Yuuki took a cautious step away from Hitsugaya, drinking in the barren wasteland. She wasn't expecting him to bring her here. The cliffs were as tall as skyscrapers, uneven and jagged. There were no trees in sight, just a great expanse of dry land.

As if on cue, Hitsugaya explained, "It's easier to see each other here without the distraction of the environment."

Yuuki nodded in agreement. She was slightly disappointed, his sly tone of voice had almost fooled her into thinking he'd take her to somewhere, dare she think it, a bit more… romantic? As if shocked by her thoughts, she shook her head trying to shake them away.

"Uh, are you okay?" Hitsugaya questioned, giving her a strange look.

"Yeah! This is great, actually… just never been some place like this before…" Yuuki answered with fake enthusiasm. "How do we get started?"

"How good are you with manipulating reishi?"

"Not very." Yuuki admitted. "I'm not really good at anything, actually…"

"Well, we all have to start somewhere." Hitsugaya answered with a slight shrug. "The basic process of this is to concentrate reishi below your feet so you're like walking in air."

"Okay…"

Hitsugaya took a few large strides away from her. "You need to be fast, flashstepping isn't only about technique but also agility. We'll start with this distance. Try it."

Yuuki stared back at him, baffled. She was expecting a little more instruction, a few tips and tricks rather than a basic explanation. "Uh… I don't know how to begin…"

"Concentrate."

Okay… concentrate. Yuuki mentally told herself. She wasn't really sure what to concentrate on, but she figured if it was a matter of going from point A to point B, she should probably be focusing on point B. She stared profusely at the spot beside Hitsugaya. Who knows, maybe she'd magically end up where she wanted to be without even realizing it.

Hitsugaya observed her closely. He didn't give her much instruction for a reason. Not only was learning flashstep an individual prospect, he also wanted to see how Yuuki would fare on her own. The video playback of her chilling last scene seemed to continuously rewind and play again in his mind. He couldn't get over it, how had she done it?

Yuuki took a deep breath, urging whatever reishi she had to accumulate beneath her feet. She wasn't really sure if she was doing anything, but she could feel a slight tingle as something was happening. She took a small step forward and felt a sudden sucking sensation, as if she was being ripped from where she was standing and being pulled to another. She closed her eyes in fright; the sensation was brief and unnatural. Once the feeling subsided, she opened her eyes. She felt exhausted.

Hitsugaya wasn't particularly impressed. She had flashstepped alright, so he supposed that bit was better than the average. However, the execution had been sloppy and slow; there was no precision exerted like before, her movement would easily be tracked. The worst part of it was that she hadn't even reached him, she was perhaps a stride or so away.

Yuuki could see Hitsugaya in front of her. He was noticeably closer, but she knew whatever she had done wasn't quite right. Hadn't she been concentrating on the spot beside him? Why was she over here? Why did she feel so exhausted?

He watched her teeter to the side, apparently tired out from that single small flashstep. He rushed forward on an impulse, grabbing her arm to steady her.

"How did I do?" Yuuki gasped, grabbing at her rib cage. She felt like she had run a marathon.

"Satisfactory for a beginner, I suppose." He answered. "I think you should rest."

Yuuki nodded, immediately clunking down to the floor. Hitsugaya loosened the grip on her arm, lingering for a moment before letting her go completely. He took a seat beside her in silence.

"I don't understand, why am I so tired…? You did it like it was nothing."

"It takes a lot of practice." He replied. "But since you have the basics down, if you keep practicing you should be able to become better at it. The feeling at first is weird, but you'll get used to it eventually."

"Can I ask you a question?" Yuuki interjected without thinking.

Hitsugaya turned towards her, giving her a 'go ahead' look.

"So you know how before here we were once human or something…"

He could feel his breath hitch in his throat, his heart nearly stopping for a moment. This was unexpected and he wasn't sure if he was ready for wanted to blurt out every possible think he knew, but he swallowed his words, urging her to continue with his eyes.

"Do you think it's normal to remember?" She continued, not looking at him.

He could feel his muscles tense while his jaw muscles slackened. Did she remember anything? Why was she bringing this up to him?

She turned to him finally, gauging his expression as either shocked, confused or a combination of both. Maybe asking him wasn't such a good idea. "Well I mean, it's just that I tried to bring up this topic to Unohana but she didn't really say anything…" She trailed off, wondering why his gaze was so intense. Was this type of thing forbidden to talk about?

"It's rare…" He began, his voice a little shaky. He wasn't sure if he wanted to continue, but he did anyways. "Do you…?"

"No." She responded bluntly. "I wish I did though."

He felt the crushing weight of disappointment. Of course she didn't. He looked away, hoping it wouldn't be evident on his face.

"I just get this feeling that people knew me before I came here. Isn't that weird?"

Hitsugaya remained silent, unsure of how to answer that. His logical side told him that for her health and well being, he should probably be making something up about how she was imagining things but another part of him wished she would keep going.

"I saw this Shinigami, he had weird orange hair, kind of reminded me of you." She joked, trying to lighten up the mood. However, she returned to the serious discussion. "I think he called me his sister. Well, I'm not sure but it really did seem that way."

Hitsugaya swore under his breath. Ichigo, that idiot.

"He knew my name too. It seems like a lot of people here know my name already."

"Well, you were a random little girl who came from District 80 to become a Shinigami. Believe it or not, word travels fast around here." He answered, and as an afterthought added in a disdainful tone. "Vice captains gossip like no tomorrow."

"I guess…" Yuuki replied with a slight shrug. "Now that I think about it… when I first met you, you knew my name too. Did your Vice Captain tell you?"

He recalled the hospital scene, mulling over possible answers to her question. He knew she would have asked this eventually, but he didn't think it would be so soon.

Yuuki continued, her stream of consciousness was overflowing. "I just think it's pretty strange. When I first met you… I mean, not you, as an individual, just how I feel around you. When we first met I really thought you were crazy, and then scary, but now I'm completely comfortable around you. I just think we – or I – progressed to this pretty randomly. Sometimes if I forget our first couple meetings, I get this feeling like we've been friends for a long time or something." She laughed at her own foolishness. "You and I look like the same age. Okay, maybe you look a bit older with your white hair… but maybe we were friends when we were humans. Maybe we knew each other before. Wouldn't that be cool?"

"I did know you before." Hitsugaya cut in smoothly, an expressionless mask on his face.

Yuuki shut her mouth, as if his single statement had the power to turn off her rambling mind and thrust her back into reality. She stared at him with no words to say.

Hitsugaya stood up wordlessly, brushing off the sand and dirt from his robes. He outstretched a hand towards her, urging her to take it and stand up. Yuuki did so, still staring. She was unsure if he was playing a joke on her or not, but the seriousness of his tone was so real it was unsettling.

"I'm just kidding Yuuki, no need to look like you've seen a ghost." He stated with a forced smile. "Ready for round two?"

No, she wasn't ready but she nodded yes anyways. Even if what he had said had been a joke, she was still feeling weird about it. She was suddenly acutely aware of everything he was doing, the way his hand gripped hers in a strong, confident and masculine manner that made her feel almost safe and secure and when his grip loosened; the tips of his fingers hovered delicately just a hairline's width above the back of her hand for a moment before completely letting go and turning away from her. The harrowing empty and vulnerable feeling she suddenly felt afterward, frightened her.

Impulsively, she grabbed onto his hand again. She watched as he turned back towards her, giving her a look she assumed to be confused and a hint of worry. It was like she was having an out of body experience, watching herself, watching him, watching the entire situation without really being in control. She stared blankly back at him, her mind in shambles. She wasn't sure if he sensed her sudden fear or whatever it was, but she felt his grip tightening, establishing his hold once more.

For some reason, the single gesture made her feel better. Safe and secure, like she actually belonged somewhere.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter guys, great to see my old readers and some new. I'm updating this pretty sporadically as you can tell but nonetheless it's being done. Hope to hear your guys' feedback on this little chapter, I'm pretty satisfied with the outcome. Expect some big things soon. : )