The Drops Within Sakura Petals (A Bleach Fanfiction)

1. Ukitake Namiko

Ukitake Namiko was a different child. She, unlike the others, was transported directly from the world of the living to Seireitei after passing on. However, she wasn't in any of the noble clans. Not the Kuchikis, not the Shibas, but the Ukitake family. She was the 'newest' face in the clan in 70 years. According to Jyushirou, the rest of them died in Rukongai, so he decided to enter Seireitei Academy and had become a captain of the 13th squad. He had asked the head captain whether she could stay in Seireitei, since only Soul Reapers were allowed to stay within the walls of this amazing place. He promised to bring her up to become a fine soul reaper and so the Head Captain agreed. This is her story.

"Kaien-ni! Are you free now? Can you practice Kido with me ?" Namiko grabbed the arm of the third seat in her brother's squad.*

"Alright, I'm already done. Let me tell Miyako first." Kaien grinned at the small little girl in front of him.

"Okay! Please come back quickly! Or else that Byakuya Kuchiki is going to get ahead of me!"

"You shouldn't say these things Namiko! What have I been teaching you? You have to respect the nobles of the Seireitei!" Jyushirou shook his head as he patted his little sister on her head.

When Kaien returned, they started their little spar. Kaien would release some attacks and Namiko would fire some of her own to test the strength of her kido. Kaien did away with the incantation while Namiko chanted her afternoon away.

"Okay, here's the final one, Hado 31, Shakkaho!" Kaien yelled out. Immediately, a ball of red energy emitted from his palm and flew towards Namiko's direction.

"Bones of beast scattered far and wide, stable crimson crystals, steel wheels! Wind in action and the sky at rest, the sound of flying arrows! Hado 63, Raikoho!"Namiko may have looked like a small little girl, but she sure was a fighter. She looked as though she was only five or six but in actual fact, she was slightly over ten. Her miniature size made many people think that she was a pushover. And because of her incantation and since the Shakkaho was 5 feet away from her when she fired her Raikoho, the collision exploded and sent her flying backwards.

"Oh no," Kaien muttered under his breath and quickly shunpo-ed to catch her from behind.

"That was dangerous Namiko! You could have gotten hurt badly!" Kaien scolded the girl.

She's gonna be a strong soul reaper. Her kido mastery is amazing for her age. To be able to fire Raikoho at such a level, and she's still so young. Even I took a while to master Raikoho. But her zanjutsu isn't as good, she just can't seem to use a katana properly. Hopefully her zanpaktou doesn't require her to attack using physical means. We just gotta pray. Jyushirou thought inside his head as the whole explosion scene unveiled before his eyes.

"Namiko, where did you practice that spell? Won't you have gotten caught in the explosion when you were training to master it?" Jyushirou asked.

"Oh! I've been training at the river bank near the South exit! If anything, the water just splashes around here and there and well... The fish there are really tasty! Especially when they land out of the water after I fire my Kidou!" She smiled brightly at her brother. And all Jyushirou Ukitake could do was shake his head.

"Ah! I wanna go see how that Byakuya's doing and maybe fire some shots at him to test his mettle!" Namiko sped off to the direction of the six division, where the Kuchiki household resided.

Watching his sister speed off, Jyushirou turned to Kaien and told him, "You know Kaien, I was thinking of sending her to train under Unohana. She has mastered hado and bakudo so well I think healing others should be no problem for her."