A/N: A special thanks goes to ScarletBanshee, agathaldcr and Laradhel for becoming followers to this story. Another special thanks goes to ScarletBanshee for the wonderful review. I appreciate all you readers. Onto number four, let me know what you think.

Chapter 4:

Bittersweet Separation

Taya

Following after the three Soul Reapers in front of me had my mind reeling at the possibilities of what was to come in my future. If I was honest with myself, none of what has happened so far was part of my plan. I wanted to do great things in my life and make my parents proud. Unfortunately, those were things that were never going to happen now that I was dead and inside the Soul Society.

My thoughts were spinning so often that I hadn't noticed that they all had stopped walking and I ran right into the back of Shūhei. He turned swiftly to eye me, holding a hand out to steady me from stumbling to the ground.

"Careful." He said softly.

"Why did we stop walking?" I asked, trying to ignore the feeling in my stomach when he touched me.

"The Captain is speaking with the gate guard."

I look over and sure enough the white haired Soul Reaper was speaking to a giant of a man. He had long black hair pulled into a ponytail that reached his waist. It looked like he was friendly the Captain as they were idling chatting. Somehow the image made me smile. Perhaps this place wasn't so bad after all.

The woman named Rangiku came to my side. The light breeze caressed my hair, pushing it around me. "Jindabō learned a lot from the Captain when they were in the Rukon District. There is a lot of respect between them." She said with a smile.

"I can see there is more respect here between people than there ever was while I was alive. There was so much hostility and judgement…" I said through clenched teeth.

The both of them looked at me with slightly wider eyes than before. Were they surprised by the tone of my voice when I spoke those words. The man named Jindabō turned to open the gate for us to pass through. His eyes connected with mine for a brief moment as I walked closely behind Shūhei. "Good luck, young one." He said with a smile.

"Thank you." I answered, giving him my best smile.

Just those few words made a world of different in my chaotic emotions. We continued on down the pathway until we reached a large building with people scattered all over the grounds. There was no doubt in my mind that this was the Academy that they were talking about. There were so many students male and female alike.

"Welcome to the Shin'o Academy, Taya. This is where you will learn to control that power that dwells inside you." Captain Hitsugaya stated, turning to look at me fully.

Two guards approached from the open gates. One was male and one was female, both had soft expressions on their faces and that was comforting considering I was going to be alone for however long it took to do as the Soul Reapers asked, which was still better than imprisonment.

I feel my heart start to quicken under the nervous pressure I was put under to control this power. I didn't want to let them down when they had done to so much for me already without really knowing who I am or who I was while alive.

"What brings a Captain to the Academy today?" The male guard asked with a sense of duty upon his face.

"I'm bringing a new student to enroll." Captain Hitsugaya explained, taking a step forward.

"I see, please come inside and speak to the headmaster."

The three of use continued on through the gates. I looked around curiously at everything. The structure of the building was amazing construct. Every student I passed looked happy to be there and that put my fears at ease a little bit.

Once we made it to a convenience room, we sat down and waited patiently for the headmaster to arrive. I crossed my hands together over my lap and fumbled with my fingers. Shūhei's eyes were on me relatively quickly. "It's going to be okay, Taya. There is no need to be nervous." He said softly.

"That easy for you to say. You came here to become a Soul Reaper, right? I'm doing this because I have to. I don't want to be imprisoned for the rest of my afterlife."

"No one said anything about imprisonment."

"You didn't need to. I can put two and two together and figure things out for myself. If I don't control this power than I'm a danger to others."

Before he could say anything else, a man walked into the room. He was tall, probably around six foot or so, with salt and pepper hair. He looked around my father's age with large rimmed glasses that hovered on the bridge of his nose. His gray eyes stared right at me as if he knew exactly who I was. "What can I do for you Captain?" He asked, moving his glasses back up on his face.

"This is Taya Ito, she recently arrived in the Soul Society and has a uncontrolled power that needs to be harnessed. The Head Captain wants her enrolled and taught the necessary skills to become a Soul Reaper." Captain Hitsugaya announced.

I swallowed hard, wondering what was going to be said next. It was then that I could feel Shūhei standing behind me. I smiled on the inside knowing he was there, supporting me. "Understood, we will teach her everything she needs to know."

"I will return to the Seireitei and relay to the message to the Head Captain."

"I will take care of everything here, please send my regards to my dear friend."

Captain Hitsugaya turned to looked at me. There was a softness in his turquoise eyes that I hadn't seen before. Rangiku stood close to her Captain. She had a smile on her perfect features. So this was goodbye. They were going to leave me here, alone. "Good luck, Taya. I hope to see you in future as a full fledged Soul Reaper." She said, holding her hand out for me to shake.

"Thank you." I said, accepting the hand shake.

She turned to follow her Captain out of the room. Shūhei stood for a moment, just looking at me. I wondered what was going on inside his head. "Thank you, for everything…" I said, breaking the silence.

"You're welcome."

I took several steps towards him, leaning up on my tip toes to place a gentle kiss on his cheek. A slight blush tinted his cheeks in the most adorable way. Without warning, he wrapped his arms around me. "Good luck, we will meet again…" He whispered before turning to walk away with the others.

My heart was pounding inside my chest; but somehow I knew, this is where I belonged. The headmaster placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and I turned to ready myself for what was to come when it came to learning what I needed to.

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Shūhei

"So what was that about?" Rangiku asked, playing elbowing me in the ribs

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying not to speak about Taya.

"You barely know the girl and you hugged her like you knew her forever."

She wasn't wrong; but at the same time, I felt connected to Taya. That mission in the World of the Living changed so many things for me. Captain Hitsugaya shifted his eyes to look at us; but said nothing. There was a slight smile on his face. "So what if he hugged her, it sounds like you're a little jealous." The Captain said just before we arrived in the Squad One Barracks.

"Captain! That was just plain mean." Rangiku whined.

The bantering gave me to the opportunity to take my leave and return to my own Squad. It was quiet when I arrived. Opening the office door, I could see my Captain grumbling to himself over paperwork. He looked up for a moment to catch my gaze. His silvery white hair was mussed up so it was out of his face. The sunlight shimmered on the piercing in his left eyebrow and three in his left ear.

Seventeen months after Aizen's defeat, he returned to the Soul Society after being a outcast for over a century because of an accident that involved Aizen's experiments on crossing Soul Reapers with Hollows. Thus creating the Vizards. Kensei Muguruma was the man who saved me as a child and reason I had the number '69' tattooed to my cheek.

"Was your mission successful?" He asked, sliding a stack of papers to his left.

"Yes, the girl is now at the Academy."

I hated using the words 'the girl' because I knew her name; but he wouldn't care about that. I needed to keep my personal feeling about the mission to myself. It didn't take long for him to notice the indifference within me. "Did something happen?" He asked.

"No."

"Alright, why don't you help me out for a little bit. Mashiro disappeared again and I'm behind."

"Of course, sir."

Mindlessly walking to my desk, there were stacks of papers pilled up. Picking up my pen, I got to work on the stuff I needed to catch up on since the mission started. It was so quiet in the room that you could have heard a pin drop. Taya came to mind almost effortlessly. I wondered how she was fairing at the Academy. A replay of the flames she had expelled to kill the hollows that day in The World of the Living flashed behind my eyes. The determination and desperation written on her face was nothing I had ever seen before; however there was something familiar about the flames; but I couldn't quite put my finger on what exactly made them familiar to me.