Winter Treats [Saiko/Hono]

Sometimes you just felt exhausted from everything and needed to take a breather. As such, on this cold winter-like day, Saiko Mori was sitting under a tree somewhere in the vast expanse of the Gotei United. As the skies were filled with endless grey sights, the woman let out a soft sigh as she took a moment to close her eyes and relax. The day had been busy handling paperwork for affairs in the living realm, running a few classes in the shino academy, and getting her daily meditation in to train her powers constantly.

Yeah, the woman was tired but in decent spirits. She just needed a few minutes to take a sip of hot tea, stuff her face with some sweet honey buns and take a load off her stress as the hybrid seemed to have a child-like grin on her face. Despite her slim figure, this half-breed could eat like no other and had been seen stuffing her face with honey bun after honey bun until she seemed alarmed and stopped eating.

Hoping no one saw that, Saiko moved her head from side to side as her cloak swayed in the wind, and she sniffed the air. Then, after a moment, she remained silent and just called out:

"Uhhhhh, is somebody there? You didn't see anything if someone is there."

....

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~

Someone did see.

"Thank you.....I guess I am cute."

Saiko remained stiff for a moment before her aqua blush faded, and she coughed to clear her throat. After doing so, she would tap the seat next to her and nod.

"Uhhhhh, you can have one if you want. I've got plenty to burn."

Sounding a bit flustered, the woman decided to walk with embarrassment and accept the circumstance. First, though, to help her cope, she would take another bite out of one of her sweet honey buns and fill its delicious content giving her body more and more energy. This is why she would begin to size up the other shinigami, eyeing her up and down before giving her a warning.

"You look pretty thin yourself, so if you are trying to maintain your figure, I would warn you these are calorie dense. I burn up a lot of energy with my powers, so it'll melt off. So eat at your own peril."

"Oh? Aiming for the big leagues? You've got your work cut out for you as many people compete for that sort of thing."

With a nod given, Saiko chuckled as it was nice to see the enthusiasm from her fellow comrades in arms. Of course, it was always hard to tell how far someone could go, but if you were driven enough, you could always find your own version of success, even if it doesn't radically alter reality itself. That's the hope Saiko had, anyway.

"Also, I'm Saiko Mori. Not sure if I'm infamous yet, but I'm from the Earth Affiliation. I have no special rank, but hey, I may become a seated officer or something and go from there."

Truth be told? Even if Saiko was strong enough to rival vice captains and captains, she had no desire to super-push herself into that role. With her goals, she still had so much atonement to go through that it seemed distant, and there were better ways to make herself useful to the society she was placed into.

Of course, given the nature of Hono, she wouldn't have long to dwell on those thoughts. As she started rambling about her training, Saiko nodded and figured the honey buns shouldn't be too much trouble for her waistline. If nothing else, she could stand a few pounds in certain places.

"If you trained, you should be ok. You won't magically gain one hundred pounds or anything, but each of those should be about 500 calories or so. I'd be careful."

After taking a bite out of the sweet food in her hand, Saiko munched, listened to Hono afterward, and blinked when she asked what Saiko's secret to strength was. There were many things she could touch on from the origins of her past, her current motivation, or the people in her life. But, instead of going down into some deep rabbit hole with a person she had just met, she decided to make things simple.

"You need a reason to get stronger. People have shallow reasons, such as wanting to be famous, wanting to be powerful and wanting to claim to be important in this world. While it's fine to have those desires, there needs to be a compelling reason that will make you endure, withstand and want to keep progressing through the challenges that make you something great"

Tapping her chin, Saiko tried to think of a way to condense and spoke matter-of-factly.

"My secret is that I have something to atone for, a reason to exist, and I will keep trying until I die and deal with the obstacles that come with it until I'm stronger or dead. Uh, as morbid as that sounds, does it make sense?"

Scratching her nose sheepishly, Saiko wasn't sure if she laid it on too thick, but it was her truth for now.

"Unfortunately, yes. I am in the bully's division."

Saiko was being sarcastic as a low chuckle left the pale lips of the hybrid. But, unfortunately, there wasn't too much interaction for The Mistress of Glum to go off of when it came to Elyss, and the encounter with her Zanpukto spirit left much to be desired. So, her opinion was out for recess when it came to her Captain.

What was more amusing was the sight of Hono becoming more sheepish around the honey buns Saiko offered. It seemed that she was beginning to realize how Calorie dense these tasty buns were, and the half-blood couldn't help but give a soft laugh.

"I warned ya about those buns."

After taking another bite from her honey buns, Saiko listened and noticed that her reason was rooted around wanting to make her parents proud. Nobility was always a pursuit most men and women sought after. Couple that with the fact that she had people depending on her, and it made sense why Hono would want to become stronger than she is now.

"Pretty sure if you keep that in your heart and mind, it'll help you when times get hard. It's good you have people around you that motivate you, so I believe you will find a way to pull through."

Once she nodded her head, Saiko then looked at Hono for a while longer, laughed again, and asked her a question:

"You really dislike Elyss that much, huh?"

Well, that was interesting. As Saiko continued to devour her comfort food, she listened in to Hono and was surprised to find that she had gone on something of a date with Elyss. That was news she wasn't expecting, and it caused the woman's eyebrow to raise ever so slowly. Guess you can say that sometimes fighting brings people closer together, maybe.

" Geez, you aren't dull. You fought Elyss and went out on a date with her? You may die early, but you will have a story to tell the gods as your life isn't boring."

Saiko snorted, poking fun at Hono as she continued munching the last of her calorie-dense sweets.

"I trust Elyss's girlfriend to give me good advice, so I may go at her harder, as you said."

Now finished devouring all the food she could stand, a tiny burp left the woman's mouth as she became more and more relaxed around Hono. After glancing at her flowing black hair in the breeze, Saiko gently stroked her pigtails and nodded.

"Uhhhhhh, I like the gothic look; what can I say? I've liked it since I was a little girl, and I'm happy I can do it as an adult."

She gushed a bit, seeming to be halfway embarrassed, but continued.

"And I could say the same about you. Are you happy with the way you look too?"