I'm the devil on your shoulder

I'm the conscious in your mind

Present

Hitsugaya could feel the sweat running down his back, a scowl twisting his features as the mugginess from outside sweltered through the building walls and effectively perspired every inch of his skin, leaving him sticky and uncomfortable within the auditorium confines. He'd been chosen by Kyoraku to conduct a sort of 'meeting of the minds' with this year's Shin'O Academy graduates, more commonly referred to as a final dictation of rules and regulations to the next generation of shinigami, who were set to separate and join the ranks the following day.

He easily ignored all the envious glares of his future frenemies and the infatuated stares of his future fans, refraining from making any true or direct eye contact whilst he drawled on through the usual speech, making it almost too obvious that he didn't want to be there. He had other–better–things to do with his time, like fill-out paperwork and train his squadron and scold his lieutenant and above all to sit within the serene boundaries of his air-conditioned living quarters, away from the heat and the people. And if not for his head-taichou's absolute insistence that he attend this damned pre-graduation rite, he would be doing just that.

He was so eager to get it done and over with that he didn't even notice the pair of hardened obsidian eyes that stared at him, too many emotions swimming in their dark depths.

.

.

.

There were few questions at the end, much to Toushiro's relief. He departed with an uncommon air of self-importance, leaving the head of the academy and an assisting shinigami officer to hand out the standard reaper uniform, the black shihakusho being what the graduates presented themselves in at the official ceremony.

Stepping outside after what felt like ages, the fair-haired man exhaled slowly, feeling a sort of alleviation despite the blaring sun. Maybe now his day could be a bit more bearable.

"I have a question." The words were sudden and startling, said from behind him in an impossibly familiar voice and causing his once again collected demeanor to crash in a comical fashion. "Could you have been more excruciatingly boring? Or was it just me?"

Pivoting around to regard who he'd hoped it wasn't, Hitsugaya visibly stiffened. Clad in the red and white academy uniform, arms folded over her chest and that damned sly smirk on her face, she leaned against the building. Too casual, too amused.

"Hey Toushiro," she addressed coolly, pushing gracefully off the wall as she approached him, dark eyes gleaming with unreadable intent. "Long time no see."

Lyrics: Reckless - You Me At Six