Author's Note: Update! I hope you enjoy this chapter. It is a little lengthy but everything has its importance. I do not have to make any fillers right now so there is relevance behind it all. Please, if you read it and enjoy it…review. I would do the same for you! :

Enjoy! And join the HitsuRuki army!


White Phoenix

Chapter 7

"Come on now taicho…" Rukia begged.

"I really don't feel up to it."

The day before, Hitsugaya was sure that talking would keep his temperament from being unstable. But as he sat before Rukia, legs crossed, he was having second thoughts about making conversation with the young Kuchiki. She said random conversation would be good for him, but the more he thought about it the more he doubted her remedy.

Rukia stared at him, mirroring his sitting position. He was being stubborn…again.

"You said you would start doing this with me once a week!" She whined.

Hitsugaya grumbled to himself. "Why not start next week?"

"I didn't get to do that with my training, did I? I feel this holds the same principle. If you don't practice it you won't be any good at it."

"I don't need to learn how to talk."

"Taicho…" Rukia warned.

"Fine, fine! How do you do this…talking thing?"

Rukia sighed with frustration; Hitsugaya really had no clue how to have a simple conversation with anyone. She wondered silently if this was what kept the grumpy captain and Matsumoto from having any kind of serious relationship. Placing her hands on her knees, she smiled.

"It is quite straightforward, actually. All you do is talk about anything you feel like discussing, whether it is about your work, the sky, or something upsetting you…"

Hitsugaya opened his mouth to protest, but immediately shut it with just a glare from the agitated Rukia.

"So, go ahead and try it. Find something to talk about."

"I feel so childish," Hitsugaya grunted. Rukia raised an eyebrow in preparation to argue, but he waved his hand to pass it. "But I guess if it makes you happy I'll do it."

Rukia's heart skipped a beat. Makes me happy?...

Hitsugaya swiveled his head around the quiet garden, his lower lip being relentlessly chewed on as he fought to think of something worth talking about. It was harder than he initially thought, and he soon found himself perturbed with the situation.

"I have nothing," He complained as sincerely as possible. Rukia fought to laugh; he was trying not to whine!

"Come now taicho," Rukia sighed, then added, "Would you like me to start off? Maybe it will help."

Hitsugaya shrugged heavily. "If you feel the need to do so."

The raven-haired girl rolled her eyes. Hitsugaya was being more childish than ever, but for fear of a scolding she held her tongue tightly. She glanced around momentarily before turning back to her captain with bright eyes.

"So, I did my routine as usual this morning…" She started, eyeing Hitsugaya with an inquiring eye; He had better be taking notes. "And I ran into Renji-fukutaicho."

Without thinking, Hitsugaya asked, "How is his training going? I haven't met up with him in a couple of weeks." He kept a straight face, but his forehead was wrinkling.

How is her running into him anything of importance?...Is this how random conversations work? Hitsugaya's head was buzzing with confusion and, dare he feel it, comfort.

Rukia smiled; already he was falling into the natural state of making general conversation.

"Well, I stopped him as he was heading towards Byakuya-taicho's office to ask him, and he really didn't say much. I did find out that Urahara-sama and Ichigo are both joining up to help him with his training. Apparently they have been training nearly every day for several hours. He even said Ichigo and Urahara are out of breath. He looked so worn out…poor Renji."

Hitsugaya could feel his neck heat up from the thought of Renji being with Rukia alone, and subconsciously he scratched his neck to rid himself of the irritation. Rukia did not notice.

"Oh, well, at least both of them are helping out," Hitsugaya commented, the heat vanishing once he realized how immature he was acting. "Urahara is a good teacher. After all, he did help Ichigo."

Rukia nodded. "I think that Renji will surpass my brother."

"Do you really think that, Kuchiki?" Hitsugaya asked with a skeptical scowl.

"Yes, actually I do. Nii-sama, though he won't admit it, has been losing some of his edge. It's not ageing per se, but…like Ukitake-taicho I just think the work load and stress has made him weaker. I caught him coughing the other day."

"Really…" Hitsugaya could not control his tongue; where was this conversation leading? It had nothing to do with anything. He did notice, though, that Rukia's eyes were shining with the pleasure of being relaxed. He too, surprisingly, felt relaxed.

"Yeah. He told me he got some rice ball stuck in his throat." Rukia chuckled at her brothers' attempt to cover the truth; he did not even have rice balls when she was in the room.

Hitsugaya caught himself smiling at the young Shinigami, and instantly turned his attention away from her and out towards the trees. The heat was back, and this time Rukia tilted her head.

"Are you alright, Hitsugaya-taicho?"

"Hunh? Oh, yeah I'm fine. I was just thinking…"

Rukia leaned forward. "About?"

"About…Renji attempting to fight Byakuya. I mean, if he is sick, wouldn't that be a dangerous fight for him? Maybe you should warn him." Hitsugaya was lying through his teeth, but at least she bought it.

"Yeah, right. Nii-sama listening to my advice? That's like telling him to drop his sword and quit being a Shinigami."

"If he does fight and loses, he won't be a Shinigami anyway…and if he does live he could be in critical condition."

"Since when does Hitsugaya-taicho care so much for others?" Rukia questioned, raising her eyebrows.

Hitsugaya clutched a clump of grass at his side. "It's not that, idiot. I'm saying for both sides what kind of fight would that be? Renji would have no pride in winning, and Byakuya would have no pride in losing."

"How do you have pride in losing?"

Rukia was serious; her nose crinkled in confusion.

"You know how Byakuya-taicho is, Kuchiki. If he lost to Renji without being at full strength, and he never knowing if Renji is able to fit the position of captain, he would die without pride. He wants all of Sereitei to know that his lieutenant is worthy of being captain, and dying at Renji's hand in full power will be his proudest moment. It will show that Renji has finally become strong enough to stand with the title of captain above his head and protect not only his squad, but the living world."

Rukia could only stare at him wide-eyed. Since when did Hitsugaya-taicho become so talkative and wise? Or maybe he had always been that way, but his job got the better of him? Noticing an awkward silence, she blinked and smiled.

"Wow…I had no idea what it meant to fight for the position of captain. It's very serious."

"Indeed it is. One day you will do the same."

"Do you think I will succeed?"

"The only way you will succeed is by tightening your schedule, adding more exercises to your routine, and training harder with me. How else will you achieve bankai and become stronger?"

Rukia straitened up. "What else should I do then?"

"You're a big girl. Think of some on your own. I got you started. The only thing I will coordinate is our training together."

"So…can we train some today?" Her eyes lit up with excitement.

Hitsugaya shook his head; she pouted. "I need to come up with some new tactics. We will do training tomorrow. What you need to do now is finish up that list of chores I gave you yesterday."

"But taicho I'm tired of chores! Can't I help you out with something else?"

"No! You do medial chores until I say you are done. Besides, that helps me out more than anything. Don't be lazy."

"I think you are being lazy, taicho. You're only glad I'm here because I clean your office and run errands." Rukia, though she knew it made him mad, loved to spite him.

"Are you trying to upset me Kuchiki? Because if you are, it's working."

"Good! And now that I have checked off 'Irritate the captain' from my list," She said with a smile, pretending to check off on an invisible piece of paper, "I will go and finish the rest of my duties."

"I will have a new list for you tomorrow, so make sure they are indeed finished!" He said.

Rukia waved him off. "I know, I know. And by the way…I enjoyed talking to you today. You really aren't that bad at talking with people. Maybe you should do it more."

"I never had a problem talking in the first place!" He argued hotly. Rukia just shook her head softly and smiled.

"I'll see you back at your office."

She stood up, brushed herself off, and walked towards the 4-bantai headquarters with a light skip in her step. Hitsugaya could only shake his head at her retreating form.

"You remind me of her, yet you are completely different, Rukia Kuchiki."


"So, you feel like you are near completion of your training then?"

His voice was hollow, and a tinge of boredom hung on his face as he stared at the stiff board sitting across from him. There was no hint of amusement or surprise.

"Y-yes taicho."

"Could you defeat me this very moment Abarai? Could you stand up before me, raise your sword, and behead me with one swipe? Will I break a sweat in our battle?"

Renji chewed on his lip subconsciously. "N-no, m-maybe not—but…"

"Then you are not ready." Byakuya silenced him with his blunt words, leaving Renji in a state of apparent agitation. Byakuya raised an eyebrow.

"I see you are frustrated with me Abarai. Were you hoping that two months of training would ready you to fight me?"

"We've trained hard every day from dawn until dusk taicho. Even Ichigo and Urahara-sama are tired! They said I was ready."

Byakuya did not seem impressed. "And that made you assume I thought you were ready."

Renji fiddled with his pant leg. "W-well…"

Without the red-headed lieutenant finishing his sentence, Byakuya turned his back to Renji and began scribbling on some stray parchment. It was odd, how Byakuya did not trust anyone else's judgments but his own; then again, he was one of the more powerful captains in Sereitei and Renji trusted him without question.

"Take this to Urahara…and do not read it." Byakuya handed Renji the paper.

Renji looked down and noticed the parchment was neatly folded and stamped with a red seal that made it impossible to open and reseal discreetly. It had the sixth squad symbol in the red wax with a fancy "B" encrypted in it.

"Yessir," Renji replied quickly as he stood up and exited the dark office without another word.

Byakuya coughed heavily. "Damn."


The lights flickered ominously over his scrunched features; the glint in his eye betrayed the murderous look he otherwise would have worn. There was an air of delight seeping off of him as he diverted those piercing yellow eyes onto the small girl standing below him, a stack of papers in her arms.

"So, what is the report Rin?" His high-pitched nasally voice was laced with excitement.

"It appears that there have been traces of certain Shinigami, who were not assigned to visit the living world found in areas of Karakura town." She squealed as her captain eyed her with an intensifying curiosity.

"Really?" He inquired as he held his chin in thought, his eyes drifting to the large screen before him.

Rin shifted uncomfortably. "Y-Yes sir."

"That is where Kurosaki Ichigo lives, am I correct?" His single, large nail scraped over his jaw.

"Yes sir."

"Ah. Very interesting." He said, and then mostly to himself commented, "Kurosaki would have made a great study. Too bad he no longer visits this side of Sereitei."

He took the papers from the girl, who bowed and placed herself at the screen and quietly pressed the glowing colorful buttons on the panel without another word to her captain. His smile was, at first, that of interest, but now it grew wider as he read through the list of Shinigami found to have been in Karakura town.

"Kurotsuchi-taicho?"

"Yes, Akon, what is it now?" The captain was annoyed now that his moment was disrupted. Akon shuffled his feet.

"Should I send the list to our other captains? It may interest them to know their subordinates are moving without orders."

Mayuri smiled. "That sounds like a good idea. And…request to Yamamoto-genryusai that we have a meeting tomorrow morning regarding this. I suppose this particular incident needs to be discussed. We can't have these impudent Shinigami getting off without being reprimanded. Maybe their punishment will be to work for me as test subjects."

Akon nodded and said nothing more as he was handed the papers. Kurotsuchi waved him off towards the door, and taking that as the signal to leave, backed out with a bow. The captain still wore a smile, his eyes glowing with suppressed excitement.

"I'm guessing this will be interesting for all members involved."


Rukia was out of breath; her errands took longer than she expected, and after a run-in with Urahara and Ichigo she spent more time than needed outside of Hitsugaya's office. With a quick wave she turned heel and ran off from her friends, leaving them shaking their heads.

"She's really busting her ass isn't she?" Ichigo inquired as he turned to Urahara. He was fiddling with his hat to block the hot afternoon sun as it sunk beneath the horizon.

"Indeed she is. I hope Hitsugaya-taicho is not being too hard on her."

"Well, he doesn't have much of choice does he? I mean she's lieutenant right now."

"Yep. And when training finishes she'll be the real thing."

Ichigo's eyes shot open as he turned to face Urahara. "Seriously? I thought it was only temporary."

"Apparently not. Seems her brother wants Hitsugaya to bring Rukia to the point where she can obtain her bankai. Once there, he will assess her and decide if she is ready or not."

Ichigo became curious. "Was it just Byakuya's wish? Or did others suggest her being lieutenant? It seems odd that he would suddenly decide to train her."

Urahara shrugged his shoulders. "Now that she's sitting in the position it's easier."

"True. I just hope Hitsugaya is patient with her."

"What do you mean?" Urahara knew the Kuchiki girl fairly well, but he never considered one to have to be patient with her. Rukia seemed to be a fast learner.

"Well, she believes in training hard, but she also knows that it's good to balance between relaxing and practice. Hitsugaya seems to be the kind of person who does not believe in relaxing."

Urahara smirked and eyed Ichigo. "Oh, I beg to differ with you on that on Kurosaki."

"Huh?"

"You didn't know?"

"Well, I might if you would actually tell me!"

"Hitsugaya-taicho blew steam off on Rukia yesterday, apparently in the garden behind 4-bantai headquarters."

Ichigo furrowed his brows and his stare darkened. "Why? I highly doubt Rukia did anything wrong."

"She didn't. He just…forgot to breathe is all." Ichigo understood what Urahara was getting at; Hitsugaya kept to himself for too long, and eventually vented his emotions on the young Kuchiki. He nodded.

"I can see that. So what does it have to do with relaxing?"

"I heard from Abarai this morning that once a week they are going to schedule a talk to help him stay balanced emotionally. He was reluctant, but finally agreed."

Ichigo smiled. "She probably threatened him. Rukia is very good at that." He rubbed his chin subconsciously at the thought of a kick to the face.

"Indeed. Hopefully this will be good for both of them."

"It will be. But for now I'm hoping I'll survive the rest of Abarai's training. Byakuya said he was not done with training yet." Ichigo grunted with disdain. Urahara suddenly became distracted.

"Yes. I think we need to turn in. Tomorrow will be rigorous."


"There you are Kuchiki."

Rukia entered as silently as possible, but Hitsugaya's hearing was as impeccable as ever. She sighed heavily as she slunk towards the couch and sat down before the busy captain. He shuffled a couple of papers before he looked up at her.

"I have a meeting tomorrow morning," He stated, folding his hands. "So I will leave you to sort papers in the file cabinet until I return. I do not expect you to shun your routine of course. You must do that before you arrive."

"Yes, taicho." Rukia nodded curtly.

"Then in the afternoon we will begin training for bankai."

Rukia's eyes shot open with intense anticipation. She was finally beginning her official training; she was getting tired of doing her morning exercises by herself, and it was time for a change. Her few sparring practices with Hitsugaya were invigorating, and Rukia could not wait to begi

"Thank you Hitsugaya-taicho."

"Do not thank me. I'm doing as I'm told."

There it was again, with the hidden emotions and strained modesty. It was beginning to grate on her nerves, but instead held her tongue and stood up to leave.

"Of course. Good night Hitsugaya-taicho."

With a light bow she left the office, Hitsugaya staring after her coldly. Even after she left, the ice cold stare continued to penetrate the back of her head, and Rukia shivered subconsciously.

Hitsugaya, noting when she was gone, exhaled and his expression softened considerably. "How long can I keep doing this?"

Doing what? Keeping yourself distanced from her?

"Yeah…"

You will continue keeping from her until you can come to terms with the fact that you have a deep connection with the young Kuchiki girl. And I am not just referring to the fact that you both wield ice.

"But…the connection…"

You're afraid of it, aren't you?

"I'm not afraid of anything." He clenched his fist.

Yes you are Hitsugaya. You fear having feelings for another, when you had loved Matsumoto.

"I have come to terms with her death. I have moved on, though she will always be in my heart." He stated coldly as he became aggravated with the deep voice echoing in his head. It laughed.

You may have come to terms, but you are afraid to feel for another because you fear losing her too.

"No, there is no feeling there." He lied through his teeth. "She's my temporary lieutenant, so I must look out for her, but that's it."

Look, no one else is here. Just…say it. I'll be happy and you'll feel relieved.

"Say what exactly?" He muttered, reluctant to say anything.

That you fear losing Rukia, which is why you distance yourself from her. You know it, and I know it, so there is no need in denying it.

"I don't fear losing her." He stated flatly.

You're such a liar! You know that being a stubborn ass hole can hurt her more than not saying anything at all. At least admit it to yourself!

He threw his hands up. "Fine! I fear attachment to Kuchiki because I am afraid of losing another the way I did Matsumoto. But that does not mean I have romantic feelings for her."

Sure.

Hitsugaya put his head on the desk, his heart racing with an unnatural beat. He was unsure of why admitting to his fears scared him so much, but it did. After a few moments of deep breaths, he finally sat up and held his head lightly.

"Hyorinmaru, how do you manage to do that to me?"

The voice laughed again.

I'm a part of you, idiot. I know everything you feel and everything you think.

"Great. If I am ever driven to insanity, I know who to blame it on."

Always happy to help. Then again without me you would probably go insane anyway. You keep to yourself too much. Do Rukia a favor and open up for once. She does worry for you, you know. I can sense it.

Without so much as an acknowledging grunt to his other half, he stood up and left the office, the stack of papers strewn across his desk. He had a feeling it would be a restless night.

"Why would she worry for me…?"


Author's Note: Yeah…strange ending. I don't know why I did it that way. XD I'm trying to keep myself out of writer's block, for the sake of those who do review my story! So I apologize for the strange conversation between Hitsugaya and Hyorinmaru. Interesting concept I guess.

Next chapter will be up in about two weeks depending on my homework schedule…AND REVIEWS. Come on people…8 reviews for one chapter? That doesn't make me want to update...honestly. I don't want to hold the story above anyone's head…but it's seriously not fair! I write for your enjoyment as well as my own, but it's nice to see it in writing that you enjoy it.

Review please! :)

Evilmoose