"No, you need to think before you strike. Otherwise you're focussing too much on striking and that'll only work with rookies."
Renji growled and lifted his sword, coming at her at full force. She dodged at the last moment, right under his arm and shoved her wooden sword into the small of his back, propelling him into the ground. She started feeling bad. He was trying so hard and he had so much potential, but she could see him starting to doubt himself and grow weary. It wasn't that she was particularly good, she was just fortunate enough to have Shunsui and to have met Ikkaku and Yumichika. She was lucky, and she knew if he'd been in her situation he'd probably be ten times the fighter she was.
He sat up, crosslegged, and put his head in his hands. Mina's heart sank into her stomach. She kneeled down beside him and put a hand to his shoulder and opened her mouth to speak when Renji pulled his shoulder away as if her hand was made of acid, got up and stormed around the courtyard, cussing and kicking the dirt. He was mumbling something about Kuchiki. The Kuchiki Clan. How was he associated with them? She'd met Byakuya a couple times in her life. She'd only seen him smile once. A real, bright genuine smile. He was with his pale, sickly wife, who was also smiling brightly. It was raining. She remembered reading her obituary.
"I know the Kuchikis. What are you talking about? How do you know them?"
Renji was facing away from Mina. His hands moved from the sides of his head to the front of his now sunken head. Mina hesitated to get any closer. He didn't seem to respond well to concern. She swore she heard him sniffle a little bit. The door from the school to the courtyard opened suddenly and Renji's red and glistening face jerked in the direction of the school for only a moment before he disappeared.
The famous Shuuhei Hisagi walked through the doors alone, nonchalant, hands in his pockets and peered around from his left to his right. He sauntered over to Mina and towered over her.
"Hey."
Mina stumbled out of the boy's dorm at three in the morning. Her hair was a mess and her hakama were backwards, but the moon was high and she felt good. She breathed in the warm air of the night, eyes closed. She wandered into the woods, into her special place by the river. A small clearing covered in moss so soft you could sleep on it. She sat down cross legged and then toppled over onto her side, listening to the river babble. Listening to a thump and a shuffle of footsteps behind her. She jumped up and reached her fists out defensively in front of her. There was Renji looking very unimpressed. Mina tucked her fists into her chest sheepishly before dropping them to her sides and laying back down toward the river. Renji sat down behind her.
"What do you know about the Kuchikis?"
Mina opened one eye and rolled onto her back.
"What?"
"What do you know about the Kuchikis?" Renji asked, slower this time, his shadowed eyes fixed on her face. "Specifically Byakuya."
"Um…" she was groggy and her head was still swimming from the night before. She sniffed and let out a sigh.
"He's that, like… God, he's, like, that guy…" She closed her eyes tight trying to think about anything of import she could possibly know about this person. "So he's, like, this rich guy."
Renji rolled his eyes and sighed in annoyance.
"No!" Mina laughed, "I mean, like… Hold on, sorry, let me think." She closed her eyes and scrunched up her nose.
"So he's the captain of the Sixth squad… and his dad was captain of the Sixth squad… which is pretty bullshit but old man Yama doesn't care about nepotism apparently…" Mina put her hands behind her head and looked up at the sky, she looked a little sad and distant.
"His wife was cool."
Renji seemed to perk up a little.
"His wife? What do you know about her?"
"She was really little and pale, but so nice. Maybe one of the only people besides my uncle who'd actually sit down and talk to me like a person when I was a kid. Always inviting me in for tea. They had this, like, amazing garden right outside their porch, it smelled so good." Mina closed her eyes for a moment.
"What about Byakuya?"
"Hmm…" Mina opened her eyes and gazed back at the sky again. "I don't think anyone really knows anything about Byakuya. He's strong as hell. Never smiles. That's kind of it."
Renji looked on into the river glistening under the moonlight. "Strong, huh?" He said, mostly to himself.
"Yeah…" Mina looked up at his face, illuminated and a little blue under the moonlight. He was so serious, his eyes always half lidded and intense. She could have sworn she'd met him before. A long repressed memory suddenly resurfaced. She reached up and poked Renji's chin.
"Hey."
"Hmm?" He looked down at her and it made her stomach flutter.
"You mugged me in Rukongai, didn't you?"
He gave her a half smile and pushed himself up off the ground.
"Come on. Let's go get some sleep, I want you to be well rested when I beat your ass in class tomorrow."
He reached his hand down and pulled Mina up. She yanked his hand toward her.
"You're on."