Disclaimer: I'm not sure if I put this up before but now I am. As I'm sure you know, Bleach and its characters are not mine (but i would clearly stake claim over Ichigo). Fortunately I do, however, own the plot and the minor OC's. Now I command you to enjoy the story!
Ichigo sat in the throne-like chair, he was uncomfortable but it was a relief to his sore and aching body. The training had paid off immensely. The only downside to the separation was that they were snapped back, rather painfully, to one body once he wasn't in Shinigami form. To say the least Shiro was pissed. So much, in fact, he cursed fluently in a language Ichigo had never heard before. It was creepy.
Currently, Shiro stood to his host's right, arms crossed and a bit more clam than he had been for the past few days. Multiple times the teen had mentally compared the Hollow's anger to a pregnant woman. The thought alone caused the young man to laugh so hard tears streamed down his face like rivers.
As he calmed down the eighth and 13th squad captains entered the room, one by each of the overly large double doors. They gave him amused smiles.
"Ichigo-kun, we're ready for you." With one last calming breath he stood and straightened his new robes before following him two advisers out of the room.
To say he was nervous was a HUGE understatement. His nerves were in overdrive creating small twitches in his movement. Lucky for the young captain they weren't completely visible.
The huge double doors to the conference room loomed before them adding pressure to his already frantic nerves. He gulped and turned to the two smile captains.
"No worries, Ichigo-kun. We're here for you." Assured Ukitake, Kyouraku nodded. The teen felt a bit better.
"And by law, so are the others." The statement just sent his mood into the black abyss. Shiro snorted at the change in his partner's mood before giving a smirk.
"Che, pathetic. If you act like that in there, they'll walk all over you. Then what kind of captain would you be?" It wasn't so much a question as a jibe at Ichigo's self-esteem. Really, it was an indirect way to get his human counterpart to shape up and take pride in the decisions he had made and will a make in the future. But Hollow pride would not allow him to voice that reason.
Unconsciously, Ichigo straightened himself and steeled his resolve. Usually when Shiro had something to say it was either an insult, threat or a piece of advice in disguise. He was pretty sure it was the last one, as rare as it is.
"Ah. What kind of captain would I be?" the orange-haired teen smirked at his counterpart as a way to show he got the underlying message. Shiro hugged and crossed his arms.
"Saa, time to get the show on the road, ne?"
*****~*****
All the remaining vice captains were gathered in their own little meet room awaiting the big news from their superiors.
Matsumoto Rangiku lay bored on the floor clearly not wanting to be there, away from the pints of sake[1] calling her name. Hinamori Momo sat nearby just in case her friend tried to make an escape. Kira Izuru sat quietly in a corner in mild meditation. This was a rare time of peace seeing as he was being a temporary captain for the third division. And the work load was not light.
Abarai Renji, although a relatively serious worker, was also bored crazy. To pass the time he dared to take a chance at a quick nap but before he could close his eyes a pink-haired blob pounced on his back and began pulling on his red hair, all the while laughing joyously at his suffering.
"Itai[2]!!! Yachiru-san, please let you of my hair!!" he yelled bringing all focus to the active two.
"Hahahahahaha!! Ne, ne, Akai[3]-chan wake up! Play with me!!" it was a demand, of course. A demand he had no choice but to obey if he wanted to keep his sanity. Everyone deadpanned at the two silently thanking Kamisama for not being her target.
"Alright! Just let go!" she complied allowing the sixth division fukutachiou to regain his bearings before forcing him into the rules of her new game.
Hisagi Shuuhei, whom sat across from the two, sighed in relief and went back to his thought reevaluation everything he was ever told by his former captain. How many lies had he been told? Will this prevent him from progressing? His shock his head at the ridiculous thought.
He would never stop progressing.
And so he ceased thinking about it.
Iba Tetsuzaemon and Kotetsu Isane sat calmly in a corner conversing among themselves about possible results of the captains meeting. Kurotsuchi Nemu sat nearby, reserved, but making sure to observe everything in case she saw something that would interest her beloved 'Mayuri-sama'.
Ise Nanao entertained herself with calming down the hyper pick-haired 11th squad vice captain. She was pretty sure someone had given her sugar before coming, most likely in an attempt to escape her wrath. She deduced it was highly likely that the culprit was Kuchiki-taichou.
The last was Oomaeda Marechiyo whom sat next to Hisagi munching on an extra bag of chips he had with him. When he had successfully polished off the rest of the bag's contents an awkward silence filled the room. No one knew what to say to break the tense so they decided to stay in their own little bubbles for the time being.
*****~*****
Ichigo sat awkwardly in the grand arm chair as nine pairs of eyes followed him closely. Some were simply unsurprised that he had succeeded, such as the maliciously smirking 11th squad captain and the uninterested Kuchiki clan head. Others were merely caught off-guard at the Hollow figure standing beside him looking strangely like an evilly amused version of their new Soutaichou.
Of course, it drew Kurotsuchi Mayuri's attention.
The odd silence had begun to sear on the poor boy's nerves causing him to clear his throat and answer their question.
"Ahem. Ano…It good to see you all!" he greeted not being able to think of anything else. Hitsugaya Toushirou, not being afraid of the younger yet taller mal, told him off.
"Baka! That's all you can say, Kurosaki?!!" a tick mark appeared on his temple verifying his anger. Unohana Retsu, the gentle but sill scary, fourth division captain smiled graciously.
"Hitsugaya-taichou? Although we are all familiar with him, we should all still show our respect." Hitsugaya took a minute to calm himself, nod, and step back in formation.
Kurotsuchi hugged about the waste of time the meeting was clearly he had better things to do. Kuchiki Byakuya not phased by the current events, spoke, drawing the others attention.
"What exactly happened to Genryuusei-sama?" the question hung in the air a bit, the only sound being the low chuckling of the hollow, which again was another mysterious topic yet to be brought to light.
Ichigo relayed every bit of information he could recall concerning Genryuusei's death and his succession. The others listened intently accepting the information and figuring out how to cope with it. It also answered the silent question of why his Hollow had materialized. Apparently, being still alive and powerful had its perks.
'And its downsides.' Ichigo thought as he gazed at the madly grinning Zaraki Kenpachi and the non-too- subtle killing intent flowing off of him in waves. Ichigo sighed and decided it was time to wrap up.
"As the new Captain-Commander, there will be some changes. Be it good or bad." '…hopefully good.' He added mentally.
"Information of that will be announced at a later date. Seeing as I am not completely dead…*cough*yet*cough*, Kyouraku-san and Ukitake-san will be my stand in. Please inform your squads of the current situation. Meeting adjourned." A collective 'Hai' echoed in the room before they began filing out the double doors. Few stayed behind, such as Zaraki instigating a fight with both Ichigo and Shiro. Soifon wanted to file a certain complaint. And Ichigo wanted to ask Ukitake a question.
"Is something wrong, Ichigo-kun?" the white-haired man inquired lightly. Ichigo shook his head with a small nervous smile.
"No, I was just wondering…could I visit the academy?" the older man gave a confused expression. Ichigo laughed nervously rubbing the back of his head.
"Ano…I just thought that since Soul Society's greatest weakness at the moment is the vacant captain positions that we should promote and fill in, ne?" he clarified. It took a sec for Ukitake to digest what the young man was saying but then grinned slapping the young man on the back.
"You really have the makings of a leader, Ichigo-kun. As to answer your inquiry about the Academy, don't forget you are the Captain-Commander of the Goteijūsantai[4]. Your authority overrules us." And with that Ukitake took his leave, leaving the teen to his work.
Thank you for being patient with me. I know this chapter is rather short but writing for this story is a lot harder then adding OC's and stuff. Keeping to the cannon characters and whatnot while trying to create a good plot. *sigh* I at least think my writing skills have improved a bit compared to my first story Habitual Attachment. You think so too, right? :D Well I'll try to get the next as soon as I can! Count on it!
P.S. Please review! I could definitely use the feed back! Thanks!
[1] Sake: Alcohol
[2] Itai: Ouch; It hurts
[3] Akai: Red
[4] Goteijūsantai: Thirteen Division Imperial Guards