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Title : United We Stand
Rating : PG
Prompt : Half-life
Word count : 542
Characters : Hisagi and Kira
Disclaimer : I do not own Bleach
United We Stand
Kira watched the last candle burn lower and lower, the ink had long since dried on his brush but he hadn't noticed; every night now was the same, he would sit in his office under the pretence of doing the paperwork but all he would do would be watch the flames dance lower until finally he sat in darkness.
Thoughts of his captain flashed through his mind as they always did; the ever-present smiling face, that everybody else found creepy but he found endearing, and the silver hair that shone like the moon. As ever at the moment when the last candle was dying he thought of the final night they had spent with each other, just filling out paperwork as though the world hadn't been about to change forever.
A thin spiral of smoke danced its way towards the ceiling as Kira's last light went out; sighing, he placed down the writing brush next to the untouched paperwork and left the office for another night.
Hisagi padded down the darkened streets of Seireitei alone heading for the hot baths; he had given up bathing during the usual hours because he was sick of everybody treating him as though he had some sort of contagious disease. His presence was normally enough to clear the bathhouse; it was just easier on him to go when darkness had fallen and there was nobody there to see him.
Anger at the betrayal of his captain rose in him again as it often did when he was alone with only his thoughts to keep him company; the faint acrid smell of sulphur filled the air as he approached the baths, the solitary dripping of the water the only sound.
"Hisagi?"
Hisagi stopped dead at the sound of his name and cursed affluently under his breath, slowly he turned and looked for whoever else was out walking this late; to his surprise he found himself looking Kira, the blonde-haired lieutenant seeming just as shocked to see him.
"What are you doing out here so late?"
Hisagi wondered how to answer that; how to sum up in a few short sentences the pain of simply being around when everybody else was, the peace that night brought with all it's anonymity and the desire to be simply left alone – instead he just shrugged.
"I could ask you the same thing."
Kira flushed and looked down; he didn't want to explain that he had once again been in the office later than he should have been, just reminiscing about times gone by. Looking back up he caught Hisagi's eye and for a brief flash saw the reflection of his own pain in there, a kindred soul crying for the life they had lost.
"Perhaps you would like some company?"
Hisagi's eyes widened at the surprise of somebody actually wanting to spend time with him; he was about to politely refuse when he saw the slightly awkward bruised look on Kira's face, a mirror of his own pain.
"Sounds nice."
The two men smiled at each other and walked into the bathhouse; the beginnings of a friendship that was awkward and stunted but infinitely better than the half-life they had been living.