#merilerile

Libra: stellato (n) : one who dances among the stars

It’s always been stunning to Izuru, to see his vice-captain fight.

Gin - as is true to his name - moves around like quicksilver; fluid and smooth, a shadow of a man, the wakizashi in his hand deadly as an assassin’s dagger. He quicksteps around the giant hollows as if he were flying, leaving only a glint of steel in his wake as the monsters disappear one by one, pierced by merciless strikes of Shinsou. It’s different from captain Kuchiki’s flamboyant cherry blossoms or from Eleventh’s Yumichika and his peacock sword, but to Izuru, it’s absolutely breathtaking.

Yes: vice-captain Ichimaru is admirable, and Izuru is so proud to make part of the Fifth, to be able to witness that deadly beauty on missions over and over again. His hand tightens on the hilt of his own sword - a mere training one, still - and he wishes that one day, he would be able to possess at least a fraction of that beauty, of that grace.

It’s the stuff of poetry, Izuru thinks; were he able to capture it in one of his verses, but nothing, nobody could rend it so perfectly as it really is.

The last hollow thuds on the wet grass, and vice-captain Ichimaru lands quietly next to it, cleaning the blade on his sleeve in a careless manner.

“What'cha looking at, Izuru?” Ichimaru drawls, the edge of his sleeve brushing against Kira’s bare wrist, and Kira shivers.

“It’s nothing,” he responds softly, eyes averted from his superior. “Were those the last ones, sir?” comes a quiet question a moment later - will he be able to watch Ichimaru fight more, or is it the end for now?

Gin just shrugs and smiles his wide, mocking smile.

“Eager for a show, Izuru?” he taunts, a long, pale finger running along Kira’s jaw. “Not this time. Go home.”

Missions in the real world were always somehow disturbing for Kira. He got along pretty well with most people in Seireitei and didn't really think to change that if he had a choice; interacting with strangers - alive strangers - for several days while hunting hollows, though, put him somehow on edge.

Today was no different: the times changed fast, and Izuru sometimes found himself unable to adapt just as quickly. That is why he had always preferred the old stability of Soul Society to the world of the living, which was too wild, too unpredictable, always evolving in a way. Yesterday he stood on a balcony in a 60's club, listening to the Beatles on an old recorder - today, there was a convenience shop in the place of that old club, and people no longer used recorders, preferring to put earbuds and blasting music from tiny devices directly into their ears. Even cigarettes - a curious habit Kira never really picked up - were now electronic.

A funny way to kill yourself using the newest technology, he thought grimly. Captain Kurotsuchi would surely be proud.

What always struck him as bizarre was the custom of bringing gifts back to Soul Society as if every mission was a holiday (for some people it was, he cringed, remembering Matsumoto's shopping trips all too well); this proved doubly difficult when he realized his own mission fell in mid-February, right around Valentines' Day.

Which was all cool and good; they celebrated it for years now in Soul Society, and all female colleagues always had a batch of chocolates ready at hand to give him or the Captain. More often than not, Ichimaru ate Kira's share of chocolate-y treats as well; partly because Izuru wasn't all that fond of the taste, partly because... well, it was the Captain.

"Excuse me?" a hand tapped him lightly on the shoulder and he startled, turning quickly around to check who was bothering him. Oh, right; the artificial body. There was no way the stranger was a ghost, Kira scolded himself mentally, assessing quickly the person in front of him.

For a split second he mistook the man for his captain - there was the same silver fringe, a wide smile and blue eyes crinkling at the corners with just a tiny hint of mischief. The similarity struck him as silly just a split second after - mostly, because this stranger seemed too good-natured to stand everywhere close to Ichimaru Gin (and Kira admired his Captain dearly, but truth be told, even _he_ didn't get fooled by thinking Ichimaru was a good person). He was clearly a foreigner, judging by his wider build, strong jaw and light eyebrows.

Oh, right, Kira thought. He's been mistaken for a fellow foreigner several times already, mostly because of his own light hair.

"Sorry for startling you," the man spoke again in what seemed to be a slightly broken Japanese. Definitely a foreigner, then. "There is-- I need to buy some chocolate. For Valentines', you see. I have a... special someone and I need to surprise him. Can you help me choose the right store for it?" he asked slowly, as if checking if he was choosing the correct words.

"I--" Kira sighed, running a hand through his fringe. He really had better things to do than showing people around, but the man clearly was lost - and after so many years, Kyushu _was_ somehow his area, after all. "Please follow me," he muttered with a polite smile.

---

"I-zu-ru," came an amused drawl from the Captain's desk the following day; out of the corner of his eye, Kira could see a long, pale finger drawing idle patterns along the sides of an elaborate chocolates box. "I do appreciate th'effort, ya know. Is there somthin' you wanna confess to your favourite captain?" Ichimaru smiled wider, opening the box with much more show than needed and slowly picking up one of the truffles before he popped it innocently in his mouth.

Kira decided against telling him that the box was simply a freebie because his foreigner friend bought a monthly salary's worth of chocolates - not that the Captain would believe him, anyway.