Chessebelle felt a surge of dislike wash over herself, casting a glance over at Ikkaku as they walked together.
They had come to the world of the living together for a hollow extermination mission-or rather, Chessebelle had received the orders and Ikkaku invited himself to go along with her-but the hollow was a no-show all of a sudden. Whether he was wiped out by a shinigami already in the world of the living or something else had happened wasn't clear. Chessebelle insisted they should investigate and after the last known spot of the hollow turned up nothing, Ikkaku told her to forget about it.
His attention had been drawn to a nearby festival that was apparently happening, people dressed up in kimonos and costumes with music and laughter all around. The lovely light from golden hour was casting a warm glow around the stalls and people. "Why don't we check this out instead? Seems like a party with some sake, eh?"
Chessebelle had given him a side-eye but Ikkaku was already moving towards the crowd, the woman exhaling a long breath through her nose. This was Ikkaku's way of getting them to go out, it would appear.
While she would never say Ikkaku had been chasing her, as she would sometimes seek him out instead, but she had gotten that same feeling she had gotten from Shinji before they started seeing each other.
Looking at him now, Chessebelle's dislike for herself only grew.
He was a loyal and honest man, a man that loved battle more than anything, a man that would lay his life on the line for the sport of it and for his captain without a second thought. He was different than Shinji, and yet here she was, finding herself attracted to him without even thinking of her own poor partner. He was rotting in a grave in the Seireitei, and here she was being swept away with another man on a mission-disguised-as-a-date.
"You alright, Chiyoko? I know you're upset about the hollow thing, but I only asked Akon to send you those orders because I knew you wouldn't say yes otherwise. It's not like you're running around looking for someone... to spend time with all the time, you know?"
His voice sounded far off at first, coming into focus slowly but surely. She turned her head to face Ikkaku this time, looking at him with a genuine curiosity in her eyes. Why would he want to spend his time with her anyways?
The sun was setting and in the last slivers of sunlight, Ikkaku's brown eyes looked more beautiful than she had realized. Ikkaku's eyes seemed to betray his normal behavior, a kindness within them that was intoxicating to look into. She couldn't keep the eye contact for long, thinking of Shinji's own eyes after a moment.
"Yea. I know." It was all she could bring herself to say, flinching when Ikkaku reached for her hand. She didn't see the wounded look he wore once he enclosed his rough hand around her delicate one, too busy trying not to pull herself away from him and run back to the Soul Society. All she wanted was to be alone in her lab, away from this lovely man trying to give her a second chance. She wanted to be alone with her self-loathing, try to make sense of this world once more.
The sun set and the two spirits wandered the festival in silence.