Cry Camellia [Makoto, Shishiyuki]

It had been a short while since much of anything had happened in the Seireitei, Shishiyuki had noticed, but she could hardly say that was terribly unwelcome. These quiet moments were something that she strove for, even if in her deepest heart she knew they were not everything she wanted out of life. To live as she pleased, and to die a senseless death... Yes, there was still that desire deep in the recesses of her mind, even now. How could there not be?

But even that fire, which had burned for so long out of spite for those around her, was certainly fading away. She had found another manner by which she could cast aside the demands of those who had come before, and still not break the promise she had made to herself in her youth. And this manner was certainly far more comforting than to travel the deserts, killing freely and without care.

"Makoto, dear?"

She certainly knew she could have simply entered into her significant other's dwelling without the need to knock, but it did not sit right with her. It was a matter of her own propriety, and frankly, there was a part of her that suspected Makoto would not care much for it either. So, instead, she simply waited at the door, a small smile on her face.

Time passed in what was a seemingly disappointing way lately. There were two facets of her life and while one of them, her relationship, was growing healthy like a well-tended plant. There was the other that felt like it was lacking, her promotion had come and it didn't feel all that different to her role as a fourth seat. Maybe she had expected more to come with the mantle of vice-captain under her but she hadn't. It had become a routine that bordered on tedious, at least she coped well with a structured and uneventful life though even that seemed to wane in her last year.

The introduction of change had always been viewed as negative to her but now it felt like something positive to look forward to and all in all, it has concealed itself lately. With her day off and chance to remain in her own choice of comfort clothes she answered the door because it was one of two people and being seen like this by them didn't disturb her like it would someone else.

"Good afternoon, is everything alright?"

It was habitual to ask if it didn't need to be said. Hearing that everything was alright always put her a little more at ease.

It was almost off-putting to Shishiyuki just how striking it always was to see Makoto. The notion of attraction, of their relationship, had certainly settled into a part of her everyday life, and yet it didn't seem to ever change that there was that brief spark of joyful surprise when she looked at her. It was pleasant, if still thoroughly foreign to her. Her smile grew just a touch as she stepped in, taking Makoto's hand as she nodded in reply.

"Certainly so. The past days have been a bit busier than the norm at the estate, but it always brings me some peace to visit you."

Words she certainly never would have imagined speaking so openly, or even at all, for that matter, simply left her lips as effortlessly as casual small-talk. Perhaps that was the benefit of having become so used to this emotional openness, of not hiding away everything and acting purely as the distant head of the Koizumi. Of course, there were still those secrets that she could not share even with Makoto, but those were hardly relevant to the two of them.

She felt her cheeks warm up a bit at the sudden hold on her hand, even though it was so familiar to her the sensation never seemed to go away nor would her heart remain at its normal steady pace when Shishiyuki had her hand enclosed like this.

"I'm glad to hear, I'm afraid I'm as uneventful as always here but I'm glad to see you."

When she could finally reclaim her hand she took a step to the side and welcomed her raven haired beauty inside her dwelling. Always as orderly and organised as she kept it like anything out of place would be condemned to the ultimate punishment of her obsessive behaviours at structure.

"Would you like something to drink? I still have some of my oolong tea if you'd like some."

"So long as you are you, I could never imagine calling you 'uneventful.'"

Despite the almost inhuman order to this place, Shishiyuki still could only ever consider it an ideal place to spend her time. After all, it was profoundly like Makoto herself, wasn't it? How could she consider that anything other than comforting, pleasant? But she hardly wished to let herself become too absorbed in those thoughts, and she sat seiza at the table with a nod.

"Tea would be lovely. I hope you don't mind if I spend the day here."

Of course, she knew that would hardly be a problem, but she naturally needed to bring it up even so, as a matter of courtesy.

"Eh? Ahaha, I'm glad you think so."

It was reassuring a little bit to hear, ever the self-conscious one that she was about her presentation and character though hardly for the sake of ego though. While Shishiyuki sat she instead opted to go collect the tea which was kept on the heat to let it stay warm. She brought it over and poured her girlfriend a cup, refilling her own in the process before setting it aside.

"Of course, you are free to spend the night as well if you like."

She proffered while taking a sip from her cup. Confident enough now to say it without getting embarrassed about the idea of her and Shishiyuki together overnight.

"Ah, am I? Then I think I will take you up on that. A night here certainly sounds far more pleasant than returning home."

Though Shishiyuki said it quite collectedly, in truth, she knew there would still be no small amount of nerves to power through when it actually came time for that. She did certainly adore spending her time here, with Makoto, but the two's physical intimacy had never exactly been the easiest thing for either of them to work through. Then again, perhaps that was simply one more thing for the two of them to work on together.

"And have you been well? I imagine work has not been quite as busy of late."

Maybe she wasn't as stoic as she gave herself credit for because she averted her eyes for a moment and took another quick sip to surpress what she thought would be a dumb grin form at her comment. How easy it was for her mind to think about intimacy and the only lightly explored things which she got cold feet towards in the moment it became a reality instead of thoughts in her head.

Keeping her head turned and settling on staring at her zanpakuto which was resting on her folded shihakusho off to the wayside.

"I guess it's been a little dull, it's just become routine. No particularly exciting cases for investigation or criminals to punish. It has at least provided me an opportunity to focus on my training, I'm eager to work on acquiring my bankai though I hope it won't take years and years to accomplish. Shimensoka is so tempermental though. Ah, and it's allowed me to focus on reinforcement and improvement of the Rukongai's infrastructure."

She explained while turning back with a small smile.

"Ah, the matter of bankai... That is a quite bold effort on your behalf, then. I wish that I had more to offer you in that regard, but I have never achieved it myself, so I can offer little advice, other than perhaps to speak with my niece."

Of course, she knew that simply approaching the Captain Commander for help wasn't exactly that easy, and Shishiyuki hadn't put it forward as a serious suggestion. It was more to highlight that this was one topic about which she had very little to give. Of course, were it not for the gulf between them, her sister would certainly have been helpful, but...

"The efforts in the Rukongai are quite noble, so I am glad to hear they are going well. If there is anything I can do to assist, by all means feel free to ask it of me. I would have to consider it as head of the Koizumi, of course, rather than simply your dear Shishiyuki, but I doubt that you would make any unacceptable requests."

She had certainly slid a touch more intimate a wording of their relationship into that, and she didn't necessarily regret doing so, but her face still turned just a touch more pink at having done it.

"Hmm, I appreciate the offer but I would prefer to conquer the challenge myself. After all, Shimensoka and I are partners in that regard. If I can't overcome it between just the two of us then I'd feel like I was cheating."

Maybe a tad prideful but she was a person that looked at her achievements and liked to feel like she had done it, especially something as personal as that. There was also the matter that the less anyone would know of her bankai then the better for her. She already restricted her usage of the shikai in public as to downplay Shimensoka's abilities so that it was harder to create a countermeasure if such a situation arised.

The matter of Shishiyuki's willing to contribute did make her become more thoughtful though. It probably wasn't appropriate for her to make a request in the capacity as a vice-captain to a noble family head, frankly even the idea of asking her as her girlfriend made her feel a little wrong.

"I shall keep it in mind but so far it's going well, if something comes up I'll pass it up the chain of command. It's a bit slower in its current way but by focusing on specific disticts and building up their infrastructure those ones are then more local and closer to their neighbouring districts to improve them."

Personally she also just thought it was better for the project if much of its development was driven by the population themselves rather than getting too much aid from the Gotei and aristocracy. Some districts still held particularly bad blood towards them so by helping the more approachable ones and then allowing those ones to spread to their neighbours it felt more successful as an approach to her.