Forgot this last chapter… My bad.

Disclaimer: *disclaims*

Chapter 2

Newly appointed Captain Neliel Tu Oderschvank of the Seventh Division was a woman with a problem, and for once it wasn't just her ludicrous surname.

Though Kami knows I should get that changed. If I have to answer to "Captain Tu Oderschvank" one more time –

"Captain Tu Oderschvank!"

"Yes sir?"

Okay, if someone other than the General calls me that… Oh screw it. I'll just have to teach them all to call me Nel.

"I wish for you to report on the state of your division"

Nel nodded and stood to address the assortment of captains, both the official and unofficial. Ichigo offered her an encouraging smile from across the room, which she returned. It was common knowledge that he was sorting things out in the living world in order to leave and take up captaincy of the Third Division, but even so, his presence was already required.

Squad Three needs his help almost as much as I do right now.

She cleared her throat and began. "Firstly, I would prefer that you called me Nel. It's considerably less of a mouthful and can hardly be considered disrespectful among equals. As for my squad…" Nel trailed off, and turned directly to the Head Captain. "May I speak plainly sir?"

She was going to take the slight inclination of his head as a yes.

"Very well. Captain Komamura's sacrifice on the battlefield put an end to the life of one of the traitors and helped us reclaim the advantage in the final engagement. However, it has also left his division decimated. What remains is a fifth seat who got to that position by being one of the few lucky enough to be left alive over the course of the war, a ninth and tenth seat who are scarcely better off and the majority of the lower seats and unseated officers. That is not to say that they're useless, but they require training that I cannot provide if I am to fill all the gaps in the division." Nel paused here. This was going to be a difficult request to fulfil, but she wouldn't have asked unless she felt it needed doing.

"In short, sir, I need a lieutenant."

The silence in the meeting room that seemed to stretch on forever until the general broke it.

"I understand Nel, if you wish me to call you that - "

"I do."

"Very well. I understand that you would not have asked this unless you had to. You know the position we are in." He turned now to face the rest of the assembled captains. "The reality is that many of you need to make this request. While the promotion of Lieutenants Abarai and Hisagi, as well as the Captaincies given to Urahara, Kurosaki and Nel here have helped us achieve a full thirteen captains, we are now left with lieutenant positions to fill. The promotion of third seats Sentaro and Kotetsu to vice captains of the Ninth and Thirteenth has helped, but we have a further three positions to fill, in the Second, Sixth and Seventh. Which brings me to the second point of this meeting – the three arrancar we currently hold captive."

With dawning comprehension the captains stared at the General, Nel included.

Is he suggesting what I think he's suggesting? The arrancar that were captured…

Against her will, Nel found herself remembering pale skin, dark hair and eyes that were almost too green to be real.

This is ridiculous. I was just relieved that I wasn't going to be the last of my kind. Nothing more than that went through my head.

Oh yeah, replied another part of her mind, I don't see you thinking of the guy with the blue hair all the time, or –

Wait, did he say three?

"As you may or may not be aware, in addition to the two Espada who were captured or, rather, surrendered themselves while returning Orihime Inoue, a third Espada, the former 1st in fact, turned himself over to us on the grounds that, and I quote, 'He couldn't be bothered fighting at the best of times, and he sure as hell wasn't going to for people who had killed his favourite Fraccion'. Apparently Aizen incinerated her in an attempt to spur him into action."

There was a pause as they all took this in, and Nel couldn't help but feel gratitude toward the General for removing one Sosuke Aizen from this particular world.

"As you know, when we worked on contingency plans before the battle, we suggested that arrancar who turned themselves over to us should be given the option of being made part of a squad under the supervision of captains strong enough to control them. While we had intended to leave them as unseated officers, this situation leads me to believe that the former 1st, 4th and 6th Espada would be better suited to the roles of lieutenants in the Sixth, Seventh and Second respectively."

This conclusion was greeted with Captain Soi Fon's terse exclamation of "You're kidding, right? The guy with the electric blue hair in the Stealth Force?"

"He's just as noticeable as Omeada was", the General replied.

"Yeah, and the only reason I didn't kill him was that I had no one to replace him with."

"Well, the situation is the same here. This one stays alive Captain Soi Fon, unless you would rather be without a lieutenant?"

"… Fine."

A chuckle was heard coming from Ichigo's end of the table.

"Care to share?" a cranky Soi Fon muttered.

"Just thinking that if Grimmjow's not quite right for the Stealth Force, he sure as hell fits in the Punishment Squad side of things. He's as blood thirsty as Kenpachi."

The Captain they'd mentioned showed the first signs of being attentive in the entire meeting.

"Blood thirsty, huh? He a decent fight?"

Ichigo smiled the smile of a man achieving a long held goal of revenge. "Hell yeah, he'll give you a run for your money, Kenpachi."

Soi Fon brightened up slightly at this. Well, Nel reconsidered, as much as she was ever capable of doing. She looked less inclined to do murder, anyway.

Maybe she figures that with Zaraki on the case she won't need to…

The General chose to ignore this conversation and moved on to Captain Kuchiki.

"And do you have any objections to working with the former 1st Espada Stark?"

"None at all", the noble replied smoothly, "I have, after all, proven that I can take the most unlikely, uncouth subjects and turn them into captain material and a credit to their former division. He should be no problem."

Beside Nel, newly captained Renji Abarai of the Fifth was muttering to himself. "I give up. Is that meant to be an insult to me with a complement to soften it, or the other way around?"

"Well if you can't guess it, I won't be able to", Nel whispered back with a smile. Her mind was racing. If Soi Fon had the one with the blue hair, and Byakuya had the one she hadn't brought in, then that left –

Him.

"Very well. This would then leave the former Fourth Espada, Ulquiorra Schiffer, as lieutenant to the Seventh. Any objections, Captain?"

"Not at all", she blurted out, hoping they'd take her eagerness as a desperate need for a new lieutenant.

"It's settled then. You are dismissed. I will send the message to the captives immediately and you can put them to work tomorrow."

As she filed out with the rest of them, the only coherent thought that Nel could hold onto was a name, as she put a hand to her hollow hole in remembrance.

Ulquiorra Schiffer.