AN: The "who should I write about next" poll is closed now! Here are the results:

Izuru Kira: 6 votes

Shuuhei Hisagi: 6 votes

Yumichika Ayasegewa: 4 votes

Sayuri (my OC): 4 votes

So, should I have a tiebreaker poll? And sorry I'm taking so long just to get to the main point of the story!

Warning: this chapter has two perverted jokes in it. And believe me, my friends told me them and I absolutely didn't get it at all until they explained it. After that, I still didn't get it until one of them sat me down and walked me through the whole thing (that was so mortifying!). Sorry!

Chapter 13

I just sat there, hugging Alex tightly. I stared at the wall and then there was suddenly a knock on the door, making me jerk. I released her slowly and we straightened up before I opened the door to face a somewhat guilty-looking Izuru.

"Izuru, why do you look like you did something wrong?" I tilted my head and stared straight in his eyes. He reminded me of a puppy.

After a few awkward seconds of silence, he blurted out, "I'm really sorry I couldn't tell you or Alex about the tests today. I'm so sorry!" He bent his head and the blond section of hair that perpetually hung over his eye drooped even lower. I would have laughed if I had not heard such a terrible truth a few moments ago.

I sighed. "I should be thanking you, really. I couldn't have defeated them if you didn't tell me to go make up with Alex, or listen to all my worries." I hugged him, and he finally smiled. Izuru could get so easily depressed over things. If just that small thing made him look like that, how did his captain's betrayal make him feel?

"Anyway, Izuru, I'm not sure if I can go with you and Rangiku. I'm really sorry, but..." I trailed off.

Before he could reply, another blonde barged through the door, crashing into Izuru.

"Sayuri! Alex! What do you mean you're not coming? Just come, or you two will be dusty old bookworms sitting indoors all the time!"

"You ARE older than us by at least a century," I couldn't help pointing out.

Rangiku pouted, and then said, "Really. You two are young, so you should enjoy having no duties while you can. Right? Besides, I need to talk to you!"

"Yeah, but Rangiku-"

Alex quietly said, "I'm not feeling well, so I'll stay in my room. See you later, everyone." She bowed and went into her own room, closing the door.

Izuru and Rangiku looked at me questioningly. I sighed and looked to the side.

"Look, guys, I'll—I'll explain later."

Rangiku poked me. "If you're having problems, then you can just tell us about them. We're friends and we're always there for you! Besides, we can keep a secret, can't we?"

"As if you could ever keep a secret," sighed Izuru.

Rangiku glared at Izuru, and then told me, "You don't look very well either. Come along, let's go eat something sweet! What's your favorite dessert?"

She half walked and dragged me out of my room, with Izuru following.

"Well, um, Alex and I always liked bubble tea, but I don't think you can get that here."

"Hmm...what else do you like?"

I mumbled, "It's dried persimmons."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Izuru's body jerk, and I felt his spiritual pressure fluctuate slightly. He's so sensitive! I only mentioned dried persimmons and he's jumping like I hit him.

Rangiku didn't seem to notice and carried on. "Really? I love dried persimmons too! Come on, I'll drop by my office to get some and we'll go to the bathhouse!"

"You keep dried persimmons in your office? Never mind...wait, I don't have any other clothes!"

"That's okay, you can borrow a kimono."

"Er, Rangiku, I don't know if you noticed, but I most definitely could NOT fit in your clothes."

"Aw, come on, it'll be too long, but it's only for a little bit!"

"I don't mean like that, I mean-" I felt heat in my face. At least it wasn't visible.

Then she finally got it. "Oh, you meant that! You should have just said so, Sayuri, it's nothing to be ashamed of! Right, Izuru?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Well, boobs, of course!"

Izuru immediately turned a bright shade of red. He looked so awkwardly embarrassed I laughed.

"Er, Rangiku, could you not talk about that?"

"Why not? Anyway, Sayuri, it's no big deal. How big are they really, anyway? That Academy uniform is too loose to see."

"Umm, Rangiku, can we pick up the subject later?" I said mainly for the sake of Izuru, who was now so red that people passing by stared at him strangely.

"Oh, look, we're at my division now! Let me get a few things. It'll only take a few minutes." She darted off into the building.

Izuru, who was standing in front of me, looked like he was about to ask me something when I suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Hi Lieutenant!"

Before I started really panicking and decided to go invisible, Izuru laid a hand firmly on my shoulder. Don't.

I looked up at him. Why?

Just trust me.

He then turned around to greet the person there. "Hello, Yumichika."

Yumichika nodded, and said curiously, "Is there someone behind you, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, there is."

Mentally sighing, I stepped out from Izuru's shadow. Yumichika looked at me and his facial expression did not change at all, and I just said "Hi."

"Hi."

We stared at each other for a few seconds until Izuru coughed. "I've got to head back to my division and get my things really quickly. It'll take a few minutes, so wait for me here with Rangiku, okay?"

"Sure, Izuru." He flash stepped away.

Before the silence got awkward, Yumichika spoke.

"Sayuri, I never got a chance to apologize to you."

"For what?" I looked at him quizzically.

"For that night when I—kissed you. I'm really sorry about that, I must have been drunk or something-"

I cut him off. "It's okay, Yumichika."

"Wait, do you really mean it?"

"Yeah, of course I do. Look, Yumichika, I think I like you."

His purple eyes widened, and he just stuttered. Wondering if this was really me talking, and how I had the courage to even say this, I plowed on. I would take advantage of my sudden strange courage before I lost it. "And I was wondering, do you want to go out with me sometime to a restaurant or something, if there is one around here?"

"Uh, sure, of course, I'd love to!" He placed his hands on my shoulders like before and grinned down at me. "You are very beautiful, even in that crude uniform. Such a pity. It is like a work of art framed badly."

"Yumichika, don't try to flatter me. I know I'm definitely not beautiful."

He laughed and I noticed his flowery scent again. It was like smelling all the freshest flowers in a meadow. It was slightly intoxicating, and I noticed his perfect white skin and beautiful purplish eyes, with feathers placed on his eyebrow and thick black eyelashes. His carefully arranged and cut hair was shiny and looked soft, and I suddenly had an urge to touch it.

Then I noticed a wide grin on Yumichika's face. "So, are you done observing my face?"

Mortified, I quickly looked down and he chuckled, hugging me to his chest. The flower smell was even stronger. He released me and I asked, "What kind of perfume are you wearing?"

He raised an eyebrow delicately. "Perfume? I don't wear such strong scents."

"But you smell like flowers."

"Really? That's strange, I don't smell anything." He sniffed his arm.

Then Izuru arrived with a small bag slung over one shoulder. "Rangiku still isn't here?"

"Nope, I guess she's still packing."

Izuru sighed. "If she doesn't come out in ten more minutes, I'm going to have to find her."

Then I heard Yumichika and I looked up at him again. "Well, then, I'll see you around, Sayuri. I'll send you a letter to your room sometime."

"Okay, bye!" He walked off. When he was no longer in sight, Izuru looked at me.

"So, how'd it go?"

"What do you mean?"

"There was a reason I took so long, Sayuri."

"Oh. Um, it was fine, I guess."

"Just fine? Isn't he supposed to ask you out by now?"

"Well, I asked him out." Though slightly embarrassed, it was easy for me to talk to Izuru for some reason.

"And?"

"He accepted."

"Great!" He patted me on the back, smiling happily.

We sat down on the steps of the main office, and I could tell Izuru was getting impatient. To distract him, I told him about how Yumichika smelled like flowers even though he didn't wear perfume.

"So, you sense reiatsu like that?"

Taken aback, I asked, "What do you mean?"

"Some people with strong reiatsu can control it unconsciously better than others. For example, Ichigo Kurosaki has no control over his immense amount of reiatsu. You, who have reiatsu to rival that amount, can control it much better and can thus use Kido, sense others, and do more with reiatsu in general. Some rare people like you and a few with weaker reiatsu can actually sense it in different ways. You can do it by smell."

"I see. That's really interesting!"

"It is. So, what does my reiatsu smell like?"

I leaned towards his chest and sniffed. "Um...let's see..." I drew back. "This is going to sound really weird, Izuru...I'm just warning you...you smell like fresh air, ocean waves, and lavender."

"Really?"

"Well, that's what I thought of. Sorry."

"No, no, that's all right. That actually fits me pretty well."

"Huh?"

"Lavender is my favorite scent. I love the open ocean and fresh air in the autumn."

We were about to chat more when Rangiku finally came out, with a bulging pink bag embroidered with cat designs, obviously from the World of the Living.

Izuru stood up and crossed his arms. "Rangiku, that was more than just a few minutes."

"No need to be so uptight, Izuru. I was looking for clothes for Sayuri!"

He sighed. "All right, let's go."

Rangiku took the lead and we followed her, with Izuru occasionally commenting on certain areas of Seireitei for my benefit. When we arrived, the lady at the front desk told us we had to split up; Izuru had to go to the men's side, and Rangiku and I to the women's side. Rangiku loudly protested at this, and after some persuasion, we ended up getting a whole private bath to ourselves, Izuru included.

When Rangiku and I were in the changing room, I awkwardly stood around, not wanting to change in front of anybody. She had already undressed and wrapped a towel around herself (while I looked everywhere else).

"Sayuri, hurry up! You don't have to be such a prude, it's not a big deal!"

I shuffled my feet. "I'm not exactly accustomed to changing in front of other people."

She sighed loudly. "Fine, I'll go ahead first. See you there!"

When she had gone, I quickly slipped out of my uniform and wrapped a towel around myself. It wouldn't stay, though, so I struggled for a few minutes before finally securing it properly around the top, tucking the ends in. I looked at my Zanpakuto for a minute, wondering if I should take it or not. I decided to bring it and gingerly walked on the rough floor, opening the door to the outdoors.

It was already warm from the steam rising from the waters. I tiptoed down and sat at the edge, slowly sliding my legs in. It was so hot! I set down Shinku no Yuri at the edge as well.

Rangiku and Izuru were already relaxing in the hot water, and I wondered at how they were able to just get in when it was almost burning hot. My legs were already turning red and my face felt hot too, but I slipped in all at once, gasping at the heat and jumping a little bit. When I got accustomed to the temperature, I leaned against a side of the bath near Rangiku, keeping my arms crossed to avoid having my towel fall off.

Of course, Rangiku noticed my awkward pose and commented. "Why don't you just relax and spread your arms out? It's feels so much better that way."

"I don't think my towel is very secure."

"It looks extremely tight, and besides, what's the big deal if it comes off?" She spread her arms expansively, and I noticed that her towel was rather revealing. "And you do have small boobs! But you're still young so you have some potential."

Embarrassed, I snapped, "Your towel looks showy enough already, so you wouldn't care if it fell off." However, I let my arms fall to my side and breathed deeply, closing my eyes. It felt really good, and my somewhat sore shoulder and back muscles were being gently soothed. After a few minutes of silence, I opened my eyes. They happened to fall on Izuru, who also had his eyes closed. I couldn't help noticing the lean muscle on his body that was visible even with the towel, especially on his bare arms. Embarrassed, I quickly turned my head to find Rangiku staring straight at me with a very amused expression. I gave her my best glare, trying to signal her not to say anything. She understood, and fortunately kept her silence. I broke it anyway.

"So, Rangiku, where did you get that necklace?"

A faint cloud passed over her face but quickly disappeared. "Oh, this? Gin gave it to me a long time ago for my birthday, when we were kids and lived together." The second she mentioned Gin's name, Izuru's eyes popped open. I reached over and put a hand on Rangiku's shoulder, casually letting my elbow touch Shinku no Yuri as well.

Rangiku, did you see the look on his face? It might be better not to mention Gin Ichimaru around him anymore...

Her eyes widened and she started to open her mouth, but I quickly said, Shh. I'm using my Zanpakuto's sealed powers. Izuru already knows about it so we have to be quick. Just think what you want to say.

All right, I won't ask any questions about it for now. I know Izuru's extremely sensitive, but completely avoiding the topic isn't a good idea either. We can't let him live in isolation and depression like that forever.

I understand. I'm sorry, I was just worried.

That's all right.

I withdrew my hand and said out loud, "Izuru, remember our promise?"

He nodded. "Yes, why?"

"What if you ask me a question and I just can't tell you the truth?"

He paused. "Why, is there something wrong?"

"Yes, there is, and I really want to tell you but—I just can't. It's so frustrating and I don't want to break my promise to tell you the truth about it if you ask, but it's extremely serious."

Obviously wanting to know, Rangiku prodded my arm. "Come on, just tell us! Did you murder someone or something?"

"No, but it's bad enough."

Izuru waded over to me and settled next to me, on my other side. "Sayuri, remember, we made those promises to keep each other from getting hurt, right? If it hurts to talk about it, don't tell me. But talking about things usually helps."

I looked at the water, absently swirling my finger in it. I was sharply aware of Izuru's closeness, which was distracting me for some reason.

"All right, but you both must promise to never, ever tell anybody else of what I am about to say unless I give you permission to do so."

"I promise!" they said simultaneously.

Still a little torn about my decision, but deciding I trusted both enough, I took a deep breath, calmed my nerves, and gasped out all at once,

"Alex and I wield the same Zanpakuto."

There was utter silence besides the splashing of water, and I hesitantly looked at their faces. Izuru and Rangiku both looked rather blank.

"You...wield the same Zanpakuto? But that has only happened once, with Captain Hitsugaya!"

Rangiku looked sober. "That's pretty serious. Does anyone else know?"

I sighed. "No, just us." I felt myself getting gloomy in all of a sudden.

"Don't tell anybody!" Izuru blurted out. I had actually been expecting him to say the opposite, as he followed rules so strictly. I blinked.

"Izuru?"

"Just...keep it a secret, all right? Find some way, any way, to pretend you don't have the same Zanpakuto."

"But how? Alex's Zanpakuto has already transformed. It's identical to mine!"

"Is it exactly the same?"

"Well, it's a tiny bit different with the color of the sheath and hilt-"

"That's good enough. We'll figure something out."

"Thank you, Izuru."

Rangiku smiled warmly at me. "Everything will be all right. Don't worry." I smiled back at them both, feeling comforted. Then I suddenly started panicking when I thought about what could happen if things went wrong. I felt an arm wrap around my bare shoulders and I looked up, startled. Izuru was so close to me! I could feel his side pressing against mine and his face was really near. Ugh. Now he can see everything close up on my face!

"Sayuri, relax. I won't tell anyone. We'll research and do everything we can. For now, just don't think about it. All right?" His eyes met mine, and I looked into the blue eyes. For the first time, I truly saw Izuru's eyes: surprisingly, I felt like two people were looking at me. I noticed pain and guilt deep in his eyes that would be hidden at first glance. I was deeply grateful that he was trying to comfort me when he held so much pain of his own.

"All right. Thank you."

I relaxed against Izuru's arm and noticed Rangiku looking at us sideways. I looked at her inquiringly and she smiled in a way that made me think she knew something I didn't. I mouthed, "What?" She shook her head. I passed it off and rested my head against Izuru's shoulder. He was such a good friend.

After the hot bath, Rangiku got dressed in a long, purple kimono decorated with white swallows. She looked beautiful, and her golden hair made a stark contrast to the dark purple. "Rangiku, you look gorgeous."

"Thanks, Sayuri! Here, try this on. It's older and smaller, and I can't wear it any more." She passed me a red kimono with a simple design of golden flowers.

"Um, Rangiku, I don't know how to wear a kimono."

"Really? Here, I'll do it for you."

She slipped the kimono on me and fastened various places before stepping back. She breathed a sigh.

"You are so pretty!"

"Pretty? Me? I don't believe that."

"Oh, I wish there was a mirror in here! Fine, we'll ask Izuru."

Despite my protesting, she dragged me with her while I held my Zanpakuto in my hand.

"Izuru!" He was sitting at a traditional-style table waiting for us, and looked up when his name was called. I lingered behind Rangiku, unwilling to go in and have Izuru see me dressed in a kimono. I must look ridiculous!

"Oh, you're here, Rangiku. Where's Sayuri?"

She grabbed my wrist and pulled me inside, positioning me in front of her. "Look at her. Isn't she pretty?"

His eyes went wide and I was getting more embarrassed by the second. I was guessing Izuru was trying hard not to laugh.

"Sayuri, you're—beautiful."

I almost dropped my jaw when I heard that. "You must be joking."

"No, really. I mean it."

Suddenly self-conscious, but overjoyed at his compliment, I thanked him and was about to sit down when Rangiku zipped past me and sat around the middle of the side opposite Izuru. Certain she was doing it on purpose for something, I glared at her and she just winked at me. Sighing I sat down next to Izuru. It was a little uncomfortable but I soon got used to sitting like that. Izuru was wearing a plain blue and white kimono and his hair was messed up, but I thought he looked handsome like that. Not wanting to get caught staring at Izuru again, I quickly looked away.

Fortunately, a lady came in and served some hot green tea. I thanked her and she withdrew from the room.

Rangiku dug in her pink bag before pulling out something. "Here we go, dried persimmons!" She offered one to me, and I took the wrinkled fruit and bit into it. It tasted wonderful.

"These are really good!"

"Aren't they?" She bit into one herself and we went through about five dried persimmons each before I noticed that Izuru was just sipping his tea and watching us.

"Izuru, why don't you have one?" I held up a dried persimmon to him.

He actually blanched and gently pushed my hand away. "I'm sorry, Sayuri, but I really don't like dried persimmons."

"Oh, really? I'm sorry."

"That's all right."

I quickly thought of a question to ask to change the subject. "So, why does Shuuhei have that 69 tattooed on his face?"

Rangiku gulped down another persimmon before answering. "Oh, that? When Shuuhei was a kid, he was saved from a Hollow by former captain Kensei Muguruma, who had 69 tattooed on his chest. The 6 in 69 stands for the kanji in his last name, and the 9 is because he was captain of the 9th division."

"Oh, I get it now."

Rangiku suddenly leaned forward with a creepy look on her face, making me almost spit out my tea. "However, 69 is a rather inappropriate number to tattoo on your body."

"Why not?" I asked.

"You don't understand? Really?" She went into a fit of giggles. Annoyed, I turned to Izuru.

"Izuru, what's so inappropriate about 69?"

Izuru was completely red again. "Um, that's not appropriate for you to hear. Rangiku, shut up!"

"Okay, okay. I'm done."

"Let's try to keep her innocent, all right?"

"Aw, come on, that's no fun! Eventually she's gotta know!"

He glared at her. "Actually, Rangiku, that's a piece of useless information she would never need to know."

"All right, all right, I won't ask any more."

After some lighthearted chatter, we walked back to my dorm together. Rangiku told me to keep the kimono as she could not wear it anyway, and instructed me on how to put it on. When we were about to part, Rangiku said pointedly to Izuru,

"You know, the human world is much more perverted than ours. I saw a boy of only fifteen years of age there who said 'I won the math debate' as a joke."

Izuru spluttered for a minute and then clapped a hand over Rangiku's mouth. Absolutely baffled, I just stood there and awkwardly said, "I'm going now, guys. Goodbye!"

"See you soon, little flower!" I grinned at the nickname and walked to my room. Alex's door was closed and I guessed she was sleeping. Relaxed, I fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

Next chapter will be up soon to compensate for my taking so long to get to Gin! It will not be happy, though. At all. I feel sorry for my OC's. :(