I jerked awake quickly, gasping for air. I clutched my throat, trying to breathe regularly. Toushirou had let out a strong surge of reiatsu. It had startled me. I wonder why he had. I knew Hyorinmaru had been released to its shikai, and then it was like something I had never felt before from him. I knew it was him, but it was so different from him.
I laid back down and put an arm over my face. It was hot out tonight. I was still panting slightly, but not as bad. It was hard catching my breath. I rolled over onto my side and stared out the window. I wonder…had a hollow appeared and Toushirou went off to kill it, or had something much worse happened? If so, how come I didn't sense it? Were my tracking skills getting worse than they already were? Surely not…maybe it was nothing. I finally decided to try and get back to sleep. I rolled back over, facing away from the window, and closed my eyes.
Toushirou's POV
Damn. I released too much reiatsu. Someone might've felt it… I thought.
I wiped the blood away from my mouth. This was getting ridiculous. The thirst was coming sooner and sooner each time. I was reduced from having to wait three months to feed, to having four weeks. I couldn't take much more. I sniffed the air. No one was coming. Thankfully no one felt my reiatsu spike like that. I needed to be more careful.
I sealed Hyorinmaru and began walking away from the site. The only remains were small fragments of ice. Those would probably melt by morning. No one would find the body since I shattered it. I wandered around the area, erasing any trace of my reiatsu I could find. I couldn't let anyone know about this. Not even Aleshi could find out. Yes, I trusted her more than anyone, but I was afraid she would reject me completely if she found out I was this…monster. Nothing good could come of it.
I sniffed the air one more time just to make sure no one was coming. Aleshi had woken up in a panic. Her fear levels rose sharply and then dropped quickly. What had happened? Had she felt my reiatsu release? Or was it just a bad
dream? I had to make sure she was alright. I flash stepped from the site back to my barracks. I hoped Aleshi was alright…
Aleshi's POV
I felt someone shaking me. I grumbled and rolled over to see Toushirou looking at me with a worried look on his face. I sat up and yawned.
"What's wrong? Am I late again?" I asked.
He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. What was with him?
"No, I just, ummm…felt your reiatsu rise and drop suddenly. I got worried and came in." he explained.
"Were you working late again? You're fully dressed." I noted.
"Uh, yeah. I had extra paper work today. Someone delivered it not too long after you went to sleep.
I gave him a confused look then shrugged. I yawned, stretched, then laid back down to go back to sleep. Toushirou ruffled my hair then left.
I stayed awake for quite some time. I couldn't stop thinking about why he had released so much reiatsu, then just say he had been here working on extra paper work. This didn't make any sense at all. He had to be hiding something…but, why would he hide it from me? He always told me anything and everything. I had to find out what it was he was hiding.
Toushirou's POV
Damn. I needed to be more careful with my reiatsu! Aleshi felt it and woke up. What if she had come to see if I was alright? That would've been disastrous! I could never let her find out about this…condition. She could never know I was this monster.
I scratched the back of my neck from frustration and sighed. I wish I could just tell her without worrying about her rejecting me. I…I need her. I can't go
through life alone. I need someone like her to stay by me, no matter what. It's just…I don't know how she'll react to this. The fact I have to feed on blood about every month just to stay alive.
I growled and punched the wall. I heard a small gasp behind me and turned around quickly, hand on the hilt of Hyorinmaru.
"A-Aleshi! What're you doing out here?"
Aleshi's POV
"I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that. It's just…" I started.
"Just what?" Toushirou asked, coming closer.
"I had this…feeling like…you were hiding something from me." I finished.
Toushirou looked a little taken aback, and then cleared his throat. I looked down at the ground and fidgeted. I shouldn't be suspicious of him. He would never hide anything from me. I should've known better.
"Why…why would you think that?" He asked, looking around the room.
"You were sort of acting like you were hiding something…back in my room." I muttered, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't think that. You just had some paper work."