Chapter 11: Your Unfocused Eyes

'Hmm, I did think you two were supposed to be watching what was going on,' kind voice perfectly even, Yumeka leant against the doorway, an amused smile on her face, 'But might I be bold enough to say it doesn't look like you're concentrating much at all? At least on them,'

Yumi flushed a bright scarlet before standing, bowing quickly and walking out of the room. Raku just blinked at the young woman who was physically the oldest of their group, and then he smirked a little, deliberately turning back towards the screen, where the two captains were discussing something that could possibly be the weather. Unfortunately, the system didn't have sound, so watching those people moving about silently only added to the strangeness.

He could only hope the shadowy falcon-like bird wouldn't be forcefully dissipated by the oncoming rain, because that was the only means that enabled the surveillance system to work. Without that pair of shining, bottomless black eyes to see through, they may as well go out hiding behind bushes to try and watch everything themselves. And that, quite frankly, wasn't something he wanted to be doing, especially in the rain.

'So it's your turn now? Don't tell me Hana's next, although I would almost bet anything to say she will be,' now wondering how he would cope being in the same room as that irritating woman for more than five seconds, he sighed deeply.

'Maybe her, but the twins seemed pretty eager too. That is, if you can say running around and trying to kill each other with smiles on their faces is eager. I know it's just play and practice, but still . . . sometimes those two worry me almost as much as the other pair,' sitting down, she gracefully tucked her legs up on the seat, ignoring the pointed look Raku gave her shoes, 'Concentrate on the screen,'

Wondering how he'd survive this whole episode, the man just shook his head and followed the woman's instructions.

'No, I'm telling you,' Likara put her hands on her hips defiantly, eyes flashing, only a tiny part of her mind wondering why they were both acting like they never really had before, 'It's not going to rain, do you hear me?'

For the last ten minutes of so, they'd been standing near one of the smaller mountains, and arguing over the weather, of all things. It had started when Hitsugaya had mentioned it looked like rain, and, although she completely agreed with him, she'd begun arguing that no, it really didn't. Even during their time together in the Rukongai, they'd hardly ever come to disagreements on something so trivial. And, in cases where the truth was evident, she'd never gone about arguing against both him and the obvious.

Still, it was utterly pointless, so why now was she doing exactly that? Perhaps this impulsive and stubborn behaviour was from before . . .?

'Why are you saying that when it's already starting to rain?' feeling a rather large droplet splash onto his head, Tōshirō sighed deeply and fought the urge just to turn and walk off, 'Is it definitely going to rain, not to mention the fact that it already is. And now I'm repeating myself,'

He didn't understand what was going on, but he was trying to keep a level head as well as remember everything that was happening. If, for some reason, the strange reiatsu they'd briefly sensed earlier, was affecting them in unpredictable ways, then it would be something to report later. Strangely enough, although it was unlike him to argue about a pointless topic, he seemed far less influenced by whatever was making Likara act like she was.

'I'm serious,' her expression was completely serious, and she pointed at him accusingly, 'It is not going to rain,' something seemed to shift in her gaze, and then she spoke once again, her tone far more youthful than it had been moments before, 'Hey . . . I can see the spirits of the dead,'

'Er . . . that's good considering you technically are one . . . ah, I can too,' with each word he spoke said like a question, the white haired shinigami was seriously wondering just what had happened. Frowning, the Tenth Division's captain began looking around for somewhere they could shelter while it rained. After all, the clouds were saying rather clearly that it wasn't going to be long before they got drenched, and he wasn't looking forward to a possible unwanted shower.

Is this because we both released out zanpakutōs? frowning, Tōshirō almost sighed in mild relief as he spotted the entrance to a cave, not too far away, Maybe this dimension is more susceptible to the reiatsu of elemental zanpakutō than the Soul Society or the World of the Living.

Thinking about the times when he'd released Hyorinmaru and had the whole sky go black with clouds, he shook his head, Or perhaps it's the same but made more obvious due to the fact that it was sunny daylight here not so long ago. This place is rather unpredictable.

'Come on, I'm assuming you don't want to get drowned,' seeing as she wasn't going to move on her own volition, having begun muttering quietly to herself, he reached out and half led, half dragged her along, 'Captain Kuroiyami,' speaking with uncharacteristic but perfect formality, he tried to snap her out of whatever strange state she was in, 'Captain Kuroiyami, you are on duty at the moment,'

'Yes, I know that,' suddenly talking in her normal tone, Likara almost flinched as she registered the physical contact she currently had with the other captain, and she was glad he was looking the other way, 'Is something in particular wrong? Your reiatsu feels odd,'

'Talking unnecessarily. . .' speaking to himself now, Tōshirō's frown deepened, 'Neither of us usually does that. Is this dimension affecting our actions somehow? Why didn't Kurotsuchi mention any of this, I heard he had his theory almost perfected. Surely then he would've known some of the possible effects on the shinigami who entered here,'

'I'm guessing we're going in there,' having not heard his previous words, Likara moved forwards and ducked into the large cave, 'It's a nice place, actually,'

It reminded her of her first and only home in the Soul Society, although it was a lot larger.

It's still so light, even though it's raining, she leant against one of the walls and stared out across the visible landscape of the Realm of Truth, I wonder how that's possible.

'She's got more to hide, I think. More deep secrets,' Raku didn't realise he was speaking aloud, but Yumeka didn't interrupt him in any case, 'That's why the Realm affects her more clearly, and how she was initially more susceptible than her companion. Affecting her is as easy as breathing, to say the least. And, while we're on this topic and since she is the one we're supposed to be looking out for, have you seen any possible weaknesses she has?'

'Not yet,' her voice less kind and more coolly calculating, Yumeka leaned forwards slightly, examining the female figure closely, 'She fought well. Actually, they both did. And I didn't see any true weaknesses there. Not ones that we could exploit in a battle at all,'

'You're right. Let's hope we actually get something before they go, or else the boss won't be too happy,' sighing for the hundredth time that day, and cursing the fact he kept doing so because it wasn't much like him, Raku shook his head, 'There's enough time still,'

'Glad to see you're optimistic for once,' the sarcastic tone sounded just as Hana walked into the room, Yumi close in tow, 'Make room, the twins are being little, mischievous nightmares so we're both coming in here. Hey, are you listening? I said shove over,'

'Sorry for the interruption,' smiling cheerfully, Yumi settled down in the chair again, glad that it was large enough for all of them, 'I wonder how we're going to get the information if we don't see anything worth telling the boss about. It's going to be tricky, to say the least,'

'It'll work out,' Yumeka, once again adopting her motherly persona, smiled at them kindly, 'Don't worry,'

Looking out at the steadily dampening landscape, Tōshirō wondered if they'd get the opportunity to look around anymore. His current seat, right at the edge of the cave but not so far out that he'd get wet at all, was a good one. The air was fresh around him and cool to such a comfortable state. So far, of course, everything wasn't exactly easy to understand, but surely nothing more vexing could occur. They'd already had free falling, been attacked by a strange beast, and almost soaked with a random rainstorm . . . Kurotsuchi better get something good out of sending them here, or he wasn't sure what he'd do.

Behind him he could both hear and sense Likara healing her deeper wound and he noticed that all of his cuts, bruises, and grazes were stinging, aching or being plain annoying respectively. Biting back a sigh, because he was getting oh so tired of heavy exhalations, the young captain set about fixing himself up. Since there was time, he saw no reason to leave those light annoyances in the state they were currently in.

Sudden movement startled him and he looked up just in time to see Likara sit down, an unexpectedly short distance from his person. The other captain had removed both her haori and zanpakutō, and one of her sleeves was rolled up, showing the makeshift bandage that adorned her upper arm.

The silence, broken only by the sound of the rain, got steadily awkward-er . . . which wasn't a word . . . but still, that's exactly how it was.

And, quite to the dismay of both shinigami, the noiseless awkwardness continued . . . and continued . . . and failed to stop at all for quite some time. Way more time than was comfortable . . . yes, it was incredibly uncomfortable . . . and awkward, was that mentioned at all?

Likara tried to think of anything to say that might break the seriously uncomfortable-and-awkward quiet, but she couldn't come up with a single thing. Something in her deep mind was sending out ripples through her conscious thoughts and that kept destroying her concentration in the most annoying of ways. Turning to the white haired captain with the idea that she'd just say something cold like usual – anything really was better than nothing by that point – she opened her mouth to speak when suddenly everything slid out of focus.

A few quiet moments later, her form slumped slightly and then she felt herself leaning to the right, like someone falling in slow motion, where they go into a state of hardly registering what was happening before they hit the ground. Thud, you know . . .

Interestingly enough, especially to her rather dazed mind, she didn't meet cold stone. Instead, she found herself leaning against something not at all warm, but not as hard as the floor either.

It was quite . . . comfortable, so consequently she decided to stay like that for as long as was necessary for her to stop feeling so hazy in the head. After all, she was on duty so she had to stay well, especially since she was in another dimension where nothing was predictable at all.

Tōshirō was wondering what the hell was going on. Although Kuroiyami hadn't been that cold and distant - compared to the usual as of late - since they'd gotten to this Realm, that didn't mean he expected her to suddenly appear to collapse and then make herself comfortable leaning against his side, head resting on his shoulder. It was rather unexpected, to say the least, and his mind was having a hard time working everything out. Sure she'd been acting a little . . . odd, like he'd already noted on multiple occasions, but still . . . what the freaking hell?

'K-kuroiyami?' he waited for an answer but received only what could possibly be described as a 'contented mutter' or a 'satisfied murmur', 'Are you feeling alright? Is there something wrong with you?'

As he had before, the young captain wondered if something in this dimension was affecting both of them, only Likara seemed more susceptible, for some unknown reason.

There was an odd moment where his usually sharp teal eyes lost focus and then, after he'd blinked a couple of times, he realised his hand was resting lightly on her shoulder. It was a strangely easy and astonishingly comfortable position to remain in, so he didn't move but continued to watch the rain falling in misty curtains outside the mouth of the cave. There was an odd lightness to the sky, despite the clouds, and that only added to the unreality of the situation. But at the same time, this seemed perfectly real . . . almost too clear, if anything.

'Tōshirō,' tone agreeable, Likara sighed slightly in a relaxed way, '. . .'

Wondering what exactly that last part had been, since she'd spoken the words in another sigh, rendering them both unintelligible and rather unhelpful, the white haired captain just went back to his rain watching, not bothering to question her. Actually, the thought didn't even cross his mind . . .

As his thoughts wandered, Tōshirō had a sudden thought, the type that takes you completely by surprise and often makes you want to laugh aloud, perhaps hysterically . . . no, most often hysterically. Shifting ever so slightly, he moved his hand to Kuroiyami's face, gently moving so that he could see her eyes.

And, although the faintest of blushes passed across his cheeks, he could clearly see that the usually bright turquoise of her eyes was slightly glazed over, a little too shadowy and misty. Clearly different from usual . . .

She blinked once and then, her own pale cheeks reddening, the Third Division captain began to lean forwards ever so slowly, never once averting her gaze from his.

Thinking that it was probably an extremely good time to get out of easy reaching distance, bind her very securely with kidō, and try to work out how to return her to normal – because after everything, this certainly did not seem very normal to him – Tōshirō found himself still seated just inside the cave, unable to move due to her slight weight throwing his balance as well as his own indecision. Who knew, he might end up disrupting her mental balance if he did something too sudden . . . what the hell was happening?

He almost hoped that this was just a strange dream . . . wait, should that be 'dream' or 'nightmare'?

Likara wondered what in the world she was doing and she felt her cheeks flush further. This was not exactly how she'd planned to break an awkward silence, and it was a far cry from a harsh remark. Just why exactly was she about to kiss Hitsugaya Tōshirō, fellow captain in the Gotei 13, her former friend and, up until things got complicated right now, the shinigami she currently hated? What was going on and why wasn't she pulling back?

There was probably only an inch between them now, and the distance was, perhaps unfortunately, depending on your point of view, not getting any larger. On the contrary, it was still steadily growing smaller and, if logic prevailed, it wouldn't be that long before-

Likara's eyes closed as their lips met in a reserved kiss and she could feel her cheeks flaming like wildfire, the blaze uncontrollable and furious. Once again . . . what exactly was she doing? Any coherent thought in her head was efficiently broken apart before she had enough time to properly register anything much at all. Except for the fact that she happened to be kissing Tōshirō . . .

Probably less than a 'moment' later, their kiss was anything but reserved and instead it was passionate, demanding and perfectly honest, although neither of them really understood what was happening on a fully conscious level.

Pressing forwards slightly, Likara grasped ahold of the fabric of Hitsugaya's haori, pulling in a way that displayed her unwillingness to lose her power and independence, no matter what the situation. She flinched slightly when the other captain bit her lower lip lightly, before giving up enough of her pride to submit to his silent request and parting her lips fractionally.

If this was a kiss, and she hardly knew what else it could be but that, then it was one of the most powerful experiences she could remember having in quite some time. The almost equal amount of give and take that such an action required, not to mention the level of understanding and trust, perhaps . . . then how exactly was she in a position to perform such an act with her former friend and current comrade?

Unwilling to release the seeming illusion just yet - although she did know it was reality and also that, had she been in her right mind, she probably would've bolted instead - she tilted her head slightly, noiselessly saying that it was her turn now, and then used the time that followed to thoroughly explore the coolness of his mouth. There was both a level of reality and unreality to everything that had happened since the rain had begun, perhaps even as far back as the initial uncontrolled fall into this Realm of Truth. Because even then she'd lowered her icy walls enough to hold his hand and, just like a child, she'd coveted the fragile security that being with someone provides, even for the slightest of delusional moments.

Her mind was drawn back to the present as they parted and she almost had to look away, the burn in her cheeks and the reminiscent feel of ice dancing over her lips continuing to send her thoughts into disarray. Her lungs didn't seem to be functioning properly either, as her breath came in ragged, uneven gasps. What . . . what exactly did they just do? Repeat: WHAT HAD JUST HAPPENED?

Her vision suddenly sharpened into almost painful detail and she shook her head slightly, blinking a little in an attempt to restore her sight to normal. It was then that she realised the soft and shadowy cloak that had been wrapped around her mind was released and she almost choked at the sensation. So this wasn't enhanced clarity . . . this was normal. A normality that she'd almost forgotten . . .

If they'd been in a trance of some sort just moments before, then now they were perfectly in their right minds.

Likara found her cheeks continuing to darken furiously in colour and she fought to keep her expression neutral. Risking a glance at the other captain, she saw that his face mirrored what he's must look like – flaming red cheeks, too bright eyes still adjusting to normality, forced nonchalance.

And both of them had questions in the turquoise depths of their gazes.

Tōshirō watched as Likara's flustered expression slid into her usual one, that careful and easy expressionlessness, and he briefly wondered how she could so easily assume such a façade of indifference. Slowly, the colour faded from her face and she shifted back a little further, getting ready to rise. He noticed that she was ever so slightly unsteady as she stood, and, after a moment's thought, he rose as well, stretching a little and wondering if the situation could get any more awkward. As it was, the slightest shift of the other captain made him flinch almost unnoticeably and wonder in mild shock if she was about to start acting in that frightening and confusing way again. What to do . . . what to do . . . he wondered if he'd ever known, cause ever since she'd swept into the captains meeting wearing the haori of the Third Division's leader, nothing had been simple.

Likara turned back to Tōshirō, fully intending to say something, anything that might disperse the mass of turbulent emotions that was currently warring with itself in the air between them, but as she raised her gaze to his, she saw something that almost made her cringe. The teal of his eyes was shifting rapidly from clear brightness to a shadowy, unfocused state. She could only guess that was how she'd looked before . . . that.

Denial isn't going to help you . . . it'd be better just to face up to what just happened, the annoying thought trailed through her head at an agonisingly slow pace, but she quickly shoved it away and tried to focus on the current situation. The one where the Captain of the Tenth Division was looking like he was about to fall into a hundred pieces due to whatever had previously affected both of their actions.

'Tōshirō?' completely ignoring the familiar sensation of his name rolling off her tongue, Likara peered at the white haired shinigami hesitantly, uncharacteristically afraid of what he might do all of a sudden, 'Are you . . . are you alright?' her voice was coming out funny too.

Dark turquoise finally lost focus completely . . . that silent battle was lost.

Likara turned away and concentrated fully on placing one foot before the other, trying to distance herself from the other captain, already having turned before she noticed that final change. Her gaze was locked on her neatly folded haori and her zanpakutō, lying diagonally across the rectangle of white, partially obscuring her Division's number.

When a hand tugged on her shoulder, the motion sending her reeling back and turning at the same time, she raised her hands to send the Tenth Division captain, who she automatically assumed was back in whatever state they'd both been in before, especially because she didn't expect him to touch her cheek in any other situation, flying. Unfortunately, briefly meeting his darkened eyes was enough to have her own vision going out of control.

Consequently, instead of pushing him away, her hands, previously readied to shove against his chest, slid upwards and into his snow white hair, pulling down and, although her mind was in a state of numb shock once again, crashing his lips to hers in a deep kiss.

Hide, hide, hide away . . . keep you secrets close . . . step into the Realm of Truth . . . and have revealed what you hide most. Doom, gloom and bloodied truth . . . do you know the future holds . . . trouble for those that you hold dear . . . so I wonder . . . does this give you cause for fear?

And, although the words flowed through Likara's thoughts, searing away at anything else that dared show itself in her mind, each syllable spoken in such a sickening and frightful tone, one that sent harsh chills down her spine, her only response was to tighten her hold on the captain before her.

Author's Note:

Not much to say . . . really. Uhm, well . . . thank you for reading and I'll work onwards towards the next chapter.
Oh, and for everyone who really thought they should just hurry up and kiss, there you have it. Although the circumstances, perhaps, might not have been what you expected . . .