Closed//In Progress

[sandaruu]

WHO: Sarugaki Hiyori (sandaruu) & Ukitake (tempestabianca)
WHAT: Jushirou's been missing Hiyori and asked if he could visit, naturally Hiyori said yes.
WHERE: Hiyori's tiny apartment
WHEN: 11/24

Comments

[tempestabianca]

Jushirou himself had been feeling more and more confusing thoughts and feelings towards Hiyori as time had gone on. The obvious conclusion was that he had somehow grown to fancy her. They'd worked together a long time...many of the cases they had solved were done so as partners. Her in the forefront, him in the background hiding behind the cowl of his codename "Tempesta Bianca". Even now, their subordinates Kiyone Kotetsu and Lauren Reed were working on the same case. Even now...they were partners.

So why is it that now he was starting to fall for her? Maybe it's because he was finally beginning to see that need. She never spoke it, and she hardly ever showed it, but he knew...he knew the Captain leaving had left a deep scar on her. Jushirou found himself thinking that he would have gone through the same thing if Shunsui had disappeared...

But that's why he was determined to be there for her. And pensively, he gave a knock to the door of the small apartment. One he had become increasingly familiar with over the last several months.

[sandaruu]

The small blonde's jaw clenched as she heard the knocking at her door. She took a deep breath as she made the short trip across her living room to the front door, opening it once she felt calm enough.

Hiyori looked better than she had lately, she actually looked like she had had a few nights of good sleep lately. She turned her dark eyes up to look at Jushirou briefly before stepping aside to let him in. "Hey." she said quietly, shutting the door behind him once he was inside.

It'd been so long since she'd last seen him she felt slightly awkward. But despite the slight awkwardness she felt she also felt herself feeling a bit warmer, the same feeling she always got when around him.

[tempestabianca]

And he gave her that same warm smile he always did. The one that just seemed to sooth all worries and express his care for her in ways his words could not. For as poetic as Jushirou could be, he always seemed to stumble over his feet when it came to the real thing. But that smile...that smile was like a sonnet.

"I brought something you might like," he said, pulling something from the satchel he was carrying over his shoulder. From it he procured a bottle of cherry mead, imported from an old friend in Germany. He figured he might as well go with the alcohol equivalent of candy for their first meeting in so long.

[sandaruu]

Hiyori couldn't help herself and returned Jushirou's warm smile with a small smile of her own. "Thanks." she replied as she took the bottle of mead from him. After which she turned and placed it on the counter in her kitchen.

Silently she returned to the living room and plopped down on the couch.

[sandaruu]

The more he stared the more it frustrated her. In fact the whole situation was frustrating. The problem was she couldn't figure out why it bothered her so much. She kept telling herself that it was because she wasn't used to this kind of stuff and maybe that was it.

Hiyori let out a little growl and pushed herself up from the couch. She felt like she needed to cool off. Quickly she moved from the living room over to the kitchen. She filled her glass with some ice and water and quickly drank it, the whole time trying not to look over toward Jushirou.

Maybe she was scared, as much as she'd never admit it to herself that was more than likely her problem. Afraid to get close to someone and afraid that she'd lose that person. She didn't want to go through that kind of pain again.

[tempestabianca]

Jushirou wasn't discouraged...well that wasn't true. He did question if he was coming on too strongly. This happening so soon after Captain Hirako's leaving...maybe it wasn't the best time. But part of him felt that now was when his comfort would be put to best use. He wanted to be her shield...the rock that kept her weighted to a warm reality. The reality that he was there for her, and always would be for as long as he could.

[sandaruu]

Hiyori took another drink of water and let out a sigh before turning her gaze back over to Jushirou. "Why?" she asked, trying not like she was too interested in his answer.

It was hard for her, having grown up on the streets, relying only on herself to get by. Even after joining Shinji's gang she tried hard not to rely on the others. This was different for her and Hiyori didn't do well with changes.

[tempestabianca]

"Time makes fools of us all, Hiyori," he said with a slight chuckle, finishing his glass. Of course, that statement could have meant several things, but for the most part he meant that the time he had spent becoming closer to her...had perhaps made him a fool in love.