Please, just don't ask about anything I do. I really have no idea what goes on in my own head!!

"It happens to the best of people." A young, blue eyed academy student, Saeki Hiromi, smiled briefly. "Though I prefer to keep everything organized and fairly clutter free. It may just be that that is my nature, the complete opposite of that dreaded Kyōraku Shunsui."

Dreaded? I like Shunsui, he's fun!

The red head snorted. "Of course, with him chasing around me and the rest of the girls in our class he's plenty of fun..."

I bet you're just trying to hide something...

Two large, blue eyes scanned the small paper in front of her. "Why are you doing this, sensei?" Staring wide eyed at her teacher, Hiromi fiddled nervously with the edges of her uniform.

Yamamoto leaned back lazily in his chair. "Your kidō is impeccable, your knowledge on my teachings are unmatched. But as far as your swordplay goes, you are in dire need of improvement. So, I will have Kyōraku train you in that section, he's quite skilled and should do well to train you."

"I understand that, sensei." She cleared her throat, shifting nervously in her seat. "What I don't understand is why you chose Kyōraku of all people! You know how he gets around girls. Why couldn't you ask Ukitake-kun? He's very skilled also."

"That may be, but as of late he's been going through a rather rough patch with his disease. Kyōraku will do fine; I will inform him that you would like to keep things professional. For now you are dismissed." The elderly shinigami leaned forward, shuffling some papers as if looking for something.

"Thank you, Yamamoto-sensei..." Sighing softly, she stood and bowed respectfully before leaving. Calmly walking through the halls, her face seemed completely stoic, though on the inside she was screaming.

It wasn't that she necessarily hated Shunsui; it was more that she just extremely disliked his nature toward women. "Hiromi-chan~!" Speak of the devil. Running at her with his arms spread open and lips pursed as if to give her a kiss, she quickly took care of that by kicking him in his face and knocking him down. "Ah, Hiromi-chan is so cruel to me!" The scruffy young teen whined, rubbing his nose. "Though I don't always mind you being a little rough..."

Completely ignoring his comment she glared at him. "Kyōraku, how many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that? It's quite annoying!"

He grinned up at her for a moment before jumping up and enveloping her in a hug. "But, Hiromi-chan looked so angry. I was just trying to make you happy! I thought you would like a hug, Hiromi-chan!"

Though she would never admit it, she knew in her heart that the real reason she was always so angry with him was that she was jealous. The attention he gave her always made her feel so special, and when she saw him doing the same to the other girls, it just made her, well, angry. "Stop that! I don't need a hug!!" Pushing at his chest, she noticed just how close he was to her. A light blush tinted her cheeks.

Planting a sweet kiss on her forehead, he released her from his hug. "Well, you don't seem as grumpy now. I think a hug was just what you needed."

"Sh...Shut up!" Glaring up at him, Hiromi stomped off. The red head was rather flustered, and very red, but still remaining collected on the outside. Stopping for a moment she turned around. "Yamamoto-sensei wants to see you..." Looking down for a moment, she turned back up to him and frowned. "And stop bothering me! I don't need anything from you."

His grin didn't falter for a moment. Though she may have been frowning and glaring at him, the large blush plastered across her face seemed to tell another story. "Whatever you say, Hiromi-chan..."

Jūshirō stared over at the fuming female. He'd been bedridden for several days now, and his good friend Hiromi had been sure to come and visit him daily. Though for the most part she'd just rant on about Shunsui...like she was doing now.

"It's always been annoying to have to deal with that perversion during class, and now I've got three more hours every single day that he's going to be around!" Hiromi leaned back in the chair she'd been sitting in, pulling her legs up to rest next to her.

Placing his hands behind his head, the sickly teen looked toward the ceiling. "I don't think training with Shunsui is all that bad."

She frowned slightly, crossing her arms indignantly. "I never said that it was that bad, I just said his perversion is annoying." Pale blue eyes fell to her hands, a faint smile tugged at her lips. "Kyōraku's actually a very skilled fighter, and great as far as teaching me goes. He even figured out my problem in the first day of training! He's patient, and kind, and..."

"And you like him?" A wide grin found its way across his features. It was so obvious, though she would never admit it.

"Wh-what?! Of course not!! Me and Kyōraku!? A-are you mad?!" She scowled, watching her good friend smirk in her direction. "I-I don't like Kyōraku, we're just classmates and he's tutoring me, that's all."

"...Well, you know, Shunsui speaks quite highly about you..." Jūshirō added, taking note of how she perked up. "He's always telling me how much he enjoys spending time with you.'Hiromi-chan is so cute when she gets embarrassed!' It's something that he mentions all the time. He likes you quite a bit."

She stared at him, wide eyed. "...Really?"

The white haired teen nodded, smiling slyly. "Yeah, he does. But since you don't like him, why should it matter how much he says he likes you?"

"Well, it-it's not like I really care..." She huffed, blushing slightly.

His smile wouldn't fade. "Of course! Why would you care how much he says he wants to be with you? And it's not like it really matters that he talks constantly about you. You would never care what he says about you, Saeki-chan."

"I...I don't!" She glowered, standing up from her chair. "I've gotta meet Retsu-chan for lunch, I'll see you later, Ukitake-kun."

"Swing left, swing right. Full step back, block with right. Dodge left, swipe low, watch the footing. Grip lower with your right hand, hold it strong. Roll right, jump back. Watch your footing again. Upper slash, don't extend it too far. Careful on the back step. Swing right, slash downward, side step right, careful on your footing. Watch out!"

Two strong hands grabbed Hiromi before she hit the ground. Shunsui smiled widely, looking down at the young academy student in his arms. "Well, hello there, Hiromi-chan..."

"K-Kyōraku!" She gasped, dropping the wooden sword she had been training with. Her shoulder length burgundy hair was slightly ruffled, and her blue eyes stared wide at him.

"You should be more careful with your footing; I wouldn't want you to mar that perfect, beautiful face of yours." Gently, he pulled her to an upright position and placed her on her feet.

Their faces were mere centimeters apart; so close that Shunsui could practically feel the heat rolling off of her face. "I could have caught myself! I don't need you to help me!"

The smile on his features refused to fade. "My apologies, Hiromi-chan, I didn't mean to interfere. I just couldn't stand to see you get hurt. My darling Hiromi-chan..." The small amount of distance separating the two of them seemed to diminish as he leaned in closer, until their lips met, in a soft, almost careful, kiss. Hiromi's mind went completely blank, she knew she should be enjoying this, but her body was no longer responding. Pulling back carefully, Shunsui smiled softly. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hold myself back."

"...I..." She couldn't seem to bring herself to form a real sentence. "I-I've...gotta go..."

Running away was never something she imagined herself doing, and was definitely not something she was proud of. But she was scared, and confused, and couldn't bring herself to do anything else. How could one person hold such power over her and her emotions? Why did things become so hard when it came to admitting her own feelings? Why couldn't she just be stronger?

"How long are you going to be hiding like that?" Jūshirō and Retsu walked into the small, single bedroom dorm room that was given to all academy students. This one happened to belong to Hiromi, and was surprisingly disorderly considering the nature of the young student.

"And what have you been doing for the past few days? It's not healthy to stay in such a small space for so long." Retsu added, taking a seat on the floor next to her friend. "Won't you come outside with us?"

She shook her head. "I don't know what to say to him. I can't talk to him now."

The white haired teen sat on the other side of her. "What if he wanted to see you? He might know just what you need to hear."

Placing her head in her hands, she sighed loudly. "I'm just...so ashamed!"

"But why?" The dark haired woman asked, petting her younger friend's hair calmingly. "I may not know what happened between you two, but neither of you have been the same since. Please, just talk to him."

Jūshirō chuckled lightly. "I don't even know what happened. Shunsui usually shares everything with me, so it must have been something rather important for him to keep it a secret."

"I just...can't." Blue eyes lowered to the floor in shame.

Something seemed to click in his mind as he watched his friend wallow in her own self pity. "C'mon, Unohana-san, we can't do anything for her. She's chosen her own path; it's up to her to make up her own mind. And maybe, she'll step up and do what she should."

Squeezing her shoulder reassuringly, Retsu stood to leave. "I hope you'll be alright, Hiromi-chan..."

Lazily rising to her feet, Hiromi made her way into her bedroom, plopping down face first on the small bed. Why couldn't she just be honest with herself? She liked him, she always had liked him, and she probably always would. But when he kissed her, she was scared. Scared of actually opening up to another soul, scared of letting someone else know what she really feels.

"Hiromi-chan?"

Practically jumping out of her skin, she turned around to face her new visitor. "Sh-Shunsui!!" She fell back, starting to fall off the bed.

He quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her back up onto the bed. Pulling her into a tight hug, he sighed lightly. "Hiromi-chan, I'm sorry if I did anything to hurt you or make you uncomfortable. I just wanted to let you know how I feel about you..."

"Just stop!" She mumbled burying her face in his chest. "It's not your fault, if anything it's me. I'm just so...I don't know!" Words were failing her, yet again. It was either now or never. "Just...here!" Pushing herself up, she crashed their lips together in a harsh, fiery kiss. Despite Shunsui's surprise, he wasn't going to ruin this moment. He kissed her back, with just as much emotion. Their tongues danced together, a fight for dominance that he quickly won. Though their moment of passion was interrupted when Hiromi pulled back. "Do you get it?"

Smiling fondly, he placed a light kiss on her forehead. "I think I do."

She smiled sheepishly back. "Well, good. Cause I don't think I could've actually put it into words."

One last kiss was shared as they lay out on her bed. "So, Hiromi-chan...Wanna go out tonight?" He grinned, looking down at her.

"Well..." Pretending to take a moment and think about it, she couldn't hold back a small smile. "I was thinking about watching the grass grow...but going out with you sounds much more fun."

His smile seemed to grow. "Great, I already can't wait." He muttered, pressing their lips together once again, in a kind, soft kiss.

Aww, how sweet!

"Yeah...I guess Shunsui-kun isn't that bad..." Hiromi blushed, smiling lightly to herself.

See? I knew it! You did like him!

"Sh-shut up! Nobody asked you!"

Alright, well, I guess that's it! Have fun with Shunsui!