Hey guys, I am so sorry, it's really late. I just had so much to do and I just couldn't get this chapter the way I wanted it to be but anyway, you're not hear to listen to my excuses so enjoy!

The Morning after Chapter 4

Squad 9 Barracks

"ICHIGO! You best be up you idiot!" Ichigo rolled over in his bed and groaned, that voice sounded familiar but he just couldn't figure out who it belonged to. "ICHIGO!" the voice shouted out once more.

"OH SHIT!" Ichigo shot up and checked the time "oh no, oh no, oh no!" he started running around his room, looking for his uniform and a towel.

"You strawberry haired idiot! You've only just gotten up haven't you?" Rukia stood in front of the door that opens up to Ichigo's quarters with an annoyed look on her face. She'd decided that she'd see him off on his mission to the human world but at the rate Ichigo there wasn't going to be a mission.

"One minute Midget!" Ichigo shouted back before jumping into the shower. Safe to say it was the fastest shower that he'd ever had.

"If you don't get your ass out here right now I swear I'm going to come in there and drag you out by your stupid coloured hair and throw you through the senkaimon!" Rukia was getting really annoyed now, the mission that Ichigo had been given with Toshiro was of the utmost importance and it was almost time to leave.

Ichigo threw open the door to face the petite women, he was breathless and his hair was even more messy than normal and was still wet. 'He really has only just woken up, and his hair isn't even dry' she thought when she looked at him.

"Ichigo, aren't you forgetting something?" She started to tap her foot on the ground, which never a good sign. Ichigo frowned and started to run through a checklist in his mind.

"Perhaps something that goes over the top of your uniform you IDIOT!" she accompanied the last word with a solid kick to the shin of the new captain. Realisation dawned on him and he shot back into his room in search of his haori. "No wonder I call you strawberry, you have the intelligence of one!" Ichigo found his captains coat and threw it on, replacing his zanpakuto on his back.

"That's a little harsh isn't it midget?" he said as he ran out of his room. Rukia smirked at him.

"Yeah, I'll have to apologise to any strawberries that I meet" Ichigo shot her a stare that could kill.

"Well, now that you're finally ready shall we go?" He nodded then flash-stepped towards the senkaimon.

Senkaimon

Toshiro and Rangiku stood beside the senkaimon waiting for Ichigo. The short captain was his normal reserved self, looking on at his ecstatic lieutenant who was bouncing around with joy.

"I'm going to do so much shopping I'm not going to be able to walk afterwards!" Toshiro threw a baleful look at his lieutenant, annoyance showing on his face.

"We're not going to shop Rangiku! This is a very important mission, there won't be time for anything personal" he told her

"It's not fair! Your personal thing is part of the mission!" she pouted at the apparent unfairness of the mission.

"I have no idea what you're talking about"

"Really captain?" she threw her arms around Toshiro and whispered into his ear "There isn't a certain someone that we're picking up to bring here that you're looking forward to seeing? You're not even the tiniest bit happy that she's going to be living in the soul society?" Toshiro went to hit her but she dance away laughing and prancing about.

"AWWWWWW, MY CAPTAIN IS GOING TO SEE HIS GIRLFRIEND!" she shouted

"RANGIKU!" he flash stepped towards her. She jumped up in the air in surprise at her captain's sudden movement.

"I hope we're not interrupting anything Toshiro?" Both Toshiro and Rangiku turned around to see Ichigo and Rukia walking towards them

"It's Captain Hitsugaya" Toshiro replied with a sigh "And no, you aren't Captain Kurosaki"

Ichigo smirked at his use of his rank, Rukia looked at this exchange with a small smile and then bowed slightly to Toshiro

"Good morning Captain Hitsugaya, lieutenant Matsumoto" The captain of squad 10 nodded his head slightly

"Good morning Lieutenant Kuchiki" he replied formally, in direct contrast to his lieutenant's greeting that involved bounding up to both Ichigo and Rukia and enveloping them both in a huge hug. She broke away and looked at the two of them

"Aww, you're so cute together!" She sighed while looking at them adoringly.

"What! Not a chance! No way!" Ichigo and Rukia both protested at the same time. Rukia turned to face Ichigo.

"Oh, you would be lucky if you got me!"

"No way, you'd be the lucky one!" he replied

"I am so much better than you strawberry! You should feel honoured whenever I chose to even be seen with you!" she resorted

"Nobody would even be able to see you whenever you're with me, you're way below where people look you midget!" they both sent death stares at each other. Toshiro cleared his throat and both turned to look at him.

"Well, if that's all out of the way we should get going, there's a lot to do" Ichigo nodded and turned to Rukia.

"Well, I'm off"

"Be careful, we don't know if any of the other soul reapers have infiltrated the human world" she put a hand on his chest and looked up into his amber eyes.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you're worried" He said softly, looking down at the small raven haired woman. She thumped him lightly on the chest.

"Of course I'm worried you strawberry haired idiot, the enemy are dangerous and powerful. Just make sure you come back alive with your family, all right?" his normal scowl changed into a light smile as he looked at Rukia.

"Of course I will" Rukia nodded once then stepped away and bowed to him

"Good luck Captain Kurosaki" she said softly, he nodded at her then strode to where the other captain and lieutenant were waiting.

"DON'T WORRY RUKIA DARLING! WE'LL MAKE SURE HE COMES BACK TO YOU!" Rangiku shouted while waving at her. Rukia just smiled and waved back, watching them disappear into the senkaimon.

Squad 5 Barracks- 23:00

The rain poured down making a gentle pattering as it hit the ground, it was a strangely comforting sound. Alex stood with his face up towards the sky, allowing the rain to fall on his face and stream down the sides of his head. His eyes were closed and he was lost in thought, these conditions were his favourite, where he felt the most relaxed, where he could just lose himself. The darkness and the rain, these were the things that made him forget.

He was completely and utterly soaked through, there was no telling how long he'd been out under the rain. Water freely dripped from his uniform and hair. Momo came through the entrance of the barracks courtyard, her eyes narrowed at the sight of her captain stood out in the rain. She still didn't know how to take him. After the event with the enemy soul reaper his manner had changed, it was more serious and full of authority. Those under him seemed to be drawn to him. He still had that annoying playful tone but overall he'd become more captain-like.

Momo had been out late in the library trying to find two things. The first was a book that she'd enjoy reading, she hadn't found anything that really gripped her in a while and she yearned for a piece of work to give her the joy that she craved. The second was information. Information on her new captain but there wasn't anything, it was like he was a ghost. Even the official records that detailed all soul reapers, dead or alive, had nothing on him.

"Hello Momo" She jumped in surprise at Alex's voice, he hadn't even turned around or opened his eyes. 'How did he know I was here?' she asked herself.

"Erm… Good evening captain" She heard a soft sigh as Alex turned around to face her. His hair was plastered to the side of his face, the strands that normally fell down and covered his left eye was pushed away fully revelling the long, thin scar that ran from his forehead down to his jaw.

"Don't call me captain when it's just us, it's annoying. I know I'm a captain so I don't need reminding every time that we speak, okay?" he smiled at her.

Momo didn't really know what to say so she just stood there awkwardly earning her a shake of Alex's head.

"Tell you what, why don't you come to my quarters? There we can talk easier, it's about time we did. Don't you think so?" Momo nodded her head and Alex smiled once again. "Plus we can get dry, as much as I love rain, it has an annoying habit of making things wet!" he continued in a cheerful tone setting off to his quarters. Momo looked at him slightly dumbfound… 'Well of course rain makes things wet!' she said to herself before setting off, following Alex.

Alex's quarters were naturally larger than that of the standard Shinigami's. The front door opened up to a short hallway which led to a large square room. Alex took off his haori in the hallway and placed it on a hook just to his left and strode into the larger room with Momo in tow. She had taken her zanpakuto out of her obi and now carried it in her left hand as etiquette dictates, she took a look around the room. It had sparsely furnished with only a small table in the middle of the room, a desk and a chair in the right corner. The only personal touch was a wooden cabinet on the left side of the room, just next to the doorway that led to his sleeping area. It seemed to have a frame on it with two sticks of incense burning at either side of it. There was another doorway on the right of the room which would be the kitchen.

Alex had gone into his sleeping area to get changed and dry.

"Do you want tea?" he walked back into the main room where he left Momo. Had a towel around his neck and a dry, clean hakama on. He threw a towel from his hand at Momo and walked into the other room.

"Yes please Captain, thank you" Momo replied

"Don't call me captain" Alex's voice sang out

"My apologies capt…" She stopped herself "…Erm, Alex" She heard Alex laugh from the other room.

Momo walked up to the small cabinet and picked up the frame that was on the top and studied the picture that was encased in it. It was a young girl, about her age if she had to guess, she had long brown hair that had a blond tint to it. It framed her round, pretty face perfectly, it was in a simple parting. The thing that interested Momo the most was the girl's stormy grey eyes, they were exactly like Alex's. She wore a rugged and torn soul reapers uniform that was dirty but strangely over the top she had one of those combat vests over the top. It was black and also dirty like she had been out in the field for days. There was a zanpakuto on her left hip, her hands gently resting on the hilt. She was smiling a full, innocent smile that showed love to the person that he was smiling at.

"Cute isn't she?" A voice came from behind her, she jumped and whirled around to face the person that spoke.

"What is it with you captains always sneaking on people!?" Alex stared at her with an amused look in his eyes

"I didn't sneak up on you, you just didn't notice me" he replied

"It's the same thing!" she shouted. Alex laughed at his young lieutenant while she stared daggers at him.

"Anyway" Momo returned her focus on the picture "Who is she?" she asked. Alex's face immediately sobered and a sad look replace the smile and amusement that was on his face just a second ago.

"A better question would be who was she" he took the frame from Momo gently and looked sorrowfully at it "It was my baby sister, that's who she was." Momo met Alex's eyes and saw the sorrow and hurt that hid behind them. Alex held out a cup for Momo to take then he replace the frame back on the cabinet. He closed his eyes and bowed his head for a few seconds, Momo followed the gesture of respect then looked at her captain.

"Let's sit down then" He said gesturing to the cushions by the small table. They both settled down facing each other. Neither spoke for a couple of moments, they just sipped on their tea, it was a comfortable silence unlike the one's that they had previously had.

"So" Alex broke the silence "What do you want to know, absolutely anything. If I can answer it I will." He smiled and looked at his lieutenant seeing the hesitant look on her face. His apparent openness surprised her. "Well come on, there must be something you want to know." He cocked his head and gave her an amused look.

"Well… I suppose… Erm, I don't know, you just kind of arrived and I don't know you or anything about you. Even most of your power is a mystery to me, I saw your Shiki but I have a feeling that I haven't even seen the half of it yet. I mean the three senior captains and even the Head-Captain seem to respect you and your skills but none of the other captains except Captain Kurosaki know you. What I'm getting at is who are you exactly?" Momo looked nervously at Alex, unsure how he would reply or if he even would.

"A fair evaluation, I'll give you that. So, you want to know who I am, okay then. Well, I'm Alex Gabriel." He gave her a smile and she rolled her eyes

"I know that, but that's it!" Alex chuckled, his eyes twinkled.

"Well, to start off I'm much older than I look, I fought in the first War of Souls" Momo looked at him with a question in his eyes "The war that the Head-Captain mentioned two day ago at the briefing" he said as an explanation. Momo nodded and gestured for him to carry on.

"That's when the Karitoriki was formed by myself and Tess." Another question brimmed "Lieutenant Sasori" he said catching the question before it had even been asked. "I fought beside the three senior captains as you called them, back then Jushiro and Shunsui weren't captains but they were still powerful." He smiled fondly at the memory then returned his attention to the waiting Momo.

"What was it like? The war I mean" Momo asked but immediately regretted it when she saw the mask of pain that descended on Alex's face. "You don't have to answer that! I'm sorry!" she quickly put in after. Alex smiled sadly at her.

"It was brutal, I did things that I will never forget. Terrible things." His voice was low and sad, filled with guilt.

"But it was war, you're a nice person, a good person. I may not know you but I can see that" Momo's curiosity was piped but she could see that Alex bore guilt. He shook his head at her.

"No, I'm not. The sooner you learn that the better." It sounded like a warning. "Anyway, the war was a war, there is no other way to describe it. The after effects of it were huge, as the soul reapers were preoccupied with fighting each other hollows ran free through the human world, many souls were sent to the soul worlds to then be killed in these worlds as well. Squads were wiped out then rebuild only to have everyone killed again, we bore the fate of all the worlds on our shoulders."

"So you fought this war and founded the Karitoriki, what about after?" Momo could see that the war was a sad topic for Alex to talk about so she wanted to move the conversation to something different.

"Well after a whole lot of clean-up operations, hunting down and killing any of the remaining enemy Shinigami and taking care of the hollow infestation the Gotei 13 had fully formed and was operational. The war with the Quincy's broke out and we spiralled back into war but now we were strong. I personally was the captain of the Karitoriki but we didn't see much fighting, only the odd special deployment here and there. With that war done I stayed for another couple of hundred years before leaving in self-imposed exile when I judged the soul society and the Gotei 13 strong and stable enough."

"Why!?" Momo interrupted, Alex drained his tea and placed the cup down on the table

"As I said, I'm not a good person and so I didn't deserve to be in a society that brought happiness, I didn't deserve and still don't deserve to gain the rewards from a great place like this." He smiled once again while Momo looked at him in confusion.

"But why? No matter what you did in the war you helped bring about peace and you should have reaped the rewards" Momo didn't understand the reasoning behind her Captain's past decision

"No, peace doesn't need a person like me in it" he chuckled at his young lieutenant and leant back onto his hands "I'm only back now because of Ichigo and the fact that this place is going to need someone like be in the times to come"

"Okay…" she replied, still not understanding his reasoning but knowing that he wouldn't change his view.

"This war that is going to break out, it's going to be bad isn't it?" she said softly. Alex gazed at her seeing her fear and sadness

"Momo, let me tell you this, it is going to harsh, really harsh. But there's one thing you should know about me, no matter what I will protect you, the squad, the entire soul society. I don't have many people that I count as friends, but those I do care about are my family, and I protect them with everything I've got, from everything. If something is going to make them sad or upset then I will always try to find a way to prevent that. If something is going to hurt them then I will try to stop that. My family are the most important thing to me, this war will take some of them away from me but I'll try my hardest to make sure that as little of my family is harmed as possible. Even if that means becoming a monster again." Momo glanced up at Alex, seeing the sincerity and devotion in his eyes.

"I will help you" she'd come to a decision about Alex, no matter what he said she believed that he was a good person, she believe that he was going to try and protect everyone. But she knew he couldn't do it alone so she will help, she will stand by him, by her captain.

"Good, I could use the help" he smiled at her, clearly pleased. "Well, it's late and you should really get some sleep" Momo nodded and got up. She bowed to her captain

"Good night capt… Alex"

Alex smiled at her and inclined his head "Good night Momo"

She walked out and Alex smiled to himself.

'Well, it seems that you've won the Lieutenant over master'

'Yeah, one of them anyway'

'Speaking of which, here comes the next challenge of the night, and this one's going to be worse'

'I know'

'Good luck master!'

'No need to sound so cheerful about it'

Alex brought his attention away from the conversation with his zanpakuto.

"Come out Tess, I know you're there" he called softly.

Lieutenant Tessarosa Sasori appeared in front of him at the other side of the table. She looked at him with those piercing green eyes of hers.

"Captain, the Karitoriki are fully ready and prepared" she reported in a dead voice, devoid of all emotion. Alex winced at the tone and her use of his rank. He sighed.

"We need to sort this out, sit down, let's talk" he looked at his old friend intensely, she returned the gaze with a completely unemotional stare.

"I don't see what we could possibly have to talk about captain, if you don't require me for anything else I'll take my leave" Alex sighed once again and stood up abruptly.

"Okay, fine. We're going to have a little one-on-one match, follow me lieutenant, and that's an order" he held his hand out and his zanpakuto materialised, he strode past his emotionless lieutenant, his haori billowing behind him.

'Are you sure about this master?'

'Yes, you can always tell more about a person when you fight them'

'That's true, let's do it then.'

Right then, hope you liked it. Next chapter you're going to see a new soul reaper but you'll know who they are! I will try to get the next chapter out in a week or so. Please review and stuff, until next time!