Chapter Five... I hope this one is just as good, if not better, than what I already have. As always, criticisms are welcomed and suggestions are taken into account.

Chapter 5ive-Choices

Komamura watched Koji sleep in a chair against the wall, his head drooping slightly. Now that he could see the boy more closely, he had even more apprehension toward him, an unease that seemed to follow the boy whenever he was around. Before, Komamura assumed it had just been the nervousness that the boy seemed to live life around, but now, it seemed to be something else, something disconcerting. Even asleep, the boy was... strange.

He looked back at his work and found himself re-reading the same sentence numerous times. After a just a few minutes, he gave up attempting to work entirely. He simply could not with Koji there. Was it the light snore-like sound the boy was making, mumbling ever so slightly while he slept? Komamura shook his head. Was he becoming paranoid?

No. He was not paranoid. He had been so quick to appoint Koji to his position that he had not even taken the time to think it through. Yes, he had needed a new third seat. No, it did not have to be Koji Shimizu. He wondered absently why he did not simply promote his fourth seat to the position.

Koji stirred and Komamura watched. What he had found most disturbing was the power that was contained within Koji. During his sparring with Lieutenant Abarai, Koji had showed remarkable power... but there was no control. Did Koji even know how to control his power? And that change during battle; it was like watching another person.

It was like watching Kaname Tosen become Hollowfied.

A wave of fear, mingled with a sense of regret wormed its way through Komamura's mind, and shook him to the core. Was he setting up Koji to be another Kaname?

Komamura sighed, reaching a decision. He needed space.

Koji woke in Komamura's office, the stress of the night temporarily forgotten. He stood and yawned and looked around, expecting to see his captain already working. Surprised by Komamura's absence, Koji went to his quarters to hurriedly change out of his night clothes and into his shihakusho. He sighed deeply, absently wondering where his captain had gone and whether or not to start working without him. Probably; it was a good idea to get work done quickly, right?

Once dressed, he started towards his door, but then it happened... His vision swam, blurring crazily, until he could not focus on the handle. He shook his head and blinked, closing his eyes as he tried to concentrate. His body shook with a sudden wave of exhaustion, as if his body had suddenly grown heavier. His breath hitched and became laborious as he tried to relax himself. Gradually, everything seemed to come back to normalcy, and he found himself calmer than before... In the back of his mind, he regretted ever having drawn his zanpakuto against Lieutenant Abarai, but he knew he would have been forced to either way. And that damned leech of a sword rested back against the wall farthest from the door. Hikari no Inu... Powerful and self-sacrificing.

When he was calm enough to see clearly, he reached to slide the door open, but it slid open on its own. Surprised, he stepped back, stumbling over his own two feet. He fell back and when he looked up, the Seventh's fourth seat, Nanami Chiba, looked at him with a mixture of amusement and embarrassment.

"Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Don't mention it," Koji replied. "Have you seen Captain Komamura?"

"There was a captain's meeting earlier," Chiba explained. "Captain Yamamoto called the captains and lieutenants to the First Division's barracks."

Koji's eyes opened wide and he jumped to his feet. Dizziness overtook him almost immediately, and he fell onto one knee, his head throbbing with small pangs of pain. Fourth Seat Chiba moved to his side, and helped him back up.

"Are you okay? Do you need help?"

"N-no," Koji replied. "I need to go; I'm filling in for Lieutenant Iba." He started to leave, but Chiba's hand clapped onto his shoulder and stopped him. It left a chill, like winter's frost.

"If you'd stop for a moment and let me finish speaking, you'd know that you don't have to," she snapped. Koji calmed slightly, and exhaled as the dizzy spell steadily wore off. "Captain Komamura wants you to stay here until he comes back. He gave me this letter." She reached her right hand into her left sleeve and withdrew a folded note. Koji took it and read.

Called to the First barracks. Will be back when finished. Stay behind at the barracks. Do nothing until I return.
-Captain Komamura.

"Do nothing," Koji read. Somehow, the writing-even though he recognized Captain Komamura's handwriting-was cold. There was a kind of coldness in the writing that did not seem to match the captain's formerly warm demeanor. Have I done something wrong? Koji wondered.

Komamura stood at the captain's meeting, hearing, yet not completely listening to Captain Yamamoto's words. He had heard enough to know that they had replaced Ichimaru, Aizen, and Tosen as captains, but that was one of the few things that had come through to him. Somehow, he felt alone in a room filled with the other captains and their lieutenants.

"Sajin," said a voice and Komamura looked to see Captain Ukitake, standing there with his newly appointed lieutenant, Rukia Kuchiki. Komamura felt somewhat sheepish; he had not noticed when the meeting had ended. "Is something wrong? You seen distracted."

"It's nothing, Captain Ukitake," Komamura replied. "I was just thinking about something."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Komamura said gruffly, with more venom than he had meant. He turned to walk away, but Captain Ukitake moved to walk alongside his comrade, a smile painted on his face.

"Why don't you stop by my barracks? We were going to throw a party to celebrate the new captains and, of course, Rukia's promotion," Ukitake offered.

"No, thank you, Captain," Komamura answered.

"Oh, well invite some of your officers. They are more than welcome."

"Yes, I shall," Komamura replied, glad that they had finally made it outside. Using shunpo, he hurried away from the First, dashing back to his own division. He entered the barracks as quietly and quickly as possible, noticed only when he walked by his subordinates. He moved to his office and closed the door. No sooner had he sat at his desk did the door open, and Third Seat Shimizu entered.

And he noticed it immediately; he looked slightly ill.

"Captain?" Koji asked.

"Yes, Third Seat Shimizu?"

"You wanted to see me when you came back, right?" Koji offered. He looked more shy than ever, his voice slightly more withdrawn. He spoke to his captain, but addressed the desk behind which Komamura sat.

"Do not worry about it, Third Seat," Komamura told him. "Go get some rest; you look like you could use it."

"I'm fine, sir. Really."

"That is an order."

Koji nodded sadly and said, "Yes, sir," and he backed out of the office.

What did i do? Am I in trouble for something? The questions swirled around in Koji's mind and he found himself staring up at the ceiling of his quarters. He did not dare disobey a direct order from the captain, but something was wrong, very wrong, in Komamura's abrupt change in demeanor. Had something happened? Had he already made a mistake? Maybe it was the paperwork-he could have done something wrong withe the paperwork. Or maybe it was something during the training. Did something during the training make the captain lose faith in him?

Had he already failed? Had he let someone down again?

Koji suppressed the urge to cry. He was a Soul Reaper now; Soul Reapers don't cry.

I always knew you were a failure...

That phrase, not uttered by Koji in the present, but by a voice in the past... That taunting voice that had played on Koji's memory for as long as he could remember... Even years later, it pulled at him... More tears welled up in his eyes and he let them fall, but he did not sob. It took everything he had to keep himself from sobbing.

Newly found resolve boiled inside of him. His eyes turned to Hikari no Inu, propped against the wall, and he looked at it intently. It was time for a change. He moved over to the sword and held it, sheathed, in his hands.

"I know you hear me," Koji told the sword. No reply. "Hello?" No reply. "DON'T IGNORE ME!"

"DON'T YELL AT ME!"

Koji winced and flinched at the sound of Hikari no Inu's voice, shouting at him from within the blade. It was snarky and prideful.

"I'm sorry, but we need to talk."

"About what?"

"I want to fight my own battles from now on." Koji's voice wavered as he said this. He was going back on a deal that he and his zanpakuto had made when they had first united. Hikari no Inu had promised to bring out his full power... if he fought all the battles. Every time a fight began, Hikari no Inu would take over his body and fight the fight for him.

"You know you're scared of fighting."

"I know, but-"

"You should let me fight for you. I can actually win."

"So can I. Just teach me how to use you and we can fight together."

"What about our deal?"

"This is a new deal," Koji corrected. "We can fight together. You don't have to do it alone anymore."

"It'll take some hard training."

"I know."

"Why the sudden desire to change a good thing?"

"I don't want to fail the captain again."

There was a brief silence.

"I suppose I can help... But you'd better be willing to work hard."

"I am."

"Then let's get to work first thing tomorrow morning."