*gasp*

I actually posted another chapter before the two week mark! I'm so proud of myself. I've been planning this scene ever since I introduced Sora to the story. It's nice to finally post it. Anyways, here's the chapter. I hope it lives up to your generous expectations.

Sora and Hitsugaya immediately bowed to the captain. He bowed back. Hitsugaya wasn't sure whether to be curious because he was finally meeting the man Hinamori talked so much about or annoyed because now he couldn't tell Sora what he had discovered. He doubted that she would want anyone else to know, especially this captain. Hitsugaya blinked. Had someone just said his name?

"Sorry?" he stood up. Hinamori smiled.

"I said this is Captain Aizen of the fifth squad. Captain, these are my friends Mizuchi Sora and Hitsugaya Toshiro." Hinamori looked up at her superior with a look that seemed to beg for approval.

"It is nice to meet you two. I have heard much about you," Aizen seemed amiable enough. In fact, Hitsugaya realized he probably would get along fairly well with this even tempered man if it weren't for Hinamori's glowing adoration.

Other students were coming into the practice field - it seemed Hinamori was teaching a class. They were introduced to the captain and were all appropriately awed by his rank. Hinamori then set the students to drills.

Hitsugaya watched as Aizen and Hinamori interacted. He's perfect for her, he thought with a twinge of envy. Aizen had just explained why he couldn't just fast track Hitsugaya and Sora into the fifth squad. Somehow Aizen managed to stay calm when dealing with some of Hinamori's more annoying aspects. Even Hitsugaya couldn't do that. He was also quite neat. The captain kept his uniform pressed and unusually clean - in contrast to some of the other shinigami Hitsugaya had met.

Hinamori's face lit up when Aizen told her that Sora had been accepted into the fifth division. She hugged her captain who gently pried her from his body and reprimanded her. He was her captain and superior, but her friend at the same time. It was perfect. Almost too perfect.

"Jealous?" Sora murmured into Hitsugaya's ear.

"Huh?" Hitsugaya jumped. He had forgotten Sora was there.

"I know what you're thinking and you're wrong. He's not," Sora seemed amused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow at her smug tone.

"I know people like him. My mother's one of them. They fancy themselves perfect. But they aren't. Be careful not to get caught up in their act like Momo."

"But isn't that dangerous?" Hitsugaya mused. "If Momo thinks that her captain is perfect and can do no wrong then…"

"He seems like a nice enough guy," Sora said, straightening and patting Hitsugaya on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I don't think he's doing it for the wrong reasons. And stop acting so jealous. It's so obvious."

"I am not jealous," Hitsugaya huffed, knowing that he was. "It's not like I like her or anything. We're like siblings."

"Sure…" Sora rolled her eyes. "But it looks like Hinamori's holding her class here; we should probably go somewhere else."

"Mmm…" Hitsugaya grumbled.

"Or we could just go get a snack from the kitchens, I don't think I could concentrate much longer," Sora laughed as she saw her short friend's eyes' light up. "Hungry?"

"No, actually," he hesitated and his eyebrow knit together in a look she knew well.

"Spit it out," Sora commanded, hands on her hips. "If this is about this weekend at my house then-"

"No, no," he said hurriedly. "Well not really. Is there a place where we could be alone?"

"Yeah…" she began to lead him off the practice field and through the campus. Sora couldn't help glancing back every few moments at Toshiro who was struggling to keep up with her long strides. What had him so out of sorts?

"What?" Hitsugaya demanded.

"Huh?" Sora blinked.

"Stop looking at me," Hitsugaya snapped.

"Sorry," Sora could feel his tension, rolling off him in waves. Recently only one thing made him this emotional. "Is this about Central 46?" she inquired.

"Not. Now." Hitsugaya seemed to squeeze the words out from between his teeth. "Later. In private."

Finally they arrived at Sora's chosen destination; a greenhouse just off the building she knew housed the staff. She pirouetted through the stone archway.

"I love this place," she said dreamily, closing her eyes and spinning around. "It's so peaceful and the temperature is just perfect."

Hitsugaya had an odd look on his face, something somewhere between wonder and sorrow.

"When did you discover this place?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Several years ago. I don't know whose it is, but no one's ever told me to get out so…" she shrugged. "I bonded with my zanpaktou in this greenhouse."

"Have you ever brought anyone else here?" Hitsugaya pressed, remembering Sojiro.

"No, you're the first," Sora looked at him curiously. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"I'm just experiencing some intense déjà vu, that's all…" Hitsugaya walked over to a small plant on a pedestal in the middle of the room, gently running his fingers along the trunk. "These plants are memories."

Sora came over to stand next to Hitsugaya. She too fingered the tree and bent over to sniff the blossoms.

"Pretty," Sora said absently. "Toshiro, what do you want to tell me?"

"Your mother's on Central 46," he said flatly. How? No. There was only one way he could have figured that out and his voice was not the voice of someone taking a shot in the dark. He had been researching her and her family. She was suddenly cold, even though the temperature in the greenhouse was sweltering. There were all sorts of replies to a statement like that, most of them were quite colorful. She opted for a simple affirmation.

"Yes."

"Well… then you know that she's the one who's keeping your father from naming you the heir? And probably the one who was intercepting your letters?"

"Yes."

"And that she voted for the fight between me and Sojiro."

"Yes." Sora's eyes hardened and she clenched her fists. Why did he have to keep bringing up Sojiro. Didn't he care?

"Well did you know she was also the one who made the law that no two people with the same zanpaktou could remain alive?"

"Yes, Toshiro, I don't get your point." Sora kept her voice even, despite her flaring temper. Hitsugaya seemed surprised that she knew.

"Well... I wasn't sure that you knew. I figured, since you weren't that angry with your mother, you didn't."

"Actually Toshiro," Sora said patronizingly. "Just because I do not wear my emotions on my shirt sleaves doesn't mean I am not mad at my mother. I am also, surprisingly, quite knowledgeable of the status of my family. In fact, I may even know more than you learned from your stalking. So I would appreciate it if you would lay off my family and my sore spots. And stop being such a bloody know it all." Sora struggled to finish her rant in one breath and gasped when she finished. She panted, glaring at him while she caught her breath. Then she turned and marched out of the greenhouse, leaving Toshiro to wonder just what he had said.

It just so happened that that night Matsumoto visited them for dinner. She was the second one to their usual table in the mess hall. She found a scowling Hitsugaya mutilating his seared tuna with a chopstick.

"What's with the face?" she asked, plopping down in a chair beside him. Hitsugaya just scowled and grunted, stabbing his fish with a particularly vicious jab.

"You're going to have to give me more than that," she grinned, unfazed by his irritated behavior.

"Sora's mad at me," he growled. "And I didn't even do anything."

"Well you must have done something," Matsumoto figured. "What happened?"

"We went to see my grandmother this weekend. She died just a few days after I left for the Academy," he bit his lip.

"I'm sorry," Matsumoto said solemnly. "Do you know how?"

"No, Sora snatched the paperwork away before I could see. She probably knows though," he made a face. "That's the problem. Sora has too many secrets. She wouldn't tell me anything, so I went to the thirteenth division archives to find out for myself. She called me a stalker and a know it all and accused me of insulting her family and poking at her 'sore spots.' I didn't even discover anything she didn't already know!"

"Ok…" Matsumoto seemed lost for words. "Erm, well, you see, for most family members, even if they don't get along, they still protect each other. I learned that my first year as a shinigami. I was listening to this guy make fun of his little brother, but when I made a comment, he got all defensive. So even if Sora doesn't get along with her mother, you still shouldn't have said anything. Also, you probably shouldn't have mentioned Sojiro – I assume that's what she meant when you said 'sore spots?'"

"Yeah," Hitsugaya sighed. "I guess I should talk to her."

"Mmm…" Matsumoto agreed through a mouth of rice.

Neither Sora, nor Hinamori came to sit with him and Matsumoto. He spotted Hinamori up at the staff table and waved. Sora sat alone at a table near Hinamori. Hitsugaya was about to get up and go over to Sora when Ukitake, who was sitting at the head of the staff table, stood up and cleared his throat. It fell silent almost immediately.

"Good evening students," he greeted. "Tonight we have a special event for our graduating class. The rest of you are free to go or you can stay and listen." This brought on a great flurry of motion as the first through fourth years exited the dining hall. When everyone had settled, Ukitake began again.

"Usually, students will have received their acceptance or denial letters by now. However, due to abnormal circumstances, we have not been able to get many of the letters to you. So we have put together a special event. The staff will pass out your remaining letters while I tell you about it."

Hinamori was the one that handed him his letter from the sixth division. Hitsugaya slit open the envelope with the pin he wore on his sash. He hadn't been accepted.

"I didn't know you even still had that pin," Matsumoto commented. "I'm glad you like it." Hitsugaya blushed.

"I didn't get in. I guess that means that I'll go to the Thirteenth." he sighed. "It's not as if I don't like Captain Ukitake, I had just hoped to go somewhere different, and so I could get some more experience."

"There's always a spot open in the tenth for you," Matsumoto smiled. Hitsugaya couldn't bear to let her down in person.

"I'll think about it." He looked down and quietly said, "Thanks."

He glanced over at Sora who was resting her head on her hands. She looked devastated. He couldn't remember which other letters she was waiting for.

"Tonight will be a chance for you to meet the captains of the Gotei 13 and learn more about your prospective squads. All captains and lieutenants will be in the first practice field in five minutes where they will speak to you as a group. Then you will be given the opportunity to talk to each of them," Ukitake paused and looked over the students. "You are dismissed."

Students began to move towards the doors. Hitsugaya, however, went the opposite direction, swimming against the current towards Hinamori and Sora. He met up with them at the end of the staff table where they walked out to the first practice field.

A small stage had been constructed out of wood and before it several rows of benches had been placed. They filed in and managed to snag a bench near the front. Hinamori and Matsumoto sat between Sora and Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya could've sworn he'd felt Sora's gaze on his back, but every time he turned to look she was quite pointedly ignoring him. He leaned over.

"Look, Sora, I'm sorry about-"

"Hush, they're about to start," someone instructed. Hitsugaya scowled at the boy who was almost two times taller than he was and turned back towards the stage. Shinigami were filing onto the stage.

So these were Soul Society's finest warriors, the elite. Each white cloaked captain had a black shadow – their lieutenant. Only Matsumoto walked alone, her head high. He realized she must have left while he and Sora were taking turns staring at each others' backs.

As each of the captains spoke of their squad's superiority, Hitsugaya wondered what it would be like to stand among such power. About half the people on the stage had accomplished bankai. What would it be like to so dominate the zanpaktou-shinigami relationship that you could force every bit of out of your soul cutter?

Exhilarating.

Hyourinmaru didn't seem too happy about his dreams of submission, but Hitsugaya ignored his prickly dragon and focused on the stage. He was pleased to notice that he had met quite a few of the captains. Kyoraku, and Gin, and Unohana, and Aizen, and Ukitake, and Matsumoto of course, though she didn't really count.

The slender second squad captain was easily the shortest of the captains and Hitsugaya felt a certain kinship with her - at least until she murmured something under breath and clapped her hands causing the stage and all the benches to disintegrate. The captains and lieutenants on stage gracefully landed on the ground, but most of the students fell on their butts. Hitsugaya snorted.

"So is it true that there's only one person this year that has accomplished shikai?" the second squad captain inquired.

"Don't be so hard on them Soifon," Aizen smiled. "We got lucky last year with Abarai, Hinamori, and Kira. Their year had second most number of students graduating with shikai."

"Still…" she harrumphed.

Hitsugaya was almost knocked over as Sora shoved by him towards the captains. What was she doing? He tried to grab her sleeve, his fingers just brushing the fabric of her top. He tripped.

"Sora! Wait!" he called. "You can't just go up to the captains of the Gotei 13! You don't know what you're doing."

"I know exactly what I'm doing, Hitsugaya Toshiro," she snapped.

The other students moved to clear a path for her. She pushed forward until she reached the row of captains and lieutenants. She bowed.

"You seem to be misinformed," she announced.

Hitsugaya winced. What was she doing? She must be mad to talk like that to the captains of the Gotei 13.

"Who are you?" the captain commander rumbled. Sora flinched, but held her ground as she was assaulted by the old warrior's immense reiatsu.

"I am Mizuchi Sora, and I thought you should know that Hitsugaya Toshiro isn't the only one here who has accomplished shikai," she announced. A buzz went through the crowd. Who among them had kept such an accomplishment secret?

"Who else?" the captain commander's gaze burnt into Sora's eyes, making her veins sizzle.

"Me." Sora closed her eyes.

She stands on the usual cloud in the usual endless sky.

"Well this should satisfy you," she says. "You're a drama king or queen or whatever. Look at all these people. Will you tell me your name now?"

"Ha ha," the eagle says sarcastically. "You sure know my weaknesses."

"You won't even tell me your gender?" the girl begs.

"No, this is ridiculous," the eagle shakes out its wings. "You're not ready, how many times do I have to tell you that?"

"For all of eternity?" she grins. "I think I know when I'm ready and I'm ready now."

"Oh?" the eagle asks smugly. "And what makes you think that?"

"Sojiro's dead." the girl says it steadily as she looks the bird in the eyes.

"He's been dead for awhile," the bird says skeptically. "How is that supposed to mean anything?"

"I think I've moved on," she says, quieter this time.

"You haven't," the eagle says coolly. They are silent for a moment. Then the eagle says more kindly, "Why is this so important to you? Plenty of people go through their entire lives without even meeting their zanpaktou, let alone learning its name. Why do you push so hard?"

"Because I want to fly." she snaps.

She jumps off the cloud to get away from her annoying zanpaktou. It was a common occurrence. She would jump off the cloud, and then the eagle would catch her. She closes her eyes, enjoying the rushing wind around her.

Where is the eagle? She has been falling for quite awhile now. Though the ground is nowhere in sight, she begins to worry.

What if… what if…

She begins to panic.

Then suddenly, the eagle appears, throttling down in a dive with its wings tucked back. It steadies and begins to fall at the same speed as her. She reaches for it, trying to grab a hold of its body so she can clamber atop it.

It shifts so it is just beyond her reach.

"Not yet," the eagle says. "Tell me, why do you want to fly? Is it because of your friend Toshiro? Do you want to fly like him?"

"No…" she pauses, unsure of what she actually wants. Then she continues, hesitantly, "No, not like him. With him, but not like him. And I don't want to fly like him. He's too… I don't want to be like him, if that's what you mean. I want to fly my own way."

The eagle seems to like this answer and sticks out a wing.

"Because you asked, I'm male. Grab my wing so you can fly on my back."

She aims to grab the tip of his wing and cries in horror when she grabs the base, ripping the hollow bones and detaching it from the eagle's body. The eagle kicks her with his talon so she is facing head first towards the ground or whatever was drawing her towards it. He nods before vanishing.

"Eagle! Eagle!" she cries. She tries to let go of the now bloody wing, but it sticks to her hand, held there by an invisible force. Suddenly a dark shape comes into view. A cloud. If she could just maneuver so she was above it, she could land on it and save herself. She clumsily tries directing the angle of her decent, but misses by just a bit. Filled with a sudden desperation to at least touch the cloud, she reaches out with the hand with the wing and brushes the cloud with the tip of a feather…

Sora opened her eyes and grasped for the power she had sensed the night of Ukitake's birthday, and the time when she fought Hinamori during lunch, and when she was there watching Toshiro practice, and that fateful morning when she met Sojiro for breakfast, and seized it.

She held her zanpaktou above her head, and with a loud crack announced,

"Sweep them all away, Totsunyuukaze!"

Her zanpaktou flashed and was replaced by stick a foot long. She grasped it like a fan and snapped it open. It was a fan.

"A tessen," she whispered.

Ignoring the clamor of the other onlookers, the captain commander questioned her,

"When did you accomplish shikai? It wasn't on your application."

"Today," Sora no longer seemed smug, only stunned.

"Do you mean to say that you accomplished shikai just now?" The sixth squad captain who was obviously of noble decent raised an eyebrow. What was his name? Kuchiki?

Sora nodded cautiously. She seemed to have snapped out of the reckless mood she was in earlier and was now treading the dangerous waters carefully.

"Nice," was the comment from Captain Ichimaru Gin. He swiftly drew his zanpaktou and launched himself at Sora.

Wowee...

Ok, I had such a fun time writing this, I'll make you guys a deal. Since I'm practically halfway done with the next chapter, I'll post it when I've got a bunch of reviews. So yes, the sooner you review, the sooner I'll post it.

Oh yeah and incase you were wondering, Sora's zanpaktou's name means raging wind.

I hope you liked this chapter. And I'm sorry its so confusing. I'm working on my clarity.

:)