“You
really shouldn’t drink that much, it’ll ruin your beautiful figure.”
Lena
snorted into her beer as she choked back a laugh. She pat Yumichika’s shoulder,
“Trust me, maintaining a ‘beautiful figure’ is not high on my priority list.”
“And
remind me again why we are at this dirty human bar?” He cast his eyes around
the little place in disgust.
“Quit
turning your nose up at everything. Sit, have a beer.” She pushed a pint
towards him and then turned to talk to Renji beside her. He hesitantly sat on
the grimy barstool but couldn’t bring himself to touch the beer.
“Red
wine, please.” He asked the bartender, “in a clean glass.” He sighed, this
would be a long night.
“Ikkaku,
over here!” Lena shouted, waving her arm to get his attention. Yumichika looked
at her, at the happy smile on her lips, and the light in her eyes at the sight
of her friend. She turned back to him and eyed the beer he had refused. “You
gonna drink that ‘Chika?”
He
sighed again, delicately resting his chin on his hand. “I’ve asked you not to
call me that.”
She
ruffled his hair and cooed in a baby voice, “but you’re our delicate little
flower.” Grinning she took the beer and handed it to Ikkaku who chugged it in a
seconds. They ordered another round and only got louder as more joined them.
Kira, Shuhei, Iba and Rangiku showed up later in the night, already plastered
from god knows where, and proceeded to sing and laugh in a boisterous drunken
manner.
Yumichika
delicately sipped his wine as his comrade’s chugged beer after beer, shot after
shot.
“You’d
better slow down there gorgeous, you’re pretty small to be drinking so much.”
Every
soul reaper fell silent and Lena whipped around to see who had spoken. It was a
human, well built, handsome, and obviously had his eyes on her.
“I
can hold my alcohol fine thanks.” She said, only slightly slurring her words.
“Oh
yeah? How much have you had?”
“Lost
count, but I’m only just beginning.”
“You
sure you don’t want a ride somewhere?” His eyes gleamed and everyone understood
the meaning, everyone except Lena.
“I
bet you that I can drink five beers in under two minutes. If I lose, I’ll go
with you. If I win, you give me your credit card for the rest of the evening.”
Her eyes glittered at her proposal, and he seemed to like his odds as well. By
this time the entire bar had stopped to listen.
“You’re
on.” He said, and Yumichika groaned, the poor man.
The
bartender lined up five frothy pints and Lena settled herself in front of them.
“Ready?” She asked, and several people held up stopwatches. She took a breath,
and held a beer to her lips before tilting her head back and chugging it down.
The shinigami cheered on, and before long she put down the last empty glass on
the bar.
“1:55”
Someone called out, and a hush fell over the bar. Lena grinned,
“Your
card, good sir.” Grudgingly, the human held out his card and turned to storm
out of the bar. “Drinks all around!” Lena yelled, the entire bar erupted in
cheers and the madness started again.
Watching
her yell and drink with his comrades, Yumichika wasn’t quite sure what
fascinated him about Lena, but he knew she was different. She treated herself
as one of the guys, drinking with men when she should have been flirting with
them. She considered herself to be average, regular, and he supposed that to a
lot of people, she was. But he, he knew different. She had always been
beautiful to him, even though she brushed it aside whenever he told her. He
himself was shocked when he first saw her and thought her beautiful, because it
was not the sort of beauty he usually saw. Her hair didn’t fall in golden
waves, she didn’t have pale ivory skin. Her eyes didn’t shine like pools of
water, her lips were never stained red. She was a raw beauty, beauty that shone
from her bold soul and unwavering faithfulness.
Most
of the time, sometimes she was just plain terrifying.
***
“I
feel awful.” She groaned as she slowly leaned up on her elbows. She found
herself on the floor of a hotel bedroom, in a pile with her other passed out
soul reaper teammates, all except one…. Said soul reaper entered, a towel
around his waist and his hair damp from the shower he had just taken. Steam
followed him out of the bathroom, and his eyes were alight with mischief as he
saw the pile of hung-over soul reapers.
“Sleep
well Lena?” He began drying off his hair with another fluffy white hotel towel.
“You’re
such an asshole.” She groaned, untangling herself from the mess of limbs and
sitting on the bed beside him. She bent over with her head in her hands.
“You
ok?” he asked.
“Yeah,
just stopping the room from spinning.”
He chuckled
beside her and began to rub slow soothing circles on her back, earning him a
groan. “I take it back, you’re an angel Yumichika.” He smiled softly, it wasn’t
often that she used his full name, ever since she discovered that Chika meant
‘delicate flower’. She leaned sideways and supported herself on his side,
before giving up and laying her torso on his thighs, her legs curling up
sideways on the bed. Yumichika paused for a second, she didn’t seem to realise
or care that he was only wearing a towel wrapped around his lower torso. He
cautiously ran fingers through her hair and was relieved when she hummed
lightly in response.
“Even hung-over
like this, you are still beautiful Lena.”
“Yeah yeah,
whatever.” She mumbled. He sighed, she truly did not believe him.
She drifted back
to sleep with the soothing hand running through her hair.
***
“Ikkaku
I’m gonna murder you and bring you back and torture you to death all over
again!”
Yumichika
sighed, Lena and Ikkaku were at it again. Glancing over he saw Lena jump Ikkaku
and force him to the ground. She pummelled his face a few times before he
forced her up and threw her into a wall.
“Don’t
think that you’re a match against me! If you were any good at fighting you
would have been put in 11th!” He yelled, antagonizing her. The
grounds silenced, this fight had everyone’s attention and no one dared to
speak. Lena’s reitsu was rising and Ikkaku’s quickly followed. She drew her
zanpakuto causing the spectators to cheer.
“Let’s
not waste any time,” Ikkaku sneered, slamming his sword and sheath together,
“grow, Hozukimaru!”
“Swift,
Binjaket!” Lena pulled at the hilt of her sword and revealed the second of her
dual Dao swords. Taking steps forward, the two fighters bowed to each other and
then began. Her swords clashed against his spear, blood was coating the
grounds. Ikkaku had a longer reach, but Lena was faster, they were perfectly
balanced. Yumichika, along with the other spectators, had trouble following the
fight. Lena had her style of darting in and out, her speed making it possible.
They had fought so many times that Ikkaku had learned to follow it, but he was
one of the only ones who could.
Suddenly
it all stopped, Ikkaku had his spear close to his chest and had it aimed at her
heart. “Guess this means I win?” He grinned before she rolled her eyes.
“The
thing about Dao swords, is that there’s two of them, dumbass.”
He
looked at her one arm which was down by her side, and then followed the other
to where it crossed his shoulder and a blade was slowly pressing against the back
of his neck.
“Alright,
a tie, for now!”
She
laughed and the two of them bowed to each other again before he reached over
and tossed her a towel to get off the caked blood.
“Lena,
captain’s looking for you!” A voice called. Renji had entered the training
grounds, stepping lightly to avoid the blood splatters. “Something along the
lines of not finishing your paperwork?”
“I
did it all! I even did all of tomorrows! That stuck up prick just wants to stop
me having fun.” She sighed, “alright I’m coming, see you later Ikkaku.” She
jogged over to Renji and pulled the end of his ponytail as they walked back to
their division.
***
The
next night, Lena was in her room, alone. She had left the bar early, but she
was sure Rangiku wouldn’t mind. After all, there were plenty of men in the bar
to keep her company, plenty of men to buy her drinks and keep her laughing.
They had been throwing themselves at her, and Lena couldn’t help but feel
jealous. She didn’t usually mind, she was used to men bee-lining for Rangiku,
used to being overlooked. But just once, she thought it would be nice to be
wanted for a change.
Stood
in front of the tall mirror in her bedroom, and one by one, let each piece of
clothing pool on the ground at her feet. She ran her hands over her scarred
skin, along her freckled arms. Over her hips that were just too wide to balance
her breasts, over the puckered skin of her thigh where she almost lost to a
hollow. She looked at her face, the dark brown hair that hung limply. The
bottom lip that was too full for its partner, the muddy brown eyes that stared
back at her.
You are beautiful
Yumichika’s
voice rang throughout her mind and Lena froze. He had always told her she was
beautiful, even when she was hung-over, covered in blood and scars from a
fight, when she’d just woken up, he had never faltered. What did he see in her?
The
next night was an annual formal event of some kind. Lena never paid attention,
and never went. She waited until the formal part was over and then joined the
crew for drinks. She never understood the excitement of dressing up in tight,
expensive clothes, but this time she changed her mind. She would go, she would
prove to everyone that she could be beautiful, she would show Yumichika that he
was right. Unfortunately, she had no idea where to start, luckily, she was
friends with one of the most beautiful women in the soul society.
Lena
pushed down her pride, and the next morning she was nervously knocking on her friend’s
door. Rangiku answered, not as hung-over as Lena expected.
“Where’d
you go last night?” Rangiku whined, “you left me to drink alone!”
“Rangiku,
can you make me beautiful?”
Her
eyes lit up like Christmas, and pulled Lena into her room. She had an inkling
of who Lena was doing this for, and damn it if Rangiku wasn’t going to make her
the most beautiful woman in all the soul society. Let’s see it that didn’t
floor the damn peacock.
***
“Quit
being such a baby!” Rangiku hissed, “you’ll be fine.”
“I’d
rather fight hollows” Lena grumbled, but Rangiku was right, she was terrified.
She was making such a fuss, but she’d never done this before. What if everyone
laughed at her attempt? What if she wasn’t meant to be beautiful? This was the
most nerve wracking thing she had ever done.
Rangiku
huffed, and realised that Lena wasn’t going to move. She linked her arm through
her friends and flashed her a smile, “relax, he’s going to love you.” And then
she started walking. They entered the room and naturally, everyone turned to
look at the new arrivals. A hush fell over the group, conversations became
quiet murmurs, and curious looks became stares.
“Rangiku,
they’re all looking at us.” Lena panicked, cursing her hair for twisting her
hair into a bun, leaving her nothing to hide behind.
“Of
course they are, you know how gorgeous we look.”
“No
actually.” Rangiku had refused her request to look in a mirror. She could look
hideous for all she knew.
“You
look fantastic. So fantastic that I would do you right here and now if you
weren’t such a prude.”
“I’m
not a prude!”
“When
was the last time you got laid? Exactly, point proven. Oh there’s Shuhei! See
you later Lena, good luck!” And Rangiku was gone in a swirl of skirts and
perfume. Now Lena was alone. She cast her eyes around, looking for anyone who
would save her, and then she locked eyes with a certain Delicate Flower.
Yumichika
had been chatting with Captain Ukitake when the two girls made their entrance.
He had glanced over like everyone else and then found his eyes glued to her. He
could tell Rangiku was wearing something red and flashy, but he couldn’t take
his eyes from Lena. Her sleek mahogany hair was twisted up in a knot, exposing
her long thin neck. Her dress was a pale mint, and hung from her shoulders,
hugging her torso before it turned into simple flowing skirt. She was flawless.
He
chuckled lightly at her obvious nervousness, and then Rangiku began to leave
her and anyone who knew her well enough could see the frantic spark in her eyes.
“Excuse
me, captain.” Yumichika murmured, and as his eyes connected with Lena’s he saw
them flood with relief. He walked towards her, the only person moving in the
room, and all eyes were on them.
He
caught her nervous fingers in his, and her gaze turned up to him.
“Do…
Do I…” She stuttered.
“You
look beautiful.” He finished for her.
Her
brown eyes softened, and stood on tiptoes to meet his descending lips in a soft
kiss. His hand caressed her cheek softly before capturing the back of her neck
and rolling his thumb in small circles. They broke apart and her face erupted
in a blush as everyone began to cheer and catcall. Yumichika took it all in
stride, winding an arm to catch her waist and pulling her to his side as he
walked away from the centre of the room. Rangiku winked at Lena and gave her
two thumbs up, which she delicately ignored.
***
The
couple was strange. More often than not, she was dusty from patrol and random
fights with other division members. She swore, she drank, and was all around a
good time. He was refined, cultured, he liked everything in his life to have a
bit of class. However, people would see the two of them walking, hands
entwined, and would hear Yumichika tell her she was beautiful. Lena would roll
her eyes, but now it was different. She believed him, and that made all the
difference.
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