"Hi, Shiro, nice of you to drop by," Head-captain Kyoraku grinned as Toushiro stepped into his office. Morning light brightened the room from the open balcony and the earthy smell of a pot of tea warmed his lungs.

"You called me here; we have a meeting scheduled," Toushiro grumbled. He had hoped that this would be quick; he didn't have much time to spare as it was. Not with all the re-building that was going on, and how severely understaffed the Gotei Thirteen was at the moment. He had gotten up at dawn this morning to get a head-start on all his work and he still didn't feel like he was making any headway. But looking at the tea set on Kyoraku's desk he had a feeling that he would be here for a while.

"So we do. Thank you again for agreeing to help out."

Toushiro sighed softly. "Yes, it's no problem."

Kyoraku smiled knowingly, and Toushiro couldn't help but feel like Kyoraku knew otherwise. "Just don't push yourself too hard."

Toushiro refrained from rolling his eyes. He could have gotten away with it if Kyoraku was still a captain, but now his position demanded a little more respect. "I already said I would do it. Stop trying to talk me out of it."

Kyoraku chuckled deep in his chest. "Alright, Yukio should be arriving any minute now. Why don't you have a seat?" He indicated one of the two chairs that had been pulled up to his desk.

No sooner had Toushiro sat down were there footsteps on the tiles behind him. He glanced over his shoulder as the young fullbringer strode in and flashed him a toothy grin, his black coat swinging around his ankles as he walked. He was exactly as Toushiro remembered; expensive clothes, platinum blond hair that covered his right eye, and smug aura about him. He'd met Yukio before, battled him and came out victorious. It had been a shock when Kyoraku had told him that Yukio had requested to train under him. He admired the boy for his tenacity, and for aiding Kurosaki during The Thousand-Year Blood War, but he remembered how cheeky he had been. Still, if he was earnest about training then Toushiro had no reason to deny his request. Besides the Division needed the extra help, even if it was only one person. Yukio flopped into his chair, setting one knee over the other and leaning against the backrest. Toushiro grimaced and held a sign; he was already much too comfortable here, this was going to be a long six months.

"Yukio!" Kyoraku, said cheerily. "Glad you could join us today; I hope your journey here went well."

Yukio nodded, folding his arms behind his head. "Well enough, Kisuke has a lot to learn when it comes to comfort, though."

Toushiro tapped his foot impatiently. He didn't have time for small talk. He cleared his throat, hoping that the two would take the hint.

"So, Captain Hitsugaya has agreed to help you train-"

"I figured, I mean he's sitting here after all."

A very long six months.

"Right, so shall we go over the terms of our agreement?" Kyoraku opened a thin file that had been sitting on his desk and picked up a single sheet of paper. "Yukio Hans Vorarlberna, for six months, will be assigned temporarily to the Tenth Division of the Gotei Thirteen. This is an exercise to investigate the compatibility between fullbringers and shinigami. For six months Mr. Hans Vorarlberna will train under Captain Toushiro Hitsugaya in the art of hakuda." He paused for Toushiro and Yukio to confirm. "And in return, as a temporary member of the Tenth Division, Mr. Hans Vorarlberna is to be assigned day-to-day duties typical to a permanent member of the Division." He tapped his chin with his index finger. "I think that's all, I just need the both of you to sign here." He slid the paper across the desk and held out a brush and ink pad.

"Is this like some sort of legally binding, stuff?" Yukio asked as Toushiro took the brush.

Kyoraku scratched the back of his neck and leaned back in his chair, balancing on the back two legs. "No, if either of you want out of this agreement you're free to go at any time. Nanao has just been getting on my case to be more professional and get things organised. It's best we have this in writing, in case something like this comes up in the future."

"Okay, cool." Yukio leaned forward, pulling out a pen from his jacket pocket and scrawled his name down before Toushiro was halfway through his. Yukio finished his signature with a flourish and winked at Toushiro.

Toushiro glanced wistfully at the writing utensil before Yukio clicked it and put it back into his pocket. It was going to be a very very long six months.

The meeting ended up taking thirty more minutes than the time Toushiro had allotted for it. He was grinding his teeth by the time Kyoraku had given them leave. Then he had to give Yukio a quick tour of the Tenth Division, namely the key areas like the mess hall, bath house, and training yard. If he got lost or needed something else he could ask someone. But right now he was itching to get back to work, especially since he already had to stay late that night. He dragged a hand down his face as he led Yukio through the barracks.

He had ordered a spare room be prepared for the boy, once close enough to a few seated officers who would report to him if he did something out of line. He slid the door open and handed Yukio the key.

"This will be your room; there should already be uniforms and other necessities in there. If you need anything else, you can fill out a requisition form, which are available in the administrative office."

Yukio poked his head into the room examining it with a look of disdain. He had been toting a suitcase and a duffel bag, both looking expensive, and dumped them in the middle of the room. They were obviously out of place. "It's smaller than I would like," he said after inspecting the sparse room. "And a bit boring."

Toushiro clenched his jaw. The room was neat with a futon and a writing desk. There were moderately large closets for storage, and a few shelves. "You are free to decorate however you please. But I'm sure you can tell that we currently do not have the funds to spend on non-essential items."

"Yeah," he grumbled, flapping his hand dismissively. "I can see that."

Toushiro folded his arms, tucking them into his sleeves. "Once you've change and settled in, meet me in my office so that we can finalise your schedule."

"Got it. Any more orders? Like are you an actual robot?"

Toushiro narrowed his eyes. "No, that is all for now." He turned to leave.

"Wait, Toushiro-"

"Captain Hitsugaya."

"O-Kay," he drawled with a smirk. "How old are you anyway?"

"Older than you." He was sure that his eyebrow was twitching, or it could have been from how much caffeine had had that morning.

Yukio looked like he wanted to laugh, but he shook his head. "I guess I should say thank you. I actually wasn't expecting you to say yes."

Toushiro sighed softly. "You can thank me when we start to see results." He turned on his heel. "My office in ten, if you please."

Rangiku wasn't in the office when he arrived, but he was pleased to see that she had gotten through her assigned paperwork. Still, he wanted to read over it to check for errors. He brought the stack over to his desk, and drunk the last bit of tea from that morning before rechecking his agenda for that day. He was behind by almost an hour now. He gritted his teeth as he pulled the report he had been working on that morning to him, and set aside Yukio's schedule for when he arrived.

"This has to be the most uncomfortable thing I've ever worn."

Toushiro breathed out heavily, and set down his brush. "Uniforms aren't made for comfort; they're for durability and function-"

"Yeah, whatever."

Toushiro pinched the bridge of his nose. "Pull up a chair, let's get this done quickly."

It was a bit strange to see Yukio in the shinigami uniform. Toushiro had to admit that the rough wool far a far cry from the soft, expensive clothes he usually wore. He also looked remarkably different without his hat.

"I've assigned you to a senior soldier, my twelfth- seat, Handa, for the rest of the day. She will show you how things are done here. Your duties shouldn't be too strenuous, but there isn't much time for leisure."

Yukio pulled a face.

"Look if you don't want to take this seriously."

"I am, I am. Can't I react to anything?"

"Every member of the Tenth is to conduct themselves with decorum at all times." He handed the schedule over and waited as Yukio examined it.

"Um, wait."

"Is there a problem?"

"The hell there is, you have our training sessions at like five am!"

Toushiro laced his fingers together and rested his chin on top of them. Five am was a bit early, but if the boy was serious about training then time wouldn't be a problem for him. And if he wanted time to train and then prepare for the day, it was necessary. "Yes."

"That's way too early!"

"It's the only time I have to spare for training."

Yukio's outrage seemed to deflate and he slumped backwards in his chair. "Fine. You really are a robot."

Toushiro clicked is tongue. "Is there anything else?"

Yukio scanned the paper again. "Nope."

"Good. No you can keep that." Toushiro said as Yukio moved to hand it back. "Wait here for Handa."

Yukio folded the paper and tucked it into his kosode. Toushiro watched him silently as he stood up and wandered around the office. After he determined that Yukio wouldn't cause any trouble he went back to his report. He blocked out the outside world, focusing solely on the kanji in front of him until he felt a presence by his elbow. His head snapped to the side to see Yukio looming over his shoulder.

"What-"

"Here," he slipped a pen onto the desk. "It's much quicker than writing with a brush and ink."

Toushiro raised an eyebrow. "I... uh thank you, but I cannot take this from you."

Yukio scoffed. "It's just a pen. I have like ten of them in my room."

Toushiro picked it up and clicked it open, testing it on a corner of a blank paper. If The World of the Living had anything figured out, it was efficiency. "Thank you."

"It's literally nothing."

...

Toushiro stifled a yawn as he stretched out his arms and back. The sun hadn't risen yet, but here he was in the training yard, warming up before Yukio arrived. He had gotten to bed four hours earlier and had to force himself not to drink anything with caffeine before the workout. The adrenaline rush should last until he had to go into the office. He did a few laps around the training yard, the dropped into a side lung to stretch out his legs. Yukio still wasn't there when he finished. Toushiro ground his teeth together. He hadn't arrived that early; Yukio should have been here by now.

Toushiro paced around the supply room, straightening the bokkens and setting all the padded armour into a neat pile. He arranged all the sparring dummies by height then dusted the room with an old rag he found lying around. There was still no sign of Yukio when he was finished. He took a deep breath to curb his irritation, pressing his nails into his palms. What did he expect, though? The boy had no sense of courtesy from what he had seen. He had been generous enough to take time out of his day to train with him, and he had the nerve to be late. Grumbling under his breath, Toushiro stepped out of the supply room and slid the door shut. He would give Yukio five more minutes until he left.

Yukio showed up after four minutes, his hair dishevelled and yawning.

"Sorry about that, Toushiro, I slept through my alarm."

"It's Captain Hitsugaya to you," Toushiro grumbled. "That's not an excuse. I have better things to be doing with my time than waiting around for you. I expect you to be on time for our next session."

Yukio grumbled something indecipherable and Toushiro felt his eye twitch. "What was that?"

"I'm not a morning person."

"Well, you'll have to learn to be."

Yukio sighed and stretched, yawning widely, then looked expectantly at Toushiro.

"Warm up with some laps, then we'll work on some basic katas. Do you have any experience with martial arts?"

Yukio shook his head. The sun was barely up and Toushiro already felt the beginnings of a headache. "I thought you trained as a fullbringer."

"Yeah, but not hand-to-hand. Just normal stuff to keep up my endurance."

"Normal stuff?"

"Cardio, weights –what normal people do in the gym... I mean my fullbring doesn't require hand-to-hand combat at all. That's why I came to you."

Toushiro rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well get warmed up then we'll start from the beginning."

They ended up ruining over time and Toushiro was almost late in getting to the office. He had made it in time by skipping breakfast, but he could always get someone to bring him some later. His work was cut out for him with Yukio, however. He had endurance, that was obvious, but he wasn't very strong physically. From what Toushiro remembered his fullbring didn't need him to be. At least he seemed to pick up things quickly.

"Good morning, Captain, I brought you some tea," Rangiku sang as she hopped into the office. He was impressed, it wasn't even eight yet and she was in the office. "Oh, Yukio isn't here?"

And there it was, the ulterior motive. "He should be with Handa."

"Oh." she set a steaming mug of green tea on his desk. "How is he?"

Toushiro shrugged. "He has potential, but I'm not sure that he's serious about this."

"If he asked us for help then he has to be serious." Rangiku cocked her head and perched herself on the edge of his desk. He took a sip of tea, smiling inwardly. Rangiku knew how to make it the way he liked. He hadn't realised that his head had been throbbing until it cleared.

"He was late for training this morning."

She stared at him, horrified. "You have him training before work? The poor thing."

"It's the only spare time I have, as you well know."

"Yeah, but don't you think that's a bit harsh?"

"No."

She rolled her eyes and stood up. "Of course you don't. Anyway, what's on the agenda for today?"

Toushiro flipped open his planner, tapping the paper with the bottom of the pen Yukio gave him. "We have to finalise the budget for rebuilding the south wall, go over the reports from the engineering and architecture teams, somehow figure out how to redistribute our living and upkeep allowance to now include food expenses, and check with the Thirteenth for their final damage report."

She huffed dramatically. "The work never ends does it?"

Toushiro scoffed. "It's going to be like this for a while."

He handed a few files over to Rangiku. "Our priority is the rebuilding budget and the Thirteenth. See if you can have this done by the end of day."

"I'll try my best, Captain." She flashed him a wide grin as she headed over to her desk.

Toushiro was nearing the end of the engineering report when his stomach growled loudly enough that Rangiku looked up from her work. She levelled him with an exasperated stare. "You skipped breakfast, didn't you?"

Toushiro sighed. "We went overtime with Yukio's training. I didn't have time to eat before coming here."

Rangiku shook her head then pushed her chair back. "I have to go to the Thirteenth anyway. I'll get someone to bring you some food." She tucked a file under her arm. "You know you don't have to keep such a rigid schedule. Sure there's a lot more work than we're used to, but you need to give yourself time to breathe."

"I assure you that I am not overworked, Matsumoto."

"Whatever you say, Captain. Just try not to skip any more meals. I don't think you have much excess weight to live off of."

His stomach growled again and Rangiku giggled as she flounced off. He shook his head and went back to work. He was startled when the door slid open; having not realised how much time had passed again.

"A little birdie told me that you skipped breakfast."

Toushiro's head snapped up when he heard Yukio's voice. He kicked the door shut with his foot while balancing a tray of tea, rice, and a bowl of soup. He set the tray down on Toushiro's desk and took a step back; craning his neck to see what he was working on.

"You could have cut our lesson short if you knew you'd be in a rush."

Toushiro sighed, picking up the chopsticks. "I didn't realise how late it had gotten." He scooped some rice into his mouth with one hand and continued to scan his work.

"I should be flattered by that."

"Don't you have work to be doing?"

"Nope, I'm on lunch break now."

"Oh, thanks for bringing this over in that case."

"Are you seriously going to work through lunch?"

"Work's not going to do itself."

"Fair enough."

Toushiro expected more needling and annoying questions, but none came, in fact there was nothing but complete silence for a while. He looked up suspiciously only to find Yukio examining the bookshelf behind him.

"Can I borrow this?" he asked once he realised that Toushiro was looking at him. He slid a thin, green book from its home on the shelf and leafed through it.

Toushiro raised an eyebrow. "You're interested in business financing?"

"I run my own company, you know."

"I did not know. Yeah, take what you want."

Yukio smirked as he snapped the book shut and tucked it under his arm. "Running the Gotei Thirteen is kinda like running a business."

"I suppose it is." Toushiro set down his pen and worked out a cramp in his hand.

"If you need help with any of this stuff you can ask me."

Toushiro inclined his head. He might just take Yukio up on the offer; it would be beneficial to get help from someone experienced. He may have been late to training this morning but, if he was useful otherwise, Toushiro could forgive him.

Except Yukio was late to the next three sessions. Toushiro felt his patience wearing thin as he waited yet again for Yukio to arrive. He leaned against the supply room wall, feeling a tired ache set into his limbs. He had spent another late night at the office and he was not in the mood to be standing around wasting time.

"Do you know how to tell time?" he snapped as Yukio finally jogged up to him.

"I told you I'm not a morning person," Yukio grumbled. "I've never got up this early before in my life. Can't we have like afternoon sessions or something?"

Toushiro clenched his jaw, pushing away from the wall and folding his arms across his chest. "You could always join the group sessions in the afternoon. But if you want one-on-one lessons they this is the only time I can spare."

Yukio groaned loudly.

"I'm doing you a favour-"

"I know, I know. I shouldn't complain. But come on Toushiro,-"

"Captain Hitsugaya-"

"The sun isn't even up yet."

"This is the best time to train."

"How the fuck do you come up with that?"

"It's not as hot; we have the entire yard to ourselves." He strode past Yukio."Let's get warmed up."

They started off with a light jog around the yard. Yukio's feet thudded heavily against the earth. He insisted on wearing shoes and clothes from the Living World – sweat pants and sneakers. Though, the other day he had come dressed in some sort of tight, black pants that he had called leggings. Toushiro had been thoroughly shocked at the range of movement which they allowed him. He increased the pace; Yukio matched him with no problem.

"Have you ever done HIIT training?" Yukio asked.

"HIIT?"

"High Intensity Interval Training."

"I don't believe so. I mainly train in zanjutsu with my bankai."

"So you don't ever just work out?"

"It's important to have control over my reiatsu and zanpakuto. So, no, I don't see the point."

"So I guess this is a refresher course for you as well?"

Toushiro decided that they weren't running fast enough if Yukio still had breath to talk.

He walked him through a few more katas, concentrating on form and allowed him to throw a few punches and kicks. He deflected them easily, of course, pleased at how much he had progressed in just four lessons.

"Use the momentum to power your kick, or you're going to end up pulling something." He had brought out a training dummy and was watching Yukio go through a series of kicks. "And don't, for the love of the Soul King, point your toe." He rushed in to prevent Yukio from breaking a phalange, catching him by the ankle before he could make contact.

Yukio smiled sheepishly as Toushiro let go of him and he lowered his leg back to the ground. "Sorry."

Toushiro shook his head. "Watch." He raised his leg at the knee. "Most of the power comes from the momentum here." He patted his knee. He positioned himself near the dummy and went through the motions as slowly as he could. "Like this. Keep your foot flat." He rested his foot against the dummy. "You can break a toe otherwise." He brought his leg back to the ground. "Once you get the form right, you can do all sorts of variations." He demonstrated a basic side kick; his foot met the dummy with a heavy thud and dust fell from the straw. Then a front kick, a round-house, and then he ended with a high kick, freezing with his foot in the air.

"Ha, you almost did a split there. Don't think I can do that one." Yukio scoffed, shaking his head, "but yeah, I get it."

"Try again. Let me see." He took a few steps back.

Yukio corrected his form in a matter of seconds and Toushiro nodded in approval.

"Can you do an actual split?" he asked.

"I suppose. Flexibility is important."

He scoffed again.

...

"One hand always guards while the other attacks." He instructed, poking Yukio's fists until he held his arms in the proper position. "Your enemy can always doge and you have to be prepared for follow-ups. When you punch," he took one of Yukio's fists, pulling it towards him while he slowly swung his other arm towards Yukio's face, "I can do this. But," he moved to Yukio's other hand and grasped his wrist to pull his arm higher, blocking the path that his other hand was taking. He gently pressed his fist to Yukio's forearm. "You can block, like this."

"Your hands are tiny," Yukio chuckled.

"Concentrate."

Yukio could now be considered a novice in hakuda. Toushiro barely had to correct his form by the third week. And with sessions every other day he was progressing very quickly. He still wasn't skilled enough for a real partner but he could do a number to a training dummy, and that was without using any reiatsu. He delivered a swift uppercut to the dummy followed by a few jabs and grinned when he ended the attack with a side kick. Toushiro nodded in approval.

"This is kinda cool," Yukio admitted, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

"You're doing well," Toushiro admitted. "I think in a week or two you should be comfortable enough with the moves to spar with me."

Yukio's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Of course I'll have to hold back."

He rolled his eyes. "Ha ha ha. Are you sure you can even fight without using reiatsu? You're skinny as fuck."

"Don't worry about me." Toushiro tucked his hands into his sleeves. "Go cool down, and let's call it a day."

Toushiro watched him bound off. His stamina was impressive – yet to show any signs of exhaustion during any of their two-hour sessions. He did a sort of jump, causing his so-called 'basketball shorts' to slip down his hips. He looked over his shoulder to Toushiro and stuck out his tongue as he yanked them back up. The boy was nothing if not amusing, Toushiro thought, shaking his head.

...

"Hey."

Something was poking his shoulder. Toushiro grumbled, shrugging. It wasn't time to wake up yet.

"Hey, Toushiro."

The poking continued, until Toushiro's tired mind woke. He slowly sat up, looking around in confusion. He rubbed his eyes with one hand while stretching the other and yawned. The back of his head met the high back of a chair; this wasn't his room.

"I'm not gonna lie, that was the cutest thing I've seen in like forever."

Yukio. Damn it all; he had fallen asleep in the office again. He slumped in his chair; his mind told him to wake up, but his body refused to respond. Maybe if he closed his eyes for a few seconds he would feel better.

"Hey, Toushiro, come on." Yukio was holding his shoulder, stopping him from falling forward onto his desk. "You're so out of it. Come on, wake up."

Toushiro grumbled, feeling as if he was moving through sludge. "'M up."

Yukio snickered. "When was the last time you got any sleep? You're literally a zombie right now."

Toushiro yawned again, and screwed his eyes shut, before blinking a few times. "What time is it?"

"Around one."

Toushiro swore.

"You really should go to bed."

"Yeah... what are you doing here?"

"Couldn't sleep; came here to get another book."

Toushiro blinked a few more times, feeling his body sway even as he sat.

"Okay, time for bed. Come on."

"Have to finish... report."

"You can't even make a full sentence."

"I'll take a nap."

The next thing he knew, Yukio had an arm around his shoulders and had hoisted him from his chair.

"Wha-"

"Chill, I'm only bringing you to the couch."

Toushiro's body collapsed on the not-so-soft office couch. His eyes closed and were suddenly too heavy to open. He was aware of a warm body sitting down next to him, but he fell asleep before he could think much more of it. His body was like clockwork, however, and after what felt like no time at all he was waking up again. The sun wasn't up yet, but he could make out the shape of darkened furniture. And his head was pillowed in a lap. His entire body tensed enough that he was sure he pulled multiple muscles. Yukio's breathing was soft and even, but Toushiro wasn't sure if moving would wake him. Had he fallen into Yukio's lap while he slept? Or had the boy taken pity on him using the sad excuse of a couch for a bed. Either way, it was time to get up – was that a hand on his waist? He felt his eyes widen and he became uncomfortably aware of his breathing. How the hand on his waist rose up and down with each breath and how hot it was. In fact, every place that Yukio was touching him felt like it was on fire. He swallowed, never before had he been aware just how much his body moved or how much noise it made for that little action.

Yukio groaned and Toushiro held his breath.

"Fuck, is it time to get up already?" his voice was rough with sleep. The hand on his waist moved up his ribs, fingers trailing against his skin as Yukio brought it up to cover a yawn. Toushiro instantly missed the warmth it had brought and now his skin felt oddly cold.

"Tou-"

He sprung upright. Now that Yukio was awake lying in his lap was inexcusable. "Yes," he said, a bit more snappish than he had intended. He sat back on his knees, feeling his cheeks flush. Yukio yawned widely, covering his mouth with one hand and mussing his hair with the other.

"Do we have to train today?"

"It's your off day."

Yukio blinked slowly then turned his head to stare at Toushiro. "So why the fuck are we up this early?"

"You need to get back to your room."

Yukio grumbled then flopped sideways onto the couch. "Nah, I'm good here."

"Yukio-"

"Work isn't like for another three hours."

"You can't stay here."

There was no response. Toushiro narrowed his eyes; there was no way he could have fallen asleep that fast. He shook his head; he would let him sleep for now – he probably wasn't used to running on minimum sleep. Even though, Toushiro had rested for around five or four hours, he still felt a little sluggish. That would wear off soon, however. He slid off the couch and headed back over to his desk, turning on the small reading lamp rather than the overhead light. His work from last night was a bit messier than he would have liked. The sloppy kanji had him clicking his tongue, but at least the budget proposal was done two days ahead of time. He tapped the papers into a neat stack and set them aside, accidentally bumping a mug on the edge of his desk. Liquid sloshed inside of it and he frowned; the cup was full. He didn't remember making himself any tea before he fell asleep and that wasn't one of his personal cups, but a generic one from the mess hall. He glanced to the couch, frowning slightly. Had Yukio brought him tea last night? He had said something about a book, but... he would ask him about it when he woke up.

He turned back to his paperwork with a soft sigh. This wouldn't be happening to him again; he could not afford to fall asleep at his desk. He needed to be more careful; maybe reorganising his schedule would help.

...

"And what kind of pants are those today?" Toushiro asked as Yukio warmed up with some stretches. They were looser than leggings, but seemed to be made of the same material as his basketball shorts.

"Track pants," Yukio answered smiling.

Toushiro shook his head. "You humans and your clothes."

"I'll get you a pair."

"No thank you."

"You'll be cute in them."

Toushiro raised an eyebrow. "Do not call me cute. Are you done stretching? We're going on a run today."

Yukio cocked his head. "A run? Why? It's not like I need to work on my endurance."

"I know, thought we could use a change of scenery. And since you're actually on time today, we have a bit more time than usual."

They started with a slow jog until they reached the wall leading into Rukongai. Yukio's face read unabashed awe as Jadinbo let them pass, and he stared to the endless horizon of Junrinan. They had a long jog to the place he had in mind, but he was positive that Yukio could make it easily. He had shown that he could keep with Toushiro's shunpo, so speed wasn't necessarily the problem. The sun started to rise as they were ascending a mountain path and Yukio gasped in excitement. The yellow rays peaked above the horizon in the distance, sending long shadows across rice fields and small cottages. It filtered through the trees lining the path bringing hints of warmth with it.

"Toushiro, look," he exclaimed, bouncing like a child.

Toushiro found himself grinning. "You've never seen the sun rise before?"

"Not like this. And no I'm usually sleeping, like a normal person would be at this time."

"Well, you've been missing out."

Yukio was silent for a few beats, the only sound coming from their footsteps. "I guesso. That does not mean I'm gonna get up any earlier than I have to."

Tousihro shook his head and jumped into a shunpo that had Yukio scrambling to keep up.

"Where are we going by the way?"

"You'll see. Just enjoy the scenery."

Yukio fell into silence for a bit. "There are only like so many trees and rocks a person can enjoy."

Toushiro rolled his eyes. Now that Yukio had started talking, and he had replied, he wasn't going to stop. "Yukio?"

"Hmm?"

"I've been meaning to talk to you about yesterday. How I conducted myself was not appropriate of a captain-"

"Oh shut up."

"Excuse you?"

"If you're talking about us sleeping on the couch, I literally couldn't care less."

"It was inappropriate."

"And? You were tired. It's no big deal."

Toushiro eyed him from the corner of his eyes. It could have been from exertion but his cheeks looked a bit redder than usual.

"Why were you in my office anyway?"

"I wanted a new book-"

"That's what you said; now tell me the real reason."

"Ugh, fine. Rangiku said you might be in the office all night so, I came to check on you."

Toushiro frowned. His entire squad knew that he sometimes spent all night in the office. He jumped to the top of a tall bolder as the path gave way to a rocky decline of a dried up river bed. "Why?"

Yukio shrugged and followed. "Because you're doing so much by helping me out the least I could do was bring you some tea."

Toushiro glanced at him from over his shoulder. His cheeks were definitely redder. "Thank you, in that case."

He could hear the sound of running water now and he picked up the pace once more. They sprinted the last few minutes and stopped in front of a waterfall. There was a small pool, surrounded by smooth rocks and enclosed by trees. He had come here a few times before for privacy, but it was also a good place to train. The rocks provided a decent obstacle course, while there was enough flat ground to move around.

Yukio was breathing a bit heavily when Toushiro turned to him.

"We'll do some katas, then I want to try you with a sparring session."

His eyes widened, and he somehow managed to look shocked and excited at the same time. His form was flawless as he went through the stances. He made it seem like he had been practicing for a year rather than just one month. His movements were precise and elegant, each muscle controlled, balance impeccable. His body was lithe, pulled taught, and the pants hugged the muscles of his thighs, pulling tight across his hips as he widened his stance. He spun, giving him an eyeful of his ass, and Toushiro reeled, shaking his head and coughing. What the hell was he doing? He was supposed to be critiquing his form not his body. Yukio was smirking when Toushiro met his gaze and he felt his face heat.

"That's enough," he coughed.

Yukio chuckled, his eyes sparkling in mirth. "Were you checking me out?"

Toushiro's jaw dropped, but he liked to think that he recovered quickly enough that Yukio didn't notice. "I was concentrating on your form."

"Suure."

Toushiro rolled his eyes, turning away. "Your goal is to land a hit."

"Just one?"

"Feeling confident are we?"

"I mean, you were just eyeballing my ass."

"I was not."

"And you're blushing!"

"I am not."

"You're so effing cute!"

Toushiro was stunned for a moment. Paired with Yukio's impossibly wide smile, being called cute didn't feel like an insult. "We'll see how cute I am when I beat you."

...

"Um Toushiro?"

Toushiro sighed setting down his pen and looking over to Rangiku's desk. Yukio had managed to shuffle around his duties, trading off with a few shinigami, in order for him to be placed on office duty. Rangiku was at the Thirteenth, so he had no problems in him using her desk.

"What is it?"

"There's a math error in this."

Toushiro swore, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "What are you working on?"

"Uh," he flipped to the first page of the report, "the South Wall Budget Proposal?"

Toushiro was out of his seat and had crossed the room in a matter of seconds. He felt all the blood drain from his face, and his heart began to thud in dread as his armpits prickled with sweat. "That's not possible."

"Sorry, but it is." He pointed to a chart of numbers. "Look, the decimal place is off. And besides, the cost of labour doesn't factor into the total, here."

Toushiro held his breath as he watched Yukio's finger point to the numbers. It felt as though someone had poked a hole in his side and air was slowly leaking out. He felt like he couldn't breathe and he had to hold the corner of the desk for support. Kyoraku would think that he was trying to cheat his men. How could he have possibly made such a mistake?

"Hey, it's okay. We can fix this no problem. When is it due?"

"By end of day today," Toushiro breathed.

Yukio hissed. "That's tight, but we can do it."

Toushiro was chewing the inside of his cheek. If that was wrong then that meant the report he was working on now had the same error. He shut his eyes, of course things were going too well; something had to go wrong.

"Hey, why don't you sit down for a bit?"

Toushiro nodded and allowed Yukio to lead him to the couch. "We can do this." He set a hand on Toushiro's shoulder. "I catch problems like this at my company all the time. It's no big deal. We just have to go through this one and re-do the math. It wasn't off by much, so the end result shouldn't be that different."

Toushiro nodded but he still felt sick. This was all his fault and if Yukio hadn't caught it-

"Actually," he eyed Toushiro's face. "Let's take a tea break, calm down then get started on this."

"There's no time for a break, especially not now." Toushiro attempted to get up from the couch, but Yukio's grip on his shoulder tightened.

"Well, you wouldn't have made this mistake if you weren't trying to pull an all-nighter."

Toushiro chewed the inside of his cheek.

"Why? I mean you're like ahead of schedule, why are you pushing yourself so hard."

"I don't like things piling up. It's easier when I can plan ahead." Also, he needed to work harder, and do twice as much work to seem just as competent as the other captains. Even as the thought crossed his mind he knew it was a lie. That may have been the truth before Ichigo Kurosaki and Aizen, before the Thousand Year Blood War, but now so much had changed. The only captain who was on his back was Kurotsuchi. But, still he couldn't let himself slack off, just the thought made him feel queasy.

Yukio narrowed his eyes slightly. "Okay, well take this from someone who successfully runs a multimillion dollar company. You have time. Now let's go get some tea."

Yukio grabbed his wrist and dashed from the office. Toushiro nearly stumbled at the sudden acceleration. He stared at the boy's back, it might have just been his imagination, but it seemed like his shoulders were a bit broader. It had only been a month of training, but with two hour sessions every other day, he was bound to start bulking up. Toushiro bit his bottom lip. He'd been training for almost sixty years and he hadn't bulked up one bit. If anything he had lost weight recently. He wasn't jealous; they just had different body types, and Yukio was still living. He shook his head and caught himself on the doorframe.

"Where are we going?"

"The mess hall?"

"There's a private kitchen for the seated officers. Let's go there instead. Quieter."

"Oh, I didn't know that. Are you too good for us peasants?"

"No-"

"Just kidding. Lead the way." He was grinning widely even after he let go of Toushiro's wrist leaving it aflame. Toushiro rubbed the patch of skin, wondering just when Yukio had managed to work him up like that.

The kitchen was really a small break room, with a stove top, a few snacks, and a couple couches and tables. The only reason Toushiro visited here was for the wide selection of teas. He wasn't the only tea lover in the division and so the tea cupboard was always fully stocked.

"What do you want to drink?" he asked.

Yukio flopped onto one of the couches under a window. "I'll take whatever you're having. Sugar no milk."

Toushiro rolled his eyes at how easily he dished out requests. Just who was supposed to be the commanding officer? He poured water into the kettle and set it to boil then opened the pantry to choose the tea. He tilted his head; he probably should drink something calming if he needed to get through the budget proposal, but then he needed the energy as well. His eyes settled on a tin of jasmine blend but it was a bit too high up for him to reach even if he tiptoed. As he was stretching he felt a firm chest against his back and a hand brushed against his, grabbing the tin. Toushiro nearly crawled into the pantry trying to escape. He banged his hip on one of the shelves and spun around with his cheeks on fire.

"Sorry," Yukio didn't seem the least bit sorry. "Thought you could use some help."

"I..." Yukio handed him the tin. "Thank you." But he couldn't let him off that easy. "Nevertheless, you don't have to flaunt your height at every chance you get. I can do it myself next time."

Something fluttered in his chest as Yukio smiled at him and were his eyes always that green? How had he not noticed that before? He cleared his throat and turned around to get the tea ready.

"I'm not even tall, though."

That was true, but everyone was tall compared to Toushiro. He spooned three spoons into a tea pot and took out two cups as he waited for the kettle to boil.

"Why are you so determined to help me?"

"What?"

"Just now, the paperwork today. This isn't part of your duties." He stared at the kettle as steam started to rise from the spout.

"I dunno." He could hear Yukio shrug. "Do I need a reason?"

Toushiro turned around and huffed. "We already have an even trade with you helping out my squad in return for me training you. You don't need to do any more, so why are you?"

Yukio cocked his head. "I'm trying to turn over a new leaf."

"What does that mean?"

"Ugh, this is so embarrassing," he flopped back down onto the couch. "I'm not happy with who I am, or was. I want to become a better person. We have to start small, right?"

The kettle was boiling now; Toushiro picked it up and poured the water into the tea pot. "I suppose. So am I a charity case to you?" He brought the tea pot and the two cups over to the coffee table in front of Yukio's couch then went back to the pantry to retrieve a bowl of sugar.

"No," he huffed. "I think you're the one doing charity. Why did you even agree to this when you have so much on your plate?"

Toushiro set the sugar down in front of Yukio and sat down next to him. "Because if you have the humbleness to ask the person who defeat you for help, then I have no reason to deny your request. You proved your sincerity simply by asking. I know how that feels. Although, you made me question your seriousness when you repeatedly came to training late."

Yukio snickered. "Well we both know the reason for that."

"You being lazy."

"No, me being a normal human being."

Toushiro scoffed as he leaned over the coffee table to pour out the tea. "You are far from normal." He took a cup for himself, blowing the steam gently, as Yukio scooped sugar into his. He hadn't even taken a sip yet, but Yukio had been right, taking a break was helping.

When they got back to the office, Toushiro didn't feel as overwhelmed. Yukio said that he could handle the corrections, but Toushiro still wanted to go over everything when he was done. They finished in the nick of time, and Toushiro was able to send a courier to the first division before the end of the work day. He hadn't expected Yukio to be that big of a help, but he had re-done the maths, checked through all the calculations and re-wrote the proposal. Toushiro had been able to work on other reports that would have otherwise been backed-up if he had had to re-do the proposal himself. Rangiku had even acknowledged how helpful he was when she returned from the Thirteenth. She had kicked him off her desk though, but he seemed happier to work lying on his stomach on the couch, feet swinging in the air. It was only after leaving the office at a normal time that day did he realise how suspiciously quiet Rangiku had been. She was scheming.

His point was proved when she slung an arm around his neck and pulled him into her side.

"Yukio! Captain and I were going to get some dinner, if you wanna join us."

Toushiro raised an eyebrow, pushing himself out of Rangiku's embrace. "Matsumoto-"

"Nah," Yukio answered eyeing Toushiro with a smirk. He felt something in his stomach flutter. "I have to work on my fullbring. I've been putting it off for the past few days. Thanks for the offer, though."

"You've been working on your fullbring?" Toushiro asked, distancing himself from Rangiku and giving her a warning glare.

"Yup, in my spare time and after work. Don't wanna get rusty."

He hummed. He had thought that it was strange that he hadn't seen Yukio glued to that game console of his. He hadn't suspected that he would divide his time between physical training and his fullbring. The boy just kept on surprising him. "Well, I will see you tomorrow in that case." He said as he turned to head home.

"We'll take a rain check on dinner!" Rangiku chirped as she bounded after him.

Yukio waved goodbye and headed off in the opposite direction.

"So, Captain-"

"I'm not going out to dinner with you."

"I think someone has a crush on you."

Toushiro sighed softly as something stirred in his gut. He was too tired to have this conversation now, and besides he knew for a fact that Yukio was just being nice. He was simply grateful that Toushiro had agreed to train him; there was nothing more to it.

...

Yukio was late again. Toushiro scuffed his shoe against the ground, leaving a shallow line in the dirt. He had thought that they were past this by now. His stomach formed a knot as he waited. He was disappointed, yes, but a part of him wondered if there was something he had done to upset him. They were wrapping up the sixth week of training and while Toushiro was pleased with Yukio's progress, the boy seemed to be getting antsy. He had noticed it a few lessons ago, when his form had started to get a little sloppy. He had corrected it when Toushiro had pointed it out, but the slip wasn't normal for him. But other than that Yukio seemed fine; he had been going about his other duties without a problem, although, Toushiro had been seeing less of him this past week. He huffed and sat down on the raised patio that ran around the yard. Maybe it was something he had said, or done. He had thanked him for helping with the paperwork, maybe it hadn't been enough and Yukio thought that he was selfish or rude. His breath snagged in his chest. What if that had been the final straw and he wasn't going to come to practice today –

"Hey Toushiro,"

His head snapped to the entrance as Yukio sauntered in with his hands shoved in his pockets. Toushiro nearly jumped to his feet in relief and had to remind himself to remain calm.

"You're late."

He shrugged. "The sky is blue, grass is green, I have blond hair – what else is obvious?"

Toushiro narrowed his eyes, feeling the knot in his stomach tighten. He took in Yukio's slouched posture, his hands shoved into his pockets, and his frown. He really didn't want to be here.

"Why?"

"I overslept. Anyway, let's get this over with."

He strode to the centre of the yard stretching his arms over his head. Toushiro slowly followed.

"What's the matter? You seem..."

Yukio swore under his breath. "Great, even you can tell. Good to know you can understand what feelings are."

Toushiro jerked back at the insult. He'd been called worse, so why was his chest clenching? He folded his arms across his chest, tucking his hands into his sleeves. "I apologise. Whatever wrong I have done you-"

"It's not you," Yukio snapped.

"Then?" Toushiro ventured a step forward.

"I was sparring with some guys yesterday. They kicked my ass. These ancient bags of actual trash knocked me flat on my ass. "

"Oh-"

"Oh? I've been training for what, a month and half now and I have next to nothing to show for it! I'm just wasting my time!"

"You've improved greatly in that time. A month isn't that long to begin with-"

"To you maybe. I'm here for six months and if I progress at the rate I am now, there's no way I'll be good enough by the end of it."

Toushiro frowned. "Just what exactly are you trying to prove? That you're not weak? Because you aren't. Some shinigami have been training for decades, centuries even. Unless you dedicate your entire life to hakuda and nothing else you won't catch up to them." Yukio looked like he was going to argue but Toushiro held up a hand to stop him. "I cannot turn you into a master in six months, but I can give you a solid base to improve on, on your own, at your own pace. Besides, you've already come very far."

"Are you just flattering me?"

Toushiro shook his head. "No. If you weren't improving I would tell you."

Yukio shook his head. "I don't see it, but I'll believe you."

"And next time maybe don't challenge my men to a hakuda match? If you want to show off, I would suggest using your fullbring."

"I'm allowed to?"

Toushiro cocked his head, failing to hide a slight smirk. "Some of them need to be taken down a few pegs."

Yukio grinned, standing up straight. "What are we doing today?"

"I thought we would try sparring again." They hadn't sparred together since Toushiro had beaten him with one hand behind his back at the waterfall. "Warm up first."

Yukio grumbled, but did a few laps around the yard before Toushiro gave him a list of exercises to go through. Soon they stood face-to-face in the centre of the courtyard.

"Same rules as the last time. Try to land a clean hit," Toushiro instructed, raising his hands in defence.

Yukio wasted no time in jumping in with a volley of well aimed punches. Toushiro avoided them with ease, of course, but he was pleased at Yukio's enthusiasm and speed. He might actually have to try to hold him off within the next few months. He sidestepped a kick to the ribs, catching Yukio's ankle and pushing him back a few steps. Yukio was back on the offensive within milliseconds. He nearly landed a punch to Toushiro's shoulder, but he spun away at the last second, causing him to groan in frustration. Toushiro scoffed. Their next few lessons would be teaching him how to incorporate reiatsu to increase strength and speed. Without going overboard, of course. Yukio definitely had the potential to go overboard. He would wear himself out in a matter of minutes in that case. He'd been unwittingly using his reiatsu to increase in endurance, so Toushiro was confident that he would have no problem in channelling the energy to power his punches and kicks. An uppercut that landed too close for comfort brought Toushiro's mind back to the match. He stepped back increasing the distance between them, when he saw Yukio smirk; that punch had made him get cocky. Toushiro shook his head, if that's how Yukio wanted to play. He added a little bit of reiatsu to increase his speed, spinning away before Yukio could even react.

"Hey! No fair!"

"Don't get cocky."

Yukio rolled his eyes and dove back in, pure determination like fire in his eyes. Toushiro's stomach fluttered as the green gaze bore into him. Yukio had tied his hair back today; it was kind of odd being able to see both his eyes. But the length of his hair meant that the shorter locks had escaped from the tie and were sticking to his neck and forehead. Toushiro found that he liked the look. He coughed, shaking away the thought with a jerk of his head.

"What?"

"It's nothing. Concentrate on your footwork."

Yukio spared a glance at his feet, before jumping closer and trying a round-house kick. The match went on for a few more minutes. Yukio came no closer in landing a hit and Toushiro was about to call a break, when he felt one of the straps on his waraji slide after he stepped on an uneven patch of earth. That particular pair was in need of mending; he had forgotten about it when he had got dressed this morning. He hadn't realised that Yukio would have noticed that the tiny detail was off, but it was either a stroke of luck or actual perception that had him aiming a kick which had Toushiro jumping on one leg and twisting to the side. The strap snapped, his ankle rolled, and his momentum had him losing balance. Yukio's eyes widened almost comically and he reached, in a pathetic attempt, to stop Toushiro from what looked to be a nasty fall.

He could have prevented the fall himself but, with the sudden and unexpected weight of Yukio hanging on to him, he fell backwards, bringing the boy down with him. Yukio's elbow narrowly avoided impaling his ribs as they landed chest to chest. Toushiro was utterly winded, lucky that he hadn't hit his head.

They were both silent for a few moments, before Yukio started snickering. Toushiro held his breath. He could feel almost every inch of Yukio's body shaking in laughter. He prayed that he wasn't blushing.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Fine. You?"

"Yeah, What happened?"

"My waraji broke."

"Seriously? I actually thought that I had you."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, you broke my fall. Thanks for that."

Toushiro scoffed, "happy to help."

"Didn't realise how skinny you are, though. You're literally just bones."

"Get off of me."

Still chuckling, Yukio lifted some of his weight off. Toushiro wasn't expecting him to press his fingertips into his ribs. He squirmed, feeling his entire body get hot.

"I mean, I can basically count your ribs."

"Get off of-"the command turned into a strangled squeal when Yukio's hand travelled lower to poke his hipbone, before he pressed his palm flat against his stomach and pushed himself onto his knees. Toushiro didn't know how to react. He knew his face was red, he could feel the heat rising from his cheeks and ears and his heart was pounding. He watched, mouth agape, as Yukio settled between his legs, folding his knees underneath him.

"You are literally the cutest thing I've ever seen."

Toushiro still couldn't find his voice, even as Yukio grabbed his wrist and pulled him upright. He was now sitting with his legs spread wide and Yukio kneeling in-between them. He didn't know what to do about it.

"So, like I know this is forward of me," he began. "but, ugh I can't believe I'm actually doing this." His cheeks had taken on a dark tinge. "I like you and uh, do you wanna go out – for some coffee or something. Or like tea?"

Toushiro's brain short-circuited. "What?"

Yukio back peddled, jumping to his feet. "You don't have to answer like right now, but I've been wanting to ask you for a while."

Toushiro looked up at him, still not fully comprehending what was going on. "You-you like me?"

Yukio shoved his hands back into his pockets. "Yeah. Anyway, we should be getting ready for work now. You can give me an answer whenever."

Before Toushiro had blinked Yukio was running away.

...

He thought that Yukio had been avoiding him before, but now he was avoiding Yukio. Rangiku had been right, Yukio did like him and, if he understood correctly, he had for a while. He would go to her for advice, but he didn't want to endure the teasing that was sure to follow. The question was, did he like Yukio back?

He realised that he had been staring at the same line of kanji for the past fifteen minutes and still hadn't read it. He grumbled, pushing the report to the side and dragged a hand down his face.

"What's the matter, Captain?" Rangiku asked from her desk.

"Nothing."

"You sure? You've been distracted all morning."

"I'm fine."

"Is it something to do with Yukio?"

He stood up suddenly, his chair legs screeching as he pushed back from his desk. "I'm going to make some tea. Do you want anything?"

She smiled. "No thank you, Captain."

His palms felt clammy as he strode to the break room, looking around corners for any sight of the boy. He felt a bit guilty for avoiding him, but he didn't know what to say, not yet at least. Once he determined that the break room was safe he slipped in, and shut the door behind him. Did he like Yukio? He knew that simply asking had required a lot of courage on his part. In the short time that he had gotten to know him, Yukio was nothing if not courageous. There was also no denying that he was kind, thoughtful, and had gone out of his way to help him out whenever he could. He sat down on one of the couched and rested his elbows on his knees. He had no problems with Yukio, he was a bit brash sometimes and his sarcasm could kill a person. He was amusing, he had made him smile on a few occasions, and even laugh once or twice. But did he like him?

He had stared at him on occasion, Yukio was an attractive person. And if he did like him that would explain how he had felt whenever he touched him or why he had been so worried that he had upset him. Now that he thought back, to all Yukio's comments on him being cute, he felt himself flush. So that truly hadn't been teasing. He was relieved. In all honesty, he thought that Yukio's determination was admirable. His endurance was nothing to poke fun of, his downplayed intelligence had been a pleasant surprise, and his sincerity in his training was what had changed Toushiro's first impression of him. He was quick to learn, and took criticism well. He had thought him lazy, spoiled, and annoying, but that had turned out to be the exact opposite. He had many qualities that made him a likeable person. Toushiro screwed his eyes shut; when he said it like that Yukio was perfect. His only flaw being his inability to be on time. He took a deep breath through his nose. Maybe he did like Yukio a bit. How was he supposed to know; he hadn't liked anyone before. He had nothing to compare it to. Maybe he should have asked Rangiku after all. He had no idea what he was doing. He couldn't jump head-first into this. He needed to think about it more.

The sparring session from that morning suddenly replayed in his mind. The fall, and Yukio's chest pressed against his. He felt light headed, suddenly and realised that sometime during the memory his heart rate had sped up. It would not do spending any more time on this dilemma, especially not like this. Yukio had said that he didn't need an answer right away. He could sleep on it; they didn't have training tomorrow morning anyway, so he should have a definitive answer for Yukio by their next session.

Ideally, that was what would have happened. However, when he got to work the next day, his pen wasn't working. He grunted in annoyance as he scribbled on the corner of a page; the ink must have run out. He clicked his tongue as he dug through one of his drawers for a brush an ink pad, internally lamenting how much longer it would take to write. As he was in the middle of pouring out some ink, he noticed that Ranigku was staring at him with a dangerous smile on her face.

"Matsumoto-"

She leapt from her desk and scrambled to the door. "YukiohasmorepensI'mgoingtofindhimsohecangetyouanotherone!"

She was gone before he could stop her and he was left with his stomach twisting in nervousness.

There was a knock on the door less than twenty minutes later. Toushiro held his breath as he gave permission to enter. Yukio seemed to be a bit more sedate than usual as he entered. He was slouching again.

"Hey, Rangiku said the pen I gave you stopped working."

Toushiro nodded, unwilling to trust his voice at the moment.

"I brought you two this time." He set them on the desk. "Just in case."

"Th-thank you."

"No problem. They're just pens." He was chewing the inside of his cheek.

Toushiro felt his heart thudding in his ears. He hadn't felt this nervous since he had taken his captain's exam. He felt queasy, and sweat was forming under his arms, and he had to use the bathroom.

Yukio turned to leave. "Well I guess-"

"Yukio," he blurted. The boy looked over his shoulder, his eyebrows raised in inquiry. "Yes." Every bit of air left his body in a rush. He wanted to crawl under his desk and hide, but settled for gripping the armrests of his chair with white knuckles.

"Yes?" There was a hopeful tinge to the question.

"I..." Toushiro swallowed and forced himself to breathe. "Let's... let's go out for c-coffee, or something."

Yukio's smile was so broad that his eyes were squinted. Toushiro once again felt breathless.

"Yeah, let's."

This fic was suggested by LethanWolf. It kinda ran away from me here. Nearly 11k words and still going :/

I'm planning for a 2-shot, but if the other chapter runs longer than this it might be 3. What do you guys think?

-Mymomomo