Momo and Rukia bounded over to Kushira. She looked up, green eyes upset. "Come with us!" Momo said, giving Kushira the puppy-dog look. As always, Kushira melted like soft butter under her friend's pleading look. She allowed herself to be dragged out of the bar and shoved into…a phone booth?
"What's going on?" she asked curiously. Momo and Rukia opened the door and someone else was pushed into the enclosed space.
"Kurosaki-kun what on earth is the meaning of this?" Captain Jushiro Ukitake pounded on the door. The trio quickly pulled down blinds they attached to the outside, leaving the couple in darkness.
Kushira let out a quiet gasp of alarm. Jushiro immediately remembered she was afraid of the dark. "It's okay," he said calmly, "don't be afraid," he thought she nodded. "I have a bit of an idea of why they trapped us in here," he continued.
"Me too," she said softly, trying to get comfortable in the cramped space while keeping distance between them.
She heard a sigh in the darkness. "I really don't have a problem with you and Rose"
"Please, not now, not here," Kushira bowed her head, "I can't deal with this" desperation cracked her voice.
"Neither can I!" he said, pain evident in his tone, "I'm losing you because of it and I don't want to lose you but I don't know what to do!"
"Be honest!" she said, fighting back the tears that threatened to break past her defenses, "why are you always going on and on about Rose and I?"
"Because it's hard!" she could tell he was struggling and fighting back a coughing fit, "I'd give anything to see you happy," he started coughing.
Kushira couldn't stop the onslaught of tears. "I'm more miserable now than I ever was!" the tone of her voice causing Jushiro's heart to crack into pieces. "Why can't you see…" she took a breath and tried to control her voice. "Why can't you see that I'm so in love with you it hurts?" it came out a cracked whisper but in the dark confines of the tiny phone booth, he heard.
"Y-you…?" he was stunned. Was she serious?
"I've loved you for so long, I can't remember a time that I didn't…and every time I would tell you about my boyfriend, or my date, you would just sit there and listen and that's when I realized that you didn't feel the same so I buried my feelings and kept going," by now he could tell she was crying. "I kept hoping to get some reaction, some sign out of you, that you felt the same…but I never did"
Jushiro wrapped his arms around his distraught friend. She resisted slightly, but eventually gave in. "I didn't react because I wanted you to be happy," he whispered, "every time you would come to me and tell me about your date, it was so painful to listen to, but if you were happy that was all I needed and I didn't want to jeopardize that,"
"I only dated one person," she said into his shoulder, "and we were never serious, it was only a casual date here and there…I hoped somewhere along the line you would say or do something to give me hope…if you had just said…or done something…I love you"
It seemed almost surreal. Even though it was dark, he found her lips with ease. It was a soft, light kiss that made her gasp quietly as her stomach flipped. Kushira wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. Jushiro tightened his grip around her waist. The kiss was gentle and sweet, filled with hundreds and hundreds of years of pent-up emotions. When air became an issue, they pulled apart.
"I don't like seeing you and Rose together because I don't want to lose any possible chance I might have had the same way I did with Eishima-san," he said into her hair, "I love you"
Kushira felt like a ten ton weight had been lifted off her shoulder and she hugged him tighter. "You don't have to worry about me and Rose…I have only and will only ever love you," she pressed closer to him. He kissed the top of her head before tilting her chin upwards and pressing another tender, loving kiss to her lips.
There was movement at one of the blinds. A soft brown eye and a lively violet one peeked past the blinds. Kushira and Jushiro laughed, "they're determined," she whispered as they heard shuffling. Apparently whoever had been leaning against the door had moved.
"Do we leave?" he asked softly, looking down at her. Kushira sighed.
"I don't know," she laced her fingers through his. "I don't really care," she blushed in the darkness. "As sappy and cliché as this sounds, I don't care what happens as long as I get to stay with you," she buried her face in his neck out of embarrassment.
Jushiro laughed and squeezed her hands. "It's Valentine's Day," he said tilting her chin up, "sappy and cliché are synonymous with it," she laughed too. They had always had a slightly bitter outlook on Valentine's Day. Jushiro believed that if you loved someone you should show them every day instead of one day a year and it annoyed him. Kushira was just bitter when it came to anything romantic.
"Remember that one Valentine's Day when Shun got a box of chili pepper chocolates from a pissed off girl he had a one night stand with?" Kushira asked. Jushiro chuckle at the memory.
"And he downed like a gallon of water"
"Then we tried one and actually liked it," they were laughing at the memory. They were so busy laughing, they hadn't noticed the blinds had been taken off.
Rukia inwardly squealed. The captains were sitting on the floor of the phone booth laughing hysterically. Kushira was nestled sideways in Captain Ukitake's lap, their hands entwined.
"I guess they got everything sorted out," Momo said happily. Rukia nodded. Finally it seemed like the captains realized they had an audience. They looked up and smiled sheepishly at the two girls who were watching them.
Inside the phone booth, Kushira leaned in to whisper, "I feel like we're zoo animals," she giggled. Jushiro laughed and helped Kushira stand up. She pushed open the door of the phone booth and Momo and Rukia immediately bombarded them with questions.
"So you guys got everything sorted out?"
"Are you guys together now?"
Kushira laughed. "Yes and yes," she said to her friends. "It took us long enough," she held up their linked hands and the two girls beamed.
"We should go back inside!" Rukia said. "I'm pretty sure everyone's wondering where we are"
Kushira smirked, "I'm pretty sure everyone's too drunk to care," Captain Ukitake nodded in agreement but they allowed the pretty lieutenants to lead them inside anyways. As the captains had predicted, pretty much everybody was either passed out, or too inebriated to notice. The only two people who had noticed were Nanao and Byakuya.
The group sat down at a circular table that was surprisingly enough, empty. Nanao went over to join them and Byakuya was in the process of getting his lieutenant back to his division. A swell of pride filled the stoic captain as he caught sight of his two senior captains holding hands and knowing his sister was responsible. He would never admit it, but he was glad that they finally stopped dancing around the situation. He was proud of Rukia for actually getting them to admit they loved each other. She was so similar to Hisana, he often had to remind himself she wasn't.
He smiled slightly as Rukia chattered on about something. You would be proud of her, Hisana.
Epilogue…
Kushira picked up the Shinigami Women's Association newsletter and paled in horror. VALENTINE'S DAY BRINGS ROMANCE TO THE GOTEI 13 CAPTAINS pg. 8.
Kushira flipped to the page. Valentine's Day is a day when love is in the air. For two of the Gotei 13 captains, that proved to be very true. Captain Kushira Hikamara of the ninth division, and Captain Jushiro Ukitake of the thirteenth division have finally stopped beating around the bush and admitted their feelings for each other. An anonymous source close to the new couple said 'it took them long enough to admit the truth, I thought it was never going to happen!' another source said that it had taken a lot of work to get the truth. The captains are two of the oldest and according to a third source 'had been fighting [their] feelings since they were in the Academy together'. So will this romance last? The answer is yes. Both captains are widely known and loved, they were Academy classmates and best friends for hundreds of years and as one source put it 'it was expected that the pair of them would end up together one day…we just never suspected it would take this long'. Several witnesses to their daily interactions say 'they are simply made for each other'. Cupid has struck again. You can participate in this week's poll by sending your answer to Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto in the tenth division.
As Kushira read the poll, she turned a brilliant shade of red.
Do you think kids are in the picture for the new couple?
Yes
No
She leaned against the pillar of her office, hand to mouth, face redder than a cherry tomato and wishing a Hollow would appear to swallow her whole. Shuhei Hisagi walked past. "Congratulations captain!" he called. Kushira waved weakly.
She flash stepped to the thirteenth division and stormed into Jushiro's office. The white-haired man looked alarmed. "What's wrong love?" Kushira didn't answer, she tossed the paper onto his desk and sank to the ground face buried in her face in her knees. Jushiro slowly picked up the paper and began reading. He set it on the desk and began laughing.
Kushira looked up, wide-eyed. "This is so embarrassing!" she said, "why are you laughing?!" her distress only made him laugh harder.
"I-I'm so…sorry…" he tried to apologize but his laughing fit stopped to be replaced with his awful cough. Forgetting about the article, Kushira hurried to his side and gently rubbed his back. When he finally got his breathing under control, he gently pulled her into his lap. She leaned against him comfortably. "It could be worse…" he said, "remember the article they ran on Ayasegawa-san and Madarame-san?" Kushira blushed a brilliant shade of red.
"Good point…" she worried her lip between her teeth. Jushiro picked up the paper and draped his arms around her shoulders so he was holding the paper in front of them both. He rested his chin on her shoulder.
"So…what should we answer for the poll?"
Kushira's face looked like a beacon. She buried her head in her knees and placed her finger on the page. Jushiro laughed softly, "really?" she nodded. He brushed her red hair over her opposite shoulder and pressed a kiss to her temple. "I'm glad we want the same thing then"
She smiled bashfully and linked hands with him, curling close. "Maybe this isn't so bad," she said softly, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Jushiro smiled and held her tighter, breathing in her familiar scent.
"I love you," he whispered in her ear. She smiled and turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She brushed her cheek against his to whisper back.
"I love you more"