Chapter 9: New life in the 11th

Written by Greatkingratt88. Thanks again man.

Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima. BLEACH is owned by Tite Kubo. Me? I own JACK SQUAT.

Damn, its been far too long since the last update to my liking. Sorry about that. My writer was a bit busy with work, so he had a tight schedule. I'm certainly hoping this doesn't happen again, but, the world is quiet unpredictable.

Thanks for taking your time to read once again! Also, feel free to leave a review for this, or any other chapters, I would REALLY appreciate it, as it lets us know if we're doing a good job or not.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the next chapter of "The Life and Death of Erza Scarlet"!

A month had passed since Erza had joined the eleventh division, and all in all, she was content. It was hard work; drill exercises, patrols and frequent combat- simulated and real. They would often patrol dangerous areas, or hunt for hollows, and though it was dangerous work, it suited Erza well.

But of course, there was also time to relax, to sit back and drink and rest your muscles- Erza didn't drink much of the sake, but the rest was welcome. The pay was fair, although there didn't seem to be overmuch to spend it on.

There would still be some men who'd make a comment here and there, direct or insinuated, about her having ovaries- but being eighteenth seat already put her above most division members, and her fearsome power let her trounce anybody who crossed any kind of line. After having beaten that first officer, all it took was a few knock-outs here and there- one hit KO each time; she was stronger than most still- and the division's members seemed to get the message. She was gaining if not acceptance, then at least some respect. She could settle for that.

Yes, her duties were all right- it was a bit stiffer, more professionally minded than it had been in Fairy Tail, where most members did as they pleased so long as they did their part to keep the guild afloat, but she wasn't bullied, and she was mostly treated fairly. The memory of the massacre still haunted her when she was out on patrol, but she had learned to handle it by now; it had become a nasty memory, definitely second to her sense of duty.

Her division was home to some disagreeable people, though, as she had experienced just the other day. Out on a patrol, another eventless walk up and down the streets, she had seen four men she recognized from her own division in the distance. Taking her time- patrol was not a duty that required much effort- she had walked up closer. But then, as she could see it more clearly, it looked like a scuffle. Were they fighting? That did sound like them...

But as she got closer still, she saw that it were two people down on the ground, shoved around by the four division members. She knew them not by name, but recognized them as seated officers- officers, who apparently liked kicking people when they were down. And laughing about it.

A sensation rose in her chest, pure anger overflowing her mind, almost faster than she could perceive, and her fists had balled before she had even noticed it. Picking up her pace, she walked up closer. The two people on the ground were a boy and a girl, two young fourth division recruits carrying supply bags.

"Listen, kids," one officer said- looking and sounding exactly like the type of person Erza knew to be in charge, aware of it, and intent on rubbing it in the face of everyone he could- "y'all need to learn a thing or two about respect, you see?" The men around him laughed, as he put his foot on the back of the girl, grinding her down into the dirt.

"Please, sir," the boy pleaded, "we just- we just have to deliver these to division f-five, and we'll be-be on our way!"

"You think you're tough, talking back to us?" Another officer said, chuckling and kicking the boy on the rear.

"N-no, sir, but-"

"See, this is what I'm talking about," the first officer said, yawning, "these fourth division punks just got no goddamn respect for nobody." He leaned in over the girl, and sneered, "ain't that right, little one? Ain't the two of ya just pitiful?"

"I-I-" the girl stuttered. It would have continued, for god knows how long, but Erza was right there now, standing right behind him. She forced herself to be calm- well, calm as could be. Gently, she tapped the leading officer on the shoulder. Surprised, he turned around.

"What?" He said irritably. "Oh- it's you, ain't it? Blood princess, and all that. What you want?"

Erza's fist slammed into his jaw, gratuitously and powerfully, and she could feel bone cracking under her knuckles. It felt gratifying, almost as gratifying as watching him sail into the wall across the street, out cold."

"Y-you crazy bitch!" One of the officers cried out, eyes wide with shock. "You-you killed him! What the hell gives?"

"I broke his jaw." Erza said, with a furious, frightening calm, the calm of a sea about to erupt into the storm of the century. "You asked 'what gives'. I think you need some explaining."

"No-no," Another officer rambled, holding up his hands, "we're fine, really! It's all just a misunderstanding- look, we're uh, all friends here-"

"Really." Erza said, giving him a flat look of distilled disbelief, the kind that said 'I know you're lying, and you know I know you're lying, and you're only making it worse for yourself'. Looks could be quite eloquent.

"Yes, really!" Another one cried out desperately.

"Since you seem to need an explanation," Erza said, ignoring him, "I'll be happy to provide one. If I ever hear of you doing this again, you'll be visiting fourth for a very long time."

"Yes- we understand," Stuttered one of the officers, "we promise, we will-"

What he would do would forever be a mystery, as Erza surged forward, slamming a fist into his gut. He retched, gasping for air, and doubled over. Erza gave him no respite, and backhanded him- hard- and he tumbled into the hard rock of the street, after having spun twice through the air. The two remaining officers gave her a fearful look, and turned tail, running. They did not get far.

Two brutal minutes later, four unconscious officers lay on the street, all of them with bruises that would last them months. Erza turned to the two fourth division members.

"I'm sorry to have to ask this of you, but they may require medical attention," she said, making an effort to sound friendly. "Can I rely on you?"

"S-sure," the girl murmured, getting some bandages out of her bag. "Yeah, count on us."

"That-that was..." The boy murmured.

"Just let me know if they trouble you again." Erza said reassuringly. "I am Erza Scarlet, and I may be eleventh division- but this is something I won't tolerate."

"S-sure," The boy said, nodding.

"Good," Erza said, nodding, and continued on with her patrol. This eleventh division was problematic- but by word or by fist, she would try and make it a better place to be.

She was doing... okay. Isane had been right.

Right now, she was swinging a wooden sword, going through a series of thrusts, slashes, parries, attacks; some very basic training to warm her up for the spars to come. Half an hour more of this, and she'd be ready. She already felt a nice, slight burn in her muscles. Deciding that it wasn't quite enough, she upped her pace a little.

Almost lost in her training, it took her a while to register the talking. Standing around near her, and the dozen or so members training near her, were two men, talking casually. It was annoying, but the sergeant would have words with them- he wasn't keen on slackers during practice time. Still, she couldn't shut out their talking entirely.

"...I'm just sayin', this ain't all I expected." A rough-sounding voice said. "Join the Gotei, they said. Eleven's for you, they said. Full of badasses who don't take shit from nobody. An' here we are, surrounded by green little twats what barely know how to hold a sword."

"Your attitude isn't very beautiful." Another voice said, sounding much smoother. "Of course we'll stand above the unseated ones- we're stronger and better than that by far. You can't judge these people by the same standard you judge yourself- it simply isn't fair."

"I guess." The rough voice said. "You'd think they'd at least have the basics down to a science, though- look at 'em, hitting like beginners all over- they need practice, or a hollow'd just tear 'em a new asshole. Even their officers seem weak- look at that one over there, with the red hair."

Erza almost paused, but kept going.

"She's better than the newbies over here, but even she's not doin' it right- she hits too hard and fast to avoid a follow-up if she got parried, and I iknow/i I could knock her off her feet if she hit like that in a spar. And her posture's better, but it still needs work- too easy to unbalance. You need stability-"

"Excuse me!" Erza exclaimed, finally stopping. "If you have something to say, why don't you say it to my face instead?"

She turned to look at the two men, wiping sweat from her brow. One was bald, with strange markings at his eyes and a mean look in his face. The other looked elegant, handsome even, in a dandy-man sort of way.

"You seemed busy." Said the bald one, and she recognised him as the man with the rough voice. "No offense- it's just that your form could use some work."

"Really?" Erza said skeptically. She wasn't one to toot her own horn, but her skills being questioned like this, after all her experience... it was a bit irritating.

"Why don't you show me how it's done?" She said, taking a step forward.

"Now yer talkin'." Ikkaku said, grinning. "Get me one of them practice swords, and I'm on."

Quickly, a wooden sword was produced from one of the training shinigami, and suddenly, Erza realized, there had formed a bit of a circle around them, people looking with anticipation. The new blood against herself, the 'blood princess'- she still hated that name- and who didn't love a good show?

"Well, a sword ain't my weapon of choice... but it'll do." Ikkaku said, giving the sword a few training swings."

"Are you going to talk or fight?" Erza said, already having taken a stance.

"Good, good, I like it!" Ikkaku said, launching himself forward. Viciously, he struck at her again and again, with ferocious power and speed. Erza was keeping up, just barely, blocking- but she was at the back foot, her mind a hundred percent focused on just keeping her guard up.

"Right down to business! That's the attitude you need!" Ikkaku cried, slamming down on her one more time.

Erza held the strike, getting pushed back, almost down to one knee- but she held it.

"Not bad." Ikkaku said, grinning as he pushed her back, slowly. His body was well tuned, muscular, and he was brimming with spiritual energy.

"More talking?" Erza grunted, pushing back hard, breaking the stalemate and hopping back a step.

Ikkaku immediately lunged forward, slashing down from above, cutting at her once, twice, three times, and Erza barely kept up. Then, he struck down hard, Erza's sword went down, and in an instant he'd slammed the hilt of his wooden sword into her forehead. Before she knew it, the dull edge of the sword was at her neck.

"And now yer dead." Ikkaku said casually. "Not bad, though. For a greenhorn."

"Again." Erza said resolutely.

"I'm likin' you better already, greenhorn." Ikkaku said, with a vicious sort of cheer.

Not waiting another second, Erza charged forward, striking as fast as she could. She hit once, twice, then stabbed forward, against his head. Ikkaku casually parried the first two, dodged the third, and counterattacked. Erza moved her body to the side, Ikkaku's sword just barely grazing her chest. Quickly, not letting him take the initiative, Erza lunged forward, slamming down. Ikkaku just caught her blade, directed the force downwards, overbalancing her. Erza went into a roll; she wouldn't be knocked over like this-

And then, with one quick swoop, Ikkaku's blade was at her neck, when she was halfway through getting to her feet.

"Dead." He said matter-of-factly. "More?"

"More!" Erza said, getting to her feet. This was obnoxious- who was he to just walk all over her? Turning to face him, she held her sword up, examining him carefully. He moved with confidence, and had the bearing of an experienced swordfighter; fast and strong. Just defending hadn't worked, and neither had attacking...

Quick like a cat, Ikkaku moved forward, swiping at her from the side. Parrying, she caught the blade's edge on her own, and dodging down she let it slide over her, and for just a moment the momentum carried through, making him overextend. Quickly, she lunged forward, aiming for his neck; she'd get him this time, she was sure of it...

...and at the last damn moment, he bent himself back and to the side, the edge of her sword just scraping against his neck. Unbalanced, Ikkaku lashed out against her, and Erza was forced to block. Quickly, he recovered. He grinned again, before attacking again. Erza blocked, dodged, but he was faster and stronger- she barely got any attacks in. Still, she was dragging it out, not leaving her guard down for a long time- until finally, he found an opening, slapping the sword out of her hands with a quick strike at her arm.

"Dead." He said, pointing the sword at her chest. "You got the right spirit, though."

Erza grumbled, not sure what to say to that.

"You overextend a lot." He said, dropping his wooden sword. "Not by a lot, but it's like you're not that used to sword combat against another shinigami. Ain't that big a deal for a hollow hunter, I guess, but it's something to consider. Also, try not to lean so much on your right leg when you step forward. A good fighter can read your pose and adjust to it, and that makes countering really easy. There's balance, too- you hit hard and fast, but you ain't found the right balance. Somebody could read that too. And-"

"All right, all right." Yumichika said. "Leave the girl alone- I think you humiliated her enough already."

"It's fine." Erza said, wiping her brow. "It was... good practice."

"Another one?" Ikkaku said.

"No, not another one." Yumichika said strictly. "We got work to do, remember?"

"Damn patrols..." Ikkaku murmured. "All right, woman- if you ever feel like round four, come find me."

"It's Erza." Erza said. "Erza Scarlet."

He nodded. "Madarame Ikkaku."

Yumichika sighed. "You really don't hold anything back, do you?"

"Never do." He said, shrugging.

"You know... you're the first one so far not to talk about me being a woman." Erza said.

"I noticed you had tits and all, but I was more interested in your sword. Don't know about the idiots here, but I'm here to fight, not chase skirts. That's about all there is to it."

"Good." Erza said, smiling.

"Ikkaku, now." Yumichika said impatiently.

"All right, all right." Ikkaku grumbled. "See ya later, rookie." He gave her a wave, and turned around to leave, walking away to whatever duties that awaited him. Erza watched him leave, feeling both a little peeved and uplifted at the same time. Being beaten down wasn't fun- but Ikkaku seemed a decent sort. Once again, she started her sword excercises, swinging up and down. She, too, had duties.

In the following weeks, the two of them would spar often, with swords, without swords, butting heads as often as they could. Ikkaku was a rough, vicious kind of fighter, his experience earned from years and years of brute fighting in the rukon. He had little in the way of form in a particular style of swordfighting, favouring his own style, smooth and adapted for speed and using whatever opeings there were. She would lose most of the time- but every so often, she'd win a round, and slowly she adapted. It was quite a step up from academy training, and Ikkaku was a strong partner to learn from- she won rarely, but the training demanded much from her, spurring her to improve. Slowly, she grew stronger.

Today, however, they were not sparring. For the first time since ithat time/i, Erza was out on a mission- a real mission, far out in the Rukongai, hunting for a small pack of hollows that had terrorized a settlement of pluses for near three days. Ikkaku was leading the expedition, sitting at a title of thirteenth seat- although Erza suspected he was easily on par with a fifth, or better. With them were Yumichika, and three more shinigami- all of them seated officers, although ranked low. A sense of nervousness and anticipation was building in Erza's gut, a mixture of fear, resolve and a bit of zeal building up. Taking deep breaths, she was fighting back that feeling, forcing herself calm. She remembered them all still, every last frightened cry, every last horrified face...

And this was the kind of work she would do for a living, so she damn well couldn't let herself be consumed by it.

"You all right?" Ikkaku asked, looking over his shoulder.

"I'm fine." Erza said in what she hoped was a neutral tone.

"...all right." He stopped, and turned around. "Listen up, you lot. We're looking at at least three, probably more. They got a dozen souls already, and we're putting an end to it. We do this together, and carefully. If anybody tries to be a hero, I'll kill you myself. Understood?"

There was a chorus of "Yes, sir!" from the assembled party, aside from Yumichika, who just yawned.

"Let's get started, then." He said. "This is ugly work, and I want to be back at the division by tomorrow, at least."

"Yeah." Ikkaku said, nodding. "They shouldn't be far now. I'm takin' point. Yumichika, you're covering my right. Scarlet, cover my right. Idemai, Jujin, Shendo, follow our lead. Let's go."

They walked forward, and to an observer their pace might have looked leisurely- but to Erza there was no mistaking the tenseness of the soldiers here, the readiness to draw blade at the slightest hint of danger. Ikkaku seemed relaxed, but every step was purposeful, and he scanned his surroundings continuously, looking for any odd movements.

Erza herself tried to sense ahead of her. It was a talent not that common in eleventh, she had noticed- they seemed to focus all reiatsu control into being a better brute fighter, if they used any control at all. It was an effective enough, but very limited approach. She liked better knowing what was coming.

She sensed nothing just yet, though. For five unbearable minutes, they continued forward, feeling nothing, hearing nothing other than a bird chirping here and there, and the trees around them making a rustle as it moved in the wind. But then, after what felt like an eternity, she felt it- not far ahead, one large source of malevolent energy, almost drowning out one, two, three, four more. All seemed calm at the moment, but she couldn't tell much more.

"Up ahead, northeast." She mumbled quietly. "A hundred meters or so."

"You sure?" Ikkaku said, looking in that direction. Erza nodded. "How many?"

"At least five."

"All right." He murmured. "Swords out. We move through the forest quietly. If we can, we take them by surprise."

They all did draw their swords, slowly and carefully, and moved through the trees crouched low, everyone's eyes tensely fixed on the target ahead of them. Slowly, gruellingly so, Erza began to get a view of their targets. It was hard to make out clearly through the vegetation, bushes and trees blocking her view, but slowly she could make the figures out. One large, gangly hollow with absurdly long limbs and bloodied claws, feasting on something- she couldn't quite see what. She had her suspicions, of course- and when the beast raised his head up to gobble a piece down, she saw a leg go down its throat. She felt nausea rising in her gut, and she fought it back, feeling the taste of bile at the back of her mouth. People, always people, defenseless people hunted like cattle...

Around the huge hollow were four smaller ones, dancing around the big one, looking for overlooked morsels, cackling and bouncing around. The ground around them was covered in blood, and severed limbs and freshly eaten clean bones lay around. The nausea started to subside, and Erza felt something else in her chest, growing bigger, like she was about to burst.

"All right." Ikkaku whispered, when they were just fifteen or so meters away, hidden behind a thick bush. "On my go. Cover each other's asses, and go for the masks. Don't get distracted."

There were a few quiet affirmations, a "yes sir" here and a grunt or two there, but Erza remained quiet, grasping the hilt of her blade hard enough to whiten her knuckles. For a small eternity, they stood crouched there in silence, watching the monsters feast on the dead- there were so many bodies; they'd have had to have herded them together before they were killed, like sheep to the slaughter-

and then Ikkaku sprinted forward, shouting loudly, spiritedly, his shikai activating as he leapt into the air.

"Grow, Hozukimaru!" He shouted. The blade changed, turning into some sort of spear, and he slammed into the huge hollow, the blade of his weapon cutting deep into one of the forelegs of his target, nearly cutting it clean off. The monster roared with pain, and immediately, the four lesser hollows began to move at Ikkaku. But the rest of them were not far behind, and with precision and grace, Yumichika leapt forward and cut into one of the hollow's masks from behind. It shattered, and the beast began to dissolve.

Ikkaku was locked in combat with the huge hollow, driving it back with furious strikes, but Erza wasn't even aware of it at that point. The feeling inside her had bubbled up, burst over, overrunning her like a river bursting out of a broken floodgate. It was rage, pure rage, red hot and guided with a purpose. Holding her sword firmly, her muscles remembering every ounce of training she ever had, she charged the closest hollow. A creature of instinct, it shrieked, turning to face her, but before it had even halfway faced her, Erza's sword had gone into its side, almost to the hilt. Gritting her teeth, almost growling, she lifted it into the air, the blade twisting and maiming inside the monster's body. It shrieked and cried, flailing wildly, but it only made it worse. Viciously, Erza brought her sword down, wrenching it from the monster's gut. Innards, blood and gall spilled on the ground, and the monster jerked desperately. Even in its death throes, it crawled toward her, reaching out with a claw to cut at her. A cold expression on her face, she slammed her foot down on its paw, crushing it completely. The monster shrieked, but its cries were weaker now. Blood on her face, Erza raised her blade, and brought it down hard, shattering its mask. It dissolved, and it felt to Erza like it deserved worse.

Quickly, she looked forward. Yumichika was dodging the attacks of a nimble hollow; two of her partners were locked in combat, and that left one, leaping at the back of her teammates. Well, not if she could help it. Slipping into a clumsy shunpo, she tackled it from the side, knocking it over mid-air. The beast slammed into the ground, bouncing, almost instantly getting back to its feet. But Erza wasn't letting it, wouldn't give it the chance. Just as it was almost on its feet, Erza's leg slammed into its side. The monster was perhaps four times her size, but it didn't matter. It went flying, knocked onto its back, and instantly she was on it. It clawed at her, no stranger to fighting at its back, but it was too slow, too weak. A quick, hard cut nearly split its left foreleg in half vertically, and it scremed with pain. Erza took a step back, letting it get back to its feet. One of its legs were useless now, fresh blood spraying over the forest floor. Screeching at her, it struck at her with its good leg, long, gory claws coming at her head.

It was so ludicrously slow to her. She felt like she could run circles around it, like she had all the time in the world. It took, of course, less than a second- but even so, it was the simplest thing in the world to reach out with her sword, cutting its fingers off before the striked had even gone halfway through. The monster shrieked again, reeling back. It reached out into the air, trying to open a gateway back to where it had come from- but Erza was not about to let it. She grabbed it by the tail, and pulled hard. The monster struggled, but fell flat on its face. On its wounded arms, it struggled to get up, only to face Erza with her sword ready as it stood up. For a moment, it looked like it was about to try and fight- but before it could, Erza had cut it across the chest, deep and hard. It reeled, and Erza did not relent. She cut the one time, twice, thrice, four times, five, six, seven- she lost count, as she got bathed in its blood. Before she knew it, before she even noticed it, the monster lay at her feet, cut to pieces, its neck and head at her feet.

Forcing herself to calm, she began to breathe deep, long breaths. She was covered in blood, she noticed, and it was like she had viewed the world in a red haze. She took a closer look at what she'd done. The monster she had hit was cut in five pieces, but seemed still alive, its head still wiggling, pathetically trying to escape.

"Well, finish it." It was Ikkaku, and Erza turned to look at him abruptly, almost feeling shocked. Oh yes. She was out on a mission. With other people.

"Oh. Yes." She mumbled, thrusting her sword down hard, piercing the monster's mask. It cracked, slowly, and soon its bloodied body began to dissolve. Erza took another deep breath, and began to slowly wipe her zanpakutou clean.

"Two kills." Ikkaku nodded. "Good work, Scarlet." He looked around, at the glade and back to Erza. "Pretty messy, though. That was real brutal, and not that efficient. You look like shit."

"Sorry, senpai." She mumbled.

"Well, everyone's alive and mostly unhurt. I reckon all of that blood on you's from the hollows, eh?"

She nodded.

"Well, let's head back. Good work, you lot."

Turning around, they all began walking back towards the Gotei Thirteen, towards home. Erza felt weird, now that her rage was beginning to leave her- like her guts had been turned upside down, like her bones were made of jelly.

"And that's why I say we're bein' led by a slob!"

Two days later, back at the courtyard of eleventh division, excercises had been interrupted. Not everyone was happy with their current captain, and, Erza had been told, it was anybody's right to challenge him for leadership. Right now, it was the fourth seat- Kozuki Gisen, Erza thought she remembered his name was. He'd strolled in, called everyone to listen, and given them a long speech about the failings of their captain. How he didn't take leadership seriously enough, how all he could do was fight, how there was a difference between conquering and ruling... Erza had found it to get long-winded after a little while.

Of course, it was about to end quite soon. She could feel it, as could some of the senior officers, who were looking toward the division's barracks door just like her. A big clump of reiatsu, teeming indignantly; the signature of their captan, Kiganjo Kenpachi. The doors opened, and out he came, in all his bulk, marching out with a stern look on his face.

"What's going on here?" He demanded angrily. "Why're you lot not on yer posts?"

The division members looked at him with a mixture of gleeful eagerness and anxiety, and then back to Kozuki. Life could get a bit dull when all you did most of the time was practice, and a bit of drama was a welcome change of pace.

"You!" Kozuki cried. "You're done here, Kiganjo! You're not worth the title 'Kenpachi', and you're not worth the title 'captain', either!"

"Fuck's sake..." Kiganjo growled. "You got something to say? Say it!"

The crowd looked at Kozuki, and all that it would have taken to remind Erza of a schoolgirl drama was a collective "Ooooh!"

"You slack off." Kozuki sneered. "You sleep in, you let your seats do all your paperwork, you don't attend meetings, and you don't even manage how your men train. How can you call that leadership?"

"Good fuckin' grief." Kiganjo growled. "You think you could do a better job? You think leadin's easy work?"

"I could, yeah." Kozuki said defiantly.

"Then come and take it!" Kiganjo roared. "Come and take it all, if you got the stomach for it. Them's the rules, and that's a rule I'll respect!"

"All right." Kozuki sneered, and pulled out his sword. He looked tense, Erza thought, maybe a little afraid, but his resolve didn't waver. Kiganjo, though, didn't draw his.

"So?" He said. "You comin', or what?"

"Draw your sword!" Kozuki said.

"Don't need it."

Kozuki paused, looking indecisive. Then, readying himself, he cried,

"Your funeral!"

He charged forward, sword raised, making to stab at Kiganjo, who towered over him, at least a head taller-

and then, in an instant, Kiganjo had reached out lightning fast, grabbing Kozuki by the wrist, pulling his sword out of position and slamming an elbow in his face. Kozuki staggered back, barely holding on to his sword in the one hand. Ruthlessly, Kiganjo kicked him in the chest, knocking the rebellious fourth seat to the ground. Not wasting a moment, Kiganjo got on top of him, holding his sword arm firm with one hand, and slamming a fist into Kozuki's face with the other. He gave him a mean look, and waited, seeing if he wanted more. Kozuki lay still though, seeming like he'd had enough. Kiganjo got up to his feet, and brushed himself off.

"Finish it." Kozuki hissed, still on the ground. "Them's the rules, ain't it? The loser gets it."

Erza, and the whole division, watched with baited breath. It was true; the loser of a match for leadership had his life in the hands of the winner, and trying to usurp your captain could certainly be considered treason.

"Yer demoted to twelfth seat." Kiganjo growled. "And there you stay till you learn some god damn respect." He flexed his arm muscles a little, and relaxed. "And some far-out rukon hollow hunts would do you good too, I reckon."

It was a hard punishment, but not unfair, Erza thought.

"Well, what're you all looking at?" Kiganjo growled, staring at the crowd. "Get your asses back to work, or I'll personally redecorate your collective faces, is that clear?!"

There was a loud, uncoordinated chorus of "Sir, yes sir!", and quickly, the crowd dispersed, each man going back to his duties. The fun, it seemed, was over.

A little later, that same day, after Erza had finished the drills and eaten lunch, she was walking towards the division gates. A bit of patrolling in the Gotei was tedious, but not so straining, and it's what she had to do next on her daily schedule.

As she headed to the gate, though, she was stopped by a tall man with a mustache. It was, she noticed after a bit of mental digging, the vice captain of division one, Sasakibe Choujirou.

"Excuse me." He said, politely. "Where can I find captain Kiganjo?"

"He'll be in his chambers."

"I am in a bit of a hurry." Sasakibe said. "Would you kindly give him this?" He held out a letter of sorts.

"Sure." Erza said quizzically. "What is it? Some sort of message?"

"A summons. Captain-General Yamamoto is calling for a captain's meeting. Attendance is mandatory. Please hand this to him at once."

"Can do." Erza mumbled.

"Very good. Well, good day for now." Giving a curteous bow, he turned around, walking away.

Well, she was in no particular hurry to patrol an already secure area. Erza headed back, to the captain's chambers, where he'd usually be at this time of day. Carefully, she knocked on the door. After a little while, there was a grunt that could be interpreted as "come in". Erza opened the door.

"What is it?" Kiganjo grumbled, sitting beside his bed.

"A summons, sir." She said, walking in, handing him the letter. He glared at her a while, before taking it.

"He said it was urgent, sir." She added.

"Urgent, my rear..." Kiganjo grumbled. "All right, fuck- I'm goin'. Get outta here, do whatever yer supposed to do."

"Yes, sir."

Erza noticed a bottle of sake at his nightstand. It seemed like he'd mixed his nap with a bit of booze again.

Three hours later, when she came back from patrol, she took the route past his chambers. She almost felt ashamed to do so, to question him like so even in her head, but her doubts were validated- door half open, her captain was lying on his bed, snoring like a sawmill, the half-finished bottle of sake knocked over and spilling on the floor. She sighed. Out on the battlefield, he was remarkable, truly one of a kind- a leader who feared nothing, slayed hollows of the greatest kind and led his men to glory. Here, though, in the administrative environment of the Gotei, he appeared sometimes a bit... foolish, and it was no wonder, really, that people like Kozuki thought the way he thought.

Time passed by; Erza trained, she sparred with Ikkaku, she talked to Yumichika, she'd eat dinner with Isane every now and then, and life moved on. She was closing on half a year in division eleven now, and she was making progress- already, she had earned the rank of fourteenth seat.

Most commonly, for achievers like her, hollow hunts were the place to be. They were dangerous, required not only strength and intuition but teamwork, and only the top were selected for them. Now, on her seventh extermination mission, Erza was joined by Ikkaku- and a number of single digit seats alongside him. Huge hollows, she had been told, huge hollows a-roaming out here in the world of the living. Where, she didn't know, but it was a jungle not far from a city. They'd already reddened their blades, having purified four of the beasts already. Now, all that remained were one or two stragglers; most had escaped to the wretched world of Hueco Mundo...

"I don't like this." Ikkaku muttered.

"We got them on the run." Erza said, looking around cautiously as she advanced with the rest of her comrades. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Too easy." Ikkaku said, shaking his head. "The bigger they get, the more arrogant they are, and they don't run unless they know they're outmatched. That was a large pack, and they just... ran. Too quick. Something's up."

"If it's a trap, let's go ahead and spring it." Erza said spiritedly, shooting him a smile.

"You're crazy, Scarlet." Ikkaku said. Then, he grinned. "I like it."

"Hollow!" Somebody cried further up. "Huge class, running to our north!"

Immediately, Erza and the rest of her squad slipped into a shunpo, chasing the beast. It iwas/i

strange, she had to admit- it was running from them, but the safest way to run would be to open a portal and get out. So what was it waiting for? Jumping from tree to tree, she followed behind the squad leader. It was strangely thrilling, this sort of chase. It reminded her of the fights of old, of fighting not for the sake of fighting, but still enjoying your ability to raise hell.

Ironically, that was when hell broke loose.

"Hollow! HOLLOW!" A shinigami cried, and Erza looked where he'd pointed. In the sky, a tear had opened, and from out of it, two hands came, two enormous hands. And behind it, an enormous, masked face. She felt a sinking feeling, as she and the squad stopped their advance. It took her a moment to place it, but she recognized the face- she had only seen it in textbooks, like a scary story told to young, ignorant students, but there it was.

"Menos Grande." Ikkaku said flatly. "Well, we're in deep shit now." He didn't sound excited, or afraid; his voice was drained of emotion. That in itself was unsettling.

The beast tore the portal open fully, and heaved itself into the world. It towered over them, like a titan of old, a giant to swallow them all whole. It raised its head, a red light forming at its mouth.

"Cero!" The squad leader cried. "Cero, damn it! Everyone, move out of the way! Scatter, inow/i!"

The red light filled up until it burst, sending out a bright red beam of energy. Erza jumped, flashing out of the way, but the shock of the blast caught her, sending her tumbling. Quickly she got on her feet again, jumping to a tree top. The monster was peering down at them, and on the ground, she could see two charred bodies, burnt black. This was the power of Menos Grande, the kind of force that made her seem like a joke...

And seeing the two dead on the ground, Erza looked around, panicked. The rest of her squad was alive, all facing the monster- but for how long? Images flashed in her head, of Sensuke, of Marisa, of Remon, of all the people she'd lost- iplease god not again please please please/i- and she was breathing rapidly, fear crawling up her spine.

"You ready to do this?" Ikkaku said, with an almost indifferent sort of calm. Something about him snapped her out of it, brought her back to the here and now. She was still scared, still feeling what she'd felt months ago at the massacre, but she wasn't in charge this time- and Ikkaku knew what he was doing, or at least was good at pretending he did.

Erza, not able to manage a reply, nodded.

"Good. 'Cos we may well die here- but we're together, no matter what. Nobody turns tail, nobody left behind. You got that? You're not alone."

"Yes." She mumbled.

"Formation!" The squad leader cried. "You two, circle round, cut at its legs! And you two, Madarame, Scarlet, with me!"

Swallowing down her fears, Erza made ready. Time to charge at death's jaws, time to go out there and die like a man- well, a woman- because, well...

Fuck it. It was what it was; life was unfair, but you had to play the hand you were dealt. Taking a deep breath, she held up her sword, waiting only for the squad leader's cue.

But then, to all their relief, the Menos turned its head away from them, looking in another direction. She expected the squad leader to order the charge, but he too was looking away- and then she felt it too. The enormous, irate reiatsu, so familiar to her now. Kiganjo Kenpachi, the wonderful brute, was standing in the air above, a senkaimon closing behind him. Almost on face level with the menos, he appeared to be grinning.

"I thought a hunt would be some good sport- looks like I was just in time." He said, drawing his sword. "You lot, stay back."

Not needing to be asked twice, the squad retreated to a safer distance, watching the battle unfold. The Menos, so grand yet so slow, reached a hand out to crush Kiganjo. Kiganjo just let it come, and at the last second, cut down hard on it, two fingers severeing immediately. Viciously, he dashed forward up the monster's arm, pausing only to cut it off at the root. It shrieked, letting out a long, deep roar, one that nearly deafened Erza. Kiganjo didn't seem to mind, furiously hacking at the monster, cutting off piece by piece with his blade. Finally, seeming to have had enough sport, he spurred upward, burying his blade in its mask. The monster roared a final time, and the mask cracked. Feeling a surge of relief, Erza watched it dissipate. Her fears had not been made whole- they were alive. Well, most of them.

"Good job." Ikkaku murmured. "I thought we were dead for sure. Don't tell Yumichika I said that, though."

"Spar when we get back?" She said.

"You got it."

"Well, what're you lot waiting for?" Kiganjo roared heartily. "Hunt's over- back to the division, you lazy bastards!"

She'd never been so happy about verbal abuse.

A week or so later, Erza was once again back at the division, sparring hand to hand with Ikkaku. He was a dirty, quick fighter, but she was figuring him out, little by little.

"See, feint here, then I grab you by the ear, and yank your head down." Ikkaku explained. "It ain't got a fancy name, but it works real well if they don't see it coming."

"Where did you learn to fight like this?" Erza asked, sounding skeptical.

"Streets." Ikkaku said, shrugging. "You take any edge you can when you got nothing to lose."

"I see. And-"

There was a fuss at the gates, people gathering, and the two of them turned to look. A tall man had walked in, rugged-looking and scarred, with long, messy black hair and a giant sword slung over his shoulder, and what looked like a small girl riding his back. Ikkaku's face lit up.

"You know him?" Erza asked.

"The boss is back. I fuckin' knew it!" He said, sounding cheerful.

The rugged man walked closer, people gathering around as he walked.

"I'm Zaraki Kenpachi," He said, loud and clear, "and I'm here to toss out whoever's in charge here."

Well, there you have it folks, Erza's time in squad 11. Now I know some people may not be to happy with how Ikkaku "beat" Erza, but hear me out. You are NEVER to skilled to learn more. Erza's good yes, among the best of the best in fact, but the fact of the mater is, Ikakku has one definite advantage over Erza.

Experience. He's been dead for a good while longer than she has. Not to mention, at the moment, he currently has more power than she does. Now, granted, that WILL change, but, for now, she is the weaker of the two.

Also, I figured it would be best to show a bit of what Kiganjo was like as a captain, we know next to nothing about him in cannon, so I figured this would be a good chance to be more...creative.

And yes, we finally introduce the big man himself, the one, the only, KENPACHI MOTHERFUCKING ZARAKI!

As you all know, In order to gain the title and rank of captain, Kiganjo has to go. That's how it was in cannon, and that's how it is here. However...How will Erza, react to not only these change in events, but also the law itself, being a member of fairy tail and all?

That, my faithful readers, will be revealed, in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading once again, and please, if you have anything you want to say, good or bad, leave a review, it would be very appreciated.