"No! No, no, no, HELL no. I am not fighting that guy. I'll die!"

"You won't die. You're just practicing. Calm down."

You glared at Toshiro with all your might, then sat on the floor defiantly.

"No, I'm not practicing! I'm sitting on the floor until you change your mind," you spat out, turning up your nose angrily.

Renji Abarai stood in front of both of you lamely, witnessing your petty argument.

"Get up and do as you're told, (L/N)! This is insubordination!"

"I don't even care if I get shipped off to another squad! I'm not fighting that spiky-haired creep!" you huffed, peeking up at the red-head sourly.

"What was that, squirt?!" he growled angrily, and your mouth popped open as if you hadn't expected him to speak. You took a few moments to recover from the shock.

"You heard me, weirdo!" you snapped back eventually, pursing your lips. The fire seemed to grow even brighter in his smouldering eyes.

"You don't even know me! It's Abarai Renji, not weirdo!"

"Yeah, well, you're stupid!"

"What the hell?! Shut up, pipsqueak! If I'm stupid, you aren't even anything! You're... dumb! I mean, you're brainless!"

You stood up abruptly, and grabbed his Shihakusho.

"If I'm brainless, then you don't even exist, so your argument is invalid!" you retorted, grinding your teeth.

"That makes no sense! And get off me, you fatass!"

"I'm not on you, stupid. I'm holding your dumb clothes! And don't call a lady a fatass, because if you do, you better expect something back!"

"What the hell?! You're wearing the same thing as me, girlie! And I don't care what you call me. Keep it coming, I don't mind. You're too dumb for it to have any effect on me!"

Toshiro glared at both of you, anger bubbling.

"Idiot, jackass, nincompoop, fathead, dummy, stupid, strawberry, tattoo-head, liney-eyebrows..."

You grinned at him.

"Liney-eyebrows!" you suddenly cried, bursting out laughing. "I like that one!"

Renji stared down at you as if you were a psychopath.

"Come back over here, pipsqueak! I'll-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

You both whipped your heads around to the white-haired Captain, then you glancde back to each other.

You found tears filling your eyes as you laughed hysterically.

"Liney eyebrows..."

He would have answered you, if it wasn't for the fact that he was laughing as well - as hard, if not harder, than you. You both flopped down onto your backs and continued your laughter as your Captain continued his shouts.

"Abarai! L/N! What in the icy heavens are you laughing about?!" he questioned the pair of you furiously. You completely ignored him as you looked over to Renji, gripping your stomach so as to prevent more giggles from escaping.

"Renji, your eyebrows are actually really cool." you admitted solemnly, and he stared up at you, the mood suddenly very serious.

"C-Cool?" he choked out, all traces of laughter gone. "Really? I-I... nobody's ever told me that before..." he murmured, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. His eyes sparkled in admiration as he looked you over. You almost laughed at how dramatic he was being.

"Yup! Really cool!" you hummed, standing up happily.

"Taichouu~! I'll fight him! He's not scary at all. You have to tell me why, though. I mean, I get everything that Yama-jii told me, but why do I have to fight that guy? It makes no sense," you frowned, staring at your Captain expectantly as Renji heaved himself up. Toshiro rubbed his forehead, as if banishing all traces of anger from his expression.

"Your parents were Shinigami, right? So you're technically not human. The bind they placed on you prevented your Zanpakuto from ever making contact with you at all, but, when you came to the Soul Society, that bind began to break ever so slowly... and it just happened that it disappeared just in time. However, as your Zanpakuto said, he will not materialise in sword form unless you become strong enough to defeat him in your inner world." he explained. You stare at him, much of the words and concepts going through one ear and out the other.

"Shimo no Tora is a girl! Two girls!" you exclaimed angrily. You looked up into the sky with a very grumpy frown.

"Why do I even have to get my Zanpakuto? I don't even live here."

He gave you a look that said 'Are you an idiot?' and shook his head.

"You aren't human, as the blood test showed. You will have to stay in this world, because you were living in a gigai until now, meaning you were living in a fake body," he expressed slowly, as if you were a child.

"What about Scott?" you questioned, frowning.

He hesitated for a moment.

"Human. He's not related to you at all," he looked away as if expecting tears.

"Oh. That doesn't really matter. He's still my little brother," you informed him casually, feeling a bout of strength. "When he d-dies, I'll make sure to find him. Maybe I can visit him in the meantime!" you exclaimed, stuttering over the 'd-word' that you so dreaded to say.

He nodded. Though he didn't show it, he was impressed that you took it so well.

Renji eyed both of you with a bored expression on his face and opened his mouth to say something. As if on cue, Toshiro spoke up.

"You may commence your training. For now, just have a go, and then we'll go over the basics afterwards. Once Abarai lands a hit on your head, you lose."

He threw you both a wooden katana. You stared at it blankly for a moment or two, then picked it up. It was lighter than you expected, and you found yourself swinging it as if it was a baseball. Renji just laughed at you, and you glared at him and knocked him over the head with it.

"What the hell was that for?!" he snapped.

"The training commenced! I won!" you shouted happily.

"No, it didn't!"

"Fine! Whatever, let's start it then."

Renji got into some sort of battle stance, and you copied him because why the hell not. He swung the katana in the air, as if expecting you would back into the wall.

Hahaaa~! Too bad, Renji!

You did a somersault between his legs (which was more painful than the action movies made it seem), then scrambled up quickly, just in time to block a quick swipe towards your head. You jumped up onto a pile of barrels, then knocked one over and rolled it towards him. To your dismay, he dodged it with no problems and swiftly tapped you on the head. You dropped to the ground.

"God dammit!" you shouted, holding your hands in the air as if cursing the heavens. Though you were kinda in them.

"Um... you alright?"

"What do you think, Renji? HUH?! I just decided to drop to the ground and shout 'God dammit'?! It hurts, you asshole!"

You sat with your legs crossed and your chin in your hands, with a disappointed frown plastered to your face. Renji's smirk was wiped off his own face and he blinked down at you in confusion.

"What's wrong? You did well. I'm a lieutenant. Stupid."

You brightened a little bit at this.

"Nothing's wrong, pineapple! Hey, what happened to me getting help after this round?" you asked, searching around for Toshiro in confusion.

"I'm right here."

You jumped, noticing him right next to Renji.

"Taichou?! How do you do that?"

"Shunpo. Now get up."

You picked yourself up obediently, brushing dirt off of the back of your Shihakusho.

"I'm up, I'm up. You were watching, right? How can I improve?" you asked him tiredly, a yawn escaping from your mouth. Toshiro watched you closely.

Her yawns are so... cute. Like a baby animal. Not that it matters...

You notice that his calm expression turned to a frown, and he looked away as if you were dressed indecently, leaving you wondering why a yawn would bother him so much.

"Your position," he answered slowly, looking back to you, and then demonstrated. You tried to copy him, and failed miserably.

He grabbed your wrists, and moves them into the correct position. A slight tingle shot through your body, and you shivered at the feeling of his breath on your neck

He's so close.

You could feel your face getting redder by the minute, and shook your head, attempting to get rid of it.

"What's wrong?" he asked you.

Taichou, you sly bastard! I see your pink-tinged cheeks! you thought, fiddling shyly with your clothing.

"N-Nothing..." you answered sheepishly, and try out your new stance.

~