Sleeping with the Enemy

Chapter 1: Third Seat, Division Five

"Confusion never stops,
Closing walls and ticking clocks
Gonna come back and take you home
I could not stop that you now know."
-Coldplay "Clocks"

Summer

She held the slip of paper in front of her as she made her way through Division Five. The slip of paper was a summons that Captain Aizen had sent her requesting her presence in the office at eight A.M. sharp, and that time was drawing dangerously near. The young woman, a longtime member of the Fifth Division, adjusted her bag and hastened her steps. She had never been late to any duties or meetings in all the decades she had been with Fifth Division. She was not about to change that now.

Finally, the Division Five offices came into view, and Nina Seito checked the time. 7:55. She would be right on time. Early, in fact.

She approached the door, but no knock was needed for the kind voice of her captain spoke to her from within. "Please come in. You are punctual, as usual."

A tall, scholarly man wearing thick, brown-framed glasses rose from his desk and approached her with a welcoming smile. "Please, have a seat. I imagine you must be dreadfully curious as to why I have summoned you here."

"Yes, I must admit I am a bit curious." Nina sat in the chair to which he gestured. She had been summoned here, and she was unsure why he wished to see her. She did not believe she was in any sort of trouble. 

"May I offer you something to drink? Some tea perhaps?" Aizen told her as he began taking down a kettle and a box of tea.

"Er...yes. That would be fine. Thank you, sir."

He gave a light chuckle. "You seem nervous. Relax." Sousuke filled the kettle with water and put it on heat.

The captain was reputed to be a gentle sort of man who rarely flustered over anything. He watched over his division with impartiality, and those under him considered their captain to be a generous and understanding man as well as a great teacher. The haori he wore over his black shinigami uniform was a mere article of clothing to him that only indicated his rank and allowed him to run things a little more smoothly.

The kettle began to whistle a short while later, and Sousuke removed it from the heat for the sake of silencing its annoying sound. He prepared tea for the both of them and handed Nina her cup before sitting down behind his desk. "So. I observed your performance in the dōjō last week, and I must say you were most impressive." He took out a manila folder and skimmed over it. "I reviewed your previous evaluations, and your achievements and improvements are commendable. Always punctual, always helpful, and I understand that you have achieved your shikai."

Nina blew on the hot tea. "Yes, that is correct, Captain. I finally earned it about..." She thought for a moment. "...a year ago."

He closed the file and placed it on the desk as Nina sipped her tea. He stole a moment to have a good look at the young lady sitting before him. She was lovely with hair as black as a crow's feather and eyes as clear and blue as the sky above them. Her skin was fair, but not sickly, and she was petite, much like Hinamori, though slightly taller. Her mannerisms told him that she was either shy or just naturally quiet natured, as some people tended to be - people like him. This one would be tricky to get to know indeed, but looks did deceive: he had seen what she could do as well as her promising potential as his Third Seat.

"Well, I know all about you as one under my command, but I know little about your personally. Tell me about yourself, if you would."

Nina looked up, somewhat take off guard. She had mentally prepared for the review well in advance, but no one told her that her captain would ask her to talk about herself. "What would you like to know?"