CHAPTER 62: WORDS THAT NEED TO BE SAID

"Sealed..?" Hitsugaya wondered to himself.

"We won't know what kind of tricks Aizen will pull… So Captain-Commander Yamamoto wants us to be prepared in every single aspect, no matter how remote it may be," Tayomi nodded.

Tayomi ordered all the Captains and Vice-Captains to line up in a row, with their left hands gripping their right arms.

"Saegiru Fuuin*," Tayomi spoke. "I created this Kidou specially to prevent anyone from being sealed… As long as you say it before the seal is completed, it'll make you immune to any form of Kidou which seals your power… Or seals you entirely."

Most of the Captains and Vice-Captains followed her instructions intently, practicing the Kidou with the sealing devices Urahara had developed specially for them. However, Hitsugaya remained dazed, unable to figure out the purpose of the anti-sealing Kidou. He knew well enough that when things were serious, Tayomi never did anything that was less than necessary. Somehow, the anti-sealing Kidou just did not sit well with him. He sensed that she was up to something. He knew she was up to something. But up till now, she had not spoken a single word to him ever since Captain-Commander Yamamoto ordered them to put their relationship on hold. Though it did not affect his performance in work, he could not help but feel bothered by her giving him the cold shoulder. He had not felt such loneliness in a long time and he did not want to experience it again.

"I think… I need to speak to her." He thought to himself.

"TAICHO! Stop spacing out!"

Before Hitsugaya knew it, Matsumoto slapped him hard in the head. He grumbled, ruffling his hair. He did not know that he had been so distracted ever since he began doing his usual afternoon paperwork today. The creation of the anti-sealing kidou just bugged him incessantly, occupying his thoughts and refusing to leave his mind.

"TAICHO! You've been staring at that document for an hour already!"

"Well, at least I'm looking at it," he huffed. "Have you been looking at the paperwork I told you to complete by today?"

"Don't change the subject!" Matsumoto snapped, smiling a sheepish grin at the same time, making it clear to Histugaya that she had left it untouched since last week. "More importantly Taicho, you're clearly troubled! Why don't you tell your favourite Vice-Captain how you're feeling?"

"Don't get things wrong. You're not my favourite Vice-Captain…" Hitsugaya sighed.

"Well, at least I can guess what's troubling you. It's the anti-sealing kidou that Tayomi taught you and the other Captains today, isn't it?"

Hitsugaya nodded.

"Well, Taicho… I think you should speak to her. I don't think Captain-Commander Yamamoto would object to you showing concern for a colleague, or having interest in our strategy for the upcoming battle as well."

The Captains and Vice-Captains gathered for dinner at Tayomi and Hitsugaya's place, just like they usually did every Friday Night. Most of the Captains were present, with the exception of Captain Kurotsuchi, who was busy playing around in his lab and analysing the data he gathered from the battles with the New Espada. Things still felt rather awkward between Tayomi and Hitsugaya, as the two of them had not spoken to each other for two solid weeks. Captain Shunsui sighed and shot a look at Captain Ukitake, who shrugged his shoulders and gave him a weak smile, signalling that it was a problem that the two youngest Captains had to take care of by themselves.

Hitsugaya glanced at Tayomi, who was happily chatting with Hinamori and Yachiru. He noticed that she had grown more fatigued, with her energy falling noticeably by the minute. Her smile had been growing weaker with each day, convincing him that she was hiding something not only from him, but from the other Captains as well. Something was definitely weighing on her mind, that she was determined to keep a secret from everyone else. He looked up at the clock, wondering what time the other Captains would leave. There was no way he could speak to her in private with them around. He could never get anything out of her if anyone else was around. Hitsugaya scratched his head for a moment, before turning to look at Matsumoto, who had managed to stay sober miraculously enough.

"Matsumoto," Hitsugaya whispered in his Vice-Captain's ear. "I need a favour from you."

"Well, Taicho… Just as you asked for!" Matsumoto grinned widely, while patting Tayomi on the back. "She's all yours! I never expected you to be such a bad boy! Taicho, you're truly growing up!"

"SHUT UP, MATSUMOTO." Hitsugaya grumbled, while trying to shove her out of the door leading to the rooftop. "Help me see the other Captains and Vice-Captains out."

Matsumoto giggled and waved goodbye to Tayomi, who stood there, feeling completely dumbstruck by the sudden turn of events. Hitsugaya closed the door behind him, before looking at Tayomi straight in the eye. Tayomi felt a lump form in her throat, knowing that it had been quite a while since they last spoke to each other. They had several instances where they made direct eye contact with each other, but that more or less summed up the only form of interaction she had with him these past two weeks. Ever since she had the secret task bestowed upon her and Captain-Commander Yamamoto's orders, she had forced herself to keep her distance from Hitsugaya. It hurt her, but she knew that she had to do it. Nothing would ever be the same again after the whole battle was over. She turned away to face the view of Karakura Town, trying to avoid Hitsugaya's turquoise eyes. Taking a deep breath, she wrapped her jacket tightly around her, with her hands buried in her pockets. The atmosphere was too awkward for her to handle and she could not help but contemplate if she should continue to avoid him, and simply leave. But before she could turn around to make her escape, she felt two arms hold her tightly around her waist, keeping her arms down and forcing her to stay rooted on the spot. Tayomi froze all over, her body refusing to move or put up any resistance, as she felt something soft touch her neck.

"Hitsugaya Taicho, what are you -"

"Shh. I know we were ordered not to discuss our relationship, but just let me stay like this for a while."

"But…"

Hitsugaya quickly used his hand to turn her face towards him, firmly kissing her right on the lips. Tayomi's eyes shot wide open in shock, caught completely off guard by his actions. He drew back slowly, still holding her in his arms and staring straight into her eyes, hoping that it would soften her heart and convince her to open up to him about what was truly going on.

"It doesn't exactly take a lot for me to tell that you're hiding something. Why can't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry…" Tayomi shook her head. "I just can't. You'll see in future."

"What if I can't wait that long?"

"You'll just have to."

"Are you really going to keep avoiding me like this? After everything we've been through?"

"Well I don't want to, but we both know we can't disobey the orders we've been given."

Hitsugaya sighed, knowing that she was avoiding him on purpose. Captain-Commander Yamamoto did not stop them from discussing work-related topics, yet she had chosen to keep her distance from him and stop talking to him altogether. It would be difficult to get her to speak the truth about what she had been entrusted with, but he refused to give up. Despite that, there was no way she would tell him tonight. The only option he had was to pursue it relentlessly, and slowly break through the walls she had put up. He nodded, looking back at her and using his fingers to force a smile onto her face.

"Well then at the very least, I wish you could smile the way you used to before all this came up."

Tayomi bit her lip, as she felt her determination waver slightly. However, she knew that she could not. She had been entrusted with a huge task and as much as she wished to tell him how she felt, she knew that she could not possibly tell him what was going on. Exhaling and forcing her tears back, she gave him a weak smile.

Back downstairs, the house was completely still and silent as all the others had gone to bed. Tayomi was just about to enter her shared room with Hinamori when she felt a hand tugging on the sleeve of her jacket.

"Not there. Here."

Tayomi turned around to see Hitsugaya, with one hand on her sleeve and the other hand on the knob of his room's door.

"Just this once. After that, we'll wait till everything clears up and returns to normal."

Avoiding his gaze, Tayomi consented. He let go of her sleeve and her jacket fell to the floor. Just as she bent down to pick it up, Hitsugaya quickly snatched it away and pulled her into his arms, before shutting the door tight.

*Saegiru Fuuin: Block Seal

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Sorry for the delay, I know it's been almost a year since I updated this story T.T I just entered University so things have been rather hectic around here T.T Updates may be rather slow but I will keep going at this story when I can, I do want to give this story a proper ending! Thankfully it's the holidays, so I'll have more time to write (I hope!)

The tone of the story is getting more serious, since the battle with Aizen is around the corner and the secret task that Tayomi had been entrusted with is still unknown :) Next chapter, we'll be picking up where we left off from this chapter and fast forward to the battles, to quicken the pace of the story and give more insight on what Tayomi has been entrusted with :)

Please rate and review! Thank you for reading this chapter and sticking by despite the slow updates :)