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“I do enjoy the azaleas you grow every Spring.”
“Thank you. I absolutely abhor them.”
Your fingers pause at the reach for the senbei , regarding Captain Kuchiki humorously. For all the subtlety of his emotions most days, he seems to slip at this glance and offers an open expression of confusion to your amusement, lightly pushing the bowl further within your reach in a misunderstanding. You shake your head with a breathy chuckle and pull another piece from the bowl, alternating the cross of your legs before cocking your head a bit, “I'm sure you'll understand if I asked why you have such a strong aversion to a plant you had the choice of letting bloom?”
“Not precisely,” he continues, “They were a personal preference of my grandfather; given that, I have no other reason to plant them beyond a quiet commemoration to him. My personal feelings for them, wide of the mark.”
You nod. A noble reason if ever you'd heard one. You gesture a hand to your right where the garden sits beyond the open door of your seated area, “Why not commemorate through the entire garden itself? Planting a wide array of several like you've done with the other content? Far be it from me to tell you how to cherish those passed on but they clearly have a sort of effect on you.”
“Gardens signify life. Progression. I would not place such an ironic sort of shrine amongst my family's home in a melancholy. They lay in the thick of the black pine’s shadows and they'll stay there. I believe the subtlety of their placing makes for a far more intimate dedication.”
You blink, contemplate, and bite down into your piece of cracker with a light shrug, “Fair point. You have the win for logic and philosophy.”
He grunts, you chuckle.
For your place as Fourth Seat of the Eleventh Division, you had strangely made a collective handful of friendships with a few of the captains. Without much of a preference, you realized a night that the few you had were of a calmer nature, parallel to your own personal conservation of the mess that was emotions. Jushiro and Shunsui had a partnering way of making you laugh and Byakuya was a lovely conversationalist despite the false idea that he was tightly wound and socially incapable. The truth was the polar opposite. It seemed a constant slip of knowledge that he was nobility - groomed to thrive by tongue and blade. Your personal slip of knowledge, that you did not know even now, was that he was high appreciative to your understanding of this and offered a welcome companionship from a rather maturely functioning shinigami.
“I wanted to ask you something. As a concerned comrade.”
You blink, looking up at the man before offering a soft smile, “Of course. Please…” You urge him with a hand, finishing off the cracker, taking another promptly and biting into it. You both feel a slight stir in the air but don't regard it as anything. To your amusement and the captain's indignation, the Women's Association scurried through his home and the reiatsu felt was presumptively accredited to the several women who were likely taking their way through the tunnels underground.
You see his mouth twitch. You fight a grin.
“Your particular preference in certain contemporaries of mine have flared unasked opinions. I do not intend, of my own accord, to mold my own until I have properly spoken with you about it.” You notice his hesitation, the unusual preamble that seems to carry on and on, “...I've never cared to question individual's actions unless they occur on the battlefield but I -”
Your raised hands startles him, but not so much as the chuckle that carries past your lips. Amusement crinkles the corner of your eyes and you shake your head before looking up at him, “Byakuya - I sincerely hope this rambling has an end? What actions of mine have you so...addled?” You chuckle at the final word, hands resting on either knee. This carries as somewhat laxed and you only smile in calm anticipation. He does not shift a muscle and brings the cup to the entrance of his lips, stopping short and carefully closing his eyes before speaking plainly, “I was curious about your affinity with my compeer, Zaraki Kenpachi.”
Ah, the enigma of the Divisions.
To think it had reached the confusion of Kuchika was amusing and in the same breath, curious. You had never seen the man commit himself to any form of gossip but it was clear that your relationship was the latest paradox. You give a breathless chuckle and look up, curious to how you intended to respond.
Then, it comes it naturally: “Azaleas.”
He pauses, gaze speaking where words were unnecessary. Huh?
“Azaleas, Kuchiki. Albeit unfathomable to you, my feelings are my own and we perhaps see things differently. I cannot understand your loathing of the flowers - nor will I ever. But perhaps the respect lies in acceptance that our eyes painting separate pictures. In the privacy of our hearts, we see things differently - and that is perfectly fine. I hope I've made sense?”
You swear you see the corners of his lips quiver, but it is more likely a delusion of your imagination before the captain nods, “Albeit ambiguous - I understand you perfectly. Enough said.”
You smile, rising from your place, “Good, because we're out of
senbei.”