Healing His Solitude - Aizen Sousuke Love Story

Chapter 24 - Narrow Escape

Shiori pov:

"C'mon Wonderweiss! If you don't let me go, I wont be able to give you the cherries!" I chuckled as Wonderweis gripped me around the waist. He was a kid but an Arrancar no less so he had an iron grip around me. He was heavy too and it made it almost impossible for me to move around the kitchen.

He had been stuck to me since the past two days. He had slept on my lap once when I had accompanied him and Tousen san to the Menos forest, but I hadn't seen him after that. When Tousen san asked me to watch over him two days ago, he ended up becoming attached to me like a baby monkey to its mother. Most of the time, he wouldn't let me go at all and I would have to huff and puff as I dragged him around while doing chores.

As for Tousen san, he was relieved that he didn't have to watch over Wonderweiss anymore. Well, Wonderweiss still listened to him and followed his and Aizen san's orders without any fuss. But any other time, I was the one left to look out for him.

Its not that I was complaining about it though. Despite being an Arrancar, he had the mind of a four year old. He was curious about everything, clingy and gentle when he was with me. It was very different when he was with anyone else including the shinigamis themselves. But when Tousen san had left him in my care, I clearly remember the words he had told Wonderweiss that was most definitely the reason for him to be gentler with me.

"Aizen sama says Shiori is very important. She is a human and she can get hurt easily. So Aizen sama has told you to always be soft with her. Do you understand, Wonderweiss?"

I pressed my lips into a thin line feeling an embarrassing warmth make its way up to my cheeks as I remembered that. I know Aizen san was just saying it in a way to make Wonderweiss understand because he was like a child who couldn't understand anything. Or it was probably just his usual way of talking. But it still made me feel embarrassed every time I remembered how....tenderly he had spoken about me.

After that day when I had seen that vision of Aizen san and Ichigo, I was a little wary around him. Whenever I saw him, I wasn't as comfortable as I had been before. He had noticed the change in me too and he had asked me. After three times of asking me when I refused to meet his eyes and answer, he had cupped my face in his hands in a gentle yet firm grip to make me look at him. He had asked me again and I had stuttered hopelessly not just because of not knowing what to give as a reason but also because of how I could feel his breath on my lips.

I swear, I was so embarrassed at that moment. I had somehow managed to tell him that after feeling his reiatsu, I was a little uneasy around him. I don't know if he actually believed that reason or not but he didn't press me further and he had said that he would make sure I don't feel uncomfortable around him again.

Besides meal times, he had called me three times. Twice to get him tea and once to sleep on my lap again. After this, I started to get super weird around him. I don't know why but I get embarrassed easily, hearing his voice as he called my name or chuckled, it made my heart skip a beat.

Well, I'm not stupid. I figured that I've started to like him as someone more than an acquaintance or a friend. I know its totally irrational and wrong for many reasons but love is an emotion you cant control, right?

But with his goals and his history that I didn't know about, I couldn't just accept my feelings and like him! I didn't know anything about him besides a few facts that he and Ichimaru san had mentions in passing conversations. I couldn't let myself get distracted by his voice, that smouldering look in his eyes, his gentle touches, his sweet words.

Darn it....I'm thinking about all that again.

"Ahuuuaaawooo!!" I came back to the present as Wonderweiss snuggled his face into my stomach. I gave a soft chuckle shaking my head and patted his head gently.