A/N: HOLY CRAP I am SOOO SORRY. But excuse at the END. STORY FIRST. ENJOY!!

Figure Ten: Bold

//Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn the power of man ~ William Shakespeare\\

Light. It was so annoying. Go away. Let me go back to sleep...

Soft lips on mine.

My eyes snapped open and I winced at the sudden brightness. Groaning and covering my eyes with my hands, I sat up. It was morning already. I sighed and slumped back onto my pillow. Memories of the night before filled my head and I felt my whole body grow hot. We'd kissed. We'd actually kissed. Somehow, I knew it had happened once before, but I just couldn't remember when. Maybe that... that was what he wanted me to remember in Hueco Mundo. I felt a goofy smile split my face. We were officially an item now, at least I considered us to be. Although, now that I think on it, I really don't understand what he's thinking. I thought I did, but I really didn't. He's always a mystery, dropping clues and hints here and there, but never ever just giving me the answer, and just when I think I've got him all well and figured, he pulls this out on me.

Great. Just great. Guess it's back to the drawing board for me: figuring him out.

Sluggishly, I dragged myself out of bed and rubbed my eyes. Looking out the window, I realized that it was still quite early. The sun wasn't that far up yet. Pausing for a moment to listen, I could have sworn I heard the scratching of a pen on paper outside. Grinning to myself, I shook my head and got ready for the day. What a workaholic.

"Ohyanyou!" I said, opening the door. I was happy, cheerful, peachy as peachy could be. Bouncing over to Hitsugaya's desk I peeked over his shoulder.

"What happened to the hot springs?" I asked, leaning my chin on his shoulder. I felt him tense up, but relax a second later.

"Matsumoto planned it for the evening. Leave me alone, I have to get this work done before we leave," he said, grumbling through half his words. From his tone, I could tell that he was none too happy this morning. Frowning, I looked over at Matsumoto's desk. My jaw dropped. It was completely and absolutely empty. Fighting down the impossible urge to laugh, I looked back at Hitsugaya, now knowing exactly why he was so pissed off.

"Ran-chan actually finished her work before you did?" I asked, incredulous. His only answer was a ticked off 'tch'. I couldn't help it anymore. I laughed.

"What, you think this is funny?! You try doing all this paperwork instead then!" he said, slamming down his pen, causing ink to fly off in all directions. I bit the insides of my mouth, trying to stifle my laughter.

"G-gomen ne..." I said, still giggling. Hitsugaya looked as if he were just about to make a snappy retort when someone knocked on the door. We both looked over.

"Enter."

The door slid open, revealing the same man that came last night to deliver the note. He bowed low.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, Yamamoto-soutaichou will see you now. And, he requests that you please bring Takamori-san with you," the shinigami said. I turned to glance back at Hitsugaya. His expression had turned grim, and he was frowning.

"Fine. We will be there soon. Thank you," he said. The shinigami bowed again and slid the door shut. All temptations to laugh gone, I stared from the door to Hitsugaya and back, confused and slightly scared. What was that? Why did Soutaichou suddenly want to see us? That expression Hitsugaya was wearing never boded well, and I don't think this time was any different.

"Hitsugaya-kun? What's going on?" I asked. He just shook his head, sighed and walked towards the door.

"You'd better come too," was all he said before he slid open the door and walked out. I stood there for a moment, shocked, before hurrying to catch up to him.

"Hey, don't get all silent on me. What's going on?" I asked again. He still didn't answer. Rolling my eyes, I knew that any further probing would result in a yelling at, so I kept my mouth shut and huffed angrily the whole way to the 1st Division. Arriving outside the 1st Division Captain's Quarters, Hitsugaya took a deep breath and announced our presence. There was a deep creaking sound as the doors opened on their own. Soutaichou was sitting in his chair, behind his desk, his expression quite unreadable. I unfolded my arms and followed behind Hitsugaya.

As we reached Soutaichou's desk, Hitsugaya bowed, and I followed suit, not daring to raise my head until I was told to do so.

"I assume that you know why you have been called here, Hitsugaya-taichou," the old man said, turning to look at him.

"Hai." Hitsugaya only gave a swift nod, his actions jerky and forced.

"And you, Takamori-san?" He turned to me. Slowly, I shook my head, the frown on my forehead deepening. The old man nodded, turning back to Hitsugaya.

"Then let me... enlighten you, child," he said. "I have received, from a very trusted source, some unsettling information about the relationship between the two of you. Now, Hitsugaya-taichou has been warned that if it were to continue, there are to be consequences. And I now have knowledge that this 'unsettling' behaviour has not stopped. What, Hitsugaya-taichou, is the consequence of a violation of the rules of Seireitei and the Gotei 13?"

Hitsugaya took a deep breath and recited, "Any repeated offense of any laws will be punishable by demotion and/or suspension according to the seriousness of the offense. The Soutaichou has the right to renounce and/or assign other punishments upon his/her judgment on the offense and the offender." I just stared. What the hell was going on here? We hadn't broken any laws- wait...

"No Captain – non-shinigami relationships allowed..."

Ah... right. No emotions. I remember now. That ironclad rule of no feelings whatsoever. Right. I sighed. Now I knew what this was about.

"I love you, and there's nothing they can do to stop that,"

Soutaichou must have been the 'they' he was referring to.

"Good, good," Soutaichou said, nodding. "Then what do you think your punishments should be, Hitsugaya-taichou?" Stupid old man. He was teasing Hitsugaya. Damn him... Hitsugaya stood firm, not showing one ounce of fright or giving any reaction at all.

"I cannot answer that, Soutaichou. I do not have the power to decide punishments," he replied. Nice one. Soutaichou nodded again, then turned to me. My heart seems to have paused for a second, then started pounding ten times faster than normal. I was so sure he could hear it from where he was sitting.

"What about you, Takamori-san? Can you think of a sufficient punishment?" he asked. I shook my head vigorously, keeping my head down, afraid to make direct eye-contact.

"Oh? Neither of you? Then who will be the one to decide? What about Matsumoto-fukutaichou?" Hitsugaya's jaw tightened as he spoke.

"With all due respect, Soutaichou, please keep Matsumoto out of this. She had nothing to do with it." Soutaichou raised a very bushy white eyebrow and I could have sworn he was smirking at us.

"I see... then who?" he asked. He was still teasing. Bastard of an old man. I glared at the ground, not daring to lift my head. I bit my lips to prevent the stream of profanities to begging to come pouring out of my mouth. None of us spoke.

"Now this... this will pose a problem. Hitsugaya-taichou," he finally said. Hitsugaya bowed.

"It is up to you, Soutaichou, to decide our punishments. It has always been thus, and it always will." I'd never heard him use such formal language before. I couldn't tell if he was kissing up to Soutaichou, or whether he was simply doing this because it was required. Personally, I thought it was the latter. The old man nodded once more and raised a hand to stroke his beard.

"Very well then. I think that the immediate removal of Takamori-san from under your care is in order. Also, we shall speak privately later about your Captain's class. For now, I suggest you go back and pack up all your things. Your new destination will be decided before the hour. You are dismissed." And with that, he gave us a final look and gestured for us to leave.

I felt stunned, rooted to the spot. I was being taken away... maybe forever. Hitsugaya only bowed deeply. I also lowered my head, albeit very jerkily, and hastened out of the room after Hitsugaya. The walk back to the 10th Division was deathly quiet. Hitsugaya was in front of me the whole time and every time I tried to catch up with him, he'd only walk faster, until I realized that he didn't want to talk right now, and stopped trying. As we reached his doors, he stopped so suddenly that I nearly walked into him.

"Takamori, you would do well to hurry up and pack your bags. Soutaichou's orders will be here soon," and with that, he opened the door and made a bee-line for his desk, where he sat down, and without so much as an upward glance, picked up his pen and started on his paperwork. I stood in the doorway, my heart beating rather irregularly in my chest. I was blank. I didn't know what to do. Everything was so right last night, and now... everything was wrong. Why? Why does nothing ever go right for me? I thought I'd finally found someone I could be happy with, and now he's being ripped away from me by a bossy old man that no one has the guts to stand up to. Why?

"Doushite?" my voice shook and I could feel tears in my eyes again. I lowered my head. I heard the pen pause.

"What?"

"Doushite?" Tears were falling freely down my face now. My shoulders were shaking and my hands were clutched into tight fists.

"Everything's wrong! It wasn't supposed to be like this!" Footsteps, and a hand on my shoulder.

"Takamori?" I shook him off, turning my back to him.

"Why is it always like this? Something always goes wrong! There's always something out of place. Or something missing. Why is that?" I didn't even raise a hand to wipe away the tears. As I continued to sob, I felt myself being pulled backwards into an embrace, and a chin on my shoulder.

"I-I don't know." I felt his arms tighten around my waist. I turned and buried my face in his haori, not caring that it would become dirty. Clutching at it as if it were the only thing keeping me from drifting away at sea, I sobbed. I cried and cried until it felt like I was going to shrivel up. I cried until I was sure his haori was soaked through with tears. I cried until my eyes hurt and even then, I kept on crying. All this time, Hitsugaya kept silent and kept a firm hold on me. I didn't notice him guiding me to the couch. I didn't notice him placing a blanket over me. I didn't notice that I was slowly drifting off to sleep...

My eyes were thick and swollen. When I tried to open them, they stung. My whole brain felt waterlogged and my body felt heavier than it had ever felt before. I was vaguely aware that my head was laying on something very warm, yet rather bumpy.

Forcing my eyes to open just a crack, the blurry image of Hitsugaya's face came into focus.

"Are you awake now?" he asked. His voice was soft, as if I were a sick patient in a hospital ward. I groaned and closed my eyes again. I wanted to go back to sleep but at the same time I was faintly aware that if I did, I would lose even more time with him, so I made myself sit up and rub my eyes. My eyelids were indeed swollen. It felt like my face was attacked by an angry hoard of bees or something. I looked at Hitsugaya. He had a bitter smile on his face and his eyes were hard. I looked around. It was dark already. Several hours must have passed since I fell asleep. I noticed my trunk sitting next to the door and a dead weight seems to have settled very firmly in my stomach. I averted my gaze so that I wouldn't have to look at it. Instead, I fixed my eyes back on Hitsugaya, greedily drinking in every detail. I felt like I was back at the station, as if I were to leave for Ximax again. I wanted to remember as much as I could. I wanted to remember everything.

Sure, it's not as if I were never going to see him again, but that's how it felt like. I didn't want to go, and judging from his expression, neither did he.

"Matsumoto's already packed your bags, seeing as how you wouldn't let go of my clothes." He let out a faint chuckle, folding up the blanket in his lap. I watched him, not entirely sure of what to do. After all, I would be leaving soon, and for who knows how long.

"Yamamoto-soutaichou's orders came while you were asleep. He says that you're to move into the 8th Division for the time being. Kyouraku-taichou has already been informed of this. He also says that he will allow you to stay here for the night, but you have to be at the 8th Division by noon tomorrow, if not, then there will be other consequences." Hitsugaya said all this with his eyes staring fixedly at the teacup on the table, as if the cup would tell him that he was lying and that this was all just a bad dream. The teacup, however, remained as stationary as ever.

"Ah... I see..." I nodded, pulling on my fingers and fiddling with the edges of my clothes. For a moment, neither of us moved, but we both lifted our heads to meet each other's gaze at the same time. I almost laughed at our in-sync-moment.

"What do you think will happen after I move into the 8th Division? Will I still be able to attend Shinigami Academy?" I asked. Hitsugaya thought about it for a moment before answering.

"You should be. Being in a different Division doesn't stop you from going to the Academy, but I don't think I'll be able to train you anymore. Kyouraku-taichou might be willing to help you though." I nodded, slumping back and giving a heavy sigh. So it was a total cut-off from Hitsugaya. That was my punishment, was it? Stupid old man. That was the worst one on the list and he just had go and pick that one. I wouldn't mind doing something like... writing lines or something. Just... anything but this separation.

"This sucks..." I said, staring at the ceiling of the office, tracing the patterns with my eyes. I felt more than saw Hitsugaya give me a sidelong glance before also tilting his head back and heaving a sigh.

"There's nothing we can do, is there? Soutaichou's decisions are absolute, no one goes against them." I could hear from his voice that he hated this just as much as I did. He'd just confessed yesterday, and today, there's this. I peaked at him from the corner of my eye. He was so gorgeous and perfect. I never thought I'd see him this frazzled in my life. Though admittedly, those times he pulled all-nighters were as close as it gets. But this... this was on a new level.

He didn't have bags under his eyes, and his eyes weren't bloodshot. It's just that his whole body seemed to emanate tiredness and fatigue and the desire to just let go and not have to worry about anything. Sadly, I doubted he could ever have the blissful feeling of absolute calm, because he always had something else to do, something else to finish, something else to attend to. He'll never be free.

I leaned over and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. He turned his face to look at him. I gave him a sad smile, shrugging my shoulders and leaning back again. I heard him sigh again. Why not make the best of it, this was our last night together.

"I thought... I could forget you." I looked at him. What was he saying? He wasn't looking at me. His eyes were glassy, and they had that reminiscent air to them.

"During the times you went to school, I'd tried to forget you. And I almost succeeded too, but then I realized just how impossible that was," he went on. "No one, not even Hinamori could completely erase the memory of you. I knew it was against the laws, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't stop myself. And in the end, I just gave in, knowing that it would end up like this, eventually." I closed my eyes, listening to his voice.

"I thought that if I just refused to think about you, slowly, this feeling would go away, but it just got stronger, and no matter how hard I tried to push it away, it kept coming back. I was helpless to stop it." It sounded like he couldn't stop talking even if he tried. I needed to know this. He knew that. "At first, I didn't recognize what I was feeling, and thought it was some childish desire to have a friend, but after a while, I realized that it was something different. Something that I'd never experienced before. So I got scared, and tried to push it away even more, and that's when you came back. The moment I saw your face that day, I knew. I knew what that feeling was."

"And what was it?" I asked, rather sleepily, edging closer so I could rest my head on his shoulder.

"I was... in love." I gave a faint smile snuggled closer to him.

"Hm... love you too... g'night..." I mumbled, letting myself slip into that blissful oblivion of quiet dreams, where nothing existed other than me and a grassy field with the most beautiful white flowers I'd ever seen, and the most wonderful shade of green grass. Green and white. Hitsugaya... I didn't make the connection...

"Minako... Minako..." I groaned and swatted at the voice. Go away and let me go back to sleep. If I slept longer, I'd be able to stay with Hitsugaya a bit more.

"Minako... Minako! Get up!" I felt a painful jab in my side. Jolting into an upright position I swatted at the voice again.

"Ittai! That hurt!" I rubbed my eyes and looked around. Hitsugaya was standing next to my bed with a half exasperated, half amused look on his face.

"You wouldn't have gotten up otherwise," he said, seating himself on the edge of my bed. I frowned at him, falling back onto my pillow and pulling the blankets up to cover my face. I heard Hitsugaya sigh.

"I take if you want me to wake you up again?" When I didn't answer, I heard him chuckle.

"I hoped it wouldn't come to this. Souten ni za-" I shot up and jumped out of bed, wincing slightly as my feet made contact with the icy floor.

"No, no! That's alright! I'm up, I'm up!" Hitsugaya laughed. I watched him for a second before sitting back down on the bed. It was such a beautiful sound, made even more endearing by the rarity of it. I glanced at the clock and did a double-take. It was already almost 11.

"We've only got one hour left!" Hitsugaya heaved a sigh and nodded. I looked over at him. He looked sad again, and I immediately felt bad for making him so. I sat back down on the bed and stared down at my hands. What do I do? What do I say? Oh god... this is so awkward!

"All your belongings have already been taken to the 8th Division for you. So... all that remains is for you to move over," he said. I nodded. Silence. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. How can something like this be so amazingly awkward?

"What's going to happen to us?" It was a simple enough question, but I knew he caught the deeper meaning in it. He shook his head, staring down at his hands.

"I don't know..."

"You know what we need?" I lifted my head to look at him. He raised his eyebrows.

"What?"

"A miracle." I sighed again. "Something that can get us out of this mess." He gave a humorless laugh.

"That would be a miracle." I forced a smile. Again, silence.

"Why don't we go and... I don't know... do something fun?" I said, suddenly sitting up. He gave me a rather confused look. I smiled. That's just like him. Not knowing what 'fun' is.

"You know... something to remember each other by," I continued, standing up and walking around, thinking of possible places to go. "Like... for a walk, or... to the shopping districts, or to grab something to eat. You know?" He blinked, and then frowned contemplatively.

"But where?" I shrugged, throwing my hands up.

"Anywhere! Anywhere we can make memories..." I said. At this, I could feel a lump start to form in my throat, but I mentally slapped myself. I wasn't going to cry. Not now. Not anymore. It's not like I won't ever see him again. I'll just be in a different Division. We'll still both be in Seireitei. I'll be at school, but we can still visit each other, and be friends.

Friends...

Will that be enough for me? Just friends? It wouldn't. I just knew it wouldn't. But there was nothing I can do about it. Absolutely nothing. It's not fair. Nothing's ever fair when it comes to laws and regulations. Someone always has to suffer for them, and it just happened to be the two of us this time. I'd once promised myself I wouldn't be held in by stupid rules and regulations. Damned fate and irony. They probably planned this together, and are now pointing and laughing at us. Life is so sadistic...

"Memories?" His voice pulled me roughly back into reality. I nodded.

"Yeah, memories. You know, the stuff that you remember other people by." He stared at me.

"But I already have many things to remember you by. Almost too many." If I hadn't known better, I would have taken him seriously, but I smiled. He was joking with me. One of the few times he did actually joke.

"Urusai yo... come on. Let's go do something before the time's up." And with that, I grabbed his hand and proceeded to drag him out of the door. He didn't resist much, only followed along.

"There's a small garden that's somewhat close to the 8th Division. We could go for a walk there," he said. I turned to look at him, then nodded enthusiastically. A walked in the garden sounded wonderful right now.

"This way." He took the lead, walking passed many Divisions and finally coming to a stop in front of a small but nonetheless lovely garden. The whole thing was surrounded by water, and there was a small, shrine-like building in the middle. There were various paths that led to the shrine. Lotus flowers and water lilies floating atop their green leaves, blossoming in the summer heat. Seeing the water reminded me of something, so I turned towards him.

"We never went to the hot-springs," I said. He smirked and gave me a sidelong look.

"You were out cold last night on the sofa, remember?" I blushed. He didn't have to phrase it like that.

"You two could have still gone..." I mumbled. He laughed. Rarities were everywhere today.

"It wouldn't have been the same if you weren't with us anyways..." I smiled at that comment. It made me immensely happy to know that I meant something to the both of them.

"I guess... Well, come on!" I jumped onto one of the bridges that led to a path to the shrine. The reflections in the water were a little blinding at first, but my eyes managed to adjust. I bent down and reached out to touch a petal on a water lily. It was so beautiful, in full bloom. Smiling, I traced the edge of the petal and just crouched there, staring at it, admiring it's beauty, and slightly envious because it was so perfect.

"You're so lucky," I whispered. "You don't have to deal with troubles and worries, do you...? And you're so beautiful and perfect. Loved by everyone."

"And who said you weren't?" The sentence surprised me. I didn't think that Hitsugaya would have been able to hear me. But then I remembered. He was a captain. Of course he had superior senses. My head snapped up and my eyes met his in a flash. He gave one of his rare smiles.

"What?"

"Don't make me repeat myself." He walked passed me, towards the shrine. I slowly stood up, but didn't move to follow him.

"You coming?" He glanced over his shoulder at me. After blinking a couple of times, I quickly moved to catch up with him.

"You're so slow..." I rolled my eyes, but didn't say anything to contradict him. I couldn't help but smile as we reached the shrine.

Memories... huh? This would definitely be something that I'll remember for the rest of my life.

A/N: Ok... I can explain... wait... no I really can't. I've been a horrible author. I know I know, and I'm REALLY sorry. It's been like MONTHS HOLY CRAP. I'm SOOO sorry. UGH. You guys can TOTALLY semi-flame me if you want, and berate me on my TERRIBLE author-ness, but I promise I wouldn't abandon a story and I'm gonna stick to that. SO yeah. ^^

BUT a HUGE thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed. XD I LOVE YOU ALL. And I WILL update... soon. I hope. Highschool really IS more pressuring than middle school. DAMNIT. SO MUCH HW and CLUBS and STUFF. NARGGG

ANYWAYS! I love you all and thanks so much for your support! This story is finally drawing to a close soon... so yeah! I hope you all stay for that. ^^

Until next time!
Arelissa