Chapter 4 - A Game of Tag

Chapter 4 – A Game Of Tag

Siren stirred the next morning and sighed sleepily before opening her eyes. There was a blue-eyed, blonde-haired woman whose face was only a foot away from hers and she yelped in shock. The woman stood up to her full height and through tired eyes, Siren recognised Matsumoto. She glanced next to where Siren was laying with a highly amused expression that told her to look. Lazily, Siren lifted her head and looked down to notice a black kimono that was clothing the person that she was resting her head on a few moments ago. She turned her head to look further up the person's body and saw a clearly male hand on the top of hers that was resting on the man's stomach.

She remembered someone laying down next to her when she was brought in here yesterday, and yelped again when she realised that is who she was snuggled up to. Her Lieutenant, Hisagi Shuhei. She looked up at his face, and noticed that his eyes were open and he had one brow raised in question of her behaviour. She yelped even louder and sat up, realising that he was awake. He smirked sheepishly in response and inwardly, Siren's mental expression dead panned at the sight of a smirk that would melt any normal woman where they stood...or laid, in this instance. Before her outward expression could match her inner one, Unohana came in the room and smiled seeing both Siren and Hisagi on the bed. Hisagi realised abruptly and awkwardly scrambled to sit on the edge of the bed as the Fourth Division taicho walked over to stand next to the bed.

"Siren, how are you feeling today?" Unohana asked softly, her voice leaving no insight to her thoughts about the sight she saw only moments ago.

"Um, I'm feeling fine. And I'm sorry for all this hassle." Siren replied, scratching the back of her head nervously, hoping that the captain didn't think she was a burden by doing this to herself.

"No, not at all. It is completely understandable that you were worried about facing the people you care about when there was a possibility that they might think ill of you." she dismissed Siren's apology and her kind smile grew, comforting Siren a little, who gave a small wistful smile before Unohana spoke again. "Good news, you have recovered so fast that we can let you out of here today, but you will need to make sure that you get some good rest. I'll be back shortly to examine you one last time." she bowed faintly and excused herself, leaving Matsumoto, Hisagi and Siren in the room. It was quiet for a minute before someone broke the silence.

"Hey Siren. About what Unohana-taicho said...is that why you didn't come back?" Matsumoto asked softly, not wanting to unintentionally upset her green-eyed friend. Siren just muttered her confirmation and Matsumoto just walked over and stood her up before pulling her in a breath taking hug. "You're an idiot for assuming that we would think badly of you. We were all so worried!" she said and finally let Siren go, who coughed a few times before waving her hand in dismissal.

"It doesn't matter anymore. The only thing we have to worry about now is what the old man will do to me. I bet he's reallypissed off with me..." she trailed off and they all faintly shuddered at the idea of their Captain-Commander getting angry. He was terrifying enough, without being angry.

They talked for about fifteen minutes or so, before the white haired prodigy, Tenth Division captain showed up in the doorway, claiming that he guessed Matsumoto would be here. He asked Siren how she's feeling, and she said that she's feeling fine now and Hitsugaya nodded once in reply and nearly had to drag Matsumoto out of the room. After they left, Hisagi laid back down on the bed, horizontally with his arms behind his head, and Siren laid back as well, her head resting on him again and they both closed their eyes. Hisagi couldn't stop a smile from forming on his face, but his expression went serious again as he heard Siren sigh quietly.

"Oi. Are you really okay?" he said quietly, with a tone that suggested that he knew she was lying when she said that she was fine.

She growled faintly in irritation, since she realised that he must have seen straight through her. "Not really... I'll get there eventually..." she trailed off, when she noticed a faint scent that she hadn't noticed in the room before. It was familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She opened her eyes and turned her head and looked at the doorway to see the large form of Komamura standing there, a shadow of a smirk on his canine features. Hisagi felt her turn her head and noticed her stiffen and he looked at the doorway as well, and they both yelped in unison - Hisagi's being barely audible and much lower in pitch - and scrambled to sit up again, in turn making the smirk on the Seventh Division captain's face all the more obvious.

They both respectfully greeted him and Hisagi took his leave, saying that he should probably go to work, scratching the back of his head and chuckling awkwardly while walking out of the room in a bit of a daze. Komamura made way for him to pass through the doorway and then strolled in the room.

"So...you must have heard what I said a moment ago, right? I honestly had no idea you were there until I picked up the slight change in scent in the room. You scared the hell out of me." she admitted with a soft laugh. He nodded slowly in confirmation and Siren dropped the kind smile she had on her face and replaced it with a melancholy expression. "I still don't want to face everyone...my division in particular."

He picked up the faint worry in her tone and knew that she needed some convincing. "I know how you are feeling. But everyone seems to have found a new respect for you. Since the Winter War, everyone has become a lot more open minded and accepting of your kind, since we know that without Shinji-san and the other vizards, there is no question that we would have been beaten. There's no need to worry." he said kindly, hoping that he could help convince her.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I'd just like to check Siren-san over before I let her out of here." Unohana's soft voice almost floated through the room, and Komamura excused himself after bidding them both goodbye.

For the next few minutes, Unohana gave Siren a quick check to make sure everything was in working order, and that she was alright to leave the care of the Fourth Division. She knew that it was probably assistance from Siren's hollow side that allowed her to recover so quickly, and she was glad that it had helped the new captain, who couldn't seem to hide the soft spot she had for her Lieutenant any longer. Everything seemed perfectly fine, so she told Siren that she would be okay to leave, but repeated her earlier words of making sure that she rest well.

After Unohana left, Siren changed back into her now clean and dry shinigami uniform and haori, - which she felt weirder wearing than ever - that had been left on a small table next to the bed. Deciding that now she was out of here, there was one place she had to go before she did anything else. She strolled through the Seireitei, shinigami from various divisions greeting her and bowing respectfully. She greeted them and smiled kindly, infinitely glad that Komamura's words had been proven true, but made sure that no one from her division saw her just yet. Everyone seemed to be calling her 'taicho' but she wasn't going to bother telling every single one of them not to. A few minutes later, the huge doors of the First Division barracks loomed overhead and Siren took a deep breath and prepared herself to accept whatever punishment or scolding she would receive. She knew that she definitely deserved it, especially after Shun telling her that half the Second Division and Onmitsukido had been ordered to go after her. She also decided that she would apologise to Soifon after this.

She walked, quite slowly through the barracks and made her way towards the old man's office. Sasakibe greeted her, and she returned it kindly, and he said nothing more, just smiling faintly, probably already knowing what she was doing there. She opened the large doors and walked to stand in front of the Captain-Commander's desk and bowed very low that she was almost at a ninety degree angle. She inhaled to speak but was stopped by the old man, who spoke first.

"Kyubantai taicho, Siren. I would like to commend you on your excellent work subduing the infiltrating hollow." Siren raised her head at the words with her eyes wide. "There were minimal injuries, and they were eliminated quickly and efficiently. You are dismissed."

Siren's eyes were still wide, and she bowed low again and thanked him before walking out of his office in an absolute daze with a ridiculous expression on her face that sent some questioning glances her way, having no idea how the hell that just happened. She shook her head as Komamura's words came to mind again, about how everyone had become more open-minded since the Winter War and she guessed that it also applied to the usually rule-abiding and immovably resolute So-taicho. She made her way to Soifon's office in the Second Division barracks, hoping that she would be there so she didn't have to go on a wild goose chase to find her.

Luckily, Siren found her in her office completing paper work after she had announced herself and been granted entry. She walked up to the desk of the dark-haired woman's desk and bowed, then apologised for her own issues causing her so much hassle. Soifon admitted that it was quite irritating, but then commended her with a small smirk on not losing much of the skill that she would have gained in the Onmitsukido and Second Division. Siren thanked her kindly, and apologised again before excusing herself. Just before she could walk out the door, Soifon called to her and asked her to tell her 'obnoxious, self-absorbed Lieutenant' to keep it down, and Siren said that it wouldn't be a problem, figuring that if Soifon had to do it, from the expression on her face she just might beat the man to a pulp.

Omaeda was standing just down the hall, talking to some of the Second Division members loudly and Siren walked up to the man and stared up at him coolly before saying to him that his taicho had asked him to keep it down. At the sight of the woman who's vibrant green eyes said 'I dare you to disobey me', he shut up immediately and walked down the hall, away from his captain's office, knowing that if Soifon was forced to come out because he was distracting her so much, it wouldn't end up pretty. And he definitely didn't feel like crossing the newly discovered vizard, Ninth Division captain, who faintly reminded him of his own captain with her ability to easily stare down someone twice their size.

Darkly delighted with being able to tell someone off for the first time, Siren smirked with faint sadistic amusement and made her way out of the Second Division barracks and leapt up on the rooftop of a random building to look for any sign of the Eighth Division taicho who she found several minutes later, casually snoozing on the roof of his office. As usual, he made no move to make it obvious that he was aware of her presence, and she just laid down next to him, and covered her eyes from the bright sun with her arm. They were silent for a few minutes, just relaxing comfortably in each other's presence. They never really needed to talk that much at times like these. Knowing the other person was there that was most important thing. Kyoraku finally decided what to say and he lifted up his hat to look at the girl lying next to him and spoke quietly in an uncharacteristically serious voice.

"You can't hide it from me. I know you are still upset."

"Of course I am. I still haven't faced my division. I've been making sure that none of them see me." she retorted sharply, with anger that wasn't directed at the older man.

"What did Yama-jii say?" he said knowingly, inwardly betting a bottle of sake that Siren had gone to see the So-taicho as soon as she got out of the Fourth Division.

"He... he commended me on doing a good job with the hollow. I didn't even get a chance to speak. I was expecting to get like...grounded or something." she answered with an utterly bewildered tone, reliving the unexpected turn of events that had been some sort of mind fuck for the green-eyed vizard.

Shunsui just chuckled faintly in reply, glad that the old man had decided to leave her be. It had taken a bit of convincing from him, and the Thirteenth Division captain, as well as the Seventh Division captain to give her a break. The old man had become a little more lenient since the Winter War had finished, and he seemed to feel a little bit of guilt because of what happened with the former captains and Lieutenants, now vizards, being victims of Aizen schemes. The fact that he actually allowed Siren to become a captain was proof of this.

"So...Hisagi-kun, huh?" he said suddenly, his voice back to its usual carefree self. Siren made a sound of questioning, not knowing what exactly he was getting at. "He was coming to see me and Ukitake every day, asking if you had been here, or whether we could think of anywhere that you might be. He seems to be rather fond of you, if you know what I mean." he stated, leaving a little to the imagination.

"No, I don't know what you mean." she said pointedly shook her head and spoke again before her old friend could, most likely to say something that she wouldn't really want to hear right now. "Anyway, I'm going. I bet I've got a shit load of paper work to do. See ya."

Gracefully, she hopped down from the rooftop, landed silently and made her way to Hisagi's office. She was careful to avoid any confrontation with her division members by climbing up the wall and going in through the window, which was thankfully open. He looked a little confused at her being there, and the first thought that came to mind was that she might have had enough of being in the Fourth Division and found a way to sneak out. This thought became invalid when she said that a little after he left Unohana cleared her to go.

Without replying, he just filtered briefly through a large stack of paper, and handed about half of it to her with a glint in his eyes that said 'Sucks to be you!'. She glared at him in reply and she strolled over to the other side of the office and set the paper work down on the table in between the two couches. She sat down on the couch, glaring at the large amount of paper work that she had to complete, knowing that by the end of it, she would have torn out most of her hair, and probably broken several items in the room, as well as putting some holes in the walls. She realised that she was supposed to be taking it easy, but she was full of energy and felt like doing something a little more active, so to speak.

She glanced over at Hisagi, writing away on the various reports and such when an idea came to her. A while ago, when she got to hang out with Renji, he told her all about what happened in Hueco Mundo. He told her about the Arrancar and former Espada, Nel, and her two Fraccion, Pesche and Dondochakka and how they played a game called 'Eternal Tag'. She chuckled under her breath and thought that it would be a fun game to play to pass the time and get away from work, and it would also be good for training. She would have to use that excuse to drag Hisagi away from all that paper work anyway. It would make the players concentrate on their speed, agility and evasive manoeuvres as well as stamina and endurance.

Nonchalantly, she stood up, put her hands in her pockets and walked over to Hisagi's desk and lent over it to get his attention. When he lifted his head to look at her, silently evaluating him, and told him to come with her. Confused, he got up and followed her outside of the barracks, not missing the way that she looked around for any signs of the members of her division. She flew up to land on the rooftop and Hisagi stopped to think for a moment about what the hell she was thinking before following her.

"We're going to do some training and play a game children play in the real world. The game is called 'Tag'. One person is 'it' and they have to run around and chase the other players and tag one of them so that they can become 'it'. As simple as it sounds, it will help you work on your speed, agility as well as stamina. I've also decided to change the rules up a bit to suit our skills. Shunpo is allowed...scratch that, necessary. Kido may be used as well, but only when there will be no damage to buildings and such. M'kay?" she said, holding up fingers as she went through the explanation.

He nodded in assent, but asked a question. "You do realise that you are going to win, right?"

"Wrong. I said we could use Kido, and I'll bet my month's salary that you are far better at it than me. And I will be holding back anyway. If I wasn't faster than you, it wouldn't be as much of a challenge, would it?" she asked rhetorically and leant forward before casually tapping him on the shoulder with one finger, then jumped back laughing at how easy he made it.

Quickly, he snapped to attention and realised what she did and laughed before chasing after her over the rooftops. Within the next five minutes, they had already covered all of the Ninth Division's area and were starting to branch out. Hisagi still hadn't caught her, and he decided to start using Kido to level the playing field.

"Bakudo no Ichi, Sai!" he said and pointed at the woman running backwards in front of him, laughing at him. Her eyes widen at the sight of him using a binding spell, and she flipped out of the way, and poked her tongue out. He shook his head, even though he was having a lot of fun 'training' and took off after her.

Their game – training - rapidly drew the attention of wandering shinigami, a few of which happened to be Kira, Renji and Matsumoto. All three of them jumped up on the rooftops to join them, and Siren stopped so she could explain what they were doing. Renji instantly knew where she got the idea from, but said nothing and they all decided that it would be a fun way to blow off some stream, but still be active and help them train at the same time. Hisagi was still 'it' and they all ran around, jumping and leaping across the Seireitei, having a good time doing something silly and fun, yet shockingly constructive at the same time. It would be even more interesting with more people, since the game would stretch so far that you wouldn't know who was in all the time, so it would be good for reaction times and quick planning as well.

They started again and Hisagi managed to get close enough to Siren to perform another Kido spell, and he used Bakudo no Kyu, Horin so that if he got her, he could pull her in close and tag her before dropping the Kido and bolting for his life. He cast the spell, minus the incantation and he grinned when he successfully caught her. Or so he thought.

"Way of the Onmitsu, 3rd of the Shihou. Utsusemi." he heard the words spoken from behind him, and he whirled around to see Siren, standing behind him, smiling victoriously. He looked back to find her haori on the ground where she was standing moments ago and she suddenly appeared next to it and picked it up before nonchalantly putting it back on. He watched as she 'dusted' off the shoulders and smirked at him as he shook his head. He recognised the 'Shihou' and guessed that it came from 'Shihoin', which would mean that Shihoin Yoruichi herself must have taught her that technique, which was certainly rather impressive.

At that moment, Renji appeared beside Siren, and Hisagi immediately went for him while he was a little confused at the sight of the black-haired Lieutenant and his black-haired captain staring each other down. Hisagi eventually caught him, and Renji began chasing after Matsumoto, and he chased after her a few minutes before catching up to her as he was easily faster. She started after Hisagi, but he got away from her, and she was able to sneak up on Kira. Siren decided to see what would happen if she just sat down in plain sight.

She flopped down on whatever building it was and waited for someone to notice her. She sensed Matsumoto stopping for a moment, but then she moved quickly away from Renji, who seemed to be chasing her. Kira and Hisagi had stopped, and they seemed to be rather close to each other. Renji seemed to catch Matsumoto as he started running away from her, and she went towards Kira and Hisagi. They both zipped away, Hisagi getting further than Kira and Hisagi seemed to only be about 200 metres away from her.

Finally, after Matsumoto had chased Kira and Hisagi literally right past Siren, she noticed the small haori-clad form of the Ninth Division taicho sitting down, looking at her with a casual expression. Taking it as a challenge, Matsumoto laughed and ran for her, and she stayed there before using the Utsusemi technique again. Siren was quite glad to finally have a chance to practice it since she only learnt it a short while ago and still wasn't too proficient with it, but enough to fool the other players for a few moments.

Matsumoto continued to chase after her, and Siren used her full speed for a moment to pick up her haori before waiting for Matsumoto to get a bit of a head start on her. When she was only just out of the blonde-haired fuku-taicho's reach, she dashed away after she went to tag her. She noticed that the other three seemed to have stopped to watch for a moment, meanwhile catching their breath and she decided to let Matsumoto catch her, so she could freak out her Lieutenant and enjoy laughing at him for the next few days.

The Tenth Division Lieutenant tagged Siren, who glanced in Hisagi's direction and winked devilishly before disappearing from sight, only to reappear a split second later in front of Hisagi and said 'Boo!' loudly, her face only a foot away from his. The man with the scars and tattoos yelped in fright and stumbled backwards a few steps and Siren continued to use her full speed to literally, run circles around him, laughing at her prank being successful. Renji, Kira and Matsumoto laughed at the sight of Hisagi getting freaked out and in a few moments, Siren had stopped running and was rolling on the rooftop, laughing hysterically as Hisagi stood a few metres away with his arms crossed and his face pulled into the deepest scowl he could manage, even though he was restraining his own laughter. Even he couldn't deny that she got him good.

Renji, Kira and Matsumoto walked over, all quite tired from playing the game, and they all sat down as Siren collected herself. Hisagi sat down as well, but mock-glared at his captain, who started laughing again. Matsumoto told Siren about their girly day tomorrow at the bath house, since she has to take it easy and Hisagi decided to try and get her back for her earlier prank.

"Not happening. My captain has too much work to do." he said, and looked off into the distance defiantly with his arms still crossed over his chest, feeling the icy glare of his captain. Siren suddenly got an idea, and she looked at Matsumoto and gave her 'the nod' that said she was about to do something and they both smirked knowingly as Renji and Kira watched on and glanced at each other in confusion.

She crawled to sit in front of Hisagi and put on the best puppy dog eyes she could do. After a moment, Hisagi looked at her out of the corner of his eye, and then turned his head to face her, and his eyes went wide at the sight of those big, vibrant green eyes looking up at him innocently, screaming silently for him to give in. A look that could make the strongest men cave. And his captain was clearly just as good at it as she was with shunpo. He groaned quietly and dropped in chin to his chest in defeat, knowing that he could never say no to that face.

Laughing softly, Siren turned back to look at Matsumoto, and they both raised their arms triumphantly and cheered in happiness. Renji and Kira both snickered at how easily Hisagi had caved, until Siren decided to let them have it. She shut her eyes, and turned to them both, who stopped laughing in confusion. When she opened them again, they both tensed visibly at the sight and dropped their chins to their chest in defeat, just like Hisagi had, now knowing exactly why he had given in so easily.

They chatted for a while, saying that they should play/train again soon, and eventually parted way as the sun began to go down. Renji headed back to the office, and Kira headed back to his while Matsumoto left to go prepare for the girl's day tomorrow and Hisagi and Siren wandered off to the Ninth Division Lieutenant's quarters. Siren tried not to laugh at him on the way there, but as Hisagi saw her straining not to, he began mock-scowling again and she couldn't hold it any longer and cracked up, getting some 'What the hell?' looks from the various shinigami walking past them.

Still laughing, Siren walked into his place and sat down at the small table in the middle of the room. After a few moments, she collected herself and noticed that Hisagi was nowhere to be seen. She looked around the room from where she was sitting, and saw no sign of him. It was completely silent, until there was the barely audible sound of a footstep behind her. Knowing it was Hisagi, sneaking up on her to get her back, her right arm snapped back to grab onto his right leg. She tilted her head all the way back to look at him, and shook her head before yanking his leg out from underneath him.

Arms and legs went flailing as he landed hard on his backside. Secretly vowing to never try sneaking up on a former member of the Onmitsukido, he got up on his knees and grabbed onto Siren's arms, that she was leaning back on, and pulled them out from under her and she fell back and he pinned her arms down. She didn't struggle, just smirked mischievously and swung her legs to show off a hell of a lot of flexibility and wrap them around his middle and flip them over so that she was on top of him in a rather compromising position. Since her back was facing away from him, she huffed with amusement and spoke over her shoulder in an uncharacteristic voice, dripping with innuendo and seductive undertones.

"Sorry, but I like being on top." Siren got up, and walked into his bathroom, leaving him still laying on the floor, a little more worked up about what just happened than he would like to admit. He heard the shower turn on, and shuddered slightly as mental images began to bounce around in his mind, and he walked into the small kitchen to cook them something to eat, and hopefully distract himself from temptation.

About ten minutes later, Siren emerged from the bathroom, clean and fresh with a towel wrapped around her, and strolled into Hisagi's room to find the clean pair of shinigami robes that she had decided to leave there. It's almost like we live together, she thought with amusement as she dressed and tied her obi, and forgoing her normal black fingerless gloves the same as her vizard friend, and former captain of her division, Muguruma Kensei.

Upon smelling whatever wonderful concoction her Lieutenant, who was a surprisingly good cook had thrown together, she inhaled deeply and traipsed on out to see what she would be eating tonight. She gazed upon a glorious sight of tonjiru and yakitori. Smiling happily, she helped serve up and bring everything over to the table. They sat down and ate in silence, and inwardly Siren thought about how much she missed some of these traditional foods, instead of everything coming in packets in the real world. She remembered explaining to Ikkaku and Yumichika why they put onigiri in packets on Renji's birthday night, which was quite amusing.

They ate quietly, making small talk throughout, and Siren occasionally teasing Hisagi about her scaring him, which earned her a glare, even though he couldn't really put much anger behind it. They hung out until later that evening, and they both got a little drowsy, thanks to the exertion from their game of tag and Siren curled up on Hisagi's couch, while he fell into a deep sleep on his bed.

#

Hisagi woke the next morning, rolled over sleepily and felt something quite unlike the pillow under his head. He lifted his head enough so that he could look down and saw a note. He picked it up to see what looked like Siren's handwriting on it.

You've got the day off today.

If I hear so much as a peep of you doing any sort of work, I will be thoroughly displeased.

I've informed the division to not allow you in your office at all.

Also, I took every piece of paper involving work out of your place and put it in your office, so don't even bother trying that one.

So stay in bed, fuku-taicho.

P.S. Meet me at our training hall at about 5pm. Judging from how easily I was able to pin you down last night, it seems that we have to work on your hakuda skills.

Laughing softly (and maybe flushing slightly at the memory of last night as well as the extra innuendo Siren had used), he shook his head and let go of the note so it fell on the floor and put his head back down. He knew that she was just trying to look out for him, and he really did need to catch up on rest but there was a fair bit of paper work that he hadn't completed, as well as there being a lot that she had to do. He knew that she would somehow get it all done, as she always did - shockingly enough - but he couldn't help but feel obligated to try and sneak into his office. Knowing her, she probably put some sort of barrier around it, just to make sure that he didn't try doing that, and probably had all the division keeping an eye out for him.

While he laid there, comfortable and warm, he thought about what had happened the last few days. He realised that he had stopped being pissed off with her about the Renji thing the moment that she got that terrified look in her eye when she saw that he was about to be hit by a Cero and deflected it. He had also been contemplating that he might have just been thinking too much after hearing from Kira that Renji apparently had a crush on a girl from the Fifth Division, and that he was trying to build up the courage to ask her out. Also, he did remember thinking that Siren never seemed like the flirting type because it would probably just bore her unless she had a legitimate interest in the person.

It had become increasingly obvious to him that he harboured some sort of feelings for his new captain and good friend. Whether it was just some sort of admiration for someone who had been through so much and came out the other end as an amazing person who was more self-sacrificing and considerate than you'd first think, or whether it was attraction to the black-haired, green-eyed girl with the creamy white skin that he had met on a night with his friend, he would just have to wait and find out...

Elsewhere...

"I think he likes you. That's why I dared him to kiss you on Renji's birthday night!" Matsumoto said knowingly as her and Siren enjoyed a nice bit of down time after the chaos of the last few days in the hot springs that the bath house had.

"Oh, bullshit. Aside him being my Lieutenant, we're just friends." Siren reasoned defiantly as they relaxed in the water.

"Yeah, you're just friends even though he looked like he wanted to take you into one of the rooms and ravish you." the blonde haired beauty said with a laugh, knowing that Siren would react rather amusingly to her comment.

Siren tensed up and flushed faintly. "Can it, you! I'm not interested in dating him or anyone for that matter. Too troublesome for my liking..." she trailed off, trying to reason with the Tenth Division fuku-taicho.

"By the way, who's Tenka? Renji told me something about it and he said that he wanted me to talk to you about it."

A vein popped in Siren's forehead at Renji telling Matsumoto the name of the only person she could say that she was quite sure she was in love with so many years ago. She knew that he probably only did it because she might feel less awkward talking about it with Matsumoto. A part of her had honestly hoped that he had completely forgotten the name she told him in her frustration to reason with him about not liking her Lieutenant. She sighed irritably before giving in and telling her about it.

"Well, back in the day when I was here and in the Onmitsukido, Tenka was my squad leader for missions. I can't believe that I'm actually going to say this, but I'm pretty sure that I was in love with him. Our squad hung out and we all got along really well, but I couldn't help but have feelings for him. One day, he and some of the other squad leaders got sent on this mission to dispatch of a huge hollow. The day of the mission, I woke up with this terribly ominous feeling, so I tried to convince him not to go." she crossed her arms and as she spoke, she relived the day that she don't think she could ever forget, no matter how many thousands of years she might end up living for. Matsumoto's blue eyes watched her expression for any signs that the girl that she had become good friends with might be still having trouble dealing with whatever happened between her and Tenka, even though it was so long ago.

"He told me that he had a bad feeling too, but he knew that he had to go and act out his orders. He told me that he loved me and that if he didn't come back, then not to cry for him since he wouldn't regret going, even though he would regret being forced to leave me. For three hours I waited for their report to come in, and it never did. Turns out that they'd all died but they did take out the hollow. I kept to my word and didn't cry or regret that he fulfilled his duty. Since then I've basically just turned off that side of my feelings all together." she spoke quietly, but not as sadly as would be expected with a story like that. It seemed that she really did have no regrets about it and had just accepted that it wasn't meant to be.

"So basically, you don't want to get close to Shuhei because you're afraid that he'll get be killed on the battle field and you want to save yourself the hurt of getting involved, then losing him." Matsumoto said firmly but softly, telling Siren that no matter how good the armour she protected herself with was, that some parts were transparent, and you could see straight through them. Her comment was confirmed when Siren looked at her with her mouth open and eyes wide in shock. Her gaze turned inward for a moment, and then she huffed in amusement, realising how easily she must have been to read just then.

She nodded her head and looked up at the sky pensively. "Pretty much, yeah."

As Siren smiled faintly, so did Matsumoto knowing that Siren had been able to hold her word, and even though she might miss Tenka, she was the type to keep her promises and it didn't seem like she regretted him passing on. Even though Siren seemed more like the type of person that would go against orders if her thoughts were completely opposite to them, she had a huge sense of honour and duty for someone that wasn't originally interested in becoming a captain, and Matsumoto guessed that she wouldn't allow herself to be upset when Tenka wanted to do his duty and follow orders even if it meant giving up his life.

She decided to not say anything more on the matter, and hope that Siren realised that it wasn't worth being so scared over if it means that you can have the person you love, even for just a little while. Unfortunately, she would never have the chance to be with Gin, no matter how much she loved him, and she just hoped that Siren would take the chance if it came along, all pessimistic thoughts aside.

After that small interlude of comfortable, pensive silence, they got out of the hot springs and went to do some basic shopping. The only things that Siren owned, were a few pieces of clothing, and a few toiletries and necessities. She didn't even own a brush. So they picked up a bunch of things for her, and she seemed happy to finally have some use for her wage other than buying sake, and groceries when Hisagi would actually let her buy some which was usually after a few minutes of arguing with him about it. Or just doing it without telling him.

It was the late afternoon when they parted ways, promising to do this again when they both could, and Siren made her way to Hisagi's, vowing to beat the hell out of him if he had somehow managed to do any sort of work. She dropped her things off, and noticed that he wasn't there but remembered that he was going to be at the training hall around now. She was using this as an opportunity to finally face some of her division, and hopefully to start some more training with Hisagi. She had heard about him being very proficient with hand-to-hand combat, and she just couldn't help but want to see how he went against her.

Within a few minutes, she was at the door of the training hall, and she mustered all the nonchalance she could and opened the door and wandered in. No one noticed her for a moment, but Hisagi had been looking between the sparring shinigami in front of him to the door since he got there. He hoped that his captain was a lot more relaxed and a little less depressed after having a day out with Rangiku-san, and when he noticed her nonchalant expression, he felt quite relieved knowing that she was actually able to look that way instead of the usually pensive and melancholy way she had recently.

Deciding to have a little fun, Siren used a quick blast of shunpo to appear behind her raven-haired Lieutenant and put her right arm around his neck and place him in a gentle, but firm headlock. He tensed so slightly that she only knew because she was holding onto him, and he chuckled and shook his head in amusement. She let him out of the headlock and let both her arms dangle over his shoulders while she rested her chin on the top of his head and watched the two shinigami from her division spar and Hisagi couldn't hide the smile from his face at Siren's physical contact.

One of them left himself wide open after performing a kick incorrectly and only just blocked a blow in the nick of time thanks to the other guy not being agile enough and Hisagi was about to go get up and help when she muttered for him not to and pushed him back down to sit with her small hands on his broad shoulders. She walked over towards the two shinigami and people started to notice her and whisper 'taicho' in shock of actually seeing the woman who had disappeared after revealing her true self to them.

The two shinigami still hadn't noticed her, and she kept walking and casually grabbed one of the first shinigami's right leg which was swinging horizontally, and caught a punch that the second one was throwing without even budging. Eyes went wide, and she let both of the limbs go and she politely asked if she could help out a little, her usual bit of shyness returning before they both nodded wordlessly, and she just went into a professional mode and began pointing out the flaws in what they were doing.

Everyone in the room was watching silently, and they all were listening to the tips she was giving, just in case it was something they didn't already know. When she displayed how to correctly and efficiently use the kick the second was attempting to do earlier very slowly, they all paid extremely close attention and analysed her movements. She asked one of them to try out the block she taught them, and looking slightly hesitant he took up a stance, and prepared himself.

She did it slowly the first time, and he seemed to get it, and she continued to do it faster and faster and with more strength. He got the hang of it, and she warned that this time she would do it much faster and put more strength behind it, and see how he went. He nodded and she swung her leg out, only to have him barely block it, and go stumbling a few paces to the left after being slightly overwhelmed by the strength she used. She gasped quietly, not meaning to do that much and apologised awkwardly while scratching the back of her head before telling the two to continue for a few minutes and keep what she said in mind.

For the next few minutes, everyone watched as the two shinigami became better in using that particular kick and blocking technique after just a few minutes of tutoring. Siren watched on a few paces back analysing their every movement to watch for something that they may have done incorrectly, or to look for something she could help them improve on. They stopped after a few minutes, slightly puffed and they went to sit down to rest. Siren's gaze landed on Hisagi, and she tilted her head to gesture for him to get up and take her on, which was what they were there for.

The moment he stood up and moved away from the others that were sitting down and watching, she flickered out of sight and reappeared with her leg swinging in the exact same way that she had just taught the other two to do. He realised what she was doing, and he used the block she had taught them, executed perfectly. She smirked, pleased with how well he picked up on it, since it was something that she came up with herself and hadn't seen anyone using it while she was here.

They stared each other down, both looking slightly amused and Siren crossed her arms and tilted her head back a little before saying 'Come'. Then it began. They darted around, kicking, punching, blocking and flipping. They were quite well matched, even though Siren was clearly better in executing her moves and thinking quickly. Hisagi was able to hold his ground because he was a bit taller and could put more weight behind his movements, which helped him compete with the immense physical strength that the small vizard female had.

Siren was thoroughly impressed with Hisagi's abilities. He could analyse and even predict a few of her movements, and after a while, began to use more offensive moves that she had only used a few moments before. Realising that he was being a smart ass and imitating her, even though he was taking the fight itself quite seriously, she started laughing at him actually being talented enough to do so. She purposely left herself open slightly to see what he would do, and he reacted exactly how he should and eventually got her pinned down on her back, and he looked down at her with a look that said  he wasn't really expecting that, but damn I'm proud of himself.

As she began to laugh again, everyone looked on in confusion, and it took Hisagi and everyone else a minute to realise that she had already gotten into position to regain control, but was too busy laughing to actually follow through. She had her left leg wrapped around his right one and she stopped laughing abruptly to throw him off, and flipped them over so she had him pinned with her hovering over him, her small hand on his throat with a soft grip that could turn to iron any moment. Instantly, she started laughing again, and even as her body shook with the laughter, her grip never slackened.

She rested her head on the ground next to his head, and stopped laughing for a moment before whispering to him. "Have you already forgotten what I told you last night, Hisagi-kun?"

He tensed at the sound and feeling of her whispering in his ear, and noticing that she accentuated the usage of the honorific. She started laughing again and let him go and rolled off him to sit down and lean back on her hands and continue chuckling quietly while she caught her breath. He just sat up and leant back on his hands while trying to forget what she just did. Siren eventually got up and stood in front of him with a hand held out to help him up.

Shaking his head and smiling, he knocked it aside defiantly and stood up before they made their way out of the training hall and back to his place where they ate and talked about their day for a while before heading off to bed for a good rest.