I don't own Bleach

Natural Causes

Chapter Three: Choice or No Choice

"I think that you have a couple screws loose if you think I'd consider in enrolling in school when I'm dead," Tatsuki scoffed, "I've already been through it once, why again?"

Byakuya sighed, as if expecting this, "If you stay in Rukongai, your home will explode by the sheer force of your reiatsu."

She resisted the urge to flinch at this, knowing he was absolutely serious. Then she remembered: she didn't care. Well, she cared for Rukongai and most of the souls in it, but she didn't care for this man's thoughts. He kidnapped her and wanted her to go back to school when she was dead. Wasn't this supposed to be some sort of heaven? If it was, Heaven drew the short stick.

"Are you going to make me stay if I say 'no'?"

He almost smirked. Almost. "So if I do?"

"Teme," She growled and he glared. "You're not always going to get what you want."

"Not always," He said, "but usually at the end I do."

"Well, good luck," She said with a mocking salute as she slipped around him quickly, sliding the door open, "I can assure you that your way won't be as easily won."

She continued to walk away only to see him appear in front of her—using something that she couldn't quite remember the name of. "Do you want to protect Inoue-san?"

Tatsuki's eyes widened in alarm, "Of course I want to protect, Orihime!"

"The only way you can, is to become a soul reaper," He said grimly, "unless you want to continue to be completely useless."

"You think everyone has their uses when they're under your control?" She asked with an eyebrow raised, trying to keep her temper in check.

"In more ways than one," He said monotonously, "many are absolutely useless when they do absolutely nothing—!"

Her fist crashed into his face, despite the difference in height—she still left a rather large red mark on his cheek at the corner of his eye. He took a step back to see her absolutely angered expression before she swept away from him. "Hell will freeze over when I accept your offer," was what she spat at him before walking straight out of the Kuchiki compound.

Fury pulsed through her system, and she could feel her footsteps becoming that much heavier. Whenever she was angry, it felt like she was stomping holes in the ground. It was morphing her system until she stopped—she had walked too far and now had no idea where she was.

"Dammit," She cursed under her breath. Her dark eyes darted around as she took in her surroundings. Grassy green training fields with two dojos at the sides, a large building wholly expecting people to fill it. Then she spotted the scarier flaws, the bare patches of brown that dusted the ground, dots of crimson in freshly grown grass, chippings in the buildings, and the two dojos looked as though they were going to fall apart. For a moment she thought she was back in Rukongai, then remembered there was a large gate she had to pass through and she knew that there was no way she had already gone through it.

Narrowing her eyes, she looked around with only the slightest curiosity—though it was more wary than curious. Wind blew in her direction, blowing the skirt of her yukata to reveal her long, muscular legs. Bare toes clenched the grass—this cold wasn't a good feeling. Then, she sighed, "Whoever's there, come out."

No one came out.

"Fine, fine, then tell me a way to get out."

No answer.

"God, I sound like a nut." She murmured under her breath as she walked towards where she came in, time to retrace her steps. This meant she would have to go back to the Kuchiki Compound. She internally groaned at that thought.

A whistle in the wind alerted her and she bent her knees, quickly tucking them beneath her and her back against the ground—her hands up, holding a small pink bullet of a child. The pinkette looked down at her with puzzled eyes, wonder why she wasn't able to ram into the pixie haired girl. Tatsuki blinked a couple times as she took in the child's appearance: short pink hair that curled out at the ends, wide, bright red eyes, a permanent blush, and soul reaper robes.

The small girl began to grab at her with the oddest of words bubbling forth, the only thing that made sense was, "Let me go, Moony-chan."

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow before setting the pinkette onto the ground and raising herself back up on the tips of her toes before looking down at the smaller girl. "I'm a bit lost, could you point the direction to Rukongai?"

The girl blinked, "How does a soul get out of Rukongai?"

"I was kidnapped by Princess and his buffoons." Tatsuki scoffed and the younger girl giggled.

"Who's Princess?"

"Captain Kuchiki-san," She said with a roll of her eyes, showing that she meant everything but respect.

"Byakushi!" the girl squealed with delight and Tatsuki whirled around with a groan. It was as if his name was the magic word to get him to appear out of nowhere. He looked rather angry while sporting a large bruise that covered the corner of his eye.

"Princess do you enjoy stalking me?"

His undeniable scowl deepened, "How long are you going to resist?"

"As long as you persist and longer," She snapped back with her arms crossed over her chest.

His brow furrowed and his glare sharpened, only to have the very same pink haired bullet hit him square in the shoulder and for the girl to start playing with his hair. He knew he couldn't do anything about it, so he lived with it. Though it was thoroughly humiliating to see Tatsuki snickering at him about it.

"Byakushi, why are you following Moony-chan?"

"I'm trying to tell her she should go to the Soul Reaper Academy." He said, knowing the younger girl would be on his side and Tatsuki mentally face palmed.

"I won't become a Soul Reaper."

'Oh, yes you will!'

"Great! Another thing telling me that I should deny my own wishes." Tatsuki said throwing her hands toward the heavens, "Today's the best day of being dead ever!"

'Hey! I have a name, y'know!'

"Hmm, what?" Tatsuki growled, "Was I born with another soul in my brain?"

'Close enough.' The female voice sighed in her mind. 'My name is Reimeiuta.'

"Arisawa Tatsuki," She said and she turned around to look at the two soul reapers that were looking at her as if she was crazy. "Being here is making me delusional, there's someone named Reimeiuta in my head."

'Hey! That's insulting!'

Tatsuki rolled her eyes, not caring for she was crazy now.

"Byakushi! She's talking to her zanpakuto!!!" the pink haired bullet squeaked.

Tatsuki sniffed, obviously insulted—her expression stony. "I'm leaving. I'll find my own way back to Rukongai."

As she reached the gates of Division 11, the same persistent captain appeared at her side. Her fist shot out at him in a crack as he caught it, a little surprised by the force behind it.

"If I do this," She whispered, "can I go back to Rukongai?"

"Yes," He answered, "to say your goodbyes."

She glared at him and allowed her arms to fall to her sides, "You're not going to let me leave, are you?"

"No."

Tatsuki tried to walk away, but her body was paralyzed. She could hear a chuckling in the back of her head and knew who it was immediately. Reimeiuta, she internally growled and the Zanpakuto howled with laughter. "Looks like Reimeiuta doesn't want me to leave." Her eyes were narrowed. There were sharp shocks rolling down her spine, but they oddly felt good.

"Good." Byakuya said, internally sighing in relief. Chasing this girl down was a hassle.

"Why are you so insistent about me anyway?"

"For the safety of Rukongai," He said simply, but firmly, "you can't control your reiatsu."

"Fine," She said through grinding teeth, "One year, and if I tolerate it without throttling anyone I'll stay."

"Good."

"Oh yeah, there's something I wanna tell you." She said, motioning for him to bend over with her finger. He complied without a word and she slap-punched him across the face. It was as if she couldn't decide the two, then chose to slap him—then changed it to a punch. He didn't catch it this time.

He pulled himself back up in a dignified fashion, but he couldn't hide his shock.

"Don't ask me why," She said in a low growl, "you should know, Princess."

The corner of his lip twitched and he was about to say something—

The very same pink haired rocket launched herself at Tatsuki again, who caught her again with unsteady arms. The girl grinned up at her.

"I'm Lieutenant Kusajishi Yachiru!" She piped up with a broad grin and Tatsuki set the pinkette down with an eyebrow raised.

"I see." Tatsuki said looking over Yachiru to see a large, muscled man who was wearing a captain's haori. Wow, her luck really sucked today. "I'm Arisawa Tatsuki."

"Hai, Moony-chan!"

Tatsuki wasn't sure if she should correct the young lieutenant about her name or just leave it be, if it was anyone else she would have already punched them in the face. But she couldn't punch this one, she looked like a six year old.

"Ken-chan!" She cried out as she latched onto the taller, muscular, scarred man that walked up with a feminine man and a bald man flanking behind him. Tatsuki sighed and turned to Byakuya in obvious annoyance.

"Fine, take me to this damn academy, I'd just prefer not to have an audience."

It ran through his mind, "Follow me."

The two left without a word to the other captain or his subordinates. Almost in a second, he pulled her against his form and flash stepped away and they stopped at tall, ancient-looking building. She instantly jerked away from him, feeling both dizzy and nauseous. It was then that she decided that she would never learn that move. Being sick and dead at the same time made her brain melt a little.

"What the hell, Princess?" She slurred while grabbing his arm tightly for support. Her gaze throwing daggers at his face.

"I'm going to introduce you to a teacher that I found was of great help to me." He said walking in, expecting her to follow. Much to her rue, she followed him in. She knew that she had no chance of escaping him right now. They continued to walk until they were in front of an office door. The name on the door was written in such messy calligraphy that Tatsuki couldn't decipher it. Man, it's worse than mine, she thought.

He opened the door without knocking to see the entire room in complete order, everything was meticulously place. As if you took one thing out of place and the room would fall apart. Though there was one thing out of place, the woman sleeping at her desk. A mass of curly, black hair was pulled back into a lazy pony tail and her arms were tucked beneath her, a small puddle of drool next to her mouth.

"Yamashiro-san." Byakuya said strictly and she jerked up, alarmed—then relaxed when she saw Byakuya.

"Oh, it's just you, Kuchiki-taicho." She said with a wave of her hand as she began to clean up the puddle off of her desk. Her brown eyed gaze flickered up to Tatsuki, "Kuchiki-taaaaiiiiiicho…" Was her simple warning.

"I have a student for you, Yamashiro-san," He said nonchalantly.

Yamashiro sat up a little straighter as she observed Tatsuki from across her desk. "And her name would be?"

"Arisawa Tatsuki," She said, feeling sweat bead up on her forehead.

Yamashiro observed her for a few more minutes before leaning back in her chair and setting her hair behind her head. "Alright, I'll take her as mine, Kuchiki-taicho, but you owe me food."

She turned her gaze to Tatsuki with a menacing glint, "I'm Yamashiro Tsubaki, welcome to hell."

A/N: Ok, this is getting really hard to write. I just realized how little I know Byakuya. It's like writing about a block of wood. Tatsuki's fun, but all we really know of her is her temper and her protective personality. Byakuya: protective, calm, monotonous, and cold-natured. I swear a squirrel is easier to write about than Byakuya! At least they're spontaneous!!!

Alright, there goes my rant.

Tatsuki's zanpakuto—Reimeiuta-Thunder Song.

You'll see her try and use it sooner or later. Just not now.