A/N: The last chapter will get finished eventually, I promise. I'm still fighting with myself, with this story and with writer's block on top of those; I try to give myself a break between each chapter but it's just not working out as promising as I had hoped it would. Thank you for the reviews; they're greatly appreciated. This story will eventually get back on track, I don't care how long it takes. Okay, actually I do care how long it takes. I don't want another Lessons in Love on my hands.

A drawn out sigh escaped him as he slowly moved to roll over onto his other side; one arm landing in the empty space next to him as fingertips curled into the vacant sheets. He could barely convince his eyes to pull open as the blurred vision revealed the one strip of news he was already aware of. He was the only one left in bed, which he guessed wasn't all too surprising but the question remained on where the woman had gone off to instead.

Groaning lightly, he eventually pushed himself up and listened to the loud pop of his shoulders as they aligned once more; his disheveled purple locks falling down around him. He had to practically roll himself out of bed in order to get to his feet as one hand moved to rub the soreness that had settled in the back of his neck. Hands grabbed the closest clothing set there was as he pulled on a pair of jeans from nearby, just enough to make him decent before he left the room. He made a slight attempt to control his messy locks as he made his way to the doorway and eventually stepped out into the hallway; glancing down both ways by habit before he moved into the living area. There was a soft humming noise from the kitchen that drew his attention before he leaned in against the hallway opening to watch her.

She was behind the counter stirring a cup of tea in hand, her silver-locks still somewhat disheveled just the same; a gray sweater jacket was pulled over her shoulders to reveal the white tank-top underneath it. She seemed perfectly content and there was just a small hint of a smile on the corner of her lips as she became lost in her own thoughts. He swore he could just stand there and watch her for however long was possible without her notice.

"Not much of a cuddler, are you?" he teased. "Unless you're one of those 'hit it and quit it' kind of girls."

She glanced up at the remark and tried not to choke on the sip of tea she had just taken. Setting her cup down for a moment, she brought the back of her hand to her lips before a light chuckle removed itself from her. "Of course not, I just couldn't sleep that's all... not to mention, I find it difficult to sleep past nine anyways; you can blame Division Four for that."

A brief chuckle escaped him just the same as he pushed himself from the wall and ran his hand through his hair once again. "Well, Captain Kenpachi doesn't give a shit when we wake up as long as we're up in time for training."

There was a light tilt as she cocked her head just ever so slightly to one side. "Don't you guys normally train around two in the afternoon?"

"Yep."

Shaking her head, she went back to her tea and dropped the discarded spoon into the sink; wrapping her hand around the warm ceramic, she lifted it just enough to try for a second sip without the fear of choking or spilling it on herself. "That would explain why you didn't wake up when I left."

"I had a rough time, you can't blame me." he shrugged playfully as he eventually pushed himself to slowly make his way through the living room; he gave into another short stretch to relieve his muscles and listened to another satisfying chorus of popping. "I was up all night with the most beautiful woman."

"Is that so?" she questioned; stepping out from the kitchen as she moved to take a seat on the couch in the living room. They barely passed one another but she took the opportunity to slam her hand lightly against his vulnerable abdomen while he was stretching. "Did she sneak in after I left?"She caught the light way he chuckled in answer before she moved to the far end of the couch and took her usual seat; folding one leg underneath her as she leaned back against the furniture arm to situate herself. Fingers gently tugged at the light, knitted jacket she had tossed on before when the thin material threatened to slip off one shoulder; it was just something she had been quick to pull on after her morning shower, in fact she had forgotten she had packed it in the first place. Making herself comfortable against the relaxed cushions, she watched as he fixed himself a cup of the fresh tea she had boiled up during her morning time. "Let me ask you something."

"It was good for me."

"You're disgusting." the remark left her in a playful tone as she rested her still warm cup briefly against her abdomen. "I was just thinking earlier this morning about this whole ordeal and everything that's happened up to this point… do you think this 'thing' is going to last? I mean, we've jumped the gun on it a few times and skipped a few steps here or there, not like there's really any guidelines to follow though. I guess the whole thing just feels more like a fling than anything else, although I could just be wrong with that assumption. I'm not really working off all too many personal experiences, but from things I've observed from the people around me... I don't know, I guess we just feel out of place."

Listening to her speak, he shrugged lightly as he finished readjusting the cup he had poured out for himself. He found his way out of the small kitchen and worked himself into the living room, where he made his way over to her; taking the empty end of the couch that remained. "I don't generally like to look at things in the long-term run, it's more enjoyable if you take them day-by-day and go from there. There's less worry and less hassles, although it does come with its own lists of cons just as well. Personally, I don't think I could see myself with anyone else. And you know, even if it is just a month-long fling of some sort, then I can rightfully say these days have been the best in my life. On another note to mention though, just look at the people you're also taking comparison too. While I like to keep from overlooking things, I wouldn't necessarily say I'd like to handle it how Ikkaku handles... his relationships. I mean, for him, it's basically a game of risk that he plays all too often and pretty much whenever he's in the human world. You'd think someone would've caught on by now with how little he looks forward through things."

She briefly nodded and stared down at her tea for a while. "Well, I guess I shouldn't have complained so much about this mission when it was first handed to us. Not to say that I was expecting any of these Hollow attacks or getting stuck here by some power outside of our means."

"You know, if I had known any of this was going to happen before we got here... I think I still would've tagged along for it."

Chuckling to herself, she moved to kick him lightly with her foot. "We are quite a pair of romantic saps, aren't we?"

"Well at least we're beautiful." he added; holding his cup up slightly in a mock expression of a toast. "So what should be on our agenda for today?"

"I don't know, is there anything to do really? We've pretty much exhausted every other option here." she answered with a quiet shrug; pulling up on her jacket once more when it fell down. "We could go down to the park and watch all the kids run around; I know how much you would like that." it was difficult to ignore the slight grimacing expression that passed over him for a moment at the offer; the small wrinkle across his nose proved some minor restraint on his part though.

"Have I ever told you how much I appreciate your humor?" he questioned as he sipped carefully at the hot cup in hand; catching the small curve that turned the corner of her lips into an almost amused expression. At his expense, of course. Setting his cup down for the moment, he looked over to match her smoky-Hazel eyes against his own. "I have a better idea, why don't you show me that dress you bought yesterday? It looked quite elegant."

"How about not?" she replied; watching as he didn't seem the least bit pleased with her answer. "And I don't care if you saw me naked, you're not seeing me a day early in that dress."

"What if I move our reservations up a day or two?"

"Did you remember to make reservations?"

"Well now, isn't that the question of the day."