Thank you, PhantomKnight102, for beta reading!

What's your deal?

The few days that followed, Byakuya found himself in Hisana's dorm room more often. He would help her study and write or rewrite essays. He enjoyed himself very much: besides homework, they often talked amongst each other about their lives. He had told her about his youth and how, when he was a little boy, he missed his mother (whom he had never known) so very much that he made her a drawing every single day. Every evening, before bedtime, he and his older cousin would visit the shrine his family had built for their late lady, to burn the drawing so that his mom would receive them wherever she would be. Yes, he had missed his father, he had told Hisana after she inquired after him, but he had been raised by many men. It was the mother figure that had been absent from his life; he had had many father figures. When it was her turn to speak, she told him about the rough life Inuzuri held and how she sometimes dreamt of things that looked so real that she thought her memory was playing games with her.

By the end of Wednesday, she had finished three reports and memorized all the summaries that Byakuya had made for her. They had worked so hard that she was no longer behind on her work and her teachers even praised her. When she had received her 'Above Average'-mark on the first essay that Byakuya checked, she had ran to him with a big smile and thanked him with the deepest bow she could find. He had grabbed her hand to pull her up and, awkwardly, smiled back at her while thinking if this was a proper moment to get a hug. Before he could decide, however, she had another request ready: would he maybe perhaps ifitsnottoomuchtrouble be available to train her in swordsmanship tomorrow?

He had promised her that he would. The second he returned to his own dorm room, he contacted his family that he would not return home that next day and that the two meetings that were arranged had to be rescheduled. He cancelled dinner reservations he had with his cousin and promised he would go with him whenever was convenient.

He had prepared his session with Hisana. He knew her poses and techniques, which were not very impressive. He would help her improve her posture on the battlefield, try more Kidou, help her with the basics of flash step and…

Byakuya stopped in his tracks. He was walking towards the dojo, where he and Hisana had agreed to meet in thirty minutes. If he brought something to eat, he could perhaps turn this into a training session with a small date interlaced in it. They could even continue their training after dinner, as long as they would get out by nine o'clock. Once the dojo was closed, it would remain closed until next morning.

Using shunpo to return to his dorm room, he pondered over what he would bring her. If they wanted to continue training afterwards, it should not be a heavy meal. It should regain their strengths, but it should also be delicious: he could not have their first date to be disastrous because she didn't like what he brought her. He had to guess, anyway, because he had no idea what she liked. He decided he would go for a variety of fruits, for they held sugar and fruits came in many different flavors. If she wanted more food after training, he would simply invite her over to his dorm room and he would show ofuf his amazing cooking skills by making her his famous spaghetti-to-die-for.

Conveniently, that afternoon he had bought quite the assortment of juicy fruits. He gathered apples, pears, grapes and strawberries. There should be something in there she liked, right?

Satisfied with his solution, he made his way back to the dojo. He had fifteen more minutes before Hisana would show up and he used those to prepare. He fashioned a wall out of pit mats, created a couple of targets out of different kinds of material so she would practice with more than one size, and he spread out a blanket with cushions so they could sit comfortably during dinner.

He was just making the final adjustments when his heart jumped upon hearing her voice. "Wow, are you taking training sessions always this serious?"

He turned around and marveled at how she looked. Her hair was up in a ponytail; he had never seen her any different than with her hair down. The playful lock of hair that usually graced her face was clipped back upon her head. She wore the red hakama that came with her academy uniform, but instead of the matching shitagi and kosode she wore a black tank top. She held two wooden swords for sparring in her hands.

"You look stunning even showing up for training," he blurted out. The second he realized he had mouthed his thoughts, he reddened. Hisana chuckled and threw him one of the sparring swords. "So what's the plan?"

"The plan," Byakuya started, catching the sword, "is to start with your positions, followed by your footwork and basic moves. Then, I thought we could have a light fight and afterwards combine it all into a full out dinner."

"A what?" she asked, her eyebrows raised. Byakuya inwardly cursed himself. "I meant a light dinner followed by a fight. With everything you learned. Not a… full out dinner…"

She was not reacting the way he had hoped she would. Had he proposed these plans to any other woman, she would have gone full retard on him. Byakuya caught himself becoming quite amused rather than annoyed by the lack of her reactions. It made him want to work for their relationship even harder.

"Well," Hisana finally answered, "that sounds okay… but I have to leave on time, because I am free from classes tomorrow and I thought I could use the extra time… to… eh you know, catch up with old friends." She grimaced slightly.

"That will be alright," Byakuya answered. "Let's start quickly then, shall we? Take your position."

"You've improved," Byakuya complimented when they sat down for dinner. He offered Hisana his personal favorite pillow, which she gratefully took. She sat down on it and then hung over the blanket to rummage through her bag. After taking out a bottle of water, she downed it as if her life depended on it.

"How come…" she panted, "…you're not… so much exhausted… as I am?"

"Hisana, please," Byakuya replied, "I receive training from a captain."

Her eyes flew open and she nearly choked on her water. "I completely forgot! Your grandfather trains you, right?"

"Yes, he does," Byakuya said, not much enthusiasm showing. "He trains me as if I am his lieutenant who should be prepared to take over the division."

"But you're not," Hisana said, using her hands to wipe off any water left on her chin.

"You catch on quick," Byakuya joked. Hisana laughed softly in response.

He took his own bag and emptied it in front of them. "I brought something to eat," he announced. "Have anything you like."

Hisana nodded and took an apple. "Thank you. I can't believe I forgot to bring anything. I was so nervous about this training with you."

"You were?" Byakuya asked, his eyebrows raised. "Why?"

Hisana gulped down her first bite. "Well, I perform below average."

"Your point being?"

"No," Hisana said, playfully. "This is the part where you say: 'that is not true, you are amazing, you surpass me with your great skills' and everything."

Needing a moment to process this, Byakuya sat up straight, looked Hisana into the eyes and said: "You are a wonderful person and you surpass me on every level of humanity I can think of."

There was a deafening silence between them and he could see the color drain from Hisana's cheeks. Which was another interesting thing, because he had sincerely expected her to turn red. He could feel the tension and it nearly choked him. He had to do something. "And you fight well."

There was a tweak in Hisana's eyes and she shook her head. "Sure, something like that." She looked away quickly and then went back to taking another bite of her apple. She refused to make eye-contact in the minutes that followed.

After they had both eaten enough, Byakuya coughed once and then proposed to continue their training. "Just a bit longer, I would like to see if you stuck to your new poses."

Hisana quietly obliged and stood. They trained for another couple of minutes, after which Byakuya allowed himself to say that she had done well, Hisana gathered her belongings. She picked up her back and then turned to Byakuya. "Thank you for training me."

"You're welcome," Byakuya answered. He felt slightly nauseated. He should know by now that being so forward makes her feel uncomfortable. Why, why why why had he said that?

"I will see you on Monday," Hisana said before turning around and walking towards the doors. She pushed the handle and then stopped in her tracks. She pushed again and again and then started shaking the handles harder. "No, no!" she said, defeat in her voice.

Byakuya, who had just picked up the sparring swords, turned to look at her. He instantly knew he had to look to the clock next: it was a quarter past nine. He had not thought to check the time for a mere second. "Are they closed?"

"Yes," she answered, turning around and letting herself fall to the ground. "I can't stay here, I really have to go…"

"Let's make the best of it," Byakuya tried to make her feel better. "It's closed until tomorrow eight in the morning."

"No, you don't understand," Hisana started. "I have to go."

He liked her very much, but he felt a twinge of annoyance. "It's locked. We can't do anything but wait until it opens again."

Hisana sighed and buried her face in her hands. He felt guilty now, for being blunt with her, and to make up he pushed one of the mats over to create a large and soft place to sit on. "Looks like we'll be crashing here."

Hisana sighed again.

"Where would you like to sleep?" Byakuya asked. "The mat, the floor or my arms?" He inwardly beat himself to pulp for adding the last one, but perhaps, just perhaps, he had made her smile again. He would give anything to see her smile, even a little.

But she didn't smile. She avoided eye contact and her face looked like a thunderstorm.

"Listen," Byakuya started. "I wish I could get you out. But let's make the best of it, because we cannot open those doors tonight."

"I am done listening to you," Hisana spoke softly. "If you hadn't insisted on practicing again after eating, I would have been out of here by now."

"That is unfair," Byakuya stated. "I have helped you with everything you needed help with. I could not foresee this turn of the night."

"I'll sleep in the storage room," Hisana said, standing up. Her eyes were red. "I really don't want to see you right now."

"Hisana," Byakuya said, his voice raising. "You cannot blame me for this. I really prefer to sleep in my own bed."

"Just… just leave me for now, okay?" She walked away. But before she could close the door, Byakuya replied, "I really do not deserve to be treated like this, Hisana."

She slammed the door shut.

Angry and very annoyed, Byakuya released a flash of Kidou on one of the targets. It went up in flames before exploding with a loud BOOM. Then he went to turn off the lights and positioned himself on the mat. It was going to be a long night.

Especially if he had to listen to her sob herself to sleep.