Things slowly started settling between me and Choka, to my relief. She became my best friend and came around to hang out just with me for a while when Shinji was busy. "You were so jealous!" I told her one day as we were talking. The topic was "How come it had taken us so long to become friends?"
She smiled awkwardly. "Yeah... I guess I was."
I shook my head. "Cho-chan, Shinji thinks I'm a child. Why would he ever be interested in me?"
"Right. I didn't see that. All I saw was a girl sleeping in the same room with my boyfriend. But now I get it!" she quickly added at my glare.
"He ain't even my type!" Pfft, right. My favourite Bleach character wasn't my type. Anyone who heard that would die laughing.
Choka smiled. "Good."
I rolled my eyes in amusement. "He'd be a pedophille if he went for me anyway."
She poked me. "You aren't that young, Zumi-chan. I bet you could get a guy around Shinji's age if you wanted to."
I shook my head. "Sounds like you want me to steal your boyfriend."
A pillow hit my face. "No, but you can try Otoribashi-Taicho, Muguruma-Taicho or Aikawa-Taicho."
I flipped her off. "Why not include Kuchiki-san while we're at it?"
She ignored my comment. "You should aim for the top. A strong boyfriend usually means a loyal one. Taichos can have pretty much any girls they want, so it'll get really flattering if one chooses you."
I sighed. "Maybe, but no one would choose me."
"With that much self-confidence, of course not." she hissed, starting to get annoyed with my lack of cooperation.
I stuck my tongue out at her. "Ain't my fault. I don't have anything special."
Choka sighed. "You do. All girls have something special." she stated.
I shook my head. "And what would that be in my case?"
She rolled her eyes. "Voice, eyes. You're also pretty cute and innocent, y'know?"
"No, I'm not. I'm anything but cute or innocent."
"Zumi..." she sighed, exasperated.
Shinji walked in with the groceries. "Hey, girls."
Choka jumped. "Hey, Shinji, isn't Zumi-chan cute?"
"Huh?" he tilted his head to the side, stuck. If he said I wasn't, she'd be pissed off. If he said I was, she might take it that he liked me more. "I guess... Why?" Crisis avoided. Nice dodging skills, Shinji.
"Let's get her a boyfriend!"
I groaned. "No." We both said at the same time.
"But, Shinji-kyun... Why?"
He rolled his eyes. "It means more work for me. Also, I don't want her to fall in love and get all day-dreaming on me."
Choka frowned. "Am I like that?" I could feel a dark energy flow from her and shuddered.
Shinji didn't seem impressed. "You ain't a dreamy teenage girl."
"I am not a dreamer!" I countered.
"Oh, really? How many times am I talking to you and you just think of somethin else? Or when we're trainin and you lose focus?" Or when I randomly started singing. Or when I imagined all sorts of weird things. Ok, he had a point. However, I wasn't the romantic type. He only discovered later that I cared more about him and Choka than about my boyfriends. Friends before lovers. Relationships were temporary. Frienships were eternal.
I gave him an innocent look. "Ain't my fault..." 'you never say anything interesting.' I kept the last bit to myself.
Choka chuckled. "Fair enough. But if she gets no experience now..."
Shinji came to us and kissed her. "Not now, ok? Next year, if you want."
I looked away. What about never? I sighed as Choka deepened their kiss, turning it into a full makeout fest. Shinji groaned lightly and pulled back from her, briefly glancing at me before he returned to the groceries. I bit my bottom lip, a little awkward. I was totally in the way of their privacy and I knew it. I had already figured that was the reason Shinji had started acting cold towards me. I couldn't really blame him. The man wanted his sex. I stood up and went to help him. "Yoruichi said she'd train me a little today. Reiatsu control and stuff." I said.
It was as if I had told him Christmas was the next day. Shinji smiled. "Really? When exactly?"
I shrugged. "In the afternoon. I should get going soon."
He nodded. "Don't forget to take your zanpakutou, although I highly doubt you'll need it. She may also teach you some hand to hand combat stuff."
"I guess... I'm pretty uncomfortable with that, to be honest."
He scanned me. "You nervous?"
I nodded. "Yeah, well... It's not that. You guys are Captains and let's face it, you're not used to going easy on people. You take care of me, I appreciate it, but I'm not about to relax when fighting any of you."
Shinji shrugged. "A sane decision. Learn to estimate your opponents, though. You can't always think the one in front of you is much stronger than you."
"But right now it's true." I countered.
Shinji rolled his eyes. "Not neccessarily. You are a little above an unseated officer."
"Which is a lot." I countered sarcastically.
Choka chuckled. "It's more than the Academy can teach you."
I shrugged. "Maybe... But it's nothing compared to you guys."
Choka poked me. "Let's spar these days. I can show you the strength of a Seated Officer. You have Shikai, so..."
"My zanpakutou is incredibly cooperative. I had Shikai when I came here, but couldn't use it." I countered.
Shinji sighed. "Self-confidence is something I'm still working at, Choka. I could use your help." I pouted.
"You know I trust your judgement and all that, but… it's just that I got used to believing I'm nothing special." I said, looking down.
Choka seemed confused. "You would be in the Academy if that was the case. You wouldn't have been placed in Shinji's care. Why don't you have faith in yourself?" I bit my bottom lip, looking at Shinji. He sighed. Choka seemed confused. "What happened?"
"Tell her, Shinji." I said darkly. "I… I should get going. Don't wanna keep Yoruichi-san waiting for me."
Youruichi was slacking around in her office. I knocked shily, then entered. Her Fukutaicho was doing some paperwork while she was drawing on a blank paper. I formally greeted her.
"Ah, Koizumi, good to see you!" she said. Her Fukutaicho sighed as she dumped some papers on his desk, then went with me to their training grounds.
Urahara was practicing there. "Hey, Kisuke, here she is!" I smiled warmly at him. His deceivingly dumb look sharpened briefly as he scanned me. I was nervous, but held back.
"It's good to finally meet you, Nagataka-san. My name is Urahara Kisuke." he said, extending his hand.
"You can call me Koizumi." I replied, unsure how to help him win his chess game against Aizen. We shook hands.
"Then you can call me Kisuke."
"Aie, but your rank demands respect, Urahara-san." 'Especially your future one.' I mouthed. He seemed surprised.
"I asked him to take care of you today. Is that ok?" I shrugged noncomitantly at Yoruichi's words.
"Of course, Yoruichi-san, I respect your decision." she vanished in shunpo.
Urahara sighed. "She's a very manipulative woman. Not really giving me a choice in this." he muttered.
"I do not intend to be a bother, Urahara-san."
"Nah, it's ok. So… reiatsu control… you don't seem to have a problem with that."
"Actually, my problem is that I don't know how to use my reiatsu in battle."
"But you know other things, don't you?" he asked, lounging at me. I unsheathed Arashi on reflex. He frowned. I smiled sheepishly, then sheathed Arashi and left him somewhere with care.
"Is there any chance of changing things if you know what's gonna happen?" I asked, dodging his fist. His knee collided with my arms. I whimpered in pain as I flew away. I used shunpo to land safely.
"Depends. It's unlikely, anyway." His words surprised me. "Especially since the source cannot be considered reliable by any means. Focus reiatsu in your arms and legs. Imagine an armour on them. I may break your bones otherwise."
I shunpoed at him, aiming a sideways kick. He parried, then pulled my leg to unbalance me. I let him lift me, then, using his motion, attacked again. "Nice."
"Arigato, Urahara-san."
He attacked and I blocked, sliding away to attack with my legs again. This time, he grabbed my leg and twisted it, making me fall. I yelped as I rested on my arms. He almost broke my bone with his hold. I patted the ground a few times. "Is it bad?" he asked as he helped me up.
I looked down. "Very. Hollowfication."
"Interesting…" he said, thoughtful. "How do you know?"
"I come from a world where all this was a manga. This was a flashback arc." Urahara nodded.
"Why are you telling me all this? I'm just a humble 3rd Seat."
"And in charge of the Maggot's Nest. Future Taicho of the 12th Division. Founder of the Research and Development Bureau. Want me to go on?" I asked sarcastically.
"Pray do so." Urahara seemed to be enjoying himself.
"Creator of a cloak that masks reiatsu and gigai that does the same. The one who starts the whole mess by creating a puny orb that risks everybody's lives. The only one who evens our chess game with Aizen!" I snapped as his grin kept increasing.
"Your words are definitely funny, Nagataka-san. Me, Taicho of the 12th? What about Hikifune-san?"
"She'll be promoted to the Royal Guard." His grin vanished.
"Yare, yare, had you told me she'd die, I would've told you she's way above the average Taicho. But this… Aizen, huh? Hirako-Taicho…" I looked down, shivering. "Dead?"
I shook my head. "Hollowfied. Forever. No matter how hard you try, 100 years later you stil won't find a way to reverse it." I said. My body felt cold and numb. I really, kinda cared about Shinji. I knew he'd suffer. And I couldn't do anything to change it. "It's as if it was out of personal spite..."
"Hmm… Does he know?"
"I… I don't know if telling him would help. You are less personally involved." I stated.
"You underestimate him." I shook my head. "You are afraid he'll do something reckless." I nodded, bitting my bottom lip. Urahara sighed. "I can't say whether you made the right decision in telling me. Hirako-Taicho has always seemed a bit untrusting towards Aizen and he never noticed anything out of the ordinary from what you're telling me."
"Absolute hypnosis. That's his zanpakutou's ability. Complete illusion if you just see his Shikai once." I expected him to laugh and tell me that was impossible and I made him worry for nothing. Instead, his eyes widened in aprehension, then his look turned serious. "Yes. That's his Shikai, I dunno about Bankai."
Urahara sighed, then shook his head. "Allow me not to believe you for the time being. If my promotion becomes reality, then we have a problem."
"Ah, one more thing." He seemed a bit hesitant. "Why did you release that nut job Kurotsuchi from the Maggots' Nest? He belongs there."
"His mind is brilliant and if I truly did all you said, then I needed his help." Urahara scanned me. "So it's that bad." I nodded. "How long?"
"10 years after your promotion."
"Plenty of time." he said with a grin. "Let's get you stronger first."
I hardly had time to block his next attack, as it sent me tumbling into a boulder. He appeared right next to me before I had a chance to get up, not too happy. I shunpoed away so I would be able to regain my breath, but he simply followed as if I was a snail. I made the mistake of twisting awkwardly mid-shunpo and Urahara, with hardly any effort in his part, saw me tumbling onto dirt, rolling. He stopped next to me.
"Dare I ask what just happened?" he asked, smiling. I groaned from the ground.
"I tripped in shunpo."
"Oh, boy."
"I know, I know." Epic Fucking Fail. "I should be more careful."
"Actually, I was going to ask whether you feel alright."
I stood up, stretching. "Yeah…"
I pretended to stretch, then, without warning, attacked him. He dodged swiftly, his leg following moments later. I parried with both hands (if that counts as a block) and his fist came towards me. I leaned down, nearly hitting myself in the knee he was raising to meet me. I fell onto my back.
"I'm not very believable right now, am I?" I asked.
"Truth be told, if you come from the human world, I'd expect you to lack strength and combat abilities. Hirako-Taicho must have worked hard with you." I nodded, breathing. "Those are hardly things you learn in half a year. Get up. As long as you can breathe, you can fight. I'm not going to go easy on you."
"Shinji'll have your ass, y'know? He just managed to make me fight with a sword rather than bare-handed." I warned, slowly standing up. I caught Arashi as he was thrown at me.
"Fine. But don't think my skills are lousy in this area."
"You'll be a Taicho. I suspect you even have Bankai." I retorted, preparing for his attack.
Remember when Urahara trained Ichigo in order to help him get Shikai? Yeah, that was him being soft. On me, he didn't hesitate to leave a mark. Or two. Or a stab through my shoulder.
Before I left, he called a doctor to patch me up and bandage my wounds. He was the usual merry shopkeeper as we parted ways. On my way back home, all bruised and exhausted, Choka tackled me into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry for mocking your lack of self-confidence, Zumi-chan." I sighed.
"I'm sure there are people who've been through more, Cho-chan. I was just too weak to make a change."
I looked up and saw Shinji on a nearby roof. He wasn't even trying to hide himself. He vanished, instantly popping up beside me. His shunpo was just that fast.
"Give'er a break, love. I'm sure it ain't a chitchat topic." He scoped me up bridal style. "Come on, I don't want you passing out on me." Choka kissed him while he was holding me, leaving me pressed between their bodies. I didn't say anything, though. I just pressed my head against Shinji's shoulder, falling asleep by the time we reached our destination.
