A/N: Yet another update. XDDD School's started. SIGH... anyways! ENJOY!

Figure Nine:

Unbending

//Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try ~Anonymous\\

Maybe he's taking the whole Academy thing a bit too seriously, or maybe he's just stressed. Either way, I didn't like it. For the past month, Hitsugaya has been 'helping me prepare of the Academy', in his own way of course. While this included all the regular reading of giant books, and getting quizzed on impossible to remember facts about the Shinigami world, it also included some 'hands on' activities, in other words, fighting. At first I thought he was joking when he told me to "Punch him" but apparently, he wasn't in that good of a mood as to 'joke' that day, and promptly scared the living daylights out of me by pretending to try and do me in. After I'd caught onto the fact that yes, he was indeed very serious about this, we began 'training'.

After a month, I was beginning to notice some improvements on my part. Of course, it would literally be forever and a day before I was anywhere near as good as he is, but I wasn't aiming to be that good anyways. 'Just until I'm no longer a liability to him,' I told myself, and with that goal in mind, I set to work. Now, one month later, I was quite proud of myself. I'd managed to remember most of the stuff he'd taught me in these crash courses, and I could actually stay alive for a decent amount of time, by human standards of course. By shinigami standards however, I was nowhere near good enough yet. And Hitsugaya was frustrated. Sure he'd commend me when I got something right, but he'd get much angrier when I did something wrong. Kyouraku-taichou said it was because he cared so much, and while I understood the principles behind his actions, I couldn't keep myself from feeling bitter towards his attitude.

I only kept myself calm by telling myself that he was a captain, and he had to maintain all of his captain duties while training me as well, and on top of that, he's a 'kid' by Shinigami standards. You add all that together, and no wonder the boy has attitude issues. But I was a kid too, and I could only take so much criticism before I break.

"Good job," he said grudgingly as we walked back towards the 10th Division. Well, more like he was walking, and I was half-limping-half-dragging myself behind him. I had bruises all over my body, and I had a creeping suspicion that one of my ankles was sprained pretty badly. Shocks of pain ricocheted up my leg every time I put pressure on my right foot. I'd come to hate the long walk between the training grounds and the 10th Division barracks, but I knew better than to complain to Hitsugaya. He'd just blow up like he did before.

Sliding open the door, Hitsugaya stepped in before I did. Reaching the couch, I slumped down in it, giving a groan of relief as the pressure finally lifted off my right ankle. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, savoring the brief release from pain. All the muscles in my body that were tensed up before seemed to just relax and my body went limp. I didn't hear Hitsugaya going to get the medical treatment kit, and I didn't notice until I felt someone lift my leg. I opened my eyes. Hitsugaya had some bandages out, and a bottle of strange blue ointment. I sat up a bit, to make things easier for him, and watched as he lifted up the legs of my hakama and examined the swollen ankle. His eyes were fixed and his hands were gentle as he worked with a purpose. First applying the ointment with tender fingers, and then slowly wrapping the ankle in bandages, finally cutting and tying the bandages. I watched, as if mesmerized, not even noticing that he was finished. He looked up and met my eyes. Only then did I realize that I'd been staring.

"Let me see your arm," he said, holding out his hands. I lifted my arm and rolled up my sleeves without a word, still watching him. He took care of the various wounds and cuts on my left arm before moving onto my right, then he turned to face me. His eyes raked my face, and I felt suddenly hot and rather naked under his gaze. He raised a hand and touched a cut right under my eye. I winced and his hand shot back.

"Sorry," he said, then lowered his eyes to the medical kit to grab the tube of ointment again. My eyes followed his movements, and I sat there, patiently waiting for him to finish. He applied the ointment to all the wounds he could, and then put tapes and bandages over them as well. When he finally finished, I felt a whole lot better.

"You know, I once promised myself that I'd never hurt you," he said, keeping his eyes trained on the medical kit as he began putting everything away. There was a forced edge of calm in his voice. A small smile formed on my lips. "Physically or mentally," he continued, shutting the top of the kit and staring down at the green cross. He chuckled and set the kit down on the desk, leaning back and staring up at the ceiling.

"I guess I've done a bad job at keeping that promise, haven't I?" he asked. I looked at him, just looked at him. I knew he was keeping himself from looking at me, but that just made my smile grow wider, and that warmth in my heart spread all the faster. I leaned up and pressed my lips firmly against his cheek. It was warm. Pulling back, I shook my head. He finally turned and looked at me.

"No, you're doing a wonderful job. It's not like these cuts and bruises are a big deal, they'll go away, and you're taking your time to help me even when you have so much work to do," I glanced over at his desk, which was, as per usual, stacked with paper. But to my surprise, Matsumoto's desk was empty. I smiled again, I really loved them. They were the best friends a girl could ask for. "I'm thankful," I said, "that I have you."

He blushed. It was so cute, made all the more adorable by the fact that he tried to hide it. He put a frown on his face and turned away, folding his arms.

"I have work to do, go find something to do," he said, picking up the medical kit and going to put it away, his face still red. I giggled to myself. He was so worth it.

'Training' went on, and while I was improving relatively fast by my standards, Hitsugaya was noticeably getting impatient.

"Oi! How many times have I told you not to do that, baka?" he barked as my makeshift sword fell to the ground. I glared up at him as I bent to pick it up.

"Twice, and this is the third time in a month. Personally, I think that's pretty good," I snapped back. I was just adding oil into the fire with that, but I was really too annoyed with his attitude at that point to care much.

"Ever heard of the phrase, 'learn from your mistakes?'", he asked. I had to bite back a retort. He's just frustrated because he's a genius. He expects everyone else to be as brilliant as he is. He was just brought up like that. It's not his fault. Don't let your temper ruin your relationship with him, I kept repeating to myself. Taking a few deep breaths, I got into stance and we started again. After three more hours of this rigorous workout, Hitsugaya seemed to take pity on me and called for a halt.

"I think that's enough for today. Anymore, and who knows what you might do," he said, throwing his fake sword to me. I stumbled a bit, but caught it. He walked away towards the exit of the grounds. I grumbled, following behind him, feeling much like a servant. On the way back, we met Kyouraku-taichou.

"Ah, hisashiburi desu ne, Takamori-chan?" he said, coming to a stop in front of us. Hitsugaya gave a curt bow. I lowered my head as well.

"O-hisashiburi desu, Kyouraku-taichou," I greeted. He felt his large, warm hand on the back of my head and looked up. He was looking down at me with a smile on his face. I noticed that the empty look in his eyes were receding. He looked livelier than before, though there was still a ghost of that terrible loneliness in his features.

"Konnichiwa, Kyouraku-taichou."

"Konnichiwa, Hitsugaya-taichou."

He turned back to me and quirked an eyebrow as he looked me over.

"Been training with Hitsugaya-taichou, have you? Has he been a good teacher?" he asked. I laughed, somewhat forcibly.

"Ma na... he's been good... yeah...." I said, looking anywhere but at Kyouraku-taichou's face. He seemed to catch the hint and stopped asking. Instead, he turned to Hitsugaya.

"I've just received news from Yamamoto-soutaichou. It appears that hollow have been appearing in large numbers in the human world. He thinks that this is a sign that the Espada are on the move again. We'd better be prepared." Hitsugaya nodded, looking terribly serious. I backed up a slightly, feeling rather pest-like in such an important conversation. But the aura lifted as a smile graced Kyouraku-taichou's face again.

"Well, it was nice speaking to the both of you. Get along now," he said, looking pointedly at the both of us. I blushed and averted my eyes. He chuckled. "Come visit when you have the time. I miss having tea with you, Takamori-chan." I smiled, bowing as he walked off.

"Come on, I still have loads of work to do," Hitsugaya started off in the opposite direction. I stared at Kyouraku-taichou's back for a bit longer, before hurrying to catch up with Hitsugaya. Thinking back, I haven't been to Kyouraku-taichou's for a while now. What with all this training and everything, I really haven't had the time to go and visit anyone like I used to anymore. It was depressing, but Hitsugaya kept me working until the last second.

"Did you memorize that list of kidou incantations I gave you last week?" he asked. Sliding open the door to his office, he walked in without so much as a backwards glance. Crap, I thought, setting down the fake swords on the sofa and sitting down. I totally forgot about those. I looked it over once or twice, but never actually went to the trouble of memorizing the whole thing. I kept quiet and bit my lip.

"You forgot, didn't you?" He sat down behind his desk and raised an eyebrow at me. I gave him an apologetic look. He sighed and laid down his pen, kneading his eyes with his knuckles.

"What am I going to do with you? Entrance exams are but a few months away, and yet you're still –"

"I'm sorry, ok? It's not like I mean to forget these things. I'm just tired. I haven't gotten a full night's sleep in ages. And everything's just... just... not making sense right now. Ok? I'm sorry." I threw my hands up in frustration. Suddenly, I didn't feel all that great anymore. My body felt like jello, and I just wanted so badly to collapse and just not move anymore. He stayed silent for a few seconds. I kept my eyes downcast, staring at my interlocked fingers.

"Sorry..." I looked up. His eyes were fixed on the papers before him, and his fingers were folded on his desk. He looked contemplative, but slightly worried.

"I guess... I've been putting you through the wringer, huh? I just... don't want you to-"

"Feel left out when I go to the Academy?" I finished for him, a small smirk appearing on my lips. He paused for a moment, and then nodded. My smile widened. That was just like him, to worry about things he really didn't need to worry about. Typical Hitsugaya.

"Don't worry about that. I'll be fine. You said so yourself, with a personality like mine, I'll have friends in no time, right?" I grinned at him. He looked up, and slowly reciprocated it. So that's what this was all about. It wasn't because he wanted me to do better than everyone else in the Academy, it was because he was worried that I would be behind everyone, and so I wouldn't have anyone to make friends with. What was he thinking? Doesn't he know that people don't make friends based on their skill levels? I guess for Hitsugaya, everything's based on how much you can do. But if that were true, then what was I doing here? Shouldn't he have never associated himself with me? Thinking back, I have to admit that he probably wouldn't have if I weren't part of his mission. Someone like him, someone so intelligent and powerful would never seek the company of someone like me, a girl who can't do anything for herself. Reaching this thought, I realized that I was going back to my old self again, and mentally slapped myself. I'm different now, I told myself. I'm not the old Minako anymore. I've changed.

But was that really true? Sure, I've seen many new things made many new friends. I'm sure that my old friends would find it hard to believe if I went back and told them I was Minako. They'd probably take it as some sort of prank. It's true that I was different, but was I really so different from the Minako before I died? I still depended on other people for things, I was still afraid to admit my mistakes. I'm still as sarcastic and sadistic as always. I still made fun of everything in my sight. So in a way, I was still quite the same. I guess those things can't really ever change. If they did, then I wouldn't be Minako anymore, would I? I wouldn't be me anymore, and what fun is it when you can't be you?

Thinking about all this just made me dizzy. I wasn't naturally a very 'deep' person, so I usually never even thought about this kind of stuff. Now that I am, it confused me. I felt like I was doing this to myself, over thinking it a bit much.

Shaking my head, I cleared my head of all these confusing thoughts and looked back at Hitsugaya, who was working on his paperwork again. That never-ending mound of paperwork.

"Taichou!" called a sing-song voice that we knew all too well from outside the door. Hitsugaya audibly groaned.

"Aw, don't be like that, Taichou! Ne ne! I was just at Hinamori-kun's place, and we decided that we'd all go to the hot springs this weekend!" Matsumoto said, waltzing into the room. A vein visibly started throbbing in Hitsugaya's forehead as he clutched his pen to calm his frustration. His knuckles were slowly turning white. Gritting his teeth and closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths.

"Matsumoto... we're not going," he said, perfectly straightforward, sounding very strained. Her eyes grew wide.

"Eh? Doushite? Doushite Taichou? It's going to be so much fun! You need a day off, and so does Mina-chan! Don't you?" She turned to me. I just shrugged, afraid to say anything else as it might set Hitsugaya off. Matsumoto looked unsatisfied and turned back to Hitsugaya.

"Please please please, Taichou. It's been such a long time since I've been to the hot springs, and Hinamori's coming too. Mina-chan'll come too, right?" She turned to me again. This time, I didn't even move. Hot springs, with Hitsugaya? At this thought, my face flooded with color and I berated myself for thinking such things.

"Matsumoto..." Hitsugaya warned, a sinister cracking sound coming from the pen in his hand. It was going to snap any moment now.

"Taichou... please," she dragged out the last syllable as long as it could go. Snap, the pen broke right in half. Hitsugaya's eyes flickered open as he glared at his Vice. His face was steadily changing from pale to pink. There was a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"What about all this paperwork?" he asked, gesturing at the piles of paperwork stacked on his and Matsumoto's desks. Matsumoto smiled, as she knew he was going to ask her.

"Why I'll finish them of course!" And with that, she leapt up and bounced to her desk. Plopping down in the chair, she began to work at a speed that seemed almost impossible. Hitsugaya and I watched her in awe.

"So, what do you say, Taichou? If I finish all the paperwork, then can we go?" she asked, hands flying across the papers like practiced skaters on ice. Hitsugaya sighed and gave his consent. Matsumoto gave a squeal of delight and returned to work with renewed vigor. I could only watch in amazement as the piles of paper on her desk dwindled from five piles to two and then to half.

"Finished!"

I glanced at the clock as I walked out of my room, rubbing my eyes. It was ten to nine. It had taken nearly five hours, but that was much shorter than what she usually takes to finish one of those piles. She could really work if she had the motivation to do it. I'd taken the time in which the two had used to finish paperwork to memorize the list of kidou incantations that Hitsugaya gave me. They weren't as hard as I expected them to be, but still difficult enough to keep me occupied to five hours.

Hitsugaya also put down his pen, closing his eyes. I grinned. The candle light flickered across his face, casting warm dancing shadows onto the walls behind him. He opened his eyes, and they met mine. I looked away, suddenly feeling warm.

"What?" I shook my head, rushing to the couching and plopping down.

"Nothing." I didn't look at him. I could tell he was giving me a weird look. Matsumoto giggled. I turned to her, but she just winked and stood up.

"Ara ara! I just remembered, I had a sake date with Hisagi-kun tonight! Well, I don't want to be late! I'll see you two later! Ja na, Taichou, Mina-chan!" she sang as she waltzed out the door. It suddenly became uncomfortably quiet in the room. I glanced at Hitsugaya, he wasn't looking at me. Instead, his eyes were trained on his hands, folded neatly over the finished pieces of paperwork.

"Eto... ano..." I stood up, fiddling with the ends of my clothes, not knowing what to say.

"Do you... remember everything that happened in Hueco Mundo?" The question was so sudden, it caught me off guard. I stared at him, not knowing how to answer.

"Not.... really. I mean, I can remember parts of it... but there are still parts where I remember only blurry shapes and sounds..." my voice trailed off. He nodded, a small frown creasing his forehead.

"What about everything before that?" My face brightened as I gave a confident nod.

"Yes, I remember most everything before. Even the parts with you and Ran-chan in it. The human world, and coming here... everything. I have to admit, there are little tidbits that are still blurry, but I think it's all coming back now." He nodded again. My smile faded as I saw no change in his expression. He looked so... sad.

"Hitsugaya-kun?" He lifted his head, eyes searching my face, for something that I don't even know.

"I... was hoping that... that you'd remember," he said, lowering his eyes again. His voice had changed. It was no longer loud and commanding, but soft and almost tortured. I slowly inched closer to his desk, trying to get a good look at his face. What did he mean? Did something important happen there?

"Remember... what?" I asked. He didn't speak. It was a moment before I realized he was digging his fingernails into his own hands. His knuckles were white from clutching so hard at the desk. I quickly put a hand over his, hoping to calm him down. I felt his muscles relax and the blood rush back into his fingers. Placing my other hand on top of the first I tilted my head, trying to see his face.

"Hitsugaya-kun?"

"Hitsugaya-kun?"

He didn't move, just sat there. I was starting to get worried. He'd never acted quite like this before, and it was scaring me. Suddenly, he stood up. I jumped back, startled. He walked around his desk and right up to me. I looked into his face. His eyes were closed, as if he was sleepwalking, but I knew he wasn't.

"Hitsugaya... kun?" I was getting seriously scared now. He opened his eyes. They were glassy and fogged over with emotions unknown to me and maybe even himself. He just looked at me. Then, he grabbed me by my arms and pulled me to him. Our lips met. My eyes grew wide. What's going on? Why did he suddenly...

My eyes slid shut as I relaxed, letting him be. After a few moments, we broke apart. He was breathing a bit heavier than usual and let go of my arms. Only then had I realized just how hard he'd been gripping me. I raised a hand and put it against my lips. They were warmer than they used to be. Hitsugaya wasn't looking at me, but down at his feet.

"I love you."

I just looked at him. "What?"

"I love you, and there's nothing they can do to stop that," he said in a much quieter voice. He was acting so strange and out of character. I don't think I'd ever seen him like this before... but maybe... maybe I have... I frowned. They? But I didn't ask. He wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Nothing..." he whispered. I'd never heard him use such a tone before. A tone so weighed down with sadness and longing. I raised my arms and patted him on the back, running the other through his hair. It were soft as always.

"I'm not going anywhere," I said. He nodded, but still didn't let me go. I gently pushed him away and looked up into his face. I raised a hand and placed it against his cheek.

"What's gotten into you? I was always here, wasn't I? The Espada won't get me again, I promise. I don't remember what they did, but I know that I won't like it. I'll be right here." I reassured him. He nodded, like a child who's being comforted by his mother. Slowly, I leaned up and pressed my lips against his once more, only for a moment before I backed away.

Just then, a slight knock at the door made us jump apart. Hitsugaya looked none-too-happy as the black robed Shinigami slid open the door and bowed.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, a summons from Yamamoto-soutaichou," he said, offering a piece of folded paper on the palms of his hands. Hitsugaya sighed and accepted it.

"Arigatou gozaimasu, you may go," he said. As the door closed, I looked warily at the note. Hitsugaya noticed this and tried to force a small smile onto his face.

"It's nothing to worry about, probably just a mission or something." He seemed so off when he said that, it almost made me wonder if this really was Hitsugaya I was talking to. He had his back turned to me as he opened and read the summons. His shoulders stiffened but relaxed a moment later. He forced out a laugh.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it," he said, turning back to me and stuffing the letter into his robes.

"Go get some rest. Matsumoto will probably have something huge planned tomorrow." He smiled. It was fake. I could tell, but I just smiled back and turned towards the door to my room.

"Oyasuminasai," he said.

"Oyasumi... love you too," and before he had time to respond, I shut the door.

A/N: WHOOOT FINALLY! Some ACTION, right? LOL. Ok a HUGEEEEE thanks and hugs and kisses and mucho love to everyone who reviewed for the last chapter!

HeadstrongNozomi , Disturbed00Psycho , I'llxBexUrxEnigma2010 , CRdragonPyro , Sweet Nightmare's Good Byes , erina destiny , KurokamiHaruhi , WinterVines , Hikari6007 , Orangesz , diggydawg , -.S u m m e r S n o w w.- , lose-your-voice

THANK YOU ALL. I LOVE YOU GUYS. YOU ARE THE REASON I KEEP ON WRITING. I SWEAR. XD Haha. Ok! I'm hoping to get the next chappie up soon! So look forward to that, kay? XD