Blood to Blood [Hyosuke/Aiko]

Hyosuke was rather used to the reaction Aiko gave with her yelp. Seeing it rain blood was never not somewhat off-putting especially, funnily enough, to Hyosuke. Hyosuke did not control the blood currently, so it certainly did follow Aiko's commands, an Hyosuke watched it idly. He gave a faint smile, at least somewhat relieved that she seemed to enjoy being able to make something of the rather morbid rain of literal blood around them. Hearing that she could form her own blood from her energy, however, now that was interesting. Letting Aiko make her pun and blush about it, Hyosuke did have to admit that despite starting on the wrong foot she was... cute. With a sense of... style... he did not see in Soul Society that often. Musing to himself Hyosuke admittedly couldn't help himself in seeing if he could worsen that blush.

"Make your own blood? Mmmmm. Truth be told that is not something I can, at least directly, though if you could make blood and I can manipulate it.... if anything did try to accost us we would be a quite compatible team I think.~"

Admittedly Hyosuke only said what he did, trying to make her even more sheepish, as a small exertion of control and authority, in a manner of speaking anyways, and it did succeed in relieving that restless feeling under his skin. Chuckling now Hyosuke would relax a bit, approach Aiko, look down at her and gently place a hand on her head. Softly ruffling her hair and giving her a gentle, charming smile before murmuring.

"Well, whether intended or not, your wit is obviously quite sharp."

Turning and not giving Aiko time to mentally recover Hyosuke would continue walking as if nothing happened, in fact, he felt so at ease now he barely even noticed the rain of blood followig him.....

"Yeah! I can definitely make some of my own blood through my energy, but I can only sustain and control so much at a time. If it was infinite, I'd be unstoppable."

Gushing a bit at her ability, it was nice to be commended on her strength as she rubbed the back of her head and gave a nervous laugh in response.

"So I'm really at your strength or energy level yet, but I think that would be cool, right?"

Nodding, Aiko continued to walk and look up at the endless bloody rain above her. Ten meters was a large distance, so to her, it just seemed like an unending vortex of life. Blood was the key to living and fueled the existence of many beings. So to be drenched in it was a unique and pleasant experience that washed away her nerves since it was HER element.

Before she got too lost in her own head, Aiko's face grew redder as the male ruffled her hair and commended her wit.

"Uhm.....thank you? No, uh, really, that was nice....."

There wasn't any sarcasm in her voice, just more surprise as compared to when they first started encountering each other, he seemed to be warming up somewhat and that was nice to see. At least she didn't feel in danger anymore. But her frantic mind had to piece together a way to keep the conversation moving forward, so she just blurted out her thoughts.

"...but, uh, are you heading to Karakura Central or something? What do you intend to do here in the world of the living?"

Hyosuke stopped in his tracks as Aiko spoke, glancing back at her with a sly grin, and the first thing he said was.

"Pun.... intended by the way."

He then chuckled as evidently Aiko had missed his own joke and gave her a look that was equal parts taunting and doubtful.

"Seems your wit might not be THAT sharp after all Aiko-chan."

He took a few more steps, paused, then motioned for her to follow without looking back.

"I suppose that just means you'll have to accompany me so I can find out for certain, hmm? As for where I am going, or what I am doing, truthfully it has been a long time since I visited the living world so it was primarily to visit. Now, however, I'm thinking I may visit a hot spring while I am here. Especially after being in all this rain....."

Trailing off Hyosuke would revert Benicho Kogo to her sealed state and pause, letting the now water rain wash him clean of blood, before attempting to walk into a hot spring in the living world. That would be... a very poor idea after all and only once he was mostly free of blood did Hyosuke open the Wagasa over his head and continue walking, glancing sidelong at Aiko.

"But before that I may just visit a nice restaurant. What do you think Aiko-chan? Where could you display your wit more for me, hmm?"

Ah. Stupid. Idiot. Dummy. Retard. Pay attention. Stop getting lost in your own thoughts.

Those few sentences replayed in the mind of Aiko as she became a bit flustered that she wasn't paying enough attention to his words to pick up on that joke and looked away for a few moments to cringe internally. Once she got herself together, she bit her lip and spoke.

"S-sorry. I got lost in my thoughts. Won't happen again...."

Exhaling a breath of defeat, the woman decided to stay true to her words and listen in the shinigami with more care. Apparently, he was heading to some hot springs but was going to a restaurant first. If he was with the Gotei, there wasn't any harm in following Hyosuke for the time being.

And with her stomach letting out a monstrous growl, Aiko just blinked and said:

"Uhhhhhh......yeah. I could follow you and get something to eat. Lead the way..."

Hyosuke merely gave a knowing smile as Aiko's stomach growled hungrily, demanding food, and he casually reached out to place a hand on her head as she fell into step beside him. He didn't quite ruffle her head but simply left his hand under her halo for a moment before he smiled, his eye trained ahead of them without looking over at her.

"Naturally, I'll be the one paying. If you're hungry enough for your stomach to growl THAT loudly we're going to need to make sure you're taken care of Aiko-chan. Can't have you keeling over from starvation after all.~"

As they continued to walk toward town Hyosuke would remove his hand from her head, not wanting to hold it there too long and make her feel like a child, merely use it as a display to show her company was appreciated.

"So Aiko-chan, tell me a bit about yourself, we can get into the personal details over dinner, but for now just whatever you feel comfortable sharing."

Naturally, Hyosuke intended to reciprocate within reason. He had warmed up to Aiko significantly since her torrid comment about the rain and though it had put him on the back foot he found her to be pleasant enough to talk to, more than pleasant enough to look at, if not eccentric enough to make him cautious of being too friendly.

Since she seemed to be hard on herself over something so simply as a missed joke Hyosuke decided to help her out by beginning.

"Obviously you love animals and... the... rain.... but you must be a talented young woman to wield your abilities as you do, hmm?"

"uhhhhhhh, I see you like the halo..."

Yeah. She could see how it could be a fun thing to play with. It's not like she couldn't make it disappear, but she came to like the aesthetic of it hanging over her head like an angel. Hehehe, she was a blood angel in her mind. But enough of those silly thoughts. She soon found her crimson gaze looking back at Hyosuke as he spoke of his intentions about getting them a bite to eat.

"...well, if I died of starvation, I'd just become what you are, right?"

Was that a good point? As far as Aiko knew, she'd just become a Plus or Shinigami or something. She tried not to think about the morbidity of death, but who knows?

Blah. Her scattered thoughts focused more on the present. This happened because the shinigami asked Aiko about herself. As a result, it caused her to internally freeze up, consider her good attributes and try to work through the negative thoughts in her head before coming to an answer.

"I guess I'm just...open-minded? Uh, I just got out of a bad place in life, so I just wanted to open myself up to having more experiences, meeting people, growing my power, and trying to further the depths of my soul."

Of course, she knew the reason for this was because of her dependency on her ex-boyfriend, but that wasn't something she wanted to trauma dump on him. Things were already weird enough as they were, so she nodded forward.

"Uhm, what about you? Anything cool? You probably have a lot of stories as a shinigami."

Hyosuke.... pursed his lips at Aiko's comment about dying and becoming a Shinigami. There was a more serious topic there to broach but, truthfully, Hyosuke was all out of severity when it came to Aiko. She knew no better and as those crimson eyes looked up at him he found himself exhaling heavily out of his nose in a near-laugh off exasperation, commenting both with a low rumble of dry humor, his voice flat and emotionless save a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh yes and I would be compelled to wed you to see just how powerful our children would be Aiko-chan....~"

This statement was made completely in jest, no shred of seriousness behind it, but was to recover the conversation back to something in Hyosuke's favor. Where he could control the pace a bit more but Aiko's next comment.... shattered those expectations. As Hyosuke felt the cold rain pouring down around him, and thought of stories he might regale her with after trying to emotionally imbalance her.... he found himself being subjected to the exact same thing in return.

Coming to a halt Hyosuke would blink, slowly, as his chest rose in a single, deep breathe and his right hand felt.. sticky. Looking down at where his hand met Benicho Kogo Hyosuke would find it wet with blood, the shaft of the Wagasa all but stuck to him, and normally blood did the opposite of bother him. It was a resource he could use, warm and visceral, his to command. But this blood... was not. Diluted, cold and chilled by the rain his eye narrowed as he knew what his mind was up to. The trauma and stress of his childhood rearing it's ugly head once again as he lifted his head and looked straight ahead, not deigning to dignify his confused senses with a reaction. He had food to acquire, after all.

Despite this Hyosuke... did not move, did not speak, and his grip on Benicho Kogo tightened softly. He was not a weak willed individual, did not devolve into whimpering or gasping for air, but his chest rose in another single, deep breathe as he turned to look at Aiko. His crimson eye narrowed and almost angry before it softened and he shook his head before blinking his eye slowly. His voice emerging somewhat haltingly.

"Yes.... cool stories..... I do think I have one."

And just like that Hyosuke began to walk again, his breathing leveling, and his right hand no longer sticky with the blood of children who would never see home again.

"You see, it's about the time I met this lovely girl named Aiko-chan, and she was quite weird."

Hyosuke had a chuckle in his voice, a grin on his lips, and horrible thoughts only just left behind as he did so.

What? Huh? The hell did you say? Repeat that again? HUH? HUH? HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH?

Aiko's face grew bug-eyed at Hyosuke for a hot moment as she didn't see that comment coming. And as a result, her face grew an intense shade of cherry red as she seemed to have her brain shut down. She wasn't trying to think too hard about relationships, weddings, and babies at this phase in her life. Well, at least until she felt more established.

For now, Aiko was Trying to piece together the puzzles of who she was, the direction of her life, and all the trials that came with attempting to find a foundation outside her prior partner. So her brain was static at this sudden response from Hyosuk, and her consciousness was flicking through the channels in her mind to find an answer.

"I....uh......"

After muttering for a few moments, they both stopped as she seemed to follow him and just looked up at him with a flustered expression before gently tapping his back.

"...don't joke like with a woman! She'll get wrong the idea."

She spoke in a soft and startled voice initially. Though, Aiko's bloody eyes looked back up at his before sheepishly backing away when she briefly noticed a hint of anger in them before she heard him speak. But, then, her eyes squinted, and she again tapped him on the head.

"Meanie...don't bully me like that."

And with that, they resumed their walk, but not before she asked her question.

"..and how close are we to this place?"

Hyosuke did not even try and conceal the small smirk that graced his lips as Aiko turned a shade of cherry red that was enough to match his clothing. Once his own stupor was shaken off he did glance down at her at her mention of joking to a woman about such things! For a moment, a brief, gloriously mischievous moment he thought about giving her an innocent look and asking 'Joke?' but... ultimately he decided against it as she tapped his back. His robes felt soft without any blood in their fibers for once, though beneath them was a muscular form that he frankly kept hidden most of the time.

As the indignant woman tapped him on the head, insulting him rather childishly, Hyosuke bowed his head to accept the reprisal. His eye closing in defeat as he sighed.

"Ah yes, how inconsiderate of me..."

As they began walking again and before she asked how far away the restaurant was Hyosuke smirked and added.

"... I'll be sure to find better ways to bully you Aiko-chan."

Chuckling now Hyosuke would let an easy smile rest on his lips before he hummed. Once again stopping as he rubbed his chin, realized something, and laughed a little bit.

"Ah, right, it's been so long since I was last in the living world. It's this way."

With that said Hyosuke turned directly around and resumed walking as if absolutely nothing had happened or changed, though he did walk just a bit faster to 'bully' Aiko some more with his longer stride.

"That's not fair, meanie."

Aiko, still flustered, passed through her embarrassed emotions to then stick her tongue out at Hyosuke. Though, this playful expression quickly ceased when he came to a stop. As, almost like a mime, Saiko stopped on a dime just like the shinigami did as if she were following him around like a lost pet or something.

And as he paused to think of where the restaurant was, Aiko's stomach grew louder as she shifted her eye down to her gut.

"Too mean, Hyosuke."

Grumbling, she rubbed her stomach before catching up to him PROMTPLY and turning her eye back to his.

"This is a weird way to flirt. I'm not stupid y'know."