Chapter Two - It Was

That same night, Aira had sat in Urahara's shop as everyone else slowly dispursed back. She meant Ichigo for the first time, and some weird stuffed animal thing appearantly fell for her when he caught sight of her chest. But those were minor things, things that Captains didn't worry about. And she had somehow found a way to make herself do whatever Captains did, all the time. She wanted so bad to be the perfect leader for her Division that she knew that she couldn't make herself screw up.

But...

Yes, there was a "but." She didn't want there to be, but there most definatly was.

The one thing that she worried about now was the fact that the Modified Soul boy, Nova, was intriguing. He caught her attention, interesting her. Not many people did this because she was very hard to impress, but he seemed to draw her in, making her wonder what was going on in that head of his.

She didn't know why either. He just seemed so mysterious. She wanted to see his face, to see that blush creep up from his neck and up to his cheeks...

But she couldn't. Because she was a Captain. And everybody knows, at least Toshiro Hitsugaya liked to point it out more than nessicary, that no Captain ever has any fun.

Yet, she still found the insanity somewhere inside her and did what she didn't think she was going to do. She might regret it later, but she wanted to see him again, and make sure he was okay.

~^.^~

She stood slowly, hoping no one would notice, but of course Urahara caught her action.

"Where are you going, Aira?" He asked.

She smiled at her. "To get some fresh air. The living world is beginning to take it's toll on me."

Oh, good save. She thought to herself but she saw the disbelief in Urahara's eyes as he looked back at her.

"Okay." He grinned before looking back over to where Ichigo and Kon were bickering over something irrelivant and completely ignored Aira as she went down the hall instead of out the door.

"Captain!"

She turned and saw Shuuhei Hisagi, her Lieutenant, walking down the hall with Kira at his side.

"Shh!" She hushed him. "There are sleeping injured people here."

"Oh, sorry." Hisagi hushed his voice.

"What is it, Hisagi?" Aira asked him.

"While we were fighting the Bounts, Yumichika found the Bount hideout." He whispered. "Do you want us to go check it out?"

Aira kept her face cool. "Yes. But find Matsumoto before you do and take her with you."

"Yes, Captain." Hisagi bowed his head before the both of them turned away.

"And, guys." Aira said, watching as they turned around. "Both of you be careful. Don't do anything rash."

"Yes, ma'am." Hisagi grinned before they left.

Aira sighed before turning herself and quietly slipping into the room she knew Nova was in. She smiled at Hanataro when she saw him healing Nova's gigai.

"Captain Shikyo." He grinned at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Checking on the guy that saved my life." She informed him warmly as she kneeled on the other side of Nova.

He still had that stupid mask on, but his eyes were open and looking at her wearily.

"I'm not going to touch your mask, Nova." She sighed before looking up at Hanataro. "Is he going to be okay?"

"His gigai is." Hanataro nodded. "His soul would be anyways."

"That's what Rinrin told me." Aira said. "Chad found your little turtle-man by the way. He left it here on accident."

Nova sighed.

"There." Hanataro smiled. "You still shouldn't move for a while, but you're all healed."

"Thank you." Nova said quietly.

"You're welcome." Hanataro stood and waved as he walked towards the door. "See you later, Captain!"

"Bye." She waved her own hand in dismissal.

She looked down at Nova and smiled. "He's so sweet. Cute kid."

Nova only looked at her.

"Are you going to talk?" Aira asked him.

No answer.

"Well, I was coming to check on you." She told him. "And say thank you for saving me earlier, and trying to save everyone else."

Silence.

"You're not going to speak are you?" She asked.

Still no answer.

"Fine, then."

She stood, prepared to walk out the door when he grabbed her arm. When she looked down at him, he shook his head.

"What?" She asked him. "It's not like you're gonna talk, so what's the point of me staying?"

He looked down, his eyes indifferent and his grip still tight on her arm.

"You're welcome, for saving you." He said quietly.

"Wow, what was that? Five words?" She faked surprise.

"Well, you can't blame me, you're a kind of scary woman." He blurted out before clasping his own hand over his mouth.

She smiled at him. "That's more like it."

She lowered herself back down to his side and he released her arm.

"So would you like to explain to me what kind of Modified Soul you are?" She asked him. "I know Ririn can make illusions and Kurodo can transform and mimic the abilities of someone, but I'm still a bit confused about yours."

Nova made sure to look away from her, up at the ceiling, before speaking.

"It's Space Warp." He told her. "I can open a dimention and teleport myself and anyone I choose to take with me. But I have to have been to the place before, and see it in my mind."

"Renji told me that when he fought you, you kept making Zabimaru attack him somehow." Aira giggled.

"Hardly." Nova sighed. "I redirected his attack. I sent it through my wormhole and then opened another one behind him, making his Zanpaktou useless."

"Smart." She tapped her chin with her index finger. "And what about things like Kido? Can you redirect that, too?"

"And erase it." He muttered.

"That is so cool!" She clapped her hands excitedly. "I wish I could do that... I mean, I'm pretty good at Kido, but I can't make wormholes."

"My one power isn't as good as your Zanpaktou." He told her. "Electricity is a powerful element."

"Ha...ha..." She grimaced.

She drew out Denkihime and laid the blade beside her.

"Denkihime is sweet and all, but it's hard to keep her from drawing energy from our opponants." Aira said.

"Drawing energy?" Nova asked.

"Yeah." Aira nodded. "She...well, since she's pretty much a Kido-based Zanpaktou, she draws energy from strong opponants when she begins losing energy herself."

"Can it do that?" Nova looked, astonished, at the sword. "Why would that be bad?"

"Well, it's already bad enough to have a Kido-based Zanpaktou in the first place." Aira bit her cheek. "But taking away energy from someone fighting just doesn't seem fair."

"In a fight, it shouldn't matter." Nova gawked. "You have to do what you have to do to win."

"Not for me." She looked down at Denkihime, stroking the blade. "I used to be 11th Squad, and they're all about fighting all-out, no Kido involved. Blade to blade."

"You used to be part of the 11th Squad?" Nova asked.

'Yep." She nodded wearily. "I loved it, too. Because I love to fight. I was 4th seat, even above Yumichika, but only because he appearantly didn't think the way you write 4 is 'beautiful.' I could've beat him if I released my Zanpaktou fully, but I didn't want to disgrace myself as a member of the 11th Division. It's a long story. My life has been way too long."

"My life hasn't been long enough." He said shortly. "So I've got time if you want to share."

Aira pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. "You know, I really do think you should take that mask off."

He shook his head.

"Why not?" She smirked. "Are you trying to be a ninja?"

He rolled his eyes. "No."

"Then why?" She pushed, leaning closer to him.

"I don't know." He shrugged.

She sighed, reaching out and grabbing his hand. His instict was to pull it away but she didn't let him. She smiled at him as she held it tightly, tracing his palm with her other hand.

"One day," she said quietly. "You'll take that mask off, and show me your face. And one day, I'll tell you that long story. But for now, let's just sit here."

He just looked at her, taken aback. He wondered why he felt the urge to pull her down into a hug, but wasn't left to wonder long.

She yawned and stretched, releasing his hand. His hand floated in the air, not moving back down to his side, somehow lost without her touch.

And then he found her laying down next to him. She wrapped her arm around his torso and laid her head on his chest.

His hand began to reach up to zip his mask closed, but she caught his arm.

"Don't even think about it, Nova." She demanded.

She looked up and grinned at the small amount of visable red under his eyes.

"You are shy." She commented as she reached up and traced her thumb under his right eye. "That's okay. I know that's part of who you are. But there's a lot more to you that you're not letting anybody see. I intend to make you show it to them."

He gulped as his face grew redder at her touch.

"Just rest, Nova." She laid her head back down on his chest. "You look a little tired."

He felt her breathing slow as she slowly drifted off to sleep, and when she was passed out, he conspicuiously wrapped his own arm around her, smoothing his hand over her soft black hair.

And then he was sleeping as well.

~^.^~

The vibrate of her phone woke her up. She quickly reached to pick it up, but found her arm blocked by Nova's. She smiled and slowly and carefully removed his arm from around her.

She reached into her shirt, pulling the blue phone out and flipping it open.

"Moshi moshi?" She whispered, careful not to wake Nova up.

"Captain Shikyo?"

"Captain Hitsugaya." She sighed. "What can I do for you?"

"We need you to come back and get us up-to-date with the Bount activity." He told her.

"Right now?" She asked, glancing back at Nova.

"Of course right now." He said flatly.

"Hey, don't get smart with me, Whitey." She demanded quietly. "I will totally step on you."

She giggled at his growl. "Just get back here, Shikyo."

"Yes, Sensei-sama Short Man." She sighed as the line went dead.

She snapped her phone shut and looked back at Nova.

Should she wake him up? Or should she just leave without a word?

Aira reached down and touched the strands of red hair that showed and smiled.

"Good bye, Nova." She whispered, leaning down and kissing his covered cheek.

She took his hand and touched his palm to her face softly before laying it back at his side. She stood and walked to the door, opening it and stepping out.

She was about to walk out of the shop when Urahara was somehow leaning against the door she had been about to open.

"Where ya goin'?" He asked, his eyes covered in the shadow of his hat.

She grimaced. "Are you trying to scare a Captain, Kisuke?"

"Why, no, of course not." He smiled at her. "Just wonderin' why you're leaving in such a hurry in the middle of the night."

"I got orders to return to Seireitei." She informed him. "They want more information on the Bounts."

"Do you have that information?" Urahara asked.

"I fought one, so I have a little more than we had before." She said.

"Well, then have fun." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Come back to see us sometime. I bet Nova will be missing you."

She was taken aback at the last statement. "What are you talking about?"

"Aw, nothing." He laughed. "You two just seemed...close."

"Don't go getting any idea's, Kisuke." She demanded.

"It's my job to get ideas." He joked with her. "Without my ideas, there really wouldn't be a Nova."

Aira rolled her eyes.

"What is it with you and Nova?" He asked as she walked outside.

She really just wanted him to quit being nosy and leave her alone, but this was Kisuke Urahara they were talking about.

"Nothing." She shrugged. "He's just interesting, that's all. Seems like a good guy. Can you blame me for trying to get him out of his shell?"

"Oh, no." Urahara shook his head, smiling. "I've tried that a couple times myself. Maybe you'll have more success than I did."

"Maybe." Aira sighed.

Then she turned around, grabbed his hat and started running down the street.

"Hey!" He ran after her, catching up to her easily.

He had been a Captain himself, once.

"Give me my hat back!" He demanded, reaching for it.

But she hovered a few feet off the ground, holding it even higher when he jumped to her level.

"Now, who's the greatest in the world?" She taunted him.

"Airashii Shikyo!" He said, but as more of a demand than an answer. "I will-"

"Ah, no threats." She smiled at him, giving him back his hat as her feet touched the ground. "Just jokin' with you Kisuke."

She turned and walked down the street. "Take care."

"Bye, Aira." He chuckled as he placed his hat back on his head.

Comments:

lalala...: well, this Chapter is just a bit more serious than the last one, but I tried to put a little humor in there!

Urahara's hat!!!: just a way to lighten the mood. :)

11th Division: okay, well, she'll explain into more detail how it was in the 11th Division later, but let's just say that Aira likes to fight, and she does it well.

Kido-based Zanpaktou: 11th Division is ALL ABOUT some fighting, now. they will totally open up a can of whoop-ass on you if you mess with them. :P and to them, Kido-based Zanpaktou's are a sign of weakness, sort of. you learn this because Yumichika Aysagawa (5th seat of the 11th Division) has one that steals the energy from it's opponant when being released. He doesn't want Ikkaku or Zaraki (his Captain) to find out because they would most-likely hate him.