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Title: Where I Belong
Author: Nahrali
Fandom: Bleach
Genre: General
Status: In Progress
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Kubo-san owns Bleach. Whatever you don't recognize from his work...that's mine.

Summary: One night. One Soul Reaper. One human. One Hollow. One night changed everything... Trust me, it's not what you think.

Teaser:

"I would like to nominate you for Assistant Captain of Twelfth Company."

I froze, gawking open-mouthed at the Captain. Realizing how rude I was being, I shook myself in an attempt to clear my head. "I--I'm sorry, sir, I must have misheard you. I thought you just said you wanted to nominate me to be your Assistant Captain."

"I did."

I laughed nervously. "This is a joke, right? You can't be serious."

"I am completely serious."

Completely forgetting my position, I rose to my knees. This was too much! "You can't really want me as your second-in-command. I haven't been able to stay in one Company for much more than a year! I have not yet been able to hear my zanpaku-tou tell me it's name! What Assistant Captain doesn't know their own zanpaku-tou's name?!"

Captain Urahara seemed to be amused by my outburst. "Yes, you are a bit behind, but that's understandable, what with your being moved around so much." I had heard that he could be a bit eccentric at times, but this was far beyond anything I had imagined. "Of course, I will have to test you first, to be sure you possess the right qualities, but I have faith in you -- I'm sure I won't be dissappointed."

I sank back to the floor, unable to comprehend what I had heard. How could he be so confident...? It's not like I was all that spectacular. The only reason that so much of the Seireitei had even heard my name was because I seemed to be so difficult to place. Otherwise, I'd have just been another face in the crowd.

Of course, I was delighted to be offered any position in Twelfth Company. While in the academy, one instructor had said that he thought I would do well in Twelfth Company, and I was eager for an opportunity to test his theory.

"Well, Nishio-kun? What do you think?"