Note: I did their names in the western way, instead of Japanese.
First part of the story is a background.
TOLD BY UKITAKE... bwahaha.. I mean, isn't he such a nice captain.
PS. I made up the whole thing about Hell Guardians, but its sounds cool, so it's staying....
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It has been three years after the whole ryoka incident meets Sosuke Aizen's betrayal. That winter, both Soul Society and the humans of Karakura Town had met the traitorous ex-captain and had somehow won. The aftermath had been gruesome. It had ended with Ichigo Kurosaki almost slaying Aizen, while I almost died from a coughing epidemic.
That was three years ago. They told me Aizen was still alive. How? Something about some Hell Guardians appearing and saying something about him being an impure demon. I should really ask someone about what all that meant someday.
Life has continued.
Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryusai, the general commander of the 13 Divisions is still alive and kicking. Seriously kicking. Apparently a few days ago, his lieutenant Chojiro Sasakibe told him some rumors going around about the general getting too old. Yamamoto-Genryusai had then proceeded to visit every department to gather "some good men to help me with a certain project." The unlucky shinigami selected had then been punished in a drastic way for their rebellion; the general had literally kicked all of them across Soul Society until he was positive that they would never call him old again. Chojiro, on the other hand, really is starting to believe that his captain has lost it.
After the war, Soifon confessed her love to Yoruichi Shihouin, who had then invited her to join her lover, Kisuke Urahara, and her for a threesome. Marechiyo Omaeda, her lieutenant, was left doing paperwork for a month. Few questions were asked when a happy, smiley Soifon made an appearance. Even fewer questions were asked when the 2nd Division captain disappears for periods of time to the human world. General Yamamoto-Genrysai almost decided to permanently station her in Karakura Town. Almost.
The 3rd Division is now under the leadership of Izuru Kira for the time being. It was discovered that Aizen had hypnotized his former lieutenant, Gin Ichimaru. Some question how long. As 4th Division captain, Retsu Unohana has been assigned to help recover his will. The 3rd Division former captain that annoyed everyone was deemed to be an illusion living in a body controlled by a sword. At a recent captain's meeting, Unohana has requested that we call in more powerful kido specialist. The general has decided to call upon a friend from the Hell Guardians.
Kira, on the other hand, is almost overwhelmed, between trying to run the whole Division, do all the paperwork, and care for Ichimaru, he is almost going insane. Both he and Rangiku Matsumoto, the 10th Division's lieutenant, are busy trying to attend to Ichimaru's needs. The former captain's mind has been reduced to a little child's starving for attention. Though he's still mischievous as ever, both shinigami have to deal with his crying attacks, which last for hours.
Between trying to find a cure for Ichimaru and running the 4th Division, Unohana is still a feared captain. During the battle between Soul Society and Aizen, the 4th Division proudly showed of a great deal of talent in healing some of the most life-threatening wounds in minutes which allowed the fighters to rush back into battle. Also, they helped create a seal to prevent souls from being gathered for the making of the oken (royal key to the king's dimension). Though proud of her Division, Unohana now has to deal with the men from the 11th Division, who has decided that they are now best friends with the famous relief division. These so-called "friends" come in around mid-day and wait until her subordinates, tired of dealing with the sake-partying men and loud noises, come to her in desperation. After she makes an appearance, the men all scramble out of the station muttering something about "trying to know the secret of the captain" or something along those lines.
Her lieutenant, Isane Kotetsu, has taken over most of the Division recently due to her captain's assignment with healing Ichimaru's insanity. Unohana is trying to prep the girl for when she will eventually take over the Division. The third seat, Yasochika Iemura, has noticed and is now trying to win his captain's favor, though she did mutter once about diaries being bothersome or something. Iemura recently seems to be avoiding her. The new brightest joy of the division, though, is Hanataro Yamada. The boy has surprised everyone by his exceptional skill in the entire deal with Aizen. His expertise has earned him his new title, the 4th seat. It is rumored that if the lieutenant and the 3rd seat don't watch out, the little boy will take their places real soon.
Since Aizen's betrayal, the 5th Division has never been the same. The other Divisions have taken on doing the paperwork and most of the tasks have been re-distributed. Lieutenant Momo Hinamori, still in shock, has been temporally assigned to help the 10th Division.
The nagging truth is that Aizen is still alive. It was revealed that when Aizen died in the real world, he become an earth-bound soul. Unfortunately, due to his great amount of spiritual power as a human he one day become a very powerful hollow.
After being cleansed by a shinigami's zanpakuto, instead of ascending to Soul Society, he had been dragged into the depths of Hell to pay for his crimes done as a human. Over the course of many years, Aizen was deemed "cleansed" by the Hell's equivalent of the Shinigami Research Bureau, who were in charge of Soul Cleansing. Aizen had been one of the "lucky" souls that had taken part in a new soul cleansing process.
Previously, when a soul died and went to Hell, they were tormented for a certain period of time for their sins, the intensity and duration determined by the nature of their crimes. Then they were locked up for cleansing. During this process, the soul reflected on his/her crimes. Also, they were given a certain potion that helped cleanse their hearts and souls. After many years, preferably centuries, again depending on the individual, the soul was given a choice. It can could either enter Soul Society or stay in Hell. If it chose Soul Society, then it could decide to either be reborn or enter as they were.
The Bureau had then invented a process in which the process of soul cleansing would occur in a matter of days. Many of the Hell Guardians had protested saying that the soul cleansing process should not be changed in case something bad happened. Unfortunately, the Bureau had decided to continue with its experiments.
When the first batch had completed their treatment and appeared fine, no one really paid attention to the lone Guardian of the Northeastern Gate who had grumbled something about it coming back to haunt them. Aizen was then released into Soul Society in his human form, free of supposed corruption and evil. No one realized that his specialty was lying.
No one is allowed to mention anything to the 5th Division's lieutenant though. Her long time friend, Toshiro Hitsugaya once commented that Azien could have created an illusion of something to prevent her from going almost mad. The girl is now pitied almost as Ichimaru. She is sometimes caught sitting at the office window staring into the sky as if waiting for someone. Hitsugaya has recently expressed a desire to travel to Hell himself and kill Aizen for the pain his childhood friend is going through.
The 6th Division's noble heir, Byakuya Kuchiki is known for his deepening relationship with his lieutenant, Renji Abarai. It is rumored that the two of them shared more than just paperwork, but of course that rumor ended with several stares from the cold captain. Abarai is also rumored to be sharing a bed with a small woman. Rumors spread that the woman was from the 13th Division. Expressing my desire to check into the rumor, my drinking partner promptly hit me on the head, muttering something about letting love run its course. Apart from rumors though, the Kuchiki heir has somewhat warmed up. He can be seen personally training alongside Abarai in the 6th Division training grounds.
Meanwhile, things in the 7th Division has finally cooled down. The fox captain, Sajin Komamura, has finally forgiven his best friend, Kaname Tosen, for the betrayal he participated in. Apparently, Tosen hadn't been mad by joining the two crazed shinigami. He had really wanted to keep an eye on Aizen and make sure to spoil his plans from the inside. Being the only one who was not affected by Aizen's zanpakuto, he had early on decided that he would have to sacrifice his life as a last resort in case Soul Society hadn't pulled through. After a few nights spent explaining his elaborate plan, Tosen finally managed to get Komamura to stop shouting at him.
Tetsuzaemon Iba, the 7th Division's lieutenant had, during the battle in Karakura Town, developed a stomach ulcer that has recently worsened. Unohana calmly muttered something about worms eating him from the inside out in a voice that any normal person would have used to describe how beautiful the sky looked like. Iba had then fled the relief station and hidden himself as far as possible in the 11th Division barracks from the supposed mild captain. I can't say that I blame him.
Shunsui Kyoraku, my dearest friend, is now courting his lovely Nanao Ise. Somewhere along the line, I once commented that "if only Shunsui could settle down, I'm sure his flirting tendencies would come to a halt." The usually stoic woman had actually blushed and said something about talking to him about it. Not realizing how much of an impact that sentence had made, I was rudely awakened one morning by a screaming Shunsui who was loudly singing off-tune about "him and Nanao-chan" making babies. I highly doubt that will really happen anytime soon, but it is glad to see my good friend happy. I hear that his parents were not that happy with his choice, but after seeing the control Ise had on him, they were begging her to marry him soon. She said something about taking it slow. Oh, well. Patience is a virtue.