It's been many decades since I was a rookie Shinigami.

Now, I was considered a senior officer.

I was still quite low in the totem pole of power but no matter what Yamamoto-soutaichou offered, I refused to rise higher than my twentieth seat. Why? Because though it is known that I'm vastly more skilled and powerful than that of even the tenth seat, I refuse to climb through the ranks before I fully learned how to gain control of both my temperament and my shikai.

Both were an uphill battle.

Now it's been over two hundred years since I opened my eyes in Rukongai and now I felt I was finally ready. Years of control training. Centuries of diligent practice have all come down to this. I believe I've finally mastered my shikai. Completely mastered it, without faltering.

That's what I believe anyways. Real world application is always different from training during jinzen. Besides that, the only way I can accept that I've truly accepted that I have fully master of my power is through a real world example.

The chance to unleash my shikai can't come any sooner.

"Lady," called out a voice from outside my barrack door. I opened my eyes, re-orientating my senses out of the meditative state they once were in. I got up and opened the door to reveal Tristan. He was one of the youngest Shinigami's admitted into the Gotei Juu-san and had to dubious honor of being my apprentice.

"What is it?"

"Soutaichou calls." He said as simply as possible with the softest voice anyone could. Tristan was a lot of things. Young, nervous around large crowds, non-confrontational, quiet, and in love with reading more than he is with swordplay. But the boy had a heart a gold, joining the Gotei Juu-san to help protect his circle. His circle included differently abled souls.

The blind, deaf, ones born with missing limbs, those whose minds worked different than regular people, and so many others, they didn't have any representation within Soul Society so Tristan stepped out of his comfort zone and though it was torture to him, he recently graduated and became part of the Third Company unseated rookies.

When I heard of a young Shinigami with such admirable aspirations and no support, I knew what to do. I found the boy and offered my mentorship. He took it because everyone else he asked either turned him down or used the bullshit excuse of, 'I don't know what you need.'

Idiots. All they had to do was ask.

So I asked and all he really needed was some guidance on how best to bring attention to the despairs differently-abled people had to face in Rukongai. He also needed to keep up with his personal training and though he didn't ask, I gave him routes around Seireitei to help him avoid the usual traffic of Shinigami.

Since then, we haven't separated.

"Thank you, Tristan. Let's go," I said as I grabbed Michael and tied him to my hip.

We made our way through the streets of Seireitei for a short while before entering the Head-Quarters of the First Company. It's been so long that nobody ever questions the presence of my shadow anymore, just taking it in as a regular occurrence now.

"Lady?" Tristan asked, tugging the sleeve of my uniform once to grab my attention. I took in his tone, his touch, and tried to guess what he wanted to ask.

"Why did the soutaichou call me?" I said and he nodded in affirmation twice, then three times. "New mission. Parameters are unknown as of now. Have you attempted jinzen this morning?"

"Hai, Lady." Tristan has always called me 'Lady' as in Lady Agito Diabolos or Diabolos-sama but since both options were a bit too long winded for his tastes, he just calls me 'Lady'. I find it sweet.

"Any progress?" I asked. Tristan shook his head in the negative. Most Shinigami who graduate from the Academy haven't met their zanpakuto spirits. It's not unheard of for a student to do so but not usual. Tristan was among the group that barely entered their Inner World around the time graduation called.

I've set his training schedule for him to attempt Jinzen everyday and he has. But the appearance of his zanpakuto remained illusive. I trusted that whoever his zanpakuto was, it wasn't hiding out of maliciousness.

"More than likely, I will be sent out on a mission that you won't be able to follow. Nearly an hour from now, you'll be meeting my sister in the Fourth Company, yes? When you're finished with that and if I haven't return, I ask that you return to jinzen and try your best to find your zanpakuto spirit."

Tristan made a single noise of discontent. I stopped and turned back, not put off when he refused to meet my eye. The boy couldn't look anyone in the eye, that's just how he decided to interact with the world.

"No, you will find them," I said, "There are too many shinigami here who meet their zanpakuto and forget that they have to continue'll meet their spirit afterwards. I just want you to have a habit before I really have to start training you."

This time, his hum of discontent had a whine to it, one which I could immediately translate. It took some time for me to understand the various noises he replaced his words with but it was worth it.

"I know you don't want to, but it has to happen one way or the other," I said, knowing that Tristan hated the idea of having to fight or even learn zanjutsu. The boy didn't like fighting, his aim as a Shinigami was connection, social work. And though I found his aspirations admirable and would help as much as I could, there was the undeniable truth that his abilities as a Shinigami couldn't waver.

When we arrived at Yamamoto-soutaichou office, Tristan had to wait outside, being a Third Company unseated officer, as I was granted access inside. I took a respectable bow before my mentor under the eyes of three other Shinigami already attending the meeting.

"Agito Diabolos, reporting," I said.

"Now we must wait for Natsu Shikanai," said the third seat. My eye twitched at the name. Why must he be the one we have to wait on? Let me tell you something about Natsu. Ever since orientation day, he's been nothing but a pain. I will admitted that his performance in his zanpukuto training was diligent but his entire attitude towards his Shinigami duties lacked any real professionalism.

In fact, he took his job as a joke. And one such joke he continued to extort was annoying the fuck out of me during working hours.

"Oi! Sorry I'm late! My shower head hasn't been working lately and-"

"Your tardiness will not be excused but it will not be punished until after your mission," said the soutaichou from his office seat, "You five will be take a patrol of Seireitei with third seat, Takashi Harada. Your mission is to thoroughly check District go-juu-ichi for any signs of hollow presence. If found, exterminate the hollows and report back to me. Under no circumstances will you split apart. You work as a team and die as a team. Do you understand?"

"Sir, yes sir!" We all chorused together.

"Dismissed!" Third seat Takashi stood and we followed out after him. Takashi Harada was a tall man with neatly chopped blond hair, eyes hidden behind red oval glasses and wearing a long white scarf. As we followed obediently after him, Natsu stepped out of line.

"Awww, soutaichou always has to ruin all the fun! Has to put me in a group with these losers. Oi! Takashi, what exactly should we expect?" Third seat Harada stopped and turned around, looking straight at Natsu.

"Natsu Shikanai, twelth seat. You will not speak out of turn or else I will make sure you stay as nothing but an unseated officer." I was unimpressed with both Natsu for his behavior and at Takashi because I found that authority that needs to make threats to keep subordinates in line to be distastful. Takashi-san must have seen the frown on my face because he turned to me and demanded, "State your name, Shinigami."

"Agito Diabolos, twentieth seat."

"Diabolos hm? You will babysit Natsu. If your charge steps out of line, you must do whatever it takes to set him back on track. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Natsu glared at me while I scowled, irritated that I had babysitting duty when that wasn't my fucking job. Takashi turned around and began to walk again. When Natsu kept still instead of walking ahead with the others I simply grabbed his shirt and dragged him with us.

"Don't push the merchandise lady!"

"Don't push my patience," I growled, "I refuse to babysit a grown adult. Behave and this mission will be over."

I threw him forward so that he was ahead of me and I took the rear guard. He stumbled forward but continued to walk. The patrol walked outside before shunpo-ing to the Northern Gate. Once there, we stopped so that Takashi can get a pass to go through the gate to the outer Rukongai District.

"Lady!" My head snapped around and I wanted to glare at Tristan who had followed after us without permission but I couldn't. The boy has to face ignorant hatred nearly every day. I refused to be apart of it.

"Oi, isn't that your pet? You should train your puppy better," snarked Natsu rather cruelly.

"Kindly refrain from talking," I said, making sure the snap in my voice at least sounded civil, "Or I'll just rip your tongue out."

"What is going on?" asked Takashi, immediately turning to glare at both me and Natsu.

"Gomen, Takashi-san," I said with a lie, "My disciple has come for training instructions. I will only be away for a moment."

"You couldn't have given it to him before the mission briefing?" Now I really don't like Takashi. He was impatient, rude, and ... well compared to the two War Generals I personally know, he didn't know how to handle his authority at all.

"No sir, I'll do so now," I say before moving away from the group. He didn't even have a right to complain seeing as how we had another five more minutes to burn. I made my way over to Tristan who stood on the other side of the plaza, avoiding people's presence all together. How this boy can be both introvertive and have a passionate fire for social work was a mystery I didn't mind not solving.

"Is there something you wanted, Tristan?" Most of Tristan's communication was nonverbal. I found no problem with letting him speak in his own way.

When Rue and I were out traveling through Rukongai, Rue had caught a nasty sickness. The sickness was horrible, tore up her throat from coughing so much, her lungs rattled and heaved like a soggy paper bag. For a long time, Rue's throat was too sore to even speak and a lot of times she was too weak to even try to play some version of charades.

We learned how to communicate the best we could and we learned later on that there was a whole other world of communication. Some people couldn't hear and learned a language through their hands. Some just couldn't speak so they used body language to convey what they wanted. And some were like Tristan, where his body language was often a very personalized dictionary full of ques that you would miss if you're not looking.

So when Tristan just grabbed my hand, pressed hard into the middle of my palm, then turned to walk away, I knew what he mean to say.

I went back to the team with a smile on my face.

"You're both freaks," Natsu said. No one said anything when I shoved a sharp elbow into his sternum.

"Let's get this mission started," Takashi said before turning around and going back into place. I went right after him, focusing back on the mission.

The gates opened and we all ran through. We shunpo-ed into the forest and began sensing for any unusual spiritual pressure. Missions like these are simple and are done within four to six hours. As we ran, I couldn't help but notice how well behaved Natsu was. Usually he would have said or done something right now to suit the needs of his own ego.

"Wait a minute," said one of the Shinigami with me.

"What is it?" asked Takashi.

"I sense a hollow spirit, a big one, seventy-two kilometers northwest of here," answers the Shinigami. We adjusted ourselves accordingly to the direction he sensed the spiritual pressure. When we got to the area when the hollow was, I was surprised by not only the size, but the look.

The body was nothing but a long tail with two elephant feet, a long tail and a head with two hollow masks. Elephant feet, massive tail, two masks on one head? It looked like a freakish Frankenstein hollow if there was ever such a thing.

"Spread out. Maneuver Wolf Pack!" Takashi orders. We all obeyed instantly. The hollow roared before it looked around. Maneuver Wolf Pack was when officers spread out and corner a best, taking it out on all sides so not one person was facing the rage of a hollow alone. It would have worked with a singular hollow but this bastard looked around at all five of us, roared, and split into three.

"Shit," I mumbled, watching the beast's head split apart with the two masks down the middle and the tail separate into a worm hollow that puked out it's own fresh mask.

"Shit's right!" yelled Natsu in agreement. Maneuver Wolf Pack was horrible when rounding up any different hollows together, especially with so few shinigami officers. In a weird case of irony, rounding up and cornering hollows together was like cornering a pack of wolves.

"Tatsuki!" demanded Natsu-san, "Your orders!"

"Stay put!" Tatsuki said before charging ahead.

Reckless, useless sonovabitch. Idiot didn't know shit how the hell to retreat cause that was what he should have done. Had us retreat, re group and then go back into the fray, separate the three hollows and cut them down with all three hollows singular and not a pack, the idiot.

I hissed before taking the initiative to follow the rest of the team into the maws of death, knowing that talking sense was pointless when people were already in motion. The hollow before me hat changed to that of a blue scorpion. It rushed at me with it's six legs and lunged its tail at me.

I unsheathed Michael and sliced off the tip and lunged myself. As quickly as I could, I sliced the mask in half before jumping away. I looked towards Takashi to find him standing far from the battle. What the hell? Why did he go away from the battle? What was he doing standing there?

"Takashi-san! Help!" cried out on of the other Shinigami who was injured when facing off with the other dung beetle hollow. The hollow was cut down by the injured officer's friend but immediately turned around to help Natsu-san with the worm.

The worm was a slippery thing that burrowed into the ground for one seconds then launched itself beneath the feet of the shinigami, it's mouth opened and rows upon rows of sharp teeth screeching for flesh. A nasty fucker.

"Agito!" Natsu cried out and I moved, shunpo-ing to the other side of the hollow for a triangular assault. We fought the hollow but it proved to be difficult with it running away and coming back at every chance it got.

"AH!" cried out the other shinigami, "My arm!"

The worm hollow managed to take a bite out of the shinigami's arm and though she was able to pull it out without any loss of fingers, it was still shredded to pieces.

"TAKASHI-SAN!!!" I scream out in demand, not having his inability any more.

I didn't, no, couldn't see it happen. But it did, and because of my carelessness, my inability to see through deception, and my carelessness not to read the emotions and therefore seeing past his facade of the leader of the iron fist type it has led to this.

In one moment, Takashi was across the way and then he was standing in front of Natsu-san, his blade bedded in his gut.

The worm hollow burrowed it's way underground and I knew we had limited time to guess where it would come back up again.

Natsu slide to his knees, so much in shock that he didn't even realize he was stabbed yet.

"Takashi, what is the meaning of this?" I asked, my voice low and dangerous. Something inside me was rumbling in rage.

I didn't like Natsu but he didn't deserve the dishonor of being fatally wounded when everyone's focus was on the hollow before us. I didn't like how Takashi had stood to the side as two other Shinigami's risk their lives and wee needlessly wounded. I certainly, didn't like the crazed look on his face as he turned to answer me.

"It's okay, Agito-chan, It's okay," he said in a singing voice, his blade slowly easing out of Natsu, blood spilling across the dirt.

"I was ... stabbed?" he mumbled, looking down at his wound in wonder. Fuck! There's a hollow out there, an insane superior officer and now three wounded shinigami! And one of those is in serious condition!

"You know, you really should die," Takashi said, looking down at Natsu.

"Why?" I demanded, moving my blade to a very familiar position. I was angry, enraged, but never before had I felt such clarity in my wrath. Everything was in focus now. Hell, I could even feel the vibration of the earth under my feet.

"Why, why, why, why, why," Takashi-san said, "Why not, Agito-chan?"

He waved a careless sword arm around, splattering the ground and my face with Natsu-san's blood.

"I'm bleeding?" I heard Natsu say before Tatsuki began to speak again, "He's not a real Shinigami is he? Not like you or me. I can tell. Soutaichou wanted me to kill him. He's annoyed at Natsu for being late. Whoever doesn't meet the standard, has to die."

"You're insane," I stated obviously.

"Now, now, now, Agito-chan ... don't-"

"Keep my name out of your mouth," I threaten before spiking my reiatsu.

"Don't do it, Agito!" Natsu said laying down on the ground with a pool of blood swelling around him, his shock wearing off, "He's a Third seat!"

"Oh!" Takashi said, "Trying out your shikai against me? Well good luck cause I'm-"

"Conquer," I said with complete focus, "Michael."

A flash of bright white light.

The air turned searing hot.

When it all disappeared, my double edge sword shined in the sun, singing with joy at being free.

"What the hell?" Takashi yelled, "What the hell is that weak ass-!"

"Sorry, Takashi-san," I said not feeling very sympathetic at the moment, "You're going to die. Natsu - close your eyes."

"Smite. Michael."

It took every once on control in my body to night make the blue sky white, not to hale gale force winds, not to purge the area from the world including Natsu.

There was no way to fully control Michael. He can't serve a 'light' punishment. He was the representation of War. War either goes all or nothing. So controlling his power was more of a test of concentration. Fully, I would have purged the area of ever existing, but focusing all that power into one single beam of shining holy light ... and Takashi just ceased to exist.