All characters belong to Tito Kibe. Contains swearing, near-death experiences and major character whump. Takes place about 30-20 years before Bleach. Minor spoilers for SS and Bount arcs. Many thanks to Sith Knight Galen for the phrase "little pink puffball."

Sunlight glinting on a jagged-edged sword stained with blood, blood staining the court yard...

Makoto Ichinose dreamed that he woke up, and Captain Inuzuri was there, and he smiled. He grabbed a cup of tea and started doing his paper work, glad that yesterday's events were a mere nightmare, nothing more. A madman hadn't come out of nowhere and killed the captain, and that clanging noise by his ear was- he cracked a lid open- only there because a little pink parasite had invaded the division and was clapping pot lids together an inch away from his ear. Oh, damn..

"Ken-chan, he's waking up!"the pink puffball chirped.
"Let's see if we can't encourage him," a male voice growled, and Ichinose was suddenly tipped out of his futon. He blinked up at the intruders. Yesterday hadn't been a nightmare, after all. The new Captain hooked the badge off his nightstand, and gestured for the child to hold her arm out.

" I figured you'd sneak back here sooner or later," the new Captain said. "Get your clothes on, and me and Yachiru will round up the rest of this traveling circus of a division. By the way, ya can keep the rooms- she won't be needing them for a while yet."
He could hear the clamor as Zaraki banged the big gong in the entry way and Yachiru clapped the pot lids together. A big sullen mass of sleepy shinigami assembled. At least five had left already, to no one's surprise.

"All right everyone, listen up. I want you in the training gym in five minutes, and then I'm going to explain how it's going to be from now on."
"Excuse me, sir," Sixth Seat Aramaki Makizue said nervously. "What about breakfast?"
Zaraki grinned. "You just volunteered to cook it. Now, does anyone want to help this gracious man out?"
The "volunteers" shuffled into the main kitchen, and the main group, headed by Yachiru, made their way to the dojo.

"Hey, look, Cap'n Ken-chan, there's a butterfly," Yachiru said, trying to catch it. It flew straight to Zaraki.

"This damn thing says I have to go pick up the officer's list. All right, you clowns, Vice-Captain Kusajishi is in charge till I get back. She loves chewing on stuff, and she hits hard. Consider yourselves warned."

Yachiru bounced over to Ichinose, who nibbled on his breakfast.

"Hi, I guess I'm the new Vice Captain, Yachiru Kusajishi. What's your name?"
"Makoto Ichinose."
"Nice to meet you, Maki. Can I have some of your porridge?"
--

Zaraki strode back in and scooped up Yachiru.

"All right, listen up. As far as I'm concerned, this list they gave me-" he held it up and tore it to shreds. "Is useless. I don't care about your records, I just want fighters. You want a seat, you earn it."
The door opened and a bald guy ran through.

"I finally caught up to you, Zaraki," he panted.

"Ikkaku Madarame, you're late. We're running a practice exam, so just wait."

Another one came in while Yachiru was busily chalking lines. A woman? Nope, that was a man.

The first line was four paces away from Zaraki, and the second one was right in front of the captain.

"If you can't make it past the first line, you're not going to get anywhere in this division. If you can make it past the second line and strike with sword, hands or feet, you're a seat. Yachiru, why don't you show 'em what to do?"

The air suddenly got thicker, and Ichinose realized what Zaraki was going to do. He was exerting his spiritual pressure against his opponents and using it as a weapon. Yachiru darted across both lines, and punched Zaraki right below the knee.

"Vice-Captain Kusajishi, please take your seat," he said, grinning. "I won't be able to run exams until next week. So for now, I'm appointing temporary seats. Makizue, seventh, Ayasegawa, sixth, Madarame, fifth, Iba, fourth, Ichinose, third. If you have the strength, you can keep your rank. Welcome to Eleventh."