How to find Silver

Bleach and all its characters are the property of Tite Kubo. Other characters belong to me.

Soifon follows Hanataro on his daily routine, and what she sees surprises her.

Chapter Four: A Little Bit Better

Part 1: Interesting

Hanataro had woken up early that morning, because he wanted to get everything ready for his day. First he washed his face using water that was kept in one corner of the room. Then he changed out of the simple grey robe he slept in, and put on his soul reaper uniform. After that he double checked all of his supplies in his medical bag. Once that was done, Hanataro prepared some tea to bring to Captain Soifon.

Just as it happened yesterday, no one answered when Hanataro knocked on the door to Soifon's room. Also just like yesterday, when he entered the room, Soifon was not in her bed. So Hanataro marched over to the door to her office and entered.

Soifon was sleeping at her desk again, moaning and twitching uncomfortably. Hanataro walked over to the desk and set the tea tray down. Then he walked around behind the desk, took a deep breath, "Alright, here I go," he said as he gently grabbed Soifon's shoulder and gave it a small shake, "Captain, it's time to wake up."

.45 seconds later, Hanataro found himself flying through the air again. He rolled a short distance when he hit the ground and ended up smashing into a book self, with enough force that a few of the books fell down on top of him. "Good morning, Captain," he managed to say with a groan.

Soifon blinked at him, then simply nodded, "Good morning, Yamada," she said calmly, and watched as the boy tried to place the books that he had knocked down back on the shelf, but only succeeded in bringing the whole thing down on top of himself.

Soifon sighed and said, "Just leave it for now, Yamada. I'll just have someone else take care of it. You go and eat breakfast, and get back here so you can get started on that errand Captain Unohana wanted you to do."

"Y-yes, Ma'am," he said, bowing politely. After he left, he walked past a reaper carrying a tray of food for Captain Soifon. As the man gave Hanataro a sharp glare, the small reaper briefly wondered if it was the same soul reaper who had brought the food yesterday. He decided that it probably didn't matter.

When he got to the mess hall, Hanataro tried to make himself as unnoticeable as possible. He got through the line and to a table without any difficulty. He even managed to eat his breakfast without a hassle. They must have decided that one warning was enough, Hanataro thought as he put his tray in with the other dirty dishes. On his way back to Soifon's office, Hanataro was starting to think that this would be an uneventful morning, a rare thing for him lately. Suddenly he bumped into someone in the hallway. He really should have known better.

Hanataro took a step back and looked at the person he had bumped into. It was a tall thin soul reaper wearing the Stealth force uniform. Hanataro had begunto back up, looking around nervously as he did so, when he bumped into someone else. He tilted his headto look at the person and was not entirely surprised to see the blond woman from yesterday.

The tall reaper spoke first, catching Hanataro's attention, "Hey, Ganko, look who it is. It's that little guy… uh, what was your name again," the thin man asked, leaning in as he did so, and Hanataro could see that he wore glasses, but Hanataro could not remember if that had been the case yesterday.

"Um, I'm Hanataro Yamada, n-nice to meet you," Hanataro said and gave a small bow.

The other soul reaper nodded his head in return, "My name's Shin Masaki. And that is Ganko Muto, and if you're wondering, the short guy that was with us yesterday is called Raiha… uh, you know, I don't know if I've ever heard him say his last name," Shin said, scratching his mask thoughtfully.

Ganko raised an eyebrow, "Huh, now that you mention it, me neither," she said, and Hanataro took this chance while they were thinking to try to make his escape.

"Um, you're obviously have s-stuff to do and Captain Soifon is waiting for me, so I'll just be on my way," he began, trying to walk past them but Shin grabbed Hanataro by the collar and lifted him off the ground, and set the smaller reaper back down where he had been standing before.

"That's actually what we wanted to talk to you about. We heard that you are going to be taking care of your usual Fourth Squad duties today, and you're bringing our Lady with you. Is that right?"

Hanataro wondered how they knew that. Oh, right, ninjas, he thought and then he spoke, "Uh, y-yes," Hanataro said, knowing it was not the answer they wanted, but it was still the truth, so what else could he do?

Then he was grabbed by Ganko and spun around to face her and Hanataro had no choice but to look into her very green eyes, "Yeah, well, we have a little problem with that," she began, but Hanataro didn't get find out what that problem was, because at that moment the third member of the trio, Raiha, showed up.

Now that Hanataro saw him standing up, he could see that the hazel-eyed man was shorter than the other two, but still taller than Hanataro himself. Raiha gently broke Ganko's grip on Hanataro's collar, and set the small healer back down. He looked at his two companions, both of whom were shuffling their feet sheepishly, and neither would meet his gaze.

Raiha sighed, "I was wondering where you two had gotten to. You ran off when Lady Soifon tried to take this kid back to the Fourth Division last night, and when you returned you were both ticked off about something. At least now I know what it was about," he said, and shook his head at them, pressing his hand against his forehead as if he had a headache. "Look, you can't keep hassling the kid like this. You just make him too nervous to do his job, and the one who ends up suffering is Lady Soifon," he said as he looked at the other two to make sure they understood what he was saying. They did, fortunately, and Shin stood aside so that Hanataro could pass. Hanataro opened his mouth to thank Raiha, but the other man shook his head again, "All we ask is that you look after our Lady."

Hanataro nodded, "R-right," he said, and bowed again before hurrying on his way.

Ganko was glaring at Hanataro's back as he walked away, "I still don't like it," she said, not taking her eyes off the boy.

Shin chuckled and walked over to her side and placed his hand on her shoulder and, "You know, Ganko. If your eyes could shoot daggers, that kid would be in serious trou-," he started to say, but was cut off when they heard Hanataro yell in surprise and then they saw him fall to the floor. Shin looked at Ganko brown eyes wide. Waving his arms wildly, he yelled, "Aaah! What did you do?"

Ganko had her hands against her cheeks, as she babbled frantically, "I-it was an accident, I swear!"

Raiha hung his head, pressing his hand to his forehead again, as he tiredly said, "Guys, he just tripped."

OO

Hanataro got back to Soifon's office and went through the treatment without any further trouble, and after the medic had finished with a few more preparations, they were able to set out to the Fourth Division. Soifon looked at Hanataro, who along with his medical bag was carrying a bag which had four bento boxes inside it. She assumed that two of them were for Hanataro and herself, but she couldn't figure out who the other two were for.

When they arrived at the Fourth Division they were greeted shortly after entering the main building by Isane, who bowed to Soifon and said, "Good morning, Captain," and then she turned to Hanataro and smiled, "Good morning, Hanataro, we've missed you here," she said as she offered a small package to Hanataro.

Hanataro gave her a smile at those words, "Thank you, Lieutenant Kotetsu," he said as he took the package, "This is what Captain Unohana needed me to deliver?" He asked.

Isane looked at him for a moment before she nodded. She was a little surprised to find that she had missed his smile, but she didn't think on it for very long. "Yes, this is medicine for Captain Ukitake, he's expecting you sometime today, but Captain Unohana said you don't have to deliver it immediately, so feel free to take care of what's normally on your schedule first. Oh, and also, there is a note in the package for you, Hanataro, please read it at your convenience," the tall woman said, to which Hanataro nodded understanding.

Soifon took a step forward and spoke, "Does Captain Unohana need to speak with us?" She asked

Isane shook her head, "No, not today. She also says that you do not need to come back here later unless you still want to be assigned someone else or there is some other reason to come here that you feel cannot wait," she said, and then she turned to Hanataro and smiled again, "I meant to say this the other day, but… good luck."

Hanataro smile got even bigger, then he nodded and,after carefully placing the package into the bag with the lunches, he turned to leave with Soifon following close behind. "Um, first we'll go to the Twelfth Division, is that okay?"He asked, shyly. Then almost as if he had to explain why he added, "That's where I go first every day."

"It's your routine," the captain said simply, though she was a little surprised that someone like Hanataro would willingly go to the Twelfth Division,especially with a captain like Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

"Oh, wait," Hanataro said as he turned back the way they had come from, "I have to ask Lt. Kotetsu something, I'll be right back," he said as he ran off. After a few minutes he came back smiling and he actually seemed pretty excited about whatever he had found out, "Okay, I'm ready," he said as he started walking. Soifon simply shrugged her shoulder and followed.

Along the way, many people would stop Hanataro and ask him for a favor, and the healer almost always accepted. They were usually simple things that would only take a few minutes such as helping to tidy a room, help find a specific item in a storage room, or carry something from one Division to another one that was along the way.

Soifon was at the same time annoyed and somewhat impressed with Hanataro. Annoyed because he allowed everyone he met to turn him into his or her own personal workhorse. But she was also impressed because he somehow managed to accomplish almost everything that was asked of him while not delaying his own work overly much. That's not to say he worked efficiently, or skillfully, no definitely not skillfully. Rather, he simply kept going, if he made a mistake, he would try his best to correct it, starting over if he had to, and keep on working. As Soifon thought about it, she realized that Hanataro had done the same thing yesterday, but she had simply been too annoyed with him to notice.

While she had been thinking they arrived at the Twelfth Division building. As the pair walked through the gates and toward the tower that was Research and Development headquarters, Soifon decided to ask Hanataro a question, "So, what are we doing here exactly?" She asked calmly.

"Oh, um, I come here to visit Lt. Hinamori, Captain Unohana got me special permission to do so," Hanataro said as they entered the main building, "I just make sure her room is clean, and change her sheets, maybe read a book to her. I talked to lieutenants Abarai and Kira to find out what her favorite stories are," he said, a cheerful smile on his face.

As they walked through the halls, Soifon heard someone call out Hanataro's name. She turned and for one distressing moment she thought she saw another Hanataro. When she looked closer she realized that that was not the case, and sighed in relief.

The person had brown hair with a ponytail in the front, but his facial expression and body posture were very similar to how Hanataro usually was. When the boy got close enough to not have to shout, he leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees. After taking a few deep breaths he spoke, "H-hi, Hana, how are you?" The boy, Rin Tsubokura, asked.

Wait, all he wanted to do was to say hello? And he ran himself ragged for that? Soifon shook her head, apparently this boy had more in common with Hanataro than just looks.

Hanataro smiled at his friend, "Hi, Rin, I'm doing okay. I'm just showing Captain Soifon around today," he said, gesturing at Soifon as he did so. When Rin saw the lady captain, he bowed and gave a nervous greeting.

"I didn't know you two were friends, uh, that's a little weird," Rin said, looking out of the corner of his eye, as if this was some kind of prank someone was playing on him.

Hanataro saw Soifon's eyes narrow and hastily said, "W-we're not friends, really, I'm just supposed to act as a healer for her, y-you know, for her arm."

At this Rin looked at where Soifon's left arm was supposed to be and said, "Ohhh," as if he had only just now realized that it was missing, which would not surprise Soifon at all if that were the case.

Hanataro and Soifon started walking again and Rin followed them. After a few minutes the trio arrived at the room that Momo Hinamori was in. Soifon looked at where the young girl lay unconscious, and took a seat in a chair by the door as she watched the two boys began to sweep the floor and pick up around the room making sure everything was clean. Although, since they did this every day, she couldn't imagine that they had to do very much. As they worked, Hanataro talked ceaselessly about the news in the Seireitei, about Momo friends, and just about anything else one could think to talk about.

As Soifon watched them, she thought about how Hinamori came to be here in the first place. It could all be summed up in two words: Sosuke Aizen.

Soifon clenched her fists at the memory of it, as she, Captains Kyoraku and Hitsugaya and former captain Shinji Hirako used every skill they had at their disposal to try to defeat Aizen, and they had even thought they had succeeded when Hitsugaya managed to stab Aizen from behind. That's when they heard it, Ichigo Kurosaki yelling at them, and at that moment Aizen's body was replaced by that of Hitsugaya's childhood friend, Momo Hinamori.

Soifon shook her head, as if that would be enough to make her forget. She knew that she couldn't have done anything to stop it, not with all of her skills. After all, they hadn't done her any good earlier when she had fought against…No, that's in the past, it doesn't matter anymore, Soifon thought to herself, almost desperately so.

"Captain, are you okay?" A soft voice asked, and Soifon looked up to see Hanataro staring at her with concern. "Y-you were shaking," he said quietly so that Rin could not hear.

Soifon nodded, "Yes, I'm fine," she said sharply, and Hanataro flinched away from her. Then she remembered the conversation with Unohana from yesterday and added, "Thank you." When she said this, Hanataro let a small smile cross his face, and for some reason this made Soifon somewhat pleased. Then he looked around and walked to where Momo lay, and picked up a book that was sitting on a nightstand next to her bed. He opened it to a certain page and sat down in a chair next to the bed. "I'm going to read for a while, do you want to listen?It's a collection of poems that Lt. Kira said were some of her favorites."

Soifon shrugged her good shoulder and nodded, and Hanataro took his seat as Rin found a chair right next to Soifon, though he tried to put as much distance between them as possible. As the healer read from the book, he spoke in a quiet, soothing voice that seemed to carry through the whole room. It was actually rather nice, and Soifon started to nod off without realizing it, but as she did so, it occurred to her that Hanataro was not stuttering nearly as much as he usually did.

OO

Gor Delbern let out a frustrated growl, he was not a patient arrancar to say the least. He paced around the cave, moving back and forth around the main cavern where the group spent their free time. He let out another growl. He hated waiting around for Koga to finish the mission Ciel had given him, whatever that was.

"Oh, would you knock it off already!" Gor turned towards the voice and snorted in annoyance. He watched as a young woman with bright red hair walked towards him, a man with greying black hair followed close behind her. The girl brushed her hand through her hair, her hand flicking the ponytail she wore high on her head, bound by a large green ribbon. She glared at the large arrancar, "Can't you stand still for one minute?" The girl, Manami Hamano, said as her companion placed a placating hand on her shoulder.

"Please calm down, Young One," the older man said, his grey eyes locked with her blue ones.

Manami looked at him, annoyed, "But Shigure~" she whined and pointed at Gor, "he's annoying."

Shigure shook his head, he had known Mana for most of her life and she still behaved like such a child at times. "He is still one of our allies, we really can't afford to fight amongst ourselves," he said.

"Yes, though I think you both have a point," Beck drawled as he entered the chamber with Gil and a tall man with short silver hair and grey eyes, Shinosuke back from the Rukongai, close behind, and they all turned to look at three newcomers. "You are being somewhat annoying, Gor," the dark haired arrancar said, though his voice was neutral.

The large arrancar clenched his shovel like hands, his long nails biting into his flesh, and then he snorted, trying to calm down. He turned to Becklan, and started talking, subconsciously tapping his foot on the ground as he did so, "You know I hate to stand still too long, I have to keep moving or I'll go crazy!" He growled.

Gil poked his head out from behind Becklan's back and chirped, "Wait, isn't that a shark? I thought you were a mole."

Gor's thick, red hair stood up straight in irritation, "I'm not a mole!"

Mana giggled, she was enjoying watching the large arrancar's temper tantrum. Gor started to move towards her, raising his fist as he approached, but stopped when Beck spoke.

"That's enough," he said coolly as he walked up to the quarreling pair. "Gor, why don't you go out to the Rukongai? It's best if we cause trouble there from time to time. We don't want the reapers to grow too complacent. No, the best strategy is to keep them on edge with apparently random attacks, at least for now." Becklan turned to Gil, "I would like you to go with him, Gil. Give him a few minutes to stretch and then drag him back here."

Gil was not pleased, "Keep an eye on Gor? But that's like… ugh, work!" He said the last word with considerable distaste.

But any further protests he might have had were cut off when Gor grabbed him by the back of his white and green cloak, "A few minutes is better than nothing, so come on," he said as he dragged the blond towards the cave's main exit.

Gil held up his hands, as if pleading for help, his feet dragging against the ground as he wailed, "Noooooo!"

Mana stared after them, "Are you sure working with them is the best idea?" She asked Shigure.

The older man very pointedly did not answer.

OO

"C-captain Soifon?" Hanataro asked, timidly. His past experiences with trying to wake Soifon had not been happy ones, but he didn't have much choice, he had finished with his chores here today and wanted to continue. Soifon blinked groggily as she woke up.

She stretched out, surprised of how good she felt. She knew that she hadn't been asleep long, but that had been the best sleep she had had for some time. I didn't even have that dream, she thought, then her eyes opened wide in shock, I didn't have the dream? But up to now I've had it every time I've tried to sleep. No, every time I closed my eyes. Soifon looked over at Hanataro, was it because…

"Um, Captain," he repeated concerned, "is everything okay?" Soifon could see that the boy was nervous, as usual, but the concern in his voice touched her, though she would not show it.

"I'm fine, Yamada. Are you done here?" She asked, trying to make her face and voice as neutral as possible.

"Almost," he said as he walked toward the door, "I-I h-have to t-talk to Captain K-K-Kurotsuchi," he said, trembling and sweating visibly. Not that Soifon could blame him, Mayuri Kurotsuchi was not exactly known for his congeniality.

Rin was hesitant at first, but after a little cajoling from Hanataro, he agreed to guide them to the captain. As they walked through the halls Soifon managed to catch sight of a variety of the experiments that were being conducted in the Twelfth, many of which made the young woman wish she hadn't seen anything.

They entered a large chamber and Hanataro saw what he thought was Captain Mayuri, but Soifon , who was far better at observing details saw that the 'captain' would occasionally flicker slightly. But what was truly surprising about this, was that the image emitted a reiatsu and it was identical to that of the real Kurotsuchi's. None of this meant much to Hanataro, who had begun speaking to the image.

Rin stepped forward and placed a hand on Hanataro's shoulder. The brown haired boy pointed to the image's feet, where Soifon could make out a small cube shaped object. "It's a special image projector that the captain invented recently. It can mimic any image we feed it, and it can even go through a variety of motions. And the best part was that it can even mimic a person's reiatsu, as long as it has a sample."

Soifon thought hard about the possible uses for this device in the Stealth Force. Once they fixed that shimmering glitch, she would have to request it for her squad. It would most definitely come in handy.

"Yes, it is impressive, isn't?" A voice from behind her said. Soifon turned to see the somewhat disturbing visage of Mayuri Kurotsuchi, whose mouth was split in a wide grin. "Although I do appreciate the company, it is rather odd, to say the least to see you here, Captain Soifon," he said, his voice heavy with suspicion. Mayuri did not like members of other squads wondering around looking at his research.

Before the mad scientist could say anything more, however, Hanataro spoke up, "U-um, C-captain?" He began but faltered when Mayuri turned to look at him. The boy sank to the floor,as if he was trying to ooze through the ground, under the captain's gaze. Hanataro somehow managed to make himself continue, "A-about what I-I ask you yesterday?" The boy asked, his voice a barely audible squeak.

"Hmm?" Mayuri leaned in close to Hanataro as if he didn't know what this strange blob that happened to be wearing a soul reaper's uniform could possibly be. "Ah, yes, you… don't worry," the peculiar captain said shortly, waving his hand as if dismissing Hanataro, "I have already contacted Unohana, and she informed me that she will be sending some people to pick Hinamori up later today."

Hanataro beamed at the scientist, and started to rush from the room, but stopped at the doorway to turn back and bow to Mayuri, "Thank you," he said before he scurried off, Rin following close behind.

Soifon shook her head, He's probably running off to tell Hinamori the good news, she thought, knowing that it didn't matter to the healer that Momo was unconscious. Before Soifon went to join Hanataro she turned to Mayuri, to discuss in greater detail his little illusion device.

OO

As Hanataro and Soifon left the Twelfth division, Soifon thought she felt someone watching her, but it quickly faded.

A fair distance away, Kazuki Koga glared at Hanataro and only Hanataro for a moment, and then he turned and walked away, none of the people here are any good for what I want anyway.

OO

Gor used sonido, a technique arrancars used for high speed movement, and landed in the middle of a rundown street the center of west Rukongai, it was almost completely deserted… almost.

"Hey, Arrancar, what do you think you're doing here?" A soul reaper with short black hair asked as sunlight glinted off his sunglasses. The man hefted a huge sword with a single edge and a pick like protrusion near the end of the blade, but despite its size the man wielded it easily. "C'mon, hurry up and answer, I'm a busy guy."

Iba Tetsuzaemon couldn't help but smile to himself. When Captain Kuchiki started setting up these guard stations, Iba had accepted the orders for this post grudgingly because he thought that with Captain Kurotsuchi's anti-hollow obelisks warding off the worst of the attacks, that he wouldn't see much action. Fortunately, it looks like he had been wrong about that.

Gor looked at the soul reaper, not sure to make of the man, after a few more seconds the arrancar asked, "Are you some kind of thug or something?"

Iba's arms hung down to the ground, his mouth wide open. It took him a few moments to recover and he could say, "What was that? What would make you think I'm a thug?" Iba yelled at the arrancar, pointing his zanpakuto accusingly at him.

Another soul reaper, this one bald with small red marks at the edges of his eyes, came up from behind Iba, "Well, it's probably your language, the way you act, the way you dress, your hair…" Ikkaku Madarame said, counting each item off on his fingers before being cut off by the irate lieutenant.

"Hey, what are you trying to say, Ikkaku?" Iba asked the other man, tears streaming down his face at this betrayal.

"Hey," Gor began.

"Well, I was listing a few of the things that would make someone believe that you are a thug or a delinquent,"Ikkaku saidhis face completely calm, not at all surprised by his former squad mate's reaction.

"Um," Gor tried again.

"Who said anything about delinquent, and what do you mean by 'a few'?" Iba yelled again.

A small, red blast of light flew between the two soul reapers cutting off any further conversation, the attack carried on blasting a fair size hole into one of the houses on the street. The two soul reapers slowly turned to face the now very irritated arrancar, "Yes?" They asked in unison.

Gor's eye twitched slightly at their apparent lack of interest in him. "I've only got a few minutes here, so stop playing around and get ready to fight. C'mon, I don't have all day here… so which one of you am I going to get to rip apart," the huge arrancar said, and a positively dreamy look filled his swamp-green eyes and a small smile graced almost nonexistent lips. Gor didn't really care about fighting,unlike a lot of arrancars, but killing? Now, that was a different story entirely.

Iba smirked as he stepped forward to face the arrancar, "Fine, we already did 'rock, paper, scissors' just so we wouldn't have to waste any time," the dark-haired soul reaper said.

"I still say you cheated," Ikkaku murmured from behind Iba.

The lieutenant ignored him and said, "Alright, let's go," Iba said as he took an offensive stance before saying, "My name is Iba Tetsuzaemon, lieutenant of the Seventh Division of the Thirteen Court Guard."

"What is that about?" Gor asked, wondering why he should care about this guy's name.

"Don't you know anything about etiquette?" Iba asked the arrancar, a confident smirk on his face, "It's only good manners to tell an opponent your name before you kill them," he said as he leapt forward and swung his zanpakuto down as he tried to use it to split the arrancar's skull open.

Gor looked at the soul reaper, apparently unconcerned. Beck had made sure all of them were briefed on all of the Captains and Lieutenants, as well as any other dangerous persons from the Seireitei. This guy had been at the battle in the fake Karakura town, but he hadn't even fought, and his buddy had fought and lost outright. So the red-haired arrancar was not at all concerned with the soul reaper's Gor raised his hand, figuring his hierro would be enough to stop even that huge blade.

When the sword struck his hand, Gor's eyes opened wide in surprise as the blade cut deep into his flesh. The force of the blow was enough to push Gor's arm back so that it struck and cut into his shoulder. Iba smile got bigger, "Heh, you've got pretty tough skin. I had been hoping to cut you in half with that strike."

Gor growled, ignoring the pain, and swung his other hand down, his long nails as sharp as knives. The soul reaper vanished and Gor hit nothing but the ground, which erupted in a smallcloud of dirt and debris. Gor looked around before hesensed Iba in the air above him. The soul reaper was muttering something before he yelled, "Hado thirty-one: Shakkaho!" A red ball of energy appeared on the soul reaper's palm before it shot toward the brutish arrancar.

Gor grunted in pain when the spell struck him with a small explosion knocking him off balance. Iba was quick to take advantage of this. Using flash-step, which is how he escaped the arrancar's attack from before, Iba moved to Gor's side and swung his sword with both hands and all of his strength. With a loud battle cry Iba smashed his blade into Gor's side, sending the arrancar flying into the side of a building. Large hunks of timber fell on the arrancar burying him temporarily.

Iba was glad that this arrancar was so impatient, because Gor had been rushing to find a fight he had let his reiatsu run wild. Because of this the soul reapers had had plenty of time to evacuate the civilians in the area. This meant Iba could fight without having to hold back.

The timber sifted and tumbled away as Gor stood up. He looked at his opponent and asked, "Hey, Sunglasses, what did you say your name was again?"

Iba looked at him, and lowered his sword for a moment and rested his left hand in the folds of his uniform, "Iba Tetsuzaemon," he said calmly.

Gor smirked as he reached to his right hip and pulled out his own zanpakuto. He held up an ulu, a knife with a short, thick blade parallel to the handle, and with a snap the weapon split into two separate blades so that now he had one in each hand. Gor grinned openly, "My name is Gorune Delbern," he said as his smile got even bigger, "and now good bye!" He yelled as his reiatsu rose to a massive level and brought his arms up, pointing his weapons at Iba, "Rumble…" he began, and Iba brought his sword up as he resumed his battle stance.

Suddenly they heard someone yelling from above, "Killer move: Your time is up Kiiiiick!" Gildrick yelled as his foot smashed into the side of Gor's face, and sent the much larger arrancar flying again, so that the red head smashed through several more houses. Gil walked over to the now unconscious arrancar and turned to the two soul reapers, who were staring at him, mouths hanging open in shock. Gil bent down and grabbed Gor by the ankle before he waved at them cheerfully, "Well, it's been great, but we've gotta go now. See ya," he called as he vanished, taking Gor with him.

Ikkaku shook his head, "Sonido, huh? Well, nothing you can do about it now, Iba… uh, Iba?" Ikkaku turned to look at the lieutenant, who was now on his knees with his hands up in the air, as if pleading for the arrancars to return.

"Noooo, come back, I finally have a chance to show off, come baaaaaack!"

Ikkaku looked at his friend, rubbing his hand over his scalp, "Sheesh, man, let it go."

OO

Isane walked into the Squad Six barracks looking for her fellow lieutenant, Renji, because she had a message to deliver to him. She walked through the hall way and approached the lieutenant's office and knocked softly.

A gruff voice from inside answered, "Come in."

Isane walked into the office to see Renji looking out his window, his attention obviously on something outside. She walked up behind him and he turned to see who it was before he took a step to the side so she could look as well.

What she saw was a somewhat small soul reaper, who she believed was called Rikichi, chasing a hell butterfly around one of the porches surrounding the building. The young man was so involved in his task that he did not notice that the butterfly had flown away from the porch. Rikichi tried to follow but ended up walking off the edge and falling on his face.

Renji held a small timing device, "Two minutes and forty-eight seconds… he's getting better, first time he's tripped though," he said, and from his tone, Isane could tell that this was a fairly regular event. Renji set the timer down on the window sill and turned to face Isane, "So, what did you need, Lieutenant?"

Isane smiled to him and shook his head, "Actually, I just came here to deliver a message from Hanataro," Renji looked up at this, the young medic had been trying to keep him informed on Momo's condition. Seeing the concern on his face Isane smiled reassuringly, "No, it's nothing to worry about. Momo's fine, in fact, she will be transferred to the Fourth Division. And starting tomorrow, Captain Unohana will allow her to have visitors," she said and the smile he gave her more than made up for the trip here.

"Really? That's great," he said excitedly, "Have you told Izuru yet?" He asked, referring to the lieutenant of Squad Three, Izuru Kira. Renji, Izuru and Momo had been friends and classmates when they were going through the soul reaper academy.

Isane nodded, she had run into the blond man on her way here. "Yes, I did, and Hanataro plans to tell Captain Hitsugaya when he sees him today," the tall woman paused for a moment as she thought of something, "Did you ever find Kazuki Koga?" She asked the other lieutenant.

Rikichi poked his head in the window, "Yeah, he came back the night before last. And he's an even bigger jerk now than when he left!" The young soul reaper said.

"Rikichi, weren't you in the middle of something?" Renji asked pointedly and with a yelp Rikichi ran off, presumably to follow that hell butterfly from before. Renji turned back to Isane, "Yeah, he came back around sunset the day before yesterday. But he's been pretty difficult since then, he's always ditching work and I've gotten reports that he has been poking around other divisions, I have no idea where he went today" Renji scratched his head, "he even ditched the daily training session, which is weird because the guy never missed a chance to show off. You know, he isn't seated, but he has the skills necessary to be a third seat, maybe even a lieutenant," Isane eyes opened wide with surprise at this statement and Renji continued, "It's just because he refuses to work with anyone else and is constantly getting into fights with his superiors that he never gets promoted."

Isane almost asked why Koga hadn't tried to go to the Eleventh, it sounded like he would fit in well there, but she decided not to bring it up, since she knew that Renji had been in that squad before he entered the Sixth.

The red- haired lieutenant didn't notice Isane's hesitation and kept talking, "Plus, the night he got back, I asked if he needed to go the Fourth Division, but he refused," Renji looked at directly at her, "I couldn't help but think about what happened with Iemura the other day." Renji turned to look out of the window again and then glanced back at Isane, "I don't know much about the guy, but I do know he's had some tough breaks in his life, and he's all alone. That's one way I've been lucky, I guess. I had Izuru and Momo, and Rukia before them. Maybe all he needs is someone he can call a friend. So, I'm not going to give up on the kid. Not without trying anyway."

Isane smiled at him, "Alright, I understand. I'll ask Mr. Iemura about it when I see him later, maybe that will help you better understand the situation. I should be going now. I have to get back to work. I was just doing a favor for Hanataro," she said as she started to leave the room.

Renji waved at her, "Okay, and you know something? That kid is lucky to have someone like you looking out for him," when she heard this statement Isane blushed slightly, though it faded so quickly that Renji did not notice, "And thanks for telling me about Momo. I'll stop by to see her tomorrow."

Isane nodded before she left, "Very well, goodbye, Lieutenant Abarai," she said as she shut the door.

Renji looked out of the window one last time before he returned to his work, and watched as Rikichi chased the butterfly around with a large butterfly net but only managed to snag another soul reaper, "I'm starting to worry about that kid," Renji said to himself as Rikichi tore the net of the man's head, apologized quickly, and with a loud battle cry started chasing the insect once again.

OO

To say the least, Soifon was surprised about the amount of work Hanataro did in one morning, sweeping cleaning, delivering supplies. He would have done almost as much work in that one morning as the average soul reaper did in a whole day, if it weren't for the frequent rest stops he made, and if one were to put aside all of the goofs and mistakes he made as well. But he didn't seem to mind any of this at all. Soifon still didn't know what to think of this aspect of the boy's personality. She didn't know if he simply had the patience of a saint or if he was so simple that he just enjoyed helping others that much. As Soifon watched him try to carry a package almost as big as he was, as well as his medical bag and the bag with the box lunches in it, she decided to lean towards the 'simple' answer.

When it was almost noon, and they had delivered that last package, Hanataro lead Soifon through the woods at the base of Sokyoku Hill until they arrived at a small cave. Standing at the entrance was Captain Hitsugaya and his lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto, the latter of which rushed forward as soon she saw Hanataro and gave the small healer a big hug, "Yay, Hana's here!It's good to see you," she said as she lifted the small healer off the ground and swung him back and forth, his face trapped firmly in between her generous breasts.

After Hanataro dug himself out of her cleavage he laughed sheepishly and said, "Um, h-hi, Lt. Matsumoto. It's, uh, good to see you too," he said, scratching his head as he continued chuckling, and Soifon noticed a small trickle of blood coming from his nose. She rolled her eyes at him, and to be honest, men in general. She looked back Hanataro when he spoke again, "Oh, Captain Soifon will be joining us for lunch," he said as he lifted up the sack full of lunch boxes.

So, that's why he had so many, Soifon thought as she followed the other three to a small clearing a short distance from the cave. As they each found a place to sit down, Soifon noticed that Matsumoto kept giving her a strange look. After the fifth time Soifon finally said, "Is something the matter, Lieutenant?"

Rangiku squeaked in surprise at being found out before she said, "Well, it's just, you two make a pretty weird couple. That's all," she said, as picked up a few pickled vegetables in her chopsticks.

Hanataro saw Soifon's eye twitch in irritation, so he quickly said, "Uh, we're not a-a couple. Actually, it's a mission I'm on," he said, and explained the situation to the other two.

Rangiku nodded, "Huh, I guess that explains it. Well, you could do a lot worse than Hanataro, Captain. At least he's a cutie, right?" She said and teasingly nudged the small healer's side with her elbow.

"Ah, L-lieutenant!" he said, his face red and his voice distressed. Soifon looked at Hanataro, she wasn't so sure if 'cute' was the right word, 'irritating' might work better.

Throughout the meal, Hanataro chattered ceaselessly, much like when he had been taking care of Hinamori. Just random bits of news and, in Rangiku case, as much gossip as the healer could manage.

When Hanataro had first come here, it had been just a few days before Ichigo had woken up after his fight with Aizen. At that time he had been accompanying Captain Unohana, who had decided to check up on Hitsugaya and Rangiku. These two had suffered some of the most painful emotional trauma of all who fought in the fake Karakura town. Hanataro had been surprised at first to see how upbeat Rangiku seemed, considering what had happened with her childhood friend, Gin Ichimaru. The former captain had betrayed her and the Soul Society in order to get revenge against Aizen for her.

It was only after several days of bringing the two members of Squad Ten lunch, after the lieutenant had become used to Hanataro being there and she let her guard down slightly, that he realized that she was forcing herself to act in her usual manner, as if nothing was wrong.

And as for Captain Hitsugaya's troubles… Hanataro shook his head, he didn't have a clue what someone like him could hope to do, for either of them. But the young healer still felt he had to try.

After they finished eating and Soifon and Hanataro were ready to get going, Hanataro turned to Hitsugaya "Oh, one more thing, about Lt. Hinamori," at the mention of Momo's name, both Rangiku and Hitsugaya looked at him with concerned expressions, "Both Captains Unohana and Kurotsuchi feel that she is out of danger, and that she can be moved to the Fourth division. Captain Unohana will let her have visitors starting tomorrow," Hanataro said, a big smile on his face.

"That's great!" Rangiku said, and turned to see what her captain's reaction was, and for the first time since the battle, Hitsugaya let a small smile cross his face.

The silver haired boy paid Hanataro and Soifon a simple farewell, and led Rangiku back to the Tenth Division, so they could get back to work. And Soifon suggested that Hanataro do the same.

As they left the forest, Soifon looked at Hanataro, and she saw the contentment on the boy's face simply from making Hitsugaya smile. It was then that Soifon decided that the young healer really did like helping people that much.Actually, she thought, that kind of thing suits him rather well.

OO

Gor woke up to find that he was being dragged through the air by Gil. The blond arrancar was running through the air over the forest on the outskirts of the Rukongai, holding Gor by the ankle. Though they were in the sky, Gil was still low enough that Gor's face smashed into every tree they passed.

"Hey, what do you think you're do-oof!" The large arrancar began but all he got was a mouthful of pine needles.

"Hey, hey! You're awake. Good, you're pretty heavy," Gil said as he released Gor's leg.

Gor glared at the thin man as he stood up, "Why'd you mess with the fight? I was just about to crush that Sunglasses freak," he said anger heavy on every word.

Gil tapped his eye grill and clicked his tongue at his companion, "Well, I don't know what to tell you Gorry, your time was up."

"Yeah, but…" Gor began.

"And besides, it's too soon to show them your Resurreccion, it's best to keep that as a secret weapon," Gil said and could tell by the big man's expression that he liked the idea of being a 'secret weapon'. "Plus, Beck said it's best if we let them know we're organized, and me showing up helps show them that. If they focus all their energy on an outside threat, us, that will make it all the easier for our buddy Koga on the inside. Got it?" Gil asked

"Uh, yeah, sure," Gor lied. He had never been one for thinking ahead, he would just leave that stuff to Beck and Ciel.

Gil looked ahead and saw a Garganta open up ahead of them, "Hey, hey! What's that?" He asked, pointing.

Gor looked at him as if the blond was an idiot, and he did make it hard to tell at times, "That's a Garganta, Stupid."

Gil gave the big arrancar an annoyed look, "I meant: Who's opening it?"

"Oh… It's Ciel… and that Shinosuke guy is with her," Gor said matter-of-factly.

Gil shook his head. Gor may be stubborn and violent, but there were very few that were as skilled at sensing spiritual pressure as he was. Then Gil watched as the Garganta closed again, "She must be going to refill, huh? Well, that's to be expected. Anyway, let's get back home," he said as he continued on his way to the cave with Gor close behind.

Credits

Special thanks to:

Nasha Rei-Kun: I loved your review so much, it was a great for whenever I needed a pick me up.

FlyingMintBunny579: Well, I still don't need that coffin, thank you. Though I must have really made you wonder this time, huh?

Imperialguardsmen: Thank you for the review and thank you again for checking up on me when I didn't review for so long.

Thank you to anyone who put this story on their favorites or story alerts, I appreciate it.

Preview

Rin: Wow, what is this thing?

Hanataro: I think they call it a 'fan fiction'.

Rin: Well, what are they for?

Hanataro: Um, I don't really know, actually.

Rikichi: It's when obsessed girls put all sorts of guys together in weird pairings and make them do all kinds of dirty things.

Hanataro & Rin: WHAT!

Rikichi: Well, that's what most of them do anyway.

True Stories from the World of the Living

Ichigo was sitting in his class room, rubbing his neck, "Stupid old man," he muttered under his breath. He looked up when he saw Chizuru Honjo come stomping up to him. She leaned in close to him, her face inches from his. Ichigo looked at her nervously for several moments before he asked, "Uh, Chizuru? What are you doing?"

Chizuru gave him a disgusted look, "Back with that weirdness from before, I forgot to tell you thank you, not only did you save me, but you also saved my Hime," she said, her face extremely serious.

Ichigo tried to smile, "Ah, you're my friends, you don't need to thank m-" he started to say, but was cut off when the red haired girl slammed her hands down on his desk causing Ichigo to start to sweat nervously.

Chizuru glared at him, making the orange haired boy, "Yes, I do. If I don't thank you properly for saving my Hime, I won't be able to live with myself. That being the case I have to do something special, I'm sorry Hime!" she said and began to lean even closer to Ichigo, her lips puckered up as much as she could manage.

Ichigo leaned so far back in his chair that he fell over backwards. He rolled over and jumped up to his feet, a horrified expression on his face, "W-what do you think you're doing, Chizuru?" He asked as he backed away from her, looking back and forth rapidly, as if trying to find some kind of escape route.

Chizuru adjusted her glasses and then put her hands on her hips in a huff, "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to give you a thank you. I don't like this anymore than you do, but it's something that has to be done," she took a few steps closer to Ichigo, and to the substitute soul reaper, she looked scarier than any hollow or arrancar he has ever faced.

Ichigo took a few steps back and then he did what most men would do in his situation, he turned and ran like a scared little girl. But Chizuru was soon hot on his trail, "Get away from me!" he screamed over his shoulders as they ran through the halls of the school.

At that moment Keigo Asano and Mizuiro Kojima were just on their way to class. When he saw Ichigo heading his way, Keigo smiled hugely, and started running towards his friend, "Good morning Ichi-gaaaaah!" He was cut off Ichigo ran him over.

"Out of my way!" He yelled at them.

"Shouldn't you said that before you ran someone over?" Mizuiro asked, but at that moment Chizuru ran through, trampling directly over Keigo's prone form.

"Come back here and take it like a man, Ichigo!" Chizuru yelled at her quarry.

"Never!"

Mizuiro leaned down next to Keigo, "Well, you don't see that every day, huh?" He asked to which Keigo could only groan.

Wow, I'm finally done. Thank you all for your patience. I'm very sorry for the wait. My computer broke, and we only just got it fixed. Anyway, this is just a taste of Hanataro's day, please wait for part two. I will do my best, but I will not get your hopes up with promises I may not be able to keep. Please wish me luck and continue to support me. And remember, read and review. Well, here goes.

Sincerely,

Justagoodguy, a guy whose computer hates him.