Author's note: HEY GUYS! Ok, well, I hope you liked chapter 8. So, this chapter is just, well, something i thought of after watching the Bleach Rock Musical: Dark of the Bleeding Moon (one of my favorite musicals, too! :D). You guys should watch it sometime! :) Anyways, here's chapter 9.

Oh, and about what Kaori Hikari is going to look like...ok, well, it wont let me put the link on here, i'm putting it on my profile. :)

Chapter 9: Training

A few days past after the whole Aizen incident. Currently…everyone is repairing any damages and so forth. Plus, I finally got to meet the Ryoka..

"So….you're Kurosaki Ichigo?" I asked, staring at the orange haired teen standing in front of me.

"Yeah. And you're….." He paused and I sighed.

"Kaori Hikari, 3rd seat of Squad 10." He nodded, but I had a feeling that he would ask my name sometime later. Then, I saw a girl pop up from behind him.

"Hikari-san! It's great to see you again!" She replied. I laughed.

"What's up, Orihime?" I replied. I had met Orihime some time ago, after leaving the clinic. Apparently, she too, was helping squad 4 heal the wounded.

"I'm good, Hikari! Oh, Kurosaki-kun, are you feeling better? You shouldn't be up and moving just yet…"

"I'm fine. Besides, I was on my way to see the Squad 11 dojo." Ichigo replied

I stared at him with shock.

"You actually want to GO to the Squad ELEVEN DOJO?"

"Yeah. There's nothing that bad…"

"Dang, Ichigo, you got guts. I hate that place…"

"Why? 'Cause you would get your butt kicked?" I turned around and saw Renji smirking at me. I shot him a glare.

"No, of course not."

"Yeah right. The last time you went there, you were so-"

I kicked Renji in the face and he was sent flying backwards.

"SHUT THE F***UP, ABARAI!"

Orihime and Ichigo just stood there, dumbfounded. I sighed, turned to the orange-heads, and walked past them.

"Stupid Renji…I could totally kick HIS a** anytime." I thought. The thought of it made my blood boil so, I decided to get rid of the unnecessary energy and train it off. Instead of going to the dojo, I walked to a nice, quiet forest area. I found the area quite relaxing and since not many shinigami go through here, it was a perfect retreating place when things go…well…out of control I suppose. I went to the middle of the area and took out my zanpakuto.

"Let them Burn, YasuSuzume!" I called. I suddenly thought of Toushiro and Hinamori the day Aizen finally confessed his betrayal…My grip grew tighter. If I had been more assertive and thought ahead. I was a fool to let Toushiro, even though he's captain level, to go by himself to rescue Hinamori.

"I'm so stupid. If I had been ahead of the game, I would have stopped Aizen…but then again…" I thought of Akemi-sama and how she was beaten by Aizen. I bit my lip. "I need to become stronger so next time, I won't let anyone get injured or killed…by his hands. I must resume my training to achieve….." A howl of wind blew across the area. I looked at the sky. "Bankai."

XxXxXx

Achieving bankai is easier said than done. The amount of training that must be done and so forth is more than enough to get you exhausted. It was about midnight and I was still training.

"You need to work harder, Hikari!" YasuSuzume said.

"I AM! But…it's not as easy as you think."

"I'm not stupid, I know that. Now get up. It's been a while since we continued our bankai training, so no slacking!" I nodded and was about to go for round two until I stopped short. YasuSuzume noticed and glared at a certain point in the forest.

"Someone's here…" She murmured. Her fiery hair blazed. "It's that g*dd**** dragon."

My eyes grew wide and brought YasuSuzume back into my zanpakuto. I faced the area where she was facing a while ago and Toushiro appeared from the shadows.

"What are you doing so late, Kaori?" He asked.

"Doing some late night training. Nothing that bad."

"Well, do it tomorrow. It's 12 and you need to get some rest. You have paperwork in the morning. Besides, you look horrible."

"H-How do you know? It's dark out!"

"How do you know I'm right in front of you?"

"Eh?" I moved my hand in front of me and felt Toushiro's cheek. That, pretty much, made my face go red. I quickly moved my hand away.

"W-Well, screw it. You hid your spiritual pressure."

There was a brief silence but I could still tell that Toushiro was in front of me.

"Taicho….?" I murmured. There was another silence. Maybe he wasn't there. But I swear, I thought he was. I sighed. He had a point about getting rest. I didn't want to look bad the next morning.

XxXxXx

I found it a waste to try and actually go to sleep. I still had the thought of Aizen almost killing Hinamori and Hitsugaya and actually killing Akemi-sama. I felt like jumping out of my bed and training more, but I needed to sleep at one point. In the end, unfortunately, I was up all night and I really DID look horrible the next morning.

"That's why it's called make up to cover this up." I mumbled and put some foundation on to cover the bags under my eyes. Toushiro would probably scold me for not sleeping and blah blah blah. I tied my hair, pinned it with a ribbon and instead of walking to the administrator office, I returned to the forest area to resume training. I had to achieve bankai.

"Lets go, YasuSuzume!" I said and begun training but this time, it was a short period of time. No, not because I finally got bankai, but because SOMEBODY had to disrupt it…again.

"Kaori, get you're a** back to Squad 10 and do the paperwork." Toushiro said quite bluntly. I pouted.

"You said I could do my training today!"

"AFTER finishing your paperwork."

"Oh, c'mon! I would totally finish those paperwork AFTER training!"

"If I wasn't mistaken, bankai training doesn't take just a few mere hours."

I stared at him in shock.

"B-Bankai? That's absurd."

"Quit BSing me, Kaori." I pouted.

"Shut up. I'm so not BSing you!"

"You just are, dumba**."

I stuck out my tongue out at him.

"Meh, just as long as you don't tell anybody. Besides, I don't plan to show my bankai to just anybody."

Toushiro just shrugged.

"Either way, I need you to do the paperwork."

"Aw, but Taicho…"

"Shut up. Get over there, now." I sighed and sheathed my zanpakuto. "Oh, and you look horrible. I told you to get some rest."

"Eh?" I put my hands onto my face to see if the foundation was on me. When I moved my hands away, I saw foundation of my fingers.

"You're stupid and gullible." I heard him say under his breath.

"YOU SUCK TOUSHIRO!"