How to Find Silver

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

The story begins with Hanataro unwillingly accepts a simple request, which leads to him being involved with events that will change his life forever… Well. This sounds interesting.

Soifon x Hanataro as well as others

Chapter 1: The Runaround

The sound of the broom going back and forth was all that could be heard in the Squad Four barracks. Hanataro didn't mind sweeping, rather he quite enjoyed it. The gentle sound of the broom as it traveled back and forth, the time to just think, and the way it got everything so… clean. No, sweeping wasn't a problem, the problem was that it was not his job, it was Ogida's.

Hanataro had just finished his shift and was preparing to head home, when Ogida Harunobu, Eighth seat of the Fourth Division, came up to him. Ogida brushed his short, wavy brown hair out of his eyes and started talking, "Hey, Hana, how's it going? Listen, I'm supposed to do the evening cleaning tonight, but I have a date tonight, and I have to rush if I want to be ready in time. So, I was wondering if you, kind and compassionate superior that you are, would be willing to take my shift?"

"Um…"

"That's great," Ogida said, handing Hanataro a broom, "Thanks, I'll cover for you some other time in return. See ya!"

"W-wait! That's not…" Hanataro began as the taller man started to walk away.

"Oh, you want to know who the girl is?" Ogida asked, without stopping, "I'm not sure; I do remember she's from Third Squad though. She's not a seated officer or anything, but she sure is cute. Well, see you around." With that he was gone, leaving Hanataro alone with the broom.

"Sigh. Oh, well might as get started." Hana said, wondering how this happened to him. "He doesn't even remember the girl's name? Well, with as many admirers as he has, I guess it's not that unusual."

As he spoke, softly but out loud, he began to sweep the floor. The familiar sound of the broom scraping the floor soothed him. "It must be nice to be popular. Ogida has twenty girls chasing him at a time, but I wonder what it would be like to have one girlfriend… No, that'll never happen, where would I find a girl who would be interested in someone li-. " His thoughts were cut short when a foot suddenly impacted with the side of his head, knocking him to the ground, "Did someone just run me over?" he thought as he went down, actually very used to this sort of thing.

"Out of my way!" Soifon, Captain of Squad Two of the Thirteen Court Guard and leader of the Stealth Force, yelled at him, as she charged down the hallway.

Hanataro struggled to stand up. "Shouldn't you say that before you run the pers-." His thoughts were interrupted when Marechiyo Omeada, Soifon's lieutenant, came barreling through the hallway, showing no more concern for anyone standing in his way than his captain had.

"Captain!" he yelled, sweat dripping from his heavy features as he struggled to catch up to his captain "What about your arm? Captain Unohana isn't done with today's treatment yet!"

His Captain ignored him however, she merely continued rushing down the hall. Hanataro tried to push himself up again, but his efforts were halted when even more people came sprinting down the hall, this time several members of the stealth force, in swift pursuit of their superiors. "Captain! Lieutenant!" they cried, as they bounded down the passageway.

Hanataro started to wonder if he should even bother to stand at this point. His question was quickly answered in the form of the Fourth Squad's own Third seat, Yasochika Iemura, and a fairly large group of very concerned nurses and orderlies charging after the members of Squad Two. Without breaking stride, the blond man pushed his glasses up his slim nose, "If Captain Soifon thinks she can avoid treatment at our barracks simply by running away, she has another think coming! Right, Men?" He asked, still running at top speed. He was rewarded by various calls of encouragement.

"Yes, Sir!"

"That's the way, Iemura, Sir!"

"But most of us are women!" Iemura simply ignored this last one.

Hanataro was actually quite relieved; he no longer had to worry about whether he should get up or not. He couldn't do it if he tried.

XX

Omeada was now running directly behind his captain, leaping through the Seireitei on their way to the Western Gate. "Captain, don't you think we should have waited for Captain Unohana? She had wanted to do another exam on your arm before she and Captain Kurotsuchi began treatment to restore it" Soifon motioned to her lieutenant with her remaining right arm, He came even closer to her, "What is it Capta- ack!" He was cut off when Soifon smacked him in the face. Omeada clutched his hands to his face, but he did not lessen his pace. Soifon found this mildly impressive, though she would never admit it.

She glanced at stump on her left side, a last grim reminder of her battle against the Second Espada, Baraggan Louisenbairn. She gritted her teeth in disgust at the memory, "Shut up, Omeada! There's been an arrancar sighting in West Rukongai. I don't know if it's some of Aizen's left overs or something else entirely, and I don't care we're going there to either eliminate or capture the threat. Now, hurry up before I leave you behind." With that her pace quickened. Then her vision began to cloud, and she stumbled slightly. She tried to press forward, but the next thing she knew, the world seemed to spin around her, and then she lost her balance completely and fell from the sky.

XX

Back at the Fourth Division, Isane Kotetsu, who had just finished taking care of a patient in a nearby room, walked out into the hallway, "What was that noise about before?" she wondered as she stepped forward. She looked down when her foot suddenly came into contact with something. "What did I step o- Eek!"

"Why, hello, Lieutenant, fancy meeting you here." Hanataro laughed shakily, "Um, if it's not too much trouble could you possibly lend me a hand?"

XX

Omeada had been struggling to keep up, and in doing so he had taken his eyes off of the captain, when he looked up she was gone. He stopped in midair, looking around frantically. "Did she really leave me behind?" he wondered, starting to panic a little, "But I was going as fast as I could!" He cried, wondering how he would ever find her. What if she encountered the arrancar and was injured? Omeada did not truly believe that this would happen, he knew his captain too well. The battle against Baraggan had shaken him, however, he couldn't help but worry.

Even after Aizen's defeat, things had yet to return to normal. There had been many Arrancars and lesser hollows that had begun to appear in droves, as if to fill the vacuum left after Aizen was imprisoned. It had been less than a week since the battle at Karakura town, and Squad Two had gone on a mission to battle an Arrancar or high class hollow almost every day, all the squads have. Soifon, however, had been pushing herself especially hard, far harder than she needed. She insisted on going on every single mission assigned to Squad Two, instead of just letting her officers handle it. She even started going on mission assigned to other squads. She always found some excuses to miss any appointment Unohana made with her, whether it was mission like today, or simply hiding behind paperwork.

Omeada was worried, he knew she hadn't been sleeping well the past few days. Now he had lost her completely. "Oooh! What am I gonna do?" he mumbled frantically, looking all around him. He was just about to summon the entire stealth force and have them tear the Seireitei apart looking for her, when he heard someone call out to him.

"Hey! You can relax, Big Man. I've got her." Omeada turned toward the Voice and saw her, standing on a building below. He recognized the woman holding Soifon. It was impossible to mistake those yellow eyes, that dark, tanned skin and that long purple hair. Yoruichi Shihoin grinned at the overweight lieutenant, "So, how's it going, Marechiyo?"

Soifon looked around, more than a little surprised about her current situation. "Lady Yoruichi?" She asked, blushing furiously. Partially because the of sudden appearance of her mentor and idol, but also because Yoruichi was holding her in much the same way a groom would hold his bride as he carried her over the threshold of their new home.

Omeada looked at the two of them, she looks kinda cute when she blushes like that, he thought to himself, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink as well. He wouldn't say that out loud though, he may be bumbling and arrogant at times but he was never suicidal. He went down to the building where the two women were.

While Omeada approached, Yoruichi had been looking at Soifon seriously, "You know, she looks pretty cute when she blushes like that. Don't you think, Marechiyo?" She asked an evil grin on her face.

Both Soifon and Omeada blushed even brighter at this, Soifon from embarrassment due to the compliment, and Omeada due to panic, what are you trying to do to me, Woman? He screamed in his mind. Out loud he asked, "W-what are you doing here, Lady Yoruichi?"

"Oh, just this and that, you know," she said nonchalantly, "Actually, I'm here because Retsu sent me a letter. I figured I should come check it out right away." She turned, jumped off the building, and began walking, still carrying Soifon.

Soifon looked around a little confused, and then she realized that they were heading back the way they had come. She began to protest, "Lady Yoruichi, what are you doing…" She trailed off when Yoruichi gave her a stern look.

"Listen, Soifon, I know you, for you to stumble like that, something must be wrong. So, I'm just going to take you to the Fourth Division so they can have a look at you. Is that okay?"

"But the arrancar. We were on a mission, we have to-"

Yoruichi stopped, and placed Soifon on her feet. The young woman could not help but feel nervous as her mentor stared into her eyes. "Soifon, Squad Six is already there, they've already scared it off, so there'd be no reason for you to go. Renji Abarai is with them, just leave the rest to him." She ran her fingers through Soifon's hair, smiling at this girl who was so much like a daughter to her, "You need some rest, so, please go back to the Fourth Division… for me?"

Soifon hesitated for a moment and then she gave in, "For you, Lady Yoruichi, anything," she said, and then squeaked in surprise as Yoruichi lifted her up again.

"Well, alrighty then!" Yoruichi said, amidst new cries of protest from the younger woman. "Let's go." Omeada was beginning to wonder if he could go get a bag of fried rice cakes, and began to edge off to do just that, when he heard Yoruichi snap, "Marechiyo, hurry up! Sheesh, you're as bad as your father."

"Yes, ma'am." He said, as he followed them he mumbled under his breath, "Back when he was her lieutenant, did Dad really have to put up with this all the time?"

"Not after he learned to follow orders, he didn't." Yoruichi called back to him.

He didn't even bother to wonder how she had heard him, he just followed.

XX

Renji looked around, pleased that things had gone so well. There had been no fatalities, and injuries and property damage were at a minimum. When the Sixth arrived on the scene, Renji immediately went to confront the arrancar, but he didn't get close. As soon as she saw them she opened a Garganta, a black portal to another world, releasing half a dozen hollows into the Rukongai. These were weak hollows, however, possibly newly formed, and he and his men defeated them with no trouble. When Renji went to confront the arrancar, she was already gone. He put his zanpakuto away, and started instructing his men to take care of any injured, as well as start on damage control.

It's weird though, he thought as he sent the last few soul reapers to scout the area; she invades Rukongai just to run away? And what was up with her spiritual pressure? It was… strange, not powerful, like most of the arrancars I've faced, but still I've never felt anything like it before. He went to supervise the cleanup, when he realized something. There were the three guys he had ordered to help the injured and help clean up any extensive damage, and the two he had sent to scout, but he had brought six soul reapers with him. Who was missing? Ah, yeah, it's that new guy who just transferred from the Twelfth Division. What was his name? Right, Kazuki Koga, that's it. Where the heck did that guy go?

XX

Koga was hurrying to the north, the direction the arrancar had fled in. As soon as he saw the Garganta open, he put all his attention on the arrancar to see what she would do. She was fast though, so he nearly missed her any way. Due to the amount of study into the spiritual pressure habits of arrancars he had done back in Twelfth, however, he was ready when she suddenly vanished. He was able to follow her spiritual pressure and keep up with her. Among the unseated soul reapers, Koga was one of the few outside of Squad Two who could use flash-step, a special method of movement that soul reapers used to get around quickly.

He had learned it during the time he had been part of the stealth force, a long time ago. He knew he didn't look very didn't look stealthy: standing at just over six feet tall with a heavy, muscular body, that made him look more like an ape than a soul reaper; and short, black hair, which was the most normal thing about his appearance. That was part of the reason he had left. The other part was because they threw him out for insubordination.

It wasn't the first time he had been transferred and it wasn't the last, and his station in Squad Six probably wouldn't last long either. Not unless he did something big to earn some points and that was just what this arrancar would do for him.

He stopped when he reached a string of abandoned buildings near edge of the Rukongai. He had lost the arrancar's trail, but he calmly focused on sensing her spiritual pressure. He found it and swiftly turned to his right, pointing at a small shed, preparing a Kido, "Hado #4: Byakurai!" He yelled, and a bolt of lightning shot from his finger tip, demolishing the shed. He watched as the arrancar leapt from the wreckage, he prepared to draw his Zanpakuto.

She looked at him with cold, almost emotionless eyes, no anger or fear, there was something in those eyes, but Koga could not put a name to it. She was tall, slender and quite attractive. The remains of her mask, that differs from arrancar to arrancar, was a thin strip of bone that started just over her left and trailed diagonally down her face, stopping under her right cheekbone. Instead of attacking she stared at him for several minutes before speaking, "I'm surprised anyone managed to find me. Tell me; what is your name, Soul Reaper? What Squad do you belong to, and what is your seat?" She didn't seem concerned about facing him, which he found very annoying. She hadn't even reached for her Zanpakuto yet, she just left it strapped to her left leg, the spilt in her skirt giving her easy access to it.

He smirked, if she wanted to play, he figured he might as well play along, and he took his hand away from his sword hilt before responding, "You ask a lot of questions, don't ya, Lady? My name is Kazuki Koga, currently with the Sixth, seat: none. Don't worry none, Worm-bait, the only reason I'm not a lieutenant right now is because of a few 'personality issues.' Namely, because they're scared of me, and with good reason too. Once I bring back your head, though, they'll have no choice but to promote me."

She looked at him for a few moments longer before grasping the hilt of her Zanpakuto, "Yes," she said, "you'll do quite nicely." With that she drew her sword, and Koga rushed to draw his own. As her sword left it's sheath, she calmly spoke again, "Open his eyes, Angelicia." There was bright flash as she transformed, into a state the arrancars referred to as Resurreccion, in which she would assume her true form and power.

Koga couldn't hide his surprise, he had been a soul reaper for some time, but he had never seen anything like this.

XX

Things had finally settled down at Fourth Division, as Yoruichi walked around the hallways, looking for Captain Unohana, still carrying Soifon in her arms. She bumped into Isane, and for the first time noticed that Soifon had fallen asleep again. So Isane led them to empty room, where Soifon could rest. Leaving Omeada to keep an eye on her, Isane led Yoruichi to Unohana. They stopped in front of a room, and Isane knocked, "Captain Unohana? Lady Yoruichi is here to see you," she announced and waited for a response.

After a brief moment, a soft voice came from within the room, "Yes, come in. You're here earlier than I expected, actually." The two women slid the door open and entered to find a beautiful woman kneeling next to a young man who was asleep on a pallet. The dark haired woman stood up, a serene smile on her face as she approached the former captain, "Hello, Yoruichi, I'm glad you could come. How's Kisuke?"

"Oh, not too bad, considering he's been trapped in a force field for the past for the past week. I'll explain later," she said, waving her hand dismissively, then she noticed the person sleeping on the pallet, "Hey, isn't that the guy who helped Ichigo when we broke into the Seireitei way back when. What's his name, uh…? Hana… something. What's he doing in the infirmary?" Normally, Fourth Squad members treated patients, they didn't usually end up as patients themselves.

"Hanataro, ma'am," Isane said as she stepped forward to provide an answer to Yoruichi's question, "He passed out earlier, nothing to severe. He was sweeping the halls when it happened. It's strange though, it isn't his turn to sweep the barracks tonight, it's supposed to be Eighth Seat Ogida. I couldn't find him to ask him why Hanataro was doing it, and when I asked Hanataro all he said was something about 'stampeding ninjas' but I'm not sure what he meant. So we put him in here so he could recover."

Hearing this Yoruichi stifled a laugh, she thought she might have a pretty good idea about who was leading those 'stampeding ninjas', but she decided not to say anything now. Unohana gave her a curious look but didn't say anything.

Unohana walked to the door, and turned to her lieutenant, "Isane, Yoruichi and I have a lot to discuss, would you check on Hanataro from time to time?" After Isane nodded, Unohana led Yoruichi away to her office.

Shortly after they left Hanataro began to stir. Isane knelt by his side, "Hanataro?" She asked a look of concern on her face.

Suddenly he sat bolt upright screaming, "No, not the sponge bath!" He stopped and looked around, and then he turned to Isane, "Oh, Lieutenant Kotetsu, is something the matter? What happened? The last thing I remember I was sweeping up the hallway when Captain Soifon and several other people suddenly ran me over."

"Captain Soifon and several other people?" Isane asked not entirely sure she had heard him right.

"Yeah, first was Lieutenant Omeada, then some people from the stealth force, and then one more pretty big group, I don't know who was in it though, I was pretty out of it by that time." He said calmly, as if talking about being run over was the most natural thing in the world. "I'm okay now though, you get used to this kind of thing after a while." He said matter-of-factly.

How can someone possibly get used to something like that? She wondered to herself, out loud she said, "Um, that may be, but I would prefer it if you just stay here for the night, will that be okay?"

"Uh, I guess so, thank you, Lieutenant, and good night."

She got up and started to leave, when she got to door, she turned around and smiled slightly, "Good night, Hanataro, rest well," she said before she shut the door and left.

XX

Yoruichi and Unohana had just arrived at the Captain's office, as they entered, Unohana asked as she led her old friend into her private quarters, "Would you care for some tea, Yoruichi?" She was already arranging cups on a tray as she spoke.

"C'mon, Retsu, you know me better than that," Yoruichi said, grinning. Her grin got even wider as Unohana returned with the tray, a few small cups on it as well as a bottle of sake. "Much better, now we can get down to business. I'm going to guess that you didn't ask me here just to share a drink, huh?" She asked already taking a sip of the sake.

Unohana finished preparing the tea, and sat down at the small table in the middle of the room, "Yes, It's about Soifon. She hasn't been sleeping well, she refuses to come see me about her arm, and I'm just afraid that she's going burn herself out," she said, shaking her head slightly before taking a small sip of her tea.

Yoruichi looked at her seriously, "She may be closer to that then you think," she said quietly, which caused the other woman to raise an eyebrow inquisitively. Yoruichi continued, "I ran into her while she was on her way to that arrancar incident, when she lost her balance in the middle of a flash-step and fell. If I hadn't been near enough to catch, I'm not sure what would've happened," she took another sip of sake from her cup and refilled it before continuing. "I managed to talk her into coming here, but on the way back she fell asleep. She's asleep in one of the rooms right now. I have Marechiyo keeping an eye on her, not that he could stop her if she wanted to leave, but at least he could come warn me about it."

Yoruichi sighed and stood up, walking over to the window still holding her cup and the bottle of sake, she took another sip before continuing, "It's because of the fight she had in the fake Karakura town. I managed to get Marechiyo to tell me about it since Soifon wouldn't say a word. It sounds like she had a rough time," she shook her head, and though her cup was empty, she didn't pour herself another drink. She leaned against the windowsill, looking out Fourth Division's garden courtyard, admiring it's simple beauty, "I guess I can understand why she's so upset about it: she gave that Baraggan guy her best shot, twice, and she still couldn't finish him. I know she believes she is enough of a professional that something like that shouldn't bother her. What she doesn't get is that there would be something wrong with her if it didn't!" Yoruichi sighed again, "She won't even talk about it. I just don't know what to do anymore." Yoruichi shook her head as she finally poured herself another drink. "She's just so stubborn; I just wish I knew where she learned it from." She heard a small sound behind her. With a wry smile on her face, she turned her head to look at Unohana, "You know, Retsu, if I didn't know you better I would say you just snorted at me."

Unohana sipped her tea, her face perfectly straight, "Why, of course I have no idea what you're talking about, Dear," she smiled at her friend and the feeling of gloom that had gathered as Yoruichi had been speaking suddenly began to dissipate, "I know you're worried, but all you can do is wait until she's ready to talk, either to you or someone else. Until then all you can do is be there for her," as she said this Unohana poured another glass of tea for herself.

Still looking out the window, Yoruichi slowly nodded her head; she half turned then and said, "Yeah, you're right. Say I've been wondering, what's up with that kid in the infirmary. He's your Seventh seat isn't he, so what he doing taking orders from an Eighth Seat?"

Unohana pondered this question carefully before answering, "It's not that Yamada was ordered, he just didn't say no. He has the kindest heart of almost anyone I've ever met. He is also very naïve, however, and he has no self-confidence, he either let's people talk him into doing his chores for them or they simply bully him into it." She paused for a moment, deep in thought. Yoruichi took this chance to interrupt.

"Wait, did you say Yamada? Wasn't that the name of your old Lieutenant? Are they related somehow?" When she saw Unohana nod, Yoruichi continued, "Well, if that's the case the kid must have some potential."

Unohana smiled softly, "I like to think so. Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends were a good influence on him, and he's improved a good deal since then on his own, but he still has trouble from time to time. He just needs more confidence." She trailed off again, once more deep in thought.

Yoruichi smiled slightly as she turned back to the window as she digested what Unohana had just said, "Confidence, huh? Soifon has that in spades, sometimes I think she has too much of it. What she could really use is some of that boy's kindness, especially now," she stopped, her eyes growing wide as she turned what she had just said over in her mind. "Yes," she said slowly, her smile back now, "we just might have something here," Her smile was even bigger now. She turned back to Unohana with a look that could only be described as an evil grin, "Hey, Retsu, Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Unohana was taking a sip of tea, the smile on her face, though subtle, anyone who knew her could tell you that smile was among the ten most frightening things to ever appear in the Seireitei, others being some of Kurotsuchi's experiments, or this one time Captain Kyoraku actually managed to get Nanao drunk, but no one is allowed to talk about that last one, "Perhaps," was all she said.

"Oh, this is going to be interesting!" Yoruichi cackled.

XX

In his room Hanataro felt a sudden chill though he couldn't explain why.

Preview

Author: Whew! Finally done.

Ichigo: What do you mean 'Finally'? It's only been about three days.

Author: Exactly!

Ichigo: *sigh* whatever. Isn't this supposed to be when you talk about next time?

Author: phff! Like that ever happens! Besides, we're out of time!

Ichigo: Oh, come on!

Non-Illustrated Guide to Soul-Reapers… Golden!

Isane walked down the hall to Unohana's office, planning to make one last report to her captain and go to bed. She went to the door, slid it open, saying as she did so, "Captain, everything has settle down for the night, so I'll be going…" She trailed off when saw what was happening inside: there was Yoruichi, laughing like a lunatic, and over by the table Isane's own captain, sitting in the traditional style she always used, sipping tea, but on the older woman's face was that smile. After just a brief moment, Isane quietly shut the door and headed to her room, doing everything she could to drive the scene from her memory.

To be continued

That's all for now, actually this was supposed to be pretty short, I'm not real sure what happened. Here's my very first fan fic, I hope this is something you all remember fondly. I know that this isn't perfect, but when you review, feel free to leave suggestions on how I can improve. I don't know when I'll update, it depends on how motivated I get, hint hint, (Points at the Review button) *cough* well, anyway…

Hope you had fun, I did, and I'll see you next time.

Sincerely,

Justagoodguy, aspiring author.

PS, I had wanted to go with Brilliant Idiot for my penname, but it was already taken. Ah, crud muffins.