This was a struggle. I need to take a small break to write an outline. I'm stuck plot wise. Reviews will inspire me though!

So, I know I technically already released this on accident but here you go again. To make up for the fact that you will have to wait even longer because this is the last chapter I've written so far. But the semester is almost over so in a few weeks I'll be able to really pick it up again!

Disclaimer: If you haven't figured it out by now, there is no hope for you.

Chapter Twenty: The Chase is On

Dark. Cold. A steady drip somewhere echoing through the cavern. A figure in a dark robe, a hood pulled over its head.

Underneath the shadows cast by the hood, a twitch of the thin lips marked a potential smile.

"They're waking up."

Toushirou was at his desk, robotically going through paperwork like normal at a slightly faster pace than normal. He was alone, like normal. His flighty fukutaicho was missing, like normal.

Everything was normal.

Except that the Ice Captain, known throughout Seireitei as emotionless and colder than the ice he uses, was humming.

It was a nonsensical tune, more of a randomly staccato-ed buzz than an actually tune. Not that he realized what he was doing. He was just in a good mood.

It was the day after he had visited Karin at the academy and blatantly tossed aside every single law or rule concerning that particular situation. And he couldn't have cared less.

He was done with being the stoic, robotic, rule-follower. It had given him nothing but heartache and sorrow. Just because he didn't like emoting doesn't mean he doesn't feel.

Matsumoto walked in his office, slightly hesitant. He didn't really blame her. His actions lately were …unprecedented, to say the least.

"Taicho?" He looked up, a brow raised slightly. This action seemed to startle her. "Um, taicho, I just wanted to see how you were…" She petered off, looking at him nervously. He raised his brow higher.

"I'm fine." He said slowly. "What do you want?" He deadpanned.

"Aww, taicho." She reflexively pouted. "Can't I just check up on my taicho?"

"You only do when you want something that I'm most likely going to say 'no' to. What do you want?"

She blinked, slightly taken aback by the normalcy of this conversation. At least, it was normal five years ago. "I was just going to let you know that the soutaicho agreed to allow the Invader Training to go into the Rukongai. Ise-fukutaicho gave us the list of conditions that must be kept. She gave the same list to every participating squad."

Toushirou nodded. "Good. When's the next one scheduled?"

"Three days from now."

He nodded absentmindedly. "I think I'll try to change it up this time."

"Eh?"

"I think I'll get someone else to be the Invader. Change up the target to keep them on their toes. Different attacks and what not."

"Who will you assign as the Invader?"

Toushirou shrugged. "How about you?"

"Eh?! Me? But, taicho, I couldn't possibly-"

"You don't have any other duties at that time. And the way that you fight is completely different than me. So it's final." He ignored her protestations. "You'll be the target for the training. I'll send a memo to all the squads." He abruptly turned back to his paperwork, leaving a flabbergasted Matsumoto gaping at him.

She wasn't gaping at him because of the sudden change in schedule. She was gaping at him because when he turned back to his paperwork, he started making an odd noise. A noise that his fukutaicho (who had been with him from the moment he graduated from the Academy in record time to now) had never heard him make before. Ever.

He was humming.

"T-taicho?"

"What?" He didn't bother to look up this time.

"Are you …humming?"

The taicho paused mid-document. "Am I?" He asked quietly, more to himself. There was a moment of silence before he shrugged and continued to read. "I guess I am. I had a good dream last night?" His explanation sounded more like a question than an answer.

"What was it about?" His fukutaicho instantly brightened and leaned over his desk, oblivious to her well-endowed chest dangling in front of her taicho. He leaned back and stared thoughtfully up at the ceiling, trying to recall all the details. This surprised her greatly. She had assumed he would just brush her off, telling her to get back to work.

"It was about Karin."

This statement caused Rangiku's whole countenance to drop in sorrow. She stood up, a sad frown on her face. "Oh taicho." She said sadly. He ignored her.

"It was here in Soul Society. We were both really young, younger than when we first met. She was in a tree. In a fancy kimono. She was laughing at me for… something. I'm not sure. Then the branch she was on broke." His tone was calm and level, not giving away any emotion. He continued to stare up at the ceiling, his hands clasped and resting on his stomach.

"I tried to catch her. Except it ended up where she just fell on me and the branch hit my head. She laughed at me." A nostalgic look softened his face as Rangiku watched carefully. "She snuck back into her house, which was a huge mansion, and got a first-aid kit. She wrapped my head and bribed me with a watermelon."

There was silence for several minutes, Hitsugaya staring at the ceiling, lost in thought, Rangiku staring at his face, her brows furrowed. Finally, she asked quietly, "Then what happened?"

Toushirou sat up with another shrug, carefully avoiding looking Matsumoto in the eye, his face an expressionless mask. "I woke up."

She smiled. His embarrassment was only obvious to those who really knew him, like her. He picked up the abandoned form and pretended to read it.

"I'll let our squad know that I'm going to be the target for the next training." She gave a polite bow and headed out. When she closed the door behind her, she paused for a few moments. She had absolutely no idea what was going on with her small taicho. Technically, he wasn't small anymore, but in her mind he would always be the short boy with a bad temper in a specially tailored uniform because they didn't come in his size.

His transformation was quick. It was like he suddenly woke up from a long sleep. She didn't know what happened but she was grateful.

She smiled and bounced down the hall. Better let the troops know about the next Invader Training.

Three days later, Matsumoto was running swiftly through the First Rukongai district in the north, mentally and verbally cursing her taicho. Why on earth had she agreed to take his place? She had to quickly dart into a side alley to avoid a group of 6th squad members. She was obviously lacking his speed. Stupid taicho. She cursed as she shunpoed to the roof of the building, the alleyway blocked by a team from her own division. Stupid training. Where are you, you stupid taicho?

Toushirou sneezed. He was leaning against a tree in the academy grounds. It had been embarrassingly easy to sneak into the grounds without anyone noticing. He'd have to talk to the president about that. When he wasn't abusing the faulty security for his own selfish purposes.

He had abused his authority as a taicho and had gotten a hold of Karin's schedule a few days ago. He had left the Invader Training to Matsumoto in order to slip away. It helped that just about everyone was participating in the Training. It had become more of an intense game of tag than anything. More like a holiday than a training exercise.

He looked up when he heard the faint sounds of the bell, telling students that it was time for their next class or, in Karin's case, time for her break. He wasn't 100% sure that she would come into the training yard but if she was still the Karin he knew than she would.

And sure enough, he spotted her dark hair making its way into the yard, completely alone. He smirked as he watched her take position in a slightly secluded section, blocked from the majority of the yard by trees. She wasn't aware that he was only a few meters away. He examined her profile while she lifted her bokken and started going through the basic zanjutsu positions.

She had a wirey build, almost unhealthy in its thinness but he could tell that she had been eating well lately, evident by the healthy flush in her cheeks and her steady and confident stance. She hadn't aged a day since he had last seen her in the living world.

Spirits didn't age like humans. The more spirit particles a spirit was able to draw in, the longer they lived and slower they aged. Those with little reiatsu didn't live nearly as long as those with high reiatsu's and aged much faster. It was the main reason Hitsugaya had taken so long to get to the physical age he was now.

He watched her for a few minutes in silence, simply enjoying her presence. When she made a sloppy move and cursed herself before trying to correct it, he decided to step in.

"You're not being flexible enough." She jumped and whirled around, almost falling in her surprise. "Your lower body is too tense. You don't allow for any hip movement and it's throwing everything off." He walked calmly towards her. She was glaring at him.

"What are you doing here?" She ignored his previous advice. "It's not good to stalk people, you know. Even a taicho."

He refused to take the bait. "Bend your knees more and move your hips. Your sword is an extension of your body not just your arm."

She scoffed but did as he said. Her eyes widened when she realized how much easier and more graceful she was able to do the move. Her look of delight quickly faded into a scowl when she caught sight of his soft smirk.

"Thank you, oh great taicho." She swept a mocking bow to match her tone. "For coming all this way just to help a single student with her practice. They must not be giving you guys enough work if a taicho can just hang around the Academy for one person."

His lips twitch slightly. Just like Karin. "We only do it for special people."

He supposed that before he might have pretended not to see the faint blush that was not hidden by the angry scowl. But where's the fun in that?

"Shut up." Was the only retort. He grinned. "Now go away before I call an instructor over."

He just shrugged. "What are they going to do? I outrank all of them by a mile."

"Maybe but what will you do when word gets around that you played hooky so you can bother academy students? What about your precious reputation?"

He raised a brow. She seemed to think that she had him if the adorable smirk was anything to go by. Slowly he sauntered closer. Her smirk dropped as he neared and he could tell she wanted to back away, but her pride wouldn't let her. She stood up straighter and glared as he stopped uncomfortably close, only a few centimeters away. Her light blush intensified and became a deep red that covered her ears and neck as well. He could feel her slightly quickened breath on his face.

"'Students'?" He whispered and he was sure he saw a small shiver from her. "Oh no Karin. Not 'students'. Just the one." He leaned in slowly, closing the already small gap between them. Her eyes widened but she seemed frozen with shock.

Just before their lips met he stopped. She was completely tense. He couldn't even hear her breath anymore. He smiled again, and suddenly backed away.

"Although, you are right Karin." He said in a casual tone as if what just happened didn't just happen. "I do have quite a bit of work to do." He sighed dramatically. "You're a handful by anyone's standards." And while Karin was struggling to remember to breath he turned around and promptly walked away, not looking back to see the myriad of expressions flashing on her face.

This is short because it's taken me forever to write and I wanted to get it finished. I think I'll have to work some more on my outline before I write the next chapter. I'm a little lost as to where to go right now. In case you can't tell by my lack of a serious plotline. Reviews!