Shippoman: I'm really sorry about the flow of this chapter ahead of time. I really struggled with writing this one as I didn't want to drag out her training as the training itself wasn't too important. I also couldn't think of any specific scenes Kensei and Yukiko could have that I haven't shown already. At any rate, a big thanks to all of you who are still reading this and especially those that review. Hearing your opinions and excitement make me want to press forward through my moments of writers block to get it finished. Please enjoy and on with the story.

Chapter 23:

Pain was all that Yukiko was aware of as she shifted on her bed. The light streaming in from the window stabbed at her eyes when she tried to open them, making her already pounding head throb even more. Her lips felt dry and tender as she moved her tongue across them, and her muscles ached as if she just finished an intensive training session with Youruichi.

"Ugh...what happened?" she thought, moving her left hand over her head. She tried to keep herself in check as her mind tried to go into a frenzy. Had she just been killed again and was starting a new day? Had everything she just experienced been one of Aizen's illusions? Why couldn't she remember anything this time?

"You got drunk, remember."

Yukiko internally groaned as her sword chuckled in her head. That's right, she had gone to a bar in order to forget, even for a little while. Which meant all the pain was a result of dying...she was hung over. "Right. Shit, can't remember anything again," her internal self groaned. "Where am I now?"

"You made it back to your apartment," Soyokaze murmured, flitting up to her. "I warned you not to."

"Yeah I know," Yukiko sighed, rubbing her aching head. "How'd I get home anyway?"

"The answer's on your right arm if you'll look," Soyokaze chuckled.

Yukiko felt a little annoyed at how vague her sword was being and tried to move her right arm...but couldn't. She froze when she realized something was keeping it still, and at her movement, tightened over it. Swallowing down her fear, she slowly opened her eyes and glanced down at the trapped arm. To her surprise, a familiar mane of silver met her eyes and she realized that Kensei was asleep on the floor, with his head on her bed and his hand on her arm.

"Kensei?!" Her voice barely got the sound of his name out, her throat and mouth feeling out of sorts. What was he doing there? Even if he had taken her home, why had he stayed? Had he...done something?

Trying to hold back the panic that was threatening to explode, she looked herself over, finding her clothes ruffled...and nothing else. She expected her clothes to be ruffled, since she slept in them, but she also expected an invasive pain in her lower region. However, all she had was the memory of such a pain. Settling down some, she glanced over at her ex-captain once more.

He seemed to be in a deep sleep, his eyes closed, lightly snoring. Now that she thought about it, she'd never seen him asleep before. His usual scowl was gone, and he looked peaceful...almost adorable. She smiled to herself and allowed her free hand to reach over and, after a moments hesitation, ran her fingers through his hair.

It was softer than she expected, and she wondered if it was because of the new style or if it was always this way. Her wandering fingers moved a little too far, however, and brushed against his scalp, making him jerk upwards. His sudden movement startled her and she pulled her hand away, hoping he hadn't noticed.

It took a few moments for Kensei to look around her room, realize where he was and look her way. "M-morning," she stuttered. Her head throbbed a little as she spoke, and she fought the urge to vomit.

He grunted in acknowledgment before releasing her arm and getting to his feet. "Feeling better?" he asked.

"Uh, I have a hang over," she muttered. "But I'm fine."

She noticed he was looking anywhere but at her and once again she wondered what had happened the night before. "Drink some water...and sleep," he told her. "Don't leave here 'til you're better." With that, he left through her window without a backwards glance.

"He must still be upset about me throwing him yesterday," she mumbled, turning over so her face was buried in her pillow. "I really hurt him that time."

"I can assure you, that wasn't why he couldn't look at you," Soyokaze murmured. "You still can't remember last night, so of course you don't know."

"Wait, you know what happened?" Yukiko asked in confusion.

"Yes. After handling your memories for so long, I was able to move those from last night into it's own section," Soyokaze answered. "Would you like to see it?"

Yukiko thought over the question, her feeling shifting from one answer to the other. She'd been drunk, so she probably made some decisions she wouldn't normally. Much like the last time when she'd laughed at Tousen's hair. However, she felt the only way to know for sure what was wrong with Kensei, and why he was there, was to see it for herself. But would it really help, or would it only make things worse?

After a long time, thinking it over, she finally went into her inner world and looked the Nightingale in the eye. "Yes, please show me."

"Where've you been?"

The question annoyed Kensei as he stepped into the Vizard warehouse. Despite how late it was in the morning, he'd hoped he'd be able to avoid any awkward questions. Looked like he was wrong. "That's none of your business, Shinji," he growled, attempting to head up to his room. It wasn't that he was tired, no he'd slept quite well with Yukiko, so much as he wanted to go somewhere the annoying blonde couldn't follow.

"You were out all night," Shinji pointed out. "Was it because of your outing with Yukiko? Or did something go wrong?"

"Yeah something went wrong," Kensei thought bitterly. He remembered the conversation he'd had with Yukiko the night before regarding what he'd done. Now, he'd probably destroyed any chance of her being able to trust him again.

"You can't say you didn't enjoy that."

"Shut up." His hollow was usually quiet, simply feeding him emotions rather than words.

"Her smooth skin and all those moans. You couldn't get enough of it."

"I said, shut up."

"You about lost it when she asked you to be gentle. How tight do you think she was?"

Kensei's inner self slugged his hollow. Everything he was saying was true, but that only made his mood worse. This was partially his fault, as he'd kept Kensei from hearing her pleas before. Despite that, he couldn't put all the blame on his hollow.

"So?" Shinji asked, not letting walk away just yet.

"It's none of your business," Kensei repeated. He moved past Shinji, shrugging off the other's hold as did so. This time, no amount of prodding or coaxing would get him to admit what happened. No, this time it was staying with him.

Of course the blonde didn't get the hint and kept following him, so he went down to the training area to chill and watch Ichigo work. Hoping something down there would get the blonde's attention. It didn't work out quite like he was hoping, but he was able to sit there for a couple hours mostly undisturbed. Granted he did have to deal with the occasional fit from Mashiro, but otherwise he was able to relax surprisingly well.

Then, just as he was contemplating getting in a nap, he stood up only to have a weight plow into him. He blinked in surprise and glanced down as he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist. What shocked him more, was that instead of green hair, like he was expecting, he saw red.

"Thank you, Kensei."

"Y-Yukiko?" He slowly pushed her away from him, and she lifted her head to meet his eye, grinning widely at him. "W-What for?"

"Last night. Thanks to that, I was able to get through more of my memories with you," she explained. "I should be able to finish that soon. Then maybe I can fully solidify those three in my mind as well."

"So...it really helped?" he asked skeptically.

"Yep." She smiled warmly up at him, just like she used to. "So don't worry." He watched her turn away and approach the others who'd clearly been watching them. "Shinji, will you help me with my training today?"

He grinned at her and she readily returned it. "Sure thing. Don't expect me to go easy on you though."

Yukiko giggled lightly. "I wouldn't expect anything different."

Kensei remained frozen where he stood for a long time, watching Yukiko talk with the other Vizard before starting her training. He still couldn't believe what she'd told him. Had his actions the night before really helped her? Considering what she'd said to him, he was certain he'd destroyed any chance she had at succeeding. "Well, maybe stopping myself, when I knew she wasn't conscious, proved I wouldn't do that," he guessed. This thought brought a pleased smirk to his face as he found a place to sit and watch the training. Maybe things were going better than he thought.

Days passed, then weeks. During this time, Yukiko grew closer to the Vizard. In doing so, she appeared more and more as the girl they once knew while gaining more control over her bankai. Training and meditating weren't the only things that took up the ex-soul reaper's time, however, as she made sure to occasionally spar with Mashiro and spend some alone time with Kensei. Their relationship took a turn in a good direction after their drunken night, as she was able to be physically intimate without breaking down. Though there were a couple close calls when things got a little too spicy. But Kensei learned from his past mistakes and made sure to keep his hollow in check as well as himself during these moments.

The only real downside, however, was that while Yukiko was progressing rather well, Ichigo seemed to hit a wall. "Looks like we really do need more time," Shinji thought to himself as he watched Ichigo's mask shatter once again. "A little over a month and he's only been able to increase his time by 10 seconds. At the rate we're going, he won't be ready for the fight against Aizen."

Shinji's thoughts were interrupted as Kensei appeared and started banging on his pan. "Oy! Food's ready. Last one over has to do dishes!" he called out. Instantly, Yukiko had stopped her training and was at his side, smiling up at him.

The sight made Shinji smile to himself. She'd come a long way from the shivering mass he'd seen that first day she stepped into the school. He was glad to see the two of them growing closer. "It's about damn time," he muttered to himself. Even though he'd waited a few minutes after the call, he made sure he wasn't the last one to the food. No, that right fell to Ichigo, like it did every time.

The blonde ex-captain just started to dig in when their headquarters was hit by a massive amount of reiatsu. Everyone froze for a moment, the Vizard sharing knowing glances and Yukiko clenching her hands into fists. Ichigo, however, turned and dashed toward the exit. Unsurprisingly, Kensei and Love caught his arms to hold him in place.

Shinji watched them struggle to keep the teen in place as he shouted for them to let him go. He was saying things like he had to go, his friends and family were counting on him, or something like that. Shinji wasn't paying too much attention. Rather, he glanced over at Yukiko who was determinedly ignoring the energy and shouts, her knuckles turning white from the effort of holding herself back.

After a few minutes, he sighed, got up and grabbed the back of Kensei's shirt. "Let him go," he muttered.

Somehow just his words were enough as both men released the teen and he dashed off. As soon as he disappeared, Kensei rounded on him. "What the hell, Shinji?! What was the point in giving him this training if the first time an enemy shows up he goes off and gets himself killed?"

"He's not going alone," Shinji assured him. "He just needs to see that he isn't quite ready to take them on yet. Nothing we say will convince him of this." He could see that Kensei grudgingly agreed with him and let him go. "Just make sure Yukiko stays put. She's about ready to rush off herself."

Kensei blinked in surprise at this and glanced over at his sort of girlfriend. Shinji knew he could trust his old friend to keep her safe and out of the spotlight, and so he stepped outside. Now he just had to keep the hot headed teen from getting himself killed. A much harder feat in his mind.

Shippoman: The second assualt by the Arrancar is underway, you know what that means. Next chapter, Yukiko must make a tough decision as preparations for the war come to a head. What will she decide and what will happen with the soul society. Stay tuned and please remember to R&R. :D