13th Squad's Barracks

February 15th, 1948

"That's the new girl, huh?"

"Yeah, that's her. Kuchiki, right?"

"Yep. Guess the nobles found someone else they can use as a toy."

A bunch of shinigami crowded around the door, whispering about the newcomer beyond. I tapped one of them on the shoulder, "Hey, what's going on?"

She turned around and glared, "What, haven't you heard? There's a new squad member. She hasn't even graduated yet, or taken the final exam. They say she's been adopted by the Kuchiki family, a noble family."

"Kuchiki?" I tried to see, but everyone was blocking the door.

"Hey! Hey! What are you doing here wasting time!" I spun around, only to be pushed out of the way by Kaien, "This is not a zoo! Go back to your assigned spots, dumbasses!" He shoved open the door and quickly introduced himself, "I am Vice-Captain Shiba Kaien! Nice to meet you!"

I tried to see who it was again, but the door was blocked again. The newcomer was so quiet that I could only hear Kaien speaking. He chewed whoever it was out because they didn't address him properly. Eventually I got to the front of the crowd and peeked through the crack. Beyond Kaien, was Rukia, standing in a shinigami uniform.

I gasped, "That's right! Rukia told me that she was being accepted into a noble family! She's gonna be in our squad!" I pulled open the door and ran past Kaien to her side, "Rukia!"

"N-Nazeka! Why are you—?" She smoothed out her raven hair—no doubt it was Kaien who had messed up her hair.

"I live here, remember? So, that means we'll still see each other here!"

"You know her?" Kaien asked, and I smiled, "Of course. I met her on the way to school on my first day! We've been friends ever since! Unfortunately, we weren't in the same class."

"I was wondering how you could've possibly known someone who was accepted into a noble family."

"Are you suggesting that I'm not good enough to know someone like that?"

"Maybe," He said, sticking his tongue out.

"Argh… I can't think of a good comeback right now."

"Ha!"

"You're lucky, Kaien!"

"That's Kaien-dono!"

"I don't care! That's just because I don't have my zanpakutou yet! You just wait! When I become captain, I won't let you call me Nazeka! It'll always be Mamori-taicho!"

"Like you'd ever become a captain."

"Um… Nazeka?" Rukia asked quietly.

"What?"

"Where is the captain?"

Kaien answered for me, "He's sick in bed right now. He wasn't feeling so good—he had another attack last night."

"Another one! Why don't you people tell me these things!"

"Why do you need to know?"

"Because he's the captain and he was nice enough to let me stay here when I had first got here and he is still allowing me to stay here until I get placed in a squad! I at least owe him to visit him when he's sick!"

"Yeah, that would be the norm, but you're so loud and obnoxious that it wouldn't be a good idea for you to go and visit him."

"I'm not loud or obnoxious!"

"You're certainly being loud now, and you're obnoxious to me."

"Shut up! You bastard…" I turned to Rukia, "Excuse me Rukia I have to go see the captain now. I'll see ya later, then!"

Seireitei

December 20th, 1950

Two years later, I hadn't mastered materializing my zanpakutou; but I continued visiting Toushirou when I could. What I was supposed to protect—that fact continued to evade me, and my zanpakutou spirit never failed to remind me. Not once had he given me more information than that; and not once had my teacher let it go. My damn zanjutsu master nagged me about it all those years, but had resorted to training me with a simple katana. That way, I could receive all the swordsmanship I needed; I just wouldn't be able to learn shikai until I materialized my weapon.

Head Captain Yamamoto did not let me forget it either; I was officially on Academic Probation and would not graduate until I materialized it—even if I had to repeat year six year after year after year. My unwanted position of captain was slowly disappearing from sight; and that was okay with me, but not with Yamamoto. He said that I could not fail in that job; but I didn't see what the big deal was. I was sure there were plenty of others ready to fill in this position.

That day was also Toushirou's birthday; or at least, that's what he and his grandmother decided on. He explained that those living in the Rukongai usually lose track of time and forget about celebrating birthdays, but he felt that he should at least give it a try. I had turned twenty, but that didn't matter anymore. I hadn't changed—I hadn't grown taller, older, or really even grown wiser. Looks like I was finally ready to give up my age.

Also, there had been a noticeable reiatsu change with Toushirou. The grounds are icy mostly at night, and he says that they usually only melt when he leaves the premises or during the day—but even then they're icy sometimes. He's seen it snow during the middle of the summer before, but only at his house. Then there's all the water freezing over, and he says that his Granny seems to suffer from constant colds. I keep telling him that he has a high reiatsu, but he refuses to believe me. I feel like he's keeping something from me… but I just don't know what. The last I had seen him was in August during my summer break.

I just hope that he at least takes it into consideration eventually, I thought as I held the bag of amanatto—one of his favorite foods—and walked down the streets of Junrin'an. It didn't take long, and soon I approached the gate to his house; I immediately felt the chill in the air; but it wasn't icy when I arrived.

"Toushirou! Hey! Where are you?" I called, looking around the typically cold yard. I stood there for a few minutes, yet no one came to greet me, like usually did. Well, guess I better see if anyone's inside.

I took off my sandals, opened the door to the house and peered inside. His grandmother was sitting in her same spot reading a book, this time wearing a teal gray kimono. I shut the door behind me and said happily, "Good morning, Granny Hitsugaya. How are you today?"

She turned around and smiled faintly, "Oh, Nazeka. It's good to see you again. I'm well this morning."

"That's good. Is Toushirou here? I came by so I could give him this for his birthday," I held out the bag of amanatto, "I heard these are his favorites."

"Thank you. You didn't have to do that. But as for Toushirou… he's in the bedroom. He hasn't quite been himself lately since… well I'll let him tell you. His is the second door when you turn left outside."

"Really?" I asked, looking in the direction of the door, "Well, thank you. I'll go and talk to him. Good to see you."

"You too, Nazeka."

I gave a small bow of respect and left for the door, taking the left and pausing in front of his room. I knocked lightly on the traditional door, the same as mine, and said kindly, "Hey, Toushirou! I came to tell you happy birthday and give you a present, but I can't exactly do that if you have the door closed."

There was a long moment of silence before his muffled reply, "Go away."

"Hey, how come you're so upset? It's your birthday, so you should be happier. Come on out."

"Please, just… just go home."

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

"Go home."

I rolled my eyes upward and sighed, grabbing the edge of the door and flinging it open, "Damn it Toushirou, get out here! What the hell happened to make you like this! It's your damn birthday so be happy for cryin' out loud!" I stormed into the room and grabbed him by the collar of his kimono, dragging him out of the room and tossing him onto the ground by the porch.

"What the hell! What was that for!"

"You know damn well what that was for! When people act depressed it pisses me off, so just tell me what the hell happened and get over it already!" I could feel a vein pop in my forehead as a yelled at him. He stared at me for a long time in silence, wide-eyed until I calmed down. Then he lowered his head and said quietly, "I've been enrolled in the Shinigami Academy."

"Er… what?" I asked, surprised, plopping down onto the slick porch. He repeated himself, yet I couldn't get myself to believe it, "Wait a sec, you hate shinigami, so why would you become one?"

"This shinigami in the area told me that I had a high spiritual pressure… just like you said before. I was slowly killing my grandmother because I keep leaking it everywhere. That's why it's always so cold here and why it snows. If I don't learn how to control my spiritual pressure… I'll kill Granny, and I don't want that to happen."

"But you don't want to enroll, either."

"Like hell I'd want to become one of them," he said as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"Figures. So, you've enrolled… and you passed the test?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's good. Hey, we'll be going to school together! We'll be able to see each other much more often now! And you can meet Renji, and Rukia, and Kira! And you'll be allowed in the Seireitei now, so you can come see the place where I live as long as I get permission from Ukitake!"

"Jeez, you're ecstatic."

I froze and smiled, "Well… yeah."

"Glad you're happy," he said sullenly. I sighed, "You should be too."

"I won't."

"You'll meet new friends."

"Will not. You know how much other people don't like me."

"I liked you, and I was an 'other' person. You never know. And hey, you might be good at this."

"Will not."

"I bet you will. I mean, look at the reiatsu you have! They say I have a lot too, but I can't freeze stuff like that! I can't even hear my zanpakutou's name!"

"That doesn't mean anything."

"You are such a downer! Fun sponge!"

"Excuse me?"

"You're a fun sponge. You suck all the fun out of everything."

"I do not."

"Do too."

"Not."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yeah, you kinda do."

"Then why do you keep coming back here?"

"Because— I… I don't really know."

"Thanks…"

"Not what I meant."

"Sure."

"I'm serious."

"Where's my present?"

"Your… what?" I raised my eyebrows.

"My present. You said you brought one."

"Oh, right. It's your birthday."

"You've reminded me."

"Greedy little runt…" I muttered under my breath as I grabbed the bag off the porch.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing. Anyway, here ya go. Happy Birthday." I handed him the amanatto, which he immediately dug his hand into and stuffed some in his mouth.

"What, no thank you?"

"—nks," was all he managed to get out with his mouth stuffed full of the treats. I leaned back and looked up at the cloudless sky. What a weird way to start off the day.

I promised Toushirou that I'd see him again, if not before the end of the year. But, that was no big deal, since we'd be seeing each other everyday for the next school year… that is, if I graduate.

But… that graduation was only going to happen if I materialized my zanpakutou.

Until then, I continued to work with a simple katana, and unfortunately for me… I was still asked to go on a practice mission for school even though I had had no powers other than kido whatsoever.

"Let's start with some quick introductions. I'm a sixth-year student. Name's Hisagi. Behind me, little one's Kanizawa. Big one's Aoga. The three of us will be leading today's training exercise," a tall boy with black hair and the number '69' tattooed on his left cheek. He seemed bored, like this was a regular thing. Behind him were a girl, and another boy. The girl was blonde, and looked serious, while the guy had big lips and a funny-looking hair cut… but he was tall. They were standing in front of one of the Senkaimon gates. After the intro, everyone in the group started whispering.

"Quiet! Those of you who are whispering will STOP. NOW!"

Renji ignored him and asked Kira quietly, "What's the deal? Are they famous or somethin', those three?"

Kira looked appalled and replied immediately, "You don't know! It's not 'those three', it's the one in the middle! And he's not just 'famous'! That's Shuhei Hisagi. He was accepted into the Gotei 13 years ago, even though he hasn't yet graduated, even though he's still a sixth-year student. In the future, they say he's guaranteed to have a seat position in one of the divisions. He's one of the Academy's shining stars!"

"Wow…" Renji said, but Kira immediately began again, "Of course… he failed the entrance exam twice, too… Meaning, as this year's top student, I probably have more talent than he does."

"Uh… wow." Renji said again, this time with a dull look on his face.

"So, he's supposed to have a seat position, huh? Hmm… y'know, he'd make a nice lieutenant," I said, but Kira glared at me, "Don't rub in the fact that you're supposed to be a captain by making comments like that."

"Funny how I'm headed for captain yet I'm not famous like he is. Though I don't care if I make captain or not."

"You're famous for failing almost every class."

"Shut up Mr. Perfect! I'd like to see you make captain! You don't need grades to make a shinigami! It's talent and skill and dedication!"

"Which you have none of."

"Shut up!"

"All right, for this assignment we'll divide into three-person teams. Before, in the classroom, we had you all pick scraps of paper. Take a look at those papers now. Do you see a symbol there? Please look for the other students who have the same symbol, and form a group," the girl Kanizawa began, and we all opened our slips of paper.

Mine had an 'x' on it, while Renji and Kira both had skulls, "Aww, looks like I'm not in your group… oh well. Gotta go find mine," I said, and I walked around hesitantly until I found two guys with the same symbol. The tall one was named Takai, while the other blonde guy was Oziru. I knew them both from my kido class.

"Guess I'm with you guys," I groaned.

"So it seems," Takai mumbled.

"What's with that attitude?"

"What's with yours?"

"Don't get in the way," Oziru interrupted simply. I narrowed my eyes, "Excuse me?"

"You can't perform a konso because you don't have a zanpakutou yet. You're just comin' along for the ride to see how it's done because the Head Captain doesn't want you to miss out on anything important."

"So?"

"So you're going to get in the way if you'll just be watching. Get in our way, and you'll wish you hadn't."

"Great, so I have a couple of asses in my group. That's just my luck."

"You've all got your Hell Butterflies? Then move out! Open!" Hisagi interrupted, opening the Senkaimon. I glared at the two guys and followed our leaders through the gate, wondering if Karakura Town had changed at all. Though, now that I think about it… it's only been five years… so it shouldn't have changed.

Our Hell Butterflies carried us through, showing us the way out of the in-between world. Eventually, we opened up onto a building roof, where Hisagi began directing groups into different places in the special area designated for this practice mission. Ours was sent a little ways farther off, near the outer ring of the area to the north.

Kanizawa followed us and explained how to perform a konso. It seemed easy enough, but I wasn't allowed to. Without a zanpakutou, you can't send your spirit energy through the hilt, keeping you from placing the seal on the soul's forehead and sending him/her to the Soul Society. So, instead, the two guys in my group did theirs, practicing twice before Kanizawa moved on. From there, we were asked to just wait until the others were done.

How. Boring. And of all things, I was stuck with those two dumbasses. Can't I get a break?

"Hey, girl," Oziru called. I twitched and looked behind me, glaring at him, "I have a name you know. Or are you too stupid to remember?"

"Why you little—!"

"Don't mind him. Besides, he couldn't remember his own name if I didn't remind him all the time," Takai said smugly. I folded my arms, "You're in the same dumbass boat as he is. In fact, he has brawn and no brains… and you… well, you don't have anything at all."

He stared at me, mouth open wide. I smirked, "What, are you too stupid to make a decent comeback now? Gimme a break."

He didn't answer, but instead raised his arm and pointed to something above me; and I realized that he wasn't looking at me, but at something else behind me. I turned, expecting something to be right there, but that wasn't it either. In the distance, by where some other groups were gathering… was an enormous Hollow… with Kanizawa impaled on its two fingered claws.

"Shit! This can't be happening!" I ran toward the Hollow, leaving the two idiots behind me screaming, "Wait! Mamori! The Senkaimon's that way!"

I ignored them. Why should we run? The reason we go to school is to fight these things. One of them with a bunch of five-year and six-year student shinigami around it isn't going to be difficult. It just caught Kanizawa off guard. Yeah, that was it.

After hopping across roofs and dodging signs, I finally reached Hisagi and the other six-year, who was lying on his side covered in blood. Another Hollow had its back turned to me, so I took the opportunity to cut its head from behind. But what I didn't know at the time was that this Hollow… wasn't the only one. Another huge one with six pairs of long claws that ended in razor sharp points knocked me away, using its other hands to attack my face. I unsheathed my sword and raised it, attempting to block the claws, but the feeble blade of the katana that lacked the strength of reiatsu broke in two as I hit the ground from the impact.

"Crap! Now what?" I threw away the hilt and raised my hands, "Hado 31, Shakkaho!" A shot of fire flew from my palms and hit him in the forehead, but it merely rubbed the spot and lashed out again. If my kido and my sword were now ineffective… what the hell could I do? The claws closed in on my face again, and this time… I didn't have a way to fight back. I raised my arms as a shield and awaited the pain, but I heard a clang instead. Slowly, I lowered my arms to see Hisagi blocking the claws, but the other hand reached around and sliced through his face by his right eye, creating three line lines of blood that soon poured over his face.

"Hisagi!"

"Go back to the Senkaimon! Now!"

"No, I can't just leave!"

"Yes you can! Just get the hell outta here! Your katana is broken! You have no way to fight so just leave!"

"But… but my friends…"

"Should be back on the other side of the Senkaimon by now! So just go! You don't need to be worried about them!"

"What about you! You and Aoga can't handle this alone either! They're huge and there's two of them. It'd take five of us to at least tackle one—"

"Will you shut up and get going! I don't care about statistics! It's my responsibility to get you all safe back in the Soul Society!" He slashed at the claws as they came back to attack the both of us. He got one of the fingers, but it just grew back.

"Damn, high speed regeneration. Agh! I'm not gonna die like this, and neither are you!" He lunged at the beetle-like creature, but it was faster, aiming right for Hisagi's face again. There was nothing I could do—I knew it, and Hisagi knew it. But… I couldn't just leave, nor could I bear myself to watch Hisagi protect me when I was perfectly capable if I just had a zanpakutou. And now, there was no way he could avoid those claws… and there was no way I could stop it either.

I awaited the blood-curdling sound of flesh ripping, but it never happened. I simply saw three other figures blocking the three hands that had attempted to kill Hisagi—Renji, Kira, and Momo. Hisagi appeared to be just as shocked as I was, "…You three!"

"Renji! Kira! Momo! What are you three—?"

"Are you okay, Mamori?" Momo interrupted me. I sighed, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Please forgive us… for disobeying your orders," Kira said to Hisagi, while Renji added, "And don't overlook that we're savin' your ass, here!"

"Great sovereign! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado 31, Shakkaho!" Momo yelled, and the blast of red fire sent smoke everywhere.

"Yeah!" Kira yelled; I just groaned, "Oh no. Now you just made it angry."

"…No… It's no good." Hisagi muttered as the smoke dissipated—revealing a whole gathering of Hollows.

"I already tried that," I said, groaning again. This was just perfect.

"…no way…" The three others exclaimed, amazed by how many Hollows there were.

"Im-impossible… no… no… I don't want to die…" Kira stared in horror and screamed, much to my annoyance. The Hollow opened its mouth, but instead of coming down on us, an insanely long sword pierced it right through the mouth and destroyed it and all those behind it.

"What the hell?" I asked, looking at Hisagi.

"Hyaa. Found an awful mess o' them, din'cha?"

"Sorry to keep you all waiting. You did request backup, did you not?"

We all turned to see who had arrived. A tall man with a mess of short brown hair and glasses wearing a haori smiled at us, while another man with short silver hair and a peevish carefree grin held his sword.

"Bu-Bu-But you are…! 5th Squad Captain Aizen…! And… Lieutenant Ichimaru!" Hisagi exclaimed, obviously in disbelief.

The Captain proceeded to pat Momo's head and move forward to the Hollows, "…You all performed admirably. I'm sure it must have been frightening… but it's over now."

"The Cap'n an' I can take it from here. Why don't y'all rest fer a bit an' let us handle these?"

"Yes sir!" They bowed a bit and retreated, Hisagi and I following them. I ripped off part of the sleeve of my hakama and turned it into long strips. Hisagi eyed them, "What are you doing?"

"You're the one who's risking losing an eye with those wounds. Might as well patch it up as best we can at this point to stop the bleeding." I wrapped them around his head and finished bandaging them up nicely. I was proud of myself—first time I had ever helped bandage a wound and it turned out well. Even he agreed. The shinigami finished in no time, and soon returned to the Senkaimon. They promised that they would alert the fourth squad to have us all looked over and then send us home.

Five hell butterflies flew out of the gate and found each of us, but Renji, Kira, and Momo were busy talking, so they didn't notice. I stepped through first and was readily greeted on the other side by a shinigami that was part of the fourth squad. Apparently, Captain Aizen didn't have to alert them after all.

A few days later, I was still postponed from my studies until they were sure I had 'healed'. Healed? Why? I hadn't gotten hurt. In fact, Hisagi was the one who had taken all the blows for me. I wasn't physically hurt, but the knowledge that Hisagi had been injured due to my incompetence really irked me. So, I decided to confront my zanpakutou spirit again. Since that incident, I finally realized what it was that I wanted to protect.

…Finally!

"So, have you figured out what it is you want to protect? Or is this just another futile visit, child?" The dragon asked, once again curled up on the platform. I gave a short little bow and replied, "I know now."

"Really? So, are you going to tell me what it is? Or are you just going to stand there and stare at me all day?" He whipped his tail and bared his teeth in impatience. I sighed, "What I want to protect… I want to protect those that I love. Those close to me. My friends, the people I live with… all of them. I want to protect each and every one of them… and… and I am willing to risk my life to save every last one of them."

As soon as I finished, his nostrils flared and his mane stood on end. He vaulted into the air from where he sat, climbing higher and higher until he looked extremely small, and then flying back down to the platform… smiling. Actually… he was smaller. His head was now about the length of my foreleg, making him a much more reasonable size. He floated over by where I was standing, and curled around me quickly, "Thank you so much, Nazeka. You finally figured it out and released me from that state. I owe you my loyalty. My name is Syugoryuu." His voice was different too, more like a young man than a booming voice—much kinder and happier.

"Syugoryuu," I repeated, taking that name to heart. He released me and stood across the platform, whipping his tail around like a happy dog.

"Yes. When you wake up, you'll find your zanpakutou sitting in your lap. Like I said, I owe you my loyalty, and you shall have it. You are now my master until the end of your time. Hopefully, you will be much nicer than my last one."

"You had another master?"

"Oh yes. He wasn't kind at all. He preferred using his own strength rather than borrowing mine."

"So… you've had many masters?"

"I've had four. They've all died as a shinigami. I pass on to another shinigami that I find worthy enough to be my master—if they will learn and listen—about a century later."

"And you chose me."

"Yes. I chose you the moment you were born. My spiritual pressure allowed you to see spirits—to see Hollows too. I've been waiting for you to break that kido for a long time I must say. 20 years… I don't think anyone else has taken that long."

"Great… wait, so are there other zanpakutou that pass on to new masters?" I sat down on the center of the tower, and Syugoryuu did likewise, wrapping his tail around him like a dog.

"Oh, only dragon-like zanpakutou like me. Hyourinmaru, Ryujin Jakka, and I are the only ones. It's just our nature."

"Ryujin Jakka is Head Captain Yamamoto's zanpakutou."

"Yes, and he has never had to switch masters. Yamamoto founded the Seireitei, so he's been the Head Captain for thousands of years."

"Wow. And the name Hyourinmaru… I've heard it before."

"Yes, I said it through you. That bastard always wants it extremely cold, and Ryujin Jakka always wants it extremely hot. Can't they just settle on lukewarm? That's why it's spring here. But… you see that gate over there? The one that you can't go through? Have you ever seen beyond it?"

"Yeah. It's all covered in ice."

"Exactly. That's Hyourinmaru's land, where he resides inside his master's soul."

"So… the gates are connected? Does that mean that his master's soul and my soul are connected too?"

"Yep."

"That's so weird!"

"Well… the thing is, we don't usually like to stray too far from each other. We're all of similar kin, so we typically stick together. This is the first time I've ever found a soul that I liked down in the World of the Living."

"Hmm… so, what does that have to do with the fact that our souls are connected?"

"Because you've already met Hyourinmaru's new master. That short little boy with the white hair. Damn, he needs to keep his reiatsu under control. After all, his whole house is covered in ice most of the time we visit. Sometimes, I think Hyourinmaru's just showing off."

"Toushirou is Hyourinmaru's master!"

"You bet. Now, what if I said that it was Ukitake? Would you be creeped out?"

"Yeah! His soul being connected to mine is so… so weird."

"But you're perfectly fine with Toushirou being connected?"

"Yeah… I find it strange. I mean… why him?"

"That can be explained. Like I said before, we don't really like to be separated. So, we connect the souls of our master's to make things easier. Ryujin Jakka dislikes this idea. He's the only one against it, and I think it'd be a bad idea to connect your soul and Ol' Man Yama's soul together. Anyway, since your souls are connected, that means you have a special bond, whether you want one or not.

"Well, what if two enemies were connected in their souls? That wouldn't go over very well. The inner worlds of those two would surely collapse. So, to prevent that from happening, when the two souls are connected, they're drawn to one another. That's why it doesn't bother you. If it were two guys, which has happened before, they feel more like brothers… but as for two members of the opposite gender…"

"We grow to love each other?"

"That's a good way to put it."

"Kinda puts a damper on the whole experience now that I know."

Syugoryuu grinned, "Yeah, but Hyourinmaru doesn't like to tell his masters inside things about our existence… so Toushirou won't know. It'll be a one-way experience, but I'm sure it'll be fun."

"Interesting way of putting things…"

"My bad."

"So, are you always like this?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know… hmm… when you had the kido on you, you were kinda scary."

"I'm not like that, if that's what you're asking. Hyourinmaru on the other hand… He's loyal, but he kinda acts like that all the time. As for Ryujin Jakka… he's a total bastard."

"Well, I'll keep that in mind…"

"It's about time for you to be waking up."

"Really?"

"We'll talk later. Goodbye for now, Nazeka."

"Thanks, Syugoryuu. Oh, wait. You told me that I'd wish you were still under the kido one time. Why?"

"We'll talk about that later."

"Aww, but—"

"Goodbye."

I instantly woke up, the sun setting in the distance. There was so much more I wanted to ask Syugoryuu, but I supposed I would have to wait.

"Oh! My zanpakutou!" I looked down, and sure enough—in my lap was a long black sheath. In it was a black and white zanpakutou with teal gray cording on the hilt and a crescent moon bronze guard. I picked it up; it was quite light for something that looked so heavy. I supposed all zanpakutou felt like that. I sheathed it and slid it under my obi belt, extremely excited to show Ukitake. Almost forgetting to take off my sandals, I ran across the wood and over to his office. Ukitake wasn't there, but Kaien was, so I let my energy out on him.

"Kaien! Kai—"

"That's Kaien-dono. And you shouldn't be running around. You're still recovering."

"Nuh-uh. I can call you Kaien again! And I don't care if I'm supposed to be recovering! I didn't even get scratched! Anyway, look! I finally got it!" I held up my sheathed weapon for him to see. He stared at it for a second, and then he finally laughed, "Look at that! Congrats, Nazeka."

"That was a delayed reaction, Kaien."

"Sorry. Anyway, what's its name?"

"His name is Syugoryuu."

"I'm guessing you're looking for the captain?"

"Yeah."

"He's in bed right now. He had another attack this morning."

"What! Why don't you people tell me these things! You did this same thing when Rukia got here you bastard!"

"Bastard, am I? I oughta—" he sighed, "Look, you can go see him, but you can't spaz out around him, okay?"

"Thanks, Kaien!" I ran off to his room after putting the sheath back under my belt. Kaien called out behind me, "Don't you dare freak out around Ukitake-taicho! I'll make sure to take that away if you do!"

"I know, I know!"

Okay, so I know it's a bit chunky, but I had to fit in a lot of information in one chapter. WOW! TWELVE PAGES!

Anyway, I also know that technically, that incident with Hisagi happened during their first year, but I needed to change that a bit so it fit with the story. SORRY TO ANYONE WHO IS A TOTAL ACCURACY NAZI! MY BAD!

Anyway, tomorrow's exams are Latin and Algebra I Honors, so I have to hit the books and finish up and studying tomorrow early and then after Thursday, I'll be free to update! Wish me luck and see you then!

~SaiyokuRiku~