Finding The Seasons

chapter 1

I walked down the streets of Soul Society, occasionally passing by soul reapers. It was quite easy to distinguish between the different squads, especially the barbarians from Kenpachi's 11th squad. I held my breath and tongue as I passed those low-lives. They were drinking sake and leaving trails of cigarette butts as they walked, or should I say staggered, past me. It was the middle of the day for God's sake! They were obviously still on duty! Those muscle-headed idiots think they're all that, simply because they belong in the "strongest" squad. Please! How pathetic. I chuckled slightly at the thought of their downfall. Of course, I had nothing against Kenpachi. He was, in my opinion, a pretty cool guy. Yes, he may like fights, almost to the point of obsession, but his compassion towards Yachiru is quite touching. His strength is also quite impeccable, but that is to be expected of a captain. Speaking of captains... They're all quite nice; I've actually acquainted all of them. Well... Not Soi Fon, but well... She's... Quite frankly, she's a hardcore bitch.  

I sighed and turned at a nearby corner. *BAM!!* I raised my eyes to meet the gazes of three very tall and overly muscular men. They looked like the thugs from squad eleven but their uniform said otherwise. I immediately recognized them as the lower-ranked soul reapers of squad three. They were leaving the squad barracks, right before the coat ceremony. I restrained my eye from twitching. "Why hey there lil' cutie!" the biggest one in the center snorted. "Haven't seen ya 'round here before!" the smaller one on the left chuckled. I held my tongue and managed to say "I'm new to the squad." "Whoa there! What's with the 'tude?!" the last one scoffed tastelessly. "A woman should not talk with that kind of tone," the second one snickered. "Should we teach 'er a lesson?" the tallest one grinned as he reached his sweaty palms towards me. 

I was about to deflect his hand when suddenly another reached out to stop it. "That is enough. You three should be at the ceremony," a depressing young blond said with deft authority. His build was far smaller than the others, but it was quite evident that he held a power far above them. 

"V-vice captain Kira!" they all stammered in perfect sync. He raised an eyebrow at the sound of his name. "Well? What are you waiting for? The ceremony room isn't going to come to you," he spoke with exasperation. "Y-yes sir!" they sputtered as they sped off. As soon as they were out of sight, his stern face dropped and he let out a small sigh. "I am sorry for all the troubles that they have caused you miss," he said as he offered a gawky smile. He was obviously not comfortable around women. "Oh no, I had the situation handled, but thank you for helping me," I replied as politely as I could.  

His eyes wandered around for a bit, until he saw the Chinese symbol for squad three on my uniform. "Oh! You must be a new member!" he exclaimed, desperate to kill off the awkward mood. "Yeah. Today's my first day," I said as I gave a sincere smile. "Well then, you definitely need to show up to the ceremony. Low-ranked members don't usually get their own ceremony, but the new captain personally requested to introduce all the new members during his coat ceremony. Doesn't he sound amazing? Nobody knows anything about him, but he is already well-respected by all the members of squad three, and possibly all of the gotei 13. Only his name and the fact that he fought on par with the head captain was revealed," he chatted excitedly. I smiled to myself; my new vice-captain was quite chatty. Kira caught a glimpse of my smile and blushed a deep, tomato red, "Sorry, I'm talking far too much." I laughed, "It's okay, it was better than the awkward silence." He let out a nervous laugh, "Yeah, I agree.." 

We chatted aimlessly until we reached the center of the barracks. "Well, I have to finish up the arrangements, so I guess I will see you around," he said. "Okay," I shrugged as I started to walk through the doorway. "Oh, by the way," he said, quickly stopping me in my tracks, "I never asked for your name." "It's Tatsuyoshi," I said plainly. His eyes widened in shock, "Tatsuyoshi?! As in.. Kimura Tatsuyoshi"? I gave no response; instead, I smirked and made my way towards the other new recruits.