I was still giggling when I went to report to him at the agreed-upon time for our lesson. I knew he would probably be a bit worse tonight due to that terrible prank I'd pulled. True to expectation, he greeted me in the Captain's quarters courtyard. There was his signature grin.
I couldn't help but giggle as I saw he'd replaced his sash, making him look away from me, his cheeks a bit red.
"That was pretty low," he commented.
"And yet, so effective," I teased. "Got you to turn red… in fact, you're still blushing about it. Pray tell, how DID you get down from there?"
He spared me a small, dark look, though his blush darkened. I laughed in amusement, laughed so hard I had to lean on a tree for support. Abruptly, I was grabbed from behind, forced up against that tree, Shinji against my back, pressing hard with his body. I fought my blush, especially when he pulled my legs back to that our sexes were pressed intimately against each other.
"I can play dirty, too," he reminded me, his breath teasing my ear, his hands rubbing my thighs. I couldn't contain a slight gasp as he ground his hips against mine. I bit my lip, closing my eyes as a shiver ran down my spine.
"If that's how it's gonna be," I said softly, putting into play another one of Yoruichi's ideas. I arched my back, snagging the back of his head with my hand, tangling my fingers in his hair as I pulled his head around into a searing kiss. He was so shocked he lost his grip on me, making me grin as I spun around, using gravity to my advantage to push him to the ground, letting me straddle his waist as I broke the kiss.
"I hope that's not all you had in your arsenal, Shinji," I purred, teasingly. "I have much more material to work with than you think."
His expression was one of pleasant surprise… before he grinned again and rolled, forcing my body beneath his.
"So do I," he teased back, pinning my wrists above my head with a single hand.
"Akalia!"
The shocked voice of Kit made us both blush darkly, having been caught like this, Shinji laying between my spread legs, leaning over me mere inches away. Kit looked scandalized and disapproving all at once.
"I would have expected something like this from you, Captain, but not you, Akalia!" Kit stated sternly, watching the Captain and I get up from the ground. I giggled.
"Don't tell me you still think I'm innocent, Kit!" I teased, grinning. He did not look pleased with me at all, making me sigh and roll my eyes. "Rain check on that training, Shinji."
"Yeah," he agreed. "What did you want, Demenez?"
The man spared me another frown before facing the guilty Captain.
"In truth, I was looking for Akalia," he answered, then took my elbow, starting to lead me away. "And what part of that constituted training?"
I tried not to giggle, knowing how irritated Kit really was… but a few slipped out as he dragged me away. The subtle clenching of my arm told me how much that increased his ire. Once we were out of his division, out of the Seireitei completely, he finally released me.
"What the hell are you doing?" he finally snapped, his rage in his voice. I gaped, shocked. Kit NEVER lost his cool like this!
"It's just a game, Kit," I answered carefully. "It doesn't mean anything…"
"Dammit, Akalia!" he swore, taking my arms in his hands, looking down at me with a deep, dark frown. "You can't afford to be so careless, so reckless! And with Hirako at the worst! This stops now! Right now!"
My heart was racing at the dark look in his eyes.
"Kit… you're scaring me," I whispered, my body starting to tremble. He growled.
"Not nearly enough," he told me firmly. "You KNOW you can't get involved with ANY of these guys. Akalia, you KNOW that!"
I wanted to argue, but he cut me off.
"Did you forget who you are?" he snarled. "Dammit, woman! You're in no position to go philandering around with ANY men! What if your father found out, hm?"
Immediately, I paled.
"Is that what you want?" he demanded, giving me a firm shake.
"N-no!" I objected, now feeling the fear surging inside of me. "P-please! I'll stop! I-I'll tell Shinji—"
"Captain Hirako!" Kit corrected immediately. "Distance yourself, dammit!"
I winced at his grip and his shaking, but I nodded quickly.
"Captain Hirako," I corrected myself loudly. "I'll tell Captain Hirako tomorrow!"
"You'll tell him tonight!" Kit snarled. "Don't you forget who you are! Don't you forget what they'll do if they learn the truth about you!"
I felt tears start falling down my face.
"I-I… I won't," I sobbed, giving in completely. Kit sighed heavily, then hugged me.
"I don't do this to hurt you, Akalia," he reminded me softly. "But you're getting in too deep. You can't trust ANY of them. They're SOUL REAPERS… remember that."
I nodded and he released me, the two of us walking back to the Seireitei. Neither of us noticed the pair of green eyes that had seen the whole fight.
When I walked back into the courtyard, Shinji was sitting on the porch. But when he saw my tears, he rushed over to hold me… only for me to stop him with a hand on his chest, holding him away from me.
"Please don't, Captain Hirako," I said softly, making his eyes widen in surprise.
"It's—"
"Just stop," I told him, finally looking into his confused eyes. "I should not have let this get so out of hand… I came to you to train, not anything else. If we cannot keep it at training, training meaning focusing only on that, then I'll just have to master this ability alone."
"Akalia…"
I bit back another fresh wave of tears as I lowered my gaze, making the final breaker.
"That's Sixth Seat Sapphirano to you," I managed to say coldly, feeling my heart shatter as his once shaking hands stilled completely. After a few moments of silence, I gave him a slight bow, and left the courtyard.
"What the hell just happened?" I heard him whisper to himself.
The next month and a half was hard. I trained every day… and I refused to stop training for any reason… not that Shinji really wanted much to do with me now. After that night, he had tried hard to reach out to me, to approach me again, but I kept him at a distance, no matter how much it hurt me to do so.
And that pain still ate at me. Being without him, not seeing him smiling at me or grinning… not hearing his laughter towards me… It caused a deep ache in my heart. When he had finally given up, he had just become cold, pure business when it came to training… and never wanting anything to do with me otherwise.
The 'break-up' of Shinji and I served to distance many of my 'friends' too. As they had known him longer, they had chosen his side. Now, only Kit, a very stubborn Sosuke, and Kouga remained as my companions. Kouga had told me that he didn't understand what happened, but wouldn't press for answers either. I was grateful, immensely so… and he knew it.
Kouga was also the only one that knew my heart was breaking without Shinji. He had only mentioned it once, though, having realized how much pain the mere mention of Shinji caused me.
After that month and a half, I was finishing my final day of training with all my instructors. Thanks to Yoruichi, I could now use Shunko. I was proud of that and glad to have graduated her training. As for Kensei, well, I'd managed to beat him in battle so he considered that a success.
Lastly, now I had to face Shinji… the one that hurt the most… I knew he would not go easy on me. It was with a great nervousness that I entered the courtyard that evening. Sure enough, he was waiting for me, his sword drawn and ready for battle.
"Ready for your final test?" he asked. I nodded.
"Of course, Captain," I answered, using the title only to keep the distance between us. There were several times during our training I'd catch myself forgetting myself. Several times that eyes wandered. Several times that hands lingered… or the body would react to proximity… I doubted he knew it or had caught any of it… He only retained his cold disposition.
I pulled my blade and prepared for battle, breathing slowly and carefully, trying to keep my heart steady, my mind clear.
"Collapse, Sakanade," he said softly, beginning the fight. Immediately after taking the first breath, I summoned the eyes, barely blocking a swift attack, countering with a swift kick… that he blocked.
Each blow went back and forth, back and forth, evenly matched to a degree… until my time-limit was reached fifty-minutes after starting.
"Shit!" I swore as the eyes disappeared, leaving me at the mercy of Shinji's zanpakuto. I stayed ready, struggling to focus as the dizzying effects of losing the ability took me for a moment… before I felt an arm wrap around my waist… and soft lips capture my own.
My eyes widened for only a second… before closing as I gave in, dropping Durnehviir as I slid my hands up the body in front of me, eagerly tangling my fingers in his hair. The feeling of disorientation disappeared as well and the lips left mine to kiss all over my face, giving me a second to realize that Shinji had also dropped his weapon, releasing me from its spell… and placing me under a spell all his own.
His lips caught mine again, his hand tangling in my hair, holding my head up to his, his other hand wrapped around my waist, holding my body to his. When he broke away for a moment, letting his lips press heated kisses down my neck, I couldn't contain my soft moan.
"Shinji…"
His hands grabbed my thighs and jerked my body up his, wrapping my legs around his waist as he kissed me again. I shivered at his touch and returned his kiss with all the fire I possessed within me. I soon felt a wall at my back, letting Shinji release my thighs and let his hands slide up my frame, up to cup and tease my breasts.
I gasped softly, arching into his warm, muscular frame, his lips trailing kisses down my neck once more, making me moan softly, desperately tangling those fingers into his hair. Those lips trailed down to the opening in my robe, along the curves of my breasts, making me pant and shiver—
WHAM!
I screeched as I fell to the ground, only to realize that a furious Kit stood in front of me. His dark glare centered on Shinji, whom he had punched through the garden wall. Deciding he would not be getting up, he turned to me, his gaze a full-blown fury of the likes I'd never seen before.
"K-Kit, I—"
SMACK!
My head snapped to the side, the force of his slap stunning me. Slowly, I turned to look back at him in both shock and fear.
"YOU NEVER LISTEN!" he roared, slapping me again. This time, the force was enough to bash my skull into the wall, making me cry out in pain. "DAMMIT AKALIA! YOU ARE SWORN TO ME!"
"What?" I asked quietly, shock freezing me in place. Kit snarled and grabbed my chin with bruising strength, forcing me to look at him.
"When your father entrusted you to me, he told me you BELONGED to me!" he spat out, his white-hot fury in his voice. "You're MINE! AND I WON'T LET ANYONE ELSE HAVE YOU!"
This was a Kit I knew nothing about. This was a stranger, a monster! Tears began to stream down my face as my heart began to ache.
"No…" I whispered pitifully, sobs in my throat. "No, you cannot be him… You can't be Kit… Kit would never do this to me…"
My words earned me another hard slap, slamming my head into the wall again, making me cry out in pain once more.
"Collapse, Sakanade!"
I had never been so grateful to hear his voice than right at that moment.
"Shinji…" I slurred, the blood-loss and pain making it very hard for me to talk. The two figures in front of me were starting to blur as I fought the darkness I knew was coming. As the dark hands closed in on me, I uttered a final whisper. "Shinji… help…"
And all faded to black.
Thank you for reading thus far, dearest readers. I would appreciate some feedback, if I may ask. We writers do request this to know how well or poorly we are doing at the moment. Reviews are greatly appreciated, even if you wish to remain anonymous. Please leave a short opinion and I'll be sure to thank you for it in the next chapter.
Viper-Sindel