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Chapter Eight - Shiro's FANatics

Having been friends with Kasumi since she first entered the Academy Rumi could not fail to notice that the gorgeous young Captain of Squad Ten traveled to the Academy every day so that he could meet with the young girl. And this realization set the other girl's brain into overdrive. There had to be something more than friendship going on between those two and Rumi found that she really wanted to know.

"It's obvious that there's something going on between the two of them," Rumi muttered to herself as she made her way down the hallway. She was walking alone and had been ever since Kasumi had been promoted to a higher grade in the Academy.

As it turned out her friend was somewhat of a prodigy and had already obtained her zanpaktou. A feat that the remainder of her classmates were years away from accomplishing. However this didn't mean that the two of them had stopped being friends, it merely meant that they didn't get to spend as much time together as they had when they'd been in the same class.

As Rumi turned a corner she saw Kasumi exiting one of the classroom and she quickly ran to catch up with her friend. "Hey Kasumi-chan!" she called out.

"Hello," Kasumi said in a quiet voice as her friend ran up and pulled her into a choking embrace.

"I miss you since you got promoted," Rumi said as she fell into step beside her friend. "I hope you're having fun."

"I miss you to but I am having fun," Kasumi said, a smile appearing on her face. "The teachers are talking about me graduating soon."

Rumi's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"

Kasumi nodded. "I'm going through the curriculum so fast that soon there won't be anything left for them to teach me." Kasumi laughed softly. "That's what they say at least. Maybe they're just tired of having me around, I really couldn't say for certain."

"Wow," Rumi said as the two friends left the Academy building. "I'm really impressed Kasumi-chan. You're super smart, graduating in just one year."

"Oh that's nothing," Kasumi said with a laugh. "My best friend Shiro did it in just under six months. He's the real prodigy."

"Do you mean Captain Kurosaki of Squad Ten?" Rumi asked, even though she really already knew the answer. She was actually somewhat obsessed with the young captain with the snow white hair and took any opportunity to gawk at him.

Kasumi nodded, unaware that her school friend was infatuated with her best friend. "But he hates being called Captain Kurosaki. The most that his subordinates can get away with is Captain Shiro and even then he makes faces."

"So how long have you known this guy Kasumi-chan?" Rumi's eyes grew wide as she thought back to the handsome captain. He was absolutely gorgeous and was the talk of all the girls in the Academy and she was friends with his best friend.

What more could she ask for?

"Shiro-chan? We've been friends since we were three years old. His family and mine were really close so the two of us grew up together."

"Wow," Rumi said, hanging on to every word that her friend uttered. She knew of a couple of girls in her class that would pay for information about the gorgeous white haired Captain of Squad Ten and there were probably others that she just wasn't aware of who would love to know more about him.

An idea suddenly popped into the girl's mind. "Kasumi-chan, a bunch of us girls are getting together Saturday night for a little girl-talk. You should come."

Kasumi hesitated, not sure how to respond to the invitation. She'd never actually attended anything like that and wasn't entirely sure that she would fit in. Being a Quincy and her father's only child she'd always been somewhat of a tomboy. "I don't know. . ."

"But you HAVE to come," Rumi wheedled, clutching Kasumi's hand. "It won't be nearly as much fun without you."

"I'll think about it," was all that Kasumi could promise.

Rumi nodded, hoping that her friend would consent to come. "Guess I'll see you in class tomorrow."

Kasumi nodded and made her way to the spot where Shiro had began meeting her after class. He absolutely refused to come to the gate now, having been ambushed by screaming girls one to many times, and now met her under a large tree nearby.

"Hey," the young captain called out as he watched Kasumi approach him. He tilted his head to one side, as though something about her seemed odd. "You look. . . different."

"Just thinking," Kasumi said absently, falling into step behind him.

"Well stop it," Shiro said, gazing at his friend as though she confused him. "You're starting to seriously creep me out."

"Shiro-chan," Kasumi said as she slapped him on the shoulder. "That was just mean."

"That's better," Shiro said, smiling and absently rubbing the shoulder that she had struck as though the blow had actually caused him pain. "That's the Kasumi that I know."

Kasumi laughed at her friend however it wasn't long before her thoughts again returned to the little party that she had been invited to. She enjoyed spending time with her friends from school so it might be fun but the fact remained that she had absolutely no experience with girl talk as Rumi had called it. Growing up she hadn't really spent much time with girls her own age since she was either with Shiro or training with her father.

"Maybe I really should go," she thought to herself. "Just to find out what it's really all about."

In the end Kasumi decided to go to the little get together that Rumi was holding and Shiro bid her farewell as she abandoned him to make her way across the Seireitei. Her best friend had decided not to accompany her because he was still extremely wary of her school friends but he told her that he would be in the Squad Ten office should she decide that she needed an escape.

And more importantly somewhere to hide.

"Oh come on Shiro-chan," she said with a somewhat forced laugh as she left his office. "It's just a bunch of girls. How bad could it possibly be?"

Shiro shivered involuntarily as he thought back to the group of girls from the Academy. He'd had more experience with Kasumi's friends than he'd ever wanted and he personally thought that it could be end of the world, apocalyptic bad. But that was just his personal opinion. "For you I'm not sure. But you couldn't pay me to go anywhere near there. Those people are scary."

"And you're weird," Kasumi told him as she departed, a small smile on her face.

Still chuckling softly to herself Kasumi made her way across the Seireitei until she reached the dorms. Unsure of what to expect from the little get together Kasumi took a deep breath and then made her way to Rumi's room. She had been there before of course however never for anything like this.

"Kasumi-chan!" Rumi exclaimed, opening the door and pulling her friend into the room.

"Um hello," Kasumi said as she was literally pulled into the room. Pulling her hand free from Rumi's grasp Kasumi gazed around at the group of girls who were assembled around the room. All of them had expectant looks on their faces and for the life of her Kasumi couldn't figure out why. She knew for a fact that she wasn't an interesting person so why exactly were they all staring at her like that?

However when one of them, Kasumi didn't know her name, spoke the true purpose for this little meeting became painfully obvious. "You should have brought along that white haired friend of yours. Then we could have had some fun."

"Yea," another girl said, starry eyed.

"Of course," Kasumi thought to herself, wondering why she hadn't realized it before. They only wanted her around so that they could talk about Shiro. She had already known that all of the girls in the Academy were obsessed with him so why hadn't she seen this coming from a mile away?

"Sorry Kasumi-chan," Rumi said, an apologetic expression on her face. "They talked me into it."

"Uh huh," Kasumi said.

"So please tell us about your friend," one of the girls begged, her eyes lighting up at the mere mention of Shiro.

"Well," Kasumi said, a thoughtful expression appearing in her blue eyes as she thought about the white haired boy that she'd grown up with. "He's arrogant and sometimes even down right rude. He's been fighting Hollow since he was like five years old and was made a captain three days after his death." Kasumi scanned the faces of the girls, silently adding, "And he's scared of every single one of you."

"You're so lucky!" one of the girls squealed, placing her hands on the sides of her face.

"I am?" Kasumi said.

She'd never really given any thought to her relationship with Shiro however as she thought about it she decided that she really was lucky. Shiro really was somewhat arrogant but he was also the best friend that she could have asked for. He was always there for her and never hesitated to protect her. Shiro had always been there for her, no matter the sitation, and in hindsight she decided that she was lucky that she had met him.

"I guess I am."

"So," a girl named Momoko said, gazing at Kasumi as though the other girl was hiding some secret. "Are you and Captain Kurosaki dating?"

Kasumi almost choked on the drink that she had been sipping and she whirled around to gaze at the older girl. "What the hell would make you think something like that?"

"Oh come on," Momoko said, a sly smile spreading across her face. She seemed to be enjoying Kasumi's obvious discomfort. "The two of you are always together. You can't possibly expect us to believe that the two of you are just friends."

"I personally don't care what you believe," Kasumi said.

The next day Kasumi made her way to the Squad Ten office. She knocked lightly on the door however received no reply from within. "That's weird," Kasumi thought to herself. It was true that it was Sunday morning however Shiro could usually be found in the office no matter what day of the week it was.

He said that it was a quirk that he had kept from his past incarnation.

"He's inside," a voice called out, startling Kasumi. The young girl turned and watched as Kin walked down the hall toward the spot where she was standing.

"Are you sure?" Kasumi asked the Squad Ten vice-captain. "I knocked but he didn't answer."

"It's because he was up all night waiting for you," Kin replied, a knowing smile on her face. "But I guarantee you that he's there."

Curious as to whether or not Kin was right Kasumi slid the door open and quietly stepped inside the office. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the semi-darkness of the room however as soon as her eyes adjusted the young girl saw that Shiro was indeed in the office.

He had fallen asleep at his desk and looked so peaceful that Kasumi couldn't wake him. "I can't believe that he waited up for me all night."

Her friend had actually been so concerned about her that he had waited up all night just in case she needed to come and talk to him. "That's so sweet," she thought to herself, deciding in that moment that she wouldn't tell him that the entire purpose of the little get together had been to discuss him.

A/N - short and pointless chapter. Hope you enjoyed.