First, I would like to apologize to everyone who was waiting for an update for And History Repeats Itself. I am giving up on that story because...well simply because I can't find the motivation to finish it. Actually,the ending is already made up in my mind, and I have a Chapter 2 almost finished. But it won't be posted.

Second, I would like to give credits to CrazyOnDisplay, the dashing captain of the SugarHighFive division in the HitsuRuki Army Gotei 13. This story is inspired by another one of her drabbles. I have always wanted to write something like this, even before ATRM was finished, but I never really found the right ideas until a few weeks ago. I also would like to thank Iana Sabelle who had been pushing me to update, as well as Kimihaine for pressuring me. XD Both of you, ready your updates, 'cause I made my end of the deal. XD

I dedicate this to everyone who bothers to read it. XD

Sorry for the OOC-ness, grammar and spelling errors, and for the bad writing. XD

Summary: Does learning come first before one begins to understand love? Or does one need to know the concept of the emotion first before learning? When Rukia first decided to enter the Shinigami Academy, it was because she wanted to learn. When she crosses paths with a certain white-haired genius, however, she stars to wonder if loving and learning wre naturally meant to co-exist all along.

'Hmm...Daisies? No. Ryu loves sunflowers. I often catch him sitting in the middle of the field all day, faithfully following those sun-crazed plants as they turn their lovely heads towards the sun. Silly Ryu. Now where will I--? Oh, there you are, you warmth-loving flowers. Now, what to get for Taka? Lilies? Daisies? Ah, screw it; both would do. He loves anything anyways, as long as it's for free. How about Yamato? He thinks flowers are too girly, and so he hates them. But what kind of visit would it be if I don't bring flowers for him? Damn it all. I'll just pick anything for him.'

Rukia looked at the flowers that she had just picked now resting on one of her arms. On her other arm, she had a big jar filled with clear, drinking water--water that she vividly remembered was rarely given to them when they were still little kids in the 78th district of Rukongai. Water was all they have to survive, and yet it was still something they couldn't get an abundance of. They would in and steal jars and jars of water during the morning, and when the sun finally sets, they would bring everything they have gotten together and share it with each other in hopes of somehow satiating their grumbling stomachs--to make them forget that queasy feeling that hunger caused them. And on her last day in Rukongai, Rukia made sure to bring a lot of water for her friends--just so they could have a share of this abundance that they never got to experience during their short time in Soul Society.

She woke up early that morning, her plans for the whole day instantly occupying her still hazy mind. It was her most awaited day ever since the people she cared for--her only family in Rukongai--passed away, died their second deaths. Her three best--and only--friends all died after getting caught by a particularly ill-tempered vendor stealing food and water--his goods--for her one day so long ago. The guilt that had resided in her entire being ever since that day still lived within her now.

She had been weak then, catching the flu virus during one of their constant 'trips' to the district market. She was almost stabbed by an enraged vendor she tried to steal from, if not for Yamato who was nearby and tackled her to the ground just in time to avoid a rusty little knife from getting buried right at her heart which surely would have happened if Yamato he been even just a second too late. She had been too ill to even walk straight, and Yamato had to carry her home while Ryu and Taka took advantage of the commotion to get what they came in the market for.

Rukia got scolded when they reached the shack they call home. Yamato berated her for forcing herself when she knew all along that her body wasn't well. Ryu and Taka arrived home then and stopped Yamato's tirade to let Rukia get some rest. A week passed yet the three boys say that the girl wasn't getting any better. All of them knew the reason--it was because she doesn't get the proper nourishment. She needed food. She has high spiritual powers and needs something more than water to survive.

All three boys planned in secret to try and steal some food and clean water for her. They resorted to lying to her--they told her they'll only be playing by the hills, and that a sickly, weak girl like her ought to just stay put in bed.

She nearly cried at the blatant insult, but her stubborn nature kicked in. She wouldn't dare cry in front of anyone else, not even in front of these kids she called her friends. She adamantly told them that she wasn't weak, that she could handle the little cold. She immediately sat up, ignoring the nauseating feeling at the sudden action, and attempted to get out of bed. She was too caught up in her endeavor that she completely missed the exchange of worried glances by her friends. When she finally managed to plant two feet on the floor, her knees buckled and gave up on her, causing her to come crashing down to the ground on her butt. Ryu immediately ran to her side and gently led her back to bed, softly saying that she should just rest, and that they'll be back soon. The three even promised, those lying bastards. Rukia reluctantly agreed, holding on to their promise--a promise that was left unfulfilled.

And now...now she regretted that decision. If only she didn't agree, then maybe...just maybe...they were still together, the four of them. But no, she just had to stupidly nod her little, brainless head, and the next thing she knew, their next-door neighbor dragged her out of their shack--still ill and weak--and shoved her in front of a crowd. When she reached the middle, her eyes widened when they landed on three bloody, butchered bodies--namely, Ryu, Taka and Yamato. Soon, the crowd started to dissipate, each person going back to their own little worlds, not minding the fact that a young girl's own was now shattered. When she was left all alone with the lifeless bodies, she finally let out something that she had long been keeping these boys from seeing--and they would probably never get the chance to--she let her tears fall.

The next moment that registered in her mind was of her standing in front of three graves. How she was able to drag the bodies up the hill, she didn't even know. But she was certain that she had dug the graves all by herself, because her hands and her dress were dirty and muddied. Her amethyst orbs slowly lost its warmth--the warmth that the three friends failed to tell her was one of the reasons they were too captivated by her...almost in love with her--and in its stead was a cold, icy chill. She blankly stared at the three lumps of soil and dirt in front of her, makeshift crosses made from twigs and fallen branches marking the graves. As the cool wind blew, messing up Rukia's already mussed raven hair, she quietly whispered her promise to them--a promise that she had every intention to keep.

"I will be a Shinigami...just like what we had all dreamed to be. I will survive...for all of you."

And now, several years later, she was finally of age, though it must have meant a hundred or so years in Soul Society. Her spiritual powers had grown tremendously over the years, and she had learned—mastered--to control it. All by herself. She was now more than ready to fulfill her promise--their dream. But before she permanently left Rukongai--the place she never could call home without her friends--she decided to pay them a visit, perhaps for the last time until she graduates and gets the freedom to go wherever she wanted to. Until then, she would focus on becoming stronger, and she would be a great Shinigami, just like how they all wanted to be.

She slowly started her trek towards the hills where her friends were peacefully buried, making sure not to drop her flowers or her jar. She was almost halfway to her destination when she felt the urge to stop for a moment and admire the beauty of the pure blue sky. She let a small smile appear on her beautiful face, happy at how perfect the heavens seem to be, as if on a conspiracy with both nature and fate to make sure the day goes well for her. She took a deep breath, admiring the beauty of her surroundings, when a small noise caught her ears.

"Hai." Tōshirō bowed respectfully at his sensei. He had just been assigned to lead a bunch of rookies on their first hollow extermination. Hitsugaya Tōshirō was a brilliant student--no, he was a genius. Everyone looked up to him like he was some sort of heavenly being (which was quite ironic since they all technically were). Girls swoon at his every action, the Academy professors nod appreciatively at his every decision, guys get jealous at his every achievement. He was the epitome of brilliance. The only problem was that Tōshirō was an anti-social, thus some brand him as a stuck-up bastard who thinks he's so high and mighty to even spare the others a glance.

Tōshirō, however, knows of the rumors going on about him that had been passed from mouth to ear, then back to mouth. He doesn't mind, though. He wanted to enter the Academy because he wanted to learn, not to be popular. He wanted to become a great Shinigami someday, a captain perhaps. His skipping a year due to his high intellect only fueled his passion and dream. He was on his third year now, having skipped the second due to the recommendations of his teachers, and of course, his high marks. Thus, he was being entrusted with the task of leading first-time-hollow-exterminating-students in their first ever mission, somewhere in the mountainous regions of Rukongai.

He quickly gathered his team upon acceptance of the mission. With him was a friend, though not at all that close, Izuru Kira, a fellow third year Academy student, who was assigned to help Tōshirō since it was the white-haired boy's first time to lead his own pack. When everyone was ready, they all traveled towards the poorest districts of Rukongai, where there had been hollow sightings reported.

The students proved to be hard to handle, however, as they all ran away on their own to kill hollows upon arrival at the spot. Thus, it had been hard for Kira and Tōshirō to keep them together. There were 17 students versus the two of them. When the commotion caused by excited slaying died down, Kira and Tōshirō gathered everyone. There were only 15 of them.

Tōshirō growled in frustration. He wanted to freeze all of the students right where they stood so they wouldn't be able to move an inch and cause more trouble. He wanted them to see just what his zanpakutō could do, then maybe they could show a little more fear and respect.

"I'll look for them" Kira suggested.

There was no way in hell that Tōshirō would let Kira leave him--alone--with all these annoying rookies. "No, they are my responsibility. I'll in find them. Make sure no one else leaves this spot." He disappeared in a flash via shun po.

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Next thing he knew, the white-haired genius found himself in a small forest. In the distance several hundred meters from him, he saw a small figure walking, and then briefly stopping. He was simply running now, trying to conserve reiatsu thus not opting to use shun po. His run though was more like a dash, which became a mad one when he felt a foreign reiatsu in the distance. A hollow. And then, two more reiatsu's spiked up. The students were with the hollow. He ran...he ran so fast.

'So this was how it feels like to lead a pack...' They were his responsibility and he couldn't let any one of them get hurt. This thought blocked all else, even the use of shun po, from his brain. He briefly weighed in his mind what to do with the block in his path. The figure--a woman--was standing straight in his path, and swerving to the other side would cost him time, and time was of the essence now. He decided to just avoid her and side-step her so he wouldn't go too far astray from his path.

It was feet on the grass. To be more specific, running feet on the same grass she was standing on at the moment. She whipped her whole body back to look at the possible intruder in her moment of peace...only to come crashing with another body--a well-built one, she added--and come flying towards a tree.

She groaned at the sudden impact, eyes closed tightly from the pain. A hand came to her temples, and she gently rubbed it to ease the headache. That was when she realized that her hands were free. Oh shit! Amethyst orbs snapped open to search frantically for the missing objects. She didn't need to search for long though, because she immediately spotted her things--her jar that was now broken and empty, its water contents spilled on to the ground, soaking the flowers that rested just beside it, now withered.

A grunt caught her attention, and she turned towards the body--a male body--lying a few feet away from her things. She frowned upon realizing that this boy--kid--was the reason for her now broken gifts which were supposedly for her dead friends. Her eyes widened upon seeing striking white hair--freakin' white hair, and on a kid!—and she stopped in mid-step when she saw something glimmer under the unforgiving rays of the sun a few feet away from the boy.

A zanpakutō.

"Damn it!" The boy yelled. "Why did you turn around?! I was side-stepping you to avoid collision, but you just had to freakin' turn around, didn't you?!" He growled, obviously irritated.

This display of agitation triggered Rukia's own temper, and in turn, she scowled at this boy--kid--who had the nerve to get mad at her after ruining her gifts. "How dare you?! Listen here kid, for your information, it is called reflex! I heard some noise behind me, and as a normal soul, I just had to know if it was a threat to my well-being! You're the one who can't run far away from of when the space is wide enough for the both of us!" She huffed angrily and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

A vein threatened to pop any time soon on the white-haired boy's head. "What did you call of?" He hissed venomously. "Don't you dare call me a kid! For all know, I may even be older than you, you brat! And I wasn't able to avoid your path because I was in a hurry, and it would buy me time to change paths just for your sake!"

"Brat?! Who are you calling brat, you punk?! Not my fault you chose the same path!"

"Augh! I don't have time for this!" Tōshirō marched towards his neglected sword lying on the grass and lifted it off the ground, putting it back in its sheath, while his emerald eyes focused intently at an unknown point in the distance. He closed his eyes, seemingly concentrating on something...until BAM!

"HEY! What the hell was that for?!" The white-haired boy glared at the feisty girl while rubbing the back of his head that had just undergone abuse.

"You were sleeping on me!" She yelled back.

"I wasn't, you idiot! How could I sleep when I was standing all along?!"

"What do I know about the weird abilities you have, huh? For all I know, you can even sleep with your head submerged in ice!"

"You're weird. And stupid." He rolled his eyes of started walking away.

That was until...

"Where do you think you're going?!" Tōshirō felt himself being yanked back towards the bane of the forest. He found himself suddenly lying face first on the ground, a foot planted firmly on his back. He had to blink a few times and shake his head a couple more before finally realizing that this girl indeed just manhandled him.

"What do you want?" He growled, irate.

"Do you see that?!" She pointed.

Tōshirō had to twist his head a little further to see just where her little finger was pointed at. On the ground was a broken jar and some soaked and withered flowers. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Yeah, what of it?" He grunted in pain when the pressure on his back intensified. For a small woman, she sure has a lot of power.

"Those are mine, you bastard. And you ruined them. All because you were too careless." She hissed menacingly.

"Now what do you want of to about it? Heat your clay jar and shape it into a new one, and then bury your flowers? Or would you rather I resurrect them?" He spat viciously.

"Bastard!"

Suddenly, from the distance that Tōshirō was observing earlier, two familiar reiatsu's--at least to him--began to spike up again. He sat up in alarm, not even minding the girl had fallen on her butt to the ground. He quickly stood up and ran away before Rukia could even get another word out of her mouth.

Rukia had to take a few seconds to let her mind register just what the heck happened. That boy had just overpowered her, and he was strong...freakishly so. So when he didn't fight her back when she forcefully shoved him down to the ground, was it because he didn't want to? She thought for sure the boy couldn't fight back because of her strength. But it seems as though she had underestimated him. He had a zanpakutō after all, so he must be stronger than he looked. What was he anyway? A Shinigami? No, not possible. He wasn't wearing a shihakushō. But who else were allowed to carry zanpakutōs other than Soul Reapers?

She couldn't ponder on that for now, however, as she realized it was nearing noon, and the admissions screening starts within two or so hours. She remembered all of a sudden why she was where she was at the moment. She grumbled to herself as she changed her path and walked towards the flower field.

The field was just nearby; it was beautiful and filled with flowers and plants of different species, colors and sizes. Rukia's eyes lit up with happiness at the sight. She had more options, more varieties. She knelt down and started to pick out the best ones to pick.

A full swing. That was all it took to kill the hollow that had been scaring the hell out of the two rookies who were standing so close to each other with drawn zanpakutōs, shaking uncontrollably.

Tōshirō looked back at them with a death glare. "You should know better than to separate from the group when you couldn't defend yourselves."

"H-hai." They chorused. "Sorry, senpai."

A hollow soon materialized in the empty space, and Tōshirō quickly bade the two to go find Kira and the others while he took case of the intruder. The rookies knew better than to ask anything else, so without hesitation, they ran towards Kira's direction.

Tōshirō returned his focus back on the hollow who was readying to launch an attack at him. It looked like some sort of terradactyl with claws at the end of its wings. It flew directly towards Tōshirō who calmly waited for it with his trusted zanpakutō in hand. He was about to thrust his Soul Slayer at the disgusting creature when another hollow caught his attention. This one, however, didn't seem to pay any attention to them, nor did it seen to even notice them. It was heading towards a different direction. This momentary loss of focus almost cost Tōshirō his afterlife as the first hollow took advantage of this and tried to land a hit on him. Luckily, the white-haired boy was fast enough to dodge it in time. A few strands of white hair was caught, and Tōshirō cursed as he watched the strands fly off.

'Damn it.' He cursed mentally. 'I need to finish this one, and fast. That other one might cause trouble.'

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Rukia had picked a lot of flowers, even more than what she originally had earlier. She stood up, satisfied with herself, and was about to leave when she felt a certain spiritual pressure around. It was disturbing, though she didn't really know what it was. She could only sense reiatsu's that are within a certain radius around her, thus, she deduced that the owner of this disturbing pressure was near. Dread filled her entire being as soon as she saw the source of the disturbing presence. A hollow. She took a step back, and it took a step forward, taunting her.

"You smell delicious, little girl." The hollow sneered. It was large, towering way over her, with an oval mark on its face, yellow eyes peering from two holes.

Rukia nervously gulped. Just how was she supposed to defend herself from this? Wasn't she supposed to encounter this during her time at the Academy, and not before?! Oh boy.

'Ryu, Taka, Yamato, I'm coming...'

The hollow raised an incredibly large fist and was on its way to smash her with it, when a distinct make voice drifted in the air.

"Sōten ni zase, Hyōrinmaru!"

In an instant, the hollow was enclosed in solid had and was frozen on the spot. Rukia's eyes shifted from the huge 'ice sculpture' to the man who saved her life, err, afterlife.

"YOU!" Rukia pointed a finger towards her savior as her amethyst orbs widened.

The white-haired any just grunted in response as he raised his zanpakutō to deliver the final blow. A swift swing and the ice-encased hollow dissipated into nothingness. "Trouble magnet." He muttered under his breath.

"WHAT?!" She yelled. "It wasn't my fault that hollow showed up while I was gathering flowers. Hey, it was your fault to begin with! If you hadn't made of drop my flowers in the first place, I wouldn't even be here! I would be by my friends' graves and talking to them about—" Her amethyst orbs widened even more as he saw the sun behind him, ready to hide behind the mountains. "Damn it! I'm late for the admissions screening!"

Tōshirō raised an eyebrow at the woman. "What screening?" He knew of only one screening that was scheduled that day, and it was, he could only guess, finished by now. She wasn't talking about, was she? Poor her, then. She wouldn't make it in time.

"The…the…" Rukia was too busy berating herself for not being able to watch the time. And now, her chance to enter the academy vanished into a pool of…nothing. She was so damned certain that no matter how fast she tried to run, the earliest she'll be able to arrive there was an hour from now. Freakin' stupid. Freakin' stupid her.

"Damn. Damn! DAMN! DAMN IT ALL!" She clenched her eyes tightly shut as she cursed loudly. All the promises…the dreams…all gone now. Damn that stupid Academy rule.

Once one registers for admission to the Academy and doesn't show up, he or she will be black listed and not given any other chances to enter the Academy, no matter how strong he or she is.

Tōshirō watched in amusement as the woman pulled on her hair and continued to shout random obscenities. He was so sure she was really talking about the Academy Admissions Screening, and he would have consoled her when she suddenly dropped to her knees, and the white-haired man could hear something very like sniffles coming from her. Was she crying now? Had this woman gone mad?

"I…I'm sorry, Ryu, Taka, Yamato…I was…I was stupid…and I let the chance slip off my fingers…I'm sorry." It would have been a heart-breaking sight, had he not seen this same woman bitching about earlier. That didn't stop pity from creeping up Tōshirō's heart. He took a few steps until he stood right beside the kneeling woman and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I can help you." Shit, shit, shit! Why was he doing this again? He was assigned to lead rookies on a hollow extermination, not to assist some random crazy, bitchy girl get to the Academy. But he couldn't just leave a crying woman to weep and drown in her sorrows when he knew something could be done about it. No matter how icy his heart was as the others claim it to be, Tōshirō had a weak spot for crying girls.

"R-really?" Tear-filled amethyst orbs looked straight into his emerald eyes.

He smirked, just to lighten up the mood, and pointed at himself. "See these clothes? I am from the Academy."

Rukia's eyes lit up upon hearing that piece of information, even if she had realized that she didn't like the Academy's uniform, and still didn't get where he was getting at. "Really? You are?"

"Yeah."

"So…Will you be able to…break me in?" She asked seriously.

Tōshirō's smirk fell from his face and he frowned. "Of course not. I'm a student, not a staff member. You'll have to go through the screening like everyone else. I could shun po you there so you could still make it in time."

Doubts filled her mind for a second as Rukia stared intently at the second batch of flowers that she had dropped that day. "I don't know…I'm pretty sure it's finished by now."

He shook his head. "The Academy isn't all that perfect, you know. They usually start their activities half an hour to a full hour later than indicated, so the screening must still be going on as we speak." Tōshirō could only hope that he was right, or this woman's heart would break a second time.

Hope-filled amethyst eyes locked once again with encouraging emerald. "Then I guess I have to take you up on that offer. What's your name?"

"Hitsugaya Tōshirō." He answered simply.

"I'm Rukia." She slowly stood up and dusted her knees as she moved closer towards the man.

Tōshirō wrapped his arms around the woman, and slightly blushed at the warmth…and at how good it actually felt. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he readied to shun po all the way to the Academy. As he concentrated his reiatsu on his feet, he heard her say a few things before the wind blocked his ears.

"Arigatō, Tōshirō, for saving me."

The lieutenant of the 13th division stretched and yawned loudly. He had been sitting on the desk for two full hours, looking over at a list of names, calling them in, observing their potentials, and giving the final verdict: accepted or rejected.

Yes, he was the judge of the current Academy Admissions Screening.

He boredly watched as the last person on the list walked towards the center to show what he could do. Kaien could feel very low amounts of reiatsu on him, and he would surely not make it in the Academy despite his good combat skills. He gave the boy a chance to show off, anyways.

When he felt too bored for words, he waved a hand of dismissal while stifling a yawn. "Listen kid, you have the…errr…potential, but your reiatsu level is just too low, and it couldn't even pass for the freshman level. So, sorry…"

The kid's shoulders slumped as he walked away dejectedly. Kaien browsed through the list again to see how many were accepted, and how many failed. Also, he needed to see who didn't show up, so he could put in on black list.

And there was one…just one.

He raised his quill to mark the name, when a familiar reiatsu entered his sensing range. Ah, his favorite Academy student! He faced the direction where he knew the boy would appear within seconds.

"Yo, Tōshirō!"

The white-haired boy who had just arrived wand was frantically looking at the now empty room for signs of the still on-going screening—there was none—jumped back in surprise.

"Sh-Shiba-sensei!"

Kaien grinned and approached Tōshirō. The white-haired genius was his favorite student in the whole Academy, ever since he met him when the kid was still in first year. Kaien had been really impressed with the young man's abilities that he had been keeping constant watch on him to make sure no one snatches him away once he graduates from the Academy. He wanted Tōshirō on his squad.

The Shiba clan leader was about to put his hand on the younger man's head when he saw a petite figure in his arms. Kaien circled them to see a better view, and confirmed that it was indeed a woman in Tōshirō's arms.

"Wow, Tōshirō, I didn't know you had it in you!" Kaien teased.

"Shiba-sensei! Are you the judge of today's screening?"

The look of worry on his emerald eyes took Kaien by surprise. "Y-yes, why?"

Tōshirō let the woman in his arms go, and stepped closer towards Kaien before bowing deeply. "Please, Shiba-sensei, allow her to be screened."

Kaien shifted his gaze from Tōshirō to the woman beside him. Her eyes were averted to the ground, but he could clearly see the color of it—amethyst. Striking amethyst. Suddenly remembering the list, he inquired, "Are you Rukia?"

The woman's gaze snapped up and she looked directly looked at him as she timidly nodded her head.

Kaien chuckled at the both of them and placed a hand on each of their heads, ruffling their hairs at the same time. "Anything for my favorite student. Now let's see what you've got."

Rukia nodded and stood before both Kaien and Tōshirō, looking at the latter for some sort of reassurance. He nodded at her and she smiled a little in return. She gathered her reiatsu and formed it into a ball before her. Both men were amazed at how she had done it so simply, at the control she had over her spiritual energy. It didn't even take longer than 5 seconds for her to do that, and she hadn't even undergone any form of training yet.

Then before any of them could react, Kaien and Tōshirō heard her mutter, "Bakudō no ichi, Sai."

In an instant, both men's arms and legs were tied by unseen forces together, making them both fall on to the floor. Kaien blinked at her. "Where did you learn that?"

"A Shinigami from Rukongai taught me. He was once our…my neighbor, and he taught me that particular spell so I could protect myself. I haven't used it til now, though."

Kaien nodded and grinned at her. "Well, that's good. But please unbind me now."

They were freed within a moment. Kaien dusted himself off and walked towards the desk he had been occupying earlier. He took his quill again and wrote something on a piece of paper. He was shaking his head the entire time.

Rukia looked at Tōshirō, the hope slowly vanishing from her eyes. Tōshirō saw this and turned his attention back to Kaien. "S-so…Shiba-sensei…Is she…?" he trailed off.

Kaien was still shaking his head, but the two saw that it was because of disbelief. He was smiling happily as he made his way back to them, extending his hand towards the raven-haired woman.

"Welcome to the Shinigami Academy, Rukia."

Now the question is: Should I continue this piece of crap, or should I just delete it and go to hell? Please tell me. Reviews are so much appreciated. :D
Take care everyone!