Last Days of Summer [Chizuru, Tatsuki]

She shoulda figured that Chizuru would find some way to add a bit of excitement to the end of Summer. Just the idea alone had been enough to put a knowing smirk on Tatsuki's face, and that was only reaffirmed when she got to the beach itself, taking a moment to look around at everyone else trying to milk the last bits of Summer before the season changed. I wasn't hard to pick Chizuru out from the other beachbodies.

She couldn't help but snort just a little at the comment she got on her approach. "Started the party without me?" She asked playfully, promtly sitting herself down next to Chizuru and setting the cooler beside her. Watermelon, Ice Pops, and a couple other bits and ends to help keep cool on the beach.

"Enjoying the scenery I see. Always were a fan of the ocean eh?" She noted with a light bump of Chizuru with her elbow, as they were both quite aware that the water wasn't what Chizuru would likely spend the evening ogling.

Of course that wasn't all that was flitting around Tatsuki's head. It had been quite a summer, both in getting to visit Chizuru fairly often what with the dip in work coming from First Division, and well, a couple other......interesting developments that had cropped up as of late. But she didn't just drop that in at the start. Just for a little bit, she wanted to enjoy the beach and Chizuru. Or well, at least that was the intention. But it wouldn't likely be long before Chizuru noticed the lingering stares, both at Chizuru and off into the distance. The kinda thing that Tatsuki usually had whenever something was on her mind and she wasn't on the clock.

Tatsuki smiled just a little, seeing Chizuru's attention shift squarely onto herself, if even for just a moment. And she took no shortage of pleasure from that. If nothing else, Chizuru never seemed to get bored of looking at her. One of many things she enjoyed about Chizuru. She paused when Chizuru seemed to pick up on things a bit quicker than usual. She glanced back to the woman and stuck her tongue out as her eyes briefly flitted in the direction Chi had designated. And yep, there was indeed a girl with her ass spilling out of her bottoms.

"I've just been having a lot of fun. It's been nice to see you again. Work in the Gotei is nice and slow for the moment, so I get to have little stretches like this with my Girlfriend." She pointed out, turning to face Chizuru in entirety as ...her expression shifted. A brief moment of hesitation. "A coworker of mine actually started dating someone else in our squad. Kinda threw me for a loop to be honest." She chuckled, shaking her head. "I was ready to tell him that it was a bad idea, you know? Not really knowing someone, if something goes wrong, you still gotta see them every day. It could be nice, yea, but it could also go south. Kinda made me think about how often I get to see you." She pointed out, itching her neck a bit. "And uh well. You know, with the new CC restructuring things. I was curious if you were putting any thought into maybe getting restationed back up in soul society." She ventured, and quite promptly, it would be rather transparent what was on Tatsuki's mind. She knew the ....hollowfication had complicated things. Chizuru wound up down here. Naturally she'd been understanding.

But that had been a long time ago right? Chizuru had a handle on her hollow, as far as she was aware. So, it was worth asking about, right? And looking into Tatsuki's eyes, that so often were stony and somewhat threatening to those that didn't know her. Chizuru would see something else. A little shred of hopefulness.

Tatsuki paused for a moment at that and looked out across the expanse that Chizuru laid out. She knew that ....Chizuru wasn't as focused on it. And ....in truth. Thinking back..... she thought about all the conversations they'd had. Getting into it. MAKING it in the Gotei. They had all wanted to protect their homes. But in this moment... Tatsuki realized that she had never really...explained that that wasn't her main....drive. Had she ever talked to Chizuru about this? They'd been so....busy and focused. IT had just never come up.

She looked to the woman and closed her eyes. "It's....weird. But. I don't know. This place is my home. Or at least...it was a hundred years ago." She went quiet. And she ....closed her hands into fists. "I don't think I ever told you. I mean...I told you .... sortof. About .... Ichigo... back in the day. When I didn't know anything and he was just...suspicious. I'd see him out in the shinigami outfit. Fighting monsters. Doing all this....stuff. You know. Before all the crazy shit happened on earth and we decided we wanted to fight." She sighed, closing her eyes before her eyes stared off into the distance.

"But that's not why I wanted to be a Shinigami. One day..... Orihime was just....gone. Nobody remembered her...." She turned and looked at Chizuru. With a hurt look in her eyes. IT wasn't fresh hurt. It was an old....old pain. It was something she'd held inside of her for that whole one hundred fucking years.

"Not even you. I know what happened now. Shinigami policy, to keep the humans out of the know. You hadn't developed a resistance to the stuff yet. But ....you.....seeing you ...not know who I was talking about." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I confronted Ichigo about it. I knew about the shinigami stuff. But I also knew there wasn't much I could do about it. There was no way that...whatever had happened... that I could do anything. They had vanished before. But I could still always.....SENSE Orihime. Even when she was in Soul Society. But ....I couldn't sense her anymore. I didn't care if I couldn't do anything. I called him out. I TOLD him I knew about his little hero getup. About the monsters he fought. I just wanted to know what happened. Just .....so I could.....KNOW what was going on.So I could process it. So I didn't feel so fucking crazy, missing someone nobody else seemed to remember." She closed her eyes and rubbed her face.

"But he didn't tell me a damn thing. He gave me a stone cold look, and he went off to deal with it himself. That's why I wanted to become a shinigami. That's how I can stand being up there. Every time I'm down here I just..... wonder if one day.... someone's gonna vanish. And I'll have no idea why they're gone." She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Up there. I KNOW what's going on. The position I've gotten myself, I at least get to know when some crazy shit is happening." She paused.... and smiled sadly. "Saying it out loud. I guess it's kinda a selfish reason to want you up there with me." she sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

"You know....sometimes I almost feel like I can still sense Ichigo's reiryoku. How fucked up is that.."

She sighed. A long time ago, she might have actually gotten mad, maybe even yelled in response to what Chizuru had to say about the situation. It wasn't about being able to DO anything. It was knowing she wasn't crazy. She did get a little angry, she couldn't just lie to herself... but that was on the inside. And it was alongside the understanding that .... maybe that wasn't the greatest mindset to have. Knowing about something she couldn't do anything about. But she didn't care, a part of her didn't at least. She WANTED to know. She NEEDED to know. The idea of ...something happening ....was terrible.

"That's easy to say. But what if Orihime had never come back? Being the only one besides Ichigo to remember her. And not even knowing why. I don't think I could have made it. At least ...KNOWING what happened. I coulda..... processed it. But being kept in the dark....I don't know what it would have done to me." She murmured, closing her eyes and sighing.

And in that moment.... feeling Chizuru pull her close, and rest her head against her chest. Tatsuki couldn't help but smile and sigh. But not for the reasons Chizuru thought. Being held by chizuru wasn't ....just an attraction thing. She loved Chizuru, and she was very hot, that was for sure. But no. when Chizuru held her..... she thought back to the invasion by Sosuke Aizen. She remembered when they were all alone with their friends. Everyone else asleep. And the look on Chizuru's face. Scared. Finally being brought into all this spirutual shit at the worst of times. And Tatsuki remembered promising her that they'd explain when it was all over. And she HAD. She hadn't not been able to tell Chizuru because she thought it was better for her, or because she couldn't do anything, but because they just didn't have time. And the instant they HAD been able to. she'd told the girl as much as she could piece together.

Was it maybe a little ....weird...that she latched on so much? To the feeling of being in a position to be able to explain all this shit to others? That she got to be what Ichigo had refused to be? IT was probably a little petty. And maybe a little...weird that Tatsuki had latched onto that sensation. Maybe....seen a bit of herself in Chizuru. Of course there were other things. A lot of ....interesting little periods in their lives that brought them together. But that initial feeling...telling Chizuru what she could. The crazy thing was ....Chizuru tried her best to understand. Mizuiro kinda just...went with the flow. And Keigo..... as much as he wanted to do something about it, he wasn't the type to like...ask questions. And ever since then...Chizuru always listened when Tatsuki talked to her about stuff. And Tatsuki liked talking to her about stuff. Even now... she liked that Chizuru was trying to understand all this.

Chizuru had a LOT of smoking hot Shinigami around she coulda tried to ....sincerely hook up with. But she hooked up with Tatsuki and her fucked upness.
"Don't worry. I'm not gonna try and make you come back. But I WILL make you visit." She pointed out with a sideways smile. "Soul society isn't the only thing up there after all. Maybe we'll find someplace you like up there." She noted, already feeling better having gotten all....THAT off her chest. She still wanted Chizuru up there with her, but well. She wasn't in a hurry at least. She could try to slyly coerce her girlfriend back up there over time.

Tatsuki perked up, looking over her shoulder at Chizuru and smiling softly. A smug, knowing little smirk that grew as Chizuru gave her 'chizuru-fied' version of an assurance and capitulation. And so Tatsuki sat up and promptly turned around to face the redhead. Fully looking her eye to eye, and moving in so that she was sitting in her girlfriend's lap; Gently resting her hands on Chizuru's sides, her fingers gently relaxing, conformed to the lines of Chizuru's ribs and the thin connective furrows between the muscles as she applied a gentle caress. It wasn't aggressive, or trying to rile her girlfriend up. As intense as the transition would be, ultimately, Tatsuki just pulled her firmly against herself, looking Chizuru in the eyes and.....smiling. That soft, adoring fondness welling up within her.

The kind of smile that Chizuru would recognize as Tatsuki admiring her. Her. Her girlfriend. Who she adored, flaws and perversions both. And not just because Chizuru was caving in. But because as nervous as she'd been to bring this up. She was happy and confident that nothing bad would have happened. As long as they had been together, it still felt warm and safe to look into Chizuru's eyes. Even though her girlfriend was well, constantly out to get frisky with other women. Tatsuki never felt.....afraid? It was something that DID....pop into her mind now and then. And it was bizarre that such a thing didn't worry her. Maybe she just trusted Xhizuru that much. Or maybe some part of her ....just wanted Chizuru to be happy. No matter what that meant for her herself. Maybe she just......DID need something to protect. Maybe Chizuru wasn't a princess by any means of the definition. But .....being around to keep her safe. IT felt nice.

It was home.

She kissed her, In a brief, publicly acceptable way, that held as much soft adoration and affection that she could squeeze into that brief little contact. "I love you, Chizuru. Thanks for talkin to me." She noted softly, before promptly peeling off of the woman and sitting beside her, her smile brightening up as she looked at the beach around them. Letting out a soft...happy little sigh as she considered Chizuru's question.

"It's been.... kinda nice. There's some sensitive information. But ....frankly none of it is an immediate concern. Honestly the most ...stressful thing going on is just the sweeping strokes of the new Captain Commander. you'd like her. Her thighs at least." She noted casually, folding her arms and closing her eyes. "But ..... well, its kinda nice. As I said, we've had ....a lot less work. A few places we're keeping our eye on that I can't talk about openly. But .....well. So far so good." She noted with a soft, relaxed smile. "OH, and uh, You know my old Captain. Sui Feng? She goes by Shaoling now. She's down here on earth, around our old hometown actually, if I'm remembering correctly. She's....like....phew. WAY different now. She actually seems HAPPY. It was wack, she even agreed to go have lunch with me and catch up. Can you believe that?" She chuckled, shaking her head. "Says she was contacted about joining back up. How wild is that?"