Okie dokie! Here is chapter 12! I hope you have fun reading it! Let me know what you think, what you've noticed, what you think will happen, etc :)

Also :') to IchiRuki-Ventus-11: THANK YOU SO MUCH! Your review had me tearing up for some reason. I'm so happy you're enjoying this fic!

To Jojo669: hehe I'm glad you're appreciating the suspense/mystery! I'm afraid that the mystery is not quite over yet! But soon! Also, your predication is so good! Hmm I'm not sure if I want to say if it's close or not...but it is very good. I can't wait for you to find out!

To cfc: Yay! I'm so glad you're liking this fic! This chapter and the next one will be focusing on Kaien and Rukia's relationship. And I was also thinking of making a separate fic about their relationship since I didn't want to go into too much detail in this fic.


It had been such a normal day. Kaien Shiba had taken Rukia to the mountain ranges just outside of the Third District of West Rukongai. They had gone there many times before to train. It was there that Rukia had achieved her shikai many years ago and later perfected Shirayuki's first two dances.

Kaien dropped his bag and plopped down onto the ground. "Whew! I don't remember that hike being so tiring."

Rukia handed him a water bottle. "Maybe you just didn't drink enough water, Kaien-dono."

Kaien laughed. "You're too nice, Kuchiki. It's alright, you can say it. I know I'm getting old."

Rukia panicked. "That's not what I was thinking at all! Y-You're not old!"

He laughed again. "Calm down, it was a joke."

Rukia exhaled. "It wasn't very funny," she pouted.

Her lieutenant started rubbing his knees. Rukia could tell he was hurting from the faces he was making.

"I think there's going to be a storm later today," he said as he continued rubbing his sore knees.

"Or maybe you are getting old," Rukia mumbled.

Kaien rolled his eyes before patting the ground next to him, telling Rukia to sit down. When she did, he began to ruffle her hair. He laughed as the angry girl simply sat there and let him. He knew she hated when he messed up her hair like that. He didn't care. Rukia's reaction was always worth it.

"So why are we here?" Rukia asked. She didn't know why Kaien had all of a sudden wanted to take her back to their old training place. It had been so long since they last visited. After she had perfected her shikai, there wasn't really much reason to come back. Any training they did after that was done back at the 13th.

"Don't you want to train and get stronger?" he asked.

She nodded. "Of course I do, Kaien-dono! But it's been so long since we last trained here."

He let out a long breath. "I should have known I couldn't get anything past you, Kuchiki. Honestly, I just needed to get away from the Seireitei for a while. And what better way than to come here to train with my favorite subordinate?" he exclaimed before wrapping an arm around Rukia and, once again, ruffling her hair.

"Kaien-dono!" she grumbled. She pried herself out of his hold and scooted away from him. As she patted down her hair, she muttered, "Why do you always do that?"

To which, Kaien simply laughed.

He got up. "Come on, Kuchiki. It's time to train."


Kaien lowered his zanpakuto. "You've improved a lot since we were last here," he said as he tried to catch his breath.

Rukia was also trying to catch her breath. Compared to her lieutenant though, she definitely looked worse. "Are you sure? I was barely keeping up with you this time."

"That's 'cuz I used to hold back a lot back then."

Rukia couldn't believe it. She thought back to all the times her lieutenant would disarm her and have her ass on the ground in seconds. "You were holding back that whole time?"

He scratched his head sheepishly. "Still kind of am," he admitted.

Rukia looked at Kaien with her mouth wide open.

He laughed. "Kuchiki, don't be upset. I'm a lieutenant after all. What? Did you think I got to where I am just based off of my good looks and charming personality?"

Rukia bursted out laughing.

"Hey! That wasn't a joke this time!"

She started to laugh harder.

Kaien should have been offended, but he couldn't be. It wasn't often he got to see Rukia like this, rolling on the ground and barely able to breathe because of how hard she was laughing. She almost always looked so gloomy. He couldn't stand to see such a kind soul look so sad. Long ago, he had made it his mission to make her laugh as much as possible. Or at least smile. He liked when she smiled.

"I'm sorry, Kaien-dono," Rukia said as she finally started to calm down.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure you are," he said as he helped her get up.

"Are we done for the day?" she asked.

"Not quite. There's one last thing you need to do before we call it a day."

Without another word, Kaien started walking.

Rukia looked at him for a moment before running to catch up to him. "One last thing? What is it?"

"You'll see."

As they walked through the thick foliage of the mountain range, Rukia couldn't help but wonder what this task Kaien had for her would be.

"Why can't you just tell me already?" Rukia asked. The longer they walked, the more impatient she became.

"Because," was all Kaien said.

"Because why?"

"Because I want you to at least try before you say you can't do it."

Rukia's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Kuchiki, you always sell yourself short. You tell yourself that you aren't strong enough or good enough to do something before you even try it."

"That's because I'm not like you, Kaien-dono."

"Not like me?" he repeated. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not strong like you. I'm not as skilled as you. Everything comes so easily to you. Whenever you're presented with a challenge, you never run away because you know that you are more than capable of handling it. I'm not like that. It's not that easy for me."

Kaien frowned. "That's what I'm talking about, Kuchiki. And besides, nothing's easy. Even for me. I know I make everything look super cool and easy, but it hasn't always been that way. And even now, even though I'm strong like you say I am, there are still challenges that scare me."

Rukia looked at Kaien. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. I wasn't always so 'strong and skilled,' believe it or not." He rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I'm still not if I'm still afraid of certain challenges."

Rukia frowned. The thought of her lieutenant actually being afraid of something just didn't make sense to her. What could possibly be scary to that man? He must be lying to her to boost her confidence, Rukia decided. She tried to look at his face to see if she could tell if he was just saying these things. She could only see the back of his head though.

He probably was lying to make her feel better, she reaffirmed herself. There was no way someone like Kaien could be anything like her. Right?

"Well, what changed?" Rukia finally asked.

"I trained, I trained, and then I trained some more. But it wasn't until Captain Ukitake gave me an extra push that I really started making progress."

"Captain Ukitake did?"

"Yup. I have no idea what that old man saw in me."

Kaien suddenly stopped walking. Rukia hadn't noticed and walked right into him.

"Ow!" she muttered as she rubbed her forehead. When she looked up, she saw Kaien staring right at her. When he simply kept looking at her, she started to get a little uncomfortable. "What's wrong, Kaien-dono?"

"Nothing, Kuchiki. I was just thinking." With that, he turned around and continued walking like nothing had happened.

Rukia couldn't believe him. "What do you mean 'nothing'?"

"I was just thinking that maybe I'm starting to finally understand Captain Ukitake a little more."

Rukia was so confused. "I don't think I'll ever be able to understand you, Kaien-dono," she mumbled to herself.

Suddenly, Rukia could hear the sound of running water. She started running to catch up to Kaien.

Up ahead she could see a clearing. She ran past Kaien to see what was there. She couldn't help but to be breathless when she saw where they were.

They stood at the top of the canyon that ran through the middle of the forested mountain range. She loved the sound of the crashing waters from the dozens of waterfalls that were scattered throughout the canyon.

"Woah!" she marveled.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" he asked once he had caught up to Rukia.

Rukia nodded. She couldn't speak. She was too busy taking in the breathtaking view that never ceased to amaze her.

Rukia turned to her lieutenant. "Not that I'm disappointed, but what are we doing here? We usually go to the little waterfall on Mount Koifushi."

Kaien smirked. "Because that would be too easy."

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Before we can relax for the day, I have one last task for you. Your task is to freeze the waterfall-"

"Huh? All of them?" she cried.

"No, not all of them. Just one waterfall will do. At this point, that should be an easy enough task for you. Although, I would like to see you be able to freeze the whole canyon someday."

Rukia gawked at her superior. She didn't mean to be rude, but was he crazy?

"Don't look at me like that Kuchiki," he playfully scorned her. "I have been training you for a few years now. With what I've seen, and all the extra work you've put in on your own, one waterfall is going to be a piece of cake."

Rukia frowned. "Kaien-dono, I think you're putting too much of your faith in me. I'm thankful for all the time you've taken to train me. But I'm just not-"

Kaien didn't want to hear the end of that sentence. With a straight face, he pushed Rukia over the edge of the canyon and sent her falling...falling...falling into the deep water below. He listened as Rukia shrieked and then splashed into the water.

Rukia frantically swam to the top of the water and wiped her soaking hair out of her face. She glared at the top of the canyon, where her mentor surely stood incredibly proud of himself.

"Kaien-dono! What do you think you're doing?" she shouted.

"Giving you an extra push!" he called.

"You're not f-"

Rukia was cut off when the water around her suddenly started swooshing all around. She watched as a bunch of water shot up towards Kaien. When the water started to come back down, it was carrying Kaien down with it as well. Rukia marveled at the beautiful trident in his hand.

Kaien stood above the surface of the water. It almost looked as if he actually were able to walk on water.

Rukia almost rolled her eyes when she saw how amazed Kaien was with himself. Nevertheless, she unconsciously cracked a smile.

"Stop showing off," she grumbled.

"I will, once you freeze that waterfall. If you do that, there's no way I could ever be as cool as you." Kaien snorted with laughter. "See what I did there?"

She looked at him seriously.

"Come on, Kuchiki! Would it kill you to laugh at at least one of my jokes?" he said as he made the water around Rukia gently sweep her over to the small shore. He pointed at the waterfall in front of them. "Go ahead. Freeze it."

"You say it like it's easy," she muttered.

"At least try, Kuchiki. Please."

"Ok, ok. I will."

Rukia took a deep breath. She unsheathed her zanpakuto and held it in front of her.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" she called. Her once normal zanpakuto transformed into a beautiful white sword.

Kaien stared intently at the girl before him. A memory of the same girl from a few years earlier flashed into his mind. That girl was different though. She had been shaking and sweating after pushing herself to her very limit to call upon the same sword the girl before him today had just summoned so easily. He smiled as his heart swelled with pride. It was easy to see just how much his subordinate had grown in just a few years. He was so happy to have been able to play a small, yet very important role in that growth.

Rukia pierced the ground before her four times and brought her sword to her side. She stood perfectly still and practically glared at the waterfall before her as she tried to focus. She focused her reishi to the tip of her sword. The reishi accumulated slowly and then all at once.

"Next dance, Hakuren!"

With that, the reishi at the tip of Rukia's zanpakuto exploded into an avalanche. The giant wave of snow plowed forward and slammed into the waterfall.

Rukia exhaled. Her look of determination disappeared and was replaced with anxiety and anticipation. She waited anxiously for the snow to clear. Had she succeeded? Or had she failed her mentor?

Kaien on the other hand didn't have a doubt in his mind. He watched as the icy mist cleared to show a completely frozen waterfall. Of course Rukia had succeeded. He marveled at all the ice that now covered a good portion of the canyon's face. Not only had she succeeded, she had surpassed his expectations.

Kaien looked over to Rukia who was staring at what she had just done. She rubbed her big, purple eyes as if to make sure she wasn't imagining it all.

The lieutenant smiled. "You look so surprised, Kuchiki."

Rukia couldn't take her eyes off of the waterfall. "I...I did it. I froze the waterfall?"

Kaien suddenly flicked Rukia's forehead. "Of course you did, dummy!" he scolded. In a split second, his demeanor changed and he tenderly whispered, "And I'm proud of you."

"Then what was that for?" she cried as she rubbed her forehead.

"That was for doubting yourself! I told you that you always stop yourself before you even try. And I don't understand what for. I mean, look at that!" he said as he gestured to the waterfall. "I knew you had it in you."

She sheepishly smiled. "Thank you, Kaien-dono."

Kaien smiled and brought his hand up. Rukia had flinched, thinking he was going to flick her again. But instead, he put his hand on top of her head and gently tousled her hair. Rukia let herself smile. She hated how much he loved to mess up her hair. But she wouldn't lie. It was moments like those that made her the happiest.

Kaien suddenly stopped rubbing her head. His hand started to wander down to the side of her face and was now caressing her cheek.

Rukia's big eyes looked up to Kaien. "Kaien-dono?"

"Kuchiki…" he whispered.

The way her lieutenant's warm eyes were looking into her own and the way his voice said her name made her legs feel wobbly. Her heart began to race and her cheeks felt warm.

What was going on?

For a second, Rukia thought that Kaien was starting to lean in closer to her. Was he about to kiss her?

She told herself that it must have been her imagination.

Nevertheless, she was shocked when her lieutenant, instead of kissing her, abruptly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Kaien-dono?"

He didn't say anything. Instead, he hugged her tighter.

After a few more seconds, Kaien finally let her go. Rukia looked at him and saw, to her surprise, tears in his eyes.

"What's wrong, Kaien-dono?"

He quickly turned around and wiped his eyes. "Nothing, Kuchiki. Don't worry."

Rukia knew he was lying. "What do you mean 'nothing'?"

"I… I'm just so proud of you."

Another lie. But before she could ask again, she was stopped by a giant thunder clap.

The two looked up to see lighting and massive clouds moving quickly to cover the sky.

"Looks like there's going to be a huge storm afterall," Kaien pointed out. "Come on, Kuchiki. We can't stay here. Let's go into town and find some place to wait out the storm."


The two were hiking down the mountain at a very fast rate. Rukia knew Kaien didn't want to get caught in the storm, but she could barely keep up with his pace.

As they continued hiking, Rukia couldn't help but stare at her lieutenant. Just a few moments ago, she had been so sure that he was about to kiss her. And instead, he hugged her out of nowhere.

The image of Kaien with tears in his eyes flashed back into her mind.

And why had he been so sad?

Kaien looked back at Rukia innocently. "Everything alright, Kuchiki?"

She panicked. "Yes! Why wouldn't it be?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess you're acting kinda weird."

She gawked at Kaien, who hadn't noticed. How was she the one acting "kinda weird"?

"Kuchiki, hurry up. Don't tell me you're already worn out after only one day of training?" he joked.

Again, all she could do was gawk at the man in front of her. Before she could figure out what to say, Kaien said, "Look. We're approaching the village."

Once they reached the town, Rukia noticed how all the souls residing there turned to look at them. She became worried. There were many towns, like the one she grew up in, where the souls despised shinigami. However, she soon saw that all the souls were smiling and even waving at them.

The younger shinigami was a little shocked. It was such a sight to see. Kaien, however, went right on ahead through the crowds. He walked tall and proud. Rukia rushed to Kaien's side.

"They like us?" she asked.

"Yeah, you could say that. A couple decades back, this town was taken over by some gang. As soon as we found out, a team was sent to take back the town. Ever since then, this town has loved the presence of the shinigami."

"I see," she marveled. Her wide eyes scanned through the crowds. They seem to have arrived just in time for a festival. There were beautiful lights and lanterns that illuminated the streets. Souls were working frantically to cover their food and game stands before the storm began.

The two were busy enjoying the scenery when a child suddenly ran right in front of them. They turned to look at the little girl as she ran past them. She had been chasing down her ball. Before they knew it, the little girl had tripped and fallen to the ground.

Rukia immediately ran towards the child. She carefully picked the child up and put her back onto her feet. "Are you alright?" she asked the little girl.

As the little girl brushed off her clothes, Kaien went to get the child's ball.

"I'm ok! Thank you!" the girl spoke. Rukia's heart fluttered. Her little voice was so cute!

Kaien walked up to the two and handed the little girl her ball. "You have to be more careful, little one."

The girl smiled and took her ball back. That was when she finally got a good look at who had come to her rescue. Her mouth went wide and her eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Shinigami!" she cheered.

Kaien smirked. "Yeah! We're shinigami!" he said with pride. "My name is Kaien Shiba. What's your name, little one?"

"My name is Ran!"

Rukia beamed. "Ran? What a beautiful name! Oh! And it suits you and your pink hair so well! I'm jealous!"

"Thank you! And what's your name?"

"I'm Rukia Kuchiki."

"Oh!" the girl marvelled. "Rukia and Kaien. Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Rukia blushed.

"Nah," Kaien chimed in. "She said she doesn't want to be my girlfriend."

Rukia gawked at him. "Kaien-dono!"

The little girl pouted. "Rukia-san, how come you don't want to be his girlfriend?"

"Um, you see, we're just teammates! He already has a wife!" she said in an effort to defend herself before the angry little girl.

"Oniisan," the girl said to Kaien, "I know just how to get her to fall in love with you!"

"All right! I've tried just about everything! I tell her 'good morning' everyday, I bring her juice, the occasional lunch. I even buy her those dumb stuffed toys she's obsessed with, and she's still not in love with me!"

The girl smirked. "I see. You're forgetting one thing. All you gotta do is..."

The pink-haired girl tugged on Kaien's pants and motioned for him to lean down closer to her. Kaien did so, and the little girl got onto her tiptoes. She began whispering her secret to Kaien. Rukia couldn't hear what she was saying.

Kaien pretended as if he were listening intently. He nodded vigorously.

"Oh! I've been doing it all wrong then!" the older man exclaimed.

The girl nodded. "Yup. But if you do it my way, she'll be sure to fall in love with you."

Kaien grabbed Rukia by the waist and pulled her close to him. He had caught her completely off guard. "Thanks, kid. The next time you see us, she'll be madly in love with me!"

She winked. "No problem, oniisan!" the girl said before she ran off.

A flustered Rukia squirmed out of Kaien's hold. "Kaien-dono! You mustn't joke like that!"

"Who said I was joking?"

She had been caught off guard once again. Rukia's mind wandered back to earlier when she had been so sure Kaien was going to kiss her. Her heart began to race. "I-It's not funny!"

"You're right, it's not. I'm not kidding, Kuchiki." He paused. Kaien started to get flustered. He had turned his head to try to hide the slight blush covering his cheeks. "There's actually something I wanted to talk to you about…"

That was when Rukia figured it out. Earlier, when she thought Kaien had been about to kiss her, and all the things he had been saying just now... It was all a joke to him. She knew her lieutenant liked to play jokes on her, but he had never done anything this cruel. Rukia angrily looked at her superior. How dare he play with her emotions like that! She never thought he of all people would be capable of such a thing.

Rukia turned around with a huff and started walking away from her lieutenant. She wasn't about to fall for whatever joke he was going to play on her. She wouldn't allow him the satisfaction of seeing her get flustered with his ongoing joke.

"Oi! Kuchiki! Where are you going?" he called.

She ignored him.

"C'mon!" He followed after her. "I really need to talk to you!"

She kept walking.

He continued to run after her, calling her name. When he caught up, he grabbed her by the hand. "Kuchiki, would you stop walking away from me?"

She didn't turn to face him.

"Rukia!" he said more sternly. "What's going on with you? I really do need to talk to you."

If she hadn't been so hurt, Rukia would have been surprised to hear him call her by her first name.

"Enough already, Kaien-dono," she begged. "You shouldn't play jokes on people's emotions like that. It's not right."

Her words had shocked the lieutenant. Did she really think that was what he had been trying to do?

It had taken Kaien the entire day to muster up the courage to finally just say it. And in just a few seconds, that courage had disappeared. For a moment, he thought about just going along with what the poor girl was thinking. If he pretended that he had just been messing with her, this would all be over and no one would get hurt. He knew Rukia would be upset with him if he did lie and say that it had all just been a stupid prank. Kaien also knew that she would forgive him, and as if nothing had happened, they'd go back to being superior and subordinate. Everything would be as it was. He would greet her everyday, have lunch with her occasionally, train her. He would do everything that their relationship would allow.

But he couldn't do that. He couldn't spend the rest of his life just watching her from afar, wondering what could have happened had he just said those damn words that day. He needed to at least tell her. Whatever happened after that, he would just have to accept it.

"Rukia, I'm being serious right now. This isn't another one of my stupid jokes. I wouldn't joke about something like this." His hold on her hand tightened. "Please turn around."

He wasn't joking?

Rukia's heart began to race. She didn't know what scared her more: all of this being a joke, or all of this being real.

She didn't know what else to do. Rukia reluctantly turned around.

Kaien blinked. Is she crying?

He felt tiny droplets falling onto his outstretched hand that was still holding onto Rukia's. Kaien looked up to see that it had started raining. Lightning began illuminating the sky and thunder began rumbling.

Stupid, he said to himself. It's just the rain. Rukia would never cry in front of you.

He looked down to look Rukia in the eyes. His free hand grabbed her other hand. He hadn't noticed how tight his grip on her hands was. It wasn't so tight that it hurt Rukia. But it made her wonder… Was he nervous?

"Rukia, from the day that I met you - that day I welcomed you into the 13th Division - I knew you were special. I didn't know why, but I just knew. And no matter how hard I tried to figure it out, I could never understand what it was about you that just made me so...happy. I found myself wanting to spend more and more time with you. So I did. It was like I couldn't stay away. Everytime that you smiled at me, everytime that you spoke to me, everytime we trained together, ate lunch together, laughed together, that bizarre feeling I got on the day I met you grew more and more. It grew to a level that was almost unbearable.

"I had to figure it out. What was that feeling that wouldn't leave me alone? I would spend hours and hours asking myself, but I never figured it out. Until, one day, I did. But I was too scared to accept the truth I had discovered. I told myself I was mistaken, that there was no way that could be it." He laughed. "I was a fool to think that I could just ignore what I felt for you."

The feeling in Rukia's stomach was telling her to run. Every inch of her being was screaming at her to pull her hands away from him and run away. She was about to take a step back with her quivering leg...but she couldn't. Not when he was looking at her with those eyes.

"But I'm done being afraid. I'm done making excuses. I have to tell you this, even if you end up hating me. Because I can live with that. I have to live with that. What I can't live with is never knowing what could have been if I had just told you. So…"

Kaien gulped.

Rukia's heart rate tripled. She could feel her heart's beating resonating throughout her entire body. But it wasn't because she was afraid. No, the fear that had been overwhelming her just a moment ago had been replaced with something else. What was this feeling?

"Rukia, what I'm trying to say - what I've been wanting to say to you for a long time - is that I love you."


Part 2 will be up tomorrow if all goes as planned! Also, the title of this chapter will be explained then! I'm so excited for you all to read it!

Also, did anyone catch why Kaien suddenly turned to look at Rukia while they were hiking towards the canyon?