Bleach: I'm Hanataro Yamada

I never cleaned that damned sewer again. I spent the entire afternoon getting rid of that stench and cleaning it completely. By the time I was done, it was almost evening, and since I didn't know Shunpo, I had to walk back to my division. I could run, but that would only delay me further since my stamina was not great, so I would get exhausted halfway there.

I thought a lot about how to find a teacher. At first, I considered asking a member of the Eleventh Division, the division specialized in sword fighting, renouncing the other Shinigami arts, but I abandoned that idea quickly. The Eleventh Division despises my division because they believe my division is just a weak medical team, even though most members of the Eleventh Division fear our captain, Retsu Unohana.

Well, I can't blame them. I shudder with fear when I'm in front of her. The aura she emits when she's really serious is unprecedented, and that posture she maintains most of the time, as if she's always ready for battle.

Anyway, after several futile ideas, I decided that the only way was to return to the Spiritual Arts Academy and ask to be taught again by my former teacher. That was the only solution I found.

I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice someone turning the corner, and the result was nothing less than a collision between us.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you..." I couldn't finish my sentence because I was distracted by a light coming from his head, resembling a moon, even though the sun was still setting, making way for the night.

"What is the moon doing here?" I said aloud.

"What did you say?" said a not-so-happy voice.

Somehow, the light from his head started to fade, and I could see the man fully. He was tall and thin, wearing the standard kimono. Each of his eyes had a small red mark at the outer corner, and of course, the most distinctive feature, he was bald.

Ah, crap.

I recognized him easily from my memories, and I realized I had made a big mistake by irritating him, a huge mistake.

"Hey, kid, I asked what you said!" said the bald man with his sword pointed at me.

What should I do now?

I can't lie since he clearly heard what I said, and I can't run because he's much faster than me. Obviously, I can't fight him directly either. Would he really start a fight with another division member? Absolutely yes.

"Are you deaf by any chance?" the bald man said again.

I tried to push my brain to its maximum potential, trying to find a solution to the mess I was in, but it seemed like the bald man lost all his patience.

Without any warning, he attacked me with his sword still in its sheath, aiming at my spine. My senses exploded like never before, and I managed to dodge by doing a backflip. I wasn't sure if I should be grateful for this body's flexibility, but a drop of sweat fell from my face. If I had been a bit slower, that blow would have hit me.

"How interesting, even though you're part of the medical team, you managed to dodge my attack. Impressive!" he says with a smile.

"That was just pure luck," I say.

"What a surprise, it seems I was wrong in thinking you were deaf," says the bald man, preparing for his next strike.

Normally, I would consider my defeat inevitable, but I see a chance to win or at least escape, since he's underestimating me. That previous blow he gave me, he didn't even use half of his real strength. I'll take advantage of that, and this will be the perfect moment to test something I've always wanted to try. But I can only use it once against him, so it has to be the final blow.

"Where aremy manners? My name is Ikkaku Madarame, I'm the third seat of the eleventh division. Now, enough talk!" says Ikkaku, quickly advancing towards Hanataro.

"Thud!"

I twist my body to the left, throwing myself to the ground, avoiding Ikkaku's sword. With one knee on the ground, I aim my other leg at Ikkaku's legs, trying to trip him, but he crouches and defends with his katana. I leap to the left again, dodging his katana coming my way, stopping in a grassy area that gives me an idea. I grab a small handful of dirt with my right hand, hiding it in my closed fist.

"Thud!"

Ikkaku lands in front of me, kicking with his foot, which I block with my shoulder. He was strong, very strong. The force made me fly several meters before crashing into a tree. It hurt a lot, but I managed to ignore the pain.

"This is getting very boring. You better draw your Zanpakuto if you don't want to die!" says Ikkaku, coming at Hanataro again.

I throw myself to the right, barely dodging his katana, which, even while still in its sheath, could still hurt me. I can't draw my Zanpakuto because I would be destroyed by his swordsmanship, so all I can do is dodge and try to land a few blows, waiting for the perfect moment for my plan.

I did two backflips, getting away from Ikkaku. I took a deep breath to regain my stamina. I'm reaching my limit; I have to finish this quickly. I keep dodging his attacks, but even so, some blows still hit me. I don't know how I haven't fainted from the pain yet.

Ikkaku approaches me, trying to cut off my head. I take a big step back, barely dodging at the last second. Finally, I find the opening I've been waiting for. I open my right hand, which had been closed until now, throwing dirt into his eyes, blinding him for about twenty seconds at most. Just enough time for what I need to do. I jump towards him, and even though he's blind, he still has his senses, so he defends with both arms, which is exactly what I wanted. I use his arms as leverage to throw myself away, and in the air, I prepare for my victory move.

"Lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, fluttering wings, you who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march to the south..."

Still in the air, I point the palm of my left hand while holding my left arm with my right hand, channeling all my Reiryoku into the palm of my hand, forming a crimson red orb of energy the size of a basketball.

"Hadō 31: Shakkaho!" I shout, completing the Hadō incantation.

"BOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"

The crimson red energy orb shot towards Ikkaku, and when it reached its target, the ground, grass, and everything within its blast radius erupted upwards as if a bomb had dropped. I fell inelegantly to the ground and looked at the explosion site, which created a crater five meters deep and six meters wide. In the center of the crater was Ikkaku, with the upper part of his kimono destroyed, showing his body covered in wounds and burns.

"Cough! Cough!" Ikkaku coughed up blood.

"You bastard! Do you think you defeated me with that?" he says with a tired voice.

Actually, I never thought I could launch that Hadō, but I also never thought it would hurt him this much.

"You're not in the best shape to say that. I can heal you if you leave me alone and don't attack me anymore."

This is a lie. I used all my Reiryoku in that strike. I'm completely drained. I just said that to calm this mess down, but it seems Ikkaku isn't very keen on that. Even in his state, he manages to draw his katana and strikes the hilt on the sheath, a big smile appearing on his face.

"Grow! Hoozuk..."

Before he could finish speaking, a shinigami appeared between me and him. He was also wearing the standard shinigami outfit with some customizations, an orange piece of cloth over his neck covering most of his chest. He had colorful feathers on his eyelashes and eyebrows, extremely shiny skin, purple eyes, and black hair at jaw length.

"Ikkaku, this has gone too far. I can't believe you got so hurt by someone as ugly as him."

I ignore that completely to avoid attacking him.

"Yumichika..." says Ikkaku, surprised.

"Hey, ugly guy, what's your name?" says Yumichika.

"My name is Hanataro Yamada, I'm the seventh seat of the fourth division," I say, controlling myself as much as possible to avoid punching him.

"Hanataro, as the fifth seat of the eleventh division, I apologize for what happened today, and we will accept any request you make to compensate for this whole fight."

This brings many possibilities to mind, but it wasn't hard to think of what I would ask for.

"I want Ikkaku Madarame to teach me Zanjutsu!" I say with a smile.

And that's how I got my Zanjutsu teacher.

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Eleventh Division Headquarters, Soul Society

Two Weeks Later

1:00 AM

"Left!"

Ikkaku shouted out of nowhere, making me instinctively move my wooden sword to my left arm, but the strike didn't come from the left; it came from the right, hitting me right on the knee and making me fall to the ground on my knees.

"Ouch!" I cried out in pain.

"Why didn't you defend, Hanataro?" Ikkaku asked as he stepped back to let me get up. He loved asking these questions whenever I did something wrong. I think it's his way of getting revenge for being "defeated" by me, a simple and fragile member of the medical team.

"Because you suddenly shouted 'left'!" I said simply after getting up.

"You idiot! Why did you believe me? I'm your enemy while we're training," he said, giving me another lesson.

I didn't respond. Instead, I assumed the stance he taught me, with both hands on the sword at waist height. He taught me various basic kendo stances; the one I'm using now is focused on attack and defense, which is what he's training me on today. We stared at each other for a few seconds. I focused my vision on Ikkaku's feet. He's faster than me, even though he's using a higher speed than when we first fought. Watching his feet helps a bit.

Ikkaku is wearing the common shinigami robes and wielding a training sword like mine.

Then he attacked. I could barely see him as he got in front of me, this time with a low strike from left to right aimed at my stomach. I moved my sword down and tilted it slightly. When his strike hit my sword, I pushed back hard, forcing him to distance himself from me. He didn't go far because he's stronger than me. I attacked his leg with my sword, but Ikkaku stepped back twice, and when I lost my posture, his sword was already at my neck.

"I see you've improved. Great!" he said, removing the katana from my neck and stepping back again.

"You defended against my strike and managed to counterattack. Your footwork was almost perfect; you just needed to move faster in the counterattack," he continued.

"Ikkaku, even if I moved ten times faster, you'd still dodge because of your speed," I said, not too happy with his praise.

Along with my lack of experience, it's practically impossible for me to beat him in Zanjutsu. I could only win in other areas like Kido, if he didn't take the fight seriously, of course.

"I've told you before, Hanataro, the purpose of training isn't to beat me, it's to learn. Or did you forget?" he replied.

"I know," I said.

Two weeks had passed since all that confusion happened. We had to call another healer to tend to Ikkaku's injuries. I was completely exhausted after casting that high-level Hadou, so while he was recovering in the medical facility, I was summoned to Captain Unohana's office. Somehow, she found out about it, and I remember that conversation very well. I thought I was going to die that day.

****************************FLASHBACK****************************

I was walking down the hallway of the Fourth Division Headquarters after spending a few minutes in the medical facility. It was almost midnight.

I was quite apprehensive. I had never been called to the captain's office, not even when I ended up in this body and was still assimilating everything. I walked calmly, finding the eerie silence of the hallway strange. I neither heard nor saw a living soul, which gave me an uneasy feeling. After a few minutes, I arrived at the door and knocked three times, waiting for a response.

"Come in," said a gentle voice.

I gently opened the door, letting the cold air from the room flow through the corridor. I entered and closed the door. In front of me was a large room made of light wood. In its center was a small empty table with an ikebana arrangement on it, something Unohana liked a lot, which was funny since her love for it was so strong that she even had an Ikebana club, where she was the president.

I saw that one of the wooden sliding panels filled with translucent paper, which made up the walls of the room, was open. I walked over and crossed it, entering the office's garden. There was a pond surrounded by stones and grass.

"I'm right here, Hanataro-san."

Unohana's voice reached my ears. I turned to see her sitting at the end of the wooden corridor connected by stairs, using her knees for support. I went to her and sat in the same position.

"Long time no see, Captain," I said, starting the conversation.

"In that regard, you're like Isane. I've told you many times that when we're alone, you can call me by my given name. It seems like both of you share this stubbornness," Unohana said, laughing.

I took a closer look at Unohana-san. She appeared as a slender, very young woman with blue eyes and black hair. She wore the standard black shinigami kimono with a white haori over it, bearing the number of our division inside the Gotei 13 emblem, which was a diamond shape. Her long hair was worn in a large braid down the front of her body.

I had only one word to describe her: beautiful. She was one of my favorite characters in the series, even though she didn't have much screen time and never entered a battle, at least not as far as I had seen.

"Sorry, Unohana-san," I apologized.

"No need to apologize, Hanataro-san. Before we get to the main topic, how are your studies in healing Kaidō?"

Ah, it seemed that before I ended up in this body, the original Hanataro was studying Kaidō. I admit I had thrown those studies aside to focus on Hadou. I don't regret it, as those studies came in handy. Even so, I still have memories of those studies. He was focused on mastering more Kaidō to reduce his Reiryoku expenditure, which was higher than most division members, only losing to the first seat, Lieutenant Isane, and finally, Captain Unohana.

"Progress has been satisfactory," I said.

It was a half-truth since his control over Reiryoku and Kaidō had improved significantly but was still far from being comparable to a lieutenant, for example.

"I see. In that regard, you shine like your brother, even though you have completely different

personalities," Unohana said, hesitating a bit on the last sentence.

"Huh?"

A look of surprise appeared on my face before I hid it. I have a brother? But how is that possible? I should have seen that I had a brother when I looked through the memories of the original owner of this body, which means the memories came incomplete, something I had been theorizing for a while but never confirmed until now.

The worst part is that I don't remember any mention or appearance of him in the series. There's a possibility he only appeared in the novels, which I haven't read, unfortunately.

"How is he?"

I needed to gather any information about him, even if it was minimal.

"Since he was transferred to the medical institute in the noble district, I've lost contact with him despite sending letters. I'm sorry," Unohana replied.

"Transferred?" I asked, trying to extract more information about my brother.

"Didn't you know? I thought you two still communicated even though he was a dubious character."

"We were never very close," I lied.

The revelation was still poking at me forcefully, but I ignored it. This was something I had to deal with later, even though I had a strange feeling about it, as if I lost something extremely important that I should know.

"Although I wouldn't be surprised if it was your brother who got into a foolish fight, but you? It's something I never would have imagined," Unohana said, disappointed, getting to the main topic.

I couldn't find the strength to speak. I felt something gripping my throat tightly, and all I could do was listen and endure what was to come.

"Even though I'm proud you were able to cast that Hadou perfectly, I can't just let this slide, especially since it wasn't with just any division but the Eleventh Division," Unohana said.

With each word, her face grew more disappointed, and the weight of it all fell on me like a meteor shower.

"Everyone knows our bond with the Eleventh Division is the weakest among the thirteen divisions, despite being part of the same organization that has the exact function of preventing these incidents. You two were lucky no noble was wandering in that area, or you would have been accused of murder or something worse. With all this commotion, I should expel you from your post."

"What?"

There's no way I can lose this position. It's my only means of earning money. Without it, I'd be in deep trouble, and the only option left would be to live in Rokongai and find a job, which is incomparable to being a shinigami. Being expelled from my post means being expelled from my division and ultimately from Gotei 13.

"But... When Yumichika Ayasegawa came to me about your request to be taught Zanjutsu by Ikkaku Madarame, an idea came to my mind."

A big smile appeared on Unohana-san's face. A shiver ran through my body suddenly. That damned smile again; I don't know why, but it always makes me tremble.

"What idea?" I asked, curious and a bit fearful.

"Besides being trained in Zanjutsu, you will also have the task of strengthening the bond between our division and the Eleventh Division, showing them that we in the Fourth Division are not weak. This will be your punishment, Seventh Seat Hanataro Yamada," Unohana said gently.

Probably, this would be a task the original Hanataro could never accomplish due to his personality, but for me, it won't be too difficult. I know well how to earn that division's respect.

"But one more thing, never try to attract the attention of Zaraki Kenpachi if you don't want a painful death. Do you hear me?" Unohana said seriously.

"Yes, Unohana!" I said a bit louder than I intended, firmly.

My face turned red as I lowered it, trying to hide it. Unohana-san simply chuckled before turning her face to look at the starry sky.

"It seems like it's already completely dark. It seems like I've already taken up a lot of your time. You can go now if you want."

I stood up and bowed to show respect. I headed towards the door leading to the office entrance but then stopped abruptly. No, my body froze. Then I heard the voice that would haunt my nightmares.

"You know, I always watched you with great interest. After all, your brother Seinosuke Yamada was my former lieutenant a hundred years ago, and he had great potential. I was eager to meet you and witness your talent, something you shared with your older brother."

With each word, my body trembled. I could feel my muscles roaring with fear. My breathing grew heavier, and it was very difficult to breathe. The strength in my legs vanished, and I fell to my knees while sweat drops appeared on my face.

"But soon I confess I was disappointed. Each day I saw you, you had a heart too gentle for a shinigami, very naive, and lacked confidence. With that, I saw the consequences. Members regularly intimidated you, and you simply accepted it as if it were no problem, along with people trying to convince you, and you let them."

The reiatsu increased with each passing moment, and for the first time, I felt the fear of death.

"Even so, in a way, I became attached to you with your gentle and naive nature. But that changed two weeks ago. To put it better, you changed. You became more confident, more fearless, and less naive. I could feel a ripple in your reiatsu, as if you were a different person."

Somehow, I managed to turn my head back, and what I saw was a demon in human skin. The gentle eyes she had simply disappeared, replaced by dark and threatening eyes. I could see those eyes had taken more lives than both my lives combined.

"Do you have something to tell me, Yamada?"

"No... Captain Unohana," I said with difficulty.

The enormous reiatsu disappeared like the wind, and I left as quickly as possible. I hoped never to encounter Unohana alone again.

****************************END OF FLASHBACK****************************

My efforts to complete my task started to bear fruit. I trained with many members of this division to gain experience. I admit I won against three but then lost to the last one due to exhaustion. Even so, I gained respect from some people.

I also thought a bit about the last conversation I had. She might be right that I'm no longer the Hanataro she knew, but I'm still Hanataro Yamada. This is something I accepted since I ended up in this universe. So, I decided to become the Hanataro she initially wanted, strong and behaving like a true shinigami.

Even now, recognizing that woman hides a secret about her past, I'm not curious or anything like that. If she hid it, she has a good reason. It means if she doesn't want anyone to know her past, then it's better to leave it buried because I'm sure I don't want to discover what she would do if I knew her secret.

There's also my relationship with my older brother, which at this moment, I have no interest in.

"So, round two?" Ikkaku said.

I nodded while assuming the fighting stance again. For now, I'll focus on beating this bald guy.