Chapter 5

Next he opened his eyes to the wooden ceiling of his and Aizen's house. It was obscured by bright green light. He tried to get up only to find his path blocked by a pair of hands. He began to panic before Aizen appeared in his line of sight. He seemed uncomfortable. "Shiro don't worry they are healing you."

This confused Shiro as he looked around the room. The hands that had pushed him down belonged to a women with long black hair that braided together in the front. She was incased in a bright gold color. A man with long white hair and a yellow color, along with another man in a pink robe with a pink color seemed familiar but he couldn't place them. Stood against the wall looking around. Lastly was a dark skinned women what had a white light. This was even more confusing because he could have sworn.

"The cat!"

The women turned his way and gave a smirk in reply. "I do like this one."

The pink one answered, "We said you would. So why did it take you so long to find him them?"

The women's arm moved so fast that if the pink man hadn't started laughing will holding what must have been a knife she had thrown at him, Shiro wouldn't have known what happened.

The yellow many rolled his eyes. "You're distressing the boys you two."

Both quieted and looked back towards them. Aizen seemed even more uncomfortable, but moved to plant himself more fully in front of Shiro blocking his view of the adults. "Thank you for coming and saving my friend, but as he is now awake and healed I must ask you to leave."

The golden women who had been watching Shiro intently the whole time looked up at this. "I'm afraid that I won't be able to do that Aizen. Your friend here is in need of much more medical attention then I can give him in your home. He will need to come back with me to the Seireitei. He has absorbed some of the Hollows reiatsu and will need a special machine to make sure that it is all removed. All I've been able to do is heal his ribs."

At the word Seireitei Shiro has stiffened. These people must be Shinigami. He had tried to move away from the women as well but when he had moved he felt a pain shot from his core to his extremities. He left out a gasp of pain once again drawing all the attention to him.

The yellow man spoke again, "Young Shiro is in pain Aizen. Would you deny him the help that he needs because of your fear?"

Aizen's eyes flicked back and forth until the "cat" spoke. "You can come with him and will be allowed to leave when his treatment is done."

Aizen gave a slow nod. Just as Shiro slipped back into nothingness.

They spent a week in the Seiretei as Shiro recovered. Turns out the yellow and pink man had been people he had meet while buying Aizens glasses all those years ago. Each day they came and talked to Shiro and Aizen and tried to convince them to stay and become Shinigami. The "cat" Yoruichi also liked to come by. Sometimes as a cat and sometimes as a human.

Aizen was stressed every time someone walked into their room. It was clear to Shiro that he just wanted to leave and go back to their hut.

Shiro on the other hand, was coming to learn that the Shinigami that he interacted with weren't so bad. They were weird, but sincere in their own way. He listened intently as they told stories of monsters they had fought in their lives. When they left all he could think was how helpless he had felt while they fought the Hollow. He and Aizen had both almost died that day and he never wanted to be put in that situation again. Shiro had also grown in leaps and bounds with his ability to see spiritual pressure. With so much of it around them all the time he had needed to for fear of becoming blind.

When they were told that they should be able to leave tomorrow as they couldn't find any more of the Hollows powers in him anymore, but still wanted to do one more test. Aizen had started packing the moment the door had closed. When he noticed that Shiro wasn't packing he had stopped and looked at him quizzically.

"I'm not going to go back yet."

"What!?"

"I need to become stronger so that I can protect you."

"We can train at home!" A fear entered Aizen eyes as he realized what Shiro was saying.

"Not to fight off the monsters out there."

"That was one time! We have hunted for years and never run into one."

"But what if we run into another one. We barely survived the first time what's to say that next time it isn't me, you, or both of us that die? I can't live with the idea of losing you."

"That won't happen though, we have each other's backs right?"

"Yes, but I need to be sure."

Aizen tried to change tactics, "You would leave me out there alone?"

Shiro looked thrown at this, "I thought you would stay with me?"

Shaking his head, "You know that I would never be able to stay surrounded by Shinigami all the time. You either will have to come back with me, or leave me alone out there."

"Aizen… I'm sorry but I have to stay."

Aizen turned away from him and continued to shove his clothes into the bag, before grabbing it and walking to the door. He gave one long last look at Shiro before walking out.

Shiro had never felt so alone in the world as the door clicked into place.

Jushiro, Shunsui and Yoruichi were over the moon when they came later that day. They talked all about the academy and the things that he would learn while there. They even started an impromptu to drinking party in the middle of his room. He declined every drink. He had seen far to many drunk people in his district to ever be tempted by the stuff.

There excitement should have been contagious, but all Shiro could feel though was the hole that Aizen had left when he had walked out. The academy was a six-year program and when he was done he could go and find Aizen again! He already been alive hundreds of years what was a couple more! Or so he tried to convince himself but in reality, he knew that Aizen may not go back to their hut, or even want to see him once he because a Shinigami.

Shiro hardly slept that night. Granted with 3 captains sprawled all around the room in every available space he probably wouldn't have been able to. Unohana his doctor with the golden spiritual pressure had shown up at dawn for his final check took one look around the room and had promptly thrown all three captains out the window. The top floor window. "They'll be fine." She said with a smile to chill bones. When Shrio blinked she was back to her normal kind self. Probable one of those things it was better to just forget.

He passed his final examination with flying colors. "Seinosuke will be along soon to help you move to the academy. Congratulations on be accepted and I hope you consider the 4th division when you graduate." With a final nod she was out the room.

Shiro was ready when Seinosuke came to pick him up. Or more precisely walked past his room mumbling about "How if it hadn't been Caption Unohana who asked him to deliver the whelp then he would never be caught dead on academy grounds. Bunch of wantabes that don't even know what true greatness is! Ect…."

Shiro was already well verse in the bad temperament whenever Unohana wasn't around. He figured something like this would happen, so when he made a vague gesture towards a door then promptly turned around and went back the way he had come Shiro wasn't surprised.

With one final deep breath he pushed the door open. Jushiro had told him the night before that he would be sharing a room with another student. He was also starting about a week late into the new year. What he wasn't expecting was Aizen looking miserable sitting on the other bed. He gave a smirk when he saw Shiro in the door.

"I couldn't leave you alone you idiot. Have to make sure you survive this forsaken school."

Shiro was smiling so wide that honestly, he couldn't say anything back.