A Test of Faith

 

Previously on "A Test of Faith":

She trembled as the man's body heat enveloped her, and fought to keep her hands steady. She wondered if he could feel how cold her hands were.

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Chapter 10

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Shuuhei stepped out from the shadows of the trees, clapping, with a big smile on his face. "That was excellent," he told the girl, nodding in approval.

Akari stared at him in surprise; the man had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. But she had no trouble recognizing him—no one else had that prominent blue stripe across his cheek and nose the way he had, not to mention the number "69" and the three scary scars that stood in stark contrast against his skin.

Renji's eyes narrowed as he watched Shuuhei walk towards them. The man looked completely normal—cheerful, even, smiling as if they hadn't just had a row a few hours ago. "How long have you been watching us?" he asked gruffly.

Shuuhei smiled. "Long enough to know that you're a great teacher, and that you have a brilliant student," he said. He looked at Renji's face and could easily tell that the redhead was still upset about their fight. Well, he thought with a pang of guilt, it had been pretty one-sided. He hadn't been fair to Renji; the redhead may have been tactless but Shuuhei should've known that he had no bad intentions.

The fight on the 9th division grounds had been easily dismissed—the mere sight of the dark look on their vice captain's face was enough to stop the brawling members. Shuuhei always treated his subordinates with respect and kindness, but over the years the 9th division members had come to learn that he could be stern—and downright scary—when he was cross. And, judging from the glint in his eyes and the flare of his spiritual pressure, he was feeling very cross.

After giving them a good talking-to, Shuuhei had gone to his office to simmer in anger and guilt. He had blown it, again. What was he thinking, losing his temper like that?

He imagined that Renji must be feeling like crap right now. The poor guy, Shuuhei thought miserably. He was sure Renji had been looking forward to this day, because he certainly had. After mentally berating himself for a few more minutes, he finally stood up. He should go find Renji and apologize to him. Perhaps it's not too late to salvage what's left of the day.

Shuuhei was surprised when he arrived at Renji's place to find it empty. Closing his eyes, he focused his concentration to search for Renji's spiritual pressure. It wasn't all that difficult to find. Shuuhei winced at the intensity of it; Renji was obviously taking his anger out on something.

When Shuuhei finally traced the spiritual pressure—which seemed to have calmed down abruptly—to its source, Renji had his back towards him. The redhead was talking, seemingly to himself, as he made slow upward swings with a zanpakutou, one which Shuuhei did not recognize. Then he stepped away, revealing a short pony-tailed girl, presumably the owner of the zanpakutou.

Shuuhei raised his eyebrows in surprise; Renji was conducting a personal tutoring session? Leaning back against a tree, he watched in silence as Renji coached the girl. He smiled to himself; it was amusing to see the tall, broad-shouldered redhead teach Zanjutsuto such a dainty-looking girl. The redhead literally had to bend down so as to not tower over her; the girl was so short that she barely reached Renji's chest. He wondered what happened. How did Renji suddenly go from I'm-so-pissed-I-want-to-burn-down-all-of-Seireitei to...this?

When the girl gave a soft whoop of delight when she managed to get the technique right, Shuuhei couldn't help cheering out loud. It really was a beautiful execution ofsuriage waza.

Now that he was standing close to the girl, he noticed her slightly disheveled appearance and the small cut on her right sleeve. Wow, Renji sure took coaching seriously, he thought, feeling a little worried.

"That wasn't from training," Renji said, following Shuuhei's gaze. He didn't elaborate, though. Instead, he just eyed Shuuhei apprehensively. Was the man here to continue their fight? He glanced at Akari and tensed up at the prospect of making a scene in front of his subordinate.

Shuuhei sighed at Renji's defensive stance. "I'm sorry, Renji," he said, feeling a little embarrassed since the girl was right there. "I...I was wrong to lose my temper just now. I apologize."

Akari looked from Shuuhei to Renji, then back again. No wonder she had sensed that something was off the moment the 9th division vice captain appeared. She had thought it was strange when Renji's body stiffened at the sight of his lover, now this explained it.

Renji blinked in surprise, then his shoulders sagged in relief. He grinned sheepishly back. "I'm sorry too," he said, scratching the back of his head. "I shouldn't have brushed off your problem like that..."

"We're even, then?" Shuuhei asked with a smile.

Renji laughed and gave him a quick hug. "Yep, we're even," he said, grinning.

Akari looked at the two men, feeling awkward and embarrassed to intrude on what should be a private moment. Should she leave...? On one hand she was sure they'd appreciate being alone, but on the other hand it would be rude for her to just sneak away quietly.

Suddenly remembering that Akari was still standing there, Renji clapped his hand on Shuuhei's shoulder and turned the man around to face the girl. "Shuuhei, meet Akari. Akari, this is Hisagi-fukutaicho from the 9th division."

Akari nodded and bowed in greeting. Even though she'd seen the man plenty of times, this was actually the first time she saw him up close. Despite the bad-boy look he had going—tattoos, scars, spiky short hair, choker—he actually looked like a soft-spoken man in person. He has kind eyes, Akari thought. Those eyes were now regarding her with curiosity.

"She's only been with my division for 3 months," Renji said, completely oblivious of how the other two were silently sizing up each other. "Very skillful with her sword."

Akari's chest swelled with pride at the compliment. "That's great," she heard Hisagi-fukutaicho say. "Well, Akari, if you don't mind, I'd like to steal your sensei for the rest of the day."

"O-of course," Akari said with a bow, feeling an unexpected stab of disappointment. She immediately mentally kicked herself. You have to stop acting like some stupid, love-sick girl, she told herself fiercely. Despite it all, she couldn't help stealing a sideways glance at her vice captain. His body was angled towards Hisagi-fukutaicho, his face lit up with a smile in a way completely different from how he smiled at her.

She would never be able to make him smile like this, Akari realized with a twinge of sadness. She envied Hisagi-fukutaicho, and wondered what they had fought about—obviously they had, based on the apologies. No wonder Abarai-fukutaicho's attacks were so powerful today; she had thought that it was an overkill to release so much spiritual pressure during training. After all, one should be honing battle skills, not simply wasting energy.

By the time she straightened up from the bow, Renji and Shuuhei had already begun to walk away. She stared after the two vice captains; Renji had his hands raised and laced behind his head, talking animatedly, while Shuuhei had both hands in his pockets, laughing softly at something the redhead had said.

Feeling suddenly alone, Akari turned around and walked off to continue training by herself. If she hadn't looked away so quickly, she would've caught Shuuhei turning back to look at her, his gaze lingering on her petite frame as he nursed an odd sense of foreboding.

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To be continued...

Sneak preview of the next chapter:

Akari froze, not able to tear her eyes away from the impending danger, yet unable to move her body.