NOTE: I have made some minor changes in the previous chapters but there is one major one that I would like people to note. Rukia is not 13th division's 4th seat, but vice-captain. There is another change that is important, but something that you'll have to find on your own... ^^'. I wonder if you can find it ~~ (Hint: The change is used again in this chapter and is a word; extremely subtle). You can reread if you would like to.

Also, concerning POV's: I will usually start with Hitsugaya's third-person POV, then when/if I switch, I will write whose it is at the beginning. Just to make it easier ^^

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)

Last Chapter:

"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."

CHAPTER THREE: QUESTIONING MIND

Walking back from the 5th squad barracks where he had left Shizuka-taichou to acquaint herself with her subordinates as well as Kurosaki, he had a lot of events to think over.

Among them was her sudden announcement of a new vice-captain. He, and judging by their expressions, and the 5th squad at least, had expected her to keep Momo as her vice-captain, comatose as she was. It might've been expected later, but to do so now was a risky gamble; it could either help her acceptance among the squad or entirely backfire on her. It didn't help either that she publicly announced he was her brother as well. Captains generally avoided promoting relatives knowing that it could be seen as favoritism towards kin and create animosity among them and their squad. Especially since she was a new captain and no one knew of her personality.

But foremost in his pondering was when they had eye contact. As well as the immediate pain that followed, why was Hyorinmaru roaring? Though they could establish a mental link easily since they were familiar with each other, they never did so before. He would have to ask the dragon when he was back in his room…

Deep in his thoughts, he didn't notice a person standing in the middle of the hall until he bumped into him. Looking up, his vision was filled with pink for a second as Yachiru jumped off Zaraki's shoulder right in front of him. He was greeted with Yachiru's typical "Hi, Shiro-chan!" before he looked up to see Zaraki's wolfish grin.

He mentally sighed; he really didn't want to talk to him right now. Besides, he was pretty sure he knew what he wanted.

As if to confirm his thoughts, Zaraki's grin grew bigger and opened: "Oi chibi, where's Kurosaki?"

He grimaced at the nickname, but decided not to protest; he was too tired for this.

"Last time I saw him, he was with the new captain." After saying that, he made to pass by Zaraki but was unable to with a side step by the bigger man.

"Is she strong?"

Looking up, he had a sinking feeling accompanying the rapidly growing savage grin on 11th division captain at the prospect of a new strong opponent to fight against.

Carefully keeping a bland expression on his face with no sign of frustration whatsoever, he casually answered "I don't know, I only showed her around before Kurosaki decided to take over"

"Oi, I asked if she was strong."

"I don't know. She probably is since she got promoted to a captain. Why don't you go and ask her yourself? You can look around the 5th division barracks since that was where I last left them."

Their conversation, if you could call it that, was interrupted by Yachiru's overenthusiastic answer of "Let's Go Ken-chan!~~~"

With that, so called 'Ken-chan' left under Yachiru's demands and her self-said impeccable sense of direction accompanied with a cheerful "Bye bye Shiro-chan!~~~" directed at him.

With that catastrophe moved off his plate, though he did kind of feel bad for the new captain and Kurosaki, he moved off again with the full intention of going back to his room to rest.

--

He sat in his quarters looking outside at the sun setting over the proud buildings of Seiretei. Though he came from the best section of Rukongai, he had decided to reside in Seiretei since it was the most convenient for his work. He knew some shinigami who declined housing in Seiretei and lived in Rukongai, but the majority did otherwise. There wasn't any deep meaning to it; it was simply convenient and usually better than living in the districts of Rukongai. But now and then, when he felt nostalgia he would go back and simply roam the streets thinking back on the days before he became a shinigami.

Right now was one of those times.

But it wasn't the right time to dwell on those days. Directing his concentration to the present, he took up his zanpaktou lying next to him. Sliding the blade out of the sheath, he gazed at the reflecting metal and let his mind to sink into total tranquility; the key that allowed him access to his inner world.

Allowing his eyes to slowly close, he meditated before opening his "inner eyes" to gaze on an icy plain lit in ever-present moonlight; his inner world.

He frowned slightly; something was off.

Though it was only a slight change, he could tell the temperature had warmed. It would still feel chilly to the normal person, but it felt irritating to him. After all, he welcomed the freezing temperature that normally permeated the landscape.

He disregarded it and slowly stepped toward the center where he knew his zanpaktou's spirit resided. The landscape didn't change much. It was completely still and quiet here, except for the sound of grass stalks crackling underfoot and his steady breathing as he traversed.

Finally he arrived to the sight of what seemed to be coils of ice. There was no reaction to his arrival but he waited patiently.

Then there was movement. Among the coils, he recognized Hyorinmaru's head rising up. The rest of his body sinuously moved but remained in the same place.

Hyorinmaru's head descended until his eyes were on the same level as his.

'Hello, little one.' The ruby-red eyes stared at him intensely while the voice of their owner rumbled in his head.

"Why were you making such a fuss earlier?" He didn't even bother with the niceties; he deserved an answer.

'That, little one, is something I cannot answer.'

"What do you mean?"

The answer was slow, as if the dragon was weighing each word before he said it. 'It was not something I did voluntarily, but, rather... like instinct. I was slumbering when the urge came to me and I submitted to it. I cannot explain to you anymore than that.'

Then before he could ask his zanpaktou anymore, the icy head rose, breaking eye contact. 'I am sorry for the pain. However, it is time that you return. I sense something coming'

With that, he sensed himself returning to his body and opened his eyes. He was simply more frustrated and he was stiff. A quick glance outside confirmed that it was long past nightfall, showing that he had been in his inner world far longer than he had planned to. He slid his zanpaktou's blade back into the sheath and laid it next to him.

Leaning against the wall, he stretched to relieve his stiff muscles before relaxing and starting to close his eyes in order to rest.

It struck before even a minute passed.

Reiatsu of an immense scale suddenly overwhelmed him, causing his eyes to snap open and him to gasp. It didnt't feel aggressive or harmful, but the sheer quantity of it made him instantly wary. It passed a short while afterward, which he grateful for.

Taking half a second to gather his thoughts, he instantly got up and hastily tied his zanpaktou onto his back. Closing his eyes to better spread his other senses, he located where the source of the overwhelming reiatsu had come from. It wasn't hard, seeing as it was still pulsating weak waves of reiatsu throughout Seiretei.

Flinging the door open, he started flash-stepping toward it, keeping to the rooftops so he could see where he was approaching. On his way, he was disturbed by the fact there was nobody panicking, screaming, or anything of the sort. It was completely still except for the few people walking around. There was no tense atmosphere, nothing to indicate an explosion of reiatsu had just gone off. He considered stopping for a minute to ask someone if they had felt it, but decided it would be best to find out himself what was going on.

Close to his destination, he went down to the street and masked his reiatsu. Grasping the hilt of his zanpaktou, he edged toward the corner and carefully looked out.

The sight that met him widened his eyes and loosened his grip on Hyorinmaru.

--

(Akari's third-person POV)

It was tiring.

Feeding her reiatsu into the gate in small amounts at a steady rate so it would open while suppressing was a delicate matter. She knew Yamamoto was nearby ready to stand in with the key if she allowed him to; it was simply that she refused to let him that led to this situation.

There was also the fact that she spent most of her time until now trying to escape a certain menacing-looking 11th division captain with a overhyper pink-haired kid clinging on him.

While she was acquainting herself with her new subordinates, she sensed a certain reiatsu that seemed to be heading toward them quite rapidly and excitedly. Being curious, she had motioned Kurosaki-taichou over and asked about it. After telling him, she was amused to see the orange-haired man turn pale and look about him wildly in fear. Apparently finding nothing, he had grabbed her and dragged her out of the barracks along with hurried excuses and apologies.

She had been surprised to say the least and had tried to convince him to stop, but to no avail. Finally, she gave up and decided to run with him, asking why. He had answered without stopping, telling her about Zaraki-taichou's fetish with fighting (usually to the point of serious injury or even death) and that he was probably after both of them. Needless to say, she started running willingly away from the now predatory reiatsu and ended up doing so for the rest of the day. She probably wouldn't have believed such things, but Kurosaki-taichou's immediate escape and fear coupled with the impression that he was an honorable man convinced her.

At one point during their 'chase', she had purposely fallen behind and hidden, suppressing her reiatsu as much as she could. Peeking behind a convenient wall, she had waited for a few minutes before catching sight of a figure that she deduced to be her 'pursuer' judging by the white captain's coat. He was too far away to make out the details, but she could see that he was immense and that there was what appeared to be a pink blob on his shoulder. As they approached, she saw that the blob was actually a small child clinging on the man's shoulder. Seeing that, she would've gone out and introduced herself if she didn't see his face. He had a savage grin on his face, like that of a predator intent on its prey, and with a gleam in his eyes, she had decided to stay hidden and avoid confrontation with him. Though it might have not been the politest thing to do, her intuition had been telling her to avoid him, at least while he looked so excited and she trusted her intuition enough to follow it. Thus, she had spent the day running away from 11th division captain.

But despite her less than best conditions, there was progress; just a short while ago the gate had finally materialized and sent a wave of massive reiatsu surging throughout Soul Society. Thankfully, it consisted only of a special kind that could only be detected by those who were naturally attuned to it or trained to. She grimaced; she could only imagine the pandemonium that would occur if it were otherwise.

Feeling a slight pulse, she turned her full attention back to the gate in front of her. It was impressive; it was tall as the nearby buildings and its width was enough for 10 people side by side. The edge was silvery-white while the actual doors were a bold red. The whole gate was engraved and gilded with designs alternating between white and yellow gold. The corners were dominated by 4 embedded jewels that represented the corresponding elements. The top left boasted a ruby, the top right a garnet, the bottom left a sapphire and the bottom right an emerald. However, they were overshadowed by the huge crest in the middle. A phoenix with outstretched wings in a ring that was circled by a dragon was in the dead center and attracted all attention. In the phoenix's embrace was a seal that required an appropriate key in order for the mighty gate to open.

Taking a deep breath, she drew out her zanpaktou and set it glowing with as much of her reiatsu as she dared to. Finally, all preparations complete, she stepped toward the gate and slid the blade into the seal in one quick motion.

The gate responded immediately. The light from her blade spread until the whole thing was glowing faintly and a creaking noise could be heard. She took her zanpaktou out and stepped away from the gate as the doors opened outward.

The light that emitted was blindingly bright before subsiding to reveal figures stepping through the gate.

Squinting her eyes a bit, she recognized her brother as the leader followed by 2 guards flanking him. She frowned; instead of wearing the shinigami uniform as she had instructed him to, he was still wearing the formal kimono at their residence.

She stepped forward, nodding toward Kai before facing the guards who immediately bowed before her. After they had straightened once again and was meeting her gaze she thanked them before telling them to return.

Silently, they obeyed the order. The gate shone for an instant while they passed.

Once they were gone with the gate disappearing shortly after, she slowly turned to her brother. Saying nothing, she simply stared at him until he started fidgeting and avoiding her piercing stare. With that, she allowed a slight smile to creep on her face before telling him to follow her.

--

Japanese terms & explanations:

I didn't think there were any terms that needed explaining in this chapter, but if you are confused, please feel free to ask me!

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

First of all, I would like to say that I am so sorry for my late update. My personal life became hectic not to mention my obsession for Bleach resided a little and I started getting sidetracked by other animes -.-''... I can't promise that I will update sooner, but my GOAL is once a month or 2 months (again, not promising anything).

Anyway, about the chapter...

I was going to make this chapter shorter to update as soon as possible, but I decided that it would be unfair for the readers to be cheated out of a longer chapter when I procrastinated updating for such a long time. The confrontation between Hyorinmaru and Hitsugaya was going to be longer, but I couldn't find a way to express what I wanted without it becoming awkward to the reader. The next chapter will begin with a brief repeat in Hitsugaya's perspective to add in more details. (Warning: I will probably not add in to much details about the clothing simply because I am not too familiar with Japanese clothing). I am sorry if you think this particular chapter is a bit sloppy; I personally think it is a bit.

There is a favor that I am requesting of my readers because of my own stubborn curiosity ^^. Based on my writing style, how old/what grade would you think I (as the author) am in.

Last of all, I would like to thank all my reviewers so far: dokuki, hikari6007, emerald tiara, animalkingdom13, and o-dragon. Please continue to support my story~~! ^^

PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW AND THANK YOU FOR READING!!! LOOK FORWARD TO MY NEXT CHAPTER!!! ~~~