Bleached

Chapter 13: 10th division

Disclaimer: We've established that no, I do not own Bleach. Can we please move on

§ Captain's meeting §

Ichigo looked around himself. He was attending his first ever captains' meeting. Well, in this timeline anyway. In his past, the orange haired man had sort of become a captain, though he never was officiated. And his "division" was mainly consisting of visoreds and exiled captains, plus his human friends. The unofficial division was led by Ichigo for almost 13 years. 13 years of camraderie he would never forget. Ichigo's heart ached when he thought about his "division's" destruction. It had taken Aizen three years to dismantle them. The final nail in the coffin was when the evil man sent a million modified hollows after Ichigo's division. His men and women were good, excellent even, but in the end they fell. Unfortunately, Ichigo had been occupied with Aizen himself, who'd come out of nowhere and begun a fight. Ichigo had been puzzled, but had not had much time thinking about Aizen's motivations for the sudden "visit". He found out soon enough, as an injured Urahara limped into their fighting ground. The shopkeeper didn't say anything, but the broken look in his eyes told Ichigo enough. Aizen was very lucky to have survived that day.

Ichigo brought himself out of his reverie and focused on the present meeting. Everyone had welcomed him with open arms into their ranks, having witnessed his immense power when he'd fought Aizen. There had been no official ceremony where the captains would judge him or his bankai either. Apparently defeating a wannabe god was enough proof of his prowess. Yamamoto tapped the floor, announcing that the meeting was in session.

"It is nice to see we all have recovered from the wounds we unknowingly dealt each other. We have only one preson to thank our victory for, and that is the newest addtion to the Captains. Captain of the 10th divsion, Shiba Ichigo." Here, the old man sent a nod of acknowledgement to Ichigo, who bowed his head. Yamamoto continued.

"This meeting also has another purpose. The Soul King has informed me of a possible war brewing on the horizon. Although we may have time to prepare for it, we cannot be slacking off. In the last couple of centuries, the level of power for a normal shinigami has been dwindling. Even you captain's cannot compare to the power of your predecessors. And you have been enjoying these times of relative peace. That's why we had so much trouble imprisoning Kuchiki Kouga. If you were up to the old standard, you would've caught him in hours. Instead it cost us thousands of llives and months of time. Gentlemen, all of you are to start a strict training regime. The war is going be harsh, if the Reio's warning's are anything to go by. Our enemy is strong. And he has his own army. We need to be prepared."

The silence that enveloped the room was deafening. Ichigo was surprised that the old man had decided to inform them about Juuhabach an his plans, though indirectly. But the orange haired man was grateful nevertheless. It was true that the shinigami's of today were below par, and that had shown during the wars. A stricter training regime may not be the solution for the war, but it would certainly help. The silence was suddenly breached as Shunsui let out a loud groan. Ichigo rolled his eyes. The man hated training. And working. And just being sober in general. It was a wonder for Ichigo that Shunsui had been such an efficient Captain Commander during the Quincy war. Everyone else seemed to be alarmed by the news, but a determined glint quickly showed itself in their eyes. Ichipo approved. Juushiro cleared his throat, catcthing everyone's attention.

"Ah, I was just wondering how we are going to juggle our own training, and instructing our division. And how are we going to prevent anyone from dying when we unleash our reiatsu? 13 captain level shinigami fully released won't have a good effect on the surrounding souls." Ukitake's questions were met with pensieveness. Ichigo intervened, bringing the attention back to himself.

"Well, if I may. I think we need to prioritirize(AN:my bad, but i'm too lazy to fix that) our divisions. Us captains will likely survive an attack from the enemy, but the members of our division may not. So I suggest a morning session, and a late afternoon session, where we observe each and everyone of our divsion members, and help them on a personal level. I believe many have the potential to achieve bankai, especially the lieutenants. We have to put our training on hold until the 12th develops a reiatsu concealing field strong enough to hold our combined reiatsu. When we come to that stage, we can put together a training schedule that suits everyone." Ichigo's suggestion seemed to impress and surprsie many of the captains who didn't know him.

He fought down a scowl. He hated being taken for a muscle head with a strong set of morals. The orange haired man had finished Med school with top marks, at the same time as he had been fighting for the continuation of life in the universe. He thought he deserved at least some credit for that. But his shinigami friends continued to underestimate his intelligence, until one day he'd put his foot down, and told them in no uncertain terms to not take him for an idiot. Or else he was leaving them to fend for themselves. The looks on their faces was something Ichigo would treasure to the end of time. Yamamoto tapped the floor again.

"A very good suggestion, Shiba-taichou. All in favour?" Everyone raised their hands. Yamamoto looked pleased,, though it was hard to tell.

"It is decided then. You will train your divisions until we can set up a field that doesn't let reiatsu outside. Urahara taichou, please see that it is done promptly. And your third seat Kurotsuchi is to be fired, and arrested. Apparently he experimented on some hollows and quincies without our knowledge. Not to mention the way he was eyeing Shiba-taichou. Dismissed." Ichigo had turned green at the mentions of Kurotsuchi. If it was one man he hated more than even Juuhabach it was the creep known to the world as Mayuri Kurotsuchi. The man had tried to experiment on Ichigo and various members of his unofficial division. when he brutally murdered by Bambietta, no one shed a tear. Shinji had even thanked the female Quincy. Ichigo was just thankful that Yamamoto was firing the creep.

§ 10th division barracks §

Fuku-taichou Matsumoto Rangiku looked over the assembled division impassively, a rare sight. The strawberry blonde was standing next to her new captain. Rangiku didn't know anything about her new captain, other than the fact that he was incredibly strong, and oncredibly smart. Also that he was astoundingly young and a total cutie. Rangiku would have gone for him, if she didn't have a crush on a certain someone. A certain Gin Ichimaru. Speaking of, he should be back from his solo mission to the human world one of these days. Matsumoto sighed exasperatedly. That man was so...frustrating.

What was wrong with admitting that he loved her, and be done with it? Honestly, men. Rangiku shook herself out of her reverie, and focused. Captain Shiba Ichigo seemed to be assessing each and every one of the division members, and vice versa. The 10th division was a fairly nice division with very few muscle head, who generally opted for the eleventh anyway. But they were slightly skeptical of Ichigo. And so was Rangiku, to be honest. What kind of man achieved bankai within a year of being inducted? And at a such young age as well. Rangiku hadn't even entered puberty at 32. But here was a fully functional an obviously grown man at the same age. Finally he seemed to have assessed the division long enough.

"Good morning. I am Shiba Ichigo, your new taichou. You may refer to me as Shiba-taichou, or Ichigo-taichou. Or just taichou. I don't care as long as you don't disrespect me. Now, I understand that some of you are skeptical of my...qualification. But I assure you, I will do my absolute best to ensure that the 10th division grows as a unit. 'Tis I do swear. " many blinked at the oath, including Rangiku. But it did seem to lessen their skepticism. Ichigo seemed pleased, before he turned serious again.

"Now, the Captain Commander has ordered that our training regime gets more efficient. A war is on it's way. And we must prepare. We are going to train ten times harder, and we are going to do it together. We will a four hour training session from 4 am till 8. I will assist every one of you, and try to help you out. You have all the potential to achieve bankai, and though it may differ in power, each and every bankai, anad each and every zanpakouto is unique. Speaking of, a zanpakouto is not a tool. It is our eternal companion, and it to be treated as such. If I ever hear anyone refer to their zanpakouto as a tool, they will find themselves in a different division." The glare and threatening raiatsu was enough reassurance for Rangiku that her captain meant business. She was impressed. And a little scared, but mostly impressed. Ichigo contiued, seeing that his message had sunk in.

"After the morning session, we will do our duties as shinigami. That means patrols. What is to be noted is that a shinigami is now only going to patrol a town for a couple of hours, and not weeks. Reason being our requirement to all of us being present for the afternoon session, which will begin at 4 pm, and continue till dinner. Anyone who misses the training sessions is to be assigned a shitty job, most likely cleaning the toilets of the 11th, gathering reports from the 12th and so forth. Do I make myself clear?" the threatening aura was back, and everyone nodded frantically. Rangiku pitied the poor buggers.

"We will begin our training tomorrow. 4 am, prompt. Hell butterflies will tell you where you are to be after that. Dismissed. Matsumoto-fukutaicho, third seat Hisugaya. My office, please." As the division went off muttering about the unfairness of it all, Rangiku sent a questioning look towards Toshiro, who shrugged. They followed Shiba-taichou into the office. Matsumoto was surprised to note that it had already been cleaned of the daily paperwork. Ichigo gestured for them to sit.

"I want the two of you to try for bankai."

Mini omake

Kaien held back tears as he walked out of the 10th division barracks. He'd disguised himself and attended his baby brothers first division briefing as captain. The Shiba clan head couldnt' be prouder. His happiness disaapeared when he remembered the Elder's meeting he had to attend.

Meanwhile, a very angry Shiba Koukoto paced the Council room.

"Where is he?!"

AN: Well? Review! And also there will be a huge in one of the next two chapters, so do follow closely. Toshiro's backstory remains the same. And I think RanMaru is one the things Kubo got right. But there won't be extensive attention on that.