Yuuki stared at him curiously, wondering what he was talking about. She shifted her weight slightly and tilted her head to one side and quietly asked, "You're not?"
"Nope." He reassured with a half smile.
"Oh, I get it. You're just doing this to go easy on me." Yuuki commented in reply.
"I assure you this won't be easy for you." Hitsugaya answered evenly. "I've been practicing with my left hand for quite some time. This is only more practice."
Yuuki let out a disappointed sigh, still not fully grasping the concept but she nodded anyways.
"We should begin now." He stated, suddenly leaping forward towards her. Yuuki stepped back in surprise, raising the wooden sword to block his attack from above.
"That—wasn't—fair!" Yuuki cried, narrowly side stepping away from him.
"Are you going to talk your enemies to death?" He answered dryly. "Time is everything."
Yuuki could feel a shiver go down her spine as she realized he was now behind her. How had he done that so fast? On an impulse, she quickly swung to the right in a wide arc, in hopes that she would be able to hit his unprotected side. She swung her body likewise, and was surprised to see that he had disappeared as fast as he had appeared.
"Where do you think I am, Yuuki?"
She could hear his voice clearly, and she hastily turned around, looking all over. There was nobody in sight. She desperately tried to trace his reiatsu to no avail. He had masked that too. There was a slight ripple of reiatsu she could sense that was coming straight towards her. She quickly raised her sword.
Hitsugaya appeared in front of her, as he swiftly began slashing. Yuuki just barely blocked each one, her arms nearly buckling at each time. She studied his face and his expression remained impassive, his actions nearly robotic. At this rate she wouldn't be able to block them all… if she could just find one opening it would all be over with. With a change of thought, she deflected one of his hits and leapt back. She glanced at him, desperately thinking of what to do.
Then suddenly, she felt four quick jabs on her back, and then a fifth sharp pain across her stomach. She doubled over, dropping her sword in both surprise and pain. She grabbed clumps of grass in her fists, realizing she'd lost in a blink of an eye.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to hit that hard." Hitsugaya mumbled from beside her, as he helped her up into a standing position. "It's hard to adjust power still."
She shook him away, turning to face him with a sour expression and said, "That was unfair! I didn't even have a chance of winning in the first place… you didn't even go easy on me!"
"Enemies won't go easy on you, Yuuki." He replied. "Besides, I was going easy on you. The moment you hesitate, is the moment you lose."
She blew out a puff of warm air in annoyance. "Well, I'm not exactly as quick-thinking as you are."
"You should learn to be. If you're one step ahead of the opponent at all times, it will guarantee your win. Plus, you need more confidence. It looked like you were going to break down. You're still not used to a sword."
"You're right. I'm not." She agreed.
"Well, since I won…" Hitsugaya began with a grin.
"I was hoping you forgot." Yuuki grumbled in a small voice.
"About what?"
"The deal." She answered.
"Oh that. Thanks for reminding me." He teased, his grin growing wider. "I was just going to say we should go home now."
Yuuki deadpanned, almost wanting to punch herself in the gut for such a grave error.
"Right, so anyway. We said anything, right?" He questioned innocently.
"Right." Yuuki agreed. "Except no inappropriate things."
"Do I look like a pervert to you?" He replied with distaste.
"Your hair is pretty long…" Yuuki started with a small smile. "You definitely could be."
He grunted in reply, suddenly casting the wooden sword he was holding aside. He walked to a clear patch of grass and sat down.
"What are you doing?" She asked, perturbed by his sudden reaction.
"I'm thinking." He answered simply. He patted the spot next to him without looking at her. "You should sit too. I think we're going to be here for a while."
Yuuki stared at him in confusion. Maybe he really was a mental patient with multiple personalities…? She watched as he glanced at her as he once again motioned vaguely with a hand for her to come to him. With slight hesitation, she made her way over to him and sat down a little ways away.
"You don't have to sit so far." He commented.
"I'm taking precautions, in case…" She drew the sentence out, stopping midway and then looking at him as if urging him to ask.
"In case of what?" He questioned, biting the bait. "Oh, that I'm a pervert?"
"Ah ha!" Yuuki nearly shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him. "So you do admit to it!"
Hitsugaya sighed sullenly, realizing he had walked right into that set up. He glanced at her and replied, "Speaking of long hair. Isn't yours longer than mine?"
She stopped everything for a moment, thinking about the statement which was indeed true.
"So I guess that means you're…"
"No!" Yuuki shouted, realizing where he was going with this. "Girls are naturally born with… um, longer.. hair."
He smiled in response, turning away from her to stare at the sky.
Yuuki looked away, it was the first time she had actually taken in the surroundings. They were in some sort of clearing with only a couple of trees around the area. There was a small river that flowed to the unknown, sparkling in the moonlight. Finally, she turned her gaze to the sky, where she could see a slice of moon and stars scattered across. She breathed, "It's beautiful."
He chuckled openly, shaking his head at her slow reaction. "You know, most girls notice the setting first."
She turned to look at him and retorted, "Well. I was looking out for the safety of my life first. I don't think you bring most girls here to you know, half kill them." She paused for a moment, the word 'girls' processing through her brain. She could feel a tinge of what she hoped was not jealousy as she continued, "Wait, what? You have a girlfriend?!"
"No." He replied calmly.
She gaped at him, putting it all together. Captain Hitsugaya was a player! No wonder he was always calm and collected, with all the girls in her class gushing over him. He was…. a player! She thought about the countless girls he'd probably brought here… he probably was a pervert too! And he also had that strange compelling and attracting aura that was perfect for his type of 'interests'…
He studied her expression passively, wondering what was going on in that brain of hers.
"You're a player, aren't you?" Yuuki questioned, jabbing an accusing finger into his chest. "I bet you dye your hair white to catch people's interest… right?"
It was his turn to gape at her, he surely wasn't expecting that. He cleared his throat, composing himself and replied, "I am not a player. My hair is natural."
"I know, that's what Captain Unohana said too… but if you bring girls here and you don't have a girlfriend… that means you played them!" She shouted triumphantly.
"So, by your logic, you're saying I played you too?" He questioned, humoring her.
"What? No!" She disagreed. "You and I are friends. We came here to improve my uh… swordsmanship."
"Sorry Yuuki, I'm playing with you too."
She flinched for a half second, which Hitsugaya caught in amusement.
"Don't worry." He assured her. "I'm not a player. I don't bring girls here. I was speaking in a general sense."
"Right." She agreed sheepishly, her face turning red. She had this strange tendency to jump to conclusions when she was with him. "I guess I went too far with that one."
There was a dull silence between them and Hitsugaya was the first to speak. "You asked Captain Unohana about my hair?"
She froze, realizing she'd been caught. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and realized he was staring at her. She forced herself to laugh, hoping it didn't sound too fake and stated, "No! Why would I do that?!"
"It caught your interest, huh…" He replied, seeing right through her.
She lied down on her back abruptly, hoping to stray away from his gaze. He took off his Captain's robe and folded it, setting it neatly to the side before lying down too.
"Why did you take that off?" She questioned, her suspicions creeping back to her.
"It's hard to get grass stains out of it." He answered.
"Oh."
"Alright, I thought of what I want from you." He stated.
"What is it?" Yuuki asked, curiously glancing at him.
"I want you to quit the academy."
Yuuki jolted upright into a sitting position, shocked by his request. She continued to stare at him, his expression remained impassive. She stuttered, "Y-you're not a pervert… y-you're a psycho!"
"I was just kidding." He replied with a grin. "How can you take that seriously?"
"Well you did say anything." She countered, relieved that he wasn't being serious.
"Do you still have that hairclip with you?"
Yuuki nodded silently, taking it out of her pocket and joked, "Don't tell me you want it."
"No." He shook his head. "I want you to wear it."
"I'm not falling for that one." She grinned, pleased with herself that she'd finally saw through at least one of his tricks.
"I'm not joking." He said seriously, getting up into a sitting position.
"But it's not even mine…" She said quietly, perplexed by his request. She was thinking he would ask for something embarrassing or funny… she certainly hadn't seen this coming.
"It is yours." He tried to assure her with a nod. When she didn't buy it he added, "You're right, it's not. It's mine. I gave it to you."
"What?" She drew out the word, even more confused.
"It was my grandmothers." He lied. "I didn't have the courage to give it to you, so I made Ikkaku do it."
"Why would you give this to me…?"
"You looked kind of down these days." He answered simply.
She smiled slightly, flattered by his actions. She looked at him with a nearly scrutinizing glance and joked. "Are you sure you're not a player?"
"I'm certain." He answered.
"Well, in that case…" She began, and hastily clipped it in her hair. "I hope this doesn't look weird."
"It looks great." Hitsugaya replied, relieved that she'd fell for it. "Since I'm so nice I'll let you ask for something too."
"Really?" She questioned, her face lighting up.
He could almost hear her brain working away and he nearly regretted offering.
"Can you teach me how to flashstep?"
He considered it carefully, and nodded in agreement. He remembered the night of her death so vividly, and if he was right, flashstep should come easily to her because she had done it then too.
"Can I ask just one more question?" Yuuki continued.
"You already did." He answered with a faint smile. "Go for it."
"Why did you use your left hand?" She asked, staring at his hand for a moment and then back at him.
He thought about it for a moment before carefully answering, "I failed to protect someone I really cared about… so I guess I'm trying to make up for it so it never happens again."
"What happened?" She continued, genuinely interested.
"She died."
Yuuki could feel a pang of sympathy and regretted asking. She could see the sorrow in his eyes which were a brilliant cerulean green in the moonlight. It was like the first time she had seen any sadness from him. She looked away from his intense gaze and mumbled an apology.
"It's okay." He answered. "We should get going now."
Yuuki nodded in agreement, scrambling up to pick up the fallen wooden swords. She carried them back to him wordlessly. The atmosphere had stilled, and they continued about their arrangement which was strangely not so embarrassing anymore.
Besides their breathing and the sounds of the environment, neither of them broke the silence.
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A/N: Wow thanks so much for the reviews guys! This chapter was kind of sad but oh well, it had to happen sometime. A lot of people guessed that he was using his left hand to go easy on her, which unfortunately, was not the case. Few people suggested it related to Promise (which is correct) and Sivynia guessed the actual reason correctly so congratulations! littleva's suggestion that his hand was injured was a plausible explanation also, so great guess there. And Kai isn't really a significant part of the story but I tried to make him as one of those bully type characters, so I suppose it's a good thing that you don't like him. I'm glad that Mina Luriya and Naishou enjoyed the 'maybe I should die' part, haha. 13Lulu, I must say that he does seem a bit stalkerish… I think I should tone down on that. Alright, thanks so much for the reviews everybody, again, don't feel bad if I didn't reply to you… I promise to reply to everybody in the next chapter! Don't forget to review!