Sorry for the long delay in the first Chapter. I'm a very slow writer as I like to put my visualization into words and my chronic writer's block doesn't help either. Cleaning up the chapter after I get the initial ideas down isn't too bad so yeah, really I just gotta get the ideas.

goes back to Civilization IV and World of Warcraft


Chapter 1 - The New Captain

Masashi stared listlessly forward, the entire Fifth Division had been ordered to assemble in their main hall. His posture was slouch as he yawned openly, prompting disdainful glances from his companions to either side of him. He merely gave them the same blank expression he was giving the wall opposite him; his green eye stared unblinkingly at his male comrade. He had the air of someone who was sickly around him today, partly because he had played a few games of shogi with those from the Tenth Division the night before.

The door slowly slid open and Masashi turned his head around to peer at the entry. There stood a man in his mid twenties, he was dressed in the standard attire and was otherwise unremarkable. However, one thing about the man stood out and that was his deep red eyes.

"Eh…" Masashi began in a low tone as he looked to his immediate comrades, "Is he our new Captain? He isn't even wearing the haori." He said slowly as he turned to look at the newcomer, only to find two red eyes staring directly at him. Startled at the sudden attention, Masashi was quick to compose himself; flicking his fringe to his left; this time revealing a mismatched yellow eye.

A few moments passed as Masashi heard snickers from all around him. Those few moments seemed to stretch into an eternity as the two red eyes continued to stare at him, unblinkingly. Finally, they blinked and the man spoke his first words. "I'm not your Captain." He entered the hall fully now and stepped to one side, "This is your new Captain."

In stepped a beautiful woman, one unlike Masashi had never seen before; she had long elegant hair in a dark shade of purple and similarly coloured eyes that seemed as if they had something deep inside of them. Her attire was simple; she wore the standard black kimono with a purple sash over its obi and a sleeveless haori.

"Fifth Division Captain, Sasaki Yui." She said flatly, her purple eyes staring listlessly at each of the division members, "Pleasure to be working with you." Her lack of expression at this point seemed to fill everyone to the core, making the room silent as the night,

Finally someone spoke up, "Nice to meet you Sasaki-taichou, I'm Fuku-taichou Momo Hinamori." A voice piped up from opposite the group of assembled division members. There stood the short stature of the current Fifth Division Vice-Captain.

A pause and a nod, "This is the new third seat, Sasaki Maki." She said, indicating to the man that had entered before her who gave a jovial wave. His personality now seemed to be a complete flip over Masashi's first impression of the man.

Eh… our new Captain is quite the looker. Masashi thought, as he eyed the woman up and down. At this, Maki's attention suddenly focused in on Masashi, it were as if he could read the Shinigami's mind and there it lingered for several minutes as Hinamori began to go through the formalities with Yui.

Finally the tention broke him and he blurted out, "What the hell are you glaring at eh?" in a sinister tone while giving Maki an eye. This provocation was enough to set off the new Third Seat who put his face up against Masashi's with a dull thud.

"What the hell are you yelling about huh?" he exploded more than asked in a similarly sinister tone.

From somewhere in the background Yui's voice seemed to ring out clear, "What are you two doing?" she asked in a quiet, expressionless voice yet it was somewhat more sinister sounding tone than the pair of them combined.

Dread filled Masashi and as if in sync both he and Maki shriveled and backed off from this unexpected source of menace. "Ah Yui-chan... I was uh-"

But the new Captain's attention was already somewhere else; it was looking at the various members of the division. Her purple eyes dully examined each and every one of them, as if looking through an imaginary fascade.

"What's her problem?" Masashi murmured softly leaning closer towards Maki subconsciously; only to feel the back hand of the Third Seat across his face.

"How dare you speak about my cous- er, I mean the Captain that way!" he said, before looking at Hinamori. "What type of punishments do you guys give out here?"

Hinamori smiled brightly and put a finger into the air as if she had come up with a brilliant idea. "Well I heard the Fourth Division has been looking for help with the toilets."

That was enough to send Masashi down a spiral of despair, "No! Not the Fourt- I'd rather be the Eleventh's lapdo-"

"Ara? Did you say something about my Fourth Division?" a voice said from the entrance of the hall. Turning his head slightly to the source of the voice; dread loomed over him as he saw the Fourth Division Captain, Unohana smiling.

To Masashi he wasn't sure if the sense of dread from Captain Sasaki or Captain Unohana was larger; but he was in a very bad situation. Thankfully his Captain broke his awkward position with a simple sentence. "Ah. Welcome Captain Unohana." She said in her lifeless voice, her expression not changing in the slightest.

"You're looking lively today, Yui-chan." She said with a gentle smile before looking at the others, "Ara? Are you ok?" she said, looking concerned as Masashi crouched in the corner, sulking. It suddenly felt as if he were being ignored by the lot of them.

"I'm fine." Masashi said sullenly, raising a hand.

Putting a finger to her chin, Unohana looked at the Fifth Division's assembled members. "Since I'm here may I introduce some of Captain Sasaki's background?" she suggested softly with a smile. "I thought this might be a better way to introduce yourself than saying your name and leaving it at that Yui-chan."

Unohana began in her soft voice. "Sasaki Yui, heir to the Sasaki family. Known as the chil-" She paused here and coughed into her hand softly. "Known as the child of two distinguished ex-Captains; Yui did not formally become a Shinigami until she was scouted by Captains Kyoraku and Ukitake along with the Captain Commander."

A slight murmur rose from the assembled Fifth Division at this point; unphased by this, Unohana continued. "Despite that, Captain Sasaki already had incredible control over her reiatsu and impressive martial skills; her only weakness at that point would have been her lack of Kidou. Though that's something that some Captains do without" she said with a sly smile, all the division members knew who she was talking about. "As such it was up to me to instruct and advise the Captain about Kidou and what a pleasant time that was."

Unohana continued, "Oh and Sasaki-taichou was quick to learn as to be expected; within a week she was up to spells within the seventies. Faster than Isane herself." She said with a smile as Isane flustered.

"When was she here?" Masashi asked, suddenly noticing the blushing Vice-Captain behind the Fourth Division Captain. A pause ensued for a second as Isane after he had said this, it felt as if all the attention was suddenly focused on the Vice-Captain.

Not noticing the silence, Unohana continued "Soon after her kidou instruction I began to teach her how to commune with her Zanpakutou, and it wasn't long past two weeks when she attained her Shikai; though of course that was under certain circumstances." She said with a wink to the expressionless Captain.

"From there she came here and observed Captain Kyoraku in his duties. I must add that during this time he did more work in one day than he did in two years." She said with a light chuckle. "From there she came to here."

At this point Unohana looked to Yui who had found a desk and was beginning to do some paperwork. The younger Captain merely pointed to the crowd, who had by now all fallen asleep from the history lesson "All asleep." Yui said simply before going back to work