Her arms were sore.
Her legs felt like jello.
Her whole body was hurting.
"Again!" Ikkaku yelled enthusiastically, haphazardly pointing at Yuuki and her partner.
With a tiresome sigh, Yuuki raised her practice sword once again. Her arms swayed, trying to keep it in balance. Her opponent was clearly more skilled and experienced than her. She was certain that it was too soon for her to be sparring, and too tired given her other classes had basically sucked out all life from her. She had just barely learned the basics, after all. She watched closely as her opponent took a step forward, and then brought his sword back as if preparing to strike.
She watched in silence, knowing it was a ruse. He'd done the same thing for the last few times, but whenever she had gone to strike, he was much quicker than her. It didn't help that she was constantly distracted with wondering why Captain Hitsugaya hadn't shown up as her 'guide' or whatever his job was.
"Focus, Yuuki!" Ikkaku instructed with an exasperated sigh.
Yuuki nodded, blinking a few times to concentrate. Maybe if she could just land a hit, Ikkaku sensei would stop badgering her all the time. She watched as her opponent lunged forward, sword raised in attack. She blocked it clumsily, stumbling backwards from the weight.
Just one hit. She reminded herself, looking for an opening. Her opponent raised his sword with both hands, pulling back for an even stronger strike that she probably wouldn't be able to block. She quickly leapt forward, swiping her sword upwards and stopping just at his rib. He stood there with a surprised expression on his face, sword still raised.
"Nice!" Ikkaku commented. He walked over towards the two, still frozen in their positions. "Now, let's observe this. If Yuuki was a little taller, or I guess had a longer sword, she could have targeted Kai's neck which would prove to be fatal in most cases. However, since she doesn't quite meet that height requirement and most likely couldn't handle a heavier sword, she should have jumped to reach that extra height. You guys can stop now."
Yuuki dropped her arms, relieved that she'd miraculously managed to land a hit. It was more by dumb luck than anything she'd impressed Ikkaku. Or at least, she hoped she did.
"Class dismissed!"
She watched as everybody returned the practice swords and she followed suit. It was only her second day and she still felt like an outsider. She knew she was being laughed at by the guys and made fun of by the girls. But she couldn't care less.
Anything was better than her old life.
---
"You look kind of like a creep, sitting up there, you know."
Hitsugaya grunted in reply, glancing down at Ikkaku below. He leapt down from the roof, landing soundly beside him. "And you ended the class early."
"Well, you know. I didn't want to risk the kids finding you hidden up there." Ikkaku replied.
"I was well hidden enough. They didn't suspect a thing." He answered back.
"Right." Ikkaku clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to worry about her, she's improving, albeit slowly."
"It's not that I'm worried about. Besides, I came here to ask you a favour." Hitsugaya reached into his pocket and revealed something in his hand.
"Whoa, isn't that…?"
"Yeah." He confirmed. "I want you to give this to her."
"Why don't you do it?" Ikkaku exclaimed. "Isn't this against the mission? Or even against the law?"
"I'm not allowed to go near her. Why do you think I was in a tree for the past two hours? You won't get caught. It's just a hairpin, Ikkaku." He replied dryly. "If you're going to chicken out, I guess I can ask Yumichika."
"Hah!" Ikkaku scoffed, grabbing it from Hitsugaya's outstretched palm. "Fear is nonexistent to me."
"Thanks, I knew I could count on you."
---
Yuuki walked slowly. She didn't know why she was walking so slowly but she knew a small part of her hoped she would run into a certain white haired shinigami. She couldn't stop wondering where he'd went, and she was too scared to ask that homeroom teacher or Ikkaku sensei. She thought it was weird for him to suddenly not show up like that, but she tried to convince herself that it was because he was probably busy. He was a Captain after all, wasn't he?
She thought about her day and concluded that it had at least gone better than yesterday. Hand to hand combat was relatively okay, and swordsmanship was just difficult. She found that she liked kidou the best because it didn't require such great amounts of physical fitness.
Yuuki stopped walking, as she felt an unnatural breeze. She glanced behind her and then around her. That was odd; it had kind of given her the feeling that she was being followed.
"Where is she?!"
She nearly jumped at the sudden outraged yell she heard not too far from her. She could hear a series of panicked yells and the signs of struggling.
"Yuuki?"
She turned around to greet Unohana but was surprised to see her Vice Capatain instead.
"Ah, so it is you." Isane replied, looking relieved. "Captain Unohana wants to see you."
"Okay." Yuuki answered with a nod. "By the way, do you know what's happening up there?"
Isane glanced in the general direction, and Yuuki could see a flash of worry which was quickly gone. "Not sure," Isane replied as she began walking in the opposite direction. "It's probably just some academy students having a little dispute."
"Oh, okay." Yuuki agreed, falling into step with the Vice Captain.
"Better hurry, Unohana made it seem important." Isane urged with a smile.
Yuuki nodded, increasing her pace. She glanced back and saw a flash of orange and black rise up before it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
---
"Captain."
Hitsugaya ignored Matsumoto as he continued to concentrate on his paperwork.
"Captain."
He continued to ignore her,
"'Shiro."
"What?!" Hitsugaya answered in an annoyed tone, frowning as he glanced up from his paperwork to see Matsumoto staring back at him with a hint of a smile.
"So you reply to that now, huh?" She concluded with a smug smile.
"What? No, what do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?" Hitsugaya shot back.
"I'm bored."
"Don't you have some kind of drinking date with your usual drinking buddies? You always do that when I have paperwork. Now maybe you haven't noticed, but this here on my desk is in fact, that dreaded paperwork." He retorted with an annoyed sigh. "I'm busy."
"Well, I was going to do that until I caught wind of some interesting news." Matsumoto explained with an insistent nod.
"Really? And what would that be."
Matsumoto shifted to one side. "Well, it's not exactly great news, I'd say."
"So what is it?" Hitsugaya urged with a hint of annoyance.
"Ichigo is here."
---
"We're going to have a lesson today." Unohana explained with a hint of a smile.
Yuuki shifted to one side, nodding slightly. She had no idea what kind of 'lesson' Unohana was planning.
"Do you know anything about the human anatomy?"
She shrugged her shoulders in reply, wondering that had to do with anything. She watched in silence as Unohana slid a book that she had not noticed sitting on the table towards her.
"This is a book that will teach you about it." Unohana commented, her fingertips gracing the cover. "I want you to start reading this each night."
Yuuki took the book and nearly gasped at its weight. It was heavier than it looked. She glanced at Unohana curiously and asked, "Umm, if you don't mind me asking… why?"
"I heard you were struggling in your classes." Unohana admitted.
She could feel her face flush with embarrassment. Did she suck that badly for her teachers to specifically call her out on it? She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and stammered, "I-I'll improve… I promise. I'll try really hard."
"That's good to hear, but that's not why."
Yuuki sighed out loud, both relieved and confused.
"I was told you were doing quite decently at kidou as well." She continued, her smile broadening. "Did you know there is a medical branch to kidou, Yuuki?"
Yuuki shook her head no, surprised. She had only thought there were defensive and offensive measures to kidou, it had never occurred to her that it would serve for medical purposes.
"Ah, I suppose you don't remember when you were brought here." Unohana recalled. "They require exceptional concentration as well as a biological understanding of the human body, but I believe you can do it."
"But aren't we different from humans?" Yuuki asked, frowning. She had been told that long ago everybody was once a human and that a human world existed beyond Soul Society.
"Yes, we are different. But as you know, we were all once human so when it comes to healing physical wounds, we are structurally the same. The only difference is that Shinigamis heal much quicker than humans." Unohana clarified.
Yuuki thought about it for a while, concluding that it did make sense. She glanced from the book in her hands and back to Unohana. "Do you remember your human life?"
Unohana stared at her in stunned silence, at loss for words. The eeriness of the situation was almost frightening, and she couldn't quite find the words to answer her.
"I think…" Yuuki continued, looking pensive. A curious pounding noise brought her back to attention, but she didn't think much of it. "I mean, what I wanted to ask was if it's normal to remember? Sometimes I feel—"
The door slid open with a sickening crack as it hit the other side with a powerful force. Yuuki could see Unohana's shocked face, and she too turned around to witness the scene.
There stood someone she had never seen before. His brilliant orange hair clashed with the black of his shinigami robes, and it oddly reminded her of Captain Hitsugaya. He was breathing hard, like he'd been running for miles.
Everything about him was foreign, unfamiliar, and random.
---
A/N: Oh God, I am SO SORRY for the super late update. I couldn't think of how to write this out properly and it took me a really long time to do. I'm not entirely happy with this, but it gets the point across. Thank you everyone for the reviews, as usual I really appreciate it and love reading them. Thanks for all the congratulations and 13Lulu, I WISH I could get 500 reviews. Good luck, ultima soul on your story and thanks for the appreciation. littleva, I'm afraid I won't be able to reveal any details but I'm sure you will come to understand in the later chapters. erina destiny I'm so glad you caught that, I promise it'll get interesting soon. Mina Luriya, thanks so much for reading my story! Always like to see new readers. Sakujoed, thank you for stepping into the light, haha. Great to see new people. Alright, It's 1AM and I'm tired so I'm going to sleep. On an unrelated side note, I really dislike this new fanfiction account layout, but I guess I'll have to get used to it. Don't forget to review!