~~~~~~~~Emily's POV, some weeks later~~~~~~~

I was sparring with Shinji, Naoki and Yuki in the basement. I was with Yuki against the guys. Her zanpakutou has a rather interesting ability. She can sense the power and potential of others and synchronize her reiatsu with the enemy, reducing the damage received. It reminds me a lot of Share (a Senkai skill: we would synchronize our reiatsu and share our abilities. It made us stronger, but we needed a lot of concentration and it was broken easily.) Naoki's ability is the Black Fire. It acts like normal fire, but also has some illusory capacities I didn't actually understand.

Of course the guys had the upper hand. Now I was actually sparing against Shinji and Yuki against Naoki. Shinji had yet to release his Shikai, but I was almost out. 5th seal and Shikai. Ok, that's it. No more holding back. We crossed our blades. "Twin Dragons!" From each of my swords a dragon went, tossing Shinji in a nearby boulder. 'That attack would make Hiyori jealous.' Ying stated.

"Done for today!" Shinji announced, dusting himself off. Yuki and Naoki shunpoed to help him up. I dismissed my Shikai.

"Kmon, Taicho, you afraid of some bruises?" Naoki asked in a mocking tone. He had become almost good friends with Shinji and Yuki was really happy about it.

"You fight her, then we talk!"

"'Her' has name, you know?" I said, slightly threatening.

"Sorry, Emily."

"I should apologize as well, that was a little bit too much for a spar."

"Nah, it's fine. How should we progress after all?" he then turned to Yuki and Naoki. "You guys done as well?"

"Actually, Taicho…" Yuki started, but being the shy girl I found her to be she stopped.

"We would like to stay a little bit more." Naoki continued, looking nervous.

"So what are ya dreamin here fer? Get goin!" Shinji told them. They left and we took a seat on a nearby boulder. Yuki obviously had the upper hand. Naoki's fire barely affected her. I sighed and Shinji looked at me.

"You bored already?"

"You know both the answer and the reason. Shall I remind you I'm not used to watching others fight, but joining them?" I answered, making him smile amused.

"You really need to learn to relax."

"You can say that again, Hirako-san!" Yuki said, blocking Naoki's blade once more. Shinji giggled and I smiled. They may exchange seats soon.

I tried to follow their advice and relax. I closed my eyes and emptied my mind of any thoughts. I just breathed slowly, relaxing all my senses and muscles. Of course I was interrupted.

"Watch out!" I heard Yuki yell. She had accidentally deflected Naoki's fire towards us. I didn't see it though. When I opened my eyes, I was near Shinji, safe. I stared at him wide-eyed.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Yuki deflected the black fire towards us. Forget what I said about relaxing. It's not safe when someone's fighting nearby." The other two arrived shortly after.

"I'm so sorry!" Yuki said. I nodded.

"I think we're done for today." Naoki said. Shinji nodded and we headed to his office. Paperwork. In exchange for letting us train in the basement, we helped Shinji with his paperwork. The deal had been going on for two weeks now.

We were doing Shinji's paperwork. Aizen was in a mission so no one bothered us.

"So, about that relaxing stuff…" Yuki started.

"What is it, Yuki-chan?"

"Maybe we can go to a hot spring, you know, before the Summer ends." It was middle August. I didn't want September to begin… or end. Too many memories lying in that month. Those were my thoughts when Yuki interrupted them.

"What do you think, Emily-chan?"

"Hot springs? Why not? Just us 4? Why not invite more people?"

"Hmm… Taicho, can you invite Aikawa-Taicho, Otoribashi-Taicho, Muguruma-Taicho,…"

"Yeah,yeah I get it Naoki. I'll invite them. But I'm not inviting Hiyori." Shinji said. I started laughing, thinking of what may happen if he did. Sceneries of a hard bleeding (maybe passed out) Shinji were spinning in my head. Naoki and Yuki soon joined me. Shinji pouted.

"Why don't you invite her then, Emily?"

"Okay! The two of us are getting along quite well, after all!" I said, then stuck my tongue out at him.

"Keep that in your mouth unless you know what to do with it." He retorted. My eyes widened. I glared and he started laughing.

"Emmalin, you're blushin." Naoki stated, not raising his head from the papers he was doing. Was he the unlucky guy who got the budget report for this week?

"Tch!"

"Still innocent in that aspect, Emily-chan?" Yuki asked, innocently but meany. I felt my cheeks heat up even more. Shinji laughed.

"Oh, yeah! She's innocent as fuck, I tell you!" he said. I slapped the back of his head. Naoki raised his head from the papers.

"Are you…?"

"Shuddup!" Why do they just have to be talking about me?

"Hmm… I thought Hirako-Taicho…" Luckily for me, Shinji didn't let him finish.

"Don't you dare finish that, Naoki! For the 165724453th time, we aren't dating!" he said. Those were pretty much my thoughts as well.

"Too bad… you'd look great together!" Yuki said. She and Naoki were grinning in victory. Oh really?

"So would the two of you." I said and they both blushed. I've never seen a red that bright. How sweet is victory! I laughed.

"Play nice." Shinji warned. I glared at him.

"I only play nice with those that do the same. You know that, don't you?" He palled. He knew that too well for his own health.

'Yeah, you're playing really nice!' Ying said laughing. I smiled innocently. They all rolled their eyes.

"So, about the hot springs… when? And before you say tomorrow, I'll have to tell you I'm busy tomorrow." I said, trying to return to the first topic.

"No, on Sunday. What are you doing tomorrow?" Yuki asked. I sighed.

"I have been summoned by the Central46. I'm attending a one day mission." I said. Shinji looked at me worried.