Chapter 2 - Responsibilities

Chapter 2 - Responsibilities

"Hollow..." Hisagi said, shocked and quite confused at how Siren somehow knew exactly where it was.

Said hollow loomed in front of them, it was quite large and looked quite like an overgrown green ape with a mask that had one spike protruding from the centre of the forehead. It also had large claws on its hands and feet. She drew her zanpakuto and Hisagi did the same. He snapped himself out of shock and concentrated on the task ahead.

"It's an Adjuchas, so be careful." Siren said before charging at the beast.

She slashed at the beast and swung her blade with all the talent of a captain and an experienced fighter. It was only the luck of Hisagi staying back so he could look for an opening to get a hit on the hollow that he managed to spot the small boy unconscious on the ground who was directly in the path of the Cero that the Adjuchas was powering up. He called out to Siren, who seemed to take notice of the child.

This was one of those times where she didn't have a choice. She didn't doubt Hisagi's speed, but it was better to be safe than sorry, in this case, better to use her mask and reveal her true form to her fuku-taicho than to risk the child's life. Without her mask, she wouldn't have been able to completely negate or deflect the Cero, and there was no doubt that the child would be hit and killed instantly. She wouldn't even have time to speak a Kido spell that would block the Cero.

In a split second, Hisagi was picking up the child and getting out of the way with enough time to watch Siren pull her hand over her face and her reiatsu to become scarily familiar before she deflected the Cero with the back of her hand, then disappeared from his sight, reappearing just above the hollow and swinging her sword down as hard as she could to slice clean through the hollows mask and most of its head. She landed just in front of the hollow, with her back facing Hisagi, who was holding the unconscious boy in his arms.

The hollow disintegrated instantly, and with the agonising fear that she didn't feel going up against an Adjuchas hollow while trying to protect the boy, suddenly hit her like a punch in the gut when she turned her head to look at him out of the corner of her eye, enough for Hisagi to see her mask before she removed it, and sheathed her katana while walking over to him with her head down. She didn't look at him at all, just stared at her feet, afraid that she would see the fear and disgust that usually came along with someone finding out about her being a vizard.

Siren inhaled and opened her mouth to ask him if he and the child were alright, but she was so freaked out that she couldn't speak because her throat was closing up. Instead of bothering to wait around and explain, she took the option that she was forced to take all those years ago when she first gained this power; run. And she ran to the only place she was able to be by herself. There was a place in the Rukongai mountains that looked out over many districts and she always went there when she felt like being alone. It was difficult to get to since it was so high up, and secluded and it seemed that she was the only one who knew about it.

When she got there, she climbed up and used her zanpakuto to cut through the various bushes and branches that had grown over in time with the path being out of use, and she finally crawled through a tunnel of leaves and branches to come out on the other side, where there was a huge flat slab of rock looking over various parts of Rukongai. The people were going around, doing their daily business, probably completely unaware of what shinigami did day in and day out to protect them at all costs. Siren had just performed such a duty, and in return, she would be forever hated by her lieutenant and the rest of her division, and then all of Soul Society when they found out, save for two who could never hate her.

Taking a deep breath, and trying to calm her nerves a little, she sat down in her usual spot and leant up against the rock that she surprised didn't have a slight indent from her sitting there all the time so many years ago. For hours, she sat there, thinking about what happened, and trying to figure out how she could have kept the secret and still saved the child. Strategising, analysing. Unfortunately, she could think of no other way. She knew that without the aid of her mask, she wouldn't have the ability to save the day and all that, but it wasn't like a superhero using their powers of good and purity to do so. She had to turn to the power that had come about from her suppressed feelings of hate, despair and anger. The power that she was so lucky to have lived after receiving.

Alone, she thought through anything and everything until eventually the sun had set. She was calm now, and felt that she could probably head back into the Seireitei now. The only place that she could think of going was Ukitake's. She hoped that his fatherly disposition would help her make sense of all this and hopefully she'd be able to face Hisagi and the rest of her division sometime in the next hundred years or so with his encouragement.

Using all the stealth and silence of an ex-Onmitsukido and Second Division member, she stalked through the twists and turns of the Seireitei, careful not to run into anyone. It wouldn't be surprising if the whole place knew about her secret now, and she just hoped that she didn't have anything to do that would force her to face anyone other than the captains any time soon. At least they already knew about it. She found Ukitake's place, and thanked the stars that Kiyone and Sentaro weren't around.

Opening the door to find her reiatsu sealing bracelet on the table next to Ukitake's pile of paperwork that he was currently doing was not was she expected to see. Siren's eyes went wide, realising that would mean Hisagi would have to have come here sometime between the event this morning and now. She quickly checked to make sure no one was looking before she stepped inside, shut the door behind and took a seat on the other side of the table. Neither one of them said anything for a while, and Ukitake had already figured out why she was here, and he knew that Siren would speak when she was ready. It took five, dead silent minutes before that time came.

"It was good while it lasted...I guess." she mumbled with an extremely melancholy tone.

"Siren, you didn't ask to become a vizard. Just like Ichigo-kun, and Shinji, Risa, Rose, Love, Mashiro, Kensei, Hachigen and Hiyori! You did it saving me, and no one should hold any prejudice against you for that. It was the bravest and most self-sacrifing thing I have ever seen anyone do." Ukitake knew that reasoning with Siren while she was in this state would prove to be a difficult task, but she had always listened to him, and he doubted that would change, especially now when she needed him most.

She rolled her eyes and turned away before mumbling something he couldn't understand. He asked her to repeat what she said before she reluctantly turned to look straight at him, lifting one of her knees up to rest her elbow on it and put her hand over her face.

"I don't want them to think I'm just another Tosen." she whispered sadly, her voice filled with self-loathing.

Ukitake visibly sat back, completely shocked by the statement his unofficial adopted daughter just said. "I can't believe you would think that. Tosen betrayed us. He chose to become what he did, and you did not. That's the difference. Anyone who can't see that is just as blind as Tosen was."

Siren picked up the bracelet off the table and started putting it on. "I'm guessing Hisagi was here. Did he say anything to you about it?"

"He was here about an hour ago. And he didn't have to. The captains were informed of what happened after he gave his report to Genryusai-sensei. But he did ask if you had been here. He seemed quite concerned. You should at least go and see him." the white-haired captain tried to convince her even though he doubted she would actually visit her Lieutenant out of fear that he would hate her.

"Do you think he's told the rest of the division?" she looked through the gaps in her fingers to see him shake his head.

"Of course not. Hisagi is a mature man. He is smart enough to know that you probably wouldn't want anyone knowing, especially since you kept it from him. If Genryusai-sensei did not tell him, then he would understand that he wasn't supposed to know."

"I should probably see him then. Maybe it hasn't sunk in and he hasn't started to be disgusted with me yet." she said sadly, and stood up from her seated position on the floor.

Ukitake just sighed, knowing there was no point trying to tell her otherwise and before she walked out the door he reminded her that she was welcome to stay at his place tonight if she didn't want to be on her own. She just made a quiet sound of acknowledgement and shut the door behind her. Siren crept her way to Hisagi's office, expecting him to be in there since it still wasn't that late. She silently slid his door open a fraction so she could look in there, and as expected, he was sitting at his desk writing something down on some paperwork before adding it to the stack he had sitting in a box next to the desk on the floor. Carefully, she slid the door open more, and just hoped that he would notice her there instead of her coming in obnoxiously and announcing her being there.

Hisagi heard the sound of the door opening and looked over to find his new captain, leaning against the door frame, biting her lip and looking at her feet, which she was scuffing nervously. If he was honest with himself, as soon as he realised that Siren was a vizard, his first thought was 'Oh, no'. But after cooping himself up in his office all day, doing paperwork mechanically while thinking everything over. He wanted to sort himself out before he saw her again. He wanted to have figured out how he felt about the whole thing so he didn't say something he didn't mean that might upset or offend her.

So for the whole day, he had just sorted out his thoughts. He came to the conclusion that he was kind of upset that he wasn't told about this. Fair enough for the rest of the division, but at least the lieutenant should be given such vital information. Especially when their last captain ended up being more of a hollow than shinigami, which was certainly a kick in the pants since he had truly looked up to Tousen. He wanted to know how she became a vizard and he sincerely hoped she didn't ask for the power, although she seemed like the kind of person who wouldn't do such a thing. But, he was a mature and understanding person, and he knew that with an explanation, he would feel a lot better, and it's what he was going to ask for.

With caution and reluctance, Siren stepped inside and shut the door behind her. She had the hand that Hisagi couldn't see fisted in her shinigami robes as she walked over and sat down at the chair he had at the opposite side of his desk. Eventually, she let go of her robes and crossed her arms on his desk, and rested her head on them, facing downwards so he couldn't see her face. It was a moment of uncomfortable silence before she spoke.

"Please don't be disgusted by me...I'm not another Tosen. And I know that saying that probably doesn't help, but it would make me feel even worse if I didn't say anything." she whispered so quietly that he almost couldn't hear her. Hisagi hesitated and tried very hard to think about the best way to go about asking.

"How did you become a vizard?" he said quietly, trying to make his voice as soft as possible.

"It was thirty years ago. There was this really strong hollow in Rukongai who had been causing a lot of trouble and it had killed nearly everyone who went to slay it. I led a team of four other members of the Second Division to do some scouting so we could report back to the Thirteenth Division who were going to try and take care of the hollow. Ukitake was going to accompany the twenty shinigami he had assigned to the task just to be on the safe side. While they were trying to take down the hollow, my team made sure that no unsuspecting soul somehow got stuck in the middle of it. Most of the twenty shinigami were dead within a few minutes, and Ukitake began taking on the hollow himself." she took a deep, slightly shaky breath before she continued.

"H-he got sick, right in the middle of the fight, and that was when the hollow was charging up a Cero aimed right at him. Point blank. As a Captain, he wouldn't have died, but as a sick man, he might have been in serious trouble. Before I knew what I was doing, I had thrown myself in front of him to shield him from the attack, andwe think that I died for a few minutes, but was somehow brought back. But I may have just been unconscious. When I came to a few minutes later, the hollow was gone, and Ukitake was standing over me, with a look of horror that I had never seen on his face before. He told me that a hollow mask had formed on my face, and that within a few seconds I started fighting the hollow, and it only took another minute for me to kill it, and that's when the mask broke away and I regained consciousness." she spoke quietly, and still hadn't moved an inch the whole time she was talking.

She heard Hisagi stand up, and walk a few steps, but paid no attention to it. Suddenly, she was lifted off the chair pulled into his arms. She never did too well with affection, but a hug was just what she needed. She returned the embrace...awkwardly, but returned it nonetheless, and Hisagi just clutched her tighter.

"Why didn't you just tell me that in the first place instead of running off?...Fool." he whispered to her with mock anger.

Siren was shocked to hear no hate in his voice. "I-I don't understand. How can you be so accepting of me?"

"You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save Ukitake-taicho. You were willing to die to save someone you cared about. You went through the trouble of suppressing your hollow, and controlling it all because you didn't want him getting hurt. You left Soul Society to hide in the real world for the next thirty years for all that." he let go of her, and gently pushed her back so he could look into her eyes. "Do you regret going through all that to save him?"

Her eyes widened, and she shook her head slowly. No one had ever put it that way to her before.

"Then there's your answer. Only people with no sense of honour would still have prejudice against you after knowing what you went through to save someone you cared for." he said pleadingly, trying to convince her that she was stupid for thinking that he would be disgusted by her. Slowly, she nodded and he smiled faintly before gently hugging her again.

They just stood there, holding each other for a few minutes, as Siren slowly reverted back to her old self, and the mood gradually lightened. Siren pulled back first, a little awkwardly and smirked faintly before sitting back down. Hisagi seemed to remember something all of a sudden, as he walked around his desk, and opened one of the draws. He lifted out two bottles of sake and grinned mischievously as he set them down on the desk. Siren raised her eyebrow in question and Hisagi just lifted two cups out of the draw and cracked open one of the bottles before filling up each cup.

He slid one across the table to Siren, who lifted it and downed the liquid before slamming it back down on the table and gesturing for Hisagi to fill it up again. He chuckled and drained his cup before filling them both up. This happened for the next few minutes until they both began to feel the effects of the alcohol kicking in, Siren feeling it a lot less than Hisagi.

"Oh, by the way. How the hell did you know that hollow was there this morning?" Hisagi drawled, with a faint hint of the beginning to slurring his words.

"Um, I can sense Garganta's opening. Don't ask how. Not even Urahara could figure it out completely. But we think it's just my heightened hollow senses that allow me to pick up on it." she waved her hand as if to shoo away the question that hadn't even been asked yet. "Oh, hey. I need you to show me where my captain's quarters are, because I still don't know."

"Alright, I'll show you where it is right now." he said, before they both raised their cups and nodded once at each other before consuming the contents in one gulp.

They both stood up, now slightly tipsy, and strolled out of Hisagi's office. After about two or three minutes, they were standing in front of the door to the Ninth Division captain's quarters. It felt weird for Hisagi to be standing here again, but even weirder for Siren. She suddenly decided that it creeped her out she didn't want to stay there, and asked Hisagi if she had a couch in her office because she couldn't remember for the life of her. He told her that she had two, and she smiled happily and began walking to her office. When they got there, she walked in and sat down on the couch, bouncing a few times to test how comfortable it was.

Laying down for a moment, she decided it would suffice before jumping up and asking Hisagi if he had a blanket she could use. He said that he had two in his office for when he slept there and that he'd get one and bring it back, as well as the sake. A few minutes later, he was back, carrying the two bottles, the cups and the blanket draped over his shoulders. It was already the late afternoon and Siren figured that she probably wasn't going anywhere tonight with this much sake at her disposal after all she'd been through today.

Hisagi didn't drink as fast as Siren, but that was probably a good thing, since soon enough they were both drunk and laughing about ridiculous nonsensical things and coming up with inside jokes that they would probably still be laughing about in ten years. About an hour later, the office door opened abruptly and Matsumoto, and Renji were standing outside. Hisagi and Siren both did the typical 'Hey!' when they walked in and sat down on the couch opposite them. They both laughed at the new captain being drunk already, and her lieutenant being just as bad for not just encouraging it, but being drunk as well, even though they were glad to see the two getting along so well.

Soon enough, Matsumoto and Renji were drunk and joining in on Hisagi and Siren's laughing about ridiculous nonsensical things and coming up with more inside jokes. After a few hours, Matsumoto and Renji headed home (hopefully they actually got there) and Hisagi and Siren just crashed out on the two couches in Siren's office and they both quickly fell into a deep sleep that they both needed...

#

The next morning, Hisagi woke with a shockingly weak hangover for how much he had to drink, and that instantly put him in a good mood. When he finally bothered to open his eyes, he noticed he wasn't in his office or his quarters. He sat up quickly, and noticed Siren sitting at her desk staring at him with an amused expression.

"How are ya feeling, Hisagi?" she said teasingly, trying to get a rise out of him.

"Not too bad actually. Did we finish those two bottles last night?" he asked sleepily while rubbing his face with his hands to wake himself a little more.

Siren nodded slowly. "We sure did, Matsumoto and Renji gave us some help, but it didn't take too much for them to both be written off." Her eyes widened abruptly, "That reminds me, I should probably go and check if they actually got home alright..."

#

Renji stumbled slowly down the path to his quarters and thanks to the alcohol, he actually walked past it the first time. After laughing obnoxiously loud at his own stupidity, he walked back and opened his door, only to trip over the frame as he was walking in and pass out with his lower body out the door, and his upper body inside.

Elsewhere, Matsumoto was quite used to walking back to her quarters or her office while intoxicated, so it was a walk in the park for her...until she came across her captain, who was notamused.

"Matsumoto!" he growled in his usual angry voice, and Matsumoto just laughed and told him everything was fine, before she skipped off and located her office, which was closer and passed out on the floor.

#

"Meh, I'm sure they're fine." Siren shrugged and went back to reading over the paperwork she would have to start doing almost every week as long as she was a captain.

Hisagi told her he was going to have a shower and that he would bring them back something to eat. As he strolled back to his quarters, he attempted to remember the night's events. He did vaguely remember Matsumoto and Renji coming in, but he didn't remember them being drunk or leaving. As he showered and readied himself for the day ahead, he had the feeling that working with Siren was going to be pretty easy. She did seem kind of lazy, but it seemed like she also knew to crack down when necessary.

As promised he brought them back something him and Siren to eat, and they enjoyed it while Hisagi explained anything she didn't understand in the stack of paperwork that she had to complete as soon as possible. It felt slightly odd for him to not be acting-captain any more, as he was just getting used to balancing his duties, but he couldn't deny that it was relief to have that extra load off of his back. After Siren got thoroughly annoyed and refused to do any more paperwork, they just sat talking about the responsibilities and tasks she'll have as captain, which usually earned an unenthusiastic groan from her.

Several hours later, at a little after lunchtime, the door opened to show Komamura's large form standing just outside, with Iba fuku-taicho just behind him. Politely as possible, Siren greeted them, and asked them both to come in. Komamura asked to talk to Siren, and Hisagi and Iba took their leave. They sat down on the two opposite couches and Siren was seriously hoping that Komamura wasn't going to say something like 'You'll never replace Tosen', even though she severely doubted he would say something like that. He seemed like a very loyal person and quite accepting. Maybe his own personal differences would allow him to accept her more than most people.

"Siren, I'd firstly like to welcome you as a captain of the Gotei 13." he said with a kind smile.

"Thank you so much. You have no idea how much that means to me." she replied, with exaggerated relief.

He smiled wider before speaking again. "Secondly, I'm sure you know that I was very close with the previous captain Tosen Kaname. Our two divisions always got along very well, and I would like to keep that relationship going."

"Yes, I was discussing that with Hisagi earlier. I agree with you entirely and I look forward to working with you." Siren said with a professional voice that sounded almost nothing like her usual bored one, and nodded gracefully in agreement to Komamura's words.

"Also, in the meeting after you took the exam, you thanked us for accepting you enough to let you stand by us as a comrade." he said, with a tone that asked her to confirm her words. She nodded again and he continued. "As I'm sure you are aware of my own differences to the rest of the captains, and it was only just recently that I revealed myself to them, and the rest of the Seireitei. I understand how it feels to be different and judged based only on those differences. I would like you to know that if you are having issues on that front or regarding anything else about your job, that you may come and see me. I would be happy to help in any way I can."

Siren, sat there, shocked at the Seventh Division's Captain's kind words. A moment later, she snapped out of it, and tried to speak. She couldn't get any words out yet, so she just smiled, if a little sadly.

"I was actually hoping you would say something like that. When I first walked in that room in the First Division barracks, you seemed to be the only one aside Ukitake and Shunsui who didn't look at me like I was a strange creature. To be honest, it was more than I expected to get. So thank you for that." she spoke quietly as she looked down at her hands, fidgeting uncomfortably at opening up to someone.

Komamura listened carefully to everything Siren said. Her being alone for so many years certainly showed in how she treated people. She was reserved but treated people kindly, and with respect, but he also had a feeling that if they mistreated her, it would be an eye for an eye. She also seemed quite shy at first, but he came to the conclusion that it was shyness, but a lack of interaction with other people for so long. He hoped they would get along.

"It was always the same with me. But you have been put through more than I, because you were once a normal Shinigami, whereas I have always been like this. You became the way you are because you placed another person's life above your own. Not only did you do that, but you still managed to complete the mission and save lives of innocent Rukongai citizens." Siren's head snapped up at this statement.

"Wait, you know how I became a vizard?" she asked, slightly irritated. She preferred people not to know, so that maybe, just maybe, they could accept her without hearing the sob story of how she become part hollow.

"Yes. Ukitake-san told us after he suggested you to replace one of the captain's positions. It was a very noble thing to do." Komamura answered, respect in his voice.

For the next half hour or so, they made conversation about their views of many different things, and they both quite enjoyed having a talk with someone new, who could understand them. Iba and Hisagi returned from where ever they went and Iba reminded Komamura about something they had to do. Komamura said goodbye, and said that she could come visit him any time. Siren thanked him graciously, and said goodbye to both him and Iba, who returned it, and said a casual 'See ya later' to Hisagi before they walked out the door, shutting it behind them.

"What was that about?" Hisagi asked as he strolled back into the room and took his seat next to Siren's at the desk.

"Basically, he said that he wants the relationship between our divisions not to change and he told that he understands what it's like being different around here and that he'll help me out whenever I need it. You know, all that lame stuff. Then we had an awesome philosophical conversation for like half an hour, then you guys came back." she said while also sitting down again, and starting the paperwork that they'd left when Komamura and Iba arrived.

For the next few hours, they worked on more and more paperwork. They signed a report which had to be taken to the Thirteenth Division and Siren offered to take it over there so she could see Ukitake. Hisagi said that he was going to his office to do some work that he'd put off doing the past few days. Siren said that she'd see him later and they went the opposite way to each other. When she got to Ukitake's, Kiyone and Sentaro greeted her, then quickly went back to arguing loudly about who was going to get some tea for their captain.

The small, dark-haired captain, and the white-haired captain talked for a while before she left him to rest since he wasn't feeling well that day. On the way out, she made sure to give herself a laugh by intimidating the two argumentative third seats about being quiet so Ukitake could rest. When she was walking back to her own division, she ran into Iba on the way. He called out to her, but made the mistake of calling her 'taicho', which she hastily corrected him on. He laughed but seemed to understand when she told him why she preferred not to be called by her title, but stayed respectful and called her by her title anyway.

"So, you're the Seventh Division lieutenant?" Siren asked as they walked.

"Certainly am. I like working under Komamura-taicho. By the way, Hisagi seems to have taken a liking to you. He was speaking pretty highly of you earlier." Iba replied in his usual gruff voice.

"Really? That's good. It was kind of funny finding out that he was my lieutenant after meeting him the night before when I tagged along with Renji." Siren said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, little did I or any of us know that you were going to be inducted as the new captain the next day." he laughed as well.

"Actually, I told Renji on the way to the bar. The only other people I knew here were Ukitake and Kyoraku, and they already knew, so I had to tell someone that didn't know. That just ended up being Renji." she admitted with a smirk.

Iba laughed again. "Well, fair enough then. I'm surprised he didn't blurt it out. Anyway, I'm this way, so I'll talk to you again soon Siren-taicho."

"Yeah, nice meeting you professionally. See ya Iba." she did her usual wave and continued the direction of Kyoraku's office. She hadn't had a chance to talk to him about yesterday's incident, and thought that now would be a good time.

Hoping that for once he would actually be in his office, she opened the door and peered in, to find it empty. She sighed, and walked out and leapt up onto the roof with ease and found him, looking asleep with his hat over his face. She knew that he probably would have known she was there the moment she jumped up on the roof, so she just walked over and laid down next to him.

"You heard, didn't you?" she said cryptically, hoping that he wasn't completely tanked yet, so that she didn't have to remind him of what she was talking about.

"Yep. How did Hisagi-kun take it? He was looking for you around here, you know." the flamboyantly dressed captain answered, moving his hat off his face so he could actually look at the green-eyed girl next to him.

"Surprisingly, he took it really well. I told him how it all happened, and he kind of scolded me for running off instead of just telling him about it."

"When are you going to tell everyone else? They're going to find out soon enough, you know."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I think I'll start telling the lieutenants soon. I'll probably start with Renji, since I'm already friends with him. He won't care at all because of Ichigo and everything. Matsumoto, Yachiru and Nemu wouldn't really care either, so I'll probably tell them as well. I have no idea what Nanao, Hinamori, Isane, Kira, or Iba would think of it. I couldn't care less about telling Omaeda, the guy annoys me already and I only heard him speak like once when I was walking past him heading towards Ukitake's. Chojiro probably already knows...maybe I should just call them all together in a meeting or something."

"That would make it easier for you, only having to tell it once. When will you do it?"

"I don't know, maybe in a while. I'll tell Hisagi to call a meeting for me." she said, thinking of the easiest time for her to reveal her 'true self', so to speak.

At that moment, Nanao walked over, holding a huge book as always. Siren decided she would get going, already feeling a little better.

"Nanao-chan, this is the new Ninth Division captain, Siren." Kyoraku introduced her as she stood up to take her leave.

"Nice to meet you, Nanao-fuku-taicho. I don't know how you put up with him. But thank you for all your hard work." Siren said with respect, knowing that the poor girl probably did most of the work for her lazy-bum of a captain.

"It's nice to meet you too Siren-taicho. I don't exactly know either. I have a feeling that my captain will be nursing quite a hangover tomorrow which will add to more of my problems." she looked over to mock-glare at the man lying on the ground with a silly smile on his face that said that he certainly would have a hangover tomorrow.

"Ah, I think I'm going to have to also mention my dislike for being called taicho. I don't really feel like a captain yet, so I'd prefer to just be called 'Siren' for the moment. Anyway, I'm off. Talk to you soon Shun, bye Nanao."

They both bid her goodbye and Siren made her way back to Hisagi's office to find him working on whatever he said he'd put off doing earlier. He stopped and stretched when she came in, watching as she walked in with her hands in her pockets and sat on his desk, careful to avoid the large stacks of paper.

"So...I have a mission for you." she drawled and tried to fight back her smirk that was threatening to show.

"Oh, really? And what's that?" Hisagi seemed to pick up on her not being serious and decided to play along.

"You are hereby ordered to make me an awesome dinner, let me wash my clothes and use your shower." she restrained her chuckling, but could no longer fight the smirk that spread across her face.

"I accept this mission. Shall I start now...taicho?" he said, exaggerating the 'taicho' part, knowing that he would probably pay for it. Siren said nothing, but just got down from the table, put her hands back in her pockets, walked around next to Hisagi's chair, and very casually kicked it, sending him flying across the room and into the wall.

"Yep. Now would be awesome. Let's go." she said, her voice dripping with well-feigned nonchalance.

Hisagi got up and followed her, while shaking his head and laughing softly. He knew he was going to pay for it, but maybe not that much. It was still worth getting a laugh out of though. At least she only kicked the chair, and not him. Siren followed the vague memory she had of walking a rather tipsy Hisagi home the first night she met him and found his place first try. She walked straight into the bathroom, stripped off and grabbed one of his large, dark blue, fluffy towels and wrapped it around her. She walked out, holding her clothes and Hisagi took them, saying that it was about time he washed his own, so he'd just wash hers as well. She thanked him, and walked back into the bathroom and began to have a shower.

While she did so, she allowed herself to think. She was really glad that Hisagi was her lieutenant, it made things easier. He was calm, mature, but he still knew how to have a good time. They were getting along famously and she was finding a lot of the work she had to do quite easy with his help and explanations. He clearly had been doing it for a while, and she realised that he would make a perfect captain. Making a mental note to ask him if he was working on getting bankai, she washed the conditioner out of her hair, turned off the shower and began to dry herself off. When she was sufficiently dry, she walked out with the towel wrapped around her damp body, hoping that Hisagi had started dinner, because she was starving.

Her jaw dropped at the sight she saw in the small kitchen. Hisagi. Wearing only a pair of shorts. Cooking something that smelt absolutely amazing and humming a tune softly. She may be pretty uninterested in getting involved with someone, but that didn't mean she couldn't look. Luckily for her, he hadn't seemed to notice her yet, so she just watched for a minute. He had much darker skin that her own, and she already knew that he was attractive, even with the scars and tattoos. In fact, that just made him more attractive. She'd never found the 'typical' hot guys attractive, and it was at this moment, that she realised just how good looking Hisagi Shuuhei really was.

Toned muscles decorated his form, along with several faint scars that she could only just see from where she was standing a few metres away from him. The muscles rippled as he shifted his weight and moved his arms. After taking it all in for a good minute or so, she realised that she recognised the song he was humming. It began to play in her head, and she quietly strolled up next to Hisagi, and started humming the melody with him. They both started getting louder as the song progressed into the chorus in their heads, and Siren began softly singing the words out loud.

Hisagi remembered about her telling him that she did a bit of singing when he first met her, and she wasn't lying. Even though she was singing very softly, she still sounded wonderful. Slowly, he stopped humming with her, and just listened to her sing, and thankfully she didn't seem to notice. She had her eyes closed and her head was rocking from side to side in time with the soundless beat playing and she ended up singing the rest of the song without realising it. After she stopped singing, looked up at Hisagi, who was looking at her with a captivated expression and a small smile.

Gradually, his smile got bigger and turned into a grin as Siren began to blush faintly when she realised he was just standing there watching her as she was singing. He started laughing when she mustered up as much anger as she could and glared at him with her arms crossed.

"Aw, come on. Don't be like that. You sounded so good that I couldn't help but stop and listen to you!" he said, still laughing and he held his arms out like he was going to hug her. She turned her head away from him, looking directly in front of her, and as he stepped closer towards her, she lifted her arm and rammed her elbow into his chest and he coughed as he doubled over, still laughing faintly in between coughs.

Secretly, she was just really glad he didn't catch her perving on him, which took all of her self-control not to continue doing, now as he stood back up to his full height, and his stomach muscles rippled as he restrained his laughter. Then, she smelt something a little odd. She raised her eyebrow in confusion, and it only took her a moment to identify the source.

"The foods burning! You idiot!" she scolded as he quickly lifted the food out of the pan and into two bowls. The smell of the barbecue pork noodles filled her nostrils and her head lolled back and she moaned happily in anticipation. Barbecue pork noodles was her favourite. Hisagi was kind enough to take the small burnt portion, and they sat down and began to eat. After just one mouthful, Siren felt like she was in heaven.

"Oh my god. I love you." she said with her mouth full of noodles.

Hisagi chuckled and smirked smugly. "Yeah, I seem to have that effect on-"

"Not you...Hisagi. I was talking to the noodles. Don't go getting ahead of yourself now..." she interrupted him, and shovelled her mouth full of food again as his expression went completely blank. He huffed in amusement and kept eating. They finished at the same time, and Siren patted her stomach satisfactorily.

The sun was beginning to set now, and Siren opened Hisagi's window further so she could watch. He had a perfect view of it from the window, and she just sat there, leaning on the window frame, enjoying the blending multitude of colour flowing out from the orange circular centre. Hisagi noticed what she was doing after he came back in from the kitchen after cleaning up their dishes and smiled before joining her sitting in front of the window.

This was the kind of moment that Siren enjoyed experiencing in the real world. When she was there, she wasn't a captain. She wasn't a shinigami. She wasn't anyone. In a way, she wasn't really a vizard either. And that's how she liked it. Sure, it got lonely and boring sometimes, but travelling always filled her need for excitement, and the loneliness was quite preferable to the company of humans who never made sense to her.

Hanging out with the vizards was good for a while. There was certainly never a dull moment, and she and Hiyori always loved beating on Shinji after he'd hit on her and start blabbering on about her being 'his first love' and what not. Risa was good for the kind of silent company. She was usually too engrossed in her ero-manga to pay attention to you, but that was a good thing at times. Love and Rose were such an odd pair, and Love always cracked her up with quotes from whatever Shonen Jump manga he was reading at the time. Kensei and Mashiro were funny with their ridiculous arguments and Hachi, was what you'd call the 'neutral' type. And Shinji...he was...well...Shinji.

But being in their company, while it never got boring, or annoying, just didn't sit right with Siren. They're group formed from them all going through the same thing at the same time, and even though they were vizards, Siren didn't really feel like she could fully empathise with them. Especially since their hollowification was done on purpose, not by accident.

During the last thirty years, she had spent the first five of them with the vizards, training and just hanging out. And beating up Shinji. Then she left them, wanting to go out and just be free for a while. Since she was still quite new to being a vizard, she occasionally had trouble with Utsuro pestering her. But she figured out that that was only usually when she was feeling things such as despair, sorrow, or anger. Typical emotions for a hollow. So, she travelled to places of beauty and took in as many things about the real world as she could whilst continuing her training. It allowed her to be calm, and it was a great experience.

Occasionally, she forgot about being a shinigami once upon a time, and she forgot about being a vizard. But she never forgot the fact that she didn't feel like she had any reason for her existence. Strangely enough, that didn't bother her much, since it was moments like watching the sun set, and rise, the slow progression of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years, that made her enjoy still being around.

Without realising it, 15 years had passed, and it was then that she got in contact with Ukitake and Kyoraku. They spoke through a communication device that she had 'salvaged' from a shinigami that was killed attempting to fight a hollow which she killed. Their conversation was brief, but she remembered why she was existing again. She existed because she was almost like a daughter to them both, Ukitake especially, and she knew that it would kill them both if she was no longer around.

After that, it was almost like she had a new outlook on life. Utsuro didn't bother her for ages, because she was feeling happy about talking to her honorary fathers again. The last time she'd talked to either of them was just after theincident. She had almost forgotten about how much she missed them. She started training harder, and had already mastered her bankai, but she became more proficient in using it, as well as Kido, basic swordsmanship, and she constantly trained in using shunpo.

Then around six months ago, after all the crap with Aizen and co went down, she travelled to Karakura Town after meeting Renji. There, she was able to train with Yoruichi and further improve her shunpo and hakuda, as well as learning some new moves directly from the master herself. Then she was smacked through the wall of nobody, and came through the other side as Gotei Thirteen, Ninth Division, Siren-taicho.

Did it make sense? Hell no. But, that was half the fun.

Siren ended up crashing on Hisagi's couch and over the next few days, they worked constantly. She met more of the seated members of the division, and even scheduled some training sessions with them, which went surprisingly well. As the days went by, she picked up more and more of the captain's responsibilities until she finally began doing the workload of a proper captain. It was less than she expected and she was still able to have a fair bit of free time, which was all she wanted.

It also didn't get past her that Utsuro had been awfully quiet lately. She was probably just too busy for her polar opposite to interrupt. After a month, things began to slow down a fair bit as missions lessened slightly which helped them catch up on any work they had put off.

Now the records were changed so that now she would be forever recognised as an official captain of the Soul Society Gotei Thirteen. Technically she was still on probation, but since she hadn't slipped up once, there seemed to be no reason for her not to be recognised as having the title.

Soon enough, it was time for Renji's birthday, and Siren had already planned out a huge night for the whole group to enjoy. With her large salary as a captain, and her not having anything to spend it on aside food for her and Hisagi even though most of the time he insisted on buying it himself, she had saved up and bought a rather large house in Rukongai for them to all hang out in and come and go as they please. In essence, it was going to be all their birthday presents. Everyone in the group knew about Renji's birthday get-together, but they decided to keep it a secret from Renji, just because it would be more fun that way. It was even more fun for Siren since she would be revealing the house to them all as well.

And Siren had topped it off by having a game that she had learnt about in the real world, which would undoubtedly reveal secrets and make people do things they never thought they would do...