Too many tests! It's completely messing up my update schedule for everything! Very annoying. -.- Anyways, new perspective for this chapter! I'm trying something new, so please let me know if it's weird/confusing. I don't know if I got Ukitake's personality down right. He's a hard character for me to write about.

But moving on, thank you for all the reviews! I love you all!

Not Normal

Chapter 7

Ukitake

I looked down at my desk in dismay. Paperwork, paperwork, bill for the damage Ichigo caused to a building yesterday, and, what a surprise, more paperwork. Uh. Things never changed around here. When was the last time I'd been out of this city? Six months ago? A year? I needed a vacation.

"Ukitake?" A voice called from the doorway. "You there?"

"Yeah," I answered wearily. "You can come in Hitsugaya-kun."

The boy walked into my office with a small frown on his face. His hair was standing up in its usual gravity-defying spikes, and he looked like he'd just come from a serious workout. Which I guess he had. It had been two and a half weeks since Hitsugaya had started training with Shunsui, and according to him, he was making amazing progress. 'The quickest learner I've met in a long time. Probably my best student ever,' were his exact words.

I'd thought that would happen.

When I'd suggested (ordered) that the boy start training, I had already been able to tell that he'd be good at it. How? He'd just sort of struck me as that sort of person. Besides, if Hitsugaya was going to be Ichigo's partner, he needed to be a close range fighter. Ichigo fought with guns, and while he was adept at close range fighting, his strong point was definitely long range. So it made sense to have his partner be someone who fought up close, while he picked off enemies from afar.

I'd considered knives, but we didn't have a good instructor in the base at the moment. He looked too small to be able to effectively wield an ax or a mace, and besides, those were far too destructive. I already had Ichigo piling up damage reports on my desk, I didn't need another one like him. A spear or scythe would have been okay, but our instructors for both were on a mission together. Maybe they would've been back in time, but maybe they wouldn't have, and then he'd be in trouble. The kid needed to start immediately to even stand a remote chance of passing, so swords it was.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked kindly. I had a soft spot in my heart for kids, and while Hitsugaya was actually only a year younger than Ichigo, he looked much smaller. Plus, I didn't have to deal with him complaining all the time. Also, though my red-headed charge didn't realize it, it had been a long time since I'd seen him act so comfortable and, well, childish around another person, and it was a relief to see. I sometimes felt like Ichigo had been deprived of a normal childhood, so it was good to see him acting his age for once.

I really wanted Hitsugaya to pass the exam. I had a feeling that he'd be a partner Ichigo would have his hands full with trying to get rid of. I wanted to help him, but I'd already reached the limit of what I could do. Anything else would be considered cheating, which would get the boy disqualified. So I had to sit back and have faith in his ability to win. Wonderful.

"Not really," he responded, breaking me out of my thoughts. "I was just wondering where the idiot's been lately."

"You miss him?" I teased. Hitsugaya gave me an icy glare, and I held up my hands in defense. "Just kidding!"

"Whatever," the diminutive teen sighed irritably. "So, where is he?"

"He's just investigating some reports about a vampire we've gotten lately," I replied with a smile. "It's probably nothing, but we've still got to check."

"Understandable."

"I'm glad you agree."

There was an awkward pause. Hitsugaya coughed uncomfortably.

"...See you later then," he finally said, re-adjusting the school bag on his shoulder before heading for the door. He grabbed the handle, but before the boy could turn it, the door burst open. Ichigo stormed in, dragging someone behind him.

"Ukitake!" he yelled, knowing full well that I was right in front of him. "Why the hell didn't you tell me she was back?!"

I tilted my head slightly, trying to get a better view of the person he was gripping by the collar. I smiled upon seeing who it was.

"I didn't tell you because I myself had no idea," I replied. "How wonderful of you to join us, Rukia, though this was a bit sudden."

The girl in question grinned back, unashamed. "I wanted it to be a surprise." She'd acquired a slight French accent since I'd last seen her. The girl grabbed Ichigo's hand and removed it from her collar with a sharp twist. "That's no way to treat a lady, stupid."

He snorted. "What lady?"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Rukia replied. "Nice to see you haven't changed at all. Have your guns been fixed yet?"

"Yeah, they finally have!" he snapped back. "And who's responsible for that?"

"Well, if you'd been a little easier to deal with-"

"You're the one who's impossible, midget! Don't patronize me!"

"I'm a midget, huh? Well, maybe you're just-"

"Ahem," I intervened before a fight broke out. "That's enough."

"Yes sir," they chorused.

"You're scaring Hitsugaya," I stated.

"He's still here?" Ichigo looked around curiously. "Where?"

"Right over there..." I trailed off. Hitsugaya was no longer in the room. "I guess he must have left."

Ichigo gave me an exasperated look. Rukia's eyes shifted back and forth between us, puzzled.

"Who's Hitsugaya?" she asked. Then, realization dawned in her eyes, and she trained her attention on Zen. "Is he your new partner? How long have you managed to keep him? A day? Two?"

"No, he's not my new partner," Ichigo said defensively.

"Then," he thought for a moment, then gasped in shock. "He's your-"

"No!" he denied hurriedly.

"You didn't even hear what I was going to say!"

"I don't want to."

"He's going to be a participant in the exam in December," I answered for him, tiring of the conversation. "Also, a potential partner for Ichigo."

"Poor guy," Rukia nodded sympathetically, then turned to the redhead. "But, you seem to like him, at least to some extent," she mused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you can stand talking about him, for one thing."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked indignantly.

"You just usually don't want to talk about anything other than yourself."

"Not true," he responded flatly.

"True."

"Look, I'm just helping him a little with the exams."

"You never helped me when I was preparing for the exam," Rukia shot back, not ready to give this up quite yet.

"You didn't need it."

"How would you know?" she countered. "We almost never spoke."

Rukia had passed the exam the last time it was held. I'd assigned her to be Ichigo's partner, but long story short, it hadn't gone well. She'd quit after a few hours, and refused to come out of her room in the base until I'd transferred her to France. She, like Hitsugaya, had trained with us for a few months before taking the exam. I'd had high hopes for her at the time, but as she'd just pointed out, Ichigo hadn't been too keen on spending time with her. In fact, he'd avoided her like the plague.

That was another thing that made Hitsugaya so different from everybody before him. It wasn't like pulling teeth trying to get Ichigo to spend time with him. In fact, he volunteered. At first, I'd taken it as a sign that the world was ending, but gradually, it had grown more natural over the previous weeks. Now, I hardly ever thought about it anymore.

Ichigo was being strangely quiet. He looked almost guilty, but I brushed away that possibility almost immediately. After all, this was him we were talking about. He didn't feel guilt. Right?

...Right? Geez, maybe he was changing more than I'd thought. I tried to picture a kind, thoughtful Ichigo. The thought made me shudder. I resolved to never remember that particular thought ever again, for the sake of my own sanity and that of those around me.

Silence fell on us. It was broken by my question to Rukia.

"So...why are you here again?"

She started to pout, and I predicted that I wouldn't like the answer. I wasn't disappointed.

"Well, uh, you see, it's a funny story," she stuttered. That wasn't like her. This was going to be really bad. "I think it'd be better if you read this instead of me telling you."

She held out a letter. I took it cautiously, my sense of foreboding growing stronger by the moment. The letter itself was plain, written in the scratchy, blunt writing of one of the co-supervisors of our branch in France. It was short, but it got the message across clearly.

Ukitake,

As you asked two years ago, we took the sorceress Kuchiki Rukia under my wing. We tried to put up with her as long as we could, but we're at our wits end. That girl is a menace! For the good of our base and health, we cannot deal with her anymore, so we are returning her to you. She may come back to France once her attitude issues have been solved. Until then, please take her. She only seems to listen to you. We beg of you. You have our blessings.

Best of luck,

Kotsubaki S. and Kotetsu K.

I sighed heavily. I'd sent Rukia there specifically because I thought that the two heads, both of which had trained under me at some point and were now sharing responsibility for the French branch, would be able to handle it. Apparently not though.

Still a bit disgruntled with the news, and surprised by the contents of the letter, I gave Rukua one of those what-did-you-do-this-time looks. "What exactly happened?

"Nothing much, really!" she tried to assure me, partially hiding behind an extremely annoyed Ichigo. "It was just a little misunderstanding. I didn't mean to blow up that building. Honest."

"You...blew up a building?" I repeated in disbelief.

"Didn't the letter tell you that?" she asked in a small voice. I shook my head mutely. She gulped. "Then why don't you just forget I said that?"

"What happened?" I sank back into my chair wearily, preparing myself for the worst.

"My partner and I were having a small argument," she started. I groaned, already able to see where this was going. She ignored my interruption and continued. "It was her fault really," she sulked. "If Nancy hadn't made me mad like that-"

"You had a partner named Nancy?" It was Ichigo who interrupted this time. She glared at him. "In France?"

"Yes, I did," she huffed. "And let me tell you, the girl was a handful."

"That's a lot coming from you," he replied snidely.

"Whatever," Rukia brushed it off. "Anyways, we had an argument, she made me mad, and I think you can guess the rest from there."

Indeed I could. The young sorceress' powers were largely controlled by her emotions, so when she lost control, like when she was angry, they went haywire. That, coupled with her headstrong personality, made her extremely hard to deal with. Also, though I would never say this to her face because rebuilding the headquarters didn't seem like a fun new past time, she could be a bit (very) temperamental.

"How long's she here?" I heard Ichigo ask nervously.

"That depends on her," I answered vaguely.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, simply put, they don't want her back in France until she learns how to control herself," I summarized. He stared at me in confusion for a minute, piecing together what I'd just said. The realization hit him hard, and his mouth dropped open.

"She's staying here forever?!?!"

~NN~

A tan boy sat alone in a restaurant, glaring at his ringing cell phone. The device read the name of his boss, who he didn't feel like talking to at the moment. The person gave him headaches. Still, he couldn't exactly ignore them. So with decided reluctance, he answered.

"Hello," he said, masking his annoyance well.

"Sexta, how nice of you to pick up," a cool voice replied from the other end. "I almost thought you weren't going to answer for a minute."

"Sorry, didn't hear it ringing," he lied.

"Then you're forgiven."

"What're you calling about?"

"Getting straight to the point, aren't you?"

"I'm busy."

"Alright, whatever you say. I'm calling because Gin told me what you said the other day about the shadow police."

"Okay."

"And I think I agree. You're right, they do need to be taught a lesson."

Sexta absently wondered what could have possibly happened to make this decision, but decided not to comment. "And?" he urged his boss on, impatient.

"You are free to do as you see fit."

The boy gave a small smile. "Thank you," he replied.

"Think nothing of it," was the response. "Oh, and you haven't forgotten that I'm coming to your city in December, have you?"

"Of course not."

"Alright then," the caller said smoothly. "See you soon."

"Whatever. Bye." he ended the call gruffly, allowing his smirk to grow bigger as he thought about all his new options. He was going to enjoy this.