28 Chapter 28: Reunion
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
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AN: As always your comments are much appreciated, it's always nice to see people engaging in the story. If you don't want to hear me beg skip this AN but as a heads up I only need six more likes on my profile to reach triple digits, would be cool if yall could drop some.
Marginally smaller chapter than usual, but I don't want to info dump you guys too much so I decided it was better to space stuff out.
Chapter 28: Reunion
He was nervous, no that was an understatement.
He was sweating bullets, his legs felt weaker than usual as his hand shakily inched closer to the Shoji. There was no mistaking the Reiatsu on the other side of the wall, it was agitated, irate, and ready to implode.
"What's wrong? Getting cold feet?" Shunsui relished in being able to taunt his junior, or at least that's how it appeared.
In truth, both himself and Ukitake were no less terrified than Koda, Yamamoto undoubtedly had the capacity to instill utmost fear into anyone he so desired, but most of the time his Reiatsu was serene and relaxed, if you were even able to see through it that was.
That wasn't the case for the presence that could be no less than a few feet away from them, it didn't seem to be even slightly worried about keeping its pressure under wraps.
It was making a statement, it was strong.
"There's no use trying to act fearless in front of her, she'll see through it. I don't have much advice to give you other than letting me do all the talking, she's easily annoyed" He took a deep breath, composing himself for what would follow.
"That's an odd way to introduce your own wife, but I'll keep that in mind" Koda finally mustered up the courage to slide the door open, the gradual motion of the wooden frame grating against the floorboard felt as if it would take forever.
And there she was.
Of course his blindfolds were still on, but he knew it was her.
Ukitake and Shunsui were met with the sight of a woman with long raven hair worn loosely over her shoulders, she was sitting comfortably on a cushion with her back facing the trio. Her pallid haori with the number "11" written in Kanji brought a sense of royalty to her being.
Evidently she was aware of their presence, but she paid them no heed. Modestly taking a sip from her cup without uttering so much as a word.
The two older disciples didn't know what to make of it, looking towards Koda for answers. The latter simply placed his palm on his chest, he could feel his heart racing as an influx of emotions washed over him.
Whilst still retaining her silence, she dragged a singular cushion to her side.
"Leave" It wasn't hard to distinguish whom she was referring to.
Ukitake looked like he was about to say something until Koda luckily managed to stop him, had he been allowed to continue his life would've been put in jeopardy.
"I'll handle it" Though Koda kept his voice down, he knew she probably heard him regardless.
Shunsui dragged his friend out of the room, leaving just the two of them to settle whatever business they had. The atmosphere quickly grew tenser than it already was, and though Koda couldn't tell she was now staring directly at him with her cold abyssal eyes.
"Sit" He assumed she was referring to the floor, but where he sat was the least of his worries at the moment.
With each step he took he could feel his heartbeat grow more erratic, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up as chills ran down his spine. He had childishly hoped to avoid her indefinitely, but life was never that easy.
He was so consumed by his own thoughts that he didn't realize she already had him within arms length, she swiftly grabbed him by the back of his Kosode, planting his head onto her lap before the latter could even process what had happened.
"Why have you been avoiding me?" She gently stroked the side of his cheek, both irritated and pleased that he was with her again.
"I haven't, I've just been busy" A half-truth, he hadn't gone out of his way to try and stay hidden from her, but he hadn't done anything to try to reach out to her either.
"I don't believe you" Her voice grew somber, Koda tried to convince himself that he didn't have any obligation to answer her, but the creeping sentiment of guilt refused to leave him be.
"I'm not sure what to tell you, as you can tell I've had my hands—" Halfway through his sentence he stopped himself, quickly realizing how he was in no position to take the snappy approach.
"You know what, I have been avoiding you. Is that what you want to hear?" Silence followed, Koda could feel himself palpitating as he lied in wait for her reaction.
"Why?" That really was the question of the hour, one he actually had the answer to.
"Does it really matter? Nothing I say has ever had any impact on you has it?" He was weak and she was strong, that was the god-forsaken rational Koda had forced himself to live with ever since the start of their relationship.
It drove him mad, he had masked his distress well but there wasn't much time left until the cracks would make themselves known.
"It matters" This was the first time she had ever sounded so— sedate.
He was almost fully convinced she truly did mean it, but nothing was ever simple with this woman. Especially for him, but there was also a part of him that didn't care much for what she thought, at least not anymore.
That part of him had gotten tired, the constant back and forth between them had left him exhausted.
He took a deep breath, after all once he said his piece there was no going back.
"Look" He rose his shaking hand to her, veins bulged out of his pale skin as its glossiness was made blatant.
"When we first met, this was the result of fear" She could tell that he was genuinely distraught, but she didn't know why.
"Now, I no longer understand why I've become like this. It happens when I'm around you, and I haven't the faintest clue whether I should feel annoyed, relieved or indifferent to it. It's distracting, and it drives me crazy" Unohana was left speechless, his sudden outburst of honesty wasn't something she was prepared to deal with.
But he wasn't done talking just yet.
"There's no need for you to feign ignorance, I know you're aware of how fast my heart is beating right now. I'm not so naive as to completely disregard the notion of love, but that doesn't mean I'm fully convinced. Do with that information what you will"
He had said what he wanted to say, the ball was now in her court.
"Do you dislike the idea of us being together?" Koda did his best to hold in his scoff, to think it took her this long to ask that question, it was almost comical to him.
"I'm aware that our definitions of together vary, but I'll say this much. You are an integral part of my life whether I like it or not, regardless of what our relationship becomes we will be together one way or another" Master and student, friends, enemies, perhaps even husband and wife.
At the end of the day it didn't matter, they would always be something.
"But that's not what you care about now is it?" He groggily lifted his head, wearily hauling himself to his feet as she deliberated whether stopping him was a good idea or not.
"As I'm speaking to you right now, I don't love you" Her expression swiftly darkened, those were the words she absolutely didn't want to hear.
"But nor do I hate you, I know that for sure" A bit of light returned to her face, her despair had been quickly replaced with immense confliction.
"I guess I'm being too cryptic. I'm going to make a promise to you, so I'd suggest you remember it well" She was all ears, Koda knew deep in his heart that he was about to do something incredibly reckless. Yet at the same time, he also felt as if it was absolutely necessary.
"I will wait for you, I don't have any plans on getting involved with other women, so if a day comes when you somehow manage to make me fall for you, I guess I'll end up becoming yours" Pandora's Box had been opened, contrary to everything he thought he knew about himself, he had directly enticed her to pursue him.
'Everything about this is absurd, isn't it meant to be the other way round in the first place anyways? I've really lost my mind haven't I?'
"These are my true feelings, interpret them however you please" He casually walked out of the room, something the past him wouldn't have even dreamt of doing.
——
The two of them were laid back on their mattresses, as much as they wanted to eavesdrop their guts warned them that would be nothing short of suicide. Hence, they were forced to simply lie in wait for their junior to handle the situation.
"Do you think he's alright?" Ukitake couldn't even begin to imagine how Koda would approach such a figure, that Reiatsu of hers was heart-wrenching, how he could bear to sit in the same room with her was beyond him.
"I'm sure he's fine, knowing him there's no way he would've courted a woman he couldn't handle. He's definitely got some sort of trick up his sleeve, trust me" He didn't seem too bothered about what chilling fate could've befallen his peer.
"Are you sure? Though it's unlikely, maybe he wasn't lying when he told us they weren't actually together…" Shunsui scoffed as he looked at the man as if he were a complete idiot.
"They share the same surname, what exactly is there to doubt? You said it yourself, he was probably just trying to be all hush-hush about his relationship with a Captain"
Before their discussion could continue, their attention was caught by the sound of a door languidly sliding open. They both had a mountain of questions to ask, and they were going to probe him for as many answers as possible.
