Yo. It's been pretty long again, but, you know…with school starting again. Ugh…I hate school. Oh well, R&R!

My heart skipped about four beats. Did he just claim himself to be Kaien-sensei's sensei? Impossible! He ran away and was never to be found, right? Then, how in the world could he be him? Eiri is supposed to be...like...dead!

"Impossible!" I claimed, "You're an imposter!"

He smiled, "I am not...let's just hope your little sensei runs by, he will know who I am."

~From Kaien's POV~

My eyes slowly opened from my long sleep. The forest was still black, so i figured it was still night, or early morning. I looked around only seeing Ichigo, Hitsugaya, and...someone was missing. I counted again, making sure I wasnt mistaken. But, I was correct. Who was gone?

The thought suddenly struck me...Rukia.

I stood up swiftly and looked around. I ran to the bushes, and everywhere. But she was no where to be found. "Rukia?" I said aloud. No response.

"Rukia-chan where are you?" I asked again.

Nothing.

I cursed and then ran out of the forest, holding Takaikizu.

~From Rukia's POV~

Surprisingly, I was having tea with my former enemy. We were talking about...well...Kaien-sensei.

"So you are his pupil?" Eiri asked.

"Yeah...I am...you know, he's told me quite a few things about you. He really misses you, you know...," I said.

He nodded and then smiled, "Yes. Knowing what Kaien-kun has been through, I can imagine why he is so devastated after he loses something he's been close with."

Once Eiri said that, I automatically thought of Megumi. I feel so sorry for him...

"You do know his guardian Megumi, right?"

"Ah, of course. How is she doing?" He asked.

I looked down, "Not well...", I muttered.

"Really? Is she ill?"

"Quite worse than that..."

"What do you mean...?" But then his eyes widened in realization. "You can't mean..." he muttered.

But before he could finish, Kaien-sensei jumped out of the bushes-and made me drop my tea. It was quite sudden-I got scared.

"Rukia!" He breathed, "There you are!" He landed in front of me, his back to Eiri.

He held my shoulders, "Why did you run away?" I just looked at him and smiled. He got confused, "Don't smile! This is serious! You scared me!"

I took a glance at Eiri who was just smiling smugly. I had to laugh, Kaien-sensei didn't even notice him yet!

"What's so funny? Take me seriously! I can't loose you too!"

I just smiled, for two reasons: This was really awkward, and...i just love frustrating him! He is so cute when he's angry...

"Rukia Kuchiki! What's so funny?" I just pointed at who sat smugly behind behind him.

"What?" He spat and turned around. When his eyes met with Eiri's, they merely widened. I could no longer hear his breathing, which meant it stopped.

He fell to his knees and then was just stunned. "Sensei...?"

Eiri just smiled, "Nice to see you, Kaien...you have grown quite a bit."

"I-impossible...you...you must be a ghost or something...you...you can't be him! You just can't!"

I just smiled. It was nice to see them reunite. "Kaien," Eiri laughed. "It is me."

"How...how in the world?"

Eiri just smiled, "Nice to see you, too."

That night we all made a fire and gathered around it, warming ourselves up. Kaien finally agreed to believe that Eiri was, in fact, Eiri. We just talked for a while, and Eiri told how he got to be here, and everything that happened after he ran away.

"So you happened to be in these forests all this time?" Kaien-sensei asked.

"No, I traveled from place to place..." He said, looking deep in thought into the fire.

"So...is that all you've been up to lately?" I asked.

He shook his head, "No. I have been traveling to Hueco Mundo quite a bit..." He said shifting his eyes downward.

Hueco Mundo? What's that? I took a glance at Kaien-sensei to see him look very confused.

"Why in the world would you travel there? It is a very dangerous place! And...it's so very far!" He said.

"I go there to try and get back Victoria but...I just never can!"

Kaien sensei's eyes widened and he stood up swiftly, "Victoria? What do you mean? Isn't she dead...?"

I was confused. Who was Victoria? Could it be...his wife? No. She died, didn't she?

"Sensei, who's Victoria?" I asked, standing beside him.

"His wife," He simply answered.

Eiri simply closed his eyes and did not answer for a while. He looked...frustrated. Many things were going through my mind, as well. Did i misunderstand something? She's supposed to be dead, right?

"I thought so...everyone thought so. But, then...I found out the people of Hueco Mundo, the Espadas, kidnapped her...they believed that they could use her 'abilities' to help then conquer the world." He explained.

"Abilities? What abilities?" I asked, confused. Kaien-sensei covered my mouth...apparently I wasn't supposed to talk.

"Sensei...do you need help getting her?"

Eiri's eyes swiftly opened and he stood up, right in front of sensei. "No! I could never allow you to go there. What kind of sensei would i be if i sent you to Hueco Mundo?" He bellowed.

Kaien-sensei smiled, "You're not my sensei anymore, Eiri. I grew up."

Eiri shook his head, "I cannot allow you to do that, I'm sorry."

"But I wish to. It will be quite an adventure, won't it? And, I won't come back until I bring back Victoria...besides, I have Ichigo with me, too. So, there's going to be two of us," Kaien-sensei explained.

Eiri sighed in frustration, "If any of you are going to Hueco Mundo, I am coming along."

Kaien sensei stood up and clapped his hands once. With that goofy smile i rarely ever see he said, "Alright then! We're going to Hueco Mundo, sensei!"

Eiri-sensei stood as well, and pulled a cigarette with a lighter out of his pocket. He placed on in his mouth and held up the lighter to it's tip. When it was lit, he sucked in the smoke, and slowly released it, surrounding us. I coughed, inhaling the scent. It burnt my throat, i could hardly breathe. I covered my mouth with my arm as he continued the cycle, even though he saw me being affected with the deathly smoke.

"What about you, Rukia?" He finally asked me.

I looked up, confused. I took away my arm and said, "What about me?"

I heard a small "Hm?" of confusion that came out of Kaien-sensei's mouth.

Eiri chuckled, "Are you joining us?"

Kaien immediately flipped when he heard those words. His eyes widened in anger and said, "How could you possibly say that sensei? Are you insane? She's a mere girl, she can't come!"

Then, I immediately flipped. I had to go! I couldn't...I couldn't bare to be away from sensei..."What! Sensei! I have to come!"

A cold breeze suddenly swept through, causing our hair to sway. There was a small silence, except for the wind wooshing, breathing through us.

Kaien-sensei snarled a low growl. I looked at him, pleadingly. Who knew how lonely the world would be with out him! It would be an empty pit of darkness with no sun to scare it away. I'd need to see sensei; I'd need to be with him.

"No!" He screamed, "I can't put you in danger...not you, too." He said, softly now.

I walked over to him, until i was inches away from his chest. I looked up at his face, to see it being a pleading one, too. Tears welled up in my eyes and i whispered, "Do you really want to leave me?"

He held my shoulders, so tight it actually pained. "Never," He whispered back.

Eiri this whole time was smirking. He took the cigarette out of his mouth between two fingers and breathed again, then tapped it to let the ashes fall one by one down to the grass. I coughed again.

Sensei smiled and said, "Rukia, i put the village in danger and look where it got us, I don't want to put you in danger as well. Listen to me."

I shook my head. An out of control scream left my mouth, "IT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT!" I cried. Sensei looked surprised to hear my sudden outburst. A hint of anger soaked my voice, "Sensei...it wasn't you. Stop saying that. Don't put all that weight on your shoulder...her whole crew...The Arrancar, they wanted to restart the war. They weren't just after you!" She said.

Kaien Sensei's eyes closed, in frustration was my guess. He softly said, "Rukia...no matter what you say...they even said they were after-" Before he could finish his sentence, I did something I thought I'd never do. I slapped Kaien-sensei.

His eyes opened and widened in surprise. He rubbed the red spot on his cheek. My hand was still in the air after slapping him, I was sobbing. I didn't know why. A river of tears flowed down my cheek and I just couldn't stop.

Kaien-sensei growled and then grabbed my hand; he pulled me in until I was forced to look up at his face. From a snarl, it turned into a smile, and then he pulled me into a hug and said, "I couldn't bear to loose you to, listen to me. If you were gone, I wouldn't know what I would to," he said. I felt his cool breath run through my hair. My eyes widened and I blushed immensely, so much, it didn't look healthy. The river of tears stopped flowing, and my heart started beating way too fast. I guess Kaien-sensei could feel it, because I felt a soft chuckle leave his mouth. He let go of me and then softly said, "Do you understand?"

I smiled, and then wiped away the remaining tears, "Oh I understand perfectly." He smiled and exhaled deeply, "Good...!"

"Hold on, that doesn't mean I'm not going."

He now looked furious, "Rukia! Listen! Stop being an idiot, do you really want death to come to you so quickly!"

I glared at him, "An idiot? You think I'm an idiot for wanting to be with you?"

"Kaien, if you do leave her here, who will she stay with?" Eiri asked.

"I don't know, Byakuya's probably is still alive, we'll leave her with him!" He said.

"So you're not having a second thought about it? Can you throw me away like that without a second thought?" I asked, the tears returning.

"Don't be ridiculous! Of course I had second thoughts, I've been thinking about him for a while! And he's your brother, there's no need to worry..." Kaien-sensei said.

More and more arguing went on, until we gave up and headed for the campfire, Eiri was following.

That night I couldn't sleep. I was lying on my sleeping bag made out leaves, my arms under my head, staring up at the sky filled with stars. A full moon was plastered on the sky that night. It looked so close to earth when no lights were on to take away the brightness from it. It looked like I could just reach up and touch the craters that lay upon it. I even tried, but, of course I knew it wouldn't work. I laughed at myself. But then my chuckling stopped. Thinking about sensei and how he didn't want me to accompany him on his journey bugged me so much. I clenched my fists together. How could he not want me with him? Well, yeah it'd be dangerous! But, I need to take risks in my life, how else will i learn how the "real world" works? I glared at the moon, and decided to take my anger out on it. "Stupid moon!" I shouted. I took me a few seconds to realize how stupid i looked like right now. Stupid moon? What did it ever do to me? "Sorry moon..." I whispered back. Wow, i was being a retard right now...

I kept staring at the sky, as if it'd give me some answer to all my problems. All of a sudden, I saw a light flash across the sky. It was a shooting star. I closed my eyes and whispered to myself, "I wish Kaien-sensei would trust me...and let me accompany him to his trip to Hueco Mundo...I wish...he'd just trust me." I reopened my eyes, not feeling any difference. I just sighed.

Suddenly my nose caught a terrible scent and I started to cough. It was smoke. I sat up and turned around, and there leaning against a tree was Eiri-sensei, smoking a cigarette. "Eiri-sensei! What are you doing here?" I asked, whisper-yelling to him.

He chuckled and came over to sit in front of me, his beautiful bronze eyes staring at me. "Now listen to me," He said. "Kaien just wants the best for you, don't be angry with him. After losing so many loved ones, I can hardly think that he would want you to die, too..."

I shifted my eyes downward. I knew what he was talking about, of course sensei wouldn't want me to die, "I know, I understand...it's...just that...I wouldn't be able to stand being away from him for such a long time!" I admitted.

There was a pause.

"So...what did the moon ever do to you?" He asked.

I blushed and chuckled, he saw my idiocy.

There was a small silence until Eiri finally broke it.

Eiri chuckled, and I looked up at him, "You love him don't you?" He asked.

I immediately began to blush at those words. How the heck did he know? Was I that obvious? "Um...no! I mean like a brother or a father, yeah, a friend i guess, but no! Not the way you're thinking!" I lied.

He merely chuckled and said, "If you do go, on the way there I have to give you a lying lesson." He winked at me, chuckled, and then got up and left.

I blushed madly, was he going to tell Kaien-sensei? I groaned inwardly and decided it was time to go to bed.

I lied down, and let my sleep drift me away.

~~Woo! Another chappy. Tell me how I did! Come on, press that review button. You know you wannaaa! ;)