Bleeding Justice

High-Elf-Swordsman (HES): Hey all and welcome to Bleeding Justice, my first Bleach fic! Before we start, I'd like to say a few things. To start, almost all my names are original (as in they aren't real names/aren't words from another language) and this includes names of zanpakuto as well as characters. I do not know if the idea of Cells exists within Bleach, though Divisions and Squads do; I am using the idea of Cells to tie the story together better. Also, all zanpakuto ideas have already been planned out and are one-hundred percent original (and copyrighted by me…though I can't exactly copyright the, heh); if you want to use any of my ideas, please ask me first! Also, this story takes place a few hundred years or so before the main Bleach storyline. Anyway, I hope this introduction doesn't sound too presumptuous! Now read on and enjoy the story! Please review to tell me your thoughts!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach; all I own are the characters and their zanpakuto in this story with the exception of any that appear in the anime (a few of which will appear).

Chapter 1: Enter, the Three Shinigami!

"Formation Epsilon, Go!" The tall, brown haired youth yelled. The two youths beside him, both with black hair, nodded as they dodged the strike of the Hollow's claws.

These three youths wore black kimonos, which marked them as Shinigami, or Death Gods, an organization responsible for eradicating Hollows, cursed souls that consume innocent ghosts. All Shinigami, at some point, are tasked with the mission of slaying Hollows in the real world, before returning to Soul Society, a place most humans would refer to as "Heaven"; despite this thought, there were parts of Soul Society that were as vile and corrupt as Hell itself.

The shorter of the black haired youths swung his zanpakuto, or Soul Slayer, the katanas all Shinigami carried, as the Hollow's right arm. The Hollow itself dodged, and laughed behind its white mask. This Hollow was a lesser one, but still quite dangerous; it's body was pure black as with most Hollows, and it stood at least twenty feet in height. Its mask had blue streaks running across the circular eye holes, and a blue semi-circle beneath its gaping, fanged mouth. The Hollow also had long claws on each hand, similar to those of a predatory cat. The Hollow retorted now, by swinging his claws and knocking the shorter black-haired Shinigami to the ground.

"I'm not sure a direct attack will work," The taller black haired Shinigami stated to his comrades as he narrowly missed being gutted by the Hollow.

"Stick to the damn plan!" The brown haired Shinigami shot back as he slashed at the Hollow's mask, only to be head-butted to the ground. He rose, and blocked the Hollow's next claw slash with both his swords. "Go! Get him while I can hold him here!"

The shorter of the black-haired warriors nodded and rushed at the Hollow, brandishing his zanpakuto in the moonlight.

"Ye Lord, Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man, Inferno and pandemonium, The sea barrier surges, March on to the south!" The taller black-haired Shinigami chanted, before aiming his right hand at the Hollow while holding his zanpakuto in his left. "SHOT OF RED FIRE!" A red ball of flame erupted from his hands and flew towards the Hollow's mask, smashing the white article and slaying the Hollow instantly. The other two Shinigami rushed over to their friend, who panted heavily after using a great deal of reiatsu (spirit energy) to cast his kidou (the spells Shinigami use, also called Demon Arts).

"You stupid son of a bitch!" The brown-haired Shinigami yelled. "I could've taken him! You are your damned kidou, Tairos!"

"Tairos saved our lives," the shorter black-haired Shinigami said. "You can't blame him for trying to defeat the Hollow, Jaice."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Jaice answered. "Besides, he stole your glory, Baiten, you could've been the one to defeat that Hollow."

Baiten shook his head and extended a hand to help pull Tairos to his feet. "Our mission was to destroy the Hollow without causing extensive damage. The issue isn't who killed it or how it was killed, just that we saved innocents from casualties."

"You're just sore, Jaice," Tairos sniggered as he wiped some sweat from his brow, "because we all know you…"

"Don't say another word!" Jaice cut him off before Tairos could interject one of his favorite insults which riled up Jaice's already hot blood. Baiten stepped between the two and raised his palms in the air before pointing a finger at each of his comrades.

"We're supposed to be fighting Hollows, not each other." Baiten stated matter-of-factly. "Anyway, we need to head back to Soul Society." The other two nodded, and Jaice raised his katana, slicing into the very air itself. From the slash emerged a portal, similar to a traditional Japanese door made of wood and rice paper. The portal slid aside and the three walked in, and were instantly returned to Soul Society.

The center of Soul Society is a place called The Court of Pure Souls, or Seireitei. It is here that the Shinigami plan their activities and keep a watch on the surrounding areas of Soul Society, a dingy, run down area known as Rukongai.

Rukongai is home to spirits of the dead, called Plus, which are not as evil as the Hollow, though they are not necessarily good. Rukongai is a place of poverty, and many of the souls their resent the Shinigami and Seireitei, cursing the pampered conditions that the Death Gods reside in. Despite this enmity, every year several souls from Rukongai are chosen to attend the Shinigami Academy; several such souls were able to rise through the ranks and even become Captains, the leaders of the Thirteen Court Protection Squads, or Gotei 13, the squads that are the military of Seireitei.

Each Shinigami is assigned a squad, and within each squad are divisions, and each division houses many cells. Each cell generally consists of two to five Shinigami, and Baiten, Jaice, and Tairos were known as the 12th Cell in the 10th Division of the 9th Squad. The leader of this squad was a recently promoted Captain, Tousen Kaname, a dark skinned Shinigami who dressed in extravagant and brightly colored sashes and always wore a visor of his eyes. Rumors constantly circulated around the squad about Captain Tousen's odd choice of clothing, but none disputed his skills as a Captain. Though more inexperienced than most, in the four short years that he had been head of the 9th Squad he had proven his worth.

Upon re-entering Seireitei, Jaice, Tairos and Baiten were greeted by several members of their division, who congratulated them on successfully returning from a Hollow Slaying Mission. Jaice ignored the praise, muttering under his breath about the cowardice of Tairos, while Baiten politely thanked all who offered him felicitations. Tairos, however, absorbed the compliments like a wet sponge, and used any opportunity he could to recount the tale of how he single-handedly destroyed the Hollow. After about an hour of this, the rest of the division dissipated, having to go to missions themselves or having other tasks within Seireitei that they had been assigned to do. Having received some downtime, the trio opted to return to their division's boarding house and relax.

Each squad of the Gotei 13 has its own sector within Seireitei, and it is here that each division has its own boarding house. As lower ranking members of the 9th Squad, Jaice, Baiten and Tairos lived in one of the lesser furnished houses, but still comfortable. Upon entering their cell's shared room, Tairos immediately drifted off to sleep on his futon.

"Lazy slacker, how can he expect our Cell to get stronger of its weakest member never trains?" Jaice asked Baiten, looking at the snoring Tairos.

"Tairos does train, just not as often as you might like," Baiten pointed out. "Besides, he practices kidou more than either of us does."

"Kidou, ha! In true battle your zanpakuto is all you can rely on!" Jaice said, stating one of his famous personal parables.

"Suit yourself, but it seems to work for Tairos," Baiten answered.

"Whatever, you up for some sparring?" Jaice asked Baiten, who nodded. The two walked outside of the boarding house to their squad's training ground. They drew their swords and eyed one another, each preparing to strike.

Jaice was the first to move, charging forward and coming in for a slash from the right side. Baiten was able to deflect the blow, albeit barely, and respond with a quick thrust at Jaice's exposed left shoulder. Jaice hung back, causing Baiten's attack to go wide, and raised his weapon to deliver a slash at Baiten's back. Baiten moved to the right, being narrowly grazed by Jaice's blade. A small trickle of blood came from the gash on Baiten's side; in response, the two sheathed their blades.

"This makes fourteen wins for me, and twelve for you." Jaice said.

"Thirteen for you, but who's counting?" Baiten responded, shaking Jaice's hand. "Good match, too bad it couldn't have been longer."

"You up for another?" Jaice asked, running his hand along the hilt of his sheathed zanpakuto.

"Always," Baiten said, getting into the ready position to draw his weapon. Before either could attack, however, a small, black butterfly floated down between the two.

"A Hell Butterfly? Something must be up," Jaice said. "You take this one." Jaice didn't like delicate or "beautiful" things, so it was no wonder that he let Baiten allow the insect to land on his finger.

The butterfly landed on Baiten's finger, and he shivered a bit (still not completely used to the idea of an insect delivering a message as was the job of such a creature). "Relay to all squads: this is a message from the Central 46. All squads are to report to a special meeting by their respective leader in their assigned squad meeting area. Any Shinigami who do not attend will immediately be apprehended and tried for treason." Baiten said, relaying the message the Hell Butterfly telepathically relayed to him.

"Sounds serious," Jaice said. "We'd better wake that lazy-ass Tairos up and head over." Jaice wasn't one for subtlety either, and yelled as loud as he could: "WAKE UP YOU LAZY BASTARD WE HAVE SOMEWHERE TO BE!"

Tairos shot out of the boarding house and stood at attention. "Yes oh great Jaice, mighty 'Captain' of the 9th Squad!" Tairos said sarcastically. Jaice raised his fist in anger, but Baiten shot in before anything could happen.

"We have an urgent dispatch, we can't waste any time. Let's head to the 9th Squad Meeting Area quickly." The others nodded as Baiten finished speaking, and they raced off towards their destination.