Of the Sun & the Moon

by KkiimmiieeX33

Nakashima Miki ( OC ) is the captain of the 9th squad with Tosen Kaname & Hisagi Shuuhei as her 2nd & 3rd seaters respectively . How will the events in the world play out if this had happened ?

Hihi! This is my 1st time trying out writing fan fiction ( Despite being hooked on reading fan fiction for more than a decade …) soo tell me if you like it or not, if my writing style is rather difficult to understand, etc etc ya ? ^^ Been on this chapter for slightly over a year before I decided its acceptable to be released to let other people read through it :S Its kinda like an ultra belated birthday gift to myself from myself LOL noting that I've been itching to post this up for a while…

I am aware that some parts maybe a little … Odd … But I have no clue what to do with odd parts so I'm gonna leave 'em there.

Plus ... I don't have anyone else proofreading this for me . I've proofread it more than 50 times but I'm assured there's probably still some problems here and there * Nervous laughter *

Hisagi might be portrayed as a little …. Obsessed ya ? . And maybe a tad OCD ? Bleh… Even I'm not really that sure what happens in my storyline LOL Probably have the gist of it and maybe a few more chapters somewhere ... But hohohoho I'm not sure if I'll be posting them if people find this... not nice

Just a few things to note though !

I have a tendency of using some Japanese words like Taichou , Fukutaichou and such :S I have no clue why … Maybe it's 'cause I watch the Japanese dub version of the show that has English subtitles ! I digress … Anyways to make things easier for you to understand ~

* * = small actions ( Like me adding a * Sigh * in the middle of someone talking to show that they sighed . Lame ? Weird ? Well … Adding a ' as he punctuated his speech with a sigh ' didn't sound appealing enough to be used all the time :S ) .

'Italics' denotes thoughts.

" " denotes normal speech !

Disclamer : I do not own most of the plot and characters in this story .

~*~ This story begins a couple of months before the Ichigo and his buddies invade Seireitei[1]. ~*~

{ [1] : Seireitei is Japanese for soul society ~ }

Shadows born for the flickering flames of torches danced on the pale grey stone walls and pathways that made up the labyrinth that was known as Seireitei. Soft footsteps stole almost soundlessly through the seemingly endless identical maze of stone, shadows and fire with ease and confidence, never once pausing as they navigated junctions and turns. The owner of those footsteps furrowed his brows thoughtfully and appeared to be mulling over some exceptionally important matter at hand as his feet took him through the ever familiar route taken for night patrols of the 9th division. His ever bright sable grey eyes were had become rather dull due to exhaustion, but still, they meticulously took in every small detail of his surroundings.

'Sun's gonna rise in about an hour or so…' noted the weary shinigami. He wasn't supposed to be up and about at this hour but due to the minor outbreak of the flu that had suddenly and mysteriously infiltrated the 9th division, he found himself volunteering to cover for those down with the flu.

'Thank goodness this is the 2nd last round for the night! I sincerely doubt I could stay awake for another few more of those… It's been almost 24 hours since I last slept,' he thought while cracking his stiff joints, still diligently observing his surroundings. Before long, the ominous shadows cast by the arches that lead into the 9th division's courtyard danced meters in front of him. An almost instantaneous quickening of footsteps soon followed when the brunette realised that he was just meters away from completing this patrol round. Only slowing down to give an acknowledging nod to the 2 guards stationed at the entrance of the 9th division barracks, he breezed past all that separated the 9th division arches with the barracks.

'Ahh at least I'm left with the final round before I'm done with tonight's patrolling…' mused Hisagi to himself as he meandered aimlessly around the 9th division barracks before finally deciding to go and unwind in the miniature garden and water feature that his captain had insisted they install on the grounds. He absentmindedly rubbed the 69 tattoo on his left cheek as he recalled exactly how in the King's fair name did he end up on for the nightshift. Again. 'All she had to do was turn those pale turquoises orbs at me and ask what was she supposed to do about the insufficient guards down for night patrols without evilly forcing people to do them. Then 'BAM'I had to open my mouth and write myself down for extra guard duty. Gosh, I'm such a pushover around her… ' he sighed, 'But that look of delight was absolutely worth it! I think I might do it again all over in a heartbeat…'

Now, one wouldn't normally think Hisagi Shuuhei had a tendency to act like a high school boy with a crush; in fact he resembled a rebel with his spikey midnight blue hair do, facial tattoos and scars along with his explosive choker and armbands. But the century old year old shinigami had been utterly smitten with the object of his affections for more than half his lifetime. One would assume that, over time, her appeal to him would have dwindled at least by a little. However, that was not the case! Despite being around her for hours every day, he was still implacably drawn to her like a moth to a flame. In fact the intensity of his feelings had actually increased! There was no doubt about it, the 9th division 3rd seater had long fallen for the person he perceived as his angel and he would do anything for her. Hell, if she turned to him one day and asked him to wear drag and do something absurd with her, he'll probably jump up with glee and ask 'What dress do you want me to wear?' while his brain questions his sanity.

By the time he had wondered to the middle of the 9th division barracks' mini garden that had a small pond and bridge going over it, he realised that he had never asked her out at all in despite knowing her for more than half a century. He came to that particular insight after he realised that every time he mustered enough guts to approach her, somehow she'd manage to make what little courage he had mustered up vanish before he could utter anything close to asking her out. Her most used 'weapon' was that effortless blinding smile of hers that she bestowed only to those close to her and Hisagi, being the 3rd seater in her division, was part of this group. No matter how many times he was at the receiving end of that blinding smile, he'd never get used to it. No one he knew that had been at the receiving end of that striking grin of hers was immune to its effect except his vice-captain, and that would be because he was blind! 'It's probably of no matter anyway…. She would never want to be with a commoner such as me… She's the daughter of one of the 4 great noble families of Seireitei after all! Not to mention she outranks-' thought Hisagi before he was interrupted in his train of thoughts by a familiar voice that called out "San-Shuu-Kun[2]!".

{ [2] : It's a combination of Shuuhei and the Japanese word for 3 ( Which is 'san'. If you haven't figured it out, in this little fan fiction, Hisagi Shuuhei is the 9th division's 3rd seater [dai san seiki - in Japanese]. ). 'San' is pronounced as sun :3 or it sounds like that to me…. }

He quickly snapped his head up to look at the person who greeted him and a look of amusement soon replaced his pensive look as he registered scene. Perched precariously on the railing of the wooden bridge was a girl with a facial expression that resembled 3rd Taichou's , Gim Ichimaru , on a normal basis except it was less paedophilic and more impish. Miraculously, that look hadn't managed to look remotely as creepy as the closed eyed, hair-raising grin that the 3rd division captain had permanently engraved on his face. From his vantage point, it almost looked as if she was about to jump into the part of small pond in front of both him and her as both her feet were braced against the lacquered black beams of the bridge. Her long silken locks of maroon hair were tied up in a high ponytail that he often saw when she took them out for training, with her fringe parted at the left of her face and covered her right eye. The hatori denoting her captaincy of the 9th squad was draped over the railing next to her. A black hilt kantana that belonged to her and was usually carried at her right hip, was now leaning against one of the beams of the bridge. Clad in a black silk outfit that resembled a normal shinigami's uniform, except that the sleeves and pants hems that were decorated by green flames that faded from forest green to light green, she had positioned her hands in front of her as if she was trying to capture one of the many kois that liked to jump out for no apparent reason. And he was correct when a koi suddenly jumped out and the girl quickly snatched it out of mid-air!

With a 'whee', the girl proceeded to flash step in front of him and merrily commented "Ne ne, San-Shuu-Kun! Do you want some koi for breakfast seeing that it's almost 5 am and I'm absolutely ravenous? I know some rather yummy fish cooking recipes!" as she held the wiggling koi in front of his face, her impish grin still in place. Caught off guard by her unpredictable actions, Shuuhei took a small step back from the fishy object that was practically in his face and broke into soft laughter after glancing at the fish and the girl for a split second. The red head, whose grin widened a tad at his reaction, then proceeded to twirl happily around and headed back to the pond to release the unfortunate koi then headed back to stand in front of the laughing Shuuhei.

"Oh-ohayo Miki Taichou! As much as I'd like to sample you cooking, I doubt koi-san would appreciate being eaten by us for breakfast," Shuuhei replied with a slight bow, slightly breathless from his fit of laughter at the utterly random actions of his Taichou, "What are you doing here at this hour?"

"Thought I could help out with the night patrol tonight seeing that we're short of a guard and the meeting of Nakashima Elders ended about an hour ago! How in the name of our benevolent king do those meetings last for almost 8 hours I will never comprehend…. *Sigh* Oh yeah! By the way, you don't happen to know the lone guard that was wondering his rounds alone are you?" replied Miki with a small gesture to signal for Hisagi to stop bowing, her tone became slightly sterner at her query of the singular guard doing rounds. Taking in Shuuhei's very slight and involuntary stiffening of his body at her query, she faked a gasp and playfully exclaimed "Oh no! How can this be? Our esteemed 3rd seater has broken the important rule of never doing patrols without a partner! Oh help! Hell has finally frozen over!"

Shuuhei gave a soft chuckle as he allowed a sheepish expression to take over his face while handing her a tissue that he kept handily on himself (Having a Taichou like Miki Taichou, he discovered, one had to be equipped with the most useful of items all the time. Like tissues, pens and hair ties.), "Gomenasai Miki Taichou, I thought that no one would turn up to pick up the slack seeing that most of us have been pulling doubles these couple of days due to the flu bug spreading around…"

Fixing her third seater with a slight glare before softening her expression and sighing while wiping the fish slime and pond water off her hands, "Such an annoying thing, that flu bug… Imagine! Majority of Gotei 13 Security Force[3] taken down by a simple bug! Who needs hollows at this rate! I do hope that you and ZenZen-Kun[4] don't catch it though. I'll be utterly helpless without the 2 of you! Goodness … Now where was I before I side-tracked…. Ahh yes, no doing solo patrol rounds… Don't try to do that again you hear? At least try asking someone to go with you or something… " Miki pondered out loud before realising how absurd the last sentence was (Since there was no one else on duty who could accompany him…) and trailed off with a frown.

{ [3] : Gotei 13 Security Force . According to what I reading up on , it said that , I quote, 'The mission of the Ninth Division is to protect the Seireitei . It is always on standby for combat because it is the security force of the Gotei 13.' . }

Hisagi chuckled at his captain's nickname of the 9th division vice captain, Tosen Kaname A.K.A. ZenZen-Kun. Despite hearing her call Tosen Fukutaichou by that nickname since he had joined the 9th division, part of him still could not believe that the stoic blind man had allowed her to call him that nickname and the scarier part was that he actually responded to it without a single complaint! Everyone could probably agree that the most ridiculous part of this rather absurd situation was that he would willingly defend that nickname without hesitation. Should anyone asked him why did he respond to such a cutesy nickname, he'd respond with variations of his cursory 'If Miki Taichou decides to call me a _( Fill in blank with some crazy nickname like MeowMeow-Kun )_, I would accept it as it is a nickname bestowed upon me by our esteemed Taichou. If she started calling you _( Insert yet another crazy nickname like Boo-Chan )_, do not tell me you would ignore it?' before walking away and leaving the sputtering person to realise that one does not simply ignore Miki Taichou or get her to change her nickname for them. Afterall, doing so would incur either her wrath or a guilt trip. A well-known fact that amongst the 9th division was that Miki's temper (Though not easily roused.) was legendary, her crestfallen puppy dog eyes was an even larger force to be reckoned with! There hasn't been a recorded instance where she never got what she want when she pulled that particular trick out of the bag. It has been said to be able to 'persuade' Nanao Ise (Vice-captain of the 8th division which is captained by Kyoraku Shunsui.) to allow her captain to slack off a few hours without getting a scolding from her!

"A simple flu bug won't keep either Tosen Fukutaichou or me down, Taichou. There's no reason why we should be brought to our knees by such a thing," Shuuhei attempted to reassure his pacing captain , "Shall we head off to grab a small bite before starting the next round around Seireitei, Taichou?"

Eyeing her 3rd seater with a slightly mournful look, Miki mumbled a sentence that sounded to Hisagi like 'Everyone says that… Then when I ask around for that person, they're sick! It's a conspiracy!' before perking up when she replied to his query "I brought breakfast for the night patrollers! As well as some tea that's supposed to make you less susceptible to this flu bug that Unohana Taichou mixed ! We'll head in after I grab my cloak and KuroiTsuki[5]!" and walked briskly back to the bridge to retrieve the afore mentioned 'cloak' and kantana.

{ [4] : ZenZen-Kun , as it states in the story, is Miki's nickname for her vice-captain , Tosen Kaname. When you pronounce ' Tosen ' , you'll realise that the ' sen' sounds a little like ' zen ' ( or so it does to me :S ) . That is the 'inspiration' of sorts that Miki had to give him that nickname . }

Unable to help himself, Shuuhei found himself ogling the beauty that was known to everyone as Nakashima Miki, the captain of the 9th division and next in line to be the Nakashima family head. Her silk outfit clung to her slender frame, allowing him a glimpse of the silhouette of a body that was often swallowed by the 9th division captain's hatori that she wore practically all the time. Shuuhei found his gaze captured first by the slender column of her neck, then by the gentle curve of her waist and finally by long legs that moved gracefully and soundlessly. All shinigamis were graceful, mused Shuuhei, but Miki Taichou exuded almost the same aura Kichiki Taichou of the 6th division emanated other than his well-known noble coldness. Not that the other captains weren't amazing, but there was this smoothness and confidence incorporated into daily mundane actions that both Kuchiki Taichou and Miki Taichou performed that was never present in the actions of others. Every small action they did seemed almost effortless. Even the most meaningless of actions seem to encompass a level of delicacy in it, almost as if anything they handled would shatter should they apply more force into it. However, the way Miki Taichou was slightly different from that of Kuchiki Taichous's. She seemed to have a knack for making the most mundane actions seem like it could have been taken out of a dance or from some erotic scene ( Such was the unfortunate impression she gave to those who had crushes on her despite her seeming almost densely naïve in several areas in spite of her age… ). The way she slid her fingers over the wooden railing of the bridge as she reached for her hatori could have been a dancer reaching out to grasp her partner's hand or a lover's delicate touch, skimming –

"-tattoo rebel! Are you back here with me, Shuu-Kun? Hisagi Shuuhei, the almighty 3rd seater who dare ignore his captain's firm orders to not do rounds in his night patrol alone, I demand you respond or – Eh? Ahh you're back to normal! Come on! Let's go munch on some yummies! Maybe that'll stop you from sliding into the famous Hisagi-Mimic-A-Stone mode!" Miki had returned from her mini hatori-and-kantana-retrieving expedition to realise that her 3rd seater was just standing there with a dreamy expression adorning his face. She had given a soft sigh while shaking her head, unable to stop a small smile adorning on her lips before launching into a her usual tirade of nonsense that she would utter to attempt to snap him out of it. She was rewarded for her efforts when her target started blinking owlishly as if to clear away his wayward thoughts and grabbed her hand that was waving in front of him. Upon realising he was back to normal (Or as remotely normal one can be a second after being dragged out their dreamland… ), Miki happily gripped her somewhat disoriented 3rd seater by the same hand (Which had grabbed her own that was waving wildly right in front of his face and then refused let go…) and hauled him towards the dining area of the 9th division barracks.

Shuuhei , who had barely snapped out of his naughty little world of imagination only to have a truckload of words bury him, found his hand in the gentle grip of the object of his affections who was tugging him towards somewhere in the 9th division barracks. While searching his mind for the exact location that his precious Taichou was dragging him to from the torrent of words that she unleashed upon him a mere minute ago, his sluggish mind finally comprehended that his beautiful Miki Taichou had her slender hand curved gently over his! Her hand was slightly chilled, due to the catching of the koi, and soft, despite the harsh rigours of fighting, was wrapped delicately around his! Her grip was firm enough to tug him along with her while delicate enough for him to pull his hand away from hers if he wanted to. It was just like her to give subconsciously people a choice in the matter of being dragged along by her, not that he'll actually pull away from her. Or maybe he was thinking too much… After that sudden thought, his brain proceeded to turn to mush as a wide dreamy grin curved on to his lips.

~*~ A few days later ~*~

"Ohayo, Miki Taichou," the deep baritone belonging to Tosen Fukutaichou broke the redhead captain's concentration. Looking up from the huge pile of reports and journals that was 'vying' for her approval, Miki saw her vice-captain place a steaming cup of green tea along with a small plate containing 3 sticks of sweet dangos covered in a brown sauce on her desk in front of her.

"ZenZen-Kun, you certainly know how to spoil a girl ne?" Miki cooed appreciatively at her vice-captain as she reached forward with both hands, papers temporarily ignored for the favour of her treat. Her right hand had moved to slide over her vice-captain's to give an appreciative squeeze while her other hand grasped one stick of the delicious treat.

The bond between the top 2 elites of the 9th division was an interesting one to say the least. However, it was one that was often misunderstood by their subordinates and the other inhabitants of Seireitei. Everyone in their squad would have, at one point of time or another, had an impression that the both of them were engaged in a furtive affair and regardless of the number of times both of them had vehemently denied it (In utter exasperation no less…), most of them still under that impression. What many thought were gestures of affection were actually clandestine deeds initially born of cohered obedience and exasperation before the onslaught of time replaced it with familiarity and concern. Back then when Kaname had just became the vice-captain after the unfortunate hollowification of Kensei Muguruma, the previous 9th division captain, both Miki and Kaname had a somewhat rocky relationship noting that she had beaten him in a duel in front of the other captains in order to secure the position of 9th division captain for herself. Kaname discovered his new captain had a rather low tolerance for paperwork and no matter how hard they both tried to make her finish her share of the monotonous monstrosity (With Kaname trying different methods of getting her to do the paper work and Miki forcing herself to do the paperwork without dozing off or daydreaming…), she would always barely finish a small fraction of her share of work despite sitting there for the whole day. It was only when things had started to take a turn for the worst did Nakashima Ryuu, Miki's elder brother who was also the head of the Nakashima family, had intervened. He had predicted that the both of them would have killed each other sooner or later and desired nothing of that sort to happen. Between the three of them, a solution (Consisting of a daily schedule of doing paperwork, treats with Kaname being forced to be a deliveryman, training and a few other things.) was forged and put into action. The situation got better over time as the solution was implemented and a mutual camaraderie between the two gradually formed. However, many misinterpreted that camaraderie as a romantic relationship and it wasn't long before tales of a love that was not meant to be concerning them started spreading. Naturally Miki got into quite a mountain load of trouble from her family elders as they believed that someone who was born into such a high rank should not be involved in a relationship with someone like Tosen. The situation was soon cleared up but still… The damage was done and the rumour still managed to hang around for more than a century. Back to the present however!

"It would not do you well to fall asleep an hour into going through this tedious administration work now would it? Especially since a little birdie told me you skipped you the most important meal of the day to gain a couple more minutes of sleep," Tosen flashed a small smile towards where he deemed Miki Taichou was sitting while returning her appreciative gesture of hand squeezing with his own, "Your assistant Editor-In-Chief requires the final copy of 'Seieritei Communication' that you're vetted through to be given to them by today, preferably now if you will, if they're to remain on schedule. Hisagi had managed to work himself into quite a frenzy thinking that he lost that copy instead of passing it to you yesterday before I reminded him that it was with you."

"Ahh…! I've vetted through it already and highlighted the problem areas. Could you give it to them for me now? By the way, I'll have you know that I had planned to head out for a bite after I'm done with this pile of…" Miki drifted off as she eyed the pile of paper that would probably require the rest of the day for her to finish before sheepishly adding "On the second thought, it was a good idea of yours to feed me…" all the while happily eating her dangos.

Chuckling softly at his captain's almost childish behaviour, Tosen gave an affirmative nod before extending a hand to receive the final draft of Seireitei Communications for the coming month from his captain.

"Could we have okonomiyaki[6] today for lunch? I haven't eaten one of those in weeks!" Miki asked while handing her vice-captain the draft. She could practically smell the aroma of the yummy meaty deliciousness that was known as okonomiyaki as she thought about what things she would have in it this time round.

{ [6] : Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients, like meat , fruits & vegetables . }

"My input would be irrelevant in this case, Taichou. I believe that you should be directing that query to the people you'll be lunching with today and not me. Have you forgotten which day is it again? Kuchiki Taichou and Nakashima-sama might not wish to have that for lunch Taichou." Tosen mildly reproached, shushing his captain after his 1st statement with an index finger in front of (Where he hoped…) was his captain's face. He knew, after all, that his opinion usually mattered to her and saying otherwise would result in a chastising capable of making grown men bawl should he not have a reasonable explanation on why he said that.

Miki threw a cross between a scowl and a pout at her vice-captain after he hushed her following his initial statement that she knew he knew would stirred up ire in her. But in any case, he was correct all counts, she grudgingly admitted to herself. If he wasn't lunching with her, obviously his opinion on it won't matter much… And yes she had lost track of the days again plus knowing Byakuya Taichous and Ryuu nii-san[7], they definitely would not indulge her with okonomiyaki knowing she'll never touch any okonomiyaki which had vegetables in it. 'Things with little to no nutritional value should not be devoured unless you wish to become something of little to no value,' Miki could practically hear Kuchiki Byakuya saying that in her mind.

{ [7] : Nii-san = brother }

Notes

[1] : Seireitei is Japanese for soul society ~

[2] : It's a combination of Shuuhei and the Japanese word for 3 ( Which is 'san'. If you haven't figured it out, in this little fan fiction, Hisagi Shuuhei is the 9th division's 3rd seater [dai san seiki - in Japanese]. ). 'San' is pronounced as sun :3 or it sounds like that to me….

[3] : Gotei 13 Security Force . According to what I reading up on , it said that , I quote, 'The mission of the Ninth Division is to protect the Seireitei . It is always on standby for combat because it is the security force of the Gotei 13.' .

[4] : ZenZen-Kun , as it states in the story, is Miki's nickname for her vice-captain , Tosen Kaname. When you pronounce ' Tosen ' , you'll realise that the ' sen' sounds a little like ' zen ' ( or so it does to me :S ) . That is the 'inspiration' of sorts that Miki had to give him that nickname .

[5] : KuroiTsuki is the name of the zanpakto that Miki carries at the right hip . It's a Kantana with black hilt and a silver guard in the shape 2 angel wings joined together .

[6] : Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients, like meat , fruits & vegetables .

[7] : Nii-san = brother