Lovestruck |Kaien Shiba Fanfic|

Chapter 4

A month had passed and Kaien kept his promise. 

He helped me train and Captain Hirako was fine with it, as long as I didn't ignore my duties with Squad Five. 

I also grew more untrusting of our Lieutenant because I caught him being suspicious a few times. The first time, he was eavesdropping on a conversation that Hirako was having with one of the other captains. Then the second time, he was lurking around Squad Twelve's barracks.

"Hey!" Kaien exclaimed. "Pay attention!"

The wooden sword suddenly got me in the arm and took me by surprise.

"That's what happens when you lose focus on your fight," He said and put the sword down. 

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something," I apologized. 

"We can take a break if you'd like,"

"That would be great," I said.

We sat down and he handed a plastic water bottle to me. 

I took it and opened it immediately since I was dying for some water.

"Oh, Lieutenant Kuna wanted to have a get-together at the bar, so we should go there," Kaien said.

"But I'm not a Lieutenant," I said. "What if they don't want me there,"

"You'll be fine. She's actually pretty friendly, so I'm sure you'll have no problem befriending her," He insisted.

"...Fine,"

We sparred some more and then he told me to meet him at the bar later. I was a bit nervous because I didn't have very many friends. I was pretty much friends with Kaien and that's about it.

I walked to my house and immediately took a shower so I could start getting ready. I was nervous to be around the other lieutenants. What if they only wanted lieutenants there? I'm just a member of Squad Five. 

I passed time by getting ready and washing dishes at the last minute. I looked at the clock and it was already time to go to the bar. I could feel my heart rate picking up a bit. It was a mixture of knowing I will be with Kaien tonight and the fact that I literally have no friends but him.

I started walking to the bar and of course, my clumsy self had to bump into another person. 

"I'm sorry," I said and looked up. 

It was Sosuke. 

He gave me a smile when he saw it was just me. 

"Hello Naomi," He said. "You're fine, I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings this time,"

His smile seemed off, but I brushed it off. I have a tendency to overthink everything.

We both walked off but were walking in the same direction. 

"Are you going to the bar too?" I asked him, trying to keep this from being awkward.

He nodded. "Yeah, the other lieutenants insisted that I come with them to this gathering," 

"Kaien invited me," I said. "He wanted me to come with him, but I feel kind of nervous since I don't know if they wanted just lieutenants or not,"

"You'll be fine," He said. "They didn't say just lieutenants specifically. They try to say it's a meeting, but most of them end up being way too drunk to even hold a meeting,"

I guess I felt a bit better since someone else I know would be there, but I still couldn't help but be suspicious of him. He's so polite and nice, so that makes it hard for me to be suspicious. I have to remind myself that he just stood there when the Hollow was going to eat me.