angel ablaze

The healer blinked at the small woman, in a daze, “Oh, Um, th-thank you, I appreciate it, Hinamori-chan,” he managed to answer past his moment of inattentiveness, “I could d-definitely use one,” he agreed, inhaling the warmth of the drink as he carefully accepted it and inhaled deeply.

She hummed amiably, like she could tell Hanatarou you’re welcome thru it.

Plainly put, she was tired. Too tired to sleep. That man’s ghost returned in the dark, a figure in the corner with shiny eyes and sword drawn and dripping with blood. Her understanding those phantoms were hallucinations brought about by sleep deprivation didn’t cure the fear they inspired whatever hour day or night it was.

He could only find it sweet, that she still skirted around the issue of his horror as if they didn’t share a bed.

“Hurts.” It was ache upon ache; phantom pain from his missing limb, pain from stitching into his pale skin and the creak of the mechanism. “But if you’re asking if I can still feel everything…yeah. It’s just different.” Still he wanted to be the same as they were before. Even after all their terror, still their love had seemed the least bit innocent before this awful war that cost them so much…

So he squeezed her fingers with that awful hand. 

“…you don’t have to be so shy about asking, you know.”

Izuru was much more open than herself. From time to time, she blurted out confessions about herself and her relationship with Sousuke Aizen, questions were still hard. Embarrassing.

It was refreshing still. More than a year into their relationship and the differences between Izuru and Sousuke were still as powerful as black and white side-by-side. She wondered how long it would take for his kindness to stop feeling so foreign.