Here's Chapter 10 Sorry I took so long! I started school again and didn't have time to finish it up :'c

Anyways... I don't know how often I'll update now, since I'm kinda busy now :'c But I'll do my best to keep you guys updated with the story hehe

BTW! Leave reviews / comments, I love those 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor any of its characters. All credist go to Tite Kubo.

After Kyoraku left, Ukitake and Haruna looked everywhere except at each other. They stayed quiet for a few minutes before Ukitake spoke.

"Umm... Haruna?" he called her name, since she seemed to be looking at the floor deep in thought. Now he was looking at her intently.

"Yeah?" she said. She looked at him for an instant before turning away again. She felt like if she looked into his kind eyes, she would break down and start crying, just like she had done last night. She didn't want to worry him.

"Why are you avoiding my eyes?" he asked.

"Why were YOU avoiding my eyes until a little bit ago?" she asked, still not looking at him.

"I..." he couldn't find the words to say.

"You wanted to ask me about yesterday but also didn't want to pressure me to talk about it if I didn't feel like it, am I right?"

Ukitake was surprised at the accuracy with which Haruna had just said all this. He remained silent, not knowing what to say, and Haruna finally had the courage to look at him.

"I'll tell you everything when Shunsui comes back..."

"Okay," Ukitake said, glad that she was willing to talk. "Wait.. But when is he coming back?"

"I don't know," she said. "He said later, right? Let's just wait for him."

"Okay."

Another few minutes passed by in silence.

"I can't stand this anymore!" Ukitake said, suddenly standing up. Then his face went a little pale, and his breathing became a little heavy.

"Don't stand up so abruptly!" Haruna exclaimed, almost scolding him.

"Oops..." he said with a faint smile. He sat back down.

"Seriously," Haruna said with a sigh. "Why are you so careless?"

"Hehe," Ukitake laughed.

"What's so funny?" Haruna asked, confused.

"You're back to normal," Ukitake replied with a smile. "I'm glad."

"Wha-" Haruna blushed.

"I was really worried," he said, remembering the way Haruna had acted the last few days. He had a sad look in his face.

"Juushiro..." Haruna called his name, feeling sad that she had made him worry so much. "I'm sorry..."

"No," Ukitake said, his smile coming back to his face, "don't apologize. It's not your fault. You didn't make me worry because you wanted to. I worry because I care about you, and the same goes for Kyoraku. Both of us care for you, so it can't be helped that we get worried."

Haruna blushed at the thought of her two friends caring for her. They had become so dear for her, but she hadn't been sure of what they thought of her. After hearing Ukitake's words, however, she was more than relieved. She was happy, and she couldn't help but smile. "Thank you."

"Thank you for what?" Kyoraku said as he came in.

"Shunsui! Finally!" Haruna exclaimed.

"What? You were waiting for me? Are you done talking things over?" Kyoraku asked.

"Sort of," Haruna replied. "I wanted you to listen to what I wanted to say too, so I told Juushiro to wait for you." She chuckled when she saw Kyoraku's confused expression.

"What did you want to tell us?" Kyoraku asked tilting his head.

"Well... How do I start?" Haruna tried to put her thoughts in order before starting to speak. Her face was more serious, and every now and then, it even looked gloomy. "Let me start from the reason I took the day off yesterday.

"A year ago, something terrible happened. It was a really dark night, darker than usual, and it was raining. I couldn't sleep. I had a really bad feeling that something would happen, so I got scared and couldn't sleep. I went to my parents' room, where my mother was sleeping. My father and my brother were back at the hospital side of the house, so my mother was alone. She heard my footsteps and woke up. She hugged me to calm me down because I was trembling, and I had started to fall asleep. Then I heard her groan in pain and blood started coming out from the corners of her mouth. I felt her chest wet, and when I looked, her kimono was stained red, and I could see the tip of a blade coming out of her chest. I was too scared to move or say anything, and my eyes started to fill with tears. I heard my mother faintly say, 'Run away,' before she went completely cold and limb.

"Behind her, there was a man wearing a white kimono, which was stained with blood too, and he was holding the sword that had pierced through my mother's chest. His eyes were red, and his facial expression told me he wasn't normal. He violently pulled the sword out of my mother's chest and licked the blood dripping from the blade. I was so scared that I couldn't even scream for help. Then the man pointed his sword at me and swung it up, ready to slay me. I finally was able to scream, and I think the scream startled the man cuz he stood there motionless for a few seconds. I somehow managed to get up and start running. I left the room and ran to the garden. I didn't care that I was getting wet, I just wanted to get away from the man. I was panicking and crying, and my vision was clouded because of the rain and my tears, so I stumbled on a rock and fell.

"The man took this opportunity and swung his sword down at me, but my brother came and stopped him with his own sword. Onii-chan distracted the man while my father and Midokawa-san approached him from the back with rope. Onii-chan managed to loosen the grip that the man had on his sword and threw him to the ground. Then Midokawa-san and my father took his sword and tied him up until the Executive Militia Corps arrived and took the man away.

"Apparently, he was a former Shinigami who had been put in solitary confinement for killing his teammates during a mission. He had somehow managed to escape, so the Executive Militia Corps assured us that they would put him in a deeper part of the prison. When they left with the man, Onii-chan and Father came to me and hugged me. I was trembling so much, and when they hugged me, I started crying. I cried myself to sleep, and when I woke up, two weeks had passed since then. Apparently the shock was so great that I went on a partial coma.

"I guess that pretty much sums it all up..." When she finished her story, she was trembling again, and tears threatened to come out, but she suppressed them and smiled.

Kyoraku and Ukitake were speechless. For a long time, they stared at Haruna, who was trying to suppress her tears.

"You know? It's bad to suppress your tears," Kyoraku finally said. "It's better to let it all out sometimes. You can't hide them forever."

Haruna looked at Kyoraku and then at Ukitake, and the two were smiling at her. When she saw their warm smiles, she couldn't help but let it all out. When she started crying, Kyoraku and Ukitake moved closer to her and hugged her from both sides. She cried for a couple of minutes, and when she was done, she wiped her cheeks with her sleeves.

"By the way, Juushiro," she said, still sniffing a little bit.

"Yes?" Ukitake said surprised.

"You didn't answer me," she said. "Why were you avoiding my eyes?"

"Oh," Ukitake said, trying to think of how to answer that. "Umm... It was nothing."

"I don't believe you!" Haruna said, pouting a little bit. "I know there was something."

"Well..."

"Well...?" Haruna was persistent.

"I just..." he thought for a few seconds. He saw Haruna was looking intently at him, so he finally sighed and said, "I actually went with my father yesterday."

"Huh?" Haruna seemed confused. Then she realized what he meant and said, "Oh."

"Yeah," he said, "you were sleeping, and Hayato-sensei wanted to wake you up to tell you I was there, but I told him not to. Also, my father agreed he shouldn't, since he knows you've been taking care of me a lot lately."

"Oh..." was all Haruna could say. "So you came with your father..."

"You knew my father went?" Ukitake asked in surprise.

"Yeah," she replied. "Father and Onii-chan told me he came, but they didn't tell me you had come."

"Well," he said, "I asked them not to tell you..."

"Why?" she asked surprised.

"Because," he looked down again, "then you would have guessed that I heard of what happened, and I wanted to wait until you were willing to open up..."

"So you heard what happened?" she asked.

"Well, yes..." he said, not looking at her, again. "I heard briefly from your father."

"Is that why you were avoiding my eyes?"

"I... I just didn't know what I could do to cheer you up," he said, blushing a little bit and looking a little sad. "And I couldn't just act like I didn't know anything."

Haruna chuckled, and Kyoraku laughed.

"Wha-" Ukitake was surprised. "Why are you lauughing?"

"Because," Haruna said, still chuckling, "I'm just happy that you would think about me so much." Then she realized what she said. "I-I mean... That you would worry about me so much..."

Kyoraku laughed. "Of course he worries about you!" he said smiling. "We're friends, so we worry about you."

"Thanks, Shunsui," Haruna said. Then she turned to Ukitake. "Thanks, Juushiro."

"Kyoraku is right," Ukitake said. "You're our friend, so we can't really not worry about you."

"And also," Kyoraku added, "you probably feel the same way about us, or do you not worry about us at all?"

"Of course I worry about you! How can I not?" Haruna replied.

"That's how we feel about you," Kyoraku said smiling. "Friendship is not a one-sided thing."

"Thank you," Haruna said after a few seconds of silence, "for being my friends."

"Thank you as well," Ukitake said, "for being our friend."

The three of them smiled at each other.

"I think we should leave," Kyoraku said. "Haruna-chan needs to rest." He looked at her and winked.

"Yeah," Ukitake said. "We'll come see you tomorrow."

"No," Haruna replied. "We'll see each other at the Academy."

"Are you sure you can go? You don't have to force yourself," Ukitake said, worried about her.

"It's okay," she replied with a big, genuine smile. "I'm fine now."

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