Author's note: Hey guys! It's me once again! Well, I'm glad I got so many great comments from chapter 8 and 9. That makes me so happy and it also gives me a strong motivation to continue the story until the very end!

Chapter 10: Spring Night

Tick Tock

Tick Tock

I stared at the unsigned paper in front of me. I had signed about 100 sheets. That, apparently, was nothing compared to the other 200 I had left.

"This sucks." I thought. "There's so much to do! My hands are killing me!"

I had to do get rid of the stacks of paper before Toushiro came back. It was fairly quiet and empty in the administrator room…I quickly checked all around me to see if Toushiro was around. When I couldn't see and sense his presence, I opened one of the windows facing a forest (how convenient for moi!), grabbed the stacks, and jumped out of the window. Once I was far enough, I took out my zanpakuto and burned the stacks until they were dust. I smirked to myself.

"Perfect. Now then…" I returned my zanpakuto and once I turned around, my eyes grew wide.

"T-T-Taicho!" I stuttered. "Wh-What are…you…doing…here?"

"I should be the once saying that, idiot." He moved his head to the side. "What's that?" He asked, pointing towards the dust on the ground.

"Um, it's, random…leaves! Yeah, leaves.."

"Really?"

"Totally."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

"Positive?"

"OK, CAN WE PLEASE GO SOMEWHERE THAT'S NOT HERE?"

"Sure."

I gaped in surprise.

"Eh?"

"Sure. You said you wanted to move somewhere that's not here."

He grabbed my wrist and walked about 2 feet from the original area.

"THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT!"

"Really? Then you should specify things clearly. Intelligent people like myself might not understand your stupid requests."

I twitched.

"Really now…?"

"I'm sorry, did I hit a nerve?" He asked.

"F**k yeah you did!" I was about to take out my zanpakuto but stopped abruptly. I smirked and took my hand out of the hilt. "No, I'm not going to fall for it. I'm not going to fall for such a childish remark."

"Really?" He asked, a smirk slowly appearing on his face.

"Yes, really. Now, if you excuse me…"

"Weren't you going to do your bankai training?"

"I WAS but you got in my way!"

"Ah, so you decided to use your paperwork as targets?"

"Yes I-" I stopped and slapped my forehead. "I am such an idiot!"

"That finally clicked in your head just now?" Toushiro murmured under his breath. I turned around to yell at him but he was gone. I crossed my arms and sighed.

"Maybe I'm not dead after all…" I thought.

XxXxXx

A few days past and apparently, Hitsugaya has been "avoiding" me…well, I guess I was avoiding him too….ok, we were avoiding each other. Like I said before, I started having "feelings" for him. It's way too weird to explain, but still. The fact that I might actually LIKE that cold, white haired midget feels weird. Well, I was a midget too…

As I tried to figure out what the heck I really felt about this guy, I also did my training as usual. Training for bankai is troublesome, but of course, we shinigami have to attain it at one point or another. Not only does it make you really tired physically, your looks get effected too! Unfortunately, training for two weeks every night and being deprived of sleep can make you look really horrible. Think about…well, how Hinamori looks right now. I mean, she may be sleeping, but you can still see those sags under her eyes! Yeah, well, that's what I look like…sorta.

xXxXxX

It was a late, spring evening. The cherry blossoms were blooming too.

"I guess training late at night has it's 'ups' every now and again." Yasusuzme mumbled. We were training once again. We were so close! So close! But Yasu decided that we needed our rest and since I was too lazy to go back to the barracks, I decided to just relax on the soft grassy ground.

"Yeah, you're right about that." I replied, staring at the beautiful moon. It was a mystical night to me. The moon was like the light, the starlit sky was the stage, and the sakura flowers were the mystical dancers. It was a truly wonderful night.

"Hikari," Yasusuzume started. "What are your thoughts?"

I turned to face her. "What do you mean?"

"Simply put it…I'm just worried about you. Every night after training you always fake your sleep."

"I'm not faking."

"I'm your zanpakuto. I know you."

I sighed. "Yeah, I was faking. So?"

"Well, if you were faking, that means you don't get the sleep you need. Something is keeping you awake, and it's something in your little head of yours." Yasusuzume poked my forehead.

"It's….nothing."

"Don't BS me."

I smiled. A zanpakuto really are in tone with their shinigami.

"Ok," I said, turning to face the moon once more. "You know how…I've been thinking about my captain right?"

"Ah, shiro right?"

"Um, yeah. Well…" I sucked in a big breath. "I think…I really…like him."

There was a brief silence between us. Yasusuzume simply nodded and stared at the sky. The silence felt like it lasted an eternity.

"Why?" Yasusuzme asked, breaking the long silence. "Why do you have feelings for him?"

"I…I don't know, to tell you the truth. It's really complicated."

"How can you like someone when you don't have a reason to like him?"

"W-Well…I'm not like that."

"You love BSing people, don't ya?"

"Shut up."

Yasu let out a smirk and looked at her hands.

"Well then, if you love him so much, why don't you tell him?"

I turned to face her, my face red.

"Why in God's name tell him I f**king like him?! I mean, honestly!"

"Well, he might have the same feelings."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then you're out of lucky, kid."

I twitched, feeling the urge to strangle my zanpakuto until I heard a rustle from the leaves. We both turned around, Yasu returning to its unreleased state. I grabbed the hilt and was ready to attack until I saw the person who came out.

"T-T-Taicho?! What are you doing here?" I stuttered.

"Nothing." He said, letting out a sigh. "I had to do some late night paperwork since Matusmoto wasn't there to do the work. Neither were you."

"Oh." Was my only answer. Hitsugaya sat down next to me and stared at the sky.

"Besides, why would I miss a night like this."

I laughed. "Reminds me of the old days back in Rukongai. When life was so carefree."

XxXxX

"Shiro-kun! Momo-chan! C'mon, the fireworks are starting!" I yelled. There was a firework festival at the lake, and momo, shiro, and I got permission from granny to go and see it.

"Shut it! We're coming!" Shiro called. I stuck my tongue out.

"You're so slow! Maybe that spikey hair of yours is the problem! It's weighing you down!"

"No it's not!"

"Yeah it is!"

"No it isn't!"

"Ok, you two!" Momo said calmly, breaking us up. "We're here to have fun, not argue."

I nodded in agreement, throwing a glare at Shiro. He merely grunted and averted his eyes.

We arrived at the lake and there were people already crowding the place.

"Crud, they got all the good spots." I whined.

"No they didn't." Shiro said. Momo and I looked at him. He turned and dashed off. We ran to follow him. We ran through the woods and suddenly, we arrived at the other side of the lake. It was strange, the back of the lake was so beautiful, yet no one came on this side.

"Those old people don't have the energy to run over here." Shiro stated. "Old guys and their stupid arguments. What a pain."

Momo and I laughed and suddenly, the three of us heard a boom from above. We looked up and saw sparkling lights in beautiful patterns appear in the sky.

"This is so wonderful!" Momo gasped. I nodded in agreement. Shiro only looked at the sky, but I saw a small smile appear on his face. In that second, I glomped Shiro.

"Eh? What the h**l was that for?" He asked.

"You look so cute when you smile!"

Shiro's face grew a small shade of red but shook it off.

"Shut up! You're so heavy!"

"Am not!"

"Yeah too!"

"You guys…" Momo murmured. "Can't we do this some other time?"

XxXxX

Toushiro and I looked at each other, the night sky illuminating only our faces.

"Toushiro," I started. "I…I want to apologize…for a lot of things in the past."

There was no response except for a stare. I felt my face get hot. Man, did he always look this sexy at night? His emerald green eyes and frosty white haired looked like it was practically shining! I took a deep breath and continued.

"So, I want to tell you something." I hesitated. Was this a good idea? Should I tell him now? No, I had to tell him the truth now. "I…I…."

Suddenly, Toushiro's finger gently touched my lips.

"You talk too much. It makes you look worse than you already are."

I didn't care if his finger was on my lips; I let out a quiet laugh. "Really huh?"

For the first time in a long time, I saw a real, genuine smile form on Toushiro's lips. It felt like years since I last saw that. A cloud had appeared and was slowly, very slowly covering the moon. Just as the cloud continued to cover the moon, Toushiro and I slowly got closer until I felt our lips touch. Finally, after so many years, I finally felt relaxed and calm. In that one kiss, it felt like my sadness and worry washed away. I finally felt free.

Little did I know…but on that same night…at around the same night, a massacre was being done somewhere in Squad 2…