16: Hakuda

Sousuke dodged Sakura's roundhouse kick, intended to knock him into the wall. "Excellent, Kuchiki-chan."

She smiled slightly before feinting to the right. As soon as she saw that Sousuke had taken the bait, she kicked out her other foot. The hit landed, and she couldn't help but burst out into a whoop of delight. "That was the first time I've ever actually hit you, Aizen-sensei!"

He chuckled. "Indeed. And it was very well-executed too." Straightening his glasses, he walked over to a bench against the wall and sat down, motioning for Sakura to sit next to him. "Let's take a break. I have to tell you something anyway, so we might as well rest up while we talk."

Sakura sat down next to him, taking the glass of water he handed her. "Thanks, Sensei." She took a gulp of the cool liquid and set it down. "So what did you want to tell me?"

"There is an upcoming mission in the World of the Living, and I have been assigned to it," Sousuke said, sipping from his own glass. "We'll have to take a break from our training sessions."

"Oh, right!" The noble girl exclaimed. "I remember; my father's going too. And your captain told me you were going already."

"Oh?" The chestnut-haired lieutenant looked interested. "You spoke to Hirako-taichou?"

"Yes, I went to see him the other day. I was afraid that I had been rather rude to him after we first met, so I wanted to apologize for my behavior." Sakura shifted uncomfortably, wondering if she should tell Sousuke about Shinji's suspicions. She decided not to; it probably would ruin their relationship, and that certainly wasn't something she wanted to do. "He was completely fine with it though and he was really nice about it too."

"Ah, I see. Yes, Hirako-taichou is a good-hearted man," Sousuke said, nodding.

"Yeah. You're lucky to have such a great captain," the noble girl smiled at him.

"I am. I'm very lucky indeed," the chestnut-haired lieutenant replied, smiling back. Finishing off his water, Sousuke stood up, dusting off his Shihakusho. "Well, let's get back to training now, shall we?"

Sakura gulped down the rest of her water and jumped up to join him.

A/N: Awww, Aizen's leaving. That means he won't show up for a while... *cries* Oh, well. That just means more Byakuya! And my favorite Bleach character of all time (aside from Aizen) shows up in the next chapter! *happy dance*