[ Continued | X ]
@jizokusei said:
❝ c-captain... wh... ❞ what on earth was he doing here? wasn’t he super busy being reinstated as the captain of the 5th again? one glance to the candle, he could tell just how late it was by the amount of nails lying on the floor. IT WAS PRETTY DAMN LATE!
❝ you shouldn’t have!!! ❞ he said, gladly taking the bottle of sake out of the man’s hands and already walking back inside to find two cups. what a pleasant surprise it was indeed. his apartment was a mess. as was the man himself. but training young people to become soul reapers did prove quite challenging at times. he didn’t recall ever being as stubborn about learning certain things when he went to the shino... but that was already quite half a millennium ago.
time was flying.
❝ SIDDOWN!!!! BE COMFORTABLE!!! ❞
Grinning from ear to ear, he follows Sakai’s retreat and ducks into the instructor’s humble apartment. It is just like any bachelor’s abode; not the tidiest, but there is organized chaos and structure amongst the clutter, and Shinji threads his way gracefully towards the small chabudai in the middle of the room.
He takes the two cups from his old comrade and sits down on the tatami by the low table, and while the man is bustling around the kitchenette to host his unexpected guest, Shinji patiently gazes upon the familiar back and feels gladness simply at being able to look upon this sight again after all these lost decades. It’s a back that he used to see on missions, the most reliable vanguard. Now, that same sturdy back is slightly more stooped compared to what he remembers, as if weighed down by the passage of time and tragedies, but it is still here.
A growing soreness tingles in his nose. He is tremendously glad, that Sakai is alive and well.
“ Pardon the intrusion, sensei. ” His tone is very gentle, very fond. “ Took me a bit longer than anticipated to return and visit ya. ”
