It had to have been an hour or so, and sulking what earned her nothing but wasted time and energy. She'd fought before; she lived through it, even without Maaka's support she would follow through with her original plans. She stood up, her back aching as she stretched the arched spine, knees popping as they bent and moved. Cracking her knuckles, she sighed and slowly stepped out of her little room, the shattered box and pieces in hand, and headed towards Szayel's lab. If anyone had the repairs she needed, it was the lunatic who earned the eighth rank in the Espada line.

Upon entering the lab, having earned entrance long ago when he had first achieved his lab, she located Szayel conversing with another of the Espada, Nnoitora. Jiruga Nnoitora was not someone she enjoyed conversing with; he had no common sense and lacked any form of logical thought besides fight and kill. Though, to a degree, he reminded her of Maaka. Lacking multiple scars, and also being an all male, he was obviously different, but personality wise they could possibly have been twins if she dared to compare their DNA. Swerving around the pair, uninterested in whatever they were chatting over, she located small tools that would work in repairing her broken box. Before she could even start tinkering with a few of the bolts, a shadow loomed over her shoulder, and as she placed the tool down, another appeared to her side.

"What have we here, Miss Ichimaru?" He was obviously admiring the technology in her hands, eyes glittering with interest and close proximity indicating he was observing her work. Nnoitora snorted, and stalked away, not caring in the least what to brainiac's had to share when it came to science and their work. Amaji shrugged, stepping away before returning to her repairs.

"You know exactly what I have before me, but my question is, does Aizen?" He grinned, and she thought of her brother, that sly snicker he always seemed to offer. He reached out to trace a finger along the surface of the smooth outer core, then prodded the sparking wires within. He clicked his tongue.

"We had an agreement, Miss Ichimaru, of course he should know nothing more then what the monitors show. But, as my part of the bargain, tell me," He leaned towards it and petted the box, eyes dissecting the entire machine as if mapping it out for future reference. "How is it coming along? I see damage has been done,"

With that, he sounded disappointed, and she grunted. "I became frustrated, and beat down the poor thing. Otherwise, it wasn't working out as well as I had hoped. I had incorrectly connected the wrong wires, and most likely added the wrong chemicals, or maybe I shouldn't have used any," She paused, then turned to Szayel with a small smile, an earnest smile. "Would you like to work on it for me? My treat, I have some other business to attend to before I may return to it."

She thought she'd never seen a happier person, he looked so elated, it was as if she were giving a child a pony on their birthday. "Of course, of course, I may be able to transfuse some of those- oh! I see where they were connected, no, it is not right at all." Though she knew already where she had errored, it was nice to finally have another person's corrective statements. If anything, she missed Mayuri pointing out her mistakes and telling her to stare over from scraps with nothing more then a drawing sheet and her memory.

"I leave it in your hands while I go feed the poor starving creature locked up in a jail cell completely alone... without proper care... so scared and tired," He didn't detach himself from the machine, too engrossed to even hear her words. Smiling and knowing her little gadget was in good care, she exited the lab to find herself with little more to do then go feed Kira as she had promised she would do earlier. She wasn't thrilled with the idea, but perhaps some silent company would do her well, better then someone shouting and yelling or speaking insensibly.

OOO

A little beeping sound came from the little communicator around Maaka's wrist. Groaning, she pushed herself up into a standing position, ignoring the sharp sting of broken bones. Hisagi needed feeding, currently, this was her most pressing matter. Wandering down the hallway, she snagged the tray of food from a Numeros, nodding to the low level Arrancar as she did. After a while, she ended up at Shuhei's door. Molding her face into a semi-normal looking one, she pushed open the piece of wood.

"I brought you food." She announced, setting the tray down on the bed before plopping down on the floor. Almost two seconds after the tray had touched the fabric it was picked up and ravished. He must have been hungrier than she had thought.

"What's wrong?" He asked after he was finished inhaling the three course meal. "You look upset." Damn, was her poker face that bad? She shrugged, looking up at him from the cold concrete floor.

"I've been informed that there might be a way to get you and Kira out of Hueco Mundo and back to your home." She put her hands in her lap, turning her face away from him so he couldn't see the look in her eye. From the bed, she heard a small laugh; an amazingly rare sound.

"It's about damn time huh?" He said, another laugh slipping out. His face was full of such joy that Maaka couldn't help but let a weak smile play on her lips. Shuhei seemed too overjoyed to notice anything on her face, because he jumped off the bed, grabbing her hands and pulling her to her feet with one pull. Before she could stop him, he tilted her face upward, kissing her simply. "We can finally go home." His voice had softened, and he smiled at her. Again she avoided his gaze, her lip getting caught between her teeth as she chewed on it.

"Yeah..." She muttered. He was so excited, so happy, that she couldn't tell him that she wasn't going. Forcing a smile, she looked up at him. "It'll be great won't it?" Tentatively, she reached out, putting a hand on his arm. It was a good thing that he was taller than her, because he couldn't see the clear guilt in her orange eye. Without warning, he pulled her into a tight hug, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"I can't wait," He mumbled into her soft locks. "I miss the sun, the light, the warmth. It's been too long..." If he hadn't pulled her into that hug, he might have seen the slow flow of tears down Maaka's cheeks

OOO

Food, a basic necessity to life, yet this boorish being wouldn't touch it, again. Though she acknowledged his current situation, taking it to heart, that gave him no reason to starve himself when he was going home. She watched him poke gently at the food, picking out a small morsel here and there to nibble, but he had as of yet to take a full bite and savor the not-so-disgusting food. Sighing, things going nowhere, she sat in the swivel chair and spun, letting her thoughts wander. Perhaps he wouldn't eat while she was room, and when she left he would devour the food like a ravenous beast? Nah, that was unlike Kira, he would eat little whether she was present or not. Instead, she finally swiveled to face him, and groaned.

"You eat slowly, eating too slowly is bad for you, you know," He looked up and he heart skipped as she noted the hint of despair in the single blue eye she could see. "Look, I don't see why you're being so glum. I've told you already, I'm getting you out of here, you and Shuhei both. If you want, I can ask my brother to see you off."

He shook his head and simply stared at her, as if putting words together carefully before replying. She waited, she had time to spare so long as she wasn't wasting it moping or pouting alone in a corner somewhere. Possibly something he might do with spare time, or even here while she was away with business.

"- go." Shit, she'd been so engrossed in thought she'd missed what he'd said. Smiling sheepishly, she waved at him.

"May I ask you to repeat yourself, I zoned, sorry." He let out a sigh, his shoulders sagging almost infinitesimally, and looked back down at the food.

"I do not need him to bid me farewell, I will be fine," His chopsticks poked at the greens on the plate before once again he looked up at her. "Will you- will you be coming with us when we leave?" He sounded on edge, and Amaji bit her lip. She wouldn't lie, but telling the truth would hurt her more, she didn't exactly want to see him go, even if it were for his benefit. She realized she'd been becoming more and more selfish as of late.

"No, neither Maaka nor I will be returning with you to the Soul Society, though hopefully I will be able to convince Maaka otherwise. The replacements we put in will dissipate into nothing as if they had never existed, and a list will appear in your room on the events that have passed during your absence."

He shifted and pushed the plate aside, all interest lost on the food. Amaji watched him, mood careening and she stood up, walking over to the bed. He looked more the surprised as she leaned on his side, sitting promptly on the side of the bed, and she laughed quietly at his shock. "Why won't you leave this behind, come with us?"

"I would be leaving a lot if I left, more then you know." She sighed and pressed into his arm, letting her eyes slip closed for a moment. For a cold person he sure as well was warm, and his body heat was nice against her chilly skin. He was silent as she sat there, watching her, and she was comfortable just sitting there. This was as close as she'd get, she realized, as much as she had come to love this man.

"I would be to, more then you know." Her eyes opened and she pulled away to look back at him, a frown on her lips. He wouldn't meet her gaze and instead occupied himself with the platter at the end of the bed, which upset her a little.

"And what would that be, Kira-san? I honestly can't fathom what would hold your interest here. Perhaps my brother? Though I don't suppose you'd be up to sticking around for a traitorous captain." She lost herself to thought once again, a finger to her lip as she thought. There couldn't be much here, he'd barely seen any of it to begin with. Completely lost, she let her red gaze stare at him blankly. "I truly have no idea,"

"You're supposed to be the smart one, I was hoping it would be an obvious guess," Before she had time to let the words sink in, her hand was brushed away by his and he leaned forward, lips connecting with hers. She went rigid, mind boggled as to what had just happened, and slowly let herself ease as he waited patiently for a response. There wasn't much of one, as she quickly kissed back before pulling away abruptly, rushing for the door with the back of a hand to her mouth. Refusing to turn back, she paused at the door.

"I'll leave the food here for you and come back for it later, good bye." With that she exited and quickly sought out the lab she'd been in previously, locating Szayel and abruptly shoving him aside to return to working at her little gadget. Anything to take her mind from the kiss. It was too late, he should have done something earlier. He was leaving; she was not - that was the end of it. It was too late to admit anything, and if she had to, she would not offer a good bye in order to keep herself from trying to leave through that damned bridge with him.