Stepping through the wide double-doors, Hinata was greeted with a surprising sight. There before her very eyes was a gigantic town bursting with what looked to be your average people.

Now that may not seem shocking to most, but to her it was because she totally expected something different. I mean wouldn't you if you were told by an otherworldly being that you'd be traveling with them to their home also known as the Soul Society? Especially if you've seen the same being kill off a beast that no one else can see.

The last thing anyone would expect to see is a completely normal looking scene. Well it looked normal until she saw a huge giant guarding a gate even bigger than he is.

"Halt! Who are you and what is your business here?" the goliath questioned

"I'm the fifth seat officer of Division 13, Watanabe Daisuke! Reporting in for duty!" he said and then added, "Let us through!"

"You may enter but that child with you may not! Kids aren't allowed inside of Seireitei! Take her back to Rukongai where she belongs!" it responded thinking she was just another ghostly apparition

Instead of arguing with him and causing a commotion, Daisuke just turned around and led Hinata away from the gate into the bustling city.

"Sorry about that. I forgot that only certified shinigami and academy students can go in. Well until I can get you in, you'll be staying with my little brother in District 75." he informed her

"Um… Daisuke-san?"

"Hm?"

"I thought that um… never mind."

"Ah, ah, ah! Hinata-imouto, you can't start something and then not finish it." he lightly chastised while wagging his finger at her

"Eh? Imouto?"

"Yes, imouto. You're like a little sister to me now, anyways don't go changing the subject. What is it you wanted to ask me?"

"Well niisan, I uh… thought that the Soul Society would be different."

"You mean full of souls right?"

"Yeah, but they all look like normal people to me."

"What makes you think they aren't ghosts, hmm?" he grinned while pinching her cheek affectionately

"Because they aren't, I don't know how to say it, ghostly looking I guess."

He laughed heartily at her confused expression before responding, "You don't have to look like a ghost just to be a ghost. Just because they don't look it doesn't mean they aren't imouto. As a matter of fact, every 'person' in Rukongai is really just a living spirit. This is where most people's souls come when they die. In fact they're all dead, so to speak." he explained to her

With wide eyes and a gaping mouth, she tried to reply only to sputter nonsensical things like, "But they aren't see-through and they don't float!"

"And they don't get hungry either and don't need as much as a living person does to survive, plus they hardly suffer here if ever." he expertly cut her off

Just standing in stunned silence, blinking up at her newfound niisan, she did her best to understand. Soaking it all in, the only thing she could think was… 'wow.' Now that, that conversation was through they headed over to his former home in District 75 because his younger brother still lived there.

While they made their way over, Hinata noticed how things started to change. Near the gate that separated Seireitei from Rukongai, everything was nice and had a peaceful and sunny atmosphere. Further away things started to look a little worse for ware. Although it was still crowded and busy it looked a little less welcoming and more dangerous here.

Feeling her discomfort, Daisuke did his best to calm her. "It's going to be alright imouto. You'll be in good hands here, I wouldn't leave you or my brother if I didn't know you'd be okay. I'll come check on you both as often as I can. I already do for my brother to make sure he's safe. I'll just do it for you too. When I'm not here I'll be trying to talk the bosses into getting you both into Seireitei with me. Until then, be careful." he told her comfortingly as they arrived before the house

"Okay, thanks niisan." she replied feeling a little better

"No problem. Well, we're here. It may not look like much but it's home." he announced while standing in front of the small shack-like house

Stepping up to the front door, Daisuke tapped it twice and waited for something to happen. Not even a split second later a young boy with short, black spiky hair with similar red streaks as Daisuke and green eyes opened the door and tackled him to the ground while yelling excitedly.

"Aniki! Aniki! You're back! Where have you been brother? Do you know those crazy adults have been messin' with me?" he garbled out quickly

"Whoa! Slow down there otouto; now one thing at a time. What did you say? Start over."

"(sigh) Well what I said was where were you and the older people were messin' with me." he pouted at him but grinned proudly at what he said next, "But I socked 'em all one good! They couldn't beat me! Ha!" he finished pointing at himself in pride

Ruffling his hair affectionately he smiled at his baby brother and said, "Way to go squirt! I'm all too happy to hear that but I got a surprise for you." he told him with a mischievous grin

"Really! What is it?"

"A new roomie. Well more like a new sister."

"Really! Where is she? Who is she? What she look like?" he called out excitedly

"Look to your left squirt."

Turning to see her, his eyes grew wide and seemed to sparkle with a childish light. With his ever-present smile he jumped up and hugged her. "So you're my new imouto? You look like an angel." he grinned at her

"Arigato." she said shyly with a blush and embarrassed laugh for the compliment

Chuckling at the duo, Daisuke stood up and dusted himself off. "Okay you two, let's get inside and talk." he ushered them into the house

"So to properly introduce you, otouto this is Hinata. Hinata-chan this Mitsurugi. He may seem like a six year old but he's actually older than you. He just likes to act immature because he thinks it's funny." Daisuke said

"And don't forget the girls think it's cute." he mentioned with a devilish grin

"That only works when I'm around baka. If not they find it weird and annoying. So you should try another tactic when dealing with the ladies." he advised him

"Yeah, well I've got another one." he said defensively

"Really and what's that?" he asked him teasingly

"It's the old Watanabe charm. You know they can't resist the good looks. Just flash 'em the grin and their legs turn into jelly." quoting his brother from a long time ago when he remembered all the dates he went on

'They're weird but in a really funny kind of way. I guess it really is kind of cute.' She thought with a giggle. "Ano, Daisuke-niisan how old are you? And you too Mitsurugi-niisan."

"Well, I'm 12 and aniki is 19. How old are you imouto?" Mitsurugi took the initiative to answer for both of them

"11."

"Pretty cool. You're more mature than Mitsurugi. Hahaha! You should call her big sister otouto because I have no doubt that she'll be actin' like it for you." he laughed at him causing Hinata to blush and Mitsurugi to frown, "Nah! But seriously, I'm gonna need you to be more mature now. You're in charge of lookin' out for her 'til I get ya both into Seireitei. You got me? You HAVE to be the mature older brother for her sake. She's obviously new around here and you gotta look after her. I'll be checkin' up on ya as often as I can to make sure you guys are okay. She's your responsibility, so you need to be serious." he told him sternly with a warning glare to emphasize how important this is

Mitsurugi got the message and knew he was going to have to grow up in order to take care of them both. He had to step it up here; it was now or never because he would be taking on Daisuke's role from now on. It was time for him to follow in his big brother's footsteps and prove himself. 'I will do this. I have to do this. I'm gonna make him proud. I'll show him how strong I can be.' He thought determinedly.

"Well, I'd love to stay and all but I have to be heading off now. I'll be back later, be good you two." Daisuke said before leaving

After he left Mitsurugi decided to get to know his 'little sister' better. "So what's your story imouto? Why'd you come here?"

"I wanted to know what it was like here and I want to get stronger. Plus, I really didn't have anywhere else to turn to." she ended a bit sadly

"What? What do you mean you had nowhere else to go? Why?"

"Back in my old home, I'd see those hollow things and they'd chase me. So I would go tell people and they wouldn't believe me and say I was crazy or that I was being childish. They would tell me there's no such thing as 'monsters' but I knew that I saw them. They couldn't see them so they thought I was weird and people began avoiding me. I was alone, but now I know that I'm not crazy or weird and I'm not alone anymore." she smiled sadly at him

'That's messed up. She didn't belong there, then. Now she's where she belongs and I'll make sure she's happy here. They didn't deserve her.' He thought before he said, " No you're not weird or crazy and definitely not alone anymore. Just stick with me and you'll have the time of your life!" he declared confidently, "Now let's get some shut eye, eh? We've got a lot ahead of us and we're gonna need the rest." he shooed her off to bed

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"Well you sure took a long time gettin' here." an officer of Daisuke's division spoke out to him

"Sorry. Mission took a little longer than normal and I had to check up on my little brother. How's Ukitake-taichou?" he responded

"He's okay, just resting. He was asking about you, so I think you should go see him. He should be in his quarters."

With a nod Daisuke went off in the direction of Ukitake's room. Knocking and then entering with a bow he reported in to his superior. "Ukitake-taichou, I've just returned from my mission. The hollow has been destroyed. You wished to see me sir?"

"Ah, Daisuke-san. I'm glad to know you're back and in good health. I wanted to speak to you about your brother. So how's little Mitsurugi?"

"He's fine sir. Ano… I need to speak to you about something extremely important, in private if you don't mind."

"No problem. Why don't we go to my office since it's more secluded." and with that they got up and left; once inside Ukitake put up a sealing spell for the utmost privacy, "So what's this important matter you wish to speak about?"

"It's about a young ryoka, sir."

"Oh? What about this ryoka."

"She can see hollows and me, sir. Her reiatsu is off the charts, especially for someone her age and kind." this information caught Ukitake's full attention immediately

"And what did you do about this girl?" he questioned seriously

"I brought her here sir." he replied in all honesty, "She's currently staying with my brother."

"What! Do you realize that is a class one forbidden act you've just committed? You could be arrested or worse, executed for something of this caliber! What were you thinking?" Ukitake exploded

"Please hear me out sir. This girl has special powers and enormous potential to be an amazing shinigami. It would be beneficial for her and us if she were brought here. And she had nowhere else to go." he told him, not backing down

"This isn't some kind of charity here! Daisuke, I'm only upset because of the risk you're putting yourself and that girl in. You must return her at once! We will not speak of this again." he ordered him sternly as he prepared to leave

Daisuke shook his head stubbornly and said, "I can not do that captain. I brought her here for her protection. Hollows were targeting this girl specifically and I don't know why. It irked me that they'd even be in a place that never once had hollows before and I just knew she'd be safer here than in her own world."

That effectively stopped Ukitake from leaving and snapped him back to the subject he just said was taboo. "They were targeting her specifically?" receiving an affirmative he asked, "You're sure it wasn't because she just happened to be there at the time?"

"I'm more than sure sir because a hollow wouldn't chase their target the way this one was chasing her. It was as if it were trying to lead her away from any kind of help. Also, her reiatsu would've attracted multiple hollows, not one. We were in range of more than just one to be able to sense it and they did not come to eat her. It was almost like it was planning on trapping her farther away from her village. So I did what I thought was best. Her people can't defend her, so I brought her here to be around those who could."

"So what? Are you just going to leave her in Rukongai? The district where we found you and your brother in isn't any safer than the living world. So what do you propose to do?"

"I want to get her into Seireitei alongside my brother."

"You're pushing it here; do you remember how hard it was for me to arrange that deal of getting your brother accepted in before the proper entry age?" he asked his subordinate who nodded yes in return, "Then you know that's not possible for me to pull off." he finished forlornly

"You could convince the council to allow it. Just say they're new recruits, since we need them anyways. Ever since Aizen practically declared war on us, we've been losing shinigami far quicker than expected. I'm sure if you approach it from that angle coupled with what I just told you, they'll allow it."

"That could work. But her being a ryoka will hinder things. She'll have to be very strong and knowledgeable of our ways and world if there's any chance for success. I want to see her first thing in the morning."

"Of course sir. Thank you so very much Ukitake-taichou."

"No problem. Though I can't guarantee anything, I'll do my best to get this to work. Now go, you have other duties to attend to." he told Daisuke as he left to get more rest because his illness was acting up

'Well the first half of the hard part is over. Now to try and convince the council.' Daisuke mused while leaving to complete his designated tasks.

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"Oi, imouto-chan. Wake up." Mitsurugi said softly whilst gently shaking her awake

"Hmm?" she mumbled sleepily while cutely rubbing her eyes

"Time to get up. We got a big day today."

"Okay" she said quietly while getting out of bed in a drowsy haze. As she went to get ready Mitsurugi went downstairs to wait for her. While he waited, he heard the familiar two taps on the front door and quickly ran to open it.

What he saw surprised him greatly; there standing before him was not just his aniki but the 13th Division captain as well. He was frozen from shock and didn't seem to know what to do, so he just stood there gaping like a fish out of water.

After freshening up Hinata called out to her brother. Receiving silence as a response she went to look for him and went downstairs to check. "Niisan? What's up? Where are… you?" she asked as she saw him looking stunned at the door. She noticed Daisuke and another strange man were there at the front door and seemed to be having a staring contest amongst each other, given the way they all just stood there looking at one another.

The stranger with the long, silky, silver hair caught sight of her the minute he felt her reiatsu at the top of the stairs and it stunned him how powerful it was. That was all the proof Ukitake needed and he told Daisuke so. "I see what you mean Daisuke-san. This is enough for me. I'll go see what I can do; I leave the rest to you. It was good seeing you two." he said smiling at the children before turning around and leaving

When Mitsurugi snapped out of his daze he started asking questions a mile a minute. "Who was that? That was your captain, wasn't it? What's he doin' in Rukongai? Why'd he come all the way to see us? What'd he mean about that's enough for him?"

Although Daisuke wanted to chuckle at his little brother's antics and Hinata's confused stare he answered them completely serious. "I'll explain all of that later. What I need you to do for now is to do what I asked of you from yesterday. And train her otouto; I have to get back to work. I'll be around later on for sure. Be safe." and then he followed after Ukitake

At the mention of training, Mitsurugi became gravely serious because it reminded him of his desire to get accepted into Seireitei like his brother and get out of the bad living conditions he's in right now. And now he also had to train his imouto so she could get in too because he wouldn't leave her behind here. They had to get out and he'd see to it that they did.

Hinata on the other hand wasn't too thrilled about the whole idea of training because of all the bad memories that accompanied it. She'd rather not do it but she'd try her best for them because of all they've done for her so far, this was her chance to pay them back for it.

Sensing her reluctance Mitsurugi did what he could to pump her up. "Don't worry sis, this'll be fun! You'll like this, trust me. But this is important and you'll soon understand why. Now why don't we get started right away, shall we?"

"Alright."

"Okay! Let's do this!" He jumped up, pumping his fists in the air causing Hinata to smile and giggle at him. They had a lot to do but they'd get through it together.

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A/N: I'll put in a glimpse of how her new training is going next chapter and I was wondering if I should just skip ahead to when Hinata joins the 13 divisions or if I should show how everyone back in Konoha is taking the news. Y'all know what to do… go hit that review button down there and leave your thoughts because they matter to me.