Two Souls, One Story

Chapter 33

In a room deep within Hueco Mundo, far from the windows filtering endless moonlight, was a little make-shift classroom. The walls were a soft green, a mercy for one of the occupants, with the eastern wall hosting a massive projection screen. Furnishing were nothing more than two chairs designed to fit high school children, one of them reinforced to withstand immense weight.

"Now!" Gin started with a grin at his two unwilling students. "Today, I will be teaching you two about the ins and outs of Las Noches. With permission from Aizen-sama, naturally."

Rukia straightened up, hands clasped in front of her like the good student she always tries to be. She remembered this from the anime: the Arrancar Encyclopedia. Possibly one of the most hilarious additions. Silently, she hoped the other Espada or Arrancar would show up to bring a bit of humor into this.

A few minutes into the lesson, she realized that there hadn't even been a peep from Izuru. Taking a glance, she saw he had his eyes closed. His body was also starting to tilt.

"Izuru...?" Rukia whispered, leaning to poke at the blond man.

"Mmmm?" Izuru cracked open his eye.

"Are you okay? You're falling asleep..."

"Yeah..." Izuru rubbed his eyes. "This part of Las Noches isn't too bad... my head feels clearer here." He glanced at Gin, who was still talking about Arrancar powers while his back was towards the pair. Gin was playing a clip of one of the Arrancars that was in Karakura town firing a Cero. Neither had the heart to ask Gin who was holding the camera. "When I became an adult, sitting through..."

"Classes? Meetings?"

"Anything where I have to sit quietly and take notes... I struggle to focus. When I'd teach in classes, I was alert, focused. But when I'm the listener-" Izuru made a pained sound, his head flinging backwards as a dry eraser collided with his forehead.

"Now, now, Izuru." Gin scolded, tapping his pointy stick against his other hand. "Please behave."

Izuru straightened and threw the eraser back at Gin, who easily dodged it. "The hell, Ichimaru?!"

Another eraser smacked Izuru in the face, covering him with chalk dust. It should be noted that there is no chalkboard in the room... or chalk.

"Tha' 'Ichimaru-sensei' ta ya. Since yer not callin' me captain anymore~"

"Yeah... because I'm the captain of Squad 3 now." Izuru rubbed his face and glared at the chalk now on his clothes. Their clothes were just laundered the other day. A humiliating experience, since new clothes weren't ready for either of them yet.

Gin smirked, "Yes... you are, Captain..." There was a long, dreadful silence. No one moved. In fact, Izuru forgot to blink. Gin restarted the movement by tossing something lightly to Rukia. "Yer lieutenant is ta perf'ct student!"

Rukia caught the object quickly, her face glowing at the lychee candy. "Oooh~!"

"Yes, and she's a perfect lieutenant." Izuru added in the praise. For once, there was a genuine smile on his face. This quickly dropped. "If you want me to pay attention to this lesson, can I at least be standing?"

Gin tilted his head.

"A good sensei will make reasonable accommodations to ensure their students can learn. I need to be standing."

Gin hit his fist down onto his open palm in realization. His pointer stick seemingly vanished from view. "Oh! Good point! Yes. Do that."

Rukia leaned back in her chair. Watching the lesson transition to the specific attacks Arrancar can use. She shifted her gaze and watched as Izuru stood up... and lifted one of his legs to tuck his ankle against the back of the unlifted leg's knee. Like a flamingo.