Cry Camellia [Makoto, Shishiyuki]

Shishiyuki would have liked to tell Makoto that such pride was likely harmful to her overall progress, but at the same time, she knew perfectly well that to say such a thing would only be hypocritical of her. After all, when was the last time that she was ever so willing to look to others on how to improve her form, her technique? Not since she was a girl.

"I suppose in time I will likely be involved in that in some capacity or another. I think it would only be right that the noble families do something to assist the Rukongai, don't you? If we are only here on account of our blood, I think it would only be right if we used that for some sort of benefit. Though, I know perfectly well that not all of my fellow nobles would share such an ideal. And, of course, that many of the people of the Rukongai would likely spurn our help. Maybe it is simply wishful thinking on my behalf."

Of course it was, but that didn't change that Shishiyuki wished to help, in some way or another. Not simply out of altruism, nor on account of Makoto's involvement, but rather out of what could only ever be called spite. Toward her fellow nobles, toward her own family, and even toward herself, in one way or another. She knew, after all, that there was only one thing which truly separated her family from all others.

And that one thing was, in all reality, nothing to take pride in.

"...I suppose so, though I don't really view nobility as offerring anything of value though."

It was a question that viewed as quite loaded even though she knew Shishiyuki's stance echoed her own, regardless though it still made her feel off to voice her feelings given her own significant other of who she was answering the question for belonged to such a family. Though it was much of her spite and disdain from her upbringing and given the actions of one such noblewoman exploiting her position.

At the same time though there was no worth for them in her head even if they did possess stronger genetics and got an extra foot forward into the world because of their blueblood their influence, power and resources were unnecessary and opulent.

"Well... except you. You're the best thing to come out of nobility."

Wow. Even that made her go bright red, flirty or romantic but that just made her think to herself how cheesy and stupid that sounded after it had left her lips.

Certainly, there had been any number of more serious responses that Shishiyuki had been ready to give. Conversation on the place of the nobility in the Soul Society was something she quite rarely had, after all, and she didn't tend to think highly of the entire system these days. But their conversation seemed to have taken a rather sharp turn now, and whether that had been by Makoto's intention or not, Shishiyuki wasn't certain. Not that she minded, of course. Her smile grew quite a bit, and she blushed enough that, had she a fan in hand, she certainly would have hidden her expression with it.

"You certainly do have a way with words, don't you? It really is no wonder that you've taken the heart of a noble such as I."

Of course, she didn't really consider her position to matter much at all, least of all when it came to their relationship. It had simply been something amusing to retort with, and she moved from her seiza position to bring herself next to Makoto, taking her hand and looking into her eyes with an admittedly embarrassed smile.

"But thank you, Makoto dear. I do quite love to hear such things from you."

She mulled a bit on her words, it wasn't intentional and maybe she had just got caught up in wanting to add a positive spin to her poor opinion of nobles even though she probably didn't have to soften the blow for Shishiyuki or anything like that. It still felt mean in the abstract though, like if someone had spoken poorly of all blacksmiths then she thought she'd be a bit irritatated for her father's memory.

"Y-you think so?"

It came out a lot more meekly than she had intended and she was being advanced on although maybe the fact that Shishiyuki used the social status in a playful way in conjuction. Regardless though, she did smile back with just as flustered an expression and plant a kiss on her lips to try and make it less obvious.

Keeping her stoicism was so hard around her but she didn't mind, it felt wrong to try and hide under her tight lips and disinterested eyes when she was with Shishiyuki. As though it were a crime to conceal anything from her that she deserved to be put on trial for trying to do it.

For all the words and all the pleasantries they might have exchanged, Shishiyuki would never deny that there was a profound gravity to these more physical moments. It was as if infinitely more words than might ever be spoken were all being expressed at once, and for her, that was quite a wonderful thought. Despite her role, and her family's duty, she had never considered herself particularly good with words.

Of course, that only made her then think to what came afterward, where it went if they did not simply stop here, and those thoughts were always confusing, divisive even in her mind. Shishiyuki was, for all her disdain toward the noble traditions, still thoroughly one who had promised to herself that she would be an ideal head of the family. There was something that fundamentally ate at her when she thought of that, as if it were something wrong. Was it? She wasn't entirely certain, even now.

And, of course, trying to consider questions such as that, when her lips were still meeting Makoto's, was not something she considered particularly wise. So, for now, she chose not to consider that, not to get ahead of herself and think about what might come of this moment. She simply brought a hand around, trailing gently through Makoto's hair as she deepened their kiss just a touch. She had certainly become a bit more forward over their time together, if nothing else. Makoto had seemed to appreciate it.

How long was too long, even if she had experience it felt like one of those things that she never quite figured out. She had originally meaned to just kiss her briefly and give time for their embarrassed expressions to pass but it was not a quick thing when she felt their kiss deepen and a hand behind her in her hair. Moments like this is when her thoughts were as quick as her heartbeat, jumping from one to another fast enough that she didn't have time to fully process what her thoughts even were.

She did fold though, it was just easier to not mull on the thoughts at times like these and work off instinct and said instincts were telling her to kiss back and reciprocate. It wasn't like she had anything to be embarrassed about or something she should be worried about.

So she got closer so that she was sitting on her lap and able to rest her hands on the toned waist that she was paying far more attention to the feeling and physique of what her hands were holding than what she would normally do.

Shishiyuki herself had hardly intended for her efforts to push things along to this degree, but at the same time, she would hardly think to complain about the situation. Her lips upon Makoto's, the hands at her waist, such things were enough to make her lose sight of anything else she might have had in mind when she came here. But, really, wasn't that something she appreciated about these visits? That they cut away so much from her life, allowed her to enjoy nothing but the simple, earnest pleasure of being with this woman?

A part of her wished for more, far more than this. Her mind wandered back to that night that they had very nearly closed the gap between themselves entirely-- but, no. That wasn't what she wished for, not in a moment like this. It was still too earnest, too pure, and in a way she was nearly mad at herself for allowing thoughts such as those to creep into her mind. Pulling herself away, just a touch, Shishiyuki spoke quietly, not wishing to ruin the peaceful tranquility of their intimate moment.

"I see now how you can speak such honeyed words, when your lips are so unspeakably sweet, Ma-ko-to-chan."

It was things like that which only reinforced to Shishiyuki that she was not particularly good with words, for she certainly would not ever have dared to speak something such as that in any attempt at poetry or prose. But they were the words which had come to her mind, and she felt it necessary that she be as forward as she was able to be with Makoto. It was only right, knowing she still had to keep some secrets.

When they finally broke apart and Makoto was given a moment to catch her breath the unexpected words hit her in the most profound way in that she didn't know exactly what to make of them. Sitting in her lap and a bit hot under the collar. Then her very conflicted thoughts which were so focused and yet so cloudy from thinking about every inch of Shishiyuki that her digits passed over and clouded by the less respectable thoughts all came to a standstill.

It caught her a little bit off-guard and the first thing she did after her initial surprise was laugh a bit. Neither hearty nor a charmed chuckle, it was a titter and left her awkwardly sitting there while trying to recover.

"Um.. Thank you Shishi-chan."

Even though she attempted to reciprocate there was certainly no seamless charm to it. Just the young woman trying to not make her girlfriend uncomfortable after her reaction to her sweet words which were surely genuine though a little much.

Makoto's quiet laugh was, quite frankly, the exact sort of response that Shishiyuki had expected, given the words she'd just said. They had hardly been elegant, or even poetic, but they had still been quite earnest. Even if they were embarrassing, she did not regret saying them.

"Was that a bit much? I suppose it was, but I still meant every word of it, you know."

Shishiyuki found Makoto's own use of such a pet name to be exceptionally charming, and she couldn't help but wrap her arms completely around her girlfriend now, a warm and forward embrace that conveyed precisely how she was feeling at the moment. No untoward feelings encroaching upon her, nothing that confused or clouded her thoughts. Simple, earnest affection.

"You are quite dear to me."

"Just a little bit."

She cooed while leaning into the embrace, her hands moving up to take hold of Shishiyuki's head and hold her closer and there was no desire to let her escape for a while.

"You're very dear to me as well, I love you Shishiyuki."