With the Captains suffering casualties and heavy injuries on their side, all hope seemed to be lost... until Shinji Hirako appeared, along with the rest of the former Shinigami. Though the aid of the Vizards certainly helped to draw the battle in their favor, it seemed Aizen's power alone proved too much for them.
"Psh easy for you to say, you've been living longer then I have. I'm still at the height of my youth, my memories are still fresh," Aoide pouted following Kenpachi, carefully she drew up the skirt-like part of her robes and dipped her feet in the water and sighed. "Usually, I don't let rumors get to me, you know, or I try not to. After a while though it just eats at your soul, some people are just jerks and you can't beat it out of them. Believe me I've tried," Aoide said closing her eyes and letting the sun splash across her face. "Yachiru is a girl though, it's a completely different playing field, people either consider her adorable or an annoyance, but in the end she's still a child. Being a woman though is much worst, it fees like everyone is watching you. Tsk, it's hard to explain to a guy," Aoide opened her brown eyes and stared across the water.
"You forget I wasn't even close to Shikai until I went to Squad 10. I mean, shoot, could you imagine me trying to fight Yumichika or Ikka-chan without a Shikai, it would have been a death wish. And neither of them, or even you, have a Kidou based shikai so there wasn't too many people in the Squad I could have gotten training on. And going to another Squad to train? I would have been laughed out of the Squad, Pachi-san," she said running her fingers in the water before kicking her feet a little, "Don't try to deny it, even if it was to get stronger, I would have been considered weak on going to another squad."
"Gah, it feels like everyone's been to the human world but me!" She finally spoke rubbing her hair until it stuck out in several place, she then blinked a few times, "Why was Ikka-chan scarred from the human world?" she asked pulling out her pigtails, her dark hair brushing against her shoulders. Pulling out the pins Aoide held them in her mouth as she tried to fix her hair.
"Psh easy for you to say, you've been living longer then I have. I'm still at the height of my youth, my memories are still fresh."
He laughed, expecting such a childish answer. "Whatever kid."
A turtle, mistaking his foot for a rock, swam over a rested itself upon the large man's foot. The man frowned for a slight moment before a smile cracked open upon his features. With speed that was incomprehensible to the naked eye. He kicked upwars, launching the turtle and a funnel of disturbed water into the air.
The poor thing didn't realize it was in the air until it was falling. Batting about it's legs frantically as if it was trying to fly, the small creature plummeted back towards the pond. It's efforts were to no avail as in crashed into the water, sinking deep into its depth before regaining it's senses and swimming frantically away.
Kenpachi, seeing the whole thing, burst out laughing before helping himself to more sake.
"Don't try to deny it, even if it was to get stronger, I would have been considered weak on going to another squad."
"Baka." He simply stated before hitting her upside the head with his left hand. It wasn't a harsh strike, simply one to knock her back her senses. "I didn't take you as the type that cared what other people think. What does it matter? Ain't worth your time. You do what you do to get stronger, and then you come back and you wipe the smiles off the faces that mocked you."
He filled up another cup and downed it. "If you live your whole life worryin' about everyone else you ain't gettin' nowhere."
"Gah, it feels like everyone's been to the human world but me!"
"Che." He shrugged, turning his attention to a turtle attempting to stabilize itself on a lillipad. "Ain't nothing special about it."
"Why was Ikka-chan scarred from the human world?"
He laughed loudly, voice reverberating about the confines of the house. Before he answered he filled another cup and downed it before smiling crudely. "His girlfriend."
"Ouch hey!" Aoide complained, the pins that were in her mouth falling into pond, "Damn, screw it then," she sighed keeping her hair down and stowing her hair ribbons in her pocket and stuck her tongue out at Kenpachi, "Not all of us have the confidence of muscles and put the fear in others to get through the day," she spoke pouting a little, "I don't really care what people think most of the time, I just worry sometimes." She watched the turtle, feeling a little bad for the creature, but wasn't that life. Just crawling along and suddenly a huge foot comes out of nowhere, tosses you up, you think your dead, but instead you just crash back into the water, find out your alright, and just do it all over again. Aoide sighed at the stupid turtle was crawling towards Kenpachi's foot again. Lying down on her stomach she scopped the thing out of the water and turned it's crawling to away from Kenpachi. She continued to lay on her stomach and took a drink of her sake, her feet waving in the air back and forth.
"Girlfriend," Kenpachi spoke, causing Aoide to become surprised and suck Sake up her nose.
"Gah!" she said rolling around on the ground, "It burns!" this went on for a few more seconds bfore she composed herself and sat up leaning on Kenpachi's shoulder, trying to look as cool as possible despite her watering eyes. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of pockey and opened it offering some of the sweet candy to Kenpachi. "So a girlfriend...I wouldn't have expected it," she snorted and laughed a little in disbelief, "Don't get me wrong, he's pretty good looking sans not having any hair. But he's all about the stabbing, I couldn't see him dating a human. Interesting I was not expecting that," she said grinning, before she realized she was still leaing on Kenpachi's shoulder, turned red, tentively patted his shoulde before returning to her spot next to him her feet in the water.
As the girl dropped her pins and began to act like a small child, the tall captain could do little else other then laugh. It was ridiculous, to think that silly strike actually harmed her at all.
"I don't really care what people think most of the time, I just worry sometimes."
"Worry about what?" Zaraki scoffed, cracking his neck and watching her turn the turtle away from its ultimate doom. He frowned slightly, she had destroyed her momentary fun. "Worry about what people will think? Don't be ridiculous. Do you think any captain or seated member got where they are by worrying about what others thought? That is, aside from Yumichika."
"And don't gimme that crap about the difference between a girl and a woman." He downed another glass. "Ain't a day that goes by where my decision with Yachiru isn't questioned, where all eyes aren't on her, waiting for her to screw up."
"Even Ikkaku thinks that." Kenpachi continued, "He tries to hide it but I know full well that he envy's Yachiru's spot by my side and believes that he should be there."
"However," Kenpachi stated grimly, filling his cup again. "she would never let that bring her down."
"Gah!"
He raised an eyebrow and turned a shocked eye at the woman's newfound antics. She was rolling about as if a demon had claimed her soul or something.
"It burns!"
That, or it was sake.
When she finally got over her moment of insanity she sat up and leaned against his shoulder, whether he was put off by it or not, his facial expression did not tell it. "You done dyin' yet?"
"So a girlfriend...I wouldn't have expected it. Don't get me wrong, he's pretty good looking sans not having any hair. But he's all about the stabbing, I couldn't see him dating a human. Interesting I was not expecting that."
"Che." He let out as he turned his attention back to the pond. "He's in denial. That baka."
Feeling the weight lift off his shoulder, his eye shifted to his side and he noticed that she was blushing deeply. He was about to question her actions but decided against it, filling up another glass and downing it.
Aoide stared across the water sucking on a stick of pocky. The chocolate stick moved from one side of her mouth to the other as she thought quietly to herself. Did she worry too much? She supposed it was possible, several times she had questioned what she had been doing, which then caused her to hesitate, and then something would go wrong. She wasn't like Captain Baba-chan at least, she knew how to have fun, she tried not to worry so much. Maybe that's why she liked hanging around Squad 11 members so much, everything was always chaos and everyone lived by the sword. Hell, they even had their own code of standards, Aoide liked that.
Aoide crunched down on the pocky and then finished off her cup of sake, pouring another. Huh, so Ikkaku had a human girlfriend but he was in denial about. That was a shame, she had really liked him too. He had been one of the first people to actually treat her like an opponent instead of a girl, or a joke. He didn't seem to mind her being a spazz, well it seemed like Kenpachi didn't either. .....Did Kenpachi have a girlfriend?
Aoide looked at Kenpachi for a few seconds. Well she had to be strong, very tall, lots of muscles, like to fight, and probably had a lot of hair too. Aoide imagined a Valkerie-like woman running around with a meat cleaver as a Zanpaktou. She snorted and started laughing, she covered up her mouth and tried hard to stop laughing. "Gomen, gomen," she gasped lazyily laying back on the soft grass, "Since we were talking about Ikkaku's girlfriend. I tried to imagine what your girlfriend looked like!" she then started laughing again and rolled on her side away from Kenpachi.
Sharing a moment of companiable silence, the tall captain took a moment to indulge in more sake. He sighed contently and rolled his neck, there was somewhat a crink that the man couldn't seem to get out.
After awhile he gave up and noticed that the girl was staring at him out of the corner of his eye, a fact that he decided to ignore for a few moments before she began to laugh. Giving her a look like she was mentally insane, he sighed and shook her head, it seemed like she couldn't exactly hold her alcohol in.
"Gomen, gomen. Since we were talking about Ikkaku's girlfriend. I tried to imagine what your girlfriend looked like!"
It was Kenpachi's turn to choke on his sake. Something he handled a lot better than Aoide. He simply coughed a couple times before recovering and giving the laughing girl a bewildered look.
"What the hell?!" He said after getting over his initial shock. "I haven't had a girlfriend since--..."
Really, he had to watch his sake intake, the man had just said a lot more then he had ever intended to say, to anyone!
"... Nevermind." He muttered, quickly filling up another cut and downing it in one gulp. How many cups he had taken, he couldn't even remember anymore. Maybe about thirty five? He was never really the type to count.
Aoide turned back over, proping herself up on one elbow stared at Kenpachi a slight grin on her face. "The Demon, Kenachi Zaraki, Pachi-san, has had a girlfriend before!?" She asked in disbelief, "No way!" she added, not worrying if this type of banter the Captain. She then sat up on both arms still staring at Kenpachi. She then did start wondering what that type of woman was like. Aoide's imagination failed her, she could think of what that woman had been like. But...she...must...not...pry. Aoide let out a sigh, too many questions she wanted to ask and knew that most of them would probably give Kenpachi permission to punt her into the pond.
She went back to just bing proped up by her elbow and gave Kenpachi a friendly grin, "Figures the Demon has better luck with love then I do," she stated before chuckling and finishing another glass of sake, and filling it up again. She let out a content sigh and went back to laying on her back. The hot weather had shifted a little and it wasn't as hot, it was actually comfortably warm, Aoide closed her eyes. "She must have been on hell of a woman to catch your eye," she added whispfully opening her eyes again and looking up at the clouds, "anyway lets talk about something else, such talk depresses me."
"The Demon, Kenachi Zaraki, Pachi-san, has had a girlfriend before!? No way!"
He sighed, mentally cursing sake and the effects it took on people. "...Urusai, gaki."
Hearing a sigh from beside him, Kenpachi looked over to see the girl obviously internally battling. His guess was she was wondering whether or not to push the subject. At this moment in time though, gods help her if she did.
"Figures the Demon has better luck with love then I do." He heard after a couple moments, to which he grunted in return. "She must have been on hell of a woman to catch your eye."
He frowned slightly before downing another glass and flopping down on his back, his feet still dangling in the water.
"Not everyone starts out as a demon." He said, possibly not even aware that he said it out loud. Closing his eyes, he let a small smile creep onto his face in memory of the one person who brought light into his life.
"... And what about you?" Kenpachi asked after a long, drawn out moment, completely disregarding her final statement like she hadn't even said it.
"Me, me?" Aoide spoke, as she began to gnaw on the bottom of her lip and went quiet. She sat up and played with the sake cup in her hand, hiding her eyes which were filled with saddness. An unspeakable lonliness spread through her chest as she stared at her cup. She then put down her cup and just hugged herself with her arms. "There's never been anyone," she finally spoke, her voice oddly flat. "Can you believe it, well yes you can. I'm not like the other Women Shinigami. They're so beautiful, graceful, and filled with strength, you know the stuff guys really like. I'm not, not even by a mile, I'm clumbsy, say the wrong things, and accidently blow things up. I mean thr rumors only tarnished by reputation so much. Not many guys would date a girl like me. I have no money and kick most of the guy's ass, not a charming quality to have in a girlfriend."
"Doesn't help I'm kind of picky, I want a guy that I can fight against and he doesn't treat me like a china doll, but also having the ability that when the fight's over to treat me like a woman," Aoide continued to gnaw on her bottom lip, and held herself tightly, "It's, just, you get lonely after a while, I hate being alone." She didn't add that when she was alone, that's when her Zanpaktou would begin to speak. He was insane, and oddly sometimeshe made sense, even if Aoide never followed through with his plans, it was still frightening.
"Pah, I'll find someone, you'll see," Aoide finally spoke again rubbing her eyes and grinning at Kenpachi, "I mean not all of them are glass, there has to be one I won't break!" she said sounding a little too cheerful.
He peeked open his eye at the sudden change in tone, observing her obvious change in demeanor. Was this what she could be so worried about?
"...I just worry sometimes."
He fell silent, listening her somewhat determined ramblings that he knew were mostly meant for herself. He guessed that everyone had a chord that was struck once in awhile.
"It's, just, you get lonely after a while, I hate being alone."
He zoned out as she said everything else, taking in those words. Alone, to be alone, that was something he had lived with for many, many years. But he had survived it, and though it hurt, to see people, happy... he still moved forward.
"... I had no name." He stated, pointedly ignoring her comment. "No parents. In the 80th district, Zaraki."
Taking another swig of sake, the man sighed and opened his eye lazily, staring up at the opening in the roof and at the sky. It had been a bright and heated day, but with the cool temperature of the water, the pond was now bearable.
"The 80th district has always been known to be the most lawless district in the Spirit world, and that was a place I was forced to endure. I was like any kid at the time, alone and scared. Peh, pathetic... truely alone." He downed another cup, before filling it again instantly. "Being as weak as I was, I was surprised that I've survived for as long as I have."
He fell silent, closing his eye and taking down another cup of sake. It wasn't like he to open up like this, but he blamed the sake. It obvioulsy being the reason as to why he was so relaxed.
"But I am." He finished lamely, obviously creating a huge time-gap in his life, but he didn't seem to take notice of this, and filled another cup.
