Healing His Solitude - Aizen Sousuke Love Story

Chapter 19 - Going Home?

Shiori pov:

I let out an inaudible sigh as I sat on the floor with Starrk snoring away with his head on my lap. Two days have passed since I embarrassed myself in front of Aizen san by touching his cheek.

Things have been quite normal after that. I was awkward at first when I had eaten dinner with him and the other two shinigami after the incident but Aizen san had acted like that incident had never even happened. As for Ichimaru san and Tousen san, I had a feeling that they didn't know what had happened at all.

They knew about my reiatsu going crazy in the Menos forest and Ichimaru san was nice enough to ask me if I was alright. I had informed him that I was fine but just a little sore and my skin tender. I used the Menos forest scene as a cover up for the Arrancars' attacking me earlier in the kitchen.

Thankfully, the burns from the hot water weren't serious. They were like first degree burns that had just left my skin tender. I had soaked them in cold water for a while and they didn't hurt anymore unless someone touched the skin. As for my shoulder, it was a different case. The collision with the wall had left an aching bruise that had turned bluish purple and hurt even with the slightest touch. I couldn't lift my arm up fully either.

Aizen san had given me a new dress. It wasn't any different from the one I wore before. It was the same one piece dress that reached beyond my knees with full sleeves and a black sash tied around my waist. It made me wonder how many of this particular dress he had around....wouldn't anyone want to wear something different once in a while?

As for Aizen san, Ichimaru san and Tousen san, they no longer wore the black shinigami attire under their white coats. They wore white haoris and hakamas with a different colored sash around their waists.

The one thing that had been troubling me quite a bit since two days was the look I had seen in Aizen san's eyes. Loneliness....why would I see something like that? At the proximity of our faces, just as I had felt once before, the pressure of his reiatsu seemed to vanish. It was like two people looking at each other and trying to understand each other. In that one brief moment, he had seemed suddenly vulnerable. So open and clear and so easy to see through.

I wasn't imagining it, right? I couldn't have. I mean, I'm a doctor! A psychologist! Judging people based on their behavior, their body language, their actions....that's what I majored in. Surely I couldn't be making a mistake....especially after all the successful cases I had taken care of.

I suppose the way I said it was as if I was gloating about myself. But gloating is sometimes necessary, isn't it? When you're trying to understand someone, trying to see what they felt uneasy about and how you could help them, its fine, isn't it?

I caressed Starrk's head as he shifted in his sleep. I wasn't really getting anywhere with just thinking like this. I didn't know anything about Aizen san. I didn't know about his past, why as a captain he had left Soul Society, what he was trying to achieve, why he was fighting against Ichigo as well, nothing. When I didn't know anything about him, how could I say that what I was assuming about him being lonely was true? If I didn't get any hints about his life, what was I supposed to do with the thoughts that I had?

Rubbing my face with my hands, I shook my head.

"Starrk!!" I came out of my thoughts as Lilynette walked into the room. I smiled, glad that I was pulled out of my thoughts that had begun to get overburdening.

I shook Starrk's shoulder lightly. "Starrk? Lilynette is here. You should wake up." He groaned, making me give a chuckle at the look of annoyance on his face. He didn't like it when he was woken up before his full time of sleep. He loved to sleep.....like a cat.