Part 5

Sitting alone in the office, the young girl absentmindedly shuffled the paperwork in front of her.

Taichou and Renji were out on an investigative mission into some weird happenings to the North of the Rukon. Apparently young children were disappearing from their beds at night, but no residual spiritual energy could be detected. They'd probably be gone for a few days. The squads 3rd seat was in charge for the time being and Azdeha had found herself sitting at Taichou's desk processing leave request forms.

It wasn't the hardest task in the world, and she found her mind wandering back to her conversations in the dojo. She had gone over them in her head time and time again, trying to work out what it was she was fighting for. She had considered pride, after all, she was overshadowed by her brother, the lieutenant. Maybe now that she'd found him, she was determined to fight to prove her worth as a shinigami in her own right, instead of being Lieutenant Abarai's little sister.

She'd thought long and hard about it, but that wasn't it. She knew no one looked upon her position in the squad as a result of familial connections so she had no reason not to feel proud as a shinigami. That idea had been thrown out pretty quickly.

Chusei had mentioned love in passing, but Azdeha had scoffed at that idea. The people she loved were more powerful than her so she had no need to fight for them.

"Justice?" she mused to herself, then stifled a laugh. "Fighting for justice. I sound like one of those comic books nii-sama sometimes brings back from the world of the living."

She leaned back in the chair and chewed on the end of her pen. "I'm never going to work this out. I might as well be fighting for sushi."

Sighing, she slouched in her chair and started back on the paperwork.