Sorry, I'm Home [Kita/Klein]

With a small nod, she went in before him. With hardly a need for a tell, she began removing accessories upon crossing the doorframe, her hand at an odd position for a moment before she considered the possibility that carelessly discarding of the decorations would make Klein unhappy, a brief stare in his direction before she'd let out a labored huff, deciding to place them on the nearest surface instead, slowly disrobing until she was down to her underwear, a sense of relief that she wasn't adorned with such loud items anymore, feeling a little less miserable with a full stomach.

Her ear caught Klein's question, turning to face him as she was running her clawed fingers through her hair. A deflated look crossed her features as she recalled that decision to keep it mum until they were home, but now that they were in the position she wished for...

"... I have been forced to consider the nature of my self, my actions," She'd begin, a sort of hesitance in her tone as her gaze fell to the ground, "Even with my present figure, I am but a beast. I have been unable to break free of my instinct. I had often been regarded a failure of an outcome, but I had not considered what such a thing meant. With my return to home, seeing it emptied and picked clean... I believe I understand what they meant now."

That fallen gaze drew to her arm, a sense of repulsion to the markings etched on it, "I want to kill her, the desire to shed blood mars my thoughts like a pervasive rash. But I wish for your happiness more. I do not know why, I have not felt that desire so intensely with any other, not even those I held closely."

A look of frustration built on her face and voice as she spoke, hands tightening into fists, "It is as if I am being torn in half. I have no fathoming of how I can stand this. I am unable to banish the desire for blood in favor of your happiness."

Klein thought about what she said, his expression growing more serious. Is that how she felt about thigns? He couldn't really be mad at her for something like that, given the transparent degree of affection involved in it. But, at the same time, he had to wonder if that was the sort of atmosphere he'd given off. For once, there wasn't really any need for him to mask how he felt. Maybe more than that, he wanted to be honest with her. That was pretty rare, and Klein was perfectly self-aware of that fact.

"I wouldn't ask you to. My happiness isn't something that demands you turn into some normal everyday girl."

Though Kita's gaze toward her arm was sharp and filled with disdain, Klein simply took her hand in his once more, not especially bothered by the signs of tampering from his worst and cruelest rival. She'd get hers in time, but he knew she'd only be happier if he let her get under his skin. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction, not even in private.

"If you want to let go of that desire, then I'll do whatever I can to help you with that. But don't think you need to just because it'll make me happy. I like you because you're you, Kita. You're straightforward, strong willed...honest, too."

Klein's eyes moved to his own hand, then and his own form in general. He ought to be honest with her, too. At least here, in this little home of his, nobody would see anything. He'd made plenty sure of that.

"I want you to be happy too. And I want to be honest with you, like you are with me."

He released her hand, then, and took in a single deep breath. As effortlessly as the breathing itself, his body seemed to grow incorporeal, not quite disappearing but growing misty and out of focus. He was still decidedly Klein, but the energy in the air seemed to gravitate toward him, as the form shifted and coalesced into one that was decidedly less childlike. The eyes, however, were undeniably the same, piercing and intelligent as they looked into Kita's own.

"I always hide, so people don't think anything of me when I'm around. But I'd rather not hide from you, if we're having a conversation like this."

Even his once-youthful voice had become quite unlike what it was, now the tone of a man well into adulthood. Klein preferred not to share this with anyone...but, well. Kita wasn't just anyone.

All her discomforts were worn upon her, made visible to the only one she felt any sort of trust or security with. As fragile and conditional that sense was, it was all she had left, it was all she could fight for. Normal, every day girl? That thought wasn't on her mind exactly; she'd loathe herself if that flame inside of her were thoroughly snuffed - being under Safira's venom told her as much. She desired not to entirely dispose of it, but rather cursed the amount of hold it had over her. She'd sooner wish to perish than eradicate that drive, and Klein appeared to understand as much if he didn't consider it a hindrance or thing to remove, rather leaving it up to her.

But she appeared confused... Honest? Was he not doing so before? A sinking feeling weighed her chest down with those words, the sensation worsening with his release of her hand. Sensation prickled her skin in the brief moment she was left to guess, to fear, until the form of the little Arrancar she had known for many weeks obscured itself to her, changing before her. Shock froze her senses when the form solidified, into someone else. The older, taller man before her, whom Klein had become, left her in stiff silence as her mind was attempting to process what was happening.

He still appeared very Klein-like; he had his eyes, but nothing else of this man was immediately recognizable to her panicked thoughts. Even his voice wasn't the same. Her mind grew blank, the roar of a heartbeat in her ears, time didn't seem to exist to her.

Panic and fear for where the little Arrancar was.
Confusion of why this had happened.
Paranoia in that he had been taken away, that something happened to him.
Anger at the existence of this supposed pretender before her.
Incomplete thoughts fueled by emotion in a single instant drove her fixation, her vision went red...

...When she came to, there was red all over the throat of the man before her, hand soaking wet.
Blood.
She had attacked him. Her hand was still visible to her, claws emerged, red smothering her pale flesh.
Realization, of who this was, of what she had done, dawned on her far too late. Her bloodied fingers trembled as she stood stone solid for several beats of a heart, her gaze slowly returning to him. The predatory haze over her eyes vanished, and instead was replaced with tears. An ocean of regret and shame crashed on her in an instant.

A rush of footsteps followed, moving to hide herself as quickly as she could in the nearest place she detected, dipping and weaving underneath a table that allowed enough space for her. The overwhelm of guilt pushed her to silently weep.

In her mind, the beast had won again.

Ow.

The first thing Klein actually noticed was the fact that he'd been injured, and it was only the process of returning to his actual appearance that stopped him from retaliating on sheer instinct. Just as well, though, because he'd have been mad if he did actually strike her back. It was pretty natural for a woman like Kita to respond this way, especially given how sudden things had been. He probably could have gone more slowly, but oh well. The wound she'd made had already healed, his throat mending itself as he rubbed it once or twice. Maintaining a small smile, Klein simply crouched down near the table Kita had crawled underneath.

"If you need to cry, at least let me give you a hug, huh?"

The voice itself may have been different, but the cadence, the way he spoke, was undeniably the very same Klein he'd always been. He held his hand out toward her, not wanting to startle her any more than he already had.

Grief wracked her heart as her body shook with every laboring breath, emotion burning her chest. She couldn't understand, why did it hurt so much? He didn't strike her, there were no enemies in her vicinity to wound her, yet her body ached and trembled as if it had been stabbed with a painful blade. Blood and wounding never triggered this feeling, it was ugly and torturous... Was it because it was Klein? She was fearful of losing her mind and harming him, but to actually do it... There was so much she didn't, couldn't understand.

Hands pressed on her face, tears rolled down her twisted features until the sound of that voice touched her ears again. Her head hurriedly rose, flinching a bit when the tips of her mask fragments struck the table's underside, but her sharp eyes were drawn to him, and then his hand. Face messy with tears and blood, she'd stare for just a moment, getting a good look at him... It was Klein - obviously different, but even his matured voice still sounded like him.

Her movements toward him seem far more reminiscent of a predator's stalk, a moment of ambiguity in if she was in her right mind, until she moved to reach her hand out slowly, although bearing witness to the bloodied digits made it curl gently in hesitation, before finally meeting his hand. Her eyes burned on his throat - it was as if she never wounded him, but she was certain she did...

"...I hurt you," A hushed sentence was given to him, a genuine display of quiet fear in her gaze, "...What if I do it again?"

Klein's eyes were sharp, and he could see that Kita was still on edge. Was it the change, or was it what she'd done? Maybe both, if he was guessing. He was pretty sure he knew how she ticked decently well, if only because it wasn't super hard to understand. His smile only grew, however, as her hand met his, and he brought it up to his lips, kissing the back of her hand gently. It wasn't intended to charm, but rather to convey a softer, more intimate sort of affection.

"Then I'll fix it again. You didn't do it on purpose, right?"

Being mad at her wouldn't fix anything, and besides, Klein was perfectly understanding of what had caused that little interaction. He'd rather just make it clear he wasn't mad at her, and go from there.

"I'm sorry I scared you. I guess it was a pretty big shock, I shoulda thought about that."

He'd admittedly let his own guard down a bit, and it hadn't fully crossed his mind that she'd have reacted that quickly. Sure, he'd been ready for some surprise, just...not at that speed. Well, it was good data, at least, and it wasn't like he was super afraid of taking a wound.

Her eyes were stuck on where she had slashed him, she couldn't help but stare. Klein was nothing but a weak little thing in her mind; though she had some sense of admiration for his cleverness and ability to handle situations with little issue, she had formed the perception that he was tiny and fragile, incapable of holding up against any physical issue - it was what made it easy for her to connect to him in the first place, she didn't have to fear him turning on her or doing anything against her like most Arrancar attempted to. Arrancar with any power were able to subjugate and wield that power over others; her hatred for Safira had stemmed from that, and every interaction further solidified this idea.

The kiss to her hand pulled her from the challenging mire of thoughts, to answer his question of if she did it on purpose she'd slowly shake her head. Her eyes were like a deer in headlights, her mind still trying to process this sudden change, both in Klein's appearance and her perception of him. He had to be strong to recover from an injury such as that so quickly - her reaction was only so powerful because she had thought he was doomed by her claws. She still wondered if it was some kind of trick, but... It couldn't be, could it? He was behaving no differently than prior, he spoke to her with the same inflection he always had, even if his voice was different, the level of care and concern he held still granted to her.

But most importantly, he wasn't mad, and he was alive. If the reveal of this was a move to subjugate her, he wasn't exactly committing very well to that. Two sensations replaced the agony in her chest, or rather greatly diminished it - a strong sense of guilt for thinking of him in such an ill manner, and that feeling of warmth he triggered within her, though it felt much stronger than normal.

And so, the tigress slowly came out from under the table, rounded eyes fixed on the man before her.

"..You are Klein," It sounded more to further convince herself than to ask him, a brief silence falling upon her, "Why have you hid this?"

The question of 'why' was certainly one he'd expected after this little reveal of his. After all, it wasn't like he'd been casually hiding a surprise party for her, or failed to mention an allergy. This was something pretty major, and most of the time, he probably would have just made some little quip about it. But it wasn't really a big deal. If anything, he had to admit that his reasons were relatively minor.

"You know how most other arrancar are. They find someone strong, they wanna latch onto 'em. Either so they'll be protected, or just so they have someone to fight. I don't like that, it's why I don't spend much time in Hueco Mundo unless I'm doin' something. When I'm like that, I figure the only people who'll actually spend time around me probably actually like me."

His smile grew a touch at that, perfectly aware of what he would be suggesting with a statement like that. After all, he felt fairly sure Kita wasn't just hanging around him for some stupid reason, or to mess with him.

"But I'd rather be myself around you."

Gaze fixed on him as he was allowed the air to explain himself, the tension she exuded seemed to lessen considerably with that explanation, eyes relaxing as she thought it through. He certainly wasn't an Arrancar she recognized - if he held power of any note, she was certain that she would have at least heard of him amongst the barren sands, but nothing came to mind. She was under the impression that when they first met, Klein was just one of those smaller and weaker Arrancar, latching onto someone more powerful to get ahead - not that such a thing upset her, it was typical of her relationships to be needed by the small and weak.

But Klein wasn't weak.

Forced to think about it for a moment, she'd dwell on that statement.. 'Like' him? Did she 'like' him? Ordinarily, much of her care was far more on the level of wanting to keep the little ones alive, that she had something to fight for, some purpose... But unlike them, Klein reciprocated that selfish kindness. He held concern for her state and opinions. He tried to do nice things for her, even if she didn't always recognize his attempts. He could have shooed her off or attacked her at any time, yet he didn't. And she supposed to felt.. Plenty of strange emotions she didn't understand within herself over him.

"I see," She'd murmur, thinking a little more about it before exhaling a relieved breath of sorts, "I suppose I could say I do 'like' you... You cause many strange and new things within that I do not understand. You are very much unlike the typical Arrancar I encounter. Normally I am either challenged or protection from me is yearned for.. But you do not appear to desire either."

Even with her relaxed demeanor, she still seemed a bit pin-pricked - it was hard to entirely do away with self preservation instinct, but hopefully it wasn't enough to cause any more throat slashes.

Now that was just what Klein liked to hear. The admission that she 'liked' him turned his small grin into a wider smile, one that seemed to convey both genuine cheer at the statement and a certain degree of hunger. He was being honest, after all, and that included the way he carried himself. He wanted her, as he had for some time, and he wasn't going to hide that particular fact.

"Nah, I definitely can't say either of those is what I'm looking for from you. Don't get me wrong, I'd probably appreciate it if you did protect me from something, but I'd never ask you to."

Klein inched closer to her as he spoke, fairly confident she wasn't going to try and attack him again. The initial little startle had passed, so he assumed she'd be back to more docile. And if she wasn't, well, he could work that out of her. Might be kind of fun. Not that he'd expect that out of her, though.

"The only thing I desire from you is you."