest of the birds in the building.

She dropped her hand and pulled her other arm out from under her head, slowly pushing herself up into a leaning position. She winced in pain as she did so, but after a long breath, she pushed herself up all the way to a sitting position.

Once she did, she suddenly became lightheaded and pulled a hand to the side of her head to let the dizziness fade.

'How long have I been sleeping?' she wondered as the swirling in her head died down.

After a few more seconds, she dropped her hand and looked out to the open door. "Is it the next morning…or have I been out longer than a day?" she mumbled to herself.

She then unbuttoned her top and pulled it open to reveal her wound. She looked down at her improvised dressing to see that parts of it had been soaked through, but the bleeding seemed to have stopped. She reached up with her off hand, the other holding her top open, and began to gently pull the middle of the dressing away from the wound.

It stung quite a bit as the blood that had soaked the fabric had solidified and essentially 'glued' it to the wound. She bit her lip and slowly peeled the bandage away to reveal, to her surprise, that the wound had not healed all the way.

The bleeding had indeed stopped, only a few spots oozing when the clotting had been pulled away with the dressing. The areas around the injury was a very deep purple, extending out about two inches from the site.

Normally, Adjuchas class hollows and above, to include Arrancar, can use their spirit energy to quickly heal any wounds that they receive in combat. The healing process is fairly quick, usually only taking a few days to a week to recover enough to fight again.

With the wound she received, even though she wouldn't be fit to fight, should have been better healed than it currently was. But where Adjuchas and Vasto Lorde would heal using their hollow powers, an Arrancar's healing was slightly different. An Arrancar's hollows powers are essentially removed from them, and sealed within their zanpakutō; in her case, Gamuza.

When the powers are sealed, they gain their own spiritual presence, similar to that of a soul reaper's zanpakutō spirit. It is actually the Arrancar's hollow spirit that does the healing for them, allowing them to concentrate on other matters.

Nel reached down and hesitantly drew Gamuza from its sheath. Tears began to well up in her eyes again as she saw that Gamuza was still broken; the broken point just shy of a foot from the guard.

"Gamuza…please answer me." She pleaded to the spirit; but received no answer.

She closed her eyes and lowered her head as she rested the arm holding her blade on her lap. Now she knew why her wound had not healed at the rate it should have. Somehow, Gamuza was no longer there; and without the spirit to heal her, her body had to heal on its own; which would take several days to weeks.

Tears began falling from her eyes and running down her cheeks as she wondered if Gamuza was truly gone forever. Without Gamuza, she would be unable to call upon her Resurrección; meaning that without her hollow powers, she was essentially nothing more than an empty soul, only able to use her cero, sonído, and a small garganta in an emergency.

But with the faint amount of spirit energy that she currently had, she knew that it was very doubtful that she would be able to do that for long before she collapsed from spiritual energy exhaustion.

At her current power, she guessed that she would be lucky to be able to perform a half dozen ceros before that happened; she would most likely pass out from using a garganta more than once.

Without her hollow powers to reinforce the replenishment of her spirit energy, it would take a long time while in the world of the living, where the amount of reishi was very limited, before she would be at her max again; or at least the max she could attain without Gamuza.

Hesitantly, she placed Gamuza back in its sheath, keeping her hand on its hilt for a moment before letting it drop back down onto her lap again. She released the bandage that she was still holding open a bit, letting it fall back into place.

Pulling her lap hand up, she slowly closed and buttoned up her top again, then clasped her hands together, setting them in her lap. She took a deep breath, then cleared her mind to try and speak inwardly with Gamuza.

Like soul reapers, Arrancars also had their own inner world where their hollow powers resided. Normally she just had to be in a calm state to enter her inner world; but now, regardless of how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to get inside. It felt to her like it wasn't even there.

She dropped her head more as she clenched her teeth tightly, more tears falling down her face and dripping onto her clasped hands.

"Why…" she whispered in a hoarse voice. "Why does the world have to be so cruel?" she asked herself, then buried her face in her hands. "What could I have possibly done to deserve this?" she asked further.

She raised her head back, lightly banging it against the wall. "What did Pesche and Dondochakka do to deserve me killing them?" she pleaded. "Was I not loyal enough? Did I not do what was asked of me? What was required of me? Why did they have to suffer because of me?" she continued in a slightly raised voice. "Why…why did I get to live, and they had to die? Why?!" she lowly yelled.

She then redrew Gamuza and quickly held its shortened blade to her chest, ready to perform seppuku. Holding the blade less than an inch form her skin, her hands began to shake violently as she fought herself between committing the suicide, and the will to live.

Her teeth clenched even harder as she continued to press the blade closer to her skin, the pointed tip from where the blade had broken now touching, and beginning to press into her skin. She very faintly hissed as the blade broke the skin, a small bit of blood oozing out and beginning to absorb into the fabric of her shirt.

The blade's movement stopped as more tears flowed from her eyes. The blade held its position for what had seemed to her like eternity. With her resolve to commit the act finally breaking, she pulled the blade away from her chest and slammed the end of the hilt down on the floor to her side, screaming out in agony as she did.

Her body slid to the side along the wall, Gamuza falling from her grip and onto the floor with a dull clang, where she landed on her side. Her shoulders trembled as she silently sobbed. After a moment, she reached out, grabbing Gamuza, and pulled the broken weapon closer to her, cradling it to her chest.

"Pesche, Dondochakka…I will avenge what I have done to you." She whispered, and clutched the hilt tighter. "I will make sure that cruel man dies…before I end my life for my actions. I promise." She swore to her slain friends.

She then opened her eyes, now filled with resolve, as she slowly began to push herself up to a sitting, then to a standing position. She held Gamuza to her side as her hands shook with anger. She looked up to the doorway and began slowly walking to leave the small building, stopping at the doorway.

"I swear it!" she claimed in a low and stern voice, then began walking towards the city.

Squad 7 Training Grounds, Seireitei, 4 Hours Later

"Come on! Quit trying to get ahead of each other to get at me and work 'together'!" Timothy yelled at the members of his team.

They were all near the wooded area behind the barracks practicing their teamwork. Timothy had picked out two of the members from the team to side with him; while the rest, with Hinata leading them, to try and take the trio down.

It was currently eight against two, after one of the members on Timothy's side had been 'defeated', but Hinata's side was having extreme difficulty landing 'defeating blows' on him.

"For the love of…I've left myself open three times so far, and none of you have even tried to notice it!" he berated further.

Timothy hadn't even used Susan's abilities yet, only using quick flash steps to dodge the oncoming attacks.

"You two, keep him pinned! We'll get his flank!" Hinata commanded as she pointed at two of the team members.

The two soul reapers nodded and flashed at Timothy, one swinging at catching his blade, while the other kept Timothy's other 'teammate' busy. Hinata, with the rest of her team, charged in, ready with their weapons held for side cuts.

Timothy glanced over his shoulder, then turned back and quickly punched the man's face. Using the man's surprise, he grabbed the front of the man's shihakusho; pulling him forward and throwing him at Hinata's team with all his strength.

The man's body flew through the air and crashed into two of the men to Hinata's left, knocking them down. Timothy then bent down, holding his free hand to the ground.

"Bakudō #21, Sekienton!" he chanted.

The ground suddenly exploded in a thick, red cloud of smoke in front of Hinata's team, the wind blowing it to now cover her entire team in the smoke screen. She and her team suddenly stopped their assault, keeping their guard while they waited for the smoke to clear.

"Keep your guard!" she instructed, but then widened her eyes when she felt Timothy now behind her.

"Bakudō #4, Hainawa." He spoke calmly.

He threw his free hand towards her, a yellow bolt of energy flying out a wrapping around her, locking her in place. But the spell quickly fell apart with a shattering effect as the thin barrier he had taught her broke apart.

He grinned a bit at seeing her use the technique to her advantage, but then bared his teeth at her as she turned around.

"Too late. Bakudō #1, Sai!" he chanted further.

Her arms were then pulled back by an invisible force, locking her wrists together behind her back. She growled at him and began fighting against the spell, knowing it too be heavily weakened because he only called out the name of the spell and not the number or incantation.

He quickly flashed away to where he was before, and held out both hands to where Hinata's group was.

"Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini. Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat." He chanted calmly, waiting a few seconds more to get a clear view of his opponents. Bakudō #9, Hōrin!" he finished.

An orange rope of energy shot out from his free hand straight at Hinata, just now breaking his previous kidō. The rope wrapped itself around her, then he held his sword hand out to the opponent fighting his teammate; his index and middle fingers extended.

Another rope shot out from his fingers to the man and wrapped around him as well. Pulling on that line, he pulled the man away from his teammate and right towards Hinata. The two bodies crashed together, and the two ropes joined to bind them both together.

Timothy then dropped his arms to his sides with a sigh. "Stop!" he called, ending the fight.

With a flick of his wrist, he dropped the kidō binding Hinata and the other member together. With a wave of the hand, he gestured for everyone to come closer to him as he sheathed his zanpakutō.

"Huddle up and take a breather everyone." He instructed, then turned to Hinata. "Nice work keeping your barrier up during the battle, Hinata. I'll admit, I had no idea that you did have it up. Nice one. But you did make one mistake when you released it." He pointed out to her.

She sighed heavily and placed a hand on her hip. "And what's that?" she moaned.

"You released it too late. The kidō had the time to do its work and put you in a bad spot; that gave me the opening to hit you with a second. You knew I was sending a Hainawa at you, so you had the time to drop the barrier after I sent the kidō at you, but before it got to you. If you had done so, you would have been able to counterattack. Just keep that in mind for the future. Other than that, good planning and strategizing; but be more assertive when issuing your orders." He advised.

She nodded with a sigh, then he turned to the others. "The rest of you need to work a bit harder on your teamwork; rely more on each other and trust your buddies to 'help' you, not get in your way. Towards the end you did okay, but just work a little harder on it is all. Good job overall, everyone. Take another fifteen minutes, then well go at it again. This time I want you all to release your swords if you can, but don't use your zanpakutō's abilities. I want you all to get used to working with your specific, and unique weapons, while getting used to working with and around your buddy's weapon."

He paused and turned to Hinata. "Hinata, a word please." He said.

She nodded at him, then they both walked away to get some distance from the rest of the team. Once they were a few dozen yards from the group, he turned to her.

"Like I said, pretty good overall, just get more stern with them; make them understand the urgency behind your orders." He commented.

She sighed heavily. "Got it."

He nodded lightly. "So, what do you think so far? Plan to keep on with the training and possibly become an officer?" he asked pleasantly.

She hummed with thought as she rested her hands on her hips. "It's aright so far; not as bad as before, but still not easy."

"Not supposed to be." He pointed out.

She nodded back. "I'm aware, but it is a bit harder than I had thought at first. I guess I'll get used…"

She was interrupted by Sajin flashing into place next to Timothy with a very stern look on his face.

"Tim, get the team ready immediately! There has been a possible sighting of the hollow we've been looking for in Karakura Town!" he instructed firmly.

Timothy's eyes widened, then he quickly turned to Hinata. "Get everyone to the senkaimon and ready to go, I'll get the permission to go!" he instructed.

"Permission has already been granted; you are to leave immediately after you get there! We have received a report that the substitute soul reaper, Ichigo Kurosaki, is already on his way to engage the hollow! You are to assist him in any way you can! Now go!" he demanded.

Timothy nodded and flashed back to the group in the distance, Hinata following.

"Get up! We're heading to the world of the living immediately! Get you asses to the senkaimon as fast as possible and stand by, go!" he yelled.

Everyone quickly stood up and disappeared with shunpo. Timothy then turned to Hinata. "Remember what I told you, Hinata. This is the real deal this time, so don't be hesitant. Got it?" he asked sternly.

She scoffed at him. "I got it."

He reached up and smacked the back of her head, shocking her. "I ain't joking around Hinata! This fucker already killed Hetoku and his team; and I will not let it do the same to mine! Clear?!" he yelled at her.

She widened her eyes at his demeaner; but nodded. "I'm going to kill you for that you know!" she warned.

Timothy growled at her. "Worry about that later; for now, let's worry about doing our job and getting 'everyone' home…'alive'!" he stated.

She gave him a stern look and a solid nod. "Yeah." She responded.

He nodded back before they both vanished with shunpo towards the senkaimon near the Squad 1 headquarters.


Gave you fellas some comedy this week, along with a quick duel between Komamura and Timothy. As you can see, he's starting to get better with his core sword skills, but still has a ways to go.

Then we come back to Nel, who is quite obviously very distraught by the deaths of her two closest friends, and her sudden loss in connection with Gamuza. Is her hollow spirit gone for good? We shall see.

And finally, Timothy is heading to the world of the living for the first time since his death. I wonder how he would react to all of the sudden changes of the world since he passed away? Guess we'll have to wait till next week to find out how the hollow fight goes.

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, and looking forward to seeing you next week…after these stupid finals are over and done with. I'll be sure to let you fellas know how I did…good I hope.

Laters.