Filler: Time
When people would approach Yoshino, claiming that she knew the secret to eternal life, she could not help but feel sorry for them. They would accuse of being a witch or some sort of immortal being, and they would bring proof, like a picture (taken anywhere from last year to decades ago), that would show that she had not aged in the slightest.
Her tribe forbade eating the soul of a living human, but she could not help feel the urge whenever she was faced with idiots like these.
Often the people that approached her were old men and woman, who desperately wanted to cling to their feeble lives.
Then there would be the adventurers, who wanted to bring back a portion of the fountain of youth, or whatever they wanted to call it.
Sometimes the people who approached her were young couples, who wanted to be sure that the love they shared would go on forever and ever.
That last group of people was the ones she envied, and at the same despised the most. Their faces would be so full of love…love that she knew would not last the test of time. She wanted to yell and scream and punch and rip and kill them, but in the end she would always bare her fangs at them and they would run off screaming into the night. They would live out of the rest of the days in fear, and because of that very fear they would live their lives to the fullest.
The fear of death allowed one to live each day as if it were their last. The idea that they could die at any moment would make them value the time they had on this plane of existence.
Time, she mused, was something she had more than enough of.
She remembered having spent an entire day doing nothing but watching a clock go by, counting every second, every minute, and every hour, just to see if she could feel time slipping by her; she felt nothing except a bit foolish.
Time was only an abstract concept to her now. It would stretch on into infinity for as long as she remained.
"Yoshino?" said the Quincy, looking rather out of place in the bathrobe he had borrowed from her.
She glanced at him, observing the young boy carefully. He was looking considerably better than when she had found him, lying face down in a puddle on the street, half-dazed from a fever.
"Yes?" she replied.
Her heightened senses allowed her to hear him swallow, all the questions he wanted to ask her dying in his throat. He sat down on her couch instead, his turn now to observe her with those serious yet youthful eyes.
"Yoshino," he said quietly, "you remind me of someone."
The Bounto could not help but smirk. "Do I remind you of a past girlfriend perhaps?"
His response was predictable at best, as he started to blush profusely. "Oh, no, no…that's not what I meant."
She crossed her arms. "What did you mean then?"
He chewed on the inside of his mouth, and she could see that he was debating whether or not tell her.
"This might sound strange," he said, putting an arm behind his head, "but you remind me of…my mother."
Now this was something she had never expected anyone to say to her. She was represented death, while a mother on the other hand gave life. They were complete opposites.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable," he said, looking away from her.
They both remained silent, the only sounds coming from the window she had left open earlier.
"What was she like?" she found herself saying, curiosity getting the better of her.
He looked deep in thought. "She was a very kind woman. The one thing I remember the most was that her face, even when she was happy, always looked very sad."
"Sad? Why would she be sad?"
"I don't know," he said. "She died when I was young."
This Quincy was most unusual. Was he really the one who would protect this era? As she examined him, he suddenly looked very frail and vulnerable to her, as if he would break at any moment.
"What is it like?" he asked.
She instinctively knew what he was asking. The tone of it was so familiar to her that she did not need to hear further. "It is not…something that you would like, Quincy."
"I would have to agree with you there. The idea of living forever…it must be a terrible thing to endure?" he said, adjusting his glasses.
"Very astute for someone as young as you are. Judging by your scent, you are no more than fifteen or sixteen years of age?" she inquired.
He sighed, as if ashamed of the fact. "That's right, I'm a freshman in high school."
"Living forever is something you humans dream about. For me, it is something I am forced to wake up to everyday. Sometimes," she said, going to her window and glancing out of it, "sometimes I think about what your Soul Society must be like."
He walked over to her. "You're not missing much. It's much like the Edo period of Japan."
She blinked in surprise. "Really?"
"Yes. It's very primitive. The unlucky souls who don't live close near the Soul Reapers tend to live in what you'd call poverty," he finished, displeased at the memory of what "Heaven" was really like.
"I'd rather have the ability to change, than be stuck like this forever. I think I'd rather be dead," she finally said after a few moments, wondering if voicing her thoughts would be wise.
Silence filled the room after her statement, and she could tell that the Quincy was clearly uncomfortable with her words. Not many people would be comfortable, she mused, if you told them you were quite suicidal.
His eyes suddenly had a curious light to them. "Something has been puzzling me, Yoshino. You live in a clock tower," he said, breaking the silence that had permeated the room, "why here of all places?"
"Maybe so I can be reminded of the time that is passing me by, second by second, hour by hour, day by day."
She was looking out the window once more, standing there and watching people go by. Her conversation had unexpectedly become intimate with the Quincy, who she originally was only using for the power he possessed (or thought he would possess). Had she gone soft now, after everything she had been through?
"Time no longer has any meaning for you as a Bounto, yet you choose to be reminded of it constantly," he said, a sheepish grin on his face. "You're not quite what I had expected, Miss Yoshino."
It was faint, but she could sense something emanating from the Quincy. It was laying dormant deep inside him, unable to break free from the seal that was placed to prevent him from dying. Her heightened senses allowed her to feel it growing slowly, perhaps even having the potential to break free from its bonds one day, stronger than before?
This Quincy, she realized, was full of surprises. For him to surprise someone who had seen it all and then some certainly deserved recognition. His power would return, of this she was certain, although time was of the essence in this situation.
Of course, the Quincy could always pull of another surprise. She couldn't be too sure with him.
She said, not taking her eyes off a view of the sun setting, "The same can be said for you, Quincy."
End