back in the day buffet !
(idgaf that this title is unoriginal theres double meaning bc august is always bleach nostalgia month for me)
Halcyon Days
At first she thought it was because he looked so much like Kaien. The similarities are easy enough to spot. The imposing stature, the unruly hair, the obstinance, the consideration when you least expected it. Hell, they even made the same scrunched face when she said something unpleasant or sarcastic.
Sharing a living space has a funny way of bonding you quickly to a person and just as soon as she spots the similarities she begins counting the differences. She doesn't even realize it becomes a little game she plays, making mental tallies in each box before the differences become too great and she realizes they're not that similar after all.
The acts of kindness aren't out of a desire to help and mentor but an automatic response to a need presented in front of him. His selflessness is so thoughtless it often takes her by surprise. The rare smiles that never touch his eyes. That his grumpiness isn't a feigned theatric to create a persona to new squad members, but a symptom of a deep dissatisfaction with himself she understands all too well-
Kaien may have lead her out of the dark but he never understood the ugly parts of her that brought her there in the first place.
(The days get warmer and hazier and for a brief period of time she entertains the idea of life in this strange world of juice boxes and talking plushies.)
I was on tumblr and saw that today for ichiruki month it's all about going back to the beginning. So this is obvs set in those iconic first two months. & even though I have negative inspiration I had to write something because August was when I fell in love with Bleach and those first 50ish chapters have such a special place in my heart because it got me through a hellish preseason and then provided the perfect escape when high school got shitty, as it tends to do.
Even with the significant decline in quality and the trash ending and all the shipper drama in the past year that time in august will always be my bleach halcyon days.
