Vietvn: Whoo! Chapter two finally! omgg that took a while, but once again school's being a beach and I have this art thing to do which is tedious and my art teacher is also a beach -.- But I will persevere! yes!

Here it is, chapter two, this I think will probably be the last time I'm putting things from diamonddust (and another small stuff in the next chapter but that's it) I'm gonna start putting my own events in :D Okay so yea, enjoy and there might be some few grammer errors cuz i was sorta zoning out while editing XD

Chapter Two: Two Words

After Renji left for Soul Society, Rukia, Ichigo and I headed over to Uruhara's shop to have a 'meeting' and Rukia and I needed to get gigais. The cheerful blonde manager welcomed us with open arms as usual. We didn't have to say a word about gigais before he brought the empty vessels out for Rukia and me. It really amazed me how well informed he was even though he seems so oblivious to the world around him.

I headed into one of the empty guest rooms to use the connected bathroom they had. I was dragging the doll in one hand while clutching clothes in the other. As I entered a room, I stopped halfway to realize that the room I entered was rather familiar.

Memories emerged from the depths of my mind and I finally pinpointed why this room was so significant.

That's right, I remember clearly. It was the room Toushiro and I stayed in when the Gotei 13 was still after me. What other cruel ironic events are there for me next? I shook my head and headed to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind me as I entered.

"He is still nearby; we just have to look for him. Do not worry."

"I'm not worried, maybe just a bit anxious but that's it..."

"You'll be able to beat him senseless for leaving you in no time...Now wouldn't that make you happy?"

"Shut up lizard. That's not very helpful..."

I ignored the two bickering again as I slipped on the black blazer and buttoned it. The outfit I wore was that of a typical school uniform; white collared shirt on the inside, a red bow at the collar, a black blazer, black skirt, high navy blue socks that reached to my mid thighs and black dress shoes.

I sighed, looking down at the skirt. It was a bit too short for my taste. Sure I've worn short skirts but I had tight short shorts underneath but with this outfit that wasn't possible.

Stepping out of the room, I headed to the small room where everyone had gathered. When I got there, Orihime, Chad and Ishida were already there along with Yorouichi in her cat form, lying on a pillow.

"Oh, Reimei. You came just in time, please have a seat." said Uruhara cheerily. I nodded and sat in between Orihime and Rukia, "Well now that we're all settled, we can start brainstorming and try to dig up some information on Toushiro's background."

Each of us thought for a while, well mostly Rukia and I since Ichigo and his friends hardly know him.

"Hmm...Hitsugaya-taicho's time at the Central Spiritual Arts Academy was apparently before I got accepted into the Kuchiki noble family, so I don't know much about him...And even though we both came from Rukongai, I was in Inuzuri while he was in Jiyunrinan."

"...I grew up with Toushiro along with Hinamori who's my lieutenant now. But apparently the time when he entered the academy was the time I graduated early and got accepted into the second division when Yorouichi was a around. After that I left Seireitei to train elsewhere."

"So maybe this Hinamori person can tell us some things, I'm sure she must've stayed around long enough with Hitsugaya-san." suggested Ishida.

I shook my head, "Unfortunately she's still recuperating from overworking herself, she wasn't well to begin with anyways but she still insisted on helping me with Captain's work."

"Ehh!? Wait, you're captain already?!" Ichigo suddenly exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at me. I glared at him and retorted back.

"Yes, didn't you notice the white haori I was wearing when I came?!" He blinked a couple of times. I sighed irritated, that was a sign that he didn't.

"Anyways, just a guess, I doubt Hitsugaya-taicho would tell anything important to Hinamori-fukutaicho..." cut in Rukia, directing us back to the subject.

"Even more so if they were painful memories?" asked Uruhara, glancing at Rukia with a serious expression.

Rukia hesitated for a bit before speaking quietly, "I just think he's that kind of person..."

"I believe he's exactly that kind of person..." I added in, "Toushiro's years of being captain really affected him a lot from what I've seen. He prefers to keep personal issues to himself to deal with rather than get other people involved, even if it meant keeping it from me..."

At that thought I looked downcast a bit, another one of his traits; he thinks it's his own problem to deal with by himself. I guess I still got a lot of trust building to do...

A moment of silence swept through the room before Orihime spoke up, "He must be strong."

"Tch, yeah right." snorted Ichigo. Everyone's attention directed to the orange haired teen who wasn't at all fazed. I looked up and stared at Ichigo also, curious as to why he would make such a bold comment, "Why is it that someone who's strong makes people around him so sad?"

His statement hit me dead on. It was true; deep down somewhere I was actually truly sad that Toushiro had kept something from me. Now I felt depressed. Uruhara sipped quietly on his tea before he spoke up.

"I'll see what I can find. Why don't the rest of you try and search for Toushiro?"

We all nodded, well I tried to but I was slowly drowning in my sorrows.

"Snap out of it kid! He's near, I can feel it..."

I snapped out of my trance and got up from my seat.

"Yeah, now that you mention it..."

I made my way to the door and exited the shop in quite a hurry, not caring about the confused stares I got from Ichigo and his friends. Once I was clear from the shop's view I broke into a run off in a direction. I could feel the familiar reiatsu presence so near and yet so far. But it was there and that's all it mattered. I ran, turned a corner and continued on running. I didn't know how long I ran for but I eventually stumbled upon stone steps that lead up the hill of the land. Disappearing just near the top, a swish of a brown cape and snow white hair caught my eyes.

'Toushiro...' I quickly made my way up the steps two at a time, careful to keep my steps light and my presence hidden. I made it to the top and saw him walking, or more like limping a little up ahead. I hid behind trees and walls of the neighborhood but still tailed after him. I soon followed him to what looked like the entrance of a shrine. Many stairs were laid out in front of him for him to climb and the large red gate loomed overhead. I waited until he was almost at the top before I began making my own journey up the steps. Once I made it up, I pressed my back against the large poles of the gate.

I peeked out just in time to see Toushiro heading into the small, old shinto shrine. He looked exhausted and it sort of broke my heart to see him push himself that much to the point he might as well curl up and die. I moved from behind the pole to the forested area around the shrine. I stayed hidden behind a tree that had a clear view of the shrine. I watched but nothing really happened. I guess the white haired captain was resting inside the shrine.

Shivering, I looked up at the sky and saw that it was nightfall. I hadn't realized that I stayed out here for this long.

"Maybe your brain's been frozen long enough to not think properly. What the hell are you still doing here?! Didn't you wanna interigate him?"

'Oh, right...' I said absent-mindedly, I felt so dumb but I guess this whole situation was screwing my brain over a lot. I stepped away from the trees but just as I was about to make my way to the small shinto shrine, numerous reiatsu presence started to appear. I immediately withdrew to the branches of the trees and watched as numerous figures appear; surrounding the shinto shrine. I squinted my eyes and recognized them as shinigami officers. After the area was surrounded, two figures appeared in the very front.

"Hitsugaya-taicho! This is an emergency order! Please return to Seireitei!" shouted the tall man at the front, no doubt it was Hisagi. I leaned a bit closer and from what I could make out from the moon's light, Kira was also there. Silence followed after Hisagi's echoing voice but soon, the door the shrine creaked open and out stepped Toushiro. I bit my lip, even from here I could still see the wound that was stained with blood. He honestly wouldn't think about fighting even with that wound would he? I scoffed to myself; who am I to kid, he's a captain AND he's reckless.

"I will not." replied Toushiro boldly before grabbing the hilt of his zanpakuto. Everyone else flinched and also grabbed onto theirs as he came charging in. At first, he was in a blade lock with Kira and Hisagi but then he pushed off and flung Hisagi all the way back to the huge gates. I could only watch in silence, my right hand stuffed into the pocket of my blazer fiddling with the gikon dispenser.

"Way of Binding No. 62: 100 Stepped Rails!"

'What?!' My eyes darted to Hisagi who was perched on top of the large, red gate to the shrine grounds. From his hands he threw a bright rod the size of a bo stick which soon multiplied into dozens in mid air.

'Toushiro!' I reverted my gaze back to the captain and saw that he flash stepped, avoiding the majority of the pins. Just when I thought he would make it, he was struck through the chest by one of them.

I narrowly stopped myself from shouting out by clamping my hand over my mouth. I felt my heart beat faster against my chest. For that short moment, I didn't realize what was going on until the chilly night temperature started to drop even further.

"Soten Ni Zase; Hyourinmaru!"

"That's our cue!"

I pulled the gikon dispenser out of my pocket and pressed the small cat's head. The small green pill came out and I swallowed it quickly before shooting out of my gigai.

"Blow them away; Tsumetai Kaze!" I unsheathed the light blue zanpakuto. Swiping it horizontally, it emitted a strong gust of wind which sliced the ice dragon to small shards.

"It's a surprise to see you here, Hitsugaya Toushiro..." The winds died down and everyone was literally in shock of seeing me standing right at the front.

"Tanaka-taicho!" was repeated throughout the crowd of officers but I had my eyes fixed on the captain in front of me. He was probably the most shocked as he stumbled back a few steps.

"R-Reimei..." I heard him utter under his breath. My eyes saddened for a brief moment before I forced myself to replace it with a glare.

"Everyone step back, I'm going to take him down myself..."

"Tanaka-taicho! We've been specifically ordered to capture Hitsugaya-taicho!" argued Hisagi.

"And you're the one who doesn't stand a chance against a captain-level shinigami. Besides..." I trailed off, gripping Tsumetai Kaze and pointing the blade toward Toushiro, "I did say I will have to resort to killing him myself if he resists..."

Toushiro's sea-green eyes widened even more in shock but this time, he was struck with what seemed like terror and disbelief.

"Reimei...You can't..." He said in a hoarse whisper.

"They've given you a chance, Toushiro. I told the captain-commander that I would only resort to killing if you refuse to turn yourself in and well, what do you know." I wasted no time charging at him, letting a fierce shout escape my throat. My blade crashed with his and we were in a dead lock.

"Reimei please!" He pleaded. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he wasn't accepting the fact that I was going to kill him if he messes up in our fight. But I wasn't, I knew him better. When I betrayed Soul Society, he never turned his back on me so why should I be cruel to him? Maybe there was something else eating at me that made me say I was going to kill him.

Apart from my conflicting inside, I was dead serious on the surface. I continue pushing my blade against his and finally made a sweeping kick. He jumped out of the way in time and flapped his ice wings to gain height. Toushiro managed to retreat to the top of the shinto shrine but I still charged at him, clashing blades fiercely and mercilessly.

"Please Reimei, I'm begging you! I don't want to fight you!" He pleaded again as we locked blades for what seems to be the third time. I remained unfazed but gritted my teeth in attempt to keep myself from lashing out at him even more. What was my body doing? Or more importantly, what part of my mind was making me do this? Didn't I say that I only wanted to try and understand why he would 'betray' Soul Society? The battle with Toushiro was already hard so my inner conflict just made matters worst. Toushiro forced me back and back flipped a few feet away from him, still standing on the rooftop. I looked into his eyes and saw so much sadness; it tore at my heart. I gritted my teeth and blinked away, lunging at him again.

This time when we were in a blade lock, he pushed against my blade almost effortlessly; I realized that my hesitation to fight him was slowly sucking away my strength. But it didn't stop me completely; what was that thing inside me that I can feel that's driving me?

"Reimei, please...I'll ask again. I promised that I wouldn't hurt you ever but this is something I have to do alone..." His words were spoken in a soft mutter so that the both of us could only hear. My eyes narrowed at him in an almost pleading way.

"What must you do alone? I want to help you Toushiro; you know how much you mean to me..." I replied back. A softness overcame his sea-green eyes but then he shook his head lightly.

"I'm sorry,"

He swiped my zanpakuto, sending it darting over towards the side and thus breaking our blade lock. In that very fleeting moment, he leaned forward and pressed his lips over mine delicately. His lips left mine before I could respond and a jolt of pain from behind rendered me unconscious.

GASP! :O Yes there was a reason I made Reimei dumb for a minute there (her not going to Toushiro while he was still alone); one being that she's going through a lot of mental conflict (spacing out) and second is a spoiler :P so I won't tell. R&R please and thank you! :) I'm working on the next chapter so maybe I should finish it by next week (depending on school work -.-)