Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own Bleach, and any part of this fanfic that corresponds with copyrighted material (besides Bleach) is purely coincidental unless I say otherwise. I only own this plot and my original character (OC)

Note that this story will mainly be working with different point of views. If they aren't named, they are either Shizuka's or Hitsugaya's third-person POV (I will assume that you can tell which is which) or occasionally first-person POV.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Shizuka Akari and I am the new 5th Division captain. I look forward to working with you in the future"

CHAPTER TWO: GUIDE OF SEIRETEI (1)

Her clear voice didn't show even a slight nervousness and rang in the hall.

And even as she said the words and bowed, her eye (not covered by the bandage) met the 11 pairs (2) staring at her. She made eye contact firmly with each of the captains without wavering, showing determination. But as it came to him, the amber locking with his teal, he could swear her eyes softened for a split second and lingered on his before moving on.

That in itself was enough for him to mull over, but what was even more startling was what happened on his part.

The instant they had eye contact, he suddenly had a splitting headache and something in his chest felt pulled forcefully toward the girl. The sensation was extremely painful and not enjoyable.

That wasn't the end either.

Hyorinmaru (3) on his back was pulsating and he could hear the ice dragon's roar in his head, steadily building up and adding to the headache.

Though the pain was excruciating, he clamped his mouth shut and refused to cry out and show weakness, seeing as the other captains had no similar reactions upon eye contact.

When the girl moved her gaze on to the next captain, the intensity of the pain receded, though he still had a dull throbbing in his head and Hyorinmaru on his back pulsed gently. Thankfully, the pull on his chest had stopped and Hyorinmaru had stopped roaring in his mentally battered head.

He closed his eyes in hopes to alleviate the pain, to no avail. Only one thought that was repeated over and over again was clear:

'What the heck happened?!'

He didn't have time to actually think of an answer to his own question as the sou-taichou began speaking again.

"Since Shizuka-taichou has not been to Seiretei before and none of the seated officers in her division are currently available, I will need someone to guide her around for today"

At that, the captains glanced around at each other, all of them hoping someone would volunteer so they wouldn't have to do the inconvenient job.

The sou-taichou also looked around before sighing.

"If no one will volunteer, then I will choose. Ahh, Hitsugaya-taichou, would you mind guiding Shizuka-taichou around Seiretei for the day?"

Though it was phrased as a question, it had an underlying tone of an order. Despite that, the 10th Division captain toyed with the idea of saying no.

He had a killer headache, his chest hurt, note, all probably linked to the new captain, and he deserved some rest after going through all that paperwork of his and his fuku-taichou.

In the end however, he decided that refusing flat out would only leave a bad impression and besides, he might learn a bit more about the mysterious new captain and the cause of his reaction to the eye contact.

But even though he tried to lighten his tone, his answer of "hai" (4) still had heavy reluctance, even to his ears.

With his acceptance, most of the others visibly relaxed; glad they wouldn't have to take up the job of guiding the new captain around all of Seiretei. He however gritted his teeth and inwardly sighed.

"Thank you, Hitsugaya-taichou. This meeting is now dismissed" At that, Yamamoto-sou-taichou banged his staff on the floor, ending the meeting.

Most of the captains started to file out of the hall, some lingering probably to discuss things with Yamamoto-sou-taichou.

He waited for the new captain to reach him before starting to walk out as well, not saying a word. He could hear her light footsteps following him though he didn't turn around.

--

'At last' were the only words she could think of when the meeting was officially dismissed.

She too had experienced the painful sensation with Hitsugaya, but it was less excruciating, probably because she was more or less prepared for it.

Also, though she wasn't daunted as much as other people would be at introducing herself, she was not especially enjoying the experience. She wasn't used to being around people but she knew she should start adjusting herself so she would be more comfortable in her new position. After all, starting today she was a captain, who was expected to lead and take charge of her squad which wasn't going to be just a handful of people.

She knew Yamamoto deliberately put Hitsugaya-taichou as her guide; after all, he knew why she was here…

Speaking of him, she could see him waiting for her and hurried a little. When she reached him though, he didn't turn around and just started walking out the hall. She was a little disappointed he didn't say anything, but didn't linger on it. After all, dwelling on it wouldn't make it feel any better. After a while though, as they continued on, she realized he probably wouldn't be saying anything for a while and let her mind wander.

She was jolted from her thoughts though as he began to point out several spots and naming them. She paid attention, seeing that she was going to be living here, but kept quiet. There was no need to talk and she didn't feel particularly inclined for conversation at the moment, rather enjoying the peace the 'tour' had.

All of sudden, amid pointing out the Research Department facilities, he asked a question seemingly just out of curiosity.

"Why haven't you been to Seiretei before?"

She knew he would be curious about her, to say the least after what happened between them in the hall, but was still caught by surprise at the question.

She quickly devised a lie. "I was… sent as part of a long-term patrol squad in the real world immediately upon my graduation. I achieved bankai during my time there and perfected it when I got called in to be the new captain. " She knew it was weak, but it would do for the moment.

--

She was lying.

He could tell that from the first few words out of her mouth. The only question now was why.

It was quite a significant question however. After all, the standard procedure after graduation from the Academy was that they were introduced to their squad and weren't given missions in the real world if ever, until at least a year afterward. Unless, of course, they were immediately promoted as a ranking officer.

But, even then, they were usually given a reprieve time during which they could adjust to their new position in the squad. It was highly unusual, to the point of unheard of for a new recruit (at least not in a time of crisis or immediate need), even a seating officer to never come to Seiretei and get immediately sent to the real world. And the fact that she was lying for her reason made the whole matter even more suspicious.

He opened his mouth, ready to "interrogate" her further for more information when he was unfortunately interrupted by a certain orange-haired 9th division captain.

"OI, TOSHIRO!!"

His eye involuntarily twitched at the near deafening noise knowing who the shouter was without a question.

The shout came across the space between the hallways where the culprit could be seen with his hands cupped around his mouth to amplify the sound (as if he needed it). Then he disappeared for a split second before reappearing in front of the duo with flapping robes.

(Ichigo)

I was trying to escape my paperwork by way of my persistent fuku-taichou when I spotted the new captain along with Toshiro, the spiky white hair unmistakable along with his still short (to me at least) stature. In "normal" circumstances, I would avoid him, knowing that he would personally 'escort' me back to my office for paperwork. Before becoming captain, I would laugh it off, but after becoming one and being personally at the mercy of his wrath (multiple times) for the reason of paperwork, I would rather not be in that situation again. Though I still called him Toshiro… and teased him…

But, seeing that he was currently preoccupied with the new captain (I think her name was Shizuka…?), I decided to take a chance and call out.

Thus, explaining why I was in front of the two short captains, Toshiro looking slightly in a bad mood and looking away, though not before muttering to call him 'Hitsugaya-taichou'. Ignoring him as per usual, I decided to introduce myself, seeing that I was the one who called out and wasn't known to the new captain.

"Ah, hello, nice to meet you, my name's Kurosaki Ichigo, 9th division captain". I bowed before scratching my head sheepishly (a bit too late). It was received by a small smile from the new captain who bowed in turn and answered.

"Nice to meet you, Kurosaki-taichou. My name is Shizuka Akari, as you probably know" The last part was accompanied with a slightly wry smile before she continued, "were you going somewhere?"

I slightly froze, my eyes flickering over to where Toshiro was, who was still fortunately supposedly lost in thought and looking away. I gave a nervous laugh, "ah no, actually, can I go with you, wherever you're going…?"

Shizuka-taichou looked slightly bemused at my nervousness replying. "Well, it's fine with me, but you would have to ask my guide here. Is it okay for Kurosaki-taichou to come with us, Hitsugaya-taichou?"

Upon her question to him, he turned around to look at us, his gaze narrowing slightly at the sight of me. "Kurosaki, don't you have better things to do right now in your spare time?"

I inwardly gulped, though I laughed, hoping that he would just pass over me this time instead of further questioning me. "No, and besides, we haven't seen each other in a while Toshiro!"

His answer came out as a growl from long frustration "Address me as Hitsugaya-taichou!" before his tone calmed down enough to answer "Fine, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you aren't hiding anything and allow you to accompany us. But if I find out you have been hiding something, I will personally drag you back to your fuku-taichou and confine you there." The steely glint in his eyes gave no compromise and left no question that he was bluffing.

I took that as a yes and started to follow the two as they began walking again. The shortie actually talked on the way and pointed out several of the more important spots along the way. But he kind of seemed sort of annoyed at something, his face contorted into a slight frown the whole way.

I was about to ask him if something was wrong when we got to the 5th division barracks when I decided to take over the position of 'guide' from Toshiro.

--

(Hitsugaya's POV -1st perspective-)

As soon as we arrived at the 5th division's barracks, the loud orange-haired captain decided to take over as guide, which I wasn't too reluctant to hand over.

We entered and encountered a crowd of people gathered in the main hall, probably recently to greet the new captain. After catching sight of us, they bowed one by one, greeting us.

Shizuka-taichou stepped forward and presented herself as their new captain, being the very picture of professionalism and having perfect control. After bowing and the entire squad bowing in return, she made a very unexpected announcement, one that left everyone murmuring to their neighbor and even me to ponder on what she said.

"I know of our current situation of our fuku-taichou and I realize it is enough of a change for a new taichou. However, I think it is best we have a fuku-taichou as soon as possible, which is why I have appointed one who will be arriving very soon. His name is Shizuka Kai and he is my brother."

Japanese terms & explanations-

(1) Seiretei- Court of Pure Souls; where the shinigami of Gotei 13 (13 Protection Squads) reside in

(2) '11 pairs of eyes'- Just to clear this up, there's obviously 13 captains (Gotei 13), but Yamamoto-taichou is beside her and knows about her, so he's not going to stare and she herself is the 5th Division's captain. (13 captains -1 1st division captain - 1 5th division captain 11 captains LOL )

(3) Hyorinmaru- (literally) Ice Ring; Hitsugaya's zanpaktou

(4) Hai- Yes

First of all, I would like to thank my reviewers for their lovely reviews; they really gave me hope for my writing. I would also like to thank those who favorited. I am sorry for my late update. .

Second, I apologize if you found this chapter very tedious; I am not a big fan of rushing a plot and jumping head-first into the main situation. I also have to make sure the situation is clearly understood and I like to describe it step by step. I will try to work my way up to it very soon. Please expect it!

It has come to my attention that some people might find my term explanations (parentheses) very annoying. This is mainly for the people who watch the ENGLISH-DUBBED anime. I have only watched one episode of it and I have the impression that they trade in a lot of Japanese terms for English ones, thus why I am doing this. I never knew it would offend anyone in any way, I'm so sorry! It will get less as the story goes on.

I AM STILL IN DESPERATE NEED OF AN EDITOR (OR BETA I think that's what they're called) Please leave a message or a review indicating that you are interested.

Lastly, thank you so much for reading to the end of this so far *bowing*. I would appreciate reviews so much. Constructive criticism is encouraged though please refrain from flamers. Look forward to the next chapter onegaishimas!