I DO NOT owm Bleach

The clash of metal as dagger met dagger rippled through the silent street. Naomi clung tightly to the skirt of an unknown woman, eyes wide as she watched the fight.

Naomi was young and terrified, so she couldn't see as well as the other spectators could that Izumi was a good fighter. All she hoped for was that her sister wasn't badly hurt –or worse.

But to the better-trained Zaraki eye, it was obvious as Izumi and the Hebi parted, neither of them had even a scratch or bruise.

So far it was an even match.

Ito watched from where he had been left by the Hebu when Izumi had attracted her attention, his face still dripping blood. He was filled for anxiety for Izumi –she may have improved a great deal in a short amount of time, but the Hebi was a vicious and seasoned killer. He had ten times the experience Izumi had.

But even if he had been fit enough, he couldn't have stopped the match –like everyone else, he was eagerly watching an engaging battle, the sort he couldn't easily tear his eyes away from.

And he saw the look in Izumi's eyes –she actually wanted this fight.

The two combatants parted after a few moments of intense hand-to-hand combat, panting slightly.

Now it looked as though the Hebi had come out on top –Izumi had taken more blows and two were actually very severe; she was bleeding from a deep neck wound and the sleeve of her yukata was ripped from where a slash had landed on her right arm, right across the scars left from her fight with the Hollow.

The Hebi sneered –he had drawn this battle out, savouring it and enjoying watching his opponent squirm. All she had managed to do was graze his cheek. The girl may look and act as though she was a warrior, could move and strike as though she was a seasoned killer, but she gravely lacked the power and experience to harm him.

He rushed forward, knocking the girl into the dirty road with a vicious backhanded blow. As she fell back, he straddled her chest, twirling his knife. He was going to drag this out, relief himself and utterly humiliate her in front of the crowd.

He wanted to hear her beg for death.

Tsuji never saw her grasp the handle of her knife. He never saw the subtle turn of her body as she watched his every move.

Then, as his knife descended towards her breast, there was a sudden blur as the steel whizzed through the air and effortlessly sliced through skin, muscle and bone. His knife-hand fell away, still clutching his knife, landing with a sickening thud.

There was a ringing silence as the crowd and Tsuji's gang stared. Tsuji was in shock, just sitting and staring at the bleeding lump.

Then he fell away from Izumi, screaming in pain and humiliated anger.

With his hand gone, it was no real challenge for Izumi to grab the front of his tunic and threw him onto the ground. As he struggled to get back on his feet, Izumi's weight was suddenly on top of him. One hand gripped his hair, pulling it back, forcing him to raise his head. The other pressed the tip of her dagger into his throat.

Tsuji had lost the fight. The title of Hebi no longer belonged to him. His life was forfeit.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the killing blow. Any moment now, that dagger would slash across his throat and take his life.

Izumi was steeling herself for the fateful decision. She knew what the crowd was waiting for and expected –for the new Hebi to kill the last. But she had a personal choice to make –to kill and square the debt of life in kind, or to spare her greatest enemy and leave him to suffer the greatest humiliation as a fighter of Zaraki.

She had won, stripped him of his pride, title and fang already. And, as much as she wanted to end this once and for all, she was just not the sort of person who needlessly killed. Izumi realised that she wasn't cut out to take a human life, even if it was that of her greatest enemy.

Slowly, she removed the dagger from his throat, releasing him as she returned the dagger to its sheath.

As murmurs ran through the astonished crowd at the unexpected mercy, she searched for her sister. Sensing that the danger was over, Naomi left the crowd and ran to her older sister. Naomi was concerned about the gashes and cuts on her sister and almost started to drag her away. Those who lined the street laughed at this scene. As the two sisters began to walk away, an angry voice rang out across the street.

"What are you doing?" Tsuji thundered, angry at his humiliation. He sat in the middle of the dirt track, glowering at Izumi's back. "Come back here and finish what you started. I have my pride; kill me now!"

Izumi turned back, her eyes cold.

"You don't deserve death, not even after everything you have done," she said. "Consider this punishment from all those you ever hurt or killed. Besides, with your fang missing, you'll never be a threat to anyone ever again."

Tsuji, the former Hebi, watched as Naomi threw her arms around Izumi's waist, tears in her eyes. He saw Izumi crouch down and sooth her sister before they walked away without another backward look.

Ito rose to his feet as the men who had been holding him released their grip. Now that their leader was overthrown, they were unsure what to do. Ito wasn't as merciless as Izumi and stabbed the worst thugs in their hearts. All around, families were rising up against those who had offended them and hurt them. The survivors flocked around Ito. He was the known Champion of the hamlet –even if he didn't hold the revered title of Hebi, he had trained the girl who now held it.

Of the fifteen-strong gang, only about five survived the purge.

One of the survivors knelt to Ito, and the rest quickly followed suit.

Tsuji just sat where he had fallen, humiliated and bleeding. For some reason, no one was trying to approach him as they picked off his followers. He tried to convince himself that he didn't care about the fact that he was bleeding to death.

But it was not working –he was in debt to the girl. He respected her strength, and for the first time in his life, he knew the meaning of humility. For as long as he was around, he would serve the new Hebi.

He felt someone take his arm and looked up into Ito's eyes. He allowed his wound to be cleaned and dressed. No one seemed to fear the fallen fighter anymore. It was a strange sensation to him.

Ever since he had come to Zaraki, he had been as cruel and cold as the winter, intimidating everyone. He was strangely glad that cruelty had been ripped away. He was already becoming a reformed man, a humbled servant.

"If you are planning to go after Izumi, I know where she's most likely to be," Ito said as Tsuji got to his feet, slightly dizzy from blood loss. Once the blood had stopped flowing and the bandage had been changed again, Tsuji recovered his strength with a few hours of sleep. In the late afternoon the following day, Ito led Tsuji and the remnants of the gang out of the hamlet. Tsuji had forgotten that Ito had trained the girl who was now the Hebi of Zaraki.

After climbing a steep slope, they came to the edge of the woods and looked out at the clearing in front of them. It was flat, a campfire burning a few feet away beside a shelter. And, almost at the far end of the clearing, Izumi was teaching the younger girl how to throw throwing knives, demonstrating a technique that enabled her to throw two knives in quick succession at a target. She watched as Naomi tried to imitate her, correcting the mistakes and stance for a single throw.

As they watched, Izumi seemed to become aware of their presence. She spun on one heel and loosed a knife at their hiding place –all in one fluid movement.

Ito only just managed to catch the knife as the rest flinched away and stepped out of hiding, indicating for the others to follow.

Izumi smiled in welcome at her old mentor before a look of surprise passed across her face when the others stepped out of hiding –including Tsuji.

"What are you doing here?" Izumi asked, fingers lightly handling the hilt of the dagger, tensing for another fight. Her wounds were bandaged and cleaned, but they were still tender. She was very surprised when all the men dropped to their knees before her, including the one-handed Tsuji.

"You are the Hebi of Zaraki," Ito said, as though stating the obvious. "We all wish to offer you our services."

"I-" Izumi said, intending to remind Ito that she was due to begin at the Academy, but she changed her mind.

It felt as though she was supposed to stay –she had Naomi to look after now. And Naomi wasn't the only one in need of her protection; she had an entire District to care for. She could use this gang of unexpected followers and her position as Hebi to safeguard her people's safety and wellbeing. She wanted to bring peace and happiness to the poorest District; she planned to lessen the poverty and insecurity.

And to do that, she needed all the help she could get. The people of Zaraki needed her a lot more than the Academy or Soul Reapers did.

The men seemed to take her silence as a grateful answer.

Naomi was mistrustful of them at first, but that barrier broke over time. One of the men, Ito, seemed to be her sister's confidante and he trained her how to use the wabashi that she had found in her sister's pack. Tsuji waited on her sister's every need, and the others were as willing to serve her as they did her sister.