OMG! I just found out that a girl in one of my classes (she's a junior and younger than me) is also an author on this site. Granted, she's only written two stories (one is coauthored by a friend of hers) and hasn't updated in forever, but I never thought that I'd actually meet a fellow fanfiction author! What's weird is that we have the same name, spelled differently though. BTW, she has written Harry Potter stories.

Enough about that. Here's the next chapter. *throws confetti into the air*

Disclaimer: I bet you a hundred dollars that I don't own InuYasha or Bleach. Now where's my money? *cocks shotgun* *lawyers in the vicinity run and scream like little girls*

"talking"

'thinking'

Chapter VIII: Will of the Heart

-o-o-o-

His very presence
Infuriates her and she
Loathes his whole being

-o-o-o-

"You seem awfully quiet today, Kagome-chan. Is there something wrong?"

It wasn't often that Kagome went strolling around the Seireitei with her captain, what with Ukitake being bedridden half of the time. She usually enjoyed these walks, since they afforded pleasant conversation and tranquil scenery; both preferred taking walks among the treeish sections of the Gotei 13, or at least something with vegetation.

But today wasn't one of those nice days. For the past week or so, ever since Kagome had woken up with a terrible hangover, her desire to know about the contents of the Daireishokairou had eaten at her until it had practically become an obsession. She desperately wanted to know what the famous archives said about her, so that perhaps she could hide her secret – of being the Miko no Shikon, of course – better.

But how did one get into the Daireishokairou? Kagome knew it was one of the more highly-restricted areas in the Seireitei, what with being located in the Central 46 Compound and all. As the governing body of all Soul Society, the ones that dwelled there – cold, unfeeling bastards, or so Kagome had heard – didn't let just anybody waltz through their doors.

"It's nothing," said Kagome, answering Ukitake's question.

Ukitake looked down at her skeptically, unconvinced. Maybe she should have used a cheerfully tone of voice? Knowing her captain, he'd probably see through it, anyway.

"Hm," said Ukitake wordlessly, turning to look ahead.

Kagome watched him nervously out of the corner of her eye, wondering if he was going to pursue the subject further. When he didn't, she supposed that he respected her privacy quite a bit.

A sudden thought hit her. Perhaps Ukitake would know? He was one of the oldest captains, over a thousand years old. If anyone would know about the policies regarding the Central 46 Compound, it would be him.

"A-actually, there is one thing…" began Kagome nervously, pushing the ends of her forefingers together.

"Hm?" said Ukitake, raising an eyebrow in question down at her.

"Do you know… Do you know how often taichou are allowed into the Central 46 Compound?" asked Kagome, looking up hopefully into Ukitake's face.

Ukitake's eyebrows shot upwards; apparently, that was the last question he had been expecting from her.

"We're allowed in once in a while, when we have an errand to run there," said Ukitake, shrugging.

Kagome nearly winced; 'once in a while' in the Soul Society could mean twenty to fifty years, for all she knew.

"What about…fukutaichou…?" she asked cautiously, causing Ukitake to grunt in surprise.

"It is a rare occurrence for a fukutaichou to enter the Central 46 Compound," said Ukitake thoughtfully. "I remember it happening once or twice."

"Oh…" said Kagome sadly, her hope of getting into the Daireishokairou dwindling.

Ukitake frowned at her with puzzlement, both at her sudden loss of spirit and her questioning of one of the most secure areas in all of Soul Society.

"Is there a reason for your sudden interest in the Central 46 Compund, Kagome-chan?" he asked, his dark eyebrows furrowed.

His lieutenant was tempted to tell him to forget the whole thing, but she knew that he wouldn't let it go that easily. So she spoke.

"I hear that the Daireishokairou contains a lot of the Soul Society's historical knowledge," admitted Kagome somewhat hesitantly.

Ukitake blinked in surprise.

"Do you want access to the Great Spirit Library?" he asked.

By the kami, she was so transparent.

"H-hai," admitted Kagome reluctantly. "It's just that there is very little extensive historical knowledge in the SRDI (1)" – she had looked, just in case, a couple of days previously – "and I know that the Daireishokairou most likely contains what I'm looking for…"

"Well, what are you looking for?" asked Ukitake, raising an eyebrow and looking at her in a serious manner.

Kagome froze, her breath catching in her throat. If she told him that she was looking for the legendary Miko no Shikon, he would ask why. And she couldn't tell him that, she just couldn't. Not when she had worked so hard to keep her identity a secret.

"A-ah, that is…" stammered Kagome.

"I'll need to know what you're looking for, Kagome-chan, if I'm going to attempt to get you access to the Daireishokairou," repeated Ukitake.

Kagome blinked.

"You can do that?" she asked, excitement creeping into her voice.

Ukitake gave her a small smile and said, "I've been around for a while, Kagome-chan. My words do carry some weight around here."

He looked at her expectantly, and Kagome remembered that she had to give him a reason for her wanting to get into the Central 46 Compound.

"A-ano (um), I just wanted to look up a historical figure, Ukitake-taichou," said Kagome, her palms sticky with a nervous sweat.

She was afraid that he was going to ask who she wanted to look up, but all of that vanished when they turned one of the many corners in the Gotei 13 and came face to face with Ichimaru Gin; he appeared to be taking a walk of his own, heading in the opposite direction.

Ukitake let out a grunt of surprise, while Ichimaru assumed a surprised expression and said, "Oh?"

Kagome said nothing, watching Ichimaru carefully.

"Mornin', Ukitake-taichou," said Ichimaru cheerfully, giving Kagome's captain a friendly little wave.

"Ichimaru-taichou," greeted Ukitake formally, nodding. "Out for a walk on this beautiful day?"

"Hai, hai," answered Ichimaru, as if it were obvious. "Now since I'm in the presence of such an esteemed taichou…"

Kagome wanted to puke; if he sounded any cornier, she'd have sand pouring out of her mouth (2).

"…and his pretty li'l fukutaichou. She's such a good girl, isn't she?" finished Ichimaru, his voice bordering on wistful.

Kagome's cheeks turned pink from anger; what should have been a compliment always sounded like an insult when it came out of Ichimaru Gin's mouth. She was tempted to blurt out that she flipped off Yamamoto-soutaichou (Captain-Commander Yamamoto) on a daily basis, just so that she could have Ichimaru in the wrong. Of course, that would be a lie, but Kagome felt that it would have been worth it.

"Kagome-chan is an excellent fukutaichou, as well as a responsible and kind person," agreed Ukitake cautiously, ignoring the fact that Kagome looked anything but kind at the moment.

"Hmm," said Ichimaru, glancing at Kagome and putting on his 'satisfied toad' face.

Tensing, Kagome wanted to put her hand on the hilt of her zanpakutou, but she knew that would be rather unwise in the current situation. After all, it was, to all appearances, just a friendly chat between two captains. Never mind that one of those captains was a conniving, manipulative son of a–

"Well, I best be goin'," said Ichimaru, interrupting Kagome's train of thought. "Gotta let ya finish yer walk and all."

He nodded at Ukitake – who gave him a curt one in return – before continuing on his way.

Kagome remained frozen in place as Ichimaru brushed by her, not daring to even look at him. Doing so would attract his attention, and probably hasten her impending doom; he hadn't killed her, yet.

She and her captain waited quietly as Ichimaru turned around the corner they had previously walked, listening to the sound of his sandals recede into the distance. As soon as they couldn't hear him anymore, Kagome visibly relaxed while letting out a silent sigh of relief.

Ukitake offered her a sympathetic smile and said, "You shouldn't let him get to you so easily, Kagome-chan."

"But you've had decades of practice," Kagome pointed out, brushing her hair out of her face with a shaky hand.

"True," admitted Ukitake, "Though he did make an excellent point."

"What?" asked Kagome, genuinely surprised that Ichimaru had shown her much-wiser captain anything.

"You are one of the best fukutaichou I have ever had, so there is no reason for me to not trust you. If you say you want access to the Daireishokairou, then I'll try to get you in," said Ukitake, smiling down at her.

"R-really?" asked Kagome, stars shining in her eyes. "You'll do that?"

"I can make no promises that you'll get in, but I'll try," reassured her white-haired captain.

"A-arigatou gozaimasu, Ukitake-taichou!" said Kagome gratefully, bowing deeply towards him.

Ukitake smiled – he almost looked uncomfortable – and said, "Now, there's no need for that. It's the least I can do for you."

"U-un," said Kagome, rising out of her bow and brushing her hair out of her eyes once more.

"Let's finish our walk. I have a mountain of paperwork waiting for me back at the office, so let's make the best of it, ne?" said Ukitake, making Kagome smile.

"Hai," she said, nodding and following her captain – Ukitake had started walking again.

Kagome had only taken a few steps when she suddenly felt a sensation of being touched on the back of her neck. Ukitake's arms were at his sides (as if he'd behave in such a way), so who…?

With a gasp, Kagome whirled around, grabbing the nape of her neck with one hand. She looked around behind her wildly, searching for the one who had been touching her; to her intense bewilderment, she found herself looking at an empty street.

"What the–?" she muttered, still clutching the back of her neck.

Ukitake, who had noticed that Kagome wasn't walking in stride with him anymore, turned around and frowned with puzzlement.

"Something the matter?" he asked with concern.

"It's just…" said Kagome, and then thought better of it; perhaps she'd imagined it. "It's nothing."

"I see," said Ukitake, though he appeared unconvinced. "We should get going, then."

"R-right," said Kagome, hurrying to catch up with him.

She cast one last confused glance at the street behind her, wondering if her encounter with Ichimaru had left her feeling spooky.

But she could have sworn that someone had briefly touched the back of her neck, tangling their slender fingers through the feathery wisps of hair curling from the nape…

Owari

-o-o-o-

Author's Notes

(1) SRDI is short for the Shinigami Research and Development Institute.

(2) In Japan, corniness is associated with sand being vomited out of a listener's mouth. I have no idea where in the hell it came from, but I do know that in manga, people who are listening to someone being really corny or sappy usually have a waterfall of sand coming out of their mouths. There's even a saying in Japan, that means, "That's so corny, I want to vomit sand." Perhaps it means that "This is so painful to listen to, I would rather endure the torment of having millions of grains of quartz (etc.) scrape out the insides of my stomach, throat, and mouth than listen to you"?

-o-o-o-

I'm still waiting for my money… Just kidding! I'll have plenty when Christmas comes around, 'cause my grandparents are generous. MONEY = KINGDOM HEARTS RE:CODED FOR NDS! It comes out January 11, I think. Ahem… ^.^;

Oh yeah, just to warn you. I have an bad grade in Chemistry (a classmate said, "Who doesn't?"), therefore my parents have threatened my computer privileges (again...). I'm bad at it because my evil arch-nemesis (MATH!) is foiling my every move. Unlike some people I know, I at least acknowledge that if it weren't for math, we'd all still be living in huts in Africa and the Middle East.

Back to the topic… If I suddenly stop updating in a while, you know that it is because I'm trying to improve my grades. Hopefully it won't come to that. T.T

As always, thank you for your reviews and support. I look forward to what you have to say on this chapter!

Until next time, ja ne! ^.^