I suddenly found myself in a large, empty room with a lonely wardrobe-like piece against the wall opposite the door. A slight breeze wrapped itself around my body, licking around my ankles and pushing me to go inside. I subconsciously moved purposefully towards the wardrobe, feeling myself unable to be deterred from it. As I got closer, I saw a picture in the mouth. A very pretty lady with medium length black hair and big, glowing blue eyes stared back at me. In the reflection of the glass from the picture I did not see myself; I saw Byakuya. Yet, I was seeing as him.

"Hisana," he whispered, getting on his knees in prayer. "There is not a day that goes by I do not think of you. Especially now after what has happened. But...I hope that you do not mind if I move on. I still miss you dearly."

An unclear image came to me inside of my mind. If I was more of Byakuya, I know I would have been able to see it clearly. The image was a mixture of blue, purple, gold, and an off-whitish peach color. It was too fizzy for myself to make out. And then Byakuya said my name—at least, it sounded like he did. It was soft and mumbled.

And I jolted awake, jumping slightly as my eyes shot open. I say up quickly and looked around. Was that a dream? Did I have an out of body experience? It all felt so real...

Sitting up and looking around, I saw that I was lying on the bleached dirt of a desert scene, rocks and boulders the only company. Besides Yoruichi and an unconscious Ichigo, of course. I recognized this place as the location where I had trained under Yoruichi's hand.

Yoruichi happened to be sitting on the top of a rock that loomed directly over me, looking down to watch me sleep. "You're awake, then?" she asked jubilantly.

My neck craned to watch her hair flow gently with the slight breeze. "I suppose so," I replied back, a little more groggy than I meant to. Wait...had I fallen asleep?

"It's just like you to fall asleep right in the middle of flight," she said with a knowing smirk, as if she read my mind. "I had been expecting it, anyway. You do it all the time."

I scowled, knowing she had meant that as an indirect insult. "Your shoulder is relaxing."

A huge smile broke across her face and she giggled. "You're cute when you sleep," she commented, hoping it would allow forgiveness to her insult. I could never be mad at my teacher, and she has forgiveness before she even does anything.

"So I've heard," I said with a sigh.

Looking down at myself, I saw I had a freshly made yukata on—exactly like the one Yoruichi had given me. "You like?" Yoruichi asked. "It's the spare I made. I knew you'd destroy the other at some point."

"I didn't mean to," I said sullenly, lifting the collar of the outfit to my face to rub its soft lining on my cheek. The smell on it was thick and heavy of Yoruichi. I loved how Yoruichi smelled.

Ichigo was not too far away from me, propped up on a rock, fully bandaged. "We have to train him," Yoruichi explained. Her voice was serious now. "I had originally brought him and his friends here to rescue one of their friends. If I had known that where you had disappeared to was here, I would have come for you."

A sigh made its way out of my mouth. "I don't even remember how I got here," I whispered. "I fell from the sky into a garden in the Seireitei. That's all I remember."

Yoruichi hopped down off of the rock and sat herself down beside me, putting an arm around my shoulders. "Just promise you won't run away again without telling me where you're going," she said softly. "It may not look like it, but I care about you a lot." She pulled me into her so she could lean her head on mine. "I was really worried about you."

I put both of my arms around her and turned my head into her clothes so she couldn't see my face, and let a few tears roll from my eyes. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I did, but I shouldn't have done it."

She rubbed my back, feeling my tears soak through her shirt, and shushed me. "It's okay, now. We'll be out of here soon."

Ichigo suddenly stirred, grunting as he moved around uncomfortably. I straightened myself up, determined not to let anyone else see my tears, and wiped my face on my hands. (I didn't want to ruin Yoruichi's beautiful yukata again).

Yoruichi got up after patting me on the back, walking over to him. He opened his eyes to see her standing there, and yelped. "Just who the hell are you?!"

"It's me, Yoruichi, idiot."

"Yoruichi is a cat!" he shouted back. I chuckled. I didn't think he didn't know she was a person.

She sighed and transformed into a cat. Her clothes fell around her, and she sat on her haunches impatiently. "Does that satisfy you?" Her voice was deep now, like a man's voice.

Ichigo scowled, the tiny wheels in his head debating on whether to believe her or not. "How is it you sound like a guy as a cat, then, if you're a girl?"

"The art of disguise."

Ichigo scoffed. "Whatever."

Yoruichi got back onto her feet and transformed back into a human. She was naked, of course, and Ichigo yelped. "Could you put your clothes back on?! NOW?!"

Yoruichi threw her head back and laughed. "Don't tell me you've never seen a girl naked."

"Just put some freaking clothes on! It's not natural!"

Yoruichi lightened her laugh to a giggle. "Oh, you know you like it."

"JUST PUT SOME DAMN CLOTHES ON!!"

Yoruichi shrugged, pulling her clothes back on with a big smile. When she was done dressing, she put a hand on Ichigo's orange head, him still sitting on the ground from his unconscious state. His eyes went past her to me, for some reason, and he looked at me with apprehension. She looked over her shoulder at me and motioned with her head for me to come over, and I obeyed. "This is Shironeko. She's the one that nearly killed you."

"You mean the panther?!" he exclaimed. I nodded.

"Sorry," I said quietly. "I didn't know you were with Yoruichi."

He growled, shooting a death glare at me, and I frowned and looked away. Yoruichi clenched his hair in the hand that was still placed on his head, and yanked. He cried out in pain. "Stop it. She's a sweet kid, and I want you to treat her as your equal."

My eyes were drawn unconsciously to his bandages, which were thick with blood. At first, they didn't bother me, but the burn in my throat hit me powerfully. I was far enough away from him to resist luring him into a false situation, and I'd have to stay away from him until I could tell Yoruichi of my thirst. Thinking about it, I looked down at my body and saw that my scars were almost invisible now. Today and tomorrow would be my last two drinks for the next week.

"Fine," Ichigo spat. "Only because she apologized."

"You're such a kid," Yoruichi said, walking over to what looked like a scarecrow and setting it up.

"What's that for?"

"We have to teach you Bankai."

Yoruichi explained about the dummy, called a Tenshintai, and it's ability to help a soul reaper reach Bankai in a matter of three days. But, if the user has failed to reach Bankai in three days, the user would die. "And all you have to do is hit it with your zanpaku-to."

"Shouldn't you wait a little bit for that?" I asked. "He should get better first."

Yoruichi shook her head. "There's no time. They moved up Rukia's execution date again. I healed him to the best of my abilities. He'll be fine."

"Wait—execution?!"

"Just never mind, Neko," Yoruichi said.

I shut my mouth. I guessed that if Yoruichi really wanted me to know, she would have told me by now. I could live with the information I already had, anyway. Some girl Ichigo likes is getting executed in the soul society, and he's trying to rescue her, but everyone else was obviously in the way and he had to be strong enough to beat them. And some of that I just guessed on.

Ichigo stood up painfully, wincing as he shrugged off the stiffness of his wounds. The wind blew my way, and the stench of his dried blood wafted teasingly past my nose. I stiffened, trying to ignore it. I had tasted his blood before, and it was good. But I had to resist, for Yoruichi. But Ichigo taunted me with his struggle. The predator in me whispered to pounce on him. "Such easy prey," it said. But I had to ignore it.

He shoved his sword through the scarecrow, and after that I had to ignore Ichigo completely, not looking at him. He was starting to sweat, and it reminded of the vivid silky aftertaste that came with his blood. My throat seared with it's dryness, urging me to go in for just a little taste. But I didn't, still. I pushed away the thoughts with detest, wanting nothing more than for my mind to be at peace.

"What's the matter?" Yoruichi asked after awhile.

I snapped out of my trance of ignoring everything and looked around to find that Ichigo had left. "Where did he go?" I asked.

"You really were out of it, weren't you?" she asked. "With all that commotion, I'm surprised you didn't see him leave. You're such a daydreamer."

I frowned again. "Yoruichi, I'm really thirsty."

Her mocking smile fell. "Oh. I guess that's why you weren't paying attention, then." She looked around. "Well, there's no one else here, so you'll have to drink from me."

I shook my head. "I can wait. I'm never drinking from you again."

The memories from so long ago, when I used to feed off of her, came flooding back. She would cut her arm and let me suck up a mouthful of blood once a week. I hated it, having to drink from my own mentor back then. But that was years ago, and after I learned to find blood on my own, I vowed to never take from Yoruichi again.

"You're still recovering from your injuries. You need it," she insisted, getting out a small knife. My eyes widened.

"Yoruichi, no!" I shouted. "I'm not letting you hurt yourself for me! Never again!"

She smiled. "Then bite me yourself," she said casually, pulling away her scarf and the collar of her shirt to reveal her perfect neck. I stared at the pulsing vein with greed, noticing how clean and tender the flesh covering it was.

"No!" I cried, clenching my eyes tight to block the image out.

"It's either that or I cut myself for you."

She always made things difficult! She was so stubborn! "Yoruichi, please stop! This isn't funny!"

I crouched down and put my face into my knees, and I heard Yoruichi's footsteps gracefully make their way next to me. She crouched in front of me and pulled me into her chest. I collapsed onto my knees and we went into a soft embrace. She still smelled as nice as she always had, but the scent just made my throat burn now, bringing the image of the soft flesh of her neck, then of how delicious her blood had tasted when she graciously let me feed off of her. Not only that, but I had vowed to never drink from another woman.

"You need it, Shironeko," Yoruichi said again. "Are you going to bite me, or will I have to cut myself?"

"Please don't cut yourself again," I said, starting to cry. "You're my teacher, my Sensei, and seeing you bleed like that, for ME, is the worst thing I can imagine."

"If you bite me, you wouldn't have to see me bleed. The bite marks would heal with your venom."

"No, but the thought of you losing more blood for me..."

Yoruichi grabbed my face in both of her hands and forced me to look into her beautiful golden eyes. I wished I had eyes like those. "If you detest seeing me bleed so badly, bite me or I'll make you."

"You can't do that," I said weakly. "There's no way you can--"

And she forcibly pressed her lips to mine, cutting me off in mid-sentence. Her lips were soft and inviting, and I wanted to kiss back, but it was wrong, and the action froze me into shock. She pulled away and looked at me sadly. I stared back at her with wide, scared eyes. "I'll make you bite me whether you want to or not." I knew what she was trying to do—getting me to bite her in the usual way I drink from a guy.

She put her lips back to mine, gently this time, holding my face so I couldn't move. I was still, anyway, my muscles locked in place. This was way wrong. Wronger than the wrongest wrong in the grammar of this sentence. Her lips were just so soft, I couldn't help but kiss back.

I clenched the back of her shirt in both of my fists, leaning into her. She released my face then and placed her arms around my neck, pulling me into her as close as possible. My mind was racing with how wrong this was, doing this with my teacher, let alone someone of the same sex.

She opened her lips and the full brunt of her scent filled my mouth, the delicious taste of cocoa butter and sugar. (My favorite flavor was artificial coconut, or pina colada, if you didn't know). The thoughts evaporated instantly, replaced with lust for the new experience of taste.

My lips pulled away from hers, placing themselves just below her jaw. I wasn't aware that I was working my way down her neck, like she wanted, but that's how this worked so well with me. When I get caught in the moment, I work my way down until my fangs are just over the pulsing vein in the neck, and the rushing scent of blood would drive me to bare my fangs and feed.

Which is exactly what I did. The flesh of her neck was as soft as it looked to the eye, if not softer. I didn't know what she did to keep the skin so tender, but it invited me to graze my fangs on it. I felt Yoruichi shiver, and it sent an extra thrill rushing through me. Her breathing was heavy and panted, trying to catch her breath, and it made her vein pulse all the faster. I nuzzled her collar and scarf well out of the way and cupped my lips over it lightly to feel it beat. The quickness with which it pulsed. My throat burned, urging me to fill my mouth with rushed inside of it.

And I pushed my fangs into it deeply. I felt specks of blood squeeze out from under them, and when pulled them out of the flesh, her silky blood, even better than it had been before, exploded into my mouth. I didn't suck for more to come out; I let it ooze slowly from the puncture wounds, savoring every drop of gold that leaked out. When my mouth was half full, I was becoming impatient with it and wanted more. A sucked as hard as I could, and the blood shot out and filled my mouth. I swallowed and felt the burning in my throat disappear.

I kept my lips on the bleeding flesh for a moment longer, the placed my fangs back into the puncture wounds to use my venom to heal the wounds.

Which is when I finally realized what I had just done. "I can't believe you did that to me," I said, panting. I felt my face grow hot.

"It got you to feed, though, didn't it?"

My face must have been a tomato. "But, that was wrong, so wrong," I said, looking away from her.

"It wasn't wrong to me," Yoruichi said casually, putting an arm around my shoulder again and pulling me in. "You don't have to be embarrassed. No one else is around. Ichigo has to be at least a mile away now."

"I'm not embarrassed!" I shouted, frowning.

Yoruichi kissed me on the cheek, and I tried to pull away from her, but she was much stronger than I was, and I couldn't escape. I started crying. "Please let go of me," I said in defeat, loosening up. I felt the hot salty tears track down my cheeks.

"Don't cry," Yoruichi said softly. She pulled me into a hug. "It's not bad."

"Yes it is," I argued, not putting my arms around her in return. "That was the wrongest thing in the history of wrong."

"What about genocide?"

She was going to start her speech on Hitler again. But I didn't want to hear it.

"I know," I said in a harsh tone. "'Nothing is bad if the target is willing, if you don't kill someone, or you need it to survive'."

"Good," Yoruichi whispered, kissing my cheek again. "Now I'll let you go if you hug me."

I grudgingly put my arms around her. To my surprise, it made me feel better. I hugged her tighter, letting more tears flow out and be sucked up into Yoruichi's clothing.

"It'll be okay."

"Yeah, but I'm confused now," I mumbled.

"About what?"

"Nothing," I said after a moment of silence.

"Tell your Sensei."

"I'm confused about you."

Yoruichi pulled away to look me in my red, puffy eyes. "Confused about what?"

I stared at her with my sullen face, waiting for the bulb to lick on in her head. A smile went on her face after awhile, and she laughed. "I love you very much," she said softly. And then I was just more confused. But I didn't say that, because I knew that then she would say something that would confuse me more, so I'd just let it sit for awhile until I plugged everything in myself.