Author's Note:

This fanfiction is rated M because it may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

Bleach © Tite Kubo
All of the inserted, non-canon characters are © me

What was it that drove Ayaka to hide as soon as possible and as far away from the 11th Division as possible? It could have been fear. The beating of her heart pounded in her ears. She concealed her reiatsu as best as she could, but it seemed like anyone could hear her loud heart jumping in her chest. As time went by in her hiding place, Ayaka became more relaxed. Her rump sat firmly on the ground between two barrels outside the 4th Division's barracks. From where she sat, she could gaze at the blue sky. She was not given enough time to gaze long enough. A Jigokuchou approached her with a message. Ayaka stood up and ran out from her hiding place immediately.

She ran down a wide barren alley in hopes of getting back to her division quickly. The Hell Butterfly floated before her, guiding her back though she knew her way around. Deep down inside, she started to regret running away from her game of hide-and-seek. But she was given her first mission in Gense, the Human World. This was something she did not want to miss.

It was happenstance that on her way back, Zaraki found her. He jumped from a roof top and landed directly in her path. His zanpakutou in one hand and the blade resting precariously on one shoulder, his stance gave him the look of a proud fighter. She took a step back and made a small noise in surprise.

"Zaraki-taichou, I have to get back to the 13th," she informed as the jigokuchou floated by the captain's head.

He smiled, showing off all his teeth, and looked intimidating. His size alone made her uneasy, but not scared. When he released his reiatsu, she got scared. "But that's not part of the game," he taunted. Ayaka clenched her teeth. She braced herself for the next move.

"Yay~ Ken-chan~!" Yachiru cheered from above.

Ayaka glanced up to see Yachiru sitting on a roof three feet above her. Just what Ayaka wanted: an audience. This was not going well. She did not want to turn down the invitation to a fight, but right now she had something important to do. If she ran away right now, Zaraki would tease and taunt her every time they would see each other. The pressure of his reiatsu began to weigh her down. She was almost gasping for air the heavier it got.

"Seriously, Zaraki-taichou! Ukitake-taichou has requested my audience!"

"The deal was that if I found you, we'd fight. Now come on and draw your weapon."

As he tapped his zanpakutou on his shoulder, Ayaka spread her legs into a defensive stance and slowly brought her right hand to the wakizashi to her left. Damn it, Zaraki! Her eyebrows quivered from the pressure she was under. No matter how long she would draw the silence, the 11th Division captain would wait until she made her move. The second she put a hand on the hilt of her zanpakutou, the captain made a flash step toward her. In an instant, his blade clashed with the scabbard of her left wakizashi. As he pushed down, Ayaka groaned. The force of his reiatsu was enough, but his strength made it harder.

"You're not gonna use your zanpakutou?" he asked, believing it was a joke.

Ayaka, the wakizashi held at both ends by her hands, bent her knees and spread her feet wider apart. "I don't want to have to repeat myself!" She pushed upward and out. This did little to damage Zaraki. That was not what she planned, however. With as much power as she could use without wasting too much, Ayaka pushed. Zaraki made one step back, but attacked again. She resorted to using the scabbard as a defense again.

"Stop being a wuss and fight me!" he shouted.

This was going to be hard from the start. Why did she agree to play one more game? And with Zaraki thrown into the mix? Sweat beaded on the back of her neck, and a drop fell from her forehead and down her cheek. She was concentrating on what to do next, when there was a crack. The crack came from the contact point of the constant-release zanpakutou and the scabbard. Ayaka gasped. Without thinking, she duplicated her earlier move. This time, she managed to follow through with a jump and flash-step backward.

"Another time, taichou, but I have things I need to take care of!"

Ayaka moved quick enough to avoid further contact with Zaraki's zanpakutou. She was able to leave the area. Instead of going back to the ground, she stayed on the roofs just to make sure she would avoid any surprises.

"Ken-chan, you let her leave," Yachiru popped up behind his shoulder and looked in the direction the female shinigami had gone. She pouted and shouted in his ear, "WHY?" Zaraki turned around and walked away, his sword on the shoulder opposite Yachiru. "I was hoping it'd be good," she added in a quieter voice. He said nothing as he walked. Next thing to do was head back to his headquarters. The first turn he made led to a dead end.

It was hard not to feel aggravated. Not solely at Zaraki's persistence to fight, but that she chose the lesser of two evils. Ayaka wanted more than anything to see Gense. She wanted more than anything to see Zaraki's power; not firsthand exactly. There was no choice for her in the end. If her captain – the third seats actually sent the message, but Zaraki did not need to know that – assigned her to a mission, she would have to go on that mission. It struck her that that was the reason Zaraki did not chase after her or push the fight any harder. He knew that work came before play even if a person did not like the work. Ayaka sighed and felt stupid for not thinking that before. She just yelled at him and ran away. Like a child. An angry and scared child. There was no turning back time. Only moving forward. Next time, she thought, next time I won't leave the fight.

When she was on the ground and at the barracks of the 13th Division, she found Hayate standing outside the main entrance. "Hey! What are –" Hayate grabbed her arm and used his zanpakutou to open a Senkaimon. A Jigokuchou guided them through the gate. "Hey! Hey! Wait!" Ayaka was uncomfortable being pulled by one arm by Hayate.

Two smiling faces greeted them once they left the gate and stepped onto Gense soil. The first thing she noticed was not the place she was in, but the people she was with. She did not know the guy with long blond hair pulled back into a thick braid. He stood with a stout build and vain posture, and his brown eyes reflected his dull nature. The 4th seat of 13th Division stood to that man's right. His slender figure had a more graceful posture, his trimmed black hair and dark blue eyes told Ayaka he was more serious than the other. "You're late," the 4th seat said.

"G-gomennsai," she stuttered when Hayate let go of her.

The seated officer continued, "Okay, for you two it is your first time in the Human World. Tonight, you will encounter a Hollow and defeat it. There's a possibility you'll be able to perform a konsou. First, let's go find the Hollow that's been hanging around and see how you two handle it." The blond one chortled and said it would be a breeze.

Once they were out of the park and in the city, Ayaka finally remembered she was in the Human World now. She was behind Hayate and the seated officer as they used shunpo to reach the Hollow. The excitement influenced her to speed up, and she was in front of Hayate in an instant. This is great! She thought with a smile. Even as they got closer to the Hollow, Ayaka was still excited to be out on the field instead of running errands.

A roar confirmed that they had found the Hollow. The roar was not the only thing, however, because some buildings had been clawed into and windows were broken. Ayaka looked down at the ground and saw a light post was knocked over, too.

"The two of you go in first," said the 4th seat.

The blond accepted this, saying, "We'll jump right in if you need help."

Hayate was quick to move to ground level and catch the Hollow's attention. Ayaka followed him. Her smile was gone – replaced by a more serious look, but she was nervous and worried. What if I do the wrong thing and get Hayate killed? Or me? There were no mortals around, because they had all been scared away by a menace they could not see. Hayate had already gone into combat with the Hollow. The monster opened his mouth and lashed out a long tongue. Both shinigami dodged it. In their place was a small crater. Ayaka grabbed the hilts of her wakizashi, and unsheathed them. Hayate was twelve feet away and had his own zanpakutou ready. He looked over to her and nodded. Her eyes widened, not exactly understanding what he was nodding about. Then, she watched him jump forward and take a slash at the Hollow. It blocked his attack with his arm, but the blade of the zanpakutou dug into its arm. The Hollow jerked his arm away from him, dislodging Hayate and the zanpakutou. Ayaka became the target almost immediately. She did not know that she had been breathing heavily already. Her wide eyes made the Hollow chuckle as it approached her.

Ayaka told herself to take a deep breath and calm down. She should not be overreacting in front of the low-level Hollow. After a deep breath, she looked at the Hollow with more confidence. With two wakizashi in her hands, she rushed forward. Right in front of her was the Hollow. It roared again and pulled back an arm. That arm came forward and down toward Ayaka. Reflexively, she put her wakizashi together and pointed them at the hand coming to her. The blades pierced the Hollow's hand straight through, but her position made her vulnerable. A bloodied giant hand wrapped around her and lifted her up.

"Ayaka-chan!" Hayate was back up and raced to help her. He used his katana to slice the Hollow's arm off at the elbow. The Hollow screamed when its limb was hacked off. Its hand opened because there was no more muscle communication with its body. Ayaka removed her blades from the hand, and took advantage of an opening by using the opened hand as a step to jump forward. With one strong swipe of her right hand, her wakizashi cut into the mask of the Hollow. Its cries continued until it disappeared.

"Ayaka-chan, are you all right?" Hayate ran up to her, the other two not far behind.

She was visibly shaking at the knees and breathing shallow. Her eyes, wide as they could get, stared down at the ground. "I-I'm.. I… I'm okay. Okay," she said uneasily.

"Congratulations," the blond one said before slapping her on the back. The force of his strike and her unprepared state made Ayaka jump a foot forward.

The seated officer nodded. "You both did well. Sloppy and you need better teamwork, but you did it without needing my help."

Hayate looked at the thinner of the two. "Where are we?"

"Just outside Karakura Town," he answered. "Tokyo, Japan. We can head over to Karakura now. They seem to have a few souls for konso every now and then."

Ayaka regained her composure, but was still feeling the high and shakes of the adrenaline rush and fear. She was sure that that was an idiot move and would not have lived if Hayate had not dismembered the Hollow. She did not know what to think when they were allowed to split up. Her heart was still pounding in her head. A phone was given to her, and she was instructed to contact the higher officer if there was trouble. The gadget fit inside her left sleeve. Hayate wished her luck and told her not to be worried about anything. Even with a warm smile from him, she was on-edge.

"I could have handled that differently," she mumbled as she walked down the street. "Should have done better." Ayaka sighed and put her hands in her pockets. A small blip from her phone alerted her of a nearby soul. She took the gadget out, flipped it open, and then started to run toward the blinking dot. The soul looked like a little boy in modern clothes. Protruding from his chest was a broken chain. She met him at the corner of the four-way street. "Hello," she greeted him as kindly as she could.

The little boy gasped and looked up. He instantly smiled and gave her a hug. "You're fast!"

"Excuse me?"

"And you change quickly!" The boy took a step back to take in her appearance. "Are those swords?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about," she said. "I came here to help you get to the Soul Society."

"Soul Society?" He cutely tilted his head to one side.

"Yeah. It's kind of like Heaven." Ayaka took one of her wakizashi out. "I don't know how else to put it. Just imagine somewhere really nice, and you'll be there." She looked down at the boy. He was smiling stupidly up at her. It was hard to admit it was not cute; he was being cute.

"Will I see you again, nee-san?"

Ayaka nodded. "We'll see each other there." She tapped him on the forehead with the flat end of her hilt. A stamp was left, and a light surrounded him. The soul disappeared. In its place was a Hell Butterfly which flew away to get to the Soul Society. Ayaka sighed and put her wakizashi away. She looked up, and had a stunned expression slapped on her face.

In front of her, a few steps away, was a mirror-image of herself. The mortal looked exactly like her with lighter eyes, but she was in civilian clothing. Her look-a-like stared right at her with the same expression. Can… she see me? Ayaka was a little worried about what might happen. She had no idea what to do if a mortal saw her. It meant they were more attuned to the Spirit World – she knew that – but did she just have to continue on as if nothing happened?

"Who are you?" the other asked. In her navy skirt, white blouse, and brown shoes with white socks, she looked cutely plain. Everything about her except her clothes were the same as Ayaka's. Her hair style: a small tassle of hair tied to the left, the rest of the brown maroon-highlighted hair pinned back and up. Her eyes: purple – actually, she noted that they were more violet than purple. The voice had a similar ring, even.

For no reason, Ayaka tensed up and shouted an answer: "None of your business!" She used shunpo to make a quick getaway. Whoever that girl was, she freaked Ayaka out. All she wanted to do was find the others and go back to the Soul Society. When she found Hayate, her mind was flooded so much with questions about the other girl that she did not notice Hayate trying to strike up a conversation. Ayaka barely made a proper gesture of good night to her fellow shinigami when they got back home. As she lied in her bed and started to drift off to sleep, Ayaka could faintly smell smoke.