A/N: Here's the sequel to Hands of the Clock, The Clock Is Chiming, TCIC for short, if I don't feel like typing the whole title in reference. I hope you're here because you enjoyed Hands of the Clock, and this will be posted as each chapter is finished. I don't know why I wanted to post HotC as I did... Anyway, let's get going.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. I do own Akina. I don't make any profit from this. Please ask to use Akina.
"Morning." Shuuhei sat at the kitchen table, a mug of coffee in his hand. "Sit." He motioned to the chair opposite him.
"You'll be late for work." Akina muttered, but she sat down. Her usual smile was MIA, and she displayed dark circles under her eyes. "I bet there's a lot of paperwork for you to do."
"It's being handled." Shuuhei's voice was calm. "Now we need to talk." Akina dropped her head down onto the table, groaning loudly. "You know as well as I do that this won't just blow over." Shuuhei resisted the urge to touch her shoulder or her hair to try and comfort her. He mentally told himself that he wasn't allowed to do that kind of thing unless she allowed it.
To his surprise, Akina laughed. "I know it's not going to blow over, Shuuhei. That just doesn't mean I want to deal with it." She sat up, stretching. "I know what I feel. And I don't want to ignore it." She looked away slightly, a pale smile on her face. "But at the same time, I feel guilty. I started feeling these things when there were still beliefs that Kaname could come back. So even though... Even though he's gone, I feel like I disrespected him." She laughed again, though this time it was a sad sound. "As stupid as it sounds, I feel horrible for feeling the way about you that I do. Even though he... he told me I could fall for someone else, I feel horrible. And I don't know what to do. I just... for the first time in over a hundred years, I don't have the slightest inkling of what to do. I feel weak and stupid and slutty." Akina buried her face in her hands.
"We believed he would come back." Shuuhei sighed. "But I doubt he ever would've. He was incredibly stuck in his ways, and I bet he didn't even think about coming back. And he clearly didn't feel guilty about it, so why should you feel guilty about falling for someone who's helped you and cared for you all this time? I don't see a reason you should have to feel any guilt." Maybe he was being too blunt with her, but he didn't feel he had anywhere else he could go. She needed to hear these things, whether she liked it or not.
The mask went up on Akina's face, the fake smile that Shuuhei had come to recognize. "You're right, of course." She stood, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "I just don't know... should I be in a period of mourning, maybe? He did die, so maybe I shouldn't date anyone for a while?"
Shuuhei didn't know what to say to that. "You don't drink coffee." He said after a long moment of silence.
"I need the caffeine." Akina shrugged. "I don't know if I can ever trust someone the way I did him." She whispered, taking a sip of coffee and making a face.
"Here." Shuuhei nudged the sugar bowl towards her. "And love is work. I don't know what you and Kaname had, but it has its ups and downs and arguments and it takes time to get things right. So even if you don't trust me quite the same way, if we work at it, eventually you would be able to." Given he didn't screw up, but Shuuhei kept that thought to himself.
"You're right." Akina stared into her coffee. "I guess that's a little bit of a new concept to me though, because Kaname had my love from day one." She smiled at Shuuhei, and though it was exhausted, it was genuine. "Ever since the day I met him, I would've gone through hell and back for him..." She ran her fingers down the scar she had received trying to protect Kaname so long ago, but when it reached her neckline of her shirt she dropped her hand to the table. Shuuhei had never seen the whole scar; he just knew that she had almost died from it when it happened.
"It's your choice." Shuuhei shrugged. "Whatever you choose to do is alright with me." The look he received from Akina told him she knew that he was bluffing.
"Heard you're getting a new captain." She took a drink of her sweetened coffee. "That'll be pretty strange for you."
Fine, as long as she thought about her answer, he'd talk with her about anything else. "It'll be nice not to have to do everything big by myself." Shuuhei shrugged again.
"Yeah." Akina stared into her coffee cup. She bit down on her bottom lip, and then dumped her coffee in the sink. "I have to get to work. We have follow up check-ups to do and I don't want to be late. I expect to see you at your two o' clock appointment for that stab wound."
Shuuhei nodded, and then watched her slip out the door. He knew that she would know if he didn't go to it too- while Captain Unohana and Lieutenant Isane usually conducted the exams, Akina had access to all the records.
Shuuhei downed the rest of his coffee and stepped into the bathroom to finish getting ready. He really was none too excited about getting a captain for his division, but it couldn't be helped.
Just like his feelings for Akina couldn't be helped.
"Akina!" Isane laughed, sitting beside her. "You look like you were run over a couple times. Are you going to make it?"
"Just let me sit for a minute." Akina sighed. She was truly exhausted; she'd been unable to get any sleep the night before, and now the medic division was swamped. "It's never been so busy in the whole time I've worked here."
"Hopefully it will cool back down after a few days." Isane smiled. "So... are you ok? With what happened during the war?"
Akina looked up at her. Deciding not to lie took a lot of courage on her part. "Yeah, yeah, I think I am." She smiled a little, kicking her feet around. "I have some other stuff going on now... but I'll be ok." She tipped her head back slightly and closed her eyes. "I mean... bad things are always going to happen... But you can make good things happen to you too, I think. It's all about choices. Other people's and your own. You can't control other people, but you can choose to do things that make you and them happy." She laughed out loud. "I'm sorry. I just feel like I needed to talk to someone. I must sound like I'm rambling."
"Not at all." Isane smiled. "It's a good realization to have and to share." Isane paused and studied her. "But to me it sounds like you found someone who makes you happy again. Do you want to clue me in to who is making you like this?"
"No one formally, not yet." Akina returned her smile. "But I will have to tell someone something when I get off work." She stood. "But I have to get back to work. See you later, Isane." She disappeared down the hall before Isane could get another word in.
Captain Kensei Muguruma was in an especially foul mood, and Shuuhei could not for the life of him figure out why. Shuuhei had taken to doing all the deskwork so Kensei didn't have to deal with any of that, but the silver-haired man was still snapping at everyone. Shuuhei was beginning to feel like punching his captain, and that was not a good place to be.
Stay calm, he told himself. The best he could do was focus on the paperwork and hope that Kensei didn't single him out for something ridiculous. Shuuhei tried to remind himself what a good lieutenant does, but he had been the acting captain for so long that Kensei was just aggravating him. Oh, it was going to be an extremely long day.
"Shuuhei!" Akina vaulted herself at Shuuhei, much in the same way she used to do to Kaname Tosen. Shuuhei teetered for a moment, but all the aggravation from a day of Kensei snapping at everyone flowed right out Shuuhei's toes and rooting him to the ground. "Shuuhei, can we talk?"
"Yeah." The light in Akina's eyes made Shuuhei remember that he had to walk to get anywhere appropriate for a conversation of that caliber. "Are you ready to go home then?"
"Yes!" Akina smiled brightly at him. She seemed to almost grab his hand, but then stepped away slightly, hesitating.
Shuuhei gently wrapped his hand around hers, and when she didn't let go, he knew everything would be alright, if only for a while.
A/N: I want to give a quick shout out to rnn21 for reviewing the story before this! Thank you! And what do you guys think of the sequel so far?