Chapter 63: Training

"Collapse, Sakanade."

Shinji's voice had been low as he uttered the release for his Zanpakuto, but Kirara still heard it clearly enough. It made her grin widen with delight, finding herself enjoying their training far more than she had expected to.

With the challenge still ongoing and Kirara having already scored two points, she wasn't about to let Shinji win. She didn't know what he was capable of, and she couldn't afford to let him get ahead because of the unknown.

As Kirara moved to emerge from her hiding place, Shinji called out again. "How are you feeling, Kirara? Anything…strange?" there was a knowing smile on his face, as he waited for her to react to his power.

"Feeling bored, waiting for you to do something," Kirara retorted, moving to ambush him from behind again. As she moved, her eyebrows furrowed as a strange, pleasant smell caught her attention. Kirara couldn't quite describe it, other than something about it seemed uniquely Shinji, in a way.

When she moved to leap down from above to where Shinji was still standing, Kirara jerked and had to stop, which gave him time to turn around. That wide, smug grin was on his face as he held out one hand, with the ring at the end of his Zanpakuto around it as the blade spun on it's own. A purple smoke was flowing from the blade, flowing for a small distance around Shinji.

"What's wrong? I thought you were bored," he teased, seeing her wide eyes and the confusion on her face. Not that he was surprised at all.

"You asshole," despite her words, Kirara sounded amazed. "What the hell is going on?" she asked, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

Everything was upside down. With the ground overhead and the sky-like ceiling beneath her feet, Kirara felt like she had been flipped around. Yet to her, she was standing the right way up. The blood wasn't rushing to her head, and gravity wasn't tugging at her.

Then a hand covered her eyes from behind, and Shinji pulled her against him for a moment.

"Welcome to the Inverted World," Shinji whispered in her ear, enjoying watching her trying to work it out. A shiver ran down her spine. "That's one point to me," he breathed, and released her. Before Kirara could try to move, he had darted away.

"Inverted…" Kirara whispered, thinking hard. "Oh," realisation dawned on her. His bizarre habit of writing things backwards; of watching things upside down. "That smell, it's making me see things upside down," she realised, and saw approval flash in Shinji's gaze. "Up is down, and I'm guessing left is right," she voiced aloud.

"Perhaps," Shinji shrugged. "So are you going to do anything? Or do I get another free point?" he asked.

"I have to help you feel less embarrassed at letting me get two so quickly," Kirara retorted. "But I'm not going to let you catch up so quickly," she vanished, making Shinji chuckle lightly.

"Of course not," he murmured, feeling Kirara's presence as it circled the area. She moved quickly, rushing in to tag him once again. However, before she reached Shinji, she felt him catch her from behind, poking her side. She squeaked, and threw herself down - or rather, up - to get away from him.

"Two," Shinji was laughing. "And I'm giving myself a bonus point for getting you to make such a cute sound," he teased. Kirara went red, but she didn't comment on that. She was still trying to understand how he'd caught her when it hadn't looked as if he'd been in that direction.

"How?" she struggled to understand, before her hair suddenly fell around her, no longer supported by anything. "Hey!" she grabbed for Shinji, but caught nothing as he held the ribbon between his fingers.

"Three," he called, thoroughly enjoying himself as Kirara found herself struggling now. Her mind was a rush, trying to work it out.

'Shinji called it the Inverted World…everything's backwards. So what am I-oh, I'm an idiot,' realisation finally dawned on Kirara, and despite being on the ropes, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, I'm impressed," she admitted, and this time ducked before Shinji could catch her. "Your Shikai is as crazy as you are," Kirara laughed, throwing her hand out to press against his stomach. "Three," she giggled.

"You're going to hurt my feelings, Princess," Shinji warned her, but was laughing himself. "Not bad, figuring out that everything is backwards," he said, and Kirara felt him flick her ear. "Four," he hummed. She disappeared out of sight, giving herself a small reprieve.

'Urgh…dizzy,' Kirara complained, trying to adjust to everything being reversed. While she knew what was happening now, it didn't make it any easier on her eyes. 'I wonder…' closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and moved once again, this time without opening her eyes.

Knowing her surroundings easily enough, Kirara was able to manoeuvre with enough ease back towards Shinji, all while he felt her presence whirling around, disorientating him as much as Kirara's inverted sight was disorientating her.

As she reached him, Kirara felt something collide with her. Before she could open her eyes, Shinji's hand was on her face, cupping her cheek as he pulled her up into a kiss. Kirara melted into his hold, forgetting the challenge instantly as she let out a quiet breath and grasped his shirt.

"And that's five. Looks like I win, Princess," Shinji breathed as he drew back only slightly to speak. "Not a bad last attempt," he murmured, pressing a brief kiss to her lips again.

"When did you figure it out?" Kirara didn't open her eyes, refusing to let him go.

"After you caught me the second time," he admitted, and Kirara gave a laugh of disbelief before she kissed him again.

"Prick," she muttered. Shinji groaned, not letting her pull away again. He hadn't planned on their training to end in such a manner, but he didn't know why he was surprised. When it came to Kirara, he just couldn't resist.

It made things fun, though.

When the two managed to untangle themselves long enough to seal their Zanpakuto again, Kirara grumbled about her hair and tried to snatch her ribbon back from Shinji. However, he pulled it out of reach, grinning.

"Manipulating your Reiatsu output to make it seem like you're somewhere else is impressive," he told her as he moved with Kirara, not letting her take back what she wanted. "I can see why you don't want people knowing, but at the same time, it's hard to not respond to it even when you know," Shinji admitted as he watched her expression.

"You didn't have much trouble," Kirara pointed out. He shrugged.

"I had my own defence to fall back on," he raised his sheathed Zanpakuto. Kirara eyed it for a moment, before Shinji reached out to tilt her head back enough to study her face. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Stop fussing," Kirara laughed. She swatted at him, pulling out of his grasp as her cheeks warmed and her heart beat a little faster. "It made me a little dizzy, but I'm okay now," she said, and her smile widened. "Can we do that again?" she asked, and earned a surprised laugh.

"You're crazy," Shinji told her honestly. Kirara just nodded in agreement, and let him catch her by the waist to pull her close.

"I may as well get some practice in with someone who knows what I can do. And I will figure out how to navigate your Inverted World," Kirara promised, resting her hands on his chest as she looked up at him.

"I look forward to it," Shinji murmured, leaning down to kiss her again.

The banging sound in the distance earned their attention, and they pulled apart as they recognised the sound by now.

"Lunch! Last one here is doing the dishes!" Kensei threatened, his voice loud enough to carry to everyone in the area.

"Perfect timing. I'm starving," Kirara grinned.

"Hey, don't forget," Shinji pulled her back in before she could escape his grasp. "I won, so I get a prize," he smirked. Curiosity gleamed in Kirara's eyes, and she reached up to kiss him and break away.

"I look forward to hearing what you want, Shinji," she grinned as she held the ribbon in her hand. Shinji blinked, not having even noticed her steal it back. Kirara winked, tying her hair up as she walked away from him. "Don't keep me waiting. Now come on, before we're somehow slower than Ichigo," she warned, using Shunpo to move rapidly in the direction that Kensei's voice had come from.

"Brat," Shinji shook his head, but hadn't lost his grin as he followed her away.

The hardest part for Haruki about being stationed in the World of the Living for an indeterminate length of time was finding a place to train.

Chad had been kind enough to let the Fourth Seat stay at his place, but it was tiny, especially with the hulkling of a teenager living there. So Haruki stayed out of the way as much as he could, trying to avoid intruding.

When school was on, it was easy enough to stay out of the way. He wasn't entirely sure why they had to go to school, but Hitsugaya had said something about it being better to stick together in a place where they wouldn't attract attention, even if Ichigo had disappeared.

Now, however, it was the weekend, and Haruki had spent the day wandering around Karakura Town. Absolutely terrible with directions, he was still trying to get the lay of the land and learn his way around, but he had a feeling that by the time he finally figured it out, he'd be recalled to the Soul Society.

"Why am I even still here?" Haruki sighed to himself as he walked through the park. His stomach growled to remind him that he hadn't had dinner yet. "Ichigo's off someplace, and the Arrancar haven't shown themselves since that night," he ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back out of his face, and traced the scar beside his eye.

Impatience hummed through Haruki, who was unable to find a place to truly train his abilities. Kisuke had offered, but after seeing how they treated Renji, Haruki decided to politely decline the offer.

He slowed, forgetting his complaints as a Reiatsu that was slowly becoming familiar to him brushed against his senses. Looking around, Haruki spotted Hibiki sitting in the shade of a nearby tree, reading a book. She was a strange human, and Haruki couldn't quite figure out what it was about her. She had Reiatsu of her own, but unlike Chad and Orihime, she didn't seem to have powers. Hitsugaya had compared her to Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro, who had very faint traces of Reiatsu themselves, but Haruki wasn't too sure.

Especially since Kirara had been friends with her.

As if sensing him, Hibiki looked up from her book, torn from her focus as she stared at him with sharp green eyes. An unhappy look crossed her face as Haruki cursed himself for just standing there, and she quickly shoved her book into her bag and got to her feet.

"I haven't seen her, if that's why you're here," Hibiki said with more heat than her timid attitude seemed capable of.

"I'm not-I was just-" Haruki cursed himself for stumbling over the words. "I'm just passing by…" he sighed. The wariness didn't fade from Hibiki's gaze, and she didn't respond, stalking past him to find somewhere else to go. He glanced at the goggles swinging from the strap of her bag, finding it odd even for a human, before back at her. "I'm not stalking you, I swear. And we're not trying to find Kirara," Hibiki slowed at Haruki's words.

"Then why are you still here? Kurosaki and his friends haven't been around either," she said, not looking around. Haruki winced at how obvious they had made themselves.

"We're…" he wondered just how much he could say. She didn't trust him, and that was obvious. Haruki sighed. "We're trying to help keep this place safe," he said, keeping it simple.

Hibiki didn't reply. Her heart was pounding, and her mind screamed at her to leave and get as far away from the Shinigami as possible. She didn't know much about them, only that she couldn't trust them. But something about Haruki's words made it very hard for her to maintain that thought.

'Keep this place safe? From who?' she wondered, wanting to ask the question out loud. Hibiki thought of the dark presence she'd felt, that night after the group had arrived. She hadn't felt anything like it since then, but the Shinigami had remained in Karakura since then all the same.

Finally she managed to steel herself. Without saying anything; without looking back, Hibiki started walking again, her heart still racing as she told herself to be more aware of her surroundings, and keep away from him.

Haruki sighed, shaking his head as he let her walk away. He couldn't help but worry about Hibiki, both for her distrust of Shinigami, and for her own Reiatsu presence.

"That's an interesting look," Haruki couldn't stop his shriek of alarm, and he felt like he leapt several feet into the air as he whirled around, stumbling away from Kirara. She was standing behind him, having crept up undetected, and had an amused grin on her face. "Makes you look like you're pining for her," she commented.

"Ki-Kirara," Haruki put a hand to his chest, taking a breath to try and settle his pounding heart. She had managed to get right up behind him without him sensing anything at all, and through the alarm, a small flicker of annoyance at his own lack of skills compared to her could be felt.

"Haruki. Following high-school students around? Not a great look for a Shinigami of your status," Kirara kept going, and Haruki went bright red.

"It's not like that! I bumped into her by accident," he protested, not liking what she was insinuating. And despite her teasing comment, Haruki knew that it was a warning to keep away from Hibiki. "What are you even doing here?" he asked, choosing to move past it instead of dwelling on what she was saying. Haruki eyed her warily. He didn't know how she looked at ease in the clothes she wore, when he was still trying to adjust to the clothes of the World of the Living, disliking how restrictive his jeans and t-shirt were in comparison to his Shihakusho.

"I was out for dinner," Kirara answered. She wore a black skirt with her pale blue shirt tucked into it; a much cuter look than Haruki would have expected to see her in. Especially compared to the shorts and shirt she wore when she'd broken into the Seireitei, or even the school uniform that seemed to look a lot more natural on her than him or any of the others. "I was heading back when I noticed you and Hibiki. It's funny, I've never seen her look mad like that," she teased.

Haruki sighed, tearing his gaze from her to look over at where Hibiki was still stalking off without looking back. As he did, Kirara glanced over to where Shinji was watching her, a warning on his face to tell her to be careful. When she winked, he rolled his eyes and vanished, and Kirara turned back to Haruki.

"She doesn't trust us, but considering the spectacle you put on when you escaped us the last time, I'm not surprised," he said, turning back as he remained completely oblivious.

"What can I say? I have a flair for the dramatics," Kirara shrugged, smiling sweetly at him. Haruki rolled his eyes at the comment. Now that, he knew well. "And just because we parted the way we did in the Soul Society after Sosuke escaped, doesn't mean I trust you lot," her words weren't as sweet as her smile, and it made something clench in Haruki's chest.

"What happened between you and Aizen?" he asked quietly. Instantly the smile vanished, and a cold, steely look that didn't seem at all Kirara replaced it.

"I'm going to tell you this once. It's none of your business," she warned him, her voice just as cold as her look. Haruki held her gaze - something he wouldn't have dared to do a hundred years ago - but he couldn't deny his pounding heart.

"Then why show yourself to me again, now?" he asked her. Irritation flickered in Kirara's gaze. "You keep jumping between friends and enemies. Which is it, Kirara?" Haruki challenged her, taking a step closer. He didn't miss how her body tensed at the action.

For a long moment, Kirara didn't speak. She watched him with her bright blue eyes that flickered with uncertainty, but he refused to back down even when he knew she could hand him his ass. He wanted to know the answer. He was tired of the whiplash of her treating him like a friend; like they had been a hundred years ago, and the distrust that caused her to close up and regard him with cold detachment.

"I like to think that we're still friends, Haru," she finally spoke, and her soft words made a little of Haruki's tension ease from his shoulders. "But right now, I can't trust Shinigami. I showed myself again because I wanted to make sure that Hibiki was safe - not because I think you'd harm her," Kirara raised a hand when Haruki started to protest. "But because I know there's something strange about her, just like there is with Orihime and Chad," she finished.

"Do you think she has powers too?" Haruki asked, eyes growing wide. He tried not to think of her comment about how she couldn't trust Shinigami.

"No clue. But there's something more to her," Kirara shook her head, speaking his thoughts aloud. "I better go. Maybe I'll see you around," she said, and Haruki's eyebrows furrowed as she took a step back. Something in her expression seemed to be daring him to give chase again.

"That's a cute look, Kirara," he said instead, flashing a smile at her. She rolled her eyes, but the faintest blush filled her pale features. "Who were you out with for dinner? Anyone I know?" Haruki grinned, not missing it.

"I already told you that I haven't seen the rest of them in a long time," Kirara retorted, trying to look bored as she spoke.

"But you also told me that you're taken," Haruki reminded her. Kirara winced, remembering that she'd let that slip purely to see his reaction. She hadn't quite planned on it coming up again. "And with you dressed all cute, you must have been out on a date," Kirara didn't reply, but her face was steadily turning redder. "Maybe the rumours about you and Otoribashi weren't-"

"Wait, what?" Kirara snapped to attention, eyes going wide. "Me and Rose, together?" she instantly started to giggle incredulously at what Haruki had said. Suddenly feeling embarrassed, Haruki found himself going red. "There were rumours about me and-" Kirara stopped, her eyes going wide. "That's what they were talking about," it finally sunk in, she suddenly had a look far more devious than anything Haruki had ever seen.

"Kirara?" Haruki wondered what was on her mind.

"Thanks, Haru. You've just given me the mother of all ammo," with a wink, Kirara vanished.

"I…have?" Haruki wondered, pushing his hair from his face again. He couldn't help but laugh, as it seemed that even after a hundred years, Kirara still had a habit of vanishing and leaving him with a ton of questions.

Rose hummed along with the notes he played, trying to decipher the mystery that was his latest melody. With Love having stolen the manga he'd bought, he had quickly gone off to avoid the spoilers that Love was sure to give.

Slowly his music trailed off, and his usually sleepy purple eyes narrowed just a little. Something seemed…off. He could feel that Kirara had returned; later than Shinji, which he had just brushed off when Hiyori had asked where she was. He'd suffered for his vague, dismissive words towards Hiyori, of course, but they still didn't know where she had been.

"Something messing with your melody?" Kirara's sudden appearance didn't startle Rose. It was one of the rare times he actually heard her coming, and he suspected it was the same reason that the melody in his mind had suddenly stopped. When he looked at her, those suspicions grew, as he saw the smile on her face.

Devious as always, but somehow even more so, with her eyes gleaming with excitement. This was far more than when she got it into her head to annoy Kensei. Rose once again found himself wondering just why Kirara had been late back.

"Welcome back, my dear. You seem in particularly good spirits," he said instead, moving to check the notes of his guitar and re-tune them.

"I think I might be," Kirara grinned. She could barely contain her glee. "Rose…" she put her hands behind her head and cocked her head in what might have been an innocent enough stance, if not for her feline smile and the fact that Rose knew her very well.

"Yes, Kirara?" he hummed in response, not looking up.

"Did Shinji think that there was something going on between us?" there was a loud 'twang' as Rose jerked reflexively at the question. His normally sleepy, bored look vanished as he stared at Kirara, having been completely unprepared for the question.

"Kirara…" he managed to find his voice, and slowly set his guitar down on the rock beside him before rising to his feet. "I'm afraid I am not quite sure what you're talking about," Rose lied, and winced as it only made Kirara's grin widen.

"And they say that I'm a shit liar," she told him, following as Rose backed away.

"You are a shit liar, Princess," Shinji said as he walked over, and arched an eyebrow as he saw their faces. Kirara's utter delight, and Rose looking oddly nervous. "What's going on?" he asked warily.

"I heard the strangest thing from Haruki," Kirara smiled, and despite Rose's panic, he was surprised to realise that Kirara had been talking to the Shinigami again. "About some old rumours," she sidled up to Shinji, whose wary look only grew at her behaviour.

"Rumours?" he repeated, and saw Rose give the slightest shake of his head in warning.

"You mean the rumours about Rose and Kirara being a couple?" Shinji went rigid at Lisa's question. All three looked at the woman, who had approached quietly.

"You knew about that?" both Rose and Kirara chorused together.

"Everyone knew about that," Lisa snorted at the question. "Well, almost everyone, apparently. I thought you specialised in gathering intelligence?" she directed her question at Kirara, who was fighting her laughter.

"Yeah, about dissension and uprisings," she replied. "Not idle gossip about who I'm sleeping with," as she spoke, her hand shot out and caught Shinji by the tie as she noticed him starting to slink away. "No way, Shinji. You're not getting away from this one," Kirara smirked at him.

Shinji scowled down at her, his face uncharacteristically red. He still remembered that day, when he'd let slip that he too thought that Rose and Kirara were dating - the only reason he hadn't tried anything earlier with her back then.

"You thought that rumour was true?" Lisa asked Shinji, who turned his glare on her. She smirked. "Seems it wasn't just them who were completely oblivious," she taunted.

"Oh shut up," he snapped. It was the last straw for Kirara, who burst out laughing. She almost doubled over, tears in her eyes as she couldn't stop laughing at just how ridiculous it was. Shinji groaned, letting his head fall back.

"To think, we managed to make it a hundred years before she found out," Rose sighed.

One more update before the holidays!

I'll do my best to squeeze one more update in before the new year, but until then, Merry Christmas!

Let me know what you think!