Ginrei walked up to the downtrodden Byakuya as he picked his sword up to him."Grandfather, I lost"
"You did indeed. Quite pathetically"
Ginrei sn.i.g.g.e.red while looking at Byakuya. In front of others, he would have an apathetic front, typical of a member of a n.o.ble family, while in front of Byakuya he would become a doting grandfather.
"Eh?"
Byakuya was shocked by his grandfather"s merciless comments. As if not noticing Byakuya, Ginrei continued,
"I didn"t even see his sword; it was too fast"
Sighing lightly Ginrei looked at Byakuya
"You barely moved your sword before it was thrown out of your hand. You didn"t even take a step"
The more Ginrei talked the more Byakuya got embarra.s.sed. Trying to refute his grandfather he turned to him
"But how can the were-cat have such a subord…eh?"
As if catching something he looked at his grandfather,
"Grandfather didn"t see his sword?"
In Byakuya"s eyes, his grandfather was a strong individual, he was the captain of the 6th division for h.e.l.l"s sake. Yet for his grandfather to not see that sword meant that in terms of pure swordsmanship that youth was probably above him.
"Who was he?"
"The 3rd Seat of the 2nd Division, Minamoto Itsuki…"
"Minamoto Itsuki, where have I heard that name?"
"…also the personal… wait you don"t need to know that"
Hearing this Byakuya was curious at what his grandfather wanted to say but later just ignored it. If his grandfather didn"t want to tell him then he won"t force him.
"I need to defeat him the next time I see him"
Clenching his fist, determination flashed through his eyes as he picked up his sword.
"I"ll go back to training, Grandfather"
"That strike, I"ll be able to overcome it."
Remembering that strike just enhanced his determination as he went back to training.
Ginrei made his leave while giving one last look at his grandson.
A servant glanced up only to look shocked as she looked back down.
"The head is actually smiling. Did the sun rise from the west today?"
Itsuki was oblivious to what was happening, however, currently he had troubles of his own.
"You went easy on him, didn"t you?"
Yoruichi"s questioning face was right up to him as she interrogated Itsuki. Feeling Yoruichi"s breath, Itsuki retained his calm while replying
"You told me to destroy him, so I did"
Seeing Itsuki so calm she felt irked for some reason. With a playful smile adorning her lips, she pushed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s against him.
"Itsuki, want to visit the hot spring to have a more thorough discussion"
Emphasising the "thorough" Yoruichi looked on with a hopeful look in her eyes. Itsuki looked towards her and inched closer. A pair of gold eyes and a pair of ice blue eyes were inches apart
"No"
"Eh?"
"I"ve got work"
"Eh?"
"I"ll be leaving now"
Seeing Yoruichi"s fl.u.s.tered face Itsuki gave out smile as he shunpoed away. Yoruichi stood there for a daze, before realising she got played with.
"That brat…"
She also shunpoed away but to a different direction. Her voice was filled with annoyance, yet a happy smile was present on her face as she left.
After this episode, the interactions between the two increased until Itsuki would regularly take bath in the hot spring with Yoruichi. At first, he tried having it in his own personal bathroom, but she would just intrude and join him. So, to avoid getting found out by anyone, Itsuki decided to just use the hot spring.
Although they were able to hide it, there was one person that was getting increasingly suspicious by the way the acted around each other. So said person once tried following both of them in turns but always turned up empty-handed.
"One day, she will find out about us"
Itsuki told Yoruichi as he relaxed.
"Yeah, who expected Soi Fon to have such a strong nose"
Yoruichi who was in her human form replied. At first, she was only teasing Itsuki with this form. That however soon became boring as apart from the first time, she wasn"t able to get him fl.u.s.tered like that.
"It seemed that it was only due to surprise that the first time worked"
She did take her chances now and then but it all just seemed like an excuse to get close to him.
Itsuki looked at her and knew what she was feeling. He felt like he was just leading the girls on with him acting like this. These feelings further intensified whenever he met with Rangiku or his interactions with Yoruichi such as now. He got the faint feeling whenever he met with Soi Fon as he met with Soi Fon. Those meetings wouldn"t last for long as whenever they were in close proximity with each other, she would get all fl.u.s.tered and do some stupid mistake.
Although in the anime they were perceived as open girls, well only Rangiku and Yoruichi, this was real life and Itsuki knew it didn"t work like that.
The next day, Itsuki was preoccupied with these thoughts when he got a sudden unexpected visit.
"Yo Kouhai, something seems to be troubling you"
With a pink kimono draped over his captain attire, he stood at the doorway of Itsuki"s office.
"Come let this senpai listen to your troub…"
Shunsui"s ear twitched as he suddenly looked at Itsuki.
"It seems we have company"
Itsuki also noticed the intruder but didn"t know what to do.
"Let"s look for a quiet place"
Saying this Shunsui disappeared with Itsuki following him.
Sometime later, the figure intruded Itsuki"s face before saying
"Too late..."
"Although you"re a vice-captain, what are you doing in my division, Yadomaru Lisa"
Yoruichi appeared behind the intruder and questioned the girl,
"Sorry, Captain Shihouin, I was looking for my captain, but it seems that I just missed him"
"Mm"
"I"ll take my leave then"
Yoruichi let the girl go as she then looked towards the direction Itsuki had just left.
Itsuki was marvelling at Shunsui"s Shunpo proficiency. It seemed that he took a different approach as he prioritised distance over quickness. Whenever Itsuki took like four or five steps Shunsui would have only taken one. Stopping at the top of a cliff Shunsui sat down taking out a bottle of sake.
"Want some?"
Itsuki shook his head as he stood next to him.
"Seeing your look, it seems to be a girl"
Itsuki just stayed silent as Shunsui continued
"Mm, this senior had quite a bit experience in that area, want some advice"
"Sensei has told me about your adventures back then"
"Ho, the old man actually talked about it"
While Shunsui was feeling smug about his achievements, Itsuki next words brought him down,
"He said you were a lecher…"
"Ug"
An imaginary arrow was shot through Shunsui
"…he also said the amount of times you were caught peeping was uncountable…"
"Ug"
A second arrow
"…the amount of times teacher had to step in, teacher had lost count"
"Ug"
Th last arrow went through as Shunsui had tears pouring out his eyes.
"So, let"s talk about your problem"
Trying to change the topic, he brought Itsuki"s problem up.
"Who is it?"
Itsuki looked back at him and grabbed Shunsui"s sake bottle.
"Hey!"
Not listening to him, Itsuki took a sip causing him to cough as he also sat down,
"There are three"
"Huh?"
Shunsui looked confused
"There are th…"
"I heard the first time. I speak for all the men out there, go die"
Itsuki gave a smile before taking a few more sips of the sake. It seems his throat was able to handle the alcohol now.
"I know a way to clear your mind"
Standing up, Shunsui backed up before calling out to Itsuki,
"Let"s spar, I want to see how strong my kouhai is"