A/N: To those reading solely for the smut, next chapter.

Italics are thoughts/memories.

Third Person POV

"What have I gotten myself into?" The 9th Division captain murmured under his breath. He was waiting to be called in to discuss his relationship with Sakura and it was nerve-wracking. Goddamnit… I hate waiting. Patience was certainly not one of his attributes but this was tortuous. The only positive aspect was that he was finally given some time to think and really dive into the heart of the situation.

He sighed and crossed his arms, turning his attention to outside one of the windows. Did he truly know what he was getting into when he saw Sakura in the training academy? That fateful day when he offered her a seat in his division? Granted, he had chosen her primarily because of her skill in combat but did her beauty play a factor in his decision? No, he finally decided. There were many viable candidates for the seat and he chose her through a captain's criteria, nothing more and nothing less.

His eyes fell down to the armrest of his chair, just noticing now that he was feverishly tapping his finger. Why was he so nervous? He was trained to remain calm in even the direst of situations and this was the exception? Kensei closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, mentally counting to ten; he had been told that this was the procedure to follow if one became stressful. After a few moments, he exhaled and leaned on his open palm. That didn't work at all.

"You always look so tired all the time." Sakura smiled, gently stroking the back of his head.

"When one takes the position of 'captain', it's expected." He replied, leaning his head on hers. "Besides, I always find the energy to deal with my division."

"You must have sort of reserve; energy used only when dealing with your team."

"No, only for Mashiro." She laughed softly before falling quiet. They just sat there. Enjoying each other's presence. Nothing could bother them at that moment in time. There were no fears, no worries.

Just them.

"You don't look well." Kensei looked up at the source of the voice, Love. The 7th Division captain leaned against the wall, eyeing the other male. "Anxious?"

"Of course not." Kensei answered smoothly, adjusting his uncomfortable position. "I already have an idea of what the captain-commander will say so I don't believe there will be any surprises." Kensei had never been extremely close to Love and had only spoke to him in a handful of occasions and while he considered him to be good company, he hardly expected Love (or anyone else for that matter) to speak with him before the meeting. "Shouldn't you be inside preparing for the meeting? All of the captains must be present."

"You could say that I'm taking a short break before going back in." Love offered a small smile. "Whatever their decision is, know that it's nothing personal against you; they're just maintaining the peace and conforming to the fixed standards."

"The Gotei 13 must do what what's right for the Soul Society; I don't plan on arguing against their decision and if that decision is retirement from my division, it is completely understandable." The silver haired captain frowned. "You know, I never would have believed that our relationship would grow to such a stage; I suppose I believed that it would bloom and then fade away with time."

"Like one of those cherry blossoms outside?" Love suggested casually. Both men looked outside simultaneously, eyeing the trees.

"Perhaps." Kensei shrugged and stood up, finally getting tired of remaining stationary in his chair. "It's difficult to explain and naturally I don't mean to waste your time with this matter."

"I have a few minutes." Kensei had to hand it to Love; he sure was persistent. "But you should know that my decision will not take this conversation into account."

"Duly noted." Kensei answered simply. Taking a deep breath, he faced the other man and began.

What followed was perhaps the hardest conversation Kensei had ever had. He recounted the numerous experiences and sensations he felt during his long-term relationship with Sakura (excluding inappropriate details, of course). The laughter, the sadness, the fear.

Love merely nodded from time to time and occasionally muttered a noise of agreement, encouraging the other captain further. Hearing the whole story come from his own lips had its own mysterious effect on Kensei. Freedom, he supposed. Sakura and I have been keeping this quiet for so long that it felt good to just come out and tell someone. The secret held no more significance; there was nothing to hold back.

"So that's it?" Love asked when Kensei finished. "That's how it all started?"

"Yes." Kensei gave a deep sigh and ran his fingers through his silver locks of hair. Now that he had a chance to reflect on what happened, he couldn't help but realize how quickly their relationship catalyzed through their close proximity as captain and seat. Had they met under different circumstances, would there even be a relationship? Would they have fallen for each other's charms and attributes had their statuses been different?

Kensei swallowed hard and looked down at his feet. He hadn't been pushing her to stay together, had he? The relationship between a seat and their captain was certainly one that was questioned and for good reason. If another division's captain had pursued a similar relationship, would he have supported the notion? Would he be 'for' the proposed relationship instead of 'against' if he wasn't the party involved?

He turned his head and raised an eyebrow, just realizing at that moment that Love had been staring at him the whole time. "Sorry." He half-heartedly said under his breath, now aware that he had been staring at his feet for longer than what was socially acceptable.

"You were deep in thought; I didn't want to disturb you. I think you've realized the underlying problem." Love straightened himself up and offered a sympathetic nod. "Unfortunately, I'm needed at the meeting. I'll see you shortly."

"Wait!" Love stopped in his tracks and slightly craned his head at Kensei's voice. "You're not going to offer me any advice on the matter?"

"You are the only one who knows what's truly right for you. As a captain of another division, my alliance stays with the Gotei 13. As a captain of the 9th division, you must decide for yourself where you stand." With that, Love gave one final glance to Kensei before leaving the room.

The silver haired man watched the other captain leave, silently reflecting on his words. On one hand, it was nice to have a third party's opinion on the matter but at the same time, shouldn't he be most concerned with what feels right to him? He was chosen as a captain for his leadership skills and superior qualities over the over candidates after all.

He didn't have too much longer anyway. With Love gone, it was only a matter of time before he was called in and he'd have to make the decision.

The captain leaned his forehead on his head. After a few moments, he concluded that his talk with Love did, in fact, help.

There were holes in their relationship. Every relationship had them. And yet… he never truly acknowledged their presence. He hadn't given them much thought until now.

"You're not even trying." His seat frowned and rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to learn if you don't challenge me."

"Sakura, it's nothing personal. You and I know that you're a strong fighter but you don't have to prove it to me. " He gave her a half smile, feeling defeated by the subject matter. This always seemed to come up.

Every time they tried their hand at combat training, Sakura would always get the feeling that he wasn't treating her like a potential opponent and in a way, she was completely correct. After they solidified their relationship, he had changed his view of her. She was not only his seat but also his partner. No matter how hard he tried, it was difficult to picture her anything but.

Combat training had always been a bit of an issue from the beginning and he had recognized the problem early on. He was more than happy to recommend a combat partner for her to train with and for a while, it worked very nicely. Unfortunately, as they spent more and more time together, the desire to train with him began to grow once more.

She had a fair argument. 'You're the captain after all.' She would say. 'As your seat, it's your duty to pass on your wisdom.' He viewed her as something brittle and easy to break. His affection for her prevented him from changing this narrow-minded view. If you truly love something, you never want it to break. You never want to hurt it. It was simply the way he was; he couldn't change that.

There were problems but instead of learning from them, he ignored them. As a captain, he knew that this was the wrong direction to take. Problems can be turned into something constructive and incorporated into a newly formed plan. They weren't something to ignore.

He wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if Sakura was beginning to feel the same way. She was a clever girl; surely some of these thoughts were running through her mind as well.

"Captain?"

The foreign voice drew his attention towards the door that was slightly ajar. Taking a deep breath and trying to maintain a confident stance, he nodded. Everything was going to change now.

"We're ready for you."

The meeting went significantly better than he had expected. Perhaps it was because he went in with the expectation that he'd be notified of his newly lost position moments after he entered. Or maybe it was the artificially confident attitude that he had put up at the last minute. No, the most logical reason behind his relieved state was the fact that he had not, in fact, been removed from his position as the 9th Division's captain.

Unsurprisingly, the topic of interest during the captains' meeting was him, not Sakura. That's what he was really interested in, wasn't it? Kensei furrowed his brow.

With the exception of several changes to his expected performance as captain, nothing had changed. They acknowledged that he took his role as captain very seriously and they reassured him that his service was appreciated.

Their relationship had to fit certain boundaries, of course, and couldn't get too out of hand. Since their relationship, for the most part, had been in secret, it wasn't difficult to adjust to these new regulations and truth be told, Kensei considered himself extremely fortunate.

Most, if not all, the other captains had been rather accepting of the whole deal and he'd be lying if he said he didn't appreciate the comforting smile Love gave to him at the beginning of the whole ordeal. Additionally, the captain commander had been very gentle with the subject which eased the tension in the room. The meeting flowed nicely and at a prompt pace, addressing the issues and noting the potential consequences. Simply put, it couldn't have gone better.

So why wasn't he rushing out to meet up with Sakura and celebrate his wonderful news?

Kensei took slow steps towards the open courtyard, not particularly feeling a great hurry now that the worst was over. Or was it?

All that thinking he did before the meeting seemed to shine some light on the previously unseen problems.

Feeling the breeze on his face, he looked up and scanned the courtyard for his seat. Catching sight of a figure in one of the larger trees a few meters away, he followed the trunk upwards and laid his eyes on the girl in question.

He approached her location, his mind racing while trying to think up something to say. Oh, there was so much he wanted to say but it was difficult choosing something to open up with.

Reaching the base of the tree, he looked up and noted the serious expression she wore on her delicate features. Something was troubling her and for a fleeting moment, he worried that perhaps her thoughts mirrored his own from earlier.

"Sakura!" He shouted upwards. She seemed to break out of her trance and her attention turned to him. "What are you doing up there? Trying to get yourself killed?" Out of everything that had been running through his mind, that was what he started with. Something light-hearted. Odd choice.

"You know as well as I do that I can handle a simple tree." Kensei smiled at the response, she seemed so sure of herself. Very characteristically so.

He watched her carefully as she began to climb down. Seeing her foot heading towards a vacant spot where she had mistakenly assumed lay a branch, Kensei held out his arms and prepared himself for the inevitable fall. As expected, she came down and fell squarely in his arms. "I didn't think so." Rash actions like that wouldn't do her any favours but he did enjoy the look of complete surprise on her face as she recomposed herself. "I warned you to be careful but you never listen. You're not much of a seat, are you?"

A brief kiss was the only response he got. "How'd it go?" Her voice was quiet as though she had been expecting the worst.

As he lowered her to the ground, he surprisingly found himself forming a small white lie as his answer. "It was rough, that's for sure. I stated my case, my responsibilities as captain and answered all the questions they posed. I don't know why but they seemed to take my word for it." He compensated with the mistruth with a smile. "Looks like we're okay for now."

He had no idea why he didn't just outright tell her that it went just fine. Seeing her speechless look made him regret his choice and he desperately wished that he had chosen the honest response, the one that would trigger a more positive response. At the moment, hers was far from positive. He…didn't know precisely how to describe it.

"That's great, Kensei." She finally responded but he sensed that something else was on her mind. Something distracting.

"Are you all right? You seem…a little less thrilled than I imagined."

"I'm fine, Kensei. I really am." Her small smile said otherwise. He easily read her expression. After spending so much time with her, he had developed quite the skill. No more holding back. They had to confront their relationship issues, no more 'turning the blind eye'.

The silence between them was slightly uncomfortable. They were both hiding something.

His arms reached out instinctively and drew her into a tight embrace. "We're in this together."

The words had a reassuring tone. They carried strong meaning and were meant to comfort although the captain wasn't entirely sure who they were truly meant for. Sakura?

Or himself?