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.
"Che yourself, they're still cute, oh! maybe you can take one on a date. Maybe go to a, um, I think they're called a moovee."
"No." He deadpanned, "I ain't taking some random girl on a date."
Kenpachi sighed, perhaps the girl did not understand the meaning behind a date, and what people expected out of it. It was only fitting that she would be so excited to use a human term where she had picked up from god knows where.
"Hai, yes!"
He resisted the urge to facepalm, the girl really needed to learn about human culture. But, they would get there. Hopefully, the girl would take it as a sign to leave and go back to her table.
But, like most agressive women, she didn't.
"Do better then what?"
"Well you, bitch." The girl retorted at the clueless girl, obviously trying to frighten the young Shinigami.
Now it was getting a little out of hand. Standing up abruptly, the large man glowered at the girl, causing her to shrink back almost immediately. He then closed the lid on the pizza box and jerked his head at Aoide.
"We're leaving." He stated simply, before heading for the exit, leaving a rather bewildered and dissappointed group of girls behind.
"Wait why? Why did she call me a bitch? Aren't we together? I thought I was being friendly. Are all humans like her? Poor Ikkaku if he has a human girlfriend," Aoide spoke following after Kenpachi looking extremely confused and scratching her head before turning to the girls, "Was very nice to meet you, even if we didn't get your names," Aoide bowed very properly before running after Kenpachi, "What, what just happened? Why did they hate me, I was being nice," she questioned frowning a little.
Well, she had been pretty nice, and the girl seemed nice until Aoide said that she and Kenpachi were together, which they were. Unless, human had another meaning to together? But what did it mean, unless, they thought that her and Kenpachi were, ooooohhhhh. "Wait they thought, you and me?" Aoide asked stopping in the middle of the street before trying to hide her grin, "No way! Why in the hell would they think that?"
"Because, Baka." Kenpachi said, sighing heavily. "We're not in a group and we're hangin' out together. Plus, you told them that we were."
Walking down the street at a steady pace, the tall captain made no effort to weave through the crowd. Rather, he forced people to get around him.
"It's too crowded here." Kenpachi looked over his shoulder, "Let's find somewhere to sit and finish off this pizza."
Finding a bench on the side of the street, Kenpachi took a seat and reopened the box, which was surprisingly only one-third full. Perhaps they were faster eaters then he would have guessed.
"Whaddaya plan to do today?" Kenpachi asked, after a couple moments of eating in silence. "I recall you havin' all sorts of plans before."
"Psh, bakas," Aoide said putting her arms behind her head and not taking a seat beside Kenpachi and instead stood and rocked back and forth on her feet. "Che, humans are stupid, not only are you like 500 years older then me, you look older, and you are Kenpachi Zaraki Captain of Squad 11. While I am Aoide Squad 10, 3rd seat, we are diffently not compatible as a couple, and we weren't all nuzzily to make them think that," Aoide said before sighing and flopping down in the seat beside Kenpachi and taking a slice of pizza.
"I like it okay, I feel like I don't know all the rules, or understand everything here. I mean in the Soul Society so many things are just black and white, and here they are different. But the human world is...pretty, so alive. I think it's because humans don't know what to expect when they die so they try to fit everything into their short lifespan," Aoide said after thinking on Kenpachi's question for a little bit, "What about you Pachi-san? Do you like the human world?"
"Che, humans are stupid, not only are you like 500 years older then me, you look older, and you are Kenpachi Zaraki Captain of Squad 11. While I am Aoide Squad 10, 3rd seat, we are diffently not compatible as a couple, and we weren't all nuzzily to make them think that."
"Baka, you still told them that we were, even if you didn't know it." Kenpachi started, before looking at her in a shocked manner. "And I ain't even five hundred years old!"
With that, he whacked her upside the head for good measure before continuing. "Humans don't know a thing about Soul Society, or it's seatin's. So they ain't got any clue about anythin'."
He sighed, before returning to his slice of pizza and scarfing it down. "What about you Pachi-san? Do you like the human world?"
"I come here for business." He huffed. "Nothing else. Well, that is aside from today. Usually some stupid hollow or arrancar try to feast on souls... and when the local patrol can't help it, I guess higher ups are called in."
"But still, I don't really like it that much, because an overflow in reiastu can knock it off balance." Kenpachi shrugged. "That means Shinigami have to be careful, even though there ain't no way in hell that Hollow will be."
Having finished the box, he discarded it in a trashcan nearby before rising to his feet. "So whaddaya wanna do?"
"Yeah, but it's kind opf fun to pretend to be human, but I like being a Shinigami better, we get pointy swords," Aoide said hopping to her feet and waiting for Kenpachi to return from throwing the box away. And then she heard it, that beat, that rythmn, she could feel it in her bones, beating against her skin, luring her. Music, loud music, the sound of laughing, the smell of booze,Aoide took off towards the music, leaving Kenpachi behind.
She was obessed, that sound! It was like nothing she had ever heard before as she rounded a corner to see a long line of people waiting outside a club. So this was a club...why were these people waiting in line, wasn't the point to be in the club? Aoide walked up to the door and just walked past the burly guy guarding it, she waved cheerfully to the guy before she was surrounded by daning bodies, loud music, and ladies who were walking around with drinks. This...was...heaven. Well the good kind, seeing as the Soul Society, aw hell, she was thinking to much. Aoide threw herself in to mass of bodies and started dancing.
Dancing, it was a secret passion to Aoide. Deep in her closet she had several books about dancing, including one that was, 'Ballet 101,' which she had learned by heart. But this wasn't organized and as strict as ballet. Aoide let the music move through her body, letting it follow the beat. Though she didn't know it, she was a damn good dancer.
"Yeah, but it's kind opf fun to pretend to be human, but I like being a Shinigami better, we get pointy swords."
He scoffed at her reasoning, or lack thereof. If Hitsugaya were there he would've started lecturing her about how there was so much to being a soul reaper than just holding a pointy sword.
In fact, he probably would have thrown the book at her.
Before he knew it; however, the girl just upped and left, running as fast as he could. He sighed, just what was it with this girl anyways? She was friggen' hyper today, it was pretty nuts.
"Oi!" He called out, having taken off in the same direction that she had. "Damnit, where the hell di she go?"
He continued to look about when he heard the music, the loud, pounding music. That must have been it. Back in Soul Society, Aoide had been going nuts when she had told him that she had wanted to go clubbing.
So of course, it was only natural that she went there.
Walking up to the front of the line, as he hadn't seen her in the line, he was immediately stopped by the bouncer.
"Who do you think you are?" The man asked him and grabbing his shoulders, causing the tall captain to laugh.
Without answering, Zaraki grabbed the man by the hem of the shirt and hoisted him up, immediately lifting him up off the ground. While earning startled gasps from spectators, he simply smiled largely and threw the man into the bushes.
"Che." Kenpachi grunted, before walking into the night club. He spotted her immediately, dancing her heart out to the music. He himself wasn't much of a dance but he could tell that she had somewhat of a passion for it.
Making his way through the crowd, he finally caught up with her and scowled. "Ya shouldn't just ditch like that, ya know?"
Aoide was completely into the music until a arge hand clapped down on her shoulder, scaring her to death and she whirled around to look at Kenpachi. She stared at him for a few moment, confused at why her vision was blurred, she reached up to her eyes, pullling her hand back in surprise. Tears, she was crying, not full out sobbing but her eyes were moist with tears. She quickly wiped them away, stupid, no matter how much she had always wanted to dance, the Soul Society wasn't the place for such things. Of course there was the traditional dances at the festivals, but not like this, not in the human world. But this passion that had been balled up inside her for so long, the release of it had been incredible, which might have xplained the tears. Around her she could feel the energy of the normal humans, it vibrated against her skin making her want to move again.
"The smoke machine they're using," she said, her voice oddly being able to be heard by Kenpachi, "It's making my eyes hurt," she shook her head it was a good enough excuse. She was an ex Squad 11 member, crying wasn't allowed. "Pachi-san," she suddenly spoke her throat feeling thick, she grabbed his hand, "Thank you!"
She then turned and ran for the bar to order a drink.
Was she... crying? He couldn't believe it, in his short time knowing her, he would never believe that he could have broken down the barriers that allowed a person to cry. Most people thought tears as a sign of weakness, but Kenpachi Zaraki, of all people, knew better. Hell, he knew that that night at his place, she had wanted to cry, but didn't because of this apparent weakness.
Hell, sometimes he even cried when recalling the former Yachiru. A fact that he would never openly admit. "The smoke machine they're using," He resisted the urge to laugh at such a lame excuse. "Pachi-san, Thank you!"
That was something the tall captain had not been expecting; however, as she turned to run to the bar, he easily stopped her by pulling on her hand and crushing her to his chest.
"Cryin' ain't somethin' to be ashamed of." His low voice whispered softly, well, as softly as it got with Kenpachi Zaraki. "There ain't a need to hold stuff in."
It was weird, holding a woman like this that wasn't Yachiru, former and present. The action seemed so foreign to him, something that he had not even touched since he saw her get washed away from his life.
It was a dark day, but he was able to pick up and move on.
"... strong people cry to."
It didn't matter that the music was still pounding, and that the place was incredibly crowded, he knew that she needed to know that she would never be alone.
Air slowly slipped out of Aoide's lugs as her body was crushed against Kenpachi, the man did not know his own strength. Then again, Aoide hadn't expect him to catch her hand and to suddenly pull her into his arm, a hug? She didn't think that the Demon was capable of hugs, let alone why he would want to hug her. She was going just down a few drinks and dance some more until she was forced to go back to the Soul Society. She hadn't wanted him to see her cry, for him to know how much her soul ached for the freedom of music and movement like in the human world. How the song she heard was constantly out of reach, teasing her when she wanted to know the tune, to memorize it. As if doing that would allow her to learn about herself and her Zanpaktou. But it was always out of reach, Aoide felt like she was just barely brushing it with her fingertips. Had Kenpachi taken another Shinigami, then any type of conversation would have been lost in the music, but aoide could feel her ears grasping for the words her spoke as well as when she spoke she could feel the direction of the sound going directly to Kenpachi. A side affect of her powers, most likely, Aoide still wasn't sure what she was capable of, she was still a fairly young Shinigami.
There she was though, in the middle of a crowded club, this huge man, taller then anyone else, his arms wrapped around her in a hug. Aoide's body tensed, unsure what to do, and then almost naturally she relaxed, her own arms wrapping around his waist. She rested her forehead on his chest, she let out a sigh. She liked Kenpachi, he was a comforting figure to her, if that wasn't a strange statement considering who he was. But Aoide had never been afraid of him like some Shinigami, intimidated yes, scared no.
And he smelt good, but this was all good to be true. After all Kenpachi had thrown that bouncer into a bush. She looked past his arm and smacked her forehead as she saw a couple police officers walking around the club, "I'm guessing you had trouble getting in?" she asked letting go of his waist before motioning with her head for them to sneak out before the cops saw them. "We just can't go anywhere nice can we?" she joked weaving around people towards the red exit sign to the back door.
