Rise and Shine

[toppedbyfishies]

[Jyuushiko has been waiting here at least three hours now - Retsu has already come by once to ask if she'd rather just rest in her own room and be called when Shunsui finally woke up, but she wanted to be here, this time. With any luck his fever had broken enough that they could talk, at least

Comments

The deer, it is teal

[itsamanlypink]

[Kyouraku's last clear memory is of Karakura Town - of lying in the rubble with Katen Kyokotsu still gripped tightly in his hands, choking on the smell of smoke and of his own blood. There had been a dozen reiatsu signals demanding his attention but he had only been seeking one - Ukitake's - flickering in and out. Each time it had faded he'd reached for it and found it again. until the sky had exploded in an inferno of flame and everything had faded to black

[toppedbyfishies]

[The wave of relief that washes over her is almost palpable in her reiatsu. She hadn't been allowed to see him before today, and watching him lie there, ashen and covered in bandages had done little to forestall her fears. But that one word, soft as it is, is enough to wipe it all away.

She leans forward a little, enough that she can reach out and lay a soft touch on his arm - a slightly more physical reminder that yes, she is is here, and they are both still living, that this isn't another fever-dream. There's a tired smile on her face, which is reflected in her voice, as well.]

I'm here, Shun. Glad you could join us again.

[itsamanlypink]

[At the touch, he closes his eyes for a few moments until the dizziness passes, half-expecting to find that it's yet another illusion. But he can still feel Jyuushiko's fingers cool against his arm; sense her reiatsu overlapping his and in his head there is an amused but silent affirmation from Katen Kyokotsu.

There's more determination when he opens his eyes again, and a half smile at her words that would usually be accompanied by a lazy shrug, save that he's in no position to manage one.]

I like to make an entrance.

[She looks tired and a little too thin, although he doubts that he looks a great deal better, if how he feels is anything to go by.]

Katen told me you were waiting.

[toppedbyfishies]

[Her smile turns into a grin at his words. He's coherent enough to joke, and that's always a good thing. If Shunsui can joke, they'll pull through all of this somehow.

She nods slightly at his second statement.]

Not for too long, but...I'm glad Retsu let me in, today.

[itsamanlypink]

Retsu...

[He can still feel Unohana's kidou - strengthened by Minazuki - smothering his own power like a blanket; blocking his ability to sense much at all beyond the walls of the room itself. It's standard practice for Unohana to place a kidou shield around the rooms of all Captains and Vice Captains when they're confined to Fourth - he knows that - but to Kyouraku it still feels like a slow suffocation. The depths of panic and paranoia that he had felt in the midst of the fever dreams abruptly make more sense, and he lifts a hand to rest over Jyuushiko's, frowning quietly as he slides his fingers between hers.]

I owe her an apology, I think. Several, possibly.

[There's a momenmt of hesitation then; an unwillingness to venture into subjects that he has neither seen nor considered outside of the warped hallucinations and certainties that he is no longer sure even occurred.

He looks away from Jyuushiko when he asks.]

Aizen. Is he dead?

[toppedbyfishies]

[The wry smile fades a little as she gives his hand a small squeeze.]

Probably, yes. She's had a lot on her shoulders.

[And Jyuu knows it's taking a greater toll on her friend than Retsu will ever let on, that she's forcing herself to stand strong while they can't. Her smile is enough to fool the other captains - but not Jyuushiko.

There's a short pause as she steadies herself before answering his question. She knows he'll still be able to hear the pain in her voice at the reminder of others lost, but it's enough that she can keep herself together for now.]

Aizen is dead.

[itsamanlypink]

[He doesn't know what he expected to feel, but there's no elation at her answer - no satisfaction in the knowledge that Aizen is gone or any real sense that a weight has been lifted from Seireitei. Kyouraku has lived too long to believe that Aizen does not have his sympathisers, even now - that somewhere, his ambition will not become a symbol for others to follow.

The dip in Jyuushiko's reiatsu and the pain in her voice registers distantly, his mind too occupied with a thousand new possibilities for betrayal. He returns the reassuring pressure on her fingers briefly and almost without thinking about it, before Katen Kyokotsu pulls him up short.

You are not listening.To underline her point she follows the words with an abrupt memory of crushing emptiness - an echo of what he had felt each time he sensed Jyuushiko's reiatsu flicker out of his reach. And that brings with it another memory - of the sky above him exploding in fire and heat just before he had slipped into unconsciousness in Karakura Town

[toppedbyfishies]

[She doesn't try to rise, doesn't even meet his eyes as she speaks, voice shaky]

Sensei is... is dead too, Shunsui.

[She had cried when Retsu had told her, clinging to her friend until she was coughing blood again, but while her voice cracks, she doesn't cry now. Her reiatsu is a dark storm, though, focused inwards - she has gleaned enough to know how her mentor died, and she blames herself - for not paying close enough attention, for not getting that little blond Arrancar before he got her.]

[itsamanlypink]

[His first instinct is to laugh - to deny it - to argue - to point out the impossibility of Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni ever dying, and especially not by the hand of someone like Sousuke Aizen.

His second is to reach out with all his senses, seeking for that overwhelming and yet reassuring power that has been there as long as Shunsui cares to remember; the first person who had looked at him and seen more than the spoiled younger son of the Kyouraku family; the perfect blending of man and zanpakutou that no one else has yet - or will likely ever - achieve.

But the shield that is wrapped heavily around his room blocks any such attempt, and Jyuushiko's stubborn refusal to meet his eyes - the way her voice cracks over the words - is evidence enough that she is not lying.

Ryuujin Jakka has fallen. There is no emotion evident from Katen Kyokotsu, just a blank statement of inevitablity. And belatedly - dammit, Retsu - he feels the force of Jyuushiko's own reiatsu, turning inwards in a storm of anger that his is still too weak to

[toppedbyfishies]

[The motion in her field of vision is enough to draw her out of her half-trance, and she glances up at him. She's not crying, but she can't quite hide the mix of fear and anger in her expression. There' a short, half-surprised blink, and then she takes his hand in one her own - shaking slightly, but still firm. She doesn't pull herself out of the chair with it - she knows trying would probably send both Shunsui and herself topppling, but she uses it to steady herself as she rises, wincing slightly as half-healed muscles tense.

It's only a step or two between the chair and bed, and she makes it easily enough, sitting down at Shunsui's side. She wants to lean up against him, but she doesn't - she knows he's in worse shape than she is, right now. So instead it's a arm draped lightly around the small of his back as she glanced back down towards the floor again.]

I should've been paying attention.

[itsamanlypink]

[There is no such hesitation from Shunsui. He has believed her dead so many times - believed that she was gone and that he would never see her again; never feel her reiatsu slip inito place beside his own; never touch her, smell her hair or taste her skin.

He throws his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close and turning his head to bury his face in her hair. It's not really an attempt to hide the tears that he can feel burning behind his own eyelids. Trying to do so in the face of the oppressive chill and pressure of her reiatsu would be a wasted effort and besides, there's no shame in them and nor is it anything that Jyuushiko has not seen before. It's more that he wants - no, needs - to remind himself that she is alive. That they are both alive.

His other arm slips lightly round her waist, and he can feel the bandages under her gown that are wrapped as tightly as his own. His fingers trace over them gently.]

We both should.

I'm sorry, Ukitake.

[toppedbyfishies]

[She doesn't pull away from the touch - truth be told, she wants it as much as he does. But being the one who's doing better has never been easy for her - it's not a role she's used to, and particularly here, she's worried about pushing things too far.

As she rests, shoulder to shoulder with him, She reaches her hand up, tracing the ridge of his spine lightly. There's the briefest pause, a slight tensing of muscles in anticipation as his questing fingers reach the edge of the half-healed scar, but she relaxes again when there's no pain.]

Don't blame yourself, Shun.

[itsamanlypink]

[His fingers halt their exploration the instant that Jyuushiko's breath stills and her muscles contract under his touch. Her hesitation is clear enough even without the ability to closely read her reiatsu - the tentative hand on his back enough of a message in itself

[toppedbyfishies]

[When he pulls back, she does too, a little - she has no wish to hurt him, and if her touch is bothering his injuries, well, she won't do it, then.

She presses a small kiss to his shoulder, and then shifts slightly so that she's brushing up against his side, but not resting her weight against him at all. Still, even that light touch is reassuring.]

What, so Aizen could have killed you as well?

[There's a harsh edge to her voice, but underneath that, there's the shakiness that comes with fear. She knows how much Shun hates using his bankai, and knows that against Aizen, it would have been suicide.]

[itsamanlypink]

[It's almost too much to contemplate: the Gotei without its Soutaichou - the only Soutaichou it had ever known, who had created it from whole cloth and the remnants of what had once been little more than a ceremonial guard functioning only at the whim of the noble families. Even the knowledge that Ukitake is alive, here - that he can feel the warmth of her against him - is not enough to put aside the knowledge that he had failed. He had failed, and someone had died.]

It was my duty to protect him, Ukitake... it was my duty to protect you.

[The anger in his voice is barely contained, and his fingers curl into fists against the urge to hit something, anything. He had disobeyed an order - hesitated when the Old Man had told them to stand firm - told himself there was time when there had been none.

She is right. We could not defeat the Mirrored One. He was too strong.Katen Kyokotsu's refusal to use the name of Aizen's blade is not new - her contempt born of a resentment that one zanpakutou would deceive another. But to his knowledge,

[toppedbyfishies]

[Even with Retsu's kidou barrier, and her own seriously depleted spiritual energy, she can still feel the shift in his, the familiar darkness of anger rearing it's ugly head - and she doesn't have the power to counteract it like she usually does, to use her power as a buffer of protection.

Instead, for how, she places her hand over one his shaking ones, cementing their physical contact a little more, as she cannot do the same with her reiatsu right now.]

Damnit, Shun...

[Her voice cracks a little on the words, a mixture of frustration and sadness.]

If this is your fault, it's mine too. Don't shoulder this yourself.

[And she knows he will, if given the opportunity. She knows he blames himself for not standing up a little more a century ago, when he first had his doubts about Aizen. Nevermind that she had been the one to convince him it was nothing - that darker side of him, well-hidden from most of others, was a little more visible to her.]