It had almost been two weeks since Hitomi first ventured into the 12th division. Things had been rather slow lately, so she always got her work done early. Captain Ukitake showed no protest in her being in that division, so long as she didn't disrupt anything.
Hitomi never ventured far into the division. She stayed near the computer room and one small part of the lab. Captain Kurotsuchi seemed to tolerate her presence, but as of late been studying her, occasionally. This wasn't unusual since he did this to everyone. Or that's what Rin told her to calm he down.
She was currently wandering the halls, much like she did that first day. She had come back from delivering the last of her paperwork to different divisions. She had been asked to send a special note to Captain Kurotsuchi, so at least she had a decent excuse to enter the research department of the the Gotei 13.
She paused in the doorway for a moment, collecting her nerve. Even if the strange captain showed no signs of hostility or irritation toward her, she still felt she needed to be careful around him. Clutching the papers close to her chest with one hand, she carefully opened the door.
She could hear the small murmuring of people and carefully slipped inside. She slid the door shut and wandered inside. She looked left and right, looking for the 12th division captain. She blinked when she didn't directly find him. She shrugged and wandered into the laboratory section of the division. She saw only lower seated members milling around, so she guessed the others were in the computer room.
She wandered around for a moment, before she was suddenly grabbed by the wrist and pulled into another room. She panicked, giving a small squeak of surprise. She looked up in confusion and came face to face with the emotionless eyes of Nemu, the lieutenant.
"Thank you, Nemu. You may go now." Captain Kurotsuchi's voice rang out, making Hitomi visibly tense. Nemu simply bowed and left the room to attend to something else she didn't know.
"Now then, I understand that your captain has something for me." Captain Kurotsuchi continued in a that lilting, creepy voice. Hitomi only nodded and quickly stepped forward, making sure to steel her nerve. She passed the note to the captain and stepped back.
She watched him lazily read over everything, then set the note down without a single comment. She tensed when he stood up from his seat in the office that she now realized she was in. She remained rooted when the captain approached her, standing a small distance away. The man leaned down and tilted his head, staring at something on her head, closely.
Hitomi closed her eyes, reflexively. She wasn't sure what he was staring at until she felt a tentative touch to two small, pearl white horns hidden within her deep chocolate brown locks. The horns were placed on either side of the part and were basically invisible unless you looked hard enough. They had grown in when she turned thirteen. Her father had horns and passed the gene down to her.
There was a pause, before the captain straightened up and stepped back. Hitomi released a sigh of relief and looked up at him. "You may leave." He dismissed, turning his back to her as she bowed. She then left the office and slipped into the laboratory once again.
"Hitomi!"
The fifth seat visibly jumped at the sudden voice. She was then enveloped in a hug with so much force it made her stumble forward a few steps. She glanced behind her shoulder after steadying herself. She smiled upon seeing none other than Rin clinging to her back. He was only an inch and a half taller than her so she had to look up a little.
"Rin!" She replied, turning around and hugging him, tightly. Over the two weeks she'd known them, Rin had become like a brother figure to her and a best friend. Rin laughed and lead her to the computer room where everyone else was. Though Hitomi noticed the absence of a certain person. She put it off for now and focused on greeting the main scientists of the 12th division.
They greeted her, politely before going back to their work. She simply smiled and settled into an open seat that Rin lead her to. They talked quietly and he explained to her how everything works. He started with the keyboards and graphs, then made his way to the large surveillance screens. "And these are used to watch over all of soul society and the human world." He explained in a finishing tone. Hitomi nodded and watched the images on the screen.
After the explanations, Rin settled into his seat and went over a few things of his own work, then offered Hitomi a cookie for his stash. Hitomi happily took it with a small thanks. She ate quietly, looking around. She wasn't going to admit she was wondering where a certain three-horned scientist was. She had no reason to be worried about him, it wasn't like they were friends or anything.
Over the past two weeks, Akon had taken it upon himself to 'study' her. He remained in his corner, working on things and collecting data. Though she wasn't complete oblivious to the constant glances he sent her. She wouldn't admit that she liked the attention either. She barely knew the scientist before two weeks ago. Granted she still knows little about him. Before all this she had only heard his voice in passing. That was hardly enough to make such a decision. Yet she couldn't help but clam up and shrink away when he was near.
She was only there fifteen minutes when a familiar voice rang through the control room. The voice she'd been dreading to hear and made her shrink low in her seat. Rin had noticed the reaction, but didn't say anything. He merely sent a sympathetic look and turned to face one of the higher scientists.
"Everything okay in here?" Akon asked, leaning against the arch of the door, one arm bent at the elbow and fist tilted back after knocking twice on the door. The man had a smirk on his face as dark coal colored eyed scanned the room. They paused on Hitomi who was seated near Rin and trying to slink down from his view. He raised a brow at this and ignored it. He walked further into the room and looked over each of the monitors.
Hitomi watched him, absently munching on a cookie Rin had just given her. She had found out that Rin was a sweets freak, maybe that's one of the reasons they got along so well. Akon made his rounds, checking on everyone, lingering longer near Rin and Hitomi. Rin didn't noticed and continued eating sweets. Hitomi however made the mistake of catching his eye. Akon gave her a small smile as he passed, making the young fifth seat blush, lightly.
Akon stayed in the room, checking on data on the monitors and writing things down. Soon an hour had passed and the group had decided to head into the laboratory part of the division. Rin fell back and stayed close to Hitomi, making sure she was coming with. The note that she had given Mayuri was written permission from Ukitake to allow her to visit his division so long as she didn't cause problems. Which the 13th division captain was doubtful of since Hitomi was such a quiet, hard working girl.
Hitomi was about to follow Rin into the laboratory, when a hand grabbed her by the wrist and successfully stopping her in her tracks. Rin didn't seem to notice at the moment, or if he did, he didn't question it. Hitomi was confused and too afraid to look back at that moment.
"Well, well, well. Look who's returned." That familiar deep baritone rang out from behind her. She frowned slightly at how the voice made her shudder. She was acting like a school girl with a crush. She had barely known him and she was already acting oddly. She huffed at this and slowly turned to face the taller man. Akon gave her another small smile like before and released her wrist, reluctantly.
"Yeah, I'm back. Sorry I was so caught up in work." She replied, trying to sound confident by raising her voice a little more than usual. Rin had basically brought her out of her shell in the small time she'd known him. It was like they were meant to be close friends.
"Aw..and here I thought I'd scared you away." He remarked, teasingly. He faked a hurt tone, but the smirk gave him away. Hitomi looked away, shyly. "I'm not scared of you." She retorted, quietly. She cursed her shy nature and blushed as she felt him move closer. "Oh really?" He whispered, casually raising a hairless brow. Hitomi swallowed her nervousness and looked up at him, determinedly. "Yes, really." She snapped with a tone of finality.
Akon gave her an amused look, not moving away from her. "Then why did you try to hide when I came into the room?" He asked, genuinely curious, his voice dripping with amusement. Hitomi's voice died in her throat. She wasn't sure what to say to that. She was never good at lying and she couldn't just come out and tell that maybe, just maybe she felt something for him. She felt like an idiot now. She looked away, ashamed. She had no answer to that and she could feel his gaze on her. After a moment, she felt him back off. She released a breath she hadn't noticed she was holding.
Akon studied her for a moment, the amusement fading into concern. He began to think about all that's happened. He hadn't been the greatest at socializing. His only companions were the others in the division. He'd never strayed to outside relationships. That was until he found Hitomi. He wasn't sure what to think of her. She seemed to be scared of him, but something told him it was more than that. She was shy and clung to Rin like he was a security blanket. They both had nervous natures and for some reason he felt drawn to her.
Hitomi was frozen under his dark gaze. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, but the calculative look was bothering her. She began to shift nervously, unable to remain still for very long. She brought a hand up to twirl a strand of her hair around her index finger, a nervous habit of hers. Uneasy teal orbs glanced up into slate black. The man had been watching her and she wasn't sure she liked it. He was always watching her no matter what. She wasn't how to take the attention anymore.
Akon continued studying her, looking her over for a moment. He knew about her long before she ever came to the 12th division. Though he did not know her name, he had seen glimpses of her when she was on errand and had heard her voice once. He had always been intrigued by her. He blinked twice as he noticed something white in her hair. He tilted his head a bit and looked closer.
He absently took a step forward and reached out grasp her chin in one hand. She seemed to flinch at this, but relaxed a little and let him tilt her head downward. Akon couldn't help but smirk at the sight of two small, barely noticeable from far away, pearl white horns. They were about the size of his and rested neatly on the crown of her head on each side of the part. He raised his free hand and tentatively reached forward to lightly touch one of the horns.
Hitomi tensed up as his hand moved, but relaxed at the touch. Her horns had always been kind of sensitive. She closed her eyes at the curious touch and opened them when the hand pulled away. Her head was then tilted up, forcing her to look up at Akon. She then felt an overwhelming sense of curiosity as well. She carefully raised a hand and reached up to lightly touch one of his horns. She had always been interested in them.
The scientist had frozen at her boldness, but allowed to her touch his horns as well. It was only fair. He then realized how close they had got to each other. Hitomi didn't seem to notice since she was too busy with studying his horns. They were flesh colored as opposed to her pristine white ones. She then began to wonder if he'd always had them or if they developed at puberty like her's.
She thought to ask, but was stopped when a hand grabbed her wrist again. She tensed at the sudden touch and looked back at Akon's eyes in fear. The man moved her hand away from his horns and was watching her intently. Hitomi was about to attempt to pull away when he pulled her closer. She wasn't sure how to react, she couldn't keep her eyes off him for fear of something happening if she looked away.
Akon had that contemplative look on his face. There was something familiar about her, but he couldn't place what. Her name didn't register, but her face did. He wracked his brain and came up with blurry images of a young girl with chocolate colored hair and white horns. She wore a blue kimono with darker blue and yellow dragonflies around waist and skirt. The obi was pale yellow with a large ribbon in the back. He smiled at the memory of playing with said girl when he was a child. This was before he entered the academy, leaving the girl behind.
It had been over a hundred years since then. But he remembered her, clearly. He remembered her family being so kind to him since his were never around. They had once been a noble family but fell through when the heir vanished and their only remaining child developed powers that only soul reapers could attain. They were so close that the family joked about Akon being her betrothed.
He snapped out of his reverie as realization struck him. Hitomi stared up at him in confusion, seeing a spark in his eyes. She tilted her head a little and before she could ask what was wrong, a pair of firm, warm lips crashed against hers. Her eyes widened at this, then slowly slid closed. A warm, strong hand pressed against her forehead, making sure that her skin remained protected from the pointed horns.
She wanted to move the hand away, but let it be. The warmth was comforting. The kiss lasted a moment longer before Akon pulled away. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she stared up at him in confusion. Akon stared back with a small smile that made her heart race. She wasn't sure what came over him and opened her mouth to ask when he cut her off. "Don't you remember me?" He asked out of the blue. Hitomi blinked twice, tilting her head. She wasn't sure how to respond.
"Should I?" She asked, quietly. She then regretted her words as hurt filled his coal colored eyes. She wanted to take it back, but the more she looked the more she began to feel as if she knew him long before. It was vague but she could remember a boy that was older than her that she used to play with. Her parents had called him her betrothed since he followed her everywhere and protected her. She couldn't remember the name, but the silhouette in her mind reminded her of Akon.
"Does the word 'runt' mean anything to you?" Akon asked, quietly. It was the quietest she'd ever heard his voice. Hitomi's eyes widened in realization. "It's you!" She replied in shock. Akon merely smirked and pulled her close again. Relief shone in his eyes as he moved his hand from her wrist to her hand. He laced their fingers and smiled, warmly. "It's been so long, Runt." He replied, teasingly.
Hitomi feigned a pout at the return of her childhood nickname. She had always been small for her age, she just never seemed to grow. She was shorter than Akon that's for sure. She always was. She was about the same height as Rin so she came to about his ribs. She was small and petite, she couldn't help it. She tilted her head at him, wondering why she hadn't recognized him before. It had been so long, he had gone off to be a soul reaper, while she stayed back with her family.
She smiled up at him and tightened her grasp on his hand. "I missed you." She said, quietly. She then adverted her eyes, shyly and a faint blush colored her cheeks. Akon gave a soft laugh and lightly played with a strand of her hair with his free hand. "I missed you too, I'm sorry I ran off like that without a goodbye." he responded calmly. Hitomi simply shrugged, glad that he was here now.
They stayed quiet for a moment, the silence comfortable. She still had a faint blush on her face as her memories surfaced. She now realized why she was so shy and felt so odd around him. She had had a crush on him when they were younger, yet he never stayed long enough for her to confess to him. But now that she met him again, and seemed to return the feelings, she didn't need to be shy anymore.
She bit her lower lip and glanced up at him. She wanted to shrink away from his intense gaze, but felt no need to. She could see the faintest hint of love in those usually stoic eyes and it comforted her. "I know we probably can't get married anytime soon, but I want you know that I care about you. Always have, even when we were younger." He announced after a moment. Hitomi felt her blush deepen and tried to will it away. "I care about you too." She replied, quietly. Akon's gave a small smile with just the slightest hint of his white teeth. It wasn't exactly 'I love you' but it was a start and they both knew that's what they meant to say.
Akon leaned forward, placing a hand over her forehead again. She smiled as he pressed his lips to her's again in a soft, loving kiss. She raised both arms and wrapped them around his neck, standing on the tips of her toes in an attempt to seem taller so he didn't have to bend so much. Akon smirked into the kiss and broke it soon after. He watched her for a moment, looking into her deep teal eyes.
He then pulled away from her and left the room and went into the laboratory. The others had been working and didn't notice his arrival. Hitomi paused for a moment until he glanced back at her, expectantly. She nodded and followed quickly after him. Rin looked up from his work, pausing mid-chew of whatever sweet he had just eaten. He grinned at the sight of his 'sister' and waved at her. Hitomi laughed and trotted over to him, taking an offered piece of candy from him.
Akon stayed back, watching the two for a moment. He tucked his arms in the long sleeves of his lab coat and moved on to his area of the laboratory. He looked over some charts and studied some chemicals, occasionally glancing over at Hitomi. Hitomi merely chatted away with Rin, attempting to help him with some work, even if she wasn't part of the division. He smiled when he caught her gaze and she looked away, blushing.
He guessed curiosity wasn't such a bad thing.
AN: Sorry for the long delay, been busy and my muse kinda died. I've been trying to find a good way to end this and finally came up with something. Yeah this was only meant to be a two shot. I'm happy I got some good reviews and people actually liked it. I will be writing new stories in the near future. Thanks again for reading and reviews make my day.