Chapter Nine: I Will Protect You

Thunder rumbled in the sky as Toushirou ran across the rooftops, heading in the direction the Hollow and Yuna were at. The first few drops of rain fell on his face as he heard the roaring of the Hollow. He found them at the riverside, Yuna fighting against the Hollow with everything she had. By the time Toushirou's feet touched the ground, the rain was falling heavily from the sky and thunder cracked and boomed within the dark clouds, summoned by forks of lightening. The wind picked up, whipping the hem of his white captain's haori around. He ran at the Hollow, reaching over his shoulder for the hilt of Hyourinmaru.

Yuna's reiatsu was flaring, as was her spirit energy. Now that her reiatsu was released from whatever block or shield that had hidden it, her spirit energy was much higher than before, giving her more power. As he approached, Yuna jumped at the Hollow, bringing her fist down with a loud crack, causing the Hollow to scream and swipe at her as she flipped away. She landed lightly on her feet before going into a crouch to launch herself at the monster again for another attack.

Toushirou unsheathed Hyourinmaru and swung it down, slicing the Hollow's thick arm. This Hollow reminded him of a gorilla, except with a long tail and boar-like hind legs. Ice formed around the wound and slowly spread up the Hollow's arm. As Toushirou released his reiatsu, the temperature became colder and the rain slowly became snow. The Hollow roared again when his arm fell off which was now completely ice. He released the chain with the crescent-moon blade at the end from his hilt and threw it at the other arm. The chain wrapped around the arm and began to turn that into ice as well. He pulled at the chain, breaking off the Hollow's arm. "Yuna, finish it off now!" he called, looking over at Yuna.

Yuna ran at the Hollow and using spirit energy, she jumped high. Bringing her fist back, she slammed it through the white skull mask into its head with a large burst of light the color of fire. The Hollow let out one last roar before it dissolved away into nothing. Toushirou let out a sigh as he sheathed Hyourinmaru. "Well," he said, "at least we know your attacks are purifying, like a Zanpakutoh, so maybe you can…" He had to duck as Yuna slung an attack on him.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Yuna cried, glaring at him. "There's a reason why I didn't go back!"

"Yuna… please wait a minute…"

"No! I won't let you kill me for something I didn't do!" Yuna lunged at him again, but this time he was prepared for her. He grabbed her and pulled her close to him, holding her to his chest. She struggled against him, screaming at him before finally giving up and sagged against him, sobbing into his chest. Toushirou sighed softly as he ran his fingers though her hair, both of their reiatsus going down, and the snow returned to rain. He stood there, holding her to him as she cried.

"Come on," Toushirou said softly after a while, gathering her into his arms, holding her bridal style close to him. "I'll take you home."

Yuna didn't say anything, but pressed her face into his chest. Toushirou used Shunpo to get to Yuna's house, the rain stinging his exposed skin. He reached Yuna's house in less than ten minutes and instead of going through the front, he went to Yuna's window and, after opening it, went through. His feet touched the wooden floor silently in the dark room. He let Yuna down onto the bed before turning to head back out the window. She doesn't want me around... not now... He stepped up onto the window sill and was about to leave when Yuna's voice spoke softly behind him.

"You're just gonna leave…?"

Toushirou looked around at her. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at him with tear-washed eyes. "Yeah…" he said. "I said I would take you home and I figure you don't want me around…"

"You're not going to kill me…?" Yuna asked, her voice so small that it twisted Toushirou's heart.

"No…"

"What?"

Toushirou sighed and stepped off the sill, walking over to her. "I'm not… following my orders. I'm not going to kill you, or take you to Soul Society like I intended to… before I knew that it was you."

"But you're a Captain," Yuna said, jumping to her feet and looking at him. "You told me that you see to follow out your duties as a Captain…"

"I talked with the Captain-Commander," he said, cutting her off. "I told him that it was you… and that I wasn't going to destroy you, or take you to Soul Society to become an experiment. I managed to convince him that you can be trained to become a Shinigami, to learn to control your reiatsu and spirit energy. I said that I would take you into my responsibility, and suffer the consequences if anything that you do threatens the real world or Soul Society. I'm risking a great deal so you won't be killed…" He ducked again as Yuna threw another punch at him, anger glinting in her eyes.

"Idiot!" she exclaimed, glaring at him. "Why would you do that?! You're risking everything to protect me?! I can't be worth risking your life for…"

Toushirou grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her angrily. "You're the idiot!" he yelled at her, before remembering that there were people sleeping in the house. He lowered his voice to a hiss as he said, "You are worth the risk. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I'll protect you…" He blinked, surprised at the words that came out of his mouth. Yuna seemed to as well because her eyes widened slightly.

"Did you just say that you'll protect me?" she asked softly.

"Y-yeah…"

"Did you mean it? Really?"

He looked at Yuna, trying to organize his thoughts and feelings that were jumbled up inside of him. Did he really mean it, truthfully? And were his feelings for her real and not just illusions summoned up by Hinamori's death? The voices of Yamamoto and Karin from earlier that day sounded in his head again:

"You are allowing your feelings for this woman to interfere with your orders."

"You care about her, enough to risk everything just so she wouldn't be killed because of what she is."

Toushirou realized that he'd already made a decision, the moment he went after her from the Kurosaki rooftop that night. He gave her a small smile and nodded. "Yeah," he said, "I mean it."

Tears slid from Yuna's eyes and she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "I'm glad," she said softly. "I'm glad knowing that you are looking out for me."

Toushirou wrapped his arms around Yuna, holding her close to him. Both were still dripping wet from the rain, but neither seemed to care. After a while, they slowly began to pull away until their faces were inches from each other. He found himself slowly inching his face closer to hers, staring into her violet, almost amethyst, colored eyes before he slowly closed his own and he brushed his lips against hers. For the first time in his life, at least it felt like it was, he was hesitant, nervous on how Yuna was going to react. He didn't pull away, but he didn't press onward, leaving an opening for her to decide what to do next, to give her a chance to pull away if she wanted, although he willed that she didn't.

His wish was granted when she pressed her lips back onto his. Their lips moved slowly and lightly against one another and Toushirou couldn't help but feel a warmth, a blissful security, wrap around his ice-shrouded heart. His skin felt extremely hot and icy cold at the same time and his lips tingled as they moved against Yuna's. His reiatsu peaked as indescribable and unfamiliar feelings and emotions raced through him. He could sense that Yuna was having similar feelings and emotions just by the way her reiatsu seemed to pulse, getting higher and higher with each pulse. Just when he thought he was going to burst, did they finally pull away from lack of air.

He opened his eyes and watched as Yuna slowly opened her own. They were brighter than he'd ever seen them and seemed to glow when she gave him a small smile. He returned her smile with one of his own which then shifted into a frown when she began to shiver slightly. He rubbed her arms and felt the goosebumps that covered her skin and then realized that with his raised reiatsu, he caused the temperature in the room to drop slightly. Damn... "You're freezing…" he muttered softly. "You should get changed into something warm."

"Y-yeah…" Yuna said, nodding, before she pulled away from his embrace and went over to her dresser, pulling out a flannel pajama set. She looked back over to him and asked, "Will you still be here?"

Toushirou nodded and watched as she walked out, opening and closing the door silently so not to wake anyone in the sleeping house. Using a bit of kidou, he dried himself off and shrugged off his white captain's haori, draping it onto a chair, before sitting on the edge of the bed. He subconsciously brushed his lips with his fingers, still able to feel her lips on his. It had felt incredible! All these emotions and feelings, they were so new to him, so foreign, that he just couldn't describe them whatsoever. Another thought crept into his mind: That was my first kiss... He now couldn't help but wonder if it had been Yuna's as well.

He looked up when Yuna returned, dressed in a pair of blue and white flannel pajamas. She closed the door silently behind her before moving over to the bed. Toushirou stood and pulled the blankets back so she could crawl into bed. He pulled them back over her, tucking her in as he eased himself back down onto the edge of the bed. Yuna yawned and he smiled as her eyes began to droop slightly. "Toushirou…" she said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Will you stay tonight?" she asked him, her eyes locking with his own.

He nodded and said, "Sure, if you want me to."

Yuna nodded and closed her eyes with a content sigh. Toushirou leaned down and placed a light kiss onto her forehead. He brushed a few strands of hair from her face as he felt her reiatsu sink low and steady, indicating that she was slipping off into sleep.

"Good-night, Yuna," he whispered softly.

.:x:.

Yuna woke up to sunlight streaming in through her window. She blinked a few times, gaining back her sight as sleep left her eyes. She then realized that she wasn't alone in her bed, like she was use to. She could feel the warmth of another person pressed against her back, with two strong arms holding her close. She could hear and feel the steady breathing behind her, indicating that the person still slept. She knew who it was before she slowly began to turn, so not to disturb the sleeping person, to look at their face.

She couldn't help but smile at the sight of Toushirou sleeping beside her, his arms around her waist. Without the usual scowl that marred his features, he looked so peaceful in his sleep, so content. His face was smooth and calm, and so breath-takingly gorgeous that it caused something in Yuna's mid-section to flutter. She gently stroked the side of his face with her fingers, running them up through his soft white hair. It was then she realized that he was in his gigai, meaning that he'd left sometime during the night while she slept. Shaking away the feeling from the thought of him leaving her when he said that he would stay, she continued to gently stroke his hair until he let out a soft grunt, followed by a moan, before he opened his eyes, which were slightly glazed from sleep.

"Good morning," she said softly, bringing her hand down to rest on the bed between them.

"Morning…" he muttered, stifling a yawn. He brought up a hand to run his fingers through his already disheveled hair. "What time is it?"

"Not sure," Yuna said, shrugging. "Maybe eight, what I'm guessing." She then gave him an accusing look and said, "You left last night, after you said you wouldn't."

"I know, sorry," he replied, giving her a small smile. Yuna couldn't help but feel a slight thrill that his face still held almost all of the same peacefulness he had had while sleeping. "I left so I could return to my gigai, but I came immediately back here. I wasn't gone for more than fifteen minutes. I just figured it would be more convenient if I returned to it last night than sometime today, seeing as I'm probably going to spend the day with you."

"It's alright," Yuna said with a smile. "And really, you're going to spend the day with me?"

"I'm not the leave-in-the-next-morning type of guy," Toushirou said. "Besides, unless something big comes up, I thought we could start your training a little bit today."

"Oh yeah," Yuna said, rolling her eyes. "Fun…"

Toushirou laughed slightly and pulled her closer to him. "Or you can just relax for today, seeing as all of this was dropped on you so suddenly, and we can start training tomorrow at Urahara's."

"I like that plan better, although it's so unlike you."

"What can I say; you make me do things that are so unlike me."

"Guess I have some sort of spell over you or something."

"Or something… I don't think you're powerful enough to control me."

"Hey, I could kick your ass any day."

"I'm not saying you can't, because I know you probably could… only because I'll be going easy on you because you're a girl."

"Choke and die…"

Toushirou laughed again and Yuna couldn't help but smile at their playful bickering. She knew that no way in hell would Toushirou act this way in front of the others, but when it was just the two of them, he allowed his icy demeanor to drop and she liked that.

He brushed a strand of her hair away from her face before pressing his lips against hers. Yuna couldn't help but let out a soft moan, which caused him to shift position so he was on top of her, propping himself up with his elbows on either side of her. Their kiss turned deep and passionate when he flicked his tongue at her lips which she parted so he could enter. She slid her hands up under the white tank top he wore, running them over the smooth muscled planes of his back. Despite having such a cold reiatsu and Zanpakutoh, he was surprisingly warm.

Toushirou moved his kisses down to her neck and Yuna started to giggle softly. "We're gonna have to stop this before it gets too out of control," she told him, although her voice was breathless.

She heard him moan softly before he asked, "Why?"

"Because we're in a house full of kids younger than twelve that could barge in at any moment."

Toushirou grunted and after planting a final kiss on her collarbone and then her lips, he moved himself off of her and out of bed in one fluid movement. She sat up to the edge of the bed as he stretched his arms over his head. Along with the tank top he wore blue sweat pants that hung low on his hips. Yuna stood up and walked to her closet, picking out her clothing for the day. When she turned back to face Toushirou, she saw that he already was taking out clothing from a bag he'd brought after retrieving his gigai. "I'm going to the bathroom to get dressed and all."

He nodded and Yuna walked out of her room. She could hear the children playing around somewhere in the house as she made her way to the bathroom. After locking the door behind her so she wouldn't be disturbed, she quickly undressed and jumped into the shower. As the warm water ran over her, soaking her hair, making it darken and cling to her back and shoulders, she thought of the night before.

There had been so much sincerity in Toushirou's eyes when he told her that he would do anything for her, just so she would stay safe. The feelings she sensed from him when they shared their first kiss had all been real. Yuna had always been a bit empathic, being able to sense someone's feeling and all; she just never thought that it linked to one's reiatsu. She'd been able to sense Toushirou's feelings quite more clearly than the others, ever Ichigo's, who definitely had a much higher reiatsu than Toushirou did. Why though? Could it possibly be the connection they somehow shared, or what she believed was a connection? Yuna sighed as she finished washing. She was going to have to talk to Urahara on this one, privately.

She got out of the shower, dried off and dressed. While standing in front of the mirror, she pulled her hair up into a part terra-twist, part ponytail, and then created a few thin braids to loop loosely around and hang from it. Her long bangs were separated at the center and hung on either side of her face. It involved a lot of bobby-pins and a little bit of hair spray but within ten to fifteen minutes, she had her hair up securely. She then put on some dark green eyeliner with light green eye shadow, making the violet color of her eyes stand out more vividly. Seeing that that was all the make-up she wore, she stepped back and looked at herself in the mirror. She wore a simple pale yellow baby tee with a white long sleeved shirt underneath and dark jeans. Wonder what Toushirou is planning to do today? Yuna thought to herself.

Sighing she grabbed her pajamas and left the bathroom, returning to her bedroom. She found Toushirou dressed, sitting on her made bed and with his Shinigami Cellular Phone out. She folded her pajamas and placed them on the end of her bed to use again before sitting down next to Toushirou. "What's going on?" she asked.

Toushirou sighed and closed the phone with a usual snap. The usual icy demeanor and scowl was back on his face but when he turned to look at her, there was warmth in his eyes. "There's been a report on Arrancar in the area, so we all have to check it out."

"All as in… me too?"

"No," he said firmly. "You may be able to take out Hollows easily, but you aren't ready for an Arrancar."

Yuna gave Toushirou a look and she couldn't stop her stubborn streak from coming out. "I'm a lot stronger than you think, Toushirou," she argued. "I think I could handle…"

"Yuna," Toushirou said softly, stopping her in mid-sentence. He turned his body to face her and held her gently by the shoulders. "Please, just trust me. You aren't ready yet. I don't want anything to happen to you. As of right now, this is something for the Shinigami to handle. Please Yuna…"

Looking into his eyes, Yuna saw the pleading there, something she never saw in his eyes. She felt herself give in and she nodded. "Alright," she said, "as long as you promise that nothing will happen to you."

Toushirou looked away, his eyes darkening slightly. "I can't promise…"

"Toushirou…"

"Alright, I promise that I'll be careful. Is that enough?"

Yuna nodded and said, "Yeah, it is." She then pulled him into an embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. "As long as you're careful."

After a while, the two pulled apart and he placed a quick kiss on her lips before taking her hand. "Come on," he said softly. "We should get going."

They walked down the steps, where they immediately ran into a few children. The children stopped and watched as Yuna and Toushirou began to dress for the outside. They looked at Toushirou one last time before going into a fit of giggles. Yuna looked up from wrapping her soft blue and white knitted scar and was about to open her mouth to retort something to the children, but Kaede beat her to it.

"That's enough, children," the old lady said, walking out from the living room. "Get going now."

The children ran off as Kaede approached them. Yuna was afraid that she was going to start to question why Toushirou was there, but instead the woman smiled and asked, "Heading out?"

"Yeah," Toushirou said, nodding. "There's something I need to do."

"And I'm just gonna walk him to where he has to go, and then do a little bit of grocery shopping for you," Yuna said. "I noticed we're running a bit low on a few things."

"That would be nice, thank you Yuna," Kaede said with a smile. The two of them finished getting ready and Toushirou swung his bag up onto his shoulders. Just as they were about to head out, Kaede grabbed Toushirou's arm, holding him back. Toushirou looked at the old woman, confusion in his eyes although his face remained the same. Yuna felt her stomach drop, expecting the questioning to begin. But instead, Kaede looked at Toushirou and gave him a grateful smile.

"Thank you," she said softly, "for bringing her home last night."

Surprise flashed across his face for a brief moment before he gave Kaede a nod. The old woman returned the nod and released Toushirou's arm. Yuna gave Kaede a smile before opening the door and the two of them walked out.