Well hello there, and welcome to the next chapter of Seireitei's Angel.

I am so sorry that it's taken me this long to get the next chapter out. I recently got a job and that has been taking up a lot of my time. But I promise that more will be coming out and soon.

Another thing, I know that the last few chapters have been nothing but combat, and I'm sorry to say that if you don't like that, you won't be the biggest fan of this chapter either.

I promise though, after this chapter, there will be less action and more trekking forward in the story and bit more romance.

So without further delay, let us went.

I own nothing except for my OC.

**"Talking"**

**Thinking**

**"Zanpakuto/Hollow Talking"**

**Zanpakuto/Hollow Thinking**

Arthur woke up to the annoying rays of sunlight shining in his eyes. Grumbling, he turned over and sat up; stretching his arms and hopping out of his bed. As last night's events re-emerged in his memory, a large grin grew on Arthur's face. It grew bigger when the memory of his plans for that night resurfaced. He started to get dressed and stopped when a thought had hit him, where was he going to take Isane out to eat? I haven't really been to any other place then the bar. I'll just ask the Perv if he knows anywhere nice to go. Nodding to himself, he went through the rest of his agenda. He then remembered where he had to be. OH SHIT! Arthur then quickly threw on the rest of his clothes and rushed towards the 11th Division's Barracks.

**11th Division Barracks**

Kenpachi Zakarai wasn't a man that was known for his patience. In short, he hated to be kept waiting. Which is why when Arthur showed up ten minutes late, the whole of the 11th Division cringed behind him as they awaited their Captain's response.

"You're late." All present could hear the annoyance that was in the large Captain's tone. That itself was usually a warning, causing most of the division to back up. Arthur put a hand behind his head and gave a weak chuckle; "Sorry about that. I woke up a little later than I had expected to." Kenpachi merely growled in response and turned back around to see the shocked stares of his division. "What are you all gawking at?!" The sound of their angry Captain's voice brought them all back down to earth. They all snapped back to attention and screamed in a unified voice; "Nothing sir!" Kenpachi rolled his eyes and gestured towards Arthur. "This is Arthur…something or other. He's going to be the newest addition to our division, as well as our new Fifth Seated Officer." This got a big reaction, from both the crowd and Arthur. "Wait a second. I don't remember being told that I was to be an Officer."

Hearing a chuckle, Arthur turned around to see Ikkaku shaking his head. "You fought and held your own against one of the most powerful people in the Seireitei, not to mention that you've unlocked your Shikai, and you really don't think that merits an Officer's seat?" Arthur shrugged and turned away with a small blush on his cheek. The way Ikkaku had described it made him feel a little stupid; "Well…yeah." Ikkaku shook his head once again; "Take it from me Richards, lose the modesty. That may be seen as a good aspect in some of the other divisions, but here, you show that and we'll all see it as a sign of weakness." Arthur nodded his head in thanks and turned back to meet the judging faces of his Division. They all looked pretty strong and even the women had looks on their face that said "Mess with me and you won't live to regret it." Arthur then noticed Kenpachi walking off the stage and could see Ikkaku stretching out of the corner of his eye.

"Wait, what's going on?" The spikey-haired captain answered with what sounded like an annoyed sigh; "You and Ikkaku are going to have a match. It's a kind of initiation we do for all the new officers."

"Why do I have to fight? I fought against you yesterday just to join the division. What's the point?" Though that wasn't the only reason, and Kenpachi could sense it. Even though Isane and the 4th Division did a good job of healing him, reishi to time to become restored, and Arthur had used a lot in both fighting Kenpachi and unlocking his Shikai. "Then this should be a piece of cake, shouldn't it?" Kenpachi gave Arthur his psychotic grin and went to stand among the crowd. Well this is gonna suck. Arthur took a deep breath before turning his attention to Ikkaku. Said Third Seat was in the middle of performing his pre-fight "Luck Dance." Arthur decided to use this time to go over what he knew about his opponent.

Okay, Ikkaku was one of the people helping me train over the past few years. That means he knows a lot of my moves and my fighting-style, but that doesn't mean he knows all of my tricks.

Over the last two years, there had been times when no one was available to train with Arthur. So, he took those days to perfect what he was taught and had even created a few of his own techniques. That gives me a slight advantage, even though he has a few advantages of his own. He then noticed that Ikkaku was finishing up his dance. With a sigh of defeat, Arthur began to remove the upper portion of his robes. This brought many cries of indignation, looks of confusion, and blushes from the crowd.

"What the hell!? Why are you stripping? Keep going! Keep your clothes on!" The second to last comment caused a blush to appear on Arthur's face and a laugh from the man opposite him. Many in the crowd couldn't stop themselves from staring at the long, jagged scar that had formed across his chest. This caused Ikkaku and Kenpachi's eyebrows to rise. It was in the exact place where he'd been cut the day before. They didn't know, but the wounds he receives before he releases his Shikai is still present and reappears after it's sealed. Prodyous' main purpose is to protect and therefore, his wielder's mind and body are both protected when he is released. When he finished taking it off, he made sure to fold it and bent down, smiling to the person below him. She was a woman of about 5'6 with brown hair and green eyes and her face became a bright red when his smile reached her. "Would you mind holding onto this for me?" She nodded and gently took the fabric from his hands. Arthur gave her a nod of thanks and turned to meet the questioning gaze of his friend.

He gave a small shrug and began to stretch as he explained; "Pretty much every fight I've been in has either completely or nearly destroyed my clothes and I'm tired of having to get new sets." Ikkaku nodded at the explanation and remembered all the times they trained together and how they almost always ended with how Arthur just described.

Finishing his stretches, Arthur took his zanpakuto, now with a strap, and slung it over his shoulders in a baldric position. Ikkaku readied his own zanpakuto with the sheath in the opposite hand; "Ready when you are." Arthur got into a stance that Ikkaku had not yet seen. His body was facing sideways and crouched towards the ground. His left arm rose into the air with his right going down towards the ground, his hands in an open palm strike (Goku's stance when he first fights Vegeta). Ikkaku felt a small shiver run down his back as Arthur's usually carefree look was replaced by one of determination and the air around him became thick with confidence. A stare down began between the two and when Kenpachi gave a small grunt to begin, they both jumped towards each other.

They met in the air. Ikkaku slashed downwards with his sheath, forcing Arthur to block with his arm. Ikkaku then followed up with a strike directed towards Arthur's midsection with his zanpakuto. Arthur flipped his arm that was blocking the sheath and grabbed it, forcing off it and falling back. The zanpakuto passed through the air a few inches above his head and caused Ikkaku to lose his balance for a second. Arthur took advantage of that one second and pushed forward. He threw a punch at Ikkaku's face, only to have it hit air as Ikkaku leaned left. Arthur smirked and kicked the officer in the side and sent him to the ground. Ikkaku landed on his feet after he flipped himself. "Not bad, but I know that you can do better."

Arthur stayed silent and gave Ikkaku a blank stare. His eyes widened when Ikkaku. He began to look around the area until he finally found him. Unfortunately, Ikkaku appeared right in front of Arthur, his zanpakuto already in motion. Arthur quickly back flipped out of the way and saw the blade destroy the bit of land where he had just been. His instincts screamed at him as he rolled to his left, feeling the air of a passing sword. For the next few minutes, it was nothing more than a game of cat and mouse as Ikkaku made sure that Arthur had no room to breathe. Finally, Ikkaku faked right and caught Arthur in his left side. The force of the swing sent Arthur into a nearby wall. Ikkaku checked the ground and smiled when he saw a decent amount of blood where Arthur was just standing. "Don't count me out yet, I'm just getting started."

All eyes went to the dust cloud that covered the area where Arthur was. When it cleared, everyone saw that Arthur was on his feet. There was a familiar white aura surrounding his body and Ikkaku's eyes narrowed when he saw that the cut on Arthur's left flank wasn't as deep as he had thought. "That was close. If I had been any slower, that could have been a whole lot worse." Arthur walked forward and brought his hands to his face, switching into a basic boxing stance. "You ready to get serious?" Arthur's aura grew brighter and his reiatsu flared, forcing a few of those in the crowd to their knees and caused Ikkaku to brace himself. Despite the show of power, Ikkaku's smile came back in full force as he placed his sheath to the pommel of his zanpakuto; "You bet! But let's say you and me kick it up a notch." His reiatsu flooded over the field and made Arthur stagger, causing the fighter to narrow his eyes. "Extend, Hozyukimaru!" A red light encased both the sword and sheath as they seemed to fuse together and get longer. When the light died down, Ikkaku was holding a large spear. The pole seemed to be made of wood with a single-edged steel blade on the end. Ikkaku then proceeded to do a series of spins and twirls with the spear before pointing it at Arthur. Deciding not to take any chances, Arthur reached over his shoulder and drew his zanpakuto.

Many in the crowd began to whisper and place bets with each other on who would win. Majority bet on Ikkaku, seeing as he had his Shikai activated and had Arthur on the defensive the whole time. Those that had bet on Arthur had a valid reason, which was soon voiced by Kenpachi; "He's only just drawn his sword."

"Alright then. Round 2."

Arthur took the initiative and charged the bald officer, using his reishi to enhance his speed. He appeared in front of Ikkaku within the blink of an eye and slashed at Ikkaku's right. Ikkaku blocked with the pole of his spear, grunting as he was forced back. Arthur then coated his blade with reishi and began to cut through the weapon. Ikkaku smirked and began to push back, "Got you!" The shaft of the spear separated and became like a sort of nunchaku, attached by a metal chain. It wrapped around Arthur's zanpakuto, also cutting the others arm. Arthur grit his teeth and quickly Shunpo-ed away, panting. Damn, he's a lot stronger and a bit more skilled than I thought he was. He then charged again, this time landing a solid blow on Ikkaku's forearm. Both then jumped back. Arthur noticed that though Ikkaku was also panting, he showed no signs of slowing down whatsoever. He bit his lip and swallowed his pride.

"I yield."

Groans and cheers rose from the audience as they both won and lost their bets.

Ikkaku frowned and stood up straight; "Why'd you do that? I can tell that both of us were about to really go at it." Arthur chuckled and began to the crowd; "That's exactly why I stopped. Well, one of the reasons anyway." He shook his head at his friend's questioning gaze. "If we had kept going and fought all out, we would have probably destroyed a large portion of our barracks and I'm almost positive that we would have been punished by the Head Captain." Arthur stopped in front of the girl holding his robe and thanked her before taking it back; giving her a disarming smile that made her face turn red. "Also, I may not have looked it, but I'm running pretty low on gas and still haven't fully recovered from yesterday. I would have lost this fight for sure." He tossed his robe over his shoulder and turned to face his Captain.

Kenpachi kept a straight face as he looked over his newest addition; "You're telling me, that was nothing like our last fight. I'll let you slide with the forfeit this time, but..." He leaned in and gave a maniacal grin, "I expect my officers to fight until they can't move their bodies. Is that clear?" Getting a nod from his new Fifth Seat, Kenpachi faced his division and gave a few more announcements. "Now then, you're all dismissed." Everyone went about their own devices. Arthur went and checked out his new office. It was pretty plain and he noticed a stack of papers already on his desk.

It needs some work, but it'll do. Now, for those papers and tonight.

So Arthur went and began his new life as an officer. The only thing gnawing at him was where he was supposed to take Isane out to eat that night.

And there it is.

Chapter 9 is finally completed. As I said, the next chapter won't have that much action and will focus more on the plot and a little bit of romance.

Again, sorry it took so long, but I'm back and so is Arthur.

Reaper, over and out