"Hisagi!"

Shuuhei jumped and looked up from his book as someone shouted his name across the courtyard he was taking his lunch in, a look of guilt flashing across his face before he regained control, a look of vague disinterest on his face, betrayed only by his faster-than-usual pulse that he hoped no-one would notice.

"Kenchin." Shuuhei nodded in his friends' direction and went to turn away, not sure of his destination but not wanting to talk to anyone. Sadly, he didn't have much of a choice in the matter as he saw his friend break into a jog towards him.

"Yo, Shuu," Kenchin said, and Shuuhei winced at the nickname. "Heh, sorry!"

Shuuhei scowled slightly. "What's up, anyways? Aren't you meant to be studying or something for exams next week?" he laughed as his words brought about a grumble.

"Man, you are such a spoilsport! Anyway, I have something much more fun to discuss… I see you had a visitor last night!" Kenchin looked sideways, a gleam in his eyes.

Shuuhei instinctively flushed bright red, and cursed himself inwardly. He'd never been good at hiding his embarrassment and this was his closest friend, but well, this was different. Wasn't it?

"It's ok, I haven't told anyone. Its just I was up early to practice some forms before class and I saw him leave… First-year, right?" he didn't wait for Shuuhei to confirm – he'd seen the kid round and about the academy… mostly heard him, really. Loudly. He looked over to his friend, who was by now blushing furiously and staring at the ground intently. "Hey, you shouldn't be embarrassed! What's wrong with having some fun? It's about time you did."

"Huh?" Shuuhei said, looked up confused, and Kenchin laughed.

"There's just more to life than classes and academic achievement. It's time you found that out, Hisagi!" Kenchin gave him a look that bordered on a leer.

Shuuhei looked up at his friend and scowled. "My private life is a topic of conversation with you guys?" He was not too happy to find out that people were talking about him behind his back; especially by the small number of people he actually called friends.

Kenchin rolled his eyes. "Not in that way, man. C'mon, give us some credit! It's just nice to see you having fun. Though by the looks of that guy you might have bitten off more than you can chew…" he glanced over to his friend and grinned, and got a sigh in return.

"If we've stopped dissecting my personal life, shall we get to class?" Shuuhei asked dryly, looking back to the main building where students were starting to gather for the next lesson.

"Yeah, should do, really. Not that I'm in any hurry… if I don't know it now, I never will!" Kenchin said with a shrug as he hiked his book bag onto his shoulder.

It was Shuuhei's turn to laugh. "And that is why I consistently beat you in every subject, my friend!" and he set off towards the building, ignoring the frown on his friend's face behind him.

…

It was late by the time Renji made it to the sixth form dorms. Luckily, no one was around and he was pleased to see that he was able to reach the top floor unchallenged. He knocked on the door and entered as soon as he heard the welcome shouted to him from inside.

"Come in," Shuuhei called, and Renji grinned as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He made his way to the futon and sat down, something that seemed so strangely familiar to him now and he looked up.

"Umm, Shuuhei, I…" Renji began as he lay down on the futon, looking over at his friend sitting at the edge of the mattress sorting out a pile of papers. "I never asked before, but… your tattoo…" he left the question unsaid, but it was something that had been intriguing him since he first saw the older student. Renji had wanted to ask the questions ever since first meeting, but hadn't felt comfortable asking until now. He also knew that there was no way he'd have been told the truth about it until now, too – if he was even going to have it now.

Shuuhei paused, his hands stopping in their tracks, and he placed the papers down on the floor, out of the way, in case they were damaged. He looked over to Renji and then lay down himself, and he stared up at the ceiling. He was quiet for a few moments, and then spoke.

"A long time ago, I met someone who I admired a lot. I learnt a lot from him but, most importantly, he saved my life. It was that incident that made me decided to come here."

Renji blinked. "Saved your life?" he asked as he risked a glance sideways. Shuuhei was staring up at the ceiling, a strange look on his face as he spoke.

"Yeah. When I was young, I was out with friends and we… we were attacked by Hollow." He paused and closed his eyes. "Seems I'm good for that," he said, a bitter edge to his voice as he carried on. "Anyway, we were saved by a shinigami who had been out with his division." He gave a snort as he remembered. "I'm not sure who I was more scared of at first – the Hollow or him. He was kinda… intense. But that evening I remember thinking about what had happened, and I made my decision to come here". He reached up to touch the 69 tattooed on his cheek. "He had the same one on his chest. It reminds me of why I'm here."

Renji lay next to Shuuhei, a scowl on his face as he thought back to the incident earlier that year with the Hollow in the real world. He remembered how he had felt the moment that… thing turned up, and he realized that all his talk just before they had been attacked was just that - talk. The first real Hollow he faced and he had been ready to turn tail and run, only pushed into action by his friends. He sighed and turned away, and Shuuhei took it as a chance to carry on his work. He thought Renji had actually fallen asleep before he heard him speak.

"I'm not getting a number though!"

…

Shuuhei waited behind Renji until the last fiery-red flame had shot from Renji's hand and obliterated the target at the other end of the practice yard. He laughed at the younger student's obvious pride at firing off half a dozen shots, one after the other, all of which hit the target to some degree. It felt good seeing someone improve so much under his tuition, and he felt content. Suddenly, he remembered what he needed to say today, and his face fell.

"Hey, what's up?" Renji asked, frowning as he saw the look on the Shuuhei's face. Instinctively, he wondered if he had done something wrong, but he couldn't think of anything that might cause this reaction. He dropped the bag he had picked up only a moment ago, and walked over to where Shuuhei was standing, underneath a small overhang on the wall, looking down at the floor of the yard. He leant against the wall next to the older student, looked down at the figure slouched beside him and sighed.

"Ok, what is it? What have I done? Or not done?" Renji said, plainly, his eyebrows raised questioningly. "I thought I was doing ok, but something's pissed you off."

Shuuhei looked up, surprised, and then smiled wryly. "Oh, for once, it's not you," and he laughed softly at the look Renji gave him. "It's just… well, this is going to be our last practice session."

"Huh?" Renji said, confused. "I mean, I know I've improved a lot – and I have – but, well, I'm not exactly a master. I'm not even caught up with the other students in my class." His head dropped in frustration, his hands curling up into fists again, remembering the frustration of the last kidō class. He wasn't used to being last in ianything/i.

"You have improved, Renji - don't let anyone tell you otherwise! And we can't all be good at everything. No, the reason is all me, I'm afraid – it's the last two weeks of term now, and my finals are coming up. I can't afford the time away from it, so this will be our last session. I've already spoken to Yamazaki-sensei and he agrees that it's the best solution." He looked at Renji and felt a strange sense of loss at what he said. He had been looking forward to getting out of the Academy and into the court guard squads for so long, and now it was in sight, he felt a reluctance to let go.

Renji sighed as he let his head fall back against the wall. "Sucks," he said, affecting his usual air of indifference, but this time it was tinged with a note of frustration. He looked sideways through narrowed eyes. "Don't think you're getting outta here without seeing me again though!" he grinned and Shuuhei rolls his eyes in mock annoyance.

"Can't get rid of you, can I?" Shuuhei said with a small smile as he pushed himself off from the wall and opened the door to the outside, yawning gently as he stepped through and off towards the dorms.

"Nah," Renji shouted after him as the grin on his face faded as he watched his erstwhile teacher leave. Finding himself alone in the practice yard, he looked up at the low afternoon sun, squinted and sighed.

"All good things come to an end," he muttered to himself, as he picked up his bag again and left, a determined look on his face as he made his way back to his own room.

…

When the weekend finally came, Shuuhei was amazed he could still walk and talk with any degree of sanity. The exams had been exhausting, and he had still kept up his mentoring sessions with his fellow classmates – a fact he felt guilty for hiding from Renji when he cancelled their training sessions – and the addition of his own study had left him with little spare time.

His final practical exam of his year was, ironically, kidō. As skilled as he was, his teachers expected nothing but the best from him – as he did himself. However, during the course of the exam he had begun to find himself distracted, the tasks and questions making him think of Renji, of their classes and more, and he had been so distracted thinking about the redhead that it affected his final score. The performance he had given was below what had been expected – not well below, but enough that it was noticeable and he noted the look of concern and worry on the faces of those around him at his sub-par presentation, which made him embarrassed and angry with himself. He just about made it away from the practice yard and to the dorms before losing it.

Stupid, he thought to himself as he ran up the stairs to his room, and slammed the door behind him. He threw his bag across the room, not caring if any of the contents broke or spilled, and crawled onto his futon, still in his uniform, and lay there, staring at the ceiling, feeling an anger rise inside of him that he hadn't felt in many years.

He had been so stupid, these past few weeks. What had been the point in managing to distance himself from everyone all these years if he blew it all in the last month? No, he had no excuses – he had been foolish and reckless and selfish, and had dragged Renji into it as well. He'd lead the kid on knowing that he was leaving soon, and although he had mentioned it before, he knew he hadn't pressed the point.

Because you didn't want to, a small voice said in the back of his head. Shuuhei grabbed a small cushion from beside the bed and threw it across the room in frustration. It hit a jar, which fell to the table with a smash and he swore. The jar had been a present from a friend, many years ago, and breaking it only served to make Shuuhei's mood worse. As he lay in the darkness, waiting for sleep to come, he made a promise with himself.

He wouldn't let himself see Abarai Renji again.