Aki Himura, the fourth seat of Third Division, followed her blond vice-captain through the winding paths of the Seireitei as they carried piles of papers to First Division. Izuru Kira's head hung lower than normal, and the bags under his eyes were pronounced, as they had been since their captain's betrayal.
While much of the Seireitei was surprised by Sōsuke Aizen and Kaname Tōsen's defection, many hushed words claimed that all had known Gin Ichimaru was just waiting for the right time; that his betrayal was no surprise. Many mourned the loss of the gentle captain of fifth division and the quiet man that was captain of ninth. No one, however, was expected to mourn the loss of the mocking snake of a man that was Gin Ichimaru.
But the division that once belonged to Ichimaru did. Their Vice took it especially hard, spending much of his time in bars or in his quarters, drowning his sorrows under bottles of sake. No longer did he devote himself to the paperwork that, even under Gin Ichimaru, would have been his. Only after days of inactivity, after he'd recovered from the bouts of sickness his excessive drinking brought and before he began the cycle again, could he be coerced into signing the necessary forms or reading the occasional page or two. Rikū Togakushi, the division's third seat, tried hard and long to help their Vice along, but found himself taking lead of the better fairing members of the division when it was needed.
Aki Himura, on most days fell into the group that Rikū often lead, but on some, she faired not much better than her vice-captain. Not only had she lost her Captain, she had lost her friend. Izuru had always been a rather solemn man, but now, not even alcohol could bring light to his eyes. She still stayed close to him, taking care of him when he fell to sickness and pushing him to do what little work he did in the few moments that he was sober. They had met while in the academy, in one of Sosuke Aizen's optional calligraphy classes. She had been a year under Izuru, but something had clicked and gradually she became his group's tagalong. Izuru, being the ever patient man he was, spent many an hour working with her on techniques she had trouble comprehending. Aki owed much to the man, and she felt leaving him now would only allow him to plunge further into his depression.
The chilling wind of the late fall season attempted to blow the stacks of paper from their arms as the two shinigami worked their way towards first division. Their trip so far had been spent in silence and Aki was hesitant to break it. Little things upset Izuru now, and what she wanted to talk about was one of those such things. Nearing their destination, Aki decided it was now or never.
"Izuru, when we're done, Hisagi-san and Matsumoto-san have invited you out. I really think you should go. "
It was if she hadn't said anything. Izuru didn't respond, look over, even blink to let her know he'd heard her, so she tried again.
"Izuru? Please, you can't keep making yourself sick like this. Going out would be good for you, and Hisagi-san and Matsumoto-san really want to see you. They've been trying to get you to go out for a while now…" Still there was no answer, though Aki swore she saw him grimace and lower his head some. "Izuru… What would Captain Ichimaru think if he saw you like this?" She knew that bringing up their captain was harsh, and she wasn't surprised when Izuru flinched and mouthed something silently to himself. "Please go out tonight, Izuru. Rikū and I can take care of everything at the division." Shifting the papers over into one arm, Aki reached out to rest her hand on his arm, finally bringing his attention to her. He looks horrible. In the bright light of the day, it was clear just how badly Izuru was fairing. He was horribly pale and the rings under his eyes looked deep and painful as he squinted against the light. It hurt to see him like this, stung her straight to the core and it took every bit of strength she had not to apologize and tell him to forget all she'd said. Stopped in the middle of the path, Aki squeezed her friends arm, smiling sadly up at him, "Please, Izuru, just tonight and I'll stop asking you, alright? I won't bring it up again, I promise."
Izuru stared at her blankly for a few moments before nodding his head, his shoulders falling more than the red haired woman thought possible. "Alright, Aki." He said, "I'll go."
Part of her wanted to smile in victory, but she couldn't. Not with how pained and defeated Izuru looked. Instead, she thanked him and he led them off to deliver their papers and he could return to his seclusion before he would have to go out for the night.
This is my first foray back into the world of writing fanfiction for quite a while, so it'll probably take me a while to get back into the swing of things, but I think this was a good start. I apologize if anything information in here isn't as it's supposed to be in order to line up with Bleach cannon, but no matter how much I looked, I had far too much trouble trying to find simple little things that I just couldn't remember from when I watched the series. Feel free to leave me a message/review letting me know of any such info! Thank you for reading, and I hope that between all the stuff I have going on in the next month or so, I'll be able to update!