I scrunched my eyes and clutched his shirt so tightly you'd think I was a spooked, frozen cat with my claws stuck. Whatever this was that Hitsugaya was doing scared the absolute shit out of me, but I couldn't move to react or even yelp in defiance. On top of actually displaying fear while in 'Tall, Tanned and Handsome's' arms, the freaking wind was smacking against my face with absolutely no remorse. So what did I do? The most feeble female action one can think of, of course—I buried my face against his shoulder. Yep, you heard it here first—I, Kiteyama Akinoyo, caved and let a female tendency slip. Although I'm portraying this with humor and heavy sarcasm, I'm honestly pretty pissed at myself.

After a few minutes, the wind rushing against my ears slowed and eventually came to a stop. I'd assumed that meant the coast was clear, but with everything I'd heard within the past 30 minutes, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the calm before the storm of Hitsugaya's magic trick.

"Kiteyama," Hitsugaya called.

Through my scrunched face, I dared to crack open my right eye just slightly—only to see his shirt I was buried in. I didn't let up my hold, and waited for him to continue.

"Kiteyama, we've arrived." He said.

Quickly I wedged my face out of the crevice of fabric that lined his neck, and peeked around like a mouse trying to make a run for it. It was dark, and all there was were old wooden walls along with sliding paper doors. During my observation over his shoulder, I looked too far left and met with his eyes looking down at me. He was so close that I myself—since clearly it was 'be-feminine-as-fuck hour'—donned a small blush at the realization that I was still in his arms.

I quickly kicked my legs that dangled outside his grasp as a signal, and he let me down gently. I stepped away from him with such a swift motion that surprised even me, then proceeded to dust myself off to clear myself of the uncomfortable aura that clung to me.

"Ya know, a little warning next time you decide turn into the fucking Flash on me would be nice," I grunted.

"Apologies; I thought your body would remember what it was like to flash-step, but I was evidently incorrect." He replied.

I took a few more steps to look around, and before I could get to it, Hitsugaya beat me to the punch.

"This is a place I found some years back—it's abandoned and a few towns over from Hayamatsu and Karakura. It'll take them at least a few hours to get here from where we left them."

"I see." I said as I attempted to crack open a window. "So what happens now? We go to that Seirei-whatever place?" I peeked out the window to see the sunlight fully covering the dead vegetation.

"That's the goal, however, there's an issue preventing us from making a move."

"Really? I'm shocked—what could possibly stop a Shinigami such as yourself in his tracks?"

"There's nothing stopping me specifically; it's you who's come to a complete stop."

Hitsugaya came over to me and took my bruised wrist delicately. "This is preventing us from making a move." He motioned to my red-lit bracelet.

Now if I were honest with myself, then I'd delve into the fact that the simple touch he currently was in the middle of sent flurries of butterflies to erupt in my stomach. Something about this asshole had my stomach in knots, and I somehow couldn't get enough of the sass, the eye contact, and mostly the touch.

That's if I'm being honest with myself however. But I'm no honest-fucking-Abe—there's no way in Hell I'd ever let myself feel that way more than a few seconds or admit that aloud.

"But why would my tracker have anything to do with hopping through dimensions or whatever? Can't you just break the thing?" I asked, quickly retracting myself from his grasp—reluctantly, yet necessarily.

"While normally any object created from the World of the Living is generally not a problem, this isn't any ordinary object." He began.

"Continue this once I get a cigarette—my nerves can't take any more of this." I side-stepped away from him and toward the purse he'd set on the ground where we initially entered.

"Those things can be deadly if you're not careful."

"For someone who's already dead, does it even really matter?" I scoffed.

"Regardless of the obvious; clearly we survive off sustenance, and the same rules that would apply to a human in regard to general health also applies to us." He explained.

"Well, guess I'll die again when my due time comes," I shrugged.

I went back to the window and opened it fully before lighting my cigarette and taking the much needed drag.

"So, why can't we leave?" I prompted.

Hitsugaya sighed from my lack of tact—he walked over to the door and slid it open.

"At least smoke outside—this used to be a shrine after all."

I scoffed and followed him outside. "You're such a stick in the mud—you know that?" I smirked.

"So I've been told," he sat down on the porch. I sat down with him as he continued. "That bracelet of yours somehow prevents you from emerging from your gigai."

"Gigai?" I questioned.

"Yes, a faux body. Remember when I ate that candy earlier? The body I emerged out of was a gigai. Shinigami use these bodies while stationed in the World of the Living in case they need to make contact with humans." He explained.

"That makes sense," I commented before taking another drag.

"Normally, we can easily emerge out of them without an issue, however, that bracelet prevents you from being able to make the separation. Urahara and I tried while you were sleeping, and were able to see signs of attempted separation, but the action itself wasn't successful."

I furrowed my brows.

"I don't understand. Why would an object from this dimension—that's normally not an issue—be unable to phase through? I mean, if a puny human made it…"

"That's the issue, Kiteyama; what you just said only proves and hindrances things further. That bracelet isn't something any human could make on their own—we're dealing with someone who knew you were a Shinigami. Someone who had a reason to keep you contained, and needed you out of the Soul Society at all costs." He looked at me.

I returned his gaze and resisted the urge to gulp. If something was able to frazzle a Shinigami even slightly, then this situation I was in was more serious than any other bullshit the humans could even dream to dish out. Although I was used to mistreatment, the thought of whatever this person had intended for me actually sent shivers up my spine.

"So let's break this shit off and get out of here then," I rose it up to look at it. "I don't understand what the big deal is."

"Urahara made a valid point that breaking it could result disastrously; it's what's keeping you trapped in your gigai—who knows just how deep its threaded to your soul, and what could happen to you if we broke it off. We tried to remove it, but were unable to. He wants to study it more before we do anything else—which means that for now, we have to keep playing by it's rules. Every three hours we'll change location. If we're lucky, we'll avoid detection until we can get it figured out. So far the only upside is my ability to use flash-step for quick escapes. But if the enemy is whom I speculate, then this charade will only last us a few days max. Hopefully Urahara can come up with something by then." He explained.

"And just who is it that you speculate? That Arra-something-or-other?" I asked.

"Arrancar," he corrected. "And yes, I suspect that it was one of our prior enemies that survived."

"I see," I exhaled my drag.

There was a moment of silence between us as we listened to some birds chirping nearby. What was an Arrancar? What did they have to do with me? I was—er, am—a Shinigami…just what did that mean I had to do now?

"Hey, Hitsugaya," I called. "So, how was it you were able to figure out who I was? It's not like you had any of this come up based on my memories. Were we acquaintances at one point after all?" I asked.

"Not quite. I'd never met you prior to two days ago. When the ordeal happened five years ago, all of us were informed of the situation, and to be on the lookout for the M.I.A. member of Squad 13. There were a couple of search parties that searched for you—my own Squad members included—and all of them reported back to us for any and all evidence. After about a month, we had no choice but to move on. But for that month, that picture you saw of yourself earlier was kept on my desk until the searches stopped entirely. When I saw you at Mameha's, I couldn't place my finger on where I'd seen you before. Then when you said you lost your memory five years ago, I started trying to think of events that happened back then, and that one came to mind." He explained.

I blinked at him before cocking an eye. "You sure have a good memory to remember the face of someone you'd never actually met." I smirked.

"Thanks," he shrugged.

"Your desk, huh? Since when does sending people to Heaven or Hell require paperwork?" I chuckled.

He sensed my attempt at teasing, and let me have my way since this whole situation promoted anxiety and panic within me. Not gonna lie and say I wasn't grateful for it.

"If only my paperwork was as simple as something like that—that would be the day," he sighed.

"Since you know, I have a habit of reading into things—I heard you say 'your own Squad members.' What are you implying by that?" I slightly diverted.

"I'm not surprised—you are the type to dissect everything that comes your way after all," Hitsugaya commented with a ghost—that's right ghost—of a smile.

"Well, if you know that, then get talking. After your answer, I expect the full breakdown of this fairytale world I'm evidently apart of. You've got three hours." I smirked.

He sighed, and took a breath before he began to put the connecting pieces of this puzzling mess I'd already partially pieced together.

-x-x-

I don't know whether the phrase: 'mind-blown,' quite covers just how I was feeling about the whole situation. Everything seemed so farfetched that I was having trouble really taking it to heart. It was one thing to explain something, but until the person actually experiences things themselves, it will never have the same effect. I guess I'd get it all down in time—since I'd previously accepted it in my former life anyway. Although I must say that I wasn't too surprised to learn that Hitsugaya was the Taichou of Squad 10—he just seemed like that type of responsible person the longer I talked to him.

"Now that you're up to speed, let's talk a bit about you, Kiteyama." Hitsugaya began again after a brief respite from the detailed explanation.

I shot him a surprised look.

"Me? What about me? You already told me more about myself than even I knew—what's left to talk about?" I questioned.

"While I told you the information I've collected, it doesn't mean that there isn't more to you that I don't know. It's a bit unfair to just assume."

I was confused to say the least. I couldn't tell if this was part of getting more detail about the situation, or if he wanted to actually know me specifically as a person rather than a hostage to rescue. No one had ever really asked me anything like this before—I didn't know how to begin to handle it if it were the later.

"Uh, well, I don't really know what to say." I partially muttered. "I'm sure that you're able to piece together what the life of a tight-leashed prostitute would be like; always out late in various locations, surrounded by creatures ruled by greed and lust, always one step away from making the wrong move and getting beat…there's really not much more to it." I explained.

"I'm wondering how they let you work at that restaurant if you were kept on such a tight-leash."

"Part of my job was to try to bring in clientele and assets, so one way to do that would be to be out during the daylight hours offering myself to the right person." I countered.

"I see. And were you able to gather a good amount of people that way? I'm sure there were times where you were left to your own devices before or after."

Okay, I just couldn't wrap my head around this guy. What was the point of all this? Why would he even care?

"You're right; it wasn't everyday that I was able to bring in new recruits, and the times where I actually wasn't scheduled were actually the best." I cracked a small smile.

"Were you supervised at your apartment, or were you able to live on your own?"

"Luckily I was able to live on my own, but they had full access to the place and would often utilize the facility for themselves. There were times where I was actually able to be there by myself—which was great. When I lived back in the whore house, it was so crowded that I was constantly having claustrophobia and panic attacks. Although it's more work than when I was in the whore house, the perk of getting a few moments of solitude was honestly the best part about it." I lit another cigarette.

"Honestly, anything that involved not living in that wretched sty was a blessing." I took a drag and looked up at the sky.

"Sorry to revive bad memories." Hitsugaya said after a moment.

"Nah, it's fine. There isn't a reason for an apology." I watched as the clouds moved slowly over the sun—attempting to push away the horrible memories just as quickly as the wind pushed those clouds.

"Sugi trees, hmm,"

I furrowed my brows and turned to look over at the side-tracked weirdo beside me.

"What about them?"

"You once said you liked them." He answered.

"And?"

"And you seem as if all of this is really wearing on you, so tell me about Sugi trees." He prompted.

I chortle-scoffed aloud on accident. He turned to look at me, and I laughed at him.

"You're one weird guy, Hitsugaya. I can't read you at all sometimes—are you always like this?" I sucked in air to calm myself down.

"How does that promote that I'm 'weird?' You're honestly the one who's more confusing than I am." He countered.

"Me? Weird? I'm a sarcastic, quick-witted asshole, yes, but I wouldn't go right to 'weird.' I'm a realist, Hitsugaya—that's all there is to it." I grinned.

"However you'd like to make yourself feel better." He smirked.

"Woah-ho-ho; look at this here. You know, the more time you spend with me, the more my asshole tendencies will rub off on you. I'll have you converted in no time at all." I chuckled.

"Cigarettes and foul language really isn't my style—thanks for the offer."

I laughed so hard I had to look away from the guy. This…this kind of back-sass was what I loved. I've never laughed as easily as I have within the past few days, and honestly, with this whole situation we were in, I needed all the distraction I could get.

"Challenge accepted, Hitsugaya," I said trying to calm myself.

He had a small smirk resting on his face, and it made my grin only amplify. I'd never actually made anyone other than Miyuki smile in earnest—it was nice to know that I was still human enough to pull that off. Well…sort of.

Hitsugaya stood up and stretched before looking down at me.

"Its been a few hours, we should move before they close in on us." He said in seriousness.

"I'll get my bag,"

I went inside to get it, and shut the window along with the door behind me.

When I stopped in front of him, I immediately remembered what was going to come—him picking me up and flash-stepping with me to the next location while I held on for dear life. I thought of the closeness, and stifled the gulp I wanted to give to drown those damn butterflies from earlier.

"We're going to an old acquaintance's home. Your head needs to be healed before we do anything else—I'm sure it's still tender? Your hip needs tending as well; from what I was able to see, it looks as if you have a hairline fracture." He commented as he inspected my head wound.

My head was definitely still tender, and the closeness between him and I caused blood to rush to my face, which then in turn made my head feel worse.

"Y-Yeah, my head definitely does," I complied with reluctance. "How far does your acquaintance live?"

If I could spend as little time in his arms as possible, that'd be great—I didn't want to deal with any of these weird emotions that surged through me unnecessarily.

"He lives in Karakura Town by where we were earlier; it won't take too long to get there." He responded.

"Alright, fine. I'm as ready as I'll ever be." I hesitated.

"Something the matter?" He asked.

"Nothing, let's just get going." I tried to sound unaffected, but probably failed.

He looked at me for a moment, and then at normal speed picked me up bridal style. I blushed and almost shifted into a fall from the contact, and I fought off the nervous sweat my body wanted to give. Whatever it was that affected me with this guy needed to fucking stop—this way of acting was fucking ridiculous for a full grown woman.

I wrapped my arms around his neck hesitantly, and my mouth formed a hardline to prevent myself from saying anything stupid. Although I avoided eye contact, my periphery caught him staring down at me—if I looked up now, it was over.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Just fabulous," I sourly remarked.

"If you say so…I'll go a bit slower for you this time so that you don't get the whiplash from earlier,"

"No, it's fine; the sooner the better."

"You're sure?"

"Yep,"

My fingers clenched the fabric of his shirt, and I scrunched my eyes shut before I curled my head into his shoulder.

"Go." I told him.

Immediately we set off.

The wind rushing at us had my hair and clothes moving in all directions as it did before, and I shivered from the winter air. Hitsugaya didn't seem phased by it, which wasn't too surprising considering he was probably an expert at this sort of thing. I ended up shifting myself farther down to his pecs area so that the wind wouldn't smack me so roughly. Although the border-line violent wind dominated most of my senses, there was one that stuck out above it—touch. Hitsugaya's fingers were gently pressed into my arm and thigh to make sure that I was safely secured in his strong arms, but since I'd shifted my position, it was really what was near my face that I was more focused on.

His heartbeat.

When Miyuki used to hold me, she'd pull me close to her, and I would immediately rest my head against her chest. I would feel it every time I was in her warm comfort—those two rhythmic thuds that made her, her. Feeling, and eventually hearing her heartbeat would calm my panic attacks, and I could begin to breathe steadily because of it. She'd gently tuck my hair behind my ear, and rest her head against the top of mine.

Those moments with her were the only times I'd ever experienced peace. In those days, spending time with her when we went to sleep was the only thing that would get me through the rapes, beatings, and drug abuse during the day.

I blinked back into reality. Hitsugaya's heartbeat was the second I'd ever been close enough to feel. It beat rapidly because of his obvious movements, but that didn't matter to me. All that mattered to me at that moment, was that I was now put into a position where I let another soul begin to soothe my own.

He didn't know he was even doing it, but he was. With every smirk, with every comeback, with every action, and with every touch, I wrapped myself deeper into the safety blanket he didn't know he provided.

This was wrong.

Yes, to him it was a simple act of kindness, along with a responsibility that he had to attend to. To him, he wasn't doing anything wrong—he was fulfilling his duty as a Taichou to bring a subordinate to safety. But to me…

We stopped abruptly, and I jerked at the motion.

"Sorry, I haven't been here in a while and I almost missed it," he exhaled.

"I-It's fine; no worries." I shifted my legs and he let me down slowly.

I looked up and read that the building said: 'Kurosaki Clinic,' and chuckled.

"You have a doctor for a friend? Can humans even heal Shinigami?" I asked mid-stretch.

"Just wait and see," he turned toward the establishment himself.

He started walking toward the entrance, but didn't get farther than a few steps before he was greeted by a man with orange hair.

"Toushirou? What a surprise this is! It's been a while!" The male matching his height grinned, smacking Hitsugaya's back.

"That's still Hitsugaya-Taichou, Kurosaki," Hitsugaya scolded; adding to the male's grin.

"What brings you here? Who's your friend?" he looked my way.

"Kiteyama Akinoyo; nice to meet ya," I extended a hand.

He took it immediately and shook it with a strong, yet gentle shake.

"Kurosaki Ichigo; a pleasure." He replied.

"Kurosaki, is your wife home at the moment?" Hitsugaya asked immediately after I retracted my hand.

"She is, and you don't have to ask, I already can tell what you're here for," Kurosaki paused to look at my bandaged head. "But I want to know what happened in exchange." He said, his carefree tone completely gone in less than a second.

"I wouldn't expect anything less—you have a habit of sticking your nose into everything anyway," Hitsugaya smirked.

"What can I say?" Kurosaki smirked back. "Come on in." he said as he turned back to his front door.

Hitsugaya waited for me to start walking before he followed suit. We walked in through the clinic, and then through a door that led into his actual home. His wife and toddler son—Orihime and Kazui—greeted and introduced themselves before ushering us in to get comfortable.

Orihime and I sat on the couch while Hitsugaya leaned against the wall behind me and Kurosaki sat on the arm rest on the other side of me. Orihime had some type of healing-type ability that scared me at first, but all around was actually impressive. As she healed my head, I closed my eyes and leaned back while Hitsugaya explained the situation.

"So you're thinking it's an Ex-Espada behind this?" the mid-thirties-aged male questioned.

"Mostly, yes. I can't see any lower-level Arrancar being able to pull something like this off so flawlessly for five years." Hitsugaya replied.

"You're right about that, but I just can't really see why any of the remaining ones would even bother—what is there to gain from it now?" Kurosaki questioned back.

"Who knows. The only thing that's for sure is that even if it isn't one of the Ex-Espada, it has to be someone of that skill-level that we're dealing with—without a doubt." He stated.

"How are you feeling, Kiteyama-san?" Orihime asked as the two males conversed behind us.

I shook myself out of the trance I slipped into during their conversation about me, and looked up at the grey-eyed female that smiled softly at me.

"I'm feeling a bit better. Thank you for taking the time to help me—I owe you one." I nodded.

"Not at all, Kiteyama-san! You don't owe me anything; I'm just happy that I'm able to help!" she replied without missing a beat. "If you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to let us know. With the situation that's happening, I'm assuming that it's been decided that you won't be returning to your apartment. Since that's the case, you're more than welcome eat here, bathe here, rest here, and sleep here."

Well, since she insisted…

"Thank you, Orihime, I really do appreciate you and your family's kindness. If it's all right, I'll take you up on the shower offer." I smiled.

"Of course! Would you like me to finish healing you first, or do you want to take a break and go shower?"

"Let's take a break; I'm sure that your ability takes its toll after extended use. I'm feeling well enough to go right now."

"Okay, sounds good." She replied as she stood up. "I have some clothes that should fit you, let's stop by my closet first,"

"Oh, no need, I have spare clothes in my purse. A woman like me has to always be prepared." I chuckled.

"I'll get your old clothes washed for you then," she smiled.

Women like her left me uneasy. Being as nice as she was just felt foreign and wrong to me, but maybe it's because I myself have yet to be able to extend a hand to anyone. Maybe it felt good to be that mindful and kind? I mean I was okay with her, but it didn't mean she didn't weird me out.

She led me upstairs to the shower, and after she got out a towel and took my clothing, she left back downstairs toward the others.

I got in the shower, sat in the fetal position, turned on the water, and just let it hit me. I didn't even wait for it to warm up; I let the cold hit me and make me shiver, then let the water warm and burn me as it heated up.

This was the first moment I had alone since last night, and I hated to admit that I wasn't as strong as I used to be before meeting Hitsugaya. Granted, this whole situation was fucked, but overall I'd been through worse. When Miyuki wasn't there, all I had was myself—I'd go numb and get through it. I didn't need anyone anymore after her; I was self-reliant, and could handle anything they dished out. But now I just…

I made such a huge mistake. I'd begun to allow myself to let someone in as I did with Miyuki…I let someone peek inside, and now I itched for them to get the full view. I'd only known him for three days—what gave him that right?

I thumped my head against my knees.

Above feeling like a weakling, I was—er am—a Shinigami? Hitsugaya explained the schematics of everything, but I still had so many questions that not even he could answer. How long was a previously a Shinigami? Just what in the fuck happened to me that day in the Rukongai? Obviously I wasn't strong enough to save the others or myself for that matter, but did that automatically translate that I was a weakling, or did it mean that my opponent was completely on another level? What was going to happen to me when I return to the Seireitei? Did I have any friends, family, or anyone important to me that would be there to greet me?

I put my hands over my head before taking a deep breath.

All I wanted was time to sit by myself and think things through, but it seemed as if none aside from this shower would be allotted to me anytime soon.

I lifted my head up, and stared at the white tile in front of me. I watched as the water dripped down the white-caulked cracks, and when I blinked, familiar red took its place. I stared at the now thick, red liquid without so much as flinching, and allowed myself a few minutes to fall back into my one true mental place of solace…apathetic emptiness.