((Well, it has once again been a long while since I've updated. I think this has become a habit of mine. Whoops. Any who, I won't go into any excuses because I simply don't have any. I just haven't wanted to write in a while. But I'm here now. :D So, here is a new chapter, enjoy!))

I stared at the group of eight. They looked at me without saying anything. That was until the shortest of them, the one that had initially kicked me, walked up to me with the glare still plastered on her face. "Ya don't seem very special like Urahara Kisuke says you are." She grumbled.

"That's not very nice, Hiyori," One of the tall blonds said. I looked up and noticed he had a grin and was looking straight at me still. "Urahara-san has high hopes for him."

"Tch," the one called Hiyori grumbled again. "He looks useless."

Now, I was getting pissed. It's like I'm not standing right here. "Oi," I snapped. "I'm NOT useless and I'm not deaf!"

Hiyori raised a brow at me as if she didn't believe me. "Eh?" She walked up to me with a scowl. "Ya look pretty useless to m—"

Suddenly, a throat cleared and we turned. "Well, I see you all have met each other." Kisuke grinned. "Good. Shall we get started then?"

"Oi, what are we doin' here?" Hiyori yelled at the shopkeeper. "You didn't call us all over here to train this baldy, did ya?"

I huffed and crossed my arms. Why did she keep criticizing me? For one, I'm not bald and two, if she doesn't want to be here she could easily leave. Urahara-san surely wouldn't make her stay. Why is she being such a bitch? My gaze shifted from the short woman to Urahara-san.

"Hai," The scientist answered her simply.

"Hah?!" Hiyori shouted, obviously pissed that this seemed to be some sort of joke. She jumped and tried to kick him in the face. "Ya are tryin' to waste our time?!"

Urahara-san sidestepped to simply evade her attempted kick. This made her land roughly on the sand behind him. "No," He stated, looking at all of us more seriously. "I want you to train Ichigo so he can control his hollow like you all can."

"Tch, there is no way he would be able to handle the training for that." Hiyori scoffed as she picked herself up from the ground.

"Oi!" I yelled, exasperated that they were still talking about me as if I didn't exist. It was unnecessary of them to keep talking amongst themselves. "What training are we talking about? I've been having a handle on my hollow just fine."

"Have you?" Urahara questioned, looking at me straight in the eyes. It was obvious he was skeptical. "You have lost control before, you know. What happens if you lose control and can't gain it back, hm? If you want to be ready for whatever is next you need to gain control of your hollow."

I scoffed since I was more than a little annoyed. He wasn't really wrong but I didn't like hearing it. Plus, this was more than what I was planning on doing today. I was hoping to do some strength training today. With everything that happened in Soul Society I had a lot on my mind. I more or less wanted to de-stress.

Finally the tall blonde with a hat on walked toward me and peered at me. The smirk he previously had was gone and he looked into my eyes seriously. "Ya need to trust Urahara-san more. If ya need more training with your hollow then we will help you." His expression shifted to a dangerous one. "However, you need to be ready. This trainin' isn't somethin' you can just muscle your way through. You need proper guidance and have to be serious about it." He paused for a long moment, still looking at me. "Otherwise, you will die."

My teeth clenched. He was serious and I could tell he didn't want me to fuck up one way or the other. The way he looked at me was the same way Urahara-san looked when he trained me before I went to Soul Society. This was life or death.

Shit.

-X-X-X-X-X-

"Stop fussing, will you?" Rukia scolded me and swatted my hands away. I kept fidgeting with my shirt. "You look good."

"I'm nervous as hell." I told her honestly. Just the thought of going on a date with Taichou made me start to fidget and she slapped my hands again. I rubbed my hands and glared at her. "Ouch." I stuffed my hands into my pockets. "Stop hittin' me."

She rolled her violet eyes at me and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why are you so nervous, Renji? Asking him to go out was the hard part."

I shook my head and looked down at my apartment floor. "I-I don't know." I sighed and pulled one of my hands up to rub the back of my neck. "I guess I just don't want to embarrass him…or myself." I admitted sheepishly.

"Renji," She said seriously, forcing our eyes to connect. "Yes, you are going on a date with Nii-sama and it is at a fancier restaurant than any one we've ever been to before. However, there is no reason to be so nervous. You don't eat as sloppily anymore; you mind your manners more than before. Plus, you look amazing."

I turned my head to gaze at my reflection in the full-length mirror on just the inside of my closet door. I did have to admit I did look pretty good with my burgundy button up shirt - which I left the first couple buttons undone, loose fitting black jeans, and black boots. But that was mostly thanks to Rukia for helping me pick it out of the several things that had accumulated in my closet from the living world from Urahara Kisuke. I even remembered I had a black leather jacket that I bought a long time ago.

After a few minutes, I turned back to Rukia but noticed she moved and was sitting on my bed with a hairbrush in her hands now. "Come here," she instructed me gently. "I'll help you with your hair."

I cringed slightly but did as she told me to. I sat down with my back to her and my legs stretched out. "Just…don't pull it out, please."

I could feel her violet glare trying to burn holes in the back of my head. That probably wasn't a good thing to say. "Have I ever done such a thing?"

This made me turn my head slightly to look at her out of the corner of my eye. "Is that a trick question?"

She swatted my head with the brush. "Shut up, baka, and sit still."

"Ow!" I chuckled even though I was in pain. I rubbed the back of my head where she hit me. "That hurt."

"Yeah, well, stop being a wimp." She reprimanded then pushed my hand away. She took down the high ponytail that I usually wore and started to gently brush. She started in sections and at the ends. Surprisingly, she was more careful that she ever had been before. It didn't hurt at all while she was brushing my hair. After several minutes I almost felt as if I was going to fall asleep. It felt nice for once. She continued to work until my long hair was free of any tangles. After a while she noticed I was dozing off and nudged me. "Hey, don't fall asleep." I heard her say in a soft scolding tone.

"I wasn't." I chuckled, feeling completely relaxed. "It just felt nice, is all."

"Well, I've had some practice," Rukia chuckled in response.

"Oh?" I questioned but she didn't answer me. We were silent again since I decided to not push her. She usually told me in her own time.

She separated a section on either side of my head while leaving most of my hair alone. I could feel her weaving them into braids and joined them together into a thicker braid at the back of my head. Most of my hair was down except for the sections that were braided together.

Once she was done, I got up and looked into the mirror. "Thanks, Rukia." I told her appreciatively. I could see her take my leather jacket from the hanger on the closet door and she helped me into it. Once I was ready, I turned to her.

"You're welcome. Now get out of here and have a good time with Nii-sama." She said, smirking.

I gave her a grin and flash-stepped out of my apartment and down to the street below.

I noticed a vendor down the street a little bit. She seemed to be selling flowers. I bit my lip while thinking. It wouldn't be a bad idea. I still had a few minutes before picking up Taichou, anyway. I walked over to the vendor and the woman with long brown hair and green eyes smiled at me. "Can I help you?"

"Uh, yeah…" I said blushing slightly and looked at all of the flowers around her stall. I remember Taichou had told me about the flowers in his gardens, so I knew about some of the meanings, but I didn't know the perfect flower to describe what is going on with our relationship right now. I am not that big of a romantic, but I knew he'd enjoy it. "I have a date."

She only continued to smile. "Would you like a bouquet of roses or are you looking for something in particular?"

"Well," I started as slid my hands in my pockets, obviously nervous. This way I didn't fidget with clothing. "This is our first date. We are seeing where this takes us."

"I see," She nodded. She moved over to her workstation and laid out some paper for the arrangement. She looked around her various flowers until her eyes settled on the red roses. She plucked a half dozen out and laid them carefully on the paper. "While roses are the most common for love and romance, hibiscus represents new love and budding romance." She turned again and pulled some red and pink hibiscus out of a cup and put them together with the roses. She took a few minutes to cut, arrange, and wrap them. By the time she tied it together with a thick green ribbon and handed it to me, it was a beautiful bouquet.

"Wow," I breathed, a bit amazed by her talent for arranging flowers so particularly. It was simple but still beautiful. I looked up at her with an appreciative smile. "Arigatou," After I took the bouquet, I pulled out some money to pay her which she accepted with a pleasant smile.

"It was no problem at all. Have a wonderful evening." She said sincerely with her green eyes twinkling.

I nodded to her one last time then turned to flash step to Kuchiki Manor. I was right on time for our date when I got to the door, but I hesitated to knock. My nerves were getting the better of me again. I looked at the door and bit my lips gently.

Shit…This is actually happening. I thought. I'm about to go out with my Taichou…

I took a few moments to try to calm myself. I could do this. This was what I wanted for so long.

I took a deep cleansing breath before I knocked on the door and waited patiently. It was a few mere moments before the door opened and to my surprise, the old housekeeper wasn't on the other side and neither was my Taichou. Instead, a young woman with long purple hair and mismatched eyes opened the door.

"Good evening," I greeted, a bit confused. She looked familiar to me, but I couldn't remember where or when from.

"Abarai-san," she greeted with a small smile. "Good evening." She seemed to catch on that I likely didn't remember her but her smile never faded. "Perhaps, you do not remember me. I am Kuchiki Mana."

Mana… I thought. I stared at her for a few moments trying to wrack my brain as to who the other was exactly. I know I knew her from somewhere…

"Oh! You're Taichou and Yoruichi-san's younger cousin!" I remembered aloud.

"Hai," Mana-san confirmed and laughed quietly. She stepped aside to let me in. "Byakuya-sama will here shortly. He had a few council matters to tend to."

"Thanks," I nodded and stepped into the Manor. She led me into the living room area. The young noble sat down on one of the cushions at the low table and gestured that I do the same. She offered tea but I refused.

As I sat down, the other's gray and golden eyes noticed the bouquet in my hands and smiled brightly. "Those are beautiful." She complimented. "Byakuya-sama will love them."

The compliment made me blush, but it was relieving to hear that I seemed to not have made a fool of myself by getting flowers.
"Ah," I sighed, letting out my relief visibly. "I hoped it wouldn't be…odd getting them." I didn't finish the sentence by tagging on "for a guy," since that was likely rude.

Mana shook her head gently. "It's not odd at all." She assured. "Byakuya-sama may be a man but he does enjoy flowers." I was glad she had the same thought as me. Her gaze was on the arrangement for a while. I assumed she must have gotten lost in her thoughts for a moment. "I can also see there was some thought put into the arrangement."

"Hai," I confirmed, hoping the vendor and I hit the mark on the meaning of the flowers. "Taichou told me about the meanings of flowers in the Kuchiki gardens but the flower vendor helped pick this arrangement for our date."

The noble smirked in a way that reminded me of Yoruichi-san's. "I'd say they did a very good job."

Just as I was about to thank her, Taichou had come into the room which immediately snapped my focus away from the conversation. Once he came into full view a wide smile pulled on my lips. My earlier nervousness seemed to be forgotten. At least, for the moment.

I had always known Taichou was handsome but there was something different about seeing him in normal clothing. All of the markers of his statuses were absent. Right now, he was wearing a dark blue dress shirt, a black blazer with slacks to match, and black shoes. His hair was tied into a low side ponytail and absent of the hair pieces he usually wore that usually held his bangs up. Now, the dark hair covered one of his dark eyes. He looked younger and more relaxed than he did usually wearing his uniform.

Shit… He's beautiful!

I stood from the low table and walked over to him. "Good evenin',"

-X-X-X-X-X-

"Good evening, Renji," I replied, looking up at the redhead. "My apologies, I had some clan matters to see to."

I felt a bit bad about making him wait but the elders just had to have my opinion on a matter. It always irked me that they couldn't seem to do anything themselves. However, I suppose that is better than them making a fool out of our clan with some of their asinine plans.

I shook my head gently to clear it. Now was not the time to think about the clan. I wanted to give my full focus to Renji and our date. The thought made me happy and curious. I was so awful to Renji before but somehow he wanted to pursue me in the romantic setting and not to just catch up with me in strength and power. I looked back up at him with a softened expression.

"Oh, it's no problem." He replied with a smile still pulled on his lips, clearly happy. "Mana-san kept me company."

I nodded and looked over at my cousin whom I could tell was enjoying what she was watching. Her expression was one similar to what Yoruichi-senpai would give me if she were present in this situation. I gave her a short nod. "Arigatou, Mana."

"It was no trouble at all," Mana replied simply. For a moment, I am certain I saw a glint of mischief in her eyes. She was going to make me tell her everything later, I am certain of that. She has been wanting me to pursue a romantic relationship for a while. No doubt that she will tease me since I have always said that I had no interest in it. However, I've been curious since Renji has shown interest in me. I couldn't say I did not have an interest now especially with Renji. He was handsome and pleasant to be with since we mended things over since Aizen's betrayal.

I turned back to look at Renji. He was very handsomely dressed with his burgundy dress shirt, black leather jacket, black pants, and boots. I noticed his hair was nicely done as well. He looked very nice for our outing. He could clean up very well when he was not in his work uniform.

He handed me a bouquet of finely arranged flowers which made a smile pull on my lips slightly. "Arigatou, Renji." I said looking them and smelling them. "They are beautiful." I hadn't expected him to get me flowers but I could tell there was care and thought put into them.

"You're welcome," he replied softly as I looked back up at him once again. I could see a soft blush on his cheeks but his smile never faded.

((That's all for now. I'll get into the next chapter today and hopefully have it up soon. We will continue with Byakuya and Renji's date in the next chapter. I just feel like this is long enough for now and not too awkward of an ending for the chapter. Let me know what you think! Love, Mina))