(Author's Note: Speech written in italics is actually spoken or written in another language by the indicated character. It has been translated and noted this way for the reader's benefit.)

Chapter 14

As promised, in the morning I find a rather obnoxiously wrapped package on the table beside my bed, with a tag addressed to me on top. Hardly necessary. I roll over and tear the wrapping off, tossing it over the table to the floor. Sitting up on my bed, I pull the new uniform from the remaining scraps of wrapping and shrug it on, blinking against the morning light from the windows. The fabric feels a little too starchy, but I don't have time to wash it or something.

On the walk home, Kisuke had informed me that we would continue his training regimen promptly this morning. I can only hope that he didn't remain in my house after he presumably broke in to deliver the gift. I push my feet into a pair of house slippers and shuffle out of my room toward the kitchen, adjusting the uniform as I go. I left my waraji on the table after discarding the shredded uniform, so I wouldn't lose them. And yet, as I approach the table, I discover that I failed to keep track of the sandals. The spot where I left them, on top of a short stack of paperwork, is empty.

Groaning, I turn around and start to shuffle toward the trash can in the corner, assuming that I must have accidentally dropped my waraji there in my groggy state the night before. I hardly reach the trash, though, before-

"Looking for these?"An overly joyous voice chimes. My fist reacts before the rest of me, automatically striking the face that has overtaken my field of vision. A loud crash resounds through the building as I turn toward the gaping hole in the wall. Beyond two walls, Kisuke sits crumpled against the concrete exterior wall of my bathroom, cradling his face in his hands.

"What the hell?!" I yell at him, and he peeks up at me from between his fingers, with a hint of grin between his palms.

"That was very good, Emiko." He replies simply, pushing at his nose, which snaps back into place. He picks up a towel and wipes his face as he stands, dusting himself off. "Someone with a normal level of reiatsu couldn't have wounded me with those guards up." He places the towel on the edge of my sink as he proceeds to step through the holes in the wall. "And they certainly couldn't have knocked me through two walls and cratered a concrete third wall." He smiles at me again, holding out my waraji. "That was just the surge of Spiritual Pressure I was looking for from you. The next step will be to harness that."

I snatch my shoes from his hand with a grumble, putting them on my feet while Kisuke checks himself over again. I catch a glance of him while he's occupied. There's still some blood in the corner of his upper lip, but I don't make any mention of it. Quickly, Kisuke's eyes are back on me, and I try to make it seem like I hadn't already been staring at him. He smirks at the attempt.

"So, did you feel it?" He asks. I pause, giving him a look.

"Uh... what?"

He chuckles at me. I'm sure he knows I was watching him. "What? The rise in your Spiritual Pressure. Did you feel it when it happened? That's an important start to the training process." He smiles innocently, but I really don't think I can fall for that any more.

"Well," I pause, thinking about it. I guess something seemed different about it. My energy spiked, certainly. I feel ten times more awake than I did moments before that surprise. But that doesn't seem unusual, when startled. "I don't know. That seemed more like an adrenaline rush than anything."

Kisuke nods. "Similar concepts, yeah. You should just focus on where it comes from. We'll work from there." He steps past me into my kitchen and I turn around, following his movement. He picks up a couple of cups from the counter, holding one out to me. "Tea?"

I frown. "How long have you been here?" I respond, making no move to take the cup. Kisuke laughs and shrugs my question off, not helping the situation.

"Don't worry Emiko, I haven't done anything weird while I've been here." He continues to grin, still offering the cup. I take it and dump the tea into the sink.

"Weird? It isn't weird to break into my room at night to put a package by my bed, make tea in my kitchen, and steal my shoes to scare the shit out of me for the second time in two days?" I snap back, rinsing the cup and putting it back in the cupboard. For once, the chuckling stops. Kisuke seems almost puzzled by response, like he doesn't understand why I wouldn't get the joke. He sets his cup down on the counter.

"Well, if you want to put it that way..." He shrugs and steps closer, placing a hand on my shoulder. I give him a look, which he ignores, instead leveling a steady gaze at me with his soft gray eyes. "I'm just interested in you." Suddenly my temperature rises to about one thousand degrees, and I turn around, shrugging Kisuke's hand off my shoulder. He turns me around again. "I mean that I'm invested in figuring you out – that's my job." It seems like he says that too quickly, trying too hard to change what he had said. But then, I'm probably just imagining that. "So I might get weird, but that's just because I'm interested." He smiles again and goes back to retrieve his cup, taking a sip. I frown.

"Anyway," Kisuke continues, walking back out toward my front windows, "we'll head out for the training grounds when you're ready, and get started on the next step of training." He looks out the window, which doesn't have much of a view, then turns back to me, smile still plastered on his face. I give him a dissatisfied look and walk back to my bathroom, ignoring the holes in my walls, to right myself before leaving. I don't really look forward to more insane training, but I don't think I'd be making a wise decision to say no to the captain.

"Well." Kisuke mumbles, snatching the tattered fabric of his sleeve from the tip of Akahana's blade. "That went well." He examines his cloak, brushing his hand over the ripped edge before folding the lost sleeve into the breast fold of his robe.

"I definitely felt the rise in your pressure that time. What changed?" He continued, next checking over his Zanpaku-Tô, occasionally glancing back up at me. I frown back at him.

"Really?" I respond. "What do you actually think? You just spent that whole ten minute break telling me how you thought you'd have to drop me out of my seat because the other members of the company think I'm a cruddy excuse for a Soul Reaper!"

"Ah, yes." Kisuke smiles, obviously proud of his supposed genius. "I thought that might work for me." I don't show any sign of being appeased by this. "I'm sorry if that really upset you, Emiko. I just had to get your goat, if you will." He winks at me, striding back over to the healing pool where he removes his sandals and sits down on he edge, dropping his legs down into the water. "Come on over. I think it's nice to dip my feet in after a long day running around." He pats a spot beside him on the ground with a sugar-sweet smile.

I give him a stern look for his attitude, but finally make my way over to sit beside him, really unable to say no for long. He grins, gently kicking his feet back and forth in the water

"You may not believe me, Emiko, but I believe we are making good progress. You are very capable, and I think we may be able to move forward in training much more quickly than expected. I must make preparations for this, though, and that will take some time. Until then, we will continue training until you can control your spiritual pressure at will." He looks at me again, goofy grin erased from his features and replaced with a soft, friendly sort of gaze. Even with this, he seems stern about the continuation of this training. The way he acts, I always find it hard to determine if he sees me as a friend or as a tool.

"Right." I respond simply, still uncomfortable with the constantly changing dynamic between us. Part of me still imagines the small fantasy Elizabeth used to tease me about. Even if he's a bother most of the time, he's still attractive, and still seems to communicate that he might have an interest in me beyond just as a project.

I look over at my hand, feeling a sudden weight on it. Kisuke's hand rests on top of mine, nearly engulfing it. Face heating involuntarily, I glance up at his face. He looks at me with a hint of a smile.

"I think it's nicer to dip my feet in with you here." He smiles more brightly. I quickly turn my face away, really embarrassed now. His hand remains on top of mine, and he gently taps his fingers on the back of my hand. "You're much better company than Yoruichi. She likes to make a competition out of everything." He laughs, a pleasant sound. I peek at him from the corner of my eye, and see him turn to look at me. I quickly avert my eyes, and feel him withdraw his hand after a moment. He must think I'm ignoring him, because we sit in silence for a while, and his feet stop kicking around in the water.

"Well, I think it's time to go." Kisuke speaks up after a bit, standing up and putting his feet back in his sandals. After a moment, I get up and put my socks and waraji back on, then trail after Kisuke who has already started walking.

Training went on as usual for a few more months, Kisuke taunting and goading me into attack, but he seemed upset for a while. Eventually he seemed to get past it. Sometimes he would try to frighten me when I was at home, earning a solid punch to the nose, and other times he would simply resort to irritating me on the training grounds. Eventually, I achieved a fuller sense of my spiritual pressure, and became more able to unleash it at will. Kisuke was nearly overjoyed for this breakthrough, and offered a week's break in celebration. I didn't think that this really helped at all in the process of training, because I couldn't get anything done if I was just sitting at home.

Every day that we didn't train, Kisuke came to visit, either inviting me over for tea or taking me for a walk around town. He continued to insist that this was simply a measure to ensure that we shared a close bond of trust, which would be necessary as the training continued. I still remained skeptical of this, and the way he would often seem too careful to avoid injuring me at all. I made no comment on it, fearing that it would seem insolent to question his motives. Of course, Kisuke Urahara was a notably friendly captain, but I often heard of an underlying tough side.

Also, Adrian visited on occasion, checking up on how I was doing in the company. I didn't tel him many details of my training regimen, afraid that I shouldn't be disclosing an secrets, but Adrian was happy to hear anything. Occasionally, our meetings would be interrupted by Kisuke arriving for a sudden trip to train or go walking, which I couldn't refuse. Adrian was always disappointed by this, but I had little power over the situation. I always made sure to visit him again another time to make up for it.

Eventually, Kisuke found that my ability to release spiritual pressure had become so great that it could become a pitfall, and so training transformed into a regimen of discovering how to reel the pressure back in, which seemed even more difficult than the original plan to simply release it. As the weather became colder, Kisuke held more lessons on a small scale at his home, where we could work without being chilled in the wide open training grounds.

Word began to spread outside of my official duties that a Winter Festival was coming up. Apparently, there had been a traditional celebration of fireworks every winter, in honor of Captain Hitsugaya of the Tenth Company's birthday, and it had eventually developed into a festival for this year, a week-long event of celebration with fireworks each night. I've been considering it since Adrian mentioned it, but I'm not sure how much interest I have in it. There are other things I'm concerned with at the moment, and I shouldn't be wasting my time on a festival when Kisuke feels that we are so close to the great next step in my training.

Now, on the last night of the festival, I sit at home thinking about all of this. Certainly, I can't let a silly festival take precedence over my work as a soul reaper. But the idea of a retreat is nice. The last night is supposed to host the largest display of fireworks, as a finale. I could catch a glimpse from my window if I really wanted to see it.

A few knocks echo in the house from the front door. I get up to go check on it, expecting another sudden visit from Kisuke, who can't seem to leave me alone for a day.

(Author's Note: Dear readers, I apologize for my hiatus! Please drop a review and let me know how you're feeling about the story!)